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  <row Id="1" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12" CreationDate="2012-01-24T19:55:57.057" Score="31" ViewCount="7555" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few times I've been out walking or backpacking and have no moleskin with me.  Sure enough, my boots start giving me blisters.  How can I prevent or treat hotspots and blisters without using moleskin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T10:56:02.257" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T10:56:02.257" Title="How do I treat hot spots and blisters when I have no moleskin?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T19:56:42.110" Score="32" ViewCount="11560" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some places, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/en/Help/&quot;&gt;the Swedish Lappland&lt;/a&gt; for example, it's perfectly fine and even recommended to drink water directly from streams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it also recommended whilst hiking in the Alps, and if so is it only in certain areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T21:06:13.280" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T14:00:59.710" Title="Where in the Alps is it safe to drink the water without filtering?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="35" CreationDate="2012-01-24T19:59:40.263" Score="20" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some places, like Scandinavia, you can camp pretty much anywhere you like as long as it's only for one night and you don't leave a mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The freedom to roam, or everyman's right is the general public's right&#xA;  to access certain public or privately owned land for recreation and&#xA;  exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to&#xA;  the wilderness or the right to roam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Freedom to roam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this also the case in Russia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T11:10:19.417" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T11:10:19.417" Title="Is it legal to camp on private property in Russia?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:00:04.523" Score="17" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many outdoor areas that have bears have bear bag-lines setup for hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where the bear-bag line is not there or it is full, what dimensions should I keep in mind to protect my goodies from bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, do I need to keep the bag at least 8 feet off the ground and 6 feet from any climbable structure?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-08-13T00:26:01.943" LastActivityDate="2012-08-13T00:26:01.943" Title="What are the critical dimensions to a safe bear-bag?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:02:34.280" Score="35" ViewCount="1242" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about sailing a part of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube&quot;&gt;Danube&lt;/a&gt;, alone, on a self-built raft. I have no experience sailing rivers on any serious basis. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm considering a raft for a number of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's cheap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It provides more space than a boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can easily take a bicycle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's more easily replaceable in case of theft than a boat (plus, who would want to steal a raft?).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are no worries about selling it or transporting it after the journey has completed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the portion of the river that I want to sail is used by commercial freight traffic. My worry is that using a vehicle with little steering and no engine can lead to life-threatening situations with river freight ships, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.intuitivmedia.de/data/picture/detail/865.jpg&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, and cruise ships. I imagine getting caught in their suction can be very dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anybody here attempted something similar, or have some river experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there traffic lanes on European rivers, so it might be possible to do this if you stay close to the bank? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Who would I talk to to find out whether this is a completely idiotic plan, or somehow feasible without risking your life too much? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, I would sail during daytime only. I can swim of course, and I'm prepared to wear a life vest at all times if so recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="10" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T01:42:57.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T21:28:10.207" Title="Can I sail a raft on a European river with commercial traffic?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:03:05.843" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The #1 remedy I use is good old fashioned Duct Tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will usually put a large strip around the back of my ankle every morning before putting my socks on, just as a precaution. It sticks well and allows your boot and sock to rub around without rubbing directly on the skin, causing hotspots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:03:05.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:06:47.973" Score="59" ViewCount="13110" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of ways to purify water, off the top of my head we have filters, iodine, and boiling.  Clearly each has some advantage/disadvantage (iodine tastes terrible, boiling takes time).  Which of these is the safest? Is there another method that's safer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T10:27:33.283" Title="What is the safest way to purify water?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:07:53.637" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would imagine you might not have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.compeed.com&quot;&gt;compeed&lt;/a&gt;, if you don't have moleskin with you, but I just thought I'd mention it as a nice measure to prevent/treat blisters.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I would also recommend carrying less weight and using a lighter pair of shoes, instead of a heavy pair of boots. Those blisters are your feet's way of telling you something isn't working well in there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:07:53.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:09:28.480" Score="49" ViewCount="4868" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the ways you can navigate when you don't have a compass or a GPS? For example how can you tell which way is north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="31" LastEditorUserId="12" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T23:30:57.033" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T13:31:59.767" Title="How can you navigate without a compass or GPS" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="241" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:09:44.473" Score="37" ViewCount="49626" Body="&lt;p&gt;After purchasing full leather boots (similar to these &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/810235/vasque-bitterroot-gtx-hiking-boots-mens&quot;&gt;boots&lt;/a&gt;) I had many blisters for the first few hikes until I broke in my boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the fastest ways to age the boot so that when my foot won't blister every time my feet slip into them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:18:19.777" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T01:23:35.840" Title="What is the fastest method to 'break in' full leather boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="158" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:11:43.113" Score="23" ViewCount="38929" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to start mountaineering. Is there a recommended size per height/weight for ice axes for general mountaineering?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-14T09:18:24.257" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T00:41:22.530" Title="How do I know what size ice axe I should get?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:11:44.357" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key is reducing friction. Duct tape can be a good preventative as long as you get it on before a blister forms. After the blister is there, it's harder to recommend as once you're ready to remove the duct tape, you might pull the blister along with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options are to make sure you're wearing dry non-cotton socks. If you find your feet sweat a lot while walking, make sure you have good moisture wicking socks or you change your socks as the moisture builds up. Rotating socks gives one pair a chance to dry out while wearing the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in the middle of a hike and forming hotspots without any tape, extra socks or moleskin to help, you may have to just slow down. Take a break, take your boots and socks off and give everything some time to dry out. It may be all you need to get back to civilization without developing full blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:11:44.357" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="39" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:13:56.293" Score="29" ViewCount="1422" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be going above 15000 feet (4500 meters) on a trip next month, and I've heard people will often get altitude sickness. Is there anything I can do beforehand to prevent sickness or take while I'm there that will help me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:00:39.757" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:00:39.757" Title="What can I do to prevent altitude sickness?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="94" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:15:34.433" Score="26" ViewCount="11212" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am starting backpacking and there are both internal and external-frame packs. What is the difference, and is one recommended over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:42:41.960" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:42:41.960" Title="What is the difference between external and internal-frame packs?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:15:55.730" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no science to back me up, but the SAFEST way would be boiling.  Since water all boils at the same point; you know as soon as it starts rolling that the nasties are all being killed.  Hold at a rolling boil for 2 minutes (as I was taught), and it is safe to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:15:55.730" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="26" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:16:37.677" Score="44" ViewCount="7113" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I pack a backpack to prevent injury to my back and keep it comfortable while hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-22T14:01:51.980" LastActivityDate="2019-03-15T22:06:13.760" Title="What are some good tips and techniques for packing a backpack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:18:50.597" Score="27" ViewCount="998" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know one can compare backpacks by the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Content (in liters)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Number of external pockets (for quick accessable water bottles for example)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hip belt available or not&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof / Water resistant / not&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I'm probably missing a lot of other things to which I should pay attention when buying a backpack. Any advise would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:13:54.240" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:13:54.240" Title="When buying a backpack, what should I pay attention to?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:20:42.290" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you look at the current time, and imagine yourself in the center a big analog watch, just place your shadow on the location of the hour's hand. Then imagine the location of the 12 o'clock hand, and exactly in the middle of the angle between those two hands is the north.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to ignore daylight saving time (As the time your hand watch is showing during daylight saving is not the &quot;real&quot; astronomical time), and also don't ignore the minutes (so at 15:20 the hand is a 1/3 of a way further on, between 15 and 16).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also don't know how it works in the southern hemisphere (It might point directly south? I'm not sure - anyone wants to try it out?).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also just use a stick to create the shadow for the hour's hand. But using your own shadow makes for a nice trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T04:02:22.090" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T04:02:22.090" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="37" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:21:41.480" Score="20" ViewCount="882" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm struck by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_ivy&quot;&gt;poison ivy&lt;/a&gt;, what should I do? Is there a way to suppress the itch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:44:09.667" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T20:57:00.523" Title="How should I treat poison ivy?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="20" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:21:55.357" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there are any standards, but I would shoot for at least 10 feet high, and at least 4 feet away from the trunk of a tree. Make sure the bag is suspended on a branch too small to support the weight of a bear. It should also be hanging down from the branch by around a foot to prevent other smaller animals from having direct access to the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:21:55.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="21" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:21:59.900" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're asking for the safest way to purify water, you're asking for the method that removes the most harmful stuff from the water, like bacteria, viruses and larger impurities like mud or sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No one method is really perfect at removing everything, so I usually use a two-stage approach:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Filter&lt;/strong&gt;: If the water source is cloudy, your first step should be to remove the larger impurities. You can buy expensive pump filters for this, or you can just pour the water through a sock, bandanna, or any other tightly-woven fabric to remove the larger stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you can probably skip this step if the water you're collecting is clear and fast-moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boil&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_%28microbiology%29#Heat_sterilization_of_foods&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heat sterilization&lt;/a&gt; is really the only sure-fire way to kill bacteria, viruses and other undesirable microbial life in your water. It's a commonly used technique to clean medical instruments since it's so effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does require a heat source, and it'll take some time to get a full rolling boil. But if you're at all worried about the quality of your water, it's your safest bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; As commenters noted, if you're in an area with potential chemical pollutants or metals in the water, you should filter even if the water appears clear. But if you're really in a situation where mother nature's water has been tainted by man-made waste, you should probably pack in all of your own water anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T12:52:07.223" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:22:39.930" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears tend to jump and swipe to get your bear bag.  You want above the reach of the tallest bear in the area, I'd recommend 8-10 feet at a minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also want the bag at least a bear leg's length from the trunk of a tree, probably 4-6 feet at a minimum (if possible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some bears will also kamikaze from the bear cables.  I know of some folks who swear they've seen this, and are otherwise trustworthy, but the bear climbs to about 20-30 feet up the tree, jumps off of the tree towards the bear bags and swipes the bags on the way down.  If you have one of these crazy bears near your campsite, pop some popcorn, and plan to go hungry the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:22:39.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="23" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="611" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:23:08.780" Score="35" ViewCount="22019" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some quick ways to dry clothes in moist weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:48:55.260" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T18:36:31.057" Title="How does one dry clothes in humid weather?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="24" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:23:36.597" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to say that fit is one of the most important elements. I highly suggest you find yourself a store and try on a lot of backpacks. Make sure you properly adjust them. Usually, someone in a store will be able to help you out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, the various features you listed are useful for different activities. When buying a pack, consider what you'll be using it for and how long. For instance, my mountaineering pack has loops for my ice axe, a special pouch for my crampons, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were planning on a day hike, I would bring my small, 11L pack. If I'm going for a few days, I might go for a 30L pack that has a storage space for my sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you may wish to load the pack while it's in the store with the weight you estimate you'll be carrying. That way, you'll have an idea of how it will feel on your shoulders. Definitely walk around the store at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the issues with most purchases is that you won't really know if the pack does exactly what you want until you've used it a good deal :) Live and learn! Identify what you do and don't like and eventually apply that to your next purchase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="48" LastEditorUserId="48" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T20:30:18.017" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:30:18.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="25" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="51" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:24:38.730" Score="25" ViewCount="14727" Body="&lt;p&gt;Will regular polarized sunglasses protect me against &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photokeratitis&quot;&gt;snow blindness&lt;/a&gt;? And if not what type of glasses/goggles will protect me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:49:50.590" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:49:50.590" Title="Do polarized sunglasses protect against snow blindness?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="26" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:24:42.277" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key to keeping your back happy is to drive as much pack weight to your hips as possible.  A side note on weight is that the lighter your pack overall, the happier your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the packing order depends on your particular pack, but in general, the bottom of a pack is below your hips.  Therefore, it is best to put something big and light in the bottom.  A fleece is one idea, or your sleeping bag (if it's down, might be less great if synthetic due to the amount of crushing that will happen).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that we have the level of stuff above your hips, heavy things go next, right against your back.  I like to put my food bag on one side and the tent on the other.  Down the middle, cooking gear, maps, books, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is room left away from your back, stuff your sleeping pad and random clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the top all this stuff, put whatever light items you have left (i.e. repair kits, first aid kit, rain jacket).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key to this idea is that your heavy things are silo-like, i.e. tightly packed stuff sacks.  That way their weight will be driven to your hips, and anything stacked on them will also drive weight to your hips.  The &quot;looser&quot; your packing job, the less efficiently this will happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:24:42.277" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="27" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:25:03.620" Score="29" ViewCount="2523" Body="&lt;p&gt;When roaming the outdoors, it might happen that  one finds oneself in a situation that is much, much colder than one planned for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can one do in such an emergency, especially when it's so cold that there's real danger to health or even life?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose one obvious thing, if at all possible, is lighting a fire. But what if that's not an option? Another thing is using every piece of textile one has got, and wrap oneself into it. What else can one do to keep as warm as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="10" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T22:07:49.047" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:25:05.533" Title="Keeping warm in an emergency" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="28" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:25:56.587" Score="10" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack weight - A heavy pack is also some extra Kg on your back. Even though a good pack will put them to good use in distributing the content's weight over your back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack frame - Many ultra-light backpacks come with a minimal frame design, or no frame at all. You'd need to use your mattress to create a simple frame.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accessibility- The number of different access points to the equipment you put inside. Some come with a zipper on the bottom straight to the sleeping bag compartment, some have only top draw-strings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastEditorUserId="9569" LastEditDate="2016-11-25T12:13:53.993" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T12:13:53.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="29" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="52" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:26:23.627" Score="32" ViewCount="40516" Body="&lt;p&gt;What methods can I use to purify water? And what's the difference between those several methods (safety, duration needed, ...)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T13:13:42.950" Title="What are the different methods to purify water?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="30" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:27:21.720" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's early morning, you'll note that the sun rises in the east. It additionally sets in the West. Normally, more plant-life can be found on the east side of a ridge (I don't have a source for this, I'm sure someone else can be more helpful) as it more fully receives light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I navigate almost exclusively by features and carry a contour map with me of the area. I also memorize some prominent features before heading out as a safety precaution. Remember to always map out your route and tell a friend where you're going!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="48" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:27:21.720" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="31" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="46" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:29:37.767" Score="28" ViewCount="20496" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I know what type I should use when I'm planning a camping trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:26:00.740" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T05:19:42.027" Title="What's the difference between white gas, propane, kerosene, and gasoline?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="32" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:29:40.693" Score="68" ViewCount="4685" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are must-have items in an emergency kit for a multi-day hiking trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="10" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T02:29:43.733" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:40:47.770" Title="What are essential items in an emergency kit?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="37" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="33" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:30:44.037" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blisters usually form when your socks get sweaty and things start to rub around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I first bought my pair of boots, the man in the store told me to wear them around the house for an hour every night for a week or two before my trip. This gives you a chance to break in the leather slowly over time, while keeping your feet blister-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, this won't work for last-minute boot purchases, but I'd still recommend you try to wear them around for a few hours in a casual, no sweat environment before you head out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:30:44.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="34" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:30:51.290" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing I don't see on your list is fit. REI recommends finding your torso length and hip size, and that will help you to find the right fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/backpacks+torso+hip+size.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:30:51.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="35" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:31:11.490" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know (living in Latvia, used to be a part of USSR), it is not completely legal. The owners can call the police, but it usually doesn't go that far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you try to camp in a field or near a private lake, try to talk to somebody, if a home is in sight. If not, people in these parts are quite forthcoming and I've yet to get more than a grumpy &quot;Just pick up after yourself.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A NOTE OF WARNING!&lt;/strong&gt; Making fire pits is a whole another matter. Doing that on a private property without permission might very well land you in jail, or in other kind of trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In short:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Yes, but that doesn't stop decent people still doing it and living to tell the tale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="40" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T22:04:22.103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:04:22.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="36" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:33:08.663" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, this can somewhat depend on the type of backpack you have and the length of the trip you're planning to take (so how much you will be carrying), but there are a few general principles that apply to almost all situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the bottom up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The sleeping bag. Most backpacks have a larger, separately-zipped area at the bottom that is the most convenient for storing a bulky item like a sleeping bag. You might also be able to fit other items that you will be using at the same time (for sleeping, at night) in that area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The heaviest, bulkiest items. You need to pack the heaviest items on the lower/central side so that they will be closer to your back. If they are too high up they will pull the backpack away from your spine and put pressure on your shoulders. The closer to your spine the heavy items are, the easier it will be to balance your backpack and the weight will be positioned better over your hips. Usually the heaviest part of the backpack is your food, so that should go here. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lighter items that don't need to be accessed often. Clothes, basically. You can also wedge clothes in around the heavy items (your stove and food) to prevent them from moving in your pack and keep the centre of gravity stable. Packing the tent body here is also good for keeping the heavy items in place. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping pads can be attached inside the lid of the pack or you can use some extra straps to strap it outside. If you have space, you can unwrap your sleeping pad and use it to line the inside of the pack, packing the rest of your items inside it. This helps to keep everything stable and also protects it from getting wet. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have space, you can separate the tent body and the tent poles and pack them on the inside. You can stuff the tent body in at the bottom of the pack and place the poles vertically across the length of the whole pack. Otherwise you might have to pack the tent in the lid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most packs have small outer compartments that are good for storing things you might need to access really easily whilst walking, like first aid kits and snacks. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-03-15T22:06:13.760" LastActivityDate="2019-03-15T22:06:13.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="37" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:34:11.547" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you tried &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex&quot;&gt;Dock Leaves&lt;/a&gt;? They're well known as a way of soothing &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle&quot;&gt;Nettle&lt;/a&gt; stings and might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="53" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:34:11.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="38" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:34:43.947" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There really isn't much reason to use an external frame backpack, especially if you're looking at modern backpacks. In almost every case, the internal frame is going to be the better option. Internal frame backpacks have a lot of advantages over external frames, they have a smaller profile, and when properly packed keep weight closer to your center of gravity where you want it. They are more form fitting and give you better maneuverability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only advantage I can think of for an external frame backpack is that they are often made up of smaller compartments, where as internal frame backpacks tend to have a primary large storage area and you'll have to rely on stuff sacks for organization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:34:43.947" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="39" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:35:29.953" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are you going to be hiking that high, or in a car for a small bit? Going to 15,000 feet without ever having broken 10,000 feet sounds a bit haphazard, especially if you're unsure of the dangers/how to deal with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several things you can do to help yourself out before your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, acclimate. Don't just run up to 15,000 feet. Try to spend time at 8,000 feet, 9,000 feet, 10,000 feet and so forth. Additionally, climb high, sleep low always applies. If you're not feeling well, descend, it's the only way you're going to feel better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a chemical perspective, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000766/&quot;&gt;diamox&lt;/a&gt; can be prescribed by your doctor to help with acclimatization. I've used it above 13,000 feet and it's greatly helped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay hydrated, you rapidly lose hydration at altitude. Tea is your friend, so bring a good amount of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last time I was at 18,000 feet, we chewed &lt;a href=&quot;http://homeremedies.ygoy.com/updates/90/how-to-avoid-altitude-sickness/&quot;&gt;ginger root&lt;/a&gt; and it helped to some degree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="48" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:35:29.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="40" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="58" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:35:38.303" Score="37" ViewCount="6812" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bunch of dirty hard-shell pants and jackets. Are these safe to put in the washer and dryer? If not, how should I clean them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:26:06.487" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:26:06.487" Title="How do I wash Gore-Tex clothing?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="41" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:36:55.243" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;What really gets to me, is strap placement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I'm a big guy, if the straps on the top half of pack are close, it gets really uncomfortable real fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'd also like to add strap placement on the watch-out list. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I definitely agree that you should buy a backpack hands on. Internet is too much of a gamble for me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="40" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:36:55.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="42" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="50" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:37:33.977" Score="20" ViewCount="5117" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be winter camping, and I'm concerned about getting frostbite. What can I do to protect myself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:49:36.993" LastActivityDate="2019-01-30T21:19:44.340" Title="What do I do to prevent and treat frostbite?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;frostbite&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="43" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:37:51.027" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a synthetic sleeping bag, you can put your hiking clothes down the bag, near your feet, when you go to sleep. Your body warmth will help them get drier. Note, however, that they will not be completely dry by morning, but will still remain somewhat damp.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Still, better than completely wet.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And do not use this method with a down bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:37:51.027" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="44" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:44:47.190" Score="14" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eat something with high energy content. If it's warm, even better, but as Freedom of the Hills explains, the warmth is merely a psychological factor, what &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; warms you up is the energy in the food. Chocolate is great for this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put the hypothermic person into a sleeping bag together with another, hopefully warm, person.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On short trips where you don't carry a sleeping bag, carry an emergency blanket. They are very small and light but reflect body heat back onto you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, of course, the most important part: Don't get caught by cold weather. It is okay to be caught in a situation that is &quot;somewhat&quot; colder than you planned for, but not &quot;much, much&quot; colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T22:24:16.860" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T22:24:16.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="45" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:46:17.537" Score="112" ViewCount="54749" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last summer I spent 15 days hiking with my boyfriend, in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarek_National_Park&quot;&gt;Sarek National Park&lt;/a&gt;, where there are no places to restock with more food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The food issue was a major part of the pre-planning, as weight was also of high importance. Looking back, I can already identify a few mistakes I made, but I'd like to hear from other people who are more experienced at taking long trips so that I can be even more efficient next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Efficient&quot; means being not-too-hungry at the end of the day whilst expending the lowest amount of weight. It's important that the food is going to last the full two weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume I have no taste at all and don't care about eating the same tasteless thing every day if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="30" LastEditDate="2012-03-13T20:35:46.853" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:23:28.943" Title="What is the most efficient food to take a for a 12-15 day hiking trip?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="17" CommentCount="17" FavoriteCount="57" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="46" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="31" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:47:42.930" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally highly recommend using an alcohol stove (pepsi-can stove, or some other variant), especially when hiking solo. In my opinion, the weight benefits far exceed the disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefits of Alcohol*:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An alcohol stove is usually much lighter than a comparable white gas/propage/kerosene/gasoline.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An alcohol stove also has no moving parts that can malfunction. Quite reliable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be easily made even in the field, using two soda cans and a sharp knife.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol is relatively easy to come by and better available than most butane canisters  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually takes longer to boil water than more traditional stoves.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In higher altitudes/colder weather it takes longer to prime the stove and get it going.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In such conditions it will also take longer to boil the water/meal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*We are talking about stove fuel here, not about drinking the stuff...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-12-03T15:44:43.910" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T15:44:43.910" CommentCount="6" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-01-25T07:00:48.590" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="47" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:50:32.907" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The distribution of sun east / west should be pretty close to the same. In the northern hemisphere, the south side of areas gets more sun due to the sun being more to the south (perpendicular to the equator). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't necessarily translate into there being more vegetation on the south side of ridges though, it depends on the environment. Southern California for instance will typically have less vegetation on the south side of a slope due to the increased heat and very low level of moisture. In less arid areas, you can see more vegetation on the south slope because they are not starved for water and they have more sunlight than the north slope will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum that up, it's not safe to determine north or south based solely on presence of vegetation. You have to know your environment and what the effects of additional sunlight will have on the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:50:32.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="48" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:54:32.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regular sunglasses should give you protection from snow blindness, so long as they protect against UV radiation. How well they protect you is dependent on how well the lenses cover your eyes, and how well the lenses or coatings filter or deflect UV radiation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="60" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:54:32.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="50" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="42" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:54:39.270" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; better to avoid frostbite than to treat it. You can easily lose fingers and toes to frostbite. When you are camping in the winter, you cannot go into the lodge and warm up like you do snow skiing. You should really pay attention to frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is much below freezing and you have numb fingers or toes, you should take some kind of action. If you have more clothes, use them. Chemical foot or hand heating packs work well and can prevent frostbite. You can warm your fingers or toes on someone else's stomach. You might be able to move around a lot and warm up your fingers or toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When your body starts getting cold, it reduces circulation to your extremities (fingers and toes) and they get cold. If you can warm up your whole body, it will warm your fingers and toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get frostbite on your face if you leave it exposed to the wind. Your face warms up easier than your fingers and toes, though. If you have any numb spots on your cheeks, ears, or nose, warm them up. You can also see fresh frostbite on a face -- it's usually kind of white colored.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:54:39.270" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="51" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:55:14.317" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regular polarized sunglasses are usually meant for drivers of cars, as these glasses, in addition to darkening the sky, also suppress glare/reflections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you travel in snow, light will come from all different angles and directions and will therefore be polarized in all kinds of directions, so a mere polarizer will not filter a sufficient amount of light. I learned this the hard way...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in addition to a polarizer, any goggles you use in the outdoors should have something that darkens independent of orientation. How much depends on where you want to go. Just in the mountains where there is some snow, or onto glaciers and ice fields where you'll see nothing but snow for days. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but I know that the goggles I use for trekking are so dark that I'm not allowed to wear them while driving (some 99% reduction, I believe). This is something people in an outdoors store should be able to explain to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another very important thing to watch out for is stray light. What I also learned the hard way is that clip-on sunshades for your regular glasses let too much light in from the sides. You want to make sure that once you wear your goggles, any light that reaches your eyes must travel through the glasses. Again, on a glacier or in snow, light comes from all directions. Serious expedition-style goggles therefore look a bit like old pilot's goggles, with leather at the sides preventing any stray light from sneaking in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T21:59:38.817" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T21:59:38.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="52" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="29" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:55:31.683" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boiling-&lt;/strong&gt; 185°F (85°C) water will become sterile in minutes.  Bringing the water up to boiling point will typically sterilize it.  At high altitude you may need to boil for a minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chemical-&lt;/strong&gt; Iodine, chlorine, and other chemicals can sterilize water.  Follow directions on products specifically designed for this purpose.  Typically you'll need to mix it and then let it sit for some number of minutes.  Although chemicals are required, this method is often the most convenient as carrying a few pills is simple.  If chlorine scares you, consider that you have been drinking it your whole life in tap water.  Some battery operated systems work with salt and electrolysis, producing chlorine.  This is convenient as well due to the availability of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distillation-&lt;/strong&gt; This method works by distilling the water, usually in a solar still, to remove almost all impurities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UV Light-&lt;/strong&gt; Battery powered SteriPens produce UV light and kill everything including viruses. This is similar to some of the best pool water treatment systems, is very convenient and may work in less than a minute, although pens are costly and you'll need fresh batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Filtration-&lt;/strong&gt; As simple and quick as pumping the water through a filter.  Each filter is different, but typically they remove 99%+ of bacteria, but not viruses unless a chemical is contained in the filter. You'll need to replace parts periodically and keep the system clean, but overall its pretty convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunlight Pasteurization-&lt;/strong&gt; Depending on the sunlight strength and outside temperature, you can leave a plastic bottle of water in sunlight for 6 hours+.  The heat and UV light will make water safe. The downside is that you need to look up or guess how long based on the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backwoods tricks-&lt;/strong&gt; Survival techniques include many ways of obtaining water that is probably pure.  They include distillation techniques (covered pits with pots, etc), and careful rainwater and dew collection or extraction and filtration by plants or clothing.  None of these methods are convenient for daily use, and some are risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of these methods necessarily protect against chemical contaminants, although some water filters are specifically designed to &quot;filter&quot; chlorine or other common chemicals.  I have heard skepticism regarding some of those claims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-10-25T15:28:39.420" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T15:28:39.420" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="53" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="42" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:58:13.643" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As stated above, the best way to treat frostbite is to avoid it all together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for proper treatment, you should slowly warm the affected area, typically done through a warm water submersion. Frostbitten feet should not be thawed until you are ready to no longer walk, as you will more than likely lose the use of your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, in a situation where you are likely to get frostbite you are also likely to get hypothermia. Make sure you study up on the early warning signs of hypothermia. It's a killer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you tell people where you are going, when to expect you, etc. if you plan on doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="48" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T20:58:13.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="54" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="212" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:58:45.827" Score="23" ViewCount="31860" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of Gore-Tex walking boots that I have used a fair bit now and want to make sure I keep them serviceable for as long as possible. What is the best way to maintain Gore-Tex walking boots?  Do they need reproofing occasionally or is just brushing the mud off enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:42:16.723" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:42:16.723" Title="How do I take care of Gore-Tex boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="55" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27" CreationDate="2012-01-24T20:59:13.983" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;So if you're completely out of your expected element, have no emergency blanket or shelter, then there are a few options to provide some additional protection from the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get out of the wind. The wind makes things that much more miserable. If you can, get into an area protected from the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find some insulation. Stuff leaves loosely between clothing layers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't lie directly on the ground. It will literally suck the warmth right out of you. Put down a layer of branches / leaves and lie on top of it. Make sure it's thicker than you think it should be as the make-shift mattress will compress under your weight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If necessary, keep moving. If you've done all the above and are still freezing. It may help to do some light calisthenics. Make sure you don't exercise to the point of sweating as that will just exasperate the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:25:05.533" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:25:05.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="56" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="61" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:01:03.190" Score="35" ViewCount="16065" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a campout this weekend and the temperature isn't supposed to rise above zero degrees Fahrenheit (0°F) the entire time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been in subzero weather before and I didn't last long, even with plenty of insulation. What can I do differently this time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="62" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T15:29:22.703" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T15:29:22.703" Title="How can I stay warm in subzero (0°F, -18°C ) weather?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="14" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="57" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:01:06.650" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basic &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_navigation&quot;&gt;celestial navigation&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the northern hemisphere, the star &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris#Role_as_pole_star&quot;&gt;Polaris&lt;/a&gt; indicates north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the southern hemisphere, you can use the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross#Markers&quot;&gt;Southern Cross&lt;/a&gt;, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_pole#Finding_the_south_celestial_pole&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Finding the south celestial pole&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2013-03-10T19:32:35.567" LastActivityDate="2013-03-10T19:32:35.567" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="58" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="40" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:02:15.680" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;When washing rain coats and fleeces I use Nikwax tech wash and reproofer (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.millets.co.uk/product/040874/tech-wash-tx-direct-300ml.html?attribute=166580&quot;&gt;millets link&lt;/a&gt;), on the bottle these say reconmended for Goretex so I assume it's the same.  In general with waterproof clothing do not use normal washing powders as these remove the waterproof coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-31T20:36:44.137" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T20:36:44.137" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="59" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:04:58.690" Score="11" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevention. It's a good idea to carry extra clothing. Fleece is light and compressible, and it doesn't soak up water. An extra fleece top and bottom can be a life saver. And, there are lot of times someone you're with can use it just for comfort. If you are far enough away that you are potentially unable to return to the car in an &quot;I-give-up-get-me-outta-here&quot; hike, make sure you have enough clothing, bags, etc. to survive the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out of the wind. If you're in deep snow, you can dig a snow cave. Find a sheltered cliff or something if you need to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Like Lagerbaer said, eat. You need calories to generate heat, and if you've been hiking hard for a few hours, you may be short on energy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay dry. This is easier said that done, if you don't have waterproof clothing. So make sure you have waterproof clothing. Breathable is best but most expensive. Airtight jackets can make you wet and cold from sweat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:04:58.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="60" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:06:12.667" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://allergies.emedtv.com/benadryl/benadryl.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Benadryl cream&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; works about as good as anything for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-03-01T00:32:36.370" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T00:32:36.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="61" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:07:39.243" Score="24" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep active.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a good hat. While your body can reduce blood flow to fingers and toes to prevent the core from getting cold, for obvious reasons it doesn't want to reduce blood flow to your head. Thus, it's important to keep your head warm. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat sufficiently. Your body needs a lot of energy to stay warm. Don't deny it that energy. Mix food with readily available energy (simple carbohydrates: sugar. Chocolate is GREAT for this purpose) and food with slow-but-long-burning energy (fat. My outdoor club's former president mixes quite a lot of butter into his dinner, which he claims helps him stay warm throughout the night)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before you go to bed, run a few circles around the campsite to get warm. It is much easier to keep warm inside a sleeping bag than it is to &lt;em&gt;get&lt;/em&gt; warm inside a sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T22:06:17.140" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T22:06:17.140" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="62" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:09:01.587" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can offer my favorite hiking food routine, but I usually just had it for 4-5 days max, between resupplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quaker Oatmeal for breakfast (usually two packets with the powdered milk, add cold water to each packet).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3-4 snacks during the day (2 Snickers, 2 M&amp;amp;Ms, sometimes other variants like Cliff bars or Oatmeal snacks).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A big tortilla with yellow cheese and pepperoni slices for lunch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 Lipton meal (Made by Knorr) of pasta with sauce, or rice, powdered mashed potatoes in the mix, and tuna in bags (more efficient than cans in terms of weight) for dinner, also in a tortilla.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That mix kept me going for a long while, but as I said, I never carried more than 5 days of food on me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="32" LastEditorUserId="18296" LastEditDate="2019-07-27T12:31:12.970" LastActivityDate="2019-07-27T12:31:12.970" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="63" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:10:07.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any sunglasses or will help protect against snow blindness. UV protection is highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:10:07.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="64" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="718" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:10:09.210" Score="6" ViewCount="280" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have looked at offerings from MemoryMap and Anquet, but once you scale beyond a small area they become prohibitively expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="65" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T20:12:32.063" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T20:23:14.490" Title="Are there any cheap 1:25K electronic maps for the UK or Europe?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2012-02-01T01:46:21.397" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="65" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="42" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:11:25.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can you protect yourself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra layers on your extremities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chemical warmers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay out of the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use 4-season gear meant for freezing temperatures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="60" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:11:25.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="66" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:12:06.503" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've not camped in subzero weather before but I have spent several hours working on glaciers.  The things I've found really helpful have been lots of layers.  Typically I would wear the following.  Thermal underwear, tshirt, jumper, fleece, ski-jacket, rain-coat &amp;amp; trousers, sallopettes and waterproof trousers.  Along with thick socks and decent boots, hat, neck warmer and gloves.  I found having several pairs of gloves handy as when wet they lose their warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for sleeping I've probably camped out in sub zero - I've just never had a thermometer with me to check.  I've found a good mummy bag (wrapped in a blanket if it's really cold) on an airbed enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tips to bear in mind are the ground is cold is insulate underneath yourself as well as on top.  One trick is to use an airbed on top of a roll matt.  The smaller the tent the better as it will trap some warmth in, an obviously a smaller tent will warm up from your breath quicker than a big tent.  Lagerbaer also makes very good points which I was beaten to making. :)  Also things like cup-a-soups are good for warming you up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastEditorUserId="33" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T21:18:42.497" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:18:42.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="67" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:14:55.447" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the area. Some places (Yosemite, Glacier Bay) there are pretty much no safe bear bags and you need a bear-proof container. The bear bag should be high enough that a bear can't reach it from the ground, and far enough from the tree trunk that it cannot reach it from the trunk of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of things that are as important as the number of feet from the ground or tree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put everything that has an odor in a sealed plastic bag. It's best if the bear doesn't smell food from the bear bag, and this will help.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have everything that smells like food out of your tent, such as toothpaste, soap, hand lotion, and granola bar wrappers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:14:55.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="68" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:15:22.853" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on how much moisture you're talking about, it can also help to wrap some clothes together with a microfiber towel and wring them out together. The towel will draw some of the moisture out of the clothing and into itself. This won't get clothes dry, but it can substantially reduce the amount of water in clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use this technique to mostly dry out my son's cotton socks (yes I know cotton is evil! But it's harder to justify hiking socks that someone will outgrow in a few months). It takes them from soaked to damp, and definitely gets more water out than simply wringing them alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:15:22.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="69" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:20:32.673" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're on an extended trip away from civilization, I wouldn't recommend it anywhere except directly from a spring coming out of rock. If there are animals in the area, you can be sure they some have died, or done their business in the water and it could be contaminated. While water in the alps is likely safer that rivers or lakes in most areas, I wouldn't risk it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:20:32.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="70" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:21:26.743" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some people prefer to have one long enough to use as a short walking stick. Others prefer to save weight and go as short as possible. In any case, it should be long enough so that &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; can use it properly to self-arrest. Everything else is optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could rent a couple of ice axes of different sizes, go out to a steep snowy slope, and practice self-arrests to see what you're comfortable with. The practice will be valuable in itself. Keep in mind that stopping in powder, ice, and deep slush are all different experiences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:21:26.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="71" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:23:07.990" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a water faucet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would filter any untreated water in the Alps, and filter or boil melted snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:23:07.990" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="72" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:24:14.743" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, what you decide to pack depends on your trip and the environment, but these are the staples I &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; bring along:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Navigation:&lt;/strong&gt; You always need to be able to figure out where you are and which way you need to head to get out. In my opinion, a map without &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topography&quot;&gt;topography&lt;/a&gt; isn't a map (unless you're on very flat land).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS with extra batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Local trail map with detailed topography&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warmth &amp;amp; Shelter:&lt;/strong&gt; You need to be able to get warm and protected from the elements. I always bring a sleeping bag if I know it'll get cold at night, even on single-day hikes where I don't plan on sleeping in the backcountry. God forbid you get lost and have to spend the night, it's worth the extra few pounds for peace of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof matches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Synthetic tinder (If it has rained recently, it'll be hard to find dry sticks for starting a fire)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Space blanket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trash bags (Infinitely usable as waterproof containers or shelters)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rescue &amp;amp; Signaling:&lt;/strong&gt; If you fall and break both your legs or get &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston&quot;&gt;your arm pinned under a rock&lt;/a&gt;, you need to be able to make a commotion and attract attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlight with extra batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signaling mirror (I personally don't bring one, but I know a lot of people say you should)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food &amp;amp; Water:&lt;/strong&gt; This isn't just so you can stand on a mountain eating a Nature Valley bar like they do in the commercials. If you need to survive for a few days, you'll appreciate the sustenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pot for boiling water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water bottle with clean water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Granola bars or bagels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Survival:&lt;/strong&gt; If you have to make shelter, conduct first aid or perform any other basic camp tasks, you'll probably need this stuff anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knife or multitool&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rope or parachute cord&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bandanna&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duct tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First Aid Kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; As Phil mentioned, you should &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; bring a cell phone. Keep it in a waterproof bag, and turn it off so you're not disturbed. But having one in a pinch is the difference between being able to summon help for yourself and sitting around hoping someone is out there looking for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-22T21:57:22.970" LastActivityDate="2012-02-22T21:57:22.970" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="73" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:24:38.047" Score="65" ViewCount="24233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I once tied a bear bag with a haphazard bundle of knots, and despite being seemingly impossible to untie, it came loose when lowering the bear bag and nearly smoked my friend standing under it. What are some good knots to learn for most stuff encountered while camping / backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="23" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T00:36:55.497" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:25:04.853" Title="What are good knots to know for camping and backpacking?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="53" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="74" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:27:17.360" Score="10" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More insulation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay dry inside. Make sure you wear something that lets sweat escape.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your head covered with a hat and, if possible, a mask or balaclava.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat plenty of food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you stop, you will probably want to be doing something, stand at a fire, or get in your sleeping bag. It's hard to just stand around in sub-zero weather without getting cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:27:17.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="75" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:28:02.617" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the core alps (Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Austria), you can drink water almost everywhere directly without filtering. There are only two exceptions: If there is a thing or something like this that forbids drinking it, or if you can see an obvious reason not to drink it, like for example a strange smell or abnormal color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the other countries in the Alps (France, Italy, etc.) I would only drink water unfiltered if you can drink it directly from the source, i.e. glacial lakes or the source itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T19:36:49.660" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T19:36:49.660" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="76" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:29:50.773" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go with a couple of Mountain House dehydrated meals per day, and check the calories per ounce of snacks and other food that I buy. Everybody does this differently. I have carried a watermelon before. I found this to be somewhat inefficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:29:50.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="77" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="130" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:30:06.977" Score="18" ViewCount="540" Body="&lt;p&gt;While going through some rapids, we slid across a jagged rock and it put a huge gouge in the bow of my fiberglass canoe. What method and process is best for repairing it, so that next time I hit some rocks they don't immediately break through and swamp the canoe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T12:05:59.630" Title="I put a big gouge in the bow of my canoe going across rocks. How can I fix it?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="78" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:30:51.487" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing you can do is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acclimatization&quot;&gt;acclimatize&lt;/a&gt;. This means you should adjust your body gradually to the height. This can be done, for example, by increasing the height you're staying at from day to day. Another very important fact that is widely used by mountaineers is that you should always sleeps some meters below the highest point of the day. So for example, you reach the height of 4000 meters, where you plan to spend the night. Before going to sleep you should if possible gain another 200 - 300 meters, spend some time there, then go down and sleep at 4000 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of mountaineers also use &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetazolamide&quot;&gt;Acetazolamid&lt;/a&gt; (Diamox), which can be taken as a  preventative. But its use is discussed controversially because it has a lot of side effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally to that you should drink a lot, but no alcohol, and you should also take care of your nutrition. It is very important that you force yourself to not use a lot of power. (This is particularly important when climbing a high mountain. You have to force yourself to walk slowly enough). If you feel slight symptoms it isn't necessary to do anything, but if it gets worse you should go down to lower altitudes as soon as possible. If it is really bad, you should immediately seek medical help, because it can kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T19:59:52.037" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T19:59:52.037" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="79" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="84" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:32:13.680" Score="18" ViewCount="9148" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being an avid skier I have ski poles lying around, so I've always used those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do proper trekking poles offer any advantages for snowshoeing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T15:10:59.443" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T13:30:40.993" Title="Should I get trekking poles for snowshoeing, or stick with ski poles?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="80" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:33:38.970" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important knots you'll ever need to know are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch&quot;&gt;taut-line hitch&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt;.  For instance, on your bear bag, you would tie a bowline through a handle or other loop the bag, and then the taut-line on the other side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing about a bowline is that no matter how much force you've put on it, you can crack it easily to take it apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:33:38.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="81" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:35:24.263" Score="20" ViewCount="3580" Body="&lt;p&gt;I frequently hike and camp in the forests of the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, etc). Considering this climate can get quite cold in the Fall &amp;amp; Winter, what are the best strategies to starting a fire? Assuming I have a lighter, what materials would be best to gather? Are any types of wood structures better for this climate (tepee, log cabin, etc)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="71" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:23:24.977" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:23:24.977" Title="What are the most effective ways to start a fire in the cold?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="82" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="79" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:37:37.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used both and it isn't really a difference to me. I would even prefer the ski poles, because they have baskets at the bottom, so that they can't sink deep into the snow. Trekking poles usually don't have this feature. So I would chose ski poles. But there are also two advantages if you're using trekking poles: Usually these poles you can adjust the length. This is very comfortable if you're wont to lend the poles, or if you cross a steep flank of a hill. In this case you can shorten one of the poles and increase the length of the other poles. Additionally, it is easier to carry them in your backpack because you can make them very short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Definitively, I wouldn't use cross country ski poles, because they're usually just too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T21:45:46.347" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:45:46.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="84" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="79" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:42:12.740" Score="14" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking poles can telescope down and pack away.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you happen to have a shelter that uses trekking poles to hold it up, sometimes you need to be able to set your poles to a different height.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people also like to lengthen/shorten their poles depending on whether they are going down or up hill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your shelter doesn't require them, I think the answer is &quot;Ski poles are fine&quot;.  Then, in the rare case where you want to walk without poles, you can tuck them horizontally in the small of your back (through your pack straps).  If you like to go up or down with different length poles, just grasp the ski pole at a different spot on it's body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:42:12.740" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="85" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="79" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:42:57.413" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles are lighter and sometimes easier to break than ski poles. Some have the advantage of folding up into a short package.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use trekking poles, you may want some with changeable baskets so you can put on some larger baskets that won't sink into the powder so easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:42:57.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="86" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="183" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:43:42.913" Score="20" ViewCount="1908" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most people I know and myself store food in bear bags. However, I have heard that some parks have banned bear bags and require canisters. I've also heard there is a bear in New York that has figured out how to open some bear canisters! Additionally, some of my friends have recommended bear canisters, but their reported advantage is usually limited to the bear canister makes a great stool!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In what situations does each method have an advantage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T15:02:51.957" Title="Bear bags vs Bear canisters: which is better?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="88" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:47:00.470" Score="35" ViewCount="63402" Body="&lt;p&gt;People used to tolerate a much wider range of temperatures. What techniques can I apply to widen my body's range of comfort?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few examples that may or may not help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spend a lot of time slightly chilled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spend a short amount of time as cold as I can stand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I'm home, keep the heat down low.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do Qi'gong to guide the Earth's energy to warm my hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-28T10:57:46.037" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T01:08:40.400" Title="How can I acclimatize to cold?" Tags="&lt;cold&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="89" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:51:42.420" Score="38" ViewCount="13856" Body="&lt;p&gt;One great problem with fire in the wild is that it may not be completely out. What is the recommended procedure to prevent accidental forest fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-13T04:03:22.993" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T04:03:22.993" Title="How can I be absolutely sure my fire is safely extinguished?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="90" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:53:43.380" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have said, your clothing, and lots of layers is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, the composition of your clothes matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not wear cotton in cold weather.&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;Cotton kills&quot; is a common phrase amongst cold weather-goers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wear exclusively wool or wicking sythetic fabrics like fleece. Cotton's insulating ability goes to nearly zero when it is wet, and it absorbs moisture, so it keeps you wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wool and synthetics retains their insulating ability even when soaking wet, and they also wicks water away, to keep you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:53:43.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="91" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:56:23.660" Score="27" ViewCount="2929" Body="&lt;p&gt;One recommendation I got in case of emergency or intentional sheltering in a snowy location is to dig a lower hole, so that the cold air can move there, while one can sleep higher up where the heat stays. I understand the physics involved, but I am not aware of how much difference it can do in practice. How many degrees are we talking here ? Is it really recommended, or does it just waste energy ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T13:13:03.580" Title="Is digging a &quot;cold hole&quot; really effective when sheltering in a snowed area?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="92" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:58:07.747" Score="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tying knots is actually a bit of an art. Depending on what you need it for, there are knots that slide, create loops, tighten under load, and do tons of other things. Here are some backcountry essentials:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bowline Knot:&lt;/strong&gt; Use this when you need a knot that absolutely, positively will not slip (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3798/how-secure-is-the-bowline-knot-in-different-situations&quot;&gt;unless loaded wrong&lt;/a&gt;). When I was in camp, we'd use these when making climbing harnesses out of webbing, since they were so safe. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/index.php?Categ=boating&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[link]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hzYQt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Overhand Knot:&lt;/strong&gt; Use this when you need to make a section of rope chunky so it doesn't slide or is easier to grab onto: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doubleoverhand/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[link]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7s2G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Noose (or Hangman's Knot):&lt;/strong&gt; Use this when you need to make a loop of rope that slides easily to tighten around or pull things. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/noose/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[link]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DIilc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Fisherman's Knot:&lt;/strong&gt; Use this when you need to attach two ropes together, as it holds very well when force is applied in the direction of the rope. Essentially just a double overhand knot on two ropes tied around each other. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[link]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v46pm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slip Knot:&lt;/strong&gt; Use this when you need a knot, but you'll be undoing it frequently. It is easy to undo, even if it's been under heavy load.&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/slip/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.comhttp://www.animatedknots.com/slip/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt; [link]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GhNZF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've mastered these, you should start understanding the dynamics of how knots can make ropes do all sorts of cool things. It's important that you practice these and know them well. You don't want to make a mistake and then trust a heavy load or your safety to a knot that &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot#Security&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;might slip&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful, and good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-03-12T16:29:45.637" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="93" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-24T21:59:16.097" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I've never taken an unpowered, hand-built raft out onto a commercial river, but I do have experience under sail and under power on the Columbia River in the United States. What I know about maritime law, tradition and etiquette might not be exactly what they expect in Europe, but I imagine the principles are much the same.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases, a craft without a motor has the right of way. On your raft, you'd be free to use the width of the river channel as you saw fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, large ships with deep drafts, like river cruisers or river barges, are typically confined to a particular lane in the river. Their right to use the lane supersedes your right of way as an unpowered craft. You would have to make way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're passing another vessel on equal terms, say coming head on with a small powerboat, tradition dictates that both you pass each other port-to-port. The left side of your vessel passes the other ship on its left; aim your raft to the right of vessels you're passing head-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might consider posting red and green lights on your port and starboard sides, respectively. For that matter, you might even consider building a mast and flying a flag to increase your visibility. Just don't fly anything with an established meaning, like diver-down, or the NATO alphanumeric flags. Your country of origin, upright, would be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should talk to cruise ship captains and lock masters on the river for more advice about the Danubue in particular. The Danube has locks, and the lock masters decide if and when a vessel can enter the lock. I have no idea if a lock master would allow a hand-built raft into a lock, but if you're considering it, you should ask in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cruise ship captains operating on the Danube could give you more practical advice about the nature of the river and your responsibilities on the Danube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="60" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T21:59:16.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="94" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:02:30.217" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used both kinds of packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;External frame&lt;/strong&gt; packs are generally cheaper, can carry more gear, and allow much better ventilation to your back.  In addition to the main compartment and side pockets, most external frame packs also have an area above and below the main compartment where gear can be lashed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal frame&lt;/strong&gt; packs tend to have larger interior volume, allow more freedom of movement, and (especially in areas prone to thunderstorms) don't have large metallic poles that go above your head.  I've seen a few modern internal frame packs that have air channels for ventilation, I've never tried one, but it looks like it may help to keep things cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:02:30.217" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="95" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="89" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:04:03.333" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The legalities depend on where you are - the only sure fire way to know is to look it up depending on where you're going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best method I find is generally in some ways the simplest - soak it and all the surrounding area in plenty of water, then make sure it's sufficiently cool. If possible, start the fire next to a plentiful water source - such as a stream or a lake, which makes things easier in this regard. It also has the added benefit that if the fire does start to spread you can easily get as much water as you need to put it out, and it can only spread away from the water supply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you've applied the water, then be sure to hang around for a good while, don't just leave - &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; if it's windy (tempting as it might be to get a move on in such conditions it only takes a bit of wind to blow on a tiny ember to restart the fire.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If such a water source was not available then (emergencies aside) I wouldn't attempt to start a fire at all, things could just go wrong too easily - and far more often than not it isn't a risk worth taking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T22:24:51.353" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:24:51.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="96" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:08:01.833" Score="75" ViewCount="64070" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any resource (website, book, etc) that lists all European countries, and the state of free camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, I want to see in which European countries I'm not fined when I place my tent somewhere outside of an official camping ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T15:12:11.940" LastActivityDate="2020-10-10T19:28:40.953" Title="Where in Europe is wild camping permitted?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="23" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="27" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="97" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="81" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:11:12.323" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good kindling and tinder is essential - things like cotton balls, newspaper, toilet paper or dried wood can be beneficial here. If you haven't brought anything with you look for small, dry twigs which should ignite fairly easily. Other dried material such as dried grass also works well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as the usual matches and lighter I also always carry a firesteel - takes a bit of knack to use it but it'll create sparks pretty much anywhere, even if it's cold and soaking wet (though obviously make sure your tinder / kindling isn't!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've got your tinder ignited, slowly add the kindling (don't add too much at once or you'll likely starve the flame of oxygen. Once you've got a nice fire going with the kindling you can look to add bigger logs, again gradually and making sure they're thoroughly dry, until you have a fire the size you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although not strictly speaking part of this question, I think it's always worth remembering that you should take steps to make sure your fire is safely extinguished as well - see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/89/how-can-i-be-absolutely-sure-my-fire-is-safely-extinguished&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for the related question!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:38:50.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="98" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="89" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:11:27.240" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;About the legal aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It varies wildly depending on where in the world are you and what is the regulation there. There are protected wildlife territories in which a fireplace &lt;strong&gt;shouldn't&lt;/strong&gt; be made. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there are aspects like season. It may not be wise to make fire in certain times of the year in certain areas, like in a dry season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About the putting out. If a water-source is near, it is best to soak the fireplace itself and the ground surrounding it (as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/74/berry120&quot;&gt;berry120&lt;/a&gt; mentioned). It would also be a good idea, if possible, to make a little trench around the fire so that it has less opportunity to spread. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a water source is not present - try putting large quantities of dirt on top of the fireplace. The waiting a moment for the flames to go out, then separating the fireplace a little, and throwing more dirt on it. If everything is buried, there should be no open flame possible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="40" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T05:41:41.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="99" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="89" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:13:17.893" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make sure the embers are cool.&lt;/strong&gt; This is the most important thing you should do, regardless of anything else. If the embers are still warm, there's always the chance they'll spark up again in a strong wind with the right fuel. Embers can take hours to cool off, but if you put your fire out before you go to bed, they should be cool in the morning. Pouring cold water on them is another way to cool them quickly if you have to leave in a hurry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remove sources of oxygen.&lt;/strong&gt; Oxygen is the fuel for wood fires. You don't want a wind whipping through and heating up any old embers. Try to cover your fire pit with sand or dirt so that no embers are exposed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remove all potential fuel.&lt;/strong&gt; Scatter any remaining firewood so that it's at least a few feet from where the fire was. To the extent that it's possible, you should also try to remove any dry grass or small sticks. Pouring water on the pit also ensures that there isn't anything that'll spark up after you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="29" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T23:07:14.190" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:07:14.190" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="142" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:15:17.400" Score="29" ViewCount="5081" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any good hints, tips and ways you can use to navigate around and find your location in thick fog (apart from a GPS)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-02T13:32:31.497" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T12:13:15.933" Title="How can you navigate / determine your location in thick fog?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="101" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="147" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:17:20.490" Score="26" ViewCount="1142" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are going to buy some hiking boots as we've been using regular tennis shoes anytime we go on a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the things I need to keep in mind when looking for a good set of &lt;strong&gt;quality&lt;/strong&gt; hiking boots (materials, type etc)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We generally go temperate hiking, so don't need something that protects against terrible cold. Also, we do walk along rivers and occasionally will get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="64" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T22:46:45.707" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T16:20:52.460" Title="What do I need to look for in good, quality hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="89" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:18:54.177" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like many questions, this will depend somewhat on your location. For example, some soils will keep coals dry while allowing them enough oxygen to smolder. Some woods produce longer-lasting coals or more insulating ash. Get to know your location. Discuss the question with other fire-makers in your area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, there are probably some general guidelines to follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consider the weather.&lt;/strong&gt; Rain discourages fires, but certainly doesn't prevent them. Wind makes fires hotter. A long period of dry weather means vegetation and detritus are dryer and more prone to burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prepare the site&lt;/strong&gt;. Don't make a fire right on a &lt;strong&gt;tree root&lt;/strong&gt;. Roots can smolder underground for a long time. I've been told that there were cases where root systems smoldered for over a mile. Remove forest brush underneath and around the fire site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have &lt;strong&gt;a way to put out the fire before you start&lt;/strong&gt;. Water is the obvious choice. Peeing on fires works, but social protocol and smell may disqualify this approach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use small wood&lt;/strong&gt;. The smaller the sticks, the sooner they'll burn to completion. A smaller, hotter fire with smaller sticks also produces less air pollutants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stop adding wood&lt;/strong&gt; well before you leave camp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spread the fuel&lt;/strong&gt;. A burning stick, isolated, will usually go out, but 2 burning sticks together will usually keep burning. Spread burning sticks and coals and give them time to cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Add water&lt;/strong&gt;. Listen for the tell-tile hissing sound when water hits heat. If I'm using a water bottle with a spout, I can aim a stream well. Stir the water in to the ashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Check for heat&lt;/strong&gt;. Hold your hand close over the ashes &amp;amp; dead coals and feel for heat. If the fire was large, you may need to dig through the ashes to check for buried heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:18:54.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="86" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:23:07.337" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Better is often relative. I would not like having to carry a bear canister around as it is extra weight and bulk. However there are likely places where you will not have a tree suitable for hanging a bear bag, and the canister is the only way to go. It really depends on where you are going to be hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:23:07.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="91" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:29:31.517" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doing it correctly can ensure the temperature of the snow cave maintains around 32°F (0°C) or higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not just about digging the extra hole but how the entire cave is constructed that can make the difference between life and death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the general idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ABGdw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course doing this won't guarantee your safety, but it sure helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question directly, it makes a huge difference and is absolutely recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;As pointed out in the comments, we should always give credit to those from whom we get information from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://littleboingmarks.blogspot.com/search/label/instructional&quot;&gt;Mike Clelland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-11T13:13:03.580" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T13:13:03.580" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="105" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="110" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:31:21.240" Score="28" ViewCount="2402" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two sets of shoes that I wear while hiking. My favorite by far are my light weight trail running shoes. I have worn them on 9 mile hikes without any break-in, and went blister free. From a comfort perspective they are simply amazing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have a much more expensive hiking boot, which is made of durable leather, however every single time I wear them, even for a couple miles, I get blisters. I cannot seem to break them in to the point where they are comfortable to wear. When is it worth going through the pain to break in leather boots versus just sticking with the much more comfortable and light weight trail running shoes? I typically just day hike so my pack weight is often less than 20 lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:33:46.237" Title="Hiking boots vs trail shoes" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="106" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="115" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:31:39.267" Score="13" ViewCount="2124" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every time I go camping and it starts to rain, I can't sleep anymore because the raindrops that fall on the tent causes a really loud and annoying sound. Is there any technique or tool to avoid or at least decrease that sound?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:09:03.610" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:09:03.610" Title="How to reduce the annoying sound of falling raindrops on a tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="107" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="202" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:33:51.470" Score="21" ViewCount="1299" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the steps that should be taken if someone you're hiking with starts to sink uncontrollably into say a marsh? What are some good techniques and points that should be used to get them out safely and quickly? I'm not talking about times when their feet might get a bit wet, I mean when someone suddenly starts going down, it's clearly a real danger and you need to act quickly. Is there a type of rope that's good for this, good knots or anything like that? Things to practice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally, what's best to do if this happens to you and you're alone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-01T11:07:46.120" LastActivityDate="2012-05-01T11:07:46.120" Title="What steps should I take if someone starts sinking?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="101" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:34:49.067" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are you sure you need boots? I absolutely love my trail running shoes (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain-running/wildcat&quot;&gt;La Sportiva Wildcats&lt;/a&gt;). They are much lighter than  boots, and while they aren't water proof, they dry out very quickly due to being mostly mesh uppers. On hot days, you can literally feel the breeze through the uppers. It is very nice for me as my feet tend to sweat a lot in boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:34:49.067" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="81" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:35:15.557" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of ways to start fires, from a lighter to a chocolate bar and soda can. The basic principles always apply, though: you need oxygen, heat, and fuel (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_triangle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fire triangle&lt;/a&gt;). If you can combine these three just right, you'll get fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a sort of art to starting a fire. Generally you will need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tinder&lt;/strong&gt;: tiny twigs (dry pine branches are a good source), cedar or birch bark, lint from the laundry room at home, or newspaper all make excellent tinder. It's not a bad idea to keep a small amount of tinder in a plastic bag in your backpack, but you'll usually be able to find enough out in the woods. See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinder&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tinder (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt; for a list of other materials that make good tinder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kindling&lt;/strong&gt;: slightly larger pieces of wood that you can ignite with your tinder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A good supply of wood in varying sizes to build your way up from the kindling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can either stack the kindling around or on top of your tinder before lighting it, or add it as the tinder burns. Flame tends to burn from the bottom up, so starting tinder on top of kindling is not going to work as well (if at all).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using matches, stack some kindling around or on top of the tinder, making a sort of &quot;log cabin&quot; or &quot;tipi&quot; out of small sticks. Make sure to leave room for air to get to the flame, and an opening for your match to light the tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once your tinder is lit, the flame should slowly grow, consuming the tinder and igniting the kindling. Gently blowing on the flame will add oxygen and help this process along. Keep adding wood and blowing or fanning as needed, and gradually increase the size of the wood you add as the flame grows. Before long you'll have a nice flame going and you'll be able to sit back and enjoy the warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T04:17:31.887" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T04:17:31.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="105" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:37:30.793" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking boots excel in a few situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extended side-hilling/traversing.  Good boots take the stress off your ankles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People with bad ankles.  The ankle support of a good boot is hard to argue with.  If you have ankle problems, I don't think trail runnes are appropriate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy loads.  Even if you don't have ankle problems, you'll get them lugging around 80+ pounds of gear :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I wear runners 99% of the time when I hike.  I don't suffer from the problems above, and having light shoes on your feet is delightful.  I also appreciate the &quot;break-in&quot; problem and have never suffered from it in trail runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:37:30.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:37:43.557" Score="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a bit of digging I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/may/15/wild-camping-europe-uk-legalities&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, which covers some in Europe (not extensively as I first thought!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth pointing out that while for some (and probably most people here) wild camping means free-camping wandering around with a tent and supplies on foot, for many others it can mean driving around and parking up somewhere in a motor home. I refer to the first variety here, and this is the sort that is much less likely to give you problems (especially in countries where it's borderline.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any country, but especially those where it's more of a grey area, if you know where you're going beforehand then a quick call to the landowner (if any) to check that it's ok won't do you any harm. While it may not always be necessary, it may help to put your mind at rest so you're not worried about being approached or asked to leave during your stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, a general summary of countries in that link and elsewhere:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;France&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; A legal grey area, but is generally tolerated with the permission of landowners, or if you're well away from tourist sites. Don't light any fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;England and Wales&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; Generally not allowed without prior permission, though there are some exceptions (Dartmoor being the biggest one.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scotland&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; Legal pretty much anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ireland&lt;/strong&gt; It's tolerated in the more rural places, though it may be wise to obtain permission beforehand if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spain and Portugal&lt;/strong&gt; I believe it's tolerated but only in certain locations. Best to check with the landowner first to be sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Germany&lt;/strong&gt; Most of the links I can find suggest that it's not strictly speaking legal, but that many people have done it without any issues (providing you follow sensible precautions of course.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: German &lt;em&gt;wild zelten&lt;/em&gt; [zelten = camping] does not mean wilderness camping. The &lt;em&gt;wild&lt;/em&gt; here means illegal/without permission. With permission, camping is OK in many places and there are a few places where blanco permissions exist for particular situations.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25158/2404&quot;&gt;More details in this other answer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Netherlands&lt;/strong&gt; Generally not allowed. There are a few spots where it is allowed, near a designated pole for so called 'pole camping' (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.logerenbijdeboswachter.nl/paalkamperen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paalkamperen&lt;/a&gt;) '2020 note, the end of paalkamperen is announced, it is currently suspended due to COVID 19 but is said not to return.'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Italy&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; It doesn't seem to be tolerated, in fact most sources I can find seem to say it's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.go4awalk.com/ask/wildcampinginitaly.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;explicitly banned in many places&lt;/a&gt;. Having said that, the same link also says there's lots of good campsites in a lot of nice locations around, so that may be your alternative. (Edit: This may be a little harsher than reality, see Tullochgorum's comment below.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Greece&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; Illegal, but the rule is apparently rampantly ignored, with many unpoliced areas. The risk is on you if you try it here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Norway&lt;/strong&gt; Legal pretty much anywhere. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/globalassets/publikasjoner/M86/M86.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Right to Roam&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sweden&lt;/strong&gt; Legal pretty much anywhere. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/Enjoying-nature/The-Right-of-Public-Access/Outdoor-Access-Rights-in-other-languages/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Access Rights&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finland&lt;/strong&gt; Legal pretty much anywhere. &lt;a href=&quot;http://hdl.handle.net/10138/159060&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everyman’s rights and the code of conduct on private land&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bulgaria&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; An interesting one - I can't find any sources saying whether it's legal or not, but in the summer apparently hundreds of hippy families relocate to the beaches, wild camp there and often strip nude for good measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Estonia&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(See above link)&lt;/em&gt; A legal grey area, widely tolerated but best to obtain permission from the land owner beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Albania&lt;/strong&gt; Legal here on public land, but sometimes restricted for environmental reasons. Check first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Austria&lt;/strong&gt; Can't find any authoritative sources. General consensus is that it seems to be discouraged, but as long as you're sensible then there shouldn't be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Faroe Islands&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://visitfaroeislands.com/plan-your-stay/accommodation/camping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Not permitted&lt;/a&gt;. Camping is only permitted at designated campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2020-10-03T11:45:33.910" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T11:45:33.910" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="101" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:38:58.507" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience in this field is quite limited, but this is what I'd look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Light&lt;/strong&gt; - Hiking boots should be as light as possible. Believe me when I say that walking around when carrying a ton sucks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A proper sole&lt;/strong&gt; - and by proper I mean one that isn't too hard or too soft. Too hard will provide little to no traction on slippery surfaces, and one that is too soft will wear out quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water resistant&lt;/strong&gt; - It would be hard to speak of &lt;em&gt;water-proof&lt;/em&gt;, but hiking boots should definitely be water resistant. A quick slip should not render your feet completely wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as a sidenote, do wear those boots in before a long hike. And if there is little time, carry some duct-tape, as was mentioned in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1/how-do-i-treat-hot-spots-blisters-when-i-have-no-moleskin&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="40" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T18:45:59.460" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="118" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:39:25.537" Score="9" ViewCount="443" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike quite a bit in Vibram Fivefinger Kimodo Sports.  Like the KSO, they are covered and don't have a problem with rocks getting in.  I strongly prefer them to boots for marked trails, and would like to find ways of using them for some moderate trail-less backcountry hiking.  How can I protect myself from scratches?  Will gaiters work, or wear out underfoot without the sole gap provided by boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-14T09:00:58.853" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T09:00:58.853" Title="Rougher treks with Vibram Fivefingers" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;vibram-five-fingers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="114" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="121" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:39:32.977" Score="25" ViewCount="1070" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to purchase a camping sleeping bag. I'd like one that's high-quality, durable, and suitable for weekend hiking/camping trips during spring, summer, and fall in New England. (Most of my trips will be hiking with a backpack rather than driving to a campsite.) What factors should I consider when investing in a sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Given that the temperature varies so much in New England, what should&#xA;I look for in terms of temperature rating?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does having a camping pad underneath the sleeping bag affect what I&lt;br&gt;&#xA;should look for in a sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What type of material should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does the shape matter in terms of performance, or do some shapes just&#xA;provide less bulk so they're easier to pack/carry?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:13:58.750" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:13:58.750" Title="What to look for in a durable, 3-season sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="106" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:40:12.317" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me it's one of those sounds that can be soothing initially, but start to grate on you after hearing it for hours. You could try &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earplug#Hearing_protection&quot;&gt;ear plugs&lt;/a&gt;. I don't wear them because I like being able to hear my surroundings, but I often see people camping with mp3 players, so not everyone appears to feel the need to be aware of their surroundings!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="432" LastEditDate="2012-04-09T02:15:47.600" LastActivityDate="2012-04-09T02:15:47.600" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:40:59.560" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boiling is the best thing to do, as stated already - I was always taught to boil for 2 minutes and then it's safe. (Far from an accepted time though. For debate on how long you should boil, see here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1117/how-long-does-water-need-to-be-boiled-for-to-kill-all-bacteria-viruses&quot;&gt;How long does water need to be boiled for to kill all bacteria / viruses?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out below though it may be wise to use a filter to get rid of any toxic metals prior to boiling. I've personally not had an issue with them but it depends heavily on the area, and better safe than sorry!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where you can't boil it then chlorine tablets can be an alternative; while I don't have a source to hand I'm sure that I read they're generally recommended above iodine tablets because the latter if used extensively over time can damage the thyroid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-04-30T22:42:11.490" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:41:38.357" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three knots that I find cover most of my needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trucker's hitch can be cinched very tight and it's easy to add or remove tension. It's useful for tying down loads (on boats or roof racks), applying variable tension (e.g., for tarps or hammocks), and winching. It can be undone with a quick pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bowline is perfect for anchoring the end of a rope to a fixed object. It doesn't tighten when pressure is applied, and it's easy to undo. It's a good one for hammocks, tarps, tow lines, and tying up boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The square knot is for tying the ends of two shorter ropes to one another to make a longer rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="70" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:41:38.357" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="113" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:47:38.233" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When wearing my Vibrams, I tend to travel much more carefully than when wearing my trail runners, so I find that I need less protection than I would in more traditional footwear. I would say it depends a lot on the areas you'll be in. What do you mean by off trail? Forested areas, chaparral, flat land?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:47:38.233" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="119" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="232" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:47:39.803" Score="13" ViewCount="3564" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very bad reaction to poison ivy.  I take extraordinary measures to avoid any and all contact with it.  I wear long socks and full pants in the middle of summer but I still end up getting it on my hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a spray or cream that I can use to create a barrier on my skin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="79" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:44:16.703" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:44:16.703" Title="What can I do to prevent getting poison ivy?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="124" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:51:13.027" Score="31" ViewCount="10230" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in bad weather I'm always asking myself if it is a good idea to cook in my tent with a gas cooker. Obviously there is the danger of fire. But how dangerous is this really? Can you easily burn down the tent? And are there any other dangers? Maybe carbon monoxide poising?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T16:56:23.797" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T22:43:32.563" Title="Can/Should I cook in my tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="114" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:51:53.930" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;For hiking with a backpack I would recommend the following considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; I would go as light as possible. Generally the lighter you go the more expensive you go, but on those long treks it will make a huge difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature Rating&lt;/strong&gt; A good 3-season bag is generally at the 20 degree mark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shape&lt;/strong&gt; Since you will be trekking with this, definitely get one that tapers at the feet and has a hood. They tend to be less bulky but more importantly are warming and allow you to keep the heat in easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Material&lt;/strong&gt; There's really two basic types, synthetic and goose-down feathers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetic offers a lower price point and dries quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goose-Down offers a better compressed state (they can generally get smaller the more pressure you use) and are more durable but they are more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd go with a synthetic just for price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some gender targeted bags, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Women's bags are generally a little more narrow at the shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for sleeping pads, while they are used for comfort, pads are best for sleeping in really cold places. The pad acts as extra insulation and helps prevent heat loss through conduction with the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-06-25T18:32:52.917" LastActivityDate="2012-06-25T18:32:52.917" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:53:07.773" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would get a ceramic filter that is rated to remove metals like arsenic (this is a particular issue in the UK where most surface water in the wild country can harbour arsenic - but I'd rather assume all ground water to be 'tainted' than drink it and become poisoned). I've used some hand-pumped filters which can draw water from a lake or river, and filter at the rate of about a litre a minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, drop an chlorine tab into the water - this usually requires 30 minutes to completely kill off biologic contamination. You can then get neutralisers to remove the taste of the chlorine from the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling shouldn't be necessary after this treatment - unless you want a cuppa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing - do not rely on the apparent clarity of the water - bacteria/viruses and dissolved metals will almost always be invisible to the naked eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:53:07.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="106" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:53:39.947" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually throw a tarp above my tent. (an additional tarp, not the one that comes with most modern tents).  I find that it usually muffles the sound of the rain.  You will definitely still hear but not as intense.  They are relatively cheap too ($15+ CDN).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="80" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:53:39.947" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:57:28.547" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absolutely not! Fire is the obvious risk, but carbon monoxide poisoning should be taken seriously as well. If the weather is bad, at the very least cook under the vestibule with maximum ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have brought up a great point about bear country. It's recommended to cook and eat at least 100 yards away from your camp site when there may be bears around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T23:20:14.093" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:20:14.093" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:57:53.707" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most tents these days claim to have a &quot;fireproof&quot; coating - but I'd never really want to put this to the test! I have heard one horror story in particular (admittedly with a much older tent) that's made me wary enough to recommend never cooking inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The likelihood &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be low (and that's not to say it is) but if it does go up in flames and you're inside it then you've lost all escape routes and you're surrounded by smoke and burning material - IMHO it's just not a risk worth taking. And yes, other dangers like carbon monoxide poisoning are definitely possible, even likely if it's in an enclosed space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T14:53:45.623" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T14:53:45.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="40" CreationDate="2012-01-24T22:59:27.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as you are washing with a front-loader, then putting in your water-proofs and washing on a low temperature with reproofer (instructions should be on the bottle) will get your get clean and waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top-loaders batter the hell out of your clothes, and can damage the waterproofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also - do not but them in a dryer... hang them out (you probably want to do this over a bath if you can't do it outside)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T22:59:27.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:03:10.063" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the fire hazard, cooking food in your tent in bear country is a good recipe for waking up to find a bear trashing your campsite, and/or you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:03:10.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:03:42.197" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers regarding flammability (and the ensuing death trap) and carbon monoxide poisoning are correct. Even in foul weather, cook outside your tent. If you do lots of camping in bad weather (New Zealand's West Coast?) get a tent with a vestibule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is one additional problem: In bear country, you never want to cook too close to your tent, because if you and your tent and everything inside it smells of food, guess who'll be coming to visit you at night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="59" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T23:13:02.263" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:13:02.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="129" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="824" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:05:32.477" Score="23" ViewCount="10047" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every summer I have a strong desire to go camping on a beach. However, I've discovered that the places near me (Long Island, New York, northern New Jersey) often either: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have a limited number of permits/reservations that sell out quickly or require the camper to be a resident of the town the beach is in, or &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Charge more money than I'm willing to pay (I've seen campsites go for $75-100 per night, which is a little ridiculous to me).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any beaches ranging from Maine to the mid-Atlantic where you &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; need a permit or a reservation at a campground in order to camp out overnight there? My ideal situation is to just set up a tent on the sand (or if the weather's nice enough, not even bother with a tent). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I'm talking about camping with a tent, not &quot;camping&quot; with an RV/camper or renting a cabin. Think lying on the sand and swimming in the ocean all day, then when the sun starts to go down, setting up a tent and making a bonfire. Though bonfires usually aren't allowed. ;) I also know that I theoretically could just pitch a tent on a secluded stretch of beach and take my chances, but I'd rather not get a fine or citation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:14:02.033" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:14:02.033" Title="Are there beaches on the East Coast (US) where one can camp without a permit?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="77" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:06:19.420" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;They sell fiberglass repair kits at most boating stores which are made for this exact sort of repair. It includes a fiber glass cloth which you put over the damaged area, as well as a resin / hardening agent to hold the patch in place. Any kit you buy should have instructions for applying the patch in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:06:19.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="107" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:07:08.600" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try and distribute your weight as much as possible. If you are wearing a backpack, take it off and lay it in front you and use it to gain as much leverage as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use sticks, plants, anything you can get your hands on in order distribute your weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:07:08.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="132" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="143" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:17:13.157" Score="19" ViewCount="23121" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Mosquitos, many of us northwoods campers have been made victim to the vast swarms of biting flies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite slathering myself with DEET, they don't seem deterred, and they especially love to bite my feet and ankles. Is there anything I can do to deter those obnoxious flies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="130" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T21:34:52.683" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T15:36:16.927" Title="What can I do about those obnoxious biting flies?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="144" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:19:04.713" Score="17" ViewCount="569" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really like to go snowshoeing during the winter. I'm going up to 3500 meters and when I'm doing long tours I would really enjoy to try out winter camping in very remote areas. Is it a good idea to buy/rent a special tent for that purpose? Or can I just use my current tent? What features should I look for if I choose a tent for winter camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:03.493" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:14:03.493" Title="What should I look for if I want to buy a winter-proofed tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="134" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="155" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:21:19.967" Score="10" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I know my route will take x days, over terrain y, with a change in height of z, in temperatures of p, is there a simple rule of thumb which will let me calculate food requirements?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water is relatively easy, but I always find myself erring on the side of too much food in my rucksack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:51:09.637" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:51:09.637" Title="Is there a straightforward way to calculate energy requirements for a trek" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:21:24.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends of course on the tools you have and what your overall situation is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you know that you are on a certain path and you have a compass, and if you are on a slope, you can try to figure out the direction of the slope and compare that to the slopes along the path you are on using your topographic map. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:21:24.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="136" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="228" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:21:47.983" Score="17" ViewCount="2439" Body="&lt;p&gt;While camping with some friends in Anywhere National Forest, I found a deer tick on a friend. After &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;removing it with tweezers,&lt;/a&gt; is there anything else I should do? Should we abandon our trip immediately or is staying a few more days in the wilderness before seeing a doctor safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/goZ5M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/goZ5Mm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of a deer tick&quot; title=&quot;click for full size&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:12:33.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:12:33.223" Title="I found a Deer Tick on my friend and removed it, what should I do now?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:23:46.420" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two important keys to keeping warm in sub-zero temperatures, &lt;strong&gt;keeping dry&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;dressing in layers&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting wet by any means, &lt;strong&gt;including sweat&lt;/strong&gt; will make you miserably uncomfortable.  It is also obviously a lot harder to get dry once you are wet in a cold environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most people are aware the extremities are the hardest parts of the body to keep warm.  Your feet and hands will almost always get cold especially if you are not moving them.  Keep wiggling your toes and fingers in order to keep the blood circulating through your system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why fire is bad!&lt;/strong&gt; .. sorta..  There is one reason why a fire can be harmful for keeping warm.  If it goes out it can play a huge shock on the body (more for an emergency), but a person will be more comfortable when gradually heating / cooling.  So don't sit 3 inches away from the fire, use it for a gentle warmth, not a burning&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire Rocks&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Water bottles&lt;/strong&gt; veering away from the intense heat.  These two items will slowly (water fairly quickly, but not as quick as fire) release their heat and make a person more constantly comfortable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Staying small&lt;/strong&gt; will make you a more efficient heater, same with &lt;strong&gt;snuggling with another person&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;strong&gt;Armpits&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Crotch&lt;/strong&gt; (ewwww) are a good place to keep your hands warm.  Just make sure they are clean ;) or you will not have many friends.               &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A lot of other points are already listed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="80" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:23:46.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:24:27.013" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possible advantage not yet mentioned for external frame pack is that most are adjustable to fit a wide range of people.  This is useful if you know that the pack is going to be used by several people of different sizes, or if the person is likely to be growing rapidly.  For example my son who was 14 and 4'11&quot; when the pack was purchased then 16 and 6'1&quot; when he went to &lt;a href=&quot;http://philmontscoutranch.org/&quot;&gt;Philmont&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="82" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:24:27.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="149" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:24:49.023" Score="58" ViewCount="6646" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I find a tick on myself or a friend, what is the best way of removing it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard some people say that singeing the tick with a match makes the tick detach and fall off. However I've also heard that the fire method makes the tick essentially vomit and is worse than just ripping the tick off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best method?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:12:23.363" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:12:23.363" Title="How should I remove a tick?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:26:12.507" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;We quite often cook on a small gas stove in the porch (vestibule) of the tent - as long as you are careful and don't leave it unattended, just be sensible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen a tent go up in flames, and they burn extremely quickly so I'm aware of the danger, but I've never felt at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thankfully in the UK we don't have to worry about Bears...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:26:12.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="141" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="150" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:27:17.757" Score="19" ViewCount="1351" Body="&lt;p&gt;When sailing I may anchor in a different bay each evening and take a dinghy in to land to sleep in a tent overnight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always worry that when I wake up in the morning the boat may no longer be there. What can I do to choose a suitable sea bed to anchor in, or to ensure the anchor is firmly affixed, even if the tide changes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:59:00.023" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:59:00.023" Title="How should I check that the anchor is secure when I anchor a small yacht off unfamiliar land?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boating-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:28:28.130" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;With fog, the only thing you're losing is &lt;strong&gt;extended visibility&lt;/strong&gt;. This shouldn't throw off your plan too much, unless you were navigating by watching far away landmarks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were on a trail, stay on it. There's no need to wander around. If you can't see anything and traveling is becoming dangerous or you're not sure where you're going, then stop and wait for the fog to lift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's getting dark, you might have to setup camp. Hope you have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit/72#72&quot;&gt;an emergency kit&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately it's a judgement call. If you think you can keep marching on without getting lost, then don't worry about the fog. But if the fog is too thick, stop and wait it out. Remember, patience is a virtue :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:28:28.130" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:30:04.430" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most folks I know (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/edinburgh-east-fife/avon_s_spray_finds_calling_as_midge_repellent_for_royal_marines_1_1403152&quot;&gt;including the Royal Marines&lt;/a&gt;) swear by Avon's Skin So Soft to repel most biting insects - it certainly works well against midges in Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also much less harmful to the environment than DEET and leaves your skin extra soft :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T16:52:48.420" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:52:48.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="133" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:31:36.663" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary difference is good winter camping tents are designed to stand up to and / or mitigate snow building up on top of them. Ventilation is also very important as you don't want moisture from your breathing to build up in the tent as you could wake up with your clothes wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter tents will often have larger vestibules, as you will typically have more gear for winter camping than three season camping and you don't want all your gear covered with snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of winter tents will also be shorter than their three season counterparts. This is due to a lot of winter camping being done on mountains with higher winds which a lower profile helps to mitigate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:31:36.663" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:33:00.947" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To remove a tick that has attached to your skin:  &lt;em&gt;Use a pair of fine tipped tweezers&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;pull up&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;evenly&lt;/strong&gt;, i.e. with steady pressure. Don't twist or jerk, as this may leave body parts in the skin.  If this happens, use the tweezers to pull them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also, don't forget to use rubbing/isopropyl alcohol to sterilize the tick site&lt;/strong&gt;, as you want to make sure there are no harmful germs, etc. left behind&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-24T23:39:03.820" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:39:03.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:33:19.260" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I pull them off gently, and if their head detaches in my skin (rarely happens), I'll dig it out with a needle or tweezers. Then add neosporin, and occasionally look for oddly-shaped rashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you spray your socks with deet, it will help keep them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T02:20:40.763" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:20:40.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="101" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:33:36.047" Score="16" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Correct size&lt;/strong&gt;. That might sound obvious, but consider also width and height (of the instep). Each make is a bit different, so there's a need to try on many before you find one that fits really good. For all-day trips get boots one size larger than your usual office shoes are. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vibram sole&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If properly maintained, &lt;strong&gt;leather upper&lt;/strong&gt; is much more waterproof and durable than fabric/suede. Unfortunately, it is also heavier. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fewer seams the better. Boots with many seams, holes etc. usually are not very waterproof :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gore-Tex&lt;/strong&gt; inside is a big plus. Especially for multi day hikes in wet weather, when shoes won't fully dry overnight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="81" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:33:36.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:39:11.030" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a tick has already attached to you, I'd reccommend seeking out some medical help, but since we're in the outdoors group, what are the chances of there being one nearby? :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pour a little bit of spirits on the tick. That should both disinfect the area and stun the bugger a bit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a little loop of cotton, and try to pull out the tick, &lt;strong&gt;evenly&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squeeze the tick, as doing do could cause it to empty the contents of its stomach, thus releasing the Lyme disease.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave parts of it inside. Try to get them out at once.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing is, if you've got a tick, what you should be concerned about is getting the tick out, without it vomiting. Other than that, seek medical assistance as soon as possible, and keep the tick if possible. It may lessen the need for treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="40" LastEditorUserId="130" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T17:17:05.487" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:17:05.487" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:39:42.930" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use tweezers, grip as near to the head as you can, and pull gently and evenly but firmly - it should come off cleanly. If it doesn't then be sure to remove the head rather than just leave it in there. Then clean the area with alcohol and be sure to keep an eye on it in case any rashes or other untoward symptoms appear. The likelihood of this depends on the area but it always pays to be aware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend the commonly cited more &quot;violent&quot; approaches such as burning the tick or trying to twist it out. That will often do more harm than good and has a greater chance of leaving the head still embedded in the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about potential diseases then be sure to preserve the tick so it can be analysed later by a lab if necessary to determine any infections it may have been carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: If you have one, a tick key may well be the best solution, though I've yet to try it myself (and have personally never had an issue with tweezers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-12-11T16:33:42.140" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T16:33:42.140" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="141" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:41:37.157" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Set the anchor by reversing the engine until the anchor chain is tight, and then run the engine at medium speed to make sure the anchor has dug in. You can watch a GPS to make sure the speed is around zero (and the anchor is not dragging) when you're doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the tide and/or wind changes, it can pull out a set anchor. If you use a LOT of chain and it's not too windy and the current is not too swift, the boat will only drag the chain around and won't actually pull on the anchor. Also, if it does pull the anchor up and you have a lot of chain out, it's likely to catch again somewhere nearby (unless it goes over a ledge into deep water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people will set two anchors, one in each direction of the tide. I don't think I could do that without ending up with a tangled mess of chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe you could get a wireless anchor alarm that goes off in your tent when the boat moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:41:37.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="136" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:44:30.973" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put on neosporin and keep an eye on it for a few days looking for an oddly shaped rash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info on Lime disease: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lyme Disease (Borreliosis)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: &lt;a href=&quot;http://oklahomapoison.org/general/tick.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;First Aid For Tick Bites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More detailed tick first aid: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-tick-bites/FA00062&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tick bites: First aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would stay with the trip. I get ticks regularly, and it has never been serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-02T06:00:03.567" LastActivityDate="2016-08-02T06:00:03.567" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="88" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:46:40.093" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the &lt;strong&gt;best&lt;/strong&gt; thing you can do to acclimate to the cold is to &lt;strong&gt;live in it.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, you can say that sounds simple and it may be hard to do, but it's the best way.  I live in an area that gets fairly cold in the winter (as much as &lt;strong&gt;-40C/F&lt;/strong&gt;), and I'm used to it. &lt;em&gt;I don't think 27F is cold at all.&lt;/em&gt;  Many of your suggestions are along this line of thinking, but they are not full time.  When you actually live in a cold zone, you may have a hard time adjusting, but you do... eventually, hence why you would want to live in it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat &lt;em&gt;lots&lt;/em&gt; of calories, this will help you to stay warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleep outside when you are at home.  This helps your body to get used to functioning in cold weather, even when you are asleep.  Maybe in the fall, where it gets progressively colder (in locations further north and south of the equator), sleep outside frequently, and your body will adjust to the gradually colder temperatures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You also may want to try taking cold showers. Or go from cold to hot and back again suddenly, this also has health benefits.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;exercise outside, regardless of season or temperature.  Even if it is for a short time, this is a good way to get/stay fit &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; spend time outside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:46:40.093" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:46:51.367" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hartley (and Phil) pretty much have it covered, but I'd add a couple of things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bothy bag - basically a quick emergency shelter for 4-6 people that packs down nice and small&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High energy/sugar foods - mars bars, peanuts, jelly, energy bars etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's a little over the top, but we take emergency cards that you fill out with vital information like the nature of the emergency, how many people in the party, an emergency contact for your party, your location etc, and send someone with the card to get help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a multi-day hike obviously you'll have a tent which can be very useful in emergencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:46:51.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="160" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:47:35.477" Score="28" ViewCount="3257" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the bare essentials that I need in terms of equipment when it comes to rock climbing? I've done indoor rock climbing but always rented my equipment from the rock-climbing gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(For the purposes of this question, I'm excluding bouldering because I've done that with no special equipment.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are climbing shoes necessary? What types of harnesses and ropes do I need? What other equipment is recommended to ensure safe climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not have a particular place in mind for doing this climbing; I am looking for absolute-beginner-level equipment that will be suitable for any rock climbing area advertised as &quot;all levels&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastActivityDate="2014-11-25T18:43:37.220" Title="What equipment do I need as a beginner outdoor rock climber?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="134" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:47:56.710" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;2000 calories is the &quot;standard&quot; daily diet amount, so I usually shoot for 3000 calories per day plus 1 to 3 extra days, in case I get delayed or distracted and want or need to stay out longer. And I usually pack out some food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:47:56.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:49:15.880" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Don't&lt;/em&gt; even think about wild camping in Italy. In most cities it is illegal, and more important it is highly dangerous. Depending on the area, you may be mugged, raped, stabbed, or flash flooded by a torrent of mud. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-14T02:57:45.653" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T02:57:45.653" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="157" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="175" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:51:32.580" Score="13" ViewCount="5401" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking with a new pair of boots or if I haven't been hiking in a while, my feet might get blisters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How can I treat a blister and keep hiking?&lt;/em&gt;  Are there things I can do to &lt;em&gt;prevent getting blisters?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-29T22:42:18.980" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T21:02:52.057" Title="How do I treat a blister? How can I prevent getting them in the first place?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:53:37.393" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;With your hand on top of the head of the axe and holding it down by your side, the spike should come down to about your ankle. This will feel quite short, but when walking on steep ground (which you should be when taking an axe!), holding the axe in your uphill hand it will be a very useful length. Shorter is also lighter...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally try and borrow one and see how you get on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:53:37.393" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="119" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:55:48.210" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no creams that will prevent poison ivy. Avoidance and long clothes are best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; do is wash it off. Usually if you catch it within a couple of hours, you can scrub off the oil on your skin with soap and water and a washcloth. You can't see the oil, but it seems to require about the same amount of scrubbing as if you were scrubbing off motor oil or grease. Since you can't see it, you have to scrub the entire exposed area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This won't help so much if you get a systemic reaction to poison ivy. If you wait too long, the oil binds with the skin and the fun begins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:55:48.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:57:17.933" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say you need things in this order.  Only #1 is required:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A harness&lt;/strong&gt;.  You can't climb with a rope unless you have one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;. You can get by with runners, but climbing shoes make a world of difference.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chalk/chalk bag&lt;/strong&gt;. If you don't sweat much, this is not crucial, but a little chalk is very nice for keeping your fingers from being slippery.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to an outside climbing area, a &lt;strong&gt;helmet&lt;/strong&gt; is pretty much required equipment as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2012-07-16T15:27:42.533" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T15:27:42.533" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:59:37.040" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in bear country, I agree 100% with everyone - cook somewhere else.  100m away minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In winter, not in bear country, getting out of your tent to cook sucks.  Fortunately, many mountaineers have discovered that some stoves do not produce excessive carbon monoxide.  And there's a handy table in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/stoves_tents_carbon_monoxide_pt_3.html&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; at Backpacking Light that describes some canister stoves that produce a reasonably low amount of carbon monoxide.  Read the whole article series for the details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;:  That being said, cook in your vestibule (with the vestibule open if possible), it's much, much safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:59:37.040" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="105" CreationDate="2012-01-24T23:59:42.913" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I almost always hike in tennis shoes (court shoes) if it's reasonably dry and free of snow. I use them for climbs, day hikes, and backpacking. I don't have ankle problems, so I don't the ankle support. The tennis shoes grip rocks better and have better padding than my boots. (I do carry extra socks, though, for dry feet.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-24T23:59:42.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="163" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="174" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:00:12.897" Score="18" ViewCount="624" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been told that you should never ask for a tow when you are stranded at sea. The reason given is that the person towing can claim a huge share of the stranded boat, potentially all of it if it's abandoned. Is this really codified somewhere?  Should I avoid asking for a tow if I'm stranded because of this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:11.827" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:58:11.827" Title="When stranded at sea, should I not ask for a tow?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:01:10.783" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you need to walk on a compass bearing in poor visibility, stand still, and send someone out in front of you on the correct bearing for a distance (probably as far as you can see). Have them stand still, then walk to them. Repeat. It's slow going, but you will be walking on the correct bearing, and more accurate than just holding the compass out in front of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location finding is a bit trickier - I guess not being lost in the first place is the best idea! Look for any features that may be visible that would be on the map, or any identifiable features that you come across while walking. If you think you know roughly where you are, walk to a feature, like a stream, and if you don't find it then you need to reassess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:01:10.783" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="165" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="166" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:02:22.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:02:56.837" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your equipment list will depend on whether you are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Free soloing (climbing without protective equipment; not good for a beginner!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Top roping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lead climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you aren't Free soling, because there you don't need anything, you'll need at least the following in order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A friend that can belay you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're definitely not going to go solo when starting out if you want to make it back home alive. &lt;strong&gt;Don't even start unless you've got one of these.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A belay device&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't think you're going to be able to be safely protected just grabbing the rope. A belay device places lots of friction on the rope, so you can easily control the stopping force by simply controlling the angle the rope enters the belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A dynamic climbing rope&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real, expensive stuff, UIAA certified dynamic single rope. Not the stuff you get at the hardware store for $8.99 on sale. While you may only weigh 150-250 pounds, when you fall, the force placed on the rope is many times your body weight.  Further, the rope is responsible for absorbing the energy of a fall, and if not properly designed for this purpose either it &lt;em&gt;or the climber&lt;/em&gt; will break in a serious fall.  Hardware store ropes aren't designed to absorb impact energy, even if they are &quot;strong enough&quot; in terms of working load.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A climbing harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is how you attach yourself to the rope. From what I've seen, the difference between harnesses for different applications boils down to how light they are, and how many gear loops you get. If you are just starting out, find a reasonably priced one that's comfortable, and worry about the other stuff and upgrade after you're a skilled climber. &lt;strong&gt;And of course, learn to tie in both yourself and your belayer and practice until you can nearly do it properly with your eyes closed.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shoes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want shoes. Real climbing shoes. I've tried climbing barefoot and with vibrams before. It doesn't work well. Different shoes have different ratings for how suitable they are for gym vs outdoor climbing. Again, find a pair that is comfortable and worry about shoes that are specialized after you've become a skilled climber. Until then, the small differences aren't going to have an impact until your technique catches up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Some outdoor places ban chalk. So it's obviously not a necessity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-12-05T10:24:10.057" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T10:24:10.057" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="168" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:04:39.553" Score="13" ViewCount="427" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently visited Australia, Sydney region. I've been warned about animals called drop bears. What kind of animal is it? Is it dangerous ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-10-13T15:17:44.477" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T15:17:44.477" Title="Are drop bears dangerous?" Tags="&lt;folklore&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2012-01-25T01:51:22.013" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:09:50.033" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting a pair of boots that correctly fit is very important. Go to a reputable hiking shop and having a knowledgeable assistant give you multiple types of boots with different fits and see which feels best. Changing inner sole thickness can be a big help to get the correct fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Properly breaking in your boots can be a huge help. Wear them for an hour round the house, then a couple of hours the next day, then 20min short walk and gradually extend the length of the walk. It helps your feet get used to the boots, and mould the boots to the shape of your foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blister patches are a good treatment when you already have blisters - some people don't get on with them but it's worth giving them a go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit.&#xA;I forgot to mention socks. Get proper walking socks, have a play with different thicknesses. Sometimes wearing liner socks (really thin socks that you wear under your normal socks) can prevent blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastEditorUserId="83" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T00:17:00.023" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:17:00.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:10:05.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;according to the boyscout handbook you can use moss (apparently it usualy/always grows on the North side of the tree...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is generally believed that &lt;strong&gt;in northern latitudes, the north side of trees and rocks will generally have more luxuriant moss growth on average than other sides.&lt;/strong&gt; This is assumed to be because the sun on the south side creates a dry environment. South of the equator the reverse would be true. However, naturalists feel that mosses grow on the damper side of trees and rocks.[3] In some cases, such as sunny climates in temperate northern latitudes, this will be the shaded north side of the tree or rock. On steep slopes it may be the uphill side. For mosses that grow on tree branches, this is generally the upper side of the branch on horizontally growing sections or near the crotch. In cool damp cloudy climates, all sides of tree trunks and rocks may be equally damp enough for mosses. And different species of mosses have different moisture and sun requirements so will grow on different sections of the same tree or rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page on Moss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="85" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T00:27:16.380" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:27:16.380" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="168" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:11:52.753" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, they aren't real animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_bear&quot;&gt;Here's a wiki link for it.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its one of those things people like to tell tourists to watch out for so they'll look stupid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:11:52.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="163" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:24:50.267" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you run out of fuel, have engine trouble, run aground soft, when there is no immediate danger to the marine environment, the boat, or the persons on board, then towing is just towing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a vessel is hard aground, stranded, on fire, or sinking, and is towed from the site, it may be considered a salvage operation. This once meant a reward of a portion of the vessel's cargo, but now it just means the rescuer is entitled to reasonable fees determined in a standard way (see the link below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is international maritime law, and applies to the open seas (outside the line of demarcation, in the U.S.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising-articles/20333-tow-salvage.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising-articles/20333-tow-salvage.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:24:50.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:29:16.070" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is my magic blister treatment method.  You need to have this stuff in your kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin&quot;&gt;Lanolin&lt;/a&gt;:  Yes, otherwise known as sheep grease.  Sold in pharmacies as an aid for breastfeeding mothers.  It is essentially a lubricant wax that will keep a blister happy and not stuck to what you put over it.  You put a daub of this directly on the blistered area.  Polysporin or that type of thing does not last as well as this stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lambs wool&lt;/strong&gt;: Take a bit of this and cover over the lanolin.  Regular cotton balls do not cut it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Athletic Tape&lt;/strong&gt;: Use large strips of tape to cover over the blistered area and enough on each side to keep the tape attached.  Make quite a few layers.  You'll know it's enough when you put your boot back on and walking no longer hurts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do this and leave it on until the end of your trip.  Ideally, you don't want to get the setup wet for the first day.  If it's pouring out, cover the whole mess with one layer of duct tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm honestly not sure why it works, but I have fixed some horribly nasty blisters with this method and walked for 100s of kilometers afterwards.  One particular happened on the Pacific Crest Trail, walking across a desert section, I wore a large circular area off my heel.  When I eventually limped to a halt in the first bit of shade I found, this stuff together got me moving again with zero pain.  Without fiddling with it, I was able to walk for days afterwards, 30+km per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:29:16.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="105" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:33:46.237" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would argue you answered your own question in your first comment: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I think it's the way the boots fit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a myth that leather boots should require a painful bludgeoning period to break them in. You will come across all kinds of creative solutions to get you over the hump - but all of them are dealing with the symptoms of the real problem: you bought a pair of boots that don't fit well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are dead-set on heavy boots - shop around. There are many brands, and they are all different. Size is just one number from dozens of factors to consider. Find your brand - and it might not be the one that looks the coolest, but it will be the one that fits right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for whether sneakers or boots are the way to go - as other's have pointed out, that is largely situational (terrain, weather) and personal preference. But, &lt;em&gt;poorly fitting sneaks can give you just as much trouble as poorly-fitting boots&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:33:46.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:34:08.907" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gently and very slowly pull the tick out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not&lt;/strong&gt; burn the tick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not&lt;/strong&gt; twist the tick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not&lt;/strong&gt; pour oil or alcohol on the tick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a living creature and as soon as you stress it out, it will start spitting and vomiting  into your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="46" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T01:59:10.843" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T01:59:10.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="134" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:37:55.060" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a rough estimate from using an online calorie estimation website. Make sure to use one that accepts weight as a variable, and add your pack weight to your body weight. I am a large guy, and would burn over 4000 calories a day hiking for 6 hours with a pack. Most calculations aren't going to take specifics like change in elevation, or temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:37:55.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="180" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="193" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:45:37.073" Score="35" ViewCount="25268" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the Arizona desert, and during the summer, despite my best intentions, I always seem to end up doing some hiking in the summer heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What is a good formula to figure out how much water I need to bring&lt;/em&gt;, so that I'm not running out before I'm done, but don't end up carrying 2 liters all the way through and back to my car?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-11T18:49:01.943" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T22:31:35.183" Title="How much water should be carried while hiking  in the desert?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="181" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="186" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:49:54.510" Score="12" ViewCount="6873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have large feet, that can be difficult to find the correct size shoe. Typically, I've been wearing size 13, but I have found that I get too many blisters with this size, and I don't have much wiggle room for my toes. I have a pair of size 15s, but they leave a lot of room in the front. I had to get such a large sized shoe so that I didn't rub my pinky toe against the front (My toes are all pretty close to the same length, making me a bit tricky...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any negative consequences that I am not seeing to wearing shoes that have too much toe room for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T21:43:33.650" Title="What negative consequences can result from having too much toe room in a shoe" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:51:04.087" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking in the desert? As much as you can carry! I tend to prefer packing more water than less, and especially in a desert area where if something goes wrong, your access to resupply is very limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can lose up to two quarts (almost 2 litre) of water per hour hiking in the desert in middle of the day, but you can only absorb around one quart (almost one litre) per hour, so that's the minimum you should shoot for if you're planning a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T16:37:02.407" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T16:37:02.407" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="86" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:53:31.913" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Better&quot; might be the wrong question. Here are few alternatives:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Safer&quot; - Canister, hands down. Depending on where you are, bears have been known to study brilliant bear hangs, find the critical tie point 3 trees over, and with a casual flick of a claw, order takeout. On the other hand, I have seen bear canisters take a tumble off a several hundred foot cliff with no issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Legally Required&quot; - Often an area you are hiking will require the use of bear canisters (and if they do, will likely rent, or loan them out) due to the problems they have had. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;More Bear Friendly&quot; - People think of bear-hangs / canisters as 'food protection' as in, &quot;well, if I lose my food, I'll just hike out early...&quot; Think of it instead from the bear's point of view. That free snack could send it down a life a crime, eventually resulting in its being relocated or exterminated. A fed bear is a dead bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So maybe &quot;better&quot; is the right word. Bear Canister - no question. Although it might add a little weight to your pack for a weekend, it might add years to a bear's life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:53:31.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="181" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:54:44.783" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hiked all of the Pacific Crest Trail (~4000km) and the Continental Divide Trail (~4200km) wearing shoes 1.5 sizes too large and 2-4 widths too wide (i.e. normally size 11.5D but wore 12.5EEEE).  The main advantage was no blisters.  I sometimes slipped around a bit on weird terrain, but overall did not notice any downside major to this setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T00:54:44.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="181" CreationDate="2012-01-25T00:56:00.443" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Too much toe room is only a problem if you have too much movement in the shoe due to the size. That can cause blisters. If you have to have a bigger toe box, then a larger shoe could be a good solution along with something like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/locklacing.htm&quot;&gt;heel lock&lt;/a&gt; lace to help prevent excess movement of your foot in the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T04:37:06.953" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T04:37:06.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="191" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:29:40.743" Score="25" ViewCount="30467" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that boiling does little to break down chemical contaminants or heavy metals. But I'm unsure if it kills all microbial life. Are there any waterborne illness-causing viruses/bacteria/protozoa/cysts that can survive boiling? And if so, how serious is the illness they cause?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="89" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T18:45:41.800" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:52:08.427" Title="Can any waterborne pathogens survive boiling?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="192" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:37:45.383" Score="23" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often when planning food for a backpacking trip, I rely heavily on a very large amount of extremely varied trail-mix, and only throw in some jerky and a scant few &quot;cookable&quot; meals for variety. I haven't had (to my knowledge) any illness from this, but a friend expressed concern that the lack of variety would cause problems given the stress of the hike. Am I doing myself a disservice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="89" LastActivityDate="2015-10-22T09:11:27.400" Title="Is a varied diet necessary while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:39:12.230" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I led extended backpacking trips in Grand Canyon country for several years, and we required everyone carry at MINIMUM a gallon (almost 4 litre) per person per day -- which adds up. (Though rarely did we plan trips that did not have dependable water sources within a day's walk, meaning we would start and end the day with bellies full of water.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different people consume (and lose) at different rates, so the above would usually balance out in a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Addendum: As some have pointed out, there are varying recommendations, and even Grand Canyon National Park seems to have some difference of opinion: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/hiking-faq.htm#CP_JUMP_100064&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;exhibit A&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/hike-smart.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;exhibit B&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Considerations such as difficulty of the terrain, whether there will be a water-source where you are going, whether you start the hike well-hydrated, what time of day you are hiking, etc all play into it. As does the consideration of more water = more weight = more energy expended = more water needed. For some people, adding 2 gallons (7.6 litre) to their pack would make it difficult for them to go anywhere...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In short, if you think you need more, take more. Cache water (if possible). Be smart. Know your limits.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T16:29:52.703" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T16:29:52.703" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:51:09.760" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling this question is going to come up a lot on this site... as I mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/105/hiking-boots-vs-trail-shoes/176#176&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; it is an old and persistent myth that full leather boots will necessarily have a blister-inducing break-in period. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well-built boots that fit properly can be broken in fairly easily and blister-free. Hot-spots and rubbing are usually an indication of a poor fit (toe-box too narrow or wide, boot too long / short, too much volume around the bridge, too much volume around the ankle etc...) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need a pair of heavy full-leather boots, your best bet is to get properly fitted by someone who knows boots (not just some clueless yahoo at the boot store), and try as many different brands as you can. Each brand uses a different last - or mold - of a &quot;normal&quot; foot on which their boots are built. If their version of &quot;normal&quot; is too far off from your own normal foot, it won't matter what size they are, they won't ever fit right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T01:51:09.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="191" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:52:05.310" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boiling kills everything -- giardia, cryptosporidium, other bacteria, and viruses. 185°F (85°C) for a few minutes will do it, and boiling for one minute will do it. (Boiling is lots of big bubbles, not just a few small bubbles on the side of the pot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/private/wells/disease/hepatitis_a.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Some people recommend longer boiling times at higher altitudes&lt;/a&gt; because water boils at cooler temperatures there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Source: Wilderness Medical Society, &lt;em&gt;The Backpacker's Field Manual&lt;/em&gt; by Curtis)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2015-11-20T13:58:53.700" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T13:58:53.700" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:53:08.510" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the obvious stuff regarding climbing equipment in the other answers, I would add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Woolly hat (it can get chilly waiting for your turn on the crag)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves (there's a type of glove, can't remember the brand, where the seams are at the knuckle and not on the tip - offering fingertip dexterity when climbing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sturdy shoes for the approach and walk-off (the British Mountaineering Council have statistics that show more accidents occur on the way back from a climb to the car park than actually climbing - mostly sprained and twisted ankles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A thermos (you'll be the most popular guy on the crag)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cereal bars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly - I'd get a guidebook for the crag you're going to visit (depending on availability - most of the popular crags in the UK are covered quite well, not sure about other countries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guidebooks describe the best routes to approach the crag, help identify different climbing routes (and grade them), and you can tick the routes off as you complete them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T01:53:08.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="192" CreationDate="2012-01-25T01:54:44.623" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It takes more than 4-5 days to have problems from a limited diet, as long as you get enough of short-term things like salt (which is not normally a problem). Even so, I usually take some Flintstone chewables and dehydrated meals along to be healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T01:54:44.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:00:58.357" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of this goes back to being prepared. Even a light hike in unknown terrain or with spontaneous weather can turn for the worst. Having a small kit with you will always help out and, should something happen, will more than make up for the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having something to start a fire with is a minimum, flint/steel, a few matches, whatever suits your style and experience level. Make sure to practice building fires at home/in relative safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted in other posts, carry more layers with you than you may need. This doesn't mean you need a down puff. Consider what the weather is like in the area you will be. Consult forecasts before going out and consider your own level of tolerance for exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid cotton. Cotton does not retain warmth when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted, get out of the wind. Look for or build a shelter that will break the wind. The wind will disturb your outer layer of warmth. I carry a lightweight wind/rain layer with me on every hike, it lives permanently at the bottom of my pack. In a pinch, you can use it for other purposes (gathering water, flotation device, small tarp, etc.); so, it's worth its small weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure to carry some sort of energy/high protein bar/gel with you whenever you go out. I usually have at least one stuffed in a pocket in my pack. Again, worth the weight regardless of where you're going or for how long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted, learn to make a simple shelter that can provide protection from the elements and warmth. Learn how to properly integrate fire into your shelter plan as to not burn down your abode :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation on the ground is worth ~1 layer of insulation on your body -- or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always tell people where you are going and how long you expect to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="48" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:00:58.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="200" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:20:19.047" Score="19" ViewCount="1881" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using microspikes on my hiking boots and find that they aren't up to the challenge of hiking up snowy peaks. I use snowshoes but find some mountains would be better served by crampons and was wondering what type would be best for my hiking boots and how I would go about adjusting them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="97" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T10:28:19.727" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T16:04:39.663" Title="What style crampon should I use for my hiking boots and how do I adjust them?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="191" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:22:17.790" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some types of spores can survive boiling. But they're either not disease-causing or they're not in any condition to make you sick as far as I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="60" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:22:17.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="107" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:30:28.603" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're &quot;sinking&quot; that basically means you're standing on a substance that's more permeable than solid ground, but (hopefully) less permeable than the surface of a swimming pool. Probably something like thick bog mud or quicksand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As justnS said, you want to try and distribute your weight across the surface as much as possible. Often there will be a thick film across the top of the substance -- or else just natural surface tension -- and you need to avoid breaking through that, if possible. Use plants or other things that seem to have a firm hold on the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your focus should be on getting yourself as horizontal as possible. Even if it's gross, lie down in it. Hopefully you'll feel some part of the ground underneath you that's more solid than the rest. Try to move across the surface in that direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't just freak out and try and pull your leg straight up and out -- you'll only end up pushing your other leg deeper in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:30:28.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="181" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:35:04.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it depends on how rigid your soles are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're wearing flexible soles, and you need to edge your toes on a ledge, then that gap at the front of your shoe can cause the sole to bend and you would slip. A rigid sole wouldn't have the same problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't really be moving around all that much in the shoe if it is tightly laced - so if a longer shoe means you're more comfortable width-ways then you should go with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:35:04.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="204" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:42:39.007" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping and living outdoors - in or out of tents, on licensed sites or in wild country locations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping is a broad outdoor activity - but essentially consists of sleeping and living outdoors. While many people will camp with tents, others prefer to simply bivouac without shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping can be done in almost any location (pending certain permissions being allowed) - from your own backyard, to a facilitied campsite, and even out in wild country away from civilisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many considerations when camping - including location, food and equipment storage, cooking, care of equipment, personal hygiene, water supply, and waste disposal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:48:17.963" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:48:17.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="205" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:42:39.007" Score="0" Body="Questions discussing camping as an activity, equipment and skills that can make camping safer and more enjoyable, possible campsites and related legal and security issues for a specific region should use this tag." OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T00:47:16.090" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T00:47:16.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="206" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="213" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:44:28.557" Score="30" ViewCount="107305" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently upgraded to a modern backpack and I'm stumped as to how to tie accessories down to it.  My previous backpack had tie-down points on the bottom of the pack that I could attach long straps to, which allowed me to tie down my sleeping back, tent, and a small sleeping pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gregorypacks.com/products/mens/technical/83/z-55&quot;&gt;new pack&lt;/a&gt; lacks these generic tie-down anchors, and instead has two (smallish) straps on the bottom.  They're perhaps large enough for my tent, but certainly not large enough for my sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a waterproof &quot;top lid&quot; that can bind down, it's not impossible to stuff the sleeping bag between the pack and the top lid and cinch it down, but this is sort of awkward and top-heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the proper strategy here?  Any tips for attaching my sleeping bag and tent to my pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;:  I'm not totally opposed to putting my tent and sleeping bag &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; the pack, especially for short and light trips, but on a multi-week outing, I may end up with the lion's share of the gear and food to haul, depending on the company.  If there's a clever way to have stuff outside my pack, it would be nice to have the option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="95" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T09:54:34.420" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T16:15:06.753" Title="How do I tie a sleeping bag to my backpack?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:45:20.203" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to some of the answers already posted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;External&lt;/strong&gt;: The biggest advantage is how forgiving an external frame pack is. Since the load is hanging on a frame, you can get away with more casual disregard for how you pack the pack, and don't have to worry about the edge of that pot digging in to your shoulder-blades. It can also take a much heavier load more easily - which is why you will often see trail-crew workers hauling heavy and awkward tools with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EFs also tend to be more &quot;idiot-proof&quot; with minimal adjustment options to get wrong (or right for that matter) meaning you can &quot;load-and-go&quot; and ride like a Cadillac down the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal&lt;/strong&gt;: Closer to the body, move more with your body, lower center of gravity, narrower profile. Often better when you anticipate scrambling or hiking off trail. They require a bit more attention when packing, and when fitting, but when properly situated can tend to be more a part of you, rather than something on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:45:20.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="208" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:46:44.880" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A hike can be a single day-walk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking requires some ability to navigate, although there are many well-marked trails available in the more popular areas. In more remote areas where marked paths and trails are hard to come by navigation skills are essential to avoid getting lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sturdy, comfortable and well fitting shoes are a must, and other suitable equipment like warm clothing and waterproof gear are highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi-day trips carrying camping gear for overnight stops, are generally referred to as backpacking.  Questions applicable to both can generally be tagged as just hiking, as hiking is a sub-component of backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:28:58.763" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:28:58.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="209" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:46:44.880" Score="0" Body="Hiking is any outdoor walking activity - along trails or across unmarked wild country." OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T15:34:08.843" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T15:34:08.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:53:52.903" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the picture of your new pack, those 'smallish straps' appear to be compression straps to pull in your backpack once you've packed to stop the weight inside from shifting. I'd say they're definitely not for packing external gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid hanging anything below my bag - it alters the weight balance, and can strain your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After one particularly sodden hike in the north of England along time ago, I learnt that you really don't want to carry anything that absorbs water outside of your backpack - sleeping bags, especially.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of my overnight hiking packs have had a bottom compartment, in which I stored my sleeping bag and warm change of clothes (both wrapped up in 'rubble sacks' for extra waterproofing). Tent canvas would be packed inside the main compartment, right at the top, for quick access - tent poles were strapped to the side of the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="78" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T04:30:59.670" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T04:30:59.670" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2012-01-25T02:54:48.143" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This gets into the realm of &quot;personal preference&quot; but I would suggest only tie those things on the outside of your pack that you don't want at the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything on the outside will tend to get chewed up by brush, be-thorned by cactus, ground into rocks and dirt every time you set your pack down, get soaked when you slip on that stream crossing, and... yes... fall off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your sleeping bag is a great item to pack FIRST inside the back to provide some padding in that lower lumbar region which will be rubbing against your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T02:54:48.143" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="54" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:00:23.297" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Gore-Tex trail shoes I'm wearing right now have the Gore-Tex layer on the inside (between my socks and the outer suede/synthetic). I'm not sure that you can do anything to fix that layer once it is worn out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would make sure you clean mud off your boots as soon as you can (usually once you get home from a hiking trip).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have leather boots, then some rub in some dubbin to stop them cracking and keep them waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have suede/synthetic, then you should be okay with a NikWax treatment every few months (depending on how often you head out) as long as you keep them clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T03:00:23.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:06:49.310" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your sleeping bag, or its compression bag, doesn't have straps around the outside, you'll need at least four pieces of twine to strap your bag down. Two to loop around the sleeping bag, and two more to link the loops on your bag to the loops on your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure the pieces intended for linking the sleeping bag to the backpack are tied down by the pieces looping the sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It gets trickier if you want your bag &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; your tent to hang off those straps. The bag and the tent will have to be either lashed together or containerized, first. But then the same idea applies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="60" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T03:06:49.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="200" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:19:11.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some crampons have a heel lever that clamps down on the sole at the heel of the boot. These are more stable, but they don't always fit things like rubber boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steel crampons will stay sharp, but weigh more than aluminum crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you buy them online, make sure you can return them if they won't work with your boots. Probably it will be no problem with hiking boots, though, because they're pretty universal. Crampons are generally tightened with straps that pull on wires or metal pieces that hold the crampon on the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to use them in warmer snow, you might want to consider anti-balling or anti-ice plates. These are plastic pieces that go under the crampon to keep snow from building up on the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T03:19:11.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="942" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:29:05.607" Score="32" ViewCount="45259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard various rumors that dogs might help keep bears away, or might be a bear attractant. Is there anything more concrete than anecdotal evidence to go on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the companionship end, they are a net positive, helping to calm your nerves when you hear a strange noise (though it can be disturbing when they start growling at some unseen / unheard shadow in the night).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="2" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T14:42:17.053" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T19:39:25.967" Title="Does hiking with a dog in bear country increase or decrease your risk of a bear encounter?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="216" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="224" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:44:30.247" Score="39" ViewCount="8080" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know the general lightning guidelines, but what if I am above tree-line and caught in a freak lightning storm. Is it better to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Run like mad to toward the trees &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lie flat, and find religion  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find any imperfection in my surroundings (boulders, creek-bed) and&#xA;try to wedge myself between / below it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T22:53:16.740" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T23:59:48.777" Title="If I'm caught in lightning above tree-line, what should I do?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="219" CreationDate="2012-01-25T03:51:43.527" Score="19" ViewCount="40341" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although leeches are relatively harmless, and you are not likely to bleed out from a bite, the blood stain on your clothes can be off-putting to your hiking buddies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any effective way to counteract the anti-coagulant leeches inject into the bite, and thus stop the blood-flow in a timely manner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-05-06T14:00:33.550" LastActivityDate="2021-04-08T17:36:37.390" Title="How do you stop blood-flow from a leech bite?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;leeches&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="218" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="233" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:01:03.417" Score="29" ViewCount="63779" Body="&lt;p&gt;When trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, what does one need to consider? I am assuming I can't just grab any two sticks and start rubbing... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should they be dead or green? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard wood or soft wood? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is spinning or scraping more efficient?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:23:41.420" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:23:41.420" Title="How can I start a fire by rubbing two sticks together?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:11:11.867" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, there is no way to stop the bleeding with out constant pressure. On the bright side, you only give up 1-3 CCs of blood due to leech bites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with leech bites and hiking is your heart is pumping harder while you hike, pushing more blood around. Its not uncommon for the bite to last several hours. However short of constant pressure or some type of sealant, I've not heard of anything you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T04:11:11.867" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:16:30.693" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a bit on your circumstance, but it's fair to say that the 3 options you provided would each be okay, given the right circumstance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are close to the treeline, it might well be worth running to it. But if it's more than a mile or two away, I wouldn't risk it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding an imperfection is probably your best bet. Just make sure it's not next to the highest thing around, or you could be in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lying flat is a bad idea, as the ground will conduct into you. Better would be to get into a position where you are as low to the ground as you can get with only your shoes touching the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="88" LastEditDate="2017-07-25T17:54:45.170" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T17:54:45.170" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="215" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:22:15.287" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, I wouldn't recommend it, although it would probably be alright for a short trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, a bear has no fear of a dog, and they aren't really going to be too deterred. The fact that you are making any noise will let the bear know you are there, and should encourage it to go away, so it would be a slight benefit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of a close encounter, if a pet is let to go free, they might treat the bear like they would a human, getting close and barking. Well, that would be a very poor strategy for a bear, likely resulting in serious injury to the dog. Likewise, if you were to tie them up, it would likely lead to trouble if a bear should come in the camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say for a few hours, it probably wouldn't hurt, especially if you are in black bear country. If you are in Grizzly Bear country, or on an extended outing, or just want to be safe, leave the dogs home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="88" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T00:55:07.853" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T00:55:07.853" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="222" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="270" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:23:45.377" Score="14" ViewCount="3388" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently been getting into the hobby of Geocaching. However, I'm finding there are many, particularly in cities, that I just cannot find no matter how hard I look for them. They tend to be very small, and often have camouflage of some kind. What tips can you offer to help me improve my rate of finding them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T14:31:37.647" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T11:12:17.157" Title="How can one find the difficult to find geocaches?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="218" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:29:14.303" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest using a bow drill. It's a little tricky to start, but once you get the hang of it you can get pretty good at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For wood selections, you generally want to stick with the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously Dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You should be able to press into the wood. If you can't at all then it's too hard. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;However, if you can make a fingertip-sized depression then it's too soft.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure there isn't any sap in the wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Types of wood to look for are sycamore, willow, and dogwood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a good site with step-by-step instructions for constructing a bow drill set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureskills.com/survival/creating-a-bow-drill/&quot;&gt;natureskills.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A tip I learned from a buddy: put sap on the end of the spindle that is not doing the drilling. That way it doesn't make a fire in your hand piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T18:46:07.697" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T18:46:07.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:38:21.577" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay - I found that both my Langmuir (Mountaincraft and Leadership) and my Mountaineers (Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills) have pretty good advice about lightning. I would advise anyone planning on heading out into the hills to read both of these excellent books - Langmuir is &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; book for British Mountain Leader Training, and the Mountaineers covers a lot extra information for activities over in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think being away from the treeline is particular problematic (unless you are the only thing on a very flat piece of ground).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you are not on the top of a ridge/hill, then there is a safe &quot;shadow zone&quot; on the side of the hill - I think something of the order of 2/3 of the way between the hilltop and its base. The only thing is - you should sit on top of a plastic sheet or your backpack to prevent picking up stray eddy currents from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From Langmuir&lt;/strong&gt; (Mountaincraft and Leadership, 3rd Edition):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get a shadow from a 7m or taller cliff where the safe zone is between 3m from the base out to the height of the cliff - this means standing 5m from a 7m cliff should reduce your chance of a lightning strike (note - &lt;strong&gt;reduce&lt;/strong&gt; - there is still a chance you can get hit, there is no 0%). There is a diagram on page 227 of 3rd Edition - I can't find one to link to, unfortunately. He doesn't say how steep the cliff should be, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you enter a cave for shelter (or dive under a boulder) - you must have at least 3m head room (so - 5m total) and 1m to either side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From The Mountaineers&lt;/strong&gt; (Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 6th Edition):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These guys are pretty clear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If thunderstorms are forecast:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not camp or climb in a narrow valley or gully&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not plan to climb or hike in high, exposed areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Watch small cumulus clouds for strong, upward growth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep track of weather reports&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you spot a thunderstorm:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Get away from water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Seek low ground in an open valley or meadow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Move immediately if your hair stands on end&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not stand under trees, especially in open areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not remain near metal or graphite equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Insulate yourself from the ground with your pack or a foam mat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Crouch to minimise your profile&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not lie down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gauge the movement of the thunderstorm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="78" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T09:30:35.767" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T09:30:35.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="225" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="229" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:39:15.007" Score="32" ViewCount="4408" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of my prior hiking experience has been in areas that are not home to bears, so what precautions should I take to protect my camp (and myself as I am hiking) from bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware of a couple of things, like having a bell or noisemaker on my pack, and hanging my food from a tree.  Are these effective?  I have also seen bear-proof canisters for sale for storing my food.  Are those preferable to hanging it from a tree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="101" LastEditorUserId="261" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T11:15:47.880" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T04:05:59.050" Title="What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="263" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:43:00.320" Score="23" ViewCount="838" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done a good deal of hiking and backpacking in the Eastern US (mostly in New England), but I recently moved to California.  What are the major differences in terms of preparation or equipment that I should be packing?  I am talking more about hiking in wooded areas (as opposed to deserts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What new challenges will I see from the terrain, wildlife, etc, and how can I prepare for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="101" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T07:45:49.073" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T22:03:16.830" Title="As an experienced backpacker in the Eastern US, what should I know before hiking in the Western US?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="226" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:52:45.300" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a brief summary of what I can let you know. I should say this will apply more to the Eastern parts of the state, either North or South. I live in Arizona, which has similar difficulties...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Altitude: While not all hikes in the West are done at altitude, there are many more opportunities. I routinely hike 8000 feet in elevation, which is very difficult to do on the East Coast. This can cause a large variety of symptoms, the first of which is usually just being weaker than normal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water- Depending on where you hike, there might be much fewer opportunities to get water than you would have in other places. Check beforehand if you have water available, and even if you do, plan to bring more than you think you need.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wild life tends to be a bit more wild. Learn about the area you are going, and what you need to do to protect yourself, especially against bears.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T04:52:45.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="136" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:54:52.890" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should keep the bite site clean (make sure you got the whole tick out, and didn't leave the head behind, still in the skin).  This is to avoid infection.  Then, watch the area to look for a rash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Lyme Disease rash generally (but not always) will have a bulls-eye pattern to it, with concentric circles of redness around the bite location.  Some circles might not be full circles.  Also, sometimes, there is no rash at all, but that is the general pattern to the rash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't cut the trip short just upon seeing the tick, but I would keep an eye on it.  Not all ticks carry the disease, and if you removed the tick soon after it bit, it is less likely that you will be infected (assuming the tick has the disease).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add: for a clearer reference, here's the size of a typical nymph:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qTk1V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="101" LastEditorUserId="632" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T18:01:47.320" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T18:01:47.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2012-01-25T04:58:54.977" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, &lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt; bring &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; smelly into your tent. This includes food, tooth paste, deodorant, or anything else that has a smell. Also, keep fires away from the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend setting up a bear triangle campground. Cook your food in one corner, close to that corner–maybe 50 feet away–set up a latrine area. About 200 feet or more away from both, set up your tents. Keep your food in the kitchen area, tied up high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking, the most important thing to do is to make noise to let the bears know where you are. They don't want to mess with humans in general, but they will if you startle them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your smelly stuff in some kind of an easy-to-dispose-of container. If a bear attacks you, let go of the smelly stuff, and you are more likely to survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T21:55:09.730" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T21:55:09.730" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="119" CreationDate="2012-01-25T05:03:40.643" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a similar extreme reaction, so this is what I have learned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000ZK3V7E&quot;&gt;Tecnu&lt;/a&gt; works pretty well after you have been exposed, but before the rash develops (I realize that is a pretty short window of opportunity).  It can also help to stop the oils from spreading.  It works by washing the oils off of your skin, and it works better than soap and water, which can sometimes just serve to spread the oils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, as a more preventative measure, I would make sure that I cover my legs completely, and avoid touching my pants after I know that they have rubbed against poison ivy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="101" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T05:03:40.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="231" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="247" CreationDate="2012-01-25T05:12:56.427" Score="33" ViewCount="53133" Body="&lt;p&gt;The last time I was attacked by leeches I thought I'd taken enough precautions such as pulling my socks over my trousers and avoiding walking through particularly wet areas or long grass but I still got them sucking on my ankles. What are the best methods to prevent them finding you interesting in the first place? And what will stop them finding your skin if they do take an interest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="100" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T05:49:10.037" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T05:53:09.260" Title="How do I avoid leeches?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;leeches&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="119" CreationDate="2012-01-25T05:12:58.600" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have researched this occasionally over the years.  Ivy Block, Tecnu, and Ivarest all have preventative lotions. The oil may still spread, but it is a good first step.  As an alternative, the forest service has recommended spray deodorant as well.  The active ingredient, aluminum chlorohydrate, may prevent absorption by blocking pores, just as it does to prevent sweating. None of these methods will prevent you from spreading the oil to some extent once in contact, but may help protect the treated area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T05:12:58.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="218" CreationDate="2012-01-25T05:28:26.003" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many, many ways to make a fire. Some require more skill, while others depend on carefully prepared equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5RAfK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;The closest thing to &quot;rubbing two sticks together&quot; is the &lt;strong&gt;hand-drill&lt;/strong&gt;. You will need a fireboard (a small cedar board is good) and a thin, straight stick. A knife is good, too. This takes a lot of practice. Hand callouses help. YouTube has many videos: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hand+drill+fire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire Plow (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G80lW.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;Even further on the skill end of the scale is the &lt;strong&gt;fire plow&lt;/strong&gt;. Basically you push a stick along a groove in a board. I've heard that native people of the Pacific Northwest would walk up to a cedar tree, cut groove in the side of the tree, and plow up a coal right there. Again, see YouTube: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fire%20plow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire Plow (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Successful friction fires requires both good equipment and good technique.&lt;/strong&gt; If you are just starting out, and you won't know if your failures are caused by equipment or technique. This can make learning very difficult. One fix is to buy a good set from an expert. Learn to make fires with it, then make your own kit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making any fire requires &lt;strong&gt;multiple skills&lt;/strong&gt;, which you apply in a sequence. A friction method will produce a tiny coal. Once you've mastered that, you still need to be able to make the coal in to a flame (with tinder). Once your tinder is going, you need to light the kindling. Usually you'll add progressively larger fuel to grow the fire for your purposes. Then you need to know &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/89/how-to-be-absolutely-sure-my-fire-is-safely-extinguished&quot;&gt;how to put the fire out safely&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of these stages is its own set of skills to learn. Each is contextual (type of wood available, season, weather, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet weather&lt;/strong&gt; is especially challenging, so start learning when it's not raining. However, watch out for your dry season, when runaway fires are particularly risky. Check with your fire department for &lt;strong&gt;burn bans&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no mastery of fire-making. Sometimes, when you're sure that you're doing everything right, you still can't get a good fire going. Consider it a &lt;strong&gt;spiritual practice&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:10:07.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-01-25T05:51:11.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cracks in rocks or lying on the ground won't improve things.  Creek beds might make it worse if there's enough water to conduct electricity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best policy is to get down before the lightning starts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving to the trees is probably the second best bet. Look around and see if a bunch of trees in your area have been struck over the years. If so, you're in a bad place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading a scientific report they did in Colorado with a lighting strike detector in some mountain thunderstorms. They found that the downwind slope of a mountain has more lighting strikes on average than the peak or the upwind slope. I don't remember who did that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Homework: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thepeakmind.com/managing-lightning-risk/high-peaks-lightning-strategy/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;PeakMind - Lightning Strategy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crh.noaa.gov/Image/pub/ltg/AMS_2005_ltg_case_studies.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NOAA/NWS Meteorological Case Studies of Lightning Strike Victims in Colorado (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/ams_lightning_rec.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NOAA Updated AMS Recommendations for Lightning Safety - 2002&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T15:10:39.630" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T15:10:39.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="54" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:14:21.957" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, the membrane will wear out in a few years. That's one of the reasons why many people prefer leather boots, because once the membrane starts to leak, they can still waterproof the leather (it's much harder to perfectly waterproof textile).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, you can always try to keep the membrane as long as possible. One thing manufacturers recommend is to never wear cotton socks in the boots, as cotton gets abrasive when wet and you could easily wear out the shoe inside to the point of damaging the membrane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing is to clean the insides from debris that could puncture the membrane. Apart from that, I don't think you can do much. Waterproofing the outside layer will probably keep the membrane working better (like DWR on clothes, since leather soaken with water does not let the vapours through that well), but I don't think it makes it live longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T06:14:21.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="222" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:16:26.993" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, pick the location you think it closest to the mark, based on the GPS.&#xA;Then, walk in an outward spiral, looking at any place that someone would be likely to hide a geocache. Think like a person who is hiding it. Where would you put it? Don't forget to look up. Maybe it's at eye level or above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wander around randomly, you'll end up walking over the same places over and over. If you force yourself into a pattern, you'll see things you would not otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T06:16:26.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:22:21.850" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you put a sleeping bag on the outside of the pack, you should have it in a stuff sack or something similar that is strong, waterproof, and has loops for straps. A sleeping bag is something you don't want wet or lost. You can strap the stuff sack with the sleeping bag anywhere, probably near the bottom or on top of the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually pack the sleeping bag inside and put the pad, tent, and other cumbersome things (snowshoes, crampons, rope, extra shoes, etc.) I might have outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T06:22:21.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="133" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:28:41.747" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you use your current tent, you should make sure the rain fly (outer layer) covers the entire tent. Otherwise you will have a healthy layer of frost on the inside of the tent (in the uncovered area) every morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Four season tents usually have more poles and are sturdier than three season tents, for wind and snow protection. They may also have the option of closing off the ventilation for warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T06:28:41.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="114" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:44:49.177" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the main questions is choosing between down and synthetic filling. Down bags are much lighter, they last longer because the down takes less damage when compressed, and they are generally warmer. They have two downsides: they are more expensive and the down quickly loses its insulating properties when wet. If you have the money to buy a down bag, I would definitely go for it, as it offers toasty sleeping with fewer grams on your shoulders and less space taken in the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature ratings are not to be trusted in absolute terms, since all people are different with respect to bearing cold. You can easily have a dreadful night in a bag that would be quite cozy for someone else. You can use the ratings to compare at least the various models from one manufacturer, but don't depend on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shapes do not matter much, any modern sleeping bag meant for your height will do. The mat, on the other hand, matters immensely, especially if you tend to be cold and want to sleep in temperatures near 0°C and lower. (That’s a good topic for a separate question.) As for varying temperatures, it’s better to err on the warm side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put it shortly, you mainly care about the filling, down vs. synthetic. Then the performance will be similar between all modern bags with comparable weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T17:22:51.217" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T17:22:51.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:57:25.413" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's allowed in Sweden. It's called Allemansrätten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="104" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T06:57:25.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-01-25T06:59:41.650" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the things I've heard that wildland firefighters like to do (they often wear large, all leather boots, like these: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.danner.com/flashpoint-ii-10-all-leather-black.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Danner Flashpoint II&lt;/a&gt;) is &lt;strong&gt;put on the boots, stand in the bathtub with water and let the water soak through the boots&lt;/strong&gt; with your feet on, and then wear them around the house for a few hours. It seems to work - as it softens the boots and helps to break them in faster.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T18:40:37.503" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T18:40:37.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:00:03.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would lay down your backpack and crouch on top of it. The backpack combined with your hiking boots should insulate enough. Of course, this should not be done on top of the peak. This technique is even improved when used in a cave but finding a cave up there is rather unlikely.&#xA;I found this the most comforting counter measure against lightning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:00:03.723" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="243" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="250" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:04:54.887" Score="24" ViewCount="3303" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do when I get disoriented or lost?  How can I find help or make myself easier to find?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a general question to do when lost in the wilderness, whether it is a meadow or mountain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T07:27:22.993" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T09:46:45.900" Title="What should I do when I'm lost?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="244" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="249" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:20:01.757" Score="16" ViewCount="496" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I recognize symptoms of hypothermia on myself and other people I camp with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="46" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T10:29:01.230" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:00:18.593" Title="How do I recognize if someone is suffering from hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="245" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="248" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:24:10.487" Score="14" ViewCount="3423" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I recognize the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/244/46&quot;&gt;symptoms of hypothermia&lt;/a&gt;, how should I treat it? And what are the dangers if the symptoms are ignored?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T05:40:25.513" Title="How should I treat hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:25:19.080" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you meet a bear, keep several things in mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never&lt;/strong&gt; make eye contact with a bear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make yourself as large as possible - do this by standing on a stump or rock. take your coat and raise it above your shoulders, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never&lt;/strong&gt; turn your back to the bear or run.  This will make him think &lt;em&gt;you are prey&lt;/em&gt; and encourage him to chase you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk in a monotone and keep the bear calm. Do not make any sudden movements...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn to identify the difference between Grizzly bears and Black bears (In North America):&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grizzly:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CZoUl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Defining characteristics&lt;/strong&gt;: hump behind the head/above the shoulders. &lt;strong&gt;Not always brown, can be black, chocolate, or blond&lt;/strong&gt;.  Have rounded, shorter ears; dished face. Also larger and heavier than a black bear. &lt;em&gt;Less likely to climb trees, though capable.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black Bear:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z8cgI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Defining characteristics&lt;/strong&gt;: no hump, smaller than a grizzly.  Have pointed ears. Can be brown, black, chocolate, etc.  &lt;em&gt;Can climb trees&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A summary chart you may want to print and keep handy:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ggTP5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may also want to climb a tree, however, if it is a black bear, it can follow you up the tree.  Grizzlies, on the other hand, for the most part, won't.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And &lt;strong&gt;yes, &quot;bear caches&quot; really do work&lt;/strong&gt; - keep it at least 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet out from the trunk of the tree when you hang it. Put &lt;em&gt;anything that smells&lt;/em&gt; in the bear cache, such as toothpaste, deodorant, and obviously, food.  Bears can smell from a long way away.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image Sources:&#xA; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/grizzly-bear/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grizzly Bear&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adirondackwildlife.org/BlackBearDarrellAusten.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Bear&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hunter-ed.com/mt/course/ch9_be_bear_aware.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grizzly Bear versus Black Bear comparison&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T18:57:43.097" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T18:57:43.097" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:32:44.997" Score="15" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can spray your socks/shoes with some type of deet spray or some tobacco water (soak some tobacco leaves in water).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've heard that salt affects leeches similarly is it does slugs, so you could carry some of that with you and rub some on your legs/feet every once and a while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leech socks are pretty effective as the seal off the at the knee and physically prevent the leeches from getting to you, but they may be uncomfortable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've heard citrus juice works. I've never tried it, but to me it sounds made up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sprays will deter, the salt will make them leave, and the socks do nothing but prevent access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:32:44.997" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="245" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:33:16.523" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;When treating mild to medium hypothermia, you should:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stop.  Create a heat source, such as a fire and get the patient warm. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take wet clothing off. The best way to do this if you don't have other clothes to change into, is to take off your underwear/under layers and dry those &lt;em&gt;first&lt;/em&gt;, then when those layers are dry, swap them out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat calories, i.e. carbohydrates like candy, sugar, things that will speed up your metabolism and get you warm.  Quick burning energy will help raise the internal temperature of the patient.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main thing is to &lt;strong&gt;stop and get the patient warm.&lt;/strong&gt;  Drink hot fluids, start a fire, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Severe hypothermia should be treated medically if at all possible. It is suggested that the best/only way to warm a person is for two people, one on either side of the person, to get in a sleeping bag and warm the person with their body heat (i.e. gradually).  Do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; administer hot fluids or attempt to warm in any other way...Do not make the patient move too much, or you will send the body into shock.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for dangers, if you ignore hypothermia long enough, the person can go into shock, become semi-conscious, unconscious, etc.  So it is very serious and &lt;em&gt;should be treated right away.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureskills.com/outdoor-safety/hypothermia-treatment/&quot;&gt;Hypothermia Treatment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T07:39:06.390" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:39:06.390" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="244" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:38:58.450" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are the basic signs of Hypothermia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shivering. May start off mildly and go severe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;General apathy and sudden exhaustion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Losing coordination (can't tie a knot, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of concentration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sudden irrational behavior&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unable to speak correctly (slurred speech, dropping words)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit per comments&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Final stages: Shivering can stop and subject can feel too warm and removing clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="76" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T17:00:18.593" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:00:18.593" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="243" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:51:22.430" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can no longer see any trail signs, the best thing to do is go back the way you came until you find one and start searching in a circle from there. Never continue to go further assuming there is going to be a sign just up ahead. You may be right, however the risk of getting lost and something unfortunate happening is too great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you become separated or lost, many experts suggest staying put (assuming someone knows you were out there). To help make yourself found, you should make unnatural patterns (straight lines or circles) in contrasting colors (rocks, dirt, debris). Making color contrasting flags provides good source of unnatural color and movement. A universal distress signal is 3 flags or 3 triangles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you determine your best course of action is to move on, &lt;strong&gt;always&lt;/strong&gt; leave some signal to indicate the direction your are headed. That way if someone finds where you were, they know the direction to look for you in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It goes without saying that you should always let someone know where you are going and when to expect to hear from you. Also, give them a 'I will call you by this time' time so if you don't, they know they should alert authorities that you may be lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:51:22.430" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:54:29.297" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're really above the treeline you don't have a lot of options. However the best thing is to make yourself as small as possible. This means you should squat down. (The same way you use a squatting toilet). To even improve this, you should only place a small piece of your foot to the ground. The reason for that is, that you should try to minimize the contact area between yourself and the ground. So, if possible stand on your toes. If you have a backpack you should throw it away. At least some dozen meters should be enough. Also throw away all metal things you were on your body. Especially if you're a mountain engineer it is a very good idea to throw away your pickle and don't forget to dismount your climbing irons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The things above you can do if the lightning storm is directly above you. (You can check this by counting the seconds between the lightning itself and the thunder you here. If you can't recognize any time difference between the visual lightning and the sound of the thunder, the thunderstorm is directly above you).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the lightning is a little bit further away (the rule of thumb is: 3 seconds between the lightning and the thunder is 1 kilometer distance from you), I would try to 1) go down as fast as possible 2) or go to an area where you're not the single thing on a relatively flat surface. So a forest would be a good choice, but no single tree!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:54:29.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="243" CreationDate="2012-01-25T07:56:41.603" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend staying and hoping that others find you. Except you have a cell phone or another communication device to report that you're lost. Or of course if you can't move because you're injured. If any of this is the case you should set up a signalling fire which should generate a huge amount of smoke (burning damp fir branches is a good start). Start to send Morse code with the smoke and/or light of a torch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are able to move, you generally should. Get your bearings standing on a higher place or getting up a tree. If you can't make out any signs of civilization, look out for rivers or streams. Head for those streams and follow them downwards. It is highly likely that you will find civilization downstream. This rule applies to the parts of the world where rivers don't end up dry. In deserted areas it is mostly the other way around as settlements are established around the source of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Btw, if you see help approaches make your self visible and then stand like a Y with your body to signal that you need help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T07:56:41.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="243" CreationDate="2012-01-25T08:21:03.030" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're completely lost but not in an emergency that requires immediate action you should stay where you are to 1) not getting even more lost 2) not getting into dangerous situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example if you're in the mountains and you have no idea where to go to reach you're goal it isn't a good idea to just randomly walk into one direction. The reason for that is: you can get even more lost and more important you can get into dangerous situations. If you don't know the terrain it can be that you're suddenly standing on top of a high cliff and can't find a way back. So I would suggest to stay where you are, try to stay calm. There is the chance that others can find you or that you remember suddenly where you have came from or that the situation that has lead to your looseness (e.g. thick fog) will improve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is an emergency that requires immediate action, I wouldn't recommend to stay, but to try you're best guest and heading into the next civilized area. In the mountains it is always a good idea to generally go down or to follow a small river, creek, or ditch, or something similar. This will often lead you to roads or houses (sooner or later).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T08:21:03.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="222" CreationDate="2012-01-25T09:01:15.183" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In cities, an issue with geocaching is the &lt;strong&gt;accuracy of the GPS&lt;/strong&gt; - you need to assume a greater margin for error than when you are in the open countryside as tall buildings do affect the signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @xpda says, some sort of &lt;strong&gt;regular search pattern may be required&lt;/strong&gt;, and be aware that geocaches may be hidden out of reach of average passers-by to avoid them being discovered accidentally, so don't just look between ground and eye-level. Also look above you, and at the ground - &lt;strong&gt;are there loose stones, gratings etc&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T14:24:16.263" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T14:24:16.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="243" CreationDate="2012-01-25T09:46:45.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there can be a definitive general answer as you will need to assess the situation depending on the level of emergency, the dangers around you and the likelihood and ease of rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make yourself easier to find by making yourself more visible or audible. Again it will depend on your situation but you might have with you a light, flares, clothing that stands out from your environment, a mirror that could be used for signalling, a whistle. Of course the absolute easiest way to get yourself found is to have a mobile phone with signal and an accurate GPS co-ordinate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are worried about becoming lost you should spend your time improving your navigation skills with a map and compass and make sure that you have those tools any time that becoming lost is a possibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="109" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T09:46:45.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="245" CreationDate="2012-01-25T09:51:49.147" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Admittedly, my first aid training has lapsed - but the last mountain first aid course I took about 5 years ago made a point of matching the speed of onset. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example - if a person has fallen into an icy stream, they will have very rapidly cooled. You need to get their core temperature up, fast - the best way to do this is to strip them down out of their wet clothes and dry, and then, while still unclothed (this is not the time to be body shy), into a sleeping bag with someone else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if it is a result of long-term exposure, then you can't just rapidly heat them up (no matter how bad it may seem). If they haven't gone too far (teeth are still chattering, they're still shivering) - extra layers and, a hot, sweet drink can help. Keep them moving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are not shivering anymore, they're pretty much heading into hypothermic shock - at that point, get them into a sleeping bag with another warm body. You should strip outer layers, but t-shirts and shorts can be left on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a large enough group and you have to stop, send a party for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T09:51:49.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-01-25T10:00:06.783" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I bought my leather boots they told me that modern walking boots should not need breaking in if they fit properly. I followed their advice and bought well-fitting boots and did not break them in. The boots have never given me blisters despite spending many days walking in the mountains in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may be helped by my choice to wear two layers of socks one thin and one thick over the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="109" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T10:00:06.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="258" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T10:08:54.627" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions related to staying alive in sub-optimal outdoor situations - injury, loss of equipment, food and/or water, loss of navigation, being stranded (boat, plane, other vehicle failure), or the ubiquitous (if unlikely) flight from civilization in the event of a nuclear disaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also questions about survival as outdoor activity, intended to learn survival techniques to find food and water in the wilderness, coping with very limited equipment and making tools, clothes and shelters from materials found in the nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-12T20:10:37.310" LastActivityDate="2013-07-12T20:10:37.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="259" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T10:08:54.627" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to staying alive in the wilderness and learning survival techniques." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:40:28.023" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T23:40:28.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-25T10:20:46.143" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Scotland, it is allowed, with conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://walking.visitscotland.com/usefulinfo/wild-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wild camping in Scotland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One restriction that I know of is that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-12698722&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;camping is not allowed on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond&lt;/a&gt;. There are likely to be restrictions during the hunting season as well, there are phone lines where you can find out about hunting activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="109" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-14T02:55:27.653" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T02:55:27.653" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="261" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T10:34:28.610" Score="23" ViewCount="2633" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pack stoves come in a variety of flavors, consuming white gas, denatured alcohol, propane, wood, gels, unleaded, kerosene... etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the assumption that I will be carrying all the fuel I need (no wood collecting), and that all stoves weigh the same (big assumption, but for the sake of the discussion, lets try it...) &lt;em&gt;which one provides the highest heat-output per gram of fuel?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we consider the weight of non-reusable containers, does that significantly change things?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is any one significantly bulkier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:17:16.953" Title="Which stove fuel has best weight to bulk to heat ratio?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="261" CreationDate="2012-01-25T11:06:07.447" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/ste/pdf_files/sourcebook/module3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF&lt;/a&gt; from UNESCO&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem ethanol (denatured alcohol) is top of the list, but petrol is pretty good and probably more cost-effective. The both have similar densities (about 0.7 kg/l). No data on white gas, but given the chemical content of it, I shouldn't think it's too far off petrol. However, as Zoul points out in the comment below - ethanol releases its energy slower, so it isn't all that useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration is soot - petrol can leave a fair bit of soot, and dirties up your jets. Ethanol burns a lot cleaner (denatured alcohol may soot up some more, because of the additives).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally - I use an omni-fuel burner which could burn propane, butane, white gas, petrol and kerosene. Most of the time, I use Coleman's fuel (a type of white gas). I found one litre of that would easily last me three days of breakfasts, dinners and cups of tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also think ethanol burners are pretty dangerous - they're prone to being kicked over and spreading burning fuel, and the flame burns clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: an alternative to liquid/gas burners are hexamine fuel blocks - they're what I used to get when in the Territorial Army, and one block will boil a pint of water and last for several minutes (great for boil-in-the-bags and leaving a water for a brew). They're pretty light-weight, and the burner is simply a foldable tin stand (saving weight from a liquid/gas burner).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="78" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T11:33:43.180" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T11:33:43.180" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="226" CreationDate="2012-01-25T11:32:58.173" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some helpful points from someone who lives in the western US...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Altitude&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is a big factor in hikes, often in the West, especially around the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas, you will experience a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of altitude changes. the Western terrain varies widely - even in the space of a few miles.  Make sure your equipment (boots, pack, supplies, etc.) can handle changes such as these. I've changed many thousands of feet in several hours, on foot.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be prepared for altitude sickness and realized that you &lt;em&gt;burn more energy/calories&lt;/em&gt; at higher elevation.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also, there is less air.  So you will find that you will run out of breath much quicker (depending on how extreme the elevation is).  You probably will have to adjust your timetable to allow for breaks and time to adjust to the elevation and breathing in thinner air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wildlife&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The American West, again, especially in the Rockies and Sierras, as well as other mountainous/forested areas, there are a lot of different kinds of wildlife.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be aware of what each region has and how to identify and deal with them.  I've written a summary of dealing with bears here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears/246#246&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt;.  Bear in mind, for example, that there are similarities and differences in how you should encounter a bear and a mountain lion.  Mountain lions, you should stare down, bears, no.  But you should make yourself as big as possible to both.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always plan for a variety of weather conditions, you can get snow, rain, and clear skies all in the space of 12-18 hours.  Many Western states are desert areas, meaning it can be very hot during the day, and very cold at night.  So plan accordingly. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the climate is often hot and dry, the humidity can be very high or very low, so be prepared for dry skin, cracked lips, and expect to drink &lt;em&gt;much more water&lt;/em&gt; in dryer climates than you are used to.  Rule of thumb: &lt;strong&gt;If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T11:32:58.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="264" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="277" CreationDate="2012-01-25T11:50:28.597" Score="53" ViewCount="33398" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've all heard stories about how people &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEIYNvwXD0Q&quot;&gt;saved their lives by drinking their urine&lt;/a&gt;.  Is drinking urine safe when there are no other water sources available?  Can I filter it with a water purifier? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:35.800" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:35.800" Title="Is drinking urine safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="265" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="267" CreationDate="2012-01-25T11:52:34.537" Score="25" ViewCount="1819" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some different ways I can signal for help in the wilderness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for methods that apply in all seasons, particularly in the mountains, with forests or meadows &amp;amp; plateaus. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T08:53:13.063" LastActivityDate="2016-08-13T13:46:48.273" Title="How can I signal for help in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;sos&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="266" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="281" CreationDate="2012-01-25T11:57:41.830" Score="42" ViewCount="15879" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I identify edible berries/fruit in the wide and avoid the poisonous varieties? Is there a general guideline that can be followed or is specific to each plant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T18:51:16.643" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T09:42:58.273" Title="How can I identify edible berries/fruit from poisonous?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:10:00.983" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a little bit on where you want to signal emergency. But I think you're talking about remote areas. In these areas, searches are most often made by aircrafts. That's why it is necessary that you're seen from above and from far away. So you have a couple of possibilities dependening on your equipement. There is also an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_distress_signal&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; that explains the Alpine distress signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bright clothing:&lt;/strong&gt; This is especially useful if you're in open terrain and if you don't have any other equipment to signalize an emergency. But with bright clothing it is easier to locate you compared to black/white or grey clothing. So you should enhance your chances and wear yellow, red or orange clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flashlights:&lt;/strong&gt; You can use your headlamp or a flashlight to signal the place where you're located. You could for example use the morse alphabet to signal SOS (3 short, 3 long, 3 short) or the international distress signal (6 flashes within a minute, 1 minute pause, 6 flashes within a minute, ...).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whistles:&lt;/strong&gt; In the same way you use a flashlight, you can use a whistle. A whistle is a very small and light item, so I would recommend to always take it with you if you're going on a serious trip. The big advantage compared to the flashlight is, that you can hear the sound during daylight or in thick fog, when the flashligts can't be recognized.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire:&lt;/strong&gt; If you have something to make a fire, use it to mark your location. If possible, build a fire triangle. This is also an international distress signal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Signal rocket:&lt;/strong&gt; A very useful way to show that you need help. The big advantage is that signal rockets can fly up to 300 or 400 meters so that they are widely visible. The explosion of a signal rocket also leads to an easily recognizable pattern on a radar. The problem is that signal rockets aren't things that are part of a standard euqipment and in some countries it is not so easy to buy one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mirrors or other shiny objects:&lt;/strong&gt; Like flashlights you can use mirrors or other shiny objects to send light flashes. Obviously this works only during daytime.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-23T22:21:14.437" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T22:21:14.437" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="273" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:13:21.257" Score="14" ViewCount="7077" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know I shouldn't drink seawater (because of the salt it contains), but how can I desalinate it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:08.387" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:08.387" Title="How do I desalinate seawater?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="222" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:23:15.983" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read the cache page closely.&lt;/strong&gt; There may be hints in other places as well as the obvious encrypted hint - the cache description, title, and previous logs may all pose clues that would help you on your search. I tend to try without first but if I'm really stuck I'll read all I can to try and give me a bit more of an idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bear in mind that the co-ordinates are often only rough.&lt;/strong&gt; I've found a couple of caches where the co-ordinates have been 60m off! Bear in mind that you'll have the inaccuracy of the original person who grabbed the co-ordinates as well as the same of your own GPS, so in places with poor coverage it could be wildly out. If the place your GPS guides you to doesn't make sense, don't necessarily stick to that one spot, walk around, but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't scout randomly, use a methodical route.&lt;/strong&gt; All too often people make the mistakes of walking around randomly and coming back to the same couple of places, missing the more subtle place that they would have found otherwise... I tend to check the obvious places first and then cover the area more thoroughly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Look up.&lt;/strong&gt; People often look down and all around them for clues, but I've seen people really struggle to find caches in plain sight if they're above head height! Equally, look up for clues as well - I hid a cache with the clue &quot;underneath 3 cables&quot; (those cables being cables in plain sight running about 20 foot in the air) and you'd be surprised how many people looked for ages because they didn't get the clue!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bounce ideas off someone else.&lt;/strong&gt; If you don't understand the clue, ask someone else if they have any ideas. Sometimes something you've been pondering over for hours can jump out near instantly to someone else! One particular clue was &quot;CND&quot;, and the cache site was a few fence posts roughly in the shape of the corresponding flag. Being too young, I had no idea what &quot;CND&quot; meant at all - my parents were right on it however!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remember that caches can be all sorts of objects.&lt;/strong&gt; They're not always just the obvious tin - I easily found one recently that was a (toy) frog, and many people had missed it on the assumption that just couldn't be it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know when to give up.&lt;/strong&gt; Seriously, if you can't find it having searched around for a couple of hours and the previous 6 logs were all DNFs (did not find), there's a very good chance it's no longer there. Leave a note and ask the cache owner to have a look if they aren't already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Remember to mark a waypoint for your car&lt;/em&gt;. Not strictly to do with finding them, but especially if it's a cache that involves wandering around and you're not exactly sure where you are, mark a waypoint for where you started / parked / know where you are. Takes all of 2 seconds and could save you wandering around lost for hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall though the best way to find them is practice - the more you end up finding the better you'll get at it and the more spots you'll notice that you wouldn't have otherwise. When I first started I was spending a long time finding most of them, now it's usually pretty quick!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-08-27T19:50:20.640" LastActivityDate="2012-08-27T19:50:20.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="271" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:26:09.443" Score="18" ViewCount="9636" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I bought my current pair of hiking boots, the brand/style I tried on and liked was out of stock in the womens version, so the storeperson offered me the mens ones instead. I tried them, liked them, and have used them for hiking ever since. They are incredibly comfortable and provide a ton of ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I can't help but wonder: did I miss out on anything by not getting the women's version? In what way would  they be &quot;better&quot; for me as a woman?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="283" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T19:40:54.710" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T15:19:04.410" Title="What is the difference between men's and women's hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="261" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:28:37.500" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is also the question of heat exchange. How much of the generated heat will end up in the water/food, and how much will go into the surrounding air. I use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/&quot;&gt;Jetboil&lt;/a&gt; for this reason. It has a heat exchanger at the bottom of the &quot;pot&quot; to absorb as much of the heat as possible. It also has neoprene insulation to maintain the heat. This is so effective that you can hold your hands around the bottom of the pot without burning them, try that on a regular stove... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/rapid-cooking/reactor/product&quot;&gt;MSR reactor&lt;/a&gt;. It has a similar construction although it's a bit more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that you will have to bring less fuel in total since you will use it more effectively. A 100g gas canister is usually more than enough for a weekend of cooking for two. The gas is also, in my opinion, by far the easiest fuel to use. No soot, no preheating, no risk of spilling on hands or food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="73" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T20:56:43.567" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T20:56:43.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="268" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:28:43.617" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to distill it - I'm assuming that freezing is not an option (unless you're camping in the extreme latitudes). This is easiest, as the ice on top is almost pure water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you don't have a freezer available - boiling the water, capturing the steam and condensing it back to water will provide pure water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T12:28:43.617" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="292" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:29:30.277" Score="24" ViewCount="1042" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 3 month old daughter and am currently planning a short camping trip next month here in Australia where the weather should be warm but may also be wet. What should I take to ensure an enjoyable and safe trip? I'll only be in a national park somewhere not too far from a car and that won't be more than an hour's drive from civilisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is specific but it should probably be edited into and answered as something more general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="100" LastActivityDate="2012-04-20T20:16:04.307" Title="What equipment is recommended when camping with a baby?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="264" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:37:08.220" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;Urine is normally sterile (barring urinary tract infections) - so, from bacteriological stance, fresh urine isn't going to hurt.&lt;/s&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is - urine is a waste product, and so is full of stuff that your body wants to be rid of. Worse, as you get more dehydrated, your body produces more concentrated urine. That said - as a short term measure to keep hydrated, it can be drunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember my military survival training - we were instructed how to make a filter using a sock filled with dirt. It isn't the most efficient filter, and probably tastes pretty awful. If you have a ceramic filter, that might be better, but I'd imagine there's still be a flavour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T03:16:00.140" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T03:16:00.140" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="264" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:42:34.063" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;Assuming you don't have a genitourinary tract infection, fresh urine should be sterile,&lt;/s&gt; the problem is that it is a waste product which, apart from making it not taste very nice, means that consuming it will increase the concentration of waste in your body which will require an increased volume of water to absorb and subsequently excrete, resulting in you being more dehydrated. You could distil urine using a solar still to overcome this problem, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-homestead.com/distilling-water-from-the-sun.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;such as this method&lt;/a&gt;, however, I wouldn't expect a filter (at least those designed for outdoor activities) to remove the salts and other waste compounds found in urine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also heard of using urine to moisten your lips to lessen the symptoms of dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T03:16:43.060" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T03:16:43.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="271" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:49:02.287" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;While this is by far not a universal truth, in general, women tend to have more slender feet than men. Then again - some women have wide, plate-like feet, and some men have thin feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I've noticed that women's hill shoes tend to be 'prettier' (I'm not sure why - I doubt that this is actually a consideration for most hillwalking women - but that's just my opinion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as you've discovered, not all feet are equal - and not all boots. If you were to try men's boots from a different manufacture or even design, then you might not find them as comfortable. The only real way to compare the fit is to have both the men's and women's version of the same boot in the same size, and see how you go over comparable walks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T12:49:02.287" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-01-25T12:54:59.450" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is plant specific AFAIK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But i heard somwhere, that if you taste poisoned berries or fruit it will taste strange - because of evolution - whoever can detect poisonous berry by taste will not eat it and will live longer :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="115" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-02T23:35:52.543" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T23:35:52.543" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="271" CreationDate="2012-01-25T13:20:49.180" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that there are three reasons for special women's gear and clothing: fit, appearance and marketing. If you are happy with the man's boots you have got, if they fit you well, there's nothing to be gained by the women's model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T13:20:49.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-01-25T13:26:46.520" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eating berries and mushrooms is not recommended since there is no general pattern to identify poisonous ones (unless you're an expert on that topic). Even having a book with pictures of edible berries can be tricky as some poisonous ones are disguised as their edible counterparts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plants, on the other hand, should not be edible if the sap is milky. Milky sap often means poison. Take, for instance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Euphorbia&lt;/a&gt; which can look like cacti and trick you. So check the sap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With insects it's easier. Not eating the flashy coloured, smelly or slow unwary moving ones is the rule of thumb here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T23:51:17.183" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T23:51:17.183" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="282" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="290" CreationDate="2012-01-25T13:44:27.263" Score="18" ViewCount="2534" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the area where I live, I have periodically seen a rattle snake when hiking, occasionally at the ready to strike pose. What should I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:07:56.467" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:07:56.467" Title="What should you do if you see a rattle snake?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="282" CreationDate="2012-01-25T13:51:55.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's always best to back off and walk around it. Rattlesnakes can strike very fast and far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that the bigger problem with snakes in common is that you step close to one unexpectedly. Most of the time they strike out of reflex when you almost stand on them, like for instance in bushes or below large stones where you step over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastEditorUserId="105" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T21:10:07.780" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:10:07.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-01-25T13:58:12.810" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best advice is not to unless you are very, very sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, and just for fun, assuming you are in a chronic survival situation with no choice, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Test-if-a-Plant-Is-Edible&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; describes how to test if a plant is edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T13:58:12.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="286" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="288" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:18:11.537" Score="13" ViewCount="1134" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that while adder bites are venomous the number of people who have died from them are extremely low. If you're on a trek and you're bitten is it safe to continue for a couple more days before seeing a doctor or should you still abort right away and seek medical attention?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-07-03T04:34:16.647" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T04:34:16.647" Title="What to do if you're bitten by an adder?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;bites&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="268" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:18:28.813" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoors you can dig a hole and build &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SOLAR STILL&lt;/a&gt;. It is quick and dirty but works very well and it is time tested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Go1UA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you can put big plastic bag over brach with a lot of leaves on it and put rock on the bottom to capture the water. Make sure you don't do it on foliage that is toxic to people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xtoMJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the bucks you could get a portable &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reverse osmosis filter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis_of_water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Electrolysis&lt;/a&gt; turns the salt water into oxygen and hydrogen then recombine them and the result is pure water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T23:41:22.307" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T23:41:22.307" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="286" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:32:38.503" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Part of the reason that people don't die from snake bites is because they take the proper precautions. And while the bite of an adder isn't likely to kill you, it could make your return trip much more difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you do not want to do is to try and suck the venom out, or try and wrap a tourniquet around it. These will stop your bodies native ability to get rid of the venom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treat the bite to prevent it from bleeding, and then go as quickly as possible to a qualified medical facility, without straining too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are more than 24 hours away from help, then you might want to simply get to a good area to camp, and relax during that time. But try and find an area where you can request medical help if needed (IE, has cell phone reception). You probably have a few hours of hiking before too many symptoms would appear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bmj.com/content/331/7527/1244.full&quot;&gt;(Source: Treatment of Bites by Adders and exotic venomous snakes)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T14:32:38.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="289" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="693" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:37:15.500" Score="13" ViewCount="558" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing&quot;&gt;Letterboxing&lt;/a&gt; is a precursor to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching&quot;&gt;geocaching&lt;/a&gt;, wherein participants leave notes / stamps in boxes in the wild...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's helpful to have a list or guide to letterbox sites when embarking on a search, as locations can be transient... For instance, I heard Cut Hill (Dartmoor) was once crawling with letterboxes but several sources seem to imply that that's no longer the case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I go about finding information on letterboxing for a given area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="94" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T17:35:23.460" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T18:31:29.647" Title="Where can I find information on letterboxing in my area?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;letterboxing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="282" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:37:26.383" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, you are more likely to hear the rattlesnake than see it. They tend to camouflage themselves quite well, and unless you are paying very close attention, they are easy to miss. I have actually stepped less than a foot from one and not noticed it until I was passing it (It was coiled in a circle, hence my lack of rattle snake bites...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hear a rattle from a rattle snake, STOP. Look around, try to see where it is coming from. If it is coming from the trail in front of you, or near the trail, then find the spot. Walk around the area as best you can, giving the snake at least a 10 foot range if you can do it, or as much as you can if 10 feet isn't available, but do not get closer than 5 feet. The best way to do this is for one of the hiking party to act as a spotter, keeping an eye on the snake while the others pass, then someone who has passed the snake keeps an eye out for it while the spotter passes the snake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of a snake bite, treat it for the puncture wound, and then seek prompt medical attention. Your hike is probably over at this point in time, so turn back to your vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T14:37:26.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:40:50.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The single best thing you can do to avoid blisters is making the right choice of boots in the first place. If they are good quality, fit really well and suitable for your chosen activity I wouldn't expect many problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to a specialist outdoor shop and get advice from an expert. Most reputable outdoors shops will allow you to buy them, try out indoors at home and exchange them if they aren't suitable (at least in the U.K. and assuming they are still in a new condition).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your boots are still causing blisters after a few hikes, then perhaps you've got the wrong boots. Other problems such as a large, badly packed or unbalanced backpack load can affect your gait and cause problems too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, I've bought the wrong boots in the past and for me, soaking them in a river, then walking them dry worked well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T14:40:50.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="274" CreationDate="2012-01-25T14:49:35.893" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have taken my kids camping since they were just a little older than that, and the only things I would plan to take over and above a usual trip out (with the usual nappies, wipes, water bottles, spare clothes etc) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;lots of spare clothes. LOTS! Both for when they end up in mud somehow, and also for adding layers - they can't cope with temperature changes as well as adults. When it is cold, wrap them well and check their extremities regularly. When hot, take shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;lots of water. While wipes are essential, you will find you need more water than usual. If camping for a few days, it is useful to be able to boil clean water at every stop to help sterilise items.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;blanket/toy/whatever they like to cuddle. These things get lost. Take spares - it will make your life easier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T14:49:35.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="293" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="305" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:06:57.277" Score="13" ViewCount="3392" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm going to be climbing a mountain, would drinking a small amount at altitude have any negative effects (besides general alcohol effects)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:37:20.307" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:37:20.307" Title="Does drinking alcohol cause problems at altitude?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="342" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:08:25.760" Score="16" ViewCount="818" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm training to climb large mountains. What kind of ascent should I train for at altitude. Let's say above 12000 feet and carrying up to 60 lbs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:55:57.040" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:55:57.040" Title="What would be a safe ascent rate when mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="440" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:11:04.447" Score="10" ViewCount="739" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that I can take glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate supplements to prevent damage to my fingers when I'm climbing. Is it true, or is just an old wives' tale?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T09:56:16.407" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T09:56:16.407" Title="Will glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate prevent or repair damage to climbers’ fingers?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="296" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="403" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:12:05.147" Score="27" ViewCount="56602" Body="&lt;p&gt;After I've been climbing for a while, my finger joints are very sore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to relieve that pain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-05-20T14:03:11.990" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T18:42:10.400" Title="What can I do to help relieve joint pain in fingers after climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="293" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:18:55.823" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without knowing just how high you are going and how much alcohol you want to consume, it's difficult to say, however, to be safe I'd avoid any alcohol at altitude...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond alcohol's well know effect of causing mental and physical impairment (even with small quantities of alcohol), the vasodilative (widening of veins and arteries) and diuretic (increasing urine excretion) effects of alcohol would only exacerbate symptoms of altitude sickness such as dehydration and oedema. Vasodilation will also cause you to loose body heat more quickly (despite alcohol's feeling of giving you warmth - in fact that's why it gives you that feeling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T20:10:17.717" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:10:17.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="293" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:28:31.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although the quantity consumed and the altitude where consumption occurs may change this answer, as long as it is in moderation; I'm not aware of any specific problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have known people who bring along a hip flask full whiskey.  I could not participate as I was underage at the time, but I was told that it helped him get to sleep, and made sore bones/muscles hurt a little less at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T15:28:31.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="300" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="331" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:34:40.307" Score="15" ViewCount="4570" Body="&lt;p&gt;When rock-climbing, I need to set up a top-rope anchor so if I fall, it will minimize chance of injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how would I safely set one up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T01:58:34.283" Title="How do I set a top rope anchor?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="261" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:35:38.817" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The hydrocarbons are going to dominate in this category. Gasoline, diesel, and kerosene are all nearly the same in terms of energy content by mass and volume, and are significantly higher than everything except propane:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_densities&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_densities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those fuels contain an &lt;strong&gt;enormous&lt;/strong&gt; amount of energy, that's why we use them to power so much stuff. Gasoline has nearly double the energy content per mass as coal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Propane is also a hydrocarbon, and it has similar per-mass performance as the other liquids. However, because it is LP gas, it's not quite as dense as Gasoline, plus you require the sturdy metal container to contain the gas pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So bottom line: If you need as much heating power as you can get, get a liquid fuel stove, and burn white gas or motor fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-16T14:17:16.953" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:17:16.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="295" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:42:14.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've not done much climbing, but back when I was studying a hard martial art that included joint-locks, throws, and tumbling (and no shortage of bending joints in directions nature never intended); I found that glucosamine/condroitin supplements minimized the pain from those nagging day-after aches, and in many cases took away entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not a doctor, and I'm not finding a link to the study but IIRC, the FDA or NIH did a study on glucosamine/chondroitin supplements for arthritis pain and found it didn't work significantly above placebo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T15:42:14.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:44:40.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is sourced from REI's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/ice+axe.html&quot;&gt;How To Choose An Ice Axe&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Chris mentioned, the axe should barely touch the ground when standing upright and with arms at the side. A rough guide to ice axe length is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;lt;5'8&quot; (&amp;lt;1.72m): 50-60cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5'8&quot;-6'0&quot; (1.72-1.8m): 60-70cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&gt;6'0&quot; (&gt;1.8m): 60-70cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Too short is generally better than too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As AA Grapsas commented, it also depends on the type of climbing. Axes less than 60cm are generally for technical ice climbing and are best used for very steep or vertical slopes. Since they're shorter, they don't offer much leverage and are therefore bad for self arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the same note, axes over 70cm are generally too long for technical climbing, but better used for flat or lower angle slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T15:44:40.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="293" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:50:12.853" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The effects of alcohol are exacerbated at altitude, each ounce of alcoholic beverage will have a greater perceived effect on the consumer. This is in part due to the lower oxygen level in the blood of anyone at altitude, usually this is most notable at or above 8,000ft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some ways to mitigate the effects of alcohol, and speed recovery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink plenty of water: If you are at or above 8,000 feet and exercising heavily (ie. mountaineering, rock climbing, backcountry skiing) make sure to consume at least 72-128 ounces of water (2-4 liters) per day, more if in winter conditions or extreme heat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consume food with any alcohol use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink liquids containing sugar (hot tea with sugar is very popular)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get appropriate sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol will cause several detrimental effects pertaining to climbing as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Greater dehydration due to vasodilation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Increased effects of altitude, again due to vasodilation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased perception of risk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;General decrease in mental decision making and judgement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased ability to digest food, and therefore lower overall energy for climbing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased temperature regulation, as the blood vessels in the skin are dilated and will release more body heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't mean you shouldn't drink &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; alcohol on a climbing trip, but you must be aware of it's effects and how to deal with them. All-in-all, use moderation and good judgement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy climbing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g33388-i253-k728559-Effects_of_altitude_on_alcohol_consumption-Denver_Colorado.html&quot;&gt;Denver Forum - Effects of altitude and alcohol.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T15:50:12.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="306" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="515" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:55:05.200" Score="10" ViewCount="17178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into buying my first snowboard, and there's all kinds of types:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All mountain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freestyle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeride&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Splitboards&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the difference between these types?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="39" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T16:10:32.073" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T13:53:02.157" Title="What is the difference between the different types of snowboards? (all-mountain/freestyle/freeride/etc)" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="307" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="315" CreationDate="2012-01-25T15:57:29.380" Score="7" ViewCount="849" Body="&lt;p&gt;When looking at snowboards, they are described as being camber-shaped, rocker-shaped, or a hybrid? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the difference between them, and when is one preferred over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="39" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T16:23:05.373" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:23:05.373" Title="What is the difference between camber and rocker shaped snowboards?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="300" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:10:02.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rule number one: Assume that one piece of your equipment will break, there must be redundancy right up to the rope. At least two, preferably three, independent anchors should go to two opposing locked carabiners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for what to anchor to, if there's a bolted anchor that looks good, use it (but even then, not as the only anchor).  If not, I've always found trees the easiest, and as long as they're not right on the edge, a healthy live tree should be the most stable. Rocks are generally not as good, because it's hard to guarantee that whatever you use to anchor won't slip off the top. If you have good cams and a good spot to put them, that would also be good, but if you can get a bolt or a tree, use that too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider this general suggestions from a somewhat experienced but far from expert fellow climber.  You should go with an expert, watch how they set it up once or twice, and then set one yourself and have them check it and give you feedback. It would also be good to read a book about it &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; you go, so you can apply what you read under supervision so you know you're doing it properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:10:02.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="309" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="326" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:12:58.137" Score="12" ViewCount="4010" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm starting to learn how to rock climb, and there seem to be two types of climbing, top-rope climbing and lead climbing. What's the difference between the two, and what would be better for a beginning climber?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-17T12:52:23.097" LastActivityDate="2013-04-17T12:52:23.097" Title="When rock climbing, what is the difference between top-roping and leading?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="310" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="401" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:15:16.167" Score="5" ViewCount="566" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am learning to rock climb, and I have heard that I will need to belay climbers, so if they fall, my belay will stop the fall and prevent an injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I need to do to properly belay my climbing partner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:38.113" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:38.113" Title="In rock-climbing, how do I safely belay another climber?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2014-03-26T12:56:03.950" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="311" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:16:15.230" Score="14" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my past experiences running on trails, the paths are demarcated for hikers and bikers and I learned about these running-appropriate paths through word of mouth and in person park information. After moving to New England and the New York area, I haven't been able to discover a definitive resource for finding wooded running trails that include some information and reviews about the path and surrounding area. Does a resource like this exist describing running trails in this area? If not, how do I find running appropriate trails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="121" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T16:56:58.160" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T15:10:43.230" Title="How do I find known and documented trails for trail running in New England?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="399" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:16:58.130" Score="21" ViewCount="2490" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is imperative that climbing ropes are in excellent shape so they don't split while someone is climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I properly inspect the rope when I'm about to start a climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T06:12:03.427" Title="How do I inspect a climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="313" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="328" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:17:09.300" Score="10" ViewCount="471" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each has their purpose, I'm sure. So for what activities is each better? When would I use one over the other? What about half-serrated blades? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:48:12.883" Title="Serrated vs flat-edge knives" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="289" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:18:15.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Letterboxing resources for various locations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Dartmoor&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dartmoorletterboxing.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dartmoorletterboxing.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:37:20.947" CommentCount="4" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-01-27T17:35:38.483" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="307" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:20:12.680" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camber&lt;/strong&gt; - Where the ski or snowboard creates a slightly &lt;strong&gt;concave&lt;/strong&gt; shape in relation to the snow surface. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better &lt;em&gt;hard snow and ice grip&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makes the board or ski &quot;carve&quot; the snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rocker&lt;/strong&gt; - Where the ski or snowboard has a slight &lt;strong&gt;convex&lt;/strong&gt; shape in relation to the snow surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better &lt;em&gt;soft snow lift&lt;/em&gt; and float.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makes the board or ski &quot;smear&quot; the snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hybrid&lt;/strong&gt;  - Designs which have rocker at the tip, and camber underfoot. Good for general purpose where either condition may be encountered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither is &quot;better&quot; than the other, they are just tools appropriate for different conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rocker has enjoyed a cult following, and is now becoming more mainstream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick your poison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.evo.com/rocker-guide-what-is-rocker-and-why-does-it-matter.aspx&quot;&gt;EvoGear - Camber/ Rocker/ Flat definitions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:20:12.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="316" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="327" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:22:34.313" Score="17" ViewCount="6043" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tents are described being either single or double wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the difference and when is one preferred over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:32:46.960" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:32:46.960" Title="What is the difference between single and double wall tents?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="316" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:26:08.583" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Double wall tents keep most of the condensation from forming on the inside of a tent, and they're warmer. In general, they do a better job keeping the rain out. Double wall tents are preferable in colder or rainy weather, and I consider them a necessity for snow camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:26:08.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="324" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:27:16.927" Score="41" ViewCount="17893" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that storing a sleeping bag in its stuff sack for long periods of time will cause it to lose loft, and won't provide as much comfort or warmth when used again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, how should I store my sleeping bag when I won't be using it for months at a time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:14:25.710" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:14:25.710" Title="What is the best way to store my sleeping bag for long periods of time?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="319" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="325" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:28:23.463" Score="18" ViewCount="935" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I store my tent when I'm not using it for months at a time, so that it is still in good condition when I use it again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:44:28.617" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:44:28.617" Title="What is the best way to store my tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:34:34.340" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally in England and Wales it is illegal to wild camp anywhere without prior permission from the land owner. Although some UK national parks are more tolerant than others!! In my experience certainly in the English and Welsh national parks it is tolerated as long as you are not seen and you leave no trace including not starting any fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information check out the national parks website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/camping.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/camping.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @StephenPaulger says it is different in Scotland (thankfully) under certain conditions. Please check this link out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/out-and-about/recreation-activities/wild-camping/&quot;&gt;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/out-and-about/recreation-activities/wild-camping/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being on holiday in France, some places get very iffy about wild camping!! So as in the UK its probably best to check with the land owner first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:34:34.340" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="321" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:35:12.983" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ticks are small arachnids, part of the order Parasitiformes. Along with mites, they constitute the subclass Acari. Ticks are ectoparasites (external parasites), living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. Ticks had evolved by the Cretaceous period, the most common form of fossilisation being immersed in amber. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:29:03.073" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:29:03.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="322" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:35:12.983" Score="0" Body="Questions about ticks and especially the prevention of tick bites" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:29:03.073" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:29:03.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="319" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:37:07.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best place is to store it in a dry, thermally static environment. Make sure it is well-aired, dry and any muck is removed from it before storing it. Best to check the manufacturers guidelines if there are any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:37:07.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="318" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:37:25.570" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some sleeping bags come with a larger sack which does not unnecessarily compress the sleeping bag. So you might get a linen bag of around 50l volume (depends on the size and type of the sleeping bag). Furthermore, it is best to store it in a dry place, especially if it's a sleeping bag with down stuffing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:37:25.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="319" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:39:03.430" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make sure to thoroughly clean and air it before storing, especially for long periods of time - this will get rid of any damp and thus should help prevent mould. Aside from that, make sure to keep it dry and away from large temperature fluctuations (a loft isn't ideal for this reason.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:39:03.430" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="309" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:40:50.573" Score="14" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Top Roping:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top roping has an anchor at the top of the climb. The rope goes from the belayer at the bottom, all the way up to the top, through the anchor, and back down to the climber. If the climber falls, he or she only falls they only drop a little bit, provided the belayer has taken up all the slack. Additionally, the belayer pulls the rope up and brings it &lt;strong&gt;in&lt;/strong&gt; to take up slack on the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top roping is most definitely the way to go for a beginner.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lead Climbing:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With lead climbing, the rope isn't always above the climber. Using fall protection either attached permanently to the wall, or placed by the climber, the climbing climbs, and periodically clips the rope into the protection as he or she ascends. If the climber falls, they will fall a distance equal to twice their height above their last placed anchor, plus the amount that the rope stretches, which may be a significant distance. Opposite to top-roping, in lead climbing the climber pulls the rope up, and the belayer lets the rope &lt;strong&gt;out&lt;/strong&gt; to allow the climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-04-14T14:26:27.507" LastActivityDate="2013-04-14T14:26:27.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="316" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:46:14.820" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The difference between a single wall tent and a double wall tent is the rain fly (or lack thereof). A single wall tent has only one layer of fabric, this layer provides protection from the elements, and is the only walls of the tent. A double wall tent usually has a mesh inner tent with a fly that sits on top to protect you from the elements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefits to the single wall tent are it's lightness (because there are fewer parts) and it's price (again fewer parts means cheaper tent). The downsides of a single wall tent are that ventilation can be poor causing condensation to build up in the tent. That brings us to the double wall tent, it's primary benefit is keeping condensation from building up. (Newer double wall tents have mitigated the heaviness of the additional fabrics by using newer materials that are pretty light.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information &lt;a href=&quot;http://jonsky.hubpages.com/hub/Single-Wall-Tents-and-Double-Wall-Tents&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; was pretty helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2" LastEditorUserId="1895" LastEditDate="2012-12-23T05:31:26.067" LastActivityDate="2012-12-23T05:31:26.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="313" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:48:12.883" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Flat-edge&lt;/code&gt; knives are the best choice for wilderness and campsite activities. A lot of times you have to use beating stick to split wood and that will dull out any serration you might have anywhere on the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Serrated&lt;/code&gt; knives (and partially serrated) come in handy in suburban environment where you have to cut man made materials like plastic and rubber. They are also good in self-defense since they go through clothing better than straight edge (but there are different options on the self defense aspect of it).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:48:12.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="329" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="341" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:52:52.313" Score="15" ViewCount="1572" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a new tent, is it worth the extra $40 to purchase a footprint for it as well? Or are there alternatives that can be found on the trail or even made at home?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T15:24:20.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T15:24:20.973" Title="Is it worth buying a footprint for a tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tent-footprints&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="318" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:54:18.897" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I bought my sleeping back from the scouts I was told not to store it in its stuff sack for long periods, and instead to hang it on a coat hanger so that it doesn't get compressed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was also told to stuff it into the bag rather than roll it as that way the bits that get squashed when compressed are different each time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:54:18.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="300" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:54:37.693" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First&lt;/strong&gt; - Please do not &lt;strong&gt;only&lt;/strong&gt; rely on answers in this site for creating top rope anchors. This is something that your life depends on, or the life of someone you care about, take it seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seek the advice of an expert in person: At the local climbing gym, or guiding service. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Creating climbing anchors is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; something you learn simply by reading, you must do this through experience and practice. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If in doubt... &lt;strong&gt;don't trust it&lt;/strong&gt;, there is a lot of shady climbing bolts and anchors out there, skepticism is the name of the game. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seek local knowledge of a climbing area before trusting existing anchors &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now with that our of the way...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the following acronym as a guide to anchor creation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E.A.R.N.E.S.T.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equal&lt;/strong&gt; tension - Multipoint anchors must have equal tension on all anchor points. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angles&lt;/strong&gt; appropriate - No angle of tension shall exceed 60 degrees&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Redundant&lt;/strong&gt; - No single anchor point failure shall cause the entire anchor to fail. Also no anchor point should share a primary connection to any other anchor point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Non-Extending&lt;/strong&gt; - No anchor point failure will cause other load points to be shock loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strong&lt;/strong&gt; - Each individual anchor point could hold all climbers in the case of the worst possible fall &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timely&lt;/strong&gt; - The anchor can be constructed and decontructed in a matter of time which does not cause a safety risk in itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also John Long, the grandaddy of modern rock climbing has suggested the alternate acronym to use for mnemonics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S.R.E.N.E.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Redunant&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equal Tension&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-extending&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please see this excellent article abour anchor building available at the link below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rescuedynamics.ca/articles/pdfs/EarnestAnchors3.pdf&quot;&gt;Rescue Dynamics - Anchors in EARNEST&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information from the master himself. A must read for a serious climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762723262&quot;&gt;John Long, Climbing Anchors 2nd Edition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-10-28T01:58:34.283" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T01:58:34.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="318" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:54:50.563" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you put the bag into a compressing sack, the insulation fibers take some damage. (Synthetic fibers are less resistant in this regard than down.) The longer and harder you compress the insulation, the more damage; the insulation slowly loses loft and gets &quot;colder&quot;. Therefore it's best to keep the sleeping bag hanging or lying freely, possibly in a bigger sack. That's about the only thing that matters, plus maybe the decent humidity mentioned by Thomas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:54:50.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="329" CreationDate="2012-01-25T16:58:59.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I've found it useful to have just a footprint when backpacking or camping in mild climates to reduce the carrying weight. While just a rainfly and footprint won't keep bugs out, it will protect you from rain and wind, and will be much lighter without all of the tent fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the potential for severe weather conditions, however I would bring a complete tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T16:58:59.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="329" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:00:16.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen people use &lt;code&gt;Tyvek&lt;/code&gt; as an alternative. It is cheap and light. You might even be able to score it for free. Needs little work to adjust it to the tent but you should be good after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T23:28:42.157" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T23:28:42.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="672" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:00:40.523" Score="16" ViewCount="1138" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some good techniques to use (materials, knots, etc.) for building a raft by gathering wood in the local area? I'm talking about something to sail on still or slow moving bodies of water, not something which has to survive rapids and waterfalls!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:05:53.243" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T15:33:57.847" Title="Techniques for building a raft from wood" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="337" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="391" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:09:18.340" Score="16" ViewCount="2136" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compasses seem to come in all shapes, sizes and (especially) prices! What sets a good compass apart from a bad one and what are some good characteristics to look for when making a purchase?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:13.347" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:14:13.347" Title="What things should I look for when buying a compass?" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="338" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="339" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:09:46.827" Score="14" ViewCount="913" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prusik knots are useful in emergency situations as they can be used for both climbing up a rope (out of a canyon) or down a rope (rappelling) without someone else providing a fireman's belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I go about properly tying a Prusik knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T03:34:15.147" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T05:39:03.237" Title="How do I tie a Prusik knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="338" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:15:02.653" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;A Picture is worth a thousand words: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wqYba.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Illustration of a prussik knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T05:39:03.237" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T05:39:03.237" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="343" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:21:16.700" Score="15" ViewCount="3555" Body="&lt;p&gt;Self-arresting is used to stop a mountaineer who has fallen and is sliding down a slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice axes are generally used for self-arrest, but what should a climber do to self arrest if he has lost his ice axe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-10T07:47:13.883" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T11:37:14.133" Title="How do I self arrest without an ice axe?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="329" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:25:07.567" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't mind the extra weight, I would say definitely go for it. It helps to protect your tent, and $40 spent to protect a $300 to $400 item is well worth it in my experience. It reduces the chance of damaging the bottom of your tent on sticks and rocks. It is also useful, as Gonzo states, alone if you are setting up just the fly and the footprint for a quick break out of the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will also add a qualification to my statement that it is worth it &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; you are going to be camping more than just a few times a year. Like most things, the chance of damage goes up the more frequently you use it, so if you're out every weekend, you'll be able to make use of it a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T21:47:02.380" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:47:02.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="294" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:25:50.060" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;According the the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/history.html&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;em&gt;International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;After 8850 feet a rate of 1250 feet per day above the previous days sleeping altitude is a generally appropriate rate of ascent.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Usually after 2700m, not to climb more than 400m from the previous night’s sleeping altitude would be a reasonable recommendation. Climbing high and sleeping low may help in the acclimatisation process, but it is important not to overexert yourself while trying to accomplish this. A rest day after every two days of gain in altitude may also help. Above all else it is very important to “listen” to your body as you ascend and not push yourself even while following these rough guidelines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is of course only a generalization, and individual rates of ascent will be different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the following symptoms occur, you are climbing too quickly and should descend. They are symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness &quot;&lt;strong&gt;AMS&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;  and could lead to High Altitude Cerebral Edema &quot;&lt;strong&gt;HACE&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;, or High Altitude Pulmonary Edema &quot;&lt;strong&gt;HAPE&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;, if left unchecked.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Difficulty sleeping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dizziness or light-headedness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fatigue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of appetite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nausea or vomiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rapid pulse (heart rate)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath with exertion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information on common mountain illness and related questions. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/medical_faq.html&quot;&gt;UIAA - Frequently Asked Questions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AMS Symptoms can elevate to the following. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Symptoms generally associated with more severe acute mountain sickness include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bluish discoloration of the skin (cyanosis)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chest tightness or congestion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cough&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coughing up blood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased consciousness or withdrawal from social interaction&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gray or pale complexion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inability to walk in a straight line, or to walk at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath at rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information see the link below.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm&quot;&gt;Medicine Plus: AMS - Symptoms and treatment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-04-09T03:50:41.113" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T03:50:41.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="340" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:27:32.087" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to try and position yourself face down, with your feet at the bottom, and then arc your body to put as much pressure on the hands, feet and knees as you can. As pointed out below though if you have crampons then &lt;strong&gt;don't ever&lt;/strong&gt; dig those into the surface at all - you'll only injure yourself! If that's the case, just use your hands and knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting however that this is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; less effective than a proper arresting manoeuvre with an axe - use it only as a last resort, it has no guarantee of stopping you in time. It's far better to take precautions to make sure you won't lose your axe in the first place!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T22:52:30.783" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T22:52:30.783" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="359" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:33:15.353" Score="6" ViewCount="2739" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say you are caught out without a tent in mild temperature conditions, e.g. moorland/woods.  What material would you look for to make a good shelter roof out of? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T18:46:04.360" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T06:54:52.960" Title="What is the best material to make an outdoor shelter roof out of?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="345" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="408" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:40:36.730" Score="11" ViewCount="2155" Body="&lt;p&gt;Avalanches are extremely dangerous when mountaineering, winter backpacking/camping, or backcountry skiing/snowboarding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes them and is there any way I can predict when an avalanche is about to occur?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T23:57:52.340" Title="What causes an avalanche and can I predict one?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="318" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:40:37.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best way would be to lay it horizontally so the filling won't shift and create spots that are more/less insulated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second best would be to store hanging up in a closet.  It does not compress the bag at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a closet tall enough to hold the bag, get a king-sized bed pillow case.  put the bag in the pillow case and store in a clean, dry corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T17:40:37.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="353" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:43:03.713" Score="21" ViewCount="593" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone from our group is caught in an avalanche, what can I do to rescue them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="116" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T18:19:43.140" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T19:58:59.610" Title="How can I rescue someone lost in an avalanche?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="557" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:43:05.710" Score="7" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;When skiing in the backcountry (or even in the trees at resorts), what can be done to minimize the risk of getting trapped in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_well&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tree well&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T13:34:55.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T13:34:55.677" Title="How can I minimize the risk of tree wells when backcountry skiing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="264" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:51:41.470" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Copy and paste from the answer here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1540/is-it-a-good-idea-to-drink-your-own-urine-in-a-survival-situation&quot;&gt;Is it a good idea to drink your own urine in a survival situation (Skeptics SE)?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt; You can do it, as a last resort, but it's dicey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US Army doesn't think it's a good idea and lists it on its &amp;quot;Do NOT drink&amp;quot; list, stating in its &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.equipped.com/21-76/ch6.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Field Manual&lt;/a&gt; that it &amp;quot;contains harmful body wastes&amp;quot; and that it is &amp;quot;about 2 percent salt.&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://trackertrail.com/publications/motherearthnews/72/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Several&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.equipped.com/primer.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;other&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/fyi-it-ever-ok-drink-your-own-urine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;resources&lt;/a&gt; seem to agree, all indicating that it will increase your rate of dehydration. (&lt;strong&gt;Warning:&lt;/strong&gt; the popular science link is not fun to open.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's your only source of water, it's likely that the US Army's recommendations of how to purify polluted water for consumption also applies to urine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If polluted water is your only moisture source, dig a small trough outside&#xA;the hole about 25 centimeters from the still’s lip (Figure 6-8). Dig the&#xA;trough about 25 centimeters deep and 8 centimeters wide. Pour the polluted&#xA;water in the trough. Be sure you do not spill any polluted water&#xA;around the rim of the hole where the plastic sheet touches the soil. The&#xA;trough holds the polluted water and the soil filters it as the still draws it.&#xA;The water then condenses on the plastic and drains into the container.&#xA;This process works extremely well when your only water source is salt&#xA;water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/awVeq.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other sources, which support my memory on the matter, indicate that it is at best a short term solution. For example, in a Slate article named &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slate.com/id/2191909/?GT1=38001&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Yellow Liquid Diet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, the author says that the waste might eventually &amp;quot;cause symptoms similar to those brought on by total kidney failure&amp;quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long can you survive by drinking pee?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An extra day or two, at best. A healthy person's urine is about 95 percent water and sterile, so in the short term it's safe to drink and does replenish lost water. But the other 5 percent of urine comprises a diverse collection of waste products, including nitrogen, potassium, and calcium—and too much of these can cause problems. When you drink your own pee, all the stuff that your kidneys had attempted to excrete comes right back into your stomach, and much of it ends up back in your kidneys. After several days of this, your urine will become highly concentrated with dangerous waste products, and drinking it can cause symptoms similar to those brought on by total kidney failure. At that point, you're doomed either way—from dehydration on the one hand or renal meltdown on the other. (Even if one could filter out most of the unwanted products in urine, the cycle would not be sustainable for long. In addition to what he or she pees out, the average human excretes about half a quart of water a day through sweating and exhaling.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, drinking urine for survival has been attempted successfully before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in 2008, a Chinese man by the name of Shen Peiyun &lt;a href=&quot;http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121130604542007575.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;survived six days&lt;/a&gt; by lying still and drinking his own urine, which is solid evidence that it won't kill you at least some of the time.  While it is not necessarily fatal, it doesn't mean it isn't harmful.  For instance, in the case above, no expert has asserted that he would have died without drinking his own urine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T12:44:19.890" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2012-01-25T17:59:18.790" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, anything out of the ordinary can get the attention of a search party or whomever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day, a smoky fire is more visible than a bright one. Build the fire, then add wet material to make smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to read the Wikipedia article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;distress signals.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before going in to the wilderness, make a plan for how you will deal with an emergency in that setting, including how you will get help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T23:51:25.667" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T23:51:25.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="347" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:13:47.160" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First&lt;/strong&gt; - Assess the situation and determine if an active rescue is possible and safe. Many would-be rescuers are caught or killed in follow up avalanches because they acted without assessing the surrounding conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Assuming you have equipment to assist in the rescue follow the guidelines below.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yell to alert your partners and other people that may be in the area. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Watch the victim! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Memorize the last seen point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure it is safe to search. Don't become a victim yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Designate a leader and quickly develop a search plan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for surface clues like gloves, boots, and other equipment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conduct a beacon search. Get close and probe BEFORE you dig.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best practice for minimum equipment to take to the backcountry with you are:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche beacon (that you know how to use)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rescue shovel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche probe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you are the person caught in the avalanche the following actions could help save your life.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsavalanche.org/Default.aspx?ContentId=9&amp;amp;LinkId=15&amp;amp;ParentLinkId=9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Forest Service National Avalanche Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to ski or board off the slab by maintaining momentum and angling to edge of slide like the very lucky people in video above do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simultaneously, if you are wearing an Avalung, get it in your mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you get knocked down and you have an Air Bag System deploy it.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Discard poles (never ski in the backcountry with your pole straps on).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hopefully you have releasable bindings and your skis or board come off; if they do, roll on to your back with your feet downhill. Swim hard upstream to try to get to the rear of the avalanche.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dig into the bed surface to slow you down and let as much debris as possible go past.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grab a tree if you can&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;FIGHT!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As the avalanche slows, try to thrust your hand or some part of your body above the surface and then stick a hand in front of your face to make an air space around your mouth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If completely buried, try to remain calm - hopefully your partners have practised rescue techniques and they will quickly find you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information regarding avalanches is available at the&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.ca/uploads/decisionmaking/DM_RescueReference_V1.0.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canadian Avalanche Association&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T12:27:39.783" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T12:27:39.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="354" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="362" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:14:21.403" Score="20" ViewCount="10597" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a good solution for clothing (or clothes washing) on long hikes with the following considerations&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Southeastern United States, Appalachians&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We hike &lt;em&gt;light&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10+ day trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to wear dirty clothes for too long, especially socks.  When clothes start to chafe, it's going to have a real impact on my ability to keep going.  I want minimal weight, but something that will allow me to keep going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been my experience, even with good quality (I've tried just about every brand of hiking sock sold), that things like socks do not dry out overnight in the Appalachian mountains.  I have socks that are okay for hiking when wet, but I'm not sure that's the right way to go (wash and hike in wet socks seems much less than ideal).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear, my concern is how to wash and have dry clothes and specifically the plan and gear for that.  I need specifically for long hikes, in areas where there's lots of tree cover (ie, the appalachians), and lost of moisture (ie, the appalachians).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:51:33.777" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:51:33.777" Title="Washing clothes on long hikes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="215" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:26:44.627" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can say that the behavior of the owner can affect your safety with taking a dog into bear country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking a rambunctious dog off-leash into bear country can mean the dog chasing a cub up a tree, which I have seen before on the Appalachian Trail.  It's miraculous that the mother bear didn't go after the dog or its owners after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, keeping the dog on a leash and keeping it with you at all times will not increase your danger in bear country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-06T01:21:29.193" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T01:21:29.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:29:23.110" Score="13" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a good book, with full color illustrations.  I can't find a link for one, but you want quality equivalent to the Audubon full color field guides.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do a few field runs in the area you plan on being in with someone experienced before you try to eat the foliage.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, everything depends on risk.  If you've been lost for four or five days and you're starving, assuming non-bitter, non-burning = okay may seem more reasonable.  However, if I'm found on the brink of starvation, I generally don't want the response personnel to also have to deal with whatever I may have poisoned myself with.  Seems a lot like doubling down on death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T22:33:05.510" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T22:33:05.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:35:50.370" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different types of being stranded; there's &quot;lost the trail an hour in&quot; stranded, &quot;lost the trail twenty miles in&quot; stranded, and &quot;broke a leg&quot; stranded, just to name a few.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering your question &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-day Hiking -- Therefore I assume you have standard hiking gear and are not asking for that.  Also assuming that you're not going to be nearby a car (car-camping).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-day trip -- You're going to be out a ways.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your emergency kit should be gear that never leaves your person.  If I get stranded away from my gear, I have this kit.  People have died from going to take a leak in the middle of the night and getting lost.  Your general hiking equipment is your &quot;gear,&quot; moreso than your &quot;emergency kit&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why &quot;never leaves your person&quot;?  You are at primary risk of two types of problems.  For simplicity we will assume the worst case in both, that you have lost your group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Injury -- If you become seriously injured, your world will be limited to a very small area.  Self rescue is limited.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lost -- If you become lost and separated, because it is a multi-day hike, rescue will likely be more than a few hours away.  Assuming you cannot self rescue, you may be in for a long wait of a week or more depending on when S&amp;amp;R is notified of your absence.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you won't have your emergency gear with you, then it's not an emergency kit.  With that in mind, I build my kit for three things&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light -- I never feel burdened and so I never set it down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small -- It's easy to attach to whatever I am wearing, or just strap to my leg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Supportive -- My kit may not &lt;em&gt;be&lt;/em&gt; shelter, but it will help me make it.  It may not &lt;em&gt;be&lt;/em&gt; food, but it will help me secure some.  It may not &lt;em&gt;be&lt;/em&gt; rescue, but it will help them find me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knife (big enough to use, but not super heavy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Space blanket (for warmth)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50' paracord (a million uses)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trash bag (rain cover, distillation tool, lots of uses here)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water purification (iodine is light and works)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;.5 liter water container (iodine tabs will do .5 liter.  I carry a .5 liter platypus, but it's your choice, you &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; a water container)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fishing line &amp;amp; hooks (I carry about ten.  1 is not enough, 100 is too many)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;200 calorie snack (200 calories won't keep you alive, but I want something to nibble on while I find food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass (assuming you can use it)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mirror&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A few oz of salt (good to eat, can double as a temporary fix for infections)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle (I prefer the ridiculous &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-gear.com/rescue-howler-whistle.htm&quot;&gt;whistles&lt;/a&gt; that can be heard really far away)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scout flint &amp;amp; steel (learn how to use it)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small flashlight (again I'm on the super-low-weight side, so I carry a Fenix)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Based on Hartley's point, I think I will be adding my super-small Snow Peak .75L pot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any kit is nothing without knowledge.  You need to know how to use all this stuff, how to make your own shelter, and preferably all the local edibles and how to find them.  Before you go out on a day hike, I recommend you practice with this gear to make sure you can do the minimal of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Build a shelter  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start a fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collect and purify water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signal with mirror, fire, and whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This stuff &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; leaves my emergency kit.   For any of it that I also use regularly in camp, I have a second one.  My emergency kit is for emergencies only and is separate from the rest of my gear.  It has its own pouch that I keep with me (not with my pack).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike the Appalachians.  It gets cold, but not Canada cold, and it's not desert.  This would likely need to be tweaked for extreme cold or heat.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-22T22:14:05.477" LastActivityDate="2012-02-22T22:14:05.477" CommentCount="5" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-12-04T13:42:09.287" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="354" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:45:32.787" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;When washing in the backcountry there are some techniques and considerations that will benefit yourself and the pristine wilderness you are traveling within. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't ever wash near a water source, you are contaminating it for yourself, everyone else, and the animals that drink from it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Always carry water at least 500 feet away from:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The source of the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your campsite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The trail or travel area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other persons' campsites.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Never use a nitrate-based soap&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These soaps kill naturally occurring and helpful bacteria in the soil.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The soaps can cause an overabundance of certain kinds of water-based algae.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They contaminate water sources and make them unfit to drink for yourself and the animals living nearby.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Wash yourself and your clothes in a central location if staying for multiple days.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving the wash location affects a greater number of areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Concentrating the wash area minimizes contamination elsewhere. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scatter dirty water within the wash area to prevent soap from entering the deep soil and killing plant roots. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Use a scentless soap&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a soap that smells like fruit is a good way to get tracked or attacked by bears or mountain lions. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In some areas scented soaps are not allowed (e.g. Glacier National Park)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. For drying clothes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the sun if possible, get into camp early (i.e. 3:00 pm), wash, and dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;OR wring clothes and place them on your body inside the sleeping bag at night. Your clothes &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; be dry by morning. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For socks, tie them in a knot and store around your neck while sleeping. Same result as above. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack a vessel that can carry water and that you won't be using for cooking.&lt;/strong&gt; The best I have seen are collapsible wash buckets made of synthetic fabric. These are light and allow for easy transportation of water away from the camping/water/travel area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For the best backcountry soap I've used try the following.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OLBA08/BabyMildLiquidSoap.htm&quot;&gt;Dr. Bronners - Unscented castille soap, baby.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information please see the following: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lnt.org/aboutUs/FAQs.php&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace - FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T20:08:10.137" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T20:08:10.137" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="344" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:45:51.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The same way that modern houses aren't made out of only one material (in most places), your shelter should be made up of different materials as well. Obviously this all depends on where you are and what is available. Primarily you'll need two types of materials. (I'll assume you're in a fairly standard deciduous forest):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Structure:&lt;/strong&gt; You'll want to use sturdy, thick wood to build the structure of your shelter. You're going to be piling on a significant amount of loft and protection, and you don't want the whole thing collapsing on you in your sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the general recommendation here is to find a large branch or log around 10 feet long, and prop it up in the fork of a tree. You'll then prop up smaller branches or large sticks along both sides of that main branch to create a wedge-shaped frame for your structure, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureskills.com/survival/primitive-shelter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;as seen in the first image below&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IaJn.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insulation &amp;amp; Protection:&lt;/strong&gt; The next step is adding loft to help insulate your shelter and offer basic wind and rain protection. Basically, just grab arm-fulls of the small sticks, leaves and other debris that are all over the forest floor and pile them on your structure. It can be tricky to get them to stay on top without sliding off the side or falling between the branches, so start around the base and build your way up. Patience is a key part of this. Trash bags can be useful for this, if you have them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how cold it is and what the conditions are like, you should try to have 2-3 feet of loft covering your structure, as seen in the second image, above. You want it to be thick, but matted down so that it doesn't all blow away while you're sleeping. 2-3 feet of loft might sound like a lot, but you'll want as much as you can get to ensure you stay warm and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T06:54:52.960" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="329" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:50:33.837" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been surprised by how durable tent floors are.  I've never used footprints, and I have a silnylon-floored tent (i.e. not very durable material) that has lasted hundreds of nights and still doesn't have any holes or thin spots.  So really, I would call it wasted money and weight in your pack to carry a footprint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you forsee using the tent in &quot;fast pack&quot; configuration, i.e. no tent body, then consider getting the footprint just for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T18:50:33.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="361" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="526" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:51:53.977" Score="12" ViewCount="1850" Body="&lt;p&gt;What style/size of knife would be most useful in a survival scenario in the forest? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T16:50:39.157" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T14:19:28.400" Title="What is a good knife for survival in a forested environment?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-07-25T21:20:23.800" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="354" CreationDate="2012-01-25T18:54:49.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rinse your socks and undies out with water, rub them on rocks then re-rinse and wring dry.  Put them on damp in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't think of a lighter weight solution than that :)  I've done plenty of trips with no extra pairs of anything.  You certainly won't smell good at the end of 10 days, but I don't think your performance will be affected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Alternatively, leave the wet clothes in the sun when you are stopped, and tie them to the outside of your pack while you're moving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T20:08:25.157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T20:08:25.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="367" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:00:57.597" Score="16" ViewCount="12041" Body="&lt;p&gt;As most survival kits come with fish hooks, I am wondering how do I catch fish without any bait?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T19:08:13.873" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T22:10:22.283" Title="How do I catch fish with fish hooks but no bait?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:02:52.697" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The traditional standard is the USMC Ka-Bar knife.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally I look for&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fixed Blade &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Five to Seven inch blade&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durable (full-tang)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're going survival, whatever you choose needs to be able to fulfill the following roles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;General purpose cutting (rope etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fell small trees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spear point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T18:38:31.680" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T18:38:31.680" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="218" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:06:47.213" Score="-9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't. Bring a lighter and matches :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen so-called fire starting &quot;experts&quot; who say they can start a fire with sticks using a spindle or bow, but it almost never works in real life. They usually have a board with special notches or holes (which you won't find in the woods) and special wood. If you're in a survival situation where you need to make fire, these methods are usually too complicated, require too many specific things you won't find in nature, and very time consuming to assemble and use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just pack a few lighters and keep them on you at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:06:47.213" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="366" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="375" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:07:20.723" Score="16" ViewCount="943" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out in the wilderness and want to catch fish to survive, what are some ways I can do this &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; a conventional fishing pole/line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T09:56:44.457" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T20:30:31.830" Title="What are some alternative ways of fishing - i.e. catching fish?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="363" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:11:37.113" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many fish will strike at any moving object of roughly the right shape.  Generally shiny is better when improvising fake bait.  However you can almost always catch a bug or worm of some kind to put on the hook.  Anything small and gooey will usually do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do catch a fish, use their guts for bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:11:37.113" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="368" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="374" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:12:52.930" Score="13" ViewCount="5406" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/313/serrated-vs-flat-edge-knives&quot;&gt;Serrated vs flat-edge knives&lt;/a&gt;, I'm wondering &lt;em&gt;what the strengths and weaknesses are of folding knives versus fixed blade knives&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are fixed blades good for? What are folding knives not so good for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T18:31:41.127" Title="Folding versus fixed blade knives" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="363" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:13:10.057" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dig a bit and search for worms.  Look under some old rocks or break open a rotting log and grab a couple insects.  If you have a bit of granola or a raisin, or something similar, try that.  If you can't find any of those, just go ahead and try with a bare hook, especially around feeding time; I've caught a couple fish that way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:13:10.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="373" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:19:55.693" Score="25" ViewCount="27834" Body="&lt;p&gt;A common emergency blanket has two sides, one is orange and the other silver. Which one should I keep on the inside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0pAlG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0pAlG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;blanket&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T11:16:29.897" LastActivityDate="2019-12-13T17:53:00.487" Title="Which side of an emergency blanket should I use?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="368" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:23:18.370" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only advantage I see to a folding knife is its size when collapsed. I always carry a folding knife in my pocket, but when hiking I have a fixed blade strapped to my pack. I prefer to use my fixed blade for batoning, both for safety reasons, and the fact that it has a wider blade which can give you more penetration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is my EDC folder:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oUxOr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And my fixed blade which has a paracord wrap and is strapped to my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4jZhe.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example of the paracord wrap I have on my fixed blade. this will give you a feel for the type of grip you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xNbz8.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T19:50:24.473" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:50:24.473" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:36:51.860" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the native american fish trap (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_weir&quot;&gt;fishing weir&lt;/a&gt;). It's relatively easy to build if you have the right access to a stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dDRcQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic idea behind this trap is to create a funnel that the fish follow into a trap that they cannot easily get out of. To build it, you simple stake off an area with small branches pushed down into the mud. The water must be able to get through, but make sure the sticks are close enough to prevent the fish from coming through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice in the picture that the bottom set of sticks creates a funnel that fish easily follow into the trap. Once in there, it's very difficult for fish to find the one point where they can escape the trap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T19:43:17.230" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:43:17.230" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="377" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:38:45.413" Score="17" ViewCount="2244" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should obviously &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/282/what-should-you-do-if-you-see-a-rattle-snake&quot;&gt;avoid rattlesnakes&lt;/a&gt; if at all possible. But if you do get bitten by one, what should you do? What supplies can be brought ahead of time to allow for the best treatment, and what should you do if you have nothing other than standard gear for a day hike? How soon after a bite is medical care needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:06:37.723" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T10:23:29.983" Title="What should you do if you are bitten by a rattlesnake?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;bites&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="376" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:44:05.873" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;When bitten by a rattlesnake:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep the patient still.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep the body part/limb bitten &lt;strong&gt;below the area of the heart.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; constrict blood flow. Remove jewelry, other articles of clothing or any accessories that might restrict blood flow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get to a hospital as fast as possible, if at all possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do NOT cut the bite and attempt to suck the venom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do NOT apply a tourniquet, this is related to constricting blood flow, one can lose a limb if blood flow is lost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for things to bring to prepare: &lt;strong&gt;an ounce of prevention&lt;/strong&gt; is worth a lot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wear long pants and even &lt;a href=&quot;http://turtleskin.com/outdoor/snakearmor/gaiters&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snake gaiters&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you can't/don't want to wear snake gaiters, wear boots that are at least 8-10&quot; tall, such as logger, hunting, or wildland firefighting boots.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;best way is to combine tall boots &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; snake gaiters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T20:51:47.047" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T20:51:47.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="376" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:44:09.820" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Medical care is needed immediately.  Get it quickly.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000AU9PEC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Sawyer Kit&lt;/a&gt; is actually reported to reduce the severity of bites, but does not replace the need for care.  It may buy you some extra time though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running or other activities that drive your heart rate up aren't generally good.  It's kind of hard to keep the heart rate down because your first instinct is going to be &quot;panic&quot;.  If you have more than one person, send the one who did not get bitten for help.  There's a bit of judgement needed here.  If it's two days to get help, leaving a bitten person alone is not a good option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the injury low, don't tie a torniquet, don't &quot;cut&quot; the wound to get venom out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's really no other good solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="94" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T16:39:31.290" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T16:39:31.290" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="373" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:44:34.623" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some, not all, do indeed come in two sides, and which one you use depends on the reason you use it. One of the sides strongly reflects heat. A hypothermic person therefore wants to have that reflective side on the inside so that it helps keeping any warmth inside. A person suffering from heat stroke wants the reflective side outside so that heat is kept away from that person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the latter doesn't work too well, because warmth is also trapped by putting the person into the blanket in the first place. But you can use it, for example, to keep the inside of your tent colder than if you had it in the blazing sun without that reflector, similar to what people put in their windscreens in parked cars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which side is which might depend on the manufacturer and I'd suggest reading the instructions. In one example I could find, the gold side was the heat-providing side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's questionable whether those blankets are suitable for outdoor use at all, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_SpaceBlankets.htm&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; link&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T19:44:34.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="373" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:44:35.903" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your body heat is reflected back at you from the &lt;strong&gt;shiny silver side&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the reasons some blankets have two colors is so people would realize there was a correct side to get the most benefit. The other is that the &quot;wrong side&quot; color choice can be an aid in some signaling situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when they are silver on both sides, there is often  one side shinier than the other. You should always have the shiniest surface facing inward. Think, reflecting body heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2018-09-16T20:09:03.197" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T20:09:03.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="381" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="382" CreationDate="2012-01-25T19:46:52.077" Score="9" ViewCount="1194" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do if I'm stung by a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion&quot;&gt;scorpion&lt;/a&gt;? Is the venom harmful to humans?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="46" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:21:41.713" Title="What should I do if I'm stung by a scorpion?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="381" CreationDate="2012-01-25T20:03:02.653" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion#Scorpion_sting_and_venom&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The answer&lt;/a&gt; is right there in your link.   Some select tidbits to answer your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;All known scorpion species possess venom&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of the 1000+ known species of scorpion, only 25 have venom that is dangerous to humans; most of those belong to the family &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buthidae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buthidae&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First aid for scorpion stings is generally symptomatic. It includes strong analgesia, either systemic (opiates or paracetamol) or locally applied (such as a cold compress). Hypertensive crises are treated with anxiolytics and vasodilators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're an entomologist specializing in scorpions and you are &lt;em&gt;damn sure&lt;/em&gt; the scorpion that stung you is not one of those dangerous to humans, you need to get medical attention ASAP.  You probably won't have morphine or another opioid analgesic, but you might have a cold compress, so use it.  As for vasodilators, you probably won't have any of them handy either, so, as I said, get to a hospital ASAP. And the advice in the snakebite question about lying down and trying to slow your pulse while someone (hopefully the third in your party, leaving one to look after you) runs to get help is a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T15:10:47.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="383" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="387" CreationDate="2012-01-25T20:09:44.777" Score="6" ViewCount="512" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9/how-can-you-navigate-without-a-compass-or-gps&quot;&gt;How can you navigate without a compass or GPS&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously we all carry a compass and a map when we go trekking, but if I lose them but know I need to get back to my car two days walk away on a heading of 235 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there techniques which are accurate enough to help me get close enough to my destination I can start to look for landmarks that I can also use in the wild with easy to find material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T23:20:46.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T23:20:46.137" Title="If I lose my compass, what is the easiest way to identify and follow a heading?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-01-25T22:49:55.943" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="337" CreationDate="2012-01-25T20:34:59.643" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A high quality compass is shock resistant and sealed to a certain pressure level so that the needle always stays movable. Having a mirror which allows you to navigate while looking at your target or even moving can come in handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vertical intensity of the magnetic field is not the same on the southern hemisphere as on the northern. This affects the needle's horizontal position. Some compasses come with exchangeable capsules. The pricier ones (mostly +50% of the price) do not require to change the capsule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T20:34:59.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="385" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="745" CreationDate="2012-01-25T20:43:41.287" Score="11" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been in pretty big storms before on campouts, but only two were big enough that the water would seep in through the sides of the tent. One of those times I used a tarp, rope, trees, and leaves/sticks to make a shelter and slept outside in the rain and stayed completely dry. I won't always have a tarp with me, so what are some good ways to stay dry in severe weather w/o a tarp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="62" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:13:54.057" Title="Staying dry in severe weather" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:09:59.060" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One time in the Bihor mountains I watched a group of locals catch quite a remarkable number of fish by hand.  They would walk upstream fairly fast running creek, two of them actually in the water, and several of them on the sides.  The ones in the water would every once a while throw themselves down, scoop a fish with their hands and throw it to the bank, where the rest of the guys would  immediately fall upon it and kill it with a hatchet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:09:59.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="383" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:11:37.650" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You cannot effectively navigate a bearing without a compass. However if you loose your compass, break it, or otherwise forget it, all is not lost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You will need several items to fix this situation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some conductive wire - at least 6 inches of it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A harder metal object like a pin, needle, or small nail. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something small that floats in liquid. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A container that can hold 4 - 6 ounces of liquid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A battery (try your watch or headlamp). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Steps to success&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out the wire and wrap around the pin/needle, leave extra at the end so they can touch.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the wire like a corkscrew around the object.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out the battery and connect one end of the wire to the positive, and the other to the negative. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep it there until it becomes hot (this wont be long), remove before the wire burns, repeat 8 - 10 times. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pin/ needle should now be magnetized slightly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the liquid in the vessle, and then place the floating material in the vessel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place the pin on the floating material, and protect from the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Pin will orient to North-South.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mark the ground where the pin is aligned, then create the 90 deg, and 270 deg, marks. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continue to make intermediate marks on the ground until you are close to the &quot;235&quot; bearing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then sight down the ground marks and find a &quot;handrail&quot; or &quot;landmark&quot; in the landscape. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike to the &quot;handrail&quot; or &quot;landmark&quot; and then repeat this process until you reach your vehicle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next time bring a compass, and a backup&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An alternate method&lt;/strong&gt; for avoiding this situation is to navigate using &quot;handrails&quot; to begin with. &quot;Handrails&quot; are landscape features which the navigator uses as points of reference along the route, and can be used for backtracking. Best practice is to make notes on the map of these features so that they can be used to return to the origin of the trip. When canyoneering &quot;handrails&quot; are sometimes the only effective means of navigation as line of sight is only a few hundred meters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hiking/compass2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Stuff Works - Make shift compass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rankin.com.au/essay9.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rankin Publishers - Handrail navigation and bushwhacking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:11:37.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="388" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="390" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:20:27.580" Score="11" ViewCount="1048" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several of the places we hike every year have trout.  I'd like to have some fresh fish on a couple of those hikes but I'm pretty new to trout fishing and I don't want to carry the weight of full fishing gear.  What type of pole would be best for a portable trout fishing setup?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T16:58:34.117" Title="What type of pole can be used for trout while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:31:11.493" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;Until just a few years ago I would have said tweezers.  I use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/777807/liberty-mountain-the-tick-key&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tick key&lt;/a&gt; these days because it removes without squeezing the tick.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CIAZj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tick key&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get between three and a dozen ticks a year (they like me), and I much prefer this to the tweezers.  The big downside with tweezers is that you are compressing the tick's body and thus forcing liquid out of the tick and... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to remove the tick for sure though.  Don't try to burn it, or smother it off, etc.  Lyme Disease for instance, takes a while to transfer, so you don't want to just leave it on there under vaseline until it gives up.  If you pull it within a few hours you are just about guaranteed to not get Lyme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted below, this will not pull out seed (baby) ticks.  They are super tiny, and you will have to use tweezers for those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-06-20T12:05:50.027" LastActivityDate="2014-06-20T12:05:50.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="388" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:31:12.337" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to fish trout with sweet corn. They seem to like it and it comes in small cans.&#xA;Bringing a roll of fishing line and some small hooks should be enough. You can roll up the fishing line on a stick and make your own swimmer out of some light wood. At least this worked for me. It doesn't give you a bountiful yield of trout but should suffice if you want to keep your fishing gear light weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:31:12.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="337" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:37:20.947" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as compasses are concerned I look for several things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sealed liquid needle enclosure&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Creates a much easier to read measurement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Latching lid, to cover the needle and housing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rotating bezel with &lt;em&gt;Declination&lt;/em&gt; adjustment. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allows for offset of &lt;strong&gt;True North&lt;/strong&gt; from &lt;strong&gt;Magnetic North&lt;/strong&gt;, very important to accurate bearings as some regions in North America are up to 15 degrees off from true north&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sighting notches in the case.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Useful to sight a landmark, take a bearing, or for accurate triangulation of position.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glow in the dark degree measurements on the compass crown. (The ring around the body)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &quot;Shed&quot; for the bearing taking, this is a place where you put the needle when following bearings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional nice to haves are:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long lanyard to attach to belt loop, and make knots for map distances. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sticky feet to grip a map during orientation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Various &lt;em&gt;Standard, Imperial, and UTM (universal tranverse mercator)&lt;/em&gt; rules along the edge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inclineometer. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bubble level.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mirror within case for signaling. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VYq1O.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example high quality compass - Suunto&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T21:37:20.947" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="400" CreationDate="2012-01-25T21:42:24.727" Score="15" ViewCount="2920" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many different kinds of insect repellents and bug sprays on the market: sprays and lotions, chemical and natural, huge percentages of DEET and lower percentages, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of bug repellent is most effective against mosquitoes? What types should be avoided or are just a marketing ploy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not asking for specific product recommendations, but general advice about types of insect repellent (e.g. 100% DEET vs. 30% vs. citronella oil, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="2" LastEditDate="2012-01-25T22:56:02.133" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T11:39:22.663" Title="What type of mosquito repellent is most effective?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:05:50.720" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can actually reach in to the water and grab the fish. No running or chasing. You just quietly get in position, and then when it's time, you quickly grab the fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thomas Elpel describes the process in his wonderful book, Participating in Nature: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Participating_in_Nature.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nice thing is that it requires no equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He says the technique is illegal in many places, because it is so effective that if widely used it would harm the fish population. In a survival situation, I would accept the legal consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T12:39:18.973" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:39:18.973" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:09:15.330" Score="15" ViewCount="3604" Body="&lt;p&gt;I worry about carrying a fixed-blade knife on my hip, because if I fall or wrestle my kids or whatever, I worry I could get stabbed. I've had pointy blades push through a cheap sheath before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stick to folding knives for this reason, but I like the idea of a knife I can quickly get out with just one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T05:41:06.720" Title="How to safely carry a fixed-blade knife?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="395" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:20:40.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking with camping in the back country, carrying all necessary equipment in one's backpack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T15:38:45.710" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T15:38:45.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="396" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:20:40.587" Score="0" Body="Questions related to backpacking equipment, routes, safety concerns, or issues related to traveling on foot while carrying all  of one's equipment (such as accessibility of certain regions to foot travelers, weather affecting backpackers, etc.).&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T15:38:45.710" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T15:38:45.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="397" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:23:05.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting to the peak of a mountain, venturing up a mountain with an aim to summit it, including both hiking and technical climbing means.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T07:15:58.937" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T07:15:58.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="398" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:23:05.107" Score="0" Body="This tag should be used on questions that discuss possible places for mountaineering in a specific region; do's and don'ts during a mountaineering expedition; safety and equipment associated with mountaineering; general advice for making it a better experience; etc. " OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T21:30:14.117" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T21:30:14.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="312" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:30:15.693" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would inspect your rope long before you get to the crag, rather than just before you're about to use/need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope inspection is essentially going over the whole length of the rope, looking for grit or evidence of wear in the outer layer. One thing to note, the inside of the rope might have been strained and this isn't easily visible from the outside - sometimes you can feel the outer layer sliding over these areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope has a shelf-life - but this also depends on how often you use it. Another rule of thumb to follow is that if you have taking one major outdoor lead fall on the rope (from above protection), then you retire it. You can take several minor falls before retiring it. Top-rope falls should almost have negligible effect - unless there was a lot of slack in the system for some reason and the climber fell more than a couple of metres or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, at any time, you are not confident in your rope - replace it. The price is worth a lot less than a climbing injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T22:30:15.693" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="392" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:30:58.673" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mosquitoes love me, so I've had opportunity to try many variations of repellent.  Most of the things you mentioned are effective immediately after application.  For me, the difference is how effective they are after hours of sweaty hiking.  For that, I lean towards high percentage DEET in a lotion-type formulation like &lt;a href=&quot;http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Ultrathon/Products/Products/Personal-Insect-Repellant/&quot;&gt;3M Ultrathon&lt;/a&gt; (that particular one is 35% DEET).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the parts of you that are covered by clothing, I have had success with permethrin treatments, but I prefer just wearing clothes that mosquitos can't bite through (I don't know how to find this out without field testing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEET is supported by several studies&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Ultrathon/Products/Products/Personal-Insect-Repellant/&quot;&gt;Annals of Internal Medicine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) is the most effective, and best&#xA;  studied, insect repellent currently on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-2-the-pre-travel-consultation/protection-against-mosquitoes-ticks-and-other-insects-and-arthropods.htm&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Of the active ingredients registered with the EPA, CDC believes that&#xA;  two have demonstrated a higher degree of efficacy in the&#xA;  peer-reviewed, scientific literature (See Publications page.).&#xA;  Products containing these active ingredients typically provide&#xA;  longer-lasting protection than others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Picaridin (KBR 3023)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also make sure you apply sunscreen first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;:  I suppose I should be clearer? &lt;strong&gt;nothing&lt;/strong&gt; is more effective than DEET :)  Sure it might melt your face off, but if the alternative is not going outside, I choose melty-face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-08T00:42:07.777" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T00:42:07.777" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="310" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:43:30.117" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure that this is something that can be properly explained over the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You really need to be instructed and supervised by a real person - preferably indoors first. I have found a pretty good &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le0zAjqg8iw&amp;amp;feature=related&quot;&gt;instructional video on YouTube&lt;/a&gt;, although it is quite basic - I've reviewed a few others on there, and they are unfortunately questionable in their technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying is about judgement - you need to give the climber enough slack that they are free to move up the crag, but not so much that they will fall too far if they slip. How you approach belaying will depend on whether the climber is leading or using a top-anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About the only thing I can state absolutely over the internet - you always need to have a grip on the rope that is trailing from your belay/friction device down to the ground. A loose hold on this will just let the rope run through your hand(s) freely in the event of a fall, given you friction burns and endangering the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T22:43:30.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="394" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:51:16.900" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest using a Kydex or plastic sheath. You can also buy Kydex inserts for your leather/nylon etc. sheaths as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=22496.10;wap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grant Lamontagne at the Multitool.org Forum:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The nice thing about kydex and other plastic type sheaths are that &lt;em&gt;they usually attach to the guard of the knife, meaning that any impact force isn't on the blade&lt;/em&gt; through a soft material, it's on a hard shell and transferred through the hilt to the belt or other secure point, &lt;strong&gt;meaning you are more likely to have it fall off your belt&lt;/strong&gt; than intrude on your innards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;(emphasis mine)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example of a Kydex sheath:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://survivalstudent.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OnCvj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of a kydex sheath&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T05:41:06.720" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T05:41:06.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2012-01-25T22:54:24.250" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might sound a bit daft - but you could be holding on to the rock too tightly. Your other questions indicate you might be pretty new to climbing, and it is common for beginners to make this mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primarily, you should be climbing with your legs - pushing your weight up. Legs are used to your weight - arms, and fingertips, are not. If you are steady on your legs - especially if you are able to get your leg straight so you are standing through bone and not relying on a bent knee - then you should only need to use your hands for balancing yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, there are times when you really do need to grip harder, and even pull yourself up rather than push, but climbing is as much a thinking game as it is physical, and planning your moves goes a long way to preventing fatigue and injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treating joint pain - ice packs probably help. I'd also think about taking an anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen or aspirin (not at the same time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T22:54:24.250" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="405" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T23:27:47.633" Score="12" ViewCount="612" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am always uneasy at the idea of carrying around a fixed blade. For this reason, my backpack knife is a multitool (A fantastic Leatherman Blast, which saved the day already many times). I would like to know where I can find information and procedures to safely carry around a knife (if at all) when it comes to fixed blade, but also more in general for any kind of knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="72" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T00:40:00.970" LastActivityDate="2013-03-07T00:42:42.463" Title="Where can I find if a fixed blade knives is legal to carry around in a given country?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="406" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-25T23:43:37.957" Score="12" ViewCount="3125" Body="&lt;p&gt;My backpack of course has a rechargeable gas lighter. I am considering buying a good Zippo, as I feel it more resistant, and it does not need to be kept with your hands to stay on. Would you suggest this move, or should I keep the gas lighter? I am also thinking about the potential additional use of the fuel (gasoline can be used also for other things, while propane is limited to the lighter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To conclude, would you think a Zippo is a good tool for camping/backpacking/survival, or is it prone to disadvantages ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:48:12.803" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T00:00:49.093" Title="Gas or liquid fuel lighter?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2012-01-25T23:47:39.517" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just additional two cents, but don't underestimate the visibility of a green laser pointer at night. In survival situations and with light fog, a green laser pointer shooting up in the sky will make your position extremely clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the exact same reason, &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; use it with airplanes around. They hate that, and you will be found and prosecuted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T23:47:39.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="345" CreationDate="2012-01-25T23:57:52.340" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an extremely deep topic which has entire forum sites dedicated to it. However I will attempt to summarize the key points for the average enthusiast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First&lt;/strong&gt; - Don't ever travel into uncontrolled avalanche terrain if you have not received proper training from an expert in avalanche conditions, triggers, mitigation, and rescue. &lt;strong&gt;It's stupid, seriously you can die, and many people each year do&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second&lt;/strong&gt; - If you receive training the first thing that you will be taught is to &lt;strong&gt;Always wear a transceiver, and know how to use it.&lt;/strong&gt; It is very possible that your life or that of someone you care about will be saved by a transceiver. Your better off forgetting your ski's or snowboard than your transceiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third&lt;/strong&gt; - Always carry a shovel, avalanche probe pole, and extra clothing when in avalanche terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that's out of the way&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Avalanche Overview&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Information is summarized from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.ca/cac&quot;&gt;Canadian Avalanche Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Snowpack Layering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The snowpack is made of many layers of snow which are formed by climate factors from above the snow, &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; within the snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These layers create a stratification of the snow crystals where some adhere more to one another than others. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This creates a situation where fractures can occur, and some layers of the snow shift as a unit. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The snow &quot;unit&quot; causes more snow to fracture in similar ways. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This sometimes creates a chain reaction we call an &lt;em&gt;&quot;Avalanche&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Types of Avalanches&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loose Dry&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually limited to surface layers, and pitches at or above 40 degrees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes called slough, although they can still be very dangerous.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loose Wet&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Typically form in spring or summer, due to solar radiation (direct sun).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually require slopes of 30 - 40 degrees to initiate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet Slab&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally created by extended periods above freezing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pinwheeling, snowballing, and loose wet avalanches are predictors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Storm snow&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caused by a cohesive layer of new snow overloading the sub-surface snow layer bond. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally avalanches peak during intense snowfall and decrease 24-36 hours following a storm cycle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind Slab&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caused by wind deposited snow building up and overloading the sub-surface layer's bond.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Indicators include &quot;ribbing&quot; and &quot;cornicing&quot; on leeward slopes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Persistent Slab&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caused by a weak bond within the snowpack created weeks, and sometimes months prior to the trigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prediction requires digging a snow test pit, reviewing weather logs over weeks and months, and speaking to local experts. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very dangerous avalanches result from &quot;persistent slab&quot; conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Persistent Deep Slab&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caused by a thick, hard, and deep slab of snow loosing it's bond with sub-surface layers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most commonly caused by early season snowpack being exposed to long periods dry weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most common above tree line. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prediction requires digging a snow test pit, reviewing weather logs over weeks and months, and speaking to local experts. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cornice Falls&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanches caused by large quantities of wind blown overhanging snow fracturing and falling onto a slope. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most common on leeward slopes where a ridgeline breaks the wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Signs of Unstable Snow&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whoompfing - A sound the snow makes (just say the word) when the sub-layer fractures from the surface layer. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes creates shooting surface cracks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check your underwear in steep terrain, it's scary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recent Avalanche Activity - Observe the nearby slopes and ridges for activity of sloughing , wet slides, fracturing, or cornacing. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be aware of the environment around you. Always place your head on a swivel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hollow sounds - While traveling across the snow surface. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay off steep ridgelines, look for terrain elsewhere. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Difficult travel due to breaking through snow layers. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the snow cannot support you while skinning (traveling to and from steep slopes using grippy ski bottoms), it is not stable. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider lower angles or not skiing that area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Most Common Triggers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Environmental&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loading from new snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature or humidity Changes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Human&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski and snowboard travel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snowmobiling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explosives&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reducing Avalanche Risk&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not stop or group in exposed areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not travel directly above someone in a party.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not underestimate the danger of a slab avalanche, or how easy they can be triggered.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recognize &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/training/online-course/terrain/terrain-traps&quot;&gt;terrain traps&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do Not travel alone, or apart from your party.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not become distracted and stay in an exposed place for too long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Good Habits&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use releasable bindings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow low angle slopes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't box yourself into a region when the slide will be, always have an escape plan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid travel on cornices.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always monitor for environmental signs of avalanche.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Watch for decreasing mental judgement, or influence from &lt;em&gt;&quot;Powder Fever&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;General Avalanche Prediction&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note this is by &lt;strong&gt;NO&lt;/strong&gt; means comprehensive, and is only the tip of the iceberg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check with the local avalanche prediction center&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow historical and current weather, and know how they impact the snowpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for environmental signs of danger. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cracking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ribbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind loading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cornicing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tree flagging (where the branches have been sheered off)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nearby avalanche activity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dig snow pits, and test for snow stability.(Outside scope of article)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make local pole tests to check for variation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please read&lt;/strong&gt; - Additional materials and resources.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/training/online-course&quot;&gt;Canadian Avalanche Association - Online course&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryaccess.com/education-research/learn-about-av-safety/&quot;&gt;Backcountry Access - Online educational materials&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryaccess.com/education-research/resorces-for-av-pros/&quot;&gt;Backcountry Access - Additional materials &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-25T23:57:52.340" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="409" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1011" CreationDate="2012-01-25T23:58:44.053" Score="23" ViewCount="10851" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say I want to carve a spoon from wood that I find, are there any trees I shouldn't use due to their toxicity? Are any that are particularly easy to carve or hardy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="130" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:05:44.870" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:05:44.870" Title="Best/safest wood to carve a spoon from?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="410" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="412" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:03:06.417" Score="10" ViewCount="763" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone got any good tips on how to (cheaply) waterproof a geocache or letterbox? Those pill pots used to work brilliantly - one inside the other - but now they seem to be rather hard to come by and while the typical sandwich bag inside a container seems fine for a while, after a few months things seem to start getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any more sure fire ways of keeping the contents dry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T01:56:42.747" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T19:32:42.410" Title="What are some good ways to waterproof a geocache / letterbox?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;letterboxing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="416" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:04:33.310" Score="20" ViewCount="6221" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say for instance I'm walking on boggy ground, I find a small muddy hole or some other minor tragedy that leaves one or both of my feet soaking wet and caked in mud. What is the best way to deal with this on a long hike, so as to avoid getting athlete's foot/blisters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="130" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T06:54:26.080" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T15:27:58.467" Title="How to deal with wet feet?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="410" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:16:07.713" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use an ammunition box - commonly found at Army/Navy surplus stores or on eBay/Craiglist for ~$10 USD, depending on the caliber size of the box.  .50 caliber boxes are larger than, say, 30 caliber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GvoBB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof, cheap, and very durable.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to use Tupperware or something similar if a smaller size is desired.  Buy higher-end containers that will be much more durable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F6yyG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T00:33:17.937" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T00:33:17.937" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="411" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:37:54.900" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is one of the reasons I always hike with at least one extra pair of socks and tend to wear shoes that shed water quickly as opposed to being water proof. If you're in a consistently wet environment there really isn't much you can do as it won't really help to change your socks every 10 minutes as they keep getting soaked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make sure that when you take breaks or camp, you give your feet plenty of time to dry out. Do your best to wring out your socks and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/23/how-does-one-dry-clothes-in-humid-weather&quot;&gt;do what you can to dry them out&lt;/a&gt; before putting it all back on again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T00:37:54.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="406" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:48:12.383" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with the rechargeable lighters like Zippos is they tend to evaporate their fuel quite quickly. They can make starting fires very easy, but always take a backup (or two, or three :D) method of starting a fire. They make some excellent waterproof / windproof matches these days. Combine that with a fire steel and your choice of mechanical &amp;amp; fuel lighter and you should be good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T00:48:12.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="411" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:55:39.637" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;After dealing with a lot of wet feet issues I have learned some tricks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keeping feet dry&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While hiking, use gaitors that come above your socks and divert water away from the wicking material.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your boots well oiled, using a product like Nikwax, or minkoil. This keeps the leather from absorbing water as much. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In normal conditions (not marsh hiking) use baking soda or similar powder to absorb the natural sweat from your feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are impermeable &quot;bags&quot; you can put over you foot while wearing a liner sock, then put your foot into a medium weight sock. The bag keeps out water, but also keeps in sweat. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Note that once the humidity within the bag reaches 100% your foot will stop sweating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Getting feet dry, after being wet.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry extra shoes in any backcountry travel which breath well, and are light.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep them totally dry through the day in a bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My favorite are crocs, because they are simple, light, and cannot absorb water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep one pair of socks for sleeping, and nothing else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The best material for these are full synthetic, not wool or cotton, since the polyester cannot absorb water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Provide enough time for your feet to completely dry out each night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't go tromping around camp in your &quot;dry&quot; socks, they are for the tent and sleeping bag  only.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Drying Wet Socks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place them around your neck, or over your chest and they will be dry in the moring. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are a heavy sweater wear a silk weight shirt and pants to absorb and wick moisture, or place socks on top of sleeping bag. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hang socks from &quot;in tent&quot; drying line if the air temperature is high and humidity is low.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If not the socks will not dry at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T00:55:39.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="405" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:58:49.693" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Laws vary greatly by region, and are subject to being changed at any time. That being said, there are a few sites I used when looking up the knife laws in California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_legislation&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_legislation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Provides a good overview of knife laws, but did not provide the specifics I need. It's worth browsing the sources that they reference however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://knife-expert.com/sta-law.htm&quot;&gt;http://knife-expert.com/sta-law.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Seems to have a good summary of knife laws for each state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thefiringline.com/library/blades/knifelaws.html&quot;&gt;http://thefiringline.com/library/blades/knifelaws.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Very high level overview of state knife laws in a table, showing the concealed vs open carry status. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't take any of these as fact, just as guidelines or resources to help you locate your official state / region's laws regarding knife laws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T00:58:49.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="418" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11740" CreationDate="2012-01-26T00:59:23.343" Score="25" ViewCount="39122" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in a bear country, will a tent provide an additional protection from bears, as opposed to just sleeping outside or in a hammock?  Provided I take the usual precautions of keeping any food, toothpaste etc in some other place than the one I sleep at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-24T22:44:15.870" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T22:41:11.350" Title="Will a tent provide some protection from bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2012-01-26T01:04:32.673" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tent may give you &lt;em&gt;slightly&lt;/em&gt; more protection than sleeping out in the open, but not much.  If a bear wants at you, &lt;strong&gt;the fabric of the tent is no match for his &lt;em&gt;sharp&lt;/em&gt; claws.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears, both black and grizzly, have been known to cause severe damage even to buildings, high wooden fences, and even vehicles.  I knew of an apple orchard that had an 8-10 ft. high wooden slat fence that a small black bear tore through to get at the fresh, ripe apples.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point: &lt;em&gt;Don't count on a tent to give you any protection.&lt;/em&gt;  Keep your bear spray handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T01:04:32.673" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="411" CreationDate="2012-01-26T01:10:26.893" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carry extra socks and a couple of kitchen-sized trash bags. When you soak a shoe or boot, squeeze out the wet sock and let it start drying on the back of the pack. Put on a dry sock. Then put the trash back over the dry sock, and put your foot, sock, and trash bag inside your wet shoe. After a while your shoe will dry out a little, maybe enough that you no longer need the trash bag to keep your dry sock dry. However, wearing a trash bag in your shoe is very stylish, so you might want to leave it on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing trash bags like this also works if you find yourself in wet snow without waterproof shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T01:10:26.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="410" CreationDate="2012-01-26T01:14:55.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A gallon size water jug &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00363RSXU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt; works well, too, although I did have a bear tear apart one in a geocache because it apparently associated that kind of plastic with food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T05:05:44.550" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:05:44.550" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="406" CreationDate="2012-01-26T01:16:44.447" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prefer multiple gas lighters. They're light, they don't leak (and even if they do they don't make a mess), and they're cheap. If you buy one for a safety back up and leave it in the cellophane, you'll always have a dry one if you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T01:16:44.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="410" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:09:38.017" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prefer the rubbermaid containers of various sizes that lock with tabs on all four sizes. You can get small ones right up to very large containers for any size of cache you need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:09:38.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:18:56.083" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tent can provide a &lt;em&gt;psychological barrier&lt;/em&gt; for the bear - which won't do much to deter it if it smells something it wants inside (food), but can prevent haphazard encounters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if a bear is wandering through your camp on its way to check out your expertly hung &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4/what-are-the-critical-dimensions-to-a-safe-bear-bag&quot;&gt;bear hang&lt;/a&gt; a tent will be a visual obstacle it will naturally move around / avoid, whereas a sleeping bag out in the open is more likely to be &quot;tripped over&quot; and raise its curiosity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hammock likely will fall somewhere in between - as it is higher, and more obvious. It might provide some psychological repellent for a bear, though I would imagine less so than a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the importance of psychological protection for yourself should not be under-estimated. If you have properly secured and bear-safed your camp, then worrying isn't going to help anything. A tent provides a sense of security, and helps you get a good night's rest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along these lines, the &quot;11th essential&quot; item for me when sleeping in bear country is ear plugs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:54:14.793" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:28:12.153" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, a tent will not give you any protection from bears that want what's inside. If you want to use one thats fine, but don't go getting a false sense of security. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some ways a tent could be an attractant if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have eaten anything in it over the last 6 months. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You keep good smelling clothes in it (like the ones you wash in nice smelling detergent). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you cooked food near it on an open fire or stove.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These smells can get into the fabric and stick around for a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of backcountry veterans who sleep &quot;open sky&quot;, even in winter using nothing but a water proof tarp. I have really enjoyed it, and it gives you a better sense of what's around you in the wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In high winds however there is nothing like a good double wall tent, but just remember:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow bear country best practices.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't cook in the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep all food in a bear bag or container 500ft outside camp, with your cooking clothes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash the tent several times each season to keep the smells down. Mmmmm salt....&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:28:12.153" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="426" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="447" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:28:40.607" Score="15" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;When practicing Leave No Trace camping (which I am sure we all do), which camp spot should I choose, assuming there is not an obvious well-impacted &quot;sacrifice site&quot; nearby to concentrate my impact in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A slightly worn site, showing the beginning signs of impact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A fresh, un-camped spot that can likely suffer a little abuse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would it make a difference if the area were a popular place likely to be visited again the next week or so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T17:38:32.270" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:38:32.270" Title="Is it better to camp in a disturbed area, or pick a new spot and let the first rest?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="311" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:31:05.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not seen information regarding trails specifically from a running perspective, but there are a number of sites with information on hiking trails. Most trails suitable for hiking can also be used for trail running, and most trail reviews will cover sketchy sections which will be even more important if you're running. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not in New England, so I cannot vouch for the accuracy for any of these sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hikenewengland.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.hikenewengland.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainsummits.com/homepage/mountains.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.mountainsummits.com/homepage/mountains.htm/&lt;/a&gt;: &#xA;Information on mountain summits in NE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T21:28:52.480" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T21:28:52.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="431" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:33:42.980" Score="11" ViewCount="703" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am whitewater or sea kayaking, it is possible that my kayak will get overturned leading to a live or death situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that it is possible to roll the kayak so it is right side up again, and that's it's called an Eskimo roll. How would I actually do that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T03:34:51.260" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:12:19.033" Title="How do I Eskimo roll a kayak?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="426" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:38:55.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following Leave No Trace principles, which the previous party obviously didn't do, it would be better to camp in the new spot, and upon leaving, removing traces that you were there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've personally replaced leaved that we had brushed aside to make space for tents to make it look like no camper had ever been there, in addition to carrying out all trash. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:38:55.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="434" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:43:02.263" Score="8" ViewCount="1984" Body="&lt;p&gt;In climbing, a double fisherman's knot is used to tie together two separate pieces of rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I tie such a knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="100" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T09:35:09.040" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T20:57:31.263" Title="How do I tie a double fisherman's knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="428" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:49:22.770" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to learn would be in a class, with a professional in a controlled environment! The process is very difficult to describe in text. This is one of the best videos I have found describing and showing how to do the screw roll. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oJGraaEbpU&amp;amp;feature=related&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oJGraaEbpU&amp;amp;feature=related&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once again, please don't attempt without some training or practice in a controlled environment with someone to assist if things go wrong!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:49:22.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="435" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:50:16.307" Score="7" ViewCount="1642" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bowline knots are among the most commonly used knots across many different outdoor activities. It is used to create a fixed loop at the end of a line, while still being easy to tie and untie. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I tie a bowline knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:26:54.820" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:26:54.820" Title="How do I tie a bowline knot?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="428" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:51:57.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few methods of rolling a kayak upright. You can find the most popular on Youtube -- they're a little odd to explain in words.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rolling a kayak is more common with whitewater kayaks, where you may need to do it immediately, and the kayak is smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a sea kayak you can usually jump out, pump out the water, and climb back in (steps two and three can be reversed). Some sea kayaks are so stable and wide that they're really hard to roll. In fact, most of them are pretty difficult compared to whitewater kayaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:51:57.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="430" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:52:49.350" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Double fisherman's knot&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IGouB.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IGouB.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fliesbydon.freeservers.com/Html/Knots.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T23:52:58.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="432" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:57:00.433" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is nice site with animation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apparent-wind.com/knots/bowline/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.apparent-wind.com/knots/bowline/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yYNqX.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Bowline knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T02:57:00.433" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="436" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="544" CreationDate="2012-01-26T02:57:26.983" Score="13" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any good resources out there for locating publicly available hunting land?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE: I should have stated that I'm looking for land in the US.  Also, I'm interested in any public land (government owned or otherwise).  Preferably, this land would be free to use, but depending on the circumstances I'd be willing to pay a fee.  I hope this helps clear up a few things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="90" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-30T08:16:08.117" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T19:24:46.857" Title="Resources for finding public hunting land" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="437" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="445" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:09:06.090" Score="48" ViewCount="22000" Body="&lt;p&gt;There may be an emergency situation where I find myself needing to lower myself but with no or damaged equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I only have a rope, can I lower myself to safe ground?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="27" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T03:29:11.720" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T22:08:33.437" Title="Is it possible to rappel with only a rope? (No harness, Prusik cord, or other gear)" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="438" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="481" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:13:49.483" Score="25" ViewCount="1488" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone falls overboard from a sailboat, it is firstly imperative not to lose sight of the person since finding a man in water, especially when there's waves, can be very difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What techniques are there to direct the sailboat to rescue the man?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2016-08-28T14:47:36.277" Title="When sailing, how do I rescue a man overboard?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="439" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="441" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:16:27.497" Score="15" ViewCount="20639" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since batteries (for cameras, cell phones, etc) will lose charge in cold weather, what can I do to prevent loss of charge, or at least extend the battery life as long as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:36:12.200" Title="How can I prevent batteries from losing charge in cold weather?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="295" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:17:47.730" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosamine&quot;&gt;Glucosamine&lt;/a&gt; is for cartilage, and finger pain from climbing is probably tendon problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T20:19:10.993" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T20:19:10.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="439" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:20:42.437" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're talking about a situation where you're out in the elements (It's the great outdoors after all!), the best method would be to simply store those items close to your body.  A pocket inside of your outerwear close to your skin would be best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T03:20:42.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:23:29.407" Score="6" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a cell phone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.findmespot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Use a Spot satellite tracker.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a sat phone if you have one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the methods that Roflcoptr outlined above.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="2545" LastEditDate="2013-09-11T22:55:58.003" LastActivityDate="2013-09-11T22:55:58.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="443" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="451" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:25:25.533" Score="8" ViewCount="4074" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a whitewater rafting trip, and I keep reading that different rapids are different classes, and sometimes the same rapid is different classes at different times of the year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do the classes mean, and is there a level that would be too dangerous to raft?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:29:37.117" Title="What is the difference between Class III, Class IV, and Class V rapids?" Tags="&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="444" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="458" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:27:14.203" Score="8" ViewCount="917" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a whitewater rafting trip, and I'm worried what I should do if the raft flips over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a standard set of procedures I should go through to get back on the raft?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T18:52:48.523" Title="What should I do if my raft capsizes?" Tags="&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="437" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:29:00.100" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is of course possible, but definitely not something I would recommend. The most common method for repelling without gear is the Dülfersitz method (invented by climbing pioneer &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_D%C3%BClfer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hans Dülfer&lt;/a&gt;). It involves &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival-stuck-on-a-cliff/skills/14768&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wrapping the rope around your body&lt;/a&gt; in such a way as to allow you to better control your descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5AO7r.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope first goes between your legs front to back, then around your leg and across your chest. Then it goes over your shoulder, and you hold the loose end of the rope with the arm opposite of the shoulder the rope just went over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is definitely not comfortable, and not safe unless you know exactly what you are doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-03-23T09:10:12.687" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T09:10:12.687" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="449" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:40:43.543" Score="22" ViewCount="6268" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a belay device that looks like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHABY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;belay device&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which I used when I am belaying someone who is top roping or leading. However, my rope only goes through one of those slots. What is the purpose of the other one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:47.023" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:47.023" Title="Why does my belay device have two holes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="426" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:47:04.443" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a classic Leave-no-trace (LNT) case study. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the site you are considering is in a pristine wilderness area, and it is not a designated campsite, you should locate your campsite away from the impacted area to allow it to regrow. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;However if the site is in a popular area, and will be used often (10+) times per year by anyone else, you should  locate your camp on the previously impacted area to concentrate the impact rather then to spread it over the area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles_2.php&quot;&gt;Leave-no-trace&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Generally, it is best to camp on sites that are so highly impacted that further careful use will cause no noticeable impact. In popular areas, these sites are obvious because they have already lost their vegetation cover. Also, it is often possible to find a site which naturally lacks vegetation, such as exposed bedrock or sandy areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On high-impact sites, tents, traffic routes, and kitchen areas should be concentrated on already impacted areas. The objective is to confine impact to places which already show use and avoid enlarging the area of disturbance. When leaving camp, make sure that it is clean, attractive, and appealing to other campers who follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exceptions to the popular site rule are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the popular site is next to a water source (&amp;lt; 250 ft)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the popular site is directly on the travel path.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the popular site is a heritage location.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Example: Native american historical location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exceptions to the pristine site rule are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If an appropriate campsite can be found on a durable surface such as rock, snow, or a sand bar which experiences periodic floods to wash away evidence of impact. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following these guidelines and the other principles of LNT will lead to a very sustainable camping area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan ahead and prepare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Travel and camp on durable surfaces. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dispose of waste properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave what you find&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimize campfire impacts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Respect wildlife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be considerate to other visitors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace - principles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="116" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T04:57:48.960" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:57:48.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="446" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:47:46.050" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a trick!  Don't use it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rappelling/Abseiling is the answer though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people use it for belaying twin or double ropes too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T03:47:46.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="446" CreationDate="2012-01-26T03:48:53.033" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most belay devices come with two holes for rope, for various reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some devices are asymmetric and the two holes provide different friction &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Others are shaped with an up and down orientation, so two holes are provided to make it easy for left/right handed people &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some lead climbs are better tackled with two lines of anchors. The two holes make it easy to belay a two-rope climb. This usually needs a lot of concentration from the belayer and strong communication between belayer and climber&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Ryley mentions - it can be used as an arrestor for rapelling/abseiling by looping the rope around an anchor and putting a loop from each length through each eye &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your specific device (it is a symmetric design) would be best suited for scenarios 3 and 4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="78" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T23:21:02.017" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T23:21:02.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="428" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:12:19.033" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only had experience with fairly stable sea kayaks and not with any river boats. As long as you have space under the boat (over your head if you're upside down) bring your paddle perpendicular to your upper body so that you're left hand is by your left hip and your right hand is by your left shoulder. In one motion, pull the paddle down to your right (continuing as far as you can), flick your hips to the left, and leave back to keep your centre of gravity close to the boat. The flick is good to get that last little push to bring the boat back up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be ready when you come up to balance yourself with your paddle by bracing the blade on the water and pushing. That will keep you from going around again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:12:19.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="443" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:19:48.630" Score="8" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 1: Very small rough areas, requires no maneuvering. (Skill Level: None)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, small drops, might require maneuvering. (Skill Level: Basic Paddling Skill)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 3: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe a 3–5 ft drop, but not much considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering. (Skill Level: Experienced paddling skills)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 4: Whitewater, large waves, long rapids, rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. (Skill Level: Whitewater Experience)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 5: Whitewater, large waves, continuous rapids, large rocks and hazards, maybe a large drop, precise maneuvering (Skill Level: Advanced Whitewater Experience)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Class 6: Whitewater, typically with huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, huge drops, but sometimes labeled this way due to largely invisible dangers (e.g., a smooth slide that creates a near-perfect, almost inescapable hydraulic, as at Woodall Shoals or Chattooga). Class 6 rapids are considered hazardous even for expert paddlers using state-of-the-art equipment, and come with the warning &quot;danger to life or limb.&quot; (Skill Level: Expert)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The danger of capsizing your raft generally starts with a class 3 and gets progressively greater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its actually a quite extensive article and worth a read for anyone wanting more information on terminology commonly used in rafting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously after heavy rains, the flow of the river will be greater and the classification will generally increase. Spring and early summer tend to be a time where mountain/valley rivers are at their strongest due to melting snow and ice from higher elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I ever go Kayaking, I always call a local guide and ask how the flow is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="76" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T04:29:37.117" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:29:37.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="439" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:21:32.840" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cold can cause the electrochemical processes in the battery to slow down, eventually giving you less than it's usual voltage. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.howeverythingworks.org/page1.php?QNum=1230&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why don't batteries work as well in cold environments?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I need to use anything in the cold, I always keep it next to my body or in my sleeping bag at night. Try not to roll over them in your sleep!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can, use lithium batteries in your devices they will last longer and are less susceptible to the cold. My old gopro wouldn't shoot video in the snow unless I had lithium batteries in it. The regular NiCd or NiMh batteries could only do the less power-intensive photos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T12:36:12.200" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:36:12.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="456" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:29:02.560" Score="8" ViewCount="611" Body="&lt;p&gt;A stopper knot is often used to prevent rope from unexpectedly going throu some hole, such as a belay device. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I tie a stopper knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-02-20T17:50:06.203" Title="How do I tie a stopper knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="454" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="484" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:30:36.520" Score="23" ViewCount="533" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ive heard that climbing Kilimanjaro doesn't require any mountaineering skills and is really just a (very difficult) hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that true? Is there any gear I would need besides traditional hiking equipment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T21:15:40.133" Title="Do I need any technical skills to climb Kilimanjaro?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;kilimanjaro&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="455" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1061" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:35:34.720" Score="10" ViewCount="862" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm heading out ski touring into an area I haven't been, what are the most important things to look for and think about to avoid high-risk areas for avalanches? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T23:46:48.560" LastActivityDate="2012-02-12T23:58:36.613" Title="What are the most important indicators of an high-risk avalanche zone?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="453" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:37:05.777" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A stopper knot is not a specific knot, but a technique fo preventing a rope from sliding through a loop or hole. Common knots used for a stopper knot are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhand_knot&quot;&gt;Overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_overhand_knot&quot;&gt;Double overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot_%28ropes%29&quot;&gt;Figure-of-eight knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevedore_knot&quot;&gt;Stevedore knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley%27s_stopper_knot&quot;&gt;Ashley's stopper knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T04:37:05.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="457" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="476" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:38:02.937" Score="48" ViewCount="11529" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that hammocks are a very light way to travel through the wilderness. You just need the hammock, a cover, and a light sleeping bag, but there must be disadvantages compared to taking a tent or a bivy sack. What are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-08-27T01:07:32.967" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T21:24:12.293" Title="What are the downsides to sleeping in a hammock on a multi-day hike?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="444" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:38:15.027" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally if someone asks this question they don't have a lot of experience and are going with a guide so I will approach it from that point of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing to do is bring your feet up to the top of the water and get to the raft as fast as you can. You want to keep your feet up to help against hitting any debris you may be floating over and or getting drawn by hydraulics (basically strong pulling water that is caused by passing over obstacles). The guide will probably crawl on top of the raft and flip it over by grabbing a side and using his weight as leverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the rapids are particularly strong at this point, it's not uncommon to get on the raft upside down and wait until you have reached a more docile point in the river to right it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something that may go against your natural instincts, it's generally advised not to leave the raft and help others. This may end up in you getting separated from the raft and probably the other person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biggest things to remember are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay Calm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay with the raft&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do exactly as the guide says. He knows the river and knows what he is talking about.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="9569" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T23:54:19.213" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T23:54:19.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="459" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="469" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:42:25.113" Score="27" ViewCount="2217" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking on the west coast of British Columbia, there are likely to be cougars around the trails. What do you do if you see one? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T04:48:55.053" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T03:13:34.260" Title="What do you do if you see a cougar?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="460" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="545" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:44:08.123" Score="9" ViewCount="241" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a bit of mold on the sticky side of my mohair climbing skins for my skis. How can I get rid of it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T17:05:47.083" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T17:05:47.083" Title="How can I get rid of mold on climbing skins for skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:45:05.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is asking enthusiasts, and you can find those simply by visiting your local guns and ammo store. They generally get all the best insider knowledge as they are (probably) hunters themselves and they talk with their customers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T21:27:48.467" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T21:27:48.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="475" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:45:20.023" Score="7" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm using mohair climbing skins right now but I've heard of other materials. What others are there and how do they compare to mohair?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:16:32.360" Title="What are the different materials for ski climbing skins and advantages to each?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="463" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:48:00.987" Score="2" ViewCount="1566" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1/how-do-i-treat-hot-spots-and-blisters-when-i-have-no-moleskin&quot;&gt;How do I treat hot spots and blisters when I have no moleskin?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/157/how-do-i-treat-a-blister-how-can-i-prevent-getting-them-in-the-first-place&quot;&gt;How do I treat a blister? How can I prevent getting them in the first place?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often get blisters in my ski touring boots in the instep of my feet. I've tried thick and thin insoles and multiple pairs of socks but that didn't work. What else can I do to prevent blisters in my ski boots? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:30:24.633" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:30:24.633" Title="How do I prevent blisters in ski boots?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2012-01-31T16:36:11.107" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="464" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="472" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:49:20.640" Score="21" ViewCount="955" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to Colorado to visit a friend and we will be going on a week long trek across a couple of 14'ners. I'm looking for some ways to help prepare my body for trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-08T05:21:59.220" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T22:26:21.480" Title="What are some proven methods of training for week long backpacking trips at high altitude?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="465" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="482" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:50:07.847" Score="14" ViewCount="1093" Body="&lt;p&gt;They both are waterproof but what are the differences and is one better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T09:07:31.650" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T09:07:31.650" Title="What is the difference between Gore-Tex and Mountain Hardwears DryQ?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="466" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="471" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:50:21.220" Score="13" ViewCount="1573" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say I want to tie a hard object to the top of my car, like a kayak.  &lt;strong&gt;What is the preferred knot for cinching it down tightly?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often run into this problem with boats, lumber, and the like.  In the past, I've used a tautline hitch with success, but I've heard that it's not safe under critical loads.  I've also used a trucker's hitch several times, and that seemed to work well, but I'm not sure what the norm is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="108" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:52:13.130" Title="What is the preferred knot for cinching a hard item to your car rack?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="468" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="480" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:53:36.703" Score="21" ViewCount="13039" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an intermediate level kayaker but have only paddled plastic boats. I'm looking for a kayak to do multi-day trips in on the ocean. What are the differences between plastic and fiberglass?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:54:33.407" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:54:33.407" Title="Plastic or fiberglass for a kayak?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;&lt;fiberglass-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="459" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:55:19.633" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually had a site bookmarked for this very reason that provided some good, sound advice. I've always heard that a cougar (mountain lion) generally doesn't let you see it unless its considering attacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;100 yards away or more that is unattentive to you&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid rapid movements, running, loud, excited talk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stay in groups; keep children with adults.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Probability of risk is slight, provided your response is appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;50 yards away with its ears up and attentive to you&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hold small children; keep older children close to an adult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not turn your back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Look for sticks, rocks or other weapons and keep them at hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Watch the cat at all times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Probability of attack is slight for adults given proper response.&#xA;  Probability of attack is serious for unaccompanied children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Less than 50 yards away, staring intensely at you, or hiding;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;All of the above steps, plus place older children behind adults.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Seek a safer location, or one above the lion, if available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not run.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Appear larger. Raise arms, objects, or jackets above your head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Prepare to defend yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Probability of attack is substantial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Intensely staring, crouching and/or creeping toward you&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Take all the above actions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Moving slowly, position trees, boulders or other large objects between yourself and the lion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not lose sight of the lion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Smile! Show your teeth. (A woman attacked at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park may have saved herself by baring her teeth, growling and staring the lion down as it approached her).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Make loud, menacing sounds, like yelling and growling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Throw things if the lion is close enough to hit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use lethal weapons if you have them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pepper spray may be effective if lion is downwind and close enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Probability of risk is serious if within 20 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Poised to attack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Prepare to defend yourself in close combat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fight back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Make menacing noises.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep eye contact with the cat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Act aggressively toward the &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use a stick to charge the lion, thrusting the stick toward its face.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;No stick? Yell loud and run toward the lion with arms high.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stay beyond striking distance of its paws.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.angelfire.com/co/KlueLass/lions/ljohnson.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T04:50:29.113" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T04:50:29.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="470" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="477" CreationDate="2012-01-26T04:56:41.753" Score="21" ViewCount="3558" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the best conditions to use a synthetic sleeping bag vs a down one? Can you always use a down sleeping bag as long as you keep it in a dry waterproof bag? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:28:31.823" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:28:31.823" Title="Synthetic vs Down sleeping bags?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="466" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:07:38.400" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knot(s) I would use are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/&quot;&gt;Bowline&lt;/a&gt; knot to one side of the rack&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Throw line over object, under rack, then back over object. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php?Categ=household&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;truckers hitch&lt;/a&gt;, backed up with 2-3 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/halfhitch/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;reversing half hitches&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If there is a lot of slack, make a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/chainsinnet/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;daisy chain&lt;/a&gt; and tie off with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;fisherman's&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure to perform this process for the front and the back of the object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check that the object doesn't shift, and recheck each couple hours of driving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="116" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T05:52:13.130" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:52:13.130" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:09:45.930" Score="13" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aerobic conditioning will help a little with the altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can practice walking / running on a treadmill at 15% incline.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can practice walking with a loaded backpack. Bonus points for doing it on an inclined treadmill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:09:45.930" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="453" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:10:24.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to use a figure-eight knot, because if it is weighted you can still untie it. There are lots of knots to use, but figure-eights are the most common for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8_/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Figure-eight - animated example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-20T17:50:06.203" LastActivityDate="2012-02-20T17:50:06.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="470" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:11:11.993" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Goose-down bags are lighter and more durable as the insulation holds up MUCH better to compression than synthetic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going on long treks and really need to watch the weight, then a goose is probably better suited. However, &lt;strong&gt;keep it dry!&lt;/strong&gt; Keeping it in a waterproof bag (as you suggested) is a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't really go camping much (once or twice a year at best), I wouldn't spend the money on a goose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The goose-down really has two major downfalls:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very little warmth/insulation if they get wet. (they also take longer to dry)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:11:11.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="462" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:16:32.360" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mohair is lighter and glides better than nylon, but does not grip the snow as well going uphill as nylon does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used rubber skins before, which will really climb steep stuff, won't glide very well at all, and weigh a ton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:16:32.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:20:58.207" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hammocks are cold. The weight of your body compresses the clothes or sleeping bag, and air circulates underneath you, as opposed to a tent where you usually have a pad and the ground for insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like it would be tough to stay dry in the rain in a hammock. It's nice to have a tent to get into in the rain in between hiking/playing and sleeping if it's raining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:20:58.207" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="470" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:23:59.823" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is very dependent on the prevailing weather conditions where you are active, and what your budget is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Synthetic&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower overall price. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maintains thermal properties when wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not reduce loft in high-humidity/ sweaty sleeping conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to clean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The loft does not last as long as down (3-5yrs vs 8-10yrs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not compress as small as down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Higher weight to loft ratio. (Compared to 650+ down fill)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Retains smells more than down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Down&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very warm for the weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long life of product. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compressibility.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distribution of insulation is near equal over the bag surface.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price is higher than synthetic (50-100% for same temperature rating)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleaning and maintenance. (Special soap, washing, and drying)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When wet the loft is practically useless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Absorbs some moisture from the body during sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Overall&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that I have used both styles, and love them both in different conditions I would say make your decision after considering the above and speaking with local experts who have used the product in your climate area. Knowledge from a local makes all the difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="116" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T17:04:32.543" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:04:32.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="455" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:25:04.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;25-45 degrees of slope. If you can avoid this, you'll avoid most avalanches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;New snow or newly wind-loaded snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unstable snow that collapses under your feet with a &quot;whump&quot;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pillowy or wavy looking snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recognize an avalanche chute -- an area with missing trees, messed up snow, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:25:04.680" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="438" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:39:28.627" Score="21" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is another person person onboard, have them do nothing but watch the person in the water. They should point a finger at person in the water and never take their eyes off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toss out life buoys, life slings, floating cushions, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have it, hit a man overboard button on your GPS. If not, make a waypoint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stop the boat, lower the sails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Motor back to the person in the water. If possible, drag a rope with a float (life jacket, life sling, etc.) on the end to the person can grab it. If that's not possible, throw the rope or get close and try to get the person to swim to the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If at all possible, do NOT get into the water. Only if the person is incapacitated or incapable of holding into a rope should you consider it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about doing this at night. If the boat is beyond swimming distance of shore, be sure everybody on the boat has a life jacket (and hopefully a harness) &lt;em&gt;with a strobe&lt;/em&gt; whenever they are on deck at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's pretty difficult to climb onto some boats from the water. You should find out the best way to do this in your boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Losing someone overboard is probably the most dangerous thing in offshore sailing, and it is almost completely preventable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T07:00:36.827" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T07:00:36.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="468" CreationDate="2012-01-26T05:42:28.450" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The differences between a &quot;roto-molded&quot; plastic and a hand made fiberglass boat are quite substantial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Plastic Kayaks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will be much less expensive than a comparable fiber boat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will be more durable if put in contact with a hard surface such as a rocky beach or parking lot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are easier to repair if damaged, using plastic putty and some adhesive compounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are prone to &quot;canning&quot;, &quot;warping&quot;, and &quot;mis-shaping&quot; when not stored properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be more easily damaged by UV radiation, making the plastic brittle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not track as well in &quot;rough&quot; ocean conditions (3 ft+). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They tend to deflect from the ferry angle when approaching waves in a &quot;quartering sea&quot; (45 degrees from bow or stern).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fiberglass kayaks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are very strong for their weight, although &quot;lightweights&quot; must have fragile treatment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have excellent performance in most ocean conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last a long time when properly cared for.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look amazing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price is 30-50% higher than comparable plastic boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are more prone to spidering when put in contact with rocky shores.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repair is difficult and should be performed by a trained expert.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must be be dried thoroughly after use to prevent mold growing in the fiberglass. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Overall&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking at a high end plastic boat from the likes of Current Designs, Nigel Dennis, Valley, or similar you will likely be happy with the performance unless you are a very high end paddler. Many of the lower priced plastic boats however don't perform well in rougher conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are a true performance boater you probably already know that you want a fiberglass boat. Just be prepared to take care of it, and it will serve you well for a long time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T05:42:28.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="438" CreationDate="2012-01-26T06:05:05.777" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/479/2303&quot;&gt;xpda's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any time you're out sailing and hat or something falls in the water, it's time to practice a MOB drill. Run the full protocol, including yelling out &quot;MAN OVERBOARD&quot; (even it's it's a female hat). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set up deliberate drills by throwing a fender overboard. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Practice in a variety of conditions (especially wind strength) and various points of sail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you use a motor and you're unskilled, you could hit the MOB with the boat or prop. Don't do that!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can rescue a MOB under sail, and it's a good way to improve your sailing skills. There are many approaches, and sailors like to argue which is best. Maybe you tack, maybe you jibe. Approach from below the MOB, so you can &lt;strong&gt;point in to the wind and come to a stop just at the MOB&lt;/strong&gt; (much like docking under sail). This gives you time to try multiple attempts to get the MOB out if necessary, whereas a downwind approach lets you have one try at it. To get to the downwind side, usually use a figure 8 pattern - this makes it easier to keep eyes on the MOB.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To pull someone out of the water when they're wearing a PFD:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grab by the shoulders of the PFD&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Push down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They will pop up; use the momentum to help pull them in to the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know which part of your boat will be easiest to pull someone in by. On a small tender boat, that may be over the transom. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your topsides are high, you may need to use a rope. Tie a large bowline to go around the MOB's chest. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T09:35:42.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="465" CreationDate="2012-01-26T06:10:03.693" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gore-Tex is a family of products and even DryQ isn’t a single fabric. Probably a better comparison would be between &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/remote/Satellite/content/product-technologies/garments/active-shell&quot;&gt;Gore-Tex Active Shell&lt;/a&gt; and DryQ. Both are a new generation of waterproof fabrics that has only recently come to the market. Both are supposed to be much more breathable than older membranes like Paclite, eVent, Gelanots and others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would venture to say that the comparison would be quite similar to the previous generation of waterproof fabrics – it does not matter much which fabric you choose, as long as it’s a high-quality one. Personally I would choose either one, and care much more about the item’s fit, manufacturing quality, design etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could be wrong and it might be that one of the new generation of fabrics comes out as a clear winner, but I doubt the real-world difference will be significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T06:56:15.880" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T06:56:15.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="470" CreationDate="2012-01-26T07:10:57.400" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can you always use a down sleeping bag as long as you keep it in a dry&#xA;  waterproof bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This appears to be a slight misunderstanding. The problem is not keeping the bag dry when transporting and storing it. The problem is mostly condensated moisture and water vapour from your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example when you sleep in a tent in the winter, there’s a lot of condensation on the tent walls. Some of it drops down and if you’re not careful, your bag could be wet after a few nights unless you can dry it somewhere. With bivy sack the situation can be similar. This can be solved with a membrane down bag that’s got a waterproof fabric on the outer side that will not let any water in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then there’s moisture from your body. For example if you stick your head into the sleeping bag and exhale into it, that’s quite a lot of moisture that will again condense somewhere in your down insulation and will build up day after day until you can dry the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are issues that many people never encounter, not sleeping outside in the winter, knowing how to work around them or staying out just shortly so that the moisture does not have the chance to build up that much. Which is why I agree with Dangeranger in that you have to know what you are going to do with your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve had about three synthetic sleeping bags, the last one very fluffy and warm. But when I recently bought a down sleeping bag for my girlfriend, there’s no coming back, my next bag is going to be down. It’s much smaller, warmer and lighter, and I haven’t run into any issues with it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T07:10:57.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="454" CreationDate="2012-01-26T08:46:44.267" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The friends I know who have done this have said that it is just a long uphill walk - but the altitude increase means the temperature drop is incredible - from +25 Celsius to -25 Celsius, the equivalent of moving from the equator to the Antarctic over a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you want layers and layers of clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can also be very wet - some altitudes are often cloud-locked - so be prepared for rain and cloud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/mountain.htm&quot;&gt;ultimatekilimanjaro.com&lt;/a&gt;, where they have a great description of the zones you will encounter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bushland&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rainforest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alpine desert&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arctic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T08:46:44.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="485" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="506" CreationDate="2012-01-26T10:08:27.083" Score="16" ViewCount="8068" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've not had much opportunity to go hiking for any decent distance recently and I feel the next time I do my body will probably complain a lot. However, I've access to a gym with a lot of equipment so what exercises and equipment should I be using regularly to ensure my first hike back is lacking in pain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="100" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T17:28:54.737" Title="What exercises are recommended to build strength for hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="485" CreationDate="2012-01-26T10:35:48.673" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There’s no better hiking excercise than hiking :) Seriously, if you can walk to work, with your dog, to the shop, do it. Regularly. If you have some time during the weekend, go out for a few kilometers. Running is also fun, and depending on the weather where you live, you could easily run through the whole year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running will build up some strength in your feet and prepare your whole body to take the load, especially the heart and the lungs. Swimming works like that, too. I’d certainly take any “natural” activity rather than stay in the gym (but that’s just my opinion, of course).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T10:35:48.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="485" CreationDate="2012-01-26T10:46:11.840" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on how far you want to hike! Its probably good to do stretching before any exercise such as hiking or running! Lunges and squats may also help as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you may look a bit silly in the gym, you could carry a backpack on a treadmill and use it on an incline to strengthen your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also considering doing short burst of jogging as well to get your endurance levels up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T10:46:11.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1281" CreationDate="2012-01-26T11:47:05.573" Score="57" ViewCount="56914" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard many people say that eating snow actually can increase dehydration since the energy required for the body to heat up and melt the snow is greater than the benefits received from the moisture in the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Truth or fiction? And please back it with solid physiological evidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:41:51.237" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T14:55:14.190" Title="Does eating snow help dehydration?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="489" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="504" CreationDate="2012-01-26T11:59:21.487" Score="12" ViewCount="264" Body="&lt;p&gt;For years I backpacked without a sleeping pad, until one particularly chilly night during which I tried to heat up the earth with my paltry 98.6 degrees F (37°C). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that instance, would I have been better off sleeping on bare rock, or on bare dry soil? No leaf-litter etc. was available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-12T01:00:01.633" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T15:10:43.983" Title="Which will drain less body heat: lying on bare earth or bare rock?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="430" CreationDate="2012-01-26T12:02:38.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best answer to this might be - &lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A double fishermans is very strong and secure, but it has serious downsides. The main being that the knot can become impossible to undo if the rope gets wet and strongly loaded, but also the knot can get caught over an edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At a course a few years ago (run by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mltuk.org/mlta.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MLTA&lt;/a&gt;) I was taught that a simple overhand can be used. It is simpler, easy to untie and less likely to jam when pulling over an edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Euro Death-Knot&quot; Testing&lt;/a&gt; for the safety information about the flat overhand bend and related knots.  &lt;em&gt;Never&lt;/em&gt; use a flat figure-8 bend in a critical application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-03-31T15:59:14.733" LastActivityDate="2012-03-31T15:59:14.733" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="454" CreationDate="2012-01-26T12:09:58.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on which route you take. The most common routes are all classed as &lt;code&gt;trek&lt;/code&gt; which means you are basically walking. There &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; some less popular routes that encompass some climbing/scrambling such as the western breach route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equipment wise the main thing you will be dealing with is the cold. Lightweight summer boots may not be sufficient and you will definitely need a down jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T12:09:58.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="492" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="496" CreationDate="2012-01-26T12:16:47.000" Score="74" ViewCount="62893" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say you have a cooler of frozen food and ice to last for several days or weeks of river-trip / car camping. To keep things as a cold as possible for as long as possible, is it better to leave the cold melted ice-water in, or to drain it out on a regular basis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2018-08-08T18:46:52.273" Title="Which will keep my food colder longer, draining the melted ice water, or leaving it in the cooler?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="18" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="437" CreationDate="2012-01-26T12:26:43.663" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is called &quot;Natural Abseiling&quot;. The method mentioned by Timothy is called &quot;Classic Abseiling&quot;. There is another method sometimes called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Abseil&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;South African&lt;/a&gt; method where the two ends of the rope a separated and cross over your chest or back. This offers more control, higher friction against the body and no tendency to rotate the body, unlike the classic method. It is however slower to descend with this technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pPLkD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyNKZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that both methods should be used in an emergency only, and then only by someone trained and experienced in them. It is painful, slow, hazardous and ruins your clothes. You are almost &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; better off walking round the obstacle rather than going down it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The 2nd image has  been changed to reflect the correct technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastEditorUserId="132" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T15:30:55.707" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T15:30:55.707" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="494" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-26T13:06:13.670" Score="27" ViewCount="1204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there is a list of the tallest mountains in the world where you can walk or scramble up to the summit? As opposed to using even basic rope skills? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-29T20:26:06.143" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T09:57:50.240" Title="Is there a definitive list of the tallest mountains in the world that require little or no mountaineering experience?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-01-26T13:46:10.823" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;All the advice I've seen emphasises melting snow before consuming to avoid lowering your core body temperature (rather than, specifically, risking dehydration). If possible, melt the snow using a stove, or alternatively, pack the snow into a waterproof container and keep it in a pocket or your sleeping bag until it melts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;News stories such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/05/canadian_woman_who_disappeared_in_oregon_survived_on_snow_husband_missing.html&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, suggest that eating snow aided survival, however, I would guess there is a balance to be struck between succumbing to the effects of dehydration versus hypothermia which will depend on the environmental conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T13:46:10.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-01-26T13:54:41.773" Score="73" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a thermodynamics point of view, I'd say you should leave the water in.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperature is a measure of the active kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance. Warming up is essentially the surrounding environment imparting some of its kinetic energy into the object being warmed up.  Simply thinking about that, the more you have that needs warming, the more energy it requires to warm, and so the slower its temperature will rise (given the same rate of exchange of thermal energy - the water submerges at least some of the other contents, so if anything this is an overestimate).  Now consider that water has a relatively high specific heat, meaning that it takes more energy to warm it up.  The food inside the cooler won't be warmed up faster than the surrounding water, so since it takes more energy to heat the food and water than just the food, so the food will stay cooler longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.igloocoolers.com/FAQs?topic=General%20Product%20Information#q3&quot;&gt;Igloo (yes, the cooler company) FAQ&lt;/a&gt; supports this view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During use, it is not necessary to drain the cold water from recently melted ice unless it is causing contents to become soggy. The chilled water, combined with ice, more readily surrounds canned and bottled items and will often help keep contents colder more effectively than the remaining ice alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/ProdAdvice.asp?CategoryID=8500&quot;&gt;Coleman agrees&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don’t drain cold water – Water from just-melted ice keeps contents cold almost as well as ice and preserves the remaining ice much better than air space. Drain the water only when necessary for convenient removal of cooler contents or before adding more ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the key point a lot of people forget is that what matters isn't how long the ice lasts, but how long the contents remain under some temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming convection is fairly significant relative to the rate of energy input from the outside (a good assumption, I think), it doesn't matter how good an insulator air is, the inside temperature will be the same throughout, necessitating that the rate of heat energy coming into the cooler is the same in both cases, so the ice will melt at the same rate, and once the ice is gone, the cooler with water will take much longer to warm.  I'm still working on the no-convection theory (which would provide at best an &lt;em&gt;extreme&lt;/em&gt; overestimate), but in the meantime if anyone wishes to posit that convection is tiny enough to bridge the enormous gap (assuming I find the upper bound does eclipse water), please explain why you believe so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some math/physics to back this up for the quantitatively inclined.  (This would be so much easier with the MathML markup from the math and physics sites.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cooler will be very near perfect convection, the heat is entering the cooler slowly enough that the contents - air, water, and ice - are at the same temperature (namely 32°F/0°C/273.15K). Heat conduction, &lt;code&gt;H&lt;/code&gt;, as far as our coolers are concerned depends only on &lt;code&gt;ΔT&lt;/code&gt;: &lt;code&gt;H = kAΔT/x&lt;/code&gt;, where &lt;code&gt;k&lt;/code&gt; is the thermal conductivity of the cooler, &lt;code&gt;A&lt;/code&gt; is the area of the cooler through which thermal energy is flowing, &lt;code&gt;x&lt;/code&gt; is the thickness of the cooler, and &lt;code&gt;ΔT&lt;/code&gt; is the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the cooler (&lt;code&gt;T_out - T_in&lt;/code&gt;). Notice that &lt;em&gt;all these are the same for both coolers&lt;/em&gt;. Now, melting the ice requires energy of &lt;code&gt;Q = Lm&lt;/code&gt; where &lt;code&gt;Q&lt;/code&gt; is the total energy required, &lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt; is the (latent/specific) heat of fusion, and &lt;code&gt;m&lt;/code&gt; is the mass of ice in the cooler. Since the total energy is &lt;code&gt;Q = Ht&lt;/code&gt;, we can calculate the time required to melt all the ice: &lt;code&gt;Q = Ht = kAtΔT/x -&amp;gt; t = Qx/(kAΔT) = Lmx/kAΔT&lt;/code&gt;. Since all variables are the same for both coolers, it will take the exact same amount of time for the ice to melt.* &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*: We are ignoring the air replacing the ice, which would actually give a (very) slight advantage to retaining water. Draining the water in that cooler requires adding heat - the excess heat of the air that replaces the melted water. Fortunately, that excess heat is fairly easy to calculate: &lt;code&gt;m = Vρ -&amp;gt; V = m_ice/ρ_ice = m_air/ρ_air -&amp;gt; m_air = m_ice * ρ_air/ρ_ice&lt;/code&gt;. The air comes in with an excess energy of &lt;code&gt;Q = m_air*C_air*ΔT = m_ice*(ρ_air/ρ_ice)*C_air*ΔT&lt;/code&gt;. This reduces the energy required from the cooler heat influx, reducing the time required: &lt;code&gt;Q = Lm_ice = Q_cooler + Q_air = kAtΔT/x + m_ice*(ρ_air/ρ_ice)*C_air*ΔT -&amp;gt; t = (L/ΔT - ρ_air/ρ_ice)*C_air)mx/kA&lt;/code&gt;. The fractional difference this will make ends up being about &lt;code&gt;4e-6*ΔT&lt;/code&gt;, or about &lt;code&gt;0.016%&lt;/code&gt; on a rather hot (40°C) day, coming to 2min 18s over 10 days. So we were right to ignore it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-12T20:19:05.460" LastActivityDate="2012-02-12T20:19:05.460" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="511" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:13:24.977" Score="14" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many surfing fin designs available for modern surf boards. What are the criteria for selecting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tri-fin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bi-fin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mono-fin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No fins&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And why would I want to have larger or smaller surfing fins in any of these categories?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:03:56.733" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:03:56.733" Title="How do I make a fin selection for various surfing conditions" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="499" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="517" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:16:58.823" Score="5" ViewCount="999" Body="&lt;p&gt;When sailing a traditional twin mast ketch, what are the recommended crew requirements? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume the following for simplicity:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Captain has 6-pack maritime license. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Captain and passengers total 5 people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crew has 1-2 years sailing experience.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sailing within 20 miles of shore, not in commercial shipping lane.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boat bow to stern is 45 feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevailing wind is 10-15 knots, seas 4-5 feet at the bell.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visibility is 5 nautical miles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the responsibilities of each crew member? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:04:46.237" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:04:46.237" Title="Crew requirements for sailing a ketch" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:19:39.637" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can, melt it beforehand - not because of dehydration but because of the obvious; it'll cause you to get rather cold rather quickly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't and it really is an emergency (the only time I'd suggest it might be worth considering) then I haven't found a general consensus on whether it's a good idea, probably because it comes very much down to judging the situation - hydration vs. core body temperature. Do bear in mind that you won't get anywhere near the amount of fresh water from snow though so it may not hydrate you as effectively as you might be imagining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final point, never drink / eat coloured snow. I don't just mean the &lt;em&gt;obvious&lt;/em&gt; cause of coloured snow - it can have all sorts of colours to it, and aside from the obvious this is most commonly caused by bacteria which are often rather nasty if ingested. This will almost always make the situation worse, not better!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T14:19:39.637" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="501" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="507" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:21:50.733" Score="9" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the optimal wind speed, direction, and surf conditions for windsurfing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T13:16:22.533" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T13:16:22.533" Title="Optimal conditions for windsurfing" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="502" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1409" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:25:42.570" Score="11" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;When researching surf conditions, what weather cycles indicate good overall conditions for a North American Atlantic Ocean-based break?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:57:29.857" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T17:23:13.337" Title="Indicators of good Atlantic Ocean surf conditions" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="485" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:28:24.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned, the best exercise you can get is simply hiking. To train for weight, it's recommended to fill the backpack with water or sand that can be thrown out at the top to prevent knee injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in the flatlands like I do, there's not much elevation changes. The closest in the gym is to use an incline treadmill or a stepmill. I've even filled up a bag with weights to use on the stepmill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for specific weightlifting exercises, hiking requires a lot of lower body strength and endurance. Various squats and deadlifts can help strengthen your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General cardio (running, biking, or swimming) is always helpful since it'll build endurance, and if you can shave some pounds off your body, that's less weight you have to carry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpine Ascents has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineascents.com/pdf/denali-train.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;training program&lt;/a&gt; to prepare for Denali, which, while a little bit overboard for hiking, still shares the same concepts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bodyresults.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Body Results&lt;/a&gt; also has provides some mountaineering training DVDs which also share similar concepts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="39" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T14:46:48.373" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T14:46:48.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="489" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:36:29.493" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From experience I can tell you that lying on rock is the most effective way to become cold over night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bare Earth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has at least some air gaps in the soil, which insulate (not too much).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is any soil, the vegetation and roots provide some insulation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not reach as cold a temperature as rock, 24&quot; below the surface is a consistent 40-50 degrees during three seasons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rock&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can change temperature dramatically from day to night. (60+ degrees)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has 0% air gaps for your body to warm up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has great potential thermal conductivity against your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you must sleep on one of these try the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attempt to find dry or dead grasses. Cut a lot of it up and make a bedding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you cannot find grasses, or to provide more insulation, use extra clothes to make a layer between yourself and the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use your empty backpack to provide even more of a buffer between your torso (where all the heat is) and the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleep with a hat on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boil water, pour it into a one litre  bottle, cover the bottle with a sock, and store in your sleeping bag between your legs or under your arms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T15:10:43.983" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T15:10:43.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="505" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1115" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:43:12.743" Score="12" ViewCount="44961" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the optimal wind speed, direction, and surf conditions for Kitesurfing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please provide a description for various ability levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T11:31:21.737" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T11:31:21.737" Title="Kitesurfing optimal conditions" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;kitesurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="485" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:53:44.977" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Train by hiking, start small, do it every week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After my injury, when I could not hike, I started by hiking less than a mile, but I did it every week.  Even only once a week, this will help.  Pick a trail that's a length just a little hard for you.  This is best if you have a nearby park with lots of interlocking trails.  Interlocking is good because you can mix and match the path to increase distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Increase distance before you increase weight.  I would not recommend adding weight until you can hike 5 miles comfortably. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you get to 5 miles, start carrying an empty pack.  Next add your layer clothes (maybe it's cool enough for a jacket, but not needed when you warm up)  Next add just a water bladder for drinking.  To the extent that you can, I recommend packing things you will actually hike with.  One, the weight is more representative, and two, the weight is going to be dispersed more realistically for actual hiking.  If you train with other things in your pack just for weight you are more likely to train for a pack that's off balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy and learn how to use hiking poles.  They really do help, even starting out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If at all possible, exercise doing something you like, or in a place you like.  If training is just misery you go through to learn to hike, you're less likely to train (and hike).  Pick the day, time, and place that you are &lt;em&gt;least&lt;/em&gt; likely to skip every week.  Pick someone to go with you who will encourage you to never miss a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you seriously overweight, I would suggest first shedding the pounds by taking up swimming.  This will greatly reduce the strain on your knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T17:28:54.737" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T17:28:54.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="501" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:54:12.210" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of this will depend on your ability, strength and experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For beginners, you really want an offshore wind up to about a force 4 maximum with no waves. As beginners tend to use the uphaul method to get the sail up, any stronger wind will make it very difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an expert, an onshore wind at a force 8 or so can give you much rougher seas, and raise the height of waves to launch off. Experts should also be able to raise the sail to windward, letting it lift them onto the board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A wind parallel to the shore can be relatively safe once you can tack/gybe comfortably and returning to shore is safe and easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T14:54:12.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="508" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="514" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:57:00.247" Score="31" ViewCount="42395" Body="&lt;p&gt;When looking at buying climbing ropes, they are rated to a number of &quot;UIAA falls&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does that mean? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:18:04.463" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:18:04.463" Title="Climbing rope is rated to X UIAA falls. What is a UIAA fall?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="494" CreationDate="2012-01-26T14:58:58.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen anything like the Scottish guide books we have for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.munromagic.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Munros&lt;/a&gt; - the tallest mountains in Scotland, but as Scottish mountains are relatively small compared to mountains in the Andes, Alps, Rockies, Snowy Mountains, Himalayas etc but still have a lot of dangerous climbs, I wouldn't want to guess at how few large mountains are scramble-able (if we exclude Kilimanjaro, for example)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T14:58:58.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-01-26T15:00:20.343" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pacing and timing can be used to aid navigation in poor visibility. Both methods improve as you gain experience by practicing pacing and timing over different terrains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pacing by counting steps (beads on your compass lanyard or a mechanical counter will help you avoid loosing count) to estimate distance travelled from a known location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Timing based on, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_Rule&quot;&gt;Naismith's Rule&lt;/a&gt; to estimate distance from a known location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use a rope of known length to measure distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A great example is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcofs.org.uk/ben-nevis-navigation.asp&quot;&gt;safely navigating off the summit of&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Nevis&quot;&gt;Ben Nevis&lt;/a&gt; which requires following a bearing of 231 degrees for 150 metres, then following a bearing of 282 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T15:11:01.467" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T15:11:01.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="498" CreationDate="2012-01-26T15:05:07.777" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's start with the easy one first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No fins - this really only works with a long board, as the board's length gives it the stability a fin would normally give you. You aren't going to be able to tackle short, steep waves like this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 fin - gives lift when surfing, as the water in the face of the wave is rising. Otherwise you slip down the face of the wave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;2 fins - less drag, and easier turns&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;3 fins - a combination of 1 and 2, giving good lift, but also control when carving sharply&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bigger fins are more difficult to turn, so using more smaller fins tends to work better on short fast boards on steep waves, or when you want to carve a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T15:05:07.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="508" CreationDate="2012-01-26T15:08:37.263" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;It means the rope is rated for X falls where the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt; is 1.77 and the weight is 80kg. In layman's terms it's a pretty big fall with a pretty big guy, the sort of fall that if you took you most likely wouldn't want to climb again for the rest of the day! You may well never have such a big fall at all (in fact I'd hope you wouldn't!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the number is a rough guide and visual inspections should still take place regularly, especially on older rope that may have degraded over time. Equally because it's huge falls that the rope is rated for, don't feel that after x amount of (normal) falls you have to chuck it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure I've seen some ropes with built in fall counters that work in terms of UIAA falls (measuring increments) if you feel that would be useful. In practice I wouldn't say it's necessary, but if you want one for added peace of mind then it might be something to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just to add to this answer, &amp;quot;fall factor&amp;quot; can be also thought of as this:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?cht=tx&amp;amp;chl=%5Cfrac%7B2*%5B%5Cmbox%7Bdistance%20%20above%20%20last%20%20quickdraw%7D%5D%20%2B%20%5B%5Cmbox%7Bheight%20%20belayer%20%20comes%20%20off%20%20the%20%20ground%7D%5D%7D%7B%5B%5Cmbox%7Blength%20%20of%20%20rope%20%20from%20%20belayer%20%20to%20%20climber%7D%5D%7D&quot; alt=&quot;\frac{2*[\mbox{distance  above  last  quickdraw}] + [\mbox{height  belayer comes  off  the  ground}]}{[\mbox{length  of  rope  from  belayer  to  climber}]}&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T07:15:48.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="485" CreationDate="2012-01-26T15:55:15.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like others have said, the best training to hike is hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about being able to climb large vertical distances (mountains?), try climbing stairs.  I don't mean the stair-climber at the gym (although it does help), but put on a pack with weight and find a tall building.  Clear this with any security the building may have (or management/owner), and climb the fire stairs for a half hour.  Once your body starts to acclimate to the challenge, increase the time that you climb the stairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T15:55:15.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="508" CreationDate="2012-01-26T15:59:26.380" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I am not a lab technician it is important to understand the dynamics at play in these tests. Below is the best example I have read on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the full article please read below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/UIAA/Commissions%20and%20Working%20Groups/Safety/Core%20documents/Research%20and%20Advice/sdarticle.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Behaviour of Rope Under Stretching During Fall - Authors: Vittorio Bedogni (CAI), Andrea Manes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Internationale_des_Associations_d%27Alpinisme&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE:&lt;/strong&gt; Also included is the section on &amp;quot;impact force&amp;quot;, which is a factor of the fall height, weight of the climber, amount of rope &amp;quot;out&amp;quot; at time of fall, and rope stretch. It is important to know as it can directly effect your safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fall Test Overview&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fall Rating &lt;strong&gt;Half ropes&lt;/strong&gt; have to pass a minimum of 5 controlled leader simulated falls. These falls are factor 1.77 falls so they are tested to close to the maximum fall that a climber can take (a factor 2). For those interested, a 55kg weight is dropped from a height of 2.30m above a preclipped karabiner. The amount of rope extending to the simulated belayer from the karabiner is only 30cm so that the set-up looks like the image on the left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The weight is dropped with a 5 minute rest in between tests. The diagram on the side is a little out of date though as the test has now been modified so that the rope passes over a 0.75mm metal edge instead of through a karabiner. 3 sample ropes are tested and the weakest one of the three becomes the fall rating. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Internationale_des_Associations_d%27Alpinisme&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt; (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) has a minimum fall rating of 5.&#xA;It should be noted though that a factor fall of 1.77 is very high and chances are that you will never even have such a high factor fall all your life. So do not interpret this rating as the maximum amount of times you can fall on a rope before you have to chuck it. Also remember that taking huge whippers do not necessarily induce large fall factors (it is often the exact opposite) so don't just think that because you have taken 3 whippers on your rope that you should be starting to think about retiring it. For more information about fall factors you can click here&#xA;Obviously, though, you will be looking for a rope that has a high fall rating as, in theory, it will last you longer. Theoretically thicker ropes will have a higher fall rating than thinner ropes, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G7ite.png&quot; alt=&quot;UIAA Fall Test&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Impact Force&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The impact force measurement is the resulting force that is transferred onto the end of the rope- i.e. you. If you look at the diagram above again, you can see that the peak force generated by the 1.77 factor fall can be no more than 8Kn for a half rope. Basically the lower this figure is the better, not only because it reduces the force on you but also because it will reduce the force on the top runner- i.e. the lower the number the more force the rope absorbs. The flip side of this is that the rope will invariably have to stretch more to absorb more force. Now whilst this might not sound like a bad thing it can be. Situations can arise where you want the least amount of stretch in the rope- e.g. falling close to the ground, when top roping, etc. This is a point that is worth thinking about. If you are used to sport routes then you aren't going to be worried about minimizing the force on your top runner as it’s a bolt, and in addition the more the rope stretches the more you are going to have to climb back up if you fall. On the other hand if you climb a lot on badly protected terrain then the extra stretch may not be a worry if it helps keep the top runner from ripping out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T22:44:56.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="306" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:12:19.843" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The different types of snowboards are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All-mountain&lt;/strong&gt;: Versatile snowboards that can be used on all parts of the mountain, including machine-groomed runs, backcountry, and park and pipe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freestyle&lt;/strong&gt;: Boards that are light, short, and flexible, and ideal for terrain parks and doing tricks (riding rails, jibbing, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freeride&lt;/strong&gt;: Boards that are ideal for backcountry riding and going fast on groomed runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Splitboards&lt;/strong&gt;: Boards that can split in half for backcountry climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Powder&lt;/strong&gt;: Boards that will spend most of their time in deep powder. They have wide waists, wide noses, and are generally rocker shaped to prevent the edges from catching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sourced from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/snowboard.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:12:19.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:31:28.687" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, but it will really make you cold. It takes about 30 times more heat to heat water (melt ice) from 31 to 33 degrees (F) than it does to heat it from 33 to 35 degrees. That heat comes from your body if you eat snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:31:28.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="499" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:44:41.957" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every boat is different, and every crew is different. There is no set standard. Some people go single-handed on a ketch, some have fairly large crew. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bernard Moitessier&lt;/a&gt; used to sail a 39-foot ketch single-handed and with his wife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:44:41.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="518" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="523" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:48:22.747" Score="10" ViewCount="4528" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently got a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/762571/marmot-aeros-3p-tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marmot Aeros 3P&lt;/a&gt; tent for Christmas, but haven't been able to find anyone currently selling the footprint that goes with it. So how could I go about making one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:44:37.137" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T08:44:37.137" Title="How can I make a footprint for a tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tent-footprints&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:48:50.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask Google. &quot;public hunting land &lt;em&gt;statename&lt;/em&gt;&quot; will get some good references. Also, most vacant property administered by the Corps of Engineers is open to hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:48:50.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="518" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:53:22.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps this is too naïve a solution, but I would take a tarp, lay the tent out on top of it, trace the outline with a sharpie, and cut on the outline you just drew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:53:22.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="311" CreationDate="2012-01-26T16:58:04.837" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;American Trail Running Association keeps a list for every state. It's not an exhaustive list, but it has some details for running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailrunner.com/trails/main_state_page.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.trailrunner.com/trails/main_state_page.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T16:58:04.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="518" CreationDate="2012-01-26T17:25:53.873" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get your material (tarp, plastic, whatever you choose) out and set your tent up on top of it, with poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Draw about 3&quot; around the outside of your tent.  Trace circles around where the poles touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut on the dotted line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy and install grommets on the circles &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metalgrommets.com/prod_gromwash.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.metalgrommets.com/prod_gromwash.html&lt;/a&gt;, so that your poles can drop into them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fold over your edges about 1/2&quot;, stitch with a sewing machine, and final seal with a permanent seal tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3&quot; is actually a little wide, but when doing this sort of thing you always cut just a bit larger than you need to in case you make a mistake.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:25:53.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="518" CreationDate="2012-01-26T17:38:57.323" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience there are two good ways to do this depending on the weather conditions you expect to encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Place waterproof tarp &lt;strong&gt;outside&lt;/strong&gt; tent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good for rain conditions or where rocks and debris can damage the tent floor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase a good quality waterproof tarp slightly larger than tent footprint dimensions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When setting up the tent&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold edges into the wall dimensions (folded edge &lt;strong&gt;under not over&lt;/strong&gt; the tarp.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure no edges extend beyond the rain fly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place rain fly on the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stake out the tent as normal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Place waterproof tarp &lt;strong&gt;inside tent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good for snow conditions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase a good quality waterproof tarp slightly larger than tent footprint dimensions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set up tent, including rain fly, and stake out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place tarp in the tent, and fold edges to wall dimensions (fold so that &lt;strong&gt;edge is over&lt;/strong&gt;, not under the tarp) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;The reason for the difference is that no matter how hard you try, in all but bitter cold conditions you will have some melting of the snow under your tent. This invariably gets onto the tarp surface and makes the tent floor wet, or icy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never purchased an aftermarket tent floor, because they are overpriced and can be easily made following the steps above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are ambitious you can create a custom floor by cutting, and melting the tarp edges. Then re-grommeting the tarp so that it can be independently staked to the ground. This I have found is usually unnecessary for all but the most fickle travelers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:38:57.323" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="518" CreationDate="2012-01-26T17:40:04.783" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a regular rectangular tarp, lay it out such that it is as close to the tent's size as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take any amount of extra that is on the UPHILL SIDE, and fold UNDER THE TARP any excess.  Any water that comes downhill is then channeled underneath the groundcloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T17:40:04.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-01-26T18:02:29.953" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thermal conductivity of air is &lt;strong&gt;0.000057&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thermal conductivity of water is &lt;strong&gt;0.0014&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore water is 24.5 times &lt;strong&gt;more&lt;/strong&gt; conductive than air, and has a temperature &lt;strong&gt;above&lt;/strong&gt; 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The reason this is a &lt;strong&gt;problem&lt;/strong&gt; is that bacteria can grow in that water quite quickly (within 6 hours) and start to make your &lt;strong&gt;food unhealthy to eat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally all that warm 32+ degree water will assist in melting the &lt;em&gt;remaining&lt;/em&gt; ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do yourself a favor, drain the water that melts out the bottom of the cooler with the spout that is provided. It's safer, and your food will last longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this fine article about cooler packing and draining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rrfw.org/RaftingGrandCanyon/Cooler_Type_and_Packing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NRFW - cooler packing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T18:02:29.953" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2012-01-26T18:13:07.100" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no simple answer to this question - everybody has their own preferences. (That being said, I'm a big fan of my straight edge &lt;strong&gt;SOG SEAL Pup Elite&lt;/strong&gt; and would &lt;em&gt;highly&lt;/em&gt; recommend it). There are a few simple guidelines, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest something with a (1) &lt;strong&gt;thick full-tang blade&lt;/strong&gt;, so you could chop down some small trees if needed. But (2) &lt;strong&gt;not too big&lt;/strong&gt;, so it's still comfortable for carving fire spindles and whatnot. (3) &lt;strong&gt;Straight edge&lt;/strong&gt; is better than serrated - you're unlikely to need to skin a bear in a survival situation, but carving with the serrated blade is a pain. Serrated blade is also not very easy to sharpen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And remember, the best knife is the knife you have on your person when you need it. So, although a big beefy knife might sound like a great idea, chances are very high you're not gonna have it in your pocket when you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need it. Go with practical, not fancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="134" LastEditorUserId="134" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T18:27:45.857" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T18:27:45.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="363" CreationDate="2012-01-26T19:32:27.943" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use any piece of lint, string, or leaves, to make a makeshift lure. I had a lot of luck with a small piece of nylon socks, tied to look like a butterfly, to catch frogs. You don't need a hook for it. just wave it in front of the frog. It will jump and bite the nylon, and it won't let go. You can pull up quickly to get the frog up in the air. Catch, kill, peel, gut, clean and cook (extremely well to kill potential parasites). The legs are delicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-26T03:14:04.723" LastActivityDate="2017-10-26T03:14:04.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="528" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="990" CreationDate="2012-01-26T19:41:24.557" Score="14" ViewCount="1366" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hunting in the forest/mountains, how can I track large game (in particular, deer, elk, sheep, the like) after I've shot and wounded him and he's escaped? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I look for?  What signs are there that the animal has passed this way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T18:43:00.880" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:43:00.880" Title="After I've shot large game, and it escapes, how can I track it?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="535" CreationDate="2012-01-26T19:51:24.853" Score="12" ViewCount="1654" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bowline knot is an excellent rescue knot as it tightens when under load.  However, its very use as a rescue knot may make it hard to tie - for example, if a person fell and damaged one arm to the point where he or she was unable to use it to help tie a knot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I tie a bowline knot with only one hand?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="95" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:27:23.157" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T15:52:11.763" Title="How can I tie a bowline knot with one hand?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="460" CreationDate="2012-01-26T19:52:54.523" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bleach or Tilex will get rid of mold, but you should try it on a small piece first to make sure it doesn't ruin the sticky glue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T19:52:54.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="439" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:06:38.783" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Photographers in the Antarctic store camera batteries in their armpits to keep some decent heat in them. Amusingly, when the batteries in the camera die, that is also the best place to put them. My dad used to test cameras in the Antarctic (in addition to his day job) and said that was the worst bit at 50 degrees below freezing - popping a cold battery under your arm!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T20:06:38.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="530" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:11:40.780" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it is possible. There are many methods, but here is one I found by googling &quot;single handed bowline knot&quot; (first result): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlineonehand/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlineonehand/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With the rope round your back, hold about half a meter of the short end in your hand. Hook the standing end with your thumb to form a loop around your hand. Pass the short end round the standing end and pull it back through the loop. Secure the end with an overhand knot to the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="131" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T15:52:11.763" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T15:52:11.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="536" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="541" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:27:06.527" Score="19" ViewCount="466" Body="&lt;p&gt;When going into remote areas, it would be great to be able to communicate with the outside world, for emergency purposes or just to be able to call home on long trips. Is it practical for an average person to obtain and use a satellite phone? In other words, roughly what do they cost to buy or rent, how large are they, and what is the cost to use them to place calls? On what kind of trips would it make sense to consider this option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T14:28:14.030" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T04:04:02.150" Title="Is it practical to get a satellite phone for communication from remote areas?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="537" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="569" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:34:34.643" Score="13" ViewCount="3601" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in areas where mosquito-borne diseases are endemic, what options are there in terms of mosquito nets? The mosquito nets I've seen are meant to be hung above a bed and tucked under the mattress, but would any make sense to use in a tent? If not, what are some options for mosquito (or other insect) protection while sleeping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:12:56.417" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T06:58:23.053" Title="What mosquito nets can be used while camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:37:15.683" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another point which hasn't been brought up yet is shelter. Have a look at these types of shelter which you can sometimes build:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinzhee&quot;&gt;Quinzhee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo&quot;&gt;Igloo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trench (Just dig a trench in the snow and cover it with a tarp. Also, dig another trench inside the sleeping trench to let the colder air sink there instead of where you sleep.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also add insulation by planting fir boughs in the ground at an angle. This gives the boughs a little spring and they form a layer of air under you, similar to having another matress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, also, a candle can help heat your shelter to a certain extent, but it also helps in drying the air, especially in a tent, quinzhee or igloo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T20:37:15.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:37:50.380" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use both cortisone and benedryl cream.  One reduces swelling, the other reduces the allergic reaction.  Make sure to only use water soluble creams!  Petroleum based lotions will block the skin from naturally expunging the poison ivy oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T20:37:50.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="537" CreationDate="2012-01-26T20:42:26.560" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically a tent itself will not let mosquitos in, but if you are in a tent that will, like a canvas army tent, hanging nets does a decent job.  In some situations a bivy may do better.  Some are primarily made of netting and designed specifically for bugs, and some are even shaped to fit standard military cots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had some luck with fabric treatments.  Permethrin sprays are available for clothing and some may work on tents or netting.  Follow the instructions on the bottle regarding fabric compatibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastEditorUserId="54" LastEditDate="2012-01-26T22:20:03.067" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:20:03.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="536" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:02:36.610" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is practical is up to you, but I can give you some information to help you make up your mind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical rental prices for a satellite phone are $15-$30 a week (According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allroadsat.com/?gclid=CKX6rrXK7q0CFTHptgodCGc4qw&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;). The cost per minute is in addition to this cost, and is around $0.50-$3 USD a minute. Weight is usually around 400 grams, or just under a pound. Battery life is pretty much comparable to a smart phone, 3 hours talking and 24 on standby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T21:02:36.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="542" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4076" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:02:38.980" Score="18" ViewCount="24913" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course, the best way is to prevent mold on a tent from occurring by airing, cleaning and storing it appropriately. When doing this I've never had any issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there may well be cases where perhaps tents haven't been treated as well and mold has built up on a tent and it needs to be cleaned off, what's the best way of doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T23:57:38.370" LastActivityDate="2013-05-08T13:15:40.307" Title="How do you remove mold from a tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="542" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:13:38.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tilex or bleach will get rid of mold. It might also affect the water resistance of the tent fabric or change its color, so you might want to test it on a small area first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-29T15:08:27.403" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T15:08:27.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:15:34.980" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way I have found, assuming you are in the USA, is to go to that state's DNR website.  They will have a map with all public land and what can be harvested from that land.  This I found to be the most helpful starting point for finding public land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there the most helpful person you can find would be a local DNR agent.  They spend their time on the public land and are aware of the signs that a species is in abundance and if it is a good place to hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most regulars near  public land will not be as helpful as you think because you are basically competing against them for the same resources.  They might say oh try &quot;blah blah&quot; but they most likely won't tell you specific places.  You would have better luck being friendly to a DNR field agent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE: If you a specifically looking to pay for the land one of the best places to check is craigslist.  When you do this a good question to ask is if you are going to be the only one hunting the land or if they are rent to multiple people on separate weekends.  It may cost more the get it exclusively but the game you are hunting will be less pressured and you should then have better luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="12" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T19:47:22.887" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T19:47:22.887" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="460" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:23:42.877" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Some things I have used to keep my skins in good shape&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use mild detergent to wash the hairs with a sponge&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get this on the sticky layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray with a 5% bleach solution and let dry, then rinse with water several hours later. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If mildew grows, expose the hair sides to the sun for several hours to a day.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UV exposure is very damaging to the mildew causing organisms. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allow the skins to &lt;strong&gt;dry completely&lt;/strong&gt; before storing over the summer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Store the skins in a breathable bag, &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; sealed plastic  like a freezer bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Best way to keep the mold down...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Get out there and use your skins every few days, and go skiing!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mold doesn't stand a chance against the granular snow and ice adbraiding the fur for hours on a long ski tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get out there and have a good time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T21:23:42.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:29:24.763" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there's a stick around and enough sunlight, I've found the stick method surprisingly accurate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a straight stick, around 2 feet long (length isn't that important) and plant it straight in the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mark the end of the stick's shadow, perhaps with another short stick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wait for about 15 minutes then repeat step 2.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Draw a line between the two ends you marked in step 2, from the first marker to the second. This will produce a line that points from west to east (where west is in the direction of the first mark you made, east towards the second.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Draw a line perpendicular to the one you've just drawn and that will point north to south.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used this a few times just for fun, never needed to in an emergency situation - but it's surprisingly accurate for such a primitive method, usually only a few degrees off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sKjrx61bqI&quot;&gt;here for a video explanation.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T19:48:44.947" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T19:48:44.947" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="552" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:46:48.937" Score="38" ViewCount="25877" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been a while since I went rock climbing but I'd like to get back into it. What are some hand exercises that will help with climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T09:17:11.467" Title="What hand and finger exercises help with climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="530" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:54:10.893" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/535/2303&quot;&gt;Shawn has already answered the question&lt;/a&gt;, but I would like to add that it whilst it may be useful in some situations, it can be a bad habit to get into, and dangerous in certain situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see in this video - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auj4T1PYSRI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auj4T1PYSRI&lt;/a&gt; - it involves getting your arm very tangled into the rope. If the rope was to suddenly be pulled, your hand would be done for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By all means learn it, but try not to use it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="83" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T10:07:50.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="549" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-26T21:55:12.343" Score="3" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;What are essential items in an emergency kit?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;Another question&lt;/a&gt; asked about emergency supplies you'd bring on a multi-day hiking trip. But many people prefer going on shorter day hikes (say, leaving in the morning and returning to the trailhead in the late afternoon) where it's less practical to bring a large backpack with every conceivable emergency supply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides appropriate clothes and water, what equipment would you consider essential to bring on a day hike (for safety, comfort, protection, etc.)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T21:55:12.343" Title="What essentials should you bring with you on a day hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2012-01-27T00:44:38.757" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="550" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="565" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:13:02.483" Score="11" ViewCount="4396" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read that California has some of the strictest weapons laws in the US. What types of knives are allowed when camping, hiking, or hunting? What should someone camping in California know before packing a knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T00:16:58.087" Title="What kinds of knives are allowed while camping in California?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="551" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="558" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:14:29.923" Score="8" ViewCount="22179" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been looking into how strong of a bow would be required to bow hunt moose.  I haven't been able to find a specific number as to how many fps you should be shooting to safely hunt moose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2013-01-09T03:42:31.467" LastActivityDate="2016-05-09T19:21:08.587" Title="What fps does a bow need to hunt moose?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;moose&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:17:17.297" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=finger%20exerciser&amp;amp;um=1&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;tbm=shop&amp;amp;cid=9680200230582055245&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=gNAhT8W1J8XHswbYoMTaBw&amp;amp;ved=0CIcBEPMCMAA&quot;&gt;Finger exerciser&lt;/a&gt;, I do the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squeezing plasticene or stress balls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dumb-bell curls &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chin-ups, both on a bar, and finger chin-ups on a door frame or similar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Press-ups on fingertips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These give finger, hand, wrist and forearm strength - worthwhile using them together. The thing I'm not so good at is toughening up the backs of my fingers. I play guitar, so my fingertips are nicely callused, but I always scuff the backs of my fingers when trying to jam into cracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:17:17.297" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:18:01.867" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common for rock climbing are with fingerboards or campus boards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without those, you can perform dead hangs on anything you can hold onto, such as pullup bars. To make it a little more difficult, you can dead hang on the edges of doorways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other handheld devices for grip strengthening, such as tiger claws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, wrist curls with dumbbells will also strengthen forearms which will help when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:18:01.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:26:17.330" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be a fixation with North in navigation.  Step back to the basic purpose, why do we navigate?  We navigate to get to somewhere or to find our way back.  Knowing north is just one method of doing such.  So predicating navigation on knowing which way is north is unnecessary.  North isn't the goal, it's a reference for finding what you really want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two different types of navigation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding our way to something new.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding our way back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never even touched a map or compass until I was in my 30s and I grew up hiking.  This is how I learned to navigate.  To quantify where this works, 99% of my outdoors time has been off trail, with no map, in the southeastern US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to focus on #2 first, since finding your way back home (or to car) is more critical than finding that waterfall (or lookout, or whatever).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look around when hiking, don't just watch the ground.  Note unique features and commit them to memory.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stop periodically and look back.  Look over your shoulder a lot.  The trail or way will look different on the way back than on the way in.  This will also help you spot angling forks that can only be seen from one direction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are off trail, with no distinguishing features, leave some clues.  Not trash.  In deciduous forest, disturbing the leaves works.  Breaking small green branches works and causes minimal harm, but don't go overzealous with it.  Leave marks that indicate the direction to the previous mark when possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take it slow, making sure you absorb the features.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn to walk a straight line.  It takes time, but you can learn to hold a bearing, even in uneven terrain.  This can help when you generally know &quot;the highway is that way&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you feel lost, don't panic.  Flag your spot in a very visible way.  Slowly range out from that spot, but keeping your flag in sight until you see a feature or mark you recognized.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really that simple.  Don't go on a 20-mile excursion your first time out.  Your first several times in the woods should, if possible, be small acreage where if you walk in any direction for an hour you'll hit a road or known trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about finding something new?  When I hike a new trail, I browse the Internet until I find someone who has taken the time to write directions that don't require a map and compass.  I contribute corrections as I find them.  Sometimes I never find the thing I left to see, but find something else in the process.  Sometimes I find it hours late, but it's a fun trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sometimes wonder if trails handicap learning to navigate.  Many people end up knowing little about traveling in the woods but following a trail or staring at a map/gps.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And don't get me wrong, I can use a map now and a high quality Topo map is awesome.  But you certainly don't need to know North avoid getting lost (caveat here that I'm sure it's different in some deserts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T14:52:39.803" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T14:52:39.803" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="106" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:38:46.850" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes just choosing the location of your tent can make a huge difference in the amount of rain it receives. For example, you can protect it by placing it under thick foliage, or near a cliff if the wind is in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:38:46.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="107" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:47:09.270" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, make sure you don't get caught in the same situation as the person you're trying to help. Don't rush in and pull on him..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather, stay on solid ground and use whatever you have (rope, knapsack, your shirt, branches, you can get as creative as you need here) to pull on your friend from a distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have said, the person who is caught should avoid moving too much and try to spread their weight on a wider surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:47:09.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="348" CreationDate="2012-01-26T22:54:19.920" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't ski alone. If you do fall in one of these, it will be much more difficult to get out on your own than if you have some help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, being aware of what these traps look like can help you avoid them. When you do see one, take the necessary precautions and investigate it. How far from the trunk do you need to be to be safe? I already purposefully jumped into one, knowing that I had many friends and plenty of rope to help me get out. It's just good to know what you're up against, really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do fall, try to use your skis and batons to break the fall. They are long and using them horizontally is a good way of avoiding sinking in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do fall in, taking your skis off can help you maneuver you feet, but keep your skis handy as they can help create a solid support on which to push or pull yourself up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever happens, don't panic and think of the consequences of each move before you do it. For example, don't just put a foot on the snow and push, you might break throught and worsen your condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T22:54:19.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="551" CreationDate="2012-01-26T23:05:23.577" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the bow it is not the speed of the arrow but the power it is packing. I think the general speed is around 300 fps (90 m/s). There are some compound bows that can shoot faster with thin diameter arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually 55 lbs draw is enough to kill any large game. I shoot a 65 lb take down recurve when I train. Then I switch my bow limbs for 50 when I hunt (also train with it but not as much as with the 65).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take look at Hoyt website they have hunters taking down buffaloes with 50 lbs bows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also a lot depends on your arrow head and the diameter for the arrow. Thinner diameter penetrates deeper. Quality arrow head will slice up the heart so the animal bleeds out in matter of seconds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also it depends what you prefer to shoot. Some guys like longbows because of the feel and raw power. But it takes a long time to master.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people shoot recurves because they are easy to start with and are affordable. Also the bow generally does not vibrate as much as a longbow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you have compound bows. I don't like them very much. Too much tech and at some point you're just better off with a rifle IMHO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To safely hunt anything you have to know your game. If you go hunting moose that is pissed off at you; well you are asking to have a meeting with the reaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qzot4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2016-05-09T19:21:08.587" LastActivityDate="2016-05-09T19:21:08.587" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="559" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="567" CreationDate="2012-01-26T23:09:14.950" Score="16" ViewCount="528" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know there are dangerous plants and fruits to eat, but are there any basic rules one can use when in an emergency situation that apply to all safe foods? The 'rules' don't necessarily have to apply to every plant, but I'm looking for something along the lines of &quot;if it has &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;_&lt;/em&gt;___&lt;/strong&gt;, it is safe to eat&quot; and similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that you its best to be absolutely sure of what you are eating before you do it, but there must be some basic guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:13:48.933" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:13:48.933" Title="Are there any specific guidelines for edible plants in North America?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="560" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="568" CreationDate="2012-01-26T23:14:04.797" Score="27" ViewCount="17090" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you always eat raw meat (wild) as long as it is fresh?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="76" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T02:45:29.560" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T03:53:01.943" Title="What are the rules for eating raw, wild meat?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-01-26T23:27:12.647" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As well as squeezing stress balls and pulling on fingerboards, I bought a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powerballs.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;powerball&lt;/a&gt; a few years ago after one of my friends lent me his. It really helps with the wrist and forearm, and if you get the RPM counter, you can have a bit of fun, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T23:27:12.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="530" CreationDate="2012-01-26T23:46:54.980" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My favorite way to tie a bowline is a little unorthodox, but it's easier, especially 1-handed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make a slipknot in the standing part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grab the standing part.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Twist to make a loop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reach through the loop and grab the standing part.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull the standing part through the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pass the working end through the slipknot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Capsize the slipknot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have a bowline. It may be left- for right-handed, depending on the direction you did step #2. One is slightly more reliable, but both are good knots. You can improve the reliability by hitching the loose end to the loop. For critical (human) loads, and in slippery (synthetic) line, that hitch is more important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to practice this a few times before you need it. The slipknot needs to be snugged up but not tight. You need to know where to put the slipknot to get a big enough loop at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way this approach is really useful is when you will need to hitch to something very quickly. You can prepare the slipknot ahead of time. When the time comes, pass the working end around the object, through the slipknot, and capsize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-01-26T23:46:54.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="438" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:01:26.850" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Addition to the other answers: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when a man is overboard, one man must always point at him with the finger, so not to lose sight. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw something visible as soon as possible, such as a floating flag. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when you approach the victim, keep the man downwind. The natural inclination of the boat under wind will push the downwind side closer to the water, making it easier to haul the man up. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extremely Important&lt;/strong&gt; a man overboard may feel ok, but within two or three hours water produced by the body in response to seawater inhalation may start forming in the lungs, basically drowning him/her from the inside with a delay. Treat a MOB always as a full medical emergency, and organize for a trip to the hospital regardless and as soon as possible. Better safe than sorry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T00:01:26.850" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:03:20.823" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wearing the wet clothes can help dry them quicker, though this can only be done in certain situations of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a sunny day, sun-bathed rocks can be a good way to dry clothes as they are hot and in the sun, heating the garment on both sides. You should move the clothes around a lot to get different parts exposed to the sun. Also the rock will loose its heat quickly so go from rock to rock to gather all their heats in your garment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="131" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T20:12:55.353" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T20:12:55.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="550" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:16:58.087" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am not a lawyer, or an expert on California knife laws. This post is based on my understanding of state laws both as written, and as summarized by other sites.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the summary website that I used to determine what to carry here in southern California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ninehundred.net/~equalccw/knifelaw.html#SECTION%20TWO&quot;&gt;http://www.ninehundred.net/~equalccw/knifelaw.html#SECTION TWO&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It tries to decrypt the legal speak and identify what is exactly allowed. Based on my understanding, there is no length restrictions on folding knifes, as long as they are not considered to be a gravity knife or switchblade. The key point seems to be that there is no mechanical means of opening the blade, and that the blade has a tendency to stay close when in your pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knives defined as daggers or dirks, must be open-carried and cannot be concealed but there does not seem to be any state wide law restricting size. Be warned, there are local city ordinances which are more strict than state law, and you should look at laws for the specific areas where you will be going as they will likely supersede whatever the state laws are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T00:16:58.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="560" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:18:55.323" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Caveat: My comments are relevant in the UK:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think if your use of 'fresh' means you killed it, so you can have some confidence in its health before death and could get a reasonable view of the surrounding environment (e.g. don't eat the deer that just came out of the nuclear waste dumping site...), then yes. But make sure you cleanly gut the animal, as diseases like salmonella and e.coli are likely to be present in the gut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't try this with shellfish or any animal that concentrates poisons, but in general I think you'll be fine with the usual game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you have poached the deer from an estate, you may still be at risk from the gamekeeper :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T18:25:01.310" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T18:25:01.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="559" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:31:11.523" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Learning specific plants is helpful, but each person can have different food reactions, and they can change over time. So learning to taste well is a valuable skill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start with a clean mouth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take a small bite&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chew it in the very front of your mouth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spit it out&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notice how it tastes, and how you feel. Not just in your mouth &amp;amp; throat, but throughout your body. Dizzy? Fuzzy vision? Weak? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many different plant species, but you can say a lot about entire families, or at least about genera. A great resource for this information is Tom Elpel's &lt;em&gt;Botany in a Day&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to recognize the most severe poisonous plans (here in WA state, USA, it's poison hemlock) and don't bother tasting them. It's probably a good idea to skip the whole carrot family.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to recognize a few good edibles. I like dandelion, miner's lettuce, chickweed, peppergrass, stinging nettle, and mustards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T00:31:11.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="560" CreationDate="2012-01-27T00:33:20.493" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you mean by &quot;can you eat it&quot; you can eat anything really, it just depends on how much worse off you want to be afterward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/eating-raw-meat1.htm&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, dangers include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;trichinelliosis&lt;/em&gt; - from eating meat of a carnivorous animal&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;brucellosis&lt;/em&gt; - can be had from raw caribou&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;e. coli&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;salmonella&lt;/em&gt; are rampant&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;tapeworm&lt;/em&gt; - and other worms are fairly common in fish. In fact, all Sushi sold in the United States legally &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/nyregion/sushi-fresh-from-the-deep-the-deep-freeze.html&quot;&gt;must be frozen before it can be served.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T00:33:20.493" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="537" CreationDate="2012-01-27T01:03:21.553" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several types and configurations of mosquito nets that you can use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ones that hang (from a single center point, or from four corners), &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ones that drape over your bag with one or two poles that go over your head to keep it off your face, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full free-standing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your situation, each has its advantages and disadvantages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Choosing a net:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Areas with rampant mosquito-born diseases are likely &lt;em&gt;hot&lt;/em&gt; as well, meaning you won't want a sleeping bag, so the &quot;draping&quot; type nets won't do much good&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A net that is &lt;em&gt;too short&lt;/em&gt; will leave your feet or forehead pressed against the wall, inviting bites.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tucking&lt;/em&gt; the mosquito net under your bag, sleeping mat, mattress, etc is essential not just for mosquitoes, but for other creepy-crawlies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Free-standing bug nets shaped like a small 1 or 2 person tent you can pitch (inside a larger tent, or inside a hut for example) provide the most convenient and versatile option and tend to be easier to seal off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember that mosquitoes are not the only pests. The biggest annoyances are often the &quot;no-see-ums,&quot; which although don't carry illness, can make for a miserable nights. Choose a net with the &lt;em&gt;smallest gap between the weave&lt;/em&gt; as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chemicals:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Permethrine:&lt;/em&gt; After 2 years of living in the tropical rain forest, and suffering the tenacity of mosquitoes and no-see-ums which manage to find their way through any tiny imperfection in the net, I just started treating my nets with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Permethrine&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This stuff is highly toxic to fish, and insects, so care should be used when applying it - however I have found it to be highly effective in keeping mosquitoes and no-see-ums away from the net so they don't ever find those imperfections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;DEET:&lt;/em&gt; Although highly effective as a repellent, prolonged exposure, to high quantities especially in hot sweaty environments, has been linked in some toxicological reports to some ailments. Regardless, I don't much care for doping up before I sleep - so tend to avoid it, though spraying clothes can be a good added measure of protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mosquito Coils:&lt;/em&gt; I am not sure the chemical agent involved, or the safety of prolongued inhalation of the smoke, but mosquito coils burnt around the sleeping area reduces the number of insects visiting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Citronella:&lt;/em&gt; Some people swear by citronella and lemongrass, either as an oil applied to the skin for short-term reduction, or a candle that provides a smoke repellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Eucalyptus Oil:&lt;/em&gt; Provides a short term repellent, and can provide some relief for itching from those bites that already snuck through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a final precaution, setting a (controlled) smoky fire burning in the corner of your hut, or tarp will help reduce the number of mosquitoes hanging around throughout the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T01:03:21.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="536" CreationDate="2012-01-27T01:28:36.287" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @Pearsonartphoto's technical specs, it is important to remember that a Sat Phone is one tool at your disposal, and not a replacement for smart decision making, or proper planning. I have seen them provide people with a false sense of security thinking it gives added insurance against making bad decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like any electronic equipment, sat phones depend on batteries (which don't last all that long), must be kept dry, and can not be depended upon. (Ie, &lt;em&gt;assume it will be broken / dead when you need it.&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been required to use sat phones extensively in the back-country as part of my work responsibilities - in both the mountains and canyon country - and they have proved extremely useful, if frustrating. Getting a signal can be challenging and talk time is short (as satellites whizz by above) possibly to the point of miscommunication: (&quot;Hi honey - I'm .....&quot; &quot;Oh my! what's wrong? Did she break her leg? Why was she cut off?!? Panic!&quot;)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, having a sat phone saved at least one life I was responsible for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T01:41:16.233" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T01:41:16.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="571" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="583" CreationDate="2012-01-27T02:01:30.863" Score="21" ViewCount="1168" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming the cat-hole is the preferred protocol for waste disposal in the area you are backpacking, what should you do when the soil is buried below A LOT of snow, and/or frozen? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:30:04.920" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T03:51:19.587" Title="How do you properly dispose of human waste while snow camping?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="571" CreationDate="2012-01-27T03:02:09.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would dig a deep hole in the snow - and then cover it up again, because when the snow melts, the waste will &lt;em&gt;decompose&lt;/em&gt; fairly quickly with warm temps and water, it'll break up and disperse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is practical, find some dead branches, leaves, or even rocks, and cover it up and then put snow back on top of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T03:02:09.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="571" CreationDate="2012-01-27T05:05:10.353" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is really two different answers, one if you are dealing with glacial ice, and one for seasonal snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For seasonal snow and for solids, your best bet is to bring biodegradable bags, pack your waste in as deep a hole as you can manage, and you should be fine. By deep, I mean a few feet at least, or better yet, a deep natural crevasse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For liquids, pick a designated area to dispose of your waste properly, trying to minimize the space.  Try to pick an area that someone isn't likely to try and make water from the snow, especially if in a popular back country area... Bushes, trees, etc should be fine if you can manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For glacial areas, use the same guidelines as above, but in general, you might consider packing it out. Denali in particular, and many other mountains, require packing out solid human waste, and liquid waste in many areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T05:05:10.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2012-01-27T05:23:15.520" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a bit but I would recommend twice as much water as you would need in a cooler time of the year for a similar hike. Perhaps 3 times as much if it is particularly hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As best as possible, don't travel in the heat of the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T05:23:15.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="628" CreationDate="2012-01-27T06:40:27.707" Score="17" ViewCount="731" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quite commonly, due to the barrage of newness the body experiences on an outdoor outing (new sensations, new exercise habits, new diet, etc) the body can stop the system up while it tries to figure out what is going on. We regularly warn participants that this is an expected and natural response, and some departure from &quot;normal&quot; habits is to be expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, at a certain point, chronic constipation can lead to greater complications (fecal impaction, gross discomfort, diminishing quality of experience).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an excepted standard on how long is &quot;too long&quot; to be stopped up before we should start aggressively treating or considering evacuation (of the person if not the bowels)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T04:58:56.030" Title="How long is too long to suffer from constipation in the back country?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="576" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="599" CreationDate="2012-01-27T07:28:42.967" Score="14" ViewCount="768" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every year or so I'll end up with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_fasciitis&quot;&gt;plantar fasciitis&lt;/a&gt; after periods of time where I've walked a lot. In general my walking shoes are fine and have arch support but occasionally I'll need to use sturdier boots or sometimes walking sandals with no support. It's usually not long after that that the pain starts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What methods or items of equipment are there to prevent this? Are there good quality shoes/boots/sandals with arch support? Does anyone have experience of extended walks with inserts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="100" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T13:19:10.907" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T12:43:19.380" Title="How can I prevent plantar fasciitis?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="577" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-27T07:56:27.983" Score="10" ViewCount="648" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is especially problematic if you dress up in layers, the last one being, for example, a raincoat. Putting a burn hole through your rain coat let's the rain in...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there some tricks in fire-making that reduce this risk? Any other tricks to protect what you're wearing (be it a raincoat or one of those down coats; you don't want your precious down falling out)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:28:42.100" Title="How can I avoid putting cinder burn holes in my clothing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="444" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:05:08.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before leaving, make sure you know about white-water swimming techniques (float on your back with your feet at the surface pointing downstream).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you fall in, make sure you aren't tangled up in anything. Your biggest danger is getting something caught in the river bed (like loose rope catching between rocks) and being pushed down by the current. Where to aim for will depend on the situation, but in general, you want to stay close to, but upstream of the raft so you can't get &quot;squashed&quot; between the raft and any obstacle in the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good thing to remember is keeping your paddle in your hands. Don't drop it as you fall in. First, you don't want to lose it, do you? But mostly, it can help you swim, and you can use it to push off rocks and direct yourself into a clearer part of the stream. You can also use it for extra stability while walking in waist-high flowing water, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="131" LastEditDate="2019-09-11T18:52:48.523" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T18:52:48.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:11:31.397" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use a net to catch fish like you would do in an aquarium. Fastening a net at a strategic place in a rapid can, in theory, act as a fish trap, but I've never tried it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T08:11:31.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:17:58.813" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some places, you could be better off to walk during the night to fight the cold and rest during the day when it's warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works best where the temperature difference between day and night is big, like the desert for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T22:25:15.563" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T22:25:15.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="81" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:30:29.963" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When cold temperature is an issue, your fire may be harder to start, but the biggest reason will likely be yourself. Your cold hands and waning patience are more likely to make your fire harder to start than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fingerless gloves are good to keep your hands warm while allowing fine manipulation of twigs and leaves, and the lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also shelter yourself from the wind to keep yourself more comfortable as you try to start the fire. Or make yourself a hot beverage (yes, with a stove).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, teamwork. Take turns running around in the woods collecting fire wood (heating yourself up) and working on the fire (freezing your hands off).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="131" LastEditDate="2017-04-18T02:27:34.073" LastActivityDate="2017-04-18T02:27:34.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:33:28.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe ice can help. It's a local anesthetic, reduces swelling, and closes the pores, keeping the poison out. Of course, it can be hard to find ice..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T08:33:28.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="571" CreationDate="2012-01-27T08:54:44.297" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the depth of snow and/or the ground being frozen prevents you from burying solid waste below ground level by at least six inches, then, in the spirit of leave no trace, you should carry it out. Use a biodegradable (e.g. cornstarch-based) bag to pick it up and then pack it in a sealed plastic container. For obvious reasons the container should only be used for that purpose and disinfected when you return home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burying solid waste in seasonal snow is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; sufficient. Whilst in the snow, the cold will slow biodegradation and during a melt the result will be as if you had never buried it at all. In larger or permanent snowfields I've seen the advice of disposing of solid waste at least 200 metres from camps and trails, but, I'd still prefer carrying it out to leave no trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the advice from local conservation bodies will vary by region depending on the local ecology etc., I'd treat this as the &lt;em&gt;minimum&lt;/em&gt; acceptable way of dealing with waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T09:05:24.420" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T09:05:24.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="577" CreationDate="2012-01-27T10:48:26.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I make a wood fire I usually lay aside my water proof layer. Getting small holes in your insulation layers doesn't really affect the thermal efficiency of the fabric. If the hole is big enough that the filling falls out you can still patch it, which again does not affect the insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T10:48:26.973" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="577" CreationDate="2012-01-27T11:26:21.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like Thomas Rawyler said, one should lay aside his waterproof layer or anything similar that a cinder can burn through when he is working with fire.  &lt;strong&gt;One doesn't need a waterproof layer when he has a fire, since he is being kept warm by the fire.&lt;/strong&gt;  Or in most cases anyways.  If it is raining or you really need it, then the fire is not doing it's job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would suggest keeping it aside and out of reach of the cinders.  On  a related note, &lt;em&gt;keep your tent out of reach of the fire as well,&lt;/em&gt; since most tent fabrics can be burnt by cinder holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T11:26:21.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="577" CreationDate="2012-01-27T14:13:08.247" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few rather obvious tips to reduce embers and sparks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A smaller fire may still keep you warm with a reflector behind it (logs, rocks, etc).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid materials that are very likely to fly away, such as leaves, shredded bark, pine cones, edges of logs, paper, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Logs burnt down to coals don't produce as many sparks as a roaring fire, and you can easily ignite one or two logs in the center of the hot bed without as tall of a fire structure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T14:13:08.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="411" CreationDate="2012-01-27T14:53:45.413" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;know if you will be going through marshy areas.  If you are hiking in the Everglades, pack more socks than if you will be hiking through the Sahara.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have to cross a river, try to not cross in your boots.  There is a favorite trail in my area, and it ends with crossing a waist-deep river.  I'll drop pack, change into my trail-sandals, stuff the socks into my boots and tie them onto my pack.  After that crossing, I typically don't change back as the car is less than 1/4 mile away, but otherwise I would change back to boots on the other side of the river.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In wet areas (lots of stream crossings, or squishy trails), every rest stop starts with taking off the boots, removing the insoles and taking off socks.  Everything goes into the sun, while I'm resting in the shady.  If my feet are still wet towards the end of the break, I'll wipe down my feet with a bandana before getting put back together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In general conditions, I'll 2 pairs of liners, 2 pairs of outer socks, and will alternate between days.  However, if there will be a day 7 of walking, I'll bring an extra pair of liners and outer socks which will then enter the rotation somewhere around day 5.  Hang yesterday/tomorrow's socks on the outside of your pack to help them dry.  You could easily skip the extra liners since they tend to dry as quickly as you can pull them out of wash-water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if all else fails, you could take a day with short miles and hike in your &quot;in camp&quot; shoes which should be dry and will help your boots/socks dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T14:53:45.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="411" CreationDate="2012-01-27T15:27:58.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Overboots are a solution I don't see above.  Some fabric based ones take up less space in the pack than an extra set of boots, and they can be taken off relatively easily when the rain abates or when you have cleared a marshy area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In warm weather on reasonable trails, Vibram Fivefinger shoes are quite comfortable even when wet, because when sized properly they have no opportunity to slide against your skin.  They are small, light, and pack quite easily or can be clipped to your bag or belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T15:27:58.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="695" CreationDate="2012-01-27T15:29:18.163" Score="24" ViewCount="939" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have, unfortunately, not had the opportunity to go climbing (and thus use my climbing equipment) for a couple years. I know that such equipment, especially the rope and webbing, can degrade over time.  So how can I check my equipment to tell which pieces are still OK to use and which need to be replaced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T07:02:39.533" Title="How should I check climbing equipment to tell whether it is still safe to use?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="593" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="925" CreationDate="2012-01-27T15:43:22.570" Score="18" ViewCount="5503" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to purchase a tarp as some point, both to put up over a small camp at some point, and to use over a hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I've camped with my uncle he's used a folded over builders tarp, which has worked so far but I have seen other that have leaked, either 'out of the box' or due to fire damage (hot sparks from a fire causing tiny holes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the characteristics to look out for in a quality tarp, and how can I spot them before I buy them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="130" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:32.383" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:14:32.383" Title="What to look for in a quality tarp?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="594" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="601" CreationDate="2012-01-27T16:18:15.400" Score="7" ViewCount="1908" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should you be putting into your pack when you head up to a tree stand, beyond your gun or bow and ammo, to hunt whitetail deer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:52:10.853" Title="What to bring into a tree stand?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-01-27T16:24:45.840" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a pure theory, if you're asking about permission... you have to understand that the rules and laws are set up for people that park 3 cars, make 5 big tents, lot of noise and leave a lot of rubish. Practically, when you are a good outdoor person, quiet and never leaving any rubish behind you, and you need just sleep for one night somewhere with just a sleeping bag or maybe small tent when it rains / it's cold, then I think this is not a real &quot;camping&quot; and it's not a problem almost anywhere. I'm normally doing this without any problems even in countries like Austria (once we slept under the sign &quot;Kampieren verboten&quot; which translates to &quot;Camping prohibited&quot; in english :-))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, just don't provoke the land owners too much, build your tent somewhere hidden and after it gets dark, and leave the place soon in the morning. The less people know about you, the better, also for your safety. Sometimes the land owners notice you and are very friendly, especially in countries like Spain and even in Austria :) I didn't have any problems after years of this practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't sleep this way in big cities, it's dangerous. You may get robbed. The more abandoned / outdoor site it is, the safer for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-14T10:20:32.370" LastActivityDate="2014-10-14T10:20:32.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="597" CreationDate="2012-01-27T16:45:02.983" Score="28" ViewCount="5013" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gotten shin splints on long hikes - once 2 weeks into a hike, and another time 2 &lt;strong&gt;months&lt;/strong&gt;.  I wasn't able to determine how I got them though, which has really annoyed me!  I get that I could probably prevent them with proper stretching or warming up or something, but I'd be just as happy to understand why I would get them well into a trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the first hike, it was after a really hot day (40C+) but nothing was special about the trail, just pretty easy walking.  My pack was fairly heavy for me, due to lots of water, maybe 35lbs.  I hiked 30km that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the second hike, I got them the day after a very, very rainy day.  On the rainy day I had a quite light pack at ~18lbs, hiked maybe 40km.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what other details might be relevant.  I would say in both cases I was in reasonably good shape, certainly well past the breaking in period of a long hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:26:47.933" Title="Why do shin splints happen?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="596" CreationDate="2012-01-27T17:00:33.743" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shin splints (tibial stress syndrome) can be cause by tendons, muscles, or stress fractures. It's an &quot;overuse&quot; injury, with multiple causes, so there's not a single treatment. Some things that might help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Step softly. If you pound your feet when you hike, it can aggravate shin splints.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ease up on running a week or two before hiking. Running causes shin splints more than hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have flat feet or overpronation, you might try arch supports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ibuprofen (or other &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsaid&quot;&gt;NSAID&lt;/a&gt;) and ice can help the symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep your legs warm when you hike. Neoprene calf sleeves can help with this, and the compression may help too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Running on hard surfaces (concrete, asphalt) and uneven surfaces can contribute to shin splints. A rubberized track is the best option for running. Since there are not many rubberized hiking trails, good padded soles can help for that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T08:26:47.933" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:26:47.933" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="576" CreationDate="2012-01-27T17:26:04.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there was a magic solution to preventing plantar fasciitis, then no one would have it anymore! Different things work for different people. It's important to find out what works for you. This can be done with experimentation or the help of a specialist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I would caution against is just throwing more padding at it! There is something wrong with your stride and the padding may hide it for while, but it will eventually come back. I say pay particular attention to how you're walking while wearing your walking shoes that do not give you any problems. Then walk around in your sandals or your boots. Pay attention to how your feet land in the different footwear, and how you transition to your next stride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find the stride that works best for you and practice it. I know it's strange to have to think about walking again, it's supposed to be something we just do, but I find it helps me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm hiking with my thin soled trail running shoes, I have a tendency to step and land on the front of my foot and I take quicker, smaller steps. While in heavy boots, I'm definitely a heel striker with longer strides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:26:04.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="577" CreationDate="2012-01-27T17:28:42.100" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Know your woods.  In addition to materials that fly away, which are obvious no-no's for safety reasons, the other source of burning cinders is wood that pops, throwing embers at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a very broad generalization, wood from evergreens tends to spit and pop quite a bit more than hardwoods.  If you've got any choice at all in the matter, use evergreens to get your fire started, as they tend to catch pretty easily, but switch to hardwoods for fuel after that.  Hardwoods will burn hotter, more evenly, and with less popping and sparking than pines, cedars, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="44" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:28:42.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="594" CreationDate="2012-01-27T17:52:10.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're making a big safety mistake by putting your gun in your pack when you climb into a tree stand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, it is safer to haul up all of your gear, including your pack, and your gun &lt;strong&gt;unloaded with the action open&lt;/strong&gt; by a rope, rather than have it on your back where it could a) go off or b) hurt you when you fall.  You could also damage the gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for other things to bring, the list is subjective:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hot thermos of coffee/other hot drink - you're gonna be sitting in one position for a while - as well as food with lots of carbohydrates and calories in it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Binoculars to scan the ground below and the surrounding territory.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on your game, a turkey call or some other animal call relevant to the game you're hunting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plenty of warm gear, including hat(s), gloves, a number of layers, and warm boots, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;The rest is up to you.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can bring more items, and leave them at the bottom of the tree stand, say in your pack, and use the rope to bring up &lt;em&gt;just what you need&lt;/em&gt;.  You can always go back down to get something - as it can get awkward sometimes having a lot of equipment in the stand with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T17:52:10.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="603" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="863" CreationDate="2012-01-27T18:13:06.567" Score="41" ViewCount="21394" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;Another question&lt;/a&gt; asked what survival equipment should be carried in an emergency kit. But very little was about medical or first aid supplies (band-aids, gauze, tylenol, moleskin, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What items would you consider essential to bring in a small first aid kit for injuries or health concerns that could come up during outdoor activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T20:18:50.783" Title="What essential items should go in a small first aid kit?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="604" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="797" CreationDate="2012-01-27T18:19:22.937" Score="4" ViewCount="1270" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is fairly easy to pack a blanket or a small sleeping bag in a haversack, but in cold weather, one would sometimes like to have a warmer bag.  A mummy type sleeping bag usually does not roll up easily, and it is somewhat hard to pack it.  Does anybody know a good way how to pack such a sleeping bag in M10 or M28?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T08:10:48.410" Title="How do I pack a mummy type sleeping bag in a M10 or M28 haversack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2012-01-27T18:28:03.843" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bring a wilderness first aid guide! Even if you have training, it could save your life if you're the one injured and someone else is trying to take care of you with your own kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a list of things I would have in pretty much any hiking first aid kit. There are other items worth considering for kits, but I consider these to be the minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wound Care&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assortment of bandages &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gauze roll&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roll of adhesive tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duct Tape!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small scissors &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tweezers &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety pins &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moleskin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Superglue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reusable elastic or rubber wrap (ace bandage)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some sort of coagulant. (Celox, QuikClot, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Latex gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Medicinal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Iodine (also useful for treating water) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antibiotic ointment  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aspirin and or Ibuprofen (fever &amp;amp; swelling) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydro-cortisone cream (bug bites &amp;amp; rashes) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antihistamine  (allergies)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I would also include an emergency blanket in the first aid kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have more room or don't mind the weight a few other items worth considering are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulb syringe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;CPR face shield&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Israeli emergency bandage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="88" LastEditDate="2012-01-27T20:22:50.593" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:22:50.593" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2012-01-27T18:46:23.017" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on precisely how big the kit is.  A couple other answers have covered bigger packs, so I'll mention what could be in a much thinner pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it needs to be flat and relatively small:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bandages.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol wipes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gauze pads.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A flat pad of athletic tape*. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One or a couple small packs of Benadryl&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antibiotic ointment (the small, flat packs of stuff like Neosporin).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One or a couple small packs of Aspirin or Ibuprofen and/or Tylenol**. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A mouth barrier for CPR (try to find a flat one, obviously).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some fishing line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A couple pads of moleskin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*: To make it flat, take a bit, stretch it out a couple inches, fold it over on itself, and wrap it around itself until it's about as thick as you want it. My friend and I use these and mini-rolls made essentially the same way for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin&quot;&gt;Aspirin&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibuprofen&quot;&gt;ibuprofen&lt;/a&gt; reduce fever and inflammation; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol&quot;&gt;Tylenol&lt;/a&gt; reduces fever but not inflammation.  As a commenter pointed out, it may be beneficial to have both.  Aspirin and Ibuprofen are also mild anticoagulants (prevent blood from clotting), so if you already take blood thinners or have less-than-minor cuts, you should take Tylenol instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T02:12:36.830" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T02:12:36.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="614" CreationDate="2012-01-27T19:52:36.653" Score="8" ViewCount="835" Body="&lt;p&gt;When using trekking poles with a twist-and-lock locking mechanism, I've experienced slipping (the poles will slightly collapse during use, making you frequently extend and re-lock it). Is there something maintenance-wise that helps avoid this, or is it simply a sign of poorly-made poles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:30:45.707" Title="How can you prevent trekking pole locking mechanisms from slipping?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3937" CreationDate="2012-01-27T19:58:06.840" Score="13" ViewCount="8269" Body="&lt;p&gt;When downhill skiing (although I assume this would apply to cross-country skiing or snowboarding as well), when should a gouge caused by a rock or other obstacle be considered large or serious enough to take the skis in for base repair, and when can it be ignored?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T00:12:27.837" Title="When should you repair rock gouges in skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-repair&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:05:40.517" Score="34" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Humidity&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping clothing dry in normal weather can be challenging, but high humidity or precipitation regions can make this even more difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's because humidity is really a &quot;&lt;strong&gt;relative&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; measure and means the amount of water vapor that the air can hold at a given temperature before condensation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The condensation can occur in the sky as rain, near the ground as fog, or in your tent as water droplets clinging to the inside. The water can also cling to your clothes, if they hang inside your tent when the relative humidity approaches the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point&quot;&gt;dew point&lt;/a&gt;&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Dew Point&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;dew point&lt;/strong&gt; is the temperature to which a given parcel of humid air must be cooled, at constant barometric pressure, for water vapor to condense into liquid water. The condensed water is called dew when it forms on a solid surface. The dew point is a saturation temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is important because if you try to dry your clothes in the open air and the temp and humidity are near the dew point your clothes will not dry, if fact they may become more wet!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people have seen this when they get up to hike early and there is water clinging to tall grass along the trail even though there was &lt;strong&gt;no rain&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So then how do I dry my clothes?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The nice thing about dew point is that it's totally dependent on the temperature of the air. As the air temp goes up, so does the amount of water it can hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to increase the air temperature is to use your body, it is a constant 98-99 degrees and you always have it with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So I am a human clothes line?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not exactly. Most likely on a long trip you brought a sleeping bag and in that sleeping bag at some point be your body. The air in the sleeping bag will be higher than the ambient temperature, and overnight your clothes will dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Below are the basic instructions for a sleeping bag clothes dryer.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start by using a relatively dry sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a light set of polyester or other synthetic fabric base layer, which should be &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; lightweight.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These will wick the moisture and sweat away from your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get into your sleeping bag and lay your clothing (wrung dry) on top of your legs and torso.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie socks together and place around your neck&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zip up the sleeping bag and try to fall asleep. Through the night, reposition the clothes on your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After the clothes are dry, place them at your feet.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They will dry quite fast, usually within 3-4 hours. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add another layer of moist clothes if you have them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat steps 3-5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Suggestions for keeping clothes dry.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a lightweight water proof bag to put your dry clothes in during travel.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are waterproof breathable bags which pack down tight and work great for this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a sunny dry day, hike with the clothes tied to your backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have lots of people in the tent with you (2-3) try making a drying line inside the tent.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember to provide for &lt;strong&gt;plenty&lt;/strong&gt; of ventilation by opening the rain fly slightly to allow for air flow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the temp is lower (50 Deg F) but the humidity high, place clothes around your neck or torso while hiking. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can partially, or fully dry this way throughout the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Other suggestions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots are hard to dry when wet.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people put mini synthetic towels in them to absorb some water, then pop them in the sleeping bag over night too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open the zipper by your feet (if you have one), to allow for the moist warm air to escape.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This also keeps your sleeping bag dryer, and warmer as a result.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also put the clothes on top of the sleeping bag, but my experience has shown this to be less effective.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There will likely be some condensation on your sleeping bag in the morning. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure to dry this off with a towel before it gets into the loft when you repack the bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extra reading on the subject...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=28004&quot;&gt;Backpacking Light Forum - Drying clothes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck to you out there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="116" LastEditDate="2012-08-05T22:51:58.897" LastActivityDate="2012-08-05T22:51:58.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="612" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:21:26.477" Score="7" ViewCount="1308" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, I just went hiking, testing out a pretty new pair of shoes. The test trail was about 6 miles round trip. I started to notice on the way back that the back of my heel was a bit uncomfortable, like it had been rubbing for a while. Is there anything I can do short of getting a new pair of shoes to help with this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:41:55.250" Title="Pain in the heel after a hike" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="609" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:26:27.000" Score="7" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the inside of your poles clean.  If they get soaked or sandy or muddy, clean them out after your trip and let them air dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean the actual lock mechanism occasionally.  Depending on the pole type, there may be a rubber cylinder that does the locking, clean it, and consider lightly abrading it with sand paper (not enough to remove any material, just make it rough!). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy replacement locking mechanisms - these are pretty cheap, often $10 or less for everything needed.  Makes a big difference!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:26:27.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="609" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:30:45.707" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does not necessarily reflect poorly made poles. If you have used the poles for a while without problems and you're just recently having problems, they likely need to be cleaned. &#xA;I would start by checking to see if your poles have maintenance instructions specific to your model. You should always follow the manufacturers advice if possible. If they do not have cleaning instructions, than it's still fairly easy to clean most twist style locks on hiking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cleaning the poles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start by pulling the poles apart. At the end of each section, there is a screw with a cap on it.  This cap expands as the screw tightens into it causing it to put pressure on the walls of the outside tube preventing it from moving. Clean off the cap if it is dirty, and while you're at it, remove the cap and clean and lubricate the screw as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the screw and cap are clean, use a brush of the correct diameter to clean inside the poles themselves. Make sure there the cap is gripping a clean surface and not just slipping on gunk built up inside the poles. Re-assemble the poles and see if they now support weight when locked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:30:45.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="612" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:33:28.080" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the type of pain, this may be &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/576/how-can-i-prevent-plantar-fasciitis&quot;&gt;plantar fasciitis&lt;/a&gt;. If it's more of a burning, that developed slowly and started to get worse while hiking, it may be a hot spot which you should take care of as it can &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1/how-do-i-treat-hot-spots-and-blisters-when-i-have-no-moleskin&quot;&gt;cause blisters&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="27" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:33:28.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="612" CreationDate="2012-01-27T20:44:34.263" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you describe sounds like the early symptoms of blisters, a few things you could try are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are your shoes laced too tightly? If they are too tight over the instep, movement in your foot as you walk will increase friction at the heal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are your shoes laced too loosely? They should be tight enough so your feet do not slip up and cause friction as you walk (but not too tight per point 1).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear two pairs of socks. A light pair of inner socks may alleviate the problem so the friction occurs between the layers of socks rather than on your skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid cotton socks. Cotton tends to stay damp once it is wet (either due to the weather or persperation) and wet socks will exacerbate any friction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear good quality socks designed for hiking. They will be made from material that dries easily and wicks away moisture. They should also be designed to minimise friction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T20:44:34.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="618" CreationDate="2012-01-27T22:10:25.397" Score="19" ViewCount="3987" Body="&lt;p&gt;When abseiling from an anchor during rock climbing, I like to use a backup prusik as a potential lifesaver in case I screw up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have heard different advice on where to put it, both for where to attach it to myself and where to attach it to the rope:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clip it to the belay loop or the leg loop or to a loop of my personal anchor system (PAS)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie it &quot;uphill&quot; from the belay device or &quot;downhill&quot;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2014-04-29T04:56:23.123" Title="Backup prusik for Abseiling: Where does it go?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="617" CreationDate="2012-01-27T22:44:12.937" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option is to attach a Prusik above the descender but below your guide hand then clipped to your harness. Your guide hand pushes the Prusik down as you descend.The disadvantages of this method are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it can be difficult to release after it was been weighted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;in the event of a slip the natural instinct is to grab the rope and so continue to push the Prusik and prevent it from working.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Better therefore, a Prusik can be attached below the descender and clipped to your harness leg loop. Care must be taken to ensure the Prusik can &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; enter the descender, potentially causing either to fail. You brake hand goes above the Prusik and pushes it down as you descend. The advantages are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in the event of a slip the force of breaking is taken by the descender not the Prusik&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your brake hand does everything so your guide hand can be kept free&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-04-14T22:23:06.323" LastActivityDate="2014-04-14T22:23:06.323" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="619" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="639" CreationDate="2012-01-27T22:46:27.380" Score="15" ViewCount="4455" Body="&lt;p&gt;During certain times of the year, some of the hiking trails near where I live wind through herds of elk standing on or near the trails. What precautions should you take when hiking among elk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:05:10.357" LastActivityDate="2020-05-20T19:41:32.043" Title="What precautions should I take when hiking among herds of elk?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="620" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-01-27T23:05:56.423" Score="23" ViewCount="3056" Body="&lt;p&gt;What potential dangers / precautions one should take into account when sleeping outside in sub-Saharan Africa? (Let alone countries with unstable political situations.) Just with a sleeping bag, maybe with a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about animals? Is it dangerous outside natural parks, or are they so rare that it's not a problem in normal country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please leave note if your answer is based on your personal experience with wild camping in Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T10:43:12.487" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T22:21:34.603" Title="Wild camping in subsaharan Africa - madness, blasphemy, or bearable?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;africa&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="610" CreationDate="2012-01-27T23:38:12.080" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is deep and near the edge where it can cause the metal edge to bend under use, it should be fixed.  Other than that, skis (and snow boards) can handle a lot of gouging. The main problem is that it slows down the skis a little, and might affect turning if it's pretty bad. Luckily, gouges are reasonably cheap and quick to have fixed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-27T23:38:12.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="652" CreationDate="2012-01-28T00:00:51.113" Score="11" ViewCount="597" Body="&lt;p&gt;When in coastal areas, where can I get times of high tide / low tide? I know that Garmin GPS can do it, but without it? What is the simplest way to determine in the wilderness? Which factors does it depend on, besides the phase of the moon? Can I estimate it somehow in the night just by looking where the moon is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might get particularly useful e.g. when:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wild camping on coastal areas,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Planning crossing of the coastal river estuaries (with backpacks) - already practiced this,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Entering brackish waters / mangroves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T23:36:51.750" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T23:36:51.750" Title="Time of high / low tide" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;tides&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="623" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="627" CreationDate="2012-01-28T00:17:40.600" Score="23" ViewCount="1371" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/250/141&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; has inspired me to a question: say you are a castaway on a desert island. There might be a plane flying casualy but you can miss it. So you want to create some pattern (e.g. put some branches in the sand near the beach) which will signalize S.O.S. to the pilot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any simple, international, emergency patterns for this purpose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T18:02:30.117" Title="What pattern for casual planes should a castaway create on a desert island?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="623" CreationDate="2012-01-28T00:26:05.920" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The international distress signal is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://practical-survival-skills.blogspot.com/2011/07/distress-signals-part-3.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;triangle of fires&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h0LDO.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="190" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T15:13:44.560" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T15:13:44.560" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="622" CreationDate="2012-01-28T00:32:26.697" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'd be much better off doing the research before you head into the areas - print off tide tables for where you are heading to and for the period you'll be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tide tables should be available on your local meteorological service's website - and should include things like average range of the tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual range between low and high tide is dependent on a few things, including the time of the month (greater range around full/new moons) and also the lay of the land (constrictions - like gullies in cliff faces - can experience greater tidal ranges).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T00:32:26.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="622" CreationDate="2012-01-28T01:51:59.087" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The math is absurdly complicated. There is no way you are going to be able to estimate the tides without substantial geographical and astronomical information. The brackish areas can be especially hard to predict, because their geometry can cause them to have  more complicated cycles than the common twice daily cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide#Bathymetry&quot;&gt;Wiki Article&lt;/a&gt; on Tides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The shape of the shoreline and the ocean floor changes the way that tides propagate, so there is no simple, general rule that predicts the time of high water from the moon's position in the sky. Coastal characteristics such as underwater bathymetry and coastline shape mean that individual location characteristics affect tide forecasting; actual high water time and height may differ from model predictions due to the coastal morphology's effects on tidal flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it does also say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, for a given location the relationship between lunar altitude and the time of high or low tide (the lunitidal interval) is relatively constant and predictable...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you pretty much need to get the data from the local Meteorological and oceanographic authorities what that relation is if you are to have any chance of predicting the tides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T01:51:59.087" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="623" CreationDate="2012-01-28T04:36:58.893" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trick is, high contrast, right angles, and unnatural colors. A ratio of 6:1 for the lines. Letter X or V are best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you find two 6 foot long, one foot wide branches, place them in an X. Scale as you can to get it as large as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.com/dp/1449641237/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=httpwwwpearso-20&amp;amp;camp=0&amp;amp;creative=0&amp;amp;linkCode=as4&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1449641237&amp;amp;adid=0NS9NNRCM9148BVYSMZN&amp;amp;&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness First Aid Field Guide&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="88" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T13:57:40.237" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T13:57:40.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="575" CreationDate="2012-01-28T04:58:56.030" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;After leading a number of trips in the backcountry I've had some experience with greenhorns experiencing this unfortunate reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Everyone's Body is different&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some people will need pass a BM every morning, for others every other day is normal.&lt;/strong&gt; As a trip leader with young kids I make sure to monitor and ask about results from each of the participants. It's my position that if the subject is taboo, then those who already are having a problem will be even more embarrassed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the other members of the group to help monitor if someone has gone days, or is uncomfortable can at times be a good resource as well. You don't need to ask them to spy, usually making a general conversation about the subject is enough to elicit a response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Where to draw the line&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will allow participants to go a couple days without a productive BM, &lt;strong&gt;but on the third day&lt;/strong&gt; I start becoming more concerned. This is usually the point that I take action by speaking to the person directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the problem is not one of motivation (ie. participant wants to go but cannot) then generally the problem is dehydration. Proper hydration throughout the day, until urine runs clear usually solves the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not and problems persist for &lt;strong&gt;4-5 days&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Laxatives can be provided.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stool softeners can be provided&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ultimately, the participant may need to be brought to the doctor to treat &lt;strong&gt;impaction&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Motivational Issues&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the problem is not with dehydration or diet, then it likely rests with the participant not wanting to feel exposed, or not feeling comfortable with the surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These can sometimes be the hardest to deal with, and will require one-on-one discussion with the participant about their concerns, fears, and ultimately how to resolve the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't start off with the scared strait approach.&lt;/strong&gt; If you start right into the...&amp;quot;here are all the things that could happen if you don't poop!&amp;quot; speech, you are likely to make them more anxious and more likely to get bottled up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck out there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T04:58:56.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="643" CreationDate="2012-01-28T05:52:52.883" Score="18" ViewCount="1905" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of options for trying to prevent mosquito bites (DEET on skin, permethrin on clothing, mosquito nets while sleeping, etc.), but what about after you get bitten? What is the most effective way to stop or reduce the itching from mosquito (or other insect) bites?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T08:21:44.757" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T14:45:52.667" Title="What are some effective ways of reducing itching from a mosquito bite?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="630" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="640" CreationDate="2012-01-28T05:57:18.807" Score="19" ViewCount="15727" Body="&lt;p&gt;When using a CamelBak (or other hydration bladder system), it is easy for mold to grow if the bladder is left sitting with water in it. What is the best way to avoid mold (or other nasties) growing inside in between trips?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:28:24.190" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T19:08:31.070" Title="How do you prevent mold in CamelBak hydration bladders?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2012-01-28T06:21:59.400" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that anything above 4000 metres you can drink due to there being a low chance that anything living will affect the water i.e. animal faeces and bacteria etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="147" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T06:21:59.400" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2012-01-28T06:39:48.610" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leave the filler cap open to allow any water residue inside to evaporate and so the humidity level of the air inside the bladder matches that of the air in the environment around it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="148" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T06:39:48.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="559" CreationDate="2012-01-28T06:42:35.283" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0879838213&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America: Nature's Green Feast&lt;/a&gt; would be a good start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Book description from Amazon.com:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From mushrooms to ferns, to trees and shrubs, nature offers a slew of healthy and tasty menu alternatives. We no longer have to limit ourselves to the 50 to 60 fruits and vegetables commonly grown in North America but can now learn and begin to enjoy more than 4,000 wild and delicious foods growing in our own back yards!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Noted ethnobotanist Dr. Francois Couplan has been teaching the uses of various fruits, nuts, and grains world wide since 1975 and has published more than 13 books about plants in both French and German. He has worked with world-renowned chefs including Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York, to bring wild plants to gourmet menus and has been cooking with hundreds of different plants for the past thirty years. This title is not only a guide to intriguing and palatable edible plants based on the author's personal experiences but a unique pathway to appreciating nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MUL2e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0879838213&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T20:18:21.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2012-01-28T06:47:01.533" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine got severely bitten while we were traveling through Central America together. After trying a number of more conventional treatments without success we picked up &lt;a href=&quot;http://belizehemp.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Itch-A-Way&lt;/a&gt; while in Belize and she said it worked wonders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="148" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T06:47:01.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="635" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="636" CreationDate="2012-01-28T07:35:08.577" Score="4" ViewCount="2569" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/629/what-are-some-effective-ways-of-reducing-itching-from-a-mosquito-bite&quot;&gt;What are some effective ways of reducing itching from a mosquito bite?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have suggestions on how to reduce or prevent mosquito bites from swelling or becoming inflamed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically when myself or my son gets a bite in most cases it will swell to the size of a silver dollar.  Aside from normal prevention techniques any tips on treatment or ways of reducing/preventing the swelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it itches but is not painful&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the swelling does go down on it's own after time but can last quite a while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="150" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:18:50.907" Title="Is there a way to reduce mosquito bites from swelling" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2012-02-10T10:54:52.933" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="635" CreationDate="2012-01-28T08:03:40.630" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible your son is &lt;a href=&quot;http://allergies.about.com/od/insectallergies/a/mosquitoallergy.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;allergic to mosquitos&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some natural solutions to itching &amp;amp; swelling include rubbing the area with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;apple vinegar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lemon juice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eucalyptus oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vicks vapor rub&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;raw garlic  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;raw honey reduces pain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vinegar mixed with olive oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also rub 1 tablespoon of lavender oil with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and rub it directly on the bite, this helps with reducing the swelling.  Keep this mixture away from the eyes though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.toptipspot.com/tips/outdoors/howto/treat-insect-bites.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Natural Remedies for Insect Bites&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tendercorp.com/products.php?category=INSECT%20BITE%20TREATMENTS&amp;amp;cat=58&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AfterBite&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, it is a treatment for insect bites and stings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can apply it to bitten areas, provides relief from mosquito, ticks, fleas, horse flies, black flies, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Note: I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; affiliated with this product in any way, shape, or form.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T08:18:50.907" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:18:50.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2012-01-28T08:09:44.820" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://allergies.about.com/od/insectallergies/a/mosquitoallergy.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AfterBite&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, it is a treatment for insect bites and stings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can apply it to bitten areas, provides relief from mosquito, ticks, fleas, horse flies, black flies, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Note: I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; affiliated with this product in any way, shape, or form.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:09:44.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2012-01-28T08:34:21.840" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;leaving the cap open, letting it air dry, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;then sealing it up and &lt;em&gt;keeping it out of direct sunlight&lt;/em&gt; in a dark area (perhaps inside your pack).  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are ready to use it again, &lt;em&gt;rinse it a few times&lt;/em&gt; - run some water through the hose as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:34:21.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="619" CreationDate="2012-01-28T08:42:53.497" Score="12" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use common sense.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't make any sudden movements.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't run or jog, walk at a consistent and normal pace.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Give them their space, respect them from a distance. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get in between a cow elk and her calves - the cow elk and/or bull elk &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; find this threatening and may charge you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave your dog/pets at home.  Most dogs can't resist chasing elk and elk will feel threatened.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are being given threatening looks or are in an encounter with an elk:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;back away slowly - as if you turn back, you won't know if he/she is charging you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make yourself look as large as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if charged at, curl up in the fetal position, with your arms and hands protecting your head and neck.  A cow elk may give you a couple of thumps with her hooves and leave you be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T08:42:53.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2012-01-28T10:05:54.573" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;CamelBak have a great &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/customer-service/help-center/care-cleaning/product-cleaning/how-to-clean-reservoir&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; in the help section of their website. Summarising their recommendations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep it clean and dry when not in use. If mould develops:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use hot water and two tablespoons of baking soda or bleach&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave for about 30 minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash with hot water and mild soap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T19:08:31.070" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T19:08:31.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2012-01-28T10:47:16.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is why I like the pouches that have a zip-lock bottom as well as a cap on the top - it makes it a lot easier to clean the inside and leave it open to let it fully dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friend also swore by leaving the pouch in the freezer when not in use - this would obviously slow down mould growth considerably in between uses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T10:47:16.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2012-01-28T13:03:34.603" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I clean it out then leave it to dry for a day or two. But you can never seem to get all of the water out of the hose, so I keep mine in the freezer. At -18 the mold can't grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T13:03:34.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2012-01-28T13:04:58.020" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need an antihistamine cream, there are many different brands available, but you'll find them all similarly effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T13:04:58.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="644" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="650" CreationDate="2012-01-28T14:34:31.643" Score="15" ViewCount="5442" Body="&lt;p&gt;When navigating in the backcountry, you'll usually bring a topographic map that shows the terrain so you can tell if there will be steep slopes or cliffs that might make the route difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A sample topographic map is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gVaWx.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I read and understand the map? What do the lines and numbers mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T14:32:10.687" Title="How do I read a topographic map?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="645" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="651" CreationDate="2012-01-28T14:36:45.683" Score="100" ViewCount="41228" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in cold weather, some people say it is actually warmer to sleep naked than to sleep with clothes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that true, or is it better to leave warm clothes on while in the bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-27T13:35:15.790" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T23:11:33.240" Title="Is it warmer to sleep naked in a sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="646" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="649" CreationDate="2012-01-28T14:44:11.877" Score="19" ViewCount="1090" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when mountaineering, there may be an emergency situation which leaves you in bad weather with no or damaged shelter (such as returning from a summit attempt or after a wild and crazy storm). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow shelters can keep you insulated as well as protect you from wind. How would you go about building one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-24T07:17:52.100" LastActivityDate="2017-11-23T19:48:39.243" Title="How do you make a snow shelter?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-01-28T15:14:54.177" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m not sure where this came from, but I can assure you that on some nights people are glad to put on whatever extra layer of clothes they find in the backpack!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, according to my experience there is no paradox and more clothes equals warm night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-02T12:18:59.217" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T12:18:59.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-01-28T15:35:15.117" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two considerations: Layers should be loose and non-constricting so as to allow good circulation.  Too many layers can get tight.  Also, day clothes will be damp, even if you think they aren't.  Air them before bringing them into your bag if it is cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T15:35:15.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="646" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:03:36.453" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are few shelters that I think have good design. Although some of them are missing hole for cold air to drop in, they are still good for shelter from a storm as quick solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tk1MT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BU3Rh.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A7bUh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iFN2i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hd8qO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:03:36.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="644" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:12:32.463" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;A topographic map, as we see here, is made up of a number of lines.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Every point on a given line is at the same elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where the lines get closer the slope is steeper, and vice versa. But&#xA;that doesn't tell you directly which way the slope is going, so they&#xA;put numbers on the lines - the slope goes up towards the higher&#xA;numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;These numbers indicate the line's actual altitude, this can be height&#xA;above sea level or above a particular reference altitude, usually the&#xA;lowest or average point in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The map's legend should tell you what the reference and units are,&#xA;from the numbers here I'd guess it's feet above sea level (a mile up,&#xA;so perhaps somewhere in Colorado).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map shown in the question indicates what a number of features look like.  Hills and holes are concentric circles (look at the numbers to figure out which), and when you have lines getting very close or joining (even going under another, see the upper-left corner), that's a cliff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The path of steepest ascent (or descent) is directly perpendicular to the contour lines; the black lines seem to mostly be following one such path, especially the dashed branches. So if you like a challenge, walk across the lines, if you prefer to stay flat, walk along the lines, and for a gradual ascent, walk somewhere in-between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T13:53:28.557" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T13:53:28.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:12:49.920" Score="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;When talking about fresh, dry clothes then it's not true. More layers definitely equals warmer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in the comments if you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; go to extremes then more layers doesn't necessarily equal warmer, but to get to that point you have to really cram yourself in the bag so there's no insulating air between the layers. You could also make yourself so warm you sweat which would make your clothes damp and cool you down again, but if you just wear warm enough clothes to be comfortable, not sweltering (which is surely what you want anyway!) then you shouldn't have an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where this saying may come into effect (I've heard it branded around before as well) is when you wear clothes to bed that you've already been wearing so they may be damp, or clothes that are next to damp clothes in your rucksack (somewhat surprisingly regular for the more novice hikers!) and so on with similar situations. In those cases, it's probably best to sleep without than put on damp clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, in certain contrived / specialised / odd cases this may be true. But on all practical levels my experiences, and the experiences of those I know suggest that it's a myth with dry clothes and only comes into play with damp clothes, which most seasoned campers (and many other people too) know tend to easily cool you down anyway!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no paradox.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T01:44:54.477" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T01:44:54.477" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="622" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:29:10.663" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, the time from high to low tide or vice versa is a little over 6 hours. This varies by location, of course, but it will get you in the ballpark. 12 hours and 15 minutes from high tide to high tide is little more accurate, because some places the low tide is early or late relative to the high tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan ahead, you can look up the amount the water level changes with the tide in your area. (Make sure you check it for the days you'll be out -- this number changes over time.) Then you can compare that to the high tide line to estimate how far the water will go up or down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Njdc9.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sample Tide Chart&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T16:34:23.527" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:34:23.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="644" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:30:37.917" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;With these maps it's all about elevation - just remember a few main points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Each line represents a constant elevation (height) - so if you walk along that line you'll be walking flat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The numbers represent the elevation, the higher the number the higher you are. Usually it's in something like metres or feet above sea level, check the key/legend (UK/US!) which should tell you exactly what.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The closer together the lines, the steeper the terrain, the further they are apart, the shallower. If the lines are basically touching, it's going to pretty much be a sheer drop!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this you can pick out common structures on the map - concentric (ish) circular type lines often represent a hill, such as on the left of the given map. V or U shaped ridges represent an elevated ridge or valley (such as at the bottom of the map, a ridge in this case.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some maps such as this one are very helpful in their labelling of certain points, others not so much - but the same points apply regardless. Often you see these sorts of topographical features overlaid on normal maps too to represent elevation - it's very useful to be able to meaningfully read them so you can tell if your route is going to be steep, shallow or somewhere in between (and indeed plan a route as such!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:30:37.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="612" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:41:55.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As well as the other answers, I notice you said they were new shoes you were hiking in - it isn't uncommon for these to be more likely to rub and potentially cause blisters until they're properly broken in. Follow the other advice (especially about socks) with blisters because that can hugely help - but in addition to this you may also want to try wearing them for shorter hikes / walks, little and often, until they're broken in a bit more. You might be surprised at how much this can help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T16:41:55.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="661" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:52:18.437" Score="9" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out in the wilderness and I don't have a signal mirror, what other objects could I improvise to work similar to a signal mirror?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T08:53:38.830" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T08:53:38.830" Title="How to improvise a signal mirror?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;lost&gt;&lt;sos&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="656" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="659" CreationDate="2012-01-28T16:55:04.347" Score="11" ViewCount="7399" Body="&lt;p&gt;What rope would be most helpful/versatile in a survival situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T20:16:37.610" Title="What is the best rope to have in a survival situation?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-05-24T23:04:41.027" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="657" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="660" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:01:16.287" Score="38" ViewCount="3955" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm alone in a survival situation and I have to cross a very cold river that's still flowing, how should I accomplish this safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:09:28.727" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T04:11:58.063" Title="If I have to cross an icy, flowing river, what are some ways I can cross safely?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="622" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:02:44.213" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a (very) basic model that involves taking into account the position of the moon - the earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours and the moon rotates the earth in the same direction once every 28 days. The moon pulls on the sea creating a sort of bulge on the side of earth currently facing it, hence high tide - an equal bulge appears the other side and in the middle it's low tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference each day between the earth's rotation and the moon's is about 50 minutes, hence the tides are delayed by about this much from one day to the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, if there's a beach you can tell if the sea is going in or out by looking at how wet the beach is from the sea. If it's a gradual &quot;drying out&quot; then it's probably going out, if it's mainly dry with a sudden wet path near to the sea then it's probably coming in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using these two pieces of information you can wait a while, work out when high / low tide is, then estimate with the 50 minute distance rule what it'll be next. However, this will be a &lt;strong&gt;very rough&lt;/strong&gt; estimate and &lt;strong&gt;may even be totally wrong!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sun also has an effect on the tides, though a lesser effect - but this means when the moon and sun are aligned the pull is greater, generating a spring tide once every 2 weeks. The opposite happens in the same timeframe when they're at right angles, forming a neap tide.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The speed of waves varies dramatically depending the depth of the ocean and all sorts of other factors, influencing the tides in various places.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The shape of the continents also affect the waves as they stop / bounce / come under various interference patterns.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some places are so enclosed they barely have tides at all, some parts of the Mediterranean have tides of only a few cm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short, the only sure fire way of knowing the tides is to look them up before you go, or have a device that implements the various complex mathematical equations for you. If you absolutely need to make a guess then things like the above are your best bet, but I'd never suggest relying on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T17:02:44.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="656" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:16:27.027" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most survival experts recommend parachute cord. From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of US parachutes during World War II. Once in the field, paratroopers found this cord useful for many other tasks. It is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. This versatile cord was even used by astronauts during STS-82, the second Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OH0OC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd argue that it's more than just a survival rope -- it's useful in many regular camp tasks like hanging a bear bag or putting up a clothes line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the term &quot;parachute cord&quot; has been slapped on cheaper knock-offs that aren't up to the military's original specifications, so it's not as strong. If you're going to purchase some, make sure you &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord#Types&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;select a type&lt;/a&gt; that's strong enough for your intended uses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T17:16:27.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="657" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:24:47.347" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off, weigh up whether it's worth crossing said river. I know this question is about if you &quot;have&quot; to cross it, but bear in mind that falling in is a real danger and if you do, hypothermia can onset very quickly and be deadly. It depends on the situation - if we're talking about a shallow, wade-able body of water that's not much more than a stream I'd be much less hesitant to give it the go-ahead than if we're talking about something 20ft deep and triple that in width! Sometimes your gut reaction can be good here, if you think it looks highly risky and you might not make it successfully, don't attempt it! And if you can't swim strongly and you're just relying on trying to balance on top of a few logs without falling in, don't even think about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide you to cross it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Look for a bridge&lt;/strong&gt; - No, seriously. Some people really can miss the obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prepare&lt;/strong&gt; - Be sure to prepare thoroughly first. Re-pack your rucksack so all the vitals you'll need are kept as dry as they can be, and accessible (you'll want things like chemical heating packs, stoves, fire fuel &lt;em&gt;and dry, warm clothes&lt;/em&gt; to all be very handy when you reach the other side.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Find a good point to cross&lt;/strong&gt; - As a general rule avoid deep, fast flowing water. It's better to find somewhere that might be a bit wider, but shallower and easier overall. If the river narrows at a particular point don't be fooled, the water has to have gone somewhere and unless it's branched off to another stream, it's because it's gone down - i.e. it's deeper! Wider patches are generally shallower, slower flowing and therefore a better choice even if it seems like you've got more of a task ahead of you to cross. There are also other telltale signs you can look out for - reeds for instance tend to thrive better in shallower water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Find a good time to cross&lt;/strong&gt; - Leave yourself plenty of time before it gets dark - it may take longer than you think, and you don't want a lack of light providing an unnecessary complication. I'd advise crossing late morning if you can at all - that way you ensure you get plenty of light which crosses one of the list of things to worry about (and it's an easy one to cross off) and you also ensure that you get to the other side when the day, on average, should be warmest. If anyone's fallen in or got wet, you'll be glad of every little bit of heat you can get to warm you back up!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay out of the water if you can&lt;/strong&gt; - See if there are any materials around which you could use to construct a raft or similar. The best thing to avoid getting frozen solid is to stay out of the water in the first place. Equally, try and see if you could build a bridge with logs or any other suitable material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rope yourself to a secure point on the bank..?&lt;/strong&gt; - This is a contentious one. I initially recommended it because the plus side is that you won't get swept away in a current, the minus side is that it could get caught or pull you under. Judge the situation accordingly, but if you do use it, use a quick release karabiner to attach it to yourself (so you can remove it quickly and easily if you have to.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As soon as you're across, get the heating supplies out&lt;/strong&gt; - It may well be that adrenaline is keeping you going and you're colder than you think. Equally even if you feel ok, the next person of your team to cross may not be. Make the most of this by getting a fire going if you can, get warm clothes out, and keep an eye out for each other to make sure everyone's ok. Have some warm soup, run around - anything to get you warmed up again!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:06:23.567" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:06:23.567" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="655" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:31:40.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds obvious, but check that you haven't got anything like a sighting compass on you or anything else with a mirror - I once heard of someone who was rescued but the process was more difficult because of his lack of a mirror. Later investigation found he was carrying such a sighting compass the whole time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really haven't, then find the shiniest thing you do have that might reflect light - a glossy notebook, glasses, transparent base of a comapss, anything like that. It won't be as good but it'll be something at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the other option is to light a signal fire with lots of smoke if you can - burning damp foliage is the classic option here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T17:31:40.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="81" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:38:06.737" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can find a decent supply of semi-dry birch bark (which contains a natural accelerant) you are at least off to a good start. Then general fire-making steps kick back in two-fold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-29T14:59:46.197" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T14:59:46.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="106" CreationDate="2012-01-28T17:42:40.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes if you just can't stand the sound of nature, an mp3 player or other source of noise that you CAN stand may work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T21:24:12.340" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T21:24:12.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="106" CreationDate="2012-01-28T18:02:53.397" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would throw some type of foliage over the tent, to &quot;break&quot; the fall of the rain... so long as your tent is strong enough to support the weight!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T21:24:47.767" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T21:24:47.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="670" CreationDate="2012-01-28T18:05:22.693" Score="20" ViewCount="12591" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I get lost in the wilderness, what is the very first thing I should do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastActivityDate="2015-03-03T20:43:25.307" Title="If lost in the wilderness, what is the first thing I should do?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="666" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="668" CreationDate="2012-01-28T18:08:50.910" Score="2" ViewCount="1974" Body="&lt;p&gt;When venturing out into the wilderness, what are crucial things I  should bring? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-03-12T01:50:35.687" LastActivityDate="2019-03-12T01:50:35.687" Title="What are survival tools I should have when in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2012-01-28T23:27:06.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2012-01-28T18:21:27.960" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;The VERY FIRST thing you need to do is to not panic.  Sit down for a minute or two and let your mind catch up to the fact you are lost.  Now, take out your map, compass, gps, or whatever and try to find your way back to where you DID know where you were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't figure out where the trail should be and you need to bushwhack, find a bit of a clearing, take bearings to nearby landmarks, and draw on your map (or use sticks if they are straight) the bearing from whatever landmark.  Try to get 3 or more landmarks, the lines will form either something resembling a polygon, or (if everything works out right) something resembling an asterisk.  You are either in the polygon, or at the intersection of the sticks.  Once you know where (or about where) you are, put a small stone on your map and then figure out which way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a map, or your GPS died, or you don't know how to take a bearing, one of the tricks I was taught in Wilderness Survival Merit Badge back in the Stone Age, walk downhill until you find a creek/stream/river.  Follow the river's current, and likely you will cross a road.  Once you have found a road (if it looks somewhat well travelled), wait for assistance.  Otherwise decide whether to follow the river or the road until you DO get to a place where civilization extends its reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and above all, DON'T PANIC.  If you panic or feel like you may start, stop doing whatever it is you are doing and calm down.  If you keep your wits you are much more likely to survive the encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T19:27:02.700" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T19:27:02.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="666" CreationDate="2012-01-28T19:05:58.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of all the things that I listed bellow I think the most important is warm clothing and a water container. A knife you can make by splinting hard rock. Remember you need this (in order of importance): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air to breath, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter to keep warm, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water to function, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food to keep going.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clothing, enough layers for the season&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag or thick wool blanket &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fixed blade 9&quot; Knife &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water container you can boil water in and carry around with you&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Optionally two 55 gallon industrial garbage bags for rain protection. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First aid kit&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are not good forager and/or hunter than some food for the time you are going to be in the wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cordage you can make from cambium or any other natural source suitable for that purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make fire by building fire bow-drill. You got the knife and cordage you already made for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hELV2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can create filter from articles of clothing suspended on tripod. After you are done filtering the water you should boil it as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tZVtG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can build debris shelter in your camp instead for lugging around tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could do with a lot less but I found this to be OK comfort zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T19:40:54.393" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T19:40:54.393" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="644" CreationDate="2012-01-28T19:08:45.673" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am only familiar with US topos, but a point the other answers miss is that the US Geological Survey have mapping standards, and most non-USGS maps (at least in America) match the USGS &lt;a href=&quot;http://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/tm11b2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;standards&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest you start by learning the standard &lt;a href=&quot;http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/TopographicMapSymbols/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;symbols&lt;/a&gt; in your area.  Make up flash cards and you can easily quiz yourself as you have a few minutes (this is a great way to pass time while on the bus/train to work).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for being able to navigate, topos often have more information than is necessary to walk through the woods and come out alive.  For example, there are 3 symbols for a mountain top.  The only difference is the precision of the measured altitude.  There are 2 symbols for mines (vertical/horizontal).  The brown elevation lines mark hills and valleys one way, but a depression another way (a circular pattern with lines pointing to the bottom of the depression).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was taught orienteering by a few folks, and the fancy ways didn't really work for me, but finally I met an old, grizzled marine and his method was dirt simple, and works for me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the map in your hand at all times.  If you can't look at the map, you are much more likely to lose your place on it, or &quot;find&quot; your place on it in the wrong hill/clearing/etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold the map so it is a square that fits comfortably in your hand.  Yes, this means that if you go to an area frequently, you will need to replace a worn out map, but it's better than the alternative.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the map in a plastic bag to keep the paper dry, unless you are refolding the map, or looking at tomorrow's hike while under a tarp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold the map so that you are walking from the bottom to the top.  Turn your body left?  Turn the map too. The map should turn the opposite direction you are turning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are in a boring area of trail (for example, in the middle of a forested part and there's nothing but &quot;green tunnel&quot; around you, figure out what the next feature of the walk is.  Are you going around a curve?  Coming into a clearing?  Crossing a creek?  Figure out what the map says you will do next, and look for it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are walking on a trail marked with blazes, also look for the blazes.  In the US National parks, there is the convention that if you stand next to a blazed tree on the trail, you should be able to see the next blaze or 2*.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to keep your thumb where you think you are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Yes, sometimes this does not work out because the tree the next blaze is on has fallen due to weather/disease/forest thinning, etc.  But works 95+ percent of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastEditorUserId="9569" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T19:41:48.277" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T19:41:48.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2012-01-28T19:23:32.580" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you told people where you were going and you don't have &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PLB&lt;/a&gt; with you, you should start building camp. Construct distress signal discussed here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/265/87&quot;&gt;How can I signal for help in the wilderness?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't panic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get busy making your camp&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for sources of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Construct distress signals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make traps, set up fishing lines, gather plant food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gradually map out your area you are in by hiking from your camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always remember to leave an imprint of your boot in your car (assuming you arrived with a car, if not then at home, and make sure people close to you know about it), together with your notes for the trip you are planing to take. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@Pulsehead's answer is right, too, I just thought I'd offer an alternative. I guess the choice depends on how far from civilization you are and if you are injured.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-12-18T18:31:27.820" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="593" CreationDate="2012-01-28T20:03:15.663" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, you have to figure out the dimensions you're looking for. Too big is uselessly bulky to carry, but too small can prevent it from being useful. This will depend on the size of your tent/hammock or whatever else you're trying to protect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, things you can look for are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof-ness: This should be indicated on the label, but looking at&#xA;reviews may help in evaluating the durability of the waterproof&#xA;coating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thickness: For keeping rain off your tent, you don't need&#xA;anything thick. Something thin will be lighter to carry and take up&#xA;less space in your bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durability: Specifically, the holes where you&#xA;put your ropes should look sturdy. Reading reviews is the best way to&#xA;evaluate these I believe. Also, the very center should also be&#xA;rugged, because you may want to place a stick there to keep the&#xA;center high.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Colors: Colors should match the rest of your gear to make you feel smug. Or, you could choose bright colors which are more visible: Harder to lose and easier to spot if you're stuck in a bad situation and looking for rescuers to find you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T20:03:15.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="335" CreationDate="2012-01-28T20:58:29.823" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say it depends on what other materials you have and how cold the water is. So if the water is cold, it's really important to stay out of it. If not, you can maybe endure having your feet hanging in, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on how much time you have to build the raft. If you're in an emergency situation, don't even try a burn out canoe, it's too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, you will need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flotation: Anything you can find that floats! If you're not sure, throw it in and see if it floats. But don't forget that some things (like dead branches) can float when dry, but then you put them in the water, they soak up, become heavier, and start to sink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rope/cordage/cloth/box: something to prevent the floating objects from dispersing and becoming useless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Propulsion: Take the time to make some sort of paddle. It's worth it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for techniques, a large piece of cloth can hold a lot of branches together without using up too much rope. Also,  building an outrigger can greatly improve stability without requiring too much wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-28T21:21:08.397" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T21:21:08.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="592" CreationDate="2012-01-28T22:08:53.853" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;What ages a rope most is use, so if you have stored it for a couple of years it should not have degraded measurably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot;&gt;the UIAA's document on ageing of climbing ropes&lt;/a&gt; for some guidance from the experts (the UIAA is the International Mountaineering and Climbing Association)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't worry about a couple of year's lack of use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T22:08:53.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="656" CreationDate="2012-01-28T22:35:21.610" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/659/2303&quot;&gt;Hartley Brody suggests&lt;/a&gt;, I would carry a few metres of para-cord, as this is a very tough and versatile rope which can be used for a lot of things in survival situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you are heading up onto a hill, I would also carry a 30m or 60m length of abseiling or climbing rope (and a belay device), just in case you ever need to make an emergency descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T02:12:44.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="677" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="721" CreationDate="2012-01-28T23:15:40.140" Score="33" ViewCount="3726" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out hiking, and I come around a corner and stumble upon a bear, what's the best course of action to take to minimize the chance the bear will act aggressively? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do different types of bear (grizzly, black bear, sun bear, etc) warrant a different approach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:18:35.937" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T23:18:54.680" Title="If I cross paths with a bear, what should I do?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="679" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="683" CreationDate="2012-01-28T23:23:23.560" Score="22" ViewCount="60970" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I shoot a bear in self-defense?  Will I face fines and jail time if I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastActivityDate="2017-09-23T18:38:35.360" Title="Can I shoot a bear in self-defense?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="681" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="722" CreationDate="2012-01-28T23:34:24.780" Score="31" ViewCount="139760" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the higher heat loss areas of the body and how can I reduce heat loss in those areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T10:39:45.820" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T10:39:45.820" Title="What are areas of the body which lose heat more quickly, and how can I reduce that loss?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="682" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="701" CreationDate="2012-01-28T23:37:04.807" Score="13" ViewCount="685" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'v been told that walking with a heavy foot-fall will deter snakes.  Is this really true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T10:29:50.900" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T21:29:41.017" Title="Good ways to avoid snakes when hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2012-01-28T23:51:44.010" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;For hunting bears you have to check with your local rangers for hunting season, permits and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Self-defense is self-defense if your mental state does not allow you to think and you feel killing is the only way out than it the only way out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT &lt;code&gt;Bear Defense Spray&lt;/code&gt; is more effective and easier to obtain than .45 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also &lt;code&gt;Noise&lt;/code&gt; will scare them off. So if you shoot don't shoot the bear just shoot in its direction to spook it away from you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-01-28T23:51:44.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-01-29T00:14:07.147" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heat loss can occur from &lt;em&gt;anywhere&lt;/em&gt; on the body through a number of processes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Conduction&lt;/em&gt; e.g. when sitting on the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Convection&lt;/em&gt; e.g. due to wind chill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Radiation&lt;/em&gt; i.e. heat loss direct to the environment from exposed skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Evaporation&lt;/em&gt; i.e. heat loss through perspiration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Metabolism&lt;/em&gt; generates heat; conversely, without enough sustenance the body won't generate heat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Respiration&lt;/em&gt; the body moistens and warms the air on inhalation, this heat is lost on exhalation which increases the colder and dryer the air is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Body size&lt;/em&gt; the smaller the body the greater the relative surface area to lose heat through.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combat heat loss by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimising exposed skin, which will radiate heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear wind-proof clothing to minimise convective heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a sit mat or sit on your rucksack when taking a break to prevent conductive heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear moisture-wicking undergarments to minimise heat loss by evaporation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat high-energy foods to keep your metabolism up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathe through a scarf in cold dry air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Monitor children and be aware that they will feel the effects of cold before you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for specific, high heat loss, areas of the body, it depends:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are sitting on a rock or camping without ground insulation the high heat loss areas will be those in contact with the ground through conductive heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your back is sweaty under your rucksack, heat loss through evaporation could make your back the high heat loss area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cold, dry air can make respiration a high heat loss area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, the high heat loss areas will be those not adequately protected from the various mechanisms of heat loss prevalent to the situation you are in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scientists debunk the myth that you lose most heat through your head&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-19T04:10:00.877" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:10:00.877" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="687" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-29T00:22:08.883" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Emergencies are unexpected and usually dangerous situations that require immediate action. It pays to be well prepared in case they happen, though by far the best option is to try and take as many precautions as you can to prevent them from happening in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:42:52.730" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:42:52.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="688" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-29T00:22:08.883" Score="0" Body="This tag is for the questions that discuss Emergency situations occurring during an Outdoor activity. The term &quot;Outdoor&quot; should strictly be taking in what is in the scope of The Great Outdoors StackExchange." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:43:41.443" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:43:41.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-01-29T00:54:28.020" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's probably worth pointing out that a lot of people reading this question may be thinking along the (commonly quoted) line that about 80% of body heat is lost through the head - which is much more of a myth than people realise (See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for details.) From what I remember, it was an experiment done with people fully kitted out apart from the fact that they weren't wearing anything on their heads... and, somewhat unsurprisingly, most of the body heat lost in this scenario was from the head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, it is important to keep the head wrapped up, but it's equally important to keep other parts warm - especially the torso. Even though extremities may feel colder, this is because your body is reserving the heat for its vitals and cutting it off more to things such as your hands and feet. Warm up the core of your body and it'll start warming your extremities as a result!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of how to reduce heat loss in those areas, it's generally as simple as wrapping up as warm as you feasibly can (and as much as is appropriate for the conditions. Obviously full arctic gear isn't required for a damp autumnal day!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, wrap up as best you can all over, but it's especially important on the torso. &lt;strong&gt;In practice though, it shouldn't come down to deciding &lt;em&gt;what&lt;/em&gt; to wrap up in particular - if it's cold, wrap up as best you can all over!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T22:00:43.107" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T22:00:43.107" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-01-29T02:38:37.533" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the question directly, the three areas that lose heat the fastest are actually:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Head&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Groin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Armpits&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why those are the areas that naturally grow the most hair on human bodies. It's an evolutionary adaption to keep us warm. In those areas, there is a lot of blood flowing and it passes very close to the outer layer of skin, allowing it to cool of more rapidly and lower our body's temperature. It's all of the blood rushing around your skull, into your legs, or into your arms, respectively. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Covering your head is a no brainer. As others have mentioned and most people already know, the head it where you lose most of your body heat, so wearing a dry, windproof hat with a lot of loft is always a smart idea if you're cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The groin and the armpits are a bit more tricky. If you're dressed according to normal human social standards, you'll probably be fine. But if, for some reason, you're out in the cold with little or no clothing, those are the areas to focus on the most. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your arms tight at your sides and cover your groin with your hands. Not only is that our natural reaction to the whole &quot;being naked&quot; thing, it also happens to be the best way to stay warm with no clothes on!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T21:07:18.713" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="691" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="831" CreationDate="2012-01-29T18:49:54.263" Score="11" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a few weeks time I will be taking part in expedition skiing across Iceland. Our kit will be in pulks and we will be skiing with Nordic skis. Uphill I'm sure we'll need skins, but on the flatter sections, would grip wax provide enough traction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="152" LastEditDate="2012-01-29T21:28:29.707" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T03:29:45.383" Title="Do I need skins to drag a pulk on skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="494" CreationDate="2012-01-29T18:52:16.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a book published by Cicerone called 'Europe's High Points' which lists the highest peak in each country, and provides a pretty good description on how to climb them. There are plenty of easier ones to go at, as well as some more technical peaks (e.g. Mont Blanc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T18:52:16.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="289" CreationDate="2012-01-29T21:28:15.730" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did wonder whether there were any long standing letterboxers whose experience would put me to shame lurking around here, but since the question is now more generalised I feel more qualified to answer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is letterboxing?&lt;/strong&gt; It's most commonly practised (and originally started) in Dartmoor, and shares a lot of things with geocaching. It originally started with just a handful of boxes on the most remote parts of the moor, and a postcard would be left by the person visiting in the box. They would take the postcard they found, write a little message then send it on its way. These days that has mainly been forgotten - instead each box has a rubber stamp, and you collect impressions of these as you find the boxes. You also have a personal stamp which you use to assert you've visited the box.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the differences with geocaching?&lt;/strong&gt; Aside from the stamps, letterboxes also don't tend to contain tradeable items as geocaches do. &lt;strong&gt;If you find a letterbox with a rubber stamp, DO NOT take it and swap it for something else!&lt;/strong&gt; I've seen a few letterboxes where someone's written in the log something like &quot;left keyring, took duck stamp, TFTC!&quot;. Not only is this annoying it shows a complete disregard for the hobby and annoys letterboxers no end. Other differences include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There's no minimum distance between letterboxes, indeed it's common to find 2 right next to each other!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While some letterboxes have 10 fig. grid references that can be used sensibly with a GPS, most don't, and usually with letterboxes you have to use a map and compass to triangulate yourself manually. It takes longer and requires more skill, but because of this I find it more satisfying when you find it!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There's no centralised map / database for letterboxes like there is for geocaches - while there are electronic forms of the catalogue with updates, these are via email, and the normal way is to order a copy of the paper catalogue which you have to do the old fashioned way - see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk/catalogue.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for details. They come out twice annually at around the time the clocks change (in the UK).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do I find letterboxes in my area?&lt;/strong&gt; So to answer the more specific question therefore about where you can find information on geocaches in your area, look at the catalogue! It has a specific section at the back where you can view all boxes in each 1km grid square which is what you can use for finding all the boxes in a specific area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to bear in mind is that there are many, many more caches around than are in the catalogue - no-one knows exactly how many are out there, but chances are you will stumble across some by accident that won't be in there. Still mark them down, they still count!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you get lots, there's some rather cool looking &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk/badges.html&quot;&gt;badges&lt;/a&gt; too :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-29T22:54:16.623" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T22:54:16.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-01-29T21:52:09.950" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a lot of places it will be quite difficult finding two trees the right distance apart to hang it. When it's late and you've been walking all day, all you want to do is lie down and rest, you might spend quite a long time looking for those two trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in the UK when it rains, it often comes horizontal, so even with a tarp over you, you're going to get wet. And maybe motion sickness if it's windy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T21:52:09.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="592" CreationDate="2012-01-29T22:01:59.840" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's pretty hard to check gear without some high-tech equipment. Metalwork really needs to be x-rayed to see if there are any hidden cracks, and rope can be checked by cutting a length off and sending it for destructive drop testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of those your average climber would ever contemplate. So give everything a very careful visual inspection, for the metalwork check that there are no sharp burrs that could damage your rope, no corrosion, and no distortion. For your rope, run it through your hands very slowly, checking for any lumps, bumps, or skinny bits, and check the sheath isn't frayed anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also how equipment has been stored is important. Has it been kept warm and dry, away from UV light? Could it have been exposed to any chemicals (such as battery acid or solvents) that might have damaged it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T16:24:21.030" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T16:24:21.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-01-29T23:26:46.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hammocks are great for hot weather.  I have backpacked with a hammock in the Virginia summer, when the nights were 85°F-95°.  There are certainly enough trees here, and in any densely forested area.  It is actually preferable (with a mosquito net) because you stay cooler.  When it rained, I slept on the ground with a small rain fly, because water likes to come down from the attachment points.  Bivys pack so small that if one were concerned about the weather, you could pack both in less space than a full sized tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastActivityDate="2012-01-29T23:26:46.287" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-30T03:01:11.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pack-Buying Priorities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comfort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comfort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comfort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Workmanship quality&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everything else&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best Materials:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dyneema (which is the same thing as Spectra): Ultra high-end fiber stronger than Kevlar.  Packs made of full Spectra/Dyneema cost $1000-2000.  BEWARE there are lots of cheaper packs that claim Spectra or Dyneema, but which only use these high-end fibers for &quot;rip-stop&quot;/&quot;grid-stop&quot;, with cheaper fabric in-between.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cuben: Ultra-lightweight, durable, and waterproof.  Also very expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Silnylon (Silicone Impregnated Nylon): Lightweight but can be ripped. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best Manufacturers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;McHale&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zpacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cilogear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zen Master's Advice: Do yourself a huge favor and go the &quot;ultralight&quot; route and buy a frameless backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T03:01:11.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17" CreationDate="2012-01-30T08:58:54.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already stressed by others, the backpack has to be comfortable. If the back system does not fit you, other features won’t make a difference. But there are plenty of good back systems and therefore good backpacks to choose from, so here are a few more tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like pockets on the hip belt. Good for a small camera, change or handkerchief to keep at hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like when you can adjust the height of the lid, shift it on straps. Even if you can’t fit your things into the backpack, you can cram almost anything under a height-adjustable lid :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have some special gear like snowshoes, walking sticks or ice pick, take it with you when choosing a backpack and see how you can attach it to the backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Think about hydration. If you use a hydration bag, does the backpack support it? If you are used to PET bottles or a thermos, where can you place these in the bag? Will they be at hand? I’ve seen some nice side-pocket designs where the pocket is slightly skewed to the front side and can be accessed even without getting the backpack off your shoulders.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Separate pocket for the raincover is a nice touch, especially when you put the wet or muddy raincover back inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you’re buying a backpack with two separate compartments, does your sleeping bag fit the lower one? This can be an issue with the synthetic sleeping bags that tend to be quite bulky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, the backpack will take a lot of beating so it has to stand that. If the sewing doesn’t look reliable or the zippers look flimsy, I’d think twice about buying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T14:18:51.670" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T14:18:51.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="682" CreationDate="2012-01-30T09:59:54.003" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with any wild animals, different species and different individuals are going to respond differently in different situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some snakes are extra-ordinarily docile, and no amount of heavy-stomping will disturb them, unless you stomp on them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to answer the original question, walking with heavy footfall is neither foolproof, nor sustainable for long hikes: resulting in very sore feet at best, and stress-fractures at worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best is to &lt;em&gt;keep an eye on your surroundings&lt;/em&gt;, and be careful not to place your foot somewhere you can't see what might be lurking around it - ie, stepping over a log, walking beside an overhanging rock, in deep grass, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stepping on a snake is an obvious no-no, but even passing within striking distance can result in an attempt depending on the disposition of the particular animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T09:59:54.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="702" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="714" CreationDate="2012-01-30T16:47:52.100" Score="11" ViewCount="1899" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say I'm hiking outdoors and I get a scrape. I've forgotten my first aid pack, or already used up the appropriate supplies. Is there anything in the wilderness I can use to sterilize and perhaps cover it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T07:00:37.127" Title="How could I treat scrapes outdoors without a first aid kit?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="702" CreationDate="2012-01-30T17:38:55.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As yucky as it sounds, if you dont have ANY water or anything to clean the wound, &#xA;assuming your healthy and dont have any &quot;plumbing problems&quot;(instructions from an ER doctor / paramedic)&#xA;urine is 100% clean right out of the body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the words straight from the doctor: &quot;pee on it.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might be a good idea to re-wash it out as soon as you can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But urine works nicely.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="85" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T19:15:50.690" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T19:15:50.690" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="704" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5412" CreationDate="2012-01-30T17:47:50.487" Score="17" ViewCount="756" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of a good way to find topographical maps for either download or purchase?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:05:04.873" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T08:56:51.893" Title="Looking for a Topographical map resource?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="5" ClosedDate="2018-05-03T06:13:13.730" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="705" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="706" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:07:41.553" Score="15" ViewCount="1117" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick search online shows there are dozens of different types of hiking socks, with different materials, thicknesses, and properties. In general, what should you look for when shopping for hiking socks? What are the main differences, and what would make you choose one type over another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:36.940" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T14:38:43.937" Title="What should you look for when buying hiking socks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="705" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:19:40.790" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Don't use cotton socks for hiking.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When your feet sweat, the socks become wet, and take &lt;em&gt;forever&lt;/em&gt; to dry out.  &lt;strong&gt;Good socks remove the bacteria and moisture&lt;/strong&gt; that thrive in the environment created by sweating feet and help to prevent blisters.  Cotton retains moisture, thus cotton socks &lt;strong&gt;will not&lt;/strong&gt; do the job properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather, buy non-itching (&quot;merino&quot;) wool, nylon, alpaca, elastic, polyester, spandex, or  &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene&quot;&gt;polypropylene&lt;/a&gt;(can also be used as a layer between the sock and skin) socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wear wildland firefighting boots (all leather) for work, and they can take a long time to fully break in (6-12 months!), so a good pair of socks/combination of socks is crucial.  I've found that I like to wear a thin sport sock under a full boot sock, which helps to add more padding and support up to the ankle, where it counts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A very helpful source of additional information, including more information on the different benefits of different sock types and materials: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.link2sox.com/you-should-know.html&quot;&gt;Foot Care, Socks 101 &amp;amp; Sock Care&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T18:19:40.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:22:35.530" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usgs.gov/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;United States Geological Survey (USGS)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; has topographical maps arranged in the typical 7.5 minute quadrangle format, available for &lt;em&gt;free&lt;/em&gt; viewing &amp;amp; download online for all of the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Links:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/&quot;&gt;USGS Topo Maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28ctype=areaDetails&amp;amp;xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&amp;amp;carea=%24ROOT&amp;amp;layout=6_1_61_48&amp;amp;uiarea=2%29/.do&quot;&gt;USGS Map Locator and Downloader&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KynbQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="180" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T15:13:58.040" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T15:13:58.040" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="712" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:31:30.803" Score="63" ViewCount="324050" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a general rule of thumb for converting miles to hours when looking at a potential hike? For example, how long does it take an average person walking at an average speed to walk a mile on the following types of trails:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a mostly flat, easy trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a moderate trail, with some elevation changes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a strenuous hike, with significant elevation change or difficult terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of a day hike on maintained trails with people that are neither experienced hikers nor completely out of shape. Basically, the number you'd put in a book or website listing trails and approximate hiking times. But it sounds like even that might be too hard to come up with for a general case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T13:19:17.263" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T01:16:51.577" Title="How do you determine how long a hike will take?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;time&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:32:55.563" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check this link out: &lt;a href=&quot;http://peaklist.org/misc/links_to_map_resources.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FREE topographic maps and research tools&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It contains this and many more countries:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UNITED STATES&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://TOPOZONE.COM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TOPOZONE.COM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If all sites could be just like topozone.  Topozone has a seamless map of the US at all published USGS scales; 1:24,000, 1:100,000, and 1:250,000, and 1:63,360 for Alaska.  Recent changes to topozone mean that you have to pay ($49.95 per year) for the highest degree of functionality, nonetheless, the free portion of the site is still superior to most of the other topo sites reviewed on this page.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://MAPTECH.COM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MAPTECH.COM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;MapTech shows all USGS quads, all Nautical Charts and Aeronautical Charts for US.  and aerial photos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://TERRASERVER.COM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TERRASERVER.COM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Terraserver also has the USGS data, and lots of aerial photography.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;University of New Hampshire Map Library&lt;br&gt;&#xA;HIstoric USGS topos of all of New York and New England 1890-1950.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.nps.gov/maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MAPS ONLINE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;All of the wonderful National Park maps that you get when you enter a park are now available on-line at no charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;USGS (THEMATIC) MAPS ON DEMAND&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Thousands of geologic and other thematic maps of the US and territorities available for download.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:24:47.460" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:24:47.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:46:48.747" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is really only one way to determine this, and that is experience. Do a few hikes in different terrain, different settings (dayhike vs overnight), different weather and different group sizes, keep track of your time and thus build up a &quot;library&quot; of situations and times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a few of these reference hikes, you can then apply these to new situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T18:46:48.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2012-01-30T18:49:30.733" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strike&gt;There's no general rule of thumb that I know of...&lt;/strike&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lied, there is Naismith's formula as correctly cited in another answer. I just tend to stay away from it because more often than not I find it better to make a judgement on the individual situation. There's so much variation the &quot;average&quot; would almost always be wrong in any specific case! It depends on all sorts of things, from the fitness of the individuals involved, whether the individuals are talkative and thus (usually) walking slower, how often people require rest breaks, how long those rest breaks are, any health problems that could impede progress - and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, if you think the hike is average-ish in terms of conditions, you don't have a better way of judging and all you're using it for is wondering when you're going to reach point x (for reasons of curiosity not safety) then it does have its place!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More experienced hikers that know their speed, ability and fitness can have a rule of thumb for themselves based on weather, terrain and so on, but this varies again varies from person to person. It's even hard for experienced hikers to make a guess when they don't know the area or the terrain - sometimes land that looks easy going on a map can be rocky, boggy or just plain awkward!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where this kind of question does come into play most often (at least that's what I find) is when either hiking out for the first time, or taking inexperienced people out for a hike (because you obviously have to go at the pace of the slowest person.) For this, and best on the fact I generally wouldn't recommend climbing ridiculous terrain for this type of outing (if nothing else it'll put them off!) I tend to have in my head a rough average speed of around 3 KPH. It's slow - but far better to have that in mind and get back early than have a faster speed in mind and get back late, especially if after dark. It's not just the safety aspect, it's the morality as well; if you give people an estimated finish time and you complete an hour ahead of schedule they generally view it as an achievement and therefore a more positive experience overall! (Of course, don't take this to ridiculous levels. If you plan an all day hike that takes half an hour, people will just feel a bit misled!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to point out in relation to this, if you have a speed / route in mind and you realise it's over-ambitious, don't be afraid to change your route so it's shorter. Much better to cut a bit off and have a successful day than push yourself and end up getting lost or injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T19:19:50.367" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T19:19:50.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:02:20.853" Score="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith&amp;#39;s_rule&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naismith's rule&lt;/a&gt; which goes as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allow 1 hour for every 3 miles (5 km) forward, plus 1 hour for every 2000 feet (600 metres) of ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of hikers in the UK use this as a guide of course bear in mind terrain and altitude! and of course this is not appropriate at higher altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20160710170802/http://www.goxplore.net:80/guides/Naismith&amp;#39;s_Rule&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some sites&lt;/a&gt; recommend corrections to the above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gentle descent: subtract 10 minutes for every 1000ft / 300m of descent&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Steep descent: add 10 minutes for every 1000ft / 300m of descent&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T16:04:22.530" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T16:04:22.530" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:08:56.483" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK your best bet is to use the Ordanance Survey website where you can purchase maps: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used the getamap feature which is great at creating your own maps! Which is useful if your hike goes over several map boundaries - often the case in the Lake District!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also use Bing maps which has OS map data down to 25000:1 for the UK!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:23:31.447" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:23:31.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="702" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:14:27.053" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many folk and wild remedies you could learn, depending on what you're carrying &amp;amp; where you're hiking. Some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Honey&lt;/strong&gt; will protect from infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spider webs&lt;/strong&gt; will stop bleeding (for small cuts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Common plantain&lt;/strong&gt; soothes burns, scrapes, etc. Chew it up to make a salve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T19:14:27.053" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:25:23.177" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want an exact answer, there is not and will not be one until about 15 seconds after you finish walking the walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a decent ballpark, I was taught in scouts:&#xA;day hiking:&#xA;3 miles per hour, + 1 hour for every 1000 feet of elevation climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;backpacking:&#xA;2 miles per hour, +1 hour for every 1000 feet of elevation climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the formula, and then take a few walks.  You should get a rough idea how your pace measures up to the formula and be able to adjust the formula accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T19:25:23.177" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="716" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="829" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:38:35.037" Score="16" ViewCount="13396" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is bear spray (pepper spray specially formulated to be effective against bear attacks) effective against other animals, especially mountain lions or wolves? Or is there something in it specifically targeted towards bears that would make it less effective on other attacking animals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T07:44:24.183" Title="Is bear spray effective against other animals?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="716" CreationDate="2012-01-30T19:53:27.113" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chemically, if you can use it, I see no reason why it wouldn't work on any similar animals - though &lt;em&gt;practically&lt;/em&gt; it may not be as effective. In terms of cougars for instance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://extremervguy.com/2011/06/20/will-bear-spray-work-on-cougars/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; seems to imply it'll work if you can get it out and use it in time, but because of their nature the chances of you being able to carry out the task successfully are dramatically less for a cougar than a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most material seems to imply that for wolves it's better to make yourself look big (less like prey), get children behind you and face the wolf rather than using spray, so I'd try that first and hopefully it won't get on close enough quarters to warrant using the spray!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T20:04:15.613" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T20:04:15.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="64" CreationDate="2012-01-30T20:23:14.490" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say what area specifically you're looking at, or what your budget is - but Anquet seems to do a number of electronic copies of standard OS maps for prices I wouldn't consider unreasonable &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.anquet.com/Series/OS_1!25,000_Explorers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you mean the whole of the UK / Europe then the cost will be high, but I don't think there's really much getting around that. It unfortunately seems to be the case that if you want this level of detail, you have to pay for it! Who knows, in the future perhaps prices will come down somewhat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T20:23:14.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-01-30T21:07:18.713" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermography&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;thermogram&lt;/a&gt; pictorial answer to try and figure this out!&#xA;I believe this is a un-clothed male under a thermal camera (SFW)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CsnO5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-19T04:17:11.567" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:17:11.567" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-01-30T21:22:15.077" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibly. the reason this is a consideration is best way to stay warm is with loose layers (multiple depending on the temp) that trap air pockets close to the body that are heated BY the body. if you are in your birthday suit you will trap a decent larger pocket of air around you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT a single sleeping bag will NOT keep you warm this way. if you go this route here are a few things to keep in mind&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SWEAT is your enemy. I personally would NOT go completely naked but have 1 or 2 layers on. the first would be a wicking layer like under-armor or a polypropylene or silk layer (NOT COTTON)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being that your don't have as many layers ON you. you will need to re-locate those layers to the other side of the sleeping bag. that may be other sleeping bags, a blanket, a tarp around that, or (most likely a combination there of)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;once you get out of your sleeping bag it will get REAL cold REAL quick. therefore I would leave my layers for the next day INSIDE my sleeping bag to warm up with me. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;four words. &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Bathroom trip ain't fun.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; you may want to keep a &quot;pee jar&quot; with you so you can avoid this. better yet go BEFORE you strip down. BUT IF YOU HAVE TO GO go. you WILL stay warmer with a empty tank &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-01-30T23:05:45.223" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T23:05:45.223" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="677" CreationDate="2012-01-30T21:23:57.417" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back away calmly. Be SURE not to separate a mother from her cubs. Other than that, the bear probably won't be too interested in you. (Except a polar bear, which may consider you food.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see bear cubs, look for the mother and stay away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T21:23:57.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-01-30T21:40:31.953" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/681/what-are-the-high-heat-loss-areas-of-the-body-and-how-can-i-reduce-loss/690#690&quot;&gt;original answer&lt;/a&gt; to this question sparked a surprisingly intense debate, so I'm rewriting it to clarify a few points and offer a more holistic answer.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me start by saying that every square inch of skin on the human body is capable of allowing heat to escape. That is to say, if you wear a jacket with no pants, your legs will lose more heat than your torso -- but if you wear pants with no jacket, your torso will lose more heat than your legs. Both areas are capable of losing heat -- and will do so more quickly when exposed. Therefore, any part of your body that's more exposed to the cold than another part has the potential to lose more heat than other than parts that are less exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is fairly obvious, but I mention it for completeness' sake. This generally means that you should try to cover yourself as much as possible, especially larger skin surfaces like the torso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the point that I think the OP is trying to get at is that -- all else being equal -- &lt;strong&gt;every square inch of exposed human skin does NOT lose heat at the same rate&lt;/strong&gt;. That is to say, &lt;strong&gt;some areas of skin lose heat faster than others.&lt;/strong&gt; If you were to stand in the cold totally naked, some parts of you would lose heat more quickly than others. This is an indisputable, biological fact. Allow me to explain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Human blood serves many functions -- one of which is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_blood#Thermoregulation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;thermoregulation&lt;/a&gt;. As an evolutionary adaption, humans have areas on their body that are especially suited for releasing heat, in order to cool us off when we get too hot. In these areas, there is a high volume of blood flow, and that blood passes very close to the skin. These areas are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The skull&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The groin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The armpits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some might also say the extremities, like fingers and toes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these areas, there is a lot of blood flowing around, and the skin is fairly thin, allowing heat to escape from the blood more quickly than in other areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, if you are in a desperate survival situation where you risk hypothermia, these are the areas of the body you should focus on keeping the warmest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Armpits&lt;/strong&gt; are fairly easy to keep warm, just keep your elbows down and they'll be insulated by your torso and upper arm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to keep warm, dry underwear in order to keep your &lt;strong&gt;groin&lt;/strong&gt; warm as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, &lt;strong&gt;YOU SHOULD WEAR A HAT.&lt;/strong&gt; While you might not lose the &quot;majority&quot; of body heat through your head, it is one of the areas of skin that loses heat most quickly and it should be one of the main things you focus on keeping warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The extremities are also important to keep warm. I have friends that go out jogging in the winter wearing shorts and a t-shirt. They don a warm beanie and gloves right before they go out, and those are all it takes to keep them warm in freezing temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If you have clothes or ways to protect every inch of skin on your body, you should do that. I thought this was basic common sense, but people were squabbling so I'll reiterate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you only have limited means of protection and you need to focus on warming only a small area of your body, you're best off focusing on the four areas listed above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-01-30T21:40:31.953" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="385" CreationDate="2012-01-30T21:47:34.590" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to assume your in a wooded area not large open area and it's raining but not snowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;First thing to do is get out of the water flow and onto higher ground&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can build a &quot;higher ground&quot; for yourself (i.e. a stump) that you can stand on to get out of the water on the ground. &#xA;Basically, make the water run off lower than you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Second thing is get the falling water away from you&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're without a tarp or a rain jacket you need something that will repel water (I will call this material you use as a &quot;tarpish&quot;). I would setup a makeshift canopy  out of your tarpish so that you can sit/stand under it without touching the tarpish so the water is less likely to transfer though it and run off to the ground (where you above). try and keep the tarpish tight so it wont collect water but let it run off. your first layer of tarpish is still drippy setup a second tarpish about a half foot below. obviously if you have a tarp use that first, but we are that assuming you do not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="85" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T22:13:54.057" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:13:54.057" CommentCount="3" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-01-30T21:47:34.590" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="724" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="728" CreationDate="2012-01-30T22:06:11.963" Score="18" ViewCount="436" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, I can't just buy it, push the button and expect a helicopter to show up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there monthly or registration fees? Do I need to get a permit or register with someone? How does it all work? Does it get service everywhere (even internationally)? I'm not even sure what I don't know at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, if you were telling a friend how to purchase a PLB, what would you tell them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:43.323" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:14:43.323" Title="What do I need to be aware of if I'm considering purchasing a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="725" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="729" CreationDate="2012-01-30T22:17:29.330" Score="16" ViewCount="28851" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that the oils from poison oak, poison ivy, or poison sumac can remain on clothes even through a wash cycle. After hiking through an area with poison ivy (or poison oak/poison sumac), how should you wash the exposed clothes to completely remove the oil and minimize the chance of later reaction to these oils?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:43:21.923" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:43:21.923" Title="How should you wash clothes after exposure to poison oak/ivy/sumac?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;&lt;poison-oak&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="726" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="734" CreationDate="2012-01-30T22:28:49.707" Score="13" ViewCount="5605" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a standard kayaking class, you're taught solo self-rescues using a paddle float and assisted rescues using another kayak. Then there are eskimo rolls. But I've also heard about other self-rescue techniques after a wet exit without a paddle float (ladder, cowboy, scramble). What options are there for kayak self-rescues without a paddle float or a friend, and in what conditions would each be used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:22:45.320" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T13:15:15.117" Title="What are the options for kayak self-rescue without a paddle float?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="727" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="735" CreationDate="2012-01-30T23:14:08.457" Score="12" ViewCount="825" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lensatic Compasses seem to be priced from $5 to $100 USD.  What features should I look for when buying one?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:14:55.707" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:14:55.707" Title="What should I look for when buying a Lensatic Compass" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="724" CreationDate="2012-01-30T23:38:52.777" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Wikipedia article has a lot of detail: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no fee. In the USA, the response comes from government agencies such as the Coast Guard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does need to be registered, but registration is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;free and easy online&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use it when there's not an emergency, you could be fined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="159" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T22:33:02.627" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:33:02.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="725" CreationDate="2012-01-31T00:20:19.340" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normal detergent should be able to break down the poisonous oils in question, it shouldn't require any specialist stuff to remove them. Just be sure of a few things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash infected clothes separate from &quot;clean&quot; (i.e. unaffected) ones to eliminate any possible risk of spreading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make especially sure you don't overload the machine - leave plenty of room so the detergent can soak the clothes easily. If it's packed full then parts may be left unwashed, or not washed effectively as they could have been.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the highest recommended temperature that you can to maximise the changes of breaking down the oils.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T00:20:19.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="730" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="733" CreationDate="2012-01-31T00:36:17.510" Score="13" ViewCount="1346" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I were lost in the North American woods, how could I make a signal fire that would attract attention many miles away ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="128" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T03:58:54.467" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T03:58:54.467" Title="How to make a signal fire that can be seen miles away" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="730" CreationDate="2012-01-31T01:02:20.583" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Build a tripod with 3 branches, then make a platform with 3 more about 1/3 of the way up the tripod. Prepare a tinder bundle and kindling as you would for a normal fire (dry grass, small bark flakes and moss for the tinder and small, dry branches for the kindling.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've got the basic fire going, green, leafy branches and damp moss can be used above the fire to produce a lot of smoke when the flames hit them which should act as a good signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've alerted search &amp;amp; rescue and you're waiting for air support, prepare the fire so it's ready to go but don't light it right away, wait until you can hear them coming, especially if you're in a situation where you don't have much fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T01:02:20.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="726" CreationDate="2012-01-31T01:06:10.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can usually lay the paddle across the kayak as if you had a paddle float and use it for stability to climb in. It's not as stable as a paddle float, but it's better than nothing. If there is another kayaker with you, they can pull up along side you and hold the floatless end of your paddle on their cockpit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also climb in over the side without anything for stability if you grab the far side of the cockpit and are careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull yourself up, perpendicular to the kayak, while you kick yourself out of the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;End up lying across the kayak, perpendicular to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roll over on your back, lower your rear into the seat, and spin around 90 degrees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cram in your legs and you're done.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T15:10:55.807" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T15:10:55.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="730" CreationDate="2012-01-31T03:48:25.247" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this image. I think this is good method since you can prep several signal structures depending where in your camp you are, and where the help might be approaching from. The bigger it is the more smoke it will produce. This way you just have to keep small fire going and, when you need to, you will light up the structures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it is not the size but the contrast that will make you stand out like sore thumb. If you are stranded in winter and everything is covert with snow you are better off with black smoke rather than white. Although I don't know what plants could produce black smoke. I know tires and oiled soaked rags do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you could do tree torch but I don't recommend it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8GRrj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T03:48:25.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="726" CreationDate="2012-01-31T04:52:32.550" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being without a sold &quot;roll&quot;, partner, or paddle float can make it quite challenging for a novice to re-enter their kayak after a capsize. However there are techniques which will make it easier to get back in your boat safely.&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: All of these should first be practiced in mildly shallow water, in flat water. Don't practice in rough water until you can achieve these in flat water. &lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt; no self rescue can be called &lt;strong&gt;confident&lt;/strong&gt; until you can reliably perform it in conditions &lt;strong&gt;rougher&lt;/strong&gt; than you like to paddle in. You are most likely to capsize in &lt;strong&gt;rough&lt;/strong&gt; conditions, not flat water, so work up to the challenging stuff. &lt;strong&gt;With a partner or group.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second note&lt;/strong&gt;: No amount of reading or self study is substitute for a good teacher, and practical experience. Don't think that because you read this article that you now are competent in self rescue. You can only get that from practice. Join a paddle club, and get &lt;strong&gt;face to face assistance&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that's out of the way...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;From easiest to most challenging...&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: All except the wet entrance and roll should be attempted with a partially empty boat. Do this by tipping the boat from the bow with your body weight and using a quick flip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ladder Crawl&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beginning from the back of the boat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stow your paddle in the deck rigging, to get it out of your way, and prevent losing it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orient so that bow is perpendicular to the prevailing direction of the waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holding the stern, use your body weight to bring the stern under the surface. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wait for a swell to raise the boat bow further, then make a quick kick with your feet, and launch your torso on top of the stern decking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your body low, and your legs wide in the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly work forward to the cockpit, staying low.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop your butt into the cockpit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kick your legs over the cockpit combing and into the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pump out remaining water, and reapply the spray skirt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rodeo&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Same as above, store your paddle in the deck rigging, try to make it perpendicular to the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orient the boat so that the bow and stern are in line with the direction of prevailing waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Approach the stern of the boat &lt;strong&gt;perpendicularly&lt;/strong&gt; and grab onto the &lt;em&gt;safety lines&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;not bungees&lt;/strong&gt; along the sides of the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wait for a wave to raise the bow, then launch your torso onto the stern deck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kick one leg over the stern and orient with your head towards the bow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow steps 4-8 above in &quot;The Ladder&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Side-entry without float&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insert paddle into rigging, behind cockpit, and twist to lock into place. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orient with paddle blade face, &quot;&lt;em&gt;Feathered&lt;/em&gt;&quot; against the water. (Increases resistance after weighting, lowering roll chances)&#xA;2.Place leg on top of paddle, grab cock pit combing, and kick opposite leg up and into the cock pit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will end up face down, looking toward the stern of the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring other leg into cock pit (&lt;strong&gt;quickly&lt;/strong&gt;), and twist body to orient towards the bow (&lt;strong&gt;slowly&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove paddle from rigging. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pump out remaining water and re-apply spray skirt. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Re-entry and Roll&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: This is a move usually only achievable by someone with a semi-consistent roll. Also, do not worry about the water in the cockpit unless it is &lt;strong&gt;completely&lt;/strong&gt; full. Water can actually help, because the boat will sit lower in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the boat turned upside down. (&lt;strong&gt;Do not&lt;/strong&gt; flip right side up!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orient the boat so that the bow and stern are perpendicular to the direction of travel of the waves. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waves should be washing over the side of the boat. (Usually a bad thing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Align yourself along the side of the boat, and grab the cockpit combing with your inside hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slide your legs into the cockpit partially. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a breath and slide your legs all the way into the cock pit while submerging your body under the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take your paddle, align it parallel to the boat so that your lead hand (strong) is forward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a fast but consistent motion make a 180 degree arc. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the weak hand as a fulcrum.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let the strong hand break the surface of the water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At 90 degrees drive lead hand underwater by arcing your back and plunging your body &lt;strong&gt;deeper&lt;/strong&gt; under water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Complete the motion&lt;/strong&gt;, and finish with your back near the stern of the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your boat (with any practice and luck) will be on top of the water right side up. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Empty the boat of water, and re-apply the spray skirt.&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Next time paddle with a buddy, and a paddle float.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please see these excellent videos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/eCC-oX-OsWg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Self rescue - The Ladder&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/sIw_Kurhizg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Self rescue - The Sweep Roll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-06T00:59:52.607" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T00:59:52.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="727" CreationDate="2012-01-31T05:14:10.650" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lensatic Compasses are often used by the military, because the are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reliable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stealthy (more on this)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The things that I would look for in a lensatic compass are:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Solid outer casing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sighting guide with thin slot or notch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass latching cover.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electrically buffered needle&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some lensatic needles are buffered with oil, which can leak.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radioactive &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Tritium&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; powered illumination&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do Not&lt;/strong&gt; use a compass with &lt;strong&gt;Radium&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to read bezel for night time bearings and triangulations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Stealth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;One of the great advantages to the lensatic compass is their use in night time navigation. The compass bezel is illuminated with a radioactive isotope. All modern lensatic compasses use &lt;strong&gt;Tritium&lt;/strong&gt;, older compasses used to use &lt;strong&gt;Radium&lt;/strong&gt;, but their use was linked to cancer, so don't use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The radioactive tritium particles are low energy beta particles and are not harful for external use, (they cannot pass through clothing or skin). As long as you don't swallow them you are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for the illumination is so that the compasses can be used without any external light source. The military, especially special forces, love this. It allows for &quot;dark&quot; navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Other information&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All radioactive isotopes have a half life. And Tritium's is 12 years, so in 12 years your compass will be half as bright as it is the day you bought it, then 12 years later, another half life. And so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Links to other information...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lensaticcompass.blogspot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lensatic Compass Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="3238" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T00:15:37.017" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T00:15:37.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="736" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-31T13:57:11.137" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rapid oxidation of a material in process of combustion, releasing heat, light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T07:30:38.100" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:30:38.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="737" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-31T13:57:11.137" Score="0" Body="Questions related to fires. Questions about firewood should use the firewood tag and questions about starting fires should use the fire-starting tag" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T18:28:45.683" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T18:28:45.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="738" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-31T13:59:08.297" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compasses are a navigational instrument giving a frame of reference based on North, South, East and West, as well as their intermediate directions such as South East, North West. This is based on Magnetic North, and not True or Grid North. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grid North the direction of a grid line which is parallel to the central meridian on the National Grid. True North is the direction of a meridian of longitude which converges on the North Pole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T10:26:04.227" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T10:26:04.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="739" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-31T13:59:08.297" Score="0" Body="Compasses are a navigational instrument utilising a magnetized needle giving a frame of reference based on North, South, East and West, as well as their intermediate directions such as SE, NW etc. This is based on Magnetic North, and not True or Grid North." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T10:25:36.687" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T10:25:36.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="740" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="744" CreationDate="2012-01-31T15:26:34.847" Score="18" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;Luckily this has never happened to me, but even the most prepared hiker can often get themselves into difficulties if they run out of water. My question here is in your experience in remote arid mountainous locations (*), If I have run out of water where are good places to look for water sources?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remote as in more than a day's walk from civilization. Arid meaning lack of visible streams.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T16:14:55.937" Title="Where are good places to look for water sources when I have run out on a multi-day hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="392" CreationDate="2012-01-31T15:44:57.263" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;DEET can be harmful to the skin if you suffer from any skin disorders such as Eczema (as I do). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have recently started using a product called &lt;a href=&quot;http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Smidge&lt;/a&gt; when hiking in Midge infested areas of Scotland. More details can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk/images/uploads/Smidge%20January%202011.pdf&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. The manufactorers claim it works on a variety of biting insects including Midges, Ticks and Mosquitoes. It does work with Midges! I'm going to see if it works on Mosquitoes when I go to SE Asia later in the year!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have in the past also used Repel 55 Insect Repellent Spray when travelling in Latin America and that seemed to work okay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="122" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T15:50:08.100" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T15:50:08.100" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="740" CreationDate="2012-01-31T16:08:53.247" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds obvious, but if you've got enough fuel and it's snowy, gather some to melt. Bear in mind though that you'll get vastly less water than you might expect, so be prepared to grab lots of it. Stay away from coloured snow as well, not just for the obvious reason but because very nasty bacteria can also cause coloured snow (pinkish as well as yellow.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's no snow, have a look out for some common signs of water nearby:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Increasingly wet or muddy/boggy ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crevices in rocks (water naturally collects here)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Converging animal tracks can often lead to a water source&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insects - There tend to be more around close by to water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Natural valleys, not just the obvious big ones but little ones as well. They tend to be where water collects.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dried up stream / river beds. Even if there's no water, follow them downhill and they may well merge with a running water source.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Patches of green foliage, especially green leafy trees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there really is no surface water, your best bet is probably to build a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot;&gt;solar still&lt;/a&gt; if the conditions are right. You could also use green leaves and extract water from them via the same method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some sites recommend digging up muddy, boggy ground if available and letting the water drain out through a rudimentary filter made with a bottle / can filled with gravel, bark, sand etc. to filter the water. I wouldn't advice this unless you also have better purification mechanisms at your disposal such as chlorine tablets. Drinking water infected with nasty bacteria will make things a lot worse!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T16:14:55.937" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T16:14:55.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="740" CreationDate="2012-01-31T16:11:20.610" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You always look at places where water could accumulate (here are some not so obvious choices):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra green vegetation like sycamore tree is good indicator of water source. You can utilize the plants &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpiration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;transpiration&lt;/a&gt; via plastic bag or bottle. And just leave it out in the sun. With big enough plastic bag over bush you can collect quite a bit of water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bellow rock walls or slopes where water will seep into the ground. You just have to dig and find it bellow earth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could get water from Cacti, but don't forget to put the cut off part back in place, so the Cacti can heal back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Solar still is always good option. You can put into the pit anything containing water. You could even pee near the pit so the urine gets filtered as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collecting morning dew with your clothing or sponge is also good option. But be careful with the plants you are collecting it from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to always filter your water and boil it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is very good article that discusses long list of water sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://crisistimes.com/survival_water.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://crisistimes.com/survival_water.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T16:11:20.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="385" CreationDate="2012-01-31T17:04:46.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before you make any decisions, you need to decide whether it's just rain or it could have the potential to turn into a storm. If you're not sure then err on the side of a storm, just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a storm then before deciding on how to keep dry, the immediate action you need to take is make sure you're not at risk from being struck, and if you are minimise it. If the storm is right on top of you then crouch down, minimise your contact with the ground (i.e. don't lie down) and wait for it to pass. If it's a few miles away then see if you can get to lower ground or in a wooded area for shelter, though obviously not a single tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've mitigated the risk of lightning strike then quickly get out any waterproof material you may have and wear it as best you can - coat, hat, etc. (Such items should be accessible for this very reason.) If sensible, get yourself above the wet ground by finding or building a platform out of whatever materials might be lying around and get on top of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather looks like it's set to stay, then look into building a shelter as best you can with the materials available. Don't forget more obvious choices as well - if you know where you are and know that civilisation is nearby for instance you might choose to call it a day, especially if you're ill prepared for the weather you're experiencing. Just make sure you know where you're going, getting lost in such weather is hardly a pleasant experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T17:04:46.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="746" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="759" CreationDate="2012-01-31T17:48:55.980" Score="27" ViewCount="9340" Body="&lt;p&gt;When in the great outdoors, nature is bound to come calling, so what are some good natural toilet paper substitutes when the real thing isn't available? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-19T15:41:28.643" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T11:48:42.373" Title="What are some toilet paper alternatives you could use in the woods?" Tags="&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="747" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:20:54.333" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T18:20:54.333" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:20:54.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="748" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:20:54.333" Score="0" Body="Cold weather can mean a period of specific low temperatures, frequently the freezing point or below. It also describes atmospheric conditions, including wind and factors which lower temperature.  It's also a subjective term, including the feeling of cold under certain conditions, and what to do or use to acclimate during periods of cold, in order to feel warmer. &#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T19:35:31.060" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T19:35:31.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="749" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="753" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:33:35.003" Score="34" ViewCount="6909" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) can be carried during outdoor activities to use in case of an emergency. But are there any guidelines on what exactly constitutes an &quot;emergency&quot;? For example, what about the following situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You slip and fall on a trail several hours away from the trailhead, breaking several bones and putting you in intense pain. Should you hobble back to the trailhead to call for help or activate the PLB?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are bitten by a rattlesnake, experience symptoms of envenomation, and are several hours away from your car. Do you attempt to hike back and call for help or activate the PLB?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While skiing in the morning in an isolated area of a ski resort, you run into a tree and break bones. No one responds to calls for help. Do you activate the PLB or wait until nightfall to see if anyone finds you?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are kind of contrived examples, but basically when is it appropriate to use a PLB? If the answers are different for different countries, I'm wondering specifically about use in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="36" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T08:26:21.253" Title="How bad do circumstances need to be before activating a PLB?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="750" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:36:25.733" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T18:36:25.733" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:36:25.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="751" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:36:25.733" Score="0" Body="Both personal and group hygiene is important when you depart from the structures of civilization and head outdoors." OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T18:36:34.473" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:36:34.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:42:49.347" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short, leaves. But as per the comment, make sure it's nothing that's going to cause skin irritations!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also worth mentioning along the same lines that when doing your business, be sensitive in where you do it - not near bodies of water people might drink from for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:42:49.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:50:25.763" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three criteria to be balanced in my thinking on the situation of when and if to activate a call for help to a rescue service:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have the skills and training to extract yourself safely from the current situation? Equally important is your assessment of what other means of communications are likely to be available in the timeframe your current emergency demands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will activating the beacon now give rescuers more time to assess the situation or do you have time to delay and avoid occupying scarce and potentially costly responder assets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How long will it take for your other safety nets to trigger? How many people know where you are and when you are expected back? Will they call the authorities or just assume you are back and forgot to check in with them?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not advocating delaying a call for help when life is in danger, but instead to only hesitate when you are comfortable that you can handle the situation or that help is near so you can postpone calling on resources when you don't really need them. Similarly, if you are going to need help, everyone is better off if that request gets made &lt;strong&gt;now&lt;/strong&gt; rather than later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:50:25.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2012-01-31T18:56:44.300" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of your situations look like emergencies, especially if you are alone.  I read an article where the National Park Service was angry at use of PLBs because someone climbed a mountain and did not want to down-climb, or they were &quot;tired&quot; but seemed to not have nay other condition that would negatively affect their ability to walk out of the wilderness, or they had a single 1-liter canteen and ran out of water in the desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe misuse of the PLB is when you didn't do your due diligence or continue trying to solve the problem until you were out of options.  I think as long as you are able to walk/self rescue, then do so.  You may be asked to foot the bill for any sort of rescue, and that will likely be several thousand dollars.  If it's worth 5000 bucks to get help, then you are likely ready to flip the switch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T18:56:44.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-01-31T19:03:35.077" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Only in contrived or extreme examples does wearing less clothing about your body in fact make you warmer when camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The areas where I might consider it warmer to not wear clothing inside a sleeping bag are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insufficient ground insulation when sleeping on solid ice or where you have no other viable insulation. In this case, it might make more sense to place the clothes between you and the bag or between the bag and the ground / tarp. This is especially true when the uncompressed side of your sleeping bag is sufficiently lofted but the compressed side is not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothes that are wet and will chill you as the water evaporates or interfere with down insulation in the sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The obvious case where being naked results in additional heat generation due to companionship or &quot;calisthenics&quot; - especially if your clothes are too plaid for your party.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T21:15:27.957" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T21:15:27.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="756" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7940" CreationDate="2012-01-31T19:16:38.023" Score="54" ViewCount="36703" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm home running or on a day hike, I prefer to pierce the skin as soon as a blister forms and drain all fluid from a blister to reduce the pain and further irritation/inflammation. In this case, I know I can get antibacterials and a thorough wash to ward off infection as well as stronger measures if the blister does become infected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course hiking with a tube of neosporin and some tape, moleskin, whatever you prefer is ideal, but I'm wondering what people feel is best for blister care when you are going to keep walking for a few days or more when you discover a nice blister has already formed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there guidance on &quot;pop it now&quot; versus &quot;let it pop itself&quot; for friction blisters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T14:48:09.297" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T14:48:09.297" Title="Should you pop a blister?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2012-01-31T19:23:59.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't burst it, &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; if I was going to be hiking for a few more days - if it does end up getting infected then this could end up making things a lot worse - and it's more likely to happen in the wild!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, I'd advise reducing the irritation as much as possible by wearing multiple / thicker socks, and use blister plasters if you have them. If it's really unbearable then look at shortening your hike if possible, there's no point continuing if it's going to make things worse and just put you in more discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T19:23:59.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2012-01-31T20:32:17.140" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water is also an option, especially if there are no leaves of desirable properties. Deeper puddles, streams, etc. (That you should think twice about consequences for other people goes without saying.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T20:32:17.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2012-01-31T20:51:40.713" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smooth oval rocks (from river beds if possible)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snowball&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rounded sticks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leaves (as said elsewhere, be careful of which kinds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;soft pine cones (relatively rare, but plentiful where they exist!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;handful of grass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry a piece of cloth specifically designed for this purpose and be sure to do two more things: 1 - Don't use the cloth for anything else, and 2 - Wash it clean as regularly as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-06-12T01:43:08.050" LastActivityDate="2012-06-12T01:43:08.050" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:05:51.047" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother, who is a doctor, has always told me to let blisters be. Keeping them unpopped keeps them clean and sterile, and (if I recall correctly) the fluid in them actually helps them heal faster. If you're in the wilderness, you really don't want to pop them and risk infection. Even if you have antibacterials, a popped blister is likely to contact dirt and pathogens through use, you can't be putting antibacterial on it all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I never really thought a popped blister felt any better anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T21:05:51.047" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:12:38.847" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are running long distances over multiple days with boots, packs etc., and you &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; complete the distance you should plan to pop a blister at the end of day, but then you need to be sure you add some sort of padding to replace the protection the blister is giving you. You also need it cleaned and sealed, so antibacterial cleaner, then compeed, fakeskin or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shorter distances, like the day hike you mention, just leave it - plan to wear more padding around it for a few days and it will go down nicely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One exception - if you get a big blister under a toenail, get rid of it as quickly as you can or you may end up with the nail bed permanently damaged. This happened to me after one marathon and I ended up needing a lot of surgery and cauterisation to remove a nail bed that had become canted up at a 30 degree angle. Not fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T21:12:38.847" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:14:15.850" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A PLB should be activated when search and rescue is required for an emergency with the danger of serious injury or loss of life, and when other emergency response methods are not available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T00:36:15.990" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T00:36:15.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="764" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="783" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:22:22.877" Score="19" ViewCount="1477" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy a canteen, and I have choice between aluminum, stainless steel, enamel and various kinds of plastic.  I had canteens before that made any liquid taste horrible after just few hours.  I would like to find one that does not affect the taste of water too much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:31:23.127" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:31:23.127" Title="What kind of canteen material will have the least effect on the taste of water?" Tags="&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:22:26.587" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Physical barriers are my deterrent of choice. A good hat with mosquito netting is a northern Minnesota must have. Second best is traveling with someone more attractive to the insects than you. The amount of technical wear that is intended to shield you from biting insects is astounding and any decent outfitter can assist you in what works for the locality in which you are going to be spending time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T21:22:26.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="766" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="770" CreationDate="2012-01-31T21:31:34.977" Score="44" ViewCount="20632" Body="&lt;p&gt;When backpacking in freezing weather, water in a canteen often turns to ice.  I am looking for a canteen that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will not burst when the volume of water increases due to freezing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will make it possible, and not too difficult, to extract the frozen water, by melting, by breaking into chunks and shaking out, or by some other convenient way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of canteen or other container should I get?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:31:34.717" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T20:16:36.937" Title="How to carry water in freezing temperatures?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="767" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="771" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:04:26.880" Score="46" ViewCount="83890" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've enjoyed hiking my entire life but I have one huge problem. The skin on my feet is extremely soft and sensitive. I wear good wool socks with properly fitting boots and change socks during long hikes. Still, if I am going to be on the trail for a few days in a row, I will develop numerous blisters on my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read some suggestions in the past, like an alcohol based solution that mildly dries the skin, and can help harden skin over a long period of time. This is supposed to be dangerous if you dry the skin out too much though. I try to walk barefoot on various surfaces when the weather allows to toughen my feet up with some success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are other methods that are safe to harden the skin on your feet? This does not need to be a quick remedy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2021-01-02T18:56:21.080" Title="How to harden feet to avoid blisters on long hikes" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="14" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="768" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="776" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:06:43.037" Score="26" ViewCount="29834" Body="&lt;p&gt;When doing outdoor sports like hiking or biking I'll always take a lot of cold water with me. I love to drink cold water and I feel more refreshed compared to drinking warm or not-so-cold water. But when the weather is really hot, I have a problem. I can't keep the water cool the whole day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried various techniques like trying to isolate the bottles in towels or dedicated water coolers that you can buy in supermarkets. But nothing worked for the whole day. So what is the best option to keep water cool a whole day? I should add that I only use &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate&quot;&gt;PET&lt;/a&gt; bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T22:55:12.860" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T21:12:53.890" Title="How to keep water cold in hot weather?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:07:03.880" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Species in the forest will vary by locale. Here in the &lt;strong&gt;Pacific Northwest&lt;/strong&gt;, Thimbleberry aka Salmonberry leaves are thick and soft, so they make a good wiping implement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The subtly-named &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0898156270&quot;&gt;How to Shit in the Woods&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is a good primer on this topic. One option described there is to use urine. Basically, you hold back the urine until you're done with the bowel movement, then use the pee to wash up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clean your hands afterwards, cedar can help. Take a bite of cedar scales (leaves) straight from a tree. Chew it up &amp;amp; mix with saliva. Spit it out on to your hands and rub all over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:07:03.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:11:44.220" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option is to keep your water bottle inside your jacket and use your body heat to prevent the water from freezing. Many mountaineering jackets have internal elasticated mesh pockets for this purpose. Alternatively, I find I can just put the water bottle inside my jacket and use the waist belt of my rucksack to prevent the bottle from falling down inside the jacket. The other advantage is easy access to water without having to go to your rucksack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If storing the bottle within your jacket, keep in mind that this will drain body heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To keep the water bottle from freezing without sacrificing body heat keep the water bottle in a 'water bottle parka'. These can be purchased at many outdoor retailers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also make these out of old &quot;ensolite&quot; sleeping pads by making a tube with a top and bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nalgene bottles such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.nalgene.com/Water-Bottle-32-ounce-wide-mouth-p/32%20ounce%20wide%20mouth.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; advertises it &quot;withstands sub-freezing to boiling temperatures&quot;. Just be sure to not fill it completely as the cap will pop and potentially split the side of the bottle if a perfectly full nalgene bottle freezes completely through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a good practical review of different storage vessels and their performance in freezing conditions, see this excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/cold-weather-test-for-water-bottles/346816/p2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-08T02:07:43.143" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T02:07:43.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:14:32.823" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never succeed in &quot;hardening&quot; my feet against blisters, even when I was barefoot growing up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However these things have worked for me&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vaseline or (preferably) diaper rash ointment before putting on socks  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.injinji.com/&quot;&gt;Injinji toe socks&lt;/a&gt; (If I double socks, these are always my base layer)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These worked on long hikes even when my feet got wet, and even in poorly fitting boots.  Foot blisters from hiking are caused by friction.  Toe socks, in my experience, negate 99% of the friction between and around your toes.  Diaper rash ointment has two purposes.  It repels moisture, and damp feet are the highest friction.  It is also ridiculously slick, and doesn't wipe or wash off easily.  The slick nature reduces friction, and the durability means it is very likely to last for the entire hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of powders are sold and used, even baby powder, but in my experience those increase friction once they get damp.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another common product is runner's lube (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000TS8MHG&quot;&gt;Mueller Lube Stick&lt;/a&gt;).  I've never noticed any improvement over diaper rash ointment and runners lube costs more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another common method is to wear more breathable shoes to reduce moisture.  This does help, but I have found that with (1) and (2) above I can wear any shoes I want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-08-18T18:07:37.463" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T18:07:37.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="772" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="781" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:16:51.450" Score="40" ViewCount="2792" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of areas that are good for hiking or backpacking are also popular hunting grounds.  I am an avid backpacker and hiker, but I do not know much about hunting.  How do I find out what is the hunting season in a particular area, and when backpacking during hunting season, how do I avoid getting shot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2014-11-19T03:08:08.953" Title="Backpacking or hiking in areas open to hunting" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:24:23.230" Score="22" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sound like a human, so TALK&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a bright orange vest, and other bright (not white) clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try not to hike deer routes in the peak times (6am to 9am and 6pm to&#xA;9pm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Similar to the one above, stay on trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally large game are the seasons of highest concern (deer&#xA;mostly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your local DNR (Department of Natural Resources) website (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.georgiawildlife.com/hunting&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;) will have the hunting season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to say all hunters are safe, but there's a reason I don't hunt public land.  Also the biggest threat is poachers, who are going to ignore all of the above, as well as season, legality, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T23:19:20.530" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:19:20.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:25:40.863" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hunting seasons and licenses are an issue handled by the states in the US. So check the website of the state you want to backpack/hike in to find out about their various seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly, in most areas this isn't a problem because hunting has to be kept to private land. I live on the East Coast and there are plenty of public land, like the Appalachian Trail, that does not have hunting on it, even in season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:25:40.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:37:01.720" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freeze the bottles, then keep them together if possible. Any insulation around them will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T22:37:01.720" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2012-01-31T22:54:53.913" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;In dry climates you can take advantage of evaporative cooling - especially on a bike. In hot and humid places you are stuck with insulation and pre-cooled water and/or ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you experimented to see if a cloth wrapper around your bottles is enough to cool things when damp? Of course, you're not going to get highly chilled water, but it can be refreshingly cool with just a little time and breeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T23:44:23.837" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:44:23.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:02:13.453" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;500 ml and 20 oz water bottles from a convenience store will freeze without breaking. You can carry them inside your clothes, in your pack next to your body, and keep them inside your sleeping bag to help keep them from freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:02:13.453" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:15:43.373" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;For winter hiking, I prefer to wear a hydration bladder inside my coat and you can fill it with warm water if desired for an extra heat bonus when you start out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When camping in the very cold, you can often find / treat water and just heat up enough for a day or half day and carry that water closer to your body. Also, a bottle inside a spare fleece, sweater or sleeping bag won't freeze after a long day unless the outside temperatures are really quite far below zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, inverting the bottle or bladder lets any ice that may form rise away from the hose or opening so that you can still open / drink if the water happens to succumb to the freezing temperatures despite your actions to insulate and warm it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2014-03-17T21:24:40.620" LastActivityDate="2014-03-17T21:24:40.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="764" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:20:37.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Run the canteen through a dishwasher a time or two and it will get rid of the odd taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:20:37.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:27:57.307" Score="74" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydrated food is key.  Water weighs a LOT. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast -- Any variation on oatmeal.  You can make your own or buy prepackaged meals.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Lunch -- Peanut butter on hard tack.  (did i mention water?)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Dinner -- Any dehydrated meal will do.  I've used both Mountain House and Backpackers pantry.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Snacks -- I prefer Clif bars and Justin Nut Butter for a good weight/calorie/taste   compromise.  Luna bars are more calories per ounce but (IMO) taste horrid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far the biggest weight factor in food is going to be water.  If you know your route will have water, carry minimal.  I have went so far as to carry only one liter (emergency) and drink from a .5 liter bottle that I sterilize with a steripen or other purifier.  Needless to say, you have to be pretty darned sure, because not having water is a huge issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, repack all your food.  Even with dehydrated meals you can cut ounces by repacking them all into ziplocs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a very lightweight stove &amp;amp; fuel.  A lot of hikers swear by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage-can_stove&quot;&gt;beer can method&lt;/a&gt; here, but I find my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/660163/msr-pocketrocket-backpacking-stove&quot;&gt;msr pocket rocket&lt;/a&gt; to be fine.  But if you really want to cut ounces, go with the can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a snow peak .7L titanium cup for all of my cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a titanium spork.  Great weight ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went a little beyond just food into the whole eating plan, but I hope it helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T11:37:56.353" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T11:37:56.353" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:38:03.237" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is to know what is being hunted so you can know how the hunters should be approaching their prey. It's best to talk to several hunters to find out from them where they will be concentrating, but it's hard to control for any random person with their own ideas about how they will be approaching their hunting. The vast majority of hunters are extremely safety conscious and will go out of their way to educate anyone who is curious about safety and sharing the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turkey season is generally horrible since hunters are so camouflaged and hidden whereas deer season is better with everyone lit up in blaze orange for visibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, you probably don't really care if you are scaring off the game so wear vibrant colors, make a lot of noise and avoid heavy brush and areas with limited sight lines. Wide open areas with a clear view are safest. Noise is really your best tool since you also should be concerned about ricochet, misfires and target practice as well as intentionally placed shots where you happen to be directly behind the target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-01-31T23:43:08.143" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:43:08.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:56:12.893" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mix the water in with lots of crushed ice - or even just use crushed ice to start with rather than water. I prefer this approach over just freezing the bottle outright because I find it easier to get the water out when I want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, I'd try wrapping cloth and then foil round the bottle (shiny side on the outside) which should help to keep at least some of the heat out. You could also freeze / chill both the cloth and the foil before you wrap them round - that'll provide that extra bit of chill as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-01-31T23:56:12.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="764" CreationDate="2012-01-31T23:59:15.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you wash the canteen thoroughly before using it then it shouldn't affect the taste too much regardless of what material its made from - I'd recommend this anyway just as a matter of course. Wash once, soak overnight in hot, soapy water then wash again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where this might come into play more is your lips physically touching the metal when you're drinking from it, which may well make it taste metallic - I've found this as well with several metal containers and tend to prefer plastic ones for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T01:58:55.173" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T01:58:55.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2012-02-01T00:09:10.740" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I'd recommend soft plastic type water bottles if they'll be frozen (though still check that this is ok with the manufacturer.) I've heard some people recommend Nalgene bottles for this, but have heard stories from more than one other source about them splitting when left to completely freeze. A softer plastic will allow for a bit of expansion when freezing - you could also squeeze it a bit when you add the water so it expands into its normal shape as it freezes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out already, you can if you wish mix the water with a bit of alcohol to stop it freezing so easily, and you can also insulate the bottle with cloth / foil to try and keep as much heat in as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T00:09:10.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2012-02-01T00:25:25.690" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're hiking in &lt;strong&gt;dry&lt;/strong&gt;, hot weather places, and you have a whole backpacking setup your best bet is to store your water deep in your pack.  The sun is your only real enemy here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the desert, I've had success with packing my bag so that my water is &quot;wrapped&quot; in my insulated gear - jacket and sleeping bag.  Since I don't actually want to expose my sleeping bag to the possibility of a water spill (desert nights are still darn cold!), I usually put the water against the small of my back, and the sleeping bag in it's compression bag on &lt;strong&gt;top&lt;/strong&gt;.  Then I wrap my jacket around the front/bottom of the water.  Pack the rest of your bag as best as possible around those items (it will be less comfortable and carry more awkwardly for sure).  This way, the sun beats down on your sleeping bag and warms the top of it significantly.  It insulates the water from that heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night, leave your water out on the ground and make sure you pack it in the morning before the sun gets up.  You will have the coolest water possible :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T00:25:25.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2012-02-01T01:26:21.937" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short - be sensible. Make yourself easily seen and heard, don't walk near somewhere you hear gunfire, and where possible stick to open areas on clear, marked paths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I'd also question the wisdom of hiking somewhere when hunting is happening; if there's a sensible alternative that seems like the logical option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of where to look for information, look up the local authority's website and from there you can usually find the various times that you need. If you can't find it then find an official contact and send an email, they should guide you to the right place or be able to provide the information needed. Preparation in due course is key here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a related note, if you're talking about army training / live fire then stay out of the area entirely when this is going on - it'd be stupid (and most probably illegal) to stray into such an area. North Dartmoor in the UK for instance is an area where this happens, but the information on times is easily available online, it's clearly marked on maps and there are clear posts on the moors to indicate the boundary markers for these areas too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T01:26:21.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="788" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="790" CreationDate="2012-02-01T02:02:09.367" Score="20" ViewCount="10107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm curious how one could get/make some glue when in the wilderness.  How did the Native Americans do it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-02-13T14:56:47.343" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T14:56:47.343" Title="What are some natural glues found in North American nature?" Tags="&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2012-02-01T02:13:33.750" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking each one in turn:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the trailhead is several hours away you're not feasibly going to be able to get there on your own with broken bones, and may seriously injure yourself further doing so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Several hours away normally could turn into a lot longer if you're bitten by a rattlesnake, and again by attempting the hike rather than resting you're going to make things worse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're in pain, you've tried to call for help, no-one's come and chances are if you're out there much longer nasties like hypothermia will start to set in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...So yes, I'd say each of those situations warrants the use of the PLB. Each is a potentially life threatening situation, each requires immediate action and, assuming you have no-one with you and no other means of contacting anyone else nearby, could be deadly unless you get help immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would guess what annoys the authorities are cases where people activate them when there's really no case of an emergency at all (I had a headache, he pulled a muscle, we're really tired, she has a few minor cuts from this rock), or people landing themselves in danger through being completely stupid (taking no / little water on a long hike in the heat, getting lost, wet and tired and so on.) That's not to say you &lt;em&gt;shouldn't&lt;/em&gt; activate it if you find yourself in danger after being an idiot of course, but the powers that be won't be best impressed if you've landed yourself in serious trouble through your own lack of preparation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, if you find yourself in a potentially deadly situation you have no other feasible way out of, I'd say activate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2018-08-10T08:26:21.253" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T08:26:21.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="788" CreationDate="2012-02-01T02:19:41.293" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fabulous source for detailed information on north american plants suitable for glue production can be obtained from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?title=native%20american%20ethnobotany&amp;amp;mtype=B&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman&lt;/a&gt;. Here are quite a few that come to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericameria_nauseosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chrysothamnus nauseosus ssp. hololeucus (Gray) Hall &amp;amp; Clements, Rubber Rabbitbrush&lt;/a&gt;: Bulbs roasted and the juice used as a substitute for glue in attaching feathers to arrows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S4VbD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorogalum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chlorogalum sp., Soap Root&lt;/a&gt;: Bulbs made into glue and used to fasten sinew on the backs of the sinew-backed bows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NeGql.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindelia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grindelia integrifoliavdr. macrophylla (Greene) Cronq.&lt;/a&gt;, Sticky sap used like glue,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dl1oK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipomopsis_aggregata&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ipomopsis aggregata (Pursh) V. Grant ssp. aggregata, Skyrocket Gilia&lt;/a&gt;, Whole plant boiled for glue,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BziHc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picea_glauca&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, White Spruce&lt;/a&gt;, Warmed pitch used as glue to patch birchbark canoes and to attach feathers to arrows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/liKdH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picea_sitchensis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picea sitchemis (Bong.) Carr., Sitka Spruce&lt;/a&gt;, Rendered pitch used as a glue for arrows and harpoons before they were tied.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QAKMu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_contorta&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud., Lodgepole Pine&lt;/a&gt;, Resin boiled with buffalo phallus and used as a glue for head dresses and bows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/riERO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-needle_Pi%C3%B1on&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus edulisEngelm., Twoneedle Pinyon,&lt;/a&gt; Pitch used to glue arrows and cradleboards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GM40Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_Pine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus elliottii Engelm., Slash Pine&lt;/a&gt;, Plant used to make arrow point glue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0NuHB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Pine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus muricata D. Don, Bishop Pine&lt;/a&gt;, Pitch used like glue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MfOvI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_White_Pine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PiltUS monticola Dougl. ex D. Don, Western White Pine&lt;/a&gt;, Pitch used as&#xA;glue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S1Ijz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponderosa_Pine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus ponderosa P. &amp;amp; C. Lawson, Ponderosa Pine&lt;/a&gt;, Fasteners Pitch used as glue in arrow making and other manufactures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RtsnV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_balsamifera&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (Torr. &amp;amp; Gray ex Hook.) Brayshaw, Black Cottonwood&lt;/a&gt;, Leaf buds, in spring, used as glue to stick feathers to arrows, Bud scale resin used to glue arrowhead onto shafts and in making spears, fishhooks, and canoes. Buds used as a binding agent to glue duck feathers to red cedar hoops used for festive applications.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RRILy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_chokecherry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prunus virginiana L, Common Chokecherry&lt;/a&gt;, Sap mixed with the neck portion of certain animals and used to make a glue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lqoEJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_racemosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sambucus racemosa L, Scarlet Elderberry&lt;/a&gt;, Water proofing Agent fruite or flower glue used to waterproof cedar bark rain hats.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rhFY8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphaeralcea_angustifolia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sphaeralcea angustifolia ssp. lobata (Woot.) Kearney, Copper Globemallow&lt;/a&gt;, Root sap rubbed on the skin and used as glue for feathers and cotton during dances.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5ozBS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many more plants. For a complete list please get &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?title=native%20american%20ethnobotany&amp;amp;mtype=B&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman&lt;/a&gt;. I might have missed some so please get the book!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T01:20:28.280" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T01:20:28.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="788" CreationDate="2012-02-01T02:20:45.490" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Conifers are your friend here - they have a sticky sap which can be used as the base ingredient for a natural glue. It hardens relatively quickly on exposure to air and in its solid form is quite easy to store without sticking to everything, so if you have this in mind it's a good idea to collect some as you see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you've got your pitch (the hardened sap from conifers) melt 5 parts of it in a pan to one part charcoal and one part finely crushed plant material. It'll become black, sticky and (as soon as heat is removed) very thick. This is great for storage because you can roll it into a ball as it cools, then heat some up when you intend to use it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word of warning - it's highly flammable, so watch out (especially when mixing the initial ingredients together!) Cook on hot charcoal / coals rather than an open flame to mitigate the risk somewhat of it catching fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T02:20:45.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2012-02-01T03:22:38.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do a few things and they are helping very much:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walk around in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-choose-barefoot-minimalist-running-shoes.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Barefoot Running Shoes&lt;/a&gt;. You don't have to get the freaky ones with the separated toes. I have ones that look like normal sneakers. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learn the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/Fox-Walking-And-Wide-Angle-Vision-s/91.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;fox walk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear double socks. One thin pair and one normal pair. The friction will get distributed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to walk slower and enjoy the hike by paying more attention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shave off the calluses on your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-08-18T18:00:02.750" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T18:00:02.750" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="764" CreationDate="2012-02-01T03:25:17.683" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the bad taste does not come from the bottle itself, but from the lid.  I had an old aluminum canteen that gave a strong rotten taste to water, which came from a cork seal that was a part of the screw on lid.  Replacing the cork seal with a new one fixed the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T03:25:17.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-02-01T03:36:53.407" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go off-trail into the woods, I bring a topographic map, compass and GPS with me; of the three, the one I use least is the compass and the one I use most is the map, because I have learned to read the terrain and match it to the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you know which way is north, that may be very little help in knowing where you are, how to get where you want to go, or how to get there safely (e.g. avoiding ravines, cliffs, and other natural hazards).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to read a topographic map and it will serve you very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="180" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T03:36:53.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2012-02-01T03:51:56.663" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the National Forests are open to hunting -- but check first -- whereas most of the National Parks are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="180" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T03:51:56.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2012-02-01T06:48:52.407" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in other answers, it will depend on the type of your backpack.  You can for example pack like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First you unbuckle all straps of your backpack, and lay it on the ground.  Next to it you spread your ground sheet or shelter half, fold your sleeping bag or blanket on top of it, so it will be about as wide as the central part of your backpack, and put your extra clothes, food for cooking in the evening and morning, and anything that you will not need during the day, like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xPRZ1.png&quot; alt=&quot;Packing, step 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you fold the top and bottom parts of the sheet over your sleeping bag or blanket,and roll everything up tightly.  Place the roll on the central part of the bag (if the roll is too large, you have too much stuff.  Get rid of some of it), like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2sBs0.png&quot; alt=&quot;Packing, steps 2, 3 and 4&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fold the bottom flap up over the roll, fold the side flaps over the roll as well, thread the side straps through the middle strip on the bottom flap, and buckle them to the other side strap.   Then fold the top flap with a detachable compartment down, and buckle the long bottom strap to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place items that you will need on the trail, but don't want to keep in your pockets (map, snacks, emergency kit, rain poncho, ...) into the top detachable compartment.  Strap your pot, canteen, hatchet, knife etc to the outside of the pack with extra straps, and you are ready to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="55" LastEditDate="2018-10-06T22:04:34.923" LastActivityDate="2018-10-06T22:04:34.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="604" CreationDate="2012-02-01T08:10:48.410" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess it all depends on the pack size of your mummy sleeping bag. Typically army issues haversacks have dimensions of anything ranging between 12x12&quot; to 13&quot;x18&quot; (30x30cm and 33x45cm). If the compression bag that comes with the sleeping bag does not fit when you place it in the haversack, you could use a different compression sack where you could change the dimensions of the pack size to fit the bag. But you will be lucky as most of the cheaper mummy bags typically compress to the size of the bag you want to place it in or larger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recommendation would be to buy a different maybe a more compact and light sleeping bag which will fit better. But depending on your budget, say something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snugpak.com/index.php?MenuID=114-119&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Snugpac Softie Technic 2/3&lt;/a&gt; would be good. I'm sure with a little bit of searching you could find a cheaper one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind technology improves all the time! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T08:10:48.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2012-02-01T14:07:51.160" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is also called &quot;Freedom to roam&quot;. Here is a list of countries with detailed information of what is allowed and not allowed around Europe: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Freedom to roam.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="165" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T05:55:49.710" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T05:55:49.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="799" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="800" CreationDate="2012-02-01T15:54:53.690" Score="13" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;From time to time I enjoy taking hikes in the mountains to see a beautiful sunrise and sunset. When doing this, I always guess when the sun will rise that day and then I plan my tour accordingly. But this is not always that easy, especially in the mountains, when other mountains can delay a sunrise dramatically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'm looking for a tool or resource where I can enter the coordinates of the mountain I want to visit and that then calculates the time of sunrise and sunset.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T08:25:49.323" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T00:30:22.340" Title="Is there a tool that can calculate the time of sunrise?" Tags="&lt;resources&gt;&lt;sunrise&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="799" CreationDate="2012-02-01T16:07:41.923" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This web page should do the job, and also has a draggable map and list of cities if you want to select one of those rather than entering in manual co-ordinates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/&quot;&gt;http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T16:07:41.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="802" CreationDate="2012-02-01T16:16:03.450" Score="54" ViewCount="153556" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that every tutorial I read and show I watch shows people using rocks for everything from a cooking surface to boiling water.  However, I have had rocks crack in half on me, and I've always been warned that they can explode from rapidly expanding moisture embedded within them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much of a risk is this and how is it best avoided?  A nice flat rock is a great cooking surface in the woods, so if there's a safe way to use them, I would like to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:45:51.370" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:45:51.370" Title="How to avoid exploding rocks" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="801" CreationDate="2012-02-01T16:26:28.867" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's two main things that generally cause this, the first being the moisture content in the rock and the second being the type of rock. If the rock is wet and you heat it rapidly, any water will turn to steam and put pressure on the rock, forcing shards of it to break off rapidly. Secondly the type of rock matters, layered rocks such as sandstone are much more likely to split and perhaps explode because of the weaker bonds between their layers. As pointed out below, watch out for very smooth rocks - a sign that they may have been on a river bed at some point in their lives and therefore have water trapped deep in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose hard, dry, un-layered rocks then you should be fine. When in doubt, you can build your fire on top of the rock the first night and heat it up safely covered to drive out whatever moisture may be trapped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-02-03T23:05:46.930" LastActivityDate="2013-02-03T23:05:46.930" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="806" CreationDate="2012-02-01T16:59:43.763" Score="14" ViewCount="581" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out in the wilderness and find myself in need of a rope I don't have with me (forgotten, not enough, another snapped), how can I make one? Are there any natural ropes I could use with minimal extra preparation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope for use in hanging a bear bag, maybe some lashing or other round-the-campsite miscellaneous uses, in the U.S. northeast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T17:49:38.097" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:21:36.317" Title="How can I make/improvise a rope on a trip?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="804" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="809" CreationDate="2012-02-01T17:27:22.320" Score="21" ViewCount="11573" Body="&lt;p&gt;When backpacking we often carry raw beef which we have salted and frozen, usually cut into strips that can be easily cooked through.  I'm confident that this is good for 24 hours, and I know that meat actually keeps for a lot longer than we think after growing up with refrigeration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long is it safe to keep raw meat on a hike?  (assume temperate conditions, not jungle, not dessert).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T19:18:08.937" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T17:57:49.287" Title="Raw meat on hikes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2012-02-01T17:51:32.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using some sort of leather conditioner, work the boots with your hands.  Flex the toe bend and ankle areas.  Using your thumbs apply very firm pressure to the toebox in circles.  Flex it back and forth as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leather is made supple by use and conditioning.  The conditioner will vary based on your boot.  Some examples are Lexol, Neatsfoot Oil, and Mink oil.  In the really old days this was done by tallow (or other fat) and chewing, followed by tallow and rubbing.  Now most leather is machine conditioned at the hide level, and somewhat further at later steps, but the manufacturing and time on a shelf makes it stiffen up more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Time to condition is also affected by how good the fit is to start with, at least to the degree that we're talking about conditioning for comfort.  Whenever I buy boots I immediately go out and hike five miles (preferably someplace that won't beat the shoes up).  I return the boots if I'm not feeling good with them at the end of that five miles.  Walking around in the store is just not enough to verify fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T17:51:32.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="803" CreationDate="2012-02-01T17:53:13.707" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For hanging packs, you can use vines.  Find a vine you than can bend almost double (the shape of those ribbon campaign ribbons) without it breaking.  You can use those as is, until they dry out.  If you need more weight, you can braid them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't find vines, you can use new green bark off of smaller plants.  If you can peel at least 12&quot; of bark, you can braid it.  Make sure that you pick a bark that does not easily snap when pulled on.  Obviously peeling bark is really harmful to the plants so don't do this for trivial needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small ties, you can braid longer grasses.  This will work fairly well for anything that does not need to hold a lot of weight, for example, f you just need to tie something closed.  We have used this to tie on bandages in a pinch before.  Again, as with vines, if you can't bend it in a small loop without a crack, it will not make good cordage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of braids for rope.  I've always used the simple three strand braid shown here. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hHhtQGNus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hHhtQGNus&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Braiding multiple strands to make a rope of longer length out of shorter strands is pretty tricky.  I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you practice a lot at home first.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:21:36.317" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:21:36.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="803" CreationDate="2012-02-01T18:00:09.530" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you didn't bring rope with you on purpose, you may still have &lt;strong&gt;shoelaces&lt;/strong&gt;. You could use them in a bowdrill to make a fire in an emergency (but you better know how to make and use a bowdrill well beforehand).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two plants that make good cordage here in the Pacific Northwest are &lt;strong&gt;Stinging Nettle&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Fireweed&lt;/strong&gt;. You can use it fresh and green, but if you properly dry it out you can get a very strong rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditional rope is made by &lt;strong&gt;laying up&lt;/strong&gt;. Take 2 strands and hold the ends together. Twist one a 1/2-turn one way around its own axis, and then wrap it a 1/2-turn around the other strand. Do it again with the other strand against the first. With practice you can add a 3rd strand to the mix. This is a very strong setup, as any weakness in 1 strand gets covered by the other 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When one strand nears its end, overlap it with a new strand for a few twists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a bigger rope, lay 3 smaller ropes up together. Repeat as needed for size &amp;amp; strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T18:00:09.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2012-02-01T18:23:17.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your main problem will be people deer hunting, or other large game, with a rifle.  My first bit of advise would be to not even bother going out for the gun season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dangers with large game and gun season are that the prey is takin at a much larger distance, and more confusion could take place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &quot;have&quot; to go out hiking during the gun season I would suggest wearing all blaze orange.  Better safe then sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as being out during small game or bird seasons. One article of blaze orange should be more then sufficient.  Most people will be using a bow or shotgun which have a pretty limited range compared to a rifle and should be able to see you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the other advice about what to wear and where to stay is also very good advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="12" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T22:40:41.180" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T22:40:41.180" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="804" CreationDate="2012-02-01T18:41:11.290" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would say it varies to a high degree since the source of the meat and the cut of the meat will be the primary factors in determining how many bacteria (and which type) will be on the surface of the meat. I wouldn't want to trust hamburger or mass market ground meat for even a few hours not refrigerated - so any meats that are mechanically tenderized or ground would be off my packing list. Assuming a solid cut of meat, you have to now think about surface bacteria primarily and rancidity / decomposition of the entire cut of meat secondarily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practically, a nice cut of meat from my local butcher might be something I'd keep for three days or longer with temperatures in the 40 F (4.4 C)range. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Refrigeration_&amp;amp;_Food_Safety/index.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA standards for refrigeration&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Meat_Preparation_Fact_Sheets/index.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;meat preparation&lt;/a&gt; are good ones to know for both cooking (assuming your meat is contaminated and you need to kill harmful bacteria) and storage. There is a margin of safety on the USDA guidelines, but at least you'll know what risks you are taking when you exceed them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would feel much more comfortable if I was bringing solid cuts of meat from a butcher that I know has whole animals or high quality sources. Your butcher will be invaluable for advice as well on how long certain cuts of raw meat will age. He or she can steer you towards the best cuts when you let them know your plans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be inclined to salt or seal the exposed portions of a large cut of meat and slice off portions as you eat along the journey. Proper cooking will be even more important since bacteria will have much more time to grow if you cannot maintain the meat in the temperature range where bacteria are dormant. With all the sous vide methods for cooking meat inside a sealed package, it seems like you are taking a lot of risk for no real payback in terms of quality of the campsite meal by packing raw meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:23:50.807" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:23:50.807" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2012-02-01T18:46:48.313" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mytopo.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;My Topo&lt;/a&gt; to order waterproof topo maps to take camping with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have a good interactive online tool which you can use to find a specific area.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="200" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:20:47.703" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:20:47.703" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2012-02-01T18:56:45.367" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is how I would evaluate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there any immediate life threats?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you unable to safely move yourself to a place where you can be rescued, faster than help would arrive with a PLB activation?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you unable to manage or stop the life threats on your own?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the answer to those questions is yes, then I would activate the PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would define &quot;life threats&quot; as things including, but not limited to the following categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathing Problems&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Severe Bleeding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heart Trouble&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Broken Bones (Particularly compound fractures)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hypothermia&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poisoning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been in the situation of having to decide whether to activate or not. We were on a river trip in Alaskan wilderness, and one of our boats capsized. The two people in that boat got severe hypothermia as they floated down the river for ten minutes. Fortunately due to our training we were able to treat that condition after effecting the water rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Had we not been in a position to remedy the hypothermia, or if there had been other traumatic injuries, I would have immediately used our PLB, with the expectation that help might have arrived within 2-4 hours, given our remote location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="197" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T18:56:45.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="812" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-01T19:43:01.533" Score="6" ViewCount="78" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to use rotational sky maps to use in the field, but I have this only for latitude 50°N.   I'd like to have a similar sky map for tropics: 10°N. Do you know where I can order one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-02-02T11:31:51.553" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T14:08:30.033" Title="Sky map for tropics" Tags="&lt;tropic&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2012-02-01T19:50:58.290" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do a few things that have helped:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear liner socks inside the wool socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear Gore-Tex boots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I dry my feet and socks when I set up camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I end up getting a blister, I duct tape it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="215" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T20:53:39.500" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T20:53:39.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:08:47.073" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing is the best exercise for finger and hand strength improvement, just make sure to warm up and stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just want to defend my answer. There are a lot of books out there you can read about climbing for training. Many of them will tell you not to waste your time cross training. The best training for climbing, is climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if you are advanced there are other methods, but the useful ones are directly related to climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most obvious are fingerboards. Do dead hangs and pull ups in all different finger positions and different common climbing holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next is H.I.T., or &quot;Hypergravity Isolation Training&quot;, where using HIT boards you can follow a regimen to work solely on hand strength while still in a climbing format. You can train pinches crimps, and varying pocket sizes with different finger combinations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also campus boards which are wooden boards with varying degrees of crimping difficulty which are ridiculously difficult and strenuous and should only be used by top tier climbers or you will injure yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, with all these methods in mind, just climbing a wall will do wonders to improve your hand strength, whether it be top-roping, lead, or bouldering (or other). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So don't worry about cross training, just go climb a wall. When you really hit a plateau (Probably around the 5.10 going into 5.11 level or later), look into HIT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="217" LastEditorUserId="217" LastEditDate="2012-02-08T22:06:51.413" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T22:06:51.413" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="815" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="819" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:09:16.653" Score="30" ViewCount="20114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that iodine water treatment tablets can have negative side effects.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is this true?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, what are some healthier alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:33.820" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:33.820" Title="Do iodine water treatment tablets have negative effects?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:19:27.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from what has been said, your need of water also depends on what you eat. If you eat salty or sweet food, or meat, you will need more water than when eating cereals for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T14:51:56.623" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T14:51:56.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="815" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:22:23.730" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well it's been banned for sale in Europe for use in purifying water. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/08/13/eu-ban-will-end-walkers-use-of-iodine&quot;&gt;http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/08/13/eu-ban-will-end-walkers-use-of-iodine&lt;/a&gt;) As that webpage mentions Chlorine is an alternative, but leaves a nasty taste (although I believe you can add another chemical to neutralise the taste)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatives are a water filter, or UV light serialisation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T20:22:23.730" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="818" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="821" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:26:40.510" Score="13" ViewCount="1258" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm using a multi fuel stove (MSR Dragonfly) for a 10 day ski tour, how much fuel should I allow to provide sufficient water for cooking and drinking. Meals will be mostly dehydrated just-add-water types. I'm not expecting to need much (any) for washing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:23:53.153" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:23:53.153" Title="How much fuel to carry for melting snow?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="815" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:34:33.803" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-35-IODINE.aspx?activeIngredientId=35&amp;amp;activeIngredientName=IODINE&quot;&gt;WebMD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Large amounts or long-term use of iodine are &lt;strong&gt;possibly unsafe&lt;/strong&gt;. Adults should avoid prolonged use of doses higher than 1100 mcg per day (the upper tolerable limit, UL) without proper medical supervision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I seriously question that 1100 mcg number because people in Northern Japan have been found to consume &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/iodine/&quot;&gt;over 80,000 mcg per day&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; due to a diet high in sealife (mainly seaweed) and they appear to be living just fine.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pregnancy and breast-feeding&lt;/strong&gt;: Iodine is &lt;strong&gt;likely safe&lt;/strong&gt; when taken by mouth in recommended amounts. Do not take more than 1100 mcg of iodine per day if you are over 18 years old; do not take more than 900 mcg of iodine per day if you are 14 to 18 years old. Higher intake might cause thyroid problems. The topical product (2% solution) is &lt;strong&gt;likely safe&lt;/strong&gt; for use on the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Autoimmune thyroid disease&lt;/strong&gt;: People with autoimmune thyroid disease may be especially sensitive to the harmful side effects of iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's clearly an issue if you are allergic to iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you already have a thyroid condition, too much iodine can complicate treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, so here goes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purification guidelines are 0.5 mg/L.  Let's assume you need four liters per day (someone can comment a better guideline for water quantity, but I normally drink about four per day when hiking)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 milligrams = 2000 micrograms.  So yeah, that would exceed the 1100 UL dosage limit.  However if you consider the people of northern Japan to be evidence that the real limit is much higher, then you are in no danger from this dosage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A note on all of this:  Everything I can find (CDC, webmd, etc) falls along the lines of &quot;&lt;em&gt;It's probably safe, but we're not sure and it &lt;strong&gt;may&lt;/strong&gt; cause these issues&lt;/em&gt;&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're extremely unlikely to manage to poison yourself unless you just nom the tablets (a couple thousand of them).  Poisoning &lt;a href=&quot;http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/iodine/&quot;&gt;occurs in grams&lt;/a&gt;, several orders of magnitude more than what is used to purify water.  To poison yourself, you'd need to consume ~2000L of iodine purified water in a short period, at which point iodine is no longer your primary concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-01T16:03:14.903" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T16:03:14.903" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="815" CreationDate="2012-02-01T20:52:27.550" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pretty much all water tablets I've seen have been chlorine based here in the UK - I've used them on a number of occasions. In normal doses they don't affect the taste that much, and they have the advantage for people who don't know what they're doing that if they really overdose on the tablets the water will taste too foul to drink anyway!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to use tablets or affect the taste at all, then hold the water at a rolling boil, and if necessary use a ceramic filter to remove any nasty metals that may be present. It's more hassle than just using tablets but the way to go if you don't have them or don't want to use them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-17T13:33:09.407" LastActivityDate="2012-02-17T13:33:09.407" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="818" CreationDate="2012-02-01T21:15:47.843" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard from numerable places that when climbing Denali, plan on a cup (About .25 L) of white gas per person per day. I would say that this should be a good rule of thumb for your trip as well. You might be able to get away with a bit less, but this is at least a good rule of thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably won't need this much, but it's a good rule of thumb still. Denali has additional challeneges, with the altitude it has, and from what I've heard, most climbers come down with extra gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastEditorUserId="88" LastEditDate="2012-02-01T23:46:50.007" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T23:46:50.007" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="822" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-01T22:35:27.457" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/water&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;water&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;water&lt;/a&gt; is often quite a generic tag and would typically benefit from also using a more specific tag, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/water-purification&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;water-purification&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;water-purification&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/drinking-water&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;drinking-water&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;drinking-water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/water-sports&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;water-sports&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;water-sports&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T13:31:30.687" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T13:31:30.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="823" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-01T22:35:27.457" Score="0" Body="Applicable if water is relevant to the question and none of the more specific tags concerning water are applicable. " OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T17:36:12.190" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T17:36:12.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="129" CreationDate="2012-02-01T23:12:51.110" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nccoastalreserve.net/About-The-Reserve/Reserve-Sites/Masonboro-Island/59.aspx&quot;&gt;Private camping&lt;/a&gt; is both allowed and nice on &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&amp;amp;rls=en&amp;amp;q=masonboro%20island&amp;amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;amp;um=1&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=N&amp;amp;tab=wl&quot;&gt;Masonboro Island&lt;/a&gt; which is North of Carolina Beach, NC and south of Wrightsville Beach, NC. You are close to civilization but the island is only reachable by boat which cuts down on the population - especially on weekdays and during off season. I don't know if you consider this Mid-Atlantic since it would be quite a haul to get there from the north, but I have been there and it fits all the other criteria you list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is part of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nccoastalreserve.net/&quot;&gt;North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve&lt;/a&gt; (NCNERR)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-01T23:12:51.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="620" CreationDate="2012-02-02T00:15:10.520" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer - this is purely based on a bit of prior knowledge and augmented with some more research, I've never been to subsaharan Africa and don't really plan to ever wild camp there!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild camping around that area verges along the more extreme side of wild camping - some may say it's madness, and there's obviously much, much more risk than wild camping in your average field or an accessible location of countryside. But if you are doing it I'd definitely take a tent, at least that way you've got some element of protection if nothing else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Risks? Well first off you've got venomous snakes. Subsaharan Africa is crawling with them and while some varieties won't tend to strike unless they really feel threatened, others (Black Mamba) are both quick to strike and kill basically every time unless antivenom is administered in time. This is a very real risk, a quick search reveals it's a pretty big problem in this area and definitely not just confined to parks. Then you've got other nasties such as scorpions and spiders, while generally they're not as venemous as snakes some varieties can still kill you, and at the least if you get caught out it'll land you in intense pain and possibly cause you to be disoriented for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than animals, you've also got people - an aspect of survival often forgotten about. Parts of it can be corrupt and especially at borders, you may have critical supplies stolen on your travels and have no sensible way of replacing them; this is something you need to be aware of. In a more alarming / extreme scenario you could even be held prisoner by armed captors - so looking at negotiating options and practising these sorts of situations is sensible, and not as over the top as it might first seem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then of course you've got the climate to deal with, which can be strenuous and deadly enough in itself if you don't take the right precautions. You're going to be dealing with intense heat and unless you know the specific area you're travelling to very well, you can't rely on stumbling across sources of water like you may do if you were wild camping in &quot;normal&quot; territory. And because of the heat you're going to go through LOTS of water each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, I'd say that it can be (just about) bearable, but only if you do a lot of planning, research, and preparation beforehand. Go in a group, make sure you've all done training you deem necessary, tell someone your route and when you aim to be back, run through drills of what to do in emergency situations and contact experts for training on any areas you're not sure of. If you're not prepared to go to those sort of lengths in your preparation then I'd go as far as saying it probably does fall under the category of madness!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T00:15:10.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="801" CreationDate="2012-02-02T01:15:50.157" Score="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a good article on the types of rocks that explode:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehow.com/list_7360348_rocks-explode-around-fire-pits.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ehow.com/list_7360348_rocks-explode-around-fire-pits.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally if you rub two of the same rocks together and they crumble easily, then they are not safe to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Hard rocks:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following rocks are not very likely to explode, but should be approached with with common sense. When wet, don't use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Granite:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qT7VC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Granite&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Marble:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HZKes.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Marble&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zBz7x.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Slate&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Soft rocks:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-These will explode if they contain moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sandstone:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/63A7o.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Sandstone&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Limestone:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fsKFe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Limestone&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pumice:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5RRvi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pumice&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T00:35:15.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="657" CreationDate="2012-02-02T01:33:20.920" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;OK, this isn't a hypothetical question. You will have to ford numerous rivers fed directly from glaciers if you hike in the Swedish mountains. These are extremely cold, very rapid streams with rocks everywhere. Some basic advice is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a rod or stick as support. You should always lean on two points - two legs or one leg and the rod.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never have your hip belt attached - you must be able to drop your backpack if you lose balance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take off your shoes/boots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never ever walk deeper than right above the knees if the river is rapid, otherwise you won't be able to fight the current.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the water is deeper and less rapid so you can / have to swim:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take off everything and swim naked. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pack clothes so that they are protected from getting wet and give as much buoyancy as possible. Plastic bags are your friends. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetic garments are a saviour since you can get warm fast even if they get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="229" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T16:01:25.097" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T16:01:25.097" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="828" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-02T01:51:36.147" Score="22" ViewCount="907" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there something that works like epoxy or natural tar that I can apply to the most delicate impact points of my feet (balls and heel) that will form a very durable bond, and let me backpack (i.e. hike with 30lbs on my back) &quot;barefoot&quot; (without shoes) for days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T19:51:00.350" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T20:31:03.630" Title="Is there a protective substance, like an epoxy, I can use on my feet so I can backpack barefoot?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="716" CreationDate="2012-02-02T02:08:20.843" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that the active ingredient is capsaicin which is used in self-defence sprays for all types of purposes, bear spray should be effective on anything with tear ducts, soft tissue, sinuses, eyeballs, etc, (and will totally dominate a bean burrito**).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The discriminating difference between &quot;bear spray&quot; vs &quot;self-defense&quot; spray, vs. law enforcement &quot;occupy-protester&quot; spray is a combination of volume, range, spray pattern, and percent capsaicin and oleoresin capsicum (capsaicin is what gives the spray the &quot;heat&quot; ranging in the 1-3% range, while oleoresin capsicum is pepper oil extract that contains the capsaicin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, it is all essentially the same stuff, and has been used effectively against bear, moose, dogs, cats, and people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as pointed out in other answers, each animal's behavior / attack pattern varies, meaning your ability to implement pepper spray in a timely effective manner may be limited. Knowing what threats are in the area you are traveling, and the best way to prevent an encounter in the first place is your BEST plan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**NOTE: although capsaicin IS the same thing that gives chillies their heat, (and in fact is isolated from chillies) DO NOT use bear spray or other self defense sprays as a flavor enhancer. I point it out as a segue to illustrate that Pepper spray is only effective as an active counter-attack measure sprayed directly in the face of an assailant, and should NOT be used as a &quot;repellent.&quot; There have been reports of people spraying bear-spray on their tents and sleeping bags like mosquito repellent which is basically the same as turning yourself into bear-sized buffalo wings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addition:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this account: &lt;a href=&quot;http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/idaho-bicyclist-rescued-from-pursuing-wolf/article_db0bef64-ea50-11e2-ad52-001a4bcf887a.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Idaho bicyclist rescued from pursuing wolf &lt;/a&gt;, bear spray did not deter this particular wolf (dog?). So, case study of 1...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-11T02:45:23.703" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T02:45:23.703" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="818" CreationDate="2012-02-02T03:18:19.350" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.enotes.com/science/q-and-a/how-much-water-there-an-inch-snow-289349&quot;&gt;10 inches of snow will give you 1 inch of water&lt;/a&gt;.  Lets say you need to fill your container half way full to get a cup of water, well that means you're going to have to fill it full 5 times to get that cup, melting it each time.  I usually budget about 4-5 times the fuel in the winter than I use in the summer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can speed things up by pouring a bit of water in the bottom to begin with, and it'll also avoid the bottom of your pan scorching.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T03:18:19.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="691" CreationDate="2012-02-02T03:29:45.383" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can get away with just grip wax on flatter sections, assuming the weight of the pull is not too much.  I regularly pull an infant in a similar configuration using just grip wax, even climbing small hills (legs akimbo), total weight is probably about 30lbs, but I know others with older kids that are pull closer to 50lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T03:29:45.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="812" CreationDate="2012-02-02T03:35:49.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Skymaps.com&lt;/a&gt; offers free rotational style sky maps to print out in PDF form each month, including equatorial editions (scroll down half way) that are drawn for 0° but good to ±15°.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T03:35:49.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="274" CreationDate="2012-02-02T03:44:52.817" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're breastfeeding then you don't have to worry about food.  Your child will need something to sleep in, we've used everything from a car seat liner to a sleeping bag folded in half, but the best is probably one of those sleeping bag style jumps that have should straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hat is always a good thing to bring one with a chin strap, as is a source of shade (tarp, beach umbrella, etc.) if there is no natural shade, but since your child is only 3-4 months old a blanket over a removable car seat is probably fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For carrying the child, I couldn't recommend anything better than an &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.ergobaby.com/Baby_Carriers/Original&quot;&gt;Ergo Baby&lt;/a&gt;, we first used ours when our son was 3 months old, and he slept the whole time he was carried.  It feels great carrying them that way, and they are close and warm, although they look like a spatchcocked chicken when you peel them off your chest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that age you don't need much more.  Lots of garbage bags to wrap up dirty diapers, it's worth learning how to knot off the bag after each diaper so that you can put about 5 diapers in a bag without the smell escaping (much). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T03:44:52.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="835" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="846" CreationDate="2012-02-02T05:38:46.477" Score="26" ViewCount="1312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I meet a fair number people who would like to try backpacking.  Unfortunately the initial cost seems to be pretty high.  Even an overnight requires a lot of big ticket gear (tent, sleeping bag, etc).  Generally I don't just happen to have a bag, pack, tent, etc. in all the right sizes for any given person who might want to try a trip with us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you introduce someone new (with little or no gear) to backpacking without them needing to invest a lot of money upfront in gear? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, pack, tent, and sleeping bag.  A poorly fit pack can make someone miserable, and overly heavy tent + sleeping bag can likewise make for misery.  Miserable first trips turn into last trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By cheap, I mean less than $100 per person for their first trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T13:02:29.673" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T21:31:36.217" Title="How to cheaply introduce someone to backpacking" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="836" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-02T07:16:17.243" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions regarding gear for the outdoors.  Whenever appropriate also use a more specific tag: &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/backpack&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;backpack&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;backpack&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/shoes&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;shoes&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;shoes&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/stoves&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;stoves&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;stoves&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/tents&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;tents&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;tents&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T15:32:54.210" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T15:32:54.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="837" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-02T07:16:17.243" Score="0" Body="Whenever applicable use a more specific tag like backpack, shoes, stoves, tents, ... Only questions that do not fit into such a tag and are related to any physical equipment for engaging in those activities discussed in The Great Outdoors should use the gear tag." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="13114" LastEditDate="2017-07-07T17:38:57.073" LastActivityDate="2017-07-07T17:38:57.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2012-02-02T08:18:41.683" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would begin thinking about the overnight accommodation. You can do this fairly cheaply in the UK if you stay in a hostel, walkers lodge or a bunk barn. Many of them provide bedding and often food as well. Thus removing the need to take a tent or sleeping bag. Some places even provide tents for a charge!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If accommodation cannot be found then I would take a larger tent if possible and share the load of other stuff between the group. All the new person would need is to borrow a backpack. Then as long as you can put up sleeping in the same tent with them it will reduce the upfront cost! Assuming you have the larger tent!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would choose a well known and relatively easy route as well. Don't get them scrambling on an arête on day one! Keep to a fairly low mileage unless you know the fitness of the person rather well. In my experience a lot of people exaggerate there fitness and walking with a backpack is quite tiring for the uninitiated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you go I would check the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do they have warm clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know what to do in an emergency&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Decent suitable footwear - it doesn't need to be the new best hiking&#xA;shoes you can buy - are the shoes worn in. etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure they leave any unnecessary items in the car or at home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basic Waterproof would be required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basic knowledge of the countryside by-laws and customs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another obvious one is to get the person trying it out to join just for the day first! To see if they like it! before doing an overnight stroll somewhere..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally if you are in a reasonable group say 4+ people then you are likely to have spare stuff between you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T08:18:41.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-02-02T09:46:09.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have more recently being using &lt;a href=&quot;http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smidge&lt;/a&gt; which has been developed by Edinburgh University, UK - it works on Midges, Ticks and Mosquitos claim the manufacturers. Similar to the answer I gave for this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/392/122&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;. Like Avon's Skin So Soft it doesn't damage the skin, so great for eczema sufferers like myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T09:46:09.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2012-02-02T11:16:08.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask the newcomer if they can ask around their friends to see if they have anything like a tent or sleeping bag they can borrow - I tend to find quite a few people have things like that lying around from festivals if nothing else, and are usually more than happy to lend them out to people they trust (perhaps I just have trusting friends!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of tents, I find it useful to have a bigger tent (4 man or so) so people can sensibly share without purchasing a tent on their own. Obviously if you already own one though you probably won't want to splash out on another!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other point to keep in mind is that how much gear you need depends on where you're going and what you're doing, or in other words, pick an easy route that doesn't need much specialist gear! I find it's much better to keep things easy and then have someone wanting to come back for more of a challenge, rather than throw them in at the deep end and perhaps put them off entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, make sure they have the basics like good footwear, a waterproof, etc. - it's all stuff they probably have anyway and if they don't, stuff that will come in useful generally not just for hiking! Most of the other outdoor essentials (stove, fuel, maps, compasses etc.) a group will have already, thus they can be shared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T11:16:08.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="828" CreationDate="2012-02-02T11:27:57.443" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're going to walk outside barefoot then my advice is to just go with it - build up the strength on short distances and eventually you shouldn't have an issue with hiking long distances just barefoot. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/2008/06/01/walking-barefoot/&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; article claims someone who hiked around South Island barefoot, so it's definitely possible, but I wouldn't try that straight away!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide you must have something then you might want to try the sort of gel pads you can get to put above your insole, but tape them directly to your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, make sure any scrapes, however slight, get cleaned and taped up quickly - I wouldn't even think about hiking miles over all sorts of ground with open wounds on my feet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T11:27:57.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2012-02-02T11:33:42.973" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to think backpacking is one of the cheapest activities to take up, as it takes very little cost to start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, they need some good boots, a rucksack and some warm clothing - but that's all really cheap. They won't need a compass or a stove if they are with you on their first outing - they won't even really need to know much: you can teach them along the way, and that way of learning is really valuable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I, and most people I know who like the outdoors, have spares of pretty much everything else. I know I have 6 tents of differing sizes, many sleeping bags etc so ask friends and neighbours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T11:33:42.973" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="828" CreationDate="2012-02-02T14:04:40.317" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an interim step, have you tried the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vibramfivefingers.it/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vibram Five Fingers&lt;/a&gt; running shoes - these still have protection under your feet, but give a lot of freedom as they are very thin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8f1a8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This could let you see how you get on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-12-05T09:33:02.007" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T09:33:02.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="812" CreationDate="2012-02-02T14:08:30.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you thought about Google Sky Map for Android or Star Walk on iPhone? These may give you what you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I know, batteries run out, phones get wet etc., but these will show sky at a particular time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T14:08:30.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="216" CreationDate="2012-02-02T14:41:40.200" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is the position the Boy Scouts of America teaches boys to use when in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x6hGp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If a lightning storm catches your group in the open, spread out so that people are at least 100 feet from one another. Further limit your risk by crouching low with only the soles of&#xA;  your shoes touching the ground, and take off your hat if it has any metal parts. You can also use your sleeping pad for insulation by folding it and crouching upon it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bsahandbook.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From the BSA handbook 12th edition.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-25T23:59:48.777" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T23:59:48.777" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2012-02-02T15:19:00.933" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tent: A 2 person tent divides up really well between Tent/rainfly, and poles/groundcloth, a 4 person tent breaks down each component even more.  Share with a bigger tent and you should be good to go&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping Bag:&#xA;Go in the summer months, when the temperature will be warm.  I live in the Mid-Atlantic, and typically take an Army Surplus Poncho liner as my sleeping bag on trips in the late spring-early fall.  In the height of summer, I bring a cotton sheet (I know, cotton is bad, but it's all I got).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping Pad:&#xA;If you are careful about your sleeping spot you don't &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; one of these.  However, it's always the first &quot;luxury&quot; item that I pack.  I won't camp without my mattress.  If you can, however, I'd loan mine to the newbie friend, or use a spare/borrow one from a friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stove:&#xA;Most backpacking food reads like: Boil X volume water.  Add powder.  Stir.  Let sit Y minutes.  Plan to share food/utensils, and you should be good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Food:&#xA;Again, double up and plan to cook/eat 2 person meals instead of 2-1 person meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eating Utensils:&#xA;All the friend would need is the bowl and spoon.  Bowls can be repurposed from frozen dessert topping containers, large butter/margarine tubs, etc.  Sure, it will fall apart after a few uses, but you can't beat the price&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water Bottles:&#xA;If you know anyone who beverages out of plastic bottles, collect and reuse them.  Wash them out and use as water bottles.  I've personally used 1 liter soda bottles for months before they wear out.  Best part, it's free (assuming you'd drink the soda/water/juice to begin with).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpack:&#xA;Either borrow a full pack from a friend, or pack as much as you can in your pack and have him bring along the biggest backpack (daypack) he has.  Alternate days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final note:&#xA;You can rent almost all the gear needed from a local REI.  I'm not sure if you need to be a member (recommended if you will be buying a lot of gear), or if they will rent to Joe Public, but worth looking into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T15:19:00.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-02-02T15:49:50.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;On more than one occasion, having forgotten DEET, we have just rubbed down with raw garlic.  It smells, but it repels most bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T15:49:50.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="860" CreationDate="2012-02-02T16:17:44.083" Score="23" ViewCount="44509" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in a survival situation in the woods and really hungry, and you are unsure about which plants are edible, can you eat pine needles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="128" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:40:52.520" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T16:56:32.983" Title="Can you eat pine needles in an emergency?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="848" CreationDate="2012-02-02T16:43:26.593" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;All pines, spruces and firs have edible needles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All yews are poisonous, and can look like some of the above, so be careful you have identified the tree correctly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T16:43:26.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="851" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="853" CreationDate="2012-02-02T17:12:43.270" Score="7" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs/life vests/life jackets) good for rafting?  It may seem like a silly question, but I have heard several times now that they increase your danger due to the risk of entanglement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T11:10:01.320" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T11:10:01.320" Title="Are Personal Flotation Devices a good idea when rafting?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="851" CreationDate="2012-02-02T18:26:51.977" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The instructions I've always heard are unequivocal - &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; wear a life vest. By all means make sure it fits well and lose straps are tucked away to minimise entanglement, but, when in a sport where there is real risk of falling in water and being knocked unconscious definitely wear a life vest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T18:26:51.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="851" CreationDate="2012-02-02T19:25:11.323" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;No question about it -- use a life vest.  Make sure you're using a secure, tight-fitting jacket, though.  The ones I've always used have several straps across the front so you can get a good, snug fit.  If the jacket isn't fitted properly, you stand a good chance of the jacket popping up around your face when you go in the drink.  A tight-fitting jacket also helps the people in the raft haul your sogginess back into the boat -- it's a lot safer and more reliable to grab your jacket to haul you in than to try to pull your arms out of their sockets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you're at it, don't forget a lid.  When you get sucked under the boat, you may go head-first into the rocks, and you'll be glad you're wearing a helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="44" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T19:25:11.323" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="854" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="858" CreationDate="2012-02-02T21:16:06.153" Score="29" ViewCount="2350" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me and my wife have never done camping before and always wanted to do it. This time we are planning to go for a small camping trip but have no idea how to prepare for it. We like to hike and are beginners in that too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a guide for starters or any other resources we should look into?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="199" LastEditorUserId="261" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T11:15:40.203" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T08:43:03.970" Title="First time camping, need advice" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="851" CreationDate="2012-02-02T21:16:06.200" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No question, life vests are a net reduction in risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's trivially easy to check yourself and your gear over and eliminate any potential risk of entanglement beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not so easy to get control of your body once you've been unexpectedly tossed into the drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T21:16:06.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-02-02T21:31:25.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One trick is to avoid them.  A breeze is often enough to keep the bugs away, as are the cooler temperatures of May, June, September and October (for Canada at least).  Combine the two by sticking to mountains.  A hat, long sleeves, and long pants all help, as do thin gloves (Helly Hansen makes a great brand of ultra-thin glove that can be worn in the summer, but a medium-loose knit wool works just as well).  Mosquito netting hats, and bug bars (mosquito netting for inside a tent) all help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T21:31:25.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="854" CreationDate="2012-02-02T21:51:36.797" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask specific questions here, or browse the other questions and answers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your first time, try and make sure you have fun. The following may help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the weather forecast, avoid cold, wet, windy or whatever weather will make you miserable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice pitching your tent before you go, perhaps in your garden or local park. Pitching an unfamiliar tent can be stressful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there likely to be biting insects where you are going? Take insect repellent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you aren't hiking too far with your kit, or it isn't too heavy, set aside some room for your favourite foods so you can have a treat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you will be comfortable - use a sleeping mat to insulate you from the ground and make sure your sleeping bag is right for the conditions (most will have a temperature rating to guide you).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a plan for retreating in case you do get into difficulty and carry a basic first aid kit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay safe and follow any local laws and regulations regarding where you can camp, whether you can light fires, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not having fun, figure out why and fix it for next time. As you gain experience things will become easier and you'll have more fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-02T22:17:31.087" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T22:17:31.087" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="854" CreationDate="2012-02-02T22:53:42.103" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others will tell you exactly what to bring, maybe even recommend brands.  I'm going to cover things at a much higher level, with a few specific tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic requirements of camping match the basics of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Physiological needs&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(food, clothing and shelter)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety needs&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(hope for the best, plan for the worst)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Self Actualization&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(you're doing this to have fun, right?)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going camping you're going to need to provide yourself with food, clothing, and shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The three main factors are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt;: The lighter the food, the easier (and more) you can carry.  Water is the largest source of weight in food (1L of water is 1kg of weight) and often readily available (in lakes, rivers, taps, and faucets), so many campers use dehydrated food when weight is an issue. Tricks to avoid the issue of weight include car camping, using a boat, or having food prepared/delivered by others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quantity&lt;/strong&gt;: It sounds silly, but can you imagine running out of food? You need to make sure you plan enough food for all of your meals. Always err on the side of caution, you're going to be exerting yourself!  With practice you can bring less. The longer your trip, the bigger role food plays in your trip, so start with a simple overnight trip and work your way up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Preparation&lt;/strong&gt;: How you prepare and eat your food will govern how simple or complicated your camping trip is.  The easier it is to prepare your food, the happier you will be.  The less waste you have after, the less hassle you'll have.  This is why there's a whole industry around ready-made food in pouches.  The simplest options require the addition of hot water.  This abstracts cooking down to the art of boiling water.  Do you have the tools to do this?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Clothing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Staying dry and warm is your main goal.&lt;/strong&gt; Protect yourself from the elements appropriately. Be aware of the weather around you, realize that conditions can change, that temperatures drop in the evenings, and that altitude impacts temperature.  &lt;strong&gt;Layers are the key to success&lt;/strong&gt;: Too cold? put on another layer, Too hot? Take a layer off.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton is the worst material for this as it does not keep you warm when it is wet, and takes forever to dry.  Synthetics dry quickly but don't always offer the best warmth. Wool works well in hot and cold weather and takes a while to dry but stays warm when wet.  Footwear is just as important.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Open-toe shoes are a bad idea, support and comfort are more important than anything else.  Wear wool socks instead of cotton socks and you'll decrease the chances of having miserable feet (I've seen hundreds of army recruits with mangy feet and blisters because they wore sport socks in their army boots, learn from their mistake!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;: there are many options.  If you're providing your own shelter, then start with a tent (for shelter), a sleeping bag (for warmth), and a mattress (for comfort).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you buy or borrow a tent, take the time to put it together and take it apart at home once so that you understand how to do it under ideal circumstances.  &lt;strong&gt;When you get to your camp site the first thing you do is put up your tent.&lt;/strong&gt;  Clear the ground of rocks and sticks before you lay your tent.  Keep the doors closed to keep out bugs and rain.  Keep your tent away from the camp fire.  Keep your tent away from the intersection of two glacial rivers (brrr!).  If it's raining, avoid touching the walls of your tent, once water goes through, it keeps coming through. Don't forget to dry out your tent at home, or else it will go mouldy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can avoid using a tent (and carrying it) by renting a hut or cabin.  The advantage here is you may not need to bring certain things (tent, mattress, cooking supplies, utensils, be sure to confirm in advance from the location, not second hand). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags are either synthetic (cheaper, warm but don't pack down as well and wear out over time) or down-filled (more expensive, pack down well, last longer). People will tell you that a wet synthetic bag is warmer than a wet down bag, but a wet sleeping bag sucks so much you won't care what it's made out of.  Start cheap and work your way up.  Realize they have a temperature rating and that the comfort level is always about 5 degrees off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safety&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a plan.  &lt;em&gt;I'm going to such and such a place using this trail, cooking dinner, having a camp fire, and coming back the next day in time for lunch.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell people where you are going, who you are going with, and when you&#xA;are supposed to get back.  Be specific!  Give them license plate&#xA;numbers and car models.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know who the emergency contact numbers are&#xA;where you are going (guess what, 911 doesn't work everywhere, is&#xA;there a park warden number? Put it in your phone!  Don't assume your&#xA;phone will work!).  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a map.  If the map is not drawn to scale, get one that is (grumble grumble). Know how to read the map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know your limits.  How far can you walk in an hour? Okay, now do it with hills and 15 kilos on your back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring lots of water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a first aid kit. Get familiar with how to use everything in the first aid kit before you leave. Put a lighter and an energy bar in your first aid kit. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find out what the local dangers&#xA;are: do you need to bring bear spray? Are the octopi poisonous? Is&#xA;it tick season? Is it leech season (not a threat, but a nuisance)? Should you have started taking malaria pills seven&#xA;days earlier? Do you need to bring avalanche gear? Do you have to&#xA;worry about bacteria in the water?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a flashlight with new batteries. Headlamps are great because they keep your hands free.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're using hiking poles, wrap a few meters of duct-tape around each pole, now if ever a boot splits, a binding breaks, a strap fails, a tent leaks, or a leg requires a splint you've always got something to bind it with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Self Actualization&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are you camping? To enjoy the wilderness? To sit around a fire? To see a sunrise or sunset? To get away from others? To get closer to others?  To challenge yourself?  Figure out why you want to go camping, and make sure you set everything up so that you can accomplish that goal.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T08:43:03.970" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T08:43:03.970" CommentCount="5" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-02-18T02:23:21.253" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-02-02T23:25:33.050" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, worldwide this is very hard to predict unless you're an expert in the subject (and therefore likely wouldn't be looking for advice on this page!) There are some clues, like plants with milky sap tend to be poisonous - but applying these in a general context is almost always a bad idea since your life can depend on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best you can do is to read up, get a good book etc. that focuses around the area you're hiking to - get one as specific as you can, with good, clear descriptions and pictures. This will enable you to have at least some degree of confidence - though obviously unless you're 100% sure I wouldn't risk it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-02T23:25:33.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="848" CreationDate="2012-02-03T01:01:45.387" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pine needles have virtually no caloric value.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I would not recommend pine needles as an &lt;code&gt;energy&lt;/code&gt; source, although they have plenty of vitamin C and make delicious tea. This is good in winter to avoid getting &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;scurvy&lt;/a&gt; in a long-term survival situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As already mentioned, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yew&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yew&lt;/a&gt; needles are toxic to the human body. There are several genera of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yew&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;yew&lt;/a&gt;. Generally they grow at higher elevations and in man-made parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anything looks like these &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yew&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;yew&lt;/a&gt; needles, leave them be and don't eat them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0YQhL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Yew needles - do not eat.&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T05:29:54.457" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T05:29:54.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:05:34.890" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our family are members of the NRA.  If you're interested at all in where to hunt in the US, I would recommend both NRA online articles and their search tool here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrahuntersrights.org/PlacestoHunt.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;National Rifle Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The list includes locations and regulations for public hunting lands in just about every state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-28T05:14:53.910" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T05:14:53.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="828" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:11:54.757" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In answer to the original question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are several products on the market designed for dogs with sore paw pads. These are often wax based, and adhere to the skin to provide some protection. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Super-glue bonds well to skin, and can provide a layer of protection. A medically sterile version called &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_suture#Tissue_adhesives&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;liquid stitches&lt;/a&gt;&quot; is used in the medical world to glue up small lacerations. However, I don't know what the toxicity is for long-term, large area use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a second option, you might look into a variety of &quot;zero drop&quot; and &quot;minimalist&quot; footwear that offers the &quot;barefoot&quot; experience while providing some protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, a few words of advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your feet aren't up for the task, then no amount of additive is going to allow you to &quot;hike for days&quot; barefoot. In addition to the wear on your skin, hiking without shoes/support &lt;em&gt;uses your bones and muscles very differently&lt;/em&gt; than hiking with. In simple terms, your feet spread out more, actively engaging each of those little bones and muscles that make up the complex matrix of your foot's inner workings. Additionally, when you hike barefoot, your stride will change naturally, resulting in soreness of ankles, knees, hips, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, it should be treated as a process, not a &quot;goop up and go&quot; experiment, but something you work up to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the process of building up your foot and leg strength, through a series of short hikes, &lt;strong&gt;your feet will build up callouses where needed&lt;/strong&gt;, just as climbers develop callouses on their fingers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People in many parts of the world hike barefoot every day, carrying heavy loads over rough terrain. However, most of them started walking barefoot from day one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T19:47:36.797" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T19:47:36.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:13:24.177" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay just broke out my kit.  Here's what we carry.  This may seem like a long list, but it's &lt;em&gt;small&lt;/em&gt;.  It fits in a ziploc bag (almost).  Also, please note that you should pack for your skill set and first aid training.  If you don't know how to use a splint, it's wasted and will tempt you to do things you shouldn't.  Same goes for sutures.  Know how benedryl and the epipen work before you dose anyone.  You get the idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tylenol -- pain where ibuprofen is not ok (ie - patient is bleeding)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ibuprofen -- pain that involves swelling but not bleeding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small bandages -- comfort item and to help prevent infection on longer hikes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Triple Antibiotic -- reduce risk of infection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Iodine -- wound care, reduces risk of infection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical Tape -- close wounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gauze -- for use covering wounds and to stop bleeding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Latex Gloves -- They weigh nothing, sometimes you don't have time to wash (get nitrile if you or your hiking buddies have a latex allergy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SAM Splint -- breaks and sprains, better than improvising one&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Benedryl -- mild reactions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EpiPen -- serious reactions.  One of the few things you will &lt;em&gt;NOT&lt;/em&gt; make it out of the woods with is an anaphylactic shock reaction without an epipen or something equally powerful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basic Suture stuff -- dire emergencies only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quick Clot patch (antibacterial) -- slows/stops bad bleeds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tick key -- hate those bugs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Butterfly bandages - medium cuts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sudafed -- okay, this is just to handle my sinuses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrocortizone -- soothes some stings, bites, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tweezers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lip Balm -- Good for any kind of chapped skin, not just lips.  If your face is badly wind chapped, this can be a godsend.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moleskin and 2nd Skin -- Moleskin is OK, but 2nd skin with a moleskin over it is unbeatable for blister treatment.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something for irrigation of deeper wounds (discovered the hard way that this is important)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the exception of the EpiPen and Splint, this all fits in a quart freezer bag and goes in the very top of my pack in a separate compartment.  We tell everyone where it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything is also sub-packaged into smaller (cheap) snack size ziplocks.  You don't want your gauze wet or contaminated because you needed a tylenol.  I also packed things together logically (for me).  Bandages, triple antibiotic, and iodine all into one ziploc.  Pills in little containers (packed with cotton so they won't break). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tip for labeling your pills.  Use a sharpie then clear tape over the writing.  Sharpie will wipe off of most plastic containers in time.  We've never lost the writing this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the EpiPen you will notice that I took a rubber band and attached the medial information sheet to it with all the instructions, warning, cautions, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What it looks like packed&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lev7b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;packed medkit&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and unpacked&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UDL0Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;unpacked medkit&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T22:55:38.540" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T22:55:38.540" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:14:28.683" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've been using flexible Platypus reservoirs and have had no trouble thus far.  I have knitted an insulation tube (six-stitch I-cord in a sport weight wool) that runs the entire length of the drinking tube-- that's where we've seen the most issues with freezing because of the enormous surface area of the tube.  When the reservoir isn't in my pack, it's near me staying as warm as I can keep it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-06T01:23:01.283" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T01:23:01.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="865" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="875" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:46:45.697" Score="32" ViewCount="2812" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I handle multiple months of menstrual cycles on a long trek like the Appalachian Trail?  I am asking about how to handle the mess.  Here are my personal considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using hormonal birth control to skip five months of periods is not an option for me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm concerned about the amount of space pads or tampons would take up in my pack, not to mention the amount of trash that would accumulate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm of the opinion that 27 is a bit young to be having a hysterectomy (though I have considered it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other options out there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:  May, 2016 (four years later):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/jjFZ1nzijrI/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Periods + Fieldwork&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt; by Emily Graslie of The Field Museum in Chicago explains in great detail and from years of experience how women handle menstruation on field expeditions, including information she has gathered from other women in the field about what worked and did not work for them in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="126" LastEditDate="2016-05-06T12:05:13.020" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T10:07:53.290" Title="Handling feminine hygiene on multiple-month treks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="866" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:46:46.833" Score="19" ViewCount="5130" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/716/is-bear-spray-effective-against-other-animals&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, it was asked whether bear-spray was effective against other animals, such as wolves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the old adage that &quot;there has never been record of a healthy wolf attacking an adult&quot; is not entirely true, but it seems the frequency of attacks may be sufficiently few and far between as to render it a non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So rather than give the wolf a bad rap by innuendo, I hope to get some clear answers on the risk of wolves to outdoor enthusiasts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are wolves a legitimate worry-worthy threat to back-country travelers?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are my odds of encountering a wolf in the wild?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are my odds of being attacked by a wolf?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there special precautions that one should take in wolf country that are different from standard bear precautions (which are often found in the same area)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are some wolf-inhabited regions known to be more dangerous than others?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:21:03.177" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:21:03.177" Title="Should a hiker be concerned about wolves in the back-country?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="867" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:56:14.513" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Special consideration for preparation of meals during outdoor activities such as camping, related to methods, equipment, ingredients, preparation, or transport of consumables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cooking is the act of transforming the edible ingredients, as opposite to eating prepared ones. It includes grilling, baking or cooking over a camp fire, as well as using camping gas stoves or burners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T09:55:10.183" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T09:55:10.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="868" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:56:14.513" Score="0" Body="Questions about preparing meals during outdoor activities, such as camping or survival. " OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:33:54.853" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:33:54.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="869" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:57:23.780" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically concerns about any of a number of six legged species of insect which can cause discomfort or worse when participating in outdoors activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T18:25:17.533" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T18:25:17.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="870" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-03T02:57:23.780" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T02:57:23.780" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T02:57:23.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="866" CreationDate="2012-02-03T03:43:56.173" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has very nice article about &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans&quot;&gt;Wolf attacks on humans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wolves will avoid people like any other wild predator that is smaller than the average human. If you come between them and their young, you should just slowly back out of that situation and heed the wolf's warnings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless the wolves are threatened by you, the chances of an attack are very little. They will hear and smell you coming from far away. If you become their prey, well good luck, because wolves will come in packs. Your best bet is climb a tree or jump into water and try to swim to the other side. You will not out run them; they have insane endurance.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always keep a fire going at night. If you see signs of wolf tracks, such as scat or dead animals torn a part, keep walking a couple of miles further. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As far as regions, I will refer you to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans&quot;&gt;Wolf attacks on humans&lt;/a&gt; again.  I encourage you to read the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf#Hunting_and_feeding_behaviours&quot;&gt;Gray wolf&lt;/a&gt; Wikipedia article as well. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorUserId="76" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T19:20:08.847" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T19:20:08.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="873" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="877" CreationDate="2012-02-03T05:04:59.993" Score="27" ViewCount="1678" Body="&lt;p&gt;When backpacking, I might carry a MagLite flashlight or something similar that requires two AA batteries.  I tend to favor rechargeable batteries for a variety of reasons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How can I recharge my batteries in the wilderness?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:27:48.027" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T13:40:46.260" Title="What are some ways/devices that I can use to charge my batteries in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="866" CreationDate="2012-02-03T05:38:40.357" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/misc/wolves/wolfsaf.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wolf Safety guidelines and procedures for British Columbia Parks&lt;/a&gt;, and here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.keystoneconservation.us/keystone_conservation/tips-for-backcountry-users.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;backcountry advice around wolves&lt;/a&gt; from the Predator Conservation Alliance, they basically say that wolves don't normally pose a threat, keep 100m distance, use bear spray if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T17:43:15.310" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T17:43:15.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="865" CreationDate="2012-02-03T05:48:23.743" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cup&quot;&gt;menstrual cup&lt;/a&gt;. The advantage being that you only need one (maybe having two is a good idea) and that it can be washed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T05:48:23.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="619" CreationDate="2012-02-03T06:04:05.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rule of thumb in Banff National Park is to keep three bus lengths away from elk.  Having said that it's easy to accidentally be within a few feet an an elk. Don't panic if it happens, it's very unlikely the elk will charge you (in Banff we see elk every day but there &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20111222/RMO0801/312229993/0/rmo&quot;&gt;hasn't been a contact incident in 3 years&lt;/a&gt;).  Elk are easily startled but most of the time they are ambivalent, and more rarely either walking away or flee outright. The rare time when an elk might charge unprovoked is if you are between a cow and its calves (spring time) or near bulls or their harem during rutting season (fall). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T06:04:05.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="873" CreationDate="2012-02-03T08:31:33.223" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the most obvious and commercially available is &lt;strong&gt;solar&lt;/strong&gt;, which has options ranging from small pocket-sized chargers to roll-out military grade flexible panels. I believe Brunton makes a consumer grade version of the latter (not as bullet-proof), and iGo has some nice versions of the former. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used both with some success, the panel is probably over-kill if you are just looking to charge a few AAs (we were charging GPS dataloggers and hand-held computers). However, the small ones are not something I would depend upon, tending to charge slowly. Both require (of course) sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second option is to carry more batteries -- either another set or two of fully charged batteries in the size you need, or if you have a variety of other electronics to charge, an old-school camcorder battery can be used to re-charge smaller batteries. Some companies make recharge-able power-packs geared toward cell-phones which function the same way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However,&lt;/strong&gt; for anything critical (emergency devices) I would highly recommend ALWAYS packing a set of fresh, regular batteries that you can slip in when your re-charge options fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Digression 1:&lt;/em&gt; I've often thought a little hydro-generator would be slick if you are camping near a creek - plop it in the current and charge overnight... but have yet to find one (or hear of a do-it-yourself) that is practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Digression 2:&lt;/em&gt; While poking around for the hydro-power, I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Camping-Wind-Turbine/&quot;&gt;this wind turbine&lt;/a&gt; which looks like a fun project... and possible could (should) be modified for water-born deployment. Water always flows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;BONUS PRO-TIP&lt;/em&gt;: On cold mornings, gently warming a dying battery (ie in your arm-pit, or in a hot cup of coffee) can sometimes get the reaction going just enough to generate a last gasp of energy. &lt;em&gt;Highly NOT recommended&lt;/em&gt; as standard practice due to explosion concerns, but in a life-or-death emergency, it might give you enough juice to make that critical radio call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T11:33:31.967" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T11:33:31.967" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="873" CreationDate="2012-02-03T12:05:01.340" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably as expected, advice varies wildly depending on whether you're talking about relying on charging the batteries for a life / death situation or it'd just be a &quot;nice to have&quot; if such an option was available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's for emergency purposes then just bring a spare set of batteries - or more specifically, one more set than you calculate you'll ever need. These can be rechargeable as well, but if they are make sure they're relatively new and still hold their charge well (this is especially important because in cold temps rechargeables that are a bit worn out can sometimes fail completely. I've had it happen a couple of times!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to take a wind up torch - ok so it's not specifically recharging any old batteries, but it does provide you with a source of power limited only by how much you're willing to turn the thing. They're not that expensive these days either - I remember when they first came out and they cost hundreds... anyway...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of actually constructing a recharging station, the simple way would be to purchase a solar powered battery charger such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maplin.co.uk/4-battery-solar-charger-48583&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; (I'm aware you can't actually buy it from there anymore but you can see the type I mean!) You could also make something yourself out of solar panels - and equally potentially make something to work with the wind or flowing water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're just doing it for fun though I'd be tempted to say don't bother - the size of those contraptions is generally much more than several sets of even D cell batteries, let alone AA, so unless you really don't trust batteries to stay charged or you really rely on going through a heck of a lot of batteries, it's still probably not the most practical option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T12:05:01.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="879" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="880" CreationDate="2012-02-03T12:29:14.553" Score="11" ViewCount="1381" Body="&lt;p&gt;Weather forecasters often give two tempertures, the actual air temperature and a 'feel like' temperture that takes into account wind speed. Is there a rule of thumb for calcualting the 'feels like temperature'? Something like -1 &amp;deg;C for every 0.5m/s wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T00:36:15.133" LastActivityDate="2014-02-13T23:55:00.290" Title="Are there any reliable and/or easy to use &quot;rule of thumb&quot; guides for windchill calculations?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="879" CreationDate="2012-02-03T13:09:15.000" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Wind_chill.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wind chill chart&lt;/a&gt;, e.g &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.silvacompass.com/sport-key-ring-forecaster-610&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this keyring compass&lt;/a&gt; includes a wind chill chart that would be easy to carry. It's still not going to be accurate, but it would provide a guide when you have nothing better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page on wind chill&lt;/a&gt;, the calculations look a bit &quot;frightening&quot; - not something I would like to do in my head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2014-02-13T23:15:17.537" LastActivityDate="2014-02-13T23:15:17.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="879" CreationDate="2012-02-03T14:46:49.717" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Relative humidity is doing to be a big factor here, both on the too wet and too dry sides.  Staying warm is generally not something you want to try to do &quot;by the numbers&quot;.  If you're out in the cold and wind, you need to pay attention to the feedback your body is giving you about the conditions you are in.  Pay attention for the signs of hypothermia, frostbite, and/or dehydration and react accordingly.  Don't just check the windspeed and temperature and rely on that to determine who fine you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are planning in advance of a trip and want to know how cold it will be, don't use a rule of thumb, use a real calculation, but don't forget to add in humidity.  Generally you should carry enough extra clothes to cover any extreme weather changes anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T17:50:28.737" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T17:50:28.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="882" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-03T15:02:45.420" Score="14" ViewCount="1199" Body="&lt;p&gt;For short hikes you can generally ignore nutritional concerns, because you don't generally become malnourished in two days.  However, for a long trip like the Appalachian Trail or other long hikes (at least a month and possibly more) what considerations should be taken with vitamins that do no exist with an overnight or short trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What specific vitamin needs are going to increase and what vitamins are likely to be depleted on this length of trip?  Which can I just stock up on in town vs. those which will need to be available and consumed on trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I won't use multivitamins (personal choice).  I am really looking for an authoritative list of vitamins needed and sources to get those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Made more clear, limited to just vitamins to avoid confusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-05T15:29:49.030" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T15:29:49.030" Title="What are the vitamin considerations for extended backpacking" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-02-03T15:48:17.463" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you know about the wind then that might help you. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south, likewise an easterly wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows west and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="245" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T16:50:36.237" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T16:50:36.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="884" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="887" CreationDate="2012-02-03T16:23:52.560" Score="6" ViewCount="15733" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I look at bow manufacturers' websites, I see bows are rated with an IBO for their arrows speed.  I was wondering what IBO stands for and how it is calculated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T22:47:06.933" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T22:47:06.933" Title="What does IBO on a bow mean and how is it calculated?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="882" CreationDate="2012-02-03T16:30:14.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For such a long trip, however, you should do your best to make your diet a little closer to a home diet if at all possible.  While not as convenient as an MRE, a variety of simple minimally processed whole grains, seeds, and nuts are easily transported and cooked on the trail and are nutritious enough to support civilizations.  Whole wheat, quinoa, brown rice, whole oats, almonds, sesame, peanuts, etc. have excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/nut-seed-nutrition-chart.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;nutritional profiles&lt;/a&gt;. The grains pack easily and can provide the bulk of your calorie needs, and then you can supplement with backpacker's meals and other food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry, buy, or gather fresh vegetable ingredients whenever possible.  Look up food safety information for each food.  Eggs will last for a time depending on conditions, and hard boiled eggs will last for longer.  Powdered dairy and eggs are good enough.  Tuna pouches(as compared to cans) don't have a lot of water.  Dried vegetables such as peas, etc., lose some of their nutritional value but are useful.  Dried fruits and meats are also useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gathering food safely takes additional experience, but some herbs are foolproof.  Everyone knows what a dandelion looks like and they are nutritious from the flower to the root.  Their young greens and flower heads are the easiest to eat.  You can learn about the mints and berries in your area as well, and with guidance and extreme prejudice you could learn about mushrooms, although once you are in the wilderness and away from hospitals is certainly not the time to learn about them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is reasonable to take a daily &quot;active&quot; multi-vitamin to cover your bases, because with a diet of portable food you probably won't have enough variety of fresh foods.  Its simpler and safer than choosing an arsenal of specific vitamins, unless you have professional nutritional guidance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="54" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-19T00:14:50.660" LastActivityDate="2012-02-19T00:14:50.660" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="560" CreationDate="2012-02-03T17:46:02.393" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For raw wild meat (assuming fresh)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Most mammals can get rabies.  If an animal is showing symptoms of rabies, don't eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pork &amp;amp; Rabbit -- Just don't.  They get stuff that will kill you just from contact with an open scratch.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Squirrel -- Check for cysts, which are a sign of parasites.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Deer, elk, etc. -- Primary risk is worms.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;All mammals -- Take care not to let the guts come in contact with the parts you want to eat.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds -- While safe if cooked, most birds harbor lots of nastiness when raw.  No way would I even think of trying this.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish -- It's extremely unlikely that you just happen to be trained in how to clean fish without contaminating the meat (ala sushi chef).  If you are, feel free to nom as long as there are no skin lesions, but know that there are many parasites you can get which use fish as part of their reproductive cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T19:00:29.527" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T19:00:29.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="884" CreationDate="2012-02-03T18:10:26.107" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A.M.O.(Archery Manufacturing Organization) and I.B.O. (International Bowhunters Association) both have a method for testing arrow speed from bows and although they are different both can be used to compare equipment for relative speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both of the speed testing standards use a constant drawlength, arrow weight and bow weight to test bowspeed. These are the way the two differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A.M.O.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under this standard the bow being tested will have a maximum pull weight of 60lbs. The arrow will have a grain weight of 540(9 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight). The draw length will be set at 30 inches. The chronograph used for measuring the speed will be placed at point blank range for testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I.B.O.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under this standard the bow being tested will have a maximum pull weight of 70lbs. The arrow will have a grain weight of 350(5 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight). The draw length will be set at 30 inches. The chronograph used for measuring the speed will be placed at point blank range for testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article continues here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archeryexchange.com/shopcontent.asp?type=amoibo&quot;&gt;http://www.archeryexchange.com/shopcontent.asp?type=amoibo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T18:10:26.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="854" CreationDate="2012-02-03T18:33:42.687" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You always learn how to do things better by doing them. But take baby steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start by spending &lt;strong&gt;a night in your back yard&lt;/strong&gt;. See if you can do dinner, sleep, breakfast without going back in the house. Take note of what things you use and what things you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;strong&gt;campgrounds you can drive to&lt;/strong&gt;. So drive to one &amp;amp; spend the night. If things don't go well, you can always hop in the car &amp;amp; drive home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Find a friend&lt;/strong&gt; that likes to go camping, and ask to go with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T18:33:42.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="882" CreationDate="2012-02-03T18:58:30.887" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your question, it sounds like you already have a plan to supply your body with calories. I'll further assume you will have protein and fat, not just carbohydrates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With those covered, you then need vitamins and minerals. Fiber is a good idea, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to be healthy eating only wild animal foods (hunting / trapping) for quite some time, but you have to do it right. Eat the fat and the organs, as they are nutrient rich. (Lions eat only the organs, and leave the muscle to scavengers!) Liver is rich in Vitamin A, which is great but must be balanced with Vitamin D. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very lean meats such as rabbit will leave you nutrient-deficient (if that's all you eat), so you'll still need to fill in the gaps another way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you learn a few edible wild plants for your area, you can round out your nutritional needs very nicely. I believe that wild plants tend to have much higher mineral and vitamin content than farmed plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Pacific Northwest, I would focus on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Miner's lettuce&lt;/strong&gt;, so named because miners would eat it for this very reason. It's very tasty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stinging Nettle&lt;/strong&gt; is very nutritious. I eat it raw, but most people will steam or boil it to avoid the stingers. The stems are good for cordage - maybe a bracelet to remember your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dandelion&lt;/strong&gt; is nutritious and easy to find in many places. I love the yellow flowers, but dislike the stems immensely. Leaves are good, especially when new. Don't confuse it with catsear aka false dandelion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These plants are easy to find &amp;amp; eat, and give you fresh leafy greens that you can't pack with you. To learn more, you can take a wild edibles class and get an edible wild plants book for your region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T18:58:30.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="560" CreationDate="2012-02-03T19:36:22.723" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My rule is don't eat wild raw meat, cook it when you can't be sure both it and the preparation are sanitary. The only exception is fish caught from a line when I'm able to cleanly sashimi a species known to be generally safe when healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at you toro and maguro (tuna), sake (salmon) and hamachi (yellowtail). The salmon and yellowtail are safer if frozen first due to tapeworm and other infectious parasites - so in the wild, those get cooked too in most instances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T19:36:22.723" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="873" CreationDate="2012-02-03T19:40:46.837" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried very hard to keep a charge on a smart phone while on backpacking trips.  It was used primarily for recording GPS routes and photos to look at later rather than for anything important.  I tried one of these &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=powerfilm%20usb%20%2b%20aa%20solar%20charger&quot;&gt;Powerfilm AA Chargers&lt;/a&gt; on my pack and it worked very well for charging AA batteries, but didn't get enough power for the smart phone.  For medium-length trips (1-2 weeks-ish), you'll probably get more power with less weight and less cost by just carrying extra batteries.  Beyond that, solar seems like it might weigh less if you don't draw too much power.  Possibly some form of hand crank as an alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T19:40:46.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="892" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-03T21:01:18.110" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-02-03T21:01:18.110" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T21:01:18.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="893" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-03T21:01:18.110" Score="0" Body="Specific concerns to transporting, preparing, and consuming foods during excursions into the great outdoors." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T00:36:19.110" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T00:36:19.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="882" CreationDate="2012-02-03T21:49:29.017" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?page_size=29&amp;amp;cat=4500001_Food&amp;amp;cat=4500042&amp;amp;jxMeat=None&amp;amp;jxBest%20use=Backpacking&amp;amp;cat=4500628&amp;amp;hist=cat,4500001_Food%3aFood%5EjxBest%20use,Backpacking%5EjxMeat,None%5Ecat,4500042%3aFreeze-Dried%20Food%5Ecat,4500628%3aDried%20Vegetables&quot;&gt;Freeze-dried Vegetables&lt;/a&gt;.  Unfortunately, the texture isn't quite right, but it works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, if you want actual FRESH veggies, then I'd recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoorherbivore.com/trail-sprouting/&quot;&gt;sprouts grown in your pack&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thirdly, if you will be resupplied during the trip, arrange a few fruits/veggies from the local store.  I know through-hikers will go into town on resupply-day and eat in a restaurant, wash clothes in the laundromat, and get whatever other sundries needed at the local grocery/convenience store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T21:49:29.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="896" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-03T22:17:12.497" Score="27" ViewCount="2190" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to Germany and am planning to do a hike in the Harz mountains.  The weather is expected to be around -18°C.  Most of the trail will be sheltered by forest, but the mountaintop is exposed to strong winds.  I am somewhat new to the cold climate and am wondering what others would consider appropriate clothing for this day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down jacket (outer layer), polar fleece and microfleece (intermediate layers), and t-shirt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton pants (jeans), fleece pants, and long underwear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wool socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leather/Gore-Tex boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wool beanie (hat), gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the cotton pants are not so appropriate.  What would be the best cold-weather hiking clothes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;After-hike edit&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather on the hike turned out to be much better than forecast; in particular: sunny and no wind. Two observations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The puffy down jacket quickly became much too warm to hike in and was awkwardly bulky to stow (but was wonderfully nice and cozy for breaks).  I think I'll shop around for a lighter outer shell and a more compact down intermediate layer to add when necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It turns out that my boots were terrible for walking on compacted snow. These boots are wonderful otherwise; I think the problem is that the tread has been worn away over the years and they need to be re-soled. So I would add: check boot traction on various surfaces, and/or bring traction-enhancing devices for compacted snow/ice.  Or perhaps the &quot;Hot Weather Safety Toe Flight Boot&quot; is simply not designed for ice?  Other than this issue, my feet were perfectly warm and happy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="247" LastEditorUserId="2969" LastEditDate="2014-02-22T01:33:44.727" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:32:36.060" Title="What clothing would be appropriate for hiking in -18°C with up to 30 km/hr wind?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="897" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-03T22:36:10.593" Score="6" ViewCount="1198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed that there is a lot of (quite expensive) Fjällräven outdoors gear for sale here in Germany and am curious whether this is a brand worth looking into, or whether their products are more trendy than practical.  Is Fjällräven a reputable supplier of serious outdoors gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="247" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:29:07.877" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:29:07.877" Title="Does Fjällräven produce serious outdoors gear, or is it just trendy?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2012-02-07T12:47:50.403" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="898" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-03T22:49:26.953" Score="16" ViewCount="5461" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never skied before, but I'd like to try it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What sort of gear should I buy (as opposed to renting) before hand?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What would be a good strategy to learn to ski?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="247" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T16:33:44.367" Title="How to get started skiing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2012-02-03T23:11:57.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a look to see if there's a dry slope skiing centre near you - that might be your best option (especially if, like here, the amount of snow you get on a regular basis varies from none to none!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They'll be able to give you advise on lessons and you should be able to rent all your equipment to start with until you decide you definitely want to continue - from then on you can make informed choices based on what you've been using thus far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-03T23:11:57.013" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2012-02-04T00:27:54.240" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Learn to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_skates&quot;&gt;inline skate/rollerblade&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  Seriously, learn to rollerblade first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many techniques that you apply to roller blading also apply to skiing, the two activities are very similar, all that varies really is the surface.  I roller bladed for a number of years before I first learned to ski, and my ski instructor said that roller blading can help pick up skiing more quickly and easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has a lot of advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can learn in warm weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can learn anywhere, not just where snow is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can master the techniques needed for both inline skating and skiing in a more controlled environment, such as a parking lot or sidewalk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can also see if it might be a sport that you would be interested in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like inline skating, give skiing a try. It's a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of fun! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T00:27:54.240" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2012-02-04T01:07:08.477" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every ski resort gives &lt;strong&gt;lessons&lt;/strong&gt;, and that's how you should begin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;strong&gt;rent skis&lt;/strong&gt;, and they will help you get them on, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dress&lt;/strong&gt; in clothes you would wear to go sledding. Remember that you work hard, get wet, then sit still. &lt;strong&gt;Layers, of wool and acrylic&lt;/strong&gt; will keep you warm when wet and let you adjust as needed. Cotton makes you cold when wet, so avoid that, especially on you innermost layer. If you have a waterproof outer layer, that helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cover as much skin as possible: hat, gloves. Ski goggles are good but you can buy one after the first class if you like skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having &lt;strong&gt;strong legs&lt;/strong&gt; helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="23" LastEditorUserId="23" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T04:39:24.673" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T04:39:24.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2012-02-04T03:48:47.960" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skiing is a sport where taking lessons pays off very quickly. Skiing is not an inexpensive sport: a lift ticket, lessons and rentals will cost you several hundred, but if you set aside about 3-5 days, with half day lessons for at least 3 days you should be pretty satisfied that you've cover all of the basics and evolved beyond the basic snow-plow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can afford the luxury of having a private instructor I'd recommend it, but you're just as well off with small groups of 2-3, and it gives you a chance to rest a bit more and compare your progress to others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a pair of goggles.  If you wear glasses then get a pair that work with glasses.  Wear proper snow pants/ski pants, anything else and you'll suffer for no good reason.  You want pants with a bib (e.g. goes above your waist and uses shoulder straps) or else you'll get snow up your shirt and down your pants.  Bring something to cover your face, preferable not a scarf.  A turtleneck or mock turtleneck works in a pinch, but a &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product1655.html&quot;&gt;neoprene face mask&lt;/a&gt; is considered the gold standard.  If you wear a scarf be sure to tuck in the ends so they don't get caught in the chair lift.  If it's going to be sunny put on some sunscreen, especially on your nose, cheeks and lips.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid skiing if it's below -20c, snow starts to feel like styrofoam and loses it's glide, and you're more likely to catch frostbite or just be darn uncomfortable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Understand that the first time you go skiing they will take you on the &quot;bunny slope&quot; a run mostly for 2-6 year olds.  Don't be embarrassed, and don't be afraid.  You won't get hurt and the instructor will teach you basic techniques like edging up ( a way to move uphill to retrieve your lost poles) and snow-plowing (a way to turn by applying friction to the edge of one ski, causing the other ski to advance and forcing the body to turn), how to stop, how to fall, how to get up, and how to get in and out of your skis.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you'll practice the same on longer and eventually steeper runs, and become familiar with the chair-lift/gondola, and eventually learn how to keep your skis parallel and learn how to turn by shifting your weight from the inside ski to the outside ski.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2013-08-29T15:16:35.277" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T15:16:35.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-04T03:54:18.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pant or snow pant that stops wind, like the Patagonia Guide Pants or goretex shell pants would be good.  I'd say the same for the top, and outer shell that cuts wind, with the fleece underneath, and then pop on the down jacket when you've stopped for breaks.  You could probably get away with just the down jacket but I find for long hikes you're more likely to get hot or wet inside it, it really depends on the model and the weight of the down.  When there's lots of wind I find it nice to have a hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T03:54:18.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="905" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="973" CreationDate="2012-02-04T04:11:11.373" Score="6" ViewCount="1151" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a pair of custom moulded &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildsnow.com/976/scarpa-spirit-4-close-look/&quot;&gt;Scarpa Spirit 4&lt;/a&gt; touring boots where the big toes are bit too tight (I've lost the nails after a day or two of touring more than once).  What is the proper technique for punch out the toe liners without damaging the liner or overall functionality of the boot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T17:23:57.847" Title="How do you punch out toes in ski-touring boots?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="865" CreationDate="2012-02-04T05:01:23.233" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question really made me curious as my wife has asked me the same thing. If you end up finding a better solution than anyone on this site can provide, I ask that you would please share it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I searched the web for a bit and found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.logy.org/~alana/blood.htm&quot;&gt;this website.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allow me to quote the part I found most important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sponges Isabelle Gauthier of Blood Sisters, an organization of women in Montreal, &#xA;  created a publication called Hot Pants which describes the use of sea&#xA;  sponges for menstruation. Often sold as cosmetic sponges in pharmacies&#xA;  sea sponges can be inserted into the vagina and can be left inside&#xA;  until saturated. The sponges should be soaked overnight in water with&#xA;  white vinegar before and after each period. It is necessary to dispose&#xA;  of the sponge in the garbage once it begins to fall apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt; This option is environmentally friendly and chemical free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt; Being aware of the saturation level of your sea sponge may be&#xA;  the last thing on your mind as you portage across a rushing creek.&#xA;  Although Gauthier insists that the sponge will not get lost &quot;up there&quot;&#xA;  it may be difficult for some to get used to reaching up to extract the&#xA;  sponge. There may not always be fresh water available to rinse your&#xA;  sponge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost:&lt;/strong&gt; Pharma Plus  sells a bag of 3 natural sea sponges for $6.49.&#xA;  Gauthier approximates that a single sponge could last &quot;six months if&#xA;  you take good care of it.&quot; A lifetime of menstruation could be yours&#xA;  for just over $100.00&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.logy.org/~alana/blood.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.logy.org/~alana/blood.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Article: How to Handle your Period while you Enjoy the Great Outdoors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Author: Beth Clarkson&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upon further investigation, you should take care to thoroughly clean the sponge before first use and subsequent uses (obviously). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodrevolution.org/askjohn/49.htm&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; notes they are no longer sold as hygiene...things... (not sure what to call them) as they have been known to contain bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the relevant stuff:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your concern about ocean pollution making sea sponges potentially&#xA;  dangerous is justified. In fact, this is the reason sea sponges are&#xA;  technically no longer allowed to be sold as menstrual products. In&#xA;  late 1980, menstrual sponges sold commercially were examined by a&#xA;  University of Iowa laboratory and found to contain sand, grit,&#xA;  bacteria, and various other contaminants. Other studies have found&#xA;  chemical pollutants and fungi in sponges sold for menstrual use. The&#xA;  Centers for Disease Control have documented a least one case of toxic&#xA;  shock syndrome associated with the use of a sea sponge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodrevolution.org/askjohn/49.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.foodrevolution.org/askjohn/49.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Article: Menstrual cycles and sea sponges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Author: John Robbins&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more I research about this issue (which I should probably stop now) the more I see that most women vastly prefer a menstrual cup, particularly the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divacup.com/&quot;&gt;Diva Cup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT 2&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Just ran across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/menstruation_data.html&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; about bears and menstruation. It is hypothesized that the odors from used tampons and pads attract bears. If bears are attracted to them, my very uninformed opinion is that other carnivorous animals may be attracted also. So I hope that immediately eliminates the use of pads and tampons for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/menstruation_data.html&quot;&gt;http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/menstruation_data.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Article: Bears and Menstruating Women&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Author: Kerry A. Gunther&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="76" LastEditorUserId="76" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T05:14:00.920" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T05:14:00.920" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-04T07:35:17.210" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton pants are fine if you wear something windproof over them, like membrane pants. I use my regular manchester pants for hiking throughout the whole year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balaclava might be a good choice, so that you don't have to worry about frostbites in the face, especially in the wind. If you wear glasses, check if they stay clear when wearing balaclava.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pay attention to the gloves, since hands are very prone to frostbites. It’s a good idea to have waterproof gloves and even in that case carry some backup ones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down jacket in combination with fleece might easily prove too warm. The usual rule applies: you don’t want to get hot and start sweating too much, since being wet means being cold. Make sure you can vary the clothes for different warmth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Windproof hood is a must.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T07:44:23.357" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T07:44:23.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="908" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-04T08:06:10.437" Score="7" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.insideoutsidemag.com/issues/2007/June_July/Dodging_Another_Bullet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; (full disclosure: I wrote it) lead-based ammunition is a well-known threat to Condors and other scavengers, and may have negative effects on humans who unknowingly ingest bullet fragments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotal evidence suggests that lead-free ammunition performs just as well as lead-based ammunition, without the potential side-effects, and lack of adoption is largely due to habit (we like to use what we have always used).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my question is two-part: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there documented performance differences between lead-based vs lead-free ammunition?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have any hunters who have used both noticed a marked difference in performance?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T21:15:49.093" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T21:15:49.093" Title="Are there performance differences between lead and lead-free ammunition?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="909" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="910" CreationDate="2012-02-04T16:16:16.093" Score="7" ViewCount="9127" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often carry around a couple of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv8U_GHvj4M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;reusable hand warmers&lt;/a&gt; when hiking or just around the outdoors when it's cold. They don't take up much space, they're easy to reuse (just boil) and they provide a fair bit of heat for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, try as I might I can't find any equivalent reusable packs that work the other way - i.e. they set of a reaction that draws in heat and makes them cold for a while, and then (I'd expect) you could put them in the freezer for a while to reverse the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't really use them for hands, but they could come in useful for cooling you down generally - placing at the back of your neck for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do such things exist? Technically I don't see why it's not possible but I haven't seen any around at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: After a bit of looking around I stumbled across &lt;a href=&quot;http://the-therapy-connection.com/Jack-Frost-Instant-Reusable-Insulated-Ice/M/B000KWP79W.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; - perhaps they do exist after all! Has anyone used them? It looks like they're geared more towards medicine than general use but if the effect's the same that's fine by me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:15:00.903" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:15:00.903" Title="Do reusable &quot;hand coolers&quot; exist?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="909" CreationDate="2012-02-04T16:50:33.050" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instant ice packs, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.koolpak.co.uk/products/original-instant-ice-pack-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;like this one&lt;/a&gt;, which are usually used for treating sprains and strains sound a bit like what you are looking for. They use a chemical reaction to cool, but, they are single use only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such instant ice packs work by mixing ammonium nitrate with water. The hydration of ammonium nitrate is endothermic (absorbs heat). Perhaps unintuitively, you would need to apply more heat to dehydrate the ammonium nitrate &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; keep it separate from the moisture you are removing to be able to reuse. I guess this would be difficult to achieve in a simple reusable pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like using my &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.buffwear.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/52&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;buff&lt;/a&gt; dipped a stream or river and worn round my neck to cool down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-04T17:35:08.417" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T17:35:08.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-04T17:21:30.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking in the cold you need to be able to sweat but not get cold.  A good choice would be clothing that can breathe well and is lightweight and layered.&#xA;Materials made with a natural wool mix are a good choice for layering under other clcothes; even when damp they stay warm. Anything that is able to wick away sweat is good. A good outer-layer shell jacket and pants needs to be able to breathe and cut the wind and cold. Pay special attention to gloves and socks as these items can make the difference between turning around and being able to carry on. You will need to rotate your glove/sock-type items, so carry extra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="146" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T01:14:15.067" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T01:14:15.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-04T18:16:39.153" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to have clothes for the coldest part of the trip, at the mountaintop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For that temperature and wind, I would recommend more layers. I would carry or wear at least one more fleece top and one pair of fleece pants. It may be easy to stay warm in the trees, but if you want or need to stop on the mountain top it will get really cold really fast.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's safer if the t-shirt is not cotton, and waterproof pants would be better than cotton pants. The outer cotton pants would be OK when it's this cold as far as moisture goes, but nylon pants will block the wind a lot better.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring extra socks. The Goretex in the boots is waterproof, but it allows cold air in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure the gloves are warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You should be able to cover most of your head from the wind for frostbite protection. You should consider a hood, balaclava, and probably ski goggles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring some chemical foot and hand heaters in case you need them to prevent frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what I normally use in those conditions. Everybody has their own preferences; this is just an example rather than a required list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shirt, 2 fleece layers, and a waterproof jacket with a hood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thin long underwear (not cotton), fleece pants, goretext pants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I carry an extra fleece top, pants, and socks (in case I get cold).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hood on the jacket, a warm balaclava, and sometimes goggles to keep my head warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm boots with as many socks as I can fit without restricting the blood flow in my feet. Goretex will work, but you need more socks because it allows air in. Insulated rubber boots (gum boots) will work fine, and can handle most crampons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gaitors if there will be much snow. These help keep your feet warm, too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mittens, or really warm gloves. Glove liners are good.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heating pads for hands and feet (they are different), and something to start a fire with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will always turn around if I get too cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T18:16:39.153" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="913" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="914" CreationDate="2012-02-04T18:53:48.177" Score="23" ViewCount="28656" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a &quot;buff&quot;, how is it used, and why should I have one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen them advocated in numerous places, but I'm not sure why a tube of cloth is better around my neck than a scarf, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:28:58.017" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:28:58.017" Title="What is a buff?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="913" CreationDate="2012-02-04T19:43:30.377" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;To be honest I was dubious about getting something that I thought was gimmicky, but my son’s Scout troop was selling custom Buffs to raise group funds so I ended up buying one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buffwear.com/&quot;&gt;Buff&lt;/a&gt; is just a tube of lightweight, stretchy material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve found them useful in three particular situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are thin, so can be worn like a hat under a bicycle helmet for extra warmth in the winter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Worn round the neck it provides a comfortable scarf that helps seal any gaps around my jacket collar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In summer, I dip it in a stream or river and wear it round my neck to help keep cool.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think they are versatile and useful, but certainly not a full replacement for a scarf, hat, or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-12-07T22:12:58.873" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T22:12:58.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="913" CreationDate="2012-02-04T20:45:21.693" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know a few people who say they're useful - and they are certainly very versatile. There's nothing very complex about them, it's just a section of stretchy material that you can wear however you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be used wet for cooling, or dry underneath a hat for a bit of extra warmth, or as a scarf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're on a gentle hike or a fun backpacking trip then there's no harm in having one, they're cheap and if nothing else a bit of fun! I wouldn't say they're an essential piece of serious gear though - kit dedicated to the task it's meant to do will almost always do a better job (a proper scarf will likely be a lot warmer than a buff as a scarf for instance.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-04T20:45:21.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="933" CreationDate="2012-02-05T00:43:32.510" Score="7" ViewCount="1685" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that ATA is axle to axle, but is that when the bow is drawn and the limbs are flexed or when the limbs are relaxed and the compound bow is undrawn? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2012-02-06T02:52:47.717" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T04:50:23.090" Title="How is ATA measured on a compound bow?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="918" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="919" CreationDate="2012-02-05T01:21:06.930" Score="24" ViewCount="5986" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cold weather has finally hit the UK and once again I am tempted to buy something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yaktrax.co.uk/shop/yaktrax-pro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yaktrax Pro Ice Grips&lt;/a&gt;.  For those of you not in the UK we get some snow each year (enough to make everything grind to a halt), but as the temperature is usually around 0oC it often melts and refreezes into ice causing very slippery pavements.  I've got a decent pair of walking boots and they are much better than trainers, but they fail when confronted with sheet ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is are these Ice grip things as in the link (a similar idea to crampons but less without the specific requirements for types of footwear) worth buying, do they significantly improve grip and are there any pit-falls I should be aware of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-08T15:20:18.903" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T17:03:02.077" Title="Are Ice grips worth buying?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;microspikes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2012-02-05T01:41:00.680" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used both the Pro version of YakTrax as well as the normal version that lacks the velcro strap across the forefoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are amazingly well engineered, durable and perform as advertised. On ice, hard snow and frozen trails, they provide excellent footing. Of course - if you are walking on a dry smooth surface like marble or stone, the grip isn't as good as you would have with a completely rubber sole, but the foot feel is good and I would highly recommend them for hiking and trail running as well as general cold weather traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had the pro versions for 5 seasons and they show no signs of wear after easily a hundred miles under foot - half of this mountain hiking in Montana. My normal pair see more on/off for short use like dog walking and this pair are several seasons old. I live in Minnesota, so both get months of use at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-02-05T18:34:56.980" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T18:34:56.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="702" CreationDate="2012-02-05T04:21:51.990" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wilderness medicine protocols taught by the major Wilderness First Aid / First Responder training companies (and subsequently adopted by most outdoor organizations) are fairly standard and quite clear about wound management in the back-country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard accepted practice for treating a wound is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stop the bleeding - usually possible via direct pressure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clean the wound as best as possible through high-pressure irrigation with clean (ie drinking safe) water using an irrigating syringe or a squeeze bottle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;remove any small bits of debris (assuming you are dealing with a scrape - removing impaled objects is not in the scope of this question or answer (hint: don't unless indicated otherwise)) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;prevent more dirt / potential sources for infection from entering the wound.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simple, straight forward. And you can do it without any specialized medical kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All bandages provide you is a sterile method for doing the last - but in lieu of sterile dressing, any clean barrier from dirt will do. (ie, a clean shirt)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding any kind of substance (ie, honey, plant poultice) is generally frowned upon in wilderness settings as these can introduce sources of infection, become breeding grounds for bacteria, or at the very least make it difficult to monitor what is going on with the wound. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are far enough away from higher care that infection is a concern, then these &quot;home remedies&quot; are generally considered more risky than helpful, and add one more thing you have to clean out of the wound later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-02-05T06:17:48.877" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T06:17:48.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2012-02-05T05:36:29.380" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently purchased a pair of Kahtoola Microspikes and they are great. I went with the Microspikes over the Yaktracks because all of the reviews I read online said the Yatracks break pretty easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I'm very happy with my Microspikes. I got them for hiking mixed terrain where it's part snow, part ice, part rock, and they fit the bill perfectly. They come on and off very quickly so it's easy to transition from sidewalk or cement to ice and snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You basically don't have to worry about your foot slipping at all, which is great for peace of mind. I usually end up doing the penguin waddle if I'm trying to walk somewhere that's icy, but with these I can just stride along confidently as if the ice wasn't even there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're great for casual hiking when conditions are a wintry mix or just straight ice. I'd say they're a great purchase if you'll get a lot of use out of them. They'll let you hike in conditions where you might not otherwise be able to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="29" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T05:36:29.380" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="702" CreationDate="2012-02-05T07:00:37.127" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep a few wet naps (like you get to wipe your fingers at a chicken &amp;amp; ribs joint) mainly to wash my hands (do you know how hard it is to wash your hands in the bush?), and have used them to wipe some pretty serious scratched (they are also excellent fire starters). Hand sanitizer would be another option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T07:00:37.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="909" CreationDate="2012-02-05T13:26:28.487" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reusable heaters rely on heat of crystallization of sodium acetate, that is, heat you obtain by crystallization of a solution. Coolers rely on heat of solvation, which is the heat that gets absorbed (in this case) when ammonium nitrate is dissolved in water. You cannot make an easily reusable hand cooler, but technically the system can be restored to its original form if you evaporate the water and recover the ammonium nitrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion is to find a small amount of ammonium nitrate and put it into a metal can with a reusable cap on top. Add water in the same amount (to make it sort of porridge-like) if you want cold. Be careful, because it can get &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; cold. Once done, put the can on a &lt;em&gt;warm&lt;/em&gt; surface and let water go away slowly. Ambient temperature evaporation is safer (and you may get very nice crystals). Be careful. Ammonium nitrate can become dangerous if heated too much. It is commonly used as a fertilizer, but has a huge record of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate_disasters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;explosive behavior&lt;/a&gt;. For this reason, don't buy too much or you may end up on the FBI list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="72" LastEditDate="2012-02-05T13:32:14.000" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T13:32:14.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2012-02-05T16:41:58.883" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got the yaktracks a couple of years ago and they have performed really well - through two sub -15 degree winters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have enough flexibility that I still managed to run in them for a couple of hours at a time, and very easy to remove when entering a building. This takes about 20 seconds for each one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where there is a layer of ice or snow on a pavement they give immense amounts of grip, but if the pavement has been cleared you will be better off removing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T16:41:58.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="593" CreationDate="2012-02-05T18:40:59.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most tarps have a coating applied to them.  DWR should be avoided, it's only water resistant and will eventually drip.  Silicone impregnated (aka silnylon or sil-nylon) is lighter than polyurethane-coated, and is supposed to be equally waterproof, but some people say silnylon can mist during heavy rains but it's more likely from condensation than permeability.  A tarp that is polyurethane coated will usually have a flame retardant element added to it. Some tarps are coated with both in order to meet flame retardant standards.  Polyurethane coatings are always on the underside, and may peel with time.  Silnylon strengthens the fabric, while polyurethane weakens the fabric over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR; If you have money and weight is of importance, go for silnylon, otherwise go for polyurethane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="500" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T19:23:23.233" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T19:23:23.233" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="593" CreationDate="2012-02-05T20:56:02.193" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big difference in price / quality is the weight. A builders tarp that would normally be transported on a truck does not need to be as light as one that you would carry on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also some that have design details, like being able to combine 2 to make a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="153" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T20:56:02.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="897" CreationDate="2012-02-05T21:05:14.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fjällräven is a solid decades old brand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it may be considered very trendy and therefore be over priced in Germany. You should check the prices on Swedish net sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="153" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T21:05:14.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="454" CreationDate="2012-02-05T21:11:02.917" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you take the tourist route you &quot;just&quot; walk up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big challenge is the altitude, make sure you walk slowly to get used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to Rory's answer take some sun glasses. I came down on a stretcher once after getting snow blinded :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="153" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T21:11:02.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="929" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="930" CreationDate="2012-02-05T22:42:47.797" Score="11" ViewCount="274" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about to take part in a Ski Tour across Iceland in a few weeks time, I've just noticed by travel insurance doesn't include Search &amp;amp; Rescue costs, here in the UK mountain search and rescue is provided free of charge, by volunteers and military.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what the situation is in Iceland? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="5894" LastEditDate="2015-11-13T08:29:51.577" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T19:28:20.977" Title="Search and rescue costs in Iceland?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="929" CreationDate="2012-02-05T22:59:54.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like a bit of Googling found the answer I was after... I'm not 100% sure this is definative, &lt;strong&gt;but&lt;/strong&gt; it does &lt;em&gt;suggest&lt;/em&gt; that search and rescue is free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/iceland-search-and-rescue/&quot;&gt;http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/iceland-search-and-rescue/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone else confirm this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-02-05T22:59:54.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="655" CreationDate="2012-02-06T00:08:54.730" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think someone may have mentioned a knife being an emergency kit essential item.  Well, here is one great reason:  A knife can be used as an improvised signal mirror.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From today's news:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/AP-Newsbreak-3-lost-in-Ore-used-knife-as-signal-3048357.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Three Lost in Oregon Use Knife as Signal&quot;&gt;Three Lost in Oregon Use Knife as Signal.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try never to go out into the woods without a good knife.  I now have one more reason to never leave it back at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T00:08:54.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="909" CreationDate="2012-02-06T00:13:08.093" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the 1996 Summer Olympics, there were vendors all over Atlanta selling these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://coolbandanas.com/bandanas.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cool bandannas.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think they're filled with polymer beads similar to the ones found inside diapers that hold moisture once you get them wet.  I wouldn't say it kept me completely cool, but-- being &quot;completely&quot; cool in 96-degree heat is a fantasy, unless you're in air conditioning.  I would recommend these-- or something like them-- as all you need to do is dunk them in a cold creek, and you're good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T00:13:08.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="916" CreationDate="2012-02-06T00:43:30.940" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks to me, looking at the diagram on this site, that ATA is a measure of the bow itself.  I would say that the limbs of the bow are relaxed in this diagram.  I hope this article will also be helpful to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rOTuH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Diagram of a bow showing ATA&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is the article:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Understanding compound bows, and how to select them.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T04:50:23.090" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T04:50:23.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="934" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-06T02:21:20.117" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions related to avoiding bears:  protecting against bears; how bears interact with the environment; and how to react when in a bear encounter in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:48:32.613" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T23:48:32.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="935" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-06T02:21:20.117" Score="0" Body="Questions about bears" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:48:32.613" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T23:48:32.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="936" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-06T02:23:05.000" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The art of staying safe, through the treatment but above all the prevention of injury and disease. Preventing and treating injuries through proper training, gear, behavior, and/or area knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:46:00.703" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:46:00.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="937" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-06T02:23:05.000" Score="0" Body="Questions that discuss about precautions need to be taken for ensuring the safety in various outdoor activities that are in scope of The Great Outdoors should be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:46:00.703" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:46:00.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="938" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="941" CreationDate="2012-02-06T13:21:29.600" Score="10" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into using some fuel tablets for cooking with a stove like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/653343/esbit-pocket-stove&quot;&gt;this esbit&lt;/a&gt; as a backup/emergency stove when rafting.  However I have heard that the fuel can easily foul food, clothing, etc.  What's the recommended way to store and pack the fuel &lt;em&gt;when rafting&lt;/em&gt; to help prevent package rupture?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T01:58:18.097" Title="How to store fuel tablets for travel" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="939" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="943" CreationDate="2012-02-06T14:00:19.303" Score="10" ViewCount="487" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a pure safety standpoint is there a functional difference between a climbing helmet, cycling helmet, etc?  Is a cycling helmet actually the safest solution for a cyclist, or would the greater coverage of a climbing helmet be better for safety?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:01:02.663" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:01:02.663" Title="Is there a functional safety difference in types of helmets" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="939" CreationDate="2012-02-06T14:25:53.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Safety equipment for each sport is designed, tested and certified specifically for that sport. Different sports have different and often competing priorities for the type of protection and comfort required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example of competing priorities might be that climbing helmets need to provide extra protection at the top of the head to defend against falling rock, whereas, cycling helmets are designed to provide additional ventilation for comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, climbing helmets are not suitable for cycling and cycling helmets are not suitable for climbing. Wear the correct safety equipment for the activity you are taking part in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-06T15:24:11.077" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T15:24:11.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="938" CreationDate="2012-02-06T14:38:35.527" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep mine in a small freezer bag, which I replace each trip. I keep individual tablets in foil so they don't crumble as much. The foil also helps avoid touching them. If you're worried about the freezer bag wearing out you could double it up but I haven't found the need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2012-02-06T22:26:41.193" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T22:26:41.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="215" CreationDate="2012-02-06T14:58:23.070" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keep your dog on a leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According the the &lt;a href=&quot;http://usscouts.org/safety/safe-bear.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scouts&lt;/a&gt;, dogs are a bad idea in bear country.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leave your dog at home. A dog often infuriates a bear and may come&#xA;  running back to you with the bear in pursuit!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New Hampshire &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/faqs_black_bears.htm#dog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;department of wildlife&lt;/a&gt; agrees that, while small, the primary risk is that your dog agitates a bear then runs to you for protection with the bear in pursuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/dena/frequently-asked-questions-regarding-bears.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Denali National Park&lt;/a&gt;, with similar advice&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dogs can sometimes keep bears away from a camp, but very often, a dog initially chases a bear and then the bear chases the dog right back to the camp. Dogs may also harass a bear unnecessarily or pique a bear's curiosity. Dogs must be kept on a leash while in the park and are not allowed on trails, in the backcountry, or left unattended at any time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more than a few bear attacks where a bear has attacked a person after chasing a dog to that person, even in suburban neighborhoods.  So this is not &quot;well it's not likely but just in case advice&quot;.  Conversely there are virtually no reports of dogs saving their owners from bears.  Usually it's the owner having to save the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very clear that a free running dog in bear country will increase your risk of hostile bear encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T15:36:45.030" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T15:36:45.030" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="939" CreationDate="2012-02-06T15:14:58.300" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would argue that there is a wide functional gap in safety helmets for various sports. The design tradeoffs are easily summarized:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can this helmet be designed for a single use or does it need to work after repeated falls and knocks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How many sharp objects need to be deflected?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How large and sharp an acceleration must the brain be protected against?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much weight can be added before the helmet causes undesirable or unsafe conditions when used?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How important is heat dissipation? (whether you are baking on a climbing wall with no shade or riding for hours in a warm climate)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will sunlight protection be necessary for the helmet or the user?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of these design criteria have very inherent safety tradeoffs. In general, the type of cycling helmet that has a cosmetic and purely &quot;hold the styrofoam together&quot; type shell would not be appropriate for climbing where you might expect to have tens of rocks fall on your head during one climb. Similarly, the padding on a cycling helmet might be more than is needed for climbing. Looking at the spectrum from a full face racing motorcycle helmet to a winter skiing helmet, to a rock climbing helmet, to a skateboarding helmet, to a mountain biking helmet and finally to a typical road cycling helmet - you can see a progression to less and less armor as well as various amounts of styrofoam like insulation depending on the speed at which your body might hit the ground or an object if you fall from your vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how to precisely answer which is best, but hopefully this discussion helps frame your decision when picking a helmet if you can't get help from a subject matter expert that has experience in the activity you will use your helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T15:14:58.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="944" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="993" CreationDate="2012-02-06T16:07:53.923" Score="13" ViewCount="498" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should I always take a hard hat if I go scrambling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Scrambling (also known as alpine scrambling) is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite often when I'm out on ridges in the UK, I rarely see people wearing any kind of safety equipment! I guess it depends on the geology of the area you are visiting! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T16:28:32.507" Title="Should I always take a hard hat if I go scrambling?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="945" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="992" CreationDate="2012-02-06T16:11:25.960" Score="14" ViewCount="3854" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages / disadvantages of a rock climbing hat made from hard plastic to one made out of carbon fibre?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done a Google search already, but wanted some pointers with people who have experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T19:48:48.000" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T20:13:00.137" Title="What are the advantages / disadvantages of a rock climbing hat made from hard plastic to one made out of carbon fiber?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2012-02-06T16:43:04.287" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is an article from &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/2007/10/knots-to-know/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scoutin magazine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knots and Boy Scouts go together like campfires and cobbler. Here’s how to tie three of the knots required to reach First Class, plus four more that can be very useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knots. It all begins with rope — different sizes, lengths, widths, and strengths, depending on its use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes used for climbing can bear more than two tons of weight. Thinner, lightweight cords are used for lashings and tying off tent stakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although they are still used in horse packing and sailing, natural-fiber ropes are mostly a thing of the past. Most ropes for outdoor recreation are made of nylon for durability and elasticity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prolong the life of your rope, protect it from dirt, sunlight, chemicals, and abrasion. When you store&#xA;a rope, coil it following its natural lay. Don’t wrap it around your arm and through your outstretched hand like an extension cord. Keep it in a bag for storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fortified Square Knot&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C8z3M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic square knot, or “joining” knot, is the first knot many boys learn on the night they join a Scout troop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;“Right over left and under, left over right and under, then pull.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fortified square knot strengthens the basic knot by adding an&#xA;overhand knot to each end, which makes it less likely to slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Taut-line Hitch&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the knot campers use to adjust tension in a tent’s guyline. It works best with cord that is at least ¼-inch thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap the rope around a secure object such as a tent stake. Bring the leading end under the standing rope and wrap the end around the standing part two times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finish by bringing the leading rope above the two loops and finish with a half hitch; pull tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grapevine Knot&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(also known as the Double Fisherman’s Knot)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OMz3w.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This useful knot ties two ropes of equal diameter securely together. It’s secure enough to be used in rappelling—but can be difficult to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place two lengths of rope parallel to each other. With the leading end of the lower rope, tie two overhand knots around the upper rope; pull the knot tight. With the leading end of the upper rope, tie an overhand knot around the lower rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull the knot tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Clove Hitch&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AoDIp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This easy knot can be used to tie a horse to a post. It’s also the knot used to start and finish most lashings. The knot is tied with two loops of rope stacked on top of one another so that they interlock and hold firm. This is one of the quickest knots to learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap the rope around a post and cross it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap the leading end of the rope around the post again and tuck it under itself below the cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bowline&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fm9gq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This loop knot is popular among climbers and sailors. It’s a secure knot that will not slip or loosen. In a rescue, a bowline can be tied around a person’s waist so he can be hoisted to safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bowline is often taught using the story of the rabbit and the hunter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Form the rabbit’s hole by making a loop in the rope. Take the leading line (the rabbit) up through the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The “rabbit” sees a hunter, runs around the tree (the standing line of the rope)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It goes back into the hole. Pull both ends of the rope to finish the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Prusik Knot&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rOy2r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This knot is used by climbers to ascend a rope and by rescuers to raise and lower people and equipment. The climbing rope should be thicker than the accessory cord (usually 5 to 7 millimeters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tie a grapevine knot to make a secure loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a girth hitch (also known as the cow, lanyard, lark’s foot, lark’s head, and strap hitch) to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;secure the cord with the grapevine knot around another rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chain Sennit (AKA Daisy Chain, Monkey Braid)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FeREy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&#xA;To shorten a long line of rope, such as a painter attached to the bow of a canoe, use the deceptively simple chain sennit. When you need the full length of line, a quick tug frees the entire rope without any kinks or knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make an overhand slip knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull the loose end through to make another slip knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Repeat as many times as necessary and pull tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This entry was posted in &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/category/outdoors/camping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/category/outdoors/camping/camping-advice-and-tips/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping Advice and Tips&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/category/outdoors/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoors&lt;/a&gt; and tagged &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/tag/boy-scouts-of-america/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boy Scouts of America&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/tag/knots/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Knots&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/tag/scouting/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scouting&lt;/a&gt;. Bookmark the &lt;a href=&quot;http://scoutingmagazine.org/2007/10/knots-to-know/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;permalink&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="85" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T19:08:04.320" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-02-06T16:43:04.287" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="677" CreationDate="2012-02-06T18:00:33.427" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all the odds that you startle a bear in this way are quite low.  There is a good chance that it would have heard or smelled you before you get that close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you encounter a bear in the wilderness, your reaction depends on how the bear is acting.  In most cases, the bear will be defensive.  In this case you should stay calm, talk calmly to the bear, make yourself look big and slowly move away facing the bear, always facing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the bear is aggressive, or is approaching you, your reaction should be different.  A good guide of what to do in these situations can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people.aspx&quot;&gt;Parks Canada's website&lt;/a&gt;. The page has a lot of good information, but here is the specific part on &quot;if you see a bear&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;If you &lt;em&gt;see&lt;/em&gt; a bear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stop and remain calm. Get ready to use your bear spray. Do not run&#xA;  away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Is the bear &lt;em&gt;unaware&lt;/em&gt; of your presence?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Move away quietly without getting its attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Is the bear &lt;em&gt;aware&lt;/em&gt; of your presence?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bears may bluff their way out of an encounter by charging and then&#xA;  turning away at the last second. Bears may also react defensively by&#xA;  woofing, growling, snapping their jaws and laying their ears back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stay calm. Your&#xA;  calm behaviour can reassure the bear. Screams or sudden movements may&#xA;  trigger an attack. Speak to the bear. Talk calmly and firmly. This&#xA;  lets the bear know you are human and not a prey animal. If a bear&#xA;  rears on its hind legs and waves its nose about, it is trying to&#xA;  identify you. Back away slowly. Never run! Running may trigger a&#xA;  pursuit. Make yourself appear BIG. Pick up small children and stay in&#xA;  a group. Do not drop your pack. It can provide protection. If you must&#xA;  proceed, make a wide detour around a bear or wait at a safe distance&#xA;  for it to move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;If the bear &lt;em&gt;approaches&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stop and remain calm. Get ready to use your bear spray. Do not run&#xA;  away. Assess the bear’s behaviour and determine why it is approaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Is it &lt;em&gt;defensive&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bear is feeding, protecting its young and/or surprised by your&#xA;  presence. It sees you as a threat. The bear will appear stressed or&#xA;  agitated and may vocalize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Try to appear non-threatening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Talk in a calm voice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;When the bear stops advancing, start slowly moving away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If it keeps coming closer, stand your ground, keep talking, and use your bear spray.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If the bear makes contact, fall on the ground and play dead. Lie still and wait for the bear to leave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Is it &lt;em&gt;non-defensive&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A bear may be curious, after your food, or testing its dominance. In&#xA;  the rarest case, it might be predatory–seeing you as potential prey.&#xA;  All of these non-defensive behaviours can appear similar and should&#xA;  not be confused with defensive behaviours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bear will be intent on you with head and ears up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Talk in a firm voice. Move out of the bear’s path. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If it follows you, stop and stand your ground. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Shout and act aggressively. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Try to intimidate the bear. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If it approaches closely, use your bear spray.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Handling an &lt;em&gt;attack&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most encounters with bears end without injury. If a bear actually makes contact, you may increase your chances of survival by following these guidelines. In general, there are 2 kinds of attack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Defensive&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is the most COMMON type of attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use your bear spray.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the bear makes contact with you: PLAY DEAD!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lie on your stomach with legs apart and position your arms so that&#xA;  your hands are crossed behind your neck. This position makes you less&#xA;  vulnerable to being flipped over and protects your face, the back of&#xA;  your head and neck. Remain still until you are sure the bear has left&#xA;  the area. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These defensive attacks are generally less than two minutes in&#xA;  duration. If the attack continues, it may mean it has shifted from&#xA;  defensive to predatory—FIGHT BACK!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Predatory&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bear is stalking (hunting) you along a trail and then attacks. Or,&#xA;  the bear attacks you at night. This type of attack is very RARE. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Try to escape into a building, car or up a tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If you cannot escape, do not play dead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use your bear spray and FIGHT BACK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Intimidate that bear: shout; hit it with a branch or rock, do&#xA;  whatever it takes to let the bear know you are not easy prey. This&#xA;  kind of attack is very rare, but it is serious because it usually&#xA;  means the bear is looking for food and preying on you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-07-16T18:05:52.867" LastActivityDate="2015-07-16T18:05:52.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="944" CreationDate="2012-02-06T18:50:19.820" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're right it's very rare to see anyone wearing a helmet whilst scrambling in the UK, that doesn't mean it's not a good idea though! As with a lot of safety equipment, it comes down to personal risk perception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing worth bearing in mind is how busy the route is. The popular routes in the UK will often have a lot of inexperienced scramblers on them, who might be less careful than you at not dislodging loose rocks. Countering this argument is that the popular routes have often had a lot of the loose stuff knocked off already! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T18:50:19.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="944" CreationDate="2012-02-06T19:44:09.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I would - unless perhaps you definitely know that for the particular area and route you're taking the risk is minimal. Just because others may not be as cautious doesn't necessarily make it ok!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are practical disadvantages with carrying the thing and having to wear it, but it only takes one loose rock to strike you on the head to seriously injure you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-12-11T16:28:32.507" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T16:28:32.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="954" CreationDate="2012-02-06T21:13:24.717" Score="19" ViewCount="2086" Body="&lt;p&gt;When setting up a tent and staking it out, what is the proper tension for the lines?  I generally just make them arbitrarily tight, but have no idea how that would perform in high wind or other conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T21:06:14.523" LastActivityDate="2014-03-29T21:25:20.210" Title="What is the proper tension for a tent line" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="951" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="952" CreationDate="2012-02-06T21:18:36.057" Score="12" ViewCount="2839" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a waterproof/breathable rain jacket which has a few holes in it (caused by a minor bicycle crash, in case that information is relevant). They are not too big, about 5mm across.  How can I patch these holes?  It doesn't have to look too pretty, I'd just like it to be reasonably waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:25:57.353" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:25:57.353" Title="How should I patch holes in a waterproof/breathable jacket?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="951" CreationDate="2012-02-06T21:51:19.613" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it doesn't need to be pretty, a cost effective option is spinnaker repair tape (nylon cloth tape, for example, see products on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.admiralpsp.co.uk/psp/products/sail-repair-tapes.html&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;). It is designed for repairs to yacht sails so it is durable, weatherproof and should survive a machine wash (but it wont be breathable). Stick a piece over the hole on the front and back of the fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T21:51:19.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="953" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="956" CreationDate="2012-02-06T22:01:08.550" Score="10" ViewCount="1059" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty tall and I find that to purchase a brand-name sleeping pad means shelling out serious $$$. To solve this I have always just purchased a roll of foam padding that I could cut to make sure it would a couple of inches longer than me. The thing is, I rarely backpack in harsh conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for someone considering moving into harsher conditions, but needing to balance performance for $, what are the definable differences between expensive sleeping pads and foam pads?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:41:59.760" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:41:59.760" Title="What are the differences between high-end sleeping pads and cut to fit foam mats?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="950" CreationDate="2012-02-06T22:15:43.550" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no hard and fast rule for specific tensions that I know of, mainly because that will vary slightly depending on the conditions. As an average rule I tend to make them taught, but not to the point where they're pulling on the pegs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple of scenarios where I tend to slacken them off a bit though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the pegs can't be fully pushed into the ground for whatever reason. In theory they should always go all the way in but sometimes if you don't have gear up to the job of penetrating the ground, they won't be as secure as they could be. If this is the case you generally want them tight enough for them not to fall off the peg, but other than that a bit of give is sometimes good.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In high wind conditions I tend to slacken them off a bit just to lessen the chance of the wind pulling them too tight suddenly and snapping them. In these conditions though I make sure I've got some paracord or similar so that any repairs that need to be made can be quickly. Helps to brush up on your knots!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other guidelines are much more important though - things like having your pegs in at a slight angle away from the tent, making the lines nice and long and spreading them out well. I find those 3 things generally much more important than how tight the lines end up being.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T22:15:43.550" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="953" CreationDate="2012-02-06T22:32:16.663" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only meaningful thing I can think of is that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_%28insulation%29&quot;&gt;R-value&lt;/a&gt; of a pad is crucial to being warm in colder conditions.  If the manufacturer of the foam padding you are buying provides the R-value (or the material used, and you can find the R-value independently) then you have a good way to compare to &quot;brand name&quot; mattresses, which should all provide their R-value in the specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, assuming your cut-to fit measures up when it comes to R-value, I would absolutely encourage you to keep using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people (myself included) prefer the &lt;strong&gt;comfort&lt;/strong&gt; of an inflatable pad, but ultimately that's a personal choice.  When money is an issue, going back to the good ol &quot;blue foam pad&quot; seems pretty reasonable to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-02-06T22:32:16.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="953" CreationDate="2012-02-07T01:01:09.967" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, these are the relative advantages / disadvantages I have discovered personally or witnessed first hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ole' Blue:&lt;/strong&gt; - The lovable, closed-cell foam pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Virtually indestructible (works even with a 6 inch gaping gash through it)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be cut to fit (some people go for the shoulders-only approach)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulky (full length does not roll up very small)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Spensive Air Mattress&lt;/strong&gt; - Such as Thermarest et. al.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soft (some people find them more comfortable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thick distance between you and the ground (1/2 inch or more of insulating &quot;dead air&quot; depending on the model)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to puncture (requires care when packing / carrying a repair kit)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Relatively useless when deflated (less-than advertised insulating power, though some models do have a thin layer of close-cell foam inside)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Higher end ultra-light pads pack down pretty dang small&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for insulating power, since dead air is what provides that insulation. Even the highest rated (base on R value) high-end inflatable is going to be useless if it deflates. Closed-cell foam (such as ole' blue) are full of little isolated air pockets that trap air permanently and never deflate (though they can compress over time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW - I use a more expensive inflatable 90% of the time, largely for its small pack size, and better comfort (when it holds air through the night, which is about 75% of the time.) &lt;em&gt;However,&lt;/em&gt; when I'm heading out on a snow-camping trip, I always bring the dependable insulating power of 'ole blue &lt;em&gt;as well&lt;/em&gt; and double-pad it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T03:43:34.883" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T03:43:34.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="950" CreationDate="2012-02-07T01:24:41.763" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was in the scouts a few years ago we used to use patrol tents with natural fibre guy ropes.  We were always taught to slacken the guys off when it started to rain because the ropes shrink.  Sure enough one patrol didn't do this and the 2&quot; diameter ridge pole snapped leaving some very unhappy campers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realise that most tents these days don't use natural fibre guy ropes but I think it's still worth being aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T01:24:41.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="959" CreationDate="2012-02-07T01:44:24.167" Score="9" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;When looking at items like jackets and ski trousers and other clothing, I see stats on the garments similar to the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproofness - 10000mm&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Breathability - 15000g/m&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Lining - 100% Polyester 40g/m Thermosoft&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproofness ranges from a few thousand to 20k, breathability the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get torrentially rained on from time to time and get very hot and sweaty when skiing hard - how much is enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="261" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:28:42.253" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:28:42.253" Title="What levels of 'waterproofness' and 'breathability' should I be looking for in a ski jacket?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="958" CreationDate="2012-02-07T01:55:06.433" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a rough guide to waterproofness - 5000mm is generally rainproof but won't necessarily stand up well to torrential rain. Around 15000 should be fine in that context. If you go higher than that then you're looking at fabric that can be immersed in water and still stay waterproof for a while, but should be ample for any rain shower that might come along!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breathability works on a similar scale, 5000 being ok-ish, but 15000-20000 is where it makes sense to look if you get very hot and sweaty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't use these figures as gospel though, there's no standard testing practice so results will vary slightly. Some companies will test when new for instance, others after some washes, some will take an average, some will take the best... also bear in mind that these tests are carried out while the fabric is still, not moving, so results might vary slightly because of that. In short, use them as a rough guide but they're definitely not the be all and end all in choosing a product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T01:55:06.433" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="938" CreationDate="2012-02-07T01:58:18.097" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;They can easily foul food and clothing when they come into contact with it - but keep them separate and you should be fine. I tend to wrap up individually in foil, then in a big foil layer to make a &quot;pack&quot; of fuel cells, then wrap them in a bag. Unless you're really bashing your pack about, there shouldn't be any problem with that setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T01:58:18.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="961" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-07T02:32:53.510" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T02:32:53.510" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T02:32:53.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="962" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-07T02:32:53.510" Score="0" Body="A sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto a mounted binding." OwnerUserId="261" LastEditorUserId="261" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T11:15:52.403" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T11:15:52.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="963" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-07T02:35:23.803" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T02:35:23.803" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T02:35:23.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="964" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-07T02:35:23.803" Score="0" Body="Waterproof describes objects relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water such as rain and snow, or by direct immersion." OwnerUserId="261" LastEditorUserId="261" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T11:15:54.930" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T11:15:54.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="965" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="995" CreationDate="2012-02-07T04:17:20.270" Score="11" ViewCount="437" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made myself a simple wood burning stove from a small tomato can, and I am pretty happy with it, but now I am wondering if I would get significantly increased performance by making a more complicated double wall &quot;bushbuddy&quot; style stove.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody have any experience with DIY double wall wood burning stoves?  Is there enough increase in performance to justify the more complicated design?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T02:01:34.953" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T02:01:34.953" Title="For a DIY wood burning stove, is there a significant advantage of the double wall &quot;bushbuddy&quot; style?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="966" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-07T08:19:15.940" Score="9" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is often difficult to know what to look for when shopping for outdoors gear.   Is there some magazine, website, or other resource that does Consumer Reports style objective evaluation of outdoors gear (boots, trousers, jackets, tents, sleeping bags, ...)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="247" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T16:25:44.783" Title="How to find objective reviews of outdoors gear?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-03-01T00:35:19.433" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="966" CreationDate="2012-02-07T08:34:21.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsmagic.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoors Magic&lt;/a&gt; when trying to work out what to buy! Another magazine in the UK I subscribe to is Trail, there parent website, &quot;Live for the Outdoors&quot; can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Gear-Reviews/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. There is also Gear Junkie, but have not used their &lt;a href=&quot;http://gearjunkie.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its often probably a good idea as you allude to to check a few different review sites for an objective view, but I have found the first two certainly informative!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the other place is to look at the major resellers of the gear. They often have customer reviews (although of course people only tend to write reviews if something is wrong!), but sometimes these can be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other sites: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outside Online&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gorp.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GORP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoorgearmadness.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoor Gear Madness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buachaille.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Buachaille&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gearreview.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gear Review&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="122" LastEditDate="2012-02-07T08:42:13.923" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T08:42:13.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="966" CreationDate="2012-02-07T14:01:00.393" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to look on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Gear-Reviews/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;livefortheoutdoors&lt;/a&gt; site - it has a fair few reviews, not loads, but those it does have are pretty comprehensive and (in my eyes) well written and balanced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T14:01:00.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="969" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="997" CreationDate="2012-02-07T15:16:35.293" Score="53" ViewCount="42560" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often camp in rainy or very humid weather, and I often have condensation forming inside my tent.  What can I do to minimize this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My tent has vents, but I’m not sure how to make the best use of them.  I’m not sure if I should just leave them open all the time, or if there’s something more clever to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T10:31:04.587" Title="How to deal with condensation in a tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="966" CreationDate="2012-02-07T16:25:44.783" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are into ultralight/lightweight backpacking, nothing tops &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BackpackingLight&lt;/a&gt;.  They do a lot of scientific testing, and the articles are very thorough.  It is a pay site, but it's something like $20 USD per year.  You can see a list of some of their best articles &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/popular_features.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  They regularly come up with objective test measures for backpacking gear, and then carry out those tests on a wide array of items.  i.e. for testing inflatable air mattresses, they figured out a way to measure how slippery the bottoms of each mat was, along with independently measuring weight, R-Value, etc.  Finally the (free) forums on that site are also a great place to find more specific info about particular gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As backup for that, I like what &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackgeartest.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BackpackGearTest&lt;/a&gt; does. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T16:25:44.783" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-02-07T16:47:26.613" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's not actually raining, leave as many vestibule doors/tent&#xA;doors as possible completely open.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Within reason, setup somewhere that will have breezes but hopefully not so exposed that a big wind will steal your tent :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider using a less-confining tent for those conditions.  i.e. a tarp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T16:47:26.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2012-02-07T16:50:42.693" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot_%28ropes%29&quot;&gt;figure of 8&lt;/a&gt; knot can be used instead of the bowline. It has a somewhat higher breaking strength. It is also very easy to untie even after being loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to consider the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebutterfly/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;alpine butterfly&lt;/a&gt;, it can be used whenever you need a standing loop on a rope. It is also considered climbing safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="262" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T16:50:42.693" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="905" CreationDate="2012-02-07T17:23:57.847" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pull out the liner and step into the shell - if you can fit a finger between your heel and the back of the shell you might be able to remold the liner or buy an after-market liner.  A professional boot-fitter at your local gear store can do it for you, or you can follow the directions to do it yourself in a low temperature oven.  If you have trouble fitting a finger between your heel and the back of the boot, I'd consider new boots.  They will be uncomfortable no matter what you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="263" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T17:23:57.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="657" CreationDate="2012-02-07T17:57:50.767" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one more important technique you can use that I was taught in New Zealand, where you have to cross rivers all the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a group of people (at least 3), you can greatly enhance safety by forming a chain in the following way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Position the strongest person upstream, the second-strongest person downstream and the weakest person in the middle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open your hip belts. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Every person holds onto the next persons waist by putting their arm between the neighbors back and pack:&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hy36e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start crossing slowly. Keep your boots on for stability and protection from sharp rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The line of people you form should be parallel to the flow. That way, the stronger persons at the end of the chain break the strength of the river for the people in the middle while they themselves get supported by the middle people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cross diagonally, moving across and downstream. That takes much less force than fighting the current.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A note on shoes: I was taught to leave them on. Riverbeds are slippery and can have sharp rocks. Your shoes protect you. And once out of the water, the small amount of water in your shoes warms up quickly and forms an insulating layer similar to a wetsuit. Or so they say :) I have done the above in relatively cold water (no ice floating on it, but it was of glacial origin) and didn't suffer frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/information/team-building-and-group-development/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Queenstown Team Building &amp;amp; Group Development&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I forgot to say that, of course, the first and most important skill when it comes to river crossing is the skill to make the right decision. Rivers can swell quite quickly in rain, but once rain is over, those rivers that flood fast also drop fast. I was held up for a night by a waist-deep side-creek that flooded due to rain, and in the next morning it was only ankle deep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are unsure whether you have a good reason to attempt a crossing or not, imagine that your crossing led to a fatality and you have to explain yourself to the grieving family. If you are in a survival situation, you might have a legitimate reason, but any sort of man-made deadline becomes irrelevant. (Wanting to be back in time for Super Bowl, or even wanting to be back in time for work, is not as important as not drowning). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T04:11:58.063" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T04:11:58.063" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="620" CreationDate="2012-02-07T19:19:45.780" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have camped in the Okavango delta, Kalahari desert and on Kilimanjaro.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not  try sleeping outside, tent is a minimum. On one of the trips we had a 4x4 with a roof tent. That was very practical, easy to put up, and you felt a bit safer being off the ground. Some of the game reserves have camping sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is not much difference with respect to animals like snakes inside or outside a park. Some places you may have to worry more about getting robbed than getting attacked by animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="153" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T19:19:45.780" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2012-02-07T19:34:52.563" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer will focus on food storage, since that's what I know the most about and it hasn't been addressed in other answers yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two common means of food storage in bear country:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Hanging and counter-balance methods&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic idea behind these methods is to hang the food in a tree in such a way that a bear wouldn't be able to reach it. Remember than &lt;strong&gt;bears can climb trees better than you can&lt;/strong&gt;, so you must take care to position your food such that the bear can't reach it by climbing up the trunk, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to divide your food into two bags of approximately equal weight. Stuffsacks (like what you'd put a sleeping bag in) work well for this. Make sure to line the stuffsack with a plastic garbage bag, to prevent your food from getting wet if it rains. Keep the weight of each bag under ~10lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get the rope over the tree, tie some sort of small weight onto the end (a rock in a sock supposedly works well), and throw it over a branch. You'll want to be at &lt;em&gt;least&lt;/em&gt; 10 feet from the trunk - the farther out you go, the better, since it'll be harder for bears to swat at your food from the trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to &lt;a href=&quot;http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;q=cache:www.mountainzone.com/how-to-articles/viewproarticle.asp?aid=312&amp;amp;pid=2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;quote an external source&lt;/a&gt; here, because I haven't ever done the counterbalance method on my own:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie one end of the rope around the neck of one sack, securing it firmly. Tie a loop in the rope near your sack for retrieving your food later. Hoist the sack all the way up to the branch by pulling on the free end of the rope. Now reach up and tie your second food sack as high up on the rope as you can. Again, tie a secure loop in the rope near the second sack. Put any excess rope into the sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toss the sack into position or push it up with a stick so the sacks are balanced over the branch. Don't forget: A 6-foot-tall person will need a 5-to-6-foot-long stick to hook the loop on the food sacks when it's time to retrieve them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wMGuF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;food hanging diagram&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The counter-balance method works in places where you have large trees and mild bears. If you're in an alpine or subalpine environment, or if there are known bear problems in the area, do not hang your food - it will probably get caught. Use a container method as described below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bear canisters and other &amp;quot;bear-proof&amp;quot;&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt; containers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In many places now, it is legally required to use bear-proof containers. This is especially true in Alaska, California, and parts of Canada. Always check with the local ranger district about regulations and suggestions for your area!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three general types of bear-proof enclosures, of varying strengths and proof-ness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best are bear-resistant cabinets, which are often provided in front-country campgrounds and occasionally designated areas in the backcountry. These are large non-portable metal enclosures, with a locking handle to prevent it from being opened. Any food stored inside these will be safe from bears, although I've found that mice &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; get into the darn things, and will cheerily eat your food. More on that in a moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KJfh5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bear proof cabinet&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For portability, (i.e. almost all backpacking), the more convenient option is bear-&amp;quot;proof&amp;quot; sacks. These are sacks made out of kevlar (the material in bullet-proof vests), making them resistant to bears' teeth and claws. Although the manufacturers claim to have tested them, they are &lt;em&gt;not entirely effective&lt;/em&gt;, particularly against grizzlies. They &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; mouse-proof however, so if you're in a campground, putting food inside a bear bag inside one of the cabinets above is a good way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sacks are appealing because they're much, much lighter than bear-proof canisters (mentioned below). They're also a lot easier to fit into your backpack. Unfortunately, they are not as bear-proof, and do not meet the legal requirements in some places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONKvD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bear resistant sack&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most bear-proof solution is bear canisters. These are rigid plastic containers, with a locking lid mechanism that makes it impossible for bears to get in. There are several brands; the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackerscache.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garcia Backpacker's Cache&lt;/a&gt; was one of the first ones and is generally regarded as the most secure and easy to use. They are slightly more expensive than some other brands though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because bear cans are round, they do have a tendency to roll away if a bear gets interested in them. Better than letting the bear get your food of course, but it's important to put them somewhere with limited rolling options, or use some large rocks to keep them in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear cans are required in some national parks and forests where there are particular bear problems, especially in the Sierra Nevada and in Alaska. In most parks where they are required you can rent the cans from a local ranger station for a reasonable cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/frjDm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bear can&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-02-07T19:34:52.563" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="979" CreationDate="2012-02-07T23:08:46.020" Score="19" ViewCount="1251" Body="&lt;p&gt;DEET is an effective mosquito deterrent, but there are many reasons it cannot be used.  Per the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/consultations/deet/guidelines.html&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt;, cuts, eczema, and being a kid are all problems if you want to use DEET.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What proven alternatives are there to DEET that can be used for people with open wounds or eczema? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:10:08.853" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:54.280" Title="What proven alternatives are there to DEET?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2012-02-08T00:10:06.357" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides DEET, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-2-the-pre-travel-consultation/protection-against-mosquitoes-ticks-and-other-insects-and-arthropods.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt; lists:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Picaridin (Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, and Autan (outside the United States))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lemon Eucalyptus oil (PMD)** (no examples given)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;IR3535 (Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Expedition)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picaridin&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/insect_repellent.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;seems to be a viable alternative&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the active ingredients registered with the EPA, CDC believes that two have demonstrated a higher degree of efficacy in the peer-reviewed, scientific literature (See Publications page.). Products containing these active ingredients typically provide longer-lasting protection than others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Picaridin (KBR 3023)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oil of lemon eucalyptus [active ingredient: p-menthane 3,8-diol (PMD)], a plant- based repellent, is also registered with EPA. In two recent scientific publications, when oil of lemon eucalyptus was tested against mosquitoes found in the US it provided protection similar to repellents with low concentrations of DEET.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**: Caveat emptor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Pure” oil of lemon eucalyptus (essential oil) is not the same product; it has not undergone similar, validated testing for safety and efficacy, is not registered with EPA as an insect repellent, and is not covered by this recommendation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T00:20:46.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="980" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="985" CreationDate="2012-02-08T00:10:53.743" Score="17" ViewCount="18125" Body="&lt;p&gt;For health reasons, I usually try to keep my sodium intake fairly low. However, most freeze dried dinners offered in camping stores contain an more sodium than I'm looking for. I consider 800mg a serving to be fairly high, especially considering I most likely will eat two servings to refuel after a long day of hiking. Are there any products that don't have as much sodium? Ideally, I want lightweight, reasonably priced ($10ish for an entree) food with a low sodium content (200mg/serving) that I can take backpacking with me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="264" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-08T02:49:48.100" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T03:09:35.730" Title="Are there any low sodium freeze dried meals?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-03-07T16:10:24.630" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2012-02-08T00:12:50.900" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other answers say, don't just try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good &lt;em&gt;negative indicator&lt;/em&gt; is skin irritation. I've read that particularly with berries, if you crush some berries and rub some of the juice on a patch of skin and let it sit for a while, some berries will cause irritation, which is a good indicator not to eat them! But berries that don't irritate your skin aren't necessarily safe...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="265" LastEditorUserId="265" LastEditDate="2016-09-01T15:59:14.080" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T15:59:14.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="392" CreationDate="2012-02-08T00:49:10.770" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/insect_repellent.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt; says &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picaridin&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deet&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET&lt;/a&gt;* are the best, with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-menthane-3,8-diol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus&lt;/a&gt;** being something of a shorter-lasting runner-up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the active ingredients registered with the EPA, CDC believes that two have demonstrated a higher degree of efficacy in the peer-reviewed, scientific literature (See Publications page.). Products containing these active ingredients typically provide longer-lasting protection than others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Picaridin (KBR 3023)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oil of lemon eucalyptus [active ingredient: p-menthane 3,8-diol (PMD)], a plant- based repellent, is also registered with EPA. In two recent scientific publications, when oil of lemon eucalyptus was tested against mosquitoes found in the US it provided protection similar to repellents with low concentrations of DEET.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*I think it is important to note that 100% DEET is overkill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEET efficacy tends to plateau at a concentration of approximately 50%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**: Caveat emptor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Pure” oil of lemon eucalyptus (essential oil) is not the same product; it has not undergone similar, validated testing for safety and efficacy, is not registered with EPA as an insect repellent, and is not covered by this recommendation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-2-the-pre-travel-consultation/protection-against-mosquitoes-ticks-and-other-insects-and-arthropods.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;full list&lt;/a&gt; also includes &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IR3535&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;IR3535&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deet&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET&lt;/a&gt; (Off!, Cutter, Sawyer, and Ultrathon)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picaridin&lt;/a&gt; (Icaridin) (Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, and Autan (outside the United States))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-menthane-3,8-diol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lemon Eucalyptus oil (PMD)&lt;/a&gt; (no examples given)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IR3535&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;IR3535&lt;/a&gt; (Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Expedition)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T00:49:10.770" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="191" CreationDate="2012-02-08T01:39:42.693" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Botulinum toxin is particularly tough, as is Bacillus cereus.  B. cereus is more likely found while camping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But your goal is not so much to &lt;em&gt;kill&lt;/em&gt; everything as reduce the level to the point where it does no harm.  The dust you breathe, the things you touch, and (yick!) the people you are with all bring various pathogens, as does your tap water and (often especially) bottled water. Do your best, and your body takes care of the rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="266" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-05-17T18:52:08.427" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:52:08.427" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="980" CreationDate="2012-02-08T01:40:33.130" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend making your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used a bunch of the recipes from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FreezerBagCooking&lt;/a&gt; and found them generally easy to make and incredibly tasty.  You can adjust them to fit your budget or sodium needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general idea is that you use a &quot;freezer&quot; ziplock bag (basically, the thicker kind) and put all your dehydrated ingredients from the recipe into it.  On the trail you can pour boiling water directly into the bag (same as the store bought ones) and seal them, wait for however long, and then eat directly from the bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example recipe (I've made this one, but substituted a tuna packet for the chicken):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chicken Diablo Rice&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ingredients&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 c instant rice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1⁄4 c freezedried corn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 T dry tomato soup mix&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 t chili powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 cn 3 to 5 ounces chicken&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 c water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instructions:&#xA;At home in a quart freezer bag pack the dry ingredients. Pack the chicken with the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the trail:&#xA;Add chicken with broth and 1 cup near boiling water. Stir well, seal tightly and put in cozy for 15 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/chicken-diablo-rice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail Cooking&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The site also has lots of tips on how to make/procure lots of the ingredients, including low sodium options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T14:03:14.330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T14:03:14.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="980" CreationDate="2012-02-08T02:57:48.043" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see that a good option on the sodium is to buy the components (vegetable medley, cooked beef, green peas, etc.) which are all lower sodium than the premixed meals.  &lt;strong&gt;Instead of buying dehydrated/ freeze-dried meals, start looking into dehydrated/freeze-dried ingredients.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrated-vegetables.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; has a good list of source for ingredients.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make it yourself:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican#Traditional_preparation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pemmican&lt;/a&gt; — 1/2 beef fat and 1/2 ground dehydrated beef (like&#xA;jerky).  Done right, no salt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spaghetti, Herbs, Olive Oil, and any dried meat (a friend takes this&#xA;a lot and it's good).  Cook it all yourself in camp.  Also no salt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://allrecipes.com/recipe/swedish-hard-tack/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hard tack&lt;/a&gt;, you can choose the amount of salt to use  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boiled eggs will keep several days even in warm climates (I do this every hike)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackingchef.com/shrimp-and-grits.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shrimp and Grits&lt;/a&gt; The entire backpacking chef site is pretty good.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain House has the following in that sodium and price range (I'll keep adding other brands and meals as I find them).  I'm including some that are over your limit because you can mix and match to get the proper average.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm?cat=doubleserve&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lasagna with Meat Sauce — 300mg/serving&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm?cat=vegetables&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Corn — 0mg/serving&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm?cat=vegetables&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Green Beans — 0mg/serving&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm?cat=vegetables&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Green Peas — 125mg/serving&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpackers Pantry has the following options from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackerspantry.com/pdf/Nutritionals.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Organic Scrambled Eggs — 360mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spicy Cheese Omelet — 160mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cinnamon Muesli &amp;amp; Milk — 70mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Granola w/ Bananas &amp;amp; Milk — 105mg/per (one of my favorites)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Granola w/ Blueberries &amp;amp; Milk — 105mg/per   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Egg Mix — 150mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce — 230mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pesto Salmon w/ Pasta — 140mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vegetable Medley — 55mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All of the desserts  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooked Beef — 55mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooked Chicken — 65mg/per  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other brands   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/708676/natural-high-chicken-enchilada-2-servings&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural High Chicken Enchilada — 160mg/per&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/626159/natural-high-three-cheese-lasagna-2-servings&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural High Three Cheese Lasagna — 200mg/per&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/815988/just-tomatoes-etc-just-veggies-mix-4-oz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Just Veggies Mix — 40mg/per&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/695502/maryjanesfarm-organic-corn-and-black-bean-chowder-single-serving&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MaryJanesFarm Corn &amp;amp; Black Bean Chowder — 280mg/per&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/714659/raging-river-ready-to-eat-wild-salmon-35-oz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raging River Wild Salmon — 172mg/per&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/514181/natural-high-honey-lime-chicken-2-servings&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural High Honey Lime Chicken — 210mg/per&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2795" LastEditDate="2013-12-24T19:21:46.727" LastActivityDate="2013-12-24T19:21:46.727" CommentCount="5" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-02-09T01:50:15.593" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2012-02-08T03:25:45.407" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The above advice is quite good, just wanted to add on thing to consider regarding food in bear country.  You have probably heard the expression &quot;a fed bear is a dead bear&quot;.  Giving up your &quot;smelly&quot; bag to a bear has the potential to humanize the animal making its confrontations with future hikers even more aggressive, and that future hiker could be me so please don't do that.  Ultimately the rangers get to go relocate or euthanize the animal.  That said I would never physically engage a bear to protect my beef jerky, but it needs to be the absolute last resort.  If you follow good preventative bear etiquette such as making noise while hiking and always set your camp up correctly, your interactions with one of the most spectacular animals on this planet will be from a far, just as it should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="267" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T03:25:45.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-02-08T03:55:33.483" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:  The more I consider this, the ambient air temperature around the cooler is the largest factor.  Replacing water with 95F (35C) degree air will have a much larger impact than replacing water with 40F (4.4C) degree air.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, the answer is very simple because you asked longer, not colder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drain all the water, then when the ice all melts...you're done.  Because whether or not the ice is better than the water at keeping your food cold, the water is going to be better than nothing.  The ice is going to melt (effectively) at the same rate either way, because you can drain the water, but you can't really dry the ice.  So the ice will melt at roughly the same rate regardless of when you drain the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also, when you drain the water, something has to replace it.&lt;/strong&gt;  That something will be air at the temperature of the environment you are in... which will destroy the equilibrium.  Basically everything I read online ignores this point.  It talks about the coefficients and thermodynamics, etc, and, neglects to even consider that the water is being replaced with &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt; and that something is air which must then be cooled.  &lt;strong&gt;When you drain the water, you are actively replacing cold with heat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that if you have infinite ice, you should probably drain the water.  However if you have infinite ice it doesn't seem like this would matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1997-05/864373228.Ph.r.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:25:15.873" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:25:15.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-02-08T04:41:10.523" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never remove cold water from a cooler so long as the water is cooler than the outside temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Opening the lid allows more warm air in, but assuming the lid is on the top and air disturbance minimal, this could be a small loss of cooling / small entry of heat. Opening a drain will have to let warm air in to replace whatever cool water leaves the cooler.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While ice remains, water will circulate and keep all the objects in closer thermal contact with the ice than will air alone - this will prevent a thin spot in the insulation from warming some of the food that stays in contact with the cool water. This won't have an effect on the long term temperature in the cooler, though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once all the ice is melted, the cool water will continue to be a heat sink, absorbing more of the heat that is leaking in through the walls of the cooler. This keeps your actual contents inside the cooler more chilled than if you remove this cold mass from the system. Without the cold water, all that heat will go to the food and warm it up instead of warming both the combined mass of the food + cold water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need any fancy graphs when you look at the heat flow into the cooler. Keeping cool water in the cooler delays the melting of the remaining ice and once the ice is gone, delays the warming of the food by absorbing it's share of the incoming heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say you have two coolers with one gallon of beer each in a perfect container that absorbs no heat - just keeps the beer together. Also, assume that you have one pound of ice in each cooler and the beer and cooler are chilled to 0°C (32°F). One cooler also has a gallon of 0°C (32°F) water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the cooler on the left has heat leaking into the insides - warming everything inside. It warms the air, the beer, the inside of the cooler and the beer's container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cooler on the right has the exact same amount of heat leaking inside. It warms the air (but less air due to the extra water), the beer, the inside of the cooler and the beer's container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only variable is does water absorb more heat per degree rise in temperature than air. The answer to that is yes - extremely so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air's specific heat is 1.007 J/(gK) - Joules is energy, gram is mass and K is degrees Kelvin.&#xA;Water's specific heat is 4.18 J/(gK) - so for a fixed amount of Joules added, water goes up less than 1/4 a degree in temperature compared to a gram of air. If water and air were equally dense (they are not) then you have a 4 to 1 advantage. Water takes four times as long to warm up as air, so your beer stays cooler longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now - what about your typical &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000G64I1A&quot;&gt;70 quart cooler&lt;/a&gt;? It is 66.24 Liters or 66,245 cm^3 in volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air's density is 0.001275 g/cm^3 and water's density is 1.00 g/cm^3. Here's where water really owns the show in terms of cooling capacity since water is 784 times denser than air. That 70 quart cooler could contain either 84.5 grams of air or 66,245 grams of water (or 3 ounces of air versus 146 pounds of water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now we have water with a 4 to 1 advantage on heat absorption and a 784 to 1 advantage on packing mass into the same space, so water is over 3000 times better than air for absorbing heat while raising the temperature inside the cooler one degree. Whether you have a thimbleful of water or the cooler is mostly water, you want that amount of cold water staying inside the cooler to absorb its share of the heat leaking in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it's easy to agree that the amount of heat entering the cooler is basically the same whether you drain or don't drain, leaving cool water inside the cooler slows the time it takes to both melt the remaining ice and warm the contents since that water will absorb heat if it is left in the cooler up to the point where the water in the cooler is equal in temperature to the outside air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do need formulas to calculate the rates of temperature increase, but the which is better scenario can be decided quite easily by considering where the heat leaking into the cooler goes and whether draining the water also has a side effect of allowing more heat in. Both of these fall on it being better to leave the container closed and with the melt water inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-02-14T15:11:41.343" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T15:11:41.343" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="528" CreationDate="2012-02-08T05:52:09.857" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what the game does and starts when you take your shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the game drops:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do NOT move. Sit and watch it.  Wait at least 15 minutes.  Often game will drop and freeze, even when injured, then stand up minutes later and stroll off. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it stands, shoot it.  If you miss again, follow steps in the next part.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the game runs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mark where the game was in your mind.  Get rough distance from&#xA;two easily visible points.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go to where the games was and inspect for tracks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you find no blood in the first 100 yards it is incredibly unlikely that you hit your target (unless you're hunting elk, sometimes their fur mats the blood and leaves no blood to follow)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From where you took your shot, imagine a straight line 10 ft out.  Inspect that line for blood, fur, and parts.  You can get an idea of how good your shot was.  If you see bright pink, foamy blood, you got lungs and its an easier track.  Lots and lots of blood is usually a heart shot.  Rub it between your fingers and smell.  Gut shots usually smell really foul.  Gut shots can take hours to find.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stalk the animal.  You're now in a hunt again.  Act like you're in a hunt.  Don't rush.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The animal is (hopefully) injured and scared.  It will likely hole up.  If you come to dense thicket or brush, send someone to the side (careful to plan fire lanes) in case you flush it out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you see the animal, and you are &lt;em&gt;SURE&lt;/em&gt; it went into a thicket, don't flush it.  Wait 15 to 30 minutes.  Once the adrenaline wears off it is much less likely to stand up and run with that injury.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track prints, presumably if you are hunting you have practiced tracking.  It's hard to boil tracking down into an answer but:  Note size of prints, note direction, and don't expect to find every print.  When you have a print range in a five foot diameter to try and find the next.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track blood.  Blood does something you won't often otherwise see in nature that makes it easier to follow.  In small drops it tends to make near perfect circles.  Even if you cannot see the color, the circles tend to stand out.  Even being colorblind I have spotted blood this way.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk VERY carefully.  You don't want to obscure sign.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At night, fresh blood shines well, and you can easily spot the shine in a flashlight beam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can get a dog.  Even a dog not trained to track will usually tag onto injured game.  We once found a gutshot dear which ran five miles with almost no sign only because we borrowed a dog from someone.  Even though the dog had no training, it located the deer by smell and instinct. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the meat you want to find it fast.  But if you don't find it in the first 300 yards or so your priority really changes to just making sure that it's not lying suffering somewhere.  Take your time, be patient.  Plan ahead before you hunt.  When you hunt, you need to plan to have the next 10 hours clear.   You don't want to have to stop tracking and leave a suffering animal because you made afternoon plans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The clean kill is kind of a myth.  The heart isn't a particularly fast death, just a more certain one.  I've seen game run 300 yards with no heart, and stand up with no brain.  Who's to say what they feel during that time.  The heart is a target because it's in a cluster of vital organs and if you miss a couple of inches in either direction, you probably still have a kill.  However if it's a lung shot you could still be in for miles of tracking.  If you miss a couple more inches and nick a leg then you may never catch up with the animal (which may even live).  From a strict biological standpoint, hunting is not a cleaner death.  From a touchy-feely one, perhaps living free makes up for that.  But don't go hunting planning for the &quot;clean merciful kill&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T23:01:31.860" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T23:01:31.860" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="945" CreationDate="2012-02-08T12:19:05.383" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have any specifics on &lt;strong&gt;carbon&lt;/strong&gt; fibre, but from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indoorclimbing.com/climbing_helmets.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;indoorclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fiberglass and polycarbonate composite &lt;em&gt;(which would include carbon fibre)&lt;/em&gt; climbing helmets absorb the&#xA;  shock energy by breaking. The outer shell of the composite helmet&#xA;  absorbs the energy. Plastic and nylon helmets transfer the shock to&#xA;  the inner cradle harness. Helmets made from fiberglass or&#xA;  polycarbonate are good choices for ice climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plastic climbing helmets are lighter than the fiberglass or polycarbonate composite helmets, they can also survive more wear and tear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use plastic helmets, as I mostly sport climb, and rarely use multiple pitches so I just want a helmet that is light, will take the odd bash from small stones without shattering and will be cheap to replace when I need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T20:13:00.137" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T20:13:00.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="944" CreationDate="2012-02-08T12:45:10.833" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It isn't necessary to &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; take a helmet. The main protection helmets provide is from things falling on you from above (protection from you falling and hitting your head is secondary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you go scrambling, before you start, make an assessment of how likely you are to encounter falling objects;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there loose rocks/soil/vegetation on the pitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there anyone else on the pitch, and if so will you be in the fall line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the weather/temperature like.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your assessment is that the risk is high, and you don't have a helmet, then you can find an alternate route or wait for people above you to clear the pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastEditorUserId="132" LastEditDate="2012-12-11T11:42:14.347" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T11:42:14.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="965" CreationDate="2012-02-08T14:31:36.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is, it all depends. Using a double-walled system will add weight to your stove, but it will improve your stove in a few ways. You should get a higher level of heat and your fuel will burn more completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would think the increase in bulk would be worth the increase in performance. Another alternative though would be to build a second stove with a double wall, and keep the current one to be your lightweight version. Then if the outdoor conditions are especially windy, cold, or the location has very little fuel, you take your double walled stove. For summer trips when you just need a basic functional light-weight stove you can use the single walled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This feedback is all adapted from experience using tuna cans as alcohol stoves, but the concepts I think are the same. &lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/CatCanStove.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Notice it's use of double walls.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T14:31:36.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-02-08T16:34:19.357" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, if you're in really humid territory then it's inevitable that some condensation will form, though there are steps you can take to reduce it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leave all the vents you can open - there's not really anything &quot;cleverer&quot; to do with them, it's just a case of them letting the moist air out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If conditions (and safety) allows, consider leaving the door open - it'll essentially act as a massive vent and should help things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Minimize the amount of wet material you bring into the tent, preferably don't bring any in unless you have no other option. The moisture will evaporate and increase the humidity further, only exaggerating the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T16:34:19.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-02-08T18:19:14.897" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's raining or very humid you are probably going to have to put up with some condensation, but to try and reduce it, look for ways to minimise water vapour and increase ventilation. The following may help, but obviously not all will be appropriate for the conditions you are camping in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources of water vapour:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Combustion of fuel in a stove and steam from cooking - avoid cooking in the vestibule of your tent (I'm assuming you wouldn't be cooking fully in your tent).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Steam from food - avoid eating hot food in your tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Respiration/perspiration - is the tent overcrowded?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet gear - avoid bringing wet gear into the tent unless you are trying to dry it. Pack wet gear in a survival bag and leave it outside the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Location - avoid camping close to marsh or other bodies of water (obviously this needs to be balanced with proximity to a source of water for cooking/cleaning).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Under-tent conditions - look for dry ground to camp on, avoid thick vegetation that may be a source of water vapour.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider an elevated camp position; the bottom of a valley may become colder at night increasing condensation. There may also be more of a breeze to help ventilate your tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pitch your tent such that the vents are aligned with the prevalent wind to maximise air flow through your tent. Obviously in high winds you should still pitch your tent to minimise the chance of it being damaged or blowing away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If weather and biting insects allow, keep the tent door open to maximise ventilation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Single walled tents, while small and light, are less effective in humid conditions. If you are using such a tent, make sure it is designed to be easily ventilated.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-05T10:31:04.587" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T10:31:04.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2012-02-08T18:25:54.707" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus(OLE) and it works great.  Cutter, Repel, and Coleman all make products that contain the EPA and CDC approved OLE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="270" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T12:54:25.137" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T12:54:25.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="999" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1008" CreationDate="2012-02-08T18:31:00.497" Score="13" ViewCount="9701" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering whether the deer would be able to smell bug repellent if you are wearing some while out hunting.  Is there a specific type of bug repellent that can be used that is less likely to make deer shy away from the area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T22:42:24.580" LastActivityDate="2019-09-27T16:45:02.290" Title="Will bug repellent repel deer?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;deer&gt;&lt;repellent&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1000" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-08T23:32:10.647" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bugs is used to encompass things which might equally apply to &quot;insects&quot; or say &quot;ticks&quot;, such as questions about repellents.  Generally small biting bug-like creatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-08T23:46:17.990" LastActivityDate="2012-02-08T23:46:17.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1001" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-08T23:32:10.647" Score="0" Body="All types of creepy crawlies which bite, agitate, or fascinate those enjoying the great outdoors." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:55:41.160" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T22:55:41.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1002" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-08T23:58:11.893" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions relating to any of those ruminants in the family Cervidae commonly called deer.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:02:05.380" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:02:05.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1003" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-08T23:58:11.893" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to interacting with ruminants of the family Cervidae in the outdoors (including hunting)" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:02:05.880" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:02:05.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1004" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:11:37.413" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is an insulated covering for a person, essentially a lightweight quilt that can be closed with a zipper or similar means to form a tube, which functions as bedding in situations where a person is sleeping outdoors. Its primary purpose is to provide warmth and thermal insulation through its synthetic or down insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T07:31:35.393" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:31:35.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1005" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:11:37.413" Score="0" Body="Anything on this essential item. Questions on models, types, modifications, hacks, maintenance and correct use." OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="468" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T18:28:21.630" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T18:28:21.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1006" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:17:29.937" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any of those activities related to preparation (gear and land), scouting (locating specific areas of game activity), tracking (following specific animals), and killing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T02:54:59.167" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T02:54:59.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1007" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:17:29.937" Score="0" Body="Scouting, tracking, pursuing, and killing animals for sport and/or food.  " OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T11:58:09.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T11:58:09.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="999" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:19:47.047" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, deer will smell your bug spray.  Even if you use all the fancy scent-eliminating sprays, soaps, and clothing detergents they can still smell you if you are sweaty.  Most important is the wind factor:  Deer will smell you if they are downwind of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NRA hunting advice for first-time deer hunters:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrainsights.org/Five_Things_fs.php&quot;&gt;http://www.nrainsights.org/Five_Things_fs.php&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say use the bug spray you would have used anyway.  Just make sure you carefully monitor the wind and plan your hunting spot carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T01:26:07.900" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T01:26:07.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1009" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:20:02.117" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally backpacking or hiking where one or all of the following are not available &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fresh water plumbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;established campsites with some amenities (platforms, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;readily available resupply&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nearby transportation &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:28:50.353" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:28:50.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1010" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-09T00:20:02.117" Score="0" Body="Hiking or backpacking away from general amenities and establish campsites" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T00:28:51.057" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T00:28:51.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="409" CreationDate="2012-02-09T02:48:31.447" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to say that &quot;eating with&quot; falls under the same rules as &quot;eating&quot;.  Don't go out in the woods and put something in your mouth unless you know &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; what you are dealing with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2926083&quot;&gt;woods&lt;/a&gt; are &lt;a href=&quot;http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/poison/plants/ppazale.htm&quot;&gt;toxic&lt;/a&gt;.  Also remember that &quot;wood&quot; doesn't just come from trees, but all woody plants, which is why some shrubs are also listed here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically avoid the following (If it's listed here it has at least one poisonous variant.  Since tree variants are difficult to distinguish, it's best for amateurs to not try these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pines &amp;amp; Cedars (some are safe, but identification can be tricky)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Laurel &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Locust (&lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be safe if heated)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elderberry (not a tree, but small tree vs. big shrub can be an easy mistake) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water Hemlock is extremely poisonous and the sap is quite toxic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Horse Chestnut (unless properly prepared)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Red Baneberry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything you are not certain of is not safe.  Plants develop poisons as a defense mechanism.  The fact that you're not eating it helps a little, but when you use the spoon it will be in contact with your food, which will absorb and exchange with the wood.  Heat, moisture, loose pieces, sucking... many ways to get a bit of some toxin in your system.  And why take the chance?  If you're not sure, just eat with your fingers and the next time you hit town buy something safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, &lt;em&gt;generally&lt;/em&gt; woods which are safe for smoking, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1660/eb1660.pdf&quot;&gt;apple, hickory, alder, and maple&lt;/a&gt;, will be safe for utensils.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bamboo is fairly common in much of the US now, easily identified, and safe to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some varieties elder &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra&quot;&gt;may be safe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-11T17:05:37.357" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T17:05:37.357" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1013" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1014" CreationDate="2012-02-09T13:49:30.977" Score="48" ViewCount="39247" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience I tend to wear two pairs of socks, normally some running socks and then my hiking socks on top of that. It helps me avoid blisters. Quite a few of my friends thinks this is nonsense. But with well worn-in boots I always tend to get more blisters if I wear only one pair. Does anyone know if there is any &lt;strong&gt;scientific reason&lt;/strong&gt; for this? or is it just an old wives tale? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:49:46.357" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T14:46:44.247" Title="Is it better to wear one pair or two pairs of socks while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2012-02-09T13:56:08.563" Score="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking blisters are from friction.  When things shift, your sock is more likely to stay with your boot than your foot as the two fabrics (or leather and fabric) will catch each other.  This leaves the sock moving against your foot, which causes friction.  When you wear two socks, specifically a smooth liner and a wool hiking sock, the outer sock moves against the inner sock instead of against your foot and less friction is created.  Less friction = fewer blisters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the same reason, two pairs of wool won't work as well as what you currently do because the wool is likely to bind and behave like one sock instead of two&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="236" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T14:27:05.907" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T14:27:05.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2012-02-09T13:57:52.740" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two pairs of socks reduces friction and absorbs more moisture, both of which help prevent blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I prefer thin neoprene socks underneath thick wool socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T13:57:52.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2012-02-09T14:46:21.940" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of unspecified variables involved here... type of socks, fit of the shoe/boot, type of shoe, conditions you are hiking in, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in general, double-socking may offer the following which may help prevent blisters: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reduced friction - assuming one sock is a thin slick liner sock which tends to stick to your foot while the outer sock sticks to the boot thus keeping the rubbing happening  between the two.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;moisture control - a liner sock can help wick moisture away from your foot. Dry feet are happy feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;additional padding - can prevent hot-spots and pressure points (or can create them, depending on the fit of the shoe) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can help take up space - shoes that fit too big can rub more&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;leech control - two pairs of tight woven socks have served me well for 2 years in the tropics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;warmth - adds additional insulation (though if your boot is a tight fit, this can actually work against you as you decrease circulation/air space...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the question is whether double-socking &lt;em&gt;is better&lt;/em&gt;, that is unanswerable and totally a question of personal preference. If 2 socks work for you, and reduce blisters, go for it. For other people's feet / shoes, 1 sock may be better. I've even worn 3 socks when my shoes were big enough, and I have hiked with people who wore no socks without issue...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the question is whether two socks &lt;em&gt;are proven&lt;/em&gt; to reduce friction - even that depends on the fabric of the socks, the material and fit of the boot, the foot, and the environment (hot, cold, wet, dry, etc...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T02:37:32.393" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T02:37:32.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1018" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1021" CreationDate="2012-02-09T15:05:07.377" Score="15" ViewCount="588" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a Hiker who recently moved to Boston, MA. I'm interested in hiking within a 2 hour drive of the city, and I really would love alpine hiking (above the tree line), on trails that are 4 to 8 miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any good website I could go to to search for trails using the criteria I have listed? I've only really found more unwieldy resources like trails grouped by state or park. Considering there are 7 states within 2 hours of Boston, searching this way is a bit cumbersome. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="279" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T16:56:18.010" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T16:56:18.010" Title="Good resources for information about hiking trails near Boston" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1019" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-09T15:22:44.473" Score="18" ViewCount="1277" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to use the wind to propel my &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packraft&quot;&gt;packraft&lt;/a&gt; on passages over lakes. Are there any lightweight and/or improvised sail systems? &#xA;Especially: how do I erect a mast on the packraft without it becoming unstable or damaging it?&#xA;I guess with a mast I could use a space blanket or something else as a sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The packraft in question is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpackaraft.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.catalog&amp;amp;categoryID=53&amp;amp;ProductID=67&quot;&gt;Alpacka Raft &quot;Yukon Yak&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="280" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T16:46:26.633" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T16:46:26.633" Title="How to sail a packraft" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;packrafting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1018" CreationDate="2012-02-09T17:25:35.177" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.localhikes.com/MSA/MSA_1123.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; with a quick google, but since I think you want more:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a local chapter of the Appalachian Trail Club.  Here near DC, it's the PATC.  They typically do walks on various nearby trails (in addition to maintennance).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, go to your local outdoors store.  Around here, there's a book called Circuit Hikes in Shenandoah park.  I'm sure any local park near you would have a similar book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T17:25:35.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1018" CreationDate="2012-02-09T18:16:47.310" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mapmyhike.com/routes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Map My Hike&lt;/a&gt; and use Boston and expand to area and specify how far you want to walk. I have used this site to find local running and trail routes before and have found it useful. Another site is Every Trail which you can access &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.everytrail.com/best/hiking-boston-massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @Pulsehead has suggested using local trail clubs and outdoors centres are always a good source of recommendations for trail routes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T18:16:47.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="945" CreationDate="2012-02-09T19:08:28.057" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/811229/petzl-meteor-iii-climbing-helmet&quot;&gt;high quality polycarbonate helmet&lt;/a&gt; is now so light, affordable and durable; the added cost and limited weight benefit of carbon fiber seems to be of limited use for all but the most weight conscious or sponsored mountaineers. Plastic fails in a much more human friendly manner without sharp edges of carbon and hard resin that it's generally superior for helmet covering and strong enough for protection from sharp objects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T19:08:28.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1023" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1024" CreationDate="2012-02-09T21:03:52.607" Score="20" ViewCount="27283" Body="&lt;p&gt;The proverbial &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three_01092010&quot;&gt;Rule of 3&lt;/a&gt;&quot; says you can live three weeks without food.  Are there any documented cases of people actually living three weeks with no food in the wilderness and surviving?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those who aren't familiar with the rule, it's that you can't live more than:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 minutes without breathing (drowning, asphyxiation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 hours without shelter in an extreme environment (exposure)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 days without water (dehydration)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 weeks without food (starvation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-09T22:35:45.993" LastActivityDate="2017-09-21T15:08:55.490" Title="Is the &quot;Rule of 3&quot; proven for food?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1023" CreationDate="2012-02-09T22:44:43.683" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rule of three may be a useful mnemonic to help prioritise or plan in a survival situation, but it is not necessarily going to be accurate. Survival without food is going to depend on many factors, for example, the nutritional state of the person at the start of their starvation and the amount of energy they expend during the starvation. These factors will shorten or extend the three week estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One example of survival with negligible food intake longer than three weeks is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medicaltranslation.com.au/medical-translation-articles/1992/3/8/james-scott-how-i-survived/&quot;&gt;the story of James Scott&lt;/a&gt; who survived 43 days lost in Nepal eating only some vegetation and a caterpillar. He documented the story in his book &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0850916100&quot;&gt;Lost in the Himalayas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While not wilderness survival, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-long-can-a-person-sur&quot;&gt;this article from Scientific American&lt;/a&gt;, there are well documented studies reporting the survival of hunger strikers for up to 40 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the three minutes without breathing rule, an extreme example that contradicts this is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_Apnea&quot;&gt;static apnea&lt;/a&gt; (freediving breath holding) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aidainternational.org/competitive/worlds-records&quot;&gt;record of 11 minutes and 35 seconds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-11T16:35:40.000" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T16:35:40.000" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1023" CreationDate="2012-02-09T22:52:03.340" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say none of those rules are &quot;proven&quot; - they're very, very rough estimates based on a very rough description of average. Some people will fall unconscious a lot sooner than 3 minutes with no air, some can last a lot longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of food, David Blaine lasted 44 days suspended in a transparent box in London - there have been other reports of people lasting a lot longer, and some not lasting that amount of time at all. If you're fit and healthy with a fair bit of fat on you, your body will break it down and last a lot longer than someone who's (for instance) skinny and underweight. Likewise it depends what you do in those days - if you're hiking heavily without food, you won't last anywhere near as long as if you weren't going anywhere or using much energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T22:52:03.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-02-09T23:42:48.513" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am relatively new to hammock camping, but the only downside that I am aware of is possibly not being able to find a place to hang.  As others have mentioned, you do have to account for heat loss out of the bottom of the hammock, but that can be solved simply/cheaply by putting closed-cell foam pad in the bottom of the hammock (generally more expensive is the underquilt).  Be sure to check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://hammockforums.net&quot;&gt;http://hammockforums.net&lt;/a&gt; .  There is a great community of hangers there, from backyard and bedroom hangers to ultra-lightweight backpackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="293" LastActivityDate="2012-02-09T23:42:48.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-10T01:33:19.590" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good socks are a life saver. Its definitely worth it to get a pair of polypropylene or similar material socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The socks dry amazingly quickly when wet. At the end of a wash cycle the socks never need to be dried. They come out of the washer dry. Furthermore, they keep your feet very warm. On multiple occasions I've gone hiking in the snow and at the end of the hike I was the only member of my hiking party that didn't have freezing feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had to choose between decent boots and great socks or great boots and cotton socks, I would go with the great socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="279" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T01:33:19.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="310" CreationDate="2012-02-10T01:45:35.330" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course there are other safety issues as not standing under the climber, wearing a helmet, in case of rock fall.  As mentioned above, you should have a qualified guide.  Those most qualified will be certified by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://amga.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;American Mountain Guides Association&lt;/a&gt; (AMGA). Most local rock gyms do have training and most outdoor stores that sell climbing equipment have training sessions.  Climbing is a sport that can result in injury and death and choosing to do so should not be taken lightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="295" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T01:45:35.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-02-10T02:04:50.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had the same worries as the OP, but a buddy of mine brought a store-bought hammock on a 3 night trip a few years ago.  I started investigating and found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeHammock.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;.  I made my own for a few bucks (&amp;lt; $20 for the ripstop nylon, a few bucks for some rings, a few more for straps, paracord and a couple carabiners), have used it for 2 years now, and it's still going strong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guy talks about staying dry (use a tarp), staying warm (he's got pictures of sleeping in several inches of snow), and keeping the bugs off, too.  I've never been cold in mine, but as Chad mentions (+1) it's easy to add an underquilt, if you like, and that's what I'd do if I were going to be somewhere below 40F.  I think Simon (+1) has a good point about finding the two trees, but you only need one (1) tree, and a sturdy stick of the appropriate height. (?!)  You attach one end to the tree, then run the other cord over the  stick/post then into the ground, and the hammock &lt;strong&gt;stabilizes itself&lt;/strong&gt; (saw this somewhere that I can't quite find right now.  Try it!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, after 20+ years of packing a tent around (and I tried a bivy once, but it was too cramped for me), I don't see myself taking anything other than a hammock for the forseeable future.  Your mileage may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, I've use the nylon hammock, an ordinary sleeping bag, and one of those egg-crate sleeping pads.  Just got a Therma-rest pad (the most expensive link in the chain) that I haven't tried yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="296" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T02:04:50.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-02-10T02:21:14.927" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you haven't climbed in a while I would recommend staying away from doing fingertip pull-ups on hang boards.  My assumption is that you are out of climbing shape and tendons and ligaments are easy to injure and take a long time to heal.  This is coming from someone who has been climbing for around 8 years off and on and has made many mistakes, please learn from mine.  Over all, take it slow when returning from a hiatus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Available products I have used without injury are the powerball and the grippers.  Both are small and can be used when you might otherwise be wasting time, like waiting in line at a store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further advise I would suggest reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://trainingforclimbing.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Training For Climbing&lt;/a&gt;.  It is edited by a well known, longtime (34 years) climber on the east coast, Eric Hörst.  He is also frequently featured (74 times!) in a podcast called Pod Climber, giving training advice.  I found this valuable as I could listen in the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="295" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-31T09:17:11.467" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T09:17:11.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="312" CreationDate="2012-02-10T02:42:14.760" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is good while checking the rope to squeeze it between the fingers to try to feel any voids inside the sheath.  The absence of a void does not mean the rope is safe but the presence of a void justifies retirement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes typically have a climbing life of 3 years.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point of inspection is to be certain the rope is long enough for the climb.  Tie a knot at the end of your rope to prevent the belayer from paying out all the rope causing the climber to fall to the ground without a belayer to arrest the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="295" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T02:42:14.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2012-02-10T04:25:10.263" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe you could be faced with back problems if you slept in a hammock every day of your life. I don't think it would be a problem for just a few days once in a while though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another problem probably worth mentioning is that, unlike a tent, you can't use your hammock (even with a tarp) to keep your gear out of the weather. Unless you bring your whole pack in the hammock with you, in which case you probably won't be very comfortable...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T04:25:10.263" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="951" CreationDate="2012-02-10T04:32:47.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some stores have waterproof glue which you could use to fix a waterproof patch. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Tents/TentAccessories/PRD~5019-835/trousse-de-reparation-sil-fix-de-mcnett.jsp?bmLocale=en&amp;amp;bmForm=setLanguageCookie&amp;amp;bmFormID=jlAQkEY&amp;amp;bmSubmit=SetLanguageCookie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;An example&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T04:32:47.400" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1036" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1040" CreationDate="2012-02-10T04:37:56.410" Score="22" ViewCount="325" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone wants his job to take place mostly in the wild, what kind of career should he look into?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T19:46:08.500" Title="Which careers allow working in the wild on a daily basis?" Tags="&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2012-02-10T04:38:43.493" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;FWIW Ten years ago everyone in the Canadian Forces were issued wool socks.  Now they are all issued two-pair sock systems. Personally I never once got blisters with wool socks but I always kept my boots tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T05:52:24.533" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T05:52:24.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1038" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-10T05:24:37.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;First aid is care given for an injury before true medical assistance can be obtained.  This can range from sanitizing and covering a wound to wrapping a twisted ankle to creating a stretcher from what is available and carrying the patient back to civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many first aid resources on the web, but in order to learn, practice, and master first aid, you should seek &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aid#Training&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;formal training&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While answers here may provide suggestions for first aid actions, they are not a substitute for proper training. Consider them a recommendation as to what you should learn.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Do NOT attempt any first aid beyond what you have been taught by a qualified instructor.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T10:14:24.903" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T10:14:24.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1039" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-10T05:24:37.180" Score="0" Body="First aid is about treating minor injuries, providing temporary aid for major injuries until care can be reached, and determining which is which and how urgently medical care needs to be obtained. Questions regarding temperature-induced conditions such as frostbite, hypothermia, and heat stroke are also matters of first aid and should be tagged as such.&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T10:14:25.620" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T10:14:25.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1036" CreationDate="2012-02-10T06:32:30.207" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends on a great number of personal preferences. Here are some examples to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adventure Company Guide&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to lead others in a purely recreational sense, you can be a guide for one of the many adventure companies. Some examples of these companies are here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/outfitterhome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/outfitterhome&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outward Bound and NOLS&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to lead others in the outdoors with some element of education or development, the biggest names in the United States are probably Outward Bound (&lt;a href=&quot;http://outwardbound.net&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;outwardbound.net&lt;/a&gt; is their international site) and NOLS (&lt;a href=&quot;http://nols.edu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;nols.edu&lt;/a&gt;), which run very good, very well reputed programs. They also run international programs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wilderness Therapy&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to help people therapeutically in the outdoors (counseling, guiding, etc.), you could work for a company that does what is called &quot;wilderness therapy.&quot; Examples would be Open Sky Wilderness Therapy (&lt;a href=&quot;http://openskywilderness.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;openskywilderness.com&lt;/a&gt;) or Anasazi Foundation (&lt;a href=&quot;http://anasazi.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;anasazi.org&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Naturalist Interpreter&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to educate others in the outdoors, there are lots of interpretive programs through the National Parks, as well as many schools that are primarily outdoor or experiential oriented. (Examples: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christodora.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.christodora.org/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hooksumschool.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.hooksumschool.com/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outdoor Athlete&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to be a professional outdoor athlete, you could become very good at skiing/snowboarding/climbing/etc and get work that way. Along the same lines, you could be involved in video production companies that work on climbing or ski films (such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.senderfilms.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sender Films&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigupproductions.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Big Up Productions&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Field Scientist&lt;/strong&gt; - If you're interested in the sciences, you could be a botanist, biologist, forester, or natural resource specialist. The National Park Service &amp;amp; other federal land management agencies often hire lots of these types of people, and they get to hang out in the outdoors all day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;University&lt;/strong&gt; - If you want to help others experience the outdoors you could work for a college or university outdoor program. Some of them offer very interesting programs and trips, and even degrees such as Adventure Education (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fortlewis.edu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.fortlewis.edu&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prescott.edu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.prescott.edu&lt;/a&gt;), Experiential Education, or Recreation Management. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Archaeologist&lt;/strong&gt; - especially one who works in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) (often includes private companies that survey for oil pipeline projects or power lines, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Natural Resource Manager or Technician&lt;/strong&gt; - especially one who does lots of field work in less-built environments. For example, forestry or logging based on natural regeneration rather than plantation will have you spending a lot more time in woods that don't feel micromanaged. There are a variety of natural resources to manage, and the different subsets within this discipline can have you working in different environments: streams, wetlands, prairies, different types of forests, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are lots of other options I haven't listed, too. Looking at the types of jobs you might be into, there are several websites to peruse:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoored.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.outdoored.com&lt;/a&gt; (they have articles and a job search function)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aee.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.aee.org&lt;/a&gt; (Association for Experiential Education - they have lots of jobs and articles in the realm of experiential education)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bluefishjobs.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.bluefishjobs.com&lt;/a&gt; (lots of jobs that have an outdoor element - sometimes you have to search hard to find fun ones)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck. Hope this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-04-15T19:46:08.500" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T19:46:08.500" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-02-12T01:50:39.143" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="120" CreationDate="2012-02-10T13:23:20.913" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really depends on the type of tent. You should not cook in a standard outdoor tent. However there are tents like the &quot;Kohte&quot; and the &quot;Yurt&quot; of (mainly German) scouts that are designed to have a fire burning inside.&#xA;These tents are made of cotton and have no floor. Also they are heavier than typical expedition tents. As always you have to weigh the pros and cons yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="280" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T13:23:20.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1042" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1043" CreationDate="2012-02-10T15:57:46.500" Score="10" ViewCount="1882" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming I am not allergic, or showing signs of allergic reaction, what's the best way to treat multiple &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket&quot;&gt;yellow jacket&lt;/a&gt; (a type of wasp) stings in the outdoors while hiking/backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My key concern is pain reduction, since (barring and allergic reaction) I am not returning to town for a sting.  I've tried cortisone cream and it's placebo level pain reduction at best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-26T05:02:22.597" LastActivityDate="2021-02-01T20:47:42.630" Title="How to reduce pain of wasp stings?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1042" CreationDate="2012-02-10T17:01:42.217" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several things that supposedly reduce the pain - if you have any baking soda with you (sounds silly but if you frequently get stung it may be a good idea for this reason) then mixing some in with water and applying it can reduce the sting. Note that a common misconception is that all wasp stings are alkali, and therefore vinegar should be applied - &lt;em&gt;a yellow jacket's sting isn't however, it's acidic!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Antihistamines can also help with the swelling, so (barring other health complications) taking some of them should help things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have nothing along those lines with you then I've seen several sources mention that a mud pack, mud mixed in with water and then applied to the wound can work well. Presumably this works best in areas where the soil is alkaline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T21:20:47.260" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T21:20:47.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1045" CreationDate="2012-02-10T17:31:15.493" Score="26" ViewCount="4210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love hiking but there is a serious problem - I find it disgusting to be sweaty or dirty. I am literally unable to function properly if I do not get a thorough and warm shower every morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This places me in a difficult position, as I do not want to give up long hikes but the discomfort is really too much for me. In the summer, a good swim every morning works OK to wash the filth off of me but there is only so much of summer and I tend to go out all year round (perhaps even more so in winter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there some basic tricks to keeping clean? Or do you just try to get used to the filth? To be clear, I am speaking of keeping my body clean, not so much the clothes, since those bother me less (and I can always bring a change of clothes for longer hikes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="303" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T23:57:32.077" Title="How to stay clean on a multi-day hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2012-02-10T17:43:43.763" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some methods&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol, either hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol with a microfiber towel to have a &quot;bath&quot;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Advantages:  Lightweight, fast.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disadvantages:  Dries your skin, have to carry the alcohol, and breathing it isn't perfectly healthy.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001Q3L71G&quot;&gt;Solar Shower&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Advantages:  Can get pretty darned clean.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disadvantages:  You have to carry it, collect water, and even with sun it's &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; cold in the dead of winter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Towel Bath with microfiber towel, bucket of water, and soap.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Advantages:  You can heat water with your camp gear and pour it into a bucket for warm water.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disadvantages:  Slower, uses fuel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Baby wipes, just wipe down with them (some people use them, I don't personally)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Advantages:  The only one I can really think of is that it's easy.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disadvantages:  They're expensive, heavy, and you have to pack them out with you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Remember, if you use soap, use a biodegradable one, do not use nitrate-based soaps, and pour your dirty water well away from any water sources.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OLBA08/BabyMildLiquidSoap.htm&quot;&gt;Dr. Bronners makes a good camp soap.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Towel:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Microfiber towels are great.  Personally I buy &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000EFAOD4&quot;&gt;cheap automotive ones&lt;/a&gt;, which seem to work just as well (for me) as the fancy ones made just for hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bucket:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'd recommend either just using your camp pot (if it's large enough) or buying a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001Q3KLOK&quot;&gt;collapsible bucket&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always used the alcohol method because all it requires is hand sanitizer.  When really grungy I have on occasion also wiped down with a damp shammy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-10T19:29:42.390" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T19:29:42.390" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2012-02-10T19:11:48.730" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a long day on the trail, I'll take my grooming bucket (reused plastic margarine or sherbet container with lid), and go down to the water hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Collect some water and rinse out the bandana.  Start at the head and work my way down/in.  I'll pull off my shirt and then wash my torso.  Pull off my socks and wash my legs.  I then wash my groin area, and immediately change into my &quot;camp&quot; clothes.  I tend to not use soap, and whenever the water in my bucket gets &quot;icky&quot;, I'll toss onto the grassy area near where I'm washing, and refill with river water.  Once I'm washed and wearing my camp clothes, then I'll fill my container and wash my clothes, and hang them up once I'm back in camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wash water was suspect, I'll frequently then take purified water and give myself a bandana-bath and dispose of that used water far from the watersource.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to not use soap if at all possible, because I found that it does not always rinse cleanly, and that residue is a little annoying in the city, it's a horrible rash if it's in sensitive and high-friction areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T19:11:48.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1036" CreationDate="2012-02-10T19:20:48.070" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good outdoor job that allows for much hiking and outdoor activity is that of an &lt;strong&gt;archaeologist&lt;/strong&gt;, especially one who works in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) (often includes private companies that survey for oil pipeline projects or power lines, etc), or for one of the federal land/wildlife management agencies, such as the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the US Fish &amp;amp; Wildlife Service, or the US Forest Service (USFS).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-02-10T19:20:48.070" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-02-12T01:50:39.143" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1048" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1050" CreationDate="2012-02-11T12:32:27.990" Score="12" ViewCount="1932" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen lots of people do this, and unless it was clearly stealing en-masse for profit I doubt there'd be a problem, but is it legal to pick up dead logs, kindling etc. and take them away to use elsewhere as firewood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:01:36.477" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:01:36.477" Title="Is it legal to collect firewood (to take away) from woods and forests in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1049" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-11T12:51:18.817" Score="13" ViewCount="12065" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to use natural malaria prevention. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.organicinsectrepellent.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Insect repellent patch&lt;/a&gt; seems to be very promising. One patch contains 75 mg of B1 and covers 36 hours. However, it's not very cheap. Many other travellers recommend doses of B1 vitamin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What dose of &lt;strong&gt;eaten&lt;/strong&gt; B1 (in mg) is enough for protection? (daily)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How is it effective compared to the patch?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What dose of vitamin B1 (eaten) would be comparable to the 75 mg B1 patch?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T08:49:15.777" Title="Prevent mosquito bites: insect repellent patch or just eat vitamin B1?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1048" CreationDate="2012-02-11T13:03:12.383" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;All land in the UK is owned by somebody, therefore, all trees and their produce (including firewood) are owned by somebody. You could be charged with theft if you take logs, kindling etc. without permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018nw0b&quot;&gt;Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 on 6th January 2012&lt;/a&gt; discussed this very topic following the storms in the UK around that time, that left a lot of fallen trees. Jeremy Vine interviewed a lawyer who I remember explained the laws that cover this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Forestry Commission sometimes offers &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-7zpjvv&quot;&gt;Firewood Scavenging Permits&lt;/a&gt; allowing you to gather your own firewood, usually from an area that has already been commercially harvested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-11T20:40:12.333" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T20:40:12.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-02-11T13:48:41.813" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Build the tent under the tree to reduce morning dew, and so that it is not shaded from the morning sun. And possibly try to avoid building it on a wet surface. Open the ventilation holes placed at the very top of the tent. If you have a wet towel or other very wet clothes, place it &lt;em&gt;outside&lt;/em&gt; of the tent (not in the vestibule of the tent, as advised in another answer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T13:48:41.813" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="409" CreationDate="2012-02-11T13:59:17.960" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lime wood is used by carvers as it is very soft! I can recommend it too, personal experience. And it is not poissonous of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friend is using the wood from European elder to carve pipes. Its wood was traditionally used for this purpose. I haven't found any information on elder wood to be toxic (the bark can be though), but if you want to be sure, continue with your research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-02-11T17:11:14.183" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T17:11:14.183" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2012-02-11T14:03:48.293" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;DEET is really evil, it is a dissolvent that is able to etch the plastic cap!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used citronella essential oil, it helps but I'd say only 50%... and for short time (few hours). Now I'm looking for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1049/prevent-mosquito-bites-insect-repellent-patch-or-just-eat-vitamin-b1&quot;&gt;a solution using vitamin B1&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T14:03:48.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2012-02-11T14:07:18.617" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My opinion is that using two pairs of socks is nonsense - there will be folds then, resulting in stronger impact of friction and more blisters. It would be better to use good &quot;functional&quot; socks that keep the foot dry. I think the moisture is the worse thing for blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T14:07:18.617" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1023" CreationDate="2012-02-11T15:52:52.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There’s quite a lot of people interested in fasting for spiritual and health purposes. When fasting, these people don’t drink anything but water and don’t eat anything at all, their stomach simply pauses. And it’s not unusual to fast like this for several days or even weeks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my friends tried a three-week fast and I happened to meet him just as he was ending. He was quite skinny, but appeared fully functional. Another friend of mine fastened for at least two weeks, I can’t remember the exact number. Both of them lead a normal life, the first one even kept running his usual kilometers and the second one kept working as a scientist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; saying that you should try this or that it’s completely harmless. (Especially the return to normal food takes a long time and you must excercise a great care and discipline.) My point is that three weeks without food is nothing unheard of and you don’t have to be a walking corpse in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m not sure if eating small amounts of food is better than eating nothing. During the first several days of fasting the body shifts to a different energy source, it could be that starting the stomach again would do more harm then good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, if you happen to be without food for a week or so, there’s no need to panic. You’ll be uncomfortable, but you’ll be fine. You can even try fasting for several days to see how the body works in those conditions, but in that case please don’t trust a random stranger on the Internet and find somebody who knows what he’s doing :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-02-11T15:52:52.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1049" CreationDate="2012-02-11T17:49:31.063" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want a natural solution, try &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/979/127&quot;&gt;lemon eucalyptus oil&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering that B1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4389912?dopt=Abstract&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;does not&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://cel.webofknowledge.com/InboundService.do?SID=4E1DOPHDJLifLJJief8&amp;amp;product=CEL&amp;amp;UT=A1968B209100018&amp;amp;SrcApp=CR&amp;amp;Init=Yes&amp;amp;action=retrieve&amp;amp;customersID=atyponcel&amp;amp;Func=Frame&amp;amp;SrcAuth=atyponcel&amp;amp;IsProductCode=Yes&amp;amp;mode=FullRecord&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deter mosquitos&lt;/a&gt;, any dose you like will be comparable to 75mg (zero effect).  However, if we wish to assume it works, you'll want the patch.  Eating B1 won't help much.  Since B1 is principally excreted in your urine, eating a lot of it would only really help if you bathed in your urine afterwards.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa011699#t=articleTop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New England Journal of medicine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most alternatives to topically applied repellents have proved to be&#xA;  ineffective. No ingested compound, including garlic and thiamine&#xA;  (vitamin B1), has been found to be capable of repelling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mosquitosite/homeremedy.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mosquitosite/homeremedy.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Studies of garlic and vitamin B did not find evidence that these&#xA;  substances could reduce mosquito attraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet?page=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet?page=2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the last few years, nonchemical repellents worn as skin patches and&#xA;  containing thiamine (vitamin B1) have arrived in some big-box stores&#xA;  under the name Don’t Bite Me! The science behind this repellent comes&#xA;  from a study done in the 1960s. It showed that thiamine (B1) produces&#xA;  a skin odor female mosquitoes don't like. But no other studies have&#xA;  confirmed thiamine's effectiveness as a mosquito repellent when worn&#xA;  on the skin. Chari Kauffmann, president of the company that sells skin&#xA;  patch called Don’t  Bite Me!, says studies on the product are ongoing,&#xA;  though the company has no conclusions to report.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally if a study can't be confirmed within 50 years, including by a company trying to profit from it, it's a sign that there was a flaw in that study. In addition multiple studies (My apologies for some of the studies not being public access) have found the counter, which is that is is not effective.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also be aware that everything is a poison at some point.  In the case of B1, long term dosing (like say, frequently to ward off mosquitoes) of 3g or more could cause harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-02-12T02:48:17.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-12T10:37:00.137" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 2 things that you need to watch out for: Wind chill and getting wet due to sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to follow a 3 layer system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Layer 1 next to skin to transport moisture away from the body. example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xxl.no/klaer-herre/undertoey-herre&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BEKLAGER, SIDEN DU BA OM FINNES IKKE&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Layer 2 middle layer isolate and transport moisture your fleece would do for this layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Layer 3 outher shell layer to stop wind, your down jacket should be Ok for this. But the wind would go straight through your jeans.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what you have listed the main thing that I would avoid is cotton next to the skin. I would also get some windproof trowsers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to your head, the parts of the body you need to watch out for is where the blood flow is close to the surface. That is ancles, wrists and neck. Use high boots, gloves with long cuffs, and a fleece with a high neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is some more info on the 3 layer principle: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stormberg.no/no/campaign/Trelagsprinsippet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HOLD DEG VARM I VINTER!&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry the links are in Norwegian, you can copy paste them into google translate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="153" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:22:35.617" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:22:35.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-02-12T17:31:30.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Dangeranger stated, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;water is 24.5 times more conductive than air&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that water will conduct heat energy throughout the cooler much more effectively than air. This means that water will conduct heat energy from the leaks and seams in the cooler to the ice more effectively than air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say we have two hypothetical coolers, Cooler A and Cooler B. Both leak heat at the same rate, and both started with a identical large block of ice in it, and equal air temperature occupying the rest of the cooler. Every hour you drain the water from A, and leave it in B. For the first hour they both have the same amount of water and the same amount of ice, and then you drain the water from A. Now, in the second hour because the water left in B conducts heat from the walls to the ice faster than the air in A, more of B's ice will melt than of A's ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, B's ice will be completely melted before A's ice is. Let's call the moment that ice B completely melts 'meltB'. At meltB ice A has x percent of its original mass remaining. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can all agree that at meltB there is less heat energy in cooler B than in cooler A, since you've been replacing things in cooler A with other things that had more heat energy (replacing cool water with air temperature air). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where it gets tricky is that after meltB, the heat energy in cooler B will increase faster than the heat energy in cooler A because of all that water conducting heat from the walls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So from start until meltB, A gains energy faster than B, but after meltB B gains energy faster than A. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HARPM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Graph&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this all comes down to is the exact numbers. If you want to eat your food at time a or b you are better off with cooler B, but if you want to eat your feed at time c or d you are better off with Cooler B. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how to calculate meltB, I have no idea. So I guess its somewhat impossible to figure out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify, the key point here is that different parts of the cooler are different temperatures. The wall is warmer than the area immediately around the ice. However, if the cooler is full of water, the water brings heat energy from the wall to the ice much more effectively than air would. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the coolers leak at the same rate, meaning the walls gain energy from the outside at the same rate. However, if there is no water, the walls gaining energy does not necessarily mean that the ice will gain that energy and melt immediately. It will take time for that energy to get to the ice, and the time it takes depends on the medium the energy transfers through. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, walls gain energy at same rate, ice in the middle does NOT gain energy at the same rate because of what is between them and the walls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="279" LastEditorUserId="279" LastEditDate="2012-02-12T19:01:46.363" LastActivityDate="2012-02-12T19:01:46.363" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-02-12T18:32:12.580" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I generally sleep naked in my sleeping bag. Ive slept nights where I went to sleep in my clothes, and then woke up because my feet were freezing in the middle of the night, so I took off my clothes and when back to bed, and then woke up at dawn toasty warm. And nights where I didn't do that in the same exact conditions, and suffered the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And these are dry clean clothes kept away from any moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My theory is that my core produces a lot of heat, but my extremities are always cold. Sleeping naked lets the heat from my core make the whole sleeping bag warmer so my extremities can warm up. Layering up only reflects heat from your body back at that same part of my body, so I end up with an especially warm core, but freezing feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="279" LastEditorUserId="279" LastEditDate="2013-03-16T14:08:19.070" LastActivityDate="2013-03-16T14:08:19.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1060" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-12T21:19:33.083" Score="33" ViewCount="866" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(This is related to &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/547/what-hand-and-finger-exercises-help-with-climbing&quot;&gt;What hand and finger exercises help with climbing?&lt;/a&gt;&quot; but asking for what can be done when &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; climbing/training.)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like most climbers, I don't get to do as much as I'd like, and I rarely climb as well as I'd like, so I'm wondering if there are ways to squeeze training exercises in when I'm doing other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if I'm carrying bags, I've started reducing the number of fingers I use, with a view to increasing the weight my fingers can support, and thus improve my ability when on small holds and pockets. (No idea how well that might work, but it demonstrates the type of things I mean).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any types of improvement are welcome, though I am specifically looking at bouldering (free climbing), as opposed to roped/other climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="84" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T22:03:25.367" Title="What everyday tasks can be adapted in a way that helps build muscles and technique for bouldering?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="455" CreationDate="2012-02-12T23:58:36.613" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To expand a bit on the good answer already given:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slope - 25-45 degrees is a good broad suggestion, but your region of the country will have a big impact on this. Maritime snow is wetter and stickier, so tends to be most dangerous at steeper angles. Transitional and Continental snow is less wet, so has a most dangerous slope range on the lower end of the scale. Find out more specific information from the avalanche center closest to your location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any rapid changes to snow position, temperature, or sun. Lots of fresh snow, lots of wind moving snow around, a rapid change in temperature can all increase avalanche danger. The avalanche dragon hates change, and it makes him angry. Stable conditions are less likely to enrage him.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Whumfing&quot;, cracking or visible settling. All very serious danger signs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche chutes - look for places where avalanches have happened in the past, by looking for debris, or places where there are no big trees all of a sudden. But also look for evidence of recent avalanches. Check high slopes above you all the time - if you see a few fresh looking slides, that is a huge danger sign.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forgetting the snow for a moment, remember that an avalanche fatality requires two things - snow conditions, and a person to be there. Avalanche deaths are primarily men, aged 20-29, who are experienced skiers. Not because avalanches like these people more, but because they are most likely to find themselves in a risky location, doing a risky thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Group dynamics and decision making will have a greater impact on your survival than snow science (though that is important, too). In nearly all avalanche fatalities, the investigation finds that someone in the group either identified the hazard, or had sufficient training to identify the hazard, and yet the group did the dangerous thing anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Evaluate your group and make some rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyone has veto power on dangerous situations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make several plans. Instead of &quot;we are gonna ski that wicked bowl&quot;, decide on a few options in different locations so if one area looks dangerous you are comfortable changing plans.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get lulled into a false sense of security by good weather, or having an &quot;expert&quot; in the group. Everyone's eyes are open, and everyone discusses the situation as they see it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get macho - if the conditions don't feel right, its fine to turn back. When they say &quot;go big or go home&quot;, remember that sometimes it's just fine to go home. ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally - take a class. Depending on where you are, there are probably some good Level 1 or introductory courses available free or inexpensively. Bring your friends, too - being trained on avalanche safety doesn't make YOU safer, it makes your friends safer. Bring them along and you'll all be more likely to ski another day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2012-02-12T23:58:36.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1062" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1065" CreationDate="2012-02-13T00:00:58.887" Score="18" ViewCount="890" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a decent head lamp, with a bright light and good battery life. Most on the market these days seem to be LED based, but aside from those three (perhaps obvious) considerations are there other things to look out for when selecting a purchase?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really for general hiking use - so setting up camp at night, generally for light in the tent at night and the odd bit of night hiking (not so much biking.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:15:19.743" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:15:19.743" Title="What makes a good head lamp?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="879" CreationDate="2012-02-13T00:20:18.563" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question has been answered already, but this problem interested me and I thought I'd share for future readers what I found by playing around with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The North American Wind Chill Index &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/windchill/index.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;as presented by NOAA here&lt;/a&gt; is based on the formula (itself an approximation),&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6lq7D.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chart applies to temperatures T from 40F to -45F and wind speeds 5mph to 60mph, and is said (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;by Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) to be accurate to within about a degree. The hard part above (apart from decimals which are hard to remember) is the V^{0.16} part.  We can approximate that with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regression&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;line-of-best-fit&lt;/a&gt; (rounded) to get&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WYkaD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can plug this into the NOAA formula to get the following linear approximation on that range of wind speeds:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m2cbH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This still doesn't help with the hard-to-remember decimals, so we can round to the nearest easy numbers to get the following rule-of-thumb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKCRY.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's still a formula, but it makes a whole heck of a lot more sense than the NOAA formula.  What me might really like to know, though, is: how good is the approximation?  I set up some tables so you can compare the three different methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the NOAA advertised method:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sOY6N.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The table is set up just like the chart on the website - wind speed increases going down the left column, and temperature decreases going left to right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next comes the linear approximation, rounded to the nearest degree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gUBQN.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, the linear approximation is within a degree or so of the NOAA chart (I didn't see anything farther off, but I didn't check the whole table, either).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the easier-to-remember version, again, rounded:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GnDjf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rule-of-thumb version isn't as close as the linear approximation, but looks to usually be within a few degrees.  The discrepancy looks largest at the boundaries (V = 5 and V = 60), which makes sense, because the linear approximation is worst at the boundaries.  Definitely the above shouldn't be used for wind speeds larger than 60mph, but in that case, a person should be inside curled up by a fire rather than figuring crude wind chills anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose a person could come up with all sorts of rules-of-thumb, depending on the method used to approximate V^{0.16}. I don't know the details of how NOAA came up with their published approximation, but there might be something there, too, a person could use to come up with something that might work in a pinch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Going  back to the original question, we can say that for a fixed wind speed, if the temperature drops 5F then the wind chill temperature drops approx 6F.  For a fixed temperature, the wind chill temp drops approx 1F for each additional 3mph of wind speed.  Both of the above are neglecting a little bit (of V/200 and T/200, respectively), and are only valid in the given ranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="296" LastEditorUserId="296" LastEditDate="2012-02-14T12:52:41.387" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T12:52:41.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1062" CreationDate="2012-02-13T01:15:43.777" Score="9" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beam spread&lt;/strong&gt; -- Wide, narrow, adjustable? (depending on what you want)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angle&lt;/strong&gt; (generally up/down) -= Can you direct it where you want?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ease of turning on/off and changing settings&lt;/strong&gt; -- I personally hate lamps that make me cycle through strobe to get to another setting (yes a few do)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strap &amp;amp; Comfort&lt;/strong&gt; -- Is your head going to ache after wearing it for hours?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Red light&lt;/strong&gt; -- It's not supposed to bother your nightvision, but I've never found it to be a critical feature.  I just dim mine with white light and do fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; -- Ounces make pounds, as they say.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Batteries&lt;/strong&gt; -- As others have pointed out, the compatibility with other power sources is important so that you can carry fewer types of batteries.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some look for replaceable bulbs, but headlamps are so cheap and long lasting that I do not.  After all, who can say there will be bulbs available for it 10 years from now when I need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've already mentioned battery life and brightness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some LEDs cannot be used with Lithium batteries, if that matters to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-13T14:06:04.267" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T14:06:04.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1062" CreationDate="2012-02-13T01:23:02.680" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I look for in a good headlamp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;LED is best for most uses, but you need to decide if you want a &quot;spot focused&quot; LED (usually one high powered LED in the center) or &quot;diffuse light&quot; LEDs (usually an array of many small LEDs). I like headlamps that have both, but sometimes you want one over the other (do you want maximum distance vision on a dark trail, or a more pleasant diffuse light for getting around inside a tent at night?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How many brightness settings does it have? Some have many, some have only a few. A powerful LED with many settings can still have long battery life at the dim settings - one without good &quot;dim&quot; settings will always eat through it's batteries quicker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What kind of battery does it take? If you are only doing short trips, it may not matter, but if you are using it for longer periods of time, you may need to choose between common AA or AAA, or a less common size, like lithium photo cells, or 2032 coin cells. If I were traveling, I'd prefer the more common sizes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strap on top of the head or not - personal preference, but on a larger headlamp (bigger battery pack) a top strap is nice. It can also get in the way of some hats or helmets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Helmet compatible? If you need to wear a helmet with it, some models are specifically intended to be helmet compatible (usually larger straps or clips that allow it to fit over the helmet).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T01:23:02.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="896" CreationDate="2012-02-13T02:55:15.307" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's my attempt to make a truly thorough answer to the question of cold-weather clothing. Honestly many chapters of books have been written about this subject, so it is hard to give a specific answer for a specific case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First - Generally agreed upon principles:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are three things that impact hypothermia - wind, wet, and cold. Given the right circumstances, only one of those three is necessary to seriously injure you, though usually two or three get dangerous. For example, it might not be windy, but it is cold and you are wet - this is a recipe for injury. It is certainly possible to become hypothermic on a cool summer night in the Rockies if it is also very windy or you are wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are two primary ways to get wet - precipitation (at these temperatures, probably snow), and perspiration (sweat). These things should be avoided or protected against if at all possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The best way to manage your warmth safely (without sweating, but being protected from wind, wet, and cold) is &lt;strong&gt;layering&lt;/strong&gt;. REI has lots of examples and more layering discussion at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/dress+layers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Layering Basics&lt;/a&gt;. In short, the system involves roughly three layers. The first is a next-to-skin layer that wicks moisture from your body while keeping you somewhat warm. The next layer is an insulating layer that creates dead air space to keep you warm (it also continues the moisture wicking process). Wool, fleece, and down are examples of this layer. The last layer is a shell that protects from wind and wet. Examples would be a wind shirt or waterproof-breathable jacket (of which Gore-Tex is only one example). The layers can be taken off or added as conditions dictate, thus keeping you warm, dry, and optimally protected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Cotton kills&quot; - This is an exaggeration, but it comes from the reality that when cotton becomes wet it no longer insulates and takes a long time to dry out. This means that cotton should be used with caution and in the right circumstances. Don't use cotton as a baselayer in cold weather or where it might get wet and put you in danger. I use cotton shirts when taking certain summer trips because it's more comfortable for me, but I avoid situations where it might harm me by not drying or by cooling me too much.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protect yourself from frostbite. This means that your face should be covered as much as is reasonable. If extremities start feeling numb, deal with the problem before it becomes serious. Exposed skin can get frostbite very quickly in cold, windy circumstances (see: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atc.army.mil/weather/windchill.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wind Chill Temperature Table&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Next - consider the circumstances:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weather:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than the temperature (we've already established that it is very cold), we need to consider the other elements of weather such as sun, wind, rain, and snow. On sunny trips you will need something to protect you from sunburn, particularly if there is snow on the ground (the snow reflects sun back into your face from a new angle), and particularly if you are at higher altitudes (atmosphere is less dense and thus blocks fewer rays). When there is less sun, the impact is less (but not gone - don't stop protecting yourself). Wind adds another element to consider (see: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/windchill/windchillglossary.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wind Chill Glossary&lt;/a&gt;). Rain and snow contribute to being wet, which is one of the pillars of hypothermia (from above). If there is even a distant chance of rain or snow, it would be foolish to not carry waterproof protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nature of Trip:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the trip is a gentle stroll through high meadows, close to safety, there is more wiggle room when it comes to gear. If the trip is a 25 mile boulder-bash far from safety (perhaps from a hut or deep in the wilderness), you can't afford to cut corners with your clothing. This question specifically seems like an intermediate, which would require some careful consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Skill, attitude, and experience of hiker:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some hikers have many particular systems designed to be used in specific circumstances. Those systems won't work for everyone, so we have to be careful in making specific recommendations. As a guide, for example, I would instruct my students not to bring a single scrap of cotton with them on an intermediate day hike (aside from a bandanna, perhaps). If I were doing the same day hike, I might wear mostly cotton - it depends on the circumstance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finally - Some recommendations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Layer up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baselayer: Wear a synthetic or wool baselayer on top and bottom (examples: Capilene from www.patagonia.com and baselayers from www.smartwool.com)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation: Wear (or carry, if the effort will be high) a mid-weight insulating layer such as a fleece top and bottom (examples: Aspiring Hood from www.icebreaker.com and Vermillion Thermal Jacket from www.golite.com)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standing insulation: When you stop (particularly if you will be stopping long-term) you will probably need more insulation to keep you toasty. A down jacket is very common for this. Lower fill ratings (500-650) will be heavier and bulkier for their warmth but are also cheaper (example: Beartooth jacket from www.golite.com). Higher fill ratings (700-850) will be lighter and more packable for their warmth (example: Bitterroot jacket from www.golite.com). I personally love my down to have a hood on it (it keeps me warmer at night, too), but that is up to preference. Most people keep a down in the top of their pack, ready to be taken out when stopped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shell: If there is zero chance of getting wet from rain/snow/etc, there is little need for more than a wind jacket (example: Trail Wind Hoody from www.marmot.com). If there may be precipitation, use a waterproof-breathable shell. There are thousands of these on the market, so there are lots of possibilities there. A hood is very nice to have for this layer, both for your comfort and safety. If you aren't into hoods, that's okay - just make sure you have total coverage for your head and neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hat: Wear one. A balaclava (a type of hat that covers your head and neck while leaving a hole for the necessary parts of your face) is useful for very cold environments, and can protect your face from frostbite. Something with a brim can help shield you from sun, also (REI sells a selection of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?query=balaclava&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;balaclavas&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gloves: Dependant on circumstances. I know people who make do in very cold environments with simple liner gloves (example: WindWeight Glove from www.blackdiamondequipment.com), at least when all they are doing is hiking in cold places, but I use a much warmer glove (such as the Ambit or Alti Glove from www.outdoorresearch.com) almost all the time (I have cold hands). Keep in mind that a big glove reduces your dexterity, so it is a good idea to have two pairs - one liner set and one big warm set. Mittens are a good option for really cold situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Socks: Again, dependant on circumstances. I wear thick wool socks most of the time (www.smartwool.com), but I occaisonally wear a set of synthetic liner socks if the conditions are wet, because they wick more and prevent blisters better (for me, at least).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gaiters: These wrap around the top of your boot/shoe and go up your ankle. They can be found in a variety of sizes and styles. I only wear them in deep snow, but some people wear them all year long to protect their ankles from wind, cold, or scrapes. www.outdoorresearch.com sells a large variety of them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Experiment with your layers.&#xA;On a day hike, you don't have very much risk, so experiment with what you have. Take a backpack that contains many layers and try them out. It will give you a better perspective for when you really need them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start cold.&#xA;If you start a hike feeling chilly, you're in the sweet spot. If you start warm, you'll get too hot and sweat (which is bad).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pay attention to your body.&#xA;Are you freezing with all your layers on? You should probably turn around. Are you sweating like a pig but don't want to ruin your momentum? Don't risk it - take off a layer. Did you barely survive the last trip you took? Assess your system and adapt it for the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go on trips with other people.&#xA;Ask and observe. Find out what other people use and what works for them. There are ten million opinions on what really works and what doesn't - try to separate the wheat from the chaff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There. I'm sure there are things I missed, but I tried to keep it concise but thorough. Feel free to add or modify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:32:36.060" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:32:36.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1067" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-13T03:54:24.337" Score="12" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often use CLO2 (for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/HikingCamping/WaterTreatment/WaterTreatmentsTablets/PRD~4012-604/pristine-clo2-30ml-water-treatment.jsp&quot;&gt;this product&lt;/a&gt;) to treat drinking water when I’m backpacking and boiling is not convenient.  The instructions for the product say that the dose should be tripled if the presence of cryptosporidium is suspected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the warning signs that could indicate that a source of water is contaminated with cryptosporidium?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:19:54.257" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:19:54.257" Title="How to tell if water is likely to have cryptosporidium?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1068" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2010-08-26T14:44:39.573" Score="24" ViewCount="4446" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/the-secrets-of-stealth-camping/&quot;&gt;Stealth Camping definition&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stealth camping is the act of quietly finding a place away from people where you can camp for the night and then quickly slip away in the morning without being detected. The key to stealth camping is to remain hidden at all times and to leave no trace of your existence during or after your departure from the site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been starting to plan a cross Canada bike tour.  I was wondering if anyone has &lt;em&gt;experience with stealth camping&lt;/em&gt;.  Any tips or pointers?  Things to keep in mind?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I know that the rules/regulations will be different in different countries/provinces/states.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" OwnerDisplayName="sixtyfootersdude" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-02-19T10:04:29.883" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T23:37:48.230" Title="What are some things to keep in mind when stealth camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1068" CreationDate="2012-02-13T04:27:56.100" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some things to remember when stealth camping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never camp or enter property marked with &lt;code&gt;Private&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;No Trespassing&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never camp behind a gate or fence - you could get locked in.  Depending on the location, it could be a while before someone comes along to let you out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camoflauge yourself. Cover your bike reflectors and other reflective surfaces.  Cover your tent with leaves and branches if it is not green or brown or another color that blends easily with the surrounding environment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take precautions against bears, mountain lions, and other predators, where applicable.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't camp in a low spot or a dry creek/riverbed, flash floods can happen very quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clean up after yourself.&lt;/strong&gt;  Follow the principles of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace (LNT)&lt;/a&gt;. I.E. pack out your trash, leave things as you found it, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more at: &lt;a href=&quot;http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/the-secrets-of-stealth-camping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Secrets of Stealth Camping - Bicycle Touring Pro.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BMfXE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/michellendave/2/1288170923/1_steath-camp-mp76.jpg/tpod.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T04:27:56.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1062" CreationDate="2012-02-13T10:14:05.657" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, feature number one is &lt;em&gt;regulated light output&lt;/em&gt;. When I bought my first head lamp I was quite surprised that the brightness significantly dropped after a few initial hours. This is called unregulated light output: the brightness simply decreases as the battery level goes down. It means that you will only enjoy decent brightness for the first 20 % of time or so and then the light output falls below a decent level and gets progressively worse. Regulated lamp keeps the brightness at constant level and then stops working more or less suddenly at the end of the battery lifetime. Here’s a graph comparison taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://princetontec.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Princeton Tec&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hSASG.png&quot; alt=&quot;regulated vs. non-regulated LED&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I much prefer the regulated mode, to the point I don’t get why decent outdoor stuff manufacturers like Petzl still sell unregulated lamps at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second most important thing would be &lt;em&gt;the power source&lt;/em&gt;. I’m happy with a compact lamp that includes the batteries in the same box as the light source. Depending on your requirements you might need a separate battery box. It offers more power and you can keep it under your jacket in cold weather to keep the batteries warm and happy. On the other hand it’s another thing to keep somewhere on your body and another possible point of failure (the cables between the battery pack and the light are known to be pretty flimsy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide for a compact lamp where the batteries are in the same box as the light source, you still have the choice at least between AA, AAA and special batteries. I have a lamp that requires 3 AAA batteries and wouldn’t choose the same type again, because I can’t easily change batteries between my gear (the GPS and camera use regular AAs), the AAAs are little less common (so you might be out of luck when looking for cold-weather Lithium batteries, for example) and the odd number of batteries is a nuisance when charging. For similar reasons I don’t want a lamp powered by special batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mostly don’t care for other things. Waterproof body is always a good idea. And there’s always the question of how much light power is enough. The simple answer is any modern LED lamp will probably do for you, unless you have some extra requirements like fast movement (biking, skiing or running in the night). If you &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; have these extra requirements, it’s good to see what other people in your target group use, and test in the real conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-02-13T10:24:28.480" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T10:24:28.480" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1067" CreationDate="2012-02-13T12:38:55.607" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As &lt;em&gt;Cryptosporidium&lt;/em&gt; is passed in the faeces of animals, the more heavily the land is used by animals, the greater the risk of &lt;em&gt;Cryptosporidium&lt;/em&gt; contamination in water sourced from that land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webcitation.org/5bd7Yos7y&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; suggests some ways (quoted below) to avoid &lt;em&gt;Giardia&lt;/em&gt; (which has a similar lifecycle to &lt;em&gt;Cryptosporidium&lt;/em&gt;), conversely, if you are unable to source water following these guidlines the greater risk of &lt;em&gt;Cryptosporidium&lt;/em&gt; contamination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Drink from large streams whenever possible, preferably those entering from the side rather than those paralleling the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Water in fast-flowing streams is safer because any contaminants present at any location are swept downstream, being quickly displaced by presumably clean water from above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Water at higher elevations is safer, partly because of reduced human and animal presence, and partly because water flowing to lower elevations has a chance to pick up more contaminants the farther it travels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Taking water from a lake is best advised at the inlet, with the next best place at the outlet. Inlet water has a tendency to flow somewhat directly to the outlet, undergoing little mixing with the lake water as a whole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Few Giardia cysts survive harsh Sierra winters. Contamination begins essentially anew each year, so springtime water is safer than summer or fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The colder the water is, the more likely it is freshly melted, meaning less opportunity for contamination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Because filtration of water through soil removes Giardia cysts, deep well water is considered safe. By implication, springs in the wilderness should be, too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;One would think that, after a heavy snow year when streams run full and long, some kind of &quot;flushing out&quot; of lakes and streams must be occurring. Conversely, it makes sense to be more cautious in dry years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid water that likely could have passed through an area subject to heavy human or animal use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If it doesn’t look good—it's cloudy or has surface foam—treat it or don't drink it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-13T14:25:18.863" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T14:25:18.863" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1060" CreationDate="2012-02-13T17:09:31.867" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I noted in my answer to that question, plasticene or stress balls work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you can use &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0006GC5D8&quot;&gt;guitarist's finger exercisers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do like your idea of using less fingers for carrying bags etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T17:09:31.867" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1074" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1075" CreationDate="2012-02-13T19:52:26.993" Score="23" ViewCount="1173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that polar expeditions seem to favour tunnel tents, and mountaineering expeditions prefer geodesic designs. Is there a reason why one design fares better than the other in its preferred environment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-13T21:12:15.037" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T21:44:07.463" Title="Why tunnel tents for the poles, Geodesic for the mountains?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1074" CreationDate="2012-02-13T21:44:07.463" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key advantage of a geodesic design is the pole configuration can support a greater static load. This means they are favoured for mountaineering expeditions because they can withstand a heavy snow fall (compared with a tunnel design that would sag with the weight of the snow between each pole).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tunnel tents are preferred for polar expeditions as they generally have a better weight to space ratio (the walls are more &quot;vertical&quot; than an equivalent geodesic design), they are simpler and quicker to pitch and as many regions of the Poles have little precipitation (some areas being classified as desert) the ability to withstand heavy snowfall is much less of a consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T21:44:07.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1049" CreationDate="2012-02-13T22:32:45.877" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I appreciate the preference to use natural protection, however, I think it is important to point out that using insect repellent should not be the only method of defence against malaria that you employ. Insect repellent is not 100% effective (*) and does not directly prevent malaria - the mosquito acts as the host to transmit the &lt;em&gt;Plasmodium&lt;/em&gt; parasite, which causes malaria. If you are traveling in the Malaria Belt, I would strongly recommend seeking professional medical advice on the use of prophylactic anti-malarial drugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just for fun, historically the natural anti-malarial prophylactic was quinine (occuring naturally in the bark of the cinchona tree) and used to flavour tonic water. Anecdotally, it was consumed with gusto during the reign of the British Empire when gin and tonics were the drink of choice in British colonies in tropical areas to protect against malaria due to the quinine in the tonic water. There are now many more effective anti-malarial drugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) The product you link only describes its protection as an &quot;&lt;em&gt;almost&lt;/em&gt; impenetrable shield&quot; (emphasis mine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-03-01T05:06:21.357" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T05:06:21.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1077" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1078" CreationDate="2012-02-13T22:56:10.447" Score="23" ViewCount="1650" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carabiners are obviously essential in certain circumstances, such as with any type of climbing / rappelling. But are they a good tool to have generally as well, and if so what might be some example uses other than the obvious? They're generally small and lightweight, so was wondering if they had any uses I hadn't yet considered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T12:05:40.003" Title="Are carabiners useful tools to have in the wilderness? If so, what would they be used for?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1077" CreationDate="2012-02-13T23:19:57.267" Score="24" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hanging things on your pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hanging things on that little loop at the top of your tent (like a nightlight)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We use ours to lift and hang our packs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a simple pulley to change direction of a pull (less abrasive to your rope than a tree)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-13T23:34:22.523" LastActivityDate="2012-02-13T23:34:22.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1079" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1084" CreationDate="2012-02-13T23:28:00.157" Score="8" ViewCount="472" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was looking to purchase some carabiners, what sort of things should I look out for to ensure they're good quality?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not planning on using them for climbing, more in the way of general use so they don't &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to hold life critical heavy loads - but if the cost is similar for a decent general use one to a decent one rated for climbing, then I'd probably go with the latter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:15:24.637" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:15:24.637" Title="How do I choose a good quality carabiner?" Tags="&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1080" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1082" CreationDate="2012-02-14T00:05:49.850" Score="20" ViewCount="3933" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually when I require light inside the tent I just prop a torch  (flashlight) up somewhere, if it's bright enough then up at the roof of the tent the reflected light gives a nice ambient glow. Has anyone got a preferred / better way of doing this? I'm curious both in terms of utilising existing common equipment, such as torches, and in terms of any new or unusual lights that might be used specifically for this purpose (or others of course.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-08-31T21:39:19.933" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:21:45.667" Title="Best way to illuminate a tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1077" CreationDate="2012-02-14T00:48:19.450" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to store your hiking poles on the outside of your pack I find a carabiner works quite well as a stirrup for holding the lower parts of the poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also put a lot of my loose items on one in the top pouch of my pack including, headlamp, lighter (on a keychain ring), multi-tool, flashlight, keys, etc.  Easier to add/remove items than on those little plastic clips, and less likely to break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T00:48:19.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2012-02-14T00:58:40.477" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;My own preferred method is to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00BMMF83O&quot;&gt;UCO candle lantern&lt;/a&gt; attached to the loop in the ceiling, it generates light that radiates outward, and also generates enough heat to make the tent enjoyable when you're settling in for the night.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I combine the above with a headlamp for personal reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2016-02-21T17:17:53.267" LastActivityDate="2016-02-21T17:17:53.267" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2012-02-14T00:59:40.860" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was younger, I had a flashlight where the cone part pulled out and it became essentially a lantern. I would tie it to the top of the tent (most tents I used had a hook there), and that provided good light throughout the tent.  Lacking that,  if you have a Maglight (or, I'm sure, many other brands), you can screw the cone off that for essentially the same effect, though you'll have a bright spot and you can/should really only do this with one of the smaller, lighter ones. Beyond that, your method does sound reasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T00:59:40.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1079" CreationDate="2012-02-14T02:12:16.417" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this depends on what exactly you want the carabiners for. Most hardware stores carry a variety of carabiners in a range of sizes, weights, and purposes. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202534201/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&amp;amp;langId=-1&amp;amp;keyword=carabiner&amp;amp;storeId=10051&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;S-Biner&quot;&lt;/a&gt;,  for example, is a cheap, stainless steel multi-purpose clip. I use them for all sorts of household things and while camping, but there aren't really any ways to use them climbing. You'll also find bigger, multipurpose biners like [this one][1], but this type is only good to about 150 pounds. There are also biners that are very much like what climbers use (though &lt;em&gt;generally&lt;/em&gt; heavier and stronger), such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-202851754/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&amp;amp;langId=-1&amp;amp;keyword=carabiner&amp;amp;storeId=10051&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, climbing biners are generally specific to the needs of climbers (light weight, very strong up to certain loads, specific diameters at top and bottom, wire gate, bent gate, keylock, etc.). Depending on your needs they might suit you well. A pack of six &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/carabiners/neutrino-rackpack&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Neutrino biners&lt;/a&gt; is only $35, so if you want something that takes big loads and is still small and lightweight (and colorful!), go for it. Your best source for these types of biners would be climbers retiring their gear. Most climbers won't use gear after it has a certain amount of use, so they are often getting rid of well-used biners that aren't safe for climbing anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do you know a good quality carabiner? Any biner from the major climbing manufacturers (Black Diamond, Mammut, Omega Pacific, CAMP, Petzl - really ) will be more than enough biner for day-to-day uses. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/category/4500079&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI offers a good variety.&lt;/a&gt; A couple of things to note, aside from price, are the strength (almost all hardware has a strength rating stamped into it - it is often in kilonewtons [kN] or safe working load [SWL] in pounds), the size, the width of the opening, the action of the opening (is it sticky? difficult? smooth?), and the material. Most standard climbing biners are made of aluminum, for example, which doesn't mesh well with steel (so, an aluminum biner used on steel cable is bad for the biner).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:13:02.643" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:13:02.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1049" CreationDate="2012-02-14T04:24:35.493" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I traveled in Cambodia with a doctor who has decades of experience in tropical medicine. On his recommendation, our group:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wore &lt;strong&gt;long sleeves and pants&lt;/strong&gt; at all times, despite the heat. We chose the the lightest materials we could find, but kept our skin covered.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soaked those clothes in &lt;strong&gt;permetherin&lt;/strong&gt; before going. After it dries, it continues to repel or kill mosquitoes even after being washed multiple times, and does not smell bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on &lt;strong&gt;DEET&lt;/strong&gt; insect repellent every day, multiple times per day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Took anti-malarial &lt;strong&gt;medication&lt;/strong&gt; starting before the trip and ending after we returned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slept under &lt;strong&gt;mosquito nets&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there &quot;natural&quot; preventatives? I don't know. However, consider this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there were effective natural preventatives, wouldn't native people have discovered them by now? Why do epidemics continue?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What makes you think a natural substance would be better? Snake venom and poison ivy oil are natural and artificial sweeteners are synthetic; which would you rather be exposed to? For that matter, &lt;strong&gt;malaria is natural&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sympathize with your desire not to expose yourself to more chemicals than necessary. But in this matter, please be careful. &lt;strong&gt;Use whatever works best to avoid malaria.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="319" LastEditorUserId="319" LastEditDate="2012-02-14T04:30:42.957" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T04:30:42.957" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1089" CreationDate="2012-02-14T04:51:36.537" Score="15" ViewCount="11823" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming I don't have a watch or other time-telling device with me in the wilderness, is there a way to know what time it is? I don't necessarily want to know the exact minute of the day, but a general idea of how many hours are left until sunset would be helpful. If it's very cloudy or stormy, do I have any hope of knowing the time of day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="264" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T19:18:04.603" Title="How can I tell what time it is without a watch?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1087" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-14T06:15:52.447" Score="23" ViewCount="3897" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do people do with their &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-loaded_camming_device&quot;&gt;cams&lt;/a&gt; after they've reached the top of the rock? Is there some special way of getting them down again? Seeing the prices of around 50 € per piece they can hardly just leave them up there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="320" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T10:21:24.383" LastActivityDate="2015-11-08T23:07:31.437" Title="What happens to cams after climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;camming-devices&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1087" CreationDate="2012-02-14T07:30:19.840" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;When using &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_climbing&quot;&gt;lead climbing&lt;/a&gt; techniques the lead climber is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belay&quot;&gt;belayed&lt;/a&gt; by his partner and as he climbs he places protection (e.g. camming devices). Once at the top of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_%28ascent/descent%29&quot;&gt;pitch&lt;/a&gt;, the lead climber then belays his partner on the pitch. The second climber retrieves the protection as he climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-14T07:48:52.330" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T07:48:52.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1086" CreationDate="2012-02-14T08:28:37.090" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A nice rule of thumb that I've used is to hold you hand out at arms length, with the first four fingers of your hand parallel to the ground. Your finger's width represents about 15 minutes of sunlight. So, for example, if I held up my hand and measured about 10 finger widths from the horizon to the current location of the sun, there would be somewhere around 150 minutes, or 2 and a quarter hours, of sunlight left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This obviously only works as a good guess, and as you approach the poles it gets less reliable. There is also the question of your finger size. Someone with very small or very large fingers will get different results. I've had good success with it by rounding up on my guesses (I have small hands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tool of many!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T08:28:37.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1087" CreationDate="2012-02-14T12:41:01.310" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Graham's answer, if you can't reach the top but have to descend again you have two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Descend and unclip along the way (this will take time and can be very tiring, and you will always need to be prepared for a fall of twice the distance to the next cam)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Descend all the way then if you can get to the top another way, top rope down to the cams you left behind (the risk here is that you can't find or retrieve all your expensive cams)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd usually go with option 1 unless I was exhausted. If I was too tired I may even have an option 3, which is to return to the bottom, wait a while then fast climb to the top cam and attempt to complete the climb (or let my partner try fresh)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T12:41:01.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1086" CreationDate="2012-02-14T13:19:11.310" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that the basis for defining time is based on the Earth's rotation and where the Sun is relative to a point on the Earth, it's going to be difficult to estimate the time without knowing where the Sun is (I'll be interested to see the solutions other people have).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: the following applies in the Northern hemisphere, in the Southern Hemisphere, reverse north and south.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At noon &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_time#Apparent_solar_time&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar time&lt;/a&gt; the Sun will be due south. You will need to account for local time differences such as daylight savings to convert to clock time and see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9/how-can-you-navigate-without-a-compass-or-gps&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; if you don't have a compass to find south. For each 15° west the Sun is from south it will be an hour later than noon and, similarly, for each 15° east it will be an hour earlier than noon. There's quite a bit more to the astronomy than this, so it will differ from clock time, but, it should give a good estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T22:33:14.630" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="623" CreationDate="2012-02-14T19:40:14.137" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;SOS is pretty recognizable and clear. Just make it BIG. Rocks with holes around them (to create contrast) seem to be the easiest and best way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="322" LastActivityDate="2012-02-14T19:40:14.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1093" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1105" CreationDate="2012-02-15T00:19:09.017" Score="20" ViewCount="5080" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the simplest way to approximate time after the sun has set? Perhaps using the moon's height and phase? This would make the most sense to me, but what could you do in the case of a new moon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="275" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:52:06.383" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:52:06.383" Title="How to tell the time at night" Tags="&lt;night&gt;&lt;time&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1086" CreationDate="2012-02-15T00:37:30.223" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the other answers (+1).  Here is a method based on that described in &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1579122213&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How To Stay Alive in the Woods&lt;/a&gt; by Bradford Angier.  You need a stick, another rigid object or string, and a sunny day.  In the morning, put the stick in the ground and put a string from the top of the stick down to the tip of the stick's shadow.  Mark that location, and then trace a circle in the dirt with radius equal to the initial shadow.  As the day passes, the tip of the shadow will creep inside the circle, slowly shortening until noon (it's shortest length), then will continue creeping and lengthening until it finally touches the circle again on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the minute it returns to the circle, mark that location, too.  Connect the two intersection points with a segment, and the midpoint of the segment marks solar noon (not necessarily 12pm) and also the North/South line (since you said you didn't have a compass).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/anBHi.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would take at least a day to get this crude sundial made, so it wouldn't help you the first day, but would help on subsequent sunny days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have the Sun, you could in principle use the Moon, but you'd have to be on the ball with the lunar cycles, and you'd have to be lucky enough that it's not a new moon - not to mention that it might not be very interesting to know the time after nightfall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's very cloudy, so you have neither Sun nor Moon, you'd have to rely on some other information source, such as wildlife.  The only example I know of this would be crows, who will travel in large groups at sunrise (to their usual feeding grounds) and will congregate in large groups (loudly) around an hour before sunset, before they move (quietly) to their final roost location.  Maybe there are other examples of wildlife behavior that indicate time of day - I'd sure like to hear them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; I just checked the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page for sundials&lt;/a&gt;.  Using those instructions we can transform the crude sundial above into a surprisingly accurate sundial.  The trick is to angle the stick (gnomon) from the horizontal equal to the location's latitude.  Then, you mark off the angles just right (see the article).  A similarly designed sundial is described &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehurst_&amp;amp;_Son_sundial_%281812%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and that example (which also had a correction for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;equation of time&lt;/a&gt;) is claimed to have been accurate to the nearest minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*EDIT:** I worked out an example to show how it works.  My favorite spot is at latitude 38.2 degrees north.  Suppose I'd like to find the angles for five hours on each side of noon.  I'd fill out a table like the one below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Aj2il.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the next time I go to my favorite spot, if I happen to have forgotten my watch, I would put angles at approx 9, 20, 32, 47, and 67 degrees each side of the N/S line.  Different latitudes require different tables, but the method is the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: It turns out the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0967512395&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Army Survival Manual&lt;/a&gt; also talks about the tracing a circle in the dirt to get your bearings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="296" LastEditorUserId="296" LastEditDate="2012-02-15T15:06:36.683" LastActivityDate="2012-02-15T15:06:36.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-02-15T13:35:50.323" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;We (Kent and Deny) did an experiment in order to shed some light on this debate. We found that keeping the water in the cooler along with the ice kept the overall temperature of the cooler below 5 degrees Celsius for approximately 4 hours longer than when the water was removed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Experiment.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;We filled a Coleman cooler with 12 341mL bottles of Waterloo Dark beer and 2.7 kg of store-bought ice cubes and sealed the cooler. Beer bottles were kept at 4 degrees Celsius in a refrigerator overnight before both experimental trials. The ice and thermometer were both kept in a freezer, which is at -10 degrees Celsius, before the experiment. Temperature was monitored using an Omega OM-62 temperature logger which recorded temperature every 5 minutes over the course of the experiment. The thermometer was kept in a Tupperware container to avoid water damage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We setup two separate trials of the experiment. In the first, water was removed from the cooler approximately every 8 hours using a siphon. Excluding the first removal of water at 8 hours into the experiment when there was still little water in the cooler, approximately 450 mL of water was removed from the cooler every 8 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the second case, where all water was kept in the cooler,we opened the cooler for 2 minutes every 8 hours in order allow the same amount of warm air to enter the cooler, as it would in the case of draining the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results.&lt;/strong&gt; Temperature data is shown in the figure below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uG0fd.png&quot; alt=&quot;Cooler Results Figure&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the figure, we can see a few points. Excluding the first draining, when there was little water, each time the water is drained, the temperature of the cooler immediately rises. After 24 hours, draining the water from the cooler preceded a linear growth in temperature, which grew in slope at each subsequent draining. Finally, we can clearly see that keeping the water in the cooler keeps the temperature below 5 degrees Celsius for approximately 4 hours longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We conclude that this experiment gives support to the argument for keeping the water in the cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="275" LastActivityDate="2012-02-15T13:35:50.323" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1093" CreationDate="2012-02-15T15:08:28.273" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;An astronomer with a protractor and pocket-calculator can figure almost anything.  Unfortunately, though, astronomers don't fit very well in survival kits (and grumble when you try to stuff them in there).  So normal people are handicapped, for sure, but we can still say some basic things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A full moon is opposite the sun, so if you know it's a full moon tonight, and if the full moon is directly south, then you know it's right around solar midnight, that is, 12 hours past solar noon.  It's not exact, though, because the moon doesn't trace through the sky at exactly the same speed as the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're familiar with the area and practiced, you could use the full moon to estimate hours other than midnight and not be far off, say, within an hour.  Note, however, that a sundial (moondial?) trick wouldn't work without some fiddling because the moon is only rarely in the same plane as the sun.  The gnomon would need to be adjusted to the right angle - something an astronomer could figure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, if a First-Quarter moon is directly south, then you know it's right around 6 hours past solar noon.  If a Full moon is south then it's 12 hours past noon, and if a Third-Quarter moon is south then it's 18 hours past noon, that is, 6 hours before noon.  A New moon that's south is zero hours past noon, so you can't see it, and it's useless for telling time at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the above is very precise, but it can give you a rough guide to use when you wake up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break and forgot your watch back in the sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="296" LastActivityDate="2012-02-15T15:08:28.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1097" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1113" CreationDate="2012-02-15T17:15:30.740" Score="16" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;Starting a fire can sometimes be hard enough when it's dry, let alone when it's tipping it down. But when it is, what steps should you follow to try to ensure the fire gets going successfully?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm talking about the process of gathering firewood when it may be damp, to start a fire in the rain - assuming basic things like matches are available but not much else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:22:30.293" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:22:30.293" Title="Are there any specific techniques that should be used when starting a fire in the rain?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1100" CreationDate="2012-02-15T17:20:03.070" Score="12" ViewCount="736" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always been taught to keep a whistle on me in case of emergencies - it makes sense since it's small and lightweight but could really help in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, something I've never really thought about much is, are they pretty much all the same, or are some more desirable than others for various reasons? I'd assume metal ones are preferable for durability, but are there any other characteristics that should be taken into consideration apart from that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:23:22.143" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T15:04:42.917" Title="What qualities to look for in a good emergency whistle?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;whistles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1098" CreationDate="2012-02-15T17:35:54.667" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The obvious thing to consider would be how loud the whistle is. The loudest I've found is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/outdoor-survival/whistles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lifesystems survival whistle&lt;/a&gt; which, at 122dB, claims to be &amp;quot;the world's most powerful whistle.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure I agree with choosing metal whistles, as in freezing temperatures they would be quite uncomfortable to use. As regards durability, the plastic whistle I bought about 20 years ago is still in good condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T21:07:40.647" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T21:07:40.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1098" CreationDate="2012-02-15T17:49:36.403" Score="9" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pea vs. Pealess -- In very cold temperatures, pea whistles don't work&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Volume -- Louder is better... to a point.  My safety whistle has a health warning to not be within 10ft or risk hearing loss.  Okay, I'm sure it can be heard for miles but... how do I blow it from 10ft away?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-28T15:04:42.917" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T15:04:42.917" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1097" CreationDate="2012-02-15T20:31:37.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with all fires, you need more tinder and kindling than you think.  In dry conditions I once heard the advice of &quot;get as much as you think you need, then double it&quot;.  In wet conditions, I'd suggest you triple/quadruple the amount of kindling and triple the tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, take the tinder and get it out of the rain as soon in your firewood gathering process as possible.  Give the tinder as much time as possible to dry out a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build the fire, but put some sort of tarp or cover over top of it until it is caught.  I'd recommend getting 2 friends to hold a poncho horizontal at shoulder level, and then take a few side-steps once the fire has started.  If you are alone, tie the tarp overhead and get it out of the way as soon as you have strong flames on the kindling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the fire is lit, set up a small pallet with some of your fuel/kindling to get and keep the wood you are planning to burn off of the ground.  also keep it as near the fire as you can safely.  The heat will help to dry out the wood before you put it on the fire (but some of it will be wet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-02-15T20:31:37.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1102" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1112" CreationDate="2012-02-15T20:55:42.940" Score="12" ViewCount="2079" Body="&lt;p&gt;When trimming weight there are a lot of options.  Lighter gear, less gear, etc.  One of those options is to take an existing pack and trim off &quot;unnecessary&quot; extras.  For instance, I have (no kidding) 2ft. of extra strap on both of sides of my waist belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When trimming a pack, what are the places, parts, areas that can be trimmed to reduce weight and what should you generally avoid trimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  This is about trimming the actual backpack itself, not the gear inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:25:20.393" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:25:20.393" Title="What can be safely trimmed on a backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1103" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1104" CreationDate="2012-02-15T21:00:15.897" Score="9" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;In ultralight or lightweight hiking, &quot;pack weight&quot; is a very common number to discuss.  What does pack weight exclude?  Is it limited to just what's in your pack, or does it also include clothes, shoes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T19:22:56.930" Title="How is &quot;pack weight&quot; measured" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1103" CreationDate="2012-02-15T22:12:26.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few common measures that I've seen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Full Skin Out&lt;/strong&gt; - we're talking everything you're wearing, everything in your pack, food, water, fuel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Base Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - everything in your pack, minus &quot;consumables&quot; like food, water, fuel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worn Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - stuff on you, like clothes, shoes, hiking poles, whistle around your neck, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="500" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T19:22:56.930" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T19:22:56.930" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1093" CreationDate="2012-02-15T22:12:44.140" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another way to find the time is to use well known stars.  In the northern hemisphere, you can use the Pole Star and the Big Dipper to tell the time fairly accurately.  A good explanation of the procedure can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johnpratt.com/items/astronomy/telltime.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Here is a abbreviated quote from that site :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Find the Big Dipper in the Northern sky. Imagine one big hour-hand on a clock, which is centered on the north star (to which the two pointer stars &quot;point.&quot; Read the time to the nearest quarter hour as if it were a normal clock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Add one hour for every month after March 7. Do this to the nearest quarter month. The star clock will read 12:00 at midnight on March 7, so memorize March 7, no matter where you are. If today is April 9, then it is about 1 month after March 7, so add 1 hour.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Double the time (because it is really a 24-hour clock).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Subtract from 24 (or 48 if necessary). We subtract because the clock is going backwards, that is, counterclockwise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Correct for Zone Time, because you've already memorized that when the sun says noon that we call it (for example) 1:30 during daylight savings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website also gives an example, so you can work trough it too make sure you understand all the steps.  You do need to remember of few things, but once you get the hang of it should be pretty straightforward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked online and apparently for the southern hemisphere there is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~madms/cruxstuff.html&quot;&gt;similar method&lt;/a&gt; using the Southern Cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastActivityDate="2012-02-15T22:12:44.140" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1093" CreationDate="2012-02-15T22:37:48.740" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you know the stars, look at the constellation in the Zodiac. For example, according to astrology, now the sun is in &lt;em&gt;Aquarius&lt;/em&gt;. In reality, it is one constellation backwards, so it is in &lt;em&gt;Capricorn&lt;/em&gt;. Then, look at the starred sky - which constellations of the Zodiac can you still see? E.g. if you see (left to right), &lt;em&gt;Leo&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Cancer&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Gemini&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Taurus&lt;/em&gt; and horizon, then you know that there is still &lt;em&gt;Aries&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Pisces&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Aquarius&lt;/em&gt; below and the sun is now &quot;at the end&quot; of &lt;em&gt;Capricorn&lt;/em&gt;. So actually if you count cca 24/12 = 2 hours per Zodiac sign, then it is cca 6 hours after sunset. This is simple, logical, doesn't require moon, nor any &quot;calibration&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you look at the starred sky every night, it is much easier not only to orientate yourself, but also to guess time. E.g. in winter the Orion dominates the evening sky. So if you see it leaning steeply to his right side and low above horizon, you plus-minus know where the west lies, and also it indicates a coming midnight. And if you see the Lion leaning his head just above horizon, you know that you really spend too much time in the pub - the new day will start soon. :) Of course this more or less is valid now, in winter - the situation changes over year, so you must regularly calibrate your star clock. :-)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-26T05:45:03.060" LastActivityDate="2012-02-26T05:45:03.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1103" CreationDate="2012-02-16T04:51:27.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hikingwebsite.com/backpacking/packweight.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hikingwebsite.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Base Pack Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - Weight of pack and gear carried in the pack, but no&#xA;  consumables&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total Base Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - Base pack weight plus weight of clothes worn and&#xA;  gear not carried in the pack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total Pack Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - Base pack weight plus the weight of consumables&#xA;  (food, water, and fuel)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - Weight of everything, or total pack weight plus the&#xA;  weight of clothes worn and gear not carried in the pack, or the weight&#xA;  of everything you take with you whether worn or carried&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-16T04:51:27.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1098" CreationDate="2012-02-16T04:56:27.000" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best whistle is one you don't forget.  The last two packs I've had included whistles built right into the chest strap clip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2012-02-18T02:21:42.723" LastActivityDate="2012-02-18T02:21:42.723" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1110" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-16T06:51:44.920" Score="23" ViewCount="1094" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having only used pure chalk without added substances so far, I wondered how the other types perform. Most of the information I could find online is either somebody ranting against a certain type, or uncritical explanations of what the different ones are made of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what are the benefits and tradeoffs of each type of chalk? How long do they last on the hands, how much climbing do you get per amount of chalk? So I can base value on the price I can get for these products when it's time to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there really something that makes you feel like you've got sticky fingers like some people suggest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="320" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:30:29.950" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:30:29.950" Title="Chalk: pure, plus drying agent, liquid?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1111" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1143" CreationDate="2012-02-16T15:08:25.993" Score="28" ViewCount="2343" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I know how to calculate how many additional calories a day I need while backpacking. My question is how do I calculate how much food my dog will need while backpacking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping for a general equation based on how much a dog eats in a regular day, but I'll provide specific information about my situation in case that is needed to tailor responses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My dog is now 10 months old and 40 pounds, I plan to wait until she is at least 1-1/2 years old to take overnight, and she shouldn't be much bigger than she is now. I've been working her up from distances of 1 mile around 5 months old up to 8 miles now. I don't have her carry any weight yet but I do hope to eventually for overnight trips. Her breed is mostly &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Dog&quot;&gt;Carolina Dog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="190" LastEditDate="2012-03-05T21:23:35.713" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T23:24:31.633" Title="How to calculate backpacking food requirements for a dog" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1102" CreationDate="2012-02-16T19:09:20.650" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, consider if you have the right backpack. If you're considering chopping off all sorts of parts, you might be using a pack that isn't designed for you. You could sell it off and buy a more minimalist pack, such as one from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.golite.com&quot;&gt;GoLite&lt;/a&gt; (I say GoLite because I'm unfamiliar with other lightweight packs).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that out of the way, consider what you want to use or carry. If there is no possible reason you would want to strap things to the outside of your pack, feel free to cut off those outside straps completely (the ones on the back that don't compress your pack at all). Most people like something there to attach things to when necessary, however, such as wet clothing, boots, wag bags, etc. There are sometimes one or two little loops of strap on the bottom of the back of your pack. Those are specifically there for mountaineering or ice axes. If you aren't going to be using those, cut them off (though they are good attachment points for other items, if you need it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your pack won't be too overloaded, you can probably cut off the strap that goes across the top of your pack (the one underneath the lid, or &quot;brain&quot;). If you roll up the opening enough, there isn't much need for it - though I use mine to hold a rope or other large squishy items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are sometimes extra buckles, clips, and straps floating around on your pack. Find what they do, and answer in your head whether they are crucial to the load bearing of your pack or not. If they aren't, then they are convenience items and can be removed at your discretion (melt the ends of the nylon to make them pretty once you cut). If they are compression straps (usually these are on the side of the pack, and are pretty important to the comfort of the pack), don't cut them. You'll be much happier with them still around, despite the ounce of weight. The same goes for straps that hold the pack on you. Shoulder and waist belt straps can be shortened somewhat (carefully!), but don't make them so tiny that you can't make adjustments or put the pack on someone else. If you cut those types of straps, make sure you clean up the cut ends so that they won't slip through whatever buckle system they are installed in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, be very cautious about trimming any non-strap item. Packs are notoriously difficult to repair if you cut up the wrong thing. Occasionally there are places you can cut off non-strap items, such as attached pockets or cute frills, but know that they might be hiding an important seam, or might be providing much needed waterproofness (as an aside, remember that there really aren't any &quot;waterproof&quot; packs. The material may be waterproof, but the seams aren't, and seam sealing an entire pack is very challenging). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-02-16T19:09:20.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1097" CreationDate="2012-02-16T19:24:34.590" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When building a fire in any weather condition you need some kind of starter. If you are expecting to experience wet conditions a great planning step is to store some starter in a waterproof location. If you don't have any household material, then gathering kindling and storing that will work. When backpacking I keep a small water-proof cylinder with a lighter, 2-3 strike anywhere matches, and some tightly rolled newspaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also need larger pieces of wood to sustain the fire. Eventually your fire will be able to handle wood that is slightly damp, but you'll need a few decent pieces of dry wood to build up a base of hot coals that can then be used to help dry wood later. The best way to accomplish this in wet conditions is to look for naturally piled up wood or big thickets. Underneath a fallen tree can be a great place to find some medium sized sticks that have been shielded from the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for starting the fire, you will most likely need some kind of cover. The amount of cover depends on how bad the rain is. At a minimum you'll need good cover when starting the fire, and depending on conditions you may be able to fully uncover your fire once it is started. This is where all the big warnings need to be posted though! The cover over the fire could itself catch fire, creating a dangerous situation. The cover could block fresh air, which obviously is dangerous around a fire, not to mention bad for the fire as well. The few times that I have needed to start a fire in a very light rain, I simply used by body as cover for the kindling, and once that was going an occasional drop of rain wasn't a problem, never tried in a heavier rain though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last item I would mention is placement. Especially if you are quickly getting your fire going as rain starts, make sure to pick a place that will not get washed out if the rain intensifies. If you are using a fire pit this shouldn't be a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-02-16T19:24:34.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1114" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1116" CreationDate="2012-02-17T04:09:56.607" Score="7" ViewCount="6961" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard that light colors attract less insects than dark, that dark colors could be warmer, and I was advised against wearing white in the jungle. Where can I get a comprehensive list of the effects different colors will have in a tropical jungle environment? Do these effects differ in different environments?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T15:58:25.053" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:58:25.053" Title="What is the impact of clothing color in a tropical jungle environment?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;tropic&gt;&lt;jungle&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="505" CreationDate="2012-02-17T08:25:23.070" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know very about kitesurfing, so I did some research on it. Please look at some of the resources I used instead of taking what I say for granted. I hope that I can provide a simple baseline, and those who know more or want to know more can continue the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the information below is summarized, paraphrased, or quoted from this site:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kitesurfingschool.org&quot;&gt;www.kitesurfingschool.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They deserve most of the credit for it - I just condensed this particular info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wind Direction:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to go nearly any direction regardless of the wind direction, though moving upwind is more challenging than downwind, and beginners in particular will have trouble with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep things simple, there is a &quot;wind window&quot; where the wind allows a kite to fly in. When facing downwind, the window is roughly 85 degrees to left and right, and 85 degrees upward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, surf in winds that are parallel to the shore, or in winds that go towards the shore at a 45 degree angle (called &quot;side-onshore wind&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Onshore winds (where the wind is headed directly from the sea onto shore) are not desirable, because it might blow you directly on land, which would be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the same lines, offshore winds (where the wind is blowing out to sea) are also not desirable (even dangerous) because it is easier to be blown out to sea if you lose control or if the equipment fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wind Speed:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a beginner, you should train on the beach (not in water) at wind speeds around 7-20 knots (~23 mph) with a trainer kite (or 7-10 knots [~8-12 mph] with a normal small kite). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you've trained further and practiced, the wind speed and direction is somewhat less important, as long as it is roughly between 10 and 30 knots (~12-35 mph), and your equipment matches the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind speed should not gust very much. More than 8 MPH gusts are challenging to manage. (From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mackiteboarding.com&quot;&gt;www.mackiteboarding.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Low Speeds:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to kitesurf in wind as low as 5 knots, though you need to take advantage of that low wind with the right size of board and kite (large board, large kite, long lines). Kitesurfing School calls wind from 5-10 knots &quot;extreme light wind kitesurfing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also include a table of &quot;minimum wind speed (in knots) needed to fly decently:&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inflatable Kites: 5 knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flat Inflatable: 4-5 knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arc Kite: 4-5 knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Closed Cell Foil: 4-5 knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Opened Cell Foil: 3 knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;High Speeds:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kitesurfing at wind speeds above 30 knots is very dangerous, so keep in mind some rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use kite size appropriate for the condition. When in doubt, try your smallest kite first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use shorter line to restrict the power zone and the time the kite stays in the power zone. Start from 20m and go down or up as appropriate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Launch and land unhooked (unless you use the flat LEI kite or bow kite).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ride unhooked when you are near hard objects (unless you use the flat LEI kite or bow kite).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a helmet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Surf Conditions&lt;/strong&gt; (mostly from www.mackiteboarding.com/kiteboarding-conditions.htm):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High winds equal larger, choppier waves, which are harder to surf. Beginners will want waves that are under 2-3 feet tall. At the higher end of speeds, waves might get up above 3 meters - big!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideal wind speed is 10-25 knots, direction is headed onshore at a 45 degree angle (or parallel to the shore), and surf is relatively calm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-02-17T08:25:23.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1114" CreationDate="2012-02-17T09:24:21.810" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to one study of one species of mosquito, &quot;attractiveness was found to vary inversely with their reflectivity or brightness, although the different textures represented in the series tended to obscure the generalised relationship&quot; (Brown 1954).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meaning the brighter the clothing, the less attractive for one species of mosquito found in Canada... I can't find any more recent studies, or any that extend this to tropical mosquitoes / bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can offer, however, personal experience from two years working in the tropical rain forest of Borneo: they are gonna get you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether there is a significant reduction in mosquitoes, black flies, or leeches that stems from wearing different colors, I have not noticed... and since it only takes one malaria (other disease) infested mosquito biting you to infect you, your best bet is to use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/392/what-type-of-mosquito-repellent-is-most-effective&quot;&gt;DEET based repellent.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as &lt;em&gt;other impacts&lt;/em&gt; go, bright colors make you more visible to animals and birds, thus reduce your chances of seeing them. Dark colors, camouflage and the like can help increase your odds of seeing the illusive rain forest residents. That reason alone informs my wardrobe choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And although conventional wisdom says lighter colors will keep you cooler - this only is a factor where there is sunlight. Dark colors absorb more light/heat than light colors which reflect more. However, in the tropical &quot;jungle&quot; sunlight is not much of an issue - and you will be hot/sweaty regardless of what color you wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brown, A. W. A. Studies on the Responses of the Female Aëdes Mosquito. Part VI.—The Attractiveness of Coloured Cloths to Canadian Species. Bulletin of Entomological Research 45, 67-78 (1954).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-03-09T06:42:46.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1117" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1119" CreationDate="2012-02-17T13:38:17.540" Score="56" ViewCount="192533" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has come up a few times in a few other questions, but I've heard varying opinions from different people in a number of answers and comments on here - some saying that just boiling for a moment is enough, others saying that to be sure you should boil for around 10 minutes, and others saying it doesn't matter how long you boil for because some bacteria can survive it with no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short, how long should you boil water you've collected for to ensure it's safe to drink? (I'm discounting filtering like metals which boiling won't remove.) It'd be good if answers could be referenced / backed up since people do seem to have different ideas on the subject!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2019-11-23T22:10:19.760" Title="How long does water need to be boiled for to kill all bacteria / viruses?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="18" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1117" CreationDate="2012-02-17T14:20:33.587" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;0 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“According to the Wilderness Medical Society, water temperatures above 160° F (70° C) kill all pathogens within 30 minutes and above 185° F (85° C) within a few minutes. So in the time it takes for the water to reach the boiling point (212° F or 100° C) from 160° F (70° C), all pathogens will be killed, even at high altitude.  To be extra safe, let the water boil rapidly for one minute, especially at higher altitudes since water boils at a lower temperature (see page 68.)”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://survivaltopics.com/that-water-is-unsafe-to-drink/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;More info on this survival blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="159" LastEditorUserId="159" LastEditDate="2013-08-20T14:51:57.507" LastActivityDate="2013-08-20T14:51:57.507" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1117" CreationDate="2012-02-17T15:59:03.973" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;The EPA recommends boiling for one minute for most people, and three minutes for anyone above 5000ft or 1000m (sic) in elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;reference - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is what I have always done when backpacking. I don't boil for 10-20 minutes because it will kill my fuel supply and waste too much of the water. If I were camping and had plenty of fuel I might boil longer to be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2019-11-23T22:10:19.760" LastActivityDate="2019-11-23T22:10:19.760" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1117" CreationDate="2012-02-17T23:34:04.517" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; (*) gives a good summary of the efficiency of boiling as a method for making water safe for consumption. In particular, Table 2 provides a summary of the temperature and time required to kill various micro-organisms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A distinction should be drawn between killing &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; pathogens and making water safe to drink. Sterilisation of water (killing all living containments) is not necessary to make water safe to drink. For example, boiling may not be effective against bacterial spores such as &lt;em&gt;Clostridium&lt;/em&gt; which can survive at 100°C (212°F), however, as &lt;em&gt;Clostridium&lt;/em&gt; is not an enteric (intestinal) pathogen, ingestion will not cause infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All enteric pathogens are quickly killed above 60°C (140°F), therefore, although boiling is not necessary to make the water safe to drink, the time taken to heat the water to boiling is usually sufficient to reduce pathogens to safe levels. Allowing the boiled water to cool slowly will also extend the exposure of enteric pathogens to lethal temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling also gives a simple visual indicator that a high enough temperature has been reached when a thermometer is not available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) Backer, H. Water Disinfection for International and Wilderness Traveler. Clinical Infectious Diseases.  (2002) 34 (3): 355-364. Available from: &lt;a href=&quot;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&quot;&gt;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-02-18T00:10:51.757" LastActivityDate="2012-02-18T00:10:51.757" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1114" CreationDate="2012-02-18T11:39:48.223" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always try to take khaki/dull green/brown/grey  colors in nature - it is much better for birdwatching - the birds will notice you less than if you wear e.g. dark blue (tested on myself), and I think also dark black. So not only light/dark but also color matters - and I think khaki might be pretty light and still cryptic. THe whole thing is complicated by the fact that birds have different vision (they have 4-5 basic colors apart from our 3), so what is the same color for us is not necessarily the same colour for them, but basically it seems to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it is better for your safety - you will not be so easily spotted by people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this is not only valid for clothes but also for your accessories, like bag. It might be pretty tricky to buy an inconspicuous bag without any stupid reflexive crap! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-02-18T11:39:48.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1068" CreationDate="2012-02-18T12:21:32.650" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid studiohack's advices are too cautious to be useful in practice. For example in Spain or Austria, almost every piece of land is private and/or behind fence, so you'd have to sleep on the track then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal experience (mostly from Europe; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/595/141&quot;&gt;please follow here&lt;/a&gt;) is that it's not so hot. If you don't provoke the land owners, they are mostly very pleasant and they don't mind; sometimes they even bring food or invite you to their cottage. Sometimes it is better to ask the land owner, sometimes it is better not to ask and find your hidden camping spot after it gets dark. Sometimes you simply have to sleep in prohibited/fenced area. In Spain we slept several times behind fence on the pasture with cows/sheeps (be careful with spanish cows and bulls though...). There are fences everywhere, but mostly just to keep the livestock from going to the road. Many owners do not mind if you open the gate, go inside and CLOSE IT - in fact, at many villages local people do it quite often when they go out for a walk. In other areas, owners might be more sensitive. Depends from place to place, from country to country - it is a good idea to ask locals (but ask in general, don't give any clues to where you will sleep). Even in countries with quite strict rules like Austria I hadn't problems with my approach - once I have to sleep under the sign &quot;Kampieren verboten&quot;, once I slept on the land of a police man, who caught me early morning (when he went fishing) - he threatened me a little by going to station, but again, I was kind and explained him my situation (in Deutsch, he spoke no English), he saw I'm a good guy and just told me to get out :) If encounter like this happens, be kind to people, tell them about your problem and I think in vast majority of cases it will be OK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not telling you this is 100% safe and you cannot run into problems, but what I say - I practice this for years and I haven't met any serious problem. On the opposite, I have many beautiful stories. &#xA;Yes, it is an adventure, but that's why we are doing it, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: If there is any danger, then it is danger of being robbed when sleeping in cities and their close proximity. Avoid that; this is not an adventure you'd want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: &lt;strong&gt;so your things to keep in mind&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;try to figure out some general information from local people - e.g. how land owners are sensitive when people enter their lands etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;estimate the situation - is it better to ask the land owner or to hide from him?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;find your camping place when it get's dark, be cryptic, use cryptic clothes/bags/tent, avoid reflexive craps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get up early morning, leaving no rubish&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if encounter happens, explain your situation (try to use local language), be kind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T07:54:53.617" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1129" CreationDate="2012-02-18T22:39:56.240" Score="12" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;Under the assumption that an emergency kit like the ones listed &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; are for the emergency of getting lost and being stranded for days, how necessary is a knife sharpener?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:24:16.060" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:24:16.060" Title="Is it necessary to carry a knife sharpener?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1125" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-18T22:41:07.500" Score="10" ViewCount="280" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming I am lost with minimal tools, but have my knife, is there any way to improvise a knife sharpener in the woods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:24:43.693" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:24:43.693" Title="Is it possible to improvise a knife sharpener in the wild?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1126" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-19T00:58:56.773" Score="32" ViewCount="10848" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a topic often discussed online, but all I could find so far was people sharing their opinions (including numbers) on what tie-in knot is the best. Here's what I've found out from different sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_loop&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Figure eight&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; Fool proof to check, very hard to open after a fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_bowline&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yosemite bowline&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; Not as easily checked as figure eight, strongest knot for dynamic rope tension, easy to untie even after taking a punch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline_on_a_bight&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bowline on a bight&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; Easy to check, almost as strong as yosemite bowline, very easy to untie (in my experience it never tightens at all in the first place, being loose unless actively pulled on).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'm not at all against personal opinions as answers, these are usually not very good advice just &lt;em&gt;on their own&lt;/em&gt; when it comes to matters critical to security; it's your life hanging on that knot after all. I would especially appreciate data on the knot strength; all the values I've got so far come from &lt;a href=&quot;http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knotenfestigkeit&quot;&gt;this German Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;, where somebody who doesn't know how to quote wrote down some numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short: Which one to use? Figure eight is starting to annoy me when my hands are tired and I've fallen. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="320" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:27:10.147" LastActivityDate="2020-07-11T23:47:06.433" Title="Which knot for climbing: figure eight, yosemite bowline, bowline on a bight?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2012-02-19T06:41:54.880" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most climbers use a re-threaded figure 8. The knot is not that important, though. In reading many accident reports, I have never seen one where the knot came untied or where there was a rope failure due to the knot on the harness. Pick a knot you're very familiar with, check it, and you're done. Spend more time checking belay devices, locking caribiners, communication with your partner, and especially your protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to untie a tight double figure 8 is to bend the entire knot back and forth, then push both parts (parallel strands) of one end into the knot. This should loosen it enough to come undone easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-05-16T12:27:40.183" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T12:27:40.183" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1125" CreationDate="2012-02-19T10:56:37.017" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use a fine sandstone with a little water on it. Sandstone works the best because of its fine grain and good abrasive quality. Using water smooths the sandstone surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drag the stone slightly diagonal away from the edge on one side&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change the side with each stroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the sharpness with your thumbnail once a while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't find sandstone you could also use another fine grained stone as a fallback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="105" LastEditorUserId="105" LastEditDate="2012-02-20T23:07:07.703" LastActivityDate="2012-02-20T23:07:07.703" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1124" CreationDate="2012-02-19T12:50:03.890" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it can be useful if you are really out in the wilds, say in the Amazon jungle, and using a machete to clear every step, I wouldn't expect to carry a knife sharpener for a trip under a week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For short, non-jungle expeditions, A swiss army knife with a couple of blades is often enough for most people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarise - it can be necessary for longer trips, or for overgrown jungle, but for many it won't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-19T12:50:03.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1130" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1136" CreationDate="2012-02-19T17:41:59.940" Score="17" ViewCount="18043" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several people have talked about having single edge knife so that you can cut down small trees.  What is the proper way to cut or carve wood with a knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T11:46:02.780" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T11:46:02.780" Title="How do you safely cut wood with a knife?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1131" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-19T20:02:51.760" Score="15" ViewCount="3264" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a cheap folding knife with me while climbing, particularly if I know there is a chance of stuck ropes, grubby anchors, or we are in the backcountry. The knife is held shut with a loop of cord, but I've been hoping to find a safer, cleaner solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know Trango makes a couple knives (one attached to a nut tool), and so does Petzl. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Does anyone have personal experience with a particular model? Ideally the knife should be wearable on my harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I'm really looking for a broader answer that references advantages and disadvantages, though the information about the specific knives so far is awesome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastEditorUserId="299" LastEditDate="2012-02-24T16:58:43.217" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T17:54:59.233" Title="What type of knife should I carry while rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1131" CreationDate="2012-02-20T00:03:27.283" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like the hilted &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crkt.com/M16-13-Special-Forces-Black-G10-Handle-Tanto-AutoLAWKS-Veff-Combo-Edge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CRKT Special Forces M16-13SFG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - it has Veff serrations that cut better than normal serrations &amp;amp; has an &lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; tight clip that is made to attach to all kinds of things, from webbing to pockets to even climbing harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the description:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All knives in this series are equipped with clip options that allow four-position carry on belts or webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The clip may look short, but it is extremely stiff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2td8C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T17:54:59.233" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T17:54:59.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1130" CreationDate="2012-02-20T00:06:58.980" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want to do is find a good knife, that is partially serrated, so that you can have the choice of cutting things with the serrations or without...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally recommend the CRKT M16-10KZ (EDC) or another knife of the M16 line, as they cut small trees/shrubs quite easily.  I've used the M16-10KZ (3&quot; blade) to cut stuff like this before and it does it &lt;em&gt;easily&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gn2cY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;note: I am not affiliated with CRKT in any way, shape, or form. &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2012-02-20T00:06:58.980" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1124" CreationDate="2012-02-20T00:10:19.133" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not necessary, but something that you probably would want to carry, especially if you plan on using your knife much.  &lt;strong&gt;Buy a diamond file, very small &amp;amp; lightweight,&lt;/strong&gt; and you can resharpen your knife with little effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to use something like this to keep my knives sharp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000UVS62S&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EZE-LAP L PAK Set SF/F/M Color Coded Diamond Hones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IMULR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically just use just one of these, you don't have to carry all three of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-02-20T17:38:32.133" LastActivityDate="2012-02-20T17:38:32.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1131" CreationDate="2012-02-20T01:12:14.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mG4Pok1WB0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camillus Rescue Heat&lt;/a&gt; is nice, if you can find one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The link above is to a video review on YouTube.  It covers things pretty well, but my own summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Non-stabbing thick blunt tip is useful for prying and more safe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fully serrated blade works much better than the serrated part of a combo edge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A recurve helps you cut rope at arms length (though not as well as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=438&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;full hawkbill&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Square, hand-filling grip stays in the hand, without being rough to snag fabric&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fast and easy one handed opening (though &quot;assisted opening&quot; is overrated)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surely there are other knives that fit the task, but I got each of mine for $20 on clearance.  Fit and finish could be better, but it's sturdy enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GMtrM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-02-21T23:57:37.410" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T23:57:37.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1130" CreationDate="2012-02-20T01:31:54.710" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;You really want a saw or camp axe for this purpose, but if using a knife you want one &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; serrations.  Serrations are not a replacement for a saw.  A saw cuts a kerf wider than the blade itself so it (with skill) doesn't jam.  Serrations are usually placed near the handle which is exactly where you don't want them because this is where you have the most leverage for a push cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting onto technique itself, here are a couple of videos that show how to use a small knife (not a chopper) better than I could in words.  If you have a proper fixed-bade you can use batoning which is a very powerful technique, but don't try it with a folder.  (If you &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; have to use it with a folder, such as splitting wood in an emergency, &lt;em&gt;unlock&lt;/em&gt; the handle a small angle so that each hit is not destroying the lock.  This is dangerous and should not normally be attempted.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7-UHgapw98&quot;&gt;Ray Mears - using a knife part 1&lt;/a&gt; (knife skill starts 5 minutes in)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kSGWM-saN0&quot;&gt;Ray Mears - using a knife part 2&lt;/a&gt; (continues a minute or two into this video)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndw39-yX2Yg&quot;&gt;LearnBushcraft.co.uk knife skills&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The start of this second video shows transverse batoning, the method that one would use to cut thicker or hard limbs with a small but sturdy fixed-blade knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thinner and softer shoots and saplings can often be cut by bending the limb to pretension it, then cutting at an angle into the convex side.  Be careful because you are cutting into what is effectively a spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-17T17:50:28.500" LastActivityDate="2012-05-17T17:50:28.500" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="191" CreationDate="2012-02-20T11:25:24.740" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; (*) gives a good summary of the efficiency of boiling as a method for making water safe for consumption. In particular, Table 2 provides a summary of the temperature and time required to kill various micro-organisms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sterilisation of water (killing all living containments) is not&#xA;  necessary to make water safe to drink. For example, boiling may not be&#xA;  effective against bacterial spores such as &lt;em&gt;Clostridium&lt;/em&gt; which can&#xA;  survive at 100°C (212°F), however, as &lt;em&gt;Clostridium&lt;/em&gt; is not a&#xA;  waterborne enteric (intestinal) pathogen, ingestion will not cause&#xA;  infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All waterborne enteric pathogens are quickly killed above 60°C&#xA;  (140°F), therefore, although boiling is not necessary to make the&#xA;  water safe to drink, the time taken to heat the water to boiling is&#xA;  usually sufficient to reduce pathogens to safe levels. Allowing the&#xA;  boiled water to cool slowly will also extend the exposure of&#xA;  waterborne enteric pathogens to lethal temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Boiling also gives a simple visual indicator that a high enough&#xA;  temperature has been reached when a thermometer is not available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(*) Backer, H. Water Disinfection for International and Wilderness&#xA;  Traveler. Clinical Infectious Diseases.  (2002) 34 (3): 355-364.&#xA;  Available from: &lt;a href=&quot;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&quot;&gt;http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/3/355.full&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-23T15:16:16.367" LastActivityDate="2015-06-23T15:16:16.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1138" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1141" CreationDate="2012-02-20T19:16:20.467" Score="10" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;For group hikes where we plan on having a fire, I carry a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001H9N8C0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hand chain saw&lt;/a&gt; for dead wood.  We've used ours for a while now and it is definitely getting dull.  How do you sharpen this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKlcP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The hand saw&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:06:19.557" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:06:19.557" Title="How do you sharpen a hand chain saw?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2012-02-20T22:33:31.353" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say, dismiss the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline_on_a_bight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bowline on a bight&lt;/a&gt; since it needs a backup stopper knot to prevent loosening over time so it's not a &quot;complete&quot; knot like the other candidates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bends on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;yosemite bowline&lt;/a&gt; are generally less tight than the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_loop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;figure eight&lt;/a&gt;. This bowline is less likely to jam, wears the the rope involved in the knot less, so from a rope longevity, fall damage to the rope, and general stress sense, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;yosemite bowline&lt;/a&gt; would have to be the superior knot from an &quot;engineering&quot; standpoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not choose a knot on that basis and instead choose the one my party is most comfortable tying over and over and checking over and over. I don't see how the technical superiority of the yosemite bowline would make it measurably better &quot;in the field&quot; than the figure eight. If I didn't have a fid to assist in knot untying or my finger strength / rope choice made &quot;untieability&quot; after falls an issue, that would be a fair reason to choose a bowline over a more simple and jam-prone knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2014-04-04T21:34:57.643" LastActivityDate="2014-04-04T21:34:57.643" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1138" CreationDate="2012-02-21T02:23:54.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sharpens just like a regular chainsaw, which is well documented, with one important difference.  Since it cuts in both directions, the filing must be done to account for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_sharpen_chain_saw_2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_sharpen_chain_saw_2/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tools, you'll need a small vice to hold the chain steady while you sharpen it, and a round file. Ultimate Survival Tech (EXTREME PRODUCT NAME) recommends a 1/8&quot; round file for their saws:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultimatesurvivaltech.com/ust_website/root/sabercut_saw.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ultimatesurvivaltech.com/ust_website/root/sabercut_saw.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTXj1VIlbc&amp;amp;feature=related&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTXj1VIlbc&amp;amp;feature=related&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-21T17:44:01.850" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T17:44:01.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="222" CreationDate="2012-02-21T06:46:24.750" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only been geocaching since June 2010 but only in the last few months did I finally figure out what to look for and my count has soared. Now I'm in the process of placing my first hide. It takes practice. At first, all I did was tag along behind veteran cacher pinkdolphin, my mentor and friend in NC, who has logged almost 10K finds. I could never figure out how she could just walk right up to it, while I remained poking around stupid leaf piles :P It was very frustrating. However, I followed a few pointers which I now pass on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find 1 or 2 seasoned cachers and go with them. That way you'll see some of the very weird types of hides there are, and some of the very weird types of places.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Calibrate your gps'r.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In addition to reading the hint, and applying it to the location, think about the title. Also thoroughly review all of the logs. Often people inadvertently or intentionally drop little bits of information that can be very useful in identifying the probable hiding place. For example, I just found one cache that had eluded me twice before, by thinking about the title &quot;Lay 1 Here&quot;, and the hint &quot;watch for fakes&quot; and considering a child's log &quot;My daddy helped me with this one because I couldn't get it&quot;. Obviously it must be high up. Indeed. I finally raised my eyes from the ground and saw a bird's nest that wasn't quite right...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Along those lines, always seek something that &quot;isn't quite right&quot;. Something unnatural. Strange piles of branches, rocks, driftwood, leaves, etc. Follow the beaten trail; if a cache is hidden in undergrowth, there is usually a slight or well-traveled path to it. Be an Indian scout...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Search in winter when there is less growth. Hanging caches are much more visible without leaves (evergreens notwithstanding), and non-hanging caches are much more accessible without bugs, brambles, and bushes oh my! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finally, do NOT rely on arriving at the precise coordinates. GPS'rs always have an error margin of up to 30 feet or more (depending on calibration and whether or not your mapping standard matches that of the placement). So the best advice is when you get within about 10  feet, put the darn thing in your pocket, look around, and think like a cache(r): Ask yourself, &quot;if I were hiding a cache here, where would I hide it?&quot; Then look around for a likely spot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remember, many finds just happen. You just have that ah ha! moment when your intuition just guides you to it, if you let it. And whenever you are stumped, try PAF (phone a friend)...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to have fun, enjoy the chase and being out of doors, and good luck to you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purple Abacus in MN&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="335" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T06:46:24.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1111" CreationDate="2012-02-21T12:42:05.853" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you make your own dog food or purchase bagged food in the store? Either way, an idea would be to use puppy or performance good as they're both higher in caloric value, nutritional content and are easier to digest than regular dog food.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual amount of food you feed really depends on your dog.  How has she handled the shorter hikes?  Have you noticed an increase or decrease in appetite during and directly after the hikes? How she responds to the shorter hikes will help indicate how she'll handle the longer, overnight trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to try out the dog food calculator here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dog Food Calculator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a nice way to compare her current calorie needs to the calculator results then, compare them to the results for increased activity. Depending on how active your dog is now versus how much she'll do on the trail her caloric needs may be just slightly elevated to doubled, which is another good reason to monitor her on the shorter hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, in relation to your question dogs have a carnivorous bias while having an omnivorous ability, meaning they are designed to eat meat but can handle me plant material.  Feeding a grain-free diet will help limit the amount of food you will need to carry for her because grain-free food has a greater protein content, is more calorie dense and more easily digestible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you didn't actually ask this dogs are susceptible to giardia protozoa, like humans, so you will need to filter or treat her water too.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="336" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T03:39:18.903" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T03:39:18.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1144" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1145" CreationDate="2012-02-21T14:10:58.803" Score="12" ViewCount="2631" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a huge list of things to start duck hunting.  Dogs, decoys, blinds, etc, and it's a chicken/egg problem.  How could I possibly know how to buy and train a dog, which decoys to buy, etc., without already knowing how and where to duck hunt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's a good way for a complete rookie to start duck hunting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="337" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T18:57:46.780" LastActivityDate="2018-06-08T21:48:02.950" Title="How do I get started duck hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1144" CreationDate="2012-02-21T15:01:16.157" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started with a buddy of mine.  So he had most of the gear that was needed.  I just needed to buy a gun, do hunter safety, waders and some camo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if you're not in a situation where you have someone who already hunts you might need to do a fair amount of local research.  The basics you will need are what I had to buy a gun, waders, and some camo.  With the waders you will not need a dog right out of the gate.  My buddy and I still don't even use a dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next big problem is where to hunt.  This you will have to figure out locally.  Where I live we go to public land that requires that you have a boat to get to a good spot.  If you have private land you can scout it out for where you see ducks and then you could setup there.  You also might be able to find public land that you could park your car and walk to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With decoys we started with buying a 12 pack of whatever ducks you have locally.  Early season we tend to use less decoys because the duck travel in smaller groups and then increase as the season goes on.  So later we bought another 12 pack of mallards which are the late season bird here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best resource I found while starting is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ducks Unlimited&lt;/a&gt; website.  They have a good amount of resources on decoys, calls, guns, and just about anything you will need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="5453" LastEditDate="2018-06-08T21:48:02.950" LastActivityDate="2018-06-08T21:48:02.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1146" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1147" CreationDate="2012-02-21T16:54:00.690" Score="8" ViewCount="1584" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to get started on indoor climbing, what is the bare minimum I need to have, assuming I don't want to rent equipment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-06T01:09:53.370" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T01:09:53.370" Title="What is a good starter kit for beginning indoor climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1146" CreationDate="2012-02-21T16:56:44.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt; and a &lt;strong&gt;harness&lt;/strong&gt;.  Some places don't have &lt;strong&gt;belay devices&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;carabiners&lt;/strong&gt; attached to each rope, so check on that beforehand, as you may need to provide your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chalk and a chalk bag is something you'll probably want pretty quickly and often comes packaged with the harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For climbing shoes, look for something comfortable to wear for a couple hours but tight like a slipper.  Imagine that you're going to be standing on your toes a lot, so you want a direct link from toe, to shoe, to wall.  The same tightness should extend all around the toe box (i.e. gaps along your big toe or towards your smaller toes are bad).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a harness, just aim for comfort - you'll spend a lot of time hanging on the rope early in your climbing career, so a bit of padding won't hurt you.  Lots of harnesses have a ton of &quot;gear loops&quot;, but for indoor you can get the simplest one possible, just somewhere to hang your chalk bag, if that.  Padded leg loops are worthwhile though, as is a simple way to get in and out of it, and an obvious way to check that you are properly strapped in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belay device - hopefully they have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigri_%28climbing%29&quot;&gt;GriGri&lt;/a&gt; attached to each rope.  If not, consider buying one if you can spare the cash.  Otherwise, just get a simple &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belay_device&quot;&gt;ATC&lt;/a&gt;-style device and call it a day.  In order to attach your belay device to your harness, you'll need a carabiner.  Most people prefer medium-large pear-shaped locking carabiners for this purpose, but any large, D-shaped locking carabiner will do the job too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2012-02-21T21:59:36.900" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T21:59:36.900" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1149" CreationDate="2012-02-21T22:33:16.310" Score="10" ViewCount="1087" Body="&lt;p&gt;What exercises exist for increasing your strength in order to increase the amount of draw weight you can pull back on your bow? I was told just push-ups but, is there anything more that can be done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2012-12-26T13:51:59.247" LastActivityDate="2012-12-26T13:51:59.247" Title="What are the best ways to increase your draw weight?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1148" CreationDate="2012-02-21T22:47:17.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my archery days, you're primarily looking at upper arm and shoulder.  Push-ups can help with that, but are pretty hard on your joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shoulders:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/single-arm-row&quot;&gt;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/single-arm-row&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Triceps:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/jawbreaker&quot;&gt;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/jawbreaker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biceps: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/bicep-curl&quot;&gt;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/free-weights-exercises/bicep-curl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be careful to intersperse these with actual draws as well, and to draw with both arms so that you don't end up off balanced.  I use free weights, but I've always been leery of highly tailored workouts because unless you know &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; what you're doing you can isolate out important supporting groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T22:47:17.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1150" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-21T23:14:52.343" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The usage of knives in the great outdoors.  Includes one handed bladed instruments generally design for cutting.  Excludes those specifically and only for use sawing (saws) and chopping (axes and hatchets).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-21T23:42:00.157" LastActivityDate="2012-02-21T23:42:00.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1151" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-21T23:14:52.343" Score="0" Body="Questions relating the the purchase, care, and/or usage of knives in the great outdoors.  Questions about sharpening knives should use the knife-sharpening tag" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:11:02.577" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:11:02.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1166" CreationDate="2012-02-22T17:01:47.720" Score="12" ViewCount="719" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've watched a few videos on cutting tools and the use of axes.  However I'm not clear on what the advantage (or disadvantage) is of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thepathfinderstore.com/pathfinder-scout-tomahawk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;tomahawk style axe&lt;/a&gt; over a typical belt or hand axe, such as this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0002JT0BO&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;estwing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T11:08:06.613" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T11:08:06.613" Title="What are the tradeoffs for a Tomahawk over an Axe" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1165" CreationDate="2012-02-23T06:41:36.970" Score="31" ViewCount="7979" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to try to hike across the Grand Canyon in May, from the South Rim to the North Rim, and back. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I am probably too late to secure a back-country permit for the week I plan to be there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My original plan had been to camp at Bright Angel, then 2 nights at Cottonwood (whilst I hit the North Rim and then came back), then again at Bright Angel, and back to the South Rim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what is my best option for still taking my hike? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some ideas that occurred to me, but I'd like to hear from people who have done it if any of these are feasible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to full cross the canyon, each way, in a single day, so as to not need it. (Is this really feasible? I'm fat, I'm 40, and I do want to see things along the way!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pray hard that a permit is available when I show up. (I hear they reserve a percentage, but don't know how likely it is that I could secure one.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set out even without a permit, and just find a discrete place, not in a campground, where park rangers won't look for a permit. (Dodgy in the truest sense of the term - but what happens if they do find me?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just show up in the campground and take my chances without a permit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the bright side, I will be in the area from May 12 - May 22, but knowing how to plan would be helpful.  (Zion and Bryce both seem too close to pass up)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;For future use, backcountry permits open up on the first of the month four months prior.  On February 1st, for example, all of June becomes open to reservation.  I'll save you the time of calculating - May opened up in January, and by February 24th, there was NOTHING in any campground in the corridor any time in all of May.  Phantom Ranch was fully booked (they open up 13 months in advance).  Moral of the story - April, May, and June are busy.  Make your reservations ASAP!&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:13:54.130" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T07:57:54.297" Title="How can I hike across the Grand Canyon if I don't have a backcountry permit?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1155" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1167" CreationDate="2012-02-23T20:06:23.443" Score="12" ViewCount="29661" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are out and get a &quot;clean&quot; kill on a deer, meaning that you have hit only its vitals, how long do you have to field dress the deer?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, beyond that how long do you have to get that deer processed? Under the conditions that I am thinking the deer would just be at camp.  How long would you have with it there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:07:36.650" LastActivityDate="2018-11-11T05:36:08.583" Title="If you get a &quot;clean&quot; kill on a deer how long do you have to field dress?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1156" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1157" CreationDate="2012-02-23T20:31:14.117" Score="14" ViewCount="2109" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been a couple of years since I last had bad &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints&quot;&gt;shin splits&lt;/a&gt; but I can still recall how painful they can be. I was able to heal them before mostly with a couple weeks rest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the pain came back when backpacking, a day or so away from transportation, what methods can be used to at least control the pain enough to get back to civilization without having to leave all my gear on the trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer answers that do not include an additional person to carry weight since I often backpack alone. I also don't need answers on how to treat it once I am home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything better than a couple of ice packs and aspirin? Obviously I would prefer the lightest solution to reduce pack weight and the chance of the shin splints in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T21:01:35.620" Title="How to treat shin splints while backpacking" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1156" CreationDate="2012-02-23T21:21:14.940" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have suffered pretty badly from these on a couple long hikes.  Here's my best suggestions from my experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If at all possible stop hiking for a week (I know the scenario you set up precludes this ). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming for the rest of these you have to keep going:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whenever you stop, lie down with your feet up.  If a cold stream is nearby, sticking your legs in it would be preferable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take NSAIDs (Ibuprofen would be the my preference).  My personal, probably body-destroying dosage is to take a lot.  I'm ~200lbs, so if it gets bad I'm taking 4x200mg tabs at a time, every 4 hours.  I've gotten by on 2x200mg but it was painful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear compression on your shins.  The best thing I've gotten was a neoprene calf sleeve, but I've also done it successfully with just a normal ACE bandage.  Anything that provides compression on your shin really, I once doubled up a stretchy ankle brace and used that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are far enough out that you have to camp with shinsplints, sleep with your feet and knees raised (put a log under your tent, or use your backpack under your knees).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With just the Ibuprofen and compression, I was able to hike 10-12 hours a day, 30+km for 5 days, and only truly suffered for the first 2 days, it started healing almost immediately once compression was added.  Just taking the Ibuprofen, I have not successfully shaken the shin splints off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-02-23T21:21:14.940" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1131" CreationDate="2012-02-23T21:43:26.237" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you thought about using a dedicated rope/clothing/harness cutter like one of the Benchmade rescue hooks? I carry around the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004VRHSGW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;8 model&lt;/a&gt; which is pretty good with insulating gloves but for rock there's the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00182P748&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;model 5&lt;/a&gt; which is a ring handle and has a hard sheath/necklace method for wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wdhxt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="343" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-23T22:16:08.147" LastActivityDate="2012-02-23T22:16:08.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1161" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-24T01:12:53.823" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about the use, selection, and care of portable shelters consisting of poles for support and some form of fabric to protect from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-24T01:58:43.183" LastActivityDate="2012-02-24T01:58:43.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1162" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-24T01:12:53.823" Score="0" Body="Questions about the use, selection, and care of portable shelters consisting of poles for support and some form of fabric to protect from the elements." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-24T01:58:42.527" LastActivityDate="2012-02-24T01:58:42.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1163" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-02-24T01:16:42.117" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The utility of or method of tying knots for use in any of the following (non-exhaustive) list of activities&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fishing &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gear Hanging &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent Pitching&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boating&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sailboat rigging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mooring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchoring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-09T22:13:59.320" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T22:13:59.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1164" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-02-24T01:16:42.117" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to the use of knots in performing activities in the great outdoors such as climbing and fishing." OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-02-24T01:58:45.697" LastActivityDate="2012-02-24T01:58:45.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1154" CreationDate="2012-02-24T01:57:58.267" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the corridor zone (where you are planning) you are only allowed to camp at designated campgrounds, which are secured on a reservation basis. If they are full, of the options you list, &lt;strong&gt;2. Pray hard a permit is available when I show up&lt;/strong&gt; is your best bet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The park leaves a percentage of permits unreserved for the main corridor (which includes the Bright Angel trail, and the North and South Kaibab) to accommodate walk-ins on a first-come first-serve basis. They are limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets look at the others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Try to cross in a single day&lt;/strong&gt;: That's how people die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hiking in the Grand Canyon is like no hiking you have ever experienced.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OK, people do rim-to-rims, but this is not recommended for anyone first visiting the canyon - even experienced hikers from other regions at the top of their game. The desert environment, coupled with the vast elevation loss (and gain) creates a hiking situation most people can't comprehend. Its the descent that really gets you: hiking down stairs for 7-9 miles (11-15km). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best description I have heard from a participant on my trips: &quot;&lt;em&gt;Put on your boots, nail a 2x4 across the bottom of them, stick your feet up in the air, and have your friend pound on that 2x4 with a sledge-hammer for 6 hours.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And regarding your last criteria (seeing things), between the pain, your heat exhaustion, dehydration, and the rush, you won't see anything along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3&amp;amp;4. Set out even without a permit, clandestine camp, or show up at the campground&lt;/strong&gt;: Aside being illegal, that is just plain rude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The permit system does not exist to ruin your vacation, but rather tries to maximize the number of people that can &lt;em&gt;enjoy&lt;/em&gt; the resource without &lt;em&gt;destroying&lt;/em&gt; the resource, OR destroying the experience of others. The main corridor is already the most highly-traveled place in the canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also one of the most well-patrolled regions of the canyon, so your presence would be noticed. If you are caught, you will be charged with a federal misdemeanor (Federal misdemeanors can carry fines of up to $5,000 and six months in jail.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As a 5th option, you can get permits to wild-camp in one of the neighboring zones.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild-camping is allowed in different zones, and if you head east or west on the Tonto trail a mile or two, there might be more availability. However, those areas do not have ready access to water, or other amenities, so it is imperative you are experienced with desert back-country travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A 6th option&lt;/strong&gt; is to check the availability of rooms at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/lodging/phantom-ranch/&quot;&gt;Phantom Ranch&lt;/a&gt; located at the bottom of the canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="3112" LastEditDate="2015-12-30T11:20:43.277" LastActivityDate="2015-12-30T11:20:43.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1152" CreationDate="2012-02-24T03:14:58.280" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the words &quot;Tomahawk&quot;, &quot;Hand Axe&quot;, &quot;Hatchet&quot;, etc are not rigorously defined terms. If I wanted to make my own heavy blade attached to the end of a stick and sell it, I could use any of those terms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, typically a Tomahawk has a lighter head on a longer handle (and usually a smaller cutting surface, because it's a smaller head). A Hand Axe has a larger, and heavier, head on a shorter handle. A plain-jane axe has a heavy head on a much longer handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for trade-offs, it comes down to the weight you can carry, the type of cutting you need to do, and the accuracy with which you need to accomplish your task. I find any axe/hatchet/tomahawk with a lighter head and longer handle makes accurate cuts easier to make, while the heavier head on the shorter body allows for more powerful cuts, with the most powerful cut coming from a heavy head on a long handle (aka your typical axe). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are showing off your axe throwing ability, a tomahawk (as defined in this answer) is better since it will spin less. Otherwise, if you are trying to actually chop wood for useful purposes, the hand axe will make quicker work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-02-24T03:14:58.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1155" CreationDate="2012-02-24T23:38:25.690" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Basics_for_Handling_Food_Safely/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA Guidelines&lt;/a&gt;, meat should be refrigerated within two hours. Obviously a gunshot wound is far different from exposed meat, but the principle is the same - get the meat cold as soon as possible. The skin is going to act as packaging for the meat, but you don't want to leave it out all day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the blood has stopped pumping, there is nothing keeping the bacteria at bay. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/pdfs/dangzone.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;danger zone&quot; for meat&lt;/a&gt; is 40 degrees - 140 degrees Farenheit. If you're hunting at night in the winter or fall, this may buy you all night long - but within a few hours of sunrise, you'll need to protect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I've dressed my own turkeys and chickens, I make sure that the entire process - from slit to pluck to evisceration - is done within three hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastActivityDate="2012-02-24T23:38:25.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1019" CreationDate="2012-02-25T00:25:59.500" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no personal experience with sailing a raft (though I do sail), but as it's getting on three weeks without an answer I'll give it a shot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see two primary concerns here: the stability of the sail on the raft and the overall stability of the craft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the boat stable, the center of gravity has to be below the point on the mast directly over the edge of the boat when the boat is tipped as far as you want to let it go without tipping.  The boat is all of five pounds, so how heavy and tall the mast is matters quite a bit; a sailboat has a good deal more weight to counterbalance the mast.  You will be able to help a bit by leaning like in a real sailboat, but not as much.  And the sail and boom add a non-negligible amount of weight higher up and towards the side of the boat.  So you'll want a light mast, boom, and sail, preferably bottom-heavy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After considering this for some time, I have come to the conclusion that your best bet is a windsurfing sail.  That will also help some with the center of gravity problem when you're not actively using it because you can lay it down in the boat. It ought to be big enough to get you moving, though probably not as fast as a full sail.  It should be relatively light, and you can tilt it so that its center of gravity is in the center of the boat.  But you will have to hold it while you're going.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now consider that an inflatable raft isn't going to have a solid spot to put the mast.  How are you going to secure the mast to the raft? Honestly I don't have a good suggestion for this beyond rigging up an ugly frame somehow.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-02-25T00:25:59.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1169" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1170" CreationDate="2012-02-25T01:25:50.133" Score="19" ViewCount="3321" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the relative advantages / dangers of different cooking wear? I'm a one-pot gourmet that has been using the same stainless steel pot for 15 years, but am considering an upgrade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things I have heard but not substantiated: teflon flakes off and you might ingest it. Aluminum can leech into acidic foods. Titanium shatters in cold? Cast iron makes the best flap-jacks...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-26T23:40:14.147" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T20:50:46.320" Title="Selecting backpacking cooking pot – teflon, aluminum, steel, titanium, or cast iron?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1169" CreationDate="2012-02-25T01:45:26.160" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The absolute best is going to be titanium, but it also happens to be the most expensive. I'm not sure where you heard that it shatters in the cold, but being a space age metal I would think it can handle cold earth temperatures just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't shell out the cash for titanium it's more or less a toss up between aluminum and stainless steel. Technically aluminum leeches, but so slowly that for just your backpacking gear it's not a problem. Stainless steel doesn't leech but also doesn't distribute heat as well, so you need to be sure to stir your food more, but that's not a big downside in my book. I use stainless steel myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other recommendation I need to make is, no matter what the material, find a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Getting water to a boil with a tight-fitting lid is MUCH quicker and saves you fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for cast iron, it gives your food the best flavor but is extremely heavy. Use it for camping trips but not backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-25T03:40:48.780" LastActivityDate="2012-02-25T03:40:48.780" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1171" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1210" CreationDate="2012-02-25T14:47:01.707" Score="9" ViewCount="656" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fights happen. Sled dogs have personalities that aren't always compatible... Is there a technique to breaking up a fight that will minimize risk of injury to both me and my dogs?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-02-26T11:14:41.257" LastActivityDate="2012-03-03T02:40:36.217" Title="What is the best way to break up a fight among dogs on a sled line?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1169" CreationDate="2012-02-25T15:55:00.030" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;One advantage teflon brings to the wilderness is how easy it is to clean. The heat on backpacker stoves can be hard to regulate, it's not uncommon for hot spots that get food stuck to the bottom of the pot or worse, burnt to the bottom (&lt;em&gt;I'm looking at you pasta + sauce packets!&lt;/em&gt;).  Teflon makes it less likely to get stuck, often needing only to be wiped off and then rinsed, it really shines when water and soap are in limited supply and you want to spend the least amount of time cleaning dishes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, if you really want to make dishes (and cooking) a breeze then go for the &quot;add boiling water to packet&quot; freeze-dried meals and you won't need teflon because all you'll ever do is boil water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as health goes, as long as the teflon surface is not scratched or flaking you don't need to worry about any health risks, so use plastic utensils and don't cut food in the pot.  If you're going to nest teflon pots (like the popular MSR set) put washcloths between each pot to avoid further scratching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-02-25T15:55:00.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="394" CreationDate="2012-02-26T15:52:59.747" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your primary concern is &quot;a knife I can quickly get out with just one hand&quot; then you may want to look at better folding knives instead.  A modern folding knife should not be difficult to open with one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need a fixed blade knife for other reasons I suggest you seek out (have made) a sheath that is leather-over-Kydex construction.  Kydex by itself can be rather brittle, especially in the cold.  Leather can be cut though, usually not by impact but by careless or forceful insertion/removal of the blade.  The leather-over-Kydex construction provides a particularly durable combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to get a sheath with positive retention as the knife coming free of the sheath is a more likely problem than the knife cutting through the sheath itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-02-26T15:52:59.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2012-02-26T16:18:49.840" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Time-tested bushcraft designs look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bladereviews.com/fallkniven-f1-review/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fallkniven F1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.raymears.com/Bushcraft_Product/72-Woodlore-Knife/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Woodlore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bushcraftnorthwest.com/products/celilo-bushcraft-knife&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bushcraft Northwest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=609&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spyderco Bushcraft&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://brisa.fi/enzo/enzo-trapper-knives.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EnZo Trapper&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Classic but less bombproof (because of the lack of a full shank):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.com/search?q=Puukko&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Puukko&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://morakniv.se/en/produkter/classic-1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mora&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T14:19:28.400" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T14:19:28.400" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1175" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-26T18:48:30.493" Score="22" ViewCount="429" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in a semi-rural area of Aldergrove, BC Canada--close to the US border.  From our house we can hear the call of what we think is an owl, but would like to know what particular species.  We were out walking in the evening (after dark) and had my still/video digital camera along when we heard a bird call.  Since it will record sounds with a video, I aimed it in the direction of the bird call and pressed record.  After a few attempts, we were able to get a recording without too much background noise.  Where can I send an owl recording to help me identify my nocturnal caller in southwest BC? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="347" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T17:17:50.467" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:04:45.327" Title="Where can I find help identifying an owl by its call?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2012-02-26T19:07:48.747" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cornell Labs has several good resources: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478&amp;amp;ac=ac&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Exploring and Conserving Nature&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sibley app also has bird sounds you can compare to (as do &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birderslibrary.com/features/iphone-bird-guide-comparison.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;several other&lt;/a&gt; mobile apps): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mydigitalearth.com/dproducts/sibleyinfo.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sibley Birds of North America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.news.wisc.edu/19882&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;supposed to be an app coming out&lt;/a&gt; which can identify automatically, but I have not yet found a copy of it to download.  It's called WeBIRD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:05:25.187" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:05:25.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1171" CreationDate="2012-02-27T00:20:05.673" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try getting their attention / distracting them with food, and then throw pieces in two separate directions. If the dogs are food motivated, they will go for the path of least resistance. They are fighting for dominance, to be sure, but many dogs will attend to that only after satisfying their instinctual desire for the food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, if you have the dominance over them, they will respect you. You clearly don't want to get in between them while fighting, but by holding the food, you are reminding them who is in charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastActivityDate="2012-02-27T00:20:05.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1178" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-02-27T13:52:54.707" Score="6" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the market for a kayak that will be used for inshore fishing, paddling, and occasionally hunting.  Can anyone help me with the differences between the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nucanoe.com/models/nucanoe/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NuCanoe 12'&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nucanoe.com/models/frontier/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NuFontier 12'&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="350" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-02-27T21:53:51.090" LastActivityDate="2012-02-27T21:53:51.090" Title="NuCanoe 12' vs. NuFontier 12'" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2012-02-29T22:26:50.107" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1179" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1183" CreationDate="2012-02-27T20:27:41.930" Score="18" ViewCount="2354" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a bit of cross-country skiing on trails at local mountains, but I'm more interested in getting off the trails and out into the woods.  The terrain around here is pretty steep in general with very heavy powder when it snows, which it does a lot (the closest alpine area currently has ~11 feet of snow on the ground and this is normal).  Generally, it doesn't get too icy, and rarely below say 15F in temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a bigger guy, so I've found that snowshoeing is pretty painful once the powder gets deep and I lose the ability to &quot;float&quot; pretty quick even on bigger snowshoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have very little interest in climbing things for the purpose of downhill skiing (I'm a snowboarder anyways), mainly I want to move efficiently through deep snow with a pack on, camp, or climb mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would prefer a solution that is lighter (i.e. if I can strap 2 lbs to each foot and have a somewhat compromised setup, I would prefer that to a &quot;perfect&quot; 5 lb setup).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-25T20:36:58.217" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T20:36:58.217" Title="Starting cross-country skiing off trails" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2012-02-27T21:17:16.673" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're after a certain, one-off dead set answer then you might want to try looking up departments / experts in this area in academia and then send them a polite email saying you'd be very grateful of their help. I'm sure many would be willing to answer since as experts in their field it'd probably take 2 seconds to work out (and many people I know in academia in various fields are willing and open to respond to questions like this.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick search brought up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing_Owl/sounds/ac&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; which links to Cornell University - you may want to give them a try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-02-27T21:17:16.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1179" CreationDate="2012-02-28T00:02:26.047" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a fairly subjective thing, but I think you may be a good candidate for a pair of simple Telemark skis, configured in a ski touring fashion. The advantages for you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Telemark bindings fit nearly any alpine-style ski, so you have many options for length and width to fit your height and weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Telemark setups are typically very lightweight, challenged only by a few AT setups like Dynafit (which are nice, but NOT cheap, and of little use to you if you don't plan on bombing downhill).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The free heel means comfortable climbing with skins, but the sturdy toe-binding means you can move quickly and safely downhill when you need to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I find that I can move much quicker with skis than snowshoes, and when you do end up making descents as a part of your tour, you'll be much happier on skis (just ask your friends who are struggling to keep up).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is that the cost will be slightly higher than snowshoes, and that you would want to learn some basic telemark handling skills. Keep the cost low by shopping used, or previous year's gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sample setup, to get you thinking. This is by no means an endorsement of these specific products. These would be a good start, but there are many quality products in this arena.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots: Scarpa T4 or T2X (less aggressive/more aggressive, respectively), ~6 lbs/pair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bindings: Black Diamond O2 or G3 Targa (simple tele bindings), ~3 lbs/pair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skis: Black Diamond Stigma (a nice, light touring ski), ~6 lbs/pair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skins: Black Diamond Ascension STS, trim to fit, ~1 lb/pair after trimming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Total weight, both feet, &lt;em&gt;including&lt;/em&gt; boots: 16 lbs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2012-02-28T00:02:26.047" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="388" CreationDate="2012-02-28T01:43:59.887" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most &quot;packable&quot; ways to fish for trout is using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://tenkarausa.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tenkara&lt;/a&gt; rod.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tenkara the traditional Japanese method of fly-fishing where only a&#xA;  rod, line and fly are used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wWtAs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tenkara may have originated in Japan but its becoming very popular&#xA;  amongst anglers looking for fly-fishing simplicity and mountain-stream&#xA;  effectiveness. Eleven to fourteen foot long rods allow anglers to fish&#xA;  mountain streams in a way that is nearly impossible with western fly&#xA;  gear. Telescopic rods collapse down to a mere 20 inches, and few&#xA;  things are needed making tenkara ideal for backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="350" LastEditorUserId="350" LastEditDate="2012-02-28T19:46:49.420" LastActivityDate="2012-02-28T19:46:49.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1179" CreationDate="2012-02-28T08:30:31.810" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have the time to give a truly complete answer here, but a good choice for you might be metal edged, waxless, backcountry cross-country skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options might include:&#xA;Snowshoes (which you don't like)&#xA;Telemark or Alpine Touring skis (which are heavy, and downhill focused)&#xA;Postholing (no fun)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;XC skis are far lighter than a telemark setup (~1.6kg, 3.6lbs per pair). They are also much easier to learn. The ones with metal edges will allow you to descend with some basic turns (unlike most XC skis, which don't have metal edges). Added to that, using ones that use a &quot;fishscale&quot; instead of waxing will make your life much easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Atomic makes several, though someone (maybe me, later) would need to go over the options for you. Something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atomic.com/en-CA/Products/Nordic/Ski/Leisure/MOUNTAIN_BC_GRIP/AB0009800.aspx?filter=235:1&quot;&gt;Mountain BC Grip&lt;/a&gt; would probably work.&#xA;Madshus makes several as well, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://madshus.com/skis/glittertind&quot;&gt;Glittertind&lt;/a&gt;. Don't forget a set of bindings, which are relatively cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will also need sturdy boots (backcountry XC boots are different than classic and sport boots, particularly if you're talking racing boots), and poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I worked at an outdoor shop a few years ago we would sell a package deal for a very basic backcountry XC setup (skis, bindings, boots, poles) for around $250. Those were only so-so, but they get better from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not as much surface area as a larger ski (or some snowshoes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to get up very steep hills (as compared to teles with skins, or snowshoes, though there are some skins designed for them - they are rare)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not as durable as teles or snowshoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really a lot of this depends on the terrain and your desires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-02-28T08:30:31.810" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1184" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1185" CreationDate="2012-02-28T19:09:57.983" Score="15" ViewCount="1265" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you are fletching your arrows does a lefty shoot with a left helix in their fletching or is it still at a right helix?  The reason I ask is the most common fletching tools are to give a right helix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastActivityDate="2012-02-29T00:13:21.960" Title="Left-Handed Helical Fletching" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1184" CreationDate="2012-02-29T00:13:21.960" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will not matter which way the fletching runs on arrows for left or right handed archers, however right handed fletching tools will be harder for a left hander to use, as you would need to change the angle of your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any angling of the fletching will produce spin on the arrow, however this is not going to affect the shot of a right or left hander, for the simple fact that once it leaves the bow, the spin direction is irrelevant, and during that first short time between releasing the arrow and it passing beyond the bow, there should not be any spin on the arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-02-29T00:13:21.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1186" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1206" CreationDate="2012-02-29T18:12:57.610" Score="13" ViewCount="5182" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was growing up and fishing for Large Mouth Bass with my grandfather we primarily used plastic worms.  Color and style matters a lot, and different worms had significantly different results.  To compound that, the &quot;magic combination&quot; seemed to change over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My grandfather always knew exactly which worm we should be using, but I never saw him trying lots of different worms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you determine the color and style of worm to use when fishing for large mouth bass?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:55:08.680" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:55:08.680" Title="How do you determine worm color for Large Mouth Bass" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;worms&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1190" CreationDate="2012-03-01T01:36:50.730" Score="24" ViewCount="2517" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in more remote areas with young kids, how can you make sure they don't take a stroll and get lost in the middle of the night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We won't be near lights, established &quot;bathrooms&quot;, etc.  The adults will be asleep as well, and I'm hoping for a solution that does not involve sleeping in shifts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:52:59.767" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:52:59.767" Title="How can you prevent kids getting lost at night while camping?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1187" CreationDate="2012-03-01T03:59:18.990" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's a large number of kids or if they aren't your own kids then yes, parents should work in shifts.  You're responsible for them and you can't be certain of their behaviour.  Otherwise, kids should follow the same discipline as at home, which is that you don't leave your room/tent after you go to bed, and that if you do have to get out to go pee or whatever that you stay within eyesight, or ask an adult to come with you.  If you're really worried, give them all whistles and have them wear them around their necks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2012-03-01T04:14:32.637" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T04:14:32.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1187" CreationDate="2012-03-01T07:43:26.523" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience with children summer camps says the children are &lt;em&gt;so&lt;/em&gt; afraid of the dark that they won’t go into the night unless their bed is on fire, and even then very reluctantly. When they need to pee they’ll go the least possible distance from their tents and if they have to visit the latrines, they will wake up their mates or rather wait until morning (which doesn’t always work, but that’s a different story).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the only real possibility is some kind of sleepwalking. That would be quite hard to guard against, as no amount of schooling will make a difference. If you really do want to cover this scenario, I think you would have to resort to keeping guards or employing some technical solution &lt;a href=&quot;http://storesonline.com/site/1313915/product/725-6902409&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt; (randomly googled).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T07:43:26.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1187" CreationDate="2012-03-01T10:38:28.653" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other two answers mention 'summer camp' type environments. My answer is more focused at family camping, but has some relevance to both:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With younger children it can be very simple, although possibly not the most comfortable:&#xA;You sleep across the doorway. For any child to get out at night they need to climb over you. If you think they could sneak around you (if you have a tent with a wide door, for example), you could look at putting a string through the zipper with a loose bow, but I'd tend to advise against this as in an emergency it could cause confusion. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With older children (I'm thinking 7 to 10 year olds) you can run a brightly coloured cord from the tent to the latrine area, and depending on the environment, you could leave a couple of night lanterns at the tents (this has its drawbacks in attracting insects)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Above that age, as long as they are sensible, just make sure they have some obvious signposting - natural features etc - which they can use to navigate back. As long as you aren't in dangerous country (bears, cliffs, etc.) older kids want to go exploring at night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, make sure they have good torches (flashlights) and a whistle before going out alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-03-01T14:09:02.780" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T14:09:02.780" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1187" CreationDate="2012-03-01T11:39:59.837" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pleased to see no-one's mentioned locking the door in some way - just to reinforce for anyone that may come across this question, that's definitely what &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to do, since in an emergency you want to be able to get out as quickly as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first instinct is to ask if it's even a risk that's worth accounting for? Unless you're talking about particularly adventurous or mischievous children many will be too scared to venture out into a dark, unknown, unlit area without knowing their way back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide it is then there's a number of things you can attempt to do, though realistically the only thing that's going to be dead set in stopping them is sleeping in shifts. First, make sure the adults sleep closest to the door and the children closest to the back - this way they'll struggle to get out unnoticed if they have to climb across 2 or more fully grown adults without waking them. You could also use a GPS / radio signal tracker, but this relies the child keeping it on them which they presumably won't do if they think they're not allowed out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point in relation to this though is to lay down the ground rules, and lay down the consequences. If they know the possibility of them getting caught is there, and this possibility would result in wrecking the trip somehow for them all, they'll generally be a lot more cautious about attempting to sneak out!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T11:39:59.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1192" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1202" CreationDate="2012-03-01T15:02:44.310" Score="14" ViewCount="2374" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are thinking of taking a road trip from northwest Ohio to &quot;out west&quot; - Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, etc. I've never been farther west than Indiana, so it's a whole new territory for me (my wife has when she was younger). We would both love to see Yellowstone and possibly the Grand Canyon &amp;amp; Yosemite. We both enjoy camping and moderate hiking, so we would love to include this as much as possible on our trip. We would probably have a 2 week time period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What supplies should we take? We've got the general camping stuff (tent, sleeping bags), as well as our vehicle, but what other things will help us do camping and moderate hiking &amp;amp; sight seeing? Any &quot;emergency&quot; items that should be pretty common?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On a trip like this, are you able to just pick a spot somewhere and plop down to camp for the night? Or would we be limited to staying in campgrounds?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any recommendations on where to go (outside of the 2 mentioned above)? Since this is new to me, I'm open for pretty much anything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you know of any good routes to take from Northwest Ohio? Initially looking at a map, I pictured us going to Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, then head north through Colorado, Utah and Montana, then back east. I'm not sure if this is a good way, however.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="71" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T19:35:05.443" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T19:35:05.443" Title="Thinking about a road trip out West" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="620" CreationDate="2012-03-01T16:21:55.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm researching wild camping in western Africa at the moment and the main thing I've learned thus far is not to listen to people who haven't been there.&#xA;Threat from animals aside, apparently the thing to do is to ask at villages if it's okay to spend the night on their land. You'll likely be given food, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="358" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T16:21:55.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1200" CreationDate="2012-03-01T16:36:35.547" Score="33" ViewCount="22279" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you can't help but set up camp in an area where the soil is very rocky / stony or firm, especially when wild camping. This can make it incredibly difficult to drive the tent pegs into the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good solutions to this? My approach thus far has either been to bring a mallet (generally very heavy, big and thus not suitable for long periods of hiking) or try to find a rock to bash them into the ground (a suitable rock can't always be found though and can damage the pegs over time.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2019-05-26T12:54:54.143" Title="Driving tent pegs into rocky ground" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1195" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1196" CreationDate="2012-03-01T16:44:24.477" Score="26" ViewCount="27441" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems you can get fuel for stoves in either gas form (butane, propane, etc.) liquid (methylated spirit) or solid fuel tablets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the particular advantages and disadvantages with each format, and when might you use one over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-01-06T03:14:08.620" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T13:11:55.033" Title="What are the advantages and disadvantages between gas, liquid and solid fuel?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1195" CreationDate="2012-03-01T17:47:36.647" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note on boiling and stove weights, obviously there are dozens of stoves out there for every fuel.  I'm just estimating based on commonly used stoves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Petroleum, Gas, White Gas, other liquid petrol products&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stove weight:  12+ oz (340+ g)&#xA;Water Boil per 100g fuel (rough):  5 to 6L&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Works below freezing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;incredibly good heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fuel is easy to come by&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fuel energy density is high enough so that just the fuel in the tank is enough for a few days, so no need to bring extra fuel cans.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high maintenance  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;must pack out fuel cans  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more likely to go boom  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alcohol (liquid)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stove weight:  0.25 for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DIY Stove&lt;/a&gt; (7.1g)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimal equipment needed  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;good for ultralight setups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;almost impossible to make it go boom  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very easy to light/use   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a pinch you can use a wide variety of fuels making resupply a non-issue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ridiculously cheap gear.  My entire kit cost $5 and I got a beer out of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad:    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poor effective heat/weight of the fuel (due to burn rate, but still good for ultralight due to minimal gear need)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Won't work as well in extreme cold.  It requires extra gear, like a preheater, as shown in this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWw8hppj94g&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trangia video&lt;/a&gt;.  Here's some extra testing from another hiker &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=18427&amp;amp;nid=151623&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Alcohol is hard to light in deep cold and it's extremely hard/nigh impossible to boil water with it in sub freezing temps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pretty finicky to use, at least with a DIY setup.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In bright light it is sometimes easy to miss the flame and not realize it is still lit, creating a possible hazard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel hard to find in some parts of the world, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/22462/566&quot;&gt;such as Russia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Butane, Propane, Isobutane (pressurized gas)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stove weight:  3 to 5oz (85 to 142g)&#xA;Water Boil per 100g fuel (rough):  7 to 8L&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;good heat  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lightweight stove options available  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind, what wind?  I've successfully boiled water in near freezing temps and high winds just by huddling over my &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B000A8C5QE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR&lt;/a&gt; to dampen the wind (which is a pretty poor wind screen).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must carry multiple canisters for long trips  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;canisters can discharge while packed if not packed carefully  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;must pack out fuel cans  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use of a heat shield requires very special care to avoid canister explosion (however a heat shield is a nice to have instead of a must have in most conditions with this setup)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Sometimes it will work below freezing, sometimes it won't.  It's a function of how it's handled.  Also has issues at altitude.  That's because these work by the liquid inside boiling and releasing gas out the top of the canister which doesn't work as well at lower pressure or temperature.  Some designs address this by inverting the canister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hexamine (solid fuel)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stove weight:  &amp;lt;1 oz (&amp;lt;28g)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good:    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Super lightweight  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to get at stops and small towns  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;boils water well  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not very good for other cooking (due to smell)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;soots pots with this sticky goo  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;contaminates everything if not handled very carefully.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hard to start and will not heat well in wind without an excellent wind screen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-06-24T13:11:55.033" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T13:11:55.033" CommentCount="11" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-04-05T20:05:34.823" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2012-03-01T17:59:38.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will probably need, as you mention, a mallet/hammer or rock, but if you find a particularly resistant spot, you may have hit an underground rock, and you should move the stake around a bit, see if you can avoid it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T17:59:38.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2012-03-01T18:08:38.843" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple years ago, I ended up on a little island while canoe camping, and the tent pads were literally solid rock.  Although this was far from optimal, I did my best to secure the tent by tying the tent cables to rocks, trees, etc.  I'd consider this a last resort, but it got us through a fairly windy night.  This solution works better if you can manage to get a couple stakes in the ground and supplement that with anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="44" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T18:08:38.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2012-03-01T19:51:59.067" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drive the pegs in at an angle to avoid deeper rock. Freestanding dome type tents really are great for this but in a high wind I have tied corners to large rocks to keep the tent on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="360" LastActivityDate="2012-03-01T19:51:59.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2012-03-01T20:57:47.393" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet may be to take along a set of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vargooutdoors.com/titanium-tent-stake.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;titanium shepherd-hook&lt;/a&gt;-type stakes (Vargo makes a decent set).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their advantage is that they are very narrow, so less likely to hit underground rocks.  Further, the titanium is somewhat bendy in the ground, so you can often work them around rocks when they do hit (but they spring back into shape when you remove them from the ground).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you do have to resort to bashing, titanium stakes are probably the least likely to get damaged by the rough treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-02-05T20:54:46.510" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T20:54:46.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1201" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1208" CreationDate="2012-03-01T23:55:23.800" Score="20" ViewCount="20825" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of skis, let's pretend I use them as much as I want to. How often should I wax them? Once a season? Every few ski days? Before or after every ski day? Both? Does it matter what kind of snow it is? If so, how does that factor in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:39:56.333" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:39:56.333" Title="How often should I wax skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1192" CreationDate="2012-03-02T01:55:01.513" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In two weeks, there's no way you can drive the route you propose, and have any time to actually &lt;em&gt;see&lt;/em&gt; the parks you'd drive through.  :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2007, my wife and I did a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mchenryfamily.org/pics/2007/2007/06_June%2030%20-%20July%2022%3A%20Road%20Trip%202007/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;3-week trip to Yellowstone &amp;amp; Glacier&lt;/a&gt; (from Pittsburgh).  In two weeks, your best bet is probably just Yellowstone (and Teton).  It's the first and biggest (outside Alaska) for a reason!  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mchenryfamily.org/pics/2004/2004/05_ROAD%20TRIP/highlights/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;trip including the Grand Canyon and Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; took five and a half weeks.  There are so many parks around GC in Utah that you really want to take the time to see them all once you make the effort to drive all the way out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Driving to Yellowstone is a pretty straight shot out and back on I-90.  There's lots of great stuff along the way: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walldrug.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wall Drug&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cornpalace.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Corn Palace&lt;/a&gt;, the Badlands, Devil's tower, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to make reservations at campgrounds in Yellowstone, as they tend to fill up in the summers.  We were able to get a back-country permit after we arrived in the park, though.  I haven't ever tried &quot;just picking a spot somewhere&quot;, so can't comment on whether that's permitted generally.  (Within the bounds of national parks, it isn't.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can tell from the above links, the best piece of equipment we took besides our car and tent was our camera.  If you don't have a DSLR and a zoom lens, a trip like this is a great excuse to invest in that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="173" LastEditorUserId="173" LastEditDate="2013-04-18T02:58:37.040" LastActivityDate="2013-04-18T02:58:37.040" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1201" CreationDate="2012-03-02T04:38:04.773" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest factor for the waxing is to make sure you have the right wax on your skis for the temperature outside.  That is what you should look for when choosing a wax.  If you use the wrong temperature wax it will slow you down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb you should wax every time you can feel grooves in the base of your ski.  It smooths out the base of your skis giving you a faster ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastActivityDate="2012-03-02T04:38:04.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1192" CreationDate="2012-03-02T05:00:03.387" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend visiting &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/YELL&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellowstone National Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grand Teton National Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - they border each other.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here's what I recommend:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take Interstate 90 across South Dakota (or go up through Wisconsin/North Dakota, then drop - much more scenic in Minnesota/Wisconsin, and easier driving in ND than SD) until you go through Gillette, Wyoming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visit &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/DETO&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Devil's Tower National Monument&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, America's first national monument on the way. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep going until you arrive in Buffalo, staying on the interstate when it heads north until you reach Sheridan, Wyoming. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep going another 20 miles on the interstate, past Sheridan, exit the interstate (Exit &lt;strong&gt;9&lt;/strong&gt;) for Ranchester/Dayton, Wyoming, and take Highway 14 across the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bighornmountains.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bighorn Mountains&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (very lush &amp;amp; green on the east side) which takes you through &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6BdkOyoCAPkATlA!/?ss=110202&amp;amp;navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&amp;amp;cid=FSE_003853&amp;amp;navid=091000000000000&amp;amp;pnavid=null&amp;amp;position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&amp;amp;ttype=main&amp;amp;pname=Bighorn%2520National%2520Forest-%2520Home/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bighorn National Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Immediately after &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/Rocky_Mountain/BurgessJunction/index.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Burgess Junction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (smack dab on top of the Bighorns ~10,000 ft elevation), - Highway 14 splits into 14 and 14A - take 14A, as it is the prettier way to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lovellchamber.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lovell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://powellchamber.org/content/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Powell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, and finally, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.codychamber.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cody, Wyoming&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;side note: If you're interested in camping instead of hotels, &lt;strong&gt;consider camping on the Bighorns,&lt;/strong&gt; it gets perfectly cool at night and the campgrounds are usually very uncrowded.  Camp at Porcupine Campground and if you have time for a short 1-mile roundtrip hike, try hiking to the gorgeous Porcupine Falls.  Also, when in the Bighorns, &lt;em&gt;look for moose,&lt;/em&gt; it is common to see at least one to four moose every time you cross! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lovell is the first town&lt;/strong&gt; you'll encounter after getting off the Bighorn Mountains. Visit the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/BICA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (very close to Lovell - highly recommend, a hidden jewel) as well as the park Visitor Center in Lovell - very helpful staff!), which features the &lt;strong&gt;biggest canyon in the Northern Rockies&lt;/strong&gt; (over 1,000 feet deep), bighorn sheep, wild horses on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (first wild horse preserve in the nation), as well as a scenic drive, boating, camping, beautiful hikes, archaeology, and other activities.  It even has a lake with a small beach.  This park straddles Wyoming &amp;amp; Montana, but the road doesn't go all the way through, so it is a perfect short drive north and back (~1-1.5 hours round trip), and another great place to stop for the night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider visiting the (brand new facility in Fall 2011) &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heartmountain.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; between Cody &amp;amp; Powell, a facility located at the old site for the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp, one of ten internment camps for incarcerating Japanese Americans during World War II.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next stop is Cody, Wyoming - the town founded by Buffalo Bill, the Rodeo Capital of the World, and the gateway to Yellowstone National Park.  Cody is full of tourist attractions, a number of hotels/motels, the world famous &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.codynightrodeo.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cody Nite Rodeo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (every night from June through August), the large &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbhc.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buffalo Bill Historical Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (five museums under one roof - including a 5,000+ gun collection, Natural History, Art, and others), and other things.  Yellowstone's East Gate is just an hour's drive west from Cody, you'll pass through &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Buffalo-Bill-State-Park/2581&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buffalo Bill State Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (a large reservoir on the western side of Cody) on the way, as well as pass through the pretty &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shoshone National Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;be BEAR-aware&lt;/strong&gt; - most campgrounds have metal lockers to keep your food secure and safe - don't store it in your vehicle or tent.  See this question for more info on dealing with bears:    &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/246/5&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Relax!&lt;/strong&gt;  When on vacation, don't try to keep to a strict schedule. Instead, feel free to take your time and really enjoy the scenery.     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take LOTS of PHOTOS!&lt;/strong&gt; You won't regret it. Guaranteed.  Make sure you have plenty of batteries/SD cards/memory for your camera(s). Also pack some binoculars.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You may want to purchase an annual Parks Pass&lt;/strong&gt; if you plan on visiting more than one or two national parks.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have fun!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://g.co/maps/4xtft&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Driving Directions from Indianapolis, IN to Yellowstone National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; - showing the exact route I've suggested above. (Ignore the route until it gets to the WY-SD border, anything before that, I can't vouch for/recommend.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Any questions or clarifications for this area that I've covered (Yellowstone/Northern Wyoming/Southern Montana), just leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cowboy up! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T23:42:55.840" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1201" CreationDate="2012-03-02T14:42:36.170" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are a powder skier, you will quite likely manage an entire two week ski holiday on one waxing (assuming the temperature stays pretty consistent)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like something a bit more extreme, perhaps with some hard ice, rocks or other solid objects then you may want to wax them each morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@JLundberg's rule of thumb is pretty applicable for both these use cases and everything in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-03-02T14:42:36.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1186" CreationDate="2012-03-02T16:29:21.280" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I am out fishing what I look for in plastic/hard bait is the water clarity.  In murky water I tend to use brightly colored bait.  If it is clear water with good visibility I try and use bait that is colored as close to real as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-03-02T17:07:19.517" LastActivityDate="2012-03-02T17:07:19.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1207" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1211" CreationDate="2012-03-02T17:27:50.447" Score="11" ViewCount="3769" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm always struggling with how edge bevel and side bevel affect my ski's behavior, and accurately grinding those bevels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the effects of various edge and side bevels on the ski behavior, and how do you accurately set those bevels when tuning the ski?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T22:46:09.253" Title="What is the effect of changing side and edge bevel on ski edges?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-repair&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1201" CreationDate="2012-03-02T17:36:10.233" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ski wax, like many subtle aspects of sports, is subject to a lot of lore. While there is strong science behind wax, the details of how it affects your daily ski trip is hard to pin down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, there are several situations that cause me to re-wax my skis (and we are talking about PTEX based alpine-style skis here, with a melted-in base wax, rather than hand-applied glide waxes used on cross-country or nordic skis):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beginning of the season - great time to get a solid base wax down, repair dings from the previous year, lube the bindings, etc. I establish a &quot;cold&quot; temperature wax for the cold, dry early winter conditions in Colorado.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After 10-20 days of skiing - this is about when I notice that my skis aren't behaving like I want them to. May vary strongly based on your habits and ski locations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I scrape it all off skiing over tree branches or rocks (happens a lot).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the snow conditions change considerably. The main reason would be to change to a &quot;warm&quot; wax for better performance on warmer, wetter snow. Colorado doesn't get much of this warm, wet snow, but if I take a spring ski trip to Utah, it is a good reason to set down a new coat of a different temperature range wax.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I want a good excuse to get a bunch of ski-buddies together to watch ski movies, drink beer, and plan trips. This sounds frivolous, but having a ski waxing party is a great way to get your community together. Plus, you can learn tips from experienced ski tuners, share your own tips, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2012-03-02T17:36:10.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1171" CreationDate="2012-03-03T02:40:36.217" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since answers are not forthcoming - I'll share what I have learned works, but I'm still hoping someone has some better ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since dog fights are not the result of some deep-seated impassioned hatred for one another (dogs don't carry a grudge) separating the fighters is usually enough to break up the fight. They quickly forget what they were fighting about and move on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distraction&lt;/strong&gt; A loud noise, such as the snap of belt against the sled, or a loud whistle can sometimes startle and distract fighting dogs momentarily, allowing you to pull one away from the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dragging&lt;/strong&gt; Grabbing a dog by its hind legs and pulling it away from the other dog can confuse it enough that it lets go. It might instinctively whip around to check you out, but assuming you have worked with these dogs, and they respect you, a quick &quot;Hey!&quot; will let it know who you are, and it won't bite you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Controlled Pressure&lt;/strong&gt; Using your foot to press down on one dog's neck and pin it to the snow while pulling the other up by the collar (lifting its front legs off the ground) is a way to regain control without injuring the dogs. This would be akin to your father putting his stern hand on your shoulder and pressing you down to get you under control as a child. &lt;em&gt;NEVER kick a dog&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This all assumes these dogs know you - and know you to be the benevolent dictator of the pack. Dogs run best if they respect their handler as the Alpha of the pack - not because they fear their handler. Thus there is no excuse for violence, beating, kicking or otherwise harming a dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, prevention is the best course (keeping dominant males separate, correct placement of females in heat) but that is a topic for a different question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-03-03T02:40:36.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1207" CreationDate="2012-03-04T05:36:04.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No answers yet, so I'll put in my 2 cents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more aggressive edge (3+ degrees) bevel will cut into ice better, improving turns, but making the skis more itchy (squirrel-y?). A less aggressive edge (0-1 degree) won't bite as easily, but wears down slower and is more comfortable to ride for beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The base bevel and side bevel can both be changed, but typically you only sharpen from the sides once everything is set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two ways to apply this angle change. One is by eye, using a file. This method isn't very reliable for a consistent angle, but unless you're skiing really hard you probably will do just fine. You can wrap a little tape around your file to tilt it upwards a hair as a simple guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next method is using a fixed bevel tool or a multi-angle tool. Ski shops use the fixed ones because they are the most reliable and consistent, but they are also more expensive (for reference, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tognar.com/beast-base-ski-bevel-guides/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this bevel tool&lt;/a&gt;, which costs $20, and you only have one bevel option). These tools typically accept either a diamond stone or regular file.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to de-tune the first few inches of your skis when you're done! To &quot;de-tune,&quot; you run a file at a perfect tangent to the edge (you are making it &lt;em&gt;slightly&lt;/em&gt; dull, taming that beautiful sharp edge you just made) for the first few inches of the ski's edge (beginning around the point where it will actually contact the snow). You do this because a very sharp tip or tail edge can cause your skis to be difficult to control. Imagine catching a sharp edge that far from the controlling force of your foot - not fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several good websites that provide more detail and specifics, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tognar.com/bevel_edge_tips_file_bevel_ski_snowboard.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tognar Toolworks&lt;/a&gt;, which has a detailed write-up. I doubt I could write something better here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T22:46:09.253" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T22:46:09.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1213" CreationDate="2012-03-06T19:03:57.137" Score="9" ViewCount="1866" Body="&lt;p&gt;Large glass bottles just don't strike me as a &quot;good idea&quot; for hiking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What options are there for carrying wine and preserving the flavor for a couple of days while hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="236" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:12.260" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:37:12.260" Title="What good options are there for wine transport?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1212" CreationDate="2012-03-06T19:37:48.760" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key to preserving the flavor of wine is to &lt;strong&gt;minimize the amount of oxygen in contact with the wine&lt;/strong&gt;.  One option is to use a container which is flexible, so that you can compress it in order to remove all the air inside, leaving only the wine.  Just be sure it is well sealed, so that you don’t get wine all over your backpack.  There are a few manufacturers who make containers specifically designed for this purpose, for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.platypreserve.com/&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/soft_sided_wine_carafe-_750_ml/&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.  I have never used them myself, but all the reviews I have seen are very positive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastActivityDate="2012-03-06T19:37:48.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1214" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-07T05:42:55.383" Score="12" ViewCount="6188" Body="&lt;p&gt;My old boots are dying.  Sadly it took me quite some time to find them, and the particular brand is not made anymore.  I have wide feet, like 4E wide, but some 2E boots will fit fine.  Unfortunately most hiking footwear I find is way too narrow.  For instance when trying to find good wet shoes for river hiking, I had to try 16 different shoes and 5 different brands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What brands are well known for wider sizes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-03-19T14:12:42.967" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T03:12:21.273" Title="Which brands make wider hiking boot sizes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1212" CreationDate="2012-03-07T08:43:12.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just for @Russell:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy boxed wines and remove the box. This leaves you with a flexible bladder containing wine with a drip-free tap. It might not be classy, but it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the white wine boxes have a foil lined bladder, which also helps keep the wine cool (well, cooler.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-03-07T08:43:12.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-03-07T15:29:03.637" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Jewelweed&lt;/a&gt; should do the job, if you have it locally. It usually grows close to the poison ivy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-03-08T14:16:46.603" LastActivityDate="2012-03-08T14:16:46.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1222" CreationDate="2012-03-07T15:56:34.913" Score="13" ViewCount="685" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any difference in navigational equipment between the northern and southern hemisphere? We live in the northern hemisphere but will be emigrating to the southern in the next few weeks. We'll take our usual compasses and GPS units with us in our shipping, can we expect these to work and be accurate ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, the GPS usually shows us our position in Ordinance Survey grid reference and I'm assuming we'd need minutes/seconds, but otherwise it should work as it uses the same GPS satellite network, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, what about getting north from using the sun &amp;amp; your analogue watch? I seem to remember that alters slightly in the southern half.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T05:46:41.310" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T05:46:41.310" Title="Navigational gear worldwide" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2012-03-07T16:02:56.153" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If boiling isn't an option, &lt;a href=&quot;http://aquamira.com/consumer&quot;&gt;aqua mira&lt;/a&gt; is usually a good choice. It's a doddle to use, and is very effective. It doesn't make the water taste like soap either, like some of the tablets do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-03-07T16:08:55.240" LastActivityDate="2012-03-07T16:08:55.240" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1217" CreationDate="2012-03-07T19:02:38.103" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPS&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) is based on orbiting satellites and so is accurate worldwide. There are other similar systems in use or under development, run by other countries (Russia, China, India, and the EU), but the US GPS still works everywhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/546/18&quot;&gt;This stick shadow method&lt;/a&gt; should work the same north and south of the equator. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/57/18&quot;&gt;The constellation&lt;/a&gt; you should look for down south is the Southern Cross. As for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18/18&quot;&gt;this method&lt;/a&gt;, imagining yourself in the middle of a clock, It's not as convenient down south. The theory will point you south if you imagine, instead of a normal watch, one that goes counter-clockwise - so, e.g. at 3pm the hour hand would point to the left side of the watch instead of the right:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rRARu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;counter-clockwise watch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image courtesy of &lt;a href=&quot;http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/15/counterclockwise-watch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Technabob&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-03-07T19:33:19.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1436" CreationDate="2012-03-07T19:08:58.683" Score="18" ViewCount="447" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used one of the trail apps and was satisfied, but am looking for something better. What are the features I should focus on for selecting an app?  What bells and whistles are really useful on the trail?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="364" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T23:14:22.017" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T12:09:08.213" Title="What are the key features to look for in mobile device apps for hiking/camping?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1224" CreationDate="2012-03-08T01:59:10.923" Score="18" ViewCount="3873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never been hiking in such extreme situations, but if in the situation in the question, i.e. you're hiking in very cold weather and someone falls in (let's say so pretty much their whole body is under, and it's a lake not a river, so no current) what's the best course of action?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, how do you get them out safely without endangering yourself or others, and what do you do to minimise the risk of hypothermia and other related conditions when they're out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:56:07.413" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:56:07.413" Title="Falling into an ice cold body of water" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1217" CreationDate="2012-03-08T03:51:45.840" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GPS&lt;/strong&gt; systems can, and do, work everywhere you can get satellites. The coordinate system -- or datum -- you choose to use should vary (even in the US) depending on the maps you are working with, your project needs, the area you are working in, or what the legacy system you are dealing with... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the history of map-making, a ton of different projections and datum have been used to try and describe spherical space on a two-dimensional map. Things like NAD27 simply refer to a certain system (North American Datum 1927) and if a map you are using was created with NAD27, then points recorded in NAD83 datum won't line up as expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Confusing? It is. Especially once you get into the details. But for most of us, it doesn't need to be. At the most basic, each GPS stores your position in one consistent datum. Garmin (and most if not all other GPS systems) uses WGS-84 (the World Geodedic System - based on the gravitational center of the earth). Even if you set your unit to display in Lat-Long or others, the unit itself does internal calculations to give you that readout - but the position itself is permanently stored as WGS-84.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your &lt;strong&gt;compass&lt;/strong&gt; - the only difference (as far as I know) between a Northern and Southern hemisphere compass is how the needle is balanced. Since the magnetic field pulls downward in the Northern Hemisphere, the needle is counter-weighted to keep it flat when the compass is held level. In the southern hemisphere, the change in angle can result in the compass needle dragging - and throwing off your accuracy (though it will still point in the right direction (assuming you have your declination set correctly for your region.))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-03-08T03:51:45.840" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1221" CreationDate="2012-03-08T08:09:10.073" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never had this happen fortunately, but I'd imagine it would depend on a few factors. Namely:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How cold the water is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What gear they are carrying that prevents them swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How muddy the bank / lake bed is - will you get stuck if you enter or approach the water? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd personally consider going in after someone just about the last option, and even then only when you've no extra clothing and other ready to aid you leaving the water safely. I believe you can likely be more use from the water edge than in trouble with them, even if its only to grab any wood or such that will float and get it as close to the person as possible to aid in keeping them afloat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there ice? If so, the victim may be nowhere near the edge of the lake itself, and you need to consider how much weight that ice can take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you have available? Assuming there is ice, anything that can spread your weight is useful, as is anything long. Bear in mind many people find gripping difficult in cold water due to shock, but any floatation device or improvised life aid should work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best case scenario in my mind is that they pull themselves out the water, either by swimming or by pulling themselves onto the ice and keeping their weight distributed on any ice. At that point you need to go through the steps to increase body core temperature, (by fire, drying clothes, getting out of any wind etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a pretty complicated question to answer, particularly in a short time span, which I'd imagine goes some way to contribute towards the numbers of people killed in bodies of water each year, and those that die trying to save them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-03-09T01:46:52.150" LastActivityDate="2012-03-09T01:46:52.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1221" CreationDate="2012-03-08T08:40:58.587" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The guidance given to first responders from the Public Safety Training Academy is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk - Can you talk them out?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reach - Are they close enough for you to reach, with a branch if necessary?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw - Do you have a rope or anything you can throw? This can include flotation devices - even if you don't have a rope this increases the likelihood of survival.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Row - If you have a boat, canoe or raft, row out to get them if it is safe to do so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go - If all else fails, pinpoint where the victim is and go for help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You try to avoid going in the water yourself unless absolutely necessary, but the 5 options above should all be looked at in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-01-06T09:11:33.960" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T09:11:33.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1221" CreationDate="2012-03-08T16:22:50.057" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sirex &amp;amp; Rory have covered getting them out of the water pretty well, but given that getting them out of the water in the first place might be no small feat, you're right in understanding that you're far from out-of-the-woods, so to speak, even after they're out.  Getting the victim warmed up is paramount, and their wet clothes are going to be a serious impediment.  If there's any way to get them out of their wet clothes and into some dry clothes, that's pretty high on your list.  Some possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get dry clothes from someone's backpack (maybe the best option).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Borrow clothes from someone else (ie, strip off the wet clothes and take someone else's jacket, etc.).  This, of course, now gives you two people who aren't properly dressed, so you really want to accelerate efforts to get the whole group to safety.  Since this puts another person at risk, you'd want to be pretty cautious about employing it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole idea of changing clothes is that your hiker will be lots more likely to be able to warm himself back up in dry clothes than in wet clothes, so you're looking for any reasonable option to help that happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you need to assess your status and consider getting the whole group to safety as soon as possible.  If you've been able to get your soggy hiker into some dry clothes (fully or partially), you may be able to just continue your hike.  You'll generate some body heat by moving, which will help some.  If you have a short distance to travel in order to reach shelter / warmth, this is probably your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, however, it's cold enough that you're not going to warm up by hiking, or if you don't have dry clothes, or you had to borrow some clothes from someone (leaving two or more hikers under-dressed) I'd strongly consider getting a fire started in order to warm up and dry off.  Some sort of reflective surface (tarp, rock wall, etc.) may help warm you a little more evenly.  Dry out your clothes, but don't burn them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep an eye on time vs. your itinerary.  If stopping to build a fire will cause you to not be off the trail by nightfall, you'll need to decide if you're staying put overnight or sending someone out for help.  All the usual wilderness first-aid guidelines apply here -- don't send anyone anywhere alone, and a group of four is a great deal better than a group of two or three.  If you don't have a large enough group to send a capable party for help, I'd be inclined to stay put and keep the group together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole idea here is to keep your head and use the resources of the group to avoid making the situation worse while you're trying to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="44" LastActivityDate="2012-03-08T16:22:50.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1238" CreationDate="2012-03-09T08:32:14.880" Score="36" ViewCount="53879" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many outdoor clothing items advertise themselves with a UPF (Ultraviolet protection factor) of 30 or even 50. How does that compare with a normal cotton T-Shirt or a pair of jeans? Do I have to use sunscreen even when using these clothes? Or is it all a marketing scam?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="398" OwnerDisplayName="Peter Hahndorf" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T05:01:41.183" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T16:39:24.957" Title="What's the UPF of a T-Shirt or jeans?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2012-03-10T18:20:31.567" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't necessarily a way to prepare your body for the altitude. You should however: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be in good condition overall, i.e. able to handle at sea level more than you are planning to do at altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to spend several days at a lower altitude (like 7000 feet) doing some aerobic activity before trying to go higher.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink more water than usual.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take regular doses of aspirin during your trip (or starting before your trip, ideas on this vary). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot of general information at hiking, skiing, and sports conditioning sites (ex. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bodyresults.com/e2altitudecoping.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Sports Conditioning&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, know the signs of altitude sickness and make sure your hiking partners do too, so that if anyone starts getting sick, there are people there to make sure that person descends immediately (altitude sick people are sometimes too confused to realize they are in trouble). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="373" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-28T14:47:41.817" LastActivityDate="2016-08-28T14:47:41.817" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2012-03-10T22:20:35.633" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_mix&quot;&gt;Good Ol' Reliable Peanuts&lt;/a&gt; (GORP), or Trail mix:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Trail mix is a combination of dried fruit, grains, nuts, and sometimes&#xA;  chocolate, developed as a snack food to be taken along on outdoor&#xA;  hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2012-03-10T22:20:35.633" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1231" CreationDate="2012-03-11T06:25:49.467" Score="13" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that the magnetic north is not exactly at the polar north, so when hiking very close to the Northern Pole, you have to take the difference into account.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This got me thinking: Is this also a problem on the Southern Pole?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say &quot;yes,&quot; but then I read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1217/navigational-gear-worldwide&quot;&gt;this question about world wide navigation&lt;/a&gt;, and from one of the responses it seems like there are other problems when closer to the Southern Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T15:00:51.163" Title="Magnetic deviation at either pole" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1230" CreationDate="2012-03-11T12:37:15.967" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The magnetic declination at the south pole works the same way to that at the north, and for exactly the same reason. The magnetic field, while generated by the spin of the Earth's core is not tied to the physical spin axis for the earth so the exact magnetic north and south move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you travel near the poles (you don't even need to be that near for declination to be significant) you should look at a declination map, or the online &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/declination.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NOAA page for declination&lt;/a&gt;. At really high latitudes (either north or south) it is essential to have an accurate declination map with you or you could get very lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T15:00:51.163" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T15:00:51.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="799" CreationDate="2012-03-11T18:34:37.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're old-school, here is a device I just learned about today (and it should fit into your pack):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sunsetwheel.com/&quot;&gt;The Sunsetwheel.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a sliderule type device, and may take a few minutes to learn how to use it, but it can give you data without having a smart phone on you at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastActivityDate="2012-03-11T18:34:37.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2012-03-12T01:01:49.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds odd but I have used it and it does work.Hemrroid ointment.It shrinks the mucous membranes and tightens the skin.If you already have a blister it will dry it up without breaking the skin.There is a warning about not using on open wounds so I usually give the blister a couple of days to start to heal if it is open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="376" LastActivityDate="2012-03-12T01:01:49.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2012-03-12T01:14:06.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plantain weed not to be confused with the bannana like fruit.Crush the leaves and rub it on.It is usually growing on the edge of roadways or compacted trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="376" LastActivityDate="2012-03-12T01:14:06.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1235" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1236" CreationDate="2012-03-11T23:22:06.927" Score="13" ViewCount="996" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going on an expedition to Kilimanjaro and I'm going to buy new trousers specifically for this purpose. Some agencies recommend to take soft shell trousers and I'm not sure if it would be the best choice. I know that gore-tex is a better-breathable fabric, so it might be a better choice for a Kilimanjaro climb (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/mountain.htm&quot;&gt;weather conditions vary through the climb and night temperature on the summit ranges from -18 to -26 degrees Celsius&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not asking about a brand or model, just your opinion and differences between these two fabrics. I would also appreciate recommendations for any other type of fabric that would fit in such conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" OwnerDisplayName="REACHUS" LastActivityDate="2012-03-12T21:05:10.900" Title="Kilimanjaro expedition - trousers - softshell vs. gore-tex" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;africa&gt;&lt;kilimanjaro&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1235" CreationDate="2012-03-12T19:51:56.323" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it may be difficult to directly compare laminate or coated hardshells with softshells, because the technology involved can be complicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here's the simple answer: If you get a strech-woven softshell, it will almost certainly be more breathable than any hardshell, at the expense of complete waterproofness. At the same time, most softshells are quite a bit warmer than a simple hardshell, because they provide natural insulation, and thus are also heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing Kilimanjaro in the dry season, you probably don't need to worry about a downpour, so I would assume that's why they would recommend a softshell. There are some highly breathable hardshells, but they are usually specific to a sport or style, so choose wisely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to focus on are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How waterproof do the pants need to be? If they need to sustain a downpour, go with a hardshell pant (they will not be stretchy, they will have the phrase &quot;Waterproof/breathable,&quot; and they will probably have either a polyurethane coating or a laminated PU membrane). If they are to protect from the occasional sprinkle or snowstorm, go with the softshell. Waterproofness has no perfect standard of measurement (and companies that use Gore-Tex don't post their numbers), but for scale, a 15,000mm rating is pretty much 100% waterproof, with certain caveats. Here is an article describing &quot;waterproofness&quot;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://backcountrybeacon.com/2010/04/waterproof-ratings-demystified/&quot;&gt;Waterproof Ratings Demystified.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How breathable do the pants need to be? If you are performing lots of aerobic activity (like hiking steep hills at altitude), you will burn up without breathable pants, so get a softshell. However, if the pants are just there for emergency downpours, I'd go with a super-lightweight hardshell, because they will weigh less than the softshell, and you'll just take them off when the rain goes away. There is no perfect standard of breathability, but it is measured in grams/24hrs/meters-squared, and that is often abbreviated to g/m2. Pants at 10,000 g/m2 are pretty darn breathable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example of a highly breathable hardshell: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.golite.com/Ms-Malpais-Trinity-3-Layer-Liteshell-Jacket-P905.aspx&quot;&gt;GoLite Malpais Jacket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example of a highly breathable softshell pant: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierradescents.com/reviews/pants/marmot/scree.html&quot;&gt;Marmot Scree Pant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More Resources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read up on the trip reports at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/kilimanjaro/150202#chapter_4&quot;&gt;SummitPost.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/rainwear.html&quot;&gt;REI's Rainwear Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/store/dc/650/Backcountry-Softshell-Jacket-Buyers-Guide.html&quot;&gt;Backcountry.com Softshell Buyer's Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-03-12T19:51:56.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1226" CreationDate="2012-03-12T22:42:57.227" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is, &lt;strong&gt;it varies&lt;/strong&gt;.  The three factors that most influence the UV transmission factor of clothing are kind of obvious:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Material&lt;/strong&gt;: Some materials are better at absorbing UV than others; for example, the paper cited below suggests that polyester absorbs more UV light (particularly UVB) than cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weave&lt;/strong&gt;: The thicker and more tightly woven a piece of fabric is, the less light it lets through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Color&lt;/strong&gt;: Dyes work by absorbing various frequencies of visible light, and many of them will absorb UV too.  Of course, high light absorption at visible frequencies doesn't necessarily imply high UV absorption, but as a general rule of thumb, white or lightly colored fabrics do tend to let more UV through than darker fabrics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, there are also &quot;invisible dyes&quot; that can absorb UV without darkening the visible color of the fabric.  Some UV-absorbent laundry additives are sold specifically for that purpose, but many laundry detergents also contain fluorescent compounds called optical brighteners that absorb some UV light and re-emit it in the visible spectrum.  Also, getting the fabric wet will change its UV transmittance, typically increasing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some numerical values, I did a quick search on Google Scholar and found a paper titled &lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-4362.1997.00046.x/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Clothing as protection from ultraviolet radiation: which fabric is most effective?&quot;&lt;/a&gt; by     Sandra Davis, Linda Capjack, Nancy Kerrand Robert Fedosejcvs, published in 1997 in the &lt;em&gt;International Journal of Dermatology&lt;/em&gt; 36(5).  Alas, the on-line version of the paper is behind a paywall, but I'll quote a few relevant sample SPF values from their table 3 below, courtesy of my university library's on-line subscription:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight cotton jersey knit, typical of T-shirt fabrics: &lt;strong&gt;SPF 4&lt;/strong&gt; (white) / &lt;strong&gt;18&lt;/strong&gt; (dyed blue).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy cotton twill weave, similar to 8 oz. denim: &lt;strong&gt;SPF 12&lt;/strong&gt; (white) / &lt;strong&gt;166&lt;/strong&gt; (dyed blue).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The measured SPF value of 166 for blue denim is basically off the scale: for practical purposes, blue jeans don't let any UV through at all.  The relatively low SPF of the white cotton twill is a bit surprising, though, and indeed is what prompted the authors to test the effects of the blue dye:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;The low SPF of 13 [in table 1] for the white cotton twill (jean fabric) was surprising, as previous researchers recommended denim as suitable protection for many sun-sensitive patients. In a pre-test, a sample of blue denim taken from a pair of jeans was tested in the same manner as the above samples and produced a high SPF value. Since the white twill differs only in color from most denim, the indigo dye in blue denim might be an important UV absorber. [...] Dyeing the fabrics dark blue increased the SPF by more than a factor of three for all cotton fabrics.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, even an SPF of 12 is nothing to sneer at, particularly since the SPF values for clothing are not subject to the same kind of inflation as those marketed for dermal sunscreens (which are typically only valid if the product is applied thickly and frequently reapplied).  You might be able to tan a little bit under white jeans if you spend a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of time in sunlight, but probably not so you'd notice.  The SPF 4 measured for the white T-shirt fabric is pretty low, though: it's a lot better than nothing, but it might not be enough to prevent sunburn if you spend a lot of time outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this study did not cover the effects of laundry additives; for that, we can look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&amp;amp;context=textiles_facpub&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Improving Knit Fabric UPF Using Consumer Laundry Products: A Comparison of Results Using Two Instruments&quot;&lt;/a&gt; by Jihyun Kim, Janis Stone, Patricia Crews, Mack Shelley II and Kathryn L. Hatch from 2004.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this study, the authors tested the effects of two off-the-shelf laundry detergents containing optical brighteners, one laundry additive sold as an optical brightener and one sold as a UV-absorber.  While their numerical values don't seem directly comparable, they do report a more than 3-fold increase in SPF for all the products, comparable to the effects of the blue dye in the Davis &lt;em&gt;et al.&lt;/em&gt; study, although, for the detergents, the full effect was only achieved after the cloth had been washed over a dozen times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my rough, unscientific conclusion from all this would be that, if you're planning to wear jeans and a white T-shirt while hiking in the mountains or sailing, you should either buy a special UV-protective T-shirt, wash your normal T-shirt with a UV-absorbent laundry additive, or just apply sunscreen under it.  But you don't need to worry about the jeans &amp;mdash; there's no way you'll get sunburn under those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="382" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2019-09-23T16:39:24.957" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T16:39:24.957" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1240" CreationDate="2012-03-12T23:24:39.493" Score="13" ViewCount="7231" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you were attempting a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, starting roughly now (being mid to late March) and going northbound, how many sleeping bags and of what types would you need, assuming cost is not an option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a little background. I've talked to a number of people who have thru-hiked northbound on the AT, and have heard about the various sleeping conditions. Assuming a pace of about 5 months, would different bags be needed for March in GA, June in VA, August in VT, etc? Obviously I don't plan on carrying more than one bag at a time, but if need be bags could be mailed to spots on the trail at certain dates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minimizing weight is always #1 on the priority list, but staying warm up north in the later months would be #2. I've mostly lived in the VA region of the AT, so I am used to backpacking with a very lightweight sleeping bag in summer months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I'm hoping for this to be information given a usual year, not necessarily the spring going on right now in 2012. I am planning to thru-hike the AT in 2013.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-23T09:05:25.410" LastActivityDate="2014-12-31T04:36:41.927" Title="What sleeping bags are needed for a northbound thru-hike of the AT" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1239" CreationDate="2012-03-13T03:45:28.047" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It somewhat depends on how warm you sleep and how much you're willing to layer up in your bag.  I've met people who claim they used one 30F bag the whole trip (with thick layers at the start, and used as a quilt through the rest of the trip).  I would call them &quot;ultralight freaks&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more normal setup is to start with a 0-20F bag, depending on your normal warmth level, then transition to a 30-45F bag/quilt once the weather turns (and send home the extra layers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only met a few people who used synthetic bags on thru-hikes, and they were all quilt users, so assuming you go for down, I would aim for these companies (in this order):  Western Mountaineering or Feathered Friends, Montbell, Marmot (only 800+ fill, the rest of their bags aren't so good), Mountain Hardware.  There are a bunch more of course, but when you're going to spend 130-150 days in a sleeping bag, it's worth getting one that will still be lofty at the end of your trip, and for that you have to shell out for good down fill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're more interested in quilts, Jacks R Better, or Nunatak if you are literally made of money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned a 5 month hike starting in March - by my calculation you would be done in August which should make weather issues moot, even in Maine.  So you would likely be fine with your summer bag til then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note I have not hiked the AT, but I have hiked the PCT and CDT, and listened to endless gear talk from my hiking partners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: if you are totally insane, do what this guy I met on the CDT did: used a garbage bag as his sleeping bag for the first half of the AT (he started later though - June).  Sound comfortable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2012-03-13T03:52:28.647" LastActivityDate="2012-03-13T03:52:28.647" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2012-03-13T06:21:23.053" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have fresh (or purified) water, an amazingly small amount of rice would suffice for 14 days. I've trekked the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera_Real_%28Bolivia%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cordillera Real&lt;/a&gt; for 12 days, and rice was the only reasonable option in terms of weight. A small set of spices - especially salt and pepper - dramatically improves its taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to eat the same food for 14 days, take other kinds of food (e.g. Pasta) and eat them the first few days, so that you'll carry a reasonable weight afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="383" LastEditDate="2015-08-11T12:51:32.757" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T12:51:32.757" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1252" CreationDate="2012-03-13T12:52:33.717" Score="20" ViewCount="776" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to buy sunglasses. Here is how and where I am going to use them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mountain trekking - with altitude mostly below 2000, however I will&#xA;use them in the following months on higher mountains (Kilimanjaro,&#xA;Mont Blanc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;summer and winter (all year but I think due to sun&#xA;reflection snow it's an important criterion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high quality product that I could use for years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some other factors, which I may not be aware of at the moment, that would important in the mountains (like visibility)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not an expert in this field. &lt;strong&gt;What should I pay attention to (filters, materials, etc.)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" LastActivityDate="2014-09-26T14:19:51.487" Title="Things to consider when buying sunglasses" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1243" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1250" CreationDate="2012-03-13T13:02:13.203" Score="25" ViewCount="1534" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wearing contact lenses on a daily basis. Many times, when outdoors, I cannot put in my contact lenses (because of limited time or just no sterile conditions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any cleaner I could &lt;em&gt;safely&lt;/em&gt; use to &lt;em&gt;quickly&lt;/em&gt; clean my hands before putting contact in?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" LastEditorUserId="377" LastEditDate="2012-03-13T15:08:28.150" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T02:52:03.177" Title="Putting in contact lenses when outdoors" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1244" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1245" CreationDate="2012-03-13T16:05:14.943" Score="21" ViewCount="2496" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading up on a hiking boot size question, I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/789686/lowa-renegade-ii-gtx-mid-hiking-boots-mens&quot;&gt;this review&lt;/a&gt; from Silver Spring, Maryland for a wide hiking boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This boot has a &quot;lifespan&quot; of 400 miles.  Is that typical of a hiking boot?  Since the Appalachian Trail (AT) is over 2,000 miles long, should I expect one or more pairs of boots to wear out and become unusable during the course of a through-hike?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if my feet do change size over the course of the hike-- or if a pair of shoes does wear out-- how do I get a new, better-fitted pair while on the trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-10T22:42:17.627" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T22:56:30.737" Title="Am I likely to need multiple pairs of boots on the Appalachian Trail?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1244" CreationDate="2012-03-13T19:19:53.953" Score="17" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do boots really last (only) 400 miles?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, yes.  If you are a hard-man/woman, you might stretch one pair of boots to half the AT.  Normal people go through quite a few pairs - I used 10-ish pairs of trail runners on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), partially because my feet grew 2 sizes and I didn't realize that was why I was suddenly getting blisters from my previously comfortable shoes.  So if you know what's up, I think 6-8 pairs for the AT would be reasonable.  Boots last a bit longer (as Kevin said, 400 miles maybe), so you might only need 4-5 pairs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trouble with boots in that situation is that you generally need to break them in, and a large number of thru-hikers end up with bigger feet within a few hundred miles of starting.  So, you can't really buy ahead until you know whether you are the &quot;feet grow&quot; or &quot;feet don't grow&quot; type of person.  Thus, using runners is pretty normal - they wear out faster but don't need breaking in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Logistically, how do you get more boots as you hike?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the AT, because of it's popularity, you should be able to identify some gear/shoe stores around the 200-400 miles-in corridor where you could go to try on more boots in a variety of sizes.  Alternatively, and what I've done many times, is to only buy one pair before you start hiking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your feet stay the same size for the first month, you are probably safe, so have someone at home buy enough pairs for the rest of the trail, and mail them to you via General Delivery at post offices along the trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your feet change sizes, and continue to change, order a range of sizes-widths via the internet (or someone at home) and again, have them delivered via a Post Office.  Return all pairs that don't fit.  Big sites like Zappos.com will do this no problem (including delivering to post offices and free returns).  So once you establish your new size, you walk another 300 miles in your new boots, then order the next pair to the next PO you'll reach.  Repeat until done :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2014-12-10T22:56:30.737" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T22:56:30.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1246" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1248" CreationDate="2012-03-13T21:26:12.907" Score="7" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm one of these crazy people that tend to wear cargo shorts all year round, and do a lot of hiking and general outdoor activities in them. However, because of this they tend to wear out relatively quickly, and I haven't yet found some that last beyond a few months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone any recommendations? I'm quite big (40&quot; waist) which doesn't help! I'd also like ones with lots of pockets which narrows it down further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-03-13T23:42:14.437" LastActivityDate="2017-10-04T00:22:46.373" Title="Where to find hiking shorts that last more than a few months?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-10-05T04:14:27.953" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1246" CreationDate="2012-03-13T22:37:46.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using the same two pair of swimshorts for years now.  They dry quick, they're lightweight, they're cheap.  Mine are &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0048BP0UM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;similar to these&lt;/a&gt; (with pockets, but not lots), but I got mine at Target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downside is that sometimes the cheap thin string tie bites into my waist on really long summer hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-14T00:18:22.493" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T00:18:22.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="394" CreationDate="2012-03-13T23:05:30.043" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is sort of an obvious answer, but if you're worried about a knife slipping out of (or cutting through) a cheap sheath, then get a knife with a better sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The traditional outdoors knife here in Finland is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puukko&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;puukko&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, usually worn in a leather sheath that grips the handle by friction, with an internal wooden last that protects the leather from contact with the blade.  I've &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; heard of one of these knives cutting through the sheath, nor of slipping out accidentally, as long as the sheath is well made and fits the knife properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The cheap plastic-sheathed &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mora_knife&quot;&gt;Mora knives&lt;/a&gt; do tend to slip easily out of their sheaths.  As utility knives they're not too bad, but I'd &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; wear one of those things on my hip.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="382" LastActivityDate="2012-03-13T23:05:30.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1243" CreationDate="2012-03-14T02:31:19.817" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend taking a small container of rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls, as described for cleaning yourself &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowergear.com/advice.php/content/backcountry_hygiene&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;  Plain old rubbing alcohol kills everything, and is not sticky like an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  A bottle like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/605499/boston-round-bottle-4-fl-oz&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; ought to do you pretty well.  It should even fit in your pocket so you don't have to go fishing around through your gear to find it when you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want something that's pre-made, I've found a couple of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-13589.html&quot;&gt;threads on hiking forums&lt;/a&gt; that recommend carrying around a small container of baby wipes to clean your hands before handling contacts.  I would probably shy away from these due to the residue they tend to leave behind (not to mention the smell!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as @Russell suggested, you'll probably want to have a small bottle of contact solution to rinse your hands off with afterward-- just in case.  A &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004GBB8E6&quot;&gt;travel size bottle&lt;/a&gt; might be nice for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="126" LastEditDate="2012-03-14T02:52:03.177" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T02:52:03.177" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1251" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1253" CreationDate="2012-03-14T11:47:45.620" Score="8" ViewCount="1106" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it normal for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.howlbushcraft.com/bushcraft-blog/2017/6/18/tarp-knots-the-evenk-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Evenk/Siberian&lt;/a&gt; hitch knot to open out in use, particularly when tied to a large diameter object (think tree) where the rope enters the knot close to right angles from the load? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm 99% sure I'm &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/siberian/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tying it correctly&lt;/a&gt;,   but no matter how slowly and carefully I work the knot up, after pulling it up into position and under load it seems to open out into 2 separate parts. Due to the mechanics of the knot it seems to hold from my quick testing, but I don't know. It's meant to be okay for hammock usage but it's not giving me any sort of confidence in it. Not the &quot;in a sack, over a rock&quot; confidence you'd want anyhow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, does anyone have a good alternative slippery hitch that can be pulled up into a tree above head height and released again, and suitable for hammock use? I've looked at a few which may fit the bill, but I'd  be interested to know what people actually use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T00:00:19.193" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T00:00:19.193" Title="Is it normal for an Evenk/Siberian hitch knot to become loose?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1242" CreationDate="2012-03-14T13:38:27.420" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally you don't need to go for any of the name-brands, unless that is important to you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comfort.  Wear them for several minutes.  Yes, the salesman is trying to wrap up this sale in under 2 minutes so he can get more commission.  You will likely be wearing the shades for hours on end, so keep them on for at least a couple of minutes before deciding you like them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Viewing area.  I tend to prefer large lenses because when I wear smaller lensed sunglasses, the area surrounding the lens is much brighter, and as a result distracts me from where I'm trying to look.  It also tends to give me headaches from the stress/strain.  And since your pupils will dialate, they also let more UV light into your eye&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Polarization.  Some folks love polarized lenses (I'm one of them), others hate them with a passion.  I like polarized lenses because it cuts down on reflections and glares. If I'm looking at a lake, I'll see the reflections in the water, but if it's the sun, I won't see sunlight reflecting off of every ripple of water and in come cases/angles, it gets rid of the reflections entirely.  Great if you are fishing, because you can see the fish/stuff in the water, great while driving because instead of reflection rays from bright parts on cars, it will be reduced to a single very bright spot.  The downside is that when you look at some things (plastics come to mind) you will sometimes see rainbow haloes in the clear plastic object and not be able to see through it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Black/Grey or Brown tint.  Some folks like the black/grey tint (which won't affect color balance much), others prefer brown tint (which I find makes everything look more yellow).  I have both.  My eyeglasses have grey tint in the transitions, I also have sunglasses for driving and other long-term outdoor stuff that have the brown tint.  I find that I prefer the grey tint, but not enough to say that I want gray and won't consider brown.  I'm sure there are other tint colors, but I've not seen them avialable (since I do my sunglass shopping at the Optometrists, they sometimes lag behind the Sunglass Hut when it comes to new products).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Corrected Lenses.  I have a minor prescription (I believe it's -1.75, 0 is &quot;normal&quot; vision, 10 is sightless IIRC, and 7 or 8 is &quot;legally blind&quot;).  I can function without my glasses if I had to.  In fact, I used to DRIVE with uncorrected sunglasses from the El Cheapo rack at the drug store.  Then I had some extra cash (flex account) and splurged on prescription sunglasses.  WOW.  What a difference.  If you wear eyeglasses, I Highly recommend you get the &quot;second pair&quot; of glasses and get prescription sunglasses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T13:38:27.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1251" CreationDate="2012-03-14T13:46:15.727" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short, yes. It's not the most secure of knots, it'll do in many situations but I wouldn't want to trust my life with it under any circumstances!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to try the &lt;a href=&quot;http://notableknotindex.webs.com/slippedbuntline.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slipped Buntline&lt;/a&gt; as a more secure alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T13:46:15.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1254" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1255" CreationDate="2012-03-14T17:20:38.627" Score="14" ViewCount="2332" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to prepare myself for the climb in the high mountains (for now by &quot;high mountains&quot; I mean elevation 4000 m and more, but eventually eight-thousanders). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What can I do to improve my general physical condition specifically for this purpose (oxygen deficiency)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking about both types of physical activity, as well as training methods (in the countryside and in the city). The question is only about physical condition (not strength), I've seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/464/what-are-some-proven-methods-of-training-for-week-long-backpacking-trips-in-high&quot;&gt;similar questions&lt;/a&gt; here but they weren't specifically related to dealing with low oxygen levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T13:11:09.797" Title="Training to prepare for oxygen deficiency in the high mountains" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1254" CreationDate="2012-03-14T18:14:03.347" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To deal with low oxygen environments you need more red blood cells. To get more red blood cells you have very few options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blood doping &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low pressure chamber treatments&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Actually going into higher altitudes on a regular basis (I recommend this one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure your diet has enough iron to support the red blood cell production.  However, iron by itself is not enough.  You have to put yourself in the environment that triggers your body to create the extra red blood cells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-03-14T18:14:03.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1258" CreationDate="2012-03-14T20:30:45.300" Score="17" ViewCount="442" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning on hiking the AT, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1244/am-i-likely-to-need-multiple-pairs-of-boots-on-the-at&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; prompted me to ask:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What gear should we expect to replace, and how often, on the Appalachian Trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume that we know basic gear maintenance and can patch a tent instead of replacing the whole thing. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  It occurs to me that gear to replace implies a lot of understanding about what's being carried so here's what we'll carry:  Tent, sleeping bag, ground pad, clothes, shoes, poles, packs, stove, raingear, knives&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T17:39:12.327" Title="How much gear will the AT eat?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1254" CreationDate="2012-03-14T23:40:57.307" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acclimatization is the most common technique.  Altitude sickness occurs at 2,400 m, so you go to a base camp (for example Cuzco if you're doing the Incan trail, or the South/North Base camps for Everest) and you let your body adjust to the altitude over a few days although it can easily take a week.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, acclimatizing has its limits, somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000m any length of time is detrimental due to the decrease in air pressure, so you can't just climb half-way up Everest, spend a week resting and the kick it for the last part, you'll be worse off after that week than when you began.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T13:11:09.797" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T13:11:09.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1256" CreationDate="2012-03-15T01:30:12.960" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you treat your gear well, it will almost all last a whole thru-hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rain Jacket&lt;/strong&gt;  If you have a bad year, you can have 80+ days of rain, and the shoulder straps of your backpack will wear out (delaminate usually) the shoulders of your rain jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt; are covered over in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1244/am-i-likely-to-need-multiple-pairs-of-boots-on-the-at&quot;&gt;other question&lt;/a&gt; pretty thoroughly I'd say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pants&lt;/strong&gt;:  If you wear pants, chances are you'll go through a couple pairs.  Usually the ankles are the part that goes, followed by the knees/groin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Socks&lt;/strong&gt;:  Depending on what type you go with, you'll go through quite a few pairs.  If you think of durability when choosing socks, it could be a wise choice.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://darntough.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Darn Tough&lt;/a&gt; socks are a staple for AT hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, I'll just say that a lot of your gear will be heavily worn by the AT.  Putting 150 nights on all your gear is more than a lifetime for most hikers.  I would say you'll end up retiring at least some of these:  all your daily worn clothes, tent, backpack, all waterproof stuff sacks (will no longer be waterproof), sleeping bag, insulated jacket, and rain pants.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard from various thru-hikers, and it's a pretty wide range that people experience.  I know some people that have their &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Hiking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;triple crown&lt;/a&gt; who used essentially the same set of gear the whole way and others who changed everything after each trail.  Personally, I had to replace my backpack and stuff sacks after the Pacific Crest Trail, and then I thought all my clothes were fine, but they fell apart within days of starting the Continental Divide Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T01:30:12.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1259" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1261" CreationDate="2012-03-15T04:59:21.280" Score="19" ViewCount="6671" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to hike the Grand Canyon (found out that as a single I do have a good shot at securing the permit!), and now I'm trying to make sure I carry as little as possible on said hike.  First thing I'm thinking about ditching is a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figure in May, its definitely not going to needed from a warmth perspective, and I was thinking about just taking a simple tarp to keep out any rain that might fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's my concern.  I'd rather not wake up with any companions in my bag. I do believe if i woke up with a scorpion, snake, or spider in my bag, I would be a bit, well, freaked out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I sleep in the open in the desert, am I likely to have an unwelcome guest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-11T18:48:59.243" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T18:48:59.243" Title="Is it safe to camp in the desert without a tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1260" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1262" CreationDate="2012-03-15T05:04:40.773" Score="18" ViewCount="2911" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking a five day hike, and I want to take a bazillion pictures.  It would be nice to have the  compass &amp;amp; GPS functionality too, and I want something really small.  The obvious choice is my iPhone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As everyone knows, however, an iPhone sucks juice like a baby waking up from a night's sleep. Even if I turn off all the radio transmitters, I just can't imagine my iPhone holding a charge for more than a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've poked around looking at hand-crank chargers (not recommended for smart phones), and solar panels seem to have really mixed results.  I've also seen chargers that take 9-volt batteries and convert them into juice, but realistically don't know how many batteries I'd need to drain to keep my electronics going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what is my best option for having this device last the whole hike, with no recharge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T10:28:05.207" Title="How can I keep my iPhone going on a multiday hike?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1259" CreationDate="2012-03-15T05:28:35.400" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would call it a reasonable risk to camp in the desert without a tent (but with a tarp available if it was to rain!).  I've &quot;cowboy&quot; camped 40 or 50 nights in the desert and never had any company try to join me in my sleeping bag :)  That being said, I would heartily recommend shaking out your clothes and &lt;strong&gt;shoes&lt;/strong&gt; before putting them on in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the desert setting, just be careful where you setup camp - anthills can make your campsite miserable, as can popping your inflatable mat on dried spiky things strewn about canyon floors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T05:28:35.400" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2012-03-15T05:40:57.273" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the GPS is mostly off (i.e. you're only rarely using your GPS app), I think you will get ~2 days of battery life.  To get that much battery life, you'd need to do these things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the GPS off as much as possible (i.e. use it no more that 5-6 times a day)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn it off at night completely&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep brightness to a minimum&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Disable all cellular antennas (may need to jailbreak to do this)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;remove unnecessary apps, especially anything that wants to run in the background&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;turn it off during the day as much as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So even with all that, you're looking at 2 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can you do beyond that?  I think the simplest solution to get you the recharge you'd need is to buy an iPhone battery case - usually this is just an external Li-ion battery that plugs into your iPhone.  These are pretty common, fairly light, and generally easy to use.  They also have the advantage of often combining in a waterproof case (so you can take pictures even if it is raining).  The limitation might be that it doesn't actually get you enough charges for what you want to do (a bazillion pictures are a lot!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that hand-cranks and solar chargers are not nearly reliable enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the only other solution that I might consider is something that eats AA Li-ion disposable batteries (or if you feel environmentally friendly, the best AA rechargeables you can find) and spits out power via USB.  Tekkeon makes a couple products that might be the right kind of thing (I've used one before that worked perfectly)... You might try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tekkeon.com/products-tekcharge1580-compat.html&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.  Li-ion AAs are very light, although expensive, and each set of 2 will charge your iPhone 1-2 times (depends on which AA charger you get and which iPhone you have... might be best to test this before you leave!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2012-03-15T16:02:06.857" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T16:02:06.857" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2012-03-15T15:18:22.913" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My solution is to let the phone be a phone (and GPS and web browser and ...) and take a camera to be a camera. My camera uses AA batteries, it's simple enough to bring spares, and I have a solar recharger for them too. I can take hundreds of pictures before I need to recharge the batteries. I can turn the phone on once a day or so to use the GPS or whatever, and I'm not using up phone battery when I'm taking pictures. Similarly, I'm not using up camera batteries when I'm checking to see if anyone phoned me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it appears counter-intuitive - why take two things when one can meet both functions? But it works for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T15:18:22.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1264" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1266" CreationDate="2012-03-15T15:30:29.550" Score="15" ViewCount="2476" Body="&lt;p&gt;When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not if someone takes a tumble into a crevasse then end up pulling their partner(s) in with them. What is the current expert advice? Is it better to tie everyone together, or keep the rope handily unattached and ready to perform a rescue if someone goes in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-10-29T18:36:06.010" LastActivityDate="2014-10-29T18:36:06.010" Title="Mountaineering / glacial traverse: rope-up or go it alone?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1265" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-15T16:08:15.730" Score="16" ViewCount="54898" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, mayonnaise. It is sold unrefrigerated, and is an essential component of any back-country sandwich. &lt;em&gt;Has anyone reached its limit and had it spoil on them?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I haven't. Of course, I've never had an opened bottle last more than about week unconsumed...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify just a bit - I know that the labels and recommendations are to refrigerate, but I think western society waaaay over-refrigerates everything... and that paranoia prevents a lot of great food from making it into the back-country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is not: what does the label say, but: has anyone ever had it turn south on them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit from a fellow mayonnaise lover:&lt;/em&gt;  Any developments in packaging in the past 4 years that might help?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-03-12T18:52:31.433" LastActivityDate="2016-03-12T18:52:31.433" Title="How long does mayonnaise last unrefrigerated in the back-country?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1264" CreationDate="2012-03-15T17:34:18.963" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have some credible people saying not to be roped up, I'd love to see it, because that sounds completely insane to me. Here's why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are traveling on a glacier without being roped up, there is a very, very, very good chance that you will die if you fall in a crevasse. This isn't because you vanish into nowhere, but because you will get what we morbidly call &quot;corked&quot; - you will get squished between the two sides and get stuck, most likely sustaining massive injuries on the way. To compound the issue, a rescue in this case can be nearly impossible to an average group for several reasons. First, access to a person's harness or other attachment points will be limited. Second, if you are so far down as to be stuck, rope length becomes a serious potential issue. Third, close contact with ice for a long period is a major hypothermia risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good training, practice, and technique makes the risk of dragging in partners very low, and the potential gain of being able to rescue someone very high. Keeping a good number of people on a team is also helpful (two people is an obvious minimum, but three or four is better if you have them). I suppose I can imagine situations where a very poorly prepared group wouldn't rope up, but that should be avoided from the very beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't to say that it doesn't happen. A very good friend of mine, Jim Davidson, recently wrote a book about his experience on Rainier, where he fell into a crevasse, dragging his partner with him. His partner and dear friend, Mike Price, died in the accident, and Jim managed to climb his way out by the skin of his teeth (the book is called &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0345523199&quot;&gt;The Ledge&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what this boils down to is that yes, as a rope team you risk accidents that involve more than just the first person to fall. Those risks can be minimized and managed carefully, but they never go away entirely. Training, experience, practice, and good equipment are all necessary to avoid those situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T17:34:18.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2012-03-15T19:50:52.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I understand, it doesn't last in the backcountry.  The recommended shelf-life for commercial mayonnaise, opened and inside the refrigerator, is two months.  The USDA recommends &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Basics_for_Handling_Food_Safely/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;only storing mayonnaise in the refrigerator.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the same page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Perishable food should not be left out more than 2 hours at room temperature (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F, 32.2 °C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mayo is perishable once it's been opened.  Looking at these guidelines, I'm not even sure if it's safe for me to take pre-made tuna salad on a backpacking trip.  It might be best to take some sealed take-out sized (single-serve) packets and keep them sealed until needed if you want to keep making those pb&amp;amp;j&amp;amp;mayo sammiches. ;)  Those little packets will keep for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wisn.com/news/9536721/detail.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;up to eight months after purchase,&lt;/a&gt; according to Heinz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in the Southeastern US, and have never felt safe taking mayo out with me into the backcountry, and I don't care for warm mayo-- so I've never had the opportunity to test out the USDA's recommendations in the field to see if experience would match up with what's on paper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:22:33.443" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:22:33.443" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1270" CreationDate="2012-03-15T20:52:15.493" Score="31" ViewCount="29666" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I bought my pack, we were told to always pack the tent and sleeping bag in the pack.  Since then I have seen a lot of articles and hikers doing the outside.  What are the benefits on packing the tent and sleeping bag in vs. strapping the tent and sleeping bag to the outside of the pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:32:35.037" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:32:35.037" Title="Tent and sleeping bag: pack inside or strap outside a backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2012-03-15T23:39:15.633" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is this is highly dependant on the environment. If I was on a trek in the middle of winter then I'd feel pretty comfortable taking it out for a few days and being cautious, but in the height of summer I doubt it'd safely last more than a few hours at most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other main issue is that when you're in the back country it's just not worth risking - if you're brought down with food poisoning it often happens suddenly, and being away from help complicates things massively in this sense. And that's before you get to the psychological worry that you're worried you may have got food poisoning from some gone off mayo!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-03-15T23:39:15.633" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1268" CreationDate="2012-03-16T00:33:54.677" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outside&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more room left inside for other stuff. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More likely to rip a hole in your gear when you toss your pack down. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More options for weight placement (which can lead to off-blanced pack.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More likely to fall off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inside&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better protection from the elements, rocks, branches. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight is closer to your center of gravity (and usually better balanced). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less room inside your pack. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will never fall off.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, it is a matter of personal preference, but I always encourage people to pack it inside -- and insist they do when borrowing my gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;PROTIP: When forced to pack something outside (ie, external frame, or carrying too much stuff) always use closed loop tie-downs that are threaded through a closed loop on both your pack and your gear. That way, if the gear slides off without noticing, it will still be chained to your pack.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-06-08T00:37:39.807" LastActivityDate="2012-06-08T00:37:39.807" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1268" CreationDate="2012-03-16T01:32:48.317" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it fits, it's better to put it inside. That way it stays dry and is protected. If you put down your pack on rocks or small limbs, it can poke holes in the tent cover or sleeping bag cover if they are strapped to the outside. (In some conditions, a wet sleeping bag can be a safety issue.) The more tired I get, the harder my pack seems to hit the ground. Odd, huh?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's more comfy if you have the weight of the pack close to your back. When you strap heavy stuff on the outside, it moves the center of gravity away from you, which pulls harder on the shoulder straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-16T14:44:08.707" LastActivityDate="2012-03-16T14:44:08.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1268" CreationDate="2012-03-16T01:41:35.283" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my tents goes in my rucksack, but I have another one which has two carry bags which strap nicely to the sides of my rucksack, keeping the weight well balanced and close to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In dry conditions I'll strap the sleeping bag to the outside to make space, as it is light it doesn't affect the center of gravity much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Center of gravity and keeping kit dry should be two important considerations. I have never had damage to kit from carrying it on the outside, but this should be a consideration if you are travelling in an area where there is a risk of snagging or tearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="2" LastEditDate="2012-03-16T14:41:55.887" LastActivityDate="2012-03-16T14:41:55.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2012-03-16T15:03:04.473" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mayo will generally discourage the growth of bacteria while sealed.  It is stored at room temperature in the store, but that's after being packed in a controlled environment that minimizes the risk of contamination.  Once you open that container, you'll increase the contamination risk, which is why they say to refrigerate it.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC167728/pdf/614172.pdf&quot;&gt;Once mayo is contaminated, it is no longer safe.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, if either type of mayonnaise is cross-contaminated by foods&#xA;  such as raw beef, unclean utensils, or E. coli O157:H7-infected food&#xA;  handlers after commercially processed containers are opened, the&#xA;  pathogen may survive at 58C for several weeks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No one can tell you &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; how long it will last.  &lt;strong&gt;It will usually last until you contaminate it with bacteria and medium for growth.&lt;/strong&gt;  Then it will spoil pretty rapidly, usually within hours at the wrong temp, days at a good one.  The problem is that bacterial or fungal contamination is not guaranteed to leave a detectable smell or taste.  So by the time you find out you have poisoned yourself, you've almost guaranteed that your past the point where you can treat the poisoning.  Botulism is usually fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there were a guaranteed way to tell when it's spoiled, you could be safe just by inspecting each time before using.  Since there is no guaranteed way to tell, and spoilage is due to contamination, I have to say that &lt;em&gt;from a safety standpoint&lt;/em&gt;, it is good until you use it the first time.  After that there is always the chance that you have contaminated it and will kill yourself eating it.  You could do this for years, or your entire life and not suffer consequences, but you are rolling the dice and I cannot recommend rolling the dice like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth noting, from the study above, that the acidity level is not the primary inhibitor of e.coli:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tolerance of E. coli O157:H7 inoculated at the two highest test&#xA;  populations was greater in real mayonnaise than in reduced-calorie&#xA;  mayonnaise dressing held at 20 or 308C, temperatures within the range&#xA;  used for normal commercial mayonnaise distribution and storage,&#xA;  despite the lower pH and actual higher acidity in the nonfat phase of&#xA;  real mayonnaise than in that of reduced-calorie mayonnaise dressing.&#xA;  This indicates that factors other than pH and acids may be inﬂuencing&#xA;  the viability of cells in the two formulas. The presence of 0.09%&#xA;  sodium benzoate in reduced-calorie mayonnaise dressing would be&#xA;  expected to adversely affect the viability of E. coli O157:H7&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed, it has been found that low pH alone does not really slow Ecoli down:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ability of E. coli O157:H7 to tolerate an acid pH in several types&#xA;  of foods has been documented by other researchers. E. coli O157:H7 can&#xA;  grow at acidities approaching 0.8%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk is not so much in the mayonnaise per-se, as in carrying it around in a container that you have to repeatedly open and close in a intrinsically non-sterile setting.  Certainly using a squirt bottle would reduce risk of contamination, but individual packets will completely remove the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-19T03:01:53.553" LastActivityDate="2012-03-19T03:01:53.553" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1307" CreationDate="2012-03-16T18:25:48.997" Score="9" ViewCount="218" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planing on taking the &lt;a href=&quot;http://yamnuska.com&quot;&gt;Yamnuska&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://yamnuska.com/mountaineering/beginner-programs/mountain-climbing-instruction/&quot;&gt;Snow and Ice Long Weekend&lt;/a&gt; class in September. The final day includes a summit attempt on Mt. Athabasca (3491m). I'm looking to buy my first pair of mountaineering boots for the trip. I'm hoping for something fairly versatile, but I guess that goes without saying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a tendency towards cold feet, so I'm currently looking at double boots. The La Sportiva &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain/baruntse&quot;&gt;Baruntse&lt;/a&gt; has come up on my list so far, but I'm worried it might be too warm. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any lower-end options for double-boots. I have hopes of doing some climbing on larger mountains than Athabasca in the future and I camp in the winter time in Maine, where temperatures can be down to -20 degrees, but tend to hang out more around 0. There's a lot of standing around flapping gums on camping trips, so warm boots are a must in this situation as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I'm pretty new to gear this technical, so any information that you could provide would be much appreciated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="149" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-05-06T14:00:04.677" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T14:00:04.677" Title="Looking for a boot recommendation" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1275" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1277" CreationDate="2012-03-16T19:35:36.623" Score="29" ViewCount="11398" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm curious of a good technique to cross a stream while backpacking that's above the boot's waterproof line but no higher than the knees. I typically face upstream and use my hiking poles for stability. However, I'm not a fan of soggy boots, so I tend to go barefoot, which adds to the risk of slipping on slick rocks or stepping on a sharp edge. Is it best to wear the boots anyway and try to dry them by rotating socks? Or would a pair of camp shoes that quickly dry be a good option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/657/if-i-have-to-cross-an-icy-flowing-river-what-are-some-ways-i-can-cross-safely&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, but less related to survival and more about typical backpacking trips. I'm often going solo and on well maintained trails, but without a bridge at the streams. And because of leave-no-trace principles, I don't want to construct anything to cross on top of (e.g. fall a tree).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T19:20:02.477" Title="What is the best way to cross streams while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1276" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1279" CreationDate="2012-03-16T20:47:17.790" Score="13" ViewCount="1317" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the advantage (or advantages) of a bent-shaft canoe paddle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told that it allows for more efficient use of both arms: the rationale I heard was that your arm on the grip does more work than your arm on the blade with a straight paddle and this is &quot;evened out&quot; with a bent-shaft paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also been told that it moves the water more efficiently (though, assuming the same blade, I fail to understand the theory here.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm neither a kinesiologist nor a physicist, so I'm not convinced about either of these answers.  I find a bent-shaft paddle more &lt;em&gt;comfortable&lt;/em&gt;, but I've always chalked that up to personal preference more than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anybody shed some light on this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.greyowlpaddles.com/pages/bentshaft.html&quot;&gt;Examples of bent shaft paddles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="95" LastEditorUserId="95" LastEditDate="2012-03-18T01:32:51.367" LastActivityDate="2012-03-19T00:31:59.000" Title="What's the advantage to a bent-shaft paddle?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2012-03-16T21:54:10.200" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on how many crossings.  If very few, I do them barefoot and change.  If there are a lot of crossings in a short distance I have shoes that I just wear for the entire hike.  I'll cover both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Rules&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't use rocks if you can avoid it.  Stand &lt;em&gt;on the bottom&lt;/em&gt; of the&#xA;river.  Just don't try rock hopping - you're asking for serious injury. (Yeah, I've done it too, without getting hurt, but it's a bad idea.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a hiking pole (or two) for added stability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid funnels with rapid current.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you feel unstable then put your rainfly on your pack and float it or, at the least, unbuckle the belt so you can ditch it if you go under the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you step, wiggle your foot before putting weight on it.  If it's slippery try a different footing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barefoot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid stepping where you can't see.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not go barefoot in high traffic areas that could have broken glass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most river rocks aren't sharp, but use caution.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there are so many crossing that it's not practical to change, I just hike in shoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for aerated shoes that will drain fast.  Find something that's still a good fit.  This will vary from person to person.  It seems that everyone I meet uses something and swears by it and there is nothing else possibly better ever...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Test first.  I do this with places that allow returns.  I put the shoes on &lt;em&gt;with socks&lt;/em&gt; and hose them until soaked.  Then I walk five miles.  If my feet hurt, I return them.  I do take care to not beat them up in that five miles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We do Jack's River here in GA every year.  Last trip I used &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003UNKJ4Q&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; and they worked amazingly well for 16+ river crossings in 8 miles.  However, you have to buy what works for your feet.  I tried on about a dozen shoes before I found these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-17T16:18:18.807" LastActivityDate="2012-03-17T16:18:18.807" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1276" CreationDate="2012-03-17T15:51:53.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your link, the manufacturer's claim is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The blade of the paddle is offset from the shaft to allow the blade to&#xA;  remain vertical to the canoe's path throughout the stroke. This&#xA;  improves the efficiency of each stroke and allows shorter strokes at&#xA;  an increased stroke rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't used one, but I can see how that could help - a higher stroke rate can be more efficient in single paddle canoeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-03-17T15:51:53.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1276" CreationDate="2012-03-17T16:29:09.837" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a straght shaft paddle, one of two strokes is common:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you put the paddle in the water ahead of you sloped like this &lt;code&gt;\&lt;/code&gt; and don't get great efficiency on the first half of the stroke, because it's hard to pull something down when you're above it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you skip that whole first half of the stroke and just put the paddle in vertically right next to you. Now you're paying the overhead cost of bringing the paddle forward again twice as often because your strokes are only half length.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strike&gt;The theory with bent shaft is you can still reach forward for a longer stroke, but the blade face will be vertical on entry, so you can just pull it toward yourself, and the whole thing will be more efficient.&lt;/strike&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently I had the paddle backwards in my reasoning above. The theory is that the &quot;in front of you&quot; part of the stroke is weak, so by having the blade at an angle you can put it in the water not very far in front of you at all, and get a longer push part in the back half of the stroke (the stronger half) because the blade is not lifting up against the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have enough trouble stowing flat paddles for portages, and don't really think that powering across the lake as fast is possible matters much on a multi-day / week trip, so I've never bothered with them. (I do feather my blades when paddling into the wind though.) But that's the theory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2012-03-19T00:31:59.000" LastActivityDate="2012-03-19T00:31:59.000" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-03-18T01:25:33.883" Score="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;The calories to melt even frozen water are pretty small, and the water gained is certainly greater than that used to aid the use of those calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So 1 calorie = 1 degree celcius (roughly with minor variation).  Okay easy.  Except it takes 80 times that to melt it initially.  Screw snow, let's figure on ice cubes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 liter of water frozen to ice at 0 °C&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1 liter water = 1 kg water, (1000g * 80) 80,000 calories to melt the ice and then 37500 for the next 37.5° (to achieve 37.5 °C, temperature of the human body)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;117500 little c calories&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's 117.5 dietary calories, because a dietary calorie is actually a kilocalorie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much water does it take to process 117.5 dietary calories?  No where &lt;em&gt;near&lt;/em&gt; a liter or we'd all be dead the next time we ate a christmas supper.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you're &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; in doubt... well average daily intake is 2000 calories.  So if we assume ice is net negative then it must take more than a liter of water per 117.5 calories... which means that the human daily intake of water would need to be &lt;strong&gt;17 liters&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chow.com/food-news/54270/does-drinking-ice-water-burn-calories/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, but researched and did all the math myself to fact check it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="13940" LastEditDate="2019-02-24T14:55:14.190" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T14:55:14.190" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2012-03-18T04:37:48.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking the lead from MrWizard, I did a little look for what the boys and girls in white lab-coats say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the evidence presented at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snopes.com&lt;/a&gt; and the experts at the Ketchup Advisory Board (see MrWizard's answer) a few interesting articles (see below) all seem to point to this conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Commercially produced mayonnaise made with acetic acid is safe and due to its low pH, as well as the salt, and other additives it contains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That, combined with the fact that none of the outdoor experts here have ever had mayo go bad on them... well, draw your own conclusions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References (&lt;em&gt;added emphasis mine&lt;/em&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Smittle, R.B.&lt;/strong&gt; “Microbiological Safety of Mayonnaise, Salad Dressings, and Sauces Produced in the United States: A Review.” &lt;em&gt;Journal of Food Protection&lt;/em&gt; 63, no. 8 (2000): 1144–1153.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The absence of reports of foodborne illness associated directly with the consumption of commercially prepared acidic dressings and sauces is evidence of their safety. Salmonella, E. coli O157: H7, E. coli, L. monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Yersinia enterocolitica &lt;em&gt;die when inoculated into mayonnaise&lt;/em&gt; and dressings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The reported highest manufacturing target pH for dressings and sauces is 4.4, which is below the 4.75 pKa of acetic acid and below the reported inhibitory pH of 4.5 for foodborne pathogens in the presence of acetic acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Collins, M. A&lt;/strong&gt;. “Effect of pH and Acidulant Type on the Survival of Some Food Poisoning Bacteria in Mayonnaise.” &lt;em&gt;Microbiologie - Aliments - Nutrition&lt;/em&gt; 3, no. 3 (n.d.): 215–221.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;All vegetative bacterial cells were eliminated&lt;/em&gt; in acetic acid mayonnaise pH &amp;lt;4.4. S. aureus was not eliminated from citric acid mayonnaise; in addition, at pH &gt;5.0 both S. muenster and C. perfringens survived in this product. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suggests that the type of acid is important (acetic better than citric) and PH is a factor (as noted in the first article). I believe all commercial mayo is still produced using acetic acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weagant, Stephen D., James L. Bryant, and Don H. Bark&lt;/strong&gt;. “Survival of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 in Mayonnaise and Mayonnaise-Based Sauces at Room and Refrigerated Temperatures.” &lt;em&gt;Journal of Food Protection&lt;/em&gt; 57, no. 7 (1994): 629–631.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains, when inoculated and mixed into mayonnaise and stored at 25°C, &lt;em&gt;became undetectable after 72 h&lt;/em&gt; storage when assayed by direct plating or by selective enrichment. The same strains inoculated into mayonnaise and stored at 7°C were detectable up to 35 days when assayed by direct plating or by selective enrichment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly seems to suggest that at warmer temperatures, Mayo is &lt;em&gt;more effective&lt;/em&gt; at killing E.Coli - likely (I imagine) to the general faster pace of biological processes at higher temps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-03-18T04:47:35.627" LastActivityDate="2012-03-18T04:47:35.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1276" CreationDate="2012-03-18T17:29:07.563" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The point of the bent shaft is to maximize the amount of stroke for which the paddle is vertical through the stroke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at this video.  The logic is explain in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4hJukc8-Lc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;.  He does a good job of visually showing why you might choose a bent shaft paddle.  He also explains that it is not good for all types of canoeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-03-18T17:29:07.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1284" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1286" CreationDate="2012-03-19T00:22:12.597" Score="33" ViewCount="1750" Body="&lt;p&gt;One things that has always troubled me when buying a sleeping bag is the temperature rating.  When looking at a bag that claims to be a +15°F bag (for example) how do I know that it is &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; good down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (preferably without buying it)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the rating just determined by the manufacturer, or is there any sort of independent validation/criteria on these ratings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T15:39:34.377" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T15:39:34.377" Title="How are sleeping bag temperature ratings determined?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1214" CreationDate="2012-03-19T01:00:03.783" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Finally ran into another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/ask_kristin/89&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;article on this&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New Balance, when you can find them, are definitely sized properly.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002JVWOE8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;My clouds are even still on amazon&lt;/a&gt; (I was told by the NB store near here that they are no longer made).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Asolo should be sized correctly based on my reading, but sadly they have no distributors in the US, according to their site.  ( Oddly, if you select USA, the only city they list is in Lebanon O.o )  They can be had on Amazon, and they do carry &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001FREIKK&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2E widths in some models&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Merrels have supposedly fixed their notoriously narrow frame in the last year.  I'll check some out at REI and report back.  (Update:  Merrels have become pretty good on width and are my go-to for wider shoes that fit well)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T14:24:38.243" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T14:24:38.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1284" CreationDate="2012-03-19T05:46:10.017" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sadly, in North America, there is no rating beyond what each manufacturer decides for itself.  I suspect that in the US especially, some thought goes into liability (i.e. if someone freezes to death in a bag that's rated to 0F and it's 20F out, they could be in trouble).  Certain manufacturers gain a reputation for conservative ratings, others for optimistic ratings... and sadly, some manufacturers are all over the map (i.e. don't use an internally consistent rating system at all).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, there is a standard that is (hopefully) coming to North America, called &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot;&gt;EN 13537&lt;/a&gt;.  It is currently applied to all bags in the EU and certain manufacturers elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard establishes a way to test sleeping bags, and then provides each bag with a set of ratings from an lower &quot;you won't die&quot; limit, all the way up to &quot;you will be sweaty&quot; upper limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's another wrinkle though, which is that a lot of the warmth people attribute to their &quot;awesome&quot; sleeping bag, comes from a combination of other factors:  sleeping pad R-value, sleeping clothing, tent heat retention, site selection, and what I'll call metabolism (i.e. whether you are a &quot;cold&quot; or &quot;hot&quot; sleeper).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when you ask whether a 15F bag is really good to 15F, I'd say that it's impossible to know without getting the bag and trying it, at least in North America.  I think if you know you have controlled all the other variables, and are a &quot;hot&quot; sleeper, with research you can likely  find out which manufacturers are conservative raters, and go with them.  In Europe, you'd just need to know where you fit in their spectrum of ratings and buy similar bags to that in a different temperature range (much easier!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example that might help explain what I'm talking about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=796&amp;amp;p_id=2321138&quot;&gt;Montbell U.L. SUPER SPIRAL DOWN HUGGER #1&lt;/a&gt; is EN rated as 26F &quot;Comfort&quot;, 15F &quot;Lower Limit&quot;, -19F &quot;Extreme&quot;.  When it's sold in the US, that usually just translates as a &quot;15F bag&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2012-03-19T05:53:48.773" LastActivityDate="2012-03-19T05:53:48.773" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1287" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1302" CreationDate="2012-03-19T09:29:36.220" Score="18" ViewCount="1160" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the near future I will have to prepare myself for a Siberia expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During the winter, average temperatures in Siberia range from -10°F&#xA;  (-23°C) to below -50°C (-45°F).&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Siberia/arctic_clothing.pdf&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I wear in very low temperature conditions? Is there any layer system that has been proven to effectively protect the body from very low temperature exposure?&#xA;I have found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Siberia/arctic_clothing.pdf&quot;&gt;this paper&lt;/a&gt; but I am sure many of you have some personal experience/tested “solutions” – that's what I am asking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time (60-70%) I will be outdoors, just visiting different places (i.e. sight seeing, walking). I will also travel through Siberia (by train &amp;amp; bus) but the question mainly concerns protecting from cold when outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:44:11.030" LastActivityDate="2020-04-23T00:22:31.577" Title="Dealing with very cold climate (clothing)" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1288" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4834" CreationDate="2012-03-19T15:34:04.273" Score="12" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been reading a lot of product reviews, and filter/pump solutions seem to be very high maintenance, very heavy, or both.  Are there any lightweight filters which can be relied on for many liters of water without requiring lengthy clean times, lots of extra cartridges, and/or spare parts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd prefer a recommendation from someone who has used one on a lengthy hike (one requiring more than 20 liters of water filtering over several days). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-10-30T22:27:51.450" Title="Will any filter/pump purifier last through longer hikes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1288" CreationDate="2012-03-19T21:31:38.383" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/platypus/filtration/gravityworks-filters/category&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Platypus GravityWorks&lt;/a&gt; filter with great success and found it to be reliable, easy to clean and it filtered water quicker than any hand-pump filter I've ever used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I really liked about this filter was that not only was it relatively small and light compared to other filters, but there are no moving parts whatsoever.  If you were to need to replace a filter, you just replace the filter module.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longest trip I used this filter on was a 7-day backpacking trip with one other person along Isle Royale's Minong Ridge (a lot of hiking on exposed ridges, so we definitely went through a lot of water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="57" LastEditorUserId="2643" LastEditDate="2013-10-26T14:52:48.780" LastActivityDate="2013-10-26T14:52:48.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1290" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1295" CreationDate="2012-03-20T08:21:43.763" Score="7" ViewCount="407" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a BlocVent bivy sack. What’s a good way to store it for a long time? Obviously I’ll dry it after a hike, but is it okay to roll it up and put it into a small stuff sack afterwards? Or should I keep it unrolled, like a sleeping bag or a mat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:17:26.257" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:17:26.257" Title="How do I store a bivy sack?" Tags="&lt;storage&gt;&lt;bivy-sacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1291" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-03-20T08:44:47.073" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-03-20T08:44:47.073" LastActivityDate="2012-03-20T08:44:47.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1292" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-03-20T08:44:47.073" Score="0" Body="A waterproof and windproof bag usually intended for one person, possibly with a sleeping bag and a mat. Sometimes used as an emergency shelter, sometimes as a lightweight alternative to a tent." OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-03-21T05:10:29.793" LastActivityDate="2012-03-21T05:10:29.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4153" CreationDate="2012-03-20T13:44:06.260" Score="11" ViewCount="9862" Body="&lt;p&gt;Barberries are so common around here that there would be enough for a fruit serving a day for quite a while. But there is a problem: I do not know whether or not they are edible. Are they edible in any quantity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T03:48:18.443" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:43:19.717" Title="Are barberries edible?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1290" CreationDate="2012-03-20T17:27:12.827" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also sent the question to the manufacturer. They say that all membrane stuff in general is best stored unfolded, freely hanging or lying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-03-20T17:27:12.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1296" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1297" CreationDate="2012-03-20T17:38:08.147" Score="12" ViewCount="14105" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.polylina.co.uk/pour&amp;amp;store.html&quot;&gt;pour and store bags&lt;/a&gt;. They seem a bit similar to the bags for trekking freeze-dried meals like Travel lunch. That gave me the idea of preparing the meals myself beforehand and packing them into such bags. It sounds easy &amp;amp; clean on the hike: just take out the bag for one meal, pour hot water into it and wait a while. The bags could be reused, which is a plus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is something like this a common practice? Which kind of bags would be good for it? (I mean, it has to be 101% food safe and withstand the hot water.) I do realize there’s only so much variety of such meals that I can prepare at home without freeze drying, but I don’t mind. I’m mainly curious if the system works and what bags to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-03-21T13:23:00.747" Title="Cooking by pouring hot water into plastic bags?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1296" CreationDate="2012-03-20T18:16:58.420" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use this system exclusively, and there's an entire site dedicated to the variety of ways you can do it.  I think it is generally called &quot;freezer bag cooking&quot;, and the main site I'm aware of is called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TrailCooking&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always used ziplocks marked as &quot;freezer bags&quot; from the grocery store, but those ones you found seem like they would be perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's some more information in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/980/are-there-any-low-sodium-freeze-dried-meals/984#984&quot;&gt;different question&lt;/a&gt; too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At it's most basic, I've taken a ramen noodle pack, emptied it into a ziplock, then emptied the flavour pack in there too.  On the trail, boil 2 cups of water, throw it in the ziplock, zip it closed, and then wait 5-10 minutes.  If it's cold out, you might put the ziplock in your hat to keep it better insulated, or put it between layers of your clothes (bonus of keeping you warm while you wait!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple downsides to freezer bag cooking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You essentially waste the bags, they aren't very reusable after you fill them with hot water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes the bags get little pinprick holes in them if you aren't careful (i.e. ramen can be sharp if it's crushed in your backpack).  So when you pour in the hot water, you get hot water everywhere!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good upsides though!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very little mess on the trail, just seal up the bag when you're done!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no cleaning dishes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fast and simple on trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lightweight because all you need to do is boil water, you can use the lightest stoves - alcohol, esbit, or tiny canister stoves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-03-20T18:16:58.420" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1298" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-20T22:59:35.337" Score="20" ViewCount="2124" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I got a 2-person tent for backpacking. At some point, I let the rain fly get too hot. It became sticky and its waterproof coating peeled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to buy a replacement rain fly, but apparently the manufacturer has discontinued the tent model and no longer sells its parts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems unreasonable to me. I want to buy a tent knowing that if I damage it beyond repair, I'll be able to buy replacement parts. I don't think that tent technology changes too fast to allow this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does any tent manufacturer promise to sell replacement parts for some predefined period of time?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Clarification&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; asking about warrantees, in case of product deficiencies. I'm concerned with those times when the damage is &lt;strong&gt;clearly my fault&lt;/strong&gt;. I don't expect the manufacturer to pay for my mistakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="319" LastEditorUserId="319" LastEditDate="2012-03-29T13:01:26.743" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T15:24:54.060" Title="Does any tent manufacturer promise to have replacement parts?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1298" CreationDate="2012-03-21T11:19:39.917" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your mileage will vary by manufacturer, tent technology might not change, but designs do quite a lot (just to keep you wanting the next thing...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt; - they have a 100% full return or replacement guarantee on all purchases that extends pretty much for eternity. I demand a lot of my gear, and even when it has let me down, REI never has.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update&lt;/em&gt;: Sometime in 2014/15? REI changed their policy to a 1 year no-questions-asked return guarantee. Likely due to people abusing the program (as evidenced by the stuff you'll find for sale in their &quot;garage sale&quot; events). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Note: I am no way - nor have I ever been - associated with REI)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2016-06-29T13:51:56.707" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T13:51:56.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1296" CreationDate="2012-03-21T13:23:00.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Nalgene bottles (much more heat resistant) for rehydrating dried meat or beans. I pour in boiling water, leave the lid loose until it cools a little (otherwise it shrinks in the bottle walls and cracks them) and then tighten the lid and carry the bottle with me through the day. At dinner time it goes into a pot to be the start of a meal. The bottles are tougher than bags, and reusable any number of times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not sure I see the advantage of the bags. Surely you still need some sort of pot to actually boil the water in? So you can't just travel without pots, it's just about saving on dishes? Ramen noodles don't exactly get a pot filthy. Because I'm canoeing, there's always lake water to wash dishes in. Maybe things are different when you're hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The concept is a good one though - once you introduce dried food to boiling water, you don't necessarily have to keep it on the stove. Since I take only one stove, often I'll cook one part of the meal, take that pot aside and wrap it in a towel to keep warm, and cook the other part. (Eg spaghetti sauce keeps warm while I cook pasta, or stew keeps warm while I cook rice.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-03-21T13:23:00.747" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1294" CreationDate="2012-03-22T00:43:39.383" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, although they can be a bit sour. They are popular in Persian cuisine, where they are known as zereshk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="402" LastActivityDate="2012-03-22T00:43:39.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1287" CreationDate="2012-03-23T19:03:16.153" Score="11" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a two layer winter hat to protect your ears&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a good winter jacket (long enough) supporting -40ºC (-40ºF)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;winter boots &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a two layer gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a scarf&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the intermediate layer: The key point is to not sweat. Depending on your body, you should choose the appropriate &quot;heat level&quot; intermediate layer. Some shops will have different categories from very cool to very warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least:&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is more important to have a very warm winter jacket than very warm intermediate levels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry with you spare socks, colder or warmer intermediate layers, instant hand and feet warmers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal preferences (I live in Canada and do snow-shoeing in winter): &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salomon, Columbia, Northface winter jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Merrel boots thermo 8 or 12 (Northface is nice also)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;merino socks  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:12:37.527" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:12:37.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1303" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1304" CreationDate="2012-03-26T00:54:06.877" Score="15" ViewCount="711" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was on a group trip this weekend where a fellow hiker brought an &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001C1UGVO&quot;&gt;Esbit stove&lt;/a&gt; which uses hexamine fuel tabs.  The temperature was not what I would consider extreme.  Temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s Fahrenheit (3 to 7 Celcius) with high wind gusts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Esbit tablets would not light with matches at all.  Eventually we got it to light by using a hot burning coal from the fire.  In the end the Esbit would not provide enough heat and the fellow hiker had to cook with my &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000A8C5QE&quot;&gt;Pocket Rocket&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the operating parameters of an Esbit?  From reading I'd always thought they were all weather but I'd like to hear from other experienced hikers on their experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2012-03-31T22:33:04.740" LastActivityDate="2017-05-24T15:17:01.807" Title="How does the Esbit stove perform in cold &amp; wind?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1303" CreationDate="2012-03-26T04:03:02.557" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used hexamine fuel in sub-freezing temperatures before, and my experience is that it works reasonably well if you keep your stove protected from the wind.  In cold weather it will take several cubes to get your water boiling.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You really need to keep the stove protected from wind, though, even in warm weather, the flame gets blown off pretty easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-03-26T04:03:02.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1288" CreationDate="2012-03-26T04:12:44.497" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've use a Katadyn Hiker (not sure which model) on several multiday trips, pumping more than 20 liters per day. It holds up well. It is possible to break the plastic and clog the filter on any water filter, so you should have a backup plan in case it fails -- spare water filter, iodine tablets, enough fuel to boil water, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get into some water with lots of silt (glacier silt or muddy water) it can clog up a filter. The ceramic filters seem more susceptible, but it will eventually happen with any water filter in water with lots of silt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer to carry an entire spare water filter rather than a filter cartridge. That way, I can still pump water no matter what fails on the first filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-03-26T04:12:44.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2012-03-26T13:46:54.977" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option that is super useful when you're travelling in a group is to have different packs for different purposes rather than each person carrying their own stuff. For example we have a &quot;tent pack&quot; and a &quot;kitchen pack&quot;. The advantages include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a significant weight difference, which you could use to support hikers of different strengths. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's quicker to find something when you need it, because you know which pack it's in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;on arrival at camp, you put the packs on opposite sides of the site and there's less running around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no concern about &quot;food in the tent&quot; if sleeping bags and food are not even in the same backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we only need one super-waterproof large liner (for the tent pack) since it's ok if pots, dishes etc get wet (food is in smaller super-waterproofs.) Pretty much everything in the tent pack needs to stay dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a group of 2 or more, consider it. Also, if you don't live together and didn't pack together, the pause before setting off during which you reorganize everything into categories is a fantastic way to check that you've all brought the right stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-03-26T13:46:54.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1274" CreationDate="2012-03-26T18:05:28.740" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's tempting to opt for softer more flexible boots (for the comfort), but these will wear out quicker and become less waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Scarpa &quot;Manta&quot; boots are a good place to start - they're extremely sturdy and I think they'll last you a good number of years. I've heard good things about the Sportiva brand too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain boots come up on eBay all the time - you can get a good deal on a pair thats only been used once or twice (by someone who changed their mind about mountaineering once they'd actually tried it!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're all going to be warm as long as you use them correctly. It's important to get the right size - allow for the heavy socks you'll be wearing, as well as for the inevitable foot-swelling after walking around all day. If your boots are too tight they will restrict the blood circulation in your feet, and that's when you'll start to worry about frostbite in your toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="413" LastActivityDate="2012-03-26T18:05:28.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1308" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-26T20:30:19.517" Score="16" ViewCount="1559" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am worried about bears and wolves when camping so I'm looking at portable electric fences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are they effective and more importantly just how dangerous are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="414" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:20:10.533" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:20:10.533" Title="How effective are portable electric fences?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="406" CreationDate="2012-03-27T12:43:49.043" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back when I smoked, I preferred a zippo lighter to a disposable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;effectively windproof.  You can't light up in a hurricane, but then again, you can't use a disposable in more than a gentle breeze without trying to shield it from the wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coolness.  that clink-snik sound is just plain old cool (and something I miss now that I quit the bad habit).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;disposable lighters have tons more fuel  than a zippo does.  My zippo tended to need filling somewhere around 3 times a week (smoking a pack a day).  Sure, it could survive the wind better, but the more flame it made to compensate for wind, the more fuel it would burn.  Before I used a zippo, I had disposables last me almost a year (I more often replaced them because I lost them than they actually died on me).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight.  Zippos are made of metal, disposables are plastic except for the part that creates/holds the flame&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For camping, I would recommend a disposable, stored in some sort of secure container that will protect it from random stuff pushing on the gas lever.  I typically have a second one in a waterproof container, similarly protected from random stuff from letting all the gas leak out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2012-03-27T12:43:49.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1310" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-27T18:06:27.297" Score="7" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer, I plan to walk from the Wormser Hütte in Austria to the Heilbronner Hütte in Austria. I know that this can be done in 1 day, but when googeling, the tour length differs a lot. Some sources speak about 20km(12.4mi) and 1000hm and others about 30km(18.6mi) and 2000hm. This makes some difference for me. Therefore I tried to use Google to get the directions and then tools like GPSVisualizer to plot a profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Wormser%20H%C3%BCtte,%20Schruns,%20Austria&amp;amp;daddr=Heilbronner-%20H%C3%BCtte%20-%20Verwallgruppe%20-%20P%C3%A4chter%20Immler%20Manfred,%20Inner%20Tobel,%20Gaschurn,%20%C3%96sterreich&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;sll=47.06375,9.97456&amp;amp;sspn=0.067002,0.181789&amp;amp;geocode=FcYizgIdIDOYACGu0-PuxJ_LPg;FS_xzAIdzeOYACF0pu1fdDZH_CnXm6oqEVWDRzH077pDIhN6PA&amp;amp;oq=heilbronner%20h%C3%BC&amp;amp;mra=ls&amp;amp;t=m&amp;amp;z=12&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Google Maps can't find the path over the mountains, but just a highway.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how can I get more information about such concrete tour plans? I'm particularly interested in the length of the tour and the height differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-31T03:05:09.453" LastActivityDate="2012-03-31T10:41:56.817" Title="How to get more information about a planned tour?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1312" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-28T21:08:55.380" Score="8" ViewCount="274" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want it all in one.  I recently went to Florida and fell in love with West Palm Beach, but I could never live there due to the lack of climbing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any locations which combine year round warmth, Florida Key style sand beaches, and readily available spots suitable for someone experienced in bouldering?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="217" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-24T22:55:15.300" LastActivityDate="2012-04-25T00:26:25.737" Title="Are there any year round beaches with nearby bouldering?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1312" CreationDate="2012-03-28T21:54:45.830" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are into sport climbing, Thailand has got to be the place.  Specifically, check out Krabi or Railay, also anywhere that offers deep water soloing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside to Thailand is that you'll spend half the year looking for rock that isn't wet (i.e. during rainy season).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-24T20:23:09.990" LastActivityDate="2012-04-24T20:23:09.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1308" CreationDate="2012-03-29T16:11:59.217" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are you sure this is a good idea at all? If you need an electric fence to keep animals from your camp, then (in my opinion!) you must have done something wrong. As for wolves, did you &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; hear of a &lt;em&gt;single&lt;/em&gt; case where wolves would attack a camp site? Bears are a different beast, but again: I suggest doing everything to prevent the situation, not to solve it with an electric fence. Don’t sleep where there might be bears. If you do, keep the traditional precautions – don’t keep the food at the campsite, don’t cook at the campsite, try to pick a place away from possible animal paths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-03-29T16:11:59.217" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1315" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-30T00:50:42.317" Score="9" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've constructed a cat can jet stove as described &lt;a href=&quot;http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  He has a windscreen design, but it seems to be overkill (and doesn't work for my pot).  I've tried a couple of my own now, but they are all failing due to what appears to be not enough space between the wind shield and the pot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the minimum gap needed between pot and windscreen to allow for a steady flame on alcohol jet such as the example given?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-30T14:17:25.180" LastActivityDate="2012-04-02T22:01:37.450" Title="What is the minimum gap needed for a windscreen on a cat can stove?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1308" CreationDate="2012-03-30T18:26:55.827" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, electric fences with an attached alarm are pretty common when camping in Svalbard (lots and lots of polar bears). Yet, this unfortunately has the sole purpose of buying you some extra time to get your rifle and can only be considered the last of last resorts. Additionally the failure rate seems to be rather high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case I don't think you'll need one in 'standard bear' country, just use common bear caution when setting up your camp and definitely pack your food in a bear canister. And those camping in polar bear country, well....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way I totally agree that wolves do not pose any threat at all (as long as you don't bring your pets).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="419" LastActivityDate="2012-03-30T18:26:55.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1317" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-31T01:06:55.263" Score="21" ViewCount="1796" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm cross-country skiing, I usually wear glacier glasses to protect from the intense glare off the snow.  When I'm moving, they usually stay clear . Whenever I stop though, my glasses seem to fog up almost instantaneously.  It's a pain to have to wipe them off, and takes a while for them to clear back up when I get going again.  Is there anything I can do to prevent my glasses from getting fogged up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-03-31T03:13:21.733" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T07:38:15.057" Title="How can I prevent my sun glasses from fogging up when skiing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1317" CreationDate="2012-03-31T09:11:10.007" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Various anti-fog products will work. I actually use the Rain-X anti-fog fluid (I had it for the car anyway and tried it successfully)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just need to clean the inside thoroughly, then apply it and it should last an entire season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-03-31T09:11:10.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1310" CreationDate="2012-03-31T10:41:56.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dav-heilbronn.de/cms/heilbronner_huette&quot;&gt;website of the Heilbronner Hütte&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; has a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav-heilbronn.de/downloads/huette/wormser_weg.pdf&quot;&gt;pretty nifty leaflet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; concerning the tour you are planning. It is in German but I guess you'll be able to read the graph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that it states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diese großartige und abwechslungsreiche aber sehr lange Tour wird nur&#xA;  ausdauernden Berggehern empfohlen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which roughly translates to &quot;This amazing and varied, yet very long tour is recommended for experienced and  persevering mountain hikers only&quot;. The terrain and trails seem to be &quot;easy to medium&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have made the experience that &lt;em&gt;warnings&lt;/em&gt; of this kind issued by the alpine club should usually be considered a fact - which does not mean you shouldn't do it in case you are in reasonable shape, but if you aren't, maybe look for something around 4 to 5 hours, it's no fun hiking for 10 hours if you're already exhausted after 4 of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be aware that if you are going in early summer (June &amp;amp; July) the chance of thunderstorms is very high in the afternoon / early evening, so if the weather report is not 100% sure, you better leave really early so you're at the hut you'll be staying overnight at something around 4 or 5 P.M., maybe even earlier. You really don't want to live through a thunderstorm at 2500m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you want to buy maps I can recommend either the maps issued by the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dav-shop.de/category.aspx?customerid=Ka0C15G3S6rL1SSrK8DrgTCaJGcM2Rg--&quot;&gt;German alpine club&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; which are really detailed (you'll need those if you want to leave the trails) but rather expensive or the maps made by the biggest commercial map maker &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kompass.at/&quot;&gt;Kompass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; from Austria, that make rather cheap but still very useful maps, many of them come with an accompanying booklet that has example tours and hut infos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, I would always recommend the huts' websites as the best resource for planning tours in the alps. 99% of them have one and they put a lot of effort in keeping them up to date with useful information. Google Translate will be your friend in case you don't speak German. There's &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dav-huettensuche.de/index.php?pagedef=home&quot;&gt;an interactive map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; at the website of the DAV that will guide you to every hut in the eastern alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a nice trip and enjoy the alps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="419" LastActivityDate="2012-03-31T10:41:56.817" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2012-04-02T06:36:56.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sidestep the problem by bringing only single serving foodservice packets of mayo.  The stuff might not be the best tasting on day one, but on day 6 the packets are going to taste just the same.  The fresh stuff... ugh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="266" LastActivityDate="2012-04-02T06:36:56.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1315" CreationDate="2012-04-02T22:01:37.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was hoping someone else would offer a more scientific answer, but here's my take on it.  You shouldn't need almost any ventilation around the top edge of your wind screen... A few small gaps, or even just a handful of punched holes above the level of your stove should be enough.  At the base of your windscreen though, you need a lot of holes to draw air in with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry I can't provide specifics, but if you have a windscreen that is failing now, start by adding a few holes at the bottom and retest.  Then add a few around the middle/top (~1&quot; above the bottom edge of your pot).  Retest until satisfied :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-04-02T22:01:37.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1322" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1323" CreationDate="2012-04-03T13:29:29.417" Score="15" ViewCount="7695" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine the following situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A group of friends found a remote spot in a state or national forest that they really like.  They keep returning to the place quite often, lately there are at least some members of the group staying overnight at the spot at least once or twice a month.  They established a fire ring, surrounded by rocks, and someone dragged few logs around the fire to sit on.  They have a rope strung in the trees to hand their food from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now some of them have an idea that it would be nice to build few camp benches instead of the logs, and perhaps some primitive wooden shelter.  It is clear that there is some sort of limit, they clearly cannot go and build a large log cabin there.  There must be some sort of limit between few logs around a circle of rocks for fireplace and a cabin.  I am wondering what would still be considered OK, and where one would cross the limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-03T19:45:24.697" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T20:10:31.260" Title="Legality of &quot;semi-permanent&quot; wooden structures in state and national forests in the US" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1322" CreationDate="2012-04-03T16:19:03.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will suggest that the legality doesn't even matter if the law permits things other visitors will be uncomfortable with. Since other people come to the site between visits from these friends, any one of those &quot;other people&quot; could decide the site was &quot;too civilized&quot; and undo what's been done. I have found picnic tables, stone furniture and the like at campsites in provincial parks, and left it how I found it. But I can easily imagine someone dismantling a structure because they disapprove of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best approach would be to leave the park as undisturbed as possible, and especially where other people might see it and be bothered by it. This is mostly so as not to bother others, but will also reduce the chances of it being removed. Your modifications should not be spotted from the water or the trail, and thus be less likely to offend any other visitor, whether a ranger or a member of the public. Use natural materials. Focus on things that are useful, like log seats and fire rings, and avoid things that look like &quot;marking your territory&quot; or creating a sense of possession. I think a shelter of any kind is definitely over the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not talking about the law, but about how other campers will feel when they reach the site. A log and a fire ring: ooh, this is nice. A rope left strung between two trees at perfect tarp height: this is handy. A plywood roof supported by 2x4s connected to trees: what's going on here? And then, even if by some chance what you built was technically legal, it's almost certainly going to be removed anyway. Of course, if the particular park you're in doesn't permit anything, not even fire rings and a log to sit on, then don't even do that. Just don't assume that because it's not illegal it can stay. If other visitors dislike it, it won't stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-10-04T15:28:40.517" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T15:28:40.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1324" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-04-04T20:44:58.373" Score="10" ViewCount="1045" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJ4l_vg4YA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; I have made &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pemmican&lt;/a&gt;.  When making the pemmican I used a food processor instead of rocks (because I'm lazy).  I handled it with care, and according to this handbook, this stuff &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;will last years&lt;/a&gt;, but ... I'm not entirely confident that I can toss this in my pack for a week.  How can I tell when it has spoiled?  Does it look wrong, smell wrong...?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-29T17:15:23.403" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T17:15:23.403" Title="How can I tell when pemmican has spoiled?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1325" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1326" CreationDate="2012-04-05T04:26:36.067" Score="17" ViewCount="1218" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to try out some hammock camping on our next trip to the wilderness, but I don't have any of the gear yet.  I could buy it all, but as it's a trial run it might not make sense to pour a ton of money into an expensive hammock, underquilt, and everything else I might need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the minimum equipment I should purchase to be comfortable hammock camping, especially if the temperature drops below freezing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="136" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T08:36:37.050" Title="Minimum equipment recommendations for hammock camping" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1325" CreationDate="2012-04-05T05:34:23.947" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy the benefits of hammock camping. It sounds like you already know the jargon and have probably seen some great hammock kits out there (e.g., Warbonnet, Hennessy, etc.). These kits are great because, generally speaking, they have all the major components (rain protection, bug protection, hammock body) combined into a system. They can also be expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went with a Hennessy for my first camping hammock. It was a good transition for me because it had all the major components and it helped me transition from a tent. I had never really tried tarp camping before, and that was a new experience, but the integrated bug netting helped make the whole system feel more &quot;normal&quot;. Over time, I found, or became accustomed to the simplicity of hammock camping and began using basic, less expensive hammocks. When family or friends asked, I would recommend they start cheap and see how they like it first. There's no question about a hammock's comfort, but as a replacement for a tent, I realized that not everyone would transition easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find great hammock systems for a lot less if you shop around. Grand Trunk offers a hammock with zippered bug net for around $80 (less if you look on discount sites). Add a Guide Gear 10x10 tarp for $30 and you've got a great, year-round shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use your old sleeping bag and pad in a hammock just like in a tent, so there is not cost differential there. A lot of people start off with using pads in a hammock. A blue, closed-cell foam pad from Walmart costs $8 and can get you down to 30°F (-1.1°C). Double up on pads when it gets that cold and you're still well below the cost of a down under quilt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started off with pads and still use them from time to time, but once I purchased an under quilt, it's hard to go back. Under quilts are really worth the price and will last years when taken care of. Invest in good insulation and you won't regret it. For hammocks, I'm convinced that nearly all the manufacturers are nearly equal in quality, so shop around for the best price for the size of hammock you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for something specific, e.g., a certain load capacity or ultralight materials, that will narrow down the selection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a lot more information, including a complete manufacturer list, in my new book on hammock camping: The Ultimate Hang. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Derek Hansen&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;www.theultimatehang.com&#xA;Author and illustrator of &quot;The Ultimate Hang: An Illustrated Guide To Hammock Camping&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="427" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:31:09.703" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:31:09.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1327" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-03-12T13:59:42.990" Score="15" ViewCount="10037" Body="&lt;p&gt;My parents get a lot of mosquitoes in their garden during the summer.  We've tried torches with citronella additives in the oil, but this has not been effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to install a UV-based insect killer, as I don't want to kill non-biting insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen some devices that purport to attract the mosquitoes via CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; (which should only attract biting insects).   However, these seem to be very expensive with substantial upkeep costs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How well do these devices work when compared to other area methods such as citronella, area sprays, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="428" OwnerDisplayName="UpTheCreek" LastEditorUserId="428" LastEditDate="2012-04-07T09:23:19.457" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T11:36:58.637" Title="Do CO2-based mosquito traps work?" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-04-05T20:58:00.820" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard good things about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.badgerbalm.com/p-21-anti-bug-balm.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Badger Balm&lt;/a&gt; protecting from biting bugs.  It's more of a natural repellant using citronella, cedar and lemongrass. I picked some up from REI to use on summer bike tours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastActivityDate="2012-04-05T20:58:00.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1329" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-04-07T22:01:34.013" Score="23" ViewCount="63874" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming a lack of signage indicating the legalities, is it legal to light a bonfire on a beach in the UK? I haven't been able to find an authoritative source on this either way, hence the question. In my experience it hasn't ever been an issue after dusk when beaches are mostly empty, but I was wondering if there was any specific legislation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="432" LastEditDate="2012-04-08T03:26:05.960" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T12:15:32.760" Title="Is it legal to light bonfires on UK beaches?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1330" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1331" CreationDate="2012-04-08T09:33:23.617" Score="21" ViewCount="485" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anybody have a recommendation to a good book about how to survive in the Norwegian woods and similar?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="433" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-04-23T21:31:38.287" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:40:11.870" Title="Good books to learn survival?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-01-19T17:48:43.673" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2012-04-08T16:35:24.817" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out the &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EfFNSYkq8JQC&quot;&gt;SAS Survival Handbook&lt;/a&gt;. It's clear, concise, to the point, and contains a lot of good survival information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-04-17T13:20:22.853" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T13:20:22.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1327" CreationDate="2012-04-09T04:16:53.300" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; traps, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8541587&quot;&gt;according to&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14529088&quot;&gt;the NIH&lt;/a&gt;, fare better than most other types of mosquito traps.  For best results, you want to use a trap with counterflow technology (CFG).  Note that you have to keep your &quot;scent&quot; down or it will overwhelm the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Traps baited only with light or octenol caught few mosquitoes, whereas&#xA;  many were caught by traps baited with CO2 alone or in combination with&#xA;  either of the other candidate attractants. CO2 baited traps, with or&#xA;  without light, caught the most Aedes. The combination of CO2 and&#xA;  octenol attracted most Cx pipiens, but this apparent synergy was not&#xA;  significant. Using a caged hamster compared to CO2 as bait in a CDC&#xA;  light-trap with only intermittent fan suction, the hamster attracted&#xA;  less mosquitoes than CO2 emitted at a rate of 225 g/h on days 1 and 2,&#xA;  whereas on days 3 and 4 the smell from the hamster's cage became&#xA;  significantly more attractive than this rate of CO2 for all species of&#xA;  mosquitoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;USDA tested a few traps, &lt;a href=&quot;http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/39263/1/IND44331712.pdf&quot;&gt;and the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; Trap with CFG scored the best (page &quot;50&quot;, but really the fourth page, top chart)&lt;/a&gt;.  The Mosquito Magnet-X by American Biophysics Corp is a&#xA;counterflow geometry updraft trap using CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.  It weights 2.7kg (5.95lbs).  Unfortunately it does cost several hundred dollars (US) and requires an external propane tank.  Unless you are car camping, I would not consider it practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-04-10T20:05:31.270" LastActivityDate="2012-04-10T20:05:31.270" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1110" CreationDate="2012-04-09T05:53:40.980" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I too prefer good old magnesium carbonate. My favorite is the block form (I haven't noticed a difference between brands), which usually can be found for a better price if you look through retailers who market to gymnasts rather than climbers. I'll list below the different kinds of chalk and grip aids that I have experience with and the merits/demerits of each; hopefully you'll find it helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;CHALK&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Block Chalk&lt;/strong&gt;: My personal favorite. Good coverage, lasts a long time between chalk bag dips, and feels nice and grippy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Superchalk&lt;/strong&gt;: Sold by Metolius and several other companies have variations, comes loose in a ziplock-type bag. I'm not sure what the additive is, but I find it really fluffy and it doesn't coat my hands (backs especially) the way I want it to. It does help though and it's better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eco Ball&lt;/strong&gt;: To me, the eco ball doesn't do a whole lot for grip. It dries my hands well, but I feel that my grip almost actually gets worse. It almost feels sandy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;GRIP AIDS&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rosin&lt;/strong&gt;: Hardened tree sap used by dancers. I love rosin, but I don't use it for climbing because I feel it gives me TOO much grip. If regular block chalk doesn't do what you want, this will definitely give you more grip. It needs to be warm to be the most sticky, so breathe on your hands or rub them together. I would be careful with rosin: with too much grip you can increase your risk of flappers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Liquid rosin&lt;/strong&gt;: Liquid rosin is made by dissolving the hardened rosin above in alcohol. It's extremely sticky when first applied. I feel that the stickiness is lost very quickly and my hands end up feeling almost sweaty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tough Skin&lt;/strong&gt;: I believe this product is marketed as a temporary adhesive for applying foam prewrap before taping a joint. I've used it as a grip aid and it is sticky like liquid rosin, but doesn't loose its stickiness quite as quickly. I still get a wet, almost slimy feeling though, so it's not my favorite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="434" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-02T10:22:43.813" LastActivityDate="2014-07-02T10:22:43.813" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2012-04-09T06:12:30.707" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh friend, I have been down this miserable road just like you. I'll tell you what's at the end of it: swelling of the synovial fluid in the finger joints (which if not reduced leads to arthritis), bone spurs in the knuckles, and a year off the rock. Here's the good news, though: I'm happily climbing again and my fingers don't hurt! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The finger joint pain you're feeling is most likely due to your hand position on crimpers. Most of us tend to rely on finger bone position rather than strength when holds get small and walls get overhung. We mash the tips of our fingers into the crimp, hyper-extend the first finger knuckle, and hyper-flex the second, locking our finger bones together and creating a really sweet claw-hand that won't release until we decide to make it. Sometimes (guilty), we'll even wrap our thumb over the first finger nail to crank down even harder. So right, this is really bad for your hands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can force yourself, get to the gym and climb, I kid you not, nothing but 5.6s. Look at your hands on every hold and climb with an open hand: every finger knuckle should be bent roughly the same amount and none of them should be bending backwards. This will help you train your muscles to bear the force instead of your joints. It'll also help you retrain your brain, since by now the bad technique is habit. Once you've got the 5.6s, move to 5.7s and so on. Pay particular attention to your hand position as your chest becomes even with your hands: this is when it's very easy to fall back into bad habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, just some sympathy. Training for good hand position really freakin sucks. It also sucks that there seem to be scores of climbers who can climb with claw-hand and never have a problem with it. At any rate, good luck. I'd do what the above poster suggests in the meantime and hit the vitamin I and ice. I had some luck also with glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplements while I was retraining.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="434" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T18:42:10.400" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T18:42:10.400" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1214" CreationDate="2012-04-10T20:12:19.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scarpa have the widest fit I have found. I have particularly wide feet so always struggle to find something comfortable, but my last two pairs have been Scarpa SLs and have both fitted great, and performed excellently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="437" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-04-11T00:20:50.813" LastActivityDate="2012-04-11T00:20:50.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2012-04-10T22:30:21.263" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cody Lundin's &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1586852345&quot;&gt;98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is a good introduction.  It deals more with the psychological and physiological issues of survival than specific techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="438" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-10T23:31:10.143" LastActivityDate="2012-04-10T23:31:10.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1214" CreationDate="2012-04-11T03:46:41.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear &lt;em&gt;Keen&lt;/em&gt; for my everyday shoes. The main reason I like them is the wide toe pocket. I've found that their sole isn't has hard wearing as (for instance) vibram soles I've had on other shoes, so I'm not sure how hard wearing their hiking boots are. Their Erickson PCT boot has the same shape toe though, so it might be worth trying on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="440" LastActivityDate="2012-04-11T03:46:41.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1338" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1343" CreationDate="2012-04-11T04:30:16.143" Score="10" ViewCount="879" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought my first pair of mountaineering boots. I know hiking boots need to be properly broken in before taking them on the trail, but what about plastic mountaineering boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are extremely stiff (from the plastic) in order to support crampons, and it doesn't seem like they would get easily molded during wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T16:13:39.703" Title="Do I need to break in double plastic mountaineering boots?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1339" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1341" CreationDate="2012-04-11T04:53:47.980" Score="25" ViewCount="25561" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the title speaks for itself.  I have done a basic &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/#hl=en&amp;amp;output=search&amp;amp;sclient=psy-ab&amp;amp;q=mountaineering+vs+rock+climbing&amp;amp;oq=moutaineering+vs.+rock+cli&amp;amp;aq=0q&amp;amp;aqi=g-q1&amp;amp;aql=&amp;amp;gs_l=hp.3.0.0i22.585l5420l0l6548l36l31l5l0l0l0l108l1670l29j2l41l0.frgbld.&amp;amp;pbx=1&amp;amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&amp;amp;fp=c541f35354c9590f&amp;amp;biw=1408&amp;amp;bih=837&quot;&gt;google search&lt;/a&gt; and I do not find the references to be sufficient.  I'm looking for a short synopsis that would educate a layman such as myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-13T02:46:19.073" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T00:30:47.057" Title="What are the key differences between Mountaineering and Rock Climbing?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1365" CreationDate="2012-04-11T07:23:47.610" Score="5" ViewCount="1974" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often times I find myself with cramps in the muscles on the sides of my knees (or the ligaments, I am not sure which). This happens most often during or after a sustained inclined climb. What should I do to relieve the pain? Massaging it doesn't really help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="441" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T20:19:53.373" Title="How can I relieve knee muscle contractions?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2012-04-11T07:42:24.763" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two interpretations of 'Mountaineering' depending on the context in which you use the word:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering is any activity in a mountainous environment. It includes rock climbing, ice climbing, hiking, orienteering, skiing, and 'mountaineering' in its own right (see below)...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering as a specific activity is usually used to include climbing of a whole mountain, encompassing a wider variety of skills than simply rock climbing. For example, climbing up a cliff face might be rock climbing, but climbing Everest is mountaineering as it requires ascending a complete mountain, and uses skills from rock climbing, ice climbing, survival, navigation, endurance etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there is a grey area in this. Is climbing El Capitan in Yosemite rock climbing or mountaineering? What about if you climb an unclimbed face of a mountain in the Himalaya, but without trying to summit the mountain? At the end of the day, it boils down to the seriousness of the adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="437" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-04-13T18:06:06.183" LastActivityDate="2012-04-13T18:06:06.183" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2012-04-11T23:03:21.673" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering refers to ascending a natural feature, although it doesn't necessarily imply summitting, nor must it be rock, as the same can be applied to the ascension of glaciers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering has a subset of various skills which include climbing, skiing, hiking and scrambling. You can hike, ski, climb and boulder without mountaineering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-04-11T23:03:21.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1338" CreationDate="2012-04-11T23:06:11.137" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The boots remain stiff, but the liner inside and the footbed all adjust to your feet. You can definitely get away with not breaking them in, but if you're going to be wearing them for a prolonged period of time the first time you use them you might consider breaking them in a bit or bringing along some second-skin in case you encounter hot spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-04-11T23:06:11.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1345" CreationDate="2012-04-14T00:53:40.443" Score="12" ViewCount="1268" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm&quot;&gt;webcam&lt;/a&gt;, it looks like things are still pretty wintery in that area.  Being Michiganders, some snow is not going to deter us (we love winter camping), but we at least want to be prepared for what we're up against.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How accessible might Yosemite be in these conditions?  Any precautions you might recommend due to the mountainous terrain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="136" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:49:47.997" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:49:47.997" Title="How are backpacking conditions at Yosemite in April?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1344" CreationDate="2012-04-14T07:00:57.560" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you choose to go backpacking in the Sierra Nevada in April, prepare yourself &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildwinter.htm&quot;&gt;as if you were going in winter&lt;/a&gt;, because there will still be significant snow, and you could be hit by a blizzard at any time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/april.htm&quot;&gt;quote the National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hiking and backpacking options are still limited in April. Expect snow above 6,000 feet (this varies from year to year). The Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Fall usually opens sometime in April, although it is possible to reach the top of Vernal Fall via the John Muir Trail and continue on to Nevada Fall. The Yosemite Falls Trail is typically snow-free at least most of the way to the top (but snow is likely at the top, making for a snow-camping experience if you're backpacking). The Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point is closed (but may be open to Union Point, about halfway up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Outside of Yosemite Valley, snow may still be present in the Upper Mariposa Grove, but the lower grove is usually mostly snow-free. Chilnualna Falls Trail (Wawona) may be mostly snow-free and hiking to Wapama and Rancheria Falls (Hetch Hetchy) is another usually snow-free option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are no multi-night backpacking options in April that do not involve hiking and camping in the snow&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2012-04-14T07:00:57.560" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1346" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1463" CreationDate="2012-04-14T09:36:51.170" Score="14" ViewCount="1773" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a 60 L backpack for almost seven years now. Nothing on it is broken and it fits my needs, so right now I don't have any thoughts about replacing it (Getting a light pack might be the only reason to do so).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I've started to think about what I will do if buckles, straps or zippers break. They've taken quite some abuse in the past; while I will do my best to prevent damage, I can't guarantee much. To prevent an unfortunate situation: What things should I be especially aware of and how - if possible - do I take care of such issues?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:42:30.610" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:42:30.610" Title="Taking care of hiking backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1346" CreationDate="2012-04-14T13:04:01.873" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buckles, straps and zippers are all relatively easy to replace, but it can be worth taking a spare strap with you in case one fails in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually keep one spare 6 ft strap and a pair of 2 ft bungee cords in the bottom of my camping pack - they also have other uses, so aren't entirely dead weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-04-14T13:04:01.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1391" CreationDate="2012-04-15T01:56:35.153" Score="16" ViewCount="6463" Body="&lt;p&gt;In spring, the grape vines are so full of watery sap that a cut from my pocket knife causes it to trickle out fairly fast, and it can be collected in a container. Someone told me that it is a good substitute for water on a trip, because it is purified by the plant. Is this true? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-03-24T18:58:59.643" LastActivityDate="2020-06-02T07:29:05.327" Title="Is it a good Idea to drink grape sap if you have no clean water?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1349" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1829" CreationDate="2012-04-14T09:12:38.737" Score="23" ViewCount="1216" Body="&lt;p&gt;After almost half a year working in a hostel in Tbilisi, spring has come and it is far warmer than anywhere further west in Europe so I'm going to hitchhike around Georgia with my tent in warm areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've hitchhiked a lot in countries some people consider dodgy and camped in random spots when it got too late to get more rides just a few times and I usually feel pretty safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the one thing I do always worry about is packs of feral dogs. And of course their natural but just as dangerous cousins, wolves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do I need to worry about such animals in Georgia, and if so, in which parts? Or are there some tips to mitigate any risks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" OwnerDisplayName="hippietrail" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:14:04.833" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:14:04.833" Title="Do I need to worry about feral dogs or even wolves if I camp in random areas while hitchhiking in Georgia (the country)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1324" CreationDate="2012-04-16T01:39:11.563" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lard/fat can last a long time without going bad if stored in a cool dry place, but it can still go rancid. The smell test is usually the easiest way of knowing if things have gone bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-04-16T01:39:11.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1351" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1352" CreationDate="2012-04-16T18:45:29.083" Score="8" ViewCount="349" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to select a pair of shoes for when I go out to Yosemite this weekend.  The weather has been fluctuating like crazy - last we checked, there was a foot of snow on the ground, but now the lowlands are completely melted.  I had originally planned on bringing my pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.columbia.com/Men%E2%80%99s-Bugaboot%C2%AE-Plus-XTM/BM1498,default,pd.html#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cold weather boots&lt;/a&gt;, but it's looking like the weather might be in the range of 40-80F (4.4-26.7C) now.  I have a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ahnu.com/mens-woodacre-lightweight-rugged-trail-shoes/AF1180,default,pd.html?dwvar_AF1180_color=BRCT&amp;amp;start=10&amp;amp;cgid=men-view-all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;trail shoes&lt;/a&gt; I could bring, but I'm not certain if they're up to doing 20+ miles in 3 days.  I could buy a new pair of hiking boots, but that's shelling out a little bit more money now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone taken a pair of cold weather boots out in the spring before?  Did you have any issues with them being too warm?  Would you do it again, or would you rather use a separate pair of hiking boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="136" LastEditorUserId="247" LastEditDate="2013-02-01T19:04:10.453" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T19:04:10.453" Title="Should I use my cold weather boots in 40-80°F weather?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1351" CreationDate="2012-04-16T21:57:05.100" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cold weather boot will definitely be too warm for 40-80F (4.4-26.7C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will definitely choose warmer hiking boots rather and bring  two pairs socks types in such condition : warm and normal. Just start with the normal socks and if you are too cold then switch for the warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that sweating is worse than being a bit cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, listen to your body :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T19:19:15.633" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T19:19:15.633" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1357" CreationDate="2012-04-17T01:51:55.920" Score="11" ViewCount="2410" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I build a campfire, but need to move on before it goes cold, how should I put it out? I wouldn't want to use my drinking water. Should I bring a covering to smother it with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastActivityDate="2012-04-23T14:54:56.387" Title="How should I put out a campfire while away from civilization?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1308" CreationDate="2012-04-17T02:28:08.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;They stop my horses and cows just fine. My chickens, not so much :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all seriousness, small critters will just get through, and could be as much of a nuisance as a bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I'm not sure I'd want to test an electric fence against a bear. Remember, part of the effectiveness of the fence is the shock that deters - but bears can be pretty persistent when they really want something. Very few creatures tend to tell bears, &quot;No&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T02:28:08.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1353" CreationDate="2012-04-17T08:43:18.920" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A local source of water is obviously easiest - if you are near a stream - but if not, smothering can be really effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In planning, having your fire made on stones above damp ground will help, as you can scatter the embers a little without risking the fire spreading, and scattered embers will die down faster than a hot core of a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Covering with damp soil can put out a fire quickly. Sometimes even really damp leaves or grass can be sufficient to put out a fire that is already dying down - but this will depend on your local environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T08:43:18.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1353" CreationDate="2012-04-17T12:34:37.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your fire has been burning for several hours in a stone ring, you need to deal not only with putting out flames and cooling embers, but with cooling the stones, which get very hot and could help an ember reignite. There's really no substitute for a lot of water. We use &quot;washing up bowls&quot; that hold about the same as a household bucket, and pour the water (taken from the lake) over the fire, stir, pour another over, stir, pour another etc until the inside of the ring is sort of ash-mud, then do one more over the stones around the edge to cool them. There's no way you would want to use drinking water in that volume. But when you're camping in a forest at the edge of a lake, that's what you do. (It's also what I do on my own front lawn in the stone circle I have there, except I can use a hose.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if you made a small fire on damp ground, never really got to embers and didn't warm the stones, in theory smothering might be ok. (But not with dirt, grass, or leaves since those are ways to bank a fire and re-ignite it later, something you're presumably trying to avoid.) So might pulling it apart within a fire ring that is much larger than your fire. But why are you even doing that? To me having a fire is something you do when you're going to be at a site for a while (say, the evening) and putting it out is part of going to bed. Don't make a fire at your lunch stop, and don't make a fire if you don't have a source of copious water to put it out. As a canoer, I know that's easy for me to say, but I think it's the safest route. I've camped without fires during burn bans, including one year when we had two diapered babies with us, so I know a fire is purely a luxury. One we have to treat very seriously and that includes thoroughly putting it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T12:34:37.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1353" CreationDate="2012-04-17T13:01:05.327" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A large part of this falls down to planning as to where you build the fire in the first place. If you have got a natural water source nearby then build close to there which will give you an ample source of water to make sure the fire is doused. As an added measure, it also provides an easy source of water for putting out your fire if it starts to spread beyond where you intended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, then at least try to build your fire on a stony area away from foliage where the fire may spread more easily, or will have more material to spread out of control if it re-ignites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, bear in mind these are just things that can help, they're not substitutes for properly ensuring a fire is dead before moving on. I'd feel comfortable smothering on stony ground and then waiting until things had cooled down, but at the end of the day if you haven't got the time to make sure a fire is properly put out and cooled down, you shouldn't have started one in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, you just shouldn't move on before your fire is out and has cooled down, but there are steps you can take for that process to happen faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T13:01:05.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1358" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1362" CreationDate="2012-04-17T15:21:04.123" Score="10" ViewCount="1207" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've grabbed some neodymium magnets  as a cheap way of attaching small geocaches to metallic objects such as road signs and poles. However, I'm not sure of the best way of attaching the magnets - tape tends to wear away, and over time with people constantly detaching / reattaching the cache I would imagine glue wouldn't necessarily last long either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a particularly secure way of attaching them, or is it just a case of doing the best you can and replacing when they go walkabout?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2012-04-30T17:13:46.060" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T03:13:24.437" Title="What's a good, secure way to attach neodymium magnets to a geocache?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1358" CreationDate="2012-04-17T17:18:50.623" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard from others (and seen in various caches) that a good glue is sufficient. I believe that two-part epoxy will be good enough, but I'm not 100% sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It really depends on the plastic your container is made of, some glues work better on some types of plastic; some on others.  If you know the type of plastic the container is made of, then look up which types of glue will work well. I hope someone else can provide some more solid information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the surface is clean&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use some sandpaper or something similar on the plastic. This helps the bonding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not use hot glue on magnets! They can demagnetize!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Some additional information can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=sticky-business-how-to-glue-neodymum-magnets&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another solution might be to screw it on. Either directly (provided the magnet has a hole) or by having a piece holding the magnet in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is then to seal the holes for the screw in a sound way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T03:13:24.437" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T03:13:24.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2012-04-17T20:20:58.347" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Mountaineering Council of Scotland has a definition of Mountaineering right here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcofs.org.uk/mountaineering.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Welcome to Mountaineering Scotland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Mountaineering Council&lt;/a&gt; has a great wealth of articles about the topic, which I can only recommend. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically &quot;Mountaineering&quot; involves the use of technical equipment in order to navigate through the terrain, like ropes, ice axes or crampons. As opposed to a leisurely walk on a paved road, or hill walking. It encompasses most of the more adventurous activities which take place in the mountains.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing as such is defined as an athletic activity which comes in different flavours: Bouldering, indoor climbing, Traditional climbing, sport climbing, deep water soloing and so on. Usually a mountain face, sea cliff or boulder is either climbed up on or traversed. Although technically it can be done without any equipment, the bare minimum that is necessary are the specifically designed rock climbing shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd consider a hike which requires basic navigating/orienteering skills, and goes into more difficult mountain terrain to be mountaineering. &#xA;Everything which involves climbing up a wall with hands and feet, thus using rock climbing techniques and equipment, would be rock climbing. &#xA;&quot;Via ferrata&quot; routes I would rather classify as mountaineering since it does not involve rock climbing techniques as such and uses specialised equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="453" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:00:03.557" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:00:03.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1358" CreationDate="2012-04-17T20:25:09.147" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I have always used is to have the magnet epoxied to the inside of the container. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benefits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is never a force pulling the magnet away from the container&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is no weathering of epoxy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No holes required&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-04-17T20:25:09.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1364" CreationDate="2012-04-18T01:39:18.957" Score="8" ViewCount="110" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I were to go mushroom hunting on a hike, Should I trust a field guide, or do a little research on it first? I've heard of too many deaths caused by mushroom eaters making a mistaken identification in a field guide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:09:32.947" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:09:32.947" Title="Is it okay to trust your health to a mushroom hunters guide?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1363" CreationDate="2012-04-18T07:58:16.157" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the mushrooms you will find in a guide are low risk because they don't have similarities to poisonous ones - if you have a good guide it should point out the ones where identification is more difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid those ones and you will be much safer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-04-18T07:58:16.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1340" CreationDate="2012-04-18T14:07:22.473" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knee is a complicated area of the body, and joins the shoulder as a common area for imbalances in sport and extreme adventuring. In my circle of climbers and extreme sport enthusiasts, knee and shoulder issues are common over time. Your first port of call should be a doctor specialising in sport injuries, or a physiotherapist. Given how small tears can manifest over time, these joints and load bearing areas need special attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I won't give specific advice, but I will point out that you can not &quot;stretch&quot; all areas of your leg muscles in regards to knee pain. I found a lot of progress in my own training and repair cycle when I incorporated a foam roller. See here for &lt;a href=&quot;http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=9911&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Leg Rollers&lt;/a&gt;. And a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9aJtO0VCqw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Youtube video&lt;/a&gt; for bonus points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knees are complicated, so a medical expert will help focus on the cause and area of effect. In my case, an imbalance due to mountain biking and rock climbing meant I could bash my way up a mountain, but descent would be a painful exercise. Especially on multi-days or when cooled off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own training routine, set by a phsyiotherapist friend, introduced exercises and drills that I would either never have done, or did not think to do. These included modified squats, foam rolls, wall sits, step jumps and other exercises for stability. In short, it not only formed a part of treatment of a minor injury at the time, but changed assumptions on what injuries I had come to live with (or expect). Well worth the effort!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="455" LastActivityDate="2012-04-18T14:07:22.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2012-04-18T14:17:12.553" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The traditional tip is to cross at the widest point, where the river has the least power and is spread over a wider area. Often this is the most shallow point also. You will cross while facing upstream, but you can move slightly downstream to use some of the force of the current rather than working against it. If you are a group, lock arms and move in a line or in a supporting triangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="455" LastActivityDate="2012-04-18T14:17:12.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1214" CreationDate="2012-04-19T02:31:18.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;LL Bean &quot;duck&quot; boots worked for me.  I had initially ordered a different pair of LL Bean boots but I had to return them because they never &quot;broke in&quot; but I was able to exchange them for their duck boots and I've never looked back (had 'em 4 years already, no issues). I thought they looked a bit 'odd' when I first saw them, but I've forgotten about that now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="457" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T01:40:33.397" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T01:40:33.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2012-04-19T15:53:30.563" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could consider looking into something like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thepowerpot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PowerPot&lt;/a&gt;.  They are currently accepting pre-orders on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1203647021/the-powerpot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kickstarter&lt;/a&gt;.  It is described as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simply put, the PowerPot transforms the heat from cooking into&#xA;  electricity (…) using a technology called thermoelectric power&#xA;  generation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zphb8.png&quot; alt=&quot;PowerPot V prototype&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m not sure how well it will work, but from their description it seems like it could do exactly what you’re looking for.  The only thing is that it doesn’t look like it’s on the market yet, although the Kickstarter site mentions deliveries for pre-orders should start in July 2012. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastActivityDate="2012-04-19T15:53:30.563" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2012-04-19T20:38:05.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would consider &quot;Rock Climbing&quot; as something in the Class 5 definition of the YDS grading system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia definition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Class 4 and 6 might also be considered &quot;rock climbing&quot; but I've been climbing for nearly 2 decades, and I would say class 5 = rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="459" LastActivityDate="2012-04-19T20:38:05.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1373" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1444" CreationDate="2012-04-20T09:23:58.603" Score="8" ViewCount="1852" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realise that's a pretty big area, but we're going to be there for 6 days and we have a car so we can go prettty much wherever. We're not big on climbing - anything requiring equipment is out, we should be able to do it with just our boots and some water :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously there is some information online, but it's mostly in Norwegian, and whilst I can read Norwegian I don't find that the information is very clear or helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13" LastEditorUserId="152" LastEditDate="2015-07-21T09:26:30.307" LastActivityDate="2015-07-21T09:26:30.307" Title="Are there any easy hiking daytrips up mountains in Lofoten, Norway?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1374" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1380" CreationDate="2012-04-20T15:44:07.343" Score="7" ViewCount="343" Body="&lt;p&gt;The 161m (0.1mile) rule in Geocaching is a pretty infamous one. However, the rules also state this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please don't hide a cache every 600 feet just because you can. The two main goals of the saturation guideline are to encourage you to seek out new places to hide caches rather than putting them in areas where caches already exist, and to limit the number of caches hidden in a particular area, especially by the same hider. Groundspeak may further restrict cache listings in areas where cache saturation becomes a concern. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when exactly does an area become saturated and need further restriction? I've come across lots of areas with caches every 161m or so, some ridiculously riddled with caches. Is there any example of this rule being put into practice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-22T23:13:40.787" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T19:13:18.887" Title="When does a geocached area become &quot;saturated&quot;?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="274" CreationDate="2012-04-20T20:16:04.307" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you aren't in the habit of spending 12-16 hours a day outside then there are quite a few things that you might forget to bring:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sunscreen (ok for babies kind)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;physical sun protection like a sunhat, a parasol you can clamp to the side of a canoe (technically they sell them to clamp to strollers), a way to make shade at your campsite, and so on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;life jacket (try it on at home first)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;toys that are water- and dirt- proof (keep the stuffed animals in the tent)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;spare teethers, soothers, and the like so that you can put a dirty one aside and offer a clean one, then clean a bunch at once later&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for a baby of crawling age, a largish blanket-like thing to put down to make somewhere semi clean to crawl around&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for a baby who eats solids, more food than usual because some of it will get dropped in the dirt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;warm clothes for cool evenings - a sweater, a warm hat, thick socks - you might not normally go out for a long time in cool weather, but if you're camping, you're out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mosquito netting you can put over a playpen, moses basket or even (I have done this) your own head and the whole baby who is in a front carrier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some babies sleep happily in a tent, especially if they've nursed off to sleep. And some don't. The more things you bring that are familiar (blanket, stuffed animals, the pad from the bottom of the playpen, the windup mobile that plays a lullaby) the more likely going to sleep will work. (Our Moses basket worked well for us because it was something we could easily bring.) Naps are problematic because you just can't make a tent dark. Perhaps bringing a stroller so you can walk the baby to sleep might work. Our babies loved to nap in the canoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Books to read if that's part of your evenings now. Your baby monitor if both parts are battery operated. Something to help you carry the baby on a beach or a trail or somewhere else wheels are not going to work - a sling or a baby pack or the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your camera. Outdoor babies are generally happy babies, and having a child with you lets you see how amazing it is to say, put your feet in the water or run your hand through sand. Let go of whatever you normally do all day because nothing pulls you into the moment like being outside with a child. You have to keep them from eating dirt, drowning, crawling into the fire ring, and the like. And on balance, that turns out to be a great way to spend a day!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-04-20T20:16:04.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1377" CreationDate="2012-04-22T01:57:37.217" Score="14" ViewCount="8265" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe for someone who doesn't react to poison ivy to eat the berries? I am not going to try it without authority from someone who knows. Is it like smoke from burning vines, that can affect even an immune person?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:44:34.507" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T18:43:11.547" Title="Is it safe to eat poison ivy berries since I don't react to the leaves?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1376" CreationDate="2012-04-22T16:34:23.610" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your body just doesn't have a reaction on skin contact right now.  However most people will develop a reaction after enough repeated exposure.  While poison ivy doesn't bother me either, I do take basic precautions to not push my luck.  With regular contact, you will develop an allergy, and though it could take years, it will take a lot less if you start eating the stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The part of poison ivy that gets you is Urushiol.  It's absorbed readily by the mucous membranes of the throat.  If you eat the berries and develop a reaction you are potentially developing a reaction all throughout your throat, etc.  If this happens, your throat will likely swell shut and... being miles from medical care... you'll die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt there has been any scientific study on how many times someone has to eat berries before they develop a fatal reaction (it'd be highly unethical).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-09T23:20:51.940" LastActivityDate="2012-10-09T23:20:51.940" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1376" CreationDate="2012-04-22T20:04:31.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they may be fatal! Is that a risk you're willing to take? As pointed out already even if you eat them once and you're ok, that may not be the case the next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're unsure of eating anything in particular in the wild I'd stay well away. With something that's known to be poisonous to a large number of people, it just seems silly to even try!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-04-28T16:07:30.437" LastActivityDate="2012-04-28T16:07:30.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="980" CreationDate="2012-04-23T02:35:41.713" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had the same concerns - the sodium levels on most freeze dried foods are appalling. We bought from Pack Lite Foods and were not disappointed. We only tried the dinners, so can't comment on their other meals. The dinners were tasty and the double servings were the right amount of food for two. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://packlitefoods.com/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Six Reasons to Choose Pack Lite Foods&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="466" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T14:07:27.080" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T14:07:27.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1374" CreationDate="2012-04-23T10:21:45.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is highly subjective, but I'll give it a shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's take a site of local significance, like a statue or memorial. All in all, only one cache is &quot;needed&quot; to &quot;cover&quot; this area. More caches will just be for people wanting to: A) Find more caches for the sake of the numbers, B) Hide more caches for the sake of numbers. Of course, this is not a &quot;wrong&quot; way to go geocaching, but having ten caches close up to one cathedral is probably too many, because &lt;strong&gt;they don't add anything new; they are just yet-another-cache for this area&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Encouraging people to hide their caches in different, unique and lesser-known places is a good way to make people see an otherwise unknown place. Putting a limit on the density of caches &quot;forces&quot; hiders into thinking of the well-known spots and instead be more creative in their search of a good spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="368" LastEditDate="2012-04-23T12:08:03.337" LastActivityDate="2012-04-23T12:08:03.337" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1381" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-04-23T12:46:42.743" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A global game where hidden &quot;caches&quot; can be found using GPS coordinates. Caches often contain a log and various items for swapping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:58:45.110" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:58:45.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1382" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-04-23T12:46:42.743" Score="0" Body="This tag should be used with questions about Geocaching, and information on geocaches." OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:58:45.110" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:58:45.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1353" CreationDate="2012-04-23T14:54:56.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of water, smothering with soil and thoroughly mixing the embers with the soil will effectively put out a camp fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire needs: fuel, heat, oxygen. By mixing in soil you remove two of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire is only out when you can run your hands through the soil and not feel any heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-04-23T14:54:56.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1415" CreationDate="2012-04-23T17:34:54.420" Score="36" ViewCount="26005" Body="&lt;p&gt;What does it mean to cross load a carabiner?&#xA;I know it's bad, and not to do it, but I don't really know what exactly it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="217" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T03:53:28.353" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T18:35:10.420" Title="What does it mean to cross load a carabiner?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1384" CreationDate="2012-04-23T19:30:30.387" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It represents a two major things.  I'm not going to illustrate, but the core of it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't load carabiners across the gate or spine side of the carbiner (i.e. the side opposite the gate).  This is pretty obvious, but happens sometimes when you make an anchor or whip out a quick draw and then load it without getting all the carabiners in-line with the force that will be put on them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't load carabiners across an external edge.  If your anchor runs over an rock ledge, this would manifest as having the power point carabiner half-over the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-04-23T19:30:30.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1386" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1388" CreationDate="2012-04-23T21:31:06.650" Score="23" ViewCount="595" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes children find long hikes boring and tiring, but if you can turn it around to play some games along the way they can find things a lot more interesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some good games to play in this regard? The obvious classic is I-spy, but are there any other gems out there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T22:16:16.483" Title="What are some good games to play with children on hikes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1387" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1390" CreationDate="2012-04-23T21:36:59.257" Score="12" ViewCount="428" Body="&lt;p&gt;I stumbled across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1108343/Amazing-solar-powered-fridge-invented-British-student-potting-shed-helps-poverty-stricken-Africans.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; the other day which seems rather ingenious and was wondering if anyone has tried such a contraption whilst hiking? If not, do you think it would be effective? I'm tempted to try to make one and then see how it performs in various temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-01-01T07:46:49.190" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T14:28:00.197" Title="Does the solar powered fridge work as advertised whilst hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1386" CreationDate="2012-04-24T04:48:24.370" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a Scout Leader I deal with this quite often.  Here are some activities that don't &quot;distract&quot; too much from being in the wild - hopefully they embrace it :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Singing (If you've got songs and like to sing it's great, but it isn't everyone's cup of tea.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spotting birds and plants (Will require some preparation and experience)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learning wilderness skills (Finding a heading using various methods, how to find water, how to forecast the weather)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Giving them the map (or whatever you navigate with) to let them lead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will especially recommend the last point. Being in charge of finding the right way is an occupying activity. Depending on how much supervision you give (or appear to give) they will quickly grasp that &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; are the ones finding the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="18723" LastEditDate="2019-09-16T22:16:16.483" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T22:16:16.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1389" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1532" CreationDate="2012-04-24T14:49:20.310" Score="9" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently a friend suggested using gelled fuel in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cat can stove&lt;/a&gt; instead of liquid alcohol.  Since a cat can stove works by using pressurization to create the &quot;jets&quot; it seems flawed, but has anyone tried?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-18T17:53:21.570" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T16:02:45.843" Title="Will gelled fuel work in a cat can stove?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1387" CreationDate="2012-04-24T22:49:31.653" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The one problem I see is that it actually doesn't keep things cold enough.  The listed rate is 6°C (42°F).  For refridgeration you want no more than 4.4°C (40°F) and ideally want closer to 1°C (34°F).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 6°C (42°F) it makes that a little more than a growth chamber for many bacterium:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/pdfs/dangzone.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Food Safety&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T14:28:00.197" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T14:28:00.197" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2012-04-25T15:14:33.193" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll give this a stab, but there aren't any authoritative sources that I've managed to find on the subject!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most I could really find are examples such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/37107-i-drank-some-grape-sap/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one where people have drank it and felt no ill effects, and I haven't found a documented case of anyone drinking it and it being harmful to them. From a biological point of view the vine will at least partly purify the ground water, though if it's a known heavily contaminated area I wouldn't take it as a substitute for a proper water filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of the effect on the grape vine, most sources I've found seem to show that while it seems alarming it's actually &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; that bad for the vine, though obviously if you make cuts everywhere and drain all the sap there will come a point where it won't be able to sensibly recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, if you're really desperate for water and it's the only source available in a survival situation, I'd see no great reason for not giving it a try. It isn't however a direct substitute for a good, purified water source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-04-25T15:14:33.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1399" CreationDate="2012-04-25T19:24:08.807" Score="12" ViewCount="1811" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering an ultralight (non-waterproof) shell and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/724690/nikwax-tx-direct-20-wash-in-water-repellent-treatment-10-oz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nikwax wash-in&lt;/a&gt; waterproofing as a rain layer.  I'd like it to be waterproof through several wearings (a week or more).    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this result in a garment which will actually repel water in a heavy rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:28:32.840" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:28:32.840" Title="Does wash in waterproofing work on a non-waterproof shell?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1393" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1394" CreationDate="2012-04-19T13:58:14.953" Score="12" ViewCount="771" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning a 9 to 10 hour dive. We can't go that long without eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of 'food' could replace at least 2 meals of the day so we can 'survive' a long dive like that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'll figure out if something can be eaten while scuba diving. But maybe someone has already done something like that or has another 'extreme' sport where normal food isn't applicable anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking astronaut food but where do you get that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for something that looks like tube of toothpaste or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="703" OwnerDisplayName="scubaFLY" LastEditorUserId="1895" LastEditDate="2013-12-16T18:54:53.270" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T19:50:40.730" Title="Eating in a long sport activity (scuba diving) to keep your strength up" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1393" CreationDate="2012-04-20T23:20:47.763" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I climbed Mount Everest in 2010 I went from 9 pm, when we started for the summit, until 5 pm the next day, without eating. I had only 1 liter of gatorade to drink in that time too. Obviously I didn't die, and it required a lot of energy, let me assure you. So you can 'survive' your dive, and I guess challenge your thought about 'we can't go that long without eating'. If you can drink during your dive then you can take in calories through sports drinks or gels. I imagine training for a long dive like that by progressively doing longer and longer dives without food but only with sports drinks might make it easier too. Hope that helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: just to add, I did not eat much before the ascent, as at altitude it gets hard to eat. Your body will not like it but it will survive. Getting past the mental barrier might be a bigger challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Wiktor" LastActivityDate="2012-04-20T23:20:47.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1395" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-04-26T22:01:59.550" Score="24" ViewCount="458" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I'm planning to mount my first 4000 m mountain in Switzerland. So far I only got around 3300 meters while hiking and had no problems. However 4000 meter an above is definitively a different category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since my goal requires a little bit of experience how to cross a glacier, I will do this in a guided tour, since it is my first time. There are basically two opportunities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) On day 1 arrive around lunch time on a mountain hut located around 3600 m. Do some hikes in the near surrounding and stay there over night to acclimatisation a little bit. On day 2 in the early morning go up to the mountain (4050m) and descend to 500m and go home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Arrive early on the first day, go up to the mountain and in only a few hours back to 500m. This would include a visit of approximately 5 hours on altitudes higher than 3000m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if heard, that if you're staying only a very short amount of time on high altitudes (a few hours) you probably won't get any altitude problems. That would justify to choose option 2. On the other hand, acclimatisation isn't a bad thing, but is less than 24 hours as planned in option 1 reasonable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:02:13.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-30T05:47:51.200" Title="A little bit of acclimatisation or no acclimatisation at all?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1395" CreationDate="2012-04-27T00:26:54.737" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Either option is acceptable, particularly since you aren't going very high. There are rare instances where people get Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or worse even at relatively low altitudes, and these are more common when there is no acclimatization. However, it is very rare for such problems to suddenly arise and not be fixable (through rapid descent). Each option has advantages and disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Option 1:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More time at the mountain (more relaxed)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some acclimatization benefit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Takes longer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Possible sleepless night may mean a rough summit day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Option 2:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quick and easy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No acclimatization benefit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One big push might be too much for some people&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No acclimatization increases risks for AMS, headaches, fatigue, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of comfort, this will depend on the person. Option 1 might include a sleepless or restless night, since it is the first night after rising 3100m, which would be very uncomfortable. On the other hand, if you sleep well, the extra mild exertion and time at altitude will help somewhat. Option 2 might be less comfortable due to the hard work at high elevations with no acclimatization. Again, though, the short timeline means that if you are otherwise healthy, rested, and hydrated, there is a good chance you will be rather comfortable aside from having to push a little harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others might lean one way or the other, but honestly I'd focus on staying strong and healthy, and taking the most convenient option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-04-27T00:26:54.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1397" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1403" CreationDate="2012-04-27T12:08:56.120" Score="18" ViewCount="4317" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know I could just carry a bottle, but scavenging is much more fun. What is a good source of vitamin C in the wild? Have spruce needles really got enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:29:06.780" LastActivityDate="2020-03-08T07:04:50.483" Title="What is a good source of vitamin C in the wild?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1397" CreationDate="2012-04-27T13:25:13.967" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;All types of berries are your answer here! Pretty much any (edible) variety contains a large amount of vitamin C - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries for instance. (Blackberries and raspberries seem to be especially prevalent at the right time of the year here in the UK.) And they're tasty too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, it goes without saying if you're not 100% sure what a plant is then don't risk eating it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-01T11:18:57.993" LastActivityDate="2012-05-01T11:18:57.993" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1392" CreationDate="2012-04-28T07:25:25.700" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don’t think that will work for heavy rain. The waterproofing coating will make the water slide away from the garment (this is the so-called &lt;a href=&quot;http://duckduckgo.com/?q=lotus%20effect&quot;&gt;lotus effect&lt;/a&gt;), but that’s just one part of keeping the water out. The harder part is not letting the water through under pressure, like when you press the garment against something, under your backpack straps, under heavy rainfall etc. Here the simple waterproofing finish will eventually give way and the water will get through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-04-28T07:25:25.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1376" CreationDate="2012-04-28T14:16:13.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Intentional ingestion of poison ivy berries is ludicrous. Knowing what you already know - why even dare to go there? If you are looking for attention getting or want free kicks to get off on you'd be better off playing in traffic. At least in that instance you would have a running head start to get yourself away from the danger. My advice is &lt;strong&gt;do not eat or ingest the berries&lt;/strong&gt;. Worst case scenario is your heart and all other vital organs swell up and/or blister internally! Come to think of it poison ivy looks great from inside a cemetary plot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="471" LastEditorUserId="299" LastEditDate="2012-04-28T17:24:14.140" LastActivityDate="2012-04-28T17:24:14.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1392" CreationDate="2012-04-28T16:12:17.437" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My one experience can be summarised as &quot;ish&quot;. It definitely helped / worked in light rain, so if that's all you're trying to achieve then it should be fine. But for heavy rain or pressing the garment against a wet surface, it was all but useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afraid it was a while back and I can't remember the specific brand I used, but after talking to a couple of other people who've also tried it they seemed to have similar experiences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-04-28T16:12:17.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1220" CreationDate="2012-04-29T23:00:35.437" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, the single best feature would be low battery consumption. You only really need a gps and map, so having a low consumption version of these would win for me, possibly with local maps rather than trying to download each section.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-04-29T23:00:35.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1397" CreationDate="2012-04-30T20:25:14.823" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.practicalprimitive.com/skillofthemonth/pineneedletea.html&quot;&gt;Pine needle tea&lt;/a&gt; is a good solution which is available year round in areas where pines grow.  Do be careful to identify properly, and take care to not guzzle the stuff down... too much is bad for you.  However this is the easiest to find and pine needle tea has a ton of vitamin C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum#Culinary_use&quot;&gt;Dandelion greens&lt;/a&gt; are plentiful in many areas and good for vitamin C, though I detest the flavor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory&quot;&gt;Chicory&lt;/a&gt; is a decent source, though I find it to be too easy to misidentify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-04-30T20:30:31.400" LastActivityDate="2012-04-30T20:30:31.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1404" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-01T09:52:53.357" Score="22" ViewCount="28527" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even stainless-steel can rust, and I've seen axes and saws that were visibly rusted. I've been told that wrapping the metal parts of the tools in oiled paper will prevent this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can oil really be used to prevent rust creation? And is there a difference between types?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a chemical point of view, I would say it makes sense: The oil and paper wrapping could prevent the access to oxygen and thus prevent oxidation. But I would imagine vegetable oil is vastly different from types meant for engine greasing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:03:33.413" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T20:28:58.357" Title="Can oiling keep tools from rusting?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1397" CreationDate="2012-05-01T10:14:41.787" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_enneaphylla&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scurvy Grass Sorrell&lt;/a&gt; has leaves rich in Vitamin C, and got its name from sailors travelling round Cape Horn who would eat the leaves to avoid scurvy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It tastes pretty good, despite what the Wikipedia page says, but I'm not sure how widespread it is outside South America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-05-01T10:14:41.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1404" CreationDate="2012-05-01T11:16:51.693" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can, yes - by keeping water and oxygen away it can greatly slow or prevent the oxidisation process from occurring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wouldn't necessarily advise it as the best approach. Instead I'd advise making sure tools are clean and thoroughly dry, then storing them in a cool dry place (unless the manufacturer recommends otherwise of course.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's two main reasons for this. Firstly, oils can go rancid, which means they're a) not as effective at keeping out moisture and oxygen and b) they smell absolutely foul. Secondly, some oils - notably vegetable and mineral oil - can leave a horrible sticky residue which is a nightmare to clean off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be corner cases with situations or bits of kit that makes it worth it, but in general I'd say it can do more harm than good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-01T11:16:51.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1408" CreationDate="2012-05-02T01:53:06.657" Score="6" ViewCount="877" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/801/how-to-avoid-exploding-rocks&quot;&gt;How to avoid exploding rocks&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I build a campfire with damp rocks, is there any possibility of the rocks exploding? I had this happen once while burning trash, because the moisture in the rock swells as it heats and the rock pops like popcorn. Is there any chance that this might happen if I use damp rocks to line and/or floor a campfire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T04:29:09.680" Title="Should I be careful to use only dry rocks while building a campfire?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-05-05T16:27:41.577" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1407" CreationDate="2012-05-02T04:15:55.267" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rocks wet or dry can violently fracture if exposed to enough heat due to cavities.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of rock may actually have more to due with possible explosions than the moisture level.  Meaning igneous and metamorphic are non permeable, but can contain natural oil or flint which can be bad.  Sedimentary limestone, shale, sandstone would have a better chance of explosion due to water, but see below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best answer to your question would be, use soil not rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, normally a low impact campfire should not have the heat needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastEditorUserId="478" LastEditDate="2012-05-02T04:29:09.680" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T04:29:09.680" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="502" CreationDate="2012-05-02T05:03:27.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many wave height buoys along the Atlantic sea board and would allow for much better prediction than weather system prediction.  There are some good resource for surf forecasting on the east coast such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.surfguru.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.surfguru.com/&lt;/a&gt; (no affiliation) which is focused on Florida but does provide information up through SC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T05:03:27.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="77" CreationDate="2012-05-02T12:05:59.630" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the trip: duct tape. It's strong and flexible and it's easy to carry 3 or 4 feet with you. I've used it to repair a yoke in the middle of nowhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're home: a little fiberglass cloth and some epoxy resin. Or if it's more a deep scratch than a gouge, just the resin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T12:05:59.630" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1412" CreationDate="2012-05-02T12:57:47.850" Score="11" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a beginning surfer, and I want a longboard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How do I select one? How much should I pay?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is good width and length, etc.?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="479" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-05-28T05:27:27.560" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T11:17:30.170" Title="What should I as a beginning surfer consider when buying my first longboard?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1411" CreationDate="2012-05-02T14:29:14.367" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have never surfed before, avoid going for a really long one - they are very unweildy, can be difficult to get up to speed, and are a pain to carry back to the car when you are tired out :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as width goes - can you sit up comfortably on it? And can you fit it under your arm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.islesurfboards.com/longboard-surfing.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Islesurfboards&lt;/a&gt; in California have this chart, which is a pretty good starting point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UD8o8.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their website also gives a lot of info on all aspects of surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-05-02T14:29:14.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1395" CreationDate="2012-05-02T16:44:10.860" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1396/2303&quot;&gt;Greg's answer&lt;/a&gt; is excellent, but I'd add the following. It's true that there's a delay before altitude sickness sets in - this is what makes going up to a 4000 meter peak on your second day possible. However, should conditions on the top be bad, and you end up staying up there, you are at &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; risk of altitude sickness. For example, if you twist your ankle on the top and going down becomes a much slower affair. I'd still say that both options are doable and not particularly risky, even if it wasn't a guided tour, but it's worth mentioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd prefer the first option, but that's me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-06T08:32:45.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1414" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1418" CreationDate="2012-05-02T20:20:35.237" Score="7" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the important differences between a gas and electric trolling motor for fishing in a small jon boat?  I'm primarily concerned on the impact the the actual fishing (as opposed to any discussion on the environmental impact of fuels).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-03T01:43:31.190" Title="Gas or Electric trolling motor?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1384" CreationDate="2012-05-02T21:36:22.697" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;A carabiner is designed to be loaded only along the long axis, near the spine (leftmost figure below).  It will be weaker in any other direction of stress.  Primary long-axis strength should be marked on the carabiner spine with an up-down arrow symbol, and is typically given in kilo-Newtons (one kN equals approximately 225 pounds of force).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cross-loading&lt;/strong&gt; is shown in the middle figure below.  Strength in this orientation should be marked on the carabiner with a left-right arrow symbol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gate is a load-bearing member even when the carabiner is correctly loaded, therefore the &quot;open gate&quot; strength is much less, as should be marked with a symbol that looks like an open carabiner.  Be aware that the inward gate strength is usually much less than the outward cross-load gate strength because only the locking sleeve holds the gate in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another weakness you need to be aware of: loading the carabiner at a point or direction away from the spine.  This happens in &quot;tri-axial&quot; loading seen in the rightmost figure, or with a nose-hooked carabiner&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-weakness-of-nosehooked-carabiners&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(1)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://dmmclimbing.com/Knowledge/May-2015/Carabiner-and-bolt-interaction&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(2)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;.  This is or can be even weaker than the cross-loaded configuration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4l4H2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another instance of tri-axial loading (&lt;a href=&quot;http://alpineinstitute.blogspot.com/2010/11/triaxal-loading-on-trees.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).  This is probably not as weak as a carabiner loaded the same way but upside down, because the offset-D has a shorter lever arm in this configuration, &lt;em&gt;but it is still weak&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QY5Bf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise a carabiner loaded with multiple ropes, or a single rope with a bulky knot, &lt;em&gt;even if loaded in the same and proper direction&lt;/em&gt; will be weaker on the strand(s) farther from the spine. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guidetricksforclimbers.com/index.php/appendix/78-gtc-articles/78-use-and-abuse-of-the-clove-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came across an analysis of an accident that was determined to be due to tri-axial loading of a carabiner.  It examines tri-axial loading in considerable detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.osha.gov/doc/engineering/2014_r_05.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Investigation of the May 4, 2014&#xA;Incident At The Ringling Bros. And Barnum &amp;amp; Bailey Performance&#xA;In Providence, RI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also relevant is a video of testing oval versus offset-D carabiners in triaxial loading, indicating that the strength of &lt;em&gt;that particular steel oval&lt;/em&gt; was apparently unaffected at 55° between &quot;arms&quot; of the load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g730mHDtXaA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How the shape of a carabiner influences its breaking load (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-04-29T18:35:10.420" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T18:35:10.420" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="439" CreationDate="2012-05-02T23:10:05.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One approach might be, where possible, to use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eneloop.info/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Eneloops&lt;/a&gt;. Far from losing their charge rapidly in the cold, they actually retain their charge far better when they're kept cold (and in general retain it far better than normal rechargeables.) I've got 8 AA ones I use in various pieces of gear (torch, GPS) and they've been great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit: James Dunn&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eneloops have a &quot;much&quot; longer storage time than NiCd or standard NiMH (lose about 5%/day).  They are reported to lose 10% of their charge in 7 months.  They have a large current potential to better provide quick cycling of speedlites (heavy loads).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If charged in a freezer they will load about 25% more total power but the charge time is slower/longer.  But for fast charging, charging in the freezer is still better to keep the temperatures under control.  If kept frozen I have no idea how long they would hold their charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if discharged below 60% of full charge voltage, this permanently damages the cells and they will not charge to full capacity ever again.  Discharge is linear from about 95% down to 70% of discharge voltage, but from 70% to 60% the time is very short under the same load.  So it seems that it is better to keep them topped off, but prevent overheating during charging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buchmann.ca/article18-page1.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.buchmann.ca/article18-page1.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put them close to your body several hours before using them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For seldom used, small load battery use, I am sure there are more durable batteries.  I have lithium ion batteries in a security system that have been running wireless contact sensors for more than 5 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="4080" LastEditDate="2014-11-02T08:41:03.900" LastActivityDate="2014-11-02T08:41:03.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1622" CreationDate="2012-05-03T01:42:28.320" Score="12" ViewCount="1248" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just for fun, how would I go about lighting a fire with naturally shaped rocks by striking sparks? It might be useful if I were to camp in the far north, where there are no trees. What should I use for tinder? Do I have to find a certain kind of rock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-15T12:04:42.213" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T00:17:37.873" Title="Is there a way to light a fire in the wild using rocks?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1414" CreationDate="2012-05-03T01:43:31.190" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The noise at first glance would seem to be the major concern, but in reality it is the vibration of the combustion engine that will increase your area of disruption.  Fish are pretty sensitive to vibration and vibes can travel a long way in water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am of course assuming the prop design and speeds are similar.  If you were to use gas, vibration dampening would be a good idea, but if you have the option I would go with electric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastActivityDate="2012-05-03T01:43:31.190" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1419" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1423" CreationDate="2012-05-03T01:52:20.010" Score="8" ViewCount="418" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was out on a long hike, and I wanted to shoot a bird for supper, is there a way to find out in a very short time whether or not that species is legally protected? Sometimes you can get in trouble for picking up a feather of some birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-26T15:50:04.197" LastActivityDate="2015-02-26T15:50:04.197" Title="How can I tell if a wild bird is legally protected?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1419" CreationDate="2012-05-03T08:20:27.157" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll actually want to prepare &lt;strong&gt;before&lt;/strong&gt; you go hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understand what hunting regulations are in force (ie is there an allowed hunt?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a whitelist rather than blacklist (ie understand the common birds you can shoot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understand &lt;strong&gt;where&lt;/strong&gt; you are allowed to shoot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, once hiking, if you see a bird not on your whitelist, just leave it be. This way saves a lot of problems, and legal consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-05-03T08:20:27.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1421" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-03T12:15:03.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad (called a bouldering mat) so that a fall will not result in serious injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information please see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouldering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Wikipedia page on Bouldering&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T21:30:36.313" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:30:36.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1422" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-03T12:15:03.180" Score="0" Body="Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad (called a bouldering mat) so that a fall will not result in serious injuries. " OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T21:30:20.307" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:30:20.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1419" CreationDate="2012-05-03T13:54:38.607" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's much easier to know what's not protected than to try to know what &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; protected.  In most of the United States there are only a handful of birds you can legally hunt, and only during &quot;season&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a general guideline, that can help you narrow it down and not waste time, but this does not replace picking up a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.georgiawildlife.com/hunting/regulations&quot;&gt;DNR guide&lt;/a&gt; for your area.  The easiest way to find the DNR guide is to google [your state] department of natural resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Songbirds are practically always off limits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raptors also off limits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Migratory birds (duck, goose, etc.) will require a special permit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are left with is a small assortment of dove, pheasant, quail, etc.  However even with legal game, there are often strict limits on when, where, and what you can kill.  In most of the southeast for instance, killing a female turkey is a VERY expensive mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is based on my experience in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-04T20:37:26.103" LastActivityDate="2012-05-04T20:37:26.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1424" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-03T21:09:52.000" Score="10" ViewCount="1445" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any edible wild berries in southern California? Are there any conventional berries (like wild strawberries or blueberries) and how far out of the city do I have to go to find them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="485" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:29:59.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:29:59.843" Title="Wild berries in Southern California" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1425" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-04T02:26:10.677" Score="15" ViewCount="3408" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got some leather boots that are showing some wear and tear. More importantly, the seam between the sole and boot is starting to crack and allow some water in. Do products like ShoeGoo or FreeSole work well to extend the life of boots when used preventively, both on the sole seam or the toe box? Are there any treatments I should be putting on the leather itself to minimize the risk of cracking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-05-03T11:45:53.673" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T05:52:32.483" Title="How do I extend the life of waterproof leather boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1424" CreationDate="2012-05-04T16:45:20.953" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find wild berries growing in vacant lots and along roadsides even in the city— although I wouldn't venture to eat them, as they will have absorbed various toxins from traffic or polluted soil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll find blackberry family bushes (dewberries, thimbleberries) in moist areas along the coast or along stream beds. In the mountains you will find gooseberries and wild currants. They also taught us in the Scouts that wild grapes and wild strawberries were to be found, but I've never come across any; you may have to go literally off the beaten path to find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="283" LastActivityDate="2012-05-04T16:45:20.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1644" CreationDate="2012-05-04T23:40:06.623" Score="5" ViewCount="110" Body="&lt;p&gt;The black waterproof rubber seal round my Garmin etrex h has just started to peel away, and while not a major issue at the moment I don't really want to use it in the rough when it's waterproofing is compromised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the best way to reattach the seal? Would normal epoxy be fine, or are there any special considerations I should be aware of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T22:33:01.830" Title="Reattaching waterproof rubber on GPS" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1404" CreationDate="2012-05-05T03:13:40.890" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of oil surely matters.  Within petroleum products, thick, waxy &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline&quot;&gt;Cosmoline&lt;/a&gt; has proven to be effective, but it's not nice to remove. (I've never personally used it for this reason.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have recently learned of and started using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fluid-film.com/&quot;&gt;Fluid Film&lt;/a&gt;.  It has an unusual (to me) wool-lanolin base.  I have limited experience with it and I have not yet conducted my own testing but I have seen several positive reports.  You can find tests of varying veracity with a simple Web search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is getting further off topic as none of these products are simple oil as far as I know, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://events.nace.org/library/corrosion/inhibitors/CPCs-testing-Spray.asp&quot;&gt;here is a salt spray test&lt;/a&gt; that includes Fluid Film.  Fluid Film is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fluid-film.com/downloads/aerosol_msds.pdf&quot;&gt;basically non-toxic&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; and performs as about as well as any of the &quot;Soft Film&quot; products.  Compare &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crcindustries.com/faxdocs/msds/10700.pdf&quot;&gt;the MSDS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; for the highest rated &quot;Water Displacing Soft Film&quot; in that test, CRC Protector 100.  For this reason I use Fluid Film for knives/tools that may contact food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&#xA;1. &quot;Ingestion of this product is not regarded as a significant health hazard likely to arise in normal &#xA;use.&quot;&#xA;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&#xA;2.  &quot;Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed.&quot;&#xA;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-06T00:47:44.523" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T00:47:44.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1146" CreationDate="2012-05-05T11:46:35.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @xpda says, bouldering doesn't require much equipment at all. I found it much easier to start bouldering than climbing with a rope; I went a couple of times to a non-bouldering place and though I liked it, I didn't stay with it- bouldering was easier to get into and keep coming back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the shoes- again, agreeing with @xpda - the first few times I went I found my lack of technique and underdeveloped muscles were far more important than whether I used climbing shoes or not. It was only after about a month that the shoes became a factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I started as an absolute beginner. If you're already experienced (or more talented) the shoes might be crucial earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-05T11:46:35.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1431" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-06T01:18:31.037" Score="20" ViewCount="4821" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocerium&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire steels&lt;/a&gt;, ferrocerium rods -- oversized versions of the &quot;flint&quot; in a lighter or torch starter, are an apparently popular survival/backwoods fire starting method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Why would one want one of these rather than a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gmcYM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Storm Lighter&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is one type or brand more effective than another?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sizes are &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MMwc4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;all over the map&lt;/a&gt;.  Do these all work equally well?  Is it just a matter of lifespan?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are bare rods, rods on lanyards, and rods in handles.  How does it matter?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is needed to make sparks with one of these rods?  Will natural flint work as a striker?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you &quot;strike&quot; or &quot;scrape&quot; a fire steel?  How do you hold it?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can you use less sensitive tinder than is needed for a fire drill or fire piston?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special precautions or specific failures for fire steels?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:23:32.663" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:23:32.663" Title="How to choose a fire steel and use it most effectively?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1432" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-06T01:56:17.937" Score="11" ViewCount="3936" Body="&lt;p&gt;It happend to me a couple of times now that I've cross-loaded my carabiner when belaying; the frequent change from slack to tension and back, moving the carabiner up and down and all that, can easily result in such a situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few biners adressing this issue by adding a small wire gate lock at the bottom or having a 8-like shape, but I was wondering whether anyone knows a neat trick how to keep it in position so that it won't turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="320" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:54.263" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:54.263" Title="Preventing cross-loading on belay carabiners" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1432" CreationDate="2012-05-06T02:09:08.667" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can largely mitigate the problem by braking to the front and keeping tension on the carabiner throughout by pressing the system away from your body, rather than braking to the side.  Nevertheless (as mentioned) these specialized carabiners may add some comfort:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/carabiners/gridlock-screwgate-carabiner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Gridlock&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-carabiners-quickdraws/magnetron-gridlock-carabiner-BD2102880000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnetron Gridlock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/belay-master-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DMM Belay Master&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camp-usa.com/products/carabiners/hms-belay-lock-1176.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;C.A.M.P. HMS Belay Lock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/gatekeeper.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metolius GateKeeper&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uuQLV.jpg&quot; width=&quot;180&quot;&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iDH5m.jpg&quot; width=&quot;165&quot;&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TTkmm.jpg&quot; width=&quot;130&quot;&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tL0op.jpg&quot; width=&quot;160&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/ultra-o/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a carabiner with a high minor axis strength&lt;/a&gt;.  This carabiner has a rated minor-axis minimum-breaking-strength of 12 kN.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://strikerescue.com/file_download/9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a paper by Beverly and Attaway&lt;/a&gt; this is the &quot;maximum credible event&quot; force on the belay, and is therefore &quot;strong enough.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2919/rod-hall&quot;&gt;Rod Hall&lt;/a&gt;'s somewhat enigmatic post lead me to the the &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/rhino/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DMM Rhino&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gv9el.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This carabiner is designed to prevent a somewhat different type of cross-loading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The horn prevents assisted locking belay devices rotating off the top bar and on to the spine reducing the risk of cross loading; it also works well with selected DMM pulleys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A device such as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/belay-devices/grigri&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl GRIGRI&lt;/a&gt; can migrate down the spine of the belay carabiner, and such a device may not move freely and therefore does not auto-orient to the degree that a standard tube-style device does, and it is reportedly possible to have the device stick like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QV0ED.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T09:32:45.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2012-05-06T02:38:16.507" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pro of a fire steel over other lighters is that there's little that can break or be damaged from weather. Even if you lose the striker, a steel knife will work with the flint. However the con is that you only get a spark, not a steady flame. That means it needs to hit something that will ignite very easily. I use it to light my stoves (alcohol and isobutane) but I wouldn't want to try to start a fire with that and twigs. If you need to step it up to the next level, they make magnesium starters which you shave off some of the magnesium and hit that with a spark to light whatever the magnesium is in contact with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only used a cheap &quot;made in china&quot; type, so I have no idea if others might be better. But we're only talking about a piece of metal so I'm not sure there's a big difference in quality. I'd suggest looking at quantity over quality, and get the largest size for the money. The sparks are from the flint being worn off, so a smaller flint will be worn away quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To use, I prefer a handle on the flint to give me a better grip. You place the steel close to 90° against the flint, and point the flint towards the object you want to light. You can push the steel down the flint, but I like to pull the flint back away from the target since it gives me more control and there's less risk of blowing out what I'm trying to light. This is a fast scrape motion, not a strike. Maintain the right angle and pressure and sparks will fly easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried the fire drill or piston, but keep in mind that you don't have highly accurate aim with the fire steel. This means it's much more trial and error to get the spark to hit just the right spot on your target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing I like the best with fire steels is their reliability and durability. But because they don't provide a constant flame, I tend to keep matches as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T02:38:16.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1425" CreationDate="2012-05-06T06:47:50.130" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first commandment of leather care is to &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; let your boots dry too quickly, for example on direct sun or next to a source of heat. The leather could crack or shrink. You have to let them dry slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, you should use something to keep the leather in good shape. There are tons of products for this, so pick a dependable outdoors brand and use what they have. (I use a silicone-based cream by Scarpa, but that's probably not available on your continent :-) Some people use various regular greases from hand creams to edible oils. I would not do that, as picking the wrong substance may get your leather too soft or compromise the waterproof membrane (if you have one). The sole purpose of this treatment is to keep the leather happy, ie. not dry and reasonably soft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third there is waterproofing, where we enter a world of alchemy in which everybody claims that something else works for them :-) Some products take care both of leather conditioning and waterproofing, some products only do either. Choosing the right waterproofing product depends on whether your boots have a membrane and whether it still works. If the membrane is there and works, you can mostly forget about waterproofing. Some extra waterproofing should improve the boot breathability when wet, so it makes sense, but it has to be a product intended for leather boots with a membrane. Otherwise it could clog the membrane or something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no membrane or it leaks, there's again a lot of solutions to pick from, ranging from various sprays to waxes. The waxes are very dependable, meaning a well waxed leather will not let the water in for a long time, but some people say that wax limits the breathability and makes the leather harder, which can lead to cracking. I have no experience with wax, since my membrane still works. And speaking of wax, it's good to know that once you wax the leather, there's pretty much no way back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the amount of what I have written it looks like I know something about it, but that's not really true, so I'd welcome other opinions and corrections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T06:47:50.130" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1220" CreationDate="2012-05-06T21:22:42.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Rory says, low power consumption is vital, but that's likely not determined by the software, but rather by the hardware and - more importantly - how you use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The three key things for me in Smartphone GPS map systems are these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can download maps to the device, rather than stream. (And I wouldn't trust anything claiming to just 'cache' streamed maps, because there's no guarantee that it won't randomly decide to un-cache them again)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can work with 'real' maps. In the UK this means Ordnance Survey or Harveys. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Display current coordinates in grid system of your choice. e.g. OS Grid, not Lat and Long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This may just a long-winded way of saying 'Anything except google maps!')&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But really, it depends on how you plan to use it. I travel with map, compass and brain as my primary nav. tools, and keep phone as a backup. On longer hikes it's usually switched off in an Aloksak bag, but on day hikes I may keep it running and recording my track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW, I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://viewranger.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ViewRanger&lt;/a&gt; on a Motorola Defy, and I'm very pleased with both. Viewranger on iPad3 looks stunning, but you wouldn't normally want to take one with you on a hike...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2012-05-07T19:35:48.350" LastActivityDate="2012-05-07T19:35:48.350" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="42" CreationDate="2012-05-06T21:34:24.570" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As said, prevention is better than cure. But, most importantly, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;don't attempt to thaw frostbitten areas if there's any chance of them re-freezing&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. This typically means don't try to treat it yourself in a back-country setting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...And once you're in civilization, get a medical professional to handle it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T21:34:24.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2012-05-06T21:44:57.020" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never tried them but I've heard &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0014C5S7S&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crocs&lt;/a&gt; often mentioned as a good and reasonably lightweight solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-06T21:44:57.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1329" CreationDate="2012-05-07T09:52:06.750" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/Practical-guide/public/beaches&quot;&gt;Scottish 'code'&lt;/a&gt; mentions specific rights on the 'foreshore'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What about public rights on the foreshore?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.18&lt;/strong&gt; Public rights on the foreshore and in tidal waters will continue to exist. These have not been fully defined but include&#xA;  shooting wildfowl, fishing for sea fish, gathering some uncultivated&#xA;  shellfish, lighting fires, swimming, playing on the sand and&#xA;  picnicking. Access rights also extend to these places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it also says...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wherever possible, use a stove rather than light an open fire.&lt;/strong&gt; If you&#xA;  do wish to light an open fire, keep it small, under control and&#xA;  supervised – fires that get out of control can cause major damage, for&#xA;  which you might be liable. Never light an open fire during prolonged&#xA;  dry periods or in areas such as forests, woods, farmland, or on peaty&#xA;  ground or near to buildings or in cultural heritage sites where damage&#xA;  can be easily caused.  Heed all advice at times of high risk.  Remove&#xA;  all traces of an open fire before you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;England and Wales are likely &lt;em&gt;TOTALLY&lt;/em&gt; different. Lighting fires anywhere is pretty much frowned on, AFAIK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T08:12:39.797" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T08:12:39.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="200" CreationDate="2012-05-07T11:45:12.430" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boots and Crampons have ratings that give you an idea of compatibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots are rated B0 (three season boots, or basically, bedroom slippers!) to B3 (rigid shell mountaineering boots), and crampons are rated C0 (flexible, strap-on) to C2 (rigid, typically step-in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In theory, you shouldn't use a crampon with a higher number than your boot. But, more importantly, take your boots with you to the store, because (like boot fit depends on your foot), crampon fit depends on your boot. Fit is vital, as you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; don't want one to fall off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/article.aspx?id=5363&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/article.aspx?id=5363&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From UKC, see also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=1330&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=1330&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T13:17:33.403" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T13:17:33.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2012-05-07T12:20:35.320" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big plus with a firesteel is that you can pretty much do what you want to it, including soaking the thing in ice cold water, and it'll still work as well as before. The big downside is it's just sparks, so it's harder to build a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, with practice, it's not that hard and does provide a good backup if your matches get soaked through and your lighter gets damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of specific questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have two or three brands and I see no discernible difference between them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bigger the better - the thicker it is, the longer it will last before being worn down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any flat blade will generally do the trick, though if you use a sharp knife bear in mind it'll get worn down quite quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I prefer rods on handles - it makes it a lot easier to hold whilst using.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You scrape rather than strike, still relatively fast. However, I've found good pressure and angle is much more important than speed. When practicing, go slowly - you'll improve your technique and be surprised how many sparks you can create this way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No real specific precautions you need to bear in mind, just the general ones when you're dealing with fire!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-12T07:11:15.627" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T07:11:15.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1442" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-07T14:22:17.607" Score="10" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are trying to figure out if back country camping in Yellowstone is something we are prepared for. We've never done this before, so the planning is the hardest part for us right now. We would like to stay 3-4 days. I have a series of questions that are broken up individually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of supplies are needed (beyond tent, sleeping bag)? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If we are going to do some day hikes, what should we realistically expect to take and leave behind? Food, water, tent, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are any hikes &amp;amp;/ campsites recommended?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="71" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:48:47.857" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:48:47.857" Title="Yellowstone back country camping trip?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;yellowstone&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2012-05-07T16:33:52.477" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My kit is predominantly based on this article by Kath Wills of Llanberis MRT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=3593&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HOW TO: Make A Mountain First Aid Kit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Israeli trauma compression bandage is a great bit of kit, but not recommended to be carried in certain territories....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-17341002&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Libya detainee Gareth Montgomery-Johnson 'almost unrecognisable' in call&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Members of the brigade also produced a field dressing that they said&#xA;  had been found in the journalists' possession.  It was of a type, they said, used by the Israeli military.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T23:24:35.227" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T23:24:35.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1373" CreationDate="2012-05-07T19:03:01.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy a hiking map once there, they should be available in bookshops and tourist offices. The map shows marked trails which are walkable without the need for special equipment. The paths can be rocky, slippery and steep in places though. &#xA;For example on Moskenesoya there are trails from Fredvang to romantic secluded beaches and a trail from Moskenes to the mountain hut Munkebu and mountaintop Hermanssdalstinden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Online hiking maps can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://ut.no/map/page/maptool/274453&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="498" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-08T16:46:13.823" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T16:46:13.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2012-05-07T19:04:01.417" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take an external rechargeable powerpack like one of these:-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B005VBNYDS&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.com/PowerGen-External-Blackberry-Sensation-Thunderbolt/dp/B005VBNYDS/ref=dp_cp_ob_hpc_title_1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choose the size of powerpack according to your trip length and needs, as these things are not lightweight. Obviously, these tend to be bigger and heavier than the device you're looking to charge :-(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an alternative, look at an Android phone. You'll get much the same feature set (GPS, compass, phone) but with the advantage of field-swappable batteries. So you can just purchase a few extra batteries, charge them up, tape over the contacts and stick them in a ziploc bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-07T19:04:01.417" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="909" CreationDate="2012-05-07T20:22:52.037" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;When water evaporates, it cools the surrounding surface.&lt;/a&gt; This is primarily why we sweat - our body is using this process to cool itself down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, a buff (or mitts) dipped in water can act as pretty effective coolers as they dry out. To 'recharge' simply dunk them in water again...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2012-05-08T15:45:10.947" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T15:45:10.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1447" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1461" CreationDate="2012-05-08T02:57:15.963" Score="14" ViewCount="52240" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/542/how-do-you-remove-mold-from-a-tent&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, but mildew tends to be very resistant to removal.  I sadly failed to keep my tent dry enough, and now it has a couple of mildew spots.  They're not bad, but I would rather not replace my entire tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the best way to remove mildew from a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:32:21.777" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T20:29:15.467" Title="How do I remove mildew from a tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1448" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1450" CreationDate="2012-05-08T03:11:28.337" Score="7" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not back packing in the wilderness. I hope that doesn't disqualify me from asking a question that I think is still relevant for back-packers in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an MEI Travel Pack that I'm pretty happy with.  I used it for a 1-month back packing trip through central Mexico last month.  The main thing I don't like about it, is how cumbersome it is to adjust the straps on the exterior of the bag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vx4YW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting these straps (there are two) tight takes a while. I have to loosen it by pulling the strap through, so there's some give between the buckle and the clasp (is that a proper term?). Then I close the bag, and tighten it, then work the strap through the clasp until it lies flat again (as pictured).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better mechanism I can use to make tightening this down much quicker, while keeping it secure?  Removing the clasp would make tightening easy, but it wouldn't hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some kind of clamp I can put in place of the clasp, that I could open when packing the bag, and close it down on the tightened strap to keep it secure during use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="500" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T09:15:32.737" Title="How can I improve on the straps on my travel pack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2012-05-08T09:05:28.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add a data point to the curve, I'm 6'3&quot;, and after much deliberation bought a 65cm &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/cirque/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;DMM Cirque&lt;/a&gt; as a general winter hillwalking axe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'm generally very happy with it, I'd definitely switch to a 60cm one next time. The only place where I find the extra length useful is cutting steps in descent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Self-arrests with it are fine, but a shorter axe would be more wieldy for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T09:05:28.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1448" CreationDate="2012-05-08T09:15:32.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a backpack, you'd have the quick-release buckle, but no clasp. The clasp is really doing two things - stopping the buckle loosening, and making it look tidy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the buckle is decent quality and condition it's unlikely to loosen much by itself in normal use. I'd just remove the clasp, and shorten the webbing as much as possible (which helps keep it tidy). Carefully melt the cut end of the webbing to stop it fraying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T09:15:32.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1346" CreationDate="2012-05-08T09:22:08.063" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never had a pack failure 'in the wild' but I think my usual repair kit of duct tape, tie wraps and a bit of paracord should be able to handle most things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minor strap and buckle failures aren't likely to cause you major problem - but if a shoulder strap fails, that's quite a challenge: Just remember your pack is a vital part of your gear, and look after it well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T09:22:08.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2012-05-08T11:01:20.077" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's vital to get them off ASAP as the risk of infection from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lyme Disease&lt;/a&gt; increases after the first 24 hours, but the list of ways NOT to do this is probably more important ;-) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't burn it, squeeze it or cover it in alcohol/wax/marmalade/whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And -contrary to the accepted answer- if at all possible, DO NOT use tweezers: you need extreme care not to separate the body from the head, or to make the tick vomit it's supper back into you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead I carry a pair of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;O'TOM Tick Twisters&lt;/a&gt; in my first aid kit. Practically zero size and weight, and they have worked flawlessly every time, even on the tiniest ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video showing the principle here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaKU1zjWOyg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaKU1zjWOyg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good advice re. Lyme Disease and Tick Removal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2017-07-03T17:00:57.923" LastActivityDate="2017-07-03T17:00:57.923" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1459" CreationDate="2012-05-08T13:49:19.967" Score="39" ViewCount="3412" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been out camping a few times, once with a group, the other times with my girlfriend. Although I enjoyed those times very much, I often wondered what would it feel like to enjoy the complete solitude of nature on my own. But every time i think of it, the combination of solitude and nightfall together seem to freak me out. I just cannot handle it. Last night around 11 I went for a bike ride and as soon as I left the last houses and malls, and saw the big open sky and the lake, I got spooked and turned back. What a shame!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you deal with loneliness and solitude on a a solo camping trip?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does loneliness make the trip more or less enjoyable?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does dealing with solitude in wilderness make you feel like a stronger person when you return?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T12:41:23.787" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:41:23.787" Title="The outdoors, solitude and dealing with loneliness" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2012-05-08T15:44:46.970" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a whole bunch of standard map and compass techniques you can use without a GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know your location before the fog came down, then you're not lost - you just can't see so far. Change your navigation strategy to have shorter legs, and pick tick points that will be within your vision. Pay particular attention to changes in trail direction and contour interpretation. If you have a good handrail feature (path/river/fence) use that too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are 'lost' and need to re-locate yourself, start by looking around you. Are you by a path or stream, and if so, what direction is it going. What's the terrain doing around you. In particular, in the mountains, what is the slope aspect? (i.e. what's the compass bearing of the 'fall line'). If you have a (correctly set!) altimeter watch that can help reduce the possibilities too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're lucky this will be enough to give you a definitive fix (or enough clues to tell you which way to go, even if you're not 100% sure of position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But often, there aren't enough definitive clues within sight to fix your position. If so, it's time to move! Not far - maybe 100m or so. Choose the direction to move in based on your previous guesses (ie, pick directions where the presence/absence of particular expected features en route will narrow the possibilities) and obviously avoid directions that could take you near steep drops. Add the clues from your new position to those of the old one. Repeat, if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a whole bunch of books on navigation. My favourite is this one: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Navigation-Manual-Lyle-Brotherton/dp/0007424604&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ultimate Navigation Manual&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T12:13:15.933" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T12:13:15.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-08T16:19:52.843" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Solitude isn't for everyone - some people love it, others not so much - personally I prefer enjoying it with others, and there's other advantages to this too (such as from a safety aspect.) If you are going on your own you need to make sure you've got measures in place so people know where you are, and you need to make sure all your necessary skills (navigation, safety, survival) are top notch; there's no relying or bouncing ideas off anyone else. In short, if it's something that spooks you or you're not fully comfortable with it, there's nothing to be ashamed of!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of the specific questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Usually if I want to be on my own on a trip, it's because I want to enjoy nature and its surroundings. So spend your time enjoying it! Wander round the area, at night have a look at the stars, grab some binoculars and see what wildlife you can spot... all great things to do. You're there to enjoy nature, so enjoy nature! If you end up with the situation where its tipping it down or other circumstances mean that you really can't, take a good book or two to read. Always a good fall-back :-)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Really depends on the person! There's times when just being on your own and having time to yourself can make it more enjoyable and relaxing, whereas at other times I'd prefer to enjoy it with people. There's no real set answer to this, you just have to see what works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stronger in what sense? Overall it probably makes me more confident with the outdoors, but there's no huge and sudden personality change if that's what you're after!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-12-14T14:29:32.683" LastActivityDate="2012-12-14T14:29:32.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1456" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1462" CreationDate="2012-05-08T16:27:17.390" Score="15" ViewCount="741" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1453/the-outdoors-solitude-and-dealing-with-loneliness&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question, if I'm camping and hiking on my own, I'm obviously at more of a risk than if I were with someone, and some key tasks will definitely be harder with no-one to assist (such as putting up a tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were planning such a trip, what should I be aware of and therefore practice or train? I'm thinking both in terms of safety (such as learning basic first aid) and practicalities (such as learning how to quickly erect a tent on your own).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-15T02:17:30.257" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T02:17:30.257" Title="What practical issues do I need to be aware of when hiking or camping on my own?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;&lt;solo-backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1456" CreationDate="2012-05-08T18:15:31.780" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing that should be obvious, but still is worth repeating: &lt;em&gt;If you’re out alone, make sure you can get help when you need it.&lt;/em&gt; I recently went on a solo trip into the mountains in the winter and realized that something like hurting your knee in the deep snow can happen quite quickly and if you can’t get help, in the winter you’re in big trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is why you should always carry a working phone, make sure the battery does not run out during the trip and make sure if there’s carrier signal. Certainly it doesn’t hurt if somebody reliable knows where you’re going and when to ring the alarm if you’re not back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;cf. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/127_Hours&quot;&gt;127 Hours&lt;/a&gt; :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T18:15:31.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1458" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-08T18:21:34.727" Score="1" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really enjoy surfing and would say that I am intermediate level or definitely over the beginner curve. Anyway I am looking at these 4 boards right now and need to know what experience you guys have had with them if any!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roberts White Diamond&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lost Subdriver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firewire Dominator&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Channel Islands Fishcuit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These seem most suited to the waves here in SoCal and they seem super carvy like a longboard skateboard (which I also ride) Right now I am leaning towards the Roberts White Diamond. I would love some other input though from you guys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="501" LastEditorUserId="500" LastEditDate="2012-05-08T19:33:53.687" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T19:33:53.687" Title="Need Help Choosing A Surf Board" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-07-19T15:52:06.547" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-08T18:56:07.127" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like being out alone. Generally you have more time for introspection, for getting calm and enjoying what’s around you and inside of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there’s times when you have to deal with yourself and your fears when you’re out alone. Even after many nights that I have spent outside alone, I’m still a bit nervous when the sun sets. (I guess it’s an old habit inherited from the times people were not safe outside.) Usually I’m so tired that I simply don’t have the energy to be too nervous :) And the early dawn when the birds start to sing is always worth it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://picasaweb.google.com/109271680907792241347/SchladmingerTauern&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RyyYN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Morning in the Schladminger Tauern&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I think I’m a stronger person because of it, as I’m a bit more accustomed to my own fear. As for dealing with awkward feelings when being out alone, it’s hard to give a good advice. In such situations I usually simply push myself a little bit; mostly the rational push proves to be beneficial in hindsight. I consider it to be an interesting skill to know when and how far you can override your instincts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-12-12T09:22:07.823" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T09:22:07.823" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-08T20:06:34.557" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't have to go on a solo trip to experience a little solitude. For example, you can go with a group, and when you're planning the trip, plan for a day during which you will go off on a solo hike, while the others stay at camp and fish or read or the like. Or perhaps it's a day where they all go off on a hike and you loiter around the camp alone. This lets you experience being truly alone without being alone in the dark right away. If you enjoy it, you might arrange that on your next trip, you will camp at a different spot, going on ahead when the others stop, and meeting up with them the next morning at some logical place (like a portage, if you're canoeing.) That way you can spend a night alone, in a camp you set up all by yourself, eating the food you prepared all by yourself, and then the next day you are back with the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do it? Well, why not I suppose. And if there is something that scares or spooks you, and you apply reasoning and logic to make it safe, then overcome your fears and do it, you will probably feel stronger for it afterwards. But I feel like a very strong person, and I've never camped alone. (I've camped with my babies which is WAY harder though and with a total of 2, 4 or even more adults always.) I went on a super scary rollercoaster in my 40s, and I have to say I didn't feel stronger afterwards. So don't count on the solo camping too much as a lifechanger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For maximum benefit, prepare. Do everything you can to make yourself safe. You will probably have to sacrifice comfort - a couple can carry more stuff than a single person can. Bring a journal so you can write down some of what you're thinking. Either bring a book or the like to occupy yourself, or deliberately don't so you have to think and meditate a little. Ease into it a little at a time, and if you want to do it, do it. But if you don't, it's not a failure of character. I have plenty of character without having done this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T20:06:34.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1447" CreationDate="2012-05-08T21:13:23.813" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best I've found for this sort of thing is normal household bleach - you can dilute it to start with and try it on a small area if you're scared of wrecking the tent. In many cases, working diluted bleach into the fabric is enough and I've personally never had any issues with it removing the waterproof coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-08T21:13:23.813" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1456" CreationDate="2012-05-08T22:35:11.200" Score="16" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;emergency kit&lt;/a&gt;, and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/603/what-essential-items-should-go-in-a-small-first-aid-kit&quot;&gt;first aid kit&lt;/a&gt;.  Keep both of&#xA;these on your person at all times, but at a minimum, keep the&#xA;emergency kit on you.  People have died less than a mile from camp&#xA;because they left all their gear at the tent and went for a &quot;short&#xA;hike&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set up a some sort of check in system.  These range from the simple&#xA;cell phone to the fancy (and pricey) GPS Search and Rescue systems&#xA;which can send short pre-programmed emails.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell someone when you are leaving, your route, and your expected return.  Do this even if you have the fancy S&amp;amp;R system.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gear&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry backup water purification in case your primary fails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ditto for fire and cutting tool&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Behavior &amp;amp; Knowledge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move slower and more carefully; no one is going to be there to go for help if you get hurt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp off trail, preferably out of sight.  Two legged animals are the most dangerous and a hiker alone is more at risk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;NOT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; put yourself at risk for hypothermia.  It's incredibly hard to self rescue or self aid when under the affects of hypothermia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make more noise.  A group will make a ton of noise (comparatively) and scare off bears, dogs, snakes, etc.  As an individual you are more likely to startle something which can hurt you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm trying to restrict this to just things that are different when alone, as opposed to a catch-all &quot;safety&quot; answer)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T18:49:17.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1346" CreationDate="2012-05-09T00:14:52.280" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slightly different take here:  prevention&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should regularly inspect the pack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The joining of straps to seams.  Can you see stitching?  Can the strap move independently of the seam (even a little)?  This is easy to reinforce.  I turn it inside out, add a piece of fabric over the inside seam, and stitch just a bit past the original (note this can only really be done once).  Alternatively you could use a seam ripper (if the seams aren't taped) and restitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Straps -- If a strap is worn severely, or torn, you can fix by just stitching a reinforcement strap on top.  I use this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/813836/rei-34-inch-webbing-straps-with-side-release-buckle&quot;&gt;style of webbing strap&lt;/a&gt;. (You can buy strapping material from a fabric store without the buckles.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zipper -- Are the teeth worn down?  Are the stitches showing?  If so you may need to replace the zipper, the details of which are a bit beyond this answer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zipper (part 2) -- Check the &quot;stopper&quot; thing at the bottom.  This stops the zipper from zipping open too far and coming apart.  If it is too worn or loose, simply stitch ten or so loops of thread around it and they will stop the zipper.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buckles - Your bag probably has plastic buckles.  The buckle will be a whitish color, at a spot where it's been bent too far or too much and is starting to fail.  If you see that then you need to replace the buckle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overall -- If you see really worn fabric, a tear, or a hole, even a small one, then you have a major rip waiting to happen.  First carefully stitch a stop circle around the hole or tear.  Then add a patch of the same fabric as the pack.  Do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; use iron-on style patches.  They create hard edges which will just make things wear faster and create a larger hole.  Honestly though, if you're at this point, it's going to be time to replace it soon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="77" LastEditDate="2012-06-12T14:51:19.177" LastActivityDate="2012-06-12T14:51:19.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2012-05-09T01:36:42.980" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This book, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;ved=0CIABEBYwAA&amp;amp;url=http://www.amazon.com/How-Stay-Alive-Woods-Self-Preservation/dp/0684831015&amp;amp;ei=X8mpT6LDD4Ge6QGQhdyWDw&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNFyrYXV3UqSHh0v8h1EU7SsX4IPYQ&amp;amp;sig2=0XVuHWJ7jvrw4wYO7HvvLQ&quot;&gt;How to stay alive in the Woods&lt;/a&gt;, is an older book but contains lots of valuable information on how to keep from getting hungry, and other useful things, while away from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T01:36:42.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2012-05-09T09:14:02.267" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the Mammut headlamps can be fitted with an optional diffuser for ambient lighting. Haven't tried it, but it looks like it could be a neat solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2yKrPSruCg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut TR1 Headlamp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T13:21:45.667" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:21:45.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2012-05-09T09:21:51.507" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're staying out overnight, consider digging a snowhole instead of using a tent. A snowhole can be much warmer than a tent and give significantly better protection. And, as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/snow_shelters_for_climbers&quot;&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick&lt;/a&gt; writes, they can't blow away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T09:21:51.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2012-05-09T11:19:20.653" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;A trick I've seen recently is to strap your headlamp to a solid water bottle with the light pointed into the base of the bottle. Lay the bottle on the side and you have a substitute for a lantern. The plastic and some water act as a poor-man's diffuser. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T11:19:20.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1217" CreationDate="2012-05-09T11:21:52.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For compasses, it will depend on the model. You can get globally balanced compasses like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suunto.com/gb/en/products/Fieldcompasses/suunto-m-3-global/suunto-m-3-global-cm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Suunto M3 Global&lt;/a&gt;, but Silva compasses (probably the most common in Europe) tend to be balanced for the Northern Hemisphere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As LBell says, they'll point the right way, but just won't work smoothly so you run the risk of taking inaccurate bearings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth looking at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3aWorld_Magnetic_Declination_2010.pdf&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a declination map&lt;/a&gt; to understand the scale of the problem. We're not talking just a degree or two out. Large parts of the world are 20 degrees or more away from polar north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point: when you correct for declination, you need to correct from magnetic north to GRID north (which will not be the same as polar, and the difference will vary according to your location on the grid - as well as over time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some smartphone apps (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://eclipsim.com/gpsstatus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eclipsim's GPS Status&lt;/a&gt;) can help by using GPS to determine location, and then lookup using declination map data to give the required correction. You can then set your compass accordingly and  switch off the phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good background material &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.threelittlemaids.co.uk/magdec/explain.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/support/knowledgebase/grid-north-magnetic-north-and-true-north.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2012-05-09T11:36:32.027" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T11:36:32.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1346" CreationDate="2012-05-09T12:22:57.267" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, straps and buckles don't just fail one day, you can see signs of wear a while in advance. Of course there are exceptions and you should arguably be prepared for these too, but giving the essentials a glance over once in a while can't do any harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a general pointer, bear in mind your use case as well. If you know your pack is about to endure a tough 5 days that would stretch it even when new, bear in mind that anything even minor that you spot could give way suddenly - so fix and replace when you can rather than taking the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of the time to replace the pack, I'd say it's when multiple things start failing within a short time frame. A strap coming a bit undone once? Fair enough. A strap coming undone, couple of zippers failing and a small hole appearing in a month? Replace it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T12:22:57.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1256" CreationDate="2012-05-09T14:35:05.917" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although some of the articles there appear to require payment, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/gearchecklists.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BackpackingLight&lt;/a&gt; have lots of gear lists for different conditions, including both long and short trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=33333&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; specifically refers to the AT)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T14:35:05.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1471" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1476" CreationDate="2012-05-09T15:19:19.200" Score="6" ViewCount="157" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking for some good windproof matches - not for any specific use, but just because I considered they may come in useful in some environments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone any experience with any particular ones? A lot of the ones I've searched for (such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Systems-2270-Lifesystems-Windproof/dp/B001SGWIUU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;) don't seem to have many good reviews.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:29:43.480" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:29:43.480" Title="Recommended windproof matches?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1472" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1473" CreationDate="2012-05-09T16:20:18.017" Score="7" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;As above really, is there a resource where I can find all the &quot;off-road&quot; style lanes in the UK where I could legally drive a 4x4?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T19:30:46.777" Title="How can I locate lanes where I can legally drive a 4x4 in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1472" CreationDate="2012-05-09T19:30:46.777" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are marked on OS 1:25K Explorer maps as &quot;Byways open to all traffic&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it's a good idea to research your route beforehand as some (like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monks_Trod&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monk's Trod&lt;/a&gt;) are now closed by traffic regulation orders - primarily because of the damage caused by off-roaders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5PUT4.png&quot; alt=&quot;Key from OS map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T19:30:46.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1474" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1475" CreationDate="2012-05-09T19:38:58.233" Score="20" ViewCount="4955" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take a Primus EtaExpress stove with me when camping, and am slowing accumulating a collection of canisters with only around ~20% gas in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this little gas, they don't have enough pressure to be useful in anything except ideal conditions (hot, windless, and you have all the time in the world) but I'm reluctant to dispose of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a good way of constructively using up the remaining gas - and what's the right way to recycle the canisters when they are properly empty?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hPv50.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T06:46:45.947" Title="What's the best way to use up (and dispose of) almost-empty butane canisters?" Tags="&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1474" CreationDate="2012-05-09T22:01:21.767" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To Dispose:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Vent all the fuel, then puncture the sidewall.  Once you have done this, it can be dumped in the appropriate recycling bin.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/813638/jetboil-crunchit-recycling-tool&quot;&gt;Jetboil&lt;/a&gt; makes a tool to help with this, for which they've made a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93QJTo99gOE&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded&quot;&gt;nice instructional video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To Use:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;An option to wasting that last 20% is to have an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/830342/msr-whisperlite-universal-backpacking-stove&quot;&gt;inverted canister setup&lt;/a&gt;.  Since this relies on gravity instead of boiling via depressurization then you will use more of the fuel, but is going to be heavier to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T22:01:21.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1471" CreationDate="2012-05-09T22:10:16.873" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/617046/rei-stormproof-matches&quot;&gt;these from REI&lt;/a&gt;.  I can attest that they work in both wind and rain, though needless to say you do need dry fuel.  Nothing will start sodden wood ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-09T22:10:16.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1477" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-10T00:52:44.783" Score="6" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/318/what-is-the-best-way-to-store-my-sleeping-bag-for-long-periods-of-time&quot;&gt;What is the best way to store my sleeping bag for long periods of time?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're at the point where we have more than one set of gear.  We use different gear for different hikes.  One of my sleeping bags will only see use once or twice a year at most.  What is the best way to store it so that is is not destroying or damaged during storage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T05:51:58.530" Title="How do I store my sleeping bag for long periods?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2012-05-10T18:15:08.580" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1479" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1524" CreationDate="2012-05-10T01:37:09.743" Score="5" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen many specialty broadheads for turkey hunting, like the Magnus Bullheads.  What are the benefits of specialty turkey broadheads and are they necessary or can I use normal broadheads I would use for whitetails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also are there any benefits to meat retention?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:28:06.323" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:28:06.323" Title="Turkey Broadheads" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;turkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1481" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1482" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" Score="0" Body="A shelter is a basic structure that provides cover in adverse conditions." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T09:24:46.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1483" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1484" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" Score="0" Body="Letterboxing is an outdoor activity where people hide small boxes in the countryside, give away grid references and compass bearings to find those boxes, then others locate them and log their find. It mostly occurs on Dartmoor, UK, where it originated. Letterboxes often contain rubber stamps; impressions are collected by those visiting the box." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T09:26:51.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1485" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-10T12:00:41.623" Score="20" ViewCount="1727" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on doing some back country canoe camping this summer.  I would like to avoid bringing a hatchet if possible.  I also find my folding knifes get full of gunk and I am a little bit afraid I am going to poison myself.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What should I look for when buying a fixed blade knife?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What materials are the best?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the ideal length?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What kind of sheath should I look for?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am in Canada so if anyone has any specific recommendations on where to get a good knife that would be helpful too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T17:02:48.123" LastActivityDate="2012-09-04T11:11:44.440" Title="What to look for when purchasing a fixed blade knife" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1486" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1490" CreationDate="2012-05-10T14:35:38.860" Score="10" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about to go on a 2 month trip from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theadventurists.com/the-adventures/mongol-rally&quot;&gt;England to Mongolia&lt;/a&gt; via  Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan to mention a few far flung countries. Ideally I'd want a gas stove top such that refuelling the canister wouldn't be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is gas the best solution, or would some sort of alcohol based fuel be better? If I was to use gas, could I take with me a 'universal' adapter of sorts in order to use local canisters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="508" LastEditorUserId="508" LastEditDate="2012-05-15T11:34:34.353" LastActivityDate="2012-05-15T11:34:34.353" Title="What is the most suitable cooking equipment to use for a long duration in central asia countries?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1486" CreationDate="2012-05-10T16:59:30.113" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's no huge biggie either way, but personally I'd recommend alcohol:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're going to countries with a relatively warm climate - gas in pressurised containers has more potential to go &quot;boom&quot; than alcohol.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the gas does escape in a confined area it makes the entire area highly flammable, again moreso in a hotter climate. If it's alcohol, you can get away from it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol doesn't need any fancy adaptors or such things, you just buy it and pour it in, end of. (Note: I'm not aware of whether foreign gas cylinders are different and if so what adaptors might be required, but with alcohol this problem just isn't there.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;..and because it doesn't need any fancy adapters that cuts down on the amount you need to carry, weight wise and bulk wise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol stoves are simpler and therefore generally more reliable too, the trangia being a prime example.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's not to say gas doesn't have its advantages, it's less messy than alcohol (just screw in and go) and usually gives a much better heat output, therefore cooking more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I'm not aware of how widely available alcohol / gas are in the parts of the world you're going to, so if one is much more readily available than the other, that may (rightly so) heavily influence your decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-10T18:16:50.803" LastActivityDate="2012-05-10T18:16:50.803" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1500" CreationDate="2012-05-10T20:12:37.607" Score="23" ViewCount="2057" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a very large man - I am 6'4&quot; and weigh 450 pounds (I've lost a 100 pounds in the last year).  I bike or walk everyday, (and swim laps occasionally) but want to add another sport to my exercise routine.  I live in a gated community with 5 lakes - so I have a lot of places to go just outside my door. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of a good resource to find a kayak or paddle board for large people?   Are you a large person already been down this path? I really haven't seen anything out there - I assume most people my size really don't do such things - but I can swim over a mile nonstop now so I have no fear of getting out on the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="509" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T19:56:03.863" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T19:56:03.863" Title="Is there a kayak / paddleboard for large people?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2012-05-11T03:12:56.177" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of it depends on the purpose of the knife, whether it will be primarily used for hunting, survival, or self-defence.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should you be looking for?  Size, weight, but more importantly feel, how does it hold in your hand with an overhand grip (most common grip), and what about underhand grip (used mostly for picking at ice or stabbing).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will you be doing any sawing with the knife? If so then you need some form of serration on at least part of the blade.  If you do go for a serrated blade then you'll also want a knife with a groove for your forefinger in the handle.  You may also consider a hand guard so as to avoid scuffing your knuckles while sawing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I like a blade that has a notch for cutting rope/wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a sheath, I'd recommend one that closes over the handle (either a velcro or button flap, or a loop that wraps around the handle (not as good, I've lost blades with those).  Oh, and don't get a blade that's tactical (black), it'll just make it that much harder to find it when you drop it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T03:12:56.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1486" CreationDate="2012-05-11T03:26:26.363" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A stove that handles multiple forms of fuel is well suited for this sort of travel.  I think the go-to one is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/gourmet-cooking/dragonfly/product&quot;&gt;MSR Dragonfly&lt;/a&gt; which works with white gas (aka naphtha), kerosene, unleaded auto fuel, diesel, and even jet fuel.  Another advantage of this setup is you don't have to worry about finding compatible fuel canisters in a foreign country or buying new ones each time you fly, you just use one (or more) fuel bottles and empty it before your flights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be other brands that also do this besides MSR, I'm personally only familiar with the Dragonfly, I've had mine for 10 years and although it's as loud as a jet engine I've never had to do any maintenance on it but am grateful that they offer a &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/stove-accessories/expedition-service-kit/product&quot;&gt;service kit&lt;/a&gt; so that you don't have to go looking for new stove in Timbuktu.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T03:26:26.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-11T03:51:33.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I enjoy being alone, but I'll bring a book and some music for when I'm in my tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You'll definitely get the &quot;gee I wish someone was here to see this with me&quot; moments, but you also get to avoid waiting or being waited upon by others.  Setting your own pace is a great way to get to know yourself.  If you get hurt badly I'm guessing being alone makes things a great deal less enjoyable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stronger in that you know you've done it, I suppose.  I'll tell you this much, last time I was 3 days in the backcountry without seeing a soul and when it was time to eat I was scared of bears and there was nothing I could put my back too, so I just sat there, ate, and tried not to be too paranoid about things, well that was special.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T03:51:33.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1447" CreationDate="2012-05-11T04:20:47.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The famous mildew cleaner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add 1 quart of liquid chlorine bleach to 3 quarts of warm water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add 1/3 cup of powdered laundry detergent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix thoroughly and place in a spray bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray the mixture onto the mildewed area. Let it sit until the black mildew turns white. Rinse and scrub with fresh water, then let it dry in the sun.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T04:20:47.747" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1493" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1496" CreationDate="2012-05-11T05:19:49.123" Score="3" ViewCount="235" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some inspiring books by naturalists that write about nature and its trans formative qualities in such a way that you can;t just wait to get out there? I am not looking for books in extreme adventure and sports but something more within my reach. I know John Muir is a noted naturalist but before buying any of his books, I wanted to get a recommendation from you all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T16:00:22.760" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T16:00:22.760" Title="Books to inspire you to get out in nature" Tags="&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-05-18T03:02:31.927" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-11T17:56:52.687" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Part 1 - how do I deal with loneliness/solitude?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, the key to not freaking out when I go out alone into the wilderness is feeling prepared.  Usually on the first night of a solo trip, especially in bear country, I'm going to be nervous.  I fight that by making sure I do everything correctly (as far as I know anyways!):  food well secured away from camp, pile of rocks to throw at aggressive bears, headlamp in reach nearby.  Ideally, I also try to hit camp the first night too exhausted to stay awake long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever my mind starts wandering to the noises in the night, I try not to focus on what it could be.  That being said, I have definitely spent long nights listening to mice (BEARS!), deer (DEFINITELY BEARS!!!), and owls (FLYING BEAR?).  I've just learned to accept this will happen and remind myself that although I am not sleeping, my body is still getting rest by lying down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Part 2 - does the loneliness make it more or less enjoyable?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say definitely rephrase this as solitude over loneliness.  I've found that not having people to share the views and experiences makes them somewhat less vivid in my memory.  I've taken to journalling in the evening to help me remember in the future how I felt and what I saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The huge advantage of being alone in the wilderness is feeling focused on the experience of the wild, rather than the people you are there with.  That sounds somewhat silly, but I've taken a small trip solo that I had previously done with a group, and it felt like much more of an adventure.  Another fun part of solo hiking is that you will meet more wildlife, especially if you walk softly in the early morning/evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does dealing with solitude in wilderness make me feel like a stronger person when I return?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I finish a difficult solo trip, I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to.  I wish I could say that the feeling lasts forever, but it fades pretty quick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T17:56:52.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2012-05-11T18:29:29.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most important aspects in a knife is choosing one that you'll actually carry with you.  It's no use if you leave it at camp while hiking because the length is unwieldy for you to bring.  In other words, it has to be one that you're comfortable with (weight, handle, size, length, etc).  It's really more of a personal decision as the knife I prefer may differ from yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, I went w/ a AUS8 4.85in blade since it was easy for me to carry without needing a bag.  I strongly suggest visiting your local store to handle the knives yourself in order to make a decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="496" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T18:29:29.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-11T20:07:37.983" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;list&quot; questions can cause problems on stackexchange sites, but, anyhow...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a UK perspective, Robert Macfarlane's &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001RNI2F4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;The Wild Places&quot;&lt;/a&gt; is excellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T20:07:37.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1497" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1498" CreationDate="2012-05-11T20:16:04.120" Score="11" ViewCount="1834" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps you've heard about &lt;a href=&quot;http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/student-flesh-eating-disease-lose-limbs/story?id=16326722#.T61uSOtYuSo&quot;&gt;Aimee Copeland&lt;/a&gt;, the 24-year-old adventurer who contracted a flesh-eating disease after getting injured in a zip line accident over the Tallapoosa River. She's already lost her leg to the rare disease, and doctors say she may lose her hands and remaining foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that this disease is extremely rare and nearly impossible to predict when considering all the things that may go wrong during an outdoor outing. But what could Copeland have done following the zip line accident that may have prevented her from contracting the disease? What can someone like you or me do to make sure it doesn't happen to us?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="138" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T06:22:15.560" Title="What can an injured person in the outdoors do to prevent infection by flesh-eating bacteria?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1497" CreationDate="2012-05-11T22:48:06.043" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nnff.org/nnff_prevention.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation says&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Preventive Measures&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First, let it be said that there is no sure prevention. Necrotizing fasciitis has been known to be spontaneous. A bruise or abrasion are&#xA;all the &amp;quot;opening&amp;quot; in the skin necessary for bacteria to enter.&#xA;However, there are some things you can do decrease risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The single biggest preventative measure is keeping the skin intact!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next is cleanliness. Always wash even the smallest opening in the skin and apply an antibiotic ointment. Buy tubes of antibiotic&#xA;ointment and keep one in your car, your desk, your exercise bag, and&#xA;at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take care with your children, impressing upon them the importance of cleanliness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be respectful to protect others from infection if you suspect that you may have a Strep infection, such as Strep throat, or have been&#xA;exposed to someone with a known Strep infection. Symptoms do not have&#xA;to be present for a person to be carrying the bacteria and infect&#xA;others. One case of infection that comes to mind is a health care&#xA;worker with two children at home with Strep throat. She had no&#xA;symptoms, but innocently infected three people, one of whom died.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;These simple measures are the most protection one can give oneself&#xA;against any infection. It just can't be stressed enough, however, that&#xA;a pin prick (one woman became infected at the point of entry from a&#xA;blood draw) can be the opening it takes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This is not an endorsement for the entity known as The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupastreptococcal_g.htm#What%20can%20be%20done%20to%20help&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The CDC says&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spread of all types of GAS infection can be reduced by good hand&#xA;washing, especially after coughing and sneezing and before preparing&#xA;foods or eating. Persons with sore throats should be seen by a doctor&#xA;who can perform tests to find out whether the illness is strep throat.&#xA;If the test result shows strep throat, the person should stay home&#xA;from work, school, or day care until 24 hours after taking an&#xA;antibiotic. All wounds should be kept clean and watched for possible&#xA;signs of infection such as redness, swelling, drainage, and pain at&#xA;the wound site. A person with signs of an infected wound, especially&#xA;if fever occurs, should immediately seek medical care. It is not&#xA;necessary for all persons exposed to someone with an invasive group A&#xA;strep infection (i.e. necrotizing fasciitis or strep toxic shock&#xA;syndrome) to receive antibiotic therapy to prevent infection. However,&#xA;in certain circumstances, antibiotic therapy may be appropriate. That&#xA;decision should be made after consulting with your doctor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-flesh-eating-bacteria-20120515,0,6051121.story&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this LA Times article&lt;/a&gt; Aimee Copeland's infection was apparently caused by &lt;em&gt;Aeromonas hydrophila&lt;/em&gt; which is a less common agent in necrotizing fasciitis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Necrotizing fasciitis is typically caused by an especially aggressive form of Group A Streptococcus, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. But not always. Copeland's father, Andy Copeland, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Aeromonas hydrophila caused his daughter's rare bacterial infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article states, quoting microbiologist Amy Horneman:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Infections caused by the bacterium are relatively easy to treat with common antibiotics -- but only if recognized in time. &amp;quot;There are certain drugs that just don't work,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;The best drugs to use are Ciprofloxacin and Bactrim (also SXT, Septra).&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally occurring in water sources throughout the world, Aeromonas hydrophila bacterium has many positive contributions to the eco-system, she said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;When I heard about the case, and I heard she fell in the water and got a deep cut... I thought, 'It must be Aeromonas hydrophila,'&amp;quot; Horneman said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am not an alarmist,&amp;quot; she said, noting that she raised two sons and allowed them to participate in water-related sports and activities. &amp;quot;But I am very aggressive about treating any kind of cut, any kind of wound infection.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She advises the public to seek medical attention for such wounds, but again stressed: &amp;quot;Not all wounds become necrotizing fasciitis.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this one might conclude that all injuries exposed to river water should receive special attention, perhaps even antibiotics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T06:22:15.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2012-05-11T23:03:37.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You state that you wish to avoid bringing a hatchet.  This implies a use on wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a small knife to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1136/133&quot;&gt;in this manner&lt;/a&gt;, look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1174/133&quot;&gt;these designs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a big knife that is a functional compromise between a knife and a hatchet look at a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kukri&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-05-11T23:03:37.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1488" CreationDate="2012-05-12T01:39:44.850" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a sit-on-top tandem kayak might work; something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004EEKCVK&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vEXrQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tandem kayak&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The open design means there is no cramped compartment to fit into.  This particular tandem claims a capacity of 500 pounds.  I assume some modification would be required to make it a centered single seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, as it is apparently set up to seat three people there may be a natural middle position.  Judge for yourself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Bh6p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;three-seat configuration&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-19T07:08:38.347" LastActivityDate="2012-05-19T07:08:38.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1471" CreationDate="2012-05-12T01:57:39.927" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doug Ritter has what appears to be a pretty good summary of matches on his site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.equipped.org/devices28.htm#StrikeOne&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Equipped.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, here is a video review of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/820267/uco-stormproof-match-kit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a &quot;stormproof&quot; match kit&lt;/a&gt; from REI from someone who knows what he's doing (not me):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I34E2KNvnm0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I34E2KNvnm0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-05-12T01:57:39.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1502" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-12T10:30:18.993" Score="4" ViewCount="1420" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animalfactguide.com/animalfacts/cougar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar population is in decline&lt;/a&gt;. I wonder where the hunt for them is still possible in the US? Also what are the specific regulations for the hunt (especially in regards to the endangerment of the species)? Asking for facts including without limitation for example seasons, open gender, amount per hunter/state etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T15:42:33.547" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T22:59:33.267" Title="Where and how is it allowed to hunt cougars in the US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1502" CreationDate="2012-05-12T10:53:15.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunting_rules.shtml&quot;&gt;Arizona Game and Fish Department&lt;/a&gt; shows a mountain lion hunting season from August through May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/18868/0&quot;&gt;The International Union for Conservation of Nature&lt;/a&gt; gives the puma conservation status as &lt;em&gt;Least Concern&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-12T10:59:38.037" LastActivityDate="2012-05-12T10:59:38.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1456" CreationDate="2012-05-12T14:30:04.857" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend camping alone if you have not camped before. There is quite a lot of multitasking - in a group of 4 adults often every single one works simultaneously for an hour or so when we reach a campsite - and you could find yourself trying to do things in the dark (which is dangerous) or when you're too hungry to think straight. Next thing you know you've tripped over something and sprained an ankle, or burned yourself, and you don't have any help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you're capable of putting up your tent and that you know how long it takes. Make sure you're capable of lighting your stove. (You can practice these in the backyard or possibly in a park, though you might get a visit from someone who thinks you're trying to actually camp and tells you to move on.) Make sure you stop early enough each day to do everything that has to be done before dark. When planning your route, take into account that you may walk more slowly (carrying a heavier load) or need more trips across portages. You may also just stop to stare from a lookout, or to watch some wildlife, or various things that you wouldn't do if you were with someone. You should know what order things have to be done: unrolling your sleeping pad and bag and getting your flashlight out of the pack can wait until after you've made dinner, but getting a tarp up to protect from the rain that's coming probably can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, imagine you're canoeing with a partner and you suddenly need to pee. You and your partner paddle to shore, you jump out and go as far inland as water protection and privacy require, then you come back. 5 minutes. But if you're alone, you'll need to find a place where you can tie up the canoe and leave it unattended without having it tipped by waves or washed away. Maybe pull it up on shore a bit. You'll need to dig out some rope to tie it to a tree. This all takes time. Same when you're at a campsite, you can't just pop out to gather some wood for a fire, you have to secure the campsite (at least to stop stuff blowing away) and pick up the things you need to take with you (cell phone, emergency kit) rather than just coming and going as you please and yelling for help if you need it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people who go camping suffer nothing worse than blisters and sunburn. I find that if people are going to get hurt more seriously, it's when they're tired, hungry, grumpy from their blisters and sunburn, or when it's dark. Going alone significantly raises the chances of all those things. So allow more time, and look after yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-05-12T14:30:04.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-12T20:35:37.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Peter Mathiessen's &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Leopard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Snow Lepoard&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually read it after (not before) trekking from Pokhara to the Dolpo region in Nepal, but I think it meets your description of a book that &quot;just makes you want to get out there&quot;. It's an excellent description of what it was like to make that journey thirty years earlier (around 1973). It's not just an inspiring book about journeys and nature (and a very elusive species of big cat) but also deals a lot with Buddhist themes and in a manner that's very approachable for someone who isn't familiar with them (like me). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-12T20:35:37.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1486" CreationDate="2012-05-12T21:29:14.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went camping in most of the the stans (not Afghanistan), China and Iran, and we used an alcohol burner. It's obviously slow, but worked well. We used rubbing alcohol as fuel, which we could buy in every country, even Iran, at pharmacies for very little money (the percentage - about 70% - turned out to work well with the burner).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="511" LastActivityDate="2012-05-12T21:29:14.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-13T01:41:34.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0689826990&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hatchet&lt;/a&gt; - by  Gary Paulsen&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one get me hooked at a young age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T01:41:34.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="318" CreationDate="2012-05-13T06:42:55.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a suitcase, and try to let the sleeping bags take up all the space available to them inside. It's a good use of space that you probably aren't using otherwise, and protects them well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T06:42:55.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-13T13:18:33.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0870234560&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Curious naturalists&lt;/a&gt; by Niko Tinbergen. This is one of the best books on ethology of animals, pleasure to read for anyone. It motivates to study and observe animals in their natural habitat. I was especially delighted by the story of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_%28bird%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;hobby&lt;/a&gt; family or the interesting life of sand wasps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T17:53:30.770" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T17:53:30.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-13T13:35:24.350" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ernest Thompson Seton's book, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1088&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rolf in the Woods&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1491860&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Two Little Savages&lt;/a&gt; are inspiration for backwoodmanship, especially for young people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T13:35:24.350" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1493" CreationDate="2012-05-13T13:42:39.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of Water and Spirit&lt;/em&gt; from Malidoma Patrice Somé. Although this book is not explicitly about nature, it is about people who live in unity with it. There is one very strong moment in the book that inspires very strongly for contact with nature, and very deeply describes its transformative qualities. You will not be dissapointed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T13:42:39.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="459" CreationDate="2012-05-13T14:56:26.137" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VshBT5Ua4uo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt; is quite a good instruction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But beware!&lt;/strong&gt; This strategy might not be valid for other beasts of prey, such as lions. In a video which is now deleted, a man is instructed to be quiet and stay low not to agitate the beast.  Also, the man in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWkLqlhxJuw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; is staying low (in fact, he's almost lying) and threatening the lion with toilet paper (!) if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-22T03:13:34.260" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T03:13:34.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1513" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1519" CreationDate="2012-05-13T19:39:44.967" Score="17" ViewCount="10582" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried pitching a tarp instead of a tent this weekend.  In worked well, kept off the rain etc, &lt;strong&gt;except&lt;/strong&gt; for the condensation.  It was far worse than any condensation I've ever had in a tent.  We had other tents nearby and they didn't experience the same issue.  There were rivulets of water running down the inner underside of the tarp leading me to believe it was not just our breathe condensing.  One of our sleeping bags was totally soaked.  There was one rainy night and one dry night and both nights the condensation was horrible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a specific way of pitching a tarp setup to prevent this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick google only has answer like &quot;Well this can occur in any shelter&quot;, but while true, it was definitely MUCH worse in the tarp tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference (edited with more detail)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We had our tarp pitched similar to the method in this, but with a much lower opening and pitch (to keep the rain out): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.joeldare.com/wiki/_media/backpacking:tarp_tent.jpg&quot;&gt;http://www.joeldare.com/wiki/_media/backpacking:tarp_tent.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We got significantly more condensation than breathing alone could account for.  Most condensation ran down the tarp to the ground and even then I could squeeze almost half a liter out of each of the sleeping bags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tarp was pitched as above, but with only a 3' opening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sides were staked down to prevent airplaning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tarp was your classic blue poly tarp: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/796850/blue-poly-tarp-12-x-10&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-04-01T17:40:07.907" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:30:32.323" Title="What is the proper way to tarp tent to avoid condensation?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1514" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1542" CreationDate="2012-05-13T20:33:27.567" Score="10" ViewCount="1961" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.esquif.com/2008/construction_en.php&quot;&gt;esquif&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Royalite is a multi-laminate similar to Royalex but distinguished by&#xA;  its lightness. [...] The result is a weight reduction of 15% with a&#xA;  minimum loss of material strength or durability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much of a loss should I expect in Royalite strengh or durability compared to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalex&quot;&gt;Royalex&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-13T21:09:41.283" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T22:38:57.017" Title="Royalex vs Royalite" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-13T20:55:55.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're alone, there is noone to pass away time with. So you have to have something to busy yourself with. Just doing nothing is fine for a while, but I get bored and depressed if I do nothing for too long. Apart from trekking, I carry a book, some music and my camera. If I camp in a place for several days I make sure I leave camp and explore for at least half a day every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's hard to tell what's more enjoyable. It really depends on you. I find being out alone quite liberating, as I can do whatever I like whenever I want. And capturing the trip by taking images or writing is a bit like the sharing of the experience, which one sometimes misses when alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no problem dealing with loneliness, but having done a solo trek gives me a sense of achievement which is probably greater than what I get from doing it with other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being afraid at times is natural. After a while you learn which fears are groundless and which aren't. Doing stuff alone which you have previously done with others can help you judge your fears. Groundless fear tends to get less after you've experienced it a few times, but there is no substitute for experience. Be sure you're convinced what you are doing is really safe so you can calm yourself with this conviction. Discuss your plans with someone you think can judge this. Start out simple. Then from there you can push the envelope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="512" LastActivityDate="2012-05-13T20:55:55.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-05-14T09:01:52.493" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ad 1, 2: I'm surprised by what you say about being scared lone in wilderness. I have exactly the opposite feelings - like returing home. I can enjoy the trip very well being alone, I can be in contact with nature much more. I recharge energy this way. With my girlfriend it is very nice too, since she has similar perception of these things, but there are certain things and moments where you have to be alone - man has its own path and determination and to clear this up in nature, as well as recharging the man's energy, requires to be alone. No one can help you with this.&#xA;So face your fear, jump directly through it! Don't afraid to be alone, take it as a blessing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practical point: maybe the difference between you feeling fear and me being ok could be that you are from more dangerous part of world? In Americas with cougars and bears one can feel much more differently than here in Europe, where most dangerous animal is wild boar. So I'm quite calm here. But note that for example in Spain, where you are walking on pastures with almost wild cows and bulls, I'm sometimes scared a lot too. So it depends on the environment very much. I'm also not feeling good to sleep in dark forest overnight. This is maybe fixed from the humans past, because the beasts are active at night. I'm always looking for more light places like forest edge or meadows with scattered trees to find sleeping place. Just find a place where you are feeling good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your question 3: definitely, I return like stronger person! But not because of &lt;em&gt;dealing&lt;/em&gt; with loneliness; loneliness for me is not a challenge or some kind of training, something that must be &lt;em&gt;dealt&lt;/em&gt;; it's an oportunity to clear up my mind and clear up the next steps in my life path...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="141" LastEditDate="2012-05-14T09:10:24.993" LastActivityDate="2012-05-14T09:10:24.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2012-05-14T09:26:21.793" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key differentiator between tarps and more modern tent material is the breathability and wicking you get from modern materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern tents are very effective at passing moisture outside, but even then, you still see the recommendation that you don't let anything touch the inside of the tent during the night as moisture will take the easiest route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Older tents just couldn't breathe as well, and you do expel a lot of moisture in your breath (from 50mL/hour) so you needed a good pitch on the tent to allow this water to run down. With the older tents you would also keep your groundsheet within the perimeter of the tent, so this water could run all the way to the earth, and not pool on your groundsheet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-05-14T09:26:21.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2012-05-14T11:50:33.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This happened to me too - once we took a plastic tarp with us instead of a tent. Terrible storm catched us. But we sweated under the plastic tarp so horrible that we preferred to stay out on the rain and kept only our bags under it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Condensation occurs when humidity meets cold - where humidity is so high (or the temperature is so low) that it cannot remain in gaseous state. Both conditions are met under the tarp/tent in the night. You cannot avoid the cold, but you can affect the humidity by &lt;strong&gt;ventilation&lt;/strong&gt;. The humidity in tarp/tent is caused by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;humid ground (e.g. with evening dew) - so build your tarp/tent on dewless place, e.g. under tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your breath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can lower the humidity by proper ventilation. Note that every tent has a special ventilation! Look here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iGui8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It probably exploits the fact that the humidity caused by your breath is warm so it is going up. When I close it, I have similar problems as you under the tarp :-) So create similar ventilation in your tarp. If this is not a problem, then the problem might be in the &lt;strong&gt;material&lt;/strong&gt;. Tents are usually made from very sophisticated material which breathes a lot, while the tarp might not be so!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-05-14T11:50:33.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2012-05-14T15:56:44.927" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A poor tarp pitch can lead itself to condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did you use a plastic ground sheet? Water running under the tarp when it's raining can cause a lot of humidity inside the tarp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Were you pitched on long grass? Plant life can increase condensation under a tarp. This can also be alleviated by a plastic ground sheet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How close to the ground was your tarp pitched? Was there any breeze going through the tarp?If you don't allow air to freely move then the humidity is simply going to build up under the tarp. Increasing air flow by increasing exposure to outside elements might seem counter intuitive, but it's likely you'll end up considerably drier and warmer inside even if a little rain splashes in from the sides or the wind is constantly blowing on you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarp camping is absolutely an advanced technique. There are countless ways to pitch a tarp and it takes knowledge, practice, and experience just like anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expanding my answer some :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Condensation occurs because it is warmer and more humid inside the tarp than it is outside. If you have a breeze or stronger wind, it's easy to reduce condensation by creating an opening on the windward side and having the opposite side wide open, allowing for good airflow. If it gets to the point where the wind is too cold then you are likely passed the point gathering condensation so you can reduce the wind entrance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next on your agenda is to increase the steepness of the tarp sides in the pitch. Steep sides means gravity is pulling the condensation down the sides instead of pooling on a flatter pitch, waiting to drop down on you. A taut pitch is also necessary here because sag in the tarp gives water a place to collect that isn't on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camp in higher (and dryer) places. This applies to all camping. Moisture gathers in the valleys and even a spot a few meters higher in elevation can make a difference. Meadows are similarly bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in conditions where condensation is simply unavoidable, the only course of action is to occasionally wipe down the inside with a bandana. Even double wall tents get condensation in conditions like constant rain.. they're just not going to notice it as much thanks to the mesh blocking most water drops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastEditorUserId="17" LastEditDate="2012-05-15T14:41:34.520" LastActivityDate="2012-05-15T14:41:34.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1520" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1525" CreationDate="2012-05-15T08:25:17.670" Score="13" ViewCount="3039" Body="&lt;p&gt;In other words, could I purchase a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trangia-1-0L-Bottle-Safety-Valve/dp/B000Q6BQKG/ref=sr_1_3?s=sports&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1337010774&amp;amp;sr=1-3&quot;&gt;1 litre Trangia fuel bottle&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Msr-MSR-Dragonfly-Stove/dp/B002HRXJVQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_2&quot;&gt;MSR Dragonfly&lt;/a&gt; liquid-fuel camp stove and use them together? Or would the smaller, slightly more expensive &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSR-Fuel-Bottles-650ml-22/dp/B00407HR4Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1337070218&amp;amp;sr=1-1&quot;&gt;MSR fuel bottle&lt;/a&gt; be the only option with the stove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="508" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-01-06T02:59:53.270" LastActivityDate="2014-01-25T23:15:52.913" Title="Are Trangia and MSR fuel bottles inter changeable?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1259" CreationDate="2012-05-15T20:29:38.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only confirm on the experience of Ryley. We've been sleeping in Morocco on a 3 week trip, just pad and sleeping bag (well, sometimes it was so hot that it was almost all open). I was afraid of snakes and scorpions too but I haven't seen one for the whole time there (apart from those presented at the market). So no problem actually! Sometimes I tried to cover holes on the ground with rocks, just to feel better :-) but I don't have any clue if that actually works. And also shaking my shoes before putting them on of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always, the most dangerous animals are humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastActivityDate="2012-05-15T20:29:38.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1344" CreationDate="2012-05-16T13:36:31.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My results:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That particular April was unusually warm.  We needed to be prepared to start hiking in hot weather (70-80F) and end up hiking in 4 feet of snow at higher elevation.  Snowshoes are a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail we were on was impossible to follow perfectly in the winter, so be prepared to end up off trail frequently.  Cut logs are one helpful indicator of where the trail is when the ground is covered in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Needless to say, the terrain is particularly slow going, so pace yourselves.  We hoped to do 26 miles in 3 days, we ended up only doing about 20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="136" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T13:36:31.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="459" CreationDate="2012-05-16T14:12:12.200" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think these signs in California and elsewhere describe it quite simply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jGmJf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;if you encounter a mountain lion&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="136" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T14:12:12.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1479" CreationDate="2012-05-16T14:49:43.207" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/hunting/turkey-waterfowl/turkey-techniques/2009/03/turkey-broadheads&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OutdoorLife.com&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You wouldn’t think by looking at a turkey that they would present much&#xA;  of a challenge. After all, they’re just a pile of feathers and a few&#xA;  pounds of meat, right? Wrong!  Turkeys are one of the toughest animals&#xA;  on two legs and you can’t assume you have Thanksgiving Dinner in the&#xA;  bag until you are wrapping your tag around their legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After they are hit with a broadhead they can run and hide in the&#xA;  brush, fly away or run so fast that hunters stand no chance of&#xA;  catching up. In many states, the number of bowhunters who tag a&#xA;  gobbler in the spring is below 20%. The number of bowhunters who take&#xA;  a shot or hit a bird with an arrow is much higher. A well-placed arrow&#xA;  is crucial when turkey hunting with archery gear. To help bowhunters&#xA;  become more successful, many companies have broadheads designed&#xA;  specifically for putting a spring gobbler next to the mashed potatoes&#xA;  where he belongs.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most broadheads fly through a turkey’s body quickly which often&#xA;  results in little internal damage. In the past, many bowhunters placed&#xA;  washers on the backside of their broadheads to reduce penetration,&#xA;  resulting in more internal damage and greater shock to the bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanhunter.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=2594&amp;amp;cid=61&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AmericanHunter.org&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First, a turkey’s vital area is pretty small, about the size of a&#xA;  softball. That means you have to precisely place your arrow into this&#xA;  small spot on a bird that is usually moving a little. Second, turkeys&#xA;  leave little in the way of tracks or a blood trail to follow should&#xA;  they be hit poorly. If you wound them and they fly or run off,&#xA;  recovery is iffy at best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For that reason, shooting a broadhead with a large cutting diameter is&#xA;  highly recommended when turkey hunting. This need, plus the ease at&#xA;  which a complete pass-through can be achieved, are why expandable&#xA;  heads are so popular with experienced turkey bowhunters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Think about it. Most replaceable-blade broad heads shot by deer&#xA;  hunters have a cutting diameter of between 1 and 1 ¼ inch. When opened&#xA;  up, mechanicals have a cutting diameter of between 1 ¾ and 2 ¼ inches.&#xA;  That’s a huge difference—especially in relation to the small vital&#xA;  area of the average gobbler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... In terms of penetration, this is definitely a case where less is&#xA;  more. By that I mean many bowhunters intentionally shoot a set-up with&#xA;  a good chance that their arrows will stay in the bird and not pass&#xA;  completely through. The theory here is that with a foot or more of&#xA;  arrow shaft sticking out each side, a turkey’s ability to run or fly&#xA;  off before the archer can reach him is severely impaired. This will&#xA;  help you recover the bird before he gets to thick, tall brush and&#xA;  becomes hard to find. ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Remember that, while you may want to impede penetration a bit, the one&#xA;  way you do not want to do this is by using a broadhead will dull&#xA;  blades. In all bowhunting endeavors, you must only use blades so sharp&#xA;  they scare you and that will cleanly slice through flesh, internal&#xA;  organs and blood vessels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though I am not a hunter, it seems logical that lopping the head off the bird with a &quot;gobbler guillotine&quot; (below) would destroy less meat than a through-the-innards shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h5BoY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-17T11:40:55.323" LastActivityDate="2012-05-17T11:40:55.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1520" CreationDate="2012-05-16T16:33:23.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The issue with the bottles isn't so much the &quot;bottle&quot; as it is the pump. On an MSR bottle, a pump screws into the top, then a specific MSR-style hose (from a stove) attaches to the pump. On a Trangia, the attachment system is different (as per &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trangia-742527-Gas-Burner/dp/B000N8JRB2/ref=pd_sim_sg_14&quot;&gt;This Gas Burner&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000S0FIIQ&quot;&gt;This One&lt;/a&gt;, depending on fuel, I think). The question in your case would be whether the threading is identical in the top of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000W3CDF0&quot;&gt;Trangia valve&lt;/a&gt; as it is on an &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000BBF2SS&quot;&gt;MSR fuel pump&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/showtopic.php?tid/21705/tp/1/&quot;&gt;this forum topic discussion&lt;/a&gt; on fuel caps (they were not discussing pumps, but the fitment should be similar or the same), I'd say that they are the same (and might be the same as Sigg and Primus as well). I don't own a Trangia bottle so I can't confirm this, but that's what the web discussion seems to indicate. Also, pages such &lt;a href=&quot;http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/luontola/ultimate/kaplorer_eng.htm&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17382&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; indicate that there is a great deal of adaptability with such attachments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have a couple of unanswered concerns, such as what pressure the Trangia bottle can withstand, and how adaquate the pump seal would be. Otherwise, I think it's worth a shot. Perhaps someone who owns both items can demo it and let us know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an amusing side note, even without any answers this question pops up on the first page of a Google search for &quot;MSR stove Trangia bottle&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="299" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T16:33:23.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1526" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-16T21:10:22.340" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-05-16T21:10:22.340" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T21:10:22.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1527" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-16T21:10:22.340" Score="0" Body="Bow hunting is the sport of hunting game animals and birds with the help or bows and arrows. Bow hunters are further classified into two broad categories....traditional bow hunters and compound bow hunters. Traditional bow hunters use traditional archery tackle (long bow, recurve bow) without sights and compound bow hunters use compound bows." OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="472" LastEditDate="2012-05-16T21:22:24.847" LastActivityDate="2012-05-16T21:22:24.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1528" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1550" CreationDate="2012-05-17T04:22:55.850" Score="10" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to get wild meat inspected and graded in the same (or similar) way as domestic meats for parasites, contaminants, etc.?  If so what are good starting resources or methods for finding a local source for grading?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-17T05:38:02.043" LastActivityDate="2012-05-23T15:43:54.813" Title="Is it possible to have wild meat inspected or graded?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1442" CreationDate="2012-05-17T10:26:45.477" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One important part of planning back country trips in the West revolves around &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/campw_bears.html&quot;&gt;bears&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm basing what I write on my trips to Sequoia and Yosemite (which only have black bears), but it should be relevant since Yellowstone has both black bears and grizzlies (which are more aggressive).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need to prepare for them, and one thing that people do (and rangers tend to recommend) is use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-bear-boxes.htm&quot;&gt;bear boxes&lt;/a&gt;. You can bring you own- usually they can be rented from ranger stations. Or you can plan your trip so that you sleep by &quot;official&quot; campsites that have permanent bear boxes already there. Of course, you can also bring rope or equipment to tie your food out of reach, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-17T10:26:45.477" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1531" CreationDate="2012-05-17T16:23:23.647" Score="31" ViewCount="2771" Body="&lt;p&gt;Awhile back I heard on CBC radio about a man who got trapped in a forest fire (surrounded on all sides) and survived. The way he survived was so ridiculous that he was brought to court and almost fined/put in jail: &lt;strong&gt;He fought the fire with another fire.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was in the thick bush with white hot fire closing in the distance. He lit a tree on fire where he was and let it spread. He hit the floor and let his fire blackened all the surrounding trees. Afterwards when the &lt;strong&gt;real&lt;/strong&gt; fire was approaching, it couldn't get to him because of his pocket of burnt trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man claimed back in the day, this was common knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this have any validity / is this the thing to do if surrounded by a forest fire ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="521" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T04:27:13.130" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T12:58:29.237" Title="Surviving a forest fire by starting another fire" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1530" CreationDate="2012-05-17T17:29:35.237" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;This does have a basis in a known technique, &lt;em&gt;back burning&lt;/em&gt;, but by your description the application wasn't orthodox.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_burn#Back_burning&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Back burning is a way of reducing the amount of flammable material&#xA;  during a bushfire by starting small fires along a man made or natural&#xA;  firebreak in front of a main fire front. It is called back burning&#xA;  because the small fires are designed to 'burn back towards the main&#xA;  fire front'. The basic reason for back burning is so that there is&#xA;  little material that can burn when the main fire reaches the burnt&#xA;  area. The firebreaks that may be used to start a line of fires along&#xA;  could be a river, road or a bulldozed clearing etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-05-17T17:29:35.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1389" CreationDate="2012-05-17T21:20:09.320" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gelled alcohol has problems even in its &quot;native&quot; setting of a Sterno can. Gelled alcohol burns at a lower temperature. A standard Sterno can take 20 minutes or longer to boil water and is typically more expensive than liquid alcohol fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm#Fuels&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Some good information on different fuel sources for alcohol stoves.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/Sterno.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Information on Sterno.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-05-18T12:58:58.643" LastActivityDate="2012-05-18T12:58:58.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1533" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1602" CreationDate="2012-05-18T12:46:34.767" Score="12" ViewCount="672" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given some paracord, is there a simple check that I can make to check that it's genuine and not the cheaper knock off stuff? Number of strands seems like the most obvious point, but is there anything else I should check?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the cheaper knock off stuff has its place when strength isn't required, but for uses such as repairing guy ropes in windy environments, I wouldn't really want to chance it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:34:00.087" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T17:07:09.393" Title="How do I check paracord to determine if it's genuine?" Tags="&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1533" CreationDate="2012-05-18T14:02:33.237" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You cannot tell by simple observation if a cord is as strong as it should be.  Even if the cord was originally manufactured to the correct specification it may become invisibly damaged by chemical exposure.  See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/52/RopeBreakagefinal.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Ref incident of May 20th, 2006 At Pipeworks Climbing Gym Sacramento, California Kolin Powick, Quality Assurance Manager Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd August 2006&quot;&gt;this report&lt;/a&gt; for an analysis of such a case that fortunately did not result in serious injury.  Do not trust cord unless you know both its source and all intervening handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-21T19:25:12.810" LastActivityDate="2012-05-21T19:25:12.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1535" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1537" CreationDate="2012-05-19T21:51:04.710" Score="9" ViewCount="3835" Body="&lt;p&gt;I intend to go camping in Scotland (mainly the &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.google.fr/maps?q=Isle+of+Mull&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ll=56.444277,-3.592529&amp;amp;spn=4.057619,11.140137&amp;amp;sll=46.75984,1.738281&amp;amp;sspn=10.05763,22.280273&amp;amp;t=h&amp;amp;geocode=FZ4xXQMdCW-k_w&amp;amp;hnear=Isle+of+Mull&amp;amp;z=7&quot;&gt;Isle of Mull&lt;/a&gt;, that is Western, central Scotland) next week, i.e. last week of May. I have read quite a lot about the weather and know I should prepare for wetness, unexpected changes in cloudiness, midges, possible wind, and 2 to 15 °C temperatures at day. However, I could not find much information regarding the sleeping part of wild camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of temperatures should I prepare for at night, and what kind of gear (sleeping bag grade) does it mean taking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the wind and rain, may I take a standard tent, or are the winds really strong at night? Is there any specific advice beyond securing all pegs and stretching strings far away?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="291" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:34:46.540" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T18:45:33.903" Title="What gear for sleeping in wild camping in western Scotland in May?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1536" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-20T10:16:57.630" Score="14" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;p&gt;All outdoors activities precautions include taking note of the weather forecasts for the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have seen those forecasts be terribly wrong in many places, even for a two-hours ahead prediction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what are the conditions that make weather forecasts reliable? Up to what duration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Example:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the French riviera, near the Alps (Nice backcountry), where both the sea and high (~1200m) mountains are within 10 km, the weather forecasts are totally unreliable, from one day on the next one, but even from 8 AM (storms announced, rain visible) to 11 AM (storms announced, bright sun visible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inversely, in central France (Burgundy), in a much more continental weather,  predictions are reliable up to 2 days ahead with good confidence, both for temperatures and rain. 1 hour-ahead to-the-minute rain predictions are correct 90% of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on that limited experience, I would tend to say that sea and mountains are reasons for unreliability. But up to which distance? What about oceans? From which heights to mountains impact? Are certain seasons more error-prone than others? etc etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="291" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:02:42.473" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:02:42.473" Title="Under which conditions are weather forecasts reliable?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1535" CreationDate="2012-05-20T11:06:42.317" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Update on the sleeping side of things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would use a relatively light sleeping bag, at most a two seasons one. It doesn't get that cold in Scotland, as the north Atlantic drift keeps our climate pretty mild all year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of tents the key is to get one which can cope with winds as they can get pretty high. I wouldn't expect much over a force 4 for that week though,  the forecasts seem reasonable. I have camped out west in everything from a cheap tent from Asda up to proper tents. Just take normal guy rope precautions, ensure there is a good groundsheet, and you aren't going to get water pouring in, and you should be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly: wet weather gear. Scotland can be wet art any time of year, especially April and May. Also take layers. It won't get very hot but could range between 5 and 12 degrees centigrade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expect midges - lots of them. Nets and repellent will be a good idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When planning where to camp, expect either westerly (wet) or northerly winds (colder)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sun screen is essential in Scotland- it often feels chill because of the wind so you can easily burn without noticing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-05-20T21:12:34.003" LastActivityDate="2012-05-20T21:12:34.003" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1538" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-20T19:39:43.820" Score="9" ViewCount="501" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just found out that my technical apparel&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; has been washed with 2 in 1 washing powder. I have been very careful about washing my clothes and told everyone about it. I did not know that a couple of weeks ago the 2 in 1 powder was bought because it was on offer, it was only when I went to put a wash on today that I found out. So my question is what damage would have occurred to my clothing in about 3 washes and is there anything I can do about it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt; 1. Softshell waterproof/windproof jacket and sports compression fit baselayer &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="524" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-21T16:34:05.193" LastActivityDate="2012-05-22T19:19:53.760" Title="technical clothing and fabric softener" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1539" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1548" CreationDate="2012-05-20T22:27:42.530" Score="7" ViewCount="3535" Body="&lt;p&gt;What important features should I pay attention to when buying paracord for hiking (such as different types, load limit, etc)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just use it for bear bags, tarp lines, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:21:11.990" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:21:11.990" Title="How to select paracord" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1535" CreationDate="2012-05-21T09:56:31.743" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on last Wednesday (May 16th) in the Carneddau (Snowdonia, N Wales), I'd be well prepared for temperatures below freezing at night in Scotland, even in May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I camped at Ffynnon Llyffant (at about 820m) and the temperature inside the tent was no more than 4 degrees C (measured by suunto core, suspended in tent), and when I got out of the tent in the morning there was around 1-2cm of snow covering it, and it was snowing down to about 700m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously it depends on how high you plan to camp (subtract 1-2 degrees C per 300m). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, specific recommendations, some obvious:-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack your bag in a compression drybag. I use the podsac ones with an&#xA;eVent panel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, take a bag with water-resistant outer treatment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a good mat - heat loss to the ground is a major factor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear as much as possible while you sleep, as long as it's dry!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW, I used a short &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/en/therm-a-rest/mattresses/fast-and-light/category&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NeoAir&lt;/a&gt; mat (with the platformat from my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theomm.com/products?page=shop.product_details&amp;amp;flypage=flypage.tpl&amp;amp;product_id=2&amp;amp;category_id=4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;OMM pack&lt;/a&gt; under the feet), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phdesigns.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;PHD Minum&lt;/a&gt; 500 down Bag, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TarpTent Scarp 1&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I left my lighter &lt;a href=&quot;http://marmot.com/products/atom&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Marmot Atom&lt;/a&gt; bag at home, which I think was the right call.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-21T09:56:31.743" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1539" CreationDate="2012-05-21T16:30:07.083" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since 550 &quot;paracord&quot; is not a life line (unless actually used as shroud lines or similar), I think &lt;em&gt;price&lt;/em&gt; takes precedence, assuming the cord is up to a basic standard of size and construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are willing to buy in bulk you can get it for about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supplycaptain.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&amp;amp;category_ID=19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;5¢ per foot.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-21T16:38:52.613" LastActivityDate="2012-05-21T16:38:52.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1514" CreationDate="2012-05-21T20:13:20.317" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have specific numbers on strength and durability, but I have had both and repaired both rather often. I work with a scout troop that has currently 22 floating canoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The protector we put on both is the same, the hole repair method is the same the only real difference is when you dent or completely wrap the Royalite canoe around a rock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the Royalex we would get it to the shore and pull the gear out and if it was a small dent just pop it back out, usually with a kick. If it were completely wrapped then a little jumping on it might be called for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When our Royalite canoes dent you can pop it back out but there is a meaner sound to it and the creases where it was bent look much worse. When we wrapped a Royalite canoe around a rock it looked so bad after getting it flat enough to get it off the river that we ended up not using it again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line we don't use them in white water any more. We use rafts or Inflatables. If you're not going to be in whitewater then it doesn't matter as much. If you are then the question becomes one of will there be porting? No porting then the weight saving is not that big of a deal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: I went out and checked the canoes, and our maintenance records. The Royalite ones seem to get deeper holes more often and crack at a much younger age. I knew I didn't like them for white water but I think I will steer clear of them after this realization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2016-06-01T22:38:57.017" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T22:38:57.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2012-05-21T20:43:22.027" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can. Bear spray is a more humane option; however, you do ask about legal repercussions. You can shoot pretty much any animal in self defense in the USA. After you shoot the animal it is important what you do if you want to avoid fines. Once the fight is over and you know you are safe you need to call the forest service. If you don't know their number call 911 and they can and will help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source:&#xA;Last year a buddy of mine killed a Mountain Lion (cougar) in self Defense and didn't have a tag for one. A guy came out and looked at the Cougar, asked some basic questions like what weapon was used. Where was he standing. Where I was. What was the Mountain Lion doing that made him feel he had to kill it. When did it happen. The last question was &quot;Will you help me carry it back to my truck?&quot; He filled out a piece of paper with our info and that was it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the carry back we asked about what happens and he told us that depending on very technical qualifications such as if he wants to eat the animal or not and how far is is from his truck determines if he hands the hunters a tag and says have a nice day or takes it himself. Also, he said that if it was obviously not self defense or he had a bad feeling about it he could get the police involved but usually doesn't have to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-19T16:28:18.837" LastActivityDate="2012-07-19T16:28:18.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1442" CreationDate="2012-05-21T22:42:42.127" Score="3" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The supplies are pretty much the same for any trip. The leading difference, as Eyal points out, would be things like bear spray and a means to tie up food in bear bags at night. About bear bags, you want them high enough so you can't reach them and you want something on the line between the bag and the branch that will stop squirrels from climbing down the rope to the bag. We usually use an empty gallon milk jug for this (just cut a hole on opposite sides to put the rope through and wrap the rope around it once so it won't slide up and down under the weight of the squirrel).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This depends entirely on your hiking ability. You say Day hikes so I usually take a Hydration pack with just essentials. Meaning a lunch, some snacks plenty of water. Depending on water availability I might take a water filter. A rain poncho, a map and compass, a pocket knife, a whistle and a small first aid kit always make it in though. This should all fit easily in a small hydration pack. Remember to secure what you leave behind and leaving it in your car is NOT secure. If you are going overnight then you could and would need to take considerably more.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As far as day hikes go, again this depends on your ability as a hiker but I would look at Mount Washburn Trail which has a great view (and is the most popular hike in the park). Avalanche Peak is steep but only 4 miles round trip and again, amazing view. If you are going to be doing some overnights and you have been backpacking for a while, The Thorofare Trail IMO has no equal, easily one of my top 5 trips. Although, I was there before the fire last year, not sure what it looks like now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-05-23T23:00:59.197" LastActivityDate="2012-05-23T23:00:59.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1546" CreationDate="2012-05-22T15:24:20.350" Score="6" ViewCount="1718" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Ventile jacket is getting a bit dirty. Is there anything special I need to know when washing it, or will a regular washing liquid and low temperature do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-05-22T15:38:56.027" Title="How should I wash Ventile clothing?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1545" CreationDate="2012-05-22T15:38:56.027" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ventile.co.uk/specification.htmlx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ventile.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ventile can be either dry-cleaned as detailed below or hand washed&#xA;  using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grangers.co.uk/product.cfm?cat=14&amp;amp;productid=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Grangers 30 Degree Cleaner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Professional dry-cleaning in: perchloroethylene, hydrocarbons. Mild cleaning process with stringent limitation of added humidity and/or&#xA;  mechanical action and/or temperature. Commercial stain removers on a&#xA;  solvent base may be used with some restrictions. A trail on a&#xA;  concealed part of the article is advisable beforehand. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We recommend hand washing  in Grangers Pure Liquid  Soap for Ventile , using the following procedure :  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gently brush or sponge off any dirt or grit. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Close the zip fastener &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Turn the garment inside out &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hand wash in Grangers Pure Liquid Soap for Ventile. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Ensure all residue soap is removed from the garment, re-rinse if necessary. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Re-shape the garment on a hanger and allow to dry naturally avoiding direct  sunlight. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Iron carefully on a warm setting – this reactivates the DWR treatment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-05-22T15:38:56.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1538" CreationDate="2012-05-22T19:19:53.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I give this with the heavy qualification that it depends on the exact brands of clothes and products involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your waterproof jacket is &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; fine if it is &lt;strong&gt;water-proof&lt;/strong&gt; and not &lt;strong&gt;water-resistant&lt;/strong&gt;.  The waterproof fabrics out there tend to not be as sensitive to detergents.  However, if it is water-resistant, you will probably need to refresh it.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/724690/nikwax-tx-direct-20-wash-in-water-repellent-treatment-10-oz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nikwax&lt;/a&gt; makes some wash in products for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your baselayer is a wicking fabric, you shouldn't make a habit of this. I contacted UnderArmour through their site to ask about this.  According to their tech (live online chat), if you only washed it once you are probably okay but make sure you stick to the directions in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-22T19:19:53.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1539" CreationDate="2012-05-22T22:17:44.380" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Parachute cord aka paracord comes in basically 6 major types based on weight limits of 95 lbs to 750 lbs. Type 3 has a weight limit of 550 lbs and is referred to as 550 paracord. Usually when someone says paracord they are referring to 550 paracord. For bear bags and tying tarps and tents and securing gear 550 paracord works perfectly well and is cheap and readily available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On Military grade 550 paracord the sheath has a weight rating of 300 lbs and has 7 inner strands that are each made up of 3 braided strands. Most commercial 7 strand cord has 2 lines twisted to make each of the 7 inner strands. You can also find commercial variety with a different number of inner strands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for something other than 550 paracord the major questions to ask are what diameter do you need and what strength. Almost any where you go from 550 paracord it will get more expensive. For comparison Mammut is a company that makes climbing rope and rates their rope all the way down to 2mm (which is rated for .85kN) and 2mm is usually around $.10/ft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your uses 550 Paracord will probably work best and be cheapest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-05-22T22:17:44.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1549" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1551" CreationDate="2012-05-23T01:13:41.167" Score="14" ViewCount="33729" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been looking at new rods and several people have suggested a baitcaster. I currently have a spinning reel that I am comfortable with but I would like to try a new rod/reel type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What am I going to gain and lose from switching to a baitcaster?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-15T11:00:24.717" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T14:53:21.283" Title="What are the benefits of a baitcaster over a spinning reel for bass fishing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1528" CreationDate="2012-05-23T01:24:35.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It appears that there is a way to get your wild game graded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As allowed by law, for field-dressed wild game animals under a routine inspection program that ensures the animals:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(a) Receive a postmortem examination by an approved veterinarian or veterinarian's designee, or&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(b) Are field-dressed and transported according to requirements specified by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program, and&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(c) Are processed according to laws governing meat and poultry as determined by the agency that has animal health jurisdiction and the agency that conducts the inspection program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the 2009 FDA &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/FoodCode2009/ucm186451.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-05-23T15:43:54.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2012-05-23T01:43:51.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/reel_selection.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/reel_selection.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://setthehook.com/reels/reeldifferences.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://setthehook.com/reels/reeldifferences.htm&lt;/a&gt; (link now dead: &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20150224223849/http://setthehook.com/reels/reeldifferences.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;archive&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fishingtalks.com/when-would-one-use-a-baitcast-over-a-spinning-reel-278353.html#10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.fishingtalks.com/when-would-one-use-a-baitcast-over-a-spinning-reel-278353.html#10&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully someone with some knowledge of the subject will distill these into a proper answer.  For now I'm getting some ink in the page.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2015-08-15T08:39:39.183" LastActivityDate="2015-08-15T08:39:39.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1552" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-23T15:24:34.700" Score="7" ViewCount="6582" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to take just a few rocks from a local river bed to use in my aquarium.  Is this legal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="529" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T09:28:56.403" Title="Is it illegal to remove rocks from a riverbed in the UK" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1552" CreationDate="2012-05-23T16:37:22.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I could find no authoritative source, but I would imagine taking a &quot;few rocks&quot; wouldn't cause a problem - unless you're taking it from a protected area or area of scientific interest of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My reasoning is that I would imagine the situation is similar for UK beaches - technically taking stones, sand etc. is illegal but if your 5 year old son decides there's a couple of stones he likes and wants to take home, no-one is going to care one bit. Rock up with a couple of land rovers / trailers and fill them up with shingle, the situation will be very different!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-23T16:37:22.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1554" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1555" CreationDate="2012-05-23T18:23:40.760" Score="11" ViewCount="962" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camp-usa.com/products/climbing-protection/nylon-tricams.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tri-Cams&lt;/a&gt; have a reputation for fitting where other protection will not, and they are light weight and inexpensive compared to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-loaded_camming_device&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SLCDs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately they also have a reputation for being hard to clean (remove from the rock) after being set.  Therefore:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the correct technique to remove Tri-Cams?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do some nut tools work better than others for these?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What should be considered during placement to prevent getting one stuck?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lSFZj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T13:29:47.143" Title="How do I correctly clean (remove) Tri-Cams?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1554" CreationDate="2012-05-23T20:53:42.460" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;before reading any of this please remember safety first. If you are not comfortable with placement for any reason then you probably shouldn't be placing it there. NEVER sacrifice safety for convince. All suggestions here are for placement concerning removal NOT safety ,direction of pull or anything else. Also, there is no substitute for experience or an experienced teacher, in person, on the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, All suggestions are to be read with &quot;Try... if you can.&quot; So &quot;Don't put it too deep or out of reach of a tool&quot; Becomes &quot;Try not to put it too deep or out of reach of a tool if you can.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It depends on if you placed it using the caming action or just as a nut. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you places as a nut then there tends to be not much of an issue. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you place as a cam, then there is usually an issue.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the best advice for cleaning them is to remember that you will have to remove it when you place it. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't put it too deep or out of reach of a tool. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't place it as tight as you can. Place it where you have to pull on it a bit to activate the cam before it is set. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place straight in rather than slotting, much easier to get straight out rather than slide around then remove.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't use a parallel crack when one with a downward constriction exists.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visualize how it is going to be removed before touching it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Push it on the rails to remove the caming action. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't use your fingers. Use a nut tool from the start.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understand where the fulcrum point is on any placement and know that you will have to effect it to remove the cam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basically release the tension on the fulcrum and then wiggle out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once the tension is released, use the nut tool to stop it from catching and re-tensioning itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ON the larger ones with a hole, use the hole and pull toward the sling to release the tension.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Modify the sling with a straw. Cut the straw to fit just in the loop and tape it in. I use thirst buster straws because they are wide, but any should work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the point has become really mangled use a file to return it to it's original shape. (I wouldn't do this more than once per cam before replacing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understand that if you do fall on it, it very well might become a permanent placement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a sling attached to the webbing. This will allow less drag on the rope and the rope will pull on the pro less which will tension it less which will make it easier to remove and less litely to wiggle free from where you placed it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As for the nut tool. I used to have an &lt;code&gt;Omega Caranut&lt;/code&gt; and had some difficulty but life got a lot easier when I switched to a &lt;code&gt;Metolius Freenut&lt;/code&gt;. One of the guys I climb with is pretty much a guru at removing these things and he uses a &lt;code&gt;Ushba Titanium Nut Tool&lt;/code&gt; (He got it after the gear review came out). I have tried it and didn't find it any easier than mine though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See answer 1&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-05-24T13:29:47.143" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T13:29:47.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1556" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-24T03:00:02.853" Score="3" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1254/training-to-prepare-for-oxygen-deficiency-in-the-high-mountains&quot;&gt;Training to prepare for oxygen deficiency in the high mountains&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I are looking to do a portion of the Annapurna pass (Jomsom trek). She has climbed Kilimanjaro (not without difficulty) 3 years ago and I am a beginner with basic hiking experience in Himalayas.&#xA;My question is what are some good gym exercises to prepare for a 8 day trek in Himalayas? We go a max height of 5000m at thorung la pass.&#xA;Are there exercises specifically to train you for lack of oxygen? Or does any aerobic exercise(running,biking,swimming) count?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T03:00:02.853" Title="Exercises to prepare you for high altitude sickness" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-05-24T14:05:56.450" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1552" CreationDate="2012-05-24T09:28:56.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;IANAL, but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The riverbed is owned by the landowner (although the water isn't), so removing rocks (or any other item) from the riverbed is the same as removing them from anywhere else on the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, it's probably theft, so NOT legal. If you're concerned about it, ask the landowner's permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/37&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CROW act&lt;/a&gt; is pretty restrictive about what you can do in rivers and lakes even when they're on access land. No boating or bathing... : &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_Access_Campaign&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_Access_Campaign&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T09:28:56.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1447" CreationDate="2012-05-24T14:03:09.150" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just couldn't bring myself to bleach my tent.  I was too worried it would damage the material.  In the end I used &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/694530/mcnett-mirazyme-odor-eliminator&quot;&gt;Mirazyme&lt;/a&gt; and a bathtub.  The Mirazyme removed the mildew and airing it out removed the smell. We just mixed it in the ratios listed on the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-24T14:03:09.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1559" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1568" CreationDate="2012-05-24T21:25:39.193" Score="12" ViewCount="2737" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to replace some guylines on one of my tents. I normally use some paracord lying around but they have been getting tripped over more and more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some glow in the dark paracord, but before I buy this stuff I wanted to know, has anyone used it? How well does it work? Is there something else I am better off using to prevent kids from tripping over it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T06:01:48.980" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T18:43:25.903" Title="What should I replace guylines with?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1560" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1563" CreationDate="2012-05-24T22:04:08.510" Score="14" ViewCount="28298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that eating the tips off a few match heads can help keep the bugs off of you. Supposedly you sweat out the sulfur and it repels the bugs. Has anyone else heard this or is there any truth to it? Is it harmful? Would garlic work better? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I have this on and off for years from random people and always assumed it was hogwash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T20:26:53.437" LastActivityDate="2015-04-18T14:14:58.507" Title="Eating Matches to repel insects?" Tags="&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1561" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1569" CreationDate="2012-05-24T22:59:56.170" Score="7" ViewCount="1859" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been looking but unable to find a good video or step by step with photos to make my own Hammock. I have a ton of paracord lying around and plan on using that, but I'd really like a guide and/or to learn from someone else's mistakes before I start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T16:35:57.770" Title="Making own Hammock" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1562" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1573" CreationDate="2012-05-24T23:11:26.733" Score="17" ViewCount="2658" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I climb. It keeps my hands pretty rough, but for my day job I am a desk jockey now. I was wondering, are there exercises can I do to keep my hands rough so they don't get torn to shreds when I do get out? Is there anything I can do to keep them rough other than manual labor or climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2018-01-19T09:51:03.707" Title="How to toughen up hands?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1560" CreationDate="2012-05-25T00:18:36.713" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sulfur is often suggested for natural mosquito repellents. I've seen recommendations for taking sulfur pills, making sulfur creams, or applying sulfur powders. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v8n1s07.html&quot;&gt;According to&lt;/a&gt; the Colorado State University Extension, the sulfur content of cloves is the science behind garlic-based repellents or recommendations to consume garlic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I would not think eating a match head to be any way to get sulfur into your body. A safety match head is mostly potassium chlorate fixed to ground glass. A strike-anywhere match head will have phosphorous in it as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="283" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T00:18:36.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1559" CreationDate="2012-05-25T01:00:57.300" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend highly reflective line.  Many manufacturers make this.  I have had excellent results with &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B001ANPCSQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kelty Triptease&lt;/a&gt;.  One 50' line cuts down to easily make 4 guylines for a tent.  It is highly reflective and even a little light will make it really stand out at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also consider reflective markers like those made by &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B007IT4NIQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR&lt;/a&gt;.  These will also make the cord stand out more in the day just by making it blend less with the background.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T08:30:43.283" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T08:30:43.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2012-05-25T03:09:46.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Baitcasters will add excitement to your otherwise dull fishing excursion. Tired of just relaxing in your boat and catching fish? With the wonderful new backlash feature built into you baitcaster, you will have hours of entertainment that rivals a Chinese  finger trap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All jokes aside, baitcaster often have a higher gear ratio that gives your a faster retrieve than a spinning reel. They are great for stuff like buzzbaits, larger crankbaits etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="531" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T03:09:46.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1488" CreationDate="2012-05-25T03:26:45.023" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am also a paddler on the heavy side. You might check out the 14 foot &lt;a href=&quot;http://nativewatercraft.com/boat.cfm?id=6&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Native Watercraft Ultimate&lt;/a&gt;. Is comes as a tandem, but a single seat can be mounted in the middle and the other removed. It is very stable and pretty agile for its size and hull shape.  It is rated to 450 pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also look at the 14ft versions of the wilderness system tarpon and lingo models. Both paddle nicely and are very high quality boats. I suggest them highly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is an independent dealer in your area you should give them a call and ask if they will let you demo a few boats. Most good shops will. Stay away from the chain store boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9gEW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="531" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-25T15:19:40.783" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T15:19:40.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2012-05-25T03:29:26.953" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience is that I can cast farther and with greater precision with a baitcaster.  That being said, you have to practice... A LOT.  There is a tensioner for the gears.  You have to balance the tension for your personal style to avoid backlash, but still get a good distance.  Backlash is bad, very bad.  It creates the worst tangle you've ever seen.  A bad one and you just have to cut the line out and respool your entire reel.  Most times you won't be able to just pick up your friends baitcaster and cast it without re-adjusting the tensioner (at which point they'll probably use you for cutbait).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's well worth the practice.  When I regularly fished for bass I could drop a lure into a 2&quot; square underneath a low hanging bush from 40' away.  You just won't get that kind of performance from a spinning reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a technical standpoint, baitcasters generate less drag and friction on the line during the cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T03:29:26.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1559" CreationDate="2012-05-25T08:24:51.123" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my tents has fluorescent paracord - it doesn't glow in the dark, but is incredibly bright and can easily be seen. We also attach some of it as guidelines when pitched in wilder areas to help the kids find their way to the tents in the dark. It works well - typically the only people who trip over them are adults...if they have had one two many glasses of wine...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glow in the dark sounds like a good idea though - if it is at a reasonable price I would suggest getting it anyway and trying it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T08:24:51.123" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1561" CreationDate="2012-05-25T16:35:57.770" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will likely want to check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hammockforums.net/&quot;&gt;http://www.hammockforums.net/&lt;/a&gt;  They have a DIY section has tutorials on all sorts of hammock building or hammock accessories.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="532" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T16:35:57.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1530" CreationDate="2012-05-25T17:26:23.767" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds like an &quot;escape fire&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Escape_fire&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;); see also the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mann_Gulch_fire&quot;&gt;Mann Gulch Fire&lt;/a&gt; for a real life example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097443/&quot;&gt;One of the The Gods Must Be Crazy movies&lt;/a&gt; had this technique used in a wildfire in the African savannah.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="534" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-25T18:07:15.067" LastActivityDate="2012-05-25T18:07:15.067" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1559" CreationDate="2012-05-26T11:00:57.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fluorescent or glow in the dark paracord would be the way to go - I haven't tried the latter, but from looking at its colour it may blend in more in the daytime than fluorescent stuff, even if it stands out more at night. I'm happy to be proved wrong of course!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it seems here the question alludes to kids tripping over the lines, which isn't necessarily a problem that should just be solved by making the lines more visible (though of course it's a good step and certainly helps.) I'd also suggest the following two points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep activities well away from the tent so kids aren't running around it and therefore tempted to get closer where they may trip over&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perhaps look at getting some stakes you can put in the ground as signposts - put them around the guidelines and attach yellow warning tape or similar to them, which will stand out more. They can then be instructed to not come closer to the tent than those markers (and they serve as a better visual reminder.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-26T11:00:57.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1559" CreationDate="2012-05-26T20:11:18.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I propose using whatever cord is strong enough, inexpensive, and compact, then marking it with fluorescent surveyor's tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NPWqO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is adding your own &lt;a href=&quot;http://glowinc.com/detail.aspx?ID=51&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;glow paint&lt;/a&gt; as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZDXHT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-27T19:28:40.983" LastActivityDate="2012-05-27T19:28:40.983" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1562" CreationDate="2012-05-26T23:58:50.703" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think anything works the hands in exactly the same way as climbing.  I think that a training board or minimally &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/rock_rings.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metolius Rock Rings&lt;/a&gt; are the best bet for keeping hands in shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sipas.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no place to hang them up invert the system and use them as handles for a Farmer's Walk, a great exercise in itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is still too much for the office you can at least give your forearms a serious pump with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Main/captainsofcrush.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;heavy gripper&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1veHu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-27T00:35:29.437" LastActivityDate="2012-05-27T00:35:29.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1574" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1579" CreationDate="2012-05-27T20:49:55.127" Score="8" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you modify Cam slings with a straw as described &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1554/how-do-i-correctly-clean-remove-tri-cams&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for easier removal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T10:20:43.980" Title="Cam Sling Modification" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;camming-devices&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1574" CreationDate="2012-05-27T21:13:53.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camp-usa.com/product-highlights/forum/simple-mechanics-why-tricams-still-rule/Simple%20Mechanics%20-%20Why%20Tricams%20Still%20Rule.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Simple Mechanics: Why Tricams Still Rule&lt;/em&gt; (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Stiffen the Sling&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One way to help make Tricams easier to place and remove is to stiffen&#xA;  the upper part the slings.  Over the course of the Tricam’s history,&#xA;  we have seen many solutions for this, but one remains superior. It is&#xA;  important to consider that while stiffening can help, it can also&#xA;  reduce the lexibility of the sling and render the unit ineffective by&#xA;  taking away its ability to adapt to various directions of pull. The&#xA;  solution: use a material with some rigidity that also bends easily&#xA;  when needed. Like a soda straw. As with spit balls, McDonalds straws&#xA;  are the best. They are thick and well built. Cut a length that its&#xA;  perfectly in the upper sling loop and hold it in place with a thin&#xA;  layer of athletic tape. It’s cheap and it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-05-27T21:13:53.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1576" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1577" CreationDate="2012-05-28T01:14:23.173" Score="48" ViewCount="21454" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bicycle helmet that fits well.  Can it be used effectively as a rock climbing helmet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most climbing helmets have a hard shell that the bicycle helmet does not.  However, one of the more expensive climbing helmets, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/mountaineering-and-climbing-helmets/meteor-iii&quot;&gt;Petzl Meteor III&lt;/a&gt;, appears to have the same construction of a thin plastic shell over foam as the bicycle helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bicycle helmet clearly has better impact protection on the sides, with a thick layer of expanded bead foam that is absent on most climbing helmets. On the other hand most cycling helmets have vents on top that the climbing helmets to not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How do the safety tests and standards for climbing and cycling helmets compare?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What protection would I give up by using a cycling helmet for climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does a cycling helmet provide &lt;em&gt;better&lt;/em&gt; protection in any applicable way?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T12:59:16.360" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T23:24:58.510" Title="Can I use a bicycle helmet as a climbing helmet?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1576" CreationDate="2012-05-28T02:02:56.080" Score="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;No you should not use a bicycle helmet for climbing.  They are designed for different types of impacts and will not provide you with proper protection outside of their designed activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bicycle helmets are designed for a SINGLE ground impact.  Like modern cars they are designed to crumple and absorb the energy from an impact.  They probably provide the best protection of any type of helmet because of this design.  Once they've had an impact they are now completely useless though.  This is not a big deal after a bike accident as you can probably stop riding the bike and walk or get a ride home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing helmets on the other hand are designed for multiple impacts.  They do not absorb impact energy like a bicycle helmet but they can provide protection even after an impact.  This is important when you're climbing because unlike biking you can't always stop climbing just because you've had an accident.  You've got to complete your ascent or return to the ground.  Additionally, most head injuries from climbing are not from the climber falling but rather from rocks falling on their heads from above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So imagine you've worn your bike helmet to climb and managed to bang your head on the wall.  The bike helmet is crumpled now and will provide no protection now.  Suddenly some rocks fall from above.  You would be severely injured as the bike helmet would not absorb the impacts or even deflect very well at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Added 5/28/12&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't really compare the standards as they are for different activities and requirements.  As stated above the cycling helmet standards do not require multiple impacts.  EN climbing helmet testing is done under EN 12492: 2000 and these tests require multiple impacts to the helmet.  Specifically a 5kg hemispherical striker is dropped at 30 and 120 degrees (from the horizontal plane) on the top of the helmet from a height of 2 meters.  A flat 5kg striker is then hit on the front, sides, and rear of the helmet.  There are also penetration tests done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maximum force that can be transferred to the head 10kN.  So climbing helmets are not designed to absorb as much of an impact.  They are designed for multiple impacts of smaller force instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not as familiar with bicycling helmet standards, just that their design does not require multiple impacts.  If you've ever seen a cycling helmet after a ground impact you can see clearly it would not provide protection for a second impact.  Rather, they are designed to absorb much higher levels of force by crumpling.  CPSC standards permit only 3kN of force to be transferred to the head.  I'm not sure what weight and how they test this though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the short version is that a cycling helmet must not transfer more than 3kN of force while a climbing helmet may transfer up to 10kN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many more standards setting bodies for cycling helmets as well.  I only used the CPSC because it's the most common one on the market.  Snell has a much more stringent standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen some of the foam climbing helmets but I'm not sure what the design theory is behind them.  I suppose they would absorb more impact from any single impact.  Once the foam has been impacted it would not provide that level of absorption again though.  The shell of the helmet would still need to meet the multiple impact requirements to be approved by EN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other issue is that most cycling helmets have fairly wide ventilation slits.  These are far to large for climbing and could easily allow falling rocks to penetrate to the head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are now some multi-sport helmets on the market but these are intended for climbing, canyoneering, and kayaking/rafting.  Cycling and motoring helmets will always require higher absorption levels because higher speeds (and thus force) are involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="536" LastEditorUserId="536" LastEditDate="2012-05-28T19:52:26.673" LastActivityDate="2012-05-28T19:52:26.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="368" CreationDate="2012-05-28T14:10:35.627" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I entirely agree with Timothy Strimple. Here are the pro-s and con's that I have noticed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixed blade:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;sturdy - good for batoning, chopping, hammering with the handle&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;reliable - there is no mechanism to get jammed, screws to fall out&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be very cheap - a cheap folder falls to peices in one month (in my experience). The only drawback of a cheap fixed blade (five bucks for example) is the lower quality steel (just sharpen it more often)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Folding blade:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;discrete - much easier to carry around in the city&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compact - fixed blade on the hip could hinder movement, a folder in the pocket doesn't&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a conclusion I can say what I have chosen for myself. I carry a folder in the city and take an extra fixed blade when in the woods. Both are easy to arm swiftly with one hand and the folder is concealed (caring knives where I live, Bulgaria, is legal, but still it's better not to freak people out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-05-28T17:55:56.230" LastActivityDate="2012-05-28T17:55:56.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1574" CreationDate="2012-05-28T14:37:23.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mr. Wizard has the jist of it but I thought I might add in what I have done. I cut a plastic straw (I use gas station straws that are pretty thick but McDonald's would work as well) to go from just below the head to about an inch past the first loop. then I wrapped the straw to the webbing with athletic tape. I then used a sharpie to color the tape the same color as the webbing so it's still easy to identify. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I then took some more tape and wrapped it around the webbing just below the pin and then wrapped it over the pin and through the trough between the rails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The entire intention is to be able to place the pro one handed. The stiffer head makes it very easy to flick it one way or the other to change between active and passive placement. If you can place it one handed then you can spend more time getting it just right. Also, the additional wrapping on the head adds a bit of spring when placed as a cam which makes it easier to &quot;activate&quot; without yanking on it or yanking as hard, thus easier to remove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major draw back to this is the rope will apply more upward pressure and can possible remove the placement so most people who do this connect a sling as well, to give the line more freedom of movement before affecting the placement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are not pictures of mine but they look pretty close. The main differences being I colored my mid sections and I didn't come up as far with the tape, I only went right past the pin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RZmTJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Modification&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-05-29T16:37:37.543" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T16:37:37.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1580" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1582" CreationDate="2012-05-28T15:08:13.707" Score="11" ViewCount="5208" Body="&lt;p&gt;Currently I waterproof my tents at minimum once a year and often times 2 or 3 times a year. Other than condensation I don't usually have too much of a problem. On the other hand I live and often camp in one of the dryest places in the country so it rarely comes into play.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is am I proofing it too often? Does anyone else actually bother with this stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T10:21:43.973" Title="How often should I waterproof a tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1583" CreationDate="2012-05-28T15:37:53.097" Score="14" ViewCount="21481" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although most knives I have seen have their edge symmetrical, others (often serrated ones) have the edge ground out only from one side (the side of the serrations). There are also some straight edge examples, like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000PW56QG&quot;&gt;PECK&lt;/a&gt;.  Why is this necessary, does it have significant benefits and is it exclusively linked with serrated knives?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for not posting pictures, I couldn't google hard enough to find some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-28T15:52:09.393" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T08:26:56.387" Title="Why do some knives have one-sided sharpening?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1580" CreationDate="2012-05-28T16:02:23.217" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I camp in the Appalachians (pretty darned wet).  We have had the same &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004LF64QY&quot;&gt;Kelty&lt;/a&gt; tent for over four years with anywhere from six to twelve trips per year.  We've never waterproofed it.  It still repels water and performs very well.  It poured rain for over 12 hours our last trip and the kiddos in the tent stayed dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say waterproof when you have an issue.  Sounds like you're wasting a lot of $$$ now for refreshing that you don't need.  If you are worried, set it up in your yard a couple of times a year and test it with a water hose sprayer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-05-28T16:02:23.217" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1581" CreationDate="2012-05-28T17:54:14.703" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Serrations are formed on one side due to the method of manufacture (a formed grinding wheel).  I suppose it would be possible to grind serrations from both sides with very careful alignment but I cannot recall seeing this on any production knives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Single-side or &quot;chisel grind&quot; blades are not restricted to serrated knives.  Nearly all &lt;a href=&quot;http://korin.com/Learn/About-Japanese-Knives&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;traditional Japanese knives&lt;/a&gt; use this design:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The single-edged blade is a unique feature of traditional Japanese&#xA;  knives directly linked to Japanese cuisine. Traditional Japanese&#xA;  cuisine aims to preserve and accentuate the true flavors of fresh and&#xA;  seasonal ingredients, and a sharp knife is essential to this process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To achieve their &quot;unforgettable sharpness,&quot; traditional knives are&#xA;  razor sharp on one side and slightly concave on the reverse side. This&#xA;  design creates an overall sharper cutting edge, makes resharpening&#xA;  easier, and allows for more sensitive culinary work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This design allows for easier hand sharpening (on a water stone) because of the construction.  The back of the blade (called the &quot;ura&quot;) is actually hollow, flattened at the perimeter, as seen on &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FKvUQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this chisel&lt;/a&gt;. (On knives the flattened area is much smaller and harder to see.)  The front uses a very wide bevel.  Each surface is placed flat on the stone to sharpen and acts as a natural guide, though much skill is still required.  Here is an exaggerated-scale cross section:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XVQJK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.buyjp4u.com/images/UploadFile/2011524225912945.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; is more proportionate)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It allows for a keener cutting edge on a knife of a given thickness.  It also changes the way the knife cuts and the manner in which it is held.  The steel used in these knives needs to be very hard to support the low angle edge but they are fragile as a result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some manufacturers such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.emersonknives.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Emerson Knives&lt;/a&gt; use a single side grind, but it does not benefit from the method of sharpening that Japanese knives (and chisels) have because it lacks the hollow back and single flat bevel required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In use these knives &quot;steer&quot; to one side making it difficult to cut straight lines (in cardboard, for example).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They also bite in asymmetrically, cutting in a shaving motion when held at a very low angle on one side, but requiring a much steeper angle on the other (typically much steeper than double sided blades).  Further, these designs are usually ground on the &lt;em&gt;left&lt;/em&gt; side of the knife (as typically are serrations on pocket knives), presumably for appearance when held in the right hand; this is actually backward for right-handed use in a normal grip. (Compare the traditional Japanese knives which have the bevel on the other side.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are not keener (lower angle; thinner) than other pocket knives because the steel and their intended use will not support it.  Because the edge angle is produced (almost) entirely by the bevel on one side the final bevel has to be about twice as steep as comparable blades (around 30°).  This causes problems for guided sharpening systems because they typically do not go up that high.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-06-04T08:26:56.387" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T08:26:56.387" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1585" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-28T18:42:35.563" Score="25" ViewCount="57481" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sat for 45 minutes last summer in the hot sun (100°F/38°C). I was pinned in on the bleachers so I wasn't able to get up and move. I could feel the sun burning through my pants. Now I have everyday burning and stinging on my right front upper thigh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible that I got sunburned through my clothes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="538" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:41:06.520" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:41:06.520" Title="Is it possible to sunburn through clothing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1585" CreationDate="2012-05-28T20:05:58.117" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it is possible to sunburn through clothing.  Clothing does block some of the Ultraviloet radiation but not 100%.  A lot of outdoor recreation clothing is now marketed with treatments that gives additional UV protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="536" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-07-11T21:28:45.413" LastActivityDate="2012-07-11T21:28:45.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1488" CreationDate="2012-05-28T20:15:12.597" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a fairly heavy man myself though not quite as tall.  Weight has always been my problems with recreation boats.&#xA;You might want to look at sport canoes.  They are also open designs but can typically hold more weight than a kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="536" LastActivityDate="2012-05-28T20:15:12.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-05-29T14:54:25.413" Score="18" ViewCount="34198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been camping since I was a teenager in the scouts, and I've never really had a very comfortable night out.  As an adult with a girlfriend, 20 years later, I'd like to just throw some money at the issue and be done with it and have ourselves a comfortable bed for car camping.  (&quot;Car camping&quot; meaning we will have the car next to the campsite and don't care about weight or size much.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This Memorial Day weekend, we went out with a few other couples, and I don't think a single person had a successful sleep.  We brought a feather bed as an experiment and it was pretty terrible, feeling only slightly better than the ground (warm though).  Other people spent 30-60 minutes fussing with getting their air beds inflated, and then they leaked or went flat by the morning.  I've used self-inflating Thermarest pads and I'm sure those are the best for backpack camping but they aren't &lt;em&gt;great&lt;/em&gt; and they get quite expensive once you start buying two of the XL ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other choices I'm missing?  Or is there an air mattress option that isn't fussy and frustrating?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="539" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:09:45.140" Title="What is the ultimate car camping bed solution -- for two people?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-05-29T16:43:22.570" Score="17" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ALWAYS bring a patch kit for an air mattress.  If your airpad is&#xA;going flat something is wrong (though perhaps the wrong part is just&#xA;getting a cheap mattress).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a pump that you can plug into your car (you're car camping after all).  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_sq_top?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;index=blended&amp;amp;keywords=memory%20foam&amp;amp;pf_rd_p=486539851&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=B000BI3OWW&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=1699FQEJH1S2J39TSH6V&quot;&gt;memory foam&lt;/a&gt; to lay out on top of your pad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not inflate your mattress to be completely taut.  You want some&#xA;give (unless you like sleeping on a rock).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy a mattress with a foam top (and yes, then slap more foam on top of it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Field Test&quot; before camping.  Buy it, inflate it at home, then leave a backpack on top of it overnight.  If it's flat in the morning, return it.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For car camping, don't bother to shop for &quot;camping&quot; mattresses, just get a quality air mattress.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-15T17:10:11.293" LastActivityDate="2013-10-15T17:10:11.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-05-29T17:14:05.770" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we car camp the night before a canoe-camping trip, we bring an extra comforter from home and put it on top of the Thermarests, under our sleeping bags. We also bring pillows. These combine to produce a luxurious sleep as far as we're concerned. I've also slept on my fair share of air mattresses, mostly in houses, and if they don't go flat they're fine. They shouldn't go flat - if they do, patch them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T17:14:05.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1591" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1925" CreationDate="2012-05-29T19:51:30.960" Score="10" ViewCount="781" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used several different products and none of them work that well. Bottom line, is there a product that will subdue the offending groover?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a groover is a river toilet. On multiple day river trips you need to pack your solid waste out, liquid can usually go right into the river no problem depending on where you are (ask the local ranger). Originally it was an ammo can that you just dumped your solid waste in... directly. It was called a groover because when you were done and stood back up you had two grooves running down your backside (from the ammo can digging in). today we still use an ammo can to store it in, but we have a modern seat on it and a plastic inner container in the can. We also paint them white so they bake less in the hot river sun and smell (slightly) better. Also you know to not put anything in a white ammo can. Or open them on the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used a couple of different products and have yet to be impressed. I am hoping for an answer of &quot;I have used X and swear by it, it might not be perfect but it's leagues better than anything else&quot; Ideally the product will also be allowed to be dumped in septic systems and not just sewer, but if not I will haul my solid waste back to civilization if I don't have to smell it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used Blue stuff (RV), bleach, kitty litter, and Pine Sol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:34:06.937" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:34:06.937" Title="Does a groover have to stink?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1593" CreationDate="2012-05-29T20:02:19.023" Score="8" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a website that water meters on rivers report to? I am planning a white water river trip and I am worried the river will be dry. I know there are meters on the river but accessing them or finding a website with the current levels is a nightmare for one river to the next. I live in Arizona so ideally the site would at least have my rivers but I often head to Utah for the Colorado, the San Juan, and the Green rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T16:02:21.120" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T16:02:21.120" Title="Is there a website with current river water levels for Arizona/Utah?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1592" CreationDate="2012-05-29T20:06:21.180" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;USGS:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?r=us&amp;amp;id=ww_current&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?r=us&amp;amp;id=ww_current&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National Weather Service Map: &lt;a href=&quot;http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=ffc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=ffc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an easy to read table for GA, but I can't figure out how to navigate to other states on their site:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/rva.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/rva.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More NOAA for the Colorado Basin: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And (with thanks to MaskedPlant): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/search-limited/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/search-limited/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-31T19:43:15.263" LastActivityDate="2012-05-31T19:43:15.263" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1594" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1601" CreationDate="2012-05-29T22:00:57.557" Score="18" ViewCount="5988" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a comment on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1539/527&quot;&gt;How to select paracord&lt;/a&gt; question I was curious, what is the benefit of paracord over hardware store yellow twisted poly stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The yellow stuff is cheap, readily available, floats, strong enough and easy to see as guylines and in trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have almost always used paracord, because, that's &quot;camping&quot; rope and that's just what I used. But that comment got me thinking, what is the big deal with paracord? Why is it better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:33:35.567" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T19:07:24.980" Title="Pros and Cons of paracord" Tags="&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1594" CreationDate="2012-05-29T23:45:40.410" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of it may well be historical - while there are a lot of generic hardware store type things that &quot;do the job&quot; out there now, I'm willing to bet that a few decades ago this wasn't the case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I'd still say that unless you're just doing light hiking / camping where it's never going to be stretched much, it's still worth getting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overall, it's really not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; expensive, even for the genuine stuff (especially when you buy in bulk.) OK, cheap knock off cord can be substantially cheaper in some cases, but it's not like proper paracord sets you back anything more than a few pence a foot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's more versatile - you can cut it and use it as one cord or strip the inner cords from it if you need something thinner (or even strip the inner cords and tie them together if you need something thicker.) Can't do that with most other stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You know what you're getting with it. If you get the same paracord every time you know you're always getting, well, the same ol' paracord. Get cheaper hardware store stuff and chances are it'll change over time - perhaps for the better but perhaps for the worst, and you don't want to find out at the wrong moment in a gale when repairing a guy rope!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You say the generic stuff is strong enough to be used as guy ropes, but is this in a light scenario with no wind or in a heavy context with lots of gales / rain? It relates to the previous point, but are you sure it'll definitely hold up in those sorts of circumstances? Are you sure? You pretty much can be with paracord.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It often handles better - I find the outer sheath a lot smoother than a lot of the cheap stuff, and it's easier to coil too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, you could get cheap stuff for doing odd tasks where it doesn't matter, and save the proper paracord for where it matters, but this is a lot of hassle and IMO the price point doesn't make it worth faffing around trying to save a few pence here and there when you've got a decent solution that can do the job already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T23:45:40.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1596" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1597" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" Score="0" Body="Water sports are sports and leisure activities for which water is a major part, usually played on the water itself." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T23:58:25.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1598" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-05-29T23:59:31.433" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T23:59:31.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1599" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-05-29T23:59:31.433" Score="0" Body="Rope is a useful and versatile material in the outdoors that can be used for all manner of tasks, from tying up a bag to constructing live saving structures." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-05-29T23:59:31.433" LastActivityDate="2012-05-29T23:59:31.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-05-30T03:48:25.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you're car camping and you don't have to worry about carrying things to the site, the general answer is to layer until you're sufficiently comfortable.  If one foam pad isn't enough, lay down 2.  If you're worried about the air mattress deflating, bring a patch kit as well as extra pillows and comforters just in case. Is it overkill?  Perhaps.  But at least you'll have peace of mind and enjoy your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, since you mentioned &quot;ultimate&quot;, you may want to look at Car Top Campers:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cartopcamper.com/index_files/Page1309.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.cartopcamper.com/index_files/Page1309.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/&quot;&gt;http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="496" LastActivityDate="2012-05-30T03:48:25.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1594" CreationDate="2012-05-30T17:40:29.967" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paracord&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Better strength*/diameter ratio.  550lb paracord is 5/32&quot; (4mm) in diameter generally.  Twisted poly of a comparable strength is around 3/16&quot; (4.75mm).  So the paracord will pack smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More versatile.  You can easily divide it into multiple ropes.  Its form also makes it much easier to braid than twisted poly if you need to make a stronger rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Easier on your hands -- If you've ever tried to hoist a heavy pack with twisted poly you know that stuff eats skin.  The smoother paracord is less hand-shredding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Twisted Poly&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap-er (about half the cost) - &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002HJ1CK4&quot;&gt;Paracord 1000ft/$50&lt;/a&gt; (0.05/ft),&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uline.com/BL_3912/Polypropylene-Rope?pricode=WO439&amp;amp;gclid=CInEw_DFqLACFQSxnQodLUXcWA&quot;&gt;Twisted poly 1200ft/$32&lt;/a&gt; (0.026/ft).  I say cheap-er, because&#xA;paracord isn't exactly what I would call expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Strength = maximum load strength.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(I know people are looking for weight comparison too, I'm going to post those when I break down and spend the $ on twisted poly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-05-31T19:51:30.497" LastActivityDate="2012-05-31T19:51:30.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1533" CreationDate="2012-05-31T14:49:37.377" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Mr. Wizard mentioned, you cannot tell if it can be trusted or not. This is why its good to keep an equipment log noting when important stuff like rope that you depend on is used and anything that happens to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you are given some paracord sealed from a manufacturer and you are curious if it is the Mil-spec stuff or not then there are a few things you can do. Originally Mil-Spec Cord has a braided sheath that with no core is rated to 300 lbs. Open the sheath and count the yarns inside there should be 7 and each should be 3 twisted together. Each yarn is rated to just over 35 lbs. On most commercial stuff the inner strands are just 2 yarns twisted together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are still unsure then get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://shimpoinstruments.com/product/FGE-HX_-_FGV-HX&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Force Gauge&lt;/a&gt; and test a single section of the rope. Remember though when testing a single section of rope it tells you NOTHING about the rest of the rope, just if that section was up to the standard. It also means that section of the rope should be disposed of because it has been taken up to it's load and probably cannot be safely done again. If you are going to go the testing route and you need to buy some of this crazy expensive equipment might I recommend a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digital-force-gauge.com/4952581/FTS-HD_High_Capacity_Force_Test_System.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Universal Force Test System&lt;/a&gt; as it will test more than just pull tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T17:07:09.393" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T17:07:09.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1560" CreationDate="2012-05-31T15:17:21.453" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whether it's hogwash or not is besides the point in my opinion - the fact of the matter is match heads aren't designed to be ingested and therefore while consuming them &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; increase your sulfur levels which &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; help keep the bugs off, there's also a good chance you'll be consuming random poisonous chemicals. Weighing it up, I think I'd take my chances with the bugs if that was all I had available!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I'd only suggest things like this in an emergency, but since &quot;keeping the bugs off&quot; is never a real requirement of an emergency situation, I'd never recommend it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-06-26T12:08:32.870" LastActivityDate="2014-06-26T12:08:32.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="86" CreationDate="2012-05-31T17:54:28.067" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that in some places (especially in California - for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/lockers.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/bear_box.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sequoia&lt;/a&gt;  National Parks) there are permanent bear boxes at popular overnight locations. It's entirely possible to do many interesting treks and rely entirely on these bear boxes. I've done this successfully in Sequoia and Kings Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-05-31T17:54:28.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="368" CreationDate="2012-06-01T02:42:41.673" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One point missing from the current answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixed blade is absolutely essential in any situation where seconds count in emergency life-or-death situations. For example, anything taking place in or under water where you might need to free yourself (or another) from an entrapment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these situations, you also want one with a secure but quick-release sheath.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T02:42:41.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2012-06-01T09:44:25.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jason S's &quot;use the map&quot; or / and Russell Steen's &quot;use landmarks&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Noam Gal's and berry120's &quot;use the sun&quot; (1)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Graham's &quot;use the stars&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use rivers - rivers provide water, animals, human-inhabited places, never go in circles and always flow in a consistent direction (this is kind of &quot;use landmarks&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climb up high - 1. find a naked hilltop 2. climb it 3. you can now see far away and are also easier to be seen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use the moon - for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/finding-north.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; this is explained&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) I was recently looking to measure how accurate my compass is. After some discussions, I was persuaded that the sun is very inaccurate (maybe tens of degrees off when measured with a watch). Well, It is the most easily accessed orientation point, so nevertheless I use it most often of all sources (even when I carry a compass).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T09:44:25.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2012-06-01T09:59:11.717" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clothing&lt;/strong&gt; during the day, &lt;strong&gt;fire&lt;/strong&gt; during the evening and a &lt;strong&gt;tent&lt;/strong&gt; during the night. Instead of tent, there are some &lt;strong&gt;nets&lt;/strong&gt; against insects - per sleeping bag, per hammock. I haven't tried them, though.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, based on my experience this summer, &lt;strong&gt;large sunglasses&lt;/strong&gt; (similar to the glasses for snowstorms) are &lt;em&gt;essential&lt;/em&gt; against the hordes of tiny flies. Should fit tightly against the face, nearly sealing the eyes away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2012-09-13T18:30:56.953" LastActivityDate="2012-09-13T18:30:56.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1456" CreationDate="2012-06-01T12:07:11.617" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess the only difference when traveling alone is that everything is more dangerous, difficult and time-consuming. :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some things I did before undertaking my last long trip alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Did some research on local wildlife: snakes, bears, wolves. Based on the research, practiced a drill in case a snake bites me, so that I have a chance to act adequately when I am panicked, scared, and tired at a moment of incident.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Brought a turned-off cell phone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When camping, stayed as close as possible to my fire. Had a prepared fast burning fuel, e.g. a dry branch with the leaves still on. When this thing is thrown into the fire a fireball results for several seconds that may scare off animals and lights the entire immediate area. Had а prepared knife at my immediate reach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When camping, placed the food and any smelly things about ten meters from the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Used a staff not only as a walking aid, but also to disturb high vegetation before I step in it. Also carried high boots in the summer.(*)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Was suspecting of strangers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And some mistakes I made:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not enough water. Water is a heavy substance and I always liked to believe that I will find a stream soon, no need to carry too much. Wrong. Had whole days without water. Always check the map and/or talk to people who have been there to know how often you will find water. Less of a problem in the spring or winter. Spring is especially merciful, as you can melt snow in a bottle in the sun or on your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lost my gear. Yeah, sounds scary. Having a heavy backpack and being quite tired a couple of times I decided to go scouting &quot;just a hundred meters&quot; in a circle around my backpack. Never, never, never again. If you are with people, they can scream and jump. Anything you leave in the forest should be considered lost and only happy coincidence if it is found. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carried monotonous food. I had a good deal of dried meat, bread, and several other things. A bad idea. After several days only meat and bread were left and after two days of eating only this I began feeling my energy leaving me. Carry as many different foods as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) Note: this is not reliable. Only very high and reasonably thick boots can protect from a snakebite. Regarding disturbing the grass: when I met a snake I decided to test this. I approached the snake—it didn't move. I raised the staff and hit the ground several centimeters form the snake. Still nothing. The damn thing was probably thinking it was hiding from me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-12T14:30:11.650" LastActivityDate="2013-10-12T14:30:11.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1610" CreationDate="2012-06-01T12:17:00.820" Score="57" ViewCount="39023" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, the priorities when selecting trekking food are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;maximizing calories per kilogram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not easily spoilable, especially in hot weather &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reasonably priced&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;variety throughout the trip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm posting to help build a wider variety of ideas. I would like to see as long a list as possible of food for long( * ) authonomous(**) treks. Also would appreciate some evaluation on the uplisted priorities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) - between a week and a month&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(**) - i.e. no resupply &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2016-08-06T17:43:30.207" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T09:52:01.707" Title="A list of suitable foods for a long hike" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="44" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-06-01T12:29:50.473" Score="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;To remedy the lack of sources (and hard numbers), I've started to write down here (for easier references) what is given for caloric values here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA Food Composition Databases&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feel free to contribute. ALL CALORIC VALUES LISTED BELOW ARE IN KCALS FOR 100 GRAMS OF THE PRODUCT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A2t%C3%A9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pâté&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fish in tin cans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) practically never spoils&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) can be warmed on the fire very conveniently, no additional dishes needed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) tin can difficult to dispose of - smells of fish, cuts skin very nasty, does not degrade if thrown away in nature (this can be remedied somewhat - tin cans can be transfered to sealed plastic bag using a vaccum machine and wouldn't spoil the product if done soon before leaving and under clean conditions)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) quite heavy, considering the weight of the sauce and of the can&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric values: 198 for tuna in oil&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dried meat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) long-lasting - can last almost a month in the summer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: varies depending. For beef jerky, 288 kcal show up in a few different products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Salami&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) long lasting&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) small quantities add taste to bland ingredients     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) can be used cold or cooked&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high quality artisan products are easily available in continental Europe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: about 420 for artisan Italian Salami. Varies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dried bread&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) cheap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) good for your stomach (fibres)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DIY: Put oil and toss bread chunks for 15 min on 150 degrees centigrade in the oven. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Small packages of cheese, vacuum&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) tasty&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) healthy food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) not very long-lasting - at most a week in the sun&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Freezes in winter. Lasts longer but not as convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: about 400 for cheddar cheese. Varies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: &quot;Small&quot; package means such that can be eaten up in one day. If the group eats together maybe even 1kg can be considered sufficiently small. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chocolate&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) easy to eat on the go&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) rapid energy - chocolate is both psychologically stimulating and quick to give off energy (however, it is not a substitute for solid food)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dried fruits and nuts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) healthy food - especially those, containing Mn (apricots)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) easy to eat on the go&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) diverse - get as many different types of dried fruits and nuts as possible&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: Regular trail mix weights in at 462 kcal/100g.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Couscous&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio - it's much denser than most forms of pasta so takes up less space, and can be cooked using much less fuel&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) easy to cook - Mixed with a packet of dried soup or even just chilli powder it's reasonably palatable, or you can chuck in anything else you can find (meat, veg, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Requires less water than many other cooked meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) needs to be cooked&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 376 for regular, dry couscous.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quinoa&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Nutritional_value&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Excellent nutritional value and high in protein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Easy to cook, goes with many types of food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Lightweight&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Requires less water than many other cooked meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Needs to be cooked&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini#Culinary_uses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tahini paste&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1631/537&quot;&gt;healthy food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) needs to be cooked - typically you'll want to eat it with something else, not on its own- and then you need bread, crackers, or something similar for it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 368&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Military Rations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) long shelf life&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) bulky&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) More expensive than DIY&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival Energy Bars&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) compact&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) not good day to day food - they turn to powder very easily&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Marmalade, Jam&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) tasty addition to the main food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) problems with storage - usually sold in massive glass jars, other than that this food has very high calorie to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potato paste&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) can be cooked or just dissolved in cold water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) not tasty unless mixed with something else and probably cooked&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potato Chips&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) tasty: different flavours plus they use industrial taste enhancers to make the good more marketable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) low in vitamins and micro nutrients &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) crumbles&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nido&lt;/strong&gt; (dried whole milk)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cookies&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) good desert, especially combined with nido or tea&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunflower/Olive Oil&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) can be eaten raw (with bread) or used for cooking virtually anything&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 884&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lentils&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Do not spoil&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Good ratio of nutrition to weight - beside calories, they provide much protein and micronutrients &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Easily cooked, just like rice (unlike beans, don't need to be soaked) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) They pair well with the concentrated tastes of preserved food (e.g. salted meat) and with foraged stuff (thyme, sorrel, etc.). Less bland than typical carb food (rice, couscous) when eaten alone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) need cooking (watch out for the type: some, usually orange/yellow ones, are quite fast, while others may need an hour)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) the tent will smell&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 180&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whole wheat pasta&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Do not spoil&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Good caloric value for weight&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) Easy to cook (preferably go for thinner &amp;amp; compact varieties, such as thin spaghetinni)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Needs to be cooked. For winter camping, you can either make it a soup or else you have to waste the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 352&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oatcakes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) long lasting     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) high calories to weight ratio &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) go well with cheese, spreads, salami etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: about 430.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Peanut Butter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) long lasting (not the 100% kind, though)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) highly caloric&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) small volume&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) comes in many package sizes, usually light but strong plastic jars with screw lid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Usually requires something to spread it on&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Hardens in cold weather&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 588&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Honey&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) does not spoil. (apparently literally never)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) small volume&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) comes in many package sizes, including light but strong plastic jars with screw lid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(+) also serves as sweetener for tea/coffee&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Usually requires something to spread it on&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caloric value: 304&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;tea - not for eating, but a must nevertheless&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Powdered juices&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;smoked cheese&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;butter&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;instant soups &amp;amp; powdered sauces: you can add a bit of flavor a little cost&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;dried soiled fish&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;rice: Very easy for digestion hence very light food, yet a great source of carbohydrates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of those are not particularly unspoilable. I bring them, and even move spoilable food for the first couple of days for a hike. Eat fresh at the beginning, eat light at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of what you bring, you should never keep them in original packaging. It is better to portion out everything while at home, rather than having to do it in the bush (easy to do when the sun shines, not as fun when it's raining cows). You also save the weight. The objective should be that every &quot;package&quot; is in its own ziploc bag or such. You just need to take it out &amp;amp; cook it or eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="15579" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T09:52:01.707" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T09:52:01.707" CommentCount="5" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-06-01T18:38:20.993" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1611" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1613" CreationDate="2012-06-01T12:58:32.123" Score="20" ViewCount="1338" Body="&lt;p&gt;A small group (2-10 people total) is travelling in a wilderness area. For whatever reason a person or a couple get separated. What is the best strategy for the lost ones? What is the best strategy to be employed by the group. The goal is to reunite. How important is it for the group to sit down and talk about this before a trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of algorithms I have seen my buddies perform:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First one: Both group proceed to the next checkpoint, that was defined for example at the morning looking at the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second one: Both groups return to the point of separation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would love to read some theory on this, so quoting sources is very welcome. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/2245/looking-for-info-on-a-failed-british-special-forces-mission/2268#2268&quot;&gt;Here is one example.&lt;/a&gt; We are talking military here, special forces mind you. They go on a mission, get separated, and that is one of their major mistakes. One survivor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example: just yesterday evening I was riding bike with two friends. I turn left, they shout at me that they are going another way, I do not confirm (as I had not seen or heard them). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:48:41.697" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T16:04:29.080" Title="Group protocol should the group become separated" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1611" CreationDate="2012-06-01T13:32:15.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is not to wander around randomly looking for each other - this is how a lot of mild situations become severe ones, especially if visibility is poor (a highly likely cause of a group becoming separated.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best policy to take is one of prevention rather than cure - ensure everyone is visible at regular intervals, don't wander far off from the group, and ensure that everyone is familiar with the current position and the route taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a couple do get separated, then there's one of two main approaches I'd take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Meet up at the previous or next checkpoint, and if a sensible amount of time has passed and the person still doesn't show up, start a search&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start an organised, methodical search for the lost couple or individual.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend returning to the point of separation since, most of the time, this point will only be roughly defined (if at all) and could just end up confusing things further. Established checkpoints are known definitive points, so remove some potential for error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the approach you take has to be decided in advance and will be influenced by many factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How strong a navigator the lost couple are (if they're not, trying to navigate somewhere could make things worse)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How dangerous the terrain is and how familiar the lost are with this terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whether they're contactable by mobile phone, radio or some other means&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no hard and fast rule and it's very ad-hoc dependant on the situation, but it &lt;strong&gt;definitely&lt;/strong&gt; needs to be decided in advance. Otherwise, the lost couple may decide it's better to stay where they are and await a search, and everyone else might be waiting for them at a checkpoint - or the lost couple may return to the previous checkpoint and everyone else the next...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth saying if you do start a search, make sure as a group you know exactly what you're doing, you do it methodically and you minimise the risk of losing anyone else as far as you can. There are proper search techniques that can be used - I won't go into them here (that's the scope of a different question!) but it definitely makes good reading!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T13:32:15.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1611" CreationDate="2012-06-01T14:57:49.303" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important part is to agree on a strategy beforehand and to not continue forward when you're injured, lost, or disoriented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A typical strategy might be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each hiker to go at their own pace to that day's destination. The first group there gets to setup camp so the slower hikers aren't trying to do too many things, like hanging their bear bag, in the dark. Every individual (or at least subgroup) should have enough to survive a few days alone in their own backpack. Everyone should also have a small first aid kit and a way to signal to others, e.g. a whistle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anyone becomes lost, they should immediately stop, get their bearings, and begin hiking back to the prior day's location. Once there, they shouldn't move for the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the morning after someone fails to make it to a way point, the group should organize a search and always travel in pairs or greater. If there are too few people to leave someone at the camp, then a note should be left. Anyone that remains at the site should have a predefined time to begin backtracking. The first priority of the search party should be to get to the last known way point. If the lost hikers cannot be found there or enroute, a pair of hikers should return to civilization to report the missing hikers and any pairs remaining can begin searching in any obvious paths in an organized fashion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Predefined signals are important. E.g. with the whistle, 3 long blasts is a standard emergency call, 2 long blasts could be &quot;I'm lost, but otherwise ok&quot;, 1 long blast could be &quot;I'm searching, stay put&quot;, and 1 short blast could be &quot;I'm here, reply back with your location&quot;. Rocks can be placed in a row on side trails to indicate that a search party is currently down that trail. And note paper to leave messages at each way point are handy to indicate who went where, and when.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T14:57:49.303" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1614" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1629" CreationDate="2012-06-01T15:44:39.493" Score="18" ViewCount="2229" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a formula which can be used (I'm thinking one that gives amount of water needed factoring in time or distance covered and temperature) to roughly work out the amount of water that needs to be carried for a particular hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously this will be a very rough guide - I know how much I generally drink, but I tend to drink quite a lot, I'm wondering as a rough approximation I can give to others to form an idea in their head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an &quot;official&quot; such formula, or have others coined their own that they use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T11:00:16.307" Title="Formula for rough amount of water to carry on hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1615" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1646" CreationDate="2012-06-01T15:47:37.727" Score="6" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following on from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1611/group-protocol-should-the-group-become-separated&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, what searching methods and techniques are best used in scenarios where a single group member (or perhaps couple of group members) become lost and separated from a group whilst hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T14:46:19.193" Title="Searching for a lost group member" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1616" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1620" CreationDate="2012-06-01T15:51:45.397" Score="10" ViewCount="2978" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1217/navigational-gear-worldwide&quot;&gt;Navigational gear worldwide&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not that well travelled (never been outside of Europe!) but at some point I'd love to head elsewhere to perhaps hike somewhere a bit more exotic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard (quite a bit) that most compasses only come calibrated for one hemisphere - how much &quot;out&quot; is a compass in the wrong part of the world? Is it generally no more than a few degrees, or potentially completely wildly out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following on from this, can I get a compass that &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; work pretty much worldwide to save the hassle of swapping back and forth between them, or is it just a case of always the right compass for the right place?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T17:14:54.787" Title="Is a compass generally accurate in only one hemisphere, or both?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2012-09-11T18:59:27.690" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1628" CreationDate="2012-06-01T15:52:48.423" Score="14" ViewCount="510" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm in the wilderness in a dry, hot climate without much vegetation and I'm running low on water, what land features and other potential signs can I look for to guide me to a drinkable water source?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-06-03T21:57:52.540" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T21:32:02.607" Title="Finding water in the dry wilderness" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1748" CreationDate="2012-06-01T15:59:44.140" Score="9" ViewCount="795" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always liked the idea of canyoning, but it seems that there's few places where it can be done in England. Does anyone know of any such places?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-24T22:38:07.250" LastActivityDate="2020-12-04T09:24:41.497" Title="Places for canyoning in England / Wales" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1619" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1625" CreationDate="2012-06-01T16:01:12.453" Score="10" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always try to avoid taking much delicate on a hike, but sometimes it either can't be helped or I decide I want to take it anyway (camera would be the prime example!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I best pack such equipment in a rucksack to avoid it getting damaged or broken on a multi-day hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-06-04T21:47:46.707" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T15:15:34.920" Title="Packing delicate equipment for a hike" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1616" CreationDate="2012-06-01T16:48:31.830" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A compass is &quot;accurate&quot; in both hemispheres in that it should still point to magnetic north. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the problem is that when you're in the southern hemisphere, the magnetic north pole is sort of 'under your feet' so the compass needs to be one that's specially 'balanced' for the Southern hemisphere to ensure the needle moves smoothly and responds fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get compasses that are 'globally balanced' to work everywhere - the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suunto.com/gb/en/products/Fieldcompasses/suunto-m-3-global/suunto-m-3-global-cm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Suunto M3 global&lt;/a&gt; is one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing to remember in terms of 'outness' is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:World_Magnetic_Declination_2010.pdf&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic declination&lt;/a&gt;. That varies hugely according to where you are in the world, and getting that wrong can send you way off course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1217&quot;&gt;Similar question here&lt;/a&gt;, by the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T17:14:54.787" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1621" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1623" CreationDate="2012-06-01T18:37:16.033" Score="16" ViewCount="2291" Body="&lt;p&gt;I generally pack my cordage in little bundles like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IbnO2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;wrapped rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately for any significant length (100' for instance) it just turns into a wadded mess when I try and use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I pack this stuff without that happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2012-12-09T16:10:02.130" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T11:15:12.803" Title="How can rope/cordage be packed to minimize tangles?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1417" CreationDate="2012-06-01T18:59:36.913" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint&quot;&gt;Flint&lt;/a&gt; is your best bet and it sparks much better with steel than with a rock like iron pyrite. The better rocks you find, the less the tinder matters, but you will need something like a cotton ball or similar fine material that is very dry in most cases when you don't have actual steel and pure flint. Any old tinder will do - fungus, grass, wood splinters or mashed wood / sawdust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chalcedony (a chert form of quartz) and other flints are also very useful since you can make edged tools made of stone with enough skill and the proper raw materials. Jaspillite (or taconite as we call it in Minnesota) also will spark and has a high iron content.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T18:59:36.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1621" CreationDate="2012-06-01T19:25:37.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I pack it like you do, and rarely ever have trouble. I think the important steps are what you do when you go to use it and what you use it for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First when I go to use it I remove the cross wrap completely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hold it by the loop at the top or bottom. Once the cross wrap is undone I pull the mid section apart and lay it on the ground so it is in a complete circle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't touch the other end as much as possible. This is pretty easy when climbing but much harder during other activities. If I know I need some of the other end but will not need to touch it after that (like tying to an anchor or plugging in an extension cord) then I pull the amount I need out that side of the rope and then lay the circle of rope on the ground that side down. I will try to find a video or pics of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, when coiling the rope up, if it's more than 100ft I use the &quot;Backpackers&quot; Coil (also know as a &quot;butterfly&quot; coil). I did a short Google search and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4uwdLAKT1g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; came up that explained it exactly how I do it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are coiling anything by hand, and not using the behind the neck method, twist the rope as you coil it, it will coil and un-coil much easier. A simple half twist is usually all it needs which once you get in the habit you will find yourself doing with out realizing it as you coil anything. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHIeQxyUmX0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This Video&lt;/a&gt; does a good job of showing what I am talking about from seconds 22 to 32. I do not have sound so I have no idea what he is saying but the action is perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-06-04T16:18:51.730" LastActivityDate="2012-06-04T16:18:51.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1611" CreationDate="2012-06-01T19:47:40.113" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each scenario is probably different, so you'd likely make a plan on the hoof: How far are you from your previous 'checkpoint', and how far is it to the next? What time of day is it, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the 'lost' couple were at the rear of the group (a likely scenario) and you're following a rerasonably well defined trail, then backtracking for a while (or at least, sitting and waiting) to look for them seems common sense: An accident or injury could have slowed their progress significantly, and the next checkpoint could be a long way off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, who's carrying any group medical kit..? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T19:47:40.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1619" CreationDate="2012-06-01T20:12:22.697" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hard walled cases. For my camera at first I would stuff it into a sock and wrap the remainder of that sock and another sock around the camera and call it good, then I saw a hard molded &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002IRUHN8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;camera case&lt;/a&gt; in a store and threw it around a little bit in the store. After people stopped looking at me like I was crazy, I decided to buy and test it. I have dropped the camera in the case form a decent height (20 ft or so) and had no issues. If you need something a bit more sure try a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=203349192&amp;amp;sellerid=26057774&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pelican Case&lt;/a&gt;, they even have a padded one for an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.priceinsanity.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;amp;products_id=29222&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;iPhone&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update 6/4/12: It's worth noting that specifically for the camera I don't store it in my pack. The hard case is on a lanyard around my neck and the lanyard on the camera is attached inside the case. This way I always have my camera ready to take pictures and out of it's case it still won't hit the ground when falling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-06-05T00:58:07.870" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T00:58:07.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1626" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-04-09T03:18:40.683" Score="20" ViewCount="291" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a mountaineering school on Rainier or elsewhere in the Cascades that provides sufficient training to climb Elbrus. Glacier travel, crampon use, crevasse rescue, and self arrest are the kinds of things I need to learn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineascents.com/cascades6.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine Assents&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rmiguides.com/mt-rainier/emmons-expedition-skills-seminar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RMI&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainguides.com/rainier-programs.shtml#glacier-skills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IMG&lt;/a&gt; offer good ones but don't have a lot of availability. Does anyone know of other tour companies that offer similar courses? I'd like to go around 4th of July this year, but any suggestions would be really helpful, even if you don't know the dates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note - I asked a &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/2451/what-is-the-best-company-to-go-through-for-climbing-mt-rainier&quot;&gt;similar question&lt;/a&gt; a few months ago, which is where I got the suggestions to look at the above 3 tour companies. That was just for climbing Mt. Rainier though - now I'm looking for a mountaineering course, and it can be on other mountains in the Cascades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="140" OwnerDisplayName="Lauren" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:52:12.723" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T10:14:38.133" Title="Cascades mountaineering school" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1627" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-01T23:36:23.433" Score="23" ViewCount="563" Body="&lt;p&gt;A sleeping bag will eventually need a cleaning. How do you proceed, in particular according to the different materials?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastActivityDate="2012-12-31T15:01:43.440" Title="How to clean a sleeping bag ?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1617" CreationDate="2012-06-01T23:50:58.027" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never tried, but one option I read about is to tie a transparent plastic bag around a branch of a large leaf tree, and let water condensation from the plant to stick to the inner wall of the bag. Cut a small hole in the bag and let the liquid drip out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative is to dig a hole, put anything having a water content in it, add a cup at the bottom of the hole, cover the hole with a transparent plastic sheet, put a rock in the middle, and let the sun evaporate the water. This technique is called a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot;&gt;solar still&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. One note of warning with the solar still: digging a hole requires sweat, and the amount of water a single solar still provides is small. A solar still in a very hot climate may be a net loss of water, but I speak from gathered info, not experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to territory, clearly you will likely find liquid water below the timberline. Water follows the gradient, so keep into account the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drainage_divide&quot;&gt;watershed&lt;/a&gt; and look for features that form confluences, such as V-shaped bends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="72" LastEditDate="2012-06-01T23:58:07.670" LastActivityDate="2012-06-01T23:58:07.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1614" CreationDate="2012-06-02T00:01:44.263" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rule is 3 liters per person per day. You may get away with 2 liters if it's not too hot and you stay moderate. Keep into account that your &quot;normal day&quot; intake is skewed by the contribute brought from food. If you eat food with less water in it, which is likely during a hike, your need for actual water is higher than the one you experience in your daily life. Add the physical activity and you get the idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="72" LastEditDate="2012-06-02T06:57:52.747" LastActivityDate="2012-06-02T06:57:52.747" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1621" CreationDate="2012-06-02T04:17:02.417" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I have found works best (especially with light rope/cord) is to spool the cord in &quot;figure 8s&quot; between two fingers, wrists or arms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hold one end in your hand in front of you then sweep under the running end with the other hand and lift up so the running end drapes over the top of your hand and away from center. Sweep under with the first hand and lift up so the running end again drapes over the top and away. The cord will make an X between your hands. Repeat. Use the remaining end to wrap tightly around the X and tuck the end in. This method keeps the coils separate, and does not introduce any twists in the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has virtually eliminated tangles from my life in everything from climbing rope to dental floss. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A diagram would help but I'm thumbing this out on a DumbPhone so that will have to wait. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-06-02T04:17:02.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-06-02T08:59:14.633" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini#Culinary_uses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tahini paste&lt;/a&gt; to be a useful trip food. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini#Nutritional_information&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tahini is an excellent source of copper, manganese and the amino acid methionine. Tahini is a source of the healthy fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tahini made from raw sesame seeds is lower in fat than tahini made from roasted seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tahini's relatively high levels of calcium and protein make it a useful addition to vegetarian and vegan diets, as well as to raw food diets when eaten in its unroasted form. Compared to peanut butter, tahini has higher levels of fiber and calcium and lower levels of sugar and saturated fats&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the article, it says that it spoils easily, but I haven't encountered this problem while traveling in Israel (despite the relatively high temperatures). We carried the paste, and added water, garlic, lemon and a green vegetable like scallions or parsley. Most of these are small, aren't heavy, and can last for a while, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of tahini is that typically you'll want to eat it with something else, not on its own- and then you need bread, crackers, or something similar for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-06-02T08:59:14.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1621" CreationDate="2012-06-02T13:33:21.680" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience nothing beats a &quot;card winder&quot; for ease of use and avoiding tangles in thin cord (such as kite lines).  The card must be sized to the volume of cord stored on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9V0k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cord it wrapped over the horns in a figure-8 pattern that avoids twists.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A8VWe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(High resolution image)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The cord is fed out simply by pulling the end and allowing the card to rock freely in the hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cord too large to practically use a card winder of any size it can be helpful to form the cord into more than one bundle (coil), and wrap these together.  This way tangles are less likely to form, and if one does it is confined to only a fraction of the total length of cord.  Tangles that do not involve the ends are easier to release.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-06-03T01:02:42.443" LastActivityDate="2012-06-03T01:02:42.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1633" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1634" CreationDate="2012-06-04T16:17:53.290" Score="20" ViewCount="2955" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a fair-weather walker I frequently find myself on routes that have suffered from erosion due to the large numbers of people hiking along them. I wish to cause the least possible amount of further problems of this sort and I wondered what was the best way? Ought I to stick to the worn path, minimising the extent of the damage, or bypass the badly-affected areas, minimising the intensity of the erosion. Or is there some other better way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="550" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-13T03:37:17.373" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T03:37:17.373" Title="How to minimise erosion damage to footpaths when walking?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1633" CreationDate="2012-06-04T21:45:22.873" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only real way to stop erosion is of course not to walk on them at all - but that's not really a viable solution per se!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, I'd stick to the marked, worn path. Most people will do that anyway, so you'll be treading on well worn ground which has two main advantages over trudging elsewhere:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The organisation responsible for maintaining such routes will generally only maintain the marked, well worn path - and it makes their life easier having to maintain one as oppose to a bunch of other ad-hoc worn paths that have appeared all over the place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You'll generally cause much less damage by sticking to an already-eroded path than trudging elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no real hard and fast rule of course and some people's strategies may differ. The other thing to remember is that a lot of erosion is seasonal, and therefore not as bad as you might think - in summer for instance, paths tend to get eroded a lot, but in the less popular walking seasons they're often repaired and recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-04T21:45:22.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1635" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-05T00:24:08.147" Score="39" ViewCount="10589" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some no brainers like don't throw your climbing rope next to car batteries in the back of your car. The effect of bug sprays containing Deet seem to be controversial. I have also heard a degreaser or citrus degreaser in particular can damage a rope. I try to keep my rope as clean as possible but is there anything I should keep away from my rope or climbing equipment in general? Please don't hesitate to state anything that you might think is so obvious it's not worth mentioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there any substance that I could reasonably come into contact with that if my rope does contact the substance the rope should be retired immediately and unquestionably? Again, a car battery in the trunk seems like the first thing that comes to mind. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any reason to be concerned about things like hand-sanitizer or sun tan lotion? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="552" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:16:43.200" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T20:21:32.883" Title="Things to keep away from climbing ropes" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1627" CreationDate="2012-06-05T00:45:34.137" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, check the label for directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a synthetic bag.  I take it to the laundromat and wash it in a sufficiently large front-load machine, using cold water and somewhat less detergent than a normal load.  I put it in a large dryer set to low or no heat until it seems mostly dry.  Then I hang it up indoors for a day or two to finish drying.  This seems to be pretty effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T00:45:34.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1621" CreationDate="2012-06-05T05:07:11.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Figure 8 pattern is good but there is also another pattern which can be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can do is roll the cord in medium sized circular loops. Keeping the size of each loop medium sized will have 2 advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The overall space requirement will reduce.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There will be less entanglement. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in the final leg, loop the cord in helical way over the existing bundle so as to cover whole bundle. This will ensure tight loops and thus you can manage your cords more comfortably and without any hassles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="554" LastEditorUserId="554" LastEditDate="2012-06-07T05:58:46.213" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T05:58:46.213" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1633" CreationDate="2012-06-05T07:21:33.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no direct evidence to support this, but I believe that wearing minimalistic shoes like moccasins or Vibram toe shoes reduces trail damage, as does learning to walk and run barefoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soft-soled shoes conform to the terrain rather than gouging in.  You also learn to walk with less impact when wearing this kind of shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going barefoot, even if not while actually hiking, teaches one not to twist, drag, or skid his feet as this will cause blisters.  Once learned this smoother motion should carry over to hiking as well, at least in soft shoes that are conducive to the stride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T07:21:33.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="192" CreationDate="2012-06-05T07:45:48.443" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some people have great resistance for limited diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard a lot of stories from the people I've met during mountaineering about their high mountain trips, where their diet was based mostly on semolina powder mixed with milk powder (something uneatable for me because of lactose intolerance). One of them said he had lost after about 1.5 weeks 10 kg weight... but he still was feeling good...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the caloric usage for middle-difficulty backpacking for a male is about 5000-6000 per day, so quite high (I've participated in measurements).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-06-05T13:44:24.257" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T13:44:24.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2012-06-05T07:52:41.813" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm always using sandals. There are good trekking sandals with profiled soles that gives you adhesion not much worse than trekking shoes. Of course, they are not as much stabile, but you have no problem with drying them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the water is not higher then the knees, the current is not strong enough to be dangerous for you, of course you must always be very carrefull crossing the stream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T07:52:41.813" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="192" CreationDate="2012-06-05T11:56:51.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This would also depend on what your limited diet includes.  You can live quite well on nothing but beans and rice for many months if needed.  Trail mix and jerky, probably not so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the worst things you can eat on a trail is trail mix.  Nuts take a very long time to digest and much needed calories are burned to digest them.  Meat of any kind is also more difficult to digest and jerky is even worse.  At least the meat or jerky provide you with much needed protein.  Trail mix will fill your belly but it's not particularly nutritious or caloric for it's density.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find some good beans and rice recipes.  These are much more caloric per density and provide the carbs, sugars, fats, and protein you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="536" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T11:56:51.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1268" CreationDate="2012-06-05T14:58:21.250" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, the sleeping back is the most important thing to be kept dry, so it would be the last thing I would decide to strap outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be not the case if you have very durable waterproof bag for your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T14:58:21.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1635" CreationDate="2012-06-05T15:58:46.767" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plainly speaking, it makes sense to keep your rope away from any chemicals at all - battery acid, grease, oil, bleach, etc. Same goes for any objects that might harm it, chemically (car batteries) or physically (anything sharp or jagged that may dig in.) Take care of it, keep it dry, well coiled and well away from anything that might harm it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it may be true that &lt;em&gt;certain&lt;/em&gt; chemicals may not harm it, and theoretically you may be able to leave it secured next to objects that would otherwise harm it, but there's just no need for the risk, especially if we're talking about climbing ropes. If you're in the slightest bit worried as to whether something might harm it, don't take the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T15:58:46.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1428" CreationDate="2012-06-05T22:33:01.830" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I probably wouldn't use regular epoxy. I have had trouble with it on rubber around water. When I am trying to reseal rubber I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/40027.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;silicone sealant&lt;/a&gt; or  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/cntct_silicone/overview/Loctite-Clear-Silicone-Waterproof-Sealant.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;seal cement&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_mrn_s/overview/Loctite-Epoxy-Marine.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Super under water epoxy&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The seal cement is neoprene but it dries waterproof. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any one should work just fine it only depends on what you use the GPS for. Obviously the 3000 PSI rated epoxy that dries underwater would be the strongest but I would worry about it cracking or drying out if it is rarely or never under water. I usually have no problem with the silicone sealant for most things and use the seal cement on clothing only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-06-05T22:33:01.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1520" CreationDate="2012-06-06T03:20:49.523" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the threads are generally compatible, BUT that's not the issue. Trangia bottles are not metal (they're a plastic like material, perhaps floridated HDPE). Trangia bottles are NOT built to handle pressure and could be very dangerous if used with a pressurized white gas stove (such as a Whisperlite, Nova, Omnifuel, Dragonfly, etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand MSR bottles are aluminum. Aluminum can be corroded by alcohol. I've read reports of aluminum bottles being &quot;eaten&quot; by alcohol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, I would not interchange the two brands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HJ&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://AdventuresInStoving.blogspot.com&quot;&gt;Adventures In Stoving&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="561" LastActivityDate="2012-06-06T03:20:49.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1615" CreationDate="2012-06-07T14:46:19.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience once a person(s) has been lost from the group first thing is to take a count of all members and ask when was the last time they saw the lost member(s). This will hopefully  set a timeline of when they became lost. Then use the following searches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Retrace your steps, leave a member at where you started the search and if you have enough members leave one at any noticeable landmarks. If you do not have any means of communication set a time to regroup.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start a comb search from the point the person was lost back to the location you noticed the lost member.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start a radius search starting from the point the member was lost, move the center/distance of radius as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="565" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T14:46:19.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-06-07T15:59:16.360" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on where you are going? Some places/nations will not allow certain food types. However to answer your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Military Rations pricey but well known to be very shelf stable. However they are bulky and if you are hiking by yourself with no re-supply I assume space and weight are at a premium&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Survival Energy Bars - They are usually pretty compact, however from my experience they don't really fill you up since they turn to powder very easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canned Good, most shelf stable canned goods would work on a trek, however as with MRE's most are heavy and bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dried fruits, nuts and meats - very low cost, and if packed properly will not take up much space, however most dried fruit require more water to that may take the place of other items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get foodstuffs from the environment as you are hiking I would recommend it for the hike you have in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="565" LastEditorUserId="565" LastEditDate="2012-06-11T13:37:59.630" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T13:37:59.630" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1648" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1653" CreationDate="2012-06-07T22:10:02.563" Score="18" ViewCount="1583" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard different things from different people, but here in the South West we do a decent amount of desert hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protection from bugs is usually little concern because most of the time in the summer day it is too hot for them. So mainly my question is what is cooler to hike in, all else being equal, short sleeves or long sleeves? Any real reason why?? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-11T17:14:16.303" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T17:14:16.303" Title="Long or short sleeves on a hike in the Desert?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1649" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1654" CreationDate="2012-06-07T22:12:24.247" Score="19" ViewCount="3359" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have pretty much always worn 100% cotton shirts when hiking but I have been reading more and more about the amazing &quot;wicking&quot; properties of other fabrics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there one that will keep me cooler than 100% cotton when hiking in the desert?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-20T21:04:14.620" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T16:02:34.473" Title="Material of shirt for desert hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1648" CreationDate="2012-06-07T22:22:19.867" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long sleeve, breathable, wicking fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that, long sleeve, ultralight and blousy (loose to allow lots of airflow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T22:22:19.867" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1651" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1655" CreationDate="2012-06-07T22:35:05.153" Score="36" ViewCount="3209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have several friends with full beards. After talking at length with one, he started to convince me the protection it offers might be worth it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I thought I would come and ask. What are the Pros and Cons of beards as they relate to the outdoors? Does it provide any protection from the elements? Fires? Bugs? Does it keep you cooler or warmer in the summer? How about the winter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand the choice to wear a beard is a personal one, but I would like an answer that outlines actual practicality (assuming there is some) beyond looks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T23:37:51.927" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T18:05:40.037" Title="Practicality of Beards" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1651" CreationDate="2012-06-07T23:28:46.773" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;My beard experience&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Itches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hides ticks well, allowing them to go undiscovered&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good nest for lice, fleas, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mosquitoes can't get through (but since you're not ape-man this doesn't really help, they'll just bite you elsewhere).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Catches food and grossness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding summer/winter -- it's not significant either way.  Hair will burn but not terribly well and is easy to put out so it's not a huge fire hazard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-07T23:28:46.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1648" CreationDate="2012-06-07T23:35:45.640" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a reason desert cultures almost all wear coverings from head to toe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three main things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection from the sun's harmful rays.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air flow for convection cooling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moisture retention (you heard that right) for evaporative cooling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite the convention, &quot;cotton kills,&quot; in the desert those same properties (slow drying, water retention) are useful for keeping you cool by slowing down the near instant evaporation in the desert. (See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1649/material-of-shirt-for-desert-hiking/1654#1654&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; for more details.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To that end: A light colored, loose-fitting, long sleeve cotton shirt will provide the best of all three, with tradeoffs: (more evaporation cooling and sun protection on the arms, but less convection cooling)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However - ultimately sleeve length is personal preference. If you go short (or shirtless ... my favorite (stupidly enough)) be sure to slather on the sunscreen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-06-08T02:42:11.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1649" CreationDate="2012-06-08T00:01:35.657" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite the convention, &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;cotton kills&lt;/a&gt;,&quot; in the desert those same properties (slow drying, water retention) are useful for keeping you cool by slowing down the near instant evaporation experienced at such high heat and low humidity. Your goal is to make that moisture work as long for you as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since &quot;water is 24.5 times more conductive than air,&quot; (according the an answer found &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/492/which-will-keep-my-food-colder-longer-draining-the-melted-ice-water-or-leaving&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) water will conduct your body heat away from you more rapidly, making you cooler. Synthetics aid in wicking that heat-sapping moisture away and making it disappear -- which is what you want when trying to stay warm, but NOT what you want when trying to stay cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also soak my shirt in water whenever available, and am always astounded by how fast it dries (even cotton).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to summarize: Long sleeve light colored thin fabric cotton is leagues better than any synthetic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Originally posted as part of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1648/long-or-short-sleeves-on-a-hike-in-the-desert&quot; title=&quot;this&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; answer then copied here and expanded.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T15:13:28.570" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1651" CreationDate="2012-06-08T00:26:15.140" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having not seen my chin for 15 years, here are a few thoughts on the practical aspects (assuming one is personally equally comfortable with a beard as without):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sun protection - for a limited, but sensitive area of skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bug protection - a long-sleeve shirt/fleece with a collar turned up and long hair / beard make for a mosquito-free and DEET-free evening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warmer (in cold climates) - Beard-cicles (aside from looking grizzly rugged) do provide protection from wind and snow spray when engaged in &lt;em&gt;high wind-sheer activities&lt;/em&gt; like skiing, snowmobiling or dog-sledding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low maintenance - have you tried shaving on the trail? (&lt;em&gt;Note: I have never once had lice, ticks, gnomes, fungus, or anything else... well any more than I have in my head hair. It's called personal hygiene...&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Provides something to stroke when you are thinking hard about something&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chicks dig guys with beards -- at least a certain class of outdoorsy gal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Provides a handle to remove your head weight from your neck if your job requires staring up at the tree-tops all day long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Big beards can hide the subtle curl at the corner of your lips that signifies when you are being a smart-ass causing people to mistakenly think you are just an ass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More weight to carry around?...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warmer (in hot climates)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can hide ticks, etc (as Russell points out in his answer)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion: Winter = Beard Time! Summer = Either/or depending on situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-01-29T00:06:51.857" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T00:06:51.857" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1520" CreationDate="2012-06-08T01:29:38.773" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although the threads may be similar (and even look the same) I've found that often the gaskets are not the same between bottles: flat gaskets, round, beveled and there is a corresponding difference in the rims of bottles: flat, round, beveled. Threads also tend to start in different places, and can have more or less bite/edge to them that can shred or deform the plastic threads on the pumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having suffered enough leaks (and fires) by mix-mashing bottles and pumps (often without being able to identify why - gaskets were good etc.), I've adopted a policy of only using original bottles with pumps. This also is fairly standard among the professional outdoor guiding companies I'm familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good practice: Use the original bottle to attach to the stove, and carry your extra fuel in another bottle with its own original cap, and refill the stove bottle as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-06-08T01:29:38.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1627" CreationDate="2012-06-08T02:30:22.117" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The procedure is roughly the same for both Down and Synthetic, however down requires special precautions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never dryclean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash by hand in a bathtub, or use a front-loading washing machine on gentle cycle. Down bags have thin baffles inside that keep the feathers partitioned. Agitators will put enough stress on the bag you risk tearing those baffles resulting in the dreaded clump.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use non-detergent, no-perfume, non-bleach soap such as Nikwax designed for washing down. (There are common non-detergent laundry soaps as well). Down is a natural organic material, and hard detergents / bleaches can damage it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When drying, use low heat (or no heat) on gentle cycle, and toss in a couple of tennis balls. The balls add some extra non-destructive ooomph to the process that helps break up clumps of down. Check regularly and pull apart any down clumps by hand you encounter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, despite being as careful as possible, washed down almost never seems to be as good as new. So do it only when necessary - if ever. Smelly bags can often improve just by laying out in the sun for a few hours. UV is brutal on funk-bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;PROTIP: Using a sleeping bag liner (silk or other) that will intercept your body's dirt and oils (the down-killers) will extend the life or your bag.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2012-12-31T15:01:43.440" LastActivityDate="2012-12-31T15:01:43.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1659" CreationDate="2012-06-08T18:07:52.410" Score="13" ViewCount="941" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some easy/moderate hikes in the Nepal Himalayas that do not span more than 6 days of walking? I looked at Jomsom trek but it is 8 days. I am looking for a trek that offers nice scenic beauty and good views of some 8000+ peaks. I also looked at everest base camp but that is a 21 day ordeal.&#xA;What options do I have here? I am not a climber, so difficulty level is w.r.t walking and fitness, not climbing :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T10:26:02.773" LastActivityDate="2019-04-28T06:32:59.420" Title="6 day trek in Nepal Himalaya" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1658" CreationDate="2012-06-08T20:54:24.790" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possibility is the trek to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosaikunda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gosaikund&lt;/a&gt; - also known as the &quot;Frozen Lakes&quot;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/~gabik/Travels/IndiaNepal/Gosaikund-Trek.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;It can be done in six days walking.&lt;/a&gt; However, I'm not sure I would call it easy- the first day, especially, will be very strenuous. However, it's a very pretty trek, and the first two days are very rewarding. Another advantage is that it's relatively close to Kathmandu, which means less traveling to get to the trail head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like the other popular treks in Nepal, it's a &quot;tea house&quot; trek - you don't need to cook or take a tent, which means you can travel light. When I was there (late 2006) many of the guesthouses were already equipped with solar showers, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The description I linked to above combines the trip to Gosaikund with a journey through Helambu - I didn't walk that part myself, so I can't vouch for it. I did do the walk through the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langtang&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Langtang valley,&lt;/a&gt; which is also relatively short (though longer than six days, as far as I can remember) and then crossed over to Gosaikund, and then walked down to Dunche (the walk down being done in a single, terrible, endless day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure there are any 8000 meter peaks nearby in this area, but Lantang Lirung is 7246 meters, which isn't too shabby. Perhaps because of this it's the least popular of the three most frequented trekking routes in Nepal (the other two being the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Everest_Base_Camp_Trek&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Everest Base Camp trek&lt;/a&gt; and around &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapurna#Trekking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Anapurna&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T12:17:54.153" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T12:17:54.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1660" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1664" CreationDate="2012-06-09T10:16:37.953" Score="13" ViewCount="311" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are questions on this site tagged &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/geocaching&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;geocaching&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;geocaching&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This appears to be some kind of GPS game.  How is it played?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:35:30.593" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T02:35:30.593" Title="What is Geocaching?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1660" CreationDate="2012-06-09T20:01:03.657" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply put, a cache is hidden at a particular location, and clues are provided (usually via a website, but any media can work) so that searchers can find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual plan is then to open the cache, take an item from it and replace it with something you have brought, and then note your discovery either on a log in the cache or on the website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geocaching.com/track/geocoin.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geocoins&lt;/a&gt; are often left in caches, and are trackable, giving people an opportunity to collect sets online before leaving the geocoin in another cache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/viJme.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is astonishingly popular the world over, and isn't as easy as it sounds - not just because clues can be very cryptic, and caches can be hidden really well, but because GPS units aren't always that accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative - which I really like - is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://confluence.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Degree Confluence Project&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude&#xA;  integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at&#xA;  each location&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So instead of finding a cache, you find the integer coordinates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-06-10T08:59:33.280" LastActivityDate="2012-06-10T08:59:33.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1651" CreationDate="2012-06-11T03:42:18.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a month my beard got long enough that it started catching liquid in it the same way a rag might, so as much as I thought I'd escape the mundane task of grooming, I still have to trim my upper lip, usually on a weekly basis.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T03:42:18.953" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1585" CreationDate="2012-06-11T11:54:41.587" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_protective_clothing&quot;&gt;wikipedia article on sun protective clothing&lt;/a&gt; is very informative. A summary of the relevant parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from clothing specifically marketed as protecting against the sun most clothing will not block all sun to fully protect you against sunburn depending on circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some general rules of thumb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Darker clothes provide more protection than lighter clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier material provides more protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tighter weave improves protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More Stretchy/flexible material decreases protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The same material provides less protection when wet (important consideration when you can expect to sweat a lot) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="577" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T11:54:41.587" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1660" CreationDate="2012-06-11T12:01:58.003" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short, it's a high-tech treasure hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;geocaching.com contains listings for &quot;geocaches&quot; all over the world; containers that are hidden at particular co-ordinates (discoverable via GPS) and often with clues once you get to the rough location. You download the co-ords / clues onto your GPS, go to the spot, look for them and then sign a log in the cache when you find it (to show you've been there.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They come in all shapes and sizes, everything from small magnetic containers about the size of a thimble to ammo cans and buckets (and in some cases, even bigger though those are rare.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you have to solve clues or wander around the area gathering pieces of information before you get the final co-ordinates, these are known as multi-caches and mystery caches. You can of course place a new geocache out yourself and then register that with the site so others can find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes caches are really easy to find (I've seen some just walking to the location) and others are horrendously difficult (I looked for a good hour or so for one in particular before finding it!) They have difficulty ratings though which should give you a rough idea. You get better at finding them as you go - start with easy ones and work your way up!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T12:01:58.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1666" CreationDate="2012-06-11T12:10:04.840" Score="12" ViewCount="566" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Geocaching&lt;/strong&gt; is a great fun, but it is oriented on GPS devices. I'd like to participate in searching caches, which location is given on the map (full, or fragmented, or just a drawing) - like in &lt;strong&gt;orienteering&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does such alternative exist? I'm asking about the activity that has numerous active participants worldwide, not only a theoretical concept.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-06-11T13:03:48.080" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T01:22:20.127" Title="An alternative to geocaching, but with classic maps instead of GPS?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;letterboxing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1665" CreationDate="2012-06-11T13:06:41.330" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Letterboxing is very much the precursor to geocaching, although it's available in relatively limited places compared to the former. Dartmoor is where it was invented, and is thus the most popular place - you can easily find some boxes just by looking under &quot;suspicious&quot; rocks. I believe it's also available elsewhere in some areas in the US, though I'm not sure where.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can of course still use a GPS, though it's entirely possible to find boxes without. You're usually given a grid reference and a number of bearings to the correct point - you have to navigate to that point and then search around for the box. It takes more time, especially initially - since you have to stop and gauge bearings pretty accurately. However, I personally find it more fun since the effort and therefore reward is greater!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T13:06:41.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1665" CreationDate="2012-06-11T14:14:12.347" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not done any geocaching but as I understand it, you get the coordinates of the cache and then you go find it with a GPS.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, you don't &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to use the GPS if you don't want to.  If you know the coordinates, you can search for it with a map and compass.  It will just be harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="578" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T14:14:12.347" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="134" CreationDate="2012-06-11T14:27:05.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no simple algorithm to calculate calory needs. It depends on many conditions, such as the intensity of the trek, the temperature and humidity, your metabolism, what you are wearing etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My typical calory usage (70kg weight) in mountains measured in Crna Gora in August, route between 20 and 30 GOTs (1 GOT is 1 km distance or 100 m elevation) was between 4500 and 6000 kcal. A woman, 50kg, has in the same time calory usage between 3000 and 3500 kcal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My collegue is writing a doctor thesis based on such measurements, and I will encourage her to publish the results. But the amounts above are, according to her, typical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T14:27:05.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-06-11T15:26:50.153" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couscous is one of the best sources of carbohydrate I've found. It's much denser than most forms of pasta so takes up less space, and can be cooked using much less fuel. Mixed with a packet of dried soup or even just chilli powder it's reasonably palatable, or you can chuck in anything else you can find (meat, veg, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="579" LastActivityDate="2012-06-11T15:26:50.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1670" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-11T19:29:44.943" Score="8" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm engaged in &lt;strong&gt;orienteering marches&lt;/strong&gt;, which differ from &lt;strong&gt;sport orienteering&lt;/strong&gt;: there is the time limit, where finishing before time gives no advantage to the participant, and the center is put on the decoding of the map. The map itself is highly transformed - this involves fragmenting, stretching, mirroring, deforming etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried to find some information about such orienteering marches in Germany, but found only information about sport orientation and &lt;strong&gt;rogaining&lt;/strong&gt; (which is for the moment, too extremal for me). So I ask, do you know, if such competitions do find place in Germany, and if so, where to find informations about them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example orienteering march maps:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/50cGz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ortophotomap Orienteering Warsaw&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L7tMq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Orienteering Warsaw Advanced MokIno&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Drawed_orienteering_map_3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;City Orienteering Lublin&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Source: Wikipedia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:07:57.330" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T12:11:38.160" Title="Are the orienteering marches popular in Germany?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1536" CreationDate="2012-06-11T21:17:15.860" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The usual method, and actually the one meteorological offices use the world over is to run multiple models with slightly different parameters. When all the outputs show generally the same result they have confidence in the forecast, and when they come up with different results they have low confidence. They say this on weather reports, often giving percentage chance of rain, cold etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you can do is try and look at reports from differing sources and run your own comparison. It is not an exact science by any means, and if you are anywhere near the sea the results could be very erratic. In the centre of a continent, the forecast can be much more predictable, as there are less uncertainties in the modelling - the hard bits are where sea meets land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you can do is gain a degree of confidence by listening to local experts, national forecasters who use massive modelling runs and taking all of it with a degree of skepticism. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks to @RowanHawkins who pointed out that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An addition to this is that the offices in the US have a few extra rules to abide by. For instance where forecast areas meet, there cant be more than a 5 degree (f) forecast difference between the sides. They do talk to each other and some modeling is done on a local basis&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T18:45:00.727" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T18:45:00.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1672" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-12T05:17:35.103" Score="7" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;Student mountain guides clubs are very active in Poland. They are organizing non-commercial mountain backpacking trips, where participants have to pay only their part of costs, such as when you travel with the group of friends. So you don't have to travel alone if you don't have your team and don't want to participate in commercial trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is something like that active in Western Europe, especially in Germany? The page about &lt;a href=&quot;http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studenckie_Ko%C5%82a_Przewodnickie&quot;&gt;student guides clubs&lt;/a&gt; in Polish Wikipedia have no translations attached...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-10-14T11:49:38.363" Title="Are there something like student mountain guides clubs in Western Europe?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1673" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-06-12T09:36:57.773" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than 400 millimetres (16 in).[1] A common definition distinguishes between true deserts, which receive less than 250 millimetres (10 in) of average annual precipitation, and semideserts or steppes, which receive between 250 millimetres (10 in) and 400 to 500 millimetres (16 to 20 in)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(from Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traveling in the desert requires different techniques and equipment than other climates. Dehydration, heat stroke and flash floods are some of the problems that travelers need to be aware of when trekking across deserts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Questions that deal with such problems should receive this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-12T10:27:26.470" LastActivityDate="2012-06-12T10:27:26.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1674" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-06-12T09:36:57.773" Score="0" Body="A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Traveling in the desert requires different techniques and equipment than other climates." OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-12T10:27:30.950" LastActivityDate="2012-06-12T10:27:30.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1675" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-06-12T14:45:32.543" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-06-12T14:45:32.543" LastActivityDate="2012-06-12T14:45:32.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1676" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-06-12T14:45:32.543" Score="0" Body="Questions related to staying healthy or dealing with health issues during outdoor activities. Answers given here are not intended as a replacement for professional medical advice. Please do not use this tag to ask for specific medical advice. A Dr should always be consulted to confirm any advice given " OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T09:43:12.830" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T09:43:12.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1677" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-12T15:07:59.043" Score="23" ViewCount="1840" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a multi-day hike in the Drakensberg area of South Africa. This is a beautiful landscape with interesting flora and fauna. Consequently I want to have my Digital SLR close to hand. I don't want to inconvenience the group by setting my pack down every 10 minutes to take a photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the above information, it will be winter so I can expect sub-zero temperatures. I have heard of some people walking with the camera stuffed inside their coat, or spare batteries stuffed in their armpits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what is the best way to have my camera close to hand, while still maintaining the battery life in the cold conditions AND not bashing it on a rock or something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="583" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:12:42.050" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T22:12:58.707" Title="The best solution for carrying a D-SLR when hiking" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;dslr&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1678" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1680" CreationDate="2012-06-12T19:12:13.630" Score="42" ViewCount="31713" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been wearing Vibram FiveFingers exclusively for three years now. I day hike in them, I exercise in them, I go to to work with them, I hit the beach and swim in them. I have tried wearing &quot;regular&quot; shoes now and again and they cause me pain. So the first thought that came to mind when my wife said let's go hike Scotland was cool I'll buy a new pair of TrekSports for the trip. Then I started to worry that maybe I should buy a pair of hiking boots. I have never gone on a multi-day hiking trip, 4-6 miles a day at 3000' elevation change.  I googled a solution but I couldn't find anything definitive. I am heading to Scotland in August. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I hedge my bets and buy a pair of hiking boots &quot;just in case&quot;, or do you think I would do fine with a couple of pairs of FiveFingers? Any opinions or links to where I can get more information would be appreciated. I am really looking for someone that has gone on a multi-day 60 mile or so hike, with their FiveFingers, that can pass along a little advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="584" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-14T09:09:01.127" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T18:50:49.210" Title="FiveFingers or hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;vibram-five-fingers&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1154" CreationDate="2012-06-12T20:10:07.133" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an update, I arrived at the canyon on May 13th. They had precisely one open slot and thus I was able to hike down to Bright Angel one day, and back up the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rim-to-river in a day is doable, but hard. For a first timer, it is definitely worth overnighting and going back up.  Especially during May, hiking between about 11 - 3 is really uncomfortable. (As an example, it was 122 °F (50°C) in the sun at Phantom Ranch).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see anything, and not give yourself a death march in the process, going down the South Kaibab in the morning, resting / exploring in the evening, and then returning the next day is a really pleasant trip.  For me, I found the return on the Bright Angel Trail to be as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;River to Indian Gardens - took me from 6 until 10.  A more fit person could have done that a lot faster, but this was possibly my favorite part of the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indian Gardens to 3 mile (5 km) Rest House - took me about 2 hours, and was the worst part of the day, b/c I did it from about 12 - 2.  I then took the ranger's advice and stopped at 3 Mile (5 km) until 4. I was passed all sorts of people doing the rim to river in a day, and many of them were grumpy.  I saw at least one girl passed out from heat exhaustion (literally) and another group that was having real problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 Mile to Mile-And-A-Half, took 2 hours.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Mile-And-A-Half to the Rim, took 2 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case anyone is interested, I have a fairly detailed report &lt;a href=&quot;http://affablegeek.com/2012/05/may-14th-2012down-the-south-kaibab/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day, I had a smile my on my face. I can't say the same of others!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later, I did go to the North Rim. I arrived at 4, and I talked to several of the Day-Hiking Rim-to-Rimmers.  Reactions varied from &quot;Damn, I have to go back!&quot; to &quot;I'm done.&quot;  All in all, if you're just looking for the physical challenge, use a treadmill!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T09:27:29.703" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T09:27:29.703" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2012-06-12T22:17:17.393" Score="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say the answer is somewhat subjective, and in order to make a fair assessment you will need to invest some time. Carrying a 30-pound pack up and down hills with a week's worth of food and gear produces different stresses on your feet and joints than a water bottle and rain jacket. The fit may seem less perfect if the material between your toes starts to dig in when descending a steep slope. Of course, being so accustomed to the VFFs, it might take you an even longer time to break in new hiking boots and get conditioned in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, while I might wear my VFFs or sandals on a short day hike, I am skeptical they would be sufficient on a serious multi-day trip. That is no indictment of Vibram the company or the FiveFingers as a product; for many of the same reasons I would not attempt a mountain hike in Tevas, for example. The reasons include the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Traction - FiveFingers generally have rather thin soles. In slippery conditions (streambeds, mossy rocks, any kind of wet), having a deeper tread as on a traditional boot will provide better traction and stability. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trail obstacles - Any natural trail has some rough patches. VFFs are thin and provide minimal toe protection. Even when trail running in FiveFingers, I can definitely feel pebbles on the path dig into my sole, and remember every branch I stub into. I've also encountered thorny branches underfoot that pierced their side (though not the sole). Remember, you will be weighed down with gear for 4-6 days' travel, not just your day pack, so your footfalls will be much higher impact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cold - VFFs are not designed for warmth; end of story. In a sudden mountain rainstorm, your feet will get much colder than they will in traditional boots and socks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dirt - It will be difficult in muddy, dusty, or sandy conditions to keep grit out of your shoe. This is true to some extent in boots as well, but the effects are moderated with high sides and/or gaiters, tight lacing, and two pairs of socks. I suppose it is possible to wear socks and gaiters with FiveFingers, but I have a hard time picturing an effective combination. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bugs and plants - This may or may not be an issue in Scotland, but in my part of the world it is not uncommon to walk through a patch of grass and come out with a half a dozen ticks on your boots and pants, searching for a patch of skin. Chiggers, leeches, sharp reeds, thistle, poison ivy, and other hazards may also be underfoot depending on the trail. I suppose the bugs could be partly addressed with a permethrin treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snakebites - Again, this may not be so much an issue in Scotland, but snakes were a known hazard where I grew up in Southern California. A boot and socks are thick enough at the ankle to mitigate injury from a small, young snake, but on the other hand I think I only saw about six snakes in the wild in my entire childhood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stiffness and ankle support - There are pluses and minuses to stiffness, of course, and that is part of the appeal of FiveFingers— that they do not restrict movement. Many hikers are undoubtedly overshod. Still, with a heavy backpack, it is surely easier to maintain lateral stability with a stiffer ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the above may be dealbreakers on their own, but they could impact your pacing; perhaps you walk more deliberately around obstacles or stop more often to adjust your toes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="283" LastEditorUserId="283" LastEditDate="2014-03-12T15:50:33.610" LastActivityDate="2014-03-12T15:50:33.610" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1665" CreationDate="2012-06-12T22:50:07.713" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;That would make you a 'naked geocacher'; a player who searches for geocaches by using a map, not a GPS. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon, though it is a minority section of the international geocaching community. I cached naked for my first 40 hides, using maps and satellite images from Google Earth - it generally requires more preparation and a longer search at GZ but I believe it helped my geo-skills considerably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can read about another naked geocacher here (scroll down the post to find it): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.notaboutthenumbers.com/2011/02/07/shhh-ive-been-caching-naked/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.notaboutthenumbers.com/2011/02/07/shhh-ive-been-caching-naked/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Just don't confuse naked with nude: a nude geocacher is somebody who searches in their birthday suit (and there are more than a few of them out there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="585" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T01:22:20.127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T01:22:20.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1677" CreationDate="2012-06-13T13:19:01.053" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;We use a padded bag that goes around the waist like the dreaded fanny pack. It's handy to keep snacks, first aid kit, and so on in, as well as the camera. Here's the sort of thing I'm thinking of, though it's not the one we use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Packs/CameraBags/PRD~5027-259/mountainsmith-tour-fx-camera-bag.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Packs/CameraBags/PRD~5027-259/mountainsmith-tour-fx-camera-bag.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/90bTU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might keep spare batteries in a shirt pocket under your coat and swap them back and forth as needed. But in my experience temperatures below zero celsius are not particularly hard on batteries. I take no special precautions in Ontario winter unless it's below -20C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T13:19:01.053" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1683" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1687" CreationDate="2012-06-13T15:00:17.570" Score="15" ViewCount="1023" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jezebel magazine suggests &lt;a href=&quot;http://jezebel.com/5917477/the-swiss-army-tampon-a-life+saving-wilderness-survival-tool&quot;&gt;a tampon for your survival kit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't question that, if you just happen to have a tampon, you can use it.  But at the end of the article they suggest even guys carry one because it's such a great survival tool.  When I pack a kit, the question is not &quot;is this good&quot;, but &quot;is this better than the other options&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So:  Is a tampon better than the potential other options for tinder, silt filtering, wound dressing, and cordage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="500" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T20:57:03.720" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T21:27:16.533" Title="Would a tampon be a good addition to a survival kit" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1683" CreationDate="2012-06-13T15:50:58.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't say it's necessarily better for the things you outline than the other common options. I've certainly never used one for anything!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, after reading that article I am somewhat swayed to the fact that it may well be a good addition in an emergency situation due to its versatility - if you lose any one of the things you list, or need a spare, you could use it in its place. I can't think of anything else that can really fit the bill in that case!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-06-13T15:50:58.677" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1685" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1688" CreationDate="2012-06-13T18:38:48.920" Score="5" ViewCount="7804" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my last bike ride I was riding on a trail and I was going pretty fast, fast enough that I went around a corner really fast and there was a doe right in front of me. I stopped as fast as I could. We both looked at each other and it looked more scared than I was. I was looking around to make sure there wasn't a buck near by. If it was a buck I had run into, it would have been more likely to attack me. So now my question is, what should I do if I run into a buck? Should I bring anything to protect myself that won't kill the animal? Pepper spray perhaps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="588" LastEditorUserId="500" LastEditDate="2012-06-13T20:57:07.340" LastActivityDate="2019-10-15T11:58:53.180" Title="What to do if you cross paths with a buck?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1683" CreationDate="2012-06-13T21:33:23.480" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the uses can be also accomplished with a heavy gauze pad in the same size. If you need them or carry them for their original use then it is good to have an idea of what else you can use them for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up with older sisters, both parents and no brothers. We were a very active family and I have seen them used for a great number of things. Most of which were detailed in that article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't already carry them, it isn't a bad idea to. In my tiny emergency kit I do not have any. There is no room, and they bring nothing to the table for me that something else in the kit can't already handle. However, in both my medium sized and large kits I have several of them (pads too in the large one). They are there for a many uses, but because of the size and completeness of those kits, they rarely see use other than their original purpose (except maybe to stop a nose bleed). Un-lubed condoms, however, are a different story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2018-11-25T21:27:16.533" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T21:27:16.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1685" CreationDate="2012-06-14T22:26:05.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Specifically for biking, they do make spray cans to keep dangerous animals away. Most of my experience with these products have been dealing with loose dogs. I would think it could be used for an animal the size of a buck, but obviously more research than my word should be taken there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000E4Q7BS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dog repellent&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stungunstopepperspray.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&amp;amp;page=shop.browse&amp;amp;category_id=9&amp;amp;Itemid=54&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Larger animal (bear) repellent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen any spray specifically for deer. There are ultrasonic deer repellers for cars, not sure how that would work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I don't use any of the things I mentioned because it has never been an issue for me. I have had many similar experiences of running into deer on a mountain biking trail. Usually they stare for awhile and then run off. Very rarely I have tossed rocks/sticks in their general direction and that worked to scare them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-06-14T22:26:05.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1689" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1694" CreationDate="2012-06-15T18:01:27.150" Score="10" ViewCount="1037" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read in an old tourist guide (from the beginning of the 20th century) that during mountain walks on sunny days one should wear a red headscarf or a hat with red lining to avoid heat stroke, because the red colour gives better protection against sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this really true? Does red colour actually provide better sun protection? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:11.603" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:15:11.603" Title="Does a red headscarf or hat provide better protection from the sun?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1683" CreationDate="2012-06-15T19:14:39.833" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would since a tampon has more than one use. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://artofmanliness.com/2012/06/05/survival-tampon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; shows 10 different ways to use one. Personally I'd rather have something that has more than one use or something that can be used as a tool than stuff that only has one use and one use only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="565" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-06T21:21:25.237" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T21:21:25.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1685" CreationDate="2012-06-15T21:12:46.540" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From everything I've seen and heard, a doe is likely more dangerous than a buck. Deer in general are quite skittish, and bucks usually more so than the doe. I think generally the only reason one would attack you is if you separated a doe from its fawn and the deer attacked to protect its baby. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of a couple goreings in Yosemite, but I think most attacks are doe perpetrated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="595" LastActivityDate="2012-06-15T21:12:46.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1685" CreationDate="2012-06-16T01:45:22.537" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Time of year is very important &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bucks don't keep their antlers year round.  They grow towards the fall and drop in earlyish spring.  This time of year, if you did not lift the tail and check, it may have been a buck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outside of mating season, you probably have zero concern.  No antlers, no worry.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;During mating season bucks can be VERY territorial.  However, it's just for mating.  If you turn and run they are not likely to chase you down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unless it's rabid, it's not going to just attack.  It's going to do all the mating posturing.  You should have time to flee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are really worried, then as JustinC said you an carry bear spray, however I would caution against antagonizing a rutting buck.  The &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; people I've known who where injured by a buck, antagonized it.  If you retreat you are signaling a weaker stance.  If you attack you are signaling &quot;I'm stronger than you, bring it&quot;.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming white tail deer.  There are other deer, but generally people here mean white tails when they say deer.  This should generalize to mule deer, but probably not to elk, moose, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-16T01:45:22.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1693" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-16T04:03:00.103" Score="20" ViewCount="2794" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently started making my alpine (or &quot;trad&quot;) draws by girth hitching one end of a sling to the gear side carabiner and then clipping and passing the rope side through as usual. The girth hitch makes it easy to lengthen the draw one handed as all you need to do is unclip the two loose loops from the gear side carabiner and the sling will lengthen automagically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its a technique I learned from a german mountain/climbing guide friend of mine. Personally I think it's a lot easier to lengthen the sling than the standard way of making alpine draws. The knot reduced the runner rating in half, but since there are two strands , its back to the UIAA standard of 22KN, well above any forces seen in lead falls on intermediate pro (not to mention the ratings on the pro itself). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a recent trip a climbing partner pointed out that the girth hitch can induce horizontal forces on the carabiner, and if the hitch slips &quot;up&quot; the carbiner it can even load the gate and slide off.  Which got me to reexamine my alpine draw technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to demonstrate, (not my image), the way a girth hitch looks on the biner. The two loops have a slight tendency to slide up the two sides of the biner if the knot isn't loaded/tightened (I make sure to give it a yank when placing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oFD0Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sling girth hitched to carabiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is what I'm doing bad or known to be wrong? I trust my guide friend, but maybe I should pass on this particular tip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-12-24T11:11:23.400" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T11:00:55.480" Title="Using a Girth Hitch in Alpine Draws" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1689" CreationDate="2012-06-16T16:06:59.680" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heat illnesses are about heat, not light, and while the two are not unrelated, the &lt;em&gt;hue&lt;/em&gt; of your clothing would be a very minor factor— red would not provide better or worse protection than green or blue or any other part of the visible spectrum. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;shade&lt;/em&gt; may have some impact: since darker clothing absorbs more energy than lighter clothing, it warms up and stays warm in sunlight. &lt;a href=&quot;http://health.nt.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMedia.aspx?file=pdf/65/06.pdf&amp;amp;siteID=1&amp;amp;str_title=Heat%20stress%20guidelines.pdf&quot;&gt;Various&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/522110-the-best-clothing-to-wear-to-prevent-heat-exhaustion/&quot;&gt;guides&lt;/a&gt; will advise wearing &lt;em&gt;light colored&lt;/em&gt; clothing— better a light red than a dark blue, but better a light blue than a dark red.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But heat stroke can be a danger &lt;a href=&quot;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/how-to-avoid-heatstroke/&quot;&gt;even for a well-hydrated athlete even on an overcast day&lt;/a&gt;. Breathability and fit are more important for choosing heat-appropriate clothing, and clothing is only &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heat_guide.asp&quot;&gt;one consideration among many&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(answer for previous question about sunburn)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps one would wear red clothing to &lt;em&gt;hide&lt;/em&gt; a sunburn, or make it less noticeable. For prevention, however, there is no scientific basis to prefer &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; color. Sunburns are caused by ultraviolet light, whose waves are outside the spectrum of human vision. The hue of whatever garment you are wearing has no bearing at all; you can even purchase black UPF-rated clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather, a garment's thickness, the tightness of its fabric weave, and the UV-reflective qualities of its dyes are more important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="283" LastEditorUserId="283" LastEditDate="2012-06-21T15:32:02.037" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T15:32:02.037" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1695" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1698" CreationDate="2012-06-16T20:02:49.117" Score="9" ViewCount="2599" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my trip I've been accompanied by a few wasps. I don't know what attracted them but they were trying to sit on me, which wasn't comfortable to me, since a bite of a wasp is causing by me a swelling of a few cm size...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I'm wondering, if there's any repellent against wasps and other Hymenoptera (bees, hornets etc.) that can be used outdoor and is not interferring with repellents against mosquitoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-26T02:46:45.017" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T02:46:45.017" Title="Is there any repellent against wasps, bees and hornets?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-06-17T02:31:51.950" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For pure calorific content, you cant beat Kendall Mint Cake. &#xA;Its basically glucose, sugar and some mint essence, stores very well, is light, cheap and you can even make some yourself easily enough. There's a reason Edmund Hillary took it to Everest :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Id also take lots of beef jerky, which is great protein for the weight. &#xA;Various flavours and substitutes exist such as turkey jerky. I had fish and squid jerky in ukraine recently, and they were great alternatives too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people are suggesting canned goods, but I dont think Id want to be lugging these about personally, they're very heavy for what is essentially 1 can = 1 meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned finding water in the woods is easy, compared to finding food. That would make me think one of the best things you can take is a fishing rod, or maybe even a net. You could set this up in a river overnight and build a basic funnel/box from sticks. Even if it only worked on 2 nights, it would still be worth packing compared to 2 days food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also spend some time reading up on various berries, plants and nuts growing in the woods. There are quite a few that are easy to identify, but obviously there are also some which are poisonous or best left to the experts to identify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally Id want to be taking a lot of grains. Quinoa would be my choice, along with a few bags of herbs and spices (salt and pepper essential, garlic powder etc). These can make even the most boring meal a lot more tolerable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="597" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-06-15T02:28:17.387" LastActivityDate="2014-06-15T02:28:17.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1693" CreationDate="2012-06-17T03:43:45.277" Score="17" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The knot reduced the runner rating in half, but since there are two&#xA;  strands , its back to the UIAA standard of 22KN ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 22kN rating is for the loop strength of the sling, not the single-strand strength.  Therefore any reduction in strength caused by a knot puts the strength &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; the 22kN standard.  Stated strength for a girth hitch varies from one report to another and with the specific connection (around a large object, sling on sling, on a carabiner), knot orientation (bend angle), and sling material.  I encourage you to research this, or even better if you can have your specific combination pull tested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I'm not convinced the girth-hitch method is that much more convenient.  This seems pretty fast:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AERzcQ7xqog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Alpine Quick Draw - Michael Silitch [YouTube]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incorporating article links from the comments that are relevant:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-lab-connecting-two-slings-together.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;QC Lab: Connecting Two Slings Together&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-lab-gear-doesnt-last-forever--slings--quickdraws/qc-lab-gear-doesnt-last-forever--slings--quickdraws.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;QC LAB: Slings and Quickdraws&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T11:00:55.480" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T11:00:55.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1695" CreationDate="2012-06-17T13:52:32.037" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother swears by a combination wasp-repellant and sunscreen that she buys from Boots in England. I see they also carry wasp repellant alone, at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Pharmaceuticals-Repel-Insect-Repellent-Spray-Wasp-120ml-_1207452/#detailedInfo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Pharmaceuticals-Repel-Insect-Repellent-Spray-Wasp-120ml-_1207452/#detailedInfo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VIw23.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;wasp repellant&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could poke around a little on sites like that, or just go to a largish pharmacy and see what you can find. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-06-17T13:52:32.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1699" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1700" CreationDate="2012-06-17T17:25:52.293" Score="4" ViewCount="263" Body="&lt;p&gt;How much garlic should I use in the mountain kitchen during backpacking camps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking from the perspective of the person who wants to plan such a camp and the menu on it. Walking a lot with a heavy backpack, often in bad weather condition, and sleeping outside when the nights can be cold is a very high effort for the body. Garlic stimulates the immune system, which in such situation is very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, large amounts of garlic may increase the risk of bleeding by thinning the blood: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/treat/T22977.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/treat/T22977.html&lt;/a&gt;. However, it is not stated how much that large amount is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm considering a daily dose of garlic for the participants. For myself at home I'm adding one clove of garlic to dinner, so I think that should be a daily portion for the participant. But many people suggest it is too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my question is, what portion of garlic would be consider safe, and still have a positive impact on immune system? Is the one clove per person per day too much, too little, or just enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-06-17T18:30:22.780" LastActivityDate="2012-09-20T14:33:00.610" Title="How much garlic in the mountain kitchen?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-02-25T20:38:28.777" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1699" CreationDate="2012-06-17T19:03:21.590" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has now been brought up on &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/10977&quot;&gt;skeptics.stackexchange.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably you were looking at the contraindication for before surgery:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not recommended for:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;    Upcoming Surgical Procedure  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Large amounts of garlic may increase the risk of bleeding by thinning your blood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thinning the blood like that is precisely the same effect that makes it recommended for protection against atherosclerosis and stroke (it doesn't say heart attacks, but it's the same mechanism so I'd imagine that too, but don't quote me on that). &#xA;So as long as you're (and they're) not planning on major surgery, you don't need to worry about that. But do also make sure to avoid giving it to anyone already on blood thinners or high blood pressure medications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And how much should you have?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Colds and Influenza  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Drawing upon hundreds of years of using garlic to treat illnesses, many contemporary herbalists prescribe it to help prevent colds and flu, stimulate circulation, lower high blood pressure, aid digestion, and heal superficial wounds. Modern research has substantiated many of these therapeutic uses.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;    ...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;    &lt;strong&gt;Dose: 4 grams of fresh garlic (about one medium-sized clove)&lt;/strong&gt; or 8mg of volatile oil daily is recommended; if you prefer capsules, make sure that they are enteric-coated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One clove looks like the perfect amount.  Provided, of course, you don't mind smelling like garlic all day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:46.800" LastActivityDate="2012-09-20T14:33:00.610" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-06-18T04:44:50.703" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok, put away your calculators people.  Draining the cool water causes the warm air to enter the cooler.  Cool water is COOLER than warm air, so leave the cool water in the cooler.&#xA;If I had a compass, some graph paper a protractor handy I'd draw you a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="600" LastActivityDate="2012-06-18T04:44:50.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2012-06-18T05:42:38.040" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sometimes leave melted ice water in my cooler, which then gets into the food, making the food inedible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my &quot;food&quot; is a can of beer, fine, leave the water in the cooler.  If it's a sandwich, drain the water if it might get the sandwich wet.  Or have the cans of beer at the bottom and put the sandwich on top to keep it out of the ice water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another &quot;outside the box&quot; answer is if it gets cold enough at night, I'll leave the lid open.  Leaving all the melted ice water inside is good thermal mass to keep it cool during the day.  You have to remember to open and close the lid at the right time.  If critters might get in this doesn't work so good.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="601" LastActivityDate="2012-06-18T05:42:38.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1703" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1710" CreationDate="2012-06-18T17:55:01.500" Score="12" ViewCount="7178" Body="&lt;p&gt;Will the boiling of the water itself be enough to decontaminate water taken from such standing water reservoir as that:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h0lRB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pond in Kampinos forest&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This water looks horrible, and probably drinking it raw would cause serial diarrhea, however, is boiling of this water enough to be safe to drink? What would be required to make it safe to drink?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beside from killing bacteria and possible parasites, the problem are the toxins, especially from carcass, like those from staphylococcus, that, according to articles like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rapidmicrobiology.com/test-methods/Bacterial-Toxins-Food.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Detection of Bacterial Toxins in Food&lt;/a&gt; are heat resistant. Does it mean, that no matter how long the water is boiled, the toxin will stay?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I'd filter this water using a screen (e.g. my shirt) before pouring it into mess tin. Iodine would also be useful. But what else can I do to minimize the danger of poisoning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-06-21T04:40:18.457" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T21:05:08.380" Title="Will boiling be enough to decontaminate standing water from pathogens and toxins?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1706" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5974" CreationDate="2012-06-19T16:01:21.417" Score="15" ViewCount="7421" Body="&lt;p&gt;For years I used a product called Polar Pure for water purification when weekend backpacking. It was an iodine based solution, so not great for a thru-hike, but fine for a week or less. Specifically, it used iodine crystals which slowly dissolve over time and can work for a couple thousand treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the company that makes the product is based in California where iodine is on a list of substances the state is changing regulation on in an attempt to stop crystal meth production.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any companies in Europe or elsewhere that can ship legally to the US that produce something similar to Polar Pure?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The features I am most interested in is a small container that is able to treat thousands of bottles of water over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:53.320" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:53.320" Title="Where can I find an iodine crystal water purification product?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1707" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1708" CreationDate="2012-06-20T11:30:21.540" Score="46" ViewCount="45719" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've met often with the concept that rotten meat and carcass is inedible because of bacteria and toxins. The most harmful is the botulinum toxin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/191/can-any-waterborne-pathogens-survive-boiling&quot;&gt;Can any waterborne pathogens survive boiling?&lt;/a&gt;, a link pointed to an article with some pertinent information. That link now leads to a missing page. However, it mentioned that: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;The botulinum toxin is destroyed by boiling the food for 10 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pathogens mentioned there are also destroyed by high temperatures, so, at least theoretically, it should be safe to eat rotten meat, as long as it is cooked or baked long enough, so that the high temperature penetrates it fully, and we let it work for at least 10 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, meat baked in a fire for about an hour or two should be safe. Is my conclusion correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:42:26.407" Title="Can I eat rotten meat and carcass given enough cooking?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1707" CreationDate="2012-06-20T12:53:18.070" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;The conclusion is not correct.  Some bacteria produce toxins which are not destroyed by heat, for example Staphylococcus.  See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/fst/extension/documents/FoodPoisoning-FoodInfection.pdf&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is not strictly an outdoors issue.  Even at home, you should not keep fresh meat in your fridge too long before cooking it, as it gives time for bacteria to produce toxins.  The bacteria will be destroyed by cooking, but not the toxins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastActivityDate="2012-06-20T12:53:18.070" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1689" CreationDate="2012-06-21T11:31:48.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A white colour for head protection (and all other clothes) will keep you the coolest, black will keep you the hottest. All other colours are somewhere in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is because white fabric reflects the most light (all wavelengths of visible light), while black absorbs all (red reflects only the red channel). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the efficiency - I have sometimes noticed difference, but always so tiny. Way more important is to arrange your clothing (and headgear) so that air can freely circulate, while all parts of your body are in shade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smartest thing I have seen (I have not tried, but other advice from the same person was priceless) was as follows (couldn't find a picture online, sorry). Take a white non-transparent cloth (maybe half a meter by meter and a half), fix one of the long ends to your hat, the other to your backpack. I do not remember the details unfortunately, but it looked very comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T11:31:48.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1703" CreationDate="2012-06-21T12:24:33.010" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once you open it up to toxins, the answer is clearly no, boiling is not enough.  There are many examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alkali&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy Metals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/cyanobacteria/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue-green algal toxins&lt;/a&gt;, which appear to be present in your photo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying to clear up truly noxious water, try this method:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/351/127&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/351/127&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T21:05:08.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1711" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1713" CreationDate="2012-06-21T16:41:36.433" Score="26" ViewCount="472" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to start identifying trees in my area as a project with my kids while we are hiking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is best for tree identification? Is it a good color book such as the Audubon Field Guide to North American trees, which they have for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/119973/national-audubon-society-field-guide-to-north-american-trees--e-by-national-audubon-society/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Region&lt;/a&gt;, and the  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/119974/national-audubon-society-field-guide-to-north-american-trees--w-by-national-audubon-society/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Region&lt;/a&gt;? Is there a good tree identification app for smartphones, or some third option I'm not aware of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know tree identification is often complex as leaves can be similar, and usually require a combination of factors (bark, leaves, etc).  I'd like a resource where I look up a tree based on its leaf and bark features, not its name, so that I can avoid spending hours flipping through pages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-18T19:58:19.570" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T20:49:43.020" Title="What types of resources are best for identifying trees while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1703" CreationDate="2012-06-21T20:43:07.957" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boiling eliminates only a certain class of contaminants that can make you ill. Specifically living bacteria and other microorganisms (protozoa, amoeba). It does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; purify, or decontaminate the water completely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certain bacterial and algal toxins can survive boiling and make you sick, and as Russell pointed out, there are also inorganic contaminants that will definitely survive the boiling process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distillation on the other hand, will produce water that is safe to drink in most cases. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T20:43:07.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1711" CreationDate="2012-06-21T23:35:39.333" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the Audubon Field Guides smartphone apps are fantastic. At least, they are a great improvement over the printed guides -- more species, more photos, lengthier descriptions, and smaller than the book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The apps help make identification relatively easy because you can search for trees in your region and leaf shape, for example, and get a smaller set of results to comb through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another feature of the apps that I really like is that you can mark a &quot;sighting.&quot; After you've identified something, save it as a &quot;sighting&quot; and it'll be saved with any notes you want to enter as well as GPS coordinates that you can refer to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="356" LastActivityDate="2012-06-21T23:35:39.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2012-06-26T13:01:00.720" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will share what they told me when I was on a one month group-organised trek through the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. This is what the leader / group medic did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to end the trek soon, don't bother the blister. However, if you know that you will need to abuse that part of the body over the next days, and you know the blister is going to pop, do the following, to avoid popping the blister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a clean sewing needle and several centimeters of sewing thread. Pierce the blister, put away the needle, but leave the thread in. This way you can squeeze out the liquid from inside, and the thread keeps the holes from healing and more liquid from accumulating. The idea is to have no liquid in the blister. Why - because this way it can't pop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2013-12-27T07:33:19.763" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T07:33:19.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1715" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1719" CreationDate="2012-06-26T15:28:48.657" Score="7" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I know that most swimming in rapids should be defensive, on your back feet together and pointed downstream. However, there are times you need some good aggressive swimming to get to an eddie or out of the way of a nasty hazard like wood or a hole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better stroke than the crawl or the breaststroke when aggressively swimming in fast moving water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T20:07:09.193" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T20:07:09.193" Title="What is the best stroke for swimming in rapids aggressively?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1715" CreationDate="2012-06-26T17:51:51.047" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2QW-2ODm11gC&amp;amp;pg=PA71&amp;amp;dq=sidestroke&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=xPpQT_XfO4HV8gOM3ODwBQ&amp;amp;ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=sidestroke&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sidestroke&lt;/a&gt; would work, as it conserves energy but uses a powerful scissor kick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="283" LastActivityDate="2012-06-26T17:51:51.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1717" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-26T18:53:23.750" Score="8" ViewCount="5414" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across the following comment (From &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/114/what-to-look-for-in-a-durable-3-season-sleeping-bag&quot;&gt;durable 3-season bag&lt;/a&gt;.):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;don't forget that synthetic doesn't last nearly as long even if you take extremely good care of it (i.e. never compress it) – &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/19/ryley&quot;&gt;Ryley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It got me thinking if I might be packing my bag wrong. I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/318/what-is-the-best-way-to-store-my-sleeping-bag-for-long-periods-of-time&quot;&gt;store it in a larger uncompressed bag&lt;/a&gt; when not on the go, but on the go I use the tiny bag it came with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't doubt the small bag is fine, but how do I take the best care? &lt;strong&gt;What should I consider doing to pack my sleeping bag best?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rolling or stuffing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loose or tight?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Completely avoiding the tiny bag?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="368" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-06-27T15:35:40.690" Title="Avoiding compression when packing synthetic sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1717" CreationDate="2012-06-26T20:22:47.783" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Guidance that came with my extreme sleeping bags was to randomly stuff, as @Russell commented, trying to use a different pattern each time, and to hang it over a line and give it a good beating when you return home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The small bags they came with seem fine - and they have lasted 10 years+ so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-06-26T20:22:47.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1715" CreationDate="2012-06-26T20:25:33.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A version of crawl is your best bet - a bit like that used by triathlon swimmers when they come to close quarters swimming - but with breast stroke or sidestroke legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't have the head in as you would for proper crawl stroke, but keep your face up. Use a low crawl arm stroke and a breast stroke or side stroke kick. This way you get the power of the crawl arms and the control of breast stroke legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-06-26T20:25:33.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1720" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1758" CreationDate="2012-06-27T02:44:22.430" Score="11" ViewCount="33369" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the scale on this &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; (the International Scale of River Difficulty), what are the types of kayaks in the following list that are suitable to occasionally handle class 1 and 2 rapids ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;whitewater&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;recreational&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sit on top&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By occasionally I mean, no more than 20% of the time spent kayaking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="625" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T05:40:34.320" Title="What types of kayaks are suitable for occasional class 1 and 2 rapids" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1717" CreationDate="2012-06-27T15:35:40.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made that comment coming from the perspective of a long distance hiker.  If you're going to use the same bag every day for 3 months, regardless of whether it's down or synthetic, it pays to treat it well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's an author, somewhat of a distance hiking guru, Ray Jardine, who informs most of that community's thoughts.  His suggestion for synthetic bags is to store them un-compressed in the top of your backpack (i.e. let them fill up whatever room is available).  I think there are some practical issues with that idea, like if it is raining, but nonetheless that's his suggestion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His other main point is to treat your bag gently.  Don't jam it into a stuff sack so small that you're tearing at the fibres as you try to get it into and out of the sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shorter trips, compression is less crucial as long as you don't go too small (a good rule of thumb is to only use stuff sacks as large or larger than the one provided with the bag).  At the end of a trip, the loft of your bag might be somewhat compromised, but if you follow the suggestions for storage at home like we talked about in the other &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/318/what-is-the-best-way-to-store-my-sleeping-bag-for-long-periods-of-time&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, it ought to rebound to nearly full loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-06-27T15:35:40.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1722" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-27T19:19:09.710" Score="24" ViewCount="20704" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I recently &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seaeagle.com/SportKayaks#SE330&quot;&gt;bought&lt;/a&gt; an inflatable, tandem kayak.  I grew up canoeing and we've had many enjoyable outings on the water together, so I thought two-person kayaking would be relatively easy.  When I take the craft out solo, I find it very responsive, easy to steer, and (for a recreational-class craft) straight-tracking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when I take someone else out, it's a different boat.  We can't steer and the tracking is all over the map.  It's not just the extra weight&amp;mdash;when I ask the other person to stop paddling, the craft becomes sensible again.  Obviously, we're doing something wrong.  In a canoe, I can teach my partner the basic stroke and we can get into the water right away.  But a kayak doesn't seem to work that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=How%20do%20you%20steer%20in%20a%20two-person%20kayak?&quot;&gt;Google&lt;/a&gt; gives lots of results but they can be divided roughly into two categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Tandem kayaks require teamwork&quot; (Really?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fairly technical discussions about strokes and weight distribution and the purpose of skegs/rudders and etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What none of the results (or at least none that I've found) explain is how an experienced paddler can guide their partner to work as a team.  Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="627" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:39:38.433" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T22:46:40.277" Title="How does one steer a two-person kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1725" CreationDate="2012-06-27T21:56:37.107" Score="9" ViewCount="1535" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a boat lift in my boat house. I'm concerned that leaving the lift in the water will cause the carpeted bunks and metal cross beams to deteriorate more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I keep it up or down when my boat is in storage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-10-12T00:32:07.740" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T00:32:07.740" Title="Should I leave my boat lift above water or submerged when in storage?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1722" CreationDate="2012-06-28T11:35:43.573" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm baffled by your question. Normally people who have grown up canoeing do not have this kind of problem, especially since you mention that you can steer the boat well when sitting in it alone and even when there's two of you with the front person not paddling. To me that means it is neither the boat, nor you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we need to fix either the front person's paddle style or the combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we have new club members the only thing we tell them is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The back person always paddles with the same frequency as the front&#xA;  person. Front person sets the pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it. And it always worked out so far. The more experienced person should sit in the back, because that's where one steers a boat. This is good because in leisure activities the more experienced persons should care for the others. In your kayak this means you should not force a higher speed, or a stronger stroke onto the front person. The front person just paddles, and the back person follows suit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the front person is much stronger than the steering person in the back, then try to convince the front person to paddle softer...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might be stupid remark: Double check that in the front the paddle is held correctly (not turned by 180 degrees or at any weird angles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that does not work, please elaborate on what's happening. Is it just direction, or do your paddles clash all the time? (Synchronize! Front gives the pace).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="630" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-06-28T17:48:35.487" LastActivityDate="2012-06-28T17:48:35.487" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1723" CreationDate="2012-06-28T16:57:57.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say yes.  From experience, leaving your lift in the water will cause damage to the lift itself more quickly than leaving it above.  Also lifts are not usually made to hold a boat in the water with the frequent wake action you find on lakes.  The force of wakes pushing the boat is probably more than your lift is designed to handle on a steady basis.  The entire purpose of the lift is to be able to suspend the boat out of water but under cover when not in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-06-28T16:57:57.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1726" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1729" CreationDate="2012-06-29T09:31:01.400" Score="16" ViewCount="17319" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often, while hiking, my companions and I treat the very early/late sun as being less harmful (as far as skin cancer and UV radiation are concerned). For example, we might not apply sunscreen immediately after waking, but only after an hour or so, or skip putting on another round of sunscreen if it's relatively late (say, an hour before sunset).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is- is the sun less dangerous at these times? Is this bad for us? We don't backpack/hike that often, so it's not a very common occurrence, and it hasn't led to sunburn as far as I know. But I would like to know if there is gradual damage being caused to my skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked this &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/6937/how-harmful-is-the-sun-in-a-late-afternoon-to-a-run&quot;&gt;related question&lt;/a&gt; on the Fitness Stack Exchange, but it doesn't seem to be getting the attention (or answers) I'd like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:40:55.523" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:40:55.523" Title="How harmful is the rising/setting sun?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sunrise&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1727" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-06-29T09:35:31.923" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sunrise is the moment immediately after the sun is first visible on the horizon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A plausible question with this tag might be about the planning/logistics of seeing a certain site during sunrise. (for example, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Torres del Paine&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massada&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Masada&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-29T11:52:21.667" LastActivityDate="2012-06-29T11:52:21.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1728" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-06-29T09:35:31.923" Score="0" Body="The moment immediately after the sun is first visible on the horizon" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-06-29T11:52:31.933" LastActivityDate="2012-06-29T11:52:31.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1726" CreationDate="2012-06-29T11:47:08.950" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Around sunrise and sunset, the sun is much less intense.  You would get around 5 times less intensity in the first or last hour of sunlight than in the middle of the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a graph of this effect (It's from a paper, though the paper itself is behind a paywall),&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ars.sciencedirect.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0960148108003091-gr4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;graph http://ars.sciencedirect.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0960148108003091-gr4.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and &lt;a href=&quot;http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance/page2.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another one&lt;/a&gt; which also shows the effect of latitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, while you can’t say that the sun at those times has no effect on the skin, it is much less dangerous than in the middle of the day.  Do you put on sunscreen if you are outside for 10 minutes in the middle of the day?  If not, then you’re getting about the same damage in 1 hour around sunset.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="256" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2017-01-27T12:50:07.000" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T12:50:07.000" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1730" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-06-29T18:36:22.767" Score="17" ViewCount="1657" Body="&lt;p&gt;When trad climbing I have seen many people wrap their rope around a tree and then rappel, and then yank the rope down at the next belay station or tree. I have also seen the scarring as a result of this over time on some trees. I can see doing this is remote places where there simply is no other option, but I am concerned about trees at high traffic areas like the Gunks, and moreover I am concerned about people's safety rappelling down on damaged trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are my concerns about tree damage warranted?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a consensus in the climbing community whether this is an acceptable practice? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If this is an issue, is there a way for me to minimize this personally or within the climbing community as a whole?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="552" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:58:39.393" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:58:39.393" Title="Is there a consensus or ethic for rappelling off a tree?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1756" CreationDate="2012-06-30T08:00:21.507" Score="8" ViewCount="13927" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there some numbers on how much vertical distance can people make in a day’s hike? I know that greatly depends on fitness and other factors, but I’d be happy with some statistical curve that would say something like 80 % of people should make 1000 meters up and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-07-09T19:40:44.030" LastActivityDate="2012-07-10T15:03:54.143" Title="How much vertical distance is it possible to make in a day?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1730" CreationDate="2012-06-30T09:01:04.347" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think if you're seeing damage your concern is valid.  I do recall reading that soil compaction is the bigger problem and different rigging won't help that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use a &quot;friction saver&quot; as shown in the following video, saving both the tree and your rope from wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8lXy1hn1UU&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8lXy1hn1UU&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-06-30T09:01:04.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1733" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1767" CreationDate="2012-06-30T18:51:20.807" Score="29" ViewCount="6757" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thought led to another and I started wondering how effective wax paper would be to bring along as tinder to start a fire.  I've seen suggestions of using paraffin in conjunction with other materials as a firestarter, so it seems like paraffin-coated paper could be really useful, as well as really easy and cheap to acquire and bring with you anywhere (plus it's somewhat waterproof).  However, I've never really seen any mention of it before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll probably try some experiments with it later, but was wondering if there were other thoughts on the matter.  It might not even be possible; after all, it seems like some wax papers might be meant to go in the oven without burning (and I'm not talking about parchment paper).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="632" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:24:54.270" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:24:54.270" Title="Wax paper as a fire starter" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1731" CreationDate="2012-06-30T21:35:11.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Figure how much this guy covers in a day:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vx7GKAUDC0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vx7GKAUDC0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;:-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's one I didn't know about until today:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/honnolds_biggest_baddest_solo_yet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alex Honnold solos Mt. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome in 18 hours, 50 minutes.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speechless. O_O&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-06-30T21:51:43.253" LastActivityDate="2012-06-30T21:51:43.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1731" CreationDate="2012-07-01T05:46:19.600" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since people's capabilities vary enormously, I'm going to answer in terms of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;AMS&lt;/a&gt; - altitude sickness. Although susceptibility to AMS also varies, there are some general rules of thumb for how much a person &quot;should&quot; climb in a given day which are worth knowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters, at up to about 3000 meters, you don't have to worry about it too much. What I mean by this is that theoretically, you could ascend from 0 to 3000 in a day and not be at excessive risk. An example of this would be hiking to the bottom of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grand Canyon&lt;/a&gt; and back up - 1700 meters each way - which, if you're in great shape, is possible without risking AMS (but crazy for all the regular physical reasons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At higher altitudes you pretty much have to go gradually to let your body acclimate. If you're planning a trek to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest#Southeast_ridge&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everest Base Camp&lt;/a&gt; (5380 meters) in Nepal, a rate of 300 meters per day is generally suggested. Less than that means that though you might be fine for a while, eventually the change will catch up to you and then you'll need to stop until you're better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that some people climb &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Whitney&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Whitney&lt;/a&gt; (4421 meters, in the US) in a single day, but I wouldn't recommend it - at 4000 meters changing altitude rapidly is &lt;strong&gt;very likely&lt;/strong&gt; to make you sick. They manage to do it because they both ascend to the summit and descend in a single day (AMS symptoms usually begin after a few hours delay) and therefore are back at lower altitudes before the symptoms kick in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll close with some personal experiences. On the way to the Everest Base Camp, I decided to &quot;skip&quot; a day and walk to segments back to back- 600 meters change, at around 4200 meters altitude- and I became sick that evening, although my companion was fine. In a later trek (a few years later) my companions and I averaged about 500 meters/day to a maximum altitude of 4000, and all of us were fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like many other things in the &quot;Great Outdoors&quot;, it's best to plan conservatively until you feel comfortable with the subject and have more experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-07-01T05:46:19.600" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1677" CreationDate="2012-07-01T19:41:42.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;DSLRs work quite well in cold weather, but there are a few tips to keeping things working nicely from my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most important thing about cold weather and electronics is to prevent rapid temperature changes. In most cases, this means &quot;let the camera get cold, and leave it cold&quot;. The enemy you are avoiding is condensation, which occurs when the cold camera warms up again (particularly if it warms up quickly). Being cold won't hurt it, but cold/warm/cold/warm will cause condensation, possibly in the lens or housing which will negatively effect your pictures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buttons are hard to use with gloves - setup your shooting modes before hand so you don't have to manipulate the camera much while using it. Flexible modes like aperture priority are my favorite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The LCD screen may start to perform poorly in cold weather - don't worry, it will be fine later, it just may not work well at the time. Again, know your controls well and setup your shooting modes before hand so you don't need the LCD.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your breath is a source of constant annoyance - it will condense on the viewfinder and lens and obscure your next few shots. Watch your breathing, and hold your breath briefly while shooting if you need to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are reentering a warm area, put your camera back in it's bag or case, close it all up, and let it warm up slowly over a few hours. If it gets warm all at once you are more likely to experience condensation problems.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the rest of your gear, most of it will be fine also, but you may want to keep spare batteries in an inside pocket so they stay a bit warmer (modern Li-On batteries actually handle the cold pretty well, but still operate at reduced capacity). No need for extremes, I just use one of the little &quot;stash pouches&quot; sewn into so many mid layer things these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your lens quantity to a minimum. I know a lot of photographer's tendencies (including mine) are to bring every darn lens, but you'll take better pictures and travel lighter if you choose 1-3 lenses. I usually force myself to limit to a wide-angle zoom, a 40-50mm prime, and &lt;em&gt;maybe&lt;/em&gt; a longer zoom, if I think there will be anything to shoot with it. If you are shooting Canon, look into their new 40mm/2.8f pancake lens - it is positively tiny, and takes great pictures (cheap, too). You'll appreciate the low weight, and not feeling pressured to constantly change lenses to get the &quot;right&quot; one will give you more opportunities to take pictures, which will give you better pictures in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might use one of the light neoprene cases that wraps around the camera to prevent bashing injuries, but don't worry too much about protection. If you have to dig it out of a big case every time, you'll miss good shots. DSLRS are made for professionals, and are generally very sturdy beasts. Use a good quality strap that holds the camera close to your body so it doesn't flop around, and then keep it out and ready. If it gets a few dings on it, well just post a picture of your &quot;well used&quot; camera and enjoy the street cred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To integrate storage with your existing pack, look into camera bag &quot;inserts&quot;, like the ones offered by Naneubags.com (no specific endorsement, though they are popular in the expedition world). Look for an insert that will fit some existing pocket on your bag, instead of trying to get a whole additional bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/mountain-climbing.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/mountain-climbing.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/backpacking_cameras_photography_outdoors_wilderness_action/blogs/the_pulse/979&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.backpacker.com/backpacking_cameras_photography_outdoors_wilderness_action/blogs/the_pulse/979&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.naneubags.com/accessories&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.naneubags.com/accessories&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="298" LastActivityDate="2012-07-01T19:41:42.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1737" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1739" CreationDate="2012-07-01T23:28:08.613" Score="9" ViewCount="1044" Body="&lt;p&gt;How is two-strand cord braided? What shape cordage material works best for this technique?  Do you need to start from relatively round cordage or can something strong but more flat (like a tough grass) be used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-07-02T01:15:51.190" LastActivityDate="2012-07-02T11:46:22.983" Title="How to make two strand cord or string?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1738" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-02T02:51:08.370" Score="7" ViewCount="1293" Body="&lt;p&gt;The accessories I'm looking for are things like propane trees and hoses, and obviously stoves, heaters, and lanterns are self explanatory. Nobody seems to talk about where things are made anymore, and in my experience that means they're NOT made in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going camping in three weeks and need a new lantern, and a new tree. The stove and heater perhaps this winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any brands that still make these camping items here in the US?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="37" LastActivityDate="2012-07-17T21:10:53.240" Title="What brands make propane lanterns, stoves, heaters, and accessories in America?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1737" CreationDate="2012-07-02T11:46:22.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can easily* make two strand cord out of a variety of materials - I have done it with long grasses, but any relatively long fibrous material can work, including the fibres from inside woody stemmed plants, strips torn from a t-shirt, even plastic bags. Where you have flattish grasses, you can roll them between the palms to flatten them slightly and split the fibres apart a little - not completely, but enough to help them bind together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using relatively dry fibres, for example, from recently dead wood will allow you to bind the cord together more tightly than wet fibres, and in fact wet bound cord may separate as it dries, so do try to choose dry fibres where possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid lining up the ends of fibres, as when you twist them together that would make a single point of weakness, so stagger the ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take two strands and twist them together - the key here is that if you are winding the fibres together clockwise as viewed from the end, you must twist each fibre in an anticlockwise direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping the wrap tight is essential, especially when you bring in a new fibre - which you should overlap with the one which is ending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(will try and pop in some diagrams when I get a chance, in case this isn't clear)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*easily - this can take hours and leave your hands aching, but &lt;em&gt;anybody&lt;/em&gt; should be able to make two strand cord.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-07-02T11:46:22.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1740" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-02T15:02:53.833" Score="8" ViewCount="695" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy a large group tent. I want it to be our communal cooking/dining tent. I'm look at things like the Mountain Hardware Yurtini or Space Station but it won't be used at altitude (so the latter is a bit overkill!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas for other tents will be greatly appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="637" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T12:27:06.660" Title="Big group/basecamp tent" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1740" CreationDate="2012-07-02T18:00:57.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 24' diameter Tipi that I use for this type of thing and it works great. I have a small coal fire going the entire time and with 6 people it is plenty warm and spacious. I have had as many as 10 people staying it and it fit gear and cots no problem but it started to get crowded. I have gone with just a blanket down to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit comfortably. I made mine for about $400, and it takes about 20-30 minutes for me to setup by myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tents, a buddy of mine has a 14' x 17' x 5' &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Tents/Outfitter-Tents-Stoves-Accessories%7C/pc/104795280/c/104779080/sc/104481180/Cabelas-Outfitter-Wall-Tents-by-Montana-Canvas/732409.uts?destination=/catalog/browse/camping-tents-outfitter-tents-stoves-accessories/_/N-1100672/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104481180?WTz_l=SBC%253BMMcat104795280%253Bcat104779080&amp;amp;WTz_l=SBC;MMcat104795280;cat104779080;cat104481180&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outfitter tent&lt;/a&gt; and it is amazing. Those of us over 6ft can stand up no problem in it and the stove is much more intensive than what I can do in my Tipi. This last summer he picked up the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Tents/Outfitter-Tents-Stoves-Accessories%7C/pc/104795280/c/104779080/sc/104481180/Cabelas-Outfitter-Cook-Shack-Wall-Tents-by-Montana-Canvas/732404.uts?destination=/catalog/browse/camping-tents-outfitter-tents-stoves-accessories/_/N-1100672/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104481180?WTz_l=SBC%253BMMcat104795280%253Bcat104779080&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cook Shack extension&lt;/a&gt; which should give it a separate room for cooking and dining, but I have not been out with him with the extension yet. Just setting up the main tent though is difficult. It takes 4+ people more than an hour. But it is very sturdy. He does not have the one with the floor sewn in, he has some kind a soft tarp and recently strips of carpet form another friend that recently renovated his house. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the Tipi or the Outfitter tent, they are pretty comfortable in the desert in the summer as well, as long as the coal fire and stove are not going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both of the tents you listed look to make great group tents. Both are more than large enough to accommodate a table as well as sleeping space. Neither tent, however, is designed to be cooked in and I would NOT recommend cooking in either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-09T12:27:06.660" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T12:27:06.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1738" CreationDate="2012-07-02T20:20:04.417" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think what you are looking for is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.centurycamping.com/&quot;&gt;Century Camping&lt;/a&gt; gear. It is mostly made in USA and they have all the accessories that you are looking for. If something they sell is made elsewhere, they note the country of origin in the product specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coleman still makes some stuff here but most of it is in China now. You have to check the individual box for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also want to try REI.com. They are a great camping site and their online store has a button to show only made in USA items. I tested this and found it odd that they flagged all Century Camping gear as imported when only 1 of their stoves is actually imported.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-02T20:44:03.473" LastActivityDate="2012-07-02T20:44:03.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1740" CreationDate="2012-07-03T05:00:09.420" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go for a tent without a floor. High traffic causes wear and tear and you're likely not going to expect people to take off their shoes as they come and go, spillage becomes less of a problem, and putting down chairs and tables doesn't risk tearing the floor either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-07-03T05:00:09.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1733" CreationDate="2012-07-03T05:06:26.057" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use alcohol based napkins (aka wet-naps/handy-wipes).  They are individually packaged, light in a cinch, come free with a lot of fast food (fried chicken, ribs, etc.) and the packaging is usually pretty robust a protecting the contents from being compromised.  I also use them for cleaning my hands, face and pits in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-07-03T05:06:26.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1745" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1746" CreationDate="2012-07-03T14:26:45.473" Score="11" ViewCount="1525" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a relatively reliable way of calculating the time until sunset, without any specialist equipment, when I'm in the wilderness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2020-09-30T18:57:44.230" Title="Calculating time until sunset" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1745" CreationDate="2012-07-03T14:26:45.677" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One method I've found to be particularly reliable is the finger method - hold your arm straight out in front of you, facing towards the setting sun like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WX1Hi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sunset diagram&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place your hand so your little finger is level with the horizon, and your fingers are stacked on top of each other. Each finger represents around 15 minutes of sunlight before the sun sets behind the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method can be used relatively accurately up to two hours before sunrise, by using both hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/How-to-Find-Out-How-Much-Time%27s-Left-Before-Sunset&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="652" LastEditDate="2012-07-12T12:14:48.070" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T12:14:48.070" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1618" CreationDate="2012-07-03T15:27:06.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a search around, it seems there's a number of places that do it in the SW of England, Devon seeming to come up a lot: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yumping.co.uk/canyoning/south-west-england&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.yumping.co.uk/canyoning/south-west-england&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other place where it seems to be popular is in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, and around that general area: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adventurebritain.com/canyoning-in-wales-uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.adventurebritain.com/canyoning-in-wales-uk/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-07-03T15:27:06.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1618" CreationDate="2012-07-03T16:28:29.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually went Gorge Walking weekend before last near a place called Clydach (Cwm Dyar), and it was brilliant :) I went with a group of about fifteen of us and I organised it through a chap called Michael at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lifechangingactivities.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.lifechangingactivities.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some great places as @Berry120 has said in the Brecon Beacons such as the Afon Mellte - beautiful waterfalls. Often see groups down there. I went on my stag do near there last year and went swimming! But saw a few others clambering around in the river with ropes - tell tale sign!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In North Wales (Snowdonia National Park) sometimes see people near some of the valleys near Coed Y Brenin Forest Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try also visting this site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canyonguides.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.canyonguides.org/&lt;/a&gt; if you want to find places in Scotland&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lake District also has a few places for example the Esk Gorge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take my word for it, its absolutely great fun and can definitely recommend the above..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="122" LastEditorUserId="122" LastEditDate="2012-07-12T15:34:48.167" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T15:34:48.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1749" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1750" CreationDate="2012-07-03T17:00:48.063" Score="5" ViewCount="56" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just acquired a used Yamaha 50TLR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know what kind of routine maintenance I should preform to keep it in good working order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="628" LastEditDate="2012-07-05T14:04:14.017" LastActivityDate="2012-07-05T14:04:14.017" Title="What pre/post season maintenance is recommended for a 2 cycle outboard motor?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1749" CreationDate="2012-07-03T17:15:50.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is based on what we did for ours, and may not be specific to your model (but should hold true)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take off the prop and grease every season&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When storing drain all fluids&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I actually find that mine works better if the first tank of the season is premium, good quality gas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take out the spark plug and store separately.  I apply a tad of oil to the plug socket to keep it from corroding over the winter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I find that working a little neatsfoot oil into the cord helps prevent dry rot and breakage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And needless to say, store out of the weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-07-03T17:15:50.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1751" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-03T17:17:40.203" Score="6" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a good rule of thumb for number of people in a boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked on the Hull Idendification plate, but it only had the HIN and max horsepower on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="628" LastEditDate="2012-07-05T14:06:59.397" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T18:25:08.673" Title="Number of people in a boat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2016-03-22T18:05:28.220" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1752" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1753" CreationDate="2012-07-03T17:24:32.897" Score="5" ViewCount="1184" Body="&lt;p&gt;The steering on my Yamaha 50TLR outboard motor is very stiff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to make it easier to steer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="628" LastEditDate="2012-07-05T14:03:36.653" LastActivityDate="2012-07-05T14:03:36.653" Title="What can I do I to loosen up my outboard steering?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1752" CreationDate="2012-07-03T22:34:01.227" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Russell's comment is very valid, however the first things to look at in any case:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the outboard is moved by cable from a steering wheel, check every cable guide and the bearings in the steering wheel. All should be lubricated, without rust and freely moving.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bearings on the outboard pivot should also be lubricated and freely moving&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All those should be easy to check individually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-07-03T22:34:01.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1751" CreationDate="2012-07-03T22:41:52.200" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For commercial vessels, such as ferries, most countries do have regulations which boats are assessed against, and a maximum number of passengers are defined for each boat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a number of countries where this doesn't apply, or where regulations are not enforced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt; - removed the rest as I see now you are looking at regulations, not physical capacity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-07-04T08:39:57.607" LastActivityDate="2012-07-04T08:39:57.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1731" CreationDate="2012-07-04T10:51:12.487" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://affablegeek.com/2012/05/may-15th-2012-up-the-bright-angel/&quot;&gt;one data point&lt;/a&gt;, also based on the Grand Canyon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a 40 year old male, of average fitness and slightly overweight (5'10&quot;, 215 lbs.), and ascending the Grand Canyon (4320', ~1300 m) took me almost exactly one day.  By contrast, the descent took me 3 hours.  (The rule of thumb at the Grand Canyon is that every hour down takes two hours up.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later that same trip, an elevation change of 2100' (from the base of Zion Canyon to past Observation Point, ~640 m), took me a little less than 4 hours - from 4:30 in the afternoon until just before sunset around 8. In my 20s, I trekked from Pokhara to Jomsom (in Nepal), and ascended &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nepalhiking.com/destinations/nepal/activities/nepal-easy-adventure-trek/ghorepani-poon-hill-trek.html&quot;&gt;Poon Hill&lt;/a&gt; (elevation gain = approx 1200m).  The climb up took a day, the climb back down, about half a day.  (The stairs at Ulleri are killer!) The elevation to Tukche is then about the same, but the straight line distance means that it takes another two days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my 30s, it took about 4 or 5 hours to climb to the top of Yosemite Falls, approximately 3000' (~900 m) to the top.  It then took about 2 hours to climb back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I give these data points not as an average, but to illustrate a few points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heat is a huge factor.  Grand Canyon took me all day, because it was 122 degrees (~50°C).  I had to take frequent rest breaks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elevation is everything, and altitude is something.  Parts of the Jomsom trek take you high and get you winded quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Age, Gender, Fitness Level, what you are carrying, etc... all play a part.  The &quot;average&quot; is meaningless - the real question is, what is 'your' fitness level.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally, its mostly about how much &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; want to cover in a day.  On every single one of the hikes I mention, I asked myself, 'Can I do this in a day (or do I need my sleeping gear?)?' and then did it.  Just about any National Park will have guidelines for the duration of just about every 'hike.'  I wouldn't plan on climbing anything for more than 8 hours a day - or even straight-lining for that matter.  The point is that's good enough for your planning.  Any extra time is gravy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-07-04T12:28:32.050" LastActivityDate="2012-07-04T12:28:32.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1731" CreationDate="2012-07-04T13:30:08.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It Depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, it depends on pretty much everything: Weather, terrain, fitness, group size, and of course, how long a day is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's better to think of 'How much can I do in an hour, and how many hours do I want to walk/climb for?'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd start using &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_Rule&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naismith's Rule&lt;/a&gt;. But, as you get experience about your own group's speed and fitness, adjust it up or down as appropriate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2012-07-04T13:30:08.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1186" CreationDate="2012-07-04T19:20:58.873" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to use bright  fleck worms in murky water and in clear water use your darker colored worms with crankbaits i tend to use the kevin vandam signature series sexy shad color crankbaits around structures such as boat ramps on overcast skies when jigging  i tend to use chartruese or white roadrunners when jigging for bass and croppy jigging for panfish i tend to use white or black swirl tail roadrunner around structures such as stumps down deep  when you see bass hittin  the water under a tree that usually means they are jumping at bugs fallin off that tree so use any type of floating bug like creature&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="642" LastActivityDate="2012-07-04T19:20:58.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1720" CreationDate="2012-07-09T02:36:05.593" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand your goal in asking this question, but I think you're approaching it wrong: you should choose a kayak based on your skill and expected use. Each type of kayak will have benefits and drawbacks in each type of water, and some are completely unsuited for it -- choose one that fits your uses best. A well-known example: a recreational kayak is the wrong choice for kayaking on the ocean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Class 1 and 2 rapids are fantastic. I think it's probably fair to say that anybody with no skill and the right boat can make it through class 1 rapids with no concern. I think class 2 rapids should probably be handled by somebody with at least a little experience on the water, and the less experienced should always be accompanied by somebody more experienced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I am confident that you could do some class 1 rapids with any of those types of kayaks. For class two rapids, I would first be concerned with your skill level -- both on the water in general, and with the type of kayak being used (and maybe even the specific model). While class two rapids may not require much maneuvering, spinning a 20' sea/touring kayak is going to be practically impossible and therefore impractical; a 14-16' sea kayak is probably manageable for any experienced paddler. A whitewater or completely flat-bottomed rec kayak provide the maneuverability required, however a less experienced paddler will find themselves spinning with each stroke and out of control -- and therefore perhaps in a dangerous situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, the right choice for a new paddler is a rec kayak. They're fun, easy to use, and relatively cheap to buy/rent. Getting some experience with an eye towards determining what you ultimately want to do will help you make an informed decision. Rent a few times and take a lesson or two and you'll have gained a huge amount of experience to help you know what kind of kayak you really want and will lead you to the best choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experience is king. An experienced paddler will be able to take anything through class 1 or 2 rapids, no doubt. An inexperienced paddler could end up in a dangerous situation. I think it's essential to start out on calm flat water to learn strokes, practice technique, and gain some confidence. On that flat water you can learn to maneuver the kayak around strainers, rocks, or buoys. You can learn how a sweep differs from a front stroke, and what you can make the kayak do with each of those. Also on flat water, try working in windy conditions -- it'll do a surprisingly good job of mimicking how a river and rapids can push your boat around and teach you how to handle it. Once confident, go out on a slow river to put your skills to the test. Eventually move up to some faster moving water, and throw in a class 1 rapid. Try a short class 2 next. Then if you can find it, go through a &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt; class 2 -- you'll get splashed quite a bit and get a solid workout. After working through class 2 you might want to step up to class 3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While gaining all of this experience you're going to learn how a kayak handles and what it does well and poorly, and more importantly you're going to see how your skill grows with it. As you do this stuff you'll be able to recognize where each type of boat is the right choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to more directly answer your question: IMO, a whitewater kayak is only useful for whitewater/surfing waves. A sit on top is good for jumping in and out of the water. A rec kayak is a good choice for many. A short touring/sea kayak is a good choice for many. A long touring/sea kayak is the right choice for racers and travelers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="356" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T02:36:05.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2012-07-09T13:21:12.197" Score="6" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potato Chips&lt;/strong&gt;: seriously good cal/weight ratio, come in a variety of flavors. Most will crumble quite easily but not too bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nido&lt;/strong&gt;: this is dried whole milk, often found in the Mexican/international aisle of US grocery stores. It actually tastes very good, I often have some in the evening or morning for an extra boost. You can pair this with some &quot;instant breakfast&quot; shakes for flavor and micro nutrients.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cookies&lt;/strong&gt;: there are a wide variety of Oreo cookies these days and they have a great cal/weight ratio. I typically have milk and cookies for desert on backpacking trips :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Olive Oil&lt;/strong&gt;: repackage some in a leak-proof bottle and add it to your other meals for a flavor/calorie boost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T13:21:12.197" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1760" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-07-09T19:42:13.870" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-07-09T19:42:13.870" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T19:42:13.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1761" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-07-09T19:42:13.870" Score="0" Body="Appropriate for questions about planning or preparations for outdoors activities." OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-07-09T20:41:57.190" LastActivityDate="2012-07-09T20:41:57.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1762" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1765" CreationDate="2012-07-09T22:07:57.190" Score="10" ViewCount="842" Body="&lt;p&gt;I quite like my pillows to give a lot of lift - I usually sleep with two relatively beefy ones. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a good equivalent whilst camping, with the normal pillows providing barely any lift and the blow up ones being rather uncomfortable. Sounds like a minor point, but I really don't sleep nearly as well when this is the case which makes for rather grumpy company on backpacking trips!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone tried any that they'd recommend which give a fair amount of lift, but at the same time are still relatively portable and pack down small?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T09:38:03.140" Title="Is there a portable / comfortable pillow suitable for camping / backpacking?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1731" CreationDate="2012-07-10T15:03:54.143" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In good terrain, I use the thumb-rule: 10 minutes per km of distance + 10 minutes per 100m of altitude. This works on easy trails in moderate conditions (no heat, no high altitude, etc.), and often translates to roughly 400m/hour. This does not include breaks; at this pace, I need a ~15 minute break every two hours. I've never done more than 2000m in a day, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-07-10T15:03:54.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1693" CreationDate="2012-07-10T18:15:01.427" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;By coincendince, I asked the same question to a guide last weekend.  His response was this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is going to be &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; reduction in the strength of the webbing from the girth hitch.  Especially thinner materials like dynemma.  Its going to be minor, but still there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Its possible to carry a small number of slings (2 or 3) over your shoulder, with 1 carabiner on them, without them getting in each other's way&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The only time when you really don't have time to fiddle with extending a draw is when you're working a hard redpoint on gear, and in that case, you can just have the appropriate number of slings over your shoulder before you leave the groud.  That's going to be easier than extending a sling, regardless of whether its a girthed-hitched alpine draw or not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-07-10T18:15:01.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1762" CreationDate="2012-07-10T18:52:01.703" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a few, some are mentioned in comments but I figure I would elaborate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clothes&lt;/strong&gt; This was mentioned and you noted it wasn't particularly worthwhile on a shorter trip because you don't have many clothes. I typically go ultralight, so my spare clothes are close to nothing but I always have some sort of insulation (unless it's going to be 70+ degrees the whole time). A nice puffy down/syntetic jacket can make for a decent pillow but it doesn't work when you need to wear it at night, which I often do during the winter months. This is my preferred method for most trips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inflatable Pillow&lt;/strong&gt; These aren't particularly great but I have used an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/830617/exped-air-pillow&quot;&gt;Exped Air Pillow&lt;/a&gt; from time to time. It's not thick enough to be easily used in conjunction with thicker pads like the Neo Air or Exped Downmat unless you stack it on top of your pad, and even then isn't particularly thick. My pillow weighs in around 3oz. which can be worthwhile if you really need a better night sleep. It can also be coupled with the jacket pillow for extra comfort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compactable Pillow&lt;/strong&gt; Many years ago I had a pillow made by Slumberjack that was maybe 1/4 the size of a standard pillow, but was fairly thick and comfortable. I couldn't find the specific pillow in a quick search, but it appears that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/719843/therm-a-rest-compressible-pillow&quot;&gt;Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow&lt;/a&gt; may be similar. This is the heaviest option, weighing 7-12oz and being a &quot;single-purpose&quot; item as opposed to something like a stuff sak serving multiple purposes on your trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am very biased towards the clothing option. Even prior to going ultralight this is what I did most of the time. My winter weight down hooded jacket has about 2&quot; of loft weighs a mere 12.6oz and does a lot more for me than just give my head a place to rest. Inflatables are decent bang for your pack volume buck but don't have the same levels of comfort as a nice puffy jacket or standard pillow will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastEditorUserId="639" LastEditDate="2012-07-13T21:18:51.600" LastActivityDate="2012-07-13T21:18:51.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1677" CreationDate="2012-07-10T21:08:21.523" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using a LowePro TLZ bag clipped to the front of my pack, just above the sternum straps.  At the risk of repeating my answer verbatim from photo.stackexchange.com, I'll &lt;a href=&quot;https://photo.stackexchange.com/a/14731/269&quot;&gt;just link there&lt;/a&gt;.  Note that the photo below shows this rig with a small day-pack, but I've also used this equally successfully with a full-sized pack.  There are a few things I like about this for hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It keeps my photo stuff separate from my camping stuff.  This is nice if I want to pick up my camera and go shoot something w/o hauling my whole backpack along.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The TLZ bag opens away from my chest, giving my access to the pockets inside, and even a bit of a shelf there if I want to prop something there for a minute.  Pay attention to how the bag opens, as this is ergonomically important when you're trying to change lenses.  You want everything to be easy to see and easy to handle!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This particular TLZ bag lets me add on a lens bag to the side, giving me a multi-lens solution right at my fingertips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can keep the bag unzipped most of the time, leaving the camera protected, but ready in seconds if I want it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The position of the camera &amp;amp; lenses (parallel to my body) offer a surprising amount of protection.  I have to admit tripping at least once and landing hard enough on my chest (I had around 40lbs on my back at the time), that I feared damage to my camera, but it came out just fine.  I don't think I'd have fared as well with something like a Cotton Carrier that leaves the camera &amp;amp; lens exposed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, you also mentioned cold weather as a concern.  I've used this rig in sub-freezing conditions, though not sub-zero, and it worked quite well.  As @phidauex mentioned, you want to keep your batteries in an inside pocket, but in my experience, you'll also want to rotate them frequently.  Your battery will start to show a drop in power after an hour or so in the camera, but if you put it back in your pocket for a while, it'll regain a bit of strength.  As you might imagine, though, you should expect the cold to drain your batteries a bit more quickly than normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/dglambert/6721785785/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Chest-mounted Lowepro TLZ by dglambert, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6721785785_4f2eb311bd.jpg&quot; width=&quot;255&quot; height=&quot;433&quot; alt=&quot;Chest-mounted Lowepro TLZ&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="44" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:44:06.297" LastActivityDate="2012-07-10T21:08:21.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1733" CreationDate="2012-07-11T02:06:24.000" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just got around to trying out some experiments, and so far it seems to be pretty robust.  In most of the things I've tried, it lit immediately and was consumed entirely, no need to re-light (except for the wet test, I'll mention below).  I used a lighter, so I can't be certain other methods (flint, bow, etc.) will ignite it as well, but given how quickly it lit they might not be much different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loose crumpled ball: Burns quickly, all gone in about 15 seconds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Folded into a tight square: Burns very slowly but steadily.  Took (approximately) five minutes to burn out.  This seemed pretty optimal for starting a fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Folded into a tight square, soaked in water for a while: After squeezing out most of the moisture, it seemed somewhat dry so I tried to light it.  It lit but wouldn't stay lit.  I unfolded it and let it sit to dry for a couple minutes, then refolded it.  After that, it lit and burned pretty much the same as the dry folded test.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crumpled in a ball for a while: Pretty much the same as the tight square, though it might've lasted slightly shorter and burned with a larger flame.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Folded and kept on top of a warm oven for a while: Doesn't seem to have run or melted; it didn't stick to or run into the paper towel it was tucked inside.  Discolored from the heat but lit and burned without any problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Folded in my wallet: Going to just leave it in there for a while and see if it affects how it lights.  By this point I'm assuming it won't have much of a problem, but I'll update this if it has any effect.  EDIT: It's been a while, but as I recall, the paper that had been left in my wallet for a few weeks basically worked the same as fresh paper.  Overall effects might vary based on brand and pocket temperature, but it seems a viable way of storing some emergency fire starter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other notes are that the tightness that it's folded affects how much ash is left behind; if it's folded lightly, it all but disappears, but the tightly folded square leaves a significant chunk of ash behind.  I wasn't able to detect any chemical or plastic smells while it was burning, but that doesn't really guarantee for me that it's not making any toxic fumes so I figure it's safer to avoid inhaling around it while it's lighting.  The brand itself may matter -- for all this I used Reynolds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="632" LastEditorUserId="632" LastEditDate="2017-06-09T19:15:29.950" LastActivityDate="2017-06-09T19:15:29.950" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1768" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-11T09:12:45.313" Score="15" ViewCount="11492" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going on a Ski trip with two days in the snow. Given that I am unlikely to go skiing again for a long time, I would like to minimise the amount of gear that I purchase. The minimum temperature appears to be about -2 or -3 degrees Celcius. How important is it to have thermal underwear? Is it something vital, or can I wear something else instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="234" LastEditorUserId="234" LastEditDate="2012-07-11T22:59:11.610" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T15:07:11.683" Title="How important is thermal underwear for skiing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1768" CreationDate="2012-07-11T14:23:50.147" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In winter your worse enemy is sweating. It is really hard to deal with it once you are sweating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An appropriate thermal underwear will help evacuating sweating instead of retaining it. This been said, an appropriate winter jacket is also essential to keep you warm and also evacuate the sweating from the the internal layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not necessary to pay a lot to have a good thermal underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-07-11T14:23:50.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-07-11T19:32:35.337" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a common question for beginners to ask.  Climbing feels overwhelmingly strenuous when you're starting out.  There are a variety of exercises that are recommended to strengthen your fingers, I can enumerate them below, but some are given in other answers.  But I want to emphasize the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have access to a climbing gym, or live somewhere with outdoor rocks accessible after work, you will get significantly better gains in your climbing ability from just climbing 2 or more times a week, consistently, that you will from pure finger-strength training.  Especially if you're a beginner.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've been climbing for a while and are looking to supplement your training, or if you just can't climb all that frequently you could consider the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using general fitness equipment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finger curls with a barbell:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/eastern-bloc-training-heavy-finger-rolls/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/eastern-bloc-training-heavy-finger-rolls/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deadhangs from a pullup bar.  Try to keep your arms slightly bent, and hang for as long as you can.  Try to build up to 4 minutes.  Be careful, this can be hard on your shoulders.  I personally can't do this exercise because of shoulder problems, but have friends that can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specialized pieces of climbing equipment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Metolius Rock Rings: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/rock_rings.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/rock_rings.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a hangboard: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/store/search.html?mv_session_id=UmsK5WiA&amp;amp;q=hangboard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backcountry.com/store/search.html?mv_session_id=UmsK5WiA&amp;amp;q=hangboard&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With either of these you would want to do dead-hangs (like on the pullup bar), and focus on the larger holds for the first few months.  &lt;strong&gt;I don't know what your fitness background is, but both of these can should be considered &quot;high risk&quot; devices.  They're designed by and for experienced rock climbers.  They're targeted at people who are already climbing 5.12 sport climbs or V5 boulder problems.  If you're not at a similar level of fitness, you could easily injure youself using them.  Climbers regularly put their hands into positions that can only be considered orthopedic-ally unsafe when they grip tiny holds.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2012-07-11T19:49:23.370" LastActivityDate="2012-07-11T19:49:23.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1768" CreationDate="2012-07-12T01:24:31.837" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it's not vital to have thermal underwear.  Layering is your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the winter months, I've been hitting the slopes regularly for the past 8 years or so.  Though I do own thermal underwear, I've rarely had to use them.  What I normally do is simply layer my clothes and then add/remove as needed to be comfortable.  The downside to this approach is that, when it's really cold, wearing all of the clothes could get pretty bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="496" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T01:24:31.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1772" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1773" CreationDate="2012-07-12T08:26:42.363" Score="9" ViewCount="5120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just moved to a new place (Edmonton, Alberta) and I wasn't really prepared for the strange weather here.  My room is really hot right now and I want to sit outside for a bit in the rain where it's cool.  But there's a LOT of lightning and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm&lt;/a&gt; says to always get inside in a lightning storm when possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are my actual probabilities of being struck if I sit outside in a lightning storm.  Should I really worry about it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="653" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-07-12T13:48:21.990" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T13:48:21.990" Title="Probability of Being Struck by Lightning" Tags="&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1772" CreationDate="2012-07-12T09:40:49.870" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a lot more advice than you aked for: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around 24000 people in the entire world are struck by lightning each year. Supposing you live to be 85, that's 2 million people in your lifetime. On 7 billion people alive today, that's a lifetime chance of 1 in 3500 -- your chances are pretty slim anyway :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, to be more elaborate: your chances of being struck depend entirely on your surroundings. As you indicated, you're going to be near your house, which is of course much higher than your body height, and thus closer to any lightning cloud, and thus a much more likely target for lightning to strike. Provided you have a lightning rod (or similar) installed, the rod is the most direct way for a bolt to go into the ground, and will therefore considerably decrease your chances of being struck (NOT reduce it to zero though -- lightning is pretty predictable, until it's not). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few caveats here -- if you do not have a lightning rod, your house is all wet from the rain, and you're touching a doorknob or standing near a pillar or something, a bolt &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; choose to use your body as a &quot;least resistance&quot; path to the ground (although water lines or power lines inside your wall still form a much more likely candidate). When a storm is directly overhead, alway open doors, windows, etc. with your right hand, while standing on your right leg -- this reduces the chances of the current moving through your heart in the (unlikely) event you are struck this way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if the bolt is conducted into the ground by a rod (or a tree or power line or similar), and you're standing near the point of entry, there may be secondary effects that can harm you (indirect impact). These are on average much less severe than a direct hit, but are known to have been lethal in some cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're NOT going to be near your house, make sure you're going to stand near tall things (&lt;strong&gt;NEAR&lt;/strong&gt;, not under). Be sure to stay well out of the region where the tall thing might reach you should it be struck, break and fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose worst comes to worst: you find yourself in the middle of a severe thunderstorm in an open field. In that case -- if you can find a (few) long stick(s), or have one of those tents supported by fiberglass sticks with you, stick them in the ground, straight up, in a large circular pattern, &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; the storm is directly overhead. If there is no time, just skip it! Then (in the center of the circle) make yourself as small as you possibly can, while also making as little contact with the ground as possible. That is, crouch down, keep your head low between your knees, standing on the balls of your feet, keep your feet close together, and start praying. Stay that way until the worst of the storm has passed. Don't even look up until you are sure that the average time between lightning and thunder is at least a second. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the very best thing you can do is of course avoid these situations all together. Inside your house, or a cafeteria, motel, pub, any place &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; you can find, is the safest place to be. Inside a car is also perfectly safe due to it being an effective Farraday cage. Really anything you can find, a bus stop, stable, a cave (if you're in the mountains, God forbid), hunter's cabin, anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I always got as advice from guides I met on hiking trips. I always stuck to it, but actually, I never verified any of it :) (aside from the odd documentary on TV).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="652" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T09:40:49.870" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-07-12T12:12:43.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I already had the right to vote I would give a &lt;strong&gt;+1&lt;/strong&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/217/patrick-scott&quot;&gt;Patrick Scott&lt;/a&gt;'s answer. Probably the best hand and finger exercises that help with climbing are the ones actively performed while climbing! And the key to strengthen fingers as best as possible, is to actively work on different styles of climbing. In other words, trying all kinds of imaginable grips!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beginners worrying about injuries should just start-up with easy climbs (problems/routes) which feature big pocket-like grips and slowly advance in harder/smaller, all kinds of grips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the alternatives to &quot;train&quot; fingers (including various squeezing balls, dumb-bell curls, chin-ups, finger chin-ups, press-ups on fingertips) would be better a choice for recovering from injuries, trying to perform equally distributed muscle training (having in mind for example isometric exercises) to avoid various effects caused by over-training specific groups of muscles, or really targeting at being able to hold on very specific grips/holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="654" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-07-12T12:12:43.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1775" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1776" CreationDate="2012-07-13T10:49:55.487" Score="14" ViewCount="212" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen walking poles range from &amp;lt;£10 to &gt;£100 - and to a casual observer there doesn't often seem to be much to distinguish them, with both having good grips and shock relief / suspension. What makes one better than the other, and is it worth investing in one which is more expensive if it's going to be extensively used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-07-13T14:23:07.150" Title="What qualities should I look for in a good walking pole?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1775" CreationDate="2012-07-13T14:23:07.150" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each person is unique and may need one feature over another. But here is my take on the features in a rough order of importance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Warranty: If you plan on heavy usage, make sure it has a lifetime warranty and a manufacturer that backs it up. Many will find a way to replace it in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weight: If you're backpacking, saving weight is important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comfortable handle: You're going to be holding these all day. Make sure they don't rub anywhere that would result in a blister. Make sure you can keep your grip when sweating, and make sure the wrist strap holds on without getting in the way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Adjustable/compact: If you want it to easily pack in the trunk or in luggage for a flight, this feature is necessary. Some level of adjustment is useful to shift from climbing uphill to braking downhill. Check the quality of the adjustment locks, you don't want them to slip when you're bracing yourself from a dunk in the river, and you want to be able to easily fix any problem in the field (preferably without carrying a set of wrenches).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steel point: You want this to hold if you press against a rock, and not slide all over the place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow baskets: If you plan on using these in the winter, these will keep you from plunging all the way to the ground with every step. Otherwise, they're not really important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shock absorption: I passed on this feature, but I can see it being useful for those with joint problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good set of poles should last a lifetime, so don't be afraid to spend a few extra bucks on a better model. If you're about to be attacked by an animal or you start sliding towards a cliff, you'll be glad you didn't trust your life to the cheapest thing you could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-07-13T14:23:07.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1768" CreationDate="2012-07-13T19:39:05.353" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have proper base layers, you may be regretful during that 15-20 slow lift ride while you're sitting in your own sweat. You do not need to buy base layers made by a ski/snowboard company to get the benefit. Also, it's not warmth that you get from this layer but a place to wick sweat away. I use my snow base layers as the coolest t-shirts I own in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck and have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="639" LastActivityDate="2012-07-13T19:39:05.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1768" CreationDate="2012-07-14T09:38:48.903" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good underwear is very important in winter conditions. When you're active, you're sweating. The moisture greatly reduces the termal isolation, which increases the chances of hipotermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton is very bad for underwear, because it absorbs moisture. When it is wet, it acts like cool compress, draining the heat from your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people find cotton fine for them, but those are the people who sweat very little (I've noticed they drink a few, they have the first bottle of water half-full when I'm finishing the second etc.). But for most people, like for me, cotton is very bad as underwear in both summer and winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need the underwear that have the label 'thermal'. You just need synthetic underwear, because synthetic fibers absorb little moisture and they get dry quickly. Wool is also said to be great, but I've never tried myself. It is told to scratch a lot ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-07-14T09:38:48.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1780" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4777" CreationDate="2012-07-15T21:38:02.327" Score="17" ViewCount="622" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to go backcountry hiking in the Tundra's of northwestern Russia, e.g. the Kola peninsula, such as the Khibin mountains? There is some heavy industry around there; can one safely go around, camp, drink from the rivers etc. as one would do in Scandinavia or the Alps, or should this rather be avoided? What about other risks that one doesn't need to worry (much) about in western or northern Europe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:02:55.087" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:02:55.087" Title="Is backcountry hiking in northwestern Russia safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1762" CreationDate="2012-07-16T04:38:21.923" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a down sweater in a stuff sack.  It means one less thing to carry, and the down has more loft/comfort than using clothing in a stuff sack.  A lot of sleeping bag liner carriers also work as pillow cases by having fleece on one side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T04:38:21.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1782" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1783" CreationDate="2012-07-16T11:45:23.987" Score="10" ViewCount="369" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love hiking and I'm starting to love longer cycling trips too. I've done combined cycling/hiking trips (cycling to the trailhead of a hike). Last summer I met someone who carried an inflatable raft on his bicycle, as well as hiking equipment. Ever since, I've been thinking of the unprecedented possibilities of such a combination. However, I've never done any packrafting (nor other kinds of water-navigating, though I can swim well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much skill and experience does it take to use a packraft (with or without a bicycle)? My intention would be to use it on lakes and sheltered fjords, not on wild streams. However, it can be windy on lakes, and the lakes in question are quite cold (usually 4°C), so it's not without danger. Is it fine to get started by simply reading info from books, websites etc. and get on the raft, or should one really start with a proper course in safety?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T16:46:12.577" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T16:46:12.577" Title="How to get started with packrafts?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;packrafting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1782" CreationDate="2012-07-16T13:07:46.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I'm also talking from the perspective of not having any experience in packrafts, but more from a general survival standpoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it fine to get started by simply reading info from books, websites etc. and get on the raft, or should one really start with a proper course in safety?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say that in certain scenarios it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; ok to read up about it then get in and give it a try - but in other cases a proper safety introduction course would be wise. If you're jumping in a raft with no experience on a fast moving river with rapids, can't swim and aren't wearing a life jacket, well you've got what's coming to you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If however you're talking about a calm lake, you're a strong swimmer, you're wearing appropriate safety gear (lifejacket) and you've got someone with you looking out for you, I'd say it's perfectly ok to just give it a try!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing that makes me slightly nervous in your scenario is that you say the lake can get rather cold and windy. I'd say at least to start with, only go as far as you know you can swim - i.e. if the packraft were to disappear, you could definitely get to shore in one piece. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T13:07:46.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1784" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-16T17:21:41.913" Score="13" ViewCount="946" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to buy a used backpack in the near future.  What are the key things I should look out for/avoid when inspecting used paks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="337" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T18:03:00.983" Title="What to look out for when buying used backpacks" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1784" CreationDate="2012-07-16T18:00:22.903" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key points to look for are wear at the joins between webbing and buckles, or between webbing and the fabric of the pack itself, as these will typically go first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then look for rips, tears or areas worn thin in the fabric of the pack - on all sides and underneath. The top is probably less of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that, check the frame for splits, dents or bends - depending on where these are they may not be a problem, but still worth looking at as they indicate something happened to the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I would check zips and extra webbing straps - I worry less about these as I can always replace or repair them, but they can be annoying if one is missing or broken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T18:00:22.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1784" CreationDate="2012-07-16T18:03:00.983" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some thoughts about qualities of a (big) backpack for multi day hikes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the most important is to check if the backpack actually fits your back. You should be able to adjust it so the belt can run comfortably around your waist, while shoulder straps can be easily adjusted to your shoulders - there should be no gap between shoulders and the straps, nor they should be too tight. A backpack that does not fit is definitely not worth buying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the sings of wear and tear, first check if all the zippers work (and still have a nice sound :)) then check the material bag is made from for scratches etc. Check it from both sides, as the inner side might be scuffed and the bag then might not be as waterproof as you'd expect. Lastly, I'd check all the seams and all plastic buckles - especialy on the  major parts - each of the straps etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="81" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T18:03:00.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2012-07-16T18:22:26.630" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its not a piece of equipment, but if you're transitioning to climbing out doors, you probably want to have some training in how to rig a toprope, and / or how to lead.  &lt;strong&gt;Climbing guidebooks that advertise areas as &quot;for all levels&quot; still presume a basic understanding of how to rig a toprope, or how to lead a route.&lt;/strong&gt;  Indoor climbing programs don't always emphasize these skills.  Rigging a toprope isn't complicated, but there are still ways to do it wrong.  Ever year there seems to be a needless death that was cause when an improperly rigged toprope failed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a report of a death in 2012 from an improperly rigged toprope:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climberism.com/climber-dies-at-the-gunks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climberism.com/climber-dies-at-the-gunks/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are numerous guidebooks about this, and you and a friend could take a class from a guide service in your area.  But probably the best way is to go climbing with friends that are already climbing outdoors.  Climbing can be very safe when its done correctly, and learning these skills will give you the tools to enjoy a lifetime of rock climbing.  Good luck! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2012-07-16T18:29:18.913" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T18:29:18.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1788" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1789" CreationDate="2012-07-16T21:13:26.483" Score="15" ViewCount="57421" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 3/4 weeks ago I bought some Karrimor Traveller Supa Men's Walking Shoes and I've noticed that the insoles are starting to move around inside the the shoe. After a few hours of wearing them, the insoles have slipped back away from the front, leaving about an inch at the toes.&#xA;So far I've just been wearing them with light cotton socks, but tied quite tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can try to stop this? Should I try to glue them back down, or is there a better way to stop this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd rather not have to try and return them, the store's a bit out of my way, and I got them on sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="663" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-20T21:46:20.120" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T21:46:20.120" Title="Is there anything that can be done to stop my insoles sliding?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1788" CreationDate="2012-07-16T22:50:11.863" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use 2 sided foam tape and hardly notice them at all. The good thing is that it keeps the insoles put yet is pretty easy to remove when the insoles need changing. They leave some traces, but not enough to cause me to look for alternatives!&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g3u7x.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T22:50:11.863" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1730" CreationDate="2012-07-16T23:18:07.227" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lived in Yosemite for over a year and saw TONS of tree belay stations. Most of them were there to stay with a number of slings and belay rings attached &quot;for good&quot;. Yosemite had a number of bolts getting chopped by other climbers for using power drills rather than hand drills, so the ethics as far as acceptance in using trees was not a problem, or I would guess the slings would be chopped as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the tree damage, I think there would be more of a problem with removing the slings and redo them with each new climbing team. That might be an issue, but just using a tree didn't seem to cause enough damage to worry most people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the safety aspect, just making it to the ground safely, that is a totally separate issue and one that should be checked every individual instance, just like a hold, bolt, piton, cam, friend, etc. Just because it worked for the group before you doesn't mean it will this time. (look at what happened on half-dome last month. My friend did half dome one day and the exact next day the cables broke and stranded a guy for hours before S&amp;amp;R got to him)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastActivityDate="2012-07-16T23:18:07.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1791" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-17T07:30:44.560" Score="7" ViewCount="17433" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have couple &lt;a href=&quot;http://coleman.com/product/5-gallon-water-carrier/5620B718G&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coleman 5 gal. water carriers&lt;/a&gt;. They are nice sturdy canisters, but they have major weak spot: their taps are of poor quality and easily broken — both ours are, and seems like a lot of people having same issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coleman offers replacement part (cap assembly, Part# 5010001049), But there are issues with that. First of all, if they are so shoddy, why get same thing that only going to break in few uses. Secondly — the price: replacement part itself is about $3, plus shipping and handling would add another $5 making the total about the same as we had got the whole thing for (bought on sale). Thirdly, it is “temporarily unavailable”, and no telling when it shall become, indeed, available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there other places that would have replacement available at better price? Is there aftermarket replacement that is of better quality and reasonably priced? If not a functional tap, is there some sort of standard “non-interactive” cap that could be used as replacement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit.&lt;/strong&gt; Open mouth dimensions: 1 and 7/8&quot; in diameter, 3/4&quot; out from the surface of the canister, 1/8&quot; thread pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="617" LastEditorUserId="617" LastEditDate="2012-07-19T23:01:34.693" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T20:39:02.610" Title="Replacement tap for Coleman 5 gal. water carrier" Tags="&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1792" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1793" CreationDate="2012-07-17T14:39:11.053" Score="7" ViewCount="3360" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been whitewater rafting (and inadvertent whitewater canoeing ;) a couple times, and I'd like to get a bunch of friends together to go with me. I'd bring enough people to fill a raft (5 or 6), but the problem is, everyone will have different levels of skill and experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I consider when choosing which class of rapids we paddle? Are there any rules of thumb for how the ratio of experienced to new whitewater rafters corresponds to the rapid class we can safely manage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if three people are experienced whitewater rafters and three people have never been before, would class IV rapids be unsafe for the group as a whole? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastActivityDate="2012-07-18T14:57:59.597" Title="How to choose a class of rapids for a variety of skill levels?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1792" CreationDate="2012-07-17T15:20:29.873" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. Class IV would be unsafe for the group as a whole, if it occurs in the first couple of days of the trip. If you have 1 or 2 experienced people in the paddle raft and you keep one at the back to set the pace and call commands you should be fine in class III, with a good riverside training the morning you leave. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I frequently do 4 days on the upper salt river in Arizona. During high water 1 of the rapids on day 3 is a class IV. We have taken people who have never paddled before in paddle rafts and they usually do fine because they have a couple of days of paddling rough class 3 rapids. Anyone new we take gets an hour long or so training riverside the morning we leave, and in any calm patches of water we practice spinning the raft, high-side, and rescues, so when it needs to happen in a rapid they are prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, remember to take into account the swimming capability of the new paddlers. If they are not strong swimmers or not confident in their ability, even Class III might be too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly they would probably be fine, especially with experienced people to help them, but it would not be a risk I am willing to take. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-18T14:57:59.597" LastActivityDate="2012-07-18T14:57:59.597" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2012-07-17T18:15:11.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure if they carry the diameter you are looking for but when a spigot breaks on one of my canisters I usually go to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=998954526&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ace Hardware&lt;/a&gt; and pickup a replacement. I have had good luck with Rubbermaid ones. I would expect stores like Home Depot or Lowes to have them as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000GKIN0S&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Reliance&lt;/a&gt; ones work if the mouth is the same size, I like them because you can turn the spigot inside when transporting or not in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-17T18:38:55.273" LastActivityDate="2012-07-17T18:38:55.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1795" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1796" CreationDate="2012-07-17T20:47:00.550" Score="16" ViewCount="10791" Body="&lt;p&gt;So when I hike, usually I get a small pebble or two, or sand in my boots. How can I prevent this? I already wear pretty tight boots, and stopping every so often to take off a boot and get a rock out is annoying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:43:26.287" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:43:26.287" Title="How do I prevent rocks or sand from getting in my boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1795" CreationDate="2012-07-17T20:51:04.747" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/gaiters.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trail gaiters&lt;/a&gt;. (This REI link gives a good overview of different types of gaiters, their components, and materials they can be made from.) They're basically little sleeve-like things that have a strap to go around the bottom of your hiking boot, and they come up to mid-calf usually. Because they overlap with both your boot and your pants, they should be pretty good at keeping rocks out of your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They typically look something like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xqSxi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are, however, variations in types and usage of gaiters. They can be mid-calf height or knee-high, insulated or uninsulated, waterproof or not. (Short gaiters that only cover the instep and the ankle are sometimes called spats - they are also sometimes just called &quot;low gaiters&quot;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="77" LastEditDate="2012-07-23T14:20:43.337" LastActivityDate="2012-07-23T14:20:43.337" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1738" CreationDate="2012-07-17T21:10:53.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.madeinusa.org/nav.cgi?data/camp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.madeinusa.org/nav.cgi?data/camp&lt;/a&gt; allows you to search for camping items made in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="669" LastActivityDate="2012-07-17T21:10:53.240" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1792" CreationDate="2012-07-18T13:06:41.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd start with class II or III. In addition to the good points MaskedPlant laid out, also be aware of the length of the rapids. A long class II can be every bit as exciting as a short class III, and can also provide a more safe opportunity for the inexperienced paddlers to gain some confidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important tip: be sure to assess attitude of everybody throughout the trip. Paddling rapids sounds exciting and is one of those things many people want to do/think they can do. However, I've run into a handful of people who, when they get out there, realize exactly what's going to happen and are not looking forward to it. If you don't recognize that early enough you could be in trouble -- relying on them when panic-struck is trouble, or seeing them get upset and literally jumping out of the boat and possibly into more danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="356" LastActivityDate="2012-07-18T13:06:41.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1730" CreationDate="2012-07-18T15:06:04.283" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that on the east coast, a couple of the park services have been pushing the climbing community to install bolt anchors as a replacement for nests of old slings around trees.  This is in part because slinging anchors around trees can damage the bark, and sometimes eventually kill the tree.   This shift from webbing anchors around trees to bolted rappel anchors is happening / has happened at the New River Gorge and at the Gunks.  So I'd say that in a broader sense, the park services and the climbing community are aware of the problem, and are taking steps to address it.  At least on the east coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From an individual prespective, if you're trying to get back down to the ground safely, I'd say go ahead and rap off a tree.  &lt;strong&gt;Leaving a sling of some kind, and rapping off a carabiner in the sling, will be more gentle to the tree's bark than just throwing the rope around the tree, rappeling as-is, and then pulling the rope down.&lt;/strong&gt;  One person doing this isn't the problem, it would only become a problem if everybody did it.  Just make sure the tree is big enough, and secure on the cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also look to get involved with your local Access Fund or other climbing groups that are responsible for bolt replacement.  I know that around here, the park service regulates the placement of bolts, but the climbing community has to buy the bolts on its own, usually through contributions from climbers.  The climbing community orgs around where I live, at least, hold fundraisers every year, and much of the money goes to bolt replacement and new hardware for rappel stations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:  I just realized that my original post didn't actually answer the question.  No, there's not a consensus.  Traditional climbing ethics in the US and Britain (possibly elsewhere) emphasize minimizing the placement of bolts to preserve the original state of the rock.  The park services (the real land owners, and final word on ethics) sometimes have different priorities, and are willing to tolerate extra rappel bolts if it means less damage to vegetation.  The actual &quot;ethic&quot; for a climbing area is always an agreement between the local climbing community and the landowner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-04-17T14:20:11.573" LastActivityDate="2013-04-17T14:20:11.573" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1800" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-19T12:25:20.030" Score="9" ViewCount="3046" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a handful of methods and devices on the market:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockexotica.com/products/downloads/belay.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rockexotica.com/products/downloads/belay.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But its not clear to me that any of the these devices do a better job than a simple ascender would do. Can anyone share any experiences or preferences for solo-top roping gear? (Note: I consider solo lead climbing an entirely different beast and am not asking about that here.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="552" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-07-30T22:41:19.797" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T00:13:24.043" Title="Is there an accepted way to self-belay on top rope?" Tags="&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1802" CreationDate="2012-07-19T18:46:41.057" Score="13" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a special way to avoid the layer of ice that forms inside a water bottle during winter activities? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:32:10.583" LastActivityDate="2018-05-10T08:41:38.450" Title="How to avoid the layer of ice inside a water bottle during winter activities?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2012-07-19T18:48:31.350" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what I found from the net:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flip the bottle up side down preventing the ice from forming near the top&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obvious one: put the bottle inside a bag or a jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a heated hydration system instead&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adding electrolytes (suggested by Russell Steen)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-07-24T13:05:37.003" LastActivityDate="2012-07-24T13:05:37.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2012-07-19T21:48:27.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may have luck with a thermos flask, or similar insulated flask above a regular water bottle. If you're only going out for a day or so at a time the flask should keep the contents at a stable enough temperature so it doesn't freeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer trips, you may need a more elaborate system with heating to stop the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-07-19T21:48:27.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1800" CreationDate="2012-07-19T23:21:37.600" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should not use a toothed ascender as a fall can sever the rope.  Additionally these devices are typically not usable for decent therefore additional equipment is required anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Section 6 of this report has testing of fall-arrest devices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2001/crr01364.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lyon Equipment Limited - Industrial rope access&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-09-15T09:49:53.620" LastActivityDate="2012-09-15T09:49:53.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1800" CreationDate="2012-07-23T18:32:47.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Petzl mini/micro-traxion are what most people seem to use.  Outdoor gear lab did a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11085/The-Best-Progress-Capture-Pulley-or-Ascender-for-Solo-Self-Belay-Toproping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;recent comparison&lt;/a&gt; with a few other devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen Gri-Gris used for that purpose, though it's obviously not recommended by the manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-07-23T18:32:47.567" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1432" CreationDate="2012-07-23T18:40:36.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping some outward tension on the belay device really helps.  If you're toprope belaying you should already be doing this, if you're lead belaying basically keep the climber locked off unless you are feeding slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other important factor is to make sure your belay device is through the &lt;strong&gt;belay loop,&lt;/strong&gt; not the two tie-in points.  All harness manufacturers recommend that you belay that way, as it prevents the carabiner from being cross-loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-07-23T18:40:36.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1800" CreationDate="2012-07-23T20:38:25.620" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no definitive answer. To quote Petzl &quot;It must be understood that all systems are flawed, because this means there is a risk, however minor.&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/product-experience/self-belay-solo-climbing/introduction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;General principles for solo climbing with a fixed belay rope&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="673" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-07-31T00:13:24.043" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T00:13:24.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2012-07-23T21:56:56.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use a Bottle Parka, which is basically a thin layer of foam that isolates the liquid from the outside temperature. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorresearch.ca/ca_en/accessories/storage-systems/backpack-accessories/water-bottle-parka.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoor Research has a good one&lt;/a&gt; (Canadian website).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also in winter, when I melt snow, I put the water in the bottle when it's hot near boiling, so it stay liquid for more time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're gone a do overnight camping, you can dig a hole in the snow and put the bottle in there, cover with snow (assure you to retrieve it next morning). It's gone slow the process of icing. But next morning, heath this water a bit so it' won't freeze during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="606" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2012-07-25T09:34:09.387" LastActivityDate="2012-07-25T09:34:09.387" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1795" CreationDate="2012-07-25T16:51:20.073" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me it's all about gait.  We do river hiking where it's easy to flip up sand into a shoe if not careful.  The trick is to lift your feet and step without either toe or heal dragging, as well as to set them down in a controlled manner.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-07-25T16:51:20.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1811" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1812" CreationDate="2012-07-26T17:08:13.500" Score="13" ViewCount="1862" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a longer 2nd toe than the big toe (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_toe&quot;&gt;Morton's toe or royal toe&lt;/a&gt;). The major problem is finding boots or sports shoes that fit properly. If I didn't have this longer toe I would wear a 9 or 9.5 (depending on the manufacturer) but with the toe I am forced to go a size larger or be in pain. When playing sports like hockey, rugby or rock climbing, I buy the smaller size and let the toe get bunched up. It will be less than an hour so I can suffer through it. In hiking and such where the activity will be a lot longer I can't last that long and need to buy the larger boot so I am not in pain. The problem then comes that my foot slides around in the boot which causes slipping problems when on rocky terrain and blisters from ill fitting shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any companies that design boots to accommodate the 2nd toe and still keep a nice snug fit on the foot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:11:35.377" Title="Are there boots made for a longer 2nd toe?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1811" CreationDate="2012-07-26T21:05:02.570" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not aware of any boots for your specific need, but there may be some other options using a larger size boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preferably you should have little if any pressure from your toes against the front of your boot. For me, the solution to a loose boot has been to add a second insole which keeps a laced boot snug at the ankle while leaving the toes with room to move. I would have preferred a single thicker insole, but it wasn't thick enough for my needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also different lacing techniques that may help secure the boot at the ankle. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/5245&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backpacker&lt;/a&gt; has a bunch of descriptions and photos including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boot Heel Lock&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To distribute pressure create a loop between two hooks&#xA;  and pass the lace from above and through, then continue upward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4vgSz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-07-26T21:05:02.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1813" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1815" CreationDate="2012-07-27T11:00:10.323" Score="9" ViewCount="1374" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a casual look, grass with a bit of surface water on it can look very similar to a potentially deadly marsh, and in many rural places there can be lots of both after it's been raining! In dry weather it's easier to spot, since most wet ground will be somewhat marshy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it's been raining though, is there a good way to tell the difference other than to put your foot in and see?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-28T15:14:29.803" Title="How do I identify dangerous, marshy land?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1814" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-07-27T11:07:24.747" Score="8" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;We didn't always have the weather forecast available everywhere, and there's times when it would be useful to be able to be able to take a good guess at weather conditions in the near future by looking at things such as wind, cloud cover, cloud types, sky colour and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there some general, relatively easy tricks that can be used to forecast the weather in the wilderness using just your senses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T17:52:41.463" Title="Forecasting the weather in the wilderness" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1813" CreationDate="2012-07-27T12:46:36.343" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a lot of the way towards understanding which ground has a good likelihood of being marshy from full use of Ordnance Survey (or equivalent) maps, and looking at the type of rock in the area you will be hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good quality maps give a lot of detail around topography, so you can look at slopes and heights near watercourses etc. If you are on a flood plain you have a reasonably high likelihood of marsh, whereas a steep slope will not be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being aware of the type of rock around you will help a lot - limestone country will probably not give you marshland, but poses a higher risk of sinkholes etc as it is very porous and easily eroded. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the type of plants growing around you will help - bullrushes, reeds etc. are an indicator of waterlogged ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some maps even mark marshy ground - which helps:-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-07-27T12:46:36.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1814" CreationDate="2012-07-27T13:22:29.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't believe there's an easy way of doing it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to live in a hilly area and was able to forecast the weather based on where the thunder was coming from, the wind, the smell in the air, the type of surrounding light, cloud cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I moved in the mountains, the signs have changed a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you know the land features from the surrounding area, and generic weather patters, you could have an idea of what the forecast might be using wind speed, direction, change in temperature, types of clouds, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in the summer, one can forecast rain by the change in the surrounding light. Rain can be smelled from long distances if the winds are right. Also, a change in humidity could easily be felt. Air feels heavier, wetter. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;Same with snow. Clouds look heavy and it creates a certain bright glare. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, in the winter, clear night skies bring a cold night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said before, it depends a lot on the location. These are just generic guidelines of what to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="580" LastEditDate="2012-07-31T14:35:57.440" LastActivityDate="2012-07-31T14:35:57.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1814" CreationDate="2012-07-27T14:22:58.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @slybloty says, there is no hard and fast rule, however:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For your location, be aware of prevailing winds, the location of seas, coasts, mountains, deserts etc. as these will guide your guesses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When rain associated with a front is coming through, gusts of wind will increase as the relative density of the air increases. You may also be able to smell the rain coming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cumulonimbus coming your way should warn you of rain, possibly heavy, but this may not be relevant in certain climates&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dark clouds coming your way should worry you more than light fluffy, high clouds, as darker generally means more stormy weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-07-27T14:22:58.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1819" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1822" CreationDate="2012-07-31T14:51:55.367" Score="23" ViewCount="588" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on holiday, I want to get as far as possible from civilisation — the furthest I've come is seeing only a single cairn during a full day. In Scandinavia, hiking and camping is permitted unless explicitly forbidden (the &lt;em&gt;right to roam&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;allemansrätten&lt;/em&gt; in Swedish). In most of western Europe hiking is allowed, camping by default is not (but may be tolerated under circumstances). From browsing the web, I have the impression that it's yet different in e.g. the U.S., and that there exists such a thing as a &quot;wilderness permit&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the U.S., is there anything like the Scandinavian &lt;em&gt;right to roam&lt;/em&gt; (e.g. the right to hike and camp anywhere away from habitation)? Am I by default allowed to go and camp where I want unless otherwise stated, or am I by default &lt;em&gt;forbidden&lt;/em&gt; to go and camp unless otherwise stated? Where can I find a clear overview and what exactly are those &lt;em&gt;permits&lt;/em&gt; about? Are those something to worry about in practice, or are they just a bureaucratic formality?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-24T22:48:46.393" LastActivityDate="2015-10-24T22:48:46.393" Title="When do I need a permit to go into nature?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1819" CreationDate="2012-07-31T18:21:17.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless it is in a national park/forest or private property you should be able to go where you want. I have never been bothered as long as I was in a public area. They require &lt;a href=&quot;http://bit.ly/R4yONx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wilderness permits&lt;/a&gt; in national parks to protect the wilderness and know if someone might be in trouble. If you don't show up on time they can send S&amp;amp;R in after you. If you are driving along I-80 in Nevada and decide you want to go to the top of &quot;that mountain over there&quot;, unless it is one of the &quot;controlled&quot; areas, you are good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastEditorUserId="664" LastEditDate="2012-07-31T23:30:06.183" LastActivityDate="2012-07-31T23:30:06.183" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2012-07-31T18:28:22.177" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really liked this book, mainly because it's on real experiment, but it's in French:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Surviethon-Vingt-cinq-ans-plus-tard/dp/2894314345&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Le Surviethon: Vingt-cinq ans plus tard: Récit du Surviethon • Analyse critique • Techniques de survie (French) Paperback&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's base on two person who decided to test their ability to survive for 30 days with almost nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="606" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-19T04:40:11.870" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:40:11.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1819" CreationDate="2012-08-02T14:23:56.443" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Short Answer:&lt;/strong&gt; In the US, laws regulating land use are detailed and varied, even on Public Lands. Check with the local land agency before &quot;roaming.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loosely you can divide open space in the US into two main categories: Private and Public.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Private Land&lt;/strong&gt;: The laws governing private land vary by state. In Texas, for example, a landowner is well within his rights to shoot trespassers that he &quot;reasonably feels&quot; are threatening him, or his property. (Known as the Castle Law - as in a Man's Home is His Castle). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Property lines becomes hazy with regards to river right-of ways (canoeing / kayaking) with some areas defining public right-of-way as the waterline, others as the flood-line. In general, as long as you stay in your boat, you should be able to pass through private land, but you might not be allowed to fish from their banks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Public Land&lt;/strong&gt;: The rules concerning public land vary between agencies. State Parks, State Forests, National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Land, National Wildlife Refuges, National Grasslands... etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even Within each of these, there will be differences in what you are allowed to do. &lt;em&gt;Wilderness&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Primitive&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Roadless&lt;/em&gt; are some of the different sub-sections you might find within a single National Forest, or National Park or BLM Land.  Most regulations regard the usage of vehicles (where you can and can't drive) and camping. But some rules apply to hiking as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most restrictive are usually &lt;strong&gt;National Parks and Monuments&lt;/strong&gt; - which often have permit systems for overnight hiking, and designated camping areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;National Forests&lt;/em&gt; vary widely on whether you need a permit or not, especially concerning Wilderness areas, which might limit usage / group size to protect the resource. These might also include where you can camp (distance from bodies of water) whether you can have camp fires, etc... or even whether you need a permit. These regulations vary by National Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, however, on &lt;em&gt;non-Wilderness&lt;/em&gt;, National Forest or BLM land, you are free to travel on any established, marked road, and camp in any established dispersed camping area (ie, one already barren and obviously been used for camping). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Limits on how long you are allowed to stay exist (usually 14 days).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; The US has an awesome system of public lands (quite possibly the country's most redeeming property). However, the right to roam (or the regulation against) varies widely. &lt;em&gt;Check with the local Public Land's office&lt;/em&gt; when you arrive in an area to determine what is or is not allowed. (And why... Surprisingly, most of the rules are in place to help protect the resource from over-use, not to ruin your trip.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for whether these rules are a &quot;bureaucratic formality&quot;: &lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;. Ignoring the regulations are a tickit-able misdemeanor that carries the same weight as a traffic violation, punishable by fines and jail time. In reality, most carry a modest fine, but failure to pay can result in your arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, as is the case with all laws in the US - Ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-08-02T14:35:38.490" LastActivityDate="2012-08-02T14:35:38.490" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2012-08-06T04:14:59.120" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have lots of leeches in my (otherwise) lovely swimming hole which is in a creek just as it leaves a lake. I read up on possible leech deterrents and now I rub my  exposed skin with just about any kind of skin cream and they all seem to work. Waterproof sunblock is my current favorite but I've also used Off (Eucalytus) and even ordinary moisturizer. I haven't yet tried a cooking oil which might be better for the environment and I bet it would work. Coconut oil is a favorite but they might just like it! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm too lazy on a hot day to rub stuff  all over so I just do my feet and legs. The leeches don't seem to get inside a one piece bathing suit. I think they attack feet and legs because they are nearer the bottom of the lake but really don't know why my arms, shoulders, neck/head don't seem to interest them. I also hurry into deeper (about five feet) water and I think that helps. People who stand around in the shallows, especially near reeds, seem to attract some big ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, my husband was fishing off a bridge in very shallow water while I swam and he got his hook caught so I bravely rescued it. Later, I had leeches (tiny ones) all over my rubber sandals but none on my feet. I was using waterproof sunblock and had already been in the water for about 20 minutes so the fact that the creme still worked was cheery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in central Saskatchewan and leeches were just a fact of life. Any kid who wanted to go swimming just lived with the them. Now I am not so tolerant but I still love the water so I needed to find a solution when we bought a cottage in central BC. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, I tried something different. I put on a pair of tights and they worked perfectly, but since grey tights look seriously dorky, I'm going to try &quot;nude&quot; panty hose and no one will probably even notice. Not that there's anybody around except the occasional fisherman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="688" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-08-07T12:28:55.790" LastActivityDate="2012-08-07T12:28:55.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1795" CreationDate="2012-08-06T22:43:32.353" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're using mid- to high- length boots, there are a number of models of pants that have a small hook or strap at the very end of the pant leg used to fix the pant leg to the boot lace at the ankle. These are usually accompanied by a vertical strap so that the pant leg can be fixed snugly around the ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally used these while serving in the (Swedish) army. The M/90 uniform pants have these features and I never got snow/stone/pebbles etc into my boots. Lundhags &quot;Boot-Loc&quot;-system is an example of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="689" LastActivityDate="2012-08-06T22:43:32.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2012-08-07T20:31:18.887" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tip is to leave a bit of air in the bottle to make your movements cause the water to splosh. Moving water doesn't freeze as easily. Combine that with the other answer about keeping the bottles uppside down and/or in an insulator and your water should be readily drinkable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also: Pouring hot water in your containers might seem to be a good idea. However, some physicists claim that hot water freezes quicker. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mpemba Effect&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="689" LastActivityDate="2012-08-07T20:31:18.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2012-08-08T13:12:36.570" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If by &quot;clothes&quot; you mean inclusive socks and other smaller apparel; one way is to fasten these smaller items between the belt and the pants and hang them inside close to the groin. If using a base layer, I would recommend to get the apparel between the base layer and the pant since they'll otherwise just absorb your sweat. The groin is truly a hot spot along with the arm pits, thus making the arm pits a good place too for hanging wet stuff, but harder to fasten in a good manner. (There are a lot of blood vessels in those places close to the surface of the skin, which is why they are good drying places).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="689" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T13:12:36.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="42" CreationDate="2012-08-08T13:26:58.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very important: Do not exhale air into your gloves/boots or at your hands/feet while still exposed to cold conditions. It may warm them up for a few seconds but since your exhalation contains moisture, your extremities will get wet(ter) and even colder very quickly. Just a simple thing to keep in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="689" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T13:26:58.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2012-08-08T14:45:28.187" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A neat little (recursive) acronym i learned in my survival education in the army is STOP (freely translated from Swedish):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stop - Don't panic,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Think - Consider your situation, and do not deny the fact that you are lost,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orientate - Look at and get familiar with your surroundings,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan - Make a plan on how to solve your problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is, of course, not a comprehensive, exact answer, but a nice to have mnemonic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="689" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T14:45:28.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1349" CreationDate="2012-08-08T16:06:27.400" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to @mojzis' link, there is a chance of wolves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PGmPV.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So perhaps the most useful recommendation would be to speak to locals in each area you travel to, to understand what areas are considered safe, and whether they have local guidelines on food storage, proximity to open areas, gun permits etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course that guidance would hold for any such area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T16:06:27.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1814" CreationDate="2012-08-08T17:52:41.463" Score="2" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you see &quot;horse tail&quot; clouds (long and wispy) or mackerel/fish scale clouds high up&#xA;you can expect rain in the next 36 hours. See 'em both at the same&#xA;time and it'll rain tomorrow for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cloud towers (cumulus): a good chance of rain later on in the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mammatus (those big bumps on the bottom of clouds) mean the storm is&#xA;over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clouds moving quickly in different directions means bad weather is&#xA;ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rainbows on the west (happens in morning) usually mean more rain to come, rainbows on the east (happens later in the day) usually mean the rain is over.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been testing these for about two years now and I'd say it's close to 100% accurate (tested in Canadian Rockies but the original source was not location specific).  It's gotten to the point where I see clouds in photos and right away predict the weather.  It can't be unseen!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T17:52:41.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2012-08-08T17:54:38.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;During activity, its easy to rely on body heat. Keep the bottle close to your body. You can wear a camelback or bottle holster under a very light jacket. If you have a pack, pack the bottle near the small of your back, since lots of heat collects in the air pocket between your back and the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="693" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T17:54:38.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2012-08-08T23:15:41.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was always told to make a cup of tea. Doing so gives you time to think, and involves finding firewood and many of the materials you'll need if things go bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, i'm British so given enough time to tie a shoe lace we've usually got a brew on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="341" LastActivityDate="2012-08-08T23:15:41.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1833" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1834" CreationDate="2012-08-09T10:06:48.190" Score="31" ViewCount="44767" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to buy a new trekking tent, a good quality one, e.g. Hilleberg, Fjällräven, Vaude, etc. At &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vaude.com/epages/Vaude-de.sf/seca3j0gSTn6_c/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Vaude/Categories/ausruestung/Zelte&amp;amp;PageSize=30&quot;&gt;Vaude&lt;/a&gt; they categorise tents in 2, 3, 4, or 5-season. What's the difference between a 4- and a 5-season tent? I know 4 seasons (although the Sami have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/dieda/anthro/concept-time.htm&quot;&gt;8 seasons&lt;/a&gt;) and have camped in all of them in a sub-Arctic mountain climate (northern Fennoscandinavia) with my Wechsel Rafter tent, which now starts to leak water after 6 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How important is the &quot;seasonality&quot; of a tent? In my understanding, a tent protects against wind and precipitation, which occur in any season; a sleeping bag protects against the cold. Then why are tents sorted by seasons? What does a 5-season tent have that a 4-season tent does not, how does this differ from a 3-season tent, etc.? And what is the 5th season?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-06T16:43:20.460" LastActivityDate="2015-11-14T08:30:47.167" Title="What's the difference between a 2, 3, 4, and 5 season tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1833" CreationDate="2012-08-09T11:54:31.453" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hadn't seen any of these but a quick Google does indeed seem to bring up a few!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a quick glance around, though this isn't an authoritative answer, it seems that 5 season tents are specifically designed for the harshness of Arctic-like climates, rather than a 4 season tent being designed more for your average winter in non-arctic conditions. I guess in this sense the 5th season would be the &quot;uber-harsh&quot; winter, and therefore 5th season tents (I would guess) could stand heavier winds and snowfalls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the seasons of a tent generally can be important. No, it doesn't protect you from the cold directly but depending on conditions a tent needs to be able to stand up to wind, rain, snow, ice, hail, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a general guide:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A 2 season tent will likely only be designed for camping in relatively good weather in the sunnier parts of the year. It'll cope with mild rain and wind, but anything really heavy could push it beyond its design. It may have permanent ventilation flaps you can't close to keep you cool that will let wind through but stop mild rain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A 3 season tent will be able to stand up to heavier rain and winds, and hence while it'll often have ventilation flaps you'll often be able to close them on a 3 season tent to stop heavier rain and winds driving though. It'll also probably have more / stronger guy ropes, and the material may be stronger too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A 4 season tent will be designed for use in winter / snowy climates - so as well as the above will be able to survive snow being driven at the tent, heavy constant winds, etc. Ventilation flaps probably won't be a feature - otherwise even when closed, fine snow could blow into the tent. This will often be replaced with a panel at the top of the inside tent that can be opened to provide some ventilation in warmer climates; but the main purpose of the tent is to protect against harsh elements rather than provide features for warmer climates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see by the general logic why I'd expect a 5 season tent to be an extension of a 4th. Generally, while higher season tents are more durable, they're also more expensive and often heavier - so it's not an all out constant advantage. A 4 season tent in sunny climates would probably be rather uncomfortable without ventilation too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-08-11T13:22:42.503" LastActivityDate="2012-08-11T13:22:42.503" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2012-08-11T05:33:22.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As chd mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1586852345&quot;&gt;98.6 Degrees&lt;/a&gt; is an excellent book. It is mainly focused on practical things you can do to survive and like chd on the physiological aspect of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking to read about the psychology of survival and the mental attitude that promotes it I highly recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.com/books/about/Deep_Survival.html?id=mQLDLn0GQfwC&quot;&gt;Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, as always &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt; (aka The Bible) has an entire part dedicated to &quot;Emergency Prevention and Response&quot; with chapters on Leadership, Safety, First Aid, and Alpine Search and Rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are serious about learning about survival, I also highly suggest taking some first aid courses offered by organizations like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soloschools.com/&quot;&gt;SOLO&lt;/a&gt;. There are Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Wilderness EMT certification levels with 2, 7, and 20 day courses, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="696" LastActivityDate="2012-08-11T05:33:22.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1836" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-12T11:05:15.883" Score="11" ViewCount="1625" Body="&lt;p&gt;About a year ago I was given a three person dual skin popup tent. Almost new but possibly a factory second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(It's made by &quot;Vango&quot; and I think it could be a &quot;reject&quot; because one of the four guy ropes is not attached to the tent and looks like it didn't get ripped off but was never attached.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway it's a great tent and I have used it on a grassy area, properly pegged, in reasonably solid rain with 3 people and luggage with minimal wetness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But now I'm camping wild at the beach and water has made it into the tent twice, always from one of the corners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I first set it up on the beach instead of trying to use the pegs I weighed it down with rocks inside between the inner and outer skins. (The standard pegs are not heavy duty enough for dry sand and windy conditions and I was too lazy to use sand-filled plastic bottles instead of pegs.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another factor is the sand was on a bit of a slope so I dug down a bit at the back and used that sand to build up the front, thus making the area flat but the rear is a bit like a trench and also it's not a perfect fit for the tent. Some corners are a bit outside the flat part and the rocks between the skins could slide down a bit, especially when there's some rain, wind, or both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I added the tent pegs and guy ropes after the first storm, because they weren't very deep, I dug down a little so the pegs would hold better, put a rock on top to weigh them down, and covered them with a pile of packed sand. In some places I may have heaped a bit of sand over the lower edge of the tent wall too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Were the rocks between the skins the cause of rain getting in at the corners?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or possibly the imperfect fit in my dug out slope?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or possibly having some sand piled on the tend walls? (not much)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or are all of these factors usually no problem thus pointing to more possible manufacturing defects?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or maybe Vango is known to be an inferior brand of tent?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there some general &quot;dos and don'ts&quot; for setting up a dual skin tents or popup tents or tents on sloping sand?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-06-07T13:01:31.697" LastActivityDate="2014-03-29T21:24:41.687" Title="Is it normal for a double skin popup tent to leak in slight rain?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1837" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1841" CreationDate="2012-08-12T11:14:43.767" Score="18" ViewCount="55109" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was given my current tent and I have to admit to being pretty ignorant of tents, having not done much camping since I was a kid some decades ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now when it came time to use the guy ropes I noticed there are plastic &quot;things&quot; on the ropes, that I assume are used for something like adjusting the tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fRcye.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tent rope tensioner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I was too stupid to figure out how to use them! &lt;code&gt;\-:&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up making slipknots and just putting the pegs in where the ropes were tight. The tent is on sand this time so I can tighten the ropes a bit just by digging and re-packing the sand a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But should I really use these tent rope adjuster thingies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:32:02.583" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:32:02.583" Title="How do I use these &quot;guy line runners&quot; to adjust the tension on my tent's lines?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1836" CreationDate="2012-08-12T12:20:53.750" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with your specific tent, but you typically don't block ventilation in a double walled tent. The outer rain fly will collect condensation from your own breathing and the tent needs to breath to reduce it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need to seal the seams on a tent if the factory doesn't do it for you, and sometimes even when they do. You can find lots of products for this, including McNett Seam Grip (no affiliation):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000OR5PHW&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z8cyg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-08-12T12:20:53.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1839" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1840" CreationDate="2012-08-12T13:40:30.790" Score="9" ViewCount="15512" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was lucky enough to be given an almost new double skin popup tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I'm camping right now it's got windy a couple of times and rainy a couple of times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine who is camping in his (several seasons old) dome tent says he thinks they're an inherently better design than popup tents against wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But is this necessarily true? &lt;strong&gt;Is it generally considered that popup tents have a particular set of advantages and disadvantages in comparison to dome tents?&lt;/strong&gt; ... apart from these points which I think are obvious:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dome is cheaper than popup.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Popup is quicker and easier to pitch, and arguably quicker and easier to stow (at least once you've learned how!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:55.940" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T22:35:13.917" Title="Dome tents vs popup tents, are there any inherent pros or cons besides price and ease?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1839" CreationDate="2012-08-12T14:55:28.500" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big advantage that classic dome tents will have with strong winds is the addition of the guy ropes. With a popup tent, in high winds the stress will be on the tent itself, with guy ropes the stress is on the ropes and (when erected properly) a certain amount is channelled down to the ground via the pegs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this isn't to say popup tents will break the minute they hit a moderate wind - but the point I find most people don't consider much is that when popup tents &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; break, they use such a combination of internal poles / springs that they're near impossible to fix in the wilderness with tools you may have on hand. Quite simply, there's much more to go wrong, and much less chance of fixing it if it does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you apply this ethos to a dome tent in high winds, if something breaks it's very, very likely to be the guy ropes that go first (because they're what should take the brunt of the force.) If you awake the next morning to find a couple of guy ropes snapped, 10 minutes later they can be near as good as new with a short piece of paracord and a moderate knowledge of good knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining those together I'd say that at lest for serious use, popup tents are not as well suited to high winds as dome tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-12T14:55:28.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1837" CreationDate="2012-08-12T16:03:20.313" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest ones are like this, and even the more complex ones are typically broadly similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usage is to have set your peg at a useful distance (ie not too close to the tent, as it won't hold the pole/skin out, and not too far away as you might trip over it) and pop the loop round the peg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then just slide the tensioner up the guy rope until tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VdTAp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to slightly overtighten if you expect rain, as nylon guy ropes stretch a fair bit in the wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;With the one you have, you already have the loop and the slot. Open up the loop and place this over your peg, then slide the black plastic piece up the rope until tight - the mechanism is the same, the friction is just applied a slightly different way.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll check to see if any of my tents use that type and take a photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-08-17T08:12:08.790" LastActivityDate="2012-08-17T08:12:08.790" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1836" CreationDate="2012-08-12T16:18:46.650" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sand will be an inherently trickier environment to camp in successfully I would imagine, since it retains moisture well and isn't as solid as earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I've never camped in sand, but I would imagine even a bit of sand piled on the tent walls could be the cause, that would be the first thing I'd try to eliminate. If the sand is moist (or becomes moist) then you have in effect a wet solid pressing against the tent, in which case water could be very likely to make its way through in small quantities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-12T16:18:46.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1843" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1844" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:03:25.537" Score="8" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often find when Geocaching ordinary pencils don't seem to leave much of a mark at all, especially if the log is wet, and especially on the smaller logs pens are difficult to &quot;get going&quot; without a firm surface. Is there a better alternative I can use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T19:27:03.010" Title="What's the best writing implement to carry to sign a Geocache?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1843" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:03:25.537" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often find a &quot;soft&quot; pencil, say 2B does the job much better than HB. Don't go too soft because then it'll be easy to turn into a smudgy mess, but as a general rule I find a pencil a bit softer than the norm works rather well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, if you prefer pen then breathing on a Biro to warm it before writing can often help get it going much more easily, especially in cooler weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-13T00:03:25.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1845" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1846" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:04:33.913" Score="19" ViewCount="1071" Body="&lt;p&gt;As in the title, when going Geocaching what are some standard implements and tools I should carry with me to get started so I'm not caught out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T14:57:09.037" Title="What should be carried in a standard Geocaching bag?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1845" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:13:36.043" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would definitely pack the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GPS receiver&lt;/strong&gt; - this may be your phone if you're starting out, but a dedicated receiver really does wonders if you're looking at Geocaching often. They're more accurate and don't eat through batteries as quickly. If you are using your phone, packing a cheap spare may be wise depending on where you're going - you don't want to use up all the battery, then land yourself in trouble and not be able to phone anyone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spare batteries for the above&lt;/strong&gt;; if they're rechargeables make sure they're fully charged and not worn out. Personally I use Eneloops, they hold their charge for a good length of time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Printouts of locations and clues to all your caches&lt;/strong&gt;; even if you've put them on the GPS I find it much easier flicking through clues and logs on paper. Don't forget to look at recent logs as well especially if you're stuck which might offer more of a clue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pen / pencil.&lt;/strong&gt; Take multiples, and don't take expensive ones. They have a habit of going missing since they come in and out of the bag a lot, the pack of 8 cheap as you get pens at the local stationary shop will do just fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tweezers.&lt;/strong&gt; Incredibly useful for extracting tiny logs from nano-caches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A couple of (again, cheap is fine) spare pads / rolls of paper.&lt;/strong&gt; If you spot caches whose logs are full, it can be a huge help to the cache owner if you leave a bit more paper until they get around to replacing the log.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Torch&lt;/strong&gt; (known as a flashlight in the US). Essential if you're night caching, but very useful to have either way. Great for peering in dark places that caches might be hiding in!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camera.&lt;/strong&gt; Not essential, but Geocaching can often take you to new and cool places, often when you least expect it! I've wished I've had my camera with me on several occasions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not necessarily an exhaustive list at all, and I'm only counting things here that are directly relevant to Geocaching. Obviously if you're after a cache in the middle of a cave you'll need additional suitable equipment, and the associated caution and expertise. Additionally, things like first aid kits, food, etc. would be sensible if you're venturing out a way, but the list above should serve as a good &quot;geocaching-specific&quot; checklist of some things to take along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-03-28T14:57:09.037" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T14:57:09.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1847" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1856" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:19:36.507" Score="12" ViewCount="3376" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm hiking in the wilderness and my shoelace breaks, what's the best way to go about fixing it assuming I have no spare?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T17:33:53.430" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T17:33:53.430" Title="What should I do if I break a shoelace in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2012-08-13T00:19:36.507" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a number of options for dealing with such an issue, each can be appropriate depending on the situation in hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wonders of paracord can come to the rescue if you have some on hand (and if not, why not!) It's usually a bit thicker than shoelaces but can squeeze through the holes and do the job surprisingly well. Depending on the length of the hike, you may want to seal the ends to stop it unravelling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the lace has broken near the top, you should be able to tie a simple reef knot to connect the two ends together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's broken at an awkward place then use half of it to just tie around the top holes; and you may be able to do the same with the bottom holes with the other half. This won't be as comfortable, but if you're just on a day hike it should do the job in hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-13T00:19:36.507" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14" CreationDate="2012-08-13T20:31:31.370" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a Boy Scout, I prefer the external frame backpack. The internal is more comfortable, but on long hikes, the external is not only practical for more gear, but vents your back so it's not dripping with sweat. I am not as knowledgeable as some on this page, but my strong preference is the external.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="702" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-10T13:54:58.673" LastActivityDate="2013-10-10T13:54:58.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1850" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1851" CreationDate="2012-08-13T20:40:43.247" Score="12" ViewCount="3666" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently looking to buy a new tent. The old one had a floor that was said to withstand a hydrostatic head of 10000 mm, but the tents I find in the stores here go to at most 3000 mm for the floor, at least in the light-weight category. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that still sufficient to keep me dry in Pacific Northwest weather? What about camping on snow? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2012-08-13T20:52:56.927" Title="Tent floor waterproof rating" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1850" CreationDate="2012-08-13T20:52:56.927" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hydrostatic rating on a tent is the highest column of water a material can withstand for up to one minute before the water starts to penetrate (assuming good seams, no damage etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ratings translate as follows (have seen these quoted in a couple of places, this is from campingcrazy.com)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1000mm or less is considered shower resistant and will soak up rain and get damp after a heavy shower&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1500mm is considered the realistic minimum requirement for summer (and mainly dry) camping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2000mm is the recommended minimum if you intend camping in your tent year round&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3000mm is mainly used on family tents so they can withstand a couple of weeks of rain!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For floors, the thing to watch is that pressure on it can lower the effective hydrostatic head, so if you are camping in very wet areas, a 10000mm rating can be very useful - often this is quoted for the groundsheet, and up to 15cm up the sides of a wet weather tent. If you can't get a high rated tent, just go old school and use a groundsheet under your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-08-13T20:52:56.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1852" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1870" CreationDate="2012-08-14T11:09:06.713" Score="16" ViewCount="8236" Body="&lt;p&gt;Considering the following options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;watertight: because caves are often wet or muddy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stiff sole: to provide more grip and protection from the rocky bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;durability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is better, a rubber boot or a hiking/military type boot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other aspects should one consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="703" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T01:21:21.203" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T14:31:30.420" Title="What types of boots are good for caving?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2012-08-14T15:48:37.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To always have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;duck tape&lt;/a&gt; with you in case something break (taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alexhike.com/informer/trucs-et-astuces/reparation/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; in french)&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantage:&lt;/strong&gt; it is not biodegradable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z0AmX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-08-14T15:48:37.537" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1800" CreationDate="2012-08-15T10:50:21.247" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a Petzl shunt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/multi-purpose-ascenders/shunt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/multi-purpose-ascenders/shunt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted by others, self-belay is always going to carry risks - the shunt has a smooth camming surface so is rope friendly, and hopefully with top-roping you are going to have very limited impact on a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shunt is used by a number of pro-climbers to help them when they are red-pointing hard sports climbs. Eg. Dave Macleod:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://davemacleod.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/in-middle.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://davemacleod.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/in-middle.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or at 3m25s on Indian Face (see oddly helpful YouTube comments!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3e0AllzcgE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3e0AllzcgE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steve McClure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.steve-mcclure.com/articlepages/overshadow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.steve-mcclure.com/articlepages/overshadow/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this is helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rich&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="437" LastActivityDate="2012-08-15T10:50:21.247" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1813" CreationDate="2012-08-15T12:25:59.543" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some additions to the answer above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to walk near bigger trees (no marshland there)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a walking stick or just a stick of wood (you can even use it in case you would have to cross something or help with going up/down or just as help with walking).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-08-28T15:14:29.803" LastActivityDate="2012-08-28T15:14:29.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2012-08-15T12:30:37.853" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, I always have at least one shoe lace in my first aid kit (I know, not the most usual place, but I never forget it and it only needs a very small space).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also some piece of washing line (e.g. for drying clothes) can be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have one of those and the shoe lace has broken on multiple places, you can cut the other shoe lace and use half of it to lace your shoes every other hole. It will not fit as good as a 100% length shoe lace, but better than having one good and none for the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T14:31:03.190" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T14:31:03.190" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1857" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3802" CreationDate="2012-08-16T15:30:56.103" Score="18" ViewCount="436" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.dirnat.no/&quot;&gt;Norwegian directorate for nature management&lt;/a&gt; publishes a &lt;a href=&quot;http://inonkart.miljodirektoratet.no/inon/kart&quot;&gt;map of wilderness&lt;/a&gt; showing how far away a particular area is from heavy technical interventions, such as roads, electricity lines, hydro lakes, etc. This provides a quick overview as to where one can get far into the wilderness. I like it a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is anyone aware of similar maps for any other countries or regions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T22:13:44.147" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T22:13:44.147" Title="How can I locate wilderness maps for specific countries or regions?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1839" CreationDate="2012-08-18T06:47:26.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider is the quality of sleep you'll be getting.  I've never slept in a pop-up tent, but the ones I have seen pitched seem like they have trouble staying up even without wind.  Because of the design of the single, continuous pole, I would say they are inferior to dome tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've slept in dome tents where the wind was so strong it would whip the side of the tent into sleeping body.  On those few occasions, I doubt the a pop-up tent would have the structure to provide much protection from the wind, and it definitely would have prevented me from sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="711" LastEditorUserId="711" LastEditDate="2012-08-18T07:08:29.087" LastActivityDate="2012-08-18T07:08:29.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1859" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1862" CreationDate="2012-08-18T19:01:12.440" Score="45" ViewCount="56966" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been going climbing (indoor bouldering) for about six months, using shoes I rented at the gym, and wearing socks (and everything was fine). I've recently got a pair of climbing shoes, and want to know why some people wear them without socks. What are the benefits of socks vs. without? Is this purely a matter of taste?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T22:48:31.397" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T22:48:31.397" Title="Why go without socks with climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2012-08-18T20:06:52.553" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe it is mostly a matter of taste. Many people claim that going barefoot inside the climbing shoes allows you to feel a bit more of the surface than with socks. Granted, you can't feel much through the thick rubber of the shoes to begin with, but I can see how that would be true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others counter claim that socks make your shoes less stinky after a good climbing session, but I don't buy into that claim, it seems that stinky climbing shoes is a fact of life with or without socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally go barefoot in my climbing shoes, simply because that’s what everyone else did when I started, and that’s just how i've done it since then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-08-18T20:06:52.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2012-08-19T09:30:32.440" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every layer between your feet and the ground (or hill or whatever you are climbing) adds some distance resulting in:&#xA;- less balance&#xA;- less 'feel' with the type of material you are climbing&#xA;- you feel ditches/gaps/small stones better (depends on how thick your shoes are)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you might be able to have smaller (less wide) shoes making it easier to place a foot into a more narrow space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-12T12:30:16.427" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T12:30:16.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2012-08-19T13:28:26.310" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure about the being able to feel more, but the most important reason I don't use socks is to avoid the rock boot sliding on my foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on a marginal grip using just the edge of your sole, you don't want the boot to move at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also one of the reasons that rock boots for more experienced climbers are much more rigid than those for beginners - so you know that when you touch the rock, the rubber will grip and not bend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-08-19T15:48:57.140" LastActivityDate="2012-08-19T15:48:57.140" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="136" CreationDate="2012-08-20T01:27:30.363" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some important additional points about Lyme disease:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deer ticks in the nymph stage have a much higher chance of transmission.  So if it's anywhere near as big as the one in the picture included with the question, there's a good chance right there not to worry.  Nymphs are &lt;em&gt;tiny&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tick must be attached for at least 24 hours typically before there's any risk of transmission.  If it's hardly begun to inflate, you're probably safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But those are both mainly for peace of mind; if it's a deer tick, always save it, clean the bite, and keep an eye on the area for a few weeks.  But that's also true for any tick bites, generally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="632" LastActivityDate="2012-08-20T01:27:30.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1864" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1865" CreationDate="2012-08-20T08:53:30.560" Score="16" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;When skiing, if the weather is good, I often come back with a better tan than if I have been at the beach. Obviously with altitude, there is less blocking of UV rays by the atmosphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how much is blocked? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any guidance that says, &quot;For every x thousand metres your exposure is doubled&quot; or your sun factor should be increased by y?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:40:45.813" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:40:45.813" Title="Is there simple guidance on sunburn risk associated with altitude?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1864" CreationDate="2012-08-20T12:39:33.210" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/uv/faq/whatisuv/en/index3.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;With every 1000 m in altitude, UV levels increase by approximately 10 per cent.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Percentages are tricky to work with, so here is a worked-out example. Suppose you start out at sea level (0m), and you climb all the way up to Mt. Everest's summit (8848m). Suppose also that at sealevel, you normally need to apply sun block factor 15. Then, climbing up, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;   0   -&amp;gt;   1.00  ( = times UV exposure at sea level)&#xA; 500   -&amp;gt;   1.05   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 15.73&#xA;1000   -&amp;gt;   1.10   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 16.50&#xA;1500   -&amp;gt;   1.15   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 17.31&#xA;2000   -&amp;gt;   1.21   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 18.15&#xA;2500   -&amp;gt;   1.27   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 19.04&#xA;3000   -&amp;gt;   1.33   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 19.97&#xA;3500   -&amp;gt;   1.40   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 20.94&#xA;4000   -&amp;gt;   1.46   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 21.96&#xA;4500   -&amp;gt;   1.54   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 23.03&#xA;5000   -&amp;gt;   1.61   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 24.16&#xA;5500   -&amp;gt;   1.69   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 25.34&#xA;6000   -&amp;gt;   1.77   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 26.57&#xA;6500   -&amp;gt;   1.86   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 27.87&#xA;7000   -&amp;gt;   1.95   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 29.23&#xA;7500   -&amp;gt;   2.04   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 30.66&#xA;8000   -&amp;gt;   2.14   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 32.15&#xA;8500   -&amp;gt;   2.25   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 33.72&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it gets worse. If you travel higher and higher, you're bound to hit snow at some point. As can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://equipped.outdoors.org/2011/02/how-much-uv-radiation-does-snow-reflect.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, some types of snow can reflect up to 80% of UV light. This means that if there is 100% snow cover, you're exposed to (roughly) 1.8 times the amounts above: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;   0   -&amp;gt;   1.80 (times UV exposure at snow-less sea level)&#xA; 500   -&amp;gt;   1.89   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 28.32&#xA;1000   -&amp;gt;   1.98   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 29.70&#xA;1500   -&amp;gt;   2.08   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 31.15&#xA;2000   -&amp;gt;   2.18   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 32.67&#xA;2500   -&amp;gt;   2.28   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 34.26&#xA;3000   -&amp;gt;   2.40   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 35.94&#xA;3500   -&amp;gt;   2.51   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 37.69&#xA;4000   -&amp;gt;   2.64   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 39.53&#xA;4500   -&amp;gt;   2.76   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 41.46&#xA;5000   -&amp;gt;   2.90   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 43.48&#xA;5500   -&amp;gt;   3.04   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 45.61&#xA;6000   -&amp;gt;   3.19   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 47.83&#xA;6500   -&amp;gt;   3.34   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 50.17&#xA;7000   -&amp;gt;   3.51   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 52.62&#xA;7500   -&amp;gt;   3.68   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 55.18&#xA;8000   -&amp;gt;   3.86   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 57.88&#xA;8500   -&amp;gt;   4.05   -&amp;gt;  apply factor 60.70&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To top it all off: there's psychological aspects to consider. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1585/is-it-possible-to-sunburn-through-clothing&quot;&gt;As can be found here&lt;/a&gt;, clothing also protects against sunburn to a certain extent. If you go higher, you're bound to need more clothing, so less skin will be exposed. It will of course also get colder. These two factors make many people feel that using sunblock is not that important anymore, while in fact, the skin that still is exposed actually needs to be protected, and with a much higher factor than usual too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="652" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-08-20T12:39:33.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1060" CreationDate="2012-08-20T16:07:15.363" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whilst walking about, clench your fist, then stretch your hand open again.  repeat this 30 times (or whatever you want) and relax.  Bit by bit, maybe one or two a day, increase the reps.  Vary for speed and power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do this whilst walking around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="717" LastEditorUserId="717" LastEditDate="2015-11-01T22:44:22.663" LastActivityDate="2015-11-01T22:44:22.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1867" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-20T16:22:06.337" Score="9" ViewCount="1283" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been mountaineering for about four years now and one of the things I have learned is how important a good knife really is.  A knife that is sharp, durable, and can take a beating can make a world of difference when you're outside for weeks at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I have been looking to purchase a new knife, and I am going to go &quot;all out&quot; this time and get a FOX Carbon Titan (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foxknivesusa.com/en/product/2/fox_stealth_carbontitan_t.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tanto&lt;/a&gt;/&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foxknivesusa.com/en/product/2405/fox_stealth_carbontitan_u.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Utility&lt;/a&gt;) fixed blade.  Now that I have a knife in mind I'm not sure if I should get the tanto or utility style.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I own a mid-range 3.25' folding knife that has a utility blade and I am very happy with it.  From my research I have found that tanto blades are better for piercing things, and are good for combat because of that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My real questions is: for mountaineering which is mostly kitchen work, cutting rope, plants, other small objects, and in a survival situation killing and skinning an animal would a Tanto or Utility knife be a better option?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the name &quot;Utility&quot; hints that it would be a better option, but is that really true?  Right now I really want a tanto blade because they look so cool, but if it really isn't a good option then I will go with the utility blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="718" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-28T20:53:56.293" LastActivityDate="2016-10-28T20:55:53.867" Title="Is a Tanto or Utility knife best to carry when mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2012-08-20T17:11:19.133" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always carry &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00664KXGA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;para chord&lt;/a&gt; with me.  It can be used for building shelters, hanging food (to hide from bears), securing items to a back pack, staking down tents, and also it can be used as a shoelace.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Para chord is usually made out of spectra or nylon (the same as climbing rope) and has a tensile strength of (usually) between 400 and 600lbf.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So next time you are in the wilderness and your shoelace breaks you can just take out your para chord and re-string the shoe! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="718" LastActivityDate="2012-08-20T17:11:19.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1852" CreationDate="2012-08-20T18:20:42.343" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best qualities of caving footware are actually&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to clean (especially now with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WNS&lt;/a&gt; concerns)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to walk/crawl in (must fit well and now slide around)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep your feet warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;durable (caves eat clothing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watertight shoes hold water in just was well as they keep water out, and in a wet cave water &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; get in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First get yourself a pair of 3mm neoprene socks. That will keep your feet warm, even when wet. Then go get yourself a good pair of &quot;wellies&quot; (Wellington style boots). I have a pair of Servus Northern 15&quot; rubber boots I got from tractor supply. They have excellent grip to keep you from slipping on wet and muddy rock, will keep out low water, and are easy to pour water out of once you emerge from high water. When you get home just throw the socks in the washer and boots under the hose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="719" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T14:31:30.420" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T14:31:30.420" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1867" CreationDate="2012-08-22T06:12:26.720" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first read this I was thinking an actual Japanese tanto vs a Rambo style utility knife. I would have said go with the utility because other than fighting, the tanto wouldn't be as much use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lucky I clicked on the links you provided. After seeing what you were choosing between, it looks like they do almost the same thing. I would say that you will be happier with the tanto with no buyers remorse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-28T20:55:53.867" LastActivityDate="2016-10-28T20:55:53.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1857" CreationDate="2012-08-23T02:07:46.427" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's actually a very difficult question to answer, since there's a lot of ambiguity about what's a &quot;road,&quot; etc.  Some geographers in Alaska tried to tackle a similar question here,  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/whats-most-remote-spot-alaska&quot;&gt;in an Alaska Dispatch article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="724" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T02:07:46.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2012-08-23T03:13:00.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Real 550 cord (paracord) has an outer braid over multiple twisted strands of fiber (7, I think).  If the cord is too thick, whack off a piece and pull out as many strands as you need to get the job done.  It's incredibly versatile stuff and you probably should consider it basic survival gear.  But make sure that it's the real deal.  I'm not sure that a lot of those paracord &quot;survival bracelets&quot; that are so popular these days are made out of quality cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="724" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T03:13:00.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1220" CreationDate="2012-08-23T03:16:38.623" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Battery consumption is determined by the software, too.  Some stuff polls for new data, some takes GPS readings more often then others, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly, I do not consider using a smartphone app for hiking or getting out into the backcountry.  For too many of them you need network connectivity, battery life is a real issue (compared to dedicated GPS devices), and they're fragile.  I do carry a GPS but I keep it switched off unless I need it (or to mark significant spots, after which it's turned off again).  Sometimes I carry a Spot, depending on what I'm doing and where I'm going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="724" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T03:16:38.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1877" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1879" CreationDate="2012-08-23T03:17:34.160" Score="13" ViewCount="5159" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read with interest about news of a scuba diver being stranded in the open sea when the diving operator failed to account for all members of a group. Mishaps like this and accidents such as boat capsizes or plane crashes do happen from time to time. What are the important techniques to acquire to enhance the survivability of individuals who can swim but does not have any flotation device?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="722" LastActivityDate="2012-08-24T10:46:22.850" Title="How to maximise the chances of survival when stranded in open sea?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1867" CreationDate="2012-08-23T05:38:17.077" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For an all-around knife I'd tend to stay away from a serrated knife, myself.  Serration is nice for cutting rope and, um, I think that's pretty much it.  You'd shred a fish or small game with that thing.  I'm having a hard time understanding why someone would need that particular knife.  Why not something like a puukko knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="724" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T05:38:17.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1877" CreationDate="2012-08-23T06:28:45.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sunscreen and lip balm, saw a show where the people were burned badly. But that is something that you either have or don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your pants can usually be tied at the legs to create a short term &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/otxjh8pcs3E&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Floatation Device&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Deadman's Float&quot; allows you to conserve a lot of energy. Basically you hang like a jellyfish in between breaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sgu76.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Deadman&amp;#39;s Float&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you breathe, kick and stroke just enough to get your head out of water. Face the direction you want to travel, these small kicks can move you and over a period of time will get you closer to your destination. Be mindful of currents, you can be pulled out into a worse position. Usually you can get out of these by swimming a few hundred feet laterally. Don't fight it by going against it, just keep a steady pace to the side until you are out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T06:28:45.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1852" CreationDate="2012-08-23T11:43:41.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am member of a caving association, and we have found no better equipment than the good old 5 EUR rubber boots. Equipment manufacturers know this as well, therefore a specialized marked is small and brings no better value. Use wool socks inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="725" LastActivityDate="2012-08-23T11:43:41.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1877" CreationDate="2012-08-24T10:46:22.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always learned swimming on your back does not cost much energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your hands which are mostly tired first do nothing while swimming this way and your legs do the work. Also you don't sink when you barely swim this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2012-08-24T10:46:22.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1884" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1887" CreationDate="2012-08-25T11:30:02.610" Score="14" ViewCount="8878" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have quite a lot of items with built-in magnets in my backpack, like a mobile phone, an iPod or headphones. How easy is it to destroy my compass by putting it too close to these items?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-11T20:28:49.760" LastActivityDate="2017-10-11T20:28:49.760" Title="How easy is it to magnetically destroy a compass?" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1885" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1888" CreationDate="2012-08-25T11:32:29.270" Score="21" ViewCount="11501" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't mean to use a tent, just a mat + a sleeping bag, or possibly a bivy sack if the weather is foul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T12:40:09.243" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T17:06:19.187" Title="Am I allowed to sleep in the wild in the Austrian Alps?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1886" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-25T11:34:26.177" Score="17" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;The title really says it all, is it legal to swim in the lakes in the Austrian Alps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-08-25T13:09:58.770" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T16:50:54.733" Title="Am I allowed to swim in the Austrian Alps lakes?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;austria&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1884" CreationDate="2012-08-25T13:21:22.810" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only reliable information I seem to be able to find points to the fact that if you store a compass next to a strong magnet for a long period of time, it can wreck it. Additionally, it seems that some people have reported their compass becoming demagnetised when stored adjacent to something like a phone, headphones etc. though this appears less common. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice would be to keep your compass in a case when in your bag with other such items. As long as the compass itself isn't touching something else with a weak magnet in, I doubt it'd be enough to wreck it (in the short term anyway.) I tend to store my compass in a separate pocket of my rucksack in its case, and I'd say that separation is enough. I highly doubt you need to be so careful as to keep it on an entirely different side of your rucksack or anything like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long term storage I'd be a bit more careful - my compass stays in a drawer with nothing else magnetic in it (just various other outdoors bits such as maps, paracord, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the reference, the above applies to weak magnets. If for any reason you were carrying something with a very strong neodymium magnet inside I'd be a lot more careful! Sounds silly, but I do often if I'm putting out magnetic Geocaches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-11-18T23:44:19.590" LastActivityDate="2012-11-18T23:44:19.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1885" CreationDate="2012-08-25T21:23:16.887" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt; it is, but only for one night in any single spot. Staying multiple nights is considered camping and is not allowed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; allowed in national parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could only find Dutch references for this, but they all say the same and refer to relevant text in the Austrian lawbooks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="652" LastActivityDate="2012-08-25T21:23:16.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1886" CreationDate="2012-08-27T13:13:28.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This is a copy paste from wikipedia:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The right to roam in Austria, particularly in forests and mountainous&#xA;  areas, is called Wegefreiheit. Since 1975 the right to roam in forests&#xA;  is guaranteed by Federal law. In particular, walking, running, hiking,&#xA;  and resting are automatically allowed to the public in most forest&#xA;  areas. However, horse riding, bike riding, and camping are not, and&#xA;  may only be practised with the land owner's permission. A large&#xA;  proportion of the forest area in Austria is owned by government bodies&#xA;  such as the Österreichische Bundesforste, but the same restrictions&#xA;  still apply. In some circumstances forests may be closed to the public&#xA;  for environmental reasons. The situation in mountainous areas is less&#xA;  clear, and differs from state to state. Some states, such as&#xA;  Carinthia, Styria, and Salzburg guarantee a right to roam in&#xA;  mountainous areas (usually defined as above the tree line), for all&#xA;  recreational activities. In other states, such as Tyrol, Lower&#xA;  Austria, and Burgenland, no explicit right to roam exists and land&#xA;  owners reserve the right to deny access. In practice, however, such&#xA;  restrictions are rarely enforced, since mountain tourism is an&#xA;  important industry in Austria&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sources&lt;/strong&gt; : Wikipedia (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;article Freedom to roam&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-01-20T14:16:34.087" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T14:16:34.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1890" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1892" CreationDate="2012-08-28T02:29:38.330" Score="13" ViewCount="1252" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read several books about survival and outdoor field craft skills. Many of these books suggest building a survival kit out of an Altoids tin or something similar. These kits include very basic materials to allow someone to survive until help can be found. Many retailers sell pre-made kits and there are plenty of How-tos on the internet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have a first hand accounts, links to news articles, or maybe a few books describing how someone used one of these kits to get rescued in a survival situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="736" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T01:37:44.823" Title="Does anyone have an account of someone using a survival tin in a survival situation" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1890" CreationDate="2012-08-28T09:50:32.930" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard of a wide range of stories where people were saved using some string, a piece of flint etc. (A related example from earlier this month is reported in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-news/hamilton-news/2012/08/09/four-brave-children-hailed-hereos-for-saving-dog-who-plunged-down-a-50ft-gorge-in-hamilton-51525-31579097/&quot;&gt;Hamilton Advertiser&lt;/a&gt; where a boy used the laces from his trousers to save a dog.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and if they had had a survival kit they would have used that, but the problem is that most people do not carry a survival kit. The only people who regularly do tend to be military, and their kits do get used - records are available on 2nd World War aircrew who had to bail out over enemy lands, or more recently Andy McNab described using some of his emergency kit in the middle east in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bravo_Two_Zero&quot;&gt;Bravo Two-Zero&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some paracord was even used by astronauts during STS-82, the second Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More anecdotally, my father once had to use paracord to tie &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/AscendRope.htm&quot;&gt;Prusik knots&lt;/a&gt; to get up out of a crevasse (not sure whether it was Antarctica or Greenland) - not a full emergency, as the rest of the team had possible alternatives, but a good practical use, nonetheless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-08-28T09:50:32.930" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1893" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1895" CreationDate="2012-08-28T19:45:00.360" Score="7" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;Am building a Frisian schouw, I have oakwood and build a frame on which the wood can rest. How would I know the wood has bend enough and how serious would it be if it is bend to far?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user741" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:05:35.577" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:05:35.577" Title="Bending wood, how do I know it is far enough?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1894" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-28T20:18:44.703" Score="8" ViewCount="281" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a lelievlet and want to add a bowsprit/lignite and a mizzen mast. Therefore I need to know how much I need to change the shrouds, anyone can help me by explaining how?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What data do I need to have in order to calculate the new setting and how do I calculate them? And about the lignite, how can I know what the length should be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the mizzen I have another problem, how would I resolve the shrouds there and mizzen's sheet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SACDW.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SACDW.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.euroship.hu/index.php?pageid=65&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.euroship.hu/index.php?pageid=65&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditorDisplayName="user741" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T18:51:20.633" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T18:51:20.633" Title="Changing the shrouds, how would I know how far if I need to?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1893" CreationDate="2012-08-28T23:38:57.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I built my canoe, the front and back keel stems needed to be bent. I steamed the wood by putting it in some ABS pipe and putting that over a kettle. It's been over 25 years, but I think there was cloth stuffed at the top of the pipe to keep the steam in, or something like that. I left the wood steaming until it was warm and soft, and then clamped it in place on the form. If I couldn't get the wood to bend against the form, I put it back in the pipe to steam some more. Once I could clamp it right againt the form, I let it cool, and then carried on with the building process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you try to bend the wood when it's not soft enough it will break. Is that what you mean by &quot;how serious would it be if it is bent too far?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-08-28T23:38:57.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1890" CreationDate="2012-08-29T05:04:23.297" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have carried an Altoid tin survival kit for years, but have never had occasion to use it in a life-and-death situation. I have used the flashlight, knife, duct tape, and ferro rod, but always in non-threatening situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="742" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-12T18:52:00.417" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T18:52:00.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1751" CreationDate="2012-08-29T11:20:23.263" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good rule of thumb would be: Can you move around and have easy access to everything you/everyone &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to manoeuvring the vessel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastActivityDate="2012-08-29T11:20:23.263" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1894" CreationDate="2012-08-29T11:50:38.727" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, there are a number of challenges you face. Firstly, what is the reason for wanting a mizzen? It will change the sailing characteristics significantly, as well as require a lot of work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr&lt;/strong&gt; - this is a fair old undertaking to do for no obvious reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to add one, you have 2 real options - a small, unstayed mizzen off the transom, or a a taller stayed mizzen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first won't require a lot of work - your existing shrouds should be fine, however you will need to work a way to mount your mizzen without conflicting with the tiller. Not a major deal, but still fiddly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is likely to require at a minimum:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A shorter main boom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A shorter gaff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A redesigned sail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Redesigned tiller&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mizzen shrouds: simplest being 1 to the main mast top, 2 alongside the existing main shroud points, and probably 2 to the transom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you need to look at the reinforcement you will require at these points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once that is complete, be aware that she will try to point a lot higher, as the shape of the hull is not optimised for 2 masts, so you are likely to use the tiller more, causing a fair amount of drag. Solutions to this can include moving the centreboard or adding extra keels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-08-29T11:50:38.727" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1900" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-29T16:10:25.753" Score="24" ViewCount="2787" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am most interested in setting up a top rope anchor on 2 bolts side by side. I feel like in this case you almost have to be more careful using bolts for a top rope than sport climbing because in sport climbing you are clipping a bunch of bolts all the way to the top, so if one fails, there is another one in different rock that will probably save you to-where-as if one of two bolts for a top rope are in bad rock, both bolts are probably in bad rock. Specifically I am asking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to inspect a climbing bolt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any non-obvious things to look for when inspecting a climbing bolt? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a bolt is placed very close to the edge of a corner of rock, what proximity is considered safe? I am thinking of some climbs where the bolts are literally only a foot from the top of the cliff - could the combination of the bolts shear off a piece of the rock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, do bolts ever fail catastrophically? I.e. just blow out of rock, or do they tend to fail over time so you can see it coming and avoid those bolts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="552" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T15:50:42.207" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:34:23.347" Title="How to inspect climbing bolts?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1900" CreationDate="2012-08-29T17:17:32.350" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may speak to some of your concerns:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org/education.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Safe Climbing Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The American Safe Climbing Association publishes guidelines for safe bolting.  Their stuff usually targets the people who are actually doing the bolting, but can be worth reading for general purposes.  They have articles on how to tell which bolts are good and which are bad.  And the have a lot of other interesting safely stuff&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The list below is all fairly subjective, and you should still read the ASCA's website, but here's what I look for - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you're at a popular climbing area on an established climb, the rock for the bolts is &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;look for &quot;choss&quot; around the bolts - is the bolt attached to any rock that looks loose or broken, or sounds &quot;hollow&quot; when you thump it with your palm?  A foot of solid rock on all sides of a bolt would normally seem totally solid.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look at the type of rock?  Is it granite?  Is it a bomber variety of sandstone?  Or does the route generally have a lot of broken, hollow-sounding, or rattling holds that make noise as you climb on them (a bad sign), or does it feel like a giant, solid mass?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is the bolt itself showing an unusual amount of rust&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;double check that the bolt itself is reasonably tight.  It doesn't have to be totally ratcheted down, but it should be right enough to more or less hold the hanger in place, and have enough threads sticking out the end that it couldn't unscrew while climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can build a double sliding-X (with limiter knots) if you want to make sure you're distributing the load between both bolts.  Use a pair of double-length slings.  Put lockers into each bolt, and a pair of lockers (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15587/what-are-opposite-and-opposed-carabiners&quot;&gt;opposite and opposed&lt;/a&gt;) at the master point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bolts will sometimes fail, but not that often.  The only time I've heard of it was on a new route when the route bolter wasn't finished with the route, but didn't adequately communicate it.  He had a known-bad bolt on a route, and it blew when someone took a lead fall on it:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/bolt-pulls-out-in-the-new-river-gorge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bolt Failure at New River Gorge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you doubt the bolts, you could certainly rig an anchor (or a backup) off trees or boulders near the top of the route (if one is available), or just not do the climb.  Trust your gut on this stuff - I think that bolts are generally safe, but don't know your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck,&#xA;David&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:34:23.347" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:34:23.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-08-30T08:24:14.743" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use two Coleman queen size air matress stacked on top of one another. Between I use an emergancy blanket to reflect heat to me and not the ground. With a few well placed strips of anti slip padding, and its like the Ritz of the outdoors. As for inflation for $30 you can get a powered inflator to run off your car lighter, just rembered to use a cupple of lung fillers just befor bed for fermness and your set for a total of $130 CDN It's tough to beat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="745" LastActivityDate="2012-08-30T08:24:14.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-08-30T08:39:53.020" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the rain stops you can pull your sleeping bag out and turn it inside out to air out on a line or branch. If you can't get out of the rain use your stove to heat up a few large rocks in a pot or pan. Use smooth river rocks as poorious rocks my burst under steam pressure, if your not sure just put a lid on. When rocks are hot carefully place pot in tent with something under the pot ( like a second pot or pan turned upside down). Enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="745" LastActivityDate="2012-08-30T08:39:53.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1905" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-08-30T08:59:35.703" Score="10" ViewCount="565" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one wants to buy a wooden sail boat, even a rotten one as a fixer-upper, what are the hotspots to check to determine if the boat is suited to repair or suited for the scrapyard?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:05:27.817" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:05:27.817" Title="When buying a wooden boat, fixer-upper or scrapyard?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1906" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1908" CreationDate="2012-08-30T14:10:46.810" Score="14" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do you do before setting up your tent when the your camping site is either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full of rocks  ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not flat ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="191" LastEditDate="2012-08-30T15:46:48.210" LastActivityDate="2012-08-30T18:02:34.413" Title="Dealing with a campsite that is full of rocks or not flat terrain?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="136" CreationDate="2012-08-30T17:59:55.820" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I contracted &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrlichiosis&quot;&gt;ehrlichiosis&lt;/a&gt; a couple years ago.  I got a few dozen ticks during a hike and didn't notice for a few hours until I was home and in shorts after a shower.  Here's what I learned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No, it doesn't need to be attached for 24 hours in order to infect you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It took a full week for symptoms to show up, but when they did, it was sudden and extreme.  I was a little tired that morning, but attributed it to mowing the lawn in the heat.  Other than that, I felt fine when I left the house to go to a restaurant for lunch, and felt like the worst flu of my life literally 30 minutes later.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They prefer if you can keep the tick for reference, but the ER will diagnose and start treatment without it.  They ran a blood test which took a few days for results, but started antibiotics right away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Interesting side note, doctors are required to report tick-borne diseases to the health department.  The state got the test results before I did, and called to ask me where I contracted it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The reason they must be reported is that tick-borne diseases are rare.  Be careful, but don't freak about catching something until you're sure.  On the other hand, I would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; have wanted to be in the wilderness a week later when my symptoms showed up.  A couple more days wouldn't have been a big deal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="244" LastActivityDate="2012-08-30T17:59:55.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1906" CreationDate="2012-08-30T18:02:34.413" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping on a slope is really quite common, and while an extreme slope can cause problems a mild one shouldn't and is all part of the experience! I find it comfier to set the tent so I'm sleeping at an angle rather than rolling against one side, so that may be something to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise if there's just a relatively rocky surface you should be ok - if you want to make sure you don't puncture the tent then putting down a tarp first certainly wouldn't do any harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond those points, you really have to look at starting to change your environment - but if this is the case decide if you &lt;em&gt;really need to&lt;/em&gt;, if you're &lt;em&gt;allowed&lt;/em&gt; to and if it's really going to make a big difference. It really does go against the &quot;leave no trace&quot; philosophy, so consider that first. The situation can vary wildly depending on whether you find yourself in a survival situation or whether you're just out on a few day's recreational wild camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to modify it, see if you can level the ground off with your available tools - not so it's dead level per-se, but just so you have a reasonable slope that means you can still get some good rest. Or, if you don't fancy levelling off ground for an entire tent, you may want to level off just a bit so your stove (if you have one) sits level (if it's not then it could be a hazard since it's more likely to tip over.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-08-30T18:02:34.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5" CreationDate="2012-08-30T21:29:03.070" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are rivers and channels which &lt;strong&gt;forbid sailing without an engine running!&lt;/strong&gt; In Europe there are several countries which have by themselves more than one law system. But as every law, they are written in a book. Ask in a boating shop (or tourist information point) for more localized information and &lt;em&gt;buy&lt;/em&gt; that book of law. In several countries that is a requirement by law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed stay away from the suction at backs but &lt;strong&gt;also at fronts and be aware that such ships you posted can't see 300, 500 or even 1000 meters ahead by the dead angle they have and can't manoeuvre&lt;/strong&gt; quickly. Ships do not have brakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;I can swim of course&quot;: This doesn't mean anything if you sail. Too much can happen that makes you unable to swim. A life vest is the one that will turn your face up and has a collar on which your head will float if you're unconscious (those ugly ones) and not the swim vests (less ugly) that only give a &lt;em&gt;feeling of safety&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user741" LastEditDate="2013-02-10T15:35:07.457" LastActivityDate="2013-02-10T15:35:07.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-08-31T04:44:03.040" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I love a good 4&quot; memory foam mattress topper.  I often prefer that to a bed even at home.  If you sleep on your back, it's definitely the best option and I've tried air mattresses, cots, blankets, and all combinations of those.  The topper will take a bit of room even when you compress it (use motorcycle tie downs), and it won't be the lightest option but if you're going to camp out of your car or near your car, you should try it.  They can be found for ~100$ at Walmart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="747" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-14T17:36:53.340" LastActivityDate="2012-09-14T17:36:53.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1911" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1914" CreationDate="2012-08-31T10:33:08.080" Score="16" ViewCount="667" Body="&lt;p&gt;We (wife, 5 year old and me) are planning to go camping next summer (UK). It will be car camping - i.e. drive, set up tent and, knowing the UK, sit in the tent as it rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at equipment and I would like to know what the advantages and disadvantages are of the various camp stoves that are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm used to this type of burner, used when I was walking and having to carry all my equipment:- &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJAf8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, as we're not going to be walking with our gear, weight is not an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the (dis)advantages of this type, running off a cylinder of butane:-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qQinN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Campingaz Camp Bistro&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or indeed something like this, running off a regulated large fuel cylinder:-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gPfUb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'll be camping for a weekend in the first instance, but should be looking to extend to longer trips in the future as we get more confident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="748" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T17:00:19.827" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T17:00:19.827" Title="Features to look for when buying a stove (for car camping)" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1911" CreationDate="2012-09-01T12:40:02.030" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If car camping, you should go for the two-burner stove:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will be far more stable than the backpacking stove. This is IMO the most important feature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will probably have a larger burner (thus more heat output) than the backpacking stove.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The two-burner stove will not take up much more space than the single-burner stove, and for car camping you will probably be cooking more complex meals. For example, you might be boiling water for pasta on one burner, and cooking the sauce/protein on the other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That answers your direct question, but I think that fuel type is also an important consideration. Unfortunately, available fuels differ between the US and UK, and even the names may be different. I'm listing fuels from the US perspective, with a description; I welcome edits from someone who can supplement with the European perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;White gas, aka &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_fuel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coleman fuel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A liquid fuel, stored at ambient pressure in unvented cans, that is converted to a gas by the stove. Pros: easy to store; amount available is obvious; seems to last longer per dollar; you can buy &amp;quot;dual fuel&amp;quot; stoves/lanterns that also run on automotive gasoline. Cons: can be messy; lighting the stove can be exciting (moreso for backpacking stoves); &amp;quot;generator tube&amp;quot; can clog, rendering stove useless. Availability (US): outdoor gear stores, most sporting goods stores, Wal-Mart, most hardware stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Propane&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A gas that is stored as a liquid under pressure. Pros: easy to use; commonly available; you can buy large refillable cylinders; hotter than alternatives. Cons: stored in heavy metal cylinders that can't go in your recycling bin; you learn that you need more when the burner goes out. Availability (US): small one-time-use cylinders sold in hardware stores, sporting goods stores, some super-markets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Butane&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A gas that is stored as a liquid under near-ambient pressure (does not require a pressure vessel). Pros: convenient. Cons: sold in one-time-use canisters; you can't see how much until you're out; doesn't work well in cold weather (allegedly getting better). Availability (US): camping/outdoors stores and some sporting-goods stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like the white gas stoves because of the availability of fuel. Also, I had a white gas backpacking stove, and didn't want to deal with multiple fuel types when I bought my car camping gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="678" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-09-01T12:40:02.030" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1911" CreationDate="2012-09-02T10:03:11.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a keen car camping family with 3 kids, I can definitely recommend your second option - it has sufficient power and capacity to make meals for 5 without taking up too much space. It is light, easy to clean, and the small gas canisters for it are available in a huge number of places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also light enough that if you are having to lift your gear a few hundred metres from the car it won't be a problem, whereas the ones that run off the big canisters get quite heavy quite quickly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The top option you pictured - the single canister backpacking stove - is fine for camping on your own, but it does suffer when trying to cook for a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-02T10:03:11.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1915" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1920" CreationDate="2012-09-03T23:31:46.693" Score="24" ViewCount="10197" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why is it advised (here at Outdoors) to tie a bowline knot with its ending on the inside (&quot;Standard Bowline&quot;) and not at the outside (&quot;Cowboy Bowline&quot;)? See pictures below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're unlucky the end can get stuck, and you can't untie it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario: Tie a boat with a bowline knot around a pole. The end can get stuck between the line and the pole. With the wind pulling, forget the trip or cut it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I use different knots, but this is an official knot for tying a boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find a pic with a pole and have no camera, but imagine a pole in the loop (of the inside bowline) to the left of the end. Then the end can be in between the loop and pole. Then imagine a tremendous amount of weight pulling the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Figure: Left is a standard Bowline; right is a Cowboy Bowline (source: wikimedia.org):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Standard_bowline_vs_cowboy_bowline.svg&quot; alt=&quot;&amp;quot;Standard&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Cowboy&amp;quot; Bowline variants&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T11:02:59.270" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T11:02:59.270" Title="Bowline knot, end at the inside or outside?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1916" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-04T09:16:12.090" Score="9" ViewCount="955" Body="&lt;p&gt;As English isn't my first language, I don't know the English words for different knots. Any translator fails on this part too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone point me to a source?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit: Please also describe synonyms and who uses those. Backpackers or climbers may use different names than sailors.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2012-11-05T16:10:33.310" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T22:13:13.630" Title="What are different knots named in English?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1916" CreationDate="2012-09-04T09:17:54.087" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is better not to link to outside sources as they can disappear. Linking within SE would be safe(r).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bowline Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;[Example for displaying translations]&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Deustch (German) - Palstek&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hzYQt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bowline Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Overhand Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7s2G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Double Overhand Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Noose (or Hangman's Knot)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DIilc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Noose (or Hangman&amp;#39;s Knot)&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slip Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GhNZF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Slip Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Fisherman's Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v46pm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Double Fisherman&amp;#39;s Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fortified Square Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C8z3M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fortified Square Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Grapevine Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OMz3w.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Grapevine Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clove Hitch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AoDIp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Clove Hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prusik Knot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rOy2r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Prusik Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chain Sennit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FeREy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chain Sennit&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;sources: '&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/73/741&quot;&gt;What are good knots to know for camping and backpacking?&lt;/a&gt;'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user741" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user741" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2012-11-26T14:51:32.643" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1915" CreationDate="2012-09-04T09:56:44.593" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bowline is not recommended for tying a boat to a pole because it can work itself loose over time, or when bounced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, the recommendations are an anchor bend or a double bowline - and as an anchor bend can become impossibly tight over time, a double bowline might suit you best:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZI0lz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bowline&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In saying that, if you must use a bowline, having the end inside is more secure than outside as there is less chance of the free end catching on something and releasing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the bowline knot is thought to have been first mentioned in John Smith's 1627 work A Seaman's Grammar)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-09-05T09:05:35.123" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T09:05:35.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2012-09-04T11:11:44.440" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently broke stupidly my camping knife and had to purchase a new one. I am very satisfied with my purchase, so I'll list my priorities at the time of the purchase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Functions(sorted by priority, 1 means most important):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1. Table knife, fork, spoon (yup, you can eat soup with a knife ;p)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;2. Axe - heavy blade, that can cut down a branch the size of my arm in under 10 minutes&lt;br&gt;&#xA;3. Utility knife - cut ropes, shrub, band-aids, carve with it  ...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;4. Hammer&lt;br&gt;&#xA;5. Defense - dogs, people   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From those, derive required qualities (also sorted):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1. Cheap - no more than $10 - I don't want to cry every time that I abuse it&lt;br&gt;&#xA;2. Sharp steel - I do not dig steels, but on cheap knifes I have basically seen two types of steel - (a)soft shiny smooth not holding edge &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; and (b) hard, sharp, fragile susceptible to rust with straight parallel notches(from the grinding wheel). Needless to say, I look for (b).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;3. Full-tang&lt;br&gt;&#xA;4. Sturdy pommel - for hammering&lt;br&gt;&#xA;5. Sold with a sheath - so that it can be carried easily and safely on a belt or in the backpack (or, as my girlfriend discovered - very conveniently tied to the shoulder strap of the backpack).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;6. Plain - if I am going to abuse it, I am going to resharpen it often. I hate sharpening serrations.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;7. Heavy - for chopping. Furthermore, this makes the knife able to withstand abuse&lt;br&gt;&#xA;8. Cool looking (yeah ;P)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe add a picture when I get home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2012-09-04T11:11:44.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1915" CreationDate="2012-09-04T18:05:14.793" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0385040253&quot;&gt;The Ashley Book of Knots&lt;/a&gt; (published 1944) references the outside bowline as &quot;inferior&quot; but just says weakness nothing specific. In America the &quot;outside&quot; bowline is often called the &quot;Dutch&quot; bowline or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_bowline&quot;&gt;Cowboy Bowline&lt;/a&gt;. So since, you ask, why is the bowline on Outdoor Stack Exchange tied with the end on the inside? because that is the classic bowline. End on the outside is a variant, like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bowline&quot;&gt;Double Bowline&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_bowline&quot;&gt;Water bowline&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_bowline&quot;&gt;Yosemite Bowline&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline_on_a_bight&quot;&gt;Bowline on a Bight&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_bowline&quot;&gt;Spanish Bowline&lt;/a&gt;, or any of several others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general problem with the Dutch bowline is if something grabs, pulls or catches the tail end while its on the outside the knot will come undone easier. Under a shifting load with nothing snagging the end, it will last roughly half as long. Also, the Dutch Bowline is prone to capsizing (basically coming undone) if the dangling outside end is pulled the wrong direction, again it could just snag on something while the knot itself is pulled in another direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note, all of the above are arguments given by others. None of this has really been substantiated, but people will swear by it. I agree that there are several better knots to use in the example given, but addressing that wouldn't answer your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line:&lt;/strong&gt; The end outside is not a regular bowline. Ask a question here on how to tie a cowboy bowline or Dutch Bowline and you will get instructions with the end on the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-09-07T19:09:55.887" LastActivityDate="2012-09-07T19:09:55.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1921" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1923" CreationDate="2012-09-05T05:14:52.203" Score="19" ViewCount="3512" Body="&lt;p&gt;While kayaking or swimming out in the open waters, it is quite important to be able to judge distances accurately before attempting to get from one point to another, such as from island to island. Without a map, a GPS and a good geographical knowledge of the area, it can be quite a daunting aspect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With no landmarks in between to serve as a gauge, is there a method to judge distances with a fair degree of accuracy, for example from one spot to a desolated island in a distance? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When would one consider it to be too far to make an attempt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="722" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2020-04-24T13:34:28.313" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T13:34:28.313" Title="How to estimate distances while at sea?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1921" CreationDate="2012-09-05T09:11:46.757" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have two questions there. I will try to answer both:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Triangulation - if you can reasonably accurately pace out a 100 metre baseline and can estimate angles to within a few degrees then a rough estimate of distance is possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/vt-2004/Background/Infol2/EIS-G4.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eso.org&lt;/a&gt; - in reality it is much easier than this as you can use very rough estimations to make the calculations easier:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SEdX8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;example of triangulation&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Measure of distance by triangulation &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We wish to measure the distance CH between a building C and a road ABH that lies along the north-south direction in which an observer is travelling. The observer can measure only angles or distances along the road. From the position A, the observer measures an angle of azimuth 30° between the building C and the South direction; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;from a position B located one kilometre further along the road, the observer measures an azimuth 45°. To calculate CH, it is sufficient to solve the triangle ABC in order to calculate the CH distance knowing the two angles in A and B and the length of the baseline AB. We apply one of the relationships between angles and sides in a triangle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a/sin(A) = B/sin(B) = C/sin(C), where (A), (B), (C) are the angles A, B, C of the triangle ABC. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So we have: a/sin(30°) = 1 km/sin(C) where (C) = 180° - ((A)+(B)) = 180° -165° = 15°, and therefore &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a = sin(30°)/sin(15°. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But CH = a.sin(B) = sin(45°), and therefore &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;CH = 1366 m &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) How good a swimmer are you, how cold is the water, and how strong is the tide?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold water even a strong swimmer can find it difficult to make any distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try measuring the tide by throwing a small object out into the water and watching it over 10 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In waters around the UK, swimming a kilometre is probably not an issue for a strong swimmer - if the water is calm and the tide is slack. Before setting off try and line up two objects on the far shore so you can assess how much the tide is pushing you off course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T09:11:46.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1921" CreationDate="2012-09-05T12:28:45.213" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;On water, you can use the curvature of the earth to help you, and change your height instead of moving. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boatsafe.com/calculate-distance-horizon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boat Safe&lt;/a&gt; web site, the formula for how far away the visible horizon is over water (in other words, how far you can see) is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1.17 * sqrt(eye height in feet) = (distance in miles)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-the-Distance-to-the-Horizon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikihow&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;sqrt (1.5 * eye height in feet) = (distance in miles)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can't both be right, because the sqrt(1.5) is 1.22. But they're pretty close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So by standing in your boat, getting your eye 5 feet above the water, you can see 2.6 or 2.7 miles. Sitting down, your eye might be 3 feet above the water, and you can see 2.0 or 2.1 miles. If you can actually see where the water meets that island you're thinking of swimming or paddling to, it is less than that distance away. Using binoculars or your camera's zoom to confirm you are seeing the beach and not some trees above the horizon would probably be smart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T21:51:45.147" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T21:51:45.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1924" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5352" CreationDate="2012-09-05T13:14:26.510" Score="14" ViewCount="4256" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to make a spear with a fixed blade to prevent breaking as described by Vorac in his comment &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/364/127&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T23:33:42.757" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T23:33:42.757" Title="How do you fashion a spear with a fixed blade" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;spears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1591" CreationDate="2012-09-05T14:52:00.597" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My gut reaction is this - it's a can full of human waste, it's &lt;em&gt;going&lt;/em&gt; to smell whatever you do with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wonder whether you might be going down the wrong kind of route with things such as bleach etc. - such chemicals may do more harm than good if they kill the micro-organisms that break down the waste. It may sound silly, I would try something like a composter material that should hopefully encourage the organisms that break the waste down over time. It's not going to make it smell great at all straight away, but may well make it stink a lot less later on after it's broken down, allowing you to more easily dispose of it on site (or take it back with you more comfortably.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T14:52:00.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1928" CreationDate="2012-09-05T16:53:43.410" Score="12" ViewCount="246" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there specific seasons or temperatures that increase the likelihood that a hiker would encounter a snake? I go backpacking solo in the mid-Atlantic (US) and carry a snakebite kit as an extra precaution. But I'm considering whether I can lighten the load by not carrying it when snakes are dormant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T19:41:10.427" Title="When should you be alert for snakes?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="129" CreationDate="2012-09-05T18:18:14.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you looked into Assateague?  It's just south of Ocean City, Maryland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="755" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T18:18:14.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1926" CreationDate="2012-09-05T19:41:10.427" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in generally the same area of the country, mostly on the AT around NC and VA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes in this area will be most active during spring and fall months. Generally they will be more active in moderate temperatures. In extreme cold and extreme heat you'll see less snakes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the summer they will be more active in the early mornings and evenings. During the winter they will be more active during the peak heat of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally you should be aware of snakes after large rains, as flooding can push them out of their homes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I should note that there are many species of snakes in the region and they all have different tendencies, so there is no time of the year that is 100% safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T19:41:10.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-09-05T21:22:11.393" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also consider using the Grip Saver Plus from Metolius. It has the advantage of not only exercising your finger pressure, but the inverse. Witch from what I've heard from a physiotherapist is good thing. There were a theory behind that I don't remember well, but from what I remember the main idea is that you have to exercise the inverse of the tendon to gain strength in that tendon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/grip_saver_plus.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/grip_saver_plus.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="606" LastActivityDate="2012-09-05T21:22:11.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="498" CreationDate="2012-09-06T13:15:16.090" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there is lots of useful info out there but I recently watched &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.korduroy.tv/shows/surf-sufficient/dial-in-your-fins&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this short film&lt;/a&gt; on Korduroy tv on fin design that I found very informative. The film discusses the notion that changing your fin setup can significantly change the way your board performs e.g. a fin that is more vertical with more surface area than one that is swept-back will pivot more than the swept-back fin which push the board down the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thruster (3-fin setup) will anchor the tail down so that you feel the drive more than other fin setups. It also allows the surfer to work the fins from side-to-side to generate speed ('speed-pumps'). Quad fin will allow the surfer to get the board on the rail very easily whereas a five-fin setup can enhance the drive of the board. The example in the film shows a five-fin setup where the fifth fin (the one in the middle close to the tail) is a keel fin i.e. a very small one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following quote from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Curren&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tom Curren&lt;/a&gt; in issue 92 of The Surfer's Path gives a good overview of twin fins vs single fins. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;...the performances (of twin fins) ... there was no comparison with single fins. For more performance surfing, twin fins were definitely a lot faster. The problem is that they just didn't work as good backside, and that was always the problem.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some great examples of single fin surfing check out any videos you can find of Terry Fitzgerald or more recently his sons Joel and Kye &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/864LeGFQ2fk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="757" LastEditorUserId="757" LastEditDate="2012-09-06T19:04:14.087" LastActivityDate="2012-09-06T19:04:14.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2012-09-06T16:33:47.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about a multi-tool. I always carry a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leatherman.com/product/Wave&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Leatherman Wave&lt;/a&gt; with me. Besides the knife, it also has a serrated knife and a saw. It's small and easy to carry on the belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastActivityDate="2012-09-06T16:33:47.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2012-09-07T13:06:58.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that bait casters are more accurate, although with enough practice with a spinning reel you can be almost as good as a casting with a baitcaster.  Spinning reels will allow you to throw smaller and lighter lures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Casting and retrieving are best suited for baitcasters though.  Spinning reels work better for dead stick presentations, vertical jigging and live bait, if you ever fish live bait for bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="760" LastActivityDate="2012-09-07T13:06:58.540" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1186" CreationDate="2012-09-07T13:09:02.207" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dark worms in clear water, light colored worm in murky water.  I fish some very murkey waters where I end up using a worm with a chartruese tail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="760" LastActivityDate="2012-09-07T13:09:02.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1936" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-09T21:44:36.280" Score="7" ViewCount="780" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about to purchase a full 4.2oz/yd Spectra/Dyneema woven groundsheet (with no coatings) to use under an inflated raft with a 150lb person sleeping on top of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question: Is woven full spectra/dyneema fabric the best I can do to prevent sharp rocks and sticks from sticking through and puncturing the raft, or is there something else that would be better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:59:21.520" Title="Spectra/Dyneema groundsheet punctures" Tags="&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1937" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-09T22:35:32.300" Score="11" ViewCount="321" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a beginning fisher:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I, say, float a raft out into the middle of a lake, with several fishing lines/hooks/bait hanging into the lake, with the whole thing tethered to the shore by a long rope, and hope to catch some fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, can I put some baited hooks in the middle of the lake and walk away for a few hours and then pull the raft back with some caught fish, or will they have gotten away during that time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or is it necessary to cast line out from a pole with reel and start reeling in as soon as a fish starts tugging the line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2013-08-15T23:40:57.167" Title="Walk-away fishing" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1938" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-09T22:43:10.310" Score="22" ViewCount="1769" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a first-time knife buyer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I look for in an all-purpose, lightweight backpacking knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I aim to use it for cutting trail plants and fish. My top priority is a knife that doesn't need sharpening even if it's not used by the most skilled hands.  I am willing to spend $$$.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-04T14:48:11.277" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T21:46:18.377" Title="Buying a Backpacking Knife" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1940" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-09T23:01:30.990" Score="8" ViewCount="610" Body="&lt;p&gt;My white full Dyneema backpack is old and dirty and stained.  How do I clean it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I wash it in chlorine bleach or some other fabric bleaching chemical? If so, how?&#xA;Even if the bleaching agent does not damage the fabric, is there a chance it could damaged seams and stitching?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T15:24:56.620" Title="Bleaching Dyneema/Spectra" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1900" CreationDate="2012-09-09T23:08:53.973" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to what David mentioned, their are area specific concerns and, specific ways to check bolts in those areas. Most of the time the generic advice will be useful, but please make sure you speak with climbers familiar with the area you're going to understand about possible bolting problem. Also climbing guides usually contain this information, but not always. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A perfect example of this is Thailand, where bolts corrode badly even when they look perfectly fine outside. To make matters worse you can find two bolts next to each other, a matte Titanium bolt and a shiny steel bolt. First instinct is to clip the shiny bolt, while Titanium bolts are the new ones that won't corrode. Also the type of glue used is important is a way to identify better bolts. You  might not go to Thailand, but I mention this just to make it clear that it's important to go beyond the generic advice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information about Thailand's bolting problems go to &lt;a href=&quot;http://thaitaniumproject.com/&quot;&gt;http://thaitaniumproject.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="763" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-09-27T18:02:24.080" LastActivityDate="2012-09-27T18:02:24.080" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1942" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2974" CreationDate="2012-09-10T01:51:12.977" Score="25" ViewCount="8075" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of a single rope that it's safe to take long lead falls, but also light to carry around. I weight 75 kg and I might climb with heavier partners (80-90 kg)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="763" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:20:48.107" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:20:48.107" Title="Ideal and Minimal Rope Diameter for Lead Climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1942" CreationDate="2012-09-10T11:17:45.943" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/buying-guide/buyingguideclimbingrope.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;abc of rock climbing website&lt;/a&gt; has a useful article when choosing ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diameter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope diameters range from 7.5mm to 11mm. In general, a&#xA;thicker diameter means a stronger and more durable rope, but it is&#xA;also heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, you will be on the safe side with a rope diameter&#xA;between 10mm and 11mm. These ropes are appropriate for rock, ice and&#xA;glacier travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes with a diameter lower than 9mm are used in pairs and clipped to&#xA;separate protection pieces to reduce rope drag on circuitous routes.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;These ropes should not be used singly!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightweight, 9mm single ropes are used for simple glacier travel but&#xA;are too thin for holding falls on vertical rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 10mm 70m rope and a 10.5mm 50m rope - the longer one is heavier, but the slightly thinner diameter means it isn't too unwieldy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-09-10T11:17:45.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1937" CreationDate="2012-09-10T15:45:48.547" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few techniques that amount to just this.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotline&quot;&gt;Trotline&lt;/a&gt;  are essentially long lines with multiple baited hooks on them.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/stringers-trot-lines-yo-yo-automatic-fishing-reels-3.shtml&quot;&gt;YoYos&lt;/a&gt; are spring-activated contraptions that  you set out and do the job of setting the hook.  Finally, jug fishing involves tying line to a jug or large float.   In general, these techniques are used mainly for catfish, though crappie, stripped bass, and other species can be had on them as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth noting that these may be frowned upon by some sport fishermen since trotlines especially can foul casting gear.  Generally these are not something you would do if you &quot;fish for fun&quot;, since part of the fun is the technique of presenting bait to the fish and battling it in.  If fishing for food, they can be productive techniques. Note these may not be legal or may have certain seasons and restrictions in some states or areas.  Check local regulations, which often mention these techniques by name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="764" LastActivityDate="2012-09-10T15:45:48.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2012-09-10T17:02:39.000" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of ways to reduce heat loss:&#xA;Wear a hat scarf and gloves as these keep the most important parts of your body warm.&#xA;Wear warm knickers (even if you're a guy). You can get fleecy knickers but not fleecy pants. &#xA;Also, you can huddle, like penguins as it reduces your surface area and conserves bodyheat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="765" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-12T18:52:47.320" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T18:52:47.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1942" CreationDate="2012-09-10T20:17:15.697" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;What Rory Alsop posted is great info that is &quot;internet safe&quot; and a great rule of thumb. Many companies, however, will rate their ropes down to 9mm as single rope safe. In areas where rope protectors are often used, climbers safely go down to 8mm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I regularly climb with a Mammut Infinity 9.5mm. Compare that to Petzl Xion 10.1mm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                      Mammut / Petzl&#xA;Diameter:             9.5mm  / 10.1mm&#xA;Weight:               58g/m  / 66g/m (grams per meter)&#xA;Impact force:         8.7Kn  / 8.2 Kn&#xA;UIAA number of Falls: 8-9    / 7&#xA;Dynamic elongation:   30%    / 33.6%&#xA;Static Elongation:    6.8%   / 6.7%&#xA;MSRP for 60m:         240    / 200  (USD)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now with good reason the 60m length Mammut costs about 40 USD more, but you get the picture. For 20 USD more than the Mammut Infinity you can get the Mammut Serenity 8.9mm which has similar stats with even less weight (it brags to be the &quot;lightest single rope in the world&quot;) and diameter. As a rule of thumb I would stick to 10mm and above but there are definitely exceptions, and anything rated by the manufacturer as a single rope should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-11T15:53:58.290" LastActivityDate="2012-09-11T15:53:58.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2012-09-11T01:11:30.557" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been bouldering outdoors for a couple years now and let me ask you this question in return:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why wear socks in your climbing shoes?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the possible benefit to wearing socks? Try it.&#xA;Your shoes will still stink, I guarantee. Your feet run the risk of slipping around in your climbing shoes. And if you buy tight, aggressive shoes, the fit will go all weird if you put on a pair of socks. It's your call, try it. But I don't see any benefits to wearing socks (while climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: Unless you are using rental shoes. Then wearing socks helps protect you from getting athlete's foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2014-03-18T15:23:38.030" LastActivityDate="2014-03-18T15:23:38.030" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1948" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1949" CreationDate="2012-09-11T12:30:23.040" Score="14" ViewCount="993" Body="&lt;p&gt;I answered a question about rope safety with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/399/78&quot;&gt;some advice about retiring the rope&lt;/a&gt; after a &quot;major&quot; fall. Another user asked me what would constitute a major fall - and I have to admit that I can only give a gut feeling about this, not any properly referenced answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd be wary of a rope that took a significant fall of more than several metres, and a number of shorter drops - but is there some more definitive answer? Perhaps manufacturers advise on how much strain their ropes could take before retirement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="78" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-09-16T14:01:32.990" Title="How big a fall is a &quot;major&quot; fall?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1948" CreationDate="2012-09-11T12:58:25.933" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Perhaps manufacturers advise on how much strain their ropes could take before retirement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yup, they do. The rating is given in terms of UIAA falls, which are pretty &quot;major&quot; falls. A UIAA fall is one with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt; of 1.77 and the weight is 80kg - or typically a pretty big fall with a pretty big guy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This related question may also provide some information: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/508/climbing-rope-is-rated-to-x-uiaa-falls-what-is-a-uiaa-fall&quot;&gt;Climbing rope is rated to X UIAA falls. What is a UIAA fall?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-09-11T12:58:25.933" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1962" CreationDate="2012-09-12T14:01:54.070" Score="15" ViewCount="2257" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question was borrowed from a comment &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1947/527&quot;&gt;on this question.&lt;/a&gt; But what is meant by an &quot;aggressive&quot; climbing shoe? What is the difference in a non-aggressive shoe? And when would you use one over the other? Please use pics, I am a visual person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:52:09.220" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T10:29:57.003" Title="What are &quot;Aggressive&quot; climbing Shoes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1951" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1955" CreationDate="2012-09-12T15:01:21.243" Score="12" ViewCount="3110" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have several used gear shops locally, which also sell climbing shoes.  I'm looking to start climbing and I am considering buying used shoes to save cost.  Is it ever safe to buy used shoes, and if so, what would indicate that a pair is no longer &quot;safe&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T02:19:37.407" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T02:19:37.407" Title="Are used climbing shoes safe?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1952" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2998" CreationDate="2012-09-12T15:15:49.407" Score="10" ViewCount="2213" Body="&lt;p&gt;When choosing a water bottle for hiking, a very distinct choice I can make (amongst all the other types of materials and hardiness, size and so on) is weighing up whether to purchase a &quot;hard&quot; plastic bottle, or one made from a softer material that can be squashed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages of each, and why might I choose one over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:32:54.720" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:32:54.720" Title="Soft or hard drinking bottle?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1953" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1958" CreationDate="2012-09-12T15:20:26.013" Score="10" ViewCount="206" Body="&lt;p&gt;When walking alongside eroding cliffs in more built up / touristy areas, there's usually big warning signs or closed paths if the cliff is unsafe to walk on. Sometimes it's obvious why, if the path is very close to the sea or has disappeared altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If walking in a more rural place though, it's likely that the cliff isn't inspected regularly and therefore such signs don't necessarily exist. What should I look out for, if anything aside from the obvious (big cracks, paths perilously close to the edge) to determine if such a path is relatively safe to walk on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:32:50.167" Title="How to choose a safe cliff path" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1837" CreationDate="2012-09-12T15:27:15.227" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used these once before but I do not have them any more to take my own pics with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EaQja.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Arrow points are part to pull&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The arrow points at the part of the rope you should pull. Pull it out until you have a big loop. Place the loop around your post or stake in the ground. Slide the Black piece of plastic up the rope until it is tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next try to turn the black piece of plastic perpendicular to the rope that goes to the tent. During this step the actual rope touching the peg/stake should shift slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rope is tight enough the black plastic will put a bit of a bend in the rope and hold tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-09-12T16:17:18.143" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T16:17:18.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1951" CreationDate="2012-09-12T16:10:36.263" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Safe? Yes. As in your life usually doesn't depend on them. Safe, as in a safe buy? Also yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking at used climbing shoes it really helps if you take someone along who knows what to look for and/or knows the shoes themselves. If you know what they look like new then you know what they should look like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, check the seams and make sure they aren't coming apart. Especially the seam around the thickest part of rubber on the soles. If it looks like it starting to pull away at all stay away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check the rubber on the bottom. If it has deep gouges or long cuts in it, then the previous owner probably didn't take care of them and might have even hiked in them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often times you can find shoes in nearly new condition this way. Plenty of people make the mistake of buying everything and finding out they don't like rock-climbing, or picking shoes like they would any other shoes and have to bring them back because they don't fit right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would highly recommend you try to find somewhere to rent the shoes and try them out first. Or go to an indoor gym and try them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the fit, they should be sock tight (which is why I don't wear socks with them). Your first time wearing them, your feet should be in pain after climbing in them for an hour or two. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your first pair I recommend a mostly flat sole, for &quot;all-around&quot; use. They usually do alright in any situation and they are often times cheapest (not always). As you get more experience you will learn what you need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T16:10:36.263" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1951" CreationDate="2012-09-12T16:46:16.953" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't buy used safety equipment (ropes, harnesses, carabiners, etc) because you don't know if the previous owner handled them properly (maybe they splashed bleach on the rope?).  But shoes aren't really considered &quot;safety related&quot; - if the shoes did fail in a climb, it would be no different than having your foot pop off because of bad footwork.  Which happens frequently, and is something you should assume might happen - that's why you have a rope and harness that you trust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T16:46:16.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1957" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1959" CreationDate="2012-09-12T16:48:26.810" Score="13" ViewCount="1894" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I know &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/245/527&quot;&gt;How to treat hypothermia.&lt;/a&gt; That question and answer, however, do not address the old recommendation I have heard a 100 times of strip them down and get in a sleeping bag with them. Is that preferable, or is it better to just wrap them up alone? Assuming all their clothes are wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-03-11T08:00:07.397" Title="Preferred way to wrap someone with Hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1953" CreationDate="2012-09-12T17:18:20.243" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess you should check also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The hardness of the rock:  Some rock tend to be harder than other and thus endure much more stress without eroding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much the cliff is exposed to waves?  How far is the sea or the ocean from the cliff?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the rock lying on a more volatile material like sand?  Since sand is very volatile, it will not bound with the rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How is water drained out of the cliff?  Is the cliff evacuating all the rain water in an effective way or retaining in a or several underground basin?  If so the accumulated water might be pushing the rocks.  This criterion is very tricky to check.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:32:50.167" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:32:50.167" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-09-12T17:23:33.180" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1957" CreationDate="2012-09-12T21:34:34.247" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could do a lot worse than strip them and get in a sleeping bag with them, and indeed this &lt;em&gt;used&lt;/em&gt; to be instructed as standard first aid for hypothermia. However, as far as I'm aware this has now changed and the recommended approach is to construct a 1 person thermal burrito / hyper-wrap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's done as follows (content taken from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://alpineinstitute.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/burrito-hypothermia-wrap.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alpine institute blog&lt;/a&gt;!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Lay out a tarp on the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Place 1 or 2 pads down on top of the tarp. Two pads are always better than one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stack three sleeping bags on top of the pads.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Place the victim inside the sleeping bag in the middle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wrap the victim in the tarp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Provide the victim with hot water bottles. These should be placed under the arms and at the crotch. Additional bottles may be held or placed at the victim's feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hIMgr.png&quot; alt=&quot;1 person burrito wrap&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would add that as well as hot water bottles, reusable thermal heat pads can also be used - the more warm things (but obviously not scalding hot) you can find to provide heat to the body, the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-09-12T21:34:34.247" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1960" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1968" CreationDate="2012-09-13T01:01:30.513" Score="13" ViewCount="2667" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I find myself caught in a sand storm, what should I do? Should I sit it out, or try to keep moving somehow? Can this depend on the severity of the sand storm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T04:38:11.270" Title="What should I do if caught in a sand storm?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1961" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-13T03:18:40.907" Score="16" ViewCount="3731" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an episode in the tv series &quot;I shouldn't be alive&quot;, crew members of a yacht racing team got caught in a violent storm and found themselves stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after their boat capsized. Drifting for two three days, they spotted an oil rig in a distance and decided to swim towards it. However, the ocean current that brought them near also carried them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume that the oil rig is of a distance 5km away and within the reach of an average strong swimmer under calm water condition. If the current speed is significant but not more than half the swimmer's average speed, there is a fair chance of reaching the rig provided that the swimmer is able to judge the current speed and direction and set his course in a direction such that the resultant path forms a straight line between his initial position and the rig itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mathematically speaking, the resultant velocity (speed and direction) is the trigonometric sum of two velocity components: the current velocity and the swimmer's velocity. So my question is, how can a swimmer estimate the current velocity while floating in the sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="722" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-14T10:54:05.407" LastActivityDate="2020-04-14T10:54:05.407" Title="How to estimate current speed and direction while swimming at sea?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1950" CreationDate="2012-09-13T14:33:47.640" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aggressive Climbing shoes are often also referred to as Cambered. The Arch of the foot and/or the toe point downward. Non-aggressive shoes have a flat bottom. Images compliments of rei.com.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people will use the term aggressive to mean tighter as well, but I have seen that to be less common. You want your shoes to be crazy tight, regardless of their shape. Also, the more aggressive the shoe, usually the longer break in period and the more painful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This shoe is tilted but you can see the bottom is pretty flat. It is &quot;non-aggressive&quot;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x4wBc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flat Shoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This shoe is definitely not flat. It is &quot;Aggressive&quot;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NfiU4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NfiU4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aggressive&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/media/dd/bb8d2f3c-d206-46c1-825d-180d9100ab15.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rei.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So visually that is the difference. An aggressive show can have a down turned sole like the one in the pic or it could just have a down pointed toe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your Mileage may vary, but I have found the below to be true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flat Sole:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The basis against which all others are judged. &#xA;Not really bad at anything.&#xA;Good for smearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down turned Sole:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Better for overhangs and roofs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flat Toe:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Better for foot and toe jams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down pointed Toe:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Good for Front pointing and Pocket Pulling as well as overhangs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T10:29:57.003" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T10:29:57.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="1963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1951" CreationDate="2012-09-13T16:49:51.377" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your life will not be at risk from used shoes. No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you will run a serious risk of getting athlete's foot. This happened to me and it took six months to get rid of. Beware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2012-09-13T16:49:51.377" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1961" CreationDate="2012-09-13T18:49:22.253" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically, if you are out in the open ocean and do not have a GPS device you don't have any useful way to measure velocity*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may not be a problem though, as what you are wanting is not your velocity, but an indication that you are heading in a straight line to the destination (if we assume a constant current)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do this, what you need is something to allow you to measure parallax - in this case the obvious would be a front leg and a back leg of the oil rig. When you first start swimming, check frequently to see if you are moving left or right with respect to your target. Correct your angle by 10 degrees in the opposite direction to your perceived drift (left or right) and keep swimming. You want to reduce the side drift to zero - as this will indicate you are moving directly towards your target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you have varying current, for example between two islands, you would use a different tactic as the current would be strongest mid-channel so you would have to point higher in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*If you are out for many days and have an accurate chronometer, you can get a reasonable idea as to your longitude, but that seems out of scope for this question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-09-15T09:49:05.213" LastActivityDate="2012-09-15T09:49:05.213" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1948" CreationDate="2012-09-13T21:17:57.357" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several factors you should considering when judging the severity of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important is the &lt;strong&gt;fall factor&lt;/strong&gt;.  That's the distance of the fall (where the climbers started minus where they ended up) divided by the amount of rope between the climber and belayer.  In most climbing situations, fall factors are relatively small.  A fall factor of 1.0 or above would start to worry me, and the UIAA fall factor of 1.77 is the metric by which your rope is rated (some number of UIAA falls).  Wikipedia has a very good description of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot;&gt;fall factors&lt;/a&gt; if you're looking for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second factor you should consider is &lt;strong&gt;rope abrasion&lt;/strong&gt;.  As the climber falls, the rope stretches a lot, and the rope also rubs against whatever it was resting on (including carabiners, rock, trees, etc...).  If the rope were rubbing against a sharp rock, a worn carabiner with nicks, or something else that is sharp, you might end up with a rope which has physical damage.  This damage will occur primarily in the sheath, and can lead to a core shot in the rope.  If the rope is damaged during a fall, then it is time to retire it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing to notice is that the fall &lt;em&gt;distance&lt;/em&gt; has no impact on the severity of the fall.  You can take huge whippers all you want, if enough rope is out (low fall factor) and the rope isn't rubbing on anything sharp (no abrasion) then the fall is safe for the rope (though you might decrease its life span, but that's another discussion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-09-13T21:17:57.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1966" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="1967" CreationDate="2012-09-14T06:40:02.223" Score="12" ViewCount="415" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best way for a trekking group of two to sleep in deep snow (meter or more). What equipment is to be brought? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preferably, the technique should work on shallow snow and plain frozen ground as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google results:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/646/how-do-you-make-a-snow-shelter&quot;&gt;Build a snow shelter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigskyfishing.com/camping-products/tents-four-season.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carry a 4-season tent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T02:03:55.270" Title="Best approach to camping in snow?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1966" CreationDate="2012-09-14T13:38:52.403" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best&lt;/strong&gt; is of course subjective, but overall, given your question and caveats, I would say a good solid winter tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To elaborate on the alternatives, if you have an assured amount of snow, then you can attempt some form of snow shelter.  Building an actual igloo takes quite a bit of practice.  Building a snow &lt;em&gt;cave&lt;/em&gt; on the other hand is not that difficult, but does need quite a pile of snow of the right texture.  Given that you want this method to work on &lt;em&gt;plain frozen ground&lt;/em&gt; then any kind of snow shelter is likely out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other temporary shelters, like lean-tos also largely depend upon the surrounding area for building materials.  If you are in more open country, you may well lack the requisite branches/trees, in order to make this work.  Also depending on where you camp, you might get in trouble for stripping live branches for your shelter, or to sleep on, so know your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, therefore, a good solid winter-rated tent is probably your best bet.  You'll know you have it with you, and even if you want to try out a snow shelter or other variation for one night, you'll have the tent to fall back on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2012-09-14T13:38:52.403" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1960" CreationDate="2012-09-14T15:19:26.083" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sandstorms (or, here in the southwestern part of the US, dust storms) impair the ability to see and breath. The winds also carry heavier debris. Because the storms often occur when it is hot, the wind can contribute to dehydration. The reverse is also true--cold, winter dust storms occur in some places, and hypothermia can become an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, most of the time, there is advance warning. Even if you don't hear the alert, you can see the wall of sand or dust moving your way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't want to be moving around during the storm, the potential for reduced visibility is great. Even if you are wearing goggles, there's a chance you won't be able to see where you are going.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring your water canister and seek shelter--something sturdy. Even something that leaves you partially exposed will provide a degree of protection from sand/dust and debris.    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If shelter is not available, then a higher spot is often better than a lower simply because there is usually less particle density at the top of the storm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Move away from roads and freeways. In storms like this, drivers are advised to pull off the road, turn off their lights and keep their foot off the break. (Visibility can be so low that other drivers can't see the roadway. Terrible accidents occur because a driver mistook a car parked off the road with a car they thought was travelling on the road.)     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cover yourself--arms, legs, neck, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once you have yourself situated, then try to stay low to the ground and protect your head. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are related conditions of which you'll want to be aware. These storms are often accompanied by lightening and rain. Particularly in desert regions, the rain can cause flash flooding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked if the precautions can depend on the severity of the storm. Yes, the size and intensity of these storms vary greatly. When they are gathering steam, it's often not possible to distinguish the storm that has the potential to be more dangerous. Don't be misled, though--these storms are changeable and have the potential to become both fast moving and destructive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="772" LastEditorUserId="772" LastEditDate="2012-09-15T09:23:05.653" LastActivityDate="2012-09-15T09:23:05.653" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1938" CreationDate="2012-09-14T16:39:28.520" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of factors go into choosing a backpacking knife, but I will break it down into four categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cost&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;survival utility&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your surroundings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of high-quality knives out there in the 1-3 ounce range. The most experienced “ultra-lightweight backpacker” I know recommends the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004GUL6IA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spyderco Dragonfly&lt;/a&gt; ($50).  With only a 2-inch blade this knife won’t be much good at slashing your way through the jungle, but it will serve well for meals and light work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cKjRi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spyderco Dragonfly&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is what it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival Utility&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are stranded in the wild, a good knife might mean the difference between life and death. As such, backpackers frequently use “survival knives”. Survival knives might come with a lot of extra features (a compass, bandages, you name it), but I think two features are the most important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The whistle.&lt;/strong&gt; It might help scare away bears or coyotes, but this is primarily an emergency whistle. Imagine you have fallen and broken both your legs. Do you want to scream for help for hours on end? No. This will work better and be far less taxing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The flint.&lt;/strong&gt; If you’re stuck in the wild, fire is key.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The survival blade I like best is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0001WC6MW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tool Logic SL3&lt;/a&gt; ($20). This only has a 3-inch blade, but it weighs 2-ounces and I find it to be the best compromise between utility and weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CqoCa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tool Logic SL3&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your plans depends more heavily on your knife, you will have to accept a little extra weight for a longer blade. Your best bet there will be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003R0LSMO&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gerber Bear Grylls-model survival knife&lt;/a&gt; ($40 and 11 ounces). Whistle and fire starter are built into the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NDlUX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gerber Bear Grylls knife&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your Surroundings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, the knife you need depends on where you are going and what your plan is. If you are going to be slugging through deep jungle, get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B008FM04TW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;machete&lt;/a&gt;. If you’re going to be fishing, maybe you need a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swissarmy.com/us/content/swissarmy/category/1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swiss Army knife&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leatherman.com/family/multi-tools/Full-size_Tools&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leatherman&lt;/a&gt;. Maybe all you need is &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004GUL6IA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a small, light knife&lt;/a&gt; to cut open your dried food packages. A knife can be a useful tool if you plan ahead, but the most important thing is that you have a plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A final note on materials&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; get a stainless steel knife. A knife made of 440 steel will be lighter and sharper. But a knife made of 1080 (or higher) steel is meant for more heavy-duty work and will keep its edge longer. Whatever the material is, all knives need to be sharpened eventually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T03:30:03.513" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T03:30:03.513" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1591" CreationDate="2012-09-14T17:06:55.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reliance makes &lt;a href=&quot;http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_CH%20T006_A_name_E_Reliance+Double+Doodie+Toilet+Waste+Bags+with+Bio-Gel+%28box+of+6%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double Doodie Toilet Waste Bags with Bio-Gel&lt;/a&gt;.  Each bag has an inner waste bag and also an outer sealable, leakproof bag. The Bio-Gel inside the bag reduces odors and solidifies the waste into a gel. Works well with most portable toilets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="773" LastActivityDate="2012-09-14T17:06:55.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1952" CreationDate="2012-09-15T13:50:42.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I look at soft plastic drinking bottles as a great but slightly risky way to trim weight. Soft plastic should always be lighter than hard plastic, even if the difference is minor. The same applies to thin metal bottles which have the same benefits as hard plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk is in the ability of the soft plastic to either puncture or explode under pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To balance this risk/reward I actually tend to bring both. I have a soft plastic bottle that is in a pocket on the outside of my pack, easy to grab while hiking. Then I keep a second hard plastic bottle in my pack as backup drinking water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way if I take a hard fall, and the soft plastic bottle gets damaged, I still have one unbroken bottle for water. Also, for the same reasons, I carry a plastic water bladder to use in campsites so I can store large amounts of water but have less to carry when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also should note, I didn't mention how big the bottles are since everyone hikes with different amounts of water in different places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-09-15T13:50:42.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1972" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2989" CreationDate="2012-09-15T14:12:13.130" Score="11" ViewCount="21664" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I understand it, water purification tablets (Chlorine, in this case) are just chemical tablets sealed in foil. So what causes them to expire? Are they still safe to use after their expiration date?  That is, will they be dangerous or will they just not be as effective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2012-09-17T19:46:19.450" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T01:07:17.730" Title="Is it safe to use water purification tablets after their expiration date?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="1973" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-15T18:04:11.097" Score="6" ViewCount="1371" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shenandoah National Park allows alcohol, but it's a bit far from me for a one-night getaway with family.  Do you know of a list of camp sites in Northern VA which allow alcohol?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="775" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:36:38.000" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:36:38.000" Title="Campsites in Virginia which allow alcohol?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2012-09-27T17:57:35.457" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2973" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2981" CreationDate="2012-09-16T14:43:02.787" Score="7" ViewCount="1067" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking for a rain pants for myself.&#xA;My attention was caught by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/or-gear/pants/mens-paladin-pants.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Research Paladin Pants&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;These have side zips which are really great.&#xA;The problem is: it comes in regular fit only and I'm 183 cm (6 feet) and weigh only 65 kg (143 pounds). I simply don't fit in their size table. It is either too short or too ample at waistline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: is there a manufacturer that makes those kind of pants for people of my proportions? Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="186" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:45:54.147" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:45:54.147" Title="Rain pants for tall people" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1942" CreationDate="2012-09-16T15:17:03.410" Score="29" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Failure by cutting is a primary concern&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of safety (rather than e.g. rope life) laboratory (UIAA) fall testing may not be the most important concern.  Even a new, thick rope can be cut in a single fall across a sharp edge.  This also applies to so-called &quot;edge resistant&quot; (defunct UIAA 108 standard) ropes.  See this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/osYellowSpurRopeFailure.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellow Spur fatality report.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally a thicker rope is more cut resistant than a thin one of the same construction, though of course construction is very important.  Here is a test report primarily of static rope, but also an unnamed 11mm dynamic rope, 8mm cord, and 1&quot; tubular webbing:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/Qualifying_a_Rescue_Rope.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Qualifying a Rescue Rope by Tom Moyer&lt;/a&gt;.  (Of note is that the 1&quot; webbing is downright dangerous in its poor abrasion resistance, contrary to what has been stated elsewhere.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/howto/ropesystems.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double or Twin rope technique&lt;/a&gt; is believed to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic failure by cutting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Rope design is a compromise between fall and abrasion durability&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As described in: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/straight-from-the-mammoths-mouth-things-you-want-to-know-about-ropes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Straight From the Mammoth’s Mouth: Things You Want to Know About Ropes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do ropes have different thicknesses of sheath, and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... The answer would be that we try to look at who is using our&#xA;  ropes—a beginner climber who is toproping a lot vs. a sport climber&#xA;  who is falling a lot on very overhanging routes vs. a trad climber who&#xA;  is climbing lots of granite cracks vs an ice climber—and design ropes&#xA;  that will give them the highest level of utility combined with light&#xA;  weight and durability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For instance, a sport climber who is projecting hard routes is taking&#xA;  a zillion falls that are all relatively short—that puts a huge amount&#xA;  of stress on one very small section of rope, and the rope simply loses&#xA;  its elastic properties there and goes flat. Contrast that to the trad&#xA;  climber who is falling much, much less, but is usually on terrain that&#xA;  is less than vertical—this subjects the rope much more to abrasion of&#xA;  the sheath. Then there’s the ice and alpine climber who virtually&#xA;  never falls, but is routinely dragging the rope over sharp edges,&#xA;  blocky terrain, getting it wet and drying it, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... how climbers wear it out—if they wear it out from falling a lot,&#xA;  or if they wear it out from abrasion on rough rock. ... one of the&#xA;  differences in construction we use that reflects these design&#xA;  priorities is the relative thicknesses of the core vs the sheath — we&#xA;  can make two 10mm ropes, one having a thin core and thick sheath, and&#xA;  the other having a thick core and thin sheath. All other things being&#xA;  equal, the rope with the thick core and thin sheath will hold more&#xA;  falls before going flat, but wear faster from abrasion; and vice&#xA;  versa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... so we sacrifice the falls-held rating—which reflects to a large&#xA;  degree how long a rope will last under repeated hard falls—in order to&#xA;  build a rope that will be ultra-durable under very harsh abrasion&#xA;  conditions and will be more difficult to scrape through to the core.&#xA;  ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some of our ultra-thin single ropes like the Serenity 8.9mm have a&#xA;  relatively thin sheath because even with all the tricks we can muster&#xA;  we still need a certain amount of core in order to pass the UIAA test&#xA;  for a single rope—in this case we use a thinner sheath to achieve a&#xA;  very low weight and thin diameter, but we do thins knowing that this&#xA;  is a very specialized rope that is only appropriate under very&#xA;  specific circumstances. ...&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;People also need to recognize that even though these are single ropes,&#xA;  and even though the diameter is larger than our Genesis half ropes,&#xA;  under conditions where the main danger is cutting or abrasion the&#xA;  thicker rope might actually be LESS durable and have a lower safety&#xA;  margin.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Emphasis mine.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the manufacturer's stated sheath proportion for the Genesis and Serenity ropes described above the estimated cross-sections look like this (1:1 scale on a 100ppi display):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aLAdE.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mathematica graphics&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Climber's size is very important&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/508/133&quot;&gt;UIAA fall testing&lt;/a&gt; standard uses an 80kg mass for single ropes, and a 55kg mass for double (half) ropes.  From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=833631&amp;amp;tn=165&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Whitehorse Jeff&quot; on SuperTopo.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In answer to the oft repeated question:&quot; Why do they test half ropes&#xA;  singly with only 55kg&quot;, I was the American delegate (of the AAC) on&#xA;  the UIAA Safety Commission when the Half Rope Standard was put in&#xA;  place. Tests done at the time by Pit Schubert of the DAV (German&#xA;  Alpine Club) showed that any half rope that would withstand 5 UIAA&#xA;  test falls with a 55 kg test mass would also withstand one UIAA test&#xA;  fall with the 80kg mass. The argument presented to the members of the&#xA;  Commission at the time was that it would be impossible to get the&#xA;  lighter ropes which climbers (and guides ) wanted, to pass a harsher&#xA;  test, and that the real goal was to insure that a half rope would&#xA;  sustain at least one of the worst imaginable falls in the field, that&#xA;  being the fall represented by the UIAA single rope test. The repeated&#xA;  falls caught with the 55kg mass were accepted as the minimum&#xA;  repeatable test standard to insure this desired result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Jean-Franck Charlet UIAA SAFCOM President &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=833631&amp;amp;tn=0&amp;amp;mr=0#msg840270&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;as quoted by Francis Baker on SuperTopo.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The half ropes are for being used alternatively one strand in a runner&#xA;  and the other in the next runner. Therefore when falling the climber&#xA;  just fall on one strand, so the UIAA has considered that one strand of&#xA;  half rope must be able to withstand once the fall of a climber of 80&#xA;  kg in fall factor 2 . But doing just a test with one fall is not very&#xA;  convenient and reproducible so the UIAA has searched for which mass, 5&#xA;  falls are equivalent to 1 fall with 80 kg. The following formula has&#xA;  been found by experimentation :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;N x M^4 = Constant&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;where N is the number of falls withstand by the rope when a mass M is&#xA;  used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using this formula we find that withstanding 1 fall with 80 kg is&#xA;  equivalent to withstanding 5 falls with 55 kg . ( 1 x 80^4 = 5 x 55^4 )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the empirically determined formula we see that for survivability of the rope (and climber) in a fall weight matters in the extreme; a fourth degree exponential relationship.  Of course not every rope can be expected to rigidly follow this exact relationship but it was determined to be reliable enough to be the basis for a very important safety standard.  (See addendum.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Applying the formula: a rope that will survive five 80kg UIAA drop tests, the minimum single-rope standard, will probably only survive a single 105kg UIAA-type drop (&lt;code&gt;5 (80/105)^4 ~= 1.68&lt;/code&gt;) and might fail on the &lt;em&gt;first&lt;/em&gt; drop of a 120kg mass (&lt;code&gt;5 (80/120)^4 ~= 0.99&lt;/code&gt;).  The same rope may be anticipated to survive 22 55kg UIAA drops (&lt;code&gt;5 (80/55)^4 ~= 22.38&lt;/code&gt;).  Graphically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eChDL.png&quot; alt=&quot;Simulated UIAA drop equivalents&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This plot includes the minimum spec for each UIAA standard, as well two more robust samples each for the Single and Half types.  While the UIAA drop test includes a margin of safety via a rigid drop mass that exerts considerably greater impact force than a human body, &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-lab-retiring-old-ropes.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;old ropes lose a considerable portion of their strength&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be apparent that rope size should be matched to climber size.  This is not usually &quot;the way it's done&quot; but anything else goes against both empirical data and simple engineering principles.  Observe that the calculated margin of safety for a 100 kilogram climber on a burly 11mm rope with a 15-fall rating is about the same as that for a 60 kilogram climber leading on a single strand of mid-range (9 fall) &quot;Half&quot; rope.  This should not actually be a surprise but it probably comes as one to many anyway.  The strength of a given construction of rope is proportional to its cross-sectional area, and the area (or linear mass) of an 8.5mm Half rope is 60% that of an 11mm rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skinny single ropes which manage to pass or exceed the UIAA fall rating do so at the expense of abrasion and likely cut resistance, so &quot;there is no free lunch&quot; in this regard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are not reports of above-80kg-climbers routinely falling to their death as a result of rope breakage.  Surely this is partly because the UIAA single rope standard is practically quite high, but it is probably also because ropes are rarely tested with extreme falls.  For the paper &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/51/Hang_Em_High_Final.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hang 'Em High: How Far Can You Trust Your Belay Device?&lt;/a&gt; the authors conducted a survey of climber's weights and their biggest lifetime falls (results on pages 8 and 10).  According to it falls approaching factor 2 are rare, as are climbers above about 100kg.  As ropes continue to be manufactured thinner and thinner, if you or your partner is on the heavy side do you really want to be the test case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other end of the scale lightweight climbers are arguably climbing on greatly over-specified ropes much of the time.  Since Half ropes pass the same drop test as Single ropes, but with a 55kg rather than 80kg mass, such ropes appear to provide as much safety for a 55kg climber (including gear) as does a Single rope for an 80kg climber.  As stated at the beginning of this post fall rating is not the only concern, but it is unlikely that a Half rope is cut more easily by a 55kg climber than a Single is by an 80kg climber as the PSI (weight over area) is the same.  Further, as described by the Mammut representative (above) a robust Half rope like the Genesis has a much more burly sheath than a skinny single like the Serenity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Further examination of the relationship between mass and drops held&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the comments &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/651/davidr&quot;&gt;DavidR&lt;/a&gt; questioned the formula used to approximate the relationship between test mass and drops held.  Therefore I went searching for empirical data.  Unfortunately I do not have access to raw test data so I compiled a table of manufacturer ratings for every multi-certified dynamic rope that I could find.  Some ropes or data points were omitted because they were rated e.g. &quot;20+&quot; rather than a specific value.  Please be aware that to the best of my knowledge manufacturers are under no legal obligation to provide accurate drop test numbers; they are only required to meet the minimum standard, and the UIAA only provides a &quot;PASS&quot; rating to the public.  Here are the results:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1sqUD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the left is the name of the rope; the next two numbers are the drop mass (80: Single, 55: Half, 40: Twin), and the number on the right is the derived exponent required match the drop test numbers.  Triple-certified ropes have three pairings on the right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two things should be quickly apparent: there is wide variation in the figures, and none of them are as high as four.  Some of the variation may come from the manufacturers rounding figures e.g. a specification of &quot;Falls: 6 Half, 20 Twin&quot; instead of &quot;21 Twin&quot; etc., but I suspect a lot of the variation is real as well.  Since none of the derived exponents exceed four, I conjecture that &lt;strong&gt;4&lt;/strong&gt; in the formula given by Jean-Franck Charlet was arrived at as an upper bound; indeed this makes sense given the way it is used in the safety standard.  As a histogram the data looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FvTin.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mean is 2.97 with a SD of 0.55.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using an exponent of three the simulated drops chart looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5HZae.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that on this chart the UIAA Twin and Half standards are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; close.  While one &lt;em&gt;cannot&lt;/em&gt; assume that a Twin could pass the Half test, given the large extreme spread if nothing else, there is evidence that the two standards are in fact quite close: the skinny double-certified ropes themselves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://metoliusclimbing.com/monster_7-8mm_dynamic_rope.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metolius Monster&lt;/a&gt;: 38g/m, 6 / 16 falls  (same rope as Tendon Master)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.edelrid.de/en/Edelrid/Sports/Ropes/Apus-7-9-mm-oasis.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edelrid Apus&lt;/a&gt;: 42g/m, 8 / 20 falls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.pmirope.com/rope/dynamic-rope/81-verglas-60m&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PMI Verglas&lt;/a&gt;: 42.1g/m, 8 / 18 falls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Ropes/PASO-7-7-mm?l=US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Paso&lt;/a&gt;: 42g/m, 7 / 20 falls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bealplanet.com/2014/anglais/cordes-gully.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beal Gully&lt;/a&gt;: 36g/m, 6 / 13 falls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T03:21:01.667" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1972" CreationDate="2012-09-17T08:43:44.387" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you let them expire they may still work but they will probably be less effective. Considering how cheap they are and how long they last I replace mine before they expire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting sick sucks (and can be possibly fatal) from water born parasites. Don't take the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you wait for your car's brake shoes to fall off before you replace them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-09-17T08:43:44.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2977" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3674" CreationDate="2012-09-17T10:20:11.107" Score="16" ViewCount="1651" Body="&lt;p&gt;How should I set up a two-layer dome tent for 2/4 people in deep snow (waist height)? Do I need some additional equipment (snow shovel)? Insulation under the floor (further than the sleeping pads)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w02fAeIxHoM&quot;&gt;Anchor the tent in the snow, using plastic bags&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2012-09-17T16:33:00.547" LastActivityDate="2014-08-16T08:47:33.830" Title="How to set up a tent in deep snow" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2979" CreationDate="2012-09-17T10:23:38.310" Score="12" ViewCount="1558" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a two-layer dome tent, cheap and not particularly designed for winter. Do I need to ever worry that during a heavy snow downfall during the night that tent might be covered up with snow and I will suffocate? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To narrow that down, I worry that the tent walls will be covered, while the surrounding snow level remains below the ceiling level (of course if 2 meters of snow fall during the night, it will be covered, no question here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2012-09-17T16:33:16.817" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T21:27:00.673" Title="Do I need to worry about snow covering up my tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2978" CreationDate="2012-09-17T11:16:59.653" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you get that sort of snowfall, the correct safety procedures include clearing snow every couple of hours. Set your alarm and get out to clear snow - especially from the entrance, but all round if it looks like the tent will get covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tents used in the Antarctic are shaped like steep pyramids to help avoid the problem of snow buildup - dome tents are just too susceptible to this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-17T11:16:59.653" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2973" CreationDate="2012-09-17T11:58:07.417" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several size small 32-inch inseam rain pants &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?cat=40005464&amp;amp;cat=40004586&amp;amp;jxSize=S&amp;amp;hist=cat,40005464%3aMen%27s%20Pants%5Ecat,40004586%3aMen%27s%20Rain%20Pants%5EjxSize,S&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;listed on REI.com&lt;/a&gt; so that should at least get you close. If you prefer a 34-inch inseam the closest I have yet found is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/794212/rei-ultra-light-pants-mens-34-inseam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this REI pant&lt;/a&gt; in medium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You found the expensive Arc'Teryx Beta AR in the right size at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaingear.com/webstore//Clothing/Beta-AR-Pant-Men-s-Long-Length/_/R-220539.htm?voucherCode=98151&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountain Gear&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-09-17T14:00:27.077" LastActivityDate="2012-09-17T14:00:27.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2982" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2995" CreationDate="2012-09-17T13:10:38.933" Score="13" ViewCount="1429" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to make a wood fire that is good for cooking? Why is it better than others? Assume little to no wind. Would it make a difference if I cooking hot dogs on a stick or a steak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:45:28.490" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:45:28.490" Title="Cooking over a fire" Tags="&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2984" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3043" CreationDate="2012-09-17T18:21:23.613" Score="17" ViewCount="21707" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I built my survival shelter and I decide a nice fire would really warm things up. Is there a way I can build a fire that would heat the shelter without too much smoke? I know I could make the shelter better and warmer, and I would need to sit and stare at the fire making sure it didn't burn the shelter down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to build a fire to do this? Side note, I am assuming a typical low crawl in shelter, would there be a better one to use with fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T09:27:49.813" Title="Can I heat a shelter with fire?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2985" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="2994" CreationDate="2012-09-17T18:23:57.607" Score="12" ViewCount="860" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trying to get my weight down on longer backpacking trips. I have already taken to buying very strong soap and using very little, but I was wondering is there something I can replace the dish soap with that will still clean whatever I cooked in that can be made/scavenged in the wilderness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-09-17T18:43:00.580" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T22:00:35.643" Title="Can I replace Dish soap?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2986" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-09-17T18:28:48.973" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both personal and group hygiene is important when you depart from the structures of civilization and head outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:59:59.693" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:59:59.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2987" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-09-17T18:28:48.973" Score="0" Body="This tag is for the questions discussing Hygiene (personal as well as public) when being outdoors." OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:59:59.693" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:59:59.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1972" CreationDate="2012-09-18T01:07:17.730" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two common chemical options to water purification; chlorine and iodine. Both forms use some kind of expiration date.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The consensed quantity of the chemical slowly degrades. Some things like sunlight cause the degradation process to speed up, so these are usually packaged in foil (as in your case) or brown glass bottles. Different recipes and forms cause different degredation speeds, the people who have studied the numbers published the expiration date you are looking at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The expiration date is usually a safe date for the tablet when stored properly (temperature, moisture, sunlight, etc). That means you can probably go a few months past the date and not worry about anything. theoretically you could use larger quantities of tablets that are much older but that's dangerous territory and not very weight conscious. The reality is the tablets are cheap enough that whenever possible you should buy new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the kind of thing where the only people who play around with clean water are the ones who have never experienced the effects of dangerously unclean water in one way or another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T01:07:17.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2985" CreationDate="2012-09-18T03:30:22.900" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use Campsuds or something similar, don't bring household soap into the wilderness. The surfactants and phosphates in household soaps will cause more damage to the water supply than the biodegradable soaps like Campsuds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T03:30:22.900" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2977" CreationDate="2012-09-18T10:37:22.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A snow shovel will make your life a lot easier, yes - it gives you the option to dig out snow to use as a windbreak, and to lower the tent a little into the snow, reducing the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Digging down a little also lets you reach more packed snow, which makes it easier to provide a flat surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't need any extra insulation under the floor - although if temperatures are reasonably warm (not far under freezing) you may want to use a good groundsheet as you may melt some of the snow directly underneath you and you don't want that soaking in to the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T10:37:22.500" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2984" CreationDate="2012-09-18T10:44:57.377" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in extremely cold climes, setting a fire inside your shelter may be essential. Key issues are around getting enough oxygen in to it, and getting the smoke out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking these in reverse order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can keep smoke levels low by using dry wood or smokeless fuels, but if using a survival shelter these may not be an option, so you may be collecting wood that is damp. It will produce a lot of smoke, so you need to ensure you build a chimney - ideally out of something you can turn so the smoke exits downwind.&#xA;The higher you can make the chimney the better the draw of air through the shelter.&#xA;If your shelter has a roof of branches or leaves you may not need a chimney, but you will still want to have a section of roof that is higher than the rest, so most of the smoke will rise higher than your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Providing a way for air to get in to the base of your fire is essential - too little oxygen means your fire will be producing carbon monoxide, which is dangerous as you can't smell it and it can make you fall asleep and then suffocate. Typically a shelter made from branches will not have a problem here, but for a shelter dug into an earth bank or similar you need to make sure air can get to the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make your fire under the highest part of the shelter, and check whatever material is above it on a regular basis to ensure it isn't becoming dangerously dry and hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T10:44:57.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2985" CreationDate="2012-09-18T20:01:27.640" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A long time ago, before people had consistent access to Lye or any of the oils we use in soap now, they made it out of what they had on hand. A common one would be wood ash and rendered animal fat ( tallow ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehow.com/how_8014725_make-wood-ash-rendered-fat.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;guide on eHow&lt;/a&gt; on making said soap, but it appears to not only be time intensive ( rest time of over two months total ), but also involves hauling around a quart of tallow and your simple lye that the process generates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are likely simpler ways to do this that wouldn't take as long given the majority of the process is about waiting for the soap to cure in the mold into your desired shape. The recipe could also likely be greatly scaled down to reduce the needed materials to enough for your trip instead of a quantity of soap bars for home use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main problem I see here is that you would still need to bring your lye mixture with you even if you made use of camp fire ashes to bind it together, plus any environmental side effects of this soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You alternate to this is likely going to be elbow grease and steel wool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1777" LastActivityDate="2012-09-18T20:01:27.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2985" CreationDate="2012-09-18T20:08:00.327" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I do is carry a small microfiber cloth.  First I rinse my dishes, then I swish with a small amount of boiling water (usually left from our post dinner coffee), and wipe with the cloth.  Voila, clean dishes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry I missed the part about &quot;found in the wilderness&quot;.  Given that just skip the cloth and use the water ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another note.  If the above method will not clean your dishes, then you should first look to changing other things in your efforts to hike light.  Cooking when backpacking light should not involve any methods which require significant &quot;elbow&quot; grease when cleaning up.  The same goes for dishes.  We carry super light silicone bowls because they are the easiest for us to clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-19T10:36:49.090" LastActivityDate="2012-09-19T10:36:49.090" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2982" CreationDate="2012-09-19T13:15:07.510" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what you are cooking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you know your wood.  Some woods produce toxic fumes.  Others will produce a very unpleasant taste.  What woods to use is a topic of its own.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just roasting on a stick, that's all you need to know.  Just get a flame and roast.  However if you have other things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have space and a camp shovel, build a fire, and move coals to a cooking spot.  This way you can very precisely control heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a pan, you'll need a shelf.  Two thick parallel pieces of wood work, as do flat rocks.  With wood, I use 3&quot; diameter pieces that I have soaked in water.  If you use a flat rock, it needs to be dry, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; river rock, and not the kind that will explode. See &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/801/3362&quot;&gt;How to avoid exploding rocks&lt;/a&gt;&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are baking in foil, it's best to dig a hole just by the fire and rake coals over it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are baking in a pan, you &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to have the shovel and coals method.  Baking in a pan over an open flame is just far too finicky due to the temperature variance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T07:54:32.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3003" CreationDate="2012-09-19T14:44:43.643" Score="24" ViewCount="29383" Body="&lt;p&gt;So the title says it all. If I am scavenging wood in the wilderness, does some of it burn toxic? If so what kinds. This question is derived from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2995/527&quot;&gt;this answer.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:01:27.637" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T21:44:06.840" Title="Which wood sources produce toxic smoke?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2997" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3006" CreationDate="2012-09-19T14:58:07.670" Score="9" ViewCount="1738" Body="&lt;p&gt;So other than &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/2996/527&quot;&gt;toxic burning wood&lt;/a&gt;, which types of wood are safe to use for cooking fires but will just make my food taste bad? I live in the Southwest, and all types of woods that I have cooked over have been delicious (well, okay at least). &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2995/527&quot;&gt;An answer on another question&lt;/a&gt; brought my attention that some might not taste okay, though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Make sure you know your wood. Some woods produce toxic fumes. Others&#xA;  will produce a very unpleasant taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So which woods make food taste bad when that food is cooked over the wood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:01:16.967" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:01:16.967" Title="Which types of wood will make food taste bad?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1952" CreationDate="2012-09-19T16:03:49.027" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the big differentiators in the past between hard and soft bottles was that soft bottles would absorb some of the flavor from drinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how much that affects soft bottles on the market today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast to what @JustinC said, I believe hard bottles are more likely to explode.  Due to their rigidity they will hold their shape until the pressure reaches a critical point then the bottle would shatter where the soft bottle would deform before reaching the critical pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I have had hard bottles break when setting (or dropping) onto a hard surface where a soft bottle would flex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of some hikers who will go to extreme lengths to reduce weight in their pack and they use old Gatorade/Powerade bottles since they are lighter weight than even the soft bottles.  But these are much less sturdy and prone to breakage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the bottles I use are the hard variety, but I believe that is just lingering distrust of the flavor saving of the soft bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure about the prescence of BPA in soft vs hard bottles, but that should not be a problem anymore since the majority of bottles do not contain BPA any more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20" LastActivityDate="2012-09-19T16:03:49.027" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="2999" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-19T14:25:00.483" Score="18" ViewCount="15916" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go on hiking trips, I wear proper boots. However, when I lace them tight, my ankles swell terribly after a few hours and start feeling funny (bending the joint feels like touching a balloon). There is also light pain in the ankles while walking. After I remove the boots, the pain disappears, but the funny feeling doesn't. This is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a problem of ill-fitting boots, it happened with three different models. As far as I can tell, the only reason is the weight of the boot falling on my ankle every time I lift my leg for a step (probably connected with my gait). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried lacing them loose, and even leaving the low ankle hooks out. But this is a problem on rough terrain. When I am jumping down boulder rivers, or moving along an eroded karst face stepping on 5 cm wide ledges, I need lots of precision, and have to be absolutely sure that my foot won't move within the boot after I have landed on it, changing my balance. Also, ankle support is required on such trails, as a wrong landing with ankle bending can result in a complicated fracture which can't heal without loss of movement in the joint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My normal lacing procedure (I learned it from a professional hiking guide) is to place the foot on the heel, the angle between the backside of the calf and the floor around 75°, the angle between tibia and sole at 90°. Then slightly tighten the laces in front, run the laces through the ankle hooks, then run them through the two hooks on the shaft and pull them to close the shoe, then knot. The boot feels OK this way, it isn't too tight and doesn't pinch. It feels as good as my sneakers, in which I can walk kilometers without any problems. There are no protrusions within the boot, nothing chafes, it is comfortable (and has been like this since day one - my current pair are expensive brand-name boots with memory foam and so on).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas what can I do to avoid the problem while keeping the boot tight enough? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" OwnerDisplayName="rumtscho" LastActivityDate="2020-09-21T05:47:39.333" Title="How to properly lace hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2999" CreationDate="2012-09-19T17:40:41.477" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you've tried lacing them tight, loose, and everything in between.  Other than different socks, you might try the following when you tie your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When lacing the upper portion of the boots, tie an overhand knot each time the laces cross. This will allow you to have a different tightness near the top of the  boot than the bottom (near the ankles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" OwnerDisplayName="Felix" LastActivityDate="2012-09-19T17:40:41.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2999" CreationDate="2012-09-19T19:45:29.240" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Barefoot hiking has started taking off in Europe, the idea is that the boots won't chew up soft ground. You could try doing that for the ground you really don't need the ankle support for, and put the boots on for the shorter distances where you really need them. I would also imagine that if you're traversing terrain that requires the boots, you'll be moving differently than if you're traversing terrain that could be done without them, and the boots might not be designed for normal walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Robin Ashe" LastActivityDate="2012-09-19T19:45:29.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2999" CreationDate="2012-09-20T13:11:59.873" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you need a way to keep the entire shoe tight while not tight directly over the bend in your ankle. There are Lacing techniques that can accomplish this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest would be to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/gaplacing.htm&quot;&gt;gap lace&lt;/a&gt; them with the gap in the spot where your ankle turns up. If this doesn't work I would also try the gap directly over the arch of the foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a different option you could also try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/segmentedlacing.htm&quot;&gt;segmented lacing&lt;/a&gt; which generally accomplishes the same thing but is a bit easier to do and deal with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-09-20T13:11:59.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2996" CreationDate="2012-09-20T14:17:39.013" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, some sources create toxic smoke/fumes, notably:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oleander&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poison Ivy (smoke can cause lung damage in some cases)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure of a comprehensive list, but be wary of any poisonous wood / shrub, it's probably more likely to burn toxic. As pointed out in the comment, unless you can identify vines well then it may be a good idea to stay away from all of them - dead ones are hard to identify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, be aware that any wood containing sap (pine for instance) will tend to spit, so don't cook directly on such a fire, otherwise your food may get coated! These are generally OK to use if your food is well above the fire though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also wouldn't use any processed wood that may contain glue, varnish etc. - highly likely it could burn toxic. I know this is for a survival situation, but sometimes you can come across &quot;easy&quot; treated wood that's been dumped off someone (old furniture for instance.) I wouldn't just immediately grab it, especially if you're using it for cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T16:56:42.360" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T16:56:42.360" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2999" CreationDate="2012-09-20T14:28:39.310" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like the problem that you're getting is that your ankles are swelling up too much.  This could easily be caused by wearing boots that are laced too tightly.  It could also be caused by other factors.  It can be comforting to have a very snug fit when you're doing technical scrambling, but that's not always practical for long amounts of time.  If you're feet are swelling up while you're hiking, and throbbing inside the boot, that's could cause orthopedic problems down the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're trying to fine tune your lacing strategy, but I have two thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may just be tightening your boots too much for your feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your boots may not actually fit (I have narrow feet, and I've found that when I'm forced to continually overtighten a boot, its really because the boot is just too wide).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What happens when you go on long hikes wearing running shoes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What happens when you go on long hikes, but don't tighten your boots down quite so much?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a couple of suggestions -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try experimenting with scrambling in looser boots.  You may have more control over your feet than you realize, and you may not have to depend on quite so much tightness in the boot.  (again, I personally found that narrower boots that fit my narrow feet feel much more secure than brands of boots designed for wider feet)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you feel like you really need the boots tighter for short, specific sections of the trail, you could just tighten them down a little for that section, then loosen them up for long sections of regular hiking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could look into getting a pair of &quot;approach shoes&quot;, like these: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/climbingapproach/boulder-x&quot;&gt;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/climbingapproach/boulder-x&lt;/a&gt;  You would give up some ankle protection, but if you're really doing lots and lots of scrambling, they may give you more precision in your footwork.  If you want precision for scrambling, approach shoes will be the next best thing to full rock climbing shoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could carry both boots and some other shoe (like approach shoes), and switch as you need to.  More weight, and swapping shoes will slow you down, but its an option.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2012-09-26T14:36:43.923" LastActivityDate="2012-09-26T14:36:43.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2997" CreationDate="2012-09-20T15:07:55.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no safe wood I've found that's made food taste really bad - generally if it does taste absolutely foul I'd be wary that something else was up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the grand scheme of things though, it depends what you class as &quot;bad&quot;. Different people prefer different flavours, and in that sense using different types of wood can definitely make foods taste different. Some people I know for instance really don't like food cooked over conifers (pine, spruce, etc.), it gives it quite a distinctive taste. Wood from fruit trees can also give a bit of a &quot;sweet&quot; smoky taste to the food (quite hard to describe!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-09-20T19:12:47.860" LastActivityDate="2012-09-20T19:12:47.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2997" CreationDate="2012-09-20T18:31:51.423" Score="8" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many pine woods will leave your food tasting of turpentine.  Depending on the wood, it won't be enough to be toxic, but will still (imo) be a very unpleasant flavor.  Generally, due to my experience (in the southeast) this has developed into &quot;don't use evergreens.&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid woods with much rot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid wood with mosses, fungus, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burn larger diameter wood when possible.  The dense wood is the best for cooking, the bark, inner bark, leaves, etc will all produce more smoke than is desirable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Standing dead wood is best (less rot), and generally avoid green wood.  Green woods will have more flavor imparting saps.  Unless you are intentionally imparting flavor this will most likely result in an undesired flavor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad taste is of course, very subjective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-20T23:58:22.013" LastActivityDate="2012-09-20T23:58:22.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2985" CreationDate="2012-09-21T14:55:51.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can. And more to the point, you should (save weight, and leave no trace).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not found a backpacking cooking mess that could not be cleaned with a combination of (in this order):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tongue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water + Finger (drink it -- truly &quot;Leave No Trace&quot; (its not as bad as you think))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snow (when available)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pine Needles / plant leaves / grass stalks / other &quot;soft&quot; natural scrubber&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small gravel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large Rock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, the last 3 might not be the best idea on your fancy teflon-coated pots (but why are you using those anyway? Meet my &lt;em&gt;old&lt;/em&gt; friend stainless steel)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: the omission of 'soap' is not accidental.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus tip: Coffee grounds do a mean number on bacon grease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;An addendum regarding soap: NEVER use directly in a body of water / creek. Even &quot;biodegradable&quot; soap needs the enzymes found in soil to break down. Wash dishes (and you) well away from any water source. (Unless on a major river where 'dilution is the solution to pollution')&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-01-18T22:00:35.643" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T22:00:35.643" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3008" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3011" CreationDate="2012-09-21T20:40:57.417" Score="16" ViewCount="988" Body="&lt;p&gt;3 of my lower vertebra have irreparable damage, so I have various workarounds to minimise pain and swelling at home and in the office, and even on short term hikes (ibuprofen FTW) but on a longer hike (eg 5 days or more) I don't want to consume that many painkillers, so am trying to learn techniques to minimise the pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;found the types of boots which work best for me in terms of reducing jarring &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;worked out how to load my rucksack close and high to minimise stress on my spine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reduced my expected mileage to account for regular stops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know a lot of peopple use poles and other equipment, but in a quick try with a pair of poles I couldn't see how they provided any value at all, so I'm guessing there is a knack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I use them or other kit to avoid back pain?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-09-22T11:37:14.077" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T08:08:25.863" Title="How should I correctly use poles and other equipment to avoid back pain on long hikes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3009" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3014" CreationDate="2012-09-22T15:16:29.730" Score="8" ViewCount="1229" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Showers Pass Portland Rain Jacket.  The manufacturer recommends using Nikwax TX Direct Spray On to maintain waterproofing properties. How much should I apply to the jacket? How do I know if it's too much or too little?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relevant Links:&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.showerspass.com/care-instructions&quot;&gt;Jacket Care Instructions&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php?productid=265&amp;amp;activity&quot;&gt;Nikwax Tx Direct Spray&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="429" LastEditDate="2012-09-23T14:24:11.517" LastActivityDate="2012-09-23T18:24:26.727" Title="How much waterproofing spray to apply to my softshell jacket" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2982" CreationDate="2012-09-22T19:35:59.617" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I learned how to build a cooking fire in Boy Scouts.  Build the fire, and then let it burn down.  The bright dancing flames are more fun for recreation, but are not helpful for cooking.  When you have a bed of hot embers, that is a good cooking fire.  Little or no flame, just a good source of heat.  Embers are hotter than flame, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="681" LastActivityDate="2012-09-22T19:35:59.617" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3008" CreationDate="2012-09-23T06:08:18.290" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never understood the appeal of trekking poles until I started carrying 80+ lbs packs down into the bottom of the Grand Canyon for a living. Now, I wish I had started using them sooner. Perhaps my knees would be in better shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles, used properly, can take countless &lt;em&gt;TONS&lt;/em&gt; of cumulative weight off your knees and lower back by shifting that weight (and impact) to your arms. They excel at ascents and descents (and their benefits are more noticeable) but can also add some benefit on relatively level walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of guides to tell you the &quot;proper&quot; way to use them, but in my experience, every person uses them a little differently. But, in general: planting your right pole in front of you as you step your left leg forward while consciously engaging your arm to take some weight off your lower body as you step your right leg forward (while planting your left pole). Follow through with the stroke, and you can even push yourself forward a bit before bringing your pole back to the front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes some getting used to, and to incorporate it into your stride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for other gear / techniques to help with back (and other) pain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They say a &lt;strong&gt;properly fitted pack&lt;/strong&gt; should put about 70% of the weight on a comfortable, well-fitted hip belt, with 30% on the shoulders. (I personally prefer about 95 - 100% on my hips, using my shoulder straps to just keep the pack balanced upright, with no downward weight.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Think about your &lt;strong&gt;stride&lt;/strong&gt;. Do you heel strike? Try landing more on the balls of your feet to reduce jarring impact with each step. (And to build some awesome calves like tree burls.) Good practice: walk barefoot on hard floors / cement (without weight -- or with, you choose) and see how quickly your heels start to complain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yoga&lt;/strong&gt; -- both as a regular part of your life, and while on the trail. A few sun salutations in the morning goes a long way toward limbering up the spine for a day of hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm a big fan of &lt;strong&gt;Superfeet(tm)&lt;/strong&gt; insoles. A bit spendy - but make a considerable, long-lasting difference in foot comfort (and thus leg, knee, and back comfort). I treat myself to a new pair every season. Money well spent.**&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**&lt;em&gt;I am not in any way associated with, or compensated by Superfeet for saying this.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-09-23T06:08:18.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3012" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3013" CreationDate="2012-09-23T06:45:57.850" Score="25" ViewCount="7080" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/tents-and-bivys/mega-light-tent-BD8005070000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mega Mid&lt;/a&gt; tent almost exclusively for hundreds of nights out over the last many years. It's versatile, well ventilated, light... but has this pole sticking straight up the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this configuration more likely to attract lightning than, say, poles in a dome-type tent? How good are tent-poles in general for attract lightning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a few nights when I have jettisoned the pole -- tossing it far away (and huddled under the sopping fabric) in a attempt to try and distract the lightning gods -- is this futile?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I leave the tent pole in, is it better to insulate either end (say with a rubber sandal)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or am I over-thinking it all, and what will be will be, so sweet dreams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-21T18:55:02.643" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T18:55:02.643" Title="Is my tent pole a lightning rod?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3012" CreationDate="2012-09-23T09:46:24.037" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any pole will have a fractionally greater chance of attracting lightning than a piece of flat ground or a dome tent - but this doesn't mean the increased chance is that high. If you are in the middle of an entirely flat field and your tent pole is the highest object for miles, then it will be a slight risk, but some points to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are anywhere near trees, they are more likely to attract lightning. But don't get too close, in case a tree gets hit and falls on you, burns you etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do have an aluminium walking pole or similar you can stand it in the ground 30 feet away and it will be a much better route to earth for lightning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't pitch your tent on top of a peak. This is generally good planning anyway, as you'd want to aim for a more sheltered spot if possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-09-24T08:20:31.533" LastActivityDate="2012-09-24T08:20:31.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3009" CreationDate="2012-09-23T18:24:26.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the Nikwax link you provide:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For best results remove all non-washable parts and always clean&#xA;  item(s) first with Nikwax Tech Wash®. No need to dry item(s) before&#xA;  waterproofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Protect working surface and lay clean wet fastened garment flat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hold bottle 15 cm/6 inches away from garment. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Apply evenly to outside of fabric. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wait for 2 minutes. Remove any surplus product with a damp cloth. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Check carefully to ensure no areas have been missed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;After several minutes check for and remove any surplus product with a damp cloth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sounds to me like you should spray in on evenly almost to the point of saturation, and remove any excess... (excess is usually the result of over-saturation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect there is not any hard-and-fast rule, otherwise I imagine they would be more specific. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a fan of more-is-better approach (... to life). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use too little, you'll probably notice next time you wear the thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-09-23T18:24:26.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2982" CreationDate="2012-09-25T15:18:44.347" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A really simple, but effective fire is the 'Hunters Fire'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you make a 'V' shape with two logs with the point in the same direction as the prevailing wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The V shape allows you to support pots of varying diameter down the length of the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light the fire in the middle. Sit a pot at the point of the V (wind blows flames under and around pot). Scrape coals from fire to the open end of the V to cook over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-09-25T15:18:44.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1952" CreationDate="2012-09-25T15:22:25.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One benefit to a soft bottle over a hard bottle is: You can compress a soft bottle as you drink from it to reduce the sloshing of water in the bottle as you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-09-25T15:22:25.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1924" CreationDate="2012-09-25T15:27:02.333" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I wouldn't! You run the risk of losing/breaking your blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Better to use the blade to sharpen a stick and fire harden the tip (till it goes brown, not black) it or attach something you don't mind loosing like a flint napped blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-09-25T15:27:02.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3018" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3019" CreationDate="2012-09-25T17:43:26.633" Score="15" ViewCount="1861" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past, I have gone backpacking with some fairly expensive, heavy water purification tools. But the more I read about water safety in California's Sierras (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/water-researcher-QA.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), the less I think these high-tech solutions are necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can I just drop some iodine tablets into my CamelBak?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will the tablets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;react with the plastic bladder and destroy it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stain the plastic bladder dark purple?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make the CamelBak taste like iodine permanently?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:29:13.850" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:29:13.850" Title="Will Iodine Tablets Ruin My CamelBak?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3018" CreationDate="2012-09-25T21:36:26.953" Score="10" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;yep (actually, yellow, not purple, thanks Clare)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not in my experience, but I use clarifiers which remove the flavor in the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also to clarify from comments, we did this for &lt;em&gt;years&lt;/em&gt; before we started carrying a filter and  it never damaged our containers.  The plastic probably gets more damage from the sunlight caught during hiking than from the iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-09-27T18:28:56.373" LastActivityDate="2012-09-27T18:28:56.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2977" CreationDate="2012-09-28T06:51:30.727" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually stomp the area with snowshoes until it's reasonably packed, and that's good enough. If it's windy and very cold I may dig down 3-4 feet for protection from the wind. (If you're in the mountains you should have a snow shovel for safety.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thicker sleeping pad (or two pads) will definitely keep you warmer. When you pack up in the morning, you can usually see an indention in the snow where you slept -- your valuable body heat melts the snow under your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-09-28T06:51:30.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1961" CreationDate="2012-09-28T06:55:48.210" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You cannot estimate the current speed and direction on the open ocean without a fixed reference or navigation aid. But you can watch a star behind the rig to make sure your track is toward the oil rig.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can swim faster than the current, you can always swim directly toward the oil rig and get there. You'll just have a curved track and will get to enjoy a little extra exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot swim faster than the current, you will have to anticipate (swim upstream at a certain angle), and even that may not be good enough depending on your initial position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2012-09-28T16:20:40.353" LastActivityDate="2012-09-28T16:20:40.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3022" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3024" CreationDate="2012-09-28T05:25:22.077" Score="8" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have created a bow-drill for the purpose of starting fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wooden shaft's diameter is about the diameter of a typical male thumb, and is approximately 11 inches in length. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bow string is standard nylon string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that it is typical for the string to travel up and down the drill shaft as the bow oscillates, however, almost without fail, my bow string travels up more than it does down and eventually works its way off the drill shaft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I reduce the bow-string travel that results in detachment from the drill shaft? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1793" OwnerDisplayName="Brian Webster" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:25:17.263" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:25:17.263" Title="How do I reduce bow string travel on a bow drill?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3022" CreationDate="2012-09-28T06:31:30.753" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wrap the string around the shaft in the opposite direction. Then it will tend to go down, but your uneven pushing and pulling will counteract it. If that doesn't work, try cutting a slot in the shaft and putting a keeper (such as a star washer) on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also try &lt;a href=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/White_lighter_with_flame.JPG/766px-White_lighter_with_flame.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" OwnerDisplayName="xpda" LastActivityDate="2012-09-28T06:31:30.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3022" CreationDate="2012-09-28T08:21:01.987" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is in your bowing action - the travel comes from your arm movement not being in a straight line each direction: there is a bias one way or the other. Usually the bias is in the direction that relieves the string overlap, in your case this is up the way, so you need to actively bias the other way slightly. I find it is easier to bias against an up-tending bow than a down-tending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way I learned to do it without much travel was by using the same process as playing snooker or pool: learning to move my hand in a straight line along the length of the bow/cue by involving my entire arm correctly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the push stroke try to push downwards with the heel of your palm - almost grinding the bow downwards - and on the return stroke just keep the bow level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-09-28T08:21:01.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1936" CreationDate="2012-09-28T19:02:56.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spectra/Dyneema (UHMWPE) fibers are the strongest fibers available for weaving fabrics, but the puncture resistance of a woven fabric depends heavily on the weave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major puncture risks for rafts or inflatable sleeping pads are needle-like (thorns, pine needles, wood splinters, etc.). Sharp-edged rocks could not easily puncture a raft or sleeping pad (unless it is obsidian and it has a razor edge). Thorns, pine needles, and wood splinters can easily poke between the threads of loosely woven fabrics, so the tightness of the weave, not the tensile strength of the fibers, is the most important consideration for a puncture-proof grounsheet material. The most puncture resistant fabrics have very high thread counts (ends per inch) and they are laminated to a heavy film.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spectra/dyneema fabrics for composite layups almost never have thread counts (ends per inch) greater than 35. Without a heavy film laminated to one side, a thorn could easily slip through this without having to break any fibers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tightly woven nylon or polyester fabric with a heavy urethane coating, on the other hand, would bend and break a thorn and not be penetrated. And the urethane coated nylon or polyester would be far cheaper, besides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1797" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T03:59:21.520" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:59:21.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2985" CreationDate="2012-09-28T22:09:48.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use &quot;Wet Ones&quot; instead of soap (if there's no convenient place to bathe). There's not a lot of weight advantage, but they're good for washing yourself in the tent. Since they are antibiotic, they're also handy to clean cuts, scrapes, and spoons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2012-09-28T22:09:48.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="29" CreationDate="2012-09-28T22:18:32.637" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;THE official information can be found on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDC webpage&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The CDC defines the problem in terms of what you're trying to kill: &lt;strong&gt;Protozoa&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Bacteria&lt;/strong&gt;, or &lt;strong&gt;Viruses&lt;/strong&gt;. They address each of those in terms of water treatment methods: &lt;strong&gt;Boiling&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Filtering&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Chemical Disinfection&lt;/strong&gt;, (or now-a-days &lt;strong&gt;UV Treatment&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please read what they have to say before you head into the wilderness. It is short and authoritative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What does each method kill?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boiling&lt;/strong&gt;: kills nearly everything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A good filter&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/830746/katadyn-hiker-water-filter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/837824/sawyer-squeeze-water-filter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;): will clean your water of everything except (usually) viruses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iodine and Chlorine Dioxide&lt;/strong&gt;: mostly great, but don't work well against Giardia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UV Treatment&lt;/strong&gt;: kills everything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Here is my personal experience with each method:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boiling&lt;/strong&gt;: This is great, but it takes a long time and so almost no one does this exclusively. If you wanted to do this exclusively, you would want to get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/813623/jetboil-zip-stove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jetboil&lt;/a&gt;. (These are also a great way to cook while backpacking.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Filtering&lt;/strong&gt;: This is a great option. I do my backpacking with a doctor and she thinks pump filters are by far the best because the other filter styles are subject to operator errors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iodine and Chlorine Dioxide&lt;/strong&gt;: This is the cheapest and lightest solution. But (as the CDC page points out) most people don't know this is not highly effective against Giardia. And Giardia is usually your biggest concern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UV Treatment&lt;/strong&gt;: Yeah, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/761906/steripen-classic-water-purifier-with-prefilter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SteriPens&lt;/a&gt; are great. But I warn you, they are just another electronic toy. I have seen them fail because: the batteries ran out, they were dropped and broke, they mysteriously just stopped working, and the batteries ran out. Would you trust your life to your cell phone?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2017-08-22T15:53:03.510" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T15:53:03.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3028" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-09-30T00:46:55.517" Score="2" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've not found a &quot;must read,&quot; general information (news, trends, photos, product reviews, etc.) rock climbing website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing.com, for example, is riddled with missing images and dead links, which I find infuriating, although it does seem to have some interesting content if you have the patience to wade through the morass. But, more generally, this and other climbing magazine sites seem focused on ads and promoting print subscriptions; they provide little tangible digital content. And a significant portion of the content they do provide is about ice climbing/alpinist info which are, in my opinion, very different from rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, rockclimbing.com and mountainproject.com have useful route databases. Wikipedia has a great list of climbing terms. Climbfind.com is a good resource for finding a local climbing partner. But their content is mostly limited to these specific topics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a general information climbing website/blog that is considered &quot;must read&quot; among serious rock climbers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="761" LastEditorUserId="761" LastEditDate="2012-09-30T15:47:11.413" LastActivityDate="2012-09-30T15:47:11.413" Title="What's the best climbing website?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2012-09-30T21:33:35.370" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3028" CreationDate="2012-09-30T00:59:58.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climbfind.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Climbfind.com&lt;/a&gt; is a great place to find a local partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1801" LastActivityDate="2012-09-30T00:59:58.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3030" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3031" CreationDate="2012-09-30T13:35:59.913" Score="8" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The Question&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I store my white gas fuel canister with the stove pump attached?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Follow-up Questions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to store white gas fuel canisters partially filled with white gas?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does this hold true for other liquid gases?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1802" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-10-01T13:30:37.967" LastActivityDate="2012-10-01T13:30:37.967" Title="Storing Fuel Canisters with Stove Pump Attached" Tags="&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3030" CreationDate="2012-09-30T18:58:22.837" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would under no circumstances store your white gas stove that way.  White gas is pretty volatile stuff and the increased chance of a leak is just not worth it.  In addition, why?  I am not sure what benefit this would provide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is safe to store partially filled white gas canisters.  I would not leave them in direct sunlight with hot temperatures outside, but otherwise I have stored white gas for years in the shade, even in 90F ++ weather.  That being said, you should in some way mark where you are storing flammable gases so that no one goes out by your can and lights a cigarette.  If it is very hot, and your can is near empty, you &lt;strong&gt;may&lt;/strong&gt; consider leaving the cap loose enough to relieve any pressure, but only do so in a very well ventilated area.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;White gas is one of the more volatile liquid gases available to the general public.  Alcohol, kerosene, etc. are as-a-general-rule less likely to go boom from any given incident.  So I would say this hold true for other gases you are likely to be using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-09-30T18:58:22.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3032" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3034" CreationDate="2012-10-01T03:12:13.607" Score="13" ViewCount="1367" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/52/527&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; and I was wondering what contraption produce the most water when you don't have a water source? So what water trap produces the most water? Specifically, what should I do with my plastic bags/baggies that will net the most water per bag/baggie so I can spend less time setting up water traps and more time on other survival necessities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am assuming I would have to make several a day, but knowing what produces the most would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume this would change for environment so for this question assume a mountain forest.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:44.943" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:44.943" Title="What backwoods trick to get pure water produces the most safe water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3033" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3040" CreationDate="2012-10-01T14:28:57.893" Score="15" ViewCount="7481" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that a fire in a cave or under an overhang can cause a rock collapse, potentially injuring the occupant.  Is this a real risk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-02-16T10:12:20.247" Title="Are fires in natural caves/overhangs safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3032" CreationDate="2012-10-01T18:25:20.127" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key is to always have a trash bag. Your most reliable backwoods method for clean water is condensation, either through natural action, or via a still of some kind.  The primary component of this is having large enough suitable material to make said still.  If you are depending on natural action, then surface area is still key.  Assuming you left your baggie at home you need to find the largest smooth, flexible, non-absorbent material you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the presumption is that you are so back woods and so thoroughly hosed that you have no emergency kit whatsoever then... prayer may be your best option for obtaining large volumes of pest free water.  An improvised filter will not provide protection from microbial dangers.  You'll get water that looks more clear, but is just as (or more since you can pick up contaminants from your 'filter') dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-04T13:32:22.407" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T13:32:22.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3035" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3037" CreationDate="2012-10-01T23:55:21.507" Score="14" ViewCount="5763" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went camping a week ago and it was so cold. I woke up many times at night shaking because of the cold. I have a cheap and old Wal-Mart sleeping bag, and I am thinking about buying one of these $150 good Mountain Hardwear sleeping bags to avoid freezing like this again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a good idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping with a tent - I live in Canada. Daily temp 10 deg C (50 deg F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1804" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-10-03T23:47:12.070" LastActivityDate="2012-10-03T23:47:12.070" Title="Is buying an expensive sleeping bag better?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3035" CreationDate="2012-10-02T01:31:23.087" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A sleeping bag is like any other purchase, you'll get exactly what you pay for! Unfortunately, sleeping bags are used in many different situations/climates. A sleeping bag you carry and use in the summer months when the lower temperatures are 60 or 70 degrees at night, won't begin to work when you camp in the fall/winter/spring and the temperature lows are zero to 30 degrees. Then you have the fact that every person is a different type of sleeper. Some people are &quot;warm&quot; sleepers and some are &quot;cold sleepers. A warm sleeper won't want a bag that keeps them overly warm and a cold sleeper may use a heavier spring/fall bag during the summer months. You can improvise by using a lighter summer bag in cooler weather by sleeping in some of your clothing inside the bag when necessary. Since your body heat is what warms the bag up at night, you don't want a bag with lots of &quot;extra&quot; space to heat up. Small bag ( mummy type ) in a small tent will be warm. A larger rectangular bag in a larger tent will never get toasty during the night. Really you have to choose a combination of tent and sleeping bag depending on the time of year, the location you'll be at ( flat lands or mountains ), and then prepare with clothing that can be used at night inside your bag. It seems like we never have too many &quot;perfect&quot; nights! Always buy the best tent and bag you can afford, for the season you will be in the most! Just remember, conditions can change rapidly when storms/winds come in, so your life may depend on your equipment and skills at staying comfortable! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1805" LastActivityDate="2012-10-02T01:31:23.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3035" CreationDate="2012-10-02T02:17:19.560" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;How cold are you talking about? When you woke up, was there ice on your tent? Or was it 50F outside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyways, to sum it up, sleeping bags generally boil down to this tradeoff:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick Two: &lt;strong&gt;Warmth, Small Size, Low Cost&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are car camping, you should be able to find sleeping bags that will go down to 15F for $50-$75, but they will occupy well over 40-50 liters when rolled up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While that size is prohibiting for backpacking, if you are car or RV camping, that should be no issue. You'll have to tell us more about your style of adventures for us to give you better answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-10-02T02:17:19.560" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3035" CreationDate="2012-10-02T14:32:07.813" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to assume and interpret a little, and forgive me please if I put words in your mouth.  What you really seem to be asking is: &quot;Do I have to spend mad cash to stay warm?&quot;  I would say, in 50F (10C), certainly not!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With each item, I give my &quot;cheap&quot;, and &quot;good but costly&quot; options (I have no associations with any company)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you have a ground pad (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/374053/standard-blue-foam-pad-regular&quot;&gt;really cheap&lt;/a&gt;) (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/829826/therm-a-rest-z-lite-sol-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;cheap&lt;/a&gt;) (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/763953/big-agnes-insulated-air-core-pad&quot;&gt;nice &amp;amp; comfy&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a liner (&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003371VQO&quot;&gt;cheap&lt;/a&gt;) (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/797114/sea-to-summit-thermolite-reactor-extreme-mummy-bag-liner&quot;&gt;good&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/731835/rei-travel-sack-55-sleeping-bag&quot;&gt;cheap&lt;/a&gt;) (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/828312/marmot-plasma-40-sleeping-bag&quot;&gt;good&lt;/a&gt;) (mummy bags are the way to go)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a ground pad, you are wasting money on a better bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally use this combo for lightweight camping in the temperatures you describe and it works great.  The liner seems like overkill but covers me for unexpected temperature changes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;$60 -- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/731835/rei-travel-sack-55-sleeping-bag&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/731835/rei-travel-sack-55-sleeping-bag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;$35 -- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/829826/therm-a-rest-z-lite-sol-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/829826/therm-a-rest-z-lite-sol-sleeping-pad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;$65 -- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/797114/sea-to-summit-thermolite-reactor-extreme-mummy-bag-liner&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/797114/sea-to-summit-thermolite-reactor-extreme-mummy-bag-liner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Edit:  I have personally used every item in this list except for the marmot bag.  I do have a marmot bag that works great, but I have a 20 deg F bag, not the one listed here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-02T14:38:16.010" LastActivityDate="2012-10-02T14:38:16.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3033" CreationDate="2012-10-02T15:29:39.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only time I lit a fire in a cave we had to evacuate due to smoke and a billion spiders dropping from the ceiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't a 'danger' for me in the UK - we do not have deadly spiders. Elsewhere this might be a significant danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much better to light it just outside :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a reflector fire to bounce the heat inside the cave and funnel the smoke &lt;em&gt;across&lt;/em&gt; the cave mouth - much the same as you would setting up a lean-to type shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastEditorUserId="743" LastEditDate="2015-02-16T10:12:20.247" LastActivityDate="2015-02-16T10:12:20.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3033" CreationDate="2012-10-02T15:55:29.557" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this a real risk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1167942/Horror-party-cave-Boy-16-died-camp-dislodged-huge-boulder.html&quot;&gt;Yes.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I would have thought it's a much higher risk with soft rock, such as sandstone, which could easily crack and break apart due to heat. I'd imagine the risk would be lower with something like granite, but I'm still not sure I'd risk it unless the cave was very large and well ventilated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-10-02T15:55:29.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2984" CreationDate="2012-10-03T01:31:05.020" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;An alternative to building a fire &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; your shelter is to heat some rocks in a fire outside, and bring them inside (don't burn yourself!). A fire can sometimes be the best thing, but the heat from a hot rock can be a safer option if you're nervous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1806" LastActivityDate="2012-10-03T01:31:05.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3008" CreationDate="2012-10-03T09:08:23.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that a pair of poles are very handy for climbing over stiles.  We have a lot of stiles in the UK, I'm not sure if they are a feature in US trekking.  They are also good for controlling the speed of your descent when coming downhill and they reduce the jarring on your knees.  I'm told that you should always use a pair of poles so that you don't twist as you walk, the only exception is if you have one damaged knee then you would use one pole for support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stile&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article about stiles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1808" LastEditorUserId="1808" LastEditDate="2012-10-04T08:08:25.863" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T08:08:25.863" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2984" CreationDate="2012-10-03T14:55:37.397" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;To avoid starting fire inside your shelter, you can do it outside and use a screen (sorry for my drawing): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ATCQy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is view from aside. On the upper picture there is a widely used method for sleeping under a screen (a piece of fabric). Screen is set above your sleeping place at 45 degrees and the heat is reflected from the screen towards you, so you are warm from almost any direction. I've tried this at -15 C and it worked like charm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use the same idea - set a screen or a couple of them to &quot;focus&quot; the heat on your shelter (on the entrance hole, missing wall, whatever). This way you can't get all the heat your fire produces, but you'll be able to capture a good part of it. I haven't tried this in practice, though. You profit is that you don't need to worry much about your shelter, the fire gets enough oxygen and no smoke comes inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Ther is another drawing of the same method:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MQe1C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-02-06T09:27:49.813" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T09:27:49.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1845" CreationDate="2012-10-03T20:52:12.530" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The list you've provided as the answer to your question is very good, so I write only about additional items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;gloves - very usefull to get caches out of the dirty locations and holes you don't know what is inside (to prevent bites, hurting yourself by splitted glass etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;string bags - to wrap the logbook, if it is wet or the original wrapping is in poor condition&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;garbage bags - to wrap the cache, when the original wrapping is missing or is damaged&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;stong/masking tape, to repair/mask the cache&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;towel or wet wipes - your hands can get very dirty, which can be dangerous if you have injuries or something falls into your eyes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-10-03T20:52:12.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3033" CreationDate="2012-10-03T21:01:02.987" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general rule is that the rock can't get hot. When you heat the rock, the water inside evaporates and can crack the rock. If you're just making fire to warm yourself or cook something (a steak, not the whole beef) it will be OK. When the fire is moderate, the rock shouldn't even get warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't also throw bigger stones into fire. They can explode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The example cited by berry120 was something like the-biggest-fire-in-the-world-challenge... When you want to fire something big in the cave, I would be afraid of CO intoxication in the first line, however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-10-03T23:46:01.430" LastActivityDate="2012-10-03T23:46:01.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3035" CreationDate="2012-10-03T21:06:58.190" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're talking about 2 extremes: very cheap sleeping-bag from supermarket and very expensive down sleeping bag for freezing temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've bought myself the synthetic sleeping bag, which was about 4 times cheaper than proffessional down one. However, I've bought the sleeping bag in proffessional outdoor store, made by known outdoor company. Find the synthetic with possibly lowest comfort temperature and it should be OK for the temperatures you've mentioned. I've slept with my synthetic in temperatures about 0(C). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-10-03T21:06:58.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2012-10-04T01:41:43.430" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Find an area with a large stairway (football field bleachers work great), then power-walk/run up and down them while taking a break every few runs. Keep doing this until the trip, while increasing the number of &quot;laps&quot; when you think you're improving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it starts becoming easier, pack up your backpack with your gear or simulate the weight with something heavy, and go at the stairs again (you'll want to power-walk with the backpack). You want to build your endurance, so practice breathing thoroughly while climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1810" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T01:41:43.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2012-10-04T08:29:31.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always used Compeed blister plasters to treat a blister.  It's like covering the blister with a second, more durable skin.  You are supposed to leave the plaster on until it falls off naturally which, for me, is usually three or four days.  They are a little expensive but your feet will thank you for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, I am not affiliated with Compeed in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1808" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T08:29:31.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1940" CreationDate="2012-10-04T15:24:56.620" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To wash any pack, you are pretty safe using a large commercial front-loading washer (found at many laundr-o-mats in the US) and regular detergent, then letting it drip-dry. Remove any removable buckles/straps first to prevent loss/damage (to both the pack and machine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your white pack, a few thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;White outdoor gear is going to get dirty. Wear it as a point of pride it has done more than just sit in your closet ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dyneema(tm) is reportedly bleach safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In general, bleach is pretty safe on any non-organic material. Bleach works by breaking down organics (which is why cotton shirts/socks tend to get thinner over time.) If your stitching is organic (cotton, wool, etc) bleach could weaken them over time. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-10-04T15:24:56.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1707" CreationDate="2012-10-04T15:37:32.133" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whatever the books say, cooking to extinction still works!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially, boil and change the water many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then cook the meat until it falls into the water. This way, you will get more protein from the meat, because you have exposed more surface area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you break the bones first, you will get the much higher calorie marrow into the soup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cooked meat pieces, should be washed, while being rubbed, daily, until the smelly slimy material has gone, and it feels mat to the touch. This halts the spread of the bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabbits, pheasant, deer, can be hung for 1 week, before the losses to maggots is more than the gain from the maggots. Hedgehogs, crows, pigeons, squirrels, only a couple of days, as they get putrid faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may not smell nice, but you will be alive for 2600+ days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maggots don’t spoil the taste of the meat, they definitely improve old meat. If you hang a rabbit until the maggots have eaten well into one side, and then cook the rabbit, you will notice that the maggots eaten side, tastes fresher, more tender, and sweeter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not hearsay, or book theory. I can vouch that it works, by being here to write this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1813" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-05T16:45:26.807" LastActivityDate="2012-10-05T16:45:26.807" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1614" CreationDate="2012-10-05T08:48:05.550" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walked Hadrian's Wall recently carrying an 18kg backpack.  It was hot, sunny weather for six of the seven days.  I had a 2 litre bladder of water and by the end of each day I had ran out of water.  That was not a nice feeling walking the last couple of miles without water.  I have now upgraded to a three litre bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1808" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-05T17:02:09.737" LastActivityDate="2012-10-05T17:02:09.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3054" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3513" CreationDate="2012-10-05T17:57:23.227" Score="14" ViewCount="9800" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went camping last trip and my nice inflated pad... deflated.  I always carry a patch kit but  I discovered another issue: I couldn't find the leak.  The leak was small.  It took quite a while of me lying on it for the pad to deflate.  I as not able to locate the leak in order to patch it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you locate a small leak in an inflatable sleeping pad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:24:17.437" LastActivityDate="2014-10-18T21:51:54.647" Title="How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3054" CreationDate="2012-10-05T19:01:15.270" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a bath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fill the bath tub with water and the pad with air, and put the pad underwater (if it's too big to all go under at once, check section by section). You should see bubbles coming out of the leak.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-10-05T19:01:15.270" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3056" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3057" CreationDate="2012-10-05T22:04:48.593" Score="12" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kevin did a nice job of providing a quality answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3054/how-can-i-locate-the-leak-in-a-inflatable-pad&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for how to find the leak if you are at home.  However I usually realize I have a leak when it deflates under me in the middle of the night.  If you're not near home (or a bathtub, or other large pool of water), is there a reliable way to find the leak in the back country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-10-08T12:50:09.400" Title="How can I locate the leak in a inflatable pad, while hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3056" CreationDate="2012-10-05T22:12:52.847" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 3 ways I've found of finding a leak in an air mattress:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Soapy Water&lt;/strong&gt; - It may not be likely, but perhaps you have some camp soap or something similar that you can use to make a soapy mixture that will bubble near the leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Submerged&lt;/strong&gt; - I know you said not near a large body of water, but even if you have just a small stream you may be able to dam up a small pool and submerge parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Listening&lt;/strong&gt; - I've found slightly over-inflating (and sitting on it, if possible, to give some extra pressure) and just listening for the leak works surprisingly well.  Particularly if you are far from the noise of civilization, it should be pretty quiet, so this works better than I would think if I hadn't tried it in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With any method, the seams are the most likely location of a leak, so check there first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1778" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-10-06T01:14:38.460" LastActivityDate="2012-10-06T01:14:38.460" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2012-10-05T22:46:00.290" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers are good, but here's my personal experience, as well as some of the common advice I didn't see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cause&lt;/strong&gt; - The two causes of blisters while hiking are moisture and friction.  This means you want to keep your feet dry and not sliding around, which is where proper boots comes in, as mentioned above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proactive&lt;/strong&gt; - You should treat blisters early.  As you are hiking you may notice a &quot;hot spot&quot; forming, which as it sounds, is simply a spot on your foot that feels slightly warm or hot.  They don't hurt, and you will be tempted to just ignore it.  But a hot spot will always form a blister, usually quickly.  In addition, the cause is often something simple to fix, like some bunched up sock or a bit of sand.  The moment you feel a hot spot forming stop and take off your boot, look at the spot and try to figure out what is the cause.  Wipe your foot off, with alcohol if possible.  Put your boot back on and try to pull your socks so they are smooth and not bunched up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the hot spot is still there after this, you can try protecting it with some moleskin or some of the other suggestions to prevent it from becoming a full blister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reactive&lt;/strong&gt; - At the end of the day, after blisters have formed, I have found that rubbing alcohol works pretty well.  It dries them out and makes the skin harder for the next day.  I usually carry a small bottle of 91% (which is also an antiseptic and fire starter).  Alcohol displaces water and then dries very fast.  If your feet are sweating a lot during a hike you can even try wiping them down with alcohol mid-hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Popping&lt;/strong&gt; - The general rule of thumb is you should not pop blisters.  However, if you have to hike more, I have found the blister will almost always pop on its own anyway.  In that case, it's better to pop it in a clean environment rather than inside your dirty sweaty boot.  Take a needle, and heat it in a flame to sterilize.  Make a few holes near the base, just enough to let the fluid drain.  Clean the area with alcohol before and after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1778" LastActivityDate="2012-10-05T22:46:00.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3059" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3060" CreationDate="2012-10-07T08:07:21.983" Score="9" ViewCount="1048" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I surf with wetsuit booties on, either the boots themselves become waterlogged or the leg of the wetsuit fills with water. I've seen people use tape. Is this an effective method? What tape should I use? Do people have any other more effective methods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="757" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T10:11:44.333" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T10:11:44.333" Title="What are the options for stopping wetsuit booties becoming water logged?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;water-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3059" CreationDate="2012-10-07T09:25:07.477" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tape is a useful way to do it, but you'll find it starts to tear up the neoprene fairly quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preferred solution when it is cold enough to require boots is to get the high ankle ones and tuck them into the wetsuit legs.this then means the water doesn't go into the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In warmer weather suitable for a shortie wetsuit I just wouldn't wear boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-10-07T14:21:59.737" LastActivityDate="2012-10-07T14:21:59.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-10-08T05:24:47.540" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are reported deaths from eating snow during WWII (Eastern Front).&#xA;I presume due to hypothermia and/or the general poor health of the soldiers concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another site points out that snow is excellent at catching polution.  Their reasoning is a bit fuzzy, but as a scientist I agree with their conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1818" LastActivityDate="2012-10-08T05:24:47.540" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3062" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3063" CreationDate="2012-10-08T16:44:53.040" Score="14" ViewCount="5333" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well does it? Or does it only grow on one side? Or does it grow only on the side further from the equator? Is there any truth to this old adage? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-10-09T13:32:27.967" Title="Does Moss only grow on the North side of trees?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3062" CreationDate="2012-10-08T17:50:16.173" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Moss grows best in the shade (and damp, but most relevant here is shade). Because of the curvature of the Earth, in the northern hemisphere the north side of trees is shadier than the south side, so if moss grows on only one side of a tree, it is likely to be the north side. In the southern hemisphere, the whole thing is mirrored so the moss is on the south side. This is, however, nothing more than a rule of thumb, as there are many other factors that affect moss, especially the density of foliage and humidity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2012-10-08T17:50:16.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3062" CreationDate="2012-10-09T10:11:30.770" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Moss prefers damp locations irrespective of facing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to cut out a few variables before you can use moss as a pretty reliable method to determine North:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ignore moss on the ground. The ground is usually damp due to water evaporating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ignore moss that's growing on an incline. An incline slows water run off so the area stays damper for longer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ignore moss that's growing on rough bark/stone. Like an incline, rough bark &amp;amp; stone slows water run off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, choose moss that's &lt;strong&gt;growing at least waist height on a vertical, smooth surface&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not 100% reliable however. So check around for other mossy regions to get confirmation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-10-09T10:11:30.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3062" CreationDate="2012-10-09T13:32:27.967" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's some truth to it in that moss prefers shady areas rather than directly sunny ones, so (in the northern hemisphere) since the north is the generally more shady part, you'd assume moss will be more likely to grow on the north of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me though, it's nothing more than a curious fact rather than anything to reliably use in terms of orientation or navigation. There's all sorts of other variables that can cause moss to grow or not grow, and like any living organism's placement there's always an element of randomness as well! Lots of things can affect it, from humidity to moisture to the shade other objects cast around it. If you're trying to use this to navigate it could easily give you a false sense of security or make you feel uneasy about your chosen direction if the &quot;moss rule&quot; contradicts it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, there is some truth behind it and it's nice to know, but not reliable enough to really be of much use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-10-09T13:32:27.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3067" CreationDate="2012-10-09T13:51:26.323" Score="15" ViewCount="2361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir sleeping pad.  This is not self inflating, so I have to breathe in to the sleeping pad to inflate it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any precautions for storing the bag to avoid gnarly bacteria / mold from growing inside the sleeping pad since I'm inflating it with such moist air?  Is it enough to just store it with the valve open?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T15:52:52.530" Title="Should I worry about moisture in my inflatable sleeping pad?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3066" CreationDate="2012-10-09T15:05:25.980" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. It's a good thought, but I have had one that I have inflated by mouth for over 10 years. I usually store it valve open partially inflated. I live in Arizona and the temp in the shed can get to over 150 degrees F some days so valve closed would cause the bubble to pop. It has never given me trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard that this is an issue from people who have never owned one before, and usually as a selling point for solid mattresses. But I have never heard it as an issue from someone who owned one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-10-15T15:52:52.530" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T15:52:52.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3073" CreationDate="2012-10-11T20:29:25.337" Score="-4" ViewCount="399" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was trying to find statistics for the number of caches in Germany, that are registered in portal &lt;a href=&quot;http://opencaching.de&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;opencaching.de&lt;/a&gt;, a free of change and open alternative to GeoCaching.com. But I've failed to find such numbers. In polish version of OpenCaching the statistics are available under the link in the main menu. But how to find out that number for german OpenCaching? Or, if there are no such statistics presented on page, do you know at least the estimated numbers of caches registered in that portal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-10-12T12:56:42.967" LastActivityDate="2012-10-12T20:12:10.103" Title="How many GeoCaches are registered in Germany by OpenCaching?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-10-17T23:56:30.507" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3066" CreationDate="2012-10-11T23:48:51.793" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My understanding that the only time inflating a pad by breath is bad is when it will be used in sub-zero conditions, as the moisture can freeze inside the mattress.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-10-11T23:48:51.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3069" CreationDate="2012-10-12T13:00:10.340" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only way that you can really find this out if they don't provide the stats on the pages is to contact them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in terms of a slightly different question (the rough number of geocaches in Germany in general) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.notaboutthenumbers.com/2011/08/07/geocache-crazy-germans/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt; says it was approaching 200,000 August last year (2011), so I'd imagine it's still in that ballpark but may have crept up a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-10-12T13:00:10.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2012-10-12T13:56:56.717" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the above and recommend Therm-a-rest for anytime of camping provide its within your budget, there a little expensive but well worth the long-term investment if you intend to use them again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1830" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-12T14:51:55.400" LastActivityDate="2012-10-12T14:51:55.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3069" CreationDate="2012-10-12T20:12:10.103" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seams, that there is another site for statistics, which is not linked (or the linking is not obvious. The statistics for Germany can be obtained under &lt;a href=&quot;http://cms.geocaching.de/index.php?id=9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://cms.geocaching.de/index.php?id=9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, OpenCaching has ~28k caches in Germany, and GeoCaching ~192k. That means that GeoCaching has over 6 times as many caches in Germany as OpenCaching (quite suprising, because in Poland it is the opposite).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-10-12T20:12:10.103" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1672" CreationDate="2012-10-14T11:49:38.363" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One place you can look is in an appropriate online hiking/mountain forums. For example, in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CouchSurfing&lt;/a&gt; there's a group called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=477&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mountain hiking&lt;/a&gt;. It has a subgroup called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=4106&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;alpine enthusiasts&lt;/a&gt;. It looks like there are posts there of people trying to arrange hiking trips in the Alps, which would be a good place to find partners without knowing someone beforehand. Such a trip should &lt;strong&gt;definitely not be commercial&lt;/strong&gt; in nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another forum that might be useful is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g1-i10701-Outdoors_Adventure_Travel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoors Adventure forum&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TripAdvisor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TripAdvisor&lt;/a&gt;. It doesn't look like it has geographic-based sub forums, but it seems to have posts of the same kind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both CouchSurfing and TripAdvisor are commercial by nature, but I think the people posting in the forums are/have to be non commercial; I think pure &quot;advertisements&quot; there for paid services aren't welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-10-14T11:49:38.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2012-10-15T01:45:21.447" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You mention that they're newer boots in your post.  You could also wear them enough to make sure you've broken them in BEFORE your big hiking trip.  Wear them to work (if you can get away with it).  Wear them on the stairmaster in the gym (if you're doing 20 minute sessions, blistering may not be as bad, and you can make sure to duct-tape / moleskip up your feet anywhere you might get a blister).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T01:45:21.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2012-10-15T14:10:47.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The British Army stationed in Scotland use Avon Skin So Soft (I kid you not!) against midges. The locals swear by it too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastEditorDisplayName="user13745" LastEditDate="2017-07-31T23:23:22.210" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T23:23:22.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1905" CreationDate="2012-10-15T16:57:28.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Wood.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the link&lt;/a&gt; @Amine posted, the following areas are key:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the keel area check the joints between planks and frames visually, looking for gaps or any sign that the plank is not tight against the frame. Then use a screw driver to test the wood for softness on both plank and frame near the mating surface.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to slip the pry bar under the frame and pry gently. Does the frame move or rock slightly? If so, there is a fastener problem.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Further up from the keel look for signs of weepage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a large screwdriver for testing the hardness of the inner planking, particularly in the deep bilge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The chines are an area not only of high stress, but an area that is also prone to leakage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bottom Frames are often joined to side frames with knees that are through bolted. Looseness or corrosion on these bolts are a warning sign that all is not well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The two most common areas for sprung planks to occur is the garboard and the forefoot area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The intersect of bottom and side planking to the transom is yet another area where leakage and deterioration are prevalent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The author has extensive experience in this area and his page is well worth a read as he goes into detail above and below decks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-10-15T17:57:40.483" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T17:57:40.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1626" CreationDate="2012-10-15T21:25:27.653" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that RMI (one of the places you listed) is great as well as Alpine Assents, but neither are very formal in the guide education area. Try taking a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/pacificnw/ncascades.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Outdoor Leadership School.&lt;/a&gt; They have a pretty well setup program and work with some schools to get you credit (if you need it) They are pretty thorough and offer a 17 day course and a 31 day course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T21:25:27.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1626" CreationDate="2012-10-15T23:38:36.630" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend an American Alpine Institute &lt;a href=&quot;http://aai.cc/Programs/Group/Mountaineering-Instruction/&quot;&gt;mountaineering course&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a mountain like Elbrus, you are probably most interested in their &lt;a href=&quot;http://aai.cc/ProgramDetail/glacierskills/&quot;&gt;3-Day Glacier Skills and Crevasse Rescue&lt;/a&gt; course, but the Alpinism Intro and Baker Skills and Climbs might also be appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AAI guides are top-notch, and although I have not personally taken this course a friend of mine did the Glacier course on Mt. Baker, and enjoyed it (as well as learned a lot!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-10-15T23:38:36.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3080" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3082" CreationDate="2012-10-16T17:24:41.547" Score="12" ViewCount="564" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibly the most common injury I see when hiking with groups is when someone turns or rolls their ankle.  Assuming that access to a vehicle is not feasible, what is the best way to deal with the injury to make it several miles out without causing further damage to the joint?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-10-16T17:59:18.913" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T11:21:16.420" Title="How do you best treat a turned ankle in the back country?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3080" CreationDate="2012-10-17T10:30:27.983" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are relatively well known steps to dealing with this out in the wilds. One online resource with pictures is at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/skills-how-to-improvise-ankle-brace/slideshows/190&quot;&gt;Backpacker Magazine&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic steps (that are detailed there) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (which you should do with any sprain, wherever you are)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bandage reasonably tightly - not so tight that you cut off circulation, but tight enough that you restrict swelling and support the ankle. A visual check to make sure the toes aren't turning blue is essential, especially in a very cold environment!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pad the ankle - a scarf, t-shirt or other material helps to make sure the ankle bones are protected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While you can use a branch, a much better option, and the one Backpacker Magazine recommends, is to use a foam sleeping mat as a splint, as it provides support and some impact protection. You can fold it in half, place it down one side of the leg, under the foot and up the other side. If it is too big, cut it - you can always buy another one once you get home. Use your usual mat ties or straps to hold it tight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you have got it secure and the ankle is immobilised without it being too tight, and you are confident that it won't be damaged further, take ibuprofen to help kill the pain and reduce inflammation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Support the individual and slowly walk back to civilisation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-10-17T10:30:27.983" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3083" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3084" CreationDate="2012-10-17T14:28:33.457" Score="9" ViewCount="7121" Body="&lt;p&gt;In very deep temperate forest (5+ days out), what dangers can endanger the life(s) of a group of several fit individuals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/18255/non-magical-wilderness-forest-threats&quot;&gt;Motivation of the question&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T16:36:00.047" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T16:36:00.047" Title="What are some mortal dangers in temperate woods?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3083" CreationDate="2012-10-17T15:56:50.377" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a list of dangers is potentially useful, but not a &quot;single answer&quot; question so I'm going to make this a CW -- Add your stuff here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hypothermia  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dehydration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hyperthermia/heat stress/heat stroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Falls leading to mechanical injury or head trauma&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting lost and dying of dehydration/starvation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water born illness through drinking tainted water (protozoa, bacteria, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Infection of open wounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poisoning from toxic plants (mushrooms, berries etc.) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poisoning from chemically tainted water (alkali, heavy metals, industrially tainted, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flooded streams no longer passable, trapping you in an area (or sweep you into rocks/falls) or drowning or losing gear in flash floods or water crossings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Animal danger (e.g. bears, snakes, bees, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire, such as camp fire getting out of hand, lighting overhead branches and starting a forest fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightning, if you're on a ridge and a storm comes in quickly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dead trees falling in high wind - on the group or on the shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bogs, swamps, quicksand &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-29T16:50:23.857" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T16:50:23.857" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-10-17T15:56:50.377" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3087" CreationDate="2012-10-19T17:05:50.380" Score="12" ViewCount="467" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been watching a LOT of snare/trap setting videos.  They spend an lot of time making the snares nigh invisible.  None of these snares would seriously injure a person, but I would like to avoid hurting people with traps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to flag a snare set or trap set so that it warns humans without also warning away the intended game?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-10-19T19:56:15.723" Title="How can you make snares safe?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3086" CreationDate="2012-10-19T19:56:15.723" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not exactly a direct answer but may be more appropriate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel that signposting a snare is a good way of getting your game stolen so in general I would advise not signposting but instead making the snare where animals will go but not where humans will walk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a lot easier than it sounds- you can usually spot popular routes for small animals just off the beaten track and set accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-10-19T19:56:15.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3088" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3090" CreationDate="2012-10-21T00:15:43.637" Score="11" ViewCount="5527" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read several blogs and watched videos on hunting where I have heard people use the term &lt;code&gt;glass&lt;/code&gt;.  I have no idea what it means and I have found very little on Google about what it could mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what does the term &lt;code&gt;glass&lt;/code&gt; mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;We are going to glass here tonight and see if there is a bull around.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-11-09T15:05:23.943" LastActivityDate="2017-11-09T15:05:23.943" Title="What does glass mean in the context of hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3088" CreationDate="2012-10-21T19:34:40.933" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some people refer to binoculars as spyglasses, or 'glass' for short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1847" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-10-22T21:49:51.700" LastActivityDate="2012-10-22T21:49:51.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3088" CreationDate="2012-10-22T02:16:42.190" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Glass generally means using your binoculars or scope to look for game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-10-22T02:16:42.190" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3033" CreationDate="2012-10-22T06:05:14.463" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;At first, I was going to down-vote the question, because &quot;I have heard...&quot; struck me as relying on urban myth.  But I realized I didn't have the Rep yet on this site to do so...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then coincidentally, I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/8390848.stm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this sad story from 2009&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A 16-year-old boy was crushed to death by falling stones in a cave&#xA;  which had probably been unsettled by the heat from his camp fire, an&#xA;  inquest heard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Geology expert Andrew Bowden told the inquest that a pre-exisiting&#xA;  weakness in part of the 1,000-year-old cave would have combined with&#xA;  the heat of the fire to cause about 200kg of rock to fall away from an&#xA;  overhang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Edit: This refers to the same story linked by Berry above]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But under normal circumstances, I suspect Carbon Monoxide poisoning and/or smoke inhalation is the bigger risk...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1789" LastActivityDate="2012-10-22T06:05:14.463" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3092" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3093" CreationDate="2012-10-22T18:14:56.983" Score="10" ViewCount="145" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I've been running to work as my form of commuting and I've been getting by with my Gregory Z45 internal-frame pack for carrying whatever I need for the day.  What bothers me about this pack is that it seems to flop around quite a bit when running, which gets to be annoying over the course of the 6 miles to my office.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, I think I'm looking for something really simple and lightweight that would sit nicely between my shoulderblades while still being secured by some sort of a hip strap.  I'd also love to be able to take such a pack out for some lightweight backpacking, so a frame isn't strictly necessary since I'd use a sleeping pad for some structure in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="57" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:51:25.957" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:51:25.957" Title="Pack recommendations for running?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2017-11-03T22:37:36.890" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3092" CreationDate="2012-10-22T19:20:57.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had very good success with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/group/multi-use/talon_series&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Osprey Talon Series&lt;/a&gt; of packs. I personally own the 22 and the 44. Both are good packs that meet the requirements that you have outlined in your second paragraph. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1848" LastActivityDate="2012-10-22T19:20:57.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1706" CreationDate="2012-10-22T22:03:20.747" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might want to take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.raems.com/webad/USP.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; which is in Canada, but ships to the USA. Due note that since the DEA is restricting/banning the product, buying iodine crystals through the mail might get seized coming into the country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to help Polar Pure come back, take a look &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.provident-living-today.com/Polar-Pure-Needs-Your-Help.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for info on how you can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for a more bulk level purchase you could check &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neobits.com/avantor_performance_materials_1008_34_iodine_p3600613.html?atc=gbs&amp;amp;gclid=CKXpnrrPlbMCFQTZQgodgVoA8g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this supply store&lt;/a&gt; which sells iodine crystals in 30g increments.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-10-22T22:41:41.463" LastActivityDate="2012-10-22T22:41:41.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3096" CreationDate="2012-10-24T08:51:15.267" Score="9" ViewCount="325" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the legal issues when entering school areas while searching for geocaches? Some caches are located in such places. The first is available without problem for children and teachers, but what with other geocachers? Is it actually legal to go into such area without &quot;strong reason&quot; such as working there or beeing a parent of a child? In worst case, how to react when the police is called? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is focused on Europe, however the answers about US would also be appreciated, because there are many law similarities anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-24T12:56:57.840" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T22:06:08.407" Title="Legal issues when entering school areas while geocaching in Europe" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3095" CreationDate="2012-10-24T11:21:04.513" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Be very careful as far as schools are concerned - parents or staff will tend to be rather vigilant with strangers on site (especially primary schools) and I believe without permission it is technically trespassing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Geocaches really shouldn't be placed in such areas without written permission anyway, so for some that have done this you might be ok (though I'd still ask ahead first if unsure.) There may be those that have been placed unknowingly in some areas though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before searching for any caches on school property, my first port of call would be to contact the school and ask for permission. If they seem to react adversely or have no idea what a Geocache is or why it's been placed, then it shouldn't have been put there in the first place - so don't go and try to find it, file a &quot;Needs Archived&quot; report instead with the relevant details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T16:47:08.540" LastActivityDate="2013-01-30T16:47:08.540" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3097" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3098" CreationDate="2012-10-24T15:50:59.230" Score="19" ViewCount="477" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a local shop that sells small brand name gear for pretty good prices.  I am looking at their harnesses and quickdraws and would like to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Whether the equipment is safe - say compared to &quot;big brands&quot; like Petzl or Black Diamond?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Whether the gear is good quality and nice to use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1849" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T02:50:38.737" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T05:07:10.057" Title="How do you know if smaller brands of climbing equipment are safe?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3097" CreationDate="2012-10-24T18:23:25.297" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;When choosing a brand, there are two basic things I'd want to check:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has the product been certified by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt;? You can check that site to see if it's on the list. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For a harness, will the gear shop let you try a harness on, and hang in it (in the store) before you buy it?  I'd want to know how comfortable a harness is before I pay for one.  Comfort isn't the biggest factor in a harness for sport climbs, but if you're going to be working a route, and hanging a lot (or belaying someone who is doing the same), it can be a consideration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T18:51:42.357" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T18:51:42.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3097" CreationDate="2012-10-24T18:35:56.213" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My philosophy has always been that if I'm going to trust my life to it, I don't want &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; doubts in my mind.  I'm sure they make decent equipment, and as DavidR pointed out their harnesses are certified by the UIAA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, personally I would rather stick with a well-known company that has a proven track record than to save a few bucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2012-10-25T14:33:22.297" LastActivityDate="2012-10-25T14:33:22.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3097" CreationDate="2012-10-26T06:15:51.830" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is you can't test that something &lt;strong&gt;is&lt;/strong&gt; safe with your bare eye (e.g. you can't apply 2.2kN to the carabiner in the store, organize a fall, etc..). So you have 2 things to rely on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Certificates (UIAA, CE and/or specific to your country)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other people's experience&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second option is not so useful with small, not so widespread brands (and the reviews may be biased: a couple of schoolboys can break almost any piece of equipment by using it wrong or praiseful reviews can be written by company affiliates).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least, you can always tell if something &lt;strong&gt;isn't&lt;/strong&gt; safe: the seam on the harness might look weak or expose threads sticking out all over, the gate of the carabiner might jam or the particular piece of equipment  might &lt;em&gt;just feel unsafe&lt;/em&gt;. Don't use it in case of any doubt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Low price doesn't always imply bad quality, small companies don't charge you for the brand and they need to keep low prices to be competitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-10-26T06:15:51.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3102" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-10-26T11:41:20.393" Score="18" ViewCount="8831" Body="&lt;p&gt;Commercial slackline solutions seem bulky, heavy, overpriced, and a little too industrial for my liking. I have 6 carabiners and 50m of tubular webbing. What knots do you recommend for building, anchoring and tightening a slackline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T12:27:53.153" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T14:01:17.217" Title="How do I tie a slackline with only carabiners and webbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3103" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3112" CreationDate="2012-10-26T12:42:35.697" Score="8" ViewCount="787" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a freely accessible website that provides access to recent high-resolution (&amp;lt;~1–5 km) satellite-based snowcover estimates (snow / no-snow). Many meteorology websites provide an interface to cloud cover satellite imagery, but it's not always easy to see snow-cover from those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;MODIS&lt;/em&gt; satellite provides visible imagery down to a 250-metre resolution. This can (in absence of clouds) certainly be used for the above-stated purpose, and indeed they produce a &lt;a href=&quot;http://nsidc.org/data/modis/gallery/global_daily_snow.html&quot;&gt;daily global snow-product&lt;/a&gt; at a roughy 5 km grid. Although accessible in principle in HDF-5 format, it's quite a bit of work to download and read this data to see the extent of snowcover 50 km from home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://senorge.no/&quot;&gt;Senorge&lt;/a&gt; website provides a fantastic interface, exactly what I'm looking for, but only for Norway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many meteorological websites, e.g. SMHI in Sweden, provide regular &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smhi.se/vadret/vadret-i-sverige/snodjup&quot;&gt;snow-thickness maps&lt;/a&gt;, but those are heavily interpolated and irregularly updated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know a website that lets the user look at recent satellite-based snow products on an easily zoomable map? I'm most interested in Sweden at the moment, but it would be quite interesting if it was global (like the &lt;em&gt;MODIS&lt;/em&gt; product).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T10:45:33.833" Title="Near-realtime satellite snow-cover imagery via easy web-interface" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3103" CreationDate="2012-10-26T12:52:27.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This NASA web-interface&lt;/a&gt; provides a somewhat recent (several days old) interface to global daily snow-maps. From the main page, click on &lt;em&gt;Land&lt;/em&gt; (immediately below the map), then click on &lt;em&gt;Snow cover&lt;/em&gt; in the drop-down menu that appears. Then, on the right, under &quot;Matching datasets&quot;, select &quot;Snow cover - 1 day (Terra / Modis)&quot; and click &quot;Select&quot;. This will show a 3-day old global snow-cover map that is zoomable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vMlLE.png&quot; alt=&quot;NASA global snow-map zoomed in for Northern Europe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the best I have been able to find so far. It doesn't show the coastlines, but in this example we can see the Alps, the southern Norwegian highland and a wide arch in Lapland and Finland. The resolution is not optimal and it's hard to see what is where.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-10-26T12:52:27.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3105" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3106" CreationDate="2012-10-27T08:02:14.667" Score="2" ViewCount="72" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it good idea to use city &lt;strong&gt;tickets&lt;/strong&gt; for public transport (laminated or in string bags) as exchange objects or traveller objects (&lt;strong&gt;krets&lt;/strong&gt;)? Are such items welcomed by the geocachers community?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the one side, simply throwing validated tickets into caches in the same city is not welcomed, because such 'items' are considered thrash. But from the other side, the ticket from the other city (or the other country) can be welcomed by collectors, and when it is secured from wet (lamination etc.) it can look quite nice in the cache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z4bQC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-10-27T09:10:23.997" Title="City tickets as exchange objects?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2012-10-30T03:54:42.060" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3105" CreationDate="2012-10-27T09:10:23.997" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal opinion: &lt;strong&gt;Yes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once, while hiking in the mountains, I found by chance a ~30 year old train ticket for transporting some freight between two train stations that have now been closed a long time ago. I love railway history as I love hiking, and it's a nice collectors item. If the ticket is from an exotic place or a place far away in space or in time, I think it's really nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, this is my personal opinion, and other people may have different opinions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-10-27T09:10:23.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3102" CreationDate="2012-10-27T09:43:56.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have probably already seen the excellent resource at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slackline.com/?cat=35&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.slackline.com&lt;/a&gt; but they have an excellent page on how to tie your slackline to a tree using ordinary webbing and carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key image from their sequence:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/duGAa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then just add a carabiner (with webbing wrapped round it to protect) to the metal ring and you are set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Total kit required: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;length of webbing at each end&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 carabiners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 metal rings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could also add some padding to protect the tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tensioning, people use 3:1 or even 6:1 pulley systems with some success, but you'll find it hard to get enough tension to avoid bottoming out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slacklineexpress.com/types.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This guy&lt;/a&gt; tries a few pulley setups, but still has a fair amount of drop in his line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, you'll want a &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.freeflowlines.com/2-Inch-Freeflow-Slackline-Ratchet-RATCH2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ratchet like this one&lt;/a&gt; - it's the only way to get enough tension in your line!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-11-04T19:30:21.773" LastActivityDate="2012-11-04T19:30:21.773" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3033" CreationDate="2012-10-27T22:30:41.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is another problem with making a fire in a natural cave: the smoke propagating through the cave can severely affect various cave-dwelling species, particularly bats.  That is especially bad during winter, when smoke and warm air from the fire can wake up the bats and drive them out of the cave, causing them to freeze or starve to death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-10-27T22:30:41.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3109" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-10-28T20:08:24.597" Score="14" ViewCount="356" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a non-skier right now but am thinking of going on a ski trip. As far as I can tell there are two options for learning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On a dry ski slope before I go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start my trip with learning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What the the advantages of either option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20473" OwnerDisplayName="Matt" LastEditorUserId="449" LastEditDate="2012-10-29T06:15:38.007" LastActivityDate="2012-11-01T15:40:46.327" Title="What are the advantages of learning to ski on a trip? (as opposed to beforehand)" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3109" CreationDate="2012-10-29T02:03:08.270" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only gone skiing on a non-snow surface once. I was attending a ski jumping competition in Salt Lake City during summer, and they had this tiny ramp set up at the bottom of the K120 hill, so that 5-year-olds could give ski jumping a try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The jump itself went well, but I tried snowploughing to stop, rather than just running out of momentum, and I stopped too suddenly and fell over. I got a slightly grazed knee as a result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're learning skiing, then odds are you're going to stack, and I suspect it's better to do so on snow than on an artificial surface!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="449" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T02:03:08.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3109" CreationDate="2012-10-29T07:02:25.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the perspective of getting the most out of the trip, you should get some learning in beforehand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first lessons are likely to be the least exciting - how to snowplow, basic turns, stops etc on the beginner slopes. So you won't get to appreciate the ski trip as much as if you already have these basic skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many cities now not only have dry ski slopes, but artificial ski slopes...None quite so grand as the ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qGMCI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, it can be fun to learn with a group and go through the steps together in a new location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-10-29T16:23:31.373" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T16:23:31.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3103" CreationDate="2012-10-29T10:45:33.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;MODIS data is accessible as &lt;a href=&quot;http://lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/imagery/realtime.cgi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;JPEG images&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it's still not easy to find an exact point on the image, but at least you don't have to bother with HDF. If you can't find today's images for a specific region, you can look back in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We use this service to check ice coverage on big lakes when planning ski trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T10:45:33.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3109" CreationDate="2012-10-29T11:47:31.460" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first time I went skiing, I found the camaraderie of Absolute Beginners Ski School to be brilliant - and formed the nucleus of a great &lt;em&gt;apres ski&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also tried the dry ski slope back home, and it doesn't come close.  And hurts more when you fall over (as you will!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1789" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T11:47:31.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1068" CreationDate="2012-10-29T23:37:48.230" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before I saw this question, I had no idea the term &lt;i&gt;stealth camping&lt;/i&gt; existed, but I have definitely done it a number of times, just backpacking, with a bike, and with a car.  Yes, it's possible to do stealth car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in the US and most of my experiences have been in New England (where I live) and Arizona (which I visit every summer).  New England and Arizona are quite different in what you are allowed to do and what people care you do.  Regardless of all that, one thing I never do is camp on private property that is clearly marked to indicate the owner doesn't want you there.  The owner has the right to make the call whether they want to allow others to enter their property, and I respect that.  However, I take a somewhat different view with public property.  I suppose that's just as wrong, but it feels different to me.  I'm willing to sneak onto public property where I know I'm not really hurting anything or taking something away from others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think you probably wouldn't be allowed to camp if you asked, it's a good idea to wait until dusk.  One time I was on a multi-day bike tour and found myself a little north of Milford NH as it was starting to get dark.  There was no public land around I could see.  I found a patch of woods that was big enough to conceal me.  I stood next to my bike by the side of the road making like I was drinking water until there were no cars coming by and snuck into the woods.  I went in maybe 200 feet and set up my tent.  It's a really small low to the ground brown tent just big enough for me to lie down in.  There was no way anyone could see me from the road.  I went to sleep and thought all was well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the middle of the night I heard people talking and walking thru the brush.  I was suprised by that.  It was the only time stealth camping I ever ran into anyone in the middle of the night that closely.  They couldn't have possibly seen me, so had to be there for some other reason.  It wasn't &lt;i&gt;supposed to be&lt;/i&gt; hunting season, but I think that's what they were doing.  Or more accurately, they were trying to poach, probably deer.  I think they saw my tent or my bike and took off.  I kept still just in case anyway.  Apparently they were more worried about being found than I was.  The next morning I got outta there as soon as it was light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In New England, land is more managed and controlled than in other parts of the country.  The rules in the White Mountain National Forest are pretty strict about where you can camp.  I really hate public campgrounds because you always seem to get stuck between a crying kid on one side and a bunch of beer bellied yahoos on the other being rowdy until 2:00am.  No thanks.  The WMNF does have a few places that are undeveloped sites where you can just pull in and camp for the night for no charge.  Of course there are no commodities, but that's fine with me.  I'm just looking for a place to plunk a tent for the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the legal free sites are scarce and usually fill up on Friday and Saturday nights.  This is where you do stealth car camping.  Find a trailhead parking lot to leave the car.  The trick is to go in some other direction than the trail to plunk the tent.  In the WMNF it is not unusual at all for a car to be parked overnight at a trailhead, so that draws no particular attention.  But, you don't want to be caught with the tent where it's not supposed to be.  However, nobody looks anywhere but along the trail, and they aren't really looking for illegal campers anyway.  Going accross the road from the trailhead is usually the best, since nobody has any reason to be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Arizona stealth camping is mostly pointless since there is so much public land and it's perfectly legal to plunk a tent as long as it's not in the middle of a road.  I was used to the east, and the first time I went to a ranger station in the Apache National Forest to ask where I'm allowed to camp, it took them a while to comprehend the question because it was so foreign to them.  Generally they don't want you driving off the road (although there are large areas where that is legal too), but otherwise if you're just going to plunk a tent they don't care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-10-29T23:37:48.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3115" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3119" CreationDate="2012-10-30T22:35:48.480" Score="14" ViewCount="4906" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's late October and in cold, northern hemisphere climates, winter has arrived, and moderate northern hemisphere climates will follow soon. In my area, small lakes are already frozen and people have been ice-skating already. The rivers and large lakes will freeze soon, too.  Fresh, blank ice can be amazing for ice-skating, ice-biking or just walking on the ice. Snow-covered ice is often passed through when skiing or snow-mobiling. But ice can be quite dangerous, certainly in the beginning of the season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From a safety point of view, what should one always carry along when crossing lake and river ice?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What should I do when I fall through such ice?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question covers all, from small ponds to long rivers to big (&gt;100 km²) lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2012-10-31T09:19:57.300" LastActivityDate="2012-10-31T13:11:43.100" Title="How to be safe on lake and river ice and what should I do when I fall through?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3117" CreationDate="2012-10-30T22:43:01.480" Score="10" ViewCount="392" Body="&lt;p&gt;The dark winter is approaching on the northern hemisphere. At my latitude (67½°N), the sun sets at 15:00 by now, and a little more than a month away the polar night will start. So far, I'm virtually not doing any outdoor activities between October and February, due to the dark, cold conditions. But I still crave for the mountains!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I still enjoy outdoor life when daylight lasts only a few hours? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some thought:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlights, but last only a short time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full moon, particularly with snow-cover, should be quite bright. Bright enough for longer trips?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any other thoughts?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T11:34:06.157" Title="Tips for outdoor during the dark winter?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3116" CreationDate="2012-10-30T23:21:48.923" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carry a low lumen headlamp and a brighter torch (flashlight).  Use a long lasting, low lumen headlamp for basic activities and only use the torch when you really need the extra light.  This is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/829550/petzl-tikka-plus-2-headlamp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;headlamp&lt;/a&gt; I use (and we read, play cards, etc. in addition to hiking after dark).  It's the Petzl Tikka Plus 2.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For torches, I recommend looking into Fenix products.  They offer very good lumen/duration/weight trade offs.  Yes, Fenix tends to be quite pricey, but my experience is that no one else offers the same lumens and duration for the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full moon is not something you want your life depending on (and it would).  Cloud cover can shut down the moon pretty quick and for long periods of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-04-01T17:39:44.420" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T17:39:44.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3083" CreationDate="2012-10-31T00:41:39.547" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the most likely is actually hypothermia.  All it takes is being a little unprepared and getting caught in wet and windy conditions a little above freezing.  If you don't deal with that right away, things just deteriorate and then dealing with it properly gets less and less likely until you're unable to deal with anything at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say number 2 is getting lost and not being smart about it.  Actually nobody dies of getting lost.  The most likely cause of death resulting from getting lost is again hypothermia.  You said temperate woods, so it sounds like finding water isn't too hard, and you can go much longer without food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next is probably physical accident.  Stuff happens no matter how careful or prepared you are.  Most of the stories you hear of people falling to their death sound like stupidity is the underlying cause with falling only the means.  Yes prepared and experienced people doing the right things can still break a ankle or leg, which then prevents them from getting to a planned shelter or something, and that can be life threatening.  However, that is actually quite rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the other things in the wiki answer are not serious concerns.  Yes, they can all happen, but are either exceedingly rare or easily preventable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-10-31T15:34:23.813" LastActivityDate="2012-10-31T15:34:23.813" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3115" CreationDate="2012-10-31T11:36:43.940" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it's possible you will be crossing ice on your route, there is a couple of stages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Planning at home&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, you should explore the area of your trip. The question is are the water sources frozen and how thick is the ice&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small lakes in the forest, where there is no winds and no water flow, freeze first. If you know that a couple of small lakes in the area froze a week or two ago, then you can assume that all the other have probably frozen too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Big lakes, which are visible from satellites, can be checked directly on MODIS &lt;a href=&quot;http://lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/imagery/realtime.cgi&quot;&gt;daily satellite images&lt;/a&gt;. After you find the lake on the image (which is difficult) you can tell if it's frozen by its color: white is frozen, dark is open water. If the lake is frozen, you should check a week or two back to see if it was already frozen and there were any chances for the ice to thicken.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Very big lakes (like, &gt;100 km^2) may be partially frozen for months. You can see it on the images. You'll have smooth white fields near the shores (fixed ice), dark open water in the middle, and mixed dark/white pattern in between - floating ice. The trick is that fixed ice may split off and start floating any time, if it's near the edge (and sometimes far from the edge too). On the other hand, sometimes local authorities publish ice coverage maps for very big lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rivers are very treacherous. You can examine other rivers to roughly estimate that there is (or isn't) &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; ice on your river, but you should concider width and speed of the current. But river ice is not uniform and most rivers have areas open during the whole winter (where the current is faster and at shallow places). They may be very hard to detect, so you'd better just cross rivers and avoid walking &lt;em&gt;along&lt;/em&gt; the river.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And give the ice some time to thicken. This depends on the temperature much. I'm not going to give any numbers here, each case is unique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going far from home, it's wise to ask locals about ice situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Estimating on the spot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you are following your route and have a (probably) frozen water in front of you. It doesn't mean you &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to cross it. First, think it over again, because going back is less evil than dying or having your chilblain fingers amputated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check if there is any trace of open water. Avoid areas, where snow seems darker or lower. Avoid areas near water plants and rocks. If it's spring, avoid areas near shores (they unfreeze faster). Stop right away if you feel vibration or hear cracking. Never test ice strength with a kick of you foot, use a long pole instead (this applies mostly to crossing rivers, because you are not going to strike with a pole after each step on a big lake).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, &lt;strong&gt;there is no method&lt;/strong&gt; to test that the ice is 99% safe. You are the closest when you know that a couple of people (N times as heavy as you/your party) have crossed it 5 minutes ago, but still...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can use an ice screw to test ice thickness, but you can't do it all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alleviating the concequences of accidents&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have fallen into the water, it's very difficult to escape yourself: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you get stiffer every second&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you may panic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice is too slippery and/or too fragile to climb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your clothes and equipement (backpack, skies) make it much worse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there may be underwater currents pulling you under the impenetrable &quot;roof&quot; of thick ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main advice is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Have another person&lt;/strong&gt; following (&lt;em&gt;but not closely!&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He will have much more chances to help you. He should have a rope ready (you too, because &lt;em&gt;he&lt;/em&gt; might accidently fall). He should not come too close to avoid following you into the water. He should be quick. You both shouldn't panic. He will have much better success starting fire (or calling ambulance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other advices are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop your equipement as fast as possible (your backpack's belt should be unfastened all the time and you ski binding should allow underwater unfasteneing). Drop your heavy clothes too, it's wet anyway.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a personal awl (a sharp metallic piece with a handle) very accessible (like hanging at your sholder) to climb slippery ice. Or at least use youe ski poles, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have matches/lighter in a waterproof package close to skin, so that you can start a fire immediately after rescue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's possible, have an inflatable boat with you (I mean, inflated and tied to a roap in your hand). A warm diving suit + lifejacket + a boat make crossing not-so-frozen lakes quite easy and safe (tried it myself).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are out it's very important to get warm ASAP. And if the warming has to be delayed, move intensively. If you don't feel your fingers, swing your arm/leg about 50 times like a pendulum with full force. If you still can't feel the fingers, you can only save them by &lt;strong&gt;slowly&lt;/strong&gt; warming it. And, yes, fingers are not as important as life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice safety is very complex and this topic can't cover anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take ice seriously. Really. It's deadly and it's not an exaggeration. Lots of unprepared people fall and die each winter. And I know half a ski-tour group with an experienced leader drown two years ago on a big lake. I know two sportsman lost their fingers after unsuccessfully crossing a small river. I know a very experienced and fully prepared man escaped just with a couple of deep cuts on his face - he was lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you seriously plan crossing ice in a remote area, please be prepared, find a book or big article on the subject, consult with an experienced one and use your brains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And still it's solely your responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="1794" LastEditDate="2012-10-31T11:44:33.133" LastActivityDate="2012-10-31T11:44:33.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3115" CreationDate="2012-10-31T13:11:43.100" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To expand on Steed's great answer, namely one point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you have fallen into the water, it's very difficult to escape yourself&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would go as far as to say it's often nigh on impossible, if you haven't been through any training, to get out of your own accord. You &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; panic, cold &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; set in quickly, you'll likely be in some form of shock from the cold water, you'll probably lose sight of the small opening you fell through and however strong a swimmer you are, will struggle to get yourself out. The shock will also have an affect on your memory which means that even if you have had extensive training, and are thinking clearly in this situation, you'll struggle to recall this at the right moment. Even when you're out, if you're on your own that's only half the story - you then have to get warm and get help before hypothermia sets in, which is harder than it sounds if you've had to drop your pack and heavy clothes and have no working communication devices left on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With proper training there are things you can do in certain situations to maximise your chances of survival, but even here it's just about maximising your chances and is never a guarantee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't underestimate the risk of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-10-31T13:11:43.100" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3032" CreationDate="2012-10-31T13:38:12.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't in the spirit of the original question, but if you want to make sure you have enough water in the back woods, remember that proper planning is going to be the safest strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me, proper planning would include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having a good sense of where you can find water in that region.  Is it a temperate forest, where the streams and rivers are reliable?  Or are you in the desert, where water may only be found in specific places. A good map of the area, that would help you find streams, is also going to be handy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If in doubt, contact the park service, and ask to speak with a ranger.  At least in the US, they can give you a good sense of seasonal water availability (which springs and creeks are usually flowing in a particular time of year)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember to carry a water purification system.  Water filters and iodine tabs are both good options.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember to carry enough  water with you.  At least capacity for 2-4 liters per person per day, possibly a lot more if you're going to be in a hot, arid environment.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're going to be passing through an area with limited availibility (for instance, if you're on a multiday backpacking trip, and one of the campsites doesn't have a water source), think about carrying some larger, collapsible water bladder .  I have a 10L water bladder that has served me well on desert backpacking trips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-06-21T18:04:06.613" LastActivityDate="2013-06-21T18:04:06.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3122" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3145" CreationDate="2012-11-01T13:28:24.057" Score="9" ViewCount="2203" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our tent pan has a LOT of very tiny holes in it.  We've never had to use a footprint, and our tent has always kept water out, but that is no longer the case.  I don't want to carry a footprint due to weight.  It's impractical to find all the small holes and seal one at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any sort of large area sealant which would work?  We have a Kelty two man tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-05T16:14:21.420" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T01:33:12.427" Title="How do I reseal a tent bottom with many pinprick holes" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3109" CreationDate="2012-11-01T15:40:46.327" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that it will be your first time, no amount of preparing on a fake hill, will turn you into a snow-shredding powder dog. Your first days on a mountain WILL be difficult, painful, and short. But that doesn't mean it can't be fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, consider there are so many different types of snow one encounters on a real mountain that invariably it will take some re-learning of what you thought you learned on the rug anyway. Hard-pack is a whole different animal from powder, ice, slush, or anything in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than waste your money on fake skiing, you might do better to spend your weeks before your trip doing leg and cardio exercises: wall-sits, squats, plyometrics, and good old-fashioned jogging. Then, take a lesson when you get to the ski hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Provided you have a good attitude and are in good physical condition, you should be feeling pretty comfortable on your sticks by the end of the first day, and tackling some more spicy runs within 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, learning the basic mechanics on a dry slope probably can't hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-11-01T15:40:46.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3124" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-01T16:32:24.673" Score="14" ViewCount="3609" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to buy a flashlight/torch (or build my own even if that works out cheaper), and am looking to take the following into consideration:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good battery life (LEDs would probably suit best in this regard)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Takes rechargeable batteries of common size (so AA, C, D - some don't seem to)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rugged (when used for hiking / backpacking, you don't want something that might just give out!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bright (I'd like this thing to be bright enough for night walking - say at least 150-200 lumens.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything else I should consider? And would you recommend purchasing one, or building your own in terms of value for money (and considering I'm comfortable with electronics?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm mainly looking to use it for night hiking and night geocaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="9553" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T09:11:56.867" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T05:29:23.513" Title="What characteristics should I look for in a good torch/flashlight?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3125" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3128" CreationDate="2012-11-01T16:46:40.710" Score="13" ViewCount="3612" Body="&lt;p&gt;This year, a Danish citizen went missing without a trace in the mountains of northern Sweden. It is not the first time; in total, ten people are registered as missing after venturing into the mountains of the Swedish county of Norrbotten, including two this year (a Polish citizen in May, and a Danish one in August). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nsd.se/nyheter/gallivare/artikel.aspx?ArticleId=7193216&quot;&gt;This Swedish language article&lt;/a&gt; describes the story of several of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is the story of two Polish citizens in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarek_National_Park&quot;&gt;Sarek National Park&lt;/a&gt;, who went missing in the 1990s. One of the less esoteric theories is that they may have disappeared into &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksand&quot;&gt;quicksand&lt;/a&gt;. The local &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people&quot;&gt;Sami&lt;/a&gt; inhabitants know about quicksand in the area, as it occasionally kills some of their reindeer. Quicksand might have killed one or more of the missing people — but it is far from certain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose I am hiking by myself in a remote wilderness. How can I minimise the risks of disappearing into quicksand? Can I somehow recognise quicksand in order to avoid it? If I don't recognise it and do get stuck, what can I do to get out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, the risk is probably very small, isn't it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-11-01T20:51:21.423" Title="How do I recognise quicksand and how do I get out if stuck?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3126" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3127" CreationDate="2012-11-01T16:46:54.520" Score="12" ViewCount="1343" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to build an igloo to keep me warm in a snowy climate, how can I go about this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What size blocks should I cut?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How big should the entrance be?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How can I mitigate the risk of the igloo collapsing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-17T18:44:18.113" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T23:00:11.377" Title="How can I build a safe, effective igloo?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;igloos&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3126" CreationDate="2012-11-01T17:57:05.643" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Building an igloo requires:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the right snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;training to know what the right snow is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a snow knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some practice building the walls so that they taper in yet are supported as you go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the absence of training and practice, which I would posit is very rare, go with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinzhee&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;quinzy&lt;/a&gt; instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ITz86.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;quinzy from wikipedia&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You dig snow and throw it into a big pile. You let that sit for a bit to establish structure, and then you hollow it out. (Instructions on that wiki page and also at &lt;a href=&quot;http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/quinzy.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/quinzy.html&lt;/a&gt;.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While a properly built igloo (by someone who knows what they're doing, using the right snow) is solid like a house, a quinzy is safer when an untrained person without equipment wants to build a structure out of whatever snow happens to be on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T23:00:11.377" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T23:00:11.377" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3125" CreationDate="2012-11-01T20:51:21.423" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hartley's answer on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/107/66&quot;&gt;'starts sinking'&lt;/a&gt; question linked to by @berry120 has the usual guidance for quicksand as well as general boggy/marshy ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on your own, though, the key thing is to get your rucksack off and get yourself horizontal quickly. If you are vertical, and sinking, gravity will pull you down into the quicksand, but as the human body is less dense than a sand/water mix you will float at or on the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you struggle, you are acting against high viscosity, and possibly a vacuum as you try to pull your legs out of the quicksand, but if you can relax and lie back you will float to the surface and be able to paddle your way back to safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So - if you feel yourself stuck in quicksand - get your pack off and placed/thrown to your side and back, then try and lie down on the surface of the quicksand and relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subsequent to getting out, you will need to retrieve your pack, so keeping a length of rope or cord on you is a good plan. (I especially like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-bracelet-with-a-side-release-buckle/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;para cord bracelets&lt;/a&gt;)&#xA;Depending on conditions, you may now need to get warm and dry, so plan for setting camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your last query - the risk is pretty low. If you feel boggy ground, you can often just fall back and be on solid ground. You'd also have to try pretty hard to end up under the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-11-01T20:51:21.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3129" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3134" CreationDate="2012-11-03T12:35:32.250" Score="7" ViewCount="4818" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the end of this month, I will be spending some days in Kraków, Poland. I might have a half or a full day available and apart from exploring the city, I'd like to do some hiking in the close surroundings. It will be only a short hike: one day at most, probably just a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone recommend a nice destination for a half-day hike close to Kraków? I will be dependent on public transportation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T19:19:08.193" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T19:19:08.193" Title="Destination for (half-) day hike near Kraków, Poland in late autumn/early winter" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;poland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3130" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3132" CreationDate="2012-11-03T14:55:28.783" Score="7" ViewCount="2484" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a self erecting tent? What are the advantages of a self erecting tent as opposed to a tent that isn't, and what are the disadvantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T15:23:17.577" Title="What is a self erecting tent and why should I want one?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2012-11-03T15:11:37.493" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, regardless of the pins, it's simply impossible to put pins into the ground no matter the technology. In such a situations, boulders may be your friend:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uFmsw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;alternate way ot raising a tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Raising a tent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.norgeskart.no/#!?project=seeiendom&amp;amp;layers=1004&amp;amp;zoom=12&amp;amp;lat=7555368.59&amp;amp;lon=590443.47&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;between Baugevatnet and Sijdasjávrre, near Narvik, Norway, ~68.1°N&lt;/a&gt;, 1 October 2012. The ground was frozen solid and it was completely impossible to drive a peg into the ground.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friend taught me a way to raise a tent under such conditions. It works best with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3130/566&quot;&gt;self standing tent&lt;/a&gt;, which mine isn't, but we managed still. For each rope, find a rock as large as possible where it's possible to tie the rope around. If this rock is still small (depending on the tent design, it very well may be), build a cairn around this rock as to put weight on this connecting point. In the photograph above, we didn't use a single peg, but the tent was very stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I didn't bring a thermometer, I think it was close to -10°C during the night, and it took a long time for temperatures to rise during the day. Incidentally, it was the last night camping in the wild before winter would put an end to the snow-free season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aDpKU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo with context&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was worth it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-07-25T16:50:36.177" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T16:50:36.177" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3130" CreationDate="2012-11-03T21:37:37.183" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A self erecting tent does exactly what it says. Typically it will be made in a way that the poles will naturally erect the tent so all you need to do is take it out of its bag and then peg it to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major downside is that taking it down requires some effort and technique to twist and fold it into its packed configuration. Typically they can't be made that big either, as the springy poles could get tangled in a complex configuration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We use them for the kids, for day tents or fun tents, but I wouldn't want one for proper camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-03T21:37:37.183" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3140" CreationDate="2012-11-04T11:38:31.470" Score="10" ViewCount="372" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me and my girlfriend will go there in January and we plan on hiking for a week or so. Unfortunately there are no maps or books available for NZ hiking in my area. Could you recommend some for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I started using a GPS recently so the maps can be in any form (digital or paper), but I'd prefer to have a paper version as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're looking at Rees Dart, but we're opened to any recommendations you might give us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2012-11-12T17:34:55.717" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T14:16:02.557" Title="New Zealand recommended hiking maps, books and other resources" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3129" CreationDate="2012-11-05T03:22:14.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Krakow is amazingly beautiful and interesting town, so you may end up spending all your time in the town itself, but there are some great opportunities for hiking nearby. &#xA;There are several websites about Krakow that you can look at.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cracow-life.com/poland/krakow-day-trips&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; lists some ideas for day trips.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/ojco.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ojcow&lt;/a&gt; national park is just north of Krakow, apparently it is possible to get there by bus. If you are willing to travel a bit further, about 70km south of Krakow are the Beskidy mountains, with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/gorc.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gorczanski&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/babi.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Babigorski&lt;/a&gt; national parks.  All of those are definitely worth seeing, and offer plenty of hiking opportunities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes about hour and 30 minutes to get from Krakow Main station to Sucha Beskidzka, which is sort of a gateway into that part of Beskidy mountains.  There is a very nice &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powiatsuski.pl/download/zalaczniki/wydzialy/wp/szlaki-turystyczne/EN_Szlaki_PDBG.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;brochure&lt;/a&gt;(pdf) describing some hiking opportunities in the region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T03:22:14.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2012-11-05T08:15:37.807" Score="11" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I would buy a headlamp, it’s so much more convenient to have your hands free and the light always pointing where you look.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I would go for two/four AA bateries. My current headlamp uses three AAA’s. The odd number is not practical when buying or charging and if it used regular AA’s instead, I could exchange the batteries with my GPS or my &lt;a href=&quot;http://spareone.com&quot;&gt;backup phone&lt;/a&gt;. The AA’s are also dead easy to buy, just in case. In winter with temperatures well below zero Celsius, you might want to get lithium batteries that cope with freezing well. Again, these are easier to get in the AA format.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I would never ever buy a lamp without regulated light output. A lamp without regulated light output will slowly drop the light level as the batteries go down. With some lamps that means first several hours of nice light and the remaining 60–80 percent of time the light is too dim. Regulated lamp keeps the light output constant and when the batteries can no longer keep up, the light stops. This is not a universal view, some people prefer unregulated lamps. (Still not sure about the reason.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It’s nice to have several light level settings, like a dimmer light for finding things inside a tent. (200 lumens inside tent would probably look like a UFO.) Some manufacturers throw one red LED inside, which is also nice because the red light doesn’t take away your night vision. It’s great when the modes can be switched independently of the main switch – cycling through all the modes to get the right one gets old quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I second the rugged body and water proofing. It’s nice when you can put the lamp into a stream to atract crayfish or take it with you to sauna. Be vary about thin strips of plastic in the construction. My Princeton Tec Quad used to be water proof, but I managed to break a tiny plastic bridge above the glass, and now the humidity can get inside.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Building a good lamp is a lot of trial and error. I am happy to pay for a commercial one so that the manufacturer can suffer the errors for me; I wouldn’t want to be my own lab rat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B008HU8P52&quot;&gt;Fenix HL30&lt;/a&gt; would be my choice right now. Two AA batteries, 200 lumens peak output (for a limited time), regulated light, sturdy construction, reputable company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T08:15:37.807" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3130" CreationDate="2012-11-05T14:32:02.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My first experience of camping started with pop-up tent but I ended using a regular tent why? Like the Rory Alsop, it did not answer all the needs raised for a long term camping period. However based on my experience, here are the cons and pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very easy to set&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quicker to set&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is very hard to master the folding back into its bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very Bulky when folded, it will definitely not be the tent that will be used for backpacking camping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent ventilation can be an issue : The model that I used had little ventilation when it was raining.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;much less options than a regular tents (for example: vestibule, two doors are very nice to have when doing a long term camping but they seems non-existing or less frequently found than in regular tents)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-11-05T15:23:17.577" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T15:23:17.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3137" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3142" CreationDate="2012-11-05T14:44:04.200" Score="11" ViewCount="9588" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a free-standing tent? What are the advantages of a free-standing tent as opposed to a tent that isn't, and what are the disadvantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3130/566&quot;&gt;What is a self erecting tent and why should I want one?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T15:13:25.500" Title="What is a freestanding tent and why should I want one?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3137" CreationDate="2012-11-05T15:59:12.487" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big advantage of a free-standing tent is the fact that you can move it very easily when the chosen spot is not appropriate. However, this advantage comes with a disadvantage that is the tent can be easily blown away by the wind. Hence, you must securely attach it to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T15:59:12.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3146" CreationDate="2012-11-05T16:14:04.540" Score="11" ViewCount="7495" Body="&lt;p&gt;Growing up hiking the southern Appalachians, I've never actually needed a four season tent.  However we are starting to look at hikes around the country where the temperatures and conditions get worse in the winter.  What's a good guideline for knowing when to bring the four season tent instead of the three?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-09-28T09:28:27.817" Title="In what conditions is a four-season tent needed?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2012-11-05T16:18:09.053" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://omnimap.com/catalog/int/newzeal.htm#p5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Omnimap seem to have all 1:50k maps&lt;/a&gt; with a delivery time of around two weeks. However, Omnimap are quite expensive (US$ 16.95 per sheet). By comparison, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mapworld.co.nz/nztopo.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MapWorld New Zealand&lt;/a&gt; charges NZ$ 7.90 (US$ 6.50) per map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Land Information New Zealand have a (probably incomplete) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.linz.govt.nz/topography/topo-maps/map-retailers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of international resellers&lt;/a&gt;. This list includes Omnimap. Probably some of the domestic resellers also sell to foreign customers, so they might be your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T16:18:09.053" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3141" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3155" CreationDate="2012-11-05T17:44:12.463" Score="8" ViewCount="902" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some animals are big and dangerous and, when hungry, may realise that humans contain a pretty decent amount of meat. I've never hiked in such areas, but they do exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OjIsq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;polar bear warning&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo from &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polar-Bear-Warning-Longyearbyen.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, CC-BY-SA 3.0&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When on tour in Svalbard (and presumably in other polar bear territory as well), one is required to carry a rifle in order to protect oneself when attacked by a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what about during the night? Must someone stay awake all night to keep guard in case a polar bear comes for human meat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:51:42.477" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:51:42.477" Title="Does camping in polar bear country require someone to keep guard during the night?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;night&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3137" CreationDate="2012-11-05T17:51:25.127" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A free standing tent can be put up in a location that won't let you put pegs into the ground, such as on a rocky surface, because it establishes structure of its own and the pegs are just to keep it from blowing away. You can tie the tent to rocks or trees if pegs won't go into the ground. In a pinch, you can use rocks inside the tent to keep it down, or rely on your own weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other benefits too. In 30 years of camping I've set up on solid rock maybe twice. But I can't count the number of times I've unpegged the wet tent, carried it somewhere sunnier than where I pitched it, and even rolled it on one side to expose the wet base to a breeze. I've also unpegged a tent that still had bedding in it, put it in a canoe, and moved it to another (very nearby) site and then pegged it back out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to camp with small children, then you should enjoy being able to set up the tent in the least tent-peg-friendly location of all (and one where both rocks and trees are in remarkably short supply): your living room. Great place to practice setup and for the kids to practice sleeping in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-05-23T15:13:25.500" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T15:13:25.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3139" CreationDate="2012-11-05T18:13:16.980" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not really an expert in winter camping but I do live in the northern part of the Appalachians. You should base your decision on the following criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snow: what is the amount of snow that you could expect in one day? If it is more than 10 cm, you should probably choose a 4 seasons tent because snow accumulation can make a roof collapse  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winds: will your camping site be windy? If the wind speed can exceed 50 km/h again a 4 season tents would be more appropriate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature: when the temperature is less than zero, the 4 season is more appropriate because a minus zero in a 3 seasons tent can very disturbing!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, you should pay attention to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing_rain&quot;&gt;freezing rain&lt;/a&gt;. Freezing rain is much heavier than snow and at the same time, it does not slide as smoothly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This being said, I was curious to compare my 3 season tents with a 4 seasons and I was impressed to see that based on some criteria, it could withstand more stress. I guess then that before considering buying a 4 seasons tents, you should check what your own tent could withstand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T18:13:16.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3122" CreationDate="2012-11-05T18:46:51.633" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, if you can't patch them individually there are only 2 real options left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, get a new tent. Every tent I have had has developed this over time unless used with a tarp underneath. Any roll on sealant that would work, would increase the weight about as much as a light weight tarp. Also, they tend to make the tent harder to roll up, and more annoying to deal with in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, Replace the bottom tarp. If buying a new tent is too expensive, you can replace the bottom panel. I have done this in a few tents before. It is not fun and if you do this, make sure you seal the new seam and keep an eye on it the next time out. There are companies that will do it for a fee but it often costs close to what a new tent costs, unless your manufacturer does this. Manufacturers are usually much cheaper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above, there are roll on sealant solutions, but in my experience they are not worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-11-05T20:02:12.347" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T20:02:12.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3139" CreationDate="2012-11-05T22:22:48.077" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there are two primary distinctions between &quot;4 season&quot; (winter-capable) and &quot;3 season&quot; tents: Air flow and room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a 3 season tent, you generally want good ventilation and you pretty much leave it at that.  You have to consider this issue a lot more in a winter tent.  The difference is that in a winter tent the water vapor in your breath will condense and eventually freeze.  This brings up a set of issues that just don't exist when ice can't magically form from nothing inside the tent.  Winter tents can generally be shut pretty tight, but not completely tight.  You need some outside air exchange, but it needs to be possible to limit and control this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other issue is one of space.  I have a tiny 3 season tent that is just enough for me to lie down in.  That's great because it's light and small and can be pitched in many more places that would be out of the question for a tent with a larger footprint.  However, the downside of this is there is very little room inside.  Most of the time, it's not that big a deal to have to open the tent to sit up.  However in winter you really want to be able to do a few basic things inside the tent, like get fully dressed in winter gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just out of curiosity to see what the issues really were, I took my little 3 season tent on a single overnight in the middle of winter.  I knew there were going to be some un-comforts.  The point was to understand them better.  It was -5&amp;deg;F in the morning, so this was a decent test.  Condensed and frozen breath wasn't that much of a issue because the tent is reasonably well ventilated even with all the rain covers in place.  However, getting up and going in the morning was really awkward.  When it's that cold you really don't want to get out of your sleeping bag to get dressed at all, and you really don't want to open the tent to do it.  I managed it, but it took a lot of squirming around and significantly more time than if I could have sat up.  Having a vestibule for boots that is accessible from inside would have been really nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a separate note, I also learned that a single thermal foam pad under the sleeping bag when the snow is that cold isn't enough.  The cold manages to get thru to you because the sleeping bag (was a nice down bag) is compressed where you are lying on it.  Enough body warmth gets thru the compressed foam pad at pressure points that it re-forms the snow there a little and makes things quite more lumpy by morning than they were in the evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-28T09:28:27.817" LastActivityDate="2014-09-28T09:28:27.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3137" CreationDate="2012-11-05T22:50:11.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have said, the main advantage of a free standing tent is that it doesn't require stakes or rope tied to external fixed objects to stand up.  Of course there are downsides too.  This generally means there will be more poles and the tent will therefore be heavier for the same internal size.  Personally,&#xA;I think the advantages only make sense in limited conditions.  A free standing tent is great if the only surfaces you have to place the tent on don't allow for stakes and the conditions aren't too windy.  That can occur, but in my experience this combination is pretty uncommon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a small tent that requires a minimum of 3 stakes to stand.  Two more stakes are optional and only necessary to keep the tent anchored in case of high wind.  Camping in a forest is not a problem.  The forest floor is always spongy enough that installing a stake is simply a matter of pushing it in.  It takes about a second and you're done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common difficulty I run into with this system is when camping in the desert.  The ground tends to be dry hard-packed dirt.  It can take a couple of minutes per stake to get them the 6-8 inches into the soil.  This usually takes a bunch of twisting and pushing.  I can't bang my tent stakes since they are aluminum with a hook loop on top.  Banging only deforms the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time I get the stakes in.  The worst is when two stakes are already in and I just can't get the third in far enough.  That means I have to move at least one of the other stakes to allow re-positioning the last one and trying at a different location.  That happens to me about once of the 10 nights or so I spend in Arizona in that tent a year.  So far I've always gotten the stakes in at the chosen campsite after a retry or two at most.  Sometimes you can pour a little water over where you want to put the stake to soften the soil, but that doesn't really work as well as it sounds.  So anyway, a self-standing tent would have helped, but the tent I have didn't keep me from camping in any of those places.  In the end, I'd still rather futz with the stakes a little more some of the time than have a larger and heavier tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only one time in the nearly 30 years I have been using my little tent did the ground conditions foil it completely, and that was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I was on top of Bondcliff when it was time to find a place to set up camp.  I knew Bondcliff was broad enough on top and just assumed I could find a place to put the tent.  I was wrong.  Either there was bare rock or thinly covered rock, or too much of a slope, or thick knee-high alpine bushes.  A free standing tent would have worked, although keeping it from getting blown off the mountain would have been a issue.  I probably could have dealt with that by using enough rocks for weights in the right places, especially if the tent wasn't too tall.  In the end I ended up with my sleeping bag under the stars.  I piled some rocks around as a windbreak.  That helped, but it was still very windy that night and there was also a thunderstorm.  Yes, I and my sleeping bag got pretty wet and it wasn't a pleasant night.  Oh well, you gotta have a few adventures in life to look back on and tell stories about too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-11-05T22:50:11.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3486" CreationDate="2012-11-06T17:29:29.753" Score="17" ViewCount="8394" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which natural (non-synthetic) fabrics are good for hiking winter weather?  I know cotton will generally trap moisture and invite hypothermia, while wool is warm but heavy.  What other natural fabrics will work well in winter conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T18:22:48.243" Title="What natural (non-synthetic) fabrics are good for the winter?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3148" CreationDate="2012-11-06T18:34:53.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You probably want wool.  Wool has a fairly good warmth to weight ratio, and keeps most of its warmth when its wet.  You can get wool products for both base layers and insulating middle layers.  &quot;Merino wool&quot; is the style of wool that seems to be popular for high end outdoor wear now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be expensive, but the following companies make very high quality wool pieces for outdoor wear: Ibex, Smart Wool, Icebreaker. More general outdoor companies like Patagonia, Arc'Teryx, and Outdoor Research also offer some wool pieces.  Unfortunatly, they're very expensive.  Like a lot of &quot;natural&quot; products, wool outdoor pieces are priced as luxury versions of the synthetic ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down may also be appropriate, but I've never seen down jackets that weren't also made with nylon (I don't understand your motivations for wanting natural materials, so I don't know if this is a problem).  Down has the best warmth-to-weight ratio of almost any material, but keep in mind that its worthless when it gets wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what its worth, wool is relatively warm when its wet, but that isn't a substitute for keeping dry - if it might be raining where you're going, you should bring some kind of dry outer shell.  Unfortunately I'm not aware of any commercially available natural materials for that (i.e., there isn't a natural alternative to a Gor-Tex jacket).  Even with nice wool layers, if you get rained on enough, you would still get hypothermic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2012-11-07T00:09:37.457" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T00:09:37.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3150" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3154" CreationDate="2012-11-06T22:34:54.593" Score="12" ViewCount="2900" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am very happy with my starm-proof spirit stove (&lt;a href=&quot;http://trangia.se/stormkok-trangiakok/stormkok-serie-27/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar to this model, but older&lt;/a&gt;. When others are struggling to find a place outside the wind, I can cook wherever I like — provided I can lighten my ethanol fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QGjZS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;trangia stove&quot;&gt; Trangia stove in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, this is not a problem. I have a good lighter that provides fire in pretty much any weather. I'm careful to keep it dry and I have never failed to lighten it. However, when it's cold, it's difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3XxJQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cold morning near the Norwegian-Swedish border north of Bjørnfjell, Narvik&quot;&gt;&#xA;Cold morning near the Norwegian-Swedish border north of Bjørnfjell, Narvik, Norway, October 2010.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it's a bit cold (below -5°C), my lighter still produces fire. It's pretty small so easy to heat with my body, and I keep it in my tent. I could even keep it in my sleeping bag. But the fuel is still cold. I'm a bit nervous to have the fuel holder in my sleeping bag during the night, for fear of leaking ethanol into my bag. I haven't camped in real cold (-20°C or colder) but I might like to. What tricks do people employ to ignite ethanol when camping in winter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EQfff.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Landscape at cooking site for first picture&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Landscape at site for first picture. 2 July 2012, 01:00 AM, above Skittendalsvatnan / Baikalagojávrrik, Evenes, Nordland, Norway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T14:32:38.920" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T14:32:38.920" Title="How do I light a spirit (ethanol) stove when it's cold?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3148" CreationDate="2012-11-06T22:35:44.180" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have said, wool is the best of the &lt;i&gt;easily available&lt;/i&gt; natural materials.  It's main advantages are:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Somewhat hydrophobic, in other words is a little bit water repellent.  This is due to wool fibers being hollow with some fat inside.  This fat inside is also the reason you should never wash wool in ordinary detergent.  It will wash out the fat, which changes the wool's properties and also makes it shrink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Retains a significant fraction of its insulating power when wet.  It is not as good as the best synthetics at this, like polypropelene, but it's lots better than water absorbing fibers like cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Much of the water can be wrung out.  The wool will feel noticably less wet after this, more damp than wet.  Cotton, in contrast, will still be wet after wringing it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the downside:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fairly heavy for the insulation value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Some people are bothered by the &quot;scratchy&quot; feel of the fibers and can't tolerate having rough wool, like a sweater, right up against their skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not very wind-tight.  There are some wool sweaters that are fairly wind-tight, but they are also exceptionally heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Needs special care to keep clean.  You can't just throw it in a washing machine with normal cotton clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down is a very warm natural material and is highly compressible, but has serious downsides that it looses most of its insulating property when wet, and it really soaks up water and not only stops insulating but gets very heavy.  For most people that go places often enough where getting rained on is a common consideration, down is essentially useless for clothing.  Down can be good for something like a sleeping bag that you have means to keep out of the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other natural materials with some interesting properties, but after wool and down they get exotic, and either impossible to find or very expensive if you do.  For example, wolf fur is the best for repelling snow, and seal skin is particularly good for waterproof garments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know you asked about natural materials, but without explaining why your question is limited that seems silly.  Modern technology has not only produced materials that are very good for outdoor use, but has also made them accessible and affordable.  For example, polypropelene is even better at insulating when wet than wool, and feels much more comfortable against your skin.  A tight nylon mesh is still breathable but much better as a wind barrier for the weight than any natural material I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My winter outfit uses a combination of materials.  Cotton is no good when wet, but light and comfortable when dry.  When you know you can stay dry (which includes managing sweat), cotton can be nice, but &lt;b&gt;be prepared to change quickly when conditions change&lt;/b&gt;.  For serious conditions I like a polypro &quot;sweater&quot; on first, a wool sweater over that, and a wind shell over that.  The wind shell can be a ordinary windbreaker (preferably without extra insulting lining, just a real windbreaker) or a rain shell, depending on conditions.  You can mix and match these layers to suite a variety of conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In winter particularly, be aggressive about changing your layers for the conditions.  You're going to get hot hiking uphill.  Strip down as appropriate as soon as that happens.  As soon as you get to the top, put on a layer or two &lt;b&gt;before&lt;/b&gt; you cool down.  It's a lot more comfortable to switch layers when you're warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-07T00:44:15.957" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T00:44:15.957" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3214" CreationDate="2012-11-06T22:53:17.693" Score="16" ViewCount="3112" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the biggest problems I have keeping warm in the cold are my shoes. When I'm out cycling in temperatures below -20°C, ordinary sport-shoes or hiking boots fail to keep me warm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VDAa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cycling to work at -32°C&quot;&gt;&#xA;Cycling to work at -32°C. Photo by Torbjörn Lövgren.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of shoes can I wear to keep warm for different outdoor activities such as cycling, snowshoeing, skiing? It doesn't have to be a single shoe, although sometimes I combine activities (cycling to starting point), so it would be a plus if it were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-18T15:40:37.173" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T17:37:23.943" Title="What shoes keep me warm in the cold?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3150" CreationDate="2012-11-06T22:57:49.457" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you mean &quot;light&quot; the fuel.  &quot;Lighten&quot; means to reduce it's weight.  It seems you want to ignite it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic problem is that the vapor pressure of ethanol goes down significantly with cold.  Keep in mind that liquid doesn't actually burn, it's the gas the liquid gives off combining with atmospheric oxygen that actually burns.  If you have a fuel that is inherently liquid, you have the problem of it vaporizing enough to make a high enough concentration to light.  Ethanol is not the best choice for that in cold temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some stoves that are designed for liquid fuel deal with this issue by having a &quot;generator&quot;.  That's a pipe that carries the liquid fuel and runs accross the flame.  The flame vaporizes the fuel, which can then burn when it reaches the jets, which keeps the generator hot, which vaporizes more fuel, etc.  That works great once it's going, but can take a little work to get started, particularly with low vapor pressure fuels in cold weather.  I use white gas, also called &quot;Coleman Fuel&quot; here in North America.  It takes a bit more to start in cold weather too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tool I have is a tube of &quot;fire paste&quot;.  It squeezes out like toothpaste and lights easily.  In theory it warms the generator and gets things started with a constant flame.  In practise it helps, but one application doesn't usually last long enough.  The stove manual warns not to do this, but I've found letting some raw liquid fuel come out and burning that to get things going works.  It will make a large yellow flame with some soot, and can get out of hand if you're not careful, but it is effective.  The trick is to learn to change the mixture at the right time.  Too early, and the flame will go out because there isn't enough fuel vapor.  Too late, and you waste a lot of fuel and get soot on things and generally contribute to air pollution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not clear from the link you provided how exactly your stove works.  If it depends on the flame getting the whole fuel reservoir warm or hot, then it may simply not be appropriate for cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-11-06T22:57:49.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3150" CreationDate="2012-11-07T00:39:19.260" Score="11" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your fuel container is not in direct contact with the ground.  It'll suck the heat right out of your fuel, reducing vapors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm your fuel first (armpits work, closed container obviously)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using actual alcohol, you're going to have trouble below freezing.  As Olin mentioned, the vapors are what burn, and alcohol just doesn't produce enough when it's below freezing.  Also, while alcohol has good energy/volume ratios it doesn't burn as hot or fast so even once lit, it's harder to get water to boil.  However you can try the following to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a primer pan.  The youtube video &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4PjL6MAgTI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alcohol Stove- Primer Plate vs. No Primer&lt;/a&gt; gives a good example of how effective those can be. Another example with a vargo: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_zCgp3pFUI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Effect of a primer pan under the Vargo Triad Titanium stove&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a wick, usually fiberglass.  Exact placement depends on your stove, but this can help by increasing surface area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zen Stoves recommends warming the stove with a tealight.  I'd be careful doing this, but it should help: &lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/HowToUse.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to Use an Alcohol Stove&lt;/a&gt;  -- (Disclaimer:  I would not recommend doing this with petrol or other non-alcohol fuels)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also even Zen acknowledges that there are situations where alcohol is not a good solution, and they are alcohol stove enthusiasts.   See the disadvantages section on this page -- &lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Zen and the Art of the Alcohol Stove&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T07:04:12.140" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T07:04:12.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3141" CreationDate="2012-11-07T02:04:47.197" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to take a shot at this one and say it &lt;strong&gt;will not be enough&lt;/strong&gt; to ensure your safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are very curious animals and they are not afraid to get in contact with humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polar Bears have mastered their predilection area because they are on the top of the food chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information, please refer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearsmart.com/becoming-bear-smart/safety-in-polar-bear-country&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Taken from the above link:&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;code&gt;&quot;Avoid camping under the stars at all times and avoid camping in a tent whenever possible. If you have no other choice but to sleep outside of a hard-sided secure building&quot;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="1848" LastEditDate="2012-11-07T22:01:59.690" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T22:01:59.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3122" CreationDate="2012-11-07T02:07:13.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used McNett (other brands include Gear Aid and Stormsure) &lt;strong&gt;seam grip&lt;/strong&gt; to patch some little holes on my tent and I like the result. Once dry the product is flexible and resistant. They say you can patch some bigger holes and I think it would be ok. But if you have many little holes, I'm not sure it worth the effort; you may have a tent floor with more glue than fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="606" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-09-22T01:33:12.427" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T01:33:12.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2982" CreationDate="2012-11-07T15:47:48.467" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a single smallish fireplace and you can't move coals from a bigger, main fire to a special cooking spot, you can run into the problem of the fire/embers/coals burning down and getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can solve this by adding small pieces of wood - about 1&quot; to 1.5&quot; around - which will add heat without adding too much flame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to keep a close watch on the heat as you add them, and only feed 1 or 2 at a time and let it stabilize. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The small size lets you control the added heat better - you don't want sudden flare-ups, and you don't want to block the heat while bigger chunks catch on. I try to use round, non-split pieces since they seem to burn slower and longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1865" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T15:47:48.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2012-11-07T18:03:33.260" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried using regular shoes (hiking or running) but unfortunately those shoes are not that good in conserving your foot warm and they contain little or no insulation.  I do not recommend at all, using regular shoes in winter because of the risk of getting a &lt;strong&gt;frost bite&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skiing:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I do not think that you can use the same shoe for skiing and snow shoeing/biking.  I recommend using the regular bulky boot for skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Biking and snowshoeing:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;If you insist on using the same shoe, I guess a census can be made using:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;low-cut insulated shoes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Appropriate winter sock (merino wool for example)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winter gaiters long enough to cover at least your ankle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, low-cut insulated shoes are rare to find. I only found two models so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coleman mallard &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Merrel Innsbruck&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, some people need to have their foot very warm while other can endure colder foot. The above applies for the latter group otherwise I will recommend a regular 400 gr insulated snowshoeing boot. You might have to adapt your biking move since your ankle will be less flexible in a boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will also recommend a regular insulated snowshoeing  boot for long exposition time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T18:03:33.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2012-11-07T18:20:15.843" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently got this. 41bgn. Takes 4 AA batteries (I do not like the tiny AAA-s; also 4, not two). Is VERY bright with fresh batteries. Not too heavy. Also, they claim it is for divers -&gt; good in the rain. I use Eneloop batteries, guaranteed to have very low self discharge (I have been having them for two years and hold many hours of lightning). Hand strap is very nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently ordered a flashlight &lt;a href=&quot;http://dx.com/p/ultrafire-nylon-camouflaged-flashlight-holster-large-29356&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;holster&lt;/a&gt; for the belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that you might consider important is the power button. You do not want the flashlight turning on in your backpack and discharging it's batteries. I carry them with the batteries removed, but that is huge inconvenience: snow, rain, darkness etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LaJrT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hate hate hate cyclists and campers blinding me all the time - that is why I got a flashlight. However, I am getting a headlamp for my biking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-11-07T19:10:28.773" LastActivityDate="2012-11-07T19:10:28.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3164" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3165" CreationDate="2012-11-07T19:18:35.723" Score="10" ViewCount="383" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently convinced to buy a pair of trekking poles for backpacking. But how long should they be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the optimal length to adjust my trekking poles, when carrying a heavy pack?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried walking around my living room, and I cannot decide what length is ideal. How much does it matter? Should the poles be different lengths for going up or down hill? Does it depend on how much weight I'm carrying? Does the type of handle matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-02-11T23:37:23.573" LastActivityDate="2013-02-11T23:37:23.573" Title="Trekking Pole Length" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3164" CreationDate="2012-11-07T19:35:46.757" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trekking pole should make a 90 degree angle with your elbow. This will be your reference setting that you might want change when:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going up a hill where you will reduce the length (helps you advance)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going down a hill where will increase the length (helps slow down or stabilize) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information, I found this great image &lt;a href=&quot;http://revelsports.com/leki/TN2152.htm?id=848&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-11-08T14:18:58.667" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T14:18:58.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2012-11-07T21:38:21.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you just want to solve the problem, go buy a LED headlamp.  There are now quite a variety available on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bunch of years ago this wasn't the case, and I built my own.  It drives 4 white LEDs from two AA batteries.  I calculate about 20 hours run time from two fresh batteries, although I have not actually logged hours to verify that.  20 hours is a long time, so a single spare pair of batteries is all you need as a backup.  I use mine a few minutes to a few 10s of minutes at a time mostly, and it lasts a long long time that way.  You can see all the gory details along with schematic and kludgy mechanicals in this article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.embedinc.com/pic/knli/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;KnurdLight PIC Example Project&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zehtc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did this for fun and challenge and back when such things weren't commonly available.  If I just wanted a light right now I'd probably go buy one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know the lumens, but this light doesn't look like much in the daytime, but is plenty bright enough to hike in the woods with at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T12:26:34.403" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:26:34.403" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3170" CreationDate="2012-11-08T08:45:17.220" Score="6" ViewCount="1242" Body="&lt;p&gt;For hiking in polar bear country, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3155/566&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; cites a page that advices to &lt;em&gt;avoid camping under the stars at all times&lt;/em&gt;. Yet people do go trekking on Svalbard, and I don't think the density of huts is such that people stay can avoid camping. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://svalbard.nordicvisitor.com/travel-deals/midnight-sun-tours/summertime-trek-in-spitsbergen/594/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this company&lt;/a&gt; offers a multi-day trek including a &lt;em&gt;night in an expedition tent&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can those two statements fit together? Does this company take risks? Do they know areas where polar bears don't go? Or is the expedition tent somehow polar-bear proof (sounds unlikely)? In summary, &lt;strong&gt;how do people safely engage in multi-day treks in polar bear country&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Polar_Bear_ANWR_8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ferocious polar bears&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:15:34.600" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:15:34.600" Title="How do people safely trek in polar bear country?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3168" CreationDate="2012-11-08T09:10:34.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this question is sufficiently similar to the other one that the answer will be identical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It isn't safe. Of course this company is taking risks, as all exploration companies do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many risks with camping or trekking in polar bear country. What you do is minimise the risks where possible, and accept the risks you can't minimise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @Amine stated in their answer, carrying a gun is essential. I'm guessing standing watch or sleeping very light would be other useful habits!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T09:10:34.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3168" CreationDate="2012-11-08T14:07:31.557" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Campers in polar region are encouraged to adopt the following habit (taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nu/auyuittuq/activ/activ1.aspx&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Along the northern coast, near North Pangnirtung Fiord, the potential&#xA;  for polar bear  encounters is higher because of proximity to the&#xA;  ocean.  Hikers are encouraged to camp several kilometres inland rather&#xA;  than on the coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does this company take risks?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;It will depends on how far the camping site is from the ocean and if they use bear proof shelters instead of regular tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do they know areas where polar bears don't go?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;They should know it. Furthermore, Parc Canada &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nu/auyuittuq/visit/visit6/d.aspx&quot;&gt;states&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you are nervous about bears, or uncertain of your ability to deal&#xA;  with them, consider hiring a guide from one of the communities. Guides&#xA;  are knowledgeable and experienced at travelling in bear country. When&#xA;  hiring a guide, ask about their experience, how they will avoid&#xA;  encountering polar bears, and their plan of action should you&#xA;  encounter a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do people safely engage in multi-day treks in polar bear country?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To minimize the chances of encountering specially when camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T14:07:31.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3171" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3177" CreationDate="2012-11-08T15:40:32.460" Score="10" ViewCount="1523" Body="&lt;p&gt;So every winter working in the dry cold, my skin, on my hands and feet, cracks. Particularly between my fingers and toes. What can I do to prevent this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastActivityDate="2019-10-18T11:43:23.443" Title="How to prevent skin cracks?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3088" CreationDate="2012-11-08T16:22:30.607" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The term is very old, and goes back to when people would carry simple telescopes - known colloquially as &quot;spyglasses&quot; - to their hunting areas to search for game.  I've seen the term used by a British officer looking for the French Army formations on the Iberian Peninsula in the early 1800s, and I have no doubt it goes back farther than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1870" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T16:22:30.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2012-11-08T16:32:08.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quick tips:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.i-needtoknow.com/milford/maps/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.i-needtoknow.com/milford/maps/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have several links for hikers, including maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One you might check out is the Department of Conservation's online maps at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, Google says there's another site called www.kiwifootpaths.com that may be useful...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1870" LastEditorUserId="610" LastEditDate="2012-12-10T20:18:13.767" LastActivityDate="2012-12-10T20:18:13.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3171" CreationDate="2012-11-08T21:42:17.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should use some kind of moisturizing hand lotion.  There are a lot of brands, and I don't really have a preference.  I like to make sure I get an unscented version, since most moisturizers are market towards women and have floral aromas.  Put it on your skin once or twice a day, and the dry cracking should go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T21:42:17.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2012-11-08T21:43:26.530" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't help but advocate the good old army boot. In combination with a merino wool sock, it's the perfect shoe for everything (except really hot summer days...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The army boot has evolved relatively little over the past few hundred years, which is a very good sign given the number of people using them. They are designed to withstand the world's toughest environments, and when taken care of properly, will last you a lifetime. They make your feet watertight up to your armpits, which is excellent in rainy/snowy conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are however obviously not low cut (meaning: you can stuff your trousers in them for extra insulation :), and not very stylish (they are &quot;neutral&quot; though, and go with most outfits), but other than that, universally applicable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Added advantage: your feet and lower leg will be completely unharmed if you step on a mine!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="652" LastActivityDate="2012-11-08T21:43:26.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3171" CreationDate="2012-11-09T00:01:24.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ideally get a moisturiser that is cream or oil based. For lips and between the fingers, vaseline is excellent at moisturising, then keeping the moisture in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-09T00:01:24.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3171" CreationDate="2012-11-09T01:50:42.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A moisturiser is what you need - personally I like diprobase, you can safely apply as much as you want to and it's not that oily, it soaks into the skin nice and quickly without leaving any horrible residue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually use this all year round because I'm prone to getting bad eczema - so if it does the job on my awful skin, it should help with yours!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-11-09T01:50:42.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3179" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3183" CreationDate="2012-11-09T13:58:45.790" Score="11" ViewCount="306" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should I change my food habits for my winter activities?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Is simply increasing the quantities or choosing food with higher calories enough? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-11-09T14:26:55.767" LastActivityDate="2012-11-10T15:14:27.480" Title="Winter food : Should I change my habits for winter?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3180" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-09T17:45:53.777" Score="12" ViewCount="1604" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on hiking about half of the AT Northbound at the start of May 2013. What sort of temperature ranges can I expect to encounter, and what should I look for in a sleeping bag to best suit these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main consideration has to be weight, so the lighter the better. However, I would like to be comfortable at least some of the time but appreciate that lower temperature comfort limits will add weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as this, I'm conscious that lightweight + warmth = high cost, and bearing in mind I will be on a fairly strict budget I'm reluctant to just drop £300+ on a bag, so are there any specific manufactures that offer the best value for money?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am from England and know nothing about camping / hiking in North America so any other advice, however general, would be greatly appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1873" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T12:08:37.953" Title="What lower temperature limit should I look for in sleeping bag for the Appalachian Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3181" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3182" CreationDate="2012-11-09T18:15:16.183" Score="13" ViewCount="833" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the criteria that I should worry about when buying energy bars ? &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;What are the ingredients to avoid and those to look for ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T01:04:25.813" Title="Energy bars for outdoors activities: what are the important criteria?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3181" CreationDate="2012-11-09T19:56:01.117" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few things I look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bars that don't melt when they're warm.  Anything with chocolate will become gooey in the summer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bars that don't freeze easily when its cold.  I've found that Powerbars just become little frozen bricks anytime its below freezing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like bars with all natural ingredients.  Not for abstract health reasons, but just that bars made of real fruits and nuts taste better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You probably want to make sure the bars have a decent amount of protein, if they become a major food source when you're doing all-day activities.  10g of protein a bar is a good number.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Variety.  If you're going to be eating lots of bars because they're easy to carry on a long trip, make sure to get different flavors and brands.  I bought a case of one flavor of bar once, and after the 10th in a single long day of strenuous hiking, I was very sick of them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not aware of one single bar that matches all of these requirements.  Cliff Bars don't freeze or melt easily, but they are mostly made of highly processed food goop.  Fruit-and-nut bars are highly palatable, but don't have all that much protein. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not a bar, but jerky is easy to carry and store, and can also be a good option for protein sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-11-09T19:56:01.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3179" CreationDate="2012-11-09T21:38:08.530" Score="10" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caloric intake is certainly the largest factor.  Calories are energy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are on a low fat diet normally and a very fit individual, you'll likely need to increase your fat intake.  However the primary concern is that you are getting fats, so if you are already, you should be fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink more water!  It's very counter intuitive, but you dehydrate faster in the cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-11-09T21:38:08.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3180" CreationDate="2012-11-09T21:42:01.547" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lower half temperatures are quite warm.  You'll regularly get 70°F+ at night.  I would advise for a lightweight synthetic, as you may also end up damp from rain and sweat.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/731835/rei-travel-sack-55-sleeping-bag&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;I use a travel sack in the summer&lt;/a&gt;.  Alternatively a heavy liner may do fine, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/797114/sea-to-summit-thermolite-reactor-extreme-mummy-bag-liner&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reactor&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been hiking down here for years and haven't seen summer temperatures warranting anything heavy, however you may want to consider consulting a farmer's almanac for the area.  The city of &lt;a href=&quot;http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Toccoa&amp;amp;state=GA&amp;amp;site=GSP&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toccoa, Georgia&lt;/a&gt; would be a reasonable place to use to get an idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-11-11T08:51:45.597" LastActivityDate="2012-11-11T08:51:45.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3180" CreationDate="2012-11-10T00:18:31.057" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3184/2303&quot;&gt;what Russell said&lt;/a&gt;, consider that the bag by itself does not need to cover the lowest temperature extremes you will encounter.  You can get one good for most of the conditions, then add insulation on unusually cold nights.  A space blanket over the bag makes a significant difference.  So does wearing socks, long underwear, and a thin polypro under-liner on your torso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T04:21:38.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3179" CreationDate="2012-11-10T15:14:27.480" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One other difference - in the winter, your food and water can freeze during the day.  Make sure that your lunch (or anything else you'd eat without cooking) is something that you can actually chew when its frozen.  Also, camelback-style water bladders can be a little more difficult to use, as the water in the tube can freeze up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2012-11-10T15:14:27.480" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3187" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-10T17:24:03.857" Score="29" ViewCount="5031" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand, and practice, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears&quot;&gt;bear-safe rules&lt;/a&gt; like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/86/bear-bags-vs-bear-canisters-which-is-better&quot;&gt;hanging (or canister-ing)&lt;/a&gt; during summer months, but what about in the winter when bears are (theoretically) hibernating, and the shorter / colder days make every extra task 10 times more difficult? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some room for leeway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T21:43:33.723" Title="Do bear-safe rules still apply in the winter?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2012-11-10T23:27:43.990" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bear canister rules are often relaxed in the winter.  However, this will depend on where you are camping.  On the east coast, in the Adirondacks, the rule is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;NYSDEC Regulation Requires The Use of Bear Resistant Canisters by&#xA;  Overnight Users in The Eastern High Peaks Wilderness Between April 1&#xA;  And November 30. NYSDEC encourages campers to use bear resistant&#xA;  canisters throughout the Adirondack and Catskill backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, out west bear cans are often required year round.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, you'll want to check the rules for the specific park you are going to be in, but as a more general guideline, if the temperature is generally staying below freezing there shouldn't be much bear activity.  Combined with the general bear population this will determine if bears are likely to be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider though, is that hanging your food protects it from more than just bears (eg mice).  While the bears might not be a problem, mice don't hibernate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1778" LastActivityDate="2012-11-10T23:27:43.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3181" CreationDate="2012-11-11T05:16:11.393" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly, I think taste is most important. There have been times before where eating hardly anything but energy bars for a few days makes starving to death seem appealing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jerky is pretty good, as DavidR mentioned, just don't ever bring that unless you have access to virtually unlimited water. Jerky is loaded with salt and your kidneys will be in turbo-mode when eating it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-11-11T05:16:11.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3102" CreationDate="2012-11-11T10:05:28.857" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not (yet) a slackliner, but I have been impressed with the methodology of testing and development of Adam Burtle of &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20160326045823/http://www.nwslackline.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NWslackline.org&lt;/a&gt;.  His site has a number of videos that demonstrate different anchoring and tensioning systems.  He also does line tension measurements and break testing on different setups and materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you watch his videos make sure you have annotations turned on as they often contain important details, corrections or revisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot recall seeing an anchor/tensioning system using &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; carabiners but the line-locker system using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/745608/omega-pacific-rappel-ring&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forged rappel ring&lt;/a&gt; is simple, light and inexpensive.  Chain links are even less expensive but need to be deburred to protect your webbing.  One of his basic tensioning systems looks like this (the load cell is only for testing of course):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cXsie.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wayback.archive.org/web/20161110140228/http://www.nwslackline.org:80/96/howto-setting-up-a-basic-primitive-slackline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Further illustration&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20160325230937/http://www.nwslackline.org/453/primitive-tension-testing-results&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;efficiency testing&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZBC4IW55XM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Videos:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/embed/QCQLJsSm_ec&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Using line lockers.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/embed/MdDzz5H2VQA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rigging a primitive slackline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/embed/ouEJrfp4BY0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rigging a 2″ line without a ratchet.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://wayback.archive.org/web/20161016175438/http://www.nwslackline.org:80/207/strength-of-3-men-for-only-20&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Strength of 3 men, for only $20&lt;/a&gt; (article and video) he rigs a basic pulley system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rl3Pv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More advanced &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20160331084349/http://www.nwslackline.org/1002/nwslackline-guide-to-longline-part-4-tension-system&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;equipment and techniques&lt;/a&gt; will be needed for long lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T14:01:17.217" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T14:01:17.217" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3180" CreationDate="2012-11-11T19:55:30.900" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest you look at a mid range synthetic bag say rated at around 40F this will allow you to use it as a blanket on warmer nights and with a liner or bivy sack you can extend that range down to mid 20's. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although synthetic bags tend to be larger when stuffed (they take up more room in your backpack) they do well even when they get damp which will happen after night after night of sleeping in it. Where as Down will suffer, especially if you plan on using it over a longer period of time between being able to wash it and revive the Down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the most important factors will be the humidity, a humid night in the 50F range can be more chilling than a dry night in the 30F. Another consideration will be the type of pad you plan on using as well as if you tend to be a warm sleeper or cooler sleeper. You could also save weight and cost by purchasing a 50F bag and then layering while you sleep with additional clothing etc... but unfortunately this will be solely dependent on your personal preferences. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly be aware that not all bags are created equal, so go with a well known trusted brand so you will have the support of the company should you need them. Go to a store that sells the bag your are looking for and try it out, crawl inside it, see if you can move around in it to your liking, can you unzip the zipper with gloves on, does it have a draft tube to help contain warmth..there are many questions that you will be able to answer prior to purchasing if you spend a little time discovering the product before you purchase. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1876" LastActivityDate="2012-11-11T19:55:30.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2012-11-11T23:48:13.903" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am from New Zealand and I tend to agree with the topomap service. Another great resource is the Department of Conservation Website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.doc.govt.nz&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;Happy Hiking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1877" LastActivityDate="2012-11-11T23:48:13.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2012-11-12T05:48:24.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a kiwi too (a director of Hiking New Zealand.com) We do remote guided small group trips around NZ. Some of us are starting to play around with digital map solutions. A good one I found is BackCountryNavigator PRO. It cost a few bucks but is excellent. You can download maps for when you are out of Internet range and your GPS works on it.&#xA;Don't use Google Maps or Apple Maps for wilderness info -- tracks etc are unreliably marked or out-of-date. excellent otherwise tho&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this tool  you can do all your research at home and just buy the odd map as a back-up or for the more full on trips where you really can't afford a smart phone 'incident'. Good luck and enjoy our wonderful back-country. If you want take a look at our web site - we have a few hiking tips and ideas there too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reece dart is nice, plenty of other options, try and stay away from the crowded great walks huts if you are looking for solitude :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1878" LastEditorUserId="9405" LastEditDate="2016-05-01T01:09:12.460" LastActivityDate="2016-05-01T01:09:12.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2012-11-12T09:10:49.600" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears don’t really hibernate, although they lower their activity during winter. Here’s one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/Graber_8.pdf&quot;&gt;sample study of Black Bear winter behaviour&lt;/a&gt; in Sierra Nevada, California:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thirty-nine (62 %) bears were winter-dormant for at least 2 weeks; the&#xA;  remaining 24 (38 %) remained active all winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Czech Republic we don’t have many bears, most of them cross from Slovakia, but around the state border it’s quite common to find bear footprints in snow during the winter. Draw your own conclusions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-11-12T09:17:58.243" LastActivityDate="2012-11-12T09:17:58.243" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3195" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-11-12T09:53:29.637" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. More details about rock climbing can be found on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; or your local mountaineering club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Europe:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deutscher Alpenverein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sac-cas.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schweizer Alpen Club&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.it&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpenverein Südtirol&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The British Mountaineering Council&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Africa:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cen.mcsa.org.za/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mountain Club of South Africa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T20:07:34.390" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T20:07:34.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3196" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-11-12T09:53:29.637" Score="0" Body="This tag should be used for all questions about the activity rock climbing, books, gear and accessories used or necessary to do rock climbing. The term Rock Climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls." OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T20:07:34.390" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T20:07:34.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3198" CreationDate="2012-11-12T15:12:38.893" Score="13" ViewCount="12113" Body="&lt;p&gt;Isn't Nor'easter supposed to move from the Northeast to Southwest, hence its name? But the recent Nor'easter that hit the Northeast US right after Hurricane Sandy seems to have moved from the southwest to northeast, according to the meteorologic graphics that were shown all day long on TV.  Can someone explain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1880" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T12:21:56.567" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T12:24:00.460" Title="Isn't Nor'easter supposed to move from the Northeast to Southwest?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3197" CreationDate="2012-11-12T23:05:13.663" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, &quot;Nor'easter&quot; is derived from &quot;north-easter&quot; meaning the winds come from the northeast.  That is exactly what happens in a nor'easter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are confusing the wind direction with the travel direction of the storm.  The whole storm moves up the coast, but remember these are counter-clockwise rotating cyclonic storms.  The winds that bring the most stuff and the notorious bad weather hit the New England coast from the ocean.  These are usually the leading or northwesterly regions of the storm, so the winds themselves come from the northeast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that the names evolved long before people understood large scale weather patterns.  All people in Cape Cod, Gloucester, or &quot;down east&quot; Maine knew was that the nastiest weather accompanied by serious precipitation come howling from the northeast.  While not universally true of course, it's actually not that far off in the larger scheme of things.  &quot;Normal&quot; weather here in New England comes from the west.  Notable exceptions are the &quot;Montreal Express&quot; being cold and dry from the northwest, and a nor'easter bringing strong winds and serious precipitation from the northeast.  &quot;Nice&quot; weather from the northeast basically doesn't happen here.  The old mariners and fishermen knew a lot about local weather without understanding the global picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T12:24:00.460" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T12:24:00.460" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3201" CreationDate="2012-11-13T15:07:24.870" Score="13" ViewCount="4733" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to a property on 20 acres and I'm a total noob when it comes to hunting. There are several deer stands setup all over the property mostly along the tree line overlooking some open fields. I've done some scouting and have found tracks, rubs, and trails all over the place including in the open fields. I've set out corn and have found fresh tracks around it and have seen it eaten. I've sat in a few of the stands at all different hours and have not been able to actually see any deer. Finally I went out and bought a camera and have set it up around some of the corn plots that I've put out. The only time I've gotten any pictures of deer has been either 2 hours after dark or sometime in the middle of the night and they were some pretty large does. I have yet to get anything in the middle of the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I be doing to try and draw them out or find them during actual hunting hours? I'm certain that part of the reason they're only coming at night is because now that we're living there they are aware of us and stay away. Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1883" LastActivityDate="2015-11-10T01:43:40.113" Title="Tips for hunting nocturnal deer" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3200" CreationDate="2012-11-13T16:54:11.030" Score="12" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow their patterns.  You need to know where they sleep, eat, and drink.  20 acres is small, are they only on your property for food?  water?  Can they get these anywhere else?  Find the trail and be patient.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will almost never see deer in the middle of the day.  Dawn and dusk are your friends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are sleeping on your property stalk hunt them.  You startle them awake, they run and, bingo.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they travel, try to create a funnel.  Create a place they have to go through to get from point A to point B.  Once you have them moving the way you want, you will have better luck of catching a straggler.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunt days where it sucked the night before.  Very cold and/or very rainy nights followed by clear mornings will generally do better.  Deer will want to hunker down in the bad weather and wait when they can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They move at night less during a new moon, you'll have better dawn/dusk luck during this time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make &lt;em&gt;sure&lt;/em&gt; your approach paths do not screw with travel, even when scouting.  You scout like you hunt.  Don't scare them off with your noise and scent when going to and from your cameras.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20 acres isn't much to be hunting on.  You definitely need to manage your land and your use of it.  Pet and human movement will affect the deer.  You may have to decide which you want more, as using the land for hunting may require giving up other enjoyments of the land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn what your neighbors do. Is there heavy predator pressure around you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It definitely depends on where you are, so perhaps add to your question what specific area you live in (at least down to a regional level).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not directly your question, but things I'd like to add for anyone reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trail cameras have legal restrictions in many states.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Baiting (ie, food plots) is illegal in many states.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most states have laws about hunting similar to drug laws, putting you at risk of asset forfeiture -- in this case it could result in you losing your entire house and land.  Enforcement officials do not have to get a conviction to seize your land and it can take years to regain it even if you are not convincted.  Make sure you know the regulations &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; you put out cameras and food plots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-15T18:16:26.007" LastActivityDate="2012-11-15T18:16:26.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2012-11-13T19:29:02.437" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with any relatively unscientific field, there is a lot of lore out there that may have originally had a good scientific foundation, but the restrictions or specific conditions have long been forgotten and the answer takes on a life of its own out of context.  The myth about eating snow seems to me to be one of these things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main point is that it takes a lot of energy, which when coming from your body means warmth and/or calories, to melt water to drinkable form.  This is true, but the details are rarely considered.  Russell has already give an good answer going over the numbers to show that the energy required is relatively minimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, another point I never see addressed is that the energy is often free.  If you're hiking up hill, even in winter usually, your body has to dump energy as heat.  If you're cold and facing hypothermia, eating snow is probably not a good idea.  Otherwise though if you're capable of dressing yourself so as to be too warm for whatever activity you are doing, you have excess heat that has to be gotten rid of somehow.  Therefore except in unusual cases, melting snow with your body warmth is free since you just end up cooling yourself off less in other ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have experienced this personally.  Many years ago I was hiking up Mt Lassen in northern California in the summer.  I had taken insufficient water with me and was getting thirsty.  The weather was nice and I was hiking comfortably in shorts and a T shirt with a windbreaker in reserve in my pack.  When I got high enough so there were patches of snow, I kept some in my mouth and got water from that.  It definitely felt nice and made me less thirsty eventually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest problem you realize if you ever tried eating snow is that it takes a lot to get a reasonable amount of water.  You simply can't put that much snow in your mouth at one time, and there is a lot of air in it, so the amount of water you get from a mouthful of snow is very limited.  Still, it's better than nothing and makes you feel better.  It does slow you down noticably since you have to pause to pick up fresh snow for another mouthful regularly.  I suspect in warm conditions that you're barely replacing the water you are losing regularly anyway, but that's still better than losing it without replacing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to me it seems that if you're thirsty and there is clean enough snow around, go ahead and &quot;eat&quot; it unless you are cold and hypothermia is a concern.  Dehydration, after all, is a serious problem too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-11-13T19:29:02.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3203" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-13T14:59:43.403" Score="14" ViewCount="646" Body="&lt;p&gt;A group of friends would like to go camping in Northern Pakistan on their own. The only problem is to know some locals who can help us with food and a place to find where we can put up our camps. How can we do that (we don't want to pay thousands of Rupees to tourist companies)! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1884" OwnerDisplayName="amjad" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T10:24:59.880" LastActivityDate="2013-04-11T10:24:59.880" Title="How can I go camping in Nepal and Northern Pakistan?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3203" CreationDate="2012-11-14T12:37:17.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the spring of 2004 I went trekking in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolpa_District&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dolpa&lt;/a&gt; district of northern Nepal. We did a lot of camping, and also stayed in people's houses. We didn't always have to pay to put up our tents, and when we did it was usually for a very reasonable amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were traveling with a Nepali guide/translator, who was an invaluable help to us in arranging the purchase of food and lodging. I don't remember if we found him through a Nepali tourist company or not, but we employed him independently- it was not a &quot;package&quot; trip. Altogether, we were six tourists, employing three Nepalis, over the course of about a month. Although we paid a lot less than we would have if it was a &quot;package&quot; trip, it still ended up running into the thousands of rupees- but a month is a long time. I don't regret this, and would highly recommend traveling with someone who speaks Nepali.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the way we met a French couple who were traveling alone. They didn't encounter any particular problems, as far as I know, so it isn't impossible to travel without a guide/translator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this, of course, is true for Nepal, not Pakistan. And it's true for a relatively less-traveled part of Nepal, not the popular routes of Everest, Anapurna and Gosaikund. It could be that the owners of the guest houses there don't allow camping in the vicinity of their guest houses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2012-11-14T12:37:17.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3207" CreationDate="2012-11-14T18:04:10.407" Score="14" ViewCount="774" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost all outdoors activities require having a certain quantity of water to prevent dehydration.&#xA;Many types of jerky or Freeze-dried foods contain high amounts of salt. Should that be considered?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If yes, do people desalinate those foods before eating them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-11-14T20:06:31.320" LastActivityDate="2012-11-14T20:30:40.563" Title="Jerky or Freeze-dried food : Is the salt they contain a concern?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3205" CreationDate="2012-11-14T18:42:24.763" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the food I take on trips is low in sodium content by design, so I usually specifically plan on taking some overly salty foods. Like Jerky, although I have done Pringles on some shorter trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to also take several small disposable salt packets and put one or two in my water bottle when filling up. That much wasn't taste-able, but I was always concerned that if I ran out of salt I would stop sweating and have a much larger issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know others that always take a good amount of powdered drink mixes that contain salt or other necessary electrolytes. It's definitely something to plan for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High sodium foods affect people in different ways, so it is a good idea to know if you can handle the high sodium foods before you get out on a long trek. You do need to plan to keep your sodium up as the increased activity will require it. You might get away with a few high sodium foods or you might have to put a little salt or drink mix in your water and make sure to salt your food enough. This is something that you need to know about yourself before you go. Regulating your salt intake can take a little bit of practice, but so long as you understand that's it's important and have salty and non-salty options you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2012-11-14T20:30:40.563" LastActivityDate="2012-11-14T20:30:40.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3205" CreationDate="2012-11-14T20:24:39.950" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on your activity level, access to water, etc, the types of food you carry should change accordingly. Some points to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dehydrated foods are great in that they are light-weight since they have no water in them. But they might not be a wise choice if you are dry camping with no water available (e.g. in the desert) since you would just have to carry that water otherwise. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When people complain of salty freeze-dried food, chances are they &lt;em&gt;did not add the proper amount of water&lt;/em&gt; to re-hydrate the dish during preperation. Properly prepared, it shouldn't taste salty (though many do have have high sodium -- as do most prepared foods, dehydrated or not.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Salt is not necessarily an enemy&lt;/em&gt; - especially when you are sweating a lot. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia&quot;&gt;Hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt; (too much water, not enough salt) is a very real risk when sweating a lot in the desert. Snacking on jerkey and other high-salt foods is required to keep your electrolyte balance up. Only drinking water is a good way to ruin your trip. (Though too much jerkey can also be a problem.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salty in summer -- sweet in winter. Your body tends to crave more sweet and fatty food in the winter (to burn to keep warm) while needing lighter, saltier foods in the summer to keep your electrolyte balance (see above).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We are all different, so best is to monitor your personal reaction to various foods. If you find you have trouble staying hydrated when eating dehydrated meals, you might consider other options. (I haven't used dehydrated foods in the back-country in over a decade -- and don't miss them one bit.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-11-14T20:24:39.950" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-11-15T09:05:20.827" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience tell me this: sleep naked always if there's no sign of a possible avalanche. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been in many high altitude expeditions in three Continents and have explored many vertical and horizontal caves and underground systems. Sleeping bags are best when they're good. Don't try to get a cheap offer and trade it for your safety or comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In mountaineering, especially when camping at very high altitudes (5,000 metres or higher) it is recommended to sleep naked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, we use only down feathers sleeping bags OR linear single fiber ones -Hollofill is one of the materials made that way. The specs can go from good for 0ºC to -40ºC. Kelty, Big Agnes, Valandre, Marmot... there are many options with high quality standards. Differences are huge in price between a good sleeping bag and a bag for laying down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the main reasons why sleeping naked is more comfortable and safe is that moisture in our clothes stays there for a much longer period of time than on the skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, the air cushion of warm air that our body produces by means of its own heat, is maintained between the skin and the inner layer of down -or fibers- and these let the moisture pass through their loose structures, then it's evaporated or frozen on the outside shell of the sleeping bag, keeping your body dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One should always make sure to undress when already inside the bag. The boots and all layers of socks must be kept inside the sleeping bag as well. This helps to dry them and keep them warm for the next morning. You can leave your parka and windbreakers outside and use them as pillows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going to the loo in such situation will take its time. But, if weather is just around -10ºC, you can grab your thermic undies and go outside without much fuss. Just make it fast! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping at warm places asks for another layer, if possible: use a light cotton sheet inside the sleeping bag. It will pass the sweat to the outside as vapour and you'll feel that smooth and fresh sensation when in contact with cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never cover a proper sleeping bag with anything. This will shut the shell's properties of heat exchange and you'll feel colder or smothered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try sleeping naked at home. Always take a shower before bedtime and you'll experience why sleeping naked is much better. Keep your pj's under the covers and use them if you have to get out of bed. You'll find yourself rested and fresh in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1886" LastActivityDate="2012-11-15T09:05:20.827" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2012-11-15T11:25:53.410" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is more than one reason, which makes you feel warmer sleeping with less clothes (even if it's perfectly dry):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's the same deal as with mittens, which are warmer than gloves. When you wear a lot of clothes, there is additional separation between the parts of your body and more exposed surface. More surface means more heat transfer from the body to the environment. And if you share a bag with someone, you get less heat from one another.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's more, your arms and legs, which produce less heat, get separated by thick clothes from your torso (and from each other). So you end up with uncomfortably (or even painfully) cold toes or arms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In winter/high altitude you are usually wearing a lot of clothes and it's quite bulky. When you get into your sleeping bag like this, some parts of your body get compressed/clamped (e.g. armpits, elbows, ...). This leads to worse blood circulation and less heat for peripherial parts of your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is some balance, actually: you should wear something, but not too much. I personally prefer sleeping completely naked, but high up or in winter I use Polartec-100 linen, socks and a cap with a scarf (though in these conditions I'm usually sharing the bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And all this doesn't mean you have to put your clothes in your backpack. You can use it to insulate your most exposed parts: the one which are closest to the tent and to the earth (actually snow). Just don't put it on but keep it loose between yourself and the sleeping bag, effectively improving bag's thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-11-15T11:25:53.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2012-11-16T21:32:26.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My criteria for winter shoes/boots are pretty simple:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3/4 or higher cuff to reduce the chance of snow getting in &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goretex to keep water out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A Vibram sole to keep traction on ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A thicker sole than usual to avoid the cold ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I try the shoes on at the store I wear thick wool socks (if you wear a sock liner then bring that too). I usually go something with a leather upper so that snow doesn't stick to the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This criteria allow me to wear shoes that wouldn't normally be considered &quot;winter&quot; shoes.  It doesn't replace mukluks or what you should wear if you're working outdoors all winter long, but for commutes, hikes, snowshoeing and winter camping it's usually enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind I'm usually good to go.  Wearing gaiters will solve most other problems, as will wearing grips when needed.  If I'll be snowshoeing in an area where I could go through the ice I'll often wear goretex socks as well so that even if my shoe gets wet on the inside I don't mind (until it freezes, ugh).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-11-16T21:32:26.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3213" CreationDate="2012-11-16T23:55:52.877" Score="5" ViewCount="336" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm spending the weekend in San Francisco, and after a week indoors at a conference I'm keen to do something outside. My plan had been to ride the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf, hire a bike and cycle to the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, up into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, then down to Sausalito. I've done this before in nice weather and it's a really great trip! Unfortunately, it's set to misty and raining this weekend, and I'm not sure it'll work so well with fog hiding most of the views...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any outdoor activities to do in San Francisco that do work well on misty and rainy days? (Specifically, ones that can be reached without a car, and are suitable for a touristy half day rather than a new sport to get into over time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" OwnerDisplayName="Gagravarr" LastActivityDate="2012-11-17T10:17:08.700" Title="Outdoor activities in San Francisco when it's misty and raining?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3212" CreationDate="2012-11-17T10:17:08.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only one on your list that is no fun when wet is the Golden Gate visit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following are all do-able on foot - I used the trolley cars as part of my exploration when I went to see the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The trolley car to fisherman's wharf is a good idea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Coit Tower is good for a walk around&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Haight-Ashbury can be fun for a half day or so&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lombard Street is the essential photo spot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-17T10:17:08.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2012-11-17T14:08:07.037" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overshoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the boots' warmth is not enough, you can use overshoes.&#xA;Basically, it's nothing more than a sack made of cloth , which you put over your boot and fasten somehow:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jouL9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps you in two ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It creates an air pocket around your boot, reducing heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The snow now melts not on your boot, but on the overshoe, drastically increasing the time before your shoe gets wet (and cold).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try to shop for something like this, but you can easily create it yourself as in the picture above: fold a cloth to make a sack, sew 3 sides of 4, add some laces and that's all. You can use any synthetic (and maybe waterproof) cloth like Oxford or Cordura.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your sewing skills are higher, you might end up with something more attractive and better shaped:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/48U6U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(some other designs are shown &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redfox.ru/news1/poleznye_aksessuary_dlya_zimy/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to use it with SNS/NNN ski boots, make small cuts on the toe. (The other option for skiing may be removing overshoes sole and glueing the remainder to the boot - a lot of expensive ski boots are made like this, but you can add another layer;)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability upgrade&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you may have noticed, this design implies a relatively thin fabric being between your sole and the ground, so if you are not wearing skis or crampons, it's  damaged easily. So it's recommended to make the sole of the overshoe thicker. The best thing for walking is an overshoe combined with rubbers/galoshes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lk6y3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why, you can sacrifice some huge-size rubber boots for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warmth upgrade&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overshoes by themselves provide additional warmth, but this may be not enough. To get really warm one should add another layer - warm overshoe (&quot;chuni&quot;) - between the boot and the overshoe. Basically it's crafted just alike, but you use a warm cloth (e.g. Polartec-100/200) and you don't need laces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bLvXU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.s. And yes, this works just fine at -30°C ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-11-17T14:08:07.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3150" CreationDate="2012-11-18T18:55:23.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each fuel has a flash point. Below that point, the fumes are not dense enough to sustain a flame.&#xA;You can find a table here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;And a nice video here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83UfBD92DfI&amp;amp;feature=fvwrel&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83UfBD92DfI&amp;amp;feature=fvwrel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ethanol : 16.6 °C (61.9 °F)&#xA;Gasoline : −43 °C (−45 °F)&#xA;Diesel : &gt;62 °C (144 °F)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below that temperature, the fuel will not burn if you touch the surface with a flame.&#xA;If you stick a burning match into diesel fuel below 62C, it will go out. If you do so above this temperature, the diesel will start to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have 2 choices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heat the entire volume of the fuel above the flash point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Continuously heat a small part above the flash point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number 2 is how a candle works. Similarly a diesel fueled primus stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would do is to put a wick into the fuel. Use a piece of fiberglass paper or glass wool, that makes a nice wick that lasts forever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could then mix a small quantity of a low flashpoint liquid (e.g. ether, lighter fluid, -40C or acetone, -18C) with your ethanol. That way you can light the vapor with a spark, that will heat the wick, which will in turn heat the liquid above the flash point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful: Gasoline is horribly dangerous due to it's low flame point and it's toxicity.&#xA;You'll be much safer just using a match to heat the wick, but on the other hand not being able to light the oven with a spark with a steel lighter might be a safety issue in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first the fire will be small and limited to the wick, but once the liquid heats, the flame will become much more powerful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1891" LastActivityDate="2012-11-18T18:55:23.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1884" CreationDate="2012-11-18T19:21:23.183" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The needle of a compass is often made from a magnetically very soft material.&#xA;It is very easy to re-magnetize the needle. This does not happen normally, because the needle always aligns with the external field. Luckily this happens in such a way that the magnetization of the needle is aligned with that of the external magnet. In this case nothing will happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you would hold the needle in place, the needle would change direction (N and S poles will change place)&#xA;If you quickly touch a compass with a strong magnet, the needle might not be able to rotate away fast enough. In this case it will be re-magnetized and your compass will point southwards in the future.&#xA;If that happens, you can set it back the same way. I have seen this many times (I work with magnetic materials and use a compass to align them.) I don't know if an expensive compass is any different (I don't think so), but the cheap ones I use can be flipped with a permanent magnet.&#xA;The bearing is very fragile, and applying a field vertically can break it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not store a compass with anything magnetic close by. If you see that the compass needle is attracted to some item, it is too close. Normally 10 cm are far enough. And it does not hurt to check if the compass has flipped N and S poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1891" LastActivityDate="2012-11-18T19:21:23.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3171" CreationDate="2012-11-19T17:28:32.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I specifically have problems with splits on the finger tips and found the following helped a lot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grow your fingernails longer- I used to cut mine very short, this makes a big difference.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use skin cream such as Neutrogena &quot;Norwegian Fishermans Formula&quot;. Every time your fingertips feel harder than normal, apply. This will be something like every hour or two in dry weather (ie; heating season).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1894" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2012-11-19T18:03:45.643" LastActivityDate="2012-11-19T18:03:45.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2012-11-19T17:34:21.693" Score="2" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep them dry; if your feet perspire a lot, have a dry set of socks to change into.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never cotton socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 layers of socks is very good; a light inner layer of something that wicks moisture very well (Coolmax, Smartwool, etc), and then a heavier sock (I like some of the LL Bean fleece socks).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goretex, plastic bags, etc can trap a lot of moisture, which can make your feet quite damp and cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be sure your boots are dry to start with. Most do not dry out all the way overnight without some fan or heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1894" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2012-11-19T18:03:50.197" LastActivityDate="2012-11-19T18:03:50.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3231" CreationDate="2012-11-19T22:45:32.807" Score="18" ViewCount="14811" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to go skiing this winter, having not been for a few years. I remember that in the past, the first few days often ended up being cut a little short as my legs were aching too much from the unaccustomed muscle use. This time I expect it'll be even worse, given how long since I last went skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any exercises I can do in advance to help build up the leg muscles used in skiing? I'm OK on general fitness, I'd just like to do some leg muscle prep if possible in advance, so I can make the most of the trip!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T16:43:42.463" Title="What exercises should you do before a ski trip to build leg stamina?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3220" CreationDate="2012-11-19T23:17:54.943" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a medical professional and can only offer you anecdotal experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had great success preparing for the ski season by &lt;strong&gt;running on steep hills&lt;/strong&gt;. I found the biggest hills nearby and run on them 2-4 days a week. At first, your legs and your lungs will be killing you. But you will gain muscular and cardiovascular stamina after a couple months. And, as you get stronger, running on hills will just be plain fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may not be the easiest solution, but it worked for me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2012-11-19T23:33:59.027" LastActivityDate="2012-11-19T23:33:59.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3222" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3226" CreationDate="2012-11-20T00:14:22.567" Score="7" ViewCount="1146" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been reading for a while about the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altaiskis.com/blog/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;altai ski&lt;/a&gt; &quot;&lt;em&gt;the Hok&lt;/em&gt;&quot; . It is being promoted as : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the Hok is a ski to be used whenever and wherever there is snow. With a partial climbing skin integrated into the base, the ski climbs with ease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it really efficient whenclimbing moderate to steep slopes ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-12-14T14:52:30.103" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T17:23:27.073" Title="How efficient is the Altai skis &quot;the Hok&quot;?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3223" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-20T03:25:57.880" Score="6" ViewCount="255" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think I should've donde this ages ago, but, well... better late than never. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could you recommend a good insurance that covers climbing? It could be a travel insurance or a medical insurance. I'm not base anywhere at the moment, I was based in Australia, I'm a mexican citizen and will eventually relocate to the US, so maybe something that is based on any of those countries could be an option, but it would be important for it to cover any other country so I don't have to keep looking for options every time I switch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a few options on google, but nothing appropriate after I read the small print. Plus  I would like to hear what's working for you guys. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="763" LastActivityDate="2012-11-21T15:16:31.470" Title="Climbing Insurance" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2012-11-21T18:31:48.250" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3222" CreationDate="2012-11-20T08:26:14.840" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on what you mean by climbing. If it is still walking up a steep slope then these should give you added grip on snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are actually climbing then they will be of no use at all, as in this situation you need to be able to use your toes and sides of your feet as well as the soles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, in both scenarios I would rather use appropriate footwear and have the skis strapped to my pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-20T08:26:14.840" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3223" CreationDate="2012-11-20T10:01:19.480" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try Atlas travel insurance from HCC MIS: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hccmis.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.hccmis.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It only excludes professional sports and competitions (if not speaking of death payments). All non-professional sport is included in standard price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never had any accidents with it, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-11-20T10:01:19.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3222" CreationDate="2012-11-20T10:17:34.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I get it right, they are using the idea of hunters, who attached a deer skin (fur outside) to the ski (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3aSteigfell.jpg?uselang=ru&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt;). It's called &quot;камус&quot; and &quot;Steigfell&quot;, and I don't know an English word for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like you can pet your cat in one direction and can't do it in the opposite direction, with Steigfell on you can easily glide in one direction (forward) and if you try to glide backwards, the fur will &quot;bristle up&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never tried it myself, but I know a couple of people who say it really works: you can easily go uphill, without (much) affecting forward gliding performance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When skiing backcountry making your own track on snow, even &quot;climbing&quot; 5-10 degree slops can be very tiresome (or you use a grip wax and sacrifice gliding at all). So having a Steigfell (in your case, integrated) is a huge advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But don't expect to be able to walk a 30-deg slope uphill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-11-20T10:17:34.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3220" CreationDate="2012-11-21T10:11:12.820" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stair running and squats are the key exercises I do before a skiing holiday&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;By stair running I just mean multiple reps up and down stairs. This is easy to do at the office - if you are on the 10th floor, try running up and down 10 or 15 times during your lunch break.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deep squats, with or without a small weight, help to develop the thigh muscles you will use al day when skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-11-21T10:11:12.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3704" CreationDate="2012-11-21T12:10:39.140" Score="12" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a couple of years I hope to cross Iceland east to west through the centre. I understand the roads in central Iceland are only open in the summer. Is that for vehicles only or for walking as well? I looked around but most info is about (4x4) cars and other vehicles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1897" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-11T01:57:13.430" LastActivityDate="2017-10-11T01:57:13.430" Title="Are roads in Iceland closed to hikers outside the winter?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3223" CreationDate="2012-11-21T15:16:31.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in France, as you subscribe to the FFM (something like Mountain French Association), understand you pay for a licence, in this licence is included an obligatory minimum insurance, that you can extend if you wish.&#xA;I think that you should first look for a club and then ask them for insurance.&#xA;But of course, the very first insurance is yourself, always take care of yourse&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1898" LastActivityDate="2012-11-21T15:16:31.470" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-11-22T00:12:48.393" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say experiment with news paper or roll paper, because it will absorb vapor while staying mostly dry, it does not weigh much, and news paper or paper from wide rolls are great insulation, and breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1900" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2012-11-22T04:40:16.687" LastActivityDate="2012-11-22T04:40:16.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3220" CreationDate="2012-11-22T16:13:35.530" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skiing is a full-body, high endurance, activity. Being in good cardio-vascular shape is important, and can be achieved through running, swimming, rowing, etc... This can not be over-emphasized. Get your heart in shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you already are in decent shape, here are some exercises that will help you get through those initial days on the hill. I've chosen exercises that require no additional weight -- your body and gravity provide all the resistance you need. (Some can be enhanced by holding light weights if so desired.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;--Leg Strengthening--&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wall squats:&lt;/strong&gt; Sit with your back against a wall, your feet together on the ground, and your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. Hold for increasing amounts of time. As strength increases, raise one leg at a time horizontal out in front of you. Repeating multiple reps of 30 seconds to a minute. Feel the burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lunges:&lt;/strong&gt; Take a large step, dropping your back knee to the ground while bending your front knee (try to keep the front knee at a 90 degree angle). Return to standing, repeat for other leg forward. Do 50 steps or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One legged speed squats:&lt;/strong&gt; Stand with 90% weight on one leg, and 10% on the other. Squat down and stand up as rapidly as you feel comfortable for 20-40 reps. Repeat other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plyometrics:&lt;/strong&gt; If you are already in good general shape, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plyometrics&quot;&gt;plyometrics&lt;/a&gt; will amp up your legs into bomber ski shape**. Simple moves like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;jump-squats: lower into a squatting position, feet shoulder width apart, then explode up through standing and jump. Return to squat    position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;standing three-direction jumps: stand upright, feet together. Jump    up, twisting your lower body so your feet now point to the right, but    shoulders point forward. Jump back to center, then left. Right -Center -Left -Center  -Right. Imagine the snow-flocked pine trees whipping by your face.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;High knee jumps (Jump knee-tucks): Stand upright. Keeping your torso at the same    height, jump your knees up toward your chest repeatedly. (Legs come    up, body stays the same).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;--Core strength--&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your core is also super-important. Skiing (done right) requires a lot of twisting (shoulders stay pointing downhill while your lower body carves back and forth.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crunches, sit-ups, side presses&lt;/strong&gt;, etc are all super-helpful and common exercises, so I won't explain them. A new one I've added to my repetoire (thanks P90X!) is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;Mason Twists&quot; aka Russian Twists:&lt;/strong&gt; Sit with your back straight and your legs elevated in front of you so your body makes a V feet at chest level. Clasp your hands. Rotate your torso, and hit the ground on the left side with both hands. Rotate your torso to hit the ground on the right side with both hands. Go back and forth, side-to-side for 40-50 reps in rapid succession.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;--Balance and static strength--&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skiing is a balance sport. Knowing how your body moves, how it is centered, and how your body responds is important. Consider various &lt;strong&gt;yoga&lt;/strong&gt; moves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warrior 1,2 and 3:&lt;/strong&gt; I won't try to describe them here, since they are easy to do wrong. I recommend seeking a yoga class in your area. But the warriors are GREAT for strengthening your knees (common ski injury areas) and learning balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tree Pose:&lt;/strong&gt; The ultimate balance posture. In its simplest form, stand with good posture on one leg for as long as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A regular yoga practice will help in all areas of fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*&lt;strong&gt;*NOTE:&lt;/strong&gt; Higher-impact exercises like plyometrics can cause injury if done improperly. Land softly when you jump. Do not attempt unless you are in good physical condition. If in doubt, consult a health-care professional. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-12-03T14:19:17.630" LastActivityDate="2012-12-03T14:19:17.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3228" CreationDate="2012-11-23T14:31:01.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since Iceland has the &quot;right to roam&quot; similar to other Nordic countries, you're virtually allowed to go wherever you want. You probably won't even be able to see the road due to the snowcover, so it would be weird if you could go everywhere except there :) so I wouldn't worry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when there's no snow, there's very little traffic.  The busiest highland roads may get &gt;100 cars/day, but some remote mountain tracks don't even reach 10 cars per week in summer, much less outside summer.  I've walked on some of those more remote mountain tracks for a couple of days and I've never seen a car there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Simon says, rescue is not normally charged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-10-10T15:07:08.610" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T15:07:08.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3233" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3382" CreationDate="2012-11-23T17:36:44.397" Score="11" ViewCount="179" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the snowshoes criteria that I should look for if I want to snowshoe on a hilly terrain ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-12-14T14:50:29.320" LastActivityDate="2012-12-15T20:52:35.303" Title="Snowshoes for hilly terrain" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3233" CreationDate="2012-11-23T20:33:19.047" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would consider two items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking poles with large baskets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you are looking for a pair of modern snowshoes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider models which have bars at the rear to elevate your feet during ascent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is common to use the trekking pole to flip the bar up when required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/elGGx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Snowshoe with heel bar lifted&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2012-11-23T23:25:10.400" LastActivityDate="2012-11-23T23:25:10.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="295" CreationDate="2012-11-24T12:34:02.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a very large number of finger and tendon injuries over 20 years of climbing.&#xA;Personally, I've found glucosamine helpful in improving recovery and preventing injury. However, anecdotal-y chondritin doesn't seem to have had much demonstrable effect for the few guys I know who've used it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1904" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-26T14:45:27.900" LastActivityDate="2012-11-26T14:45:27.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3236" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3247" CreationDate="2012-11-25T22:37:15.333" Score="11" ViewCount="5843" Body="&lt;p&gt;When buying Tyvek online, there appear to be a myriad of options and numbers.  Which numbers are suitable for making a tent footprint?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Known numbers:  1443R, 1622E, 10G, 10GX, 1460, RV, 14M... (may be others)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Note:  I can just go buy a &quot;Tyvek Footprint&quot;.  However I believe the products specifically marketed as footprints are just one of the above types, re-branded and marked up 10x.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-11-26T12:55:58.157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T08:02:14.200" Title="What kind of Tyvek is suitable for footprint material" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tyvek&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3237" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3243" CreationDate="2012-11-26T13:01:03.743" Score="9" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my first aid kit, all of the medications are repackaged.  I use nalgene snaptop vials like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/402167/nalgene-multipurpose-vial-kit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m1Klc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that even permanent sharpie marker rubs off fairly quickly when hiking.  I can usually recognized the difference between medicine, but I may not be the one pulling out the kit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What system can I use to label containers so that it will not rub off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-01-04T21:27:27.273" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T07:46:24.187" Title="What can I use to label my medicine tubes?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3238" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3241" CreationDate="2012-11-26T18:34:21.767" Score="7" ViewCount="1986" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tyvek generally comes in 4' and 5' wide sheets.  To make a suitable tarp, footprint, groundcloth, etc. I will need to sew together a couple of sheets.  How do I seam seal the Tyvek to prevent leaking at the joint?  (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3236/what-kind-of-tyvek-is-suitable-for-footprint-material&quot;&gt;Assuming I have determined what kind of Tyvek to buy&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T11:55:25.170" Title="How to seam seal Tyvek?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tyvek&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3263" CreationDate="2012-11-27T01:31:10.437" Score="11" ViewCount="3982" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just started rock climbing recently (by the way, it's awesome!). I tend to tear up my fingertips though when climbing on rough rock or for long periods of time. It takes a couple days for them to heal enough to where there's no pain when I press on them (after one day, the pain is minimal, but they re-open easily). Is there any way to help them heal faster?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1907" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T19:27:44.627" Title="How to heal &quot;blown tips&quot; faster after a climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3240" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3250" CreationDate="2012-11-27T01:37:14.967" Score="15" ViewCount="805" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just started rock climbing recently. I don't have any gear of my own and the first thing I wanted to get was a rope. There are various ropes of different prices. What should I look for when buying a climbing rope? I understand that I'm not supposed to get used rope since it can be hard to tell what it's been through (factor-2 falls, exposure to harmful elements, etc). I'm asking what features are important for a good climbing rope and what features are just marketing or only applicable to extreme climbing cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm starting out doing some single pitch bolted routes. No trad climbing yet since I don't have any gear of my own yet and it will take a while for me to piece together what I need, so it's one piece at a time. Don't worry, I'm not going to get the rope and think I can climb without the harness, belay device, shoes, etc. I just wanted some perspective because there are tons of different ropes with different features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; By the way, I won't be doing any ice climbing or climbing in alpine terrain. I've never even seen the snow in person!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1907" LastEditorUserId="1907" LastEditDate="2012-11-27T16:22:46.947" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T15:47:37.963" Title="What should I look for in a rope for climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3238" CreationDate="2012-11-27T02:56:39.550" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Builders typically get Tyvek in 9' rolls instead of 4' and 5' sheets. You may be able to buy a small piece off of the roll from your local building supply store or find some waste at a local construction site so that you don't have any seams to join.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do need to join two sheets of Tyvek, Tyvek Tape is specifically designed for sealing the joints when applied to a house. It's waterproof and adheres well. It's also quite strong, but similar to packing tape, once punctured it can tear easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dEeeX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tyvek Tape&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="395" LastEditorUserId="395" LastEditDate="2012-11-27T11:55:25.170" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T11:55:25.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3239" CreationDate="2012-11-27T03:46:56.337" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not really. Not the answer you want, but your body is telling you something, you need to listen to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a lot of fun, but you need to take it slow to ease your body into it. Otherwise the fun is going to come to an end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard a lot of stories from people that buy things like these: &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.nicros.com/index.php/warrior-boardtm.html&quot;&gt;http://shop.nicros.com/index.php/warrior-boardtm.html&lt;/a&gt; then go crazy trying as many one knuckle pullups they can before their muscles and tendons are strong enough for it, and ultimately injure themselves so bad they have to take several months or a year off of climbing. It sounds like you're on your way to doing something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T03:46:56.337" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3237" CreationDate="2012-11-27T07:06:47.980" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;My favorite for this is &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0000DH8I8&quot;&gt;Clear Duct Tape&lt;/a&gt;. Put down one piece of tape, write on it with your permanent marker, and put another layer on top of it. You don't have to worry about the ink rubbing off and if you change what's in it you can swap tape easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T07:06:47.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3237" CreationDate="2012-11-27T09:18:36.873" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've personally found paint pens to work quite well. You can find them at Wal-Mart in the craft section and most likely any craft store. They are the brand &quot;Painters&quot; made by Elmer's.  I use the ones with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/Elmer-s-Painters-Paint-Markers-Fine-Tip-Bright-Colors-5pk/16817678&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fine tips&lt;/a&gt; for labeling, which is slightly more defined than a Sharpie. They also come in a variety of colors so you could even color code different medicines if you so desire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v9iF4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've washed items labeled with a paint pen many times and it still holds up. It will eventually wear down, but it takes quite some time. If the surface to be labeled is glossy it helps to take a Scotch-brite pad or some fine sandpaper to scuff it up and then the paint pen label will last even longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2013-01-21T07:46:24.187" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T07:46:24.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1957" CreationDate="2012-11-27T10:13:34.070" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to add to berry120's answer with my own. I thought of suggesting this as an edit but thought adding an answer was more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What he said is correct, however I think it is important to mention a few things.  &lt;strong&gt;If you are treating someone in this fashion, they most likely have severe hypothermia where they are no longer shivering and are not very responsive, if at all&lt;/strong&gt;. Great care must be taken in moving them if necessary. This person needs to be evacuated to medical care if possible, so depending on your situation, call EMS or send a party to get help if this is feasible. In a wilderness scenario you also need to be taking care of yourself so making camp and getting a fire going and maintained is also critical. Don't neglect the patient, but if you don't take care of yourself, you can't help them either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia is a process, so treatment differs depending on which stage they are in. You wouldn't usually treat first stage hypothermia with a hypo-wrap. Basically by the time this person is in need of a hypo-wrap, it's going to be very difficult to get their body warm. They can't generate enough heat to warm themselves anymore, whereas in earlier stages the patient is still capable of generating heat through various methods: mild exercise and drinking and eating high-carb substances. However, you do not give food or drink to a person with severe hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Putting a person in a sleeping bag with the hypothermic person is not an effective way to warm the patient.&lt;/strong&gt; This extra person can do other useful things to help with patient care, such as heating water for the bottles, monitoring vitals, tending the fire, preparing food so you don't have to, giving you a break, etc. &lt;a href=&quot;http://rendezvous.nols.edu/content/view/1677/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; from Wilderness Medicine Institue is very informative on this topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the patient's clothing is wet, and you will need to remove it, especially if you're constructing the hypo-wrap with anything involving down, which doesn't insulate when wet. Put the patient in dry clothing if possible. Again this needs to be very gentle due to the severe hypothermic state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you make the hypo-wrap, use items from the patient's gear first. The steps and diagram for making the wrap listed by berry120 are accurate, but add a last step to the instructions: use rope, cord, straps, or clothing to tie the layers together so that it keeps it as a unit and not falling apart. Make it just tight enough to hold it together but maintain the loft of all that insulating material. &#xA;Ideally have the hypo-wrapped patient inside of a tent and have one or two people in there with them. The extra insulation from being in the tent will help prevent heat loss and potentially help heat the patient without sacrificing the body heat of the 'warm' people. These people can also monitor the patient and check vitals. And before you do anything at all make sure the scene is safe!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is by no means a complete instruction on caring for a hypothermic individual. These are just some important points when a hypo-wrap is involved. Also no two scenarios are identical and different situations will require some variations in approach. That's where training comes in to help make wise decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information comes from over 13 years experience in the wilderness and certification by NOLS in WFA in addition to other training. (I plan on getting a higher cert.) If you venture into the wilderness on a regular basis, I highly, highly recommend getting some type of wilderness medicine training for at least one member of your group, preferably more. It's worth the expense. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nols.edu/wmi/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute&lt;/a&gt; provides great training at different levels from WFA to WEMT, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid/wilderness-sports-pets#wilderness-remote-first-aid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;American Red Cross&lt;/a&gt; now offers a Wilderness medicine class as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2013-03-11T08:00:07.397" LastActivityDate="2013-03-11T08:00:07.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3240" CreationDate="2012-11-27T10:33:14.197" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @whatsisname commented, the first thing to do is get your gear. Read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/154/66&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; for some useful tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you need to decide on what type of rope you need based on what you want to do. Read this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1339/66&quot;&gt;question on mountaineering vs rock climbing&lt;/a&gt; as an example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/508/66&quot;&gt;this question on fall ratings on ropes&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1942/66&quot;&gt;this one on rope diameters&lt;/a&gt;, as there is a lot of good information in the answers on them both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry that's a lot of links, but I think the answers are there, just not in one place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T10:33:14.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3236" CreationDate="2012-11-27T11:31:10.127" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I've discovered there are really two main types of Tyvek: hard-structure and soft-structure. The numbers you refer to are variations in applications of the two types. Hard-structure, type 10, is most commonly recognizable in the housewrap application and is suitable for a ground cloth. It is stiff, noisy, and loud but that can be remedied. Soft-structure has two main varieties: types 14 and 16. Type 16 (1622E, 1673) is not suitable for a groundcloth as it has lots of tiny holes in it. Type 14 (1443R) has a soft hand and is just as water resistant as type 10 (10G or 10GX) so either type 10 or 14 will work for your application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might recommend the hard-type as it will be easier to lay out your groundcloth to cut and measure. After you have completed it you can then wash it several times to soften it and make it more manageable. It also will be easier to find as you can get it at both Lowe's and Home Depot. However, I don't know if you can buy small quantities there. You also might check construction job sites (with permission) as they often have some left over that they just throw away. I got almost 30 yards of good Tyvek this way because they had tossed it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some good resources for more in-depth information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=525&quot;&gt;The Definitive Tyvek Article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.materialconcepts.com/products/tyvek/&quot;&gt;Material Concepts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T11:31:10.127" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3237" CreationDate="2012-11-27T12:15:51.577" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use tape medical plaster for labeling tubes: wrap your tube in it and then write over using a pen or permament marker. The plaster just makes the surface less smooth and the writing can't be rubbed of that easily.&#xA;It's not waterproof, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other idea which has just occured to me is to use some sharp object to carve your lables in plastic. So even if the marker paint goes off, you'll be able to read the label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T12:15:51.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3237" CreationDate="2012-11-27T13:59:58.740" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally have to label smooth plastic surfaces around the office that get handled regularly.  As you say, even a sharpie mark wears off after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I do is to write the label with a sharpie, then put a piece of tape over it.  Don't use the clear &quot;scotch&quot; tape, but the more permanent milky kind.  Make sure it is well stuck down with no air bubbles (rub with fingernail as needed), and it should stay on nicely for a long time even in moist conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T13:59:58.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3240" CreationDate="2012-11-27T21:19:01.920" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always found much help from people at outdoor outfitters that specialize in equipment (REI is my favorite, and I recommend the store if there is one near you)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I like this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ropes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;site at REI on choosing a climbing rope&lt;/a&gt; and I consult it for the different purposes ropes have. It will help you determine what you need for your specific plans (Top roping, sport routes, etc). It also gives great information about the UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) rating system i.e. how many falls each type of rope can handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's two questions from the FAQ on that site that are relevant to your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Q: Is there one rope that will fit all my needs?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;: While it is true there are many specialty ropes out there, if you&#xA;are looking for one rope that you can get the most from, think about a&#xA;single rope between 9.8 and 10.2mm and 60 or 70 meters long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Q: I am on a budget. How can I limit the cost but still get what I need?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;: If you are sport climbing, consider buying a rope that is not dry&#xA;treated. Yes, it is true a wet rope is actually weakened. But if it&#xA;rains when you are sport climbing, you are probably just going to pull&#xA;your rope and go home. A wet rope will regain all of its original&#xA;characteristics once dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always do your research, read books, talk to lots of people, and practice! There is a lot to know, but the information is also readily available. Rock climbing really is a great hobby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1909" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T15:47:37.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2012-11-27T22:28:10.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tent shell causes a convection effect - warmer air rises from you (especially from respiration) and cools when it contacts the tent interior, which is cooled by the outside air. Some of the cooler air passes outside, but some of it settles back down on you and the process repeats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can reduce this process in ways explained above: notably, opening the tent as wide as possible to air currents. Opening ventilation windows will break up the convection effect and deprive the warmer, rising air of a surface to dump its moisture on. Because the tent doesn't provide much insulation, you really won't lose much by doing so. Your sleeping bag is responsible for keeping you warm and cozy on such nights. It goes without saying, incidentally, that in humid conditions like that (or where I live, on the East Coast of the USA), you should be using synthetic sleeping bags and clothing as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to do is to experiment with your use of the rain fly. At points where the rain fly touches the tent, condensation tends to occur more because less moisture-laden air escapes through the waterproof fly. At places where the fly does not make contact with the tent, but sits a few inches above it, moisture condensing on it tends to follow the contours of the fly off the top of the tent and then down onto the sides. This speaks to two things to look for in a rain fly and tent construction when making your next purchase: (1) the fly ought to be long and broad, not one of those dinky little beanie-type things; (2) it the fly ought not rest on the body of the tent, but on the poles, held away from the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your rain fly fails in these regards, rather than rush off and buy a new tent, try getting a tarp and hanging it over the tent across a line and anchoring it on the corners, like a big A-tent close over your tent. Then keep your tent as open as possible to ventilate it without letting in rain or uncomfortable amounts of wind. I've never tried this idea because my Sierra Designs Omega is awesome, but I'd like to know whether it helps. I'm convinced the theory is sound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1784" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T22:28:10.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2012-11-27T23:16:28.540" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This doesn't directly answer your question and might not be to your liking, but it's what I do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, I don't bother trying to keep it cold.  However, I do add flavoring.  I find that flavoring helps a great deal in making it feel a lot more OK to drink warm liquid.  Think of it sortof like tea if that helps.  Actually I don't add the flavoring for that purpose, it comes along for the ride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the the time, and always in warm or hot conditions, I add gatorade powder to the water.  When hiking in the desert, it is essential to not only replace water lost, but also electrolytes.  Don't mix the gatorade quite full strength, somewhere about 1/2 or 2/3 strength seems to be best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're hiking in the desert, everything gets hot.  Trying to fight that will only cost you extra weight and probably won't work for very long anyway.  When it's 118&amp;deg;F in the shade, stuff gets hot.  It's a lot easier and less stressful to simply accept that.  With a gallon of diluted gatorade you can hike around the desert for a few hours at least.  Let yourself get used to it, and it's really not uncomfortable at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another advantage of gatorade is that you don't need to eat anything.  You're not going to starve in one day, you feel less hungry when its hot, and the gatorade provides some sugar.  I usually start hiking in the morning and get back mid to late afternoon.  During that time, I only take in the diluted gatorade, then eat something when I get back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-11-27T23:16:28.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3254" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3256" CreationDate="2012-11-28T13:38:09.270" Score="10" ViewCount="1735" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of you may remember 35mm film** and the black cases it came in. I have a few lying around, and have seen people use them as backpacking salt and pepper shakers. I have also heard that's a good way to poison yourself slowly with nasty chemicals...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good idea or bad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** (Film cameras were a kind of &quot;digital camera&quot; that &quot;printed&quot; the pictures directly on &quot;film&quot; in the camera that had to be &quot;developed&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T21:27:45.243" Title="Are 35mm film canisters safe for holding spices?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3254" CreationDate="2012-11-28T17:45:52.647" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a film canister for salt when backpacking.  I have had people tell me that same story about poisons leaching from the plastic into the food, but nobody is able to substantiate that.  The canisters I have are labeled HDPE (high density polyethelene).  Plenty of food-touching things are made from HDPE, so that by itself shouldn't be a issue.  Of course wash the canister thoroughly before putting food into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is the question of where the poison is supposed to come from.  What was in these things originally was a dry roll of film.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps there is something to this as some materials are specifically rated as &quot;food safe&quot;.  I am not a chemist and don't know if there are food-safe and non-food-safe versions of HDPE.  If so, then maybe there is a point to this.  Since I never got a definative answer to this, I only store dry material in these canisters.  That's usually the point anyway.  These canisters are nicely watertight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the canisters popping open, no, not really unless you are doing something very unusual.  It takes a lot more than just dropping one on a hard surface to open it or hurt it.  I have never had a problem with my salt canister opening or the salt getting damp, despite the outside of the canister banging around in a backpack and certainly getting wet a few times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I guess this answer is a long way of saying &quot;I don't know&quot;, but I wanted to mention the issues and relay my own experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added anecdote:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in the mid 1980s a goofball at work found a way to have some fun with a small plastic container that had a pop-off lid.  I don't remember what it was, but it was about the size of a film canister or a pill bottle.  He found that if you point the freeze spray (used to quickly cool electronic components for diagnostic purposes) into the container for a few seconds continuously, liquid freon would condense on the bottom.  He would then put some confetti into the container and snap the lid shut.  After a little while, the pressure would build up inside, the lid would pop off, and the confetti would burst out into a nice little cloud covering everything within a couple of feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then someone came over with a Kodak film canister.  These are rather more robust than other container he had been playing with.  We figured the lid would stay on longer and allow more pressure to build up, making a bigger pop.  This was tried with a thin layer of liquid freon at the bottom and worked very satisfactorily.  Then of course things had to be taken to the extreme, kindof like MythBusters does when they blow something up.  This time he put a good half inch of freon in the bottom and popped the lid on.  We put the container lid down on a low book case in the middle of our &quot;bullpen&quot; area, then all stood back to the edges to see what would happen.  Just as we all got back about 10 feet, the manager ambled in.  He walked to the center where the book case was and idly pickup up the harmless-looking film canister.  We were about to tell him to back off, but then he put it down again as idly as he had picked it up.  At that point he saw us all looking at the canister and decided to back off from it too.  As we were telling him what was going on, we could see the canisters swell up.  Everyone kindof ducked and backed off as far as they could.  It seemed like a long time, but it was probably only about 10 seconds, and the canister finally blew.  It had been put back cap-down.  The main part of the canister shot directly up and went so fast that it made a nice clean hole in the diffuser of the flourescent light that happened to be directly above it in the ceiling.  Very impressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the point of this story, other than to be entertaining, is how solid these canisters are.  There must have been quite a bit of pressure in it before the lid popped off.  I don't know how fast something of that relatively low mass has to be going to punch a nice clean hole in a plastic diffuser without otherwise cracking it, but it's got to be &quot;pretty darn fast&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2012-11-29T01:07:49.413" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T01:07:49.413" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3254" CreationDate="2012-11-28T17:55:07.137" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to Kodak, there are no toxic materials to leach out or offgas from the containers themselves, but they are not rated for materials that contact food or other items you may consume (pills, etc). The containers are not subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for materials that contact food or drugs nor Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://petapixel.com/2011/08/19/are-film-canisters-safe-for-storing-food/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;35mm Film Containers [Kodak]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the purpose of these containers is to store film. They may technically &quot;work&quot; to hold spices and such, but they are somewhat ill-suited for the task. They don't screw down securely so the soft plastic material will give and can pop open when something is packed on top of them. I'd say you are safe to use these if there is desperate need, but why not buy a container better suited to the task when they are available for next to nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2017-04-06T21:27:45.243" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T21:27:45.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3257" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-29T02:16:48.677" Score="15" ViewCount="2002" Body="&lt;p&gt;At my local Costco, I see a Kirkland brand 100% merino wool quarter-zip sweater being sold for $25.  On EMS, I see a SmartWool 100% merino wool half-zip sweater costing $140.  Would I be potentially putting myself more at risk if I wore the Kirkland sweater as a layer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1912" LastEditorUserId="1912" LastEditDate="2012-11-29T19:07:13.643" LastActivityDate="2015-01-04T01:16:37.437" Title="Is department store merino wool less effective than branded (i.e. SmartWool) merino wool in staying warm and wicking moisture?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2012-11-29T02:31:00.200" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Smart Wool main claim to fame is that their treated wool doesn't itch as bad or shrink as much in washing machines. Otherwise, its all the same stuff as far as its insulating capabilities go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T02:31:00.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3254" CreationDate="2012-11-29T13:20:00.937" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd be wary of the top popping off in your pack. I prefer to use screw top plastic bottles for this kind of thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T13:20:00.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3260" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3270" CreationDate="2012-11-29T15:20:11.783" Score="15" ViewCount="2824" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking at taking a WFA (Wilderness First Aid) class and there are a couple of outfits in my area offering it. Namely, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soloschools.com/index.cfm?event=course.wfr&quot;&gt;SOLO&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nols.edu/wmi/courses/wfr.shtml&quot;&gt;NOLS&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid/wilderness-sports-pets#wilderness-remote-first-aid&quot;&gt;The American Red Cross&lt;/a&gt;. I have heard nothing but great things about all programs, and am curious if there really is a big difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this sounds like a shopping question, but what I really want to know is, is it the same basic program or are there differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-11-29T21:18:05.017" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T11:11:54.120" Title="Is there a large difference in WFA (Wilderness First Aid) programs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2012-11-29T17:48:37.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the short run, the answer is &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;. You will not put yourself at more risk wearing a cheaper product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the long run, the answer is not so clear. There must be a reason behind a cheap price:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it because of the materials used?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it because of cheap labour?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it because the Kirkland brand was able to do an amazing offer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is very hard to answer those questions precisely. One thing is sure that on the long run, your sweater will endure more stress. It might fail or succeed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was curious to do the same comparison in a store that I trust and who is known to be a fair trade store. The merino sweaters were sold between $50 and $100 depending on the model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I compare with your two items, I would probably say that you selected two extremes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will probably choose to buy an item whose price will fall between the two for a normal usage. For an extended usage, I will go for the topnotch which is not always the most expensive but rarely the cheapest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T17:48:37.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3262" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-29T19:13:47.560" Score="7" ViewCount="1331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Columbia 100% PVC rain jacket.  It has a nylon lining.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can PVC material be used as an effective windbreaker?  Are there any side effects (such as making me sweat a lot more) that could discourage me from using it as a windbreaker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1912" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:28:25.160" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:28:25.160" Title="Can a PVC rain jacket also be used as a windbreaker?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3239" CreationDate="2012-11-29T19:27:44.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Listening to your body is spot on.  Let the finger heal completely before climbing again.  This is very important, as a split tip is very likely to split in the same spot again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevention is very important, and will help keep tips from splitting in the future.  Start by moisturizing the skin regularly, especially after climbing.   Use products like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbonproducts.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Climb On&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jtreelife.com/products/healing-salve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Joshua Tree Salve&lt;/a&gt;: they will help the skin regenerate.  This is very important in the winter when the skin is drier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use an emory board to sand away dead skin; smooth skin is less likely to have a line of weakness that can split.  If you have a big callus that is about to rip, file it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your skin will build up calluses, but it does take time to adapt.  Don't rush it, and keep things progressive.  Pick climbs that don't have extremely sharp holds.  When climbing, make sure your hands stay dry: use chalk to prevent soft skin that can split.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard people using super glue to heal splits, but I've also heard it's a terrible idea from other people.  Tape can also be used over the split, but I find the loss of sensitivity very distracting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T19:27:44.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3260" CreationDate="2012-11-29T19:31:37.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the most part, it comes down to certifications.  Each organization will give you a particular certificate for completing their courses.  These will be recognized by different places differently (e.g., if you are studying for a guide exam).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall though, &lt;strong&gt;the knowledge you gain&lt;/strong&gt; is the most important part of the course.  I wouldn't worry about the particular organization as long as they offer a good (recognized) program at a reasonable price.  Most places have a similar structure of courses (WFA: wilderness first air, WFR: first responder, WEMT: wilderness EMT) with increasing commitment and more depth on each topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T19:31:37.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3240" CreationDate="2012-11-29T19:40:02.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since this is your first rope and you're mostly doing single-pitch sport climbing, I would recommend you look for just a few simple things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dynamic rope:&lt;/strong&gt; This is absolutely a requirement since you will be leading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;60m rope:&lt;/strong&gt; This length will get you 99% of places.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;diameter around 10mm:&lt;/strong&gt; Do not go below 9.8mm (not as robust) or much higher than 10.2mm (harder to belay).  10mm is a great starting diameter, and will survive top-roping better than a thin rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A known brand:&lt;/strong&gt; Ropes are one place you don't want to skimp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A new rope:&lt;/strong&gt; Not knowing a rope's history is bad news.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry about dry treatment or any of that other stuff (you will obsess about it for your second rope, promise!).  Retailers often have sales on ropes, that would be a great place to start looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, make sure you know what you're doing (or get instruction), and take care of the rope well, and you're all set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T19:40:02.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3262" CreationDate="2012-11-29T19:43:21.843" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rain jacket is a good windbreaker as well.  The main downside, as you pointed out, is that it will not breathe as well as other fabrics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This shouldn't be an issue as long as you aren't doing a lot of high-output activities (ex: climbing, hiking uphill with a heavy pack for hours).  Regular hiking and the likes should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T19:43:21.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2012-11-29T23:56:21.397" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with everything -- it depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wool socks from wal-mart have outlasted literally &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; else we have purchased, including most of our gear.  They still keep my toes toasty warm.  Wal-mart is a go-to kind of store for hunters in the south because they have good &lt;em&gt;inexpensive&lt;/em&gt; warm clothes.  Wool socks from wal-mart generally last me around ten years/pair...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, walk two aisles over, or even in the same aisle, and you will find things that will fail in ten days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question could more generally be stated as &quot;does price guarantee quality&quot;, and the answer is no.  While the stuff two aisles over at wal-mart might fail, the same is true of most other stores.  For instance we never buy several of the &quot;Name&quot; hiking brands because they have failed us and rapidly at that (I leave out names because I don't want to smear a brand).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not you will be more &quot;at risk&quot; depends solely on following one rule.  &lt;strong&gt;NEVER test new gear at the extremes&lt;/strong&gt;, no matter how cool, or what you paid for it.  Test where failure is not fatal.  And that goes just as equally for &quot;name&quot; as for &quot;generic&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-11-29T23:56:21.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3269" CreationDate="2012-11-29T23:57:14.423" Score="24" ViewCount="2505" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm rock climbing, I feel like I've got hand holds down as far as where to grab on and understand that the hands are mainly for balance. However, I can't seem to figure out my feet. There are many times where there is a small nub on the rock to get my toes on, but it rarely feels sufficient to put my weight on it. The same goes for when I'm smearing my toes on a slab or bowl. This is on vertical routes (I can't do overhanging stuff yet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any ways or techniques I can use to improve my footwork? I know part of it is that I need to learn to trust my feet and push through a series of movements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1907" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-12-03T12:48:17.980" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T14:23:23.337" Title="How can I improve my footwork while rock-climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3268" CreationDate="2012-11-30T02:54:22.330" Score="17" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The best ways I found to improve foot work are the following:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Climb routes which are less than vertical (slabs are great)&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this sounds obvious, but seriously, just climb slabs and low angle for a few weeks (or months). Focus on your feet, don't use your hands if possible. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Practice stepping up &lt;strong&gt;only&lt;/strong&gt;, don't pull on holds&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Play a game with your partner and keep score anytime you or they use their hands to pull, lowest score wins.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Keep your heels as low as possible (avoids the &quot;Elvis Leg&quot;)&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/diMT1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;slab overview&quot; title=&quot;Slab overview&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;For more great stuff check out the &lt;em&gt;www.climbing.com&lt;/em&gt; article on &lt;strong&gt;friction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/tech-tip-trad-friction-slabs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/tech-tip-trad-friction-slabs/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T14:23:23.337" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T14:23:23.337" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3260" CreationDate="2012-11-30T03:24:31.637" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Yes there are significant differences in teaching style and content.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although the general concepts covered will be the same from curriculum to curriculum, the presentation style, and specific techniques will vary slightly within each program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Often instructors will use acronyms to provide a mental framework for procedures and these will differ between programs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Additionally the assessment criteria can vary from one program to another, but usually these differences are minor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some programs &lt;strong&gt;do not&lt;/strong&gt; accept accreditation from other programs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ie. You must work up through that providers track, you can't get your WMA from SOLO and then upgrade to  WFR from Wilderness Medical Associates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For a great reference book please see:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1558216820&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Outward Bound Wilderness First Aid Handbook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hd9eT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hd9eT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Outward Bound Handbook Image&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;My recommendation is to contact an associate at each school and speak to them about their teaching approach.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Full Disclosure&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For reference my background is in  certification up to the EMT+W level in the Wilderness Medical Associates course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T11:11:54.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3260" CreationDate="2012-11-30T05:03:38.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The organization I work with has used NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute for training in Wilderness First Aid for several years until this past one when we switched to American Red Cross's Wilderness &amp;amp; Remote First Aid course. We have our own staff that are now ARC instructors is the reason for the switch. I can honestly say that NOLS WFA compared to ARC WRFA is very, very similar. There are some different takes on how to handle certain situations, and in some ways WRFA covers more material. However you can't go wrong with either one as they both will teach valuable skills. Both are essentially two day courses and require a current CPR certification for your certification to be valid (it can be taken after the WFA course.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed you linked to the Wilderness First Responder course on the NOLS site. I can't speak for that level of training, since I haven't taken WFR yet, but hope to do so before next summer. Though I can say this: I know and have worked with several people with WFR certifications through NOLS WMI and can vouch that they are very well prepared to handle backcountry emergencies.  An important thing to note is that ARC doesn't offer an equivalent to WFR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have any experience with SOLO or Wilderness Medical Associates so I can't compare those, but I'm sure they are excellent organizations as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You first need to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nols.edu/wmi/courses/course_matrix.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;decide&lt;/a&gt; what level of training you want to get. That will help you decide which organization to go with. If you're just testing the waters or just want a solid foundation then I would recommend taking a WFA course. You can still go up if you think you need more training later and it covers a lot of material. However if you are out in the middle of nowhere quite often and you plan an being very prepared then I recommend taking a much more involved WFR course. If you're in the outdoors for a living then WEMT might even be something to consider, although it also involves becoming an EMT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2012-12-03T19:45:37.683" LastActivityDate="2012-12-03T19:45:37.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3272" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3293" CreationDate="2012-11-30T07:12:11.187" Score="13" ViewCount="2020" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the good choice for the running shoes for winter conditions in city (mostly running on asphalt)? When the snow is shoveld, normal running shoes would be no problem, but when the snow falling, they are soaking immediately and they have poor adhesion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I was thinking about running in light trekking shoes with elastic soles, because of good adhesion and light membrane. But, aren't such shoes too overloading for ankles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-18T15:40:14.923" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:26:35.357" Title="Running shoes for asphalt + winter conditions?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3273" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-11-30T11:40:43.397" Score="5" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How does the performance of genuine fur garments, as might have been used traditionally, compare to that of down and modern synthetics?  (Insulating power (wet and dry), water repellency, and any other quantifiable comparisons.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What types of furs were used historically, by whom, and for what applications?  What furs are still used today?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally I would like to see actual data and sources for the comparisons, not merely inferences and anecdotes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-12-03T23:59:14.103" Title="Performance of fur garments?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3272" CreationDate="2012-11-30T13:43:31.757" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As stated by Graham in his comment, I would recommend using ice traction device like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Footwear/TractionDevices/PRD~5002-768/yaktrax-pro-traction-device-unisex.jsp&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Footwear/TractionDevices/PRD~5031-877/yaktrax-running-ice-traction-device-unisex.jsp&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;. It will provide you with the missing grip in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should definitely keep using your running shoes because they are still better suited for running even in winter conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-11-30T13:43:31.757" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3275" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-12-01T00:05:37.137" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Travelling on snow using long, parallel pieces of wood, fibreglass, composite or other material to slide across the surface, rather than having to step through it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-04T01:52:59.103" LastActivityDate="2016-09-04T01:52:59.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3276" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-12-01T00:05:37.137" Score="0" Body="Questions discussing necessary precautions, safety concerns, required equipment and overall safety measures to be taken into consideration during skiing should be tagged with this tag. This tag can also be used with the questions that discuss possible places for skiing and related permissions for a specific region.&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3486" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-04T01:53:27.317" LastActivityDate="2016-09-04T01:53:27.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1373" CreationDate="2012-12-01T15:40:37.817" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are also excellent hiking books that describe hikes along with their difficulty. Even if the description may take some work to decipher (although with a dictionary and some time you should be able to), the route sketches, estimate for duration and difficulty can be quite helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend &lt;em&gt;På tur i Lofoten&lt;/em&gt; which contains a whopping 193 descriptions of hikes, anything from a short 1 hour stroll to an arduous 8 hour scramble. You can order this book directly from &lt;a href=&quot;http://lofoten.turistforeningen.no/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lofoten Turlag&lt;/a&gt;, or ask them where you can buy it locally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-12-01T15:40:37.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3278" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3279" CreationDate="2012-12-02T00:27:54.993" Score="6" ViewCount="757" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a tool that helps drain the last of the fuel out of your isobutane fuel canister, and then pierce it to make it easy to crush. It's a simple little gadget that looks like a can opener. &#xA;What is this tool called and/or where can I buy it online?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="596" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T23:20:07.457" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T23:20:07.457" Title="Tool for draining/crushing isobutane fuel canister" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3278" CreationDate="2012-12-02T16:38:42.893" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/813638/jetboil-crunchit-recycling-tool&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This (Jetboil Crunchit Recycling Tool)&lt;/a&gt; was found by googling &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=crush%20isobutane%20fuel%20can&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;crush isobutane fuel can&lt;/a&gt;&quot; and reading this second result (right below the outoors.SE question) for the link.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-12-03T14:47:50.793" LastActivityDate="2012-12-03T14:47:50.793" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3280" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3281" CreationDate="2012-12-03T17:59:53.410" Score="10" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living in the north-east part of America, my chances of encountering a grizzly bear are very low.  I have greater chances of meeting a black bear. If I got the chance of meeting a grizzly, should I change what I learned to be safe and sound?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I gave the example of a grizzly bear but my question is not focused on that particular species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-26T04:32:29.547" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T04:32:29.547" Title="Are there significant behaviour differences among bear species to adopt different safety rules?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3280" CreationDate="2012-12-03T22:51:31.520" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripsavvy.com/bear-safety-tips-3361625&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trip Savvy Bear Safety Tips&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If a Grizzly Bear Attacks…&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Play dead! Lie face down on the ground with your hands around the back&#xA;  of your neck. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stay silent and try not to move. Keep your legs spread&#xA;  apart and if you can, leave your pack on to protect your back. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Once the bear backs off, stay quiet and still for as long as you can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Bears will often watch from a distance and come back if they see movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If a Black Bear Attacks…&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Be loud, waive your arms, and stand your ground. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fight back! Be aggressive and use any object you have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Only if you are sure the bear attacking is a mother who is protecting its cubs, play dead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If you have pepper spray, use it. Begin spraying when it's within 40 ft so it&#xA;  runs into the fog. Aim for the face.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that Parks Canada has stopped providing bear specific protocols for handling black/grizzly encounters except providing distinguishing characteristics so that you can accurately report which type of bear encounter you had.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-26T04:31:28.597" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T04:31:28.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3273" CreationDate="2012-12-03T23:59:14.103" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A little research led from a Finnish &lt;a href=&quot;http://bushcraftfinland.atfreeforum.com/clothing-f48/comparison-between-modern-and-traditional-inuit-clothing-t348.html&quot;&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; to the source &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.int-res.com/articles/cr/5/c005p083.pdf&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, which appears to have been published in the journal &lt;strong&gt;Climate Research&lt;/strong&gt; in 1995.  There is another posting comparing &lt;a href=&quot;http://bushcraftfinland.atfreeforum.com/clothing-f48/comparison-between-modern-and-early-20th-century-clothing-t347.html&quot;&gt;early&lt;/a&gt; 20th century &lt;em&gt;modern&lt;/em&gt; clothing, to that of &lt;em&gt;today&lt;/em&gt;, i.e. 2012.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 1995 study, they found that for a sedentary individual, such as a passenger on a sled, the traditional caribou and other fur clothing were indeed superior to the &lt;em&gt;modern&lt;/em&gt; clothing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The laboratory data support the recommendations of Unit elders to use caribou skin clothing for long-term protection for sedentary individuals exposed to a cold winter climate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It goes on, however&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;it is not necessarily better for active users&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as this study was looking at stationary people, without the effect of sweat upon the insulative qualities of the garments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;N.B. marked this answer as wiki, as it only starts to answer the several specific questions of the posting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2012-12-03T23:59:14.103" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-12-03T23:59:14.103" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3278" CreationDate="2012-12-04T15:55:57.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cheaper and easier solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attach your stove thingy (In my case, a pocket rocket).  Open all the way and invert the can (away from flame sources obviously).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a cheap and old fashioned &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchkey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;church key&lt;/a&gt; to puncture the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Total cost, approx. $0.50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-12-04T15:55:57.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3284" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3285" CreationDate="2012-12-04T19:54:29.723" Score="13" ViewCount="597" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to get a tarp, and considering when I want to go out with it.  My three season tent with the rain fly has pretty good heat retention, and while it doesn't get toasty, it does stay warmer than the surrounding outdoors.  Tarps from my current experience have to be pitched with quite a bit of angle and venting to prevent excess condensation, leading me to believe they will be much colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a rule of thumb for when it's cold enough to pull out the tent and not use the tarp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-16T10:33:24.713" LastActivityDate="2014-12-20T03:55:11.247" Title="When is it too cold for Tarping?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3284" CreationDate="2012-12-05T02:41:18.683" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say... never. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a tarp but something that keeps precipitation off of you. In humid summer months, sure, condensation can cause precipitation &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the tarp, but in winter, this is not so much a concern, and you can pitch it lower to the ground. You might get frost inside - but just shake it off when you pack up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents provide a few degrees of warmth by trapping a bit of your body heat - but that thin layer of nylon (or two) can only do so much. (And not near as much as, say, a snow cave.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have slept in the winter without any shelter in a -40 degree bag, and woke up with 4 inches of snow on me. I was soaked but tolerably comfortable. Had I had a tarp, it would have shed the snow off me, and I would have been perfectly fine in my 15 degree down bag (and, in point of fact, I have done this on several occasions.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what is the take home message? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your bag is warm enough, a tarp is just the light-weight ticket to&#xA;keep you dry.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your bag is not warm enough, then consider a full&#xA;tent to trap those critical few degrees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bonus Protip&lt;/em&gt;: When snow camping, a tarp makes an excellent roof to a dug-out, high walled snow-fortress. Less work than a full-on snow cave. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bonus (slightly related) Protip&lt;/em&gt;: A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3389/how-much-heat-can-a-candle-lantern-provide-while-winter-camping&quot;&gt;candle lantern in your tent&lt;/a&gt; can add a noticeable amount of warmth, and help keep things ever so slightly drier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T03:58:51.847" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3286" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-05T14:16:44.280" Score="14" ViewCount="3505" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from risk of fire (which for this question we will assume has been fully mitigated) what is the real risk of suffocation if one were to use a stove, lantern, or candle lantern in a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been some reports of death from this (whether it be from CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; or CO), but others have used such products in their tents without issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the relative CO and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; output of various products?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much air circulation does one need to keep it &quot;ventilated&quot; enough?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-12-05T15:08:05.810" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T18:51:41.430" Title="What is the true risk of suffocation from different combustion sources in a tent? (CO2, CO)" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="828" CreationDate="2012-12-05T14:40:35.107" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want is called &quot;skin&quot;.  However, that's not something you just add on one day and go hiking for days.  Keep in mind that our species evolved to get around by walking and running with our feet.  Our feet have evolved to handle that.  Unfortunately, habitually wearing shoes eliminates the stimuli that the feet need to produce the necessary thick skin in the right places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution, if the desire is to be able to hike reasonable distances barefoot, is therefore to stop wearing shoes.  Unfortunately, our feet can't respond to the new stimulus instantly.  I like walking around barefoot, and do so whenever possible in the summer.  I find it takes a month or so of significant regular walking over rough ground to build up the thick skin so that you don't care anymore.  If you only do this occasionally, it will take longer, perhaps never even get to the full thick skin level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do you get to the point where you can walk most anywhere barefoot comfortably without at some point pushing the limits of comfort?  You don't.  Your feet need the feedback that you consider uncomfortable to trigger them to build up the thick skin that makes it comfortable.  Once you do though, you'll be surprised how much rough stuff you can walk over without giving it much thought.  About the only thing I've never really gotten comfortable on is a bed of artifically crushed rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you regularly walk around outside barefoot, you'll probably be amazed at how much more you are aware of details in the ground.  Different ground is at different temperatures, which makes sense but is generally not something you realize when wearing shoes.  You also find that your toes start doing some useful things, not just stay lumped together with the rest of your foot inside a shoe.  You will feel a lot more shure-footed too.  I don't know how exactly to explain it, but you can feel that you will loose traction with bare feet before you actually do in a way that just doesn't match up to any sensation with wearing shoes.  Shoes just suddenly slip.  With bare feet, you can sense you are getting close before you slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like walking around barefoot and make of point of doing so whenever the temperature allows it.  Here in New England, that is roughly half the year.  Unfortunately the feet loose the thick skin during the winter so you mostly have to start all over again every spring.  I don't have a good answer for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is unfortunate that our urbanized society usually looks down on walking around barefoot.  This is to the point that many private establishments actually require you to wear shoes to enter them.  Contrary to common belief, there is actually no law that says shoes are required in supermarkets.  These are private property, so the owners have the right to set the rules, but it's wrong of them to claim state law makes them require shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the summer I keep a pair of sandals or &quot;flip-flops&quot; in the car so I can put them on when walking into a store I frequent.  If I'm in a distant place where I'm not coming back any time soon, I sometimes have fun seeing what I can get away with.  I get thrown out of the supermarket in Lincoln NH about once a year.  It's interesting to note this has always been &lt;i&gt;after&lt;/i&gt; I bought whatever I came in there for.  Usually a manager comes over and tells me I need to wear shoes in the store as I'm paying in the checkout line or even after I've paid and am already walking out.  I recognize they have the right to make the rules on their private property and I never resist when asked to leave, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun tweaking their nose every once in a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T14:40:35.107" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3286" CreationDate="2012-12-05T15:00:39.527" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;CO and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; dangers are real, and most tents aren't ventillated well enough without outside wind to make it safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; dissolves well in water, especially cold water, and your body has mechanisms to deal with it.  Somewhat surprisingly, what causes you to breathe harder is not lower oxygen concentrations in the blood, but higher CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.  It's just one of those quirks left over from the long, convoluted history of mechanisms that seemed to work found by accident and refined by selection that we call &quot;evolution&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO is the more serious danger because your body doesn't sense it and it silently displaces oxygen in the blood, eventually starving the brain of real oxygen so that you get light headed, make stupid choices, and eventually pass out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideal combustion of hydrocarbons produces only CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; and water, but no such combustion is ideal, especially in something like a camp stove that was optimized for other qualities like small size and light weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much is too much?  I don't know, but I'm not going to run a stove in a tent or a fuel-based lantern.  Fortunately, there are now much better ways to make light than to burn fuel.  I don't think a single candle is much of a issue in a normal size tent that has ventillation holes open.  The amount of CO that a candle can produce is limited by the C in the tiny amount of wax it uses.  Some fraction of that wax is H, not C, and most of the C will be burned to CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, not CO.  The resulting amount of CO from a single candle is therefore small, but I wouldn't ever burn more than that in a tent.  Actually I wouldn't burn a candle either, since again, there are now far better ways to make light, not to mention the inherent danger of the open flame. I don't bring candles with me in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2012-12-05T15:10:20.130" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T15:10:20.130" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3237" CreationDate="2012-12-05T17:39:57.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will probably use a small paper and put this latter inside the tube so it can be visible from the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This solution might not be the best solution if the tube is not fully transparent or very small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T17:39:57.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="828" CreationDate="2012-12-05T18:35:56.323" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have gone on several barefoot day hikes and really enjoyed it.  Easy peasy. I have a couple of thoughts for you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Barefoot hiking is fun. I never ran into any problems. If you want to be extra safe, maybe start running barefoot on weekdays.  That will build up the callouses on your feet and really help out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I agree with Rory Alsop. Just buy a pair of Vibrams or the New Balance Minimus. There's no reason not to wear the minimal shoes, accept for fun or aesthetic reasons. I've done some very strenuous day hikes in my Vibrams and had a blast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Please practice carrying weight before going backpacking barefoot.&lt;/em&gt; Hiking while carrying a heavy pack is different from normal walking. All that extra weight means more effort for the muscles and tendons in your feet. This is why &quot;backpacking boots&quot; have such stiff soles: to make it easier on your feet. I would recommend a barefoot day hike with a 30-pound pack as a good test.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking barefoot is great fun.  Please be very careful before you decide to go backpacking barefoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T20:31:03.630" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T20:31:03.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3286" CreationDate="2012-12-05T19:16:38.133" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer a question in the comments: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I will be curious to know what is the average amount of Co2 produced by a stove vs     the average amount of co2 generated by human breathing. My guess would be that stove will win but I heard of people suffocate in closed cars while sleeping&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make things simple, lets assume assume your body burns 2,600 calories (~11 MJ) per day, and burns purely glucose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 3.75 calories (9.83 kJ) per gram, you'll be burning around 690 grams of glucose per day, or a little under 24 oz (710 mL) per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;40% of that glucose is carbon, so the 9.60 oz (280 mL) per day of carbon in glucose yields about 35 oz (1 L) of CO2 per day, a little over 2 pounds (0.9 kg). &lt;strong&gt;About 1.5 oz (44 mL) of CO2 per hour&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This value is close enough to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide#Content&quot;&gt;what wikipedia has&lt;/a&gt;, so we can assume 1.5 oz (44 mL) of CO2 per hour to be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A typical canister stove has an 80/20 mix of isobutane and propane. If we look at the 8.3 oz (250 mL) MSR ISOPRO canister with a superfly stove, that will give us a burn time of about 60 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That 8.3 oz (250 mL) MSR stove is mostly carbon by mass, with 6.8 oz (200 mL) of carbon, which when burned will produce about 25 oz (740 mL) of CO2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, sitting in your tent, you'll be producing 1.5 oz (44 mL) of CO2 per hr, &lt;strong&gt;while your stove will be pumping out 25 oz (740 mL) per hr, 16 times as much&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the course of an hour, that CO2 would occupy about a half cubic meter, which in a tent can easily raise the CO2 concentration well above toxic levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2012-12-05T23:30:50.267" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T23:30:50.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3272" CreationDate="2012-12-05T20:06:28.397" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.icebug.se/ProductList.aspx?m=657&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Icebug&lt;/a&gt; specializes in shoes made for running on ice or other very slippery surfaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="494" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T20:06:28.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3272" CreationDate="2012-12-05T20:56:37.607" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For snowier conditions, it is common in the ultra community to take an old pair of shoes and screw in a number of metal hex screws into the sole from the bottom leaving enough of the screw proud to stick into the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had to try it myself but I'm reliably informed it works a treat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1921" LastActivityDate="2012-12-05T20:56:37.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3297" CreationDate="2012-12-05T22:57:09.437" Score="18" ViewCount="236" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down sleeping bags and down jackets should not be stored in the stuffbag, but as loose as possible. Tents, as far as I know, can be stored stuffed as long as they are dry. Are there any other materials or equipment that I should be aware of that should not be stored in the same bag as when I'm carrying it on my backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T13:14:17.080" Title="Apart from down, is there any outdoor material that should not be stored stuffed?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3286" CreationDate="2012-12-06T06:49:52.620" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Olin Lathrop's great answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the relative CO and CO2 output of various products? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO output depends on specific conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The type/model of the stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The quality of the fuel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The supply of oxygen in the air to support combustion (it should be a problem in a crowded tent)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your stove is wet or not (moisture reduces fire temperature and combustion effeciency)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Definitely, CO output may be too high inside a tent and there is no stove which is CO-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much air circulation does one need to keep it &quot;ventilated&quot; enough?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer this question one could analyse the death/poisoning reports to determine, how much ventilation is NOT enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking theoretically, high CO concentration (&gt;0.5%) is dangerous if you breathe it a couple of minutes, so if your ventilation is good enough to substitute all the air in the tent with a fresh one each 5 minutes, maybe you are ok. But please don't count on this rough estimations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Accodring to the reports, people often don't realize thay are getting poisoned, so don't be overconfident. Probably, the best way aside from not cooking inside the tent (well, sometimes CO risk is less than the risk to get frozen) is to have &lt;strong&gt;someone else&lt;/strong&gt; in another non-cooking tent, who will check you every now and again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for practice, we strictly avoid cooking inside a closed inner tent of a two-layer tent and try to keep an outer tent as open as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note, that CO poisoning is not the only poisoning risk of cooking inside: there is also a risk of breathing propane/butane escaped from a loose stove-to-canister joint or even faulty canister in your backpack. So never store fuel inside a (inner) tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T06:49:52.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3294" CreationDate="2012-12-06T07:27:26.090" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you'd broaden &quot;down&quot; and &quot;wet tents&quot; categories to &quot;all insulators&quot; and &quot;all wet items&quot;, it'll cover pretty everything, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also a membrane jacket might stick to itself (coalesce) and may get damaged when you unstick it (membrane layer may peel of). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One could think about rubber, which takes new shape under prolonged pressure, but it's not what you are usually carrying in your backpack. Thin metal parts like tent poles are potentially subject to this effect, but I'm not sure it actually happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T07:27:26.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3294" CreationDate="2012-12-06T13:14:17.080" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thermarest and other self inflating foams should be stored inflated, not deflated and rolled up. Generally anything that has a small form and a large form, and is expected to transform into the large form on its own should be stored in its large form. (So an air mattress you inflate can be stored in the small form, but your sleeping bag and pillow shouldn't be compressed.) I have some ordinary open cell foam pads as well and they're best stored flat or they develop a curve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing should be put away wet or dirty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electric cables shouldn't be tightly wrapped, especially around hard things like a power brick, but should be just loosely coiled. That may mean they can't fit in the bag you carry them in on a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bungees or elastic straps should be stored with no tension in them. Just let them hang loose. I guess the general version is if it's supposed to transform into the small form on its own, store it in the small form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T13:14:17.080" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3298" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3299" CreationDate="2012-12-06T15:22:10.313" Score="16" ViewCount="1537" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we store our headlamps, currently we store them with the batteries.  Should they instead be stored separate from the batteries?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T09:03:40.367" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T09:03:40.367" Title="Storing Headlamps: With or without batteries?" Tags="&lt;storage&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3298" CreationDate="2012-12-06T15:27:29.457" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would highly recommend storing all gear &lt;em&gt;with batteries removed&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Batteries over time can (and often do) leak battery acid and cause corrosion. I've seen this happen quite a bit in head-lamps -- possibly because they do get some moisture in them if worn during aerobic activity? -- but also in hand-held Talkabout(TM) type radios, avalanche beacons, gps, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With batteries removed, it is impossible for the device to be accidentally turned on, thus draining the battery and leaving you in the dark when you really need it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(Purely anecdotally, I feel batteries last longer if stored separate... perhaps there is some minute, but cumulative energy leak when in a headlamp?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bonus Protip&lt;/em&gt;: Battery acid can be removed with a solution of baking soda and water. Soak the encrusted item in this (with battery removed) then allow to dry thoroughly before re-applying electricity. (Note -- might not be a good idea with higher-tech devices.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-12-06T16:19:08.327" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T16:19:08.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3298" CreationDate="2012-12-06T15:47:18.710" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two possible reasons not to store batteries in a headlamp that won't be used for a while: Residual current draw, and batteries leaking and destroying the headlamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make things waterproof, some headlamps don't have a regular mechanical switch to turn them on and off during normal operation.  For example, mine draws a few &amp;micro;A when &quot;off&quot;.  That's still very little for a pair of AA batteries, but when I'm storing the headlamp without a specific use expected within a few days I turn it off completely.  On my headlamp, that means popping the watertight cover and moving a jumper.  In that case it is truly off and the issue of residual current is eliminated.  I don't know if all headlamps work that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how the on/off switch works, you may also want to remove the batteries just so that they don't get killed if the unit is accidentally turned on while it's in storage.  If you keep it in the car, for example, consider that it could get jostled about.  I was reminded the hard way last summer to do this with the camera battery when packed in luggage on a airplane.  Somehow the camera had gotten turned on in transit, and the battery was dead when I went to use it.  Fortunately it was rechargeable and I brought two spares, but it's still something I won't do again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old batteries leaking and destroying equipment isn't the problem it used to be.  The old carbon-zinc cells were notorious for this, but that technology hasn't been used in a long time.  Nowadays, this is not likely to be a issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all that is a long way of saying, no, I wouldn't bother remove batteries from a headlamp that is being stored someplace where it won't be molested until the next use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time I remove the batteries from my headlamp is when I'm bringing it as luggage on a airplane.  I made my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.embedinc.com/pic/knli&quot;&gt;LED headlamp&lt;/a&gt; myself.  A few years ago I was flying to Arizona using my backpack as checked luggage.  A short while after I got to the terminal waiting to board the plane, I heard my name being announced over the PA system, requesting me to go to the ticket counter.  There were two TSA agents waiting for me when I got there.  They asked what I had in my backpack.  I started listing stuff, like camera equipment, and when I got to the LED headlight they both said &quot;that's it&quot;.  I told them I was a electrical engineer and had made it myself.  They actually found that rather amusing and said I was fine.  As one of the agents was escorting me back to the terminal, I asked what I should have done to make it look less suspicious.  He said I hadn't actually done anything wrong and they were just checking.  Then I asked if it would have been better if I had taken the batteries out and put them in a side pocket somewhere.  He thought about it and said, yes, that would probably have raised less suspicion.  That's what I've done from then on and I haven't had another &quot;encounter&quot; with the TSA since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T15:47:18.710" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3301" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3309" CreationDate="2012-12-06T16:32:19.057" Score="16" ViewCount="2021" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike a few trails in the lower Appalachians which are very infrequently traveled.  Maintenance when it happens, is performed by hikers.  I much prefer to just clear smaller blowdowns as I come to them than to make an entire separate trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best carry tool for minor trail maintenance on a hike?  Axe, machete, folding saw...etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(By minor, I mean small, less than 4&quot; diameter branches, not log clearing)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-03-10T08:02:55.570" Title="What is a good tool for minor trail maintenance while hiking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3302" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-06T19:07:16.007" Score="3" ViewCount="58" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/547/what-hand-and-finger-exercises-help-with-climbing&quot;&gt;What hand and finger exercises help with climbing?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to get a product that will improve my finger grip- have been looking at powerballs &amp;amp; grip masters but cannot decide which would be better!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone help me out/give me any advice on these products?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1925" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T04:39:15.327" Title="finger grip improvement exercisers" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2012-12-09T23:48:54.867" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3268" CreationDate="2012-12-06T19:22:22.807" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good footwork is the foundation to good climbing.  Most climbers think their footwork is better than it actually is, and could be better climbers simply by improving their footwork.  Here are some drills and tips to improve it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quiet feet:&lt;/strong&gt; By far the best drill you can do is called quiet feet.  It involves climbing while focusing your attention on your feet.  It goes something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look at the hold you want to move your foot to&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visualize &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; where you foot will go, which part of the foot will touch the hold, the angle, etc...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While looking at the hold,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; move your foot up to the hold, and place it &lt;strong&gt;softly&lt;/strong&gt; on the hold. Make sure you look at the hold the entire time, until the new foot is placed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you made &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; noise while placing the foot, move it back to the previous hold and start over.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Otherwise, move your hands, and do the next foot movement in the same way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This drill helped me improve my footwork greatly.  It takes time, but it's a good thing to do while warming up (i.e. start with 30 minutes of &quot;quiet feet&quot; each time you climb).  Your footwork accuracy should improve within a few weeks, but this is a good exercise to do all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No-handed climbing:&lt;/strong&gt; On a very easy climb that is low-angle, practice climbing without using your hands &lt;em&gt;at all&lt;/em&gt;.  Bring your feet up, and push with your legs only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoe fit:&lt;/strong&gt; It may or may not go without saying, but if your shoes don't fit well your footwork will suffer.  Make sure your shoes are snug (but not overly tight), and that you lace/velcro them well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T19:22:22.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3304" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3308" CreationDate="2012-12-06T19:25:15.567" Score="8" ViewCount="2224" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going skiing with another family next year and looking for two-way radios to use so we can stay in touch. I've used cell phones in the past but that can get awkward (and since we are going to Canada it can also get expensive). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideal features would include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good battery life&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usable in gloves/mitts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water/snow resistant &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clear and loud communication&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:22:16.403" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:22:16.403" Title="Recommendations for two-way radios to use while skiing" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1843" CreationDate="2012-12-06T19:27:03.010" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a red Pilot G-2 with me at all times. Never know when you will find a nearby cache and I've made red my signature color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T19:27:03.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="410" CreationDate="2012-12-06T19:32:42.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The 'Lock &amp;amp; Lock' brand works well as the four-side locks ensures the seal is tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2DBB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lock&amp;amp;lock&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T19:32:42.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3307" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-06T22:10:55.170" Score="13" ViewCount="336" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/724/what-do-i-need-to-be-aware-of-if-im-considering-purchasing-a-personal-locator-b#comment785_724&quot;&gt;This comment&lt;/a&gt; raises the idea that PLBs may not be allowed inland in the UK. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/724/what-do-i-need-to-be-aware-of-if-im-considering-purchasing-a-personal-locator-b#comment799_724&quot;&gt;A later comment&lt;/a&gt; refuted this, but I never even considered they would be disallowed anywhere, but simply rented one and took it with me on a hike in Norway and Sweden (fortunately I didn't use it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are Personal Locator Beacons banned anywhere in the world?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are Personal Locator Beacons useless in some countries, e.g. because nobody will come anyway? Where could I find information about this? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2012-12-08T08:10:14.343" Title="Are PLBs banned or otherwise useless anywhere?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3304" CreationDate="2012-12-06T23:30:09.040" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Presuming you do not have Amateur Radio licenses, or similar qualifications, you are then limited to various unlicensed options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer will then vary by region, but as you mention Canada, your best bet will be to use the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service&quot;&gt;GMRS&lt;/a&gt;/FRS&lt;/strong&gt; (General Mobile Radio Service / Family Radio Service) which as basically replaced the old CB and walkie-talkie bands for local personal use. Note that FRS radios are freely usable cross-border; but GMRS regulations differ.  A license is required per family in the USA, and there are &lt;em&gt;base&lt;/em&gt; stations available.  In Canada, no license is required at all, but GMRS power is restricted to two watts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GMRS/FRS radios are readily available in Canada (and the USA) in almost any outdoors or electronics store, so you might want to pick them up before you go, and get used to them.  Options include chargers, headsets and other things.  Some have integrated GPS, but that adds to weight, reduces battery life, and might not be warranted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both work in the &lt;strong&gt;UHF&lt;/strong&gt; band, which is more-or-less line-of-site, and definitely attenuated by ground or trees.  From the top of a ski hill to the bottom or over some general outdoor terrain, you should not have too much trouble.  Do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; presume to use them as a primary emergency system, but for casual &lt;em&gt;where are you&lt;/em&gt; they are likely the cheapest/best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2012-12-06T23:30:09.040" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3301" CreationDate="2012-12-07T01:38:36.073" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do deliberate trail maintenence regularly, and unfortunately what you can do is severly limited if you want to do it casually while only carrying something small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no set of tools you can reasonably carry, even if you go out only for that purpose, that will cover more than maybe 3/4 of the problems you find.  My preferred weapons for deliberate trail maintenence are work gloves with leather palm and palm-side of the fingers, a bow saw, and a small pair of clippers.  The clippers are the kind you can work with one hand.  This is a tradeoff, but gives you good coverage for most problems up to where a chainsaw would be needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with bringing more than one tool is that you constantly have to keep switching the tool you are using, and therefore have to put the other tool where you can find it again and won't forget it.  The bow saw is relatively light and easily carried in one hand.  I don't want something in the other hand, else I'd always have to put it down when using the bow saw.  That's why I bring a small pair of clippers so I can keep them in a back pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bow saw is probably the single best tool.  You may be surprised what you can cut with it.  White pines (&lt;i&gt;Pinus strobus&lt;/i&gt;, the easiest trees to cut here in New England) up to 6 inches can be handled.  Oaks and harder wood up to 4 inches without too much trouble, and 6 inches if you're willing to spend some time and put some effort into it.  That means multiple cuts to make a notch, probably from both sides.  With a pine, in contrast, you make a small cut on one side, 1/3 of the way thru from the other, and then just push it over.  Downed limbs is more work but the same sizes can eventually be handled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other useful tools are a long pair of loppers, the kind it takes both hands to operate.  However, if you've got one of those, you really can't do much else.  This only makes sense therefore if you're in a group.  Me with bow saw and small clippers, one person with large clippers, and one with a chain saw is a pretty good team.  You can get more fancy, in some cases by adding someone with a rake or something that can rearrange dirt in the right conditions, but in the general case I'd rather have a fourth person have just &quot;bare hands&quot; (with good work gloves on, or course).  A good part of the time you're just breaking things off with your hands, moving logs out of the way, or are dragging something off the trail that was just cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me at least, I rather either go out to work on the trail or to hike.  Each would significantly impact the other, so it's more trouble than it's worth in my opinion.  I also regularly do trail work, so I don't feel bad at all about just going out and hiking and leaving the maintenence to someone else occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to do some maintenence while hiking without carrying much or taking much time, you're going to have to realize up front you're only going to fix a small part of the problems you encounter.  I can see three levels of &quot;casual&quot; trail maintenence while the main point of the outing was just hiking.  In order of seriousness:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bare hands.  Wear a good pair of work gloves and do what you can.  This has the advantage that you don't have to carry extra tools, you're always &quot;ready&quot;, and you do a lot without even stopping.  If you've never done trail work, you'll probably be surprised how much you can actually accomplish with &quot;bare hands&quot;, suitably gloved so you don't think twice about grabbing a rough piece of wood hard and yanking and throwing it.  A whole bunch of maintenence is simply clearing relatively small stuff that has broken off trees and fallen onto the trail.  Remember that when dragging larger branches, drag them trunk-end first else they get hung up on everything.  Think of them sortof as one-way ratchets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Add small clippers to the work gloves.  You'll probably keep the clippers in the pocket and do bare hands things most of the time, but sometimes clippers are just what you need to deal with encroaching branches.  Two rules to remember:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;If in doubt, cut it out!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inexperienced trail maintainers tend to cut branches right at the edge of the trail.  Think about it.  Trees grow, which is why the branch is now over the trail in the first place.  Are you going to come every week and trim the branches back?  I didn't think so.  Think a few years out.  If the branches from a 30 foot tree 3 feet from the trail are getting in the way now, think what will happen as soon as you leave after trimming them.  If the tree is only 3 feet from the trail, cut the whole branch right at the trunk and you won't have that problem again.  If it's a 10 foot tree, lose the whole tree.  Problem permanently solved.  Don't be timid.  The trail is a small path thru big woods.  Cutting branches back to 10 feet instead of the 5 foot trail width isn't going to hurt the forest, but it will keep the trail clear another two years longer, at least from &lt;i&gt;that&lt;/i&gt; tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Never put a small hand tool on the ground&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be tempted to put a tool down &quot;just for a minute&quot; while you use a different tool or drag off a branch or something.  Don't.  Put it in your pocket.  Sooner or later you're going to forget to pick it up.  When you come back to look for it, you'll suddenly realize how small the tool and how big the woods are.  Unless you remember exactly where you put it (and you won't), it's gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've even &quot;lost&quot; my bow saw for a while a few times, and that's much bigger than a small pair of clippers.  I can't put the bow saw in my pocket, but I do have to get it out of my hands regularly.  I make a special discipline out of deliberately putting it in the middle of the trail a bit further &lt;i&gt;in the direction I will be going&lt;/i&gt;.  That way, it's easier to find because the trail is presumably more clear, and if I forget I'll more likely notice it when continuing on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The last level of causal trail work while otherwise hiking is one of those folding saws.  They are actually pretty crappy saws and nowhere near as effective as a bow saw, but they do work and will be the only way to cut something too big or tough for small clippers.  That would be a white pine maybe 3/4 inch in diamter or something harder 1/2 inch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything more effective than these three levels requires a more serious commitment to maintenence such that I wouldn't call it hiking anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T01:38:36.073" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1845" CreationDate="2012-12-07T03:14:12.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additional items to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swag for trading. My kids love to find and take new items. Only polite to leave something in it's place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra log books for when the ones there are wet or full.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ziploc bags to replace ones in the cache that are falling apart&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bug spray&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunscreen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multipurpose tool. Rather than just tweezers ones with needle nose pliers, knives and flat head screwdrivers all come in handy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T03:14:12.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="547" CreationDate="2012-12-07T04:39:15.327" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Building Grip Strength&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best chances to improve your fingertip strength is performing excercises specific to those ligaments at or near body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Balls, rings, and grip springs are good for warming up, but not increasing strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But&lt;/strong&gt; you need to be careful if you are just starting out because you can easily &lt;strong&gt;injure yourself&lt;/strong&gt; by overtraining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please do not just throw yourself into 50 pull ups a day... you will tear a tendon/ligament inside of 6 weeks.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Great Training Book&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best reference that I know of on climbing training is called &amp;quot;Performance Rock Climbing&amp;quot; and is one of the great books about improving climbing fitness. Highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note: Yes it was written in the early 90's, it is still amazing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RahLF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Performance Rock Climbing&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Training Aids&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HIQzF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Resistance Bands&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use resistance bands to &lt;strong&gt;decrease&lt;/strong&gt; force for high rep pull up workouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively you can use them to &lt;strong&gt;increase&lt;/strong&gt; force for short intense workouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/ihzdl.png&quot; alt=&quot;Wooden Finger Board&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the finger board to isolate the grip area to your 1st or 2nd knuckle, and reduce the number of fingers on the board for increased intensity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Last note...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;READ PERFORMANCE ROCK CLIMBING&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="116" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T04:39:15.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3312" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-07T12:47:57.190" Score="23" ViewCount="9778" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I see clothing articles geared toward hiking and backpacking that discuss layering (base layer for wicking, mid layer for insulation, etc.), they always seem to discuss these things in terms of things you wear on your chest.  How come we don't apply the same principles to our pants?  How come I can't seem to find base layer and mid layer pants when trying to select gear for cold weather hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1912" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:46:03.623" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:46:03.623" Title="Why don't we apply the principles of layering when it comes to pants?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3312" CreationDate="2012-12-07T12:55:20.717" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure why pants don't receive the same attention but the layers are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can easily find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500250&amp;amp;cat=40004608&quot;&gt;base&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?cat=40005464&amp;amp;cat=4501419&quot;&gt;insulating&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/search?cat=40005464&amp;amp;cat=40004586&quot;&gt;shell&lt;/a&gt; layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Olin's answer gives some good reasons layering pants may not seem as common.  In reply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/outdoor-research-revel-pant-mens&quot;&gt;full-side-zip pants&lt;/a&gt; for mountaineers (crampons) and wide-opening pants for skiers/boarders and regular boots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) Any time it's &lt;em&gt;cold&lt;/em&gt; or wet I've used layers, and so did the people around me.  Because a jacket is easier to put on everyone starts there when that is sufficient of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-12-07T19:02:20.647" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T19:02:20.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3312" CreationDate="2012-12-07T13:09:05.837" Score="29" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your legs aren't as sensitive to temperture extremes.  Right now it's winter here and I'm walking around outside with a regular shirt, a wool sweater, and a wind breaker on my torso.  Inside I take off the windbreaker an sweater.  However, inside or outside, I'm wearing the same single-layer pants and it's not a problem.  My legs don't feel hot inside or cold outside.  If I had that same single layer on my torso, I'd be pretty cold outside.&#xA;&#xA;Legs just don't care that much.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Changing layers on your legs is more of a hassle, especially with shoes on, and you can't take it to the same level in public without getting arrested.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We &lt;i&gt;do&lt;/i&gt; have layers for legs, it's just that most people don't think the extra bother is worth it for most conditions.  Consider long underwear, various types of regular pants, and special wind/rain/snow pants.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T13:09:05.837" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3315" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-12-07T15:50:15.397" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-12-07T15:50:15.397" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T15:50:15.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3316" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-12-07T15:50:15.397" Score="0" Body="Category for outdoor communication gear." OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="1926" LastEditDate="2012-12-08T04:43:56.297" LastActivityDate="2012-12-08T04:43:56.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3301" CreationDate="2012-12-07T17:21:24.790" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For general all-purpose cutting&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bahcostore.com/item/396-js&quot;&gt;this saw&lt;/a&gt; has proven to be the most dependable, versatile, and reliable I have worked with.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It cuts through dead and live wood, and I have chewed through a trees at 18&quot; and beyond. It is light, and the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;JS blade&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (with hardened teeth) is the longest lasting. The blade is replaceable for different hardness woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For more serious trail maintenance&lt;/strong&gt; check out the venerable &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulaski_%28tool%29&quot;&gt;pulaski&lt;/a&gt; for a good combo of cutting and grubbing out drainage issues. (Though tackling that level of maintenance should probably be done with the blessing and supervision of relevant land managers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*I spent several years leading work crews removing invasive trees in the back-country, and have tried just about every hand saw available on the market through weeks of constant use. I am not in any way related to Bahco.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-12-07T17:21:24.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3319" CreationDate="2012-12-07T19:16:22.083" Score="13" ViewCount="10948" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a perfectly good motorcycle helmet (one that encompasses the whole head, including the chin) that I never use (I bought it for lessons, but never bought a motorcycle). However, I do not have a skiing helmet and have to borrow one each time which costs money &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; is not as hygienic as I'm really comfortable with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wondered why I (&lt;strong&gt;on the level of a skiing beginner!&lt;/strong&gt;) couldn't just use the one I own. However I remember reading on some SE site (possibly here, I don't remember and cannot find the post) that not all safety helmets can be worn interchangeably. For example, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1577/1933&quot;&gt;bicycle helmet shouldn't be worn for climbing&lt;/a&gt; &amp;mdash; but I don't think falling down on snow (repeatedly) would be the same as being hit by falling rocks. Also a motorcycle helmet is significantly different from a bicycle helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1933" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-06-15T08:13:29.710" Title="Is it safe to use a motorcycle helmet instead of a skiing helmet for skiing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3318" CreationDate="2012-12-07T20:17:36.820" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Motorcycle helmets should not be used as a replacement for a ski helmet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/motorcycle-helmet-weights.htm&quot;&gt;Most motorcycle helmets weight between 1,000 and 2,000 grams&lt;/a&gt;, while ski helmets weigh between &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.consumersearch.com/ski-helmets/best-ski-helmets&quot;&gt;330&lt;/a&gt; and 600 grams. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are expected to fall repeatedly with ski helmets (on the order of up to several times a day), so it needs to be lighter to not exact an additional toll on your neck&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't have rear-view mirrors when skiing, so being able to effortlessly turn your head is key&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are many more differences, but the weight and freedom of movement differences alone should be enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-12-08T01:14:00.003" LastActivityDate="2012-12-08T01:14:00.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="438" CreationDate="2012-12-08T06:15:02.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To actually load a person onto a boat, try a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parbuckle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;parbuckle&lt;/a&gt;.  This may be a rope run from a forward cleat over the side of the boat into the water with the aft end secured and wrapped around a winch.  The over board party may sit, stand or drape themselves over the rope which is then pulled taught by the winching in of the line over the side of the boat.  When the line is tight fore to aft, it should assist in the crew or the swimmer in recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1937" LastEditorUserId="157" LastEditDate="2012-12-09T21:13:58.853" LastActivityDate="2012-12-09T21:13:58.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3307" CreationDate="2012-12-08T08:10:14.343" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/personal-locator-beacons-legalised-for-hillwalkers/006043/&quot;&gt;this article on Walk Highlands, from December 2011&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hillwalkers and climbers will be able to legally carry Personal&#xA;  Locator Beacons (PLBs) from 12 January following a change in UK&#xA;  regulations. Previously the devices, which send out a distress signal&#xA;  identifying the user’s exact location when activated, could only be&#xA;  licensed for use on boats and planes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a bit of further rummaging, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/spectrum-policy-area/spectrum-management/research-guidelines-tech-info/interface-requirements/IR_2084_PLB.pdf&quot;&gt;relevant OFCOM document is here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to specifically answer the question, certainly within the EU, you should be OK (given the OFCOM change came about from an EU directive) and there is an EU-wide SAR system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further afield, you'll have to check if you go there...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1789" LastActivityDate="2012-12-08T08:10:14.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3322" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3325" CreationDate="2012-12-08T14:38:47.453" Score="5" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the obvious like price and location(s) what should I look for when choosing a sailing club?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Some of the things are difficult to assess, tips on assessment are welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want this question to be the base of a comprehensive list of items to look for when choosing a sailing club.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear, I'm talking about a club that rents sailboats, not ones that just coordinate between sailors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastActivityDate="2012-12-09T11:26:08.700" Title="Things to consider when choosing a sailing club" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3322" CreationDate="2012-12-08T14:38:47.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Variety and number of boats. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Added price for fuel/weekends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Level of upkeep (how to check that?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Members to boats ratio, to know how easy it is to find an available boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Special rules/limits (of people on the boats, maximum rentals per month, night rentals, etc...).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Club activities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Membership cancellation/freeze policies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastActivityDate="2012-12-08T14:38:47.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3324" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-08T15:05:21.010" Score="6" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a sailing test a few weeks ago and in it I was presented with the B flag and was asked what it means and what would be the applicable light at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the answer is &quot;carrying dangerous substances and the light is an all-round red light&quot; but I can't find where this is defined to make sure I'm not missing other rules not in COLREGs (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bosunsmate.org/seamanship/rulesoftheroad.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Collision Regulations&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any additional international rules for boating lights and signals apart from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://working-the-sails.com/lights_flags_and_signals.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;COLREG Navigation Light and Signal Flag Rules&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T18:34:46.207" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T18:34:46.207" Title="Are there any sailboating rules in additional to COLREGS?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3322" CreationDate="2012-12-08T16:49:42.687" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to David's answer, I'd also include&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;training courses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;membership in points racing league&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;RYA accreditation, at least in the UK&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adult and child friendly/capable (is it targeted at children or adults or both)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;facilities, e.g. anti fouling, over winter storage, maintenance etc &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;location - is it somewhere you want to sail from?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-12-09T11:26:08.700" LastActivityDate="2012-12-09T11:26:08.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3324" CreationDate="2012-12-08T18:40:31.153" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there are country specific regulations which may apply close to shore or on inland waterways, the international community agrees that the COLREGs form the basis for rules, so as long as you know them you will be at least on the right side of the law. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard for lights is the same the world over and while you may have some specific rules when racing, for example, this should not change the COLREG guidance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-12-09T11:21:48.067" LastActivityDate="2012-12-09T11:21:48.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3327" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-08T22:32:18.487" Score="16" ViewCount="19758" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often see 100% nylon pants a lot in stores.  What properties does it have that make it effective when hiking?  Is it effective in all seasons or just under certain conditions?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1912" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:45:56.743" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:45:56.743" Title="What makes nylon an effective material for hiking pants?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3328" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3331" CreationDate="2012-12-09T00:54:22.067" Score="21" ViewCount="16381" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep seeing slightly different answers for some of these questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary of what I know already, please tell me if I am wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can own any knife of any length, with the following general exceptions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is stereotypically related to gang violence (like the auto/easy opening variety).  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is designed to be concealed. (I do not really care about the specifics, as I personally am not interested in any knives like either of these)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can carry around anything that is legal to own, but there is a length restriction for concealed knives? Do you need a lawful reason to carry it, in either situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question 1:&lt;/strong&gt; Self defense is not a lawful reason to carry a knife. Does this mean that if I end up defending myself (from an animal or a human) that it is unlawful to use a knife? Do they just not want you carrying one around just for this reason since pepper-spray would be better?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question 2:&lt;/strong&gt; I am rather leery of this &quot;lawful reason clause&quot;. Is just general survival/cutting of things a good enough excuse?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It just does not really make sense to me. A knife is designed to cut things, and I carry one around to cut things with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question 3:&lt;/strong&gt; So it is lawful to carry around, in full view, any length of blade? What is the restriction for concealed knives (I have heard numbers from 4&quot; to 6&quot;)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question 4:&lt;/strong&gt; What is classified as &quot;carrying&quot;, exactly? Does that mean that I cannot transport a big knife in a backpack or bag? What is required for transporting big knives so that police will not call it concealing?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specific situation: I really want to get a big-medium sized Kukri as a general survival knife that works well as a replacement hatchet. It is 100% a tool, but it looks like an intimidating sword. So this Kukri is not something that can really ever be carried around in plain view in public; it would attract too much attention. It is specifically related to the &quot;how do I transport a large knife in public&quot; Question 4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I also like a smallish utility knife. I am thinking of getting a small Bowie within that range (4&quot;-6&quot;). So the exact length requirement is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1940" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T05:17:55.453" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T05:16:33.063" Title="Canadian Law with respect to knives" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3327" CreationDate="2012-12-09T09:04:41.400" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nylon dries fast, is resistant to ripping and tearing, and fairly breathable. This makes a nylon pant great for 3-season conditions. In colder season weather it can be easily layered with baselayer leggings to provide additional warmth and wick some sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatives to the typical nylon hiking pant/short are running shorts and softshell pants. Running shorts are even more breathable and dry even faster simply because there's less to them. Softshell pants are more expensive and will dry slower but provide additional protection against light precipitation and wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2012-12-11T00:18:34.193" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T00:18:34.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3327" CreationDate="2012-12-09T23:07:13.857" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon&quot;&gt;Nylon&lt;/a&gt;, among other synthetics, is an ideal material for clothing for most outdoor pursuits for several reasons. I will use the example of cotton as the traditional fabric for comparison:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability:&lt;/strong&gt; Nylon itself can come in several varieties, some of which are more durable than others due to different weights and weaves. The fabric can handle abrasion, extended washings, and general wear much better than cotton for example, which tends to wear out sooner. Nylon doesn't noticeably shrink either. It is a very durable material.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insulation:&lt;/strong&gt; Again weight and weave type influence these factors, but generally all nylon varieties are better at insulating than cotton. Even wet nylon will provide insulating value, whereas cotton will actually cause heat loss rather quickly when wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moisture Management &amp;amp; Thermo-Regulation:&lt;/strong&gt; Nylon also dries dramatically faster than cotton. Since it manages moisture well, it keeps you warmer in colder weather because it keeps you drier. And it keeps you cooler in hot weather because it aids in the evaporating of sweat much more quickly. Once again, weight and weave influence these factors, but all nylon types manage moisture better than cotton.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight &amp;amp; Packability:&lt;/strong&gt; Nylon generally is a lightweight material in most of it's modern outdoor applications, and is enabling some super and ultra light gear to be produced. This includes not just clothing but backpacks and other items. Clothing items made of nylon also tend to have good packability in that they compress to small sizes which is great for backpacking, hiking, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Environmental Benefits:&lt;/strong&gt; Nylon can be produced from some plastic recyclable sources and itself can be recycled to produce new goods when it wears out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not an exhaustive list of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/2011/08/characteristics-of-nylon-fabrics_745.html&quot;&gt;attributes of nylon&lt;/a&gt;, but provides the main reason it is a &quot;go to&quot; fabric for outdoor gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester has similar characteristics to nylon and is another mainstream synthetic fabric. Merino Wool is a natural, renewable material that offers many of these same benefits that nylon does, with the exception of the superior durability provided by nylon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-22T08:30:29.677" LastActivityDate="2014-04-22T08:30:29.677" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3328" CreationDate="2012-12-10T03:36:27.277" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canada does not really have any hard and fast rules, with regard to knives. Specifically, except for lists of a few specifically banned styles they do not even mention them. And something that must be kept at the top of your mind at all times is that a knife is not necessarily a weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are specific lists and descriptions, but suffice it to say you cannot own any gang knifes of knifes designed to be concealed. Specifically, knives that have easy/auto opening abilities are, for the most part, banned or a legal gray area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The letter of the law pretty much allows you to carry any blade of any size anywhere, as long as you are not going to commit a crime with it, but if it could be considered a weapon it cannot be concealed. Not concealed is a matter of perspective as well; are you transporting your knife in your backpack, or are you concealing it; It depends on the circumstances and the perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In real life cops do not like knives that are too big or too scary looking. If they think you having that knife is dangerous to the public good they will take it away from you, at the very least. I have heard numbers up to 6 inch as being the maximum allowed, but some cops will have a problem with far smaller knifes. It is all about where you are, what you look like, what you are doing, and does the knife look like a tool or a weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also it is important to know that, while I was completely unable to find any law pertaining to this, Canadian law enforcement do not allow the carrying of self defensive objects. If they believe your knife is for self defence, or you tell them it is, supposedly it will be taken away. The criminal code seems to specifically allow defensive weapons, but I am no law expert. If you happen to have a knife handy for a different reason (non self-defensive reason), and can prove that, you can use it when in danger of your life from an assailant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Criminal Code, relevant quotations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prohibited Weapons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  88. (1) Every person commits an offence who carries or possesses a weapon, an imitation of a weapon, a prohibited device or any ammunition or prohibited ammunition for a purpose dangerous to the public peace or for the purpose of committing an offence.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  89. (1) Every person commits an offence who, without lawful excuse, carries a weapon, a prohibited device or any ammunition or prohibited ammunition while the person is attending or is on the way to attend a public meeting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  90. (1) Every person commits an offence who carries a weapon, a prohibited device or any prohibited ammunition concealed, unless the person is authorized under the Firearms Act to carry it concealed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weapon&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“weapon” means any thing used, designed to be used or intended for use&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (a) in causing death or injury to any person, or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (b) for the purpose of threatening or intimidating any person&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;'88. (1) Every person commits an offence who carries or possesses a weapon, an imitation of a weapon, a prohibited device or any ammunition or prohibited ammunition for a purpose dangerous to the public peace or for the purpose of committing an offence.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  89. (1) Every person commits an offence who, without lawful excuse, carries a weapon, a prohibited device or any ammunition or prohibited ammunition while the person is attending or is on the way to attend a public meeting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  90. (1) Every person commits an offence who carries a weapon, a prohibited device or any prohibited ammunition concealed, unless the person is authorized under the Firearms Act to carry it concealed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use on another Person&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;'17. A person who commits an offence under compulsion by threats of immediate death or bodily harm from a person who is present when the offence is committed is excused for committing the offence if the person believes that the threats will be carried out and if the person is not a party to a conspiracy or association whereby the person is subject to compulsion, but this section does not apply where the offence that is committed is high treason or treason, murder, piracy, attempted murder, sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm, aggravated sexual assault, forcible abduction, hostage taking, robbery, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, unlawfully causing bodily harm, arson or an offence under sections 280 to 283 (abduction and detention of young persons).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  34. (1) Every one who is unlawfully assaulted without having provoked the assault is justified in repelling force by force if the force he uses is not intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm and is no more than is necessary to enable him to defend himself.&#xA;  Marginal note:Extent of justification&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (2) Every one who is unlawfully assaulted and who causes death or grievous bodily harm in repelling the assault is justified if&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (a) he causes it under reasonable apprehension of death or grievous bodily harm from the violence with which the assault was originally made or with which the assailant pursues his purposes; and&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (b) he believes, on reasonable grounds, that he cannot otherwise preserve himself from death or grievous bodily harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1940" LastEditorUserId="1940" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T21:09:12.123" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T21:09:12.123" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-10T16:19:40.087" Score="5" ViewCount="709" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geocaching.com has a listing of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fundamental placement guidelines&lt;/a&gt; that include legal and and other restrictions like cache saturation. What are some more informal guidelines to follow when placing a cache?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:01:36.907" Title="What are examples of inappropriate places to hide a geocache?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2012-12-20T22:24:35.393" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3332" CreationDate="2012-12-10T16:19:40.087" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is my list of places to avoid:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;School playground - Either on or near a school playground is not good. It greatly restricts the hours it can be found. It's ok to look for when I have my kids but sad to say not the best thing for an older male to be poking around. Nearby public playgrounds is ok but not on or too near the equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Areas of high crime - If I don't feel safe taking my kids there probably not a good idea for a cache. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Homeless areas - Again it's a safety factor. I don't want to be searching around near someone's sleeping area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Center islands - In my area we have a number of islands in the road ways some with monuments (like old guns). While some of them would probably offer really good hiding spots I don't like searching for a cache with lots of traffic flying by.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="1926" LastEditDate="2012-12-10T16:27:56.163" LastActivityDate="2012-12-10T16:27:56.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3332" CreationDate="2012-12-10T16:38:00.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you point out, there's a number of legal guidelines they enforce and if the cache contravenes any of these it won't even be published (they check each one before it goes live.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in terms of other areas that wouldn't necessarily be advised:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You point out school playgrounds, but I'd go as far to say around schools, nurseries or other places with children in general. This ends up looking rather suspicious if you're not careful and people are generally vigilant around these areas too. Sure, things will likely be ok in the end but you could land yourself with a lot of hassle if you're not very careful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alleyways. On the face of it, these often seem like good places to hide Geocaches - they're accessible and not too busy as to attract attention. However, those factors don't just attract geocachers, they attract other types too - I've had to remove such caches after reports of used needles being found everywhere. Dog poo also tends to be more prolific in such locations, since there's less of a worry someone will observe and report it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Areas where an important event is happening. I was particularly aware of this with the 2012 olympics - as a result, many caches around London were disabled for this period to avoid attracting suspicion and potentially rather bad consequences.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Areas with constant maintenance where the cache is likely to be often found and thrown away. I found this out the hard way once with a hedge that was trimmed back every month or 2...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also worth mentioning are caches which are difficult or dangerous to get to - but these don't make them bad caches per-se, on the contrary one of the best caches I've found has fitted this description. But you need to be very careful that when doing this you advertise it as such. A lot of people seek out extreme caches, but someone expecting a nano stuck on a lampost and finding he has to cross the Niagra falls on a tightrope isn't going to be too happy ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2012-12-10T16:38:00.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3342" CreationDate="2012-12-10T16:47:23.133" Score="15" ViewCount="7036" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on visiting Prague and I was wondering if there are any nice one-day (two-day tops) hikes that I could do around there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't have to be in the mountains, although that would be best. I can settle for a really nice long walk in a neighboring forest trail or something along those lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as I have some nice views, interesting vegetation and maybe some wild life - I'm happy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-02-05T20:01:30.893" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T06:57:22.303" Title="One-day hike around Prague" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;czech-republic&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3336" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-10T18:57:36.510" Score="8" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to getting the current weather report on the day of a hike, how does one find out if the trails are currently in good shape and what kind of gear may be necessary that day (i.e. crampons)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1912" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T17:09:43.557" Title="How do you determine current trail conditions before going on a hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3336" CreationDate="2012-12-10T20:38:31.703" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will depend a lot on the region you are hiking.  Hiking in the Adirondacks, for example, trip reports from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28&quot;&gt;forums&lt;/a&gt; are often useful.  There are some general trip report &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/&quot;&gt;sites&lt;/a&gt;, but if the area you are hiking sees a good amount of use, it is likely you'll be able to find a site with specific trip reports for it.  Try searching Google for something similar to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?&amp;amp;q=Adirondack%20trip%20reports&quot;&gt;Adirondack trip reports&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?&amp;amp;q=Colorado%20hiking%20forums&quot;&gt;Colorado hiking forums&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1778" LastActivityDate="2012-12-10T20:38:31.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3336" CreationDate="2012-12-10T22:03:19.413" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting trail conditions is region-specific.  For example, in New England the Appalachian Mountain Club provides a good deal of trail info.  I'm pretty sure there is a web site about trail conditions, but for the White Mountains of New Hampshire you can get trail conditions info directly at the Pinkham Notch visitor center run by the AMC, the National Forest visitor center in Lincoln, and probably various places you can call including the several you could walk into to ask.  Every major park or forest has some place you can call or look on the web.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more obscure places (hiking-wise), it gets less formal.  Here in north-central Massachusetts, like in much of the US northeast away from the major hiking destinations, there is a surprisingly large scattering of land open to the public with trails on it.  There is no one place to go for info about all of them.  Most of these areas are just patches of land with maybe a sign and hopefully a few blazes on the trails.  There is no visitor center or any building or any staff, so there is nobody you can call directly and there isn't likely a web site with up to date conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the obscure local trails, you have to use a little common sense.  For example, if you wanted to explore the Harry J Rich State Forest in Groton, which is unstaffed with no facilities, you use a little logic and realize it's conditions aren't going to be that different from a few miles away.  For example, you might inquire about the Willard Brook State Park in Townsend.  Conditions will be similar enough, and someone there may have even recently been out to the Rich Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or find out about conditions in the town.  Lots of towns have conservation groups with web sites.  These don't generally list current conditions since that would be too much work for the volunteers to keep up with.  But, there is usually some contact info.  To use Groton as the example again, there is the Groton Conservation Commission, the Groton Trails committee, the private Groton Conservation Trust, each with web pages.  It doesn't take much digging to find a email address or find that there is a grotontrails email list.  Send a message saying you're from out of town and would like to know the conditions, and you'll probably have half a dozen replies by the end of the day.  If you want to hike in Littleton or Ayer or Westford instead, dig around there for web sites and contact information.  For example, Littleton has the Littleton Conservation Trust private group, and the headquarters for the New England Forestry Foundation are located there.  If you can't find anything for Ayer, for example, look at a map and realize that whatever you find out about Littleton or Groton will be pretty close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are just local examples that I am familiar with since I live and work here, but this sort of small local patchwork of organizations applies to most of New England, and probably to many other places too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer for less known places is to dig around for local info and be willing to extrapolate to the place you are actually interested in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-10T22:03:19.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3339" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-11T01:11:12.003" Score="6" ViewCount="1926" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to get some Tyvek maps, both topographical maps and regular street maps of a few U.S. cities.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where can I get these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T22:37:19.260" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T22:41:11.700" Title="Where can I get Tyvek maps?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;tyvek&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2012-12-11T04:15:01.947" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using Petzl Spiky Plus for four seasons.  I like that they are mostly soft rubber and can easily be put in a small backpack pocket. They only have six microspikes per foot but they grip really well.  Sadly two of the spikes came off when a friend borrowed them, I never did find out why but they still work quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T04:15:01.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3341" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3351" CreationDate="2012-12-11T04:26:18.400" Score="18" ViewCount="24250" Body="&lt;p&gt;Occasionally I've seen skiers free-heeling it down the slopes in telemark style but not understood why they do it. Is the main benefit for exercise, style, control or just to try something different?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2019-11-09T05:25:45.260" Title="What is the benefit to telemark skiing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3335" CreationDate="2012-12-11T07:13:29.483" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a lot on what exactly you mean by &quot;around there&quot;.  While there are no real mountains in the immediate area around Prague, you can find a number of great places to hike there.  If you a willing to go a bit further, you can find some nice mountains, too. Also, I am not sure if by two day hike you mean a backpacking trip with sleeping outdoors, or if you plan to find some other means of accomodation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can give you some information that is based on my own experience from over 20 years ago, together with chats with friends and information availabe on the web. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, two useful pieces of information everyone looking for hiking or backpacking opportunities in Czech Republic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The country is crisscrossed by an extensive system of inteconnected hiking trails, that allows you to get on foot from pretty much any place to any other place. The system is maintained by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kct.cz/cms/czech-tourist-klub-kct&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Klub Českých Turistů (Czech Tourist Club)&lt;/a&gt;, and consists of two components: trail markings and corresponding maps.  Each trail is assigned one of four colors: red, yellow, green or blue.  It used to be that red color was reserved for long distance trails, often following a long mountain range or a similar such feature, yellow trails were shorter, branching from the red ones, and green and blue were reserved for local or connecting trails, but as far as I can tell, that is no longer strictly followed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trails are marked in terain by trail marks that look like a horizontal color stripe (red, yellow, green or blue) between two horizontal white stripes, like this:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kzY1M.png&quot; alt=&quot;Czech trail marks&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are usually found on trees, rocks or buildings, and can &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modr%C3%A1_zna%C4%8Dka_na_kameni.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;look like this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At places where the trail changes direction, it is often marked using an arrow version of the mark:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3eLyi.png&quot; alt=&quot;Trail mark arrow&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several other variations, marking a spring or well, historic ruin, vista point etc.  Intersections of trails usually have pointers telling you what direction to take to get to various locations, as well as their distances in kilometers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other component of the trail system is a collection of maps, that have the color coded trails mark in them.  They are usually quite detailed and easy to use.  You can buy them in any bookstore, newspaper stand, and in many museum and souvenir shops.  The online map server at &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.269430&amp;amp;y=49.938782&amp;amp;z=12&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mapy.cz&lt;/a&gt; has a setting that shows the trails as well. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second thing is of interest to backpackers.  While it is illegal to &quot;wild camp&quot; in Czech Republic, in most areas it is a fairly common practice.  If one is smart about it, one can usually avoid detection, and even when discovered, if you clearly behave well, do not damage the environment, do not litter etc, and behave politely, forest or park rangers often let you go.  There is some dispute about it, but it seems that it is actually legal to sleep in the woods as long as you do not make a fire and do not build any kind of shelter.  There are number of exceptions, mainly in national parks and nature preserves, but in general, you can sleep in woods if you do it in a smart way. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, back to hiking opportunities near Prague. There are actually several shorter but nice hikes.  One of them is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.386238&amp;amp;y=50.046417&amp;amp;z=13&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Prokopské valley&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.  You can either take a bus to the Zlíchov station and take the blue trail up to the valley, or, from Jinonice subway station, yellow and green trails both go down. The valley has a number of interesting geological features. Other interesting areas are &quot;Modřanská rokle&quot; on the other side of the river, area around Roztoky and Suchdol in the north, the Botič valley in the east, and several other smaller areas.  These are all shorter hikes, partly through urban or suburban environment, but can be quite nice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer hikes, and more natural ones, I recommend the region in the south of Prague.  It is more hilly, with some prety good hiking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the most mountain like part of this region is the area called Brdy.  It is a range of wooded hills that stretch from the southern edge of Prague for some 50 or 60 km south west past Příbram.  Unfortunately the central part of this range belongs to the military and is mostly closed to the public, but the northern part has some very nice hiking.  There are several ways how to get there from Prague: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The main red trail starts at what I remember used to be a small insignificant city &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.383572&amp;amp;y=49.953583&amp;amp;z=14&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bus stop at Zbraslav-Báně&lt;/a&gt;.  From there it continues the entire length of the &quot;northern&quot; Brdy.  I highly recommend to follow it all the way to the Plešivec mountain.  It would make a good long one day hike. If you want to continue for two days, there are number of places to camp for the night in that area.  If you are lucky, you may even find a place with a makeshift shelter and a fireplace. If you do, please treat it gently.  There is a tradition in this region to very carefully clean the fireplace when you are leaving, and to leave a small fir branch pointing in the direction in which you left in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://vandracky.rajce.idnes.cz/PODZIMNI_POLEDNI_POTOKY_-_Brdy_19.10._08_doplneno_17.11./#Brdy_19.10._052.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;middle of it&lt;/a&gt;. If zou want to return back to Prague, you can walk down to Hostomice, Jince or another small town and take a local train to Zadní Třebáň, where you switch to the main line and return to Prague. You can also continue further, with several option, perhaps following yellow and green trail further south west.  It skirts the military zone, entering it at several places that are open to public, and follows all the way to the town of Rokycany. Another option is to partially backtrack, return to Dobříš, and follow for example the blue trail to the Vltava valley, which has plenty of local hiking opportunities, and generally good transportation back to Prague. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Instead of trying to find the red trail in Zbraslav, you can take a train from the Smichov train station to either of Dobřichovice, Mokropsy or Všenory.  From any of those stations, you can take a blue trail that will take you up the hill to the main red one.  You can also take a bus to Jíloviště, the bus stop should be on or near the main red trail. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally, you can take a train from the Bráník train station to Dobříš, and enter Brdy from that direction. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get some idea what you can see in Brdy, you can look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.etf.cuni.cz/~moravec/fotky/english/ind-hreb.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another great area for hiking, less hilly but perhaps more interesting, is just on the other side of the Berounka river.  The &quot;Český Kras&quot; (Bohemian Karst) is somewhat more popular and can be, at least in some areas, quite crowded, but if you avaid the most obvious tourist attractions, you can find some excellent hinkng. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, there is a number of ways how to get there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the longest hike, you can actually continue the Prokopske Valley hike described above.  From the central part of the valley, you take a blue trail to Slivenec.  In Slivenec you switch to the red trail, and take it to Kalinův Mlýn, where you switch to a blue trail again.  (You can also get to Kalinův Mlýn from the upper end of the Prokopske Valley, if you take a blue trail from there. From Kalinův Mlýn, you follow the blue trail pretty much south to &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.309160&amp;amp;y=49.974930&amp;amp;z=13&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kulivá Hora&lt;/a&gt;, where you switch to a red trail towards Karlštejn. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another option is to take a train from the Smíchov station to Radotín (you shold also be able to get there by a city bus).  In Radotín, you can get directly onto the &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.342173&amp;amp;y=49.979907&amp;amp;z=13&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;red trail towards Karlštejn&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also stay on the train for a little longer, get off in Černošice and take a green or blue trail from there.  Both of them will eventually meet the red trail to Karlštejn. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will then follow the red trail through Karlík valley and Mořinka all the way to Karlštejn.  The castle in Karlštejn is a very popular tourist attraction, and can be pretty crowded.  Most visitors take a train or bus to the village, and climb the souvenir shop encrusted road up to the castle. The red trail will bring you to the castle from different side.  You will still have to pass through some of the madness, but you will avoid the worst.  You can visit the castle if you want.  Then continue on the red trail past the castle.  Keep following the red trail till you get to an intersection of several trails called &quot;Propadlé Vody&quot;.  From there you have number of options, but my favorite always was to take the yellow trail to the north, marked on the map as &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=14.145368&amp;amp;y=49.968964&amp;amp;z=14&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Svatojánský okruh&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (St. John circle).  It will take you past the Arnika cave, through some interesting long abandoned limestone quarries all the way to a vist point on the top of the cliff overlooking the St. John valley and the monastery. Bacrtacking a bit and following the trail further will take you down to the valley. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there, you have several options.  You can take the blue trail north and catch a train or bus in Vráž.  You can stay on the red trail and end up in the city of Beroun, with several options for transportation back tp Prague.  Or you can take the yellow trail south to Srbsko, where you can take a train back to Prague.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to hike more, you have a number of options, including those:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can pass through Beroun westwards to Nižbor, where another area with numerous hiking opportunities opens: &lt;a href=&quot;http://mapy.cz/#x=13.912548&amp;amp;y=49.988656&amp;amp;z=11&amp;amp;l=16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Křivoklátsko&lt;/a&gt;.  You can spend some time there, or you can turn south through Zbiroh, and eventually end up in Brdy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you end up following the yellow trail to Srbsko, instead of getting on a train, you can cross the river and the train tracks, and follow the yellow trail throu th ebeautiful Koda valley, then to Koněprusy, where you can visit some very nice and quite famous caves. You can then follow the yellow trail to the Popovice train station, or turn south, and by a combination of marked trails and roads get to Brdy. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, my third suggestion is the Sázava river valley. Take a train from the Bráník train station to Pikovice, take a red trail, cross the river and follow it upstream (again, depending on how much time you have, you may want to start closer to Prague, or even in Prague. You can catch the same red trail in Zbraslav or Vrané.  In fact, it is just a different part of the same red trail that leads through Karlštejn.)  The trail will closely follow the Sázava river, with a nice view of its rapids. You can follow it all the way to Kamený Přívoz, where it will cross the river again.  There you will have several options.  You can take a train back to Prague, follow a series of green, blue, red and yellow trails back to Pikovice or even to Prague, or continue on the red trail to Prosečnice.  From there you can take the yellow trail through Vlčí Rokle (the Wolf Ravine), which is quite interesting and nice. After that you will have a whole scale of possibilities, there are number of trails that you can take, most of them leading you eventually to a train or bus station. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this will be at least somewhat helpful.  Enjoy your visit.  Perhaps one more advice: Czechs are generally rather fond of hiking, and many of them know their hiking areas quite well.  If you are going there for a conference, for business, of to visit friends, you may want to ask your hosts where to hike. They will probably be able to give you a better, more current advice, and perhaps they will even go with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="55" LastEditDate="2012-12-12T06:23:13.120" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T06:23:13.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2012-12-11T08:37:37.530" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Telemark skiis are much more suitable for cross-country skiing than Alpine skis. Having the connection only at the front of the boot allows you to walk and cover long distances very efficiently across flat snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even in cross country-skiing, you will sometimes need to ski downhill, so the style of skiing with one dropped knee on corners was developed to allow for controllable steering. You can't easily ski normal downhill style with a free-floating heel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So people with Telemark skis will do this for practice, and for fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T08:37:37.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3339" CreationDate="2012-12-11T08:56:44.867" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Palomar has a line of waterproof, soft, pliable maps called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.palomarweb.com/product/crumpled-city/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Crumpled City&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. They have cities all over the world. Some in the United States include New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Miami, Florida, and others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T22:41:11.700" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T22:41:11.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3332" CreationDate="2012-12-11T13:45:28.587" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are also some less obvious but still bad locations.  Quite recently there was a fair amount of friction among different groups of outdoor lovers in certain area when someone placed several caches directly at established but unofficial wilderness campsites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may seem like a good idea, the places are usually somewhat known, some of them has been in use for many decades and accumulated interesting history, but think about how annoying it could be when you are waking up in the morning, getting out of sleeping bags, cooking breakfast, packing, etc. and bunch of people show up and start wandering around, poking here and there, looking for hidden caches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of these locations have their unwritten rules, generally respected by backpackers, however, a lot of cachers do not know these rules and will not follow them, which will cause additional conflicts. I know of at least two such sites that were recently abandoned because someone placed a cache there and because of problems that it caused.  One of these sites have been in use for over 50 years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:01:36.907" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:01:36.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3339" CreationDate="2012-12-11T16:26:27.633" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect the answers will be scattered.  I don't know of any one source of Tyvek maps that cover everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the AMC publishes quite decent trail maps in Tyvek.  Unfortunately, the White Mountain Guide book comes standard with paper maps.  You have to buy the Tyvek maps separately.  They cost more, but I find them worth it.  They really do stand up to abuse and wetness very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T16:26:27.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2012-12-11T16:40:12.763" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a pair of Yaktracks for a couple of winters, and they turned out not to be what I really wanted.  They do work very well on packed snow and you can walk inside most places without having to take them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they work poorly on hard ice, which make them less than ideal for walking around town in the winter.  The hard metal coil spring doesn't dig into the ice, so just slides almost as readily as a bare shoe.  If the ice has some roughness, then they help more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One problem that almost got me was unexpected.  I was leaving work, so put them on my shoes in my office.  The lack of spikes makes them OK for walking in the building when just going in and out.  I stopped by the bathroom on the way out, which had a hard stone tiled floor.  I slipped and almost cracked my head on a sink.  The hard metal on the hard stone was about as slippery as the shoes would have been on bare ice, but I wasn't expecting it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually one of the spring wires broke, so that was the end of the Yaktracks.  I haven't gotten any replacements, but winter is coming and it's nice to have something you can walk around with outside without having to worry about slipping on ice.  I'll probably try something with small spikes next.  That may mean I have to take them off when entering a building.  I don't know if there is something that works on ice and doesn't hurt indoor floors.  Probably not, so I guess I'll get to see how that tradeoff works.  If they are easy to put on and take off in a few seconds, then it will probably work.  If not, they'll probably be more trouble than they are worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am eagerly looking at other answers for suggestions, although I am surprised others liked their Yaktracks better than I did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-11T16:40:12.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3349" CreationDate="2012-12-11T19:38:02.493" Score="15" ViewCount="297" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen mention of travel bugs (or trackables) on geocaching sites. What is a travel bug and what can I do with one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-08T02:29:43.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T02:29:43.947" Title="What is a &quot;travel bug&quot; in geocaching?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3348" CreationDate="2012-12-11T19:38:02.493" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A travel bug (or trackable) has a alphanumeric code that can be entered on the geocaching.com website to track its progress as it moves from cache to cache. You can purchase and enter your own codes or just help move someone else's along. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you find one you enter the code at the website and leave a short note about where you found it or future plans. At the site you can see a listing of the owner's goal for the travel bug (move around the world, reach a specific destination, etc). Then next time you find a suitable geocache you can drop the trackable for the next person to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="1926" LastEditDate="2012-12-12T16:35:44.093" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T16:35:44.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2012-12-11T23:36:07.740" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main (and classical) advantage of telemark skiing is not when you're going downhill, but when you &lt;strong&gt;want to travel on skis&lt;/strong&gt;. Telemark skiing goes back to the days before chairlifts, when the ski was a flotation device used for ascending as well as descending. The free heel (and a set of skins or scales) allows the telemark skier to skin up a hill much like in randonee(AT)&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, cross-country skiing, or even snow shoeing using a natural motion. Contrast your ability to walk in telemark skis with downhill(alpine) skis where your ankle and heel are fixed in position. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the fancy telemark turn (with the big kneel/dip at each turn), it's because the soft telemark boots without heel tension (think plain three-pin bindings with leather boots) can't efficiently transfer the force to the ski's edges so the dip helps transfer some of that energy. It also imparts greater stability during the turn. Essentially it is a way of finessing the ski through a turn vs the alpine approach of powering/driving through a turn. Modern telemark gear often uses rigid plastic boots along with bindings that provide some tension/resistance on the heel. These improvements transfer more energy to the edges and give greater stability. Which in turn results in less of a &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to use a traditional telemark turn. They also diminish some of the benefits traditional telemark gear gave in terms of traveling on skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;1: Telemark skiing is very similar to randonee except with randonee gear you can lock your heel back in place to go downhill. In this fashion randonee captures the strengths of both telemark's natural walking stride with the stability and power of alpine gear. This mash-up is reflected in the alternate moniker; Alpine Touring.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T16:06:22.327" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T16:06:22.327" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-12-11T23:36:07.740" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2012-12-12T02:15:57.500" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Telemark -- where the toe is attached, and the heel is free to rise up and down -- allow skiers to skin up back-country slopes with a more natural and efficient stride. However, AT (or randonee) rigs allow skiers that ability while doing alpine turns on the way down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in this day and age, why do people &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; Telemark:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;A different way to enjoy the mountain&lt;/em&gt;: The telemark turn is totally different form an alpine turn. The fluidity, the rise and fall, the total compression and release of the spring of your legs comes as close to flying as one can get and still be attached (at least part of the time) to the ground. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;More stable knees&lt;/em&gt;: from personal experience, since I started telemark, the knee pain I experienced chronically as an alpine skier has completely disappeared. I assume this is since my knees are bent in a position of stability, and my center of gravity is closer to the ski and ground during the hard-torque carving of a turn.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;More athletic way to ski&lt;/em&gt;: since you are essentially doing lunges down the mountain, your thighs, hamstrings, glutes, and core get an amazing workout.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;A new challenge&lt;/em&gt;: For me, after decades of alpine skiing, telemark offered (and continues to offer) a new challenge. (By comparison, I got board on snow-board after a few weekends, whereas telemark keeps me on my toes...) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chicks dig guys who telemark&lt;/em&gt;: and guys dig chicks who telemark. 'nuff said.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Style&lt;/em&gt;: Watch expert telemark vs expert alpine skiers. To perfect an alpine turn is a skill. To perfect a telemark turn is an art.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flow&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Zen&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, yes to all points in your question. It is different, requires more control, has more room for style, and is a hell of workout. But beyond that, and beyond back-country access, it is pure, unadulterated, fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Free your heels and your mind will follow.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T02:15:57.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1317" CreationDate="2012-12-12T02:26:47.070" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ventilation is your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hate to say it - but the glasses I've found that have this dialed are usually a little more expensive. After suffering through fog, wind sheer, and poor optics, I found a high end pair of glasses in the back-country, and my eyes were opened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a second option, removing your glasses immediately when you stop (or even sliding them to the end of your nose) might keep the the steam from your face and breath from clouding them up for a few moments longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a third option, saliva is an old scuba-diver trick to keep masks from fogging up. Spit on your lenses that wipe them clean. (I've had limited success in non-aqueous environs.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T02:26:47.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3358" CreationDate="2012-12-12T09:07:54.313" Score="11" ViewCount="759" Body="&lt;p&gt;There’s a special “winter” gas mix available for gas stoves. How is it different from the usual propane/butane mix and why does it work better in low temperatures? (Does it work better in lower temperatures? :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T20:58:10.360" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T02:36:52.680" Title="What’s special about a winter gas mixture? Why does it work better?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3354" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-12-12T09:18:37.897" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-12-12T09:18:37.897" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T09:18:37.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3355" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-12-12T09:18:37.897" Score="0" Body="The Czech Republic is a small state in the Central Europe. There’s lots of forests, some mountains (the biggest peak being Sněžka with 1602 meters) and a great system of tourist trails." OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2012-12-12T15:28:14.940" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T15:28:14.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-12-12T14:52:49.150" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being alone in the wilderness and being there with a group or with friends are two different experiences, each with their own merits and drawbacks.  You have experiences with groups already, so I'll talk about going out alone.  I do this much more often than going into the wilderness with others.  When I have only a little time to go into the wilderness, I'd rather be by myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;You feel much more aware of your surroundings.  Other people talk, distract, make noise, etc.  All that makes it harder to really perceive the wilderness, and it will also alter the wilderness itself.  You're far more likely to get to see a bear in the wild, for example, when alone than in a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have only encountered a bear (talking North American black bears here) while hiking three times, and I was alone each time.  I'm sure I've gotten close to bears many more times than that, but these three times I noticed the bear before it noticed me.  Each time the bear bolted as soon at it saw me.  Getting close to a bear before it notices you with a group is basically impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Groups as a whole, and often unfortunately individuals in groups, just aren't careful and quiet, and don't care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;You can do what you want.  With a group, each person is sortof obligated to not cause the group to stray too much from its stated objective.  That means if you come accross a scene you'd like to take the right photograph of, you can at best take a snapshot or two.  Carefully moving around to get the best vantage point, trying different approaches, etc, that take time are out of the question.  Good nature photography takes patience, which is something you can't have with a group.  Generally I don't even bother take a camera with me on a group outing.  For me anyway, nature photography is a personal experience between the wilderness, myself, and my camera.  Having other people around seriously interferes with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;You can go the pace you want, whether fast or slow.  Groups tend to go slower than individuals.  That can be frustrating if you just want to hike.  On the other hand, it keeps you from stopping and exploring something in more detail if you want.  You can have some interesting experiences just sitting quietly somewhere for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try it some time.  Go somewhere people aren't regularly coming by and find a comfortable spot, like on a nice rock or against a tree, with a good view.  I like overlooking a wetland.  After just a few minutes you'll be surprised at all the comings and goings of the wildlife.  You can't do this in a group because there is always someone that can't sit still and shut up for 30 minutes, and each person is one more chance people will be spotted and the wildlife will be more inhibited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need the deep wilderness for this.  Some of the best experiences I have had like this have been right in the town I live (Groton Massachusetts).  We have about 10 square miles of wild land open to the public, but it's a patchwork of many small parcels.  Almost all of it is within 1/2 mile of a paved road.  However, there are still some very pretty places where people go infrequently enough that you can sit and watch nature (actually more like &lt;i&gt;experience&lt;/i&gt; nature) by yourself for a hour at a time.  You should definitely try something like that.  When you've had enough, you can be back in the car in 10-20 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;You don't have to have a plan.  I occasionally lead hikes for the AMC and for the town Trails Committee.  These are all advertised as going someplace specific, at least roughly.  People aren't going to show up to a &quot;We're just going to bump around, don't know where we're going or when we'll get back&quot; hike.  When going out by myself, particularly locally, I start someplace and then just go whatever way I feel like going when a choice comes up.  That may be related to the weather, where I haven't been recently, something looks interesting in that direction, I see something I want to check out more closely, or just I feel like it for no specific reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mention loneliness, but that is completely foreign to my solo wilderness experience.  I'm way too busy and engaged to be lonely.  Besides, lonely is a long term thing, not something you experience over a one day or even a few day outing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems your real issue is being scared of being out there alone.  There is a small element of rational fear there, since there are dangers and the consequences can be much worse without other around to help.  However, these are likely blown way out of proportion in your mind.  If you have a true phobia of being alone in the wilderness, then doing that is probably not for you.  However, if you are capable of addressing it rationally then there should be no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually &lt;i&gt;think&lt;/i&gt; about it.  What is that sound you hear outside your tent at night?  What does it really mean?  What is the worst case scenario?  When you think about that, you'll realize that anything not astronomically improbable is no big deal.  At night you will hear things outside the tent.  You can eliminate anything up in the trees as a problem right away.  Most of the rest is merely rodents poking around.  Try the reverse.  See if you can spot whatever it is.  Betcha you can't.  By the time you get up, open the tent, and shine a flashlight, whatever made the noise will be hiding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hear something heavier, then it gets more interesting.  Big things are less likely to be able to hide, and if they run away you can hear that.  Sometimes you can get a glimpse of a bigger animal at night.  One time I could hear something definitely bigger than a mouse making its way closer and closer to my tent.  It sounded like it was checking out nooks and crannies as it was rustling a lot and moving slowly.  I was guessing raccoon, but when it got close enough that I thought there might be a chance to see it before it ran off, I opened the tent, shined the flashlight, and found a porcupine.  Porcupines have evolved such a great defense that they aren't much bothered by other animals being nearby.  It basically continued bumping around like it had been, sticking its nose in the leaf litter here and there.  It actually seemed to be using the light from my flashlight to its advantage!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard what I was pretty sure was a bear outside my tent a few times, but as much as I would have liked to have caught a glimpse, I thought it better to lay still for a few minutes until its foraging made it go past.  With the right mindset, these things are fun and interesting, not scary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do admit to being irrationally spooked once.  I was in the Kofa National Wildlife refuge in Arizona and driving on a obscure dirt road when I spotted a cougar (&lt;i&gt;Puma concolor&lt;/i&gt;), also known as puma, mountain lion, and about a dozen other names.  That wasn't what spooked me.  In fact I thought it was way cool.  I tried to see where it went after it bolted upon seeing the car.  I felt lucky to have seen a cougar in the wild.  However, the next few nights when getting into my tent I was spooked.  Now I know the chance of a cougar being around are exceedingly slim, and the chance of it not running away if one was around even slimmer.  But, it still took a few nights to get over not being spooked whenever getting into or out of my tent in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically I think the lesson is that the more you feel comfortable that you know what you are doing, the less you will feel afraid of what might be out there.  The only solution to that is probably going out and doing it, and then things will feel more comfortable because they are no longer unknown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T14:52:49.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3357" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-12T15:11:56.437" Score="11" ViewCount="749" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3312/566&quot;&gt;This question asks why we don't apply the layer principle on trousers&lt;/a&gt;. Personally, I disagree with the pretext of the question: I certainly &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; apply the layer principle on trousers when cycling in cold (-10°C &amp;lt; T &amp;lt; -40°C) weather, and I think skiers do, too. The answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/645/566&quot;&gt;this question on sleeping bags&lt;/a&gt; also show a certain degree of discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming dry clothes, is there any situation where the layer principle does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; apply?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T21:38:53.190" Title="Are there any exceptions to the layer principle?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3353" CreationDate="2012-12-12T17:51:00.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there seem to be a few different mixtures, key to them all is a lower vapourisation temperature requirement and lower viscosity so they are easier to ignite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold weather, normal fuel may not flow well or may not be able to light as it won't vapourise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T02:36:52.680" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T02:36:52.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3357" CreationDate="2012-12-12T20:15:28.427" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not clear what you think the &lt;i&gt;layer principle&lt;/i&gt;, is but you don't &lt;i&gt;have to&lt;/i&gt; dress in layers.  It's the performance of the complete stackup that matters.  In cold weather, this could be achieved, for example, by a polypro sweater then wool sweater then wind breaker, or with a single &quot;winter&quot; jacket.  Both can be made to keep you warm equally well, and the winter jacket could even have roughly the same kind of layers all in one unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're just walking around town and going beween the car and a store, the single thick jacket can be fine.  When hiking, layering has distinct advantages.  It's a lot more important when hiking to tune your clothing more tightly to the weather and your activity than around town.  Too much and you get sweaty.  Too little and you get cold.  Also, the amount of insulation you need will vary significantly depending on whether you are exerting yourself like when hiking up a hill, or just sitting around eating lunch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layers allow you to tune what you wear to the conditions for the least amount of weight and volume of stuff.  You can adjust just 3 or 4 possible layers to be the equivalent of a wide range of single-purpose garments.  That pile of single-purpose garments would much bulkier and heavier than the 3 or 4 layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may sound somewhat more cumbersome, but it's really not.  I haven't owned a &quot;winter&quot; jacket for over 30 years.  Instead I use a windbreaker and put a wool sweater under it when it's cold.  Try that some time, you'll probably be surprised how warm it is.  If it gets even colder, I put on a polypro sweater first, then the wool sweater over that, then the wind breaker over that.  So far I haven't been in conditions where that wasn't warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me at least, the windbreaker-sweater combination feels less bulky and restrictive.  Not only do winter jackets cost way more than a windbreaker and a sweater, but they don't feel as nice.  And then you still need a light jacket for warmer but still cool weather.  No thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T20:15:28.427" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3360" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3363" CreationDate="2012-12-12T20:34:27.637" Score="13" ViewCount="1135" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every year at the beginning of the spring, I do preliminary hikes and do some light maintenance (removing broken tree from the trail etc...) but &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3301/what-is-a-good-tool-for-minor-trail-maintenance-while-hiking&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; made me realize to what extend should I maintain the trail? And if some actions could be considered as inappropriate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T16:13:51.950" Title="Trail maintenance: what is considered inappropriate when maintaining a trail?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3360" CreationDate="2012-12-12T22:52:51.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule in the US&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Private:  Ask the landowner, they are probably happy for the help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;State:  Don't touch anything.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Forest:  Do it if it's an established trail.  It's probably not &quot;approved&quot; but the rangers and other hikers will appreciate it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Park:  Don't touch anything.  Also avoid looking too hard if you can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2012-12-12T22:52:51.633" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3362" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-13T00:56:14.630" Score="19" ViewCount="1051" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now that it is starting to get cold it is more difficult to use touchscreens while outdoors. I use both an iPhone and a Garmin GPS to geocache and both have touchscreens that require me to take my gloves off to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to have and pair of gloves with the tops cut off that might work. Do they have gloves with just the fingertips missing? I think there are also gloves that are supposed to work with touchscreens. Do they actually work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastEditorUserId="1926" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T15:55:26.217" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T09:53:13.977" Title="What can I do to keep my hands warm while using touchscreens in the winter?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3360" CreationDate="2012-12-13T01:52:02.107" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's always OK to move fallen debris from the trail, assuming you are sure you are on a real official trail.  Make sure you don't accidentally remove &quot;brushed in&quot; trail entrances.  That is where brush was deliberately piled so that a trail is not used, hopefully eventually reverting to just woods again.  If you're on anything with clearly deliberate blazes, you're safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anything more than clearing debris without tools, you need to ask the owner or administrating agency.  Public agencies usually have rules that they don't want any unauthorized trail work.  This is just to make sure they don't get morons doing stupid things and to avoid liability.  If you get to know the manager, forester, committee, or whatever that oversees a particularly area and they get to know and trust you, you usually end up with a informal arrangement where they trust you doing trail work without asking first and without them formally giving permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some groups can be real control freaks and don't want anyone, even those that clearly know what they are doing, doing trail work without 3 levels of approval.  I know one organization that takes this to the extreme.  They have a &quot;steward&quot; assigned to each property, and then a few master stewards for groups of properties.  Even though I actually built some of their trails, I can't go out there when I have a spare hour and clean up a trail without prior approval.  I don't feel I should work that hard to give away my time for free, so I find a different place to do trail work.  There are plenty of places run by other groups or organizations that are happy to have me help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm on the trails committee in my town, so I am actually authorized to go out with a chain saw and clean up a mess on any of the town land whenever I see a need.  However, we don't want people going so far as using a chain saw without talking to us first, but even then there are certain individuals and groups we know aren't going to make a mess and nobody is going to make a fuss about one of them going out and clearing a major blow-down.  But, we're not going to tell you that if you come and ask as a individual, especially if we don't know you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good way to get known is to volunteer for organized trail work.  I don't know how other towns work but we probably have 1-3 formally organized events a month except when the snow it too deep to do much useful.  After you show up a few times, the organizers will recognize you and you'll be trusted a lot more.  You might even mention a particular trail you think needs some work and offer to take care of it over the next week or two.  Once you're known, you'll probably get a quiet unofficial nod and it works out for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good example illustrating the issues envolved came up last night at the town Trails Committe (of which I am a appointed member) meeting.  We learned that someone or some group has gone out to several trails with a leaf blower and &quot;cleaned&quot; them off down to bare ground.  We're pretty sure it was the local mountain bikers club, or at least individuals from there.  We have a generally good relationship with the mountain bikers, and they show up regularly to help out with scheduled official trail work.  We don't really want to get in anyone's face about this, but would rather the leaf blowing wasn't happening, at least not without prior approval.  The problem is that this promotes erosion, and also gives the trail a unnatural and less wilderness feel.  We also really don't like anyone working on trails with powered tools without coordinating with us first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's too soon to tell how this will be resolved.  Some polite off the record conversations will be had with those envolved, and that will probably resolve this issue.  This is a small town, we pretty much know who is doing what, and we also understand they probably thought they were improving things.  Mountain bikers don't like downed leaves because they can be slippery and cover up hazards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, this illustrates some of the problems you may create for other people when doing what you think is helpful trail work.  I'd say catagorically to never go so far as using powered tools (chainsaw, weed whacker, brush mower, leaf blower, etc) without getting the proper permission first.  Picking up trail debris and even pruning back small overhanging limbs with a hand clipper would be OK in most cases.  Everything in between is a gray area where you should first at least know who the owners or managers are, what rules there might be, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2012-12-19T16:13:51.950" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T16:13:51.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2012-12-13T02:08:18.080" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=capacitive%20stylus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;capacitive stylus&lt;/a&gt;.  See &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_sensing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; for a description of the technology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T02:08:18.080" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2012-12-13T09:14:49.443" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think capacitive gloves are your best bet. Basically, they are gloves with something that allows the screen to close a circuit with your body (your hands) and that makes the screen work. I've provided some links to reviews, but the bottom line is this: &lt;strong&gt;at the temperature you're describing (around 0 degrees Celsius) they will probably do the job reasonably well.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/11/capacitive-gloves-that-dont-suck/&quot;&gt;&quot;Capacitive Gloves That Don’t Suck&quot;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.salon.com/2012/10/21/best_touchscreen_winter_gloves/&quot;&gt;&quot;Best touchscreen winter gloves&quot;&lt;/a&gt; are fairly critical (which makes them trustworthy in my eyes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/hands-in-with-the-dots-iphone-gloves/&quot;&gt;This link to an early Engadget article&lt;/a&gt; is a little old, but it seems to capture the impression that such gloves made when they first arrived on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you want to go the do-it-yourself way, here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-A-Glove-Work-With-A-Touch-Screen/&quot;&gt;a link to a video/description of how to modify existing gloves to work with a touch screen&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2012-12-18T16:27:58.237" LastActivityDate="2012-12-18T16:27:58.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2012-12-13T12:33:44.887" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;At my local army shop they sell neoprene gloves with detachable finger ends for the index and middle finger ends. Something like the picture below, but without the thumb, and the ends are not cut out but foldable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have ones without this feature. They are not too warm (good maybe down to -5C), but are very comfortable - I cant type and call on the phone with them on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hjvmt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;I live in Bulgaria. The shop's website is &lt;a href=&quot;http://arstar.bg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;arstar.bg&lt;/a&gt;. They claim to import directly from Germany.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T12:40:41.370" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T12:40:41.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3454" CreationDate="2012-12-13T14:05:31.073" Score="15" ViewCount="73752" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a thermos for coffee and/or water storage that I use on hikes and for bike touring since it keeps things hot for hours.  However, it seems like the inside is rusting a bit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this safe to use as is? Is this easily remedied, and how can I protect it from rusting again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2015-02-06T05:01:41.953" LastActivityDate="2019-03-26T23:34:01.460" Title="Is it safe to drink out of a rusty thermos?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2012-12-13T14:17:50.577" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd be wary of drinking from anything rusty personally - I'm not aware of the type of metal your thermos is made from, but several can start to produce potentially poisonous chemicals when they begin to oxidise. Sure, you could be ok but I wouldn't say it's worth the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of cleaning it, try something like Zud cleanser (readily available in the UK, not sure about other parts of the world.) Does a really good job at removing rust on anything I've tried it with!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-24T09:05:18.527" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T09:05:18.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2012-12-13T16:22:07.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would probably combine a pair of glove with a pair of mitt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A pair of glove allowing me to use a touch screen equipment. Unfortunately, those are not than warm (Could be fine for some people)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A pair of mitt with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/MensClothing/GlovesMitts/Mitts/PRD~5028-505/black-diamond-windweight-mitts-unisex.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fingerless feature like this one&lt;/a&gt; providing you with the extra warmth &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the temperature provided in your comment, you could start with the pair of glove and buy the mitt if you are too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T16:22:07.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3371" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2012-12-13T17:22:33.243" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T17:22:33.243" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T17:22:33.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3372" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2012-12-13T17:22:33.243" Score="0" Body="Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. (Taken from wikipedia)" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T18:23:57.450" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T18:23:57.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3360" CreationDate="2012-12-13T18:19:17.693" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to help maintain trails, its usually better to volunteer with an existing organization with a relationship with the park, than to try and act on your own.  Its not always going to be possible to know what the exact appropriate / inappropriate line is when you're out on your own hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes park services have conflicting priorities (for instance, balancing the needs of hikers with mandates to protect the natural environment, or balancing the needs of hikers with rock climbers or mountain bikers).  Individuals that perform large, impactful &quot;improvement&quot; projects can aggrevate tensions within the park in a way that planned volunteer events don't.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing broken treebranches from a trail by hand is probably fine, but much more than that (anything that would require tools, building systems of cairns, etc) should probably be left for formal trail improvements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2012-12-13T18:25:03.877" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T18:25:03.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3374" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3375" CreationDate="2012-12-13T19:50:02.757" Score="15" ViewCount="705" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on Wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Moose injure more people than any other wild mammal and, worldwide,&#xA;  only hippopotamuses injure more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, what should I do to decrease the risk of being injured ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the first thing to do would to make sure that the animal is aware of my presence but is there any else to do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And when facing the animal, what attitude should I adopt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:02:18.567" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:02:18.567" Title="How to decrease the risk of being injured by a Moose?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;moose&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3374" CreationDate="2012-12-13T20:41:15.727" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary way people die in a moose encounter is in car accidents. When a car hts a moose, because their legs are so long, generally the moose's body slides across the hood and collides with the windshield and people. Combined with the larger weight of a moose compared to a deer or other wildlife, people are much less likely to survive an accident when their car hits a moose. So to decrease your chances of &quot;dying by moose&quot;, drive more slowly (especially at night) in moose country, never drive sleepy, and have the best and cleanest headlights you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, it is possible to have an altercation with a moose that doesn't involve a car, and at least in theory you could be hurt. Some tips for being safe around moose are at these links:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livewith.aggressivemoose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livewith.aggressivemoose&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xyz.net/~khltkbr/projects/moose/coexist.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.xyz.net/~khltkbr/projects/moose/coexist.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They boil down to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do not approach a moose (on land, or on water if it's shallow enough for the moose to walk out to your boat)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do not throw things at a moose&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pay attention to body language which is just like that of dogs, cows, etc: ears back, hair/fur on end, odd noises - you know what all this means, so let them communicate with you and back off if you can see they are upset&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if they charge, don't call their bluff, run away and if you can, hide behind something&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have met a moose on a trail (while carrying a 90 pound pack) and I assure you I did not need any special training or background knowledge to run away. As it turned out the moose also ran away in the other direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T12:51:15.903" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T12:51:15.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2012-12-13T22:02:05.343" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two suggestions. You can get fingerless gloves that also are mittens. Here's a child version so you can see how they work:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yYo0z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;mittens and fingerless gloves&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, you can try to get a touchscreen that works with gloves. For example the Nokia Lumia made quite a big deal out of this at their launch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c6U27.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lumia 920 with gloves&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes sense that people in Finland would consider cold weather use for their phones...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T22:02:05.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1453" CreationDate="2012-12-13T22:47:58.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of good answers and ideas here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I backpack ultralight now.  This is nice for a couple reasons, one of which is that sleeping under a tarp is a lot more comfortable than a tent, rain or shine.  I didn't believe it until I tried it, but Ray J. is right on this one.  The other nice thing about sleeping under a tarp is you can see all around you, especially when the moon is up.  If one of those noises at night is a bear, you'll know, but I haven't had that happen yet.  When I hear a noise I have a tendency to assume it's the most dangerous critter in the woods, then have to convince myself it's just a coon or a possum.  In Missouri we have some black bears and some lions.  The black bears will generally leave you alone unless you're between momma and the cubs.  The lions can be trouble, but I haven't heard too many stories.  Makes me think about carrying a weapon, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most dangerous thing I've seen solo hiking is feral pigs - momma and several small ones, probably under 100 pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done some solo hiking and some hiking with a second person, but nothing in a group since Philmont in '78.  I want to be one of those people that goes out solo for days on end, but I'm not.  I really prefer to have company.  Maybe that will change over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to hike solo and aren't sure about it, you could do something that's nearly solo.  Get a couple hand-held radios, and keep a couple miles apart on the trail.  If you really get tired of being alone, you can talk over the radio and hook up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2012-12-13T22:47:58.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3374" CreationDate="2012-12-14T00:20:07.167" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great example of technically true statistics being misleading.  I'll take their word for it that more people get injured by moose than any other animal except hippos.  However, I strongly suspect that most moose injuries are due to automobile collisions with moose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moose have evolved to be big enough so that predators aren't a threat to a healthy adult.  I saw a really neat film once of a full grown adult male moose holding off a pack of wolves on Isle Royal.  The moose put on a kicking demonstration.  It was pretty impressive.  I didn't know they could keep all four hooves flying around like that.  The wolves were suitably reminded that a wolf skull is no match for flying moose hoof, and that contact was likely enough if they got closer.  They gave up and left after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, the point is moose are big, and don't need to smart or stealthy or give a crap whether you want to occupy their space.  Their space is anywhere they feel like, whenever they feel like.  Sometimes that happens to be in the middle of a road.  They didn't evolve with cars around, so a car is just another don't-care to them.  That's bad for you when you happen to be coming around a curve a bit too fast.  The tall legs usually means that the body will hit at the windshield instead of the bumper like a deer.  That means the next thing that happens is the shards that used to be your windshield proceed thru your skull and other similarly fragile objects.  If the shards don't shred your skull, then the 1000 pounds of moose meat right behind them will squish it into obvlion well enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time, moose in the wild regard you with the same don't-care attitude.  They'll do what they want to do.  The problem is not that you'll be perceived as a threat but a annoyance.  It's really not smart to piss off something that's big and dumb.  Just stay far enough away and the moose won't care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take pictures if you want, assuming you're out of annoyance range, but &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;never use a flash&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.  I saw that almost go badly once for some moron that didn't get the memo.  I was in northern NH and there was a moose just standing around in a puddle maybe 20 feet off the side of the road.  I don't know why a moose would want to just stand there, but it's not the moose's job to explain.  Remember the part about a moose's space is wherever it feels like it being.  That day for that moose it happened to be in that puddle.  I pulled down the road a bit, put a long lens on my camera, and took a few pictures over the roof of my car.  The moose didn't look annoyed, but I made sure to keep the car between me and it.  Then along came the aforementioned moron.  Instead of going down the road a bit like I had, he pulled over right next to the moose.  I could see the moose getting mildly irritated.  The car had invaded the edge of his space.  But, cars and humans and stuff don't really matter, so the moose kept standing there in his puddle.  When the moron got out and walked around to the close side of the car, the moose looked over there again.  When the guy walked closer and took a few pictures with his point and shoot camera, the moose was getting clearly annoyed.  Then the moron walked to within 10 feet right in front of the moose and took a picture.  I don't know if it was intentional or just stupidity, but the camera flash went off.  I say stupidity not only because it a really dumb idea to get in the face of something ten times your size and then light off a flash, but it was also daylight and the flash was silly even from a purely photographic point of view.  At this point, the moose just had enough, so he put is head down and made like he was going to charge the moron.  I wish I had video of what happened next.  I don't think the moose's feet ever moved, but the moron sure did.  That's the fastest he moved, beer belly and all, in probably a couple decades.  Camera went flying one way, moron the other, but they both somehow ended up in the puddle.  The moose apparently decided the annoyance was dealt with and that this particular puddle wasn't where he wanted to be anymore, and slowly ambled off into the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I said earlier that &lt;i&gt;most of the time&lt;/i&gt; moose will regard you with a don't-care attitude.  There are two exceptions to this, a mother with a calf, and a adult male in late fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mother with calf will usually just collect the calf and walk off, but don't count on that.  Keep your distance.  As long as she doesn't think you're a threat to her calf, you'll be OK.  However, it's hard to know what exactly her threat threshold is.  It's smart not to find out.  However, in reality you'd have to do something pretty stupid to get hurt this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real danger is from a male in late fall.  This is when the males sort out who gets the local females.  Passing on genes is serious business.  Every moose you see is a descendent of a long line of male moose that successfully passed on their genes.  That means the male moose in front of you isn't the offspring of those moose that didn't fight for mating rights, or that tried to fight but lost.  Nope, you're looking at the culmination of a long line of winners.  Moose are big and strong but not too bright, so the successful male algorithm needs to be simple.  Basically if it moves, chase it away.  If it won't (or can't) run away before you get there, flatten it.  They can tell you're not a moose, but sometimes don't care.  Remember the long line of winners thing.  Occasionally flattening a human as collateral damage doesn't keep you from being a winner, but thinking about it and not fighting for your ground right away can.  So best to flatten and not ask any silly questions that might require both neurons in your tiny brain to fire at the same time.  Obviously this is bad for the silly human that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Fortunately large male moose in the fall aren't concerned about being seen or heard.  In fact, they often deliberately advertise their presence.  If you hear something big bumping around that time of year, go the other way.  If you see one, DO NOT go closer.  That's like saying &quot;in your face, moose!&quot;.  Really bad idea.  Be very careful when you see a female moose too.  You're a don't-care to them, but not to the male that's watching that female right on the other side of the bush from you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-14T00:20:07.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3379" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3381" CreationDate="2012-12-14T21:07:30.633" Score="33" ViewCount="13878" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I spend the night alone in a tent in a forest outside Stockholm in -20°C without risking my life?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The backstory&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the end of January, I'm starting my studies in a suburb of Stockholm. I've decided to, if it turns out plausible, not rent an apartment, but live in a tent. (This is not out of frugality, but out of a will to try something new.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have friends who I could visit once a week or so to prepare food and wash my clothes, so I think I can solve the practical problems, or at least those that I've come to think of. I'd camp in one of the forests, maybe 1 km from &quot;civilisation&quot;. I'd have access to showers etc at university every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However: I don't want to freeze to death in my sleep! That's very important to me. I've read that the nights can get as cold as -20°C (-4°F). With the proper preparations, would this be a plausible way of living, at least for a month or so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have camping experience, and have been hiking for three weeks, but only in summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1954" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T16:02:43.463" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T16:02:43.463" Title="Is it dangerous to sleep in a tent alone in a forest in -20°C?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-14T23:53:45.660" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot answer directly if you are risking your life or not, however, it is quite possible to tent in -20C weather, given appropriate preparations and gear.  Condensation, possible wind and snow-load are a few of the environmental factors to consider in your preparations and gear selection.  The condensation one is critical, as damp gear (in general) loses significant heat retention value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presuming you are close enough to the city that wild animals are not a problem, you might still want to check the local area for what kind of animals are about in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that you have no winter camping experience, I would strongly suggest you try it out for a day or two first, perhaps somewhere closer to home, before you go.  Winter camping is significantly different in some ways than summer.  Cooking will take significantly longer.  Even heating water can take a long time and burn quite a bit of whatever fuel you plan to use.  You will unavoidably have to remove heavy gloves to do certain tasks, and your hands will invariably get quite cold.  The rest of you can be more-or-less well insulated - but you'll have to have quit a few layers and changes of clothing to be comfortable/dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would further suggest some kind of check-in system, that someone knows where you are to be every morning, and comes looking if you don't show up to class.  If for whatever reason you are caught out, the sooner someone starts looking, the better off you'll be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember too, any electronics or similar kit may not work at those temperatures, and if they do, the battery life may well be significantly worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So by all means, prepare &lt;strong&gt;well&lt;/strong&gt; and then try something new, but perhaps with a few days of a test run first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2012-12-14T23:53:45.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-15T15:05:15.837" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is definitely doable.  -20&amp;deg;C is only -4&amp;deg;F.  The real question is whether it is doable by &lt;i&gt;you&lt;/i&gt; at the level of discomfort and hassle you are willing to put up with.  Only you can answer that.  At best we can point out what the hassles and discomforts will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, your fear of dying of cold in your sleep is silly.  You'd have to do something pretty stupid to die of hypothermia, and even that's not going to happen when you're inside the sleeping bag.  The main danger will be from frostbite, but that again would largely need stupidity to help it along, although that's easier to do than outright death from hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your tent will be a long term fixed installation you set up once at a time and conditions of your choosing.  You can therefore afford a larger and heavier tent with more stuff you bring in once.  Definitely get a tent you can stand upright in.  That will make changing clothes much quicker and more comfortable.  Since you should be able to keep water out of the tent, get a nice down sleeping bag and a few light blankets.  The down bag should be rated for most nights, then put the blankets on top for the few unusually cold nights.  Since again weight is not really a issue, get a full sleeping bag, not a mummy bag.  They are simply more comfortable.  Get a good insulating pad, and another two as backup.  Get a tent large enough to fit your sleeping bag and something to sit on next to it, like a folding chair.  Put something under the legs to spread out the weight to that they don't hurt the tent floor.  Get one of those rubber-backed mats people sometimes put just inside their doors and put it just inside your tent.  That allows a place to step with boots still on, then you can sit down on the chair with boots still on the mat to take them off.  The crud stays on the mat, which you can shake clean by reaching outside after having put on your down hut booties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things are going to be a hassle.  At -4&amp;deg;F you want to keep your gloves on whenever possible, but some tasks will be difficult that way.  You end up taking your gloves on and off a lot, trading off efficiency with cold fingers.  Get a pair of polypro glove liners.  They are thin and still allow many tasks to be done, but provide at least a little insulation.  Their main advantage is that any metal you touch won't immediately conduct the heet from your hand away.  Touching bare metal at -4&amp;deg;F is a good way to get frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be prepared for some discomfort no matter what equipment you have.  The toughest part will be getting yourself out of the sleeping bag in the morning.  You'll really have to will yourself to leave the warm comfort of the bag and get into the air at probably the coldest part of the day.  At some point you'll have to change your clothes and get undressed in the process.  That's going to be cold.  It won't be cold long enough to be any real danger, so it's really a mindset issue to get over.  Whether you can or not and are willing to push yourself in that way only you can say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say you have access to heated buildings during the day, so it would make things a lot simpler for you if you don't have to deal with cooking and eating at your camp.  Perparing food outside in the cold takes a lot longer than in a heated kitchen, severly limits what you can do, and may also risk predator encounters depending on what is around your area in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-15T15:05:15.837" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3233" CreationDate="2012-12-15T20:52:35.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Elevation bars are great, but more important are the grips/spikes on the bottom, not just for icy snow, but for fallen wood/exposed roots which are especially slippery in the winter. That traction makes all the difference.  Ideally the grips run parallel to the length of the snowshoe, usually to the outside, and an additional grip runs across the toe where it descends through the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One additional note on elevation bars: you'll want a boot with a sole that's rigid (like a hiking/climbing boot) and not a softer soled boot like a mukluk, as there is no support between the hell resting on the elevation bar and the ball of your foot. You'll also ideally want to find an elevation bar that can be raised/lowered using a hiking/ski pole so that you don't have to kneel down to activate/disable them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Poles will help with stability, and make it a lot easier to get up when you have a pack and you've fallen in deep snow.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-12-15T20:52:35.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="192" CreationDate="2012-12-15T21:07:51.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think that a limited diet will cause you health issues.  (caveat, I'm not a doctor...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, keep in mind that hiking is typically a strenuous activity.  You need energy, and lots of it.  You need short-term energy, medium-term, and long-term.  A meal of whole-wheat pasta with some tuna or salmon from a pouch and some added olive oil and salt will give you short-term energy from the carbs, medium-term from the protein, and long-term from the fats, plus some salt to replenish what you've lost as you're staying hydrated.  I can last a lot longer and the hills are less imposing when my diet is on-target.  So, you probably won't get sick, but you may be short-changing yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2012-12-16T01:50:32.557" LastActivityDate="2012-12-16T01:50:32.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2012-12-16T02:34:02.730" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't get condensation under my tarp, not in general, even after several hours in a heavy downpour.  I don't pitch it over vegetation, in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did have condensation one time when I had it pitched close to the ground, just enough for me to lie under, and it rained heavy all night, perhaps 1-1/2 inches or more.  If the rain's coming straight down, I pitch it high enough for me to sit or kneel.  I only pitch it low when the wind's blowing rain around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a pretty typical setup for me: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nzMiR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yzg0V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:30:32.323" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:30:32.323" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1148" CreationDate="2012-12-16T02:52:17.687" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how much push-ups will help, since they're working the muscles in a different direction.  I started indoor rock-climbing this year at a place with some pretty healthy overhangs, and those work the back muscles in pretty much the same way as drawing my bow.  It feels to me like it's made quite a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, what's your draw weight and what are you trying to hunt?  I'm just trying to understanding what's driving you to want to increase it, or figure out if it's even necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2012-12-16T02:52:17.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2012-12-16T15:24:30.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's look at the physics behind where all the condensation came from.  At night the air gets colder, but the ground has a lot of &quot;thermal mass&quot;, so stays much closer to the average day/night temperature.  This means at night the moisture from the ground will be entering the air at the ground, but that air will cool as it rises.  That increases the water saturation level so that the cold but saturated air is just looking for a place to dump the water.  The first hard object it hits is the tarp, which is close to the cold air temperature, so the water gets dumped there, on the &lt;i&gt;bottom&lt;/i&gt; side.  These are tiny drops, which aggregate and eventually run down the inside of the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your tarp was a dark color, which may actually cool it to &lt;i&gt;below&lt;/i&gt; air temperature on a cloudless night due to radiational cooling.  Your dark blue is probably mostly black in the IR region where most of this radiation will occur.  White would be the best color for this purpose, although white in visible doesn't necessarily mean white in IR.  Of course black body radiation isn't the only criterion for the color you may want, with visibility and camouflage possibly being others.  I wouldn't want to go stealth camping with a white tarp, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So from this physics, two solutions become apparent.  First use a ground tarp or fold your tarp so that it covers the ground.  This keeps the ground moisture from entering the air at your immediate surrounds.  You will notice the underside of that tarp to be quite wet in the morning.  Second, use a tarp that has a high reflectance in the IR region to minimimze radiational cooling.  That's not so easily done, but camping under a thick leaf canopy will achieve most of the same effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-16T15:24:30.667" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="192" CreationDate="2012-12-16T16:59:06.547" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would split your nutritional needs into long, medium, and short term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like Vitamin C and Vitamin A are long term. A week or two of being short on them will not cause you problems during the trip, nor afterwards when you return to your normal eating patterns. You can essentially ignore them, which is kind of a bummer because this would be the easiest shortcoming to fix, by taking a multivitamin or other supplements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Medium term would be fat and protein. Most people eat lots of protein - beef jerky, nuts in the trail mix, peanut butter - and get enough fat too. If for some reason you were eating meals like &quot;pasta with butter but not cheese&quot; and &quot;white rice with vegetables&quot; then perhaps you would run short of protein. (I say perhaps because grains do have some protein, and we typically need less than we think.) This would manifest itself mostly as feeling hungry too soon given the amount of work you're doing, and maybe not sleeping well. If it kept up long enough you might also be plagued with digestive problems. From reading books about long expeditions it seems to be a month of no fat and very little protein before dysentery sets in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short term your big worry is fibre. If you're not eating any fruits or veggies, and you've taken white flour bread and pasta, white rice etc, and no legumes, then you might not be getting any fibre. Depending on your age this can make you feel very uncomnfortable in just a few days. Throw in a little dehydration because you're sweating and drinking water isn't always to hand, and you could be feeling very jammed up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution to fibre may be as close as your trail mix, if it's full of dried fruit. If you ignore the dried fruit, or if your trail mix is full of M&amp;amp;Ms, then you need to make sure you eat some vegetables. A dried soup mix might lead to nice lunches and take care of that for you, or you might try to cook more often. Or you could pay attention to those ads aimed at the 50+ crowd and bring along a fibre supplement - the kind you stir into water would probably be best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your concern is &quot;I feel healthy and strong, my body works fine during the trip, but am I setting myself up for a long term health problem with the occasional week of deprivation&quot; I would unequivocally say you are not. A bags-of-chips-on-the-couch habit that lasts for years can do that; a week without enough fibre or Vitamin A will not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-12-16T16:59:06.547" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-16T22:02:23.957" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a Lavvu with a stove!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uXaLk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lavvu in Jukkasjärvi&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sami_Tent_in_Jukkasjarvi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo from Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sami population of Lapland have lived for centuries in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavvu&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lavvus&lt;/a&gt; in a climate with temperatures down to -40°C. They did decide about a hundred years ago or so to live in houses, because it is a tad more comfortable. As the Sami still exist, this proves that it's not immediately lethal to live at such temperatures. They did have a very high infant mortality, but I suppose you're not planning to give birth in the tent. A rather important point though: in a lavvu you can have a fire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTIWX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lavvu with fire&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;photo from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hessdalen.org/news/NUFOC.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norwegian UFO centre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-56863.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this discussion&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &lt;strong&gt;keep in mind that allemansrätten does not apply!&lt;/strong&gt;. The Swedish &lt;em&gt;right of everybody&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;applies for short-term stays&lt;/strong&gt;, usually 1–2 days. If you are planning to stay weeks or even months, you will need permission from the land owner, or stay on a proper campsite and negotiate a good price. The latter also has the advantage that you have a nearby emergency escape if things go bad (near a city there can be other dangers than cold).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2014-11-27T15:38:05.360" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T15:38:05.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3389" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-18T01:49:38.193" Score="16" ViewCount="21922" Body="&lt;p&gt;In answering &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3284/when-is-it-too-cold-for-tarping&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; I tossed out that a candle lantern can provide as much as 10 degrees (F) of temperature difference while winter camping. I've heard this tossed about before, but is it true? I assume there are differences between snow-caves (well insulated) and tents (less so)... Anyone have any cold hard numbers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T18:51:47.660" Title="How much heat can a candle lantern provide while winter camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3389" CreationDate="2012-12-18T13:31:30.773" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting 10&amp;deg;F (6°C) temperature rise from a candle in even the smallest of tents is clearly nonsense.  Do the math.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Figure a candle puts out about 80 W.  Of course there is large variation from candle to candle, but this is in the reasonable range for a typical modern paraffin candle.  Let's say 100 W to be generous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next we need to come up with the surface area over which this supposed 10&amp;deg;F (6°C) difference will dissipate across.  About the smallest you could call a &quot;tent&quot; would need to be long enough for a person to lie down in with some extra room sideways and at the head and toes.  Let's say the footprint is 8x3 feet (2.4×0.9 m²).  That's &quot;small&quot; by most standards.  Let's also say the bottom is insulated.  That means the 100 W is dissipated over at least 24 square feet (2.2 m²) just due to the footprint alone.  Obviously the height of the tent will add some to that.  Again, let's be generous and say the surface area of concern is only 25 square feet (2.3 m²).  That's &lt;i&gt;very&lt;/i&gt; small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dissipating 100 W over 25 square feet (2.3 m²) means 4 watts per square foot (44 W/m²), or 13.7 BTU/h per square foot.  At a insulation &quot;R value&quot; of 1 ft²·°F·h/BTU (0.176 m²·K/W), 13.7 BTU/h per square foot (44 W/m²) would cause a 13.7&amp;deg;F (7.6°C) rise.  That means the tent fabric would need to have a R value of 0.73 ft²·°F·h/BTU (0.128 m²·K/W; to sustain the 10&amp;deg;F/6°C rise at that same power level.  Not gonna happen.  To put this in perspective, a 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) of plywood has a R value of 0.63 ft²·°F·h/BTU (0.111 m²·K/W), and 1/2 (1.3 cm) drywall of 0.45 ft²·°F·h/BTU (0.079 m²·K/W).  Do you really think a few mils (~50 µm) of nylon are going to insulate &lt;i&gt;better&lt;/i&gt; than a 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) of plywood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this is just looking at the conductive heat losses thru the tent wall fabric.  Of course there will be some ventilation, so a considerable fraction of the heat power will be lost by convection.  And, these were all quite conservative numbers, especially considering we'd be talking about a 4-season tent when this would matter, and those tend to be physically larger.  Even taking the conservative 3x8 foot (0.9×2.4 m²) footprint and adding a side wall just 3 feet (0.9 m) tall all around adds 66 square feet (6.2 m²).  90 square feet (8.4 m²) of surface area would still be a small tent.  Consider that is equivalent to a 9.5 x 9.5 foot (2.9 metre) sheet of fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of the ultra-conservative numbers was to show that it's not even close with that, so the 10&amp;deg;F (6°C) rise from a candle in any real winter tent is totally absurd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T18:43:28.767" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T18:43:28.767" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2012-12-18T19:13:16.810" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, first &lt;b&gt;stop&lt;/b&gt; to not make things worse, take a deep breath, and collect your thoughts.  After that it depends a lot on the situation.  I don't like most of the other answers because they assumed certain situations without stating their assumptions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you should do next depends on a lot of things, so much so that giving any simple answer is impossible.  Factors that matter include:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;How far out are you?  Did you go into a local conservation area in town and don't remember which trail takes you back to the car, or are you alone in a remote area on a solo day hike or longer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;How did you get lost?  You weren't sure of which way to go at that last intesection a 1/2 mile back, or you've been following what you thought was the right trail for hours and now its getting late and the trail has petered out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;What is the weather like?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;What do you have with you to survive?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Are you completely off a trail, or just don't know which trail you are on? Or know the trail, just not where you are along it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;How easy is it to navigate?  Are you above tree line and can see for miles, or in dense forest that all looks the same in either direction?  Are you on a trail you can follow, even if you don't know where it goes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;What navigational aids do you have with you?  A compass?  GPS?  Watch?  Can you see the direction to the sun?  Do you have just a trail map?  A topo map?  No map and just a general mental picture?  You're totally clueless and don't even have that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various levels of being &quot;lost&quot;.  The usual definition is you don't know where you are, but clearly you have &lt;i&gt;some&lt;/i&gt; idea.  Most people use the term to mean that they don't know which direction to proceed in, which is quite different.  Or do you have two or more choices, just don't know which one is the shortest or otherwise best way back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a clearer description of what predicament you actually mean, it is impossible to give responsible advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all aside, a &lt;i&gt;general&lt;/i&gt; rule when truly lost (not knowing where you are) is to always keep in mind what your location is bounded by that you can identify.  Start with as large a area as it takes, then think carefully about how you can narrow this down.  For example, you may know there is a north-south road to your east, a river to the west, a cliff you'd fall off of to the south, etc.  Eventually you can identify the area you are in with something bouding it all around that you would notice if you came accross it.  Whatever you do, keep those bounds in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-18T19:13:16.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3392" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-18T21:51:59.940" Score="12" ViewCount="321" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, I've taken my AST1 (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/training/ast/ast-1&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for info, it's a Canadian course), and I'm starting to get into backcountry skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just wondering what people would recommend for beginner terrain? Specific examples in the Canadian Rockies would be great, but even more generally - is it safe to get into terrain that is ATES challenging rated if I'm being extremely cautious?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="645" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2012-12-19T01:30:45.470" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T17:18:14.447" Title="Beginner Ski Touring - Avalanche Terrain" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2012-12-19T05:26:38.780" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Holding on to crimpers is what causes pain in my finger-joints. This is from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metolius website&lt;/a&gt; where they give instructions for hang-board training:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Avoid using crimp or cling grips. A very important aspect concerning any hold is how you hold on to it. It is extremely important that you do not use any kind of cling technique regularly.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have often heard that using an open-handed technique also trains crimping strength, while the reverse is not true, crimping does not strengthen the open handed gripping strength (used for holding onto slopers.) I would say, avoid anything that resembles crimping when you are training, and safe that for when you are working on a project.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2012-12-19T20:18:06.430" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T20:18:06.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-19T07:11:38.120" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even the temperatures around 0 C are real threat to life!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For -20 C you'll definitely need very good equipment. A sleeping bag with comfort temperatures around -20 C will cost much but without it you won't cope. But you must note, that 'sleeping' in tents in such low temperatures is often not real sleep, but overnighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it matters if you sleep alone or with someone else - yes, definitely! Each person in tent warms up the air, it is much much warmer with 4 people than with 2, and sleeping single is a challenge. Also, if you get ill, 1 km in deep snow is much more exhausting than you could imagine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer: you are risking your life. In team the risk can be really low, but I wouldn't risk such expedition alone if I were you, if you're not a survivalist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T07:11:38.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3396" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3409" CreationDate="2012-12-19T08:04:10.437" Score="14" ViewCount="2749" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a backpack with rip-stop material that is quite beaten up from scrambling over granite boulders. What are some good materials for patching the holes, what kind of thread should I use, and how should I sew the patches to the holes? I am looking for solutions that make the patched areas at least as sturdy as the rest of the pack, if not more sturdy. I have come across some pretty general tutorials online for how to patch backpacks, but I am more interested in tried and true methods from avid outdoorsmen/women.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:25:47.567" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:25:47.567" Title="What is a good material to patch holes in backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3397" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3410" CreationDate="2012-12-19T08:21:09.647" Score="29" ViewCount="12180" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in hearing how people take their dslrs (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;digital single lens reflex camera&lt;/a&gt;) onto multi-pitch-rock-climbs. I have carried mine up in a small pack, but I end up taking hardly any pictures, since it is so cumbersome to get to it. What do professional climbing photographers/videographers do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-30T22:52:22.463" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T14:22:04.393" Title="What's the best way to carry a dslr camera when rock-climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;dslr&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3398" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3402" CreationDate="2012-12-19T08:34:54.073" Score="25" ViewCount="16304" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have taken some hard cheeses onto backpacking trips quite successfully without spoilage, but I have not dared taking more than I can eat in about 3 days. Eggs I have not dared to take. I am interested in how long people have gone in arid climates before their cheese/eggs became inedible. I don't mind sweaty cheese or even some mold, but I do not care much about food poisoning in the backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2012-12-19T14:08:11.237" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T12:57:56.947" Title="Cheese and eggs on backpacking trips" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2012-12-19T11:52:49.683" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gone 3 days with eggs in the backcountry but I live in the Rockies where it stays cool in the shade and night. I've been told if you keep a few eggs in a tin of flour that they'll keep for a week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T11:52:49.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3392" CreationDate="2012-12-19T11:59:16.927" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Banff you'll find Bow Summit is the go to beginner place. Parks has a great &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/np-pn/sp-ps/sec4/sp-ps4g.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;avalanche terrain map&lt;/a&gt; that shows you where to avoid, it's best to stay in the trees.  Don't forget to check out the Parks Canada Avalanche Bulletin.  Other good beginner spots include &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Boom-Lake-near-Banff-AB-692&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boom Lake&lt;/a&gt;, which has a nice 3km tree switchback (real fun to come back down on) that opens up onto a lake where you can pick your lines, Parker's Ridge along the Bow Valley Parkway or Chester Lake in K Country (one of my favourites). As a beginner stick to where there are trees. Other options are the backside of Lake Louise, slack country at Sunshine (the Waawaa ridge, back of Burgeau, etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Summits-Icefields-Alpine-Canadian-Rockies/dp/1926855787&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chic Scott's Summits &amp;amp; Icefields: Alpine Ski Tours in the Canadian Rockies&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; go to reference book for ski touring, he's lived in Banff forever, has ski toured the continental divide end-to-end from the towns of Jasper to Banff on several occasions (16 days!), he really knows his stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2012-12-19T17:18:14.447" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T17:18:14.447" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2012-12-19T11:59:16.927" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2012-12-19T12:29:44.777" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never tried it myself, but I met people trekking (sorry, tramping) in New Zealand who had pre-scrambled eggs with them, on the 5 day &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/nelson-tasman/golden-bay/heaphy-track/&quot;&gt;Heaphy track&lt;/a&gt;. They were cooked quite hard, and so could be easily carried in a freezer bag without worrying about breaking them, and then warmed up, or eaten as is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was only day 2, so perhaps they didn't expect to keep them for long, but I remember them looking a lot nicer than all dried nonsense I was eating at the time! I guess their shelf life would be down to the weather at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1958" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T12:29:44.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2012-12-19T14:02:39.220" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cheese&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long time. Especially hard cheeses. You can just cut any mold off the edge that might creep up. Cheeses sealed in cheese wax (gouda) are a good bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had extra-sharp cheddar un-refrigerated in the AZ desert for 8+ days, in the rocky mountains for 15+ days with no issues (aside from sweat.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blocks last longer than a pile of shredded cheese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be smart. Keep an eye on it. If it smells foul, don't eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eggs&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With shells intact, raw eggs last surprisingly long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Borneo rain forest (just below the equator = hot) we would get pallets of 300+ raw eggs shipped up to camp that we would store, un-refrigerated in the shade, for 30 days at a time. (This was after however long un-refrigerated in the truck, the shop, and the supply boat...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, there was some spoilage - but a very small percentage. Just crack them into a separate container first before tossing them in your dish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or use an old farmers test: put your raw eggs in a bucket of water, &quot;If they sink, they're safe. If they float, they fail.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other people suggest cracking the eggs into a sterilized lexan bottle (rinse with bleach first) and then freezing (or not). These reportedly last for several days. (&amp;lt;-I have not tried this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a distant last option -- they are doing some pretty decent things with powdered eggs these days...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Caveat: These are my personal experiences. I am sure there are some official FDA guidelines and other related official paranoia. Possibly even tails of death and disease from eating day old cheese. Fine. Follow those if you choose. Or step outside of commercial convention and open a world of gourmet back-country dining.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1265/how-long-does-mayonnaise-last-unrefrigerated-in-the-back-country&quot;&gt;How long does mayonnaise last unrefrigerated in the back-country?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T14:02:39.220" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-19T15:00:51.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know the base question is about survival but, based on your back story, one of my biggest concerns would be security. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day when you are away you will need to take everything you value with you or risk it being stolen. Even if you take everything with you thieves will not know that and may rifle through your belongings looking for something of value. During the night being alone will make has it's own vulnerabilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mention moving every couple of days. Moving this frequently will probably place you in neighborhoods that you are not familiar with and presents a number of risks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1926" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T15:00:51.750" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3404" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3406" CreationDate="2012-12-19T17:23:39.420" Score="10" ViewCount="2713" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend I am going to do one of my favorite things: winter hiking in the Sierras. When I say &quot;hiking&quot;, I mean that though we might be trodding up a mountain in the snow, it is not real mountaineering.  I won't wear plastic boots and probably won't use my ice axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always loved hiking in the snow. And I have always considered postholing while hiking to be a minor annoyance. But what are the real risks? Do people break their legs postholing through the snow? Should I always wear snowshoes if postholing is likely? Or is this just the minor annoyance I think of it as?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T08:03:40.670" Title="Should I be more careful about postholing during winter hikes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3348" CreationDate="2012-12-19T20:01:55.637" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;trackable&lt;/strong&gt; is the object which can be moved from cache to cache and tracked with help of tracking code. This is something like normal exchange object, but you can track it and know who have taken it and where have it landed. There are only other rules for trackables as for exchange objects - you can't trade trackable for normal exchange object, but you can take as many trackables as you wish, only that you must put then to the other cache and not keep it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;travel bugs&lt;/strong&gt; is only the one system of trackables, operated by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geocaching.com&quot;&gt;geocaching.com&lt;/a&gt;. This is a commercial system, you must pay for trackable identifiers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other trackable systems, the most popular from them is now &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://geokrety.org&quot;&gt;geokrety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. This system is free, you pay absolutely nothing for registering as many codes as you wish, only you must print the tracking labels yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T20:01:55.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3404" CreationDate="2012-12-19T20:49:25.507" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really up to you, but &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; think if postholing is enough of a issue it would be good to wear snowshoes.  If nothing else, it just makes things easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One problem of postholing can be sometimes difficulty in getting out.  You're not likely to actually get hurt, because &quot;falling&quot; onto the snow isn't a problem when it's deep and soft enough for your foot to punch thru enough to call it postholing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was on a hike once in the Green Mountains of Vermont where I had intended to take snowshoes but they accidentally got left behind.  Things were OK for a while, but then the terrain changed and drifts were getting deeper.  I got into a major posthole where there would have been a small stream crossing the trail in the summer.  The stream was completely covered up, so the only clue was the depression in the topography.  This somehow created air spaces or made for looser snow so that I ended up with my right leg sunk all the way into the snow up to my hips.  At that point my left leg was sortof kneeling, except partially sunk in the snow too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting out of that was more difficult than I would ever have imagined if someone had only told me about it.  I was by myself, so nobody to throw a stick or grab my shoulders or something.  Trying to lean forwards to get more horizontal didn't work well because my whole body sank into the very loose snow, but my right foot was still stuck in something more dense down there.  I eventually got out of that trap, but it probably took a few minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would have been far less of a problem with snowshoes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T20:49:25.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2012-12-19T21:35:52.980" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rest?  Sometimes this kind of pain can be a sign of overtraining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the question, the poster doesn't say how frequently he climbs, or how long he's been climbing, so its hard to formulate an exact recommendation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just feeling a tremendous amount of lower-grade soreness, try reducing the numbers of days a week you climb.  I have friends that can climb hard 6 days a week, but I set myself up for an injury if I climb (hard) more than 3-4.  When I started climbing, I was only able to climb 2 or 3 days a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like other people said, building more open hand strength will help you minimize how often you need to crimp, but that &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; be a long term change, and regardless of your climbing level, your body still needs a chance to recover from rough workouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-01-08T17:47:47.737" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T17:47:47.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2012-12-19T22:37:02.140" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personal anecdotal experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;hard cheese:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;lasts about a week in cool climate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;boiled eggs:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;lasts 3 (maybe up to 5 days) before they start to get weird&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;unboiled eggs:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have never even thought of taking them backpacking, but I know they are safe for two weeks unrefrigerated. (This might be a joke to try to carry with you though?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;hummus:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;about a week, unrefrigerated&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2012-12-19T22:37:02.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3396" CreationDate="2012-12-21T06:10:34.190" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that the best material is the same as you backpack is made of, though you may want something tougher if you are planning more scrambling over granite boulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a plenty of Cordura varieties which will meet your requirements. Make sure to choose waterproof Cordura (with a waterproof glistening film on one side, which will be the inner side of your patch).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind, that when it comes to applying force (not friction), the least sturdy part counts, so technically you can't make it more sturdy than original material. To make it equally strong as it was before, you should&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose patch material not weaker than original material&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose nylon thread, which is NOT stronger, than both original and new materials (otherwise it will rip the weaker material like a knife).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sew together the two materials overlapped, avoid passing thread through 1 layer of the material (see #2). Usually more stitches of thiner thread is better than few stitches of thicker one (look at your harness where this principle is demonstrated in its extreme).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The patch should obviously be bigger than the hole and maybe you'll want to overstitch the edges of both the hole and the patch to prevent them from raveling out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and please use a thimble to push the needle and prepare some pliers to pull it out, if you are sewing manually: cordura is really hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2012-12-21T06:10:34.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2012-12-21T12:04:24.513" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wish I was still in Yosemite for this one. I used to climb with some fairly well known climbers back in the day, &quot;Big Wall Pete&quot; Takeda, the Parker Brothers, even happened on Peter Croft after he taught a class and we climbed for about 45 minutes. Big Wall used to work for &quot;Climbing&quot; and did a number of photo shoots, I know how they get the pictures from above and away from the rock using bivouac style set ups, but I never asked about taking the big cameras up. We used to take cheaper cameras up. We would tape a loop on them, throw a biner on it and drag it up that way. Almost always wrapped in a protective padded bag attached separately. If you drag it behind you and in its own case, it is easier to get to than say in the center of your food bag. Just remember that the camera is never to come un-clipped. You could rig up something with a 6' sling attached to the back of your harness and then a second carabiner closer to the camera and clip it to say your hip, with a camera bag for protection. This will give you quicker access, if that is an issue, but at the cost of being in the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest reason why we stopped taking cameras up had more to do with the relatively lame angles you get from taking it from another climber's perspective. Either you get their feet or the top of their head. To get better shots, you need a separate team climbing ahead with bivouac gear to push you away from the rock, this will give you a lot better angle to shoot from. And if you are going to be taking a DSLR, I am guessing you are a lot more serious about the shots, so you might want to look into getting that set up figured out. For quicker and easier shots, you can lock off and stand horizontal off the rock. This is easier, and more of an angle than just hanging, but might not bring justice to taking a DSLR up the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="664" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-12-21T12:36:08.123" LastActivityDate="2012-12-21T12:36:08.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3413" CreationDate="2012-12-21T22:08:55.780" Score="11" ViewCount="1444" Body="&lt;p&gt;My spouse and I are going for 3-weeks vacation on the southern island of New Zealand. We intend to go for one multi-day trek (the Kepler Track), and a few more day treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do we need water-resistant (e.g. Goretex) shoes for the trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" OwnerDisplayName="Adam Matan" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:38:31.330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:38:31.330" Title="Water-resistant shoes for Trekking in New Zealand" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2012-12-22T17:44:15.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I avoid water-resistant shoes for hiking since they trap moisture (your sweat) in as well as out.  Kinda depends on hiking style, too - if you're ultralighting then you'd probably want trail-running shoes that breath and dry quickly as you walk.  See &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventuresportsjournal.com/hiking/ray-jardine-and-the-revolution-of-lightweight-wilderness-travel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ray J.'s advice&lt;/a&gt;.  They're light enough that people often carry a second pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another factor is weather - a bit of rain is no big deal, but if you're tramping through snow, then I'd think you'd want some water-resistant regardless of your style.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally wear &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acmeclimbing.com/ProductImages/chaco/redrocklithiclg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Chaco RedRock&lt;/a&gt; shoes.  They're heavier than running shoes (about 16oz each), but they hold up well and have the high arches I need.  Unfortunately, they take too long to dry, but it's usually not a huge deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're conventional heavy-pack you'll probably want ankle support, which means boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you get, do some trail walking in them before you go.  Boots need break-in, and hiking in shoes means you want to strengthen your ankles before you go.  Good arch support that matches your foot will help avoid ankle sprains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2012-12-22T17:44:15.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2012-12-22T23:15:25.033" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a big fan of the low ankle water resistant Salomon fell-running shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Gore-Tex allows moisture and sweat to escape rapidly, and when worn with wicking socks they actually work well to keep your feet dry and sweat-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do most of my hiking in Scotland, which is on a par with New Zealand for precipitation - I would definitely recommend water resistant fell runners, along with multiple pairs of socks. You will be much more comfortable, will have less chafing and blisters and generally be much more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2012-12-22T23:15:25.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2012-12-23T15:46:41.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think about whether it really matters if your feet stay dry.  Will this be in warm enough weather when trenchfoot and frostbite are not problems?  If so, the simplest answer may be to let the feet get wet.  Wet or damp feet by themselves is not really a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do most of my hiking in New England where it can rain any time on short notice, and soggy ground and stream crossings are common.  I realized a long time ago that it is simpler, less stressful, and actually more comfortable in the long run to simply accept the fact that water is going to get into the shoes at some point during a hike in warm weather.  It is simpler because ordinary running shoes are fine.  Less stressfull because you stop worrying about tip-toeing around puddles and how to get accross streams without getting wet.  It is more comfotable in the long run because the smaller and lighter shoes outweighs the feeling of wet feet that some may find bothersome.  The latter is simply a mindset issue, so is something under your own control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have shoes that let water in, they will also let water out readily.  If your feet can breath, then wetness by itself is really not a problem - again assuming warm conditions.  If you are going on a longer hike, bring some extra socks and change them frequently.  You can have a couple of pairs of socks drying while you are wearing a third, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2012-12-23T15:46:41.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2012-12-24T22:46:28.537" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking for multiple days you will likely encounter scenarios that you will get wet feet regardless of the footwear you are using. My experience with Goretex footwear is the same as most fellow hikers I know: Goretex footwear can delay your feet getting wet but it cannot prevent it altogether. The important question is: What is your strategy once your footwear is wet? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having your feet wet for extended periods of time can become a serious problem on the trail. In my experience, Goretex shoes do not help in avoiding those situations. The drying time of Goretex footwear is usually higher then quick dry shoes. Because of their long drying time  quick drying shoes are often preferred for long treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past I have accelerated the drying of my Goretex footwear by using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/towel.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;pack towels&lt;/a&gt; to accelerate the drying process once it stops raining for example. If I`m lucky enough to hit a town then stuffing news paper in the shoe works wonders. Rotating a few pair of socks also helps a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend buying Goretex shoes or water resistant shoes for your trip. They tend to be more false-hype then usefulness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2012-12-24T22:46:28.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3420" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-25T09:13:44.060" Score="7" ViewCount="1925" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have bought a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=north%20faceroad%20runner%203#hl=en&amp;amp;tbo=d&amp;amp;spell=1&amp;amp;q=north%20face%20roadrunner%203&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=nWnZUPTIN6TL0AXxrYGQCg&amp;amp;ved=0CDQQvwUoAA&amp;amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&amp;amp;bvm=bv.1355534169,d.d2k&amp;amp;fp=b3563551dbd44492&amp;amp;bpcl=40096503&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=643&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Face RoadRunner 3 tent&lt;/a&gt; 10 years ago. It is a great tent, and it served me well during a 9-month trip to South America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/05dpg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that the transparent part of the rain cover - the so-called &quot;window&quot; - has disintegrated, and now there is a nice hole instead of a window:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3tuXQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MMOL1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, the tent is perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I patch the missing part? I don't it to be transparent, just water-proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:50.040" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:31:50.040" Title="Repairing a North Face Tent rain cover" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3421" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2012-12-26T00:08:10.283" Score="6" ViewCount="215" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be traveling for five months and am in need of a good pair of shoes. The terrain I will cross will be Canadian urban village snow, city, forests, and desert. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend recommended the La Sportiva Ghanda, however an expert opinion would be nice, preferably, I am looking for a shoe and not a boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1968" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T02:28:59.593" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T02:28:59.593" Title="What type of shoes would be adequate for varied terrains over a period of months?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2012-12-26T01:13:40.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO, you should get some waterproof shoes/boots for a multi-day trek on this specific trip.  I'm inclined to give more weight to the Scottish respondent since I think their typical weather is likely similar to what you will experience in NZ.  Lightweight, breathable shoes are great in warm weather with low humidity and little precipitation, but they are miserable if you don't have a chance to dry them out (i.e. if the air is cold and/or moist).  I did an 8-day hike in southern Chile with my trail-runners and after the second day had developed blisters on both feet (this was with intermittent rain and several stream crossings each day, with moist air in the mid-50's), my buddy in waterproof boots was fine for the whole trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's only a comfort issue for you, and your trek is only a few days, then I'm not sure that it matters one way or the other.  If this is a 9 day trek with lots of elevation/climate change, I think you should really consider getting waterproof boots, and maybe getting some conservatively styled models to maximize their utility (disco, anyone?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="711" LastActivityDate="2012-12-26T01:13:40.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3424" CreationDate="2012-12-26T05:05:09.097" Score="14" ViewCount="976" Body="&lt;p&gt;I mostly hike in bear country, which limits how much food I can take to the volume of my bear canister. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1609/a-list-of-suitable-foods-for-a-long-hike&quot;&gt;This excellent question&lt;/a&gt; dealt with foods that are great on a trip where food-selection criteria do not include limited space or a vegetarian diet. I am interested in what dried vegetarian foods have the highest ratio of calories to volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a dehydrator, so don't feel like you have to limit answers to store-bought foods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2012-12-26T15:39:14.917" Title="What dried vegetarian foods have the highest ratio of calories to volume?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3423" CreationDate="2012-12-26T06:21:57.573" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://theoutsideout.blogspot.ca/?m=1&quot;&gt;The Out Side Out&lt;/a&gt; blog by Reiner Thoni (&lt;a href=&quot;http://theoutsideout.blogspot.ca/2012/12/fast-and-light-plant-based-nutrition.html?m=1&quot;&gt;&quot;Fast and Light&quot; Plant Based Nutrition for Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;) has quite a bit of detail on this, and goes well into the details of a balanced diet and some options for variety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is quoted verbatim:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carbohydrates - replacing the glycogen reserves - 4cal/gram&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lets start with &lt;strong&gt;Couscous&lt;/strong&gt;, it packs easy, is more nutritious then&#xA;  pasta and prepares instantly making it a corner stone carbohydrate for&#xA;  replacing glycogen reserves in the muscles.  When on longer trips&#xA;  where variety is important or with people who are gluten&#xA;  intolerant/celiac steamed quinoa and millet also work but are more&#xA;  expensive and not as readily available.  Western couscous variety's&#xA;  are pre steamed so you just need to add hot water and wait 5 min. &#xA;  Casbah sells flavored variety's in 7 oz (200g) bags/box's with flavors&#xA;  like, &lt;strong&gt;Lemon Spinach, Wild Forest Mushroom, Roasted Garlic and Olive&#xA;  Oil or Nuts, Currants and Spice&lt;/strong&gt;.  These are organic, simple but&#xA;  healthy meals that you can purchase for under 5 dollars and all that&#xA;  is lacking when compared to freeze dried packaged dinners is a bunch&#xA;  of ingredients that you cant pronounce plus the extra dollars.  Its no&#xA;  wonder Conrad Ankor said couscous, couscous, cousous and more couscous&#xA;  when asked what he was eating for dinner on there 12 day assault of&#xA;  the sharks fin on Meru Central's (6310m) massive east face wall.  Put&#xA;  simply it works....  Add organic freeze dried packages of &lt;strong&gt;mashed&#xA;  potatoes&lt;/strong&gt; for variety and difference in consistency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now your probably wondering... right just eat couscous with some&#xA;  potatoes and you will be prancing up the mountain.  Well to be honest&#xA;  you have 1/3 of what you need and are missing complete proteins,&#xA;  certain fats and vital minerals and vitamins.  Like an orchestra you&#xA;  need all your members in order to realize the magic.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proteins - rebuilding and sustained energy 4cal/gram&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All the food mentioned in this blog post will contain a certain amount&#xA;  of protein but to ensure complete proteins and enough to aid in&#xA;  recovery I like to fix up a special bag.  Garden of life makes an&#xA;  exceptional organic &lt;strong&gt;Raw sprouted protein&lt;/strong&gt; that with its natural&#xA;  enzymes makes its very easy to digest.  Also added are sprouts, cereal&#xA;  grass juices, fruits, spirulina, chlorella along with probiotics,&#xA;  fat-soluble vitamins and minerals.  This makes it a very special bag&#xA;  that supports your nutrition in many ways while remaining extremely&#xA;  light.  To bulk it up a little I sometimes add &lt;strong&gt;hemp seeds&lt;/strong&gt; which&#xA;  are also high in complete proteins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fats 9cal/gram&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fat is vital to our survival and is the highest calorie to weight food&#xA;  component so its definitely a key part of the package.  During a bout&#xA;  of low intensity exercise of long duration fatty acid oxidation can&#xA;  contribute 50per cent of the energy expenditure.  The rest of the&#xA;  energy must come from carbs and the higher the intensity the more&#xA;  carbs are needed.  Luckily a large part of mountaineering is low&#xA;  intensity and high fat foods can be readily utilized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;My go to fat is &lt;strong&gt;nuts&lt;/strong&gt; and I like to take a variety of organic nuts&#xA;  to take advantage of each unique nutrient profile.  Filling a ziplock&#xA;  bag with &lt;strong&gt;brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and&#xA;  filberts&lt;/strong&gt; you have a quick and easy fat source.  Because most nuts&#xA;  are high in omega 6 fatty acids (inflammatory)  I like to balance it&#xA;  out with chia seeds which are in turn very high in omega 3 ( anti&#xA;  inflammatory). Chia seeds are normally added to my &quot; special bag&quot;. &#xA;  Another fat that I take along is coconut oil to add to my soups and&#xA;  dinners improving the taste and aroma while adding a few extra&#xA;  calories. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Minerals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I love making hot soup and taking a pack of 6 organic veggie bouillon&#xA;  cubs it supplies you with a tone of minerals.  Add some spinach&#xA;  couscous and coconut oil improving texture and more flavor.  I also&#xA;  like to take rock salt to add to food and water for improved hydration&#xA;  and taste.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vitamins&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Testing many brands I find it very important to find a multi vitamin&#xA;  that is raw with enzymes to allow maximum absorption.  GOL seems to&#xA;  put the most emphasis on maximum absorption and has a couple products&#xA;  that meet up to the test, Living Multi along with the perfect food&#xA;  greens formula.  I also like to take Wobenzum to help ensure joint&#xA;  health especially for those long descents with big packs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Additional &lt;strong&gt;well balanced foods&lt;/strong&gt; 60-70% carb, 15-20% fat, 15-20%&#xA;  protein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For breakfast I turn to Oatmeal and to avoid starting the stove up in&#xA;  the morning I prepare it the night before and let it soak over night&#xA;  in a sealed container inside the bivi.  Containing 70% carbs 15% fat&#xA;  15% protein it is well balanced but I like to add some special bag mix&#xA;  to it and let it all soak together for improved taste and nutrition. &#xA;  Raisins and nuts are also a great addition.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lunch time doesn't really exist while on the mountain as it's&#xA;  important to fuel the body consistently through out the day.  I fill&#xA;  my chest pockets with &lt;strong&gt;GOL living food bars&lt;/strong&gt; I like to eat about 1/2&#xA;  a bar per hour.  Sweetened with honey they contain powerful&#xA;  antioxidants with antiseptic and antibacterial properties and along&#xA;  with many other organic wholesome ingredients &lt;strong&gt;(including Fiber)&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  they make for a perfect go to bar that sits well in the stomach and&#xA;  keeps you regular.  When the opportunity arises to put the pack down I&#xA;  will eat some nuts and even whip up a quick batch of soup if there is&#xA;  enough time.  I always keep a couple emergency gels in my waist pocket&#xA;  on my pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finally for further hydration and immunity boost I like to brew up&#xA;  some echinacea tea with rock salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2012-12-26T06:21:57.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3423" CreationDate="2012-12-26T15:39:14.917" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Peanut butter has good calories. Dried beans are good too though they take a long time to prep and cook. You can home dry any vegetable - carrots, tomatoes, corn, mushrooms etc. I also take tomato leathers - mix canned tomato sauce and paste then prep like a fruit leather - and add to boiling water to make tomato sauce. I believe you can also buy dried TVP which you can use everywhere people use ground beef, and it's lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet for space is to take ingredients rather than products. Flour takes up less room than the pancakes or dumplings or english muffins you would make from it. I don't make fresh pasta in the wilderness though, I just bring dried pasta from the store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done trips of a week or more with four adults and five children where we had to keep all our food in canisters and we didn't adjust what food we took to be especially small or dense. Your constraints may not actually be that bad. Try some test packing and see whether you really have an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2012-12-26T15:39:14.917" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3420" CreationDate="2012-12-27T16:00:56.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're going for sealing, just stitch some silnylon over it with a sewing machine and seam seal it.  I would recommend sewing two rows as they did, one in the middle of their two, and one an equal distance to the outside of the two existing.  The first of the two should provide strong support due to the layering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you use some fabric on the back side as well to help prevent tearing along the new seam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2012-12-27T19:02:25.087" LastActivityDate="2012-12-27T19:02:25.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2012-12-27T20:00:50.447" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Re: tent size and down sleeping bags&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the bigger the tent is the more energy it takes to warm it up.  You want a balance between space (to move around in) and energy here, so probably not something you can stand up in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your sleeping bag should be fairly close fitting (i.e. not a rectangular bag). Same reasoning here as in #1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be careful how much stuff you put on top of a down sleeping bag as this will compress the down and make it less effective.  One exception is a bivy or waterproof liner outside of the bag (for rain/snow/etc).  Bag liners that go inside the bag can add 5-10 degrees F.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="711" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2012-12-27T23:55:11.367" LastActivityDate="2012-12-27T23:55:11.367" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3421" CreationDate="2012-12-29T07:34:14.223" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear and love Keen's. My wife and I discovered them last year. Before that, we were pretty big into Merrell's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;oe=UTF8&amp;amp;msa=0&amp;amp;msid=209842873476197654858.0004d1f8a044aa190e5b5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;back woods of Northern Ontario&lt;/a&gt; and pretty much spent my time outdoors hiking, camping, canoeing, backpacking, swimming, etc. Given that is the terrain you are talking about (think boreal), I would totally go with Keen's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are going to be spending a lot of time hiking in a pair of boots, here are the things that I am particularly interested in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost is build quality. If you are going to be investing in a great pair of outdoor shoes, don't skimp. You only have one pair of feet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second is weight. You think you're a champ right now, but when you've been hiking all day, nothing stinks worse than extra weight on your feet. Finding a balance between durable build quality and weight can be tricky business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Coverage. Let's face it. Where I grew up in Northern Ontario (north of Sault Ste. Marie) the mosquito might as well be the provincial bird. Between them and black flies, you definitely want to be covered up. Bug bites on your feet are second only to around or inside of your ears. Make sure your gear protects you as best as it can from bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good in water. Make sure you get shoes that are good at wicking out moisture to help keep your feet dry. The weight thing plays in here too in the event that you need to swim in your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arch and ankle support. Pay for it. Your feet and ankles will thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weather appropriate. Few things are more miserable than not being appropriately dressed for the weather.  Remember, no one cares how you look if you are dead in the bush. Fashion plays second fiddle to functionality. If you are going to be doing this in the winter, don't wear shoes. Get a pair of good boots like Sorels. I wore &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sorel.com/Men%27s-Alpha-Pac%E2%84%A2-Boot/NM1485,default,pd.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpha Pacs&lt;/a&gt; all growing up and love the heck out of them. If you are going in the fall or spring, make sure your footwear is waterproof and rides a reasonable distance up your calf.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All my American friends from college had this idea that Canadians were somehow made for inclement weather. Truth is, when you are doing things outdoors you need to dress for the weather. Hope that helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1977" LastActivityDate="2012-12-29T07:34:14.223" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3429" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3705" CreationDate="2012-12-30T09:25:52.723" Score="24" ViewCount="804" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love sailing, and my wife loves the ocean, but she gets sea-sick often.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Any advice on how to avoid sea-sickness in people prone to it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for advice in terms of foods that are less of an issue to digest, where to sit in the boat, boat types that rock less, etc...&#xA;Drugs are not an option in this case since my wife is breastfeeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please leave the answers currently posted, as they may be helpful to others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:02.170" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:58:02.170" Title="How to minimize sea sickness?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2012-12-30T10:40:47.563" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother suffers from every form of travel sickness, and the only solutions she has found that help to ameliorate the symptoms (if not actually remove them entirely) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drugs: specifically &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/MedicineOverview.aspx?medicine=Stugeron%2015&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stugeron&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bracelets: I am a bit skeptical of these, &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/154/619&quot;&gt;as is Skeptics.SE&lt;/a&gt;, but they seem to work for her. Example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biobands.com/motionsickness/bracelet.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I feel at all queasy in really heavy seas (ie the middle of the South Atlantic in a storm) I find that being on deck with good visibility of the sea surface (and possibly the horizon) helps me feel better almost immediately. The reasoning behind this solution is that it removes the confusion between your inner ear and eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt; in terms of position on deck, being seated as close as possible to the centre of mass of the boat helps, as you will move least. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:46.800" LastActivityDate="2013-01-06T23:21:58.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3432" CreationDate="2012-12-30T21:38:58.093" Score="7" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have currently no place of permanent perspective (from the geocache's point of view, I think it should be about 5 years, to be able to service cache in that time). So I'm thinking about creating the series of &lt;strong&gt;mobile caches&lt;/strong&gt;. Of course, those caches can be created in &lt;strong&gt;OpenCaching&lt;/strong&gt; only. And in Germany (the place I temporarily live in) it happens to be so, that &lt;strong&gt;GeoCaching&lt;/strong&gt; is much more popular (not to say, dominant). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'm wondering if it is really a good idea to plant such mobile caches in the geocaches registered in GeoCaching.com. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm taking into account the following issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how would the finder react to mobile cache, let's say in form of U-Ei? Would he/she know what to do with that (log in and, preferably, move to new location)? Or it is the risk that the cache would be thrown away as thrash?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how would the cache owner react to such planting? Could it be considered rude or offensive?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;are there any objections, in general, against OpenCaching that make that portal so unpopular in Germany?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The preferable answer should address all the issues above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2012-12-31T17:49:42.880" Title="Would it be acceptable to plant OC's mobile cache into GC's caches?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3431" CreationDate="2012-12-31T13:10:07.257" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think OpenCaching is unpopular in Germany, just that GeoCaching.com seems to be the de facto portal in most regions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you mean a tag or chip that you pop in an existing cache with the intent that it be moved by the next visitor to the cache, I can't see a problem with that - it's pretty common the world over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just need to ensure that the mobile cache has brief instructions provided, for those who haven't seen one before. Ideally a URL and an ID number should be all that is required, but a brief comment to say what it is may be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2012-12-31T17:49:42.880" LastActivityDate="2012-12-31T17:49:42.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3433" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3434" CreationDate="2012-12-31T14:32:47.340" Score="15" ViewCount="26490" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the last few months I have come to the conclusion that I need to have a fingerboard at home if my climbing is to get to the next level.&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dMiow.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;generic fingerboard image&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But the problem is that I live in an apartment. &lt;strong&gt;How can I mount a fingerboard in an apartment?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What options are there in an apartment to mount a fingerboard without definitely losing my security deposit? The goal will be to spend a lot of time hanging off of this thing, so it will need to be very reliable bearing my weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been assuming I NEED to mount this to the wall permanently. Is there another option? Is there an inexpensive way to build a free-standing structure for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-12-02T22:50:41.703" LastActivityDate="2013-12-02T22:50:41.703" Title="How do I mount a hangboard in an apartment?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3433" CreationDate="2012-12-31T15:36:43.917" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a few options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't worry about the lease&lt;/strong&gt; and accept the fact that you may lose your security deposit.  You can take the board down before you move out, spackle over the holes, and hope the landlord doesn't notice.  I live in the US, and that seems to be the preferred option here.  Everyone I know who has a hangboard has done this, and they seem to get away with it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Build a system board, and mount the hangboard to the top&lt;/strong&gt;.  You can build a freestanding structure like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moonclimbing.com/blog/school/build-your-own-moon-board/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, and mount a hangboard to the top.  I don't have a design handy, but a friend of mine build a variation of this design where there was space to mount the hangboard on top. This would take up a large amount of floorspace, and be the most expensive option.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use another product:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Metolius Rock Rings&lt;/strong&gt;: You could suspend a pair of Metolius Rock Rings from a doorjam mounted pull-up bar, like in this &lt;a href=&quot;http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/naitcherboi/RockRings1.jpg&quot;&gt;this picture&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blank Slate board&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blankslateclimbing.com/shop/item/blank-slate/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;  its another hangboard from a different company, but it comes attached to its own removable doorjamb mounted frame.  I've never actually used one, just seen them advertised.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-27T15:36:09.500" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T15:36:09.500" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1387" CreationDate="2013-01-01T00:19:58.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good point..I have taken a safety and sanitation class as well, however the bacteria will produce at higher rates at higher temperature levels in this zone, so it does help. Tons of people in Africa use this cooler every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1980" LastActivityDate="2013-01-01T00:19:58.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3437" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-01T11:22:01.013" Score="6" ViewCount="1914" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife are around 30 years old. We are experienced trekkers (South America, Israel and Nepal), but in average-or-less physical shape - we're working in offices most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have booked three nights in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Track&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kepler track&lt;/a&gt;. Unfortunately, Luxmore Hut was full, so we have a very long day between Brod Bay and Iris Burn Hut:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xoPJL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the height profile:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crBHE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it reasonable to walk from Brod Bay to Iris Burn Hut (approx. 22.8 km) in one long day?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image credit: New Zealand's marvelous &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/fiordland/eastern-fiordland/kepler-track/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Department of Conservation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-03T18:55:54.397" LastActivityDate="2015-02-17T06:15:21.877" Title="Kepler Track: Brod Bay to Iris Burn Hut in one day?" Tags="&lt;new-zealand&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3437" CreationDate="2013-01-02T15:30:22.290" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In average to less than average physical shape, I'd say that is pushing it a bit.  There is a serious incline followed by a steep decline, which are going to slow you down.  It's going to make for a very long day.  If everything goes well 10 to 11 hours, if you don't stop for breaks or lunch.  If you are in less than average health then you will probably need breaks.  The greatest concern for me would be risking the downhill in the dark.  If you do run late and into the night, downhill becomes much more dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to your fitness level, it's also important to let us know the total weight of the gear, which will make a difference.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasonable is a matter of perspective, but I would plan on a long grueling day, probably finishing after dark (for someone at your level).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-02T16:22:21.123" LastActivityDate="2013-01-02T16:22:21.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3437" CreationDate="2013-01-02T16:16:43.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you do some local training hikes on similar terrain before heading out there?  That will give you a good idea of what your capabilities are.  Even if you don't have similar terrain, you could creatively use what you have.  In other words, I have a local park with 250-foot hill climbs.  If I know my target hike will have a couple 1000-foot climbs, I could do 8 laps on the local hills to get a rough idea of what I'm in for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-01-02T16:16:43.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3441" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3447" CreationDate="2013-01-02T17:42:37.473" Score="14" ViewCount="770" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm preparing to go on my first ever backpacking trip and do not have a suitable sleeping bag. What are the factors I should consider when choosing one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I'm looking for the best value I can find and don't plan to do any extreme trips with this gear. The trip I'm going on will be three nights and I would expect most trips I take in the future will only be one or two nights. The overnight lows are only supposed to be around 45 degrees F where I'm going, but I'd like to be able to use this bag down to about 35 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on my research so far it seems the biggest factors are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;warmth, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compressed volume, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight, and &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;price. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen people mention that if you want to be comfortable in 35 degree weather you should get a bag rated for 20. As far as size and weight go, I have no idea what is considered good and where the law of diminishing returns really kicks in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1982" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:15:42.493" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:15:42.493" Title="What are the key factors when choosing a sleeping bag for backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3441" CreationDate="2013-01-02T18:22:31.440" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've hit most of the important factors.  Also, you might see if you can borrow one for your first trip to see what you like/don't like about the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you buy, you need to decide what kind of fill you want - synthetic or goose down.  They have different characteristics, and you'll want to decide what's important to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have different ideas about what constitutes an acceptable weight.  I use a goose-down Jacks-Or-Better quilt that weighs about a pound or so, but it wouldn't be unusual for someone to carry a bag that's a couple pounds or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-01-02T18:22:31.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3441" CreationDate="2013-01-02T22:07:41.680" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you've covered all the factors except shape. The shape is either rectangular or tapered at the feet (aka mummy).  Tapering means less weight and less space to heat with your body, but also a bit less freedom of movement.  Rectangular sleeping bags can often be connected together, which is good if you're a couple and want to share body heat (amongst other things).  A recent trend started by Nemo is offering &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nemosleepingbags.com/tango/&quot;&gt;sleeping bags with a bit of extra room in the knees&lt;/a&gt; so that you can shift easier while sleeping and change your underwear without having to get out of bed (more important than you think!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for a sleeping bag for shoulder/winter seasons then also make sure that it has a hood/flap that goes around your head.  This will allow more heat to be retained within the sleeping bag and keep your neck/head from being exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many technical sleeping bags offer a tiny pocket near the top of the zipper which allows you to store a watch/phone/etc. for easy access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, remember that you can add layering to a sleeping bag via liners on the inside (fleece, synthetic, silk or wool) or via a bivy/goretex sack on the outside (less common).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-01-02T22:07:41.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2013-01-02T23:51:18.587" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimenhydrinate&quot;&gt;Dimenhydrinate&lt;/a&gt; (popularly known as Gravol in Canada and as Dramamine, Driminate, Gravamin, Vomex, and Vertirosan in the USA) is an over-the-counter drug used to prevent nausea and motion sickness that's considered highly effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, I was constantly throwing up on boats in South East Asia until I started taking gravol. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-01-02T23:51:18.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3441" CreationDate="2013-01-03T04:12:10.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key factors are going to vary from person to person. You'll ultimately have to decide for yourself what's more important. As far as warmth goes, that's going to depend on where you are going, and how well your body handles the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like you noticed, sleeping bags fall into one of those classic triangle patterns with the other factors you listed: Cheap, Warm, Lightweight/small size - Pick two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, I believe that the process of selection for a sleeping bag goes material, then warmth, then price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Material choice is basically down vs synthetic. For a down and synthetic sleeping bag with equivalent ratings, the down bags will generally be more expensive, lighter weight, and pack smaller. If you are backpacking in places it can get below freezing, down seems to be the only suitable choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, down is superior in all aspects except for two: it's more expensive, and if it gets wet, it's pretty much completely useless until it dries. Synthetic bags will still keep you warm if they are wet, while after frosty night in a wet down sleeping bag, you might never wake up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I find the packed volume to be more important than the weight difference. A down sleeping bag is often smaller than it is lighter relative to a similar synthetic. I have both a synthetic and down sleeping bag. My synthetic weights 2 kg, while the down sleeping bag weighs about 1.3kg. The synthetic bag cost a hair over half as much as the down, $139 on sale vs $260. However, the synthetic bag takes up a massive 35L packed, nearly half my pack! The down bag on the other hand, I can cram into a 8 liter compression sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are synthetic bags that can be more reasonably compressed, but then they approach the cost of the down bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a material choice, generally the colder you go, or the smaller you go, the more expensive it will be. You'll have to decide where the tradeoff is between size or warmth and price. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For the OP specifically&lt;/strong&gt; I think for the 35-45 range, you should be able to find a suitable synthetic sleeping bag that doesn't occupy too much of your pack. I am heavily biased from going on many trips where getting down to 10-30F is fairly frequent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, you can also buy yourself 5-10 degrees F or so of extra warmth with a sleeping bag liner, along with the added bonus that they protect your sleeping bag from getting filthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-01-03T04:12:10.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3441" CreationDate="2013-01-03T22:29:42.953" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warmth&lt;/strong&gt; -- This is after all why you are buying the bag.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1284/how-are-sleeping-bag-temperature-ratings-determined&quot;&gt;Not all bags rated for the same temperature will provide the same warmth&lt;/a&gt;.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fit&lt;/strong&gt; -- A bag that fits you closely, but not tightly, will provide better insulation and is more comfortable in my view.  For this reason I prefer mummy bags.  Rectangle bags will provide more movement room, but will generally be heavier and colder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; -- Depending on how far you are hiking, the weight may matter anywhere from a lot, to hardly at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fill Material&lt;/strong&gt; -- Down or Synthetic.  Down will generally compress more and offer more warmth for the weight, while synthetic will cost less and handle damp better.  Look out when buying down bags, as I have noticed a lot of bags lately using duck down instead of goose down.  Duck down is not as warm as goose down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Performence when wet&lt;/strong&gt; -- While down compresses better, it is not known for it's warmth when soaking wet.  In high humidity situations, or in any case where you are concerned about your bag getting soaked, you may prefer synthetic fill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compression&lt;/strong&gt; -- This is a function of your other gear.  I have a very small pack which will not fit any bag that does not pack down to a pretty small size.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't list cost because I approach it from the &quot;determine what I need, then find one that fits my budget&quot; approach.  That often means buying sales or second hand.  The price tag on my bag is not a factor in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2013-01-04T16:32:32.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3448" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3450" CreationDate="2013-01-04T17:17:14.873" Score="10" ViewCount="1780" Body="&lt;p&gt;I already asked &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3179/winter-food-should-i-change-my-habits-for-winter&quot;&gt;if I had to change the food for winter&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since freezing is a major concern in winter, which types of food are more suitable because they are less inclined to freeze ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-01-13T20:53:53.463" Title="Winter food: which types of food are less inclined to freeze?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3449" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3452" CreationDate="2013-01-04T17:37:45.697" Score="5" ViewCount="145" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/724/what-do-i-need-to-be-aware-of-if-im-considering-purchasing-a-personal-locator-b&quot;&gt;question was already asked&lt;/a&gt; about personal locator beacons (PLB, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; which is a great comprehensive article.) However it does not cover how to choose a PLB or the differences between the cheapest and most expensive models. When I am browsing the models on the net they all look the same, but prices start at $200 and goes as high as $500.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are the criteria that should be taken in consideration ? (weight, supported temperatures, pressure, frequency used, etc..) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is buying the most expensive a better deal on the long run ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:15:52.803" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:15:52.803" Title="What are the criteria that should be taken in consideration when buying a PLB?" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3448" CreationDate="2013-01-04T20:25:43.233" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big guideline for you will be water content. Dried food, with little or no water, won't freeze. Fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, peanut butter and so on probably will. In most cases, freezing will hurt the quality (consider a raw egg, raw apple, or raw carrot) and certainly repeated freeze-thaw cycles will do so. Your dried meat, fruit and veg should be happy even if you store them very cold. You'll need to boil water to rehydrate your dried food, but you're probably quite willing to eat hot food so you may not consider this a negative. Rice, dried pasta, and flour also fall into the &quot;don't freeze&quot; group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some foods, btw, are more suitable simply because they do freeze. If you can afford the weight, foods like bacon, partly dried sausage (salami etc), cheese, even steaks can be carried without spoiling and cooked from frozen, or defrosted with tricks like sitting them on a ziploc of warm water. Bread products won't go moldy and are probably less likely to get squashed than they are in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to adjust your fuel needs to account for more rehydrating and cooking than you'd have on a summer trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-01-04T20:25:43.233" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2013-01-04T21:21:28.410" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Solarcaine, which contains a local anesthetic, on both mosquito bites and sunburn. Just don't get any in your eye, nose, or other tender areas. It's sold for sunburn relief but works just as well for preventing itching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2obDN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's readily available in Canada and &lt;a href=&quot;http://drugline.org/drug/medicament/21480/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; lists some brand names around the world for the same active ingredient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-01-04T21:21:28.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3449" CreationDate="2013-01-04T22:46:30.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your criteria are all good, in that you should choose one that is suitable for the environments you will be adventuring in, but price is almost irrelevant, and unless you are hiking really long distances weight wouldn't worry me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, critical features would include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;battery life&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;signal range and coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water resistance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;temperature resistance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-01-05T12:45:22.880" LastActivityDate="2013-01-05T12:45:22.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3455" CreationDate="2013-01-05T00:34:01.137" Score="17" ViewCount="34770" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winter is here and, like every year, I am still thrilled when the extended family rounds up all the little kids and we go sledding. This year we compared our sleds and found that some were significantly faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the fastest style of gravity/human-powered sled?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are inner tubes faster than regular sleds? Are those little plastic discs the fastest? How about the old-fashioned wooden sleds with metal runners?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you ask: yes, I am an adult. Yes, I also like skiing. And yes, I know sledding is not a real sport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No judgements!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-12-09T19:03:52.523" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T14:37:18.270" Title="What is the fastest style of sled?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2013-01-05T01:13:21.993" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning!&lt;/strong&gt; I am not a medical professional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I asked my favorite doctor and she seemed to think it would be okay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She said rust would just look like iron to your body and it would be consumed like food. So, I guess it is broadly safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She also said that she wouldn't do it under any circumstances.  If the container is rusting so extensively you swallow sharp flakes of metal, you can die really horribly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2019-03-26T23:34:01.460" LastActivityDate="2019-03-26T23:34:01.460" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-01-05T15:14:26.987" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If all you want is to go fast, look for something with ridges or raised runners on the bottom so it will have less snow contact. However you may find it hard to steer - it will pretty much just go straight down the hill unless you lean wildly, which may cause you to fall over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/isAxi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;plastic sled&quot;&gt; $20&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The discs are more controllable (in a wild crazy omg I'm flying down a hill kind of way) and perhaps more fun since what you do affects your ride. Ditto the &quot;crazy carpets&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWEO9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;disc&quot;&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4UHqM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;crazy carpet&quot;&gt; ($5 each)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do try lying face down on your ride of choice (ala skeleton) for both a faster feel and more control. If your mother isn't watching, work on starting out by putting the sled on the ground, stepping back from it a few paces, then running toward it and launching yourself onto it face first to start your run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big wooden things with the curl at the front (toboggans, though some people use the word for any kind of sled) are best for piling 5 or 6 people onto and then all falling off in a tangled heap when you try to turn a corner of any kind. While this is fun, it's offset by the hassle of dragging such a heavy thing back up the hill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XsIsw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;toboggan&quot;&gt; $100 or more&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The multipart constructions with seats, turnable skis, etc are similarly a pain to carry back up. I haven't tried the foam boards yet, but they look expensive and I'm not sure what the benefit is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion: go to a Canadian Tire (or your local equivalent) and buy a selection of cheap lightweight plastic things: a disc, a rectangle that looks like two kids could sit in it, a carpet, etc (and if there are several of you then get several styles of rectangle) - spend about $30-$40 per person and then throw all that at a hill and find out what you like. If you're on a public hill, you can always give your &quot;rejected&quot; sleds to random other hill-visitors, who often show up in a group that has more people than sleds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-01-05T15:39:51.647" LastActivityDate="2013-01-05T15:39:51.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-01-05T17:15:53.740" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For hard-packed or icy snow, steel runner sleds are quite fast. You can increase your speed by rubbing wax along the runners (we used candle stubs for this). Also, the heads are flexible and allow for steering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6QaWZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1985" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-27T15:37:17.677" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T15:37:17.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1265" CreationDate="2013-01-05T18:36:53.560" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 30 years ago, my husband and I spent a couple years cruising Mexico on our sailboat. I was very careful to keep our mayonnaise in the refrigerator, however, a scientist and his wife on another boat, never refrigerated theirs and told me that if you are careful to always use a clean utensil when dipping into it and never introduce protein into the mayo, it will stay safe and fresh. They, and many Mexicans I might add, kept their mayonnaise this way and even though the weather was hot, they had no problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1986" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-08T00:23:08.527" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T00:23:08.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3458" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3460" CreationDate="2013-01-06T02:57:40.070" Score="8" ViewCount="5622" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an MSR whisperlite international stove. Can I mix fuels when both require the same jet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background: When backpacking I often just carry one fuel bottle, filled with white gas. On my last trip I was running low on fuel and wanted to stock up. The only fuel I was able to get was unleaded gasoline. I didn't want to waste the white gas I had left, and wasn't sure if I could just fill up the bottle with the gasoline, mixing the fuels. Has anyone experienced or heard of adverse effects mixing fuels?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-01-06T11:17:50.550" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T15:05:16.980" Title="Can I mix fuels when using the MSR whisperlite international stove?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3458" CreationDate="2013-01-06T20:11:28.513" Score="-5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The issue here isn't about mixing fuels since white gas basically is gasoline.  The difference is that commonly available &quot;gasoline&quot; as used in cars for example, contains a lot of additives.  These can leave residue and deposits, cause corrosion, and make the combustion products more toxic.  This is the point of &quot;white gas&quot;.  It's gasoline without all the stuff in it commonly added, and in some cases mandated, for transportation use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it were OK to use common gasoline in camp stoves, there would be no point to using white gas or &quot;Coleman fuel&quot; as it is sometimes called here in the US.  Look at the owner's manual of your stove carefully.  I suspect it warns against using ordinary &quot;unleaded gasoline&quot; intended for cars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-01-06T20:11:28.513" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3458" CreationDate="2013-01-07T04:37:03.073" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not all fuels mix well. However, in the case of &lt;em&gt;white gas&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;unleaded gasoline&lt;/em&gt;, one is basically a (much) cleaner version of the other, so you're not mixing so much as diluting the white gas with its inferior (for cooking) sibling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, you would get better performance out of the remaining white gas if you don't mix it with the unleaded. There's really nothing stopping you from carrying the gasoline in a lightweight bottle (say, a plastic water bottle, or an old nalgene. Just be sure to mark it very well and dispose of it responsibly afterward to make sure nobody drinks from it) and filling it into the stove fuel bottle after you've used up the clean white gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue with using fuels other than white gas in the whisperlite is that they burn dirtier. There is more carbon buildup in the stove, and you will likely have to service it or unclog it sooner with more usage of less clean fuels. So make sure you have the tools and the know-how for disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling your stove in the field (obviously, you should only disassemble the parts that are clogged in the field, and then do the complete service at home when you return from your trip.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the caveat emptor with burning gasoline in your camp stove is that this gasoline isn't really designed for cooking and heating, but is intended primarily for automotive purposes. As such, it has many additives and dyes in it that are toxic and or dirty, and you should make sure to minimize skin contact and inhalation of fumes as much as possible. &lt;strong&gt;More importantly, wash your hands with soap after handling the stove and gasoline, and ESPECIALLY BEFORE HANDLING FOOD!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then again, the above precautions should be taken with regular white gas as well... So yeah.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastEditorUserId="1961" LastEditDate="2013-01-07T08:11:31.340" LastActivityDate="2013-01-07T08:11:31.340" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1618" CreationDate="2013-01-07T11:36:19.317" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blueocean-adventure.co.uk/gorge-scrambling/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Canyoning&lt;/a&gt; aka Gorge Walking or Gorge Scrambling takes place in the Brecon Beacons National Park, the best known location for this activity in the UK! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blueocean-adventure.co.uk/gorge-scrambling/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://blueocean-adventure.co.uk/gorge-scrambling/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1989" LastEditorUserId="1989" LastEditDate="2013-01-07T12:49:22.673" LastActivityDate="2013-01-07T12:49:22.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3462" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-07T12:33:29.203" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing means to ascend a summit on a route that is rated above UIAA level II. Usually you protect yourself and your team mate with ropes, carabiners and anchors. There are different styles of climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trad_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;trad climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sport climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_solo_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;free solo climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="1879" LastEditDate="2013-01-07T14:08:51.953" LastActivityDate="2013-01-07T14:08:51.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3463" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-07T12:33:29.203" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to climbing can include any activity that requires the use of your hands and feet to move vertically up an object, obstruction or terrain. This varies from trees to boulders to cliff faces and everything in-between." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-04T17:25:09.403" LastActivityDate="2016-09-04T17:25:09.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3464" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-07T16:11:29.063" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-07T16:11:29.063" LastActivityDate="2013-01-07T16:11:29.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3465" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-07T16:11:29.063" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the United Kingdom, including England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:10:46.323" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:10:46.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2013-01-08T00:32:17.380" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry 6L in the Mojave dunes but find that I only drink 3 to 4L. I may carry as much as 8L. Better safe than sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water is very heavy, but you can always ditch gear. I pack my backpack like a lightweight hiker, so I can carry all that water without my backpack getting too heavy to be any fun. My backpack weights around 40-45 pounds (18-20 kg) with water, but it's sub 16 (7 kg) without it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1991" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-01-14T22:29:43.303" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T22:29:43.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3470" CreationDate="2013-01-08T04:37:44.590" Score="17" ViewCount="12517" Body="&lt;p&gt;MSR WhisperLite backpacking stoves are ubiquitous, but they lack a key function: the ability to simmer easily. How can you set a WhisperLite to simmer without having to constantly watch the stove and micro-adjust the fuel valve?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T14:19:23.833" Title="How can you make a MSR WhisperLite stove simmer?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3404" CreationDate="2013-01-08T05:09:43.060" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Post-holing has very real risks due to the simple fact you have no idea what lies beneath the surface of the snow until you punch through and bang, scrape or wedge your leg under, against, between or in a hidden tree, log, rock, hole, creek, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the risks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barked Shins:&lt;/strong&gt; Often you'll post-hole the deepest beside buried logs where the snow might be hollowed out a bit, meaning that after sinking 2 feet in with some resistance for miles, you suddenly sink 3 feet rapidly banging your shins against dead wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet Feet:&lt;/strong&gt; Even with gaiters, excessive post-holing can work snow under the gaiters and in to your shoes resulting in wet feet, which can lead to cold injuries (eg frost bite).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Soaked Feet+:&lt;/strong&gt; Creeks can still be flowing under completely uniform looking snow. Post-holing through can soak your feet and legs instantly increasing your risk of cold injuries, or even hypothermia if enough of you gets wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sprained Ankle, Wrenched Knee, Pulled Muscle, Broken Leg:&lt;/strong&gt; You don't know what lies just beneath the surface of the snow. If you are carrying any weight, have forward momentum, or are just unlucky, your sudden stop could cause any number of soft tissue or skeletal injury.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these can have consequences for returning safely. Of course, the risk varies with depth of snow, type of terrain, age of snow (snow pack is highly variable) etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use good judgement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T05:09:43.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3389" CreationDate="2013-01-08T05:19:16.317" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gone winter camping several times, usually staying in a tent, and I prefer to avoid candles in a tent so have no data about that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, on one long-weekend trip I stayed in an igloo built from blocks of snow, north of Grand Rapids MN.  After the four of us on the trip skied far enough into Suomi Hills (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Suomi+Hills,+Deer+River,+MN&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ll=47.459491,-93.632011&amp;amp;spn=0.044626,0.090208&amp;amp;sll=47.235077,-93.530685&amp;amp;sspn=0.011204,0.022552&amp;amp;oq=Suomi+Hills,+deer+,+MN&amp;amp;t=h&amp;amp;hq=Suomi+Hills,+Deer+River,+MN&amp;amp;z=14&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt;) to be well away from roads and trails, we tramped down an area of snow on a lake, then after a few hours cut out snow blocks and built an igloo, about 10 feet (3 metre) across outside and a bit less than six feet (1.8 m) high inside.  After it was done, I left a small candle-lantern burning inside while we fixed dinner outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By itself the candle warmed up the air in the igloo to 40°F (4°C), which I would count as about 8°F (5°C) of warming, supposing the inside surface of the igloo to be about 32°F (0°C).  The small entrance to the igloo was covered much of the time.  The air in the igloo warmed up to 50°F (10°C) with all of us in it, while outside air temp varied from 24°F (-4°C) down to -12°F (-24°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1992" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T17:45:32.857" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T17:45:32.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2013-01-08T06:11:56.090" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer: don't. &lt;em&gt;Edit: Instead of simmering on the stove, remove the pot from the flame and keep it insulated to retain heat. See @KateGregory's excellent answer for more details.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The long answer: you can reduce the pressure in the fuel bottle, and this will reduce the flow rate of the fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is done by pumping fewer times! The exact number will vary over bottle size and amount of air in it--how full it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you brought your pot to a boil, using the stove at regular pressure as per the manual, remove the pot from the stove and turn off the gas valve. Once the stove is off, take a hold of the bottle, hold it up vertically, and carefully unscrew the pump to release the pressure. &lt;strong&gt;Do this carefully, and be sure there is no flame immediately nearby, because if the fuel vapour lights up, you are going to have a very bad time.&lt;/strong&gt; Once the pressure is released, re-seal the pump on the bottle, give it one or two pumps, open the fuel valve and relight the stove. If your flame is still too strong, repeat this procedure with fewer pumps. Ultimately, it's the pressure in the fuel bottle that determines the flow to the stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The vapour coming out as you depressurize the fuel bottle can catch fire if you are not careful. You must be sure there are no fire sources nearby that will light it!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the risk involved, I think it's best to avoid doing this. I have been able to make fancy rice, soup, sauce, eggs, pancakes, and other types of meals that benefit from simmering on this stove with regular operation. An easy solution is to simply elevate the pot higher over the fire. If you know you will be in a setting that calls for long-term simmering, then an LPG stove will do a much better job of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlingotaku.com/2011/02/whisperlite-and-simmering.html&quot;&gt;Here's an article on how to do this, including a short video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastEditorUserId="1961" LastEditDate="2013-01-08T18:43:25.737" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T18:43:25.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3471" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-08T11:28:03.040" Score="10" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;In other words, it would be a site where you can &quot;subscribe&quot; to certain locations and then have the service email you if the weather forecast matches the kind of weather conditions you are looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe a site like this would serve as a valuable tool for many types of outdoor activities and trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, there is value in just being out there even if the weather is not ideal. Indeed, often we are forced to make do with the conditions we are given. With that said, however, wouldn't it be great if you could expect with reasonable certainty your ideal weather conditions, and have it be sent to your inbox?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples might include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get an email the next time a weekend following 3 days of snow is predicted at ski resort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get an email the next time there is a full moon and clear sky for a summer night hike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(I'm sure there are many other examples: water sports, fishing, running, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So does anyone know of anything like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1993" LastEditorUserId="1993" LastEditDate="2013-05-02T04:59:54.197" LastActivityDate="2013-05-02T04:59:54.197" Title="Is there a web application that can notify you ahead of time if a certain weather forecast is predicted for a certain location?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3471" CreationDate="2013-01-08T13:35:07.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no such site that I know of, but there's a couple of alternatives that may suit your needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Google calendar has an add on you can enable which shows the &lt;a href=&quot;http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;amp;answer=48494&quot;&gt;weather as an icon&lt;/a&gt; by the next few days. I find this quite useful (obviously it depends if you use Google calendar!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There's a few websites which will do a general email newsletter. While you want something more specific, you could set up a filter in your email client for certain keywords from that address, so you only actually saw the message if it contained the description of the weather you were looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said, not exactly matching up to what you're after but that might go at least some way towards it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T13:35:07.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2013-01-08T14:44:10.083" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I get to the &quot;simmer&quot; part of cooking on the Whisperlite, I take the pot off the stove, put the lid on, and wrap it in a towel including underneath and on top. Whatever I am cooking will stay simmery for at least 20-30 minutes that way. It's great for making a sauce with dehydrated ingredients. While the sauce is sitting aside staying hot, I can cook pasta or rice with the stove. It's one of the tricks to eating well in the backcountry without taking a lot of equipment. Pasta with sauce over it, or rice with sauce over it, tastes better than a one-pot all-mixed-up meal. And if you have kids with you, you can accomodate their desires for more sauce, less sauce, or the sauce not to touch the starch. Everybody wins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T14:44:10.083" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3471" CreationDate="2013-01-08T16:46:13.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't pretty, and seems to be somewhat limited in locations (I couldn't get it to work for my area) but this looks to have potential. Though there is no &quot;subscribe&quot; feature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?b0=t&amp;amp;b0mn=50&amp;amp;b0mx=85&amp;amp;b1=rh&amp;amp;b1mn=&amp;amp;b1mx=&amp;amp;b2=wskts&amp;amp;b2mn=8&amp;amp;b2mx=15&amp;amp;b3=wsmph&amp;amp;b3mn=&amp;amp;b3mx=&amp;amp;b4=sc&amp;amp;b4mn=0&amp;amp;b4mx=60&amp;amp;b5=pp&amp;amp;b5mn=0&amp;amp;b5mx=15&amp;amp;lat=37.5269&amp;amp;lon=-122.193&amp;amp;Submit=Submit&amp;amp;FcstType=wxplan&amp;amp;site=MTR&amp;amp;unit=0&quot;&gt;National Weather Service Weather Activity Planner (Example)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T16:46:13.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2013-01-08T22:31:19.917" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an alternate solution, if you are doing a lot of simmering and don't mind taking an additional piece of equipment, look into heat diffusers. There is even a company that makes back-country ovens based on the principle of heat diffusion and insulation. All these ovens are is a heat diffuser, a pan with a lid and a thermometer, and a cozy for the pan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-01-08T22:31:19.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="551" CreationDate="2013-01-09T17:17:50.793" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hunting with a rifle, it's the energy of the bullet that matters.  With an arrow, it's all about blood loss.  The 'power' matters, but only insofar as it is a factor in creating blood loss.  Ideally, you want a through-and-through so the arrow is out of the animal's body and does not block blood flow.  What's necessary wrt fps for an arrow to kill a moose?  Search on Fred Bear and moose hunting.  I doubt that any of his arrows were over 200 fps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A high-speed arrow, say, high 200s fps or higher, is more forgiving with respect to judging distance, which is often a difficult skill to master.  It's more forgiving because a fast arrow has less arc.  If you think it's 50 yards and it's only 25, the slow arrow might arc out of the ideal kill zone and the fast arrow might still be in the zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2013-01-09T20:44:59.553" LastActivityDate="2013-01-09T20:44:59.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2013-01-10T08:43:21.060" Score="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeTtq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Multiple Hammock Setup&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been a hammock backpacker for about three and a half years now. I love it. There's not a better way to backpack in the summer in my opinion. But despite numerous advantages to hammocking, there are some downsides (tradeoffs):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The biggest potential downside, as others have mentioned, is heat loss from the underside of the hammock,&lt;/strong&gt; something my friends and I like to call &quot;CBS&quot; (cold butt syndrome). Insulation from clothing and sleeping bags is compressed and that limits the temperatures in which you can hammock comfortably with a sleeping bag. Adding a sleeping pad under you works fairly well but is not ideal because it adds additional weight (that you are trying to eliminate by hammocking.) Underquilts are the ideal insulation for cool-weather hammocking, but they are usually homemade or relatively hard-to-find compared to sleeping bags. Also the &quot;bridge effect&quot; comes into play when there is even the slightest breeze. The air moving below and above the hammock can cool you drastically, even in the summer. (That said, hammocking is perfect in hot weather.) Obviously this limits hammocking to primarily warmer months unless you have a bomb-proof hammock setup for winter (some do). However when you get to that point you may as well have a tent because any weight savings by using a hammock setup are essentially nullified by the extra gear and insulation needed (there are exceptions).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can potentially get very wet&lt;/strong&gt; if you don't learn to properly set up a good tarp or rain fly system over your hammock. However this is only at first. Once you get wet you learn really quickly. I've weathered some really nasty storms in my hammock and stayed completely dry with several different types of systems. Some are better than others. There is an art to a good tarp setup and so many ways that I won't go into it here. A good tarp set up will also the alleviate the problem of water running down your lines onto the hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There is a learning curve.&lt;/strong&gt; To get good and comfortable with regular sleeping in a hammock, then you have to be willing to change some habits and learn new ones. And there's all kinds of new gear to research and learn about (not a downside for me, but for some). So you have to learn what type of setup works best for you, and there are many to choose from.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You lose a certain amount of privacy.&lt;/strong&gt; When tent-camping you can just get inside alone and change clothes with no one looking. When one only has a hammock with a tarp over it and no walls, then one must get a bit more creative to conceal one's man-parts or woman-parts when changing. Obviously at night this doesn't matter very much...unless your friends tend to pack night vision goggles. This one really isn't a big deal once you figure out the tricks, or you may not care.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sharing a hammock overnight isn't really an option for most people&lt;/strong&gt;, especially for a multi-day trip. If you try, it had better be someone you are willing to be up close and personal with all night long. Even the double-sized hammocks squeeze two people together, which just isn't comfortable for an extended period of time. It's also impossible to not disturb the other person in the hammock if you move at all or get out of it. Sharing a tent or a tarp-tent isn't nearly as hard to do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight savings can actually be negated with multiple people.&lt;/strong&gt; Consider this example: three people sharing the load of a modern lightweight or ultra-light 3-person tent (footprint, body, rainfly, poles, stakes) vs. 3 people carrying their own individual hammock set-ups (hammock, straps/rope/webbing, carabiners, tarp, stakes, no-see-um netting for some people too). Now this depends highly on the tent model and the type of hammock setup, but generally speaking you will likely save weight by splitting up the tent among all three people, especially if you are already using a sleeping pad in your hammock. A shared tarp-tent could mean even more weight savings. (There are ways around this dilemma. You can sometimes share a large tarp with several hammocks if the trees are arranged nicely.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You aren't guaranteed to find good trees for your hammock at every campsite.&lt;/strong&gt; This has certainly been a challenge at some places I've camped. If you doubt that the area you're visiting will be good for a hammock, then don't depend on the hammock as your primary shelter. Even if it's rocky, frozen, snow-covered, just sand, or other difficult terrain, you always have ground to set up a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It's just plain harder to go to the bathroom at night!&lt;/strong&gt; You get better at it with practice, but sometimes it is simply a pain to climb out of your sleeping bag and hammock, go relieve yourself while half asleep, and then try to wiggle back in to your hanging bed in which you &lt;em&gt;were&lt;/em&gt; so, so comfortable. Plan ahead. Don't drink too many fluids before you go to sleep in a hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T04:41:15.147" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T04:41:15.147" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-26T21:41:21.630" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2013-01-11T01:36:50.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know it might sound crazy, but (if you don't have those capacitive gloves) you can always touch screen with your nose ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;worked for me just fine this winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1868" LastActivityDate="2013-01-11T01:36:50.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3480" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3481" CreationDate="2013-01-11T09:12:55.703" Score="19" ViewCount="9579" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing off and on since I was a teenager, but one thing I've never done much of is taping my hands. As I gained more experience, it's value is now apparent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some good techniques for taping fingers, hands, and wrists for different types of climbing, and how does each tape job achieve it's purpose? What type of tape is recommended or not recommended?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: I'm having intermittent wrist pain. How can I supportively tape it, yet not restrict it &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; much, and also not completely cover the palm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answers may relate to injury prevention or support, or just general protection of the fingers, hands, or wrist. Please be as descriptive as possible and pictures and/or videos are preferred in any explanations. Personal experience on effectiveness and tips with these tape jobs is also welcome and preferred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T16:13:29.930" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T16:13:29.930" Title="Methods for taping hands, wrists, and fingers for climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;tape-gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3480" CreationDate="2013-01-11T10:03:26.557" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am only familiar with a couple but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more for certain injuries or specific applications (e.g. ankle taping for off-widths).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Crack climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For crack climbing &quot;tape gloves&quot; are very helpful in keeping the thin skin on the backs of your hands and knuckles from getting torn up.  There are several slightly different methods and a search should bring up plenty of results, but here are a couple:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/how-to-tape_hand.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Tape Hands - Metolius Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ff1Rd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/Glove.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Making Tape Gloves - Chockstone.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88Uph.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dudisoft.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Taping_Crack_School_Final.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School: Taping - Wild Country (PDF)&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/40733001#at=0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Finger &quot;pulley&quot; protection&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people tape fingers with the idea of protecting the ligament &quot;pulleys&quot; of the finger flexor tendons, usually following an injury.  I have read in several sources that this is ineffective, at least so far as in actually supporting the ligament, because it would have to be damagingly tight to work as people suppose it does.  This page, also from Chockstone.org, suggests that it may serve to limit (bad) motion or simply remind that an injury exists:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/FingerTaping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tape and Other Catastrophes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are still curious about the finger taping methods see:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/avoid-finger-blowouts/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Avoid Finger Blowouts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bhKjd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T15:35:23.290" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T15:35:23.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3482" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3484" CreationDate="2013-01-11T17:10:07.447" Score="14" ViewCount="1203" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently started indoor rock climbing at a local spot.  I got to the top and (after appropriate communication) my partner started to belay me down.  I instantly starting swinging and spinning pretty wildly, more than 10' arcs.  I was able to catch the wall, but every time I let go the same thing would happen.  I didn't see anyone else having this problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does one descend in a relatively vertical fashion without swinging like a pendulum?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(edit:  Top-roping)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:57:11.797" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:57:11.797" Title="How to avoid pendulum descent when belaying?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3482" CreationDate="2013-01-11T17:15:06.323" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Top-roping or lead-climbing?  I haven't seen this happen in top-roping except when using the wrong rope - that is, for the rope next to the route i'm climbing.  When you top out you should be near the pulley.  If you're way off to the side, then, yeah, you should expect some swinging.  If you're 5 feet from the pulley, you should expect to swing 5 feet each way until the swinging dampens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spinning you should be able to control by leaning back and keeping both feet on the wall, which works unless you're passing an overhang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-01-11T17:15:06.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3482" CreationDate="2013-01-12T20:52:19.833" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;On your descent, assuming you don't have an overhang, you simply place your heels against the wall, feet about shoulder width apart and lean back until your legs are horizontal, holding the rope above the knot and walk or bounce gently as your belaying partner lowers you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only things that will cause a swing are- &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climbing a pitch adjacent to the one your rope is for (as Don says) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;holding on to the wall on your descent &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-01-12T20:52:19.833" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3485" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-13T09:29:09.090" Score="7" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just arrived to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Josef,_New_Zealand&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Franz Josef town&lt;/a&gt;, South Island, New Zealand. The main attractions here are the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several local tour operators feature heli-hikes to both glaciers, combined with a few hours of guided glacier walking tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any difference between the glaciers? Are there any landscape or geographical features that are unique to just one of them? Is any of them preferred in cloudy weather? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-03-19T08:20:56.080" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T18:48:52.060" Title="Difference between Franz Josef and Fox glaciers" Tags="&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3148" CreationDate="2013-01-13T11:47:44.483" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many excellent natural fabrics for winter hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Merino wool is often used as a baselayer but I have also found silk and bamboo to be very good. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have a knitted raw silk midlayer but also like cashmere, which is warm, light, doesn't smell and releases moisture pretty well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In colder conditions I wear sweaters made of untreated wool (Black Welsh and Herdwick). They retain their natural oils and are really warm but a bit heavy and itchy if they touch your skin. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My favourite natural fabric for hill-walking (I live in the Pyrenees) is Pyrenean wool. It is fluffy and quite light, being soft-ish wool on a cotton matrix. I have never seen it in England but it's very popular in France.  I have a gilet made from it that is several years old and still going strong. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My Black welsh sweater by the way is over thirty years old (been repaired a few times but unbelievably bullet-proof). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm enjoying nature I like to wear what's natural.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2002" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-14T13:50:42.253" LastActivityDate="2013-01-14T13:50:42.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3448" CreationDate="2013-01-13T20:53:53.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think Kate Gregory's answer has covered the most important issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that before a trip you can test how well some foods will work out by putting them into the freezer compartment of a refrigerator for a day, and then trying to eat them or prepare them straight out of the freezer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For crackers and freeze-dried meals, temperature makes little difference.  Note that frozen raisins or chocolate chips can make trail mix dangerous for your teeth; some frozen cookies and bars are hard to eat also, and may require warming.&#xA;On winter camping trips I've had both cheese and apples freeze.  I stopped taking apples on such trips, but the high energy density of cheese makes it still worthwhile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a summer trip on Lake One in the BWCA, I talked to Forest Service rangers who froze a gallon of milk for use after the first few days of their work trip.  This preservation technique can be used for winter camping too but is less practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1992" LastActivityDate="2013-01-13T20:53:53.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3489" CreationDate="2013-01-14T13:48:39.007" Score="24" ViewCount="29012" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of hikers carry denatured alcohol for cooking.  Is there any risk to using it as an antiseptic for cuts and lacerations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:37:44.073" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T18:43:54.173" Title="Is it safe to use denatured alcohol as an antiseptic?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3488" CreationDate="2013-01-14T14:51:42.360" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it is not safe to use denatured alcohol for two good reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Denatured alcohol refers to a class of ethanol produced for &lt;em&gt;industrial uses&lt;/em&gt; that has been &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denaturation_%28food%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;denatured&lt;/a&gt;,&quot; which essentially means &quot;made undrinkable&quot; by mixing other compounds that are &lt;em&gt;toxic or unpleasant to humans&lt;/em&gt;. The thing is, you, as the consumer, have no idea what exactly was mixed in. Different denaturing agents have different skin toxicities, none of them are pleasant, and some of them are known mutagens. Many countries also require denatured alcohol to be dyed to help prevent accidental consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any modern wound management training &lt;em&gt;recommends against using alcohol&lt;/em&gt; of any kind as an antiseptic. Although it does kill bacteria, pouring alcohol on a wound also kills perfectly healthy flesh which disrupts the healing process, can result in longer heal-times, and result in higher susceptibility to infection down the road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best treatment for a wound: wash thoroughly with soap and drinking water then bandage appropriately (more thorough details in &lt;a href=&quot;/a/920&quot;&gt;an answer to &lt;em&gt;How could I treat scrapes outdoors without a first aid kit?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T01:17:27.503" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T01:17:27.503" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3490" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:40:38.007" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The permanent inhabitants of The Great Outdoors can be interesting to meet, but also dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/bears&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'bears'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;bears&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/cougars&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'cougars'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cougars&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/wolves&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'wolves'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;wolves&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:00:38.153" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:00:38.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3491" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:40:38.007" Score="0" Body="Questions discussing region-specific as well as generic practices about venturing in wildlife, safety precautions for us as well as inhabitants (animals), legalities and restrictions, etc should be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T07:18:44.857" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T07:18:44.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3492" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:44:14.147" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Page&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:59:32.047" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:59:32.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3493" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:44:14.147" Score="0" Body="Cougar, puma, mountain lion, panther, or catamount. Large cat living in the Americas." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T10:58:30.023" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T10:58:30.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3494" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:46:11.657" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wolves are the ancestors of the dogs. A poor reputation in most cultures, encountering a wolf can be a mighty experience, but not entirely without risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/wildlife&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'wildlife'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;wildlife&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:00:02.270" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:00:02.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3495" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-14T22:46:11.657" Score="0" Body="Wolves, ancestors of the dogs. Loved and hated, an encounter in nature is possible." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T14:53:57.830" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T14:53:57.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3496" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3497" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" Score="0" Body="Questions on the art of constructing one's own equipment when one does not have access to an off the shelf device." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:01:18.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3498" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3499" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" Score="0" Body="The cold season - depending on the climate this can be simply mild to posing life threatening conditions, and especially in the latter case preparation is essential." OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" LastActivityDate="2013-01-15T11:03:20.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3500" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3501" CreationDate="2013-01-15T18:01:21.810" Score="11" ViewCount="976" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is just a climbing terminology question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the difference between a Fingerboard and a Hangboard?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe there is no difference at all? Maybe it's subtle?  I have been Googling around and asking people and have gotten no consistent answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T23:05:17.977" Title="Difference between a Fingerboard and a Hangboard" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3500" CreationDate="2013-01-15T19:23:39.007" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fingerboard, hangboard, and training board all refer to the same thing: a device used to train for climbing that mounts on a wall or other vertical surface to improve strength and endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moonclimbing.com/blog/school/fingerboard/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What is a Fingerboard?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fingerboard is made from either wood or resin, and can be as small&#xA;or as big as you like. Ideally it should fit above your door frame and&#xA;have a variety of holds including a large hold to warm up on, a few&#xA;pockets, slopers and a couple of different sized crimps...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...It is not essential to own a Moon fingerboard for this routine, but is&#xA;recommended, since I will specify the exact holds to use on the Moon hangboard&#xA;for each exercise...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/effective-hangboard-training-part-1/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The hangboard (aka fingerboard) is a popular training tool for&#xA;climbers, as it addresses the weakest link to the rock: the fingers.&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WanXF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Metolius Simulator&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T23:05:17.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3502" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3506" CreationDate="2013-01-16T02:05:30.417" Score="13" ViewCount="810" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that the summer months (June, July, and August) are the safest months to hike in Colorado because these are the least-likely times to run into ice patches that can't be crossed with normal hiking gear, and the least-likely times you will run into a sudden, unexpected snow storm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what about the dangers of hiking in summer that you don't run into as often in winter? Don't these offset the dangers mentioned above? To me it seems like the threat of getting caught in a summer afternoon lightning storm and forced to get down the mountain quickly is about as dangerous as the threats a person runs into in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;True, you need more gear in winter (crampons, ice axe, helmet), but wouldn't you say that the risk level is the same year round in Colorado?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2006" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:01:59.677" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:01:59.677" Title="Safest months to hike in Colorado" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3502" CreationDate="2013-01-16T07:29:17.047" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bears are a big danger&lt;/strong&gt; in the spring/summer/fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just went elk hunting in a remote valley in Northwest Wyoming, and it was in the winter when the bears (both grizzly and black bears) were hibernating.  &lt;strong&gt;In the summer, there are so many bears up there that some people don't even go up there.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know of these two men who like to fish up there, but only one of them fishes at a time, the other stands guard with a large gauge shotgun, they take turns... I also met a guy who was mauled just feet away from his pistols (on his ATV), the bear got on him pretty quickly. All this in the area I was elk hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing as it was winter, the bears were hibernating... A word of note: if a bear gets hungry, the grizzlies are more likely to wake up, fill themselves up again, and go back to sleep - the black bears on the other hand, will sleep all winter long, in most cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I would rather be out stuck in the wilderness in a lightning storm than freeze to death in the winter. But that's my take. Hypothermia in the winter, dehydration in the summer. &lt;em&gt;Depends on the area - it really can vary.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, the Great Outdoors seems to be quieter in the winter, as animals settle down and take it easy - focusing on staying warm and such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2013-01-16T07:29:17.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3471" CreationDate="2013-01-16T07:39:55.230" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ifttt.com/&quot;&gt;IFTTT (If This, Then That)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  You can use it to create your own rules to check the weather for you and then email or even text you with a link and what kind of condition changes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, mine is set to email me whenever there is more than X change in temperature, or if it is going to specifically rain/snow or have something out of the blue like thunderstorm, etc... then it emails me 1-2 days in advance... Usually it emails me for the next two days...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty neat app and useful for all kinds of other things, free as well. I'm not affiliated either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2013-01-16T07:39:55.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3502" CreationDate="2013-01-16T16:06:08.857" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You ask:  &quot;&lt;em&gt;Don't these offset the dangers mentioned above? To me it seems like the threat of getting caught in a summer afternoon lightning storm and forced to get down the mountain quickly is about as dangerous as the threats a person runs into in the winter.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're right.  There are risks in all seasons when you're going hiking or climbing up in the mountains.  And getting caught above the treeline in a thunderstorm is dangerous and potentially fatal.  But I don't think its correct to say that the summer is just as dangerous as the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thunderstorms in Colorado tend to be fairly predictable - they start in early afternoon, sometime between noon or 1pm, and they rarely last more than an hour or so.  When you're hiking in the mountains you just plan your day around this.  If you're going to hike to a summit, you wake up and start hiking well before dawn, so that you can summit around mid-morning, and be back below the treeline before any of the thunderstorms hit.  You might get rained on, but you should be safe from the worst of it then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the winter, conditions are different.  Freezing temps, snow, ice.  There are more objective dangers (avalanches, frostbite, whiteout conditions, slipping and falling on ice, etc). Understanding how to predict and avoid avalanches, travel over ice and snow, avoid frostbite, use crampons / telemark skis / snowshoes, these all take extra levels of training, equipment, and physical fitness than what you'd encounter in warmer months.  And these dangers are ever present in the winter, they don't just exist between noon and 4pm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-01-16T16:06:08.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3507" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3508" CreationDate="2013-01-17T22:07:37.673" Score="5" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many European countries, dedicated long-distance hiking trails are marked with a white-red marking, like in the photograph below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y5F4E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;White-red marking&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Chevaux2_GR76A.jpg/640px-Chevaux2_GR76A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen this in at least The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Poland. Switzerland has its own, different system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any such system in North America or parts thereof? &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Trails_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia doesn't really help here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T15:34:00.373" Title="Long distance hiking trail markings in North America or parts thereof" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3507" CreationDate="2013-01-17T22:13:21.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those are blazes.  They used to be done with an axe, now they're done with paint.  There's no national standard, but there are usually standards for a particular trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Appalachian Trail, for example, uses white blazes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ozark trail uses a small plastic OT logo lightly tacked to trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Double-blazes are often used to signal a sharp turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_blazing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia's article on blazing.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3aOzark_Trail_blaze_Mina_Sauk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ozark Trail blaze&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-01-17T22:13:21.467" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3509" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-17T22:39:57.163" Score="7" ViewCount="399" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need some help planning a a hiking trip to CO. I have been on a couple of hiking trips and have grown up going into the mountains with my family but I have never been the one to plan a trip. I'm confident packing for the trip, I know what I will need as far as food and clothing. What I really need help on is reserving camp sites, planing my hike, and working everything out with the park. It is maybe a simple thing but I want to make sure I do everything right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on going to the Rocky Mountain National Park and I was thinking June or July. I was going to try and reserve camp sites now because I know that is a busy time of year. I think the park saves some sites for walk ups, has anyone done this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2010" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T11:07:21.793" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T03:10:53.877" Title="How do I Plan a Hiking Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, CO" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3510" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-17T22:55:38.143" Score="8" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently learned about the U.S. national trails system, apparently akin to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&quot;&gt;European long-distance paths&lt;/a&gt;. I found an (incomplete?) table of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_trails_in_the_United_States&quot;&gt;U.S. national trails&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pnts.org/national-trails-map&quot;&gt;rather poorly layed out map&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any website where long- and short-distance marked hiking trails are shown against a selectable background (such as on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com&quot;&gt;Wikiloc&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topomapper.com&quot;&gt;Topomapper&lt;/a&gt;? For a single country is interesting, but the best would be something integrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikiloc lists &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do#lt=35.853440&amp;amp;ln=-98.833008&amp;amp;z=12&amp;amp;k=1&amp;amp;tab=0&amp;amp;a=1&quot;&gt;less than 5000 trails&lt;/a&gt; in the contiguous United States (compared to ca. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do#lt=54.775346&amp;amp;ln=24.433594&amp;amp;z=13&amp;amp;k=1&amp;amp;tab=0&amp;amp;a=1&quot;&gt;250000 in Europe&lt;/a&gt;), so that's not the best resource — and even if the long-distance trails would happen to be listed, they're drowned in all the other material available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-02-22T07:25:07.450" Title="Interactive online map of long-distance / marked trails against best freely available topographic map background" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3511" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3512" CreationDate="2013-01-17T23:16:51.740" Score="13" ViewCount="2408" Body="&lt;p&gt;From browsing this site, I have learned that US national parks and wilderness areas have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1819/566&quot;&gt;restrictions&lt;/a&gt; and that campsites need &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3509/566&quot;&gt;reservations&lt;/a&gt;, sometimes months in advance. I've never seen anything like it in Europe; in popular areas, there are simply many campsites and one meets hundreds of people per day (in extreme cases hundreds per hour) on the hiking trails, whereas in remote regions, there are no campsites and one meets nobody (in fact, one usually meets less than 10 people/day once more than two hours from the parking place). It's supply and demand. I haven't seen a full camp-site since 1994, and I've been camping every year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;North America has a lot of sparsely populated areas, probably more than Europe. This makes me wonder — &lt;strong&gt;how crowded do those hiking trails get&lt;/strong&gt;? For example, suppose that one has obtained a permit for hiking + camping in the wild in Yosemite National Park. Since this is subject to a quota (correct me if I'm wrong), the total number of people hiking at a given moment should be pretty easy to know. How many people should one expect to meet under such circumstances, order of magnitude? 1 per day? 10? 100? Are quota set so that every hiker can have the opportunity to feel alone in the world, or so that hikers won't completely overrun the national park and destroy it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where does the difference between Europe and North America come from? Is nature in North America more sensitive than in Europe, is the demand for hiking much higher, or do hikers in North America concentrate even more in a few small areas than in Europe? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:06:46.087" Title="Hiking popularity in North America vs. Europe" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3511" CreationDate="2013-01-18T02:22:39.450" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure you can generalize US Hiking trails, since there will be vast variability in popularity, usage, land area, population density etc. (Just as you mentioned is the case in popular vs. remote areas of Europe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are some areas that require reservations, but most don't. In fact, I feel comfortable saying MOST federal public land in the western US have no quotas, no reservation system, no anything. In many of those, you won't see another soul for days. Other areas might be equally unregulated and have wall-to-wall people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the answers here: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1819/when-do-i-need-a-permit-to-go-into-nature&quot;&gt;When do I need a permit to go into nature?&lt;/a&gt;&quot; I list some of the agencies that have different approaches to land management, and point out it varies so widely that any generalization is impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer this: &lt;em&gt;&quot;Are quota set so that every hiker can have the opportunity to feel alone in the world, or so that hikers won't completely overrun the national park and destroy it?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;: Wilderness areas (congressionally designated Wilderness with a capital &quot;W&quot; -- see below) have a legal mandate to limit users so your encounter rates are small. How that is interpreted varies by the agency administering the area (some shoot for less than 2 groups encountered per day). By contrast, some popular areas of National Forests or Parks might limit usage based on the maximum visitation possible before total annihilation of the resource.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often, even within a National Park or Forest, there are different usage areas with different quotas, or no quota at all... (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1154/how-can-i-hike-across-the-grand-canyon-if-i-dont-have-a-backcountry-permit&quot;&gt;See this information about Grand Canyon permits&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the philosophical underpinnings, the US has vast amounts of empty space, and lots of people would like to keep it that way. Above and beyond the Public Lands System (Parks, Forests, Seashores, Grasslands, Recreation Areas, etc) a far-minded group passed the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Act&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Act of 1964&lt;/a&gt; to take land preservation to the N'th degree. This brilliant piece of legislation sets aside some areas in the US specifically for solitude:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by&#xA;  expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and&#xA;  modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving&#xA;  no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural&#xA;  condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to&#xA;  secure for the American people of present and future generations the&#xA;  benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This act -- a federal law passed by congress -- defines Wilderness as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where&#xA;  the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man&#xA;  himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is&#xA;  further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal&#xA;  land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent&#xA;  improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as&#xA;  to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to&#xA;  have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint&#xA;  of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) &lt;strong&gt;has outstanding&#xA;  opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of&#xA;  recreation;&lt;/strong&gt; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of&#xA;  sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an&#xA;  unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological,&#xA;  or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical&#xA;  value.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&amp;amp;sec=legisAct&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;[Full text here]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an awesome legacy for the US. Not all public land is Wilderness, but significant chunks are, and these are some of the most amazing natural areas in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T21:59:16.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3054" CreationDate="2013-01-18T02:27:31.500" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you don't have a place to submerge your pad to find leaks, or it's just too cumbersome to do so. Here is a method for leak-finding that can be done at home or in the field:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zy8Al.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo of soapy pad with pin in leak&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;(Note the location: in a crease that is repeatedly stressed, being by the valve. Also note the difference between bubbles from suds and the bubble from the leak.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill a squirt bottle, spray bottle, hydration bladder (something with a nozzle to control the flow) with water near to the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add several drops of liquid soap (dish detergent works best).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet your fully inflated sleeping pad with the mixture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for bubbles forming to isolate the leak(s).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carefully mark the location of the leak with a needle/pin (you've got to fix the leak anyway) as you will lose it as soon as you rinse the soapy water away. You may try a grease pencil or china marker but not much else will write on a soapy wet surface. &lt;em&gt;(Note that a grease pencil or china marker can leave residue which can impede adhesion of the patch. If you use one of those, make your reference marks outside of the range of where the patch will go. A pin or needle is best.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse the area to be patched of the soapy water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let the pad dry and follow your procedure for repairing the leak!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had to use this method several times and it always works. Be systematic about it so you can keep track of what you've checked. Usually leaks occur on the bottom of your pad, or they could be at a failing seam, so target those areas first. Also you might have to refill the bottle once or twice before you find the leak, depending on the size of the pad and just how lucky you get. If you're mix isn't sudsy enough, add more soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-10-18T21:51:54.647" LastActivityDate="2014-10-18T21:51:54.647" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3511" CreationDate="2013-01-18T02:54:16.937" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is not that simple. There are several things to keep in mind when making comparisons like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As far as the US are concerned, you are talking about the most popular national parks here: places like Yosemite, Yellowstone and Zion get few millions of visitors each year, from all over the world. At the same time, there are huge stretches of beautiful wilderness, often right next to these parks, where you can hike for days without meeting anybody.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the US, there are still large stretches of land that are very well preserved, where the nature is pretty much undisturbed. These areas indeed are pretty sensitive, a large influx of visitors in these places can cause a lot of damage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Europe, lot of the area had been very densely populated for quite a while, and most of the land has been in some sort of use for a long time. At places like that, large crowds will not really cause that much damage. Western Europe has only few very small areas that still have fairly undisturbed original wilderness, and many of those cannot be entered without a special permit that is only available to those that have some sort of business there (researchers, forest service etc.), and the public is not allowed in at all. Because these areas are so small and there is so few of them, lot of people are not even aware that these exist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Probably because it is so densely populated, lot of Europe has numerous hiking opportunities on what's basically agricultural land: fields, pastures, agricultural forests.  There are lot of hiking trails that go through agricultural land, simply because there are so few other options. In US, most agricultural land is private, and closed to public. You can only hike on state or federal lands, and in many regions these are sparse, so they get a lot of exposure, and therefore need to be protected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Eastern Europe, there are number of areas that are still pristine, and relatively unregulated, but I believe that is going to change. Some 30 years ago, Romanian Fagarash was a place you could backpack for several weeks without meeting a single person. I have not been there lately, but what I hear from friends is that the place is becoming rather crowded, and, correspondingly, quite damaged. I expect that at some point of time Romanian government will start to regulate the visitors, perhaps by restricting camping opportunities.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastEditorUserId="9569" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:06:46.087" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:06:46.087" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3515" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-18T13:28:40.373" Score="8" ViewCount="252" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live on the coast of the northeastern part of Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte). As you go inland, the terrain becomes very arid. There are cactus and a lot of xerophilic plants that remind me a lot of those from southern California or Arizona. Since the sun is almost always shining here, starting a fire with a magnifying glass isn't very difficult, but if you had to do so with the bow or drill method, what Brazilian plants would work best? Fire-starting methods often involve a spindle and a hearth. What plants or woods would be most suitable for that in the interior regions of northeastern Brazil?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2011" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:21:58.487" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:21:58.487" Title="Primitive fire starting in northeastern Brazil" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3511" CreationDate="2013-01-18T14:58:44.250" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping restrictions and permits to enter particular areas are actually very rare when you look at the total land area.  I believe in every case these are done only to prevent degradation caused by excessive use.  By definition, these systems are therefore in place in popular areas, which is why you hear about them way out of proportion to their actual size and numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have gotten a permit and gone backpacking in the north part of Yosemite National Park.  That is a very popular area, and I can see how it would be damaged if everyone could just go there without the numbers being limited.  However, there is no limit on adjacent land in the national forest, mostly because the demand isn't there and limiting the numbers not necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are partial restrictions in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire.  These are different due to the different circumstances, patterns of demand, and level of damage overuse can cause.  There are no permits and restriction of individuals, and some of the popular trails can get quite crowded.  There are restrictions on the size of groups and where you are allowed to camp in the back country.  Some of these restrictions move around as damage from overuse shifts.  The general rule is to stay 1/4 mile from fixed installations like huts and purpose-built campsites, but also around what would otherwise be popular and overrun areas.  For example, you are not allowed to camp near the top of Thoreau Falls.  That was done because too may people did and the area became heavily damaged.  All that was left was bare ground and large trees.  Everything else got trampled.  The place looked unreal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, there is no restriction on total numbers of people on the trails.  Some of the trails are heavily used and heavily worn, but since that stays local to the trail there is no widespread damage and no attempt to limit numbers.  Last summer I did a 10 mile or so day hike that looped over a part of Franconia Ridge that is also the Appalachian Trail.  We probably encountered at least 100 people on that hike, and that's not counting the people around Greenleaf Hut, which was on our loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also many parts of the US that are open to the public where you can hike all day and are unlikely to run into a single person.  I have done exactly that in various places in Arizona, for example, in both the desert and the mountains.  What makes that possible is the huge amount of public land there.  Europeans seem to have a hard time grasping just how vast some of these open spaces are, probably because there is nothing like them in Europe.  There are no restictions there because there is no need for them.  All the people that want to go there do, and the damage is minimal, so no need to regulate.  Take a look at a map of Arizona and New Mexico.  Add up the land area of the abutting Coconino, Tonto, Apache, Sitgreaves, and Gila National forests alone, and compare that to the size of a few smaller European countries.  Now consider that except for a few towns that are &quot;holes&quot; in the forest, nobody actually lives there premanently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in summary, restrictions on camping locations and numbers of people are only done grudgingly as a necessity to protect the resource so that others can enjoy it in perpetuity.  Such restrictions are actually quite rare, limited to particularly popular areas.  There are vast less popular places where anyone is welcome to hike around and camp  with little restriction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put the vastness of these areas in perspective, the total land area of the contiguous patch of national forest formed by the Coconino, Apache-Sitgreaves, Gila, and Tonto National Forests is 15.7k square miles.  That just about the size of Switzerland, which is 15.9k square miles.  That doesn't include other nearby public lands, such as the Prescott, Cibola, and Coronado National Forests, for another 7.3k sqm.  There are more smaller national forests and wilderness areas on BLM land scattered about Arizona, and the Grand Canyon National park and lots more north into Utah.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ryan mentioned Utah.  Putting that into a European perspective, it's about the size of Great Britain (Utah 84.9 ksqm, GB 88.7 ksqm) but Utah only has a population of 2.8 Mpeople.  In contrast, England alone has 53 Mpeople.  And most of Utah's people are concetrated in a metropolitan strip along the eastern edges of the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake.  That leaves very few people living in the large remaining wild areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yellowstone National Park may get 3M visitors per year, but consider it's 1/3 the size of Belgium.  The entire national forest system is larger than France, Belgium, and The Netherlands &lt;i&gt;combined&lt;/i&gt;.  And that doesn't include the national parks, like Yellostone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and many others.  2.7M more people live in London than Utah and Nevada combined, which have a total land area over twice that of Great Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is that it's very easy to get a totally wrong impression of wild places in the US because the few well known popular spots are not representative, and by necessity of their popularity must be managed differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Europeans also don't seem to get the vastness of the place until they've been here.  Spend a day driving accross Nevada on Route 50 and realize it takes more than one tank of gas to get between two places anyone would call a city.  Or spend some time in a wilderness area in the Arizona desert and realize you haven't seen a single person in the two days since you left the last paved road.  There are many wild, beautiful, and vast places that are open to anyone who wants to come.  In fact, that is the case for most of the public lands in the United States.  In general, wild areas here are more wild, less crowded, and less restricted than those in Europe.  There are also a great many more of them.  Come and visit some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2013-01-18T19:09:58.240" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T19:09:58.240" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3510" CreationDate="2013-01-18T15:26:05.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know of a site that lists all trails in the US.  This is probably because trails are managed by the same patchwork of authority that manages the land.  There are various federal, state, regional, town, and private groups that manage land that contains trails open to the public.  The best I can advise is to pick a small area you are interested in and drill down to find trails there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just because there is no easy place to find a listing of all trails in the US, that doesn't mean they don't exist.  You would get completely the wrong impression simply by comparing the 5k versus 250k numbers of listed trails you found.  There are some long thru-trails many people will have heard of, like the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental divide trail.  Then there are regional ones like the Long Trail in Vermont, the Arizona Trail, etc.  But the vast majority are in local networks of trails scattered an many places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of total miles, these local trails exist in vast numbers compared to the few well known long ones.  The town I live in (Groton MA) is about 34 square miles and has over 100 miles of hiking trails.  You're unlikely to find them on any national web site.  And, we're just one little town.  Nearby towns don't have quite as many, but they all have some local trails and conservation areas.  We also have a few smaller regional trails just in this area of New England, like the M+M, Midstate, Wapack, Bay Circuit, and a few others.  Are any of those on your list?  Probably not most of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T15:26:05.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3518" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3527" CreationDate="2013-01-18T15:32:20.787" Score="11" ViewCount="23460" Body="&lt;p&gt;The electric igniter on my jetboil has been giving me trouble.  It's not completely broken, but I'll only see a spark 5 or 10% of the time.  This means I don't completely trust my stove, and have to carry a lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried moving the spark rod closer/further from the burner, cleaning the igniter, and speaking softly to it, but I'm basically shooting in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know they sell a replacement kit, but I am also wondering if it can't be fixed first.  What else could I be trying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2013-01-21T08:54:34.137" LastActivityDate="2018-07-27T22:43:30.950" Title="Fixing a Jetboil igniter" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3507" CreationDate="2013-01-18T15:34:00.373" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no standard for the color and shape of blazes used to mark trails in the US.  Generally, trails are managed locally, so at best a set of blazes follows a pattern in a particular area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few longer trails have well known consistant blazes the whole length.  The AT, for example, uses a vertical white rectangle that has a speficified width and height.  Generally, any one trail will be consistant, but there is no higher level standard or plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T15:34:00.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3511" CreationDate="2013-01-18T15:55:00.740" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living in Utah in the US I have a somewhat unique perspective (Utah has more national parks then any other state) I have visited all of the national parks here and most throughout the west. As others have mentioned if you compare the amount of reservations and restrictions to the amount of space the ratio is actually quite small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought I would answer though to give more specific examples. You mentioned Yosemite (beautiful by the way highly recommend), there is a 'Rim' trail there that leads to one of the biggest waterfalls (and biggest attractions) in the park. However the trail was set up in such a way that most (if not all) visitors hike for a mile or so to hit the falls, which means there are hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people there at any one time. For those that really enjoy hiking, you can hike in along the rim, a very strenuousness 10 mile hike with lots of steep grades. Your destination is the same, and at the end you will run into the hundreds of people. But along the way you will see a dozen waterfall's everyone else won't see and for hours you won't run into a single other person. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's one specific example but from my experience many very popular hiking destinations in US National parks are set up in this same manner. They allow the masses to see the really spectacular, while limiting the exposure of the land to those masses. And at the same time allow those who really want to, to experience both the spectacular, and the beauty/isolation of real wilderness area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally an example of something mentioned above, many restrictions have to do with managing emergency situations. My favorite hike in Zion's national park is very hard to get into. It requires a back-country pass and they are often reserved a year in advance. But I would never think of going into the hike without a pass. Not only would I be fined a huge penalty if caught, but I have been on the hike when a storm hits (the hike involves 8 miles of hiking in a slot canyon) and barely made it out. The last group of the day wasn't so lucky and they got trapped on the hike overnight (actually they were very lucky they didn't all die, the flash floods were horrible). If people had been in there illegally, most likely they would have died, as is, because of the limits, the rangers knew who to look for and where, and were able to manage the situation and get everyone out alive.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2012" LastActivityDate="2013-01-18T15:55:00.740" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3509" CreationDate="2013-01-18T19:08:41.587" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a good idea to reserve your campsite in advance. If you are thinking about camping in the backcountry areas, you will need a permit, and it's advisable to consult with a ranger concerning your travel plans. As far as planning your hikes, it's best to visit this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rockymountainnationalpark.com/trails-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rocky Mountain National Park&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2011" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-23T03:10:53.877" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T03:10:53.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3523" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-18T22:12:55.040" Score="19" ViewCount="4386" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3512/566&quot;&gt;this excellent answer&lt;/a&gt;, LBell quotes the U.S. definition of wilderness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any place in Europe that meets these requirements?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The far north of Europe, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1pmi_%28area%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lapland&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_of_the_North&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nordkalotten&lt;/a&gt;, is quite sparsely populated and large. It certainly has solitude and in the land pictures below, one can hike for weeks without meeting humans. However, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sami people&lt;/a&gt; have done reindeer husbandry for centuries, in the modern time using snowmobiles and helicopters. Most visitors won't notice the effects on vegetation (but biologists certainly do). Other effects are a lack of predators. The most visible and annoying effect are probably the tracks from the quads the Sami use in their reindeer herding:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZROsz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Quad tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Tundra with quad-tracks in the far north of Sweden, in Torneträsk-Soppero Fjällurskog Naturreservat&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Scotland, the forests have been cut centuries ago.  Same in most of the rest of Britain, most notably the uplands, where the National Trust in some cases actively combats reforestation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In many European countries, protected nature areas appear to be mainly where men has previously &lt;em&gt;tried but failed&lt;/em&gt; to exploit the land. The Swedish &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Muddus national park&lt;/a&gt; is an example of that, as is the Dutch nature reserve &lt;a href=&quot;http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naardermeer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naardermeer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Polish-Belarusian &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCa_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Białowieża Forest&lt;/a&gt; is a remnant of a previously vast primeval forest, but has &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCa_Forest#History&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an eventful history&lt;/a&gt;, and I'm not sure if it would fit the aforementioned definition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think, if there is wilderness anywhere in Europe (not counting Arctic islands such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Svalbard&lt;/a&gt;), it's likely to be in far north--eastern Europe, where there exist vast areas with very few people. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komi_Republic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Komi&lt;/a&gt; is 415,900 km², roughly the size of California or Sweden, with less than a million people concentrated in a handful of cities. That's probably a wilderness area. Are there any others that are less peripheral?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-01-17T19:04:12.940" LastActivityDate="2019-01-17T19:04:12.940" Title="Where in Europe is wilderness meeting the U.S. wilderness definition?" Tags="&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3524" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3536" CreationDate="2013-01-18T23:24:19.653" Score="15" ViewCount="10835" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have quite unfortunately found out several months ago that I'm &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten_sensitivity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gluten sensitive&lt;/a&gt;. Nearly all my meals I've planned and eaten on the trail have included wheat, and thus gluten, in some fashion. I'm still learning how to eat satisfyingly gluten-free at home, and on the trail this has proven to be even more of a challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some good-tasting, calorie and nutrient-rich meals that I can pack on the trail that are gluten-free? For Breakfast, Lunch, and/or Dinner?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answers can include full-prep from raw ingredients, freeze-dried type meals, or any other variation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T23:12:33.190" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T16:33:20.947" Title="What are some good gluten-free foods for backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2013-01-19T02:28:45.467" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, sorry to hear the diagnosis, but you are not alone. I've shopped out many a trip for gluten-free clients, and, fortunately, it is surprisingly easy to replace just about every back-country meal** with a gluten free alternative. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quinoa. Corn. Rice. Potato. Soy... there are lots of substitutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most large grocery stores in the US are getting better about carrying gluten-free pastas, grains, etc. Natural foods stores are usually even more comprehensive. I've found gluten free bagels, tortillas, bread, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing I find most difficult is the amount of processed food that has gluten in it (when you wouldn't suspect it). So my recommendation is foray into self-prepared meals. A few veggies, garlic, pesto paste, gluten-free pasta - bam! Live'n large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(**Admittedly I never eat/serve freeze-dried or prepared &quot;backpackers&quot; food in the back-country, so can't help you there... Life is to short to not enjoy every meal.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-19T02:28:45.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2013-01-19T03:13:41.110" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some reasons for leeway:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regulations allow for it.&lt;/strong&gt; Each park and wilderness area have their own rules and regulations. Some may allow for relaxed practices during known hibernation periods of their local bear population, though some may not. This is simply something that will require personal research into the area in question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inclement weather&lt;/strong&gt; The weather conditions that you might encounter could be so difficult that hanging a bear bag, or following normal bear-safe practices actually becomes more of a risk just because of the increased exposure, increased energy expended, or it is taking away valuable time that you are needing to dedicate to more pertinent, essential needs. These could include things such as building and maintaining a fire, seeking or improving shelter to stay warm, or just getting the extra sleep required because of the increased energy expenditure. One also might use the logic that any bears that are out there are seeking shelter from such bad weather as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Emergency or injury&lt;/strong&gt; This is related to the previous point since cold-related injury is the most probable in winter. If you or someone in your group is in need of medical care, then that is going to take priority over following bear-safe rules, at least until such time that the situation and patients are stabilized.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Near&lt;/em&gt; 100% certainty that bears are inactive&lt;/strong&gt; This is a tall order, but if you know based upon all evidence and knowledge that all bears in your area are in hibernation then certainly some leniency doesn't sound unreasonable. But...can you really ever be this certain?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My opinion is no, you can't ever be certain that all bears of all species are inactive where you are. And besides, they aren't the only animals of concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some reasons for no leeway:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A fed bear is a dead bear!&lt;/strong&gt; Bears are increasingly becoming &lt;a href=&quot;http://juneauempire.com/stories/101101/Out_bears.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;food-conditioned&lt;/a&gt; and/or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cfc.umt.edu/humanbearconflicts/Presentations/Gunther.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;habituated&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/Publications/Studying_Habituated_Black_Bears.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;human presence&lt;/a&gt;. This means a bear's natural habits may be altered, or may even be largely dependent upon human food or garbage. Just because it's cold doesn't been the bear is dormant, especially with the possibility of a continuous, viable food supply because of careless people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not all bears hibernate.&lt;/strong&gt; And not all bears hibernate at the same time. Habits &amp;amp; behaviors vary between species, and vary even among species by the region and its climate. For example, some black bears never hibernate because they can still find food all year, even despite the winter temperatures. This can often be the case in the Southeastern US where I live currently. So it seems it would be a rather bold assumption to think that bears are not active just because it's winter and cold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hanging a bear bag isn't just for bears.&lt;/strong&gt; It's also to protect your food from other wildlife. Shorter and colder days are all the more reason to plan accordingly to protect your food from hungry animals that are just looking for an easy meal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/training/bearbag.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;From Princeton's Outdoor Action Site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“Bear bagging” is something of a general term used for hanging your food. There are lots of other animals (raccoons, opossums, coyotes, chipmunks, skunks, etc.) that will go after human food. In some cases you may be camped in locations where there are no bears, but still need to hang your food at night...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So in light of the above points, barring exceptions such as weather and emergencies, appropriate bear-safe practices should be maintained throughout the year, regardless of season and temperature.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal anecdote: I was backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/gra.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grayson Highlands State Park&lt;/a&gt; near Mount Rogers in the winter several years ago. There was probably two feet of snow or more everywhere. We didn't hang bear bags. What got into our food? Wild ponies. Yep. Wild ponies. Who knew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-03-08T23:26:07.770" LastActivityDate="2014-03-08T23:26:07.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3518" CreationDate="2013-01-19T04:27:02.323" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t9zqt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;igniter&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.jetboil.com/files/IgniterReplacementInstructions.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Remove the igniter&lt;/a&gt; from the stove.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a fine file or sandpaper and make sure there is only clean metal on the electrode tip. Often times these get corroded and dirty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a Scotch-Brite pad or steel wool to clean the burner itself so that it also exposes clean metal. DO NOT use sandpaper on the burner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/CNC-QD-Electronic-Cleaner-11-oz/16817418&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;electrical contact cleaner&lt;/a&gt; and spray it directly into all orifices of the igniter. Also spray out the burner to clean out any dirt and dust. It's recommended that you wear gloves while doing this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shake the ignitor and the burner to remove any excess cleaner and let it dry for 10-15 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reinstall the igniter in the stove and position the tip of the electrode about 1/4&quot; or closer from the surface of the burner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to ignite and check for spark.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you still don't get a consistent spark, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/jetboil-maintenance-kit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;replace the igniter&lt;/a&gt; with a new one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However my personal recommendation is forget the built-in igniter and keep the lighter (or other external ignition source), which has multiples uses, weighs very little, and is easily replaceable. The small built-in piezo-electric igniters all wear out rather quickly. I have a stove with one that no longer works and have friends with JetBoils with the same problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the replacement igniter is only $5.95. So in my opinion it's not worth trying fix the old one for that price if you don't want to depend on a lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kRqPU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;QD contact cleaner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2013-01-21T08:44:32.080" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T08:44:32.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3529" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3622" CreationDate="2013-01-19T15:37:42.423" Score="6" ViewCount="972" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be walking up &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon&quot;&gt;Snowdon in Wales&lt;/a&gt;, 1085m, this February and am looking for advice on what jacket and trousers to get. Weather supposedly is windy, may be snow-covered and probably wet. &#xA;Should I go for waterproof jacket and trousers or general quick-dry clothing will be suitable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2014" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T14:30:00.463" Title="Trousers and jacket for winter walk up to 1085m (Snowdon)" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="88" CreationDate="2013-01-19T15:52:14.240" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure why you want to do this, but I have noticed that in a group of people in cool (not cold) weather eg 5 C which is 41 F, those who live in places with a very cold winter (rural Ontario like me, Winnipeg) are not even zipping up their coats while those who live in year-round warm places (Texas) are shivering and complaining and borrowing gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My theories about why that is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;base clothing is warmer. Sure, we're all just wearing pants, shirts, shoes, and light jackets, but the Texan's shoes are thinner soled, his jacket is lighter, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;those of us with cold experience are used to feeling a little cool and know it's not dangerous (unlike truly cold which is dangerous)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we have some habits we might not even notice about the way we're walking or standing that keep us warmer by using muscle energy, or reduce the heat we're losing to the air&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;our sympathetic nervous system is opening channels that the Texan's is closing, so we're pumping blood to our fingers and keeping them warm while his is throwing the fingers under the bus. US Soldiers apparently do learn some biofeedback thing to achieve this effect&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend acclimatizing to cool, not cold. Cold will kill you. Down to freezing is cool. I guess cold starts about -10C which is 14F. If you have access to cool, try just spending time in it wearing a little less clothing than you normally would. Leave off your hat or gloves or scarf. Don't zip up the coat. Wear the light jacket instead of the coat. Do this for short times - you won't die getting cold walking to get the mail in inside clothing when it's above freezing out. At 0C I will leave my coat in the car to go to the grocery store because it's annoying to wear with or deal with a large coat while shopping. And sure, I feel cold while I'm going through the parking lot. I just don't mind that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Figure out how to wave your arms around to drive more blood to your fingers, and how to jump up and down to drive more blood to your toes. If you're new to living somewhere where it gets cool and cold, watch what other people do at places like bus stops where you have to wait outside. (Even with full on hats gloves scarves etc, people get cold when they have to stand still. Watch how they deal with it.) Change the way you walk to make yourself warmer. And yes, learn to ignore the fact that you feel a little cool. Never ignore feeling chilled or cold - shivering is a big danger sign. I don't leave my coat behind at -10C. That would just be stupid. But cool? Lift up your chin. Tell yourself it's &quot;bracing&quot;. Imagine a little glow in your cheeks and a sparkle in your eye. Look forward to hot chocolate. Think about skating, tobogganning, skiing, and all the other things that are fun to do outside and involve getting a little cold. Walk faster. Don't let it beat you. Then get into the warm house and really enjoy that warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-01-19T15:52:14.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3531" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3532" CreationDate="2013-01-19T20:32:42.287" Score="8" ViewCount="1293" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in combining a three to five day &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_hut&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;rifugio&quot;&lt;/a&gt; based trek in southern Austria with a visit to Vienna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, I'd like to be able to fly in to somewhere nearby - Vienna, Salzburg, even Munich - and be able to conveniently drive/take public transport to the trail head. If I didn't fly in through Vienna I would want to fly out through it, thus combining a stay there with some hiking, in a place where cooking and a tent are not essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an idea of the kind of place I'm looking for, I'll give two examples of places I've been to (that I liked). In Spain I flew to Barcelona, and took a bus to the Pyrenees and hiked in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aig%C3%BCestortes_i_Estany_de_Sant_Maurici_National_Park#Trekking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;St.Maurici region&lt;/a&gt;. In Italy I flew to Milan and drove to the Dolomites and hiked in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosengarten_group&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rosengarten&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My prime &quot;candidate&quot; area is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalpark.co.at/en/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gesäuse National Park&lt;/a&gt;, based on the answers below. Can anyone confirm that this is a good choice? Or offer a different suggestion? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(English) resources for finding/planning such a trip are of course also welcome. The German sites are difficult to use, even with the automatic translations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that would be useful- in mid-July, is it necessary/advised to reserve your place in the rifugios in advance? There are some places where this is essential; in others there's no need even in high season. Obviously, if this is necessary it means a lot more planning is required; if not, I can just decide which way to go after I arrive in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T07:57:14.033" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T12:02:24.740" Title="Rifugio (Mountain Hut) trek in Austria" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3531" CreationDate="2013-01-19T22:27:23.903" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One such resource would the website of the &lt;em&gt;Alpenverein&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On their website, you can find an &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;interactive hut-finding service&lt;/a&gt;. If you click on any of the huts, you will get detailed information about opening dates, services available, possibly a link to a website, etc. Most of this information is in German. If you can't read German, you might try Google Translate. I think in most huts you can order food, but not in all, so it's best to check this at the website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a wealth of information available on the &lt;em&gt;Alpenverein&lt;/em&gt; website, although most of it is only available in German. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/berg-aktiv/wege-touren/trekkingrouten/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Trekkingrouten&lt;/a&gt; lists many well or lesser known multi-day hikes going from hut to hut. There is a rough map of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.at/weitwanderer/weitwanderwege/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Weitwanderwege&lt;/a&gt; and information on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.at/weitwanderer/weitwanderwege/fernwanderwege/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Fernwanderwege&lt;/a&gt;. I'm not sure what the difference between &lt;em&gt;Weit&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Fern&lt;/em&gt; is, but it appears the &lt;em&gt;Fernwanderwege&lt;/em&gt; are mostly the very long distance European routes — not what you're looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T11:59:28.917" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T11:59:28.917" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="88" CreationDate="2013-01-20T14:54:03.930" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could do worse than to research &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof&quot;&gt;Wim Hof&lt;/a&gt;, his accomplishments, and his training methods.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Cgaa8U4eY&quot;&gt;TEDx Amsterdam video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/user/wimhof1&quot;&gt;YouTube channel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H8lnhEVHL8&amp;amp;list=UUb5K4-FZRnxGrT1ioblDASg&amp;amp;index=4&quot;&gt;Daredevils show featuring Wim Hof&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun. :o)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2013-01-20T14:54:03.930" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3535" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3540" CreationDate="2013-01-20T16:38:22.833" Score="37" ViewCount="34626" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I both like sleeping in hammocks in the outdoors. We now sleep in two separate hammocks. However, I've seen many hammocks that are designed, or at least make it possible to sleep with two people in it. Most notably these two:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/DOUBLENEST.html&quot;&gt;ENO DoubleNest Hammock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/DOUBLE-DELUXE.html&quot;&gt;ENO DoubleNest Deluxe Hammock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Possible advantages&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warmth&lt;/strong&gt;: two people sleeping together is warmer (an advantage in colder environments)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt;: one hammock is lighter than two hammocks and two tarps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Romantic&lt;/strong&gt;: sleeping in two separate hammocks isn't really romantic, after all :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Possible disadvantages&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warmth&lt;/strong&gt;: two people sleeping together is warmer (a disadvantage in warmer environments)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Space&lt;/strong&gt;: it seems to me that you would just keep rolling into each other and won't actually be able to fall asleep; not necessarily from the lack of space, but rather from the natural effect of rolling to the middle of the hammock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: has anyone tried &lt;strong&gt;sleeping&lt;/strong&gt; (not just relaxing or sitting in it) with two in one of these hammocks? Is it doable? Would you recommend it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be honest, I'm fairly skeptical myself, but I wanted to ask this question anyway because of the potential advantages. We also can't try sleeping in it for ourselves, since we both have single hammocks and we don't know anyone who owns a double hammock (and I don't think any store is going to let us try for one night). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please don't just say: that seems/doesn't seem to be a good idea.&lt;/strong&gt; I'm looking for people who have actually tried it. I have heard a lot of opinions based on gut feelings already; that is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; what I'm looking for.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T14:06:44.710" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T09:42:24.497" Title="Sleeping in twos in one hammock" Tags="&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2013-01-20T16:53:45.220" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I follow a paleotic diet (which is gluten-free) for fairly similar reasons. I will give you some of my recommendations; I have tried them all myself except for the hard boiled eggs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beef jerky/pemiccan&lt;/strong&gt;: it is very nutritious. It's my number 1 recommendation for food on the trail (regardless of whether you have celiac disease or not). You can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-make-pemmican/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;make it yourself&lt;/a&gt; if you want to. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dried fruit&lt;/strong&gt;: water is heavy, so dried fruit is a lightweight and nutritious snack. A little bit sugary perhaps, but that shouldn't be a problem on the trail (when you're burning lots of calories). Raisins are my personal favorite in this category.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coconut oil&lt;/strong&gt;: also very nutritious and high in healthy fats. You can eat it raw, cook with it or you can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2012/1/9/gluten-free-coconut-cookies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;make cookies&lt;/a&gt; with it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Honey&lt;/strong&gt;: either raw or used in recipes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Raw nuts&lt;/strong&gt;: again: nutritious and lightweight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dried seaweed and kale&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hard boiled eggs&lt;/strong&gt;: as long as you have a hard container that keeps the shell from breaking, they won't spoil for two to three weeks. That's what I've heard, at least, I haven't actually tried it myself yet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Canned sardines&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food bars&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://tankabar.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tankabars&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://thepurebar.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pure Bars&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kindsnacks.com/kind-store/buy-kind-bars&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kind Bars&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.larabar.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lara Bars&lt;/a&gt;, and many others &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dark chocolate&lt;/strong&gt;: not all chocolate is gluten-free, so check the ingredients list!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vegetable chips&lt;/strong&gt;: these &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B006RIELJ0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;carrot chips&lt;/a&gt;, for instance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, most food in nature won't contain gluten. It's not something you should rely on (i.e. I would also take enough food with me), but some knowledge of the local fauna is always a good thing. However, it's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/266/how-can-i-identify-edible-berries-fruit-from-poisonous&quot;&gt;a difficult subject&lt;/a&gt;, but it just is one more option that you may be interested in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems hard at first to find out which foods you can and cannot eat and to find good substitues for each of them, but you get used to this fairly easily. I at first thought that this would never be doable to head into the wild whilst following this diet (which is more restrictive than a gluten-free diet), and now I feel as if I've got more than enough options. After a while, it feels just as &quot;natural&quot; as your previous diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-01-20T19:29:33.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2013-01-20T19:16:27.223" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most authoritative source I know is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1437716784&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medicine&lt;/a&gt; textbook, and it has some very useful information on this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow is mostly air.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you stuff yourself full of snow. Unfortunately, the snow you eat is mostly air and not water. So it is extremely hard to get fully hydrated because though you get full, when the snow melts into water you only get a fourth or a fifth of the volume of the snow in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution to this is sometimes quite easy. Dig. If you have no choice but to eat unmelted snow for water, &lt;em&gt;dig down&lt;/em&gt;. The deeper you dig in the snow, the more dense the snow is. And when denser snow melts it yields more water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Melt the snow first.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the ideal solution is to melt the snow first, so you can drink liquid water. The trick here is melting the snow. Wilderness Medicine includes a lot of case reports and has one definite conclusion: &lt;strong&gt;PLEASE do not use your body heat to melt the snow&lt;/strong&gt;. You will increase your risk of hypothermia in a survival situation. Any other method to melt the snow would be extremely helpful to your survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2014-08-12T20:16:59.227" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T20:16:59.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3538" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3539" CreationDate="2013-01-20T19:17:34.930" Score="5" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've registered some caches in Poland. It strike me that reviewer from GeoCaching was asking how I'm supposed to service caches far from my home location. In the meantime I moved to Germany, which made caches registered near my 'home' location less serviceable than those register 'far from', but near my family location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to register some caches here in Germany, but I know, that it is quite probable I will  change my location in a few years, and probably I will never have permanent 'home' location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I do? I would like to register some caches, but I know I could service them no longer that a few years. Am I expected not to registered any caches at all, or I could create mountain caches, which are normally community-services? What proceeding will be accepted by geocaching community?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear, I'm not asking for personal advice, but for general guidelines to obey in such cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T18:34:27.817" Title="Should I register caches when I know in longer perspective I will move?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3538" CreationDate="2013-01-20T20:44:36.780" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that if you can service them for a couple of years then you should definitely register them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of that period, you can always deregister/delete and create community caches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you handle the changes in a sensible way - ie not abandoning a cache - then I can't see that there would be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, as @DonBranson commented - you can always hand over stewardship :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-01-21T18:34:27.817" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T18:34:27.817" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2013-01-20T21:39:49.460" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3478/1908&quot;&gt;another post&lt;/a&gt; in which my answer deals with this question among other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not yet met anyone that has tried to sleep with two people in a hammock that still practices it. I have tried it, and while it's ok for a short nap or just relaxing, for overnight and/or multiple nights it's just not comfortable or practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have owned two ENO Doublenests and they still squeeze two people together no matter what way you set up the hammock, whether it's with sag or not. This is subjective, and you may find that it works for you, but I'm betting you won't. I have many married friends who also hammock camp and they don't share hammocks for sleeping either, even though they're accustomed to sleeping in the same bed or tent. (Actually they usually tent camp so they can stay together.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the other big problems with trying to sleep two people in one hammock is if one person has to get up in the night, it's unavoidable to completely disturb the other person. This is assuming either of you has actually managed to stay asleep while sharing the hammock. The romance factor will have quickly lost it's momentum at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that I haven't tried the &lt;a href=&quot;http://eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/DOUBLE-DELUXE.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deluxe ENO&lt;/a&gt; (9'4&quot; x 8'4&quot;), and while wider than a &lt;a href=&quot;http://eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/DOUBLENEST.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double&lt;/a&gt; (9'4&quot; x 6'2&quot;), I have my doubts that it would provide any different result for sharing a hammock overnight. Sorry to confirm your doubts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-01-20T21:55:52.980" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2013-01-20T22:54:17.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to suggest a couple of books I really like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1615190465&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;The Natural Navigator&quot; by Tristan Gooley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/048640613X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Navigating without a Map or Compass by Harold Gatty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These books are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; about quick tips and tricks. These books are filled with stories, history and a lot of nuances that will take a lot of time to actually master. These books are great for anyone who is really serious about the &lt;em&gt;art&lt;/em&gt; of navigation (which entails getting closer to nature, noticing more,...). It's great if you're really serious about navigation and the outdoors in general or if you just want a nice read, but as I said before, don't expect a tips&amp;amp;tricks format. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastActivityDate="2013-01-20T22:54:17.643" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2013-01-21T21:19:29.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest following the bear rules year round.  In the Canadian Rockies, we still have areas closed due to bear activity in the middle of January.  Plus ravens will make short work of anything left accessible, not to mention worrying about attracting cougars and wolves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a couple links outlining safety for camping in the backcountry, and in case you do see a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/kananaskis-country/advisories-public-safety/wildlife/be-bear-smart.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Be Bear Smart&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/kananaskis-country/advisories-public-safety/backcountry-safety.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Backcountry Camping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2019" LastEditorUserId="2019" LastEditDate="2013-03-19T03:41:55.177" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T03:41:55.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3543" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3550" CreationDate="2013-01-21T22:13:34.997" Score="12" ViewCount="331" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question may seem obvious — but is a &lt;em&gt;national forest&lt;/em&gt; always a forest? In Norway, &lt;em&gt;statskog&lt;/em&gt; — which quite literally means national forest — is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statskog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;state agency&lt;/a&gt; owning forest land, but also vast amounts of mountain tundra, marshlands, lakes, reindeer herding lands, mountain cliffs... in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if only a minority of &lt;em&gt;statskog&lt;/em&gt; land is actually forested. &lt;em&gt;Statskog&lt;/em&gt; owns 20% of Norwegian land area (with &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fefo.no/en/Sider/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Finnmarkseiendommen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, another public agency, owning another 15% of even emptier land).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the situation in the U.S.? Should I imagine a &lt;em&gt;national forest&lt;/em&gt; as a large area of (possibly managed?) forested lands, or does &lt;em&gt;forest&lt;/em&gt; like in Norway not literally mean &lt;em&gt;forest&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-23T19:06:08.467" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T19:06:08.467" Title="Is a national forest always a forest?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3529" CreationDate="2013-01-21T22:46:00.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are expecting snowy and wet weather then I would suggest following the concept of &quot;layering&quot;, with a base layer of merino wool, and a hard shell jacket and pants (Gore Tex or similar) as the outer layer.  If it is raining or snowing quick dry clothes have a hard time drying as the air is already very humid.  Quick dry clothes are not typically very warm once they get wet, where as the wool will keep you warm even if it gets wet and is unable to dry (plus wool won't stink after wearing it for days).  If its going to be snow covered, then be sure to get good boots and socks, and if the snow is deep consider  getting gaiters to keep the snow from entering the tops of your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain Equipment Co-op has a great website for planning what type of clothing/gear you need depending on the activity.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Clothing/DressingForTheOutdoors.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoor Clothing Information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have trip checklists to ensure you haven't forgotten anything, they are based for hiking around Canada, but I'm sure they will still be helpful.  The Skyline Checklist would be the most similar to your destination.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/HikingAndCamping/TripChecklists.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Various Hiking Checklists&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2019" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T22:46:00.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1619" CreationDate="2013-01-21T23:39:16.413" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's a camera or other precision instrument you will probably want it stored in the Always Ready position. For me this is on my chest, strapped to the front straps of my backpack. While walking across the Pyrenees recently I carried my Leica D-Lux 5 compact camera in a hard leather Leica-made case and attached that to the straps. One advantage, apart from immediate access, is that I always knew it was there and could whip it out while walking without having to remove my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2020" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T23:39:16.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3543" CreationDate="2013-01-21T23:39:50.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the majority of national forests in the US and the UK are forested, there are also wide areas included within the boundaries that may be mountains, plains, lakes etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often the boundaries are a legacy of when the area was originally defined - sometimes forest has retreated, sometimes the boundary was defined to include lands which appeared to be used by particular animal herds etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simplest is to assume that the majority is forested, but in any area you are heading to you may encounter other land usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-01-21T23:39:50.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3543" CreationDate="2013-01-22T01:15:47.400" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good portion of it is usually forest, but not always. Case in point, I visited the Cloud Peak Wilderness in Wyoming this summer, contained in the Bighorn National Forest. While much of it was forested and wooded:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/guCvy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;not all of it was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fTqVe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, in the US, land being a state/national park vs a 'forest' is often purely a result of political effects, because in the US parks and forests are managed by different government agencies. National grasslands in particular are managed by the US Forest Service. And of course, plenty of national parks will be forested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, really there is no hard and fast rule.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T01:15:47.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3552" CreationDate="2013-01-22T01:31:45.953" Score="7" ViewCount="2768" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been top-roping for several months.  About a month ago I found out how much fun bouldering is.  I've been getting quite a few scrapes on the knees working certain routes, or from falling.  I'm climbing at an indoor gym wearing shorts.  Some people climb in long pants, but many don't.  It's not a big deal, but I wonder if this is mainly a technique issue which will go away over time, or if there's some knee protection available that wouldn't reduce flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:58:04.187" Title="What's the best protection for my knees while bouldering?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3548" CreationDate="2013-01-22T02:28:28.367" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, a more controlled and precise technique should reduce undesired knee scraping and banging... But I find that the ability to achieve this precision is, at least to some degree, dependent on your strength reserves, and decreases during a session. Often, several hours into a climbing session I find myself making bigger and less precise moves, and often these end up with scraping or banging of a limb on the wall or some hold. That's usually my cue to pack it up and call it a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as knee protection goes, any soft, full-sleeve, fabric style knee padding should work well for most impacts you would normally experience while climbing. But only you know how hard you're hitting the wall and the holds, so really, the best advice I can give you is to go and try out a bunch in the store, and see how much protection they provide.&#xA;I think the soft (and therefore flexible) pads would be the best place to start. Perhaps &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4314670&amp;amp;cp=2796799&amp;amp;parentPage=family&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;volleyball style knee pads&lt;/a&gt; would work well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T02:28:28.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3543" CreationDate="2013-01-22T14:34:28.853" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, a &quot;national forest&quot; here in the US is a legal designation and does not mean the land is actually covered with trees (a forest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, there are quite a number of governmental divisions that own and manage land that is open to the public to various degrees.  Sticking just to the larger federal ones, there is BLM land (Bureau of Land Management), department of the interior which runs the national parks and monuments, the department of agriculture which runs the national forests, and a few more I don't remember details of.  For example, I don't remember who exactly is responsible for national wildlife refuges, but is that yet another agency (within DoI, I think).  Some other agencies have land that is partly open to the public in some cases more as a aside, like the military.  Generally military reservations are not open, but there are some strange deals like the Kofa National Wildlife refuge in AZ that is was actually carved out of the Yuma Proving Grounds, with a deal that the military can take it over again at any time in case of national need.  It might require only a presidential edict or possibly even less, versus the act of congress it would take to otherwise move land around between agencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of these agencies is tasked with different objectives, so they therefore run their lands differently.  National parks and monuments (the only difference between the two is that a park is established by congress and a monument by presidential edict, which is sometimes then ratified by congress and converted to a park) are run by the Department of the Interior and are primarily for conservation with some mandate for public access, recreation, and education.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National forests on the other hand are run by the Department of Agriculture, and quite a variety of benefits are expected from them, many of them conflicting.  The national forests are looked at more as nationally owned resources.  The DoA likes to refer to them as &quot;land of many uses&quot;, which you often see on the road signs.  Much of the nation's timber harvest comes from the National Forests.  Sections are routinely auctioned for harvest.  The forest service must plan these on a long term sustainable basis, but providing forest products is a primary job of a National Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More broadly, National Forests are really lands held as a public resource.  The name came from when these were first established as the federal government bought up lands the timber companies clear cut and dumped, so they were originally forests.  Since then, the same governmental infrastructure was used to hold other public lands regardless of vegetation cover.  The common theme to all National Forests is land held as a public resource, not necessarily just conservation, although there is a mandate that any uses be long term sustainable.  The National Forests do include a lot of true forest, but also tundra, desert, and various other landscape types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But wait, then there are the federal Wildernesses.  These are well explained in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3512/1854&quot;&gt;answer by LBell&lt;/a&gt;.  The Wilderness designation runs accross agencies.  Any federal agency that holds land can have a wilderness area on that land if it meets the various criteria.  There are Wilderness areas in National Parks and Monuments, in National Forests, and on BLM land.  These are basically pure conservation areas, and are even more protected than just a National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Ta8e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in the White Mountain National Forest in NH looking south from Zealand Notch in the fall.  This area really is a forest, as with most of the eastern US when the land is left to its own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8cBJ2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in the same &quot;Forest&quot;, but this section is above tree line.  To the right of the ridge is the Pemigawasset Wilderness, which is a region within the White Mountain National Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/If9ZC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is land in a totally different climate with totally different plant cover.  This is in the Tonto National Forest of AZ north of Phoenix.  Here the name &quot;Forest&quot; is purely the legal designation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T14:56:32.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1619" CreationDate="2013-01-22T15:15:34.920" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is little point in bringing a camera if you're just going to pack it away.  The best place for a camera is around your neck and shoulder when you're hiking and not immediately taking pictures.  When you want to be a little more ready, just aound the neck is better.  However, that's not so good for hiking since it will swing around a lot.  The camera is held more solidly against your body when the strap is around your neck and one shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really into outdoor photography, get a camera meant to take little abuse.  Some cameras are &quot;weather sealed&quot;.  I still am not going to wear one around my body in the rain, but it will do better surviving some inevitable wetness that sooner or later will find its way to the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I just want to or need to hike (getting dark, caught in thunderstorm, etc) but have a camera along, I wrap it and any separate lenses each in their own plastic bag.  Good weather or not, I always bring one plastic bag for each such item.  This is one layer extra protection since some water will always get into a pack when you're hiking in the rain, and when it's not raining the bag helps keep dirt off the item.  These don't need to be ziplock or sealed bags.  Just ordinary grocery store plastic bags with the excess wrapped around the item work well enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't found the need for extra mechanical padding.  My day pack has some foam padding up against my back, which keeps hard things from digging into me.  Other than that, just put the pack down on the ground gently and you shouldn't need anything more.  If you're not wearing all the clothes that you brought, then that extra windbreaker or sweater makes good padding for insurance.  If you're using everything though, don't sweat it.  Delicate objects like a camera are quite safe up against your back, so just be careful with the pack when you're not wearing it and all will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T15:15:34.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3548" CreationDate="2013-01-22T17:54:59.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It doesn't &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; go away with time.  At least not for me - when I'm on a hard gym route I tend to ignore any holds that are &quot;off&quot; for that route, and every now and then I'll hit one with an elbow or knee.  Also outside, while you want to emphasize using your feet, ever now and then you'll find yourself needing to place a knee on a hold.  Working on technique and flexibility will make these issues better, but there's no reason to build up a bunch of scar tissue on your legs while that's happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are pants made specifically for bordering and climbing.  They look like heavy denim capri pants.  You may want to look into some.  Anything made of a heavy denim with gusseted crotch and articulate knees should protect the skin on your knees while still giving you range of movement.  Prana, Patagonia, and Arc'teryx all make pants like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T17:54:59.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1916" CreationDate="2013-01-22T20:04:20.947" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a knot app for iOS and Android called Knots 3D that has knot names and their synonyms listed for English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Korean, Russian and Spanish.  There are 87 knots in the app. More knots and languages are mentioned for future releases. The list of knots is here: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;English&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/german-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Deutsch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/dutch-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nederlands&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/french-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Français&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/italian-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Italiano&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/korean-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;한국어&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/russian-knot-names/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Pусский&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nynix.com/knot-list/spanish-knot-list/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Español&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2022" LastEditorUserId="2022" LastEditDate="2013-01-22T22:13:13.630" LastActivityDate="2013-01-22T22:13:13.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3555" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-23T12:45:54.157" Score="16" ViewCount="330" Body="&lt;p&gt;As in the title really. In the hypothetical situation that I'm caught in the wilderness in winter and there's a heavy snow storm resulting in an unexpected level of snow, snow shoes could well come in handy. Is there a way to make / improvise them effectively using different types of wood / other common materials found in the wilderness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="191" LastEditDate="2013-01-24T14:17:19.607" LastActivityDate="2014-10-09T10:05:13.470" Title="How can I make a snow shoe in the wilderness from commonly available materials and simple tools?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3556" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3566" CreationDate="2013-01-23T16:48:02.757" Score="10" ViewCount="4024" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a few ski trips in slightly painful hire boots, I decided to buy a pair that would fit properly. After trying quite a lot of pairs, I eventually found some that fitted well all over my foot, which fit with either one thick pair of socks, or two thin ones. I've generally gone for one thick pair. For most of my current trip, they've been amazing, making skiing easier, avoiding painful feet, and keeping my feet toasty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, today it was a lot colder, especially on the higher runs, and my toes got very cold (almost painfully). Without buying a second pair that'd be big enough for two thick pairs of socks just for the odd very very cold day, is there anything that can be done to avoid cold feet on very cold days skiing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-05T01:01:21.957" LastActivityDate="2017-03-05T01:01:21.957" Title="Can you keep your feet warm in ski boots on a very cold day?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3555" CreationDate="2013-01-23T16:55:07.810" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way that I know of requires you to have some kind of rope or long straps and to be near evergreen trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the strength of the needles and width of the trees limbs take anywhere from 1 to 4 ends of an evergreen tree limb. Be sure to use green wood so they can bend without breaking. Make each section about three times as long as your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take the string/straps and first weave the limbs for each foot together, then weave the limbs to the bottom of your boats, making sure to weave through the boot laces so the &quot;snowshoes&quot; don't slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will give you enough of a snowshoe to deal with powder snow. These will not however provide the kind of traction that you would get from real snowshoes with metal cleats. Not really sure how to replicate that feature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpacker.com has this same idea on their site with sketches &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival-no-snowshoes/skills/14759&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ih9xo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-01-24T04:42:24.607" LastActivityDate="2013-01-24T04:42:24.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3558" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3560" CreationDate="2013-01-23T16:55:28.807" Score="9" ViewCount="837" Body="&lt;p&gt;After several trips with poor fitting hire ski boots, and having had no end of trouble finding suitable fitting hire boots at the current resort, I went and bought a fitting pair. The boots have been good, avoiding foot pain and apparently making the skiing easier. The only downside of buying them here is that I can't understand a word of the information leaflet that came with them...!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than trying to type the whole thing into Google Translate, I thought it might be easier to ask here - what maintenance (if any) should I do on the boots at the end of the trip? And with that done, is there anything special about how I should store them until next year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastEditorUserId="1895" LastEditDate="2013-01-31T11:55:26.007" LastActivityDate="2013-02-15T01:16:53.840" Title="End-of-season maintenance / storage tips for ski boots?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3556" CreationDate="2013-01-23T17:15:44.237" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, add fat to your feet.  I don't mean gain weight.  Just slather it on before putting socks on.  Petroleum jelly will work, as will almost any other fat (other than coconut oil).  A nice layer of fat, even external, does wonders for heat retention. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-23T21:03:13.800" LastActivityDate="2013-01-23T21:03:13.800" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3558" CreationDate="2013-01-23T18:33:57.430" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If they are in two pieces (hard shell and soft liner) then treat them separately, washing and drying the liner before putting it away in an airing cupboard or similar warm dry place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to clean the shell with clean water and a little soap, to get rid of grit, salt and other deposits, taking extra care to remove all dirt from clips and moving parts.Rinse and dry thoroughly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I store mine in my garage, on a shelf, in a boot bag to prevent insects or spiders making their home in them. The garage isn't heated, but this isn't generally an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update as per Nisan's comment:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also go over the parts to make sure they are all there, functioning as designed, and properly tightened where they should be... It will save you the trouble of finding this out on the first trip next season&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And (and this may sound silly) always store them in the same place each time - it may sound OCD, but I have specific places for winter sports kit, summer sports kit, etc - so I don't need to worry about hunting round for them each season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-01-25T10:48:37.937" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T10:48:37.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3561" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-24T02:27:01.450" Score="6" ViewCount="517" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've applied for corridor campsites for May 2013 - problem was that we applied January 21st.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long does it generally take to hear if we've got reservations?  (Our alternative is to wait and apply for late September)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2027" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:14:13.070" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:14:13.070" Title="How long does it take to hear back about a Grand Canyon Backcountry permit application" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1801" CreationDate="2013-01-24T16:04:43.623" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a &quot;Camelbak Stoaway&quot; bladder - it has a bit of insulation and neoprene on the tube. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fill it with warm water when possible and keep it next to my back. If not wearing it, I wrap my spare fleece around it on the 3 sides not facing my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other two things not mentioned here about bladders, I think, are that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I blow back the water after drinking and live with the fact that it might need cleaning more often.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have slept with a bladder in my spare fleece in my sleeping bag on a cool night in North Sweden. For the tube ones I would attach a screw-cap instead of the tube first though!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2013-01-24T16:04:43.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3563" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-24T18:31:07.777" Score="14" ViewCount="6024" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heavy backpacks can spoil the pleasures of being in the outdoors. There are two ways to resolve this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry less&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find an alternative to the backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the first option is usually the best one, it's not always possible to carry less. If you head into a cold environment where you have few if any opportunities to resupply, you just have to take a lot of food, clothing, etc. and it will make your backpack heavier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been looking into other options. I've stumbled upon the walking trailer. To give a specific example: the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.radicaldesign.nl/en/products/walking-trailers/wheelie/wheelie-iii-trekking&quot;&gt;Radical Design Wheelie III&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AUuf39RgWc&quot;&gt;video demonstration&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has anyone here tried one of these?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do they behave on off-road terrain? I'm obviously not going to climb a mountain with one of these, but they should be able to handle mild off-road conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can they handle a bit of (ab)use? I don't want a wheel breaking off in the middle of nowhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a cheaper alternative? The Wheelie III costs €550 (about $735): that's quite a lot of money for a bag on wheels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T08:39:56.473" LastActivityDate="2019-11-22T05:37:23.657" Title="Is a type of walking trailer a good alternative to a heavy backpack in off-road conditions?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1513" CreationDate="2013-01-24T18:50:50.497" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This does not answer your direct question in the sense that it does not &lt;em&gt;prevent&lt;/em&gt; condensation (so please bear with me), but..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;..a lightweight bivy with a water resistant and very breathable (rather than waterproof) top fabric on top of a groundsheet will protect your sleeping bag from the outside and add a bit of warmth. These weigh from 100-200g upwards, depending on fabric thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got mine from Mountain Laurel Designs. Right now there is only one model, although he used to do a plethora of options - perhaps worth asking if you think it looks too flimsy or too expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-01-25T13:24:53.713" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T13:24:53.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1535" CreationDate="2013-01-24T19:07:02.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a good quality (Rab) sleeping bag for 3-season camping in Britain, including Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is rated to +2 or +3 degrees C without hood, can't remember exactly, but for comparison it has 200g of down, fabric-only bottom and no hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I then have my fleece balaclava and clothes apart from baselayer, which is hiking trousers and two thin 100wt fleeces to add if it should get cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for shelter, I have used lightweight silnylon/nylon double skin tents (Hilleberg and Lightwave), but next time I will try a non-exposed site with a semi-closed tarp (Gatewood Cape) and superlight breathable bivy after finding it successful in North Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastEditorUserId="2025" LastEditDate="2013-01-25T08:50:26.363" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T08:50:26.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3556" CreationDate="2013-01-24T22:44:06.453" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have several options for keeping your toes warm, but ultimately, toes are going to get cold on really cold days... it is just part of the fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unbuckle your boots while riding up a lift (or stoppping to rest in the back-country) -- this allows circulation to more freely access your toes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wiggle your toes within your boots to keep the blood flowing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Err on thinner socks to keep the amount of insulating area in your boots at its maximum. Cramming more fabric into your boot is counter-intuitively a bad idea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/679011/bootglove&quot;&gt;boot coozies&lt;/a&gt;. (I was just gifted a pair, but haven't tried them. I'll post here if if/when my pride can allow me test them...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pocket hand/toe warmers contain different chemicals/powders that can create heat when activated. Try placing these &lt;em&gt;inside and the back of your thigh along your arteries&lt;/em&gt; to warm the blood heading to your toes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the truly desperate: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/745511/hotronic-e4-foot-warmer&quot;&gt;electric boot warmers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-24T22:44:06.453" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3561" CreationDate="2013-01-24T23:07:18.787" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/backcountry-permit.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GRCA back-country permit site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Permit Responses&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Permit requests are responded to through U.S. Mail - never by fax or&#xA;  e-mail. Due to the volume of requests received, the park cannot&#xA;  confirm receipt of requests until they have been fully processed.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Please allow at least three weeks for processing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does suggest that for hiking in May, you apply on January 1, so you may be a little late to the game. (For Sept, they suggest applying on or after May 1.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they do accept walk-in reservations, and you might get lucky and get a cancellation. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1165/86&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; for additional information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-01-24T23:07:18.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2013-01-25T07:10:35.860" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried it, but it looks ridiculous. If you are going to be hiking on flat and mildly rough terrain, why not &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/10167/3927&quot;&gt;get a bike with a lot of panniers&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This provides for the same carrying capacity (maybe up to 40 kg).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Probably will be less expensive than the trailer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is an obvious advantage when going flat or downhill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bikes have larger wheels than this trailer, so I suspect this makes them better at ignoring irregularities on the road.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:32:41.257" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T07:10:35.860" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2013-01-25T08:11:26.080" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;See the llamas looking at them weirdly at 2:10? That's because the llamas know how ridiculous it is!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not just referring to how it looks, I'm referring to the fact that in anything other than nice terrain it just doesn't look like it'll work. Fancy pulling that through a marsh? Even assuming the ground is solid (big assumption in the wilderness) the video shows a pretty immense amount of struggle going through a simple gate, with a style or tight kissing gate it's going to be near impossible to manage. The webpage says you can put it on your back, yes, but then it looks awkward and unwieldy - and if you still have to put it on your back, what's the point? It also costs the earth, could well get a puncture on rough terrain, and perhaps most inconveniently takes up both your hands, meaning you couldn't use both it and a map or GPS on the go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems like a gimmick to me. If you felt you needed the extra weight it provides, I'd first ask the question as to why you couldn't fit this into a rucksack, what your aim is, and then work from there. Sometimes, planning to cut down on weight is a fun part of the whole experience!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-01-25T11:02:47.773" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T11:02:47.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2013-01-25T08:23:00.327" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers focus on general survival kits, but don't give much coverage to first aid kits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what you need in a first aid kit, in order of importance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Training. It takes up no space, weighs nothing, and is more critical than anything else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A cell phone. In a serious medical emergency, there's no piece of equipment you'll want more. Take it even if you don't get reception for the whole excursion. It can still shave hours off the response time because it will likely get a signal a few miles before you've reached civilization.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two pairs of rubber gloves to protect yourself in case you have to treat bleeding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An epi pen. Someone in your party may be allergic to bee stings and there's no way to improvise this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aspirin and ibuprofen tablets. The former for any heart attack symptoms and the later for general pain and swelling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antiseptic wipes and band aids to prevent infection from minor cuts and scrapes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it. Everything else you might need can be improvised from regular hiking equipment and the ten essentials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My list may not sound as sexy as some of the others, but it's been tested in the field. I'm a former EMT and climbing guide, and I've faced multiple life-or-death medical emergencies in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2030" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-13T15:40:47.770" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:40:47.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2013-01-25T19:07:27.953" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made a 272-mile hike through the Sawtooth Mountains and this was my diet (which worked well for me):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2-3 oatmeal packets in the morning&lt;br&gt;&#xA;trail mix as a snack&lt;br&gt;&#xA;top ramen with powdered chili for lunch&lt;br&gt;&#xA;then rice or mashed potatoes with a few seasonings mixed in for flavor such as garlic, herb, butter, cinnamon  etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rice, mashed potatoes, dehydrated milk, and oatmeal are the lightest foods you can bring.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Brown rice is healthier than white as well.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I had to carry all my food in because there was no re-supply but I used a filter water straw for all my water needs (worked great).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cliff bars and Snickers or M&amp;amp;Ms both make a great snack but are weight if you are worried about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2031" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-09-05T23:03:34.287" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T23:03:34.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1374" CreationDate="2013-01-25T19:13:18.887" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's probably a very subjective measure, but I think that the area is too saturated when I spend more time searching for cache as walking to other location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For bicycle cachers it may be a bit else, but after finding 5 caches 500 meters from each other (5-6 minutes walk) I want to skip the next and simply walk half an hour without thinking and looking around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if I have to walk an hour to next cache (4km or more) I think that there are simply too few caches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My text applies to forest areas, but this is where I like to cache at most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T19:13:18.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1169" CreationDate="2013-01-25T19:13:59.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had both a titanium and Teflon pot for backpacking and like the titanium for the weight factor but they do cost more money. Teflon pots are great, they are fairly light, super easy to clean, and come is various sizes. They are also normally affordable. I have an Optimus Crux stove and it is AMAZING!!! It folds up to fit in the bottom of a fuel cylinder and they both fit inside my cooking pot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2031" LastActivityDate="2013-01-25T19:13:59.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3576" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-26T11:11:45.513" Score="10" ViewCount="2391" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other day I used some mysterious, ultra-sticky climbing-tape at my local gym, which got me thinking: How much should I be paying for my tape?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prices for climbing-specific tape seem to be somewhat upward-sticky (econ-pun intended.) I have gloved up with Metolius tape for $4 a role and I have used generic athletic tape for almost half that. I did noticed a difference in their performance, which made me wonder:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is some tape best used for specific situations? When is it best to go with the more expensive, climbing-specific tapes and when and what can I tape with the cheap stuff? What kind of tape is best for gloves that I am going to be using once, and should I spend more on reusable tape-gloves? Is one kind of tape better for fingers? What other tapes are out there that are either super sticky or super cheap?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T16:13:15.880" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T16:13:15.880" Title="For what it's worth: climbing-tape" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;tape-gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3577" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4449" CreationDate="2013-01-26T11:46:42.383" Score="10" ViewCount="1009" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been walking/running/hiking in my huaraches for about half a year now and have worn through 3 pairs of laces. I have been using accessory cord used in climbing as lacing material, since it has a high tensile rating, but it doesn't seem to be very abrasion-resistant. On my current pair of huaraches I have moved the side-holes outward a bit, which minimizes wear at those points, but the knot underneath the sole is still very vulnerable.&#xA;What other lacing-materials are there that might last a bit longer? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As requested, I uploaded images of the huaraches and their current laces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vI2qb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Laced for long distance trail run&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gPxHp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The worn knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side-note: For anyone interested in learning a good way to tie huaraches for long distance running visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.invisibleshoe.com/1394/randy-kreills-marathon-huarache-tying-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt; for a great video tutorial. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T19:56:45.997" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T17:59:36.420" Title="Lacing materials for huaraches" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;minimalist-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2013-01-26T15:21:50.427" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compare the size of those wheels with the size of the wheels of outdoor vehicles, and you'll see that such small wheels can't work well in hard terrain!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably even on dry meadow the energy you'll have to use to drag that device, which will constantly catch on blades of grass and other plants, would be much more than that you'll use to carry a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that device is most appropriate for people traveling to agriculture hostels with the public transport, because the country road is the toughest terrain it can deal with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look for carrying solution in really outdoor environment consider taking an animal, for example a horse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T10:18:09.180" LastActivityDate="2013-01-30T10:18:09.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3529" CreationDate="2013-01-26T19:24:16.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was going, I would bring something like what I brought for an overnight walk from Braemar to Aviemore in the Cairngorms at the start of February some years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So apart from gloves, hat/scarf or balaclava - base layer top and bottom, hard shell jacket and pants, gaiters, a 100wt fleece and a 200wt fleece (giving 3 options for warmth) and for a day trip either hiking trousers or thin fleece trousers, the latter if you tend to get cold easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a day trip I would add a thin water resistant nylon windshirt (100-200g) - one of those outside a fleece works well unless you have rain or wet snow. The much better breathability helps keeping you dry if it is windy but not wet, especially if your legs need to work a bit harder in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2013-01-26T19:24:16.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3580" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-27T01:26:23.597" Score="0" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Duplicate:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/45/what-is-the-most-efficient-food-to-take-a-for-a-12-15-day-hiking-trip&quot;&gt;What is the most efficient food to take a for a 12-15 day hiking trip?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1609/a-list-of-suitable-foods-for-a-long-hike&quot;&gt;A list of suitable foods for a long hike&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I normally carry brown rice, oatmeal, instant potatoes, and powdered soups with other seasonings that make the flavor a little better. Does anyone have any suggestions for other backpacking foods that have the calories yet are lightweight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2031" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-01-30T19:57:16.780" Title="What are a few backpacking foods that have the calories yet are lightweight?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2013-01-28T14:22:52.670" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3576" CreationDate="2013-01-27T01:33:30.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always just used tape marketed towards climbers (including Metolius brand tape) and reused the gloves, applying more tape as needed (although I have friends who make new gloves every time). Gloves last me almost a whole season in this fashion, so I don't worry about price too much. Other athletic tapes don't always work as well, for some reason, but there may be exceptions.  $4 isn't totally unreasonable, IMHO&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-01-27T02:41:11.690" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T02:41:11.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2013-01-27T02:28:58.863" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have slept in freezing temps and sub zero. All I will say is most sleeping bags will not even keep you comfortable to half their rating. Get a good bag, add a thick blanket or two, and wear plenty of layers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not forget a head and face covering. A few days ago I slept outdoors in -12F and I used a triple layer extreme cold military bag inside a commercial bag rated to -25F and I was mostly comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything extra you can do is recommended. Like building a debris shelter, digging a trench to block wind etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2033" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-06-03T11:09:04.647" LastActivityDate="2013-06-03T11:09:04.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3576" CreationDate="2013-01-27T05:28:53.737" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off, let me admit, I have never made crack-climbing gloves with tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I have bought a lot of tape over the years, and I have always regretted buying any tape that wasn't climbing-specific. Oh, the tape may make all kinds of claims. But in the end it is always too weak to hold up to granite, or just not flexible enough to keep an injured finger safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not done price-shopping, but I highly suggest you stick with tape made for climbing. Not gymnastics. Not first-aid. Climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T05:28:53.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3576" CreationDate="2013-01-27T08:01:01.580" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have only used Metolius tape myself but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/how-to-tape-for-crack-climbing-101/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this blog post&lt;/a&gt; makes the claim:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With tape, stickiness is crucial. If your tape isn’t sticky, it will start to roll up and actually become a liability rather than protecting your skin. Oddly enough, most tape sold in America is intentionally made to be less sticky than tape sold in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this because I called the Mueller tape company in a panic when I was working on the Salathe Wall, and I couldn’t find any tape that didn’t immediately roll into fat, sticky tubes on the backs of my hands when I was trying to climb the headwall. Which actually made it harder–but without tape, I would rip all my skin off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nice woman I spoke to (in Minnesota, I think) told me they actually produce two versions of their tape, one for the U.S and one for Europe. The “Eurotape Platinum” is the same as the US version, except the adhesive is much more sticky. (When I asked why, she diplomatically explained that well, Europeans have different preferences than Americans, um, they prefer to use less of something that works better. Which somehow makes me see tape adhesive as a metaphor for all sorts of things, but anyway.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T08:01:01.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1580" CreationDate="2013-01-27T10:23:37.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agree with Russell Steen - do it on demand, but would just add that it depends on the flysheet fabric. Silnylon that is coated on both sides should not require treatment (except for seam sealant) for example. Fabric coated with polyurethane shouldn't leak either unless damaged or worn out, but the proofing would prevent it from absorbing water, keeping it dryer (and lighter to carry).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T10:23:37.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1268" CreationDate="2013-01-27T10:46:10.390" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the sleeping bag inside (must be kept dry, so there must be room for it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the tent under the pack in its stuffsack, (when wet I don't want it inside anyway) tied to the pack by running a strap through the drawcord and wrapping the tent and stuffsack inside my foam mat (if I bring it) and groundsheet to protect the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or in the outside net pocket if it needs drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastEditorUserId="2025" LastEditDate="2017-10-06T11:53:13.267" LastActivityDate="2017-10-06T11:53:13.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3580" CreationDate="2013-01-27T13:14:06.490" Score="1" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buckwheat (very fast to cook, 10-15 min. or so)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nuts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;raisin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="186" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T13:14:06.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3523" CreationDate="2013-01-27T13:30:41.037" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid we are out of luck in this one.&#xA;But maybe this will qualify, although barely: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleshky_Sands&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleshky_Sands&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="186" LastActivityDate="2013-01-27T13:30:41.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-01-28T15:26:15.583" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fastest type of sled really does depend on the type of snow - if it is softer snow then you want a sled with the greatest surface area, since thin runners tend to just slow you down by sinking into the snow rather than riding on top of it. The greater surface area will spread your weight out more, meaning you stay on top of the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, on harder, compacted snow or icy ground then the smaller the contact area the better, so runners work much better in this regard. They are also generally better at getting the sled to go in a straight line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, reducing the friction of the contact area can work wonders - it may be if you get a plastic, or (especially) wooden sled, coating the contactable area with candle wax can reduce friction and therefore increase speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T06:52:40.647" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T06:52:40.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3591" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-28T16:17:18.430" Score="6" ViewCount="429" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've come across a Kelty Kids carrier.  The tag says 'Kangaroo', and the date code on it is F11-95, style 21959030.  I've called Kelty and looked on their website.  The problem is that the Kangaroo is a soft front carry pouch style, and this is more like their traditional hard frame carrier with a kickstand.  They are not able to tell me what this product is, and seem quite confused by the information I've given them.  I'd really like a manual for it so I can use it safely.  Are there any other sources of information that I can turn to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/abzOW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MqjBc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Klsiz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2035" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T12:58:47.873" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T20:07:57.830" Title="How can I find manuals for old Kelty equipment?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3599" CreationDate="2013-01-28T18:22:56.717" Score="11" ViewCount="1746" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always been inspired by the sketches and watercolors of explorers, cartographers and scientists who lived before the invention of photography. I have tried bringing watercolors myself, but didn't end up using them, since they ended up buried deep in the pack. I assume that those old-timers must have developed efficient, lightweight methodologies for bringing their art supplies on extended trips where weight, space and ease of access were of major concern and I assume that some of that knowledge is still around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope some of you who have a lot of experience creating art in the great outdoors could share what materials to take on the trail, how to carry them so one actually uses that stuff, and techniques for making art when easels and straight table-surfaces are hundreds of miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T11:45:55.207" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T19:56:44.907" Title="Art supplies on backpacking trips" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3593" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3596" CreationDate="2013-01-28T19:19:18.757" Score="9" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been given conflicting information for how to minimize the impact of traveling in small groups in wilderness areas.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;For groups traveling off-trail in areas where it is appropriate I have heard the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;It is best to spread out to minimize soil compaction, which would lead to the creation of foot-paths.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is best to walk single file (even stepping into each others footprints,) to minimize the impact to a smaller area.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of any credible sources backing either of these contradicting approaches, or even advocating a third?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:48:08.273" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:48:08.273" Title="Minimizing impact of small groups on wilderness areas" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3593" CreationDate="2013-01-28T21:28:16.293" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You say you go to wild places to get away from trails, but that is actually the root problem.  One purpose of trails is to funnel all the human use to narrow areas to minimize the overall damage.  Lots of places have policies that you need to stay on the trail for this reason.  This is especially important in high use or fragile areas.  Examples of the latter are alpine tundra areas.  It can take 100 years for vegetation to recover from trampling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So since you're not the only human on the planet, stay on trails except in the special cases where usage is low and damage from footsteps is minimal.  We simply don't have enough wilderness to allow everyone to walk wherever they want to.  Staying on the trail is one of the sacrifices we all have to make most of the time to leave the wilderness largely the way we found it.  Conversely, trails are things we have to accept as a necessary part of the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are exceptions, of course.  Lots of people can scramble over the same bare rock without meaningful change.  Many places in the desert are fine for wandering around since so few people do compared to the size of the land, and you can mostly walk on rocks or bare dirt such that a few footfalls are pretty much irrelevant.  But in the general case, the answer is you don't get to do that at all.  Check the local regulations about off-trail hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oGVwB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is Franconia Ridge in the White Mountain National Forest of NH.  You are supposed to stay on the trail here, and they take it quite seriously.  Just a few footfalls can kill the sparse vegetation, and it takes a long time to grow back up here above tree line.  The trail is well marked and is heavily used.  It is not only a popular area in its own right, but is also part of the Appalachian Trail.  If even just a few percent of the people that came by here wandered around off trail, this area would be just bare rocks and dirt in short order.  The summits are all patches like that because people do wander around a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jwLVe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here you can walk around all you want.  In fact you have to because there aren't any trails.  But as you can see, it's easy to walk where you're not causing any lasting harm.  You may leave a few footprints, but after the next rain or after enough wind they will be gone with basically no evidence you were ever there.  This happens to be in the Eagle Tail Wilderness in southwest AZ.  So few people go there that it's OK.  If 100s showed up daily, then different rules would need to be made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-01-28T21:28:16.293" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3593" CreationDate="2013-01-28T22:14:09.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have heard both answers because both are right depending on the area and ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Established trails:&lt;/strong&gt; If there is an established trail going where you need to go, you should stay on it. Even to the point that in a mucky area stay in the tread, rather than create a new trail beside it which might be dry for a while, but will eventually become a new mess. This creates &quot;braided trails&quot; which can mar a whole open meadows are a pain to rehabilitate.* Never cut switch-backs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cross country:&lt;/strong&gt; when striking out cross-country, you need to consider the surface and the impact it can handle. In alpine areas, if in doubt, spread out. Primarily we do this because it creates multiple faint trails instead of one impacted one, which can recover faster. Also, you would be surprised how many people see an obvious trail and say, &quot;wonder where that goes&quot; and follow it, compounding the problem. They are less likely to do this on a faint trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major exception is in the desert where you might encounter &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptobiotic_soil&quot;&gt;cryptobiotic soil&lt;/a&gt; in which a single footprint can last dozens of years. If you can not find a way around the crypto (which is critical for preventing erosion) 1) re-consider why you need to go where you are going, or 2) make the fewest number of steps through it, and have everyone follow in the same footprints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sidebar&lt;/em&gt;: If you do find yourself wandering cross-country, please do not build a cairn to encourage others to follow. This funnels impact along a single route creating erosion issues where dozens of people could wander spread out without having that much impact. A large chunk of my time as a Wilderess Ranger was spent kicking down cairns on non-established trails. Let the next traveler figure out their own route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*You could argue the trail should have been placed in a better drained area, but sometimes that is unavoidable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-01-28T22:22:03.707" LastActivityDate="2013-01-28T22:22:03.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-01-28T22:30:06.573" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want the fastest sled in just about all snow conditions, get yourself one of these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gVIU8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Zeledi at en.wikipedia&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not fast enough? Add more dogs. (Though I can't in good conscience recommend more than 18. And make sure your brakes work...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-28T22:30:06.573" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3598" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-28T22:30:08.837" Score="5" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;What books have you read that have given you a better understanding of an outdoors activity?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally I would like to compile a list for all activities.  e.g.: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canoeing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backcountry cooking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bike touring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain Biking - &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0736083715&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack&lt;/a&gt; is one of the best books I have ever read.  I bike every day and mountain bike a couple times month.  This book has drastically improved my technique and answered many questions I had on riding.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: I know that this question is subjective and there is no definitive answer.&lt;/strong&gt;  If someone can think of a way to change the question to make it have a definite answer please feel free to edit.  Otherwise, can someone change this question to 'community wiki'?  Thanks.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T18:27:36.610" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T18:27:36.610" Title="What good factual books have you read on an outdoors topic?" Tags="&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-29T16:10:13.653" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3592" CreationDate="2013-01-28T22:35:10.637" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked with photographers, painters, sketchers, and writers... two things that will help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make time for it. Sometimes you have to choose: draw, or hike up that ridge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the supplies in the top of your pack, easily accessible. As you found out, if it is buried, you won't use it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, just slim down your kit the bare minimum (small tubes of paint rather than big ones, etc.) And if you run out of a color - improvise. Wild art ain't studio art.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-01-28T23:33:46.170" LastActivityDate="2013-01-28T23:33:46.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2013-01-28T22:56:25.500" Score="4" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing: &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountaineering: &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canoeing: &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacking:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backcountry cooking:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0811731081&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NOLS Cookery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bike touring:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Telemark Skiing:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/076274586X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Allen &amp;amp; Mike's Really Cool Telemark Book&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-01-28T22:56:25.500" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-28T22:56:25.500" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2013-01-28T23:37:13.677" Score="4" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backcountry first aid and medicine&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1437716784&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medicine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This book covers it all. Do you need to know about that snake that bit you? Look in here. Did someone fall and break their ankle? This has you covered. Do you have rampant diarrhea? How dangerous is that rash? Will eating snow fix your dehydration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This book will have you covered if you're a dirt bag, weekend climber or a serious, career-long member of search-and-rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Admittedly, this book is over 2000 pages long, so you can't take it with you backpacking. And it is no-joke expensive. But if you're committed, this book is the most authoritative source out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't studied it all, but before going to Joshua Tree I intend to study the Hell out of the chapter on snakes. That is how I use this book, and I have found it very helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762746920&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Training for Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to climb hard, you have to train. This is THE book you need to read. It covers the mental, physical, and technical aspects of climbing. It gives a clear path to improving your climbing and defining your personal training needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-31T21:21:38.900" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T21:21:38.900" CommentCount="4" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-29T16:10:13.653" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2013-01-28T23:43:51.817" Score="4" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpacking&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0963235974&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Trail Life&lt;/a&gt; by Ray Jardine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ray is one of the pioneers of ultralight backpacking, if not &lt;strong&gt;the&lt;/strong&gt; pioneer, not to mention expert kayaker and freeclimber. This book changed how I see backpacking from the Boy Scout/Army way to a better way. Ray's guidance made backpacking fun for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Non-Factual&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0692000445&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Road More or Less Traveled&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, here's one that's not factual.  Well, there are some facts, but that's probably an oversight.  It's a pretty funny account of a couple guys that almost through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, except for a little yellow-blazing somewhere in the middle. There are hovercrafts and aliens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-31T18:37:54.393" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T18:37:54.393" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-29T16:10:13.653" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="592" CreationDate="2013-01-29T07:02:39.533" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since it has been a year and some of this has not been mentioned I felt compelled to do so. I know you were concerned about your own equipment, and I know this advice can be found all over the internet, but I think the following needs to be said whenever climbing gear safety is discussed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be cautious with gear that was dropped.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I know Simon Hodgson mentioned UF light in a previous answer, but I wanted to stress the urgency of that concern. I have seen UV-damaged slings rip!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Friction causes heat and heat is the mortal enemy of rope and slings. If a rope was pulled directly through a sling, the sling has to be retired.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Webbing and rope have a limited lifespan, even when properly stored. Most manufacturers suggest retiring nylon and spectra after 5 year. That is probably a conservative estimate. I follow that suggestion for lead climbing, but personally would not mind top-roping with a rope that is a bit older. If you are responsible for someone elses life err on the side of caution!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the above reasons, only use gear for wich you or someone you trust with you life know the entire history. There is a reason why &lt;b&gt;every&lt;/b&gt; climbing store has an all-sales-final policy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anything with cables should be retired if any kind of fraying occurs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cams should have smooth trigger action. If lubricating with the proper cam lube does not help, you should not use them, since they could walk out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If in doubt, retire it! It is just not worth it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T07:02:39.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1839" CreationDate="2013-01-29T07:53:13.123" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well both have there own advantages and disadvantages. Its depends on you what is your requirement. but dome tent shape is not particularly resistant to strong winds. The higher the dome the worse this gets. Such tents are OK for sheltered spots and very casual camping, but no more than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2037" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T07:53:13.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3605" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3607" CreationDate="2013-01-28T16:03:47.753" Score="11" ViewCount="12463" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into buying a rope for rock climbing, and I know that I need a dynamic rope for lead climbing. However, trying to find information on the elongation percentages of ropes is proving tricky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some sources say that an elongation of 6.5% is typical for a dynamic rope, but  others put this number at around 30% (with a maximum allowed of 40%). The rope I'm looking at is a 6.5% elongation, and the salesman says it's dynamic. However, some websites reference static ropes at &quot;under 10% elongation&quot; while others say &quot;1-5%&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone help clarify?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2039" OwnerDisplayName="roviuser" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-25T00:26:19.447" LastActivityDate="2017-12-25T00:26:19.447" Title="What is a typical elongation of a dynamic climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3605" CreationDate="2013-01-29T14:56:29.960" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, DO NOT buy a rope or ANYTHING for that matter that you will trust your life to, purely based on what a single salesperson says, or what I say. Find a few experienced climbers (at least 5+ years of experience each), preferably certified guides and ask them their opinions. Now on to your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is ambiguity in this because apparently ropes are labeled by their percent elongation for 'static' and 'dynamic' testing/use, &lt;em&gt;in addition&lt;/em&gt; to themselves being called static and dynamic ropes. That is, you can have a rope that is static (meant for top roping, hauling, etc NOT for lead climbing) or dynamic (designed for lead climbing) and any rope from either category can be testing for 'static elongation' and 'dynamic elongation'. i.e. static ropes will have crappy dynamic elongation by definition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the petzl nomad for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/verticality/dynamic-ropes/98-nomad&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/verticality/dynamic-ropes/98-nomad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Static and dynamic elongation is precisely defined here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ropes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ropes.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words you should ask the salesman if he is talking about static or dynamic elongation. 10% dynamic elongation is certainly not enough for lead climbing considering the Nomad has 30% dynamic elongation and that is certainly a lead climbing rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="552" OwnerDisplayName="DJBunk" LastEditorUserId="552" LastEditDate="2013-01-29T17:29:51.480" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T17:29:51.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3605" CreationDate="2013-01-29T20:09:26.907" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are apparently confusing static and dynamic elongation.  You must use rope that is UIAA-101 / EN-892 certified for the task at hand.  You will be buying a Single type rope unless you specifically know otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/savoir.php&quot;&gt;Beal Ropes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dynamic elongation&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  This is the stretch of the rope during the first UIAA test fall. It must be less than 40%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Static elongation&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Measured under a load of 80kg it must not exceed 10% for single rope, 12% for double rope, and 10% for two&#xA;  strands of twin rope together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you see the static elongation &lt;em&gt;must be&lt;/em&gt; no more than 10% for a Single climbing rope, yet to meet the impact force requirements the dynamic elongation is going to have to be much higher than that (though it may not exceed 40%).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Impact force&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Values required by the Standard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Single rope: Impact force lower than 12kN holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 80kg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Double rope: Impact force lower than 8kn holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 55kg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Twin rope: Impact force lower than 12kN holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 80kg, on two strands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The impact force printed in the technical notice must not be lower&#xA;  than the poorest result found by the certifying laboratory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2013-01-29T20:09:26.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-01-29T20:32:42.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;While searching online for an answer to my question, I came upon the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slate.com/articles/life/shopping/2006/01/king_of_the_hill.single.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; pseudo-scientific research. They did not test the old wood-and-metal sleds, so this may not be good science.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never-the-less, &lt;strong&gt;Here are the results&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fastest sled the &quot;researchers&quot; found was the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.airboard.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Airboard&lt;/a&gt;. At $269, this better be the best sled in the world, and the researchers thought it was. Still, I can't imagine myself spending so much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fRZS7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;$269 Airboard&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next two are the real winners. These two sleds were almost as fast, but were priced in a more sane manner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The SnowBoogie Tech Flyer and the Torpedo PT Blaster:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O1pMo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;$69 Snowboogie Tech Flyer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0tU1B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;$59 Torpedo PT Blaster&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At $69 and $59 respectively, these will be cheaper than the old wood-and-metal-runners sleds. And they will have better steering.  More importantly, when you inevitably crash in one of these plastic jobs you won't end up puncturing a lung.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2017-03-21T17:53:13.373" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T17:53:13.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3611" CreationDate="2013-01-30T00:08:51.427" Score="20" ViewCount="2119" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last night I had a nightmare that I was 5 pitches off the ground and it started to pour rain. When I woke up I realized I have no idea how to deal with this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Asking around, everyone says two things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get caught in this situation. Plan better than that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rappel down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, I &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; plan better than this. But I believe in being prepared. &lt;strong&gt;How do you rappel in the rain?&lt;/strong&gt;  What are the challenges? I assume the problem is that the rope is mad slippery. Is that the only problem? How do you deal with that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T16:28:51.400" LastActivityDate="2016-06-08T11:06:35.107" Title="Rappelling in the Rain" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3609" CreationDate="2013-01-30T00:54:18.830" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I have never rappelled in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Basic requirement&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with any rappel problem a basic requirement is to have enough friction in the system, and preferably a way to go hands-free.  As always this should be tested and not simply assumed.  I don't think that anyone can tell you exactly what will produce the proper amount of friction without further qualification (rope, rope age, body weight, length of rappel, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that the control will be &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; at the bottom of the rope as you will not have the weight of the hanging rope assisting in braking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though a wet rope is quantitatively weaker its strength returns to normal when it is thoroughly dried, therefore you should be able to test whatever system you choose without significant expense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Generating friction&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will help to have an understanding of friction in rope systems.  Here is a good reference:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jrre.org/att_frict.pdf&quot;&gt;The Mechanics of Friction in Rope Rescue --&#xA;Stephen W. Attaway, Ph.D.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ways to add friction to your rappel system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are using a rappel rack add more bars.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Create a redirect that adds a bend or two to the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Extend the rappel device and pass the brake end through a second device or Munter hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntersuper/index.php?Categ=typeslidegrip&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;Double Munter hitch&lt;/a&gt;.  This provides a great deal of friction, is always at hand (assuming you have an HMS 'biner) and does not twist the rope in the way that a simple Munter does.  It should be excellent as an &quot;oh sh*t&quot; slippery-rappel method. (But as &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; you must test it yourself.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With any of these methods you can add a Prusik backup below the device(s).  While there is less friction when wet these hitches still work &lt;a href=&quot;http://corvallismountainrescue.org/rigging/drop-tests/july97-testing.drop-tower.html&quot;&gt;according to testing&lt;/a&gt;.  Once again you must make sure your particular cord and rope work together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Additional resources&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as a source of information consider that cavers and canyoneers routinely rappel on wet rope, though &lt;em&gt;usually not dynamic climbing rope&lt;/em&gt;.  These people can likely provide good instruction though they may use equipment you are unfamiliar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-01-30T01:44:58.077" LastActivityDate="2013-01-30T01:44:58.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3609" CreationDate="2013-01-30T02:13:50.080" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer - I should mention that my answer only applies in the context of the original question.  I'm discussing my experience rappeling in a rock climbing context, using a dynamic single or half rope, a &quot;stich-plate&quot; or tubular belay device, and an autoblock backup (not a prussik).  I can't speak to rappeling in caving (where the gear would be different) or in rescue situations (where you'd be rappeling with the weight of 2 or more people)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, rappelling down a wet rope is about the same.  Its just that everything else in climbing becomes more dangerous when its raining.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live on the east coast of the US, and we get rain pretty frequently.  There's about a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms nearly every day, and rain is just a fact of life.  I get rained off a route maybe once a year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I can't say I enjoy it, actually rappelling down a known rappel route in the rain isn't all that bad, especially if you can stay tied into a rope system the whole time (i.e, you don't have to scramble unroped along a ledge to get to a rappel anchor).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope dynamics don't seem to change all that significantly.  I always rappel with a regular tubular belay device and an auto-block backup, and I usually rappel with the device in &quot;high friction&quot; mode. (note - I also use a 9.8mm or thicker rope)  I would think that the rope would get slipper-ier, but it seems like the ropes get thicker and heavier when they're wet, so maybe that counteracts it some (my rope is supposedly &quot;dry treated&quot;, but gets fatter anyway). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is more dangerous&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rock becomes slippery - scrambling and climbing are more precarious.  Lichen that might otherwise be dry become moist and slick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cams might become unreliable.  This may just be an incorrect anecdote, but I've heard from other climbers that cams (which rely on friction to grip the rock) can't be counted on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some kinds of sandstone (esp desert sandstone) becomes fragile when its wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dynamic ropes lose some of their elasticity, so lead falls become more hazardous.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-02-01T15:41:22.953" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T15:41:22.953" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3523" CreationDate="2013-01-30T14:16:10.847" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Peručica forest in Bosnia might almost fit the definition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f=386&amp;amp;t=4747&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Native Tree Society BBS Peručica forest forum post&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the National Park »Sutjeska« (17,250 ha) the strict forest reserve&#xA;»Perućica« (1,434 ha) is located. Sutjeska can be found in the&#xA;southern Dinaric Mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border&#xA;with Montenegro. In this mountainous area altitudes range from 500 m&#xA;in the Sutjeska river valley to the top of Mount Maglic, 2386 m, the&#xA;highest peak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perućica is allowed to&#xA;enter with a guide only. In the reserve there are no landmines from&#xA;the the Bosnian War, the only area where they may occur is the lower&#xA;end of the reserve (in Sutjeska Canyon, near the road).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2041" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T18:30:10.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3523" CreationDate="2013-01-30T15:22:50.843" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps my favourite wilderness like place, Dartmoor, fits the bill relatively well. It's in the South West of the UK, in Devon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, how far back are you talking? Technically speaking, thousands of years ago Dartmoor was all forest area, the trees were hacked down by man to make open space and it's stayed barren since, bar a few areas. More recently (in the last few hundred years) it was home to many tin mines. But it's pretty clear that if you go walking on it, these are all long gone and man's influence now is minor. There is some occasional army activity, but only in certain parts and the affect on the landscape is minimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you take this to extremes, where do you stop? Unless we knew for sure that man had &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; settled in the particular area, then we could never describe any land as a real wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say it fit well into this category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the more remote parts, especially during week days, I've walked for days without seeing anyone. So a big check on this part as well I'd say!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's actively preserved. And 5,000 acres? Pah, measly. Try 235,738 acres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;May also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its tors are unmatched, it contains a rich geological history, the barren landscape is incredibly scenic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing I'd say which may stop this being a &quot;wilderness&quot; by the given definition is the army activity that's ongoing, but even if you exclude the part of the moors where that takes place, the remainder is still well over 5,000 acres, so I'd say still qualifies for being a wilderness area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-01-30T15:22:50.843" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2013-01-31T01:19:41.930" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not personal experience, but I'll share anyway.  I was really into hammocking a few years back and found a guy on one of the message boards who was VERY enthusiastic about sharing a hammock with his girlfriend.  He had built a hammock he was very satisfied with, but it had a spreader across the top, which I assume kept their top halves from smooshing together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it may be possible, but you might also have to build one yourself to make it work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="711" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T01:19:41.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2013-01-31T07:36:19.377" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing and Mountaineering in Europe&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/Pit_Schubert.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Pit Schubert&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.cz/books/about/?id=w7p-j3SNgRMC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sicherheit und Risiko in Fels und Eis&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(&lt;em&gt;Safety and Danger on Rocks and Ice&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is essentially a huge catalog of all the mistakes you can make while climbing and being in the mountains, supported by statistics and scientific tests. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an English translation of the book, which is a bit weird given that I have read a Czech one. If you can read German and didn’t read the book yet, certainly go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-01-31T18:35:30.000" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T18:35:30.000" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-01-31T07:36:19.377" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3616" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3617" CreationDate="2013-01-31T07:48:49.653" Score="8" ViewCount="1264" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some ice axes are labeled as “B”, others as “T”. What’s the meaning of these letters and what are their practical implications?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T13:51:38.047" Title="What’s the difference between a B and a T ice axe?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3616" CreationDate="2013-01-31T10:24:41.497" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;These letters stand for &lt;strong&gt;Basic&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Technical&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real differences are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B's are lighter, relatively cheap and not recommended for technical climbing. They are considered general mountaineering axes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;T axes are heavier and much stronger. They will cope with technical climbs and be much more durable. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from that, they look similar and the same styles and shapes are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally (and I didn't know this until I saw one that confused me) - you can have a technical axe with the blade and the shaft rated separately. For example a T shaft for strength and durability, with a B blade for flexibility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-01-31T10:24:41.497" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="40" CreationDate="2013-01-31T14:57:51.773" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I trust Arc'teryx's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arcteryx.com/product-care.aspx?EN&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Product Care Information.&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;There's a video to take you through the whole process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you actually DO want to use the dryer because the heat reactivates the durable water repellant (DWR). DWR is the actual substance/layer that does the water repelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also follow the instructions recommended on the actual GoreTex site:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/content/care-center/washing-instructions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Washing Instructions.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2043" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T14:11:29.447" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T14:11:29.447" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3620" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3624" CreationDate="2013-02-01T07:48:18.740" Score="8" ViewCount="627" Body="&lt;p&gt;All self-inflating mats I have seen are self-inflating in the sense that you’re supposed to inflate them yourself. [That is, the mat self-inflates a bit, but mostly you have to breathe the air in.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given this, what purpose does the foam inside the mat serve? If there was none, wouldn’t the mat be lighter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My hypothesis is that the foam prevents the air from moving inside the mat, thus greatly increasing the heat resistance. Is that the case? (Do you have some dependable sources?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-10-03T10:40:51.960" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:34:12.907" Title="What is the main purpose of the foam inside a self-inflating mat?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3616" CreationDate="2013-02-01T13:51:38.047" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A very important difference is that you should only belay from a 'T' rated axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T13:51:38.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3529" CreationDate="2013-02-01T14:30:00.463" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The essential items are a jacket and boots. You need a decent waterproof and windproof jacket with a good hood. The jacket must be properly waterproof (eg GoreTex or similar) and not just water resistant. You should also have a decent pair of waterproof boots. If you're taking one of the popular routes and staying on paths/tracks then lightweight summer boots will be OK - so long as they are waterproof. If you are wearing new leather boots you might want to break them it a little first (less important for fabric/synthetic boots).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need waterproof trousers, although they may make a wet day more comfortable/bearable. Lightweight trousers are best as they don't get too heavy and stiff when wet. For day climbs I wear Craghopper Kiwi trousers - they dry out from wet in 15 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you encounter much snow/ice and are not experienced and equipped (ice axe + crampons) you should seriously consider turning back unless you have a trusted experienced leader who tells you its OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other top tips;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wales + February = very likely to get wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring a hat and gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have a spare hat and gloves in your rucksack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put everything in your rucksack in a sturdy bin liner to keep it dry (even if your rucksack claims to be waterproof, I've yet to see one that really is)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring a flask of tea and plenty of food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring a torch + whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your walk!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T14:30:00.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2013-02-01T14:44:29.350" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bible for UK mountaineering is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountaincraft-Leadership-Eric-Langmuir/dp/1850602956&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountaincraft and Leadership by Eric Langmuir&lt;/a&gt; (often simply referred to as 'Langmuir'). This is an amazing book. It is published by the UK Mountain Leader Training Board and used to form the basis of training for official Mountain Leader qualification. If you only read one outdoorsey book, make it this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hill-Walking-Official-Handbook-Mountain/dp/0954151100&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hill Walking&lt;/a&gt;, which is the book that replaced it as the official qualification handbook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to Scotland in the winter you should read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chance-Million-Scottish-Avalanches/dp/0907521592&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Chance In A Million&lt;/a&gt; which is a great book about avalanches, although is mainly aimed at Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T14:44:29.350" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-02-01T14:44:29.350" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3620" CreationDate="2013-02-01T15:25:08.427" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a self-inflating mat, and I think the foam serves three purposes.  In order of importance:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;It sets the shape of the mat when inflated.  Think of the foam as limiting how far the opposite walls of the mat can be in any one place.  If you didn't have this, the mat would become more of a circular tube as it is inflated.  For cushioning, the foam does little compared to the air pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;It increases the insulation value of the air inside the mat, as you say, since it keeps the air from easily circulating.  Note that these mats are warmer than just inflatable mattresses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;It provides for some self-inflation.  Actually I think this is merely a mildly useful by-product of having the foam there for the other reasons, but if you're selling these mats you might as well feature this.  I find that my mat self-inflates most of the way, but I still have to blow into it for the right pressure.  When you blow into it, you get moisture from your breath in there, which can't be good from a standpoint of mold growth and the like.  Letting is self-inflate to the extent it can minimizes this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T15:25:08.427" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3625" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-01T17:02:48.100" Score="4" ViewCount="2338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a pair of Meindl Ohio winter boots.  I am generally happy with them, but I have noticed that, after a day of wearing the boots, the tongues of each boot tend to migrate outwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can imagine this by thinking of the label on the tongue, with the brand logo on it. When I put the boots on, this logo is facing directly forwards.  After wearing the boots for awhile, I find that the tongue shifts so that these logos are facing outwards at about 45 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this indicate a poor fit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="247" LastActivityDate="2013-02-08T00:53:40.837" Title="Boot tongue orientation?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2013-02-01T17:55:13.180" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering ice axes serve a few simple functions: self-arrest, belay, and T-anchor. (And occasionally cutting steps, but hopefully by the time you're doing that, you will already know what you like.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For belay and T-anchors, any length of axe is fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For self-arrest, however, there are some factors you could consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In self-arrest, you are supposed to &quot;fall&quot; on the axe and use your body weight to dig it into the slope for a good arrest. If the shaft is too short, much of your weight will go directly on the snow instead of on the axe, reducing the weight on the axe, and therefore its stability against the shear force pulling it tangential to the slope. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When dropping flat on your axe in self-arrest, the length of the shaft can affect how easy or hard it would be for you to self-impale. There are two common ways to impale yourself on the shaft in self arrest: &#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the shaft is too &lt;em&gt;short&lt;/em&gt;, and in your self-arrest drop the pick didn't go right in and the bottom of the shaft is sticking up, it could go right into your abdomen. This is fairly uncommon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the shaft is too &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt;, and in your self-arrest the pick didn't go right in and the bottom of the shaft is sticking up, it could go go through your thigh. The poking angle required for this to happen can be much lower than that required for the first abdominal impalement... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in summary, I find that (regardless of walking-stick usefulness) the best shaft length is the one between too long that it can impale my thighs, and too short that it can impale my abdomen. I generally measure this length as the diagonal from one shoulder to the hip bone on the opposite side, but you might find that this measurement varies for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T17:55:13.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1651" CreationDate="2013-02-01T18:05:40.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently a friend and I have began experimenting with the use of our beards as moisture traps while skiing and hiking in snow storms. The general idea is that the skin temperature is warm enough to melt the deepest layer of ice/snow/frost, and one should be able to sip that melted moisture through their beard, given adequate vacuum conditions created by the external snow/ice layer on the beard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It didn't work, but we were still very excited to pioneer the &lt;em&gt;snow-Fremen&lt;/em&gt; culture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-02-01T18:05:40.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3628" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3811" CreationDate="2013-02-01T18:22:34.100" Score="14" ViewCount="393" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that skiers and snowboarders can do a lot of damage to an ecosystem. I am interested in the following backcountry wintersport activities and would like to do them responsibly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cross-country skiing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;snowshoeing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ascending with snowshoes and descending by snowboard&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have the following questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At what snow-cover depth are little saplings, bushes and mountain-tundra vegetation protected from those activities?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it best to go to wilderness areas that are already being impacted by backcountry winter sports, or does this increase the damage done to those habitats, making it a better choice to go to places that have not been impacted?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What do I need to know about minimizing my impact on the local fauna?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there types of ecosystems that I should not enter at all for these activities, since any kind of disturbance could cause long-lasting damage?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T20:38:07.713" Title="Minimizing ecological impact of winter-sports in the backcountry" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3649" CreationDate="2013-02-01T18:46:19.270" Score="3" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where are the wildest places in the south-western US?  By &quot;wild&quot; I mean places where evidence of people or their lasting effect on the land are minimal.  Particularly, I am looking for places with infrequent airplane overflights, low night-time sky light pollution from man-made lighting, no signs of logging, or roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2013-02-03T17:57:04.730" LastActivityDate="2013-02-08T22:21:36.237" Title="What areas in the south-western US are the wildest?" Tags="&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3630" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3658" CreationDate="2013-02-01T19:46:42.493" Score="9" ViewCount="2605" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently heard an opinion (from a sailor that attempted to beat a 122 day, westward route, around the world sailing record) that &lt;strong&gt;freeze-dried food is actually very healthy, as it contains less fat that normal meals and helps the metabolism&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could you validate this opinion (only in terms of longer, i.e. lasting 30 days or more, tips)? Are there any (possible) health-related negative effects of freeze-dried food one should be aware of? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="377" LastEditorUserId="377" LastEditDate="2013-02-01T19:57:53.753" LastActivityDate="2013-02-19T04:09:22.897" Title="Is freeze-dried food healthy?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3631" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3632" CreationDate="2013-02-03T11:21:24.753" Score="32" ViewCount="34843" Body="&lt;p&gt;I watched a documentary &quot;Man vs Wild&quot; which showed the TV presenter Bear Grylls collecting wood and starting a fire. He somehow always manages to keep his campfire burning until dawn. How does one know how much wood to collect such that it is adequate to last throughout the night? Is there a certain method of arranging the wood pile consisting of broken branches and twigs to maximize the period of combustion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="722" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-02-07T16:46:15.210" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T19:52:20.637" Title="How to create campfire which will burn overnight?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2013-02-03T17:42:13.430" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's difficult to tell exactly how long wood you've gathered will last you, unless as an expert you can gauge an accurate estimate due to the type of wood, weather conditions and other contributing factors (theoretically possible, but above my ability level.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are different ways of constructing a fire, and one in particular is designed to burn for long periods, such as overnight, without requiring any maintenance or fiddling about through the night (if done correctly.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is known as a &lt;strong&gt;pyramid fire&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HWnWx.png&quot; alt=&quot;Diagram of pyramid fire&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You place two logs parallel on the ground to start with, then place a row of smaller logs perpendicular and on top of the original two, then another row perpendicular and on top of that row, and so on. You then light the fire at the top, and instinctively quite bizarrely the fire will then burn downwards (as each level becomes hot enough to ignite the layer below it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildernessarena.com/food-water-shelter/firecraft/building-a-fire&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2014-05-14T13:23:28.583" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T13:23:28.583" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2013-02-03T18:11:27.237" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;To get a long lasting fire, you have to limit the cumbustion somehow.  Think embers as apposed to much flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood stoves are specifically engineered to allow you to control the rate of combustion.  This is done by controlling the air intake to the fire, which limits oxygen, which limits the combustion rate.  A wood stove can be built nicely sealed, so the biggest problem is providing enough oxygen to keep the fire going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the wild, this is much more difficult as you don't have a nicely sealed fire box with a single air intake you can control.  The best you can do usually is to emulate a fire box with rocks and stuff up some of the openings with mud and the like.  Still, there will be more oxygen than necessary to just keep the fire alive.  There is little alternative to keeping a supply of wood ready and feeding the fire periodically if you really want to sustain a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, consider whether a sustained fire is really necessary.  You can build something with at least somewhat limited air intake, give it a supply of relatively large pieces of wood, and surround it with lots of rocks.  Even if the fire goes out, the rocks will stay warm for quite a while.  A better strategy is to not require a fire all night long, especially if you are in a place and conditions where the fire could escape if you don't watch it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-02-03T18:11:27.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3634" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3646" CreationDate="2013-02-03T20:44:07.450" Score="13" ViewCount="992" Body="&lt;p&gt;In May this year (6–8 May) I will have a workshop in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Lakes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammoth Lakes, California&lt;/a&gt;. I would like to do some hiking in addition to this workshop (roughly one week). I have never been to the United States, but I have considerably experience with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacking_%28wilderness%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;trekking&lt;/a&gt; in the solitude of the tundra of northern Fennoscandinavia. I'm aiming for a solo wilderness hike with camping in the wild. At the end I should have some way of getting back to the beginning, as I will need to store away luggage somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There appear to be many scenic areas near Mammoth Lakes. From sources such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=37.65051&amp;amp;lon=-118.98471&amp;amp;datum=nad27&amp;amp;zoom=64&amp;amp;map=250k&amp;amp;coord=d&amp;amp;mode=zoomin&amp;amp;size=l&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topoquest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/locatormap/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Forest Locator Map&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wilderness.net&lt;/a&gt; I find a number of areas in the vicinity: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_Wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Muir Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inyo_National_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inyo National Forest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_National_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra National Forest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams_Wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ansel Adams Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Canyon_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kings Canyon National Park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite National Park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hoover Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, and others. More than enough choice. The main limiting factor: it's only May and I expect that the high mountain passes will be completely blocked by snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trails such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Muir Trail&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt; appear to reach rather high elevations. Up to what elevation should I normally expect passable terrain in May? Is it feasable to hike in the area I described above, or should I search for a more low-lying region? I will subsequently travel overland to the Mid-West, so it could also be in Nevada, Utah or Colorado. I realise this is a huge area, and I don't have a strong preference to a particular place. I can either hike or well-established trails, on little-known trails, or sections with no trail at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TU58X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Owens Valley and Sierra Nevada&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Owens Valley and Sierra Nevada, 2 June 2006, still shows considerably snow. Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SierraEscarpmentCA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;, G. Thomas.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inyo_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inyo Mountains&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountains_(California)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;White Mountains&lt;/a&gt; are more suitable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a quite nice map &lt;a href=&quot;http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&amp;amp;depth=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;overlaying snow conditions and trails on the same map&lt;/a&gt;. With an account, it also provides access to &lt;a href=&quot;http://postholer.com/postholer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;historical data&lt;/a&gt;, so one can obtain a map for &lt;a href=&quot;http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail_id=1&amp;amp;depth=20120510&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 May 2012&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;login required&lt;/em&gt;), like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QU4OV.png&quot; alt=&quot;example map from postholer.com&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it looks like that in 2010, there were indeed some sections with considerable snowpack, althoug lower foothills were snowfree. &lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; this information can be trusted, that is; it does look like the resolution is rather poor. The map above has snow in valleys but not on glaciers, so I guess it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore my question is: &lt;strong&gt;What are suitable areas for hiking in Eastern California around 10–20 May, if any?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:25:28.067" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:25:28.067" Title="May hiking in Eastern California" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3636" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-01-29T07:04:25.873" Score="5" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2009 I successfully completed the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_freefall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;AFF course&lt;/a&gt;, after a stop due to the birth of my son I'm going to resume regular activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I currently have 31 jumps, all carried out by renting the equipment, and now I want to buy my own equipment (parachute).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What equipment would be considered adequate to last two years, expected about 200 jumps?&lt;/strong&gt; What specifications should I keep in mind while reviewing parachutes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to hear an opinion different from that given by the school that recommended, among other things, used equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1962" OwnerDisplayName="Cristian Porta" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-02-04T18:51:00.717" LastActivityDate="2013-02-04T18:51:00.717" Title="SkyDive Equipment" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3636" CreationDate="2013-01-30T02:49:41.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your school should have the best knowledge of how you fly, but a good rule of thumb is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;absolutely no wing-loadings over 1-1 ( wing-loading is Exit weight/ canopy size).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you weigh 170, a 190 should be your smallest parachute.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most beginners buy used - and the classifieds on dropzone.com have lots of stuff for sale.  I'd stick with stuff made since the late 90s unless price is a real issue.  You definitely want a square main - for example sabre (1/2) pilot triathlon spectre Safire.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Wendy" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-02-04T18:49:55.240" LastActivityDate="2013-02-04T18:49:55.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1018" CreationDate="2013-02-05T22:32:02.197" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live about 35 miles northwest of Boston, so I can answer this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing you should do is join the Boston Chapter of the Appalachian Mountian Club (AMC).  Once you are a member, you will have access to the extensive list of hikes they run.  There will be a bunch in the White Mountains of NH, but also many shorter but closer local hikes in areas you'd probably have a hard time discovering by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for above treeline, that's not so easy.  There are a few smaller &quot;mountains&quot; in the area that happen to have bare tops, but that's not because the climate prohibits trees.  Either enough soil hasn't formed on top since the glaciers (only 12k years ago) covered everything, or people cut them down and they haven't grown back.  Mt Monadnock in southern NH (Jaffre, not quite as far as Peterborough) is bald on top, but not because it is above &quot;tree line&quot;.  Going further north there are some more bare summits, like Cardigan, but again, not because of weather prohibiting trees.  The highest point in MA is Mt Greylock in the NW corner, but it is forrested on top (except for the parking lot and area around some buildings).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest areas to Boston that are truly above treeline are in the White Mountains.  There is true alpine tundra on Franconia ridge and the higher parts of the Presidential Range.  However, this area is more than 2 hours drive from Boston, although not that much more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no single answer to finding places to hike.  The more well known, popular, and grandiose places are well covered by the AMC maps.  The White Mountain Guide Book comes with 4(?) maps that cover the White Mountain area nicely.  The AT and other well known trails are there, but also many smaller less well known but very nice trails.  These are all on the AMC maps.  Personally, I wouldn't bother getting the guide book.  You can buy the maps seperately, which is really what you want.  Get the tyvek versions.  They cost a little more, but really do hold up to water, abrasion, and all sorts of trail-related abuse very well.  It would be worth a visit to the AMC Pinkham Notch visitor center to see what maps they have.  Get your AMC membership first, which I think gives you a discount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was the easy part.  Unlike the west and other places I've been, there are a great many smaller but still quite pretty and little used local trails.  Apart from a few well known and popular areas, like the Blue Hills, Middlesex Fells, etc, there is little centralized information.  Don't let that fool you though, the popular areas are only the tip of the iceberg.  For example, I live in Groton, which has over 100 miles of hiking trails.  You can get information about them at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grotontrails.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.grotontrails.org&lt;/a&gt;, but if I hadn't told you, you'd probably never have found that.  I am on the Trails Committee in Groton, and I like to think we do a better job than most towns around here, but all towns have some conservation land, usually with public trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not going to find alpine vistas here or 10 miles of trail without a road crossing, but there are more hidden gems than you might think.  When you only have half a day and want to get out to nature, go explore some of the local places.  In Groton alone we have a number of heron rookeries, numerous beaver ponds with dams and lodges, a few open vistas, swamps, meadows, pretty ponds, lots of little streams, upland woods, lots of eskers, quite a number of kettle holes, etc.  Come check it out.  You will likely be surprised how much nearby nature is hidden yet accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to find the local gems is to check out some of the AMC &quot;local walks&quot;.  These are great ways to get introduced to places you would have a hard time finding on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-02-05T22:32:02.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3639" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3640" CreationDate="2013-02-06T07:25:01.677" Score="-2" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which types of vendors sell multi-mode (adjustable-brightness) flashlights? Both online and offline vendors. Both sellers of new flashlights and used ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that outdoors stores sell them, but I'm looking for other options; I want to find a vendor closer to home than the nearest outdoors store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3124/what-characteristics-should-i-look-for-in-a-good-torch-flashlight&quot;&gt;&quot;What characteristics should I look for in a good torch/flashlight?&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1062/what-makes-a-good-head-lamp?rq=1&quot;&gt;&quot;What makes a good head lamp?&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1930" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:16:21.777" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:16:21.777" Title="What kinds of stores sell multi-mode (adjustable-brightness) flashlights?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2013-02-07T15:50:30.773" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3639" CreationDate="2013-02-06T07:25:01.677" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;See the Flashlight Wiki page &lt;a href=&quot;http://flashlightwiki.com/Buying_a_Light&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Buying a Light&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1930" LastEditorUserId="1930" LastEditDate="2013-03-18T19:12:06.813" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T19:12:06.813" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-02-06T07:25:01.677" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3641" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3645" CreationDate="2013-02-06T23:01:32.043" Score="16" ViewCount="4296" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the crag this weekend I noticed that my climbing partner's carabiner had a great feature: a red line painted such that you know the carabiner isn't locked until the red is hidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAAcg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Awesome Locking Carabiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love this feature. Unfortunately, I already own dozens of carabiners without this wonderful red line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I safely paint a red line onto my carabiners? Red nailpolish? &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metal-markers.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metal markers&lt;/a&gt;? What is permanent? Is there a community standard?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I would also like to be able to write a date on all my carabiners, so I know how old they are. So this would be doubly useful information.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-24T03:46:03.870" LastActivityDate="2017-10-24T03:46:03.870" Title="Safe way to mark a carabiner gate?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3641" CreationDate="2013-02-07T00:41:46.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nail polish is the way to go. Everyone I know, including myself, uses it to identify whose gear is whose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-02-07T16:45:43.743" LastActivityDate="2013-02-07T16:45:43.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3641" CreationDate="2013-02-07T01:03:53.797" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately nail polish would probably gunk up the locking mechanism.  I wouldn't put nail polish on any moving piece of a carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; use nail polish to mark your gear so you know that it's yours (and not your partner's).  You may be able to find a multi-color scheme that indicates the carabiner's date, but generally that's not an issue (if it looks worn out, replace it).  Carabiners last a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2013-02-07T01:03:53.797" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3641" CreationDate="2013-02-07T09:43:51.323" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The method by which carabiners in any color are coated (either gate or body) is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;anodizing&lt;/a&gt;, which is going to be nearly impossible to sufficiently replicate with anything practical and cost-effective at home. With anodizing, the coating essentially becomes part of the aluminum itself. So anything you put on the gate will wear off relatively quickly and potentially cause the screw-gate to jam up. &lt;strong&gt;Nothing you paint on a carabiner or its gate will be permanent.&lt;/strong&gt; Even the anodizing eventually wears off, unless of course you never use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't use the &quot;metal markers&quot;, aka paint pens.&lt;/strong&gt; The coat of paint they apply would definitely be too thick for a carabiner gate, and while quite tough, it's also less durable than fingernail polish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, fingernail polish, as others have mentioned, is worth a shot. Carefully put a very light, thin coat on only the gate itself and not any crevices or threads. Before you apply it, make sure you clean everything well so the polish adheres with a green Scotch-brite pad, or similar pad (not the non-scratch kind). Aluminum oxidizes over time and will prevent the fingernail polish from sticking, so if you don't clean it, the polish will flake/rub off rather quickly for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, do a test on just one carabiner first to make sure that the marking has adhered and also that the gate still functions as intended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, I've never known anyone that has painted/marked the gates of carabiners. Spines are usually where any markings or taping end up. So any community standard that exists would be for identification purposes, either to determine ownership or if a piece has been retired to non-critical purposes (doesn't need to keep you alive).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Here is an example of even hard anodizing wearing off. You can't see it so much in this photo, but the under/inner side is even more worn than the outside.&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUQlw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;worn carabiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2013-02-07T14:09:38.410" LastActivityDate="2013-02-07T14:09:38.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3634" CreationDate="2013-02-07T18:26:51.437" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok, now that it looks like I've earned a reputation I have edited my post and now include some links that should be helpful in monitoring weather and snowpack in the White Mountains region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I received an email from Gerrit yesterday with some questions about the White Mountains. He asked me to respond here so the info below is largely aimed at addressing his email.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that the White Mountains are probably going to be doable this May. That being said (and before I get too far into this), if you go be sure to check the weather forecast before you embark. A small chance of snow up there may not sound like much but this is an area that is often under predicted when it comes to snowfall totals and a forecast of 2 inches of snow can result in a total of a foot. Don’t under-estimate the weather up there, it can be unforgiving! Anyway, So far this winter has been fairly light in terms of snow but of course that could change if we start to get some more snow over the next few weeks. I’m going to be going into the Whites sometime in March or early April to check on my research sites. I expect to cover a mix of snow free ground and areas that will require snow shoes. I’ll be as high as Barcroft Station (3,800 m) and can definitely give an update on snow conditions after that trip. I would also consider places in Southern California as there are a number of trails in that part of the state that are going to be snow free then. Much of PCT down there is very hikable then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to other options, I’m not super familiar with some of the other low elevation areas around Mono Lake and Mammoth so am not much help there. How east are you going? The Black Hills of South Dakota can be nice in May and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5194547.pdf&quot;&gt;Centennial Trail&lt;/a&gt; is pretty good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, back to the White Mountains. First, there are no permits required. I would describe the terrain in the Whites as variable. South of White Mountain Peak there is a main road that runs along the spine of the range. The road is not plowed until the White Mountain Research Center needs to access its stations, which is not likely to be until after June 1st this year. There are several 4WD roads that branch off from this road and those can be nice hikes into some canyons. These could also be good access points from the surrounding valleys. There really aren’t any trails except for a 4-mile loop at Schulman Grove. However, the terrain is very conducive to cross country travel in the south end of the range and you could do quite a bit of exploring over a several day period. Again, I’ll have a better idea of conditions up there in a month or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The areas north of White Mountain Peak are a bit of a different story. Immediately north of the peak (which is easy to get to from the south) is a knife-edge ridge. I crossed it a couple years ago in the summer but I wouldn’t call it a very pleasant experience and I would be very hesitant to try it in May, regardless of the snow pack. I would highly advise against doing this stretch alone, no matter the time of year. Additionally, at the north end of the range is Boundary Peak, which might be accessible in May this year. However, this could be a pretty sketchy approach that time of year and going beyond Boundary alone is probably not a good choice; very loose rock and very exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the areas between a place called the Jump-off (a little north of Montgomery and Boundary Peaks) and White Mountain Peak could be an option. This area is known as Pellisier Flats. However, access is challenging and is usually done from the east side of the range. This means you would encounter some cornices on some of the approaches. Perhaps the easiest way to get up there in May would be by way of Leidy and Cabin Creeks. Once you get up on the top of the range travel is pretty easy and the views are amazing. But, again, travel could be challenging this time of year and I would consider areas south of White Mountain Peak to be a better choice in May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few websites to monitor would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/weather/croo.html&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is an automated weather station located at Crooked Creek Station at an elevation of 10,150 ft (3,100 m). This station has a snow depth sensor, which has been operating relatively reliably this winter but can be temperamental at times. This station is in a relatively protected area but keep in mind that most the snow that falls in this range is wind driven and so some areas will be blown clean while there will be 3 m or higher drifts elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/weather/barc.html&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is the weather station at the Barcroft Station at an elevation of 12,470 ft (3,800 m). There’s no snow sensor here but you can get a sense of temperatures at this elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/facilities/white-mountain/live-cameras&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a webcam at Barcroft. It’s relatively reliable but sometimes will be out of date due to what appears to be software or internet connection issues. There is a camera with an image of White Mountain Peak at the bottom of the page but that image is a couple years old and the camera is not functioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/swcchart.action&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is snow pack information for the Sierra Nevada but is a good analog for conditions relative to average in the Whites. As you can see, this year started off near average but the snow pack has stopped growing the past few weeks due to a dry pattern that has set up in the southwestern US. There is a storm coming in over the next couple days but I suspect it isn’t going to help the snowpack too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I periodically post info about conditions in the Whites on my &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/CWKopp&quot;&gt;Twitter account&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2054" LastEditorUserId="2054" LastEditDate="2013-02-07T20:51:50.967" LastActivityDate="2013-02-07T20:51:50.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3647" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4785" CreationDate="2013-02-07T19:07:41.533" Score="13" ViewCount="1164" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/457/1908&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; asks what the downsides are to hammock camping, but doesn't really address the reasons why you would want to sleep in a hammock to camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say I'm backpacker new to the idea of sleeping in a hammock. &lt;strong&gt;What are the advantages of a hammock or reasons to choose it over the traditional tent and why?&lt;/strong&gt; In other words, in light of all the problems with hammock camping, why do it in the first place?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please be descriptive and pictures, where relevant, are worth a thousand words as they say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T09:26:43.017" Title="Advantages to hammock camping on multi-night trips" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3625" CreationDate="2013-02-08T00:53:40.837" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This could indicate a poor fit, but if they boots are otherwise comfortable then I would not say it is due to a poor fit. It is very possible that as they break in more and more this problem will happen less and less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boot tongue does not have loops to pass the laces through there is not a lot you can do. I would explore various lacing techniques that would put more friction on the tongue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really love everything about the boot except this tongue slippage then maybe you can look into attached loops down the center of the tongue to help keep it in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2013-02-08T00:53:40.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3629" CreationDate="2013-02-08T15:09:08.430" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any Wilderness Areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously. The legal mandates for designating &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;&quot; in the US (as defined by congress) have very rigorous criteria established by each of the major land agencies. Take a look a the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/designateFS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Forest Service&lt;/a&gt; process for an example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size, lack of roads, lack of altering (logging, invasive plants), opportunities for solitude are all defined criteria. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are many empty stretches of land that are not Wilderness, and there are many Wilderness areas that are &quot;Wild&quot; by law, but not in reality (lots of visitors, close to civilization, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, which areas are &lt;em&gt;actually the wildest&lt;/em&gt;? That is entirely subjective and dependent on where you go. Wander 1/2 mile off the busiest trail, you might not see a soul. Exploring a slot canyon, you might feel like the last person on earth, even though a highway runs parallel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often &quot;wild&quot; is a state of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your specific criteria, you might do best to start with a map of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/static&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Areas&lt;/a&gt;, find the center of the biggest one, overlay a map of &lt;a href=&quot;http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Lights/lights_3.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;city lights&lt;/a&gt;, and a map of &lt;a href=&quot;http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/map-flight-path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;flight paths&lt;/a&gt; and see if there is any green showing through the lights and flights...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Though from personal experience, the majority of commercial flights are high enough you never notice. It's low-flying tourist flights that disturb - and many Wilderness areas have laws against this.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-02-08T15:09:08.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3629" CreationDate="2013-02-08T22:21:36.237" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other than the airplane overflights, this will be pretty easy to see by looking at a map.  I don't know why you care about stuff like commercial jetliners because they are 5-8 miles up, hard to see, and don't seem to bother wildlife any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for roads, looking at a map is a good guide.  Few roads means few people, which means not much light pollution, at least nearby.  In the southwest US, you're never going to be all that far from at least some dirt road.  The more important criterion I think is how many people show up, not whether a road is nearby or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would look at some of the larger patches of national forest.  LBell is right in that the Wilderness Areas will have no active roads, but they tend to be small, so could have more light pollution from nearby populations and provide less of a feel of you being out in the wild because the not-wild places are closer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would help if you described more what you really want to do when you get to this wilderness.  Do you want to be able to hike for days without running into anyone?  On trails or bushwhacking?  How do you plan to get there if you want to avoid roads?  How far from the nearest paved road do you really want to be?  How far are you willing to go?  What about dirt roads where someone in a 4 wheel drive pickup might come along once or month or something?  If all this really matters to you, then how do you want to avoid having you presence spoiling it for everyone else?  If the requirement is some minimum distance from other humans, then obviously only a few humans at a time can have that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been some places in the southwest where I was very likely the only human around for a few miles that night, and the sky was quite dark.  One such area is in the Coconino and Apache-Sigreaves National Forests north of the Mogollon rim in Arizona.  Other than Flagstaff to the northwest and Winslow to the north, there are very few sources of light at night and a lot of open terrain.  There are some paved roads thru that area, and lots of dirt roads, but most of the time very few people are on the dirt roads.  The vegatation in that area is also conducive to bushwhaking, which is pretty much just walking around wherever you want to.  Getting away from where anyone else is likely to be within the next few months is really pretty easy.  The major evidence of people in that area, aside from the dirt roads, is ranching.  Some of the land is leased to ranchers and has cattle on it.  Even if not, there will be the occasional barb wire fence or remnant of a old one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-02-08T22:21:36.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3652" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-02-09T08:56:29.830" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use this tag for questions requesting a source of information. It's relevant both for resources usable when planning (before going outdoors) and resources one can reasonably access when outdoors. Books, web sites, and organizations are examples of resources that might be a suitable answer to a question with this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-02-09T23:48:06.383" LastActivityDate="2013-02-09T23:48:06.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3653" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-02-09T08:56:29.830" Score="0" Body="Sources of information, whether on-line, books or organizations" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-02-09T23:48:01.173" LastActivityDate="2013-02-09T23:48:01.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3654" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-02-09T08:58:33.730" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A map is a symbolic and/or visual depiction highlighting relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, and terrain. Considering the scope of TGO at StackExchange, Maps can be classified as: Climate maps, Physical maps, Contour Maps, Road Maps, Topographic maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:57:31.233" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:57:31.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3655" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-02-09T08:58:33.730" Score="0" Body="Use this tag both for questions dealing with actual, physical maps and on-line or digital maps." OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:57:31.233" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:57:31.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3656" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3661" CreationDate="2013-02-09T14:03:28.880" Score="9" ViewCount="4944" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am eager to go mountain climbing but cannot carry heavy backpacks because of my light weight. I want to know if there is any scientific equation to help me know how much weight is safe for me to have on my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2059" OwnerDisplayName="user37324" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2013-02-12T19:41:45.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-03T16:58:46.963" Title="What is scientific relation between body weight and backpack weight in mountain climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3656" CreationDate="2013-02-09T16:49:22.777" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not your weight that is limiting your ability to carry heavy backpacks, it is your strength. You should determine your backpack weight based on strength and what you've previously carried, not your bodyweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3531" LastActivityDate="2013-02-09T16:49:22.777" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3630" CreationDate="2013-02-09T22:32:45.417" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally there are no known health side effects to eating mostly or only freeze-dried food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freeze-dried food tends to hold more nutrients, and hold them longer, than most other shelf-life extending approaches. Freeze-dried fruits hold nearly the same amount of vitamins and antioxidants as their fresh equivalent. Freeze-dried food also does not need to have preservatives which have debatable negative effects (depending on type and quantity). Additionally, food preserved by freeze-drying stays nutritious for longer than any other approach (much longer than some).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many commercial makers of freeze-dried food add a ton of sodium, but that is not part of the freeze-drying process. Some manufacturers are better than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately for those concerned about the environment, the process of freeze-drying is much more energy intensive than other preservation methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: &lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://preventcancer.aicr.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&amp;amp;id=9917&amp;amp;news_iv_ctrl=0&amp;amp;abbr=pr_&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;American Institute for Cancer Research article on antioxidants&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20020080087_2002131882.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NASA PDF document that describes 98% nutritional equivalent at 20% of the weight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="30" LastEditDate="2013-02-19T04:09:22.897" LastActivityDate="2013-02-19T04:09:22.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3659" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3660" CreationDate="2013-02-10T00:16:57.467" Score="4" ViewCount="1190" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have old cross country skis which require those boots with a flat end with three holes which you insert into three pegs on the skis. I'm looking for the name of that style of boot in order to be able to find some on craigslist or similar websites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2013-02-10T02:28:05.220" Title="What's the name of the old cross country ski boots with three holes at the front?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3659" CreationDate="2013-02-10T02:28:05.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think those were the original 3-pin Nordic Norm bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_binding#Cross_country&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_binding#Cross_country&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;75 mm (Rottefella, Nordic Norm, 3-pin) This is the original, classic system found on cross country skis, invented by Bror With. These bindings, once the standard, are no longer as popular as they were but still hold a significant share of the market for mid-weight touring setups with relatively heavy boots, as typically used for hut-to-hut touring in Norway. In this system the binding has three small pins that stick up. The toe of the boot has three holes that line up with the pins. The boot is then clamped down by a bail. Despite the decreasing use of the 3 pin &quot;rat trap&quot; (&quot;rottefella&quot; in Norwegian) binding in lighter cross country, the characteristic &quot;duckbill&quot; toe it uses is still assumed in the design of heavier cable bindings, and 75 mm boots are still widely available, especially for telemark technique and more rugged touring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-02-10T02:28:05.220" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3656" CreationDate="2013-02-10T04:42:45.343" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a decent climber and a better scientist, and I strongly suspect there is no &lt;em&gt;scientific&lt;/em&gt; answer to your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been on my long climbs and backpacking trips where I had to carry a pack. The most important factor in how much weight I (or my friends) carried was not height, weight, or gender, it was fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your strength, endurance, and your experience carrying weight will determine how much weight you can carry comfortably.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this is probably not what you wanted, but I believe it is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2016-12-03T16:58:46.963" LastActivityDate="2016-12-03T16:58:46.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3656" CreationDate="2013-02-10T13:51:42.103" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your backpack weight should be 20% of your body weight, and get a 30-40 litres backpack. The backpack should fit nicely on your back with it resting slightly above your butt, and it should not obstruct your head movement. Backpack weight distribution is 40% on shoulder strap and 60% on your hip strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2061" LastActivityDate="2013-02-10T13:51:42.103" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3663" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3672" CreationDate="2013-02-11T01:03:57.493" Score="3" ViewCount="374" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a decent fridge with a 12V-outlet to use in the car for car camping. When I say fridge, I mean something that can keep products cool at 4°C/39°F, regardless of outside temperatures, so that it can be used to transport, for instance, meat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-02-11T09:55:59.813" LastActivityDate="2013-02-11T23:41:04.910" Title="Good &quot;real&quot; fridge for car camping" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3647" CreationDate="2013-02-11T02:37:28.700" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid hammock camper. I went on a 4 day trip where is rained nearly every afternoon. Besides the obvious benefits (not requiring even ground, sleeping comfortably, etc.), I found that hammock camping had the distinct benefit of not having to climb into a tent for rain protection. I was able to simple walk under the tarp and sit in my hammock. That's much better than lying down even though I had that option too. I can cook next to my hammock (something you do not want to do inside a tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2063" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:31:38.013" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:31:38.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3670" CreationDate="2013-02-10T17:36:26.010" Score="13" ViewCount="326" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which are the better trekking routes in the himalayan region? &#xA;Also, how safe are the routes? &#xA;If any of you guys have been around in the region, I would like to know your personal experiences as well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" OwnerDisplayName="Unsung" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T10:31:14.870" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T13:49:18.110" Title="Trekking in the himalayan region" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3666" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4051" CreationDate="2013-02-11T13:55:20.143" Score="2" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do NNN bindings mounted on cross-country skis with NIS mounting plates compare with the screwed-in versions in terms of reliability (are they more likely to break) and performance (do I get anything from being a bit higher off the ground)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastActivityDate="2013-04-29T01:35:41.037" Title="reliability and performance of NIS mounting plates (x-country skis)" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3667" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3671" CreationDate="2013-02-11T10:47:12.240" Score="6" ViewCount="923" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several manufacturers selling folding/collapsible poles, usually for hiking or splitboarding. Are they also suitable for cross-country skiing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" OwnerDisplayName="newenglander" LastEditorUserId="2064" LastEditDate="2013-02-11T15:00:19.980" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T17:56:24.693" Title="Are folding poles suitable for cross-country skiing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3668" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3673" CreationDate="2013-02-11T19:58:54.980" Score="49" ViewCount="76159" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never found a good answer to this one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you clean rock-climbing shoes, without ruining them?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HNwWl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Funky Old Climbing Shoes&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me be more specific.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of modern leather-and-fancy-rubber climbing shoes made by a major brand. They fit exactly the way I want and the rubber is still sound. But they reek like I exercise in them (with no socks) six days a week. How do I make these expensive slippers smell less horrifying without ruining the rubber or the leather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:50:54.363" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T18:12:40.783" Title="How to clean rock-climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-02-11T21:00:23.077" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of cleaning them, fill them with cedar balls and hang them.  That should eliminate the reek.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-02-11T21:00:23.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3665" CreationDate="2013-02-11T22:11:44.603" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three main, popular trekking regions in Nepal - &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Annapurna_Circuit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Anapurna circuit&lt;/a&gt;, the trek to &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Everest_Base_Camp_Trek&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Everest Base Camp&lt;/a&gt; (and side trips) and the area surrounding &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosaikunda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gosaikund&lt;/a&gt;, which includes &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langtang&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Langtang valley&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helambu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Helambu&lt;/a&gt;. All three of these treks are very popular and quite safe; I saw people of all ages, including families and children. There's a good page on Nepal trekking on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Nepal_Trekking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WikiVoyage&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By &quot;very popular&quot;, I mean hundreds of people traveling on each day of the trek (at least for Anapurna and Everest) - you'll rarely be alone for long! This has both advantages and disadvantages, obviously. One advantage is that even if traveling alone, you can easily meet people and &quot;group up&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to pick a trek? I'll try to list some pros and cons for each one. I haven't done the Anapurna, but I've heard much about it. It's the most popular region of the three. The typical route is circular, starting and ending near Pokhara- it's always nice not to have to retrace your steps. There's a varied climate; you climb and climb until you reach a very high pass (above 5000 meters) and then descend. The whole thing takes about three weeks, and there's an option to fly in to Jomsom, about midway, to shorten things. I've heard that part of the traditional trail has been paved, shortening it further, but I'm not sure exactly where. It's very popular, but takes the longest to do, and you need to reach Pokhara in order to start it, which will add time or expense to your trip since most international flights are to Kathmandu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious highlight of the trek to the base of Everest is seeing it the mountain yourself. Normally you fly to and from Lukla (which adds expenses) and then it takes a little less than two weeks to reach the base of the mountain and return. Being that high up, it's a more barren trek than the other two. You don't necessarily &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to retrace your steps, but that's usually how it's done. I chose to minimize the retracing by crossing into the Gokyo valley, but to do that you need to cross an additional 5000 meter pass, which shouldn't be done alone by the inexperienced, and there aren't nearly as many people to accompany who go that way. If you want, you can take a bus to/from Jiri instead of flying; there are were very, very few people going that way when I was there, but I didn't feel like it was dangerous, even though I was alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The triple region of Gosaikund, Langtang and Helambu are the least popular of the three. Maybe it's because the mountains there aren't &lt;em&gt;quite&lt;/em&gt; as high, or maybe because it's just less spectacular, or who knows why, really? This region is closest to Kathmandu, which is good for minimizing travel time and flying expenses. It's also the easiest to split up into a short week-long trek- any of the three can be done, or all three one after the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That summarizes the popular regions; if you're looking for an adventure, there are less popular places that are fabulously beautiful. I highly recommend the Dolpa region, but it will take a lot more planning and a hefty entrance fee. When I was there (2004) Nepal was in the throes of a civil war and we couldn't pay the steep entrance fees to the Dolpa even if we had wanted to (and at $700 a week, I'm not sure we would have wanted to). I don't know how much the fee is now. I'll relate what I can from this trek, based on the notes I have in case you want to try to plan something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We started our trek from Beni, near Pokhara and it took us about two weeks to reach Dunai, the regional capital far to the northwest. We only met two groups of travelers the entire time. We carried tents and cooking supplies, but whenever possible we slept in people's houses and bought dinner. Along the route we traveled there weren't really many guest houses, maybe one or two, but we traveled with a Nepali guide/interpreter who was able to negotiate our staying with people to mutual satisfaction. In some segments we couldn't reach then next village in one day, so we stayed in our tents and cooked. There was a significant pass 4000-some-meter pass - Jaljalal - and then a flat area called Dhorpatan that we stayed in for a day or two and liked very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said, it took us about two weeks to reach Dunai. Dunai has an airport, so one possibility is to skip this section and fly straight there. From Dunai we set out on a circular route that crossed some 5000+ passes. There was an area called Dho that was very dry and desert-like, with herds of yaks; we stayed there for a few days. After that we reached Phoksundo Lake, which is remarkably beautiful- I don't know if the long trip there made it seem more beautiful than it is, but it was spectacular to us. Descending to Phoksundo, and descending from Phoksundo to Dunai were some of the best hiking days I've ever had in my life, and I've been around. Really stunning, and very remote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these high remote regions it was difficult to buy food and supplies from the locals- only in Dunai is there enough that a group can come and buy several days supplies easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our guide had never actually been along this route, and we got lost quite a few times, but all of us were relatively experienced and it turned out OK. We were also well equipped for very cold weather; near the Numa La pass we put our tents up in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike the popular regions, you will be very, very far away from the good medical centers and easy evacuation. Communication with home wasn't possible then; a lot might have changed in nine years, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a trek this long, a lot can go wrong- most of our group got sick several times and we spent quite a few days resting so we had enough strength to continue. Our visas expired and we didn't actually reach our destination, Shey Gompa, the &quot;Crystal Mountain&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, some tidbits- the movie &quot;Himalaya&quot; was filmed near Phoksundo, and the trip is described in the excellent book &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Leopard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;The Snow Leopard&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-26T12:58:12.580" LastActivityDate="2013-04-26T12:58:12.580" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3667" CreationDate="2013-02-11T22:58:03.800" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There aren't any x-country specific adjustable poles because there are no real benefits.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The skis will always be longer than the poles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unlike hiking or splitboarding, scenarios where you need to stow the poles but not the skis don't exist for x-country skiing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It adds weight in a sport where weight is a big factor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unlike hiking and skiing, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nordicskiracer.com/news.asp?NewsID=5030&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double polling&lt;/a&gt;, where maximum force is applied to poles, means the risk of poles collapsing (losing length) is significant and detrimental to performance. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A single shaft will transfer more force than a double shaft. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently available collapsible poles are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nordicskiersports.com/xc-ski-pole-sizing-chart.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mostly too short&lt;/a&gt; for the long stroke necessary in cross-country skiing, and probably wouldn't stand up well to hours of double polling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T17:56:24.693" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T17:56:24.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3663" CreationDate="2013-02-11T23:41:04.910" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want is a so-called &lt;strong&gt;3-way&lt;/strong&gt; fridge, generally called that in North America at least, because they can generally be powered by 12V, 110V or propane gas.  Presumably similar items exist in areas with 220V or other electricity standards, and perhaps other burnable gases like butane...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They cool very well, and have a thermostat and will keep things quite cool and fresh.  Do put it in the shade if it is hot/sunny, however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campertrailers.org/3-way_fridge.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Camper Trailer Tech Tips&lt;/a&gt; provides a very detailed overview of how they actually work, in all cases however, the electricity or gas is used to heat up one end of a sealed ammonia absorption cycle cooling system.  Note: they do need to be kept basically level during operation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A local RV depot is likely your best bet for purchasing something like this, although google hits in Canada include &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Indoor-Living/Major-Appliances/Kitchen/Refrigerators/Propane/3-4-cu-ft-White-Portable-3-Way-Propane-Fridge/_/N-ntkr0/R-I3750200&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Home Hardware&lt;/a&gt; (a smaller retail DIY chain) and some other stores catering to off-grid and remote living.  The model listed at Home Hardware is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uniqueoffgrid.com/en-Ca/Products/Product-Line-up_/Portable-Appliances.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Unique&lt;/a&gt; appliances, who seem to have a few models to choose from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2013-02-11T23:41:04.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-02-12T03:57:19.483" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;strong&gt;prevention&lt;/strong&gt; is going to give you the best bang for your buck.  Make sure you dry your shoes properly between uses by hanging them out, and don't keep them in a bag/trunk/confined space.  During your climbing session, it's a good idea to take your shoes off between climbs (at least once in a while) to let them dry out some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;odor control&lt;/strong&gt;, I find that spray deodorizers can do a good job.  I don't think I would use powders, but I'm curious what everyone else says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once things get &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; bad, you can give shoes a &lt;strong&gt;wash&lt;/strong&gt; (by hand) using warm water, a mild detergent, and a brush of some sort (an old toothbrush works fine).  Wash the insides thoroughly using the brush and soap, it'll take a few rinses to get everything.  Allow the shoes to dry completely, put them next to a fan/heater (but not too close).  Stuff the shoes with newspaper, and change it often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, I find some brands to be worse for odors than others.  I've had good luck with La Sportiva, and a terrible time with Evolvs.  This is most likely because of the material (leather vs. synthetic). I've had my current pair for several years (and several resoles) and they don't smell worse than expected for a climbing shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2019-09-08T18:12:40.783" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T18:12:40.783" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2977" CreationDate="2013-02-12T05:27:54.903" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last weekend after a snow storm in Quebec I camped in the conditions you describe. Around 1 meter of snow, -12°C/10°F during the day -24°C/-11°F during the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a layer of spruce branches ~15 cm/6 inch or more. Also, use a closed-cell foam pad plus an inflatable pad. I slept in US Army bivy sack, US Army cold-weather sleeping bag. This set-up will keep you reasonably warm. To keep you comfortably warm, sleep dressed in many layers, wear balaclava and a lot of socks, otherwise your feet will get really cold. Exercise before going to bed. You might want to put some heat packs in your socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a snow shovel to dig a hole for your fire about 2.5 meters/8 feet in diameter, plus a place to sit and sleep. Otherwise your fire will melt a hole and all the warmth will radiate up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a pee bottle. It's not fun to go in the dark cold forest and then try to get back to a cold bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not underestimate the amount of wood you will need and time it takes to gather it. Chop a couple of big dead trees and split a few logs to make a nice fire. Bring an axe and a foldable saw. Put a bright lanyard on every piece of equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also use large snow shoes, you will have to carry a lot of weight, if you don't, you will not get far. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't go alone. Bring some medical supplies to treat small wounds. If you bring alcohol, don't bother with beer, bring something stronger. Otherwise bring some hot chocolate, it is easer to clean then tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter camping is easy and fun once you find the way to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2065" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-08-16T08:47:33.830" LastActivityDate="2014-08-16T08:47:33.830" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1635" CreationDate="2013-02-12T09:40:09.973" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The following references from a few major rope manufacturers cover rope care thoroughly. Please see the bottom of this answer for a summary.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bluewaterropes.com/home/Uploaded/Downloads/3220127510.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bluewater Ropes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid stepping on your rope. Beside the potential of cutting, stepping on a rope will grind dirt into the core and increase the possibility of internal abrasion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protect your rope from exposure to harsh chemicals. Do not allow your rope to come into contact with any compounds containing acids, alkalis, oxidizing agents or bleaching compounds. Be especially careful to avoid contact with battery acid or fumes. To help protect a rope from coming into contact with unidentified chemicals, always store and transport it in a rope bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Testing done indicates salt water, acetone, benzene, chloroform, freon, gasoline, kerosene, motor oil, mineral oil, paints and pine oil do not appreciably affect nylon and should not damage your rope. Laboratory tests performed have shown no appreciable damage done to nylon fibers by contact with insect repellents containing DEET (Test #0559).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your rope clean. Dirt can shorten the life of your rope by increasing internal and external abrasion. It is a good idea to occasionally wash a rope to remove dirt and rock crystals. Put the rope in a pillowcase or washing bag and use a front loading machine with cold water only to prevent shrinkage. It is acceptable to use a mild soap to remove oil or grease but avoid harsh detergents. DO NOT USE BLEACH OR BLEACH SUBSTITUTES. Make sure to rinse thoroughly. Small amounts of fabric softener may be used to give better flexibility and a softer hand as a rope stiffens with use. Your rope should be air dried away from direct sunlight. It will not harm a rope to store it wet. Nylon is not affected by water and will not rot or mildew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sterlingrope.com/media/document/techmanual.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling Rope&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;10&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What chemicals are bad for my rope?&#xA;It is best to assume that all chemicals are bad for your rope. Do not expose your nylon or polyester&#xA;ropes to chemicals.  That said, much recent data has been collected regarding how substances affect&#xA;rope life.  Data available from Honeywell Corporation (makers of nylon 6, polyester and Spectra®)&#xA;shows that nylon’s strength is not greatly affected by motor oil, mineral oil, salt water, Freon, gasoline,&#xA;kerosene, benzene, chloroform, paints, pine oils, or insect repellents containing DEET.  Chemicals that&#xA;should be avoided at all costs are bleach and sulfuric acid.  Still even with this reassurance it is best to&#xA;protect your rope from any exposure to any acids or alkalis and to store your rope in a cool dry environment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/Notification_about_the_marking_of_ropes_by_climbers.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the UIAA&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notification Concerning the Marking of Ropes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tests done by the UIAA Safety Commission and some rope manufacturers have shown that marking ropes with liquids such as those provided by felt-tipped pens can damage them; even with those markers, sold specifically for marking ropes. The test results have shown a decrease of up to 50% of the rope strength, more correctly: of the energy absorption capacity of the rope (expressed by the number of falls in the standard test method in accordance with the UIAA Standard101).&#xA;Therefore the UIAA Safety Commission warns against marking a rope with any substance that has not been specifically approved by the rope manufacturer of that rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also from &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the UIAA&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion: If you want to survive whilst climbing and mountaineering, please do not fall so that your rope comes tight over a sharp rock edge, and do not touch the rope with any acid!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammut.ch/US/en_US/know-how/ropes/handling&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;guide from Mammut&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/climb/all/qc-with-kp-from-the-archives-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another reference&lt;/a&gt; that is too lengthy is from Black Diamond. It discusses the effect of urine on rope strength, which is surprisingly quite bad. &lt;em&gt;(This article is no longer available, however &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/gear-guide-tips/will-urine-harm-a-climbing-rope&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; references the preliminary testing done by Black Diamond.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;To Summarize&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid these things:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sharp edges, especially under load&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acids &amp;amp; Alkalis&lt;/strong&gt; Sulfuric acid, or battery acid, being a primary concern. Also urine, which contains uric acid among other things, is notably damaging, but only with extended exposure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bleach &amp;amp; other oxidizing agents&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extended UV exposure&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Solvent-based markers or pens&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ground-in dirt or rock dust&lt;/strong&gt; Keep rope as clean as possible and as is practical, and wash it appropriately when needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Letting wet rope freeze&lt;/strong&gt; Temporarily weakens the rope while frozen, but may be unavoidable for ice climbers in certain conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High heat&lt;/strong&gt;  This one's probably obvious, but nylon, comprising all dynamic ropes,  &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;will melt&lt;/a&gt; at 428°F (220°C). So campfire, stove, oven, dryer,... with &lt;strong&gt;high friction&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(nylon to nylon is really bad)&lt;/em&gt; being the most likely source to damage your rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the question about hand sanitizer and sunscreen: There seems to be no specific testing of these substances on climbing rope. Use your judgement, but I see no reason to think that hand sanitizer or sunscreen would pose any threat to rope if it does not contain any of the above-mentioned damaging substances. Hand-sanitizer typically contains alcohol, moisturizers, and fragrance. Sunscreen typically contains a UV-inhibiter like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, moisturizers, and fragrance. None of these substances is listed as harmful to nylon or climbing rope by rope manufactures or the UIAA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T02:48:00.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2013-02-12T20:45:02.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one of the series of Survivorman the Les Stroud has put into fire the whole fallen pine. &#xA;A very thick trunk will burn for a long time. Generally, the thicker the wood the longer it will burn. A thin branch will last a few hours, the fire will not be big, but it will nevertheless give heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately I never recorded it, but as far as I remember a very thick branch was burning for a few hours. When it is cold, you wan't sleep the whole night, you would wake up often and you can adjust the campfire then. It's the way Bear Grylls probably manages that, if not helped by the camera crew ;) He almost always make shots in dark saying how cold it is and how bad he sleeps :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-02-14T04:10:38.793" LastActivityDate="2013-02-14T04:10:38.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3678" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-11T10:47:12.240" Score="13" ViewCount="1332" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do folding (or telescoping) cross-country skis exist and if so are they useable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: Or are there small cross-country skis that are short enough for easy transport, yet still capable of providing support for uphill movement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" OwnerDisplayName="newenglander" LastEditorUserId="2064" LastEditDate="2013-02-20T16:36:35.063" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T11:38:33.723" Title="Do folding cross country skis exist?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3678" CreationDate="2013-02-13T08:26:39.650" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question had two answers that unfortunately didn't survive the migration. I'll post what I've found, as well as one of the links from @Refineo's answer (the other link was a patent description). Here's a folding ski used to climb mountains, so not cross-country compatible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mtnapproach.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mtnapproach.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to @Refineo's links, I was also able to find some other websites, but nothing really conclusive, or useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to the MTNapproach skis: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climb.co.at/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climb.co.at/index.php?lang=en&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Russian Patent holder of folding x-country skis: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vector-ski.com/collski_e.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.vector-ski.com/collski_e.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry style, but no longer available for sale: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zigzagtour.de/index2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.zigzagtour.de/index2.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Home-made folding skis: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.woodly.de/blog/?p=41&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.woodly.de/blog/?p=41&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; Most of the above links are no longer reachable, but possible viewable at the Internet Archive  (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archive.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.archive.org&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastEditorUserId="2064" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T11:38:33.723" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T11:38:33.723" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1915" CreationDate="2013-02-14T05:53:18.850" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Hebrew, the bowline knot is translated as a rescue knot, so I assume the reason it is used is the fact that the chances of it untying unintentionally is low.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When having the knot end on the inside, the end of the knot needs to move despite the added friction from the object or person the end of the knot is against.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When using the end on the outside, it only has the friction of the knot head itself to keep it from coming undone, and depending on the condition at hand (type of rope, the amount of pull on the rope, etc...) it may come undone more easily than it's inside version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, some sailing clubs I know use a bowline knot to tie the boats to the dock, but usually they do not untie the knot to leave the dock, and just slip it on and off the cleats when docking and leaving, this however requires that you'll have something to slip the rope on, which is not available in all docks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastActivityDate="2013-02-14T05:53:18.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3665" CreationDate="2013-02-15T01:12:39.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent about eight weeks in the high Himalaya of Bhutan and Nepal during the fall of 2010, during which time I had the amazing opportunity to complete the classic Everest Base Camp trek, from Lukla to Kala Pattar and back. The adventure was replete with the exciting and the unknown, to the extent that my travel companion and I were among a cohort of (un)lucky trekkers to make international news (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/uk-nepal-everest-tourists-idUSLNE7A304S20111104&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;About 2,000 trekkers stranded near Everest in bad weather&lt;/a&gt;) for the length of time that we were stranded in Lukla due to persistent fog. We eventually found our way back to Kathmandu, though not by a small, commercial flight, as is convention. Again, we found ourselves particularly &quot;lucky&quot; as we boarded a Soviet-era helicopter (of the MI variety) operated by the Nepali Army to return to the sprawling capital city. Colorful details aside, the Everest Base Camp trek is a Himalayan classic, one that I would strongly recommend if this is your first trip to the Himalaya. That said, this trip won't be a perfect fit if you are seeking solitude. Thousands of trekkers flood the Khumbu region each year (with good reason), making for a bustling (and, at times, very crowded) atmosphere on the trail and at the tea houses, where you sleep and take your meals. The great &quot;benefit&quot; of this scene is the enhanced safety component. I didn't have any safety concerns while on-trail, and the Khumbu has well-established rescue operation (by helicopter) on account of Everest and the volume of tourist traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are seeking the &quot;road less traveled,&quot; I would strongly suggest investigating the Mustang region, a comparatively quiet and pristine area that has only opened to tourists in the past 10-15 years (&lt;a href=&quot;http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/travel/myths-and-mountains-in-nepal.html?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Myths and Mountains in Nepal&lt;/a&gt;). Alternatively, Bhutan provides a breath of fresh air (quite literally--its small cities boast some of the cleanest air in Asia) when juxtaposed with the hustle and bustle of Nepal and the trek to Everest Base Camp (as well as the Annapurna Trek, which welcomes a similar volume of tourists). A trip to Bhutan costs a pretty penny: the government has been remarkably effective in restricting tourist traffic--and in creating quite some panache about the place--by charging a daily visa fee to physically be in the country (in the fall of 2010, the fee was upwards of $200/day). I'm not sure of the price tag these days, but if you have the opportunity, a trek in the western Jhomolari region is a magical experience--high-alpine trekking among snow-capped Himalayan peaks, 15,000-foot passes, roaming yaks, and verdant, dramatic valleys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy trails and travels!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2079" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T13:49:18.110" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T13:49:18.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3558" CreationDate="2013-02-15T01:16:53.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a functional ski bum (if there is such a thing), logging between 70-150 days on the hill per season. I do little to nothing in terms of post-skiing care for my ski boots, and they are not any worse for the wear. As long as you are sure to let them dry after a day of skiing, the lifespan should not be compromised. If you are preparing to store the boots, you need not do anything so complicated. Definitely wipe off any dirt or grit with a moist towel. I would leave the liners in the boots (to maintain their form), and similarly, I recommend buckling the boots (to the degree that you would for a day of skiing) such that the hard shell maintains its shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2079" LastActivityDate="2013-02-15T01:16:53.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-02-15T11:32:46.610" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use boot bananas to tame the stench!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bananafingers.co.uk/boot-bananas-p-1654.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bananafingers.co.uk/boot-bananas-p-1654.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update 26 Nov 2015:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am still using the same bananas I had bought recently to this first post. I think I am on my 3rd pair of climbing shoes and I have not been bothered by the smell of any of them since. Great long lasting product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2081" LastEditorUserId="2081" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T09:52:46.887" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T09:52:46.887" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3686" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-15T13:16:34.053" Score="5" ViewCount="104" Body="&lt;p&gt;If mountain rescue teams in the UK were searching for a walker or climbing caught in an avalanche, would they start with a transceiver search? given that transceivers are infrequently carried by walkers and climbers in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe the answer is different for Scottish rescue teams, than English &amp;amp; Welsh, as the Scottish rescue teams will deal with avalanches much more frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-02-17T22:22:56.510" LastActivityDate="2013-02-17T22:22:56.510" Title="Do rescue services use avalanche transceivers in the UK?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3687" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-15T13:19:37.657" Score="10" ViewCount="700" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to head to the Alps this summer to walk the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. Does anyhow know how far in advance I need to book the huts? Months, weeks or just a few days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also there's a good chance our plans might well change en-route, due to weather conditions, am I likley to find that means I can't get into the next hut on the route?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2013-02-25T17:30:24.507" Title="Booking Alpine huts" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3686" CreationDate="2013-02-15T19:43:04.973" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;They do in the Cairngorms. I have met skiers in Corrour bothy using them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2013-02-15T19:43:04.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2978" CreationDate="2013-02-15T19:49:41.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the tent is not designed for snow then you'll need to make sure it doesn't get weighted down by the snow on top. The edges with a low gradient get covered in snow and this stretches the tent. You'll need to keep pushing it off the tent. If it has a flat top you'll have to push it off there as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2013-02-15T19:49:41.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3687" CreationDate="2013-02-16T13:28:08.260" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You cannot book most huts in advance. You simply arrive and get a place to sleep. If you're late then you will have to sleep on the floor. Places are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. I speak from (limited) experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't slept in huts much, but I've visited quite often, and most are quite basic. There are some modern huts that can be reserved, but if they can be, you certainly don't need to reserve more than a few days ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can search for huts at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sac-cas.ch/huetten/huette-suchen.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swiss Alpine Club&lt;/a&gt; website. Then, check the individual huts' websites for information such as opening hours. For example, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabanedesdix.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cabane des Dix&lt;/a&gt;. To be sure, you might want to check the website for the huts where you will pass by and write down their phone numbers, so you can call them the morning before you arrive. Considering sudden changes in weather, any reservation more than a few days in advance is in any case too risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; my experiences are mostly from the 1990s and early 2000s. Perhaps the situation has changed; see also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3719/566&quot;&gt;goingglacials answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-02-25T17:30:24.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3686" CreationDate="2013-02-16T16:20:09.993" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This doesn’t really answer the question, but it’s good to know that waiting for the mountain rescue team to dig you out of an avalanche is wrong, because there’s preciously little time left. About 90 % of the people survive the first 15 minutes under the snow, but after half an hour the number sharply drops to 30–40 %. Here’s one graph (&lt;a href=&quot;http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Avalanches/Avalanche-Survival-Curve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8pkm4.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Avalanche survival probablity&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that you have a decent chance of being digged out by your friends, &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; you all have working transcievers, probes and shovels &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; know how to use them routinely. The mountain rescue will take too much time to arrive, even in the best conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-02-16T16:20:09.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3697" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3700" CreationDate="2013-02-16T18:56:52.040" Score="7" ViewCount="946" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a relatively new pair of NNN cross-country ski boots and noticed the plastic sole is much more slippery than previous boots I've owned (older SNS and SNS Profil). A quick look at the selection in a store showed me most models have this feature/drawback. I occasionally have to walk not ski wearing these boots, so I'm looking for a creative solution to deal with this--and I'm guessing others have dealt with and hopefully solved the problem already. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume sanding the soles wouldn't help, as the plastic is already relatively rough. Or perhaps I could slip something over the boot when I need to walk with it, like a rubber? Or perhaps there are new models of boots that don't have slippery soles. Back-country NNN/SNS boots look quite sturdy, maybe they have better soles (I know that would require new bindings, but I'm open to that too)? Or will the soles get less slippery with time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did find one skier's solution &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_dermott/4459876340/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, which involves rubbers with spikes. But this wouldn't work in my case, I want to use them in places like public buses (which I know from experience are slippery when wearing x-country boots, especially when the driver is in a hurry and you haven't sat down yet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastEditorUserId="2064" LastEditDate="2013-02-17T07:22:01.843" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T13:05:55.773" Title="What to do about slippery plastic soles of cross country ski boots" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3698" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4050" CreationDate="2013-01-23T19:52:07.447" Score="5" ViewCount="4437" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of higher-end cross country skis now have an NIS mounting plate to enable the mounting of bindings without drilling any holes (and easy adjustment).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But why are the only NIS compatible bindings that I can find just for the regular NNN norm? What about SNS Profil and Pilot, and also NNN BC? Is there a technical issue here, or do is have to do with patents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I know you can just drill any binding onto a NIS-equipped ski.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" OwnerDisplayName="newenglander" LastActivityDate="2013-04-29T01:22:13.720" Title="NIS mounting plate for x-country skis: why only for NNN bindings?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3647" CreationDate="2013-02-18T09:53:25.093" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a hammock camper myself, but I can think of a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More ventilated in the summer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter to carry - you don't need something to pad the place you're sleeping on and you don't need the same level of rigidness that a tent offers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually more environmentally friendly - since they are smaller than tents hammocks leave a shorter toll on the environment when produced and when discarded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a heavily wooded environment, it may be easier to find a place to attach a hammock than to find a clearing to pitch a tent. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastActivityDate="2013-02-18T09:53:25.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3697" CreationDate="2013-02-18T10:51:41.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some non-tested ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put rubbers/galoshas (or any other huge size boots) on your ski boots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the soles of your previous ski boots (or any other of your old boots with good grip) and glue them to a spare pair of NNN bindings. Click off your skis, click on your anti slip soles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the method of rubbers with spikes, but skip spikes. Again, you can use a part of your old boots for this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-02-18T10:51:41.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3701" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3706" CreationDate="2013-02-19T10:12:28.673" Score="18" ViewCount="6118" Body="&lt;p&gt;What sort of rope would be ideal for glacier travel? I have a 10mm 60m rope, but this is quite heavy. Would a 9mm 50m rope be suitable for a team of three, crossing glaciers in the Swiss Alps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:33:23.273" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T01:57:08.430" Title="Best type of rope for glacier travel?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3702" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3703" CreationDate="2013-02-19T12:21:30.717" Score="4" ViewCount="80" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a pair of Quechua Forclaz 500 boots from Decathlon 2 weeks ago, but just today I realized that each boot is manufatured 6 months apart (February and August 2012).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a problem with that? They both seems very comfortable, and there is no sign of different aging on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2087" LastActivityDate="2013-02-19T14:26:19.683" Title="Is there a problem on using each boot manufactured on a different period?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3702" CreationDate="2013-02-19T14:26:19.683" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a bit odd, I'm not sure what reason in production or otherwise would cause this to happen (perhaps a month or so, but 6 months seems weirdly long.) Perhaps a fault in one side of the boot caused a big reproduction, so the dates became out of sync - I can only speculate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I see no reason for this to be a problem in practice - if the boots are stored well, which it seems like they have been, then practically there shouldn't be any difference between the two. If they seem fine and don't look odd in any other way, then I'd say there's nothing to worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-02-19T14:26:19.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3228" CreationDate="2013-02-19T19:04:56.670" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking in the Iceland highlands/roads when there's snow on the ground is certainly allowed, although you'd find travel much easier on skis. Be aware in the winter/spring the roads and marker / sign posts are totally buried in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountain rescue service in Iceland will be happy to rescue you should you get into trouble - register with ICESAR in Reykjavik before you head out (They will also rent you a PLB if you want&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no need for rescue insurance in Iceland, they don't charge for rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="152" LastActivityDate="2013-02-19T19:04:56.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2013-02-19T22:27:20.707" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a seasoned traveler, former deckhand, and a budding reference librarian, all qualities that uniquely situate me to answer your question.  When I was working as a deckhand in Alaska I battled seasickness everyday.  I found these things helpful:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sit or stand near the rear (stern) of the vessel &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sit near a source of fresh air&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;face forward&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rest your head against the seat back while focusing on the horizon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avoid greasy, rich foods for 24 hours before the boat ride&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Mayo Clinic also recommends abstaining from smoking cigarettes and cigarette smoke.  Here's a link to their page on motion sickness: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-motion-sickness/HQ01099&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Motion sickness: First aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in my experience, riding on a multihulled vessel, like a catamaran, greatly reduces the likelihood of seasickness as multihulled vessels do not roll side-to-side in the water as much as monohulled vessels.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your wife begins to feel sick, she might try some breathing exercises, such as regulating her breath by  slowly counting while remaining still and continuing to face forward.  I have also found ginger to be a very effective homeopathic remedy for motion sickness.  Visit the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine(NCCAM )website for more information on the use of ginger to prevent/treat motion-related sickness.  Here's the link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ginger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ginger&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your wife must resort to medication I'd recommend Bonine brand.  I took it several times on days when the sea was extra choppy and it did the trick. However, she must be sure to take the medication at least an hour prior to boarding the vessel.  I switched to Bonine from Dramamine because it doesn't cause as much drowsiness.   Per the travel website Lonelyplanet, Bonine is available in Israel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2089" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T13:28:42.140" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:28:42.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3701" CreationDate="2013-02-20T02:16:31.073" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beal Ropes has &lt;a href=&quot;http://wayback.archive.org/web/20140722203217/http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/typecorde.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a guide&lt;/a&gt; that covers this.  Read the page but here are two images for quick reference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ri8td.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dN6Yw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2974/133&quot;&gt;robust half rope&lt;/a&gt; such as the Mammut Genesis is probably a very good choice; such a rope is much lighter than a 10mm Single but still has a thick sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;a href=&quot;http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SmithBlaine2005_ITRSPaper.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Comparison of Stretch and Forces&#xA;Between Low and High-Stretch Ropes&#xA;During Simulated Crevasse Falls&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2019-03-10T01:57:08.430" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T01:57:08.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3707" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3708" CreationDate="2013-02-20T07:10:11.350" Score="15" ViewCount="5376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a PUR Hiker Microfilter and a Katadyn Water Microfilter sitting in my closet that I only use once in a great while (I don't go on overnight backpacking trips very often).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I do plan on a trip, I'm always hesitant to trust these filters are still in good condition to use. Don't they develop mold or other contaminants when left idle for years? I'm talking like 5 or so years without use...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a way to clean these so I can be sure they are safe to use, or does the microfilter cartridge have a certain shelf-life and is then no longer safe to use?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2006" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:46:17.883" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:46:17.883" Title="Safe to use Old Water Filter?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3707" CreationDate="2013-02-20T15:40:58.043" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I understand the technology, your microfilters will not expire on the shelf if maintained and stored properly. Their lifetime is determined by the number of gallons pumped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can happen is if you don't properly dry out your filter before storing then it will develop mold. In that situation you can decide if it is best to clean the filter or replace it. For cleaning instructions I copied the following from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.katadyn.com/usen/technical-support/filter-support/faq/&quot;&gt;Katadyn's Q&amp;amp;A page&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is very important that the ceramic element be completely dry before it is stored for an extended time period. It is recommended to dry the element for up to 3 days before putting it back in the filter. If the filter has been stored damp and has a foul odor, we recommend the following: Pump 1-2 liters of water, combined with a small amount of Micropur Forte or baking soda, through the filter; then soak the ceramic element in the combination over night. Rinse it out and pump several liters of clean water through the system. For a taste test, use natural, non-chlorinated, water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2013-02-21T07:37:09.073" LastActivityDate="2013-02-21T07:37:09.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3709" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-21T00:39:03.993" Score="8" ViewCount="902" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone point to any commercial or DIY trekking poles whose end-piece can be swapped -- i.e. regular pole point, sharp spear, raft paddle, camera screw, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-02-21T09:00:38.387" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T23:15:06.160" Title="Trekking poles with many attachments?" Tags="&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3711" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-21T16:14:50.493" Score="3" ViewCount="674" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I find a nice, secluded cabin to rent, somewhere in the U.S. wilderness? This almost seems like a word of mouth kind of endeavor, asking friends and friends of friends if they own or know of such cabins but I'm hoping there's a way to search online, for places that I would never hear about otherwise. That's what I'd like to find out from this community.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some places I've looked:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikitravel&lt;/a&gt; occasionally references cabins.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://vrbo.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Vacation Rentals by Owners&lt;/a&gt; (VRBO) is has a good interface to narrow down by characteristic.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some trail clubs have cabin listings. For example the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.patc.net/PublicView/Cabins/PublicView/Custom/PATC_Cabins/Cabins.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Potomac Area Trail Club&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many State web sites, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/cabgen.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Virginia's State Parks site&lt;/a&gt;, list their cabins.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Searching &lt;a href=&quot;http://tripadvisor.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TripAdvisor&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://flipkey.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;FlipKey&lt;/a&gt; for cabin helps too, though I haven't found secluded wilderness cabins there yet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of these is helpful in their own right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other options? The more searchable (like VRBO and TripAdvisor) the better. The more secluded options listed (walk-in rather than drive-in, for example) the better. The more the resource describes the surrounding trails and scenery the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2092" LastActivityDate="2013-02-21T16:14:50.493" Title="How to find a secluded cabin to rent" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2013-02-25T20:54:25.497" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3712" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3727" CreationDate="2013-02-21T21:10:43.063" Score="5" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a new pair of cross-country skis that matched my weight (with or without a backpack), but when I tried them out for the first time (over a two-day period), I didn't have as much grip as I had with my previous pair (which I got as a hand-me-down and didn't know if they matched my weight, but they worked well enough), even with a backpack on. Too much glide and not enough grip going uphill or even on level paths. Did I somehow get the wrong size, or do I need to use the skis for a while before they start to work for me? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more thing: these are NIS skis with the NNN binding all the way forward--meaning I should have maximum grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should also note that I put a bit of wax on the fish scales on the first day (I assume mistakenly), but that shouldn't make that much of a difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastActivityDate="2013-02-26T05:55:02.853" Title="Do cross-country skis need to be broken-in?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3716" CreationDate="2013-02-22T14:11:08.693" Score="12" ViewCount="1763" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any special etiquette or &quot;good things to know&quot; for hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) during AT, or peak, season (for that section)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-10-29T19:46:15.183" LastActivityDate="2014-12-13T04:47:43.610" Title="Is there special etiquette for hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) during AT Season" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3714" CreationDate="2013-02-23T19:26:14.727" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think what you are trying to get at is the proper etiquette for hiking on the AT during peak season, when the most hikers and backpackers are on the trail. Exactly when peak season is, and how many people you will see at peak season really depends on where you are on the trail. Various places will have different number of Thru-hikers, section-hikers, weekend backpackers, and day hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is mostly hiking the parts of the AT in Virginia and North Carolina. We see Northbounders and Southbounders cross as well as lots of day and weekend activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Etiquette I would break into things you really need to be aware of and just nice things to do. As a day hiker I would say to be very aware of the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Step off the trail and allow backpackers access to the trail and passing each other. Backpackers usually give the uphill hiker &quot;right of way&quot; but day hikers have less weight and should always accommodate the backpackers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be especially careful of trash that you may leave behind, as the number of hikers increases the importance of this increases&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be especially careful about staying on the trail, including switchbacks. As numbers of hikers increase and it rains erosion can get worse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for things I find that are good to do, and I would consider good etiquette are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I bring additional materials like water, first aid, and fresh snacks. If I run into a thru-hiker or section hiker I give any additional materials I have to them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also bring a couple of spare trash bags that I keep in my day pack to pick up some of the trash left by other hikers, again, peak season this becomes even more important.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you mention hiking, but there is one important etiquette item I would want to add for backpackers during peak season for thru-hikers. Bring your own tent/tarp, even if you expect to stay near a shelter. If more hikers end at a shelter than the shelter can hold I always stay in my own tent to make sure thru-hikers get the shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-02-25T00:33:13.510" LastActivityDate="2013-02-25T00:33:13.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3714" CreationDate="2013-02-24T07:23:10.263" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In peak season (late spring/summer) most trail etiquette on the AT relates to thru-hikers, but not all of it, and generally is about the same on the whole trail. Thru-hikers are of course those who are continuously hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, north or southbound. This information is essentially entirely based on my experience on the AT and hiking in general for many years.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In short, simply be polite and respect others and the wilderness in which you find yourself. Leave things better than you find them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In more detail&lt;/strong&gt;, general etiquette is the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yield the trail to an hiker traveling uphill if you are a headed downhill, day-hikers or backpackers either one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yield the trail to thru-hikers (usually quite evident which are thru-hikers and which aren't) if you are not one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let thru-hikers have priority in shelters or other campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are sharing a shelter or campsite with a thru-hiker, be respectful and quiet. Many thru-hikers go to sleep relatively early so they can cover more ground the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When hanging a bear bag, do it away from camp and from the trail if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow &lt;a href=&quot;http://lnt.org/learn/7-principles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; principles&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pass on important and pertinent information to hikers heading the way you just came, such as bad trail conditions, swarms of stinging insects, presence of a snake, other dangers,...you get the idea. Or tell thru-hikers about locations of &quot;trail magic&quot; (See below.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Say hello! Unless it's a particularly busy area where you can't greet everyone, it's very common to greet other hikers as you pass each other. Some people will not greet you, but that seems to usually be the exception. This applies to most trails in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strike up a conversation with a thru-hiker. Often-times they are hiking solo and welcome some good conversation, and are usually interesting people too. There are some however that just want to be left alone. Respect that as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When driving to/from the trailhead, give a ride to a thru-hiker who might be trying to get to the nearest town, post-office, hostel, outfitter, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is less etiquette and more hospitality: Leave &quot;trail magic&quot; for thru-hikers. Trail magic is essentially just a cache of food or drinks (especially cold) that are left along the trail to which thru-hikers can just help themselves. Usually people from the surrounding community do this, but that doesn't mean section hikers or day-hikers can't leave some too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't a thru-hiker, don't take the &quot;trail magic&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For information on specific sections I recommend a guidebook for the particular section being hiked. There are several available. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy offers &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/itemlist.cfm?atcmem=0&amp;amp;catid=42&amp;amp;pcatid=0&amp;amp;compid=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these guidebooks&lt;/a&gt; which are quite detailed, and may be found in many outdoors stores near the AT as well as online. Another kind with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aldha.org/companion.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;digital version&lt;/a&gt; is offered &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aldha.org/companion.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; from the ALDHA. Downloads are free for ALDHA members only. It seems you'll have to pay for pretty much any type of guide, but it's worth it usually. While the primary purpose of these guidebooks is mostly to educate about the trail and the area, you could likely infer specific etiquette from that information if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally, go to a local (not a chain) outfitter/outdoors store in the area you're visiting. They will likely have good information and be up-to-date on the local trails. Also many regions have specific hiking clubs and associations that maintain websites with a good amount of information and people to contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-13T04:47:43.610" LastActivityDate="2014-12-13T04:47:43.610" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2013-02-24T20:57:14.187" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with berry120 that contacting local experts, or even hobbyists will most likely be the easiest way to go. They should have a much better knowledge of local species than you would be able to find in (online) literature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming across plants or animals in the outdoors it's always interesting to identify them, but not always easy. In my experience, it's mostly a game of subtracting possibilities. You know it's a bird and likely an owl; that's a good start. To further narrow it down, you need to get an overview of all possible species in the region. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/species.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canadian Owls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of those, using a bird guide I can tell you the following are least likely for your location: short-eared owl, great grey owl, snowy owl, eastern screech owl, flammulated owl, northern hawk owl and burrowing owl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've only heard the bird, so you will need to compare based on sound. Keep in mind that a species can have many different calls, and that they can differ between gender and location (for species with a very large range). The above website also contains sounds for the specific owl, but for birds in general one of the most extensive sound libraries I know of is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xeno-canto.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Xeno-Canto - Sharing bird sounds from around the world&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a recording, you could also post it on their forum and see if anyone with knowledge of the owl species comes across it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T10:16:28.957" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T10:16:28.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3687" CreationDate="2013-02-24T22:33:16.530" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When exactly do you plan to go? If you head over there in mid-late June, you should be &lt;em&gt;completely&lt;/em&gt; fine without reservations. High-season for European trekkers doesn't start until much later in the summer (around mid-July), and the trails and huts will be significantly less crowded earlier in the summer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, I would &lt;em&gt;strongly&lt;/em&gt; suggest booking your huts in advance. Hut proprietors on a route that receives as much trekker traffic as the Haute Route are definitely accustomed to receiving advance inquiries. I've completed the Haute Route, the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Alta Via 1 (Italy), and the GR-20 (Corsica), and I benefited from reservations on all of those treks, save for the GR-20. Without the benefit of the reservations while trekking along the GR-20, I found myself completely shut out of certain huts along the way and thus forced to sleep on the rock-hard Corsican ground. I would suggest purchasing a guide book like &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1852845139&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, which will provide you with the necessary contact information (including websites) for the huts. From my experience, the best approach is to book about a week or two in advance when you have a better sense of your plans. In terms of weather, that's obviously a tough call...but, as I recall, I didn't encounter much difficulty in sticking to my itineraries on any of those trips. Like any other mountainous region, the Alps are liable to receive afternoon thunderstorms (and possibly a bit of snow here and there), but the storms usually pass pretty quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2079" LastActivityDate="2013-02-24T22:33:16.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3720" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3723" CreationDate="2013-02-25T18:58:59.837" Score="12" ViewCount="34280" Body="&lt;p&gt;How far is a reasonable distance for someone to hike on their first trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand this depends on a lot of variables, such as the person's fitness, the route they are planning to do, etc, but some approximate numbers would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my specific case, we're both very active. We've been weight training in the gym for the last 6 and 11 years respectively - and it shows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our plan is to hike during June this year, &lt;strong&gt;so we have time to train&lt;/strong&gt;. Is it realistic to think we could do &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbria_Way&quot;&gt;Cumbria Way in The Lake District&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Highland_Way&quot;&gt;West Highland Way in Scotland&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2098" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T02:56:57.320" Title="How far is a reasonable distance for someone to hike on their first trip?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3720" CreationDate="2013-02-25T19:24:50.840" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gym training, especially body building, weight training, and strength training do not translate well to hiking, so don't count on that to carry you and get you through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are new to hiking/backpacking, I would advise the following for &quot;first hikes&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not more than five miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not more than one night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Test hike with your planned shoe/sock combo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat like you would to work out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Written checklist for gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically as a weight trainer, watch out for these mistakes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't carry too much.  Most weight trainers who go with us overload the first time.  It kills their feet.  Yes, you can easily lift a 50lb pack.  Your feet cannot yet handle that for mile after mile.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get good shoes.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gym clothes are not hiking clothes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that some of this may sound obvious, but these really are mistakes that we've seen on trips we've led.  Unless you are going with an experienced partner, then a long hike your first time out is (imo) a serious mistake.  You have to ramp up not just your body, but your experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you build up for distance, then don't worry about the distance limit.  Remember to train some with the weight and gear you will actually carry.  I would still recommend not being more than a day from civilization as a &quot;first&quot; outing, just due to experience.  You really don't want to be 2-3 days from civilization when you first learn that what you planned for (insert something vital) isn't going to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-02-25T22:17:52.333" LastActivityDate="2013-02-25T22:17:52.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3722" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3726" CreationDate="2013-02-25T19:46:10.163" Score="8" ViewCount="927" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bag liner that claims to add 15 degrees to the &quot;range&quot; of a sleeping bag.  Is it reasonable to assume that it would work the same for all bags?  For instance, would it extend a 40 degree bag to 25, and a 0 degree bag to -15?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-02-27T00:35:45.837" Title="Do bag liners add the same warmth value to all sleeping bags?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3720" CreationDate="2013-02-25T22:10:49.767" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start by day hikes where you can frequently exit. For example, find a day hike where after 2 hours, one has the option either to cut it short to a 2½ hour hike in total, or to extend it to 4 hours, and after 4 hours, one has again the option to cut it to 4½ hours, or to make it 6 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've done this for several days and find out that 6 hour day hikes are fine for you, you can start doing hikes reaching more remote places where you &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; have such an &quot;exit strategy&quot;. Make such hikes for several days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this goes fine too, you can start planning multi-day hikes. Again, start easily: do hikes where you have an exit strategy. Hike from cabin to cabin, where one can decide each day to stop the next day, or to continue for at least one more day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, when unexperienced, I recommend to build flexibility into your planning. Some unexperienced hikers have no problem hiking a week on stretch. Others find within 2 hours that they have had enough for the day. The only way to find out is to try it out; take it easy, and have an exit strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-02-25T22:10:49.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3724" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-26T03:34:19.087" Score="6" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I hike with people for whom bare chest or even bare legs would be uncomfortable.  But I get overheated MUCH more easily than most people; anything about 70 degrees is too to wear clothes while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking that it might work to wear some super-skin-tight fabric that is so porous that it doesn't add any noticeable insulation or moisture.  What fabric would that be?  Rayon?  I wasn't able to find any rayon-based baselayers in a google search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:40:40.113" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:40:40.113" Title="What would be the coolest summertime baselayer?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3724" CreationDate="2013-02-26T05:24:56.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A light, white running shirt made of synthetic fabric is the coolest I've found -- something similar to Nike dri-fit. A white or very light color is important if you're in the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-02-26T05:24:56.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3722" CreationDate="2013-02-26T05:30:08.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not reasonable to assume that it would add 15 degrees to all bags. Every bag is different, and the ground (snow? type of pad insulation?) and amount of air flow makes a difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally, some bag liners are waterproof and not breathable. This can cause condensation and make it feel colder inside than it would without the liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-02-26T05:30:08.890" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3712" CreationDate="2013-02-26T05:32:50.493" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;XC skis don't need to be broken in. Older skis may grip better because they are more scratched up, but they also won't glide as well as new ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wax doesn't seem to hurt waxless skis unless you put tons on so it fills in the cavities behind the scales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="61" LastEditDate="2013-02-26T05:55:02.853" LastActivityDate="2013-02-26T05:55:02.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3722" CreationDate="2013-02-27T00:35:45.837" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say yes, it would add roughly the same temperature boost to all bags.  This is of course assuming other conditions are the same, like the surface you are on, stillness of the air, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short of the material actually changing physically (like down getting more fluffy), one piece of insulating material will have the same temperture drop accross it for the same heat power going thru it, regardless of the absolute temperature.  Put another way, if something exhibits a 10&amp;deg; drop when you put 50 watts thru it, it will exhibit that same 10&amp;deg; drop whether that is from 10 to 20 degrees or 50 to 60 degrees.  Again, this is assuming the material is not changed by the temperature difference, like it melts, clumps, gets more fluffy, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course things will vary, but as a first rough approximation I'd say the degrees added &quot;warmth&quot; will be about the same accross different bags inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-02-27T00:35:45.837" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3724" CreationDate="2013-02-27T07:45:47.540" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience tells me it is primarily about keeping the sun off my skin, with a hat (not your question I know), and a long sleeve, synthetic, wicking running/cycling shirt, and one with a small collar. (For what it's worth, I've also worn long baggy pants at times for the same reason, but am unsure about this still.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first little while is actually quite uncomfortable because I'm very aware of having the fabric against my skin, but that also seems to promote the sweating, so very quickly I cool down after that. In fact, if the sun drops and I started getting too cool, I roll UP my sleeves :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in South Africa, which is pretty hot, and the trails in the area I most often hike in have very little shade, if any. Hence the importance of sun-protection first. Hiking bare-chested is a big no-no (even though some fellow hikers feel cooler; I often wonder if this is somewhat psychosomatic, however)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2104" LastActivityDate="2013-02-27T07:45:47.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3730" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3731" CreationDate="2013-02-27T20:13:28.340" Score="20" ViewCount="4251" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say you are camping with a large group, and someone starts a camp fire.  You're away for a bit and come back to find everyone panicking and the fire to be much larger than actually planned (ie, burning into surrounding grass or brush).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What steps can/should be taken to get the fire under control?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:57:42.317" LastActivityDate="2020-09-10T13:49:16.013" Title="What do you do if the fire does get &quot;out of control&quot;?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3730" CreationDate="2013-02-27T22:28:59.550" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see three priorities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure no one gets hurt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure possessions needed for survival (food, tents) are not destroyed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the fire doesn't spread further and become a forest fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the campsite you're using is an officially-sanctioned one, this last is probably the least likely to be a problem. You have a large group of people, so you can tackle all of these things at once as long as you &lt;strong&gt;take control&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;give people things to do&lt;/strong&gt;. Don't say &quot;somebody X!&quot; Turn to someone and say &quot;Steve, X! Susan, Y!&quot; and so on. The things they need to do (pretty much all in parallel, but listed in priority order) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put shoes on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get large containers (buckets, washing up bowls) of water if the source is near enough - ten or twenty steps - to make running back and forth with water reasonable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take towels and blankets to the water to drench them for use as smotherers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get small children or injured people well out of the way of both the fire and the people who are dealing with it, including out of the path to the water, and for small children, leave someone in charge of them so they stay out of the way&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;move tents or packs that appear to be in the way or in danger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;throw water on the edges of the fire, then run back to refill the container&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use large wet towels, coats or non-polymer blankets, tarps etc to smother flames if possible, then pick up the slightly singed smotherer and do it again somewhere else. Resoak as needed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;move benches and other fireplace furniture out of the way of the people who are running around with water and smothering-blankets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch while this is happening and evaluate. You may need to get some people to start taking children, packs, and tents down to the water and loading them into canoes, or out to a road or other less-likely to burn spot from where you can leave or be rescued. There may also be someone kicking up a fuss about something not critical for survival that is in danger - a stuffed animal, or a book - and you may be able to delegate someone to deal with that, or to tell the wailer &quot;we have to concentrate on keeping it from spreading to the tents!&quot; which should keep the noise level down if nothing else. If anyone is hurt, getting someone to start giving them first aid is also a good idea if you have spare people with no buckets or smothering-blankets to use and no other duties like moving stuff to be done first. You also have to decide if things have reached the &quot;call 911&quot; stage and if so, direct someone to do so. This may involve telling them where to find a phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep directing people, keep watching if it's getting bigger or smaller, keep aware of how many people are in danger and which possessions are in danger, and either you will get it back under control or you will evacuate to whatever extent you can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;True story: a family member was in a tent/cabin (permanent structure, canvas walls and roof) that caught fire in the night while winter camping. He carried his sleeping bag with him on the way out; he doesn't know why. Without that, as they stood in the pitch black cold (-10C) , hours from help with no food, water, or first aid, only the clothes they had been sleeping in, the two burned teens would, everyone agrees, have died. (The unburned kids were able to move around to keep warm, some got a little frostbite but that was all.) Do not underestimate the importance of keeping stuff safe in addition to people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-02-28T19:09:00.603" LastActivityDate="2013-02-28T19:09:00.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3730" CreationDate="2013-02-27T22:43:31.677" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself in this situation, then there's a few steps you can take - firstly try to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible by pouring as much water as you can on the flames, and stamping out any embers that build up as quickly as you (safely) can. Urinating on the fire would also not be out of the question here, especially if your water source is scarce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it looks like the fire is spreading quickly in one direction, and it doesn't look like you can stop it outright, then move on a bit in that direction and work to clear any flammable material out of the fire's path. When the fire then reaches that point, this may give you a better angle to tackle it again. If things reach this point however, you should delegate someone to phone the emergency services.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Work in two main teams if you can, one group moving (firstly) children / people to safety, then ideally your belongings to safety - and the second working to extinguish the fire via the methods above. The group moving things to safety can join the first group in extinguishing the fire when their task is complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth remembering the practical side of things in how you address people can make all the difference. Delegate swiftly, efficiently and firmly, give people instructions by name and don't, however tempting it is, start yelling out &quot;WHO THE HECK LET THIS FIRE GO OUT OF CONTROL&quot; (or words to that effect.) Sure thing, someone screwed up if things have got to this level, but you can deal with that later - you're putting lives at risk if you start dishing out blame at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt;, it's worth remembering that the above is a real, real last resort and is in no way a sure fire guide (no pun intended) to safely putting out a blaze. It usually goes without saying in all cases, but &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; here - prevention is several orders of magnitude better than cure. Preparation is key:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't start a fire that you don't have an effective means of putting out. Make sure you have plenty of water on standby reserved for pouring on the fire if things go sour (you should have this anyway for pouring on the fire when you're done, to make sure it's extinguished.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even better than the above if possible, light a fire next to a water source. This has three main benefits - it provides readily available access to all the water you need for cooking, which you will likely be doing with a fire anyway, it provides the above for putting out the fire if things go sour, and if the fire does spread you don't need to worry in the direction of the river.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't ever start a fire someone that's surrounded by flammable material. If you really can't find a place that isn't, clear a generous area around it of debris so that embers don't set anything alight that you didn't intend. If it's windy, then clear an extra large space around the fire, especially in the direction of the prevailing wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always watch the fire yourself, or if you have to leave, leave it in charge of a single person which you trust. Don't say to everyone &quot;ah, just watch it while I'm gone&quot; - chances are no-one will really, and everyone will just point to everyone else if something goes wrong. Delegate the responsibility to a single, competent individual who has sufficient training.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep your stuff, especially tents, a fair distance from the fire to start with. This may not seem ideal in, say windy weather from a comfort point of view, but is an important safety consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr&lt;/strong&gt; You should be aware of the steps for how to deal with an out of control fire, but if the proper precautions are taken, you should very rarely or never need to resort to them. Prevention is 100x better than cure in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-02-27T22:43:31.677" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1376" CreationDate="2013-02-28T00:18:35.223" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually ate poison ivy berries when I was a kid and I had no idea what they were, and nothing happened to me. I am immune to poison ivy and I don't know if that was a reaction to me eating the berries. They didn't taste good anyways, they tasted like they would be poisonous, super tart and green tasting left my mouth feeling like cotton. I remember my brother flipped out on me, but i just spit out what I didn't swallow and that was it. Nothing happened except I had to wash out my mouth a bunch to get the taste out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2107" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T09:39:53.050" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T09:39:53.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3734" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-02-27T07:29:49.110" Score="6" ViewCount="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;I intend to go to Tibet in August. I play badminton,tabletennis or volleyball every week and my fitness is decent. But I have not been exposed to high altitudes like in Tibet (16000 ft; 4900 m). How can I keep myself ready for a trek in Tibet in the coming 4 months?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user1539" LastActivityDate="2013-02-28T01:29:29.557" Title="How can I physically prepare for high altitude hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2013-02-28T03:45:26.973" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3730" CreationDate="2013-02-28T13:00:00.887" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to great strategy advice by Kate Gregory and berry120, there are some technical points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take a deep breath&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no immediate health/life risk, take a deep breath and think a little. 1-5 minutes of planning beforehead will help you do important things first, and avoid doing unnecessary or dangerous things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this time, you will decide, if you are calling 911 immediately, if you are fighting or retreating and how to fight most efficiently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Estimate the danger&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not a fire expert, so the following classification is very rough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small area of small fires (grass) - if you act fast, you can put it out faster than it's spreading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Big area of small fires (grass) - you can't put out all the fire, but you can try to limit its spread. Follow Kate's advice on effective control. Make sure you do not get surrounded by fire while you are fighting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any area of big flames (trees/bushes) - escape, save people, forget the forest. Developed crown fires travel rapidly, faster than you run, so be safe before it gets developed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I'd call 911 in case of 2 or 3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know avialable resources&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To extinguish the fire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire extinguishers (what if there is one in a nearby cabin)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lack of air (preventing oxygen to reach fire by covering it or trampling it)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Earth/dirt (if you have a shovel, you can make a ditch and cover some flames with digged out earth simultaneously).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fireman squads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prevent fire spread:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lack of flammable material. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Earth itself doesn't burn, but grass and wood do. Try to make a branch-free circle well around the fire (or block it's main spreading route). Dig or trample the grass so that it catches fire more reluctantly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rivers. Tree crowns should not overlap, or you can cut some trees to achieve this. And make sure to remove all the crossing dead wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Already burnt areas. What is burnt to ashes doesn't catch fire again. Large-scale firefighting may include preventive controlled burning, but it's not your case.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mind the smoke and the wind&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grass burns don't provide much heating, but the smoke makes it very hard to breathe, so don't rush into thick smoke it with your bucket of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always escape upwind if you have the choice. There is no smoke there and fire spreads much slower in this direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-02-28T13:00:00.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3737" CreationDate="2013-02-28T17:31:03.540" Score="13" ViewCount="618" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a keen hiker, in South Africa. Or, I was...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But then our delightful darling daughter was born 7 months ago, and my hiking hobby got replaced with a new hobby.&#xA;Anyway, my wife and I are very keen to get hiking again, but we would also like to consider taking our daughter with us (instead of always leaving her with the grandparents for the weekend). I'm aware of those backpacks that have a shaded seat on top for small children, so my question is: are those any good? What should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2104" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-01T20:34:24.033" LastActivityDate="2013-03-06T00:53:58.223" Title="Experiences hiking with a baby: backpacks" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3736" CreationDate="2013-02-28T18:01:11.860" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes! This is a rewarding and awesome experience. I have three children that I take hiking all the time. My youngest is almost a month old and he hasn't been out yet, but will as soon as he has a bit of neck control. I was also raised going on many hikes in my father's pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have the old pack that I was carried in and let me tell you, they have made leaps and bounds since then. Things to look for now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waist belt to support most of the weight - this should be obvious to a hiker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insert for infants so they ride up higher - If they can see they tend to fuss less.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get something with a pop out stand so that you can set the back down with the baby in it. You will love this feature. Some packs require you to put the pack half on then the child in then finish putting the pack on, those are a pain to deal with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimum and Maximum of supported weight for the child - At what point do you want them to be walking on their own? If you go for the whole weekend, you will need to do some carrying at up to 40 pounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra storage space on the pack - Do you want one person with the pack and another will all gear or do you want to carry some?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjustable to you and your partner - My wife is very petite, and we had to have both of us try on packs to find one that was comfortable for both.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How physically close the child is to you - The closer they are, the warmer they will keep you. For better or worse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overall weight - Again this should be obvious to a hiker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pouch for a water bladder - nice to have, if there isn't you will probably need to get a long tube and toss a bladder in another pocket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Machine washable - Every once in a while there is a problem, or the drool just builds up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Removable Foot stirrups - If adjusted right, they can really help with the child's comfort and stop them from kicking you as much, however, my middle child has learned that is he stands up in one, he can put me off weight and make me hobble around. (He thinks this is hilarious)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking for something with a shade is not as important. I rub some sunscreen on them and reapply after a few hours. This works well enough in the Sonoran desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For infants we have used and liked the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0031TQF2E&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Beco butterfly&lt;/a&gt; but it offers no storage, it's just great with infants. It has the added benefit of, when we need/want to cover ground quickly, allowing my wife to carry the infant front and breastfeed while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they are crawling on their own and starting to pull themselves up we switch to our larger pack. Which is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kelty.com/c-kids.aspx#intended-use=hiking-and-backpacking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Kelty,&lt;/a&gt; but an older model that I can't find online right now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2013-03-04T18:31:53.037" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T18:31:53.037" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3738" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3739" CreationDate="2013-03-01T08:41:42.833" Score="12" ViewCount="1825" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, I recently posted a question on hiking with a baby - my wife and I used to hike a fair amount, and we would like to get cracking again soon, but with our 7-month daughter.&#xA;I'm currently trying to get as much info and as many do's and don'ts as possible, so today's topic: we use disposable diapers currently, and it suddenly occurred to me that our little bundle of joy is a regular production line of soiled diapers, and we would obviously need to carry them out with us. But they can get quite heavy (by the way, I'm a small guy, so I care about weight. A lot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many trails have proper waste bins at each hut, but we often hike trails without huts, by preference.&#xA;So, any experience with this? Any suggestions? (I'm also very aware of the ecological impact of using the things at all, but that's a debate for another day...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2104" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:32:22.570" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:32:22.570" Title="Experiences hiking with a baby: diapers" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3738" CreationDate="2013-03-01T12:16:42.840" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've carried them out, and I've burned them in the nightly fires we were having anyway. This was canoe-camping rather than hiking, so weight was less of an issue - but a weeklong trip accumulating diapers from two toddlers: smell was a problem. We used a dedicated bag for them, and kept it well away from everything else at campsites. Bags within bags within bags helped a bit too. My preference would be to burn them (start the fire while dinner is being made on a stove; once it's going deal with the diapers you've accumulated that day; after the diapers are burned put on another log and declare the fire open for sitting around) but when you're camping during a burn ban you do what you have to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-03-01T12:16:42.840" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3740" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3741" CreationDate="2013-03-02T20:42:31.987" Score="19" ViewCount="4245" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Svalbard, the arctic archipelago administrated by Norway, anyone leaving Longyearbyen is required to carry a rifle for their own safey. For grizzly bears, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dalton_Highway#Animal_life&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikivoyage recommends&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;em&gt;Bear repellent spray (a very strong pepper spray/mace) is considerably safer than carrying a rifle&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/683/566&quot;&gt;This answers&lt;/a&gt; says the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iZ0eJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Polar bear&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polar_Bear_Head.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm no hunter and I would hate killing any large mammal (or even small non-mammals). Is the statement about the safety of sprays vs. rifles accurate for all kind of bears? Don't bears run so fast that by the time they're within the range of sprays, they're already so close that it's more or less too late to defend oneself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note: I've only hiked in Europe, and nowhere I've been are any dangerous animals apart from humans)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-15T01:27:19.070" LastActivityDate="2019-06-15T01:27:19.070" Title="Bear spray vs. rifles against polar bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3740" CreationDate="2013-03-02T21:53:56.640" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/bear%20spray.pdf&quot;&gt;US Fisheries and Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; (with black and grizzly bears) suggests that bear spray is statistically more effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 2008 study by &lt;a href=&quot;http://nunavutparks.ca/english/visitor-information/polar-bear-safety.html&quot;&gt;Smith et al&lt;/a&gt; included two polar bear encounters where the bears were successfully deterred with bear spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in polar bear country you have other considerations, as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://nunavutparks.ca/english/visitor-information/polar-bear-safety.html&quot;&gt;Nunavut visitor information&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pepper spray may work on polar bears but has not been thoroughly tested. Be aware that pepper spray may not work when it is cold or wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastEditorUserId="1961" LastEditDate="2013-03-03T02:21:17.257" LastActivityDate="2013-03-03T02:21:17.257" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3742" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3744" CreationDate="2013-03-02T23:30:01.367" Score="17" ViewCount="2553" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm doing the popular tourist trek from Lukla to Everest base camp in late April / early May. I know the minimum temperature is &lt;em&gt;on average&lt;/em&gt; -1 Celsius (30.2 Fahrenheit) in the Khumbu region  at this time but am wondering what temperature to prepare for in terms of buying kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to ensure I am comfortable in the later, higher, stages of the trek and if the weather takes a nasty turn. I am planning to use lodges and tea houses but do not want be complacent either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So basically, what's the lowest extreme of temperature am likely to encounter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2110" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T08:54:43.700" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T08:54:43.700" Title="What temperature to prepare for on Everest base camp trek?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3742" CreationDate="2013-03-03T07:33:43.730" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did this trek in early April (of 2004), flying to Lukla and walking to Kala Patar and the base camp. However, I didn't sleep at Gorakshep (the highest point at which it was possible to sleep in a lodge) but at Lobuche (4900 m). I purchased a -10 degrees Celsius (14F) sleeping bag in Kathmandu, which was fine for me. At Lobuche my water bottle froze during the night. I came to Nepal with a thermal top and bottom, but purchased a fleece jacket and wind/rain coat in Kathmandu as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I was told (then) is that other than thermal clothing and shoes, decent equipment is easy to find and inexpensive in Kathmandu. I found this to be true, but would add tents to the list of equipment that shouldn't be bought there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-08-21T07:27:34.063" LastActivityDate="2014-08-21T07:27:34.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3745" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3747" CreationDate="2013-03-03T18:46:42.063" Score="6" ViewCount="1195" Body="&lt;p&gt;We went out this weekend to try and catch a frozen waterfall such as the one.  We had a great trip but it was clearly a misguided venture at our current tempuratures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what temperature would we have a decent chance of seeing a frozen waterfall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We went looking for this&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0ZU9S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;What we hoped for&quot;&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But instead we saw this&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bEq3Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-03T19:04:37.603" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T16:26:16.580" Title="When do small waterfalls get significant freezing" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3745" CreationDate="2013-03-03T21:41:09.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not an exact answer, but besides freezing temperatures you should also take into account the duration of frost. Ice needs some time to grow and develop. I would say common sense also suggests that the bigger the stream of water, the longer it will take for the waterfall to freeze. You'll be better of looking for slow flowing creeks with a low volume of water, I've come across a few of these completely frozen in Norway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Big waterfalls can create a lot of water vapor that may freeze on the surrounding environment which can be equally impressive. But watch out for slippery trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2013-03-03T21:41:09.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3745" CreationDate="2013-03-03T23:02:45.720" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The closest I have seen to that was after 9 days of -20C (-4F) temperatures, which also froze the surface of some large rivers here in Scotland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warmer than that and the ice doesn't seem to grow - if the flow rate is too great I guess there isn't the time for crystals to form before they are washed further downstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-03-04T13:48:23.890" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T13:48:23.890" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3745" CreationDate="2013-03-04T15:08:15.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a distinction here between ice formations and actual frozen waterfalls. A large percentage of the ice formations you'll see (including your 1st picture) aren't actual running waterfalls, but cliffs or steep gullies that in the summer would just appear damp and mossy. The &quot;low&quot; volume of water can still be enough to freeze into large formations.  They will freeze over more easily than actual waterfalls because ice crystals are more likely to form in slow moving water than fast moving water (at least that's my impression).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this situation, I &lt;em&gt;believe&lt;/em&gt; that all that is required is for the high temperature to be below freezing for several days (up to a week) in a row, and thick ice formations will start to appear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd probably want to look for north facing cliffs / gullies, or cliffs that otherwise don't get a lot of direct sunlight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live, it never gets cold enough for whole rivers or waterfalls to freeze, but it will get cold enough for visually striking ice formations (like in the first picture) to form.  There's actually a (very small) community of ice climbers that will climb them.  But that's 2nd hand information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to cut-and-paste 3rd party information, but the following link says things that are consistent with my impressions of the subject:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineadven.com/recentandcurrent/iceformation.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.alpineadven.com/recentandcurrent/iceformation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-03-04T15:45:19.540" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T15:45:19.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3745" CreationDate="2013-03-04T16:26:16.580" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It doesn't take -20°C to form ice near waterfalls or freeze curtains of water, though perhaps it takes that to freeze fast-flowing falls entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.oregonlive.com/climbing/2009/12/columbia_river_gorge_ice_climb.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this Blog entry&lt;/a&gt; from which these pictures were taken:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HrZb6.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tRyQB.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperatures around that time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Mflj.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T16:26:16.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3750" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3754" CreationDate="2013-03-04T16:27:55.863" Score="12" ViewCount="1014" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two old hydration bladders, both of which are no longer usable (in one the cap is broken, in the other the internal bag is ripped). Spare parts appear to be unavailable. Is there anything good that can be done with them, some way to use their insulating properties? Or is this the end of the road for them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dBDgB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;a picture of the two hydration bladders&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:29:24.713" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:29:24.713" Title="What to do with old hydration bladders?" Tags="&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;&lt;recycling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3222" CreationDate="2013-03-04T17:23:27.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried these and the best use would be on a alternating field. I mean, a mix of going up and down. It this kind of situation they are hard to beat. Because you don't loose time changing between ski/snowshoes. If the angle isn't too much, they climb really fast. You can also get a slide on flat surface a little bit like cross-country skiing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about buying these because they are way more fun than simply snowshoeing, still being as effective and usable in every conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should know that the ski underneath It will bond with sticky snow. I just had to remove It after couples minutes If I wanted to go faster downhill. In colder condition and powder snow that wouldn't be a problem at all.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2112" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T17:23:27.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3738" CreationDate="2013-03-04T17:56:45.983" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got experience with this.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first trick is prevention:  we would encourage our kid at any rest break to walk around bare-bottom and try to get them to go pee (there's tons of techniques, I'm a fan of making a hissing sound every time you go pee or take your kid to go pee, and having them regularly watch others go pee). We probably saved 1-2 diapers a day with that technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second trick is how you pack them away: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use white plastic garbage bags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the used diaper (folded) in the corner of the plastic garbage bag. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a knot so that the diaper is the only thing in the space. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat. I find I can knot about 5 diapers per white plastic trash bag doing this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a heavier black plastic bag to hold the used diaper chains.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It keeps smell down to a minimum, avoids mess and stops leaks, the only real disadvantage is weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could let the diapers air dry, as the weight is mostly water, but with bears and flies that's a poor idea and it'll probably take longer due to the absorbent nature of the diapers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2013-03-04T23:13:01.683" LastActivityDate="2013-03-04T23:13:01.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2013-03-05T19:08:57.407" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Close your eyes and stay in a prone position with as few bounces as possible. This works very well for me on boats, and when there is an extra seat available, on an air plane.  It maintains a stable head position. It also minimizes the conflict between inner ear and visual information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2113" LastActivityDate="2013-03-05T19:08:57.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3750" CreationDate="2013-03-05T19:11:19.977" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would try these options below in order, if you haven't already done so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Repair&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sourceoutdoor.com/contact-form.php&quot;&gt;Contact the manufacturer&lt;/a&gt; or a retailer that sells that brand. There is a good chance they might fix them under warranty. I've had many good experiences with getting older equipment that you think might not be covered taken care of, but each brand varies on how far they'll go. It sometimes helps to go through a retailer to get warranty service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wide-mouth capped bladder may be compatible with a standard &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.nalgene.com/product-p/wide%20mouth%20bottle%20cap.htm&quot;&gt;Nalgene-style lid&lt;/a&gt;, so if that's the one that only has a bad cap then try looking into that.&#xA;If it is the bladder with the narrow-mouth cap, then you can again try directly contacting the manufacturer or search for compatible caps by trial and error. I don't currently have enough detail to see style it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the ripped bladder your options for self-repair are slim. Any glue or adhesive used would need to be safe for use with potable water and also remain flexible once cured. The cost of such adhesive would money better spent by putting it towards buying a new bladder. If the rip is due to age, then the bladder will most likely rip again in another spot soon after repairing, so it really isn't worth trying to fix it at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reuse&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all repair options are exhausted, you could use the outer insulating sleeve. Remove the old inner bladder if possible along with any extraneous parts such as caps or hose nibs, and simply slide in a new bladder with its own cap and hose coming out through a hole in the sleeve. You may have to cut open the old bladder to accomplish this and customize the old bladder sleeve to fit the new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the outer sleeve has backpack straps, you could modify it be a very small daypack or cycling pack. Again this would involve some cutting and probably some sewing to achieve the end result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Recycle&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, I would think about what is the most practical option. If you can come to no other conclusions, you can recycle them and so at least the raw material can be used again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2013-03-05T19:11:19.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3750" CreationDate="2013-03-05T20:28:07.897" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually they can probably be fixed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the cap there are two options with JB Weld that I have used.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The first is described &lt;a href=&quot;http://dadand.com/fix-a-broken-cap-with-j-b-weld-kwikplastic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, but basically consists of coating&#xA;the original cap with JB Weld kwikplastic.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The second is more    complicated, but a better fix in my experience.  First you have to coat the bottle&#xA;nipple with a    polyethylene lube, so that the JB Weld won't bond to&#xA;it (see their    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jbweld.com/faqs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;FAQ&lt;/a&gt;).  If you google &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/#hl=en&amp;amp;safe=off&amp;amp;sclient=psy-ab&amp;amp;q=Polyethylene++lube&amp;amp;oq=Polyethylene++lube&amp;amp;gs_l=hp.3..0i7i30l4.11132.11498.1.11977.2.2.0.0.0.0.74.146.2.2.0.les;..0.0...1c.1.5.psy-ab.FpTqfw1CRqM&amp;amp;pbx=1&amp;amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&amp;amp;bvm=bv.43287494,d.eWU&amp;amp;fp=96e0c465bf668db2&amp;amp;biw=1604&amp;amp;bih=787&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;polyethylene lube&lt;/a&gt; you&#xA;will get some    &quot;alternative&quot; products -- Yes that is the stuff you&#xA;want.  Then you    fill the existing cap (crack and all) with JB Weld&#xA;and screw onto the    nipple.  Make sure you have coated EVERYTHING but the cap with lube.  Let it cure 24 hours and voila!, new&#xA;cap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the leaking bag, just try the same kind of patch you would use for an inflatable ground pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-07T03:58:20.297" LastActivityDate="2013-03-07T03:58:20.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3756" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3760" CreationDate="2013-03-05T20:39:00.993" Score="5" ViewCount="74" Body="&lt;p&gt;My hiking shoes starting having problems with the insoles, so I got replacements.  However the replacements I have are &quot;Trim to fit.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I get the proper shape so that I don't end up with any misaligned or rough edges?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-18T15:37:04.317" LastActivityDate="2013-04-18T15:37:04.317" Title="How do you get the right shape on trim-to-fit insoles?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3736" CreationDate="2013-03-06T00:53:58.223" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used an &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.ergobaby.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ergo&lt;/a&gt; baby carrier when our now  5 year old daughter was too small to walk.  I am fairly small (5'2&quot; with a narrow frame), so the bigger backpacks with frames like Kelty didn't fit me.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to consider is that once she can walk, your daughter is likely to want in and out frequently so you want something that is easy to so.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's totally worth it to include her in your hiking - my daughter now loves the outdoors and was very proud to do her first two overnight backpackign trips last summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2115" LastActivityDate="2013-03-06T00:53:58.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3756" CreationDate="2013-03-06T06:28:16.787" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only technique I use is to take out the old ones, draw round them with a sharpie and then cut out to the inside of that line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works very well, and trimming to make sure the line is just removed gives an accurate measure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-03-06T06:28:16.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3761" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3762" CreationDate="2013-03-06T14:11:31.977" Score="20" ViewCount="1337" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the proper technique to self-arrest and brake a fall, given steep icy (frozen snow) slope, when wearing crampons and wielding an ice axe? Should the crampons be used for stopping or held high in the air, to avoid tumbling over them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-12-06T15:15:42.990" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T15:15:42.990" Title="What is the proper technique for self-arrest when wearing crampons?" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3761" CreationDate="2013-03-06T16:30:10.617" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;You never want to stop yourself with the crampons because they are liable to catch, flip you over and, at best, put you in a worse situation than before and, at worst, break your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead you want to first stop yourself using the pick of the ice axe, with your crampons raised above the ice. You can use your knees as an additional brake. The way you do this is first get into self arrest position, which is face down, with legs downhill, one hand on the head of the axe, and one hand down the shaft, with the head on level with the shoulder. The pick is placed into the snow, and the bottom of the shaft raised, with the bulk of the torso placed on the shaft and and pick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you are stopped, or sufficiently slowed down, use the crampons to kick steps into the ice, and get yourself into a secure position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is highly recommended to practice this with knowledgeable mountaineering guides or instructors on relatively safe slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="39" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-29T17:55:24.687" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T17:55:24.687" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3763" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-06T17:36:07.140" Score="7" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm debating what equipment to buy to prepare for a cold weather in mountain terrain and felt it might be useful to test what different temperatures feel like while wearing chosen equipment. My companion disagrees that some heavy duty items are required and we would both gain from finding out who is right, if only to settle the argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than flying away to find colder climates, I vaguely recall seeing something about test facility which can simulate cold, wind and rain conditions on demand in a retail store in London. I never went in, so my imagination may be running wild, but I guess it was a some kind of giant fridge with fans and hoses to simulate wind and rain as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunaltey I don't recall which store had this set up and most importantly, what that kind of facility is called, which has made it hard to Google for. Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2110" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T07:46:41.570" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T07:46:41.570" Title="Facility to test cold weather gear in London UK" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3764" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-06T22:25:43.597" Score="10" ViewCount="938" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over the next 6 months I will be training for my first marathon. This means I will be running 4 times a week, with at least one long (10-20 mile) run each weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have run several half-marathons before, but each time I lost a lot of my power and strength climbing. I don't want to start from scratch again as a climber. I have worked hard to get what little strength I have and I want to keep it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But how can I keep my climbing strength while training for a marathon?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine people are going answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just keep climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will try. But last time I lagged behind because I just can't climb hard on a day I've run &gt;10 miles. Will at-home strength-training be the key? How hard will I have to work to just maintain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-08-05T23:36:35.140" LastActivityDate="2013-08-05T23:36:35.140" Title="How to maintain climbing strength while training for a marathon" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3763" CreationDate="2013-03-07T06:38:12.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could it be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meribel-unplugged.co.uk/travel_articles_indoor_skiing_in_the_uk.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Indoor Skiing Snow Centre&lt;/a&gt; near London? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The temperature in The Snow Centre ranges from -2 to -6 degree Celsius&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="2110" LastEditDate="2013-03-07T13:21:28.937" LastActivityDate="2013-03-07T13:21:28.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3764" CreationDate="2013-03-07T07:04:53.967" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just keep climbing-is sort of the right answer, but you need to fit it in to your training and recovery schedule. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I kept climbing all the way through training for various marathons. My solution was to do a climb a week in place of one of my small to medium sized runs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this happened to be right after a really long run then I might focus more on bouldering and overhangs (ie upper body) otherwise a normal climb (heavy focus on legs)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck with your marathon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-03-07T07:04:53.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3764" CreationDate="2013-03-07T14:39:56.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're framing this as a question of &quot;how much will this hurt my climbing&quot;?  I wonder if you could use this down time from actual climbing as a chance to focus more on pure climbing specific strength training, and possibly come out of the whole process a stronger climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something I tend to do is all but quit route climbing in the winter, and take it up again in the Spring.  In that &quot;down time&quot;, I'll still boulder once a week, and incorporate some climbing specific strength training.  I lose a lot of endurance, but gain some strength, and usually come back in the Spring as a slightly stronger climber.  If you keep your strength up, endurance will come back in a month or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you already have rock rings and a pullup bar, have you thought about doing the official rock ring training plan:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude_rock_ring.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude_rock_ring.html&lt;/a&gt;  ?  Metolius published a 10 minute workout plan that includes finger strength, pullups, lockoffs, leg raises, all climbing specific stuff.  It all done from a hanging position, so it shouldn't tax your lower body, and it would build a lot of climbing specific strength.  And since you're planning on not climbing as much anyway, you could try and hit it a couple times a still have several rest days (at least for your upper body).  You might actually come back stronger after the marathon, and be able to train endurance on routes on top of a better base of strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; like something like this (10 minutes of pure upper body strength training a couple times a week on rock rings), plus one gym climbing session a week, would integrate with your marathon training.  But you'll have to listen to your body as you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-03-07T14:39:56.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="980" CreationDate="2013-03-07T16:08:20.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainhouse.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain House&lt;/a&gt; has a low sodium line of freeze dried for long term storage and/or hiking/camping. They are about 250-350 mg/sodium per meal and even Wal Mart carries them individually at about $8/packet. &#xA;Great for emergencies, hiking/camping and survival.&#xA;Stay safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2118" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T14:06:09.877" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T14:06:09.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3770" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3773" CreationDate="2013-03-08T02:48:40.420" Score="9" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning my first multi-day hike. I haven't selected a pack yet. I do not know which size pack I need. I see that packs are rated in liters. That got me thinking since some white garbage bags are rated in liters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I simply use different size garbage bags and try to fit all my gear to approximate my required pack size? Say if it fits in a 40L bag, I need a pack around 40L, or are there other considerations in play?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="625" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:51:38.373" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:51:38.373" Title="Can I use a garbage bag to approximate pack size" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3720" CreationDate="2013-03-08T02:56:57.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've greatly built up your muscles it does not necessarily mean you will be a better hiker. Many body builders have big upper muscles but do not work on their legs. Running can help here not just strength but stamina. Even if you are very strong, carrying a heavy rucksack is not advisable without a lot of practice, building up the weight you carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to make sure that all your equipment is comfortable. Strength does not protect against blisters. You'll need to make sure everything fits. Rucksacks have lots of straps and buckles that need adjusting for best comfort, and you'll be able to get everything sorted out before your main holiday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the West Highland Way there are lots of places to get food and places to stay. Some Youth Hostels. There are many guide books for details. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going camping it is also best to practice. That way you will find it easier to put up a tent in bad weather and when it's getting dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T02:56:57.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3763" CreationDate="2013-03-08T03:03:44.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe you're thinking of the Vertical Chill, at Ellis Brigham in Covent Garden? &#xA;This is like a giant refrigerator for ice climbing but not rain and wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vertical-chill.com/vertical-chill-london.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.vertical-chill.com/vertical-chill-london.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T03:03:44.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3770" CreationDate="2013-03-08T03:27:29.187" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The garbage bags are soft and flexible, so they'll fit around stuff a lot easier than a rucksack. As well as being stiffer a rucksack will be divided into different compartments. The volume will include the side pockets and the lid space. Something like the sleeping bag will take up a large space and then other stuff will have to fit around it. Things may not fit very neatly. The volume is not used so efficiently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if it fits in a 40L bag then the rucksack will have to be bigger. You could take your largest items and make sure they fit in the pack and you'll see how much space is left for your other stuff. If it's your first trip you'll probably find that everything is too heavy. And you'll want to try and minimise the weight of things you are carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have see some people with small packs with lots of stuff tied to the outside. This is not a good idea. If it shakes about it's annoying and something could slip off even if strapped tightly. Also if you have something heavy tied to the back of the pack, the side furthest from the wearer's back, then the leverage effect means it will feel even heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T03:27:29.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3770" CreationDate="2013-03-08T07:46:25.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trying to stuff your gear into a plastic bag will only give you a lower bound on the pack size. As with many parameters, the backpack size in litres is more to compare different models, not to be taken as an absolute value. Also, different manufacturers tend to use different litres :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 60–65 litre backpack with an adjustable top is a reasonable first choice for a multiple-day hike with sleeping and cooking. (It’s the only outdoors backpack I have.) A larger one is overkill for smaller adventures and invites you to take too much. But YMMV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T07:46:25.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3770" CreationDate="2013-03-08T10:45:18.197" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I agree with the above comments, one thing worth noting is that, like all &quot;luggage&quot;, there is a certain element of &quot;stuffability&quot; possible in a backpack, which would not be possible in a bin liner, at least not easily.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can really jam all the softer things into a backpack (like clothes, sleeping bag and liner, etc), and then cinch it tight afterwards (a good thing of course :)) - attempting the same in a bin liner might just tear it, or worse, stretch it, therefore not giving you any sort of useful indication.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So my gut feel is that unless you have any particularly large or weirdly-shaped items, it is probably an ok way to get a rough estimate. Once you have a backpack, you will always pack to that size anyway: I always manage to fill the darn thing up to capacity, whether its a 1-nighter or 3-nighter :( &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, I tend to pack my clothing in a cheap bin liner first anyway, and then suck all the air out: its amazing how small and compact you can make it, and of course it is mostly waterproof afterwards too...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2104" LastActivityDate="2013-03-08T10:45:18.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3776" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3777" CreationDate="2013-03-08T20:39:28.133" Score="13" ViewCount="2498" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading around forums and in products, I see descriptions and weights for a &quot;fast pack&quot; setup for tents.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does this mean and what is it used for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T00:02:31.593" LastActivityDate="2019-09-02T03:27:59.767" Title="What is a &quot;fast pack&quot; setup for a tent?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3776" CreationDate="2013-03-09T02:01:11.413" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Fast pack&quot; refers to setting up a tent with just the fly, tent poles, and usually a groundsheet. You leave the inner body behind. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bigagnes.com/resources/products/flycreek1setupinst08.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here are the fast pack instructions for the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 tent&lt;/a&gt;, which is designed for this setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fast packing saves a significant amount of weight, but makes you more vulnerable to insects and cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar lightweight shelter option is to use a tarp and your trekking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2122" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2013-03-10T04:05:07.443" LastActivityDate="2013-03-10T04:05:07.443" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3778" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-09T12:44:01.950" Score="7" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recognize the official system for French waymarks of Grand Randonees and local paths like &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.angloinfo.com/hiking-biking-climbing/2011/10/12/route-markers-waymarks-and-trail-blazes/&quot;&gt;shown here:&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;but I've also seen large white rectangles with a horizontal red line in the middle. They are much larger than traditional waymarks. I've seen them in several areas, and there are often  quite a few along a short part of the trail. What do they mean? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen with one rectangle with a much smaller white circle with a red dot in the middle below it, but just once. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2123" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T07:22:05.463" Title="What do unusual waymarks in France mean?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3778" CreationDate="2013-03-09T20:00:03.533" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a lot of crazy signage where you have to guess what it means. &#xA;Some is old and messy, I've noticed that they have been cleaning it up and redoing lots of it. With small and neat signs. Sometimes you've got to guess and look for other signage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/quentinuk/8077316448/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;166 GR10 ballisage by QuentinUK 2012, on Flickr&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8077316448_46d0860004_m.jpg&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; alt=&quot;166 GR10 ballisage&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.593" LastActivityDate="2013-03-09T20:00:03.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3763" CreationDate="2013-03-09T20:13:17.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear_Winter_Olympics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Top Gear Winter Olympics&lt;/a&gt; special Richard Hammond (and the car he is inside) are subjected to extreme winter conditions (-40°) at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mira.co.uk/our-services/climatic-wind-tunnels&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MIRA test labs&lt;/a&gt;.  Hilarity ensues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top Gear segment: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM46RoD3-yM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM46RoD3-yM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T07:20:31.653" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T07:20:31.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3783" CreationDate="2013-03-09T21:16:23.747" Score="6" ViewCount="476" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am taking up hiking again on weekends, and also trying to do more walking to get out of the house of an evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I regularly see people doing &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_walking&quot;&gt;Nordic Walking&lt;/a&gt; in my neighbourhood, and I also see the benefit of trekking poles when on varied terrain (&lt;a href=&quot;http://brucetrail.org&quot;&gt;Bruce Trail&lt;/a&gt; and the Niagara Escarpement in Ontario, Canada).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/trekking-poles-hiking-staffs.html&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt; has an interesting article on Trekking Poles, and in the article it states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nordic walking poles are a modified version of trekking poles. REI does not currently carry poles designed for Nordic walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it gives no actual details what the &lt;em&gt;modifications&lt;/em&gt; are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: how is a nordic pole different than a trekking pole?  Can I at all realistically use one for both purposes, and what will I be trading off if I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2013-03-09T22:37:09.003" Title="Trekking Pole vs Nordic Walking Pole" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3778" CreationDate="2013-03-09T21:29:42.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you can safely take any undocumented variation of a white-red marking to mean &lt;em&gt;this is the right way&lt;/em&gt;, unless it's clearly a cross:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FIOqp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Red-white-red&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Red-white-red markings below the Scatta Minoia, between Alpe Devero and Pomatt, near Domodossola, Italy.  It is my impression that in Italy one sees whatever the painters felt like (I've seen white-red, white-red-white, red-white-red, and other variants).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/giK9J.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;White-red-white&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;White-red-white markings in the Valsertal, Graubünden, Switzerland. White-red-white markings are used universally in alpine areas in Switzerland¹ and may also be seen in alpine regions in France and Italy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;Actually, it depends on the difficulty; easy is yellow, mountain is white-red-white, really alpine (glacier crossings, scrambling) is white-blue-white&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-03-09T21:29:42.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3781" CreationDate="2013-03-09T22:37:09.003" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is my understanding that the Nordic or Exercise Poles are for walking fast and the grip is designed to release quickly forward in stride with a glove like fit and usually have either a rubber or paw type tip. The Trekking or Hiking poles are designed for pushing slightly down on to take pressure off of your lower body with a lighter thinner strap and have a tougher tip for rocks and rough terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2124" LastActivityDate="2013-03-09T22:37:09.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1938" CreationDate="2013-03-09T22:39:23.947" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My money goes to a Mora knife for all around usage and cost. And very very sharp right from the factory. $12 - $20 is not bad at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up buying the Mora Heavy Duty recently which is much thicker than the regular line up.  One problem with the HD is that there is a very slight bevel on the back of the spine which makes it difficult if you are looking to use it to strike a fero-rod or fire steel. I ended up filling the spine down a little bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the Robust has a true 90 degree edge on the spine so I think it should be worth the extra few dollars over the regular Mora knives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for the price you really can't go wrong with any of the Mora knives. They take a beating and are amazingly sharp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2124" LastEditorUserId="2124" LastEditDate="2013-03-11T13:15:25.560" LastActivityDate="2013-03-11T13:15:25.560" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3785" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-10T04:43:31.293" Score="5" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I are planning to drive from Kansas City, through Nevada (stop and see the arches) then to the top of California (to see the redwoods), see a few waterfalls in Oregon, travel through the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho then on to Yellowstone and the Tetons, come back through the badlands and home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two week vacation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are interested in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should we make sure to see along the way through Oregon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2126" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T22:02:43.183" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T22:02:43.183" Title="What are the key sights to see on a short trip through Oregon?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3786" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-10T05:19:35.803" Score="8" ViewCount="6344" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the arguments I've heard against using this method assume that you have adequate supplies for alternate rewarming methods. If you literally didn't, and it appeared they were going to freeze to death anyway, would you have a whole lot to lose? Of course, if you felt yourself starting to get hypothermic as well, then I'd guess you should stop and reassess the situation, but should you at least try this method first?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2127" LastEditorUserId="2127" LastEditDate="2013-11-17T22:17:37.390" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T22:17:37.390" Title="Can body-to-body rewarming be used as a last resort treatment of hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3787" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3803" CreationDate="2013-03-10T06:53:16.543" Score="5" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B005I6OWEG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MSR Whisperlite&lt;/a&gt; has served me well for more than 10 years. It started leaking a few weeks ago, and I'm looking for a proper replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read some good reviews about dual fuel stoves (&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000GM89OQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://travellingtwo.com/resources/primusomnifuelreview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;travellingtwo.com&lt;/a&gt;), which can work both on canister gas or liquid fuel. They seem like a great solution: Using clean canister gas for day hikes, and switching to energetically efficient liquid fuel on longer treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any drawbacks to these stoves, especially in terms of reliability?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T21:10:35.933" LastActivityDate="2017-11-23T19:34:03.133" Title="Caveats of dual (propane, liquid) fuel stoves" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3785" CreationDate="2013-03-10T21:04:34.890" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not at all too much for 2 weeks, even without rushing. I've done a couple trips from St. Louis out to CA this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're asking the right question, IMHO. Make a list of the must-see locations, and fill in with stuff you happen by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two sons and did one trip with each like this. Tent-camp a day or two, motel stays on the nights in between. We did big loops, one clockwise, the other counterclockwise. On one trip we went to Wall Drug, Devil's Tower, Snake River, Crater Lake, redwoods, Yosemite, Meteor Crater, and the Oklahoma City memorial. We definitely did not spend enough time at Yosemite, so that part I would consider &quot;too rushed.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About redwoods - everybody who can should see these at least once in their lives. There's no way to really appreciate how massive they really are without standing under them. Here are some ways that we've enjoyed them: 1) Camped among them in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jedediah Smith State Park&lt;/a&gt;, 2) Drive down the coast from Crescent City, always picking the road that keeps you closest to the coast. It becomes gravel road for a while, but is two-lane for the most part. There's even some old structures that housed a WWII radar installation, disguised as farm buildings, 3) see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_sherman_tree&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;General Sherman Tree&lt;/a&gt; if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like a lot for two weeks, but we did all that and more at a relaxed pace, sleeping late in the morning, and still took less than two weeks. Tent-camping makes things easier than RV'ing, in the sense that campgrounds almost always have room for one more tent, but will have a fixed number of slots for an RV. Plus, it's cheap. We had a blast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, when we went through Oregon we were warned at the Visitor Center about their law about filling stations. At the time, I believe it was about a $10,000 fine if you pump your own gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hoover's Dam and Grand Canyon are other sights to see along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T21:19:05.593" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T21:19:05.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3813" CreationDate="2013-03-10T22:57:48.597" Score="14" ViewCount="1056" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like a pair of binoculars for hiking.  I don't have a specific use other than for looking off of overlooks, at animals, etc.  What are the important things to look for in a good set of binoculars?  There appears to be a very wide range of price and features to choose from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T05:27:57.607" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T03:45:10.713" Title="What should I look for in hiking binoculars" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3789" CreationDate="2013-03-11T05:41:24.617" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Optically, even cheap binoculars are very good these days so unless you need something special I wouldn't use this as a differentiator when looking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead the three I see as most important are size, weight and robustness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are going with you everywhere you need to make sure they will fit in your pack, not be too heavy and be able to take the odd drop, being bashed off trees, getting wet etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-03-11T05:41:24.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3786" CreationDate="2013-03-11T07:28:26.730" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, this answer is not a substitute for proper training. I recommend &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3260/1908&quot;&gt;taking a class in Wilderness First Aid&lt;/a&gt; or higher to be better prepared for things like treating hypothermic people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, hypothermia is a term that tends to have different connotations with different people. Sometimes what people call &quot;hypothermia&quot; is just a very cold individual, or they mean someone who is shivering uncontrollably for example. The stages of hypothermia are really a sliding scale with the varying degrees of severity sort of fading into each other. But regardless, treatment for 1st stage hypothermia is very different from severe hypothermia at the other end, especially in a backcountry scenario with limited or no resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this question, a moderately severe hypothermic person seems to be the patient being referenced. Typical signs &amp;amp; symptoms would likely include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shivering has now ceased after previously shivering uncontrollably&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If responsive, will likely claim to feel warm again despite their body temperature being dangerously low&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Level of responsiveness is declining, entering into a stupor. Eventually becoming unresponsive or unconscious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not aware of much, if at all&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Skin is pale and cold. Lips are blue/purple&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heart rate and respiratory rate are slowing to the point of being hard to detect&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No longer able to warm themselves from their own metabolic processes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Needs immediate evacuation to medical care.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this particular patient example, warming them in the field is not a realistic prospect. You need to seek help for them, and get them out of there ASAP. Body-to-body warming, if anything, is only going to help stabilize them and keep them from getting even colder. But even then it's not a very effective way to try to warm someone in a hypothermic state, especially one of any significant degree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But in short, body-to-body contact could be used to treat this patient as a last resort, but only as a last-ditch effort to help stabilize them until help arrives, assuming help is on the way to your location and also assuming you have no other heat sources (fire, stove...). If no help is available then trying this treatment is probably better than nothing at all. Just be careful and don't make yourself in to a patient as well!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: &lt;strong&gt;Don't let the person get this bad!&lt;/strong&gt; Any treatment methods including the one being discussed here (which is not the standard of care) are going to be more effective the earlier you catch the hypothermia. Time is not your friend here, so act quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rendezvous.nols.edu/content/view/1677/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article from NOLS&lt;/a&gt; provides some relevant information to this treatment method:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to Gordon Giesbrecht an adult cooled to 95°(34.7C), the&#xA;  common threshold for hypothermia definitions, can have a profound&#xA;  caloric deficit. ²  A healthy adult at rest will make about 1 kcal of&#xA;  heat per kg of body weight per hour.  This won’t be enough to quickly&#xA;  reverse significant hypothermia.  In those tales where we got in a&#xA;  sleeping bag and heroically warmed the severely cold person – well -&#xA;  we may have done the patient a favor, but they probably were not very&#xA;  cold in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to Dr Giesbrecht ³, the transfer of the energy to the core&#xA;  will be blunted by vasoconstriction.  Since most of our mildly&#xA;  hypothermic patients are not dramatically vasoconstricted, this will&#xA;  be only a small hindrance.  In severely hypothermic patients it may be&#xA;  a significant limitation to the heat transfer from donor to recipient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People who are truly hypothermic are dangerously ill.  They may be wasted &#xA;  (a non-medical term that says they are fatigued, dehydrated and low on food &#xA;  reserves), or have a serious simultaneous medical condition.  We may not be &#xA;  able to warm these people in the backcountry.  Our efforts are focused on &#xA;  stabilizing the patient; we don’t want to jostle them or allow them to cool &#xA;  further.  They likely will only warm in the hospital, so we transport them &#xA;  gently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve been told two people in a sleeping bag to treat hypothermia is&#xA;  the “standard of care” in the wilderness.  Actually, it’s not.  The&#xA;  science isn’t strongly in it’s favor and in the wilderness, scenarios&#xA;  are often unique, our equipment less than ideal and our need to&#xA;  improvise real.   As always, we’ll use our judgment, understand the&#xA;  principles of treatment and weight the factors in our specific&#xA;  scenario.  The heat sources you have available on your wilderness trip&#xA;  may only be insulated hot water bottles, or the patient’s metabolism&#xA;  and shivering. If you have a good camp and plenty of people you may be&#xA;  able to spare a person to be in the sleeping bag.  If you’re a small&#xA;  group, and knowing heat transfer between bodies is not very efficient,&#xA;  you may decide your assistant is best used staring a fire, making a&#xA;  warm meal and drink on the stove, setting up the camp or attending to&#xA;  the other people on your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;2. Giesbrecht GG, Sessler DI, Mekjavic IB, Schroeder M,  Bristow GK. Treatment &#xA;  of mild immersion hypothermia by direct body-to-body contact. J Appl Physiol. &#xA;  1994;76: 2373–2379&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;3. Hypothermia, Frostbite and other Cold Injuries. 2ed Giesbrecht GG and &#xA;  Wilkerson JA.  The Mountaineers. 2007.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&#xA;Wilderness First Aid from NOLS WMI, other training, and years of experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rendezvous.nols.edu/content/view/1677/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The article&lt;/a&gt; referenced above from NOLS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-03-11T19:35:27.193" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3789" CreationDate="2013-03-11T08:28:49.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let me share my rather limited experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Low-end&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 50BGN ~= $25EUR 12-50x50*:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several small loose parts of plastic inside the binoculars. They obscure small parts of the lenses. Not a very big problem, and I accept it for the money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 50mm will collect more light through the large input lenses and provide crisper viewing,  working well near dawn/dusk. However, the thing weights more than half a kilo - prohibitively heavy for any kind of backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The variable zoom is useless. Zooming works, but the resolution is limited by the lenses and therefore no additional details appear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Lightweight&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second binoculars was 12x35, extremely lightweight, waist-mounted. Perfect for hiking, until I sat on it. Lightweight and rugged seem to exclude each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Midrange&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My third binoculars is ~100EUR and it seems to be the sweet spot. You can see Jupiter or the Moon's surface!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* The first number (in this case a range from 12 to 50), represents the zoom factor. The second number, in this case 50, represents the diameter of the input lenses in mm&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2021-03-15T03:45:10.713" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T03:45:10.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3795" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3796" CreationDate="2013-03-11T10:25:51.173" Score="6" ViewCount="907" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an absolute beginner about boats, but let's say I want to buy a boat to use in the canals of my city (Amsterdam), but also for &quot;long&quot; trips, to other cities, coasts. Trips that require days to reach the destination, so I need it to be covered for nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of boat could I buy (I'm talking about cheap boats, possibly priced few thousand of euros? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in knowing what type of boat I do need and how big, how many feet/meters...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1863" OwnerDisplayName="Patrick" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T05:40:49.327" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T18:09:41.390" Title="Which type of power boat do I need for overnight trips?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3795" CreationDate="2013-03-11T13:03:55.083" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That question can lead to a very complex answer because there is no simple answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going to keep it short, but notice that you probably can't do all kind of trips in a boat like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will be needing a boat with a cabin, to be able to sleep, have a toilet and a micro kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general the larger the boat, more stable it is under rough weather/ waves. You should also consider which type of weather you want to face and how confortable/safe you want to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nl.topboats.com/barcos-ocasion/aquamar-bahia-20-cabin-lancha-suzuki-115-cv&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is probably the smallest and cheapest for your goal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3248" OwnerDisplayName="nsn" LastEditorUserId="3248" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T18:09:41.390" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T18:09:41.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3797" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-12T06:46:47.637" Score="3" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have noticed that preparing a backpack for a 1-2-10 day trip can take up to 3 hours. I would like to cut this time way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning this, I have had several ideas:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a the pack outfitted with the equipment needed for a 2 day trip in the current season. When a trip is planned, add the extra items. Ready.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack backpacking gear in logical subsystems. For example, Fire starting kit, Water carrying system, Cooking equipment, Extra clothes pack. When a trip is planned, pick the appropriate modules, put them in the sack. Ready.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put all equipment on open shelves. When a trip is planned, quickly pick the required items and stuff them in the backpack. Ready.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those work, but to a far lesser extent than I would have liked. &lt;em&gt;How can I speed up significantly the equipping of the backpack at home, just before a trip?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2013-03-13T03:40:31.847" Title="Rapid backpack readying" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-12T10:56:20.857" Score="24" ViewCount="8416" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bowline knot (picture below, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palstek_innen.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;) has a great reputation as a very safe knot. Is it really completely safe in all situations and loads, or are there use cases where it may fail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zrer0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The bowline knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:27:35.313" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T13:44:35.020" Title="How safe is the bowline knot in different situations?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3798" CreationDate="2013-03-12T11:08:08.760" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bowline knot is very safe &lt;em&gt;if loaded correctly&lt;/em&gt;. This is the usual, safe way to load it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NOrae.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The safe way to use a bowline knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chair foot is the body (sorry for not offering naked models), the part of the rope leading away from the picture will take the load. In this use case the knot should hold perfectly. On the other hand, you might get the idea to use the bowline knot to create a sling, say to rappel down from a tree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8JWL3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The wrong way to use a bowline knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is wrong and if you rappel down from that carabiner you might get yourself killed, because the knot can slip when loaded “sideways”, pulling the main loop apart. There are other similar wrong use cases, all depending on the knot being able to hold when pulled sideways – which the bowline knot isn’t.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was discovered during an investigation of a fatal fall in Germany in the 1960s. The case went to the court and after that the Germans have done a series of tests on the knot to realize that it can indeed slip under side load, which is why it’s considered unfit for climbing today. See Pit Schubert, &lt;em&gt;Sicherheit und Risiko in Fels und Eis&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="103" LastEditDate="2013-03-12T16:27:27.743" LastActivityDate="2013-03-12T16:27:27.743" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3798" CreationDate="2013-03-12T14:08:39.187" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to zoul's excellent answer, the Bowline has another drawback in that it can come loose (or even undone) after repeated load/unload cycles (i.e. weighing and unweighing the rope).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that the bowline is not as good as the figure-8 to use to tie-in a climber, especially for multi-pitch climbing, gym climbing, etc... (That said, many good climbers do use the bowline to tie in.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T03:05:15.557" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T03:05:15.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3798" CreationDate="2013-03-12T14:37:06.317" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the context of rock climbing, compared to a figure-8 knot, bowlines are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;About as strong under ideal circumstances&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can come untied on their own when unloaded&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are more difficult to visually inspect (important, because climbers frequently rely on partners to check their knots, and may be tying and untying knots when they're tired and / or distracted).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both the figure-8 and a bowline (and its variations) will fail if loaded in the manner your picture indicates.  Any knot is only useful for the scenarios it was designed for, and part of knot-craft is knowing what the knots are designed to do, not just how to tie them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-04-17T21:05:20.207" LastActivityDate="2013-04-17T21:05:20.207" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1857" CreationDate="2013-03-12T16:00:02.563" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The USGS Fort Collins Science Center published the following map of the conterminous United States in 2005:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/fymgGbU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8cNZj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wilderness map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been published as a factsheet with a PDF (that can be zoomed for more detail):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fort.usgs.gov/products/publications/pub_abstract.asp?PubID=21426&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Watts, R.D., R.W. Compton, J.H. McCammon, C.L. Rich, and S.M. Wright. 2005. Distance to the nearest road in the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2005-3011. 2 p.&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/fymgGbU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this reddit post&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a project for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iucn.org/knowledge/focus/shaking_things_up_in_rio/?10247/Rio-20-brings-in-a-new-landscape-for-the-protection-of-global-roadless-areas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;global roadless areas map&lt;/a&gt; that can be viewed in Google Maps (Windows &amp;amp; Mac only) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://superuser.com/q/564762/133195&quot;&gt;perhaps Google Earth&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T10:18:34.200" LastActivityDate="2013-03-12T17:07:12.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3787" CreationDate="2013-03-12T18:32:28.157" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no reliability problems specifically with dual fuel stoves. Reliability really has more to do with the design and the manufacturer than the fuel(s).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the best stove for you really depends on what you are doing. If you are making lots of short hikes with occasional multi-night treks, then a reliable dual fuel stove could be a great solution. If weight was your top concern I would not recommend a dual fuel because they usually have more bulk in their design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you liked your Whisperlite I can say that I use the International version which burns pretty much every fuel there is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Cat Stove design the Don mentions is phenomenal for reliability and cost, but it can be tough to learn to cook on them and I find they are best for the ultra-light multi-night type of treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2013-03-12T18:32:28.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3804" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-12T19:15:10.097" Score="18" ViewCount="10921" Body="&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that with severely hypothermic patients you want to keep them awake if possible. I'd heard moving a hypothermic patient is risky, as you don't want to jostle them. Some wilderness survival experts say to stay put if you're lost since SAR is likely looking for you. &lt;strong&gt;How important is the &amp;quot;not sleeping&amp;quot; advice and why?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2127" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2021-04-19T00:01:01.240" LastActivityDate="2021-04-19T13:15:51.337" Title="Is it ever safe to let a hypothermic person sleep?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3804" CreationDate="2013-03-12T20:07:05.930" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a doctor, so I can only repeat what I think I understood from lectures by those that do have medical training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure I remember Dr Murray Hamlett (I highly recommend attending one of his lectures, if he's still doing them.  He is not only a leader and pioneer in cold weather medicine, but also a very good and engaging speaker.) saying to keep the patient awake.  I do not remember exactly the reasons he might have given, but keeping the internal metabolic activity as high as possible sounds like an advantage to me.  Basically, we burn fewer calories, and therefore produce less heat, when asleep.  It is also more difficult to assess a patient's state when they aren't fully conscious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-04-19T03:55:12.317" LastActivityDate="2021-04-19T03:55:12.317" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3806" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-12T20:39:26.930" Score="17" ViewCount="2103" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/707/566&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; recommends topographic maps as &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28ctype=areaDetails&amp;amp;xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&amp;amp;carea=%24ROOT&amp;amp;layout=6_1_61_48&amp;amp;uiarea=2%29/.do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;downloadable&lt;/a&gt; from the USGS.  A comment holds that those are &lt;em&gt;definitely the best thing for the US&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An except for the San Joaquin river near Mammoth Lakes looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PFATB.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example USGS map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I look at the same place with the interactive map at &lt;a href=&quot;http://postholer.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;postholer.com&lt;/a&gt;, it looks quite different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yE8qc.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example postholer map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter map appears to be from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mytopo.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mytopo.com&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;I see a number of differences:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;USGS&lt;/em&gt; map has more rivers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;USGS&lt;/em&gt; map shows elevation in feet, whereas the &lt;em&gt;mytopo&lt;/em&gt; map shows elevation in meters (I personally prefer metric)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;mytopo&lt;/em&gt; map contain what I suppose is a hiking trail (I didn't check the legend), this is not shown at the &lt;em&gt;USGS&lt;/em&gt; map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;mytopo&lt;/em&gt; map uses shading and draws some contours with a thicker line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mytopo &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mytopo.com/products/topo-maps.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;writes&lt;/a&gt; that their maps &lt;em&gt;are made from the original US Geological Survey topographic maps&lt;/em&gt;, yet the two excerpts printed here do not show the exact same information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other map series besides those two?  For hiking on- and off-trail, what map is most accurate and complete?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:17:20.560" Title="What alternative topographic maps exist in the USA?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3797" CreationDate="2013-03-13T03:40:31.847" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It takes me about 40 minutes to pack for an overnight or longer trip, and this includes making and packing sandwiches for breakfast and lunch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest advantage is that I know exactly what I need, where it is, and how to place it in the pack. This is mainly the result of going on hikes nearly every weekend year-round, and learning what I use and don't use, and what I find that I'm missing in certain situations. A lot of gear never leaves the pack unless it needs replenishing or for routine maintenance (I check and refill all of my different kits about once a month, unless I use them. This also allows me to adjust them for a more localized climate window.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biggest factors in my packing time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;piling -- I pile everything I'm going to take on the floor in logical groups, next to my pack. This allows me to assess whether it's too much, what size pack I need to use, and make sure that I have everything I need.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clothing -- knowing exactly what I'm taking and where it is helps reduce the time. I generally have a separate wardrobe for technical hiking gear, which allows me to keep it separate from the rest of my clothes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food and cooking gear -- again, it helps to have in one location, know exactly what you're taking, and have it all pre-filled (stove fuel, food, spices, etc.) I try to pack any cooking ingredients for the trip the night before or earlier. Simpler recipes are easier to pack (e.g. rice, a bit of oil, nuts, and spices take all of one minute to pack, premixed in a reusable ziplock (except for the oil, of course)). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;overnight gear -- again, one storage location, one packing pile on the floor. This includes the sleeping bag, sleeping pad, compression sack, and possibly a tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;kits -- this includes various kits, like first aid kit, backcountry ski binding repair kit, stove maintenance kit, backpack maintenance kit, emergency shelter kit, etc. I keep these as &quot;kit-in-a-bag&quot; systems, so they're always ready, tabulated, and packed. Some of these stay in the backapck between trips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally, to emphasize the point: the biggest time saver is knowing what you don't need. The less you have to pack, the better it fits, and the faster it is to collect and review it. The second biggest time saver is knowing how to pack what you're taking in the pack you're going to use, so maybe spend some time packing it with different sets of things so that when you're packing for a trip you already know exactly how to pack the stuff you're taking, as well as that it fits and that it's not too heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Occasionally I will actually try different packing orders in my packs on a dead evening, just because it helps me later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-03-13T03:40:31.847" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3804" CreationDate="2013-03-13T05:25:40.017" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never allow them to sleep. Even if hypothermia is not that severe. I'm talking from a personal experience where two fellow trekkers died due to this. The reason is when  you go the sleep, your breathing slows down due to low heart rate. Our body is meant to behave so. This means the blood flow slows down. And with a mild/severe hypothermia, you are in a state where the vital organs might not end up with the required blood flow. Keeping that person warm and trying to improve the metabolic rate is the best solution when you don't have medical help at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-04-18T19:01:38.970" LastActivityDate="2021-04-18T19:01:38.970" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-03-13T05:25:40.017" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3809" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-13T05:55:11.903" Score="13" ViewCount="5115" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very nice sleeping bag which has been kept stuffed as compressed as possible in a backpack for a couple of months. After reading about the negative effects of such actions, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to return it to its original poofy-ness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2135" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-03-13T08:45:39.423" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T05:52:56.067" Title="How can I 'inflate' or plump up my my sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3809" CreationDate="2013-03-13T14:21:11.483" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Original Poofiness&lt;/em&gt; (or OP as they call it in the 'wood) will always be illusive. No matter how you care for your bag, it is on a steady decline toward compression from the moment you buy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To attempt to re-gain some loft, you need to separate the fill so the fibers or  down (or whatever) that are inside can trap more air between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shake the bag vigorously from all directions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fluff the bag like a pillow -- slap, punch and clap it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feel for clumps of down in the bag and gently pull them apart with your hands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the bag in a large commercial tumble dryer on air (no heat) with a couple of tennis balls tossed in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, as you mention, never store a bag compressed in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-03-13T14:21:11.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3628" CreationDate="2013-03-13T14:59:14.167" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;By engaging in winter sports (where there is significant snow on the ground) you are already greatly reducing your impact. The biggest impacts to back-country areas from non-motorized recreation come from vegetation disturbance: boots grinding up plants and breaking topsoil, tents compressing vegetation, camp activity destroying vegetation, fire scars, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few inches of snow will largely protect the fragile flora beneath provided there is enough snow that you are not punching through to the soil/vegetation below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, xc-skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and downhill skiing will leave absolutely no trace of your passing -- again, provided there is enough snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do mention the tops of saplings sticking up. Avoid them. If when you pass on your board you see broken saplings in your wake, the snow is not deep enough. Use common sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for local fauna - they're all pretty used to hiding in holes anyway, and your passing by on skis likely won't disturb them. (A major exception is elk and deer calving grounds, which are often identified on US public lands maps, and are usually closed to snowmobiles and sometimes skiers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The impacts you DO need to be concerned about are waste, trash, and etc. that easily get buried beneath snow where they seemingly &quot;disappear.&quot; Pack it in, pack it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the biggest impact from non-motorized winter recreation is the motorized facilities of ski resorts which consume vast amounts of electricity to haul people up on lifts, diesel fuel to run snow cats that make those perfectly groomed trails, and development impacts that can encroach into wild lands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-03-14T17:13:34.407" LastActivityDate="2013-03-14T17:13:34.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3812" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-13T16:05:22.127" Score="3" ViewCount="326" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the difference between a sleeping bag liner and a travel sheet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shape (are travel sheets only available in one shape)? Fabric? Resistance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2131" LastActivityDate="2013-03-14T17:24:01.003" Title="Liners and Travel sheets" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3789" CreationDate="2013-03-13T20:01:26.217" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I researched this and there are a few factors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aperture&lt;/strong&gt; - This is the diameter of the objective (or front) lens and affects the amount of light taken in.  Aperture is very important for low light situations.  If you plan on using your binoculars near dawn or dusk, or under canopy, then you want a larger aperture.  This is the second number used to describe binoculars.  So 4x30 binoculars would have a 30mm aperture.  Aperture unfortunately tends to linearly correlate with weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Magnification&lt;/strong&gt; - Simple zoom.  The first number and indicates the zoom factor.  So 4 in our 4x30 example magnifies by 4 times.  9 should be more than sufficient for most hiking.  Mountain hikes with long open lookouts may call for more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lens Coating&lt;/strong&gt; - Lens coatings will significantly reduce glare and improve quality.  At a minimum you want &quot;Full coated&quot; which means that all lens-air surfaces are coated.  Multi-Coating will generally improve glare reduction and is exactly as it sounds... multiple different coatings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roof vs. Porro Prism&lt;/strong&gt; - Roof prism will be smaller, lighter, and more durable, but will provide a smaller field of vision as compared to porro prism.  For hiking you want the durability and lightness gained with roof prism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water/Fog Proofing&lt;/strong&gt; - These features are critical if you expect to be in wet or damp environments.  I have purchased (and wasted money on) more than one pair of cheap binoculars that did not have this.  Waterproofing is usually accomplished with O-Rings, but fog proofing requires that the internal air spaces be filled with inert gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-11-04T15:15:26.837" LastActivityDate="2014-11-04T15:15:26.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3814" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-13T21:50:57.933" Score="8" ViewCount="3351" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to put a zip line in my backyard for my kids. I'm looking for advice on what type to use, safety tips, and installation advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2141" LastActivityDate="2013-08-14T20:08:52.123" Title="What is a safe type of backyard zip line for kids and adults to use?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3804" CreationDate="2013-03-14T01:23:06.773" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would take two things into consideration, or rather mention two things that are in consideration:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Providing a pleasant, agreeable, and accommodating-as-possible response to someone who is suffering.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Doing what will provide the best chances of saving a person's life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;American culture at least is squeamish about violating principle #1, enough so that someone who violates #1 to care for #2 will feel very unpleasant and perhaps guilty. But #2 should trump #1 if you have a choice between the two. It runs on the same principle as an intervention for an alcoholic: it is not in any remote sense pleasant for the person, and done right it is one of the most painful things you can experience (and the other people in the intervention experience, and hurt for, the person receiving the intervention), but it may be the most loving possible thing you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not have credentials to offer medical advice for how safe it is to allow a hypothermic person to sleep. I personally would find it very unpleasant to force contrived activity to someone who is entirely drained and just wants to sleep, and may sleep forever. But if the best medical chances for survival are for preventing sleep, the #2 listed concern trumps the #1 concern, period. Feel guilty about it all you want, feel like you're torturing a poor, helpless bunny, but pursue the hypothermic person's medical best interest as far as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-11T00:51:43.830" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T00:51:43.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3812" CreationDate="2013-03-14T17:24:01.003" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt there is an &quot;industry standard&quot; of what each of those mean, but in general I have noticed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag liners tend to be narrower, and come in mummy-bag and regular:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mummy bag style tend to be tapered at the feet and often include a hood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;regular tend to be square-ish without a hood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Travel sheets&quot; I have seen are bigger, square, and have slits down 1/3 to 1/2 the side for easy in and out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a travel sheet as a sleeping bag liner becomes an issue if it is significantly larger than your bag. The excess fabric tends to tangle up in your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for fabric, you will find both in all types: cotton, silk, synthetic, flannel... though sleeping bag liners often have more light-weight options like silk since you will likely be carrying it into the back-country, since they are a great way to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1657/86&quot;&gt;extend the length of time between washings&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure what you mean by &quot;resistance.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-03-14T17:24:01.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9" CreationDate="2013-03-15T08:45:01.987" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the terrain, a map is often very usable even without a compass or a GPS. If the terrain is anything-but-flat you can generally use the contours of the terrain to orient the map correctly. &quot;Walk down this valley until it branches, then head for the mountain aproximately 30 degrees left.&quot; doesn't require a compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to read contour-lines on maps, so that you're able to visualize the terrain from the map. Follow lead-lines whenever practical. Rivers, ridges, lakes, treelines, coastlines, powerlines or (obviously) roads are all candidates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2143" LastEditorUserId="2143" LastEditDate="2016-07-25T10:44:01.957" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T10:44:01.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3818" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3819" CreationDate="2013-03-17T01:54:27.653" Score="6" ViewCount="721" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent some time in a wigwam today, and due to the wind conditions, it was very difficult to keep the smoke out.  Are there some tricks one can use in a situation like that to make the wigwam more habitable, or to deal with the smoke in some way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="55" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T22:36:36.223" Title="Keeping smoke level in a wigwam low" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3818" CreationDate="2013-03-17T16:53:21.823" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't used a wigwam, but I expect you'd have the same issues as with any shelter. You have to expect there to be some smoke, but you want the amount of smoke to be as low as possible. Perhaps the hole at the peak is not large enough, or perhaps you're not letting enough air in to feed the fire. Make sure you have a large enough crack at ground level to let the fire get sufficient oxygen. Any fire that's not getting enough oxygen will smoke more. I've been in old cabins where we had to open the front door to let air in when the fire was small. We could close it when the fire was larger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of those issues relate to 'draw.' The fire needs to burn hot, or the smoke won't be hot enough to rise and escape through your vent. If your air intake isn't large enough, the fire won't burn hot, and you'll have lots of lukewarm smoke that won't go anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your vent isn't large enough, the smoke won't have anyplace to go, so it'll back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, try leaving the entrance open until the fire really gets going., and make sure you have good openings top and bottom to create sufficient draw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and it'd probably be good not to sleep between the air intake and the fire, or that cold air will run right over you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-03-17T16:53:21.823" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3822" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3829" CreationDate="2013-03-18T03:34:51.393" Score="5" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Planning a camping trip for next weekend.  It is looking like it may be the end of winter.  We have about a foot of snow right now.  What problems am I going to run into if the weather is above zero and/or we get some rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have any tips on staying comfortable, happy and dry?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far on my list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Packing lots of stove fuel so that if making a fire is impossible we can still heat lots of liquid to drink and stay warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Packing two pairs of boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bringing two tarps so that we can add a tarp under our tent to protect from water.  If it rains we will pitch a tarp over our tent and maybe a temporary tarp over us&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other info: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going camping in the forest.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3km hike in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature moving around the freezing point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overnight this time but interested in longer trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;About a foot of old snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two people&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="305" LastEditDate="2013-03-18T21:24:50.887" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T21:59:11.373" Title="End of Winter/Spring Camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3823" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3827" CreationDate="2013-03-18T03:36:17.880" Score="14" ViewCount="4619" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a good technique to warm up your boots in the morning?  Should you just put them on and warm them up with your feet or is there a better alternative?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-03-18T23:24:10.193" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T23:24:10.193" Title="Winter Camping: How to warm up your boots in the morning?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3823" CreationDate="2013-03-18T07:16:50.320" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option is to take them with you into the sleeping bag, just as anything else that needs to keep from freezing (like gas or batteries). I feel like my sleeping bag already takes enough beating as it is, so the boots stay outside. I just make sure they’re wide open, so that I can get them on my feet in the morning even if they’re frozen. Running a few meters to and fro makes them bearable for the time required to get on the track, then they will slowly warm up. Ah those winter mornings :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T07:16:50.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3823" CreationDate="2013-03-18T15:58:20.000" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should you just put them on and warm them up with your feet or is there a better alternative?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, I've found just putting them on and putting up with the cold for the first few minutes isn't that bad an option when you're used to it. It feels horrible putting them on, but after doing that and running around the tent a few times (which helps me wake up also!) the discomfort soon disappears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T15:58:20.000" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3823" CreationDate="2013-03-18T17:51:54.803" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found sleeping with my boots inside the bag is the ONLY way to go when it is really cold out. Moderately cold, sure you can tough out the re-thaw in the morning - but real cold... forget it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is tough to get over the psychological barrier of putting boots in your bag - but it will make a difference. A few points to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;During the day, sweat builds up in your boots. Leaving them out at night, this freezes, meaning that not only do you have cold, frozen boots in the morning, if you do manage to get them thawed, they are still damp (BAD). Dry boots are a necessity**.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your boots have liners, separate them from the shell, and put both in your bag with you. (Even if you don't have liners, take out the insoles to facilitate drying.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is truly cold, no amount of running, jumping, sticking them in the sun will warm them up in a reasonable amount of time. You are putting yourself at risk of cold injuries.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On the subject of cold injuries - trench foot, etc, results from prolonged exposure to cool damp conditions. Several days of un-dried boots can cause lasting issues.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy duty boots can be impossible to put on if they are well and truly frozen - the leather/plastic/liners are so stiff, it would take a contortionist to get your feet in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** &lt;em&gt;Some people swear by plastic socks (gore tex, nylon, or even plastic bags) to trap the moisture your foot generates inside the bag before it reaches your boot. Although this keeps your boots dry, it can make for a miserable squishy hiking/skiing experience -- but might be the only way to keep your boots dry during prolonged exposure.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't stomach your boots in your bag (it is not that bad, really) you can try the following fuel or time-intensive measures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boil water, pour it in nalgene type (well sealing) bottles and cram those as far down in your boots as you can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold boots over stove / fire for as long as it takes (be aware of melt-age).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp somewhere with ready access to early morning sun. Place boots on closed-cell foam pad in direct sunlight. &amp;lt;-- Though at -25F, no amount of sun will do it...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider hand/toe warmers (chemical based heat machines) to put in your boots with your feet to facilitate rapid warming.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bonus Protips:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your socks are dry as well by sleeping with them close to your body at night. I have found draping them over my shoulders/chest, directly against my skin gets them dry by morning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down booties are great for keeping your toes toasty until the last possible moment before the boots go back on. &lt;strong&gt;It is easier to stay warm than to get warm.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-03-18T22:14:33.513" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T22:14:33.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3823" CreationDate="2013-03-18T21:14:31.273" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;General tips to help you out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your boots have felt liners, then remove the felt liners and keep&#xA;them in your sleeping bag. It goes a long way to making things&#xA;bearable in the morning, but I'd only recommend doing this if your&#xA;liners are dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you've set up camp, switch to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Footwear/SlippersBooties/PRD~5011-597/mec-hut-booties-2-unisex.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;hut slippers&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;This lets your boots/liners breath as moisture evaporates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your&#xA;boots near a fire or heat source for an hour or two if possible to&#xA;prevent them from freezing.  Be careful not to put them too close or&#xA;rubber will melt/crack, leather will harden, and lace tips might&#xA;melt.  Do not put them in an oven as it's too easy to overcook them&#xA;and ruin your footwear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open your boots wide (like Zoul said) and&#xA;loosen the laces so that they are easier to use if frozen in the&#xA;morning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear Gore-tex socks over your wool socks. That way, even if&#xA;your boot is still wet/frozen in the morning it won't permeate your&#xA;socks, and your feet still get to breath (and stay dry if you have a dunker on a lake).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might avoid freezing laces by putting (dry) towel or&#xA;similar over your boots. Frozen laces are the worst. Another option&#xA;would be to take the laces out and bring them in your sleeping bag&#xA;but then you're introducing moisture in your bag (bad bad bad idea).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T21:14:31.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3822" CreationDate="2013-03-18T21:59:11.373" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a 2 day adventure I wouldn't bring any extra pairs of boots. Just the one wearing. A set of clothes (wearing) and a spare one. Have multiple layers. Hiking in the snow would warm you up good, and you don't wanna be sweating. I'd bring a poncho as well. Good if it rains and to lay on the ground. If you have show shoes, they'd be good as well. Use your sleeping bag to keep your clothes warm over night or dry them if needed. Same with your boots. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3824/580&quot;&gt;Winter Camping: How to warm up your boots in the morning?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how the weather can fluctuate there, but here in the Rockies, at about and over 3000m we can have a hot sunny day and a cold stormy night. So, based on what you know about the area, be prepared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you bringing a tent? I never do. If not, your tarp idea is great. Set one on the ground as you said and one on an angle, with the opening towards the fire, if you get one started. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend to get a fire going. It will warm you up and boost the morale any time. In the forest you can always find wood for a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always carry my wool blanket with me. It's awesome in the winter. Also, if you have a space blanket, just in case. It is small, fits even in a pocket. I don't know where you live, but you can find one at Walmart for like $2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the stove fuel, I'd say one canister is more than enough for 2 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the gear you have and the way you handle the weather you can always make improvements and adjustments. I always like to pack light and effective based on the geographical area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T21:59:11.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3830" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-18T22:21:47.063" Score="16" ViewCount="6031" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our dog loves winter sports - but after a few miles on the trails in soft snow, he often develops snowballs between his paw pads - usually one big one right in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there ways to minimize / prevent this from happening? I have heard really bad snow buildup can lead to raw / bleeding paw pads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T16:54:08.733" Title="How can I prevent snow-balls building up in my dog's paws?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3831" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-18T22:28:37.963" Score="17" ViewCount="23787" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a rare day that I head out into the winter wilds without a flask of sumpt'n-sumpt'n in my pocket. A nip helps one to relax, can mildly embolden timid skiers in my group, and gives one that fiery radiating warmth upon imbibing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its this latter I am curious about: Does whiskey (or other spirits) actually have warming benefits? Or is it just psychological?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-03-21T19:30:59.090" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T03:05:04.260" Title="Does whiskey help keep you warm in winter?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-18T22:32:37.977" Score="6" ViewCount="550" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was skinning into a yurt last weekend with my regular downhill (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3341/what-is-the-benefit-to-telemark-skiing&quot;&gt;telemark&lt;/a&gt;) skis. On the way back out, I noticed a lot more snow sticking to my skis... Granted, the weather was hot, and snow was sticky - but it made me wonder: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the stickum on skins either remove the glide wax or leave a sticky residue I should be concerned about? And if so, how do I remove/mitigate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T04:53:25.143" Title="Should I re-wax downhill skis after using skins?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3831" CreationDate="2013-03-18T23:05:50.690" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please don't drink alcohol to stay warm.  It may make you &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; slightly warmer temporarily, but it isn't actually helping you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to my favourite volume on &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1437716784&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medicine&lt;/a&gt; (page 156), a small nip won't hurt you if you already have a cold-induced injury. However, it is strongly correlated with cold-induced injury, due to the cognitive impairment and loss of pain perception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-03-19T05:02:47.860" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T05:02:47.860" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3709" CreationDate="2013-03-18T23:15:06.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would wager that such a thing does not exist. Of the attachments you mention, only one (sharp spear) seems practical. Issues with the others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camera mount: as rory-alsop mentions, it would make sense for the handle to have a camera mount, so you can stick the point into the snow / ground. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.briangreen.net/2011/07/trekking-pole-camera-mounts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This blogger&lt;/a&gt; has a few options (among which is a tip-mount).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raft Paddle: the torque forces on a raft paddle are no match for a trekking pole. Even if you rigged something flat to the end, you'll bend your pole in no time. For casual paddling, you would be better off with a dead branch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What else would you want to attach? Brainstorming, I came up with these (and alternatives):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tent pole extender:&lt;/em&gt; Some tents rely on trekking poles as their support, and as such include a sheath that extends the length.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Saw blade (for those hard to reach branches you want to burn):&lt;/em&gt; Never cut branches from a standing tree. If you can't find dead and downed, you shouldn't have a fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pack hanger&lt;/em&gt;: Now this is something I have employed in rodent-infested areas - hanging your food bag from a trekking pole. Though in my experience, three poles wrapped together with their wrist straps does the trick - no attachment necessary (though a third pole is...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Komodo Dragon Deterrent:&lt;/em&gt; A forked stick is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1025244/Pictured-Mailman-confronts-Komodo-dragon-island-British-divers-struggled-survive.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;preferred defense against Komodo dragons&lt;/a&gt;, but although a modified trekking pole might work, you are probably better off letting your local guide carry a stick he is familiar with instead of your trekking pole (and running away while he uses it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dental Mirror for a Bowhead Whale: You could use a mirror attachment to inspect the rear baleen of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-2000/largest-mouth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bowhead Whale&lt;/a&gt;... other options... ummm...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-03-18T23:15:06.160" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-18T23:55:45.453" Score="12" ViewCount="291" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's many different kinds of &quot;down&quot; filling:&#xA;&quot;100% down&quot; must legally be only down, while &quot;down&quot; can be any mixture containing down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's &quot;fill power&quot; ranging from about 400 to 1200, which basically measures how resistent the feathers are to crushing by weight.  Higher &quot;fill power&quot; provides more insulation and is significantly more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any quantitative data about just how much the thermal insulation ability VARIES from the &quot;worst&quot; down to the &quot;best&quot; down?  In other words, is it possible that spending 10X as much $$$ on high-end down can make a significant difference in insulation, or is it negligible? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-10T20:26:00.897" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T22:21:09.143" Title="Different kinds of Down: comparing insulation" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3836" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-18T23:58:04.080" Score="3" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;These days, almost every sleeping bag sold is given a thermal insulation numeric &quot;rating&quot;, either the USA version or the more accurate European version.  But vintage bags did not have this industry standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to get a good idea of the insulating ability of a vintage bag other than getting your body inside it for a night of sleep?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T08:01:24.537" Title="Thermal rating on vintage sleeping bags" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3836" CreationDate="2013-03-19T00:28:50.717" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary rating that &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be on the bag is the &lt;strong&gt;pounds&lt;/strong&gt; of insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a somewhat imperfect measure, but a summer bag might well be 2 or 2.5 pounds.  A three-season might be 4, but that would not likely be enough for actual outdoor winter camping - but OK for a semi-heated cabin space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An older full-winter bag might be six pounds or more, with associated both heavier bag and fuller/fluffier/thicker walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T00:28:50.717" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3831" CreationDate="2013-03-19T02:31:58.927" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;theJollySin is right. Your body adjusts to seasons by changing the viscosity of your blood. Thicker in winter to help stay warm, thinner in summer to help stay cool. Essentially, alcohol thins your blood, simulating what your body does to drop its temperature. Drink your whiskey, but sit close to the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The warming effect is not psychological. It's physiological. You feel like it's making you warmer, but it's not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T02:31:58.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3839" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3840" CreationDate="2013-03-19T07:03:40.720" Score="31" ViewCount="141204" Body="&lt;p&gt;In winter your hand and feet (especially toes and fingers) may get painfully cold or you may even stop feeling them. How can you warm them up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This usually happens, when it's below 0°С or when it's slightly above 0°С and your hands/feet are wet.&#xA;This can happen if you are not properly dressed/booted or you are not moving enough (e.g. sitting in a camp after a day hike).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Question inspired by a question on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3823/winter-camping-how-to-warm-up-your-boots-in-the-morning&quot;&gt;warming up your boots in the morning&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T18:27:18.273" Title="How to warm up your cold toes and fingers?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-03-19T07:03:40.720" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm answering my own question to share some knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, cold toes/fingers is serious. You start feeling discomfort, then a little pain, then you stop feeling them and forget about them, then you get them amputated. So you should &lt;strong&gt;constantly check if you can still feel toes and fingers&lt;/strong&gt;, and if not, start to warm them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, I find most effective and easy the following method of heating:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To warm up toes, &lt;strong&gt;swing your leg back-and-forward 30-50 times&lt;/strong&gt;. The movement is done with the whole leg (including the thigh), as wide as possible, and it should be powerful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To warm up your fingers, make similar motion with your arms, except that you can go 360-degree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to make your full 30-50 swings before saying &quot;blah, it's not working&quot;;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens is you warm blood is driven by centripetal force to flow to the extreme parts of your legs/arms: toes and fingers. Normally they don't get much blood in cold conditions, because your body regulation mechanisms try to keep more warmth at the center of the body by thinning peripherial vessels (it's an overreaction).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you weren't feeling your fingers/toes before starting this, warming up might be very painful. So it's better to do 20, small pause to let heat reach frozen tissues, a little screaming, another 20;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: if you weren't feeling your toes or fingers for a long time, things may have gone beyond simple treatment. I'm not sure this method is advised in such situation, because it provides fast heating, and all recommendations for treating serious frostbites prescribe slow heating (also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/42/what-do-i-do-to-prevent-and-treat-frostbite&quot;&gt;this question about frostbites&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T07:03:40.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3836" CreationDate="2013-03-19T08:01:24.537" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main problem with any ratings is that the insulation degrades pretty quickly, at least the synthetic one. Down holds its insulation properties longer, but it’s not perfect either. So the only reliable way to find out the quality of an older bag is spending a night in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T08:01:24.537" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3831" CreationDate="2013-03-19T10:50:29.167" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/alcohol-warms-up.htm&quot;&gt;This was tested and “busted” on MythBusters&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Turns out, just one alcoholic drink could make you feel warmer,  but&#xA;  it actually lowers your core body temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How does alcohol employ this rule of opposites? Alcohol may make  your&#xA;  skin feel warm, but this apparent heat wave is deceptive. A  nip or&#xA;  two actually causes your blood vessels to dilate, moving  warm blood&#xA;  closer to the surface of your skin, making you feel  warmer&#xA;  temporarily. At the same time, however, those same veins  pumping&#xA;  blood closer to the skin's surface cause you to lose core  body heat -&#xA;  the heat you need to survive, especially if you're  stuck in a&#xA;  snowdrift . This effect could lead to fatal hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-15T17:15:09.930" LastActivityDate="2013-10-15T17:15:09.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3843" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3849" CreationDate="2013-03-19T13:07:31.820" Score="8" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I went on a trek to a placed named &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GxWhJSme6A&quot;&gt;Har ki Doon&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. The trek took us around an altitude of 3500 meters(15000 ft). When we were there, our guide advised us not to cover up our ears. According to him, covering up the ears would increase the time required to acclimatize. At the same time, covering up one's ears keeps the body warm. So is there any validity in not covering up the ears at higher altitudes? &#xA;Also, by not covering up the ears, is there a risk of exposing oneself to harmful cold weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T00:24:49.827" Title="Covering up ears at higher altitudes" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3806" CreationDate="2013-03-19T16:01:28.617" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, I would say that maps made by an organization that focuses on the area in question are the most accurate. For instance, here in the Easter USA, I wouldn't head out on the Appalachian Trail without a map from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ATC&lt;/a&gt; or into the Adirondak Mountains without a map from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adk.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ADK&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maps by an organization like this are typically updated annually, and the organization can give you data from others who travel the land by foot about current conditions that any other commercial entity can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To stay with non-profits, local chapters of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://orienteering.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Orienteering Federation&lt;/a&gt; may have created very detailed maps of these areas for their competitions. The symbology is different, but is absolutely geared for someone traversing the area on foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the area doesn't have an organization that maintains the trails there, for a commercial map, I tend to look to &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10742&amp;amp;minisite=10020&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DeLorme&lt;/a&gt; first, as I've used their products for years and trust them. Your mytopo.com also appears to be a good resource.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both of these take the raw USGS terrain data, and aggregate data from other sources to create maps with details more relevant for their customer base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, USGS is the source of all base data for these maps, but the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usgs.gov/aboutusgs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;primary mission of the USGS&lt;/a&gt; isn't to serve hikers. Plus, I find that the standard 7.5 minute quad too large to resolve important details for a hiker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-the-trail/mapping-gis-data&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ATC mapping page&lt;/a&gt; has several more details about companies who create custom topographic maps, as well as sources for raw GIS data that you can combine with your own field survey data to create your own, completely customized maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2032" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T16:01:28.617" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3843" CreationDate="2013-03-19T17:46:12.130" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds like a myth to me. The only thing that could possibly come into play is the pressure inside your head. But in order to hold the pressure inside your head constant, you would have to plug your ears with something air-tight, not open your mouth, et cetera. I can’t see how a beanie hat or something like that could prevent the outside and inside pressures from equalizing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T17:46:12.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3846" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3857" CreationDate="2013-03-19T19:31:12.803" Score="38" ViewCount="155344" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can hike uphill practically all day.  However as very soon after I start a descent, pain builds on the outside of my knee.  What is causing this and can I do anything to prevent/mitigate it (other than Ibuprofen)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  I talked to my doc and the location of the pain is very important in the cause.  Note that this is pain on the outside (side) of the knee specifically, as opposed to pain in the knee or below/under the kneecap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-21T14:01:30.837" LastActivityDate="2016-11-10T15:43:16.780" Title="What is this knee pain when going downhill?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2013-03-19T19:37:38.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had this, too. You're just stressing different ligaments than when traveling uphill. I think it's a matter of getting the right exercise, which is to say, do the same thing on training hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also experienced pain in that area after crossing an ice-cold creek, then hiking after. Alleve is my drug of choice since I can take it at the beginning of the day and it lasts all the way through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-03-19T19:37:38.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2013-03-19T22:32:24.223" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have experienced the same when trail running. &#xA;I can pretty consistently reproduce the symptoms on downhill stretches when running distances that are much longer than my regular runs, when starting to hit the trails again after not running for a while, and when running downhill at a faster pace than I would run uphill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is my hypothesis, meaning I don't have any published facts to back this up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When going uphill we are fighting gravety in a pretty static way. It is not likely that we would go any faster or for longer distances than our muscle-mass permits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When going downhill on the other hand, we have momentum that our muscles have to slow down. Fightling gravety becomes less static and more dynamic, especially with steeper slopes and higher speeds. We can keep going even when our muscles are fatiguing, and we can go faster than our muscles can effectively slow down, which passes the stress of slowing down on to our skeletal system (mainly our joints.) This can be compounded by heavy heal-striking (less cushioning by our muscles) and a heavy pack (providing a larger mass, which increases the momentum.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice would be to take downhill stretches at a much slower pace (on my trail runs I am MUCH slower going downhill than uphill!), avoid steep slopes until you build up the specific muscles you use for descending, don't take as much stuff when moving on steep terrain and transition to a midd-foot-strike when you notice your knee is hurting (a word of caution: practice this! If you are a heavy heel-striker this can be very tiring for your calfs and you can damage your achilles-tendon if you don't strengthen it first.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I take this kind of pain pretty seriously. To me it is a sign that even though I have the conditioning, I am missing the muscles to do what I am doing when my knees hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-21T13:59:47.203" LastActivityDate="2013-03-21T13:59:47.203" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3843" CreationDate="2013-03-20T00:24:49.827" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other tidbits I've heard from local** guides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wearing red increases your risk of being struck by lightning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burning egg shells will anger forest spirits and cause nightmares and illness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The quickest way to heal a compound fracture is to wrap it with raw chicken&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sticking tobacco in your socks will ward off leeches (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/231/how-do-i-avoid-leeches&quot;&gt;this may have some validity&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's half the fun of hiring a local guide - learning the local way of doing things. Of course, to a certain extent you have to use your own judgement. They undoubtedly know a hell of a lot about their region, terrain, and route, but often aren't as up on their principles of science.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in short: No. Covering your ears will not in any way expedite or retard your acclimatization. The forces of atmospheric pressure won't be affected in the least by your head gear -- unless you are wearing a pressure-sealed space-helmet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, not covering up can result in frost nip, or frost bite. Your ear lobes have a high surface area making them lose heat rapidly and thus more susceptible to cold injuries. Cover up, buttercup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**Local to various parts of East and Southeast Asia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T00:24:49.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-03-20T00:40:08.540" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to Steeds self-answer. Other ways to warm up fingers and toes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wiggle your fingers and toes vigorously (while walking, while sitting) - circulation is aided by muscle movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sprint (if you have the extra energy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When not using them, ball your hands up inside your gloves (remove your fingers from the glove fingers and make a fist inside the glove).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold your arms down by your side with your hands extended sideways at 90 degree angles to your arms. Vigorously shrug up and down rapidly. (Weird - but works wonders)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slap your hands together, against your thighs. Kick your feet together. The sharp smack can stimulate circulation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stick your bare hands in your arm-pits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stick your bare feet on a friends stomach (assuming they are nice and toasty)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in camp, and have the time / resources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill a nalgene type (well sealing) water bottle with hot water and hold it in your hands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place a hot water bottle between your thighs where it can warm blood traveling down your femoral artery&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start a fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have planned ahead:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hand and toe warmers (single use, chemical packets that warm up when exposed to air) are a nice emergency measure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T00:40:08.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3851" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3852" CreationDate="2013-03-20T02:33:20.690" Score="12" ViewCount="296" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3730/what-do-you-do-if-the-fire-does-get-out-of-control&quot;&gt;What do you do if the fire does get &amp;quot;out of control&amp;quot;?&lt;/a&gt;, someone asked a legitimate question, and @berry120 wrote detailed response, and ended with a &quot;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; saying, &quot; but if the proper precautions are taken, you should very rarely or never need to resort to them. Prevention is 100x better than cure in this case.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would think a comparison with defensive driving would suggest the right mindset for preventing out-of-control fires. Defensive driving does not assume that every other driver will follow the laws; it is meant to give you best chances when someone is driving like an idiot and deals you a card off the side of the deck. And my impression is that defensive driving is now expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of defensive driving, I expect an attorney could say a lot about, for instance, &quot;A missed turn is much less painful to recover from than an accident.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I wanted to ask: What are the basic approaches, actions, and measures taken to see that what &lt;em&gt;starts&lt;/em&gt; in the fire pit, &lt;em&gt;stays&lt;/em&gt; in the fire pit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T02:10:41.837" Title="What kinds of things are the &quot;defensive driving&quot; equivalent to handling campfires?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3851" CreationDate="2013-03-20T04:45:47.880" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, lets dispel a common myth: Rock fire rings do absolutely nothing to contain, corral, or control a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, a fire needs 3 things: air, fuel, and heat. An overabundance of one will create an uncontrollable fire. Thus, keep the following in mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consult the local fire conditions. Public lands agencies will rate the fire conditions. Heed their warnings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't build a fire in high winds. Sparks can be thrown hundreds of meters into dry tinder and start a fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be aware of fuel nearby - anything organic that touches or is near your fire can combust. Tall grasses, shrubs, even roots that cross from your fire to a fuel source can create issues. Look for overhanging branches above your fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your fire small. There is no need for 10foot flames. Smaller fires have less likelihood of throwing sparks or torching nearby vegetation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burn nothing larger than the diameter of your wrist -- this allows for both a clean burn (no hot logs that you will be tempted to leave behind), and helps keep a fire low &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Break or cut wood so that it fits within your fire -- sticking a 20ft log in one end and burning it down is a bad idea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider using a fire blanket under your fire to reduce the chance of igniting below ground roots (which also reduces fire scars)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider alternatives: a small candle, a lamp. I've backpacked professionally for 15 years and haven't had a fire in the back-country in the last 14.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum: Being &quot;defensive&quot; also means being prepared if all goes south in a hurry. Have water, or a bucket of sand/non-organic soil nearby to help stop spot fires if it escapes your ring. A proper tool (shovel) should be on hand if car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-03-21T19:34:25.853" LastActivityDate="2013-03-21T19:34:25.853" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3832" CreationDate="2013-03-20T04:53:25.143" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having snow stick to the bottom of touring or telemark skis after removing skins is a common occurrence.  You can mitigate it by bringing some glide wax with your or by using a liquid or spray. I keep a little a glide wax that looks like underarm deodorant in the bottom of my avy pack just for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T04:53:25.143" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2013-03-20T07:54:22.327" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a problem with the momentum that your body builds up. While going uphill, you exert force to climb. And the gravity tries to pull you down. While going downhill though, the gravity still pulls you down. Now your body builds up a higher momentum and the default action of your brain is to arrest this momentum(Else you will end up running at an ever increasing pace while going downhill). This means that the force on knees is significantly higher. This is the reason why you might face some pain in your toes as well. Toe and knee take the brunt of the &quot;slow-down&quot; functionality. It's quite normal and the effect is reduced if you take a sideways path than a straight down one. Also walking slow does help. Again, the answer lies in physics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T07:54:22.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3856" CreationDate="2013-03-20T09:05:45.753" Score="25" ViewCount="17417" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of mementos am I allowed to collect from State and National parks in small quantities, if any?&#xA;I am especially wondering about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pebbles, shells, sea-urchin-skeletons, sand-dollar-skeletons (coastal State Parks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pine cones (forested National Parks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cholla-cactus-skeletons, rocks and minerals (desert State and National Parks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it ever OK to take something living to plant at home, like cactus leaves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:44:13.853" LastActivityDate="2020-10-23T09:00:06.300" Title="What kind of mementos, if any, am I allowed to collect from State and National parks in small quantities?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-20T13:05:36.697" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;The old advice is to &quot;Take nothing but pictures, and leave nothing but footprints&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost any amount of memento-taking is going to lead to some kind of impact in anything but the most isolated of areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The details of what is and isn't legal are going to vary with the exact area you're in -in the US,  Wilderness Areas, a national forests, Bureau of Land Management's land, and state forests, all have different governing bodies and different sets of rules.  Even different national parks are allowed to set their own rules.  But I think they &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; prohibit you from taking mementos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, besides all that, I find that in this age of social networking and photo sharing sites, a handful of good pictures can capture the experiences of my trips better than physical stuff does, although that's purely subjective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-08-20T19:08:29.850" LastActivityDate="2013-08-20T19:08:29.850" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2013-03-21T02:55:09.383" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Talked to my doc today during a visit for something else.  It's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/knee-pain/iliotibial-band-syndrome&quot;&gt;Iliotibial Band Syndrome&lt;/a&gt;.  The band of connective tissue that runs along the outside of the knee becomes irritated and inflamed.  It's often caused by over-pronation and poor gait which is exacerbated on the weight bearing leg (not the landing leg) when going downhill.  Once injured, the only good solution is rest and anti-inflammatory medication while it heals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are specific exercises and stretches that will work to prevent the injury.  Specifically you have to stretch the band itself and build the muscles above the knee &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pain from excess force on the downhill would usually present below or in the kneecap, not to the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T14:26:55.687" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T14:26:55.687" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-21T04:11:38.837" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking in the US, you can collect as much as you want from the gift shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, everything else is strictly forbidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-03-21T04:11:38.837" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3830" CreationDate="2013-03-21T09:55:35.823" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well there are many ways to prevent this, the easiest way would be to trim the hair between the paws. You can also buy dog-sock to put on the dog, the best way if you have seen dogs running with dogsleds. And if you really don't want to do either of those options, you can buy paw-grease or paw-vox like &quot;ice on ice&quot;.&#xA;Hope this will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2152" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-05-15T08:34:39.853" LastActivityDate="2015-05-15T08:34:39.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3860" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3861" CreationDate="2013-03-20T19:50:41.137" Score="12" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Switzerland, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slf.ch/lawinenbulletin/lawinengefahr/index_EN&quot;&gt;avalanche forecast twice a day&lt;/a&gt;, at least during the winter months. This forecast reports about potential risky part regions, especially avalanche-prone expositions, and risky altitude ranges. This report is available for every region in Switzerland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something similar for North America? I'm especially interested in the region in and around Yosemite National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" OwnerDisplayName="RoflcoptrException" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T14:08:55.373" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T14:08:55.373" Title="Avalanche forecast in North America?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3860" CreationDate="2013-03-20T20:04:00.790" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are regional Avalanche centers, which report to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.gov&quot;&gt;National Weather Service&lt;/a&gt; so you can find information there.  However, I would stick with the local information centers because most of the time they would get information first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example there are centers in &lt;a href=&quot;https://avalanche.state.co.us/index.php&quot;&gt;Colorado&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nwac.us/&quot;&gt;Northwest US&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://utahavalanchecenter.org/&quot;&gt;Utah&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.org&quot;&gt;Avalanche.org&lt;/a&gt;, which simply provides aggregation all the local reporting agencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Karlson" LastActivityDate="2013-03-20T20:04:00.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3862" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3864" CreationDate="2013-03-21T15:42:04.140" Score="6" ViewCount="988" Body="&lt;p&gt;If carrying a three person tent when backpacking, what's the recommended way to split it up so that the weight is balanced out among all three people going?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-03-24T15:56:53.883" Title="How should we split up a 3 person tent?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3862" CreationDate="2013-03-21T16:18:37.407" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming there won't be three parts of equal weight. Depending on the tent design, you could be talking main room, fly, and poles. You could break it into threes that way, then swap other items to equalize the load. So, if you're carrying the main room, perhaps someone could carry some of your share of the food, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-03-21T16:18:37.407" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3862" CreationDate="2013-03-21T17:05:29.657" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally I find a three person tent small and light enough that you don't need to split it up when backpacking - indeed I find it's much less hassle to keep it all in one place so when you come to put it up, you know exactly where everything is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, I'd advocate balancing the weight via other means - distributing food differently is probably the easiest, but this could work with anything else you're carrying (cooking equipment, clothes, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you must split the tent up, then I'd move the poles and pegs into a separate bag and put that in another pack (but personally I'd make sure you keep them together.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-03-21T17:05:29.657" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3865" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-21T18:10:40.693" Score="9" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know the USGS and many others offer free downloadable raster topo maps for almost anywhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what if I want vector maps using GPS coords?  I'm new to GIS but I would assume there is a de facto free file format that works well for trail and topo maps for backpacking. What are some places I can download such files for free or for pay? I basically want a file that I can easily print or load into a GPS handheld device. Do libraries of such files exist that are as comprehensive as for example the USGS topo map download library or is there just not that much trail data that has been converted to these formats yet? I know there are many sites and apps that show trails but I want a general solution (like a standard file format) that doesn't rely on proprietary services and their particularities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-04-10T15:58:45.750" LastActivityDate="2013-04-10T15:58:45.750" Title="GPS topo map downloads" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-22T17:52:54.083" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my favorite things to collect from National Parks is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Passport_Stamps&quot;&gt;stamp for my park passport&lt;/a&gt;.  There are cancellation stamps in many national parks and sets of full-color stamps you can buy at the gift shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And please take the other answers to heart.  Millions of us enjoy the parks system every year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1949" LastActivityDate="2013-03-22T17:52:54.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-23T01:44:23.240" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a lot of experience with the federal lands, and the rules are pretty much the same between agencies, whether the Bureau of Land Management or the National Park Service or the US Forest Service. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rule is: don't &lt;em&gt;remove&lt;/em&gt; anything. There are some serious consequences, even a felony in some cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can't take rocks or even pine cones. Or flowers. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Parts of animals are also illegal to remove - for example: deer antlers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No disturbing archaeological sites or collecting artifacts. If someone messes with an archaeological site, this is a felony, for example.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with DavidR, in that in this digital era, many things are shared better via video or photograph, as it can be more widely shared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may seem obvious, but this is for the collective good. &lt;strong&gt;Simply put, if we all took a flower, there wouldn't be any or a few flowers.&lt;/strong&gt; I realize sounds overly simple, but the logic applies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure about state lands, but I'm sure similar laws apply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2013-03-23T01:44:23.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3656" CreationDate="2013-03-23T05:44:10.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though there is no scientific answer, you can make use of some experience-based guidelines. They vary much and none is &quot;true&quot;. There are some of our local considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Our club's empirical threshold is 30% of you body weight. Which simply means, that if your pack is heavier than that and you don't have much experience, you should strongly consider either removing some unnecessary items or choosing a shorter trip (so you can carry less food).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Of course this varies wildly and body weight is just one of the variables, along with strengths/fitness/endurance, skll, motivation, age, sex (girls are stronger in %), backpack quality, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In our trips you sometimes have to carry food for about 2 weeks (and all the technical and camping gear), so this 30% guideline is somtimes violated. And our fathers, when things were much heavier, used to carry as much as 50% of their weight. And sherpas routinely carry up to 100%.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacks do damage you health, if they are more then your personal limit. So it's wise to increase it slowly (starting from shorter/easier trips). Note, that heavy backpack needs some skill to put it on right, otherwise you can damage your back before even walking out of the door.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regardless of the limits, if you can make you pack lighter without jeopardizing safety, do it. Poetically, if you pack is 100 g heavier than your friend's, after you come to a camp after a day hike he starts to relax and you first have to run with a 10 kg bucket of water for 5 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum up, I wouldn't recommend having &gt;30% on your first mountaineering trip, but you shouldn't constrain yourself within any particular &quot;theoretical&quot; limit. If you want to stay healthy, listen to your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-03-23T05:44:10.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3870" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3871" CreationDate="2013-03-23T20:09:03.787" Score="13" ViewCount="1915" Body="&lt;p&gt;I picked up a couple fingerboards from the pro shop, and hung them on the rafters in our basement. However, I have no idea what the ropes are for, unless someone might tie the boards to a tree. What are they for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JIKZe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference: The manufacturer provides &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude_rock_ring.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this guide&lt;/a&gt; for training with this kind of board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-11-29T07:18:59.150" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T07:18:59.150" Title="Why are there ropes on fingerboards?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3870" CreationDate="2013-03-23T22:15:11.873" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on how you want to mount your rock rings. I mounted mine like this from a door-jam pull-up bar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MLKpU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rock Rings hanging from Pull-Up bar&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though you could mount them like monkey bars, or any other way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20iLK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rock Ring monkey bars&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea, from a training perspective, is that if the rock rings are hanging from rope you have to expend more effort with your core to keep your body from swinging. And building core strength is important in climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2013-03-23T22:15:11.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3862" CreationDate="2013-03-24T15:56:53.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't split it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not all people on a trip are equally strong.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is a bunch of other group stuff too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at the total group gear when dividing things up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having one person repsonsible for the tent also makes it less likley to have bits left behind.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2013-03-24T15:56:53.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3804" CreationDate="2013-03-24T16:02:42.800" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;How severe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If he has passed through the shivering stage, you are probably going to lose him unless you can get an external source of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If he's at the 'umbles' stage then food, hot drinks, and keep moving it possible is a better course of action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have him warm enough that he has become lucid, then let him sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia beyond moderate cases (uncontrolable shivering has ceased) is hard to deal with in a remote situation.  Prevention is far easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2021-04-19T13:15:51.337" LastActivityDate="2021-04-19T13:15:51.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3875" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-25T20:47:32.423" Score="5" ViewCount="2864" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1788/is-there-anything-that-can-be-done-to-stop-my-insoles-sliding&quot;&gt;Is there anything that can be done to stop my insoles sliding?&lt;/a&gt; has a pretty good answer for semi-permanent solving of insole slippage.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I switch my insoles between two pairs of shoes on a daily basis so two-sided tape isn't a very good solution.  Are there any suggestions for people who need to switch their insoles around?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2159" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-04-18T15:32:34.597" Title="A removeable solution for slipping insoles?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-25T22:39:13.387" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally in a national part, national monument, or official wilderness area in the US, don't take anything.  These areas are managed with preservation being a high or the highest goal.  We simply can't have every human on earth take even a small rock.  All parts of the environment are connected.  No matter how harmless or inconsequential you think some item it, it is meaningful and important to some critter or to the ecosystem as a whole in large enough quantities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rules are different in national forests, which are public resources, although they must be used in a sustainable way.  Some forests allow you to cut a certain amount of firewood, for example, during some season.  Lots of forests allow hunting.  There are areas where you are allowed to collect a certain type of rock.  Some forest allow cutting of christmas trees.  All these activities are regulated and usually limited.  Hunting is only allowed at certain times and for certains species.  The rock collecting is limited to some number or weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is anything you are allowed to collect accross all the forests all the time.  Each forest has their own rules, based on their own management plan.  The bottom line is, assume you can't collect anything in a national forest unless you have asked and know exactly what can be collected under what conditions.  A formal permit may be required, which may cost money.  Penalties for violation can be steep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-03-25T22:39:13.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3875" CreationDate="2013-03-25T22:39:42.810" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;By far the simplest and most hygienic solution is to buy two sets. That way when you change shoes the other pair can breathe and dry out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should be the preferred option. It also means you don't need to worry about what kind of tape to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-03-25T22:39:42.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2013-03-26T11:40:03.477" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dates are the best. Delicious, healthy and durable. When combined with milk I can easily keep going for a week with nothing else. No wonder this combination is the desert nomads's favourite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2160" LastActivityDate="2013-03-26T11:40:03.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3875" CreationDate="2013-03-26T16:06:42.273" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't used this trick for your exact issue but I have used it for similar issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would attach a small amount of velcro to the inside of each shoe and the bottom of the insole. You'll want to be careful with your placement so that it doesn't alter the feel of the insole, which I'm guessing is a big reason you are using them. It should not take much to simply keep the insole in place, maybe a small strip on the front, back, and sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use the same side of velcro on both shoes then you can take the insole out of one and put it into another in a matter of seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2013-03-26T16:06:42.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-03-26T16:43:29.547" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Legally the answer is &amp;quot;nothing&amp;quot; in the National Parks of Canada.  I think the US is similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ethically the best touchstone is the Kantian ethic:  What would be the result of everyone doing this?  As part of that, examine the renewal time, and the numbers of the thing in question and the number of visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g.  Taking the pine cone unless the pine is uncommon seems to me to be fine.  A cone on the ground has already dispersed it's seeds.  A cone is a byproduct.  I'm removing a small amount of carbon from the environment.  If campfires are allowed in an area, then removing a cone is not unreasonable.  I would apply this to common shells on the beach too. They will soon be ground to dust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have several fossils that have come from our provincial forests.  Mountain slopes where the fossil is common, or on eroding river banks.  Tehir lifespan is short, once exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking seeds of wildflowers again is fine -- my rule of thumb is to collect seeds from one plant in a clump of 100 plants, and to do so only a hundred yards from any trail.  Even that would depend on it being a moderately low use area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removal of live plants is rarely successful, unless you have done your homework, understand their environment, and already have a created one back at the lab.  This may be appropriate if you are a serious botanist trying to establish a breeding population of a plant.  Again -- way off the beaten track, and never more than 1% of the visible population from wehre you stand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I have successfully transplanted various alpine plants, and boreal forest plants into my garden.  In each case the source was NOT in a park, but either in a recreation area, provincial forest, or unincorporated district (read: wilderness)  In each of the alpine plants cases, I was over a mile from the nearest trail, and harvested from an abundant colony.  In the boreal case I was some 120 km from the nearest road, in country where, when forced to portage, we had to start by flagging and cutting a trail.  Most people do not understand how untraveled Canada is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A twig, a pebble, I don't see the problem, but I don't see the point either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In response to comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Moving organic matter.  High probability?  No.  Possible? yes.  And the consequences of moving it are serious -- see dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer for examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;National Parks &amp;amp; legality.  Sure it's illegal.  My point is that there has to be a robust population to enable sampling.  If the legality bothers you, move over the the adjacent national forest and find the same environment there and look for your critter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Case in point:  One of the lady slipper orchids is a rare plant, with a lovely purple flower.  One time on a rock in Northern Saskatchewan we stopped for lunch with an acre of these so densely packed that you couldn't sit down without squishing them.  I did not collect a plant, as they don't travel well, and it was a week to civilization.  I did take some soil from the vicinity of the ones that got stepped on, and mixed it into the duff where forest met grassland it on the edge of my woods.  8 years later I had a small colony of orchids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't ahve done even that had I been on one of the standard routes in Northern Saskatchewan.  Routes like the Churchill river get a few dozen or so groups per year.  But routes like the Mujatik, Brustad, or MacFarlane likely don't get more than a few groups per decade.  (When we researched the MacFarlane we were unable to find logs or reports of &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; who had done the top third of it, a report of the Canadian Geological Survey of it having been done in the 1930's for the middle third and a log of someone 20 years prior who had done the bottom quarter.  Asside from that, there as only a mention in J. B. Tyrell's book on Lake Athabasca that mentioned that this was preferred by the local natives as a route to get to what is now Fort McMurray, as it was only a few dozen portages, instead of fighting the current of the Athabasca river for a few weeks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-09-09T21:29:35.550" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T21:29:35.550" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-03-26T16:48:27.827" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fingers and toes cold?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put on your hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously:  You are losing heat faster than you are generating it. Bondy compensates by reducing circulation to the extremities to keep the core warm.  Head has 25% of your blood flowing through it.  Reducing heat loss there, gives you more heat to send to the toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this doesn't work, then add antother layer of clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch for constrictive foot and handware. Anything that fits tighly not only reduces circulation, but you no longer have an air layer next to the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2013-03-26T16:48:27.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3830" CreationDate="2013-03-26T16:51:31.947" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of mushers will 'candle their dogs'.  Use a candle and pass it quickly over the bottom of the paw.  The flame singes the hairs between the toes and is harmless to the dog.  Practice on your arm hairs to get the speed right.  Much faster than trimming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most dogs hate socks and will chew them off as soon as they can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2013-03-26T16:51:31.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3814" CreationDate="2013-03-26T17:13:56.267" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is in the category with swimming pools, and trampolines, and jungle gyms.  There is no way to be completely safe and still have it fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep it close to the ground.  This may mean getting a dozer in to shape the hill.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make for a soft landing.  A foot of sawdust or sand.  Fluff it up with a rototiller now and then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Double or triple pulley.  Don't want a single axle failure to drop someone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A method to lock it so that it can't be used.  (Mostly for liability reasons, but you may have kids that you don't want using it without supervision)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shock absorber at the downhill end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Extensive testing with various weights to see if the speeds are significantly different.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A training bar with a clock.  If it's a 10 second ride, you can't go on it until you can hang from the training bar for 20 seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make the assumption that something happens and the slider stops.  Is it safe to drop off there?  If not, then back to the drawing board.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most ziplines have raised ends, with one end lower.  The uphill on the downhill end slows down the person.  A lighter person tends to travel more slowly, and may stop short of landing point.  This can be adjusted by shortening the cable, moving the low point closer to the landing point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversesly a heavy person may come down too fast and slam into the stop at the end.  Put more slack in the cable.  You can also form a bumper by slitting a hollow core pool noodle, wrapping the bottom end of the cable with it, and then wrapping the noodle with fiber reenforced tape.  This gives a 6 foot bumper.  Again, test thoroughly.  An old matress for 3 on the post at the bottom is also a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perodically schedule an inspection:  Check the slider axles for wear, the cable for wear, the cable splices at the ends, the attachments to the supports at the ends, the landing area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch it in use, seeing of there are 'almost' accidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Liability:  Probably a can of worms.  If your kids want friends over to play, I would require that their parents take a ride on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2013-03-26T17:13:56.267" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-03-27T09:15:11.710" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cold fingers - put them around your &lt;strong&gt;neck&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The neck exhibits excellent blood flow and thus, heating power  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The neck is easily accessible area of the body, unlike armpits, thighs, stomach (with all the layers of clothing)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At least for me, it is not very stressful  to press very cold fingers against the neck, compared to against e.g. stomach.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for cold toes - I would probably try running, if excess energy is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2013-03-27T09:15:11.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3885" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3897" CreationDate="2013-03-27T15:07:52.827" Score="7" ViewCount="4036" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my ongoing effort to cut tent weight we have replaced stakes, changed ground pads, and we're looking at replacing the guylines (no really, it's amazing how much cordage weighs!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what diameter is there a serious concern of the guyline damaging the tent by cutting through the attaching points?  It seems like all tents have basically the same loop material for attaching, so I don't think this would vary much per tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the purposes of this, assume I'm careful and don't mind dodging impossible-to-see guylines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-02-11T16:21:35.503" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T15:31:39.180" Title="How thin is &quot;too thin&quot; for tent guylines?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3885" CreationDate="2013-03-27T15:48:19.833" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't found anything on this looking around, so I'll approach it from a different perspective - why not slide a small piece of thicker material round the thin guyline as a sleeve? You could then keep this sleeve on each guyline, and go as thin as you want to without worrying about it cutting through the attaching point. I would imagine that the tension on the guy line would hold it in place well if it was a snug enough fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-03-27T15:48:19.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3887" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3888" CreationDate="2013-03-27T17:22:28.660" Score="12" ViewCount="1554" Body="&lt;p&gt;Growing up we were always taught to never step straight over a rock or log because it is a good way to step on or startle a snake that you cannot see.  However, on a lot of hiking forums I see it advised to never step ON a log or rock due to the risk of losing your footing and falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is the better practice and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-03-27T20:34:10.783" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T22:02:32.280" Title="Logs &amp; Rocks - Step on or over?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3887" CreationDate="2013-03-27T17:35:31.437" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is one of these subjective topics where there's advantages and disadvantages both ways - I've seen people that will religiously advocate either one of these approaches in all scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd personally scrap both those hard hit rules however and instead promote a knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of each, and an awareness of the surroundings allowing a decision to be made accordingly. If you're in an area where there's lots of wildlife around, especially the aggressive / poisonous variety, then take extra care in watching where you're stepping. If you're in an area with lots of loose rocks, or an area with lots of rocks and it's been raining recently (potentially causing the ground beneath them to become unstable), then only step on rocks if you have to. Both of those are loose, rough rules, but hopefully get the right idea across.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the above only really applies if it's in an area with which you're already familiar - if in doubt, then I'll generally prefer to step on the rock, but only after putting my boot up against it first to check if it feels firm and not too slippery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both approaches have drawbacks, the key is knowing what those drawbacks are and thus being able to calculate for a given scenario what poses the least risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-03-28T13:38:54.023" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T13:38:54.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3885" CreationDate="2013-03-28T15:36:59.820" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use 1 mm dacron cordage from Oware. I use a tarp with loops (not grommets), and have never had a problem with the cordage cutting through anything. The knots I usually use are square knots, figure eights, and tautline hitches. The tautline hitches have a tendency to slip gradually, but not necessarily any more than with any other type of cord. It can be difficult to get knots out of small cord like this. I tie the square knots singly slipped to make them easier to get out. The cord is plenty strong. I've been using it for years, and have never had any problem with the strength of the cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also seen 2 mm dyneema tent cord with some kind of (presumably nylon) mantle that was reflective. I bought a small piece to play with it, but haven't used in for tarping. It was expensive. The reflective mantle makes it easier to see the stuff in the dark. Dyneema is super strong, so this type of cordage might be worth looking into if you're concerned about your tent holding up to very high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-03-28T16:26:30.317" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T16:26:30.317" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3860" CreationDate="2013-03-28T15:52:59.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically the answer to your question is no, unless you're in very specific areas doing very specific activities. US wilderness areas are much bigger, much less accessible, and much less populated and developed than the Alps. You can get information, but it typically won't be very informative about specific places at specific times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in California, the available information tends to be for areas near ski resorts. This may be useful for certain very specific activities, such as taking a ski lift up a mountain, then leaving the resort and skiing or snowboarding down in a nearby area. Some people call this &quot;sidecountry&quot; skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking and mountaineering in wilderness areas, a good rule of thumb is the following simple checklist: (1) Has there been more than 6 inches (15 cm) of snow in the last 48 hours? (2) Is the slope angle, determined from a topo map, more than about 30-35 degrees (or is the area bare of old-growth trees)? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, don't go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general,  practice avalanche avoidance, not avalanche safety; plan at home. Don't succumb to social factors, such as going somewhere because you've already committed yourself do doing it with your friends, or going somewhere because other people seem to be doing it. Don't assume it's safe to go somewhere because you've been there before and it was OK then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also take an avalanche safety course. However, the evidence seems to be that these courses are not effective in reducing people's chances of getting killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some good scientific info is available in  &quot;Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidents,&quot; Ian McCammon, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T15:52:59.360" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3885" CreationDate="2013-03-28T16:01:04.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is probably to switch out all your cordage and attach something like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.clamcleat.com/products/line-lok-cleats.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LineLock&lt;/a&gt; to each tie-down point.  Those things will grip even really tiny cordage like Spectra (which is definitely a good choice for your lines).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=93&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;online store&lt;/a&gt; that sells them as a package (bonus, their spectra cord is very bright).  Well worth the effort to switch it out on your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to that store (which I've bought from before with no issues, FWIW), 12 LineLocks + 60' of cord will be 1.65oz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;: An alternative that I've used to those LineLocks is another product made by the same company called a LineLoc3 (sold &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/spectra_cord.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).  The nice thing about these ones is that you would attach them to your tent (the other ones are usually closer to your stakes) and then if you find your tent sagging or billowing in the wind, you can reach the tensioner from inside the tent to tighten it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case, you have to choose cordage that won't slip.  Both stores I've linked to here sell a specific cord diameter that is known not to slip in the locks they are selling.  It seems that Line Locks work on the thinnest stuff and LineLoc3s on slightly thicker cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-02-11T16:20:54.023" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T16:20:54.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3875" CreationDate="2013-03-29T00:14:57.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use the removable sticky stuff that teachers use to hang stuff on walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T00:14:57.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3893" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3895" CreationDate="2013-03-27T19:32:22.897" Score="16" ViewCount="5626" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it legal to camp in unmarked areas in United States national forests? I'm specifically thinking of Utah/Idaho if state makes any difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2175" OwnerDisplayName="Ben Walker" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:43:09.900" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:43:09.900" Title="Camping in (US) national forests" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3893" CreationDate="2013-03-28T02:02:29.523" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the US national forests you can find most of what you will need on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/map/state_list.shtml&quot;&gt;US Forest Service&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/uwcnf/recreation/camping-cabins&quot;&gt;Uintah-Wasatch-Cache&lt;/a&gt; you can use this link and it will have the information about the various camping possibilities.  From Cabins, Group, RV as well as wilderness camping including the required information on camping regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Karlson" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T02:02:29.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3893" CreationDate="2013-03-28T04:53:39.013" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backcountry camping in US national forests is free. There is the option of using a fee based campground as well. If you end up going backcountry camping, set up a good distance from established hiking trails and water sources(for animals). Bury human waste 6 inches below and pack out all trash. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Ankit" LastActivityDate="2013-03-28T04:53:39.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3893" CreationDate="2013-03-29T05:02:43.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping regulations will vary according to area and land designation (wilderness, travel restricted, winter closures, etc...). Always check with the local Ranger District to get the details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, there are a few general principles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vehicle Camping:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part, you are allowed to &quot;dispersed camp&quot; in any United States National Forest unless there is a specific regulation prohibiting it (special use area, conservation area, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means is, you can pull your car off a forest service wherever there is an established turn-out and camp. You can not, however, drive off into an undisturbed area and set up camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping is usually limited to 14 days, after which you are required to move at least 2 miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dispersed camping is free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Back-country (foot) Camping&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking in, you have even more options. Again, in general, you are free to set up wherever you like, however some areas might have regulations in effect encouraging visitors to practice &quot;Leave No Trace&quot;. For example, while it is ALWAYS a bad idea to camp within 100 feet of a stream or lake, in some forests it may be illegal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as good practice, it is better to camp in areas that already impacted -- unless that impact is minor, and stands a chance of full recovery if you do not camp there. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/426/is-it-better-to-camp-in-a-disturbed-area-or-pick-a-new-spot-and-let-the-first-r&quot;&gt;this discussion&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more discussion about the different public lands and what is allowed, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1819/when-do-i-need-a-permit-to-go-into-nature&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T05:02:43.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3885" CreationDate="2013-03-29T05:18:16.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the original question: At no point is the cord so small that you need to seriously worry about it cutting through the attachment points. Unless you pulling it through at high speed under pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under normal use conditions there is not enough friction at these points to cut through (even if high winds) and simply being small won't make it blast through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned, wrap a bit of duct-tape around the attachment point, and watch for wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Caveat:&lt;/em&gt; The issue I have found, is I have not come across a super-thin cordage that does not have a significant amount of stretch. Nothing I've tried can keep my &lt;strike&gt;tarp&lt;/strike&gt; tent as taut as parachute (or 550) cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T05:18:16.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3898" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-03-29T15:22:05.463" Score="9" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am lucky enough to live within an hour of several cities (or large towns) on Lake Ontario, and near &quot;cottage country&quot; which is full of lakes. I'm considering a learn-to-sail program this summer. A quick search reveals a large array of possibilities, all requiring about an hour's drive each way. Some of the distinguishing features among them are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the size of the boat you're learning on. I think I would prefer dinghies (14 foot) to the 20+ and even 40+ foot options at some places. How different is the experience? Can you learn more easily on a big stable boat, then apply that to a dinghy, or vice versa?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the size of the lake - Lake Ontario behaves very differently than a small cottage lake, I'm sure, but I don't know precisely how they would differ&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the likelihood that I would want to join the club or association that offers the lessons, and use their facilities after the lessons are over&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the schedule. Once a week all summer, 6 consecutive evenings, 3 full days, and so on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not looking for recommendations of specific clubs. I am looking for &lt;strong&gt;the relative importance of these factors&lt;/strong&gt; to the overall experience of taking the lessons. I am reasonably hard to train - if I can't follow what's going on I get angry and stop wanting to participate, but if I feel I'm being patronized or the level is too introductory I tune out. Spending hundreds of dollars on a training course that I bail on partway through, or that is not fun at all, is something I want to avoid. Feeling stupid because I can't follow instructions everybody else can follow, or do something that a mere child can do, or that I should know how to do because I knew it when I was 12 (and could sail a dinghy alone) is the major reason I would resist doing this. The typical summer camp experience where the counselor talks for 5 minutes, then sticks everyone in boats and some of them are great at it and one person is stuck up against the bushes and can't seem to get turned around and is just melting down and has to be rescued but doesn't end up actually being able to work the boat - that's the situation I desparately want to avoid. If a particular size of boat or lake, or pace of training, or qualification of the offering organization, can contribute to the success of this project, I would like to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some experience as a child with very small boats and a little with a 26 footer. I don't like engines. I believe I might enjoy using a boat that is small enough to actually land somewhere, and there are plenty of lakes in Ontario, whether a small cottage lake that you can see across, or something bigger like Georgian Bay or the Thousand Islands, that we could sail on if we wanted to. We could also try renting a small sailboat (again, small enough that you don't anchor and row ashore in a dinghy, but you pull up on the beach or to a dock) in more far flung places like the South Pacific as part of a larger trip. A picnic on a deserted isle or a tootle around a lagoon would be lovely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T22:24:49.570" Title="How would you evaluate sailing lessons for adults?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3898" CreationDate="2013-03-29T15:49:52.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have the option, small boats give you the best feel for how sails work and how changes in  trim affect the boat and your course, so at least start on a small boat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, taking a few full days will help far more than a bunch of evenings. You develop a feel for sailing over time so for your initial training, intensive is a good thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Growing up in a very windy part of the Atlantic Ocean I would suggest a larger lake well give you more experience of decent wind and waves, although I'm guessing you won't get tides. This is good experience and good fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distance to your house is important but not essential. You may get hooked and knowing where you can get to quickly for an evening's sailing is useful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the best with it - I have been sailing for 35 years now, taught at an RYA sailing school 23 years ago, and am hoping to get all the kids into it over the next year now the youngest is a strong swimmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T15:49:52.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3893" CreationDate="2013-03-29T16:25:55.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping regulations vary significantly between different national forests.  The only way to know what is allowed is to ask each forest you plan to visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in the White Mountain National Forest of NH, car camping is highly restricted.  It is only allowed in designated areas and along a very limited few roads.  The designated sites are mostly in fee-based camps where you get a parking spot, grill, flat place for the tent, trash cans and restrooms nearby, etc.  There are a limited number of free spots along a mostly obscure dead-end road that are just a place to pull out.  These are termed &quot;undeveloped&quot; and are strictly first-come first-served.  Don't show up Friday or Saturday evening during the summer or fall and expect to find a spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry camping is allowed in the WMNF more freely, but there are restrictions, like you must be 1/4 mile from the trail, group limits in the wilderness areas, and various exclusion zones.  Penalties for getting caught where you're not supposed to be can be stiff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the reason the WMNF has to be so restrictive is because they get a lot of visitors relative to the land area.  It's only 2-3 hours drive from Boston and other populated areas, and the only area for a long ways with tall enough mountains for the tops to be above tree line.  There are also a lot of roads thru the area that people have to use for ordinary purposes having nothing to do with the forest.  The restrictive rules are to give people access but to keep the place from getting destroyed.  In my opinion, they do a pretty good job of ballancing the demands, which also include commercial ski and lumber operations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, the much larger national forests in much less densly populated areas can afford to be more liberal.  The first time I visited the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in AZ, I went to the ranger station to ask about camping regulations as my first order of business.  They looked at me kindof funny and it took a while for them to comprehend the question, since you are pretty much allowed to camp anywhere and nobody ever asks them.  Eventually one of them actually said &quot;just don't camp in the middle of a road&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The combined contiguous area of the Kaibab, Coconino, Apach-Sitgreaves, Tonto, and Gila National Forests exceeds that of Massachusetts, but far fewer people live in the vicinity.  The rules are lax because they can afford to be.  Everyone can camp mostly where they want to and it's not causing a problem, so no need to regulate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have experience with the forests you mention in ID.  But, what I'm trying to point out is that you shouldn't assume anything.  Ask.  Probably the rules will be more on the lax side considering size, remoteness, and nearby population, but unless you ask you can't be sure.  There will probably be some local specific restrictions that you need to know about, even if most areas are generally open.  Some restrictions can also vary be season, weather, and perceived threat of fire, so can change on the fly.  Again, you have to ask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T16:25:55.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3887" CreationDate="2013-03-29T16:46:18.953" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stepping on a rock during a hike is always riskier than that of stepping &quot;Over&quot; a rock/log. I must have lost my footing a gazillion times trying to step &quot;On&quot; a rock. Regarding startling a snake/critter, most of the times, stepping on a rock &quot;does not&quot; guarantee that you are not going to startle the critter! So better step over a rock/log and prevent a roll down the hillside :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-03-29T16:46:18.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3898" CreationDate="2013-03-30T02:17:46.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the sounds of it, to develop all the skills you are interested in, you are not going to learn them all with a single class. Additionally, it will likely take several years to hone your skills to a point that you can depend on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For learning how to harness the wind, it is better to learn on a smaller boat. Something like a sunfish, laser, or a Hobie 16 catamaran is ideal. Because of the light weight of the boat, it will give better, more immediate feedback to how well you are operating your sails. A Sunfish, with only you in it, will only weigh maybe 300 pounds or so, and is capable of stopping almost immediately if you dump your sails or improperly turn upwind. A much larger boat, weighing 2000 pounds or more, if you have decent speed can easily coast through a shoddily performed turn, and while it can be a little more forgiving in easy weather, it comes at a result of making it harder to develop core sailing technical skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, smaller boats don't have as much inertia, so you can be a bit more aggressive and try more difficult maneuvers, and capsizing them is virtually a non-issue. The smaller boats are also less expensive. You'll be much more willing to push the boundaries of your skill with an $1,500 boat than an $80,000 yacht.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as lake size goes, it isn't terribly important, anything about a square mile in size or more is sufficiently large for a small boat like a sunfish. If you are honing your technical skills, you're going to be tacking or gybing virtually non-stop. Obviously, if you are learning on a huge 40 foot yacht, you're going to need a bigger lake. In my opinion, smaller is better than bigger for learning base technical skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you start moving on to bigger boats, you don't so much learn more 'sailing' skills, you learn mariner skills. The new stuff you learn isn't about capturing wind, but of navigation, rights of way, maintaining equipment on your boat, handling sleeping while at sea, and more. The sails get bigger, but their basics of operation are mostly the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to end there, because I don't want to write a novel on going from complete novice to master of the seas. Once you are capable and confident to sail around a small lake from any point to any other point, in a wide range of weather, you'll know what you'll need to learn and work on to make a trip to Ontario or elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-03-30T02:17:46.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2013-03-30T13:45:24.820" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep it in a flask - very cold water so it is basically ice crushed a lot, enough to make it look like water; or&#xA;ice cubes in a flask under a sleeping bag or in a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2172" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2013-03-30T14:53:39.840" LastActivityDate="2013-03-30T14:53:39.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-03-30T14:23:36.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one's mentioned this yet, so I'll throw this out there: at least for my fingers/hands, I find breathing on them helpful (not blowing on them like you would soup, but the kind of breath that you'd use to fog up glasses before cleaning them). Obviously harder to do for toes/feet, but easy for the hands, espcially if you can't swing your arms for some reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastActivityDate="2013-03-30T14:23:36.503" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2013-03-31T02:58:39.357" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of people have posted answers saying what they like to eat. However, the OP asked a very specific question, which was: &quot;What is the most efficient food to take a for a 12-15 day hiking trip? [...] Assume I have no taste at all and don't care about eating the same tasteless thing every day if necessary.&quot; She specifically stated that her only criterion was efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By this criterion, there is one very well-defined answer to her question, which is that she should bring food that is purely composed of fat. Fat has an energy density of 9 kcal (37 kJ) per gram. This is a pretty good approximation for all fats. If you look around for pure-fat foods with very little water in them, basically all you find is cooking oils such as olive oil. For comparison, granola is about 3 kcal/g (12.5 kJ/g), oatmeal 2 kcal/g (8.4 kJ/g), cookies 6 kcal/g (25 kJ/g). So by the stated criteria, the OP should put a large jug of olive oil in her pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use calories per liter as your figure of merit, you get about the same answer: cooking oil. This is because oil is about twice as dense as most foods that you'd actually want to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I recommend a diet of pure olive oil for a 2-week backpacking trip? Of course not, but that just shows that the OP needs to state more realistic criteria. Not only would any human be miserable on this diet, but carbs serve as the primer for fat metabolism. The human body can't digest fat without having carbs as well. Without any carbs, you get ketosis. See, e.g., McArdle, Exercise physiology: energy, nutrition, and human performance, 1986.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good starting point in setting more realistic criteria would be to decide on some balance of fats, carbs, and protein. A standard recommendation is about 50% of calories from carbohydrates, 35% from fat, 15% from protein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-05-24T16:03:00.280" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T16:03:00.280" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3906" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3908" CreationDate="2013-03-31T23:19:31.587" Score="11" ViewCount="13243" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once a leech is attached, what is the proper way to remove it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm assuming that the method would generic for all leeches, but if there are special kinds, please note that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T13:18:41.240" Title="How should I remove a leech?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3835" CreationDate="2013-04-01T06:10:31.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary advantage of higher fill power down is that it is warmer per ounce (or gram) than down of a lower fill power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had two nearly identical sleeping bags: same shell material, same weight of down, but one had 850 fill power down and the other had 700, the 850 fill power would be about 3˚F warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More insight into this and backing for my results can be seen at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=33188&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Down Fill Power Impact on Quilt Temp Rating&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T22:21:09.143" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T22:21:09.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3906" CreationDate="2013-04-01T12:44:59.653" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to think I knew the answer to this, from having a couple of very small leeches, but this guidance from wildmadagascar.com is quite comprehensive:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Identify the anterior (oral) sucker which will be found at the small end of the leech.Put your finger on your skin adjacent to the oral sucker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gently but firmly slide your finger toward the wound where the leech is feeding. Using your fingernail, push the sucker sideways away from your skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you have dislodged the oral sucker, quickly detach the posterior (rear) sucker (the fat end of the leech). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try flicking the leech or prodding with your fingernail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you work to remove the leech, it will attempt to reattach itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the wound clean -- minor cuts in tropical climates can quickly become infected. The leech itself is not poisonous. The wound will itch as it heals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some popular methods of removal that are definitely not advised, including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;holding a flame or a cigarette to the leech&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;using salt, vinegar, alcohol, cola etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These will cause the leech to quickly detach, but it will also regurgitate its stomach contents into the wound, possibly introducing disease!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-04-01T16:47:01.407" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T16:47:01.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3909" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3917" CreationDate="2013-04-01T14:22:49.380" Score="17" ViewCount="22655" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year my wife and I rented a couple of SOT kayaks and used them to paddle around our local lake. We enjoyed it so much we have decided to purchase our own this year.&#xA;We are looking at some entry level kayaks to use at the lakes and rivers here in Illinois. &#xA;I am also an avid fisherman and I would like to get a fishing kayak but I don't know if there is a difference, performance wise, between a fishing kayak and a touring/recreational kayak. I don't want to struggle to keep up with my wife if we decide to kayak for 4 to 5 hours on a river or lake.&#xA;Would I be able to use a fishing kayak like a regular touring/recreation kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2174" LastEditorUserId="356" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T01:29:58.320" LastActivityDate="2015-10-29T06:41:32.137" Title="Is there a difference in performance between a fishing kayak and touring kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2013-04-01T15:03:10.833" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ben's answer above is good.  I wish I could give him more than just one upclick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rules of thumb:&#xA;Carbs and proteins run 3.5 to 4 calories per gram.  Fats run aobut 9 calories per gram.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Working hard, especially in cold weather, you can tolerate a lot of fat in your diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When planning food for teenagers, I figured on 4000 calories per day. &#xA;This is sufficient for days with 8-9 working hours per day.  (Pretty hard core compared to most recreational use.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a 40% fat content diet, each hundred grams of food with provide 40 * 9 + 60 * 4 = 360 + 240 = 600 calories.  So it would take 700 grams of food per day -- about a pound and a half.  Our meals tended to be lower fat than that, and a rough rule of thumb was 2 lbs dry weight per person per day.  This allowed for things like cheese and peanut butter which have moderate water content, but also have fats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two pounds per day means that the groceries for a 15 day trip are 30 lbs. With the high fat option (LOTS of nuts, lots of cooking oil) There really isn't getting around that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, as others have pointed out, you need to make the rest of your gear light, and minimize the parasitic weight (packageing) of your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do trips frequently, set up your food in a spread sheet.  I had one in which I figured on the weight/volume per serving, had a constant for the number of people in the trip, another constant for the class of trip, and the spread sheet would figure out the packing weight/volume for everything.  This makes things a BUNCH easier when packing for an expedition of 30 people for 3 weeks in the wild waters of northern Saskatchewan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One aside:  An external frame pack is considerably easier when handling lots of weight.  They tend to be wider and flatter, so keep the load closer to your own centre of mass.  They are however a true PITA in brushy country, as the extra width and exposed corners catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In response to a request, here is the link to my planning spreadsheet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zruHUUSo3DKYsPLbBe6PKTI35PIXRgKIrsEZsjJ7TU4/edit?usp=sharing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zruHUUSo3DKYsPLbBe6PKTI35PIXRgKIrsEZsjJ7TU4/edit?usp=sharing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GREEN cells are filled in by formula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sheet has 4 tabs: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gear (I can provide, is stuff I have extra of that I was able to rustle up for my nephew)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Menu&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ingredients.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You MUST be consistent in the names used on the Menu and Ingrediants tabs, or the VLOOKUPs don't work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to change the quanties, use the Ingrediants tab and change the serving size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can copy and modify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario:  My nephew was flying out from the east to do a trip with me.  He was 19, fit and about 140 pounds.  I am on the wrong size of 65, not as fit, and was 175 pounds.  Our packs were 40 pounds each.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Willmore wilderness is variable in terrain and climate.  Snow can happen any month of the year.  Trails are mostly horse trails.  No bridges.  Lots of stream crossings below timberline, and bogs in passes.  You just live with wet feet.  Our route was about 1/3 half century old logging roads, a third horse trail, and a third bushwhacking, and time above tree line.  We covered about 120 km in 6 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We divided our lunch into two lunches, typically about 3 hours apart.  We got onthe trail around 8, would have first lunch at 10:30 to 11, and second lunch around 2:00.  We would camp between 6 and 7.  This year there were heavy fires in B.C. and the sunlight ranged from yellow to orange.  At times views were lost in the smoke under a mile away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mention this to give context to the gear list on the linked spreadsheet, and so that you can adjust quantities for your activity level.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T14:33:31.293" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T14:33:31.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3656" CreationDate="2013-04-01T15:22:05.477" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to apply the 30% rule, and for out of shape adults it works pretty well.  But I worked with teenage males, ranging from the 70 lb dripping wet grade 7 to the 160 lb lean as a rake grade 12 just starting to come into his adult strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in between were a bunch of butter balls.  They were already carrying excess weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those older boys (which we shamelessly used as pack mules on trips with the younger ones) would quite easily carry 80 lb packs.  And Ive heard of climbers doing the same on journeys to base camp.  Those 70 lb grade 7's didn't have much trouble with a 30-35 lb pack either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the rule I came up with was 50% of lean body mass. In practice we took an eyeball look and categoried like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visible ribs.  50%&#xA;Can see muscles, but not bones.  40%&#xA;Layer of baby fat  30%&#xA;Obvious Molson Muscles overhanging belt line:  25%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small plump kids could barely carry their own clothes and gear.  We made a point of finding something bulky but not massive so they would still feel like they were contributing to the group.  Egg noodles and scalloped potatoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on the trip, we sometimes had to shift things around.  The goal was to equalize the discomfort.  This estimation rule usually meant we only had a couple of individuals whose load we had to lighten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can train yourself to carry heavier loads.  When I was in university, I borrowed a couple of lead bricks (35 lbs each) and kept them in the bottom of my book bag.  Had to restich the bag every few months -- they aren't designed for that kind of weight.  I lived a mile from campus, and biked or walked to class.  (Warning: Biking with a pack that heavy is very odd) The key is that you develop habits of posture that minimizes the pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While daily work this way is best, setting up a pack at 40% and carrying it for an hour or so at a time on walks in the park. (wear the shoes you will on the hike too.) will help, either by training you to the higher weight, or by motivating you to leave stuff at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T15:22:05.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3909" CreationDate="2013-04-01T19:47:22.420" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used a touring kayak for fishing, and it works out ok.  You can rig up a rod holder in your cockpit, but paddling is a bit awkward, though this is probably also a problem with any kayak used for fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be somewhat difficult to use a fishing kayak on overnight trips given that most fishing kayaks are sit on top (SOT) and have no internal storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2176" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T19:47:22.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3914" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-04-01T22:02:15.150" Score="6" ViewCount="1652" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a hike in the White Mountains of California; see also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3634/566&quot;&gt;this related question&lt;/a&gt;.  So far, all my hiking have either been day hikes in the densely populated hikes, or treks for up to three weeks in the mountains of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1pmi_%28area%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sápmi&lt;/a&gt; (where the only significant risks are river crossings and getting lost).  Hiking in desert mountains in spring will certainly be a different experience, requiring additional considerations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/226/566&quot;&gt;As an experienced backpacker in the Eastern US, what should I know before hiking in the Western US?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; inquires what an eastern US backpacker should know in the western US, and probably all those points apply to me as well (&lt;em&gt;although coming from Europe, there may be points an eastern-US backpacker would be aware of, but not me...&lt;/em&gt;).  An answer raises three points: Altitude, Wildlife, and Weather.  The altitude and wildlife points clearly apply directly to me.  My question is specifically about wildlife.  Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/263/566&quot;&gt;from the answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Be aware of what [wildlife] each region has and how to identify and deal with them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=754&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness.net describes the White Mountains&lt;/a&gt;, including one sentence about wildlife:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The variety of steep terrain, rolling plateaus, and deep canyons makes for excellent habitat for desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope and mule deer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering backpacking practices, do I need to take any specific consideration of those animals?  Are there other animals that I need to take into consideration, such as bears or pumas?  Do they live in the desert at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YhpvV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pronghorn antelopes&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;I may be naive not to expect any dangers from these pronghorn antelopes. Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pronghorn_run_-_Flickr_-_USDAgov.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA via Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:19:56.127" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:19:56.127" Title="Dealing with wildlife in the desert of California/Nevada in general and in the White Mountains in particular" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3914" CreationDate="2013-04-01T23:54:08.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several concerns&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rodents.  Unlike the eastern US, rodents in the West are much more likely to carry Hanta virus and Bubonic plague.  These are not common, but unlike the Eastern US, they are also not unheard of.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scorpions.  Scorpions in the east are a minor annoyance.  Some of the Western ones kill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wild Horses.  Again, unheard of in the east, they are quite dangerous if provoked.  Do not approach them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snakes. While eastern diamondbacks are dangerous, the western one are both more prevalent and more dangerous.  That being said, they are generally easy to avoid by watching where you walk.  In addition there are sidewinders, coral snakes, and a half dozen or more other species of rattlesnake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Bears.  Follow standard bear precautions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain Lions.  Mountain Lion's will generally not attack you as long as you do not act like prey by running.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coyotes.  Coyotes &lt;em&gt;almost&lt;/em&gt; never attack people.  Inevitably someone will tell you that they never do, but they do in certain scenarios.  Generally if they are desperate with hunger and you are alone.  However they are easy to frighten and not generally a real concern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I based this off of western arid regions and the Sierras, not having lots of experience directly in the White Mountains)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-04-01T23:54:08.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3909" CreationDate="2013-04-02T00:55:35.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend checking out something like Hobie's Mirage pedal driven kayaks. With their spiffy pedal drive, you can trivially outrun(outpedal?) just about anyone while hardly breaking a sweat. Additionally, because you power yourself with your feet, your hands are free for fishing. The mirage drive is also quiet as a corpse. No splashing sounds from your paddles, whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A guy I know has one of their fishing-specific models, and loves it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you ever want to go on an overnight camping adventure via your kayaks, the storage capacity of the Hobies is pretty bad, and while in general portaging kayaks is no fun, portaging a Hobie kayak would be especially miserable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, you could try getting a tandem traditional kayak. Perhaps you can sweet-talk your wife into paddling while you fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-04-02T00:55:35.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3909" CreationDate="2013-04-02T01:03:58.530" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there is definitely a performance difference between different types of kayaks. In fact, there are performance differences among the same types of kayaks. For example, a 14-foot kayak will always track more straightly than a 10-foot kayak. A wide recreational kayak will always have more primary stability than a narrower touring kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you both get the same type of kayak I suspect you'll find they work differently for each of you. No doubt you both do not weigh the same -- if you're heavier, a given kayak will sit lower in the water than for her. That may result in increased stability, or it could mean that you capsize easily. Alternatively, consider height and armspan: if she's short she may find it difficult to paddle in a wide rec kayak where the paddle is constantly bumping the edge of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: you should each look for a kayak that suits you. That means you will see performance differences between the two kayaks, but if the boats really do suit each of you, that won't be a problem because you've found something that fits well. As to a fishing kayak specifically, if you get a longer kayak than her you'll likely be able to keep up with her on a day trip (though at the expense of maneuverability).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, keeping up with a partner is about more than the just the kayak. The paddle will also make a difference (especially its weight as it relates to your fatigue), and paddling technique can be a big difference between feeling good at the end of an outing and feeling whipped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="356" LastActivityDate="2013-04-02T01:03:58.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3914" CreationDate="2013-04-02T23:59:20.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the northeast US, but have done a bunch of hiking in the desert of AZ and NM.  Big animals aren't really the problem.  Most everything like that will run away from you.  Camping with bears around is something you have to think about, but that is not really different from New England.  In fact, you're quite unlikely to bump into a bear in the desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest animal issues are probably rattlesnakes and scorpions.  Don't just grab a rock on the ground and turn it over like you can do here in New England.  There could be something unpleasant hiding from the sun under it.  The same goes for any other crack or crevice.  Be careful what may be in a hollowed out section of ground under a log or rock or in a tree crack.  Don't ever reach into something where you can't see everything that could be in there.  Rattlesnakes wait out the day in crevices like that, and don't like you reaching at them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the biggest issue is liquid.  The amount of liquid you can carry is what limits how far you can go in the desert, not your stamina.  Don't just bring water.  You sweat a lot and lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes that way.  You will feel weak and nauseous after a while, even if you've been drinking plenty of water.  In fact, drinking too much water flushes out more electrolytes and makes things worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first time I did any serious hiking in the desert, I took plenty of water.  After all, it was the desert.  I made sure to stop regularly and drink, and I was drinking enough to not feel thirsty.  After maybe 2-3 hours, I started feeling weak, much more so than any exertion or the heat could explain.  At that point I was around 5 miles in, so I turned around.  Things got worse, so I made sure to drink some water regularly and kept plodding on.  At about 1 mile from the car, I felt really crappy.  There was a small area of a intermittent stream where there was enough moisture for a few trees to grow and provide some shade.  I sat down for a while in the shade and drank some more water.  Then I really felt crappy, so a I layed down on the sand in the shade for a while.  A few minutes later I actually threw up.  I waited there for a while but didn't feel better, so there was nothing left to do but drag myself the last mile or so back to the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I got to the car I turned on the air conditioner, which is something I otherwise never do.  That didn't help much, and I still felt nauseous and weak and starting to get a little dizzy.  That's when it finally dawned on me that I had been losing electrolytes, and worse, had actually been flushing more of them out by drinking more than I really needed to.  I drove carefully 10 miles to the nearest store, got a quart of Gatorade, and drank it slowly over 15 minutes or so.  That made me feel better.  Then I went to a visitor center maybe 10 miles away and hung out inside there for a while.  About 2 hours after drinking the Gatorade I felt fine again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that, I make it a point to only hike with diluted Gatorade when it's hot.  The first thing I do when I get to AZ every year is get one of those large tubs of Gatorade powder.  From then on, all I drink is water with some of that powder mixed in, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the strength it says in the directions.  I haven't had any problem like that first time again, and I've been doing this every summer for ten years now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2013-04-06T23:38:38.027" LastActivityDate="2013-04-06T23:38:38.027" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3919" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3924" CreationDate="2013-04-03T02:36:37.533" Score="9" ViewCount="344" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend wants to do an overnight on the grand canyon this summer.  We are experienced hikers in pretty good shape.  However we've &lt;em&gt;NEVER&lt;/em&gt; hiked out west, much less the Grand Canyon.  What are the key things we should be careful of that we wouldn't think of as hikers in the Eastern US?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-30T08:14:51.187" LastActivityDate="2014-04-30T08:14:51.187" Title="Advice for first Grand Canyon Hike for Eastern Hikers" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3919" CreationDate="2013-04-03T05:57:04.893" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(1) Do not try ...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sign on the rim (2003 - probably still there).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'll have a photo of it somewhere.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Here it is - a peep of the river from the rim. &#xA; The Colorado is clearly visible below, and does not seem &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; far away.&#xA;[Cropped from a larger image so probably 400mm lens equivalent shot]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2GqLB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;DO NOT attempt to walk to the river and back in one day!!!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eK5Ic.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;warning sign&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.examiner.com/article/grand-canyon-hiking-101-who-are-the-grand-canyon-psar-rangers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.examiner.com/article/grand-canyon-hiking-101-who-are-the-grand-canyon-psar-rangers&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(2) Be aware ... :-)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sign at rim.&lt;br&gt;&#xA; It pictures an athletic looking young man, back pack on, eager-beaver look on face:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the people that we have to rescue from the Canyon look like this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An all-rights-reserved (so it can't be pasted here) picture of this sign is at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/redbeardmathpirate/4583270568/sizes/l/in/photostream/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.flickr.com/photos/redbeardmathpirate/4583270568/sizes/l/in/photostream/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[A newer sign than in 2003 - but the same message].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2179" LastEditorUserId="2179" LastEditDate="2013-04-24T05:29:44.760" LastActivityDate="2013-04-24T05:29:44.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3865" CreationDate="2013-04-03T18:14:55.970" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Below are some resources for US vector data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The links do provide gdb format downloads that will drop into a garmin for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The format that you are looking for is a shapefile though.  Those are the most standardized format for vector data sets but are very clumsy to work with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fsgeodata.fs.fed.us/vector/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://fsgeodata.fs.fed.us/vector/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/landmanagement/gis/?cid=STELPRDB5327840&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/landmanagement/gis/?cid=STELPRDB5327840&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/r5/landmanagement/gis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/r5/landmanagement/gis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastActivityDate="2013-04-03T18:14:55.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3914" CreationDate="2013-04-03T23:04:06.967" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers have great information. I would add some specifics that I have learned from living and backpacking all over Arizona and the white mountains for most of my life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't have everyone pee on the same rock/place at night. It will dry out and the salt can attract deer. If they get brought in to camp for the salt, they might smell something else and trample a tent or bag for it. Not so fun if you are the one in the tent, and mule deer are huge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a bear bag. It's not for the bears, it's for the rodents. Do NOT hang it from one tree. Try to hang it between two. Also tie a stick about a foot or two long into the rope just above the bag as it hangs from the line. This still won't stop all the squirrels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xfQyZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Courtesy of Backpacker.com&quot;&gt;&#xA;Do not leave part of the rope hanging from above the stick across the bag as shown in the pic. This defeats the purpose of the stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a low enough area that there aren't any trees, then the wildlife is less of a concern. In those areas, I have often left packs on the ground or on a table and had no issues. The main concern in these areas is squirrels and depending on the side of the mountains you are on, skunks. If you have a way you can suspend it off the ground using sticks and/or bushes, this would be best. If not, plan ahead and have a bear bag of some variety. Since the main concern, at this elevation, is rodent, a frame-less bag would work just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Squirrels in the pine covered areas will barter. If you lose something and a pine cone is sitting where you are sure you set it down, a squirrel took it and left you a pine cone in trade. This is most common with food, but if you regularly use scented hand lotion it will rub off on other things, like digital cameras. Look up and around and you can usually find the culprit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Powered Gatorade is a great idea. We usually put 1 teaspoon of salt per 10oz of water in our containers. This doesn't gum up any bladders and is barely taste-able. It, along with some regular snacking, usually does more than enough for the group I go with, but we also live in that climate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flipping over rocks with a hand is a bad idea, but kicking them if you have good boots usually isn't a bad idea. Also avoid bushes near large rocks or short rock cliffs, these are prime places for snakes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spring time depending on how early or late with determine how many snakes are out. Right now, early April, there are very few if any out. In May they will start to show up in force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked about Pumas. We call them Mountain Lions. Same thing. They actually have more nicknames than any other animal on earth. Usually they leave you alone, unless it is an extremely dry year. In which case, prevention, avoidance, and defense is the same here as everywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="527" LastEditorUserId="527" LastEditDate="2013-04-24T17:47:09.960" LastActivityDate="2013-04-24T17:47:09.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3919" CreationDate="2013-04-04T22:30:54.863" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The park service has some good &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/hike-smart.htm&quot;&gt;tips&lt;/a&gt;.  The biggest ones are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is &lt;em&gt;hot&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;dry&lt;/em&gt;, and gets hotter the farther down you go.  Sweat can evaporate straight off of you before you can even see it, and people don't always realize how much fluid they've lost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Replace electrolytes, not just the water.  You'll probably drink more water than you're accustomed to, which can lead to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia&quot;&gt;hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start out at first light, and plan to be back before 10.  The middle of the day is brutal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's &lt;em&gt;steep&lt;/em&gt;.  Plan twice as much time to get back as it took you to get down.  In other words, if you start your hike at 6 a.m., turn around at 7:20.  It's difficult to do because you'll still have energy, but trust me, you'll need it for the climb out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you opt for an afternoon hike, keep in mind that the desert can get deceptively cold after sunset.  People die of hypothermia, even in the summer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't go in the summer if you can help it.  May and September are the best months.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The South rim is the easiest to reach, and the trails into the canyon are better traveled and have more water sources, but that makes it more crowded with tourists.  The North rim takes a couple extra hours to get to, but it is significantly cooler, less crowded, and has more trees for shade.  I highly recommend it for hikes &lt;em&gt;along&lt;/em&gt; the rim.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="244" LastActivityDate="2013-04-04T22:30:54.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3925" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3929" CreationDate="2013-04-05T08:21:58.807" Score="14" ViewCount="915" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously cross/back-country skis can be damaged by skiing over things like rocks, stones, gravel and asphalt. What about other, softer objects exposed when the snow starts to melt, like sticks, roots, leaves, fir tree needles, soil, etc? How damaging to the skis can these be to slide over?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T00:23:37.953" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T00:23:37.953" Title="Does skiing over things like sticks, leaves, roots and tree needles damage the skis?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3932" CreationDate="2013-04-05T23:30:37.673" Score="10" ViewCount="6388" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past week I've seen two answers mentioning electrolytes; one about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3924/566&quot;&gt;grand canyon&lt;/a&gt; and one in an answer on a question that was actually about wildlife, but where other desert dangers were described &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3918/566&quot;&gt;as well&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the context of outdoor sports, what are electrolytes, why do I need them and where do I get them from?  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; describes that &lt;em&gt;this includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases&lt;/em&gt;.  So is it simply a matter of eating salted food to compensate for the salt lost by sweat (for example, eating salted nuts), or are the problem and solution more subtle than that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3918/566&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; mentions &lt;em&gt;Gatorade&lt;/em&gt;, which appears to be a brand for commercial sports-themed beverages.  The sport drinks I've tried in the past I found very distasteful, moreso the ones in powdered form.  Do I need those, really, or will other food do, too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:34:53.490" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:34:53.490" Title="What's the problem with electrolyte imbalance and how do I mitigate it?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3926" CreationDate="2013-04-05T23:39:27.163" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your blood and body need sodium, potassium and various other solutes in order to function (without the correct potassium levels, your heart will start to fail etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a hot country, where you may sweat a lot, and top up your liquids by drinking water, you lose these solutes quite rapidly. The quantities you require are generally a lot higher than you might expect, and you need to top them up quickly if you have symptoms, so eating salts may not be fast enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A drink with added salts and electrolytes gets them into your body much faster, as they are already dissolved. Gatorade and other sporting drinks have a solute balance that is appropriate for this scenario, so are recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-04-05T23:39:27.163" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3116" CreationDate="2013-04-06T05:27:39.043" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;How can I still enjoy outdoor life when daylight lasts only a few hours?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a plenty of ways: orienteering (on skis/snowshoes), skiing and multi-day ski trips, training in emergency/rescue operations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A certain change of mindset is required to keep outdoor activity an night, because it provides some challenges:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;It's harder to see what you are doing&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take a good headlamp, take an emergency set of batteries for it and take a spare headlamp if you are going solo. It's easy to set up a tent or collect wood in headlamp light. It's harder to do ropework, but it's definitely doable with some practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this is a merely technical issue, which one can adapt to.&#xA;But also&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;It's harder to see the environment&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real problem is you can't see the environment outside of your torch beam and you can't see too far anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that you can't travel on difficult unknown terrain. I mainly mean steep slopes, rocks, drops, ... So you can walk and you can drop a rope, but you don't know where to go and what you'll find at the end of the rope (or two ropes down).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose easy terrain, that you can predict will give you no surprises. Like hills instead of mountains.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or know your terrain beforehand: either you have visited this place before or you have studied it when there still was light (useful for training sessions).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't try to cross hard unknown landscape, except in emergency.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good map is a must; it will provide your brain a lot of information you usually get from you eyes. That's a fundamental difference between day and night orienteering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, don't be overconfident. And expect to have your speed something like 2 times lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;It's harder to find and rescue&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to remote areas, take a friend or two. If you break your leg it'll take much longer for emergency guys to get to you and to find you. It takes ages for a large group of people to find an unconscious man even in a tiny 1 km * 1 km forest at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you are lost and start to worry/panic, he will help you calm down (or vice versa);)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Starter's kit&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a day skiing trip along a known track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a two-day trip like this&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Join an orienteering competition or organise your own &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan a short 2-3 day trip on some easy and not too remote terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are planning a summer mountain trip with you friends, organise a training for them in a known place&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do a lot of things at night, but acting in a dark world is fundamentally different. Adaptation is required and a group of friends is required too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still sitting near a bright fire and chatting with you friends after a long day (night?;)) of cold and dark adventures is one of the best moments you can get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-11-14T11:34:06.157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T11:34:06.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="3929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3925" CreationDate="2013-04-06T15:56:15.763" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You definitely need to be concerned if you are using waxless XC skis with fish scales under foot. Skiing over hard dead sticks can break off the edges of these scales (or wear them down over time) making them less effective on climbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For smooth bottom skis, pine needles, roots, etc will likely do nothing more than scrape the wax off your skis (which if you are using XC skis with kick-wax, you might need to re-apply mid-day, while if you are downhill back-country skiing, having a little glide wax in your bag might not hurt.) See this answer about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1201/how-often-should-i-wax-skis?rq=1&quot;&gt;how often one should wax skis&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, you do run the risk of more serious damage (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/610/when-should-you-repair-rock-gouges-in-skis&quot;&gt;gouges&lt;/a&gt;) by skiing over hard dead branches or roots, so be gentle. At the end of the day, if there is visible damage to your skis, repair and re-wax as normal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, if there is no physical damage, it might not be a bad idea to re-wax anyway given that you know you skied over somewhat abrasive surfaces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T14:49:38.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3906" CreationDate="2013-04-06T20:12:30.480" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just grab and pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously, after years living in the leach-infested tropics where I would find 20 or so on me just from walking up to base-camp for breakfast, the only wrong way to remove a leech I have noticed, is by freaking out and shaking your appendage violently yelling &quot;eeeeeewwwwww!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, as Rory Alsop mentions, gently prying the sucker away is probably the safest, but in my experience is overly cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/139/how-should-i-remove-a-tick&quot;&gt;Unlike ticks&lt;/a&gt;, Leeches do not carry any disease, and although the bite can get infected after the fact, the anti-coagulant that the leach injects into you causes enough blood to flow that the wound is pretty well clean after you remove it... Just keep it clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest issue is the #$%@ will try to grab on to your fingers once they are detached. Just roll it between two fingers into a little ball, or wipe it off on a nearby rock or tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those who can't stand to touch one, having a small spray bottle with some irritating substance will cause the leech to let go and fall off with a quick spritz. Things I have found that work well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;DEET (careful of watch bands that melt)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rubbing alcohol&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eucalyptus oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vodka&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Using this on leaches climbing up your socks carries no risk. There may be some infection risk for using this on leeches attached and sucking - though several thousand Alcohol Related Detachments later and I have not suffered a single infection (and those leech bites I've seen that do become infected are a result of people scratching the bite while it is healing -- they do itch.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-04-06T20:12:30.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3926" CreationDate="2013-04-07T00:17:13.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll weigh in on the Gatorade part.  No, you don't need Gatorade, or any other drink with the right salts in it.  However, you do need to replace the salts somehow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use Gatorade because it's convenient (I have to carry the water anyway), the amount of electrolytes I need to replace is well matched to the amount of water I need to replace so having them in your drink makes it easy and so you can't forget, it makes a warm drink on a hot day actually seem OK, and it adds a little taste that helps get you to drink it.  I use Gatorade specifically instead of other sports drinks because I'm familiar with it and know how much to use and how it works for me.  I expect most properly forumulated sports drinks would be fine.  For me Gatorade works and it's widely available, so I don't feel like being a test pilot.  Remember why Gatorade was developed in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The powder is something you can take into the desert and not have to worry about it spoiling.  Mixed Gatorade does spoil after a day or so, so I only mix up what I need at the time for whatever hike I'm doing.  I bring only mixed Gatorade on a hike.  It doesn't spoil so fast you have to worry about that.  While I'm in the desert, that's what I drink, even when I'm back in the car or camp.  When it's hot out, replacing electrolytes along with water in the right proportions is a good safe thing to do with no downside I've found yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it does have some calories.  First, I don't mix it full strength.  1/2 to 2/3 of what the directions say seems to be about right.  If I remember right, it's only a few 100 calories per gallon as I mix it.  That's really pretty little considering you can hike all day on two gallons.  You're still spending more calories hiking than the gatorade provides.  Don't worry about it.  A little sugar when you're exerting yourself can even be useful.  I find that I don't feel hungry much when it's hot.  The little bit of sugar in the diluted Gatorade is enough to make me not want to bring food, which actually makes a few things simpler.  I find I can hike pretty much all day with the only calory intake being from the diluted Gatorade, and I feel fine.  I usually go hiking in the morning and don't eat anything until I get back in mid to late afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know some people don't like Gatorade due to the taste.  First, it's not about the taste, get over it.  Second, there are various flavors.  I don't like the original bug juice at all, but if that's all that's available I'll use it.  I find the fruit punch flavor really not that bad at all.  I wouldn't drink it just for the flavor, but it's good enough that it's a positive instead of a negative, and it helps (for me anyway) to drink warm liquid when it's hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found out the hard way once that there is such a thing as reduced calorie Gatorade.  I was having a hard time finding a tub of powder, and could only find these packets.  I didn't pay attention enough in the store to notice it was reduced calorie.  Even though it was the fruit punch flavor that I think isn't really bad at all for the normal stuff, this stuff was vile.  Yecch.  I had nothing else, so I ended up doing a 10 mile hike on a hot day and went thru a gallon of that stuff.  I made myself drink it whenever I got thirsty, but as soon as I got back to the car I found a store that carried the normal stuff and I tossed out the low calorie packets.  Yucc.  I shudder again just thinking about that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-04-07T00:17:13.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3926" CreationDate="2013-04-07T12:02:58.447" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two types of water-based concerns while doing strenuous activity in the desert: &lt;em&gt;dehydration&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;hyponatremia&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dehydration&lt;/strong&gt; occurs when your body is not getting enough water, and is the most common. Symptoms include irritability, headache, lack of energy, bright yellow/orange and infrequent urine. You lose water while you sweat, but in hot climates you don't necessarily notice since it evaporates so readily. Along with that water, you also lose electrolytes (salts and minerals) that your body needs. Lose too much of those, and drink too much water without replacing them, and you tip the balance in the direction of hyponatremia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hyponatremia&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  (which the questions linked allude to) is a very serious condition on the other end of the scale that occurs when one drinks too much water without replacing the salts sweated out. It is affecting more and more people exerting themselves in hot climates due to our increasingly &quot;sodium free!&quot; diets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body needs salt to function, and as you sweat, you lose that salt (and other nutrients) which water alone will not replace. Usually this isn't a big issue, and the salts get replaced with meals etc. But if you are sweating a lot and drinking &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; (water or sports beverages) to excess, hyponatremia can set in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Symptoms of hyponatremia&lt;/em&gt; include headache, nausia, irritibility, disorientation, dizzyness, vomiting, seaizures, coma and death. It is not to be taken lightly. Interestingly, some of these symptoms are the same as dehydration... but if you are experiencing the above while your urine is still clear and copious (likely because you have dutifully been pounding drinks down) it is probably hyponatremia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regulate Water Intake&lt;/strong&gt; : if your urine is clear and copious, chances are you are sufficiently hydrated. Ease back, even if you are thirsty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat Food.&lt;/strong&gt; Salty food. Pretzels, nuts, trail mix, granola bars... anything you can find. The general advice among Grand Canyon guides is eat regularly throughout the day. If you do that, drinking plain, clear delicious water is fine. However, &lt;em&gt;drinking only sports beverages and not eating is setting you up for trouble&lt;/em&gt;**&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**Sidebar: Several sources suggest that sports beverages can actually &lt;em&gt;increase risk&lt;/em&gt; of hyponatremia since their deliciously tasty tangy sweetness can cause one to drink more fluid than they would otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice from the doctor at the Grand Canyon clinic as reported in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nols.edu/alumni/leader/99fall/hypowhat.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medicine Institute&lt;/a&gt; regarding the issue:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Prevention is a matter of being sensible, which is so often&#xA;  the case. Drink lots, yes, but eat salty foods regularly while&#xA;  exercising in heat. &quot;Relying on electrolyte replacement drinks alone,&quot;&#xA;  writes Dr. Myers, &quot;is absolutely ill advised.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a patient is approaching a hyponatremic state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dr. Myers warns, that giving oral electrolyte replacement drinks, such&#xA;  as Gatorade, alone might damage the patient. These drinks are so low&#xA;  in sodium and so high in water the dilutional imbalance may be&#xA;  increased.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a final note, this is not to advocate NOT drinking water while hiking, since Dehydration is just as bad and far more common. Be smart. Drink what you need, but not more. Be aware of what you body is doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional sources,&lt;/strong&gt; all of which authoritatively conclude the sports beverages do not prevent the onset of hyponatremia. If you are drinking to much, it is too much, regardless of what you are drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Fulltext/2005/07000/Consensus_Statement_of_the_1st_International.2.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Consensus Statement of the 1st International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Cape Town, South Africa 2005&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ingestion of electrolyte-containing sports drinks does not prevent the&#xA;  development of EAH in athletes who drink to excess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Abstract/2003/01000/The_Incidence,_Risk_Factors,_and_Clinical.8.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The total cups of water (p=.004), electrolyte/carbohydrate solution&#xA;  (p=.005) and total amount of fluid ingested (p&amp;lt;.001) were&#xA;  significantly higher in [Hyponatremic] compared to [Non Hyponatremic]&#xA;  runners and the degree of hyponatremia was related in a dose dependant&#xA;  manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.com/drinks-hydration/how-much-should-you-drink-during-marathon?page=single&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Runner's World:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[Bob Murray, PhD and the longtime director of the Gatorade Sports Science&#xA;  Institute] acknowledges that neither Gatorade's new Endurance Formula&#xA;  nor the traditional Thirst Quencher will prevent hyponatremia if a&#xA;  runner consumes too much sports drink during a marathon. &#xA;  &quot;We can't add more sodium because the research clearly shows that too&#xA;  much sodium actually impedes hydration,&quot; he says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/medical/do-the-salt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rock and Roll Marathon page:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even Gatorade, Poweraide and all Sports Drinks or IV NS will therefore&#xA;  increase free water and lower serum sodium&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8071259&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tangentially related study in Schizophrenic Patients:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Conclusion: Substitution of electrolyte-containing beverages is not&#xA;  likely to prevent water intoxication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-04-13T15:40:57.477" LastActivityDate="2013-04-13T15:40:57.477" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3909" CreationDate="2013-04-07T17:20:14.167" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few differences between the SOT kayaks and a touring kayak that you'll want to consider. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Length&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SOT kayaks tend to be shorter and wider than touring boats. This can make SOT's a little more stable but a longer boat will track better (go straight). The more rough the water you want to travel in the longer boat you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Storage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Touring boats will have much more storage in them as that's what they're meant to do. It's usually covered storage in the bow and stern of the boat. Sometimes SOT's have storage but most of the time it's sitting on top of the boat with you. Having gear on top of the boat makes it more accessible but easier to lose in the waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ease of Use&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SOT's are easy to use. Just sit on them and go. Touring boats take a little practice getting into and out of. A nylon or neoprene skirt to go around the cockpit and around your waist is a good thing to have in rough water or just to prevent drips from the paddle falling onto your lap. Using a skirt makes them a little more complicated to get into an out of though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Touring boats tend to be longer and have more features so they'll probably cost you more. All the SOT's I've seen are made out of roto-molded plastic which is the least expensive to make. You can get touring boats out of roto-molded plastic, thermoformed plastic or fiberglass. Roto-molded is cheaper, heavier but very durable. Thermoformed is lighter and faster but more expensive. Fibreglass is the most expensive, the fastest but the most fragile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rougher conditions in the water will warrant a longer boat and probably one of the touring variety. The longer boats will be more stable and you'll be much more dry being inside the touring boat with a skirt covering the cockpit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope that helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastActivityDate="2013-04-07T17:20:14.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3935" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3941" CreationDate="2013-04-08T12:11:18.160" Score="13" ViewCount="12365" Body="&lt;p&gt;Myself and my girlfriend are hoping to start off in the Netherlands and hitchhike our way down to the south of Spain through various French towns / cities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are planning on just bringing sleeping bags and a tent. I have a couple of questions for somebody who might have knowledge in this area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does anybody have any tips on where / how to find a suitable location to set up a discrete camp for the night?&lt;/strong&gt; This one has been bugging me since I know virtually all the land is owned by somebody. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any general hitchhiking etiquette found in Europe?&lt;/strong&gt; I have been doing a lot of reading on hitchwiki but would like to hear from somebody with first hand experience (also safety / difficulties).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2186" LastEditorUserId="2186" LastEditDate="2013-04-11T12:19:26.090" LastActivityDate="2013-11-20T05:27:36.280" Title="Tips for travelling through Europe with just a tent" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3906" CreationDate="2013-04-08T13:18:41.240" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agree with both LBell and Rory Alsop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I come from the leech infested Western Ghats of the Indian subcontinent. I must have been bitten by these guys innumerable number of times. Most of the times, just pulling them would suffice. Leeches use both a local anaesthesia and an anti coagulant. Hence, just pulling them off wont cause any pain. If you are worried about pulling off, salt/vinegar does help. I've used both. And neither has caused any infection anytime till now. Leeches aren't harbingers of infections. Ticks are. Be careful with a tick. A leech is just another sucker :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T13:18:41.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="610" CreationDate="2013-04-08T14:48:38.727" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two biggest risks from gouges:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Core Shot&lt;/strong&gt;: This is when the gouge cuts through the base material* to the core layers of the ski (usually wood or composite material). If moisture gets in between those layers (it will), it can cause the various layers of your ski to separate. This process of de-lamination will rapidly destroy your ski or snowboard and can not be repaired.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edge Separation&lt;/strong&gt;: If the rock catches on your edge enough to pull it out from between the core and base layers, or mangles it enough to create a gap, this can result in several issues: De-lamination (see above), affect turn performance (you have no edge / uneven edge), laceration risk (those things are sharp even when they are in proper position).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, both of these cases can be repaired to nearly good as new if you have the tools/knowhow -- but only before de-lamination begins, so act quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, minor scrapes, dings, etc. that don't make it to the core -- even super-long and gnarly looking ones -- are fine up to your personal preference. They will effect your glide, and can affect performance, and might cause excessive snow build-up in adverse conditions, but your skis will be structurally fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*The polyethylene sheet that touches the snow that holds the wax that lets you glide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T14:48:38.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3935" CreationDate="2013-04-08T19:47:25.373" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I feel only qualified to answer the first portion of your question:&#xA;When you are in a rural area, just ask if someone lets you set up camp on their property. Farmers often don't mind. Whenever I had the chance to do it this way I did. I sleep a lot sounder not thinking about police officers waking me up at 6AM and you are interacting with the local population. In large cities I often just stayed at camp grounds once I realized, that I was wasting a lot of time searching for and getting to campsites. You also don't have to lugg all you stuff with you. There are many places that won't let you in with a backpack. You either have to spend money to store your pack (witch you could have spend on a campsite), or they won't let you in at all (happened in Monaco, there are absolutely NO storage facilities for luggage in the whole country.) Make sure you know when the camp grounds close. Many camp ground hosts (especially in popular areas) will turn you away when you come past their hours of operation. Another benefit of staying at  camp-grounds in large cities is you can plan ahead where you are going to stay, making that part of your day much more efficient and you end up with more time to explore and site-see. This I also learned the hard way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In sleepy towns I have slept in many municipal parks (including in the Netherlands,) tucked away behind some trees. Just make sure you get an early start on those days!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One word of caution with the south of france: In the summer half of Europe will gather in the Côte d'Azur, many of them come with tents. We spend half a day trying to find a place to crash with our tent in the Nice/Antibes/Cannes area, ultimately without success. The camp-grounds and hostels were full and the area is densely populated. Without reservations and a car prepare yourself to sleep in an overpriced, tiny hotel room or just bailing on the area altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-04-08T20:06:44.943" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T20:06:44.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3898" CreationDate="2013-04-08T20:23:50.947" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was lucky enough to take both dinghy sailing lessons and later cruiser sailing lessons. It's an approach I'd really recommend. Sailing a dinghy will teach you to watch the sails and the wind much more easily than in a cruiser. All the skills you learn in a dinghy will apply to a cruiser (except capsize drill, hopefully). They are also a lot of fun, and much cheaper than cruiser lessons. What you are looking for is Whitesail 2 or Whitesail 3. If you are thinking about sailing in cottage country, as opposed to the Great Lakes, there is a lot you can do with a dinghy-sized boat. A Wayfarer or similar is a great boat for family outings - seats 6 - and you can even use it for longer trips if you throw a tent in it. There are some 17-19 foot boats with small cabins that can be easily sailed on the Whitesail courses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do start on dinghies a smaller lake is better than a larger (by larger I mean Lake Ontario or Lake Simcoe). The weather won't be as severe, and there is less traffic. Again, the kind of lakes you get in cottage country are ideal for dinghies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking to sail a 30-footer then you really need to take a specific Cruising course. There will be some benefits to taking the dinghy courses first. However you shouldn't skip the Basic Level Cruising just because you have dinghy sailing experience. There is some stuff you need to know about cruising that dinghies won't prepare you for. However in cottage country a 30-footer isn't really much more fun than a 17-footer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for recommendations in Southern Ontario, get in touch and I can let you have some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2013-04-08T20:30:24.787" LastActivityDate="2013-04-08T20:30:24.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="141" CreationDate="2013-04-09T02:54:03.303" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;What xpda writes about setting the anchor is right (although hopefully you know this if you are sailing your own boat). As well as what he says, make sure you have the right kind of anchor for the bed, and you have enough rode (rope or chain). For overnight it should be at least 7 times the water depth. The longer the better, within reason. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatingbasicsonline.com/content/general/7_4.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here are some sailing specific websites&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in any doubt about the security of your anchor, you should set an anchor watch. Basically this means checking periodically that your boat position is not moving. Use a compass bearing from a fixed point. Obviously that means not leaving your boat unattended for the night. If you have electronic navigation system you can set an anchor alarm - one that will sound if you get more than a set distance from your anchor point. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://sailmagazine.com/electronicsnavigations/smartphone-anchor-watch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;some smartphone apps that will do the same job&lt;/a&gt;. Some specialist boating websites will give you more information. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f57/watch-keeping-at-anchor-89329.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is an example&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also set two anchors (though 'one for each direction of the tide' may not be necessary - two anchors might be set for a different reason if the current or wind might change and you don't want the boat to swing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another action is to dive on the anchor - swim down and visually check that the anchor is properly set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plenty of sailing or boating websites will give you more information about this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T14:13:06.097" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T14:13:06.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3935" CreationDate="2013-04-09T18:24:57.343" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can not give a lot of information about hitchhiking but have spend a lot of time wildcamping in Europe. Sure most land is privatly owned, and most countries have regulations against it, but in most cases you will be fine and undisturbed if you take some things into account:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to hide your tent, only set it up right before you want to go sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a location you don't expect people to show up, little pass by traffic, remote as possible. The closer to a city/village the harder this gets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't use more light (when dark) than required, don't make a fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done this 200+ nights on roadtrips, travelling with a car makes you more mobile to reach rural places, but limits you to roads. When hitchhiking you can be asked to be dropped off and get away from the road on foot. Try to have a good map so you know in what direction to find rural terrain. Start looking for a place to spend the night a few hours before sunset, so you know you have enough time and do not need to find something in the dark. Mountain terrain is often a bit harder because there isn't a lot of horizontal ground, unless you want to visit the Pyrenees I would suggest you try to hitchhike across them in a single day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parking lots of nature parks or walking trails are usually an easy target, but may also attract other people, pitch up your tent where it is safe (you don't want to have a camper park on top of you in the middle of the night). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to not sleep near a big road, there will be traffic the entire night and you won't get a lot of sleep.&#xA; In the south there are many semi-dry rivers which are attractive and fun to sleep at. I've done so a few times but in retrospect one should really take into account that there may be flash floods, and that is definitely not something you want to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to spend a lot of time in cities, still finding a suitable camping spot may be hard, couch-surfing may be a good alternative for the nights you want to spend in a city.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other information about wild camping can be found in these questions and answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1068/what-are-some-things-to-keep-in-mind-when-stealth-camping&quot;&gt;What are some things to keep in mind when stealth camping?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/96/where-in-europe-is-wild-camping-permitted/156#156&quot;&gt;Where in Europe is wild camping permitted?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-04-09T18:24:57.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3943" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-10T07:45:01.307" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is for all questions relating to the operation of wind-powered boats, including racing, cruising, docking and anchoring, maintenence and skills specific to wind-powered boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For questions relating to general boating use the 'boats' tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2014-08-17T22:49:25.623" LastActivityDate="2014-08-17T22:49:25.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3944" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-10T07:45:01.307" Score="0" Body="For questions related to wind-powered boats" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2014-08-17T22:48:49.907" LastActivityDate="2014-08-17T22:48:49.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-04-10T16:46:03.057" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The FiveFingers are going to weight less than one pound combined: Buy yourself some hiking boots, and bring your FiveFingers along with you.  That way you can test them out without relying on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2195" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-14T09:08:33.067" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T09:08:33.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3946" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-11T10:30:30.183" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Himalayas, or Himalaya, (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/) form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Himalayan range has many of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. The Himalayas include over fifty mountains exceeding 7,200 metres (23,600 ft) in elevation, including ten of the fourteen 8000m peaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:06:17.960" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:06:17.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3947" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-11T10:30:30.183" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Himalayan mountain range in Asia. ." OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:06:17.960" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:06:17.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3835" CreationDate="2013-04-12T04:15:06.197" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fill power doesn't measure crush resistance. It measures the inverse of density, in units of cubic centimeters per gram or cubic inches per ounce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation doesn't depend on fill power. Insulation simply depends on thickness. However, a higher fill power allows you to achieve a greater thickness while carrying a given weight on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fill power is measured when the down is puffed up, not compressed. When it's compressed, it gives very little insulation. For this reason, the part of your sleeping bag underneath you is extremely ineffective at keeping you warm. This is why people use sleeping pads, and some people use down blankets instead of sleeping bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because insulation depends so strongly on the amount of compression, it's not possible to say in general that x centimeters of (uncompressed) down will provide y amount of insulation. For example, a down jacket will not be compressed as much as the bottom of a down sleeping bag in normal use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on the wind. In a strong wind, there is a certain amount of difference in comfort between a thick layer of down and no layer of down. In totally still air, this difference is much smaller. Essentially all the down does is to provide you with a still layer of air, preventing convection. If the air is completely still anyway, you don't need the down for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-12T04:15:06.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-04-12T04:27:02.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The options you're proposing are VFFs or hiking boots. There are lots of other options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I use most of the time here in California is running shoes. They work great when conditions aren't snowy or wet. The weight is much less than the weight of hiking boots, but if I step on a sharp-edged rock, I have more protection than I'd have with VFFs. I use lightweight gaiters (Dirty Girl brand -- google it) to keep pebbles out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In certain conditions, sandals such as Cachos can be extremely comfortable. However, in certain conditions (e.g., powdery dust), they can be miserable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where are you used to hiking? Are the conditions there comparable to Scotland (which could be wet)? If they're comparable, use what your feet are used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GoreTex hiking boots are great when you're hiking through a lot of mud or snow. Other than that, there isn't much reason to put all that weight on your feet, and the weight will just decrease your efficiency. However, the number of miles you're planning to hike is very low, so efficiency may not be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-12T04:27:02.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3914" CreationDate="2013-04-12T04:36:15.233" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears in California are a huge problem in certain highly impacted areas such as Yosemite Valley. They are almost not a problem at all in less traveled areas such as the White Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes are fairly common. Keep your eyes open and don't step on one that's basking in the sun on the trail. They're not aggressive. If you get bitten, don't try to do anything to the bite; just get to a hospital as fast as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rodents may be a nuisance. Keep your food protected from them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-12T04:36:15.233" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3926" CreationDate="2013-04-12T05:09:54.620" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;So-called &quot;sports drinks&quot; such as Gatorade are miracles of modern marketing, surpassed only by bottled water. They are expensive and contain large amounts of sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're hiking long distances in high temperatures (say 40 C or 105 F), then you have a long list of hazards to worry about, one of which is getting low on electrolytes. Higher on the list would be dehydration, sunburn, and getting lost. I only do this kind of hiking once in a while, but when I do, I usually try to do as much of it as possible in predawn hours, and to protect against sunburn I bring a hat and wear a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of long pants. If you get in trouble in these conditions, it may be a good idea to find shade, rest until sunset, and then hike out in the evening when the sun and heat aren't life-threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conditions like these, some people tend to get muscle cramps, which may be a symptom of electrolyte imbalance. If you're prone to this, it may be a good idea to carry a couple of the little tiny salt packets they give away at restaurants, and maybe some salty food such as crackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-04-12T14:37:28.947" LastActivityDate="2013-04-12T14:37:28.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3952" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3953" CreationDate="2013-04-12T03:33:38.453" Score="23" ViewCount="4331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently retired a rope (dynamic) and a harness. They're both in very good shape, but just over 8 years old. Common sense dictates I throw them away, but I wonder if there are other uses I can put them up to. For example, I was thinking maybe craft them into a home-made bandolier/gear sling. What do you suggest I do with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" OwnerDisplayName="Roflo" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-10-07T15:58:11.157" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T05:38:17.480" Title="What can I do with a retired rope and harness?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;recycling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3952" CreationDate="2013-04-12T14:24:23.997" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a few lengths of retired rope (I don't climb myself, but have them from others) - they come in useful! I've used them for pulling things along, tying odd bits and pieces up securely, and when I used to do event tech work we'd often use them for rigging some of the lighter, cheaper lights (at the end of the day, if the rope fails with a light lantern, it smashes and no-one's hurt, so hardly much to lose.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, some are much more creative than me, and have put them to &lt;a href=&quot;http://gearjunkie.com/climbing-rope-creations&quot;&gt;all sorts of good uses&lt;/a&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-04-12T14:24:23.997" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3955" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3956" CreationDate="2013-04-13T05:29:53.800" Score="14" ViewCount="10021" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a friend who climbs with another group.&#xA;She recently had her first couple of experiences as lead climber (sport climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm concerned that she doesn't have the required theory for lead climbing, and whenever possible I lecture her on &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/knots&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'knots'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;knots&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/safety&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'safety'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;safety&lt;/a&gt; or whatever I can come up with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, she was unaware that the rope-carabiner in a quickdraw should face &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/quickdraws-slings-webbing.html&quot;&gt;away from the direction of travel&lt;/a&gt;. And for all I know, her group uses a very small subset of common &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.mit.edu/spelunk/www/rope-calls.html&quot;&gt;rope calls&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, she's eager to learn, and she's an avid reader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, being &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; a self-taught climber, I find it hard to sum up all the basics you need to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than lending her my books, &lt;strong&gt;what are the essential key-points she should be taught?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edited&lt;/strong&gt; to add that this is for sport climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2013-04-13T16:34:18.853" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T18:26:01.277" Title="What to teach someone who wants to start lead climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3955" CreationDate="2013-04-13T06:56:47.150" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING&lt;/strong&gt;: Climbing is considered a dangerous activity. No written material can substitute proper teaching. The following is a just a list of topics, but you should seek a professional instructor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few important things, assuming you mean sport-leading (trad climbing involves more):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quickdraws: understand about gate directions, z-clipping, reverse-clipping, rope-travel, and rope-drag. Practice clipping techniques.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belay device: auto-locking (grigri) vs. standard friction device. Rope feeding technique,  assessing slack in the system, when to feed out more slack and when to &quot;listen&quot; to the rope (e.g. be ready to catch a fall.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lead belaying: feeding out rope, amount of rope to feed (slack), how to do it (see belay device,) belayer position and stance (safe location, ready to be yanked/jerked by sudden tension/pull due to a big fall), catching falls (work on soft/dynamic catch, possibly jumping), &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; letting go of the brake hand (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/14455/2199&quot;&gt;PBUS&lt;/a&gt;), spotting until first bolt is clipped.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Communication: &quot;Clipping!&quot;, &quot;Clipped!&quot;, &quot;Falling!&quot; in addition to standard climbing phrases.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lead Climbing: clipping bolts (at waist height unless there's a good reason to do otherwise, clipping rope without putting finger through gate (lots of practice), quickdraw orientation (biner gate facing away from rock,) rope management (with respect to feet in particular,) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5657/learning-to-fall-when-leading-what-is-good-fall-technique&quot;&gt;falling&lt;/a&gt; (being ready to land, watch your ankles, wrists, head, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchors: full top-rope anchor vs. double-quickdraw vs. cordellete, in addition: standard anchor stuff (SERENE, understanding direction and distribution of load, etc,) cleaning anchors (safely, personal anchor system, how to transition from belay to PAS and back safely)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-pitching, belaying from the top (using grigri, using auto-blocking (reverso, atc guide)), belaying from an anchor (as a second), cleaning as a second&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understand dynamic ropes, fall factors, stretch, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explain foam helmets (protection in fall, not just from rockfall from above), belay gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knots: clove/full hitch (for use as personal safety using the rope attached to your harness), munter/half hitch (emergency belay, say, if you dropped your belay device...), right-hand bowline (useful for anchoring trees, for example), rethreaded bowline (safe for ring-loading, non-capsizing), understanding behaviour of knots under pressure: ring-loading, capsizing, blocking knots, passing knots (to pull knots through rings/biners), etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should already know: rappelling, setting and cleaning anchors, using a prussik as third-hand belay in rappel, ascending on a prussik, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Personal note&lt;/em&gt;:, I can forgive new climbers most things, except for the severe lack of practice in belaying. This is a serious issue, where a lot of self-taught and non-indoor climbing climbers often lack until very far in their climbing careers, due to a reasonable unwillingness to practice on shoddy outdoor anchors and on their own ropes. It's absolutely worthwhile to go to an indoor gym every now and then and spend a few hours practising leading, falling, and catching falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T14:51:49.950" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-04-14T01:48:39.463" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3952" CreationDate="2013-04-13T09:06:53.610" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;People who work with children are usually very happy to take any old ropes for non-climbing purposes (marking playing fields, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug_of_war&quot;&gt;tug of war&lt;/a&gt;, anything really). Even an old rope totally unfit for climbing is still very good for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-04-13T09:06:53.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3955" CreationDate="2013-04-13T15:02:47.273" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Entire books and multi-day training classes are built around thus topic.  Climbers spend months either following a more experienced leader, or taking risks and learning stuff the hard way.  Lead rock climbing is a complex skill, and I feel like reducing it to a simple Q&amp;amp;A would give people a false sense security.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to help your friend become a leader your best bet would be to encourage her to climb with other experienced leaders, get a book, and / or take a class from a climbing gym or guide service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why it matters&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't happen often, but I have seen &quot;self taught&quot; beginners with a shiny new rack of gear, that lack even a basic understanding of what they're doing. Often these people are trying to climb a 150' sheer cliff &quot;for practice&quot; before attempting a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2017-01-06T18:26:01.277" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T18:26:01.277" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3959" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3960" CreationDate="2013-04-13T17:25:06.387" Score="10" ViewCount="6512" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the context of a long hike (AT, PCT, CDT, LT, etc.):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages and disadvantages of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nunatakusa.com/site07/other_bags/dual_alpinist.htm&quot;&gt;double sleeping bags&lt;/a&gt; over two individual sleeping bags? How do they compare to single sleeping bags that can &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/penguin-20-sleeping-bag-1234.html&quot;&gt;mate&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which solution can keep you warmer? How much warmer? Which solution yields a lower packed weight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, what are the main differences and criteria that should be taken into consideration when choosing a two person sleep system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T23:53:07.823" Title="What are the advantages of a double sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3959" CreationDate="2013-04-13T21:11:46.887" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only real difference is that in a one piece double you don't have zips so the insulation is evenly distributed. The zips add some weight over a one piece but not much - it also won't pack quite as small but has the advantage that it can be split across two packs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you have zips, the insulation has gaps. &#xA;So if you are going somewhere really cold, you might want to go with a one piece. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I far prefer the two pieces that mate together because I carry a much higher temperature than my wife so I like the fact I can unzip and roll my side down to my waist if need be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also easier to pop in the washing machine :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-04-13T21:11:46.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3961" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-04-14T16:49:05.917" Score="5" ViewCount="243" Body="&lt;p&gt;Among the amalgam of guidebooks and maps for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt;, which guidebooks and/or maps are be the best contenders to bring on the trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guthookhikes.com/2010/11/myth-5-the-best-guidebook-for-the-pct-is.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guthook 2010 review&lt;/a&gt; is no longer available. It recommended &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pctmap.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Halfmile maps&lt;/a&gt;, which is still available in March, 2018, combined with &lt;a href=&quot;http://hikethru.com/pocket_pct/pocket-pct&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PocketPCT&lt;/a&gt;, which is not available.  However, &lt;a href=&quot;http://postholer.com/mapbooks/index.php?trail_id=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;postholer maps&lt;/a&gt; are not considered in his review.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guthook provided an excellent answer to this question. Since it's no longer available, there's no way to know if it still holds true. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T03:06:26.740" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T03:06:26.740" Title="What are the most recommended guide/maps to bring on a PCT thru-hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3962" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-14T19:00:04.483" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:12:53.470" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:12:53.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3963" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-14T19:00:04.483" Score="0" Body="Questions about the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:12:53.470" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:12:53.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3964" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-16T15:23:34.903" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:31:18.520" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:31:18.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3965" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-16T15:23:34.903" Score="0" Body="Questions about the Appalachian Trail  (AT)" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:31:18.520" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:31:18.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3966" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-16T15:29:40.633" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-16T15:29:40.633" LastActivityDate="2013-04-16T15:29:40.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3967" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-16T15:29:40.633" Score="0" Body="Thru-hiking is hiking a long-distance trail end-to-end as a single continuous hike. It is generally associated with trails such as the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Long Trail, etc.. It is also sometimes referred as end-to-end hiking." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-16T16:10:40.667" LastActivityDate="2013-04-16T16:10:40.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3968" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-16T17:59:05.453" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do it yourself (DIY) is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things without the direct aid of experts or professionals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:18:33.543" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:18:33.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3969" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-16T17:59:05.453" Score="0" Body="Questions about DIY (Do It Yourself) projects" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:18:33.543" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:18:33.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="3975" CreationDate="2013-04-16T21:19:25.820" Score="6" ViewCount="333" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water resistant down has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/quilts/water_resistant_down_report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;interesting properties&lt;/a&gt; which make it appealing for outdoor applications. However, it is not widely available and seems to be only offered in certain fill powers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the water resistant treatment applied? Are gear manufacturers responsible for waterproofing the down, or do they purchase it that way from the down vendors? Is there any way to apply this new water resistant treatment to down at home or on a small scale?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T16:56:31.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T16:56:31.910" Title="What is water resistant down and how is it made?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3971" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-16T22:02:14.043" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-16T22:02:14.043" LastActivityDate="2013-04-16T22:02:14.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3972" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-16T22:02:14.043" Score="0" Body="Make Your Own Gear (MYOG) is for tips and tricks regarding do-it-yourself projects that consist of creating your own backpacking gear such as alcohol stove, tarps, sleeping bags, etc.." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-17T00:31:12.023" LastActivityDate="2013-04-17T00:31:12.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3973" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-17T00:38:27.277" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions related to camping or staying overnight in the wilderness. Wild camping is often hand in hand with leave no trace, were you camp down after dark and leave at dawn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many places in the world where you can wild camp without issue however wild camping is not always legal and needs researching into which areas you can wild camp depending on the country or area you are in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T14:30:45.013" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T14:30:45.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3974" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-17T00:38:27.277" Score="0" Body="Questions related to camping or staying overnight in the wilderness." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-12T20:10:42.560" LastActivityDate="2013-07-12T20:10:42.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3970" CreationDate="2013-04-17T13:39:13.983" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gear manufacturers generally purchase the down (waterproofed or not) from suppliers.  There are several water resistant down products, but they all work withing a small range of results with the same basic tech. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's water resistant not water proof.  For jackets this means you can probably withstand sweat and a light shower, but not a rainstorm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down still loses its insulating properties when wet.  Current water resistant techs don't change this, they just help prevent the down from getting wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best place for this is sleeping bags.  This increases the chance that accidental exposure to rain (or other moisture) will not leave you without insulation at night.  For jackets, in my opinion, you're still going to want a hard shell solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Types:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierradesigns.com/DriDown.aspx#faq&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DriDown&lt;/a&gt;: nano polymer treatment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alliedfeather.com/products&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Allied Resist-Down&lt;/a&gt;: water-resistant down coating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T23:24:05.673" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T23:24:05.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3977" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-18T13:09:49.790" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T19:17:24.263" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T19:17:24.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3978" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-18T13:09:49.790" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to California.&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T19:17:24.263" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T19:17:24.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3979" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-18T13:41:48.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Alps (/ælps/; French: Alpes [alp]; German: Alpen [ˈalpn̩]; Italian: Alpi [ˈalpi]; Romansh: Alps; Slovene: Alpe [ˈáːlpɛ]) are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe,[2][note 1] stretching approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland.[3] &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:39:31.380" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:39:31.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3980" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-18T13:41:48.273" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the alps" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:39:31.380" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:39:31.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3981" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-18T14:33:34.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most general term - footwear includes sandals, shoes, and boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:35:38.250" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:35:38.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3982" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-18T14:33:34.570" Score="0" Body="Questions about selection of footwear for a specific type of an expedition, terrain, situation, general advises about maintenance and/or repair of footwear should be tagged with question. Kindly note that recommendation for Brands for a footwear is not on-topic on The Great Outdoors." OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:35:38.250" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:35:38.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3983" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-19T11:55:47.723" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-19T11:55:47.723" LastActivityDate="2013-04-19T11:55:47.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3984" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-19T11:55:47.723" Score="0" Body="Anything that involves building, modifying, or repairing something without professional or paid aid." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-19T12:30:09.633" LastActivityDate="2013-04-19T12:30:09.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3985" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-19T11:57:35.607" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-19T11:57:35.607" LastActivityDate="2013-04-19T11:57:35.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3986" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-19T11:57:35.607" Score="0" Body="Geographical Region: United States of America, Country." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-19T12:30:03.023" LastActivityDate="2013-04-19T12:30:03.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3987" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-19T12:00:12.163" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: Europe is the second smallest continent among the world's seven continents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:47:44.223" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:47:44.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3988" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-19T12:00:12.163" Score="0" Body="Question specifically related to European standards, European languages and Legality and obligations together shall be tagged under this Tag. Questions about a particular region in a country that belongs to European continent are not supposed to be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:47:44.223" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:47:44.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3989" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:27:13.690" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-20T12:27:13.690" LastActivityDate="2013-04-20T12:27:13.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3990" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:27:13.690" Score="0" Body="Geographical Region: Austria, Country." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-20T18:43:14.693" LastActivityDate="2013-04-20T18:43:14.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3991" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:27:43.910" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: Russia, Country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:32:45.170" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:32:45.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3992" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:27:43.910" Score="0" Body="Questions only specific about the region that comes under Russia, and question related to Laws and Legalities, weather, seasons, etc (relating to any outdoor activity) shall be tagged under this tag." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:32:45.170" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:32:45.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3993" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:29:46.683" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-20T12:29:46.683" LastActivityDate="2013-04-20T12:29:46.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3994" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:29:46.683" Score="0" Body="Geographical Region: New-England is the northeastern corner of the United States. New-England consist of the six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-20T18:43:07.100" LastActivityDate="2013-04-20T18:43:07.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3995" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:30:53.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: New-Zealand, Country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:31:40.973" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:31:40.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3996" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-20T12:30:53.217" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to New-Zealand" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T23:13:28.103" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T23:13:28.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3997" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:55:03.510" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T12:55:03.510" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T12:55:03.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3998" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:55:03.510" Score="0" Body="Geographical Region: North America, Continent." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T13:49:34.610" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T13:49:34.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="3999" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:55:38.467" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: Canada, Country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:31:56.397" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:31:56.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4000" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:55:38.467" Score="0" Body="Questions only specific about the region that comes under Canada, and question related to Laws and Legalities, weather, seasons, etc (relating to any outdoor activity) shall be tagged under this tag." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:31:56.397" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:31:56.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4001" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:58:13.507" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T12:58:13.507" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T12:58:13.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4002" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:58:13.507" Score="0" Body="Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) is a type of camera." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T13:49:32.063" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T13:49:32.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4003" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:59:12.730" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T12:59:12.730" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T12:59:12.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4004" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-21T12:59:12.730" Score="0" Body="Geographical Region: Poland, Country." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-21T13:49:21.313" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T13:49:21.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4010" CreationDate="2013-04-21T15:09:14.173" Score="7" ViewCount="3017" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that in the western US, backpackers need bear canisters or bear bags, for bears or for other animals.  For example, a post comparing different methods is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique#.UXQFRknnZY0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  I must admit I'm a bit daunted, because on my European trips I've never given the slightest worry to animals (food lying around right outside my tent, along with my stove).  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_003592.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Forest Service&lt;/a&gt; states that the food should be in the container &lt;em&gt;whenever you are not actively preparing, eating or unpacking&lt;/em&gt;.  Do I really need to keep my food in one of those &lt;em&gt;while hiking&lt;/em&gt;?  Are bears or other animals so agressive?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Bear_resistant_food_storage_canister_1.JPG/604px-Bear_resistant_food_storage_canister_1.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;bear canister&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Bear canister, Wikimedia Commons&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My hope was that perhaps there are foldable canisters, and while I might struggle to pack my food volume-wise, this is not a problem during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:52:30.123" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:52:30.123" Title="Should food be in a bear bag/canister even when I'm hiking?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4006" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-04-21T15:46:51.650" Score="9" ViewCount="1005" Body="&lt;p&gt;A page like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique#.UXQFRknnZY0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, as well as a number of questions on this site, discuss how to pack food safely from bears.&#xA;What about other animals? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3923/566&quot;&gt;This post&lt;/a&gt; advises a pretty sophisticated way to protect food against rodents.&#xA;Is that really needed? This counterbalancing method appears pretty complicated, but a bear canister for the occasional rodent appears overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other ways in areas where meeting a bear is unlikely?&#xA;The easiest way would be to just risk it and keep food deeply packed away in my backpack.&#xA;Would that be very unwise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems quite difficult to me to keep food &lt;em&gt;at least 15 feet above the ground and 10 feet horizontally from a tree trunk&lt;/em&gt;.  That's almost 5 metres!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are the warnings exaggerated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:17:51.313" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T19:52:22.017" Title="Can I get away with less advanced food storing methods if backpacking in areas where meeting bears is unlikely?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4005" CreationDate="2013-04-21T17:15:26.807" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitepark.com/bear-awareness.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite Park's website&lt;/a&gt;, bears have lost fear towards humans and will try to get food from whatever is the easiest way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This usually means that it's easier to break a car's window of wreck a campsite than going hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a keen sense of smell and will follow &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitepark.com/food-storage.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;not just food&lt;/a&gt;, but products with various scents that we wouldn't think of as food.&#xA;Also, they know what food containers look like and will be attracted to items they &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; is some sort of food wrapping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I haven't gone hiking in the western US, but my best guess would be:&#xA;Since they won't fear encountering you, they might follow your scent if you're hiking.&#xA;So I'd say it's better not to take risks, follow the advice, and use those canisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T17:15:26.807" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4008" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4009" CreationDate="2013-04-21T18:16:17.070" Score="4" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that in the United States, national forests, ranger offices, etc. often have some safety-related equipment for rent, such as bear canisters.  Do they rent out Personal Locator Beacons, satellite phones, or similar equipment that can be used to call for help in the wild?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T19:39:04.560" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T19:39:04.560" Title="PLB or satphone rental in the USA from National Forest offices or ranger stations?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4008" CreationDate="2013-04-21T19:30:45.450" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, you can't rent that kind of equipment at a Park Service ranger station. They only rent out bear canisters, and even that is only at certain locations (e.g., Yosemite Valley). If you want a Spot or a PLB, you just need to buy one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T19:30:45.450" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4005" CreationDate="2013-04-21T19:39:36.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bear populations, bear problems, and aggressive bears are distributed extremely unevenly in California wilderness areas. There are dense populations of problem animals in a few small areas such as Yosemite Valley and Little Yosemite. These are areas with a lot of humans packed into a small space. You're going to the White Mountains, which gets very few human visitors, so you're not going to be in one of those areas with a high probability of bear hassles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, bears that are used to humans will definitely steal your food right away from you. I've had a bear steal my crackers when I sat down to eat them. A friend had a bear rip open his pack while it was on the ground nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Do I really need to keep my food in one of those &lt;em&gt;while hiking?&lt;/em&gt;&quot; This question doesn't make sense to me. You have the canister in your pack, taking up space. Why would you not put the food in it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears operate more by smell than we do, so they're most likely to detect your food by its smell. You can cut down on the smell by putting all your food in ziplock bags, inside your bear canister. There are special brands of large ziplock bags such as Aloksack that are claimed to be more odorproof than normal bags. They're convenient, because they're big enough so that you can get all your food inside a single bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night, simply put your bear canister at some distance, say 30 m from where you're sleeping. If a bear does find it, it may try to break into it, but it won't be able to, and you won't be up all night because of the noise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T19:39:36.423" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4011" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-04-21T19:42:42.267" Score="3" ViewCount="471" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a combination of an 18&quot;x18&quot; inflatable pillow and a Thermarest compressible one, the largest size (commonly seen at REI and similar stores). However, the inflatable often slips out and I just don't seem to get the two to work together to provide even a remote simulation of a quality anatomical solution one would have at home. Consequently, I wake up often and seldom get quality sleep while camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I am looking for suggestions that could be a compromise between size (inflatable) and comfort (fluffy). I tend to like large pillows with lots of firm support. Anybody have any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-25T10:50:06.100" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T10:50:06.100" Title="Comfy inflatable pillows for car camping" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4006" CreationDate="2013-04-21T19:48:33.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Unlikely&quot; is not the same as &quot;won't happen.&quot; You're going to the White Mountains in California, so call the ranger station in Bishop and ask them. They will probably tell you that bears do exist there, so the probability is not zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It seems quite difficult to me to keep food at least 15 feet above the ground and 10 feet horizontally from a tree trunk. That's almost 5 metre!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is absolutely not exaggerated. I've had a mother bear keep me awake all night while she and her cubs worked on getting my food down from a tree. This is exactly the reason why bear canisters were invented, and are legally required in many areas. They're basically 100% effective, whereas bear-bagging often fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really don't like the extra weight of a hard-plastic canister such as a Garcia, you could buy something lighter like an Ursack. However, the Ursack is not legal in all areas. Ask the rangers before you go. The Ursack is actually supposed to be less effective against rodents than bears. It's made out of woven kevlar fibers, and the weave is rough, so small rodents' small teeth may be able to get in the gaps in the weave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T19:48:33.803" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4006" CreationDate="2013-04-21T21:07:44.943" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You propose packing food deeply in your backpack.  I'd specifically recommend against that.  Bears (and other wild animals) have vastly more acute senses of smell than humans, and they won't hesitate to chew through your pack to get at anything buried there.  Even if there aren't bears in an area, there are likely to be some kind of varmints (squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, raccoons, porcupines, marmots, mice, rats, etc) that are more than capable of chewing a hole in the side if your pack.  Once a friend of mine found that a chipmunk had chewed a 2&quot; hole in the side of his backpack in broad daylight to get a sandwich he'd left inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend taking some level of precaution to protect your food, your gear, and yourselves.  If the rangers in the area offer some recommendation, I'd probably take it.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear bags aren't as safe as bear canisters, either (I've known if raccoons that were able to eat food directly out of a hung bear bag), but they're still better than just leaving food in a pack or tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T21:07:44.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4011" CreationDate="2013-04-21T21:37:49.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you tried fitting them both into a single pillowcase? That should keep them together for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that, if you are car camping, why not just take your normal pillow? Presumably you don't have any weight or space issues. That's what I do when car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T21:37:49.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4015" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4019" CreationDate="2013-04-21T21:51:04.187" Score="19" ViewCount="4295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read one one of the US national forest or wilderness websites that when camping in the wild, one should camp at a certain distance from a water source.  Should I understand a water source to mean a spring/well, or any place where hikers may collect water (streams, lakes, etc.)?  Why is this — I understand that where I leave wastewater etc. is relevant, but how does camping at 10 metre instead of 100 metre from a lake or river make a difference for protection of said lake or river?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like camping at the lakeshore or at the sound of flowing water, and lakeshores often make excellent camping places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-30T08:14:33.833" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T17:07:20.340" Title="What is considered a water source, and why is it recommended to camp so far from them?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4005" CreationDate="2013-04-21T22:12:32.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; the regulations are so strict because the park service wants to keep a level of discipline about how hikers manage their food, so that none is accidentally left in a pack, and the oils and crumbs from food don't contaminate a pack.  This avoids scenarios where food was left in a pack unintentionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears don't hunt humans except in rare cases (except for polar bears).  It's not an issue of a bear attacking you personally. Rather, some bears WILL linger around campsites and wait for opportunities to steal food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its more that the rules are in place to ensure that a bear doesn't come into a persons camp because the person accidentally left food somewhere it shouldn't have been.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-04-22T23:00:35.260" LastActivityDate="2013-04-22T23:00:35.260" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4006" CreationDate="2013-04-21T22:33:27.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best recommendation is to take all necessary precautions for yourself, wildlife and the fauna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What measures make sense depends on the area you are visiting. For example, in more remote parts of the east coast (Maine, New-Brunswick, etc.) you will only find black bears and they tend to be pretty shy. In these areas, many people rely on hanging their food, as the bears usually prefer to avoid people, and good trees are plentiful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In more heavily-trafficked areas such as National Parks, bear encounters are more likely, and the bears tend to be less fearful of humans and savvier about how to get at your food. Some southern portions of the Appalachian Trail now require bear cans, either year round or at least during peak hiking season. The same is true in popular areas of the Adirondacks. In the western portion of North America, where you are more likely to encounter grizzlies, carrying a bear can is a very good idea. Grizzlies are larger and more aggressive than black bears, and in parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone the bears have food bags pretty well figured out. They recognize bear cans as well and will often knock them around in an effort to get at the good stuff inside. Note that in many Parks you will be fined if a Ranger catches you backpacking without an approved canister, and in these situations a bear can basically pays for itself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you decide to store your food, you may want to consider odor proof bags such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loksak.com/products/opsak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;OPSAK&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://litetrail.com/shop/litetrail-nylobarrier-odor-proof-bag&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NyloBarrier&lt;/a&gt;. By keeping all your food in a sealed odor-proof container (along with any food scraps, wrappers, dirty dishes, and scented articles such as soap or chapstick), you will reduce the likelihood of attracting animals to you camp in the first place. Added bonus: keeps your snacks from getting soggy when it rains all night!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An important consideration with rodents is that if they get to your food, you should be wary of contracting diseases such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hantavirus&lt;/a&gt; which &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00033796.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;can be fatal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also want to consider a food bag made of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuben_Fiber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cuben Fiber&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On several occasions I've seen mice check out my Blast food bag and eventually give up. I let one persistent mouse chew on it for the entire night- by morning he had done some minor damage but did not get into my food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as per &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/bear_bag.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Joe Valesko&lt;/a&gt;. My experience was similar but your millage may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-25T16:14:55.327" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T16:14:55.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4015" CreationDate="2013-04-21T23:09:12.477" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of reasons for this, as I understand it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your wastes (soap, Giardia in your poop, DEET, ...) will contaminate the water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lakeshores in high-altitude areas tend to be very delicate. People do a lot of ecological damage by pitching their tents right there. Unlike high-altitude areas in the Alps, the ones in the western US do not have huts, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The western US is a dry environment. It's not like Europe where water is all over the place. This makes water resources more fragile, valuable, and in need of protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-21T23:09:12.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4015" CreationDate="2013-04-22T07:02:38.660" Score="28" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I understand a water source to mean a spring/well, or any place&#xA;  where hikers may collect water (streams, lakes, etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. Any source of water - no matter how large or small - should be avoided when choosing a camp site. 100 meters is just a guideline, 200 meters is better. 200 meters and out of sight is great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reasons are several-fold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waste&lt;/strong&gt; - wastewater should never be put in creeks/lakes/etc - and although many people will walk 200 meters away to dispose of it properly, most wont. The closer people are to a body of water, the more likely they are to say &quot;ah to heck with it&quot; and dump it in. It's difficult to resist the temptation to just do a quick rinse of hands, plates, etc in a creek that is right next to you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Erosion&lt;/strong&gt; - The riparian areas next to creeks and lakes are often the most sensitive, and can not handle large amounts of traffic. Traffic up and down and along the creek banks can cause rapid erosion of soil and cause vegetation loss. This is a problem from alpine to canyon ecosystems.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visual Disturbance&lt;/strong&gt; to other hikers - Setting up your tent beside that beautiful pristine lake is an awesome scene, right up until that group across the lake sets their tent up in your view. Don't be 'that guy.' I've successfully distributed 15 groups of backpackers around a high-alpine lake so that every single one of them could pretend they were the only ones out there.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disturb/Encounter wildlife&lt;/strong&gt; - while you are asleep, chances are there is a whole host of thirsty critters strolling up and down the creek / lake shore looking for drink (or to eat those drinking). These are also natural travel corridors. Your presence can be disruptive to the fauna, or could put you in the path of grumpy wildlife (bears).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These reasons apply to all ecosystems (apline, desert, grassland, etc) and as such, camping away from water sources is good 'Leave No Trace' practice in all situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-04-22T13:40:36.643" LastActivityDate="2013-04-22T13:40:36.643" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4011" CreationDate="2013-04-22T12:10:32.390" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inflatable pillows blow. (Get it? Ha ha! I kill me.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously though - after years of battling inflatables (sticky in hot climes, slippery, hard to breathe when you are face down in them) I've found the most comfy pillow is a fleece jacket rolled loosely in a pillow case. You presumably have extra clothes with you - roll em in there too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For extra comfy - a down vest works nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A down vest rolled around a fleece jacket is kingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-04-22T12:10:32.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3531" CreationDate="2013-04-22T12:41:00.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochschwab&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hochschwab&lt;/a&gt; is a mountain range in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steiermark&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Styria&lt;/a&gt;. You can find trail information with photos about this region &lt;a href=&quot;http://wandern.hejoscha.de/lage/liste-lage-hoch.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;in German&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;js=n&amp;amp;prev=_t&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;eotf=1&amp;amp;u=http://wandern.hejoscha.de/lage/liste-lage-hoch.htm&amp;amp;act=url&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;English&lt;/a&gt; using Google Translate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to spend a few nights at the same hut to simplify the logistics. You could plan several day hikes from the same hut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a beautiful lake that people scuba dive in which is car accessible. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;js=n&amp;amp;prev=_t&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;eotf=1&amp;amp;u=http://wandern.hejoscha.de/lage/liste-lage-hoch.htm&amp;amp;act=url&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Brandenstein&lt;/a&gt; is particularly interesting because of its &lt;a href=&quot;http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&amp;amp;depth=1&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;prev=_t&amp;amp;rurl=translate.google.ca&amp;amp;sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;u=http://wandern.hejoscha.de/tour020/fotos/FrameSet.htm&amp;amp;usg=ALkJrhh0zls2MG266m2tAaV0Gx9pzev0iw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;use of a cave&lt;/a&gt; as a pass on the top of the mountain. Make sure to bring a head lamp! :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website was suggested to me by a fellow local hiker. The language barrier will most-likely be a challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-04-22T12:41:00.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4022" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4024" CreationDate="2013-04-22T14:12:48.047" Score="16" ViewCount="3334" Body="&lt;p&gt;We ran into a hiker on the AT last year using a kevlar back to keep out bears and rodents.  He said the product was an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/product8.html&quot;&gt;Ursack&lt;/a&gt; and seemed very happy with it.  However he'd never had a bear try to get into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will a kevlar sack actually prevent a bear from getting to food in the sack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Yes, it's still best to hang anyways, but I'd like to know if this would work assuming the bear got the bag down).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:42:06.173" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:42:06.173" Title="Do kevlar sacks work against bears?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4022" CreationDate="2013-04-22T16:12:28.113" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/sibbg_abstract.htm&quot;&gt;test report of 2004&lt;/a&gt; according to Ursack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bears carried inadequately-secured Ursacks short distances suggesting that users should be able to locate most bags that might get carried off by bears. Distances carried during the four tests were 0.3m, 1.6 m, 5.8 m, and somewhere between 41 and 67 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In those cases, the sack did prevent the bear from getting to the food in the sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG) did investigation on Ursack failures during the 2007 season at Yosemite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SIBBG did not conclude that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/05/09/09-17152.pdf&quot;&gt;six Ursack failures&lt;/a&gt; in 2007 were caused by the same bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the past 10 years Ursack have been improved. However, just as bear canisters fails, Ursack is also prone to occasional failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-22T17:28:30.500" LastActivityDate="2013-04-22T17:28:30.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4022" CreationDate="2013-04-22T16:52:00.970" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fuller history:  They were approved for a few years (2004-2007) for use in Yosemite, which is a proving ground for bear-resistant containers.  In 2007 I believe there were a couple incidents where bears were able to puncture an Ursack and &quot;suck&quot; food out of it.  This led Yosemite to ban them from the park (and ultimately some other national parks followed suit).  Since then, Ursack has released new versions it claims work better, along with an aluminum liner (that basically turns it into a more traditional container).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my personal experience, I have used an Ursack with an odor-proof liner (Ursack sells these as well) on the PCT, CDT, and many other trails in black bear and grizzly country.  I'm not sure how well the Ursack itself would hold up to a sustained attack by a determined bear.  My experience suggests that the odor-proof liner does it's job well enough though - I've had bears and other pests (rats, mice, etc) in my camp and they never seem to figure out where the food is, even if I've left it right by my tent.  The worst I've had is mice a couple times nibbling at the seams of the bag (no damage done).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I've heard from other hikers, you almost have to &quot;defend&quot; your Ursack from bears.  You tie your Ursack to a tree nearer to your camp than you normally would do a hang.  If you hear a bear going after it, you're going to have to actually do something - make noise, throw rocks, whatever, to get it to go away.  Because the Ursack is a soft container, even if a bear doesn't get in, it's going to slobber all over everything, crush all your food into mushy bits, and generally make a mess.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, it has one obvious, major advantage over traditional containers - weight :)  7oz vs 2 lbs 9oz for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/768902/bearvault-bv500-food-container&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;comparably sized container&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2013-09-07T22:40:36.033" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T22:40:36.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1670" CreationDate="2013-04-23T16:36:43.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you mean is called &quot;Orientierungslauf&quot; or in short &quot;OL&quot; in Germany. There are some events, but it is best you get in touch with some organizers over there perhaps using this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.orientierungslauf.de/3/1?jahr=2013&amp;amp;monat=04&amp;amp;disziplin=&amp;amp;art=&amp;amp;region=Deutschland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;list of upcoming orienteering marches&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience the events of this kind which are not highly popular are mostly not (yet) present on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's &quot;popular&quot; around southern Germany, but popular is very relative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2013-04-25T22:14:03.800" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T22:14:03.800" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3919" CreationDate="2013-04-23T16:48:25.130" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;i can only agree to the answers, i was there and did a short hike (we just started like we would do here in switzerland) we're used to big and steep hikes without any trees giving shadow in the blazing sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the desert is dryer than you might think. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry enough water and calculate more time than expected and you'll be fine, just don't try to jump around at the edges of the canyon because they are indeed more slippery or instable than they look. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you're in doubt better talk to the Park Authority first, most of them know what they're talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastActivityDate="2013-04-23T16:48:25.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2013-04-23T17:10:05.273" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only answer for Switzerland.&#xA;It's legal to &quot;wildcamp&quot; and most ground belongs to Farmers which can be asked anytime, and most of them will let you pitch your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information see the following links (in German/French):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sac-cas.ch/umwelt/naturvertraeglicher-bergsport/campieren-biwakieren.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Campieren &amp;amp; Biwakieren&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alternatives-wandern.ch/biwak/biwakverbote.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Biwakieren Verbotsliste&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T05:15:22.850" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T05:15:22.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4011" CreationDate="2013-04-24T10:53:37.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I picked up a memory foam travel pillow for around $5 at Canadian Tire a few years back. It actually packs small enough (about the size of a 1L Nalgene) that I also use it on easier multiday mountaineering trips where I'm not already trying to shave as much weight off of my pack as possible (otherwise the down jacket wrapped in a fleece works beautifully.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downside with memory foam is that if it's really cold outside, it can get rock hard, and you either have to sit it on it for a while to warm it up, or find some other means of unfreezing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find the one I have online, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campingandtent.co.uk/camping-pillows/cocoon-memory-foam-travel-pillow-slate-blue-blue/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this much more expensive one&lt;/a&gt; looks identical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-04-24T10:53:37.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2013-04-25T00:30:30.993" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everybody's method is going to be somewhat different, because they're using different footwear and other equipment (such as poles vs no poles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan ahead and get information on what water levels are likely to be like given the time of year and the amount of snow this year. If a certain hike is likely to be impossible to complete safely, you want to know that and not do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I know a big crossing is coming up, I start looking for one or two good sticks to use for balance. (I don't hike with trekking poles.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the creek is high enough or fast enough to look dangerous, I try to discipline myself to spend a significant amount of time searching around for the safest place to cross. The safest point may be 100 yards away from where the trail hits the creek, and may be invisible from the trail. The safest point is usually the widest, because the water flows most slowly there. Sometimes in 10 minutes of searching you can find a tree or rocks to get across without wading at all, or you'll see another hiker who will tell you a better place to cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unclip belly band and pectoral strap so that if I fall, I won't be trapped by my pack. Make sure sleeping bag, down jacket, etc., are inside a trash bag or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually hike in running shoes. To cross a stream, I take off my socks and remove the inserts from the shoes, then put the shoes back on to protect my feet while crossing. Although river rocks are mostly smooth, a foot injury could ruin my whole trip, so I don't want to cross barefoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While crossing, rehearse what you have to do if you get swept off your feet. If this happens, shrug off your pack. The big risks of death are head injuries and getting trapped underwater. To reduce the chance of a head injury, try to orient yourself so you're going feet first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After crossing, hike 10 minutes and then put the socks and inserts back in the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the biggest problems with hiking boots is that if you wear them for foot protection while crossing a stream, they will probably never dry out, and you'll end up destroying your feet with blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-04-25T00:37:52.130" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T00:37:52.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4030" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4033" CreationDate="2013-04-25T11:00:40.717" Score="4" ViewCount="2038" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages of hand sanitizer over soap on a backpacking trip? Do they fulfill the same purpose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would you recommend for hand sanitization?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="283" LastEditDate="2013-04-25T18:31:11.530" LastActivityDate="2013-04-27T05:22:33.610" Title="While backpacking, should one bring hand sanitizer, soap, or both?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4030" CreationDate="2013-04-25T12:03:53.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually take just a bar of plain soap. It’s universal, can be used to wash hands or hair, shave, or wash the clothes. And plain soap is friendly to the environment. I guess that a special desinfection liquid has the advantage of not needing any water to work. I’m happy with the soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T12:03:53.260" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1169" CreationDate="2013-04-25T13:26:17.110" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What type of cookware you choose depends on what type of cooking you do. Titanium is certainly the lightest, and it's great if all you do in your pot is boil water to add to dehydrated foods (Lipton noodles, Mountain House, homemade boil-in-bag meals, etc.) or to make beverages. I've never seen or heard of a titanium pot shattering at low temperatures. However, any super-thin, uncoated pan will have trouble distributing heat evenly which leads to hot spots and burned food. A titanium mug works great for me, but then, I prefer to keep my meals as simple and no-cook as possible when I'm backpacking. If you enjoy backcountry cooking, you may be disappointed in ti cookware, especially considering the price point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan on doing anything more involved, such as eggs or pancakes or stirfry, take a look at hard anodized aluminum cookware, such as the MSR Aplinist or GSI Pinnacle series. Hard anodized aluminum weighs only a little more than titanium, is cheaper, and offers several advantages over other aluminum pots. It is durable, offers excellent heat distribution, and is easier to clean as it possesses some nonstick properties of its own even without a Teflon coating. Some hard anodized pans are sold with a Teflon finish, so if that's an issue for you, shop around or examine them in person before buying. If you do go with nonstick cookware, be sure to use bamboo or Lexan utensils to avoid scratching the finish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use hard-anodized aluminum pans from Calphalon for home cooking and I love them. They heat very evenly and are virtually nonstick. The material is much less reactive than plain aluminum (e.g. it doesn't turn the sulphur in your cauliflower yellow!), and leeches virtually no aluminum into your food. For perspective: there are about 50 mg of aluminum in an antacid tablet; if you do all your cooking in uncoated aluminum pans, you'll consume about 3.5 mg of aluminum per day, and with a hard anodized pan that number is even lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bon appetit!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T13:26:17.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4030" CreationDate="2013-04-25T16:14:49.913" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two products have some commonality of use but a different focus. Both have their place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soap is good for many things.    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sanitiser is an excellent companion when squatty toilets or dead animals in your water supply must be dealt with - read on ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap is used (as I know, you know) for cleaning - it removes contaminants that are hard or essentially impossible to remove by rubbing or scraping or by use of water alone. It essentially must have water to work and it needs water to rinse it away after it has done its job. It's use as a sanitiser is important but a secondary result of  its main role. ie by removing material from your hands (or clothes or elsewhere) it also removes contaminants that may cause disease. Soap by itself does not kill germs very well - instead it &lt;strong&gt;removes&lt;/strong&gt; them. If the water source used with soap is biologically contaminated, the final rinsing off of the soap may leave your hands looking clean but actually quite 'germ' covered. If you washed your hands with soap in a small stream where there was a dead animal carcass slightly up stream, or where the water was faecally contaminated, there is a good chance that they would look misleadingly safe and clean. You could carry the water you used for washing, or for final rinsing, but the former would be undesirable from a weight aspect, and carrying rinsing water introduces  unusual cleaning patterns (wash in stream, rinse from bottle) and also incurs a weight and volume penalty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hand sanitisers deal with  germs by killing them '&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_situ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;in situ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;'. They do not primarily remove biological contaminants but instead render them inactive. Depending on the sanitiser used they may be a good solvent as well, so may be useful to remove a degree of soiling. However, the volumes available and/or used are usually small and sanitisers such as ethyl alcohol tend to evaporate too fast to be used as an effective gross surface cleaner when used in small volumes. Because they do not need to utilise a local water source they are immune to the effects of local contamination. But if eg you had blood on your hands, or faeces, or had vomited, the sheer physical overload of contamination could render the sanitiser ineffective unless you used very substantial quantities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So - the idea is to have both available, with soap as your primary cleaner, backed up by sanitiser where there was a clear need, or where you were uncertain. In most cases sanitiser is unnecessary. The hardy pioneers never had it (or, rather, they preferred to drink it) and even now, soap is often enough more a luxury item than a necessity for many hikers :-). However, there are occasions when sanitisers will keep you healthy, or alive, when soap won't. It's a good idea not to have to rely on hindsight to determine when these occasions may be :-). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A Parallel to backpacking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have travelled quite a lot in Asia in recent years - cities and travelling rather than hiking. I try to ensure that I  have a small bottle of sanitiser with me at all times - no exceptions if possible. And, I seldom use it. After you have used a few 'squatty' toilets in typical conditions, and then gone to eat a meal, with or without the availability of a water supply for washing, having sanitiser to hand (literally)  becomes very attractive. Even when water is available for washing in such situations, the merits of using it can be uncertain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some dislike sanitisers because of the perceived (or actual) effects on skin, their lack of naturalness etc. Each must decide for themselves the merits of such  concerns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Types of sanitisers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two main types of sanitisers, alcohol based and chemical based disinfectants. (You can argue that alcohol is also a chemical disinfectant :-) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol (usually 60% - 85% Ethyl Alcohol, plus a gelling agent plus a bittering agent) will kill 99.9% or so biological contaminants on your skin in seconds. It evaporates without washing or wiping so leaves hands &quot;guaranteed&quot; low-germ if not actually no-germ. It's effect on the environment (apart from the part of the environment that you wipe it on) is minimal. Even poured on the ground or in a stream its effects would be extremely localized. A 1cc squirt from a pump bottle will clean two hands up to high wrist level if not actually visibly dirty. So a small 100cc bottle will be ample for most journeys. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative which is gaining favour relatively recently is Benzalkonium Chloride. (Also answers to the names a &quot;Quaternary ammonium salts&quot;, Lauryl Dimethyl Benzalkonium Chloride, and a few other similar names). This is the disinfectant of your childhood and of ever since. Look at the labels of disinfectants in supermarkets  and you'll find it is used in about 90% of them. Also used as a carpet cleaner, swimming pool disinfectant and moss killer. And more. Used under a vast number of labels and for any applications.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 0.1% solution (!) is said by those currently touting it to be as effective as alcohol (by federal certification) and as it leaves a thin residue on your hands it keeps on keeping on. Unlike alcohol.  At low concentrations it is very person-safe and can be used in mouth washes and similar. At 10% - 50% range it's nasty if ingested (ask me how I know :-( )(I won't make that stupid and careless mistake again) but that is an unusually high percentage. Cheapest is in budget disinfectant bottles in supermarkets at about 2%. Water down as required. Very cheap if bought as above. Does not evaporate well (similar to water). Ecologically probably OK in streams etc. once diluted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap is good for many things. Sanitiser is an excellent companion when squatty toilets or dead animals in your water supply must be dealt with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below BAQ = Benzalkonium Chloride / Quaternary Ammonium salts / ... etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Effect on bacterial level &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Soap and water reduce level to about 0.08 of original&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Will obviously vary with circumstances) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use of any sanitiser gives 0.01 on 1st use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mutiple uses of sanitiser in succession give 0.01, 0.0001 2 uses, 0.000001  3 uses (if you can believe the graph cited below)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excellent report here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037063/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They conclude that washing with soap is more effective than water alone BUT under their conditions reduction in bacterial count was to 23% and 8% initially. So, a reduction by a factor of 12 is useful BUT 1/12th of &quot;too many bugs&quot; is still &quot;too many bugs&quot; in many cases. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll try and post some stats later but, based on a manufacturers promo card graph that I have, use of sanitiser gives 99% kill on first use and if you repeat it N times you get most of the survivors killed each time, so results become superb rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alcohols and BAQ manage about 99% at 1st use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;2nd use effectiveness (percentage of survivors killed) is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;95-99% per wash on subsequent washes for 62% or 70% Ethanol&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;BAQ 99% 1st use, 99.9% 2nd use, 99.99% 3rd use, around 99.99% per use after that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;So BAQ is about 1 in 10 to the power of 2, 5, 9, ...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That's somewhat hard to believe! More research needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ABSTRACT:&lt;/strong&gt; Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1) handwashing with water, (2) handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and (3) no handwashing. Each volunteer underwent this procedure 24 times, yielding 480 samples overall. Bacteria of potential faecal origin (mostly Enterococcus and Enterobacter spp.) were found after no handwashing in 44% of samples. Handwashing with water alone reduced the presence of bacteria to 23% (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Handwashing with plain soap and water reduced the presence of bacteria to 8% (comparison of both handwashing arms: p &amp;lt; 0.001). The effect did not appear to depend on the bacteria species. Handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and water is more effective for the removal of bacteria of potential faecal origin from hands than handwashing with water alone and should therefore be more useful for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoeal diseases.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2179" LastEditorUserId="2179" LastEditDate="2013-04-27T05:22:33.610" LastActivityDate="2013-04-27T05:22:33.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4030" CreationDate="2013-04-25T16:50:08.443" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just carry hand sanitizer for three reasons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't require water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Environmental contamination (the soap goes somewhere, even if just onto the ground)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's going to come down to personal choice, but when I'm backpacking weight and water are huge concerns (and water is weight).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T16:50:08.443" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1169" CreationDate="2013-04-25T20:50:46.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freezer bag cooking eliminates the hassle and environmental impact of washing your pot and dishes. You simply boil the water in the pot, then pour it into the ziplock freezer bag where the ingredients are. You eat out of the bag, so you don't need to carry separate dishes that are heavy and have to be washed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're using this technique, then the only criteria for a cooking pot are size, weight, and cost.  You don't have to worry about even heat distribution, cleaning off burned food, or the pot material leaching into your food. If you have the bucks, titanium is optimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use an alcohol stove with clean-burning alcohol, you don't get all that black soot on the pot, either. It may take a little trial and error to find a source of alcohol that burns cleanly. Alcohol stoves are also really nice because the fuel is lightweight, and if you spill or leak fuel, it's inoffensive and relatively nontoxic, and evaporates completely. I find that about 6 oz of fuel is enough for me for several days. The only reason I use any other type of stove anymore is if I'm snow camping and need to melt snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-25T20:50:46.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4030" CreationDate="2013-04-26T01:49:31.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;All forms of soap are formed from a combination of natural ingredients. It's best to find soaps that are marketed as &quot;biodegradable&quot; or &quot;natural&quot; - these have the least complex chemical formulas and will be the most nature-friendly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap is simple to carry and has many uses. Sanitizer, same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2214" LastActivityDate="2013-04-26T01:49:31.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4037" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:04:04.420" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-04-26T02:04:04.420" LastActivityDate="2013-04-26T02:04:04.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4038" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:04:04.420" Score="0" Body="Questions related to regions that generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-26T04:32:47.537" LastActivityDate="2013-04-26T04:32:47.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4039" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:09:23.923" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ultralight backpacking is a style of backpacking that emphasizes carrying the lightest and simplest kit safely possible for a given trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:03:17.197" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:03:17.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4040" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:09:23.923" Score="0" Body="Questions about ultralight backpacking" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:03:17.197" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:03:17.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4041" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:12:54.627" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;All questions related to GPS &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;System&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_navigation_device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Receivers&lt;/a&gt; (GPS devices) and its usage while preparing/going to the great outdoors. This includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Technical&lt;/strong&gt; questions related to configuration, battery life, specific device configuration and features, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Questions about &lt;strong&gt;maps&lt;/strong&gt;:  Where to find maps for different kind of activities, how to load them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Questions about &lt;strong&gt;usage&lt;/strong&gt; for cycling, trekking, orienteering, outdoor games, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Questions about other navigational systems, such as Glonass or Galileo, can be categorised under this tag as well, at least for the time being.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11806" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-11-21T18:58:15.657" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T18:58:15.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4042" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:12:54.627" Score="0" Body="Questions related to the Global Positioning System (GPS) and its use in the great outdoors." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-04-26T04:32:44.753" LastActivityDate="2013-04-26T04:32:44.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4043" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:14:08.520" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: United States of America, Country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-26T03:44:55.763" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T03:44:55.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4044" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-04-26T02:14:08.520" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the United States" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-26T03:44:55.763" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T03:44:55.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4048" CreationDate="2013-04-27T13:37:19.570" Score="15" ViewCount="394" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should one look for in the specifications&lt;/strong&gt; to determine whether a handheld purpose-built GPS receiver provides good navigational consistency under reasonably normal, low-speed conditions? Highly preferably both in open areas as well as potentially dense woodland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking primarily for something that will work well for walking and bicycling (hence low-speed; good accuracy while travelling by car is less of a concern because then even a 15 meters error may translate to about half a second of travelling time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are marine units &lt;em&gt;as a general rule&lt;/em&gt; better in this regard than (for want of a better word) &quot;personal&quot; GPS receivers, in the absence of an external antenna? Or are they simply more rugged, and certified for marine use, while providing little potential benefit to non-maritime users?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current (admittedly somewhat dated) GPS receiver, even after having had plenty of time to download a full GPS almanac, with a clear view of the sky and half a dozen satellites to work with, often reports navigational accuracy to be in the range 10-20 meters. What's more, that number tends to vary quite wildly. That certainly is good enough to e.g. find one's way back to a known location such as getting back to the car or campsite, but as soon as you need more accuracy than that, it falls way short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be using the receiver primarily within Scandinavia, and Sweden in particular, generally outside of cities and often in forested areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify, it doesn't have to provide pin-point position &lt;em&gt;accuracy&lt;/em&gt; (for that, 10-20 meters is very often quite sufficient), but &lt;em&gt;consistency&lt;/em&gt; in readings in the same area is much more useful. As an example, if I lay down a track and then have the dog follow that track, I am very interested in how closely the dog actually follows the track but I am not particularly interested in the exact location of the track. So, if the readings are off by some reasonable distance that isn't a major concern (as has been pointed out, it's not like being 20 meters off means you are hopelessly lost; if it is, it's not like a GPS receiver is likely to help much); as long as that within a reasonably short time frame (more than minutes, less than hours) two readings taken in the same physical location match well in terms of the reported location, that's good enough for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="182" LastEditorUserId="182" LastEditDate="2013-04-28T13:39:29.350" LastActivityDate="2013-04-28T19:12:17.800" Title="How to select a good GPS receiver?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4045" CreationDate="2013-04-27T16:48:09.213" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Sweden and I hike a lot in the wild.  My personal top three properties to look for in a handheld GPS receiver for The Great Outdoors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery life&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Battery life&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Battery life&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I honestly don't care if the measurement is 20 metre off.  In the Swedish mountains, it usually isn't, there are no deep canyons, and if there are you can only go in one direction anyway (well, two).  I don't need and I don't want a colour display, nor any map information.  In Sweden, you really don't need a barometric altimetre.  A compass takes battery life but you can get directional information by walking a bit in a certain direction, and in the Swedish mountains, this is almost always possible.  The best way to maximise battery life is to get rid of all the useless stuff.  I still want a GPS receiver that doesn't have a screen that's always on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All I want a handheld GPS-receiver to do is to tell me where I am (all models do) and keep a tracklog (all models do?).  But when I'm in the wild for ten days, I don't want to have to carry 20 batteries.  Therefore, my only consideration is:  &lt;strong&gt;battery life&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did I mention battery life?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-04-27T16:48:09.213" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4045" CreationDate="2013-04-28T13:33:38.890" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you really do need exceptional accuracy, you could use the solution many &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.Ingress.com&quot;&gt;Ingress&lt;/a&gt; players use - a good Android phone with a battery pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the game you often need accuracy of 2 or 3 metres - so the Galaxy S3 or a phone paired with the Nexus 7 (which has an excellend GPS) are the tools of choice. The game uses google maps and wireless navigation, as well as the inbuilt compass and accelerometers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My battery pack (a 12000mAh one I picked up for about £25) is only slightly larger than my S3 so the pair are easy to fit in my trouser or jacket pocket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be honest though, even my Garmin eTrek has accuracy better than 10m, which for walking and cycling should be far more than enough. Can you describe what your specific need is that requires this sort of accuracy. I can't think of any time I would need it when hiking, cycling or exploring...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-04-28T13:33:38.890" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4045" CreationDate="2013-04-28T19:12:17.800" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen any evidence that one brand or model of handheld GPS unit differs from any other model in its random or systematic errors. As far as I understand, the errors are determined by (1) the geometry of the satellites currently in the visible part of the sky from your location, and (2) the physics of the propagation of the radio waves (including effects such as multipath, ionospheric refraction, attenuation through forest canopy, ...). These effects can be reduced with techniques like dual-frequency GPS and differential GPS, but those features aren't available in hand-held GPS units, only in units such as those intended for use by surveyors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What differentiates one hand-held GPS from another is other factors such as size, weight, screen resolution, color screen, ease of use, and mapping features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-04-28T19:12:17.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3698" CreationDate="2013-04-29T01:22:13.720" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first part of your question: &quot;why non SNS bindings for NIS plates&quot; seems to be purely a matter of proprietary systems and corporate competition. SNS is Solomon's baby, NIS is a collaborative between Fischer, Rossignol and Rottefella to make a truly Integrated System. Likely, Solomon is not allowed to integrated the NIS plate into their skis, so has little interest in making their bindings work on other's skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rumors occasionally surface suggesting Solomon is working on their own adjustable system (that may or may not work with NIS) but to date, nothing has been produced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for NNN BC - since NIS and NNN share the same blood, it seems likely the lack of NIS BC bindings is due to structural reasons. BC bindings are tougher for the torque you find in typical Back-Country settings, and you'll probably want a ski that goes with it (wider, metal edges, etc). Also, perhaps the adjustable NIS plate couldn't handle truly BC type skiing (this is just conjecture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-04-29T01:22:13.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3666" CreationDate="2013-04-29T01:35:41.037" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reliability:&lt;/strong&gt; So far so good - no mass returns of skis due to breakage. Since the binding plate is integrated into the ski, there is more even distribution of force, where as five screws create five weak points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages:&lt;/strong&gt; The biggest advantage comes from being able to dial in the &quot;sweet-spot&quot; of the skis. Ski's vary greatly in composition and dimensions, and shifting your bindings forward or backward by centimeters to adjust the center of gravity can make a world of differences in their responsiveness and handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-04-29T01:35:41.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4052" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4055" CreationDate="2013-04-30T16:39:40.457" Score="16" ViewCount="9498" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a beginning climber and am trying to resolve conflicting instruction related to tying into  my harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During a recent outing a friend (an experienced climber, but not an instructor) was showing me the basics of switching from climbing to rappelling.  The basic steps followed were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing to the anchor while on belay, tied in directly to the&#xA;rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Securing a sling to my belay loop by threading it through itself,&#xA;then securing it to the anchor via a locking biner (&lt;strong&gt;first&#xA;question&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Securing the rope to myself, then untying from it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Halving the rope, attaching my rappel device, and using a locking&#xA;carabiner to secure the device to the tie-in loops (&lt;strong&gt;second&#xA;question&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...the rest isn't really relevant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions arise from the usage of the belay and tie-in loops.  I've been taught by a trained instructor that rope should never be tied directly into the belay loop as it can generate excessive friction and cause failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first question relates to my friend's instruction to secure the sling to my belay loop without a carabiner.  This made me wonder if we were misusing the belay loop.  Her rationale was that the tie-ins were occupied by the rope, and since the sling would be used to hold my static weight (and not a fall) that there was no risk of excessive friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second question comes from attaching my rappel device.  I was instructed to clip it through both tie-in loops rather than the belay device.  Again her rationalization was that the belay loop was occupied by the sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a final question related to the first two: most of the reasoning for this approach was to keep the tie-ins and belay loop occupied by a single sling / biner / rope at any time.  Is it unsafe to have multiple connections to a single point while switching from climbing to rappelling (e.g. a rope and sling through the tie-ins, or two biners through the belay loop if I'm clipped to both a rope and a sling)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" OwnerDisplayName="STW" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T12:02:00.070" LastActivityDate="2019-08-11T17:07:04.627" Title="Should a carabiner ever be clipped to the tie-in loops and should anything other than a carabiner ever attach to the belay loop?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4053" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4054" CreationDate="2013-04-30T16:47:55.287" Score="15" ViewCount="4886" Body="&lt;p&gt;When rappelling and using an autoblock consisting of a french prusik knot it seems there may be some options on how and where to attach the autoblock to my harness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a correct placement on the leg loop to attach the autoblock?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a correct orientation for the carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" OwnerDisplayName="STW" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:58:32.680" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:58:32.680" Title="What is the correct way to attach an autoblock to your harness for rappelling?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4053" CreationDate="2013-04-30T18:13:44.410" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leg loop verses main belay loop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll find recommendations for placing an autoblock on either the leg loop or the main belay loop.  Some concerns about either placement are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leg Loops&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're placing an autoblock on your leg loop AND you're using a &quot;quick release&quot; buckle, the carabiner that's holding the autoblock can catch on the buckle and release the tension on that leg loop.  It probably wouldn't make you fall out of your harness, but would be uncomfortable, and you'd hang at an odd angle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The leg loops of a harness aren't strength-tested independently of the harness as a unit.  Also, if the autoblock did manage to catch the entire weight of the climber, it would place a different stress on the leg loop than a person normally weighting the harness would.  If you had a harness with stitched leg loops, like the Black Diamond Chaos, the weight of the autoblock would be pulling the stitches apart (this is not the direction of force you have when you weight a harness normally).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I no longer put my autoblock on my leg loop for the reasons I mention above.  I originally did, when I had a different harness, but my 2 current harnesses are the new Misty Mountain Cadallac, and the Black Diamond Chaos, one has quick release buckes, and the other has stiched leg loops.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belay Loop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're placing an autoblock on your belay loop, you have to make sure and extend your belay device when rappeling (using a sling or something like the Metolius PAS).  This issue is that if the loops of the autoblock are too close to the belay device, they can get caught in it, and jam the rappel system (probably making you unable to decend the rope, but possibly forcing the rope to &quot;fail open&quot;).  If you got stuck in this fashion, it would be pretty difficult to free yourself, esp. if you were in a free-hanging rappel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for not giving a single recommendation, as in many situations in climbing, there are multiple options, and its important to know what the tradeoffs are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carabiner&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As per usual, you want to make sure your carabiner is loaded along its spine.  That is, longways.  So, one end of the carabiner will be running through the leg loop or belay loop, and the other end will have both strands of the autoblock coord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I do&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I place my autoblock on my main belay loop, then extend my belay device with a PAS.  The rope runs down between my legs, and I can use either hand to control my descent.  My autoblock is made out of coord that I measured and cut specifically to be too short to catch up in my extended belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-05-01T20:36:23.200" LastActivityDate="2013-05-01T20:36:23.200" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2013-04-30T18:33:44.473" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Question: &lt;strong&gt;Should I girth hitch my main belay loop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;No!  You shouldn't girth-hitch a sling to your belay loop.  The belay loop should only ever be in contact with a carabiner, as the trained instructor told you.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  As the instructor told you, girth hitching to the main belay loop will cause it extra wear, and make it wear out faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; girth hitch slings through the two &quot;tie-in&quot; points that the belay loop itself runs through - on most harnesses those tie-in points are designed for that - they're extra thick, have a protective nylon layer, and since they're two of them, they're redundant.  But...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're asking about the &quot;easiest&quot; system to use, I'd recommend getting an &quot;anchor chain&quot;.  There are a few different ones on the market (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Anchor-Chain-Reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;).  They are specalized slings that solve this problem you're facing, and many people find them more convenient than using slings.  Also, because they're a commercial product, they come with instructions.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:  Should I run a carabiner through both my tie-in points, or the main belay loop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer:  DO NOT clip a carabiner through the two tie in points.  This will &quot;cross-load&quot; the carabiner.  Also, it will put the rappel device awkwardly close to your person and clothes.  Instead clip it into the belay loop.  That's what a belay loop is for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1384/what-does-it-mean-to-cross-load-a-carabiner&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; for images on how to tie in and a brief explanation of the reasoning behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T19:42:39.010" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2013-04-30T19:54:34.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read about using rubbing alcohol to harden them up, but never done it. I usually wear silk or poly socks inside the self-wicking hydrophilic/hydrophibic layered socks. When I get a blister, I lance, drain, debride it, and then put a protective layer of superglue over it. It works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2247" LastActivityDate="2013-04-30T19:54:34.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2013-04-30T21:25:31.993" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I almost never get blisters. It's been a few years since I've had one, when I got a small blister between two toes. It was my own fault for not properly drying my feet after a creek crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My hiking shoe is a Chaco Red Rock. They're about 16 ounces each, which is too heavy for a hiking shoe. My plan is to switch to a lighter shoe, and there appear to be some excellent trail-running shoes in the 7 to 9 ounce range. Keeping the weight light on your feet is even more important than keeping a light load on your back. Ray Jardine recommends shoes that are 11 ounces or less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, always avoid natural fibers. No cotton, no wool. I wear polyester running socks cut below the ankle. Change your socks every hour or so when you stop for a break, and after you cross a creek. Polyester will not give you blisters as long as it's dry, because it will slide on your skin instead of grabbing and pulling your skin like natural fibers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do this and you won't need to harden your feet. Just do some normal prep hiking and you'll be ready to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going to be hiking in snow over an inch or two deep you'll probably need to wear boots, in which case try some of the suggestions above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-04-30T21:25:31.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2013-04-30T21:50:18.383" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is typically no need to purify water collected from natural sources in the wilderness. For example, in a survey of 69 sites in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;U.S Sierra Nevada&lt;/a&gt;, every site had concentrations of Giardia cysts much too low to make anyone sick.[Rockwell 2002] The perception that backcountry water is unsafe to drink without treatment is folk wisdom that is controverted by the available scientific evidence, at least in the backcountry areas in the US such as the Sierra that have been extensively studied. Of course none of this applies outside of the backcountry, e.g., you certainly don't want to drink water in Arkansas that comes from runoff from a poultry farm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people do actually contract backpacker's diarrhea from exposure during a hiking trip, by far the most common reason is hand-to-mouth contamination.[Welch 1995] The most effective disease prevention measures are to wash your hands after pooping, refrain from sharing pots and pans, and use freezer-bag cooking so that food never goes in your pots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want to purify your water, there's a lot to be said for UV (steripen), which is one of the few methods that will kill all three types of disease-causing organisms: viruses, bacteria, and protozoan cysts. Unlike boiling and halogens, it gives you water that you can drink immediately while hiking during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more detail, I have a long article on this topic here, with lots of citations to reliable scientific and medical sources:&lt;a href=&quot;http://lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt; Drinking Water for Hiking: Myths and Facts&lt;/a&gt;. I realize that my answer goes against the conventional wisdom, and that's why I've provided references to scientific papers in this answer, as well as much more extensive references in the longer article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rockwell 2002 - Robert L. Rockwell, &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Nature Notes,&lt;/a&gt; Volume 2, January 2002, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Welch 1995 - Thomas R. Welch and Timothy P. Welch, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2895%2971046-8/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Giardiasis as a threat to backpackers in the United States: a survey of state health departments,&quot;&lt;/a&gt; Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 6 (1995) 162.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="13534" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T14:50:57.147" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T14:50:57.147" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2013-04-30T21:57:04.957" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Serbia it is legal and everywhere is free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2248" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2013-04-30T22:29:35.293" LastActivityDate="2013-04-30T22:29:35.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4060" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4061" CreationDate="2013-05-01T12:29:19.600" Score="10" ViewCount="628" Body="&lt;p&gt;When rappeling I understand the need for a backup--whether an autoblock below the belay device, or a second person providing a fireman belay.  My understanding is that using an autoblock incorrectly can result in the autoblock rising up the rope to the point where it presses on and interferes with the belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When this occurs would a fireman belay have any effect, or would the interference of the autoblock in the belay device prevent it from working?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:14.850" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:14.850" Title="If an autoblock inteferes with a belay device will a fireman belay have any effect?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4060" CreationDate="2013-05-01T13:56:43.293" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you understand this, but just for the record:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The recommendation is to learn how to use an autoblock correctly, and to make sure that the loops of the autoblock won't get caught in the belay device.  This is done by a) extending the belay device, possibly with an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Anchor-Chain-Reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;anchor chain&lt;/a&gt;, and b) getting a custom made autoblock loop that is only long enough to wrap around the rope a few times, and too short to catch in the belay device.  Avoiding getting the autoblock tangled is more a matter of assembling the right set of equipment in the first place than a specific motor skill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for whether or not a fireman's belay will overcome a stuck autoblock loop... probably, if the belayer pulls hard enough?  I'd think it would.  Its a little tricky to answer, because I don't think anyone has actually done rigorous testing on the dynamics of this system.  I may be wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-05-01T13:56:43.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2013-05-01T14:27:27.913" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh, your 3rd question (I didnt see it):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is it unsafe to have multiple connections to a single point while switching from climbing to rappelling (e.g. a rope and sling through the tie-ins, or two biners through the belay loop if I'm clipped to both a rope and a sling)?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are 2 separate questions (multiple things running through the tie-in points, or multiple things running through the belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Multiple things in the tie-in points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I understand your question, are you asking &quot;Can I have a rope, an anchor chain (and the belay loop) all running through my tie-in points at the same time, such that either of them, if weighted, would load the tie-in points?&quot;.  If that's the question, then, yes.  This is the standard setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Multiple things on the belay loop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing that should ever go on to your belay loop is the carabiner attached to your belay device, so, no, I don't think you'd ever have multiple things attached to the belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-05-01T14:27:27.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4063" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-04-07T14:15:36.797" Score="7" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go climbing indoors I typically wear my climbing shoes without socks because this gives me slightly better control over my feet while climbing which I particularly need in overhangs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that my feet get sweaty and after climbing, the shoes don't smell good. I want to know the best way to clean the inside of my shoes such that the smell disappears. I have tried soaking them in water which helped a bit, but not enough. I am afraid to try soap or other cleaners because it might destroy the fabric or the glue of my shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anybody give me some advice how to clean my climbing shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2249" OwnerDisplayName="michielm" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-05-01T20:12:07.773" LastActivityDate="2014-01-11T16:16:03.307" Title="How to get rid of the smell from indoor climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-04-03T20:25:42.227" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-04-07T23:01:53.127" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try dusting the inside of the shoes (or outsides of your feet) with chalk (or talcum powder) before using them to soak up some of the sweat, which can then we wiped out with a slightly damp cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various commercial products you can get to soak up shoe smell while shoes are being stored (not climbing shoe specific). These are usually in the form of an inner sole with some kind of absorbent material inside. You could probably achieve a similar result using bi-carb soda. Try putting a few tablespoons full inside a small cotton bag and insert into the show while not in use. The bag should let air in (so the bi-carb can soak up the smell) while stopping the bi-carb from getting into your shoe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Bogdanovist" LastActivityDate="2013-04-07T23:01:53.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-05-01T16:48:55.363" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just spray some Lysol into the shoe from time to time after returning home from climbing, and that seems to do the trick. I haven't noticed a downside to this, but perhaps some more experienced climbers can weigh in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-05-01T16:48:55.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4069" CreationDate="2013-05-01T21:49:42.917" Score="38" ViewCount="10841" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, here's the situation. You're on an outdoor trip in winter. It's cold outside and after a long day all you want to do is crawl into your warm sleeping bag and not get out of it until the next morning. Unfortunately, shortly after reaching the warmth of your tent, you feel the urge to pee and have to get up and out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious solution to just pee right before you go to bed doesn't seem to help as somehow the act of warming up in the sleeping bag seems to encourage a second round of peeing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's ok in summer, but in winter it REALLY sucks, especially if you're traveling light so you only have your ski boots to get into and your tent is small and cramped anyway...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T12:42:41.493" Title="Any tips to reduce chance that I have to get up and pee in the night (not counting dehydration, of course)" Tags="&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2013-05-01T23:08:42.113" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my comment - Some people keep a jar in the tent to pee in. I prefer not to. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the kids were young and we all went camping, my wife did this so she and the kids wouldn't have to leave the tent, warm weather or cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-05-01T23:08:42.113" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2013-05-02T12:22:18.233" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Three things&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pee right before you go to sleep. I know it seems obvious, but people forget&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep warm and sleep well. You can wake up just bursting to pee in the morning, or you can wake up kinda needing to pee at 3am and you can't get back to sleep. The sounder you sleep the more likely you can sleep through kinda needing to pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't drink a LOT of liquid in the evening. Don't deprive yourself, but if you chug back a litre of something just because you like the taste of it, you know where that litre will end up :-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, a pee jar is a terrible idea, especially with kids. It would just lead to pee all over the tent one way or another. Not wanting to go out in the cold to pee is a good motivator and if you don't get up in the night at home, you shouldn't have to get up in the night when you're camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-05-02T12:22:18.233" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4070" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4071" CreationDate="2013-05-02T14:53:56.927" Score="6" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using the same Evolv shoes for bouldering that I bought for top-roping. It seems like they're worn enough to start considering a new pair of shoes. Since I'm doing bouldering almost exclusively now, I'm thinking about getting shoes designed specifically for that activity. What should I look for and what should I avoid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:38:17.437" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:38:17.437" Title="What features to consider when buying a bouldering slipper?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4070" CreationDate="2013-05-02T16:13:56.103" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, the main differences between bouldering and top roping (unless you are an expert) is that you are likely to find yourself trying more extreme positions when bouldering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Huge generalisation, I know, but when top roping you usually look to conserve energy, assess the pitch, and make vertical gains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a boulderer, you will be crabbing, moving up and down, trying extreme holds and moves that you may not risk up a wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So look for rock boots that have rubber extending further around the heel and up over the toe. Scuff resistance is a plus, as is a strong fastening system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-05-02T16:13:56.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4072" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-02T18:22:52.333" Score="4" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll have the good part of a Saturday to enjoy in Boulder, Colorado on 18 May.  What is a suitable area for a day, loop hike close to the city?  My criterion for &quot;close&quot; is that the start of the trail can be reached with at most 30 minutes cycling or a short bus ride.  By a &quot;day hike&quot; I mean around 5–6 hours not counting breaks.  By &quot;loop&quot; I mean that it ends where it starts, not necessarily that no part of the trail is walked twice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found a handful of hikes at Wikiloc and quite many at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;view=article&amp;amp;id=3058&amp;amp;Itemid=1037&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OSMP&lt;/a&gt;, but most hikes appear quite short, less than 6–7 km.  Via wikiloc I find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=370561&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one hike between 5 and 10 mi in length&lt;/a&gt;, but this is not a loop so poses logistic issues.  Is there any other place where I can filter hikes near Boulder by length and 'loop vs line'?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-05-02T18:52:22.183" LastActivityDate="2013-05-13T04:01:30.293" Title="5-hour loop hike near Boulder, Colorado" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4060" CreationDate="2013-05-02T19:42:55.707" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know I am answering a slightly different, more general question, but&#xA;I think it is quite crucial to &lt;strong&gt;learn how to unjam a rappel device without relying on anybody else's help&lt;/strong&gt; before embarking on any kind of outdoor-rappelling adventures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have gotten my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/belay-rappel/atc-belay-rappel-device/&quot;&gt;ATC&lt;/a&gt; stuck more times than I'd like to admit. ATCs don't just like to eat poorly assembled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist/index.php?Categ=climbing&quot;&gt;autoblock&lt;/a&gt; loops, they also like to eat loose clothing, and long hair (ouch!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here I go:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are rappelling on a slab, a jammed ATC is often not that big of a deal. You can brace yourself against the slab and, while you are &quot;walking up the wall,&quot; you pull yourself up with one hand, whilst taking in slack with your break hand: voila, your ATC is unjammed. This of course is not possible if you are hanging in mid-air, unless you are able to do one-armed pull-ups on a 9mm &quot;string.&quot; In this scenario it is nice to have a cordelette with you. You can attach it to the ropes &lt;em&gt;above&lt;/em&gt; the ATC with a prussic knot and step into the loop that is hanging down, effectively taking the weight off your rappel device. If you don't have a cordelette, use a sling or a second prussic (I always carry two, in case I have to ascend the rope) and clip a sling to it, or, if you don't have that, you can use some of the rope below your ATC, that you will have to knot up a bit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line, and you got that as I can tell from your post: practice all this when you are hanging at a safe distant from the ground. With stuff like rappelling, belaying at a belay anchor, etc, I like to go through all scenarios I can think of: what happens if I drop this, what happens if I used up all of those, what can I do if my partner fell off the cliff or is unconscious and attached to me, what if I can only use one hand, what If I can't use either of my hands (now there it becomes interesting!), what if I can't see a thing, what if the rope has a knot, is damaged, whet, frozen or muddy, what if the two rope strands have different diameters, what if the anchor I am rappelling from can just barely hold body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-05-05T15:51:54.333" LastActivityDate="2013-05-05T15:51:54.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4015" CreationDate="2013-05-02T21:29:51.400" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;An additional point that hasn't been mentioned, is when you camp next to a creek or stream the water level can quickly change, sometimes by quite a bit.  It can be sunny where you are camped but heavy rain miles upstream from you, and the raising water level could wash away half of your camp while you sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2019" LastActivityDate="2013-05-02T21:29:51.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-05-07T14:33:34.353" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;as far as the issue of warmth - they do make special five-finger, wool socks for the VFF that fit perfectly with the shoes.  I've combined these and they work great in cold weather.  the only time i ever had a bad experience in my VFF was walking several miles on asphalt.  trails with rocks, streams, mossy paths - no problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2259" LastActivityDate="2013-05-07T14:33:34.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="542" CreationDate="2013-05-08T02:10:10.763" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using Tilex or bleach to eradicate mold is the wrong thing to do.  Bleach does nothing to eradicate mold, it simply bleaches the the fabric.  If you want to kill mold, then you need to use a product designed specifically for that purpose. I would recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.concrobium.com/&quot;&gt;Concrobium&lt;/a&gt; which will do nothing to remove the mold stain, but will kill the mold on contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2260" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-08T12:58:29.023" LastActivityDate="2013-05-08T12:58:29.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4077" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-08T11:19:09.323" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-05-08T11:19:09.323" LastActivityDate="2013-05-08T11:19:09.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4078" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-08T11:19:09.323" Score="0" Body="Questions related to the often unwanted fungal growth commonly known as mold. Mold can be a health hazard to humans. Mold can be found on either food, equipement, the great outdoors, etc.." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-08T12:58:22.177" LastActivityDate="2013-05-08T12:58:22.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="542" CreationDate="2013-05-08T13:15:40.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mold can be &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold_health_issues&quot;&gt;harmful to your health&lt;/a&gt; and damage the waterproof fabric of your tent. Mildew stains shouldn't necessarily be removed as it can damage fabrics. However, growth of mold should be stopped. It is best to consult your tent manufacturer documentation to know what's the best treatment for your specific product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/FAQ/Tents&quot;&gt;MSR's &lt;em&gt;How do I prevent mildew?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mildew can permanently damage the waterproof coatings by causing them&#xA;  to separate from the fabric, but mild to severe staining is more&#xA;  common. Mildew stains are permanent. They cannot be removed without&#xA;  potential harm to the fabric coatings&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These suggested steps may very depending on the amount of mildew and type of product:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply a treatment such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcnett.com/MiraZyme-Enzyme-Based-Odor-Eliminator-P170.aspx&quot;&gt;McNett MiraZyme&lt;/a&gt; or similar product. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of concentrated lemon juice with 1 gallon of hot water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry the tent in an area facing the sun&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply water resistant treatment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to REI,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lysol® also works, but its scent is attractive to bugs and critters&#xA;  and is thus not recommended&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This procedure is explained in more details in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-tent.html&quot;&gt;REI's &lt;em&gt;Removing Mildew&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierradesigns.com/t-TentCare.aspx&quot;&gt;Sierra Designs &lt;em&gt;5. What is mildew and how do I clean it off my tent?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; tent care sections of their respective websites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-05-08T13:15:40.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4080" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-09T01:24:01.753" Score="12" ViewCount="2433" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the fall season, fallen leaves from deciduous trees such as maple, oak, etc. can be found in abundance. Dead leaves can be gathered and placed under your sleeping system in order to sleep more comfortably and presumably warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much R-value does a pile of leaves provide? This is of course dependent on the type of leaves (or composition), quantity, dampness and other factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the possible variation, what level of R-value could you expect by gathering dead leaves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-29T18:40:07.880" LastActivityDate="2013-07-29T18:40:07.880" Title="How much warmth dead leaves add if placed under your tent/pad?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4080" CreationDate="2013-05-09T03:21:01.897" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is almost certainly close to the R-value for a &quot;dead air&quot; space the same thickness as the leaf layer and the less compressed the leaves are the higher the R-value.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Setting up a test for this using a heat source and one or more thermometers shouldn't be too difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2262" LastActivityDate="2013-05-09T03:21:01.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4082" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-09T23:13:44.703" Score="2" ViewCount="1485" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a backpacking trip somewhere between two and four days long in Washington State that is possible to do under current conditions (May). Any recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2264" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2013-06-15T16:29:29.123" LastActivityDate="2013-06-15T16:29:29.123" Title="Two to four day backpacking trip in Washington State for May" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-07-07T20:12:46.613" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4083" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-11T02:18:03.663" Score="23" ViewCount="4076" Body="&lt;p&gt;When backpacking in a coastal region, you sometimes have access to both fresh water (e.g. a stream) and salt water (sea, bay, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do not treat the water used for washing dishes, what are the pros and cons of using saltwater &lt;em&gt;vs.&lt;/em&gt; freshwater? Is there one source that is less prone to contamination?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The choice is easy if the shoreline is polluted or the stream is next to a privy (established or... improvised). However, when there are no obvious differences in water quality, which one would be more recommended and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:01:03.937" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:01:03.937" Title="Washing dishes with seawater or freshwater?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4084" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-12T18:49:12.200" Score="10" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;Until now, all my skiing has been during the (local) winter. I recently had a spare day while in Switzerland, and found that &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/16712/26&quot;&gt;one of the nearby resorts was still open&lt;/a&gt;, so for the first time I tried some late season skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some aspects of the skiing were the same as I'm used to, but some things were surprisingly different, and I wished I'd known about that beforehand so I could've planned better. (The biggest two were around the amount of water I'd need to drink, and how much the snow changed during the day)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aiming at someone with some winter skiing experience, trying out late season (or perhaps even summer) skiing for the first time, what do you need to be aware of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:52:12.723" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T17:43:26.147" Title="What should you be aware of when planning late-season or summer skiing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4072" CreationDate="2013-05-13T01:54:37.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;SW of Boulder you have a few trails that you could combine into a loop. I've done those many times. &#xA;You can start the hike from here for example: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2350-2432 Cragmoor Rd, Boulder, CO 80305 (Google Maps:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.968656,-105.263094&amp;amp;ll=39.968898,-105.254152&amp;amp;spn=0.009752,0.01605&amp;amp;num=1&amp;amp;t=h&amp;amp;z=16&amp;amp;iwloc=A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;39.968656,-105.263094&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cragmoor-Hardscrabble Trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;N Fork Shanahan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shanahan-Mesa&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike up on Fern Canyon Trail to the peak&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow the trail back down going South&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Connect to Mesa Trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shanahan Connector to S Fork Shanahan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hardscrabble Connector&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Back to where you started from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It all depends on how fast you hike at this elevation. It is about 3000ft elevation change. The hike starts at about 5500 and the peak is over 8000. I don't remember exactly. I've done it in 5 hours before in over 90 degrees summer day without rushing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="580" LastEditDate="2013-05-13T04:01:30.293" LastActivityDate="2013-05-13T04:01:30.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4084" CreationDate="2013-05-13T05:29:31.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The snow melts some days (or most days) in the late season. If it refreezes at night, it will be icy in the morning, making icy or rough skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the snow gets slushy in the afternoon, you will get much wetter than in the cold weather. The skiing will be a little slower, too, and you may be surprised by hidden rocks since your skis are digging in deeper on the turns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T17:43:26.147" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T17:43:26.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4083" CreationDate="2013-05-13T05:34:03.110" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seawater typically has more organisms growing in it than a flowing stream of clear water. However, it's a good idea to use something (boiling, wet ones, clorox wipes, etc.) that kills giardia, microspiridia, and other protozoa or bacteria than can give you the diarrhea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-05-13T05:34:03.110" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4083" CreationDate="2013-05-13T19:07:23.573" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should never plan to not purify.  Levels of contamination will depend on the location.  A stream running by a pasture 50 miles upstream will possibly contain more contaminants than ocean, even if the ocean (on average) is worse.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have a way to purify, then purify!&lt;/strong&gt;  If you can't purify, consider heating your dishes over a flame afterwards until they are dry and too hot to touch.  That should kill most of organisms that would hurt you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have absolutely no way to purify and no way to sterilize, then it's a crap shoot no matter what. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-05-13T19:07:23.573" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4089" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-13T19:09:18.927" Score="16" ViewCount="883" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are thinking about sailing with our ~ 6 month old baby boy.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We understand this is not something to take lightly, and we're planning either a canal/river sail or a sail in a very calm sea (considering my seasickness question).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if there are locations you think are better for sailing with an infant, what to do and what to avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification - I'm talking about a sailing trip, which means about a week aboard a yacht/boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1938" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-05-14T14:00:30.647" LastActivityDate="2020-03-03T22:13:46.900" Title="Sailing with an infant" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4090" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4092" CreationDate="2013-05-13T19:39:20.993" Score="15" ViewCount="2050" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other day we were waiting in line for a popular 200 foot single pitch climb in the valley and the party in front of us was using two 70 meter ropes they had joined together with a double fisherman's as a top-rope. I had never seen or heard of this being done before and I can think of a couple of reasons why I wouldn't be comfortable doing this myself: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Amount of rope stretch in 140 meters of dynamic rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Amount of rope drag on less-than-vertical routs when using 140 meters of rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot getting caught in a constriction or on a ledge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Increased rope-abrasion where the knot is tied, since the rope rubbs on the rock when the rope is weighed with a climber during lowering&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not being able to belay a climber all the way to the anchor, since the knot is going to interfere with the ATC if the climb is not exactly the length of the rope tied to the climber, potentially rendering the retrieval of the anchor dangerous, or endangering a novice climber who doesn't notice that the rope is not advancing any more as they make forward progress.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can also think of a couple of reasons why there are certain situations where this minght be the smaller of two evils:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An unexperienced climber does not have to rappel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a situation where the weather is fickle, no-one has to belay from the top, expediting the process of getting everyone off the rock faster, at the expense fo leaving the anchor at the top&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When climbing with several novice climbers, the most knowledgable climber can stay at the ground to help with tying in and crowd control at the base of the climb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reducing the wait on popular routes (This is more of a convenience...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if using two ropes as a top-rope is condoned or discouraged by professional guides? Also, has anyone heard of any accidents or close calls that have happened when using two ropes in this manner? Does anyone know of any testing that has been done on this technique? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feel free to add benefits or disadvantages that I have missed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-05-15T03:27:48.370" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T19:35:10.840" Title="Toproping with two ropes joined by a double fisherman's" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4091" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4099" CreationDate="2013-05-13T20:29:11.933" Score="9" ViewCount="7023" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a trip to Alaska in September, including a guided camping/trekking trip in Denali. In the packing list I received from the company, they recommend having an &quot;expedition-weight&quot; top and pants as &quot;extra layers&quot;. What, exactly, does this mean? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen &quot;expedition-weight&quot; as a descriptor for fleece tops, but I've never been clear on whether there's a standard definition of the term. Does it only apply to polar fleece, or to other materials as well? Does it refer to a certain thickness/density of fibers, or just to a degree rating? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, this is what the list says under the &quot;extra layers&quot; category (separate from the regular layers of t-shirts, mid-weight synthetic tops and bottoms, synthetic hiking pants, and rain gear):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expedition-weight synthetic top&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expedition-weight or fleece synthetic bottoms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece or synthetic/down fill jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:28:00.323" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:28:00.323" Title="What does &quot;expedition-weight&quot; mean with regard to clothing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4090" CreationDate="2013-05-13T20:38:09.283" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Ethic&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the ethic among experienced climbers is to not toprope on the base of a popular multipitch route.  In addition to the safety issues you point out, its just not fair to the people who invested the time to learn to lead.  Especially not a destination place like Yosemite Valley where people may have traveled a long way to get there.  You say this was a long single pitch route, so maybe its a grey area.  But a large group of beginners would still be better served by going to a smaller cliff that was more setup for group toproping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saftey issues&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did this once when a partner and I (not a group, just the 2 of us) wanted to toprope a very hard route that shared an anchor with a moderate route we'd just lead, and it had the exact disadvantages you mention (basically point-for-point, you identified them correctly).  The biggest are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot / rope can get stuck in a crack.  If that happened, you'd have to perform a rescue, which would require (if nothing else) a 2nd rope and a pair of very experienced climbers.  If there's only one experience leader, and he/she is the one belaying, you're basically going to have to go for help.  (sounds theoretical, but it happened to me personally once with a regular toprope, and a knot only makes it more likely).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because there's a big knot at the mid point of the line,the belayer has to &quot;pass the knot&quot;, which can be done safely, but is quite tricky, requires experience with rescue techniques, and communication with the climber.  Too complicated for toproping!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope-stretch becomes long and nearly unpredictable at that point. With the full length of a 60m rope, you'll get about 15' of rope stretch, the first 5' of which is almost a freefall.   &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I personally don't like to belay a beginner on the full length of a 60m rope, and the system you propose is more than twice that long.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  You have to remember that beginners don't know how to fall yet, and might do any kind of crazy thing during the fall, getting hurt where an experience climber wouldn't.  And even if they didn't get hurt, the rope stretch could really freak them out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To compensate for the rope-stretch, the belayer has to put a huge amount of tension on the line, almost sitting his / her full weight on it.  That's going to mess up the climber's balance some, too.  Frustrating for everybody.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The leader's responsibility&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you take beginners out, you (as the experienced climber) have to be responsible for all aspects of their experience, both keeping them safe, and trying to keep them from getting freaked out.  Its actually a lot of responsibility.  And when you have then bouncing around on a 140m line, 200' off the ground with up to 30' of ropestretch, you just can't do that.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where to look for more information&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;AMGA offers a &quot;Single Pitch Instructor&quot; course which focuses on toprope site management.  Its only available as a multiday course, and their info isn't available for free online.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The annual issues of &quot;Accidents in North American Mountaineering&quot;, published by the American Club, &lt;a href=&quot;http://americanalpineclub.org/p/anam&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, are a good to read, but they only include accidents that were reported to the park service, usually ones that required a rescue.  Minor accidents, or accidents where the climbers could rescue themselves, may not make the report.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All rope manufacturers publish elongation statistics, as one of the metrics the UIAA requires them to test.  These vary between ropes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-05-30T14:57:21.020" LastActivityDate="2013-05-30T14:57:21.020" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4089" CreationDate="2013-05-13T20:56:56.977" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;We took my youngest with us in a punt on the river Cam when she was ten days old. Slightly different age and size but as they are effectively immobile, they are actually easier than once they hit toddler age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things you do want to check:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;are you &lt;strong&gt;both&lt;/strong&gt; very strong swimmers? If there is an issue, whoever is holding the baby needs to be able to keep themself and the baby safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do you have solid/foam buoyancy aids? Inflatable ones make it hard to hold onto a child if you have to jump in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep the buoyancy aid on and tightly tied the entire time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avoid open water (you mentioned this) - a canal is an ideal place to start. If your boat has a low transom you can also introduce your baby to the concept of water flowing past.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make sure the boat is big enough that you can change a nappy if necessary. It can happen at any time:-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't plan for a long cruise. Give yourself a short starter sail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are planning on a week's sailing I would add the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;plan each day well. Organise half days of relatively short cruises that won't require both of you to work hard. Personally I prefer to sail, but a motor cruiser can be less effort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;scope out docking locations. Assume that you will have to dock single handed at each - you may have to. In any case, as docking is relatively high risk with an infant, make sure whoever is holding the baby is not trying to attach mooring lines or step on or off the boat until you are tied up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you are sailing, choose a boat that you can reef single-handed. Again, you may be able to leave the baby in a cot for short periods but if the weather worsens rapidly you don't want to have to take in emergency reefs while the baby is being thrown around the cabin!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;on that note, don't go out if the weather forecast is at all dodgy. Here in the UK that would be a challenge, as weather and conditions are not that predictable at any time, but if you are in a country where you can predict with some degree of confidence then pick a good time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't be embarrassed to radio for help if you need it. Yes, you may feel silly calling for assistance if the weather gets up, but you'd rather be silly and safe than have an accident.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, enjoy - its lovely getting kids interested in sailing or boating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am currently just waiting on my youngest (nearly 7) getting a bit stronger at swimming then I plan on taking the whole family sailing round the Greek islands for a couple of weeks. As they are all mobile, it is an entirely different challenge. In fact, I have asked the equivalent &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4098/66&quot;&gt;question here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-05-14T07:43:57.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4094" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4096" CreationDate="2013-05-13T22:11:59.090" Score="11" ViewCount="1215" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was climbing with someone recently and they complained that there was too much slack any time the line wasn't completely taut.  By the same token when they were belaying me it was almost hard to climb because it felt like the rope was pulling me off the wall the whole time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much tension/slack should there be?  Is there a good safe &quot;zone&quot; or is it just purely personal preference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Generally I am not climbing more than 30' and I'm climbing indoors.  I apologize for the vagueness.  I'm just very new to climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2013-05-17T21:27:41.513" LastActivityDate="2013-05-17T21:27:41.513" Title="How tight should the line be kept for toproping?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4083" CreationDate="2013-05-13T22:57:47.383" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaving aside the questions of water purity, then the answer would be &lt;strong&gt;fresh water&lt;/strong&gt;, no question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Salt water does not lather up many soaps very well, although detergents are a different story.  Salt water also does not rinse cleanly, so even those long-distance sailors that use salt and Joy detergent (no corporate affiliation, but lots of online reading) use (clean) fresh to rinse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, fresh it is.  (But purify somehow, by boiling if by nothing else)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2013-05-13T22:57:47.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4094" CreationDate="2013-05-13T23:37:49.523" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like with most climbing related questions, I personally find it hard to give a &lt;i&gt;definitive&lt;/i&gt; rule that applies to all circumstances. There are a couple of safety factors to consider, as well as the perception of the climber. Don't venture out on your own if any of the following doesn't seem intuitive to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rope stretch:&lt;/b&gt; Rope stretch is a combination of the climber's weight, the amount of slack given, the steepness of the climb, the dynamic properties of the rope, and how much rope is out. For example: A heavy climber at the bottom of a long, steep route with a dynamic rope and plenty of slack means there is going to be a lot of rope stretch. If you are not very experienced at belaying a climber on top-rope, a good exercise for both you the belayer and the climber is to approximate the maximum amount of rope stretch for that climber on that specific route before he/she begins to climb: Have him/her sit in his/her harness and observe how far the rope stretches. Factor in some additional distance if you are giving a lot of slack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Obstacles on the route:&lt;/b&gt; If the climber falls and weights the rope, are there any obstacles he or she might hit. Obstacles on a route might be a ledge below, a wall to the side, or the top of a roof if the climber has climbed above one. This is &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; a definitive list of all possible obstacles you might encounter while climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;How experienced is the climber:&lt;/b&gt; An experienced lead climber most likely knows how to take a long fall and will react appropriately to obstacles on the way down. A novice climber on the other hand might even have trouble sitting in his/her harness without awkwardly swinging into the wall. &lt;i&gt;Don't assume, ask!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all of the above is taken into consideration and the anchor is bomber, it is perfectly fine to give a climber several feet of slack, if and &lt;i&gt;only&lt;/i&gt; if he/she is asking for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My rule of thumb boils down to: &lt;b&gt;Give the climber what she needs&lt;/b&gt;. Most of the time this means, if he wants to be kept tight, keep him tight, if she wants slack, giver her some slack. Sometimes giving the climber what he/she needs means ignoring what he/she sais, and doing what is safest: A cocky climber might want more slack just off of a ledge. An inexperienced climber might want to be kept tight after just having cleared a roof with a lot of rope out, which could result in injury when the feet don't have anything to push against but when the first body-part that does is the face when it hits the top of the roof (it might be best to altogether avoid situations like the latter with inexperienced climbers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a closing remark: &lt;b&gt;Make sure there is at least one experienced climber at the craig setting up the top-rope and overseeing the belaying.&lt;/b&gt; That way, if the climber is asking for slack because he/she is getting pulled off the rock and the belayer is unsure if that is a safe thing to do there is someone to address the situation. Some situations might even warrant a spotter, if there is a lot of rope stretch and an uneven landing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-05-14T19:22:03.587" LastActivityDate="2013-05-14T19:22:03.587" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4094" CreationDate="2013-05-13T23:42:03.787" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a bit of both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Security&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When toproping, an experienced belayer should have the necessary training to adjust slack/tension depending on the route itself.&#xA;For example, to avoid any swings that would crash the climber into the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many examples on safety-related criteria for determining tension (safety for both the climber and the belayer), but the list is long and I don't think I'd be able to sum it all here, so I won't be listing examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning to belay requires you to learn many things, and actually teaches you to think differently about safety and security. It's also a lot of fun and very exciting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do consider taking proper training for this though; it's a good investment. If available, face-to-face training is irreplaceable, IMO. There are many books and videos but you'll gain more experience by discussing with other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And regardless of whether you get face-to-face training or not, my advice is always the same: keep asking, always assume someone knows something you don't, never take an answer blindly as true, read, research, ask again, ask more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Personal preference&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety issues being said, the rest may be just a matter of personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rope is travelling perfectly in line with your climb, excessive tension might just be reassurance to novice climbers (make them feel that the rope is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; there to catch them). However, if the rope is travelling sideways, for example, it's usually counterproductive for the climber. Like you say, it effectively pulls you off the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the experienced climbers I know (if not all) agree that you shouldn't need tension in the rope (unless the belayer identifies an actual security risk). The rationale is that the rope is there to catch you only in the event that you fall, but not to help pull you upwards (nor to help you keep balance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was taught to rock-climb, the program included &amp;quot;trust games&amp;quot;. These were meant to build confidence on the climber regarding the belayer, rope, harness, and the whole security chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; like some tension when I feel I'm still too close to the ground but will ask for &amp;quot;slack&amp;quot; when at a reasonable height. Sometimes I'll also ask for tension when trying out the crux in a route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR version&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be a &amp;quot;safe zone&amp;quot; on a given route. A belayer should have proper training to identify actual security reasons for determining tension. Other than that, tension is mostly a means of providing reassurance to novice climbers (or experienced climbers who just prefer it one way or another).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-05-15T14:16:44.743" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4103" CreationDate="2013-05-14T07:43:08.883" Score="18" ViewCount="1663" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4089/66&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; on taking an infant sailing, as it is quite different when they can move, I thought I'd ask the same question in respect of a toddler or child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What essential safety considerations should I meet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T08:33:27.460" Title="Sailing with a child" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4091" CreationDate="2013-05-14T13:31:34.587" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Expedition weight relates to the temperature rating and level of activity. It usually means cold and low activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/dress-layers.html&quot;&gt;REI expert-advice section&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For cool conditions, thermal underwear is available in light-, mid- and expedition-weights. Choose the weight that best matches your activity and the temperature.&#xA;  &lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;  Like thermal underwear, fleece tops are available in 3 weights:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Lightweight for aerobic activity or mild climates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Midweight for moderate activity or climates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Expedition-weight for low activity or cold climates&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailspace.com/forums/gear-selection/topics/60347.html&quot;&gt;TrailSpace user trouthunter&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[Relating] to the street clothing you are used to, maybe think of it like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;sweater - lightweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;coat - midweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;parka - expedition weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Above freezing your going to be in the lightweight and midweight category, below freezing your going to be in the midweight to expedition weight catagory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-05-14T13:31:34.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4094" CreationDate="2013-05-14T14:14:33.583" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a climbing gym, or some scenario where you're belaying someone on toprope on a route that's less than 50' tall, runs straight up-and-down ( so there's no chance for the climber to swing dangerously), or crash into a ledge then the exact amount of tension is somewhat of a personal preference for the climber.  The belayer should usually keep all visible slack out of the line, while at the same time not putting active tension on the climber.  If there's a chance of the climber hitting the ground on ropestretch, more tension is recommended. Also, you should use more tension of the climber asks for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, if the route is longer (and there's more rope and rope-stretch), or it traverses (and the climber may swing some), or there are multiple ledges during the length of the route, or if there's a lot of rope-drag (friction on the belay), then judging the amount of tension is a matter of choosing a tradeoff between different risks.  The belayer may need to be a little more experienced, and be able to make judgement calls on his / her own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-05-14T18:27:32.877" LastActivityDate="2013-05-14T18:27:32.877" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4101" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-15T06:15:31.087" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The R-value is a measure of thermal resistance. It is the ratio of the temperature difference across an insulator and the heat transfer per area during a time interval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="580" LastEditDate="2013-05-15T10:48:09.933" LastActivityDate="2013-05-15T10:48:09.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4102" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-15T06:15:31.087" Score="0" Body="R-value is a measure of thermal insulation." OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="580" LastEditDate="2013-05-15T10:48:04.853" LastActivityDate="2013-05-15T10:48:04.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4098" CreationDate="2013-05-15T19:43:05.017" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Children are a relatively high risk on board a small boat. At 4 or 5 years old they don't know enough about safety, and by their teens they are either convinced that they are invincible, or terrified that they will drown, so at either end of that spectrum there are challenges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally you want everyone on the boat to be a very strong swimmer. This dramatically improves your chances in the event of an accident.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additionally, everyone should wear a buoyancy aid with an automatic strobe beacon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small children should wear a full harness permanently attached to a runner any time they are on deck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your children are no good at following orders, you will need to impress upon them the consequences of their actions. A good way to do this is before before you go far from land, practice your man overboard drill - all adults, and teenagers should be able to helm or act as spotter, as in an emergency you don't know who will be first to the wheel. Spotters should make sure they never lose sight of the man overboard. &lt;strong&gt;The children should all have a shot falling overboard&lt;/strong&gt; - especially if it is cold this helps persuade them not to mess about :-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know local coastguard numbers/frequencies and make sure you have multiple devices that can connect - mobile phones are fine inshore, but you need a decent radio further out to sea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let a friend or neighbour know your expected return time and planned course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally take your first sails with children in good weather so you can easily practice raising and lowering sails, reefing, mooring and anchoring, making way under sail or power, rules of the road, lights and buoys, tides and navigation etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Involve the children in every part of it - if they aren't involved they could get very bored, but if they help plan courses, choose times to meet tides etc they will learn valuable skills and hopefully enjoy themselves and get the sailing bug.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take more food, drinks and snacks than you expect. You can burn a lot of energy on the water, and when heading back to shore you don't want utterly exhausted children.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the same reason, try to spend the first half of the day generally heading upwind. Tacking is fun anyway, but this gives you more leeway in terms of time when trying to head for home. Nothing worse than realising you have drifted so far downwind that you cannot reach home within hours of your planned arrival time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to teach at an RYA sailing school - the essentials I used to teach on day one are appropriate here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Setting and trimming sail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understanding your actual course (as opposed to apparent course)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understanding wind and tide direction and variation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Understanding the limitations of the boat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can get them out in dinghies, getting them to capsize is useful - it helps them understand what it will feel like if all has gone wrong&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-05-15T19:43:05.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4104" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4107" CreationDate="2013-05-16T00:15:05.367" Score="6" ViewCount="1505" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just purchased a daypack to stuff inside my larger backpack while travelling.  It came with cinch-straps but I'm not sure of the proper way to use them (if there is one).  The daypack is  a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/verto-26.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Face Verto 26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fHfIN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of a daypack&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, they go through the loops on the pack, but I'm not sure how to anchor them (the cinch-straps themselves are closed loops).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2275" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:22:59.497" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:22:59.497" Title="How do I properly use the cinch-straps that came with my daypack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4105" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-16T11:14:00.010" Score="4" ViewCount="606" Body="&lt;p&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.windfinder.com/weather-maps/forecast/denmark&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.windfinder.com&lt;/a&gt; they changed the forecast map. now it looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6wOiP.png&quot; alt=&quot;new interactive map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;before, it had much more details, and you could zoom in it to find out the perfect spot for the forecasted wind direction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jQFW7.png&quot; alt=&quot;old google map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;see &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.windfinder.com/post/20001171353/wind-forecasts-on-google-maps&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://blog.windfinder.com/post/20001171353/wind-forecasts-on-google-maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;are these googlemap-forecasts still available somewhere?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2277" LastActivityDate="2013-05-17T22:55:16.007" Title="old windfinder forecast googlemap" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3272" CreationDate="2013-05-16T15:18:13.063" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What sort of snow conditions are you running in? For dry, powdery snow, the best option is a pair running shoes that have aggressive tread (search for &quot;trail running shoes&quot;), but in wet, icy snow, metal screws or spikes will give you the extra grip you're looking for. I can't think of anything that will help more than it will hurt on icy pavement other than proceeding with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be aware that traction devices have their own limitations. Metal spikes or screws will severely reduce the amount of traction you get on cleared pavement. On bare pavement or hard ice, the metal screw technique Sarge mentioned also has the potential to cause blisters and irritation just like using XC spikes on pavement does. If you need the traction devices for only a short portion of your run, you will be better off just being careful on the slippery parts. That seems to be the approach a vast majority of competitive runners take, even in severe winters in Minnesota.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2200" LastActivityDate="2013-05-16T15:18:13.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4104" CreationDate="2013-05-16T15:47:04.337" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As per The North Face Customer Service:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Each strap (not bungee, sorry about that) should have a barrel on one end followed by an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/overhand/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;overhand knot&lt;/a&gt; holding the two ends of the strap.  Simply undo the knot, depress the button on the barrel and un-thread one end of the strap.  Thread through loops as desired, re-thread through barrel, tie off ends using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doubleoverhand/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2 strand overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-05-16T15:47:04.337" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4104" CreationDate="2013-05-16T18:32:04.190" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a small summit pack that has loops on each side of the backpack, which your's seems to have as well. My pack advertised those for &quot;securing overloads,&quot; meaning you can drape stuff that doesn't fit inside (like a rope), over the pack before you close the lid and secure it with the straps to each side of the pack. On each side of the pack I thread a loop, pass the stap over the item I want to secure, thread a loop on that side of the item, and repeat until I run out of loops. Then I do the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-05-16T18:32:04.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4109" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4113" CreationDate="2013-05-16T20:47:57.730" Score="6" ViewCount="657" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine a multi-pitch climbing situation where a lead climber has just finished belaying the second from a hanging belay position. The rope is coiled over the anchor cord (or clove hitched sharp end). If the same climber wishes to lead the next pitch as well, what is the best way to swap positions with the second?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose you want to avoid dropping the coiled rope, and maintain maximum safety at all times. As always the simplest solutions will be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:41:11.693" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:41:11.693" Title="What to do with the lap coiled rope if the belayer wishes to lead consecutive pitches?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4110" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4115" CreationDate="2013-05-16T20:58:20.640" Score="14" ViewCount="2112" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a multi-pitch route when all climbers have reached the belay point, what is the best way/what considerations need to be made, in order to swap lead? Obviously the leader will need to be tied into both ropes, but the second will be tied into only one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:&#xA;I appreciate the answer to this question is &quot;Not to swap lead&quot; in this scenario and appreciate the safety aspects involved, but carried out my own investigation under controlled conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So myself and two friends climbed Bosigran ridge using a pair of half ropes. With various belays being large and flat, swapping lead was not too difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In one instance we had a hanging belay. After establishing the anchor over a spike I belayed the seconds (one at a time), coiling the rope over my personal anchor. When the seconds had both arrived I untied one of my ropes (red) and gave it to the climber who was not leading the next pitch. He tied a safety with this. He then untied his other rope and handed it to the other second, who then tied in. That climber was now ready to lead the next pitch. He climbed and there was little tangling/snagging in the ropes as he went (he climbed un-impeded). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think in this instance we may have been quite lucky not to create a big mess and since it was the last pitch any further tangling was avoided. One thing to note was that I passed one of my ropes underneath the coils so as not to create tangles, and both of the ends of rope that the final leader used, we emerging from the top of the pile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update 2:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;i can now say with great certainty, from much experience, that climbing in a 3 and swapping leads, is not only easy and safe, but proper ace&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T16:12:58.680" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T17:53:54.167" Title="What's the best way to swap lead when climbing in a group of three using a pair of half ropes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4111" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-16T23:28:13.817" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traditional climbing, or trad climbing, is a style of rock climbing in which a climber places all gear required to protect against falls, and removes it when a passage is complete, as distinguished from sport climbing in which all protection and anchor points are permanently installed prior to the climb, and &quot;free solo climbing&quot; which does not use ropes or gear of any kind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4635/whats-the-difference-between-sport-climbing-and-traditional-climbing&quot;&gt;What's the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T14:18:53.617" LastActivityDate="2017-06-23T14:18:53.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4112" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-16T23:28:13.817" Score="0" Body="Traditional climbing, as opposed to sport climbing or bouldering, etc." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-05-17T13:41:39.073" LastActivityDate="2013-05-17T13:41:39.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4109" CreationDate="2013-05-17T13:25:57.460" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best way, when it works&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It usually works to grab the whole mass of coils, and flip them over when handing them to the second.  When you're doing this, care has to be taken that you don't wrap one of the ends around one of the climber's anchor cord.  The leader (when bringing up the second) has to make sure that the loops are neatly and tightly stacked, and not falling over.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as you're coiling:  The general advice is to start with large loops, and progress to smaller ones as the second gets closer to the belay.  That way the loops don't interfere with each other as you belay from that coil.  With this setup, you want to do the opposite - start with smaller / medium sized loops, and progress to larger ones.  That way when you flip it, the larger loops are on the bottom.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this whole thing is more art than science, and I'd recommend you try and practice it safely on the ground (maybe in your living room) a few times to get the hang of it.  If the loops aren't laying neatly, this technique probably won't work, and will result in a big knot.  Also, you have to make sure that the person leading the next pitch (or their end of the rope) isn't somehow tangled as you pass the coils over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The slower, more predictable option&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have the option of recoiling the rope manually, passing it foot-by-foot from the leader to the belayer.  This is going to be slower, but has a lower chance of getting tangled.  If you think the lap coils aren't as neat as you'd like, or your belayer is inexperienced, and may have trouble managing the coils while belaying, I'd go with this route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-07-17T22:20:39.887" LastActivityDate="2013-07-17T22:20:39.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4114" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-17T15:31:21.367" Score="22" ViewCount="31179" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to clean yourself and clothes with ocean water only, without polluting the water and almost without budget ? If so, how ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read that it's possible to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;brush your teeth with sand,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take 1h sun baths,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;let the clothes take 2h sun baths,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that would be in the desert, maybe there are better possibilities with ocean water ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2282" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T18:05:12.190" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:35:39.470" Title="How is hygiene possible with ocean water only?" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4110" CreationDate="2013-05-17T21:28:33.657" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love doing routes with 3 people. Once you are efficient at it, those don't take much longer than going with 2 people, you have someone to talk to when the leader is taking forever, and you have an additional hand, if you need it (for taking pictures, dealing with rope tangle, keeping an eye out on the weather, another belayer if the leader gets in trouble...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You specified &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/howto/ropesystems.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;half-ropes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, which pretty much only leaves you with one option: You &lt;b&gt;don't&lt;/b&gt; swap leads. You have a designated leader. The alternative is a big untying mess at the anchor with three people and two ropes. Absolutely not recommended, and unsafe in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some things to consider when you belay two people from a belay anchor: Make sure you have an appropriate belay device (ATC guide or reverso,) and you know how to use it in it's auto-locking mode. Practice belaying two ropes that are moving at different speeds, &lt;b&gt;without taking your break hand off!&lt;/b&gt; This is important, even though the devices mentioned above are auto locking. If you are belaying from a ledge, I find it much more efficient to just stack each rope on it's own pile, and then have each climber re-stack their pile once they are safely attached to the anchor. If you are not on a ledge, you have three options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1) stack both ropes as if you were belaying one second and are getting ready to lead the next pitch (your &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4109/what-to-do-with-the-lap-coiled-rope-if-the-belayer-wishes-to-lead-consecutive-pi&quot;&gt;previous question&lt;/a&gt;). This is the least amount of hassle, but both climbers have to climb at the same speed, and each climber has to be aware of how much slack is building up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2) Buy a rope hook, or use a sling clipped to your belay loop and one gear loop to stack one of the ropes, making coils (small to large), and use the rope with which you are tied to the anchor to do the same with the other rope. This is slow and complicated. You also have to be careful that the second and third are not getting twisted once they are at the anchor. This you just have to practice, I find it impossible to list everything to look out for (someone else might not?) Once both climbers are at the anchor, flip and give each their rope back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3) Buy two rope bags that can be used as rope buckets and proceed as if you were on a ledge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using ropes that are also rated as &lt;b&gt;single ropes&lt;/b&gt; you have one additional option: Either the second or the third can lead on one strand, belay the second up, who will be attached to two ropes (one of which is trailing), and finally belaying the third up. I have done this, and it is fine, but you asked for &quot;the best way,&quot; which this is not. Not swapping leads and leading up on two ropes is more efficient, since you can belay both, the second and the third simultaneously, given you have an ATC guide or a reverso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you were curious why you can't to the latter with two half-ropes: It would mean that one climber is leading on one half-rope, which is not what they are rated for, unless they definitively state so. I do have a rope that is rated as both, and there are even ropes that are rated as singe- half- and twin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a closing remark: I would suggest being really comfortable with the system of one leader and one second before you take a third, both with swapping leads and one leader leading every pitch. Rope management becomes exponentially more difficult with two ropes, and everything becomes just a little less neat and intuitive at the anchors. As a bonus, here are a couple of skills that you should know before you even attempt to do a multi-pitch climb: Rappel without a rappel device (&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/34349494&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on a munter hitch&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/CrabBrake.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a carabiner break&lt;/a&gt;), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;belay a second from the anchor with a munter hitch&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/preferred-knots-for-rappelling/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;joining two ropes with the appropriate knot&lt;/a&gt;, being able to defend why you chose that knot, know how to back up a rappel with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/od/climbingknots/ss/HowTieAutoblock.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;prussic loop&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/RapBackup.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fireman's belay&lt;/a&gt;, know how to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/AscendRope.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ascend a rope with two prussics&lt;/a&gt; and how to back up your ascend with backup knots, know how to build multidirectional SRENE anchors (I guess this one is an obvious one), know how to escape a belay... I would suggest taking a class, if you haven't done so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T17:53:54.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4110" CreationDate="2013-05-17T22:30:38.230" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There're a few options all with drawbacks and maybe no advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the second 10 metres above the third with. When he gets to the anchor, he'll have to untie and retie 10 metres before the end of the first climber before starting the next pitch. The third climber can then go in the end of both ropes. That way the only one changing ropes is the second climber the third and first will alternate lead/belays. The second climber is usually the least experience one. This is bad if the third climber falls, so don't do it. For the second falling isn't as bad, that's why the least experience climber in the part should take this spot, so he/she doesn't have to lead/belay and if he falls is not as bad. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do it with two ropes and do the same as above. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie each climber on one end of the rope, then lead gives one rope to the second, second unties one end, gives it to the third climber and it all becomes a big tangle mess. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring one up at a time, then throw the rope for the other one. Some friends did it this way and it takes ages. Don't do it.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't do it with three. Find another climber and do it in two groups. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal preference, if the climb is more of a fun team adventure rather (e.g. easy for everyone) than a hard climbing project just do it with the second tying on a bight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="763" LastActivityDate="2013-05-17T22:30:38.230" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4105" CreationDate="2013-05-17T22:55:16.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The data from the old wind forecasts probably came from NOAA, and it's available &lt;a href=&quot;http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/viewer.shtml?-multi_1-latest-hs-NE_atlantic-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. The raw data is in the form of GRIB files.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do a search for &quot;GRIB Viewer&quot; and find some apps that will work. You can also search for &quot;GRIB KML&quot;, and might be able to download grib files in a KML/KMZ format that can be shown on Google Earth or Google Maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-05-17T22:55:16.007" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4118" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-18T11:09:32.150" Score="6" ViewCount="755" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I are going camping in Europe this summer and are starting off in Spain. We have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-banshee-200-tent-p140006&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this tent&lt;/a&gt;, and are looking into sleeping bags. We have also been keeping an eye on the weather in Spain at night time and are wondering whether a sleeping bag is actually needed? We don't really want to spend a load of money on a sleeping bag if we're just going to melt in them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe we just don't know enough about the right sleeping bags? &#xA;We were thinking maybe just getting sleeping mats and a small blanket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone got any experience that could help us decide what to do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2186" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T13:22:04.410" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T13:22:04.410" Title="Are sleeping bags needed in southern Spain in summer?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4118" CreationDate="2013-05-18T12:22:03.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two problems with this question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Night-time temperatures vary a great deal across Spain-it is a big country, with coasts, plains and mountains&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your ideal temperature may be very different to mine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what you want to do is look at the range of expected temperatures in the area you plan to camp, compare those with temperatures you are comfortable with and buy accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Myself- I would want a very light sleeping bag, or some blankets unless I was up in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-05-18T12:22:03.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4121" CreationDate="2013-05-18T21:24:51.060" Score="14" ViewCount="434" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any way I can balance out drinking water when taking a trek, or simply taking a hike to one of the local peaks around here? Even if I come stocked, I tend to end up run out of water close to the peak, or halfway through a trek, which leaves another half to deal with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any ways I can effectively conserve water? Is there any way to balance water consumption?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2285" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:37:33.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:37:33.223" Title="How can I conserve water over long treks?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4120" CreationDate="2013-05-19T02:26:34.597" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you run out half-way, perhaps you should bring twice as much? That being said...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option for day hikes is to hydrate well before hitting the trail. Also, have readily available water for your return. &lt;em&gt;e.g. leave a water bottle in your car&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An other option is refilling from natural water sources during the trip would allow you to consume an adequate amount of water during your trek or short hike without having to cary extra water. It should be possible to plan in advance water gathering points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you trek, you may want to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/water-risks.html&quot;&gt;consider water treatment&lt;/a&gt;. On short trips you may prefer readily available treatments such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sawyer.com/water.html&quot;&gt;Sawyer Squeeze Filter&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.steripen.com/&quot;&gt;SteriPen&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aquamira.com/consumer/frontier-pro-filter-system&quot;&gt;Aquamira Frontier Pro&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-19T02:41:26.700" LastActivityDate="2013-05-19T02:41:26.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2013-05-19T09:40:43.643" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping by small van or large estate car mpv, overnight without problems in Spain, beach parking areas and beach, especially Castel de Ferro area, Almeria coast line, you come across a few camper vans and also local rod fishermen night fishing forming tents with umbrellas and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;France - Parked all over BUT discreet! Places in villages as in center parking, back lane, or grassed parking areas, some have designated areas in small towns, there's also lay-byes that are well off road in places, on the main route's lay-byes are used by many and some have toilets, I am always aware to park either where others are or completely out of vision for safety, I have only been moved once, there was a big boules tournament following day, I should have noticed adverts, so always check!!! Could end up in middle of a car boot sale in morning, thats been done!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So really just use common-sense and respect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2288" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-14T10:15:43.207" LastActivityDate="2014-10-14T10:15:43.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4123" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:00:20.407" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For more details on what Leave no trace is please read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8026/what-are-the-principles-of-leave-no-trace&quot;&gt;What are the principles of Leave no Trace?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-27T09:45:46.103" LastActivityDate="2015-03-27T09:45:46.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4124" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:00:20.407" Score="0" Body="Questions related to outdoor ethics including considerations for outdoor activities and the impact on the environment. This tag can also be used for questions related to the 'Leave No Trace Seven Principles' from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-19T21:22:10.520" LastActivityDate="2013-05-19T21:22:10.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4125" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:03:25.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:19:58.583" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:19:58.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4126" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:03:25.217" Score="0" Body="Questions related to the Gore-Tex waterproof/breathable fabrics." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-19T21:22:17.880" LastActivityDate="2013-05-19T21:22:17.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4127" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:06:00.913" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-05-19T15:06:00.913" LastActivityDate="2013-05-19T15:06:00.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4128" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-05-19T15:06:00.913" Score="0" Body="One of the four seasons, following winter and preceding summer. For questions regarding spring water the tag water should be preferred." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-05-19T21:22:20.317" LastActivityDate="2013-05-19T21:22:20.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4114" CreationDate="2013-05-20T07:23:21.320" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good hygiene is a highly subjective benchmark. Clean enough for comfort might be different than clean enough for company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ocean water, albeit salty, is water. You can bathe with it, wash clothes with it, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4083/washing-dishes-with-seawater-or-freshwater&quot;&gt;wash dishes&lt;/a&gt; with it etc. Soap behaves differently (the surfectants don't suds as well) but you'll still get things cleaner than they were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for bathing, the obvious downside is you will have salt on your skin when you dry. For some this isn't an issue. For others this can be an irritant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as polluting the water goes: &lt;em&gt;dilution is the solution to pollution.&lt;/em&gt; The ocean is vast. You washing your clothes/dishes in it as an individual camper / kayaker is not going to matter. (Though a city dumping their waste water into it -- that matters.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address some of your suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;brush your teeth with sand&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Great idea, if you don't like having enamel on your teeth. If you have a toothbrush, and no toothpaste, why not just use the brush (with salt water, or dry, up to you) to scrub your teeth. I can't find the article at the moment, but have read that toothpaste does very little beyond giving you minty breath -- it is the mechanical action of the toothbrush itself that removes the buildup on your teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;take 1h sun baths&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UV does kill stuff - but although it may kill some bacteria, it won't remove the oils, dirt, dead skin cells, klingons, toe butter, and mank collecting on your bod. UV also kills skin cells. Though I guess if you are in the sun for an hour, the resultant peeling sunburn will sluff off some of the funk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;let the clothes take 2h sun baths&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will kill some of the bacteria growing on your clothes, but same as above, it won't remove the oils, dead skin cells, dirt, etc that has been impregnating your clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure what you mean by &quot;without budget.&quot; Good hygiene doesn't cost much, but bad hygiene can cost you comfort, health and friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-05-20T07:23:21.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1706" CreationDate="2013-05-20T16:51:23.357" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you still have your PolarPur bottle you can purchase crystal iodine off of ebay. Look for this seller, &quot;ibmsuccess2010&quot;, he sells and ships from Lithuania. I place a quarter teaspoon of the iodine back into the PolarPur bottle and it will work like new. The seller packages and ships very discreetly. The amount if crystal iodine you will get will probably last you a lifetime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2291" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2013-05-22T11:29:27.663" LastActivityDate="2013-05-22T11:29:27.663" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4131" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-21T00:46:02.660" Score="3" ViewCount="397" Body="&lt;p&gt;While backpacking, I usually carry 50 feet of spectra cord (2mm) to be used as part of my bear bagging system. More often than I would like, I end up having to untangle the line before being able to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although my untangling skills are ever increasing, &lt;strong&gt;how can I prevent the tangling of the cord&lt;/strong&gt; in the first place? A cord winder comes to mind. However, I'm also curious to find out about tips and tricks on how to properly store cordage when a winder may not readily be available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-05-29T15:16:35.947" Title="How to prevent bear bag line from tangling?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-06-02T21:07:15.367" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4132" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-05-21T03:44:37.903" Score="4" ViewCount="1036" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been set on getting my feet wet with backpacking this year. I did my first overnight trip along &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/thunder-creek-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Thunder Creek&lt;/a&gt; a couples weeks ago, and was hoping to do a 3-day trip for Memorial Day weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan thus far has been to set out to the Olympic Peninsula, but it looks like it could be cold and soggy for the weekend. Can anybody recommend an early season trip in the Northwest? My criteria so far has been:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6 to 10 miles per day (18 - 30 total)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less than 400 elevation ft/mi average&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low temp above 40, High temp at least 50&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specific recommendations, or pointers to good planning resources are all appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2292" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-30T08:14:19.493" LastActivityDate="2014-05-21T19:56:39.363" Title="Memorial Day Backpacking in the Northwest" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4137" CreationDate="2013-05-21T13:08:35.163" Score="5" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just moved to Virginia (Fairfax County) a few months ago. I've done some hiking around the area, mostly by the Potomac. With Spring starting I want to get in to some fishing. Can anyone give me some information on the fishing rules around here. I know I have to get a license, but is fishing permitted anywhere on the Potomac? Are the different rules for state vs. county water, or between lakes and rivers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also what are some good fishing spots in Fairfax County?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2278" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T14:29:46.503" Title="New to fishing in Virginia" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4134" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4135" CreationDate="2013-05-22T09:36:18.567" Score="21" ViewCount="8138" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What are the dangers of swimming in natural bodies of water?&lt;/em&gt; In essence I would like to know about all types of waters, but &lt;em&gt;I am mostly interested in sea&lt;/em&gt; because it is most relevant to me. Like many people I enjoy taking a swim when at the sea side, and like many people I find that the stronger and bigger the waves the better. But then all the bad sea stories you've heard come back and it's really annoying, because what you constantly hear (at least when you're younger) is not how the sea works, but instead you hear threats and shallow warnings like 'if you swim too far off, the sea might pull you in'. The problem is I (and many other people I know) simply don't know anything about how the sea behaves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maybe you're aware of some bodies of work for lifeguards or something similar that might shine some light on the matter?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The sea side I visit most often is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Sea&quot;&gt;Baltic Sea&lt;/a&gt;'s south-eastern shore (Lithuania).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2294" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T20:08:06.837" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T06:29:00.397" Title="What are the dangers of swimming in natural waters?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2013-05-22T11:52:51.963" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is highly dependent on the type of water as well as the location, but I'll summarise a few things to be aware of. In many locations most of these dangers won't factor in, but they're useful things to bear in mind if you're trying to assess the danger of a particular body of water. I'll focus on the sea here - for other things such as rivers similar things apply (but there's obviously other things to look out for, different kinds of wildlife, waterfalls, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Currents&lt;/strong&gt;: Yes, there are areas of sea that can &quot;pull you in&quot;. (The same obviously applies for rivers here, but this is less commonly thought of with the sea.) More dangerously, there are also currents that can &quot;pull you under&quot;. Similarly, and sometimes just as dangerously, there are areas of the sea that can &quot;pull you along&quot; the coast horizontally. This can sometimes be dangerous simply because it's much easier to miss, and can pull you into dangerous areas such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;River outflows&lt;/strong&gt;: Along the same guise as currents, but these can often hide at full tide and seem to appear very suddenly and strongly if you move into them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quicksand&lt;/strong&gt;: Not often thought of when you're in the water, but if you decide to stay on the bottom for a while and hit a patch of this, it can root you to the spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watercraft&lt;/strong&gt;: Again, something that's often missed, but stray jetskis (for example) can seriously injure or kill you if they hit you full on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hidden depth&lt;/strong&gt;: While you can often expect beaches to fall down at a gentle angle, there are often hidden areas that can suddenly drop away. While not an inherent problem if you're a good swimmer, these can often be associated with undercurrents too - so beware. Personally I'll only swim on beaches I'm familiar with at high tide (and have seen at low tide) to try and mitigate this somewhat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wildlife&lt;/strong&gt;: This varies greatly - some areas can have deadly sharks (or similar) in them, and these risks go without saying! However, bear in mind more common things such as jellyfish (some of which will just give you a nasty sting and others that can be lethal) and crabs (which will give you a nasty nip if feeling threatened.) Know what lives in the waters you're swimming in, and be prepared accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sharp rocks&lt;/strong&gt;: This goes hand in hand with wildlife in that sharp limpets can also live on rocks, making matters worse - but just because the entrance into the water looks sandy, doesn't mean it is all the way through. If you swim at high tide and stay in while the sea recedes, you may find yourself painfully clamouring over all types of nasties. Same goes if an unexpected large wave throws you against such rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pollution&lt;/strong&gt;: Like any body of water, you should be aware of pollution - especially after storms many runoffs will quickly head into the sea containing a variety of toxins and bacteria. In some countries / areas factories are still permitted to dump waste into the sea directly, in this case I wouldn't even risk getting in the water!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-05-25T08:12:44.100" LastActivityDate="2013-05-25T08:12:44.100" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4089" CreationDate="2013-05-22T15:59:58.687" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have friends with a sailboat who wanted to take their &amp;lt;1yr infant on their sailboat with them, and so consulted the (Canadian) coastguard about how best to protect her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good news is that very young children (&amp;lt; 2 yrs, I think) don't count as passengers from a legal point of view; so there are no legal requirements to fulfil, just what you need to do to be as safe as you feel necessary (again, that may be specific to Canada)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their approach to this was to get a standard carrying seat and strap on to it enough flotation material (mainly polystyrene foam, I believe) until the seat floated upright in water supporting an equivalent weight to their daughter. They then took her sailing on the Great Lakes. The seat already came with straps to hold her in place, and she could be left in the seat (below decks or otherwise in a safe space) during docking and other maneuvers that required two people. Actually I think she was left in the seat pretty much all the time they were under way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The daughter is alive and well and studying marine biology, so it must have worked out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: You should absolutely check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLej_Gvr1c1MNb-sKXO4M_7o66Uivezv3B&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this couple's YouTube channel&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2020-03-03T22:13:46.900" LastActivityDate="2020-03-03T22:13:46.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4133" CreationDate="2013-05-22T22:13:27.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for the Potomac, it can be complicated because you have a large freshwater river with tributaries in multiple states that opens to the ocean. If you plan to saltwater fish you can find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/regulations/recfishh&amp;amp;l_licensing.shtm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;license information here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are staying in the fresh water portions you can find the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/reciprocity.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;license you need here&lt;/a&gt;. Depending on where you are along the Potomac things can be a little different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for other water sources in the Fairfax area the key is who owns the land. If it's a private lake you need to speak to whoever owns the lake. If you are on a public lake or river a typical VA fishing license will cover you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for &quot;best places&quot; I would focus on the various tributaries of the Potomac on the VA side, just pick one close to where you are or can get and you're set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2013-05-22T22:13:27.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2013-05-28T21:21:50.550" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a couple of extra points that were always relevant for us as kids growing up in an extremely tidal area (peaking at 16knots - 30mph!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Between islands, tidal races are usually predictable, and the local tide chart will let you know when slack tide (either high or low) is - these will be relatively safe times to swim. Halfway between these times the tide is at its maximum - which could sweep you rapidly away from your starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where there is a good surfing beach, you will find areas where the breakers do not come in - these are where the water brought in by the waves heads back out to see again. These can be very powerful and pull you down as well as straight out to sea rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-05-28T21:21:50.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4131" CreationDate="2013-05-29T15:16:35.947" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For something like this I typically wrap the cordage around my forearm from the notch between my thumb and forefinger around my elbow. I then take the excess cord at the end and wrap around the bundle 10+ times and secure the end of the line through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2305" LastActivityDate="2013-05-29T15:16:35.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2013-05-30T10:47:41.270" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also would like to add: plants or sea 'wire' (hope that this is English). &#xA;They tend to grow along the river banks and if your feet get strangled into it, it might be difficult to get your feet out of it, especially when the river flows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2013-05-30T10:47:41.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4120" CreationDate="2013-05-30T10:51:40.320" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe not a real way to get water inside your body, but what helps with me is chew on chewing gum. It distracts from the feeling I'm thirsty or drinking too much water without really needing it. Also chewing gum is very light to take with you. Of course the gum is not a substitute for water which is needed anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2013-05-30T10:51:40.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5302" CreationDate="2013-06-02T11:25:15.377" Score="10" ViewCount="19786" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am testing my new Suunto Ambit2. Great watch! I like the way it can be configured and the analysis of the data! However, I am a little bit surprised to see that the software solution from Suunto only works with an internet connection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to get the data stored in the watch during a training when the computer is not connected to internet? Especially the waypoint from the GPS chip would be interesting for me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:35:47.487" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T02:35:47.487" Title="Transfer data from Suunto Ambit2 without Movelink" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4145" CreationDate="2013-06-02T19:35:05.060" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can use the USB cable to directly transfer information from your watch to your PC. You just won't get updates or new features, and you'll miss out on the Movescount functionality online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This and more information in &lt;a href=&quot;http://ns.suunto.com/Manuals/Ambit2/Userguides/Suunto_Ambit2_UserGuide_EN.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Suunto Ambit 2 manual&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-06-02T19:35:05.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2013-06-03T09:42:39.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put layers on your ground sheet: cardboard (keep it dry), bubble wrap, survival bags, or blankets will do. These will mean the tent does not lose heat to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2314" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-06-03T12:37:50.680" LastActivityDate="2013-06-03T12:37:50.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1488" CreationDate="2013-06-03T13:30:48.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Malibu x-factor, etc.  I clock in at 395--no problem. They have several high capacity boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2315" LastActivityDate="2013-06-03T13:30:48.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1294" CreationDate="2013-06-03T13:54:12.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have bought dried barberries for cooking at Persian stores for many years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onegreenworld.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;One Green World&lt;/a&gt; has two varieties that can be bought for the fruit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2316" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T21:43:19.717" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:43:19.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4132" CreationDate="2013-06-03T14:03:00.153" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realize you already made your trip, but I will answer your question anyhow. These tips are not regionally constrained to the Olympic Peninsula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) Footwear&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;When setting out to wet places or in rainy weather always take a second pair of boots. In my experience from the army every shoe will let in water sooner or later under heavy rain. Always pack a couple of durable plastic bags with two heavy duty rubber bands (useful for other tasks as well). So if you have to cross a stream you just step in the bags and seal them off over your calves with the rubber. They will get you through wider streams than you'd think. &#xA;Keep in mind: improvise - adapt - overcome. Always bring your wits when you go hiking.&#xA;Change your socks often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2) Clothing&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;Clothing is very individual, and everyone finds out what becomes him most. However I am of the opinion to dress light. You should be cold before you walk. If your still cold after the first mile, walk faster! You cannot avoid perspiration, but try to limit it. Soaked feet will not be a problem for 3 days and 30 miles, but better learn good habits early. Use synthetic material that can dry fast.  Get some nice comfortable cotton clothes for the evening/night, but make sure they stay dry. Do not wear them while sleeping, even without a tent perspiration during the night in the enclosed sleeping bag will make them humid. Also, sleeping bags warm better through direct contact to the skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3) Packing&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;Use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.militaerversand.at/en/shop/587_Pers-Aufbewahrung/1397_Kompressionssaecke&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;compression bags&lt;/a&gt; to pack your clothes. You save space and will be able to pack a sturdier pack and well-distribute weight. This makes a hug difference the heavier your pack gets. I assume you know this, but just to be complete on these essentials: Carry the weight on your hips, not your shoulders! The hip belt and frame are the most important features of a pack. Consider buying a Camelback (cannot post more than 2 links sorry). Having the water easily accessible through the hose will encourage you to drink. It's easy to forget drinking in cold weather, but it is very unpleasant later on and can get dangerous sooner than you might expect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4) Sleeping&lt;/strong&gt; Another useful tip in cold and wet weather, assuming your a purist and not sleeping with a closed tent, is to put your walking clothes that are humid between the inner and the outter layer of the sleeping bag: The heat from the inside will dry them through the night (just remember to let the outer cover rather loose so the hot and humid air can escape. &#xA;With a closed tent you can use a one layer sleeping bag and hang the clothes in the tent (but leave it open so warm and humid air gets out). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.jetboil.com/index.php/personal-cooking-system-2.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Jetboil&lt;/a&gt;. In a less than two minutes you can fill a bottle with hot water. By holding this to your chest and belly you will fall asleep easily even in extremely cold weather. Before you drift off throw the bottle to the bottom of the bag, warm feet are a luxurious pleasure when sleeping in cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might seem ridiculous to mention, but you never know who might read this: before Hiking anywhere, especially alone, be sure of your navigating skills! Always bring a compass and a map. I understand we have access to GPS and iPhones and whatnot - but I know just as well that whatever can go wrong eventually goes wrong. It is Murphy's Law. Google it. A compass and a map doesn't go wrong, as well as informing someone of your approximate locations and est. return date. Trust in the most simple solutions.. it should be at least your plan B. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastActivityDate="2013-06-03T14:03:00.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2013-06-03T14:09:08.293" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;An alternative to sandals and going barefoot: bring two plastic bags with heavy duty elastics. You can take big bags and tie them all the way up at your thigh, but make sure you wrap them well in strong currents, or the added surface will just get you knocked over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a lightweight, space efficient and extremely cheap solution. Also, rubber bands and plastic bags will be useful in other circumstances as well. For example to make a wind jacket or repair holes in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastActivityDate="2013-06-03T14:09:08.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1294" CreationDate="2013-06-04T07:37:07.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often found myself following these steps from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sassurvivalguide.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lofty Wiseman's Survival Guide&lt;/a&gt;, even though I was not in a life or death emergency situation, and never had any problems. It allows you to safe check all vegetation. These methods have proved themselves on several occasions during my time in the army. &#xA;I am not encouraging anyone to use this method in a non-survival situation, unless he/she feels comfortable doing so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always adopt the following procedure when trying out potential new food plants, only one person testing each plant. NEVER take short cuts – complete the whole test. If in any doubt, do NOT eat the plant. Should stomach trouble occur, relief can be gained by drinking plenty of hot water; do not eat again until the pain goes. If it is severe, induce vomiting by tickling the back of the throat. Charcoal is a useful emetic. Swallowing some will induce vomiting and the charcoal may also absorb the poison. White wood ash mixed to a paste with water will relieve stomach pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;INSPECT&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Try to identify. Ensure that a plant is not slimy or worm-eaten. It will be past its best, with little food value other than the grubs or worms upon it. Some plants, when old, change their chemical content and become toxic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SMELL&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Crush a small portion. If it smells of bitter almonds or peaches – DISCARD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SKIN IRRITATION&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Rub slightly or squeeze some of the juice onto a tender part of the body (under the arm between armpit and elbow, for instance). If any discomfort, rash or swelling is experienced – DISCARD, reject in future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LIPS, TONGUE, MOUTH&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If there is no irritation to the skin proceed in the following stages, going on to the next only after waiting five seconds to check that there is no unpleasant reaction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Place a small portion on the lips&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Place a small portion in the corner of the mouth&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Place a small portion on the tip of the tongue&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Place a small portion under the tongue&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Chew a small portion&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases: if any discomfort is felt, such as soreness to the throat, irritation or stinging or burning sensations – DISCARD, reject in future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SWALLOW&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Swallow a small amount and WAIT FIVE HOURS. During this period eat or drink NOTHING else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EATING&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If no reactions such as soreness to the mouth, repeated belching, nausea, sickness, stomach pains, griping pains in the lower abdomen or any other distressing symptoms are experienced, you may consider the plant safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;POISON! There are two fairly common poisons in the plant world, but both are easily detectable:&#xA;Hydrocyanic acid (Prussic acid) has the taste and smell of bitter almonds or peaches. Most notable example is the cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), with laurel-like leaves, which contains a closely allied poison. Crush the leaves and remember the smell. Discard ALL plants with this smell.&#xA;Oxalic acid, whose salts (oxalates) occur naturally in some plants, for instance wild rhubarb (mostly in the leaves) and wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella). Recognizable by the sharp, dry, stinging or burning sensation when applied to the skin or tongue. Discard ALL plants which fit this description.&#xA;• AVOID any plant with a milky sap, unless positively identified as safe (such as dandelion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• AVOID red plants, unless positively identified, especially in the tropics. The red-streaked stalk of wild rhubarb is edible but its leaf is poisonous. Hemlock has reddish-purple splotches on its stem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• AVOID fruit which is divided into five segments, unless positively identified as a safe species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• AVOID grasses and other plants with tiny barbs on their stems and leaves. With a magnifying glass you can see them as hooks rather than straight hairs and they will irritate the mouth and digestive tract.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• AVOID old or wilted leaves. The leaves of some trees and plants develop deadly hydrocyanic acid when they wilt – including blackberry, raspberry, cherry, peach and plum. All may be safely eaten when young, fresh and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• AVOID mature bracken (Pteridium aguilinium). It destroys vitamin B in the body, setting up a peculiar blood condition which can cause death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastActivityDate="2013-06-04T07:37:07.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4118" CreationDate="2013-06-04T07:45:21.873" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find sleeping bags with a zipper, so you can open it up to a big rectangle and use it as a blanket. If it is really warm lie down on top of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastActivityDate="2013-06-04T07:45:21.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2013-06-05T18:09:08.653" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;If safety is your primary concern, then the only two methods can guarantee safety from major contaminants (microbial or otherwise) these are &lt;strong&gt;Distillation&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Reverse Osmosis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Distillation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling alone will leave most contaminants in the water, such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, etc... multi-stage distillation will both kill pathogens and leave most contaminants in the residue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distillation can be carried out using a solar still if a fire and appropriate equipment isn't available. One stage distillation is usually enough unless the water source is heavily contaminated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reverse Osmosis&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is usually combined with another method of filtration/purification, but has very high water purity if used properly, although the energy required and the efficiency when using low pressures (like a hand pump) make this a poor choice when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ensuring safety&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, the water really should be filtered until clear beforehand for the best results and ease of use, although this is not strictly necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the best results, purifications/filtration methods should be used together, for example, activated carbon filtration of distilled water (to remove volatile organic copounds) or chlorination of water recovered by reverse osmosis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distillation and reverse osmosis are also the only two methods mentioned so far able to desalinate seawater and recycle urine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, The ISS uses a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_ECLSS#Water_recovery_systems&quot;&gt;low pressure distilation system&lt;/a&gt; to recover drinking water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to re-mineralise the water in both cases, both for taste and electrolytes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both methods require a lot of energy, but will guarantee exceptionally safe water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2321" LastEditorUserId="2321" LastEditDate="2014-01-09T00:30:05.167" LastActivityDate="2014-01-09T00:30:05.167" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4156" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4157" CreationDate="2013-06-06T20:07:13.027" Score="17" ViewCount="41854" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's one thing which can spoil my day outdoors. Those are the little flies which happen to fly directly into my eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I work on a computer and my eyes are dry and over-sensitive. If such an insect falls into my eye, it results in intensive stinging, something making me unable to open my eyes. It is intensive even long after the insect is gone. I don't know if it is an allergic reaction or some fragments of insect body are left and the eye has not enough tears to quickly remove them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do those flies fall into my eyes in the first place? They should have self-preservation instinct preventing them from that. Are they attracted to eye for some particular reason or it is just an accident? What is more important - how to distract those little insects? Can I do anything to do that? Maybe should I do something so that my eyelashes are thicker and longer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-08T17:05:47.390" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T16:19:13.243" Title="How to deal with little flies flying into the eyes?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4156" CreationDate="2013-06-07T03:01:33.127" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are likely talking about &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloropidae&quot;&gt;eye flies&lt;/a&gt;. They feed on lachrymal secretion which your &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachrymal_gland&quot;&gt;eyes produce&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they get too intense, if hiking, I either walk faster and away from wet area or use a good head net. Peter Vacco have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petersheadnets.com/petersheadnets.com.html&quot;&gt;good information&lt;/a&gt; on flies and also happen to make really good head nets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-06-07T03:01:33.127" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4156" CreationDate="2013-06-07T07:27:38.413" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible steps to take:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;You could attempt to lure and trap them into a container filled with vinegar and a squirt of dish washing soap. Possible traps include: covering container with plastic foil and poking relatively small holes or making a funnel out of lightweight cardboard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative would be to take tobacco from a cigarette or a cigar, chew on it for a minute, then smear it all over your face (or at least area around your eyes). We used this often in military training, when you were outside for days and days, gleaming with sweat. Good thing insects hate the stinging smell of tobacco. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or else try one of the industries brand new accomplishments: insect repellent sprays. You can find them almost anywhere, especially in stores for outdoors/camping. They look kinda like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.insectfree.de/anti_muecken_spray.html&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastActivityDate="2013-06-07T07:27:38.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4159" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4166" CreationDate="2013-06-07T15:44:02.613" Score="16" ViewCount="1838" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went on a hike with my wife the other day in Norcal. This place had a creek that led into a cave that you can swim in. We both left our backpacks at the cave entrance and then swam through it to the other side to explore, trusting that no one would steal our stuff. All the while though we were worrying some about our back packs which had our money, keys and phone. But our stuff was ok and all there when we got back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can we do to keep our backpack safe the next time and so we don't worry as much when we have to leave it for a while? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a search online but wasn't completely satisfied. I was hoping there was some type of deterrent device you can set inside your backpack so when its moved a loud alarm goes off. Is there such a thing? The other thought was taking money keys and phone with us but in this particular situation even if we carry a waterproof fanny pack there is still the danger of it falling and/or getting lost, especially in a partly dark cave. Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are newbies to Outdoor activities like these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2323" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:42:03.520" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:42:03.520" Title="How can I keep my backpack safe?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4159" CreationDate="2013-06-07T16:53:57.180" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally the far from the civilization you go, the safer your things are. Thiefs are operating there where people live or where there are a lot of people. Distant rocks, caves etc. are not their target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not heard of something being stolen from someone's luggage in mountains, for example. If some point is at least a few km far from the place where you can go with car, you can trust people there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you may consider masking your luggage with some wood or leaves, or hide at least the most valuable things under a rock, in not so obvious place. I have experience from geocaching, that even if you know exactly (with ~10m precision) that something is there, it is often very difficult to find it, especially when it's something small. You should only be sure you'll remember where you have hidden it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-06-07T16:53:57.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4161" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4162" CreationDate="2013-06-07T16:58:59.003" Score="6" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife gets itchy hives if you stays out under the hot sun for too long. They go away within a day but is uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if anyone else who loves the outdoors experiences this and what you do to prevent it. Is the only solution really just limiting sun exposure through clothing, hat and not staying out for too long?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2323" LastActivityDate="2013-06-07T22:25:14.023" Title="What do you do for sun allergy?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4161" CreationDate="2013-06-07T19:30:14.023" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If she is actually allergic to sun then the only solution is to cover up, with clothes and sun screen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.com/activities/health/allergies/relief/help_natural_pilates.html&quot;&gt;Weather.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a first-line treatment, we usually ask the person to avoid the sun&#xA;  if possible, and if they do go out in the sun to use photo-protective&#xA;  measures. So in addition to staying in the shade, they should wear a&#xA;  long-sleeve shirt if possible and use what we call broad-spectrum&#xA;  sunscreen that has UVB as well as UVA blockers. If someone knows that&#xA;  they are only sensitive to UVB, it's not as essential that they use&#xA;  the broad-spectrum sunscreen. We ask people to look for sunscreen that&#xA;  has SPF 15 or above because the probability of having UVB and fairly&#xA;  good UVA protection is quite good. People should specifically look for&#xA;  the word &quot;broad-spectrum&quot; on the label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is heat that causes her hives then the main goal is to wear cooling clothes like light linens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is about all there is to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-06-07T22:25:14.023" LastActivityDate="2013-06-07T22:25:14.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4164" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4165" CreationDate="2013-06-08T15:04:15.223" Score="6" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;The previous founder wrote in cache log that he had dropped a trackable called &lt;strong&gt;GeoKret&lt;/strong&gt;. I've found it, but I don't know how to log it? I can't find it on GC site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2013-06-08T19:59:44.197" LastActivityDate="2013-08-16T19:55:57.843" Title="I've found a GeoKret, what can I do with it?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4164" CreationDate="2013-06-08T15:04:15.223" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GeoKret&lt;/strong&gt; is an open alternative to commercial TravelBugs. It is an independent solution, having own site: geokrety.org, where you can log it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is integrated with &lt;strong&gt;OpenCaching&lt;/strong&gt; portal, but Groundspeak is not willing to integrate them with their site. You can use Chrome plugin called &lt;a href=&quot;https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/geokrety-toolbox/ldbheajkebdflbjdckojokbfdndkahnl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GeoKrety Toolbox&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Registering new GeoKret costs you nothing, but you need to print a label yourself and laminate it. There are a few templates for labels available, my favourite has QR code which directs the founder directly to the site where he can log the GeoKret.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ECokH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A GeoKret posing near beautiful cache&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-16T19:55:57.843" LastActivityDate="2013-08-16T19:55:57.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4159" CreationDate="2013-06-08T16:42:44.930" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hide your pack or move it a bit off the trail. Make sure you do not overdo it and end up not being able to find it back yourself. :-) Although you are in the wood, if you are in a popular area, it is possible that other local visit the same area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never heard of people bringing alarms for their bags and don't recommend it. I doubt it will be of any help if somebody decides to steal an &lt;em&gt;abandoned&lt;/em&gt; backpack. It is also a possible unpleasant noise that &lt;a href=&quot;http://lnt.org/teach/cell-phone-use-guidance&quot;&gt;does not belong in the &lt;em&gt;wild&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Please no car alarms backpackers :-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I use a small &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/stuff_sacks.shtml&quot;&gt;wallet pouch&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loksak.com/products/aloksak&quot;&gt;water proof bag&lt;/a&gt; that I carry at all times. In it you will find one personal identification card, one credit card or bank card and a single bill in case of emergency. Sometimes I will also have a single key (car or home). I also carry a small emergency kit on me in case an accident happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has actually been proven useful once after our team separated ourselves from our bags/equipement for a side trail. One person had a head injury (a bump on the head in the small &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.afar.com/highlights/a-blessing-from-the-hundred-rupee-monk&quot;&gt;hundred rupee monk&lt;/a&gt; house that led to a fair amount of bleeding; lets just say that the blessing was short lived!). Having the emergency kit on me instead of my backpack helped a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you separate yourself from your bag, it is important to have something in case you don't find back your bag or cannot get back to your bag. You can usually anchor your wallet pouch to your pants to prevent accidentally dropping it. Many &lt;em&gt;hiking pants&lt;/em&gt; have either zippers or loops that you can attach items to using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/carabiner.shtml&quot;&gt;mini D-carabiner&lt;/a&gt; for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people enjoy money belts that goes around the neck. This is similar to a fanny pack but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.artoftravel.com/08thieves.htm&quot;&gt;slightly different alternatives exist&lt;/a&gt; if you are interested in this option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy trails!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?96438-Backpack-theft-deterrent&quot;&gt;forum thread on WhiteBlaze&lt;/a&gt; listed a &lt;a href=&quot;http://pacsafe.com/products&quot;&gt;few products&lt;/a&gt; that might be of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dobermanproducts.com/products/se_0304.html&quot;&gt;interest to you&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T13:47:34.783" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T13:47:34.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4170" CreationDate="2013-06-09T14:44:11.653" Score="14" ViewCount="4332" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sweat a great deal when I sleep. When it's really warm outside at night I just keep my bag unzipped and there's no problem. However, when it starts to get cold and I have to zip my bag up, I soon become dowsed in sweat and even though my bag is rated well below the outside temperature I am freezing and have a horrible night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just ordered some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drirelease.com/technology&quot;&gt;drirelease&lt;/a&gt; shorts and tshirt in hopes that the wicking will help with this problem but haven't received them yet. Will that do the trick? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone else have this problem and what worked for you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2327" LastActivityDate="2020-09-05T04:58:00.920" Title="Sweating in sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4082" CreationDate="2013-06-09T14:51:04.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just notices the submit date for this is a month ago, so it's probably too late, but the Pasayten Wilderness in North Central Washington is beautiful. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=445&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=445&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2327" LastActivityDate="2013-06-09T14:51:04.640" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4167" CreationDate="2013-06-09T21:48:03.090" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I get far too hot but like you I find that layer part of the night gets cold. My solution in temperate climates is to only ever zip the sleeping bag up halfway so the top half is left loose, that way I can pull it over me or off again without waking up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a wee bit cooler you could try this technique as well as a thin sheet or blanket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-06-09T21:48:03.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4167" CreationDate="2013-06-10T12:21:23.190" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plenty of places sell sleeping bag liners. Sometimes they are designed to make the bag warmer, other times to be more absorbent. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/SleepingBags/LinersAccessories.jsp&quot;&gt;Mountain Equipment co-op sells quite a few&lt;/a&gt;, some of which are cotton and mention &quot;absorbency&quot; and &quot;comfort&quot; in their descriptions. I don't doubt that other suppliers offer them too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-06-10T22:39:14.350" LastActivityDate="2013-06-10T22:39:14.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4156" CreationDate="2013-06-11T07:54:16.773" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I deal with this problem by wearing a large set of sunglasses. Mine were originally designed for snowstorms - large circles, which leave nearly no gap to the face, plus side inserts, to limit light and wind from the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Work wonders, plus this solution frees the hands for energetic activities, like biking or wood gathering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2020-09-03T16:19:13.243" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T16:19:13.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4172" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-12T08:21:04.617" Score="4" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was planning on making the famous TMB, &quot;Tour du Mont Blanc&quot; by bike ? Is it possible ? Is it authorized ? What are your recommandations ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2332" OwnerDisplayName="Mathieu Leiv" LastEditorUserId="1860" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T18:53:51.570" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T18:53:51.570" Title="Is it possible to do the whole turn of the Mont Blanc (TMB) by bike?" Tags="&lt;biking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-12T16:09:45.763" Score="7" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just had a thought after buying a couple of &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0054IH5PQ&quot;&gt;money belts&lt;/a&gt; for my girlfriend and I.. Where should we keep them when we are swimming for example?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this seems like a simple problem but is there any other solutions other than taking turns swimming? i.e Burying them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2186" LastActivityDate="2013-06-15T18:30:27.820" Title="Where to keep valuables when separated from them" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4174" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4177" CreationDate="2013-06-12T20:22:40.573" Score="6" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a good resource for quickly identifying peaks that are visible on the summit of a north-american peak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I use a topographical map and painstakingly identify each individual peak. I was hoping someone knew about a resource where there is a panoramic picture taken from the summit with all named peaks identified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this question is too broad, I especially care about the Sierra Nevada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-06-17T00:34:35.870" Title="Identifying named peaks from the summit of a north-american peak" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4173" CreationDate="2013-06-13T03:36:46.583" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since your question is tagged with backpacking and wild-camping, I am assuming you are out in the wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that case, just hide your valuables prior to arrival at the beach. Just head 15+ feet off of the trail, and you should be trivially able to find a spot to hide a handful of stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From geocaching, even if someone was to know the general vicinity of where something was, it can be quite a challenge to locate a fist-sized cache of stuff amongst everything else around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I've traveled, I've never had a problem finding a random bunch of rocks that I can move to expose a little hole in which to tuck my stuff, then cover them back up, and I've even done that in busy, popular places without any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-06-13T03:36:46.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4174" CreationDate="2013-06-13T09:09:24.640" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Identifying peaks using a topo map may be difficult, because you need to reconstruct the 3D landscape in your head and decide which mountains are hidden behind others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can fly to the top of your mountain in Google Earth and adjust the tilt to see the panoramic view. This way you get a view, which is very similar to what you'll see in person. Than (or before) you can just identify all visible peaks by using Google Earth labels or a topo map (FYI, if your topo is accurate, you can stretch it over the GE landscape and see it in 3D this way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, sometimes you can find Panoramio photos with labels, or they might just be named like &quot;view of peak X from peak Y&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next option is to try to find alpinist trip reports, which often have labeled photos. Report sources are usually country-specific, but there are some worldwide catalogues like summit.org.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-06-13T09:09:24.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4174" CreationDate="2013-06-13T13:39:27.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe you will find the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peakfinder.org/mobile/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;PeakFinder&lt;/a&gt; applications for iOS helpful.&#xA;There is another app that works with augmented reality. Check &lt;a href=&quot;http://peaks-app.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;peaks-app.ch&lt;/a&gt;. Let us now if one of the apps helped. I recently used the SwissPeaks application and found it helpful. But without internet connection you're lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastActivityDate="2013-06-13T13:39:27.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4173" CreationDate="2013-06-13T19:16:53.570" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To ensure your valuables stay dry and clean (wouldn't want to short out any electronics like your car remote lock or phone if an unexpected shower comes along) you can use a waterproof bag (relatively inexpensive) or an Otterbox (or similar) - both found in kayaking section. &#xA;To ensure that you are able to find your items that you have so cleverly hidden (especially if it is a busy trailhead or high traffic area) especially if you are in the back country for 10 days or more.  (I've come back curious to where I'd even parked;-) and you are one that uses a Hiking &amp;amp; Trekking GPS Unit use this to mark the secret stash.  This way you will not outsmart yourself!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2331" LastEditorUserId="2331" LastEditDate="2013-06-15T18:30:27.820" LastActivityDate="2013-06-15T18:30:27.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4173" CreationDate="2013-06-14T13:11:31.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a direct answer, but a relevant anecdote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many years ago in college I went with some friends to a nearby state park with a lake.  After a while, we decided to walk around the lake a bit away from the crowds at the official lifeguard-patrolled beach.  We got to a nice spot to get into the water at the side of the lake and went swimming.  We just put our stuff down at the side of the trail and went into the water.  There were occasionally people going by on the trail, but we didn't think anything of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we got out of the water, two of my friends found their stuff was gone.  They both had bright-colored backpacks.  At first I thought my stuff was gone too, but then realized my pack was right where I left it only about 1 m from where theirs was.  The big difference was that may pack was a dull gray-green color and blended in with the surroundings.  The theives must have been right on top of it at one time, but apparently didn't see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the lesson is &lt;b&gt;camouflage works&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-06-14T13:11:31.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4181" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4186" CreationDate="2013-06-15T01:52:51.483" Score="23" ViewCount="743" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a good emergency-overnight-sleeping-setup when every ounce counts, like on long technical routes (grade V or VI) where the goal is to do it in one day (without hauling), but one wants to prepare for the unexpected? Building a fire is not an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in answers for all seasons, elevations, and most likely weather conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to prepare for this situation, so I won't have to use the advice given in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/27/keeping-warm-in-an-emergency?rq=1&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T01:15:55.397" Title="Light-weight emergency overnight-gear" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4082" CreationDate="2013-06-15T04:51:46.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Ozette triangle is a great 1-3 night backpacking trip in the northwest tip of the state. I went in May and it was spectacular with very few other people about. However, it is slippery on the cedar planks that make up the first third of trail when it's raining (which it was that day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lake-ozette/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lake-ozette/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2345" LastActivityDate="2013-06-15T04:51:46.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4132" CreationDate="2013-06-16T06:38:11.690" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am near Seattle and I am getting some miles in around Snoqualmie and Middle Fork Wilderness areas. I think you should stay close to help if you need it in a hurry. At least try to stay in reasonable cell service. Large areas of the Leavenworth National Forest, Steven's Pass and much of the North Cascades are outside cell service. I guess you could have an EPIRB or a sat phone, but the help is still some time away. I grew up around the North Cascades and the thought of a green camper stepping out alone to try his new hobby in the North Cascades makes me cringe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snoqualmie has cell phone reception nearly throughout the Sno Valley. That equals some comfort, and practicality even. You can dial in navigation, and stay in touch with loved ones/checkins. Another benefit is the area is more heavily travelled. Less bear, slightly lower likelihood of human/animal hostile encounter than say Steven's Pass. (based on current Cascade bear, wolf, cougar, and wolverine migration data)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the North Cascades are a bit more brutal overall, but the Snoqualmie Valley, North Bend array, and Issaquah Alps all offer plenty of getaway and challenge. Take a look at Alpine Lakes Wilderness if you need more elevation. I have been going to Otter falls each year and that is fun also.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Suggested route inside the Snoqualmie Valley is:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snoqualmie Valley Trail.... to&#xA;John Wayne Trail / John Wayne State Park (Near Rattlesnake Lake)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;overnight camping at John Wayne state Park...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;continue to Summit at Alpental along John Wayne Trail (AKA, Iron Horse Trail). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I run this route from North Bend occasionally. Its a nice easy grade, some nice scenery, and still in cell phone reception. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ryan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2347" LastActivityDate="2013-06-16T06:38:11.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4184" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-16T22:56:16.307" Score="10" ViewCount="398" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking, I often find myself in areas where cell phone reception is poor or intermittent.  Sometimes the signal is not good enough to make a call, but it is still possible to send text messages (SMS).  I have often wondered how I could use this to summon help in case of an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in the US, and as far as I know, it isn't possible to send text messages to 911.  The only idea I've come up with is that I could send a text to a friend, and ask them to call 911 or the local authorities in my area and relay the information.  This is inefficient, and requires that I find a friend who is by their phone.  Is there a more direct way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd prefer answers that don't require special equipment or pre-arranged services other than a standard cell phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:24:19.280" Title="How can I report an emergency via SMS text message?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;communication&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4174" CreationDate="2013-06-17T00:34:35.870" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One approach is to use a GPS device that has a map database and an electronic compass.  You can sight on the distant mountain, and the device will draw a line on the map along that bearing.  Then you just have to look at the map and see where the line crosses a prominent mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2013-06-17T00:34:35.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2013-06-17T06:25:49.493" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most obvious thing is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&quot;&gt;emergency blanket&lt;/a&gt;. It will add a lot of extra insulation per gram. It'a good to have one in you bag on any trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, a mere blanket is definitely not enough for all seasons, elevations and weather conditions. When planning at home, you should ask yourself a question: &quot;What will happen to me if I have to be on the route overnight?&quot; Than take this much insulation that will make the answer not worse than &quot;no permanent injury&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While at home, think of where (at which points of your route) would you sleep if something happens. Good shelter is very important, because wind and elements take a huge amount of heat from you. On top of the mountain is the worst, near a wall is better, between 3 walls (rocks) is even better, snow cave is the best (so learn how to dig one, if you are going very high up or in winter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another lifesaver is water boiling gear (I'd recommend JetBoil), it also has a very high rate of heating per gram (compared e.g. to clothes). Of course you'll need water to boil, so know where you can find it or take some extra. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-06-17T06:25:49.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4193" CreationDate="2013-06-17T12:00:38.740" Score="14" ViewCount="412" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to &quot;longest walk possible&quot; are there any good guidelines for finding trails/areas in the southeast that are typically less crowded on holidays such as the 4th of July?  State parks here in Georgia, and most of the States, become overcrowded and very loud on summer holidays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T05:15:52.557" LastActivityDate="2021-03-28T16:01:00.830" Title="How do I find a less crowded trail in the southeast United States on the 4th of July?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4184" CreationDate="2013-06-17T13:00:44.473" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of sending a text message to a single person, you might think of using a group SMS to increase the chance for having a friend forwarding the call to 911. Or use whatsapp in a group, in that case you see it will be send (and possibly received).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2013-06-17T13:00:44.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2013-06-17T13:05:09.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to sleep some times in the Belgium Ardennes which have a very mild climate. For size, weight and especially cost reasons I used agricultural black plastic (don't know the official English term). I used it like a tent replacement; I had a simple sleeping bag but in case of emergency it can be used also as replacement for that (depending on the temperature).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very cheap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easily layerable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;waterproof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when not needed anymore (e.g. after last night or only night) you can throw it away (of course not in nature).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can use it to collect rain very easily for water/drink purposes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can cut of a piece to be used as waterproof bag when needed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be cut rather easily&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you cannot breath through it (so take care of free air)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;condensation (although I never experienced any problem, since the material is not breathable I suspect in warmer temperatures this might become a problem)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T08:20:40.213" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T08:20:40.213" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2013-06-17T13:38:11.830" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most pressing points are good ground insulation(mat to lie down on) wind protection and then dry clothes.  We lose 80% of body heat through the ground. Evaporation of sweat or humid clothes cool at an extremely fast rate too. The amount of heat transfer depends on the evaporation rate, however for each kilogram of water vaporized 2,257 kJ of energy are transferred. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulation mat is self explanatory, get the best you find&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind protection is achieved through two layers/steps: good wind clothes(jacket, coat) and good positioning of your camp using morphology of the terrain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring spare clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to bring a good hat, that covers your ears and cheeks. Always makes a big difference.&#xA;You might not be comfortable like with a sleeping bag and tent, but you'll get through the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Expecting rain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you expect rain things get more complicated. You have to stay dry at all cost, else you lost the battle against the cold. I never used a tent, just a rectangle piece of sturdy fabric, about 2 meters by 1 meter. I wax it regularly. Construction possibilities are many, depending on conditions, especially wind. Standard position is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4twYr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need metal poles, just use some sticks. As a habit from military I keep my tent as low as possible when I am only confronted with wind, so I can close the sides with some equipment, rocks, or vegetation. Imagine the previous diagram with the metal poles/wood sticks shortened and moved to the right 1/4 of the fabric length. When it rains hard, steeper tent sides will make it more efficient in throwing off water. You might consider bringing an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.militaerversand.at/de/katalog/337_Messer/342_Feldspaten&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aluminum field shovel&lt;/a&gt; to dig a small 'canal' around your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivouac_shelter&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bivouac&lt;/a&gt;. If it rains hard without this canal bringing the water away, you will find yourself lying in a swamp quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2317" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:28:11.377" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:28:11.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2013-06-18T07:21:57.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think anaheim brought up a lot of good points, but I would choose a super light biwi bag that is able to keep you dry whether the humidity comes from the inside (sweat) or the outside (rain). If I take an insulation mat with me depends on existing possibilities to use it. If there are no pedestals you can lay or sit on, I would leave it at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastActivityDate="2013-06-18T07:21:57.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3531" CreationDate="2013-06-18T07:32:46.273" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.verwall.de/verwallrunde.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Verwall-Trek&lt;/a&gt;. It is a trek from St. Christoph (Arlberg, near St. Anton) via the Kaltenberghütte, Konstanzer Hütte, Neue Heilbronner Hütte, Friedrichshafener Hütte, Darmstädter Hütte, Niederelbehütte und Edmund-Graf-Hütte to Pettneu. Of course you can adjust the route as you wish. I recommend to fly to Friedrichshafen or Innsbruck and then take the train to Langen am Arlberg or St. Anton. Afterwards you can take the train from St. Anton to Vienna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About reservation: If you want to be sure to get a bed I recommend to call the huts beforehand. If this does not matter you can try your luck and may sleep on the floor at the worst. None of the hosts is going to force you to hike to the next hut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="1879" LastEditDate="2013-06-18T13:16:23.410" LastActivityDate="2013-06-18T13:16:23.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4187" CreationDate="2013-06-18T12:39:04.700" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer is not specific for a particular area or a particular date.  I like to find trails, areas, that are less crowded in general, and estimate the seasonal pattern mostly on availability.  Signs of less popular areas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A relative &lt;em&gt;lack&lt;/em&gt; of photos on things Google Photos, Flickr, Instagram, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A relative &lt;em&gt;lack&lt;/em&gt; of uploaded tracks on sites such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikiloc&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alltrails.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alltrails&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A relative &lt;em&gt;lack&lt;/em&gt; of google hits for places uniquely along this particular trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A general lack of information online.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lack of services in the area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trails not mapped on Openstreetmap; for example, as of 2020, Openstreetmap maps only two trails skirting the corners of the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana (USA), but the National Geographic Trails Illustrated map (which can be browsed online) betrays a relatively dense network of trails throughout the wilderness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look through some of the websites listed at the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/69543/2509&quot;&gt;this opposite question on Travel Stack Exchange&lt;/a&gt;, which essentially asks &lt;em&gt;what's hot right now&lt;/em&gt; (or &lt;em&gt;what's popular in general&lt;/em&gt;).  My most recent hike was at spectacular Børgefjell (&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/s/aHsmtiM9Yi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photos&lt;/a&gt;) and I met nobody, and indeed, it's completely black on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sightsmap.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sightsmap&lt;/a&gt;, as is the part of Iceland I hiked in the year before (&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/s/aHsm7pHQ6A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photos&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/heatmap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Strava heatmap&lt;/a&gt;, or other heatmaps.  If you can't see the trail you want to hike, it's probably not too crowded.  If I had &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/heatmap#11.93/-112.11278/36.12713/hot/all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;looked at the Strava heatmap for the Grand Canyon Corridor Trail&lt;/a&gt; (extremely bright), I could have mentally prepared for the hundreds of trail runners 24 hours per day rather than expecting the total number of hikers to be limited by the total number of overnight permits.   Compare quiet &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/heatmap#11.13/-106.52281/49.02130/hot/all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grasslands National Park&lt;/a&gt;   or deserted &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/heatmap#10.17/-109.08152/47.73793/hot/all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument&lt;/a&gt; (invisible — Americas best kept secret?).  Although running is not a perfect substitute for hiking, it surely correlates.  Note that &lt;a href=&quot;https://medium.com/strava-engineering/the-global-heatmap-now-6x-hotter-23fc01d301de&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The same color only locally represents the same level of heat data&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, so although this method may find relatively less crowded trails in the same state park, you can't compare between areas far apart.  I don't know if/how the Strava heatmap works when there is no mobile phone coverage (does it upload later or is it marked as unvisited?).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this has the marked disadvantage that it's also harder to find those areas at all.  It helps to know the area, to get a good map that includes not only popular trails but also less popular ones, etc.  In northern Scandinavia, I've almost never met another hiker in routes that I designed on my own (though in some areas I have frequently come across people fishing or hunting recreationally, unaware that a specific area had been recently recommended in a popular paper fishing magazine that I don't read; some recreational activities may have less online presence than others).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2021-03-28T16:01:00.830" LastActivityDate="2021-03-28T16:01:00.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4195" CreationDate="2013-06-18T15:31:27.797" Score="10" ViewCount="297" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've all been on hikes that pass close by a good lookout.  A rock or ledge sticking out with a good view.  Sometimes these are heavily maintained by park rangers, but often not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm on a trail and see a lookout, how can I go about making sure it won't fall/collapse if I walk out onto it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T17:52:59.480" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T17:52:59.480" Title="How can you tell if a rocky outcropping (lookout) is safe?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4194" CreationDate="2013-06-18T16:10:39.930" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In truth, there's no real fail safe way to test this - but after a quick check over the risks are low enough that, in practice, I don't worry about it. I will however make a note of the following points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the area that the lookout is on prone to erosion? This is perhaps the most worrying sign if it is, and is pretty easy to check just by how the cliff (or whatever else it is the rock is jutting out of) looks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Examine the material - if it's wood, does it look well painted and maintained? This is easiest to tell with wood since if it's not it will generally look rotten and not something that you'd want to trust your life with. If it's rock, then are there any obvious cracks?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does this look like a lookout post that's intended for use? Is it near a path where people would be expected to go, or is it a rough piece of rock that just happens to be there and looks like a look out post?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you even need to go on it? Sometimes I've seen particularly dodgy posts that I've avoided, but then on reflection realised that actually, the view is just as good from next to it, or a bit further down the path.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-06-18T16:10:39.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4196" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4210" CreationDate="2013-06-18T18:45:09.837" Score="11" ViewCount="1258" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for sustainable alternatives for carrying out human waste. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cleanwaste.com/wag-bag&quot;&gt;WAG bags&lt;/a&gt;, though convenient, sadly have to end up in land-fills. I am looking for a system where the non-biodegrading components can be reused hygienically, and the biodegrading substances can be disposed of in pit toilets or composting toilets. In addition to sustainability and hygiene, weight, bulk, convenience when used on multi-day trips, and longterm cost are also of concern. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Poop-Tube&quot;&gt;Poop tubes&lt;/a&gt; (either the PVC or dry-bag version) strike me as a good starting point. Sadly (possibly due to the sensitive nature of the topic) I found it difficult to find useful first-hand information on how to make that system work with the criteria stated above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:29:28.027" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:29:28.027" Title="Sustainable systems for carrying out human waste" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4202" CreationDate="2013-06-18T21:40:11.233" Score="21" ViewCount="15769" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a multi day backpacking trip and I am planning on taking only a backpacking hammock instead of a tent.  When I mentioned this to a friend of mine he jokingly referred to me as a bear taco.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need to worry about bears more since I am in a hammock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Food will be stored safely and well away from camp)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2355" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T00:13:43.593" Title="Should I be worried about bears when sleeping in a hammock?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2013-06-18T21:40:19.473" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always take a fist-sized &lt;strong&gt;SOL emergency bivy&lt;/strong&gt; bag and a couple of strong black &lt;strong&gt;garbage bags&lt;/strong&gt;. That way you can stuff food and even your body in the bags when conditions are cold and wet. I have also converted a garbage bag into a spare insulating clothing layer by tearing holes for arms and legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essential for climbers are a &lt;strong&gt;whistle&lt;/strong&gt; for signalling and a &lt;strong&gt;square of aluminum foil&lt;/strong&gt; for signalling people on the ground or in the air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take spare &lt;strong&gt;alkaline batteries&lt;/strong&gt; as a strategic energy reserve as alkaline performs better than Lithium in cold weather. If an overnight bivy is planned, you need a &lt;strong&gt;spare flashlight&lt;/strong&gt; as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as food/water, I don't think you can get around bringing spare food and water unless there's snow/ice, which can be melted into water. In that case, a &lt;strong&gt;Jet Boil&lt;/strong&gt; is a good option but it's not a very elegant option (not compact and need a lighter/matches, which you disqualified in your question). Another option is to collect dripping water off of the wall into a water bottle and filter, but that's not a guaranteed option. Similarly, collecting dew is an option, but that doesn't sound practical either. In mountaineering, there may be no running water at high elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are all besides for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials&quot;&gt;10 Essentials&lt;/a&gt;. However, these solutions are specifically directed towards the emergency-overnight possibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2354" LastActivityDate="2013-06-18T21:40:19.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4184" CreationDate="2013-06-19T00:45:58.107" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I didn't know this, but in fact, the ability to send text messages to 911 is being developed and could be ready within a year or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-321040A1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-321040A1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The four major US wireless carriers expect to be ready to route text messages to 911 by May 15, 2014.  However, it may take longer for local emergency dispatch centers to be able to handle them.  The system will be rolled out gradually; starting September 30, 2013 (June 30, 2013 for the major carriers), you will at least get a bounce-back if the system isn't available in your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2013-06-19T00:45:58.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4184" CreationDate="2013-06-19T11:28:32.820" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a direct answer, but to expand a bit it is possible in the UK, however you need to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.emergencysms.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;register your mobile first&lt;/a&gt; and it's really meant for those who are hard of speech or hearing rather than poor signal areas. Having said that, if you do register and then text in a poor signal area and give details of your location, I'm sure the emergency would still be dealt with - so much better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-06-19T11:28:32.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4197" CreationDate="2013-06-19T12:01:18.633" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being in a hammock shouldn't change anything. A tent is not any safer, and may be more dangerous, since you don't have visibility of the area around you. Buy or borrow a copy of Trail Life, there's a good discussion of the issues with using a tent. A tarp is my preference over a hammock or a tent, because they make for a dryer and more comfortable night's sleep for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The prime rule is to not cook near where you're stopping for the night. Cook and eat your evening meal a few miles before you make camp, and the bears will be drawn there instead of to your campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-06-19T12:01:18.633" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4203" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4205" CreationDate="2013-06-19T15:34:51.690" Score="22" ViewCount="12703" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trekking and camping since last 6 yrs. I have over 600 hikes and about 30 technical rock climbs under my belt. We often tend to camp up in forests, and at our sides, wild boars are pretty normal. Though I have never been under an attack by a wild boar, I just want to know that instead of running away (never in a straight line though), do I stand a chance to pretend to be aggressive if they out-number me? Few of the civilians suggested that it works most of the times if they out-number you. They loose their formation and run away. I just want to know if such a thing happened and/or (deliberately) done by anyone? How safe is it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:10:04.693" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:02:12.497" Title="What are the odds that I stand a chance against Wild Boars?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2013-06-20T10:56:01.367" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others point out, avoiding them is key, and because they're so aggressive it's generally the better stance to take. That said, if you find yourself unavoidably coming up against one then being aggressive &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; work (though of course this isn't guaranteed.) Often if you attack one and the rest see that you're capable of that, then they'll run away (as seen in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aHLEfWPcvo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;, ish, though they do come charging back at various points!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's a big risk, and they won't always run after something like this - they may even go the other way and get more aggressive! So if you think that you have the manpower and weapons to successfully take them on and stand your ground, then you may wish to, but I'd only do this as a last resort - if for instance a member of the party was injured and there was no way to move them. How safe is it? Not very.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in the comments, this (already rather substantial) risk increases by orders of magnitude if there's a sow with babies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-06-22T09:06:50.467" LastActivityDate="2013-06-22T09:06:50.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2013-06-20T13:41:00.993" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have come across wild boars about a dozen times (I admit, not that much), in numbers from a single male, mothers with young upto groups of 30-40 and I've never felt threatened. Sometimes the leading (fe)male might approach you aggressively just long enough for the rest of the group to run away and then retreat too. I usually stay silent and try to observe them, which has upto now not been seen as a thread or provoked any aggression. While this is probably no different than your own experience, I have too always anticipated the &quot;what if&quot; scenario. What I keep in mind is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will I be able to distract them by throwing away a jacket or backpack ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If running/climbing something is no option, how can I or we look bigger than we are and scare them off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they attack and you can't get away, how to avoid them hitting your thigh. I believe the main risk for boars is their tusks piercing your thigh and artery which can cause you to bleed to death much quicker than getting help is possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;update:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be worth taking into account that in some places animals can become more agressive as they lose their  fear of humans. Here in Europe hunters may feed animals to create artificial overpopulations, which in some places has resulted in the boars affiliating humans with food. Where this is the case, they are much harder to intimidate and scare off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastEditorUserId="2090" LastEditDate="2013-06-21T13:39:36.063" LastActivityDate="2013-06-21T13:39:36.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4206" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4207" CreationDate="2013-06-20T15:42:56.423" Score="6" ViewCount="1303" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a regular climber and a hiker. Having an experience of more than 600 hikes and around 30 technical climbs, I have realized that during rock-climbing, the climbers are bound to face Honeybees where I climb. Range of Sahyadris in India offer few of the good challenges in rock-climbing. This is where we climb. I have a news to share here. Follow the &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-12/nashik/35068024_1_rescue-group-trekkers-rescue-equipment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link to detailed news about the mishap&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, this guy, I know him very well. Tough, Strong and a Never-Give-Up sort of a Navy guy, who has been sailing for half a decade all over the world.&#xA;The news was that he died in a bee attack during a technical rock climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to raise a question that what can be done to prevent such an attack? What as a climber I should never do in order to avoid such an attack? If it happens somehow, what am I supposed to do in order to limit the damage being done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:42:49.123" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:42:49.123" Title="Precautions needed to be taken regarding bee hives (honey) during Climbs" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4206" CreationDate="2013-06-20T19:31:12.567" Score="11" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid bee hives&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid bee hives&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See 1 &amp;amp; 2&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've pissed the bees off there is little to nothing you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; do.  Getting out of the area is the obvious answer, but that is difficult mid-climb.  We have all sort of wasps, bees, etc. in my area of the Southeastern US and the advice is the same.  Be alert and don't hit a nest.  A swarm of hornet makes for an unpleasant hike VERY quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-06-20T19:31:12.567" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4209" CreationDate="2013-06-20T19:33:24.903" Score="12" ViewCount="2469" Body="&lt;p&gt;Under the assumption that I'm far enough out that I need to hike out on my own, and that I have someone who can help... what is the best way to immobilize a dislocated shoulder for a long hike out of the woods (5+ miles)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-04-22T17:58:04.007" Title="What should I do for a dislocated shoulder?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4208" CreationDate="2013-06-20T22:02:06.060" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't want to immobilize a dislocated shoulder.  You really need to fix it.  Even if held at just the right angle and not being jostled around, a dislocated shoulder &lt;b&gt;hurts&lt;/b&gt;.  After a while the muscles will tighten, then start spasming periodically.  Then it &lt;b&gt;really hurts&lt;/b&gt; and it becomes much more difficult to get it back in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some dangers in getting a shoulder popped back in by a non-expert, but the downsides and practical near impossibility of hiking out any distance with a dislocated shoulder outweigh them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the shoulder is popped back in, the person will immediately feel better.  It will be sore and will be in danger of popping out again easily, but it won't hurt anymore.  &lt;i&gt;Now&lt;/i&gt; is the time to arrange some sort of sling to keep the lower arm roughly accross the belly and tied down so that it isn't used, even if accidentally.  Little things we normaly can take for granted can pop it out again, but not when the lower arm is held accross the belly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-06-20T22:02:06.060" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4196" CreationDate="2013-06-21T11:15:35.607" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a biodegradable (e.g. cornstarch-based) bag to pick up waste and then pack it in a airtight container. For obvious reasons the container should only be used for that purpose and disinfected when you return home ready to be reused next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, look out for schemes such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cairngormmountain.org/conservation/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Keep Cairngorm Snow White&lt;/a&gt; which provides biodegradable bags, a pot to carry the waste in, and a site to dispose of the waste into sewage treatment on your return (also described &lt;a href=&quot;http://lupineadventure.co.uk/winter-skills/winter-poo-kit.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T18:45:19.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T18:45:19.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="804" CreationDate="2013-06-22T16:11:28.040" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best I found is to freeze. I know it's against the point of having as fresh as you can but cut in meal portions. Then freeze. wrap in freeze paper then pack in soft lunch cooler. it can be attached to side of pack. and you can hang in a leak proof bag at start of day or night before your next meal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending where you hike any raw or thawing meat you carry, can draws all kinds of predators just as bad as walking around with open wounds be careful to know what's in your aria of hike. Wolves can smell blood from miles away especially if you are thawing while walking if allowed to drip they can follow right to your camp.  Best to hang packs if any meat has been or being stored in or on. I learned that the hard way. One of my first hikes I was 10 miles in the Adirondacks and lost 90% of my gear from animals tearing into it while I was sleeping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2358" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-13T17:57:49.287" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T17:57:49.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4213" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-24T16:24:02.410" Score="9" ViewCount="1166" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend, on a 3-night hiking trip, we decided to head for the &lt;em&gt;Pieggaluoppal&lt;/em&gt; wind shelter for the final night.  When we arrived (at 23:15 and after 13½ hours of hiking) we were a bit disappointed to see that it looked like this¹:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BK8UI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pieggaluoppal wind shelter&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lillsjon.net/~v108e/fjelds/fac.php?fac=Pieggaluoppal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo from before it burnt down&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We came home yesterday and googling &lt;em&gt;Pieggaluopal&lt;/em&gt; does result in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.utsidan.se/forum/showthread.php?t=60222&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a Swedish language forum-post from 2010&lt;/a&gt; describing how someones father was told that it had burnt down, and that no decision had been takes as to whether or not it would be rebuilt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, this wind shelter is in a relatively frequented area (probably dozens of people per year pass by), but some are in quite remote regions.  How can hikers prepare and get up-to-date information as to the state of wind shelters along the way?  In Norway, sections of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turistforeningen.no/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Den Norske Turistforeningen (DNT)&lt;/a&gt; such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://narvik.turistforeningen.no/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Narvik og Omegn Turistforening (NOT)&lt;/a&gt; have information online such as for &lt;a href=&quot;http://narvik.turistforeningen.no/cabin.php?ca_id=540&amp;amp;fo_id=5665&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baugebua&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://narvik.turistforeningen.no/cabin.php?ca_id=324&amp;amp;fo_id=5665&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oallavagge&lt;/a&gt;, but is there any central resource for Swedish shelters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹ &lt;sup&gt;We had a tent, so it was not a big problem, but we'd have appreciated a roof after a long and rainy day.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="207" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T22:26:23.530" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T22:26:23.530" Title="Where can I find current information on shelters in the Swedish mountains?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;huts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4214" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-24T16:51:24.063" Score="24" ViewCount="2632" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my hiking trips, I mostly sleep in my tent, but occasionally I appreciate to have a roof.  Mostly by chance, I've found on my trips a number of free and open huts in Norway that are not owned by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turistforeningen.no/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Den Norske Turistforening (DNT)&lt;/a&gt; (the Norwegian Tourist Association).  They tend to be far away from where most people hike.  I've never seen one occupied and browsing through guestbooks usually reveals an occupation of less than 20 nights per year.  They're marked on the map, but from the map it's not possible to tell the difference between private and locked cabins (hunting and fishing associations have quite a few of these), available to the public at a fee (usually by fetching the key in the nearest village in advance), or unlocked and free to use.  Some free-to-use ones that I've discovered, all by chance, are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Havgahytta, owned by &lt;em&gt;Reindriftsforvaltninga&lt;/em&gt;, i.e. the reindeer herding organisation (this hut appears to have no web presence of any kind, but I've passed by there).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.godtur.no/godtur/nyartikkel/dbarticle_preview.aspx?id=4488&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ragohytta&lt;/a&gt;, very high up in &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.dirnat.no/attachment.ap?id=2908&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rago Nasjonalpark&lt;/a&gt; [PDF], owned (or at least operated/maintained) by &lt;em&gt;Statskog&lt;/em&gt;, the national forest agency&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lommekjent.no/ruter/1761478&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heggedalshytta&lt;/a&gt;, owned by &lt;em&gt;Statskog&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ut.no/hytte/3.1332/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tarhalshytta&lt;/a&gt;, owned — I believe — by Hammerfest kommun.  Picture below.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4WxON.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tarhalshytta on Sørøya&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Tarhalshytta on Sørøya, with the Barents Sea&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Statskog I have found an overview of open huts &lt;a href=&quot;http://issuu.com/statskog/docs/oversikt_statskogs__pne_buer_og_koier2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; [PDF], but that's only one of the agencies.  Is there any resource on the web that collects — perhaps by users contributing — an overview of such freely available huts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-10-04T10:44:26.557" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T18:26:26.227" Title="Overview of free and open huts in Norway outside the system of the official tourist association DNT" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;huts&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1836" CreationDate="2013-06-24T19:27:54.720" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Popup tents are also known as 'festival' tents, and are frequently regarded as single-use disposable items!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/08/21/volunteers-clear-up-v-festival-debris-in-pictures/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Shroptshire Star: Volunteers clear up V Festival debris - in pictures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most Vango tents are at the cheaper end of the price scale - They aren't all bad (my first proper camping experiences in the UK were in a Vango tent), but the 'popup' end of the market is where corners are most likely to be cut on materials and workmanship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-06-25T04:01:53.353" LastActivityDate="2013-06-25T04:01:53.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1836" CreationDate="2013-06-25T19:52:47.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one thing about tents in general (well, at least I don't know any exception) - they are absolutely &lt;strong&gt;not waterproof&lt;/strong&gt;!. The outer part simply soaks with water and leads it down to the ground. But if you touch it - you have a rain inside. It's just like touching the surface of the umbrella from the below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there is one thing you must take very seriously when preparing for rain in tent - the outer and inner layer of the tent &lt;strong&gt;must not touch&lt;/strong&gt;!. If you have one-layer tent, nothing can touch the outer layer as well! A tent is actually just a big umbrella. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By 2-layer tents you should make the inner layer possibly loose, while the outer layer should be tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-06-25T19:52:47.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2013-06-26T07:32:44.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on where you are hiking (you may want to edit that into your question) as to the type of wild boar one may encounter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have backpacked extensively around the Southwestern U.S. and I've come across as many as 7-10 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/game_javelina.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;javelina&lt;/a&gt; and they are of little threat to hikers. I had edited that I had never heard of a single attack but then found a snip-it that a Tucson woman walking her three Chihuahuas was attacked in 2006 (although I don't know how credible the source was).  In my back-country experience they are afraid of people.  I imagine if you had one or more cornered and you were provoking them to the point that they felt threatened they'd give a nasty bite.  Attacks to humans are extremely rare.  People do refer to them as wild boars but I think of the dark haired large tusked variety and not javelina.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hyperlink above shows the javelina and facts at the AZ Game and Fish website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI, I would've put this as a comment but don't have that ability yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2331" LastEditorUserId="2331" LastEditDate="2013-06-26T07:48:50.960" LastActivityDate="2013-06-26T07:48:50.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4219" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-06-28T18:24:35.087" Score="7" ViewCount="1161" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my treks, I often need to ford rivers — on my last trek (3½ day) I forded five, including four on a single day (not counting &gt;100 smaller streams).  My current practice is to take off my boots and put sandals instead, but this is a dangerous practice that several books and agencies strongly recommend against.  Many rivers are glacier-fed and some are quite wide, so the risk for hypothermia is real.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iyApN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fording in Padjelanta&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Njoammeljåhkå, Padjelanta National Park, Laponia, Sweden, August 2011.  To ford two dangerous steps (flow and depth were worse than they might look), or to make a 40 km detour — that is the question!&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Swedish mountain associations recommend to tie raintrousers tightly at the boots, warning explicitly that crossing on sandals carries a real risk for hypothermia.  Although my boots and raintrousers are reasonably watertight and good enough to keep me dry when it rains (at least when it rains with a Swedish intensity), they won't hold standing in a (quickly) flowing river for a long time.  As an alternative, the Swedish language book &lt;em&gt;På fjälltur: Sarek&lt;/em&gt; by Claes Grundsten recommends, and I quote (translation follows):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alternativt kan du använda vadarpåsar som träs over skodonen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;meaning&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alternatively, you can use fording bags that are drawn over the shoes.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The book goes on to state that they are for sale on the open market.  I can't find information about those &lt;em&gt;vadarpåsar&lt;/em&gt;, though.  &lt;strong&gt;What is a vadarpåse / fording bag and where can I buy one?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-67573.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This forum post&lt;/a&gt; recommends to &lt;em&gt;leave yer boots on, bring two heavy duty contractor trash bags with you, one for each leg, procede with caution&lt;/em&gt;, but that sounds a bit scary as well (bad maneauvability).  Are there any more suitable garments, preferably at least up to the waist¹, for fording rivers?  Preferably lightweight that can be packed in a small volume.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some issues are addressed at &quot;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/657/566&quot;&gt;If I have to cross an icy, flowing river, what are some ways I can cross safely?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&quot;, but the answers there do not really address the issue at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;I'm aware that one normally should not ford rivers that are deeper than knee-high, but I think one could make an exception if there is almost no flow at all.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T02:19:16.053" Title="For fording cold rivers, is there any special clothing (as opposed to makeshift bags or tightly connected raintrousers) to stay dry and warm?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4219" CreationDate="2013-06-29T10:30:09.333" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of this really does depend on the type of river - you seem to be talking about really quite big, cold rivers, and I'd question whether you should really plan to cross these by fording at all since they can be a big risk. Sometimes a long detour really &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; the best option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether to take your boots off or not is really a trade off. I will also often put on sandals to ford a stream this way, though I've never forded anything as big as you seem to be describing and nor would I really want to! While there is a greater risk you may slip or twist an ankle without your boots on, if your boots get soaked (especially if we're talking about cold climates) then they're going to take ages to dry out, and may even freeze. That's going to be downright uncomfortable at best, and potentially frostbite / hypothermia inducing at worst. If it were me in this situation (and I had no other option other than to cross, I'd change footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of trousers - I generally wear shorts for this, since they dry off more quickly and don't weigh me down as much when wet. But again, practice will differ with big, cold rivers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Swedish mountain associations recommend to tie raintrousers tightly at the boots. Although my boots and raintrousers are reasonably watertight and good enough to keep me dry when it rains (at least when it rains with a Swedish intensity), they won't hold standing in a (quickly) flowing river for a long time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would agree with this advice, and perhaps wrap a few bags around for good measure (if they're available and I could do so without getting any loose bits in the way.) Yes, some water will still seep through, but you're fording a river where the aim is to get to the other side as quickly as is safely possible - you shouldn't be in there for a &quot;long time!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-06-29T10:30:09.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4098" CreationDate="2013-06-29T17:41:46.700" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. Infants &amp;amp; Toddlers most of the time will not know about safety. It's best not to even sail with them.&#xA;If you REALLY want to sail with him/her (I suggest doing if you need to), make sure you have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buckles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Right-sized PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A buddy to sail with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A full First Aid kit ready&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are missing any one of these it becomes all the more important to have the other three.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not go if...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Child is less than 4 years old. (See the infant question for that)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Child wanders around a lot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not go if you have...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first aid kit only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buckle only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buddy  only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first aid kit and buckle only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buddy and buckle only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the PFD is Wrong-sized, it's the same as not having one. Don't go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2372" LastEditorUserId="2372" LastEditDate="2013-06-30T15:10:14.077" LastActivityDate="2013-06-30T15:10:14.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1658" CreationDate="2013-06-30T04:33:39.303" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are peaks on a route: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mera Peak (6654 m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Island Peak (6160 m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pisang Peak (6091 m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yala Peak (5500 m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chulu East (6584 m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Monsoon trek to Ghorepani poon hill 3210 mt is a five day trekking route from Kathmandu to Pokhara, Tikhedhunga, Ghorepani Poon Hill and then next morning climbing to Poon Hill where see the best panaromic views. It is the best view in the Himalayas. We see Dhaulagiri 8167 m, Mt Annapurna 8091 m, Mt Fish-tail alled holidy motion in Nepal. After 1987 it is not allowed to climb this peak, this holy mountain in Nepal. If any one tries to climb this mountain we will have many bad seasons in Nepal that means no rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a very popular trekking trail in the Himalayas. If you have time please visit one time. You never will forget a Poon Hill trek I am 100% sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2373" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-03-17T16:56:56.303" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T16:56:56.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2013-07-02T03:40:32.577" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I slept with less layers while in the military and sometimes naked and was warmer than I ever was when I slept with layers on. I don't really know if it's dependent upon the type of bag you're in or what, but I have 0 doubt that it worked much better for me personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2375" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-25T09:34:36.633" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T09:34:36.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4224" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4225" CreationDate="2013-07-02T14:38:12.827" Score="10" ViewCount="2039" Body="&lt;p&gt;My hiking boots got soaked multiple times during our last trip in Scotland. The water got in via my pants, behind my gaiters and on my socks. This happened multiple times on the trip with no opportunity to dry them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now back home, they smell like hell. Any tips to get rid of that smell?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shoes are a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.haglofs.com/en-US/products/footwear/trekking/men/haglofs_grym_en-us.aspx&quot;&gt;haglofs grym&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2377" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-07-02T15:44:38.023" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T22:18:29.860" Title="How to get rid of bad smell in hiking boots after they have been soaked?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4224" CreationDate="2013-07-02T15:44:20.557" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put them in your sink and fill the sink with warm water and &lt;s&gt;possibly some&lt;/s&gt; no soap.  Leave them like that overnight, then hang them to dry the next morning.  You won't smell them while they're in the water and in the morning, the smell will be gone (and the water will have an interesting colour).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-09-04T22:18:29.860" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T22:18:29.860" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4228" CreationDate="2013-07-03T11:09:03.717" Score="6" ViewCount="1475" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.katadyn.com/usen/technical-support/filter-support/product-videos/katadyn-vario/&quot;&gt;Katadyn Vario&lt;/a&gt; filter during our last hike in Scotland. It uses a ceramic filter when used in LONGER LIFE modus. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The waters in Scotland however have a tendency to be brown (due to the peat in the ground I suppose). As a result, the pumping became increasingly difficult. The ceramic filter turned brown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Katadyn provides you with a cleaning patch for the ceramic filter and it helped a bit, but still, the filter has a brown color and the pumping is less easy as it used to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other tips on how to clean ceramic filters in general? Is there some chemical way to get them cleaned instead of cleaning them with the patch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2377" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:39.603" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:39.603" Title="How to clean the ceramic filter of a water pump?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2013-07-03T16:33:37.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience - no way. If the temperature outside is below the comfort range of your sleeping bag, you'll have to put some extra things on you, otherwise you risk hypothermia (in best case - sleepless night). The best things are the fleece ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when it goes to trousers and jackets (normal or rain-proof, without warming), it's usually a better idea to put them under your sleeping bag or foam-pad, to increase isolation from ground (the most head you loose through ground). So actually it may be a source of that hypothesis - better to sleep without trousers, and sleep on them instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, many people claim that it's warmer to sleep naked. Well, the ones I know have very warm (and expensive) sleeping bags, so the temperatures were above their comfort rage. I have an impression that such rumors are produced by sleeping bag producers, which want people to buy warmer sleeping bags for cold weather, instead of trying to keep them warm in their (cheaper) summer-time sleeping bags with extra layers of clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that sleeping bags are relatively new. As a soldier in 1st World War, you had only a blanket to keep you warm and you had to sleep in everything you have on you during winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-03T16:33:37.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4226" CreationDate="2013-07-03T20:17:16.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have gone through several filters, and have cleaned them many times. There are a few steps to doing this though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you'll need... muriatic acid, 2 buckets, long plastic stirrer, face mask, high pressure hose, safety glasses, heavy duty gloves, water, and your filter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Move to a well ventilated area. Outside is best. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Begin by putting half a gallon of water in a bucket. Next, put on your safety gear. Then measure out 2 cups of muriatic acid and pore into the bucket. Next, stir this up with your stirrer until well mixed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spray your filter, concentrating on areas with calcium and rust build-up. Then slowly lower your filter into the bucket, taking care to protect yourself from the mixture. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place the bucket in a well ventilated area for five days, keeping it out of reach of children and animals. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After 5 days, fill the other bucket with a half gallon of water. Place the water filter in the new bucket, and leave it there for 5 minutes. Then, rinse it off with your high pressure hose. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your newly cleaned water filter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2381" LastActivityDate="2013-07-03T20:17:16.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4229" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4244" CreationDate="2013-07-04T13:40:03.427" Score="10" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going on a two week trip soon. We are two people, with bicycles and backpacks. Small sections of the trip pass through rocky trail with steel ropes. The weather is summer, but the possibility for downpours exists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have one climbing harness, a climbing carabiner, 15m of dynamic rope and a reverso. My worry is that shouldering/carrying on the back the bikes will be a balancing challenge, and the falls are significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can we use our current equipment to make the passages safer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2021-02-10T01:52:39.780" LastActivityDate="2021-02-10T01:52:39.780" Title="Via Ferrata with a bicycle" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4219" CreationDate="2013-07-04T18:25:10.940" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;These products may be what you are looking for, they are hip-height waterproof waders:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.overshoesonline.com/rtk8/NEOS-River-Trekker-Overshoe-Hipper-Brown.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NEOS River Trekker Overshoe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wiggys.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wiggy's Light Weight Waders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastActivityDate="2013-07-04T18:25:10.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4232" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4233" CreationDate="2013-07-04T22:42:24.333" Score="12" ViewCount="2629" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a 5-7 days hike. Or something around that, more or less, I'm flexible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea would be to stay away from hordes of tourists. We don't mind people, but we don't like queuing up on a hike or fighting for a place to put our tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How safe is it to tent? Bears? Pumas? Other wildlife I should take into consideration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where should we make our approach from? Spain? France? What are the pros and cons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any resources to maps, tracks, tips and tricks would be welcomed from people that hiked there or that have researched the topic extensively. Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T15:36:06.567" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T15:36:06.567" Title="Hiking in the Pyrenees late July/early August, what track should I do?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;france&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4232" CreationDate="2013-07-04T23:11:43.657" Score="12" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're walking with a tent and pitching it up somewhere high in the mountains (this may not be legal, but if you're well behaved nothing will happen), you won't have a problem with crowds.  Very few people hike with a tent.  In general, as soon as you're more than ~2 hours from the nearest car park, you're out of the crowds.  That being said, it may be difficult (and illegal) to camp in the wild, and you might depend on camp sites.  With a small backpackers tent, you won't have a problem finding a spot, but you will be sharing a camp site with car tourists with big tents, electrical light, music, etc; those camp sites are in civilisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wildlife&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are rare in the Spanish Pyrenees and non-existent in the French ones.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You're very lucky if you see a bear.&#xA;There are no pumas.  Wildlife is not a hazard for hiking in the Pyrenees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Maps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the French side, by far the best maps are the 1:25.000 map series from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ign.fr&quot;&gt;French IGN&lt;/a&gt;.  However, for a long trip you might need many sheets to cover the route, so you could choose the 1:50.000 map series instead.  On trails, these are usually good enough.  The French maps cover part of Spain, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Spanish side, maps are less reliable.  My experience with the official maps from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ign.es&quot;&gt;Spanish IGN&lt;/a&gt; is that many hiking trails are simply missing on the map.  Special park maps, only available for touristic regions, may be better.  I haven't been to the Pyrenees, and can't recommend specifically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Where to hike&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees.  From what I've understood, they're quite dry.  A friend who has lived in Toulouse (close to the French Pyrenees) recommends &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_10_%28France%29&quot;&gt;Grande Randonéé 10&lt;/a&gt;, which runs close to the border on the French side.  The entire GR will be too long, but you can do a segment of it.  GR's are well-marked with red-white markings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-07-04T23:11:43.657" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3959" CreationDate="2013-07-05T08:56:59.230" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This answer is mostly on comfort, for more technical/practical considerations, please consult Rory's answer above.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can express opinion about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tashev.bg/shop/product_info.php?idarticles=194&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; double sleeping bag.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbBhe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap, which affects it's other characteristics.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weights 3.6 kg, takes up most of the space in a large (60+)l backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warmth is about the same as my single 3-season sleeping back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Putting insulation pads underneath is a little awkward, as the sleeping bag is quite large.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping in the correct temperature (maybe down to 5 degrees Centigrade) is very comfortable. It feels like a large bed, in which one can move freely. Actually the bag can probably fit 3 persons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because it is so spacy, there is some air movement inside (i.e. less warm than an individual mummy bag), which can be good or bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, it is equivalent to two separate sleeping bags. &lt;strong&gt;On a serious journey I would not take it&lt;/strong&gt;, as &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding even ground for two (actually more like three) sleeping bags is harder than finding two individual good spots to put the sleeping bags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;None of the advantages of mummy-style sleeping bags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At the end of an exhausting day one rarely has the energy to hug the sweaty and filthy other person.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, &lt;strong&gt;for leisurely weekend trips in warm weather this provides the ultimate comfort&lt;/strong&gt; and intimacy with the loved one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2014-03-05T04:32:09.563" LastActivityDate="2014-03-05T04:32:09.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4235" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-05T09:13:52.687" Score="12" ViewCount="651" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related Questions:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/27/keeping-warm-in-an-emergency&quot;&gt;Keeping warm in an emergency&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4181/light-weight-emergency-overnight-gear&quot;&gt;Light-weight emergency overnight-gear&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has happened to me a couple of times that I have shelter and plenty of insulation underneath, but my 1-season sleeping bag turns out insufficient for the spring snow that surprised me at nightfall. What should be done in such conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enabling alarm every 30min or one hour in order to prevent white death&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zipping the bag all the way, only my nose protruding. Unfortunately below freezing temperature breathing the icy air is very very uncomfortable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zipping the sleeping bag and forming a ball inside. Unfortunately everything turns wet by the morning and even before that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emptying my backpack and wearing it as one large sock over the sleeping bag. This really helps!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heck, how do people in quality sleeping bags sleep in the winter with all that sub-zero air that they have to breath?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2020-09-04T16:11:02.877" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T15:12:22.677" Title="Emergency measures: sleeping bag not suitable for the current weather" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3952" CreationDate="2013-07-05T09:37:21.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rope is never a thing to throw away at any point in time. You can make slings out of it, and teach your kids about knots and other rope handling procedures. Or You can use the sling as an accessory cord for self anchoring (under static loads - not dynamic) as long as it is not damaged. I have so far used a not-at-all-good-for-climbing piece of rope for two things that hadn't fail so far.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I go for cycling a lot. And when I'm done with it, I use the rope for a towing purpose and one of my friends who have a bike, tow me :) And, I know thats lazy!  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have made a hammock of old rope for me :) During early days of it's use, I used to worry imagining that the rope gave up and I broke my butt, but after 6 months of frequent use on outdoors, it still looks in a good shape.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another use is to make Prussik loops and use it on rappel for self locking. I would use it as prussik loops and for static anchoring since breaking strength of rope slings are much higher than nylon / dyneema slings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T05:38:17.480" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T05:38:17.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2013-07-05T09:45:36.133" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only once experienced a nights' sleep that my sleeping bag didn't handle.  I was only 200 metre from civilisation, and I hardly slept, but it was not really dangerous.  I'd expected temperatures around 0°C, but it turned out to be the local coldest night of the year at -7°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uiKY2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Å i Lofoten, 27 March 2008&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Normally, the gulf stream means that at Å i Lofoten, Norway, temperatures usually don't drop far below 0°C, but on the early morning of 27 March 2008, it was the coldest night of the year at -7°C.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried that falling asleep may be lethal, I would simply not even try to sleep.  Get out of your tent, eat, pick up your tent and walk away.  Hopefully you brought some decent headlight, but even if not, as long as you're walking, even just back and forth or in circles around your tent, you can keep warm and you won't fall asleep.  You'll get very tired, but being tired is not lethal, and perhaps during the day it gets warm enough to sleep safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-07-05T09:50:58.530" LastActivityDate="2013-07-05T09:50:58.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3952" CreationDate="2013-07-05T14:24:39.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never done it personally, but you can weave an old rope into a rug.  There are several patterns on the Internet.  Here's one if them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/so-you-want-to-make-a-rope-rug-eh/263578&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;So You Want to Make a Rope Rug Eh!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With an old harness, I'd recommend either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if it's still structurally sound, and less than 5 years old, keep it as a loaner harness for any time you take your non-climber friends out toproping&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if it's older than 5 years, or if there's any sign of wear, just throw it out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T00:02:26.250" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T00:02:26.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2013-07-05T17:43:47.160" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;People falling asleep and dying were already affected by hypothermia, once it happens to you, the only chance is a heat source such as fire or other people, however if you are alone, you will have really problems with making fire in such condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your body isn't completely exhausted, you will have great problems falling asleep, if you will be freezing. This is a measure how a comfort and tolerance temperature ranges for sleeping bags are measured: comfort range means you'll be able to sleep the whole night, while tolerance range means you'll wake up a few times an hour because of freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In extreme cases just sleep in your clothes , treating sleeping bag as just another warming layer. You can also put your legs (being in sleeping bag) into your rucksack - it will provide another isolating layer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally, if the night isn't too dark, consider walking in night and sleeping a bit in the day, when it's a bit warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-05T17:43:47.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2013-07-06T01:05:56.690" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is worth nothing that if you have a cooking system and the extra fuel you can prepare hot water and place the hot water bottle between your legs to help you keep warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have extra food, eat a high-energy snack before going to bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things that comes to mind are: cover your head, use what you can as bottom insulation, make sure you don't overheat and sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-07-06T01:05:56.690" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4243" CreationDate="2013-07-06T08:58:41.293" Score="3" ViewCount="554" Body="&lt;p&gt;For an incoming trip, I am considering buying a camelback hydration system. There are two options available at my local preferred dealer, and I would like some advice on which one to choose. The main concern is to be able to drink &lt;em&gt;while biking&lt;/em&gt;. The two models are at the same price. Here they go:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ebY7i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WB0eJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:40:19.933" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:40:19.933" Title="What style of camelback hydrating systems exist out there?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4242" CreationDate="2013-07-06T15:35:35.047" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both models are just fine. If either one of them has a detachable hose that's a nice feature to have. But not worth a big price difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you already have a backpack with which you bike you can just throw it in there. Get the hose out and tie it to one of the shoulder straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have one there are at least two options for buying a backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is a backpack with a special camelback pocket and a nice hole through which to take out the hose. I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.simond.com/en/cat/BackpacksBags/prd/Alpinism_22_Backpack_blue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one. Note the inside water bag pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other one is to have a dedicated, very light, camelback-only backpack. I don't really have a use for those but I've seen a lot of people using them. I prefer the extra features of a day-hike backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favorite water bag is the one from &lt;a href=&quot;http://sourceoutdoor.com/product.php?id_product=12&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;. It never leaked and I have it for years now. Very robust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay away from Ferrini models. They leak and are very volatile!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2013-07-06T15:35:35.047" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4229" CreationDate="2013-07-06T15:52:17.020" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the passes are horizontal only, you might tie the bikes to the steel ropes and just push and/or pull them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a more or less vertical climb, I wouldn't do it with a bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case I wouldn't tie the bike to myself nor would I carry it on my shoulder. I would make sure my safety comes first. In case of a slip or in case of a fall I would make sure the bike won't make things worse by getting in the way of regaining equilibrium or, worse, accelerating my fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2013-07-06T15:52:17.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4245" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4321" CreationDate="2013-07-06T17:53:13.307" Score="9" ViewCount="803" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cooked a couple of times but I was just aiding a colleague that also brought all the ingredients and had the know-how. And I have a poor memory, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you cook yours? What recipe do you use? Details are very much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2013-07-14T09:43:32.767" Title="Recipe for baking bread/cake on the trail" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4246" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-07T02:30:27.927" Score="10" ViewCount="2269" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to US (New York) and planning to go hiking to all nearby places - NY, NJ trails. Some hikes require that I wear waterproof shoes, and some hikes doesn't specify any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first thought I will go with lightweight waterproof shoes like the one that Merrell has on its website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Hike&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Hike&lt;/a&gt;. But after visiting the website and visiting REI and paragonsports - two popular outdoor shops, I really got confused by options there, and the specification of them. Each one seems to be having a different purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I buy 2-3 pair of shoes really? Is it worth it? (Each pair costs about $100 approximately - Am I wrong?) I am not really a beginner, but I was hiking carelessly wearing sneakers, but now with my knee, ankle pain - I am little more concerned, careful and want to go with proper hiking shoes. Mostly it will be a one day hike and I will be hiking in and out of NY, NJ trails - I think they are not snowy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you please help narrow-down to one kind of shoe? or at a max 2. Any shoe recommendations are welcome:) Thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2388" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T16:58:58.427" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T16:58:58.427" Title="What are the minimum set of shoes required for hiking outdoors" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4247" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-07T02:42:46.277" Score="6" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to learn more about shoes, but for the near term goal, I have this query - how do I really know that I need an insole? How to select the right insole that I need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2388" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T12:34:41.450" Title="How do I know that I need to add an insole to my shoe?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4245" CreationDate="2013-07-07T02:43:19.623" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are two dessert recipes I like to make while camping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Peach Cobbler:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 (big/commercial-sized) can of peaches in heavy syrup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 (regular-sized) box of cake mix (plain yellow cake, unless you want to get adventurous).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat up some coals, pour the peaches into a dutch oven, and pour the cake mix evenly over the peaches. Put the top on the dutch oven (including coals on top), bake until it's done: The peach syrup should bubble over into the cake mix over much of it, the rest of the cake mix should be just starting to brown. How long depends a lot on your fire/coals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're hiking and a dutch oven is too much, you can probably get away with putting it in a fairly wide pan on a camp stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also experiment with other fruits and cake mix flavors; but note that the heavy syrup is important, it keeps the syrup below the cake mix in a place to bubble up properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pound cake&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 pound butter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 pound sugar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 pound flour&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 pound eggs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Melt the butter in a dutch oven. Pour in the sugar, mix quickly, flour, mix quickly, eggs, mix quickly and then thoroughly. Put the lid on, bake until it's done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine this doesn't translate to a camp stove quite as well as the peach cobbler, but if you have a pot that can handle the temperature and you don't mind getting it dirty (and possibly melting, if you misjudged its sturdiness) you can try putting it in a pit surrounded (beyond a bit of a gap) by coals piled up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, this one can obviously be scaled down to smaller portions (e.g. 1/4 lb of each) if you are in a smaller party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18" LastActivityDate="2013-07-07T02:43:19.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4246" CreationDate="2013-07-07T10:05:57.230" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The minimal set is one pair of versatile shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although as you've seen, there's a confusing array of options, you can think of shoes for the outdoors as mostly falling on a spectrum from light (minimalist trail running shoes) to heavy (full-leather backpacking boots). REI has a great rundown of the types online &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/hiking-boots.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you go on that spectrum is entirely a matter of individual preference, but I'd suggest for day hikes that you start out in the middle, with mid or low cut shoes that are variously called hiking shoe/light hiking boots/cross-training shoes. These tend to be very versatile and should handle most of the environments you'll encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The time to broaden out is probably later, if you see a need – for instance, if you feel that you want more ankle mobility and less weight and want to investigate trail running type shoes, or if you want more protection and want to invest in a pair of boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;my individual preference&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first pair of boots were mid-height &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/50418?feat=629-GN1&amp;amp;page=men-s-gore-tex-mountain-treads-mid-cut&quot;&gt;Mountain Treads&lt;/a&gt; that lasted 8 years of heavy use traveling, trekking, hiking, walking, and scrambling. Great shoes. Alternatively, if you liked the look of the Merrells you linked to, they're a good brand, and I think the Moab models would be equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;camp shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After making the point that you only need one shoe type, I'll add that it can be very nice to have a pair of sandals for crossing streams, walking in the surf, and/or giving your feet a break in camp if you go on a hike longer than a day hike. You can have the best boots in the world, but it's always a relief to be able to take them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastActivityDate="2013-07-07T10:05:57.230" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4232" CreationDate="2013-07-07T10:33:28.153" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to investigate the Spanish side, you could try the Ordesa Y Monte Perdido National Park. We approached from the French side by car, through the D-137/A138 tunnel, and then drove through the Añisclo Canyon to Nerin, which is a mountain village that makes a good starting point / base camp. It looks like an even more impressive approach might be on foot from Torla through the Ordessa Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we went up into the mountains there in spring it was abandoned – there might be more people in summer, but I can't imagine crowds. Incredible flora and fauna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Nerin, there's plenty of incredible hiking, through the canyons and the Mt. Perdido / Mt Perdu highlands. For the long hike you want, you could consider the ambitious trek through the Breach of Roland and over to the French side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the possibility of utilizing the mountain cabins; Refugio de Goriz on the Spanish side and Refuge des Sarradets on the French side. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goriz.es/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Goriz&lt;/a&gt; website also has trail conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog/2009/09/mont-perdu-3355m-altitude-awareness/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Most of the websites&lt;/a&gt; describing the hikes in detail seem to focus on the French approach to the breach, but hikers &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyrenees-mountains.com/pyrenees-walking/guided-walks-and-treks/pyrenees-mini-treks/the-breche-de-roland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;do go through&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastEditorUserId="2389" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T02:23:19.280" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T02:23:19.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4251" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-07T15:30:00.090" Score="4" ViewCount="999" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a common problem during wild camping or survival activity, especially during colder seasons. You are tired, you have lost a lot of calories during day, and now you want to wash, but the only option you have is the cold water in the stream. And the temperature outside is also not very warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you want to be clean, but you don't want to lose another big portion of calories because of that, because your body is already driving on reserves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how much calories are lost when you, let's say, spend a 5 minutes naked and wet, with about 1 minute inside cold water (or pouring cold water on yourself, like in cold shower)? Of course, the exact answer depends on many factors, such as body mass, the fat/muscle factor, the exact temperature, etc., but I need only estimates, such as about 100 calories (which can vary from 50 to 200). Would it be about 100 calories, or 250, or 50? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:54:59.400" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:54:59.400" Title="How many calories (aprox.) do we lose when washing in (very) cold water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4288" CreationDate="2013-07-07T18:57:45.610" Score="12" ViewCount="939" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was geocaching a bit and I've found in many caches the warning not to cache in the night during the winter because of hunting season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, have such limitations a legal basis, and if so, how restrictive they are (and how can I check what where exactly is limited)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the day is long, but I would like to continue long walking in other seasons, which would mean walking in the dark. Are there any restrictions that apply to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tourist trails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other non-blazed forests paths&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walking outside paths&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-31T18:49:54.327" LastActivityDate="2013-07-31T18:49:54.327" Title="Is it generally allowed to walk in German forests in the night?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4253" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:01:12.987" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-07T19:01:12.987" LastActivityDate="2013-07-07T19:01:12.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4254" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:01:12.987" Score="0" Body="A trail is a path marked with blazes, to facilitate walking without precise maps and show the most interesting places. " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:33:44.870" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:33:44.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4255" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:07:42.187" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Night-time outdoor activities are more challenging and are creating a lot of specific issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tougher navigation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;decreased visibility range: greater risk of falling or hitting some obstacle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;possible legal restrictions: some areas may not be available at night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;increased risk of being victim of anti-robbery actions: being interrogated by police, bitten by guard dog or even shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lower temperatures, increased risk of hypothermia even in summer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;decreased chance of getting help in case of emergency, even in relatively densely populated areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:34:41.247" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:34:41.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4256" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:07:42.187" Score="0" Body="Questions about outdoor activities done partially or entirely between sunset and sunrise. " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:56:39.070" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T23:56:39.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4257" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:09:26.163" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-07T19:09:26.163" LastActivityDate="2013-07-07T19:09:26.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4258" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:09:26.163" Score="0" Body="Questions about issues connected with outdoor activities in low temperatures." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:33:58.463" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:33:58.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4259" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:11:38.203" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T04:48:16.593" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T04:48:16.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4260" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-07T19:11:38.203" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of Germany" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:18:32.273" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:18:32.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4261" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-07T20:56:35.523" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-07T20:56:35.523" LastActivityDate="2013-07-07T20:56:35.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4262" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-07T20:56:35.523" Score="0" Body="Questions about making the water found outdoors safe for drinking. " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:33:33.773" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:33:33.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4263" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4264" CreationDate="2013-07-07T23:18:09.317" Score="11" ViewCount="3169" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not used to multi-day hikes, and soon I will be going on a 5 day hike and I thought it would be a good idea to carry a folding knife this time just to be on the safe side. I won't be needing it for food prep or setting up camp, since those will be provided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where is best place to carry a knife? I'm thinking of using the hip-belt pocket of my backpack, but I read somewhere that this is not a very good idea since you could become separated from your backpack. My nylon hiking pants pockets seems to flimsy to carry a metal object with the capacity to tear it all up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;: complementary information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The trek in question is Salkantay in Machu Picchu, cold, layering clothes, rain possibility.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pants are convertible in shorts and made for hiking (the fabric is Rhodia Amni UV 50+). They are much softer and lighter than cotton or jeans pants and are made to dry really fast and ease perspiration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The folding knife has some weight to it, so it will be dangling in the pocket, also I don't trust its corners rubbing against the fabric.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T02:49:59.283" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T09:11:21.910" Title="Where to carry a folding knife when hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2013-07-08T05:24:37.113" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have one such a belt-pocket which I can either attach to my Haversack's waist-belt, or my own hiking pant's belt clips or the belt itself using a runner (but belt is not an option for you because you are using a nylon pant).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends on both (its weight and size) at the same time since having it tied up at a wrong place can injure you and/or can be very uncomfortable when you climb on boulders, or giant natural steps like the ones you have in dried water-streams, or places where you have to scramble.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is portable enough to put in a Waist-pouch, then it seems to be a good option. Because, Waist-pouch is something that you should never loose at any point of outdoor time.  Now if you say that you do have a waist-pouch and its of Nylon-like material, then you are back to square one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have the folding kind of a knife, and I tie it up to my waist-belt, and a tiny multipurpose Knife like a swiss-knife which I always have in my Waist-Pouch with a candle, Camphor and Matchbox and a 5 m Nylon Thread-Roll and a Needle and medical stitch-string roll. And some Jelly balls and Extra Batteries for Cam and Cellphone, a blow-whistle and my small harp :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T11:18:48.857" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T11:18:48.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4246" CreationDate="2013-07-08T07:31:20.017" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can do most one-day trails with a pair of sneakers. It's much more comfortable, than any type of &quot;hiking boots&quot;. And also much lighter (you spend less energy lifting it up many thousand times a day), and more blister-proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO, there are three situations, when you need something heavier:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard terrain: rocks, snow, ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low temperatures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hard terrain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you have loose rocks (scree), there is an increased risk to sprain your ankle or to get a rock falling on your foot. Small stones also tend to find their way inside your shoes. So high trekking boots with less ankle mobility are preferred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow also tends to get into sneakers, and they are often too slippery on the snow (and you can't effectively kick to make a &quot;ladder&quot;). For ice you'll need crampons, which just can't be used with sneakers (without adhesive tape, that is;)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have only a couple of rocks on a dirt trail, you don't need heavy boots. E.g. sneakers are perfectly fine for hiking one-day trails in Grand Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Low temperatures&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low temperatures thing is obvious. For this you will need a heavy boot, and make sure it's not too tight so you can use it with a warm sock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heavy load&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you backpack is heavy (I mean really heavy, on multi-day autonomous trips, 25 kg+ for me), the risk of spraining an ankle is also too high. If you don't have much experience with heavy backpacks, your limit may be lower: just upgrade to high boots if you feel uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On US trails there is a lot of hikers wearing unnecessarry heavy boots. Please consider lightweight sneakers first, if there is no real need to upgrade. You feet will say thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also as @Wajurgmitr said, lightweight camp (aka fording) sandals are a good addition to main shoes (be it sneakers or hiking boots).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="1794" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T09:02:34.880" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T09:02:34.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4098" CreationDate="2013-07-08T08:26:59.107" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;We did a few cruises with our kids, and had experienced the traditional (and good !) recommendations you can read below/above. I will add a bit of the reality with our rules/experiences - take it and adapt it as you like. We have always been in the situation of 2 couples with 4 children between 5 and 12.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the children are ALWAYS in the cockpit for any manoeuvre (any time, any weather)&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one of the adults stay with them &lt;strong&gt;for them&lt;/strong&gt; (not doing anything else at all)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the adult must be clearly designated as in charge, and be aware of it, stay with them, and choose an adult who is not sick ! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if there a rough sea or the boat heels, they don't seat on the top/side of the cockpit, but inside, on the benches (or inside the boat...),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always a PFD (even in the cockpit) on them at sail until they are a good swimmer/ aware of risks (8 to 12 ? age depend of the kids and the parents),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always a PDF (even if older) out of the cockpit (unless mooring / at the harbour)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;never alone outside of the cockpit, with an adult or a teenager if moving out of the cockpit (in nice sea conditions anyway!),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the children are ALWAYS in the cockpit during harbour approach / manoeuvre &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one clearly designated (and aware of it !) adult to supervise/entertain them&#xA;(as lots of unexpected/quick things can happen and the crew must be ready to act)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the crew stress, the kids will stress and behave in a weird/noisy way, so you have to prevent this with a trained crew for kids:&#xA;- one adult take care of the kid, which means NOT the others,&#xA;- one adult take care of the kid, which means not participate in any manoeuvre,&#xA;- the others adults take care of the boat, which means NOT of the kids,&#xA;- ask/repeat them to stay quiet/calm during manoeuvres (difficult :)&#xA;- do not scream at kids, or make kids responsible for what's going on,&#xA;- remember sailing must be fun for them too, so let them go around the boat with the correct equipment and the correct supervision in a appropriate weather (your evaluation),&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The captain must sail for family if you want to sail another time with your kids:&#xA;- no big cruise - no more than 4/5 hours a day, and water activities planned everyday ( swimming, diving, snookering, beach, dingy trip around the boat, etc...)&#xA;- know the weather forecast (like always), but don't leave the harbour if the family can't manage the sea conditions (where the boat and the captain can !)&#xA;- plan your trip to have backup plans, plan the trip with the captain, check with him even if you are not an accredited sailor...&#xA;- better stay in a place and being late for giving back a rented boat (or giving it back in an other harbour) than taking a risk for your family, &#xA;- have lot of activities for them: bring some printed songs to sing, knots exercises, fishing, photo and video cameras, books, binoculars for them (as they might not be allowed to use the boats'one) etc, etc - as sailing is never their favourite activity ! It might not seem a security rule but it is :) as you have to consider your kids as part of the boat life and can't expect them to stay quiet (especially when you need to !) if the trip is a nightmare for them,&#xA;- make them participate in the easy manoeuvres, let them hold the helm - always in a way it will be a positive and safe experience. Don't do it you or the captain can't manage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;instructions sessions before leaving the harbour:&#xA;- the captain does a briefing at the beginning to all the kids together, make them repeat the important points, ask the oldest ones to remind the youngest ones, and try to make his crew/kids confident (do NOT scare them) so they can enjoy the cruise, with a limited number of simple rules,&#xA;- the briefing for kids focus on kids behaviour, do an other brief for the adults (fire extinguishers, water use, manoeuvres, etc...)&#xA;- the captain take care of all his crew, especially the kids: Never scared, never cold, never hungry - and the trip will be fine :) make all the crew comfortable with sailing.&#xA;- if the boat navigation is done with a tablet (ipad, etc - very trendy and practical), do not use it for kids ! (battery life, dropping risks, availability when needed, etc) - they must have they own (or others) devices to play with. Stay firm on that one, at least during sailing time !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last bit for younger kids: &#xA;- at anchor, always PFD on kids to swim if deep water, even if good swimmers,&#xA;- in the harbour, PFD on kids as soon as they get on the pontoons, as dramatic accidents happen with kids falling between pontoons and boats...&#xA;- at anchor, you can tie all the fenders together to do a floating belt at the back of the boat - it helps kids to be more confident, and jump/swim in deeper water than usual.&#xA;- think about wristband and other techniques to prevent sea sickness (what doesn't work for you can work for them, and &amp;lt;-&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's too long, huh ?&#xA;All those recommendations are complementary of the other posts.&#xA;Sailing with kids is amazing, enjoy and it will be an unforgettable time if the crew is prepared to sail with kids, and the boat doesn't sail when it shouldn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: a last one for the captain, he must be more conservative with the surface of sails - as realising a reef is always easier than taking a reef... kids are not compatible with performance/race sailing in my mind :) but with &quot;comfortable&quot; boat pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2392" LastEditorUserId="2392" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T08:33:27.460" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T08:33:27.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2013-07-08T09:43:15.220" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A folding knife is always a great idea. I carry mine everywhere - city and backpacking. It gets used at least once a day - open a beer, cut a string of rope, cut up food, remove a thorn, open up a stubborn snack. No need thinking if it is with me or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the knife is important to me, I choose my cloths with it in mind. Cotton pants, with deep pockets and sturdy construction. They sell for $1 at a second-hand shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My point is, think of a way to carry it on your person, not the backpack. You will find a million uses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T09:43:15.220" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4252" CreationDate="2013-07-08T10:03:26.700" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The warning during hunting season is not so much a legal restriction, but a safety one. Many regions allow night time hunting in season, and the risk to you is that you may be mistaken for a target animal and shot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most tourist trails and blaze paths should be appropriately signposted, giving warnings if they go through a hunt area, so the hiker should be well aware of risky locations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be more concerned with general, unprepared or un-maintained paths, as these may not have specific warnings posted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Legal requirements will vary considerably - in Scotland, for example, there is no trespass offence, but there are restrictions around military installations, and while these don't appear to have differing requirements between night and day I would imagine guards may be even more suspicious of someone close by at night. You also may find it harder to spot warning or 'Keep Out' signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T10:03:26.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4053" CreationDate="2013-07-08T10:25:14.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently switched to the autoblock-on-belay-loop, ATC extended on a sling system. Partly because of the risk of an autoblock krab on a leg loop releasing the leg loop buckle, but mainly because I find the extended system generally more conventient and controllable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastEditorUserId="2394" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T10:34:26.580" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T10:34:26.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2013-07-08T10:33:03.747" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I disagree with DavidR's answer to point 1. Girth hitching a sling to your belay loop to clip into the anchors whilst setting up a rappel is common practice and perfectly ok. Leaving a sling permanently girth hitched to the same spot on your belay loop and using it that way for years is a bad idea that has led - in the entire recorded history of climbing - to &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; high profile death of a very famous climber. So don't do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Far more important, when anchored with a sling or anything other than a dynamic climbing rope, is to &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; move above the belay, and ideally keep the sling weighted at all times. A sling has almost no dynamic energy absorbing capacity and even a short fall onto one can break the sling, or your pelvis, or both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Karabiners through the tie-in loops are a bad idea, will cause them to be cross-loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T10:33:03.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4110" CreationDate="2013-07-08T10:38:09.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something we used to do in the UK bitd was use three half ropes tied in a triangle. A bit more weight, a bit more cluster potential, but allows leading through without any of the time-consuming and dangerous re-tying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastEditorUserId="2394" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T14:35:09.690" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T14:35:09.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3609" CreationDate="2013-07-08T10:50:03.100" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from the UK and have (therefore) rappelled in the rain &lt;em&gt;lots&lt;/em&gt; ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual mechanics aren't that different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being sprayed in the face with the wet grit that your device is squeegeeing out of your rope is one of the hazards - very unpleasant but not actually dangerous. Rather more serious might be that your wet rope - unlike your dry rope - is now a seventy metre lightning conductor, so you might want to consider whether rappelling in a thunderstorm is preferable to finding somewhere to sit tight and get wet &amp;amp; cold. Not obvious which would be the lesser evil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T10:50:03.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2013-07-08T12:23:12.530" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a folding knife with me in the field, usually on quickdry pants. Generally I find the problem is more it swinging around in the bottom of the pocket than damaging the cloth, so I find that the best place is in the front pocket, clipped over the back/bottom part of the pocket lip. That way it's both secure and convenient, and this is usually a fairly well-reinforced area on the pants – I've never had a problem with wear and tear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T12:23:12.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4172" CreationDate="2013-07-08T12:27:23.923" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, possible and doable. You don't need any particular autorization, except for you european id card or passport (just in case you are stopped by police). You can do it with or without a guide, there are several options, you can have mtb tour or a race bike tour for both there are several tracks freely avaliable on the internet and downloadable on gps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does need quite a lot of training cause you have around 7-8500metres of total uphill (depending on the tour. &#xA;It can be divided in 2 to 5 days (or more as needed by the training level). There are reports of people doing it in 1 day but it's more that 300km or 16 hours of travel!! &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aostasera.it/articoli/2010/08/25/15026/il-tour-del-monte-bianco-in-bici-in-un-sol-giorno-impresa-riuscita&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;LInk to the tour in 1 day (italian)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=gps%20tour%20of%20mont%20blanc%20by%20bike&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8&amp;amp;aq=t&amp;amp;rls=org.mozilla%3aen-US%3aofficial&amp;amp;client=firefox-a&amp;amp;channel=fflb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;google results of GPS tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2395" LastEditorUserId="2395" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T13:59:06.477" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T13:59:06.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4247" CreationDate="2013-07-08T12:34:41.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't. You should ask to a orthopedic doctor about it (possibly one specialized in sport), and have proper measurement taken. Choosing a bad insole that goes against your leg building might seriously damage your joints and knees. Don't have a shopkeeper decide either, they are NOT qualified to know which of your leg is shorter or longer, how your knee and ankles turn, and if you need a specific lift for one or both of your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2395" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T12:34:41.450" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4276" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4297" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:04:42.283" Score="76" ViewCount="2408" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live at a lake with my company in sight just 2 km (~1.2 miles) away. To get to work I have to cross the city, which is not only expensive in terms of money, it also costs a lot of nerves.&#xA;That's why I think I should go to work in a canoe. What do I need to learn to do that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought about an inflatable one because I can easily carry it the few meters from shore to my workplace and I need to be able to ride a bus with it. One of my choices is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wNZc72zKBs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sevylor® Pointer™ K1 Kayak - 1 person (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this look like a smart idea to cross the lake of Zürich with it every day? Mostly it's a pretty easy lake without large waves or strong drift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I'm fine with a &quot;may get wet&quot; I just don't want to get soaked on a daily basis, Especially in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T00:26:05.027" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T00:28:36.933" Title="Commuting by canoe" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4277" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:11:59.510" Score="16" ViewCount="32768" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past I was only occasionally walking barefoot, on relatively short distances, on the earthy surfaces. But I'd like to train my feet to be able to do much more - including walking on harsh surfaces such as rocks. My inspiration are the documentaries of indigenous peoples walking barefoot in many environment, including rocky ones, and the family tales, that in the past people were walking barefoot to church, even in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I've done today a 20-minutes walk in the city. The pavements were hot because of full sun, and after reaching home I've found out that the skin on my soles is creased and I feel pain even standing. Luckily, it seems that I'm going to get out of it even without blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously my feet are too soft for harsher surfaces. I should walk a lot on earthy surfaces - unfortunately most trails in the surrounding are graveled... But are there any exercises, training programs or treatments to speed up the tempo of hardening foots? From what distances should I begin, and in which tempo to increase them? Does some ointments, cold or hot showers help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T20:05:08.500" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T23:29:38.750" Title="How to harden feet for walking barefoot on harsh surfaces?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;feet&gt;&lt;barefoot&gt;&lt;hardening&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4278" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:13:34.043" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T19:13:34.043" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T19:13:34.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4279" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:13:34.043" Score="0" Body="Questions about practicing outdoor activities without shoes. " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T01:54:16.780" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T01:54:16.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4280" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:14:55.477" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-08T19:14:55.477" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T19:14:55.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4281" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:14:55.477" Score="0" Body="Question about making your whole body or particular body parts more resistant to outside influences." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T01:54:09.200" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T01:54:09.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2013-07-08T19:28:56.187" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try running on sand for your morning or evening run - sand is very good at early stages of toughening up your feet as it still spreads the load well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have toughened the skin a bit, you will be able to walk on forest trails, stone, gravel etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for now, the best thing you can do is moisturise your feet - this helps the cracks smooth out so they don't dig into your foot (which is what causes a lot of the pain). Moisturise, and use a pumice stone to rub down any really hard bits of skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your feet will toughen rapidly if you walk barefoot every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-07-08T19:28:56.187" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3591" CreationDate="2013-07-09T14:54:30.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may be what you're searching for: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.docstoc.com/docs/33662625/kelty-baby-carriers-kelty-kangar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;kelty-baby-carriers-kelty-kangar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can only watch it for free online, I haven't found it yet in any other free website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2395" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T20:07:57.830" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T20:07:57.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4246" CreationDate="2013-07-09T15:37:01.987" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knee and Anlke pain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your question, you mention that you have recently been experiencing knee and ankle pain from hiking.  Reading it again, it sounds like you're almost trying to find the &quot;right&quot; kind of outdoor shoes because your knees and ankles hurt while you were hiking in sneakers.  IMHO, getting a fancy pair of hiking shoes may or may not address the problem at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rough Terrain and Ankles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're having ankle pain when you're hiking, and ONLY when you're hiking (i.e., your ankles are fine when you're jogging or working out in a gym), you may want to look at a pair of full hiking boots.  The heavier kind.  A well fitting pair of boots will have good ankle protection, and keep your ankles from rolling when you're hiking on rough terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knees&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's not going to be a single fix for knee pain, because knee pain can be caused by a variety of underlying issues.  There is no particular kind of shoe (or boot) that is universally better for knees.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I (personally) have noticably less knee pain when I hike with a pair of 3rd party arch supports (I wear the blue &quot;Superfeet&quot; shoe inserts).  Also, I have to make sure my shoes aren't too old, because I tend to wear the outside edge of my soles, and when that wears down too much my foot hits the ground at an angle.  But I have issues with the arches of my feet.  This may or may not apply to your situation, and there's no way to really diagnose it over the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What you could try&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could play around with newer shoes and / or boots, with a 3rd party insert.  First, wait until you're knees and ankles have settled down from whatever strain they went under on your last trip.  Go to a store with a good return policy, and get fitted for a boot, and possibly shoe inserts.  Wear them to work for a day or two, and if everything feels OK, try going on a short hike around your neighborhood.  If everything is good, then try going on incrementally longer hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't work, or if you have knee or ankle pain that bothers you when you're not hiking (i.e, when you're at work or trying to sleep), then don't hesitate to see a doctor.  A doctor may be able to tell if you have a specific foot issue that could be addressed with custom orthodics, or could prescribe a regiment of stretches and strengthening exercises that may help.  (If the doctor immediately proposes surgery as a solution... go get a second opinion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T15:37:01.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2013-07-09T17:30:07.880" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if you want to go for city-sightseeing trip for one day, you wan't go below 100$ assuming you have nothing, including shoes, clothes and rucksack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this is extreme situation. Everyone has something to wear and some kind of rucksack. You shouldn't started from extreme with novices, so we assume you choose some plains or little mountains during summer, and you wait for better weather, so you wan't need storm-proof clothes during day and warm sleeping bags at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's start with &lt;strong&gt;clothes&lt;/strong&gt;. You can assume that everyone has some sport shoes and jeans trousers. They are good enough for start. In cheap shops like Decathlon you can buy fleece from about 10 Euro, if you have a luck you can get something on sale cheaper. But sweater would be enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/strong&gt; - you need some, but you can buy something cheap. For about 25 Euro you can have something with comfort temperatures about 10 degrees. Sleeping bags with comfort temperatures about 15 degrees are actually coverlets, not sleeping bags, and it may be a bit shivering to sleep in it outside even on plains in summer, but you can get it for about 10 Euro. &lt;strong&gt;Foam pad&lt;/strong&gt; - the cheapest I've seen costed about 5 Euro (in Tesco or other Auchan). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent&lt;/strong&gt; - novice won't need it. 1-person tents are extremes. Typical tent can accommodate 2-3 people. There should be a free place in your tent, or in someone's else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rucksack&lt;/strong&gt; - yes, it is must-have. But most of the people that have studied have a bigger one. How else could they take their belongings to dormitory? If someone is in that extreme minority, that don't have one, it should be quite trivial to borrow one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was practiced million times in student mountain guides clubs. The people who started their adventure with backpacking usually don't have professional equipment from start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T17:30:07.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4252" CreationDate="2013-07-09T17:34:03.553" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The relevant law is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bwaldg/&quot;&gt;Gesetz zur Erhaltung des Waldes und zur Förderung der Forstwirtschaft&lt;/a&gt;. In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bwaldg/__14.html&quot;&gt;§ 14 Betreten des Waldes&lt;/a&gt; (entering the forest) it says (bolded by me):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) &lt;strong&gt;Das Betreten des Waldes zum Zwecke der Erholung ist gestattet.&lt;/strong&gt; Das Radfahren, das Fahren mit Krankenfahrstühlen und das Reiten im Walde ist nur auf Straßen und Wegen gestattet. Die Benutzung geschieht auf eigene Gefahr. Dies gilt insbesondere für waldtypische Gefahren.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) &lt;strong&gt;Die Länder regeln die Einzelheiten.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;strong&gt;Sie können das Betreten des Waldes&lt;/strong&gt; aus wichtigem Grund, insbesondere des Forstschutzes, der Wald- oder Wildbewirtschaftung, zum Schutz der Waldbesucher oder zur Vermeidung erheblicher Schäden oder zur Wahrung anderer schutzwürdiger Interessen des Waldbesitzers, &lt;strong&gt;einschränken&lt;/strong&gt; und andere Benutzungsarten ganz oder teilweise dem Betreten gleichstellen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) means that it’s allowed to enter the forest for the purpose of recreation. As there are no times mentioned, it should generally be allowed at any time. However …&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) says that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Germany&quot;&gt;Länder&lt;/a&gt; define the particularities. They may restrict the access for important reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find &lt;a href=&quot;http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landeswaldgesetz&quot;&gt;links to the Länder laws&lt;/a&gt; at Wikipedia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example for NRW it says in &lt;a href=&quot;https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_bes_text?anw_nr=2&amp;amp;gld_nr=7&amp;amp;ugl_nr=790&amp;amp;bes_id=3830&amp;amp;aufgehoben=N&amp;amp;menu=1&amp;amp;sg=0#det222709&quot;&gt;§ 5 Zeitweilige Beschränkung des Betretungsrechtes&lt;/a&gt; (bolded by me):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) Zum Schutz der wildlebenden Tiere und aus Gründen der Jagdausübung kann &lt;strong&gt;das Betreten zeitweilig für die Zeit zwischen 17 und 8 Uhr auf die Wege beschränkt werden&lt;/strong&gt;, wenn das Waldgebiet […]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;→ In the time from 17:00 to 8:00 it &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; only be allowed to walk on the paths (for reasons of animal protection and hunts). If this is the case, they have to put up corresponding signs (&lt;a href=&quot;https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_bes_text?anw_nr=2&amp;amp;gld_nr=7&amp;amp;ugl_nr=790&amp;amp;bes_id=3830&amp;amp;aufgehoben=N&amp;amp;menu=1&amp;amp;sg=0#det222708&quot;&gt;§ 4&lt;/a&gt;.1).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2221" LastEditorUserId="2221" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T17:40:24.253" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T17:40:24.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4289" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-09T18:32:55.463" Score="5" ViewCount="593" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are 5 friends on vacation. Each of us has a smartphone but most have no experience with GPS. If we were only 2 or so I would suggest geocaching for getting practice. But with 5 it would just lead to one doing the work and 4 following him without learning much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an alternative game?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2400" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T19:42:57.067" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T18:38:42.300" Title="Geocaching or alternative game/activity to learn the basics of GPS navigation in terrain" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3482" CreationDate="2013-07-09T18:57:04.197" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned if you're within reach of the wall then keep your feet on the wall and walk down backwards (keep your butt level with your feet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for an overhang, provide you're top-roping, the easiest thing to do is to have your belaying partner stop you (don't descend until your stable), then reach out and grab the section of rope between your belay partner and the anchor and use it to stabilize yourself.  Once you're stable let go of it and tell your belay partner to lower you (be sure to communicate when you want to stop and when you want to go).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind it's pretty much always best to get yourself under control while you're as high off the ground as possible.  You're less likely to collide with a wall, other climbers, or other people on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2013-07-09T19:04:38.863" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T19:04:38.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4252" CreationDate="2013-07-09T19:10:46.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not only the danger from hunting, it's also a question of noisy humans, often with very bright headtorches these days, disturbing shy nocturnal animals. This is the reason why late evening climbing/bouldering is heavily frowned upon in some areas of the Frankenjura for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T19:10:46.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4289" CreationDate="2013-07-09T19:41:22.280" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waymarking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;waymarking&lt;/a&gt;. The concepts comes from &lt;strong&gt;virtual caches&lt;/strong&gt;, which currently are able to register only in a few geocaching portals, such as opencaching.de.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if your aim is to learn your friends to use GPS, I don't see any problem with geocaching. The most difficult part - finding a cache - requires some experience with geocaching, and it would be done probably mostly by you. But that part requires much more perceptivity and experience, than GPS skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can do is to learn them how to navigate to the direct neighborhood of the cache. Let's say, to the distance less than 10 meters from cache. Then, no matter if you find the cache or not, the leading person would be changed. The next leading person would have the task to navigate to the next cache. It means, he/she would need to analyse the map, find the optimal way, and then manage to get there using GPS. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most difficult part can be to choose the good direction, if you want, you may bring a compass with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T19:41:22.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4232" CreationDate="2013-07-09T20:11:25.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;About twelve years ago, I went hiking in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aig%C3%BCestortes_i_Estany_de_Sant_Maurici_National_Park#Trekking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sant Maurici National Park&lt;/a&gt; in the Pyrenees. It's the other National Park in the Pyrenees (the first is the one Wajurgmitr mentioned).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two viable entrances to the park- from Boi in the west and Espot in the east - I started in Espot. There are ten or so refuges in the park, in which you can eat and sleep, but I think camping is also permitted under some circumstances. There are plenty of trails through the mountains, so a number of routes are possible. There's a famous circuit called the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.carrosdefoc.com/en/itinerari/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Carros de foc&quot; (Chariots of Fire)&lt;/a&gt; which covers a couple of the refuges and takes up to a week, so that might suit you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the park's beautiful- I can attest to that. I slept in a refuge located on a peninsula, surrounded by clear lake water and mountains- I wish I remembered the name, but I think it's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lleidatur.com/tourism/visit/the-national-park-of-aiguestortes-and-the-lake-of-sant-maurici/343.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;in the picture in the top of this (possibly useful) web site.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187498-i7512-k4765425-4_day_hut_trek_in_Aiguestortes_and_Sant_Maurici-Catalonian_Pyrenees_Catalonia.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TripAdvisor thread&lt;/a&gt; describes one possible trek there - within it you can find this &lt;a href=&quot;http://jonbigg.yolasite.com/pyrenees.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;more detailed account.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the book &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.co.il/books?id=UTGzYjIWvy8C&amp;amp;pg=PA111&amp;amp;lpg=PA111&amp;amp;dq=maurici+colomina&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=dDeURFjNM2&amp;amp;sig=K0Cy80-Y7gM2BkzXS0QcN1mVhsY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=7mbcUYnKCIzCswbu6oHICw&amp;amp;ved=0CGgQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=maurici%20colomina&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hiking in Spain&lt;/a&gt; has some descriptions of the park- in the link you can find a relevant excerpt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T20:11:25.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4289" CreationDate="2013-07-09T22:53:24.033" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try the global multi-layer GPS game from Google: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ingress.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ingress&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uPa0x.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to be able to navigate to locations (generally monuments, statues, major landmarks etc) and once there you claim them for your faction (or destroy the mods placed there by the opposing players) - and to handle higher level missions you need to be able to meet up with other players (a level 8 portal can only be created by 8 level 8 team members)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you own portals you join them to others and claim the land for your faction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are real life missions with actors and actresses, as well as commercial spin-offs, with freebies from some stores on completion of missions etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information check out the &lt;a href=&quot;https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/ingress&quot;&gt;Ingress tag on the Arquade&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:09:36.803" LastActivityDate="2013-07-09T22:53:24.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4296" CreationDate="2013-07-09T23:05:06.923" Score="5" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like a watch that would give me access to the raw data it records. &#xA;Not some magic transfer to the cloud where graphs are built on the fly for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The data-points that I'm interested in are (minimally): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lap time (or if no laps are detected, consider every kilometer a lap)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;real-time speed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;track recording (through a GPS that can deal with trees and the like)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;real-time altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The screen should at least be able to display at the same time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;total time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;current lap time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and it should also be light on demand for night runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be nice to also have pace and heart rate data available, but it's not a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, the cheaper the better.&#xA;Also I prefer the robust minimalist approach over the gazillion of features but fragile as hell approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never owned such a specialized watch, so my expectations or my demands might be off. &#xA;Feel free to set my feet back on the ground and explain what I should be looking for or what my needs should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T03:30:28.673" Title="I'm a data geek and I want to buy a watch for running, what should I get?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4295" CreationDate="2013-07-10T03:30:28.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought the 310xt, because it stores a lot of data (does everything you want, but doesn't have a barometric altimeter, just gps altitude). I am very happy with it. Because it is slightly older, the price is very reasonable. &#xA;Many more expensive watches are a bit smaller, but they have a battery that lasts only 8h when new, the 310xt has ample reserve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More details than you want to know can be found on this webpage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/09/garmin-forerunner-310xt-in-depth-review.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/09/garmin-forerunner-310xt-in-depth-review.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1891" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T03:30:28.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4276" CreationDate="2013-07-10T19:45:10.863" Score="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer my own question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I checked it with different dealers and experts, and all of them told that if I want to use it on regular basis, I should consider inflatables as toys. Also here in Switzerland it counts as flotation device and is not allowed more than 150 meters offshore. I bought myself a hardshell kayak for about 300$ more and next Monday I will paddle the first time to work. Let's see how this turns out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;It's been now 3 Weeks, my hands are a bit sore, i lost 2kg, and i'm feeling better than ever.&#xA;I was lucky with the Weather so far except one little storm, which was pretty exciting and gave me a good adrenalinerush.&#xA;I can store the Kajak at the shore, because pretty much everyone was so excited to hear that i'm commuting with it, that i even got a place for it with a roof for free. If it happens that you'd be able to commute by kajak, do it! It's the best anti-stress activity ever. It takes me around 5 minutes to get it in/out of the water and crossing the lake is another 15-20 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The equiment i use right now&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Paddlefloat for emergencies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterpump for staying dry when a wave hits me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;360° Flashlight for visibility&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlight for additional visibility when it's dark (sometimes i work until 10pm so it helps me get the kajak ready too&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crewsaver Lifevest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Werner Carbon paddles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wheels for easy carrying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Splash protection (you'll definitely need that if you want your pants to stay dry)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lid for storing the kajak and keep it dry inside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Security/Tow-line to prevent the kajak from floating away in case of emergency&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drybag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a Video of my morning (around 7:00 am): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMqGc2NtMiQ&amp;amp;list=UUryTnpRnJxvnyXGMTRe6Mvw&quot;&gt;Kajak Lake Zürich (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE 2:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Bought a drysuit for winter, since the water got very cold and if i'd fall into it, i'd have less than 5minutes to get back in before having no more power left and drown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE 3:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;After nearly a year of commuting by kajak i paddled from Zürich to Amsterdam, it took me 17 days to get there and i got some valuable experience out of this trip. For electricity i used 2 powerbanks in combination with a Solar Panel. Next time i go on a trip like that i'll look into buying new wheels for the boat, as you want the axis in the middle of the boat so you don't have to lift the whole weight of the packed boat. The Rhine is a wonderful River to travel on, allthough there's alot of traffic on it if you know how to handle it it's no problem at all. I'd never paddle the Rhine-Amsterdam Canal again because there are no places to get out, the waves can be lethal and the wind will tire you before you know it (it's the Netherlands which means the wind blows from the ocean inlands without being slowed down by forests or mountains).&#xA;For more detailed questions write a Comment&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T00:28:36.933" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T00:28:36.933" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4298" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:52:43.777" Score="11" ViewCount="2542" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to swim naked in lakes (rather smaller ones) in Northern Europe (north from Alps), when it comes to possible interactions with the fauna? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't expect to meet fishes such as infamous &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Candiru&lt;/a&gt; in the Northern Europe, but are there any fishes or other animals, that could be possible dangerous to the most delicate body parts, making swimming without pants not a very good idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-20T21:12:45.123" LastActivityDate="2013-07-20T21:12:45.123" Title="Is it safe to swim naked in lakes in Northern Europe?" Tags="&lt;europe&gt;&lt;naturism&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4299" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:57:03.043" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Naturism is the philosophy and practice of being naked. It applies to being naked indoor (in own house, sauna, swimming pool, parties etc.) or outdoor (swimming, sunbathing, walking, sports etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar terms are nudism (although there are controversies about it, because in some countries term naturism means being naked without any sexual context, while nudism is not considered so restrictive in that area). In German-speaking area it is commonly known as FKK (Freikörperkultur).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-10T23:37:55.377" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T23:37:55.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4300" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:57:03.043" Score="0" Body="The practice of being without clothes, both indoor and outdoor. Known also as nudism or FKK (in German-speaking area). " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-10T23:38:21.690" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T23:38:21.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4301" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:57:39.467" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-10T20:57:39.467" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T20:57:39.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4302" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:57:39.467" Score="0" Body="This tag is for questions about lakes and ponds. Use it for activities in the water, like boating, swimming, scuba diving and others. Also for viewing and/or learning about birds, animals, ecosystems and artifacts on or under the water.  " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-04-16T22:28:23.153" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T22:28:23.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4303" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:58:57.410" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-10T20:58:57.410" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T20:58:57.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4304" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-10T20:58:57.410" Score="0" Body="Questions involving fish in outdoor activities. Includes fish as food, as potential danger or as observation object." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-10T23:38:06.283" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T23:38:06.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4298" CreationDate="2013-07-10T23:10:22.583" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Swimming is a popular summer pas-time in Sweden and Finland.  In rural areas, it's still common for schools to have swimming lessons outside, in lakes.  I'm pretty sure there's no risk from fauna in Swedish lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go too far north, you could risk hypothermia ;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-07-10T23:10:22.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4306" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-11T17:55:37.310" Score="9" ViewCount="2487" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blisters are usually happening if you walk much more than you are used to, or the shoes are much harder than those you usually wear. For example on multi-day trekkings in heavy trekking shoes. The people more used to walking have usually harder feet and are much less likely to get blisters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual prevention solution is to walk as much as possible in the shoes you are going to trek in before the trek. But I wander if walking barefoot hardens the feet in the way that will prevent blisters as well? The skin must be much harder, if you walk barefoot, so it would be logical to suppose such feet will be better protected against friction in shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when walking barefeet, the friction comes from the bottom. In shoes, there's also a friction in the places shoes fold, near the ankles etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T15:18:15.810" Title="Will barefoot walking harden the skin and help prevent blisters when trekking in heavy shoes?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;&lt;barefoot&gt;&lt;hardening&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4307" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4331" CreationDate="2013-07-11T18:01:26.960" Score="26" ViewCount="32017" Body="&lt;p&gt;The blisters can be very painful. If you walk further, you should expect it won't be easy and pleasant. And the blisters may get worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what do you risk, except from pain and getting more blisters, when you decide to walk anyway? If you want to train long-distance walking and you decide to go on 30 km (approx. 18 Miles) walk, ignoring the fact that you have painful blisters on the feet? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a risk of serious infection or permanent damage to skin? Or it's just about the pain endurance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-27T13:58:19.630" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T21:40:38.920" Title="What do you risk when you ignore blisters and carry on walking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4246" CreationDate="2013-07-11T18:22:03.120" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends much more on your individual condition, how your body (mostly feet and knees) react to various kinds of shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a guy in the series &quot;Dual survival&quot; that claim not to need shoes at all, even in hard terrain. But it's extreme. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we limit the scope to the people not used to walking barefoot, and exclude special activities, such as climbing and glacier trekking, which requires very special shoes, all outdoor shoes would be adequate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sport shoes&lt;/strong&gt; (such as running shoes) are very light and good for people who have more delicate knees and are rather tolerant to walking in wet shoes. Those shoes will go wet immediately, but they will also dry quickly. If you want to go with them in higher mountains, your feet should be flexible and relatively immune to bending, because you have no protection to your ankles - higher risk of foot twisting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;heavy trekking shoes&lt;/strong&gt; will keep your feet warm and dry in moderate conditions. In summer, however, they may make your feet too warm. If your feet doesn't tolerate too much heat, you have higher risk of blisters. They are also more overloading the knees, because they have very hard soles. But they give you very strong protection for your ankles. Note, that if they soak, they may be getting dry for days. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;light trekking shoes&lt;/strong&gt; - they are somehow compromise. Lighter that heavy shoes, less overloading the knees, giving quite good protection against foot twisting (but not as much as heavy shoes). They soak much quicker, but usually gets dry overnight (in warm room). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sandals&lt;/strong&gt; - for some people considered extreme, because of high risk of foot twisting. But if you are good trained and flexible, it may not be a problem for you. They are perfect for walking on streets and flat surfaces during hot weather. Perfect for crossing streams. Not so perfect when it's cold or you are crossing bushes. You may be also bitten by snake or spider - but those animals are present in hot climate zones, boreal forests are generally free of them. In winter sandals are absolute extreme, except stream crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer taking light trekking shoes and sandals. Sandals are very light and take little place, and they are perfect when it's very hot and terrain is light. I often get blisters when my feet are sweating and it's hot, especially when walking on asphalt. In the winter, however, I take heavy trekking shoes. But I have also running shoes - but I use them exclusively for running. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I would have to decide for only one pair, I would choose light trekking shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-11T18:22:03.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4252" CreationDate="2013-07-11T19:32:30.897" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been discussions that &lt;em&gt;because&lt;/em&gt; of night geocaching activities the forest laws in some Länder (I know it from Hessen) should get night restrictions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is a general right to walk in the forest, also outside trails and including privately owned forest. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This can be restricted for certain reasons (e.g. young forest areas, areas with ongoing logging, nature protection and wildlife &quot;rest&quot; zones, areas with current wildfire danger). All this will be plainly visible. &#xA;As you asked for proper references: &lt;a href=&quot;http://verwaltung.hessen.de/irj/HMULV_Internet?cid=c584e0b20098a5b48d7dc11594c9d2bf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;FAQ zur Novelle des Hessischen Forstgesetzes&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rv.hessenrecht.hessen.de/jportal/portal/t/200v/page/bshesprod.psml?pid=Dokumentanzeige&amp;amp;showdoccase=1&amp;amp;js_peid=Trefferliste&amp;amp;documentnumber=1&amp;amp;numberofresults=79&amp;amp;fromdoctodoc=yes&amp;amp;doc.id=jlr-ForstGHE2002pP24&amp;amp;doc.part=S&amp;amp;doc.price=0.0#focuspoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ForstG HE § 24&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Hessen, the Jagdgesetz (hunting law) states that during the night it is forbidden to disturb wildlife by &quot;unauthorized&quot; leaving of the trails. The rumour has it that this is the outcome of the night geocaching discussion.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As you asked for proper references: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rv.hessenrecht.hessen.de/jportal/portal/t/1zxd/page/bshesprod.psml/action/portlets.jw.MainAction?p1=u&amp;amp;eventSubmit_doNavigate=searchInSubtreeTOC&amp;amp;showdoccase=1&amp;amp;doc.hl=0&amp;amp;doc.id=jlr-JagdGHEV5P23&amp;amp;doc.part=S&amp;amp;toc.poskey=#focuspoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;§ 23 (11)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So, please step quietly through Hessian forests by night ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-07-11T19:32:30.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4310" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-11T20:01:22.743" Score="22" ViewCount="47084" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, every bite by mosquito results in heavy itching and the blister, which size is dependent on how long the mosquito was sucking the blood, in worst cases even 1 cm in diameter. If I would stay naked outdoors the whole nights, the blisters would probably cover my whole body with painful red crust. It could be very dangerous for the whole body, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But our ancestors have to stay naked the whole day and night outdoors. There are still tribes in Amazon and South Africa, that sleep naked in the open air. How to they deal with mosquito bites? It is possible for body to get used to bites and not react to the bites with blisters? Or the skin can get thicker so that to make it hard for mosquito to get through? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-25T17:29:09.397" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T03:36:19.453" Title="Is it possible to develop immunity against mosquitos?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4310" CreationDate="2013-07-11T23:24:31.177" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally - yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard it is possible, &lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/5905994/hate-itchy-mosquito-bites-building-up-an-immunity-only-requires-about-15000-bites-per-year&quot;&gt;read it is possible&lt;/a&gt;, and have successfully done so myself while working in Wyoming's Wind River Range (on par with Alaska for its mosquitoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveats: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Although you might stop itching and swelling, you won't build up an immunity to West Nile, Dengue, Malaria, etc if they occur in your area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In my experience, I developed a tolerance of one type of mosquito in the area I was working. When I traveled to the south end of the range and encountered a smaller mosquito, I was itching like crazy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are over 3,000 species of mosquito with different allergens in their saliva. Everyone's immune system is different. When in doubt, protection is a smarter course of action.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interesting reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zhikang Peng, et. al. Immune responses to mosquito saliva in 14 individuals with acute systemic allergic reactions to mosquito bites. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 1 November 2004 (volume 114 issue 5 Pages 1189-1194 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2804%2902218-3/fulltext&quot;&gt;DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2004.08.014&lt;/a&gt;) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2222.1990.tb02472.x/abstract&quot;&gt;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2222.1990.tb02472.x/abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of which says much about developing immunity, but I'll keep looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-07-11T23:24:31.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4307" CreationDate="2013-07-12T06:20:22.370" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will share what I know about Blisters and what I could do to suffer least from them. Blisters are mainly due to wetness, let it be through Actual wet shoes and socks, or let them be due to Sweat. These are the few things that I follow and since I have started doing those things, I have managed to make the suffering too far less frequent, even if I trek for around 5 days in Indian Forests, say for about a 80-90 km trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Select your socks in accordance with what suits in your terrain and type of shoe. Avoid Nylon socks, because they do not soak water. Cotton suits to almost every type of terrain. In case cold regions you can try wool.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try and keep your shoes tied on till you finish entire hike for that day. Taking off shoes for every now and then actually hampers the practice that legs (specially toes) and skin adapts to shoes.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before putting on the socks, dust the toes with medical dusting powder, this minimizes the chances of sustaining blisters to a noticeable extent. Many of the us in India prefer coconut oil over the dusting powder. But in that case, your socks end up in a condition that you will have to use them only for trekking purposes :P  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry a pair of floaters (only if you are not hiking in cold areas) that you could use when you know that You are not going to put-on shoes for a long time now, say when you camp somewhere in the night.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Applying Coconut Oil Before wearing is of your choice, but after removing shoes, before you sleep is a Good practice.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These all are the things that can avoid blisters, but still if you sustain blisters, try not to play with them, try not to prick them up with something like a medicated needle or something like that. Try not to rub them off with cotton, cloth.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can dust them with powder, and if you have big-enough vessel that you can keep your legs in it, then get some hot water and put your legs into it. Sounds like things to do when you are done for the day?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are walking, and still there are hours to go, then you can change the socks, dust them (I know this dusting thing is coming far too frequent for an answer, but that is what you can do with blisters), And, please avoid walking barefoot, Or even without socks.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These all things have made me suffer from Blisters less frequent, Probably once in say 10-12 Hikes of about 80-90 km. So, at least its working out good for me, in the &lt;strong&gt;Terrain&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Weather&lt;/strong&gt; that one usually come across in Indian Subcontinent: Majorly Rain-forests, Jungles of Western Ghats, India. Temperature in the nights gets close to 8-9 Degree Celsius here. &#xA;I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you about what you can do in Cold areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T12:23:01.400" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T12:23:01.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4306" CreationDate="2013-07-12T06:57:56.057" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blisters are more frequent between the toes than Anywhere on the bottom of the feet. And, with heavy trekking shoes, you are most likely to sustain blisters around toes and between them, so I guess as the above guy (theJollySin) said walking barefoot wont help much with blisters, But yeah it does help you to Harden your skin, make your ankle recover from any ankle injury if you have. Hardening your skin will help you with Cracks on the bottom of the feet that you may suffer with at some point of time. Try walking on Beaches (Sands) for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2013-07-16T15:18:15.810" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T15:18:15.810" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4314" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4315" CreationDate="2013-07-12T07:06:56.647" Score="8" ViewCount="3299" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not much used to Camping in Cold areas. But I have been told by hikers that Hypothermia is something that I should be very careful of. Since childhood, it has been like, I don't catch cold very often, but in windy places when the air is cold, I feel my hands get numb, and legs shiver a bit.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Having said this, I am going for a hike in cold, not snowy though, I am a little worried about Hypothermia. When struck by Hypothermia, one has to remain awake. And, sleeping actually make your body warmer. Can a dip in the hot-water help for that matter? Is the Body-Heat (obviously from someone else) a good option? Or will that freeze my guy, like me? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2378" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:44:03.273" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:44:03.273" Title="Recovering from Hypothermia" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4314" CreationDate="2013-07-12T08:20:54.930" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You actually don't need to go outdoors to get struck by Hypothermia. But you can suffer from it on a trek where you don't have a proper campsite, camping equipment, or good clothing and bedding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/hypothermia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/hypothermia.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important step in treating hypothermia is to make and then keep a person warm and dry. He/she must be seen by a doctor who knows about the condition and who is located in a well-equipped hospital emergency room. Once you get to an Hospital facility, they can keep you warm from outside and or inside, they can give you some Body-Warming fluid through an I.V or Injections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe until you get to the Hospital, someone else's body heat may help, but will that be enough? And, will he be warm enough? Can't say!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/hypothermia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/hypothermia.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you suspect that a person has hypothermia and emergency help is not available right away, move the person to a warmer location, if possible, and wrap him or her in a warm blanket to stop further heat loss. You can also use your own body heat to keep the person warm. Lie close to the victim, but be gentle and do not handle the person roughly. Rubbing the person's arms and legs, as many rescuers are tempted to do, can make the problem worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chances for recovery depend on how long a person was exposed to the cold and his/her general health. If body temperature has not dropped below 90° F (32.2° C), chances for a total recovery are usually good. If body temperature has fallen to between 80° F (26.6° C) and 90° F (32.2° C), most people will recover, but some lasting damage is likely. If the temperature goes under 80° F (26.6° C), most victims will not survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-07-15T12:23:30.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4316" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4317" CreationDate="2013-07-12T11:26:40.900" Score="7" ViewCount="1335" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been told that a Figure-of-8 descender cannot be used for SRT (single-rope technique) because the descender must be able to be removed from the rope, without being removed from the harness. Why is this the case? If you remove it from the rope without removing it from the harness (eg. with a 'Stop' or a rack), you are no longer connected to the rope via the descender. If you remove it from the harness, before removing it from the rope (eg. with a figure-of-8), you are still no longer connected to the rope via the descender?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I missing something, or have I completely misunderstood this, because this doesn't seem to make sense to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2403" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-05-21T14:31:40.513" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T04:21:25.313" Title="Why can't a Figure-of-8 descender be used for SRT?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4316" CreationDate="2013-07-12T13:00:51.913" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, if you remove the descender from the harness, you can accidently drop it down (this really happens sometimes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, you have one more connection, which you need to control. This can increase the risk, if you are tired and/or do a lot of descents in a row.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, and the most important, figure 8 twists and tangles the rope like hell. It is not a problem when you need to descent 100 meters in the mountains, but it's much worse when you are descending 500 meters in a cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-07-12T13:00:51.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4318" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-07-12T20:04:59.743" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-07-12T20:04:59.743" LastActivityDate="2013-07-12T20:04:59.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4319" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-07-12T20:04:59.743" Score="0" Body="Question about choosing proper clothes for outdoor activity and repairing/replacing them while being outside." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-07-12T20:10:11.887" LastActivityDate="2013-07-12T20:10:11.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4320" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-14T06:26:34.607" Score="5" ViewCount="24163" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walking barefoot makes skin on the soles very hard. Indigenous tribes that have no boots are walking barefoot even on the sharp rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But after my leg was slightly slit by the seaweed, I wonder if it is possible to do the same with the skin on the other parts of the body. If so, how to achieve it? Generating so much friction as to soles when walking would be very problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T03:28:01.650" Title="Hardening the skin on the whole body (not only soles)" Tags="&lt;hardening&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4245" CreationDate="2013-07-14T09:43:32.767" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I managed to get the recipe from an experienced hiking friend that I think is closer to what I'm looking for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Flour, baking powder. for the amount of baking powder basically follow the advice on the baking powder, I don't and just do it by &quot;feeling&quot;; exact amount isn't critical.&#xA;  Sugar &amp;amp; Salt to taste. Bit of oil. &#xA;  That's it. &#xA;  On the trail, you just add water &amp;amp; knead thoroughly, and let it sit for at least half an hour before baking.&#xA;  Then bake slowly (= low heat) in a pan or a pot w/ a little bit of oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can throw in whatever you want basically, i. e. raisins or chocolate bits.&#xA;  You can use full wheat flour (also has more energy then the white flour).&#xA;  The kind of oil doesn't really mater, I used olive.&#xA;  Sunflower or canola are good choices for mostly taste-neutral oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2013-07-14T09:43:32.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4322" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-14T10:02:24.423" Score="2" ViewCount="1937" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an amateur runner, but I've been constantly doing it for a year or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My philosophy is to first start doing something before beginning to spend and invest a lot of money in that something.&#xA;Applies to any hobby of mine and it also did with running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I run close to an hour.&#xA;And often I stop because my bones and my articulations start to hurt a bit.&#xA;Last year I had Achilles tendonitis and I want to avoid that in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I've learned researching online, it seems that I'm close to the threshold where running shoes really start to matter if you don't want to hurt yourself badly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the tracks around where I live are on asphalt.&#xA;I don't believe in the barefoot-movement so I don't want light shoes or anything like that.&#xA;I want shoes that will amortize most of the shock the legs get at each step and keep my knees and tendons safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I be looking for in running shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T10:57:26.470" Title="What are the properties I should look for in running shoes?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-07-16T19:40:07.860" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4320" CreationDate="2013-07-14T12:56:08.277" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not really, no. What strengthens skin is damaging it, either by rubbing or by cutting/scuffing, so you end up with either thicker/rougher tissue or even scar tissue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine running through long sharp grass every day could do this quite well but it would not be fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-07-14T12:56:08.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4322" CreationDate="2013-07-15T06:15:18.433" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For that matter why don't you get a Jogger Shoe for you?&#xA;When I had been to a running exped, I was told to get shoes with following Props:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Got to have a double inner sole. (This implies that you get a shoe of size which is slightly bigger than you normal shoe size). This help you to expand and contract the skin, muscles of feet.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that they are not heavy and doesn't have a too hard sole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that they don't have a very hard (synthetics/steel like DMS have) Toe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that they have a Fabric which will be such that your feet will get air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-24T10:57:26.470" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T10:57:26.470" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4320" CreationDate="2013-07-15T19:57:28.900" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scar Tissue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would need to strike a balance between doing enough damage to build callouses, and not doing so much damage that you cut yourself (and build scar tissue).  Scar tissue is weaker than regular skin, and can take weeks to a couple months to fully heal, and get strong again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My somewhat related experiences&lt;/strong&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rock climbing, there's a technique called &quot;hand jamming&quot;, where you use your hands as wedges to climb a crack system. I have met old climbers out West (Wyoming and California) with crazy thick callouses on the back of their hands.  So, I'd say, yes, it apparently is possible to callous up skin on different parts of your body (in this case, the backs of your hands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I try and climb hard hand-cracks without athletic tape, I just scrape myself up, and get scars on my hands that take a while to fully go away.  As a weekend warrior, I don't think I could duplicate the lifetime of climbing it would take to slowly build those calluses.  I could probably devise a skin-training regiment I could do daily, or every other day, to toughen my skin up.  But assuming my goal is to be a better climber, I have better luck just taping up, and working on my technique.  (honestly, I think that's a better application of my limited training time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My $0.02&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should say, one of the climbers I met was an old guide, who had thicker calluses on the backs of his hands than most people have on their feet.  He also had long, grey dreadlocks.  It looked weird, but kinda cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-07-15T21:19:43.707" LastActivityDate="2013-07-15T21:19:43.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4306" CreationDate="2013-07-15T20:51:47.347" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe?  It may depend on where you're getting the blisters.  A lot of the blisters that I get from hiking boots are on my heels, or on the sides of my toes.  I don't think that barefoot walking would help build calluses in those places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to walk barefoot, go ahead an experiment with that.  But I'd also look at the general advice for avoid blisters while in trekking boots (you clearly know at least some of this, but I'll type it anyway, in case anyone else comes along):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having boots that fit and are broken in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting a system of socks that fits and works for you.  This may include &quot;liner socks&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having a fresh pair of socks to hike in each day.  (You can achieve this with a small number of socks by washing your socks each night, and letting them air dry).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having &quot;duct tape&quot;, &quot;mole skin&quot;, or other adhesive products, and knowing how to apply them to prevent blisters in trouble spots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-07-15T20:51:47.347" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4307" CreationDate="2013-07-15T21:08:07.883" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The risk is that the blisters will get worse and worse, and continue to interfere with your hiking experience.  They can get larger, more painful, and eventually tear open and risk getting infected.  This process can happen fairly quickly - from the first time you notice pain in your feet, blisters can develop in &amp;lt; 15 minutes.  I haven't personally tried to hike on them longer than that, but I don't think it would take very long (a single day, if you have enough rubbing) for a blister to rupture.  Once you have an open wound, infection becomes a continual risk unless you can keep it clean and dry, which is hard to do with your feet while you're hiking.  (And, to address your question, all infections are very serious.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long distance walking&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned a 30km hike...  I'd recommend that you start with short hikes, and add distance slowly over a period of weeks or months.  This will give you a chance to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a set of socks and shoes (possibly including &quot;liner socks&quot;) that work for you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Break those shoes in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Develop first hand experience identifying and treating blisters (with moleskin or duct tape) during the hike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toughen up your feet gradually.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get in shape (if you weren't already).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know that you were specifically planning this, but going &quot;off the couch&quot; to a 30km hike without any other preparation is setting you up for a variety of overuse injuries (in addition to blisters, you could develop knee or ankle problems) that could be avoided by a more gradual training experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-08-19T17:00:57.930" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T17:00:57.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4322" CreationDate="2013-07-16T06:32:35.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make sure the problem is in the shoes first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, if you run on asphalt, try running on dirt trails. They are softer and provide much less shock to your joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, make sure your running technic is correct. I would recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/13695/Gordon-Piries-Running-Fast-and-Injury-Free&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the book from a world champion Gordon Pirie&lt;/a&gt;, which is very understandable by a non-professional runner. One basic idea from the book is that you should land on your toe, not on your heel. This introduces another joint to participate in shock absorbtion, distributing the force more evenly. I don't claim that this is the only right technic, but it does work. The book has advice on running shoes too, but they are quite different from what you usually hear from the adverticements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had the same problem too, and running on the dirt + landing on my toe (well, more on my toe, than on my heel) pushed the limit from 1 our to 2+ hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T06:32:35.633" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4329" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4335" CreationDate="2013-07-16T13:18:02.143" Score="14" ViewCount="1710" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any method for making the initial stages of an abseil smoother when the anchor in use is at foot level and the ledge drops off abruptly. I have had a big swing before when trying to do this and found it quite unpleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-29T21:32:38.337" LastActivityDate="2016-10-29T21:32:38.337" Title="Whats the best way to abseil off a ledge with the anchor at foot level?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4289" CreationDate="2013-07-16T18:38:42.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could look for &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Orienteering&lt;/a&gt; competitions in the area you will be traveling to as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2411" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T18:38:42.300" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4307" CreationDate="2013-07-16T18:43:27.157" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends in part on how you got the blisters, but from the question I think we can take it to mean that they're from friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order of what you can expect&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They will get worse and larger.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They will pop.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The friction that&#xA;you haven't dealt with will continue.  It is now rubbing on much&#xA;softer skin.  It will literally rub away skin (I've had this happen).   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweat, dirt, and bacteria will all be against and open wound in a&#xA;warm damp environment (your shoe).  You will get an infection.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because feet don't heal quickly or well, the infection will get&#xA;worse.   Eventually you'll have to see a doctor to remove the&#xA;infected tissue (this actually happened to AWOL, which he describes&#xA;in his book).   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should you be insane enough to continue (this would usually take days) then you'll get a blood infection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that an extreme end result?  Yes.  It never happens really because &quot;walking through the pain&quot; at that point would be nigh impossible and take an extreme level of willful disregard for your health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding long term effects, you could have long term effects from even your 30km walk. At about stage three (direct friction to raw skin) you could easily get scarring.  I have a scar on a toe from a blister I ignored on a shorter walk.   It's a permanent annoyance because it now causes blisters on the adjacent toe very easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T18:43:27.157" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-16T18:54:55.177" Score="4" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;some discussion here about SPOT vs. PLB&lt;/a&gt;.  The article recommends that PLB's (Personal Locator Beacons) are more reliable than SPOT (Satellite Communications), a comment says this is not true, the result appears inconclusive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any significant difference in reliability between SPOT, PLB, and similar services?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Personal use case: mountains at high latitudes, but I'm interested in generic answers)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-07-16T22:55:20.457" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T23:08:25.487" Title="PLB, SPOT, and similar services; is there any relevant difference in reliability?" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4329" CreationDate="2013-07-16T22:19:14.410" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some rappels are simply awkward to start. The awkwardness isn't the most important issue in and of itself, but you want to avoid a situation in which the start is so messy that you get banged around, it causes you to lose your grip on your brake hand, and you fall to your death. To prevent this, you can use a Prusik backup below the rappelling device; Freedom of the Hills has a description of how to do this on p. 198. (Other methods include a fireman's belay if you're not the first off, or being lowered if you're not the last off.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, in terms of the sheer awkwardness of the start, you can try to compensate by putting your feet far apart and bending your knees as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I use the Prusik backup, I extend my rappelling device (ATC) so that the Prusik can't get caught in the ATC. This means that I normally have both hands below the ATC, on the brake strand. However, you can always take the left hand off of the brake strand if you think the use of that hand would help you to get over the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ryley raises a good point in a comment, which is that the extension actually forces you to get lower on the ledge before you can weight the rope. This is one reason that the system I prefer is slightly different from the one shown in figure 11-13 on p. 198 of FotH (8th ed). Rather than extending my ATC by a large amount (maybe 25 cm in their figure), I only extend it by about 10 cm, and I clip the Prusik into a leg loop. Because the Prusik is on the brake strand, it only needs to supply a small amount of force, so IMO attaching it to the leg loop is no less safe than attaching it to the belay loop. Using the leg loop allows the extension to be much shorter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-07-17T16:33:11.167" LastActivityDate="2013-07-17T16:33:11.167" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4332" CreationDate="2013-07-16T22:49:07.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A SPOT will only work if you can see the sky. If you're in a deep canyon where there's not simultaneous line of sight to enough GPS satellites, it won't work. PLB's these days all include GPS, but GPS isn't needed in order to make the device work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There seems to be some anecdotal evidence in real-world use that SPOTs are extremely unreliable: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25583&amp;amp;skip_to_post=291623#291623&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25583&amp;amp;skip_to_post=291623#291623&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A SPOT will continue signaling for longer than a PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't ask about price, but the yearly subscription for a SPOT is a huge rip-off. You're paying for the features such as messaging and &quot;I'm OK,&quot; which may reassure your family but will not do much for your safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SPOT and PLBs are for use on land. If you were going to be, e.g., sailing across the Pacific, you'd want a different, specialized device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-07-16T23:08:25.487" LastActivityDate="2013-07-16T23:08:25.487" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4329" CreationDate="2013-07-17T08:34:31.423" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was always using and teaching the method, which Ben Crowell described very well in another answer, and it was standard in our club for a long time. However, over time it showed some important disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, it doesn't work reliably on &lt;strong&gt;slippery surface&lt;/strong&gt;. When you &quot;sit down&quot;, the force applied to your feet is high, and if one of them slips, you lose balance completely and usually hit the wall. And this hit may land on your controlling hand, so only the belay device (Prusik or something else which works without your help) will save you. I have had such and accident once and seen a lot more. The experience is quite nasty especially given that Prusik doesn't catch instantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, it's quite hard to finish your &quot;sit down&quot; movement smoothly, usually there is a small fall in the end. At this moment, the &lt;strong&gt;rope&lt;/strong&gt; hits the sharp corner with quite a force, so it &lt;strong&gt;can be damaged&lt;/strong&gt;. Luckily, I haven't seen the rope completely break off, but I've seen the sheath damaged as a result of such a move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you are in the real mountains using real anchors, they may fall off, being subject to a bump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what should you do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get to the edge, make sure your rope is under tension and hasn't stuck anywhere. Make sure you are controlling the rope well with your controlling hand (below the rappelling device).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit down on the edge, as you would do on the chair, your feet hanging down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn left (so your controlling right hand is far from the wall) and slowly squeese down until you are safely hanging on the rope, face to the wall. You can help yourself with you left (non-controlling) hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: you controlling hand should always be on your rope during the operation, regardless of what is happening. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not sure, fix you rappelling device at a point, where you think you will be already hanging. By fixing I mean fixing in some way which works when you completely drop  your hands. If you doesn't know how to do this with your device, please get to know it. As a last resort, you can just tie a butterfly knot and clip to it with a carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When training all this, use additional belay rope, controlled by someone else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="1794" LastEditDate="2013-07-17T15:41:04.173" LastActivityDate="2013-07-17T15:41:04.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4310" CreationDate="2013-07-17T20:58:54.340" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, increased exposure can reduce the ellergic reaction that results in the itching and swelling.  The very first time we are bitten by a mosquito, nothing happens.  That triggers the immune system in a way that subsequent bytes cause a allergic response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are roughly two levels of &quot;immunity&quot; to mosquitos that in most people can be brought on by high exposure.  The first level will itch for a some minutes, but then after about 20 minutes or so the itch is gone and so is the redness and swelling.  In fact, it's hard to remember where exactly the moquito bite was.  I know because my body now responds this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I've read, the second level works the same way but symptoms are gone in about 2 minutes instead of 20 minutes.  I can't comment on this from personal experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquitos used to bother me and cause itching, redness, and swelling of a small area around the bite for days, like they do for most people.  About 25 years ago I was doing a 2 night bike trip with a friend from Wellfleet on Cape Cod back to home in north-central Massachusetts.  It was summer and quite warm and we didn't have tents, just a sleeping bag each and a platic sheet in case it rained (fortunately it didn't).  The first night the mosquitos were really annoying.  I sortof tried to cover myself with the plastic, but that got really hot and sweaty, and I still had to breath of course.  Eventually I fell asleep anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next morning I got up and all was fine, then I remembered the mosquitos the night before and noticed to my great surprise that I couldn't find a single mosquito bite anywhere on my face, which was exposed all night.  Ever since then, I've had the 20 minute reaction instead of the usual several day reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, while this makes the mosquito bites themselves more tolerable, it does nothing against the pathogens the mosquitos might carry.  Around here we have West Nile and Easter Equine Encephalitis.  Those can be pretty serious, but Malaria, Yellow Fever, and Dengue Fever effect many more people around the world.  So don't go around thinking it's OK to be bitten by mosquitos just because your body has a tolerable reaction to the mosquito bite itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the three years since I first wrote this, I have been outside a lot and of course got exposed to mosquitos on numerous occasions.  Apparently heavy exposure really does give you more immunity.  I noticed this summer when I was trying to set up a tent where there were lots of mosquitos that I didn't get a noticeable reaction at all.  I know I got bitten a bunch of times since some of the mosquitos I squashed on my skin made red blood splats.  There were so many that I would get several at a time just by wiping my hand down my leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, I don't recommend going out and deliberately exposing yourself to mosquitos since they can carry disease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-09-08T15:34:00.863" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T15:34:00.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4246" CreationDate="2013-07-18T16:51:18.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightweight nylon mesh running shoes are great for hiking in dry conditions. You will be more efficient hiking in them than in heavy boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if there are places where you have to slog through lots puddles, shallow streams, etc., you may have problems. You can take your shoes off and do creek crossings barefoot, or if you're concerned about hurting your feet, e.g., on broken glass, you can take off the socks and inserts, cross while wearing the shoes, and then reassemble on the other side. This works fine if you have one or two wet crossings in a day, but may be totally impractical if the conditions are more wet in general. Once your socks are wet, you're almost guaranteed to get blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, a pretty versatile minimal set of shoes to own would be one pair of running shoes plus one pair of goretex boots. The boots will also work in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could talk to a podiatrist or physical therapist about your ankle and knee problems, but a lot of these folks are not basing their advice on evidence-based medicine. The choice of shoes is not likely to have much effect on your knee problems. The solution to the ankle problem may just be to strengthen your ankles, or you may find that boots with ankle support help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-07-18T16:51:18.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3955" CreationDate="2013-07-19T21:36:16.337" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Separate answer because I feel it addresses a different point than the other answers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated in the other answers, you should of course teach basic clipping and leading techniques, making sure to emphasize the stuff that will &lt;strong&gt;get you killed&lt;/strong&gt; (whenever teaching beginners I don't dance around this issue, &quot;don't do this or you will die&quot; ) basic anchoring and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I like to stress, besides just teaching the technical details, is the proper APPROACH to outdoor climbing vs indoor climbing. Just because you can clip a dozen draws and lower off an anchor does not make you a good outdoor climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to stress&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COMMUNICATION&lt;/strong&gt; I religiously read ANAM and other accident reports on supertopo/climbing.com/mountainproject. There is a significant portion of them that are caused by improper communication. Let your belayer know EXACTLY what you are doing and what you are planing to do. Make sure your belayer lets YOU know what they are going to do if its outside basic belaying duties. There are multiple ANAM reports of people dying or getting seriously injured when the belayer assumes they are rapelling and the climber assumes they are being lowered off. Make sure to discuss communication strategies before committing to a climb, avoid the &quot;oh fuck&quot; moment when you've crossed over an exposed arrete, gone off route, and realize you are out of earshot and desperately need your belayer to take so you can back off&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SYSTEMS&lt;/strong&gt; before committing to a new belay system (whether going off belay and on your PAS at the anchor or switching to rappelling), check, double check, test, and double test the new system before going off the secure system to the new one. Always communicate any system changes with your partner(s). Always understand how the system works, especially if you are the one rigging. When taking newbies climbing I always make sure to describe what every component of the new system does before asking them to commit to my system. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EQUIPMENT&lt;/strong&gt; Know how your equipment works inside and out before using it. Learn all the failure modes, features, how to properly rig it and its peculiarities. For example you would be surprised how many people do not know how to properly lower a climber on a top anchor system with a standard top-anchor ready friction belay device like an atc guide (Do you?). Do not trust that a device is intuitive, know it as well as the designer. Never use another persons equipment without examining it yourself (A well known youth climber recently died after all of his draws failed, the draws were a gift from his girlfriend and were improperly assembled). Never trust fixed gear without examining it, even on established and well used routes (There have been several high profile accidents where fixed draws on popular routes &lt;em&gt;cut&lt;/em&gt; ropes during a leader fall). Know how to evaluate bolts and fixed anchors, always back-up fixed soft gear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FALL DYNAMICS&lt;/strong&gt; Know how a fall will load your anchors and your belayer, know the basic physics behind how the rope arrests your fall and what can cause that system to fail (z clipping is dangerous precisely because you shorten the dynamic length of the rope and significantly increase the fall factor). Half of all climbing fatalities are due to leader falls, and the majority of these do not have aggravating circumstances like gear failure or belayer error, falls are dangerous, knowing how to fall is important, knowing how to climb and place gear so your fall risk is minimized is even more important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RETREAT&lt;/strong&gt; Know how and when to bail off a climb, know how to deal with emergency situations, this includes basic knowledge of rescue systems (knots, tools, and techniques) and how to execute the. Too many people get stranded and call for SAR when they are more than capable, physically, of helping themselves had they practiced some basic rescue systems. This also includes planning a retreat strategy on longer multi pitch climbs and knowing how to descend once you get to the top. In many, many places the descent is significantly more sketchy and dangerous than the climb itself. Rappelling alone is probably the most dangerous thing you can do climbing besides leading. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are far, far too many people that get profficient at clipping up indoor gym routes and then decide to try it outside thinking that cragging is just an outdoor gym. It's not, and make sure to stress that to any new person you take outside  climbing. Just because you are strong enough to climb 5.12 doesn't mean you are a good climber outside, this applies triply so for trad climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ONE FINAL WORD&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spontaneous gear explosion/failure is responsible for a &lt;em&gt;tiny&lt;/em&gt; fraction of climbing incidents, of which the majority are related to fixed gear failures. The rest of the non-act-of-god (read:rockfall) accidents are due user error, your number one risk in climbing is you or your partner making a mistake (or several) so do everything to minimize the risk of mistakes, including your choice of partner. If you partner objects or is offended by you checking their systems, their gear, their rigging, or their belaying, DO NOT CLIMB WITH THEM. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2013-07-19T21:49:19.583" LastActivityDate="2013-07-19T21:49:19.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4242" CreationDate="2013-07-20T18:36:12.943" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another brand is &lt;a href=&quot;http://cascadedesigns.com/platypus/hydration-systems/category&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Platypus&lt;/a&gt;.  I have their &quot;Hoser&quot; line, which has some differences from the models you show:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The hose is detachable.  The bag has only one opening, with a screw fitting.  You fill the bag through this opening and then attach the hose.  This makes it simpler and there are fewer joints to leak.  You can also get a cap for the bag (with no hose), which is nice for carrying extra bags of water while only needing a single hose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The opening has a narrow mouth and is at the top of the bag.  I find the Camelbak design with a wide mouth on the side of the bag is awkward to fill, in my experience, especially if you are trying to fill from a spring or filter.  Also, the wide mouths are usually sealed with detachable O-rings, which are easy to lose or damage.  On the other hand, with a narrow mouth it's not so easy to scrub inside the bag, though they do sell a long narrow brush for this purpose.  Personally I haven't ever found this necessary; I rinse it after using and sterilize with bleach periodically.  And you can't easily put ice cubes inside, but I don't care to do this anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As with the others, the valve on the hose is bite-type.  It can leak slightly if crud gets inside, or if the bag is under high pressure (e.g. it is under a bunch of heavy gear in your pack).  I've found I can work around this when necessary by blowing air into the hose after each drink.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bag is designed to stand up by itself when full, which is often convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no connection with this company except as a customer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2013-07-20T18:36:12.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4341" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4344" CreationDate="2013-07-20T19:50:16.650" Score="20" ViewCount="11553" Body="&lt;p&gt;The belay loop is the strongest part of the climbing harness, so why do so many climbers not trust it?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It’s very common to see climbers backing up their belay loop with a separate piece of webbing or clipping their belay carabiner through the waist and leg tie-in points to avoid the belay loop. I’ve even seen some climbers cut the belay loops off their harnesses because they’re “old school” and never had a belay loop when they first started climbing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;What I believe so far is that one could not possibly generate enough force by rappelling or holding a big lead fall to cause a belay loop to fail. Not even close. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then Why Are Belay Loops Not Trusted?&#xA;When I started climbing I was asked to concede a fact that the Belay Loops are just there to hold the leg loops to the waist loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-05T15:59:08.643" LastActivityDate="2015-06-05T15:59:08.643" Title="Why do many climbers appear to not trust their belay loops?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4298" CreationDate="2013-07-20T20:29:22.253" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As gerrit notes, swimming in lakes is common in Scandinavia, and there's not a lot of fauna in them that could even potentially be harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some lakes in southern Sweden apparently do have &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis&quot;&gt;leeches&lt;/a&gt;, which can attach themselves to exposed human skin or, in some cases, to the insides of body cavities.  If you were planning to swim in a leech-infested lake (a questionable choice to begin with), I &lt;em&gt;would&lt;/em&gt; suggest using swimwear and keeping your head out of the water just in case.  Fortunately (for swimmers), leech populations in Scandinavia have declined dramatically over the last century, mainly due to changes in agricultural practices, to the point where they're nowadays all but extinct in Finland and northern Sweden, and fairly rare even in the south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other aquatic animals I can think of in Scandinavia that might be harmful to swimmers are &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pike&quot;&gt;pikes&lt;/a&gt;, which do occasionally bite humans (usually in the foot), mistaking them for prey.  Swimwear won't help you with that, but fortunately it's also a very rare occurrence, and in any case rarely if ever causes any permanent damage.&#xA;The same goes for other potentially dangerous wildlife that you might occasionally find in or on lakes, such as angry waterfowl defending their young.  For those, the best defense is basic common sense: don't get between a baby swan and its mom, don't climb on rocks full of seagull nests, and if something hisses or screeches at you, take the hint and leave it alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, there is at least one somewhat dangerous animal that you should watch out for when going naked outdoors in Scandinavia, although it's not found in water but on dry land: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick&quot;&gt;ticks&lt;/a&gt;, whose bites can spread &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease&quot;&gt;Lyme disease&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick-borne_encephalitis&quot;&gt;tick-borne encephalitis&lt;/a&gt;.  Fortunately, the infection risk is fairly small if the tick is prompty removed, and going swimming presents a good occasion to check your body for any unwanted hitch-hikers that might have attached themselves during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="382" LastActivityDate="2013-07-20T20:29:22.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2013-07-21T12:15:04.513" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never seen what you are describing in many years of sport climbing. Every climber I know uses the belay loop correctly as it is one of the strongest parts of the harness and  like the old harness loop has been designed to take the strain of falls and distribute it evenly to the leg loops etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe it is different in different areas, cultures. I don't know. And it appears that in the past the belay loop was not the strong point it is now, so as DavidR mentions, a lot of the legacy beliefs may not be applicable after years of development.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-09-10T20:24:41.657" LastActivityDate="2014-09-10T20:24:41.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2013-07-21T23:17:45.660" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen this kind of behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there's a tendency for people to want to continue to do things the way they're used to doing them, and the way they were originally trained.  It can be a little frustrating when someone comes along and tells you that the new &quot;right way&quot; to do something is different that what you've done before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you're an experienced climber, you were probably trained several years ago.  When new recommendations enter the climbing community, they're introduced in books and training classes that are mostly taken by beginners.  So you have a situation where the people with the most up-to-date training don't have the context to fully understand what they've been taught, or necessarily apply it safely.  This makes experienced climbers unlikely to take their advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've felt this myself - I used to rig a backup autoblock off my leg loop, until a friend convinced me to extend my rappel, and put the autoblock on my belay loop.  It was honestly hard for me to hear, because my friend was actually pretty inexperienced, and I'd been climbing for 3 years at that point.  But I eventually came around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW, I hope we can all at least agree that harness manufactures recommend that climbers use the belay loop to belay, and &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; tie in points when they're tying in or putting a sling or anchor chain on their harness.  At least that's what's indicated on this guide from &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20131029101238/http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/advice-on-harness-use_us&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl&lt;/a&gt;.  Other things may be safe, but I'd want to see some indication that they were at least &lt;em&gt;tested by the manufacturer&lt;/em&gt; before doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-06-02T17:10:40.153" LastActivityDate="2015-06-02T17:10:40.153" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4346" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4363" CreationDate="2013-07-22T14:41:25.377" Score="21" ViewCount="63966" Body="&lt;p&gt;In response to a question that was asked regarding preventing/treating blisters, a reputed and a respectable climber (DavidR) said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Having 'duct tape', 'mole skin', or other adhesive products, and&#xA;  knowing how to apply them to prevent blisters in trouble spots.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no idea of how to use/apply a duct-tape or a mole-skin.&#xA;Can anybody please elaborate how to do it? Also, what can go wrong if I do it incorrectly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="7986" LastEditDate="2017-10-21T00:52:37.027" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T00:52:37.027" Title="How to apply duct tape and mole skin to prevent blisters?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4346" CreationDate="2013-07-22T14:51:37.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is actually very simple. You use them as both a cushioning material and a way to prevent your shoe rubbing on your skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a problem area, products such as Compeed cushions, mole skin etc work really well, but in an emergency duct tape should work just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just stick them over the area, making sure the edges don't catch on anything in your shoe when you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-07-22T14:51:37.297" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4349" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-22T22:22:09.493" Score="5" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to tap into the collective wisdom of this community to get some car camping meals ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a group of 4 adults headed out for a week of car camping and are looking for meals that are nutritious and easy to prepare with a basic kitchen set. Something beyond the typical hot dogs and PB&amp;amp;J.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the criteria for the group:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We're traveling by plane to our destination, so won't be able to prep food to bring ahead of time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most lunches will be on-the-go, so we're looking for lunches that can be pre-made or are self-contained.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We'll have a basic car camping kitchen set, but nothing elaborate. Basically a pot, skillet, camp stove and camp fire with some utensils.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We'll have access to a cooler and a small grocery store in town that we can stop at through the week to purchase and store some perishable foods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2292" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:52:53.567" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T01:04:46.867" Title="Car camping meal ideas?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-08-01T14:40:45.847" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4349" CreationDate="2013-07-22T23:40:02.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just ordered a large set of Spaghetteria packages, such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Knorr-Spaghetteria-Funghi-Pasta-Pilzsauce/dp/B00623OQ2W/ref=sr_1_11&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Spaghetteria Funghi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Knorr-Spaghetteria-Spinaci-Spinat-K%C3%A4se-Sahne-Sauce/dp/B00623OV2M/ref=pd_sim_grocery_7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Spaghetteria Spinaci&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Knorr-Gerichte-Muschelnudeln-Fr%C3%BChlingsgem%C3%BCse-Kr%C3%A4utersauce/dp/B00623PJ46/ref=pd_sim_grocery_8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Aktiv Muschelnudels mit Frühlingsgemüse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... and many others&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are functionally identical to &quot;official&quot; outdoor meals, but at a fraction of the price, and I think the taste is quite good.  They're my stock food when in the outdoors.  I'm usually hiking or cycling, but of course one can eat them with car camping as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that they're marketed as for two people, but I think that'd be two very small meals.  After a day hiking, one such bag is a perfect quantity for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I do not work for Knorr, but they happen to have the largest selection of this kind of product, as far as I'm aware)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-07-22T23:40:02.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2013-07-23T08:27:29.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can agree with DavidR - it's the heritage of &quot;old school&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some (like, 10) years ago, materials and sewing technologies were less perfect. My first harness had a much less durable belay loop, than my current one: it was thinner and made of less &quot;dynamic&quot; material than a rope. That is why there was a rule that you should double it with a rope, which is as strong as the rope you are hanging on. So the belay loop had no chance to be the weakest link of your belay system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also people tended to use their harnesses for much longer periods of time, many years in a row. The belay loop got some wear and tear, so the new piece of rope was more reliable (you can replace a rope, but it's harder to replace a belay loop).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And it was even worse more than 10 years ago, when technologies and technics, including midern 3-loop harness, were only emerging. You probably know that there was time when there were no harnesses - just a rope tied with double bowline or the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-07-23T08:27:29.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4349" CreationDate="2013-07-23T13:56:29.383" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You left out a lot of particulars, like who exactly &quot;we&quot; is and whether you expect to camp for several days away from civilization, or will drive around enough that getting to a grocery store once a day or two isn't a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a similar situation (within the course details you provided) every year when I go to a conference in Phoenix and add about 10 days before or after bumping around the hinterlands of Arizona and New Mexico.  I also come and go by plane, so everything I bring has to be limited in size and weight, and I must be able to move it all around myself without assistance.  Here is what I do:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Realize that eating three times/day is merely something you have gotten used to due to your routine and not something your body requires.  You do need to stay hydrated, but you're not going to starve to death or be malnourished if you eat once a day.  That makes logistics much simpler and leaves a lot more time for what you really came there for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;I usually do my main activity of the day in the morning, or at least start driving towards it in the morning.  This may end mid to late afternoon, which is a good time to eat something, then consider where I want to be that night and then get there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;I drink only Gatorade (mixed from powder) during the day.  You get thirsty, and you need to take care of that, but again, you don't need to eat three times a day.  The Gatorade replenishes some of the electrolytes.  It also provides a little sugar, but I don't think that is significant relative to your calorie use when hiking up a mountain and back.  Again, you're not going to die of malnutrition over a 8 hour period.  In fact, I find I'm too busy enjoying the outdoors to think about food or feel hungry.  Unless you are really malnourished (which takes a lot more than a day), hungry is a state of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;I don't take any cooking equipment and don't cook.  The only food-related equipment I take is one of those really small ratchet-like can openers, a knife, spoon, and fork.  The fork is the least useful, and you can leave it home if you really want to conserve space or weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;There are plenty of foods that are readily available that don't require perperation, and that don't spoil until opened.  Since you will have a car, you have significantly more space and weight capacity while there than coming or going.  Foods I like for this are cans of chili, fruit, and beans.  Occasionally I get a single piece of fruit, like a apple, bananna, etc, but only if I know I'll be able to eat it that day.  These things go bad fast when it's 115&amp;deg; out.  Occasionally I might get a bag of chips.  If you feel like some extra salt in the desert, it's probably a good idea to have some, as long as you have plenty of water too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't say where you are going, but in the southwest US, they know how to do chili.  Here in New England, there may be a few feet of shelf space in a supermarket devoted to a few different types and brands of chili.  In the SW, there will be half a isle with lots of choices.  Experiment and find what you like.  My personal favorite is a few varieties of Stagg brand, although the worst I ever had was also a Stagg brand.  I think that one was &quot;Garden Vegetable&quot; or something like that.  It sounded good, but yecch.  The one I like best is something something that mentions peppers in the title.  I'll recognize it when I see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these things can be eaten right out of the can.  That is another reason for eating once a day.  Once you open a can, you need to finish it else it will go bad quickly.  Also having a partially open can of anything in a car can get messy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for fruit, I personally like cans of chunky pineapple.  The crushed stuff is more messy, and the slices can't be eaten as easily using just a spoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Don't go overboard buying food just because you have the opportunity.  Think carefully about how much you are really going to eat.  Figure two cans per day, but don't buy too many days ahead.  Sometimes stuff comes up.  I usually try to provision about 3 days ahead.  I drive around so I'm usually someplace different every night, so in 3 days I'll pass thru someplace that has a Walmart or something.  At worst I have to buy a single can at extortion prices from a small local store, although that really doesn't happen much.  When the end of the trip is near, don't try to buy much ahead.  Even the extortion price is better than wasting a cheap can from Walmart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T01:04:46.867" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T01:04:46.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4349" CreationDate="2013-07-23T15:04:31.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My preferences are to minimize stove time. To my mind if you have a stove and a cooler that's luxury and you should have no problems at all. In the mornings I like to just boil a kettle, no stove at lunch, and full on cooking for dinner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast. Boil a kettle for tea or instant coffee. Also use the boiling water to make instant oatmeal. Supplement with jam, peanut butter, or cheese on whatever bread/bagel etc you like. A small tub of margarine is probably better than butter in this context. One morning cook bacon. Bacon cooked outside is amazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lunch. Avoid the stove and have sandwiches: jam, peanut butter, or cheese. Avoid presliced &quot;cold cuts&quot; but if you're in Europe and can get fairly hard cured meats they should be fine in the cooler. Also fresh fruit and raw veggies like celery or carrots. On a cool day where you have little to do, make some soup from a package. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dinner. Anything you want. A chop or steak fried in the pan. Boil and mash some potatoes. A salad. Fry some onions in that pan to make your neighbours crazy. Use some ground meat and canned tomatoes to make a pasta sauce, then set it aside while you boil the pasta. Or make curried beef or chicken and set that aside while you cook rice. Really anything you want is possible. If you have access to a fire, you might want to cook with it but I don't recommend it: you need to learn how to make the fire (you cook on embers, not flames) and it takes up to an hour to get a cook-usable fire, which means lighting it far earlier than you probably want to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a cutting board and a good knife, plus at least one wooden spoon. Shop every other day because the meat won't keep forever even in a cooler, and you don't have the storage space for a week's worth of fresh vegetables and fruit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-07-23T15:04:31.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4354" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-23T23:11:46.073" Score="10" ViewCount="2756" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm hiking with my friend, some of the time we hike together, but sometimes we hike seperately, and may be some kilometres apart only to meet on the agreed location for the evening.  Our next trip will be in an area with no trails at all, so we need good communication.  Therefore, we're looking into getting a pair of walkie-talkies / two-way radio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears such are often used for rock climbing, for baby alerts, etc.  Those are all applications where both transceivers are less than a few hundred metre apart.  We will be further apart.  For a set of walkie-talkies small and solid enough to carry on a 2-week hike and costing no more than 100–200€, what is a typical range we can expect?  I'd like to hear from actual experiences, rather than manufacturer claims.  The area we'll be hiking in has mountains, but is quite open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:21:53.340" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:21:53.340" Title="What range should I expect for a reasonable set of walkie-talkies / two-way radio?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4354" CreationDate="2013-07-23T23:39:33.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of variation between radios. There's even a great deal of variation for a given set. I own a pair of radios advertised as &quot;35-mile range.&quot; I don't believe that's false, but it's probably under ideal conditions - a clear day with two people on mountaintops 35 miles apart, with an unobstructed view, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a test with mine where I left one radio at home and went for a hike in the woods. On a hilltop, I was able to carry on a conversation, though there was some static, at a distance of about 2.1 miles. There were trees and homes in the way for part of that distance. Hills in between would have made it impossible to talk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other limiting factors: Weather, being in a car or building, as a couple examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, this is very useful for me for hunting and for backpacking. Furthermore, they have weather radios, which can be indispensable when you have no other way of knowing the forecast. In the US, they receive broadcasts from fixed towers, and my whole state is covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-07-23T23:39:33.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4354" CreationDate="2013-07-24T02:25:19.473" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Radio_Service&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Family Radio Service&lt;/a&gt;, the most commonly available walkie talkies, operates on frequencies around 460 MHz. The power is limited to only 500 mW, and as such is very limited. Wikipedia reports that the average range is roughly a mile, which is quite reasonable, given the power levels and poor antennas. Of course, this may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are wanting more reliable communication over a few miles, I would look in to getting an Amateur Radio License. They are low cost or free, require taking a test, and allow better power and frequencies. It would work well for this kind of communication. The cost would be within your budget, and I've routinely talked for about 3-4 miles simplex, and further if there is a repeater in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="88" LastActivityDate="2013-07-24T02:25:19.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4354" CreationDate="2013-07-24T07:55:06.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The range mostly depends on the power of your radio. 500 mW is OK, 5 W is much better. You should study what frequency ranges and what maximum power are &lt;strong&gt;allowed in your country&lt;/strong&gt; for public, and go for the max power. Ranges may include FRS, GMRS, LPD, PMR. E.g. in Russia FRS is prohibited and LPD is allowed, while e.g. in Kazakhstan it's vice versa (so we are having tough time travelling there for mountain trips).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a 500 mW short-band radio you can expect a couple of kilometers, but your milage may vary. In perfect weather in the mountains with direct visibility and a Midland GXT GMRS radio  I've once had a talk over 15 km, which felt unbelievable. But if you hide behind a bend of a slope, 100 meters may be enough to stop all the communication, if there are no good objects nearby that can serve as a mirror for the signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would advise checking your and your firend's routes at home to find open spots where you will have direct visibility and arrange communication sessions on these spots at specified times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-07-24T07:55:06.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4358" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-24T19:50:17.840" Score="5" ViewCount="1761" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is (more or less planned) emergency overnighting with usage of hammock and/or canvas tent considered wild camping in Europe (especially in Germany)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many countries, such as Germany, wild camping is disallowed and fined, but if you don't use full tent, but only canvas to protect yourself from rain/insects, is it still in praxis treated the same and fined?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if canvas tent is the proper word, I mean something like that: &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20bnE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T21:07:01.597" Title="Is emergency overnighting using hammock/canvas tent considered wild camping (Europe/Germany)?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4358" CreationDate="2013-07-24T21:57:35.427" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option is to ask the land owners. In an attempt to answer your question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&amp;amp;sl=de&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;u=http://www.outdoor-magazin.com/service/tipps-on-tour/wild-zelten-aber-richtig.264458.3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoor Magazin&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anyone under a tarp&lt;/strong&gt; - a waterproof tarp stretched - stayed overnight, camping out and &lt;strong&gt;is in a legal gray zone&lt;/strong&gt;. The night under the tarp also reduces the risk of being discovered and provides maximum enjoyment of nature, as it falls asleep and wakes up with green view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BPL&lt;/a&gt; also has a thread on the topic that might &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/12601/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;provide you with some insight&lt;/a&gt;. Not surprisingly people do illegally wild camp as BPL user Christine describes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have stealth camped all over Germany (and rest of Europe) for many years now and never had any problem. But you have to be discreet. I always take care that nobody sees me, meaning you set up camp when it gets dark and leave early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With my limited knowledge of German, I would personally consider other alternatives first. An altercation with a local with whom you cannot communicate with is not something I would look forward to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-07-24T21:57:35.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4360" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4361" CreationDate="2013-07-25T02:34:40.740" Score="7" ViewCount="820" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I tell when my minimal running shoes go bad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me explain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conventional Wisdom&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The conventional wisdom of marathon runners is that running shoes will eventually 'go bad'. That is, at some point the shoes will still work fine for walking around the house and working in the garden, but they have &quot;lost their bounce&quot;. At some point (roughly 400 miles) your standard pair of, say, Nike running shoes will start to feel like the soles are made of concrete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard running shoes lose their bounce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What about minimal running shoes?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am training for another marathon in a pair of minimal running shoes (New Balance Minimus). And I know I have run 600 or 700 miles in this one pair of shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But  minimal running shoes have no &quot;bounce&quot; to start off with. Just super thin soles. So... does that mean I can run in them until they have &lt;em&gt;holes in the soles?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do minimal running shoes 'go bad' too? Or do they work just fine until they're holey?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T02:55:04.550" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T15:14:00.670" Title="How to Tell When Minimal Running Shoes Are Worn Out?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;minimalist-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4360" CreationDate="2013-07-25T03:02:42.697" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's less about the type of shoe, but how your run in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minimalist running shoes should not &quot;wear out&quot; in the traditional sense since they have little or no padding to compress. Because many are just soles, then running until that sole is gone is perfectly fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to note that the reason they don't have (or need) that cushion is because &quot;minimal&quot; running shoes encourage a more natural style of running (where you use your foot-spread, ankles, and knees with more elasticity to absorb shock).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Traditional&quot; shoes with their 3 inches of padding encourage poor running style (straight legged heal strike in front of the body) and thus need the padding to compensate. When the padding goes, you risk injury since your body isn't designed to take that kind of beating. If you run with a more natural gait in traditional shoes, then you don't need to worry about the padding going on them either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an added bonus, since &quot;minimal&quot; or natural styles of running tend to have less abrasive force on the impact (flow along the pavement rather than skid your heel against it) you might notice your soles lasting longer than traditional shoes as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T03:08:34.910" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T03:08:34.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4360" CreationDate="2013-07-25T10:05:33.887" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the fact that as the sole of the shoe gets thinner it becomes harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which would be awkward for running purposes. It also depends on how you land. If you land on the ball of your foot (if you don't, you should), the layer at the sole at the heels remain flexible for, to be more precise, compressible, which is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I am saying this all, is because when I started running, I had a bad habit to land on my heel rather than the ball, which was one of the reasons, that I lost the mileage of the shoe. (Here, mileage is: miles it would remain good for running, and also, the no. of miles I would go with the same effort).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The time when you start feeling stress in your joints despite of running (with the technique that you have been following and so, the way you used to run without having troubles), is the time when you can say that you may need a new pair of shoes, since a lot depends on Shoes in the matter of Joint pains with runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T15:14:00.670" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T15:14:00.670" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4346" CreationDate="2013-07-25T16:48:19.910" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blisters are caused by friction. Your skin is not very slippery. Applying moleskin and duct-tape over a &quot;hot-spot&quot; adds a protective layer between your skin and shoe. Thus as your shoe slides, it rubs against the tape or mole-skin instead of your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pointers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use enough tape/mole-skin to cover an area larger than the hot-spot. If the hotspot is on the edge of your heel go ahead and wrap the tape up and around the side/bottom so it doesn't shift/move. (Duct tape, being cheaper than mole-skin is better for large area applications.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut mole-skin in a circle (or at the very least, round the corners) to prevent the corners from catching on socks, shoes, etc and peeling off. (With duct-tape, I usually just snip the corners off, since it tends to stick better.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tincture_of_benzoin&quot;&gt;tincture of benzoin&lt;/a&gt; (a sticky substance) to help the moleskin adhere better to your foot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you just have a hot-spot, I find duct-tape works better since it is thinner, and provides a near-frictionless surface.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you already have a blister, mole-skin / mole-foam (thicker) is better especially if you cut a hole in the center and stick a dough-nut of mole-skin around the blister. The added thickness helps keep your shoe from rubbing the blister in the middle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to be aware of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moleskin, being thicker, can take up space in tight-fitting shoes, and shift  the fit-problem / wear elsewhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some areas (between toes) it might be better to wrap the rubbing toe than the rubbed toe (personal preference).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using too SMALL of a piece of tape/other will result in it shifting, falling off, balling up, etc. In that case, just try to re-apply a larger piece.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T16:48:19.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-25T17:26:21.867" Score="12" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;People have speculated that women hiking in bear country during their menstrual cycle might increase their chances of a bear encounter. Is this true? What can be done to minimize risk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/865/handling-feminine-hygiene-on-multiple-month-treks&quot;&gt;Handling feminine hygiene on multiple-month treks?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2019-03-13T19:09:31.600" Title="Are bears more attracted to menstruating females?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4365" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-25T17:34:50.953" Score="13" ViewCount="2742" Body="&lt;p&gt;As stated in the title: is there any evidence that the hormones etc that the body produces during intercourse increases one's likelihood of encountering a bear in the back-country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T00:41:07.460" Title="Does having sex in the back-country attract bears or other critters?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4366" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-25T17:38:43.847" Score="8" ViewCount="610" Body="&lt;p&gt;In honor of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ice_Cream_Month&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Ice Cream Month&lt;/a&gt;, does anyone have a good back-country ice cream recipe they could share?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus points for ones that don't require ice (ice field, glacier, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T21:38:23.910" Title="Recipe for backcountry ice cream?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4370" CreationDate="2013-07-25T18:52:35.753" Score="6" ViewCount="632" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I received an e-mail from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arcteryx.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arc'Teryx&lt;/a&gt; stating that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fall 2013 ushers in the arrival of &lt;strong&gt;technical DOWN&lt;/strong&gt; and NEW GORE-TEX® Pro technology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is technical down? I assume it is some sort of hydrophobic down. If yes, how does Arc'Teryx technical down differs from other hydrophobic down technologies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T22:56:38.980" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T00:15:41.727" Title="What is Arc'Teryx Technical down?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4346" CreationDate="2013-07-25T21:23:09.437" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, like I said, I'm not a great expert on using duct tape and moleskin.  I'm writing an answer because someone specifically asked.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experiences:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off - applying duct tape or moleskin to your feet is a skill you develop through trial and error.  Make sure that you learn to do it BEFORE going on a major expedition.  Whenever I have a big hiking trip planned, I make sure to do a series of short day hikes over a period of months before the trip.  That gives me a chance to make sure I'm in shape, and review my backpacking skills, including treating blisters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've never been able to get moleskin to stay in place.  Maybe its my socks, but because its thicker, it tends to catch and slide off the site of the blister, and / or rubs and creates additional problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've had better luck with duct tape, which I always carry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I usually only get blisters on my heels, so this may not apply to other body parts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not all brands of duct tape are created equally.  You want to find a particularly sticky brand.  I think that Nashua brand duct tape was consistently good.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you already have an open sore on the heel (not a large blister, but a rubbed sore spot) what I usually do is put neosporine on the site of the sore.  Its a disinfectant, and its a moisturizer.  Then I put duct tape directly over my heel.  The neosporine keeps the duct tape from sticking to the injured skin, but lets it stick to the rest of the heel normally.  And the duct tape protects the skin from rubbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you know you tend to develop blisters in a certain spot, you can just put fresh duct tape there at the start of each day, to protect yourself from blisters BEFORE they arise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-07-25T21:29:03.493" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T21:29:03.493" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4364" CreationDate="2013-07-25T22:22:38.147" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you are dealing with Polar bears the answer is: No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to an article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/22688-myth-bears-attack-menstruating-women.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;livescience&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Despite campfire fears dating back to at least 1967, &lt;strong&gt;black bears and grizzly bears are not attracted to the odors of menstruation&lt;/strong&gt;, according to a recent Yellowstone National Park report.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Polar bears may be interested in the smell of menstrual blood&lt;/strong&gt;, the report found, but bears that roam in North America are not. &lt;strong&gt;Food is a much more important temptation for bears&lt;/strong&gt;, according to the findings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also add&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[According to a Yellowstone Park Report]&lt;/em&gt; the report concludes, there is &lt;strong&gt;no evidence of a link between bear attacks and menstruation&lt;/strong&gt;. Nevertheless, the Park Service &lt;strong&gt;recommends using tampons instead of external pads&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;unscented menstrual products&lt;/strong&gt; to keep potentially appealing odors down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yell/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellow Stone National Park Service&lt;/a&gt; has an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/grizzlybear-menstrual-odor.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; from 2016 dedicated to this subject. Citations can be found on that page.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-13T19:09:31.600" LastActivityDate="2019-03-13T19:09:31.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4367" CreationDate="2013-07-25T22:40:12.330" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this blog: &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2013/01/21/down-is-coming-from-arcteryx/&quot;&gt;http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2013/01/21/down-is-coming-from-arcteryx/&lt;/a&gt; it simply refers to Arc'teryx getting into the down game at all (previously having no down offerings). With respect to hydrophobic down, the entry states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Carl told us they considered using recently introduced water resistant&#xA;  down, but their testing showed those products didn’t stand up over&#xA;  time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short &quot;technical down outwear&quot; simply refers to outerwear that incorporates down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I can not attest to the accuracy of the above blog.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-07-25T22:40:12.330" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4367" CreationDate="2013-07-25T22:42:40.330" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;GearScout&lt;/a&gt; blog post on &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2013/01/21/down-is-coming-from-arcteryx/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Down is coming from Arc’teryx&lt;/a&gt; provides some insight on Arc'Teryx usage of down in their products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to them, Arc'Teryx did not have down products in their lineup prior 2013.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arc’teryx didn’t want to enter the down fray unless its design effort added a considerable performance benefit over what was already on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, for 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arc’teryx looked at the problem and decided its answer would be to provide down apparel with substantially improved durability while remaining on par or lighter than its competitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The down Arc'teryx use is 850+ fill power without any water-resistant coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;they &lt;em&gt;[Arc’teryx]&lt;/em&gt; considered using recently introduced water resistant down, but their testing showed those products didn’t stand up over time. &lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt; Arc’teryx felt the added cost up front wasn’t worth it when the water resistant properties would only last for a fraction of the jackets intended wear life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arc'teryx approach is different in the sense that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arc’teryx decided to use synthetic insulation in &lt;strong&gt;areas prone to collecting moisture such as the cuffs, hem, collar and shoulders&lt;/strong&gt;. Here, &lt;strong&gt;they use synthetic Coreloft insulation&lt;/strong&gt; because it is an excellent insulator, even when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the information I have gathered, it seems that &lt;em&gt;technical down&lt;/em&gt; is simply 850+ fill power down and &lt;a href=&quot;http://coreloft.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coreloft&lt;/a&gt; synthetic use alternatively depending on the area of the body it covers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their website has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arcteryx.com/product.aspx?language=EN&amp;amp;gender=mens&amp;amp;collection=New_for_Fall_2013&amp;amp;model=Cerium-LT-Hoody&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;additional information&lt;/a&gt; on the specific product pages. (note, I'm definitely not a fan of their website!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Putting Down Where It Counts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strategic placement of synthetic and down insulation has Coreloft™ synthetic insulation&lt;/strong&gt;, that retains warmth when wet, placed along the hem, collar, sleeves and underarms— areas prone to contact with moisture. 850 fill European Goose down lines the core and sleeves where warmth is most needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked Arc'teryx about their &lt;em&gt;technical down&lt;/em&gt; to confirm that it was, in essence, regular down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I understand correctly, technical down is technically down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arc'teryx answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You got it down!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T00:15:41.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4365" CreationDate="2013-07-26T00:41:07.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is at least one documented incident with a bear that occurred in the 1980s which &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have been related sexual intercourses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the two teenagers, Jane Ammerman and Kim Eberly, did not survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stephen Herrero wrote about the incident in his book titled &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.ca/books?id=3UAJLwn8wkkC&amp;amp;pg=PT125&amp;amp;lpg=PT125&amp;amp;dq=Stephen%20Herrero%20%22The%20bear%20might%20have%20approached%20the%20teenagers%20because%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=0LEEvj5rXK&amp;amp;sig=L9eXUYWSAmsvkqVLg91l3L3QFW4&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=lcDxUcuqCMeu4AP7r4CYDQ&amp;amp;ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=Stephen%20Herrero%20%22The%20bear%20might%20have%20approached%20the%20teenagers%20because%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When our investigating team visited the dump, we saw a horse carcass beginning to decay. Items such as this can attract bears from several miles away. Whether attracted by the dead horse or other garbage, the grizzly bear was probably heading to or from the dump in the early hours of july 24. Near his route of travel were the two teenagers, apparently sleeping on top of their tent because the night was warm and muggy. The bear had learned to accept the smell of humans from foraging at the dump. &lt;strong&gt;The bear might have approached the teenagers because of the odors from sexual intercourse, but whether this was the case and what happened next are conjecture.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/&quot;&gt;Backpacker.com&lt;/a&gt; have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/ask_a_bear_sex_in_tent/blogs/daily_dirt/1789&quot;&gt;short article&lt;/a&gt; on the topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, there are other risk factors of bigger importance that I would try to address first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T00:41:07.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4374" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-26T09:16:07.927" Score="8" ViewCount="1343" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have people been able to bring their (folding) trekking poles onto planes? We're flying without checked-in baggage (on Wizz Air, from Europe to Israel). We've paid for &quot;two large cabin bags&quot;, and the poles fit inside them. I'm not asking for promises, obviously, but does anyone have any anecdotal evidence whether this is allowed or not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-07-26T09:29:44.617" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T07:19:52.800" Title="Trekking poles on planes" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4374" CreationDate="2013-07-26T13:03:07.460" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For USA to Canada flights, I have seen hiking poles being accepted (after a bit of explaining..) and refused (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westjet.com/&quot;&gt;WestJet&lt;/a&gt;). If they are refused, you may be asked to go back to the luggage section which may end up making you or your poles miss the flight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience it seems to vary on the carrier and the person performing the inspection. Because of these variables (and I sometimes use fixed length poles) I generally prefer not having my poles as carry on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T13:03:07.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3887" CreationDate="2013-07-26T22:02:32.280" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer will vary depending on WHERE you are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Desert&lt;/strong&gt;: Lots of dry rock. Lots of ledges. Lots of snakes. Better to look before you leap over one. And, you get pretty good at judging which rocks might shift on you before you step on them. Lots of people I've hiked with have had their ankles narrowly missed by rattlers hiding under. I never plant my foot blindly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet Forest&lt;/strong&gt;: Lots of slippery logs. Lots of snakes. However, stepping on any log (and many rocks) will result in your feet squirting right off the top (slick) or punching though (rotten). When hiking in wet forests, I try to never step on a log, root, or rock unless I've tested it first. Nor do I blindly plant my foot on the back side of one. Go around, be cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperate Forest&lt;/strong&gt;: Lots of logs and rocks. Moderate amount of snakes. When dry, logs are usually fine to step on. When wet, they can be deadly. Know your area, judge the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general - chances are you are smart enough to judge whether a rock/log is large enough or stable enough to support you. If not, you'll learn quickly. So a blanket &quot;never step on one&quot; seems unfounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-07-26T22:02:32.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-07-28T11:51:41.003" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd go with the vibrams anyday. But do pay attention to road especially when your tired. I once bumped my toes and that wasn't funny.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And remember: if you say your feet need support, you also need support for your jaw! ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2425" LastActivityDate="2013-07-28T11:51:41.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4080" CreationDate="2013-07-28T20:46:48.867" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I have to sleep in moist cold air I always put some newspapers under my matras. It absorbs the water thus keeping me much better dry and warm. If those leaves are dry when find them you can also put them under your matras with the same effect. I think it will work even better than putting them under the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2425" LastActivityDate="2013-07-28T20:46:48.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4379" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-29T12:06:40.867" Score="8" ViewCount="2538" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E3_European_long_distance_path&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;E3&lt;/a&gt; is a 7000 km hike through Europe. What resources would every member of a small group of average adults need in order to realistically have chance of completing it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vacation time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Money&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment&#xA;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, what are the most dangerous spots? Places where one can slip in the mud and fall to death; places without civilization for days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would a bike tour be feasible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T19:47:22.490" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T19:47:22.490" Title="What resources are needed to attempt E3?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;european-long-distance-paths&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4080" CreationDate="2013-07-29T15:03:48.343" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaves under your tent will offer almost no value as you will crush them when you lay in your tent.  The primary benefit from leaves comes from dead air space.  However they will provide a more smooth and soft sleeping surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaves piled around your tent will provide good insulation as long as they do not get wet. I could not find an R value, but I did manage to find this fairly realistic test using leaves for insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://usefulstuffonly.blogspot.com/2007/11/insulation-testing-of-leaves-sawdust.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://usefulstuffonly.blogspot.com/2007/11/insulation-testing-of-leaves-sawdust.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-07-29T15:03:48.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4307" CreationDate="2013-07-29T15:35:39.483" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the topic of popping blisters. There are the two contradicting opinions out there, of course. My understanding is as follows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not pop a blister if you can avoid it. If walking significant distance is needed, pop it with a clean needle, squeeze out the liquid, and put an antibiotical bandage over it. The gains are twofold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The blister won't pop in your shoe, under harsher tearing stress&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bandage will protect the wound at least a little - from mechanical stress and rubble inside the boot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out, moisture and friction are the causes for blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should note once again that the topic is controversial. In a recent discussion &lt;strong&gt;a doctor disagreed that blisters should ever be popped&lt;/strong&gt;, while a long-distance runner did the above procedure to be able to walk home without too much pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: I have found that wearing &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footwraps&quot;&gt;footcloth&lt;/a&gt; is a definite solution. It has the advantages of &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Several layers of protection where you most need it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When it gets wet, re-wrap it. Now the wet part is against your ankle and is drying while you walk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drys rapidly in the sun or just in the wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2013-07-29T15:35:39.483" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4382" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-29T18:57:05.797" Score="6" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've completed the Annapurna trek from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhulbhule&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bhulbhule&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muktinath&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Muktinath&lt;/a&gt; in 11 days without special difficulties or knee aches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much harder would the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_Route&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Haute Route&lt;/a&gt; be? Would you consider doing the Tour du Mont Blanc instead as a less difficult option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2426" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T05:43:54.953" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T05:43:54.953" Title="How much more difficult is the Haute Route than the Annapurna trek?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4383" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-29T21:05:50.720" Score="20" ViewCount="1849" Body="&lt;p&gt;In early summer in the high mountains, snowfields may lie over rivers.  These rivers may be otherwise tricky to ford, and it can be very tempting to use the snowfield to cross the river.  However, this can, of course, be risky.  What is a good way to test whether it is safe to cross?  I've heard of using a stick to push the snow, but I wonder if that mightn't collapse the whole snowbridge with me on it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oTnXG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Báhkkabahoknjira below Båhkkabahokčohkka&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Báhkkabahoknjira under the Báhkkabahokčohkka, near Abisko, Sweden, 22 June 2013.  Thick enough to cross (although a bit tricky because of the steepness).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AvefZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Njulkkostakjohka above Alisjávri&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Njulkkostakjohka above Alisjávri, near Abisko, Sweden, 6 June 2013.  Rather not cross this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T07:01:46.650" Title="How can I tell if a natural snow-bridge is safe to cross?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2013-07-29T21:08:50.857" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding one more, from my own experience: a &quot;false floor&quot;.  I stepped into a lake fully dressed with shorts and sandals, because I saw it was just 10 cm deep.  Unfortunately, what I observed as being the floor of the lake, was in fact the upper layer of plant growth... and the lake was, at this shore, in fact more than 1 metre deep (but shallow enough to stand).  I got quite the surprise and learned my lesson.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told this happens particularly at lakes with swampy shores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-07-29T21:08:50.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2013-07-30T05:57:46.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a different twist on the question of how to best use block ice. Before refrigeration northern states used to saw block ice fron frozen lakes and store for the summer in &quot;ice houses&quot;, log houses that used only the thermal inertia of massive amounts of ice stacked together.&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;We just returned from a 6 day canoe trip in which we used block ice to keep fresh food cold.  On Friday, july 19 we bought 200 lbs of block ice (20 blocks of 10 lbs). these almost completely filled two 12&quot; x 12&quot; x 30&quot; low tech garage sale ice chests. We kept these two ice keepers drained of water because water is a conductor, not an insulator.  Then we used single blocks of ice from these to supply as needed four smaller chests which we did not drain.&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;We then traveled from oklahoma City to the Current River in Missouri and floated 100 miles over six days and returned to OKC on Fri Jul 26 with about 15 lbs of block ice remaining.  Eight days and 15 hours!  We fed 18 Scouts and adults on fresh food that was previously frozen ar cooled for a week.  I know that this is a completely unscientifec &quot;experiment&quot; , but is a practical example that worked for us.  I hope this is useful for your wilderness trip.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2429" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2013-07-30T18:44:55.753" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T18:44:55.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2013-07-30T13:18:47.563" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In case you don't have anything to put on your bites, I found out the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you got snow around you, put a piece of metal (I prefer a spoon) in the snow or cold water, and wait for it to nearly freeze. And then just put the freezing cold spoon on the bite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also heat a spoon (or just use a lighter directly) and as soon as you won't burn yourself anymore, hold it against your bite, it will sting a bit, but it's very effective&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless I prefer the electric method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can just buy a lighter with a Piezocrystal, an then you disassemble it to get only the spark. If you get bitten just put the spark against your bite and &quot;Fire it&quot; this will destroy the protein and neutralize the itching.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're lazy or prefer a bought solution you can also buy something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hund-unterwegs.de/images/product_images/popup_images/s/disco-click_0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I still prefer the lighter method, because in my opinion it feels &quot;a lot better&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-29T00:16:27.893" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T00:16:27.893" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4374" CreationDate="2013-07-30T14:03:11.283" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is definitely up to the Pilot, some Pilots may accept it but others won't take you on board, except you pay/get another seat. I'd better check it in if you want to avoid uncomfortable situations&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T14:03:11.283" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4383" CreationDate="2013-07-30T16:06:34.577" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will not recommend crossing if the bridge is only composed of frozen snow because snow does not support a lot of weight. You should check the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ice should be at least 15 cm thick (be careful to differentiate the frozen snow from the clear ice, the 15 cm applies only to clear ice)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bridge should not contain any water on it (sign of melting or possible weak structure) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The temperature for the last days must be at least less than freezing (to prevent any melting)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, you should:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid places where the current is strong (because they weaken the thickness and the structure)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid places where the bridge is longer (Ice is thicker near the extremities and thinner in the middle)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, the following measures are used for lake crossing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10 cm for people&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;12 cm for snowmobile&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20 cm to 30 cm for small cars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30 cm to 38 cm for trucks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigice.ca/ice_chart.php&quot;&gt;Regarding the different types of ices and the supported weight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.ontario.ca/mnr/en/2011/03/stay-safe---check-local-ice-conditions-on-late-winter-ice.html&quot;&gt;Regarding the general advices when crossing a river or lake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/301/tbs-sct/tb_manual-ef/Pubs_pol/hrpubs/TBM_119/CHAP5_3_e.html&quot;&gt;Regarding the different type of ice and how to make an articial snow bridge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="2608" LastEditDate="2013-10-11T07:01:46.650" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T07:01:46.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4379" CreationDate="2013-07-30T17:57:10.827" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an extremely long trail. Very good walkers are able to do 30-50 km (depending on weather and terrain) each day for a very long time. But for seasoned (though physically very fit) walker a realistic estimate is on avg. 25 km/day. So for 7000 km you would need 280 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorseiten.net/wiki/E3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the article on outdoorseiten.de&lt;/a&gt; the trail part in Romania is not done yet, it means, you would have to plan it yourself, according to general route description. You will need precise maps of this terrain. The mountain terrains are one of the most wild in Europe, so you'd need tents as well, and you should expect to be able to buy food only in bigger cities, so you'd have to take a plenty with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Carpatian part of Poland/Slovakia/Czech you could sleep in mountain huts. The prices shouldn't be more than 10 Euro/night. However, not everywhere you'll have electricity in rooms, so you can rely on maps in GPS receiver, but you should have a few of them (since you plan a group trip, it should not be a problem), and prepare mobile chargers as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Western European part, the prices would be higher, but you should expect not to have problems with electricity and food, so you would not need to take so much with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--edit--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My acquaintance has just made a way from Warsaw to Santiago de Compostella. Here is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lukaszsupergan.com/pieszo-z-polski-do-santiago-statystyki/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;original article with statistics&lt;/a&gt;, quick translation follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;111 days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4000 km distance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avg. 35 km/day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;29 nights under the roof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight of backpack: 13 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;body weight losses: 7 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;total cost: 400 Euro&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;main food source: containers near the supermarkets &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-08T20:25:52.763" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T20:25:52.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3523" CreationDate="2013-07-30T18:26:31.273" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ukrainian &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgany&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gorgany&lt;/a&gt;. One of the most wild places in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mieczys%C5%82aw_Or%C5%82owicz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mieczysław Orłowicz&lt;/a&gt; has written almost 100 year ago about one of the peaks, &lt;a href=&quot;http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C%D1%8F_%28%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Popadia&lt;/a&gt;, that from there no place inhabited by men is to be seen. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://tatry.inspiration.pl/viewtopic.php?t=3969&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people that were there&lt;/a&gt;, this sentence is still true. You will not see any artificial lights from houses, streets or cars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I haven't found the translation from the tourist guide of Orłowicz, but this is very beautiful fragment describing how wild that mountains are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T18:26:31.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4404" CreationDate="2013-07-30T19:27:38.837" Score="5" ViewCount="349" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any good winter sleeping bags geared towards women who like the color PINK? One that is good for backpacking and for cold (0 degree) temps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2374" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:34:39.683" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T02:34:39.683" Title="Pink Winter Sleeping Bags" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;women&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4393" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-07-30T19:35:08.903" Score="5" ViewCount="780" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heavy rain can soak all of your gear. There are some things that you don't ever want to get wet, like your camera. I've learned to protect those things with string bags, which are light and I always have a few with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it would be nice to protect my whole backpack from rain. A long, broad poncho is great, but I lost my good one and the next I bought was quite heavy and doesn't cover the whole backpack. When traveling abroad I have left it at home because of the size and weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I'm looking for concept to improvise some protection for my backpack during a trip. Garbage bags are good to hide a backpack inside and wait for rain to stop, but the problem with them is you can put the backpack inside the garbage bag, but then you can't put the backpack back on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:24:30.307" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:24:30.307" Title="How to improvise heavy rain protection for a backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4392" CreationDate="2013-07-30T20:24:22.443" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can settle on purple &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nunatakusa.com/site07/main_pages/fabrics_nunatak.htm&quot;&gt;Nunatak&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/sleeping-bags/sleeping-bags/three-season.html?ff_sleeping_bag_temp=86&quot;&gt;Feather Friends&lt;/a&gt; have good sleeping bags in those colors. One option could be to get a custom made sleeping bag from the cottage industry. Many will accept custom orders although they may not have something available in pink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T20:24:22.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4393" CreationDate="2013-07-30T20:30:49.923" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/dry_bags.shtml&quot;&gt;Roll top dry bags&lt;/a&gt; are fairly common. They are usually combined with either a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/pack_cover.shtml&quot;&gt;pack cover&lt;/a&gt; or a pack liner. The pack liner is commonly an over-sized roll top dry bag placed inside your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A cheaper option is to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000274JT4&quot;&gt;trash compactor  bag&lt;/a&gt; as a pack liner. They are usually cheap and easy to find in the USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the trash bag is put inside your bag so that you can still use the backpack. A regular trash bag might be too flimsy. Heavy duty bags are great and cheap for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loksak.com/purchase/aloksak-6.html&quot;&gt;aLOKSAK&lt;/a&gt; can help you protect small items. My experience with the similar OPSAK over an extended period of time (month+) is that you eventually have to replace them because of the closure. &lt;a href=&quot;http://litetrail.com/shop/litetrail-nylobarrier-odor-proof-bag&quot;&gt;Nylobarrier&lt;/a&gt; is an other option but it is only water resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-07-30T21:41:34.947" LastActivityDate="2013-07-30T21:41:34.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2013-07-31T15:30:02.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another solution similar to using rocks and trees to tie the tent down. It depends on how light you're traveling, you can tether your tent to a waterproof pack and use that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Month long canoe trip, camping on James bay for the night. Wide open spaces with forest far back from land. We had a tent make an attempt to blow away once already, found tethering it to packs worked well for the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/soWGz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tent tethered to packs to keep it from blowing away.&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2432" LastEditorUserId="2432" LastEditDate="2015-03-30T17:55:38.743" LastActivityDate="2015-03-30T17:55:38.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="218" CreationDate="2013-08-01T02:59:01.473" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have successfully made friction fires before, and it is possible. That said, it is not easy. I would reccomend leaning the bow drill. Use basswood, western red/eastern white cedars, poplar or cottonwood, among others. It is easier than other methods, but still requires a lot of practice. When I was learning the hand drill, I practiced EVERY DAY before I got my first ember. Practice often!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2433" LastActivityDate="2013-08-01T02:59:01.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4398" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4403" CreationDate="2013-08-01T12:02:09.977" Score="10" ViewCount="2338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see more and more sleeping bags designed for women.  I was wondering what were the major differences with the regular sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it have to do more with the shape or insulation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2013-08-01T17:10:40.950" LastActivityDate="2014-10-12T22:15:15.990" Title="What are the major difference between a regular sleeping bag and one designed for women?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;women&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4398" CreationDate="2013-08-01T13:39:28.877" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/mountain-hardwear-phantom-sleeping-bag-32-degree-down-womens&quot;&gt;product description&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Women-specific performance mummy cut means additional insulation in key areas where women tend to get chilled&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much of this is marketing hype is unknown to me. Most female hikers I know did not use a specific women-sleeping bag and did just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many high quality sleep systems I have looked at did not have this distinction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-08-01T13:39:28.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4407" CreationDate="2013-08-01T14:32:57.313" Score="36" ViewCount="39865" Body="&lt;p&gt;This, I believe, most of outdoor people once in a while do have to deal with: Rashes between thighs, around the groin. This may really screw the entire trip and make it annoyingly miserable to walk any further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best that I thought I can do to avoid them is, applying coconut oil before starting.&#xA;But when I trek through waterfalls or cross streams, this habit doesn't work. And, after that when I sustain such rashes, there is hardly anything that I can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, what can be done? What should be done to avoid them? And, what I can do to suffer less anyway if I sustain that thing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:25:31.797" LastActivityDate="2020-11-23T16:47:28.253" Title="Dealing with rashes between thighs and around the groin" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2013-08-01T15:46:39.887" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main solution I've found to this is to wear looser clothing in the groin area.  Boxers made of polyester or wool or something that breathes well.  Shorts as well if at all possible, but if not, pants with mesh in them somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, if you start getting a rash, dry out after you cross streams.  Use a product like &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bag_Balm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bag Balm&lt;/a&gt; or similar, often comes in stick form (looks like a deoderant stick).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-08-19T12:50:51.110" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T12:50:51.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4398" CreationDate="2013-08-01T16:29:27.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Woman's body generally produces less heat. So if sleeping bag is labeled as being for women, it will be thicker (and more expensive) having the same comfort zone as the model for men. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another difference is the consequence of the first. Producing less heat, women are more likely to have cold feet, so they need thicker insulation in lower part of sleeping bag, compared to men. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-01T16:29:27.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4398" CreationDate="2013-08-01T18:11:33.573" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;We did some research on this once and the results were kind of sad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For major backpacking brands of sleeping bags (say, Marmot or Big Agnes) the major differences between sleeping bags for the two genders were these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Women's sleeping bags were slightly smaller.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bag that is listed as a '20-degree bag' for woman would listed as a '10-degree' bag for men.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Women's bags came in more garish colors and frequently had pictures of flowers on them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number (1)&lt;/strong&gt; above seems fine.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Number (2)&lt;/strong&gt; seems highly dubious. Are we saying that women &quot;just can't take the cold&quot; as well as men? Is there (I really, really hope) evidence showing that women actually need more insulation for safety? I happen to know a few doctors, and they can't support this idea.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And &lt;strong&gt;number (3)&lt;/strong&gt; is the same for all women's outdoors gear. You know it's a woman's model helmet because it's pink and has flowers on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-10-12T22:15:15.990" LastActivityDate="2014-10-12T22:15:15.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4392" CreationDate="2013-08-01T18:14:31.817" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A wonderful woman I know has the Habenera bag by REI (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/skuimage/828484&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a warm bag. We've taken it backpacking in the snow and on mountains, and she likes it a lot. It's also a high-quality, light-weight bag. And it's pink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2014-01-28T15:28:13.537" LastActivityDate="2014-01-28T15:28:13.537" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3531" CreationDate="2013-08-01T19:41:43.173" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having just returned from our trip, I will try to provide a description of how we planned it and how things worked out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we arrived in Vienna we purchased a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kompass.de/produkte/produktdetails/product-detail/gesaeuse-pyhrn-eisenerz-1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topographic map of the Gesause region&lt;/a&gt; at a book store. With this in hand, we decided to take a train from Vienna to Gaishorn am See, to the south of the park. The train takes three hours and isn't very expensive, &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/18128/3350&quot;&gt;especially if you buy tickets more than a week in advance.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In retrospect, I'm not sure Gaishorn was the best choice, because it doesn't have any supermarket, although nearby Trieben has two. But it did have a hotel and some restaurants, and a trail that leads to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/Home/index.php?huetteNr=0156&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Modlinger Hutte&lt;/a&gt;, the hut we planned to sleep at for our first night. (it was very pretty, and the staff were very nice)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area of the park is one of valleys and mountain ranges, so that our plan was to hike downhill most mornings and uphill in the afternoons. In July the sun sets very late there, so there's plenty of time for a long rest at noontime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also ended up doing a lot of hitch-hiking, which is not for everyone, but people were very friendly and took us willingly. There are some bus routes on the roads the cross the park, but they're infrequent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Modlinger Hutte we descended to Johnsbach, where we had lunch (at a lovely hotel-restaurant, Gasthof zum Donner). We hitched a ride along the valley road to its eastern side and ascended to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/Home/index.php?huetteNr=0098&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hess Hutte&lt;/a&gt; that afternoon, and slept there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the Hess Hutte we descended to the main park valley. Other travelers told us that this path - which involves ladders and safety cables along a cliff - is not recommended in this direction, but we thought it was OK. From the valley floor we hitch hiked to the park pavilion, had lunch, and ascended to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/Home/index.php?huetteNr=0052&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ennstaler Hutte&lt;/a&gt;, where we stayed the night. This hut had an amazing view- one of the best I've seen, anywhere around the world, and they had a particularly cheerful staff. It's the &quot;don't miss&quot; place of the park, in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next day we descended to the park pavilion. We planned to ascend to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/Home/index.php?huetteNr=0094&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Haindlkarhütte&lt;/a&gt;, but were too tired, so we hitch hiked back to Johnsbach where we spent the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next morning we ascended back to the Modlinger Hutte, and though we were planning on going straight to Gaishorn am See (where we left things and had return train tickets) we instead walked to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/Home/index.php?huetteNr=0163&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oberst-Klinke-Hütte&lt;/a&gt; and hitch hiked from there down to the valley floor, and from there walked to Trieben.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some conclusions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) Sleeping arrangements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The huts were crowded, but not ridiculously so. We signed up as (foreign) members in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;alpenverein&lt;/em&gt; - the Austrian Alpine society&lt;/a&gt; - which provides a variety of benefits, including discounts at the huts and, supposedly, precedence in sleeping arrangements, but we didn't need the precedence. We didn't manage to catch any huts by phone in order to reserve our place, but it wasn't necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Austrian Alpine Society membership discounts were honored everywhere, although the staff of the Hess Hutte may have overcharged us under some very dubious circumstances - but since there's a language barrier involved, take this with a grain of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring either a light sleeping bag or a &quot;blanket cover&quot; for the huts. Not all the huts have showers. You can find out about them using the &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hut finder site&lt;/a&gt; which gerrit, which was also one of the most useful planning tools that we used early on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two useful links: &lt;a href=&quot;http://aacuk.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The UK branch of the alpenverein&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineclubvienna.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vienna English speakers branch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2) Language&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not knowing German was a liability both in planning and execution, but everything turned out fine, nonetheless. I have never been to huts with so few English speakers, though- it will require more boldness to enter into conversation with other guests, since all the conversations around you will be in German initially- but it can be done, if you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3) Equipment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can rain in the park, even in July, quite suddenly. We were hailed on. Bring rain gear. Walking sticks are also essential for a park which has almost no level walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add more information if anyone has any questions- we had a wonderful time and recommend the area. And we'll probably try another hut trek in Austria in the future!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:52:12.723" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T12:02:24.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4406" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4415" CreationDate="2013-08-01T20:44:37.003" Score="13" ViewCount="660" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to be able to commute part way to school via skiing, but can't carry around full length skis all day. Has anyone heard of or used a good pair of compact cross country skis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2432" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T00:17:02.507" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T00:17:02.507" Title="What collapsible or compact skis should I get for commuting?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2013-08-01T20:59:37.110" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found the best answer is tight underwear made from a slippery fabric with legs that extend just far enough down to cover where things rub in the crotch area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I currently have a pair of Underarmor brand that work very well.  They are made of a stretchy but slick synthetic fabric.  The garment stays in place on the skin.  That means the skin doesn't get rubbed and the garment takes the abrasion instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downside I've noticed is that since these things are kind of slippery, I have to make sure I tighten the belt of the outer pants properly else they tend to fall down more than with regular cotton underwear.  That only applies to long pants, like jeans.  Shorts are apparently light enough so that this doesn't matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might think that this kind of underwear would be hotter, but that turns out not to be the case.  I guess because it's always right up against the skin it doesn't trap any air, and the fabric itself is so thin as to not have appreciable thermal resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-08-01T20:59:37.110" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2013-08-02T05:27:40.377" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may be fighting an uphill battle, and may have a fungal infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was the case for me, which made it very hard to keep from getting rashes when backpacking/camping, or really, going anywhere without being able to shower daily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went to the doctor and had them prescribe me an anti-fungal medicine, which was Tolnaftate, the active ingredient in tinactin, lamisil, etc, for athletes foot and jock itch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After taking that for 10 days, it was like night and day, and I was virtually immune to it afterwards. I shortly thereafter went on a weeklong backpacking trip. Despite being relative filthy from not showering for 7 days, with only a single pair of polyester underwear, I was nonetheless free of any rashes. I did smell pretty awful though. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-08-02T05:27:40.377" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2013-08-02T06:50:12.777" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can prevent this by getting some talcum powder (baby powder) and putting it where you usually get the rash. Depending on how much you're sweating, apply it every few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also wear tight and long underwear so you minimize the friction, it's certainly the cheapest solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Give it a try, I had some &amp;quot;horror&amp;quot; hikes because of that, it just messes up the whole trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe try Corn Starch instead. It's more absorbent just as silky and at this time not a known Carcinogen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-11-23T16:47:28.253" LastActivityDate="2020-11-23T16:47:28.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4410" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4421" CreationDate="2013-08-02T16:43:46.247" Score="11" ViewCount="8120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always wondered about the permanent &quot;hooks&quot; (it seems the proper term for them is &quot;anchors&quot; — &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piton&quot;&gt;pitons&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolt_%28climbing%29&quot;&gt;bolts&lt;/a&gt;, etc.) that are placed in the some rock climbing routes to help climbers. Since they're fixed in the rock and used by everyone, I wonder, who is responsible to put them there and make sure they're secure? Are there regulations that need to be followed when placing them, e.g. minimum distance, stress tests, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While searching around for this, I found three Wikipedia articles (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_ascent&quot;&gt;First ascent&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_climbing&quot;&gt;Sport climbing&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid_climbing&quot;&gt;Aid climbing&lt;/a&gt;) which contain some related information, but don't directly answer the question. I expected the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_route&quot;&gt;Climbing route&lt;/a&gt; article to also provide some information, but most of it is about the naming of the routes, rather than how their anchors (if any) are placed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2440" LastActivityDate="2013-08-11T11:04:56.543" Title="Who places the anchors that rock climbers use?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4410" CreationDate="2013-08-02T19:55:59.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This varies by area. Often a local climbing group will manage anchors and route safety. In other areas it may be park management or a local council.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no fixed regulations as to position etc either - but teams will generally follow generally accepted good practices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maintenance is also variable - in some areas volunteers cover this, in others, donations are accepted from climbers in order to pay for regular maintenance. Usually local info is available to let you know about the management of routes and climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-08-02T19:55:59.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4412" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6864" CreationDate="2013-08-03T12:39:58.890" Score="16" ViewCount="10294" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a nice and small tent I really like that is around 30 years old.  It is from Sierra West, but I don't remember the model name.  Here is a picture so that you can see the size and general construction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NYgij.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tent is held up with two bows of fiberglass rods that fit into each other.  A small bow of 4 rods makes the arch at the foot end, and 6 rods are used at the head end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, one of the rods has just broken:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZW9I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rod is 14 inches long, the fiberglass part is 6.5 mm in diameter, and the outer diameter of the aluminum piece is 9.5 mm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fiberglass is cracked near the aluminum sleave, and it is rough with fibers sticking out at the right end where it fits into the aluminum sleave of the next piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is, the company that made this tent seems to have vanished and I don't know how to get replacement rods.  I'd like to get a complete set of rods, since if this one went the others are probably not far behind.  There seem to be aluminum rods available with bungy cord in the middle, but finding a set that is exactly the length this tent requires seems to be impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone know how to get parts for this old tent, or have any other ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it's easy to find generic replacement tent poles, but the ones I have seen are all quite different from what my tent uses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a particularly small tent and the radius of curvature is significantly smaller than other tents.  This means the thicker poles that are easy to find would be stressed much more.  Mine are only 6.5 mm diameter, probably for a good reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The replacement poles are also much longer than mine.  I suppose the long poles could be cut down, but cutting fiberglass is tricky and can easily damage the material if the right tools aren't used, which I probably don't have since I don't know exactly what the right tool would be.  I am imagining just cutting with a saw would fray the fibers, which is basically cracking the fiberglass, which can't be a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue is that the pole ends need to fit into the grommets on my tent.  I rather doubt there is such a thing as a standard grommet diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not as easy as just Googling for &quot;tent pole replacement&quot;.  Surely someone here has been thru this process before and has some words of wisdom?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added 2:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in response to a comment asking for more details of the rods.&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The grommets that the end of the tent poles fit into are just circular metal disks with holes in them.  I don't have the tent here, but the inner diameter of these holes is a little larger than the diameter of the tent poles, which is 6.5 mm.  The picture shows a middle piece, but the end pieces have black plastic end caps, with the tips of those being about the same diameter as the fiberglass rod (6.5 mm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The fiberglass rods are solid, so have no inner diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:44.097" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T23:33:54.383" Title="How to find new poles for old tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4412" CreationDate="2013-08-03T20:21:00.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are actually so incredibly easy to get, it doesn't really warrant an answer, but here goes anyway:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because these sort of poles are the de-facto standard these days, they are available everywhere. A google search on tent pole replacement gives me two pages of shops, Amazon, GoOutdoors (and some ebay sales)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you need is the length, diameter and how many pieces you want the pole to be and you can get them dirt cheap anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-08-03T20:21:00.293" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4383" CreationDate="2013-08-04T00:20:01.943" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have no choice but to cross a snow/ice bridge then normal practice is to be roped in with two other people and to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;page=1&amp;amp;rh=n:3402751&quot;&gt;snow probe&lt;/a&gt;.  If a 3m probe passes through without resistance then it's not safe to cross.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally the 3rd will self belay the leader and second, who start about 10 feet back, with the second belaying the leader. Cross in a perpendicular manner, and distribute your weight as much as possible (skis, snowshoes).  Whatever you do, don't stomp on the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-08-04T00:20:01.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4406" CreationDate="2013-08-04T01:39:00.423" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only retail folding skis are from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mtnapproach.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountain Approach&lt;/a&gt;, and they are touring skis with skins permanently attached, so are more of a snowshoe than a ski, and only really for going uphill in the back country (you fold them up when you summit and then snowboard down). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for short cross-country skis, there was a fad in the mid-late 90s when 145cm skis became popular for a bit, but I haven't seen anything like that in ages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-08-04T01:39:00.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4412" CreationDate="2013-08-04T02:57:53.607" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One trick is to get an aluminium tube the same size of the exiting one, about 3 inches long and slide it down over the split. A bit of glue or tape to hold it in place and you're good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-08-04T02:57:53.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4412" CreationDate="2013-08-05T10:54:26.207" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the only problem is that the replacement poles don't fit your grommets, I'd suggest you have to replace the grommets too. It doesn't look like 6.5mm poles would break; you'll have to keep in mind that in those 30 years the materials also got a lot better than back then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility is visit a tubing store and find something similar, although you won't find fiberglass there, but I'm sure if you really wanted to replace the pole, you'll end up with a good solution in a large hardware store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I wanted to replace the poles from my dad's old tent, I ended up buying a new one, because time is money too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T13:28:39.843" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T13:28:39.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4366" CreationDate="2013-08-05T14:31:44.900" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The way I see it, you have two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy some astronaut ice cream.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring/find some ice and &lt;a href=&quot;http://teachnet.com/lessonplans/science/plastic-bag-ice-cream-recipe/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;make ice cream&lt;/a&gt; in a plastic sandwich bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bet you could easily replace the ice in the standard 'ice cream in a bag' recipes with snow. You might have some trial-and-error to get the proportions right, but I bet it would work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would just bring some astronaut ice cream and sit around the camp site telling stories about the space program. But that's just me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T02:36:48.393" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T02:36:48.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2013-08-06T04:58:07.427" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My strong recommendation is one of the BlackRapid straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackrapid.com/products/curve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt; Black Rapid - THE WORLD’S MOST TRUSTED CAMERA STRAP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are solid products. Need some checking before setting off to make sure it's connected securely. I'd personally probably add some sort of redudancy to the system if I was to go climbing with it, but I've done long hikes and it keeps the camera out of the way until right when you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="696" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T13:49:48.293" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T13:49:48.293" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4410" CreationDate="2013-08-06T08:28:49.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two distinct styles of free rock climbing (with, as always, some grey areas). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &quot;trad&quot; (= traditional) climbing, the team carries their own removable gear. The leader places protection points whilst climbing and the second climber removes them again. There might be the odd piece of permanent gear - pitons or bolts - but the climbing team is basically responsible for arranging their own protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In sport climbing, bolts are pre-placed by &lt;em&gt;somebody&lt;/em&gt;, usually a local enthusiast or group of enthusiasts. How stuff is funded/maintained varies a lot from area to area, but it is almost always voluntary efforts of some kind. Formal standards don't exist, although most areas have best practices that are generally understood and adhered to by people putting in or maintaining fixed equipment. Exactly what these best practices are vary a lot from area to area depending on type of rock, proximity to salt water etc. IANAL, but from what I've read there might be some question of legal liability if people putting in fixed gear blatantly violate local best practices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bolt spacing norms in particular vary a lot from area to area. One of my local areas is the Frankenjura. There the locals generally bolt the routes so you won't hit the ground, but they don't care how scared you are. So you might be looking at doing hard climbing much further above a - solid - bolt than you are used to or comfortable with. A couple of hours in the opposite direction is Nassereith in Austria, where the bolt spacing makes some climbing gyms feel terrifying. (Sadly the climbing and scenery there are nowhere near as good as in the Frankenjura)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-08-06T08:28:49.803" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4422" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-06T20:56:47.230" Score="6" ViewCount="731" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today on the short geocaching trip I've barely escaped hail storm. It wasn't very long, but I was without any special equipment. Light umbrella would survive a few minutes, and my jacket would provide a limited protection from water for a short period of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the strategies to deal with such situations? Look for the protection of big tree (yes, I know, thunders, but staying on open ground is not a good idea either)? Search a thick bush? Improvise some umbrella from sticks and leaves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T06:29:54.843" Title="How to deal with hail outdoors without special equipment?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4422" CreationDate="2013-08-06T23:43:07.883" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was caught by a hailstorm the weekend before last.  I was high above the tree line, the nearest trees were perhaps 20 km away, and several hours hiking from shelter.  The hailstones were not huge, but large enough to hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cYQT8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hail above Gautelisvatnet&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Hail north of Rássevárri, above Guovdelisjávri, Narvik, Norway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's only one place to hide: under my backpack.  A backpack provides as much protection as is possible under such circumstances.  Hopefully it won't get damaged.  If it does, I rather have my backpack getting damaged, than myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This hailstorm lasted no more than 30 seconds, and I think that's common for hailstorms (although where I live, hailstorms are rare; it's the first one I've seen since I moved here in 2008).  Your backpack in available &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt;.  If it's painful, you might not have time to search for any shelter that is more decent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-08-06T23:43:07.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3740" CreationDate="2013-08-07T17:53:09.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of carrying bear spray, noise flares, and/or a rifle, how about carrying bear spray (primary) &#xA;and a large caliber pistol (backup at close range)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2451" LastActivityDate="2013-08-07T17:53:09.533" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="388" CreationDate="2013-08-08T06:17:02.237" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really hate to mention Walmart but I saw a collapsible rod for gear fishing there that collapses down to about 16&quot; and extends to around 5'.  It was really light and I think it cost about $20.  I had one of these a while back and it worked great on hikes.  At $20 I felt comfortable taking it out hiking without the fear of breaking it.  You'll also need a lightweight reel, a couple small rooster tails, and a hook.  Use what ever bait and weight you can find in the environment.  Trout love grasshoppers and beetles.  Usually mountain lakes are small and have smaller trout in them so you don't need anything heavy duty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tenkara is great for streams but I wouldn't want to fish from the shore of a lake with one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2452" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T06:17:02.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4422" CreationDate="2013-08-08T06:29:54.843" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always keep a folded parka or thick contractor garbage bag in the bottom of my pack - rain or shine.  My pack is designed such that I can get into the bottom through a zipper quickly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find any way to suspend it above you.  Put two sticks in it on the sides and hold the sticks up.  Or I prefer to tie/tuck one end on the top of my pack and hold it up the front while I pack on down the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2452" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T06:29:54.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2013-08-08T06:44:02.410" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The goal is to not to get wet or stay wet so wear the lightest most breathable clothing possible.  Even so, I put &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Bond&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Goldbond&lt;/a&gt; in my shoes and in my crotch every morning when I'm on the trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your skin gets wet after crossing a stream or freak rainstorm you may consider stopping and drying out the skin and putting on new dry clothes.  Hiking miles/km with wet skin that is being rubbed constantly WILL make for an uncomfortable trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hikers bring rain gear not because we are afraid of getting wet, but because we are afraid of the chafe and hypothermia.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2452" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-08-19T12:50:30.750" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T12:50:30.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4358" CreationDate="2013-08-08T21:00:04.110" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take my wisdom from &lt;a href=&quot;http://wild-campen.de/rechtslage-in-deutschland/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoor-magazin.com/service/touren-planung/wild-zelten.84199.3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;articles&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;kampieren&quot; is the thing that in most German Länder is not allowed in the forest (with some exceptions: &lt;a href=&quot;http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping#Deutschland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein&lt;/a&gt;). AFAIK it is defined by a list of &quot;housings&quot; that start with a tent as the &quot;smallest version&quot; (followed by caravans, cars, mobile homes). Tarps are not in this list. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;lagern&quot; is taking a rest and includes laying down. You can also lay down for the purpose of watching animals, and you may need your sleeping bag for that and an umbrella or a tarp against dew or rain. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is also the concept of free landscape (outside the forest) where according to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoor-magazin.com/service/touren-planung/wild-zelten.84199.3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2nd linked article&lt;/a&gt; camping by tent is not explicitly forbidden. However, this does hold only if the area is not currently in agricultural use (i.e. once the hay is off the meadow, you're fine, but not before)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Things are fine if you ask beforehand (though in German &quot;wild zelten&quot; has a very strong connotation of &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; asking). I tend to do that where it is obvious where to ask, and in countries where I speak enough of the language to ask with the help of hand and feet (but not enough to discuss if I'm caught).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emergency camping in alpine areas is called &quot;biwakieren&quot; and is allowed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do not need to mention that there are areas where even &quot;lagern&quot; over night is forbidden (e.g. natural reserves). There you also won't be able to argue convincingly that you didn't see the signs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that if you stay friendly and don't leave rubbish things are OK and if someone finds you they'll usually wish you a nice tour. It is no criminal offense, so even if the police or a forest officer find you, they &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; fine you, but they &lt;em&gt;don't have to&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've been &quot;cought&quot; by french gendarmes once on a hiking tour.  However, when we asked where we should &lt;em&gt;walk&lt;/em&gt; given that it was dark already we were allowed to stay over night but we had to put down the tent so the gendarmes would not need to get into discussions with the &lt;em&gt;motorized crowd&lt;/em&gt; that had had the same idea of a nice spot for camping (and had attracted the police in the first place).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Though I know someone who was caught in a natural park outside the allowed places and had to write a &quot;I'm-sorry-and-I-won't-do-it-again&quot;-letter and someone else who was fined) However, if it comes to a discussion, my guess is that you'll have a very hard time to convince a forester that your tarp is really that different from a proper tent, and that you had to put it up because you were in an emergency (how come that night fell completely unexpected by a person who thinks so much in advance as to bring a tarp? And it is really hard to get properly lost in our small forests...). I guess the approach &quot;Sure, we'll pack and leave immediately. Just &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; are we supposed to go now in the dark?&quot; is far more promising. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, btw: I call the activity on your photo &quot;Planen-zelten&quot; or &quot;Zelten ohne Zelt&quot; ;- ) the latter in reference to the famous &quot;We even have to eat our oatmeal without oatmeal&quot; [back translated into English from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods%3a_Rediscovering_America_on_the_Appalachian_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;A Walk in the Woods&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2013-08-08T21:07:01.597" LastActivityDate="2013-08-08T21:07:01.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4379" CreationDate="2013-08-09T01:02:31.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A general answer to a general question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long distance through hiking is a fairly well developed activity in terms of common best practices. I would suggest picking up a book on more popular through trails (The Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest trail in the U.S.) that has many handy suggestions. Take from it what you will based on the terrain you will cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gear&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choices vary &lt;em&gt;significantly&lt;/em&gt; on  your hiking philosophy, The Ray Jardines out there will say that you need to go as light as possible, bringing only a poncho for rain protection (both sleeping and hiking) and a sweater as a ground cloth, hike in sandals, backpack over one shoulder, etc etc. the more old-school expeditioners will rely on heavier packs and gear to be ready for everything and just deal with the weight. The modern athletic through hiker brings state of the art light-weight everything to combine both for a cost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially all you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need is a pack of some kind with food, and footwear. Depending on the conditions/terrain/country you may need or want to bring a tent, water purifier, stove+cooking equipment, navigation (gps/maps), snow/ice gear, entertainment. You may not need everything the entire time so your resupplies may require gear drops/pickups as well (for instance, early/late season PCT through hikers usually send themselves crampons and ice axes only when they get to the mountains, to avoid dragging the weight through the desert)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hiking&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Through hikes are typically separated into &quot;sections&quot; between resupply points. Nobody carries all their food on them the entire time, and people exit the trail to hike out to a nearby town  (or the town is on the trail) to purchase supplies, relax, do laundry, etc. In certain areas it may be necessary to ship yourself supplies because there are no general stores available to purchase food and gear. It is important to identify those sections and plan ahead. Some areas it might be possible to hike from town to town and sleep in hotels, other areas it might be necessary to hike a week or more in the wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Europe is a fairly well developed place compared to the western american wilderness, It may well be possible to hike through without much issue by going town to town and maybe skipping sections by hitchhiking or public transit with the most difficult parts in the eastern rural areas, without being familiar with the trail I wouldn't know which sections would be the most wild and which the most urban, but I suspect the trail is most likely very similar to the Appalachian trail with historic foot transit paths interconnected with constructed wilderness trail sections. The easternmost section hits the balkan mountains and is probably your most difficult section&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your average through hiker will typically do 15-30 miles ( 25-50KM) a day on flat terrain, dropping to 10-20 (20-40km) a day in mountainous terrain. When I hiked the signficantly shorter John Muir Trail, we were pushing 30-40 km a day with 1000-1500M of elevation gain every day, many of the longer distance through hikers did the same. Keep in mind that this doesn't include &quot;zero&quot; days or shorter days for recovery, which will drag your average down significantly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What limits you more than your vacation time is your weather window, you will likely not want to hike in winter, early spring, or late fall so your choice of route direction and time frame will be dictated by this. Making sure you pass your colder/taller areas in the summer to avoid winter mountaineering conditions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to plan for food expenses (budget 1.5-2x your typically monthly food bill), Gear replacement (you will go through several pairs of boots, shirts, pants, and socks), lodging, laundry, public transit (if you need to taxi,bus, or train out to a major population center for resupply), and extraneous (posting yourself your gear/food if necessary). It is very difficult to do a long trail like that as an athletic wilderness adventure, spending more than a week out in the wilderness takes a hard mental toll on you, and many through hikers treat the hike more as a tour of the area, taking their time in cities and towns along the way to relax and recharge, drink beers at local bars, etc. When doing long through hikes its amazing how appealing a bottle of beer or an ice cream bar marked up 3 fold is after being out for 10 days straight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is probably a good idea to purchase some kind of adventure insurance in case you require rescue or evacuation. I know for a fact that joining the german alpine club gives you evacuation insurance up to a certain amount as does the american alpine club, there may be similar clubs or associations where you live to do the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;small tip&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A smart phone with a gps and maps app, and a solar panel to charge can replace a gps reciever, extra batteries, and a stack of maps. Many AT/PCT through hikers have this set up, when it rains they place the phone in a plastic bag and can still use the screen while keeping it dry. This can also double as your nightime entertainment (download movies/tv shows when in town) and emergency communication. Additionally, a spare phone is not more expensive than a new gps receiver, the extra batteries, and map software for it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2013-08-09T01:23:11.610" LastActivityDate="2013-08-09T01:23:11.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4542" CreationDate="2013-08-09T11:22:10.540" Score="4" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;All-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a good 25-30 mile backpacking trail in southern NY or PA. I've looked into Allegany State Park and National Forest, but couldn't find a loop that would keep us out of campgrounds.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good loops in the system of state parks to the east of Allegany?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2453" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T13:46:38.860" Title="Backpacking in southern NY or PA" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4433" CreationDate="2013-08-10T04:10:59.427" Score="7" ViewCount="571" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be camping in Scandinavia during the winter, but I can't find any 1-person 4-season tents on REI or similar sites. Do these things exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could it be that I can't find them because it's highly advised against? (Yikes!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T02:25:21.423" Title="Are there 1-person 4-season tents?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4432" CreationDate="2013-08-10T09:37:49.590" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is at least &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ferrino.it/en/catalog/tents/99078-tent-bivy-hl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;one option&lt;/a&gt; from Ferrino, but I am sure there are more from &quot;mountain&quot; brands. Maybe you should stop looking for &quot;4 season&quot; and start looking for extreme/mountaineering/alpinism solutions, because high mountain expeditions usually imply low temperatures and high winds. But make sure you the tent is not an &quot;emergency&quot; tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you are right, sleeping in a 1-person tent in winter is &lt;strong&gt;not recommended&lt;/strong&gt; at all, at least if you have relatively little experience in winter camping. In e.g. -10 or -20 C it is still cold when you sleep tightly packed with your friends, and it is much worse when you are alone. And if you make a mistake letting yourself to get too cold, there may be no one around to help you. So in winter people in my area tend to travel in relatively big groups and (if possible) to have a log stove inside their tent, which is obviously impossible with a small tent (please don't take this as an advice to burn any kind of stove inside you tent, it is always very risky).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you still want to try, then there are some key points that you will want to check when shopping for your tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 canvas. The Ferrino tent above has only one, but that is because they try to minimise weight. If weight is not a problem, go for a two-layer tent, it's warmer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &quot;skirt&quot; at the bottom of the tent, which makes outer tent reach the ground, so wind is not beating into the inner tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should be designed for 1 person. The bigger the tent the more inner volume it has, which you have to warm up with your body heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should have good skeleton in case of a heavy snowfall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-08-10T09:37:49.590" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4434" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-10T19:27:02.037" Score="6" ViewCount="4059" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many mountain hikers recommend drinking hot fluids, because they provide a lot of energy. According to the discussion &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/488/does-eating-snow-help-dehydration&quot;&gt;Does eating snow help dehydration?&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, the actual calorie gain is minimal, however there are calories available practically immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, how hot can water/fluid be to be able to safely drink it (how many degrees)? Too hot water would burn your lips, but if the water is not hot enough to burn the lips, is it safe to swallow? Does the large amount of hot fluid in the stomach pose any threat to the body, or I can assume that anything I can swallow without getting burned is safe for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T07:45:41.027" Title="Is it safe to drink hot water? How hot can it be?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5163" CreationDate="2013-08-10T19:42:43.453" Score="5" ViewCount="150" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried to find a few caches, where the coordinates were showing the T-Mobile telestation, such like that:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XmXIg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm used to not being able to find geocache (I'm not enough experienced, or maybe simple I don't have good enough perception), but this case doesn't give me rest - I just couldn't figure any movable parts here, where something can be placed without risking damaging the machine or triggering alert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any 'standard' place to hide in such machines? I don't know any cacher around to ask for a tip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-18T19:29:33.483" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T14:34:22.467" Title="How to hide something at the telestation?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2013-08-11T04:01:48.227" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can shoot a human in self defense, so don't worry about shooting a bear if you have to. I have UK military experience, and let me tell you, shooting a moving target with a handgun is difficult. If a 400kg bear is coming at you, and you only have 5 seconds to get an accurate shot away with all the adrenalin flowing, then chances are you will not stop the bear, even if you are well practised with the handgun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only firearm I would consider for a CLOSE encounter with a bear is a pump action shotgun. Easier to aim and far more stopping power. Not a particularly convenient or inconspicuous piece of kit to carry when hiking! But you do have that as a legal option here in the U.S.?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But bear(!) in mind, your mindset will change if you are carrying a firearm. You may be tempted to go for the gun too readily when there is perhaps a better alternative course of action, e.g. talk loudly, avoid eye contact and move away slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, if I had a shotgun and bear spray, I would instinctively go for the shotgun first, which may be less effective than the spray. Given enough time though, I would fire shots in the air, before aiming at the bear. I have seen u-tube videos of Grizzlys scampering away in fear from the noise of a shotgun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2457" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2013-08-13T13:38:52.060" LastActivityDate="2013-08-13T13:38:52.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4410" CreationDate="2013-08-11T11:04:56.543" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know there are no general authorities for the placement of fixed gear and bolts may have been placed well or poorly.  There are however organizations that provide safety guidelines for placing and replacing bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Understand that while &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; bolts rarely fail there is always a good measure of faith involved.  You should learn how to inspect bolts and check every one that life or limb will depend upon, though that's easier said than done in many cases and you may have to trust guide books and beta from other climbers as to the suitability of bolts along a route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is my understanding that bolts are often not professionally placed, that is those placing them often have no &lt;em&gt;specific&lt;/em&gt; training or certification in their correct application.  A likely reason for this is liability mentioned on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alliedclimbers.org/education/bolt-replacement&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; Allied Climbers of San Diego page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;San Diego is plagued with outdated and dangerous climbing anchors. Most of San Diego’s climbing areas were established in excess of 30 years ago and are in desperate need of updating. Due to insurance and liability reasons, ACSD regrets that it cannot, itself, engage in climbing anchor replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That page continues with specific warnings starting with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any 1/4” bolt is a time bomb. Most come out by simply tapping a knife&#xA;blade piton between it and the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 5/16” bolts that have been removed were sound. However many were&#xA;installed with Leeper, Leeper look-alike, or SMC hangers – none of&#xA;which are safe. The thin steel has a tendency to crack where the steel&#xA;was bent, especially the older, thinner ones (there are 3 generations&#xA;of Leeper hangers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some safety tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not belay or top rope off a single 1/4” bolt or one of these older hangers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not count on one of these to keep you off the ground lead climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not trust an aluminum hanger, one swing of a hammer will break one off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much more detailed information is available from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Safe Climbing Association&lt;/a&gt;.  They have a collection of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org/education.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;articles&lt;/a&gt; on the subject of bolting and bolt inspection, such as: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org/education/dangerbolts.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dangerous Bolts - Bolts to Avoid&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org/education/howtorebolt.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;How To Rebolt&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  Some images are provided, sadly low resolution such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Bad Bolts&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hrZnQ.gif&quot; alt=&quot;bad bolts&quot; /&gt;  &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OTHMn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;good bolts&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of bolts you may encounter are at least to a degree region specific and you should familiarize yourself with whatever you are likely to come across.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safer Cliffs Australia has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safercliffs.org/code/bolt_guide.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bolt Guide&lt;/a&gt; with lots of pictures, as well as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safercliffs.org/code/photos.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a page of photos&lt;/a&gt; of some of the terrifying stuff you might come across.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-08-11T11:04:56.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4438" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-11T16:34:09.410" Score="3" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sleeping bag (at least as I've understood it) works in that way, that it uses the heat the body creates to create a layer of heat air between the body and the sleeping bag's border, therefore providing pleasurable feeling of warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But after watching some videos about people such as Wim Hof and scientific research on their body's behaviour, I've found that something quite opposite is taking place there. Their skin is getting very cold, while the body core remains hot. So, there's no pleasurable feeling of warmth, there's no warm air layer, the skin is feeling trembling cold, and the body protects itself from cold isolating the skin from the body core, therefore using skin as isolating layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, when using sleeping bag, the body is not trained to develop such mechanism, because the skin has always contact with warm air, am I getting it right? So, actually, isn't using sleeping bags stopping the body from real accommodation to cold conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-13T08:20:30.927" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:51:30.517" Title="Will using a sleeping bag stop the body from adapting to cold?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;cold&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4439" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4495" CreationDate="2013-08-11T16:52:51.200" Score="14" ViewCount="1262" Body="&lt;p&gt;Various sources (mostly TV stations, at least in my region) are constantly warning about the danger of cold shock response, if someone goes to water too quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But on the other hand, Bear Grylls is famous for not passing any occasion of jumping naked into ice-cold water. The sudden heat loss by swimming in such cold water (near 0 degree) must be immensely greater that when you go from heat air into c.a 20 degree water in summer. And I've never heard of him having cold shock response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is the cold shock response a real danger for someone used to cold water? Or it's just a problem for people who never take cold showers and swim only in summer? Or it's just an urban myth, popularized by media in cucumber season?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:53:43.070" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:53:43.070" Title="Is cold shock response a real danger, if someone is used to cold water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4435" CreationDate="2013-08-11T17:24:34.970" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends on what sort of cache it is, and how big it is. I presume it is some sort of 'micro' or 'nano' cache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One popular type for these is a screwtop magnetic container, eg &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.geocaching.com/default/cache-essentials/cache-containers/nano-cache-container.html&quot;&gt;Nano Cache Container&lt;/a&gt;. These are only about 1cm diameter and height, and often silver or black. So if stuck onto something metal, it can be hardly noticeable. It might just look like a bolt head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with that sort of telephone booth, but from the photo it looks like there is plenty of metal surface. So a magnetic container could be stuck on any of that, maybe underneath something. Also, it may look like a bolt, so it might help to feel around, and see if anything moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2013-08-11T17:24:34.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4441" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4447" CreationDate="2013-08-11T18:40:53.013" Score="0" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mosquitoes are the one of the most disliked &lt;s&gt;pets&lt;/s&gt;pest, but they don't seem to take it to heart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I go fast through their territory, they seem to have problem with biting me (but if there are enough of them, they manage to do it), but they are circling around me and bite with joined force when I stop. Sometimes after I have to run a bit to get rid of them, but some are still chasing me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if there are tests made, to check, what speed is necessary to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make it hard/impossible for mosquito to bite? Are the fast hand/leg movement more important factor than the core speed?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To leave mosquitoes behind, assuming they are willing to pursue you (if you go from shadows into full sun, they probably aren't)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-12T22:10:16.943" Title="Chasing with mosquitoes" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4442" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4516" CreationDate="2013-08-12T05:33:12.867" Score="3" ViewCount="1665" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kifaruforums.net/showthread.php?t=10667&amp;amp;p=116870#post116870&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Pyromid grill&lt;/a&gt; at a garage sale without a manual, and have an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ecoque.com/portable-grills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ecoque grill&lt;/a&gt; manual. I would like to know if I need to do anything different from the Ecoque instructions to operate the Pyromid grill. Unfortunately, Pyromid is out of business, so I cannot ask them anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2456" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-16T18:07:40.023" LastActivityDate="2015-12-27T00:56:48.767" Title="How similar are Ecoque grills to Pyromid grills?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;grilling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4434" CreationDate="2013-08-12T05:49:20.487" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the answer is highly personal, as an avid coffee-drinker, hot is for me what scalding might be for someone else. But if I am to give some kind of benchmark, I would say 45°C is a pretty good temperature to aim for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not as hot as to scald your mouth, but hot enough to give you some warmth if drank in sufficient quantities. But if you want to carry &quot;optimal&quot;-heating potential, I suggest you try to keep your water boiling hot, and mix it with colder water when drinking. Since you don't have to carry around 4 litres of lukewarm water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this will shed some light on your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-08-12T08:12:48.643" LastActivityDate="2013-08-12T08:12:48.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4444" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4446" CreationDate="2013-08-12T06:45:10.530" Score="15" ViewCount="7530" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for alternative ways of hunting small game (rabbits, pigeons, etc.) besides a rifle/pistol, and the requirements I have found to be the most important are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Effective - Gaining more calories than spending.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight - Has to be as small and light as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not ammo dependant - Either using no ammunition or retrievable ammo.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fast - This rules out snares since the hunt have to be made either on the go, or actively to avoid being locked down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So with these requirements locked down, the only thing I can think of is some sort of bow or crossbow, but these are pretty cumbersome (the latter more than the former) and I might be in a blind spot here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What tools besides a crossbow or a bow would fill these requirements?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-27T00:08:41.117" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T15:48:39.967" Title="Non-gun hunting tools for small game" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4439" CreationDate="2013-08-12T07:32:07.593" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do believe cold-shock is a real threat, but the reaction is a combination of physical and psychological reactions. As being dropped in near freezing water is a horrendous experience, even for the more hardy of us. The mind goes into full panic, only wanting to get up out of the water, often flailing and thrashing to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The physical effect just pours gasoline on the fire created by our paniced mind, shortness of breath, muscles getting sluggish, cramps etc. just creates more panic. If you have undergone some cold water training, you know that it is very important to keep your cool(no pun intended), and to focus on staying afloat and to not panic. Easier said than done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion: If you are used to cold water, I don't believe cold-shock is &lt;strong&gt;as much of a danger&lt;/strong&gt; as if you are untrained. Just as you stay in control of the situation, and try to get up, safely and quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-08-12T08:15:29.590" LastActivityDate="2013-08-12T08:15:29.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2013-08-12T08:27:33.370" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It requires a fair amount of skill to be highly accurate with (more than I ever developed anyway) but the elastic-band slingshot meets these requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flat-band (as opposed to tubular) slingshots in particular can achieve a high velocity making them effective in both external and terminal ballistics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are few tools lighter than a standard wooden Y slingshot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lead shot is best but even pebbles would be effective on small game, especially at close range.  (Lead has the advantage of carrying more energy farther.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A slingshot can be easily carried or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5h0sGu5POY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;worn&lt;/a&gt; due to the compact size and light weight, and requires little preparation before a shot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the content is clearly designed for entertainment you should check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/user/JoergSprave&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Slingshot Channel&lt;/a&gt; by Jörg Sprave.  Many entries are hilariously ridiculous but if you look deeper (specifically the older videos) you'll see how powerful these tools can be as well as many varied and original designs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-08-21T16:37:34.687" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T16:37:34.687" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4441" CreationDate="2013-08-12T22:10:16.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mosquito.org/faq&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mosquito.org/faq&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How fast can mosquitoes fly?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending upon the species, mosquitoes can fly at about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got that source from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/a-low-tech-mosquito-deterrent.html?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this recent article&lt;/a&gt; about using a fan to keep mosquitoes away.  It seems mosquitoes are slow fliers.  A normal walking pace should be enough to out run them.  That being said, you can still walk &lt;em&gt;into&lt;/em&gt; other mosquitoes, and there are other, faster, flying insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1778" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-08-12T22:10:16.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4448" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4453" CreationDate="2013-08-13T05:09:52.663" Score="13" ViewCount="3361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked some in my life, and gotten used to carrying a small axe for chopping wood for the fire. But after I bought my self a large fixed-blade bowie knife, I find myself relying less and less on the axe for chopping since the knife very much acts like a small axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my pickle is, now that my axe is left in the dust by a more versatile tool(?), would it make sense to completly remove it from my pack list? Or are there more benefits to a small axe that I can't see?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps it is better to carry a small axe and a normal-sized fixed-blade knife instead of the pretty large bowie knife? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:55.200" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T14:57:10.083" Title="Will the benefit of an axe outweigh the drawbacks and win over a large knife?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3577" CreationDate="2013-08-13T06:12:52.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do believe that what &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/1942/don-branson&quot;&gt;Don Branson&lt;/a&gt; said in the comments is very much right on the money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a friend whom have worked with leather for quite some time now and according to him, a round leather lace should be the best approach if you want something with more staying power than a normal braided string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. Just remember to keep those leather laces in good condition by greasing them regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-06-30T11:41:26.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2013-08-13T14:51:12.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been on many multi day hikes, and have used both folding knives and fixed blade knives, I like to use a larger duty belt which I use to attach my Binoculars, Water Canteen, Pouch for snacks and my knife, It sits nicely in a small cover which holds great on the belt! The best thing about having the belt is that it will always be on you even if you need to remove your bag, and it is easily accessible. And also great when resting, as it can be easily taken for for a few minutes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2461" LastActivityDate="2013-08-13T14:51:12.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4448" CreationDate="2013-08-13T15:04:52.473" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really don't find any specific need to carry something which is so heavy and bulky, and something that can cause injuries due to unsafe packing, unsafe way of carrying, unitended mishandling, when you have a fairly safer substitute for that. I have used one such fixed-blade knife for from cutting woods to making a make-shift raft. You may (may God not put you in such a situation) need something like an axe you are referring to, for making a raft which would endure long enough to take you in wild sea/oceans and sustain tides. Because, you will have to make it out of Huge and mainly Broad wood trunks. Now that is when you will need to have that axe with you, having a knife would be very uneasy to craft/build one such thing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But, that I doubt if you ever need to do such a thing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yeah, if I know that I am gonna camp at a site for long time, say 5-6 days, then instead of arranging timber everyday, using a knife to cut wood, I would take my axe with me, spend some time (2-3 hrs) with wood and axe, And, that will save me from doing that task in pieces everyday at the camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2013-08-14T12:31:17.107" LastActivityDate="2013-08-14T12:31:17.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2013-08-13T15:57:42.000" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A slingshot, as has already been mentioned, is a very efficient method of accelerating shot, or pebbles if you must, to hunt small game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Sling is something that hasn't been mentioned.  It takes an awful lot of practice to get good enough to hunt reliably with one, but it can be done.  It is more forgiving that a slingshot in terms of what ammo you use, so pebbles will work just as well as shot for this.  It is lighter and smaller than a slingshot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bolas requires no ammo at all, and is nothing more than rope in terms of carrying capacity.  your range is reduced, but takes less practice than a sling to get accurate with.  Most techniques of using these will tangle, rather than kill, your prey, so you will still need to kill it by hand (you have a knife, I assume).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roping can work on slightly bigger prey, and some birds, using a rope or net to tangle your prey. A small-celled net can work on very small game.  Again, your range is reduced even further here, but requires much less practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thrown implements, ranging from a rock to a spear can also work, with varying range and skill requirements.  A spear can have a decent range, and can be accurate enough to hunt with well, and should be re-usable with minimal maintenance.  If the shaft breaks though, you will be without a hunting tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the legality of all these methods is dependent on where you are hunting, these recommendations are from a purely practical viewpoint.  I would still go with a bow out of choice, myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2242" LastActivityDate="2013-08-13T15:57:42.000" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4448" CreationDate="2013-08-14T12:38:41.167" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never taken an axe or hatchet camping with me, and I canoe-camp and car camp where space and weight are far less an issue than they are for hikers. In addition to weight and space there is the safety issue using a heavy tool that you swing hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a folding saw (and carry spare blades) and it does whatever I need. I cannot split large logs with it, but I never need to do that - I section smaller logs and trees (up to the thickness of an arm) and have no problems having fires. Axes and splitters are for home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PfJTH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;saw&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one is about 6-8&quot; long, costs $20 at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/6/Tools/CuttingChopping/AxesHatchetsBowsaws/PRD~0760067P/Coghlans+Sierra+Folding+Saw.jsp?locale=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canadian Tire&lt;/a&gt;, and has met our needs for decades. We carry spare blades for it which I presume we bought at the same time. I think we snapped a blade once and replaced it on the spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-08-14T12:38:41.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4454" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-14T13:57:30.913" Score="18" ViewCount="7994" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3952&quot;&gt;question about old ropes&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an old plastic tent. It is for 3 persons, but is heavy and now not waterproof anymore, with some damage to the small room around the door.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I use it in its end-of-life?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an idea to carry it to some place that I go often enough, pitch it there with all the windproof stakes and leave it there. Is this a good idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T19:36:59.983" Title="What can I use an old tent for?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;recycling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4454" CreationDate="2013-08-14T15:04:45.640" Score="19" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I decided to trash my tent, which was so old and was no longer of any use for active camping, I and my mentor in trekking, firstly used the same tent to teach kids of how to pitch a tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also used some part of the tent fabric to make a sort-of a sand bag for me, which I used to tie to my legs during my running sessions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have also used a piece of fabric of an old tent to add a patch to the bottom of my sack which was on the verge of getting torn off. This little money-saving trick let me use the same sack for about 20 hikes (more), and then finally I got rid of that sack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Along with this, I have seen one of my friends using 2-3 layers of that fabric as a sheet which he puts beneath his sleeping bag, in order to ensure that he doesn't have to ever (dry)wash the sleeping bag.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then, I can suggest one more use of it, that usually material of a tent is hard to tear through effortlessly. So, If I am carrying something like a hunting knife, I can make a carrying pouch for it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could make a tent or a similar kind of thing for your pet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If nothing out of above, the best that you can do is, Give it to kids, let them learn! I learnt to pitch the tent using a similar kind of tent that my uncle gave me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T08:03:46.370" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T08:03:46.370" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4457" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4459" CreationDate="2013-08-15T01:14:48.150" Score="3" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've researched &lt;em&gt;extensively&lt;/em&gt; and yet I'm still not sure what to do for rainy/freezing temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I don't want to bring a beanie, how do I apply the layering principle to my head? Is it enough that only my hard shell has a hood or should I obtain an insulating or at least a mid layer that has a hood? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T15:42:45.850" Title="Clarification need on layering principle for head in wet/rainy conditions" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1520" CreationDate="2013-08-15T01:47:38.887" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I first bought a MSR Fuel Bottle (325 ml, aluminum) for packing denatured alcohol for my Trangia stove. Hiked with it for over a year with no leaks (safety-lock cap) or issues. Just bought a Trangia Fuel Bottle (300 ml, polythene) with push-button cap for dispensing fuel. Both high quality bottles. Discovered that the caps for each bottle thread into the other product bottle, no problem. Though the O-rings and cap lip are slightly different sizes, the Trangia dispensing cap easily threads and seals into the MSR bottle. The MSR safety-lock cap does thread into the Trangia bottle, however, the safety-lock cap does not completely seal on the Trangia bottle due to the (larger) metal reinforcing ring on the Trangia bottle preventing the cap from fully seating. I also tried the MSR Expedition Fuel Bottle Cap (non-safety cap) and that sealed on the Trangia bottle, but the cap lip and O-ring size were slightly larger than those of the original Trangia dispensing cap. I have not field tested the Trangia dispensing cap on the MSR bottle, but in a 15-minute inverted position leak-test there were no signs of fuel leakage from the thread/cap area. The Warning on the Trangia bottle warns &quot;Don't pressurize the bottle.&quot; The MSR bottle advises &quot;Contents under pressure.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2466" LastEditorUserId="2466" LastEditDate="2013-08-15T01:57:20.410" LastActivityDate="2013-08-15T01:57:20.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4457" CreationDate="2013-08-15T06:47:39.263" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You would normally dress for the activity you're about to preform, and then add a watertight layer on top of your other layers. You also have to be certain that while the wet can't get to you from the outside, your poncho won't protect you against your on perspiration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to address your direct question, you should insulate your head to protect against the cold. Perhaps a beanie is not the right way, try a bandana or headband, just try to keep something between your head and the cold outer layer to keep yourself warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2013-08-15T06:47:39.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4460" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-15T08:59:11.970" Score="11" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been fly fishing with my dad for a number of years but recently I went on my own and hit quite the stumbling block... I didn't know how to set the kit properly, normally I drive the boat while my dad sets up the rods, and as much as I try to watch what he is doing I also have to not crash the boat. The main issue I had was setting up the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a reel which has a loop on the end of the fly line (floating line) and I was unsure how to connect that to a leader, and the leader to the tippet. I already know how to attach the fly to the tippet (I use a tucked blood knot). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I would like to know is:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How do I attach a leader line to a fly line that has a looped end? (What knot do I use?) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How do I attach the leader line to the tippet line? (What knot do I use?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How long should the leader and tippet lines be? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How strong should the tippet and leader lines be? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am targeting 0.5-2 kilo brown trout in natural rivers &amp;amp; lakes, trout have good sight &amp;amp; the water is very clear in the Swedish mountains so I like to keep it as thin &amp;amp; hard to see as possible. Likewise the knots should be neat and small, in my experience big lumpy knots will deter the fish &amp;amp; make casting more problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2467" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T11:16:25.573" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T04:01:48.733" Title="Fly fishing rig knots" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4461" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4463" CreationDate="2013-08-15T09:12:55.497" Score="13" ViewCount="4215" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider a vertical rock face with clip-ins 3 meters apart, dynamic rope, no more than 15 meters ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess most probable and dangerous is to fall just as one is clipping in. This way the rope is overextended, plus one i holding with only one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How dangerous is it for a for a &lt;strong&gt;beginner climber&lt;/strong&gt; to fall? What protection equipment should be used. What training exercises should be completed beforehand?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2020-09-04T15:03:48.937" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T15:03:48.937" Title="How dangerous is it to fall 3 meters when lead climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5267" CreationDate="2013-08-15T11:19:42.480" Score="11" ViewCount="2565" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a former member of the Swedish home guard youth, I was told during a survival exercise that you could eat only freeze-dried food for about two weeks. Young and green as I was, I swallowed the statement without any further thought. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have come to discover that this statement was not all truth. The recommendation is given by the Swedish military to make sure that soldiers don't go too long without varying their meals. Since the MREs (meals ready to eat) you are getting at the army is somewhat limited in variation, they also recommend that you try to eat plenty of fibre alongside your allotted food rations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deciding to test this out by myself I bought the approved MRE (aka. Grönpåsen) for full two weeks. After about a week of nothing but freeze-dried, I felt pretty normal in forms of physical strength and nothing stood out. Aside from the fact that I went to the bathroom about three times in that week, it didn't feel like anything was wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the full two weeks, I felt that nothing had changed, except the regularity of my bathroom visits (and the fact that I was getting pretty bored with the food). I should probably have ate something rich in fibre on the side to alleviate the lack of it in my diet. This I discovered when I returned to eating normal food, let's just say that I was struck by &quot;Montezuma's revenge&quot; a couple of hours after my first &quot;normal&quot; meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;What is the maximum time one could live on freeze-dried food and keep a&#xA;healthy level of nutrients and minerals?&#xA;Also, how would this diet affect the digestion?&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-06-22T17:03:31.093" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T13:33:38.933" Title="What is the longest time you can go, eating only freeze-dried food?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4461" CreationDate="2013-08-15T14:24:22.503" Score="19" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How dangerous is it to fall 3 meters when lead climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends a lot on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt;. Counterintuitively, the fall factor is higher, indicating a more dangerous fall, when you are near the beginning of a pitch. This is because there's less rope out, so there's less stretchiness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Steed's comment points out, you're going to fall more than 6 m in this situation, not 3 m. After you get your first clip in, you may have a false sense of security; by the time you're reaching for the second clip (which is 6 m up in the situation you've described), you have enough rope out so that if you miss the clip and fall, you're going to hit the deck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different falls can have different run-outs. A fall from an overhang is actually the safest, since you can't hit anything. Depending on the route, you could swing like a pendulum, or slide down a slab and get cheese-grater injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What protection equipment should be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A helmet. If you're trad climbing, that's a whole different thing -- we'd be talking about a trad rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What training exercises should be completed beforehand?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start by learning to give a lead belay, and practice doing that enough times so that you understand the whole process well. Learn by watching your climber while belaying. Discuss things verbally with your climber. Help your climber catch mistakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn not to back-clip, z-clip, put your thumb through the biner, or back-step the rope. Spend some time at home practicing clipping efficiently in a variety of positions with a quickdraw hanging on a doorknob.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do fall, absorb the impact against the wall with your legs, and don't grab the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn the steps involved when you get to the top of a sport climb. This is actually pretty complicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some advantages to learning to lead in a gym. For example, the routes tend to be constructed so that the run-outs are very safe, there is no danger from rock-fall, and you don't have to worry about the quality of your anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-08-15T14:38:21.280" LastActivityDate="2013-08-15T14:38:21.280" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2013-08-15T20:31:13.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to point out something not addressed in AlanL and DavidR's answers. There doesn't seem to be any allowance made in STW's friend's procedure for a safety backup for the rappel, e.g., in case rockfall causes you to lose your grip on the brake strand. The standard technique for this, described in ch. 11 of Freedom of the Hills, is to use a runner to extend your rappel device, and attach a Prusik to the brake strand. If you're putting a biner through both tie-in loops, then not only do you risk cross-loading the biner, as DavidR pointed out, but it sounds like you're not extending your rappel device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I make the extension by girth-hitching to my belay loop. This appears to be the method shown in the diagram in FotH, although the text is (to me) unclear: &quot;Girth-hitch the loop ... to the harness, around both the waist belt and the leg loop attachment.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me, the issue of having a backup is primary, and the issue of whether it's OK to girth-hitch to the belay loop is secondary. You could certainly rig the extension using an additional biner in order to avoid the girth-hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-08-15T20:31:13.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4466" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4468" CreationDate="2013-08-16T00:12:35.873" Score="11" ViewCount="9701" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few questions regarding safety of water purification, one regarding expiration date, another regarding iodine, but I know that there are more than one types of water purficiation tablets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am using a water-pump filter. Is it necessary to combine this with a water purification tablet? Katadyn, a water filter company, suggests doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this makes me question the safety of putting such chemicals into my drinking water. In general, is it best to just avoid it? Or are there any water purification tablets that are proven safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:57.610" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T13:40:36.740" Title="Are water purification tablets safe?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4466" CreationDate="2013-08-16T01:14:41.263" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campsaver.com/squeeze-water-filter?gclid=CLHJmtjjgLkCFYxcMgodrQsA8A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sawyer Filter&lt;/a&gt; without using purification. I carry iodine tablets as a backup. Iodine's been in use for decades, and I don't worry at all about using them when necessary. Ray J. recommends being smart about choosing your water sources, which I am. When I was a kid I drank straight from the streams without any purification or any problems, so perhaps I have some immunities from that. People today are way too worried about water purification, if you ask me. People in some countries survive worse water from their taps than we have from our streams. We also worry too much about chemicals, probably. Water is a chemical, and an extremely dangerous one in pure form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-08-16T01:14:41.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4466" CreationDate="2013-08-16T03:06:54.463" Score="13" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I am using a water-pump filter. Is it necessary to combine this with a water purification tablet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As discussed &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4058/2169&quot;&gt;in this answer&lt;/a&gt; and at greater length &lt;a href=&quot;http://lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, the need to treat backcountry water before drinking it is largely a myth. Neither the filter nor the tablets are needed. You're better off focusing your efforts on avoiding the real reason that backpackers are likely to get sick, which is hand-to-mouth contamination. Practice good potty hygiene, and don't share pots with your hiking partners (whose gut flora your body hasn't got a tolerance for).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're traveling in the third world, or drinking water that you collected downstream from a poultry farm in Arkansas, that's a different matter. Filters work against protozoan cysts. Tablets kill bacteria and viruses. Another good option to consider is a steripen, which treats water using UV light. It kills cysts, bacteria, and viruses, is more compact than a filter, and is faster than tablets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Katadyn, a water filter company, suggests doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Katadyn sells tablets, so they have an economic interest in propagating myths about the need for water treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, this makes me question the safety of putting such chemicals into my drinking water. In general, is it best to just avoid it? Or are there any water purification tablets that are proven safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iodine is a nutrient that your body needs. That's why they iodize salt. So the question is not really whether iodine is bad for you but whether a certain amount is good or bad for you. The lethal dose in humans is a couple of grams, and it kills you by oxidizing proteins. A typical concentration used for purifying drinking water is about 3 mg/liter, so by drinking a liter of water you're getting about a thousandth of the lethal dose. For comparison, a gram of iodized salt has about 0.02 mg of iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-08-23T14:41:21.303" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4431" CreationDate="2013-08-16T13:55:04.287" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Path_%28Catskills%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Devil's Path in the Catskills&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nynjtc.org/region/long-path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Long Path&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little further north in the Adirondacks is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nptrail.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Northville-Placid Trail&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2374" LastEditorUserId="2459" LastEditDate="2013-08-21T12:30:08.263" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T12:30:08.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4470" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4477" CreationDate="2013-08-16T15:03:25.707" Score="29" ViewCount="3777" Body="&lt;p&gt;I covered quite a lot of ground, but approaching 36 my knees are starting to give me troubles. Should I expect trekking poles to restore my previous stamina and walking durability? Or are they just fancy status symbols? :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2426" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T01:45:08.930" Title="Are trekking poles proven to be helpful?" Tags="&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2013-08-16T17:15:33.387" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles are a great helper if you have problems with your knees after a long march. A pain 'in knees' is usually a pain in the muscles around the knees, that are responsible for maintaining equilibrium. Those muscles are not very active if you walk on footpath, but in outdoors they are intensively used. With trekking poles, the equilibrium is maintained by providing additional fulcrum. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can say with my experience, that using trekking poles have enabled me keeping pace with my comrades in mountains, which without poles were very hard for me, and additionally I had problems with knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But mention also, that using trekking poles will train your arm muscles, but will not train that muscles that are making problems by you. So you can become trekking-pole-dependent. After increasing my stamina with trekking poles, I've started to train walking without them, at begin in plains, than in mountains. Now I use them very seldom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also from my experience, trekking poles are decreasing fatigue of leg muscles, but increasing the fatigue of arm muscles, and overall you use more energy. I was able to increase distance walking without trekking poles. But if my knees are saying that they are too tired, I switch to trekking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-16T17:15:33.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2013-08-16T17:36:40.707" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard rumors of studies that show that trekking poles reduce the force on your legs during a hike (by transferring it to your arms).  The only reference to a study I could find was this one, but I wouldn't know how to verify that the study was well constructed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=77477&amp;amp;CultureCode=en&quot;&gt;2010 UK Study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This showed about a 25% reduction in the strain on the leg muscles of hikers (measured by an analysis of chemicals in the muscle tissue, and also the precived amount of muscle soreness from the hikers).  The hikers trekked up and down a mountain trail in the UK, so it seems like a fairly realistic test.  The study measured exertion of muscles, not knee injuries, but I would assume that reducing muscle strain would also reduce overuse injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My experience&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My totally antectodal experience is that 100% of the people I know who hiked long distances on the Appalachian Trail (either through-hikers, or guys that hiked a long portion) used trekking poles, and swore by them.  They claim the poles reduce the strain on their knees, let them hike faster, and made them a little more stable when descending a trail.   This included one 60-ish hiker, for whatever that's worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I have no way to back this up, but I would &lt;em&gt;speculate&lt;/em&gt; that anything that made you more stable on your feet would reduce the risk of, say, slipping and tearing your ACL while descending a loose trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No Silver Bullets&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you're having knee problems while hiking, you should think of trekking poles as &lt;em&gt;part&lt;/em&gt; of your strategy to address that.  Other things may include, looking at your shoes, maybe losing weight (if you're overweight), maybe adding in some lite strength training and stretching for your legs, reducing pack weight, and maybe even picking less aggressive hiking goals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-08-18T15:01:31.587" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T15:01:31.587" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4473" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-08-16T18:10:14.173" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Grilling is the outdoor cooking technique, using grill devices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very popular outdoor activity in many countries, for example Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-17T12:13:06.003" LastActivityDate="2013-08-17T12:13:06.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4474" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-08-16T18:10:14.173" Score="0" Body="Questions about outdoor cooking on fire using grill devices." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-17T12:13:18.143" LastActivityDate="2013-08-17T12:13:18.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4475" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-16T18:16:07.383" Score="5" ViewCount="453" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I tried to ignite coal on a grill device, without using kindling (we ran out of it). I gathered a lot of small twigs and a bit of medium ones. I managed to set all this on fire, but the coals didn't ignite, and it was extinguished soon after the twigs were out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've observed my grandmother putting coals into the fire in the oven, but after twigs, she put blocks of wood into the fire, so the temperature was quite high. It's not applicable on a grill device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special techniques of putting coal into the fire with the campfire of limited size, such as those on a grill device? Is it possible to achieve the temperature with such a small fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:29:35.963" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:29:35.963" Title="How can I ignite coal on a grill device without using kindling?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;grilling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4476" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-16T20:27:27.263" Score="3" ViewCount="100" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any schoolings/trainings for orienteering skills in Germany?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike during weekends, but mostly using GPS (geocaching) or using trails, so there's not much opportunity to fully train orienteering skills. &lt;strong&gt;Orienteering runs are not for me&lt;/strong&gt;, because I'm hiker, not runner. Rogaining is too extreme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Poland, I was using opportunities such as trainings organized by student's outdoor organizations, or on orienteering marches, where individuals had to navigate to the selected points using the maps such as that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hNTsf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that what I'm looking for is at most similar to &lt;strong&gt;pathfinding&lt;/strong&gt; or some &lt;strong&gt;military marches&lt;/strong&gt; done in woodlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any similar options to train orienteering skills in Germany? For example, student organizations or orienteering/outdoor schools? I was trying to find something like that, but without success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:07:44.253" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T22:07:44.253" Title="Orienteering skill organized trainings in Germany?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2013-08-17T01:23:36.893" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some scientific papers, with my brief summaries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Saunders MJ ; Hipp GR ; Wenos DL ; Deaton ML, &quot;Trekking poles increase&#xA;  physiological responses to hiking without increased perceived&#xA;  exertion,&quot; J Strength Cond Res 2008 Sep; 22(5): 1468-74&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using trekking poles caused them to burn calories faster, as measured&#xA;  by VO2max. In other words, they make you less efficient, which is the&#xA;  opposite of what a lot of people seem to believe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bohne M ; Abendroth-Smith J, &quot;Effects of hiking downhill using&#xA;  trekking poles while carrying external loads,&quot; Med Sci Sports Exerc&#xA;  2007 Jan; 39(1): 177-83&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using trekking poles reduces strain on joints when going downhill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Glyn Howatson et al., &quot;Trekking Poles Reduce Exercise-Induced Muscle&#xA;  Injury during Mountain Walking,&quot; Medicine &amp;amp; Science in Sports &amp;amp;&#xA;  Exercise, published ahead of print, 13 May 2010, doi:&#xA;  10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181e4b649&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Subjects reported less muscle soreness after climbing Mt Snowdon if&#xA;  they used trekking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary: They make hiking less damaging to your body, but they increase exertion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-05-01T09:54:37.990" LastActivityDate="2014-05-01T09:54:37.990" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2013-08-17T09:14:32.677" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are people who swear by poles, and there are people hiking into their eighties without poles or knee trouble. Part of it is genetics, part of it is being intelligent about hiking. Poles may help with the symptoms, but wouldn't it be better not to cause the problems in the first place? If you're having knee problems, look at your pack weight. If your dry pack weight is high (say, 20+ pounds) work on reducing the weight. If you're not wearing the right shoe for long distance hiking (trail running shoes with a little padding) that's going to be hard on your knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy or borrow a copy of Trail Life and read through it. I read it a couple years after getting back into hiking, and making the changes outlined in older versions of this book made hiking much more fun. The author Ray Jardine and his wife have hiked tens of thousands of miles through-hiking the AT, the PCT, and the CDT, among others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles are extra weight, and therefore will require extra exertion. Furthermore, they're extra weight on a moving part of your body, just like shoes are, which further increases the importance of keeping them light. Fix the other issues first, if any, so that you're not just treating the symptoms instead of the cause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-08-17T09:14:32.677" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4479" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-08-17T18:54:08.637" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Orienteering is an outdoor activity where the participant has to find points in terrain, using specially prepared maps. Orienteering can have the form of competition or of training, aimed at increasing navigational skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various forms of orienteering, such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;orienteering marches, including training maps, military-like activities, puzzle solving (highly transformed maps)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;orienteering runs, including sprints and ultra-marathons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogaining&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rogaining&lt;/a&gt;, where the participant has to find as much points as possible within a time limit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_racing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;adventure racing&lt;/a&gt; - a mix of orienteering run/bike ride + special tasks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bike orienteering&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_orienteering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;canoe orienteering&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard orienteering marches map:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hNTsf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Highly transformed maps for orienteering march:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L7tMq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of orienteering map&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QXuWb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of orienteering map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T16:55:54.657" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T16:55:54.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4480" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-08-17T18:54:08.637" Score="0" Body="Finding points in terrain, with help of special maps, in form of competition or training." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2013-08-17T22:44:08.313" LastActivityDate="2013-08-17T22:44:08.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4460" CreationDate="2013-08-17T20:56:50.553" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/surgeonsloop/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;surgeon's loop&lt;/a&gt; in the end of the leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/loops2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;loop-to-loop&lt;/a&gt; connection to join the leader to the fly line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a surgeon's knot to join the leader to the tippet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't the strongest knot, but it is small, quick to tie and reliable. Look on the Grog's Knots website to find lots of other knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tippet is usually 3-4 feet, with a total length of leader and tippet about 9-10ft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a tapered 4x leader to start off with. In most good monofilament brands that will be 6-8lb breaking strength, 3-4kg, which is plenty for most trout. You should buy some tippet spools in 4x and 5x. The 5x is thinner but weaker, use it if the fishes are wary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this applies to monofilament. If using flourocarbon tippet/leader, knots are very weak, and you have to get something specialized. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2471" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-10T21:51:20.723" LastActivityDate="2017-08-10T21:51:20.723" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4482" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4483" CreationDate="2013-08-18T07:35:22.103" Score="5" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;For rainy/snowy conditions, which layer, besides the hard shell, should have be hooded? There will be times that I will be hiking for long durations, but for the most part, there are little to no aerobic activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T09:37:01.387" Title="Which layer should have a hood (for rainy conditions)?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4482" CreationDate="2013-08-18T09:37:01.387" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My hard shell and puffy down shell both have hoods, but they are the only layers of mine that do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I rarely wear the down shell while in motion, unless it's extremely cold (below -15C), which basically just leaves the waterproof hard shell. To adjust for warmth in the gap between 0 and -15C I just use a toque and a scarf, and vary the type, thickness, and warmth depending on the activity and conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're camping in the cold, though, and you're no longer moving around to generate enough body heat, a down hood is a wonderful thing to have (plus the added weight of a down hood to a jacket is pretty much negligible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl/dr&lt;/strong&gt; You want a hood for your rain shell, but can use a toque and a scarf to regulate insulation around your head and neck without requiring a hood in your other layers, although it's pretty nice to have a hood on your puffy jacket when you're just sitting around in extreme cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T09:37:01.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4484" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-08-18T17:41:28.213" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blister&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blister&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:29:26.217" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:29:26.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4485" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-08-18T17:41:28.213" Score="0" Body="Questions about preventing, treating, and coping with blisters." OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2013-08-18T17:51:40.000" LastActivityDate="2013-08-18T17:51:40.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4486" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4487" CreationDate="2013-08-18T21:53:02.787" Score="17" ViewCount="10532" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be backpacking Europe in the winter (snow and rain) and parts of my trip will be outdoors, such as hiking in Dolomites, Italy. For purposes of packing light and risk of losing expensive gear, I don't know if I want to bring both sunglasses AND goggles/glacier glasses, especially since I wouldn't use them for the majority of the time. Nonetheless, I don't want to damage my eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm no outdoor expert, but is it generally advised that people take both types of glasses? I won't be doing any mountaineering or ice climbing, but at what point do sunglasses become insufficient in protecting my eyes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T17:44:47.137" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T17:44:47.137" Title="At what point do I need snow goggles or glacier glasses when hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;snow-goggles&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4486" CreationDate="2013-08-19T06:14:35.933" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first planned my trek in Himalays I was suggested to keep my Gogs and Glares with me when I am outdoor-bound, in snow.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;A good article in my Adventure related Database rtf files says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hours of bright sunlight can burn the surface of the eye, causing a temporary but painful condition known as Photokeratitis. Over time, unprotected exposure can contribute to Cataracts, as well as cancer of the eyelids and the skin around the eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UV exposure also may increase the risk of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over age 65. While cataracts can be removed surgically, there is no way to reverse damage to the macula, the area in the center of the retina.&#xA;To protect your eyes, it is important to wear sunglasses that block out harmful UV light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A coating of snow reflects nearly 80% of the sun's rays. This means that your eyes are subjected to 80% more light on a clear day when the ground is covered with snow than when you are on a grassland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more tip for ya fellow: I guess, You know that Retina is that magical thing which makes you see things by simply converting light into electrical signals and send it to brain. To make you see something, most of the light is incident on the center of the Retina. And, the retina is more sensitive to Blue and Yellow light. Thats why I chose to have a Blue tinted Snow Gog. So, one such glass will help your eyes filtering out most of the light that is not blue or yellow and will make it easier to see objects directly ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T10:37:43.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4490" CreationDate="2013-08-19T09:47:06.310" Score="8" ViewCount="1240" Body="&lt;p&gt;The title may itself sound a little weird, indeed it does. But this I have observed over the time, when I take a look at my shoes. I think I have a strange walking style, in which I probably land a bit banked on the right part of the feet of my left leg. That is why I can see my left shoe more worn out on the right part of it than the left. Eventually such a shoe become a little uncomfortable to use because it doesn't have a uniform bottom. And, this again make me land my left foot on right part of it. This is somehow making my left leg to over-exert. And, I may end up twisting my ankle someday. Its not specific for a pair of shoe either.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking if I can add some sort of an additional padding/cushion in the socks. But I think I want to root out the cause for it, rather than getting used to with some such cushion.&lt;br&gt;&#xA; Can anyone suggest some exercise? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:41:01.203" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:41:01.203" Title="How can a walking style be changed?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4488" CreationDate="2013-08-19T12:05:01.993" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are all different and this problem is nothing rare. What you are describing is called overpronation, which means that you roll more on the inside of your foot when you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is something that is rooted in your pattern of movement, i.e something that is very hard to change. The best way to remedy this would be to add some kind of padding to your shoe, so it supports your foot and reduces the uneaven ware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a little &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.com/running-shoes/pronation-explained?page=single&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; on pronation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T12:05:01.993" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4488" CreationDate="2013-08-19T14:26:24.673" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, I have (I think) the opposite problem - the outside edges of my shoes wear more quickly than the inside edges.  This kind of problem is common among runners, you can look at running websites for ideas about how to fix it.  I was never able to fully fix the problem, buuuut...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treating the symptoms instead of the underlying problem works for me.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep an eye on my shoes and hiking boots, and if I see some uneven wearing happening, I sand the sole down with some sandpaper until the sole is even.  Or (if for some reason I don't want to do that), I get a new pair of shoes.  Its expensive (I wind up replacing my outdoor shoes about twice as fast as you usually would), but it really helps fight knee pain (from walking on uneven shoes), since I can't seem to fix my pronation issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps.  Its not a perfect solution, but its how I manage the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-08-19T14:44:00.187" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T14:44:00.187" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4486" CreationDate="2013-08-19T18:58:53.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own only glacier glasses and use them as sunglasses as well (I take off the &quot;blinders&quot;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide to go with sunglasses only, make sure they offer proper UV protection (not all of them do). Reasons as explained by @WedaPashi (I'd only add that while cataracts &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; be operated IMHO that is no reason not to try and avoid them).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T18:58:53.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4475" CreationDate="2013-08-19T19:08:08.533" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the wood pieces method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For charcoal pieces medium twig-sized sticks (say 1 cm diameter) are OK. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For pressed charcoal, I go for sticks of 3 - 4 cm diameter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For real coal (on the grill 8-o who wants to eat stuff roasted on a real coal fire?) I'd go for a nice wood fire with sticks (chopped wood) of at least 5 - 7 cm diameter. Should be close to what your grandma does... And yes, you can also first add small pieces. But on a grill they're likely to fall through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T19:08:08.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4466" CreationDate="2013-08-19T19:32:00.247" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just as an addition:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For treatment and filter, I'd filter first, then treat. For 2 reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After a while, filters get alive and things start growing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the chemical treatments work by oxidation. No use spending the oxidation capacity on stuff that can be oxidized, but could have been filtered out anyways. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T19:32:00.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4486" CreationDate="2013-08-19T21:46:21.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sides on glacier glasses are invaluable when on a snowfield, as the sheer amount of light hitting your eyes is increased dramatically by the high reflection from the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ordinary sunglasses allow a lot of light to hit your eye from all sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend always using the sides when on snowfields.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T21:46:21.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4439" CreationDate="2013-08-19T21:50:50.470" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this article,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jappl.org/content/100/6/2057.short&quot;&gt;Avijit Datta and Michael Tipton: Respiratory responses to cold water immersion: neural pathways, interactions, and clinical consequences awake and asleep&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A fall in skin temperature elicits a powerful cardiorespiratory response, termed “cold shock,” comprising an initial gasp, hypertension, and hyperventilation despite a profound hypocapnia. ... The respiratory responses to skin cooling override both conscious and other autonomic respiratory controls and may act as a precursor to drowning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now about the getting used to it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Recent evidence from our laboratory suggests that there is&#xA;  also a marked and modifiable psychological component to the&#xA;  breath-hold component of the cold shock response &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They had a case-control study with one group getting a psychological training, the others not. The ones with psychological training got basically back to normal breath holding times (one week later), the ones without stayed at less than half of the normal breath holding time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, for other reactions in the cold shock, the psychological training didn't help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A corresponding change was not seen with the heart rate&#xA;  response before or during immersion&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long does it take to get used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The initial respiratory responses to immersion in cold water&#xA;  can habituate. As few as five 3-min immersions in cold water&#xA;  can reduce these responses by 50% (74), with the response still&#xA;  being reduced by 25% 14 mo later (75).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have a section on cardiac arrhytmia, but for that I recommend reading the paper - this is more complicated it seems: there's a &quot;diving reflex&quot; that plays a role as well, and the arrhytmia seems to be connected to the gasping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-08-19T21:50:50.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4486" CreationDate="2013-08-20T00:09:11.453" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be backpacking Europe in the winter (snow and rain) and parts of my trip will be outdoors, such as hiking in Dolomites, Italy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I won't be doing any mountaineering or ice climbing [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm having a hard time decoding this. In US English, &amp;quot;backpacking&amp;quot; means backcountry hiking, but I guess in British English this means that you're going on a vacation where you travel mostly in buses and trains, with a backpack. You say you're going to be hiking in the Dolomites in winter, but not mountaineering -- so are you going to be snowshoeing? Hiking on routes where roads have been plowed? Walking through areas with consolidated snow with enough of a boot track that you can walk in it? Walking mostly in snowless low-elevation areas with only short excursions to higher elevations to cross mountain passes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but at what point do sunglasses become insufficient in protecting my eyes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's hard to tell from your description how many days you're going to be in bright mountain snow, and how many hours each day. Goggles might be overkill and unnecessary weight. You could try sunglasses, and also bring a small amount of duct tape wound on a small stick. If you're in very bright snow all day long, you could put pieces of the duct tape on the sides of the glasses for extra protection. You might also find it handy to bring a bandana that you can put under your hat so it hangs down on the sides of your face and reduces the amount of light getting to your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both the bandana and the duct tape are multi-use items that are worth bringing anyway. The bandana can also be used for blowing your nose, or can be put under your hat to reduce sun exposure on the skin of your face and neck. The duct tape can be wrapped around toes if they start to get blisters, and can also be used for minor repairs of tarps, ponchos, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunburn might be more of a practical concern than snowblindness. In high winds at low temperatures, you may also find that you want goggles rather than sunglasses in order to protect your eyes from the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-08-20T17:10:46.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4497" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4499" CreationDate="2013-08-20T04:47:18.297" Score="7" ViewCount="358" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be &quot;backpacking&quot; -- to imply traveling from country to country, but also hiking and camping in the backcountry -- various parts of Europe in winter for 3 months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've camped and hiked before, but never in such cold conditions -- ranging from the Mediterranean to well above the Arctic Circle -- and I don't know if the layers I'm bringing will be sufficient. I want to assume that if my clothing or gear has issues, that I won't be able to drop by an outdoor store and buy something, which may be the case if I'm camping for a few days. (I won't be camping above the arctic circle though as I find it may be too dangerous; I'll be staying in cabins)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 boxer briefs (some synthetic, some wool) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 socks (2 lightweight wool, 1 mid weight wool, 1 expedition weight wool)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 light weight wool bottom (one dedicated for sleeping), 1 midweight wool bottom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 lightweight wool long sleeves (one dedicated for sleeping), 2 midweight long sleeves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 mid layers (one is hooded)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 insulating layers (synthetic down w/ hood; fleece jacket w/ no hood)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 soft shell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 hard shell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any layers that I should add or cut back? I want to strike a balance between packing light and carrying redundancies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="2454" LastEditDate="2013-08-20T05:24:17.177" LastActivityDate="2013-11-20T05:19:46.687" Title="Does my layering system need adjusting?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4515" CreationDate="2013-08-20T04:50:59.533" Score="10" ViewCount="1419" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, I've only ever used hard shells simply because I've always thought they were made for more treacherous weather. However, I recently saw a video by Patagonia that claimed soft shells are more durable. Is this true? If so, why is it that hard shells are advised over soft shells for harsher weather then?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-08-22T08:13:02.100" Title="Which is more durable: Hard shell or soft shell?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4497" CreationDate="2013-08-20T05:54:31.720" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that you should prepare with some additional first layers, bringing more socks is not a bad idea since you will be walking quite a bit (I assume). Otherwise I would focus some on bringing a little extra protection, in form of a scarf, fleece cap and a pair of gloves. Winter is a unforgiving time of year and you need to plan your clothing with outmost care. If there is any chance that your gear might be insufficiently warm, bring some more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. A hand warmer - one of those that you boil to reset - are a godsend!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="2076" LastEditDate="2013-08-25T00:40:51.333" LastActivityDate="2013-08-25T00:40:51.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4486" CreationDate="2013-08-20T08:25:20.733" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Europe your will be hiking on altitudes less than 5000 m, and on these altitudes you can &lt;strong&gt;go with sunglasses&lt;/strong&gt; without heavy specialized equipement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However not any piece of sunglasses will do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, they have to be either made of glass (which stops UV rays) or &lt;strong&gt;special UV-proof plastic&lt;/strong&gt;. Not every plastic stops UV rays, and if not, using it is even more dangerous than looking with bare eye: dark tint makes less visible light fall on your eye and the pupil gets bigger, accepting more UV light, which is not stopped by plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of plastic sunglasses are made of more or less UV-protective plastic nowdays. You will need the ones with UV protection factor 4. It the sticker on your glasses just says &quot;protects from 99% of UV&quot; without mentioning the protection class (2,3,4), it is not enough. I would also make sure that the manufacturer is reliable, because if they cheat, it may cost you your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, you have to choose a model which blocks as much of side light as possible - they have to &lt;strong&gt;fit perfectly without gaps&lt;/strong&gt;. No gap from below is absolutely a must, a little light entering from the top is OK (there is no snow there, he-he). You can also allow for a little light from left and right sides, but try hard to minimise it. Sometimes a little duct tape will help to patch the remaining holes, as Ben Crowell have said already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding glases that fit you perfectly is not very easy, so you'll probably spend a lot of time at the stand and try a couple of dosens of models.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your sunglasses are made from plastic with good UV protection and they fit you well (in terms of no holes), they are enough for European altitudes and you don't need anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bonus tip&lt;/strong&gt;. If your drop and brake your glasses in the middle of the trail and the frame is more or less undamaged, you can improvise an UV-protectant solution by inserting paper instead of glass into the frame. Cut a narrow slot or hole in each &quot;glass&quot;. You will be able to see something and block most of light at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-08-20T08:25:20.733" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4498" CreationDate="2013-08-20T14:24:51.940" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off - whether one is more durable or not, they're somewhat different products.  Whether you need one or the other is more based on what you're doing than on &quot;durability&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hardshell vs Softshell&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;note - these are marketing terms in the US outdoor industry.  Apparently they're not standard internationally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard shell jackets offer a high level of windproofing, and low breathability. They're also usually the most waterproof.  They're made with heavy nylon / canvas materials.  Think a heavy gortex rain jacket.  The hardshell material itself offers great protection against wind and rain, but not much insulation.  Because they're windproof, they usually don't breath as much as softshells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Softshells are more like polar fleece jackets, perhaps with a cloth cover- they're very warm, because the material traps a lot of air.  They also tend to retain their warmth when wet.  Some softshells may have a goretex treatment, and be somewhat waterproof.  But they're generally not very windproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What they're for&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hardshells are necessary for harsh environments with strong winds.  You may also have a &quot;softshell&quot; jacket underneath the &quot;hardshell&quot; outer layer for insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Durability in outdoor gear is a odd issue.  My experience is that a lot of gear on the market now is designed to be ultra lightweight, often at the expense of durability.  Jackets, backpacks, even the expensive ones just get torn up sometimes.  You &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; find products with more rugged construction, but they come at a weight penalty.  I could see how a serious mountaineer (which high end jackets are theoretically designed for) may prefer a light outer layer that will just get replaced after each expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2013-08-20T14:24:51.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4503" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4513" CreationDate="2013-08-20T23:39:37.837" Score="1" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I look for in a suntan lotion for a nude camping trip? I don't know what to look for when it goes on the whole body. Are there any ingredients that I should watch out for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2456" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:40:37.263" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:40:37.263" Title="Sunblock for clothing-optional camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2013-08-21T04:11:34.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's always okay to take away trash!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not just being tongue in cheek here. Many US National Parks (and other protected areas) have more latitude for beach-combing; manmade items like sea-glass may be considered trash / non-natural additions and be fair game to remove. Again, you'll want to note the specific regulations for the Park you're in; and of course be attentive to man-made items that could be artifacts and to items that might have living creatures attached to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T04:11:34.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4503" CreationDate="2013-08-21T05:55:51.133" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A skin is a skin, so there's no difference if you take off your T-Shirt or your pants first time in the season. The less the body part is used to the sun, the more protection it needs. Well, the only difference is the skin on the penis, which is usually naturally a bit darker, so it already has more sun protection (which doesn't mean you can't get sunburns there). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the first whole-day trip I'd take 10 for the parts that were already exposed to sun in the season, and 30 for the rest. After getting used to the sun I'd leave 10 for the parts most exposed to the sun, such as shoulders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking, I never use sun-lotion to my forearms and calves, except the very beginning of the season. I sunbath occasionally, but from my experience the most endangered parts are breast, shoulders and the back of the knees. If I get sunburns, it's usually there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T05:55:51.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4431" CreationDate="2013-08-21T06:18:04.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you considered the &lt;a href=&quot;https://fingerlakestrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Finger Lakes Trail&lt;/a&gt;?  It's certainly long enough, and has lean-tos along most of its length.  There aren't a lot of loops, but you may be able to arrange a one-way with return by car or public transport.  (In particular, the section around Ithaca crosses county bus routes at several places.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastEditorUserId="553" LastEditDate="2019-09-09T13:46:38.860" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T13:46:38.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3312" CreationDate="2013-08-21T10:43:33.767" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, layering of clothing on the other parts of body is discussed, but not so often. There are many reasons for it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The warming of the chest is crucial. This is where such vital organs like the heart and liver are placed, so the lowering of the temperature there is the most dangerous. In fact, your body can reduce the blood flow to arms and legs to help keep the core temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's easier to layer your chest than your legs. It's relatively easy to take off your jacket while walking; try to do it with trousers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Legs consist mainly of muscles, so they are better isolated from cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Legs are actually producing a lot of heat while walking as they are doing the most of the work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-08-21T15:48:55.363" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T15:48:55.363" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4508" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4509" CreationDate="2013-08-21T11:33:34.180" Score="8" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have planned a smaller lake trip for me, my girlfriend and our two dogs(10 year Labrador, 5 month &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasier&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eurasier&lt;/a&gt;). What I didn't think of is the fact that the puppy might need to be carried for a part of the distance since he's a wee bit too small to be trusted with walking on marsh-planks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a field test the other day and found it quite difficult to carry him in an orderly fashion for more than 800m, fully geared up. So I'm at a point where I either have to re-plan the trip, or solve the problem at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dog is not the problem per se, it comes down to my ineptitude to hold him both securely and comfortably for more than some hundreds of meters. My first thought is that some kind of baby carrying pack might work, but I'm not sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is there a product that will work better than me carrying him in my arms?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T15:21:54.920" Title="Pack for carrying a puppy" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4508" CreationDate="2013-08-21T12:22:23.647" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_sling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Baby sling&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; may be a much better option, because it weights less and is easier to pack when not used. It would be also easier to adapt to the size of the dog, and with a bit of skill, you can make it yourself from a bit of an old sheet or something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T12:22:23.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4503" CreationDate="2013-08-21T16:11:16.927" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't help but think that this question may trolling, but here goes anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a difference between skin and skin if one includes the glans as it is mucous membrane: anything marked &quot;for external use only&quot; might cause unexpected irritation.  Don's humorous remark about capsaicin is a good example that I'm sure more than a few men are accidentally familiar with.  Since the mouth and lips are also lined with mucous membrane a lip balm with sunscreen would probably be a safer choice for that particular application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2013-08-21T20:00:05.280" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T20:00:05.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5372" CreationDate="2013-08-21T20:44:51.070" Score="10" ViewCount="9307" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used someone else's Wisperlite Universal for the duration of a trip and it looks like the only functional difference is a jet that can be attached for burning propane. Can I purchase just that jet and burn propane with my Wisperlite International?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T15:39:58.590" LastActivityDate="2021-05-06T08:26:53.037" Title="Can I upgrade my MSR Wisperlite International to also be able to burn propane?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4503" CreationDate="2013-08-21T21:01:44.167" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your mileage may vary, so know thyself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start conservative, it is easier to back-off on protection than it is to treat sunburns.  &lt;strong&gt;SPF 50&lt;/strong&gt; is not too high and you may want an &lt;strong&gt;even higher SPF when starting&lt;/strong&gt;.  Sunscreen that contains &lt;strong&gt;titanium dioxide or zinc oxide&lt;/strong&gt; is great because they protect against both UVA and UVB.  Since they are also inorganic compounds they don't breakdown with exposure to sunlight like other sunscreens, so you might not have to reapply as often (&lt;strong&gt;always plan to reapply&lt;/strong&gt; anyway).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide is that both compounds are white and will make your skin look paler than usual.  I prefer pasty white to lobster red on any day.  I have not heard of someone having a true &lt;strong&gt;zinc or titanium allergy&lt;/strong&gt; but I guess that should also be mentioned (know thyself).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunscreen that is OK for your face should be fine for the areola, and you should apply there as well.  The best way to manage mucosa is to &lt;strong&gt;avoid exposure&lt;/strong&gt; and that can be handled by staying standing or being careful about positioning when sunbathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2486" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T21:01:44.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2013-08-21T21:27:20.743" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of good options have been mentioned so far and they are worth considering.  Another option is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;atlatl&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/a&gt;  Accuracy is going to suffer at ranges beyond 25 yards or so, but there is a lot of power that can be delivered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest items on the plus side:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;simple &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rugged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can take down large game&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;darts/spears can be used without the atlatl&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest minuses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;takes a lot of practice to become proficient&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;accuracy decreases quickly with range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2486" LastActivityDate="2013-08-21T21:27:20.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4498" CreationDate="2013-08-22T08:13:02.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The hardshell/softshell distinction doesn’t mean pretty much anything today. It used to be that hardshell was completely waterproof and windproof, implying limited breathability, and softshell was somewhat waterproof, somewhat windproof and much more breathable. In other words, softshell used to mean a material you could wear most of the time while being more comfortable than wearing hardshell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then some of the outdoor manufacturers unfortunately realized that those &lt;em&gt;softshell&lt;/em&gt; things sell quite well and reused the label for whatever they wanted to sell. Nowadays the softshell label can mean almost anything, so that it doesn’t make sense to say if it’s more durable than hardshell. (Especially given that the waterproof and windproof “hardshells” are today often built to minimum weight, so that the toughness greatly varies between different hardshells even within one brand.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastActivityDate="2013-08-22T08:13:02.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4442" CreationDate="2013-08-22T14:55:41.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that Ecoque is the Pyromid resurrected.  I found this in my search for new liners: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/ClaireWolfe/2012/06/05/pyromid-is-back/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/ClaireWolfe/2012/06/05/pyromid-is-back/&lt;/a&gt; The liners are on Amazon for U$7.99 per dozen. (the stoves run over U$100)  I can't get thru to the Ecoque website at work (filtering.....), but they do have one: www.ecoque.com &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't used mine in over 10 years, so I'm rusty.  But, unfold the base, set it on a sturdy surface, unfold the ash collector set it on the base, unfold the upper shield, set it into the ash collector, unfold the foil and place in the upper shield (the foil can reduce cooking time by 25%), set in the lower tray, set in the upper tray place the charcoal on it's edges in the slots, light the charcoal (there were fuel pellets, Esbit?) to start the charcoal.  Place the grill over the charcoal, unfold the cover and place it over the grill for direct heat baking.  There were smoking and baking hood available, not sure if they're still around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2489" LastActivityDate="2013-08-22T14:55:41.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4517" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-22T19:09:45.080" Score="4" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know there are many outdoor-related adventure novels that can make great company while relaxing on one's own adventure, but are there any outdoorsy comic books? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the hero is a hiker with an ability to control the elements or understand animals, helps people and animals in danger, fights evil corporations trying to ruin our natural resources, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2374" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:43:59.530" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:43:59.530" Title="Are there any outdoorsy comics?" Tags="&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-08-30T15:50:57.203" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4518" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-23T00:53:09.633" Score="16" ViewCount="1513" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some areas, such as the western US, wildfires are common during the summer dry season.  &quot;Fire safety&quot; advice usually centers on not starting a wildfire, e.g. extinguishing or avoiding campfires.  But what should one do if a fire breaks out near where one is hiking or camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A useful answer might address:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steps to prepare for hiking during fire season (useful equipment, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Precautions to take when fire danger is high&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Detecting when a fire is burning in the area, and whether it is close enough to be a danger&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finding a route to safety if a fire is burning nearby&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Survival tactics if overtaken by a fire&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1530/553&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, but it only addresses a single tactic that is at best a last ditch effort (and at worst increases the danger).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T19:31:59.683" Title="How to prepare for and survive wildfire?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4517" CreationDate="2013-08-23T02:01:35.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not know of specific comic books other than &lt;a href=&quot;http://ultralightbackpackintips.blogspot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ultralight Backpackin' Tips&lt;/a&gt; which has cartoon illustrations. However it is far from a comic book. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://whiteblaze.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WhiteBlaze&lt;/a&gt; features some &lt;a href=&quot;http://bootsmcfarland.com/Cartoons.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;comic strips about hiking/thru-hiking&lt;/a&gt; on their website. And others have also made some hiking-related comics such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-74523.html?s=ea60d5d66fd924422b4d99093abea199&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Keith Roberts&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-08-23T02:01:35.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4520" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-23T19:07:59.740" Score="2" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anybody have experience with BOTH the Lone Wolf Assault II vs the Muddy Outdoors Hunter Pro? Please keep the discussion to this comparison. I'm leaning towards the muddy, it's lighter, and cheaper, and has a more comfortable seat. However, the platform does not look like it would be as quiet as the the LW. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2490" LastActivityDate="2013-08-23T19:07:59.740" Title="Assault II vs Hunter Pro" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-05-22T18:28:59.263" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4518" CreationDate="2013-08-24T05:13:07.133" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You touched on one thing: fires are often seasonal.  Want to avoid fires in the Canadian Rockies? Come in the winter time.  Want to risk smoke inhilation in the BC interior, come visit in August. Find out what the situation is in the area you are visiting, for the extent of your visit. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.furtive.ca/pics/IMG_1210.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Most parks have fire safety levels that clearly indicate whether the fire risk is low, medium or high.&lt;/a&gt; Find out if weather patterns have been unseasonable (drought, lake of rain the previous spring, etc.). Plan your trip for after a solid rainfall, you'll probably have a better experience overall, there will be less dust if nothing else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to deal with a forest fire is to avoid it.  Put distance between you and the fire. Fires can expand exponentially very quickly: This week where I live &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20130823/RMO0801/130829998/-1/RMO/smoke-from-numa-fire-in-valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a fire that had been burning for weeks went from 90 hectares to over 400 hectares overnight&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20130808/RMO0801/308089984/-1/rmo08/kootenay-park-fire-a-decade-later&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;In 2001 the Mount Shark fire wen from 600 to 2,400 hectares (that's 24 square km) in 2.5 hours.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;So distance isn't enough, you need barriers: mountain ranges, lakes, highways, all of these can help to separate you from the fire.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to precautions: &lt;strong&gt;avoid the use of fires when the fire danger is high&lt;/strong&gt;. If you're in the back country use a stove instead, or keep fires small and constantly monitored. Set aside water and make sure the fire is completely extinguished.  Rake through ashes and add additional water, ensuring that there are no coals left. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Put-Out-a-Campfire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's 10 steps on how to put out a campfire&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get an understanding of underlying wind patterns in a region, if the wind comes from the west, then the further west you are the less likely you are to be downwind from fire. Realize that in mountain valleys prevailing winds are more likely to be superseded by the shape of the valley. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the ground, the best ways to detect fire are by sight and smell.  &lt;strong&gt;Columns of smoke can be seen for over 50 kilometres&lt;/strong&gt; and rise up from the geography before traversing the sky. &lt;strong&gt;Clouds will tend to be darker, and when obscuring the sun will cause the sun to glow orange or pink&lt;/strong&gt;.  The smell of fire can carry just as far.  Don't panic if you smell or see smoke, the fire itself may be dozens of kilometres away and of no risk to you.  If the smoke has particulate then you are much more at risk, as there is a higher chance of cinders which are bad for your health and can also start further fires. Cinders are a clear indication that the fire is nearby and should be cause for evacuation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To fire, wind is both a means of transportation and a source of fuel.  The best route when near a fire is to remain upwind with a barrier between you and the fire in case it shifts. &lt;strong&gt;Moving towards water, downhill, and upwind are all options&lt;/strong&gt; when confronted with a nearby fire. Moving &lt;strong&gt;into the open&lt;/strong&gt; and away from fuel sources (forest are sources of fuel, as is brush) further improve your chances: think rocky plain, parking lot, lake, that sort of thing.  If the fire has been going on for a while then going to an &lt;strong&gt;area that has already been burnt&lt;/strong&gt; through offers some reprieve although there will be residual heat and increased risk of exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't speak of survival tactics when overtaken by fire, but it's worth mentioning that in the US forest-firefighters &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/07/01/arizona-firefighters-killed.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carry  heat resistant shelters&lt;/a&gt; in the event that they are overcome by fire, however &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/07/02/f-fire-shelters-firefighters-wildfires.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;in Canada heat resitant shelters aren't used&lt;/a&gt; as they believe it creates a false sense of security which leads firefighters to put themselves at great risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2015-07-29T19:31:59.683" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T19:31:59.683" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4522" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4523" CreationDate="2013-08-24T16:54:35.720" Score="11" ViewCount="601" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I see a deer munching on a particular plant, is that enough to indicate that it's safe to eat? How about other animals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:38:19.010" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T22:38:19.010" Title="Can you tell if a plant is edible by watching what animals eat it?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4522" CreationDate="2013-08-24T23:31:18.210" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For one, you may not be capable of gathering any worthwhile nutrition. You could eat grass all day and still be hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, many animals are immune to toxins that are nasty to us. Best example I know of is that goats and many other new world animals can eat poison ivy. But if you try eating it, you're in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-08-24T23:31:18.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4524" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-25T01:32:57.980" Score="1" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;Greetings Outdoor experts, I recently moved to USA, and looking to bootstrap myself for hikes, camping and other outdoor activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not bought a proper outdoor setup earlier, rather I carried what ever that was available. In fact, I did not care about the shoes, the bags or the warm clothes, but that had costed me and that was also when I was in my teens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But now, I can invest in good outdoor gears and equipment that will be with me at-least for the next 10 years or more (with the exception of shoes, which I guess needs to be replaced every 6 months or according to the condition).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's myriad of options, brands, prices and things to buy when I Google. But that is too confusing, and a big-big research. I would like to hear about the basic gears, equipment that I should invest on and the total cost that I should keep on mind. (Say, within $300-$500? to begin with or can it be even cheaper?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, something like the below list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Daypack - &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;backpack  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleeping bags  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4246/what-are-the-minimum-set-of-shoes-required-for-hiking-outdoors&quot;&gt;Shoes&lt;/a&gt; - 1 sandal, 1 hike shoe etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swiss knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;lt;...hiking pant, shorts, cargos, compass, bandana... &amp;amp; so on&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be doing more of regular hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/835/how-to-cheaply-introduce-someone-to-backpacking/846#846&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; is something closest to what I am asking, but I am looking for a more specific list to setup really fast without doing a lot of research and missing the rest of summer, and product recommendations if possible. I hope that your answers will be helpful for anyone trying to bootstrap. BTW, I don't have any friends from whom I can borrow these things, I have to buy for myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2388" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-09-08T14:20:11.713" Title="Bootstrapping for outdoors" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2013-09-04T03:31:42.400" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4525" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-25T07:54:12.023" Score="13" ViewCount="4269" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a few episodes of &quot;Man vs. Wild&quot;, survival expert Bear Grylls was seen jumping off a cliff into a pool of water below. He made some rough estimation of the depth of the pool before making the decision to jump. I am puzzled as to how he managed to do it with just quick visual observation. Any wrong judgement could lead to a broken leg or even death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the terrain becomes too difficult, a jump from the cliff to the pool of water below might be the only way to make any progress. How would a person go about estimating the depth of the pool and the height of the jump by quick visual observation? Is there a proper guideline for jump height versus pool depth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="722" LastActivityDate="2015-10-31T00:19:10.610" Title="How to estimate the depth of a pool of water from a distance above?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4525" CreationDate="2013-08-25T14:40:09.557" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, Bear Grylls is notorious for not doing things the way they look on television, but actually conducting extensive planning, multiple attempts, using alternative methods to get better camera angles, and in some instances, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html&quot;&gt;apparently going to stay in a hotel&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But with regard to your question, there are a lot of things you can do to gain a good assessment of water depth:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the water is relatively clear, find an object on the bottom and see how it moves through parallax when you move along the cliff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Watch for shadows, if the sun is high enough. If you can see the height of the object casting the shadow you can estimate the depth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the river is fast flowing, but at the section you want to jump in it is relatively smooth and flat, the implication is that it is deep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw in a large rock or even a tree trunk or long branch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Immediately downstream of a waterfall two things happen- a very deep section, where the falls carve out the bottom of the river, followed by a shallower section where debris washes up. Waterfalls have many dangers, but you can often expect a deep pool&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;remember, a jump from 80 feet is pretty easy to stop - you don't need much depth of water to be safe. If I had 20 feet of water under me I'd be confident I could stop before hitting the bottom, especially with baggy clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-08-25T14:40:09.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4527" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4545" CreationDate="2013-08-25T21:55:27.040" Score="9" ViewCount="1198" Body="&lt;p&gt;On flat shoes, like the Merrell Proterra's, is it possible to use gaiters (for snow)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T02:23:33.920" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T02:23:33.920" Title="Is it possible to use gaiters on flat/minimalist shoes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;minimalist-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4527" CreationDate="2013-08-25T23:50:34.850" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dirty Girl Gaiters&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MLD&lt;/a&gt; on similar shoes. I don't see any problems with those shoes. If you are only trying to keep debris out, I would consider the former.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-08-25T23:50:34.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4518" CreationDate="2013-08-26T13:35:51.317" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a direct answer to the question, but I want to point out that most ordinary forest fires pose little danger to humans.  It is the relatively unusual crown fires which can be very dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In generally dry pine forests, like many parts of the western US, forest fire is a natural and relatively frequent (from the point of view of long-lived trees) event.  Periodic fires clear out the understory and ground litter.  The plants in these areas have evolved with this pattern of fires and have various strategies for dealing with it and even benefitting from it.  The long lived trees have evolved means to survive such fires.  Mechanisms include thick and fire-resistant bark, and shedding low limbs as the tree grows.  If a area is swept by such a fire periodically, then the down and dead fuel is periodically removed and the nutrients locked up in them returned to the soil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;True crown fires are a different story.  They are very destructive but also relatively unusual.  We hear about them way out of proportion to the fraction of fires they represent.  This is probably because a ordinary forest fire that stays on the ground and clears out the litter is not news-worthy.  In a crown fire, enough fuel is burned on the ground in a concentrated area so that heat builds up much more than normal.  This then causes the whole canopy to catch fire, which gives it access to much more fuel, which then causes nearby whole trees to catch fire, etc.  These are the fires we hear about on the news and that blacken and kill whole stands of trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crown fires happen when a normal fire hits a area where understory litter has built up.  This is usually due to human intervention from stopping the normal understory fires.  Of course these large fires do occur naturally too since fires are very spotty and some area may not get a small fire for 100 years just due to chance.  Human activity has greatly accellerated that chance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what a ordinary understory fire looks like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dKOQF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came accross this fire on the south flank of Eagle Peak in Western NM on 2 Aug 2009, although I doubt it made any more than the local news, if that.  The fire was slowly spreading by smoldering thru the leaf litter on the forest floor.  When it hit a dry and down log, it would flare up a bit locally, then die down again as the log was exhausted.  This picture is a good representation of how spotty fires are.  You can see from the darkened forest floor where the fire had been and how various patches were skipped for whatever reasons.  Note also how the older trees, ponderosa pines in this case, are basically unscathed, even if growing in the middle of one of the burnt patches.  Even a few of the small trees in the burnt patches seem to have survived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smoke is coming from where the smoldering leaf litter reached a few down logs, which then caught fire with real flames.  However, the few logs in this location aren't enough to cause a raging fire.  They will slowly be burnt to ash over the next day or so, with the fire front meanwhile moving on.  You can see a horizontal white streak at the center of the left edge of the picture.  That was a log that had already been completely burnt, with the only thing left being the streak of lighter-colored ash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could easily and safely walk all around this fire.  Here is a stump that is burning rapidly enough to show flames:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqDlJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that most everything around it has already been burnt, so this stump will burn to ash and then the fire will be over in that specific location.  As you can see, I could walk right up to this without being in any danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did discover one danger from this fire that I wasn't previously aware of.  Stumps like the one in the second picture eventually burn underground for a little ways too.  Most of the material then gets removed as combustion gasses, so almost nothing is holding the ground up where the stump used to be.  I accidentally stepped on one of these and sank in up to my knee.  It was easy enough to get out, but if the fire had been at that stump more recently I could possibly have gotten burnt on my leg.  Fortunately it was only &quot;hot&quot;, and a few seconds in the hole before I could pull my leg out did no damage and was not long enough to hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-08-26T13:35:51.317" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1837" CreationDate="2013-08-27T04:40:21.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The band actually works like a taut line hitch knot. Pull on one and it can become tighter or you can give it more slack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2497" LastActivityDate="2013-08-27T04:40:21.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4532" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-27T09:48:04.840" Score="7" ViewCount="4914" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between the two Gore-Tex technologies in real world usage? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specific factors: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which one packs down smaller?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which one is more breathable?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which one is likely to last longer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI: I am planning on getting a jacket that would be for occasional mountaineering and regular commuting on a bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2499" LastActivityDate="2014-03-03T21:58:13.357" Title="Difference between Gore-Tex Pro Shell and Gore-Tex Active Shell" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1911" CreationDate="2013-08-27T15:27:33.420" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;We (and most of the friends we camp with) use one of &lt;a href=&quot;http://defd230db96761500ca7-61c6d5aeae250d28854ed3e240a16b15.r17.cf3.rackcdn.com/Products/10339-090610120949504237545.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have said, two burners is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; useful and although the grill is small, it comes in handy. It's positioned so that it will keep a pan above it warm too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2500" LastActivityDate="2013-08-27T15:27:33.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4534" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4535" CreationDate="2013-08-28T04:54:20.270" Score="12" ViewCount="887" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently &lt;a href=&quot;http://bhegde.blogspot.in/2013/08/excerpts-from-stok-kangri-expedition.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbed a summit&lt;/a&gt; name &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stok_kangri&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stok Kangri&lt;/a&gt;(6153m) in Leh, India. I wanted to know if there are similar high altitude peaks which can be climbed without much of mountaineering expertise required in the Himalayan range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T05:42:50.067" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T05:42:50.067" Title="Trek-able peaks in the himalayan range" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4534" CreationDate="2013-08-28T09:45:43.077" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Haba Xueshan (Haba Snow Mountain  哈巴雪山) is a commonly summited peak here in Yunnan, China, at the eastern extent of the Himalaya. It's not as high altitude (&quot;only&quot; 5396 m) but &lt;a href=&quot;http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/china3.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;it has high prominence&lt;/a&gt; (1794 m), and is situated picturesquely above Tiger Leaping Gorge. I understand that people summit without a lot of expertise, but it requires overnighting and a guide. It has the additional advantage of being easy for foreigners to travel to (fly in to Lijiang or Diqing airport via Kunming with no need for special permits), unlike many peaks in Xizang (Tibet), and in Tibetan areas of Sichuan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Haba Xueshan (left), with Yulong Xueshan in the foreground and the upper Yangtze River below&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYb7K.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture by me&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastEditorUserId="2389" LastEditDate="2013-08-29T06:27:16.570" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T06:27:16.570" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-08-28T17:18:19.377" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just like you I enjoy hiking in VFFs and I wondered how it would be to do a long backpacking trip in them. I chose the seemingly short 74 mile PCT section in Washington state, that has about 20,000' of elevation gain and loss and most of the trail is rocky. &#xA;First day was great, just as any day hike, even with the heavy pack. Although my feet started to hurt after about 20 something miles, which was more than I day hiked before.&#xA;Second day, my feet were in pain and I couldn't do more than 13 miles.&#xA;Third day felt better and I had no problem covering 20 miles.&#xA;Last day was the toughest though, for one thing the last 16 miles are all rocky and it was also very hot. Feet were bit swollen and each step was painful.&#xA;After that, it took about 2 to 3 days to recover and walk/run normally again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice would be, if you plan to do only few miles a day, you'll do just fine. For longer and faster trips, trail running shoes would work better.&#xA;But then again, you gotta hike in VFF more to condition your feet, so at some point it might be good idea to go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2502" LastActivityDate="2013-08-28T17:18:19.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2013-08-28T19:09:54.557" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a direct answer to the question, but something to consider. Reliance cans may be a better purchase, because their taps, while not immune from damage, are easier to repair and improve. This is what we did with ours — short nipple and a quality brass ball valve:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PxvVO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Reliance tap repaired&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure what thread is that (iron pipe or hose thread), but we just had some 3/4&quot; nipple lying around and it worked. It’s bulkier, but quite a bit sturdier, and the cap itself is solid enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for Coleman, the workaround my father uses is to buy a new one, then return it with a broken tap. He’s unapologetic, saying maybe that’ll teach them to improve their product. Which does make sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="617" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:31:11.763" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:31:11.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4538" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4544" CreationDate="2013-08-28T23:34:36.713" Score="14" ViewCount="2283" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have friends who say stuffing your rainfly prolongs the life of the tent, because folding waterproof material over and over is going to make it leak.&#xA;I have other friends who say folding and rolling the rainfly prolongs the life of the tent, because stuffing waterproof material over and over is going to make it leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there has been any testing that proofs either of the two camps (pun intended) correct, or that shows that there is not significant difference between the two approaches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:54:29.967" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:54:29.967" Title="To stuff or not to stuff (the rain-fly of a tent)" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4534" CreationDate="2013-08-29T01:45:07.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Nepal there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorong_La&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thorong La&lt;/a&gt; which is a high altitude pass in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Annapurna&lt;/a&gt; that is doable without, in my opinion, much experience. It is fairly popular trek and you will likely encounter organized groups even during the off season. There are accessible trekking routes with accommodations and progressive acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to acquire permits and may want to consider hiring a Sherpa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T01:45:07.007" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4538" CreationDate="2013-08-29T02:15:41.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/ask_kristin/356&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;thread about the topic&lt;/a&gt; on backpacker. It doesn't quite resolve the dilemma. Personally I stuff the fly on the outside of my backpack because it is faster. It may also have a chance to breath/dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because packing and unpacking is faster when stuffing, there is a chance that I will get it out to dry for a few minutes in the afternoon if it is wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the more important factor is storing the fly wet which sometimes the weather does not leave us with much options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fold it, I'd consider not folding it in a too systematic way as to not stress the material in singular areas of the frabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-08-30T21:39:23.310" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T21:39:23.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4534" CreationDate="2013-08-29T08:52:26.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I climbed the Stok Kangri some years ago. I went to Langtang (Nepal) last March/April. The Tsermo Ri is at an altitude of around 4900m (if I remember correctly). It can be walked up easily without special equipment from Kyanjing Gompa. It is a day trip from the Kyanjing Gompa village. The summit might not be as high as the Stok Kangri but the view is really worth the walk! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the same Langtang valley, the Yala Peak is a trekking peak and can be done according to the people we met on the trek without climbing. But you might need porter and guide for the route... Especially if like this year the snow is still covering the route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a chat with a local guide during my last trip and he said that the road for jeeps to the Thorong La was finished. I saw the construction work in a previous trek in the Manang Valley in 2006... So the Thorung La might not be interesting for trekker after this season... Unfortunately. This is sad, the trek was really beautiful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-08-29T10:59:03.710" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T10:59:03.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4431" CreationDate="2013-08-29T16:47:25.167" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some great backpacking loops in Northren PA.&#xA;Off the top of my head I know of the Allegheny Front Trail and The Olde Loggers Path&#xA;Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.midatlantichikes.com/pa.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.midatlantichikes.com/pa.htm&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;and also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pahikes.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.pahikes.com/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;for some great PA hikes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2507" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T16:47:25.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4534" CreationDate="2013-08-29T17:05:36.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be both an obvious choice and not a &quot;real&quot; mountain, but what about &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_Patthar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kala Pathar,&lt;/a&gt; the &quot;black rock&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a 5545 meter hill facing Mt. Everest, and is the final destination of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Everest_Base_Camp_Trek&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everest Base Camp Trek.&lt;/a&gt; Despite appearing unimpressive from Gorak Shep (the last and highest tea house in the area), it's still a harrowing hour or two to get to the top. The view of Everest is great, and the views along the nine day journey from Lukla, the nearest airport, are also fabulous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting back to Lukla from Gorak Shep and Kala Pathar can be done in a lot less time - two or three days, even. There's also the possibility to cross over to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Gokyo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gokyo Lakes region&lt;/a&gt; by going over the 5370 meter &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Cho_La&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cho La pass&lt;/a&gt;. I liked the Gokyo area, and the pass, though difficult, was worth the effort, since it means you return to Lukla by a different route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area is very touristy and often crowded, but the atmosphere is pleasant and there's a good spirit of camaraderie among the tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X4f8s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kala Pathar with Pumori in the background&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2013-08-29T17:05:36.937" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4538" CreationDate="2013-08-30T01:51:19.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Folding&lt;/strong&gt; becomes an issue if you religiously fold in the same spot over and over -- say line up the corners all pretty and re-fold. Try this with any plastic, thin metal, etc... fold, unfold, fold, unfold, fold ad infinitum, and it will weaken and fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fold a different way each time, then you run little risk of this becoming a problem, though be careful of consistent points that folds tend to cross (ie the center of the fly might get folded each and every time even if you start with a different angle of cross fold each time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages: a fold and roll tends to pack smaller&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stuffing&lt;/strong&gt; all but guarantees you won't stress the same bit of fabric repeatedly, since the folds are distributed fairly randomly around the tent. However, since the tent doesn't pack down as tight, if you are trying to cram it in to a small space, you might subject each individual fold to higher pressure (possibly a downside)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages: quick&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T01:51:19.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4527" CreationDate="2013-08-30T01:56:28.753" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gaiters can be used on any shoes... even sandals. Of course their efficacy might be limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest thing to consider is how low the gaiters ride on the body of the shoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cinch the bottom strap as tight as you can, yet the gaiter still rides up over the top of you shoe (usually at the heel, since the front likely has a hook keeping it attached to the laces) then rocks can get in. Try a smaller size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small gaiters, snugged down have worked well for me in any number of sneakers / running shoes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In snow, the success rate is more limited, since even with boots, snow tends to pack in under the bottom lip of the gaiter - it just has farther to go up the heel of a boot than up the heel of a shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T01:56:28.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4525" CreationDate="2013-08-30T02:04:51.623" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only way to judge the depth of water with any certainty is to get in it, swim around, and dive repeatedly to the bottom searching for objects (trees, boulders, the body of the last person who leaped before the looked.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure there may be ways that can help you estimate depths to degrees (see Rory's answer) but the odds you have a good visual on anything but the clearest of still-water lakes are pretty slim. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the terrain becomes too difficult, a jump from the cliff to the&#xA;  pool of water below might be the only way to make any progress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Death (or paralyzation) is less progress than re-tracing your steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you are in a life-or-death situation (eg, jump or the raging wildfire will consume you) then play the odds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2013-08-31T18:58:51.837" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T18:58:51.837" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4552" CreationDate="2013-08-30T04:48:59.793" Score="8" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm asking on behalf of my roommates who want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. We all recently moved to San Diego from the East Coast, and they're trying to find a book as informative and detailed as &lt;em&gt;The A.T. Guide&lt;/em&gt;, but having trouble, online as well as perusing through several bookstores here in San Diego. Would anyone have any suggestions? Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2509" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-08-31T17:48:54.480" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T02:50:19.143" Title="Is there an equivalent of &quot;The A.T. Guide&quot; for the Pacific Crest Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;books&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7157" CreationDate="2013-08-30T04:49:39.613" Score="16" ViewCount="2607" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which dog breeds are best for backpacking?&lt;/strong&gt; I know malamutes do well in the cold and on mountains, but what if I'm backpacking in the summer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbdau.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Malamute Running&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which dog breeds are good for daily trail runs?&lt;/strong&gt;  I would love a dog that would wake up with me every day and go on a 3 to 7-mile trail run. Somehow, I can't see a Corgi keeping up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TVdLL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-08-30T15:58:55.080" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T11:56:35.773" Title="Dog Breeds for Backpacking and Trail Running" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4548" CreationDate="2013-08-30T05:47:17.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The wolf, the wild ancestor of the dog, has extreme running endurance. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehow.com/info_11367498_littleknown-wolves-endurance.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, many wolfs travel more than 50 miles daily searching for food. I've read somewhere, that wolfs can chase moose for a few days, but I can't find that now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wolf is very similar to us in that domain, human hunters can also run for days. This can be another reason that two species have formed so special relationship so early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking for great dog runners, look on dogs that are the most similar to their ancestors, such as the German Shepherd (in my country, this race is called Wolfie). If you choose Husky, you can even count for sleight transport if you are tired. Probably it would be you who would have problems to cope with the distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T05:47:17.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2013-08-30T07:18:28.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tent (REI Quarterdome) has mesh pockets on the ceiling – I find stuffing a headlamp up there is a reasonable space lighting solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T07:18:28.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4538" CreationDate="2013-08-30T09:29:09.363" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;LBell has neatly summarized, that folding leads to smaller pack and stuffing is just faster. I'd like to add some considerations here (being an adept of stuffing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you have to fold (and carefully!) because of a tight bag supplied with your tent or tarp. The bag will be too small to stuff your stuff inside. In this case I'd recommend to throw away your original bag and find a bigger one. Someday you are going to have a really high wind which will make folding hard. Or your tent gets below freezing and accumulates some frost so that a roll will be too big. Or you will be doing it alone with your bare hands exposed to this frost and this wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you will need a bigger bag anyway. Taking this into acount, I see noo reasons to stick to folding when you can stuff;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the claim that &lt;em&gt;stuffing waterproof material over and over is going to make it leak&lt;/em&gt;, I have seen it true, but only with really thick, rigid fabrics which produce starp corners. Modern tents are definitely not made of this. Well, at least good quality ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From practice, I've got a 10 years old Vaude tent, which was heavily used and stuffed for all its life, and it still almost isn't leaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-08-30T09:29:09.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4547" CreationDate="2013-08-30T21:50:15.593" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several equivalents just as there is for the AT. I would consider  &lt;strong&gt;Halfmile maps&lt;/strong&gt; combined with &lt;strong&gt;PocketPCT&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pctmap.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Halfmile's PCT maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackwoodspress.com/pacific-crest-trail/maps/atlas/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;'Erik the Black' books&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.pcta.org/publications/pacific-crest-trail-data-book/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT Data Book&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hikethru.com/pocket_pct&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pocket PCT&lt;/a&gt; (No longer available at this link as of March 2018)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.pcta.org/trail-maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;U.S. Forest Service PCT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcthandbook.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yogi's&lt;/a&gt; (No longer available as of March of 2018)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildernesspress.com/authors.php?authorid=313&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Press&lt;/a&gt; books / databook ('&lt;em&gt;official&lt;/em&gt;')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcta.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCTA&lt;/a&gt; also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/maps-and-guidebooks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;provides a listing&lt;/a&gt;, which is no longer at that page, as of March, 2018, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.pcta.org/books/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sells books&lt;/a&gt;. Guthook had a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guthookhikes.com/2010/11/myth-5-the-best-guidebook-for-the-pct-is.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;review on his blog&lt;/a&gt;, which is no longer available as of March 2018.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also add that while maps are not as popular on the AT they are most common on the PCT. Postholer have the nicest maps but Halfmile maps sometimes include useful comments which are a plus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for which one's you should bring with you, this is &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3961/what-are-the-most-recommended-guide-maps-to-bring-on-a-pct-thru-hike&quot;&gt;an entirely different question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S. Feel free to edit/add more guidebooks&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T02:50:19.143" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T02:50:19.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4553" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-31T10:30:37.750" Score="16" ViewCount="17386" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there was a way to make a fire pit and start a fire in it, and have a way to protect the ground beneith it as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really know how I could manage to do that, but whatever item you'd advice me to use, it has to be lightweight, and not too big, something I could have in my backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe there's absolutely no way to do it, but I was just wondering. I hate destroying the floor when I make a campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2511" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:14:58.520" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:14:58.520" Title="How to make a fire without burning the ground" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4553" CreationDate="2013-08-31T16:35:22.543" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for a cooking system for backpacking the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-sidewinder&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caldera Sidewinder Ti-Tri&lt;/a&gt; have the option of using a titanium floor for this exact purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the interest of &lt;strong&gt;facilitating Leave No Trace wood burning practices&lt;/strong&gt;, Trail Designs offers &lt;strong&gt;two styles of titanium floor plates to go under your Ti-Tri systems&lt;/strong&gt;. The &quot;split floor&quot; is designed to go with the standalone Sidewinder, or the single piece floor is optimized to be used with the Inferno.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These stoves are for small twigs burning and works great as a cooking system. However, I do not have experience with their floor plates. As for the '&lt;em&gt;Inferno&lt;/em&gt;' it does a good job at fully burning the fuel/twigs and only leaving ashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-08-31T17:29:40.643" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T17:29:40.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4553" CreationDate="2013-08-31T17:14:26.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's two schools of thought here that I know of - the first is to avoid lighting a fire where there's ground you could easily damage, and the second is avoiding the heat getting to the ground. Combine both if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the first goes, I won't say a great deal about that because beyond the obvious (being open minded about where you camp and looking around for a good spot) there isn't much else that can be done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as minimising the heat getting to the ground, when I want to take this approach I generally pile rocks on the base of the campfire, then light it the fire on the rocks. It's not a foolproof approach, and rarely leaves the ground completely trace-free, but it's a darn sight better than the mark you get just having a bare fire on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T17:14:26.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4553" CreationDate="2013-08-31T18:38:24.343" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you absolutely must have a fire, reset your thinking from &quot;fire pit&quot; to &quot;&lt;strong&gt;fire mound&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Creating a fire mound is a great way to enjoy a back-country fire with little to no impact to the ground / vegetation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry a small sheet of plastic, burlap, or a section of an old fire shelter, or anything of the like (it shouldn't get hot enough to burn if your mound is constructed properly, though embers might land on the edges)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a &lt;em&gt;previously-disturbed&lt;/em&gt; source of mineral soil (a downed tree root ball, a sandbar in a creek, etc.) near your camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lay the sheet out on a level bit of ground (rock/bare soil preferred but not necessary) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a flat &quot;mound&quot; of mineral soil 3-5 inches thick on the sheet, making it a bit wider than your expected fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Build a small twiggy fire on top of the mound&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When finished, scatter the ashes charcoal twigs (or pack out if required)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Return the mineral soil back to its source&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BAM! Absolutely no trace of your fire, except maybe flattened vegetation where the was. The mineral soil mound insulates the ground so grass underneath is unharmed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For areas that don't have available mineral soil (slick rock?), you might consider a small fire-pan (think disposable aluminum turkey roasting pan) to minimize char/scar from the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info, check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://lnt.org/learn/principle-5&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; principle 5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T18:38:24.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4557" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4561" CreationDate="2013-08-31T19:23:11.927" Score="3" ViewCount="1105" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have Scarpa Charmoz GTX Women boots for mountaineering (upper than 4000 m) in Iran. I want to find a good pair of crampons for them. I cannot choose automatic crampons but somebody says I can use newmatic or semi-automatic crampons. Is it correct? If yes which brands do you suggest? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2059" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:00:20.660" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:00:20.660" Title="What are the suitable choices of crampons for Scarpa Charmoz GTX Women boots?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4558" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-31T10:27:55.190" Score="1" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there was a way to make a fire pit and start a fire in it, and have a way to protect the ground beneith it as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really know how I could manage to do that, but whatever item you'd advice me to use, it has to be lightweight, and not too big, something I could have in my backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe there's absolutely no way to do it, but I was just wondering. I hate destroying the floor when I make a campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2511" OwnerDisplayName="Romain Braun" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T20:16:05.350" Title="How to make a fire in the wild, without burning the ground?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2013-09-01T02:48:42.660" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4553" CreationDate="2013-08-31T13:14:34.113" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, insulating the floor from a campfire, which usually has 900-1200 degrees Celsius and burns for several hours, is quite difficult. The soil itself does a decent job, but of course that's the part that you don't want to burn... Restoring life to a scorched patch of soil will take a while, but relatively speaking a couple of scorched patches won't make much of a difference to a big forest. I would guess that collecting garbage or some other efforts would help the forest a lot more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2512" OwnerDisplayName="Earthling" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T13:14:34.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4553" CreationDate="2013-08-31T14:53:26.023" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what you are afraid to destroy with you fire. You should remove any plants around the fireplace anyway. The bigger problems are the remains of the fireplace, such as partially charred logs, which can stay there for months. They are more an aesthetic problem, and they will be eventually utilized by the nature, but it takes much time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my experience, if you let the logs burn completely, and you'll scatter the ashes, the remains of the fire will disappear very quickly. If you extinguish fire with water, they will hold log. Of course, you can scatter the ashes only when they are cold, for example the day after (in winter you can do that quicker, since you can throw them into snow, reducing fire risk to null). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" OwnerDisplayName="Łukasz Lech" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T14:53:26.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4557" CreationDate="2013-08-31T20:53:25.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like you'll need Newmatic crampons. The Charmoz GTX has a heel bail but no toe bail, which means you will need a strap over the toe. Many crampons today come with a choice of configuration between a step-in or toe-strap, and most step-ins can be refitted with a toe-strap after the fact as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual type and model of crampon recommended varies with the intended activity (and budget), however. So all else being equal, anything with a toe strap will work.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hyLPv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BD Sabretooth with toe strap&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T20:53:25.963" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4562" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-08-31T21:14:05.223" Score="21" ViewCount="18528" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are one or two other posts on cookware, which covers those made of titanium, but this post is in regards to its interactions with the human body. I haven't been able to find any academic/peer-reviewed articles in this subject and I don't want to go with the idea that just because its very popular means it is going to be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T01:11:07.417" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T01:11:07.417" Title="Is titanium cookware safe?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4562" CreationDate="2013-08-31T21:34:20.853" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the article &quot;Is that newfangled cookware safe?&quot; no special mention is made for titanium. Titanium is not commonly found in cookware other than backpacking because it is simply terrible for any cooking tasks other than perhaps boiling water and it is expensive. Many backpackers are willing to pay the extra money for extra weight saving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.naturalnews.com/036029_cookware_non-stick_chemicals.html#ixzz2daIs6fvb&quot;&gt;naturalnews&lt;/a&gt; titanium is the &lt;em&gt;safest&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Titanium cookware seems to pose the least health risks and doesn't react with food while cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/handling/hgic3864.html&quot;&gt;reference article&lt;/a&gt; can be found here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One pot for which I would have reservations is the grease pot. It is not made of titanium but is light, cheap and not meant for cooking. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-08-31T21:34:20.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4562" CreationDate="2013-09-01T13:46:19.500" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start by saying that it doesn't really matter how cookware material interacts with the human body, because you aren't going to eat your cookware. What &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; important is how it reacts with the foods that you cook, particularly acidic foods (which is why you don't want to use cast iron to make tomato sauces).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this regard, titanium is as close to perfect as you can get, which is why it's used in laboratories and highly corrosive industrial processes. If you'd like references, I'd start with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium#Chemical_properties&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; and go from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="678" LastActivityDate="2013-09-01T13:46:19.500" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4548" CreationDate="2013-09-02T00:02:56.637" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Somehow, I can't see a Corgi keeping up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 20-pound terrier mutt. She does great with me trail running at distances of 6-7 miles. After we get home, she runs around the back yard in circles like a rocket. Dogs are just much more efficient runners than humans, especially in cool weather. As far as I can tell, humans only seem to be at all competitive with dogs at distances more like 12 miles. (I haven't taken my dog that far, but have seen my running buddy's larger dogs act tired at that distance.) There is a theory that humans evolved for a hunting niche on the plains of Africa, in which we were specially adapted to pursuing prey for long distances in hot weather, but we're talking about really long distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking, the problem I've found isn't really my dog's ability to do it physically, it's that she tends to injure her feet. You can get various kinds of booties. It's hard to find ones that fit correctly and that stay on. Keep in mind that if your big dog hurts a foot in the backcountry, you're going to have big problems getting him out. Mine I could carry out if I had to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-02T00:02:56.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4566" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4567" CreationDate="2013-09-01T07:51:27.507" Score="13" ViewCount="716" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to hike part of the Alps that go from France to Slovenia, but I'm not sure what type of equipment I'll need. I'm wondering if I need to bring crampons; I have Icetrekkers (Diamond Grip), which are more like traction cleats than crampons. &#xA;Because I'll be backpacking, I would prefer to know in advance instead of bringing an extra two pounds that I won't end up using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; I'm &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; looking for equipment advice, which is why I didn't post this to OSE. I want to know if it can be hiked: Are the trails cleared for hikers? Are they even open? Or are the trails open, but not cleared, thus leaving the trails &quot;hike-able&quot; only to those with special equipment and training, such as mountaineers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the official Switzerland tourist page and other various pages, I was unable to find any such information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" OwnerDisplayName="MarkE" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T11:20:53.657" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T18:43:15.620" Title="Can the Swiss Alps be hiked in the winter?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4566" CreationDate="2013-09-01T11:50:34.240" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;That depends entirely on weather conditions and the paths you plan to take. If you stay on cleared roads, your Icetrekkers should be sufficient (and may not even be necessary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main problem will be snow, not ice. Hiking paths will generally not be cleared of snow, so you'd need snowshoes or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_touring&quot;&gt;touring skis&lt;/a&gt;. Additionally, if there is (or has been) heavy snowfall, orientation can be problematic, and of course avalanches pose a serious risk in many areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, I'd say that long-distance alpine hiking during winter is not advisable, especially if you don't have previous experience in those conditions. Day (or multi-day) trips are certainly doable when weather conditions are good, you have the right equipment and keep informed about avalanche risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" OwnerDisplayName="Michael Borgwardt" LastActivityDate="2013-09-01T20:36:06.720" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4534" CreationDate="2013-09-02T14:14:12.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are few peaks like : Ekdant - 6128 mtrs (A name for Lord Ganesh), Kartik - 5113 mtrs(named after brother of Lord Ganesh). I had planned for these two on a single trip, though I could not execute the plan. There is  Parvati Parbat (6,257m) above the Satopanth Glacier.&#xA;I have the Himalayan Journal of year 2009 which has expedition reports and lots of useful notes on above said peaks. Try and get a copy of that from Himalayan Club. Or even &lt;a href=&quot;http://aaj.americanalpineclub.org/climbs-and-expeditions/asia/india/uttaranchal/2010-ekdant-and-kartik-by-d-teixeira/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; link here may come handy. But, the above are less trekable than Climbable peaks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of now, if you are looking for Absolute Trek'able thing around Himalays, try and do Mt. Everest Base camp trek from Luk'la, Nepal. Its an amazing experience to have! I have planned the same in next year August.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EBC is not technically difficult at all, but the Altitude and Weather part together make it more challenging. Its also about the distance you cover. In the EBC trek, you can summit Gokyo Ri as well, Now of Gokyo Ri Trek, I've heard so far, is tougher than Stok Kangri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more option, which is less Trek'able as you expect, is relatively difficult, is: Doing a Trek upto the Advance Base Camp (ABC) of the Saser Kangri in East Karakoram. Set your Base Camp at 4750 m and then an Advanced Base Camp at 5360 m. If you are good with ration and equipment then you can also try and reach to Camp 1 at 5880 m. Beyond Camp 1 (usually called C1) its no longer easy. I believe with the kind of thing you are looking for, reaching ABC of Saser Kangri is a good fun. Beyond that, you may choose whether to continue to C1 or fall back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you have route like, Kanchenjunga Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indmount.org/Home.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; site as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-10T06:55:17.060" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T06:55:17.060" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4579" CreationDate="2013-09-02T22:51:59.227" Score="9" ViewCount="1873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a new product for rain protection the other day. Frogg Toggs makes a line of rain gear out of a polypropylene material that I have not previously seen used for rain gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know how this measures up to other hiking rain gear in terms of weight and rain resistance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="580" LastEditDate="2013-09-03T17:52:49.340" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T12:00:56.090" Title="How does Frogg Toggs Polypropylene measure up?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4570" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4571" CreationDate="2013-09-03T15:36:21.503" Score="10" ViewCount="1837" Body="&lt;p&gt;When tying into a harness with a figure eight follow through knot, does it matter if the running end comes up through the tie in points or goes down through them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JPDob.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JPDob.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the figure it is hard to see which way the running end passes through the harness. I have often heard &quot;it doesn't really matter&quot; or &quot;either way is fine&quot;.  Can anyone elaborate on scenario's where there are pro's and con's?  At the climbing gym the majority of people I watch go bottom to top, however I go top to bottom; should I be conforming to the masses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T23:27:09.297" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T10:21:39.527" Title="Tie in to harness, top to bottom or bottom to top" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4570" CreationDate="2013-09-03T17:10:06.763" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Figure eight-knots are not directional. Once the knot is properly tied and dressed, it doesn't matter if you passed the rope through from the top or the bottom, it is purely a matter of preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to watch out for when tying your figure-eight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does the rope go through &lt;strong&gt;both tie-in points&lt;/strong&gt;, and not through the&#xA;belay loop? (like you mentioned in your comment) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there &lt;strong&gt;enough tail&lt;/strong&gt;, but not too much? (Your local gym might also require you to tie a backup knot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the knot properly &lt;strong&gt;dressed&lt;/strong&gt;? (are there 10&#xA;parallel strands with no strands crossing each other) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the knot properly &lt;strong&gt;tightened&lt;/strong&gt;? (pull on opposite strands to tighten a&#xA;figure-eight knot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has the sheath of the rope-end you are tying in with not separated from the core, or has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/107347250&quot;&gt;sheath-slippage&lt;/a&gt; occurred? (At the end of the rope you should be able to see both the inner core and the sheath, fused together by heat.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your harness requires you to double-back at your buckles, &lt;strong&gt;are you double-backed&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some obvious ones: are you tying into the correct rope, is the rope and your harness in good condition, does your belayer know what he/she is doing, are you not crowding another climber, are you not in the fall zone of another climber...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus fact:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are climbing knots where directionality does matter. The clove hitch is the most common one; When tying a clove hitch, make sure the loaded strand is the one closest to the spine of the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-09-03T17:48:19.643" LastActivityDate="2013-09-03T17:48:19.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4524" CreationDate="2013-09-04T01:40:25.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got back into doing outdoors stuff after a seventeen year hiatus. I used to be quite active and have a lot of what was high-endish kit by the standards of the late 80s/early 90s. When I got it all out of the attic it suddenly seemed very heavy compared to the kit a couple of my friends use on their missions and much of it just looked weird when seen through modern eyes so I decided a complete kit refresh was in order. Although I was tempted to jump straight back in to high-end technical gear I didn't know if I would stick at it so I did a bit of research and put together a list of mid-range but decent gear which I would upgrade over time &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; I stuck with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of caveats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm in the UK so some of this kit may not be available to you,&#xA;depending on where you are (too lazy to check)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am inclined towards the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_backpacking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;light/ultralight weight camping thing&lt;/a&gt; so some of the kit is perhaps more expensive than it should be and you could easily get away with slightly heavier alternatives.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shelter: I looked at the Laser Competition one and two man tents and also the Hilleberg Akto. Both very good and light but pricey. I went for the slightly heavier (300g) version of the Laser, the Wild Country Zephyros II which is basically the same tent with heavier material. I have used it all summer in heatwaves and the Scottish rain and can't really fault it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For solo/ child-free missions I quite like just using a tarp and a bivvy bag in the summer. I got both from Alpkit (I also got a titanium spork from them, the only cutlery I need - pocket knife does everything else) whose service and product quality is very good. I will eventually upgrade to something like the Mountain Laurel Design Cricket or Mountain Star - these are considered superior even to mountain tents and considerably lighter. I don't really stay below the treeline so haven't bothered looking at hammocks, but as an aside you may be interested in checking out tarp + hammock camping as popularised by Ray Mears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping:&#xA;I bought an Alpkit 600D down bag and a cotton sleepingbag liner (£10). I am currently looking at pillow options - as I get older I find the drybag filled with used socks increasingly uncomfortable. I don't really get on with inflatable pillows so this area is still being researched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other Kit:&#xA;I bought a 50L Lightwave pack. At 900-odd grams its a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; lighter than my old Berghaus bergen. It lacks the extra side pockets and pouches I'm used to and can't safely contain more than about 12kg but its a very good and comfortable pack, designed by a hardcore hiker from New Zealand and is highly waterproof with a silnylon top. Minimal but very functional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have a small Lowe Alpine Edge (18L) day sack. Its so handy I tend to use it as my day to day work rucksac during the week. It takes a hydration pack and accommodates a 13&quot; Macbook Pro. I really like Lowe kit generally. Other packs are available. It is really a little small to use as a day sac for anything other than short walks and I may well upgrade to one of its more spacious siblings in time or I may go for the Alpkit Gourdon waterproof pack which is very good indeed if you can cope with the functional design (essentially a 20/25/30L drybag with shoulder straps).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have a Bushbox multi-fuel stove which I can't recommend highly enough. It will take wood, charcoal, twigs, fuel tablets and a Trangia-style burner and weighs about 250g and packs away to the size of a coaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Merino socks are nice for longer treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hydration pack (Camelbak or whatever you like really. Worth finding out about the taste (if any) they impart to the contents, staff in stores are usually very forthcoming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproofs: I have Berghaus Deluge overtrousers  + a simple Marmot breathable eVent jacket with hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trousers: I really like the Montane Terra trousers, lightweight, windproof, zip vented dry in minutes, cordura-patched for toughness. However the cut is very slim and they lack pocket-space (I'm used to combats)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Microfleece: I bought an unbranded plain one from ebay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Base layers: I bought seven cheap (£5) wicking baselayers from HiGear. They do what they are supposed to - keep you warm and reasonably dry in all conditions and to be easy to wash and quickdrying. Obviously more expensive versions are available. Personally I don't see the need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal preference. You can go full-leather with hard Vibram soles (my preference) or for lighter gore-tex or eVent boots/shoes with more flexible soles. I got a pair of North Ridge (made in China but very good nonetheless) but am looking hard at the Ecco Biom Hike boots - expensive, but good boots are essential IMHO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knife:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an old skool Leatherman tool with a decent blade and a Boker locking knife. I would quite like a machete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Footnote:&#xA;I &lt;em&gt;did&lt;/em&gt; stick with it and I am delighted I did - my youthful enthusiasm for trekking, climbing and camping has returned and the fresh air, exercise and opportunity to get out of the city has made my day-to-day life immeasurably better. Enjoy yourself ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2076" LastActivityDate="2013-09-04T01:40:25.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4574" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4575" CreationDate="2013-09-04T15:23:11.557" Score="11" ViewCount="2145" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I camp with people who pass out drinking beer and don't bother to clean up their trash before they go to bed. Since we are in black bear country, I was wondering if empty beer bottles can attract black bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:53.070" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:53.070" Title="Can bears smell empty beer bottles?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4574" CreationDate="2013-09-04T15:34:54.207" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer may depend on the type of bear, but somehow I doubt it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you ever visit Yosemite National Park, go to the Happy Isles&#xA;  Visitor Center. They have an old Jeep door on display. The Jeep had&#xA;  once belonged by a camper who left a tube of chap stick in their car&#xA;  as they slept.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A black bear smelled the chap stick inside the closed Jeep and ripped&#xA;  the door clean off the hinges to get to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't think about the beer bottles being &quot;food&quot;. Think about bears being curious. Anything with a scent can attract a curious bear. Maybe your bear has never smelt an IPA before, and will need to investigate the rich scent of hops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a quick look at the Yosemite National Park page on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm&quot;&gt;bear safety&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short version is: &lt;strong&gt;put your empty beer bottles into a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-resistant_food_storage_container&quot;&gt;bear can&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/lockers.htm&quot;&gt;bear locker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-09-05T14:33:00.097" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T14:33:00.097" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4576" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-04T19:49:10.140" Score="4" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to learn to find north using moon phases? I'm looking for easy-to-remember rule of thumb, at best some simple graphic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's quite trivial by full moon. Since full moon is in direct opposition to the sun, at the midnight it will be exactly on south. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some time ago someone have explained to me how to navigate when the moon is in other phase, using the term of C-shaped and D-shaped moon, with deviation from north at midnight depending on how C- or how D- was that phase. He have made a sketch on the sand. I should have made photo or drawing of it, but I haven't thought about it and now I have problems finding similar sketch or similar rule of the thumb in internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T00:34:17.670" Title="Learning to find north using moon phases" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4576" CreationDate="2013-09-05T00:34:17.670" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't believe such an easy method exists you can keep in your head and calculate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The position of the moon relative to you depends on accurate knowledge of the phase of the moon, time of day, and latitude and longitude of where you are, and those interact in a nonlinear manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your original claim isn't even true in all places. The moons rotation is between 18 and 25° from the equator, and navigation in there will not always fulfill your claim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can see the moon, you should be able to see the stars, at least Polaris (or southern hemisphere equivalent), and that will be a better method and more reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T00:34:17.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="617" CreationDate="2013-09-05T01:25:00.263" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is purely complementary and does not attempt to answer the question directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option for securing a rappel is the &lt;strong&gt;fireman's belay&lt;/strong&gt;. This works on single pitch climbs when someone is at the base of the cliff, or on multi-pitch routs when someone is already at the next, lower anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The belayer takes a hold of both strands of the rope, while keeping in mind to give the abseiling person enough slack to smoothly feed rope through the rappel device. In case of an emergency, the belayer pulls the rope strands tight, which causes the belay device to lock up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use this method whenever possible, since it is much quicker than attaching and detaching a prussic. It also eliminates the difficulty of resuming a rappel after the prussic has bitten down on the rope. In case of an emergency, the person below could safely lower the person rappelling, which is not possible with a self-belayed-abseil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These points make the firemen's belay the preferred method when helping a novice to rappel. Someone new to ropes, harnesses, and rappel devices can concentrate on the more immediate aspects (avoiding overhangs and jerky movements,) while the belayer takes care of the unexpected, and can take an active roll in lowering, if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people swear by never even using a prussic, and instead lowering the first person off of the anchor, and then using the fireman's belay for the second. This methodology should only be used when lowering off of one's own gear, since the weight of the climber and the friction of the rope quickly abrades fixed rappel rings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benefits are: It becomes impossible to rappel off of the end of the ropes when the backup knots were forgotten (just watch out for not &lt;strong&gt;lowering&lt;/strong&gt; the climber off of the end of the rope,) and if it turns out that the rope is not long enough for a double-roped rappel, the climber can climb back up on top-rope, instead of having to awkwardly climb on self-belay. I have also heard that this method can be quicker than using prussics, although I don't have any data to substantiate this claim.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drawbacks are: When rappeling the traditional way, it is possible to extend the second's belay device with a sling, which makes it possible for both climbers to set up for rappel and check each other's work. Since this is not possible when lowering a climber first, that method should be used for experts only, since a novice should never set up an abseil without having his/her work checked (no-one really should.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T01:25:00.263" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4569" CreationDate="2013-09-05T01:41:48.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polypropylene based rain gear is a subject of great debate. It seems to fit some people's needs perfectly while it is terrible for others. Frogg Toggs is one company, I know DriDucks is another. They both seem to get similar reviews, hot or cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The material leads to very lightweight rain gear compared to equally breathable/water resistant materials. So it should be as lightweight if not better than anything out there. Because of this it also offers little to no warmth, so if you are going into cold and rainy weather you will need an under layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the complaints are about the durability. I have not had any problem with this but I may not be as hard of my gear as others are. My backpacking trips are mostly weekends on US East Coast. Climates with more rain the durability issue may be worse with packing and unpacking more often. I believe the durability comes from difficulty in assembling the material, which is also why it is never stylish. This issue may be improved as time goes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain resistance is very good, on par with the best competing materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="30" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T01:41:48.287" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4580" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-05T14:03:52.080" Score="18" ViewCount="2033" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern flashlights have brightness up to several thousand lumens which is great. However it's not clear how bright a flashlight I might realistically need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose I want to go on a search party such as for example when a person is lost in the terrain and police and volunteers move through the terrain and try to find that person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How bright of a flashlight would be reasonable for such scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2528" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T09:01:17.813" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T23:08:09.703" Title="How bright a flashlight would I realistically need for searching through terrain?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;lumen&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2013-09-05T15:46:52.733" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For search party purposes, bigger is almost always better, both from the perspective of the lost individual - he/she may be able to see the light from a distance and make themselves more visible or move towards the light, and from the searcher trying to see their target, perhaps an unconscious individual - spotting clothing or non-natural material is much easier with a very bright light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason pretty much all search teams carry high intensity floodlights. This is a portable, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ledco.co.uk/content/productView.aspx?prodId=14&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;high intensity torch rated at 1100 lumens&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLtwS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that may be impractical for a light team already out in the field, so SAR teams recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/head-torch-range/led-lenser-head-fire-revolution-focusing.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;head torches like these. Only 170 lumens, but very portable&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3yQNK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T15:46:52.733" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4583" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4584" CreationDate="2013-09-05T19:14:36.303" Score="10" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do female-urination-devices like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shewee.com/&quot;&gt;Shewee&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.go-girl.com/&quot;&gt;GOGIRL&lt;/a&gt; perform on backpacking trips that are at least a week? Do they start smelling? Do they attract bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T19:52:17.087" Title="How do female-urination-devices perform on long backpacking trips?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4583" CreationDate="2013-09-05T19:52:17.087" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have it on good authority that the Shewee (no info on the other one) is incredibly easy to clean, as it is made of recyclable polypropylene, so all that you would want to do is give it a quick rinse with water if you need to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it is so highly polished, all you normally need to do is give it a shake, but I think a quick rinse may be what you want on a long trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-05T19:52:17.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4601" CreationDate="2013-09-06T00:25:00.640" Score="8" ViewCount="2609" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on through hiking &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=devil%27s%20path%20catskills&amp;amp;oq=devils%20path&amp;amp;aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l3j69i60j69i61.4087j0&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Devil's Path&lt;/a&gt; in the Catskills in November with some friends, and I'm trying to figure out the transportation. We leave about 3 hours away, so I'd prefer not to have to take two cars to leave one at each end. Some suggestions I read online thought that I we could plan on hitching a ride from one end to another, but I hate to count on that since there are 4 of us and its pretty late in the season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find any sort of shuttle for the path. So I'm looking into a taxi service from end to end, but that seems super costly. Does anyone know of a shuttle or an alternative I could explore?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2453" LastEditorUserId="2453" LastEditDate="2013-09-06T12:41:12.657" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T23:23:20.147" Title="Devils path shuttle" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-06T23:08:28.800" Score="3" ViewCount="565" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend is about 7 months pregnant and was told not to buckle her waist straps on her backpack. When during pregnancy should a woman stop buckling the waist straps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T10:56:13.760" Title="When should pregnant women avoid buckling a backpack's waist straps?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;women&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4587" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4592" CreationDate="2013-09-06T23:16:23.033" Score="9" ViewCount="492" Body="&lt;p&gt;When an adult black bear without cubs in sight got a hold of an open bear-can, is it advisable to try to scare him/her away (with noise, or by approaching him/her as a group?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking both for the bear's sake, and what is safest for the hiker who is in this situation. Also, I am asking specifically about black bears encountered in the wilderness, not those who have grown accustomed to people near camp-grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the preferred situation would be if the bear never got a hold of the food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:13:26.600" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:13:26.600" Title="What to do when a black bear got a hold of an open bear can?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-06T23:27:05.997" Score="16" ViewCount="1481" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming equivalent fitness, what is a fair way to split up weight when hiking as a couple/in mixed gender groups? Should the weight be proportional to the individuals weight? Are there other considerations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:48:26.717" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:48:26.717" Title="Splitting up weight hiking as a couple/mixed gender group" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4589" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4593" CreationDate="2013-09-06T23:36:28.610" Score="27" ViewCount="3508" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should a woman legitimately fear to be assaulted or raped on popular backpacking trails in the US when hiking by herself? How common are attacks of that nature? How does it compare to residential areas, where we don't tell women to never be out by themselves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to keep answers focused on criminal behavior by others, and not the risk of having an accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-15T02:14:56.613" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T00:10:51.617" Title="How safe is it for women to hike alone?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;women&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4590" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4615" CreationDate="2013-09-06T23:47:26.293" Score="9" ViewCount="740" Body="&lt;p&gt;In areas where the park service asks hikers to burry their feces, it is commonly suggested to dig a six-inch hole. I have come close to filling up one of those before, which got me wondering: What is the goal behind this rule? Is the goal to have the feces buried six inches, meaning, should I anticipate the volume of the deposit, or am I fine as long as nothing shows on the surface?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any suggestions for areas where reaching the target depth is difficult due to rocky soil?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2013-09-07T06:21:46.433" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T17:01:08.297" Title="Clarification sought on the six-inch-cat-hole rule" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4590" CreationDate="2013-09-07T00:24:57.323" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's the rule on the Ozark Trail and the Appalachian Trail, to the best of my recollection. However - many times the ground is just rock surrounded by bits of dirt. Do the best you can and use your best judgement. Remember that everything else dumps it in the woods without burying it, but they're not using TP, either. No one wants to step in it, see it, or see your TP scattered about by the wind. Try to make it so no one will know that you did your business there, and it should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 2013/09/07:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a cat-hole I dug and used the morning of 2013/08/11, that's about four weeks ago. The red ellipse encircles the cat-hole, just to make sure you can tell where it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/baiH7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's note a couple things. First, there's no erosion. It would be surprising to find erosion in a well-located cat-hole. Second, though it's been there four weeks, no animals have dug it up. There are 'possums, 'coons, deer, bobcats, pumas, coyotes, dogs, foxes, armadillos, squirrels and rabbits in the area. There's lots of scat in the area. I'm not sure what kind of animal might want scat, but there's plenty on top of the ground everywhere you go. Finally, notice that none of the TP is visible, and the cat-hole itself is pretty inconspicuous. So...the &quot;erosion might expose the TP&quot; and &quot;animals might dig it up&quot; theories are not born out here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, now about the decay of the TP. This example is a worst-case example. When I'm backpacking, I use very little TP, because I start with leaves and finish with a little TP. But here, I'm on my own land, and did the whole job with TP. That means that I used a lot. Furthermore, it's not biodegradable TP, it's grocery-store TP. It's rained once or twice in the four-week period. Like I said, worse-case example, excepting that it could have been drier. What we see here should be far worse than the typical backpacking cat-hole. Let's dig it up and see:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PX2sd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice that the ground is bone-dry, despite the rain. We're in the woods under good cover, so no surprise there. There is some TP left, but not much. It's almost completely decayed. What's left won't last long. The TP is well-rotted before any erosion has taken place and before any animals have dug it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to pack yours out, or use rocks or sticks or whatever, that's great. But I know how and where I can properly bury mine, so I'll keep doing that. I'm sorry if that triggers your righteous indignation, but it works if you know what you're doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2013-09-08T12:39:39.023" LastActivityDate="2013-09-08T12:39:39.023" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4587" CreationDate="2013-09-07T01:21:34.880" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the bear already has your food, I would give up. I've been in this situation once when hiking with my father. My father went up to the bear and yelled. The bear reared up and roared, my father ran like hell, and the bear went back to eating our box of crackers. This seems to match up with what I've heard, which is that once the bear has your food, the bear knows that it owns the food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to prevent this kind of problem is to eat dinner in the late afternoon, then hike some more, and then camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Also, I am asking specifically about black bears encountered in the wilderness, not those who have grown accustomed to people near camp-grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, the distinction between backcountry and front-country, habituated versus unhabituated, is probably not that black and white. There's a whole spectrum from crowded car-camping campgrounds to remote, high-altitude areas that are far from trails and hardly ever visited by humans. Somewhere in the middle of this spectrum you have backcountry areas such as Little Yosemite and Rae Lakes that are popular enough to need bear boxes. In my experience, if you camp in areas that are not popular enough to need bear boxes, you simply never see a bear, and it's not an issue. Bears aren't like marmots, which are pretty commonly encountered even in the alpine zone at very high elevation. A bear is a big top predator that can only get enough food in either a pretty productive ecosystem (i.e., at relatively low altitude) or in an area where it can steal human food reliably and in significant quantities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T01:21:34.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2013-09-07T01:45:11.700" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roland Muser wrote a book, Long-Distance Hiking: Lessons from the Appalachian Trail, based on surveys of 136 long-distance hikers, each of whom spent 3-6 months on the trail. Some relevant quotes (p. 133):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two or three hikers had run-ins with local inhabitants, and some reported uncomfortable hitch-hiking incidents. More seriously, two hikers were threatened with guns, and there was one (not officially reported) attempted rape. [...] When one considers that we are dealing with the experiences of 136 people over three to six months, the unpleasant occurrences were relatively few. [...] When asked what they considered the major hazards on the trail about which they might wish to warn new hikers, responses boiled down to three categories [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these responses, 23 people reported trouble due to other people (thefts, encounters with drunks, ...), 19 cited &quot;trail/environmental hazards,&quot; and 14 issues to animals. The most common advice from ATers in terms of avoiding crime (such as getting your pack stolen) was not to camp at public car-camping campgrounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T01:45:11.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2013-09-07T02:00:19.967" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different people have vastly different styles. Some people carry a lot more weight, some a lot less. If you're interested in cutting your pack weight or moving toward a more lightweight or ultralight style, a good web site to check out is &lt;a href=&quot;http://backpackinglight.com&quot;&gt;http://backpackinglight.com&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think many people do use percentage of body weight as a criterion, e.g., I recently hiked with a very small woman (who, BTW, kicked my ass hiking), who had a certain strict figure -- she never carries more than x% of her body weight. (This was just her rule for herself. The three of us on that trip all brought our own gear and didn't re-divvy-up anything.) If you want a figure for comparison, I practice a pretty lightweight/ultralight style for summer in the Sierra, and my normal setup has a base weight (i.e., not counting food or water) of about 9% of my body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T02:00:19.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="617" CreationDate="2013-09-07T02:08:48.583" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freedom of the Hills has a chapter on rappelling that includes a detailed discussion of this topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tie it &quot;uphill&quot; from the belay device or &quot;downhill&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Downhill.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the Prusik is downhill from the ATC, then the Prusik only ever has to supply enough force to brake you on the brake strand. This is much, much less than your body weight, which is what you'd need if you had it above the ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An even more important reason why it's a terrible idea to put the Prusik above the ATC is that it has a really terrible mode of failure that can kill you. It goes like this. You have your left hand above the ATC, tending the Prusik, while your right hand is on the brake strand below. Something happens (rockfall, getting banged around, ...) and your right hand goes off the brake strand. In this panic situation, you grip with your left hand as tight as you can to try to save yourself. This has the effect of &lt;em&gt;preventing&lt;/em&gt; the correct tension in the Prusik, so the Prusik doesn't function. The rope strips the flesh off the palm of your left hand, and you fall to your death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure to add an extension between your belay loop and your belay device, so that the Prusik can't possibly get pulled up into the ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Clip it to the belay loop or the leg loop or to a loop of my personal anchor system (PAS)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For many harnesses, as long as you have the Prusik downhill from the ATC, it doesn't matter. The Prusik only has to supply braking force, and a leg loop, for example, is plenty strong enough for this. However, for some harnesses the force on the biner can pull the leg loop open. Therefore it may be safer to make a habit of clipping it in to somewhere more secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-04-29T04:56:23.123" LastActivityDate="2014-04-29T04:56:23.123" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4586" CreationDate="2013-09-07T10:56:13.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will vary by individual - the basic recommendation is that once it becomes uncomfortable you should stop. 6 or 7 months sounds about right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By that stage though, the recommendation is also to dramatically lighten the pack you carry anyway, as ligaments get much more elastic by that stage of pregnancy and you can do a lot of damage to your joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T10:56:13.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2013-09-07T11:07:32.450" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go hiking with my wife or a mixed group, we don't use any fixed figures of x%. Instead we all know roughly what weight we are happy carrying, and if someone feels they could carry more they will offer to help out someone who appears to be struggling or overloaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, if you are experienced hikers, you will have your pack size/type pretty well nailed for most occasions so shouldn't need to do this, but you may have an inexperienced member of the team, or someone may be a bit off their usual strength through illness etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice - just work it out between you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-07T11:07:32.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4598" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-07T07:10:22.003" Score="11" ViewCount="772" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid and was still living in Poland, my parents used to have these few kilo rechargeable gas bottles and compatible stove, which we used during holidays. The nice thing about this was that the gas containers could be refilled in LPG equipped petrol stations for the same price as the gas used in LPG converted cars (so a tiny fraction of the cost of the backpacking gas containers popular today). Is it possible to buy these kind of stoves in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1864" OwnerDisplayName="Grzenio" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-09-08T18:08:02.673" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T13:39:35.883" Title="Refillable camping stoves for use in the UK" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2013-09-07T16:42:07.157" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone who has overweight isn't normally able to carry more, so weight isn't as important. The height would be more adequate... Muscle strength isn't much important when you go on long hikes... Strength doesn't translate directly to endurance, often it's the opposite - people with smaller muscles are more endure and are actually able to carry more on greater distances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most practical solution is not to care about fairness, but of outcome for the group. If someone is doing poorly that day, stays behind etc., take some things from them and give it to the best performing members of the group. As the result, the fastest will go a bit slower, the slowest will go a bit faster and the group as the whole will perform much better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-04-15T16:53:49.030" LastActivityDate="2014-04-15T16:53:49.030" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4600" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4603" CreationDate="2013-09-07T20:36:23.183" Score="12" ViewCount="439" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general advice I have heard for surprise lightning storms when climbing is to retreat. Since retreating quickly is not without danger itself and often is not even all that quick (I personally have spent two hours plus retreating), I was wondering if there are any other well tested strategies. I was thinking leaving most metal gear behind on the route and just waiting out the storm on a ledge could work? Are there any reported incidents of climbers getting struck by lightning with that strategy? Are there other strategies that have worked for people?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T20:40:10.347" Title="Alternatives to retreating quickly when caught in a lightning storm when rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4585" CreationDate="2013-09-07T21:21:37.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a good service to use for the shuttling at Devil's Path. Just in case someone else needs help, it looks like &lt;a href=&quot;http://local.yahoo.com/info-11572297-smiley-s-transport-tannersville&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Smiley's Transport&lt;/a&gt; in Tannersville, NY is a service that people use frequently. I just spoke with them on the phone and they were familiar with the trail and location. I plan to use them when I hike the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Follow Up&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;We did the hike in November, and it was absolutely wonderful. Smiley's was definitely the way to go. They knew a lot about the trail and the area, and were super helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2453" LastEditorUserId="2453" LastEditDate="2013-12-23T02:35:53.457" LastActivityDate="2013-12-23T02:35:53.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4590" CreationDate="2013-09-08T00:22:51.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One important aspect burying it deep provides, is that it reduces the chances of your feces tainting the local water sources with disease. If you were to just drop a load on the top of the ground for example, water runoff can very easily bring bacteria and other organisms from your feces to streams and lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you bury it, its runoff will only enter the natural groundwater supply, which is very effective at filtering out bacteria and other nasty stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-09-08T00:22:51.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4600" CreationDate="2013-09-08T01:53:50.607" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am by no means an authority on lightning in any way.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;With that said, however, I have had my share of getting caught climbing in a thunderstorm, and have since tried to do some reading on the subject. The biggest hurdle to surmount here is that most lightning safety advice revolves around seeking shelter, which is often not a viable option midway up a multipitch route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some points worth considering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the magnitude of both voltage and current in a lightning strike is absolutely massive, and at those levels anything can conduct electricity (albeit only to a certain distance).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are exposed to three main mechanisms of &lt;em&gt;electricity-based&lt;/em&gt; injury by lightning:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;direct strike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;closing a circuit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bridging a gap for the current to jump through on its route towards the point of lowest potential (generally a lower point in the ground). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are also exposed to mechanical and thermal danger such as shrapnel debris due to explosive impacts and fires.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rough points, as I understand them, are as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lightning is likely to strike the highest, sharpest point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;from there on, it will travel &lt;em&gt;on the surface&lt;/em&gt; in all directions. Sharper edges will therefore pose the highest risk (the magnitude dissipates faster over flat surfaces and the current quickly loses energy and can no longer &quot;jump&quot; through the air)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;therefore, ridges, buttresses, and crack systems are the next most dangerous place to be near, and you should seek to get away from them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;standing under roofs, arches, or cave entrances increases the likelihood the current will pass through you if it jumps from the roof to the ground, so stay away from them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wet rope is an excellent conductor and can cover a large area, increasing your risk of electrocution from an impact, you should seek to spool it up as soon as possible. Also consider this when rappelling,.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a nearby strike may involve a concussive force, so it's important to remain secured to prevent a fatal fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;recall: the rock will be conducting, so you should seek to minimize the surface area of the the shape formed by all points of contact between your body and the ground or wall (see page 3 in the NOLS article for an explanation of minimizing the potential difference your body offers to the &quot;circuit&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;metal and electronics are not likely to attract lightning strikes (unless pointy and protruding), but they will &lt;em&gt;definitely&lt;/em&gt; lead to heat burns, so you should seek to remove them from your body (carabiners, cell phones, etc.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;thunder storms are more common in the summer months in the afternoons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;however, mountains have their own weather systems, so you should always be aware of your local weather the entire time you're out there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Some references&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.troop1559.org/BackcountryLightningRiskManagement-Gookin.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NOLS Backcountry Lightning Risk Management - 2010&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/od/staysafeclimbing/a/10TipLightClimb.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Lightning Tips for Climbers - by Stewart Green&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guidedolomiti.com/eng/storms_and_lightning.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Storms and Lightning - guidedolomiti.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As stated above, I am no authority on the subject, and welcome any criticism, corrections, and addenda to this post&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Illustration of the voltage difference your multiple points of contact with the ground offer the ground current (page 3 of the NOLS link):&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kk0yE.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ground current&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1961" LastEditorUserId="1961" LastEditDate="2013-09-09T16:37:50.807" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T16:37:50.807" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4598" CreationDate="2013-09-08T18:06:04.353" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Upfront I would like to mention that I don't live in the UK, but I hope my answer is still relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most commonly used stove brand in the US is Coleman, and I looked on amazon.co.uk, and it looks like they are common in the UK as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Coleman camping stoves you can buy adapter cables to connect them to large, refillable propane tanks. The common size in the US for those tanks is 5 gallons and you would use &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0009PUQAK&quot;&gt;this kind of hose&lt;/a&gt; (us amazon to 5 gallon tank) to connect a propane camping stove to a refillable tank. Something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Century-Propane-P-O-L-Adapter-Brass/dp/B002QG09V6/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1378663279&amp;amp;sr=8-25&amp;amp;keywords=propane%20stove&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; (UK amazon) might be something you need instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative approach is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Unleaded-Double-Burner-Stove/dp/B000QUIKX8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1378663513&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=liquid%20fuel%20stove&quot;&gt;liquid fuel stove&lt;/a&gt; (UK amazon). You can refill these with camping gas or regular unleaded gasoline, which makes it a little more versatile. A word of warning: these stoves are a little more involved; you need to manually maintain pressure in the fuel tank by pumping, and you need to prime the stove before you use it (A procedure that is not very difficult and takes about a minute.) I really like liquid fuel stoves, my wife prefers propane. We have both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let us know if this worked for you in the UK so we can reword the question and answer so they are not just specific to the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-09-08T18:14:53.357" LastActivityDate="2013-09-08T18:14:53.357" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4606" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-09T00:32:31.820" Score="11" ViewCount="2039" Body="&lt;p&gt;My dog enjoys hiking. I haven't taken her on any overnight trips yet, but would like to try some summer/fall backcountry camping with her (i.e., what I think Europeans call wild camping -- not car camping). The wilderness areas near our home (Los Angeles) are mountainous, so it will be cold at night, even in the summer. I'd like her and me to get a pleasant night's sleep. I usually don't bring a tent (do sometimes bring a tarp) for summer/fall backpacking in California. She has fur, so I'm sure she could survive the overnight conditions just sleeping out in the open, but she'd probably be unhappy, and would whine and want to crawl into my sleeping bag, which would be uncomfortable for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any experience with this and suggestions for how to do it? I would prefer something compatible with an ultralight style. She's small (10 kg), so I could let her sleep under my lightweight down sweater, but she'd probably damage it. I wonder if it would make sense to get a cheap, used synthetic sleeping bag and cut a piece out of it for her to use as a blanket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T20:39:35.523" Title="Sleeping solutions when camping with dogs?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4607" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4610" CreationDate="2013-09-09T00:57:09.947" Score="7" ViewCount="1104" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an old 20' racing sailboat where the outhaul is mostly missing. The wire is there at the end of the boom, but there's no rope coming out to cleat it. How can I run a new rope through the boom? Do I have to take it completely apart?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2537" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T08:58:14.820" Title="What's the fastest and easiest way to replace an in-boom outhaul?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4608" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-09T08:16:44.613" Score="7" ViewCount="1153" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two main factors that cause me to get thorns in the feet when hiking barefoot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the forest ground consists of many layers - grass, beneath it rotten leaves, beneath it grass roots, but still aerated. Thorny plants can be hidden beneath the grass and fully invisible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One can't always look down where he is stepping, therefore encountering from time to time raspberries or blackberries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I hit a thorn, it usually hurts quite a lot in the first moments. However, my feet are dirty from walking and seeing the thorn is difficult. Furthermore, even if I locate it, it is usually embedded deep enough to make removal difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How can I identify which thorns are dangerous in the long therm and should be removed promptly (instead of leaving it inside the foot)? How to determine if the painful thing that hit my foot is a plant's thorn, that will dissolve in the body in a few days, or is a tiny piece of stone/glass, that, if not removed, will embed there and hurt indefinitely long?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2013-09-09T12:07:54.503" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T12:07:54.503" Title="How to cope with thorns when hiking barefoot?" Tags="&lt;barefoot&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4608" CreationDate="2013-09-09T08:49:20.027" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, thorns will not dissolve in the body. Very small ones may work their way out, but they may not. Treat them and any other sharp objects as possible sources of infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing to do is check to see how badly the skin is broken. A baby wipe can be enough for this. If you can see an entry wound, then you should be able to find whether the object is still inside. If you can see it, and can get it with a pair of tweezers, then now is a good time to remove it. If you can't get it with tweezers it may be worthwhile waiting until your next evening stop, as extraction using a needle will break the skin more so you want to do it in a cleaner environment if possible, as well as let the skin heal overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once extracted, a big wound should have a plaster affixed over it. Waterproof plasters are a hiking essential - but you will need to fix them to clean, dry skin in order to work. Treat them as a buffer to stop infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot see a wound, then you may just want to check a bit further down the trail for swelling, redness etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T08:49:20.027" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4607" CreationDate="2013-09-09T08:58:14.820" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will depend entirely on the type of boom and outhaul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a simple straight through outhaul:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have completely lost the outhaul, either get yourself a fish tape (from your local DIY store) or use a small plumb bob and fishing line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A fish tape should work even when the boom is horizontal, but in order to use a plumb bob you'll probably need a couple of people as you need to hold the boom vertical to allow gravity to pull the fishing line through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once it is through, attach to your new outhaul and pull it through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a boom with internal pulleys to increase your purchase then you will find this much more difficult:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4U1dp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apsltd.com/c-674-harkenouthaulandcunninghamsystems.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.apsltd.com/c-674-harkenouthaulandcunninghamsystems.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T08:58:14.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4600" CreationDate="2013-09-09T20:40:10.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's risk management. The best way to handle a storm is to get down before it starts. Check the weather and be down by noon or whenever the weather normally gets genned up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a thunderstorm and you're very high, it is probably more dangerous to rush a technical descent than to wait out the storm or continue climbing (up or down) normally. Don't overreact. Lightning normally strikes the top or bottom as opposed to a vertical cliff face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are caught in a storm, think about how to stay warm and dry enough to continue up or down safely. It will probably be colder and you'll be wetter after the storm. Your hands don't function as well when they're cold, and when you're hypothermic your judgement isn't as keen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The small lengths of metal gear you have is not likely to affect a bolt of lightning that has traveled hundreds or thousands of feet through the air to get to the ground. As long as your hair doesn't start sticking out, don't worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T20:40:10.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4587" CreationDate="2013-09-09T20:42:42.470" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the bear is eating, let it eat. If you try to scare it off it may defend its food. If it just wanders up to your campsite, then you can make some noise to try to scare it away. But don't get too close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T20:42:42.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3088" CreationDate="2013-09-09T20:59:44.177" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A hunting rifle with a telescopic sight (called a 'scope') can also be used as a basic telescope to view distant objects (called 'glassing') but note this practice this is considered by hunters to be exceptionally poor field craft for a few reasons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)  To use the telescopic sight mounted on a rifle as a basic telescope, the rifle must be pointed at the distant object.  If the distant object turns out to be a small group of people, then you will be pointing a rifle at those people - DO NOT EVER point a rifle at a person for the obvious safety reason.  Only a total n00b asking for trouble 'glasses' for game in the field.  In some areas, pointing a rifle at another hunter in the field is considered a hostile act and they may react in a hostile manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2)  The telescopic rife sight must first be sighted in by firing the rifle and carefully adjusting the scope for a specific range.  That is, the field of view is maximized for that specific sighting range.  Other ranges either nearer or farther will give a poor field of view for use as a general telescope.  Field adjustments to the scope to try to improve the field of view may throw off the sights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3)  A good set of binoculars will give a much better field of view with a much wider zoom adjustment range.  With binoculars, a better zoom and larger field of view allows seeing more detail both nearer and farther.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Competent hunters carry binoculars for scouting or searching for game and only use a rifle's telescopic sight for aiming their rifle, once game is found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2541" LastActivityDate="2013-09-09T20:59:44.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4606" CreationDate="2013-09-10T06:36:36.297" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The breed of dog will make a difference, but most &quot;backpacking&quot; dogs will do just fine in the open or under the tarp with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dog's metabolism works differently than humans, and they generate a lot more body heat. Consider sled dogs that stick their nose under their tail and sleep through a driving blizzard (and sled dogs usually aren't the thick-fur huskies you see in the movies.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try a night with various comfort items on hand, and see if your dog starts shivering excessively. If it doesn't then you can leave them home next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, consider a thin foam sleeping pad - instead of (or in addition to) a blanket. Nobody can heat up the cold earth with body heat, not even a dog. Besides, the pad becomes &quot;their spot&quot; and can help them to relax in unfamiliar areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further thoughts: keeping the dog from being a nuisance requires some conditioning and training, but they'll get it. Remember: a dog is a dog. They will hear noises at night that you don't, will wander around when you want to sleep, etc... it is part of the trail-dog experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though, in my experience, after a long hard day of hiking, trail-dogs are usually just as tired as you are, and content to give it a rest for a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2013-09-10T20:39:35.523" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T20:39:35.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4590" CreationDate="2013-09-10T06:49:32.503" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The recommended depth you mention is standard Leave no Trace guidelines for most regions, and strikes a balance between:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting it out of site (and other feet)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping it from running off&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping it near the layer of organic soil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burying too deep can be a problematic from a health and safety standpoint, since pathogens have been known to survive for a looong time in a cat-hole time capsule of inorganic soil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why in arid desert regions (with no organic soil), you want to bury it very shallow (if at all -- depends on who you ask) where the UV and heat from the sun will break down the waste more rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Organic soil (the brown, loamy, rotten stuff with worms and roots and critters, as opposed lifeless to mineral soil) will break down the waste fairly rapidly if the bacteria in the soil can get to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info, see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://lnt.org/learn/principle-3&quot;&gt;Leave no Trace website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T06:49:32.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2013-09-10T09:55:36.503" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had similar problems. Avoid &quot;drinking houses&quot;. That is, shelters in the woods, that are accessible by cars, and where locals go in order to get drunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, carry a weapon when in the woods - a knife or a small axe. In the wild, you are on your own and laws are far away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On &quot;laws are far away&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not like being in the backcountry frees one of consequences to their actions. On the other hand, such a situation increases the emphasis of being prepared at the moment of a crisis. If screaming &quot;HELP, POLICE!&quot; while rapidly retreating could be quite helpful in an urban environment, it does nothing in the forest. Anything(knife, hatchet, flashlight) is better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T00:10:51.617" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T00:10:51.617" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2013-09-10T13:46:25.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dividing loads between your trek-mates is a good idea. A better one would be to pack light. In case you want to collectively gain by individually reducing the weight, then my suggestion would be to go by the comfort level of the individuals involved. A strong person might be able to haul more load. But the same one might not be able to perform the same way the next day. The division of labor changes dynamically during treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&#xA;I am used to carrying heavier backpacks during my treks. I usually carry over 15Kg over treks spanning 7 days or more in the Himalayan regions. Whereas, during a weekend trek, with a backpack of just over 3Kg, I whined like a baby (my bad). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, when deciding on dividing your backpacks, think about the current day and the stronger person(s) on the given day. DO NOT go by weight or gender. That never works out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy trekking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T13:46:25.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4624" CreationDate="2013-09-10T15:35:47.503" Score="11" ViewCount="728" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried to find topographic maps of my area in Brazil, but the best I could find is some 1:50000 map from 1983.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My biggest need for a map (besides not getting lost) is avoiding private properties and finding some terrain features to help me navigate. My area is very flat, so pure elevation maps aren't much of a help here, but the satellite images (like those from Google Maps) do provide some hints to what is a private property and what is forest area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been able to discover a way to print or manipulate the images to use those as a map, can it be done? Also, is it ok to navigate using satellite images (instead of proper maps)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;: To further illustrate my need, here is a Gmap4 location of my area and its &quot;flatness&quot;. In the aerial view I can see forests, streams, houses, roads, I don't know how distorted it is and to print it to scale, but I seen to be able to get much more info about the terrain from it, than from the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=-21.843789,-48.21715&amp;amp;z=15&amp;amp;t=t7&quot;&gt;http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=-21.843789,-48.21715&amp;amp;z=15&amp;amp;t=t7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2087" LastEditorUserId="2087" LastEditDate="2013-09-10T23:19:36.437" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T03:55:27.200" Title="Can I use satellite images as hiking maps, how?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4457" CreationDate="2013-09-10T15:42:45.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everybody feels the cold differently, but I swear by &quot;buffs&quot;, which is easy to adjust into either a headband for keeping ears warm, a thin beanie to give a bit of head insulation, or even a makeshift balaclava. They are so light you won't even notice you are carrying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2542" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T15:42:45.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4374" CreationDate="2013-09-10T15:52:31.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it will be entirely random, depending on the airline, the airport and the individual security people who x-ray your bag. I've had climbing gear rejected and put into the hold one one trip, and then next time, accepted - same airport, same airline, just different day :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2542" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T15:52:31.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1338" CreationDate="2013-09-10T16:13:39.703" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know the author of the original question has already make their purchase, but for anyone else out there, I would recommend getting a set of mountain-grade leather boots, like the La Sportiva Nepal. They are much kinder to your feet - plastic boots break your feet in, not the other way around!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2542" LastActivityDate="2013-09-10T16:13:39.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4618" CreationDate="2013-09-11T05:54:08.557" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can. I have managed to trek long up to a week with a set of satellite images. For that, I needed some skill in orientation, tracing down a trail and then setting the position in accordance with the satellite image. It does require skills in Navigation because, in most of the cases where people complain about Satellite Images not being good enough, you would find that People did make mistakes in Navigation/Orientation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said this, its true to every bit that Following the exact direction with just a satellite image is not something that you can completely rely on (Depend on Person to Person, of course), but practicing it in the area which is more familiar to you is a good idea to develop the necessary skills for Navigation and Map reading. And, it's fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend you to carry a set of Satellite Contour Images along with the actual satellite images wherein you can see for the traces of thick forest, rivers, lakes, so that you don't end up getting yourself stuck at some slope which is a little hard to descend, or end up at a base of an ascend which is not safer to climb. I have encountered such issues in my early days with just Satellite Images where I had such places in thick forests, where we don't have an option to see through. Then I started carrying Contours of the same, and decide to take up some route which takes me from one point on the map to other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T03:55:27.200" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T03:55:27.200" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4627" CreationDate="2013-09-11T12:46:28.983" Score="22" ViewCount="28733" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a backpack that I often wear on my (outdoor) walks to and from work each day. The walk is 30 minutes one-way and mostly in an open field/park area, so in the afternoon it's usually warm enough that a great swath of my back gets incredibly sweaty from the backpack resting directly against my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some accessory or relatively simple modification/method to keep the pack from resting directly against one's back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've thought that something simple like a small, partially padded rack attached to me or the pack such that the bottom of the pack is pushed out and away from my back would suffice, as long as my pack was stiff enough up and down the back-facing wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried to do some online research into what such a thing might be called, but the closest thing I could find was an unnamed and integrated part of some fancy new backpack that I don't want to have to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Needless to say, if I found a nice solution for this I'd use it each and every time I go hiking, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2544" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T14:00:30.880" Title="How can I keep my backpack from resting directly against my back?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4626" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4795" CreationDate="2013-09-11T22:33:05.347" Score="7" ViewCount="2024" Body="&lt;p&gt;When a rifle has a scope where the relief is too short for comfortable shooting, are there any options other than replacing the scope? The scope has a adjustable relief, but even with that I have to push my head too far forward to see the full view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-07T19:01:26.750" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T19:01:26.750" Title="How to deal with a rifle scope where the relief is too short?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2013-09-11T23:46:07.050" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you won't be able to do much with your existing rucksack, but there are many out there specifically designed to avoid the sweaty back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deuter make a range of rucksacks with their Airstripes system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bnV4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This holds the rucksack away from your back as much as possible and allows air to flow over your back to evaporate sweat. Various other manufacturers do the same, but Deuter had the best pic I could find to describe it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-11T23:46:07.050" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2013-09-12T02:47:54.797" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what backpacks like the Osprey Atmos were designed for. They're slightly elevated/separated from the users back so that ventilation can improve. However, these sorts of backpacks (not just the Atmos) aren't designed to carry heavier loads that conform to the users back. This is because the further the pack is from your back, the more difficult it will be to carry. So an Atmos with 25 pounds of gear feels heavier than a backpack that sticks to your back carrying the exact same items and weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're done with work in the afternoon and you don't have to head back or be somewhere else where nice attire is required, you should wear a synthetic shirt such as a running shirt or lightweight merino wool shirt. Both these fabrics will help move the moisture away and you won't be as warm since you'll only have one layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that still doesn't satisfy your thirst and you really want to save money, take some cardboard, roll it up. and tape it to the back of your bag with some strong duct tape. Do this for the middle, bottom, and top and you've got a DIY ventilation system. I guarantee it wont last long nor be very comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-09-12T02:47:54.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4631" CreationDate="2013-09-12T02:49:09.613" Score="3" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;While planning my trip, I was looking at some trails. They all say x amount of hours, but I didn't know if that was to the peak or if that was back and forth. What is the general rule?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T11:48:07.010" Title="An x-hour hike. Is that to the peak/summit or back and forth?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4629" CreationDate="2013-09-12T03:06:38.657" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, mostly in North America, an X hour hike provided by a park service is typically given for the round trip unless stated otherwise. You can also confirm by looking at the mileage and elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, Red Rock provides &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/lasvegas/hikes-trails/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;round-trip hour estimates&lt;/a&gt;. For example, Turtlehead Peak takes around 3-5 hours for a round trip; definitely not 6 to 10 hours (at least for an average hiker).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-09-12T03:06:38.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4629" CreationDate="2013-09-12T12:02:45.713" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure I've seen an x hour hike advertised that hasn't been a round trip (unless explicitly stated otherwise.) This makes sense since a round trip is what almost everyone will be doing, and if it was the other way around and someone didn't realise, potentially dangerous situations could ensue!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: As Vorac points out, this clearly isn't always the case as I first thought - so it pays to check!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2013-09-13T11:48:07.010" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T11:48:07.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4632" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4634" CreationDate="2013-09-12T14:46:56.893" Score="12" ViewCount="3850" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had never been a gifted kind of a climber being more fascinated by Backpacking than Rock Climbing. Its been almost 2 years that I did some genuine climbing. And, I am planning to resume it very soon. But, Instead of gambling with any actual climbing place I intend to get in touch with it, and do some basic sets of exercise so that I can get back to where I was. Over this long break, I have had a major lower back injury around 8 months back and a Toe injury(which made me limp for about 2 weeks) couple of months ago during trekking.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So I want to ask for any sort of drills with which I can determine what I need to practice more so that I can get into climbing. Due to work place issue, I am going to be away from the Wall and the equipment for about a month from now. But if I can work out on something during this span in order to get into the position where I can resume, would be glad to know!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:30:57.293" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T04:30:57.293" Title="How can I practice Climbing without the actual wall and/or equipment?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4633" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4667" CreationDate="2013-09-12T15:42:31.690" Score="10" ViewCount="2844" Body="&lt;p&gt;Along with trekking and camping, I am too involved in musical instruments that I play. And, I always have had a thought of carrying my six-string with me on some long hike for entertainment during I camp at some site. ( I have so far always have taken care of safety issues/procedures related Campsite Selection), but still I wonder if its is absolutely safe (with active Wildlife perspective) to play musical instruments like Harp/harmonica or a flute or even a guitar in wilderness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would love to carry my Harmonica or a Flute with me ( being extremely portable as compared to a guitar), but what worries me more is that usually such wind instruments generate frequencies that are audible over a longer distance as compared to a guitar which is a string instrument (but hardly portable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animals that are usually seen are: Wild Boars, Deer, Wild Dogs, Hyena.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Very Rarely seen but confirmed (by unofficial sources like Farmers and Woodcutters frequently visiting the area) of being there: Leopard, Jaguar, Sloth Bears, Tiger(But I doubt on these except Sloth Bears)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T10:06:36.050" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T10:06:36.050" Title="Is playing musical instruments like Harp/Harmonica, Flute unsafe during backpacking trips?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4632" CreationDate="2013-09-13T07:22:11.177" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best practice for climbing is to actually go climbing. I have wasted both time and money experimenting with training setups at home for practicing climbing, and I have mostly been disappointed. Since then I have transitioned my efforts at home to &lt;strong&gt;staying in shape for climbing&lt;/strong&gt; (slightly different from what you are asking.) Unless you want to spend thousands of dollars, have a lot of spare time and are very dedicated to replicate something that is not really replicable, I would suggest (like DavidR mentioned in his comment,) you work on general fitness (with a focus on strengthening fingers and core), and possibly loose those few extra pounds that you are not that proud of anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The accepted answer for &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/11416/home-exercises-for-training-for-indoor-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;the question that DavidR linked to&lt;/a&gt; does a pretty good job answering the strengthening part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you mentioned balance, I thought I'dd suggest picking up &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacklining&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;slacklining&lt;/a&gt;. I am not sure how much it helps you on the wall, but it is a fun activity and I am fairly certain that it has helped me on some pretty treacherous approaches to climbs (as far as I can recall I haven't actually fallen on bad terrain since I picked up slacklining.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:51.943" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T07:22:11.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4635" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4639" CreationDate="2013-09-13T07:44:08.873" Score="30" ViewCount="56321" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional (Trad) Climbing? Is it just that Sport Climbing uses bolts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2499" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T05:04:26.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T05:04:26.587" Title="What's the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional Climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4636" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-13T09:54:31.157" Score="8" ViewCount="2045" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm debating between carrying a larger water bottle and a smaller one. A larger one means I'll have to stop less to filter water, but it means I'll be carrying more, at least for a period of time. Even if that temporary added weight isn't an issue, the larger water bottle still takes up more space in my already crowded pack. On the other hand, a smaller water bottle means I'll have to filter more often, but will allow me to to carry less weight and takes up less space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a general rule to this for backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:31:58.587" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:31:58.587" Title="Carry a larger water bottle or a smaller water bottle for backpacking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-09-13T12:48:05.413" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends greatly on where you will be going and therefore how available water is.  Dehydration is a serious issue, so if in doubt bring a little extra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you're going to be hiking in the Arizona desert in summer, figure you're not going to find any water and you have to bring all that you plan to use.  Yes, that could be a lot and it will take some space and have some weight.  That's part of the price for hiking in a dry area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also keep in mind you'll be using more water than usual in the desert.  I can go thru a gallon of diluted Gatorade in 2-3 hours under these conditions.  The limiting factor of how far I can hike in this case is how much water I'm willing or able to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, the White Mountains of New Hampshire are quite wet.  You will be frequently crossing or going nearby small streams, sometimes crossing larger ones.  Except for some areas above treeline, water is quite available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, consider that in many places it's not a good idea to drink the water you find directly.  Taking less water in a wet area only makes sense if you can process the possibly dirty and infected water that is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used filters and boiled water, but recently became aware of a newer technology that blasts the buggers in the water with germicidal UV.  See, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.steripen.com/ultra&quot;&gt;http://www.steripen.com/ultra&lt;/a&gt;.  By the way, I wrote the firmware that runs that particular unit, although I am not a employee of Hydro-Photon (the manufacturers of the Steri-Pen line).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T12:48:05.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-09-13T12:56:13.583" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use common plastic bottles from sparkling beverages. They are lightweight. When they are empty, they can be smashed thin and take almost no space (you can do the same which a half full bottle, pushing out all the air). When you need them again, you inflate them back with water. So you can have a good reserve volume, which costs you nothing when empty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can attach them to the exterior of your backpack with straps and they will take no space inside. If you lose one - shame on you for littering, but it can be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer 1.5 liter ones - as many as you need for you trip and weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T12:56:13.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4635" CreationDate="2013-09-13T16:35:37.040" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both sport climbing and trad climbing are a form of lead climbing, which means the first climber to go up is not protected by a rope from above. A sport climber uses &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quickdraw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;quickdraws&lt;/a&gt; which, as you mentioned, get clipped to bolts that have been placed in 10 to 15 foot intervals. At the end of the climb a sport climber can expect to find a belay anchor consisting of two to three bolts with rappel rings that he/she uses to build an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A trad climber carries not just quickdraws, but a whole rack of climbing gear consisting of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-loaded_camming_device&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cams&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;nuts&lt;/a&gt; and sometimes &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hexes&lt;/a&gt; that get placed into cracks in the wall. In difficult to protect places there might be a bolt that has been placed by the first ascent team. At the end of the climb or pitch (one rope length on a multi-rope length climb) a trad climber often has to build an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;anchor&lt;/a&gt; with the trad-gear, but sometimes, just like in sport climbing, routes have belay stations with two to three bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the classification of sport and trad climbs gets a little messy. In Joshua Tree National Park in California for example, guide books refer to some climbs as &quot;bolted climbs.&quot; These climbs are by no means sport climbs, even though the only means of protection on these routes are bolts in the rock. The difference is that those bolts are spaced 30 to 60 feet apart, which means the leader might fall up to 120 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often sport climbs are rap-bolted, which means the first ascent party rappelled down the route, placing bolts on their way down. Traditional climbs get established from the bottom up, which means the first ascent party placed bolts they deemed necessary as they were climbing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="9701" LastEditDate="2018-02-24T23:30:48.903" LastActivityDate="2018-02-24T23:30:48.903" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-09-13T16:42:37.520" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;General rule is to be flexible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small plastic bottle gives you absolutely no flexibility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Big plastic bottle gives you more flexibility. You can fill it fully or only to the half, or one third.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two plastic bottles give you even more flexibility. You can take 0,5l water, you can take 1, 2 or 3 liters - depending how much you will need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;0,5 liter water is almost no water. On multi-day trip typical rucksack weights from 20 to 30 kg, so taking 1 liter more water won't make it significantly heavier, while dehydration is an extreme danger. Note that even if there's a spring on the map, or in the place you know, when there wasn't raining for many days, it can be dry, and you'd have to walk many kilometers until you find next one. Doing so with only a small bottle of water simply isn't wise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T16:42:37.520" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-09-13T16:54:50.013" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Single use water bottles are nice, like Steed mentioned. I use those a lot. The downside is that most filters don't readily attach to those bottles, which means I often wish I had a third hand when pumping water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I have space in my pack, I like to use a hydration bladder. You don't have to take your pack off to drink or ask someone else to hand you your water bottle. There are some filters out there (like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/water-treatment-and-hydration/fast-and-light-water-treatment-and-hydration/hyperflow-microfilter/product&quot;&gt;MSR Hyperflow&lt;/a&gt;) that connect directly to the drinking hose (you just take the mouth-piece off), so you pump water directly from the source into the bladder in your pack. One other advantage is weight distribution; Most packs have a separate compartment for the hydration bladder close to your back, which is where you want the heaviest items to be. This makes your pack feel more balanced, as opposed to strapping bottles to the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 10 liter bladder that is similar in weight to a nalgene. Most of the time I fill it up with 2 to 3 liters, but if I have to, I can carry water for 3 days in the desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside to hydration badders is not knowing how much water you have left while you are drinking, and of course the fact that they take up space in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-09-13T17:00:17.370" LastActivityDate="2013-09-13T17:00:17.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4642" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4692" CreationDate="2013-09-13T21:48:42.083" Score="8" ViewCount="398" Body="&lt;p&gt;When swimming in the ocean I often get rashes where I have skin to skin contact, especially where my arms move against my torso and where my thighs move against each other. What can I do to prevent the rash short of wearing a bathing suit that covers these areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2013-09-26T17:41:05.313" Title="How do I prevent soreness due to friction when swimming?" Tags="&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4644" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-13T22:07:19.063" Score="7" ViewCount="954" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know I am supposed to put food-related trash inside my bear canister. Should I also put used female hygiene products and ziplock bags holding used toilet paper inside my bear canister over night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I am asking is, a ziplock bag containing trash like this was taken by animals from inside my backpack on one of my last trips. I felt really bad, but didn't know what else I should have done. It seems like storing this inside the tent could cause some unwanted attention by bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="2530" LastEditDate="2013-09-13T22:20:37.033" LastActivityDate="2013-09-19T16:10:11.007" Title="Where to store non-food related trash in bear territory?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4645" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-13T22:14:44.887" Score="23" ViewCount="1287" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not just children can be whiny on long backpacking trips. I am interested in learning how to boost morale with both, adult groups, or when hiking with children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:48:20.357" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:48:20.357" Title="How can I boost morale on long backpacking trips?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4646" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-13T22:26:05.460" Score="11" ViewCount="3081" Body="&lt;p&gt;When backpacking for several days, is there a benefit to drinking coffee and the likes in the morning, or does the crash that comes later in the day hinder the progress of a group in the back-country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-08T20:39:27.930" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T20:39:27.930" Title="Is caffeine helpful or hurtful when backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;coffee&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4647" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4907" CreationDate="2013-09-13T22:28:59.597" Score="23" ViewCount="1583" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any foods that should be off-limits when backpacking because they have a negative impact on performance or well-being? I am thinking that candy-bars and very greasy foods might be candidates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T15:54:51.690" Title="What foods should I avoid when backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-14T14:23:10.297" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacking trips force people to live at a radically different pace than what most people are used to.  There's a lot less stimulus that we get in a city.  Most outdoorsy people find it wonderful, but there are people out there that just don't.  Some people are just wired to need more stimulus.  That's OK, not everybody is the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I've gone on trips out West in recent years (to Colorado, or the Eastern Sierras), I'll treat the trips more as vacations than as pure backpacking trips.  My friends and I will go on day or overnight hikes, but also plan on spending some time in town (staying in hostels or hotels), and also doing general touristy activities (going to local restaurants, driving to touristy areas like the tourist loop in Yellowstone, or visiting breweries if I'm in Colorado).  I find that interacting with the locals is often the most fun part of travel.  And having a break for a day in the middle of a week long trip goes a long way towards keeping everyone's spirits up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="651" LastEditDate="2013-09-18T12:24:27.603" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T12:24:27.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4642" CreationDate="2013-09-14T14:46:47.387" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a product called naked surf that you can apply as a liquid rash guard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="159" LastActivityDate="2013-09-14T14:46:47.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4646" CreationDate="2013-09-14T19:54:37.353" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you normally have a coffee in the morning then you will be fine with a coffee in the morning out on the trail. It is part of your daily routine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is useful to have something like red bull or energy drinks in a pack as part of your emergency rations as week. Not for long term but if you need to stretch a few final miles late in the day due to delays it can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-09-18T18:21:01.277" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T18:21:01.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4642" CreationDate="2013-09-14T19:56:55.363" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple solution is not to rub your arms against your torso. If you can't do this, you can buy things like rash vests, that a lot of surfers and kayakers use, or even house fat or Vaseline like cross channel swimmers use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-09-14T19:56:55.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4657" CreationDate="2013-09-16T00:37:05.873" Score="34" ViewCount="142814" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a delightful thrill to the call of a band of coyotes when you're alone in the dark woods. Do they present a danger? That is, have healthy coyotes (that is, not rabid) been known to attack or show aggressiveness to a lone human?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:13:55.113" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:13:55.113" Title="How dangerous is a band of coyotes to a lone, unarmed human?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;coyotes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2013-09-16T01:41:45.677" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general they are not considered dangerous because they rarely attack humans. You should not run away from coyotes as they will consider you a prey if you do. Under &lt;em&gt;extreme&lt;/em&gt; circumstances they may circle an individual or a group. Making noise generally keeps them at bay or at a distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2009, there was, unfortunately, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/natural-intelligence/Canis-Soup.html&quot;&gt;fatality in Cape-Breton Nova-Scotia&lt;/a&gt;. This was the second recorded fatality in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/nuisance/coyotes-faq.asp#25&quot;&gt;Nova-Scotia website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Coyotes are wild and generally avoid people. However, they should be treated as potentially dangerous. Do not approach a coyote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;also according to Nova-Scotia website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The attack in Cape Breton is the first case of this nature in Nova Scotia. There was a fatal case reported in the United States (California) in 1981 (Timm, Baker, Bennett and Coolahan 2004).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes in Eastern Canada are known to be bigger and are sometimes called coyote wolves (locally) in opposition to their smaller counterparts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-09-16T01:49:48.143" LastActivityDate="2013-09-16T01:49:48.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4658" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-16T04:45:09.980" Score="4" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do any of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scafell_Pike&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Scafell Pike&lt;/a&gt; ascents cross rivers/lakes? I want to hike Scafell Pike, but I don't want to be looking at rocks the whole time. I'd prefer to lake or stream/river scenery. Does anyone know?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I wasn't sure if this question belonged here to on Travel Answers. Apologies if its misplaced.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-09-16T04:52:59.543" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T15:35:19.717" Title="Scafell Pike ascent" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2013-09-16T14:31:14.087" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coyotes now live in our area in significant numbers.  There was a den on our property this winter, and a few months ago there were four pups romping around in our back yard.  We hear them howling pretty much every night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been in the woods and in open fields with coyotes around and never felt threatened or considered it a problem at all.  In fact, I think they are cool to watch, particularly the pups.  Coyotes are very aware of their surroundings, and they will not let you get closer than about 50 feet.  In all cases when I was closer, the coyote ran off when it saw me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;23 June 2013, Groton Massachusetts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iut26.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2015-06-21T14:32:18.683" LastActivityDate="2015-06-21T14:32:18.683" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2013-09-16T16:14:15.523" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few points to add here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes are not know to be aggressive towards humans. But always remember that coyote is a wild animal. It is not domesticated and hence it's very difficult say with certainty about the behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes are know to attack dogs, sheep and other livestock. So yes, they can bite. If not you, your dog maybe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any animal, when it loses the fear of humans, can act aggressively. This is aggravated by humans feeding the wild animals. One quick example would be the feeding of monkeys that is done in many south asian countries and in south africa. Coyotes are similar w.r.t the fact that they almost coexist with humans in urban areas now-a-days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, my advice would be, know where the boundaries are and stay well within them. It helps not only you(and possibly your dog) but also the wild life out there. And calling out to evoke a response? Well, I wouldn't really do that :P &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-09-16T16:14:15.523" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-16T16:38:37.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on long backpacking trips, what I do is to take a day at a time. I have seen many lose morale when they start to think about the number of days left in front of them. For me, taking a day at a time keeps it simple and easy to manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes even a day gets pretty sapping(has happened to me a few times). And during those times, the one-step-at-a-time rule seems to work for me. Forget about where you need to get by the end of the day. Concentrate on the next step instead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Don mentioned, singing does help. But then, if you are in a group, not all might be comfortable with it. Hence sometimes I prefer to sit down and think about my friends who would be working their asses off in the sorry world which I would have left behind(call me a sadist :P). Also, thinking about what a cool story the backpacking would make can lift up your spirits up by a huge margin. (Imagine telling, &quot;I almost gave up due the the rains and snow, but something made me to push forward&quot; :P Sounds pretty cool. Doesn't it?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy backpacking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-09-16T16:38:37.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-16T17:46:29.370" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;On canoeing trips, especially with a lot of people, I schedule at least one &quot;stay put&quot; day for every two or three moving days. This allows different people to do different things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hike up to a hilltop, lookout, waterfall etc - the stop is strategically positioned to put this side trip in reach, and  the hikers will carry only a day pack rather than all the camping stuff, which is set up in camp for the day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;swim and sunbathe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lie in the tent and read / listen to music&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cook something that requires being in camp, such as hot soup for lunch instead of trail food all the time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fish&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a large group, this also lets people who've been rubbing each other the wrong way get some time apart. But in any size of group it lets you appreciate WHY you came on this trip - to spend some time in beautiful places doing pleasant things. It is also a good way to get blisters, sunburn, sore knees or other minor irritants a little bit healed, so someone isn't trudging along the trail in pain. And knowing that tomorrow is a rest day can help you get through today. Similarly, remembering yesterday's great views, or delicious lunch, or blissful peace, can give you a little more oomph today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also take this approach in the small. Just stop - maybe don't even take off your pack - and look around you for a minute. Or call a rest break for everyone at a lake edge or a lookout or just a nice rock or log. Enjoy where you are, have a swig of water, maybe eat something, and then carry on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2013-09-25T17:08:23.787" LastActivityDate="2013-09-25T17:08:23.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4644" CreationDate="2013-09-16T22:32:30.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Animals are attracted to a variety of scents: food, salts, blood, etc.  It looks like you've already encountered animal thievery concerning your trash and that should be a good indicator that it would be appropriate to put it inside a bear canister.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want your food to become accidentally contaminated by your trash, another alternative is to put the trash in a sack and string it from a branch (if trees are available) high enough that a bear can't reach, but also far enough from other branches (including the one it is strung from) that more nimble animals such as squirrels or raccoons can't access it as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally this location will also be downwind from wherever you are setting up camp.  This also makes a good lightweight alternative carrying bear canisters in the backcountry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2556" LastActivityDate="2013-09-16T22:32:30.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4644" CreationDate="2013-09-17T03:22:11.310" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it has any scent at all, put it in your bear can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about cross-contamination between your trash and your food, bring a trash bag you trust. I keep my food in a plastic bag but my trash in gallon ziplocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When backpacking, my food and trash are separated only by plastic. By the end of the trip, the trash bag is bigger than the food bag. And that's fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-09-19T16:10:11.007" LastActivityDate="2013-09-19T16:10:11.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4633" CreationDate="2013-09-17T08:54:09.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been recommended to carry a tin can, filled partly with gravel. This will rattle and oust snakes, boars, bears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no idea how effective this would be. Playing a musical instrument should have similar effect, as suggested by all the comments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2013-09-17T08:54:09.727" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4633" CreationDate="2013-09-17T09:39:22.753" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wind-chimes where originally designed to keep wildlife away, for example Wolves don't like sounds they don't know, that's why it will keep them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's safer (to play an instrument) than not playing an instrument on your campsite&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-01-20T16:50:42.637" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T16:50:42.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-17T09:41:32.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking with small children, you can boost their morale by throwing candies in front of you and pretend to follow the trace of the easterbunny, or something like that. In my experience all of them have very happy memories of this experience. But i never tried that with adults :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastActivityDate="2013-09-17T09:41:32.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4219" CreationDate="2013-09-18T02:01:28.283" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are planning to do the Auyuittuq traverse next summer in Canada's Arctic where we must cross glacier-feed streem that can ve wide, deep and swift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Respecting shoes to cross rivers, we are looking at three options and I would like your view on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A) the traditional combinaison of water sandals and neoprene sox.  B) Sea kayaking boots.  C) the NEOS River Trekker overshoes (voir &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neosovershoescanada.com/NEOS-River-Trekker-Overshoes-Non-Insulated-RTK7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.neosovershoescanada.com/NEOS-River-Trekker-Overshoes-Non-Insulated-RTK7&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For options A and B, here is what we can see as the advantages :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         It works and tested it in 2011 while in Auyuittuq.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         It is ligth (aprox 1kg for the sandals and the sox)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         It is very durable (you can’t really perforate them the sox and, if so, you cant repair it easyli with sewing kit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You can use the sandals as camp shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You can have soft soles with a very good grip in wet rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the disadvantages of options A and B,,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         It does not give you a good ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You have not protection for rocks mowing under water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You spend a fair bit of time to put on and take off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         If you keep them on between nearby rivers to reduce time for taking them off and on, you don’t have ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For option C, here is what we see as the advantages :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You don’t need to take your boots off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You can really stay dry during crosings .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You can use the overshoes in places where it is really wet to waterproof your boots..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         You ankle support is really good as you keep your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         Your boots give you a very good protection for rocks moving under water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         It seems very easy to repair a whole with Aqua Seal in the overshoes .  Apparently, it is less durable than the heavy fisher pants but much more than the lighters (500 grammes) and cheaper Light Weight Waders from Wiggy’s &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiggys.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://wiggys.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=5&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         The soles of the overshoes look good but it is made with a hard material from Vibram (hence the durability) but my experience with Vibram soles are that it does not have such a great grip on wet rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the disadvantages of option C :,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         The overshoes are heavier at 2 kg&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;·         They are 36’’ high and thus go at the higher part of the thighs and, except if you manage to add  a good seal such as by attaching to it a drysuit neck gasket,  water can get inside if you misstep or you must go into deeper water even without current.  If so, you can quickly be in big trouble and go down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Option C looks great.  It may even be too good to be true.  However, I find it surprising that no one talk about these overshoes for Auyuittuq.  I am mostly worry about that last disadvantages and the hard sole grip.  Most reviews come from hunters in Alaska and they may not have crossings with a lot of current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you got time, I would really like to hear your views on these 3 options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2558" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T02:01:28.283" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-18T07:58:28.163" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could make some checklists of the local common flora &amp;amp; fauna and try to turn it into some kind of friendly competition to see as many as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this is at least a great motivator for myself, to get up early in the mornings, to keep my disturbance to a minimum and to always have moments of excitement when you see a new species. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, always a reason to return for the species you didn't get to see :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T07:58:28.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4658" CreationDate="2013-09-18T15:35:19.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Approaching Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head in the west, Wastwater is a beautiful lake and Lingmell Beck a pleasant river.  Once you start to climb, you can take the interesting Corridor Route which crosses streams in a couple of places.  Alternatively the Sprinkling Tarn and Great End route is rockier, but with great views on a clear day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longer walk from Borrowdale to the north can climb alongside Grains Gill from Seathwaite.  This is a pretty stream and would naturally lead onto Great End.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also approach from Hardknott Pass to the south.  From memory, this is rather marshy and less dramatic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in the UK, check out the Ordnance Survey Maps layer on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bing.com/maps&quot;&gt;http://www.bing.com/maps&lt;/a&gt;.  Or if not, Open Street Map has less detailed coverage, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/54.4401/-3.2480&quot;&gt;http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/54.4401/-3.2480&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1856" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T15:35:19.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4646" CreationDate="2013-09-18T16:54:45.543" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well in my personal experience, I've never faced any issue with caffeine while on a trek. As mentioned by Rory, if coffee is a part of your morning ritual, it will not make much of a difference. Too much of caffeine is not good while on treks as it does dehydrate your body. A better substitute would be tea. Usually on higher altitude treks, tea is a beverage used regularly along with garlic soups. Tea also happens to have caffeine but the quantity is much lesser (almost half that of coffee). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But always remember, never overdo. Keep water as your primary source of hydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps.&#xA;Cheers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-09-18T16:54:45.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4673" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4789" CreationDate="2013-09-19T17:01:08.840" Score="10" ViewCount="620" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the criteria used for grading a trek?&#xA;One article that I came across provided the following set criteria for grading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Terrain (includes altitude). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exit routes. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather/Climate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there is an official way of grading, or an agreed set of attributes within the trekking community regarding the same?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT: I have removed the reference to Annapurna trek aiming to keep the discussion generic to trekking and not specific to treks from the himalayan range.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Removed the part where I referred to a trek being classified as easy/difficult. Now the question is more focused on the criteria of grading a trek and nothing more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-10-22T12:49:08.697" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T10:48:32.703" Title="How to grade a trek?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4674" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4689" CreationDate="2013-09-19T18:51:04.040" Score="23" ViewCount="3462" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen various grades for different climbs such as &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;5.14b&lt;/code&gt;, &#xA;&lt;code&gt;8b+&lt;/code&gt;, &#xA;&lt;code&gt;8b - 150m&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems there are different parts to the grade, e.g. the last one is it &lt;code&gt;8b&lt;/code&gt; for 150 metres?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do these grades only apply to &lt;strong&gt;sport&lt;/strong&gt; routes or to &lt;strong&gt;trad&lt;/strong&gt; routes as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone point to a definitive guide or explanation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2499" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T00:39:06.057" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T00:39:06.057" Title="Please Explain Rock Climbing Grades" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4673" CreationDate="2013-09-20T04:39:47.623" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well established treks like the Annapurna circuit are rated by multiple trekking agencies. I would use those agencies rating as a reference point to differentiate between multiple well-established treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example you can compare the difficulty of different treks in Nepal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalayanglacier.com/1/trip-packages.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;according to Himalayan Glacier&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-09-20T04:39:47.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4676" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4677" CreationDate="2013-09-20T13:15:51.640" Score="11" ViewCount="4267" Body="&lt;p&gt;As, I have been using a Double Fisherman's knot to join the two ropes. With some physics that I know, in Double Fisherman's knot the same amount of pressure (stress) is applied over the two turns of each rope, so making sure there is no significant damage done to any of the rope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I believe that if the two ropes are not of equal thickness, or may be say if the difference between the thicknesses is a considerably huge, Double Fisherman's would(?) do some damage to the thinner rope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that case how trustworthy are Sheet Bend and Zappelin Bend?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;:  I am Not going to use this for rappelling at all. I intend to use that as a holding line when me and friends are swimming in a lake nearby. Having said this, We are not entirely relying on this as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-03-17T06:03:33.460" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T06:03:33.460" Title="Knot for Joining the ropes of different thicknesses" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4676" CreationDate="2013-09-20T17:07:49.407" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;code&gt;Sheet Bend&lt;/code&gt; is designed for joining two lines of different size. If you need additional security use the &lt;code&gt;Double Sheet Bend&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2563" LastActivityDate="2013-09-20T17:07:49.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4676" CreationDate="2013-09-21T00:45:49.270" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is your intended use for those joined ropes? If your life depends on it (you tagged your question with &quot;safety&quot;), I would not recommend using drastically different sized ropes in the first place and I would recommend something that has been well tested by the rock-climbing community. Most rock climbers either join their ropes with the &lt;strong&gt;double fisherman's&lt;/strong&gt; (without any damage, as far as I know,) or, when the profile of the knot needs to be small, the &lt;strong&gt;overhand knot&lt;/strong&gt; with lots of tail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not heard of the double fisherman's damaging ropes, where did you hear that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-09-21T00:45:49.270" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4213" CreationDate="2013-09-21T23:32:59.600" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would check with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Svenska Turistföreningen&lt;/a&gt; (STF). Their contact details are bottom left on the linked page. They have answered in English when I tried and have details about when bridges marked on maps are taken down for the winter and laid out again for the Summer season in the Kebnekaise area, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would then also ask at the local tourist/fell stations at the start of a trip or on the way if you can. In season the wardens of smaller huts might also give you tips they have collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you don't intend to stop, checking the notebooks in larger shelters (or in hut emergency rooms if out of season) might also help you regarding things happening recently. Reading Swedish helps, but some people write entries in English as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastEditorUserId="2025" LastEditDate="2013-12-14T13:02:13.000" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T13:02:13.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4680" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-23T17:00:12.990" Score="13" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend I came down to Vuodnabahta along the spectacular Ávttje-canyon.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.turistforeningen.no/&quot;&gt;Norwegian Tourist Association&lt;/a&gt; (DNT) marks trails with cairs and red painted &lt;code&gt;T&lt;/code&gt;-marks.  The local &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people&quot;&gt;Sami&lt;/a&gt; organisation in Vuodnabahta, &lt;em&gt;Vuodnabat Sijdda&lt;/em&gt;, is critical, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nord-salten.no/no/nyheter/samisk/vil-ikke-merke-stier.11234&quot;&gt;as reported by nord-salten&lt;/a&gt;.  They find that those markings are &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; visible, and not respectful of nature.  A quote:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vi foreslår at merking gjøres ut fra samisk tradisjon, der merkinga knapt er synlig, men likevel tydelig. Man må vite hva man skal se etter når man vandrer etter veistikker/sti-merking, skriver leder Mareno Mikkelsen og nestleder Heidi Andersen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Translation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We propose that markings are done from a Sami tradition, where the markings are hardly visible, but still clear.  One must know what one should look for when one is hiking along trailmarks, write Mareno Mikkelsen (president) and Heidi Andersen (vice-president).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my ramblings in Sápmi I have learned that there are many non-tourist trails, often not on the map, sometimes leading to beautiful gábma (turf huts) that are in use by the Sami people and may in principle be used by anyone, but are not advertised for tourists.  I find that I could get more out of my Sápmi tours if I learned more about the traditional Sami markings, rather than stay on trails marked by the official Swedish and Norwegian (and Finnish) tourist associations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some traditional Sami ways to mark trails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-04-20T20:02:04.693" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T08:39:34.813" Title="What are traditional Sami trail markings?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4681" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4683" CreationDate="2013-09-24T02:02:50.110" Score="-3" ViewCount="807" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this isn't Great Outdoors in the sense of planning a vast trek and seeing vistas, but I wanted to ask for a postmortem on an unwanted great outdoors encounter in the suburbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was getting back after a photo shoot with a pirate motif, and among the items I had borrowed were some things from my brother, including a not purely ornamental sword, which he requested that I return to him that night instead of later on when I would unpack everything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went out and heard a scurrying when I opened the trunk, and looked and saw two young, maybe adolescent, raccoons that had been rooting through a toppled trash can and were looking at me with what I would interpret as curiosity, but no evident fear. The distance was eight or so feet, and I tapped the ground a few times with sword to make noise that would scare them away. Again, no evident fear. Only looking at me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I kept at least as much distance to them and made my way back into the house. They didn't approach me, and I'm rather glad there was no fight; I would not credit myself with sure victory if the fight was archaic weapon vs. rabies bite. But what really unnerved me is that nothing I did seemed to scare them. I made the usual noises of a person walking around, opening a trunk, and removing clanging metal items and tapping the ground with one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &quot;won&quot; this event; that is, I don't need a rabies shot. However, I'm somewhat concerned that I could be close to them and making noises (admittedly, not very loud noises like yelling), and maybe they were keeping their version of respectful distance by backing out of the trash cans and getting to a place they could escape from, and perhaps their looking at me was wondering if they would need to take flight, but I still found the experience a bit unnerving. We have squirrels, chipmunks, robins, sparrows, and other fauna, in addition to domestic cats that don't know me, and none of them will either let you get as close, or make noise, without fleeing for safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what do I have to learn from this? The biggest lesson may be something I already did, keep my own respectful distance and end the encounter as quickly as possible. And I did not do something stupid like assume that a bit of pointed metal will infallibly shield me from a darting raccoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I wanted to check in and ask for any guidance. Especially in a suburban environment. &lt;strong&gt;Are there animals that are simply not afraid of much bigger humans?&lt;/strong&gt; Are there any rules besides the obvious about minimizing one's chances for needing a rabies shot? (Or for that matter an infection; a bite can carry danger of assorted infections.) Would I have been better as soon as I heard noises from the trash can to simply go inside and leave fetching my brother's property another day? In this specific case the raccoons backed out of the trash can into an area illuminated by a window; I wouldn't expect anywhere near the same visibility for most nighttime, meaning most raccoon, encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would it have been appropriate (in Illinois, outside of Chicago) to call for animal control ?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, any thoughts are welcome. I know this isn't a great trek into the wild outdoors, but the wild outdoors have a way of intruding into carefully planned suburban and urban areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:58:11.867" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:58:11.867" Title="Could I have a postmortem on this suburban raccoon encounter?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bites&gt;&lt;raccoons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4681" CreationDate="2013-09-24T19:31:32.750" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've taken the liberty to bold 2 questions I believed where the main questions of your post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there animals that are simply not afraid of much bigger humans?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. A variety of animals have adapted to our societies/cities and have adapted, other species may have no other choice than to look for food near or in our ever expanding cities and towns.&#xA;May it be rats, monkeys entering your home in asia, gulls attacking people for their sandwitch/ice cream/anything in europe (or anywhere else?) or racoons in your own subburb, I think most species can/may behave agressive if they feel cornered, are very hungry or simply if they feel like standing their ground.&#xA;We're not alone on this planet, and just got to find a way to live together with everything else. &#xA;I have no experience with raccoons, but I would personally not have anticipated them to &quot;attack&quot;, key to co-existance is respect and prevention of what may lead to bad scenarios. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases, animals can become agressive/bold if they learn to affiliate us with food, and we become an obstacle to that food. Preventing this relation to become established, or trying to remove it again over time is in my opinion the only solution to prevent this type of (potential) aggression /boldness from animals towards us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would it have been appropriate (in Illinois, outside of Chicago) to call for animal control ?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I do not think calling animal control/police/your local alternative is the best solution. Only in some really rare cases certain individual animals may have truly become more of a risk than the rest of their species and should be removed. In most cases trying to catch/move animals is only a short term solution with little benefit. If conditions are there for animals to live (waste food, trash, ...) or certain behavior to develop, this will not altered by calling animal control. It are those conditions that should be given attention too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2013-09-24T19:31:32.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4676" CreationDate="2013-09-24T19:55:33.513" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was going to rappel on it, and the bulk of the knot wasn't an issue, I would tie a figure-eight in a bight of one piece of rope, then attach the other rope to it using a rewoven figure-eight. This way the knots that had to hold in order to keep me from getting killed would be two almost independent knots, each of which was tied in a single type of rope, and each of which was a standard type of knot (figure-eight) that is widely used in climbing and known to be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Dopeybob435 has pointed out, this is really a classic application of a sheet bend, but for a life-critical application I would prefer to use something based on a knot that was totally standard for climbing, both so I could be sure of tying it correctly and so that my climbing partner could check my knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-09-24T19:55:33.513" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3806" CreationDate="2013-09-25T17:23:05.543" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For California I have had great luck with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tomharrisonmaps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tom Harrison maps&lt;/a&gt;. Most sporting goods stores, rest stops and tourist information places carry those. The Quadrangles for download on the USGS website sometimes don't have all the trails drawn in. The Tom Harrison maps I have used (I own six or seven covering the Sierra Nevada and Angels National Forrest,) have had all trails I needed, and they are printed on a water-proof plastic. One disadvantage is that the outermost layer of the plastic has a tendency to peal off at the creases, but I guess regular paper-maps would start to deteriorate in those places as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2013-09-25T17:23:05.543" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4674" CreationDate="2013-09-25T23:47:36.687" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The WP article is pretty good, but SE is meant to be standalone, so I'll try to give my interpretation of the American system, the Yosemite Decimal System. This system is for free climbing (mountaineering, trad climbing, sport climbing, and gym climbing). It doesn't cover aid climbing or bouldering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 = Hiking. Example: Kilimanjaro.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 = May use hands for balance. May include cross-country where you need to pay constant attention to footing. In the Sierra, this is often talus. Example: Mt. Langley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 = Scrambling, possibly using hands to pull yourself up. Most people would downclimb facing outward. Examples: Avalanche Gulch on Mt. Shasta, Whitney Mountaineers' Route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4 = Hard scrambling, with lots of good holds. Most people wouldn't be able to downclimb facing outward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5 = Vertical rock climbing. Most people would rappel down rather than downclimbing. Example: Mount Kenya.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The grade for a route is intended to represent the difficulty of the single hardest move. For example, people who have done the South Col of Everest say &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/outdoor-adventure/is-an-everest-climb-technical.html&quot;&gt;it's almost all a walk-up&lt;/a&gt; (class 1-2), but that the Hillary Step is class 4, so the route as a whole would be class 4. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The YDS does not attempt to represent the level of danger, strenuousness, exposure, or commitment. For example, the Ebersbacher Ledges in the north fork of Lone Pine Creek are class 1, but very exposed; if you tripped over your shoelaces and fell over the side, you'd be dead. Ratings may be for a person of typical height, or may be defined according to the perceptions of a person who is a particular height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ratings don't necessarily relate to whether ropes are necessary. A belay might be advisable on a class-1 ledge if it was exposed and had patches of ice. A belay might be unnecessary on a class-5 climb it it was not exposed and the whole class-5 section was extremely short and consisted of a single hard move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In mountaineering, you have slab climbing, crack climbing, snow, and ice, which aren't directly comparable to vertical rock climbing. It's pretty subjective to say that an ice-ax-and-crampons route like Avalanche Gulch on Shasta is the same class-3 grade as a talus and scrambling route like the Whitney Mountaineers' Route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within class 5, there are decimals. Originally these went from 5.0 to 5.9. These subdivisions were defined using  1950's equipment (hobnail boots, no SLCD's) in the Tahquitz Rock area, with 5.9 defined by the climb &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Book_%28Tahquitz%29&quot;&gt;Open Book&lt;/a&gt;, which was first climbed by Royal Robbins in 1952 and was at that time thought to be the most difficult climb that anyone could do. Today, we have sport climbing, various improvements in equipment, and a higher-level elite of pro climbers like Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma. The scale has therefore been extended up to difficulties like 5.14 or maybe even 5.15. At these very high levels, it's difficult to confirm proposed ratings, because there are only a few people in the world who could climb both a 5.14 and a 5.15 and give a reliable opinion on which was which.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within each 5.x grade for x=10 and above, there can be letter subdivisions abcd, so that, e.g., 5.10b is harder than 5.10a.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ratings are extremely subjective, and local customs may cause them to be either inflated (too high) or &quot;sandbagged&quot; (too low). For example, I've managed to climb some 5.10a routes at my local climbing gym, but that absolutely does not mean that I'm climbing better than Royal Robbins; it means that (1) the ratings at my gym are inflated, and (2) I'm climbing these routes either on top-rope or leading them in an indoor sport-climbing style, which is a lot easier than a trad lead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, there has been a huge inflationary trend since the scale was first defined. For example, the original YDS scale used two climbs on Tahquitz as the definitions of 5.0 and 5.1. These were The Trough and Fingertip Traverse. The modern guidebook by Gaines (2013) describes these as 5.4 and 5.5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sandbagging (deflation) tends to happen because people want to boast about what awesome climbers they are. If most people say a climb is 5.5 in modern ratings, Sam Sandbagger will bluster online about how kids these days are wimps, that climb is 5.2 at most, he free-solos it before breakfast, and his toy poodle led it in the dark with an injured paw at the age of 12.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 5.x grades, it can be very hard to compare different types of climbs. For example a 5.10a in the gym could be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A climb that's overhung the whole way, but has huge holds, requiring stamina and upper-body strength.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A climb that's vertical and requires delicate balance and flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A climb that's less than vertical but has tiny sloping holds, requiring strong hands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-11-14T02:01:54.110" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T02:01:54.110" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4674" CreationDate="2013-09-26T13:25:07.863" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Europe we have a few systems depending on the country, so in the UK we have two grading systems, adjectival and technical and they work as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy - E&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moderate M - US 5.2&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Difficult D - US 5.3&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard Diff HD&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very Difficult VD - US 5.4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard Very Difficult HVD&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Severe S - US 5.5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard Severe HS - US 5.6&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very Severe VS - US 5.7 or 5.8&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard Very Severe HVS - US 5.9 or 5.10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extremely Severe E1 to E11 - US 5.10 to about a 5.14d&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technical is a measure of the hardest move on that route, and it runs as follows (there aren't any for 3 or below):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4a, 4b, 4c&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5a, 5b, 5c&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6a, 6b, 6c&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;7a, 7b&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you'll see Easy is pretty broad, and covers everything up to a 5, so walking up to hard scrambling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/Download.aspx?id=108&quot;&gt;good conversion chart&lt;/a&gt; at the British Mountaineering Council website which also includes French and Australian grades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-09-27T08:55:58.947" LastActivityDate="2013-09-27T08:55:58.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-09-26T17:15:29.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been going backpacking for several years. The things that always keep me positive are the views and appreciating the little things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, a pack of cards to play games, sometimes I bring a little speaker to play music at night and bring a small piece of rope  to practice tying different knots. Most of all, campfires. I've never sat next to a campfire and not been happy. All of these are lightweight and easy to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I always like to look at the map and see what I've accomplished. It gives meaning to what I'm doing and how far I've traveled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Onward and Upward!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2575" LastActivityDate="2013-09-26T17:15:29.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2013-09-26T17:36:48.067" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;With regards to searching or SAR, I think @Rory Alsop, hit the nail on the head. You really want a brighter and wider field of light when searching for someone. However, as an avid backpacker, you don't need that many lumens. So... if you are searching for a path or night hiking, I use a 70 lumen headlamp that has worked fantastically well and when I need to 'search' a bit further, I use a 100 lumen flash light. With that amount of light, you are able to see the reflections of the trail markers on the tree. Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2575" LastActivityDate="2013-09-26T17:36:48.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4642" CreationDate="2013-09-26T17:41:05.313" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done several triathlons where I've had this problem. I bought BodyGlide, which is an anti-chafe stick. It works wonders and I've used it for hiking as well. Put this on there area where you typically get rashes and you'll be all set. It goes on invisible as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2575" LastActivityDate="2013-09-26T17:41:05.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4693" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4694" CreationDate="2013-09-27T05:06:20.777" Score="5" ViewCount="5696" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we camp in rainforests or even country side forest, we are supposed to be very careful about Reptiles, especially Snakes. In India out of the many venomous snakes, I have found Pit Vipers to be very common.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That is why I have always considered the possible threats while choosing a campsite.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But at Higher altitudes, like the Himalayas I do not have any information regarding their habitats. If I google it, I may get the information that I need. But, as far as I know and what I have learnt about Vipers, is, they have an organ called Jacobson's Organ which makes them to sense the heat signatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regions around Mt. Everest (where I will be going), in Sagarmatha National Park, they have &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloydius_himalayanus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; Himalayan Pit Viper. I have confirmed that from a friend who is a Herpetologist and has worked in that region but never have had a chance to study the Himalayan Pit Viper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my question, this himalayan pit viper is just an example in case of Himalays, there can be many other species than Pit Vipers. I chose to ask w.r.t this because it is commonly found there. In other parts of the world, I believe there are Venomous Snakes, for that matter this question can also be taken as part where it generally snows!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question is:&lt;/strong&gt; If it is true about Pit Vipers being able to trace the heat signatures, does camping in the areas where it snows unsafe? Because, when it snows, it's obviously cold, and so is our body temperature. Yet, will one such reptile be able to trace the heat signature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-05T11:53:56.083" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T06:20:43.780" Title="Venomous/Semi-Venoumous Snakes at Higher Altitudes" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4693" CreationDate="2013-09-27T06:10:45.663" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key to survival of any species in any part of the world is having a sustainable source of food. This applies to snakes as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For snakes, humans are not food&lt;/em&gt;. For them, rats, lizards, scorpions, frogs etc act as food. When you specifically talk of snow covered areas, it is impossible for a snake to live. Or any cold blooded animal for that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know for a fact that snakes are found in the Himalayan region. Some of them are: Kraits, Naja najas, Pit vipers etc. All of these are found in regions having vegetation (thereby providing a source of food).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, if you are camping in snowy areas, you need not be worried about the snakes. But I would suggest that you take precautions while camping in areas like Leh/Ladakh. These areas do have snakes, although the density is much lesser than what you would find in the Kumaon/Gharwal regions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General rule of thumb is, mountains with good amount of vegetation or foothills of mountains with vegetation can have snakes. Mountains covered with snow cannot have a sustainable population of snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T06:20:43.780" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T06:20:43.780" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-09-27T06:10:45.663" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4647" CreationDate="2013-09-27T10:55:54.477" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the kind of hike. But some of my 50 cents:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't want to take tools to cook, use food that comes self-supportive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't have water, don't eat food that needs a lot of water (or dehydrating)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If space is important, use freeze-dried food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If space is important, don't use food with lots of empty space in it, like normal bread, candy bars which are crunchy etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the hike is longer than some days or in hot weather, don't use food that degenerates fast (like meat).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of my favorite food is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm food: complete meals (well, minimal complete) in a metal case ... to be used on a mini cooker without the necessity of other tools (except a fork to eat)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Biscuits which are concentrated, with cheese or ham (latter only in case of not hot weather/short hikes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case of a short hike, I take an apple/banana (banana also good for short energy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-08-15T15:54:51.690" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T15:54:51.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4696" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4698" CreationDate="2013-09-28T05:08:45.627" Score="8" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an expedition planned in Himalayas, around the Mt. Kanchenjunga region.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I believe at higher altitudes, apart from preparation (both physical and psychological), one has to be sure about a factor: Acclimatization.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have planned is: after gaining a certain altitude in the beginning phase of the expedition, Our team is going to set a solid camp for about 5 days, that will be at around 3400 m. From this place we will do short load-ferries over the place where we plan to camp next. The height gain will obviously not be too much. And, along with that we plan to visit areas around where we would actually have to work (physically) comparatively harder, so that we play ourselves in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But at what point should I assume that the acclimatization is complete and it is safe to set off towards higher camps?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: The maximum altitude that we will attain will be around 5700 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-09-28T06:26:13.913" LastActivityDate="2013-09-28T06:26:13.913" Title="How to realize/judge/assume if one has now fully acclimatized?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4697" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-09-28T05:33:42.997" Score="7" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;During a fire building process, can heartwood be used as a fuel for the fire? Assuming you are working with less than perfect materials, there is always a danger that your fire will go out at the point where your tinder burns up. Hence, when using heartwood, do I need to keep an eye out and add finer shavings of wood to keep the fire up and burning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2579" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:01:07.087" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:01:07.087" Title="Can heartwood be used for fire?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4696" CreationDate="2013-09-28T05:59:00.233" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I do not know of any &lt;em&gt;deterministic&lt;/em&gt; way judging acclimatization. Right now, the actions to be taken are more &quot;Reactive&quot;. i.e, in case one feels the symptoms of AMS, then one can take a call of going down or camping at the current altitude to get acclimatized. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a thumb rule, if you climb higher, and sleep lower, your body should get adjusted to the altitude. Having said that, each person's response is different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below are some of the points to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If anyone in your group is complaining of not-so-good sleep, it can be an indicator of acclimatization not being complete.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nausea, headache, dizziness, lack of coordination(ataxia) are some of the things that can give you pointers towards those who are yet to acclimatize or are already hit by a moderate to severe case of AMS.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best suggestion of moving towards a higher camp would be to judge the spirit and the &lt;em&gt;Real&lt;/em&gt; health conditions of your group. The above mentioned points can be taken into mind before you take your call of sending people down or moving up the mountain.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would always suggest that you prepare your group to &lt;em&gt;prevent&lt;/em&gt; AMS as much as  possible. I'm pretty sure that you know the following set of points, but in the interest of the community, let me put them forth anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrate. Drink 3-4 liters of water. The symptoms of dehydration and AMS are cunningly similiar: Headache, dizziness etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat well. Keep your energy reserves up all the time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climb high, sleep low. It's advisable not to gain more than 1000 vertical feet if you are going to sleep at the higher altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take it easy. Do not rush up to higher altitudes. Higher the altitude, slower should be the progress made. This allows for body to get adjusted to thinner air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid depressant drugs. These reduce the rate of breathing which in turn reduce the intake of oxygen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are drugs like Diamox which help one to get acclimatized faster. Remember, this is not a &lt;em&gt;cure&lt;/em&gt; to AMS.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case of AMS symptoms, consider going to lower altitudes. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-09-28T05:59:00.233" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2013-09-28T12:31:34.257" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4697" CreationDate="2013-09-28T14:26:56.390" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heartwood, assuming the definition on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood#Heartwood_and_sapwood&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; as basically just the middle of the tree that is no longer growing, is indeed what you will be burning most of the time as fuel for your fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering it has not been growing for some time, it may well be somewhat drier than the surrounding sapwood, and therefore actually burn better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the overall size of your fire-making materials, and their relative dry/damp-ness is probably the most critical factor when making a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="754" LastActivityDate="2013-09-28T14:26:56.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2013-09-29T14:38:47.873" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd think that it will depend very much on what you search for: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;do you expect the person to &lt;em&gt;respond&lt;/em&gt;, e.g. put up whatever scrap of reflective material they have with them when they see your search-light?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In that case, and open landscape a highly brilliant lamp would be good: you could sweep a large space slowly with such a light and look for reflections.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;E.g. I can see the reflective background in the eyes of the neighbour's horses across the valley (ca. 800 m, 1100 lumen light IIRC) without problem. You could similarly detect reflective material. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you have to seach in bushes where you anyways cannot see far?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In that case, less brilliant but wide angle is probably better (but I'd guess that chances are pretty small to accomplish much before the next morning). Brilliant and tightly focused light in such a situation will possibly be more of a hindrance than a help: it can easily blind you enough to see nothing at all outside the narrow illuminated space, and even in the direction of the search light nothing but the bushes in the foreground.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I guess the most sensible thing would be to try covering easily accessible and sensible places rather than going right through the bushes during the night: along roads/trails where the lost person is likely to be and where your light can actually help. If you can expect the person to be responsive, then acoustics may be your friend - better if organized: shout / whistle in a concerted fashion, then stop to listen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you looking for someone who is hiding or unable to respond and cannot be expected to have anything reflective on him? You really need to search through the bushes?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Then, maybe night vision gear would be better than search lights. Or search dogs. If you have to do with lamps, you'll need a massive group helping with the search to cover a decent area in one night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that headlamps, torches and rescue lights (e.g. head lights of fire fighter trucks) are optimized towards a very different purpose: they are optimized to brightly illuminate a restricted space. Head lamps e.g. are useful to enable you to work, e.g. repair something or care about an injured person. But even though mounted on your head, I find them illuminating an uncomfortably small angle for e.g. hiking or in a cave. The torch I mentioned above is also good if you want to repair something, but it is useless if you want to search in bush terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that head lamps are often a pain for a group: most people are polite enough to look into your face when speaking or being spoken to. Which will blind away your dark adaption over and over again...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-09-29T14:38:47.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2013-09-29T22:44:22.237" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a food Thermos to retain heat and simulate a pressure cooker. Save fuel. Opens up the burner for cooking other dishes. Thermos can be used to carry other items when not in use. Cheers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2581" LastActivityDate="2013-09-29T22:44:22.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4702" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4706" CreationDate="2013-09-30T04:51:46.587" Score="3" ViewCount="312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have come across two good products for carrying the water during expeditions.&#xA;I wonder which of them would be &lt;em&gt;scientifically&lt;/em&gt; better to have along.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I agree that this question &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; sound like a primarily-opinion based question, but I want to get the pros and cons of the two materials.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hard-fiber can or an alloy/aluminium bottle. Does altitude/weather make a significant impact on selection of the bottle? A Hard Fiber one or an Aluminium made?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: When empty, both weigh almost same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rd36gm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This Aluminium bottle&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3wn4Fm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-09-30T05:20:29.873" LastActivityDate="2013-10-01T17:47:52.150" Title="Which one is scientifically better for carrying water during an expedition: A hard fiber bottle or an Aluminium Bottle?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4702" CreationDate="2013-09-30T05:19:33.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aluminium will crack in sub-zero temperatures. Many of them are built with a coating that may contain BPA. Often the composition of the coating is not disclosed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plastic bottles can leach chemicals when containing hot or boiling liquids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I would consider a collapsable water pouch such as Evernew or Platypus. I've used Evernew to slide down mountains in the snow. Neither those bottles offers this possibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hard metal bottles there's always stainless steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-09-30T05:19:33.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1447" CreationDate="2013-10-01T07:01:18.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found I had a similar issues with a couple backpacks this past damp winter.  I was told Chlorine bleach but did not like the idea of a white or discolored backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone also told me vinegar although I never got around to trying it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What worked for me was just leaving my backpacks outside in the sun on hot DRY summer days.  I did very little cleaning, it was as if the sun burned it away.  I hope you have some hot dry sunny areas and this works for you.  I'd be interested to know!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2331" LastActivityDate="2013-10-01T07:01:18.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4705" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5380" CreationDate="2013-10-01T08:54:34.433" Score="10" ViewCount="966" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to visit Mongolia next year and organize a trek with my girlfriend. We are skilled trekkers and we would prefer to avoid to hire a guide. We both experienced treks with guide in Nepal, India and Tanzania and although we tried to decide where to stop and sleep, the guide had always a good argument to go in the lodge he picked up. This was sometimes quite frustrating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the last trek we did together, without guide and porter, we could really enjoyed to go from lodge to lodge by ourselves and to decide where to sleep, eat and what to change our itinerary if necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it realistic to plan a 10 to 12 days trek in Mongolia without porter or guide? Can we expect as in Nepal to trek from village to village and find lodges? &#xA;What region would be suitable for such a trip? We are not looking especially for peak or high pass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-12T15:19:47.220" LastActivityDate="2017-04-02T21:40:49.170" Title="Trekking in Mongolia without a guide?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4702" CreationDate="2013-10-01T17:47:52.150" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neither are suitable for an expedition, where every ounce and room in your pack counts.  Fortunately, there are now many types of collapsible BPA-free bottles / reservoirs for you to choose from.  My platypus softbottle rolls into practically nothing.  I also carry the 5 liter platypus water tank for working at the camp site.  Again, it collapses and rolls into nothing.  Both work in freezing conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2585" LastActivityDate="2013-10-01T17:47:52.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4709" CreationDate="2013-10-01T18:10:53.667" Score="15" ViewCount="9471" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you dry wet socks when camping/backpacking if it's raining and the socks cannot be hung to dry outside?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4CT36.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been compiling a list of recommendations on this subject for a little while.  Please add to the list if you can.  I hope you find this useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stuff them inside your thermal underwear (while wearing them), each&#xA;sock on top of a thigh, and wear to sleep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the socks in a hand towel, wring towel tightly, and hold the&#xA;wrap as  moisture equalizes between the items&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place a wet sock on each of your hands and warm the socks carefully&#xA;beside a low-setting camp stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stuff pack towels within sock and allow towels to wick moisture away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stuff socks into the base of your sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insert an activated hand warmer into each sock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boil rocks (caution:  rocks can explode) and insert the hot rocks&#xA;into the socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2585" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:48:15.260" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T08:39:41.153" Title="How do you dry wet socks when camping/backpacking if it's raining and the socks cannot be hung to dry outside" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4708" CreationDate="2013-10-01T18:22:00.693" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping with the socks on your torso is the most effective method I have found, and it does not require anything you wouldn't already have. For this, you just:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take socks off&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put them inside your shirt, under &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; layers of clothing. They should be touching your skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wake up in the morning with dry socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works with a lot of things: socks, gloves, hats, anything that could get wet. You don't need a fire, extra fuel, towels, hand warmer, etc... Putting the socks on your legs also works but your core is a much warmer furnace. A good meal before you go to sleep goes a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can dry clothing during the day (while you hike) using the same method, just make sure they don't fall out. Sometimes, I put them inside an inner pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; carry two pairs of socks: one to wear and one to dry. I alternate every night and morning, so that I am constantly wearing dry socks. I have found this to be critically important to be comfortable while being cold or wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: I am assuming synthetic or wool socks. Wearing cotton socks in the outdoors is generally a bad idea. After a few days of this method, your sleeping bag will start to accumulate some moisture (especially bad with down bags), so it's a good idea to dry it out when the weather clears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T08:39:41.153" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T08:39:41.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4710" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4713" CreationDate="2013-10-01T18:26:41.053" Score="10" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;p&gt;The US government just shut down, stopping funding for (and thus closing) most National Parks, BLM lands, campgrounds on national lands, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What areas are still open?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T00:41:21.773" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T00:41:21.773" Title="What parks are still open during the 2013 US government shutdown?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4711" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-01T18:33:14.700" Score="7" ViewCount="1751" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although some have said that Tide was acceptable, I've read that any kind of detergent is unsuitable for washing water repellent / breathable material.  Apparently detergent leaves behind a residue that coats the DWR, rendering it useless.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My research ultimately led me to try Dri-pak soap flakes, made in the UK and resold through a distributor in the US.  Results thus far have been promising.  The DWR held up after the wash, and the soap lifted all of the dirt/stains.&#xA;Dri-pak is a much cheaper alternative to Nikwax Tech Wash -- about 4 times cheaper per unit washed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how do you wash your DWR apparel and have you tried Dripak?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2585" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-10-02T14:24:36.810" LastActivityDate="2013-11-02T19:51:09.370" Title="How do you wash your water repellent apparel (DWR)?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4712" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4714" CreationDate="2013-10-01T19:01:52.437" Score="5" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone knows an undercammed piece is bad. Does any data exist on &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; bad it gets?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, how does the strength of a cam placement change with the retraction angle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T10:21:08.890" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T10:21:08.890" Title="How does cam strength change with the retraction angle?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;camming-devices&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4710" CreationDate="2013-10-02T00:47:33.547" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Essentially, any places which has Federal staff will be shutdown and unaccessible including those which has a booth or paid access. Non-regulated public lands are not affected by the government shutdown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National parks are closed, including Yosemite. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._National_Forests&quot;&gt;National Forests&lt;/a&gt; are still '&lt;em&gt;open&lt;/em&gt;' and so are state and county parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Services are closed and people with camping permits are being asked to leave. Hikers with backcountry permits are allowed to stay until the permit expires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another resource is to take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doi.gov/shutdown/upload/NPS-Contingency-Plan-December-15-2011.pdf&quot;&gt;contingency plan for the National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-10-02T02:28:34.980" LastActivityDate="2013-10-02T02:28:34.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4712" CreationDate="2013-10-02T04:33:32.653" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Under-camming&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;camming angle&lt;/strong&gt; are two very different things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;camming angle&lt;/em&gt; is constant for the whole range of the cam and is defined by the shape of the cam-lobe and can range from 12.5 degrees to up to 21 degrees (Black Diamond's C4s for example have a camming angle of 14.5 degrees.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An &lt;em&gt;undercammed&lt;/em&gt; cam has the same holding strength as a cam in its sweet-spot. The problem with undercamming is stability of the placement. An undercammed cam is likely to walk out of the crack with little tugs from the rope as the leader moves past the placement, and it will pull out when the direction of pull changes slightly. A good cam placement will not walk and can adjust to angle of pull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the only possible placement is an undercammed camming device, extending the placement with a sling can prevent the piece from walking out, but proceed with caution!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question: An undercammed cam has the full holding strength the cam is rated to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I just looked at DavidR's link in his comment and I agree that it describes the workings of a cam very well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-10-03T10:04:23.640" LastActivityDate="2013-10-03T10:04:23.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4715" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4727" CreationDate="2013-10-02T08:12:20.417" Score="10" ViewCount="13162" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/705/what-should-you-look-for-when-buying-hiking-socks&quot;&gt;Cotton retains moisture, thus cotton socks will not do the job properly.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When would actually one want to wear exactly cotton socks?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few ideas come to mind, but they are just shooting in the dark:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in the city or short hikes, to retain moisture in the sock, and not fill the shoe with salt and grease&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in the summer, thin wool socks are rare (but what about synthetic)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in case of low budget.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:46:26.947" Title="When are cotton socks actually better?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;cotton&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2013-10-02T08:23:12.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The esoteric &quot;answer&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footwraps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;footwraps&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dirt cheep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be wrapped in any preferrable way, to provide the most padding against the most aggressive edges of Your shoe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at a short break(5min) - re-wrap the footwrap in the opposite direction i.e. the cloth, that is wet from the sweating feet goes up against the ankle and calf to dry out and vice versa&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at lunch break(30min) - put the footwraps in the sun and wind. A footwrap has a lot more surface area than a sock!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at night - let the footwraps aerate - they will be fine for another day, due to abovementioned property&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a (clean) rectangular piece of cloth could have much alternative uses than a ... pair of socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can take up to 1 minute to put them on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have heard of only cotton as materilal. If you can afford proper technologically-advanced socks, I would expect foot wraps to be inferior (provided breathable boots are used).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n3lQt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;stolen from Wikipedia&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T17:08:28.770" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T17:08:28.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4598" CreationDate="2013-10-02T10:17:27.127" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some petrol stations have a stock of LPG canisters outside, which I'm pretty sure are meant to be returned to be refilled - these are known as 'Calor gas' after the name of the dominant company in this market. They go from about 5kg upward, which I guess is quite large. I've never bought one, so am not sure how you'd go about it. Check which type of gas regulator you have, as I believe there are at least two different types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mate of mine swears by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trangia.se/english&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Trangia&lt;/a&gt; stove, which is fuelled with methanol. Methanol burns clean and is probably safer than LPG. They're pretty common in camping shops here. The fuel is a little harder to come by and goes by the name 'methylated spirits', which you can buy in DIY shops. 'White spirit' is not the same thing as it is a petroleum byproduct, and would probably produce a smoky flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2588" LastActivityDate="2013-10-02T10:17:27.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4708" CreationDate="2013-10-02T11:13:21.730" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of rings inside my tent up at the top that allow me to string a clothesline - I use a hockey lace and leave it in place all the time. I can then hang things up inside my tent. On a sunny day, this is far slower than hanging them outside, but on a rainy day it is obviously quicker than outside, and it does work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-10-02T11:13:21.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4461" CreationDate="2013-10-02T17:21:17.663" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to mention two additional scenarios not covered by Ben Crowell's great answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When it is possible to &lt;strong&gt;fall past the belayer&lt;/strong&gt; (on a multi-pitch climb, or when getting to the start of a climb involves a scramble or stepping out onto the face,) the fall factor is the greatest. In those cases the old mantra &quot;the leader must not fall&quot; still very much applies. If you fall past your belayer without having clipped any protection yet, you are experiencing a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/real-world-factor-2-fall-video/107235646&quot;&gt;factor 2 fall&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (falling twice the distance of the length of rope out), which can create enough force to break climbing equipment, rip bolts or protection out of the wall, and cause serious injuries or death to you and your climbing partner, even if you fall for just a very short distance. &lt;br&gt;(To prevent this scenario, place a piece of protection as soon as possible. Until then, don't fall!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you are &lt;strong&gt;clipping to gear that is above your tie-in-point&lt;/strong&gt;, you can fall even further than twice the distance to your last piece. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Example: &lt;br&gt;You clipped the first bolt, which was 15 feet (4.6 m) above ground, now you are standing 4 feet (1.2 m) above the first bolt and within reach of the second bolt, which was only 10 feet (3 m) past the first. Clipping involves lifting the rope 4 feet (1.2m) from your tie-in-point. At first thought you should be fine, right? You are standing just four feet (1.2 m) above your last piece, and the first clip was after 15 feet (4.6m.) In fact this is a very dangerous situation. When you are just about to clip, the actual amount of rope out is: 15 feet to the first bolt, 10 feet to the next bolt, and 4 feet back down to your tie-in-point, totaling 29 feet of rope, plus maybe a foot of rope of slack your belayer is giving you plus rope stretch that will occur during your fall. In this scenario you could fall 14-19 feet (4.2-5.8 m) &lt;strong&gt;past your last piece&lt;/strong&gt; which is going to result in a &lt;strong&gt;ground fall&lt;/strong&gt; !!! &lt;br&gt;(To prevent this scenario, avoid clipping to something that is higher than your shoulders, and, whenever possible, clip when your protection is near or past your tie-in-point.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing is full of little surprises like this (&lt;strong&gt;force multiplications&lt;/strong&gt;, the physics of &lt;strong&gt;pendulum falls&lt;/strong&gt;, the &lt;strong&gt;zipper effect&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;factor 2 falls&lt;/strong&gt;... to just name a few.) I am all for figuring stuff out myself, but with climbing I highly recommend learning from a climber with several years of experience, or taking a class. Just reading a book or post on a Q&amp;amp;A site is not going to be enough to stay safe until you have a very thorough understanding of everything involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-10-04T21:20:50.437" LastActivityDate="2013-10-04T21:20:50.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4711" CreationDate="2013-10-03T19:26:41.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the following video as a guide:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4N6ZuKTZ_c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4N6ZuKTZ_c&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prep garment: close all main zippers, open pockets, and loosen elastics.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash sweat/dirt/oils off using a performance washing liquid, using cold or warm water. Regular detergent is okay, rinse twice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray garment with a DWR reproofing spray, focusing on shoulders and other high-abrasion areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry garment in a drier, 40 minutes on regular temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They recommend Granger's wash and DWR spray. I've had really good luck with this combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2013-10-03T19:26:41.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4722" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4723" CreationDate="2013-10-03T21:37:08.997" Score="9" ViewCount="492" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed I have to pee more than usual out in cold weather. Does anyone have a scientific explanation for that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2591" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:43:57.937" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:43:57.937" Title="Why do we need to pee more than usual out in cold weather?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4722" CreationDate="2013-10-04T02:07:01.607" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The phenomenon name is &lt;em&gt;cold diuresis&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/cold+diuresis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;thefreedictionary.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[cold diuresis] occurs in hypothermia as a result of peripheral vasoconstriction, hyperglycemia and decreased renal tubular absorption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can easily find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fitness-coach/Why-Do-Cold-Temperatures-Make-Me-Pee.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;articles&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://ajprenal.physiology.org/content/244/2/F210&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;papers&lt;/a&gt; on the subject on the Internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-10-04T14:08:39.950" LastActivityDate="2013-10-04T14:08:39.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4724" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4736" CreationDate="2013-10-04T02:37:24.340" Score="7" ViewCount="1603" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I find a good elevation profile of Tahoe Rim Trail? This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/779549&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; has an elevation profile based on GPS data points. However, it is not laid out in a very useful format.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for something similar to the Appalachian Trail &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theatguide.com/&quot;&gt;AWOL&lt;/a&gt; handbook or pocket profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-10-08T15:49:53.670" Title="Where can you find an online elevation profile of Tahoe Rim Trail?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4724" CreationDate="2013-10-04T16:37:24.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Google Earth&lt;/strong&gt; can give you an elevation profile of pretty much &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 4 ways to go about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for a &lt;strong&gt;.KMZ&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;.KML&lt;/strong&gt; file to load into Google Earth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Activate the &lt;strong&gt;EveryTrail&lt;/strong&gt; layer in Google Earth int the &lt;code&gt;Layers&lt;/code&gt; panel under &lt;br&gt;&lt;code&gt;'Primary Database'-&amp;gt;'Gallery'-&amp;gt;'Everytrail'&lt;/code&gt; &lt;br&gt;and look for GPS tracks others have uploaded by flying over the area you are interested in and looking for EveryTrail markers. Users often upload pictures with their GPS tracks, which gives you even more context.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load a track from your &lt;strong&gt;GPS&lt;/strong&gt; into Google Earth. This is great after the fact if you want to know the elevation profile of something you have just completed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trace the route yourself with the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;code&gt;Path&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; tool. This feature is great if you are planning something that is not commonly done by others. I frequently scope out my runs this way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you did either of those, right or option click on that path in your &lt;code&gt;My Places&lt;/code&gt; view, and choose &lt;code&gt;Show Elevation Profile&lt;/code&gt; from the popup-menu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have your trail in the form of a .GPX file from the website you linked to, you can use the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/&lt;/a&gt; to convert the file to a .KMZ file, which you can load into Google Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2013-10-04T23:50:35.897" LastActivityDate="2013-10-04T23:50:35.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4715" CreationDate="2013-10-05T10:10:27.833" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When would actually one want to wear exactly cotton socks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hygienic reasons where washing your socks hot (95 °C) and frequently is important.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I guess the most common such reason (besides being doctor/nurse/...) is having a fungal infection. In that case in addition to the proper medication you should change your socks frequently (if they get moist even more often than daily) and wash them really hot so your feet do not get re-infected next time you wear those socks and get them moist.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;However, in that foot condition long hikes closed boots are not a good idea, so not sure whether this is an &quot;outdoor&quot; answer.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've successfully washed synthetics socks at 60 °C many times that were rated at 30 °C, but never tried out how they take washing at 95 °C. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wear cotton socks a lot in everyday life, in winter also woolen socks. I prefer synthetic or wollen socks for longer (several days without time to properly dry boots) hiking tours because I'm afraid once the whole foot-sock-boot business is thoroughly moist (the only time I didn't get moist feet on hiking/skiing so far was a winter spent in Manitoba), the cotton socks would lead to more blisters because they are usually less soft/smooth than the woolen or synthetic socks.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As to the retain moisture part, I'm not so sure how much that matters in a closed shoe/boot scenario: usually it is much easier to dry a cotton sock than getting the corresponding moisture out of the shoe.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(I guess that is what you were driving at with the not fill the shoe with salt and grease sentence? - though for a leather shoe grease would probably be good, but neither salt nor moisture is.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the office, I keep a spare pair of (cotton) socks in case I get really soaked biking there (I prefer to change also synthetics socks if they are thoroughly wet). I rarely have cold feet, and drying cotton socks on my feet that are slightly moist after the bike ride to the office is no problem once I've changed the shoes (when sitting at the computer, I usually slip out of the office/lab shoes). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes they do have a decided price advantage, and in my experience they last at least as long as the synthetics socks. My woolen socks last longer but then I wear them less frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If outdoors includes activities where you return indoors in the evening: I often wear cotton socks when working outdoors. I don't see a big difference whether I have to wash the socks because they are dirty or because they are dirty and moist.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-10-05T10:10:27.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4728" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4735" CreationDate="2013-10-05T12:29:25.493" Score="2" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used muzzleloaders for years without a problem, but heard that the nipples can fail catastrophically, causing injury to the face. Is there a way to tell when it's time to replace them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-10-07T20:26:56.567" Title="How to tell when a muzzleloader nipple needs to be replaced?" Tags="&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4729" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4741" CreationDate="2013-10-05T16:40:04.993" Score="9" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I use my Sawyer filter when the city issues a boil order? Or could there contaminants such as viruses present that require boiling? How about other filters such as carbon filters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm confident that UV pens or bottles would be sufficient, but any commentary on those are also welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2013-10-11T01:49:13.660" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T01:49:13.660" Title="What backpacking water purification techniques can be substituted safely during a city's boil order?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4715" CreationDate="2013-10-06T07:59:57.893" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Availability&lt;/strong&gt; factor - cotton socks you can buy practically everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to &lt;strong&gt;price&lt;/strong&gt;, the wool socks you can buy relatively cheap in the military surplus, but it usually means buying in internet. Wool socks are good for winter, but for me they are not-an-option in summer because my feet sweat in them like mad. Wool socks are also heavier and taking much more place than thin cotton socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For summer, an alternative to thin cotton socks are the syntetic ones (I haven't seen thin wool socks). Then the price comes into play. Maybe there are simple, cheap syntetic ones, but I know only those 'active' ones from sport shops - they are very expensive compared to cotton ones - about 5 times more. So in summer, I prefer to take more cheap, light cotton socks and change them more often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-10-06T07:59:57.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2013-10-07T06:13:47.507" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topomap.co.nz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NZ Topo Map&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topomap.co.nz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.topomap.co.nz&lt;/a&gt; is a great resource. You can highlight the area of map you're interested in and print it out in high quality to take with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a Windows Phone then you can download the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.windowsphone.com/en-nz/store/app/nz-topo-map-beta/b861ab51-a68d-456f-9ae4-cbed66736b36&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NZ Topo Map app&lt;/a&gt; and take sections offline with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or if you have an Android phone, &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atlogis.nzmaps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;New Zealand Topo Maps Pro by Atlogis&lt;/a&gt; is a great app for taking sections of map offline with you also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2596" LastActivityDate="2013-10-07T06:13:47.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4732" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-10-07T09:53:01.017" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-10-07T09:53:01.017" LastActivityDate="2013-10-07T09:53:01.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4733" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-10-07T09:53:01.017" Score="0" Body="Tag relating to old, outdated, or worn equipment- its uses and disposal" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-10-07T15:58:51.550" LastActivityDate="2013-10-07T15:58:51.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4734" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-07T14:46:56.557" Score="10" ViewCount="465" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the repercussions of entering National parks during the US Government shutdown?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a trail near my house that I go to almost every week.  It's really just a fence with a gate in it.  I didn't realize it was national park until yesterday when I went there and there were temporary orange signs saying park closed due to the federal government shutdown.  I looked it up and indeed it is a national park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that mean that it's truly 'illegal' to walk on the trail?  Or that it's just not patrolled (I've never seen a government employee in there anyhow)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T17:01:47.533" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T17:01:47.533" Title="What are the repercussions of entering National parks during the 2013 US Government shutdown?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4728" CreationDate="2013-10-07T20:26:56.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only been shooting traditional muzzleloader for the last few years, so I'm not an old hand with them. But I would suspect that you'd begin to see cracks around the top edge. I frequently remove mine and make sure it's clean inside and out. Honestly, I've never heard of that level of failure on one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hunt and shoot with guys that have used them for decades and I don't ever recall ever seeing them even replace the nipples. If there's an ML/BP club in your area, it might be worth it to look them up and ask around there. I'll check in with the gentlemen who is helping me build a rifle currently and ask him about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2566" LastActivityDate="2013-10-07T20:26:56.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4724" CreationDate="2013-10-08T15:49:53.670" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tahoe Rim Trail Online&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full Trail with Elevation (in feet) available online from&#xA;hikearizona.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qqLUw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full Trail&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=9231&amp;amp;P=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=9231&amp;amp;P=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2601" LastActivityDate="2013-10-08T15:49:53.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3806" CreationDate="2013-10-08T20:52:50.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TopOSM&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map features both &lt;strong&gt;contour lines&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;relief shading&lt;/strong&gt; derived from data sources such as the &lt;strong&gt;USGS National Elevation Dataset, MassGIS and SRTM&lt;/strong&gt;. Hydrographic features, such as lakes, rivers and wetlands, come from the &lt;strong&gt;USGS National Hydrographic Dataset and MassGIS&lt;/strong&gt;. Roads, place names and all other map features are from the OpenStreetMap project. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sQEDo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;TopOSM showing the hills east of Oakland and Berkeley, CA.&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Map: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/TopOSM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TopOSM showing the hills east of Oakland and Berkeley, Ca.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/TopOSM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TopOSM (Wiki)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source Code: &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/Ahlzen/TopOSM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ahlzen/TopOSM Maps&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;(You can make your own printable maps from this without copyright restrictions)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2601" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T12:17:20.560" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T12:17:20.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2013-10-09T12:08:25.630" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always have a pair of very light running shoes or sandals. Putting some waste bags on your boots can sometimes help, but they are easyly going apart. I consider to make kind of boots of strong plastic which I can put on my regular boots. Boots can go higher then knees. It'll be a kind of very light fishing boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2606" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T12:08:25.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4734" CreationDate="2013-10-09T13:02:46.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just saw it on the news that they were handing out $100 fines for walking the trials at Valley Forge National Park.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/10/07/runner-fined-100-at-valley-forge-amid-shutdown/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Runner Fined&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2607" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T13:02:46.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-10-09T16:58:00.723" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a huge problem with smelly climbing shoes when climbing in the gym or on long multi-pitch days. The single most effective thing I have come across is &lt;strong&gt;taking the shoes off between climbs/pitches&lt;/strong&gt;. This seems tedious at first, but once you make it part of your routine it's not that bad. There still is some smell, but the situation has drastically improved. Bring a second pair to reduce smell even further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T16:58:00.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4729" CreationDate="2013-10-09T17:39:47.957" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume that you are somewhere where the normal situation is that tap water is safe to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The order not to do so can result from&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;analyses (water samples) failing the microbiological or chemical testing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;breakdown/repair of a pipe, so that the water can get contaminated (the order for that is usually that you should leave the water running until the contamination is flushed out, and the water company will do some flushing also.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there is a known &lt;em&gt;reason&lt;/em&gt; for the order not to drink tap water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here (Germany) when the tap water is contaminated the news usually report the reason for not drinking tap water, i.e. they name the contaminant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the news do not tell that in your place, maybe you could phone the water company/city hall to find out what the reason is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, for chemical contamination &quot;boil water for xxx minutes&quot; usually woudn't help - they'd tell you to drink bottled water/water from the wagon they'll bring only. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most cases we have here are caused by bacteria (tested are &lt;em&gt;E. coli&lt;/em&gt;/coliform bacteria, Enterococci). The analyses AFAIK do not test for viruses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T17:39:47.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4715" CreationDate="2013-10-09T21:36:52.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just like to add a comment about your &quot;in the summer&quot; bullet point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I went to the southwest to hike in Utah canyon country. I had some smartwool socks. I wore a clean pair every day in the 100+ heat. They kept my feet nice and cool and dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One morning I wondered if they were really making a difference; so, I wore cotton socks and took a pair of the smartwool along. My feet quickly became sweaty in the relatively cool of the morning as I started the hike. I changed to my smartwool socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the smartwool socks are a lot more expensive than cotton socks. So, it is probably not practical to wear them every day. But, for long hikes in hot or cold weather, the smartwool performed wonderfully for me. And, I need to add that I didn't have the thin smartwool socks. I had the regular thick ones. I wear them at home for long hikes in the parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will also add that I wear cotton socks daily. They are relatively inexpensive. It is easy to have a spare pair around to change into if your feet get wet or sweaty during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2610" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T21:36:52.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2013-10-09T21:48:50.720" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you decide on something really bright, check out scuba diving lights. They are made extra tough, extra bright and are waterproof. And, you want to carry two: One bright one for searching and a smaller one for reading something, examining a person for injuries, etc. You also want the smaller one as a backup just in case something happens to the larger one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2610" LastActivityDate="2013-10-09T21:48:50.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4527" CreationDate="2013-10-09T21:53:51.103" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some OR small/low gaiters that I use with my low and high hiking boots to keep debris out. I have some Eastern Mountain Sports heavy/tall winter gaiters for use when the snow gets over a few inches.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been looking for an alternative for summer. There are a number of running shoe gaiters out there. Just search Amazon.com or another website. I was also considering trying to make some using some old cotton pant legs. The answer entered by user &quot;ppl&quot; here had some suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2610" LastEditorUserId="2610" LastEditDate="2013-10-10T17:55:58.303" LastActivityDate="2013-10-10T17:55:58.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4746" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4796" CreationDate="2013-10-10T18:01:28.593" Score="8" ViewCount="923" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be doing some backpacking in a desert environment state park. In the event that someone in my party is stung by a scorpion, what is the proper first aid?  Note that we may be in a remote location which means it may be several hours before we can get to a road, trailhead, or even to a location that has cell service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The park I'll be hiking in is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anza-Borrego Desert SP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; in California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2615" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2013-10-11T00:54:21.403" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T01:11:56.140" Title="What is the recommended wilderness first aid treatment for a scorpion sting?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4746" CreationDate="2013-10-10T19:57:10.593" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know what's recommended. I carry a Sawyer Extractor for snakebites. I've used it on a spider bite and various insect bites. It works by using a vacuum to extract the venom or whatever has entered the puncture. If I got stung by anything, including a scorpion, it's what I'd start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2013-10-10T19:57:10.593" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2013-10-11T01:28:37.237" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They key to all smelly shoes is bacteria. From a prevention perspective, I always wash my feet before they spend a prolonged or arduous of time in shoes or boots. A good spray with an anti-bacteria can do the trick. I've also heard good thing about dusting them with bicarb and then vacuuming it out some time later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastEditorUserId="2611" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T11:13:47.450" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T11:13:47.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4729" CreationDate="2013-10-11T01:33:12.847" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are being asked to boil water it has a biological contamination. Boiling would have no beneficial effect on chemically contaminated water. With this in mind, any chemical treatment would be sufficient as would a specific dilution of household bleach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T01:33:12.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4750" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4755" CreationDate="2013-10-11T17:13:52.667" Score="11" ViewCount="13347" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gone camping for quite a bit, but when it comes to choosing between water resistant and waterproof gear, I always take the latter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm actually curious if there's a difference between these two terms.  For me, water-resistant always sounded like some cheap marketing gimmick to make the product seem waterproof.  Is there any actual &quot;real&quot; difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2285" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T09:06:31.067" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T22:21:34.693" Title="What's the difference between water-resistant and waterproof?" Tags="&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4750" CreationDate="2013-10-11T19:39:21.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a native speaker, but being waterproof suggests more endurance to water than being only water-resistance. But linguistic nuances doesn't make law. More important is, what are the norms and regulations about using such definitions, in the country where that equipment is produced or sold. If there are such regulations, false promises may make manufacturer liable, if there are no regulation, anyone can sell anything under any name, and all such names are meaningless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to norms, there are the ISO norms that define &lt;strong&gt;water resistance&lt;/strong&gt; - see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resistant_mark&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;. The article mentions, that the term &lt;strong&gt;waterproof&lt;/strong&gt; is not defined in the ISO norms, and therefore it should not be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So buying water resistant gear you should check 2 things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is there a &lt;strong&gt;water resistance rating&lt;/strong&gt; compliant with ISO norms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is the producer and manufacturer a stable corporation registered in country, which protects customers from companies giving false information in product description &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T19:39:21.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4750" CreationDate="2013-10-11T19:51:53.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Waterproof&quot; means that no water will penetrate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Water resistant&quot; means that there exists a limit of exposure at which water will penetrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watches are normally water resistant to a particular depth below which the water pressure is too high and the seals are breached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breathable clothing quite of often states some comparable metric indicating, for instance, the weight of water which would be required for water to penetrate the fibres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with the terms is that there is no regulation and so we might buy a rain jacket and call it &quot;a waterproof&quot; even though it is not. Some manufacturers will also state that an item is waterproof to some limit, which is confusing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you need to look for a test that has been performed or something stating limits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-11T19:51:53.487" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4753" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-11T21:43:00.940" Score="3" ViewCount="646" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have trekking poles that I need to store in my back pack for air travel. However, the manual says for long term storage -- in my case, possibly days to a few weeks before I need to use them -- the locking mechanism should be opened/unlocked. But if I do this and put it in my bag, I'm afraid that the lock will catch something in side my bag or get damaged as it's going through the infinite maze of airport baggage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also not quite sure how to prevent the tips from damaging anything else. For now, I've just duct taped them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do I store them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2454" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T22:09:39.700" Title="How to put trekking poles in back pack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2013-10-12T03:01:05.623" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your ice will keep longer if you drain the water.  If you want to prove it to yourself, get 2 cups. Fill one with cold fridge water and leave the other empty. Put an ice cube in each and see which one is melted first. Even with the ice cube in the water being surrounded by cold water it still melts much quicker than the other ice cube being surrounded by the hot ambient air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2618" LastActivityDate="2013-10-12T03:01:05.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4750" CreationDate="2013-10-12T04:57:52.343" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, &lt;strong&gt;water resistant&lt;/strong&gt; means that &lt;strong&gt;the item will survive a splash of water&lt;/strong&gt; but not any form of prolonged exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water proof&lt;/strong&gt; suggest that it is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Impervious to or unaffected by water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For &lt;em&gt;waterproof&lt;/em&gt; items, there is often an IP number provided which helps you understand the level of waterproofness the item offers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code&quot;&gt;IP codes&lt;/a&gt; are widely used in the industry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/us/pro/headlamps/ultra-compact/elite&quot;&gt;E+LITE&lt;/a&gt; from Petzl is rated as IP67 per the manufacturer. IP67 means you can expect the light to work if it is submerged in water less than a meter for no more than 30 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For outwear such as jackets, the bigger issue is that if your jacket is fully waterproof, you will end up wet from your own sweat. The balance between breathability, waterproofness and longevity of the material are all equally important factors in this case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-10-12T04:57:52.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2013-10-12T05:26:31.050" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's really simple. The universe wants everything to be the same temperature so if we left the cooler in a sufficiently large, constant temperature environment, the cooler and all its contents would eventually end up at the same temperature, that being the ambient temperature of the environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's first begin by noting that we want to keep something cool rather than make it cooler. In that case, we want to stop it gaining heat energy. The heat energy is coming from the walls of the cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If our food is packed in the cooler such that the ice touches the walls, then the ice is going to be subject to warming before the food. The ice touching the food will not impart any heat energy because it's the same temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, add some water to the system and there is path of conduction from the wall to the food since the water is at higher temperature than the food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air has 1000 times less heat capacity than water, so it's not actually that interesting to take into account replacement of cold air with ambient temperature air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-12T05:26:31.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4710" CreationDate="2013-10-12T06:42:23.420" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As of today, several states have committed funding to open federal lands (mostly national parks) temporarily in their states.  Utah has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/us/utah-parks-reopen/&quot;&gt;opened&lt;/a&gt; all of its national parks and some monuments operated by the NPS.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/politics/shutdown-statue-of-liberty/&quot;&gt;Also&lt;/a&gt;, New York has paid to operate the Statue of Liberty park, Arizona has funded Grand Canyon National Park, and South Dakota is opening Mt. Rushmore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2615" LastActivityDate="2013-10-12T06:42:23.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1456" CreationDate="2013-10-13T00:47:28.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is implicitly more dangerous about camping on your own. That is to say that the &lt;strong&gt;probability&lt;/strong&gt; of something going wrong is no worse than with more than one person, in fact one person is less likely to encounter a problem than two from a pure probability theory perspective. The exception is a collaborative exercise like a river crossing, but that's another matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing we have to consider when we're on our own is the &lt;strong&gt;impact&lt;/strong&gt; of something going wrong. That is to say how bad it is. When something does go wrong on your own, there is nobody to help you lower the impact of a problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a risk management perspective we would therefore want to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reduce probability of incident&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reduce impact of incident&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The incidents that are more likely to occur when camping are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;getting lost&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;injury &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To reduce the probability of getting lost, ensure that you have a good plan, map, compass and keep a constant log of where you are and where you're heading. If you can plan to reduce the likelihood of getting lost by choosing routes with more well defined paths or more obvious landscape features (mountains and water normally), then all the better. This strategy is based around you reducing your &lt;strong&gt;exposure&lt;/strong&gt; to the chances of getting lost. Clearly the purest strategy is to camp next to roads, but that's pretty boring. However, camping on a route which is perpendicular to (say South of) a straight (East/West) road will give you the opportunity to head in one direction (North) and return to that road no matter how East/West you are of your intended course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To reduce the probability of injury, good quality equipment appropriate for the terrain will be ideal. Clearly, reducing exposure to high risk features such and fast flowing water and steep, loose rock faces will reduce the chances of injury. Strategies such as grass disturbance mentioned by another poster will also help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To reduce the impact of injury a good first aid kit is essential. As a small cut (low impact generally) can soon become infected (high impact) if not treated. More immediately life threatening injuries can sometimes be managed personally, but loss of mobility and consciousness will often be what prevents you from self help in these situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to have an idea how &quot;far from help&quot; you are. This is more of a time than distance issue. Time can increase the impact of injury and injury can increase the time it takes to help yourself, specifically in terms of self extraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, help can only come if they know you need it and they will also need to know where your position. If you cannot readily communicate and you do not have a good idea of your position if you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; communicate, then you will increase the time it takes to find you and thus increase the impact of the original incident. You should have a good idea about the mechanisms of communication available in your area and the available SAR services. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know your communication is patchy, they you can employ a &quot;lack of communication is a problem&quot; strategy having known check in points to a third party who knows your plan and who will communicate with rescue services on your behalf if you do not check in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this in mind, it's worth noting that if you have made a plan, you should stick to it. If you want to change your plan, you should let someone know. That way when the threshold of lack of communication happens and SAR gets involved, they will have the best idea where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be that you are in a region where other people are about which you could signal to. In this case, a whistle (on your person) is a great tool as it requires little effort to blow and get at least some distance, which is nice if you've cracked your ribs for instance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Time compounds the impact of getting lost where lack of water and food can become an issue. In these cases, you must plan for the worst. Even a one day hike can become a night camp if you get lost, so don't forget that torch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, reduce the probability of incident by reducing exposure through planning and by using good quality equipment, a plan and a log. Reduce the impact of incident by keeping essential equipment on your person and having enough equipment for survival based on how far from help you are. Have a communication strategy and stick to the plan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T00:47:28.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4708" CreationDate="2013-10-13T01:17:15.837" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would not advise putting wet socks anywhere near anything that's preventing you from getting cold if it would generate a risk of hypothermia through decreased insulation or increased heat conductivity. Using your body heat to dry socks is dangerous in cold conditions as you're taking heat from yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this in mind, you should use an external heat source to dry your socks. This could be a fire or as you mentioned, hand warmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Socks can also dry in the wind, so if you can arrange for them to be exposed to wind whilst being protected from rain then that will also work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mentioned, water can also be extracted using an absorbent material, such as a towel. You would have to decide which is more important to be dry at the time. Greater efficiency can be gained by an arrangement where water has a good route for escape and does not pool. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:17:15.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3620" CreationDate="2013-10-13T01:34:12.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The foam inside the mat prevents heat loss through convection which would be the case with the air if there was nothing to prevent it moving. This forms part of the open cell vs closed cell argument for sleeping mats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:34:12.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4438" CreationDate="2013-10-13T01:51:30.517" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we get cold vasoconstriction occurs. This prevents the blood at the extremities being subject to heat conduction away from the body. This is not an adaption, this is a reaction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The body emits heat all the time because the body working and but wants to remain at constant temperature. If the ambient temperature is such that we can lose this heat, we won't get hotter. If it's such that we lose more because it's cold, we will get colder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags keep us warm by insulating us from the outside world. We would not want to be totally insulated or we'd just get hotter and hotter. Rather, we need the level of insulation to be such that the rate at which we are losing heat is the same as the rate at which it is being conducted and convected away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why we have higher insulation in the winter where rate of heat loss to the environment is higher. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:51:30.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4167" CreationDate="2013-10-13T01:53:30.963" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are sweating in your sleeping bag all night then the insulation level is too high. Try wearing less or no clothing as well as your ventilation solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2013-10-13T01:53:30.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4763" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4819" CreationDate="2013-10-14T10:37:41.223" Score="6" ViewCount="1459" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear US 14 / Euro 48 size shoes, and Alpine Touring / Randonee boots don't appear to be available at online retailers (e.g. REI and Backcountry.com) despite some manufacturers making them in this size. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where can I buy Alpine Touring / Randonee boots in these sizes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2424" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T19:24:37.587" LastActivityDate="2018-06-13T14:02:20.320" Title="Getting Alpine Touring (a.k.a Randonee) boots for big feet" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4764" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4771" CreationDate="2013-10-14T17:03:05.553" Score="17" ViewCount="3475" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What gear did John Muir actually take on long trips?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in California these days, and around here we revere &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir&quot;&gt;John Muir&lt;/a&gt; as a legend of the outdoors. But the legend seems larger than is possible. John Muir is said to have traveled for weeks in the back country, but he never took any food with him, and he never hunted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What did he eat? What gear did he actually take with him?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be really interested to see what a serious backpacking gear list was like before the days of nylon tents, space-age rubber approach boots, and carbon fiber hiking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:55:30.363" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:55:30.363" Title="John Muir's Gear List" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4766" CreationDate="2013-10-15T04:58:50.863" Score="7" ViewCount="1176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am preparing for an expedition which is going to be in Mid-July next year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am quite aware about the level of physical fitness that we require for such a trek, and I am preparing for it as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that strikes my mind the most is regarding food/diet that I should follow during the expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am purely a veg guy. I do not eat Eggs as well. For that matter, few people have advised my to consume chocolates and Apples during the expedition. I am not exactly aware about the diet that I should follow. Can someone share if they have planned for similar kind of a thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T21:29:18.857" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T21:29:18.857" Title="Suitable Food for moderate to High altitude trekking" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4765" CreationDate="2013-10-15T09:26:25.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, as a thumb rule, when on high altitude treks, I do not go for any food which is digestion intensive. i.e, any food which required a lot of oxygen to get digested is not favorable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can always have chocolate bars/energy bars at higher altitudes. Herbal tea is something that keeps you hydrated and gives you decent amount of caffeine at the same time. The locals/sherpas would probably recommend garlic soups as well. I'm not entirely sure of the scientific significance of the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are a pure vegetarian, and since you need good amount of carbs and proteins, the following should give you the required nutrition:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Local made bread.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheese.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fresh fruits(availability is highly improbable).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dried fruits/nuts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-10-15T09:26:25.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4767" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4768" CreationDate="2013-10-16T02:08:44.503" Score="4" ViewCount="1186" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hello, I am looking for a device to be in communications with another person while skiing without having to push a button. Exactly like a cell phone, but since phones don't work up where we ski looking for something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2626" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:21:59.323" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:21:59.323" Title="I am looking for a two way radio/device with constant contact" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4767" CreationDate="2013-10-16T09:59:33.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are looking for is a walkie-talkie / two-way radio / private mobile radio with voice control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally, to communicate with a walkie-talkie, you need to press a transmit button.  Some models, however, have voice-control: they will automatically start transmitting based on voice input.  My friend and I used the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.midlandradio.eu/midland_g7_xtr/product_en_216250.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Midland G7 XTR&lt;/a&gt;, that includes this feature.  We did not use the voice control, so I don't know how well it works.  We were quite worried about battery lifetimes, and wanted to prevent our walkie-talkies from transmitting without need (there are other sounds in nature besides our voice).  In principle, though, walkie-talkie with voice control should be exactly what you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2013-10-16T10:08:03.360" LastActivityDate="2013-10-16T10:08:03.360" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4769" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4770" CreationDate="2013-10-16T15:14:48.920" Score="9" ViewCount="18862" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always footprinted outside of my tent but found water inside my tent after really heavy rainfall.  This has led me to wonder whether an additional liner inside of the tent would serve useful as a second footprint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you done this?  What are your thoughts on this double footprint approach (if pack space and additional weight aren't a concern)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2585" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T07:31:43.453" Title="Do you footprint the inside of your tent, outside, or both?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2013-10-16T15:37:06.257" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used a double liner (one inside the tent, one outside) before, and it was very effective.  When I was in high school, I went on a multi-day backpacking trip where it rained every day.  This was in the forecast, and bringing the double liner was the only thing that kept the water out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also double check that you're setting up your tent in a site that will be less likely to have water running along the ground in a heavy rainstorm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only have one liner, I'd recommend you put it outside then tent, because that will help protect the tent floor from wearing out when it grinds against the ground as you lie inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T19:22:10.117" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T19:22:10.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4764" CreationDate="2013-10-17T01:23:02.100" Score="14" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;John Muir is said to have traveled for weeks in the back country, but he never took any food with him, [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not true. There is a nice article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/john_muir_menu_j_parker_huber.aspx&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; by John Huber about what Muir ate while on trips. Mainly bread. He dried it so that it wouldn't get moldy. He also often brought tea and sugar with him. It's true that he never brought a gun and didn't hunt. It sounds like he was often in calorie debt while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the old timers in the Sierra usually slept on beds of pine boughs and kept camp fires roaring all night long. Today, that would be considered an ecological crime -- if every backpacker in the Sierra did that, the mountains would be denuded of trees. But in those days it was a method of sleeping comfortably without having to carry heavy bedding. There is a story about Muir getting stuck on top of Mt. Shasta and nearly dying of cold. He saved himself by lying down next to the sulfur vents near the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-10-17T01:23:02.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2013-10-17T13:12:02.850" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you put down a ground tarp that is significantly larger than the tent (and by significant I mean more than an inch or so), tuck any extra under the tent, otherwise rain will hit the tarp and then go straight to the tent-floor, opening the door for tent-floods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never put a tarp inside a tent, but I have also never had an issue with tent-flooding once I learned to tarp outside and tuck under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9" LastActivityDate="2013-10-17T13:12:02.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4382" CreationDate="2013-10-17T14:00:00.897" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, having done both I can safely say that the haute route was harder for me. I've finished the Annapurna in a relatively good condition last year, and finished the haute route with 2 kneepads, a sore ankle and had to buy better trekking poles thru-out the trek (haven't used a trekking pole at all last year). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my friend Ophir who has done both treks with me had the exact opposite experience! He had a hard time breathing in the Annapurna heights, while this trek was a breeze for him and at one point he even started running downhill!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess it all depends on how well do you manage downhill trekking, as in the haute route you'll have to tackle 1.5 km and 1.6 km height loss at certain days, which is very rough for some people (me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tip: carry only what you need! I was packing about 14kg, which turned out unnecessary. You can certainly go as low as 9kg without compromising a lot on your personal hygiene :)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2426" LastActivityDate="2013-10-17T14:00:00.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4775" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4790" CreationDate="2013-10-19T17:20:01.880" Score="5" ViewCount="127" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grizzly_bear&amp;amp;oldid=574925948#Conflicts_with_humans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page on Grizzly Bears&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mothers defending their cubs are the most prone to attacking, being responsible for 70% of fatal injuries to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any seasonal dependence on this?  For example, are mothers more defensive during early summer than during late summer and autumn, when the cubs are a bit older, or is there no significant difference?  Does it depend on the kind of bear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3187/566&quot;&gt;Do bear-safe rules still apply in the winter?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:41:58.313" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:41:58.313" Title="Is a mother bear more defensive during early summer compared to late summer and autumn?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4776" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-20T05:02:48.633" Score="7" ViewCount="16497" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a cap over the back of my truck and spend many nights a year camping and sleeping in the back rather than setting up a tent.  I really like sleeping in it, saves the tent setup effort and gives my truck an aspect of multi-purposeness and self-sufficiency.  The cap is fiberglass and the bed has a plastic liner over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only problem is that it's not at all thermally insulated (save the sleeping bag you're in) and my favorite camping is in the mid Appalachian mountain area where the temps at night go freezing as early as now and often get down even much lower.  I have spent a night in around-zero weather (30ish give or take) in my 15 deg bag and a fleece union suit and I didn't enjoy it too much and I'm not even that cold sensitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'd like to go and camp a few more times this year until maybe early December. Is there a portable (so it's not permanent) solution to add some thermal insulation to the inside walls of my truck cap to make it sustain down to about 20 deg outside weather while keeping it around 40 inside.  Since the space is not all that large (6' bed on a Tacoma) and the roof of the cap is regular, I imagine my body could warm up the area as long as this prospective insulating solution was in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T14:40:43.420" LastActivityDate="2021-01-23T14:18:47.993" Title="Thermal insulation of truck cap" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1780" CreationDate="2013-10-20T20:50:37.090" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Khibin mountains and the neighboring area are very popular places to visit in Russia, especially for hiking. There is one relatively big town there - Kirovsk, and you can start your trip from there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has some industry, but I haven't heard of it having any bad influence on the ecology. I have drunk water from Umbozero lake and Umba river and I'm still alive :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can go around and camp there with no restrictions, but I would not recommend camping near any settlement in Russia. If you still want to camp anywhere near a settlement, I recommend that you keep someone from your team watching the camp while others sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the main risk there as in many places in Russia is the absence of good infrastructure for any self-traveler. Especially a foreigner.&#xA;I repeat - this region is very popular for hiking in Russia, but I don't think there is a lot of information available in English about these places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2534" LastEditorUserId="2534" LastEditDate="2013-10-22T07:59:09.187" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T07:59:09.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4778" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4779" CreationDate="2013-10-21T12:57:55.960" Score="21" ViewCount="23662" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one of the trail journals I read, the author mentions packing her boots with newspaper to dry them out.  On the one hand I can see perhaps some wicking action, but this would greatly reduce airflow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will this actually help dry shoes out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-12-13T04:48:18.757" Title="Does packing boots with newspaper make them dry faster?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2013-10-21T16:59:21.973" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it does dry shoes much faster. When long distance hiking it is definitely a nice thing to be able to stop in town and dry your shoes overnight using newspapers. It will draw a lot of the dampness right out of your footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a known trick and &lt;a href=&quot;http://macgyverisms.wonderhowto.com/how-to/dry-your-soaking-wet-shoes-faster-without-shrinking-them-dryer-0146406/&quot;&gt;many&lt;/a&gt; people will &lt;a href=&quot;http://experimentalrunning.blogspot.com/2010/03/old-balled-up-newspaper-trick.html&quot;&gt;attest to its magic&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First ball up some newspaper. I usually use &lt;strong&gt;two large sheets per shoe&lt;/strong&gt;, but I'm sure more motivated people could squish in more. Once you have a ball of newspaper shove it into that nasty wet sneaker, and &lt;strong&gt;keep shoving in balls of newspaper until the shoe is full&lt;/strong&gt; of newspaper. &lt;strong&gt;Leave it overnight&lt;/strong&gt;, and the next day your shoes will be dry! &lt;strong&gt;If they're really wet, you may want to replace the newspaper after a few hours&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people will also wrap the outside of the the shoe with newspaper and elastic bands. I've personally never used this before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before using the newspaper, I usually take a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/towel.shtml&quot;&gt;lightload towel&lt;/a&gt; and place it inside my shoe. I will than press on it using my foot and extract as much water as possible from the sole. I repeat the process until no more water is drawn and then use the newspaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also use the towel trick on the trail after heavy rainfall except without the newspaper. This helps not having to walk with two small aquariums attached to my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-10-28T13:25:06.410" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T13:25:06.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2013-10-21T21:04:32.270" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they dry faster.  Newspaper ink got messy for me so instead I've used packing paper (the stuff that they wrap shoes with in the shoebox) for similar, yet cleaner, results.  I've reused it many times, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2585" LastActivityDate="2013-10-21T21:04:32.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2013-10-21T21:15:32.867" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;While airflow does dry shoes, it is much less effective than physically wicking moisture away using towel, some or paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Capillary action is very effective at removing water from anything, and wide fibre or coarse paper, such as newspaper, or better still, tissue or kitchen towel or swimmers' chamois are your best bet on the trail or after a wet hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-10-21T21:15:32.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4776" CreationDate="2013-10-21T21:19:03.493" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd probably go with a foam roll mat under you, as your biggest heat loss well be conduction through the metal bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the space isn't that great, the cap shouldn't need insulation, but this will depend on your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-10-21T21:19:03.493" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4776" CreationDate="2013-10-21T22:18:56.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might want to look at Reflectix, an thin, well-insulating material used for car windshield shades, among other things.  You can get it at any hardware store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only concern would be that it's not breathable, but I suppose neither is your cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the floor, conventional camping sleeping pads are probably the best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="438" LastActivityDate="2013-10-21T22:18:56.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3647" CreationDate="2013-10-21T23:17:41.993" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience comes mostly from backpacking in remote areas without already made tent sites. I have found that a hammock is better for me and my style of camping.  If you are mostly a car-camper and are used to pulling your SUV up to a pad site, YMMV.  Following are the reasons I believe a Hammock is better than a Tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - In all but the coldest seasons a hammock system will be lighter than a tent system for sleeping. (In colder weather an under-quilt is required to insulate you in a hammock. This makes the weight savings only slightly less than a tent. But an insulated hammock is still much lighter than a 4-season tent.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proposed Hammock System:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Grand Trunk Ultralight Hammock - 12 oz. (340 gram)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Grand Trunk Funky Forest Tarp - 20 oz. (570 gram)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Hammock and Tarp Hanging Gear - 8 oz. (230 gram; rope, cord and 6 aluminium tent pegs)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Total Approx. 40 oz. (1100 gram)&lt;/strong&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proposed Tent System:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  TNF Mica FL 1 - 44 oz. (1200 gram)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Footprint TNF FP Mica FL 1 - 4 oz. (110 gram)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Tent Pegs and Guy Lines - 8 oz. (230 gram; you will likely need more pegs than I am allowing here)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Total Approx. 56 oz. (1600 gram)&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;That is a whole Pound (ca ½ kg) of weight savings.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I purposefully used one of the lightest tents I could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comfort&lt;/strong&gt; - This is somewhat subjective, but I have found that a hammock is more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. I am side-sleeper and with the correct amount of swag a tent is comfortable in this position as well. &lt;a href=&quot;https://theultimatehang.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/04/web-how-to-sleep.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Remember that hammocks are designed to be laid in at an angle&lt;/a&gt;.  Also, a tent usually requires a sleeping pad for comfort which will add another 10 to 14 oz (280 – 400 gram) to the above Proposed Tent System weight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost&lt;/strong&gt; - A Hammock system is almost always cheaper than a tent. Hammocks are simpler to produce and require less engineering to develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using the same items as above.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Hammock and Tarp Price: 19.99 + 79.99 = &lt;em&gt;$99.98&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (This is a very expensive Tarp)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Tent and Footprint Price: 319 + 50 = &lt;em&gt;$369&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (The trade-off for such a light tent is that it will be very expensive)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  You can buy a lot of gear with the $250+ you will save...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flexibility&lt;/strong&gt; - A Hammock provides greater flexibility on location of placement.  Some would argue the opposite, but in an area that has some trees I have never had an issue &quot;finding the exact right trees&quot;. Seeing a good spot and setting a good hang for a hammock comes with experience. Other benefits include that the ground doesn't have to be flat or smooth; you can even set up over water or snow. You don't actually even need trees: you can set up on the ground in an A-frame or Lean-To configuration.  I have set up between the roll cages of two Jeeps.  There are lots of possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/strong&gt; - With the proper straps instead of ropes a hammock will make less of an environmental impact.  The problem with a tent is the preparation required before setting it up; usually this includes removing all debris and rocks from a site or at least flattening of leaf litter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Packability&lt;/strong&gt; - A Hammock is easier to pack than a tent.  Due to their non-rigid shape, they can be stuffed into any shape.  You can fit them into any available space in your pack. This usually leads to being able to carry a smaller pack for the same length trip, which leads to more weight savings and greater comfort while hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2639" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T09:26:43.017" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T09:26:43.017" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3806" CreationDate="2013-10-22T00:40:59.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two kinds of USGS maps.  Two articles on directionsmap.com explain the situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/us-topo-a-new-national-map-series/178707&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Topo – A New National Map Series&lt;/a&gt;.  Larry Moore, May 2011.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/us-topoa-new-national-map-series-2012-update/300690&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Topo - A New National Map Series, 2012 Update&lt;/a&gt;.  Larry Moore, January 2013.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a nutshell, the old-style maps prior to 1992 are normal topographic maps, hand-drawn and manually explored.  The new style &lt;em&gt;US topo&lt;/em&gt; are fully automated, two orders of magnitude cheaper to produce, and lack most information expected on a topographic map: fences, parks, recreational trails, railroads, boundaries, pipelines, power transmission lines, buildings, names for most landmarks, and more.  The new style US topo, as it is now, is useless for outdoor recreation.  However, USGS are working to add more information to these maps, to improve visual presentation, and to offer paper maps.  Among other things, they are planning on adding recreational trails in national forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the aforementioned articles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Original Topographic Mapping Program&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the original 7.5-minute topographic mapping program (circa 1945 - 1992), the USGS contracted aerial photography and sent government employees to the field to survey the map area. Field crews established horizontal and vertical control, located and classified cultural features, located permanent survey markers, hiked wilderness trails, classified natural features such as streams and swamps, collected boundary information from state and local governments, and investigated geographic names by interviewing local residents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The US Topo Program&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;US Topo quadrangle maps are mass-produced using automated and semiautomated processes. The cartographic content comes from national GIS databases.&#xA;(...)&#xA;Many features traditionally captured by direct field observation are not in any public domain national database. Examples include minor features such as windmills, water tanks, fence lines, local parks and recreational trails, but also more important features such as boundaries, pipelines, and power transmission lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, USGS are planning to add more information in the coming years:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second strategic goal of the program is continuous product improvement, which can be divided into two broad categories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional Data Content&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional content planned for 2013 includes a shaded relief layer, National Parks and other selected federal land boundaries, and recreational trails in National Forests.  In all cases, new content depends on receiving data from authoritative sources. For non-natural map features, the USGS no longer gathers data by direct field observation or from primary sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion: old-style USGS maps are reasonable but may be outdated.  New-style US topo maps are useless for outdoor recreation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T00:52:17.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4787" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4792" CreationDate="2013-10-22T06:09:36.680" Score="5" ViewCount="2024" Body="&lt;p&gt;Considering a scenario that one is hiking a lot in the indian sub-continent, what is better in order to mitigate the issues one may face due to bright sunny day?&#xA;A hat or a simple cap?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T10:34:56.193" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T10:34:56.193" Title="A Hat or a Cap?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4787" CreationDate="2013-10-22T06:46:21.460" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A hat. Or a cap with a sun shield.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It covers the back part of your neck and ears from harmful sun rays. Also, make sure that the cap is UV protective. A simple hat might not do the trick of blocking out the UV (It might protect you from direct sun though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One disadvantage of a hat is that it blocks your peripheral view (i.e if the hat droops on the sides). But for me, the advantage of protecting your neck and ears from severe sun burns outweighs the vision aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T06:46:21.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4673" CreationDate="2013-10-22T14:11:29.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In my experience, you need to calibrate each guidebook or website to your own experience.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a case study, I can speak from experience with two guidebooks describing hikes and treks in the same region:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789113024899/pa-fjalltur-abisko-kebnekaise/&quot;&gt;På Fjälltur: Abisko Kebnekaise&lt;/a&gt;, describes lots of trails in the area around Nikkaluokta and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Abisko&quot;&gt;Abisko&lt;/a&gt;.  They grade trails at a scale of 1–10.  I've found routes graded as &quot;7/10 difficult&quot; to be quite easy, routes graded as &quot;4/10 normal&quot; to be very easy, and no route is graded below 3/10.  Trails described as steep, I found no problem at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turinarvik.no/&quot;&gt;På tur i Narvik og omegn&lt;/a&gt;, parts I and II, describe many trails and hike in the area around &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Narvik&quot;&gt;Narvik&lt;/a&gt;, just across the Swedish-Norwegian border from Abisko.  Hikes are graded on a scale from 1 to 4.  I've seen hikes described as &quot;child-friendly&quot; that I considered quite scary myself, with lots of boulders, steep slopes where losing balance is fatal, and wild rivers.  I've made the mistake of trying a descent described as &quot;steep&quot;, it was the most vertiginous descent I've ever done and would not recommend it to anyone loving their life.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some experience with these two guidebooks, so I know what I can do.  There's no trail mentioned in the Swedish guidebook (På Fjälltur) that I would avoid on a backpacking trip, but for many of the trails from the Norwegian book, I would.  Subjectively, on a 1-to-1 mapping, I would map any trails from the Swedish book rated 1–7 to be rated 1 in the Norwegian book, Swedish trails 8–10 rated 2 or 3 in the Norwegian book, with the Swedish book not containing anything rated 4 in the Norwegian one.  Some routes are even described in both books.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just an example, but for me, it clearly illustrates that there is no universal set of guidelines.  It depends very much on the standard and who one keeps in mind.  It seems Norwegian kids are born on a a slope and they go mountain hiking in kindergarten on trails where 20-year old men from other countries would be scared.  A Dutch hiking book may consider a route &quot;difficult&quot; because it's 20 km (even if all is paved and of course flat).  So, no.  &lt;strong&gt;There is no official grading or agreed upon set of attributes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T14:11:29.823" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4775" CreationDate="2013-10-22T18:42:13.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The protectiveness of sow bears towards its cubs is generic across all the types of bears.&lt;/strong&gt; There might be a difference in the aggressiveness of a type of bear but this is purely based on how comfortable a bear is with a human and how threatened it feels. eg. a black bear has a smaller circle of fear and hence one can get closer to a black bear than a grizzly or an asiatic bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, bears attack on humans occurs due to multiple reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bear feels that the human is a threat to its cubs or itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bear is startled by a human.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An incentive - say food carried by humans (Most common when camping in bear area).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most of the times, sow bears try to avoid conflict as it can lead to its cubs being killed. Bears with cubs turn aggressive only when they feel that they cannot escape&lt;/strong&gt; (A person being too close or the bear being startled by an unsuspecting human). This behavior is not specific to types of bears or even seasons or age of the cubs. This continues to be the behavior till the cubs leave the mother (typically after around 2 years). Sometimes the search for food might cause a sow bear to wander near to the human settlements or an unsuspecting camper. Still, the rules of attack are mainly guided by whether it can escape with the cubs or it has to fight for the survival of the cubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always remember that winter seasons, though a time for hibernation, cannot guarantee a sow bear to be docile(In fact, bear hibernation is not a pure hibernation and is called as winter lethargy. And hence it can wake up much faster than true hibernators). It's always better to keep distance from a bear with cubs irrespective of season/age of the cubs/type of bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-10-22T18:49:07.040" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T18:49:07.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2013-10-22T20:39:41.840" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a dry airflow available (some huts have stands where heated air goes through the shoes), that is of course faster. However, just leaving your boots stand does not lead to much air flow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With (news)paper, you can easily take out the moisture and put in a new, dry paper. That is actually the key: If you just stuff your boots with paper and leave the moist paper inside the boots, it won't help that much. Of course you'll get some moisture out next morning with the wet paper, but if you replace the paper a few times over the evening (like @ppl does with the towel), you can get even soaked boots dry till morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T20:39:41.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4787" CreationDate="2013-10-22T21:43:01.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume by hat you mean mean a full-brim hat, while by cap you are referring to a baseball cap (brim in front only)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardeless, in all instances of hiking anywhere with intense sun, your best bet will be: &lt;strong&gt;a hat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wider the brim the better, to keep the sun off your neck, ears, nose and shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sunny, arid regions: consider a thin airy straw-type hat &lt;em&gt;that allows good circulation around your head&lt;/em&gt; while providing sun protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The straw will often hold water fairly well, and that along with a sweat band tied around it is great for &lt;em&gt;evaporative cooling:&lt;/em&gt; Soak and repeat for a personal air conditioner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tighter weave, treated, or gore-tex full brim hats are great for rainy regions, keeping the water out of your eyes and off your neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T21:43:01.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2013-10-22T21:56:01.520" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Footprints:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zero? Sure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One? Good.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two? Nice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Three? Great. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Four? Bomb-proof!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My point is this: if you have a waterproof floor on your tent, you don't need any footprint. The trouble is, you are subjecting your tent floor to the abuses of rocks, sticks, sea-shells, brambles, or whatnot - meaning it will quickly get micro-tears and perforations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enter the footprint: a cheaper, replaceable protector for your tent floor. Thus, you want to put it OUTSIDE to protect the floor of your tent, which is (or should be) waterproof already. The footprint itself is usually waterproof (and in fact. some tents can be set up with just to footprint and the rain-fly as an ultra-light body-less option.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if both your footprint AND your tent have lots of wear and holes, then neither will help much (even together) in a deluge. Sure, ANOTHER footprint inside would help (assuming it is structurally sound) but if you need it, you might re-consider how your floor got to this state of disrepair in the first place, and re-adjust accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T21:56:01.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4753" CreationDate="2013-10-22T22:09:39.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can fully collapse the poles inside your bag and lock them with no problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are dozens of different locking mechanisms, but most operate the principle of friction*: either twisting an internal screw forces wedges apart, or flicking shut an external lever squeezes the outside tube down on the inside one. The manufacturer is worried that using this friction unecessarily will cause it to wear out sooner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you have flick-lock poles (that compress the outside&#xA;tube). Most of those you can tighten or loosen the flick lock by&#xA;twisting it. This allows you to keep adding more pressure as the&#xA;metal fatigues when the poles age. If you can, try loosening that&#xA;micro-adjust before locking everything down for travel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regardless, leaving them locked for a few days while traveling won't&#xA;hurt them. If it does, then you should probably invest in&#xA;higher-quality poles. (Remember, these should last for many months&#xA;and thousands of miles of hiking... a few days of storage won't hurt&#xA;them).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;ProTip:&lt;/em&gt; place the poles as close to the rigid back-stays on the inside of your pack as you can -- this will help protect them from being bent or crushed during baggage handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*&lt;em&gt;Sidebar&lt;/em&gt;: If you can find a pair of the button-hole locks that don't rely on friction, get them! They will never fail unexpectedly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T22:09:39.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4626" CreationDate="2013-10-22T22:23:28.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two options are available to you depending on what style rifle, scope, and rings you are using:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loosen the scope rings and slide the scope along the scope tube rearward (towards the stock)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move the entire scope and mounting rings rearward.  This would be the preferable option if your rifle has a picatinny style mounting rail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other items to remember:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eye relief should be set close to its forward limit (so all the way&#xA;back is not best, do a google images search for &quot;scope bite&quot; if you&#xA;would like a graphic illustration as to why)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;heavy clothing over your shoulder can effect the length of pull of&#xA;the rifle by moving the scope forward (account for this by wearing&#xA;the heaviest clothing you are likely to use)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the scope is of variable power set it to the maximum magnification (the highest power setting will give the shortest eye relief)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2639" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T22:23:28.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4746" CreationDate="2013-10-22T22:29:38.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing for a scorpion sting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wash the area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;apply an ice-pack or cold compress&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;consider aspirin or ibuprofen for pain and swelling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wait it out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is nothing else you can do. They can hurt. A lot. But generally aren't an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The exception to this rule, is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_bark_scorpion&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arizona bark scorpion&lt;/a&gt; which is found in the Sonoran desert through AZ and southern CA (the area you are headed to). These diminutive critters pack a powerful punch, and can lead to partial paralysis, seizures, and respiratory distress or failure. These symptoms are more common in the elderly, small children, or those with compromised immune systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best treatment is prevention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wait till you are headed to bed to roll out your sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shake out clothes and boots before putting them on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never, never, NEVER hike at night with a black light. This won't put you in harm's way, but seeing how many are actually out there will &lt;em&gt;freak you out&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just for grins (this is NOT a bark scorpion):&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qQBlb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From lbell.org&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lbell.org/87/scorpius-maximus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://lbell.org/87/scorpius-maximus/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T22:29:38.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4715" CreationDate="2013-10-22T22:35:44.387" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a pair of cotton socks on every backpacking trip for one reason: &lt;em&gt;To sleep in.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a day on the trail, nothing like a dry pair of comfortable cotton socks to absorb all that foot moisture and leave your feet toasty dry by morning. Helps keep your feet happy and healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bonus ProTip:&lt;/em&gt; A cotton handkerchief wedged in other &quot;moist&quot; and chaffing areas can have similar drying and healing advantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-22T22:35:44.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4798" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4799" CreationDate="2013-10-23T05:15:44.437" Score="18" ViewCount="2978" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be trekking through a dense monsoon forest which has a sizable population of king cobras and vipers. I'll be at least 5 hours away by walk to the nearest human settlement and another 1-2 hours by vehicle to the nearest medical center. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In such a case, what are the first aid steps that I need to take in case I get bitten by a snake? I have heard about tying a rope tightly just above the bite to prevent the venom from spreading, although I don't know the complete validity of the same. Are there other things that can help me to arrest the fatal effects of the venom before I get some medical attention?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T10:58:43.770" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T10:58:43.770" Title="What are the first aid precautions to be taken in case of a snake bite?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4798" CreationDate="2013-10-23T09:31:58.750" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is hardly anything very effective &lt;em&gt;first aid&lt;/em&gt; as such, considering the fact that you are  5 hrs walk from any medical facility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I guess I can assume that you will be roaming in rain forests of Agumbe or anywhere in Southern Western Ghats since you referred to King Cobras.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If in India, you would definitely like to take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_(Indian_snakes)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Big Four&lt;/a&gt;. Considering the region where you refer, There are two types of venomous snakes you should know about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Neurotoxic: Indian Spectacled Cobra, King Cobra. (You won't find Monocled or Caspian Cobras in that region), Kraits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Haemotoxic : All Vipers. (Bamboo Pit Viper aka Green Pit Viper, Saw Scaled Viper, Malabar Pit Viper, Russell's Viper). Malabar Pit Vipers are very rare in Indian Subcontinent, so it is unlikely that you will come across one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt if there are any Chemotoxic snakes in india. There can't be because I have enlisted every possible Fatally Venomous snake in India that I know about.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly: Usually venomous snakes tend to preserve their venom (except for Juveniles). So, once it bites, it retreats. But still try and ensure that the snake is at a safer distance and get away from it in order to avoid another bite.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, To make the anti-venom work efficiently on you, you should try and gather some visual information about the snake that bit you.&#xA;Don't try to capture the snake or kill it and bring it with you, but try to capture a picture of the snake from your cellphone/camera (if available), or somehow try and remember it's color and shape so that it can be described, which will help in choosing the right anti-venom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Specific to India)&lt;/em&gt; - The big 4 in India are Cobras, Saw-scaled Vipers, Russell's Vipers, Kraits. They don't really give you much time to get to the hospital. But this doesn't mean that one should hurry. Keep calm, panic will make the adrenaline come in picture and the blood circulation will increase, only resulting in causing the venom to spread much quicker. If you are going to be carried (on a stretcher), then lie flat, avoiding the movements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Allow the bitten part of the body to be lower than the Heart level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not let anyone try to suck the venom out of the bite site. (I have heard cases of such a horrid thing done, and the one who sucked also got to be treated as the venom in victim's blood entered the sucker's blood through minute injuries in his gum/teeth).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap a large constricting band between the bite site and the Heart, so that the blood mixed with venom reaching to heart is controlled. &lt;strong&gt;Wrap is snugly, Do not wrap it very tight&lt;/strong&gt; or else the venom will damage the entire limb. Usually in such a case, the limb has to be amputated. No one would want to loose the limb if the snake has not injected the amount of venom enough to be fatal. (Have ever heard of a Dry-Bite?? Vipers do that often!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Specific to Neurotoxic snakes)&lt;/em&gt; - If it is a cobra or a king cobra, try and be awake and communicate with the people who are carrying you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try not to make cuts around bite site as it swells. It will swell, no matter what.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not apply any kind of disinfectant or tourniquet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remove any rings or tightly constricting items because the affected area will swell.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do NOT take anything by mouth such as caffeine or alcohol or any painkillers at all. As different wiki's say, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Caffeine is a central nervous system and metabolic stimulant. Stimulants may produce a variety of different kinds of effects by enhancing the activity of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Since Caffeine is a Bronchodilator, which is a substance that dilates the bronchi and bronchioles, decreasing resistance in the respiratory airway and increasing airflow to the lungs.&lt;/em&gt;    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we can relate elevated heart rate due to panicked state of mind and/or adrenaline, and the consequent elevated respiration rate, we should prefer to avoid consuming caffeine which is a Bronchodilator and a Stimulant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;10&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Specific to India)&lt;/em&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungarus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kraits&lt;/a&gt; are nocturnal species. Usually these are spotted during late hours of day and night. If you are asleep (as you normally will), it is hard to realize that you are bitten by a Krait since the bite feels like an ant or a mosquito bite and the actual bite is not significantly visible.&#xA;The symptoms of such a bite are: The facial muscles get tight in one to two hours, may be unable to talk or see due to it's Neurotoxic venom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caffeine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-15T18:40:56.303" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T18:40:56.303" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3647" CreationDate="2013-10-23T13:19:58.200" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a hammock camper (not a camper at all...) I can imagine another advantage that hasn't been named yet: As you are not on the ground you don't have to be afraid of water on the ground. So especially in rainy weather where the soil cannot handle all the water you have to take some measures to secure a tent against getting flooded or washed away. In a hammock you just don't have to care as long as you store your stuff away from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2013-10-23T13:19:58.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4803" CreationDate="2013-10-23T14:24:26.367" Score="21" ViewCount="928" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always been very careful while handling climbing gear. Last year while returning from an expedition, I met a group that was returning from a tough-looking climb. They were selling off a few of their gear, which were pretty new. Most of the them were carabiners. Out of curiosity I asked them the reason and they replied that those equipment had fallen off a considerable height. I examined them only to find out a few minor looking scratches. They were in good shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guy told me that they &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have sustained &lt;strong&gt;micro-fractures.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Has anyone ever come across such an issue? Is there a way to scan and determine if the equipment is considerably damaged?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-10-23T17:42:33.567" LastActivityDate="2020-01-23T05:46:33.597" Title="Micro-Fractures in Climbing Equipments" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4801" CreationDate="2013-10-23T22:02:07.473" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is sadly a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/ask/can-carabiners-really-get-micro-fractures-if-dropped-from-high-up-a-route/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;very&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geir.com/mythbuster.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;persistent&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.roadtoelcap.com/1/post/2013/07/the-5-biggest-safety-related-myths-in-rock-climbing.html#.UmhFyJQ0BdQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;myth&lt;/a&gt; that has been &lt;a href=&quot;http://onrope1.com/myth-busters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;around&lt;/a&gt; rock climbing for far too long. &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/faqs.html##CLIMB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond&lt;/a&gt; says that as long as the gate action is fine and there is no major structural damage, the gear is fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, the fact that this group decided their gear was unfit to climb on, yet felt okay selling it to someone else who would climb on it, would make me question their character (to put it lightly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2020-01-23T05:46:33.597" LastActivityDate="2020-01-23T05:46:33.597" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4801" CreationDate="2013-10-24T00:21:16.950" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I consider a couple of factors when it comes to dropped gear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some equipment is pretty easy to inspect. A carabiner has one moving part (the gate, possibly a second, if it's a locker). Nuts and hexes have no moving parts.&lt;br&gt;Cams on the other hand are not easily examined.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment like non-locking carabiners, nuts, hexes, cams are often redundant. If the carabiner I clipped to a nut fails, that point of protection fails, but hopefully I have something else that catches me before I sustain a ground fall or factor 2 fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belay devices, belay carabiners, the climbing rope, my harness and my cordelette are &lt;strong&gt;not redundant&lt;/strong&gt;. Most of these (except for the rope) are also pretty cheap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people are comfortable climbing with dropped gear, others are not. A climbing team is based on trust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did I see what happened to the gear on its way down? Was it a 2000 foot drop, or did it slide down a slab and come to rest on a ledge?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am no metallurgist and it is impossible to prove a negative (in this case the claim: &quot;dropped gear will not sustain micro fractures&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is how I make my decision whether or not to retire a dropped piece of equipment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can I easily inspect it, is it redundant, are the people I climb with OK with climbing on this piece of gear, am I familiar enough with the piece to know it is OK?&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I keep it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any other situation or if I have just the slightest doubt&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I retire it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I won't sell it to anybody else, in fact I destroy it to make sure no unsuspecting person inadvertently uses it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of final thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is important to come to terms with the idea that every time you go climbing, you might lose some gear, may it be through dropping or retreat. Talk to your partner about this possibility, and how you will divide the cost.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I don't buy gear from strangers who personally would not climb on the gear any more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="2175" LastEditDate="2014-02-27T23:09:29.653" LastActivityDate="2014-02-27T23:09:29.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4787" CreationDate="2013-10-24T01:04:08.270" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=76640&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cap/visor with a bandanna&lt;/a&gt;. I like doing this when I expect windy conditions. Wide brimmed hats (superior in most other circumstances) will have more wind resistance and can become quite the nuisance. When you can wear neither a hat nor a cap (because you are wearing a helmet, for example,) the bandanna alone is quite effective!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-10-24T01:04:08.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4805" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5073" CreationDate="2013-10-24T19:18:37.877" Score="6" ViewCount="1230" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm aware there is a huge generalization which will have a lot of exceptions both in species as in microclimates, I'm looking for a general answer, yet &lt;strong&gt;specific for the region and time of year.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm aware that there are many reptile species which inhabit the deserts in the south west of the United States (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico). During winter, do most of these reptiles go in some sort of hibernation, or can some/many still be found and seen during the day where there is some sun? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(any tips to find em/watch out for are also welcome. Not so much to avoid them, but to observe them)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:45:33.650" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:45:33.650" Title="Should I expect reptiles in Southwest USA deserts in winter?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4805" CreationDate="2013-10-25T08:27:17.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to what Don Branson said, Try not to dismantle or peep into a pile of stones, small cracks.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;With reference to :&quot;During winter, do most of these reptiles go in some sort of hibernation, or can some/many still be found and seen during the day where there is some sun?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I've observed is, It is most likely that you may come across a snake/serpent during the early hours of day. They do get out around their hibernation place for &lt;em&gt;Basking&lt;/em&gt;. And when irritated during Basking times in winters, they are slightly more aggressive than usual conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from this, during bright day light, they tend to stay out of trouble. So I believe you need to be more careful during the early hours of day i.e 2-5 hours after the sunrise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2013-10-25T08:27:17.017" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4807" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-25T08:51:24.897" Score="9" ViewCount="618" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on getting out to try some Pike fishing in Sweden this autumn. Never tried it before so I could do with a few basic pointers on equipment, suggestions for the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) Rod type, length, action, and power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) Bait/lure, hook size&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c) Reel type&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;d) Line type and strength&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e) Specialized equipment (I've seen some stuff about a metal leader) &amp;amp; rigging - A rigging diagram would be great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;f) Tips on techniques...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot to cover there, would appreciate any advice really including answers for small parts of the post!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2467" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:18:07.350" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T09:53:00.987" Title="Pike fishing equipment &amp; rigging" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4888" CreationDate="2013-10-26T02:48:21.880" Score="3" ViewCount="243" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to do some overnight solo camping in the mountains (400-1200m elevation range) in the next few weeks to escape Vancouver for a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My available layers I can bring are polypropylene thermal underwears, wool sweater, an ECWCS fleece jacket, goretex/PVC jacket some good socks and alike, and I've been able to sit around still overnight without miuch trouble in parks at home with food in my stomach and a bit of concentration (200m, ~4C at night here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I presume it is below freezing up at the 1km+ range, last October I remember a bit of snow around there, but mainly in the open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you think I can just get a bivvy with maybe a metalic inside, or a simple tunnel/tubular emergency tent, put a tarp over it and expect to survive a few nights in the colder mountains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other recommended minimal sleeping arrangements I can use for this kind of climate/weather? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2644" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T03:30:46.700" Title="Minimal northwest mountain camping with emerg. bivvy and tarp?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4646" CreationDate="2013-10-26T03:17:04.030" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I drink caffeine in mass quantities. It's hard to find me not drinking a coffee, Coke, or something similar, here in the regular world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when I'm out in the backcountry, I only rarely drink it. I find that I just don't really need or want it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I started my hike of the Appalachian Trail I brought a coffee press attachment for my Jetboil and coffee, milk and sugar. The whole nine yards. I even used it for a few days and enjoyed my morning coffee. But it was a lot of hassle, and I sent them home from Neels Gap, mainly to save weight. Though I didn't miss the hassle and I found that I really didn't miss the caffeine either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do still drink it when I'm in town or at a hostel or something, but I just don't bother taking it out into the backcountry anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2643" LastActivityDate="2013-10-26T03:17:04.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2013-10-26T08:22:43.893" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never tried this, but maybe it'll work...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that absorbs moisture is rice. Ever seen salt shakers in a restaurant that has bits of rice in it? That's to keep moisture from getting into the salt. You can stuff the rice into pantyhose or similar netted material and then put that into your boots overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I wouldn't recommend eating the rice after though)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2646" LastActivityDate="2013-10-26T08:22:43.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="815" CreationDate="2013-10-26T16:37:19.363" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a good attitude towards these tablets is &quot;emergency use&quot; (which is labeled on the side of the bottle, not visible in the Amazon image). No good backpacker doesn't have these, but I suggest a water pump as the planned primary method. Note: there are also iodine &quot;neutralizer&quot; tablets that are supposed to remove the bad taste (you drop them in after the 30 minutes is up and wait another 30 minutes). In my opinion they barely change the taste and are not worth it. Anyways, you can take a tour to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aguavert.com/waterpurificationsystem/overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;water purification large scale&lt;/a&gt;....&#xA;.............&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2647" LastActivityDate="2013-10-26T16:37:19.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2013-10-26T19:03:22.600" Score="-7" Body="&lt;p&gt;i have been approached in climbing gyms a few time with an employee asking me to set my atc device up on my belay loop when belaying. however i stand beside my knowledge of climbing 101, which is everything is set up on two contact points! i tie my rope in on two contact loops, never the belay loop. i set my daisy chain or pas22 on both contact points, never the belay loop. and a good mountaineer would be worried if i belayed him with my atc on the belay loop. gym instructors have been misguiding our youth on this. i understand the belay loop is strong but really it just holds the two contact loops together.never trust on contact point&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2649" LastActivityDate="2013-10-26T19:03:22.600" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4813" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-27T01:09:07.483" Score="23" ViewCount="46544" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following is a scene I have always been perplexed about. I’ve seen it many times. A mountain climber has no one above him as he descends and is trailing rope behind him that he is using to stabilize and protect him from an unplanned plunge and that rope is anchored to something well above. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does he retrieve that rope when he has descended the length of it, and wants to use it again to complete the remaining stages of his overall descent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2650" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-10-27T02:20:35.627" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T22:03:08.480" Title="How do climbers retrieve anchored rope?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1288" CreationDate="2013-10-27T03:09:25.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that most filters will do just fine with 20 liters of water without the recommended maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there was one I would consider it would be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/837824/sawyer-squeeze-water-filter-plus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sawyer Squeeze&lt;/a&gt;. The Squeeze is a hollow fiber filter which can be forced (squeezed). It is &lt;strong&gt;affordable&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;reliable&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;simple to use&lt;/strong&gt;. The water is available immediately; you can even drink as you filter. I find it easier to use than a pump-style filter. You may also use it as part of a gravity system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Squeeze requires back-flushing &lt;a href=&quot;http://adropofrain.net/2012/09/sawyer-squeeze-filter-modifications-part-2-cleaning-syringes-and-storage-bag/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;using a syringe&lt;/a&gt;. In my experience, this is rarely required if the water is relatively clean. You may choose to bring the syringe with you although I personally would not. Another option is to mail it to yourself for long hikes (i.e. bounce box). With clear water it repeatedly worked just fine for weeks-long stretches. When it requires back-flushing you will notice reduced flow rates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The filter is remarkably simple and does not have many moving parts. I did have problems with the O-Ring becoming misshapen, which resulted in leaks and un-usability. The problem corrected itself after a certain time. You should not tighten the bottle too hard as it may cause issues (now I know).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also owned a MSR HyperFlow but had it failed on me in the field. I would not recommend it as it is more error-prone and more costly than the Squeeze. Ceramic filters are also reliable and field maintainable. However, I personally had bad luck with those as the cartridge broke down on a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For non-filters, you could use a drops such as Aquamira. I would recommend transferring the contents of the bottles into a secondary container as the corners of the bottles tend to crack and leak. I've had it happen to me twice and I have met other hikers with the same problem. I believe Aquamira is aware of the problem but I do not know if they have corrected it. You could also keep them in the original plastic box which offers some extra protection for those sad cornered bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SteriPens are great but unreliable for multi-week trips and costly (battery usage).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-10-27T03:09:25.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4813" CreationDate="2013-10-27T17:46:25.713" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;You would use the rope doubled, so that when you are at the length of it, you anchor off and release one end of the doubled rope so you can pull it through the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then re-anchor at your current position in order to continue your descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-10-27T17:46:25.713" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4890" CreationDate="2013-10-27T18:27:42.127" Score="13" ViewCount="3448" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I did a hike in a forest infested with leeches. I ended up with quite a few leech bites (around 20). But, at the same time, another hiker got just one bite! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We both were wearing similar shoes, socks and trek suits. Hence, in theory we were pretty similar. Also, we did clean up the shoes/socks often. Yet, the number of leeches on me was way more than the one on the other trekker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what is it that attracts the leeches? Do they have a preference of going for a particular set of people? (Maybe driven by smell?). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T03:39:46.527" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T03:39:46.527" Title="Do leeches have a preference?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;leeches&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4817" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-27T20:17:22.657" Score="4" ViewCount="353" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say I'm leading on a single-pitch climb, or the first pitch of a multi-pitch. The maximum fall factor I could theoretically have without hitting the deck is 1, but that's with a static rope, which of course I wouldn't use in this situation. This raises the question of what is the maximum fall factor I could have without contacting the ground at my belayer's feet. (If the rope stretches, then it's helping me by decelerating me at least somewhat, but I'd really prefer not to touch bottom at all.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By UIAA standards, static rope stretch for an 80 kg climber is supposed to be no more than 10%. Dynamic rope stretch is going to be greater than this static value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UIAA standard fall is a fall factor of 1.77, and rope stretch for that fall is supposed to be no more than 40%. In the first-pitch scenario, you can't actually have a fall that puts this much stress on the rope, since you can't fall past the belayer, but we can be sure than the rope stretch in a first-pitch scenario will be no greater than this. (Again, this is for an 80 kg climber.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I can tell from this is that the rope stretch &lt;em&gt;a&lt;/em&gt; is in the range 0.1&amp;lt;&lt;em&gt;a&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.4, which is a pretty broad range. Therefore the fall factor &lt;em&gt;f&lt;/em&gt; that just barely has me kissing sand is in the range 0.6&amp;lt;&lt;em&gt;f&lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt;0.9. What is the actual critical value of the fall factor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3605/what-is-a-typical-elongation-of-a-dynamic-climbing-rope&quot;&gt;What is a typical elongation of a dynamic climbing rope?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-25T00:37:49.150" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T14:40:17.843" Title="What fall factor will cause me to hit the deck with a typical dynamic rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3605" CreationDate="2013-10-27T23:19:12.763" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a couple of perfectly good answers here from DJBunk and Mr.Wizard. However, it appears from your question that you need a better understanding of why or how you would buy a rope with certain specs in terms of elongation. The elasticity of a dynamic rope is a compromise. If it's too elastic, then when you take a fall with a high &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt;, you could end up hitting the ground. If it's not elastic enough, then it will stop a fall so abruptly that you'll be get hurt by the force of your harness on your hips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, say you're just starting the second pitch of a multi-pitch climb, and your belayer's station is an anchor on the side of a vertical cliff. You climb some distance above your belayer, and then just as you're about to clip into your first protection, you slip and fall. In this situation, your fall factor is 2 (the highest possible), there is nothing for you to hit, and you're going to fall past your belayer. If you had a choice in this situation, you would choose the most elastic possible rope, since it would decelerate you as gently as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, suppose you start climbing from ground level, clip into your first protection at the first opportunity, 3 meters off the ground, and then after another 2 meters of climbing you're getting ready to clip into your second opportunity for protection. It was unwise to get yourself into this situation, because if you fall while trying to make this second clip, the rope will only come up taut while you're 1 meter above the ground, and it will probably not stop you before you hit the ground. In this situation, you're wishing your rope was a little less elastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, you only bring one rope for a day of climbing, and on any given day there may be some situations where a higher elasticity would have been better and others where you might have preferred a stiffer rope. You use a dynamic rope that's designed for this general type of lead climbing, and you carry out your climb in a style that is basically a matter of habit and tradition. These habits and traditions are based on the typical characteristics of a standard dynamic rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose hypothetically that dynamic ropes weren't standardized, and you bought one that was more or less elastic than the typical rope. This would be bad and potentially dangerous for your climbing partner, who has built up habits and expectations based on experience with rope that has the standard specs. If you're talking about lead climbing in the gym, then the bolts on the wall are set up at heights so that with a standard rope, you're likely to be OK if you fall while trying to reach the second clip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really know of a lot of reasons to own rope that is more or less elastic than a normal dynamic climbing rope. The only example I know of is that if you're really into canyoneering, you might want to bring a static rope for a day of canyoneering, because you don't want a bouncy rappel, and the rope is never going to be loaded with more than your static body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-10-27T23:31:47.303" LastActivityDate="2013-10-27T23:31:47.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4763" CreationDate="2013-10-28T10:26:56.103" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After doing some more research, it appears the only manufacturer that makes boots in a Mondo 32 (the direct equivalent of a US 14) is Scarpa. The two online retailers I found that sell Scarpa AT boots in these large sizes are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omcgear.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OMCgear&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bentgate.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bent Gate Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;; though, the Canadian company &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Equipment Co-op&lt;/a&gt; is also selling them in these sizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I bought the stiffer version of the Maestrale (white), and I have had a terrible time with pain in my feet from them. I've had the boxed out once as they do indeed run narrow (may do it again), but it seems to be do to my arch support once they're buckled down now. If I were buying again, I think I would go with the cheaper less rigid orange version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2424" LastEditorUserId="2424" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T11:29:39.717" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T11:29:39.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3152" CreationDate="2013-10-28T17:37:23.943" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our company work in cold stores -20 centigrade and lower we use specially designed boots that are great even after many hours standing on cold concrete floors and remain flexible as well. These type of boot are available through good PPE suppliers. We use a company called Delf.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2651" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T17:37:23.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4808" CreationDate="2013-10-28T23:06:25.463" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll want insulate yourself from the ground.  If you're on mountain there's a good chance you're on rock, and while it keeps heat from the sun well, once it gets cold it stays cold, and you'll feel it. I recommend a foam pad for the best cost/weight ratio. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-10-28T23:06:25.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4823" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5028" CreationDate="2013-10-29T06:59:40.903" Score="9" ViewCount="4634" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears and other wildlife are attracted to unusual scents, especially anything that could potentially be mistaken as food, such as often-sweet-smelling, aromatic pipe tobacco or cigars. However, you're essentially just burning the material and just creating smoke. And animals general aren't attracted to fire or smoke. I can imagine this one going either way, and I haven't really found a definitive answer anywhere. Personal experience leads me to think it's generally safe, but I'm only one person in one region, in one country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Could smoking pipe tobacco or a cigar attract bears and/or other wildlife?&lt;/strong&gt; Especially predators? If so, what specifically is the main danger: the unsmoked tobacco, the vaporizing of the tobacco through smoking, or the leftovers? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that this could lead into a conversation about smoking anything, but for the sake of this one, let's keep it to aromatic tobacco smoking, not including cigarettes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:41:53.457" LastActivityDate="2020-08-12T16:28:51.750" Title="Could smoking pipe tobacco or a cigar attract bears and/or other wildlife?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4798" CreationDate="2013-10-29T08:03:47.553" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not familiar with the reptiles around the world. I can however, share the results of my (informal) research (read: googling) of several years ago. I did that, because I was going alone in the summer forest several hours from help at any time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I discovered a &lt;strong&gt;viper&lt;/strong&gt; incident report, among the many forum statements that snakes in Bulgaria are not deadly. So here is a summary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A guy was picking strawberries in Rila Mountain, when a viper bit him on the hand. He squeezed some blood out of the wound and drunk water from the nearby spring. He later reported that the icy water made him feel better. His several companions helped him down to their nearby cars. There he received various medications and was wrapped in blankets. He was feeling well, but his eyes had already too slewed for him to open them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was transported to a hospital where, after several days he was able to open his eyes, and after several more was able to leave. As far as I remember, the only treatment they gave him were general infusions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the text is in Bulgarian, plus I haven't been able to locate it for a couple of years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on this, my conclusions were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if possible, purchase venom extractor (they are cheap).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a poisoned person &lt;strong&gt;cannot&lt;/strong&gt; walk significant distances (above 20-30 min).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;loss of vision is the most significant danger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, I constructed a plan of how to act in case of a snakebite and replayed it in my mind for many days, until I could tell the steps without hesitating - drunk, sleepy, tired, thirsty - regardless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to squeeze the blood out of the wound. (1 minute)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do NOT make a tourniquet if you are alone and are unsure of taking it out later. If within a group &lt;strong&gt;WedaPashi&lt;/strong&gt;'s advice would be better. (0 minutes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take the tent out of the backpack and pitch it (5-10 minutes).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enter the tent, take out clothes, water and food out of the backpack. (1 minute)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on all the clothes, pitch the bedroll, place the water and food close to your face. (5 minutes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lay over a sleeping bag (if it is daytime, it would be hot), do not panic, try to dial someone from a mobile phone, don't expect to succeed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T08:33:11.840" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T08:33:11.840" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4817" CreationDate="2013-10-29T12:55:32.513" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think the question is really answerable more precisely than you already have, because there are so many variables:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the original stretchiness of the rope you happen to have - every rope has a different force/elongation curve&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the age of the rope - ropes get less stretchy as they age&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the relative weight of you and your belayer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the amount of slip the belay device allows&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the amount of slack the belayer allows&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile outside the realm of theory, routes where there is a significant risk of a grounder even with competent gear placement and belaying are rare, generally well known and require either a leader supremely confident of his/her ability at the grade and climbing style, or special precautions such as a ground level anchor with a sprinting belayer. Or a toprope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-10-29T12:55:32.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4826" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4827" CreationDate="2013-10-29T17:02:43.727" Score="24" ViewCount="4688" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have recently &lt;a href=&quot;https://picasaweb.google.com/109271680907792241347/VelkaFatra&quot;&gt;hiked in Slovakian mountains&lt;/a&gt; where bears live. I’m not too concerned about the bears during the day, as we make enough noise to avoid an encounter. But I am not sure about sleeping there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We slept in bivy sacks in the open, I hung our food on a tree somewhat distant from our sleeping place and generally followed all the usual suggested precautions. But when we could hear the bear grumbling in the woods in the night, we were pretty scared anyway. I feared that the bear might get quite close without us noticing, and I’d hate that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How safe is sleeping in the open in a bear country, then? Is the general idea that the bear will simply not notice? That the area is large enough to make the encounter improbable unless we do something wrong, like cook in the camp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-21T08:09:07.747" LastActivityDate="2020-11-06T13:34:10.980" Title="How safe is sleeping in bear country?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4826" CreationDate="2013-10-29T19:32:33.147" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the exceptions of grizzly bears and polar bears, bears are nuisance animals that are after your food. They have no interest in you except as a source of food or as an obstacle to obtaining your food. In specific, extremely popular camping areas (e.g., Yosemite Valley), bears become habituated to people and are much more common, so they are more of a nuisance. The farther you get away from popular areas, the fewer bears you will see and the less likely they'll be to be habituated to humans. Sleeping in the open is no better or worse than sleeping in a tent; a tent is not a barrier to a bear. If you don't want to be bothered by bear noise at night, store your food far away from where you're sleeping. If you use a bear canister rather than tying your food in a tree, then the bear may be more likely to give up quickly rather than keeping you awake all night. I usually put my bear canister about 30 meters from where I sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-10-29T19:32:33.147" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4828" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4873" CreationDate="2013-10-30T08:36:10.147" Score="9" ViewCount="688" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I went to Stok Kangri trek, while climbing down from the peak, on the snow-filled slopes, I felt terribly dehydrated. I was having ample amount of water throughout the climb and yet, I felt dehydrated on the snow-filled slopes. However, &lt;em&gt;once I was out of the snowy slopes on to the solid land, this feeling of dehydration went off&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hence, my question is: is there a possible scientific explanation to the feeling of dehydration? i.e, if one is surrounded by snow, can the body end up losing water through the pores of the skin leading to a feeling of dehydration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: I am NOT referring to eating of snow in place of drinking water. I am asking about a possible threat of dehydration when in a snowfall area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT: Solid land refers to slopes with no snow. It doesn't mean the end of efforts or an easier track. There was absolutely no difference in the gradient of the slope or the difficulties involved. The effort was made on the same day and it was as good as flipping a switch once I left the snowy slopes (the feeling of dehydration went off in a matter of minutes).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:41:44.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:41:44.137" Title="Can the sheer existence of snow lead to dehydration?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4829" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4831" CreationDate="2013-10-30T11:39:23.100" Score="23" ViewCount="9691" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears are mostly attracted by smell of food. That is why we are supposed to keep the food items in airtight and sealed packs or preferably finish up all the food (cooking and consuming) far away from the campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People usually tend to follow this protocol. But does this all apply to Body lotions,  Deodorants, Scented soaps, Face washes and perfumes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe bears are just keen animals who tend to get attracted towards things that have strong odor/smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:41:48.650" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T03:49:32.027" Title="Are bears attracted by Lotions and Perfumes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4828" CreationDate="2013-10-30T16:46:40.043" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cold weather is usually associated with an increase of urine production. This urine production is a consequence of a body strategy to prevent heat loss. The urine production increase might be responsible for your dehydration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastActivityDate="2013-10-30T16:46:40.043" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4829" CreationDate="2013-10-30T16:47:12.347" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does. Rule of a bear cache is to put EVERYTHING that smells, in your bear cache and hang it. This applies to toothpaste, deodorant, food, lotions, perfumes, yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-10-30T16:47:12.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4832" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4885" CreationDate="2013-10-30T17:56:35.557" Score="4" ViewCount="2426" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid air gun shooter, and have been for many years. I recently got rid of most of my air guns, replacing all but one with the Umarex Hämmerli CR 20s. The CR 20s comes with a Walther 3-9x40 scope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Living in Norway, there are some significant restrictions on firearm ownership, but one of the ways to get around that, is to be a licensed hunter. I will take the requisite course and exam this coming spring, and will be acquiring a rifle after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rifle I am currently looking at is the Tikka T3 Lite .308 (Links version, though I don't suppose that should make any real difference).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume it would likely be a bad idea for me to use the scope off the Hämmerli on the Tikka (though I don't know that it would). What I am wondering is why (or if not, why not).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2654" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-15T01:28:39.980" LastActivityDate="2019-06-15T01:28:39.980" Title="Would a scope from an air gun work on a &quot;real&quot; gun?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3220" CreationDate="2013-10-30T22:15:59.040" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go to our weight room and do squats, dead lift, vertimax, and box jumps&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2655" LastActivityDate="2013-10-30T22:15:59.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1288" CreationDate="2013-10-30T22:27:51.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without getting into any specific recommendations, pretty much &lt;strong&gt;any decent water filter you can find will get you through well more than 20 liters&lt;/strong&gt; and several days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By &lt;em&gt;decent,&lt;/em&gt; I mean the standard ones you will find at a good outdoor shop: MSR, SweetWater (now also MSR), Katadyn, PUR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used filters with large groups (10 people) for 8 days. Assuming 4 liters a day, that is 320 liters on one trip... And then I used the same filter for the next trip... repeatedly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you get one with a filter that can be cleaned -- and clean it (esp if filtering silty / dirty water). A good filter should have a wear indicator to let you know if you've cleaned it so many times it might not be effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2013-10-30T22:27:51.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-10-31T03:09:23.457" Score="11" ViewCount="3689" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the John Long book on climbing anchors and also a couple of others that describe the subject more briefly (Pesterfield, Traditional Lead Climbing, and Freedom of the Hills). When it comes to constructing a redundant anchor, they all seem to describe a process in which you place several nuts and/or cams and then use a cordelette to connect them together and equalize them. However, I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/cordelettes-for-climbing/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; online:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I love to hear experienced climbers say they don't use cordelettes. I've been at it 40 yrs., including 9 yrs guiding, and 200+ fa's, and have never seen the reason to add such a time consuming, bulky item to a rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone expand on this? Is the idea to use the climbing rope rather than a cordelette? What would be the steps in the process of building an anchor this way? Pros and cons? I assume you can't use this to build a rappel anchor unless you intend to leave the rope behind...? I can't see, e.g., how you would bail off of a multipitch route this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:18.090" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:34:18.090" Title="Anchor without cordelette?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2013-10-31T03:50:23.003" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a rafter I have taken part in lots of discussions about this and couldn't resist any longer so have set up an experiment to test this.  I hypothesize that the drained cooler will hold ice longer due to the insulating effect of air--as Snitse has described above.  Convection will reduce air's effectiveness but, as Snitse points out, it is still far superior to water.  I have set this experiment up with identical styrofoam coolers loaded with equal amounts of crushed ice (in the second series of experiments I am going to substitute identical blocks of ice). The drained ice chest has a drain tube in place to allow it to drain continuously.  These are placed side by side (with a gap between) at room temperature (in my lab in a large building where temperature is fairly constant).  In the first replicate, the drained ice chest did, indeed hold ice longer, but not by much and the undrained ice chest contained water that reached room temperature at nearly the same time the ice melted!  I am replicating this experiment and will begin the ice block experiment after replicating this three times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2657" LastActivityDate="2013-10-31T03:50:23.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4829" CreationDate="2013-10-31T05:16:14.317" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I participated in a couple of forest surveys in the Indian subcontinent, I was strongly advised by the forest officials to keep away from anything which would give off a strong scent (deodorants, soaps included). The reason being, many animals are inquisitive and are attracted to strong smells. Bears, I believe are no exceptions. Hence yes, bears do get attracted to all the scented items you have mentioned in the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-10-31T05:16:14.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5026" CreationDate="2013-10-31T05:41:51.927" Score="10" ViewCount="711" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4765/suitable-food-for-moderate-to-high-altitude-trekking&quot;&gt;Suitable food for high altitude trekking&lt;/a&gt; Wedapashi asks about food for high altitude trekking. Also, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3181/energy-bars-for-outdoors-activities-what-are-the-important-criteria&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question, there is a discussion about engergy bars. One of the answers given by whatsisname mentions that Jerky can be carried if &quot;you have unlimited access to water&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In wake of the above mentioned discussions, do energy bars/drinks have a possible dehydrating effect? Is it a safe bet to carry energy bars/nutrition bars for high altitude treks where a threat of dehydration is already high due to the loss of moisture while breathing? (I believe jerky is out of question on high altitude treks) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2013-12-20T04:54:52.817" Title="Are nutrition bars/energy bars good for high altitude treks?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4835" CreationDate="2013-10-31T07:47:27.217" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A cordelette gives you the most versatility and is definitely the way to go in most situations&lt;/strong&gt;, especially if you are relatively new to climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A disclaimer before I elaborate any further:&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reading a book on anchor-building is not enough to be able to&#xA;  construct a safe belay anchor. Read the book and then have an&#xA;  experienced climber teach you in the field. Or take a class!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of scenarios where not using a cordelette can be just as safe and results in substantial time-savings. Be aware that the later techniques discussed require more experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The best way to save some time by forgoing the cordelette is &lt;strong&gt;at fixed anchors&lt;/strong&gt; with two horizontally placed bolts. Clip two shoulder-length runners to the bolts (lockers preferred) and tie an overhand knot. You have a master-point and a shelf, just like with a cordelette.&lt;br&gt;The disadvantages are: if the bolts are not at the same level, or if the anticipated direction of pull is not straight down, you can't equalize your anchor, which would not have been a problem with a cordelette. Alternatively, use a Sliding-X with stopper-knots, which is not as quick, but can be equalized.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are building anchors with two non-fixed pieces, you can use the &lt;strong&gt;Sliding-X&lt;/strong&gt; with a sling* (possibly double length.) Since you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; tie stopper knots, this is not necessarily faster if you are new to anchor building. With this technique there is more room for error and you won't have a shelf to work with. Not to mention that &lt;strong&gt;it is not advisable to build anchors with just two pieces of gear&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another option is the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/alpine-anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;alpine anchor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. With this technique you clip the full-strength loops of your cams together, effectively equalizing them. This technique is definitely not recommended for beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you talk of a cordelette, I assume you mean a piece of accessory cord tied into a big loop with a double fisherman's. On big walls where I want my belays to be as neat as possible and spending an extra couple of minutes setting up each belay might mean spending an extra night on the wall, I often don't tie my cordelette into a loop. Instead I tie figure-eight knots on either side. This setup enables me to quickly equalize three or more pieces of gear by clipping the figure-eight knots to the outermost pieces, clipping the middle pieces and proceeding just like with a regular cordelette by creating two loops on either side of the center pieces and tying these with an overhand. You sacrifice a little strength and durability for less bulk and and speed. A big disadvantage is not having a shelf. If you build an anchor like this and you &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; you have a shelf &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;you are wrong!!!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can build an anchor with just your climbing rope and a knot that yields two loops (like the double figure-eight.) I consider this a last-resort-measure, since it severely limits my options when it comes to retreating or rescuing a fellow climber. Where your rope is a substantial part of the anchor, you will have to build a new anchor if you have to rappel or are in need of the full length of the rope. You also limit your maximum pitch length severely, which can be an issue when belays are sparse and you have a standard length rope. Make sure you are very comfortable tying and adjusting the loop sizes of your double-loop-knot of choice before you leave your cordelette on the ground!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum up: If you are not an elite climber and/or build your anchors with more than two pieces of gear, &lt;strong&gt;bring a cordelette!&lt;/strong&gt; Any weight savings from leaving the cordelette behind are offset by extra time spent fiddling with slings, moving pieces, and tying stopper-knots. Familiarize yourself with the situations and techniques above, and save some time by leaving the cordelette on your harness &lt;em&gt;every once in a while&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* A note on using spectra/dyneema slings instead of a nylon cordelette: Especially on marginal rock the stretch of nylon will provide some additional safety. This doesn't mean I don't use spectra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-09-30T06:46:06.687" LastActivityDate="2014-09-30T06:46:06.687" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4840" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4884" CreationDate="2013-11-01T07:13:15.710" Score="8" ViewCount="3665" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a relative newcomer to the shooting/hunting world, I am looking to buy my first big game rifle. Now, I know what &lt;em&gt;rifle&lt;/em&gt; I want, just not what caliber to get it in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two calibers that I am left with after reading up on the subject are .308 and .30-06. So, what are their relative advantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2654" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T02:30:51.930" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T22:44:21.900" Title="What are the relative advantages of .308 and .30-06" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4828" CreationDate="2013-11-01T08:31:40.260" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am assuming that, as you moved out of the snow field you were also descending, therefore, I think it is more likely you were experiencing &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness&quot;&gt;altitude sickness&lt;/a&gt; and your symptoms reversed as you descended. The presence/absence of snow was purely coincidental. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dehydration contributes to altitude sickness through,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lower air density which increases respiration and, therefore, water loss, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lower air pressure which increases evaporation of moisture from the skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2013-11-01T08:48:48.507" LastActivityDate="2013-11-01T08:48:48.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4842" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-01T18:51:06.173" Score="6" ViewCount="16680" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I, are going to a a location full of beaches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife is 4 months pregnant and she wants to do a para-sailing session.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They take off from the beach, fly over the sea for 5 minutes and then land you back on the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks gentle enough to me. There seem to be no jerks except a minor one when you take off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is it safe enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2661" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-24T01:23:15.887" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T01:23:15.887" Title="Can pregnant women parasail?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2013-11-02T04:31:30.413" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two rounds are essentially the same. To a newcomer, the differences are not going to matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are picking between these two calibers of the same model rifle, I would just get whichever has cheaper ammunition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-11-02T04:31:30.413" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4845" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-04T04:02:41.767" Score="10" ViewCount="2924" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone with experience in bear-populated areas, what's the best way to store food when your on the move with a car?  Are some foods better than others?  Wondering specifically about black bears in Northern California, but would things be different if you were in say Montana around the grizzlies?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user9005" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2013-11-05T13:47:48.733" LastActivityDate="2013-11-13T09:16:12.777" Title="What are the proper precautions/protocols for storing food while car camping in an area with bears?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4842" CreationDate="2013-11-05T13:38:10.107" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never tried parasailing but I will not recommend any sport that might put excessive pressure on the belly of a pregnant woman.  The amniotic fluid only protects against moderate pressures by decreasing the intensity of the pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, there have been a number of fatalities. I definitely agree with Rory Alsop, it is not a safe sport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-editorials/death-cries-for-parasailing-rules-30027&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parasail.org, which bills itself as &amp;quot;the official parasailing information website,&amp;quot; reports 384 accidents with 83 serious injuries and 28 deaths in the United States and its territories from 1980-2009.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar U.S. Coast Guard study from 1992-2001 totaled 59 accidents with 64 injuries and three deaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="38" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-11-06T11:05:49.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4845" CreationDate="2013-11-05T14:08:16.043" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I caution against storing the food in your car.  Bears have been known to do serious damage to a car trying to get in.  Hence&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't eat in the car - ever&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not store food or other items that &quot;smell&quot; open in you car&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While in transit, store items in sealed containers in your trunk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are in designated car camping spots, check to see if they have designated secure storage bins.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there are no secure storage bins, use bear canisters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't just use bear bags, most western states require canisters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bear can still roll your canister away so you make want to consider hanging it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your camp to the triangle method if possible (some car camping sites are too small).  See this answer - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/229/127&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/229/127&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never found any research recommending one food over another for bear territory.  Bears are prone to investigate anything that might be food so it's unlikely you can avoid bears purely by food choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-11-05T14:08:16.043" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4842" CreationDate="2013-11-05T15:23:44.773" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This appears relatively safe.  Even accident statistics produced by groups pushing for regulation are pretty mild.  Industry regulation is a pretty politicized process, creating plenty of pressures to inflate injury rates -- so if even those are small, it's probably safe.  Those sites (such as this one) only have a &lt;em&gt;minor&lt;/em&gt; injury rate of 0.001%.  Realistically your wife is more likely to be hurt driving to the location to parasail and showering afterwards than in the actual event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Statistics&quot; that give raw counts without perspective are useless.  Is 59 accidents in 20 years a lot?  A little?  It informs very little regarding the risk of accident.  59 accidents in 59 trips would be 100% chance of injury.  Without knowing the ratio, the number of accidents is meaningless.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(A note, I just edited this after three years and I have no idea where the link was originally intended to go)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T21:03:33.710" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T21:03:33.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4850" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-05T21:10:48.053" Score="23" ViewCount="85874" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am getting into fishing (I bought an entry-level spinner and plan on going to some nearby rivers/lakes) and have been reading a lot of conflicting information in regards to the sequence of events that transpire from the time you catch the fish, to the time you eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, first you must catch the fish, which as a newbie will probably be a bit difficult for me. Once I catch my first fish and determine that it's of legal size and is a species I'd like to eat, then I need to immediately begin preparing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read that bleeding fish (cutting the gills) helps remove the gamey odor that a lot of fish have, as well as removing certain undesirable toxins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what do I do if I'm not done fishing yet? What if it's still early in the day and I want to keep fishing for a few more hours? Obviously then, I need a way of preserving the fish so that it doesn't taint before I even get home. The thing is, I don't like the idea of keeping a fish alive once I catch it. Not judging others, just personally would rather kill it as soon as I catch it and put it out of the stress/misery of being caught &amp;amp; wounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, given everything I've read, I'm wondering if my following solution is viable, and if not, why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Catch the fish, and kill it immediately (probably a knife through its brain is what I've found to be the quickest/humane method)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bleed the fish, totally&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw it in a cooler full of ice, and continue fishing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I get home, clean/fillet it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing I'm worried about here is that perhaps the fish will somehow spoil from the time I throw it on ice, to the time I get home (which should never be longer than 6 - 8 hours). Ideas? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2670" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2014-12-04T05:56:29.197" LastActivityDate="2020-04-29T11:10:49.750" Title="When to kill and bleed a fish" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4851" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4855" CreationDate="2013-11-06T08:37:04.567" Score="6" ViewCount="1831" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read a few blogs about people and their solo trekking experiences. At the first glance at it, 'whether to trek solo or not' sounds like an opinion based thing, but I wonder if there are any valid sources advicing about whether to go or not. I am planning for a trek (well marked, popular trail) in Western Ghats. I have ample amount of experience in trekking, and I have the essential knowledge about the route that I am planning to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, having all the required information regarding the route and wildlife, I still lack any information on issues like:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exit point in case of emergency (Agumbe - Narasimhaparvata - Sringeri trail)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reports of Local threats like plundering, thefts, and safety of individual women.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Threat from any sort of organized and/or unorganized crime (These are one of the reasons for which I was denied to travel alone from Kathmandu to Lukla by possible public transport)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2378" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:29:18.133" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T10:41:17.703" Title="Trekking solo in Western Ghats, India" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4852" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4853" CreationDate="2013-11-06T11:12:38.907" Score="25" ViewCount="1080" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had been a regular climber half a decade back. And, then I got off the routine. Now I am trying to get back into climbing. For that, I go to a local climbing gym kind of thing managed  by a friend wherein we can change the route/reroute for variations.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The issue is, The routes that are said to be tougher ones, are looking damn tough to me right now. And, the ones which seems easy are becoming too easy to really have a hard time. These are the routes which I can do quite easily, and there are another handful that may take me a few weeks of work to get. But by about a month in, I feel like I've done all the routes that belong to that climbable range for me, and there's nothing much left for me in that gym except to just push on and try to improve my technique on old routes, and see how far I can get on routes that are appearing to be tougher ones for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, I do climb elsewhere once in a while, but it's not really practical for me to try to do that every now and then. &#xA;Any ideas with which I can get more variety/make the most of what's left over there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T16:30:23.767" Title="Keeping the things interesting in a small climbing gym" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4852" CreationDate="2013-11-06T11:25:13.653" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;If hard and easy routes run superimposed, ie. there are hard and easy routes on the same belay chain, you could try to climb the hard route while using some of the holds from the easy route where necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is not possible, because hard and easy routes are separate, but you are able/allowed to redesign the routes then you could try another approach: you can just add some holds to the hard route where you need them. If you chose for your holds another colour than that of the given route, then the tough guys can still use the route as they know it and you can use the route with your additional holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-03-23T08:22:53.347" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T08:22:53.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4852" CreationDate="2013-11-06T11:49:52.270" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;What &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eica-ratho.co.uk/facilities&quot;&gt;my local climbing arena&lt;/a&gt; does is have multiple routes up every wall. They overlap, sometimes on flat surfaces, sometimes on real rock, sometimes on artificial (extra grippy) rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Djv85.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climbs here range from a 3 to an 8C+ but on a particular pitch you may have a few ranging from a 5 to a 6B, for example, so similar to what Benedikt mentioned, if I find I can't complete a particularly tricky move I'll grab a different colour to get past it, but try and make it next time without resorting to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This lets you gain incremental progression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-11-06T11:49:52.270" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4851" CreationDate="2013-11-06T15:46:51.940" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The quick answer to a question of credible sources for solo trekking trails is, &quot;NO&quot;, there are no sources which can be completely relied on for this kind of information (at least for the western ghats part).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following set of attributes might help you in deciding upon heading out solo in the western ghats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br&gt;&#xA;The western ghats are safe for trekking. I haven't come across any trail which can be classified as &quot;dangerous&quot; in terms of the danger from robbers/people etc. However, some trails are relatively riskier than others (eg Agumbe trek) due to the naxal threats. Poachers are a danger in densely forested trails(But I guess you are not venturing into these). There is very little threat from animals while on the well established trails. Off beat trails around thick forests are riskier due to elephants, snakes and poachers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Summers have an additional threat of forest fires&lt;/em&gt;. The forest departments do put up the fire lines. However, as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ndtv.com/tamil-nadu-news/five-trekkers-dead-in-massive-forest-fire-in-tamil-nadu-30-rescued-1822589&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recent incident indicated&lt;/a&gt;, the grasslands are susceptible to large scare forest fire and can cause fatal injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Grade of treks:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most of the well established treks in the western ghats are of easy-moderate difficulty. The only one that I consider mildly difficult is &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushpagiri&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kumara Parvata&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accessibility:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br&gt;&#xA;All the treks in the western ghats are accessible through a nearby town/village. These places are cost effective and people are very welcoming. The chances of being coned are lesser than what you would find in the northern part of India.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When to trek the western ghats?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do not venture during monsoon and summer. Summer heat is intensified by the thick forest cover and monsoons are just uncomfortable due to the heavy rainfall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camping and other facilities:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;On some of the trekking spots, camping is not allowed. This is mainly because these spots lie in the range of a reserve forest or a sanctuary. Some of the trails might require you to get a permit from the forest department to even enter the trails. Some trails might require guides. Water, although available in the form of streams is not completely reliable. A better option would be to carry water purifying filter. None of the trails have facilities in terms of proper camping sites. It's entirely up to you how you setup your campsite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Exit routes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Always remember, in case you get into trouble(either due to an injury or an animal attack), the exit routes on western ghats are difficult. Two reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The forests are thick, facilities are less.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The general health facilities in smaller towns and villages are not that well developed in India. (Most of the trails lie closer to the villages and towns than the well developed cities).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, do remember that there are loads of blogs on the net which can give you information regarding the trails. But whether to trek solo or not is a purely personal choice. If you are okay with being alone on a hilltop/forest with no civilization nearby, western ghats are pretty good (Always keep in mind that, in case you get into trouble, most probably there is &lt;em&gt;no medical evacuation by air&lt;/em&gt;). You will find trekking groups, but very few camp out (most of the trails can be done in a day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT: Route for Agumbe trail:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety: No threat from locals. Locals are friendly and welcoming. This is a naxal area. Possibility of encountering wildlife if trekking solo (mostly snakes).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grade: Moderate. (Some sections are steep)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accessibility: From mallandur, the peak is around 14km away(shortest route). You will need a guide if trekking from Agumbe side. The forest is very thick and there are multiple routes(none of the trails are well marked). Route from Kigga side is well marked.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forest permit: Required. Recommended to have the contact number of an ANF official as well (Anti Naxal Forces).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping: Allowed at the top. No need to carry excessive water. A flowing stream and a well are available at the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exit routes: None. You'll have to trek back to your starting point to get to any human habitation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrote about the itinerary we followed: &lt;a href=&quot;http://bhegde.blogspot.in/2013/11/agumbe-trek-narasimha-parvata-trek.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Agumbe trek.&lt;/a&gt; Might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT 2&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;I've added additional info on the possibility of forest fires in the western ghats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T10:41:17.703" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T10:41:17.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4856" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-06T17:58:59.763" Score="4" ViewCount="522" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most &quot;fish attractants&quot; are actually just mechanisms to cover up human scent (as &lt;a href=&quot;http://fishing.about.com/od/bassfishing/a/Do-Fish-Attractants-Work.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; article here as well as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?catalogId=10051&amp;amp;mode=article&amp;amp;objectID=29876&amp;amp;storeId=10151&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one point out). They don't actually &lt;em&gt;attract&lt;/em&gt; fish, but they mask any fish-negative smells that the bait have come into contact with (your hands, cigars, sun tan lotion, bug repellent, etc.). This doesn't entice the fish to bite the bait; it simply entices them to keep the bait in their mouth for longer &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; they decide to bite at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, ideally, I'd like to find some way of attracting the fish to the location where I'm fishing. I could then optionally decide to use a fish &quot;attracant&quot; to mask any smells I've inadvertently introduced. So I'm looking for an actual fish &lt;strong&gt;attractant&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could take a jug of some sort and perforate its lid with lots of tiny holes. I would then put the actual fish attractant in the jug (obviously, the attracant would be different depending on the sort of fish I'm looking to catch). I could tether the jug to my boat or to land with a rope. I'd throw the jug as far as I could, and because the lid has holes in it, it would fill with water, sink, and begin leeching out the attractant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this feasible/possible? If not, why? If so, what are some tried &amp;amp; proven methods/best practices here?; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is possible, where could I find different &quot;recipes&quot; for different attractants based on the fish I'm looking to catch. I live in upstate NY (Adirondacks), so the major species are: bass, pike, trout and musky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2670" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T19:29:55.107" Title="True fish attractants?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4859" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5554" CreationDate="2013-11-08T07:03:27.817" Score="4" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an almost similar question to this one: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4851/trekking-solo-in-western-ghats-india&quot;&gt;Trekking solo in Western Ghats, India&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read a few blogs about people and their solo trekking experiences. At the first glance at it, 'whether to trek solo or not' sounds like an opinion based thing, but I wonder if there are any valid sources advising about whether to go or not. I am planning for a trek around Cape Town, South Africa (The Arangieskop hiking trail). I have an ample amount of experience in trekking, and I am in the process of grabbing essential knowledge about the route that I am planning to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, assuming that I will have all the required information regarding the route and wildlife when I set off, I still lack any information on issues like: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exit point in case of emergency.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reports of Local threats like.&#xA;plundering, thefts and safety of individual women. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Threat from any sort of organized and/or unorganized crime (This is one of the reasons  I was denied to travel alone from Kathmandu to Lukla by possible public transport)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Threats due to racism (I am an Indian)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Local language barriers. (I know English, only)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2378" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:29:26.580" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:29:26.580" Title="Trekking solo in South Africa" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4862" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-09T15:30:37.377" Score="12" ViewCount="764" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doing multipitch routes with double ropes is great, but (at least for me) inevitably results in messy tangles, twists, and crosses of the two ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some strategies to prevent the ropes from tangling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T13:33:37.183" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T13:33:37.183" Title="Avoiding tangles when leading on double ropes" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4532" CreationDate="2013-11-10T15:11:51.143" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoorgearlab has some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Hardshell-Jacket-Reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;quite nice compilation&lt;/a&gt; of different shell materials with their history and use cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you boil it down with respect to your questions then Active Shell is lighter and smaller and is significantly more breathable but at the cost of durability. As the guys from Outdoorgearlab write it, Active Shell&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is not intended to be worn under a 70 lb. pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't used neither one of both membranes but from the descriptions of the use cases I would guess that you might be fine with an Active Shell as long as you want to use it for cycling and some occasional mountaineering day trips where you use it primarily as outer layer in good weather conditions. Concerning that you say you want to use the jacket for regular commuting maybe the robustness of the Active Shell could be the limiting factor as it might wear faster–especially when carrying a backpack or the like while commuting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-03-03T21:58:13.357" LastActivityDate="2014-03-03T21:58:13.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4864" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4865" CreationDate="2013-11-11T22:20:03.500" Score="9" ViewCount="12621" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never used a Rappel Ring before but I am told they are really useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently, if you're trying to rappel in a situation where you have to leave gear at the top to get down safely: use a Rap Ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you use a Rap Ring to rappel?&lt;/strong&gt; (I would appreciate images of any complex knots or gear setup involved.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5rRCU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;simple metal ring&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="2005" LastEditDate="2013-11-12T14:43:29.323" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T19:17:59.453" Title="How to use a Rap Ring" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4864" CreationDate="2013-11-12T02:13:29.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not complicated. Let's say you're using a long piece of webbing to build the anchor. Before you tie the ends of the webbing to make a loop, you put the webbing through the rap ring. Then when you form the loop, the ring is linked into it. When you form the master point of the anchor (i.e., the loop that you would normally put a locking biner through), you do it so that the rap ring is there in the master point. Now you rappel off of the rap ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make sure you don't lose the rope, you go through the usual procedure of tying the middle of the rope to something before you throw the ends down. Then before you rap off, you remove the knot so that you'll be able to pull the rope down at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you're leaving behind is the webbing and the rap ring, both of which are cheap to replace. Having the rap ring lets you avoid leaving behind a locking biner, which is more expensive. Sometimes you will see anchors that have been permanently left in place (e.g., on canyoneering routes), and what's left behind is a rap ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-11-12T02:13:29.490" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4866" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-11-12T07:09:05.903" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2013-11-12T07:09:05.903" LastActivityDate="2013-11-12T07:09:05.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4867" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-11-12T07:09:05.903" Score="0" Body="Trekking is often an adventurous and arduous journey on foot, through jungles, marked or un-marked trails, and the areas where common means of transport are (generally) not available.&#xD;&#xA;P.S: The term Trekking is different than Mountaineering." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2013-11-13T06:50:22.113" LastActivityDate="2013-11-13T06:50:22.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4868" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4869" CreationDate="2013-11-12T15:58:37.027" Score="12" ViewCount="1869" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am about to participate in a first aid training workshop. Before I do so, I am supposed to pass an online first aid course. While going through the course, I came across this section about applying pressure to wounds in order to stop critical bleeding:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is always necessary to find an appropriate compromise between&#xA;  safety and promptness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For instance, you would probably not hesitate to put your fingers&#xA;  into e.g. the wound of your partner without any protection; It&#xA;  would be a more than brave action in the case of a stranger. On&#xA;  the other hand, the casualty may bleed to death before you manage&#xA;  to get a pair of gloves or a bandage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the casualty responds, you can ask him/her to press the&#xA;  bleeding wound, and you can enhance the pressure over his/her&#xA;  hand. Or you can use a piece of clothing, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it really that dangerous? Why? What should I do if the &quot;casualty&quot; &lt;em&gt;does not&lt;/em&gt; respond? How much and why is it risky to apply pressure myself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2682" LastActivityDate="2013-11-29T10:45:39.033" Title="Is it really that unsafe to touch a stranger's wound?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4868" CreationDate="2013-11-12T16:21:27.087" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for the reason why it is risky: You cannot know if the guy you want to help has any disease that can be transferred via blood contact, such as HIV or Hepatitis. Already small wounds in your own skin –you might not recognize it as a wound at all– might be enough to transfer the disease, therefore it would be quite risky to just stick your hand into any random stranger's bleeding wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the person does not respond, you will have to take some decision about your safety vs. the life of someone else. In this case my first thought would be to get me anything that prevents me from putting my hands directly to the wound, e.g. some (hopefully more or less clean) piece of a rain jacket or the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if you are somewhere outdoors and someone is bleeding that much that (s)he would bleed out within minutes, chances are high that you would not have been able to save him/her anyway without being at least a trained paramedic. A paramedic once told me that as an untrained person (that includes also persons that have accomplished a standard first aid training) every injury that you cannot fix –i.e. prevent it from getting worse or life-threatening– with bandages, patches, and tape is very likely to be beyond your skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2682" LastEditDate="2013-11-13T10:48:17.917" LastActivityDate="2013-11-13T10:48:17.917" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4828" CreationDate="2013-11-13T21:51:14.287" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have not provided any evidence you were actually dehydrated; it seems you only tought you were dehydrated - I assume you had dry mouth and felt thirsty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Symptoms and signs of dehydration are described here in great detail:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehealthstar.com/dehydration/symptoms-and-signs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dehydration Symptoms and Signs&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;In short: thirst, dry mouth, fatigue, headache, nausea, decreased skin elasticity, dark urine, sudden loss of weight...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it is not possible to be dehydrated and then become well hydrated without  consuming any water. So, we are talking about feeling of thirst, which could be triggered psychologically by anxiety (from whatever reason) when being surrounded by snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry mouth associated with the feeling of thirst, pounding heart and even dizziness are common symptoms of anxiety. The same symptoms can appear in dehydration, so the two conditions can be easily confused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you differ between the two conditions?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are dehydrated, your thirst will be real: &lt;strong&gt;the water will go down your throat with ease.&lt;/strong&gt; When the thirst is only a feeling caused by dry mouth, as in anxiety, you will feel like you need to force the water down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are dehydrated, and you pinch and release the skin at the back of your hand, the skin fold will need more than a second to flatten (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSo0Cwhsm-A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;a positive skin turgor test&lt;/strong&gt; - a 44 sec video&lt;/a&gt;). When you are anxious but not dehydrated, the skin fold should flatten immediately. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T17:56:54.853" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T17:56:54.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4874" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-14T00:38:12.853" Score="16" ViewCount="1618" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a beginning trad leader, having done about five easy fifth class leads. I've had some formal instruction, but don't currently have access to a teacher or mentor. I'm finding that I'm extremely slow as a leader, even when the climbing is easy, and I'm wondering whether this is can be improved by doing something about the way I rack my gear or the the steps I go through with my free hand. I would like to get more efficient so I can be more solid on more difficult climbs, complete more climbs in a day, and maybe start getting ready to do some multipitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say I'm going to place a cam in a vertical crack, and I have a solid stance that gives me one free hand. I have a bunch of alpine draws on my left gear loop, and cams on my right, each with a carabiner. Since the draw has two biners and the cam has one, that's a total of three, which is one more than I need. I would probably place the cam with my right hand, then reach over with the same hand to grab a draw to use as an extension in order to reduce rope drag. I clip the draw into the cam's loop of webbing, and then I may need to manipulate the biner on its free end in order to increase the length of the draw (awkward with one hand). Then I probably need to pull up some rope, and I may not be able to do this without letting go of the draw -- ugh, now the draw may have dropped down into the crack where it's hard to get at the biner. I take the rope in my teeth, reach into the crack and pull the biner back out, and clip in. Now I've got pro at this anchor. I still have the extra biner stuck in the cam's loop of webbing, so I take that off and put it on a gear loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could I improve about my procedure? Are there youtube videos showing experienced climbers doing this sort of thing efficiently?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[EDIT] I spent some time on youtube, found these three videos that might be relevant: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnVJ2blHbLs&quot;&gt;A&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbCEGGSQ-aY&quot;&gt;B&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxOdRA5Hkkc&quot;&gt;C&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In A, at 0:22, he uses a cam without any extension. He pulls it off his rack, bites it in his teeth, and then turns it around to place it. At 1:11 you can see that some cams are on a doubled short sling, not just on the little loop of webbing a camalot is normally sold with. It's not an alpine draw; there's only one biner. The slings look shorter than a normal 60 cm sling, maybe only 40 cm? At 1:52, he has a nut that already seems to be on a quickdraw. Was it racked this way, or did he clip the quickdraw on during the climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In B, at 0:25, he has his cam on its little loop of webbing, which he extends with a quickdraw. Seems pretty efficient. At 1:11, he places a cam, then there's a quick fade and he has a sling with a single biner on it, which he uses for extension. Was there another biner on that sling, which removed during the fade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In C, he advocates a rack with 6 quickdraws and 2 alpine draws. I'd been using nothing but alpine draws. I had an instructor tell me that basically quickdraws were only for sport climbing, not trad, because (1) you need to have more extension available, and (2) the stiff quickdraw can twist your pieces out of their placements as you climb past them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-11-14T16:56:39.273" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T15:37:58.933" Title="Placing protection efficiently when leading trad?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2013-11-15T13:28:21.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used a blow dryer on low setting to dry the bag and tub, and a paper towel pouch (twist tie close) with rice - I figure if it gets moisture out of a cell phone and salt - it ought to work for a Camelback. I also save the little silica gel packets that come in vitamin bottles and new shoe boxes and may try those.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2692" LastActivityDate="2013-11-15T13:28:21.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4874" CreationDate="2013-11-15T13:35:49.563" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general it sounds you're not doing anything obviously stupid and you just need more practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally rack some 'draws on both sides - sometimes it can be handy to avoid reaching across. And you can often avoid the 'draw falling into the crack by resting it on a hold, across your wrist or something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try not to place/clip gear far above your head. It feels reassuring but wastes much time and energy, especially with the need to pull up and fiddle with a large amount of slack rope. The obvious exception would be if you're placing gear from a comfortable stance before launching into a crux section in which stopping would be strenuous or precarious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mostly use longish but non-extendable skinny 'draws for trad - 20 to 30 cm - and only carry a few sling-draws for situations where I think I particularly need a lot of extension. I don't use really stubby sport 'draws, for the same reasons you state from &quot;C&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like you, if I'm not totally pumped and desperate I'll often &quot;harvest&quot; the original krab from the cam in case it might be useful for something later such as building my anchor. Not really necessary/important though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;he has a nut that already seems to be on a quickdraw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People sometimes do this if they are on a route where they know there is a particular desperate/crucial placement. Unusual special situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;some cams are on a doubled short sling, not just on the little loop of webbing a camalot is normally sold with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DMM makes cams with extendable slings that can sometimes save a quickdraw. I personally find them fiddly, especially to re-rack when seconding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-11-15T13:35:49.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4835" CreationDate="2013-11-16T05:33:11.220" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cordelettes are an American obsession. In the UK and Europe most people climb multipitch on double ropes. In this case, and if one is swapping leads, then an anchor with up to four pieces with the rope is trivially easy. Clove hitch to first piece, little loop of slack, clove hitch to second piece, tie rope back to locker krab on harness. Repeat with second rope for pieces 3 &amp;amp; 4. Job done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly less applicable if one is climbing on a single rope or is a guide doing all the leading. But I haven't noticed European alpine guides using cordelettes either; will have to have a closer look at what they do next time I'm on an alpine trade route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastEditorUserId="2394" LastEditDate="2013-11-16T16:21:26.460" LastActivityDate="2013-11-16T16:21:26.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4879" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-16T10:52:17.237" Score="11" ViewCount="3934" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to climb Mount Teide from sea-level in 2 days for a reasonably fit person? Essentially, I was thinking of walking up to the Altavista mountain refuge on the first day (can that be done in about 10 hours walking?) and then up to the summit (and back) on the second day (but probably take a bus back down to sea-level).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I originally asked it on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/21799/climbing-mount-teide-from-sea-level&quot;&gt;travel site&lt;/a&gt; but was referred to this site as being more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2695" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:06:50.250" LastActivityDate="2020-02-23T21:15:24.243" Title="Climbing Mount Teide from sea-level" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2013-11-16T12:45:27.040" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend gaining 3700+ meters in 2 days. It's not about fitness. It's just about how well your body adapts to altitude. I agree that 3700 meters is not too high to get severely sick due to AMS, but then, it's not recommended to gain more than 1000 meters of vertical distance per day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I know friends who have suffered from altitude sickness at as low as 8000 feet (2500m approx).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to keep in mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;AMS can hit even a very healthy and fit person. Don't overestimate. Be practical.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Read about AMS before heading out. Make sure you know when/where to head back in case you observe some AMS symptoms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What altitude do you live at? Someone who lives at a higher altitude has a higher probability of adjusting to the altitude gain than someone who has lived his life at sea level.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-11-16T12:45:27.040" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4828" CreationDate="2013-11-16T15:48:07.030" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If being in air below 0C is not normal for you, the difference is probably caused by breathing through your mouth vs your nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where there is visible snow, it's colder than 0C. You can feel uncomfortable in your nose breathing in this cold. You won't actually get ice crystals forming in your nose, but you can feel that you are. Your reflex will be to breathe through your mouth more, even though it's safer in say -20C to breathe through your nose to warm the air and spare your lungs. (It doesn't matter at 0 how you breathe, 0 is not that cold.) Breathing through your mouth dries your mouth out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You descend a little, it's 1 or 2 (or even 5) degrees warmer, you relax, and you breathe through your nose again so you stop drying out the inside of your mouth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2013-11-16T15:48:07.030" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2013-11-16T17:19:42.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on how well hydrated you are to start with, whether or not there is a water source at the end of the day, how steep the terrain is, how much food you are eating, how you breathe (mouth or nose), how good of shape you're in, how much weight you're carrying, how hot it is, and what type of pack you are using. If you are totally hydrated before heading out, eat small meals, are in excellent physical shape, keep your pack weight under 35 pounds, use a pack with a well-ventilated back (like an external frame) so you don't overheat, breath through your nose, and lay low during the afternoon... you could easily get by on 2 liters a day, I do it all the time. On the other hand, someone in poor fitness with a 50 pound pack who is chronically mildly dehydrated, using a back-hugging pack that insulates and overheats them, breathes through their mouth, overeats big salty meals, and hikes in the afternoon heat through steep terrain... could easily drink 3 gallons or more in a day, if they have that much available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastActivityDate="2013-11-16T17:19:42.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2013-11-17T00:14:58.513" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I get food-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide (NOT 35%) from my health-food/ vitamin store and put a cap-ful in any water container then fill it to the brim. It works really well to kill microbes of all kinds by oxygenating the water, and you can drink it in that low of a concentration (it is used in commercial food preparation, and some people believe that drinking oxygenated water is actually good for you as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T00:14:58.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2013-11-17T00:37:57.147" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;.30-06 is a much more powerful round with flatter trajectory and greater impact energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, for shots on mid-sized game (like deer) at ranges out to 300 yards, it makes no difference which of those two rounds you use, only that your shot is accurate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both rounds are plenty powerful enough for those common hunting scenarios. For long range shots or very large game (large bears, elk, African game, etc.) .30-06 is a much better round. Being a good marksman and only taking responsible shots (that you know will kill instantly with one shot) is by far the most important thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-22T08:06:37.043" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T08:06:37.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4832" CreationDate="2013-11-17T00:45:57.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adjustable power scopes are inherently less sturdy than fixed power scopes because they have more moving parts. A .308 has a fair amount of recoil and after repeatedly firing it could shake loose parts in a scope not designed for that purpose. It all depends on the scope, but an airgun scope would likely fail after a while if mounted on a .308.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T00:45:57.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4808" CreationDate="2013-11-17T00:53:33.973" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried a few different bivy sacks in all kinds of weather and have always had problems with condensation on the inside, even if they are &quot;breathable&quot;. Now I just use a tarp strung to trees and a good foam pad (z-lite) under my sleeping bag, and I add a &quot;bug-bivy&quot; sack in warm weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T00:53:33.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3181" CreationDate="2013-11-17T01:04:25.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jerky is awesome, or Tonkabites, which is buffalo meat and cranberries. Some jerky brands have lower sodium and no nitrates. I also like those Babybell little gouda cheese things, high calorie and really satisfying. Or any cheese for that matter. Dense calories. Also nuts.com has sprouted nuts that are then dehydrated and spiced, so they taste good and are really easy to digest (unlike normal trailmixes that wreak havoc on my digestive system). Any of the above are good if you want to get away from sweets or high-carb food or are vegetarian. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2696" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T01:04:25.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4808" CreationDate="2013-11-17T03:30:46.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Among people I've talked to who have tried bivy sacks, none have had anything good to say about them. Tarping is a great way to save weight compared to bringing a tent, but putting up a tarp is time-consuming, requires practice, and is somewhat dependent on your surroundings (e.g., whether there are trees available). Tarps often flap in the wind, which can make it difficult to sleep. I typically bring a tarp for summer in the Sierra, where I don't expect to have to use it. If I really expect cold, windy, or wet weather, I will often bring a tent instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-11-17T03:30:46.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4889" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4891" CreationDate="2013-11-18T13:34:07.557" Score="7" ViewCount="1645" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently re-started to get into rock climbing but I've been having a lot of tough time with my fingers cramping up after I get off the wall. And the worst part of it is, I have to paddle down a good 30 km to get back home as I go cycling.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have observed, it happens almost in about half an hour or so of climbing  and is getting fairly painful by each passing day.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For a good minute after I get off a wall I can't extend my fingers at all unless I force them to, which again is fairly painful. I do have difficulties in cycling way back home as I have to break very often due to traffic. I've also noticed that as this starts, a few times my grip strength is greatly reduced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what exactly is going on with my hands and how I can take steps to fix it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2013-11-18T15:42:24.967" LastActivityDate="2013-11-18T15:42:24.967" Title="Cramping Fingers" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4816" CreationDate="2013-11-18T14:24:34.833" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nah, AFAIK Leeches don't sniff/smell at all. Their main form of prey detection is thought to be by thermoreception, meaning Sensitivity to body heat, which is why warm blooded animals and mostly mammals are their preys. They do get attracted towards Water/Wetness. Though you are claiming to be having similar sort of a clothing, I believe you two must not have sweat in a similar amount. Leeches in India (where you trekked, I assume) are more of often found in Humid regions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2013-11-18T14:24:34.833" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4889" CreationDate="2013-11-18T14:36:14.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to admit that I am no health professional but to me it sounds like you are just trying to climb harder that your muscles allow after your climbing break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with restarting any physical activity after some time of being away from it is, that your brain and the memory of your motor system still know how to do things but your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints have lost strength. Therefore you are very likely to just overdo when starting an activity again. Especially with climbing there are some things where you are able to compensate a lack of strength with some bad habit techniques that are prone to give you some bad injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So first of all I would think that you are maybe just climbing harder than your muscles allow at the moment. Also not warming up your fingers enough could influence your muscle performance. Maybe you have also lost some confidence in the belay gear and therefore crimp more than you would have to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case I would recommend to just take it easy for the next times of climbing until you have sort of regained your strength. That means, better take some really easy routes for warming up and then increase the grade slowly. Especially if you feel that your grip strength is reduced don't try to compensate with weird hand positions or the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your muscles start to cramp better stop climbing for that session or at least take some hours of break. As you have to cycle home after climbing, better stop climbing a bit earlier than at a point where you already cannot open your fist anymore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2013-11-18T14:36:14.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4893" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4913" CreationDate="2013-11-19T06:49:26.730" Score="23" ViewCount="1735" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question has been eating my head for quite some time now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I trek often and most of the treks involve climbing up to a peak or something similar. I usually carry heavy loads of around 13-15kgs on my back and I've always found that walking up the slopes of a hill/mountain at a brisker pace is easier with the heavier loads. I climb fast, rest for a minute or two and start off briskly again. However, I have met trekkers who have told me that this is not a good practice and it's better to maintain a slow pace while going up the slopes. I did try this a few times but a slower pace tires me down faster while carrying heavier loads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, &lt;strong&gt;which is better while walking up the slopes&lt;/strong&gt;? Slower pace or the brisk one? Or is it just a matter of choice and nothing more? &lt;strong&gt;(Better in terms of the ease of the climb and avoiding injuries over a period of years)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would appreciate both personal preferences as well as scientific answers for the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I am not referring to high altitude climbs &lt;em&gt;i.e more than 3000m&lt;/em&gt; (at higher altitudes, slow pace is the only one advisable due to acclimatization). Also, the slopes I refer to have gradients from 30 - 50 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please note that I'm not worried about maintaining the group structure of a trekking group or the time taken for slow vs fast walk. I'm concerned about the injuries one might incur and the ease of the climb.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-11-28T08:59:54.070" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T01:52:10.903" Title="Walking up the slopes. To walk brisk or to walk slow?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4893" CreationDate="2013-11-19T10:29:37.720" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say there is no point in walking briskly. With a heavy backpack, it's a no-no for me.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have observed and have struggled with the same problem when I started off towards some serious trekking with genuinely elevated/steep climbs with a heavy haversack on my back. The sack that I usually carry weighs about 18 kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who are advising you to walk slowly are not precisely correct either. I believe when it's about trekking, the term slow has lot of variants.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For example, what is slow for me, would be extremely slow or probably out of rhythm for you. The point is, everybody has his/her own rhythm of walking (especially while ascending). So, if you ever feel like you are unusually panting for breath, it means that either you are carrying more weight than you normally do, or you are walking faster than you normally do (&lt;em&gt;i.e. walking out of the rhythm that suits you, or you have developed over the years&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen people who don't walk briskly, but they go miles without stopping. Now that's rhythm! And on the contrary, I have also seen people who literally run through an ascend and then rest for quite some time. That is exertion IMHO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's an art to maintain the rhythm and keep yourself fit to walk the entire day. Walking in rhythm (neither too fast, nor too slow) over ascends and meadows and plateaus, I have trekked for 22 hrs, without resting for more than 20 minutes at each break, with around 2 hrs in resting altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;When trekking within a group:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important for a group to be in pack during the entire trek/hike. We simply can't expect every other guy/girl to walk at your pace. There will be rolling stones (&lt;em&gt;I meant, people who walk a little slower than what suits your walking style&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In that matter, you shouldn't just go ahead, find a shade/tree to rest by and wait for them to come: this isn't the way to trek within a group IMHO. I have observed this humongous amount of times that people who have developed the habit (ability is not the word) to walk briskly often do the same thing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Rather, if I am a guy who can walk at a milder pace, I can accompany almost every single fellow in the group, often shifting my gears just a bit to get along with the guy/girl marching ahead of the group and ask him/her to slow down if he/she is going too fast, and without much of rest needed, can simply walk a little slow to get to the guy/girl trailing behind the group, having tough time and try to make him/her feel better by deviating his/her mind from the exhaustion that he/she is feeling, help him/her boost up his/her morale to carry on a little further. &#xA;To achieve this, I need to have a rhythm that is neither too fast, nor too slow. Someone who walks briskly/faster won't be able to do that task over the longer formats of the treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-04T21:02:12.997" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T21:02:12.997" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4893" CreationDate="2013-11-19T11:50:05.973" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already said in WedaPashi's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4894/2410&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, the question in my personal experience is not so much about fast and slow. It is mainly about finding your own rhythm and walking speed that you can then sustain for long times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I go too fast, I come to a state where I have to take a rest, after some minutes I feel like &quot;Oh, I'm fine again&quot;, start to walk again too fast and have to stop after some minutes again breathing like a steam engine. Overall this takes me much longer than walking with lower but quite constant speed. But once I am in this &quot;run and rest&quot; mode, it is very hard to get myself out of it again and regain a more constant walking mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just recently I had to walk behind someone who was walking slightly slower than my own rhythm was. It nearly drove me crazy as it was always an interplay between catching up and letting me fall back, because when I went my own speed I was too fast but at the speed of the guy in front I felt like being totally out of rhythm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2013-11-24T21:45:53.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4903" CreationDate="2013-11-20T00:22:45.623" Score="10" ViewCount="3399" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know the strength of an ATC when used in a multi-pitch set up? It occurred to me that the entire weight of a climber is resting on the strength of the ATC clip and not on any carabiner. I know it is not likely, but say if the belayer did not take in slack while the climber was climbing and took a large fall, how much force would be exerted on the ATC? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've looked at Black Diamond, and Petzl, neither of which have KN ratings on their multi-pitch belay devices. Any clue why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-belay-rappel/atc-guide-belay-rappel-device-BD620055_cfg.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-belay-rappel/atc-guide-belay-rappel-device-BD620055_cfg.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/REVERSO-4#.VuNJHUk77CQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/REVERSO-4#.VuNJHUk77CQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2702" LastEditorUserId="2702" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T14:09:39.370" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:46:11.847" Title="What is the strength of an ATC belay device when used in a guide mode/multi-pitch setup?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4896" CreationDate="2013-11-20T04:38:06.587" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome to outdoors.SE!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It occurred to me that the entire weight of a climber is resting on the strength of the ATC clip and not on any carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not quite right. My first quibble is that in the situation you describe where there was slack in the rope, the load is dynamic, so it's much greater than the weight of the climber. (Sorry, I'm a physics teacher, so I get pedantic sometimes.) The second issue is that it's not true that there is no load on any carabiner. The carabiner that is clipped into the ATC is acted on by a downward force L equal to the load of the falling climber, an upward force A from the anchor, and a small force B (probably upward) from the brake strand. The ATC is designed to make the rope jam while B is still very small. So to a pretty good approximation, Newton's first law applied to the carabiner says that A=L, and the carabiner feels a stress L, i.e., it's fully loaded with the dynamic force of the falling climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it's true that in this situation, where the second falls and the belayer has left slack, the force transmitted to the anchor can be considerably greater than the force that would be transmitted to the belay station in a normal lead fall. To clarify this, let's consider a normal lead fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a normal lead fall, the rope forms an inverted U around the top piece of protection, and in this U configuration, the friction in the U causes the tension in the belayer's strand to be lower than the tension in the climber's strand by a large factor. The exact factor depends on coefficients of friction, but sources I've seen for typical friction between a steel biner and a climbing rope put it at about 5 to 13. Although this is nice for the belayer because it greatly reduces the tension in the rope at the belay station, it comes at a price, because force is bring transmitted to the top piece of protection, which could pull out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in your situation with the second falling on a slack rope, the good news is that he's not loading some crappy, non-redundant nut or cam that was placed somewhere because there was no opportunity to do any better. He's loading the anchor at the top of the pitch, which is presumably redundant and carefully constructed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess you were concerned about the stresses in the block of the ATC itself, and whether they would crack the block open. The thing is, these are forces exerted on the ATC by the rope, and by Newton's third law the ATC is exerting equal forces back on the corresponding parts of the rope. The block of the ATC is made of metal, and the rope is made of nylon. If something is going to fail in this part of the system, I think it's the rope, not the block of the ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-11-20T16:35:31.023" LastActivityDate="2013-11-20T16:35:31.023" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4896" CreationDate="2013-11-20T12:31:09.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;say if the belayer did not take in slack while the climber was climbing and took a large fall, how much force would be exerted on the ATC? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume we're talking about a follower being belayed with ATC in guide/autoblocking mode? Then even the most determinedly incompetent/malicious belayer cannot produce more than a factor one fall. Are you familier with the concept of fall factors? In this case, the unfortunate second climbs all the way up to the stance, without the belayer taking in any rope whatsoever, then falls all the way back down again. The distance s/he falls is equal to the total amount of rope in use: fall factor 1. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unpleasant for the falling climber, especially if s/he hits something on the way down, but nowehere near the worst case scenario for force on the ATC. That comes with a factor two fall, where the leader falls off above the belay, without any intermediate gear, and falls twice as far as the amount of rope in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, in a factor two scenario I personally do have serious concerns about the safety of an ATC, not because of the device itself breaking but because of the rather limited braking force it provides on modern slick, skinny ropes. IMO it is seriously questionable whether many belayers would be able to hold a factor two fall on an ATC. The direction of pull is down whereas people are used to holding upwards pulls. Some rope is definitely going to run through, and most people these days don't belay with gloves, so ropeburn is pretty much a given. Etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons I'm seriously looking for an alternative with semi-automatic assisted braking for multipitch. The Alpine Up is big, heavy and looks dauntingly complicated; the Edelrid Mega Jul is nice but I've read about some quality control issues. Will probably buy the second generation Jul when Edelrid have ironed the bugs out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Otoh many people argue that the ATC is advantageous with marginal trad gear because its relatively soft braking action reduces the impact force. This is understandable, but based on some tests I've seen it seems to be exaggerated. Top Canadian ice climber Will Gadd for example is on record favouring a grigri for ice climbing these days.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastEditorUserId="2394" LastEditDate="2013-11-20T16:47:46.393" LastActivityDate="2013-11-20T16:47:46.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4896" CreationDate="2013-11-20T17:04:21.233" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aha! I knew I'd read something about this somewhere, and here it is. Scroll down to the test done by Jim Titt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First Fail Mode: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The trapped rope escapes sideways from under the tensioned rope and gets trapped between the tensioned rope and the side of the slot.This is very difficult to free off and you have to dismantle everything and twist the locking krab brutally to release the rope. Take your Prusiks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Second fail mode: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Apply yet more load and the trapped rope where it crosses the tensioned rope goes down through the slot with a bang. At this point the holding power drops off considerably but not catastrophically, though pretty near! &#xA;  Easy to release, just unclip the krab when unweighted. Still need to take your Prusiks! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ATC Guide. 10.2 Mammut, used, non-treated. First fail mode 4.8kN. No second fail mode, rope sheath cut at ca 9kN. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ATC Guide. 9mm Edelrid, used, non treated. First fail mode 2.96kN. Max fail load 5.58kN. Residual load 1.6kN &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ATC Guide. 8.2mm Edelrid, new,treated. First fail mode 2.05kN. Max fail load 4.06kN. Residual load 1.2kN &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reversoï¿½. 10.2 Mammut, used, non treated. First fail mode 3.68kN. No second fail mode. Rope sheath cut ca 9kN &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reversoï¿½. 9mm Edelrid, used, non treated. First fail mode 2.25kN. Max fail load 3.60kN. Residual load 0.9kN &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reversoï¿½. 8.2mm Edelrid, new,treated. First fail mode 1.6kN. Max fail load 2.38kN. Residual load 0.7kN &#xA;  All with Petzl Attache 12mm round profile karabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not my idea of a reliable roped-solo device!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/atc-guide/106838345__1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://web.archive.org/web/20150630222503/http://www.mountainproject.com/v/atc-guide/106838345__1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He pull tested an ATC in guide mode. Quick summary: the device itself doesn't fail or suffer damage. With a 10mm rope the ATC jams severely at 4.8 kN, breaks the rope at 9 kN. I don't know how to work out how much of a fall the second would have to take to get to 4.8 kN, but probably quite a bit; s/he certainly ain't getting to nine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With an 8mm rope it's a little more alarming; device jams at 2 kN, locking fails at 4 kN. I imagine 2 kN would be pretty easy for a dropped follower to achieve, so anybody belaying two followers simultaneously on skinny double ropes evidently needs to pay attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:46:11.847" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:46:11.847" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4904" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4905" CreationDate="2013-11-24T03:50:31.097" Score="8" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I climb comfortably at 5.11c at my gym (Top Rope Only), but I have never climbed outdoors so a group of experienced climbers have offered to teach my friend and I how to lead sport routes.  I have chosen all my gear except for the rope. I am currently looking at the following:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5029-605/maxim-equinox-9.9mm-rope/?Ns=p_min_sale_price&amp;amp;No=0&amp;amp;h=10%2050001%2050635&amp;amp;f=10%2050001%2050635&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Option 1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5003-459/mammut-supernova-10mm-rope-with-bag/?Ns=p_min_sale_price&amp;amp;h=10%2050001%2050635&amp;amp;f=10%2050001%2050635&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Option 2&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5018-742/maxim-glider-9.9mm-dry-rope/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Option 3&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope will be used for two days outdoors then indoors until May @ 2-3 times a week then outdoors again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know from the experienced users here if I should invest in the dry treatment?  Am i going to feel a difference between a 9.2kN and 9.5kN impact force?  As well will i notice a difference of 2.1% in static elongation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of right now I am leaning towards option 1, but if there are valid reasons to spend the little bit extra for the dry option 3 then i will gladly go that route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friend an I are the same height and weight: 5'10 170lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: This rope will NOT be used in any wet conditions such as Mountaineering or Ice Climbing...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-11-26T23:06:35.350" Title="What Rope to purchase?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4904" CreationDate="2013-11-24T16:58:20.863" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: For your first rope, none of these numbers matter. Any 60m dynamic rope around 10mm diameter will be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get the cheapest one of the three, and buy a rope bag to keep it clean. Get some good instruction and enjoy climbing outside!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2013-11-24T16:58:20.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4904" CreationDate="2013-11-24T21:44:17.440" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;None of the information you give about your planned use case sets any limitation to a standard dynamical sports climbing rope. Also you won't notice small differences in the specs especially as it is your first rope to buy. Those different specs will only make a difference as you bring a rope to its limits. For example with routes where you have huge bolt distances and can expect high fall factors, a lower impact force will be nice, but in a typical sports climbing case this won't matter. So you can just go and get the one that is cheapest or you feel most comfortable with or that has the nicest color or whatever criterion you want to choose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the dry option: this will only be of relevance if you plan to use the rope for glacier hiking and/or ice climbing where it is more or less sure the the rope will get wet. But in this case you will usually get a rope on its own as normal sports climbing useage would quickly destroy the dry coating. Therefore investing money in a dry coating that you (according to the information you gave) quite surely won't use will only make the salesman happy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2013-11-25T13:54:39.680" LastActivityDate="2013-11-25T13:54:39.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4647" CreationDate="2013-11-25T20:39:13.477" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I try to avoid the following:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carrying water (i.e., food that has lots of water in it).  The exception is fresh fruits and vegetables, which are worth the weight in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pre-made dehydrated backpacking crap.  Overpriced and unappetizing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The key thing is that being in the backcountry shouldn't really change how you think about eating.  You cook food like you make at home.&lt;/strong&gt;  Don't expect that if you aren't a good cook at home you'll suddenly be a master backcountry chef.  So, practice good cooking at home.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My bible on cooking and eating outside is the NOLS Backcountry Cookery Book.  Just buy it.  But the key ideas are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring nuts and dried fruit (trail mix) for quick, fatty calories that you need to keep going during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring tea, coffee, etc. to make hot drinks in the night and morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring dried grains (the book has a nice formula for deciding how much) for the staples.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring a bunch of interesting and interchangable things to help jazz up the grains.  Your trail mix is the first one.  Others are: tomato paste, salt, pepper, fresh veggies, garam masala, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;CHEESE.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baking mix and some margarine (&quot;Earth Balance&quot; has a nice flavor) are good to have.  You can make pancakes, biscuits, savory fry breads, etc. that fulfill cravings.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know the edible plants (and animals, like fish) in your area.  REALLY KNOW THEM if you are going to eat...and enjoy.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2709" LastActivityDate="2013-11-25T20:39:13.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2013-11-25T20:42:46.333" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This goes for kids and adults:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure they have enough food.  Have them eat trail mix and fruit before they get hungry (same with water and thirst).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't over-do it.  Take what you think a reasonable hike would be, then multiply it by the ratio of their height to your height (or, for adults, by the number of years they have been doing backcountry travel by your years).  Then multiply it again by 50%.  Now you have a reasonable goal...or, you get the idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EMPHASIZE THE JOURNEY NOT THE DESTINATION.  This goes for the parents and the kids.  Stop along the way to marvel at the things you see on the trail, big and small.  Encourage the uninitiated to lead the way and explore a bit.  If your hike ends up being 1 mile and you learn a lot about that strip of land it is better than going 4 miles and needing to crack the whip the whole way.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2709" LastActivityDate="2013-11-25T20:42:46.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-11-25T21:52:32.540" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bring the big bottle.  That way you can fill it if you need to, and not all the way if you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2709" LastActivityDate="2013-11-25T21:52:32.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4646" CreationDate="2013-11-25T22:07:10.630" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are various popular beliefs that alcoholic and caffeinated drinks &quot;don't count&quot; for hydration because alcohol and caffeine dehydrate you. In fact, beer consumed in moderation has a hydrating, rather than a dehydrating, effect,[Valtin 2002] and laboratory studies have shown that caffeinated soda is just as hydrating as water, i.e., the diuretic effect of the caffeine is too small to measure.[Grandjean 2000] Even in the case of coffee, which has much higher concentrations of caffeine than soda, studies going back as far as 1928 have shown that the diuretic effect vanishes for people whose bodies have learned to tolerate the caffeine.[Eddy 1928]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caffeine has various positive mental and physical effects, which are one of the main reasons people consume caffeine. It typically improves athletic performance, which would be a plus while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caffeine is addictive. However, the time it takes to lose the addiction is typically very short, typically just a few days. Some people may actually lose a significant portion of their physical dependence and tolerance just between their last cup of coffee of the day and the time when they wake up the next morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a heavy caffeine habit and suddenly go cold turkey for a hike, the withdrawal symptoms may be unpleasant on your first day. A lot of people think they have physical problems with altitude at elevations as low as 2500-3000 m, and while I don't have any hard evidence, I've always suspected that a lot of the headaches, etc., are not really the effects of altitude but in fact a combination of sleep deprivation and caffeine withdrawal. If you want to avoid withdrawal symptoms, one possibility is just to taper off your habit in the last couple of days before the trip. This is what I do, and it works well for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how you get your caffeine, obtaining it while backpacking may be time-consuming, because you have to boil water. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. Purely as a social matter, a pitstop for tea is a valued little ceremony, e.g., for many mountain guides in East Africa. The hot water may also be helpful if you're in cold weather, and bringing the water to a boil will also kill any potentially harmful microorganisms, although the presence of such pathogens in backcountry water sources has been vastly exaggerated in the popular consciousness. (And contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to boil the water for any particular amount of time. All organisms capable of causing disease in humans when ingested are killed long before the boiling point is reached, although bringing the water to a boil is a handy way to verify that you've reached the necessary temperature.) If you don't want the hassle of boiling water, and want to keep getting your caffeine fix, there are various other options such as caffeine pills (No Doz), chocolate-covered coffee beans, and caffeinated energy gels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eddy 1928 - Eddy NB, Downs AW. Tolerance and cross-tolerance in the human subject to the diuretic effect of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1928;33:167-174.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grandjean 2000 - Grandjean et al., &quot;The Effect of Caffeinated, Non-Caffeinated, Caloric and Non-Caloric Beverages on Hydration,&quot; Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 19, No. 5, 591-600 (2000) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/5/591&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/5/591&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Valtin 2002 - Heinz Valtin, &quot;'Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.' Really? Is there scientific evidence for '8x8'?,&quot; Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 283: R993-R1004, 2002. &lt;a href=&quot;http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/283/5/R993&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/283/5/R993&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-11-25T22:12:25.260" LastActivityDate="2013-11-25T22:12:25.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4911" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-11-26T07:03:40.830" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is for all questions about outdoor navigation with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;compass&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mobile device&lt;/a&gt; equipped with sensors for &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_navigation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;satellite based positioning systems&lt;/a&gt; e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GPS&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLONASS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GLONASS&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="1879" LastEditDate="2013-11-26T21:39:10.167" LastActivityDate="2013-11-26T21:39:10.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4912" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-11-26T07:03:40.830" Score="0" Body="This tag is for all questions about outdoor navigation with maps, compasses or mobile devices equipped with sensors for satellite based positioning systems." OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="1879" LastEditDate="2013-11-26T21:39:24.180" LastActivityDate="2013-11-26T21:39:24.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4893" CreationDate="2013-11-26T07:20:32.913" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This answer address efficiency i.e. to climb quickly, without getting too tired. It is something in between an answer and a comment.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage of walking consistently is &lt;strong&gt;thermal balance&lt;/strong&gt;. That's how some old people in my area hike for several hours in the snow, wearing only shoes and short pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And by thermal balance I mean avoiding the vicious cycle of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dress comfortably for the weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walk 10 minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;become too hot and sweaty and stop to remove a layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walk 50 minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stop for a 5 minute rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;become cold from the wind and put extra layers on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;depart from the rest and repeat the whole procedure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This not only introduces huge time-outs for re-clothing, but can also be hazardous to health in colder climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this is only a secondary benefit and is in no way as significant as Weda's argument. Keeping consistent, slow (i.e. not exhausting) pace is the way to hike far and swiftly, for many days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, the same discussion applies to cyclists. Pedalling hard in a difficult gear is a performance-killer. It took me 10 years to learn that :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14640/when-hiking-why-is-the-right-of-way-given-to-people-going-up&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; and the accepted answer restate my point but with actual justification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2021-01-22T05:22:31.660" LastActivityDate="2021-01-22T05:22:31.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4914" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-26T10:15:37.893" Score="7" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone tried making their own make-shift Hydrapack?&#xA;Over the years of trekking I have never owned a Hydrapack. So, before investing on something, and for some fun-n-learn part of it, I would like to make myself a Hydrapack. What are the basic things that I need, and how to go about it?&#xA;I first had a thought of making it out of Blood-bags or Urine bags that are used in hospitals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always tried to make things for fun. Like I made my own Headlamp using power LEDs and a cheap circuit, which honestly works as good as a Petzl lamp. That urge to use make-my-own-gear products really has made me understand the product more and repair/make-shift them in case of emergencies. I have made a swiss-knife out of something as well, that's the point: Fun-n-make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-13T14:24:29.210" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T14:24:29.210" Title="Has anyone tried making their own make-shift Hydrapack?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4904" CreationDate="2013-11-26T13:19:32.593" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Mammut rope that looks identical to your Option 2 (Mammut Supernova) although it is sold in Europe under a different name. I am not all impressed with it and wouldn't buy one again. Handling deteriorated rather quickly under quite moderate usage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mammut is a fine company and makes many excellent ropes, just not this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-11-26T13:19:32.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4917" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-11-26T23:46:29.110" Score="7" ViewCount="2167" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently started trying out the backpackinglight.com mantra of a tarp and a water resistant breathable top bivy bag with a waterproof bathtub bottom (basically a shrunk inner tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming it is fairly dry, I think it is best to keep the pad outside the bivy bag on the groundsheet so the bivy is lifted off the ground and the bottom of it is slightly warmer, hopefully reducing condensation inside (- breathable or not, some will appear).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering whether anybody had any opinions, arguments or experiences there? Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2013-11-28T09:57:10.097" Title="Sleeping pad inside or outside bivy bag?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3197" CreationDate="2013-11-27T03:21:50.213" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nor'easters move from the south to the north. Just like a hurricane. They are cyclonic and the wind that hits the coast comes from the NE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2713" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2013-11-27T08:58:34.363" LastActivityDate="2013-11-27T08:58:34.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4919" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4937" CreationDate="2013-11-27T12:52:16.093" Score="5" ViewCount="2130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have rappelled quite a few times. I have also done commando rappel on shorter patches (up to 100 ft or so). The pic of a cliff that I have attached below is Kokankada. The height to rappel will be around 1800ft into 4 stages. Out of that, probably a 800 ft will be pure overhang. I have rappelled here before, now I want to try a commando rappel at this place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: How are we supposed to rappel on such a large overhanging cliff? What are do's and don't's?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKKbA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-11-27T21:30:12.947" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T23:41:49.593" Title="How to rappel on an over-hanging cliff?" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-11-27T19:33:06.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;On Sleds, if your looking for one at the store look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arrow dynamic or the &gt; shape for the snow will be pushed to the side and youll go faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;small compact space, not with 3 dozen people on it for they will slow you down not only is more area on a sled makes it heaver on the ground both causing friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;thick and reliable so it wont break, blow ups such as inner tubes can POP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;plastics can break if hit two hard on a jump. metals will dent if not made too thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;foam flakes and wears off slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recommendations.&#xA;1 person Disk/saucer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 or more Tobaggon w arrow shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally don’t like runners because they dig into the ground for adults slowing them down and making the grounds man angry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember the plastics can be made at different levels I Personally like Fiberglass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2714" LastActivityDate="2013-11-27T19:33:06.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4917" CreationDate="2013-11-28T09:57:10.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how robust the waterproof bottom of your bivy bag is, but with the bivy bags I know (which are predominantly some kind of mountaineering emergency equipment) I would not want to put the sleeping pad into them. The reason is simply, that bivy bags are designed to give a good weather insulation (primarily by being waterproof and windproof) while being (more or less) lightweight. A result of the latter point is that they are normally not that robust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you now put your sleeping pad into the bivy bag, then the bag is the layer that is directly in contact with the ground and that has to bear most of the friction that arises while you move in your sleep. This won't be a problem if you camp on snow as you have a smooth ground surface there but if you camp on rougher ground, I could imagine that you would wear down the bivy bag rather quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bottom part of the bag is actually more like the bottom of an inner tent, i.e. made of some robust plastic foil, that might not hurt that much. In this case it might be better to put the sleeping pad inside so that it does not get dirty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2013-11-28T09:57:10.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2013-11-28T21:36:52.200" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used Jordan david ice grips called Altragrips-Lite™ LP’s. I can go in and out of the store where I work. The spikes are  1mm studs that don't dig into the floor either. I've used over the years, and if they get wet, these ice grips have fallen off. However if you put some straps on them, the ice grips will not fall off. For more info&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slipresistant.net/Slip-Resistant-Pages/altragrips-lite-slip-resistant-attachments.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.slipresistant.net/Slip-Resistant-Pages/altragrips-lite-slip-resistant-attachments.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2715" LastActivityDate="2013-11-28T21:36:52.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="918" CreationDate="2013-11-29T01:49:17.740" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of microspikes, and have a friend who has owned both microspikes and yaktrax. The impression I get is that yaktrax are meant for walking around town on sidewalks covered with snow and ice, whereas microspikes are more for trails and steep terrain. Microspikes have spikes, yaktrax don't. Because of that, yaktrax give much poorer traction on ice, but you can walk into a shop without taking them off. Microspikes are more like mini-crampons, and the situation where they're really great is if you're hiking across a landscape where there's a mixture of rocks, ice, snow, and dirt. Crampons are not well suited to these mixed conditions. Microspikes are also more compact and lightweight than crampons, and unlike crampons they're compatible with any kind of shoe. I've used microspikes plus an ice ax in situations where other people were using crampons plus an ice ax, and although I would have felt safer with crampons, they were better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-11-29T01:49:17.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4868" CreationDate="2013-11-29T10:45:39.033" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife is a doctor and she always wears gloves when dealing with wounds, even with friends outside of clinic. But when I ask her if I should wear gloves, she says it's not necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is that the probability to catch a disease in, well, developed contries is quite small, so if you do it once in a year you are ok. But if you do it every day you will catch it sooner or later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I had an unconscious stranger before me, I would first estimate the risk based on his social status (because there are no other clues) and than decide if I am going to take this risk taking into account that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the person will die or be permanently injured before I put on gloves (if I have some), or not&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the person will die or be permanently injured before medcs arrive, or not&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my skill is high enough to help the person, or not&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am a husband and a father &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where the moral choice comes in and nobody else can do it for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2013-11-29T10:45:39.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2013-12-01T01:10:31.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fecal contamination should not really be an issue unless someone is already sick.  Recent research has suggested that even eating ones own poop should not make you sick.  Fecal transplants is a new way of treating some issues that form from a lack of flora in your gut. &lt;a href=&quot;http://gawker.com/5985723/can-you-eat-your-own-poop.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Can You Eat Your Own Poop?&lt;/a&gt; I for one would use something to treat the water.   My cousin hiked the Sierra MTS a few years ago and contracted giardia so just from that knowledge I would definetely treat the water with something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2719" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T07:57:00.700" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T07:57:00.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1186" CreationDate="2013-12-01T15:25:09.743" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always catch a ton of bass in Florida when the water is murky. I am a stickler for using Zoom watermelon/red trick worms without a weight. I ALWAYS fish along banks and structure, nothing deeper than 4 feet. I ALWAYS hide from the wind and fish the calm water, I do not recommend fishing in heavy wind with the technique listed above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HAPPY FISHING!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2720" LastActivityDate="2013-12-01T15:25:09.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4929" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-01T17:15:47.067" Score="18" ViewCount="5039" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there &lt;strong&gt;any adverse effects of drinking distilled water&lt;/strong&gt; (possibly obtained melting snow or using other survival techniques like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar still&lt;/a&gt;)? Maybe dehydratation, diarrhea...? Some people even claim that it can induce embolism and red-cells death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, there is the saying &lt;em&gt;pure water, as it goes in, it goes out&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So many people recommend mixing distilled water with some salts &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;. As far as I've read, the danger is mostly a myth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any personal experiences?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a related question at Skeptics.SE: &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/5484/does-drinking-distilled-water-remove-needed-minerals-from-your-body&quot;&gt;Does drinking distilled water remove needed minerals from your body?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; As an anecdote, some mountaineers and scouts used these salts to mineralize and &lt;em&gt;oxigenate&lt;/em&gt; water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zjtu3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2718" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:19:32.473" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:19:32.473" Title="How safe is drinking distilled water?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2013-12-01T22:45:54.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have tested many sleds over the years and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainboysleds.com/shop/ultimate-flyer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; is as dangerously fast as it is classically beautiful. I won't ride this one without a helmet and other protective gear. We live on a mountain and I'll often leave this one in the garage in favor of a cheap plastic torpedo style sled because it's too fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainboysleds.com/shop/ultimate-flyer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cDs3D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ultimate Flyer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2721" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2017-03-21T18:24:18.280" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T18:24:18.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4929" CreationDate="2013-12-02T04:31:00.580" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The effects of drinking distilled, deminieralized, deionized, and many other forms of water purification have been thoroughly studied and despite the research, the jury is still out on the subject, with regards to temporary usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as adventuring goes, it appears it does not matter, as long as the water you are drinking is microbiologically and toxicologically safe, it will be fine. If you drink distilled water all day every day, you may after awhile have a mineral deficiency, though supplements and diet can solve that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, distillation of any water recovered in the field requires an &lt;strong&gt;enormous&lt;/strong&gt; amount of energy compared to other methods of treatments. So much so that it is completely impractical to distill water in the wild, you will destroy whatever campground you go to, collecting enough firewood to distill enough water to drink, in addition to the equipment you'd need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the concern about needing salts, that is not a myth, but it only is an issue in some environments: those were you sweat a great deal and drink a lot of water. In those situations, e.g. desert camping, hyponatremia can be a serious concern. However, elsewhere, such as backpacking in the cool mountains, is pretty much never going to be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-12-02T04:31:00.580" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4919" CreationDate="2013-12-02T10:40:12.797" Score="1" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you must have identified and installed proper belay points which can be reached when overhanging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be sure that your rope is long enough to reach that points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;always make knots at the end of your ropes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't use &quot;commando&quot; style&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/RapBackup.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;friction knot&lt;/a&gt; as backup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascender_%28climbing%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;equipment&lt;/a&gt; with you to ascend the rope if you don't reach the belay points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;talk with someone who rappelled the cliff in the past&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use walkie talkies to be able to talk with leaders and followers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastActivityDate="2013-12-02T10:40:12.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4862" CreationDate="2013-12-03T06:45:53.900" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbingtechniques.org/rope-management.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Rope Basket&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This system works well on stances where you are standing comfortably on a ledge, but you don't have enough space to flake the rope. It is also much easier if you are swinging leads. Your personal anchor system or tie-in is connected to your anchor, making a straight line to the rock. As your second climbs upward, you will drape the rope over your tie-in in neat, equal length coils. The coils shouldn't touch the ground; we have found that they tend to get tangled and twisted if they do. Your coils should start at your harness and move one by one toward your anchor. If you run out of space, place the next coil at your harness and repeat. This will keep them neat and less likely to tangle. The more care you take in making the coils neat, the same length and in the correct order, the less likely you are to have a tangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When your second reaches the belay, keep your stance as much as possible to keep your rope orderly. Once you have finished the transition, you can belay normally, giving rope from your rope basket as necessary. It also keeps the rope close at hand, so if there are tangles you can fix them easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-12-03T06:45:53.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4936" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4940" CreationDate="2013-12-03T12:22:52.497" Score="7" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's imagine I'm hiking and I find a water source - like a lake, a stream or a well, and I want to fill my water bottle with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a bottle and a water filter. And a bandana. Since I can't tell if the water I see is safe, I want to filter it prior to drinking. But - how should I proceed? I see 3 options here: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Filter the water right away, when filling the bottle. This way I'm sure the water inside the bottle is safe for drinking. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or fill the bottle with (possibly contaminated) water and filter it before drinking. This allows me to have my filter last a bit longer (as some water from my bottle could be used for purposes that don't require a clean water...) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or, maybe, have a bottle with the filter in the drinking cap (or drinking straw), so if I want the clean water - I can sip it from there and if I need &quot;just&quot; water, I can pour it from the bottle directly (note: I got no idea if there are any good bottles with good filters/drinking straws like that). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before filling my bottle I can pre-filter the whole water via bandana, of course, to get rid of floating particles and maybe let the UV from the Sun do some job on killing bacteria. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be your approach? Assuming the filter &lt;strong&gt;won't&lt;/strong&gt; last forever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2731" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:15.963" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:15.963" Title="When to perform a filtering of the water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4919" CreationDate="2013-12-03T12:41:56.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rappelling is dangerous enough and doing this from very high heights is something to be taken extremely serious (unlike the video link you’ve given). All of the stuff that Kai K. has recommended I would assume you already knows without being told.  In my mind, the piece about commando rappelling (very serious climbers do not do this) seems dangerous. I have been climbing in Yosemite seriously for over a decade and ascended all of the major walls there, so my experience is deep. In all those years, I have never met climber(s) that would do this on a cliff this size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I have done this type of repelling before, I see additional points to stress: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the overhang is severe enough, one issue is being able to stay in contact with the wall. If you bounce or push off the wall with enough force such that you come in contact with the wall again, then it will be easier for you to clip an anchor. If you lose contact with the wall, you could be left in midair which will requires take time and energy to get you back. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the anchor has no slings, it could be tricky to find them. With large cliff faces as you’ve shown, I would have a daisy chain ready to clip in to an anchor in the case that there are no slings to grab. I have been in situations where I was not been able to find anchors and was force to use jumars (or ascenders) to go back up the rope. This is no small feat if you have not practiced it. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend that you do this by finding a high bridge, tying off a rope and ascending up the rope using jumars. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the best practice in all climb excursions is being able to self-rescue yourself. Good luck to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2728" LastActivityDate="2013-12-03T12:41:56.900" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4938" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-12-03T12:43:16.387" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use this tag instead of the &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/abseiling&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;abseiling&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;abseiling&lt;/a&gt; tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rappelling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rappelling&lt;/a&gt;, also called &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abseiling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;abseiling&lt;/a&gt;, is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope. Use this tag if you have question about descending rocks with a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T11:06:11.693" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T11:06:11.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4939" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-12-03T12:43:16.387" Score="0" Body="Rappelling, also called abseiling, is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope.&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;The words themselves come from German (Abseil) and French (Rappel) but are generally accepted adopted English words (there is no true English word for this activity)." OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T11:06:11.693" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T11:06:11.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4936" CreationDate="2013-12-03T15:30:09.227" Score="15" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Filter the water right away, when filling the bottle. This way I'm sure the water inside the bottle is safe for drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why? The main point for me is accessibility of that water. If you come to a situation where you &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; fresh water, then it may not just be because you've set up camp, you've got a while to spare and you feel like a drink. It may be (for example) that you've cut yourself and need to wash the wound, and in that case you won't have time to sit there with a filter and sort it out - so chances are you'd just use the water as is or go without, neither of which are ideal scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practical reasons are also worth pointing out - dealing with dirty and fresh water in separate bottles has the potential for getting them mixed, especially if you're tired after a long day of hiking, that could go rather wrong. These chances are compounded if you're hiking with someone else who may not know what water you've put in what bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I wouldn't be worried about a bit of filter life here and there, I'd much prefer to have a stable, fresh supply of water I don't need to worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also worth mentioning as your third option - good filters are really rather slow, so I'd be incredibly wary of using any filter that was in the straw directly. If the filter was any good then you simply wouldn't get enough to drink that way!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-24T09:06:11.843" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T09:06:11.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4941" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-03T16:31:14.610" Score="11" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to visit northern Chile and particularly the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Atacama&lt;/a&gt; region. The goal would be to trek in the area, during about 10-12 days. It can be one long route or several shorter ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What routes are accessible between mid-April and beginning of March? Any restriction due to the weather conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-04-11T10:43:39.583" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T10:43:39.583" Title="What are possible trekking routes in the Atacama region in Chile in mid April?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4942" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4943" CreationDate="2013-12-04T03:15:08.197" Score="27" ViewCount="21259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that this has been debated for some time (whether it is better to sleep in a tent or a tarp) but recently this debate came up between my friends and me, and I am just feeling out this possible discussion to get more exposure from people who are in the know. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that people who go backpacking because they want to “be one with nature” and escape life. So why do so many backpackers use enclosed tents instead of open tarp systems (which I use and favor). Is it because tents are easier to feel that you are more protected from weather, insects and even wildlife (at least, that is what my friends’ claim, which I don’t buy)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all fairness, I grew-up using a tarp system since I was around 5 years old because my Dad was an ultralight backpacker; that is, I had no choice. That being said, I’ve used tarps in rain, snow and insects, and I have always felt protected enough because I have the experience behind me. Now that I am 20 years old, I feel that a “walled tent” keeps me away from raw nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious to see what other opinions think otherwise and are concise and clear about their choice of a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2728" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T08:25:18.633" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T18:27:42.197" Title="Why do people who backpack sleep in tents instead of tarps?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2013-12-04T07:18:12.133" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you pretty much covered it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of a tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeps more rain/snow out (particularly if you have little skill in tent/tarp setup)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeps out insects.  For me, this is the big one - in spring time when the mosquitoes are fierce, being confined to your sleeping bag with a net over your face is not nearly as pleasant as lounging in your enclosed tents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warmer (this one is somewhat debatable, but on a a windy cold day, perhaps less.  I know that square tarps let you pitch them to the wind... but winds shift)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually easier to setup, especially for novices&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Privacy.  Tents are usually very enclosed, so in a busy area, you can change without needing to bury yourself in your sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of a tarp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;closer to nature, as you said&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lighter (I can't stress this one enough!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think though, you're forgetting that for lots of people, it's the hiking that's the pleasure, not necessarily the tenting.  So the &quot;being close to nature&quot; happens all day and into the evening by a fire.  Not necessarily while sleeping.  I agree that it is nice to be in nature (especially when you can just cowboy camp).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also like a tarp with bug netting around the fringes, as it covers off the bugs issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with you that a tent keeping you safe from wildlife is just wishful thinking :)  Perhaps for some people this is the equivalent for &quot;putting their head in the sand&quot;... and if that's what it takes to get them out into nature, power to them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastEditorUserId="19" LastEditDate="2013-12-12T18:32:23.100" LastActivityDate="2013-12-12T18:32:23.100" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4944" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-04T08:51:36.143" Score="7" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wonder about the breathe ability of low (=ankle high) versus high (=20cm above the ankle) hiking shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do high shoes breathe less in the area of the foot (and not the shin)? What are the mechanisms of breathing of the shoe i.e. what moves the air, moisture in and out of a shoe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:38:12.763" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:38:12.763" Title="Do higher shoes breathe less?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4862" CreationDate="2013-12-04T12:35:07.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definiely do not attempt to keep them separate on the route. Uncoil and stack them separately at the start, but thereafter handle them as one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure that leader and second both tie the same rope on the same side so that they are not crossed over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never used a rope basket, but it doesn't seem like a bad idea if you don't mind the weight. Otherwise the belayer should normally lay the rope(s) back and forth in front of him across his tether to the anchor. (People talk here about all kinds of increasing-decreasing size loops and stuff. In reality, &quot;reasonably tidy&quot; is achievable). The exception is a large, flat, comfy ledge: here laying them on the floor is ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I nearly always climb with partners with whom I alternate leads, so the need to rearrrange the ends if the same climber is leading everything doesn't arise. If this is not your situation, the couple of minutes it takes to pull them through might well be preferable to the clusterf*ck that can result from a botched attempt to &quot;flip the stack&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2394" LastActivityDate="2013-12-04T12:35:07.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4944" CreationDate="2013-12-04T15:00:59.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would depend on the shoe.  A full leather shoe would &quot;Breathe&quot; less because the air has more difficulty circulating all the way down to the toe and back.  However, on a good &quot;breathable&quot; shoe, it wouldn't matter so much.  My fast drying breathable shoes are all mesh with the vast majority of airflow coming straight through the shoe.  For those, low versus high does not matter at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going for breathable shoes, the focus should be primarily on the material.  The height of the shoe won't be a significant factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-12-04T15:00:59.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4944" CreationDate="2013-12-04T17:17:16.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume that by hiking shoes you mean robust hiking shoes which are more or less closed (i.e. not consisting of mesh material or the like). In terms of breathability it is also a huge difference if the shoe consists just of leather or fabric or if it has some breathable membrane such as Gore Tex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you consider a shoe without a membrane that shall be somewhat waterproof then it won't breathe very much at all as keeping water out in most cases also means keeping moisture in. In this case the only &quot;breathing&quot; –or better ventilation– mechanism is the air that is &quot;pumped&quot; and sucked through the shaft via the movement of the foot within the shoe. for this process you might have a slight advantage if the shoe is lower but I would guess that whenever a shoe reaches to or above the ankle there is significantly less ventilation through the shaft than with a shoe that ends below. With lower shaft shoes you might be able to regulate this to some (small) extent by lacing the shaft not too tight (as long as the conditions allow for it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a breathable membrane the driving force is the gradient in moisture and temperature between inside and outside the shoe. This gradient causes moisture to pass the membrane and should be totally independent of the shaft height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum it up: if the shoe has no breathable membrane, a lower shaft might be slightly better, but maybe not so much that you really notice it. For a membrane equipped shoe, shaft length should not change anything at all in terms of breathability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2013-12-04T17:17:16.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4929" CreationDate="2013-12-04T21:53:14.977" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Distilling water is a just about as pure as you can get it, better than filtering. You theoretically end up with zero dissolved solids and zero bacteria, viruses, etc. It is possible, if the water has the right chemistry, for some dissolved chemicals to condense along with the water (like methanol can in an ethanol still), but that's not very likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2013-12-04T21:53:14.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4893" CreationDate="2013-12-04T22:21:49.407" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A slower, steady climb is better for me, because it takes energy when I stop to:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(a) stand with the pack on,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(b) remove and re-load the pack, or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(c) sit and standup with the pack on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking shorter steps going uphill will help a lot. You have better leverage with your leg muscles. A walking motion is easier than a stair-climbing motion, but of course this depends a lot on the steepness of the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2013-12-05T06:11:30.790" LastActivityDate="2013-12-05T06:11:30.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2013-12-05T03:44:28.503" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sometimes bring a tarp and sometimes a tent. Most of my backpacking is in the summer in the Sierra Nevada, which means most of the time there's no threat of rain and I don't take my tarp or tent out of the backpack. When there are bugs, I typically sleep with a mosquito head net over my face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's windy, I kind of like a tent, because it keeps the wind off my face and doesn't flap and make noise in the wind. If conditions are cold (high altitude or fall/winter/spring camping), a tent is a little warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't use trekking poles, so I can't use the tarping techniques where you use your poles as part of the tarp system. I typically use a tree or boulder to support my tarp. If I'm going to be camping above tree line, a tarp creates additional challenges. Sometimes if I know I'm going to be camping above tree line and am bringing a tarp, I bring a lightweight folding fiberglass rod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, setting up a tent is faster and easier than setting up a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-05T03:44:28.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2013-12-05T22:08:29.230" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why I use a tent in three easy-to-understand bullets&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mosquitoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ticks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mosquitoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I could carry netting, but at that point the tarp + netting would be both more hassle and more weight than my tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Which is where Ryley is 100% wrong about a tent not protecting me from nature.  I've &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; had mosquitoes in my tent)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2013-12-05T22:08:29.230" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2013-12-06T23:15:54.653" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have already noted, keeping out mosquitos can be a big deal in some locations at some times of the year.  However, when I go camping around Arizona in the summer that's not the reason that I use a small tent instead of a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest reason in this case is larger critters that can hurt you, like rattlesnakes, scorpions, and the like.  Some of these can sense radiated heat and home in on it.  You really don't want to wake up with a rattlesnake in your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tent protecting you from large preditors is overrated.  First, it wouldn't really protect you if the predator was determined.  But the real issue is that such things just aren't a credible threat in most places.  What exactly are you afraid of?  The most common animal large enough to damage a human in places I've camped is a black bear.  Except for a few very very rare isolated cases, these just don't attack humans.  I have encountered black bears in the wild on several occasions, and they have bolted each time they saw me.  Most likely I have encountered them many more times, except that they saw me first so that I was never aware of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some parts of the world, predators are a issue, but not where most people camp.  I hear polar bears in the arctic can be a real danger, and so can some of the predators of central Africa.  But here in the lower 48 US states with very few exceptions there is nothing out there that will try to eat you in the night.  Grizzly bears can be dangerous, but not because they want to eat you.  People have gotten mauled because they camped right in the middle of one of their paths, thereby making it a territorial issue.  A thin layer of nylon isn't going to make any difference in that case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have camped with a tarp in the White Mountains of NH, and not even a tarp a few times around New England.  Safety was never a issue.  One time I did wish I had a tent with me in summer on Cape Cod due to lots of mosquitos.  I tried to cover myself including my face as best as possible, but this was difficult because I still had to breath and because it was quite warm.  I'm sure I got bitten numerous times in the night.  There was one upside of that though.  The next morning when I woke up enough to think about the mosquitos I realized to my astonishment that I couldn't find a single bite on me anywhere.  I found out later that extensive exposure to mosquito bites can actually lead to some immunity.  Now when a mosquito bites me, it will itch for a little while, then in 20 minutes it's completely gone and I can't even tell anymore where the bite was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend deliberately going out and getting bit by lots of mosquitos to get this immunity.  They can carry disease, and I was lucky that I wasn't infected with anything bad.  But, it has been nice to not be bothered by the little buggers that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point is that the right kind of tent will give you protection from rain, bugs, and creapy crawlies, but doesn't have to be any heavier than a tarp.  The one I have is just big enough for me to lie down in, and I think weighs less than tarps I have used.  It is less than 8 feet long:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Eussg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-12-06T23:15:54.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4959" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-08T01:29:49.923" Score="4" ViewCount="663" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently become quite interested in climbing, and I have been frequenting a local gym. As I become more serious, I'm curious how to most quickly improve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I focus on improving strength or technique? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best&#xA;way to go about such improvement?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any essential books or&#xA;reference sites?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice is appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2744" LastActivityDate="2013-12-09T19:20:35.343" Title="Rock Climbing - Beginner's Guide for Quick Improvement?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2013-12-11T10:05:18.187" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-12-09T07:29:42.690" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could consider getting one or more &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowgum.com.au/shop/product/20059/87/foldable-drink-bottle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;foldable bottles&lt;/a&gt;, they're available in various sizes and maybe even shapes. That way you can choose how much water to bring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2740" LastActivityDate="2013-12-09T07:29:42.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4959" CreationDate="2013-12-09T08:37:42.367" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should always focus on improving the technique instead of strength - you will gain strength automatically while you are climbing. To climb better just climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same goes with overhangs, the more you climb the better you'll get. Of course its inevitable to think of gyms as a source of strength training but bouldering should suffice to help you get stronger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running will allow you to gain more stamina, but long routes can do the job too :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with the easiest grades and move to harder grades, when you find that you are feeling a specific grade easy. I can suggest a good &lt;a href=&quot;http://steviehaston.blogspot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; which is written by a good old climber named Stevie Heston. Learn from more experienced climbers to gain good footwork as it is far more important than strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you start to lead, you will enjoy climbing at a new level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2746" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2013-12-09T12:19:56.377" LastActivityDate="2013-12-09T12:19:56.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4959" CreationDate="2013-12-09T19:15:23.370" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, this is a BIG question. One short post on the internet will not give you everything you need. To that end, I suggest reading some climbing training guides. I have read a few, and find &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762746920&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; to be the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, in my experience, the important points to hit are these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Technique&lt;/strong&gt;. Climb whatever style of climbing is hardest for you. Are overhung sections hard? Look on YouTube, get your footwork right. Practice the technique until overhung is as easy as slab. Study. Practice. Review. Repeat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finger Strength&lt;/strong&gt;. Train your fingers. Finger boards hurt, and are dangerous, but are also the fastest way to see quick gains in your climbing. Be careful!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Core strength&lt;/strong&gt;. Planks, Side Planks, Levers. These are important. Sit-ups and Crunches are useless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General fitness&lt;/strong&gt;. Get flexible. Work on your upper body strength. Drop your excess body fat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-12-09T19:20:35.343" LastActivityDate="2013-12-09T19:20:35.343" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-12-10T23:48:54.237" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your fingers are to the cold point where you cant feel them, then not much is going to help. You could breath on them yes, but at this point you are freezing internally. So I would suggest(even though it might be painful) swinging your arms and legs. The warm blood circulates from the centre of your body. It's there to protect your vital organs and keep your lungs from freezing. Get that blood to your fingers and you'll be all right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2747" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-12-12T14:34:33.967" LastActivityDate="2013-12-12T14:34:33.967" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-12-11T06:44:26.793" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there a general rule to this for backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, there isn't any general rule. It depends on a lot of facts, perceptions, and preferences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the water where you hike is unsafe to drink, and filtering is a reasonable way to make it safe. If you prefer to carry 5 liters of water in order to filter less often, that's what you prefer. If you prefer to carry zero liters of water and filter each time you drink, that's what you prefer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For people who hike in the Sierra Nevada, backcountry water is safe to drink without treatment [Rockwell 2002], so the answer is different from the answer in your area where the water is unsafe. In the Sierra, where water is generally pretty plentiful, there is seldom any reason to carry any water on your back. Pack an empty Dasani bottle, and when you come to a creek, fill it with nice, safe water, drink it, and then empty the bottle back out before continuing on your hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet another possibility would be that someone hikes a lot in an area where there's a significant risk of getting sick from viruses in the water. In that situation, filtering won't help, because filtering doesn't eliminate viruses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rockwell 2002 - Robert L. Rockwell, Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 2, January 2002, &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-11T06:44:26.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4968" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5280" CreationDate="2013-12-11T08:34:54.483" Score="11" ViewCount="913" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of GriSport boots. They are natural leather, with SimpaTex membrane. I use them for biking, weekend hikes and general wear in the winter in the city: salt and car oils everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are beginning to smell a little. Also, I reckon, the membrane is full of dirt and rubble and does not breathe as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I wash them (at home) so that they are as close to new as possible? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T09:30:04.153" Title="How to wash hiking boots" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4636" CreationDate="2013-12-11T11:27:35.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question contains a strawman argument - that you must always fill a large water bottle. Obviously you don't - you can always ½ fill it, and so only have ½ of the weight to carry. Of course, it will still take up the same volume if it's a rigid bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer would be to carry two (or more) smaller bottles though. You can fill one or both as you choose, adjusting your load as appropriate to the terrain ahead. The additional benefit of carry two bottles is that you have a backup should something happen to one of them (eg. dropping it down a canyon, it springing a leak and loosing all it's contents, loosing the top, etc). This redundancy can be a lifesaver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would &lt;em&gt;highly&lt;/em&gt; recommend the 'Platypus' range of flexible water containers - they are incredibly tough, very flexible (will take up essentially no space when empty), lightweight, and yet designed so that it's possible to stand them up. They can also be adapted into a hydration system. Best of all the never seem to taint or go mouldy (unlike Camelbacks). Carry a large one in your bag as your main water reservoir, and a couple of 1 litre bottles for easy access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2749" LastActivityDate="2013-12-11T11:27:35.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4972" CreationDate="2013-12-11T17:04:56.503" Score="11" ViewCount="1463" Body="&lt;p&gt;After learning to climb indoors on top rope and learning to lead sport climbs outdoors I will be progressing into Trad climbing by taking an instruction course as well as climbing with other experienced trad climbers.  The areas being climbed are listed below in order of frequency:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rattlesnake Point/Mt. Nemo - Limestone - 2-3 times a week&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Red River Gorge - SandStone - once every couple months&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sqaumish - Granite - once or twice a year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is being a minimalist and a cost conscious individual, what would I be looking at in terms of &quot;must have&quot; on my rack for day 1.  Furthermore what would I be looking at acquiring throughout time, in what order and for what reason?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. Safety trumps minimalist and cost conscious any day so if a full set of everything is what's required to be safe then that is what will be purchased.  I also appreciate the understanding that all the protection in the world can't keep me safe if it is not used/placed correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If further information is required please let me know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:18:37.220" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:18:37.220" Title="&quot;Must Have&quot; in a starter Trad Rack" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4970" CreationDate="2013-12-12T01:51:25.277" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a trad rack of your own in order to follow. If you're climbing with experienced trad leaders who have their own racks, then you also don't need to bring your own rack. If you're going to lead, you just borrow their gear. In your situation, there is really no advantage to buying a lot of trad gear before you try following on trad climbs at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But anyway, to answer your question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You already have a sport setup, so I'm not going to list stuff like helmet, ATC, etc., that you already have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need some passive and/or active pieces. How many and what kind are going to depend a lot on what you climb, and you will get a better idea of this once you've done some climbs and seen what fits in various situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably want about 10-12 alpine draws for extending your protection. Depending on the climb, it may also be possible to use quickdraws (which you presumably already own) to replace some or all of these, but quickdraws are more of a sport climbing thing, and when you take your course, they'll show you how a rigid quickdraw can pop your protection out of a crack in some situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need materials for building anchors. 1 double-length sling, 1 quad-length sling, 4 locking biners, 10 m (30') of 14 mm (9/16&quot;) webbing, some rap rings. Some kind of lightweight knife or scissors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not already familiar with safety backups for rappels, get some instruction in that, and carry whatever gear you need for the backup, e.g., a prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a really good idea to carry a Texas prusik system for use in ascending the rope when you're following on a route that you can't get up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nut tool. (And if you don't have one already by the first time you go follow on a trad climb, make sure to ask your leader to lend you one before the climb.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a good idea to at least have a pair of gloves available for when you're belaying a leader. Compared to sport climbing, there is more potential in trad for the leader to take a long fall because something went wrong (pieces pulled out, no good placements for a long stretch,...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Radios can be handy for situations where communication is difficult. One of the most common causes of accidents is a miscommunication between the climber and the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-12T01:51:25.277" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="392" CreationDate="2013-12-12T20:30:11.150" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to add some points to the discussion, as well as list another product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, as noted, 100% DEET is overkill. Once you go over 35%, it doesn't get better. &#xA;Second, DEET is not good for you. Not saying don't use it, but try to use the minimum needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I like to use is permethrin. This is used on gear and clothing, not skin, and stays active for months. Once dry, it is odorless, colorless, &amp;amp; leave no residue that can be felt. And doesn't wash off. It's mostly an insecticide that kills insects that touch it, but I have found that it also works as a repellent as well. Not as good as DEET, but usually enough so I don't need the DEET. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it's sold in small containers in outdoor stores and departments, you can get it in a concentrate online that's much better deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2013-12-12T20:30:11.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4968" CreationDate="2013-12-13T09:53:13.933" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dear Mr. Vitkov,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;we would rather suggest to proceed in this way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wrinkle with a brush the external part in order to leave out the dirty parts;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;then you need to take out the Insole and wash the Insole and the internal part of the boot with some detergent;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for the external part of the boot, please do not wash using the detergent cos it could be dangerous for the water penetration of the&#xA;leather. The detergent should ruin the Waterproof Treatment made to&#xA;the leather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;everything could be done with normal water, no hot temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;once is almost dry, please fulfill the internal part of the shoe with normal magazine paper, that allows to keep the form and dry off&#xA;the shoe ( also internal part of the leather /membrane ).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope you can handle it in the proper way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a nice day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüssen&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luciano Ziliotto Grisport&#xA;S.p.A.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to wonder how is some soft soap going to do more damage than two winters of salt, car oils, many kinds of mud, sometimes encompassing the whole shoe, bike chain oil, cow shit, sharp rocks, rotting wood and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T09:30:04.153" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="4975" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-13T17:44:34.827" Score="16" ViewCount="8695" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I use two identical 20-degree-rated bags, one inside the other, what would likely be the effective temperature rating? 10-degree? 0-degree? negative-10-degree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T09:59:58.713" Title="Warmth of two sleeping bags" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4975" CreationDate="2013-12-13T21:26:50.517" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Warning&lt;/em&gt; This is pure conjecture!  Test this information with your gear in a safe place before using!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the basic warmth of a sleeping bag is determined by the amount of loft the fill provides.  Quality of fill has a huge impact on how much loft is necessary to provide a given warmth, along with construction (i.e. baffles vs sewn through, hood quality, down distribution).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting all that aside, a good 20F down bag will have 4-5&quot; of loft.  So theoretically one inside the other would have 8-10&quot;.  Again, theoretically that would give you ~ -10F (or perhaps even lower!).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is assuming you don't have any down compression happening when you stuff one inside the other (i.e. you choose two bags with girths such that they don't compress each other).  Since that's not likely possible, I would imagine real world performance would be quite a bit lower (maybe -5F?), and I would certainly want to test it with backups available before striking out into the wild!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2013-12-13T21:26:50.517" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-13T22:47:48.143" Score="7" ViewCount="454" Body="&lt;p&gt;Supposedly Down (and most other sleeping bag insulations) lose a lot of their thermal insulating properties when they are compressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm inside a sleeping bag, obviously whichever side is on the ground is greatly compressed by my body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas of how to reduce this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2013-12-14T02:26:55.850" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T12:35:58.667" Title="Body weight compressing Down insulation in Sleeping Bag" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4977" CreationDate="2013-12-14T02:25:43.627" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is a huge problem for most people. In a certain sense it is flawed by design; at least if you are concerned by weight saving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.enlightenedequipment.com/?product=enigma-30&quot;&gt;top quilt&lt;/a&gt;. If you want extra insulation, you could also get a down-filled sleeping pad such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exped.com/usa/en/product-category/mats/downmat-ul-7-lw&quot;&gt;DownMat UL&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some bags will have &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/sleeping-bags/sleeping-bags/specialty/vireo-ul-down-sleeping-bag.html&quot;&gt;variable filling&lt;/a&gt; with less down underneath for that exact reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you always use a sleeping pad, some sleeping bags (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/sleeping-bags/sleeping-bags/specialty/spoonbill-ul-double-sleeping-bag.html&quot;&gt;Spoonbill UL&lt;/a&gt;) will simply have no bottom down fill based on that assumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T02:25:43.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4979" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4981" CreationDate="2013-12-14T09:27:19.457" Score="0" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a new pack Love Alpine TFX Cerro Torre 65:85 (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowealpine.com/tfx-cerro-torre-65-85&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;). I am quite satisfied, but have one problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pack is moving to sides and isn't very stable. On begs it fits really well, bat the body of the pack is moving. Maybe I just have to set straps properly. But I have no idea how.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any recommendation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2756" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T17:19:13.850" Title="Lowe Alpine - TFX Cerro Torre: pack is moving to sides" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4977" CreationDate="2013-12-14T12:35:58.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agree with ppl, don't think it is a big problem, but even for variable filling bags it could mean that some of that expensive down may not be used the way you would prefer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quilt may be a bit draugthy if you are not careful. I find the bottomless bags work well for 3 seasons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An(other) option there is a Rab &quot;Backless&quot; bag; have tried the predecessor, the Q-Top. Alternatively one could sew in a piece of thin nylon fabric under a quilt fairly easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I really wanted to add was that if you don't squirm around too much at night, the best all-rounder might be a sleeping bag without baffles in the rings of fabric you lie inside, ie. only baffles in the head-toe direction (Western Mountaineering calls it &quot;continuous baffle&quot; design).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With those you are free to turn it upside down and shake all or as much of the down as you like to the top part of the bag. So the same bag could be bottomless or have slightly more insulation underneath, depending on what you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T12:35:58.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4979" CreationDate="2013-12-14T17:19:13.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My guess based off the photo you have linked is that the top tensioners(top stabilizers) are not adjusted properly, this or perhaps the hipbelt needs some adjustment.  Try the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;Put the pack on, place the hipbelt directly over your hip bones, fasten the buckle, and tighten the hipbelt. The padding should wrap right around your hip bones.&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;Snug in the shoulder straps. They should be far enough apart that they don't squeeze your neck. The strap ends should be no more than 10cm (4in.) from your armpits.&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;Adjust the top stabilizer straps to a comfortable position. They should be at about a 45-degree angle.&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;Fasten the sternum strap and adjust the lower stabilizing straps until comfortable.&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2013-12-14T17:19:13.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4982" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-14T17:42:53.340" Score="18" ViewCount="26828" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm obviously not a fisherman...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I like the flavors, is there any problem with cooking and eating a fish that hasn't been gutted?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any particular species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, what are all the reasons people gut a fish before cooking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T20:55:40.787" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T11:44:23.767" Title="Is it really necessary to gut a fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4983" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-14T20:35:08.547" Score="9" ViewCount="2244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hear that because down feathers are so delicate, a down sleeping bag that has gotten a ton of use or rough use has significantly less insulating performance -- the feathers are broken down into bits that don't provide as much loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But old military down sleeping bags are so cheap on ebay! I want to buy like ten of them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone provide first-hand experience of how much the insulating performance changes when a down bag has been roughly used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T17:24:47.830" Title="Old Down Sleeping Bag performance" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4983" CreationDate="2013-12-15T00:27:55.147" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down is actually a pretty durable insulation, and if it is properly cared for will last much longer than any &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailspace.com/articles/synthetic-insulation-explained.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;synthetic insulation&lt;/a&gt;. Some people use the same down sleeping bag for decades, but there are a lot of variables at play, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-sleeping-bag.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;maintaining a down sleeping bag&lt;/a&gt; is a bit of an art form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you buy a used down sleeping bag you will want to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How was it used? (Long trips, short trips, with or without a sleeping bag liner, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How was it stored? (Down should never be stored in a compressed state and should be kept away from moisture as much as possible, as discussed &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/318/what-is-the-best-way-to-store-my-sleeping-bag-for-long-periods-of-time&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; in a previous question.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How was it taken care of? (For example, tears in the shell fabric may mean the bag has lost some of its fill. Discoloration could indicate UV exposure, or mold and mildew.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/ask_kristin/293&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a brief article&lt;/a&gt; that outlines some things to take into consideration when deciding whether an older/vintage sleeping bag is still usable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to buy a used down bag, I would definitely want to know whether the sleeping bag has been laundered regularly (a good thing--to reduce the build-up of dirt and body oils), and what kind of cleaner was used. Detergents destroy down's loft by coating the feathers and causing them to stick together/compress. Dry cleaning is equally bad, because it strips down of its natural oils, also reducing its loft and insulative power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for an example, a friend of mine who has had a 20-degree Fahrenheit bag for about five years now will only use the same bag down to ~32 degrees Fahrenheit. This bag has seen extensive use on long, multi-week and multi-month backpacking trips in humid climates. The bag's owner says that using down-specific soap such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax-usa.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nikwax&lt;/a&gt; revives loft temporarily but the bag will never return to a like-new state.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration to take into account with the military surplus type bags: part of what influences the price of sleeping bags is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fill_power&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fill power&lt;/a&gt; of the down (700, 800, 850, etc.). Higher fill power down provides more loft, and therefore more warmth per weight. It is also more costly. Army sleeping bags, where cost savings are generally more important than weight savings, are most likely using a relatively low fill power down. Also, if down appeals to you for its outstanding warmth-to-weight ratio, remember that if the sleeping bag uses a very heavy shell material (as is often the case with older gear), it cancels out some of the weight savings of using down fill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2013-12-15T00:27:55.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4982" CreationDate="2013-12-15T01:29:17.087" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some small fish species such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelt_%28fish%29&quot;&gt;Smelt&lt;/a&gt; are eaten whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some fish the appeal is in the flesh of the fish and are therefore gutted and deboned. Gutting can prevent some tainting of the flesh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like deer, the guts can deteriorate the flesh faster. One factor can be how fast you will refrigerate/ice your catch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another concern with specific types of fish is the content of the stomach (such as worms/parasites).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-12-15T01:29:17.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2013-12-15T12:05:07.693" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made my own hiking trailer - first version 2011. I pulled my hiking trailer in various environments. You can read more in my &lt;a href=&quot;http://erakarry.wikispaces.com/Er%C3%A4k%C3%A4rry&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wiki pages&lt;/a&gt; - the text is Finnish but you can use Google translator. In my Wikipages you can find answers to many guestions and problems. It really works very well in all terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gYNhJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of the hiking trailer&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2760" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2013-12-16T18:55:07.613" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T18:55:07.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="4993" CreationDate="2013-12-15T15:50:45.793" Score="3" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everything is available with membranes (e.g. Gore-Tex Pro or Windstopper) these days:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard shells&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soft shells&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking shoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gaiters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it needs care to preserve the advantages of those clothes. E.g. soap or fabric softener shouldn't be used because it destroys the membranes. But when I pay good money I want to know what's the best treatment. So I have some questions, like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you maintain your clothes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How regularly do you wash and how do you wash/dry?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you store (I don't think crumpling or folding the stuff for a long time is a good treatment)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How and when do you refresh the impregnation and what's the best make?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T07:57:33.343" Title="What does it need to maintain clothes including membranes" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4929" CreationDate="2013-12-15T18:55:38.443" Score="15" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Distilled / deionized (as for lab purposes) water tastes stale. So do  reverse-osmosis drinking water, and cooked water: this is attributed mainly to the lack of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; / HCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;⁻ compared to fresh ground / tap drinking water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can encounter distilled water in outdoor situations. In winter it lies around on the ground as white powder...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Lots of people have survived melted snow as primary water source for winter tours.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless you happen to drink from mineral wells, the difference in minerals between drinking water and distilled water is very small. (Mineral waters sold as such can actually contain more salts than would be allowed for tap drinking water - check your water legislation). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few thoughts about particular ions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ion of which we need highest amounts is Na⁺ (particularly if sweating a lot). However, we get that usually through salt in the food rather than salt in the drinking water. Next may be K⁺, which is supplied by plants/vegetables.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; mineral that we take up from drinking water is Ca²⁺. But I've not heard of concerns about Ca²⁺ supply for people who have to live with reverse-osmosis water, so presumably the usual food has large enough supplies of that as well (the agent of concern is vitamin D, which is needed for the uptake). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dehydration&lt;/strong&gt;  means that lack of water is the primary concern: salt concentrations in the body are too high and need to be diluted. Thus, in dehydration situations, distilled water is unproblematic.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, a water loss (e.g. due to sweating) can be accompanied by salt losses which need to be replaced as well. This is called &lt;strong&gt;lack of volume&lt;/strong&gt; (implied: of physiological solution, i.e. in 1st approximation 0.9% NaCl in water)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Healthy humans can realize what is needed by the distinction of being thirsty (lack of water) and salt-hungry (loss of salts). E.g., if water appeals to me more than say chips or a strong broth, the problem is the water loss and not the lack of salt. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With &lt;strong&gt;diarrhea&lt;/strong&gt; the problem is that you cannot take up water (it passes too fast). This always means that you also have a loss of Na⁺ through the guts: internally, Na⁺ is secreted into the gut volume, and water is taken up together with the resorption of the Na⁺. If that resorption is impaired, you have a dangerous loss of minerals (mainly Na⁺) as well. Diarrhea also implies that the absorption of nutrients doesn't work. Therefore, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_rehydration_therapy&quot;&gt;for the treatment of diarrhea, the water should contain minerals and sugar&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've heard the problematic of salt loss discussed a lot, but in outdoor practice, so far I've only met dehydration where the salt was &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a concern: the usual food we carry comes with enough salt. I can see that problems may arise if you forget to bring salt to a wilderness trip where you live of mushrooms, berries and water. The only story I know where I think lack of salt is a plausible explanation of the problems was a tour where, due to financial constraints, the food was reported to have been fruits and vegetables collected on the way &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; (no cheese, no sausage/salami, no bread).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I recall a peculiar occasion after ca. 10 days of hiking where the question &quot;anyone wants chocolate?&quot; was answered by &quot;no, but is there any of the beef jerky left?&quot; - a feeling which was shared by all of us. However, my guess is that this appetite for the jerky was less for salt but for the protein as the food had contained substantial amounts of salt as we were using dehydrated soups as the basis for the sauce to the pasta and rice which contained enough salt so that extra salt was not requested, but had had only very low amounts of meat/cheese/milk powder.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I guess one can check that by imagining chips/salt sticks vs. a steak and check which appeals more to the appetite. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In outdoor winter situations, the dehydration is usually rather accompanied by a lack of energy (exhaustion) than salts (uncomfortable weather =&gt; no rests to drink, neither to eat; but usually cold =&gt; less sweating, but respiratory water loss) so the proverbial tea with sugar tackles both problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="382" LastEditDate="2013-12-26T18:36:02.870" LastActivityDate="2013-12-26T18:36:02.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-12-15T20:55:04.637" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's not yet a good answer that asks for the reason the fingers, toes (and nose and ears) are cold, so let me add a few points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm assuming around 0°C according to the question - of course, -40 °C is  different).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of reasons why your fingers and toes get cold in the first place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you may not yet be used to the cold temperatures. Full acclimatization will take some weeks. However, you need to know that the amound and rate of acclimatization depends on the exposure. Thus if you completely wrap yourself all the time, you hinder this acclimatization.  This is no short-term (minutes) solution, though. But acclimatization can mean that you'll be able to have warm fingers in air of say -15 °C at the end of the winter, even though you always got cold fingers at +5 °C in fall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Assuming your clothes are generally sensible for the weather, i.e. you have been fine before at this same day, but now fingers and toes get cold. This is usually a symptom of &lt;strong&gt;exhaustion&lt;/strong&gt;, which is the underlying cause of the centralization (low blood flow to extremities to save energy). Which means in addition to the immediate measures to warm up the fingers as listed in the other answers you should eat (and possibly drink something containing sugar, such as (diluted) juice or sugared tea for immediately available energy).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This type of cold fingers can be avoided by taking care that enough rests for eating and drinking occur over the day.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And it is related to a vicious cycle: with the beginning exhaustion, you don't like the thought of having a rest to eat: you know you'll get cold. Also drinking the by now cold stuff in your bottle doesn't appeal because you know you'll be even colder. However, if you don't realize what is going on, this can prevent taking the only efficient remedy: eating (and get you into an accompanying dehydration). Otherwise you don't only risk frostbitten fingers/toes/nosetip/ears but also hypothermy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A related issue is that you may have wet clothes/shoes/gloves, so their insulation is impaired.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Personally, that happens to me all the time (i.e. moist socks in mountain/ski boots) but my feet stay warm until I get hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the extra (I assume: rock) climbing question: my guess is that only general acclimatization (i.e. higher base metabolism) really helps here. You need your fingers warm, but climbing means that you spend quite a lot of time statically (e.g. standing/sitting and securing your partner). During the climb, you cannot use bulky clothes, and the clothes cannot be very thick: otherwise you'd sweat during the climb. Climbing shoes don't help with cold, neither. Particularly as they are not meant to give your toes much freedom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-12-15T20:55:04.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4823" CreationDate="2013-12-16T02:53:53.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears are not naturally attracted to smoke - except for Smoky the Bear.  Same goes for mountain lions, wolves, etc - they will generally avoid smoke (actually, all mammals will) for obvious reasons.  I suppose there is always some incredibly unlikely scenario where a bear (or other animal) has become habituated to smoke and associates it with food, somehow, but I think you can take your chances.  While there are always warnings about hiding deodorant, toothpaste, etc, the risk is incredibly overblown except in areas where people have engaged in poor campsite practices, and I don't think tobacco would really fall into the same category (things which smell sweet or sugary).  The significantly greater danger is that you will burn down the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T02:53:53.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2013-12-16T03:17:24.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you wear a bear bell on your backpack, your fellow hikers will kill you for being annoying.  Just don't walk like a ninja.  Also don't be a pig in your campsite, and you will be fine.  IMO the separate clothes for cooking is hogwash and only reasonable if you are A) car camping in Yosemite and B) cooking some wicked BBQ ribs and get grease all over you.  Same goes for the notion that bears are attracted to deodorant enough to overcome their timidity, unless you rub Oreos under your armpits.  Otherwise all the advice is good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the record, it is my understanding that groups of four or more hiking closely together will not be attacked by a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T03:17:24.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4987" CreationDate="2013-12-16T03:37:06.060" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For water-resistant or water-proof gear, I apply a DWR (durable water repellent) finish via aerosol spray about once or twice a year to gear that absolutely needs it (rain shell, rain pants, hiking pants, boots).  I try to do this as infrequently as possible, or before a winter trips where failure of the membrane would be very unpleasant or dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For other clothes - base layers, fleece, etc - I wash them as little as possible or only when they are visibly dirty (or stink to high hell).  I hand wash or do gentle cycle in a machine and almost always line dry.  For more durable items (e.g. GoreTex boots), I scrub them with a soft bristle brush under warm water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storage is ideally hanging in a cool, dry place with no direct sunlight, but this isn't always possible.  I live in a city, where closet space is at a premium, but if you live in a house and also don't want to clutter up your closet, I would say a basement is better than an attic.  Regular use will be far more degrading to a membrane than folding, and by the time the membrane is failing you will probably be onto the next big thing, whether due to fashion or technology.  That said, there are some who say that crumpling is better than folding because you aren't always stressing the same area of the fabric/membrane, but these people are probably also just slobs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T03:37:06.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-12-16T03:48:50.180" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Swinging your arms and legs to move blood to your extremities is good advice and will overcome your body's vasoconstriction response, but keep in mind you should also layer up &lt;strong&gt;after&lt;/strong&gt; doing this since you are driving heat energy away from your core.  If you are in camp, drinking a hot beverage (and also holding it while you drink) will warm your core and ease your body's cold response.  If that doesn't work, filling a Nalgene with boiling water and getting into your sleeping bag with it is pretty sound advice, assuming you haven't gotten yourself some frostbite (tough to accomplish at 0 deg C).  Best thing is to acclimate yourself to colder temperatures by slightly under-dressing in the lead-up to cold weather adventure.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T03:48:50.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4995" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5003" CreationDate="2013-12-16T03:57:40.140" Score="14" ViewCount="17238" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose a leg is wounded (either from a gunshot or a knife) and there is significant bleeding. We see in movies that a fabric is tied around the place of bleeding to decrease/stop bleeding.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; should you apply the tight bandage, exactly &lt;em&gt;on&lt;/em&gt; the wounded spot, &lt;em&gt;above&lt;/em&gt; the wounded spot, or &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; the wounded spot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The context is that you are in The Great Outdoors where you cannot promptly get a trained medic to help and you need to use your first-aid equipment to treat the wound yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2762" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T05:40:59.393" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T05:40:59.393" Title="Where should a band be tied to stop bleeding from wound?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4251" CreationDate="2013-12-16T04:17:43.373" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have any good references for calorie expenditure, given that there are so many variables, so I will leave that to someone with a proper reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my personal experience in cold-weather, back country hiking and camping, the best &lt;strong&gt;time&lt;/strong&gt; to wash is not at the end of a day's exertion when you are prone to getting chilled, but rather prior to starting off for the day when you know that you will warm up with movement and exercise, or during a hike once the sun is out.  Dirty and warm trumps clean and cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T04:17:43.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4997" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5002" CreationDate="2013-12-16T04:31:07.850" Score="14" ViewCount="1511" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has been a number of months since I last went scuba diving - short enough that I can still remember everything, but long enough for any diving specific exercise related things to have worn off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I dive for several days in a row, I find that my air consumption improves over the course of the dives. I'm sure that part of that is familiarity and remembering technique, but I have a hunch that some of it is more fitness and muscle related.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any exercises / practices I can do in the week or so before I go diving, to help prepare my body to make my air last longer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T11:42:21.147" Title="What exercises can you do before Scuba Diving to improve your air consumption?" Tags="&lt;exercises&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="88" CreationDate="2013-12-16T04:55:35.223" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acclimatization isn't purely psychological; it is actually a physiologically different response based upon recent exposure and experience.  Layering down over a period of time (days to weeks) could theoretically alter your biochemistry on a cellular level as you develop a different proportion of membrane proteins and salinity (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acclimatization&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acclimatization&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastEditorUserId="2761" LastEditDate="2013-12-16T05:01:40.527" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T05:01:40.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="4999" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5004" CreationDate="2013-12-16T16:09:19.687" Score="5" ViewCount="652" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently wear a Polartec Power Dry base layer and a 60g Primaloft One insulated jacket.  This keeps me warm all the way down to about -10C when active(walking/hiking/Cycling).    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At temperatures below that would layering another primaloft one insulated jacket be recommended or would it be best to replace the existing jacket with one of greater insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words does 60g layer + 100g layer = the warmth of one 160g layer?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Or is it recommended to remove the first 60g and replace with ONE 160g jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2013-12-17T19:00:36.063" LastActivityDate="2013-12-17T19:00:36.063" Title="Can Primaloft One be Layered?" Tags="&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4999" CreationDate="2013-12-16T17:14:22.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can always add layers to stay warmer. Exactly &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; much warmer isn't really possible to figure out, as different jackets put their insulation in different places (e.g., more in the torso/arms/hood).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using multiple layers has the benefit that you can take off only &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; of your insulation if you are getting too warm (for example, if you start hiking up hill) and add some insulation back when you get cool (stop moving).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is that two layers are heavier than one for a similar amount of insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T17:14:22.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3839" CreationDate="2013-12-16T17:30:10.517" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can sit on your hands or cross your arms over your chest, clench a fist, and pump your muscles. Secondly heat up for core muscles (abdomen, chest, thighs). Increasing your core temp will promote better heat circulation. Inturn, gulp down near hot cup of water, eat soup, take a hot bath. Doing so will keep you warm for a good while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2764" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T17:30:10.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4997" CreationDate="2013-12-16T19:57:26.440" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three things you should look at here, lung capacity, oxygen carrying capacity and bradycardia reflex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lung Capacity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was younger I suffered from asthma, and had a series of lung exercises to improve lung capacity. I can't remember them all now so I checked various sites. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.newhealthguide.org/How-To-Increase-Lung-Capacity.html&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This one&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; has some excellent tips, including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rib stretch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Abdominal breathing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practicing slow breathing while exercising hard&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oxygen Capacity or VO2max&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is all down to hard exercise. The way trainers describe it is &quot;performing very hard exercise for 5 minutes, then &lt;strong&gt;complete recovery&lt;/strong&gt;, followed by another hard exercise, and repeating 3 times in a single workout.&quot; Complete recovery includes rehydration, expelling lactic acid, nutrition, and compression or massage! Doing this 3 or 4 times a week will really help to build VO2max. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bradycardia&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will be second nature to you as a diver, but when exercising, having a little water splashed on your face will help your body automatically prepare for going underwater - do this when exercising hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T19:57:26.440" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4995" CreationDate="2013-12-16T20:16:38.550" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;tight bandage/band&quot; = Tourniquet.  An emergency tourniquet is generally used as a last resort, especially in civilian applications, for all blood flow below the application of an emergency tourniquet is stopped, and can subsequently kill the tissue, leading to eventual loss of the limb below application.  &lt;strong&gt;Never attempt to apply a tourniquet unless you are qualified to do so. A tourniquet is a last resort to stop bleeding and is used to save life at possible loss of limb.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where: place a 2 inch or wider tourniquet 2-4 Inches from the wound towards the heart.  &lt;strong&gt;Never wrap your tourniquet directly around a wound, fracture, or joint. Doing so may cause severe pain and permanent physical damage to the patient.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place some sort of padding underneath the tourniquet and wrap the tourniquet material around the limb several times.  Use a torsion device such as a strong stick-like instrument that is 1 foot or longer. Tie an overhand knot over your torsion device, and then tie another. This will ensure that you have reached the torsion necessary to stop the bleeding entirely.  Tighten the torsion device by twisting it in one direction until the material is tight around the limb and/or the bright red bleeding has stopped.  Tie the loose ends of the tourniquet around the ends of the torsion device. This will help to ensure that your tourniquet does not loosen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please do understand that&lt;/strong&gt; Two hours is considered the length of time a tourniquet can be in place before neuromuscular injury and functional loss begin. For applications longer than 2 hours, cooling the limb may help delay injury and loss of function. &lt;strong&gt;The best method to save a limb is rapid transport and converting to a less-damaging means of hemorrhage control as soon as practicable.&lt;/strong&gt; [Walters TJ, Mabry RL. Issues related to the use of tourniquets on the battlefield. Military Medicine 170(9):770-775, 2005.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T22:32:25.130" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T22:32:25.130" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4999" CreationDate="2013-12-16T20:22:40.047" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion two layers with say 60g/m² and 100g/m² are better than one with 160g/m². The different distribution of isolation is a point but I don't think this is relevant. You can get jackets with all kinds of stuffed torsos/arms/backs/arm-pits in lots thicknesses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big advantage of the layering besides the versatility is the caught air between the layers. This air is your best friend. Because of the very low thermal conductivity it gives you a perfect isolation and therefore protection against temperature gradients. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is the bulkier design but the overall isolation should increase if you aren't wearing over-equipped (too many pockets/zippers/gimmicks) and therefore heavier stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T20:22:40.047" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="225" CreationDate="2013-12-16T22:23:26.453" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As pointed out by Russell Steen in a comment, the answer to this question really depends completely on what area you're in, which determines what kind of bears are around. It's too bad that the OP never responded by clearing this up. Polar bears and grizzlies are completely different from black bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most generic advice is simply to talk to a ranger in the area you're visiting. For example, whenever you pick up a wilderness permit for a hike in the Sierra Nevada, one of the main things they'll go over with you is how to avoid bear problems. If you follow their advice and follow their rules (such as using bear canisters in areas where they're required), you're very unlikely to have a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is some advice if you're going to be in the Sierra. I think this should also apply to any other area where there are black bears but no grizzlies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears are a nuisance, not a threat. They want your food, just like a squirrel does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am aware of a couple of things, like having a bell or noisemaker on my pack, and hanging my food from a tree. Are these effective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No. Making noise spoils the natural environment for other hikers, and is not necessary in order to avoid problems with black bears. Black bears are not aggressive with humans. Also, hanging your food is not effective. Bears will often succeed in getting your hung food, and even if they don't, they may spend all night trying, thereby keeping you from getting any sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have also seen bear-proof canisters for sale for storing my food. Are those preferable to hanging it from a tree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they work really well, and that's why they're required in many areas of the Sierra. While you're asleep at night, put the canister far enough away from where you're sleeping so that if a bear finds it and tries to open it, you'll still be able to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the more popular camping areas, such as Little Yosemite, have enough of a problem with food-stealing bears that the park service has installed bear lockers for food. If you're camping in an area that has them, use them. You will also see lockers at car-camping campgrounds and at some trailheads. If you're parking at a trailhead, don't leave food, or anything scented such as chapstick, sunscreen, etc., in your car. Bears can smell the stuff inside your car and can wreck your car to get it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While hiking, keep the chapstick, etc., together with the food inside your bear canister whenever possible. Sealing all your food inside ziplock bags is a good idea; it may not eliminate the smell completely, but it will probably make the smell less likely to attract a bear from a long distance. Use a ziplock bag for garbage. If you have left-over food from dinner that you're not going to eat, either bury it far away from your campsite or seal it up inside the garbage bag and pack it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see a black bear while you're hiking, just take a minute and enjoy observing the bear. Because black bears aren't aggressive, you're not in any danger. They don't want to eat you, they just want your food, and if your food is inside a ziplock, inside a bear canister, inside your backpack, they aren't likely to go after you in order to obtain it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in the middle of eating dinner and a bear walks into your campsite, you could try to pop the lid back on your canister as quickly as possible. But if the bear obtains your food, the food is his. There's nothing you can do about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-12-16T22:29:17.867" LastActivityDate="2013-12-16T22:29:17.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4970" CreationDate="2013-12-17T14:03:37.967" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing I think that's missing from Ben's answer is a half rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your climbing on a trad route that moves about a lot you'll want to use two half ropes rather than a standard single rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea behind a half/double rope is that it reduces drag, if you have two anchors that are far apart on the same route, this can produce a Z in the rope which cause significant rope drag, you get a few of these and your rope will become unusable quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2737&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a good explanation of how and why&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Double ropes come into their own on multi-pitch climbs or more complex&#xA;longer single pitches that weave around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Lou traverses away from the belay she's placed a high runner on the&#xA;blue rope (her right hand rope).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When she pulls into the strenuous&#xA;corner she wants a runner quickly and already knows she'll clip this&#xA;on red. She'll carry on clipping the red rope until she's high enough&#xA;to be back in line above the early runner on blue so it won't give her&#xA;any rope drag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much higher up the pitch now you can see Lou has&#xA;managed to keep the two ropes separate and both running smoothly. She&#xA;has placed plenty of runners but has avoided creating any rope drag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-12-17T14:20:54.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5007" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5008" CreationDate="2013-12-17T20:14:53.043" Score="4" ViewCount="564" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would I tie a double figure of eight knot for attaching to a rock climbing harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2013-12-18T10:12:16.190" Title="How do I tie a figure of 8 knot" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5007" CreationDate="2013-12-17T20:14:53.043" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please be careful when rock climbing. Learning information on the&#xA;  internet is no substitute to proper training from an experienced and&#xA;  knowledgeable guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please don't use this information to put yourself in a situation where&#xA;  you may be in danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need around one arms span of rope (about 1m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off make a loop in your hand thus, do not let go of the rope until specified:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5mSHA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the loose and and pass it over your wrist pulling it round to the front:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QKIll.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pass the loose end back through the loop your holding in your hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tJfRy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pull the loose end tight downwards. If it doesn't look like a figure 8, below, you've done it wrong. Untie everything and start again:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C5c10.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now pass the loose end though whatever you want to attach the rope to (I'm using a carbiner here):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QZ27d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You now need to rethread the loose end back though the original figure eight, this produces the double in the double figure eight. Essentially you simply follow the line of the original loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off pass the loose end back &lt;strong&gt;up&lt;/strong&gt; though loop nearest whatever your attached to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ggkyc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Follow the rope around the first loop:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SQcAT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then around the top of the rope and back down, going though the loop nearest the attachment point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qaWuI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;now loop back around the base of the knot and back &lt;strong&gt;up&lt;/strong&gt; though the top loop:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MyGcy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pull tight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x57dJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2013-12-18T10:12:16.190" LastActivityDate="2013-12-18T10:12:16.190" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="40" CreationDate="2013-12-17T22:18:22.060" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;All Gore-Tex products come with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/remote/Satellite/content/care/washing-instructions&quot;&gt;care instruction&lt;/a&gt;, these should be followed, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to understand how these membranes work, I feel. Many Gore-tex and similar products consist of 3 layers, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the first layer (inside the jacket) is designed to protect the Gore tex fabric.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The second layer is the actual Gore tex itself&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The outer layer consists of a chemically treated layer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Goretex layer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Gore tex itself is a physical barrier. It consists of a fabric barrier that's full of microscopic holes. These holes allow water vapour out of the fabric but are so small they prevent liquid water from entering the fabric, for this to work effectivly the inside of the layer must be warmer than the outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ware and tear will eventually make these holes larger, thus preventing them from working effectively. The outer layers are designed to prevent this. I had a gore tex jacket for around 10 years and never looked after it too well, this layer still worked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fabric softeners, etc. can bloke these tiny holes, which is why they're not recommended.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Outer layer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important part of this layer is the chemical treatment of it (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durable_water_repellent&quot;&gt;DWR&lt;/a&gt;). This treatment basically produces lots of microscopic &quot;spikes&quot;. The idea of these spikes is that it holds the water on the outside of the fabric above the Goretex layer. This is what produces the beading effect. This prevents the holes from getting blocked and also stops the layer from getting cooled (thus stopping the inside from being warmer than the outside and slowing down the breathability of the fabric).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually these &quot;spikes&quot; wear down. Imagine a nail getting filled down (by other fabrics, etc.) but at a microscopic level....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Heating the fabric (in a tumble drier) will allow the chemicals to &quot;reform&quot;. A rep once actually said to me that regular tumble drying can actually improve the performance of the fabric!!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Eventually the chemical layer will wear off completly. It's at this point that you need to re-apply using spray's, etc. In my experience a spray is the best, the wash in ones don't seem to work too well.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The most important thing is the tumble drying. Line drying won't produce the heat required to rebind the chemical layers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Inner layer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the most simple layer. It's main job is to protect the goretex layer and provide a physical barrier between the goretex and the inner (non goretex) layers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You shouldn't really get the DWR on this layer, it's job is to allow the moisture though to the Gortex. This is the main reason why I don't like &quot;wash-in&quot; treatments as the DWR is applied indiscriminately, with a spray you can apply it to the outer only, where it should be&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-28T13:24:46.953" LastActivityDate="2015-01-28T13:24:46.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5011" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-18T13:18:56.867" Score="5" ViewCount="591" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mystery- or multi-caches are not published with their real coordinates, but with fake coordinates that have to be within a certain distance of the cache. Reviewers however need to receive the real coordinates of the final cache (or all stations) to ensure that they are according to the guidelines.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Apparently some reviewers leak this information to fellow cachers, which is against the idea of mystery and multi caches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heard the story of a person who created mystery caches and send wrong final coordinates to the reviewer, people who solved the mystery were able to find the cache, but some people complained that the cache was nonexistent. After being questioned for the coordinates they were searching at, they posted the wrong coordinates that were given to the reviewer.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The person who left these reviewer-traps was reportedly met with hostility afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I correctly handle this problem if I ever encounter a reviewer who leaks coordinates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I am new to caching and have not encountered this problem myself, but heard about it in a podcast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="751" LastActivityDate="2013-12-18T13:18:56.867" Title="What should I do about a reviewer who leaks final coordinates?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2013-12-26T15:02:46.420" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4995" CreationDate="2013-12-18T16:00:27.737" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;For wounds with heavy bleeding or that are deep, the standard practice is to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply direct pressure to the wound.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elevate the injury to decrease blood flow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, if the flow of blood is high enough that it won't clot then you want to impede the bleeding by whatever means possible.  As mentioned elsewhere, tourniquets are a last resort, where the loss of the limb is considered an acceptable outcome.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find on how to act in this case for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-severe-bleeding/basics/art-20056661&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on the Mayo Clinic site&lt;/a&gt; or with your country's Red Cross or Red Crescent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-08T17:35:07.900" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T17:35:07.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4532" CreationDate="2013-12-18T17:39:09.113" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Which one packs down smaller?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gore tex active shell&lt;/strong&gt;, it consists of 2 layers instead of three and the outer is bonded ot the middle layer reducing it's bulk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Which one is more breathable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, &lt;strong&gt;active shell&lt;/strong&gt;. The thinner fabrics will naturally allow more moisture out, there are less barriers between the inner and outside. How much more breathable is questionable though?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Which one is likely to last longer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gore tex Pro Shell&lt;/strong&gt;. There are more protective layers, especially on the inside as active shell has no inner layer, and the layers are built of sturdier material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2013-12-18T17:39:09.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5014" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5016" CreationDate="2013-12-18T18:26:36.543" Score="18" ViewCount="2092" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last weekend, we had a nice hike up Price Peak in the Sierras.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We went from sea level to above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in about 6 hours. And I had a &lt;em&gt;ROARING&lt;/em&gt; headache. I could hear my heart beat in my ears at all times. My entire head throbbed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, honestly, I was expecting it. We changed altitude too fast. But I felt fine otherwise (I wasn't nauseous).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Should I be worried when I get a headache due to altitude change?&lt;/strong&gt; What are the signs I should be watching out for, if not headaches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:02:22.747" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:02:22.747" Title="Are headaches a bad sign at altitude?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5014" CreationDate="2013-12-18T19:32:32.113" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As your body gets used to the altitude, the symptoms go away.  Therefore, if symptoms persist, Yes you should be worried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altitude sickness can affect your lungs and brain. When this happens, symptoms include being confused, not being able to walk straight (ataxia), feeling faint, and having blue or gray lips or fingernails. When you breathe, you may hear a sound like a paper bag being crumpled. These symptoms mean the condition is severe. It may be deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2013-12-18T19:32:32.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5014" CreationDate="2013-12-18T19:52:37.400" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Headaches are common symptoms of altitude sickness. It's a sign your brain is not getting enough oxygen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with lots of mountain issues it's down to judgement. If the headache is impairing your ability to perform at altitude, then yes, it's dangerous. If you can't concentrate on what your doing then your a danger to yourself and others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind, &lt;strong&gt;you're not necessarily the best person to make the decision on whether to go on or go down&lt;/strong&gt;. If you're alone, bear on the side of caution: head down. If you're in a group, tell the other people how you feel so they can keep an eye on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A headache on its own is unlikely to kill you. You're unlikely to simply have an aneurysm and keel over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other symptoms of altitude sickness listed on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/altitude-sickness/Pages/introduction.aspx&quot;&gt;NHS web site are&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nausea &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dizziness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;exhaustion &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get the below issues, get down ASAP, call mountain rescue, whatever— just get down now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a bubbling sound in the chest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;coughing up pink, frothy liquid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clumsiness and difficulty walking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;confusion leading to loss of consciousness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hallucinations &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a blue tinge to the skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are symptoms of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_pulmonary_edema&quot;&gt;high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE)&lt;/a&gt;. This means you effectively drown in your own fluids. Not good...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the main way to avoid these issues &lt;strong&gt;is to acclimatise properly&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="283" LastEditDate="2013-12-20T08:58:29.780" LastActivityDate="2013-12-20T08:58:29.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5014" CreationDate="2013-12-19T02:06:17.593" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;10,000 feet is not very high.  Most likely the headache you were experiencing was due to some combination of sleep deprivation, caffeine withdrawal, and unaccustomed exertion and aerobic challenge. It would be unusual to experience any discomfort whatsoever at that altitude. Most people don't need any acclimatization for that altitude. I've hiked with a lot of people on day hikes up to 10,000-11,000' in the Transverse Ranges of Southern California, and very few had even a headache. For comparison, La Paz, Bolivia, is at 12,000', and people don't keel over and die when they fly into La Paz from sea level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At altitudes more like 12,000 to 14,000', it's more common for people to start to have discomfort (nothing life-threatening) due to pH imbalance in their blood. If you're going to these altitudes without acclimatization, or even higher altitudes with acclimatization, you may want to consider getting a prescription for diamox (acetazolamide), which helps to rebalance your blood pH.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I be worried when I get a headache due to altitude change? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, not at 10,000', if &quot;worried&quot; means worried about dying. Of course, if you feel lousy, you feel lousy. You're not having fun. That could be a good reason to reconsider your options, such as turning around or waiting somewhere while your companions summit and then pick you up on the way back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are the signs I should be watching out for, if not headaches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia lists the following symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE): &quot;Symptoms: at least two of:&#xA;Difficulty in breathing (dyspnea) at rest&#xA;        Cough&#xA;        Weakness or decreased exercise performance&#xA;        Chest tightness or congestion&#xA;Signs: at least two of:&#xA;Crackles or wheezing (while breathing) in at least one lung field&#xA;        Central cyanosis (blue skin color)&#xA;        Tachypnea (rapid shallow breathing)&#xA;        Tachycardia (rapid heart rate).&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T02:06:17.593" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4997" CreationDate="2013-12-19T03:45:07.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an assistant instructor, I suspect it's your relaxation rate. New divers, and those who haven't been diving for a while, tend to get more excited when diving, and may also try to see the whole ocean. &#xA;Try slowing down and taking a closer look at what's around you. Ironically, you'll usually see more when going slow because you'll notice the small things as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T03:45:07.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5014" CreationDate="2013-12-19T18:47:18.500" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are right, if you gain 3000+ meters within 6 hours, you are susceptible to AMS. A safe vertical height gain per day would be around 1000 meters. But since your question is more about what other symptoms to watch out for to identify AMS, here are a few that you can keep an eye on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nausea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dizziness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of appetite(But at higher altitudes, this can be a normal scenario).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rapid pulse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pale skin (I have seen this first hand).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And of course headache.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your concern about headache is a valid one. But also keep in mind that headache is very normal at higher altitudes. Almost everyone does go through this during the initial times of acclimatization. Usually the headache goes off as one gets used to the thin air. HAPE and HACE are life threatening conditions. Usually HAPE is the only one known to affect people at relatively lower altitudes (3000m). &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema&quot;&gt;HACE&lt;/a&gt; is known to affect people around 4500+ meters. The symptoms of HAPE have already been given by Liam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to remember:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When hit by headache, stop for a while and ask your fellow mates if you look fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As much as possible, do not rapidly gain altitude. Even if you have to, keep your walk slow. This gives time for your body to adjust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is advisable to spend time at higher altitude while going to any altitude above 2500-3000m&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When in doubt, retreat. Remember, no mountain is worth the risk of life (except k2 of course ;) )&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep yourself hydrated. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When trekking in regions with strong sun, keep your head well shielded by the sun.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I did get a doubt that you might have been a victim of dehydration. Another possibility might be a strong sun. (both can lead to headache the way you described)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T18:47:18.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2013-12-19T22:13:43.437" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally don't think there's that much difference between the 2 calibers, they both use similar weight bullets. I'd use either on most game in North America. So I'd approach it from this angle, what caliber ammo can I find readily available in your area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if you're talking primarily very large game such as bear, moose, bison, etc. I'd probably go bigger such as the larger 30 calibers (338, 375, etc) or into the 40 caliber rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're basically talking deer, elk, hogs, either of those rounds are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2566" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T22:13:43.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5014" CreationDate="2013-12-19T22:37:31.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's a nice summer's day at lowest avalanche warning level in mid altitude you can still be hit by an avalanche and die. That being said in reference to the answer of @BenCrowell and the comments, it's just a matter of chances which are relatively low to get AMS (which are effecting your body in a serious matter) in regions up to 3000 m or even slightly above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With higher altitude the partial pressure of oxygen in the air decreases. While in a long-distance flight in about 10 km height the conditions are similar to air in 2000-2500 m altitude. With the decreasing partial pressure of oxygen in breathing air the partial pressure of the dissolved oxygen in your blood decreases. The oxygen saturation drops to about 90% for this height. Related to your condition which is affected by your predisposition or actual stress factors (which often occur on alpine tours) this decreased oxygen level will be balanced by an increased breathing rate and you will be also taking deeper breaths. For some people this isn't enough and they already notice the effect of the decreased oxygen saturation on their body very intensively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is proven that mountain tribes like the Sherpas have bigger red blood cells (hemoglobin) in consequence to their habitat. This is very admirable in my opinion and it shows the diversity of human being and the beauty of evolution. And like you know it's a major difference if you go from 1000 to 3000 m or if you start by sea level. The key is acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just recently have read about altitude sickness in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bruckmann.de/titel-5003-hochtouren_0.html&quot;&gt;Hochtour&lt;/a&gt; which is a quite new German book about alpine tours. I will share some general information I was getting from the chapter relating to &lt;strong&gt;AMS (acute mountain sickness)&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;occurs mostly in altitudes up to 6000 m&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;characterised by continual dull tapping headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other symptoms are tiredness, weakness, nausea, anorexia, sleep disturbances, apathy, distinctly increased pulse at rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;up to 2500 m: under normal circumstances no AMS because of the adaption of your body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2500 - 5300 m: adaption of body isn't enough but you can achieve the complete performance by proper acclimatization&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;above 5300 m: complete acclimatization isn't achievable anymore; limited to temporary stay&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to avoid AMS?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;above 3000 m: increase overnight stay by maximal 500 m per day or 1500 m per week&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stay 2 nights at a height if you can't avoid big differences&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;observe your pulse and respiration: only use approx. 50% of maximal performance while acclimatization&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if pulse at rest is increased by 20% in relation to normal (valley) pulse you are still acclimatizing and should use caution (do lots of breaks or even a rest day)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can use hyperventilation to increase partial pressure of oxygen in the lung&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't ignore first warn signs; speak with your team (not only important for AMS related questions)!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't panic if you are getting headaches in higher altitudes. They are not unusual above e.g. 4000 m. If they are occurring together with other symptoms you should start to worry a bit more. Be cautious, listen to your body and ask your mates because sometimes you aren't able to judge by yourself anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2013-12-19T22:58:49.690" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T22:58:49.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4919" CreationDate="2013-12-19T23:41:49.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please make sure you know what you are doing before you attempt this feat. Just because you have successfully rappeled there before, does not automatically mean you were/are qualified to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very overhanging cliffs can't be rappelled in the traditional sense. &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Bouncing&lt;/strong&gt;,&quot; like another answer here suggests, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;does not work on steep overhangs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. You have to down-climb, and if that is too difficult, &lt;strong&gt;you have to down-aid&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On multi-pitch rappel routes, it is not enough to know how to ascend the rope. &lt;strong&gt;You have to know how to actually climb back up!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aid climbing is a skill that takes years to develop, is very exhausting and takes a lot of time if you are a novice. Trust me, I have underestimated my aid-climbing skills before. For steep overhangs you will need to bring actual climbing gear (cams, nuts, aid-ladders, daisy chains, and possibly even hooks, pitons, copper heads or a bolt kit). If your route finding skills are lacking you can get yourself into serious trouble, even more so as if you had tried to climb the cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you know how to pendulum and tension traverse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't mean to sound insolent, but from your vague terminology it sounds like you are not a seasoned aid climber. My advice is: Don't do anything you can't &quot;undo:&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you rappel for several overhanging pitches and realize that the rappel anchor is missing, or that you are off route, you will have to climb back up, since you have pulled your ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multiple accident reports about this kind of feat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13199504300/StrandedUnable-to-Locate-Rappel-Anchor-California-Yosemite-Valley-El-Capitan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;1) Stranded—Unable to Locate Rappel Anchor, California, Yosemite Valley, El Capitan&lt;/a&gt; Shows that even seasoned climbers with aid experience might get into trounble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Rappellers-Rescued-off-of-El-Capitan.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2) Rappellers Rescued off of El Capitan&lt;/a&gt; An example of how exhausting getting off route might become.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Rappellers-Rescued-off-of-El-Capitan.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;3) Rescue of Climber Injured in Rappelling Accident&lt;/a&gt; Stresses how important route finding is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These were all seasoned climbers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just reread your post:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The height to rappel will be around 1800ft into 4 stages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regular climbing ropes are 200ft, which is the maximum distance you can rappel with two ropes.&#xA;If by &quot;stages&quot; you mean pitches, this makes for &lt;strong&gt;at least&lt;/strong&gt; 9 pitches. I would call that a big wall. You might spend days trying to climb back up if you get into trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2013-12-19T23:41:49.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4838" CreationDate="2013-12-20T04:54:52.817" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Energy bars (and protein bars, power bars, etc) are typically dehydrated in order to improve shelf life as well as increase the ratio of calories/nutrients to weight.  Their longevity and energy per ounce make them ideal foods for hikers and mountaineers, but your body &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; require some additional water to metabolize the nutrients and ingredients.  However, the amount is no where near as much as beef jerky will require to digest, which is both dehydrated and &lt;strong&gt;extremely&lt;/strong&gt; high in salt and nitrates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-20T04:54:52.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5027" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5029" CreationDate="2013-12-20T07:05:28.543" Score="15" ViewCount="14605" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question in some ways is related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5014/are-headaches-a-bad-sign-at-altitude&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question asked by JollySin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I did my first Himalayan trek, my guide there had told me that those with a low blood pressure (BP) are more susceptible to Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). The logic according to him was that low BP along with high altitude will result in the blood flow to the brain reducing further and the symptoms of AMS are more likely to occur at an earlier stage in those with a low BP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, is there a scientific relationship between BP(either low or high) and AMS? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please try to include references for the answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:59:32.477" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:59:32.477" Title="Does low blood pressure have an effect on Acute Mountain Sickness?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4823" CreationDate="2013-12-20T13:52:20.087" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To get an official answer to this question, I decided to email the National Park Service at Yosemite NP. The park ranger said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bears are attracted to &quot;food&quot; odors. When talking about food storage,&#xA;  anything that has an odor regardless of packaging is considered&#xA;  &quot;food.&quot; For this reason, cigarettes and other tobacco products are&#xA;  considered food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are just curious. If they smell something, they might just get curious enough to come investigate. And if anyone knows how curious a bear can be, it's a Yosemite NP park ranger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2013-12-21T18:33:46.247" LastActivityDate="2013-12-21T18:33:46.247" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5027" CreationDate="2013-12-20T17:44:34.853" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no documented scientific relationship between individual blood pressure and AMS.  Furthermore, your guide appears to be completely mis-informed as to the mechanics of AMS.  The most common symptom of AMS - a roaring headache - is caused by swelling of the brain as the body attempts to make up for reduced oxygen in the blood by pumping harder and faster (hence an increased heart rate).  See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitudemedicine.org/index.php/altitude-medicine/learn-about-altitude-sickness&quot;&gt;http://www.altitudemedicine.org/index.php/altitude-medicine/learn-about-altitude-sickness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally, high blood pressure would put one at risk for cardiac arrest, not AMS, when travelling quickly to high altitudes.  See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altituderesearch.org/traveling-to-altitude/113&quot;&gt;http://www.altituderesearch.org/traveling-to-altitude/113&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-20T17:44:34.853" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5030" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5034" CreationDate="2013-12-21T07:45:19.853" Score="13" ViewCount="1220" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have far less experience in trekking where there is snow. I believe walking through snow and through ice are two different techniques.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some sort of safe technique to walk on such snow with nearly 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; slope and winds?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if I would be able to take the same route that I open during an ascend, while descending. Yes, I can use some sort of markers, so that I can navigate the way, but with such snow, you can't really bet on the fact that the marker will hold up there till I get back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard past experiences from people that, fixing rope lines there isn't of much help either, as they found their ropes buried under snow. And, that sounds logical to me, because there is a major factor, wind, which blows snow everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am referring to high altitude slopes, probably between good 20000 - 22000 ft. An uncaught slip-and-drop would be fatal without a doubt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I go about it then? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obvious Assumptions: I have necessary equipment, walking sticks, Ice ax, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-09-12T01:06:59.900" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T01:06:59.900" Title="Walking through a Thigh-high snow" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2013-12-22T18:10:01.413" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: I use both. But then, I don't have particularly light weight gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For weekend hikes (my home is in Germany with hills and abundant forest) usually the tarp or nothing at all (or maybe a cave). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Moskitos drive me into the tent. In fact, I once returned to get the tent because moskitos were so bad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Short tours (weekend, prolonged weekend): usually tarp, depending on the weather also the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For longer tours, the tent. Where I usually am, you cannot rely on getting a chance to dry a moist or wet sleeping bag (unless, of course, you go for a hostel/hut/B&amp;amp;B).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Note that because of this abundant moisture I found winter camping in Manitoba (tent, quincy) easier than camping here at temperatures around 0 °C. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lots of the rain we get in summer comes as thunderstorm, which means that gusts will come from all directions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(On some bike longer bike tours we brought both: normally use the tarp which is also more comfortable in terms of space, but use the tent when it is raining or when in moskito land. But then with a bike, weight dowaesn't matter that much.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've once combined both on a backcountry ski tour: set up the tarp at steep angle over a geodetic tent because we expected (and got) large amounts of snow. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2013-12-22T18:10:01.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5030" CreationDate="2013-12-22T20:46:08.883" Score="13" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An unhurdled slip-and-drop would be fatal without a doubt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is the case, then maybe you need a belay. However, if the snow is sufficiently deep and soft that you're sinking up to your knees, why is it the case that slipping and being unable to self-arrest is so dangerous? In these conditions, typically you can't even intentionally get going fast enough to glissade or practice self-arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the conditions you're describing, the first thing I would worry about is avalanche danger. If the snow is that deep and soft, it sounds like you've just had a storm dumping a ton of fresh powder. Typically there is significant avalanche danger if there's (a) a lot of fresh snow, and (b) a slope of about 30-35 degrees or more. Since you're describing a slope of &quot;nearly 30 degrees,&quot; I think my basic answer is that you should not be out in those conditions due to avalanche danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not suggest going out and then making the decision about whether conditions are OK to go up. There has been a lot of work by social scientists studying why people die in avalanches. Avalanche safety courses and transponders are not really highly correlated with survival. Once people get there, there are strong social forces pushing them forward. See Ian McCammon, &quot;Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidents,&quot;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Obvious Assumptions: I have walking sticks, equipment, Ice axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the slopes are a little less steep than you're describing, or there's not as much fresh snow, then the avalanche danger might be acceptable, and then these are conditions where you want snowshoes. Personally, I don't bring poles when I'm going to be on snowshoes; I just bring an ice ax, which I only use if I'm on a steep slope. For mountaineering, you want snowshoes that have crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as routefinding, you have various options, the most straightforward of which is not to march up to 22,000' in the middle of a storm. If you find yourself in whiteout conditions, you could try to use GPS, but since GPS isn't 100% reliable, I wouldn't intentionally seek out conditions where you were likely to need it in order to get down from such high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-22T20:46:08.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2013-12-22T23:39:36.223" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;-20 celsius is not particularly cold, but 3 weeks summer hiking experience is not particularly helpful.  You might not kill yourself, but you probably won't thank yourself, either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2761" LastActivityDate="2013-12-22T23:39:36.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5030" CreationDate="2013-12-22T23:48:51.030" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Three thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the snow is thigh-high, then you should be either using touring skis or snowshoes to &quot;float&quot; over the snow. You'll expend way less energy.  Seriously, I can cover probably 10x-50x the distance (or more) with alpine touring gear or snowshoes in the same amount of time as someone without, and that's regardless of the angle of slope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Retracing your trail only matters if there is only &quot;one safe way&quot; through a route.  Event then, it's probably not worth it.  The beauty of snow is that you can create an optimal trail each time, so perhaps you're doing large switchbacks as you ascend, and then something much more aggressive when descending.  If there is high wind then the trail is going to be lost and you'll spend more time looking for it than simply blazing a new trail.  If you want a secret for finding trails in the snow: bring a dog.  I've travelled in 12ft deep snow where the dog was able to find the trail underneath with no hassle. I rarely use the same trail descending in snow that I use when ascending.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;30 degree slopes at 20,000+ altitude reeks of avalanche danger, crevasse danger, and exposure danger.  I assume you're travelling in a group, that you've all taken AST (avalanche safety training), are all wearing beacons, shovels and probes, have a certified guide with you who knows how to read terrain for avalanche danger, is geared to extract you (e.g. has a satellite phone, a 1st aid sled in his pack) and that you are all tied in together?   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can only speak having done alpine mountaineering in the 10,000ft range, but I would expect it to be doubly important in your case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-12-22T23:48:51.030" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4914" CreationDate="2013-12-22T23:59:59.500" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was a TV show called SAS Survival Secrets a few years back and one of the guys carried a regular condom in his emergency pack and showed how he could use it as an emergency hydration pack/bottle.  I think he was able to put about 2L of water in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2013-12-22T23:59:59.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5037" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5039" CreationDate="2013-12-24T08:57:13.480" Score="10" ViewCount="1575" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few monolithic granite rocks around my city. These are rocks with gradient of around 30 - 40 degrees. None of these offer a technical rock climbing opportunity. It's mostly about hiking up these monolithic structures in around 3-4 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, what kind of footwear should one wear while hiking up granite rocks structures with a gradient of 30 deg?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I had tried with my heavy trekking shoes and they gave very little grip on the rock surface (I guess due to the hard sole). I felt that a  flexible rubber sole would be better as it would grip the rocky surface better. I am not much worried about ankle twists or similar things. More concerned about a proper grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T15:18:43.200" Title="What shoes to wear while climbing monolithic granite rocks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5037" CreationDate="2013-12-24T13:21:29.090" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is steep enough to count as a climb I use rock boots.  Hiking boots are only useful when walking on trails where you need tread to grip. Smooth rocks are best climbed with the kind of smooth rubber soles you have on rock boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could take both though and change as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2013-12-24T13:21:29.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5037" CreationDate="2013-12-24T16:16:25.027" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The category of shoe you are looking for is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approach_shoe&quot;&gt;approach shoe&lt;/a&gt;, the name comes from their use by mountain climbers as their shoe of preference for approaching a climbing pitch.  They're lighter than hiking boots and are designed for trails and for scrambling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Approach shoes tend to have smoother soles than hiking boots but are usually sturdier than a climbing shoe. They also tend to have rubber all around the toe to help with grip on steeper elements. They are perfect for scrambling and there are a variety of models to match your own preference, whether you want something ultra-light or something with solid ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2013-12-25T15:18:47.013" LastActivityDate="2013-12-25T15:18:47.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4983" CreationDate="2013-12-24T17:06:34.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down is fairly easy to measure in terms of loft when you lay out the old bags. Basically, if the feathers are so crushed that after a proper wash and fluff you don't have a bag that holds up the fabric a couple of inches above the floor - you'll know to try sleeping in it with a backup blanket or plan to test how warm it now sleeps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably, you won't really know the condition of the bags unless the seller is willing to agree what volume the bags now take when gently laid into a pillow case or large volume storage case and you can repeat that measure when you take possession of the goods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2013-12-24T17:06:34.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="559" CreationDate="2013-12-24T22:27:54.767" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to your question is no. North America is a huge region. Even California is vast and varied, e.g., we have miner's lettuce at low elevations, but not higher up. For a given subregion, e.g., low altitudes in the Transverse Ranges of California, it's fairly easy to learn enough to identify a few trail snacks that might (or might not) be available. All these will typically do is allow you to have some fun and vary your diet of backpacking food with the occasional nibble of greens. But given this level of knowledge, you are very unlikely to find enough plant food in a day to satisfy your appetite. Sure, you might get lucky if, e.g., blackberries are in season or something, but that's not a high-probability thing that you can expect throughout North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an emergency situation, exposure, dehydration, and falls are the big things that could cause you to die, unless you're lost in the wilderness for weeks. In nearly all cases that a search and rescue team responds to, the optimal thing for the victim to do is to stay put. Moving around makes it harder for S&amp;amp;R to find you, which ends up lengthening the amount of time until you're rescued. That means that roaming around and foraging for food is almost certainly a mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2013-12-24T22:27:54.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5037" CreationDate="2013-12-25T16:18:31.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may sound a little too weird to most of the people, but trust me, nothing worked better (and ultimately hell a lot cheaper) than a normal canvas shoe with its sole slightly brushed with a sand-paper. It worked amazingly well and with comfort. I use them regularly where I go for an early morning short-hike at least thrice in a week. Try them out before you make any big-time investment too early. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2013-12-25T16:18:31.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5048" CreationDate="2013-12-25T17:35:32.343" Score="12" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to climb a few volcanic mountains in Indonesia the coming year. Mostly &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kerinci&quot;&gt;Mt Kerinci&lt;/a&gt; and a few adjoining ones (I'm still making a list of those near by to Kerinci).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that most volcanic mountains are dangerous due to the sulfurous gas emitted by the mountains. Are there any other specific threats from volcanic mountains?(apart for the obvious eruption threat). I'm talking of both active and dormant ones here. (Please exclude the threat due to altitude. I'm more concerned about specifics of a volcanic mountain climb)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also like to know if the lakes in the craters of some of these dormant volcanoes are safe sources of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: Kerinci is know to be active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2090" LastEditDate="2013-12-26T14:16:19.680" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T09:42:10.890" Title="Climbing volcanic mountains" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5047" CreationDate="2013-12-25T20:34:23.070" Score="8" ViewCount="1326" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always been under the impression that cotton is the enemy of a hiker - it absorbs moisture and just becomes a horrible wet casing around you, transferring away all the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was therefore quite surprised to find that a new sleeping bag I had purchased actually has cotton lining. Is this not counterproductive? Or does it not matter so much, assuming I do not get into the sleeping bag all sweaty and wet? Should I take any special precautions with this bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-24T08:39:48.410" LastActivityDate="2015-03-24T08:39:48.410" Title="Does a cotton lined sleeping bag make sense?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;cotton&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5045" CreationDate="2013-12-26T04:28:14.070" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of us, when adventuring, go to far off remote places, in very cold or wet areas, and carry everything with us on our backs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But not everyone does that. Some people only car camp, in the summer, where bathrooms and showers are 200 feet away. For those sorts of camping situations, people's needs in a sleeping bag are essentially nothing more than 'portable bed linen'. For those situations, cotton lined sleeping bags are cheap and comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, without any specific details about the make/model of sleeping bag you got, all I can speculate is that you purchased a car-camping, coleman type sleeping bag that is unfit for winter camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2013-12-26T04:28:14.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5045" CreationDate="2013-12-26T15:34:45.120" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton is the dominant bedding material choice worldwide for several reasons and as long as you aren't getting into the bag drenched and have adequate water control for your environment, I can't see the lining choice being a make or break factor in warmth. I can see it making the bag much more comfortable for casual use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, for winter camping in Minnesota, one thing I often pack is cotton or flannel liner for my synthetic lined down bags. You may be a step ahead with your bag should you end up making similar choices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="157" LastActivityDate="2013-12-26T15:34:45.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5044" CreationDate="2013-12-27T09:28:15.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One threat I've heard of is &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;heavy gases&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; (Carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc.) collecting in valleys or craters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally gases on a volcano will simply blow away, but some gases, being heavier, will sink into low lying areas of the volcano. These gases can replace the oxygen in these areas and can lead to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_pulmonary_edema&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HAPE&lt;/a&gt; like symptoms. This is made worse if you have respiratory problems (such as asthma) or at high altitude where the oxygen levels are low anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydrogen sulphide was actually used as a gas in World War I, so you can imagine this isn't going to be pleasant if you encounter a pocket of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how big an issue this will realistically be but it is &lt;strong&gt;a&lt;/strong&gt; threat that you may want to be aware of. I would imagine this would depend on the terrain and the type of volcano you are on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some info &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/volcanoes/facts.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most gases from a volcano quickly blow away. However, heavy gases such&#xA;as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide can collect in low-lying areas.&#xA;The most common volcanic gas is water vapor, followed by carbon&#xA;dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide can cause breathing&#xA;problems in both healthy people and people with asthma and other&#xA;respiratory problems. Other volcanic gases include hydrogen chloride,&#xA;carbon monoxide, and hydrogen fluoride. Amounts of these gases vary&#xA;widely from one volcanic eruption to the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although gases usually&#xA;blow away rapidly, it is possible that people who are close to the&#xA;volcano or who are in the low-lying areas downwind may be exposed to&#xA;levels that may affect health. At low levels, gases can irritate the&#xA;eyes, nose, and throat. At higher levels, gases can cause rapid&#xA;breathing, headache, dizziness, swelling and spasm of the throat, and&#xA;suffocation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address your secondary question, Lakes, tending to be in low lying bowls or craters, could be particularly susceptible to this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also believe some of these gases when dissolved with water can produce some nasty chemicals. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hydrogen sulfide&lt;/a&gt; dissolved in water produces hydrosulfuric acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T09:42:10.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5049" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5057" CreationDate="2013-12-27T10:11:13.960" Score="10" ViewCount="539" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at getting my first set of crampons, for winter Wales/Scotland trekking, with a view of working my way up into the Alps (during summer) eventually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been reading that a &lt;strong&gt;10 point C2/B2 configuration&lt;/strong&gt; would be a good option for a first set. any opinions? The C/B terminology is explained &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crampons#Grades&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I originally thought that C1/B1 would be better (lower grade) but I got told that these are actually aimed at more advanced users.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to clarify, these won't be used for ice climbing, simply winter trekking, likely on mixed ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-12-27T19:51:23.200" LastActivityDate="2018-02-18T20:12:22.710" Title="First crampon grade to buy" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5050" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2013-12-27T10:15:57.263" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A crampon is a traction device used to improve mobility on snow and ice. It generally consists of a series of spikes in a metal frame. These frames are attached to boots using various systems, such as straps, step in, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crampons can be used for ice climbing or winter walking on snow and ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They generally come in 3 configurations; C1, C2 or C3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C1 is a relatively flexible walking crampon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C2 is a versatile crampon for both walking and mountaineering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C3 is a technical mountaineering crampon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2013-12-27T14:08:30.487" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T14:08:30.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5051" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2013-12-27T10:15:57.263" Score="0" Body="A crampon is a traction device used to improve mobility on snow and ice. It generally consists of a series of spikes in a metal frame. These frames are attached to boots using various systems, such as straps, step in, etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2013-12-27T14:08:19.393" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T14:08:19.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="373" CreationDate="2013-12-27T16:13:18.313" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some potentially dangerous answers here.&#xA;The two colour blankets are used as follows:&#xA;Protection against cold - silver side to the body.&#xA;Protection against heat - Gold side to the body.&#xA;Seal end with tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2799" LastActivityDate="2013-12-27T16:13:18.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5049" CreationDate="2013-12-27T18:59:52.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's good for a question on SE to be focused. However, there is a broader context here, which is that you want your activities to be (a) safe and (b) comfortable and enjoyable, so that you'll want to continue doing winter mountaineering rather than letting your crampons gather dust in a closet. In this context, the exact choice of crampons is a relatively minor issue. More important issues are getting good self-arrest training, practicing self-arrest often enough so that you're likely to succeed in real conditions, getting boots that are comfortable, and figuring out clothing layers that keep you comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So anyway, in the terminology used in the question (which I think is probably UK-specific or European?), the standard setup is a pair of 12-point C2 crampons such as Grivel G-12's, which are what I own. This is a versatile setup that will also work on low-angle terrain or on higher-angle ice. Any other setup is extremely specialized and is not really what you want as the only pair you own. Most people who own this type of setup never feel the need to buy any other type of crampons. Because crampons and crampon-compatible boots are expensive, it doesn't really make sense to buy more than one setup unless you get into something really specialized, like ice sport climbing. There is no real concept of buying starter crampons or buying a &quot;first crampon grade.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm understanding correctly what C1 refers to, then those things suck. I've seen people using them, and they're horrible. The crampons keep falling off the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For boots, you probably want the most comfortable lightweight goretex boot you can possibly find that is compatible with your C2 bindings -- I guess this would fall in the B2 category. It's true that, e.g., double plastic boots will keep your feet warmer and drier on a long trip at high altitude -- but they will also probably cover your feet with blisters and make you miserable, and the extra weight will make you extremely inefficient. If you get started with winter mountaineering, enjoy it, and eventually start to feel that you're expending too much physical effort front-pointing, or if you want to go to altitudes above about 5000 m, then it might be time to think about getting a stiffer pair of boots (B3) or boots with more insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides ice ax and crampons, the other thing I find really helpful is a pair of microspikes, which are a brand of rubber elastic booties with little crampon-like spikes built in. You can put them over any shoes or boots. They're compact and lightweight, and they're extremely helpful for conditions where you have to walk across some mixture of snow, ice, dirt, and rocks (conditions where crampons would be a total pain at best). Depending on conditions, my setup may consist of ice ax+crampons, ice ax+microspikes, or ice ax+crampons+microspikes (or any of the above along with snowshoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you're out buying crampons, don't forget to stop at a hardware store and buy an appropriate file, and learn how to sharpen them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2013-12-28T02:08:02.613" LastActivityDate="2013-12-28T02:08:02.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5055" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-28T22:10:44.070" Score="3" ViewCount="557" Body="&lt;p&gt;My feet were frostbite, so I put my feet in hot water when I got home. Ice was forming in my shoe. After I put my feet in the water they puffed up A LOT, they were badly swollen!!! Should I get medical help? I can't bend my feet because they're so badly swollen!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2802" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:49:47.443" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:49:47.443" Title="What should I do with possible frostbite: Swollen feet after putting them in warm water" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;feet&gt;&lt;frostbite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5055" CreationDate="2013-12-28T22:18:36.407" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you should seek medical expertise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthcentral.com/encyclopedia/408/453.html&quot;&gt;healthcentral.com&lt;/a&gt;:    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the skin has thawed and rewarming is complete, cover the damaged&#xA;  skin with bandages and warm clothing. &lt;strong&gt;Contact your doctor or go to an&#xA;  emergency room&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2013-12-28T22:18:36.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5049" CreationDate="2013-12-29T22:30:19.707" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whoever told you C1 are aimed at 'more advanced users' than C2 is plain wrong. Crampon grades are really about where and how you plan to use them, rather than how good you are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a typically thorough and useful article by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/getting_the_right_crampon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the BMC have some good articles, for instance &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/crampons-for-mortals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C1:B1&lt;/strong&gt; Strap fixing, with toe 'cage'. Will typically fit on any stiffish 3-4 season boot. Check the specific crampon fits the specific boot well. Ideal for winter walking. OKish on lower grade gullies, Unsuitable for steep ice. Typically 10 point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C2:B2&lt;/strong&gt;: Typically heel clip fixing, so need a boot with a purpose designed heel welt. Boot and crampon are stiffer than C1, typically 12 point design. Good for winter walking, but less comfortable than C1 dues to stiffness. Ideal on graded gully climbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many UK &quot;grade 1&quot; scrambles can become graded climbs in winter, where you'd find C2 crampons gave you an advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And last, if you're new to winter hills, a couple of days looking at the basics with a good instructor is highly recommended. There's a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; to learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-18T20:12:22.710" LastActivityDate="2018-02-18T20:12:22.710" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5059" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-30T07:47:24.217" Score="12" ViewCount="5397" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which is better to use during a night trek - a flashlight or a headlamp?&#xA;Which do you prefer? Would be great if recommend the one you use and tell me what made you buy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2810" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:51:36.097" LastActivityDate="2020-08-26T19:39:20.023" Title="Flashlight or headlamp for night hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;night&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2013-12-30T08:31:10.143" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried out both options when I started night hiking and can share the following observations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlights are generally more powerful and directional - you can point a beam of light much further away; useful if you are trying to see further around you, for example to determine where each fork in the trail leads.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamps are less powerful for the same price (though there are some very bright ones) and are primarily useful for seeing the ground in front of you, so you do not step into a ditch or something.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlights have a narrow beam, whereas headlamps tend to have a wider one. Using a flashlight to see the ground close to you is not as comfortable, as there is one very bright spot and then darkness; a headlamp spreads the light around more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days I use trekking poles, which means my hands are full and thus the headlamp becomes the obvious choice. I still carry a flashlight but find that I almost never need to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Petzl-Stirnleuchte-TIKKINA-E91-PE/dp/B0027GVIOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1388392155&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=headlamp&quot;&gt;high-power LED headlamp&lt;/a&gt; (with lights I find that less LEDs means it is of higher quality).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="303" LastActivityDate="2013-12-30T08:31:10.143" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2013-12-30T08:36:47.950" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;For night trekking, I use a headlamp. Couple of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeps your hands free. (Useful when you are walking up steep slopes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No worry of dropping them flashlight (Had happened to me once where my flashlight rolled down the hill)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of a flashlight over a headlamp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More powerful and directional. (No need to strain your head in weird angles to get the light to shine at something)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamps are not meant for long distance lighting due to the wider and less focused light. Flashlights excel at this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My choice is a headlamp while night trekking and a flashlight in my backpack in case my headlamp fails me for some reason. I use a petzl LED headlamp and a geonaute LED flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: You can use a trekking pole with a flashlight holder. But if you aren't someone who uses a trekking pole(I do not use most of the times), then you have to hold the flashlight with your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2013-12-30T08:43:23.107" LastActivityDate="2013-12-30T08:43:23.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5055" CreationDate="2013-12-30T09:43:46.240" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to add to PPL's answer. The UK National Health Service has good practical advice on this also. It's available &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Frostbite/Pages/Treatment.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. But to summarise some of the relevant points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Treatment for frostbite depends on how severe your symptoms are. You&#xA;  should always seek medical attention if you suspect you or someone&#xA;  else has frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If symptoms are severe, go immediately to your nearest accident and&#xA;  emergency department&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The affected areas need to be re-warmed. Do not try to do this until&#xA;  you are out of the cold. If the warming process is started and the&#xA;  frozen parts are re-exposed to the cold, it can cause further&#xA;  irreversible damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Re-warming should be done under medical supervision because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;it can be a painful process that requires access to painkillers and    expert medical assessment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;the best results are achieved using a whirlpool bath that contains a mild antiseptic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Severe frostbite&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In cases of severe frostbite, you will need to be admitted to a&#xA;  specialist unit that has experience in treating these sorts of&#xA;  injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is often a specialist burns unit, as exposure to very high&#xA;  temperatures can cause the same sort of injury as exposure to very&#xA;  cold temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2013-12-30T09:43:46.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2013-12-30T14:34:03.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used both for night hiking, and I like a headlamp way better.  The main reasons are that it leaves the hands free, and the light is aiming roughly in the direction I'm looking.  I made my own headlamp with 4 white LEDs in series:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cuoTM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems to be a good brightness for hiking and seeing the ground in front of you.  Having it built into a hat is also nicer than a separate deliberate headlamp.  I used to have one of those (actually I still have it, just haven't used it since I made this headlamp), and it always felt somewhat uncomfortable on my head and never worked right with a hat and is fiddly with a wool cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One drawback of a headlamp is that since the light is coming from close to the same direction you are looking from, you don't get much help from shadows to get 3D cues.  Everything looks &quot;flat&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are deliberatly going night hiking, always take at least two independent means of making light, and at least one extra set of consumables for each.  For example, you can use a headlamp as your primary light, but bring a hand-held flashlight to augment the headlamp in particular situations and as a backup.  For example, when getting to a trail intersection, it can be useful to shine a more focused light around a bit.  Bring a flashlight that you are willing to hike out with in case the primary light fails for whatever reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2013-12-30T14:34:03.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2013-12-30T22:57:58.500" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hiked about 1000 miles this year in VFF KSO's, most of which was on the PCT. My pack weight varied from 20-35 lbs. The only serious issue I had was the occasional badly stubbed toe. I used dirty girl gaiters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like you I have been wearing VFF's everywhere for several years. Also, normal shoes cause me pain.&#xA;There was very little snow on the PCT in California this year. Had there been more snow I would have employed Lontras. In mud, snow, or ice the KSO's turn into skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2811" LastActivityDate="2013-12-30T22:57:58.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2013-12-31T03:48:36.707" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are going to use bear spray, sleeping under a tarp, hammock or otherwise, will give you a better line of sight/fire, and reduce the suffering you will likely experience from the indirect spray.  Having accidentally set off a small amount of my bear spray in the side door pocket of a car while driving the AL-CAN, I can confidently say that an indirect spray in an enclosed area can be pretty bad, and spraying a full, adrenaline packed, shot of bear spray inside your tent will be only slightly better than being eaten by the bear, at least in the short term.  As time progresses the benefits will outweigh the drawbacks.  That is,of course, assuming that the spray deters the bear.  If it decides to eat you anyway, then at least you will have the distraction of having been bear sprayed first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2812" LastActivityDate="2013-12-31T03:48:36.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2013-12-31T04:07:59.650" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A flashlight is in my experience much better for traveling at night.&#xA;This because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It throws out a more powerful beam than almost any headlamp - The problem with a headlamp is that any bright enough beam to be useful on most trails is going to affect your vision (especially if you wear glasses)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most headlamps are only comfortable to wear for relatively short periods of time. You can always change hands with a flashlight. If your headlamp is too snug, you'll soon notice that it is an annoyance to wear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A flashlight is always useful as a bludgeon - Not knowing where you might be hiking and who or what you might encounter, having a solid object in your hands might come in very &quot;handy&quot; if things go south.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most flashlights have a flat base meaning that they can be set on end and used as an impromptu &quot;lantern.&quot; - Obviously a headlamp really can't be used for this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A flashlight can used as signaling device in case of an emergency - While a headlamp could be in some situations, its inferior light output limits its effectiveness in this mode.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;WHile I would always take two flashlights and a headlamp, I would prefer the flashlights as my &quot;go to&quot; lighting devices on a night trek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2813" LastActivityDate="2013-12-31T04:07:59.650" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5067" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2013-12-31T20:57:36.997" Score="11" ViewCount="775" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally when doing multi-pitch climbs, I prefer to just climb with a light pack. However, sometimes that's just not possible and the pack(s) must be hauled instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some good ways to haul a pack up a pitch? Where does it best fit in around belaying the second? What are good ways to avoid getting packs stuck?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking particularly of something that's light enough to haul hand-over-hand with some breaks in there, and speed of hauling is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-02-03T15:49:13.290" Title="Hauling a pack during climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5067" CreationDate="2014-01-01T21:14:28.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a detailed article on hauling called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/hauling-101/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hauling 101&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a pulley Back up your pulley&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a safety line or tie yourself&#xA;in independently&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach a 40 foot piece of static line (7 mm is a&#xA;good diameter) permanently to the haul bag, to be used as a leash.&#xA;This will help with lowering a lot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-01-01T21:14:28.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5070" CreationDate="2014-01-02T05:49:41.650" Score="5" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading the novel: &lt;em&gt;No Way Down&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;em&gt;Graham Bowley&lt;/em&gt;, which is a detailed account of August 2008 K2 tragedy. There was a survivor named &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_K2_disaster&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilco Van Rooijen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, who eventually was rescued up somewhere between camp IV and camp III. He was suffering from snow-blindness, which contributed majorly in he getting disoriented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder what could be done at such altitudes where you are absolutely far from any medical facility/assistance, and probably need to carry on a little further down in order to get at least evacuation by air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the symptoms and what are preventive measures and what can be done in order to limit the damage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2014-01-02T06:00:27.963" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T14:41:18.830" Title="Effective measures to minimize the damage due to Snow-blindness?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5069" CreationDate="2014-01-02T06:10:23.650" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow blindness in simple terms is burning of the cornea and conjunctiva due to UV rays. At higher altitudes, the UV rays are more as &lt;em&gt;less atmosphere is there to absorb these UV rays&lt;/em&gt;. Hence there is a higher chance of snow blindness at higher altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Symptoms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Intense pain in the eyes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Huge amount of tears.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preventive Measures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a protective goggle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never expose naked eye to direct/indirect sunlight at higher altitudes(light reflected by snow)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treatment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pain killers can help to reduce the pain. But they will not heal the burnt cornea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making sure that the eye doesn't get exposed to sunlight is the only solution I know.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eye drops can help in elevating the pain to some extent. But the healing of the cornea takes not more than 3 days (for me it took around 20 hrs).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of need for rescue, the only option is to prevent further exposure to sunlight and get down to a lower altitude (cover up the eyes with goggles). I personally don't know of any medicine which helps with snow blindness. Also, unknown to many is that this can occur to even those who do mechanical arc welding without protection to the eyes. Snow blind is a term which has developed due to the prevalence of this type problem caused by the UV reflected by snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: Personal experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2014-01-02T06:21:59.827" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T06:21:59.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5069" CreationDate="2014-01-02T14:30:24.560" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you'd lost, broken or simply didn't have any googles, I know in the days before effective UV protective eyewear, explorers would wear goggles with thin slits cut into them to reduce the amount of light entering the eye. In an emergency situation you could probably &lt;a href=&quot;http://survival.about.com/od/3/a/Survive-Snow-Blindness-Make-Your-Own-Goggles.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;knock this up with a knife and some simple materials&lt;/a&gt;. How effective it would be, I don't know but could be worth a go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Native inuit have used &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_snow_goggles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this method&lt;/a&gt; for centuries:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dZ5VF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-01-02T14:41:18.830" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T14:41:18.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5037" CreationDate="2014-01-02T15:18:43.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As furtiv said, an approach shoe would be ideal for situations like this. I love my Scarpa Crux shoes for scrambling. Lightweight, flexible, and grippy. They also work well for the trail, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2636" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T15:18:43.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4805" CreationDate="2014-01-02T20:58:44.330" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on travelling in the region of this question for a few weeks and asking numerous park rangers this questions, and yet activly trying to find reptiles. Most snakes and other reptiles are indeed in hibernation in this period. Due to the cold most hibernate too deep to awake during the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On south oriented slopes that warm up pretty good some lizards may be found, but rarely numerous or many different species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An exception to this region appears to be the west of california, which even in winter remains quite warm, and low land pools that do not freeze (turtles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2014-01-02T20:58:44.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5074" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-03T00:10:57.227" Score="4" ViewCount="454" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trekking up the Kilimanjaro and planned on using my sleeping bag which is rated for -10 / +10 with an extreme at -17 degree Celsius. I read that temperatures may plunge down to -25° at the very top, although I don't know how cold nights at the camps are to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was planning on making my own Vapor Barrier Liner in case I get cold, despite the bag and my cotton liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan is to use a heavy-duty garbage bag (to prevent moisture from leaving), add infrared radiation reflection with a thermal blanket inside of that, and to make things cozy, slip in my cotton liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a decent homemade vapor barrier liner? If not, how can it be improved? Also, how damp may my cotton liner be in the morning with such a system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2816" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T16:56:25.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T18:33:07.710" Title="Making my own Vapor Barrier Liner for a mummy sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;kilimanjaro&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2014-01-03T01:45:42.773" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been wearing my FiveFingers for 2 years now. Since I have put a pair of xc on, I've never put on another shoe except for church. I work, swim and play in them. I really enjoy hiking. I use xc for long distance with no problem. Love them. I do off trail. And find I am more sure footed and no longer slip or turn ankles. I was initially worried about that but do much better in them. I have 18 pairs and depending what I do, I decide what pair to wear. I also live in cold regions with snow. My xc are water proof and warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2818" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-14T09:09:50.713" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T09:09:50.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5076" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5082" CreationDate="2014-01-03T01:57:50.337" Score="5" ViewCount="2301" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my last couple of dives, I've noticed that my feet tend to float up during the 5m / 3 minute safety stop. It seems to be more of an issue when doing a safety stop using a line to ascend, but I've noticed it to a lesser extent when floating freely for the stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During all of these dives, I've been wearing a weight belt. I believe it has always had the appropriate amount of weights on it (varying depending on the tank or wetsuit worn), and I've had no problems achieving and maintaining neutral buoyancy during the dives. During the main part of the dive, I don't have issues with my feet floating above me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a common reason for why my feet may be floating up during the safety stop, and is there a way to avoid it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:46:03.580" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T13:46:03.580" Title="During a safety stop, how do I avoid my feet floating up?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5077" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5083" CreationDate="2014-01-03T02:58:23.340" Score="10" ViewCount="2514" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently in a French overseas territory, and almost all of the dive centres and clubs here use the CMAS system. Whenever I've booked in for a dive, the dive centre has looked at my PADI qualifications, asked a few questions, and put me into an appropriate dive group for the day. They seem to have always put me into the right group, so they at least seem to know the equivalence!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when I've been chatting with other divers (non-instructors) before and after dives, they've not known how to match my PADI level to their CMAS one, and nor have I for the reverse. This has made it tricky for us to recommend other dive sites to each other, especially ones in different countries, as we haven't known if the standard would be suitable or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a well known approximate equivalence between the PADI and CMAS qualification levels?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T07:57:36.067" Title="When describing my PADI qualifications with a CMAS diver, is there a well know equivalence table?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4805" CreationDate="2014-01-03T04:19:12.607" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to what others have mentioned, reptiles do indeed go into hibernation, but not in the thought of &quot;traditional&quot; hibernation, such as that of a bear or other mammals. Reptiles usually do burrow down, but they can certainly be awoken. Here in the southeast, if the temperatures rise just a bit, we have plenty of snakes and lizards around sunning themselves. Reptiles usually take advantage of warm days to drink water and hunt before hunkering back down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that many reptiles feel particularly vulnerable during this time out since they are likely weak from having little food, so they may be more inclined to be cranky. That being said, there are very few (if any) reptiles that seek out to attack humans so you should be fine as long as you give them a wide berth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-01-03T04:19:12.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2014-01-03T04:22:35.027" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my personal experience, a headlamp is much better. It doesn't have the directional capabilities of a traditional flashlight, but it leaves your hands free for other tools. During an emergency hike/climb down a mountain in sub-zero temperatures I needed to use my hands to hold on to trekking polls and other hand-holds and the headlamp saved my life, I probably wouldn't have been able to get down without one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-01-03T04:22:35.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5080" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5081" CreationDate="2014-01-03T10:06:01.553" Score="7" ViewCount="3061" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe, many of us may have set this theme of mountains on gmail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did anybody care to know what mountain is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wapQ4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:52:33.443" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T20:41:22.287" Title="What mountain is this white pointed one in my gmail background image?" Tags="&lt;mountain-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5080" CreationDate="2014-01-03T11:28:02.467" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the Himalayan peak, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ama_Dablam&quot;&gt;Ama Dablam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the theme images are provided by iStockPhoto, this one appears to be cropped from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-15301941-snow-mountain-summit-pinnacles-dramatic-high-altitude-ridges-himalayas-nepal.php&quot;&gt;this image&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-01-03T11:28:02.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5076" CreationDate="2014-01-03T11:43:39.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This should sound more generic than only for a safety stop during a dive.&#xA;I had this issue that during the swim as well, that I had to constantly fight to keep from rolling to one side, or to keep my feet from floating towards the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two most typical problems with swimmers/divers that I saw were :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The feet looked to have a tendency to move towards the bottom while their upper body moves toward the surface, meaning, that the center of gravity would be so low on the body that, some of the weight needs to be re-positioned towards the shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or the other way round: such that the feet kinda had a tendency to float towards the surface. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is your case I guess. You need more weight closer to the lower half of your body in order to balance the center of gravity. Should you be using ankle weights? 2 lb may be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One quick notes: If you are in wet suit, and if you think that you are concerned that there is air in your booties,ensure the boots are outside (are not tucked inside) the wet suit leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, rather than investing in ankle weights right away, before you do so, try a dive with very little gas inside your suit. And, Use your BC to maintain neutral buoyancy. Actually you can practice diving with a minimum of gas inside your dry-suit, It &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; cause the floaty-feet problem to be solved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or another quick solution to try can be: A pair of Aqualung jet fins. I have heard a friend who had resolved the issue with that. But I personally believe more in classic-style to resolve such an issue rather than finding a work-around solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: The re-positioning of the weight should be such that you don't also start experiencing the first problem noted above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-01-07T04:57:16.370" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T04:57:16.370" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5077" CreationDate="2014-01-03T15:07:29.923" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a quick reference :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;CMAS                         PADI Equivalent&#xA;CMAS 1 Star Diver            Open Water Diver&#xA;CMAS 2 Star Diver            Rescue Diver&#xA;(with verification of Night and Navigation dive)     &#xA;CMAS 3 Star Diver            Divemaster or IDC Candidate&#xA;CMAS 1 Star Instructor       IDC Candidate&#xA;CMAS 2 Star Instructor       IDC Candidate&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.idc-guide.com/diving-agency-crossovers.html&quot;&gt;IDC Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-01-03T15:07:29.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5085" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-03T23:36:53.837" Score="8" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I work outside in near zero degree temps and mittens or gloves are too cumbersome to work with my fingers get so cold they ache. My toes may get cold and ache as well depending on how long I'm outside and if moister wicking socks are worn. My question is not on prevention. Common sense helps most of the time. I've found that applying dry heat can bring your extremities back to normal quite effectively; hair dryer or wood stove etc. But why if you put your toes or fingers under even Luke warm water to below &quot;hot to the touch&quot; water can bring on excruciating pain. Similar to hitting your fingers/thumb with a hammer.  Just wondering why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2825" LastActivityDate="2014-01-04T10:26:33.077" Title="Freezing fingers and toes" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5085" CreationDate="2014-01-04T01:07:35.750" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When your hands are cold then your nerves will adapt to the cold, so lukewarm water will often feel boiling hot if your hands are freezing (the old hand in hot water, hand in cold water then both hands in warm water trick shows this.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to why water hurts but a dry heat doesn't, I suspect this is predominantly because water is a much more effective conductor of heat than air, so water at the same temperature will warm your hands much more suddenly than warm air, not giving your brain time enough to adapt to the change. It's similar to the reason why it feels much colder putting your hand in ice cold water rather than surrounding it with air at the same temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A secondary, though I suspect lesser reason is that you can easily move your hands closer or further to a hot air stream, so there's much more of a continuous temperature gradient where you can choose to put your hands (and again this helps with the gradual change.) With water, it's pretty much an instant change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2014-01-04T10:26:33.077" LastActivityDate="2014-01-04T10:26:33.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5087" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5091" CreationDate="2014-01-04T02:08:29.887" Score="21" ViewCount="10126" Body="&lt;p&gt;During a recent backpacking trip, we hung the bear bag and got ready to set in for the night and I realized I wasn't sure what I should do with my backpack. Technically the backpack was carrying the food bag all day, so should it be hung? &lt;em&gt;I should clarify that I am not using a bear canister, so although the food is in sealed bags, it still technically is in contact with the bag&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, I've always just left it right outside of my tent, but now that I'm acquiring more expensive backpacking gear, I fear that my backpack will be dragged off in the night by a bear or have a hole chewed in it by a rodent. Is there a best practice for this kind of thing? Any suggestions? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:24:20.067" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:24:20.067" Title="How to store a backpack while sleeping?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5088" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-04T20:55:40.783" Score="16" ViewCount="1681" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent winter backpacking trip there was some confusion and danger of separation of the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The group had not walked together before. Some members were not very experienced, while others were quite fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The group separated several times, during night time. Later days there were fogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This gets me wandering, is there a standard set of signals between mountaineers in the range 500m - 10km with a flashlight. As, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivaliq.com/survival/signaling-techniques_s3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;, demonstrates body signalling at distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kuJWt.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a list of the messages that I anticipate to be often useful in hiking, climbing emergencies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reverse SOS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We are here. (Because of poor visibility) we will stay stationary. Safety is this way. We are waiting for you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ID&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Who are you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am number 8.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am the last in the walking line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acknowledgement&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I understand and agree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do not understand or do not agree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Danger&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How are you doing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everything is OK, we are proceeding as planned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We have a problem, but there is no danger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We are in danger. Help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people can't work with Morse code, and even a printed sheet of the code would be impractical without previous training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is is there a similar system of signals? Something like a circle with the flashlight, pointing something with the beam or a cross with the flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T13:41:10.090" Title="Is there a standard set of light signals for mountaineers?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5088" CreationDate="2014-01-04T21:18:02.953" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot say if there are standard signals between &lt;em&gt;mountaineers&lt;/em&gt;, however from hiking I know the following three &lt;strong&gt;light signals&lt;/strong&gt; are used:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning&lt;/strong&gt;:  Wave the flashlight back and forth to signal a warning to those around you. Use this signal when you spot a potential danger such as a wild animal, steep cliff or unsafe terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OK&lt;/strong&gt;:Point your flashlight toward the ground, holding the flashlight by your side.  Draw a circle on the ground using the light emitted by your flashlight as a pen. Use this signal to inform those around you that everything is okay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distress&lt;/strong&gt;:  Three flashes in a row will generally indicate to any onlooker that you’re in need of help. You can also use the Morse code signal for distress, which is three short blasts, three long blasts and three more short ones.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-01-06T17:05:22.910" LastActivityDate="2014-01-06T17:05:22.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="215" CreationDate="2014-01-04T21:34:30.967" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Live in the Ozark National Forest. Specifically where the game office drop off bears that are written off as &quot;trouble makes&quot; caught near residences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last March I was charged by a rather large, male, black bear...the only thing that saved my bacon was a dog named Doo. Not &quot;Scooby-Doo&quot;, but &quot;Doo&quot;. Then there are the dozen or so encounters where the bears came into my yard that Doo ran up a tree. Then there was the time a bear busted out two of my windows. Bears here are not afraid of people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short...a dog is a must. If you walk in brown/griz country...I'd take at least three. Don't have to be big dogs. Funny thing is...black bears can count. They tend to think twice with one dog, but two dogs....they will take cover rather than advance. Three dogs...no worries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Half guard dog and half hound is a good bet. Best of both worlds without them straying too much. With that said you don't want the &quot;half-hound&quot; to be red-bone, blue-tick or any other hound adept at running 20 miles a day. You will loose them in short order. A mild hound like a &quot;water-dog&quot; (lab/weimeraner) mixed in with a BIG guard dog (mastiff/dane).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any LARGE pure bred guard dog will do, but they cost money while muts are typically free. Even a single teacup poodle is better than nothing...assuming you can out run the dog of course. A single pitbull will work, but you can't run more than one cause they'll fight your other dogs if not kill them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With my experience with black bear... I'd never test my luck with brown/grizzly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2826" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-27T19:39:25.967" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T19:39:25.967" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2014-01-05T00:52:45.050" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I almost always sleep with my backpack--in fact, I use it as part of my sleep system as I use a shorter sleeping pad, so the backpack goes under my feet. Keeping the pack in your tent gives maximum protection from the worst backcountry pests--mice and their kin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past I've left my pack outside covered in a large, thick trash bag. I think once I ended up hanging my entire pack (ugh).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17" LastActivityDate="2014-01-05T00:52:45.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5074" CreationDate="2014-01-05T18:29:50.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would consider a polyester or wool liner before one made of cotton. Cotton is quite comfortable dry but not so much wet. Andrew Skurka has a lot of experience with vapor barrier and &lt;a href=&quot;http://andrewskurka.com/2011/vapor-barrier-liners-theory-application/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wrote a good article about it&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How damp will it be is dependant on how well your thermoregulation is. I would definitely recommend trying your system before hitting the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, vapor barriers are interesting on long, multi-months, trips. Just make sure that if you get cold on top of the mountain you don't end up cold &lt;strong&gt;and wet&lt;/strong&gt; with your vapor barrier!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-01-05T18:29:50.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2014-01-06T11:43:10.607" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did Teide last year aged 60;  I'm fit, but not a climber as such - I occasionally do a few of the Scottish Munros and run 5 - 10k twice a week only. 20 years ago I did Mont Blanc in the Alps, which I found desperately hard, and didn't acclimatise at all well despite 3 days altitude preparation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting up and down Teide was easy in comparison.  I left Puerto de la Cruz about 7.30 in the morning, drove to the little Montana Blanca car park (there is a small notice board to confirm where you are), did the climb of 4,500' or so up past the Altavista quite straightforwardly, back down the same way and was back in Puerto de la Cruz by about 7.00 in the evening. Above the Altavista I took it at more of a plod, and stopped for a wee breather every 5 - 10 minutes;  breathing is definitely affected up here, but I didn't have any of the severe headaches, sickness and disorientation I had on Mt Blanc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back at the hotel, I felt great, had a shower, then started a beer;  I couldn't finish it;  went straight to bed, had a poor nights sleep, didn't feel at all well the next day, couldn't eat, and only started getting back to normal the day after that - all absolutely classic altitude after-effect symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other minor complication doing it this way is getting the right permit time slot for the summit;  I actually arrived at the checkpoint about 1/2 hour before the start of my slot, but the guard let me through after my best pleading look.  I have looked at doing Teide in a day from sea level but don't think there's enough daylight - for me anyway;  I don't fancy the prospect of stumbling around in a remote, exposed, high altitude volcanic landscape in the dark!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2832" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-01-06T17:49:01.860" LastActivityDate="2014-01-06T17:49:01.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5088" CreationDate="2014-01-06T16:40:55.713" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountain distress signals vary slightly depending on what country you're in. In the UK, the general distress signal is to use a whistle (&lt;a href=&quot;//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_distress_signal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine distress signal&lt;/a&gt;), not a torch. This is so it can be identified in poor visibility. Many backpacks come with a whistle integrated into the webbing, the bright orange bit below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LT8b5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rucksack chest strap buckle incorporating whistle&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's usually 6 blasts of a whistle at roughly one minute intervals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you can do the same thing with a torch if needed but a whistle is generally recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should &lt;strong&gt;only&lt;/strong&gt; do this if you are in &lt;strong&gt;genuine peril&lt;/strong&gt; as anyone hearing this should immediately make their way to you in order to attempt to help and/or call mountain rescue. Being unsure of other members of your party probably wouldn't constitute a good use of this signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T13:41:10.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2014-01-06T16:59:47.200" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless food or another smelly substance has been spilled on the backpack, and so long as all such temptations have been removed from the pack and placed in the suspended bear bag, it should be safe to keep it on the ground for the night--whether it's propped against a tree, placed in your tent's vestibule or in the tent with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of it this way: you don't have much of a choice but to expose your tent to rodents or other pests, but it tends to remains safe. It's never a bad idea to check all of your backpack's pockets and openings for animals or bugs in the morning before you reach in or start packing up, but packs typically should not be damaged if left on the ground, so long as proper precautions are taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2726" LastActivityDate="2014-01-06T16:59:47.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5097" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5098" CreationDate="2014-01-06T22:58:28.207" Score="15" ViewCount="3356" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on extended outdoor excursions are there any scenarios where you can leverage urine as an efficient tool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example would be: You're in your sleeping bag in a tent and it's -30*C outside, you opt to urinate in a nalgene inside your sleeping bag and place the sealed nalgene at your feet to keep your toes warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to emphasize practical uses rather than concocting dubious scenario's that ultimately are not beneficial to the readers of this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T15:20:47.230" Title="Practical uses for urine" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-01-07T05:55:25.517" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many if you can adjust with smell and fact that you are going to need to use your own urine for some or the other purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hydrate using Urine:&lt;/strong&gt; When you are damn far away from any water source and going through serius dehydration, You distill your urine if you can light a fire and have two makeshift containers, some kind of tube, and something to cover one of the containers (like a plastic bag). You put your urine in one of the containers, insert the tube, and cover the top of the container. Put the other end of the tube in the other container. The water in the urine will evaporate, leaving the undrinkable elements behind. It will travel up the tube and the condensation will run into the other container. This method is proven one and is also explained in &lt;em&gt;The SAS Survival Handbook.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Makeshift Gunpowder using Urine&lt;/strong&gt; : Though historical references says that there had been an established technique for making Gunpowder, called the French Method which was commonly used during the Civil war, I personally feel, getting that accuracy for some common adventure guy like me would be out of question. But Yes, as the Gunpowder comprises of 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur. We have sources for that around: Charcoal - Wood? Sulfur: dug from the ground around volcanoes? And, Potassium Nitrate: Urine? Bat poo? I actually don't have any experience in making one such, but there is a lot of saying about how that worked for people trapped in caves or under some abandoned mine.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Urine as luke warm fluid source:&lt;/strong&gt; Usually, at higher altitudes, one of the most concerned issues for mountaineers is Frostbite. I have a teammate / mentor who eventually had to suffer a minor frostbite during an attempt, He was some 6-7 hrs far from the Advance Base Camp, and he almost got his toe frostbitten. He realized that it is not so serious yet, but it can be if not taken right preventive measures. He had lost his water can during the climb around ice walls and he needed to put the toe in warm water to asap. He was properly hydrated, and could walk down down the distance. He urinated in his socks to keep his toe warm and walked down till the Advance Base Camp. And, he recovered with absolutely no trouble to his toe. What he actually did was, He did attempt the summit, couldn't make it though, got frostbite to the toe, somehow descended before it got worse, when he was sure that he has descended sufficiently well and to the safer altitude where there is no sub-zero temperatures, then he took the gamble to urinate in his socks, just being sure that it won't freeze.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-01-07T14:44:35.620" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T14:44:35.620" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-01-07T13:31:37.353" Score="-6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, There is no practical scenario in which you would want to use urine for anything other than waste removal from the body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anyone is trying to make plans which involve relying on urine as a staple then they truly are unprepared for what is ahead of them. There are however emergency dire situation in which it can be used to sustain life for one reason or another but if that use is included in the original plan then there is no solution in the case of an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2563" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T13:31:37.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-01-07T17:24:23.133" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, &lt;i&gt;DO NOT DRINK URINE&lt;/i&gt;.  People who suggest this, including a example I saw on a survival show, are just plain wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The job of your kidneys is to take out the trash.  This trash is in the form of various chemicals that are biproducts of other parts of the body doing their jobs.  Energy is delivered to cells chemically.  Cells take in chemicals that combined are in a high-energy state.  They re-arrange these chemically into a low energy state, thereby deriving energy for themselves that they use for various life processes.  The resultant low energy chemicals are the trash they just eventually dump into the blood stream.  The kidneys are constantly grabbing these trash molecules from the bloodstream to keep it clean.  Without kidneys, the trash builds up, which will kill you in a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like a lot of similar industrial processes, the kidneys use water to move the trash and to keep it in a solution such that it can be more easily handled.  That solution is urine.  If you drink urine, you are putting the trash back into your body, which the kidneys then have to expell again, again using water in the process.  In fact, the kidneys require energy to pump these trash molecules out of the bloodstream, which makes some amount of additional trash, which takes additional water to get rid of.  Therefore drinking urine will cause you to &lt;i&gt;loose&lt;/i&gt; water overall, not to mention the added stress on the kidneys from having to take out the same trash twice, especially when there is less than usual water available (you are already dehydrated).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Urine is mostly water, so if you can somehow purify it, then you can drink it.  There are ways to purify water in the wild, so you could conceivably use urine as a water source, but &lt;i&gt;only if you are able to purify it&lt;/i&gt;.  This is really no different from using seawater as a water souce, and the backcountry methods for purification are the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can build a fire and have suitable closed containers and something you can rig up as a condenser, then you can distill urine to get mostly clean water that will provide net hyderation to drink.  Without a still setup, you can use solar condensators and the like.  You don't need to boil a mostly-water solution to generate (mostly) pure vapor, just that you get a lot more of it more quickly that way.  Any method that keeps the original liquid at a higher temperature than the output in a closed space will eventually condense clean water.  It's a bit of a aside, so getting into details of such methods is too much for this post.  But it can be done, although passive condenstation produces clean water only slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T17:24:23.133" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2014-01-07T18:55:39.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also, I'd like to add &lt;em&gt;stay out of the wind&lt;/em&gt;. The wind will suck away any heat you build up, and unless you have a strong tent, cold air will pour in through the seams. One time we were dumb enough to camp on a mountain bald with no trees to protect us in a steady 40 mph wind and a member of our group was in early stages of hypothermia before we were able to get off the mountain top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip, &lt;em&gt;you're only as warm as your coldest group member&lt;/em&gt; so if there's someone who is freezing, focus on heating them up and make sure they're giving you accurate responses to their condition. People experiencing hypothermia usually first start acting irrationally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T18:55:39.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-01-07T22:46:02.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could wet your clothes so that evaporation may help you cool a little in warm places such as deserts. Though this may be trivial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2014-01-07T22:46:02.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3404" CreationDate="2014-01-08T07:13:57.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Postholing is more of an etiquette thing. On popular snowshoeing routes when people posthole thru a trail the make a thin deep canyon of snow. This makes it difficult for snowshoers to get nice flat sections to hike on. After the holes get covered by fresh snow, these holes become a mine field for people on snowshoes..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2840" LastActivityDate="2014-01-08T07:13:57.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5105" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5179" CreationDate="2014-01-08T13:23:31.197" Score="8" ViewCount="3013" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to hunting. Last time I went, I found myself needing to go up or down relatively steep slopes with a little bit of snow. For that kind of terrain it's nice to have both hands free to catch yourself if you slip, or to allow you to scramble up a particularly steep part on all fours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these situations I think it would be useful to carry my compound bow on my back. I experimented with adding a couple straps to my bow, and that allowed me to wear it on my back quite nicely. However the sight presses into my back a little bit and I'm afraid it'll move out of alignment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I safely, inexpensively, carry my bow on my back so both hands are free?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I'm looking for solutions that are relatively quick because I'll be doing this several times during the day. So a full-blown backpack that requires me to take the pack off, mess with multiple clips and pockets, etc. is a little overkill. On the other end of the spectrum, it would be nice to have something that allows me to get the bow out, nock an arrow, and shoot in just a few seconds. However I realize that may be unrealistic, so I'm looking for something in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2841" LastEditorUserId="2841" LastEditDate="2014-01-08T18:49:58.497" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T17:01:31.793" Title="Carry compound bow on back" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5106" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5109" CreationDate="2014-01-09T10:13:02.880" Score="30" ViewCount="14502" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just reading this question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7/what-is-the-safest-way-to-purify-water&quot;&gt;What is the safest way to purify water?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I walk a lot in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/park-authority/offices&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowdonia&lt;/a&gt; in North Wales and on occasion I drink from mountain streams. I've even camped next to mountain streams and used the water as my main water source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't used any purification tablets or boiling (generally) and suffered no ill effects.&#xA;I always ensure the water is fast running and 90% of the time it's fed from mountain springs, so I've always assumed it's safe, in fact I'm sure I've read it's generally cleaner than most tap water!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure where I picked up this information, I'm pretty sure my Dad used to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will be very limited chemical pollutants (from fertilizers, etc.) in the water as the area has virtually no arable farming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mining is probably the worst potential pollutant but I always check the source of the water(I've been walking in the are since I was very young and know the sources of most of the streams)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I mad or risking my health? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:42.760" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:42.760" Title="Do you need to purify all mountain water sources" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5107" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-09T10:17:13.400" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snowdonia (Welsh: Eryri) is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;national park&lt;/a&gt; in the north west of Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The English name for the area derives from the mountain Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in Wales at 3,560 ft (1,085 m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9mL0d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-10-07T21:28:26.937" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T21:28:26.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5108" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-09T10:17:13.400" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Snowdonia" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:40:29.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:40:29.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2014-01-09T10:33:30.880" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your assumptions are correct. To my knowledge in a mountain environment you are quite safe as long as you follow some simple rules, which you mostly already named:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The water was not standing, i.e.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it comes from a stream that is rather fast and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the stream is big enough that it is not just a connection of puddles or ponds where the water rinses from one to the other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are no sources of contamination upstream. As you mention, thinkable sources are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;agricultural areas where fertilizers or herbicides could have been used&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;meadows, where cattle was present&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mining&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(quite unlikely) the water runs through some geologic formation where harmful stuff gets washed out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you have checked such stuff, you should be quite safe with flowing water in mountain areas. Even the streams of melting water that build up on the surface of glaciers on summer afternoons will be rather fine then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-01-09T10:33:30.880" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2014-01-09T17:06:12.163" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is there is always &lt;strong&gt;SOME&lt;/strong&gt; risk. Whether to take that risk or not is your choice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fast running + isolated + high elevation = prettttty low risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said the biggest concern is, unless you are drinking right from the source, you have no idea what has happened upstream from you. There could be a dead animal snagged in the stream, animal and human feces etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have drank from mountain streams and not gotten sick, but I have seen others partake and get real sick...The choice is yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-01-10T16:46:07.633" LastActivityDate="2014-01-10T16:46:07.633" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4832" CreationDate="2014-01-10T04:24:52.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The issue isn't really variable vs. fixed power - it's whether the scope in question (&quot;Weaver 3-9x40&quot; is probably at least a dozen different scopes) is suitable for a high-power rifle or not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rimfire (and probably air-rifle) scopes are going to have a 30mm or smaller objective; I'd venture to guess that with a 40mm objective, it will be fine on a .308 .   A quick email to Weaver support (with your scope model) likely will get you a real answer (as well as advice on what mounts you'll need.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy shooting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2845" LastActivityDate="2014-01-10T04:24:52.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4787" CreationDate="2014-01-10T04:33:04.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another issue to think about is whether you will have a backpack or not (and how high it rides up).  Anyone who's tried backpacking with a sombrero knows what I mean - the hat is constantly whacking the pack and it drives you nuts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider (as mentioned above) the wind - a string through the hat that can be tightened around the chin works, as does a &quot;leash&quot; tied from the hat and clipped to your collar.  A lost hat means sunburn even more than the wrong hat...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy hiking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2845" LastActivityDate="2014-01-10T04:33:04.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5115" CreationDate="2014-01-10T08:48:59.333" Score="8" ViewCount="503" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a pretty good &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/40/how-do-i-wash-gore-tex-clothing/5010#5010&quot;&gt;understanding of how GoreTex works&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that the outside chemical coating effectivly holds water off the outer layer (using little chemical spikes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I can't quite seem to find out what the coating on the outside (when new) is? What's it's name or chemical symbols, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the reason I'm asking (and is also a secondary question) is, do the standard replacement products (all of which are not made by GoreTex themselves) contain the same chemical, exactly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-04-08T12:01:05.637" Title="What EXACTLY is the chemical coating on the outside of GoreTex?" Tags="&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5114" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5117" CreationDate="2014-01-10T11:50:28.060" Score="3" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are numerous situations when mountaineers may have to bivouac.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few of them are exceptionally not advised but unavoidable at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was going through the details of the K2-Tragedy(2008) and I learnt that in situations where one runs out of time and doesn't want to give up the summit bid, one may end up in a situation when he/she has to bivouac.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am absolutely not in the mind to do something like what Marco Confortola and Gerard MacDonell or Wilco Van Rooijen did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can one do to prepare for such a bivouac? What are things that one should look for in case if he/she/they are going to have to Bivouac?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that when one realizes that he/she has to bivouac, it is pretty late and the sun has set already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Lets take this question into consideration Spectifically for High Altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-13T10:54:18.943" LastActivityDate="2014-01-13T10:54:18.943" Title="Factors to be considered and prepared in case of unavoidable bivouac" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5113" CreationDate="2014-01-10T12:05:16.707" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The chemical coating on the outside when new is what is commonly known as &lt;strong&gt;DWR&lt;/strong&gt; and chemically known as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoropolymer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fluoropolymer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  Fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon based polymer with multiple strong carbon–fluorine bonds. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is the same chemical treatment used on all water resistant fabrics.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gore-Tex uses this coating to prevent the outer layer of fabric from becoming saturated with water. This saturation, called 'wetting out,' can reduce the garment's breathability (moisture transport through the breathable membrane) and let water through. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As the DWR wears off over time, re-treatment is recommended when necessary.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-01-10T12:05:16.707" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5119" CreationDate="2014-01-10T14:45:45.913" Score="16" ViewCount="33566" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm using two &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik&quot;&gt;prusik's&lt;/a&gt; to climb a rope (one as a foot loop and one attached to harness directly) What's the minimum diameter of cord I should be looking for to remain safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T12:54:52.510" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T11:16:02.450" Title="What's the minimum diameter cord to use when climbing a rope using a prusik" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5114" CreationDate="2014-01-10T14:54:18.170" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of the average hike that you talk about, with not reaching your intended campsite, there's really no difference in bivouacking and just camping without a tent. So you'd basically look for similar conditions that you'd normally camp in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a place out of the wind, preferably with a cover like trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you're on high ground and not in danger of being flooded from a water source or sudden rainfall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be sure you're sleeping in a spot you know how to get back out of. It's easy to lose what something looks like in the dark compared to what it looks like next morning, and if you go off looking for a good site, you're more likely to get lost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get in your bivvy and sleep for the night!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-01-10T14:54:18.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5118" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11094" CreationDate="2014-01-10T15:19:20.177" Score="12" ViewCount="1113" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're on a multi pitch route and you decide to abandon the climb and retreat(say the weather has turned unexpectedly). What is the minimum amount of gear you should leave behind as a rope anchor to effect a successful and safe retreat (abseil)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could cord be used as a sling over a sturdy flake or would you need to leave behind proper slings (nylon or dyneema), nuts or worse yet expensive camming devices?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-01-10T16:45:51.257" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T21:09:53.343" Title="Abandoning a multi pitch climb" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5116" CreationDate="2014-01-10T16:28:43.903" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;EDIT: When the question was posed I misinterpreted it to be asking the diameter of the &quot;Climbing Rope&quot; not &quot;Cord&quot; However my answer for Cord diameter is also listed as &quot;2mm less than cord diameter and not less than 5mm&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not go any lower than 7.5mm*, it is a common diameter used by rescue technicians.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are several reasons why I recommend 7.5mm, listed below.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need to remember and account for the diameter of your prussik, which following the general rule of thumb, is at least 2mm less than the rope diameter.  &lt;strong&gt;A 5mm (Static,Tech or Nylon) prussik supplies a good amount of grip.&lt;/strong&gt;  If you chose a rope of smaller diameter your prussik will be approaching some very small diameter cord.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A 7.5mm such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rescueresponse.com/store/sterlings_escapetechs_personal_escapes_ropes_rescues_stetrit.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling Escape Tech&lt;/a&gt; provides good abrasion resistance, and has the ability to withstand falls, something a rope of smaller diameter may not be able to provide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any smaller than 7.5mm the rope itself will be difficult to ascend, and if you chose to descend on it the rope will have a tendency to coil up and even knot itself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*According to numbers a 6mm static cord can hold 1600 lbs however I would not recommend using it for the purpose of ascending, let's keep it for hoisting the bear barrels into the trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you attempt to ascend a rope using only friction knots please use a safety back up such as the system detailed below!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a safety precaution tie off the slack end of the rope, using a figure eight on a bite, at progressive intervals and clip to your harness. To avoid having a clutter of these knots all hanging off your harness you might choose to untie and release each previous one. Note, however, some climbers prefer the clutter to potentially getting the trailing rope snagged far below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T13:16:33.397" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T13:16:33.397" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5123" CreationDate="2014-01-10T17:01:51.263" Score="16" ViewCount="1089" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to get into backpacking and make 2-3 day backpacking trips in moderate climatic conditions in mountainous terrains (mid-Atlantic U.S. or Central Europe, spring-fall).  I am looking for suggestions as to what gear I should acquire, e.g. backpack, tent, sleepware, cookware etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am an experienced and avid outdoorsman (mostly whitewater kayaker) and I camp regularly but out of my truck, which provides for a lot of comfort.  I am aware that backpacking is quite different.  I am looking for general guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T13:25:36.743" Title="Tips for a novice backpacker" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2014-01-11T04:10:07.220" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hooray! Welcome to the wonderful world of backpacking! This post is LONG, so I've made a summary list to get you started, and what follows below is a probably way too comprehensive explanation of the items. Sorry for the tl;dr!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpack (with detachable day pack or separate, if needed)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent (or hammock, bivy, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stakes and guylines&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tarp/tent footprint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent repair kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping mat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pillow or rolled-up clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag with compression sack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pot/pan/kettle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter with fluid/striker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Contained fuel and stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stirring/serving utensil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bowl/plate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eating utensil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mug/cup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Biodegradable dish soap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water bottles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water bladder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water purification system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food (breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners -- plus a bit extra)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trash bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bear supplies (spray, canister, bell), if needed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trowel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toilet paper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamp/lantern/flashlight with extra batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothes (shirts, pants, hat, underwear, socks, jacket, hiking boots)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass and map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First aid kit and emergency blanket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunscreen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bug spray&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunglasses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multitool or knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camera and/or phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp Towel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Detailed version:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two basic types: external frame and internal frame. Externals are not as in vogue these days, although they manage awkward loads better, always maintain their shape and provide better air ventilation. Internal frames are easier to find and are reasonably adjustable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All backpacks come in a variety of sizes (measured by liters), so you'll want to select one that fits your needs. For the length of trip you're talking about, you'll probably want to stick with one that's 50-60 liters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an REI or another outdoor goods store nearby, take an afternoon to hang out with the sales representative and try on lots and lots of packs. They're a bit like shoes--even though they all work, not all of them are comfortable, especially when you fill them with sandbags and walk around the store for a few minutes. Don't be shy about letting the sales person fit the bag to your frame and show you how to adjust it, yourself. The last thing you want on a multi-day trip is a bag that pinches your collarbone or rubs your lower back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to get a pack with a detachable daypack, or bring a separate &lt;strong&gt;daypack&lt;/strong&gt; if you are staying at the same site for at least two consecutive nights. This way you wont' have to bring your entire pack with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can avoid the cost of a backpack cover by using your tent's tarp or rain fly. It's ill-fitting, but you've already bought it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more options here than you can imagine, but what's most important is that your tent fits the number of people you're looking to travel with and that it's in good shape. Before you buy, you may want to poke around inside a tent if the store will let you. You'll quickly discover that, even though tents come in sizes of 2-person, 3-person, 4-person, etc., &quot;people&quot; are evidently pretty small. I'm 5'4,&quot; and a 2-person tent fits me and my stuff comfortably, but when my husband and I use it together (and we're both average-sized people), our little dog has to sleep on our legs because there's no floor space left. Even though it adds weight, my personal preference is to go up one size from the number of people who will be sleeping in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to look out for is how many seasons the tent is. Generally a 3-season should be just fine for the spring-fall range you're looking at (this means everything but cold winters; down in southeast Texas where I live, I can use my 3-season tent year-round).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm sharing the tent with anyone, I tend to go for models with at least two doors (it's never fun crawling over a sleeping friend in the middle of the night if you have to go to the bathroom), adequate ventilation (good for airflow, reducing condensation, and stargazing!), and a rain fly (in case, you know, it rains).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Important accessories include &lt;strong&gt;stakes and guylines&lt;/strong&gt; so your tent doesn't move around or blow away, a &lt;strong&gt;tarp&lt;/strong&gt; so the tent's floor is protected, and a &lt;strong&gt;tent repair kit&lt;/strong&gt; in case you break a pole. Manufactures will try to sell you a tent footprint, but they're basically just pricey tarps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tent is not absolutely necessary. You may be fine with just a hammock and a tarp (and you might want a mosquito net depending on the creepy crawlies in your area), or you might even want to sleep under the stars. There are also one-person tents and bivouacs if you're going solo (which I wouldn't recommend your first time backpacking just for safety's sake).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A slightly off-topic bit of advice: always set up your tent in your back yard or living room before you take it camping for the first time so you know how to do it and ensure it's intact. It's never fun setting up a tent for the first time in the dark or pouring rain. Always pitch it in as level and rock-free a spot as possible, and if there's a slight incline, point your feet downward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping Pad and Pillow&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find some very nice, pricey sleeping pads at sporting goods stores. I bought a $5 foam roll-up mat from Walmart and have been using it for over a decade. You can also find a variety of pillows, including blow-up and miniature versions of what you find on your bed at home. If you're really trying to save on weight, you can skip this and just use some rolled up clothes inside a pillowcase. It's definitely not as comfy, but it just depends on your priorities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping Bag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are rated to different degrees, which basically tell you how cold the temperature can get and the bag still keep you safe (not necessarily warm). You can get the rectangular variety you probably used for sleepovers as a kid, or a mummy bag, which is great for keeping you warm. Again, down here in Texas, I have friends who just use a sheet or a simple sleeping bag liner and skip the sleeping bag altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use a sleeping bag you'll probably want a &lt;strong&gt;compression sack&lt;/strong&gt;, and I suggest a waterproof one. There's nothing more miserable than a cold, wet sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking Supplies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very least, you're looking at needing a &lt;strong&gt;pot or pan&lt;/strong&gt;. If you live in an area where you can have open fire, bring some &lt;strong&gt;tinder&lt;/strong&gt; and a &lt;strong&gt;lighter with fluid or fire striker&lt;/strong&gt;, but you don't necessarily need more than that depending on the food you've brought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't or don't want to cook over a fire, I recommend using a &lt;strong&gt;camp stove&lt;/strong&gt; that burns &lt;strong&gt;contained fuel&lt;/strong&gt; like propane or isobutane. You'll need to get the fuel type appropriate for your camp stove. Bring adequate fuel to get you through your trip (one container should be plenty assuming you don't have a huge camping party), a lighter/striker, and a pot or pan. You may also want a &lt;strong&gt;stirring/serving utensil&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also want to bring a &lt;strong&gt;kettle&lt;/strong&gt; or a pot with a lid to boil water, which is often added to camp food. You'll want a &lt;strong&gt;plate or bowl&lt;/strong&gt; for every person as well as an &lt;strong&gt;eating utensil&lt;/strong&gt;. I rather like titanium utensils, as they're lightweight and sturdy. You may want to just drink water, but if you want coffee, tea, or another drink, you'll want to bring a &lt;strong&gt;mug/cup&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a bottle of &lt;strong&gt;biodegradable dish soap&lt;/strong&gt;. It doubles for your body, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water Supplies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You definitely need several water bottles, and possibly also a water bladder. These things generally hold 2-3 liters of water, and they're total lifesavers, as they let you drink without having to stop walking. I can usually go through nearly a full 3-liter bladder in a long day hike, although I probably drink more than the average person. I also like to have at least one water bottle on hand so I'm not dragging my water bladder around the campfire or to dinner. So--moral of the story is bring enough containers to hold a full day's water supply. Assume at LEAST a gallon a person a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're somewhere where there is plenty of water, bring either tablets, a pump or some other kind of &lt;strong&gt;purification system&lt;/strong&gt;. Do not drink water without purifying it first, period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not somewhere where there is plenty of water, sorry but you'll have to carry it all in. The good news is the trip gets lighter as you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's essential that you plan out your meals ahead of time. Know exactly what you're having for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner every day, and make sure that you have the &quot;extras&quot; you might not think about, like water or spices. It's always best practice to bring at least one extra meal just in case. If you're going for low weight, you'll want to use dehydrated or just-add-water foods, as water content in food adds a lot of weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bags and Food Safety&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need a &lt;strong&gt;trash bag&lt;/strong&gt; for food and other waste you may produce. Always abide by leave no trace policies and pack out everything you take in with you. You'll also need a &lt;strong&gt;bag to put food and other smelly items (like toothpaste) in&lt;/strong&gt; at night, along with &lt;strong&gt;rope&lt;/strong&gt; to suspend it from a tree. This will keep animals out of your food and trash while you sleep. Make sure you read guidelines on how to hang your bag, depending on the wildlife in your area. If you're in bear country, you'll need a &lt;strong&gt;bear canister&lt;/strong&gt;, which is heavier-duty than a bag. You'll also want to bring &lt;strong&gt;bear spray&lt;/strong&gt; with you and may also want to consider wearing a &lt;strong&gt;bear bell&lt;/strong&gt; to warn animals you're coming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trowel and Toilet Paper&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a trowel for when you have to do #2. They make all kinds of special, lightweight, folding, and otherwise backpacking-appropriate shovels that do the job. Some hardcore folks go without toilet paper, but I don't feel like it adds enough weight to be worth the sacrifice. Just bring enough squares in a little sandwich-sized ziploc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Map and Compass&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are no-brainers! Bring them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whistle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good for calling for help, don't go on the trail without some way to get attention if you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flashlight, Headlamp, and/or Lantern with Extra Batteries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need a source of light at nighttime. If you're going for minimalism, I'd recommend just bringing a headlamp, and going for one that has a red light option so it doesn't ruin your night vision. Whatever you bring, bring one set of &lt;strong&gt;extra batteries&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clothes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much is up to you, but I usually bring fresh underwear for each day. Even though they're not exactly the height of fashion, I enjoy zip-off pants so I can change them into shorts if I get hot, and camping shirts tops with a collar and long sleeves that I can roll up. You can get all kinds of fancy sun- and bug- avoiding add-ons with these. Depending on the time of year you go, you may also need a jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a hat. Whether it's cold or hot, sunny or rainy, it's never a bad idea to have this, or at least a bandana.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll definitely want thick socks that protect your feet from rubbing. I like woolen socks because they wick moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring your best hiking boots. You'll feel soreness in your feet more than you will after hiking all day because of the extra weight on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally don't bring any extra clothes to sleep in, but you may want to bring an extra t-shirt or whatever is comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Toiletries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you bring is up to you. A lot of what are usually the &quot;basics&quot; for me go by the wayside here, but I always bring at least a toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant. I keep a more comprehensive set of toiletries along with a change of clothes in the car for when I get back to it. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Aid Kit and Emergency Blanket&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just in case something goes awry, make sure you have the supplies you'll need. The basics change depending on where you are (like a snake venom kit), but you'll at least want some bandages, antiseptic, and painkiller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunscreen and Bug Spray&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep yourself safe from sunburn and nasty bug bites. Be green with these products if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunglasses&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go for a polarized, UV-protectant variety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Multitool or Knife&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm probably an odd one, because I've been backpacking and camping more times than I can remember and I've hardly ever needed my knife, but I always bring it just in case. It's an indispensable tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camera/Phone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's your first backpacking experience, document it so you can remember it fondly later! I suggest bringing a plastic bag so your device stays dry--just in case!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camp Towel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend getting at least a small camp towel for drying off after a swim, washing hands, or washing dishes. They're very absorbent, even though they're thin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; good equipment purchased new can get very expensive, so don't be afraid to check out Craigslist or go to REI garage sales--or to borrow from friends. This is how I figured out which camping stove I DIDN'T want: I used a friend's, and it didn't work! Also, if you do purchase from REI, know that if you're not satisfied with your product, you can return it at any time, even after using it, for a refund and no questions asked. Sorry to hype REI so much, but they really do have excellent customer service despite their not-so-rock-bottom prices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2726" LastEditorUserId="2726" LastEditDate="2014-01-20T14:35:33.190" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T14:35:33.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5118" CreationDate="2014-01-11T14:51:27.013" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You leave behind gear sufficient to create a rappel anchor that is strong enough for any conceivable load that may be placed upon it.  This is no different from any other properly constructed rappel anchor, the specifics of which vary with the placement and circumstance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only situation I can conceive that one would have to violate this rule is in a true emergency where you lack sufficient gear to safely complete the rappel, yet if you remain you have greater risk of death by exposure, fire, etc.  Since you are asking about &quot;nuts or worse yet expensive camming devices&quot; this does not appear to be the case you are inquiring about.  You value your life more than your SLCDs I hope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that you are asking this question leads me to believe that you are not sufficiently experienced with building anchors.  Also, &quot;Could cord be used as a sling ...?&quot; leads me to believe you are not even familiar with the capability of your gear, and/or you do not know how to use it properly.  Please seek professional instruction from a properly certified guide if you have any doubt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-11T14:57:16.023" LastActivityDate="2014-01-11T14:57:16.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5125" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-11T15:09:23.790" Score="6" ViewCount="737" Body="&lt;p&gt;The laces of my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trek1.co.il/product/%D7%A0%D7%A2%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%A4%D7%94-main-%D7%92%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/&quot;&gt;Scarpa MAIN boot&lt;/a&gt; been worn and torn after a few years. Since the boots are still in very good shape, I'm looking for a new lace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What features should I be looking for in trekking/hiking lace?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="383" LastEditDate="2014-01-11T15:47:04.100" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T06:10:45.300" Title="How to pick a trekking/hiking shoelaces?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoelaces&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5126" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-11T15:13:33.153" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-01-11T15:13:33.153" LastActivityDate="2014-01-11T15:13:33.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5127" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-11T15:13:33.153" Score="0" Body="Shoelaces (or Shoestrings) are a pair of strings used to fasten and tighten shoes or boots to feet, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoelaces" OwnerUserId="383" LastEditorUserId="383" LastEditDate="2014-01-12T07:13:55.073" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T07:13:55.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5128" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-11T15:24:49.820" Score="9" ViewCount="194" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having recently moved the country (North Wilts, UK) I am really excited by the idea of getting out into the land and foraging for food and to brew with, but I have no idea where to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what to expect, how to spot it, when is best to look or if there are any legal issues. I am looking for resources on how where to start. They could be videos, books, ebooks, courses (so longs as I can reasonably attend), anything that can fill my knowledge gaps in time for the seasons to changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2851" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T00:18:24.873" Title="What are the best resources for learning about foraging?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2014-01-11T16:16:03.307" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A UV-C germicidal light kills the odor-producing bacteria, so used regularly the smelly compounds never build up and your shoes don't stink.  It also helps to dry your shoes after use, e.g. in front of a fan.  And, as stevemarvell said, wash your feet before you climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assembled my own UV-C sterilizer and I can attest that it works.  It uses a higher output germicidal bulb than e.g. the SteriShoe brand device, and I don't know how well those low-power ones work. Since UV-C is very dangerous make sure you know what you're doing if you choose to do something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2014-01-11T16:16:03.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5130" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-12T08:04:50.820" Score="3" ViewCount="2124" Body="&lt;p&gt;So that I can have some spaces to wear Down or Fleece inside the jacket? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally Large size shell is too large for me, or I should buy the same size so as fit as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2852" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T21:43:25.567" Title="Shall I buy a Large size shell if I am wearing Medium size Down Jacket?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5130" CreationDate="2014-01-12T17:54:47.433" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the answer is as simple as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you own a mid-layer wear it to the store when you purchase the shell.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you own a shell wear it to the store when you purchase your mid-layer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't own either purchase them together to ensure best fit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several different &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11070/How-to-Layer-Clothing-for-Each-Season&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;layering systems &lt;/a&gt;  find what works for you and try everything on in store.  If you would like to purchase something online and cannot find the same model to try on in store, at the very least try on some gear from that same manufacturer to get an idea of their fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try contacting a manufacturers retail store close to your location and inquire about their return policy.  For example I know in Canada I am able to buy North Face from their website, have it delivered to my home address and if it does not fit I can return it to the retail location in my city no questions asked.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-01-12T21:43:25.567" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T21:43:25.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2014-01-12T22:53:10.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an avid hiker, this website is my bible. It has fantastic gear reviews and comparison tables (lightest tents, best warmth-cost ratio sleeping bags etc).&#xA;I always go for as light as possible, because it makes the trip much more enjoyable and safer (you're not overly tempted to ditch your pack for a side trip). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you start acquiring your own stuff, it might be worth joining up with a local hiking club. They usually have cheap rental gear, so you can try a few things out, and everyone you go on trips with will have different gear (and different opinions about said gear!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About tents - there are many many many many many times where I've been grateful that our tent is so LITTLE. A tent that can be set up on the smallest piece of remotely flat &amp;amp; dry ground is a lifesaver. Save the roominess for car camping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About sleeping bags - down filling is really light and really warm, but completely useless when it's wet. Synthetic is heavier, but still works if you sleep in a puddle. &#xA;Keeping your sleeping bag dry is one of the fundamental rules though. When it's in your pack, if there's any chance of rain/rivers, it should be in a drybag. Or at least in lots of plastic!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stoves - can be a pain in the ass when you're in a different country because appropriate fuel/gas can be hard to get. Find out what fuel receptacles are available where you mainly intend to use it, and make sure you get an appropriate stove! You can also buy converters for them to increase your options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2853" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T22:53:10.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3738" CreationDate="2014-01-12T23:15:47.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are planning on hiking with our baby this coming summer so I have been doing research, as she will be exactly 1 year old. There are biodegradable wipes and diapers available so as long as you go on trails with outhouses you are set. Cosco carry's an affordable brand. I am going to do some day hiking and the prevention work mentioned above, before we go on a big trip. Exciting! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2854" LastActivityDate="2014-01-12T23:15:47.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5134" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5135" CreationDate="2014-01-13T00:58:55.973" Score="2" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a smaller guy (5'7&quot;/125lbs) and I always have difficulty finding clothes. I'm currently looking for some type of down/synthetic filled layer to go ice climbing in. My main issue is a men's small leaves 5-7&quot; of extra air space in the middle of my back and a women's size is too tight on my shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in Eastern Canada, so ordering from a company that allows my to ship something back for a return is definitely a requirement for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a good soft-shell and heavy winter coat, but I'm needing something in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2855" LastActivityDate="2014-01-13T01:58:05.133" Title="Small fitting outerwear" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5134" CreationDate="2014-01-13T01:23:50.047" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try any of the following that come in XS:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outdoor Research &quot;Neoplume Jacket&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;North Face &quot;Super Zephyrus&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Patagonia &quot;Nano Puff&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor research has a good return policy I have dealt with them before.  North Face has lifetime warranties and accepts returns, conveniently at retail locations even if purchased online. Also take a good look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MEC&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; they have a great return policy and are a Canadian Co-op, they have great sales and mostly free shipping, if not it is very reasonably priced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alternatively&lt;/strong&gt;, you could try layering and use your soft shell such as: Base layer+merino+fleece+softshell.  It won't be as light/compact/warm as a single 60g Primaloft One Mid-Layer but it's worth a shot in my opinion.  Play around with it and who knows you might find something that works for you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-01-13T01:58:05.133" LastActivityDate="2014-01-13T01:58:05.133" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5116" CreationDate="2014-01-13T10:39:16.223" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to approach this question differently.  Since the question is marked with the &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/rock-climbing&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;rock-climbing&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;rock-climbing&lt;/a&gt; tag the use of a 7.5mm Technora escape rope that AM_Hawk's answer focuses on seems unlikely.  Also, the method by which he arrives at a minimum Prusik cord size doesn't address certain issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cord diameter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All else being equal a smaller cord for a friction knot, such as a Prusik, will grip better than a large one.  I have seen several guidelines, such as use cord no larger than 70% of the diameter of the rope being ascended, but truly this is only a guideline.  A stiff and slick cord will have much less purchase than a limp and rough one, therefore maximum diameter is determined pragmatically by what will grip.  There are cords made specifically for friction hitches, and these typically limp cords will work better even in larger diameters than will stiff accessory cord not intended for the application.  For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bluewaterropes.com/home/productsinfo.asp?Channel=Recreation&amp;amp;Group=&amp;amp;GroupKey=&amp;amp;Category=Accessory%20Cord&amp;amp;CategoryKey=&amp;amp;ProdKey=135&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BlueWater 8mm Dynamic Prusik Cord&lt;/a&gt; is limper and will grip better than their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bluewaterropes.com/home/productsinfo.asp?Channel=Recreation&amp;amp;Group=&amp;amp;GroupKey=&amp;amp;Category=Accessory%20Cord&amp;amp;CategoryKey=&amp;amp;ProdKey=55&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6mm Accessory Cord&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as &lt;em&gt;minimum&lt;/em&gt; size, there really is none from a friction standpoint as the smaller cord grips better; it is entirely possible to use a shoelace, paracord, a string from your chalk bag, etc., so long as it can hold your weight.  One would be a fool to have these thin cords be his only attachment to the rope of course.  You can protect the ascent by progressively clipping in to loop knots in the rope, as AM_Hawk described, or you could use a non-toothed progress-capture device such as a Petzl Shunt. (Please don't implement a system without a full understanding of the devices, failure modes, and risks involved; this is merely an example.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps you are seeking a minimum size of friction hitch that is safe as a primary connection point.  That is hard to answer.  One possible failure mode is burn-through; that is, if the knot slips the friction will melt through the cord long before you deck.  Hypothetically a smaller cord, if the loop is appropriately sized and the knot well dressed, might be less susceptible to this as it should be less likely to slip, but a larger cord stands a better chance of arresting the fall before it melts or tears through.  There is also the consideration of fusing.  Several test reports describe the friction hitch fusing to the main line after slipping; while this is less immediately terminal than burn-through it could still leave you stranded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Resources&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was unable to find dynamic (drop) testing of small diameter Prusik cords.  However, here are some resources that seem relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A test report for twin 8mm Prusiks at rescue loads: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.corvallismountainrescue.org/rigging/drop-tests/july97-testing.drop-tower.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CMRU July 1997 Drop Tests&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;An extensive test report for using a Purcell Prusik as a personal anchor, including 6mm cord: &lt;a href=&quot;http://caves.org/section/vertical/nh/53/RiggingForRescue-LanyardsPartII-2006.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rigging for Rescue -- Lanyards Part II: An Examination of Purcell Prusiks as Personal Restraint Lanyards&lt;/a&gt;.  (The circumstance is almost entirely different from rope ascension: the fall factors are much higher but slip is inherently limited.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drop testing on arborist's equipment: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCRR-JD-0402.pdf/$file/FCRR-JD-0402.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ropes and Friction Hitches used in Tree Climbing Operations -- Paolo Bavaresco, Treevolution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-03-24T11:16:02.450" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T11:16:02.450" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3556" CreationDate="2014-01-13T12:10:25.787" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to what others have said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First and foremost: make sure you get your boots &lt;strong&gt;fitted properly&lt;/strong&gt; by a professional boot fitter. A proper snug fit will allow &lt;strong&gt;blood flow&lt;/strong&gt; around the foot keeping them warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Often cold feet are a sign of &lt;strong&gt;problems elsewhere&lt;/strong&gt;. Once your body/core cools it pulls blood/heat in from the extremities. So &lt;strong&gt;layer up&lt;/strong&gt; and it might just solve the problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another often over looked factor is &lt;strong&gt;food intake&lt;/strong&gt;. Keep an eye on your food and water intake. Make sure you eat &lt;strong&gt;smaller meals throughout the day&lt;/strong&gt;.  A big hearty alpine lunch can take a lot of blood and energy to digest. Leaving the poor ole toes without any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid too much &lt;strong&gt;Alcohol&lt;/strong&gt;. The more you have the thinner the blood gets, the less effective it is at warming and powering the skiing machine that you are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay hydrated&lt;/strong&gt;. The body needs water to perform. Especially at altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2858" LastEditorUserId="2858" LastEditDate="2014-01-13T14:19:14.217" LastActivityDate="2014-01-13T14:19:14.217" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2014-01-13T12:45:37.470" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is so important to enjoy your first experience make sure you are &lt;strong&gt;warm, comfortable and confident&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What Gear?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Skiing is unique in that it involves periods of warm sweaty exercise followed by periods of cold dormant lift rides, so its all about &lt;strong&gt;layering, waterproof and breathable&lt;/strong&gt;. When you are starting out you don't need to buy loads of 'Ski Specific' clothing. A layered approach is useful and adaptable to all sorts of outdoor activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a &lt;strong&gt;good base layer&lt;/strong&gt; like a merino wool, you can use these for all sort of sports. They're comfy, non scratch and wick away the moisture next to the skin to keep you warm. Many are now styled to look like tee shirts and polos so you don't look like you're wearing your pyjamas. Also odourless (apparently)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a good &lt;strong&gt;waterproof, breathable shell&lt;/strong&gt; with vents. Again useful for all outdoor activities so not a one-off for skiing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A warm second layer with full zip for &lt;strong&gt;easy ventilation control&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ski trousers&lt;/strong&gt; are one of the only clothing specifics but there are often ways around this.  Some resorts will rent clothing, borrow from friends or buy cheap from auction sites and so on.  Again look for similar features. Waterproof, breathable, with vents are ideal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski Socks: Contrary to popular belief thick socks do not necessarily mean warm feet in skiing.  Wear one pair of &lt;strong&gt;comfortable plain long socks&lt;/strong&gt;, not too thick or ribbed. Ski socks are perfect and again we love the merino if you can justify the extra cost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eyewear:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;This depends on the weather, but we suggest &lt;strong&gt;ski goggles&lt;/strong&gt;. Again you can pick these up fairly cheap on auction sites if necessary.  With sunglasses a &lt;strong&gt;polarised lens&lt;/strong&gt; is worthwhile due to reflected light bouncing off the snow.  Sunburnt eyes feel like someone has tipped sand into your eyes. Not fun. So again good eyewear is important for all outdoor pursuits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hardwear:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;You're probably best renting for a start to see if you get the buzz.  If you do then we suggest your first purchase is a professionally fitted pair of ski boots. Happy feet, happy skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What Strategy?&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;We recommend getting &lt;strong&gt;professional instruction&lt;/strong&gt; when you are starting out. They should give you a &lt;strong&gt;safe, enjoyable&lt;/strong&gt; introduction into the sport and set you off on the right path to progressing. Unlearning bad habits in the future can be difficult. &lt;strong&gt;Get the basics right&lt;/strong&gt; from the start and everything else will fall into place much easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skiing can be quite intimidating there are so many new experiences and sensations. So it's important to have a &lt;strong&gt;basic understanding before&lt;/strong&gt; you even get on skis. That way you'll be safer, there'll be less surprises allowing you to be more confident and learn faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to Ski&lt;/strong&gt; beginner lessons on YouTube will give you a strong understanding of the concepts, movements and what to expect before you even get to the slopes.  It starts at the very beginning and also includes simple tips like: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to put ski boots on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to walk on snow in ski boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to carry skis safely&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An intro to the skis, brakes and more&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC502BC8CCA9BB32D&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC502BC8CCA9BB32D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're designed to complement lessons with an instructor because there is nothing like hands on advice especially in the early days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make every effort to ensure your first experience is a good one and have a great trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2858" LastEditorUserId="2858" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T00:18:58.620" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T00:18:58.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5125" CreationDate="2014-01-13T13:54:42.910" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that the best shoelaces are the wide, flat and fairly soft ones - no special plastic coating, just canvas. They stay together the best and can take a lot of punishment. Accidental strong knots are also easier to undo, since it is easier to get a finger behind an edge due to its flatness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones on the picture here seem a bit too shiny, so perhaps they are coated with some layer. This is the general style I recommend, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shoelacestring.com/shop/images/categories/Extra_Super_Wide_Shoelaces_Shoestrings.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://shoelacestring.com/shop/images/categories/Extra_Super_Wide_Shoelaces_Shoestrings.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="303" LastActivityDate="2014-01-13T13:54:42.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5142" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5147" CreationDate="2014-01-13T23:16:41.197" Score="25" ViewCount="5265" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been wanting to get into rock climbing for a while but I live in a very flat area with no climbing gyms around. I'm planning on moving to the Pacific Northwest soon and I wanted to know what the general consensus was about teaching yourself to climb. Obviously it would be easier to have a guide, but I'm also trying to save money wherever I can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen a lot of people recommend this book: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt; as a good way for getting into it and learning everything you can. I've been researching as much as I can online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a realistic goal to teach yourself how to climb or is it really necessary (and safe) to be taught by a professional? Does anyone have experiences or stories of this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I should mention that I won't be all by myself, I have a partner to climb with, just another novice, my fiancee. I guess I meant more like professional instruction vs. self-taught. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="2819" LastEditDate="2014-01-14T00:28:38.540" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T18:51:02.947" Title="Is it realistic to teach yourself rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5142" CreationDate="2014-01-14T00:08:28.637" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freedom of the Hills is a book about mountaineering, not rock climbing. They overlap somewhat, but they're basically different things. Rock climbing can mean a lot of very different things: climbing on top-rope in a gym; lead-climbing in a gym; outdoor sport climbing; and outdoor trad climbing (which has different roles for the leader and follower).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering is basically an extension of hiking, and mountaineering includes lots and lots of different types of skills and activities. Some of these you can learn on your own, but others (e.g., self-arrest with an ice ax) you're better off getting professional instruction in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All forms of rock climbing (with the exception of free-soloing, which is probably not something you should try as a beginner) require a climbing partner, so no, you cannot learn rock climbing all by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T00:08:28.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5128" CreationDate="2014-01-14T00:18:24.873" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Foraging is &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; looking at a plant and deciding if it's edible, nor is it looking in a book at a plant and then going looking for that plant. It's not possible to learn all the plants and it's not possible that all the plants will be in the area you forage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foraging is about confidently identifying &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; edible plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two main components of this process are slow and steady learning coupled with an understanding of habitat and how plants and fungi feature and interact there throughout the seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend not buying field guides initially. Books are good for reference, but overwhelming in the early learning phase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Set realistic goals based on the amount of time you spend outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try something like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.artandscienceofsurvival.com/p/free-wild-food-natural-resources-course.html&quot;&gt;http://blog.artandscienceofsurvival.com/p/free-wild-food-natural-resources-course.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get a bit more confidence, take yourself on a Fungi Foray, they are always good fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch out for Wild Food courses, especially those that lay claim to you &quot;learning 30 plants&quot;. Nobody learns 30 anything in a couple of hours, let alone remember it a few months later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get involved with your local Bushcraft community, they are always good for knowledge sharing. Try some of the groups on Face book like Wild Food (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/groups/189368870195/&quot;&gt;https://www.facebook.com/groups/189368870195/&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck, take it steady and have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steve (pro survival and wild food instructor) Marvell&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T00:18:24.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2014-01-14T00:47:34.410" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two components to staying warm and it's all generally centred around thermodynamics. You want to stay at one temperature and physics wants you to become the temperature of the your environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You body, if 100% efficiently insulated, would get hotter and hotter because it's generating heat from all the bodily processes and chemical reactions going on, especailly movement. The source of this heat energy is food which is processed and/or stored in your body and if no fuel is going in, then your body itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally, if you were 0% insulated, you would cool down at a rate proportionate to the difference in temperature between you and the outside world. To this, you add the heat energy you're generating and ultimately you get a rate of decrease in temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somewhere between the two is a level of insulation which essentially allows you to create an equilibrium between the rate of generation of heat and the rate of loss. This is how you stay the right temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So some tips are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap up warmer as soon as activity stops. You're about to generate&#xA;less heat, so balance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep out of the wind: wind increases heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep dry: water is a good conductor of heat, away from you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't sweat. If you are getting hot, ventilate your clothes to increase your heat loss so you don't sweat and get wet (see above)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep well fed, you need fuel to keep generating that heat internally.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat before bed. Digestion creates heat, and you'll want that heat in&#xA;the middle of the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get your sleeping bag dirty. The dirt will fill in the lovely&#xA;air gaps which are the best insulators. And don't sweat in it (see above)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T00:47:34.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2014-01-14T00:52:07.460" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest keeping it alive in a keep net. That way all of your problems disappear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T00:52:07.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5142" CreationDate="2014-01-14T02:38:11.737" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;With dedication you could learn to climb at a top-rope or bouldering climbing gym without professional instruction.  The key skill there is belaying, and you could learn that from videos.  However I would never recommend this route if &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; instruction is available.  You may have difficulty separating Internet know-it-alls from experts, therefore you may not know if you are following wisdom or nonsense unless you get professional instruction.  While learning from an experienced climber &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; help, there are also a lot of experienced climbers with bad safety skills, so having survived X years of climbing is really no proof of good fundamentals.  At the very least gyms usually offer a one-session intro class that teaches how to belay, put on your harness, tie in, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wish to do real (outdoor) climbing you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; want both instruction and someone experienced to climb with; there are simply too many things you don't know you don't know in my opinion.  The books I've read don't cover everything, and some things just can't be learned from that medium anyway.  Rather than &quot;hiring a guide&quot; I recommend that you find a rock climbing course.  Vet the instructor.  I took one at a local community college and I was fortunate enough to get a very good instructor, but I know that some people who took a course at the same place a few years before I did learned techniques that my instructor would have failed, saying they were deprecated by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://amga.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AMGA&lt;/a&gt; over 20 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Books lay things out in an organized and systematic form that you can easily reference.  &lt;em&gt;How to Rock Climb!&lt;/em&gt; by John Long was required reading for the first climbing course I took, and I haven't seen a better book of the same type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blackbear asked:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm wondering what your opinion would be on what gear to buy first and what gear to possibly rent? I'm a bit hesitant to go out and buy all new gear if it turns out that we're not good at it, or don't end up liking it. As far as I can tell, buying a &lt;strong&gt;harness, shoes, belay device, chalk bag and some locking carabiners&lt;/strong&gt; would be a good first step. Is climbing rope generally supplied in climbing gyms? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Shoes&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an interest in climbing and no nagging injuries that would make it painful or difficult I simply can't imagine you not enjoying &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; style of climbing.  It takes a while to figure out what climbing shoes should feel like, but honestly I would just buy the first pair from REI so that you can return them if they don't work out or you realize they are the wrong size.  I chose to use rental shoes and I got a nasty case of nail fungus for the first time in my life; it ended up costing me a lot more than new shoes would have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fit to the shape of your foot is most important.  It doesn't matter how &quot;good&quot; a shoe is if it doesn't fit you right, and feet vary a great deal, so don't look at what other people are wearing as a guide.  You want a shoe that feels like it was vacuum molded to your foot: zero gaps anywhere, but not compressive.  In other words &quot;fits like a glove&quot; or as close as you can get.  Some shoes stretch very little, some stretch quite a bit, so you won't really know how a shoe will fit until you've worn it for a while.  I highly recommend buying from a place that lets you return them even after they are worn, rather than guessing they will stretch and fitting them too tightly.  Good climbing is usually about using your feet well rather than hauling yourself up with your arms, and you won't use your feet well if they hurt; avoid that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Top-rope or Bouldering&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to decide whether to start with bouldering or top-rope climbing.  I recommend top-rope, but I'm a scaredy-cat and like the safety of a top-rope.  Ideally I think you should start out on top-rope to safely learn fundamentals and good footwork, and to give your tendons and ligaments time to strengthen.  Muscle grows faster than connective tissue; injuries are common for those who push too hard right from the start.  Avoid hang boards and other training devices in your first year of climbing; you'll build both strength &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; skill by actually climbing, and do it more safely.  (Excessive focus on strength may cover bad technique; this is probably why girls often seem to learn faster than guys.)  After perhaps six months of top-rope climbing switch to indoor bouldering for a while to build power and additional skills.  After that you should have a sense of the kind of climbing you want to do and a decent foundation for whatever direction you choose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an athletic foundation and don't mind a little risk you may prefer (indoor) bouldering. (You could e.g. dislocate an elbow or break a wrist if you fall wrong, even with pads.)  There you'll only need shoes; you can improvise a &quot;chalk pot&quot; or the gym may provide one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose top-rope look for harness packages that include a belay device and belay carabiner (also known as an HMS carabiner) and sometimes a chalk bag; you'll usually save a bit of money this way.  (As you will by getting last year's model on closeout.)  The Black Diamond Momentum package is a popular choice.  Don't spend a fortune on a harness; the very light and expensive ones are for competition climbers and won't make a lick of difference to you, other than possibly being &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; comfortable.  (An exception is if you are doing mountaineering and want a low-profile harness to fit under a hip belt, as my instructor explained, but I have no experience with that yet.)  Learn to belay with an ATC or other &quot;tube-style&quot; device (my preference is the Black Diamond ATC-XP); a &quot;Gri-Gri&quot; or other such device will only lead to bad habits at this point and cost far more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never heard of a gym where you bring your own rope for &lt;strong&gt;top-rope climbing&lt;/strong&gt;, so yes, they are provided.  (You'll need a UIAA certified Dynamic rope for lead climbing but you aren't ready for that yet.)  A number of gyms even have auto-belay devices now which let you climb without a partner; it is an auto-braking system that lowers you slowly when you fall off.  If you climb on an auto-belay make sure you do an &lt;em&gt;extra&lt;/em&gt; safety check since you won't have a partner to catch mistakes like putting your harness on wrong!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Safety&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure all your safety equipment (harness, belay device, carabiners, etc.) is properly certified.  Look for a logo like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Aste0.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that there are counterfeit climbing goods in existence so buy only from reputable sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carefully read all of the instruction booklets and labels that come with your gear; they will warn you against various kinds of misuse that could kill you, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1415/133&quot;&gt;improperly loading a carabiner&lt;/a&gt; or using bleach on your harness.  Make sure that you are using all equipment as intended.  (For example there are climbing ropes that are meant to be used &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; in pairs; the booklet should make this clear even if an incompetent sales person does not.)  If a piece of gear does not come with a booklet contact the manufacturer for this information; every piece of gear I have purchased has come with such a booklet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-08-30T18:31:43.407" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-01-14T04:34:29.263" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Urine has been a very helpful substance in most rural part of Africa. In case you find your way in Africa or on a tour or aid programme. In Africa, people(Mostly elderly people) who can't afford testing of their sugar level in hospitals, use Urine to know their sugar level and chances of having diabetes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What they Do&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ants are known for their like for sugary substances which is easily noticed when a food or something that contains sugar is kept around the house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So People urinate on the bare ground outside their house where they know ants visit a lot.&#xA;They monitor the urine to know whether ants will visit the place.&#xA;And if ants (so many) should get attracted- then it means that its either they are diabetes prone or already suffering from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2861" LastEditorUserId="2861" LastEditDate="2016-07-08T11:58:38.603" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T11:58:38.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5125" CreationDate="2014-01-14T06:10:45.300" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience, this is what I can tell:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a flat/softer material lace is better. This allows for the lace to hold on the knots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have laces made of harder material (Nylon types). The knots on these tend to come off when they get wet. Mostly because they don't grip each other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid laces which are cylindrical, they do not hold knots well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always buy laces of good length. Do not buy short ones. Sometimes these laces can be used to tie up something (I have used them to make makeshift clothes line within my tent). The trade off with longer laces is that you need to tie them up properly. There's always a chance of the loops getting stuck and you tripping if the loops are too big. (Has happened to me multiple times)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I had tried to tie the laces around my ankles to reduce the free length after the knot. This isn't much comfortable for me. I know many who tie up around their ankles though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T06:10:45.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2014-01-14T11:48:48.197" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a 3-day hikes, firstly you need a medium-sized backpack. Somewhere between 40 and 60L. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you need comfortable hiking shoes, gaiters and a raincoat. Also sunglasses and a nice summer hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For winter hiking it's much more. To be safe, you need proper winter shoes, and ice axe, crampons, snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For camping, the options are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleeping bag in bivy sack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hammock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All have strengths and weaknesses. If one interests you more than the others, you can post a question about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cookware I find too heavy to carry on my back; someone more experienced could cover that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T11:48:48.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5142" CreationDate="2014-01-14T13:00:45.827" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being as your talking about climbing gyms I'm going to limit my answer to indoor climbing only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First things first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it a realistic goal to teach yourself how to climb&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is it really necessary (and safe) to be taught by a professional&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Necessary: Depends on who you know. If you don't know any other climbers to teach you Yes. If you do and they are willing to teach you, then No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further expansion:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get into rock climbing there are a number of skills you need to learn. Some of these skills you can pick up with practice, some you need instruction on. By instruction I wouldn't necessarily say a paid instructor, if you have friends who have (good) experience climbing they can teach you a lot of the basics by climbing with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact I would recommend this way to learn, you're going to learn a lot more climbing twice a week with an experienced climber than spending one afternoon with an instructor and it'll be much cheaper. Also who's to say the &lt;em&gt;&quot;instructor&quot;&lt;/em&gt; is particularly experienced anyway? I know plenty of gyms that employ minimum wage low experienced instructors that are in no way especially skilled at showing you the ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When starting your likely to begin &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_rope_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;top roping&lt;/a&gt;. This is where the rope is already connected to the top of the climb, you tie into one end and your &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;belayer belay's&lt;/a&gt; you using the other end of the rope. This method limits the amount of distance you will fall should you make a mistake. Most people start using the discipline as it is the safest form of climbing (even &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouldering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bouldering&lt;/a&gt; it's easy to twist an ankle or land awkwardly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to learn the basics with an instructor and then join a local climbing club. This again gives you the benefit of learning from experienced people day in and day out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two different types of skills to learn:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Hard skills&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the types of things that you &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; to know to climb safely and competently. These are the skills you will learn on a course or can be taught by an experienced climbing friend. Examples include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5007/how-do-i-tie-a-figure-of-8-knot&quot;&gt;Figure of eight knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belaying&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Belaying&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety protocols and communication (Checking each other knot, ensuring locking carabiner is closed before starting, communicating on the wall effectively)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use of different belay devices (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigri_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gri gri&lt;/a&gt; vs belay plate, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Essential kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Soft skills&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the kind of thing that you can learn from trainers but which you can equally pick up with practice or even (some anyway), by reading information on the internet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confidence!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footwork (climb with your feet not your arms!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hand placement (different holds will react differently depending on how you grip them)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Body position (the amount of times I've tried a move over and over and over again only to drop my shoulder or something minor and suddenly it becomes possible!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bouldering is a very good way to develop this technique in a (relatively safe environment). I love bouldering as a climbing discipline in it's own right but it's a great teaching tool also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy it, it's addictive!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T16:44:49.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5154" CreationDate="2014-01-14T14:12:18.833" Score="13" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5023-626/mec-humboldt-sq-3mm-gloves-unisex/?q=humboldt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MEC Humboldt&lt;/a&gt; paddling gloves for cycling in warm/cool - windy/wet weather as they offer better protection than my thin runnning gloves and are not as hot as my winter gloves.  My issue is when I wear them the second or third day in a row they are still wet on the inside with my perspiration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it safe to throw them in the dryer on low heat?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If actually used for paddling out in the woods how would you dry them? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Can a Silica Gel packet from a shoe box be placed inside the glove to draw out moisture?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:06:18.257" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:06:18.257" Title="How to dry paddling gloves" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2014-01-14T17:52:02.063" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what you have access to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have plenty of cooling, then gut, bleed, and ice immediately.  However &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; do this if you can keep it cold.  This requires a LOT of ice because you have to have enough ice to bring the fish down to near freezing and keep it there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot keep the fish cold then you want to keep it alive.  There are many methods for this from the basic stringer, to live well, and live nets.  The basic concept is the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will mention that you have to take care with nets and stringers.  Other fish/animals may like the meal you've tied up for them. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T17:52:02.063" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5152" CreationDate="2014-01-14T18:29:25.787" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;1.) I would be hesitant to advise you to put them in the dryer. I've never tried or experienced it myself, and my evidence is &lt;em&gt;completely anecdotal&lt;/em&gt;, but I've heard that the neoprene has the potential to turn brittle if exposed to forced heating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2.) The two main things to consider when drying out gloves like this (as well as other things like boots, socks, etc) is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Absorption&lt;/strong&gt; - Try to absorb as much water as possible by stuffing them with old newspaper or dry towels. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ventilation/Circulation&lt;/strong&gt; - You want warm (but not hot), dry air to be able to reach the wet surfaces of the gloves. I've turned mine inside out and they seemed to dry faster, but it depends on how rigid and easily inside-out-able your gloves are. If you can prop them up, get them next to a warm air vent if you've got one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip (although this wasn't asked in the question) is to keep the smell from neoprene things like this (they often start to smell pretty bad if sweat is allowed to sit in them for too long) is to dry them out thoroughly every time. If you've sweated pretty heavily in them, gently rinse them with cool water and &lt;em&gt;possibly mild soap depending on the material&lt;/em&gt; and then let them dry. This will prolong the life of your gear and make them not stink like a sock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: To answer the addition to your question: I think silica gel could certainly help, and I've got a friend who has used it successfully on hiking boots, but it definitely took a lot longer than the absorption/air drying method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="2819" LastEditDate="2014-01-14T19:25:13.977" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T19:25:13.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5155" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-14T18:36:40.870" Score="8" ViewCount="291" Body="&lt;p&gt;With fracking, chemical spills, and all sorts of environmental nonsense on the rise, water quality can be compromised in some areas. How can I tell when it's not safe to consume even after filtering and boiling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit: I'm aware that water with foam shouldn't be drank, as well as any obvious smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2863" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:22.027" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:22.027" Title="How can I tell when water is contaminated with industrial chemicals without any special equipment?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5155" CreationDate="2014-01-14T18:52:31.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't tell by looking, and it's an issue that occurs naturally, not just because of industrial contamination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you're hiking in a pristine environment like a national park, where this kind of man-made contamination isn't likely to be a concern, there can still be contamination from naturally occurring substances like arsenic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Natural blue-green algae can also produce toxins that can make you sick, and treatment will not get rid of the toxins. Even after an algae bloom has died off, the toxins can remain in the water if it's stagnant, so there is no way of telling by looking at the water that there's a problem with toxins. All you can do to protect yourself is avoid drinking from stagnant water sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an environment that's not pristine, such as farm country, industrial contamination is only one of many possible hazards. You have to worry about contamination from livestock and fertilizers, and so on. Again, you can't tell by looking at it whether it's contaminated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some common-sense precautions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't drink from a stagnant source.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't drink downstream from areas where there could be livestock or pack animals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ask local people if there are any known issues, e.g., whether they have wells that they can drink from. If in a semi-populated/semi-protected area like a national forest, ask a ranger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The big thing  that makes backpackers sick is not contaminated water, it's poor potty hygiene. Make sure your hiking partners wash their hands after pooping, so that you don't get sick from hand-to-mouth contamination with their gut flora, which your own body doesn't tolerate like it tolerates its own.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-01-14T18:52:31.007" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5157" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5159" CreationDate="2014-01-15T19:08:48.700" Score="17" ViewCount="17657" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is sandpapering your finger tips an effective way to improve anything about your rock climbing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On occasion, I will see climbers in YouTube videos or people at the local crag using sandpaper on their finger tips. Why do people do this? What benefit is there? Is this, perhaps, more superstition than practical?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T23:22:02.533" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T23:55:20.627" Title="Does sandpapering finger tips improve rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5157" CreationDate="2014-01-15T19:21:03.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you ever have climbed some days in granite and tried to hold a hot coffee mug afterwards, you will know that sanding away your skin isn't a great idea especially to improve your climbing performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there may be two cases where sanding could be useful: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortening finger nails, as sanding them is less prone to damage the nail than clipping &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reducing callosities, i.e. thick pieces of dry skin that build up at spots of high load or friction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's more or less a cosmetic thing that could have influence on the performance (damaged finger nail, callosity) if not done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-01-15T19:21:03.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5157" CreationDate="2014-01-15T19:22:09.740" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion there are a couple of valid reasons to use sandpaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;File down current calluses, therefore avoiding large calluses from getting snagged/pinching itself resulting in a flapper (ripped piece of skin only attached at a small point).&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toughen up the skin, resulting in less sensitive and more durable skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are a beginner it will take time to develop the hard skin on your hands and finger tips. You will get flappers regardless of whether or not you are using sandpaper, the sandpaper will just help get that skin tougher faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have hard skin I find sandpaper to be a great tool.  Why?  If you can't make it outside or head to the gym you can roll up some sandpaper into a ball and just play with it.  This will keep the skin on your hands in tip top shape for when you get back climbing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also keep some on hand in case I get any sort of issue with my fingernails while climbing, I can then use the sandpaper to repair the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When removing calluses go nuts until it's level or just slightly raised above the normal skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When playing with the ball of sandpaper or sanding your HANDS (ie. not removing callouses) you are not going crazy on high speed with a belt sander!  You are just scuffing up your skin lightly by hand with approximately 60&amp;lt;-&gt;220 Grit Paper! I find 150 grit works great!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Useful Tip:  If you're planning on getting onto a campus board shave those nails down with a file or sandpaper! You do not want long nails OR clipped too short!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regards to the OP's question on practical benefit I would like to point out the following two photograph's of my hand.  The first before using sandpaper, very difficult to climb, and the second 4 weeks after the first but using sandpaper, much easier to climb.  The second is much dryer and tougher!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LMq5E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Before&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wI8VH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T23:52:27.800" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T23:52:27.800" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5160" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5165" CreationDate="2014-01-15T23:19:10.887" Score="5" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;What would be the best way to test the waterproofness of different outdoor apparel such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jackets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in both the binary case (e.g., is this boot still waterproof or not?) and the more analog case (e.g., this softshell will keep you dry in a rain storm for about X hours).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T15:41:24.660" Title="Testing waterproofness of outdoor apparel" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5157" CreationDate="2014-01-16T09:23:08.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is to prevent &quot;flappers&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avulsion_injury&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A flapper (or avulsions)&lt;/a&gt; is when the skin has thickened in a particular area of the fingers, normally the tips, due to abrasion. The problem is the surrounding skin has not thickend. This means that when you apply pressure to the thickened section it can peel away, ripping the weaker surrounding skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KRZMP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Callouses can be useful in preventing some pain on sharp holds etc. But if you let these build up you run the risk of flappers. Hence climbers file down the callouses to prevent them becoming too think and peeling off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2089&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article explains it quite well&lt;/a&gt; and talks about hand and foot care&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-01-16T10:08:29.417" LastActivityDate="2014-01-16T10:08:29.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5166" CreationDate="2014-01-17T12:58:36.613" Score="3" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always mocked friends who top-out using their belly (stomach) when bouldering. It's not very graceful but I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5982&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this article on UKClimbing&lt;/a&gt; and it shows someone topping out on a V6 using his stomach. I've always considered this bad form, but maybe I'm wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is topping out on your belly actually bad form? What is considered best form, and why is it better than bellying out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2014-01-17T14:39:55.840" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T12:21:28.783" Title="Belly flopping top outs" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4435" CreationDate="2014-01-17T14:34:22.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, this is one of the standard hiding place in German cities ;o).&#xA;You should inspect the foot-rest (which is plastic btw, but a film container fits into it perfectly)... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2871" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T14:34:22.467" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5164" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5170" CreationDate="2014-01-17T15:05:57.740" Score="10" ViewCount="466" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would I go about taking a compass bearing of a distant peak and then relate this to the information on a standard map?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T23:58:20.940" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T23:58:20.940" Title="Taking and using bearings" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5160" CreationDate="2014-01-17T15:41:24.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on the gear to test&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn on the shower (adjust temperature to your liking)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk into the shower&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perform a series of movements (walk in place, jumping jacks, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn off shower&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inspect gear for damp spots on the inside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method allows you to control energy exertion (minimize sweat) and exposure time while at the same time simulating &quot;real&quot; conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots might do fine if you sit them in a bucket of water, but once you start walking (bending that fabric and getting things moving) you might find there are leaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for determining whether&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;this softshell will keep you dry in a rain storm for about X hours&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The surest way to find out is put in on and go hike in a rainstorm for X hours. Carry a spare in case it fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T15:41:24.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5162" CreationDate="2014-01-17T16:50:59.577" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a technique to topping out a flat featureless boulder gracefully. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/avoiding-the-beached-whale/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing.com have a good article on it&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Briefly this is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step one. When you reach the lip of a boulder, quickly evaluate which&#xA;foot to swing up onto the lip (from now on this foot will be known as&#xA;the pivot foot). Let gravity work for you by swinging your pivot foot&#xA;onto the low side, not the high side, of the boulder. If the lip is&#xA;horizontal, pick your stronger — or favored — side to swing up. Do a&#xA;half pull-up, and simultaneously raise your pivot foot over the lip,&#xA;keeping your knee slightly bent. Try to find a good heel hook, edge,&#xA;or foot scum to use as a fulcrum — extra purchase is useful for&#xA;floating a mantel. If possible, use your other foot to edge on the&#xA;face of the boulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step two. With your arm opposite your pivot foot, reach out laterally,&#xA;approximately a forearm’s length, and grab a hold on — or slightly&#xA;above — the lip. Palm the rock with your fingers facing slightly&#xA;towards your body. Flag with your non-pivot foot to keep from&#xA;barndooring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step three. Contract your pivot leg so that your hips are even with —&#xA;or higher than — the lip. Hold yourself in position with friction from&#xA;your pivot foot. Bend your elbows, and use your ab muscles to bring&#xA;yourself aggressively close to the rock. If you’re having a hard time&#xA;making your foot stick, try draping your pivot-foot leg over the&#xA;stone, contacting the rock with the underside of your calf muscle, to&#xA;create additional friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step four. Pop your pivot-foot hand and elbow 90 degrees so that your&#xA;fingers face your torso. Shift your other hand 45 degrees outwards&#xA;(away from your body), and switch your fingers from clasping the rock&#xA;to palming it. This positions your shoulders over your wrists, and&#xA;improves your overall leverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step five. Rock up, pulling with the thigh and calf muscles of your&#xA;pivot leg, keeping tension with your abs. Turn your pivot knee in&#xA;slightly, and pull your torso over the lip. Flagging your non-pivot&#xA;foot helps as a counter balance, as does smearing (backstepping) on&#xA;top of the lip with your non-pivot foot. If done properly, your body&#xA;will be almost horizontal to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step six. Dig the inside edge of your pivot foot into whatever feature&#xA;it’s on. If there are no features, firmly push of your shoe into the&#xA;rock to maintain friction. Now lever up onto this foot, twisting your&#xA;torso inward. Drive hard with your elbows as you push your shoulders&#xA;over the lip with your palms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step seven. Extend your elbows and stand up. You’ll likely have to&#xA;make minor adjustments in the position of your hands and body to keep&#xA;your balance as you go from perching to standing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6849&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UK climbing have just published an article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;on it's web site going into details of this technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T12:21:28.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5168" CreationDate="2014-01-17T17:26:39.057" Score="15" ViewCount="465" Body="&lt;p&gt;For those of us out there that do not have friends/family members as adventurous as us or are few in numbers for our geographic region; we are forced to head online to find partners.  For example, a great place to start is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/plans/activities_list.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SummitPost&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When trying to find a trip partner for a hiking, mountaineering, alpine, rock or ice adventure, what are the necessary questions to ask one and other and general guidelines to follow in order to ensure a successful trip is planned?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2016-11-23T16:56:29.073" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T16:56:29.073" Title="Planning a Trip with strangers" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5167" CreationDate="2014-01-17T18:27:23.013" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me, hiking is totally different from the rest of the activities on the list. A hike is just walking. The other possibilities require a lot more technical skill, gear, trust, and experience. In those cases, the most important thing to get a feel for is what the other person's experiences have been. For example, if you're looking for a partner for Ixtaccihuatl, someone who's done Shasta and Kilimanjaro probably has both the necessary snow skills and some relevant high-altitude experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases, you might be better off looking for a partner at the location of the activity rather than online. For instance, if you want to do Whitney, you can probably easily turn up prospective partners at the hostel in Lone Pine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try to get a feel for what the person's reputation is like. For example, if you're working through meetup.com, you can tell whether the person has led trips, whether the people who came on those trips left positive comments, and whether the person has been an organizer in the group for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try to get some feel from the person's online persona and interactions what the person is like. Do they brag about that time they needed a helicopter rescue? Do they act like they need to prove they're cool? Do they spend a lot of time talking about how much fun it was getting drunk with their buddies around the campfire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T18:27:23.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5167" CreationDate="2014-01-17T19:20:56.117" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there's always more uncertainty in climbing with someone you don't directly know, don't discount finding partners online altogether. I've had great experiences (primarily rock climbing) with partners I ended up meeting online, and otherwise I wouldn't have climbed that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things you can do to make sure you stay safe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ask them for their experience: e.g., &quot;How much multipitch climbing have you done?&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for &lt;strong&gt;evidence&lt;/strong&gt; of their experience: perhaps they've been logging previous climbs on Mountain Project.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan for low-commitment, easy-bail options. If you end up not being comfortable climbing with them, it's better to be cragging than halfway up a 10 pitch climb with no easy descent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for those 'tell-tale' signs. Those are different for everyone, but generally for me things like:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did they bring the right gear? Not too much, not too little?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are they efficient when racking up?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did they pack the right food, water, etc...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How new is their gear? Too new and they may be inexperience, too old and they might not have actually climbed in some time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poor belay technique: there is no excuse for this, pack up immediately.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climb together at a gym or meet for a beer beforehand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most climbers I've met online are great folks just looking to get outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-01-17T19:20:56.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5164" CreationDate="2014-01-17T22:10:13.000" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prerequisites:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A Topographical Map for the area you are in. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey's&lt;/a&gt; Landranger series cover all of the UK.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A compass suitable for the task. (I use the Silva Expedition 54)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knowledge of your current location on the map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Taking Bearing.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Point your compass at the distant peak. (This is done without a map, by physically looking at the distant peak. The attached images are just to give an outline of what needs to be done on the compass.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4T3Oh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rotate the Compass Housing (can also be called the Bezel) so that the Meridian Lines line up with the compass needle. (&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure North on the Meridian Lines corresponds to the North end of the Compass Needle. E.g. Red on Red in the case of my compass.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K5xEw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;image shows a compass with 201° bearing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From the image we can see the bearing on my Compass now reads &lt;code&gt;201°&lt;/code&gt;. We now need to take into consideration the Declination on the map. On Ordnance Survey maps it will tell you how much the Declination is and also the yearly rate of change. On my Ordnance Survey Ireland map it is referred to as &lt;code&gt;North Point&lt;/code&gt; and is located at the top of the information section of the map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IGNbU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The only part of this text you need to worry about, is the last two sentences. &lt;code&gt;At the centre of this map Magnetic North is 04° 17' West of Grid North (2009). Annual decrease 10.12'.&lt;/code&gt; The &lt;code&gt;'&lt;/code&gt; symbol here denotes &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute_of_arc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Arcminutes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, there are 60 Arcminutes in one Degree (°).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In 2009 my figure of Declination was &lt;code&gt;4°17'&lt;/code&gt;, now in 2014 it will be different. This figure can be found by multiplying the annual decrease (&lt;code&gt;10.12'&lt;/code&gt;) by the number of years that have passed (2009-2014, 5 years). You then subtract this figure from the 2009 figure (&lt;code&gt;4°17'&lt;/code&gt;). This would give me a figure of Declination of &lt;code&gt;3°26'&lt;/code&gt; for 2014. Anything less than &lt;code&gt;3°30'&lt;/code&gt; gets rounded down to &lt;code&gt;3°&lt;/code&gt;. (&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; This may sound complicated at first, but you only need to do it once per year, and it won't change your rounded figure for a few years).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The figure of Declination will either be subtracted or added to your compass bearing depending on whether &lt;em&gt;Magnetic North&lt;/em&gt; is West or East of &lt;em&gt;Grid North&lt;/em&gt;. This information can be found in the same place as the Declination figures &lt;code&gt;...Magnetic North is 4°17' **West** of Grid North&lt;/code&gt; (Third image).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On my map it is West, this means I have to subtract &lt;code&gt;3°&lt;/code&gt; from the &lt;code&gt;201°&lt;/code&gt; figure we got earlier. If it were East, I would add &lt;code&gt;3°&lt;/code&gt; instead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My correct compass bearing is now &lt;code&gt;198°&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step Two:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Transferring Information to Map.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place edge of Compass on Map at your current location. Rotate the &lt;strong&gt;whole&lt;/strong&gt; compass (&lt;strong&gt;Not the Housing/Bezel&lt;/strong&gt;) to line up the Meridian Lines on the Compass with the North-South Gridlines on the map. Make sure North on your Compass points to North on the Map. In this image the Meridian Lines (Black and red) are lined up (Can either be parallel or overlapping) with the North-South Gridlines (Blue).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eSdmh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The distant peak will now be somewhere along the line of the edge of your compass. Assuming my position on the map is at the Road Junction marked, then the distant peak visible to me at &lt;code&gt;198°&lt;/code&gt; must be the peak at &lt;em&gt;Seefin&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lNFk8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2595" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T23:34:18.227" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T23:34:18.227" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5172" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5173" CreationDate="2014-01-19T12:11:18.807" Score="16" ViewCount="584" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many of the mountaineering expedition books that I've read, there are references to cutting of snow steps on slopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the advantage of cutting snow steps? Why not use crampons and do a front pointing cramponing with additional support from the ice axe? (Side stepping also seems reasonably safe on non vertical climbs). Is there a specific situation which calls for snow steps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-06-13T05:31:39.230" LastActivityDate="2014-06-13T05:31:39.230" Title="Cutting snow steps on slopes" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5172" CreationDate="2014-01-19T15:28:21.520" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a discussion of this in Freedom of the Hills. The question refers to snow, but usually this is done on ice (or very hard snow). One reason would be if not everybody in the group has crampons. For example,  mountain guides in East Africa usually can't afford crampons. Historically, the technique was developed before crampons were invented. Even if everyone in the group has crampons, front-pointing on steep ice is very tiring, and may not be secure, especially if the ice is hard enough that you can't drive the spike of the ice ax in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-01-19T15:28:21.520" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5174" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5660" CreationDate="2014-01-19T16:24:23.460" Score="18" ViewCount="14147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently bought a pair of PMR446 walkie-talkies with some 5–10 km range, operating at 446 MHz.  We've happily used them in Sareks Nationalpark in Sweden.  Now I'm moving to Canada, where this frequency requires a license.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My options are to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy another pair for use in Canada&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a license&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use them anyway without a license&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose that we're hiking in a remote mountain region of British Columbia, Yukon, or Alaska.  In all likelihood, nobody is going to be nearby.  What are the likely consequences if we use it anyway — for us, and for others?  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PMR446&amp;amp;oldid=590068233#Usage_worldwide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia notes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PMR446 radios use frequencies that in the U.S. and Canada are allocated to amateur radio operators. PMR446 radios can only be used in North America by licensed amateur radio operators. The conflicting allocations have been something of a nuisance to North American amateur operators due to use of the equipment by European tourists in the U.S. and Canada.[citation needed]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, the U.S. and Canada uses the FRS system, which provides a similar service on slightly different frequencies. FRS frequencies are allocated to the emergency services in Europe, notably the fire brigade in the UK, police in Russia.[2] Interference with licenced radio services may result in prosecution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will PMR446 usage in North America likely lead to prosecution, and/or endanger anybody?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:22:07.457" Title="What are the consequences of — illegally — using a 446 MHz PMR in the North American wilderness?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1886" CreationDate="2014-01-20T14:55:08.550" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is allowed if there's no sign declaring it as &lt;code&gt;Naturschutzgebiet/Naturschutzzone&lt;/code&gt; this is german for &lt;code&gt;natural reserve&lt;/code&gt; if there's no such sign or you know for sure your not in such a reserve, it's safe to swim legally. However, best practice is to ask at the local tourist information center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-01-20T16:50:54.733" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T16:50:54.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4476" CreationDate="2014-01-20T14:59:08.113" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a German organization. Their website can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.orientierungslauf.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's best for you to ask them for further information. You can contact one of &lt;a href=&quot;http://fv.orientierungslauf.de/kontakt.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these people&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T20:33:02.193" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T20:33:02.193" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2014-01-20T15:06:19.263" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpackers all end up evolving their own styles. Personally, I prefer an ultralight style for summer. Some things that differ in this style from the heavier style most people practice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a frameless pack such as a Gossamer Gear G4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very small, lightweight sleeping pad such as the one that comes with the G4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a tarp rather than a tent (I get mine from Oware, shop.bivysack.com)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;running shoes rather than boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water usually not carried on my back; if I do carry water, it's in lightweight water bottles such as the kind you buy bottled water in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stuff like soap carried in extremely small quantities like 1/2 oz&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, there is typically no need to purify water collected from natural sources in the wilderness; see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4058/2169&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides not having to shlep a huge amount of weight on your back, an added advantage of the ultralight style is that it's cheaper. Items 1-3 are all significantly less money than the corresponding non-ultralight versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tarp does take more practice than a tent to learn to set up; in the Sierra in summer, I usually don't even bother putting up the tarp unless it looks like it might rain. A lot of people seem to use a tent solely because of bugs. When there are mosquitoes, I sleep with a mosquito headnet in the early evening, until it cools down enough that the bugs have become inactive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often go no-cook, which saves quite a bit of weight. If you do want to bring a stove, the lightest type (when you count both the stove and the fuel) is an alcohol-burning stove. There is a style of cooking where you boil your water in a pot and then pour it into a ziplock freezer bag that has your food in it (e.g., instant ramen, instant couscous). This style of freezer-bag cooking saves a huge amount of weight, since you don't need to bring one bowl per person, just the single pot for boiling water. It also has the advantage that you don't need to wash dishes; washing dishes is time-consuming and environmentally bad. Also, the scientific evidence seems to show that backpacker's diarrhea is mostly caused by bad potty hygiene, which causes hand-to-mouth contamination with your hiking partner's gut flora, which your own body doesn't tolerate; the freezer-bag style reduces the chances of this kind of problem. There are recipe books for freezer-bag cooking, such as Conners, Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles are useless extra weight; see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4470/are-trekking-poles-proven-to-be-helpful&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using running shoes rather than boots works best in dry weather, such as in California in the summer. The big win is that, compared to wearing boots, it reduces the amount of weight you lift with each step, which is much more fatiguing than carrying the same amount of weight on your back. To keep pebbles out of your shoes, you can get lightweight gaiters such as the ones sold by dirtygirlgaiters.com. (I use them for trail running too.) When you have a wet stream crossing, you can either go barefoot or, if you need more traction or are worried about injuring your feet, remove your socks and the shoes' inserts. Unlike boots, running shoes can be squeezed out pretty well after you cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The web site backpackinglight.com has a good forum where you can discuss ultralight backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T15:27:29.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4763" CreationDate="2014-01-20T15:07:09.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought some scarpa maestrale rs in a size 32. Although scarpa list them in this size, they only make them if there are orders. I preordered mine from 3 different UK retailers in Feb 2012, and only one retailer managed to successfully get them into stock by october 2012. They are fantastic boots, and the only ones that come in this size so make sure you get your order in for next season asap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2876" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T15:07:09.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5105" CreationDate="2014-01-20T17:01:31.793" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're in the right area, there will always be hunters selling old gear on Craigslist so they can buy new gear. In my case, I was able to find an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2634221571/eberlestock-slingshot-backpack-polyester&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ebrlestock Slingshot&lt;/a&gt; for $50 on Craigslist. There was also a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eberlestock.com/Tailhook.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tailhook&lt;/a&gt; for $100, and while that was a great deal, it was outside my price range. After a lot of experimentation, I got the Slingshot working pretty well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you search Craigslist for something like &quot;bow hunting backpack&quot; or specific backpack names and brands, you can configure &lt;a href=&quot;https://ifttt.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;If This Then That&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://ifttt.com/recipes/79&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;email you when something comes up&lt;/a&gt;. This allows you to keep an eye on Craigslist for good deals without having to keep going back to the site every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2841" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T17:01:31.793" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1614" CreationDate="2014-01-20T19:48:56.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question depends completely on the weather and on how plentiful water is on your route. In the Sierra, the answer is typically zero, i.e., there is almost never any need to carry any water on your back. (Nor is there any need to purify water in the Sierra; see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4058/2169&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4058/2169&lt;/a&gt; .) When you're thirsty, you stop at the next stream, lean down and scoop up some water, drink it, and then continue hiking. There is the myth that &quot;thirst is too late,&quot; i.e., that you have to drink lots of water because you'll be dangerously dehydrated by the time you actually feel thirst; this is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;urban folk tale&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a different environment, such as a hot desert, the answer could be totally different. For example, temperatures in the low-elevation areas around Palm Springs, California, have been recorded as high as 50 C (120 F). In these conditions, the amount of water you need is infinity. That is, your body's ability to cool itself is simply overwhelmed, and you may die no matter how much water you drink, if you're outside in the hot sun at midday. In this kind of heat a few years ago, one hiker was found dead, sitting peacefully on a rock, 100 meters away from a tennis court, with a full water bottle in his hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-01-20T19:48:56.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4633" CreationDate="2014-01-20T21:42:02.827" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Friends of mine were going for a trip to Canada. They told me that walking the woods they were singing/whistling/clapping most of the time. The main issue is alarming bears abruptly which can cause them to attack. I guess this is true for other wild animals too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made a quick google search to verify this. You can find tips very easily, like e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://usparks.about.com/od/backcountry/a/Bear-Safety.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; where they say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don't surprise bears. If you're hiking, make your presence known. Make noise by talking loudly, singing, or wearing a bell.  If you can, travel with a group. Groups are noisier and easier for bears to detect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't play the flute too badly though, that could cause wild animals to dislike humans ;)&#xA;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="3112" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T06:05:53.817" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T06:05:53.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5174" CreationDate="2014-01-21T11:24:57.530" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Excluding the legality question, as to be honest, that's likely to depend on who detects you, and how much it interferes with licensed traffic, the safety angle has a couple of aspects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It doesn't look like you will clash with emergency services, however there is a risk that you will clash with local amateur radio operators who may be handling emergency traffic (low likelihood, but possible)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you get in trouble, you may have difficulty contacting emergency services (I don't know whether you will be able to contact local amateur radio operators - not sure on interoperability of your devices with their kit)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-01-21T11:24:57.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5187" CreationDate="2014-01-21T15:00:00.523" Score="10" ViewCount="1595" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just finished a 22.4 mile hiking trip, which was spread of two days and it's the furthest I've ever hiked. When I finished my body was killing me, apparently taking long day hikes is not a replacement for actual trekking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, is there any specific workouts that you've found benefit you directly for hiking? Obviously there's a lot of general body fitness workouts, but I wanted to know any workouts specifically to improve hiking conditioning? For things like knee and ankle strength, or back strength to carry heavy loads...that kind of thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T02:50:59.017" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T18:45:19.447" Title="Strengthening exercises for a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5184" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-20T23:32:00.443" Score="5" ViewCount="37183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just wanted to know what place in america has forest, temperature ranges from 40°F - 60°F (5°C - 15°C) year round, does NOT rain for days on end, and rarely gets snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried looking around on the internet for the answer to this question. The closest I got was Eureka, California. I don't care if it's cloudy most of the time, as long as it's not super rainy. But I had the impression that Eureka is really rainy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2880" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:44:46.363" LastActivityDate="2021-04-25T19:17:54.310" Title="What is a place in the U.S.A that is between 40°F - 60°F (5°C - 15°C) year round and doesn't get a ton of rain?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5183" CreationDate="2014-01-21T17:36:28.403" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Endurance&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;muscle strength&lt;/strong&gt; are completely different things. From my experience and observations, hikers are usually thin (or even very thin) and big, strong muscles doesn't contribute to endurance. Often, because large muscles require more energy, they may be handicapping the hiking endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've observed no endurance difference between big man and woman with so week arms that they have big problems putting their rucksacks on their back. And afterwards, they've walked with it 20-30 km a day! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to train for long hikes, you must either do long hikes or long runs. Your body must get used to long strain. It's not only muscles, it's the general energy performance of the body. On a typical long hike a man with weight ~75kg can burn 5000-6000 kcal daily. It's a big strain for the body, and you must get used to it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-21T17:36:28.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5183" CreationDate="2014-01-21T18:03:45.840" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cant speak for all, but here is what I do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running. Improves your lung capacity, improves your stamina, strengthens your bones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weighted Squats. Dynamically works the majority of your body, especially the core. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Core strengthening exercise like crunches or bicycles.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Push ups. Just to improve my core strength along with arm strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull ups. Works the opposing muscle groups to squats and pushups.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing that I do before going for 8-10 day hikes is to make sure I build up enough stamina. This I achieve by running every morning. Usually I start with around 3 km and go up to 12 km (This I start around 2 - 3 months in advance). I slowly wane down to 3 km before the trek (To prevent injuries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not go in for shoulder related exercises. I feel the core strength is more important. You cannot make your shoulders strong enough to carry all the weight on them for longer treks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I agree with lukas as well. I am not a muscular man. I'm tall and lean. Stamina plays an important role.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T05:34:41.670" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T05:34:41.670" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5183" CreationDate="2014-01-21T21:11:03.753" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are basically two things to distinguish. The one is overall fitness, stamina, and core strength, the other is to endure some of the stress of the backpack on your shoulders over longer time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the former you can train by running or biking for fitness and core strengthening exercises for the strength. Especially for the core, don't do only those exercises that are recommended to make a good looking sixpack as they only train the outer core muscles while the main core strength comes from the inner core muscles that aren't that highly visible. Also I would prefer running over cycling in this case as you have to carry your upper body which also trains the stamina of your core muscles whereas you are in a much more &quot;suspended&quot; position while cycling, so that you don't have less training effect for the core muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the stress endurance: under long distance cyclists it is said that one the most important preparations is lots of saddle time to get your butt used to the continuous stress. It is quite the same with the backpack on your shoulders. You can just pack the whole trekking pack (not necessarily the whole equipment, but about the same weight and weight distribution) when you go on a day hike every now and then to get your back and shoulders used to the load. By this you will also train how to change your posture from time to time to switch the load to a bit different parts of the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-01-21T21:11:03.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5228" CreationDate="2014-01-22T18:01:17.137" Score="11" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know it's probably too risky to make alpine tours alone, especially when you go over glaciers. I joined &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Alpine_Club&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;DAV&lt;/a&gt; to be insured while in the mountains and to be able to use the offerings like courses and &lt;strong&gt;guided tours&lt;/strong&gt;. But they are quite expensive, I can't and don't want to do this every month.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also &lt;strong&gt;read books&lt;/strong&gt; about the topic but I guess book knowledge isn't enough, especially for higher risk mountain tours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the best would be to have a couple of &lt;strong&gt;more advanced friends&lt;/strong&gt; who are able to teach or even know guides or groups and go with them for fun and to learn. Unfortunately I am not having this opportunity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What do you think is most important to learn and how should one learn?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is quite low, e.g. I have no clue about knots and security. I think that I am quite &lt;strong&gt;well equipped&lt;/strong&gt; already, although this might not be the most important to start with. From my point of view I am also quite &lt;strong&gt;fit&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize the question I could also ask:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you were a beginner, who were the persons you learnt from and how did you met them? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What did they teach you and in which order?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-02-14T13:33:21.690" LastActivityDate="2016-02-14T13:33:21.690" Title="How to begin in alpine tours" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5190" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5192" CreationDate="2014-01-23T01:06:12.683" Score="15" ViewCount="2056" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's my current setup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First I put my earthpad in my pack, using it like a cylinder to&#xA;provide cushion and make my pack stay upright.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then I place a plastic bag within the earthpad for waterproofing (I&#xA;hike in the tropics).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Inside the plastic lining, at the bottom I put my sleeping bag and&#xA;campsite clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I use the first-in-last-out method wherein the last items that i will use are at the bottom. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However its takes a lot of time and effort if I need to take out an item at the bottom or at the middle and repacking everything back. Sometimes I get tired I just stash everything inside my pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do you keep your backpack stuff organized and keep your sanity? Am I doing something wrong?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2886" LastEditorUserId="2886" LastEditDate="2014-01-25T13:30:03.413" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T20:56:16.537" Title="How do you keep the inside of your backpack organized?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2014-01-23T06:02:22.870" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For every item, I weigh up the regularity of use, vs the urgency of use. For example, my kettle and mug and lunch are always right at the top. My medkit, raincoat, light jersey, headlamp and pocket knife are in the side pockets or top pocket. Anything I will only use at camp is at the bottom (so generally, my camp clothing, sleeping stuff, toiletries, etc)&#xA;Beyond that, I kinda pack things that get used together always, in individual packets, which makes jamming them back in very easy, and you never have to root around in there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Clothing is in a bin liner, at bottom of bag, with air sucked out of it, and then molded into some sort of artistic shape that fits nicely&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Each meal gets its own jiffybag, with all the exact ingredients I'll use, no more, no less&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Cooking utensils sit together in a bag (stove, pot, matches/sparker, spork)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Often have a third/fourth 1-litre water bottle balancing on top, which is for noodles/tea&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- I have a packet of snacks (chocolate slabs, nuts, dried fruit, whatever) which I delve into at each stop to replenish my pockets :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that during the walk, I only ever unpack at most the top third/quarter of my pack, when I stop for lunch. If I need to stop to grab a raincoat, firstaid kit, camera, etc, its all in a side pocket. Water is obviously available without stopping :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once I'm at camp, then I unpack all the individual packets anyway, and repack in the morning, making sure the top items are the next meals, usually in order even (if I'm not the last one awake, as usual!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2104" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T06:02:22.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2014-01-23T06:02:44.360" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always viewed packing of backpack in terms of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ease of access.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distribution of weight to prevent unwanted strain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distribution of weight is a very important aspect that you have to consider while trekking for a longer duration. Ideally, the heavier things should be closer to your body and the lighter ones away from you. The logic being, the center of gravity will shift awkwardly away from your body if the heavier stuff is too far away from your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, ease of access is also important. I have learnt over the years that there is no right way to pack to meet all your criteria. One thing that I do to allow for better organisation is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use plastic bags to compartmentalize your stuff. Usually trekking bags have one big compartment and you are forced to stuff everything into it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Group similar items together and keep them at one place. Eg: All my electronic stuff go into one pouch. All my toiletries go in together into a plastic cover. Similarly, all your warm clothes can go into one plastic bag, your normal clothes into another and so on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T06:02:44.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2014-01-23T09:52:20.947" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I pack my backpack in the morning, I sort everything into two categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Things I will (almost) certainly not need before I set up camp again (sleeping bag, tent, kitchen, most food, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Things I might or certainly will need before I set up camp again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the two categories don't change.  The only item that changes is the items I need for fording rivers, as I'm sometimes quite sure that I won't need to ford any; although I've been wrong there at times. I do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; put my things in plastic bags¹.  I used to, but for optimal packing efficiency, it is much better to pack everything separately as much as possible; 10 packages of hard tack can be stuffed into otherwise empty corners (&lt;em&gt;nature abhors a vacuum!&lt;/em&gt;) much better than a plastic bag with 10 packages of hard tack..  In practice, this means I use my food (packages of hard tacks, dried meals, breakfast food) to fill the areas that remain unused after packing bulky items like my sleeping bag and kitchen (those go near the bottom, as I don't cook for lunch).  Overall, this works very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the evening then, when setting up camp, I open my backpack at the bottom — and immediately reach my tent, kitchen, sleeping bag, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I have not hiked in bear country, so I might need to make some adaptations when I do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹Except things like sugar, oats, dried fruits, that I put in doubly-layered ziploc bags&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2014-01-23T11:03:35.193" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T11:03:35.193" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5196" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-23T19:28:41.387" Score="6" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;My daughter does crack climbing and wanted me to see if I could find some latex free tape. Her hands are sensitive to the latex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any latex free climbing tapes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2890" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T19:24:47.917" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T19:24:47.917" Title="Are there any latex free climbing tapes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;crack-climbing&gt;&lt;tape-gloves&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5196" CreationDate="2014-01-23T19:48:48.060" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick search turned up these possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://jaybird.com/RigidTape.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Jaybird &amp;amp; Mais Sports Medicine Adhesive Tape (non-stretch)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the products say: &lt;strong&gt;Hypo-allergenic and 100% Latex Free&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not specifically described as climbing tape but the first product, EX1 JAYBIRD® ONE TAPE, says: &quot;Our strongest everyday strapping tape product. EX1 is manufactured using a higher thread count fabric which results in greater tensile strength.&quot;  It is currently &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000QD2YEQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;available from Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cramersportsmed.com/products/taping-amp-wrapping/cramer-750-athletic-tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cramer 750 Athletic Tape&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Cramer 750 is designed to provide high end performance at a budget conscious price.  Latex free adhesive.&quot;  I couldn't find a good single-roll price (shipped), but &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B005929NRU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;by the case from Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt; it is a fraction of the price of the EX1 tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Marketing perhaps, but the EX1 sounds like a safer bet since Jaybird make several non-stretch tapes and the EX1 is &quot;[their] strongest&quot; and specifically says &quot;Hypo-allergenic&quot; rather than simply latex-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-26T21:47:42.837" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T21:47:42.837" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5198" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5201" CreationDate="2014-01-23T20:29:20.287" Score="7" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;Caches are very often hidden in hollows. Generally any tree with more or less visible hollow is a very probable geocache hide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often you can't easily look into that hollow because it's deep or located above your head. I usually simply put my hand into the hollow to check what's inside. In Central Europe the danger is relatively moderate, in worst case you can be bitten by squirrel or maybe wild cat. But in some countries, like Australia, there are very dangerous spiders and even protective gloves won't be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any safe methods to check in hollows for cache, without risking being bitten?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T09:03:09.910" Title="Safe looking for caches in hollows" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5199" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-23T20:39:16.857" Score="8" ViewCount="5351" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some geocaches are placed high on trees:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1F19M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to climb there to log. But standing on too thin branch can be very dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a formula to estimate how thick must be a branch of a given species of tree to hold the weight of man? Of course we are talking about solid, healthy (and not rotten branches).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, how thick should be an oak branch to hold a weight of 70kg man?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T14:32:13.193" Title="How to estimate is the branch thick enough to stand on it?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5198" CreationDate="2014-01-23T20:58:17.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously safety is usually a relative concept, what seems safe for you might not be for others, so answers here may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have experience with geocaching, but I do have a lot of experience with reptiles. I'm a hobbyist wildlife photographer specializing in reptiles, amphibians and insects. When reaching into an unknown area, the safest thing that I do is first use a long stick to sweep the area. In your case, if you thought a cache was in a tree hole, you could use a long stick to sweep around inside. This is usually good enough to scare away snakes, any mammals and lizards. Most reptiles are not territorial in the way that mammals are so it's fairly easy to scare them off. As far as spiders or other dangerous insects, usually the stick is enough, but I would still recommend wearing thick gloves if you're worried. There are even kevlar reinforced gloves that make venomous snake handling safer, but they are fairly expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other visually observing the hole, or using another tool (such as a stick) to clear the hole, I don't know of any foolproof methods of making sure a cache area would be 100% safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-01-23T20:58:17.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5198" CreationDate="2014-01-24T00:31:46.840" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm lucky to come from the UK where this isn't &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; an issue (though we still have adders, so sometimes I'm a bit wary.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, I'll generally still take the following precautions to avoid being bitten, even if it's not life threatening (red ant bytes can still be bloody annoying for instance, and there's lots of those!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use a torch.&lt;/strong&gt; I &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; carry a bright LED torch in my Geocaching bag, even if it's in broad daylight, for this very reason. This is a good first port of call for a couple of reasons - you can generally see if there's anything in the hole resembling a Geocache (or a bag containing a Geocache), and you can see if there's any nasties in there too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use a (walking) stick.&lt;/strong&gt; Walking sticks that collapse are also a great item to have for this purpose (and they can help getting up to tricky cache areas too.) Of course, if you don't have one then a normal stick will do too. As well as feeling around in the hole, listen for the sound of it hitting something different - the sound of hitting a plastic box for instance is very different to wood. Don't go too wild with this approach though, you don't want to break the cache! Just tapping gently is good enough.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wear appropriate clothing.&lt;/strong&gt; When you come to reach into the hole, make sure you're wearing thick gloves and a long sleeved, thick top if you think it's at all likely that there's something in there. This of course won't prevent a bite outright, but it may make it less serious if something does attack you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't get too carried away with one hole.&lt;/strong&gt; If you've tried an obvious looking hole and can't feel / see something immediately, perhaps move onto another one using the same technique - if there is something in there, it's much more likely to bite you if you keep your hand in there for ages rather than doing a quick reach, feel and withdrawing it again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remember to be careful in the city to.&lt;/strong&gt; Sounds obvious, but remember wildlife that harms isn't just restricted to the countryside - I've heard of at least one person not taking any precautions in a rather built up area and being given a nasty bite from a rat that he startled! Also remember that various other nasty things are more likely to lurk in built up areas, needles being one of the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-01-24T09:03:09.910" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T09:03:09.910" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5199" CreationDate="2014-01-24T14:32:13.193" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think &lt;code&gt;estimating&lt;/code&gt; is the correct approach to climbing trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See, from mechanics, the tree branch is a cantilever beam. So comparing branches could be done if stepping only at the base of it, only with one foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2tPWb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is the variable is the branch live or dried out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, calculating the strength of a branch would include not only successfully identifying the type of tree, but will also be very sensitive to the diameter of the branch. Are you going to be carrying sub-mm accuracy callipers and measure each branch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, my approach to climbing trees is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the 3-point principle. At &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; moment of time, have three points of stable attachment to the tree. If you slip or a branch breaks, you should NOT fall, but hang on the remaining two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look out for dry branches. Be very sceptical towards their strength.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If in doubt, test the branch. With a leg or hand, push the branch downward about half a meter from the base. Get a feel for how much it bends. If it looks safe, step at it's base, right next to the three trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look back often. It is no fun to discover that you have reached your goal ... and now can't climb down safely.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2014-01-24T14:32:13.193" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5203" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-25T20:27:14.943" Score="6" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;It happens quite often by geocaching: the cache is situated somewhere near the rail track, but it seems that you are on the wrong site... The legal passage is quite far, and you have still a lot of caches to get... and don't want to loose too much of it just going there and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, many German cache descriptions contains information that &lt;strong&gt;you shall not pass&lt;/strong&gt;, at least not the rails in every place you'd like to. Of course, I'm not not talking about going through rails when the policeman is in sight, neither of rails with 'third rail'. I'm talking about just normal, not heavily used rail in not heavily trafficed place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How the situation looks like in Germany? What's the pessimistic scenario that I should count with? Let's say someone sees me crossing rails in camera, or some rail worker will be incidentally somewhere near... Would someone care to catch me or to call a police for something, that in Poland is too trivial to even deal with it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T01:47:08.770" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T01:47:08.770" Title="Consequences of crossing railroad tracks when looking for caches in Germany?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;railways&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5204" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-25T20:28:59.797" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-01-25T20:28:59.797" LastActivityDate="2014-01-25T20:28:59.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5205" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-25T20:28:59.797" Score="0" Body="Rails - do not mistake with trails - is the construction on which the trains move. Depending on the situation, it can be an obstacle to cross or the invaluable orientation point. In some situations it's the most convenient path to move on." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-01-26T05:22:08.737" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T05:22:08.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5206" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-25T20:30:47.010" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-01-25T20:30:47.010" LastActivityDate="2014-01-25T20:30:47.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5207" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-25T20:30:47.010" Score="0" Body="Questions about tree climbing as the separate outdoor discipline or as the measure for other activities, such as geocaching, orienteering or birdwatching." OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-01-26T05:22:12.567" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T05:22:12.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5255" CreationDate="2014-01-25T21:14:13.147" Score="7" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I find topographic maps of South Korea?  If those don't exist, where can I find good hiking maps?  Specifically, I'm looking for maps suitable to hike the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_Olle_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jeju Olle Trail&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For topographic maps, I've found the &lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/21534/4904&quot;&gt;Genshtab maps&lt;/a&gt; — not ideal in a densely populated area with lots of infrastructure that has likely changed.  According to omnimap, &lt;a href=&quot;http://omnimap.com/catalog/int/kor-topo.htm#p1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official maps do not exist&lt;/a&gt;, although &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geospatial.com/store/type/product/term/197636/text/south-korea-1-50000-scale-topographic-maps-ni-52-9-25-pyoseon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;geospatial.com offering maps for 149$ per sheet&lt;/a&gt;.  To cover the trail takes six maps, and I don't want to pay 6*149=895$.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_12_13.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official English language Jeju Olle Trail website&lt;/a&gt; links to &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/common/download/olle_contents_eng.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an English language guidebook&lt;/a&gt;, but this only includes sketches not suitable for navigating in nature.  Although I get the impression the trail is well-marked, I prefer to have a detailed map in addition.  It is fine if the map is in Hangul, although an English translation of the legend would be quite helpful.  For Mt. Hallasan, I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jejumandarins.com/uploads/9/6/3/5/9635206/hallasan_hiking_map_large.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this detailed, non-topographic sketch (&lt;em&gt;Warning: 8583x6159 square pixels!&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;, but for the coastal Jeju trail, I've found nothing.  Does the map I'm looking for exist, or do hikers do with waymarks along with non-topographic sketches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:34:15.857" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T00:05:44.867" Title="Affordable South Korea topographic or hiking maps, in particular for the Jeju Olle trail" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4936" CreationDate="2014-01-26T01:54:47.857" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never used it and it looks bulky and rather expensive, but the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lifesaversystems.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;LIFESAVER® bottle&lt;/a&gt; makes your third option otherwise practical.  You fill the bottle from one end and get clean water from the other; it is capable of filtering biological threads directly so there is no wait period.  Reviews I've seen are a bit mixed, but it does seem like a unique offering at this time.  Here is a video presentation from the proprietor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzdBCxZhKpQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzdBCxZhKpQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T01:54:47.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5203" CreationDate="2014-01-26T04:17:36.273" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is/was a popular pastime for environmentalists to chain themselves to the rails, and worse, to throw hooks onto the catenary. Trains catch these hooks and rip the catenary down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason, the Train Police (Bahnpolizei) is sometimes on the lookout, and if they can't find real terrorists, harass normal people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd avoid railway lines when atomic waste is transported somewhere in the country for that reason. Otherwise don't worry, but don't forget than Germany is the country where pedestrians wait at a red light on a deserted street in the middle of the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might cost you a $20 on the spot fine or so. On the other hand, if you are a foreigner and look like a hiker, they will probably let you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1891" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T04:17:36.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5212" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:37:05.263" Score="7" ViewCount="263" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't place a cache on someone's property without permission, that's for sure. But when the property belongs to me, I can hide cache on my own backyard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what should I do to assure safe searching for geocachers? Strange people walking at the night through the door and sniffing around the fence are looking quite suspicious and they can alarm local police or neighbors. I don't want, however, to inform anyone around about that cache - I want to keep it secret only for 'chosen'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something I can do, for example some 'camouflage' giving excuse to strangers to visit my backyard?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T13:48:53.310" Title="How to assure safe searching for cache hidden in my own backyard?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5213" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:41:59.803" Score="2" ViewCount="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiding something in the forest on the surface, there's a great practice called UPS (Unusual Pile of Sticks, the German version is very sweet: Hasengrill). They prevent people from boaring a few acres of land and are great replacement for spoiler photos. However, snow makes them invisible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I build my UPS to make it visible even in winter? Well, for 2-meter thick snow nothing would help, but it's usual, at least in Central Europe, that snow has 10-20 cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T13:32:07.480" Title="Make UPS-like cache searchable in winter" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5214" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5220" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:49:44.277" Score="3" ViewCount="884" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any trekking maps of Svanetia available abroad? I'd like to purchase the maps &lt;strong&gt;before&lt;/strong&gt; arriving to Georgia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The preferred map scale is at least 1:50.000, however 1:100.000 would also fit in last resort. It would be at best, if the actual tourist trails (if any) were shown there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T15:37:55.783" Title="Trekking maps of Svanetia available abroad?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;caucasus&gt;&lt;georgia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5215" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:54:24.720" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Georgia is an independent country in Caucasus, with a population of about 5 million and an area of 69,700 km². The spoken language is Georgian, which belongs to the Kartvelian language group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T21:12:01.767" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T21:12:01.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5216" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:54:24.720" Score="0" Body="For questions specific to the country of Georgia (in the Caucasus) not the state in the United States" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T21:12:38.670" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T21:12:38.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5217" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:56:56.183" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mountain region between Black and Caspian Seas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Caucasus region belongs to following countries:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russian Federation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Georgia &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Armenia&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Azerbaijan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turkey&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-01-26T15:27:12.673" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T15:27:12.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5218" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-01-26T08:56:56.183" Score="0" Body="A mountain region between Black and Caspian Seas. " OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-01-26T15:27:22.957" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T15:27:22.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5212" CreationDate="2014-01-26T09:26:43.953" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the question although I am not a geocacher at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I want to allow strangers to enter my garden I have to give some kind of permission I guess. I understand that you don't want to make a sign &quot;open access for geocacher&quot;. That could confuse others and for the geocachers it's a simple objective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you have to hide the way you allow entering your garden. If you have the possibility you could create a &lt;strong&gt;public footpath&lt;/strong&gt; through your garden. But that's not really an option for most properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could think of having a kind of &lt;strong&gt;public garden&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;miniature railroad&lt;/strong&gt; you want to share with people so they can enter your backyard. But if you don't have to offer something it looks a bit weird just to have a sign &quot;Hey everybody out there, just enter my backyard if you want to!!!&quot;. Maybe you'd create a hippie commune :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T09:26:43.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5214" CreationDate="2014-01-26T15:37:55.783" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Georgia trekking maps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geoland.ge/en/products/maps/turistuli-salasqro-rukebi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Georgia trekking maps&lt;/a&gt; covering part of Georgia are available from various international resellers, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omnimap.com/catalog/int/georgia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;omnimap&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/990117886X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amazon&lt;/a&gt;.  They cover part of the mountains of Georgia, and seem to include the province of Svanetia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x9kRy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Georgia trekking maps&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Genshtab maps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a former Soviet Union member state, Georgia is well-covered by the Genshtab maps, Soviet military topographic maps.  In a scale of 1:50.000, they cover the entire nation.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/21534/4904&quot;&gt;Genshtab maps can be downloaded online&lt;/a&gt;, or are for sale from various sources, such as the aforementioned omnimap, or from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geospatial.com/store/type/country/term/geo/text/georgia/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;geostatial.com (quite expensive)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:34:15.857" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T15:37:55.783" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5223" CreationDate="2014-01-26T18:04:02.003" Score="18" ViewCount="17466" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some outdoors clothing have an inner mesh lining of polyester (or similar) fabric. What purpose does such a lining serve? Does it insulate or is it for transporting humidity from the body?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2894" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T23:22:52.780" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T23:22:52.780" Title="What purpose does a mesh liner serve in outdoors clothing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5221" CreationDate="2014-01-26T18:41:01.797" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mesh liner is for breath-ability, also makes things more lightweight. That way, the inner layer isn't as dense, and still allows moisture, heat, etc, to breathe through the outer layers, if they are so designed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T18:41:01.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5221" CreationDate="2014-01-26T21:30:00.373" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The liner acts as a climate control mechanism for your body through a reduction of moisture and an increase in circulation. The synthetic fiber content acts as a wick to pull the moisture away from your skin, while the mesh composition acts as a suspension system that increases airflow by maintaining separation between your skin/undershirt and the remainder of the garment. Additionally, the increased surface area of the mesh allows for greater air to moisture contact. The wicking and increased airflow therefore increases the rate of evapotranspiration, which allows your body to maintain a more consistent comfort level without the need to add or remove layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T21:30:00.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5224" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5233" CreationDate="2014-01-26T21:46:10.617" Score="29" ViewCount="19649" Body="&lt;p&gt;Natives from regions which are really hot and have a high sun intensity are wearing sometimes white/bright and sometimes black/dark colors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KAOkO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/76wid.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean there has to be a better strategy in terms of heat budget and radiation protection (which seem to be the two main enemies).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black absorbs the heat most so the clothing gets hotter. I've read that the difference is low when you wear your stuff very loosely like the Bedouin and other desert dwellers do. That being said black clothing is said to protect better against sunburn. I don't know why though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No major advantages for any color? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could think of ethnic/cultural/religious reasons but in my opinion comfortable living should be the main reason for a choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1653/2653&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is said bright clothing wins. If you have a look at the nature the bright=cool, black=hot works also. E.g. the Namaqua chameleon regulates the temperature with its color:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Myyds.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-12-29T00:59:07.283" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T00:59:07.283" Title="Are dark or bright clothings preferable in the desert?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2014-01-26T22:14:53.657" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I met a fellow from Holland using a Wheelie to hike across Canada.  This was his third or fourth summer hiking across Canada and he recommended the Wheelie for anything close to what he was doing.  He walked mostly without using his hands, but he loved the handles for when the road was rough.  He was using roads exclusively.  He had purchased the optional axle support to improve the stability of the center, and said it was well worth the cost.  He didn't recommend the Wheelie for rough trails or off-road situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am 59, and cannot carry enough weight for my wife and me to camp overnight in the woods. She can only carry a few pounds.  I want a single axle trailer that will work on trails, but I want the forward-reaching handles like on the Wheelie to allow me to control it better when I need it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2896" LastActivityDate="2014-01-26T22:14:53.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2014-01-27T00:36:51.350" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although black clothing absorbs radiation from the sun more than white clothing, this is somewhat offset by the fact that it also emits it more efficiently. Good absorbers are also good emitters. If you're standing in dark shade and the objects in your environment are cooler than the temperature of your clothing, then black clothing will theoretically cause the net effect of radiation and absorption to cool you faster than in the case of white clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, I suspect that physics isn't the reason that people in various cultures and environments choose to wear white or black clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-01-27T00:36:51.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5189" CreationDate="2014-01-27T14:55:37.923" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In my opinion the best would be to have a couple of more advanced friends who are able to teach or even know guides or groups and go with them for fun and to learn. Unfortunately I am not having this opportunity (yet?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How that, when you are already a member of the DAV? It is first and foremost an club of mountain enthusiasts, not a provider of insurance and paid courses. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davplus.de/home/gruppen_abteilungen/ortsgruppen&quot;&gt;Ortsgruppen&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davplus.de/home/gruppen_abteilungen/abteilungen&quot;&gt;Interessengruppen&lt;/a&gt; are basically just people enjoying their hobby together, and open to all DAV members. They have regular (weekly to monthly) meet-ups and are usually happy to welcome newcomers. However, they will expect you to have at least basic knowledge about things like &quot;knots and security&quot; before they take you on a trip - so it might be a good idea to pay for a course first, maybe after going to a meet-up and asking for advice which one would be most appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dav-community.de/&quot;&gt;online DAV community&lt;/a&gt; where your question might yield more specific answers than here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make this answer more general: Try to find clubs or informal meetings of fellow mountaineers where you can meet people to learn from. Apart from the internet, stores that carry mountaineering equipment are a good place to start; the employees are often involved in the local scene or at least know about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-10-29T21:33:05.490" LastActivityDate="2014-10-29T21:33:05.490" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5213" CreationDate="2014-01-29T13:32:07.480" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I once saw a cache that got around this problem nicely by implanting 4 relatively tall upright sticks around the other pile of sticks. I think this only worked because it was relatively off the beaten track, so others weren't likely to stumble across them and tear them down or mess around with them - but it certainly acted as a good visual clue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I found this cache it was actually in the height of summer, though I imagine it would work equally well, if not better, for highlighting a cache in snow that wasn't too thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T13:32:07.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5212" CreationDate="2014-01-29T13:48:53.310" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don't want, however, to inform anyone around about that cache - I want to keep it secret only for 'chosen'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you don't want to, I'd strongly suggest rethinking this - does it really matter if a few neighbours know, and it stops an embarrassing incident or two when the police are called out? When I placed a cache in a (public) residential area overlooked by a lot of houses, I was asked to make sure I'd let the neighbours know for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doubles in importance when it involves entering a garden, since if by chance geocachers stray into a neighbours garden, you want to make sure that if they're confronted and talk about Geocaching, your neighbours know not to worry and can politely ask them to move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless though, you need to make sure that geocachers &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; as much as possible that it's the right garden they're entering, and not someone else's - the last thing you want is them stumbling into a neighbouring garden. Personally I'd get around this by a (coded) sign on the door, and corresponding clue - &quot;XYFH5&quot; written on the door for instance, and then &quot;Come through XYFH5&quot; as the clue. (Sure, it doesn't have to be that simple, you could make it part of a puzzle - but the important thing is that it has to be as unambiguous as possible!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T13:48:53.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5172" CreationDate="2014-01-29T14:06:19.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cutting the Ice steps is technique which is used since years, and rather was invented way before something like crampons came up in mountaineering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I met a team at Saser Kangri, who spent a lot of time in cutting steps in Ice. And, I could only ask them why to do it and invest so much of amount of energy and critical time when you have crampons?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe Ice Cutting is done on a very hard snow. Agreeing to the fact that you can use crampons for an ascend over such a face, but for a team of around 10-15 mountaineers, everybody exerts the same when they choose not to cut ice steps, but if two/three heads go a bit ahead, cutting steps, the team can proceed much faster and rather in a packed approach, like a convoy. In case of bad visibility, the stranded people can track down such steps and follow them rather than looking for something else which is more artificial. I see that as the biggest advantage of doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T14:06:19.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2014-01-29T14:34:27.383" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always been advised to be in bright/light colours during the trekking expeds in regions which are known for bad sun.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everybody knows that Black clothing absorbs more heat(radiation). The lighter you wear, the lesser heat you attract(radiation). Now there is a point rightly said above that the darker colours will emit it faster as well, but the media for emission is very important. We, human, emit the body heat in the form of sweat (usually, the most of the times). After a certain amount/threshold, Sweating is trouble-making. The more you sweat, the more body-necessary fluid you loose rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The physics, or I should say, the physiology of that is something like this:&#xA;Perspiration is our major Thermoregulation mechanism. The more you exert (Specifically, out in the sun, not resting), the more your muscles heat up due to exertion, more sweat is produced, the more fluid you loose. How the sweat is produced? When the gain of the hypothalamic feedback system increases in response to the increased body temperature, the more Perspiration is needed. And, sweat contains majorly Water, then Minerals, may be Urea (hence Salt??)&#xA;In that case, the darker your clothes are, Higher is your skin temperature, and so higher is the Perspiration rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, addressing to the example you have posted above, it says that, the Namaqua chameleon regulates the temperature with its color, yeah agreed, but there are a lot complicated points about hydrating and body-temperature maintaining phenomena and mechanisms in Cold Blooded animals, typically the Reptiles. You can't directly co-relate their phenomena with our body-temperature maintaining mechanism, Because reptiles are Ectotherms, they get their body heat from outside (external environment), and they lack the ability to generate heat in the body, unlike Humans for that matter..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, I honestly don't have much wisdom about dressing sense of the desert dwellers. But, I can ask you to observe a thing about it: Those (beautiful, if you can say so) women wearing a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa&quot;&gt;Burqa&lt;/a&gt;, their skin tends to get reddish as they spend time in sun wearing  the Burqa. Can you think of the Reason??? Heat may be?&#xA;Nonetheless, the attire they prefer to follow has deeper roots in traditional sense, but again, that has been the way for nearly centuries now, and these people being experiencing all of it's stuff definitely know what and why they are doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go for Brighter colors when you plan to trek at any place where there you are expecting the temperature to be above you body temperature by 4-5 Degree Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T10:39:34.663" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T10:39:34.663" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5234" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5235" CreationDate="2014-01-29T14:49:52.633" Score="10" ViewCount="316" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently had my first scuba dive. And the other instructor here was referring to something that is related to air Embolism as I overheard, that one should not surface too rapidly after a deep dive.&#xA;I could only hear it that it could prove fatal as well.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I know what is Embolism, but i have no wisdom about how the embolism would be introduced when a diver gets to the surface rapidly. Please shed some light here..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T11:57:19.697" Title="Surfacing rapidly after a Scuba Dive" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5234" CreationDate="2014-01-29T17:23:10.883" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;An embolism in a medical context refers to any large moving mass or defect in the blood stream. An air embolism is an air bubble trapped in a blood vessel. When an air bubble travels along an artery, it moves through a system of blood vessels that gradually become narrower. At some point, the embolus will block a small artery and cut off the blood supply to a particular area of the body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, when a person scuba dives with compressed air, they take in extra oxygen and nitrogen. The body uses the oxygen, but the nitrogen is dissolved into the blood, where it remains during the dive. As one swims back toward the surface after a deep dive, the water pressure around decreases. If this transition occurs too quickly, the nitrogen does not have time to clear from the blood. Instead, it separates out of the blood and forms bubbles within tissues or blood. It is these nitrogen bubbles that cause decompression sickness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For venous air embolisms, death may occur if a large bubble of gas becomes lodged in the heart, stopping blood from flowing from the right ventricle to the lungs. However, experiments in animals show that the amount of gas necessary for this to happen is quite variable, and also depends on several other factors, such as body position. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-01-29T17:23:10.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1287" CreationDate="2014-01-30T00:29:10.907" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key to cold weather clothing is viewing it as a system. The base layer of the system wicks moisture from the body and provides a small amount of insulation. The middle layer(s) of the system provide warmth and wind protection. The outer layer provides protection from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, a proven system for the temperature range you're considering would generally consist of a lightweight wool base layer (long underwear or similar top and bottom), a windproof polar fleece or down jacket, and a waterproof shell. A polar fleece or down vest makes a good alternate for the intermediate layer. The face and hands should also be covered. Gloves should follow a two layer system, with a wind resistant inner glove and a waterproof outer mitten or glove (mittens are warmer due to the reduced surface area). Fleece and wool are both good choices for the inner gloves, with windproof fleece being preferable. For footwear, use wool socks and insulated boots that are rated for cold weather. Additionally, goggles are strongly recommended below -20F, and at anything below 0F when strong winds are present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind protection is an extremely important factor in clothing selection for cold temperatures. Hats, gloves, and an intermediate clothing layer should all be highly wind resistant. The impact of wind chill is greatly eliminated, making the temperature your body is adjusting to more consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, an extremely warm outer layer is rarely a good idea, as it greatly limits the temperature range that the clothing system will properly function in. Your body will attempt to maintain approximately 98.6F. Each insulating layer will lower the outdoor temperature at which your body can remain comfortable. If you have an extremely warm outer layer, say one rated for 0F, then you have around 90F in which you can't be comfortable. If multiple intermediate layers are used to achieve the insulation, the temperature ranges can be broken up into 20-30F ranges, which can then be mixed and matched as needed, with the outer layer providing the protection from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastActivityDate="2014-01-30T00:29:10.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2014-01-30T06:12:53.137" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the depressurization trick does work very well, its also not necessary. I've used the whisperlite to simmer just by turning the flame down real low. You have to be very gentle on the valve and be looking right at the flame to gauge it, but it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on experience using this stove for 70+ days of trail work (breakfast and dinner each day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2904" LastActivityDate="2014-01-30T06:12:53.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2014-01-31T01:59:11.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put dish wash powder in and fill with  hot water it will fizz let sit over  night (don't put cap on gases will  blow it off) was out it will look like  new. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2907" LastActivityDate="2014-01-31T01:59:11.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5807" CreationDate="2014-02-01T15:48:50.840" Score="7" ViewCount="247" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been working with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/bowdrill/pmoc/basicbowdrill.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bow-drill&lt;/a&gt;, and I notice that certain types of wood may be so hard that hardly any powder forms (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaya&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;african mahogany&lt;/a&gt;) and others may be too soft and crumbly. Pine appears to be a little too resinous. So far, I've had some success with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rambutan&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What species of plants produce coals efficiently when used as part of a bow-drill set?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there some test I can perform to easily identify good bow-drill wood?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2913" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-06T03:04:52.390" LastActivityDate="2018-01-06T03:04:52.390" Title="What kinds of wood work well in a bow drill?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5067" CreationDate="2014-02-01T18:57:57.607" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just girth hitch a double length sling around your belay loop and clip a biner to the haul loop of your pack.  Hang it between your legs while you chimney, shimmy or otherwise do whatchu gotta do.  When you're out of the business, pull it up and put it back on your back.  No extra gear, minimal time and fuss, little chance of it getting stuck because you can actively manage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, if you need the leader to be free of a pack for a full pitch - you could have the second climb with the pack (using the &quot;leader pack/second pack&quot; paradigm...but where leader pack = no pack).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps you are starting to see my personal bias toward never having to deal with the hassle of hauling a pack...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2915" LastEditorUserId="2915" LastEditDate="2014-02-03T15:49:13.290" LastActivityDate="2014-02-03T15:49:13.290" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4874" CreationDate="2014-02-01T19:08:23.993" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You extend placements with trad draws when the line you are climbing wanders, in order to minimize rope drag.  You do not always need to extend them.  I climb with a mix of short sport-type draws and extendable trad draws for that reason. Sometimes you can even just clip the racking biner that the cam was hanging on already (obviously for nuts or anything not already racked on a biner, you need a draw).  Sometimes you may also need to extend a placement in order to isolate the placement from rope movement (to prevent a cam from walking or a nut from rattling around in a loose placement).  But don't extend pieces unnecessarily, because that wastes time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general: practice.  A lot.  And if you want to be fast, practice being fast (stay safe of course).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, get good at clipping the rope into a draw lightning fast.  Practice this on the ground, with both hands, with the gate facing both left and right (there are 4 combinations of R/L hand and gate facing R/L - practice them all).  Do this until it is instinctive, smooth and crazy fast.  Make a game out of seeing how many clips you can get in 1 minute.  Good sport climbers are often very good at this, get one to teach you (or watch youtube).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And lastly: practice. A lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2915" LastEditorUserId="2915" LastEditDate="2014-02-02T21:01:30.967" LastActivityDate="2014-02-02T21:01:30.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5245" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-02T14:59:49.520" Score="19" ViewCount="818" Body="&lt;p&gt;A guy I'm talking to about buying some rock climbing gear is getting rid of his stuff cause he hasn't used it in five to eight years. He said it wasn't used a lot, maybe 5 to 6 times, and he said no major falls have happened on it. Does it matter where the rope has been stored like inside a garage storage box that is not climate controlled? I wanna make sure that I don't get the gear when I can't use the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2916" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-02-02T22:41:40.360" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T01:12:01.297" Title="Can you use a rope that has been in storage for a few years?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5245" CreationDate="2014-02-02T19:52:26.490" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general climbing ropes are quite robust in terms of storage. The Safety Research Group (&quot;Sicherheitskreis&quot;) of the &lt;em&gt;German Alpine Club&lt;/em&gt; (DAV) has done a lot of research about this in the 90ies and their general result was: as long as they aren't exposed to sunlight or aggressive chemicals or have been strained over a sharp edge during a fall their performance doesn't change substantially. There are two articles in the &lt;em&gt;bergundsteigen&lt;/em&gt; journal (more comprehensive but unfortunately only in German) and another one from the UIAA page that summarize the influencing factors on the strength of climbing ropes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pit Schubert: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2000/3/19%2C%2023-24%20%28moderne%20zeiten%20fuer%20bergseile%29.pdf&quot;&gt;Moderne Zeiten für Bergseile&lt;/a&gt;, bergundsteigen 3/2000; pp. 19.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Klaus Kunigham: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2006/2/print/36-40%20%28spannende%20seile%202%29.pdf&quot;&gt;Spannende Seile (2)&lt;/a&gt;, bergundsteigen 2/2006; pp. 36.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pit Schubert: &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot;&gt;About Ageing of Climbing Ropes&lt;/a&gt;, UIAA 3/2000; pp. 12.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case I would be cautious for another reason when buying used safety equipment: your life depends on that gear and a failure might cost your health or even your life. As you don't know the history of that equipment, you cannot judge whether it is safe or not and how it has been treated. Even if this guy tells you that it hasn't been used much you cannot tell if he's only telling so to make you buy it. Also your questions sounds as if you don't have much climbing experience yet, so you even might not be able to tell about the general quality of the gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore &lt;strong&gt;my general advice&lt;/strong&gt; would be &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; to buy any second hand safety equipment. The only exception I could imagine was gear from one of your climbing partners where you have at least a clue about how they treat their stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-02-06T08:48:09.053" LastActivityDate="2014-02-06T08:48:09.053" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5247" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-02T21:11:52.010" Score="6" ViewCount="427" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are going to the north rim in April and May. We would like to do several hikes, hopefully ones that let us experience the best of the Grand Canyon's north rim. We are interested in hikes of various lengths and difficulties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2918" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T19:33:45.463" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T19:33:45.463" Title="What hikes are must-do at the Grand Canyon north rim?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5249" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5259" CreationDate="2014-02-03T09:32:59.217" Score="10" ViewCount="2007" Body="&lt;p&gt;What re the best quality walking, trekking maps for Spain? In the UK were pretty lucky as we have the Ordance Survey (a government body that maintains all topo maps). Is there an equivalent in Spain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard you can buy the old military maps, but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've heard they are very out of date (date to the Franco period)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've heard they are very poor quality&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have no idea where you can get these from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anybody had any experience of this and can provide some advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-10-24T10:23:09.750" Title="Good quality walking maps for Spain" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5250" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5251" CreationDate="2014-02-03T14:26:49.997" Score="8" ViewCount="6949" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a forest axe and its manufacturer says to oil the axe head before storing to prevent rusting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;What type of oil should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-02-03T21:48:30.620" LastActivityDate="2014-02-03T21:48:30.620" Title="What type of oil to use for axe heads" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5250" CreationDate="2014-02-03T16:02:59.713" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always either used &lt;strong&gt;3-in-1 oil&lt;/strong&gt; or the &lt;strong&gt;gun oil&lt;/strong&gt;, the kind used for cleaning and caring for firearms. These both have always worked fine for me for years and years of use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I just wipe a small coating of the oil on with a shop rag before leaving it for a while. Make sure it's clean and dry before applying the oil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: AFAIK the type of oil or ingredients shouldn't make too much of a difference. As mentioned in another answer, the oil is there to repel water (which causes rust and ruins the blade) and protect against dirt. So any type of basic household oil should work fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="2819" LastEditDate="2014-02-03T18:24:42.157" LastActivityDate="2014-02-03T18:24:42.157" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5250" CreationDate="2014-02-03T17:31:04.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;After some googling I found a very nice guide to axe maintenance here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://woodtrekker.blogspot.nl/2011/04/beginners-guide-to-basic-axe-care-and.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://woodtrekker.blogspot.nl/2011/04/beginners-guide-to-basic-axe-care-and.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The head of the axe is the easier part to protect. As with all carbon&#xA;  steel objects, the enemy here is moisture. If the head gets wet, it&#xA;  will start to rust. All that is required to protect it is to put a&#xA;  light coat of Vaseline on it and wipe it off. I find that the Vaseline&#xA;  is great at getting into all of the pores, and has good staying power.&#xA;  I have not found the need for any further treatment. The paint that&#xA;  you find on most axe heads is there to protect the metal from&#xA;  moisture. The more exposed metal you have, the more careful you will&#xA;  have to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This blog states all you need to care for an axe is olive oil, a bees wax candle and some vaseline.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RzSrq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-02-03T17:31:04.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5253" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5254" CreationDate="2014-02-03T21:33:44.720" Score="5" ViewCount="369" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the comments to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5246/2410&quot;&gt;my answer&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5245/can-you-use-a-rope-that-has-been-in-storage-for-a-few-years&quot;&gt;Can you use a rope that has been in storage for a few years?&lt;/a&gt; the question arose if one could have some expert check a used rope whether it is still safe to use. As answering this question would go a bit beyond the scope of the referenced question, I put it here as a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is it possible to check the safety of a used climbing rope before using it? By check in this case is not meant some optical inspection for integrity or the like (as in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/312/2410&quot;&gt;How do I inspect a climbing rope?&lt;/a&gt;) but a check that says something like &quot;this rope was tested with a force of &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; kN and therefore is still inside the norm and safe to use&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-02-04T14:15:05.317" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T19:01:39.543" Title="Is it possible to check the safety of a used climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-02-05T12:51:35.047" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5253" CreationDate="2014-02-03T21:33:44.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless other gear like e.g. harnesses which are designed to take a certain load over and over again, climbing ropes get kind of &quot;used up&quot; with every fall they have to take. According to UIAA and other norms they have to take a certain number of falls with certain conditions (weight, fall factor etc.) to get those norm signs. Every fall weakens the rope a bit, but with normal climbing falls with low fall factors this weakening is so little that a rope will be unusable due to handling reasons (stiffness, thickening) before it will be significantly unsafe (cf. Pit Schubert: &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;About Ageing of Climbing Ropes&lt;/a&gt;, UIAA 3/2000; pp. 12.). As stated there, modern climbing ropes will only break when loaded over a sharp edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as every fall weakens the rope, also every (realistic) test for its strength will weaken it. Therefore one can only tell for sure how much force it would have taken by loading it until it breaks, so this test has to be destructive. If you would not load it until failure, you could tell how much load it took at your test but not, if at all and how hard a fall it will hold without failure in case of another fall. So a non-destructive test would not only give no information about the strength for future falls but it would even increase the risk of failure for such a future case. As the author in the article cited above states: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When loaded over a rock edge a very often used rope holds less than a less often used rope, and such a rope holds less than an almost unused rope, and&#xA;  this less than a new rope (all for the same model of rope). So if you always want to have optimum chance of survival with respect to rope breaking caused by a sharp rock edge, you have to use a new rope for every mountaineering or climbing tour. But even a millionaire will not afford this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above that, test facilities for such rope tests are very expensive and rare –I think to remember that there exist less than ten such test benches in whole Europe. Therefore performing such a test with a used rope would surely be more expensive than just buying a new one when in doubt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-02-04T19:01:39.543" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T19:01:39.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5208" CreationDate="2014-02-04T00:05:44.867" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an English language volunteer with Jeju Olle Trail here on Jeju Island, South Korea. There is certainly no need to buy such expensive maps for the trail. The trail is well-marked and when you arrive at the airport you can get an English-language guidebook too, which was detailed route information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding Halla Mountain. You will be restricted to walking the well-marked trails only. There is no opportunity to walk off the trails and if you do you will be subject to fines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me know if you need anything else over at &lt;a href=&quot;http://jejuolletrailinformation.wordpress.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://jejuolletrailinformation.wordpress.com/&lt;/a&gt; or our English Facebook Group: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/groups/ollewalkers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.facebook.com/groups/ollewalkers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2925" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T00:05:44.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5260" CreationDate="2014-02-04T09:36:07.627" Score="13" ViewCount="1931" Body="&lt;p&gt;I resumed climbing a couple of months back after a gap of a couple of years.&#xA;After spending a month of quality time at the wall regularly in order to get back in touch, I have started to try different routes that are a bit tricky and a bit exerting so that sometimes I have to push it a bit harder than normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first found myself struggling with cramping fingers and I even asked a query &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4889/cramping-fingers&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then during conversations with different climbing people, I heard that a lot about how climbers push too hard and destroy their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wheelessonline.com/ortho/flexor_tendon_pulleys_and_sheaths_1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;finger pulleys&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrZkk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do feel a little stress and pain with my fingers, and I am damn sure that its definitely not the Cramping of Fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do feel perfectly fine during early hours of climbing, provided that I warm up pretty well and regularly.  I do feel better when I stop climbing, but for a brief time of about 10 minutes I find it difficult to pick up small things, or squeeze something, cycle brakes hurt the most, and the pain gradually subsides. I am not taking any sort of painkillers as of now, and I don't intend to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it normal when you take it to a different level of climbing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is such an injury predictable?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it possible that I may have caused the pulley a trouble, and it has exploded without any warning as such?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I take a break for a week or two? Or is it just the routine?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-06T14:25:45.687" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T14:41:42.870" Title="Can a Finger Pulley injury be predicted / anticipated?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5257" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5261" CreationDate="2014-02-04T09:46:50.737" Score="12" ViewCount="1168" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of us go around, doing different physical activities. Whether it is indoors or outdoors, the common factor is that we often sweat, make our muscles, joints, tendons, ligament, etc work harder than normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, working out, swimming, rock climbing, hiking, cycling, running, mountaineering, playing sports involving moving/running, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is normal (where a hot or cold shower would be equally comfortable) what is most favorable to our body, especially to the parts we exert the most (muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments) during such activity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a hot or cold shower?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-10-13T14:53:22.853" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T14:53:22.853" Title="Hot or cold shower better after exertion?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5257" CreationDate="2014-02-04T10:29:16.250" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a fan of a cold bath (ice bath if you can stand it). My understanding is that the contraction of the muscles that happens as they get cold forces out things like lactic acid thus improving your recovery and preventing injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not everyone's cup of tea I admit though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Done a quick google on the actual benefit of this and it does seem to have &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/After-Exercise.htm&quot;&gt;scientific reasoning&lt;/a&gt; and apparently prevents &quot;&lt;em&gt;Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness&lt;/em&gt;&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17685683&quot;&gt;Study highlighting benefits&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Contrast water therapy was associated with a smaller reduction, and&#xA;  faster restoration, of strength and power measured by isometric force&#xA;  and jump squat production following DOMS-inducing leg press exercise&#xA;  when compared to PAS. Therefore, CWT seems to be effective in reducing&#xA;  and improving the recovery of functional deficiencies that result from&#xA;  DOMS, as opposed to passive recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T10:29:16.250" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5249" CreationDate="2014-02-04T12:50:44.043" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spain is mediocre when it comes to topographic maps.  Certainly beats Italy, but you won't find the quality of France, Switzerland, Germany, or northern Europe.  They're not too old — you can find maps less than 10 years old in the new digital series, at scales down to 1:25,000.  In general, what's on the map exists and is accurate.  Unfortunately: most hiking trails are missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be hard to get outside Spain, but can be ordered online and shipped abroad (at least inside the EU).  We order them directly from Spain.  There are a number of stores selling them, googling for &lt;em&gt;tienda mapas topograficos&lt;/em&gt; may help.  For example, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://tiendaverde.es&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tienda Verde&lt;/a&gt;.  It helps if you know some Spanish and phone the store directly, for some stores may simply ignore your e-mail if you write them in English.  Even passing your e-mail through Google Translate improves the probability of success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking trails, you need to complement the maps with either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A good hiking book&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Online-downloaded trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good news is that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikiloc&lt;/a&gt; is very popular in Spain.  Pretty much anywhere you'll go you'll find hundreds of GPS-trails.  Even if you do not use a GPS-receiver, you can use those in combination with your map to find out where the trails are.  It requires good planning and it's helpful to have access to internet while on your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get an impression of what the maps look like, use the free online tool &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.ign.es/iberpix/visoriberpix/visorign.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Iberpix visorign&lt;/a&gt;.  This is a pretty good tool to interactively explore topographic maps of all of Spain, including the islands.  I think it's also possible to display trails with the IGN-map as a background, but I will double-check that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-24T10:23:09.750" LastActivityDate="2015-10-24T10:23:09.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5256" CreationDate="2014-02-04T13:06:03.683" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rather than try to answer the personal part of your question, which as Liam said needs a doctor's attention to answer properly, I shall reply to the more general title:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Can a Finger Pulley injury be predicted / anticipated?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an absolute sense I do not believe it can be.  In a relative sense it is caused high stress on these &quot;pulleys&quot; so avoiding hard use of your fingers, such as climbing, would be a way to (likely) avoid such an injury.  Of course that's not very helpful.  In my opinion walking the line of climbing hard yet avoiding injury is something you must do for yourself, but seek as much guidance for the journey as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally an &lt;em&gt;Achilles tendon rupture&lt;/em&gt; seems to come as a surprise to most people who experience one.  I have seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://achillesblog.com/crutchman/top-10-achilles-tendon-ruptures-caught-on-tapevideo/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;several videos of such a rupture&lt;/a&gt; happening and often I could not tell that there was any unusual stress at that specific moment.  As an example Misty May suffered an Achilles rupture while participating in &lt;em&gt;Dancing with the Stars&lt;/em&gt;, weeks after winning Gold at the Beijing Olympics; I doubt it was the most stressful thing she had ever done but apparently the tendon had had enough at that point.  If the largest tendon in your body can let go without warning I think it is reasonable to deduce that the tiny ligaments in your fingers can too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are a number of signs and behavior patterns that may lead up to the event.  The book &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;One Move Too Many: How to Understand the Injuries and Overuse Syndroms of Rock Climbing&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; by Dr. Thomas Hochholzer and Dr. Volker Schoeffl describes pulley tears and ruptures as well as many other climbing injuries and overuse syndromes.  That book is probably your best resource outside of a personal visit to a sports physician specializing in climbing.  Unfortunately it is hard to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting the introduction to overuse syndromes, emphasis mine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you do not keep a balance between what is reasonable for your body and what is excessively stressful for your body, you will develop and overuse syndrome.  We refer here to overuse syndromes as being those injuries that take time to develop, usually because you have pushed yourself so hard that a number of very small injuries are accumulated in the tendons, tendon sheaths, and joints, and &lt;strong&gt;these connective tissues do not develop at the same speed as the muscles placing stress on them.&lt;/strong&gt;  Serious overuse syndromes with continuous stress on the injured area can lead to irreversible defects.  However, most overuse syndromes and be treated and cured if detected early and approached with the right therapy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting the section specifically referring to the pulley rupture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most climbers tell the same series of events that let to the injury:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The feet suddenly slipped off, increasing the load and force placed on the hand that were crimping a hold, but the climber hung on anyway&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A fast and dynamic pull on a small edge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dynoing from edge to edge, or twisting fingers into pockets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Repeating the same motion over and over.  This is most common when the campus board is being used for double dyno's at the end of a&#xA;  training session&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notably crimping is very hard on flexor pulleys because the tendon is otherwise unsupported:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3Ewq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By training open hand strength and using it as much as possible you minimize stress on the pulleys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... Bouldering, where the crimping position is commonly used, is especially stressful on the fingers and their connective tissues.  The symptoms associated with tendovaginitis and a pulley rupture are quite similar, so the pulley rupture must be excluded before the tendovaginitis diagnosis can be reached. ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further quoting the book regarding artificial holds:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The first generation of holds was in no way ergonomically designed.  The first hold makers tried to recreate the rock, so they put irregular edges, sharp pockets, and shallow crimps together in their designs.  Generally, on smaller hold, the fingers had to be in a crimped position in order to maintain a grip.  Injured fingers were often the result.  Since then, athletes, sports science, and the manufacturers have come together and recognize that a hanging finger position, a position on where you are on a more &quot;slopey&quot; hold, is just as good for developing strength but much safer for the hands than the crimping position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And further, emphasis again mine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The hold that puts the least stress on your finger tendons is the one that allows the most contact between the pads of the fingers and the surface of the hold.  That is to say, the more of your fingers and the more of each finger that can bear weight on a hold the less stress there will be on any single tendon.  The position with the least amount of strain, as well as &lt;strong&gt;optimum strength development for the flexor muscles,&lt;/strong&gt; is a slight hyperextension of the wrist on a large sloping hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot more in the book, including information that may help you answer the bulleted points in your question, but I cannot quote the entire thing here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tendovaginitis&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll quote a bit more because I think it's important information for you.  Emphasis again mine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Technically, tendonitis is the inflammation of the tendons, while tendovaginitis, which is more common, is the inflammation of the tendon sheaths.  Remember that the tendons, the tendon sheaths, and the ligaments (pulleys) form a functional unit.  When stress is placed on those tendons, it is also placed on the sheaths and pulleys. ... This inflammation of the sheaths constricts the tendons, which impairs their movement and thus adds to the irritation.  Adhesions will follow, which will lead to a narrowing of the tendon sheath.  The long-term consequences are that the narrow sheath is easily inflamed thus regularly reproducing the effect.  &lt;strong&gt;Tendovaginitis is about the worst vicious circle a climber will face!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;   ...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  After suffering the condition for a couple of weeks a noticeable grinding or cracking sound might be heard.  This should not be ignored!  &lt;strong&gt;If the injury has reached this point it should be treated by a physician.  Without treatment it will most likely become permanent, or at the very least, a re-occurring problem.&lt;/strong&gt; A bad case of tendovaginitis can restrict your hands so much that your everyday lifestyle has to be altered.  Try going through life without being able to pick up a spoon!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The book lists these symptoms of tendovaginitis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dull ache in the hand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pain during motion and strain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Grinding sound in the tendon sheath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Swelling, occasionally redness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pressure sensitivity of the flexor tendons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to point out again that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The symptoms associated with tendovaginitis and a pulley rupture are quite similar, so the pulley rupture must be excluded before the tendovaginitis diagnosis can be reached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The prescribed treatment for these two conditions is fairly similar:  immobilization for 1-2 weeks, followed by rest, then therapy, before resuming climbing, but the pulley injury requires far more rest (the book says &quot;no climbing for 4 - 16 weeks&quot;) and severe cases require surgical repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-02-06T08:59:04.230" LastActivityDate="2014-02-06T08:59:04.230" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5257" CreationDate="2014-02-04T13:55:15.597" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer depends on your sccenario, if you have access to an ice bath/cold shower within minutes of your activity that is your best bet as Liam has stated above.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you are unable to have an ice bath/cold shower directly following your activity there is an alternative.  Some of us may have to take a bus home after the gym, drive our car, or simply where we are partaking in strenuous activity has no showering facility!  What you need to do is get to a bath/shower and use HOT water for 4-6 minutes, after that you are going to switch it to as COLD as possible for as long as possible, usually thirty seconds to two minutes.  This was explained to me by my cousin who is a doctor, I asked her the same question and unfortunately the climbing gym I frequent does not have showering facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hot shower loosens you up again gets the blood flowing and then the sudden cold is the purge/re-oxygenation of the muscle tissue.  It is worth a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_bath&quot;&gt;read&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-02-04T13:55:15.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5262" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5272" CreationDate="2014-02-05T12:29:07.890" Score="7" ViewCount="386" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now that I've been using my khukri for a couple of months, the surface is getting rather stained by plant sap. I've tried rubbing it with a piece of cloth and ash but the stains just refuse to disappear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blade is carbon steel, and its polish is a little rough. The stains look like rust, but they're actually dried plant sap that got caught in the grooves of the metal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaL0s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9S8Aw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2913" LastEditorUserId="2913" LastEditDate="2014-02-06T16:15:45.630" LastActivityDate="2014-02-14T09:59:38.090" Title="What are some effective ways of removing stains from my bush knife?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5263" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5264" CreationDate="2014-02-05T15:02:55.893" Score="10" ViewCount="2943" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a mountain hiking trip and one of the issues is that the trails that we're following will almost certainly be covered in ice. There are two of us and we'll both be wearing shoe traction equipment like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003EMCE8W&quot;&gt;YaxTrax Extreme Outdoor Traction&lt;/a&gt;. The trails follow ridge lines and moderate slopes on relatively low altitude mountains (5,945' or 1,812 m). However there is the possibility that a slip on the ice will lead to sliding right off the edge of a cliff or steep drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question then is, should we rope ourselves together so if one of us started sliding the other could &quot;self arrest&quot; by grabbing on to a tree, or even throwing ourselves in the deep snow? We will not have ice axes or climbing harnesses. I was picturing a bowline tied around each waist. Does this seem smart or does it seem like a way to guarantee both of us dieing if one were to fall? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-02-05T17:56:57.783" LastActivityDate="2014-02-11T16:56:25.223" Title="Roping together on an icy path?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5263" CreationDate="2014-02-05T17:02:54.047" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a bad plan for several reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;YakTrax are not well suited for this situation. YakTrax are more specialized for people who want to go running on city streets in places with cold winters. For mountaineering, they're basically useless. They don't give enough extra traction. Microspikes or crampons would be more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roping up is a specialized technique that is used, for example, when crossing a glacier that may have crevasses. It's not the best technique for the situation you're describing. For the situation you're describing, you should be carrying ice axes and know how to self-arrest. With your rope plan, if one of you falls, the other is unlikely to be able to self-arrest quickly and firmly enough. There is a technique called a running belay, but it's not a common, basic technique that you should be worrying about as a beginner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When traveling in a rope team, normally people use climbing harnesses. It's true that mountaineers used to tie in to a rope without using a harness a hundred years ago. It's also true that there are ways of tying in to a rope in an emergency without a harness; you can find the technique (a diaper sling) described in Freedom of the Hills. But basically there is no sane reason these days to intentionally not use harnesses if you're tying in to a rope team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-02-06T00:02:35.440" LastActivityDate="2014-02-06T00:02:35.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5263" CreationDate="2014-02-05T23:55:07.553" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roping up would be a bad idea. A good rule of thumb is that you should only rope up if you can place protection between climbers (i.e. attach the rope to something). Glaciers are a different story, but that's not where you're going. Many accidents have occurred when one rope mate falls and takes all the others with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as using YaxTrax , that is going to be trail and condition dependent. For ridge lines and moderate slopes on good (but somewhat icy trails), I think they would be fine. They are also going to be lighter and more flexible than proper crampons. If, on the other hand, you were planning on climbing steeper ice or deep snow, I would recommend bringing proper crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally a good idea is to never climb up something you wouldn't feel comfortable climbing down, so you are not over-committed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trekking poles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; might be a good thing to bring, and would give you better balance. Also, be sure to practice walking around outside with your chosen footwear + crampon / yaktrak. You want to make sure you don't have any issues of fit, comfort, or the thing falling off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-02-05T23:55:07.553" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5262" CreationDate="2014-02-06T08:00:23.540" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I mostly use(d) a piece of sandpaper to get rid of residue and from what I've been testing it really helps to put an oil coating on your knife.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When it's coated once it's easier to clean by just adding more oil and rubbing it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I posted a question about axe heads but I also tested it on my knifes:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5250/what-type-of-oil-to-use-for-axe-heads&quot;&gt;What type of oil to use for axe heads&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-02-06T08:00:23.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4462" CreationDate="2014-02-06T08:16:14.690" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know you should be able to survive for quite a long time.&#xA;I often hear about ocean racers who have just freeze-dried foods to eat and they live on that for more then 2-3 months at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no side effects. They are in fact very healthy, so I see no issues, apart from a very dull taste, that you can't live on this indefinitely As far as side effects I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/sailing/3683649/Brian-Thompsons-on-board-meal-plans-during-the-Vendee-Globe-World-Race.html&quot;&gt;reference&lt;/a&gt; with some information. These pros might not live on just dried food,  but if you search further there are some people who have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted in the comments below they are using some additives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They are adding Manua honey, raisins and gogi berries to stop rickets and cheese for vitamins and calcium and special oil high in Omega 3, not cooked, eaten with a warm meal – QuentinUK &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="2820" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T13:33:38.933" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T13:33:38.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5268" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-06T18:45:29.003" Score="2" ViewCount="1319" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I am moving to Colorado in a little more than three weeks and super-pumped to elevate my experiences with the endless outdoor adventures! At this point in my life, I have six pair of shoes; three traditional style shoes and three different models of the Vibram FiveFingers. I love them. I use them for everything for the past three years or so (as most lovers of these do); running, cycling, everyday walking, hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am just making plans for further activities with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How good is the Spyridon model with climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These seem to be the best choice due to the thicker stiffer sole and the rugged tread design. I really don't want to buy anymore traditional shoes again lol! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2934" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T05:56:28.620" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T05:56:28.620" Title="What are the pros and cons of using the Spyridon model of Vibram FiveFingers for climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;vibram-five-fingers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-02-09T22:19:39.573" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5268" CreationDate="2014-02-07T04:55:47.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heel hooks and toe hooks will probably hurt...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My biggest concern is due to the individual toes this might make small foot holds uncomfortable. With a traditional climbing shoe the pressure is divided across the sole and all your toes are level inside the shoe.  With a FiveFingers if the toe hold is small such that it's just your big toe on it, that will be a very strenuous move.  I fail to see how you could get support from your other toes.  Sorry if my explanation there is hard to follow, i'm having trouble putting it into words. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen only two people climbing in them at the gym I go to. Give it a go with a pair you own at your local climbing Gym, at least that will bring you closer to a final decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I would not recommend climbing outdoors in FiveFingers, I feel they just don't offer the support needed and thus could lead to injury or to an unsafe situation on the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-14T09:01:50.420" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T09:01:50.420" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5270" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5273" CreationDate="2014-02-07T08:00:50.927" Score="23" ViewCount="3374" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know there is a degree of &quot;gray&quot; in this question but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bananafingers.co.uk/beal-top-gun-ii-105mm-60m-p-476.html&quot;&gt;Beal Top gun II 10.5mm&lt;/a&gt;, I've had this rope for around 4 years now and I'm starting to think about retiring it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's been used mainly for indoor lead climbing but also outdoor trad&#xA;and top roping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It had a year of, practically, zero use (Where I got seriously into my&#xA;bouldering in preperation for a trip to Fontainbleu).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've always keept it in my wardrobe so it's not been exposed to&#xA;sunlight or extremes of temperatures for any amount of time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's never had any serious falls, at most 2m on an indoor&#xA;lead wall (I weight about 12 stone 77Kg or so, so I'm also not heavy).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There has been a light increase in the amount of stretch to the rope&#xA;but nothing major&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I inspect it often and there is no &quot;seath slippage&quot; or damage of note&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have noticed that the rope has a tendency to go a &quot;bit square&quot; when under load. I don't really know what this means?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thought about when this rope should be retired?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about semi retiring it now as it's 60m long and quite heavy. I rarely use half of this amount and my back would appreciate a lighter shorter rope!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:33:02.760" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T19:45:20.270" Title="When should I retire my rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5270" CreationDate="2014-02-07T08:27:04.280" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you ask the rope manufacturers they typically advise to drop a rope after between two and ten years depending on the usage. For most non-professional climbers I would typically head more towards ten than towards 2 years, as long as there haven't been any incidents that substantiate suspicion that it might have any damage. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article from the UIAA&lt;/a&gt; your rope should develop handling issues such as getting stiff and/or kind of &quot;furry&quot; at the outside long before it will have serious safety issues as long as it has not been loaded over some sharp edge during a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So according to your description I would guess that in technical terms your rope should still be perfectly fine and stay so for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You seem to have some non-technical issues with it and from your question I believe to read some idea of buying a new rope, but are still searching for a reason to get rid of the old one, as you mention that it's a bit heavy and too long for most of the stuff you do. In this case you could cut your old rope into two halves and use them as your gym ropes (30m should be enough for most gyms) while getting a new lighter and maybe shorter one for the other stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-02-07T08:27:04.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5262" CreationDate="2014-02-07T12:11:33.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polishing a blade means sanding it with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpaper#Grit_size_table&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;very fine compound&lt;/a&gt; (more than 2000 factor). Specialized pastes exist just for that. For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gbocO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2014-02-14T09:59:38.090" LastActivityDate="2014-02-14T09:59:38.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5270" CreationDate="2014-02-07T13:01:36.140" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/page-dv.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The manufacturer of your rope says:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Time in use : The potential lifetime of BEAL PPE in use is up to a&#xA;  maximum of 10 years.    The lifetime of the rope in use must never&#xA;  exceed 10 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The rope must be retired immediately:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;if it has held a major fall, approaching fall factor 2&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;if inspection reveals or even indicates damage to the core&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;if the sheath is very worn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;if it has been in contact with any active or dangerous chemicals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;if there is the slightest doubt about its security&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the severity of a fall is not measured by distance but by fall factor.  Short falls with little rope out (in a gym) may have a higher fall factor than longer falls with a lot of rope out (outdoors).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also give &lt;a href=&quot;http://beal-services.info/anglais/duree_vie_Dynamic_BEAL_V2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a general guideline&lt;/a&gt; for expected rope lifetime:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Intensive and daily use: 1 year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Weekly and intensive use: 2 years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Daily in-season use of average intensity: 3 years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Weekly in-season use of average intensity: 5 years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Several uses during the year of average intensity: 7 years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Very occasional light use: 10 years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://beal-services.info/anglais/EPI_CONTROLE.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This PDF from BEAL&lt;/a&gt; gives visual guidelines for rope wear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zursU.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zursU.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(click for larger)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Although not directly describing dynamic climbing rope)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rescuetech1.com/ropetechnote.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rescue Tech 1 guidelines for inspection/retirement of kernmantle life safety rope&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If your rope has any of the following characteristics it must be&#xA;  retired:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Abrasion/Sheath Wear - The core is exposed or more than half of the outer sheath yarns are abraded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fraying indicates broken or damaged sheath bundles caused by abrasion or overloading.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Glazing and/or glossy marks or hard, stiff areas which signify heat damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Discoloration, a change in the ropes original color is an indication of chemical damage or overexposure to the elements of nature including&#xA;  UV radiation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Exposed Core Fibers indicate severe sheath damage and possible core damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A Lack of Uniformity in Diameter or Size indicates core damage. This is noted by a depression in the diameter of the rope, lumpiness of the&#xA;  rope or exposure of white core fibers protruding from the sheath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Flexibility and/or inconsistency in texture including, but not limited to, stiff or soft areas signify possible core damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use/Age - the rope is simply worn out from use. We recommend a low elongation/static rope be removed from service after ten years under&#xA;  ideal use and storage condition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Loss of Faith - if you feel uncomfortable for any reason or suspect there may be a problem with your rope it must be retired and&#xA;  destroyed.It is not possible to pre-determine an expected life span&#xA;  for a rescue kernmantle rope. Consistent, accurate record keeping,&#xA;  with a careful inspection program, are the best methods for&#xA;  determining when to remove a rope from service.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;No type of visual inspection can be guaranteed to determine accurately and precisely actual residual strength. When the fibers&#xA;  show wear in any given area, the rope should be downgraded or&#xA;  replaced. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Service / Storage Life: Rescue Technology recommends that Low stretch Kernmantle Life Safety Ropes should be retired within 10 years&#xA;  of its production date. We also recommend that Life Safety Ropes be&#xA;  put into active service within 5 years of its production date in order&#xA;  to enjoy the rope's handling characteristics. These stated time limits&#xA;  in no way preclude the requirement of regular inspection by a&#xA;  competent person skilled in the inspection of Life Safety Rope and&#xA;  appropriate use by trained rescuers.  Warning:  Lack of accountability&#xA;  of a ropes purchase date, usage dates and types, inspection dates and&#xA;  results can impact the suitability of any rope used for life safety.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-06-16T11:20:56.863" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T11:20:56.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5279" CreationDate="2014-02-07T16:25:55.853" Score="10" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been living in the US for some time and I was surprised to see that these kinds of tents are pretty common now&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yj1IE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was skeptical about the effectiveness of this &quot;partial&quot; rain fly in case of (heavy) rain, but never experienced it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The fly of the tent I am thinking about looks like the picture &lt;em&gt;on&#xA;  each side of the tent&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is : how much does this kind of rain fly protect you from the rain? Can anyone share her/his experience on that point?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2937" LastEditorUserId="2937" LastEditDate="2014-02-11T18:26:35.797" LastActivityDate="2014-03-29T18:40:25.413" Title="How water proof are these kinds of tents?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5221" CreationDate="2014-02-07T20:31:50.780" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It also helps protect waterproof/breathable membrane coatings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2014-02-07T20:31:50.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5276" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-09T01:20:49.963" Score="19" ViewCount="3372" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do to increase the lifetime of my crampons, maintain them properly, and check whether they can still be used safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-03-08T02:18:52.127" Title="How to take care of steel crampons?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5276" CreationDate="2014-02-09T01:20:49.963" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's one good way to make sure that your crampons last forever and are completely safe against failure in the field, which is to leave them in a closet and never use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you are going to use them, you can try to avoid walking on bare rocks in them. Walking on rocks will dull the points and will also stress the metal by repeatedly bending and flexing it. Falling on your crampons can be particularly damaging. &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-lab-gear-doesnt-last-forever--crampons.html&quot;&gt;Black diamond says&lt;/a&gt; that when they get crampons returned with broken points, it's normally the front points. Of course, sometimes in mixed conditions it's impractical to take your crampons off and put them back on repeatedly, and this will entail a certain amount of wear on them. For mixed conditions, consider bring Microspikes either in addition to or as an alternative to crampons. Don't endanger your safety by failing to put on your crampons just because it's a pain to keep putting them on and taking them off; if you need them in a certain spot, you need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crampons need to be sharpened periodically. To do this, you need to buy what's known as a mil bastard file. (The term refers to the roughness of the file.) When you buy a file in a hardware store, it has a bare spike, which is meant to be inserted into a handle. If you don't have a handle, you can hold the file by the spike. Hold the handle or spike in your right hand, and put your left hand on the far end of the file. Point the edge of the crampon's claw toward yourself, and stroke away from yourself, so that you're stroking away from the edge. Don't go back and forth with the file; only stroke away from yourself. If you have a card (i.e., a brush), you can use it periodically to clean the tiny bits of steel out of the teeth of the file. I haven't figured out a good way to clamp the crampons while working on them, although it sort of works if I attach them to my boots and then try to keep the boot still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While sharpening your crampons, visually inspect them for cracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rust is not a safety concern in and of itself, but it will accelerate wear on the teeth, which will force you to sharpen them more often and shorten the lifetime of the crampons. Sharpening will automatically get rid of some rust. If possible, dry your crampons after use, but of course in real-world conditions this may be impossible. If you have to walk along roads that have been salted, try to get the salt off as soon as possible. Some crampons are made of stainless steel, which is less susceptible to rust than the standard chromoly steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's still a lot of rust left after you sharpen the points, you may choose to try to remove it, but this isn't critical. To do this, try working on the steel with oil and a mildly abrasive tool. The abrasive could be fine-grit sandpaper, a crumpled piece of aluminum foil, or steel wool. It doesn't really matter what kind of oil you use. Various people online describe using bike oil, olive oil, WD-40, motor oil, PAM vegetable-oil spray, gun oil, or linseed oil. Ideally the oil should be penetrating (like WD-40) and hydrophobic. Whatever type of oil you use, watch out for damaging your boots, straps, or the plastic parts of the bindings. When you're putting your crampons away in the spring, you can also protect them from rust by coating the areas where the paint has been scraped off with a thin layer of oil, wiping off the excess with a cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The BD article says that the maximum lifespan of crampons is 5 years, and less than that if you use them heavily. I wouldn't take this seriously, since I don't know anybody who replaces them that often. They may be saying this in order to increase sales and avoid lawsuits. I met a guy on Mt. Baldy who had a pair of antique crampons from the late 19th century. They had been carefully taken care of and seemed to be in great shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an REI article about crampon maintenance: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/crampon+care.html&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/crampon+care.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-08T02:18:52.127" LastActivityDate="2014-03-08T02:18:52.127" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5274" CreationDate="2014-02-09T10:00:37.977" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well by the looks of it, It'll hold up in a bid of rain, but no downpour or any hard wind.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Plus side on this tent is that the rain fly will keep some direct sunlight of of the inner tent.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And it looks like the front &quot;door&quot; of the tent is made of something that might be water proof.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now what you're gonna want to do (and you should do this periodically with any tent) is use a water proofing spray.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This will put a protective layer on the material and help with carrying away water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-02-09T10:00:37.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5274" CreationDate="2014-02-09T19:27:12.797" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have camped in a tent with a similar rain fly - it was fine in gentle rain, and I found it amusing in a force 8 gale with lashing rain - because it leaked about 11 litres of rain into the tent overnight (so my middle daughter ended up a bit damp)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife wasn't so keen, as she had never camped in storms before. I found it okay - if you don't like water in your tent, then don't get one of these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-02-09T19:27:12.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4968" CreationDate="2014-02-10T19:13:24.800" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wash them with a product made for washing leather shoes, like Nikwax Footwear Cleaning Gel.  This will remove the crud without damaging the oils in the leather.  Then re-waterproof them with a product made for waterproofing leather (e.g. an aqueous wax product).  Nikwax also makes some of those.  I have used both the cleaner and waterproofer and been happy with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2915" LastActivityDate="2014-02-10T19:13:24.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="54" CreationDate="2014-02-10T19:22:15.320" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What is the best way to maintain Gore-Tex walking boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clean them occasionally...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do they need reproofing occasionally or is just brushing the mud off enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and waterproof them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will notice that they need to be re-waterproofed...when they get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note: the Gore Tex membrane is &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; the boot, between the outer (leather or synthetic) and the inner facing fabric.  There's not much you can do to &quot;maintain&quot; that membrane.  Mostly what you will be doing is taking care of the outer layer.  Ideally you want to keep the outer layer as waterproof as possible (in addition to the waterproofness of the membrane itself) because the membrane will not breathe nearly as well if the outer is saturated with water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had success with Nikwax cleaning and waterproofing products.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly...the best way to honor a pair of boots is to 1) take good care of them and 2) eventually obliterate them in the process of doing many awesome adventures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2915" LastActivityDate="2014-02-10T19:22:15.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5276" CreationDate="2014-02-10T19:26:18.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to everything suggested by @Ben Crowell, you will also prolong the life of the crampons if you become very skilled at moving in them.  That is, every step or climbing move should be graceful and precise, so that you are not bashing any of the points on anything, ever.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only will this be good for your crampons, but it will also be good for your pants, gaiters, ankles, knees, and overall enjoyment of the mountains.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2915" LastActivityDate="2014-02-10T19:26:18.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5283" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5288" CreationDate="2014-02-10T22:50:22.383" Score="16" ViewCount="349" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can people recommend books or online resources on self-rescue for roped climbing? As a beginning trad leader, I think I should have a basic understanding of topics like how to escape a belay and how to rappel with an injured person. I have the book by Fasulo, and I'm finding it difficult to understand. The book presents lots and lots of complicated setups and scenarios, including lots of information that seems mainly relevant to aid climbing, which I don't do (although I realize that aid-climbing techniques could become necessary for self-rescue when something goes wrong while free-climbing). I would prefer more of a &quot;dummy's guide to self-rescue.&quot; I will probably also pay for professional instruction on this, but I don't think I'll retain much from a day of instruction unless I prepare by studying up on the topic as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T08:15:25.363" Title="Reference request: books on self-rescue while climbing" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5283" CreationDate="2014-02-11T09:15:55.490" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Climbing-Essential-Skills-Techniques/dp/0954151119&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Libby peters' book&lt;/a&gt; is good and covers self rescue in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/48j7d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also the offical book for the UK Mountain Leader and single Pitch award qualifications&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a series on self rescue which I saw recently &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=3472&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on UKClimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;, could be worth a watch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T08:15:25.363" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T08:15:25.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5274" CreationDate="2014-02-11T15:39:18.057" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to know what it is about that picture you consider partial. Is it the triangular opening through which you can see the door? Or, more significantly in my opinion, the fact that the fly doesn't come down to the ground?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My tent is an Alpine Meadows. It looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DTecA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(picture from &lt;a href=&quot;http://vancouver.canadianlisted.com/sport/tent-85-south-langley_3452683.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a classified ad&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been using it for over 30 years. We don't set it up facing into where we think the storm might come from, and about 20 years ago we added a vestibule on the front (but not the back) so we could have more room inside as our family grew. We have never had a &quot;tent is flooding&quot; rain problem - sometimes when we wake up we find a little water has come in, but not a lot. It's mostly through seams anyway because we forget to seam seal some years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One year the kids were in separate tents and one of theirs flooded so much we had to bring her in with us, where it was dry. So I would not be too concerned that a tent like this can't stay dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-02-11T15:39:18.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5263" CreationDate="2014-02-11T16:56:25.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other posters said, roping together is not a good idea, at least if you are not an experienced mountaineer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now on how you can do your trip in safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When walking on ice and frozen dirt, &lt;strong&gt;don't rely on self-arrest&lt;/strong&gt;. You can self arrest on the steep (&gt;5-10 degrees) ice only by hitting it hard with your ice-axe and only during the first second while you haven't gained much speed. After that if you manage to hit the ice with your axe, if will be ripped out of your hands. And self arresting in this first second needs so much practice and luck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rely on not falling down. &lt;strong&gt;Get crampons&lt;/strong&gt;. You don't need anything really &quot;vertical&quot; like Grivel G14 or Rambo, go for a lighweight G10 or even an aluminium alloy model. (Of course I don't advertise Grivel, you can shop any reliable brand).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You absolutely should &lt;strong&gt;practice&lt;/strong&gt; walking on crampons beforehand on a horizontal surface. The common problem with them is &quot;pants injury&quot;, when the teeth of a crampon catch your trousers and you fall down as if stepping on your shoelaces.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now you can add trekking poles for balance and as a last resort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When at some point on your route stumbling means falling down and you don't feel confident even with crampons, go back or find another route. One can learn how to walk with 3 fulcrums facing the slope, or other techniques, but when you need this you actually need serious ropes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2014-02-11T16:56:25.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5287" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5289" CreationDate="2014-02-12T12:33:41.923" Score="15" ViewCount="1871" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Vibram FiveFingers&lt;/a&gt; shoes, I find myself wondering &lt;strong&gt;why?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What possible benefits do they bring as opposed to a traditional sole?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their web site seems to suggest that they are a more &lt;code&gt;natural way to use your feet&lt;/code&gt; and then suggests a series of exercises to do to become used to the shoes. I'm not convinced buying a very expense pair of shoes that I can't wear until I complete a rigourous training regime is a good idea. I've not once looked at my boots and thought &lt;em&gt;I wish I could feel all the rocks under my feet&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all their marketing material (that I can see) they make no substantial claims as to what the tangible benefits are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm tempted to suggest that they are simply a marketing gimmick, or am I missing something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone love these? Can they explain why and what benefits they bring?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note to this question I was speaking to a friend of mine at the weekend who's a manager of a national UK outdoor chain store (by far the largest chain in the UK). Apparently this company has decided they are a gimmick and that their days are over, apparently sales have been dropping for some time. As such they will no longer be stocking FiveFingers in any form. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thought is was an interesting perspective as it seems to point to a decline in these types of shoes. If you really like these you may want to think about stocking up!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-05-16T21:30:24.377" LastActivityDate="2016-05-16T21:30:24.377" Title="What are the benefits of Vibram FiveFingers?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;vibram-five-fingers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5283" CreationDate="2014-02-12T15:00:18.993" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/089886772X&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Self Rescue: Improvising Solutions for Serious Situations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RRBSP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This book presents self-rescue techniques in the first section. The latter half contains several dozen &quot;what would you do&quot; scenarios, allowing you to test what you've learned. It gives one or more solutions to each scenario, as well as highlighting things to watch out for. Most importantly, it lists ways to prevent the scenario from arising in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2926" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-02-12T15:37:16.630" LastActivityDate="2014-02-12T15:37:16.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5287" CreationDate="2014-02-12T16:51:48.357" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The whole topic of sports equipment, sports health, and sports injuries is one in which the scientific quality of most of the information tends to be extremely poor. However, there is a group at Harvard that does research on barefoot running, and they have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; with a lot of good information on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I've seen from browsing through their materials casually, it seems like one argument in favour of barefoot running is the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get injured, it isn't just the amount of force that determines the damage, but also the rate at which the force changes, i.e., how &quot;jerky&quot; it is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know calculus, this is a statement that the third derivative of the position with respect to time is important. This is pretty well understood for machines, and probably applies to the human body as well. For example, a machine like a mill or a lathe can be damaged by vibration, and you can't make the machine vibrate by using a steady force, only by using a force that changes rapidly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Harvard group has data showing that shod runners have more &quot;jerky&quot; impact with the ground and, like machines, are more prone to vibration damage or injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also evidence that the factors you'd think would affect injury, such as cushioning and distance, actually don't have much effect, because people subconsciously adjust their bodies. However, these subconscious adjustments may make barefoot runners &lt;a href=&quot;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/making-the-case-for-running-shoes/#&quot;&gt;less efficient&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other info:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/27/news/la-sn-ultra-marathon-20130627&quot;&gt;Running 100 miles? It may be easier on your body to go 200 — L.A. Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/health/nutrition/21best.html?_r=1&amp;amp;ref=science&quot;&gt;When Running Up Mileage, 10 Percent Isn’t the Cap — N.Y. Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/the-myth-of-pronation-and-running-injuries/?smid=pl-share&quot;&gt;The Myth of Pronation and Running Injuries — N.Y. Times Blog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runresearchjunkie.com/just-how-significant-are-heel-impacts-at-causing-injury-when-running/&quot;&gt;Just How Significant are Heel Impacts at Causing Injury When Running?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-02-13T15:53:21.190" LastActivityDate="2014-02-13T15:53:21.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5290" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-12T22:31:32.310" Score="15" ViewCount="5190" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have several places on local trails maintained by volunteers where the trail crosses a small stream or ditch.  In these places the stream is a bit too wide and deep to expect people to jump accross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We want to install small bridges accross the streams, but aren't structural engineers.  What are plans for such bridges that others have found to work?  It would be nice not to have to re-invent what others have already figured out, but there doesn't seem to be a library of small bridge designs out there.  It would also be useful to know what did &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; work so that we can all learn from each others' mistakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no budget for a professional engineer and construction crew.  All materials, fabrication, and installation must be available and doable by ordinary people with ordinary tools.  In some cases, parts must be carried to the bridge site up to a mile from where they can be brought by a motorized vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T10:50:51.047" Title="What are good designs for volunteer-buildable trail bridges?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5290" CreationDate="2014-02-12T22:31:32.310" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a bridge design we (the Town of Groton Massachusetts Trails Committee) used recently that seems to work.  It feels plenty strong and sturdy when walking on it.  The first bridge of this kind was only installed two months ago, so we don't yet have any direct evidence how long it lasts.  However, we were generally pleased with the outcome, and are planning a second bridge of this kind in a different location now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zGI9M.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic idea is planks across two stringers (the 4x4s).  However, those alone would sag too much and be too weak over a reasonable span.  The 2x8 pieces are bolted to the side of each stringer, and add significant stiffness and strength.  The bridge feels very solid and hardly sags, even when jumping up and down in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic span is 10 feet (3 meters), but the 4x4 stringers are 1 foot longer at each end.  These rest on solid masonry blocks.  This not only provides a solid footing, but keeps the wood from direct contact with the soil.  The masonry blocks are dug into the ground to keep them anchored, which also allows for some adjustment to level the bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 2x8 pieces are arranged to extend both past the planks above and the stringers below.  On the bottom side, they provide a stop against the masonry blocks at the ends to keep the bridge from sliding lengthwise.  On top, they provide a little lip to hopefully decrease the chance of someone's foot slipping off the bridge.  It also gives a more secure feeling, even if you don't slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The planks have a little space between them so that rainwater can drain without getting trapped.  We used the same nails that fasten the planks to the 4x4 stringers as temporary spacers.  There is therefore a one nail-width gap between each plank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to only use one nail at the end of each plank.  The planks will swell and contract as the humidity changes, so there would always be stress on two or more nails.  Since these nails don't take any of the load and only keep the planks from sliding around, a single nail at each end is plenty sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture of the first bridge as it was being constructed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4iYiT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It took 2 hours for 4 volunteers to carry the parts to the site and to assemble and install the bridge.  In this case we were fortunate that the parts only had to be carried by hand about 100 feet.  It also helped that the ditch this bridge spans was dry and walkable that time of year.  The work included installing a post and some signs not shown in this picture.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a breakdown of the cost:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GgvHC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The values are in US dollars, and were reasonable prices at the time shown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 4 pieces or rebar where driven into the ground at the corners, then the bridge attached to each of them with a short piece of hanger strap and two nails.  This was done because the Conservation Commission insisted that the bridge be &quot;anchored&quot; to keep it from floating away in case the whole area floods (it is within the floodplane of a nearby river).  In hindsight, I think the rebar pieces should have been longer.  They went into the ground too easily, and I am not sure how much they will really keep the bridge in place in the unlikely event of a large flood and the water moving fast enough to actually push the structure.  I am also not so sure how well the hanger straps and the two nails fastening the bridge to each piece of rebar would hold.  Here is a closeup showing one corner anchored to the rebar driven into the ground:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3T2aG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many nails and most of the hanger strap are left over.  These won't therefore be expenses for the next few bridges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The carriage bolts were longer than necessary.  This does no harm, but 6&quot; long bolts would have worked and cost less.  That's what we'll use next bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cost above does not include the four masonry footing blocks.  That is because we found (yes, sometimes you get lucky) six suitable blocks buried in the woods on another trail construction project.  Next bridge we'll have to buy two blocks, but I don't know yet what they cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any such project, it is important to consider administrative costs.  Here in Massachusetts, any construction project within 100 feet of a wetland or waterway, even a small seasonal one as in this case, must be approved by the local Conservation Commission.  This required filing a form and getting 4 copies of it printed.  One copy has to be mailed to the state, 2 filed with the Conservation Commission, and we made one for ourselves for reference during the Conservation Commission hearing.  Even though we are a town body, the $53 fee could not be waived.  This fee is to advertise the hearing in the local paper, which is required by law.  The Conservation Commission does not actually get any money from the application.  Overall, the administrative requiremets added almost 50% to the cost of the project.  This surely varies by jurisdiction, but it is something anyone contemplating such a project should investigate and include in the cost up front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-02-12T22:31:32.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5292" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5293" CreationDate="2014-02-13T02:01:01.893" Score="20" ViewCount="15907" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both my fiancee and myself bought some climbing gear recently and we're planning our first trip to an indoor rock gym this weekend. We decided to practice our knots and belay technique before we went so we rigged some rope to a chin-up bar to practice letting one person hang while the other person held the &quot;brake&quot; position to get used to how it would feel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is, while I could hold my fiancee just fine, she weighs about 70 lbs less than me and had a really hard time holding my weight, in fact she could barely hold it at all. I'm worried that she won't be able to hold me if I were to fall while climbing. Surely, we can't be the first climbing pair to have different weights...is there a way to fix this? Is there any mechanical advantage of having the &quot;lever&quot; of the top rope much higher than the practice chin-up bar is? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: From some research, it seems like there &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be a difference when top-roping vs. lead climbing? For reference, we will only be doing top-roping for the foreseeable future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FOLLOW-UP: We just got back from climbing for the first time today at an indoor gym and we didn't have any trouble at all. My partner anchored herself to the ground as mentioned in the answers and the weight wasn't even an issue.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks for any insights!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-06T09:21:36.330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T04:30:11.143" Title="Climbing with a much lighter partner?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5292" CreationDate="2014-02-13T02:54:28.043" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a gym, the toprope will be wrapped over a cylindrical bar. Some gyms have it just over the top of the bar (180 degrees of contact), while others give it an additional full wrap around (540 degrees of contact). In the former setup, a belayer can hold the static weight of a climber who weighs roughly twice as much as she does; the friction between the rope and the pulley keeps it from slipping. In the latter setup, the factor is much larger, maybe 10 or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your chin-up bar test setup, I assume you had 180 degrees of contact. When you say she could &quot;barely hold&quot; your weight, are you describing a situation where she was simply sitting in her harness with her weight hung from her end of the rope? She shouldn't be trying to hold the weight with her hands. Only a relatively small force from her braking hand (below the belay device) should be needed in order to keep the rope from slipping through the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's in doubt whether your partner's body weight is enough to suspend you, she should anchor herself to a weight or to a carabiner connected to the floor. Ask at the desk and they can show you what they have for you to use and how to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case she isn't anchored and does get picked up off of the floor, it's extremely important for her not to panic and release the rope through the belay device. Practice having her catch a fall when she's expecting it. (You typically want to practice this about 15 feet off the ground. It should be high enough so that rope stretch can't bring you to the floor, but not so high that a fumble gets you killed.) Even in a real fall where you're 50 feet above the floor, if she stays calm and keeps tension on the brake strand, the worst that will happen is that you'll accelerate down to the floor relatively gently, you'll survive, and she'll be left suspended until someone comes along to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For toproping, none of this is as much as of an issue as you might imagine. It becomes more of an issue for lead climbing. Even for lead climbing, I've seen very small belayers competently catch big lead falls by big guys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-02-13T02:59:38.893" LastActivityDate="2014-02-13T02:59:38.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5292" CreationDate="2014-02-13T04:44:29.423" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alright, there are several different issues here that we must be sure to address.  I'll give you my thoughts on each of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As before I recommend receiving in-person instruction as there may be serious technique problems at the root of this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Sufficient braking friction&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A basic requirement is that your belayer is able to easily produce enough friction to arrest any fall you might take, be it one foot or fifty.  (I sure hope I never experience fifty on either end of the rope but such things have both happened and been survived by others.)  It is concerning for you to say: &quot;she ... had a really hard time holding my weight, in fact she could barely hold it at all.&quot;   In the mock-up you described it should be easy to merely hold your weight with one hand.  Unless your fiancée is quite weak this must be due to the combination or rope, belay device, and braking position.  A thin and slick rope will slide through a belay device with much less friction than a thick and used (fuzzy) rope, but the kind of rope you should be using for top-rope climbing (10mm or thicker) usually has enough friction in even the base-model ATC, so if you are using a 10mm or thicker rope first make sure that the braking position is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Braking position&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Friction increases as the bend angle in the rope increases and bend radius decreases.  The greatest braking force will be possible when pulling your hand(s) tight to your pelvis below the device, to the front.  While gripping the rope tightly is important, especially at the moment of catching a fall and for hands that have not yet become strong from climbing, the primary focus should be on &lt;em&gt;bending&lt;/em&gt; the rope across the lip of the belay device rather than &lt;em&gt;gripping&lt;/em&gt; it more tightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hands should be thumbs-up, that is thumb pointing toward the device, not away from it; &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V8Z92.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/mistakes-when-belaying/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mistakes when belaying &lt;/a&gt; which also explains why this is inferior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be sure that your fiancee does not slide her hand all the way up against the belay device.&lt;/strong&gt; The web of the hand can get &quot;sucked into&quot; the belay device; for a belayer of equal size to the climber this can result in a nasty pinch, but I heard that this happened locally to a new belayer paired with a much heavier climber (much greater size disparity than I believe you and your partner have) and it resulted in &lt;em&gt;serious&lt;/em&gt; damage to the hand that required reconstructive surgery.  Practice a consistent brake position at least several inches below the device indexed against the body rather than floating in space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;A device with more friction&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the correct braking position is being used and the belay device still does not provide sufficient friction you will need to change something.  I recommend the Black Diamond ATC-XP (which I have experience with, though similar designs are available):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z5lXV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The V-shaped grooves greatly increase braking friction on skinny and slick ropes, and should let your fiancee easily hold your weight.  Assisted-braking devices (like a GRIGRI) will also provide greater braking force but as I stated in a different post I am convinced that learning to belay starting with one of these devices is a mistake.  They may however be a good idea for lead belaying where a size discrepancy exists. (See caveat below.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Relative weight&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the problem is not lacking sufficient braking force but instead you are lifting your belayer off the ground you will need to attach weight to the belayer.  My local gym provides sand bags for this purpose; they have an adjustable &quot;leash&quot; and people clip them to the belay loop (with an attached carabiner) with just enough slack so that it isn't pulling down while standing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of friction in the effective pulley at the top of the wall will affect the allowable weight discrepancy before this becomes necessary.  From experience I know that the tipping point on a large-diameter anchor is right around a 3:2 ratio; if your belayer weighs two thirds or more of what you do it should not be needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Consideration for lead belaying&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have limited experience with lead climbing at this time.  Nevertheless I can tell you that catching a lead fall is a completely different experience from catching a top-rope &quot;fall.&quot;  Even a moderate fall by a climber your own size will pluck you well off the deck.  Beyond that I shall pass on making recommendations regarding size disparities in lead climbing as I'm simply not qualified.  However I wish to firmly impress on any top-rope climber reading this that &lt;em&gt;lead climbing is an entirely different game&lt;/em&gt;, even for the belayer.  Get well-qualified instruction before stepping into this realm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T04:30:11.143" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T04:30:11.143" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5295" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-13T09:08:21.707" Score="7" ViewCount="2698" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid snowboarder and I have noticed that socks made of merino wool are incredibly good at wicking away moisture while keeping my feet warm. However, I was wondering about other textiles that can compare. In particular, I was curious about hemp. I am aware that hemp is very durable, but I am uncertain of its wicking properties. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would hemp be a good alternative to merino wool and are there other textiles that can work? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:49:57.003" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:49:57.003" Title="Hemp socks and wicking properties" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5287" CreationDate="2014-02-13T22:14:27.727" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ben Crowell already answered the &quot;why minimalist&quot; angle better than I could have, but he didn't specifically talk about Vibram FiveFingers (hereafter VFF).  This is intended to complement his answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Generic pros of minimalist footware&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Little or no heel drop.&lt;/strong&gt; As with other (true) &quot;minimalist&quot; footwear the VFF have little or no heel drop.  This works with the gait learned from barefoot running and walking.  I find that after adapting to this gait putting on a pair of shoes with a raised heel feels like I'm walking on blocks.  The low heel makes the foot more stable, reducing the chance of rolling your ankle, and it lowers the lever-arm acting on the ankle so that if you do roll it there is less force upon it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Better ground feel.&lt;/strong&gt;  You wrote: &quot;I've not once looked at my boots and thought &lt;em&gt;I wish I could feel all the rocks under my feet&lt;/em&gt;.&quot;  Once your feet toughen a bit this may change.  I &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; want to feel the features under my feet, though of course not painfully so.  In &quot;regular&quot; shoes or boots my feet feel numb.  Much like getting a new pair or climbing shoes with thick, stiff soles after climbing in ones that are worn thin, you suddenly realize how much less you can feel, and it's not a good thing.  Like the climbing shoe analogy there are benefits to a stiffer sole as well, but (lack of) feel isn't one of them.  For me a minimalist sole is the perfect compromise; ground feel without pain.  (Barefoot feels great on smooth sidewalks, packed earth, and glacier-polished rock but I can't tolerate sharp gravel.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Contour to the terrain.&lt;/strong&gt; Related to the point above, a thin, flexible sole will contour to the terrain under foot.  Combined with improved ground feel this can make you significantly more surefooted.  To a limited extent your feet can wrap around bumps and undulations, increasing contact area and giving you better grip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;VFF Pros&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fits my foot without excess.&lt;/strong&gt; I have squarish feet with mostly straight toes, and I like to have enough room for my toes lie flat, splay and move.  My foot is shaped almost exactly like the VFF so &lt;strong&gt;for the first time in my life I have a shoe that actually &lt;em&gt;fits&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  The rounded bulbous end of &quot;regular&quot; shoes is nothing like the shape of my foot; if I fit such a shoe large enough to keep my toes flat there is a bunch of excess rubber at the front.  This is the problem I have with other minimalist shoes like the Merrell Trail Glove and New Balance Minimus; not only do I feel like I'm wearing clown shoes but it significantly interferes with feel and motion.  The VFF also have a more naturally contoured heel than some other options (e.g. Minimus), allowing for a comfortable rolling step.  The VFF just feels like a foot with a rubber sole on it; there's no &lt;em&gt;extra&lt;/em&gt; shoe, unlike just about anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acts as a toe-spreader, restoring natural alignment during exercise.&lt;/strong&gt;  Feet that have habitually been stuffed into constrictive shoes may be deformed from the natural and healthy shape, and may not fit the VFF last, but unless it is a matter of relative toe length or overall width this is probably not the fault of the VFF but of the feet.  The VFF helps restore toes to a natural position, at least while they are worn, which I believe will improve joint health and prevent, limit, or at least slow a hallux valgus deformity.  As one who grudgingly squishes his feet into tight shoes for the sake of climbing I think it is especially important to counter this deforming force as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;VFF Cons&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flawed design lacks durability.&lt;/strong&gt; I've had four pairs of VFF tear through the fabric between the great and second toe while the soles were still in good or better condition.  Other people have &lt;a href=&quot;http://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/vibram-five-finger-kso-2yr-review/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reported&lt;/a&gt; the same thing: &quot;&lt;em&gt;Bottom line I love how these slippers work compared to a regular neoprene surf bootie, but it’s sad to know I’ll shred the tops after a couple months of beach use while the soles are good for 10 years of abuse.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They cost too much.&lt;/strong&gt;  Especially in light of the durability problem described above these things cost too much (MSRP).  I have spent far more (effectively, per year) on &quot;minimalist&quot; shoes that I did on conventional ones, which just seems backwards.  However, you can on occasion find them on incredible sales; I found my father a pair of KSO Trek Multisport for $24 after discounts (MSRP: $125!).  (My size was sold out.)  Hereafter I am simply unwilling to pay anything close to full price for a shoe that will fall apart long before the sole wears out because of a flawed design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No mud lugs.&lt;/strong&gt; I find VFF have good traction on most surfaces (for a rubber-soled shoe; I know of nothing but crampons that will work on a wet, mossy log jam), with the exception of mud.  Sometimes you just need cleats like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.inov-8.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inov-8&lt;/a&gt; racers have.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They let in and hold water.&lt;/strong&gt; I have no complaints with how the VFF function in dry weather, while they last.  However they let in water in even a light rain on pavement because the fabric between the toes joins the sole just a couple of millimeters from the ground.  (This is where it wears through.)  I don't mind my feet getting wet (I've gone barefoot in the rain a number of times; it feels good!), but the padded footbed and upper material hold water, which I do not like.  When I first started wearing VFF I thought I could hike right through a stream and out the other side like I would if barefoot (but with some protection from broken glass, etc.) but my experience is that I'll have soggy feet for the rest of the hike; they don't dry like I wish they did.  Some other minimalist options such as huaraches with a simple, unpadded rubber sole will perform much better in this regard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-05-14T10:38:52.727" LastActivityDate="2016-05-14T10:38:52.727" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="879" CreationDate="2014-02-13T23:55:00.290" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The whole concept of wind chill is not very meaningful. This can be obscured by all the fancy-looking formulas, which lend it an air of precision. It's little better than junk science, especially if used uncritically by people who assume that it must be meaningful because it's a mathematical formula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're completely covered and have an outer layer that blocks the wind completely, then there is very little difference between windy and calm conditions. More typically, you might have boots that block the wind completely, some wool layers on your upper body that block the wind partially, and skin completely exposed on your face. In this situation, the wind chill is almost irrelevant for your feet, is partially meaningful for your upper body, and has a full impact on your face. In this example, your ability to maintain your core body temperature would be determined by the total rate at which you were losing heat in all these different parts of your body. There is no way that these factors are going to be correctly described by a generic formula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Graham has pointed out in a comment, a lot of this also depends on what health risk you're talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose the temperature is 35 F (2 C), the wind is 40 mi/hr (65 km/hr), and you're wearing a couple of thin layers of cotton clothing and soaking wet. In this situation, you are almost certainly going to die of hypothermia unless you can find shelter, but your risk of frostbite is probably zero. The fact that you're going to die of hypothermia is almost completely determined by the wind. If you could get out of the wind, you'd probably survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But say the temperature is -20 F (-29 C), the wind is 20 mi/hr (30 km/hr), and you're clothed in a thick wool base layer, a wool sweater, a thick down jacket, goggles, and a balaclava -- but you're wearing lightweight goretex boots. If you keep moving, you're probably not going to get hypothermic, but you're at risk of frostbite on your toes. The wind chill is a non-issue, because the only risk is frostbitten toes, and your toes are sealed inside the boots where they're not exposed to the wind. It's true that the rate of heat convection away from the outside surface of your boots is somewhat influenced by the speed at which air flows over them, but this is a relatively minor effect here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-02-13T23:55:00.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5299" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5301" CreationDate="2014-02-14T16:02:09.543" Score="10" ViewCount="457" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very recently I had been to a climb where I learnt about an alternate route that requires a huge crack to be climbed. It is of about a 100-120 ft roughly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though I have experience in climbing open faces of walls with the aid of equipment like pegs, I have never tried much of my skills to climb through natural cracks, so before I get there, I'd like to prepare a bit in that point of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can see the kind of an activity it is, offset pull-ups should be good exercise to start with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anybody suggest some more sort of a warm-up/exercises one should follow while beginning to prepare/practice for such a climb? Are there good online educational resources for learning specialized techniques for crack climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T17:14:27.020" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T00:06:40.763" Title="Technique and physical conditioning for crack climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;&lt;crack-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5300" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5304" CreationDate="2014-02-14T17:02:27.890" Score="4" ViewCount="101" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to drink water found from natural resources on the Volcanic Mountains?&#xA;Considering Chemistry part of it, What could go wrong if I have no way to boil it, at the most I can filter it with multiple layers of garment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T01:30:30.413" Title="Potability measure of water on Volcanic Mountains" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5299" CreationDate="2014-02-14T17:32:38.537" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update 2019&lt;/strong&gt;: video links and PDF links fixed, and new 2019 video added.  Please let me know via comment if the links break again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a lot of experience with cracks myself (I refuse to make my feet hurt, and so far I haven't found a way around that), but I found these &lt;em&gt;Wide Boyz&lt;/em&gt; videos quite helpful in getting the basic jams correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each video (except the newest ones: #7 Advanced Fingers, and #8 Advanced Hands) is accompanied by a PDF, though I found the videos themselves the most useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video, and where available accompanying PDF file:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W99gN54wLQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #1 - Finger Cracks&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/unFUH2O+k_Finger_Jamming_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CzwDebyI8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #2 - Hand Cracks&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/4SH4fq6zk_Hand_Jamming_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #2&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVfrh7ggxJc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #3 - Fist Cracks&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/dzyK3Nc@r_Fist_Jamming_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #3&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XvR4PkzMPA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #4 - Offwidth Cracks&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/J0Uk+YiZI_Offwidth_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnVJ2blHbLs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #5 - Gear + Gear Placement&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/S6dCRaYJU_Gear_Placement_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJCX6u3vSOQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #6 - Taping&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfhost.io/v/dA9KZAigQ_Taping_Crack_School_Finalpdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF #6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIdE-Dzzvlk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #7 - Advanced Fingers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMzG0ZrMP2c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crack School #8 - Advanced Hands&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH6V7jWknaM&amp;amp;t=151&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Wide Boyz teaching Magnus Midtbø in 2019&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2019-08-07T00:06:40.763" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T00:06:40.763" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4145" CreationDate="2014-02-16T21:25:20.933" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to everything I have found on the web and experienced with my own watch, the watch will not register as mass storage so that you could access the recorded logs directly. Therefore you cannot just plug the watch to a random computer and copy he logs like it was a USB thumb drive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, there's at least some help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Computers running on Windows or MacOS&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can do is use &lt;em&gt;Moveslink&lt;/em&gt; offline, i.e. you don't have to connect it to the &lt;em&gt;Movescount&lt;/em&gt; online service at all or if you have temporarily no internet connection. In this case &lt;em&gt;Moveslink&lt;/em&gt; will save the logs locally until it is connected to &lt;em&gt;Movescount&lt;/em&gt; in a proprietary &lt;code&gt;xml&lt;/code&gt; encoded file. This file by itself won't be of great use in the first place but some nice people already have written &lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/montant/ambit2gpx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a tool to convert&lt;/a&gt; the logs to a &lt;code&gt;gpx&lt;/code&gt; file. I haven't tried it myself but if I read the documented options right you can choose to just export the GPS positions or other (heart rate etc.) data. The logs are stored in the following location (cited from a no longer available Readme file of the tool mentioned above):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When transfering data with moveslink, an xml file is stored on computer. On Windows, it can be found on locations such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;C:\Documents and Settings\'username'\Application Data\Suunto\Moveslink2&lt;/code&gt; (on Windows XP)&#xA;&lt;code&gt;C:\Documents and Settings\'username'\AppData\Roaming\Suunto\Moveslink2&lt;/code&gt; (on Windows 7)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pay attention to the fact these 'Application Data'/'AppData' folders are hidden by default as they are 'system folders'. Change settings of Windows explorer if you want to make them visible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Windows versions newer than Windows 7 I would try the Windows 7 path, but I can't check since I don't have such a system running here. On a Mac, the path is &lt;code&gt;/Users/&amp;lt;user&amp;gt;/Library/Application Support/Suunto/Moveslink2&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Linux computers&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are a Linux user and able to follow some console commands to compile the source code yourself, there's a project called &lt;a href=&quot;http://openambit.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;openambit&lt;/a&gt;. The authors have dissected at least enough of the communication protocol to allow to download moves from the watch and (optionally) upload them to movescount. They also ship the conversion script mentioned earlier in my post, but at the moment you would have to invoke this manually to convert your moves to &lt;code&gt;gpx&lt;/code&gt; files.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to conclude the the information above: You can use &lt;em&gt;Moveslink&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;openambit&lt;/em&gt; offline to download the logs from the watch and there's a tool to convert the files to &lt;code&gt;gpx&lt;/code&gt; format. But you will need a computer where you are able to install these tools, therefore you won't be able to use any random computer unless you have the ability and/or permission to install the needed software there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T10:32:14.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5303" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-16T21:29:30.943" Score="5" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to tie a hair band around a bracelet, so it's easy to store and remove. It's too short to put it around my wrist, so I tried a cow hitch, but I'd like something more compact/secure. Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3rshim.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;loop around bracelet&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2959" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-02-18T02:33:20.863" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T02:33:20.863" Title="What is a good knot to tie a short loop around a bracelet?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-02-17T09:05:19.890" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5300" CreationDate="2014-02-18T01:30:30.413" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Volcanic water is not a problem. Volvic is a popular spring water in France it filters through an extinct volcano. Of course any water could have nasty chemicals in it. Filtering through a garment will not remove chemicals nor will boiling the water. You should ask locals about the water quality or look for springs that have man made constructions such as a basin and a pipe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T01:30:30.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5249" CreationDate="2014-02-18T01:47:36.817" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to go on walking routes then a good option is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prames.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.prames.com/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;they will post walking guides internationally. Many of the guides include maps for the routes. The routes are also waymarked which is a large advantage as well.&#xA;Even if you are not very good at Spanish it is worth getting the books because they are a lot cheaper than the maps.&#xA;I walked the GR11 last year and their guide book is very good. It has all the maps. Many English only users get this guide book along with an English guide book.&#xA;ps The books are also available from Amazon, oddly cheaper from .de than .es&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want the Pyrenees you can also get French maps which cover both sides of the pyrenees, the IGN Rando Editions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best walking maps are Editorial Alpina Walking Maps but these are quite expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T01:47:36.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5306" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5311" CreationDate="2014-02-18T09:53:05.647" Score="2" ViewCount="735" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to sew my own double-layer hammock. I found a simple pattern here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://diygearsupply.com/diy-guides/hammock-guide/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://diygearsupply.com/diy-guides/hammock-guide/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking about modifying it a bit, to have the bottom layer made of Gore-Tex fabric. This adds some weight to the product, but also adds some layer of waterproof protection from the bottom (so maybe I could use it on the ground, where there are no trees around?). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how would the gore-tex behave when under the mechanical stress too. Any thoughts? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2731" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T23:23:37.223" Title="Use of gore-tex for a DIY Double-layer hammock" Tags="&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1621" CreationDate="2014-02-18T10:07:56.233" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jsaesch.ch/bilder/know-how/knotenseile/seil-aufnehmen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first two images on this site&lt;/a&gt; (pictured below) show how you can pack your rope without producing tangles. Note that the final knot that fixes everything does not really matter with respect to tangles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GFHE4.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Packing the rope tangle-free&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important part is to not pick up the rope in closed rings as every ring will introduce a twist of the rope into the same direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead pick it up as loops hanging alternatively right and left from your hand. This way the twist in the rope from one loop is cancelled out by a twist in the opposite direction from the next loop, meaning that you will end up with (almost) zero twist at the end. In the &quot;closed ring&quot; approach you would introduce a lot more twist instead as the twists sum up positively at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2961" LastEditorUserId="2961" LastEditDate="2014-02-21T11:15:12.803" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T11:15:12.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5295" CreationDate="2014-02-18T12:07:57.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't recommend Hempsocks, except you use them as second socks to reduce friction. They're very durable but not comfortable to wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good alternative to Merinowool is Bamboo, it's also very smooth and dries very quick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short, hemp is good to protect your socks or reduce friction because it's a very cheap and durable material, doesn't cost much - lasts a life. It's just uncomfortable to wear directly on your skin&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T12:07:57.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5295" CreationDate="2014-02-18T16:26:19.633" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One problem with hemp compared to wool is how it conducts heat when it is wet. Wet hemp conducts heat very well when wet which means your feet could get freezing cold. Wet wool is a poor heat conductor so even if wet they will not be as cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T16:26:19.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5306" CreationDate="2014-02-18T20:23:26.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps not surprisingly, there's not a lot of information floating around about what happens when you subject gore-tex to this kind of stress. Gore-tex is a porous material, so stretching it might yield unexpected results. Worst case scenario, you set your gore-tex hammock on wet ground and the water slowly seeps through. Then again, if the pores are typically 20,000 times smaller than a water droplet, theoretically if you stretch those pores they'll still be thousands of times smaller than a water droplet. You may need to try it and find out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, consider that you might not want to focus on waterproofing the bottom of your hammock in the first place. If you waterproof the bottom, and find yourself in a wet climate, you're more likely to be trapping moisture in than keeping it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T20:23:26.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5306" CreationDate="2014-02-18T23:23:37.223" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want waterproofing available to put under you, I would just bring along a 2 mil thickness of plastic for use as a ground sheet. This will be &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; lighter and cheaper than the same square-footage of goretex. That thickness will tend to get torn on a long trip, so you may want to bring a little duct tape for use in patching it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-02-18T23:23:37.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5276" CreationDate="2014-02-19T01:40:27.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I believe was left out, is the occasional recoating of exposed steel surfaces with a Teflon coating such as Tuf Cloth or other suitable rust inhibitor. This will aid in protection when the original steel surface is exposed over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stainless steels (I will assume your material is a Cr/Mo alloy here) do eventually rust especially with rough use, wet or possibly acidic/salty environments from say possible salts before trails may greatly amplify this effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the steel shows signs of rust it can be stripped and coated, however if it is left to permeate in layers below pitting may occur, the spikes will eventually fail. This is an extreme however and only a general rule of thumb for rusting steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2962" LastActivityDate="2014-02-19T01:40:27.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5295" CreationDate="2014-02-19T08:36:12.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;and are there other textiles that can work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option is of course polypropylene, it is hydrophobic (unlike most other materials used in clothing) and has a lower thermal conductivity than wool - this does not mean better insulation, but it is a safe bet it can perform fairly well over natural fibres and is fairly cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may see these as liners to prevent saturated socks from touching your feet by providing a hydrophobic buffer (although film of sweat does stay on the fibres even if not absorbed, such as with nylon blends) or as a bulkier option such as a boot sock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend looking to this material as a possible alternative to wool, in terms of performance in cold environment over natural fibres. Nearly all natural fibres such as cotton, hemp, cellulose (bamboo/rayon etc.) perform substandard in the cold and very poorly in the wet. Some silk blends can retain insulation while wet but may end up costing more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2962" LastActivityDate="2014-02-19T08:36:12.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5314" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5315" CreationDate="2014-02-19T09:02:17.530" Score="7" ViewCount="2931" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently purchased some collapsible trekking poles (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-555/komperdell-ridgehiker-cork-powerlock-compact/?q=komperdell&quot;&gt;Komperdell Ridgehiker&lt;/a&gt;, made in Austria) and found them quite useful in terms of being able to extend or retract them slightly for going up and down hill when my knees are most strained with my 30-40 pound pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major issue with the design was that it snapped at the plastic rings that make up the joints while going downhill with only a 15 pound pack and fast pace, with conscious effort to plunge them in a way where I would not bend them too much while moving forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am to be abusing the poles like this (absolutely am looking for them to be strong enough for the rare slip somewhere at a minimum) should I look for much pricier ones with stronger joints, or go with fixed? And if I choose fixed, should I size them at a 90&amp;deg; bend or should I size them for say uphill climbing or slightly longer for downhill and possibly adjust the hand loop much longer for when I use them for uphill? Or is the benefit of collapsing mainly for packed size and not much is gained by adjusting them for the incline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2962" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T04:47:41.963" Title="Trekking poles: Collapsed or fixed?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5314" CreationDate="2014-02-19T13:00:46.613" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know of what quality are the poles which you are using, but it's a fact that the better the quality, the better the joints. It's one of the most important components of the price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, a good pair of poles from BlackDiamond behave pretty well under my 90 kg weight with a 30 kg backpack, which totals in 260 pound. This is a good side: yes, expensive poles should help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bad side is that trekking poles are expendable. If you happen to walk on scree, or your are heavy, or you are just unlucky, you poles may live for only a week or two on intensive trekking. Then a tiny accident happens and you find that now you have 3 poles instead of 2. And collapsible poles are weaker than regular ones. Or heavier, or both. And definitely more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, some shopping advice for non-collapsible poles. You can get the most of the poles in 2 scenarios:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going downhill - they protect your knees from shock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking on horizontal or slightly inclined ground - they let you move longer by evenly distributing the stress and move faster by keeping better balance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that when going up, they don't help that much - your legs are much stronger than your arms anyway. And if you are on a really steep slope, you can hold them together with two hands - the same technique as with an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpenstock&quot;&gt;alpenstock&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if I was going to buy non-collapsible poles, I would go for the size which you are comfortable with walking on the level ground - this will cover most of the scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ps. Please note, that I don't have much experience of walking with non-collapsible poles in summer - the conclusions are drawn from observations of collapsible poles usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-02-19T14:59:14.050" LastActivityDate="2014-02-19T14:59:14.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5316" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5317" CreationDate="2014-02-19T14:15:40.603" Score="15" ViewCount="7097" Body="&lt;p&gt;Forecasts for the mountains generally seem to be somewhere between useless and unreliable. Afternoon thunderstorms, clouds that come out of nowhere, unexpected rain showers, etc... Anyone who has spent some time in the hills has a story or three of getting caught by unexpected weather, and we're always taught to be vigilant and prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do mountains really make their own weather? Why is that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T00:36:08.823" Title="Do mountains really make their own weather, and if so why?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5316" CreationDate="2014-02-19T18:30:48.527" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a sense, yes. While mountains don't literally &quot;make their own weather,&quot; they &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; sometimes provide additional catalysts to create &lt;em&gt;localized disturbances&lt;/em&gt; which you might otherwise characterize as &quot;weather&quot; (thunderstorms, clouds, rain, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a broader global sense, weather events occur when masses of air with differing characteristics suddenly collide. When there is a sudden change in things like temperature, pressure, or humidity, it causes moisture to precipitate out of the air (rain) and/or sudden changes in patterns of airflow (wind). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the typical (non mountain) case, these differing air masses meander around the globe in complex patterns that are at least &lt;em&gt;somewhat&lt;/em&gt; predictable over shorter periods of time. Hot moist air is &quot;far away over there&quot; but will collide with cooler, dryer air over here within {x} days or so. It's somewhat predicable and reasonably consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Contrast that to the typical meteorological circumstances of a mountainous terrain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You have (typically) a warmer, heavier, moister weather system hanging out down around the base of the mountain. Near by (typically just a few miles away), you have a looming mass of much lighter, cooler, dryer atmosphere sitting right next door. So, essentially, it takes only a small shift in wind to make these two systems suddenly (and unexpectedly)  collide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's their close proximity and the unpredictability what moves them small distances that produces the unpredictability of &quot;weather&quot; you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2014-02-19T19:53:30.597" LastActivityDate="2014-02-19T19:53:30.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5316" CreationDate="2014-02-19T19:01:48.440" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the big reasons that we seem to be 'caught' by the weather when we're on the mountain is that the mountain forces otherwise harmless air to ascend and condense. As the warm and moist air is forced to ascend the mountain, the air quickly cools and reaches its dew point, water droplets form and a vicious cycle is set in motion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially true in the summer, when the sun can quickly warm the air at the bottom of the mountain. Most of the time this process is invisible to the naked eye. By the time we notice the clouds forming, we're already hours into what was going to be an enjoyable summer hike, and we don't have enough time to retreat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel up to some in-depth reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/cirmount/wkgrps/gloria/publications/pdf/Bishop_mtn_thunderstorms_031607.pdf&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; is a great article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-02-20T12:54:56.660" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T12:54:56.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5316" CreationDate="2014-02-19T20:57:27.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermik&quot;&gt;German Wikipedia article on thermals&lt;/a&gt; is also quite nice (better than the English).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In higher latitudes the sun shines closer to orthogonal on the sun side of a mountain face. Compared to a flat landscape more heat is transfered to the air immediately above the surface, and it starts flowing up. Not necessarily directly vertical, but if the soil/rock is comparably naked, it can first flow upwards along on the surface. These thermals cannot move as in a flat landscape, because in the shadows at the other side of the mountain/valley there is no sun, so the energy that drives the thermal is missing. The thermal will move to the &quot;most favorable&quot; spot.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So compared to a flat landscape, you may get a more stable &lt;em&gt;location&lt;/em&gt; of the upward current. It won't stop that easily and will reach further up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if there is (primarily horizontal) wind against the face of the mountain that is forced upwards as well as @Robert wrote and this may also contribute.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountains also have typical places where warm and cold air meet. These are further typical locations for thunderstorms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are locations where thunderstorms form typically, but &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These locations are scattered all over the mountains, on a few-kilometers scale.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even if local people know that the tunderstorms often form in particular places, you don't, because you came from somewhere else just for that hike/these vacations. This of course contributes to the surprise, together with the fact that you don't know that well where to look for the signs of a thunderstorm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And, of course, thunderstorm implies that there is much energy in the air. Which also means that it can move fast and/or can cross a ridge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A completely different factor that contributes to the surprise is that the view is often limited. You may only see what is going on in the neighbour valley when either the thunderstorm is coming over the ridge or you arrive at the ridge. In addition, you may be quite busy with watching where you step and what you do (not that you shouldn't have a look at the weather, but...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2014-02-19T20:57:27.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2014-02-20T06:32:29.463" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stuff is first put into plastic bags according to type. I use different coloured carrier bags so I can tell what is in each bag easily. There may be bags for small things within a larger bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pack is fully waterproof and only has an opening at the top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First goes in clothes. Underwear and socks. (For a soft landing when I drop the bag on the ground.) A different bag for dirty clothes. If I am walking in the sun two wet socks will often be attached to the outside of the pack to dry. If I am walking where there aren't many people I will also attach wet underwear to the pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next goes in hard food such as pasta (vermicelli/cheveux d'ange cooks fastest), couscous, porridge etc. Emergency soya etc. Then a cooking stove (MSR Whisperlight), which goes inside a pan. The pan will be in its lid wrapped in their own plastic bag. Inside the MSR Whisperlite's bag will be a lighter and the pan handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next there are big things, the tent and sleeping bag. Between these, near my back will be the bottle of petrol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy maps and maybe a guide book go in a pocket inside the backpack which puts them near my back. They will stay in there all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I then push in a silk sleeping bag liner and a NeoAir mattress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Near the top will go fresh and soft food. Like bread and bananas/apples etc. This is for easy access for a snack. Heavy stuff at the top and near the back. Softer food the highest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On top will be a waterproof coat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lid of my backpack has two pockets, one inside, a larger one outside. In the inside pocket goes my passport, medical kit, toilet paper, toiletries and other small things. In the outside pocket goes my head-torch, GPS (only used in emergencies), camera accessories and waterproof trousers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the outside of the backpack will be the sponge mat (=earthmat), and one or two water bottles. These are 2pint plastic milk bottles with hoops that go through the straps. One at either side, then the mat horizontally behind the backpack, or one on one side and the mat vertically on the other side. (Sometimes one bottle may be used in an emergency inside the tent. When I get to a shop I will throw it away and buy another bottle of milk.) If in Europe I may also have a baguette on the outside of the pack, maybe in the mat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I have a NeoAir for inside the tent, and a sponge mat (=earthmat) for sitting on while resting and then putting underneath the tent as a protector.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's raining and I put on my waterproofs this makes space for the camera if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="2082" LastEditDate="2014-02-20T06:51:46.297" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T06:51:46.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4374" CreationDate="2014-02-20T07:19:52.800" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;At UK airports you are not allowed to take them into the cabin. They must be in the hold. You wont get them through security and they confiscate them, whatever airline you are on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T07:19:52.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5324" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-20T14:45:44.027" Score="2" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are looking at purchasing a campervan for our family (2 adults - 3 boys) and are trying to balance the merits of a larger van vs a smaller van.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are keen to understand what practical considerations we should make before spending any money. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some areas we have flagged so far include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fuel economy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use as a second vehicle   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adding tents to expand size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ease of driving&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lengths / widths - any considerations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight limits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ferries - are sizes that we should stay below&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2969" LastEditorUserId="2969" LastEditDate="2014-02-20T17:54:14.107" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T23:54:48.593" Title="Campervans - larger vs smaller" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-04-15T12:32:01.447" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5324" CreationDate="2014-02-20T15:07:21.560" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have hardly any experience with car camping and similar activities., but I would love to shed some light on what I can think of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were you, I would certainly go for a smaller camper van than a larger one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel Economy: In camper vans, it is almost universal to say that the smaller ones are better in terms of fuel consumption. Now, while choosing a camper van considering this point, you should have an estimate of how frequently you are going to camp, how far you will be going so that the fuel costs really matter. I'd also like to raise the point that if you you plan to off-road a bit, the larger camper van would certainly consume a lot of fuel compared to a smaller one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a second vehicle: If you intend to use this as a second vehicle, if you get a smaller camper van, apart from camping you could even use it incase your primary vehicle fails. The larger would certainly be less viable here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adding tents to expand size: 2 adults, 3 boys is what your team comprises of. I think you might actually prefer to pitch tents aside independently rather than trying to expand your camper van. A larger camper van doesn't really need to be expanded as you say, but with a smaller camper van pitching tents just beside your van isn't too bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ease of driving: Obviously the smaller one, no doubt about that, especially in terms of off-roading, fatigue caused due to driving, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2014-02-20T23:54:48.593" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T23:54:48.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5326" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5340" CreationDate="2014-02-20T15:14:28.893" Score="10" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a long hike in England which is part of E2 trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from all the documentation and legal processes that I need to follow to be in England, are there any specific local procedures that I am supposed to follow during hiking/long distance walking?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How safe is it to trek alone in England?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I plan to carry my food, bedding, a tent and all the necessary things that I need in emergency and a medical kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:44:11.897" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:44:11.897" Title="Official Protocols to be followed in England for trekking/hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5326" CreationDate="2014-02-20T18:57:16.933" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is very safe to walk alone in England. The standard walks will have lots of others walking along them. Wild camping is frowned upon in many places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Procedures: leaving gates as you find them. Carrying your rubbish to a dustbin. Look in the right direction when crossing a road. On roads, walk facing the traffic. In the countryside you should say &quot;Hello&quot; to everyone you meet, but not in the cities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T18:57:16.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5324" CreationDate="2014-02-20T20:12:43.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that smaller does not automatically mean more efficient. A larger van with a diesel engine will easily get better fuel economy than a small van with a petrol engine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, indeed almost everything to do with a smaller van will be easier / less costly for you. Ferries, parking, parts. But at the end of the day it depends on what you're comfortable with. A relatively large van might not be hard for me to drive, but might be outside of your comfort zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campervanlife.com/campervans/choosing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Campervanlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/choosing-a-unit/choosing-a-motorhome/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Camping and caravaning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-02-20T20:12:43.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5316" CreationDate="2014-02-20T23:36:20.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in California, our mountains influence our weather in a particular way. We have a Mediterranean climate and big mountain ranges inland. Storms build up out on the Pacific, and they blow in toward the land. Often they hold their moisture until they get to the mountains, at which point they dump it. For this reason, the seaward sides of our mountains tend to be wetter. This would be the western side of the Sierra and the southern side of the Transverse Ranges. On the opposite side (east side of the Sierra, north side of the Transverse Ranges), we have more desert-like conditions, and the desert stretches on until you get to the Rockies. You can often see this quite spectacularly from peaks in the Transverse Ranges like the summit of Mt Baldy (San Antonio) and San Jacinto Peak: on one side is desert, on the other forests and cities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at the vegetation, you also see a slope effect. South-facing slopes get blasted with sun and tend to be brown and dry, while north-facing slopes don't get as much sun and stay greener. The slope effect is more localized than the precipitation pattern. You can often see alternating green and brown tiger stripes in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides the Sierra and the Transverse Ranges, the other huge peak in California is Shasta, which is an isolated volcano cone. It does have a reputation for making its own weather, and it's said to be a bad idea to go up when there's a lenticular cloud around the summit. A physics colleague who has a background meteorology described this to me in the following way (to the best of my understanding, since he was dumbing it down for me). These lenticular clouds tend to hover around the summits of mountains. What's actually happening is that the air is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; standing still. Air is flowing up and over the summit. As it rises, water droplets condense and form a visible cloud. Then as the air flows down the other side of the mountain, the droplets evaporate again and become invisible. So although the cloud stands still, the population of water droplets in it is actually constantly being depleted on one side and replaced by new ones flowing in on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may get some similar phenomena on other big, isolated peaks in Mediterranean zones, e.g., Popocatepetl/Iztaccihuatl and Kilimanjaro. However, the rain patterns are different. Mexico's dry season is California's wet season. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya tend to get rain every afternoon, like clockwork, and this pattern is superimposed on the dry and wet seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-02-21T04:19:18.993" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T04:19:18.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5330" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5331" CreationDate="2014-02-21T00:21:24.473" Score="10" ViewCount="2802" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/96/2106&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question, only for New Zealand (both islands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0061/latest/DLM3742815.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freedom Camping Act&lt;/a&gt; exists, which basically allows camping &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0061/latest/DLM3742861.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;everywhere&lt;/a&gt; unless it's forbidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, where is it actually forbidden? Is there a list? Or are local municipalities not making use of this possibility to restrict wild camping? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By camping I mean using a tent in combination with a non-motorized vehicle like a bicycle or legs. I understand that RV's/campers might have different rules. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2106" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T21:35:46.713" Title="Where in New Zealand is wild camping permitted?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5330" CreationDate="2014-02-21T00:57:59.987" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, places where it is forbidden there is good signage, or it is a place where it is not surprising to be forbidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, it seemed that random stretches of highway would be posted, but just a mile or two down the road would be a spectacular place to pull over and hang out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, many parks have areas in which camping is prohibited or restricted, but there would invariably be plenty of other places in which to camp, so it was never a big surprise. The NZ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/freedom-camping/prohibited-conservation-areas/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dept. of Conservation&lt;/a&gt; website has a pretty good listing of where camping is prohibited or restricted. Many of the popular areas mandate staying at the huts, others are pretty relaxed, the DoC site will indicate which is which.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, New Zealand is a pretty awesome place and if you just freestyle it, plan on free-camping but do no detailed planning, you won't have any problems. Rent one of those campervans or RVs and you'll have a blast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2014-02-21T22:08:42.537" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T22:08:42.537" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5314" CreationDate="2014-02-21T02:24:49.583" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal experience is that I do not hike/backpack with out trekking poles. I find them very useful on inclines, declines, and even flat terrain. I long ago lost count in the number of times they have save me from a fall, especially while backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use the collapsible poles. The ease of storage is important to me. They also allow adjustment for different terrain. I've only had one pole go bad on me (bent), so to me it's not really a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T02:24:49.583" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5326" CreationDate="2014-02-21T09:28:58.420" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great answer from QuentinUK.  I would add that you should be aware that although you do have access rights on footpaths, many of them go through private land.  Some land owners maintain routes and signs better than others, but if they have made the effort follow the path as best you can.  Sometimes these routes are for getting you across safely (especially in working farms - yes you may find yourself in a field of cows!), some are to help maintain the land owners privacy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst it is safe to trek alone in England, just be wary if you want to cross areas like the Yorkshire Moors or Dartmoor.  Weather in the UK can be cold and wet, and onset of fog can cause you to get lost.  If you do want to disappear into these areas for a few days make sure you have proper supplies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you haven't seen it already, I'd recommend reading this web page from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/what-we-do/promoting-walking/walking-information.aspx&quot;&gt;the Ramblers UK&lt;/a&gt; - lots of information about access rights, routes, and suggested equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a great time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2971" LastActivityDate="2014-02-21T09:28:58.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5339" CreationDate="2014-02-23T22:54:31.120" Score="9" ViewCount="1633" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I understand wind-chill (which I probably don't), the air feels colder because your body doesn't have as much time to heat the air as it passes by.  But in that case it seems like there should be a wind-speed at which the amount by which the air is heated by your body is 0 (or negligible).  At that point you're feeling the &quot;actual&quot; temperature the air is at.  How much temperature difference would that speed be from no-wind?  What wind-speed is that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="653" LastActivityDate="2014-02-24T12:31:02.900" Title="What's the maximum temperature difference wind-chill can account for?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5335" CreationDate="2014-02-24T01:18:34.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wind chill factors verge on being junk science, especially when interpreted uncritically. However, your physical intuition does make sense, and published formulas and tables do have a property very much like the one you have in mind: as the wind speed increases, the incremental effect of adding a given amount to the wind speed gets smaller and smaller. For instance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill#North_American_and_United_Kingdom_wind_chill_index&quot;&gt;some common formulas&lt;/a&gt; for wind chill have an effect proportional to v&lt;sup&gt;0.16&lt;/sup&gt;. The fact that the exponent is so close to 0 tells you that the graph of wind chill versus wind speed is very steep at low speeds but bends over and becomes very flat at high speeds. For example, when &lt;em&gt;v&lt;/em&gt; goes from 5 mi/hr to 10 mi/hr, v&lt;sup&gt;0.16&lt;/sup&gt; goes up by 12%, but when &lt;em&gt;v&lt;/em&gt; goes from 55 mi/hr to 60 mi/hr, v&lt;sup&gt;0.16&lt;/sup&gt; goes up by only 1.4%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-02-24T03:36:08.607" LastActivityDate="2014-02-24T03:36:08.607" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5335" CreationDate="2014-02-24T02:29:20.973" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your understanding of wind-chill is a bit confused. The reason the wind feels colder is because of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_heat_transfer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;convective heat transfer&quot;&gt;convective heat transfer&lt;/a&gt;. When there is a difference in temperature between two objects, thermal energy transfers from the hot to the cold. In the case of a person in the air, the thermal energy flows into the air, and the faster the air is moving, the more thermal energy can be drawn out of a person. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like how a car radiator fan turns on when the engine is hot, by moving more air over the radiator, more heat transfer can take place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual math of convective heat transfer is rather complicated, and so wind chill is a term created to simplify the concept and make it easy to digest in terms everyone is otherwise familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2014-02-24T04:19:08.920" LastActivityDate="2014-02-24T04:19:08.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5314" CreationDate="2014-02-24T03:29:12.920" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fixed length non-adjustable trekking poles have the advantages of being lighter, comprise of less failure points and sturdier (especially for cheap poles). On the other side of the medal, transporting them by airplane is more costly and they can be inconvenient when hitch hiking to/from a trailhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used slightly longer fixed trekking poles in order to be able to use them with my shelter system. I personally did not mind adjusting my hand on the long handle depending on the inclination of the trail. In fact, if they would have been non-fixed I would seldom adjust them as it takes time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefered fixed length poles because of their weight and not having to adjust them every time I setup my shelter. I do not use loop handles so this wasn't a problem for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you prefer quick adjustment and fixed-length; an interesting compromise are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/trekking-poles/ultra-mountain-carbon-trekking-pole-BD112132_cfg.html?dwvar_BD112132__cfg_color=Carbon-Lava#start=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Black Diamond&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear-guide-2011-editors-choice-2011-black-diamond-ultra-distance-z-poles/gear/15339&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Z-Pole Series trekking poles&lt;/a&gt;. They are fixed and collapsible for the most part. The top-most section allows you to adjust it to your liking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-02-24T03:29:12.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5335" CreationDate="2014-02-24T12:31:02.900" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;No there is no limit to the math of wind chill, though there is a maximum wind speed that has ever been observed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what wind chill is. Imagine you have a hot cup of coffee. You can leave it at room temperature for a while and it will cool down to where you can drink it. Or, you can put it in the fridge and it will cool faster. Or put it in the freezer and it will cool faster still. (People are more complicated because we don't really cool down, assuming we're alive, but we lose heat by being in the cold.) So you have these three temperature differences between the coffee and its environs and three rates of cooling. Or, you could blow on the coffee with your body temperature breath and actually cool it faster. If blowing cooled the coffee at the same rate as the fridge, being blown on while at room temperature would &amp;quot;feel like&amp;quot; being in the fridge for the coffee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind chill says &amp;quot;at A degrees, a person will lose heat at rate B. At C degrees with a wind speed of D, they will also lose heat at rate B. So when the wind speed is D, they say &amp;quot;it's C degrees but with the wind chill it's A.&amp;quot; The numbers they use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&amp;amp;n=5FBF816A-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;come from observations of actual humans&lt;/a&gt;, not a mathematical model of heat loss. Specifically,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wind chill index is based on the loss of heat from the face, the part of the body that is most exposed to severe winter weather. Volunteers were exposed to a variety of temperatures and wind speeds inside a refrigerated wind tunnel. They were dressed in winter clothing, with only their faces exposed directly to the cold. To simulate other factors affecting heat loss, they also walked on treadmills and were tested with both dry and wet faces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To ensure that the wind chill index met the needs of Canadians, Environment Canada conducted public surveys across the country. The current index is expressed in temperature-like units because it is the format that was preferred by most Canadians. However, since the wind chill index is not actually a real temperature but rather, represents the feeling of cold on your skin , it is reported without the degree sign.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&amp;amp;n=0F42F92D-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;calculate it yourself&lt;/a&gt; online, and that page has a button you can click to see a table also. The table doesn't really &amp;quot;level off&amp;quot; or flatten off, but it only goes as high as the wind is likely to get to. The page explaining how it's calculated concludes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where is the coldest wind chill in Canada?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind chills below -70 have been recorded in northern communities in Canada. On January 13, 1975 at Kugaaruk, Nunavut, the air temperature was -51°C and the winds were 56 km/h, producing a bone-chilling wind chill of -78!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-02-24T12:31:02.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5326" CreationDate="2014-02-25T14:23:26.547" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Safety is fine, so long as you are prepared and can read a map adequately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK has something called the &lt;em&gt;&quot;Countryside code&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. This is not a legal requirement but a blueprint about how to behave in the wild in the UK. Full information is available from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/advice-for-walkers/your-access-rights/countryside-code-for-the-public.aspx&quot;&gt;ramblers association&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the more important points here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Respect the needs of local people and visitors alike – for example, don’t block gateways, driveways or other paths with your vehicle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Co–operate with people at work in the countryside. For example, keep out of the way when farm animals are being gathered or moved and follow directions from the farmer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A farmer will normally close gates to keep farm animals in, but may sometimes leave them open so the animals can reach food and water. Leave gates as you find them or follow instructions on signs. When in a group, make sure the last person knows how to leave the gates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow paths unless wider access is available, such as on open country or registered common land (known as &quot;Open Access&quot; land).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use gates, stiles or gaps in field boundaries if you can – climbing over walls, hedges and fences can damage them and increase the risk of farm animals escaping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Litter and leftover food doesn’t just spoil the beauty of the countryside, it can be dangerous to wildlife and farm animals – so take your litter home with you. Dropping litter and dumping rubbish are criminal offences.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few other points to note.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is illegal to wild camp in much of the UK (Scotland have different&#xA;rules)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Access to most areas is via public footpaths, if you fail to follow this rule expect a very irate farmer shouting at you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry adequate clothing. The UK weather is &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; changeable, especially in the mountains, and exposure can kill. Always carry a water proof jacket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The UK has a national government mapping agency, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/&quot;&gt;The Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt;. If your walking away from roads, I'd advise you to buy adequate maps from them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Uk has a large walking culture and you will hopefully meet lots of happy and enthusiastic people on your journey, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Enjoy!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-02-25T14:38:27.037" LastActivityDate="2014-02-25T14:38:27.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4936" CreationDate="2014-02-26T08:08:17.027" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a Sawyer Squeeze filter and its pretty quick, light, and easy.  You fill up a pouch that looks like a big Capri Sun and then just squeeze it out through the filter into your bottle or bladder.  It comes with both a filter cap and a regular bottle cap, so if you were in a hurry you could fill the pouch at the water source, cap it, and filter it later.  (I think the filter will also screw onto a water bottle)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-pointone-one-filter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-pointone-one-filter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2987" LastActivityDate="2014-02-26T08:08:17.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5343" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-26T08:50:13.057" Score="9" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a Ray Mears BBC Demo, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7626gqL48&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Importance of the Sago Tree&lt;/a&gt;, he travels to Seram in Indonesia and witnesses the natives using Sago leaves to create this really cool pot at &lt;code&gt;2:40&lt;/code&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8Hx5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuaulu&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nuaulu&lt;/a&gt; tribesman twists the leaves together, somehow causing them to lock into place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VJYqJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Twisting the leaves&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pzz8L.png&quot; alt=&quot;Leaves lock into place&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, Ray &quot;didn't even attempt it&quot;. However, perhaps there is someone here who has and would be generous enough to teach us the technique?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2913" LastEditorUserId="2913" LastEditDate="2014-02-26T08:56:40.523" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T02:26:40.483" Title="How is the Nuaulu palm leaf carrying pot made?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5344" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-02-26T10:24:30.037" Score="6" ViewCount="1020" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a new fishing rod and reel (combo ideally) but prefer to support non-asian made products. Is there a European manufacturer of fishing rods/reels that doesn't outsource everything to china or asia like everyone does nowadays? Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2988" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T15:33:05.647" Title="European Made fishing rods" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5345" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5346" CreationDate="2014-02-26T12:07:10.517" Score="16" ViewCount="1333" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been hiking/mountaineering for quite a few years now. But, I have never been into a deep cave as yet. We are planning to explore a natural cave that we'll have to rappel into. The cave is unexplored for nearly a 3 decades now, and evidently has a way out. We plan to explore and search for the way out on the other side, if not then we intend to jumar back up to the top.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The source of information about the presence of potable water and the exit on the other end is genuine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit :&lt;/strong&gt; Its a natural cave. To get into the mouth of it, one needs to rappel down a rough 200 ft. Its rich with Flora and Fauna, an ideal habitat for reptiles and Bats, a mild stream of water that goes through it, but one never gets into a depth more than 4 ft. In the month of March, usually it doesn't rain here in India, so pretty safe with water flow which one needs to deal with for a very short distance in order to cross it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from carrying flash-lights/torches, Medical kits, safety, what are the precautions that one should take during such an exploration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-09-21T07:17:21.667" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T20:24:21.287" Title="What precautions are needed for caving?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5345" CreationDate="2014-02-27T00:00:23.870" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ALWAYS wear a helmet. You bang your head a lot more than you think, since you're in the dark all the time (or with limited scope of light with your headlamp). With a helmet, you hardly feel anything when you bump your head. Much, MUCH more comfortable. Of course, &lt;strong&gt;keep it buckled to your head&lt;/strong&gt;. You never know sometimes where or what will happen. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;THREE sources of light AND backup batteries for each. At least one source should be a headlamp. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reflective tape is great as well, especially if you're exploring - you need a way to mark your return. Always bring some of that. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perhaps most significantly, I would recommend &lt;strong&gt;never exploring caves without at least one very experienced person with you&lt;/strong&gt;, who a) &lt;strong&gt;knows spelunking well&lt;/strong&gt;, and b) &lt;strong&gt;knows the cave well&lt;/strong&gt;. Caves are NOT good places to get lost - as it is all to easy to get search and rescue parties lost as well. Plus, there are many &lt;em&gt;different&lt;/em&gt; variables to being lost in cave, such as no natural light (or warmth), little ventilation, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oh, a mask never hurts, like a bandanna or such - I've crawled in caves with a 15&quot; vertical space, and you don't want to breathe bat feces or other things, it's always helpful to filter (even roughly) what you breathe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In caves that require crawling, you'll want gloves, durable kneepads (e.g. Crawldaddies or Dirty Dave's brand) and possibly elbow pads as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do rock climbing or bouldering, resist the urge to do free climbs in the cave.  The rock is generally in a constant process of erosion and much weaker than on above ground cliffs.  Use rope on any climb that's near vertical -- and learn proper rigging (Alpine Caving Techniques is a good book about that).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's just the general stuff. As for rapelling, get comfortable with that outside first, then do it in a cave. That way, you'll have the basics down and if something happens in the dark or in the cave, you'll handle it more naturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastEditorUserId="13996" LastEditDate="2017-09-08T21:05:39.090" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T21:05:39.090" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5348" CreationDate="2014-02-27T06:20:45.353" Score="12" ViewCount="6520" Body="&lt;p&gt;On big, serious routes (Dreamcatcher, Jumbo Love, etc), who puts the bolts in place and how? Are the bolts there before the &quot;first ascent&quot; or does the first ascender put them in place as he goes? It seems ridiculous that he would be carrying whatever equipment it takes to do that with him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Who decides how the route will go and where to place the bolts? How could they know before the thing has been climbed whether they're putting them in good places, route-wise? The whole thing seems very confusing to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2989" OwnerDisplayName="Aerovistae" LastEditorUserId="3074" LastEditDate="2014-05-13T21:36:25.747" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T12:28:52.350" Title="Who places the bolts on rock climbing routes, and how?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5347" CreationDate="2014-02-27T14:25:26.580" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you're talking about is Sport climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally these bolts are placed by the person who is creating the climb. They will normally top rope or abseil the climb and work out where they want it to go, then spend a couple of days placing the bolts, while on a top rope. They are drilled and glued into place and this can take a lot of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the person who places these will do the first ascent, sometimes not, this will often depend on the grade.  Some test pieces are made deliberately very hard as a type of challenge to other climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning where to put the bolts is a skill unto itself and is more Art than science.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes traditional routes are bolted. This is very controversial (in the UK at least) as traditional climbing enthusiasts feel this sometimes ruins good traditional routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/im87R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Adam Ondra placing a bolt&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo of Adam Ondra placing a bolt (notice the various drills and ropes, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6511" LastEditDate="2015-08-08T23:13:22.687" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T23:13:22.687" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2014-02-28T09:25:38.057" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found that most folding knifes get easily lost (might just be me).&#xA;This is because you need to train yourself to always put it in the same place.&#xA;And the folding mechanism tends to be a weak spot when doing heavier work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a solid knife with a sheath means I can grab it at any point (while climbing, hanging over the side of my sailboat etc.) and I always have a default place to put it back.&#xA;I carry it mostly clipped on one of my pockets (either by my chest or on my pants when in light clothing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After years of hiking, sailing and camping a (pocket) knife is the number one thing to bring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety: cutting lines and ropes (no not to intimidate robbers or stab wildlife)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tool: since I've got a very thick blade I can use the backside for large screws and the tip is handy for prying etc. (be careful though, one slip and you'll need more then just your first aid kit.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire building: Besides making tinder a good knife with a stone for a hammer can cut branches and small trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leisure: When you need to wait or have nothing to do you can do some wood carving.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooking and eating: yes after all that I even cut my steak with it (after a good cleaning of course) but with a good knife and a spork you can eat everything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knife I use is by light my fire and comes razor sharp and has a good sheath.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3eLP1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because this knife is fairly large (primarily because it doesn't fold) it doesn't really carry too well in city's etc so I'd advice stowing it away properly when getting out of the wilderness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-26T09:11:21.910" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T09:11:21.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1924" CreationDate="2014-03-01T14:14:16.640" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the best way that I know of, courtesy of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2012/06/bushcraft-how-and-why-make-knife-spear-survival-situation?photo=0#node-1001470379&quot;&gt;Field and Stream&lt;/a&gt;. The spear they made can be seen in the picture below. The guide I've linked is step-by-step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tnyVW.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; just tie the knife on, but there is a high chance of it slipping, especially if the stick you're using is smooth (like Bamboo) and the knife doesn't have a lanyard hole to secure the binding in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're using a flint knife, you could attach it &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=Gmq0CTbiajYC&amp;amp;pg=PA153&amp;amp;lpg=PA153&amp;amp;dq=survival+how+to+attach+a+flint+spear+head&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=SpXKO3xPUp&amp;amp;sig=pDv9ZTvsriSkARymyfn44sxRSiA&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=tusRU7KhG4ygigf9qIC4BA&amp;amp;ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=survival%20how%20to%20attach%20a%20flint%20spear%20head&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;this way&lt;/a&gt;. After tying it together, you could glue the binding using pine pitch or a similar adhesive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd go with making a spear because that allows the knife to be used as a backup weapon and prevents it from getting damagedd. This guide &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Spear&quot;&gt;by Wikihow&lt;/a&gt; covers nearly all the different survival spear types that I know of. If you intend to fish with your spears, you might find &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwbFrkKQJt4&quot;&gt;this guide on the Hawaiian Fishing Spear&lt;/a&gt; helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a survival situation and need to get fish fast, this other fishing spear may come in handy. All credit for the guide and picture go to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/How-to-Make-a-Fishing-Spear-s/71.htm&quot;&gt;Hedgehog Leatherworks&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5nqbH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to use your knife as a spear-point, you could get a knife designed for such a purpose, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coldsteel.com/Product/95BUSS/BUSHMAN_W_SURVIVAL_SHEATH.aspx&quot;&gt;Cold Steel Bushman&lt;/a&gt; (picture below taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/46366228729/photos/pb.46366228729.-2207520000.1393685326./10151700653688730/?type=3&amp;amp;src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash3%2Ft1%2F1375673_10151700653688730_1662660785_n.jpg&amp;amp;size=800%2C568&amp;amp;fbid=10151700653688730&quot;&gt;company page&lt;/a&gt;). It doesn't break or chip easily, as can be seen from this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/441916-Cold-Steel-Bushman-Destruction-Test-VIDEO&quot;&gt;independent destruction test&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xtg3Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2913" LastEditorUserId="2913" LastEditDate="2014-03-01T14:54:05.920" LastActivityDate="2014-03-01T14:54:05.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5358" CreationDate="2014-03-01T22:14:52.133" Score="10" ViewCount="867" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to be relocating to the Colorado desert for a long-term research project and need a portable shelter. The only one I've found so far that will conform to my needs in the turtle tuff shelter found here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://turtletuffshelters.net/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://turtletuffshelters.net/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being 6' (1.83 m) tall, I'm a little worried about getting claustrophobic in the 16' (4.9 m) model, but the 24' (7.3 m) model seems a little.... huge. I go camping regularly and if I'm going to drop thousands of dollars on a tent, I would like to be able to use it after my project is done (edit: per the comments I should clarify that I usually go camping 3-4 weeks out of the year for 1-2 week periods at a time. I'm not looking for something for weekend trips). However, I've never camped in a tent this large and I'm not sure if something this size would be allowed, or would even fit in most campsites. Does anyone have any experience camping in a tent this large? Or can someone recommend another tent that would give me a little more head space, but would still meet my needs (listed below)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Must be sufficient for 1.5 to 2 years desert living&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Must be (reasonably) sand proof and able to withstand high winds&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Must be at least 200 sqft (18.6 m²) with at least 100 sqft (9.3 m²) I can stand in (I'm going to be spending a lot of time in this tent)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Must have some sort of insulation/ventilation system or the ability to keep electronics and people reasonably cool (I'm going to have some solar panels with a swamp cooler or other form of air-conditioning to help with the heat, but my budget is pretty limited so passive methods of climate control need to be used wherever possible).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack on this one) Must be a secure shelter for a domestic cat (Edit: I think I should also clarify that I'm not looking to take my cat on recreational camping trips. I can find a sitter for those. But, I need a way to care for her during the 1+ years I'm gone). I know it isn't a good idea to take a cat camping, but I have a cat with some medical conditions and special needs and I haven't found anyone I would trust to take care of her who is actually willing to put the necessary time and effort into caring for her. Due to the extended time period of my trip, I don't see many options short of dropping her at a shelter or putting her down. My definition of &quot;secure&quot; is that I can leave the cat alone in the tent for a few hours during the day and not have to worry about her baking alive, tearing through the siding and escaping, or other animals getting into the tent and eating her. Obviously no shelter is 100% safe, but (to give an example) I believe the turtle tuff would meet these needs as it has very strong siding which would prevent the cat from getting out, and would most likely prevent any other animals from getting in. Worst case scenario, the height and strong frame would allow me to hang a high platform the cat could escape to if a coyote or something did manage to break into the tent. Any other suggested shelters would have to give me the same level of comfort about the safety of my pet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you very much for reading this, and any advice you can provide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2995" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-02-13T23:44:58.330" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T20:39:52.220" Title="Large Tents and Traditional Campsites" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2014-03-02T06:21:38.190" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may think this is insane, but wear women's nylons. Cowboys do this while riding horses in the spring, before their skin gets calloused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2997" LastActivityDate="2014-03-02T06:21:38.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5355" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-02T06:28:29.187" Score="4" ViewCount="2289" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is said that Southeast Texas is overrun by wild boars. However, I have only seen sign of them within national park borders-where hunting is not allowed-and all google search results return paid hunting ranches which I regard as &quot;pig farms&quot;. Where can I go hunt wild pigs in southeast Texas without paying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2997" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-13T17:20:48.497" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T17:20:48.497" Title="Where can I hunt wild boars for free in Southeast Texas?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;boars&gt;&lt;texas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5353" CreationDate="2014-03-02T16:08:14.440" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would at least look into multiple smaller tents instead of a single large tent to handle all.  Other than the cat thing (I really don't know how to respond to that), I'd probably have one tent for sleeping, and another for the &quot;office&quot;.  A third thing that isn't really a full tent but more just a canopy for cooking, eating, and other things that can be done outside but that keeps direct sun and rain off sounds useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this is a long term installation, anchor everything with extra guy ropes, even if not so intended by the manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-03-02T16:08:14.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5345" CreationDate="2014-03-03T04:39:43.827" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This began as a comment but quickly began to grow, so I suppose now it's my supplementary answer to studiohack's great answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal Experience&lt;/strong&gt; - If you haven't been to any caves at all, explore a much smaller, easier one first before setting out to do a rappel-entry cave. This allows you to get comfortable maneuvering around in tight spaces where needed and how to deal with being muddy and wet for nearly every task you attempt. It will also help you relate other outdoor experience to the cave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3 Points of Contact&lt;/strong&gt; - Caves are slippery so use hands, feet, and sometimes your rear-end to always have 3 points of contact to maintain stability in areas where you can't simply walk. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bring/wear the following items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compass&lt;/strong&gt; - This is a good tool to help you know general directions of different passages and to keep track of where you're going.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proper Clothing&lt;/strong&gt; - Most caves tend to be in the ~55-60°F (~12.5-15.5°C) range, and you will be getting wet. So no cotton at all. Use your experience in hiking and mountaineering to prepare for this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sturdy Footwear&lt;/strong&gt; - This is likely a given, but it bears mentioning. Wear shoes/boots that have good tread in order to grip slippery and muddy surfaces. Something that can drain water is also beneficial.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gloves&lt;/strong&gt; - Any type will work, but something that can be easily washed and is semi-durable is good. These are to not only protect you from the cave, but to also protect the cave from you. Our bodily oils actually have potential to do harm to the delicate ecosystems inside the cave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food &amp;amp; Water&lt;/strong&gt; - How much you bring depends on the length of your time in the cave, but always bring something. If for example you were in an emergency and had to stay in the cave longer than expected, you'll need something to keep you going.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watertight Container&lt;/strong&gt; - You can use whatever works, but this is for bodily waste. You must not urinate or defecate inside of a cave. It will also harm the ecosystem as it really has no place to go as it would if it were normally buried in the ground outside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Large, thick Garbage Bag&lt;/strong&gt; - This is for an emergency bivy / vapor barrier so that you can get inside of it to preserve body heat. It's good to use a trash bag since it's lightweight and can be used to put your dirty gear in after your finished.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First-Aid Kit&lt;/strong&gt; - What goes in this is up to you, but think about the types of injuries/conditions likely to be encountered, from simple cuts and scrapes, to broken bones, to hypothermia, to spinal compression... Think through the possibilities to better prepare yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2014-03-03T04:39:43.827" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5353" CreationDate="2014-03-03T05:23:27.380" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Large tents are generally not an issue in campgrounds, although finding a large enough flat piece of ground may be. The more likely problem you'll face is maximum stay restrictions. Be sure that you check the requirements before making your decision, because having to move your camp every couple of weeks will dramatically change the setup you want. I recommend calling the USFS, BLM, and applicable State agencies where you plan to go in order to find out what options are available. In some locations you can camp anywhere you want, whereas others are restricted to improved campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the tent, one of the most important considerations for long term tent living is the entryway. Think of it as a screen porch and mudroom combined. It needs to be spacious enough for you and all of your outside gear, and weather resistant enough to be where that gear is kept. Having a separate entry keeps all of the dirt, dust, brush, grass, mud, water, and/or whatever else you don't want in your tent out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other requirements to consider are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind resistance (extra stakes and tie-downs and durable seems)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water/Sun resistance (dense fabric with UV/Waterproof coatings to prevent rot and deteriorating)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ventilation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire resistance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common setup is to have one tent with a vestibule as the sleeping, changing, relaxing tent, and another tent that serves as the cooking, eating, working tent. The latter often has large screen panels that can be exposed, with the dining surface also serving as the kitchen prep area and desk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main categories I would research are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yurts (not really a tent, which is why they're so great)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outfitter/Guide tents (designed for long term use)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expedition tents (much lighter weight, usable for short term camping)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fabric selection is a trade off between weight, weatherproofness, durability, and livability. Treated canvas is often considered a good selection when the stay is longer than two weeks. It has excellent livability, good durability, moderate weatherproofness, and poor weight (it's very heavy). Nylon is excellent for everything but livability, so long as it's kept away from hot or sharp objects. Polyester is decent but not great, with the lower cost being the main draw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cabela's is a good place to shop for larger tents. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1570908&amp;amp;destination=/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1570907&amp;amp;destination=%252Fcatalog%252Fproduct.jsp%253FparentCategoryId%253D104795280%2526categoryId%253D104779080%2526subCategoryId%253D104481180%2526productId%253D716042%2526type%253Dproduct%2526destination%253D%25252Fcatalog%25252Fbrowse%25252Foutfitter-tents%25252F_%25252FN-1100672%25252FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104481180%25253FWTz_l%25253DDirectLoad%2525253Bcat104779080%2526WTz_l%253DDirectLoad%25253Bcat104779080%25253Bcat104481180&amp;amp;WTz_l=YMAL%253BIK-519278&amp;amp;WTz_l=YMAL;IK-514192&quot;&gt;Alaknak Tent&lt;/a&gt; would be a good starting point, and if I were making the decision myself it would be between that and a canvas wall tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastEditorUserId="2885" LastEditDate="2014-03-03T05:28:29.583" LastActivityDate="2014-03-03T05:28:29.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5345" CreationDate="2014-03-03T18:46:49.943" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an experienced caver, I can say @studiohack &amp;amp; @manoftheson both good advice. Here's some additional pointers, in no particular order. Some of this is copied from my comments, but new info as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One thing I want to emphasize is using a head mounted light. This&#xA;leaves both hands free for climbing and crawling. Make sure it has a&#xA;chin strap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you might get wet, wear wool or synthetic clothes. No cotton!&#xA;Cotton gets cold when wet. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;VERY important, tell someone exactly where you are going, what time&#xA;you expect to be out, and want time they should call for rescue. For&#xA;instance, if you think you'll be out by 4pm, and you give yourself 2&#xA;more hours just in case, then rescue should be called at 6pm. A lot&#xA;of times we don't have a cell signal at the cave entrance, and never&#xA;inside a cave. That's why you tell someone else where you're going,&#xA;and when you'll be back. It's their job to call for rescue at the&#xA;time you tell them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And to add a note about footwear. Footwear must be sturdy, attached&#xA;to your foot securely where it can not come off, and have GOOD TREAD&#xA;on them for gripping power. The rocks inside a cave are usually wet,&#xA;slippery, and not flat. And if a friend can pull your shoe off your&#xA;foot, then so can thick mud. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And even if you don't take an experienced caver with you, NEVER, EVER&#xA;go caving alone. There's too many things that can wrong. An injury&#xA;that is easily survivable can turn fatal if you don't have someone&#xA;there to help.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take a water resistant wrist watch. So many of us are used to using&#xA;our cell phones to tell the time, but this is not convenient inside a&#xA;cave plus it may get damaged and you won't be able to tell the time&#xA;anymore. Remember, you're inside a cave and there is no sun / moon /&#xA;stars to tell you what time it is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A small, durable backpack to carry your stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A change of clothes for when you exit the cave. Do you really want to&#xA;wear your wet, muddy, and possibly torn clothes home?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And find out the temperature of the caves in your area. Caves will&#xA;stay close to the same temp all year long, but that temp depends on a&#xA;couple factors. For the most part, the warmer the average temp&#xA;outside, the warmer the cave.  Also, the water in the cave is the&#xA;same temp as the air, but will feel a LOT, LOT colder. Is you're&#xA;going to spend a lot of time in water, consider a wetsuit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kneepads. If you like your knees, and want to keep them, wear&#xA;kneepads. When you're crawling around, and your knee lands on a&#xA;pointy rock, you'll thank me. Not a lot rules about what kind, just&#xA;that it has to stay on your knees.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snacks. Take some snacks that are easy to carry and offer high&#xA;energy. Candy bars work work here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Camera. This is not required, but you want some pics to show friends.&#xA;If it's not waterproof, put it in a watertight bag, then put that bag&#xA;into anther watertight bag. Keep a dry towel handy to clean/dry your&#xA;hands before pulling out the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Warm bed. This is for after your trip. Caving can be a strenuous&#xA;activity, and you will sleep well that night. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun, and be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-03-03T18:46:49.943" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1924" CreationDate="2014-03-05T03:10:09.857" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival Spears&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you plan to defend yourself from trees, I would focus more on the proper use of a spear fashioned from a knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The factors that must be considered are: (1) solidly attaching the knife and (2) how to use a spear without breaking the tip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Attaching the Blade&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the best fastening methods involves rawhide strips that have been soaked in water, wrapped tightly around the entire length of the handle and stick end, and left to dry. The characteristics of rawhide cause it to shrink as it dries, resulting in a wrap that is much tighter than could be done by hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie wire would also be an excellent choice, though not as readily available in the field. Tie wire is used to connect reinforcing bar (aka rebar) in concrete work. Use it like a twist tie, tightening it with a pliers as you go, and do as many pieces as will fit in a single layer. It can be found at hardware stores and lumber yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If rawhide or tie wire are not available, paracord would be another option but, due to the weave and characteristics of nylon, paracord stretches, making it difficult to maintain a tight connection. It is possible to shrink paracord slightly by keeping it wet, but using other materials would still be preferable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using the Spear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a direct trade off between blade sharpness and durability, so the sharper your spear, the more fragile it will be (assuming you're using a well honed edge). Blades are designed for slicing, spears for penetrating. The best thing to do, as mentioned previously, is not use a spear fashioned in this manner to fend off tree attacks. Get or make an archery target for practicing, and place something soft around the target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you would rather not be concerned about breaking the tip, fashion a spear head by hammering or grinding down a piece of rebar. The end result should look something like a large pencil (the yellow paint is optional).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastEditorUserId="2885" LastEditDate="2014-03-06T17:34:41.047" LastActivityDate="2014-03-06T17:34:41.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-05T06:29:56.650" Score="4" ViewCount="635" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to do the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangchenjunga&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Kangchenjunga&lt;/a&gt; base camp trek (in Nepal) in the coming months. I read that a tent is a must for this trek as it is not a tea house trek. I am thinking of buying a tent for myself but my dilemma is do I choose an all season tent or 3 season?  Which will work best (in regard to the weather condition in high altitude of Nepal) or what kind of tent is suitable for the trek keeping in mind that I may also need it in the future for other trails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3006" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-03-06T23:10:39.487" LastActivityDate="2014-03-06T23:10:39.487" Title="Tent for High Altitude Trekking" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5364" CreationDate="2014-03-06T02:00:31.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there's a solid chance you're going to encounter snow or heavy wind during the trek ( and I'm guessing there is with those elevations ) or the future treks you plan to use the tent with, it's unlikely that a 3 season tent is going to be enough for you. 3 season is a category meant for tents that aren't intended to stand up to wind and snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though, if you feel strongly that a 4 season tent is overkill, there's a category called extended / 3+ season. As the name in implies, it's falls in between 3 season and 4 season. Paraphrased from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-tent.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-tent.html&lt;/a&gt; :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extended season tents typically include 1 or 2 more poles and fewer mesh panels than pure 3-season models. This makes them sturdier and warmer than their 3-season cousins. Heavier, too, but not by huge amounts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-03-06T02:00:31.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5366" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5378" CreationDate="2014-03-06T15:53:00.210" Score="8" ViewCount="5468" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a trek around Mt Everest. I intend to cut the cost as much as I can, because I'll be planning a more exhaustive expedition in the same region in a short while after this trek, so I just intend to plan this trek, spending as less as I can.&#xA;I plan to so there by the month of August or September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a few queries to which I could never find a convincing answer so far from the resources that I tried. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How long does it take to travel from Kathmandu to Lukla (without the flying option)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How safe is the journey by means of best available local transport?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the duration?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much does the flying option cost if I plan to take that? How early do I need to book?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope if there is anyone who has recently been there, can help me with these questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:45:02.507" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T08:45:02.507" Title="How safe is it to travel from Kathmandu to Lukla without Flying the distance?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5368" CreationDate="2014-03-06T19:38:07.610" Score="8" ViewCount="254" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the moment I'm online shopping around a bit for down sleeping bags. I came across some sleeping bags that are specified to have an &quot;X chamber construction&quot;. I have found lots of online resources explaining the form of &quot;H&quot;, &quot;V&quot;, and &quot;trapezoid&quot; chamber constructions with all their pro's and con's, but I could not find any data about this &quot;X chamber&quot; construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore I would be glad if anyone could explain this type of construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-10-03T21:20:53.633" LastActivityDate="2016-10-03T21:20:53.633" Title="What does an X chamber construction in a sleeping bag look like?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5367" CreationDate="2014-03-06T21:38:20.580" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;X chamber&quot; construction is the most simple way to enclose the filling into chambers: the inner and outer fabric are just quilted together, forming tubular chambers that are filled with loft material, as it is known from most down jackets. It is often also named &quot;sewn-through&quot;, e.g. in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailspace.com/articles/sleeping-bag-construction-baffles-shingles.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;. In contrary the other chamber constructions are built in a way that the chambers have some overlap of loft material to prevent thermal bridges. This does also mean that inner and outer fabric do not share common seams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drawback of the &quot;X&quot; construction compared to the other construction types (&quot;H&quot;, &quot;V&quot; etc.) is that the sleeping bag has no insulating material at the seams which reduces the thermal insulation. The advantage is that it is lighter than the other constructions as there is no additional fabric needed besides the inner and outer shells to form three dimensional chambers. This is OK for sleeping bags for not too cold temperatures but is not so good when going to lower temperatures where there would be significant heat loss through these uninsulated seams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-10-03T18:32:23.810" LastActivityDate="2016-10-03T18:32:23.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5369" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5370" CreationDate="2014-03-06T21:58:36.387" Score="12" ViewCount="11279" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm actually shopping for a new sleeping bag and am a bit in doubt about a question that I do not find treated anywhere: By investing an arbitrarily huge amount of money I can buy a sleeping bag to sleep snuggly down to -30° C and even below. But what about the other side? Let's say, I buy a sleeping bag with a comfort rating of somewhere between 0 and -10° C, can I use it also in a warm summer night? Or is there some temperature where it will be just too warm to use it even with zipper fully opened and used more like a blanket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm aware of the fact that I will carry more weight and volume than necessary for an insulation that I would not need. I'm just interested about the comfort at the warm end of the temperature scale. So if I buy a bag with some reserve for cold fall or winter nights, will it be unusable in summer or only not the best choice I could have had? If it is unusable above a certain temperature is there some rule of thumb that says something like &quot;a bag that has a comfort rating of &lt;em&gt;X&lt;/em&gt; won't be of use for temperatures roughly &lt;em&gt;Y&lt;/em&gt; degrees above that &lt;em&gt;X&lt;/em&gt; rating.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-03-10T18:50:31.770" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T22:48:01.653" Title="Is there any upper temperature limit for a given sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5369" CreationDate="2014-03-07T02:36:17.553" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not encountered a situation where a sleeping bag was &quot;too warm&quot; and I was unable to do something about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've gone backpacking in the mountains where it was 70 at night one day, and the next day, several thousand feet higher, it got below freezing. At night in the heat, I pretty much just used my sleeping bag as a blanket with the zipper all the way open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you do risk the possibility of being in the sleeping bag, falling asleep comfortably, but being far too warm, and waking up later drenched in sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-03-07T02:36:17.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5369" CreationDate="2014-03-08T03:32:42.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There is an Upper Limit and Here's Why&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are in fact times when a sleeping bag can be too warm. Although leaving the bag unzipped allows heat to radiate away from your body upwards, the insulation between you and the ground significantly reduces the amount of heat that your body can dissipate. How far you sink into the insulation also has a significant impact, so thinner bags will do well at higher temperatures than thicker ones, even if they have a similar rating. Sleeping on a stack of wool blankets is comfortable at almost any temperature (assuming your skin doesn't react to the wool).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the Limit?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What too warm of a temperature would be depends on both how low your bag is rated and how far you sink into the insulation. My -20F bag gets uncomfortable above around 65F, whereas my 35F bag is good until around 75F, assuming low humidity. Higher humidity raises the range for the heavier bag and lowers it for the lighter one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Solution&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the problem is real, the solution is extremely simple. Place a cotton sheet on the bag before laying down. The cotton sheet pushes down the insulation and creates gaps for increased airflow, which helps your body regulate your temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastActivityDate="2014-03-08T03:32:42.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4512" CreationDate="2014-03-09T01:10:02.210" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question honestly could be too localized on these specific products. However, considering the ubiquity of these stoves I find it is probably quite useful information to know if they could have interchangeable parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MSR's Whisperlite International &amp;amp; Universal stoves are very similar products, but they have some fairly notable differences. Let's call the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/simple-cooking/whisperlite-international-2012/product&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whisperlite International&lt;/a&gt; the WLI and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/simple-cooking/whisperlite-universal/product&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whisperlite Universal&lt;/a&gt; the WLU just to make it a bit easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let's look at the WLI &amp;amp; WLU parts first:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BJuJd.png&quot; alt=&quot;Whisperlite International&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://media.cascadedesigns.com/pdf/MSR_WLI_StoveInst_EN_USJC_LORES.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR WLI product manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1YPOd.png&quot; alt=&quot;Whisperlite Universal&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://media.cascadedesigns.com/pdf/MSR_WLU_StovInst_EN_USJC_LOWRES.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR WLU product manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you know, the WLU is the newest iteration of this famous stove that is compatible with not only multiple liquid fuels, but also canister fuels. To achieve this the WLU departs in design from the WLI by having two adapters on the fuel line: one to connect to a canister and one to connect to the traditional MSR pump. This means the WLU's fuel line and generator tube are different parts from the WLI. The WLU has a UC jet that is designed for use with canisters in addition to the liquid fuel UK and UG jets used for both stoves. &lt;em&gt;(The older model WLI uses different jets than the current model WLI.)&lt;/em&gt; The WLU also includes a canister stand for more efficient burning in cold weather and with low fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So theoretically a WLI could be converted to a WLU with the following parts:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel line and generator tube&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liquid fuel line adapter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canister fuel line adapter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UC jet for use with canisters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canister stand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, purchasing these parts would take a call to customer service of Cascade Designs, as they are not available through standard channels. Though your local MSR outdoor retailer may be able to order these parts for you. The real issue is going to be whether the cost of these parts is actually much cheaper than buying the WLU.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, it does seem possible to convert at least the current generation WLI into a WLU.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-03-09T01:10:02.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2014-03-09T02:07:26.583" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like already mentioned in other replies, it depends were you are and the weather changes. &#xA;I'm working on a bear project in the Canadian Rockies and we know the bears can be active until January. They should be in there den until April, but there are exceptions. We always take bear spray with us during winter fieldwork. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3013" LastActivityDate="2014-03-09T02:07:26.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5374" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5376" CreationDate="2014-03-10T15:38:47.187" Score="2" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a week long hike in Southern Spain. I envisage myself being away from civilisation max 3 days. What kind of food should I take at any one time?&#xA;There are infrequent farm houses and outbuildings.&#xA;A friend recommended dates, nuts, sultanas, carrot, cucumber, olives, salt, pepper for food? What do you think?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="2882" LastEditDate="2014-03-15T14:48:57.860" LastActivityDate="2014-03-15T14:48:57.860" Title="Food nutrition for week long hike" Tags="&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5203" CreationDate="2014-03-10T15:42:59.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the police catches you walking on the rail, the fine will be small. But there are some other risks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A high voltage power line above you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking on a rail is a popular method for suicide. If someone sees you they may call an ambulance, the police and stop all trains on that track. If the railway company has to compensate hundreds of passengers for being late, they will want that money back from you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crossing the rail is dangerous: Trains are wider than the railroad tracks and there is a dangerous pressure wave around the train. Suppose you just need 10 seconds to cross the danger zone around both rails. A train at 300kph (maximum operation speed in Germany) will advance 830 meters in that time. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A train does not drive like a car. If fail to spot the train in time or slip while crossing the rails, the train will not be able to stop. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3017" LastActivityDate="2014-03-10T15:42:59.700" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5374" CreationDate="2014-03-10T22:15:48.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, it makes a big difference if you can bring a water filter with you and take advantage of verified sources of water, and by verified sources I mean water that you are 99.5% sure is going to be there when you are. You can't point out a stream on an old map and rely on it, this is your life source we're talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to prepare yourself for a completely self-sustained hike, the often-agreed upon minimum is 4 to 5 liters per day, and that's just for drinking. At 2 pounds per liter, trying to sustain yourself for more than 2 or 3 days without a water source you can filter from starts to sound like a bold endeavor. Especially if you want 6 or more liters per day in order to have a little extra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luckily, food is a little easier. If you had to go a couple days without because you didn't pack enough, in all likelihood you would survive even if you weren't happy about it. If you normally consume about 2000 calories per day, pack about that much and a little extra. For me personally this would mean about 4 freeze dried meals ( accounting for the water needed to rehydrate them ) plus a couple of snacks per day. It will of course be easier to bring lightweight and calorie dense foods but for the most part, you can bring whatever kind of food you please.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-03-10T22:15:48.903" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5366" CreationDate="2014-03-12T08:27:45.063" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only partially answer this question, and my information is not particularly up-to-date, but I've contacted a friend who has been there recently and added his answers to my own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In April 2004 I flew Kathmandu-Lukla, and returned via bus from Jiri to Kathmandu. I remember the flight costing about a hundred dollars. My friend flew in September 2013, and he says it cost around $300. He says the price varies from day to day and season to season. Both he (recently) and I (then) booked the flight just a few days - no more than three - in advance after arriving in Kathmandu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the way back, it took me five or six days to walk from Namche Bazaar to Jiri. Unlike the area from Lukla to the Everest Area (and the Gokyo area, which I also visited), the trail back to Jiri was relatively empty of tourists, though the Nepali villages were no less bustling. I was walking alone, but I didn't feel much of a risk. Of course feelings of danger are a very subjective thing, but that was my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After arriving in Jiri, I bought a local bus ticket back to Kathmandu in the evening, and took the morning bus, and arrived in Kathmandu that evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some caveats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was during the civil war / Maoist rebellion. On one hand, that sounds a bit alarming, but the situation did not affect tourists &lt;em&gt;that much&lt;/em&gt; (though I'm very glad for Nepal that it's over).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between the area above Lukla and between Lukla/Namche and Jiri was relatively extreme. Above Lukla there were hundreds of tourists around, and it was easy to meet people - I arrived alone and found traveling companions quickly. Below Lukla I met less than ten tourists a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big caveat is that this was a very long time ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2014-03-17T11:44:04.717" LastActivityDate="2014-03-17T11:44:04.717" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4705" CreationDate="2014-03-12T13:15:19.157" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to Mongolia many years ago (2001), so I'm not sure that my answer can help you much.&#xA;I was there for almost two month, did some treks without a guide and also horse-riding and motor-cycles journey with a local guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mongolia is a huge country, mostly a high plateau with moderate hills/mountains. When I was there and I guess that it didn't changed much since then, most of its population was around the capital &lt;em&gt;Ullan Bator&lt;/em&gt;. Therefore, trekking form lodge to lodge is not suitable to Mongolia since even in popular areas like &lt;em&gt;Khövsgöl Nuur&lt;/em&gt; in the north or around &lt;em&gt;Kharkhorin&lt;/em&gt; since there are some tourist camps but with more then a day walking distance. You can trek without a guide, and count on the local for food supplement, but you need to carry your own tent and cooking equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had our own 4-seasons tent and cooking equipment. We managed to buy food on the villages but we needed to carry food for 2-3 days because the sparsity of the villages and tourist camps. The people that we met on our way were kind and gave us good and helpful hospitality, including clothing, food, a warm place to sleep (in their yurt), and also motorcycles to drive on a snow storm, but you can't rely on finding habitats yurts each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, we tried all different ways of travelling and due to the terrain in Mongolia and the sparsity of the population we preferred mostly travelling by horses (or cycling) and combined a day or two of hiking/trekking in areas of mountains. You can either buy horses but then you need to know to take care of them or take a guide with you (like we did).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3026" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-03-12T21:06:28.217" LastActivityDate="2014-03-12T21:06:28.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5381" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5627" CreationDate="2014-03-12T13:27:25.153" Score="7" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anybody reccommend a climbing guide for the Yorkshire Dales area? I'm off for a weekend trip there in a couple of months but I'm having difficulty finding a guide for the area. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Askrigg/@54.3149665,-2.081093,11z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x487c1317144fcf35:0x17422ebb39ebece5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Roughly the Askrigg region&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preferably this will include somewhere I can easily set up some top ropes on easy routes as I'm taking some inexperienced friends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barring a book, any recommendation's for crags that fit the bill, above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-06-27T18:09:14.043" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T18:09:14.043" Title="Climbing guide for the Yorkshire Dales" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5382" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-12T16:22:28.000" Score="3" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;Single-wall tents are made from waterproof breathable material, which is heavier and more expensive than a simple impermeable layer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if a single-wall tent were made of impermeable material, wouldn't excess moisture generated inside the tent simply condense on the inside surface of the tent since that will be colder than other surfaces in the tent (such as the outside of a sleeping bag)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, with a good system of gutters to drain the condensed water away, couldn't the tent stay comfortable?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be more condensation on the roof of the tent or the floor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3027" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T21:46:37.223" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T21:49:38.213" Title="Would gutters in an impermeable single-wall tent drain condensed water away, and keep the tent comfortable?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5382" CreationDate="2014-03-12T17:47:01.370" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If condensation formed on the inside of a tent it wouldn't simply flow down the sides of the tent into gutters. It'd drip, it'd drip all over you and everything in the tent making you wet. Every time you touched the sides or the wind blew, you'd get rained on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're wet your body loses a lot of heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body would heat the liquid forcing it to evaporate (again, taking the heat with it). This evaporated water would then condense on the tent (again) releasing the heat into the fabric, which in turn would release the heat into the atmosphere. You would quickly become cold and wet and miserable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This applies to all non permeable fabrics (not just tents), which is why products such as GoreTex are popular. Because permeable fabrics allow the water to leave the garment i.e. the initial heat is lost, but that's it. It does not condense and then evaporate again and again, releasing lots of heat into the atmosphere and away from your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, tents are small confined spaces. While you're sleeping you will be breathing in all the Oxygen of said tent and breathing out lots of CO2. Now I doubt this is going to be enough to cause you any damage but I would imagine you will become very uncomfortable quickly. This is why, even breathable tents have vents to allow a good flow of air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would there be more condensation on the roof of the tent or the floor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it matter? Any water on the floor means you're sleeping in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T21:49:38.213" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T21:49:38.213" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5386" CreationDate="2014-03-12T19:12:12.307" Score="7" ViewCount="1611" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently use All Purpose Krazy Glue to repair pinch flats on my road bike inner tubes.  All it takes is one drop over the bite and it seals it perfectly, works every time and holds 95 PSI for weeks with no leaks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I lost a pull tab on the back of my LaSportiva trailrunners.  I figured I would Krazy Glue it back on however when the drop landed the shoe smoked, the fibres melted and turned rock hard as if they were burned, which is most likely what happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious, does anyone know what Super/Krazy Glue is appropriate to use on fabrics if any?  I understand the re-attachment of the trail runner tab is a pretty ambitious task.  What I would really like to do is put a drop over a small tear in my winter gloves, attach new leather to the palm, small tear on tent...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have success using Super/Krazy Glue on Fabrics/Outdoor Gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T00:44:44.507" Title="Super/Krazy Glue on Outdoor Gear" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5384" CreationDate="2014-03-12T19:23:02.607" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.krazyglue.com/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Krazy glue web site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are a few things Instant Krazy Glue® is not intended for use on&#xA;  such as paper, foam, rear view mirrors, polyethylene, Teflon® or other&#xA;  fluorocarbons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that list I'd basically say any form of plastic isn't going to get along. Lots of outdoor gear are effectively made from various forms of plastic so I would not apply it to anything you haven't tested first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bike inner tubes are latex.  According to that list Leather should be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-03-12T19:23:02.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5384" CreationDate="2014-03-12T19:32:06.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;From looking at the Crazy Glue Website and from reading what it can be used for on the packages, I wouldn't try it on fabric, especially synthetic things like a rain jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There does appear to be a Crazy Glue for wood and leather. Check the website.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.krazyglue.com/products/product.aspx?pc=KG821&quot;&gt;http://www.krazyglue.com/products/product.aspx?pc=KG821&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Read the directions. I have used some other adhesive products and have had better results when I followed the directions. A friend who works as a chemist told me that millions of dollars are spent to develop these products. But, if consumers don't use them properly, they are not going to work. For example: Some adhesives need moisture/water to held them bond. I think they take oxygen from the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is a really good idea for bike tire flats. Wish I knew about that when I did a lot of cycling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do some research on fabric glue. I have repaired some gloves using a trimmed iron-on patch and a bit of sewing. I have used Shoe Goo and their All Purpose Camping Goo on my hiking boot seams to fix splits. I taped the inside with Gorilla tape first to hold the split closed. Elmer's All Purpose Glue-All and Gorilla Glue are also good for some things. They worked on my boots, too. But, they aren't flexible when they dry. So, using them on my more flexible running shoes didn't work as well. The Shoe/All Purpose Goo worked better. Match the glue with what you are trying to fix and read directions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2014-03-12T19:32:06.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5387" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-13T04:26:59.513" Score="7" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;Running injuries are very common, and runners have many different opinions about what causes them and how to prevent them. What is the actual scientific evidence?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-07-04T18:05:30.540" Title="What scientific evidence is there about the causes and prevention of running injuries?" Tags="&lt;injury&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5387" CreationDate="2014-03-13T04:26:59.513" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Factors you can't easily control&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some factors that you can't easily control play a clear role. These include genetics, being overweight,[Theisen] or having a previous injury. For example, people who want to lose weight may run in order to burn calories; they can't necessarily lose the weight before they start running so as to reduce their chance of getting hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Changes in what you do&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a large amount of consistent evidence that people get injured more frequently when they make a change in their activity. This could mean changing from stretching to not stretching, changing from not stretching to stretching, wearing different shoes, or running at a different pace or for a different distance.[Pereles,Reynolds]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stretching and warming up&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, scientific evidence doesn't support the common belief that stretching before playing sports prevents injuries.[McHugh] Of course this depends somewhat on the sport. In the case of running, a pre-run stretch has been found in a randomized trial to have no statistically significant effect on the incidence of injuries.[Pereles]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cushioning of shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of studies have attempted to test whether shoes with more cushioning prevent injury. The results have not always been consistent, but in general there is no clear evidence that cushioning prevents injury.[Theisen] Barefoot runners and runners who use minimalist shoes do not have higher rates of injury, but switching from one type of shoe to another may cause problems; as with any change in what you do, it increases your risk of injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running shoe companies have been telling runners for a long time that they need different shoes depending on whether their feet are normal, pronated, or supinated. This is not true.[Nielsen2]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Repetitive stress injuries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most running injuries are repetitive stress injuries, or RSI's. As you run, you may be doing tiny amounts of invisible damage to various parts of your body. Normally this damage just heals up and you never even feel it. But if the long-term rate at which you do the damage to a certain body part outpaces the rate at which your body can heal it, your condition will gradually get worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As suggested by the term, RSI's are thought to be caused by a stress or load, such as tension or compression, placed on your musculoskeletal system. Most materials behave elastically when subjected to a certain amount of stress, so that when the stress is released, then go back to their original shape. Think of a rubber band being placed under tension, which is then released. But there is a limit on the amount of stress, called the elastic limit. Beyond this limit, the rubber band may be damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to RSI's caused by running, there has been a lot of speculation that the really damaging stresses are the ones from impacts, such as the heel strike seen in the style of running used by most people who grow up in the industrialized world wearing shoes. The evidence seems to show that what's correlated the most with injuries is not the amount of force (load) experienced by your body parts but the rate of change of the force, which is called the load rate or impact loading.[Zadpoor][Davis] For example, if three people are piled on top of you, lying quietly, then your body is feeling a force equal to four times the usual force of gravity, but the force is not changing, so the load rate is zero. Measurements seem to show that when people wear running shoes, the load rate from their heel strikes is higher than the load rate experienced by barefoot runners.[Lieberman]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike load rate, load itself doesn't seem to be correlated with injury.[Davis] In fact, impact is good for you. Your body seems to need some good hard impacts (about 4 gees or more) in order to have healthy bone density.[Tobias] This is an example of what's known as the &quot;training effect,&quot; which is that when you do an activity that results in a certain optimal load, your body gets stronger. However, there is a higher level of load, called the &quot;abusive load,&quot; that causes injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the evidence seems to be that you should subject your body to impacts that are of just the right strength, and that they should be applied with a low load rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Volume and pace&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This makes it pretty complicated to interpret medical studies of running injuries, because usually there is no detailed information about the load and load rate. One hypothesis[Nielsen] is that there are four different variables that should be studied:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;volume -- how many miles you run per week&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pace -- how fast you run&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rapid change in volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rapid change in pace&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is not much evidence that volume causes injury. For example, one study found that ultramarathoners who ran 200 miles experienced less harm to their bodies than those who ran &quot;only&quot; 100 miles.[Saugy] The interpretation is that at longer distances, runners reduce their pace, reducing the damage to their bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pace affects load, but it affects load rate even more. Load is proportional to the square of speed, but load rate goes like speed to the third power. For example, if you double your pace, the load rate is eight times higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, injuries are more likely when you change what you do, and that's the reason for hypothesizing that rapid changes in volume or pace are important variables. However, a study seems to show that the traditional 10% rule, i.e., not to change your volume by more than 10% per week, does not actually reduce injury.[Buist]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, there is not much helpful evidence-based medicine on running injuries. Very little of the conventional wisdom among runners holds up scientifically, so at least you can stop putting time, energy, and money into following their advice. As far as I can tell, the only generic advice that seems to be supported by the evidence is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't make sudden changes in what you do. Give your body time to adapt to changes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to set your running pace so that it's fast enough to produce good health effects -- but it's possible that trying to run too fast may be harmful, especially if you try to ramp it up too quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buist, &quot;No Effect of a Graded Training Program on the Number of Running-Related Injuries in Novice Runners: A Randomized Controlled Trial,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/36/1/33&quot;&gt;http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/36/1/33&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Davis, &lt;a href=&quot;http://lowerextremityreview.com/news/in-the-moment-sports-medicine/impacts-spell-injury&quot;&gt;http://lowerextremityreview.com/news/in-the-moment-sports-medicine/impacts-spell-injury&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kong, &quot;Running in new and worn shoes: a comparison of three types of cushioning footwear,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18801775&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18801775&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lieberman, &lt;a href=&quot;http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/&quot;&gt;http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;McHugh, &quot;To stretch or not to stretch: the role of stretching in injury prevention and performance,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030776&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030776&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nielsen, &quot;Classifying running‐related injuries based upon etiology, with emphasis on volume and pace,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625796/&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625796/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nielsen2, &quot;Foot pronation is not associated with increased injury risk in novice runners wearing a neutral shoe: a 1-year prospective cohort study,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/06/12/bjsports-2013-092202.abstract&quot;&gt;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/06/12/bjsports-2013-092202.abstract&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pereles, &quot;A Large, Randomized, Prospective Study of the&#xA;Impact of a Pre-Run Stretch on the Risk of Injury in&#xA;Teenage and Older Runners,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usatf.org/stretchStudy/index.asp&quot;&gt;http://www.usatf.org/stretchStudy/index.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reynolds, &quot;Phys Ed: Does Stretching Before Running Prevent Injuries?,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/phys-ed-does-stretching-before-running-prevent-injuries/?_php=true&amp;amp;_type=blogs&amp;amp;_r=0&quot;&gt;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/phys-ed-does-stretching-before-running-prevent-injuries/?_php=true&amp;amp;_type=blogs&amp;amp;_r=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Saugy et al., &quot;Alterations of Neuromuscular Function after the World's Most Challenging Mountain Ultra-Marathon,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0065596&quot;&gt;http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0065596&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Theisen, &quot;Influence of midsole hardness of standard cushioned shoes on running-related injury risk,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/09/16/bjsports-2013-092613.abstract&quot;&gt;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/09/16/bjsports-2013-092613.abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tobias, &quot;Physical activity and bone: may the force be with you,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fendo.2014.00020/abstract&quot;&gt;http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fendo.2014.00020/abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zadpoor, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.clinbiomech.com/article/S0268-0033%2810%2900225-1/abstract&quot;&gt;http://www.clinbiomech.com/article/S0268-0033%2810%2900225-1/abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-07-04T18:05:30.540" LastActivityDate="2015-07-04T18:05:30.540" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5381" CreationDate="2014-03-13T10:04:49.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe the ROCKFAX? &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/books/northern-england-2008/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/books/northern-england-2008/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zmlVG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, this is a great site for finding info on crags in a given area: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/&lt;/a&gt; - once you find a crag it also lists relevant guidebooks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3034" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-13T10:24:42.620" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T10:24:42.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5391" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5396" CreationDate="2014-03-13T10:18:49.527" Score="5" ViewCount="450" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the market for a backpack for fast paced multi-day hiking (away from food up to 1 week). I've tried some of the really big backpacks (65L) and found the padding bulky. I've tried some good ones around the 45-55L mark but I'm concerned about having space. There seems to be a cut off point where the newer backpack of the lowerage literage have less padding which offers a freer feeling. What kinds of other features exist on backpacks that are the most useful as there seem to be many.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="2882" LastEditDate="2014-03-13T22:04:13.673" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T18:44:54.563" Title="What kind of features should I look for on a good trekking backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5393" CreationDate="2014-03-13T10:46:31.403" Score="4" ViewCount="159" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to buy a rucksack. I want to move quickly and pack minimally on a week-10 day long trip so I&quot;m tempted by packs around the 45-55L range. However, I want to get a pack that is also versatile and there will be times in the future where I will want to go for longer trips. Packs are expensive so I want to make sure that I buy one that covers what I want to do. What is the extra affordance of packs with greater capacity that round the 55L mark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 55L pack I am planning to fit Sleeping bag , Mat, Cotton shirt, Hiking trousers, socks, Underwear, Sunglasses, Suncream, Swim trunk, micro Towel, Sandals, Buff hat, Multi fuel, Mess tin, Utensils, Food, Water, Water carrier , Camelback / hydration pack, Bivvy bag , Camera , Backup battery , iPhone, iPhone rugged case, backup , walking poles, Solar charger , Backup battery: , Maps, Notebook?, GPS, batteries, Pens / pencils, Multi tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastActivityDate="2014-03-21T00:39:49.663" Title="What is the difference in terms of application of a rucksack with greater than 50L capacity?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5392" CreationDate="2014-03-13T13:50:07.503" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, I would recommend getting a larger pack, especially if you're planning to do longer trips. Also, if you ever go on a trip in the winter, it will usually require more clothing and possibly larger sleeping bags/mats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, I have a 48L pack and that is enough room (for me) for about a weekend trip. If I'm sharing gear with others, I can extend that. To me, a 55L pack sounds pretty small for a 10 day long trip, so I would recommend something &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; 65L.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T13:50:07.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-13T14:01:52.760" Score="18" ViewCount="13411" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of Blacks (own brand) leather hiking boots - they were probably a poor choice to begin with to be honest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They look a bit like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brasher.co.uk/catalogue/products/new-supalite-ii-gtx-r-with-pittards-leather-b-supaiimncbk-b-supaiimna62&quot;&gt;http://www.brasher.co.uk/catalogue/products/new-supalite-ii-gtx-r-with-pittards-leather-b-supaiimncbk-b-supaiimna62&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have probably worn them 10+ times, for a reasonable amount of time each go (2+ hours of walking/physical activity for example). They still hurt, rub and give me blisters, on the top of the foot where the tongue rubs and at the heel and all sorts. I have tried two types of hiking sock, one pair was wool (which made the problem worse). I don't know if I'm just tying the too tightly/loosely (although I think I have tried all measures of tightness) or if I just need the right sock, or of they still haven't broken in yet, or most likely if they will just never fit properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know whether to persevere with the breaking in, buy different socks, soak the boots in water, try different tricks, or whether there is really no point and there is no need to inflict further pain on myself trying to make them work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice is greatly appreciated; I can't really afford new boots, especially since this experience has taught me I probably shouldn't buy cheap ones, but I really do need some as I keep missing hiking and walking activities. On the other hand they hurt so much that I really don't want to wear them anymore unless there is a chance they will stop hurting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3036" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T05:43:32.893" Title="Painful leather hiking boots - persevere or give up?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-13T15:07:02.407" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any advice is greatly appreciated; I can't really afford new boots&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well there goes my #1 piece of advice - I don't want to rub it in too much at all, but it just goes to show how important it is to make sure your boots will be comfortable before committing. At this point it sounds like they're just a poor fit, they shouldn't be causing that much pain after wearing for that long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are a few things I'd try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've never needed to do it myself, but I've heard of others soak their boots in warm water, put them on, and walk in them until they're dry. This may help to mould them around your feet a bit better, but obviously if this is too painful to practically do then there's no use pushing it!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It sounds from what you're saying as though they're perhaps a bit tight in certain areas - one thing you might want to try to give you a bit more space is removing the supplied innersole, and replacing it with a much thinner one. You'll probably lose some of the shock absorbing capabilities of the shoe through this, but if this results in the rubbing significantly decreasing, I'd say it's a worthwhile tradeoff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;May sound stupid, but how tight are you tying the laces? They don't need to be &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; tight. I've seen people ridiculously over-tighten laces to the point of it causing pain, then never even considering that that may have been an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You say you've tried more than one type of sock, have you tried two thin pairs of socks? This may help with the rubbing a lot more than one thick pair.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, it sounds like the boots will unfortunately never be a great fit, but I wouldn't discard them just yet - there's still a few things you can try to see if they can become acceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add to the (good) comment below, it's also worth mentioning more expensive isn't necessarily better. One of my favourite pairs of hiking shoes cost £20 in the sale, lasted me years and were incredibly comfortable. if you try cheaper pairs, you may be pleasantly surprised!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastEditorUserId="74" LastEditDate="2014-03-13T17:07:32.247" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T17:07:32.247" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5391" CreationDate="2014-03-13T15:13:50.583" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll echo the most prominent theme in the related question, which is that above all else &lt;em&gt;comfort&lt;/em&gt; is the most important consideration in any backpack. The worst backpack is one that ends up causing you pain after a few hours when you have to put up with it for the entire week - so trying on as many as you can is important. If you're at all in doubt after a few hours, then it's not good - that effect will multiple out many times over a week. Padding, strap size and placement, etc. will all factor into this comfort aspect, but it's difficult to advise just based on this since it's different for everyone. Some people require large amounts of padding, for others it's not an issue, some people (me) require straps that can usually be adjusted heavily, some don't really need it, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of other features, they're really, as far as I'm concerned, not much of an issue, with a couple of exceptions - that being waterproofing and durability. One of the worst feelings ever is arriving at camp after a rainy day and finding all your stuff soaked, and this can happen if the material leaks, or sprouts a hole somewhere (which will then clearly cause it to leak.) Lots of extra pockets, map holders, compass points, phone holders etc. are all a bit gimmicky to me and are things I rarely use - the above aspects are much more important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T15:13:50.583" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-13T15:45:18.187" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any advice is greatly appreciated; I can't really afford new boots, especially since this experience has taught me I probably shouldn't buy cheap ones, but I really do need some as I keep missing hiking and walking activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't characterize those boots as cheap. 150 pounds is $250, which is a lot of money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If expensive, heavy boots aren't working for you, why not just do your hiking and walking in comfortable, cheap, lightweight running shoes? As you get into heavier and heavier footwear, it gets more and more difficult to stay comfortable and avoid blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is that you may simply have bought the wrong size. Your feet expand when you hike all day, so often you want to buy shoes or boots for hiking that are much larger than you'd otherwise buy. In US sizes, people often buy a full size larger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T15:45:18.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1389" CreationDate="2014-03-13T16:02:45.843" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's an open top cat stove (or any open top container) you can use gel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a trangia style stove with tiny vents - no. Well, yes you can - the gel will still burn out of the trangia fill hole but it will clog up the vents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="743" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T16:02:45.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-13T17:35:05.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;With shoes, if I find a pair I like - I wear them for a good 10-15 minutes in the store.  Standing up, sitting down, walking, climbing stairs (if possible) - all to get a sense of how they feel doing these different things.  If they're painful in the store - they'll be painful everywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a thing about feet that isn't necessarily true of any other body part - size isn't the only factor.  I can be assured that a 34-34 pant will fit, but a 12 shoe might not.  In some brands I need a 12W, other brands assume I have higher ankles (the shoe rubs the underside of my ankle bone), some brands assume I have no arch while others assume I've got more arch than I actually have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be able to salvage your relationship with these shoes if you can find a good cobbler.  It sounds old fashioned, but I've had work done to shoes to fix minor annoyances - and I think a good cobbler might be able to find a solution to your problems without too much fuss (or money).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3037" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T17:35:05.450" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-13T22:43:01.907" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is consitently a particular area of the foot that is suffering then you could try a trick I was told of a number of years ago. I &quot;suffer&quot; from having very (or in the case of when I went to get a pair of climbing shoes: &quot;stupidly&quot;) wide feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway the trick is to tie knots in the laces at strategic points, this essentially allows you to pull the laces to different tensions along the foot. I knotted my boots just before it changes angle upwards to not put so much tension on the widest part but still allow the ankles to be tied up tighter. Works a treat and saved having to let the shop having a go re-forming the leather on a ski-boot workstation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ironically wear my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grahamsonline.co.uk/product/5980&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Grubs&lt;/a&gt; far more often and find them more comfortable. Added benefit of being far more waterproof when out shooting and walking the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3041" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T22:43:01.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-13T22:50:18.277" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, if shoes aren't comfortable when I first put them on in the shop and walk about in them for a few minutes, they are probably never going to be comfortable (or making them comfortable is going to be more trouble than they are worth) so there's no point buying them.  I refuse to put up with sore feet because shoes don't fit right - the onus should be on the manufacturers to make comfortable footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, sometimes a specially made Shoe Last can be put into shoes when you take them off to keep them in shape or stretch them into a more comfortable shape, but from what you describe, these boots were made with stitching ridges and/or stiffeners in inappropriate places that are causing you the problems you describe, so you can't even trim them down without destroying the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an option of last resort and insufficient funds, before I decided to implement my strict personal &quot;If it isn't right in the shop, don't buy it&quot; policy, I have added 0.5mm to 1.0mm thick cardboard (heavy plastic sheeting might do as well) cut to shape to the problematic areas, either inside my socks or between my socks and the shoes.  In your case, a piece covering the heel and a piece over the top of the foot should help.  Make sure the card you use is fairly flexible, or it will cause its own problems.  If necessary, thicker card can be shaved down around the edges with a sharp blade to prevent them from being painful.  When (not if) the cardboard pieces wear out, you might consider sending them to the manufacturer with a description of how you use them and ask them to consider what their shoes would have had to be doing to your feet for the card to get into this condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3040" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T22:50:18.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5391" CreationDate="2014-03-13T23:12:34.350" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a question whose answer depends a lot on personal style and preferences. I prefer an ultralight style of backpacking. For a week without resupply, I would use my Gossamer gear G4, which is a 66 liter pack that weighs 0.9 lb. It's basically a silnylon sack with two arm straps, plus some netting on the outside that contributes to the stated capacity of the pack. With that pack, for a summer trip, I would have a base weight (i.e., total weight without food or water) of about 12 lb. In addition to that weight, I would have about 8 lb of food. (I eat about 1.1 lb/day while backpacking.) This adds up to 20 lb on the first day, and that's a very comfortable amount of weight to carry with this style of ultralight pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a matter of style or personal preference, some people like to use a type of pack that has a sophisticated suspension system, is somewhat stiffer, and weighs a lot more. People who use this type of pack are usually not practicing a very lightweight style, so their base weight for a 7-day trip would probably be a lot higher. The level of comfort when wearing the pack comes out about the same, because although they're carrying maybe double the weight that I am, they have a better suspension and more padding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-03-13T23:12:34.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-14T05:15:36.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First I recommend &quot;moleskin&quot; this is a padding with a adhesive back that you can cut to size and stick to your foot for the problem areas. It is used for blisters, but if you have a problem spot you can let it get worn down first instead of you foot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear two pairs of socks, but two different types. The first pair being a thin &quot;dress sock&quot; type or something like nylon. The second pair use a thicker sock like your wool (or polypropylene - very nice but expensive).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of shoe in the picture looks problematic as well, It looks like it comes up right under the ankle joint and probably rubs really bad there. I usually buy boots that go higher up to avoid rubbing around that area - however since you already have this pair, it might help taking a spoon and rubbing the inside of the shoe where it usually rubs on your feet, assuming this is not initially a size problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3042" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T05:15:36.700" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-14T07:09:28.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not saying that you should continue with the break in, but I can say that I bought a pair of Red Wing Boots some month ago, and the break in&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;took a lot longer than what you describe (at least 60 hours of walking I would say)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;included one &quot;session&quot; as described by berry120 - making them completely wet, and wearing them until they were dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole thing was, to be honest, a really horrible experience. At one point, I had really bad blisters; I took a two-week vacation from the break-in, which is what I highly recommend to you before continuing. Let your feet heal completely, then do the wet-to-dry session.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; wear two pair of socks, a pair of very thin on the inside, with very dense material, and a pair of thicker socks on the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3038" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T07:09:28.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-14T09:10:21.813" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have extremely wide feet which do not fit all shoes comfortably. I discovered a product at a shoe repair store, smelling something like nail polish remover, with which one wets the inside of the boot. The wet boot is then fitted onto the feet and allowed to dry. It shortens the time required to adjust the leather and works remarkably well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3044" LastActivityDate="2014-03-14T09:10:21.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5406" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5410" CreationDate="2014-03-14T20:34:36.060" Score="12" ViewCount="16011" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for some input to determine which type to camping tent I should purchase specifically for car camping.  I really like canvas tents as many of their features are very appealing but I know they do have a number of drawbacks.  Below is a summary of what I have found in my research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;My Background&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not need this tent to be portable (i.e. carried long distances) as this is intended for week-long trips with the family when camping in a single location, most often (but not always) at developed campgrounds.  My only constraint is with the packed size as I'm currently driving a small crossover SUV which doesn't quite have the carrying capacity of a pickup truck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The Comparison&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Canvas Tents&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pros:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large - Lots of room internally with near vertical walls.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof - Easily maintained waterproofing using a product such as Kiwi Camp Dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature - Cooler in summer and warmer in winter as compared to Nylon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durable - If well maintained (not put away wet, will last decades).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repairable - Simple needle and tread can be used to make field repairs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Cons:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy - Thick (but durable) material and steel poles contribute significant weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulky - For similar reasons to #1, they take up a lot of space when stored.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price - Substantially more expensive than Nylon counterparts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stinky - Can develop an odor that's borderline impossible to remove, particularly if ever stored wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Nylon Tents&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pros:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight - Very light, small tents are event backpack-able.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price - Cheap enough to almost be disposable.  Large tents are not dirt cheap but are still 1/2 the price of their canvas counterparts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Cons:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not as durable - Waterproofing breaks down over time and seam leaks are difficult to repair.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small - Large tents are almost (but not always) dome tents to take advantage of the small/lightweight curved fiberglass poles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature - Hot in summer and cold in winter.  Slightly invalidated for summer as only &quot;hot&quot; when the sun is shining and I'm not in the tent anyways.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;My Use Case&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm leaning towards a Kodiak Canvas 9x12 cabin tent with a ground cloth and the attached screen porch option.  If anyone has any hands on experience with one of these tents specifically, I'm interested in how it stands up against the aforementioned points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I elected for this specific model because the attached porch can optionally be setup or tied back to the main tent meaning that I could use it when no other screen rooms are available and we need a bug-free location for cooking and storing gear under a roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The Real Questions&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can anyone offer some advice regarding their experience with the points in my comparison?  I've never stayed in a canvas tent so I am likely missing some important details.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you think that my decision to go with the large canvas tent is a wise one?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3045" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:01:06.440" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:01:06.440" Title="Canvas vs Nylon Tent for Car Camping" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5408" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5409" CreationDate="2014-03-14T23:27:58.060" Score="5" ViewCount="2421" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any maps available that would be useful for walking off-road in southern spain that I can use with my Garmin  etrex vista HCX?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-03-16T22:45:32.557" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T17:24:58.847" Title="What free/open source maps can I put on my Garmin etrex vista HCX for walking in southern spain?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5408" CreationDate="2014-03-15T02:38:57.140" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would consider using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.openstreetmap.org/&quot;&gt;OSM&lt;/a&gt; as they are &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download&quot;&gt;available for garmin devices&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-03-15T02:38:57.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5406" CreationDate="2014-03-15T03:27:22.803" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is camping to you about the campsite or the outdoor activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've addressed the significant points, but I think the issue can be reduced to two factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Time required to set up and take down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Physical size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canvas will generally lose both due to the added bulk. So why use a canvas tent? As anyone familiar knows, they're amazing when you're inside them. The more hours you plan to spend in the tent awake, the more attractive canvas becomes as an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For short trips where the tent is primarily used for sleeping, they tend to be more of a hassle than they're worth. The longer you stay, or the more time you plan to spend inside, the less of an issue the time and bulk become. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That leaves trip duration as the deciding factor. &#xA;How short of a stay is too short for canvas? Personally, I wouldn't set up a canvas tent for any stay that was less than three nights, and only then if it was a trip that revolved around the campsite. If it's an average trip with lots of daytime excursions, I wouldn't use canvas for anything under a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oftentimes when I go camping with a larger group, one or two canvas wall tents will be set up as the living and dining areas for everyone, while synthetic dome tents will be used for separate sleeping quarters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If camping is about the campsite, then go with a canvas tent, it'll make for a great experience and, if properly cared for, will last a lifetime. If camping is about outdoor activities, go with the synthetic dome tent and spend the extra money on other gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2885" LastActivityDate="2014-03-15T03:27:22.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2014-03-15T15:11:54.007" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google maps is free as in beer but doesn't usually show hiking trails. &lt;em&gt;Open Street Maps&lt;/em&gt; is a free and open source site that works sort of like Wikipedia, and it often has good coverage of hiking trails, but the coverage may be somewhat hit-or-miss. For example, I've put in some trails for specific areas in California that are near my house or that I've visited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with both of these is that they don't provide topo maps with contour lines. Google maps does provide maps with hill shading, although IIRC they make it a hassle to print them, and you can't get features such as a UTM grid. There are some third parties that provide free topo maps in formats friendly to handheld devices, but I'm not aware of any that give global coverage. Here are some I know of, with links to a sample area in California so you can compare them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.stamen.com/terrain/#14/36.4661/-118.2014&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stamen&lt;/a&gt;: shading but not contours&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.closedcontour.com/?zoom=7&amp;amp;lat=36.48029&amp;amp;lon=-118.20395&amp;amp;layers=B&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Closed Contour&lt;/a&gt;: only covers the Sierra&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.toposm.com/us/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toposm&lt;/a&gt;: US only&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want color images of normal paper maps, then usually they can be obtained easily from national governments' web sites. Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://topomaps.usgs.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Topo Maps&lt;/a&gt;: There are more convenient and better designed third-party portals such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://libremap.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://libremap.org&lt;/a&gt;. Topo maps with trails are available for some USFS lands &lt;a href=&quot;http://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/states-regions/states.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;from the Forest Service&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UK Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://map.geo.admin.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Switzerland Maps&lt;/a&gt;: an extremely well designed site&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.inegi.org.mx/geo/contenidos/topografia/carta50000.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mexico Topo Maps&lt;/a&gt;: theoretically allows you to download maps, but appears to be unusable&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the most practical approach is to get maps on paper, either by buying them or by downloading images and printing them out on a color printer. This has the advantage that it's cheap or free, and there is coverage of pretty much everywhere that I want to go. You can get maps with UTM grids on them, or draw in UTM grids. The UTM grid makes it possible to use them with GPS. An added advantage of the paper maps is that if your GPS unit isn't working (dead batteries, no satellites visible in the sky because you're in a deep canyon, ...), you can still use them. Yet another advantage is that they provide much higher resolution than an LCD screen at any given scale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T16:54:52.757" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T16:54:52.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5413" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5499" CreationDate="2014-03-15T15:56:30.307" Score="10" ViewCount="2127" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently use La Sportiva WildCat Trail Running Shoes size 43 for trail running/light hiking and Nepal EVO's size 44 for Ice Climbing and Alpine adventures.  The Nepal EVO's fit me perfectly with a good midweight sock and using their additional tongue for the left foot which is slightly smaller than my right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking at purchasing La Sportiva Olympus Mons EVO's for high altitude such as Denali and other real cold expedition type adventures that require a double boot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is how much larger do I size them to accommodate for the swelling of the feet at high altitude?  Would one full size be ok?  I am thinking a half size for thicker sock+ sock liner and a half size for the swelling of the foot, is this accurate or should I be sizing up even larger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-03-18T18:51:50.727" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T11:25:27.003" Title="Sizing up high altitude boots" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2014-03-17T00:17:18.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go to your nearest military surplus store and ask if they have any arctic water bottles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These water bottles are made out of aluminum, they are generally round. They are fairly good to hold a lot of water for their size, the water should last about a day or two before we need to be filled (Depending on how much water you drink). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will never freeze. I've tried these things out at 40 below zero and still haven't been able to get one to freeze solid. I have one in my winter gear and one in My pickup truck (for if I get stranded in the winter) and also one extra. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These water bottles are the same water bottles used by the US military for down in Antarctica&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3051" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-17T14:41:05.627" LastActivityDate="2014-03-17T14:41:05.627" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2014-03-17T01:17:16.247" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, it generally works fine if I simply use cheap, lightweight water bottles (e.g., a 2-liter soda bottle), and put them inside my pack while I'm hiking. The surrounding material in the pack insulates the bottle from the cold air, and my body heats up the pack, so the water doesn't freeze. If the weather is very cold, I can use extra care in packing my pack so that the bottle is close to my body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the answers have suggested putting the bottle inside one's jacket or clothes. This seems like it would be extremely uncomfortable and impractical, especially with a large water bottle. In my experience (down to about 0 F or -20 C), this isn't necessary, and the water stays unfrozen inside the pack, if it's close to my body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I need water to stay unfrozen overnight in cold temps, I can put the bottle inside the tent or even inside the sleeping bag -- but in this situation I'm probably depending on melted snow for my drinking water anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common problem I've seen during the day while hiking is that when people use platypus-style bladders with a mouth tube, the water inside the tube freezes. This is one of the many disadvantages of these systems, and it's one of the many reasons I don't use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-17T02:56:57.613" LastActivityDate="2014-03-17T02:56:57.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5381" CreationDate="2014-03-17T16:25:49.890" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another guide book option for you might be the BMC sport climbing guide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vk2Pb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bmcshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=5299&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bmcshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=5299&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3053" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-17T17:11:57.783" LastActivityDate="2014-03-17T17:11:57.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3628" CreationDate="2014-03-17T17:33:19.057" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one often forgotten thing in skiing that can be harmful. The waxes. The racing ones contain a lot of fluorocarbons that can stay in the environment for ages. The pure racing fluorocarbons (mostly powders) are dangerous even to people applying them and special masks should be worn (&lt;a href=&quot;http://fasterskier.com/blog/article/waxing-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;see&lt;/a&gt;). Consider using just pure hydrocarbon waxes or other waxes marked as environment friendly when not taking part in competitions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3055" LastEditorUserId="3055" LastEditDate="2015-08-31T20:38:07.713" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T20:38:07.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2014-03-18T16:48:09.027" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a look at these solar charger options. &#xA;Solar charger solio, power traveller, brown dog, snow lizard, Bushnell Bear Grylls SolarWrap Freeloader pro / freeloader,&#xA;links&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/DYI-iPhone-5-Solar-Charger-with-CAD/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.instructables.com/id/DYI-iPhone-5-Solar-Charger-with-CAD/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Solar-Charger-Reviews&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Solar-Charger-Reviews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end I went with an option by a company called Portapow and on Amazon they were doing a 11w solar panel and usb battery bundle for £80. Batteries by Anker also come with a good reputation and portapow also have an AA USB battery charger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastActivityDate="2014-03-18T16:48:09.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2014-03-18T22:21:20.737" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because you want to &lt;em&gt;increase&lt;/em&gt; your chances of contracting nail fungus or athlete's foot from your rental shoes :)  In other words, it's probably better to &lt;strong&gt;keep the socks on if you're renting shoes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3057" LastActivityDate="2014-03-18T22:21:20.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2014-03-19T12:40:32.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's also a good idea when camping in freezing weather to pour some water into your cooking pot before going to sleep so that if it freezes overnight it will freeze in the pot rather than the container. It's a lot easier then to melt the ice in the pot rather than the container when you wake up in the morning and want the water for breakfast or a hot drink!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-03-19T12:40:32.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5424" CreationDate="2014-03-19T21:16:19.723" Score="22" ViewCount="2622" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The scenario&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My climbing partner and I are at the top of a pitch and we drop a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belay_device&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;belay plate&lt;/a&gt; to the ground. There is no safe descent, we were planning on rappelling down off safe anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do we do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also covers:  &quot;How to abseil without a descender device?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T07:50:16.300" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T08:10:05.250" Title="What do I do if I lose my belay plate?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2014-03-19T21:16:19.723" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you drop a belay plate you can use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munter_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Munter Hitch&lt;/a&gt; to descend down the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ikVVS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntermule/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoG..&amp;amp;Website=&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's an animated example of how to tie this knot (1 to 6 only)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It works like a belay plate (but in reverse) so if you hold your hand close to your leg it will release. Moving it forward locks the slip knot. You can use a munter with two ropes (or one rope in half) or a single rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a video &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/34349494&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;describing the whole process in detail&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-22T13:22:57.053" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5425" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5429" CreationDate="2014-03-19T21:35:42.150" Score="12" ViewCount="2517" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/331/2766&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; asks how to set up a top rope anchor. It states that &lt;em&gt;No angle of tension shall exceed 60 degrees&lt;/em&gt;. Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T00:03:28.127" Title="Why should the angle in a rope attached to two anchors be 60 degrees or less?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5425" CreationDate="2014-03-19T21:35:42.150" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is due to the load that is passed to each anchor. You might think that (for example) two anchors will receive 50% load each during a fall or simply when the climber weights the rope. But actually the amount of load an anchor receives depends on the angle of the rope that this is attached to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically a belay with two anchor points forms a triangle&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Anchor   Anchor&#xA; *      *&#xA;  *    *&#xA;   *  *&#xA;    *&#xA;  Attachment&#xA;    point&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The angle (at the attachment point) of this triangle dictates the amount of load that is passed to each anchor. If the angle is 60 degrees of less each anchor point receives 58% or the load placed on the attachment point. This is generally regarded as a safe amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the angle increases beyond 60 degrees:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Anchor                      Anchor&#xA; *                           *&#xA;    *                      *&#xA;       *                 *&#xA;          *           *&#xA;             *     *&#xA;                *&#xA;           Attachment&#xA;              point&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The load placed on each anchor also increases. At 90 degrees the load is 71%. At 120 Degrees it's 100%!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you should always keep the angle between anchors under 60 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-21T10:20:50.843" LastActivityDate="2014-03-21T10:20:50.843" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5382" CreationDate="2014-03-19T21:39:35.443" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scottish mountaineer Hamish Brown used such a tent back in 1974 while completing the first round of Munros (Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet) in a continuous walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hamish’s tent, made by Tulloch Mountaincraft, was a single skin nylon tapered ridge that weighed “a bit over 3lb” (1.3kg), which is lighter than many solo tents today. This tent had a tray-shaped groundsheet that attached with elastic tabs and floated inside the tent so that condensation ran down the walls and into the ground rather than onto the floor. Now why has no-one revived that idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2011/02/how-new-is-lightweight-backpacking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Chris Townsend's WebSite&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-03-19T21:39:35.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5425" CreationDate="2014-03-19T23:38:47.727" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The diagram shows three situations that are easy to understand without knowing a lot of math or physics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/92lt2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first example, the angle between the anchor strands is zero. Both anchors pull straight up on the biner, and each supports 50% of the load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the second example, all three angles are 120 degrees. The situation is totally symmetrical, so all three forces are equal in strength. Each anchor strand has to be able to support 100% of the load. For example, if the climber is hanging from the rope (a static load), and weighs 100 pounds, then each anchor strand will also be subject to 100 pounds of stress. This is obviously not that great a situation, and each anchor is just as likely to fail as if you had simply hung the climber off of that anchor alone. However, the anchor is redundant, so this is still better than a single anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third example shows a hypothetical situation where the angle at the top opens up to 180 degrees. This isn't actually physically possible. Each anchor strand is only applying a horizontal force to the biner. There is no upward force on the biner that could cancel the downward force from the climber's strand. No matter how tight you were to pull the two anchor strands, they would never flatten out to 180 degrees. As the angle gets closer and closer to 180 degrees, the strain approaches infinity, and you're guaranteed that something in the system will fail. Maybe the rope will snap, or maybe the biner will break, or maybe one of the anchors will pull out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is nothing magic about 60 degrees. As the angle increases, the stress on each anchor increases. An angle of 50 degrees could be too much, if your anchors were poor and you needed to hold a big dynamic load. An angle of 90 degrees could be perfectly OK, if the anchors were good and they just needed to hold a small static load. There could be a situation where I just had no choice but to do an arrangement like the 120-degree example, because it just wasn't physically possible to set up with a smaller angle. (Maybe something's in the way, or there's not enough rope, or the smaller angle would require the biner to be so low that I couldn't safely reach it, or the smaller angle would send anchor strands over a sharp knife-edge of rock.) I would still prefer such a setup to a non-redundant anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-22T00:21:55.787" LastActivityDate="2014-03-22T00:21:55.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5408" CreationDate="2014-03-20T05:25:30.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to ppl's reply, &lt;a href=&quot;http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Free maps for Garmin brand GPS devices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ibycus.com/ibycustopo/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ibycus Topo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And &lt;a href=&quot;http://gpsfiledepot.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GpsFileDepot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there's probably more that could be added.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3067" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-03-20T19:00:25.593" LastActivityDate="2014-03-20T19:00:25.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-03-20T12:40:02.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern boots really don't need a period of breaking in like they used to many years ago. They should be reasonably comfortable as soon as you try them on when buying them. To be honest, it sounds like the boots just don't fit your feet properly. &#xA;It doesn't matter how good or bad the boots are quality-wise or how much they cost: if they don't fit your feet, then they will always give you trouble. I'm not talking about the size of the boots. Boots are made on what are called &quot;lasts&quot; and these are different shapes even for the same size.&#xA;Your best bet is to visit a good shop where the staff will measure your feet properly and help  you choose a pair of boots which fit you properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-03-20T12:40:02.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5455" CreationDate="2014-03-20T14:05:40.430" Score="20" ViewCount="33740" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are both spray-on and wash-in products available for treating my DWR (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durable_water_repellent&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Durable Water Repellent&lt;/a&gt;), gore-tex, eVent and other garments using products such as nikwax wash-in or nikwax tx-direct.  What types of garments is it more appropriate to use spray-on versus wash-in on and vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-10T00:58:45.443" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T10:05:42.637" Title="When should I use spray-on versus wash-in waterproofer for treating DWR garments?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2014-03-20T16:52:36.360" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have garments, such as pertex, with a pile (Buffalo Mountain Shirt) or microfleece lining (Rab Vapour Rise Jacket). It's useful to have a DWR treatment on the Pertex to help with water resistance where the lining still needs to cope with excess moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these sorts of garments you definitely want a spray-on treatment otherwise the action of the lining allowing it to move excess moisture away from skin or base clothing will be compromised if they also become hydrophobic due to the DWR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For clothing with no such lining where you ant all the garment to be water resistant (or waterproof), then the wash-in sort of DWR, is more convenient and probably does the job better, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-20T16:58:41.147" LastActivityDate="2014-03-20T16:58:41.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2014-03-20T19:26:52.333" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When winter camping I warm up the water on the stove and then keep in my coat--net effect is to warm the body and prevent freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also store some boiled water in a vacuum thermos to save the energy spent on boiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3070" LastActivityDate="2014-03-20T19:26:52.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2014-03-20T19:43:57.613" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lifeguarded in a beach for many years where the beach was covered in iron ore pieces, kind of like walking on crushed glass mixed with sand.  It wasn't painful but it did hurt and tried to avoid when possible.  By the end of the summer my feet were tough enough that I have stepped on glass about 1 inch in size and it does not puncture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3071" LastActivityDate="2014-03-20T19:43:57.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5392" CreationDate="2014-03-21T00:39:49.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a smaller ~60L that I bought first, but ended up buying an expedition-size ~110L pack that I now use all the time. In the winter it is a necessity because you can plan on taking about twice the gear and supplies as you might in the summer. It's also useful for extended hikes in the summer, as well as afternoon climbing outings when I have a rope and other gear to haul. And when I go on shorter overnight outings, I still use it, but cinch all the straps down until it is compact. If you think you might use a bigger pack, get a bigger pack!  It's better to get a small daypack (~20ish) and a second pack that's as large as you think you'll ever need, IMO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3070" LastActivityDate="2014-03-21T00:39:49.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2014-03-21T06:30:20.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To emphasize what Liam and Paul hinted at, in all likelihood, too much nikwax wash-in and the like could potentially act against gore-tex by blocking the pores and preventing the fabric from breathing (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5113/what-exactly-is-the-chemical-coating-on-the-outside-of-goretex?rq=1&quot;&gt;thus soaking in your own sweat&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/content/care-center/washing-instructions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gore-tex primarily recommends&lt;/a&gt; on their site and what I've had more success with is simply tumble drying the garment for 20 minutes to reactivate the DWR every once in a while. Every so often, I also coat the seams in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.otterwax.com/product/otter-wax-reg-bar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;otter wax&lt;/a&gt; to really seal the deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-10T01:10:52.820" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T01:10:52.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5438" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-21T06:51:16.477" Score="6" ViewCount="212" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some gold pans and a portable shovel. I live in California and I am interested in places with camping grounds and nearby water to do some recreational gold panning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Know of any good places for a beginner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3072" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T12:14:43.170" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T12:14:43.170" Title="Where is a good place in California to go gold panning for a beginner?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;gold-panning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2014-03-22T00:11:17.953" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;One method is to build a brake out of carabiners. The minimum equipment for this is three oval biners plus a locking biner, and the diagrams below show how to construct the system with only this many biners. However, this setup doesn't give much friction, especially with a thin rope, and normally people use at least one more oval, as described in the text below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fq8Xf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;diagrams showing how to construct a carabiner brake&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To construct the brake start with the usual large locking biner clipped to your belay loop, as you would for any rappel. The diagrams show a double-strand rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clip the two oval biners A and B, with their gates opposite and opposed, through the locking biner. Pull a bight through the ovals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Insert your third oval, C, through the bight, with the spine oriented as shown.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clip the load strands back through the sideways biner C.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flip C around and over the tops of A and B, forming a crossbar with its spine. &lt;strong&gt;Make sure that the rope ended up passing over the spine of C, not its gate.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted previously, the setup shown in figure 4 doesn't really give much friction. If you have a fourth oval biner D, it's a good idea to add it next to C, so that they form a sort of double-thickness crossbar. &lt;em&gt;Both&lt;/em&gt; C and D should have their spines touching the rope, not their gates. (They can be reversed, but not opposed.) Only A and B should be opposite and opposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't try to do without the locking biner. If you simply clip A and B to your belay loop, the rope will rub against your belay loop and possibly destroy it through intense frictional heating. It is OK, however, to replace the locking biner with a pair of nonlocking biners, opposite and opposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard braking position for this standard setup is to hold the brake strand down at your hip, just as you would with an ATC. If you raise the brake strand to a higher angle, it could press against the gates of C and D, possibly causing them to open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various ways of increasing the friction. If you have a huge load to lower and lots of oval biners, you can build two of these brakes in series. You can rearrange the brake bars to send the rope through in an S shape. In comments, Steed suggests using a locking biner for C, in which case it becomes safe to brake with the brake strand raised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A possible advantage of the carabiner brake over a Munter is that the Munter will tend to twist up your rope. A possible disadvantage is that you may not have enough oval biners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further information&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills, 8th ed.&lt;/a&gt;, p. 197&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/CrabBrake.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/CrabBrake.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/od/rappelling/a/CarabinerBrake1.htm&quot;&gt;http://climbing.about.com/od/rappelling/a/CarabinerBrake1.htm&lt;/a&gt; Discusses pros and cons of Munter versus carabiner brake.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/rappel-without-a-belay-device/&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/rappel-without-a-belay-device/&lt;/a&gt; Discusses braking position and building one out of non-oval biners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-23T21:21:13.190" LastActivityDate="2014-03-23T21:21:13.190" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5440" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5441" CreationDate="2014-03-22T02:05:02.970" Score="11" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I decided to kill some time today and look at pictures of wooden kayaks online. I kept seeing the phrase &quot;stitch-and-glue&quot; with respect to some of the kayaks. What does this term mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2014-03-22T02:18:17.793" Title="What is a &quot;stitch-and-glue&quot; kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5440" CreationDate="2014-03-22T02:18:17.793" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A stitch and glue boat hull is made of plywood panels assembled with fiberglass tape. Contrary to traditional boat building in which molds define the hull shape, in stitch and glue, &lt;strong&gt;the hull panels define the shape&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another major difference with wooden boat building is that &lt;strong&gt;the framing of a stitch and glue boat is made of fiberglass&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-03-22T02:18:17.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2014-03-22T21:38:56.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the Nikwax website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wash-In&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&quot;For the &lt;strong&gt;convenience&lt;/strong&gt; of a wash-in product try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php?productid=267&amp;amp;itemid=-1&amp;amp;fabricid=-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TX.Direct® Wash-In&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spray-On&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&quot;For &lt;strong&gt;non-machine washable items or those with wicking linings&lt;/strong&gt; use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php?productid=265&amp;amp;activity=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;TX.Direct® Spray-On&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3078" LastActivityDate="2014-03-22T21:38:56.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2014-03-23T16:42:07.467" Score="-3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Curiouser and curiouser! /Alice in Wonderland/&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DISCLAIMER&lt;/strong&gt;: this is definitely not a proven advice from the book and may be suitable only for experienced climbers, who do it on their own risk!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wonder what to do if you have no spare carabiners for the carabiner brake and need to descend many rope lengths so that Munter Hitch would twist and damage it like hell?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use your ascender (I mean Petzl Ascension or something similar). If you look at it from the bottom (handle) side and add some imagination, you will see a figure eight there:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RAoxz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Original image from Wikipedia&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can use this instead of a figure eight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It doesn't need extra carabiners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It doesn't twist rope that much&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously, the device was never meant to be used like this&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. This is mostly an example of how you can think out of the box.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PPS. Thinking out of the box is &lt;strong&gt;your own risk&lt;/strong&gt;. I personally would use this method only as the last resort if other methods fail (e.g. in the middle of an expedition, when you can't throw away your ropes after the descent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PPPS. Yes, this was used in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PPPPS. No, there are even weirder methods, e.g.: &lt;a href=&quot;http://video.yandex.ru/users/rus-alp/view/1/?ncrnd=739692&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://video.yandex.ru/users/rus-alp/view/1/?ncrnd=739692&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2014-03-23T16:42:07.467" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2014-03-23T17:12:13.037" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;This topic will be incomplete without mentioning the good old &lt;strong&gt;dulfersitz&lt;/strong&gt; method used by our fathers when there were no belay plates and no carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method doesn't require any equipment other than the rope itself. And, well, sturdy clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The method is to pass the rope around your body in a special way shown in the picture 1 below. Picture 2 shows a variation with a carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ehiUn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;original: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corda_alpinismo.jpg?uselang=ru&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(origin: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corda_alpinismo.jpg)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a &quot;last resort&quot; type method, because it is quite hard on your body on inclined slopes and simply painful on verticals. But it works and you can even use a prusik to back it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the rope presses hard on your leg and eats up your clothes by friction, people started to add more fabric to their pants at the main friction point. Then they started to sew metallic parts to their pants. Then they realized that they didn't need pants if they had metallic parts. This way the first belay devices were born. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="1794" LastEditDate="2014-03-24T08:54:42.873" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T08:54:42.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2014-03-23T17:30:19.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why exactly do you need to carry frozen water? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the temperature is about 0 C, the water will not freeze for a long time anyway. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is way below 0 C, than you are probably having snow nearby, which you can perfectly use for cooking. You can melt snow during your breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you want to avoid spending time on boiling at lunch, take a thermos with some hot tea from breakfast. In a good thermos it will remain quite warm for a half of a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If temperature in the evening is above 0 C and in the morning all the running water gets frozen (typical in mountain trips), fill some plastic bottles with the running water in the evening and put them inside your tent. Depending on the temperature you may need to put some of them inside your sleeping bag (well, that's life).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2014-03-23T17:30:19.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5446" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-23T21:43:07.300" Score="9" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been geocaching using Android smartphone, but it slowly becomes unsatisfying. The battery time of Android smartphones is too low, I need to minimize time I'm walking with device on, because battery discharges very quickly. I'm planning to buy a dedicated GPS device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I take into account when I'm going to use GPS device for geocaching? There are some general features, like battery life, screen resolution, the ability to upload custom maps and points with photos and descriptions (general GPX support). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But are there any features that are specific for geocahing, and may be not present, or unsatisfactory in some GPS devices? Geocaching requires the device, for example, to be hand-held and operate by various whether conditions... Is there anything else I'm missing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-03-24T01:32:17.083" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T01:32:17.083" Title="What specific features should I take into account when buying GPS device for Geocaching?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5446" CreationDate="2014-03-23T23:45:47.263" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say the following are important things to have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good signal strength is a must - Geocaching will often take you into built up areas or wooded areas, and it's incredibly frustrating going round in circles with an inaccurate GPS when one with a better signal strength could home in on it with no problem at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good battery life, preferably with standard batteries so you can easily take extras. (Get rechargeables if you're using it with any frequency, they'll prove invaluable.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof. This is actually surprisingly standard on many walking GPS units, so shouldn't be an issue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electronic compass. This again is a must have, especially if you're used to using a phone to navigate. Without a compass the direction needle will base it's position on your last few metres of movement, meaning you can't just stand still and let the compass needle ascertain your direction, you have to walk around a bit - this can quickly get rather annoying when you're at GZ and trying to work out precisely where the co-ords state.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More than screen resolution, screen &lt;em&gt;contrast&lt;/em&gt; is important. You're going to be using this (hopefully!) on sunny days, so a screen with all the contrast of a 90's LCD is going to be nigh on useless. Make sure it can be used without difficulty in bright light.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're caching at night, then the opposite will also be true - make sure the screen has a backlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other points I think you've covered - maps of course are very useful, as is the ability to upload photos. Bear in mind however that cost tends to rapidly rise the more &quot;nice to have&quot; features you add, and budget units will do the job. I've been caching with my etrex-h for the last few years now - cheap, basic, black and white screen, no maps, no electronic compass - but it still does the job and has found me a few hundred caches without issue!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2014-03-23T23:45:47.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5448" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5449" CreationDate="2014-03-24T00:14:43.693" Score="13" ViewCount="22938" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tent vs bivvy bag - different camping experience, protection from the elements, comfort and weight? What are the pros and cons of both? Is it even a valid comparison - e.g. is it viable to rely on multi-day camping if you only have a bivvy bag or on the contrary does it make it easier to find somewhere to sleep?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="190" LastEditDate="2020-09-29T11:56:04.523" LastActivityDate="2020-10-13T09:39:56.973" Title="Pros and cons of Tent vs bivvy bag" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5448" CreationDate="2014-03-24T01:37:38.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tents, tarps, and bivvy sacks are three different specialized tools for three different jobs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tarp&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically prefer a tarp to either a tent or a bivvy sack, but that's because I do most of my camping in California in the summer, when the weather tends to be quite dry. In summer in the Sierra, I usually bring a tarp but sleep in the open and never take the tarp out of my pack. A tarp is easiest to set up if you have trees, and works best if there is no wind. Setting up a tarp takes some skill and practice. In a wind, it's hard to keep a tarp from flapping noisily and keeping you awake. The great thing about tarps is that they can be so compact and light. My tarp is 6.5 oz (180 g).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I know that a trip is going to involve snow camping, I'd prefer a tent. Some people prefer tents to tarps for summer camping because they keep bugs out, but what works well for me in mosquito season is to sleep in a headnet until the air gets cold enough that the bugs become inactive. Expensive ultralight summer tents can be almost as light and compact as a tarp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bivvy sack&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm planning to do a climb in snow in a single day, but want a safety net in case I need to camp, I might bring a bivvy sack as a more compact and lightweight alternative to bringing a tent that I don't expect to use. I have one and have brought it as an emergency tool, but have never slept in it. I have talked to quite a few people who have used bivvy sacks, and none of them ever had anything good to say about spending a night in one. Everybody complains about condensation building up inside the sack, leaving you sleeping in a pool of water. Bivvy sacks vary a lot in weight. Mine is 8.5 oz (240 g), but I've seen others that are as much as 39 oz (1100 g), which seems absurd to me since you could get a tent that weighs the same amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-24T17:47:58.167" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T17:47:58.167" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5448" CreationDate="2014-03-24T01:47:33.113" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have run into this HYPOTHETICAL dilemma with bivvy sacs: &#xA;I have long liked the idea of a little cocoon to just snap to a couple points and presto sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each time I camp, I look around either while pitching my tent, or in the A.M. when the sun comes up if I have to, just to take in the location, and maybe consider a few what-ifs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have often seen places where there is not a lot of practicality for bivvy sacs due to the lack of natural fixtures to append them to. What I mean is; it sure sounds cool in theory to string your hammock or bivvy sac to a set of trees, but in practice that is not always possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider your terrain, know it well, know your overnight spots and ask people on forums who may have been there if you can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am considering a Pacific Crest Trail run to Oregon this summer and I really want to take a bivvy sac, but I don't think I can reliably guarantee a set of trees to sling it on at all times. Sometimes you just gotta crash out, and the darkness has set in, you become dangerously tired.. that trail is too narrow and a mess to just improvise outside a designated overnight spot..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen this in a few spots along the PCT in the North Cascades, and what I came away thinking is it would be real inconvenient if I had brought a bivvy sac.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I obviously am not a seasoned bivvy sac user; so take my observations lightly with a grain of salt. However; that is my take on the bivvy sac dilemma. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2347" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T01:47:33.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5448" CreationDate="2014-03-24T10:11:51.807" Score="12" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Bivy&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very light. No tent poles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ease of finding a place to sleep. Stealth bivvying is easier. I've slept on a slope against a tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very quick to setup or pack away, even in the dark. One minute, compared for ten minutes for a tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are at one with nature. Very little between you and the wild. You can fall  to sleep looking at the stars.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Condensation. Sleeping bag will get damp. (You can mitigate this by using a more expensive breathable bivy bag and a synthetic sleeping bag or using a hydrophobic down sleeping bag (you can do the treatment yourself))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Midges. You can avoid these usually by bivvying on the top of the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the weather gets bad and you close yourself in it is more claustrophobic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For multiday trips you'll need to dry stuff out in a bothy/hostel every 2/3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have no option to bring your backpack and footwear inside, exposing them to the elements and animals (though a cheap plastic garbage bag is a great solution for this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Tent:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More comfortable. More space.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protected from the weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lightweight tent, I use an Akto, can be only slightly heavier than a bivvy bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Much less condensation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can do long multi-day trips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive. For a lightweight one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to find a camping spot. Harder to stealth camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are separated from nature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more about bivvying a must read is &amp;quot;The Book of the Bivvy&amp;quot; by Ronald Turnbull. For more about being close to nature read &amp;quot;The Wild Places&amp;quot; by Robert Macfarlane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2020-10-13T09:39:56.973" LastActivityDate="2020-10-13T09:39:56.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5472" CreationDate="2014-03-24T11:09:01.263" Score="11" ViewCount="3317" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/OPTIMUS-MULTI-COOKING-STOVE-BURNER/dp/B0046ZCQ1Q&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;optimus nova stove&lt;/a&gt; and there is a round 'wick' under the burner that gets fuel on it when you start the stove. What is this material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="2882" LastEditDate="2014-03-28T09:29:42.110" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T16:34:39.397" Title="What material is the wick under the burner on a multi-fuel stove?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2014-03-24T15:39:28.430" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;After considering the existing answers and doing some additional research, here's my take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spray-on waterproofing&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;Spray on waterproofing should be used on Multi layer garments. You only want to treat the outer layer which reduces the chance that it will be 'wetting out' quickly, which allows the inner membrane to maintain it's porous properties.  I've found many references for gore-tex which state &quot;We do not recommend wash-in treatments, as they can hinder your garment’s breathability.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wash-In waterproofing&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Ideal for Single Layer waterproof or water resistant DWR fabrics. Probably great for your tent's rainfly, cheap rain shell pants, or your single layer packable windbreaker.  Not so good for your multi-layer gore-tex jacket. Though, you could probably use the spray-on coating for these type of materials as well with little difference in final result.  So, if in doubt, I'd use the spray-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, you should keep your garments clean to ensure that body oils and sweat deposits don't clog the pores in the breathable membranes. Most breathable garments recommend using a detergent free tech wash that won't wash away the DWR treatment.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T15:39:28.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5456" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-03-24T18:17:15.620" Score="3" ViewCount="748" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of buying Garmin Etrex 20 (or 30) for geocaching purposes. I've read reviews in internet, and after that the issues with ergonomics and stability makes me worry, if that device will be good enough for geocaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm geocaching so, that I load caches for large region, but I don't plan exactly which caches will I search. Therefore, it's important for me to be able to relatively quick view the descriptions of the nearby caches. On Android, opening single cache and navigating to spoiler text + short description takes about 15 seconds. How much would it take on Etrex, where no touch screen is available? About a minute or more?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people in reviews in Amazon site complain about software unstability - the upgrades that breaks more things than repair, or cause the internal memory to be overfilled etc. Is the software for that device stable yet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T03:47:01.770" Title="Stability and ergonomics of Garmin Etrex 20" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5456" CreationDate="2014-03-24T18:51:06.057" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the Garmin Etrex 20 and I use it for everything from geocaching, to wilderness and kayaking navigation. Obviously this answer is just based on my personal experience with the device, I can't speak for anybody else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Loading, displaying, and entering&lt;/strong&gt; in new caches or locations doesn't take very long at all. After I learned where all the menus and sub-menus were located, it only took me a matter of seconds to enter information. In fact, in some ways, I find it easier than using a touchscreen because you don't have to take off and gloves or remove it from its protective case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I have never had the GPS &quot;crash&quot; or freeze up&lt;/strong&gt; or anything and have been using it fairly regularly for about a year. &lt;strong&gt;I've updated the GPS a couple of times and haven't had any problems at all.&lt;/strong&gt; The Basecamp software that Garmin uses on the computer is rather badly thought-out and the user-experience isn't great, but once you learn how to use it, it's not bad. Also, the Basecamp software isn't 100% necessary to use with the GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I've found the ergonomics to be good.&lt;/strong&gt; Using the &quot;thumbstick&quot; has never been tiring for me, even after manually entering many geocache coordinates. It fits well in my hand and the rubberized coating keeps it from slipping. I would recommend getting a protective case for it, one that you can clip to your backpack or belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2014-03-24T18:51:06.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5456" CreationDate="2014-03-26T03:47:01.770" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an Etrex 30. My experience has been similar to but different from Blackbear's summary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caches work well, that is what I primarily use it for. Since it is a small screen and low power device, it is not so good for browsing cache information. In my experience, it is a bit slow opening cache details and logs. Closer to 15 seconds than a minute, but a bit annoying. However, that could just be due to the number of caches I have on it (a lot) or the way I added them (exported from the Android c:geo app). I generally look up cache details at home or on my Android, and then navigate with the GPS once I have an idea of which caches are which. Either device can perform both roles if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had the GPS freeze up a couple of times, but that over a lot of usage. I read that evidently the earlier incarnation of the software was not very stable, but the updates have really improved it. Other than a couple instances it has been very stable with no glitches. I agree that the Basecamp software isn't the best, but it is functional and I don't use it often (only to manage maps and waypoints/tracks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wmIBNacbow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a video of the Etrex 30 I found on YouTube. The actual caching features are in the second half. My device is a bit slower than the one in the video.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The compass/altimeter needs to be recalibrated sometimes, depending on conditions, but not that often. I have not regretted getting the Etrex 30 with the compass, since it makes direction finding much easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that the ergonomics are good. Easy to use with one hand. There is an attachment on the bottom for a clip which I use with a carabiner. I put on a screen protector, and that works fine for me. It's had a few tumbles and encounters with water and is still in great shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3082" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T03:47:01.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5369" CreationDate="2014-03-26T07:43:41.853" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just stating the obvious, you should consider where and when you are hiking. Death Valley and the Appalachin trail offer extremely different environments. I have multiple different sleeping bags for different occasions.  In the summer, I generally use a 45 degree down bag. In spring and fall, I tend to carry a 30 degree bag, and in the winter I carry a 0 degree downfilled bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These hikes are generally in the Smoky Mountains where in addition to moisture from the environment, perspiration is also a factor. Unzipping the bag is an option but so is sleeping with multiple layers of clothing. I prefer to stay as dry as possible when sleeping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3084" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-27T22:48:01.653" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T22:48:01.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2014-03-26T08:08:56.130" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put your rain fly on it and hang it works well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3084" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T08:08:56.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5453" CreationDate="2014-03-26T09:40:25.157" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The priming wick on multi-fuel stoves is usually made of fiberglass material, and provides more surface area which makes harder to light fuels easier to ignite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi-fuel stoves (such as the one you mention, or the Whisperlight International) are able to burn a wide range of fuels -- some of which are not very volatile. For example, diesel fuel, and kerosene do not burn very well in puddle form, while white gas (standard stove fuel) ignites very readily and burns quite well in puddle form. (White-gas only stoves usually don't have a wick.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to help get less volatile fuels started (and thus heat up the stove) the wick provides a larger surface area that the fuel saturates and evaporates off of, making it easier to light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burning other fuels is dirtier (more soot, and lots of fun cleansers and additives that gunk things up) but the weak point that will get clogged is the jet at the end of the fuel line, not the fuel cup at the bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2014-03-28T10:43:12.377" LastActivityDate="2014-03-28T10:43:12.377" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4448" CreationDate="2014-03-26T12:10:06.063" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An axe is (when used properly) just as safe as any knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On long hikes where I know campfires are gonna be a must I do actually carry a small hatchet.&#xA;My axe has a fairly long handle and weights just about 0.5kg.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are smaller and lighter ones, but a light head and long handle means less to carry when walking and more leverage when using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For safety you should always have a proper axe sheath that goes with it (leather or hard plastic).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And you need to be able to stow it away, most countries don't allow you to carry a 'weapon' that's within hands reach and require a two step process before you can use it (eg open rucksack, take of sheath).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Having it stowed away properly inside your rucksack also means that it can't hurt you or anyone around you when falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me a large knife is far more dangerous then an axe because of the ammount of sharp surface.  And besides: using tools for anything other then their intended use is only for emergency situations, so don't go around smacking rocks on your knife to fell a tree because it's both bad for your tool and dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T12:10:06.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5465" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5468" CreationDate="2014-03-26T15:59:05.497" Score="14" ViewCount="10510" Body="&lt;p&gt;I dabble a little at leading trad, but have never led a sport route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I do a sport lead, I want to make sure I don't make some stupid mistake when I get to the top. For example, I don't want to drop the rope or miscommunicate what I'm doing to my belayer. Suppose I get to the top of a sport route where I'm still on a vertical wall. There is a redundant bolted anchor, and I want to get on that anchor, be lowered, and end up with a top-rope setup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone lay out all the typical steps, including knots and verbal signals? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should have on my belt besides quickdraws? A sling and locking biner? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What etiquette issues are there? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What common problems arise (e.g., not being able to complete the climb), and how do you deal with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-03-27T10:00:10.327" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T21:59:09.513" Title="What to do at the top of a sport climb" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5465" CreationDate="2014-03-26T17:31:56.453" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you're talking about is called &lt;strong&gt;Cleaning&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cleaning&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5726&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This video covers the process in detail&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach your self to the top anchor with a spare clip draw (or two), or better yet a sling attached to your harness using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;larks foot&lt;/a&gt; and a locking biner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inform your belayer that you're safe (but not off belay)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/techtips/f8knots.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;figure of eight on the bight&lt;/a&gt; in the rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach the rope to yourself using this knot (prevents you from dropping it), use a locking biner for this&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Untie your attachment figure of eight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feed rope through the rings at the top (should be two)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;re-tie the end of the rope to your harness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you're happy you're attached correctly and safe shout &lt;em&gt;on belay&lt;/em&gt; to your belayer, they should take any slack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;remove and untie retaining knot on rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight the rope to confirm it's attached safe (communicate this too your belayer)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;remove quick draw(s) attaching you to the anchors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower off&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove quick draws as you descend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you're on the ground untie and pull rope out of belay loops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Leaving a top rope on&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to top rope on this climb afterwards the stages above are identical. The only difference being that you shouldn't attach directly to the rap rings (this causes friction that wears them out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people will attach to the rap rings using two quick draws, I'm not a fan of this TBH, quick draws aren't screwgates and can pop open if the load is applied in the correct manner.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would always attach top ropes with two opposites screw gates (you can use some slings if you want a bit of slack at the top). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very important that the two screwgates undo in opposite directions, this stops them unscrewing as the rope runs through them. Put one on, turn the next one upside down (relative two the first) and then put the second on, you should have to unscrew each screw gate in the opposing direction to it's partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safety&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Check the rap rings carefully before using&lt;/strong&gt;. These things are not bomb proof, they can and do fail. If they are loose or look corroded or heavily worn, &lt;strong&gt;don't use them&lt;/strong&gt; (or provide a bomb proof backup). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad rap rings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worn&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5OSgo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Corroded&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gi9IY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/warning-issued-over-slate-bolts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;There has been a recent problem in North Wales where expansion bolts in slate have bbeen proven to be unsafe&lt;/a&gt; and all of them (hundreds) are being replaced by the BMC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Retreating&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Retreating is a bit more complex. To retreat you need to leave some gear behind. Best is some cheap (but strong) locking steel biners. You basically do the same as above (but rather than looping the rope through the anchor, you attach the biners to the anchor and link through these (~your rope won't fit through a typical sport anchor)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not too high the above is fine. If you're high (or want to be safe) this introduces a single point of failure to your system (if that anchor fails you're dead).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good method to avoid this is to loop the rope though the top anchor (using your biners) &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; the one below it. This way you have a back up to the first failing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;So loop yourself though the top most anchor, as above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower off a little to the second anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach the rope (the end going to your belayer) to this anchor using your second carabiner (do this &lt;strong&gt;before&lt;/strong&gt; you remove the quick draw)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the quick draw and clean as usual&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/epic-insurance/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's an article that seems to cover it all&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-01T12:08:09.560" LastActivityDate="2014-04-01T12:08:09.560" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5438" CreationDate="2014-03-26T20:50:23.527" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can visit Columbia, CA (also near Yosemite) to check out a historical state park where they offer gold panning activities. This might be a fun place to go since you can see a lot of history for the CA gold rush.  Link to CA Park website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=552&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=552&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2257" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T20:50:23.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5465" CreationDate="2014-03-26T21:20:50.063" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Suppose I get to the top of a sport route ... and I want to ... end up with a&#xA;  top-rope setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Top-rope setup&quot; implies that someone else is going to climb the same route after you get down, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can anyone lay out all the typical steps...?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hang a locking karabiner (or a pair of non-locking quickdraws) on the anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clip your rope into it (don't forget to lock the karabiner)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell your belayer that you are going to load the rope (we usually shout &quot;Take!&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Double-check your setup, then tell your belayer to lower you (we usually shout &quot;Down!&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick your quickdraws on the way down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We sometimes omit step 4 in some very obvious situations (climbing with the same partner for months/years; easy and tedious routes) - I cannot recommend that to anyone, but I admit that we &lt;em&gt;sometimes&lt;/em&gt; neglect that extra precaution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are done with the route, and want to retrieve your gear, the last person to climb must clean the route (see Liam's answer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should have on my belt besides quickdraws?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have 2 quickdraws at the end of your climb, it's enough. I usually also have a spare locking karabiner; I use it when quickdraws somehow don't fit (e.g. rubbing against a convoluted wall below the anchor, or karabiner gates catching on some protrusions and coming open).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What etiquette issues are there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The classical dilemma is about hanging the top-rope on your gear vs hanging it on the fixed anchor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you hang the top-rope on the fixed anchor, you don't leave any of your gear on the top. This is good because it leaves no room for error, and because whoever climbs with the top-rope doesn't feel obliged to get to the top of the route - one can give up, take the rope and go away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you hang the top-rope on your gear, there will be much less friction applied to the fixed anchor, which will let it live longer (I heard it makes a huge difference with popular routes).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What common problems arise, and how do you deal with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone is top-roping and cannot get to the top, cleaning the route is problematic. One option is to have the climber pull himself on the rope - I cannot imagine a situation where one would fail to do this using a top-rope - maybe if extremely exhausted, or injured?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A possible problem is when several parties want to climb the same route - either you climb the route another time to retrieve your gear or trust the last climber to clean the route properly (without accidentally falling down), and return your gear to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2014-03-26T21:50:05.837" LastActivityDate="2014-03-26T21:50:05.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5469" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5470" CreationDate="2014-03-26T22:43:19.400" Score="11" ViewCount="382" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are going to descend some snow-covered glacier on skis while roped-up. If my partner falls into a crack, and I stopped him (i.e. didn't get dragged down there), what should we do next?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assuming he is hanging in space and wants to get out by himself, what should I do to provide a reliable anchor point for him? Just brace myself as hard as possible?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assuming he can drill some ice-screws and unload the rope, what should I do now to make a good anchor? Just dig the snow to get to the ice below, and get some ice-screws there, or maybe invent some setup with skis secured in snow?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it realistic to expect a good outcome if we don't have any other help (just the two of us)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have some basic gear (ice-axe, ice-screws, 50 m of rope, pulleys, karabiners, crampons); is there some specific piece of equipment that is worth having in this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-10-30T08:30:07.140" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T08:30:07.140" Title="How to pull one's partner from a crack/crevasse when skiing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5469" CreationDate="2014-03-27T00:02:01.793" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, see my comment above. Get some professional instruction. Seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your points directly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Build a snow anchor, then transfer the load to your anchor. Holding your partner's weight for the entire duration of a self rescue would be a bad idea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Building an anchor is independent of what your partner is doing. Always build an anchor. On glaciers, you'll most likely build a deadman anchor with an ice axe. It's possible to do a deadman with a ski, but it's time consuming and probably impossible to do alone while holding your partner.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crevasse rescue with a team of two just adds to the complexity. At a minimum, you'll need to be able to arrest the fall, build an anchor, transfer the load, check on your partner, build a haul system, and effect the rescue. Oh, and you'll be by yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely, you'll be traveling with knots in the rope. Your best luck for a haul system is a Canadian drop loop (6:1) system. This provides enough mechanical advantage for a single rescuer to pull a victim out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add some references that you should use &lt;strong&gt;in addition to professional advice&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take You Higher (Houston, Cosley)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freedom of the Hills (Mountaineers books)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glacier Mountaineering, illustrated (Tyson, Clelland)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glacier Travel &amp;amp; Crevasse Rescue (Selters)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/anam&quot;&gt;Accidents in North American Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt; is littered with reports of climbers getting into trouble on glacier because they didn't know how to perform a rescue correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2014-03-27T00:11:00.437" LastActivityDate="2014-03-27T00:11:00.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5369" CreationDate="2014-03-27T01:46:16.357" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went out once with a bag that was too warm. Sometime in the night I woke up covered in sweat and freezing cold! My sweat had soaked the down, completely ruining its insulation properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to go outdoors all year round then you just have to accept that you'll be buying twice the gear. A summer pack and a winter pack. A summer sleeping bag and a winter one. Summer boots, shoes or sandals and winter boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-03-27T01:46:16.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5453" CreationDate="2014-03-27T04:17:02.760" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As seen in the photos of the repair kits below, the wick is the fabric-like material which is made of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_fiber&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fiberglass&lt;/a&gt;. It doesn't burn but does eventually degrade when exposed to the high heat of a stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A simple replacement wick could potentially be fashioned out of nearly any &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_wool&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fiberglass insulation&lt;/a&gt; such as that used in home construction. Furnace filters are often made of fiberglass filter media. It is also often used (usually bonded  with other materials) as thermal insulation in automobiles to isolate the engine and exhaust heat from the cabin of the vehicle. If used from one of these type of sources, make sure the fiberglass itself is free of any other combustible materials or glues. These are simply a few applications where fiberglass insulation is used as it has become quite a ubiquitous material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possible source is the wick from a lantern. Even with different fuel types, most lanterns I've ever seen use fiberglass for the wick. However there are so many lantern types and brands out there that you'd need to research the exact type for yourself. But the main thing is to make sure that it's made of fiberglass or other fire-retardant material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trickconcepts.com/Understanding-Wick-Types-W14.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; has some good information on wick material. It mentions Kevlar and Nomex as some viable, though more costly alternatives to fiberglass. Cotton is mentioned but isn't a good material for this application as it will burn up and soot up the stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optimus Nova Repair Kit:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z0OKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Optimus Nova repair kit&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MSR Whisperlite Repair Kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the MSR wick is a different shape and design (the little beige sleeve), it still serves the same purpose and is the same material.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qp8ti.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Whisperlite Repair Kit&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-03-28T21:32:25.253" LastActivityDate="2014-03-28T21:32:25.253" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5438" CreationDate="2014-03-27T19:03:37.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to do this as a hobby, there's lots of places you can go. The American, Yuba, &amp;amp; Klammath rivers have the most gold. A lot of the parks have something in place to allow to do a little panning. You should be able to find a few flakes to show your friends, but you won't make any substantial money doing it.&#xA;Also, using any kind of mechanical help, like a sluice, is not allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the good places to find gold already have claims filed, so you won't be able pan there without permission. Some of those claims are owned by clubs, so you'll have to join to get access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a word of warning, if you're trying to do anything more than a hobby, you may be disappointed. really looking for gold is hard work, requires expensive equipment, and often proves to be a bust. If you still want to do it, look for ads for used equipment. A lot of people give up shortly after buying a lot of new equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, if you strike it rich, remember who helped you out. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-03-27T19:03:37.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5474" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5644" CreationDate="2014-03-28T09:19:56.207" Score="17" ViewCount="28916" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a new rucksack. However, how can I tidy up and hide away the myriad straps so they don't flap about and get caught in things?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TguQQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="2882" LastEditDate="2014-03-30T19:03:54.727" LastActivityDate="2021-05-21T09:50:21.103" Title="How do I fold in / tidy up the straps on my rucksack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5027" CreationDate="2014-03-28T17:40:23.393" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would think not. AMS is caused by lower atmospheric pressure which in turn reduces the number of O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; molecules you get to breathe in. Your own personal blood pressure has nothing to do with the number of O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; molecules available to breathe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3088" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-03-29T00:19:46.193" LastActivityDate="2014-03-29T00:19:46.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5287" CreationDate="2014-03-28T23:37:11.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this while shopping for a new pair and I figured I'd give my input. I left my Bikilas at my parent's house so figured I'd treat myself to a new pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, to answer this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I wish I could feel all the rocks under my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vibrams will accomplish this. Barefoot will accomplish this even more, but it really does a beating on your feet. I actually recently ran around downtown (barefoot because I don't have my Bikilas) and I got blisters on a pretty short run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of which, blisters are just about the ONLY problem I've had with my Bikilas. I've actually felt like cutting off the big toe or something because I was having so much blister trouble. Actually though, and my last paragraph actually might be evidence of this, I might just have sensitive feet. Maybe my feet, which have been in regular shoes their entire life, just develops blisters because they are adapting to the roughness that they have been sheltered from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other comments about barefoot running: There is some learning/strengthening to do. Of course there's the typical strengthening of your calves you will go through at first. Just take some big breaks, I stand on steps with the front of my foot and lower/lift my heel as a good exercise for them. You want to control how you run, but also do it naturally. If you strain to run in a bad way, you will get injured. If you feel pain, stop, or you will get injured. I've gone through some long term (multiple month) knee pain on both of my legs (maybe illiotibial band, there are good stretches for that), as well as  heel pain and problems with the tendon going to my big toe (I believe mostly from bad form after running with blisters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My calves are strong now, I don't get blisters if I'm wearing socks (used body glide for a while, no blisters even without using it now), the injuries are healed and I feel no pain (been doing the illiotibial band stretches before every run: lay on side, bring leg to butt and hold knee down with other leg, put foot on table and lean forward on it). I've only been running pretty lightly though, since my last injuries. I'm confident in getting back into it without any problems though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3089" LastActivityDate="2014-03-28T23:37:11.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2014-03-29T18:43:50.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clip together any unclipped compression straps even if you aren't tightening them, just to reduce the length that flaps around. The adjustment straps on the top and bottom of the shoulder straps should generally be kept loose so you can adjust the load throughout a hike depending on terrain. Osprey hip belt straps are often ridiculously long, however, and these are the only ones I ever really try to tuck away into the hip belt so they don't hang down too low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2014-03-29T18:43:50.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5493" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5494" CreationDate="2014-03-29T21:37:38.717" Score="10" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know that due to age-related deterioration, ropes, harnesses, slings and other &quot;software&quot; should be replaced after a certain period even if thay have not been damaged or been involved in high fall factor falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what about the ropes, slings, tapes or cords attached directly to nuts, cams and other protection gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even of they appear undamaged, should they also be replaced after a certain period? If they should, then how long should that period be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2014-03-29T23:02:18.743" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T05:08:51.690" Title="Replacing rope/cord/tape/slings on protection gear" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5493" CreationDate="2014-03-29T23:01:57.650" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For cams, Black Diamond &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;recommends&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With occasional use: slings should be replaced every 5-8 years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With frequent use: slings should be replaced 2-5 years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like a good policy for any other soft good (from tricams to harnesses). As you mentioned, harsher use or any sign of damage can significantly reduce this time frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other resources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mtntools.com/cat/rclimb/cams/mt_camresling.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountain Tools&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/od/climbinggear/a/Resling-Your-Climbing-Cams.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;About.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://yatesgear.com/climbing/slings/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Yates&lt;/a&gt; reslinging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-03-31T05:08:51.690" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T05:08:51.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5496" CreationDate="2014-03-30T20:04:41.177" Score="15" ViewCount="1360" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought a new sleeping bag online and it came in a large draw cord bag and there was also a small stuff sack in the package. What is the point of the large draw cord bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-03-31T19:22:42.710" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T18:50:15.550" Title="Why did my new sleeping bag come with 2 bags - one large and one stuff sack?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5495" CreationDate="2014-03-30T20:22:37.700" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is used to store the sleeping bag, in order to retain the loft.  It is not a good idea to store your sleeping bag compressed as small as possible as this will damage the fill.  This is very important with down, a little less with synthetic but overall it is crucial to the life of the sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple things to remember are you want to ensure the bag is dry before storage and it will be stored in a dry area free of excess condensation.  You also want to randomly toss it about in the larger storage bag as opposed to rolling it then storing.  Rolling up your new sleeping bag will create creases in the same spot over and over and your bag will develop cold spots where the insulation separates as a result of these creases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most ideal storage is fully laid out and hung, however manufacturers provide a breathable bag of what they have deemed is an adequate size to store the sleeping bag in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-04-01T15:39:44.953" LastActivityDate="2014-04-01T15:39:44.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2014-03-31T06:22:06.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rucksacks that I own, have extra long straps as well. But the manufacturer has provided an elastic band of sorts on the straps to fold them and tuck them within the band (I'll try to post a pic once I get back home). Another option that I have tried is to tuck these longer straps into the side pockets (water bottle holders) and even tie up a lose knot of sorts on themselves to prevent huge swaying straps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have never faced any issues as such with longer straps (They don't tend to get &lt;em&gt;stuck up&lt;/em&gt; somewhere). It's more of a mental state where I feel the longer straps are kind of a nuisance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T06:22:06.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2014-03-31T10:39:07.587" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As all rucksacks and packs I own have areas of webbing on most sides, I tie up any long straps with multiple half-hitches onto the webbing, so I still have the full length of the straps - in case I need them - but have them safely out the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T10:39:07.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5413" CreationDate="2014-03-31T11:25:27.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;British mountaineer Andy Kirkpatrick has quite a bit of useful information regarding how to look after your feet at altitude and in cold conditions on his website at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/how_to_avoid_frostbitten_feet&quot;&gt;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/how_to_avoid_frostbitten_feet&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only recommendation on footwear size he gives with respect to high altitude, is for Neoprene socks. He recommends allowing room for feet swelling and expansion of bubbles in the neoprene by probably going up one size than usual for the neoprene socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another website, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Mountaineering-Boot-Reviews/buying-advice&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Mountaineering-Boot-Reviews/buying-advice&lt;/a&gt; , only mentions ensuring the boots fit you properly but don't mention leaving room for swollen feet due to the altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From these suggestions it would appear that as long as the boots fit properly when you try them on, there should be no need to leave extra room for swollen feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T11:25:27.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2014-03-31T11:27:19.440" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When considering the knots, there are several characteristics you would like to take into account:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;is it useful&lt;/em&gt;, that is, it's better to know only a few reliable knots well, than a lot of fancy ones poorly;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;is it secure&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;do not use insecure knots&lt;/strong&gt;, you will only hurt someone;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;is it easy to tie&lt;/em&gt;, for example can you make it fast in the dark (i.e. with feel only), are there any similar versions which are dangerous (e.g. reef knot vs. granny knot);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;is it easy to untie&lt;/em&gt;, e.g. does it jam;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;does it have good mechanics&lt;/em&gt;, knots have different mechanics, some work well under load, other work well if the force is applied in some particular direction, etc.; for example, it's not good if the rope is bent too much, another example could be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhand_loop&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;overhand loop&lt;/a&gt; which is terribly bad as a loop-in-the-middle knot (applies too much stress).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The bowline knot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; (Animation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/index.php?Categ=boating&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;basic way&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simple.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Secure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Useful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I strongly recommend learning an alternate way of tying it: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kWxX.png&quot; alt=&quot;fast bowline tying method&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might look complicated at first, but with a real rope (instead of pictures) it's actually simpler than the standard way. The only thing to watch for, is to ensure that the knot transforms, that is, the slip-knot part does slip, in the process pulling the free end inside (it's important because the knot is not secure before).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The figure eight knot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8_/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animation&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's one of the basic knots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's easy to modify and accomodate to other needs, e.g. see &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_loop&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;figure-eight loop&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's frequently a better choice than just the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhand_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reef knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;surgeon's verion&lt;/a&gt;. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/reef/index.php?Categ=basics&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animation&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's simple and well-known (your colleague might use it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is &lt;em&gt;crucial&lt;/em&gt; to know that the second overhand should be tied with different orientation, otherwise it results in the &lt;em&gt;insecure&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;granny knot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The surgeon's version adds additional security (not exactly, but it's close enough interpretation).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_loop&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine butterfly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_bend&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;butterfly bend&lt;/a&gt;. (Animation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebutterfly/index.php?Categ=typemidloops&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;loop&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebend/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bend&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a very useful loop-in-the-middle knot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other knots of similar function are complicated (the simple ones are insecure or have bad mechanics).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The butterfly bend is the same knot and a quite secure bend.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_bend&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sheet bend&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_bend#Double_sheet_bend&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;double sheet bend&lt;/a&gt;. (Animation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;single&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simple and secure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Still ok if tied incorrectly (i.e. the left-hand sheet bend is much better than granny knot).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can add a second loop (i.e. double sheet bend) for additional strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It works great even if the ropes are of different diameter (the simplest knot with this property).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't jam that much.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Clove hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ABOK #1674&lt;/a&gt; (it's a version of Miller's knot,  sometimes called &lt;a href=&quot;http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=3296.0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bag knot&lt;/a&gt;). (Animation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveend/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;clove hitch&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clove hitch is easy to remember because of its symmetry (you can immediately tell if something is wrong).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clove hitch is a base for many other knots, e.g. see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_bowline&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;water bowline&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is useful by itself, e.g. see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rolling hitch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The #1674 is my personal favorite for attaching a rope to an object: it's almost a clove hitch, secure and doesn't jam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In fact, any of the Miller's knots, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrictor_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;constrictor knot&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transom_knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;transom knot&lt;/a&gt; would do, so whatever you tie should be ok.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3091" LastEditorUserId="3091" LastEditDate="2014-03-31T14:15:42.980" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T14:15:42.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5369" CreationDate="2014-03-31T13:35:04.493" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What hasn't been mentioned so far is that different materials have different ranges.  A down sleeping bag is usually comfortable over quite a larger temperature range than a synthetic one.  I have a flimsy synthetic liner bag (they are also available in silk, but this one claims to be microfiber) that at least avoids draft when the regular bag is better open because of warmth.  My liner bag washes easily as opposed to the down bag, so it also helps keeping the main bag from getting grimy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3096" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T13:35:04.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2014-03-31T23:49:07.900" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it depends very much on the area. In my area, it's very uncommon to encounter anyone once you get in more than a mile or two from the roads. Back there people are generally safer from other humans than they are in town.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is always the possibility and it is good to be prepared. Carrying pepper spray and/or a taser (depending on the legality of carrying such things where you live), and keeping them in a quickly accessible location is not a bad idea for anyone to defend themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2014-03-31T23:49:07.900" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5503" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5504" CreationDate="2014-04-01T19:06:12.587" Score="8" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm just buying my Garmin and I'm looking for maps for geocaching. I'd like to select Bavaria, or a part of it. Under the link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Computerteddy#Standard_Kartens.C3.A4tze&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;User: Computerteddy (Wiki).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found the map for the whole Germany, over 1GB, too big and surely I don't need so much now. But I've found information about programs, that can be used to divide that maps: &lt;a href=&quot;http://gpso.de/welt-landkarte/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OSM Welt-Landkarte in MapSource&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried first with the GMapTool, but I've been stuck with the list of files, and no clue what is in them and which region do they represent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fCyLG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried also MapsetToolkit, described in details in linked site, but the index file (teddy.typ) is not available, and I've failed to process the source .img files (the program crashed each time I've tried to do that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any Open Maps with smaller granularity, for example only Bavaria, Germany, only Masovia, Poland? Or some tools that can cut the map region based on coordinates, and don't crash doing that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T23:56:46.633" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T23:56:46.633" Title="Taking only the part that I need from OSM to my Garmin" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5503" CreationDate="2014-04-02T16:40:49.533" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest option is to use this website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin.Openstreetmap.nl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has an option to select just the map tiles you want, so you can get a map for a fairly small area if you want. To do this, choose the option for &quot;Enable manual tile selection&quot;, then click on the tiles to select them. Then enter your email address, and click the button for &quot;Build my map&quot;. You will soon get an email to download the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For loading onto a Garmin device, you need to download the file &lt;code&gt;osm_generic_gmapsupp.zip&lt;/code&gt;, then unzip it. Dpends on what device you are using, but for most modern Garmins you can just copy the IMG file onto the device or a memory card, in a folder named &lt;code&gt;Garmin&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-04-02T16:40:49.533" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5506" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5507" CreationDate="2014-04-03T07:00:00.380" Score="7" ViewCount="894" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never used a Mummy type sleeping bag, rather I have hardly used a sleeping bag. I am afraid, I am more of a carry-mat, sleeping-pad and a blanket guy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It never occurred to my mind that What must be the advantage of a Mummy type sleeping bag over a Blanket type? over even vice-versa if it is so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-04-13T19:23:18.507" Title="Advantages of types of sleeping bags over another" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5506" CreationDate="2014-04-03T09:12:29.100" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically it boils down to &quot;less weight for the same insulation&quot; in favour of the mummy type for two reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a blanket type bag you have more or less two insulating sheets, one on top and one below your body. For a mummy type maybe a bit more than the area of one of those sheets would be enough to wrap your whole body. This already reduces weight and pack size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above that, a mummy type bag wraps your body quite closely, therefore leaving only a small air volume that has to be warmed up. The blanket type has way more &quot;dead volume&quot; that you have to heat and keep warm with your body's heat. To get the same insulation, a blanket bag needs more loft material, which makes it heavier and bulkier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another feature of mummies is a yoke or heat collar and a hood. The yoke closes around your neck and prevents warm air from escaping from the bag and both, the yoke and the hood can be closed by drawstrings, so that everything but the face is snuggly enclosed by the bag. A blanket type bag can in contrary not be closed densely at its open end, which allows the warm air to escape quite easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All those factors might be not of great importance in warm climates where you don't need high insulation but only something to cover your body at night. As you get to climates where the sleeping bag is necessary to prevent hypothermia, a blanket type bag that provides the insulation needed will soon be way to heavy and bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as a side note: if you go to very cold climates (winter mountaineering, arctic tours), everything is done to prevent heat loss, therefore some of the bags designed for those climates have only a half length zipper or even no zipper at all to prevent cold bridges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major drawback of the mummy bag is its tightness. Rather &quot;active&quot; sleepers that move a lot during the night or like to take other sleeping positions than just lying straight (legs spread, fetal curl or similar) might feel a bit less cramped in a blanket type bag. But some manufacturers also have mummy bags that have a more flexible and expansible material in the middle part to allow for leg movement to some extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: Whenever it gets cold enough that insulation is a critical factor, a mummy has less weight and pack size for the same insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-04-13T19:23:18.507" LastActivityDate="2014-04-13T19:23:18.507" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1329" CreationDate="2014-04-03T11:36:52.197" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok, first thing to note is &lt;em&gt;who owns the coast&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The land between the high water mark and the low water mark is owned by the crown (crown reserves) in UK law. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/coast/series1/13-highlights.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ref&lt;/a&gt;) The land above he high water mark is owned by land owners, this may also be the crown if it's common land etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any land owned by private land owners is subject to the land owners themselves. They could allow or disallow bonfires at their discretion. So if you want to build a bonfire here you should contact the landowner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The law on bonfires on common land will be covered by the local by-laws of the council in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lpma.nsw.gov.au/trusts/trust_managers/management_and_enforcement&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;management of crown lands web site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Under Section 124 of the Crown Lands Act 1989 (the Act), a member of&#xA;  the reserve trust board or a ranger or other employee authorised by&#xA;  the reserve trust can remove a person from the reserve if they are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Situations that may require management include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;bonfires – particularly in environmentally sensitive areas or during&#xA;  fire bans;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the law is pretty gray in this area. Being as your talking about &lt;em&gt;bonfires&lt;/em&gt; I'm guessing this is going to be pretty big, not just a camp fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that this practice will at best be frowned upon by any land owners or crown employees (this will include Police) and at worst may result in you being forcibly ejected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the question of environmental damage to what could be a environmentally sensitive area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said if it's a quiet public beach, your not causing any nuisance or damage I'd be surprised if anyone interrupted you (or even noticed). Also fires on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_Night&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bonfire night&lt;/a&gt; will generally be tolerated a lot more than on other nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Scottish law&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scottish law is the exception not the rule. Scottish law includes a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snh.gov.uk/enjoying-the-outdoors/your-access-rights/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;right to roam&quot;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;that has not been implemented in England, Wales or Nothern Ireland.&lt;/strong&gt; I think &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1439/2766&quot;&gt;Roddy covers this point well&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T12:15:32.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5509" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-04-03T12:19:14.303" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please note legalities are often country specific so you should include what country(ies) you wish to obtain information on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-03T14:00:43.617" LastActivityDate="2014-04-03T14:00:43.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5510" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-04-03T12:19:14.303" Score="0" Body="The legalities associated with aspects of the outdoors. Ask questions using this tag if you wish to know if an activity is legal or what legal constraints are associated with a particular outdoor activity." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-03T16:30:27.200" LastActivityDate="2014-04-03T16:30:27.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2014-04-03T20:52:25.807" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried @Vorac answer, but it sounds interesting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to say if popping a blister is correct or not. But, if you do, this is how I was taught to pop a blister:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Get a needle (sterile of course)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;About 1/3 of an inch from the blister, insert the needle under the skin towards the blister.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When it reaches the blister, remove the needle.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is now a small path that will allow the blister to drain. You may have to exert some pressure to squeeze the pus out, but not much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing it this way greatly reduces the chance for infection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protect the now drained blister with a bandage, mole skin, or tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-04-03T20:52:25.807" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5512" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-04T15:03:50.427" Score="12" ViewCount="730" Body="&lt;p&gt;In climbing competitions there are usually the familiar competitor categories of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Sometimes there are categories for youth or older climbers too. At bigger competitions there will be an &quot;open&quot; category which has routes harder than some found in the advanced category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know why that category was originally called &quot;open&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2985" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-01T00:46:39.457" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T18:39:41.897" Title="Why is the category called &quot;Open&quot; in climbing competitions?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5512" CreationDate="2014-04-04T19:00:59.067" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: My Answer is based off Canada's Tour de Bloc structure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding for the use of the term &lt;strong&gt;Open&lt;/strong&gt; is that it is &quot;Open&quot; to anyone who wants to give it a go.  If you are not vying for a spot on the Canadian team you would go Recreational or Experienced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Open&lt;/strong&gt; category is for the top climbers who are serious about competing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open&lt;/strong&gt; competitors vie for points based on their ranking at each comp, and the total points over the entire season determines the selection of Canada’s national climbing team. At each comp the open competitors first do a Qualifying round; the top 6-8 men and women then advance to a final round where they face 4 or 5 new problems that they have not seen before (called “isolation format”). The finals are always an exciting spectacle for all the other climbers to watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-04-04T19:00:59.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4674" CreationDate="2014-04-04T20:57:33.727" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Direct Answers:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;5.14b&lt;/code&gt; is North American scaling, which equals UIAA X+/XI− and French 8c&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;8b+&lt;/code&gt; is French scaling, which equals UIAA X+ and North American 5.14a&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;8b - 150m&lt;/code&gt; is a 150m long 8b climb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do these grades only apply to sport routes or to trad routes as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like explained on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28climbing%29#British&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The British grading system for traditional climbs, also known as the UK grading system, used in Great Britain and Ireland, has (in theory) two parts: the adjectival grade and the technical grade. Sport climbing in Britain and Ireland uses the French grading system, often prefixed with the letter &quot;F&quot;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@RoryAlsop described this system in his &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4674/please-explain-rock-climbing-grades/4689#4689&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A really nice comparison of the climbing scales can be found on this table, I am sure you can understand it without speaking German: &lt;a href=&quot;http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/UIAA-Skala#Vergleichstafel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comparing different types of scales&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Short overview of different grading systems&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the different requirements of several types of climbing there are lots of different scales. There are systems all over the world: some are typical for North America, some for the Alps and some for Scotland/UK. Most are measured on the toughest spot (would be interested which ratings aren't scaled like this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@BenCrowell gave a nice detailed answer but I have to add some informations for the mid European guys, more specific the wonderful Alps region. Here, for free climbing the most common scales are the French grading system and the scaling formulated by the UIAA (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/mission.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme&lt;/a&gt;). Typically those scales are used in sport climbing and rock climbing. For bouldering there are special scales, like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28bouldering%29#The_Hueco_scale&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hueco scale&lt;/a&gt; in the US or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28bouldering%29#Fontainebleau_grades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fontainebleau grades&lt;/a&gt; in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past when those grading systems were written down, the scales were closed. At some point when tougher pitches were climbed it got really confusing and troublesome to adjust the routes to the constant boarders of the scaling. Until the late 1970s the UIAA scale which is notated in roman numerals was closed to grades up to VI. Today good beginners can climb a VI (although today’s VI might not be comparable to a VI from the 1970s) and one of the toughest routes is &lt;a href=&quot;http://4-seasons.tv/film/reel-rock-film-tour-2013-la-dura-dura&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;La Dura Dura&lt;/a&gt; with incredible difficulties: UIAA XII-, French 9b+, North American 5.15c.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering e.g. the scale of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinimages.com/Tourenmenue/Touren/Bewertung/Bewertung.php?PLang=en_GB#Hochtouren&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Club Alpin Suisse&lt;/a&gt; is widespread and for ice climbing you can read &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_climbing#Ice_climbing_grades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. Another scale for mixed routes and so on. Nonetheless you often find judgements in the UIAA grading system for rock parts of alpine tours, and also for Himalayan expeditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For rock/sport climbing in big parts of Europe like the Alps, the common grading systems are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;French: currently ranging from 1 to 9b+&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;grading: 1,2,3,4,5a,5b,5c,6a,6a+,...&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;UIAA: currently ranging from I to XII-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;grading: I,II,III,IV,V-,V,V+,...&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-05-20T18:02:45.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5515" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5516" CreationDate="2014-04-04T21:23:17.457" Score="11" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently made a sport climbing course mainly to give it a try and also to learn something about belaying in general. It's fun, challenging and I got hooked quite a bit. Overall I was around 10 times in the climbing gym yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to get better of course. I am 1,84m and thin, indeed my arms/hands/fingers aren't very strong yet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What would you suggest to improve my sport climbing skills?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently read the suggestion that one shouldn't do strength training unless one is able to climb UIAA 7 just because it's better (and faster if you want to improve the difficulties) to learn climbing technique first. If so, would it be best just to climb, climb and climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-04-10T15:07:09.653" Title="Improving sport climbing skills" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5515" CreationDate="2014-04-04T21:57:30.830" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rest!  I know you're going to want to climb every second of every day but you must give your ligaments time to heal! Muscle takes two days to repair however ligaments can take 1 -2 weeks.  Gradually increase your time climbing, this will greatly reduce the chance of injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Familiarize yourself with all the necessary safety requirements, do you know what a Z-Clip is? what about a Back Clip?  I'm sure the course you took covered this however you must always reinforce this knowledge, one mistake could mean your climbing career or even your life!  Don't believe me, go read how many people have died from rappelling off the end of their rope.  Sport climbing in a gym is very different from sport climbing outdoors, please familiarize yourself with the differences and seek professional instruction before heading outdoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you're resting read up on the human body, Dynamic movement, Static movement, Centre of Gravity...  Once you have that knowledge you can learn how to apply it in the form of techniques such as &lt;strong&gt;Flagging&lt;/strong&gt;.  Furthermore read about the &lt;strong&gt;drop knee&lt;/strong&gt; technique and keeping your hips to the wall, this will come in handy especially on overhanging sport routes.  Since you reference sport climbing have a look at lock-offs, they will come in handy when trying to clip a draw from a precarious position, you will need the lock-off strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get caught up with grade climbing!  Climb routes that look fun, climb routes that look tough, but remember to mix it up between holds.  Don't climb only &lt;a href=&quot;http://peterthomas.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/crimping.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;crimpy&lt;/a&gt; routes because you don't like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.littleteapot.org.uk/Climbing/ClimbingSite/Photos/sloper.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;slopers&lt;/a&gt; and don't just climb slopers cause you're good at them and crimps hurt your finger tips.  The trick is to climb an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://shop.nicros.com/media/catalog/category/handholds-all-categories_1.jpg&amp;amp;imgrefurl=http://shop.nicros.com/index.php/handholds.html&amp;amp;h=500&amp;amp;w=600&amp;amp;tbnid=PA83ETQaTiBwJM%3a&amp;amp;zoom=1&amp;amp;docid=1Sx6QVxdpGVWVM&amp;amp;ei=v7FGU9KdBqGj0QXA3IDgDA&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;ved=0CLgCEIQcMEM&amp;amp;iact=rc&amp;amp;dur=1458&amp;amp;page=3&amp;amp;start=46&amp;amp;ndsp=27&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;assortment of holds&lt;/a&gt;(crimps,slopers,pockets,sidepulls,pinches) that put you in all sorts of positions.  The more unique routes you climb the more small stabilizer muscles develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for actual training, Plank! Plank! Plank!  Rope ladder, TRX, pull ups, offset pull ups, typewriters and best of all and my personal favorite &lt;strong&gt;Frenchies&lt;/strong&gt;.  Anything engaging stabilizers and core!  You will get poor results from &quot;gym like&quot; exercises like bicep curls.  Focus more on body weight cross fit related exercises such as pistol squats, burpees, L sits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After six months try out some climbing specific training apparatuses such as a campus board or a training board.  If it hurts or you feel uncomfortable stop immediately as this type of training puts a lot of stress on your finger tips!  Proceed to include it once you feel comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy Climbing! Be Safe!  And most of all Have Fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flagging&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;Flagging is when you only have one foot on a foothold. Even without another foot hold the other foot can be used to stabilize or to generate momentum. This is accomplished by flagging. There are roughly three types of flagging:&#xA;Normal flag - the leg that you are flagging is out to the same side. If you have your right foot on a foothold and place your left foot out to the left. The left foot can be smeared or in the air.&#xA;Reverse Outside Flag - the leg that you are flagging is crossed behind the leg on the foothold. If you have your left foot on a foothold and cross your right lag behind your left leg.&#xA;Reverse Inside Flag - the leg that you are flagging is crossed in front of the leg on the foothold. If you have your left foot on a foothold and cross your right left in front of your left leg. This flag is particularly useful for avoiding a foot match.&#xA;The degree to which to flag will depend on what you are trying to do. On a move that requires a flag you may need to play around with how much you want to flag. It will depend on how far you have to move, what your other foot is on and where, and the size of handholds you are using. Try and climb one footed to see where flagging is useful and where it is not. Remember to try all three types of flagging in order to build these moves into your climbing repertoire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drop Knee&lt;/strong&gt;:  Kneedrops occur when you backstep you foot on the same side of your body as the foot. For instance if you put your right foot out to the right and it is placed as a backstep then you knee will be pointing in towards you rather than away from you. If your foot is higher than where your knee normally would be and you turn your knee in and down then this is a deep drop knee, the classic definition of the term.&#xA;This technique is very useful for holding your hips against the wall on steeper angles, it is not that useful for slab climbing. If your hips are against the wall then you are able to pull across your body with your other hand. &#xA;Try this. On a slightly overhanging wall start with your hands at chest height on two straight down pulling holds that are about shoulder width apart. Place your left foot on a foot hold directly below the handholds at a comfortable distance. Take your right foot and place it just below hip height about two feet to the right. Turn your right knee in and down and try and pull your right hip against the wall. This should make it easier for you to reach with your right hand out and up. Do the same thing out to the left. You can also try and climb into these positions and then out of them. It helps to rotate in and out of kneedrops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl1hxw7pfRI&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flagging/DropKnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lock Off&lt;/strong&gt;:  Using tendon strength to support weight on a hand hold without tiring muscles too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Frenchies&lt;/strong&gt;:  Using a pull-up bar or the bucket holds of a fingerboard (palms facing away, of course), pull up to the top position and lock off with your hands against your chest for a five-second count. Subvocalize one thousand one, one thousand two, and so on, so that you don’t cheat on the five-second lock-off. Lower yourself to the bottom, straight-armed position, and they again pull up to the top position, but this time lower yourself halfway and lock-off you’re your elbow belt at a 90-degree angle. Hold this position statically for a slow, five-second count, then lower yourself to the bottom. Pull up a third time, but this time lower yourself about two-thirds of the way (with an elbow angle of 120 degrees) to perform another static, five-second lock-off. Lower to the bottom position and you will have completed one full cycle. But don’t stop! Without hanging to rest, immediately begin a second cycle of Frenchies; that is, pulling up three more times and doing the three five second lock-offs positions. Be sure to hold all the lock-offs for a full five-second count, despite the burning that begins to develop. Continue performing a third, fourth, and fifth cycle, if you’re able. Stop when you can no longer perform a full pull-up or hold the lock-off. Rest for five minutes before doing a second and third set. As you will discover, this exercise is gets hard fast, and doing a third or fourth cycle without cheating on the five-second lock-offs is incredibly difficult and grueling. Use this exercise up to two days per week and you’ll develop a whole new level of muscular endurance on the rock rock!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTWPbSgKaWI&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Training&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-04-10T15:07:09.653" LastActivityDate="2014-04-10T15:07:09.653" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3404" CreationDate="2014-04-05T01:22:45.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming from an &quot;enjoying nature&quot; perspective, the equation becomes more simple in my estimation. If the trail can be expected to be reasonably well packed down, boots are perfect,  traction cleats can be slipped onto boots if the hike is especially steep or slick. If the trail is expected to be deep powder, not hard pack snow.. snow shoes are easily the best way to travel. They are generally superior to boots in these conditions, including things like postholing and other similar frustrating aspects. Nature tends to reward those who use the right gear for the right situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3107" LastActivityDate="2014-04-05T01:22:45.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5518" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5519" CreationDate="2014-04-05T12:02:26.453" Score="12" ViewCount="1559" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nowadays not only outdoor enthusiasts hear those terms when they are searching a jacket which fits their requirements most. Literally everywhere in cities you can find jackets (often with membranes) that can be grouped into Hardshells and Softshells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what are the major differences in terms of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water proofness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wind proofness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;breathability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;durability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there even a distinctive definition of those terms?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:27:54.480" LastActivityDate="2020-03-07T19:40:49.787" Title="Hardshell vs. Softshell jackets" Tags="&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5518" CreationDate="2014-04-05T12:02:26.453" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4498/which-is-more-durable-hard-shell-or-soft-shell&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; I had to disagree at some points. For example referring to @DavidR I don't think that Softshells are generally less windproof than Hardshells. Over the last years it seems that the manufacturers are mainly producing Softshell with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore.com/en_xx/products/consumer/windstopper/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gore-Tex Windstopper&lt;/a&gt; membrane. I wouldn't say that those jackets are really &lt;strong&gt;that&lt;/strong&gt; good, they just seem to be very promotable and consumers like the &lt;em&gt;security&lt;/em&gt; of the 100% windproofness. One just has to remember that you loose breathability by this security. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same with Hardshells where you increase the security against the elements at the cost of breathability. Additionally to being windproof they are 100% waterproof (at least 10000 mm hydrostatic head) and not just water-resistent (like Softshells). This last point is the characteristic classification in my opinion, though a strict definition doesn't seem to exist. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_head&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hydrostatic head&lt;/a&gt; is a measure for the water pressure which may be increased by a heavy load backpack. Thinking about waterproofness you also have to take into account the duration and intensity of the rain/storm. The value 10m hydrostatic head is just a matter of definition for the producers to promote their stuff as &lt;strong&gt;waterproof&lt;/strong&gt;. But still, newer jackets with e.g. 20000mm hydrostatic head give you a bigger safety not getting wet. Of course the task of the manufacturers is to keep the breathability at a good level. For example the Gore-Tex Pro which was released a year ago has the same pressure head of 28000mm as the precurser version. However it is said to be 28% more breathable which is the key improvement and will cost you a good amount of money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another, more traditional definition of &lt;em&gt;Softshell&lt;/em&gt; which is referring to jackets without membranes, being very breathable and only resistant to water and wind to some level. For lots activities those jackets are matching very well. For example &lt;a href=&quot;http://arcteryx.com/HardshellvsSoftshell.aspx?language=EN&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arcteryx&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/gear-geek/choosing-the-right-outdoor-jacket-hard-shells-soft-shells-and-hybrids&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Research&lt;/a&gt; is defining Softshells like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the times a Softshell is made from softer fabrics, it wears very comfortable and don't has the annoying plastic-like rustling most Hardshells have. Consequently Softshells have more mechanical stretch than Hardshells and tend to be warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the market there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/content/community/brand-heritage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;not just one membrane&lt;/a&gt; for the well known Gore-Tex, some are typical for Softshells, like the Windstopper or the Gore-Tex Softshell. For Hardshells you still have a big choice depending on what you plan to do. E.g. for trail-running or cycling there are Paclite or Active Shell which are very lightweight with small package volume. Of course this comes with a lower durability of the jacket. There are more robust 3-layer-jackets with Gore-Tex Pro which are made for mountaineering or climbing (where rock contact is likely). In general those expensive jackets are designed for extreme environments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless there seem to be big differences how people define Soft- and Hardshells. You can read more on &lt;a href=&quot;http://sectionhiker.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hard-shell-jacket-and-a-softshell-jacket/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sectionhiker.com&lt;/a&gt; and on &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoor-gear-deals.com/how-to-articles/hard-shell-versus-soft-shell-jackets/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;outdoor-gear-deals.com&lt;/a&gt;. In the last link they say for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Soft-shell (also written as soft shell and Softshell) is more of an idea than a category of clothing; it’s essentially a concept. Typically, the clothes labeled soft-shells are not waterproof, as they contain no waterproof barrier; instead they offer varying degrees of water and wind resistance, and a high level of breathability. They tend to be more abrasion resistant than comparable hard-shells, but also heavier and more expensive. Most people seem to prefer the feel and style of a soft-shell jacket; they’re more comfortable and quieter than a crinkly waterproof hardshell jacket. The soft-shell materials are generally stretchy, and this makes them a great choice for active outdoor recreation; climbing, skiing, etc.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't see how Softshells are more expensive or more abrasion resistant at all. Besides that I agree with the definition. But as you can see, opinions differ a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to sum up &lt;strong&gt;my definition&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Softshells are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without membrane: extremely breathable, decently wind- and water-resistant, very comfortable, stretchy (fleece-like)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;with membrane: good breathability, windproof, water-resistant, comfortable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hardshells are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;always with membrane: breathable, wind- and waterproof, sometimes very robust&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compared to Softshells generally not as warm and comfortable on the skin, because of a different (thinner) inner layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are also wind- and waterproof jackets without membranes. Those are typically cheap and you will sweat extremely if you plan to do some kind of activity outdoors wearing this stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to buy a jacket you really have to think about the situations where you plan to use the jacket most of the time. A retailer once told me that producers plan to make a universal membrane/jacket with being absolute wind- and waterproof and still having a really great breathability (don't forget the robustness). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this isn't possible at all. There is no perfect jacket. Also the high-end items designed for alpinism (which will cost you 600€ and more) with Gore-Tex Pro can't be that extremely breathable like a Softshell without membrane. But of course they are really tough and will secure you from the elements very very well. They are designed differently (e.g. to get your helmet under the hood and to be able to reach your pockets while wearing a harness) and to increase the exchange of the steam they often have additional zippers in the armpit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all being said, I don't want to promote Gore-Tex at all. There are lots of other membranes, like from Dermizax (Bergans, Direct Alpine), eVent (Montane), Membrain (Marmot), Venturi (Schöffel), H2NO (Patagonia) or Sympatex (Vaude).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T18:37:46.037" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-04-05T19:07:35.580" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5521" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-05T22:50:25.257" Score="6" ViewCount="241" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is having color vision deficiency a problem for mountaineering ? Can one so, pursue mountaineering as a career ? Do professional mountaineering schools and expeditions accept climbers with color vision problem for high altitude (7000ers or 8000ers) climbing, as sponsored athletes ?&#xA;To clarify, as per the free online tests underwent as of now, it is moderate-to-strong Proton color vision defect, Red color blindness (Protonopia). Also my sibling is having it (genetic).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3111" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-04-06T21:35:43.513" LastActivityDate="2014-04-06T21:35:43.513" Title="Color vision deficiency a dead end for mountaineering career, as an athlete?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5521" CreationDate="2014-04-05T23:12:29.347" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know whether e.g. mountain guides for expeditions are accepted if they have color vision deficiency. But as a participant I don't think this is a no-go criteria. There were guys with asthma and other serious medical limitations going on 8000+ and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Inglis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mark Inglis&lt;/a&gt; made it on the Everest with two artificial legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what you suppose of a mountaineering &lt;em&gt;career&lt;/em&gt; though. Do you want to become a sponsored mountaineer? If so, it's up to you which risks you want to take and with higher risks the chances to get publicity (and sponsorship) increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, I think if you are going to be physically and mentally prepared, have a growing experience base in mountaineering and the background knowledge, you are going to have better chances to reach a high summit than some rich tourists which are just trying to brag with &lt;em&gt;their&lt;/em&gt; achievement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-04-05T23:12:29.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5521" CreationDate="2014-04-06T10:43:29.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the nature of the deficiency.  The most common form, red-green colorblindness, isn't a problem: I'm not aware of any situation where color coding is used to convey safety-critical information.  On the other hand, if you've got rod monochromacy, climbing mountains is probably a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-04-06T10:43:29.007" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5524" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-07T06:25:13.537" Score="2" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of friends and I are going on a road trip this summer, and we're planning on hiking the Grand Canyon, Half Dome, Observation Point at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Longs Peak. I've been trying to find a pair of boots for this juggernaut and I've been out of luck so far- at least, I've made it hard on myself in my pursuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters, I have a small foot. I'm a tall guy, six feet, but my feet are 9s in most shoes. My foot is narrow, too, and definitely low-volume. That probably has something to do with my dilema.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I picked up the North Face Storm Mid, and it was nice. I liked it. Felt right on my foot, except when I tried to crank it down to lock my ankle in- it was too short. My toe hit the front on downhills. To tighten it enough to attempt to stop it meant my sole just felt... pinched. Hot. I can't really describe it, it was just uncomfotable, and it didn't help the toe knocking. So I went back to the store and went up a half size, and the slipping was gone. But, another problem arose; my ankle started lifting in the boot. Again, trying to lock it in meant pain for my sole, so I decided to take &lt;em&gt;those&lt;/em&gt; back too. This time, I got the Teva Raith mid, and as soon as I got home I realized I made a mistake. The ankle slipped &lt;em&gt;worse&lt;/em&gt;, something I had noticed in the store but tried to tighten to mitigate. The tightness required to keep the ankle semi-solid was painful, again, and the boot just doesn't feel right on my foot. The last isn't the right shape for me. So I'm taking those back, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The store I've been going to has a no questions asked return policy, so I've been lucky in that regard. However they only have four makes of boots- Teva Raiths, Keens of some sort (I didn't try them, they're apparently very wide inside), North Face Storms, and a Salomon that was nice but had a little heel slip and was kind of wide in the toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I take back my boots for store credit, use that on something else, and head to another outfitter? One south of me has a slightly wider selection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I go back to the Storm (which I liked, it was a nice fit- or so I thought) and try new ankle lacing techniques? I read about some that reduced the pain in my Tevas and helped the heel problem a little, they may be of help. Would an insole help with heel lift? Is the general sole soreness an artifact of tightness or a misfit boot? I've never had hiking boots before, so I'm not sure what to expect totally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to seem like a Goldilocks of shoes, but I figure that whatever I settle on should be semi-comfortable given the use they'll see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can't find a boot that fits and this may be my fault.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I go back to the TNF Storm, which fit but had heel lift, and use an insole/lacing techniques?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is general the general footbed pain I had from the Storm caused by overtighness or a sign that the boot just isn't right?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3116" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T18:25:45.753" Title="Hiking boot help" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5525" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5526" CreationDate="2014-04-07T13:16:32.907" Score="5" ViewCount="5761" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tent has a rainfly, but I'm wondering if I need to carry a tarp for the extra rain protection. I don't want to pack a wet tent because that would damage the fabric, but I don't know if that is worth the extra weight of a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3117" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:36.533" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:31:36.533" Title="Is a tarp necessary if you have a tent with a rainfly and a footprint?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5525" CreationDate="2014-04-07T15:16:14.680" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do not need a tarp in addition to the rainfly of your tent (that's what the rainfly is for).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it's always nicer to pack up a dry tent instead of a wet one, as long as you air dry the tent when you get home you'll have no problems with damaging the rainfly. If you do not dry your tent at home, it will mildew and smell really, really bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally set up a wet tent in a garage/basement and let it dry for 24-48 hours, or alternatively hang it up to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-04-07T15:16:14.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2014-04-07T18:16:48.107" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may collect rocks or even use a metal detector in national forests, which have different rules than national parks.  It would have been helpful if people had answered with actual legal facts rather than what they think or believe should be right, but then again, you did ask about national parks, not national forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3120" LastActivityDate="2014-04-07T18:16:48.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5525" CreationDate="2014-04-07T20:02:23.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't take a tarp to protect my tent, I take it to create another dry area outside - typically for cooking and eating. It can also create shade for cooking, eating, and just lounging around. (On a rainy day I'll lounge around in the tent if anywhere, but on a nice day there are lots of options.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packing a wet tent won't damage it, but if your tent bag is snug you may find it difficult. Storing a wet tent for weeks or more might damage it. Your tent will get wet even if it doesn't rain, because of dew for example. So go ahead and bring a tarp, but not to put over your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-04-07T20:02:23.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5530" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-07T21:08:27.470" Score="10" ViewCount="331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I posted this on travel.stackexchange.com originally, but it was recommended that I post here as well. Let me know if the question is off-topic and I'll remove it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am visiting Kauai shortly and am interested in boar hunting while there. So far I have applied for my &lt;a href=&quot;https://hunting.ehawaii.gov/hunting/hunting_req.html&quot;&gt;Hunter's Education Exemption&lt;/a&gt; and have mapped several locations that allow for bow hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While researching, I came across a &lt;a href=&quot;http://guysareallthesame.blogspot.com/2010/08/dream-come-true-wild-boar-hunt-with-dog.html&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; that mentioned the writer simply asked an employee of the hotel he was staying at and was put in touch with a group who invited him to go with them. Is something like this a common occurrence? I do not wish to hunt alone as I am unfamiliar with the territory, but I also do not wish to spend a great deal of money on the hunting &quot;tours&quot; that are provided by local businesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I have had little luck finding a place to process the animal should I be successful while hunting on the island. I would prefer to have the animal processed there as it will cut down on the cost of shipping back to my home state. Does anyone have any experience with game processing on the island of Kauai?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other cultural/logistic considerations I should be aware of? Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3121" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:10:13.973" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:10:13.973" Title="What options are available for hunting feral boar on Hawaii?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2014-04-09T04:35:57.537" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used rubber bands, kitchen ties, pipe cleaners, half-broken shoelaces and whatever other pieces of small cord I've been able to place my hands on. All except the rubber bands worked well but none worked for more than a day or two. The rubber bands snapped too easily and I felt a little guilty about leaving little scraps of rubber lying in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also gone out with people that dealt with the strap issue by cutting them off! No straps on the outside means nothing to get caught in nasty bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T04:35:57.537" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5314" CreationDate="2014-04-09T04:47:41.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Collapsible poles, compared to fixed poles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to fit in luggage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to fit in the side pockets of backpacks when doing something that requires two hands, for example river crossing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be loaned to other people who are of different height to you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T04:47:41.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5506" CreationDate="2014-04-09T05:37:40.490" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer will assume we are talking about a quilt.  You can get down quilts that are made of exactly the same material as a mummy bag (Pertex Quantum face fabrics with 800+ fill down).  Most quilt users that are going into colder climes will add a down balaclava to keep their head warm.  Futhermore, quilts are often cut in the same shape as a mummy bag (on top), specifically to prevent creating areas of dead air inside the bag.  Expect any good down quilt to look very similar to a mummy bag until you look under it.  They will also have a yolk as @AM_Hawlk mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quilt Summary&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pro&lt;/em&gt;: lighter for the same warmth.  A minor primer on how goose down works - it provides insulation by trapping air in the lofted material.  So in your average mummy bag, that means that every part you are lying on is not providing much warmth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pro&lt;/em&gt;: hood isn't attached to your sleeping bag, so you can wear it around camp to keep warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Con&lt;/em&gt;: you can't move around without causing drafts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Con&lt;/em&gt;: side sleepers will not be happy, as it will be hard to keep the bag sealed around you (see drafts)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, the cons kill quilts - I like zipping into my mummy bag and not having to worry about lying perfectly still :)  I think in summer trips, they are a pretty awesome idea... I always end up half out of my mummy bag anyways, no matter how light it is, so why not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T05:37:40.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5535" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-09T10:32:38.817" Score="11" ViewCount="1854" Body="&lt;p&gt;This interesting pebble caught my eye the other day when I was wandering around on an Anglesey beach in Wales, UK but I haven't a clue what sort of rock it is and what has caused the little holes in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parts of it are smooth while others are covered in holes (see below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - I am just really curious :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ENhlN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:39:45.210" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:39:45.210" Title="What sort of white rock with lots of small holes is this?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;fossil-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5535" CreationDate="2014-04-09T13:15:40.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like fossilised coral (possibly a sponge?), the outside is smooth because it's been worn down by the erosion of the sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is quite a lot of fossilised corral on the north Wales coast, it was once a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/ukgeology/angleseyNorthWales.html&quot;&gt;shallow, tranquil, tropical Carboniferous sea&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Carboniferous period from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboniferous&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from&#xA;  the end of the Devonian Period, about 358.9 ± 0.4 million years ago,&#xA;  to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 298.9 ± 0.15 Ma&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making it about 300,000,000 years old!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a very nice specimen BTW&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-09T15:22:04.950" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T15:22:04.950" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5537" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-04-09T14:15:03.857" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-04-09T14:15:03.857" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T14:15:03.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5538" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-04-09T14:15:03.857" Score="0" Body="Appropriate for all questions strongly related to book knowledge like specific recommendations. " OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-04-09T20:39:19.900" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T20:39:19.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5524" CreationDate="2014-04-09T18:25:45.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had the opposite problem.  My feet are very wide from decades of mocassin use. So my ideas might not work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Certainly lacing techniques are worth trying.  Normally I don't find these very effective with a low top shoe.  One technique however that may work:  Lace up the fore foot for comfort, tie a square knot, then lace up the rest of the shoe.  When you have a long down hill, stop and retie the top of the shoe much more snugly.  It will be a trade off.  Your feet will be uncomfortable for the downhill, but you won't have blood blisters under your toes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your foot is low volume, look at adding an insole into it.  You may want to experiment with a thin felt insole either above or below the insole that came with the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More and more I'm wearing minimalist foodwear -- just enough shoe to protect my feet from the rocks.  This requires re-learning how to walk.  But I have fewer problems with my knees and back.  How minimal?  I use neoprene booties for backpacking, those 5 buck nylon mesh 1/16&quot; rubber sole for running.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T18:25:45.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2014-04-09T18:40:02.227" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think you will get consistent 40-60 daytime highs (what I assumed you meant) anywhere that isn't moderated by the ocean.  However Fiasco is correct:  The Olympic Penninsula around Sequim is very close.  Summer temps are cool enough that tomatoes won't rippen outside of a greenhouse.  Winter has frosts, but not consitently.  The mountains nearby get significant snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility is the &quot;Sunshine Coast&quot; in British Columbia -- that's the east side of the Georgia Straight. You have Vancouver island acting as a rain screen.  Not as dry as Sequim.  It however still gets frosts in winter, and on a summer day it will usually be in the 70's, and sometimes in the 90's&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that:  In general you want the east side of a coastal range of mountains, a range that is high enough to precipitate out most of the rain.  Interior ranges will do the same thing to precipitation, but they will have more continental climates so the temperature range will be significantly greater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you move south, the temps get warmer.  Compensate for this by moving higher.  The tradeoff, is you get more cloud spilling over the tops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at the east slopes on the north island of New Zeeland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final suggestion is the coast of Peru and Chile.  The Humbolt current is cold, and wrings out most of the moisture of clouds passing over.  Archeologies still talk about discoveries made after the 1923 Rain.  Apparently that's the last time it did rain.  Lots of fog, no rain.  However it is hot in summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to migrate:  Have two households.  Become a snowbird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T19:49:59.743" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T19:49:59.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5525" CreationDate="2014-04-09T18:48:51.183" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't take a tent, I just take a tarp.  Easier to pitch (if you have trees) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 30 years of experience (4-6 weeks per year) I've only once gotten actually wet doing this.  Old tarp.  Heavy rain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I pack the tarp last thing, to give it maximum drying time.  If it's dry it goes in my pack.  If wet, it gets rolled up in my foam pad.  In the evening the tarp alone is set up as soon as my camp chores are done.  It's generally dry by bed time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also found that the ground under it is usually dry enough by then that my sleeping bag won't wick water.  I'll spread my poncho first if the ground is really wet, then my foam pad, then the sleeping bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I expect the weather to consistently wet, I'll bring a bivy sack too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T18:48:51.183" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5495" CreationDate="2014-04-09T18:50:15.550" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your sleeping bag did NOT come with two stuff stacks, leave it loosely stuffed in your pack, or in a large cardboard box.  I have an old trunk that is used just for sleeping bags and parkas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-04-09T18:50:15.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2014-04-10T12:58:57.873" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no such place.  40-60&amp;deg;F is a &lt;i&gt;very&lt;/i&gt; narrow range.  20&amp;deg;F can be just from day and night variation, which leaves basically nothing for seasonal variation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you meant daytime highs, I still don't think there is any place on earth that fits this description, let alone anywhere in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's flip this around and think of what would make a place have very low temperature variation.  Seasonal variations get larger towards the poles, so starting in the tropics is probably a good idea.  60&amp;deg;F is very low for the tropics, so that means moving up in altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even ignoring the rain criterion, this still sounds like a impossible goal.  Imagine looking for this place by trying different elevations in the Andes near the equator.  By the time you get to 60&amp;deg;F highs, you will be well below freezing at other times.  Obviously anyplace with snow on the ground, ever, doesn't fit your criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, there is no such place here on earth in the open.  What you ask does exist in caves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-04-10T12:58:57.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5544" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-10T21:59:57.423" Score="12" ViewCount="649" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering a trek in August/September in the Mealy Mountains and English Mountains in Labrador (Canada's newest National Park; for info see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/mealy-mountains.html#cr&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/07/boreal_landscapes_added_to_canada_parks/&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/apr11/mealy_mountains_labrador.asp&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;).  However, I am worried by the prospect of polar bears, so I wonder how frequent they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two data points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gros Morne National Park, almost 500 km south of the Mealy Mountains, rates polar bears there as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/natcul/natcul3.aspx&quot;&gt;accidental visitors&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Occasional visitor, no permanent population&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Torngat Mountain National Park, roughly 600 km north of the Mealy Mountains, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/torngats/visit/secur.aspx&quot;&gt;writes on their website&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Visitors travelling and camping in the park are in polar bear country and are at high risk of encounters. Polar bears are almost always present along the north Labrador coast.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where do the Mealy Mountains fit in during the ice-free season (August/September)?  Are polar bears occasional visitors like in Gros Morne National Park, where it's arguably safe to hike without worrying about polar bears?  Or are they closer to being permanently present, and is hiking alone without a guide very dangerous?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:15:50.600" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:15:50.600" Title="How frequent are polar bears inland in the Mealy Mountains and English Mountains in Labrador?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5548" CreationDate="2014-04-11T05:12:06.377" Score="8" ViewCount="299" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a specific method which would help one with an injured (say, broken) arm to rappel down a rock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is very much possible that one may hurt his / her arm for some or the other stupid / major mistakes, and then need to get down one his / her own with having to rappel down a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the do's and dont's of such a scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:36:30.593" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T04:36:30.593" Title="Rappelling with an injured arm" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5546" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-11T13:24:24.897" Score="8" ViewCount="255" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently planning my autumn (August/September) trek somewhere in Canadian mountains.  Canada is vast and there are many very spectacular places, but some are very popular; for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx&quot;&gt;Jasper National Park&lt;/a&gt; gets some 2 million visitors per year, and even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/ete-summer/~/~/link.aspx?_id=4AB625323FF642F38BCC86E53CEEF171&amp;amp;_z=z#reserv&quot;&gt;backcountry camping is limited to campsites and need reservations&lt;/a&gt;.  This means there is neither solitude nor flexibility, so I will look for a less popular location.  I've been considering &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/yt/kluane/visit.aspx&quot;&gt;Kluane national park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/agen/wwf/conservation/mealy.aspx&quot;&gt;Mealy mountains national park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tatshens/&quot;&gt;Tatsenshini-Alsek provincial park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/n_rocky/&quot;&gt;Northern Rocky Mountains provincial park&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks/tombstonepark.php&quot;&gt;Tombstone territorial park&lt;/a&gt;, and others.  I suspect the number of visitors for those parks ranges from less than a hundred to hundreds of thousands per year, but I'm only guessing.  When off-trail hiking is possible and permitted, the probability of solitude naturally increases dramatically.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For U.S. national parks, visitor statistics are &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/&quot;&gt;available online&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/pc/attend/table3.aspx&quot;&gt;For Canadian national parks too&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;em&gt;Total&lt;/em&gt; visits for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/aboutBCParks/fact_fig.html#attendance&quot;&gt;BC provincial parks&lt;/a&gt; top 20 million.  But is there anywhere where per-park visitors for provincial and territorial parks in Canada are estimated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-05-28T21:57:01.730" Title="Where can I find visitor statistics for Canadian provincial and territorial parks?" Tags="&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5617" CreationDate="2014-04-11T14:43:41.307" Score="7" ViewCount="834" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Canadian national parks in the Rocky Mountains are very popular (and for good reasons).  Banff National Park had 3.3 million visitors in 2012-2013, and Jasper National Park had almost 2 million (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/pc/attend/table3.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;).  Although only a fraction of those visit backcountry campsites, a fraction of &gt;5 million is still a very large number, and therefore &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/ete-summer/~/~/link.aspx?_id=4AB625323FF642F38BCC86E53CEEF171&amp;amp;_z=z#reserv&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reservations are required&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those statistics are not specified by season.  I suspect that visitors are highly concentrated in the summer.  I enjoy backcountry hiking, but I seek solitude.  As I don't mind cold or waking up with half a decimetre of fresh snow, one alternative could be to go very late in the season.  How late in the season, if ever, do backcountry campsites in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho national park, and the adjecent provincial parks, grow  quiet?  By quiet, I mean an expectation value of less than one tent per backcountry campsite, or, in other words, that I would have a 50% chance to be alone at any given backcountry campsite.  Does this happen within the season that hiking (as opposed to skiing or snowshoeing) is possible at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T16:37:30.747" Title="When (if ever) do backcountry campsites in the major Canadian national parks in the Rocky Mountains grow quiet?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5545" CreationDate="2014-04-11T17:33:44.943" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an example of a general topic called self-rescue. There are textbooks on the subject: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5283/reference-request-books-on-self-rescue-while-climbing&quot;&gt;Reference request: books on self-rescue while climbing&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplest situation would be where the arm was injured before you started the rappel (as opposed to getting hurt while doing the rappel), and the person with the injury doesn't feel confident about being able to rap safely with the uninjured arm. In that situation, I think the easiest solution would be to have your climbing partner lower you using his belay device for friction. This would be just like lowering someone off of a sport climb, but the belayer would be above rather than below the person being lowered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an alternative, the injured person might feel safe enough to rap off with one arm if there was a solid safety backup to the rappel setup, e.g., a Prusik backup: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/617/backup-prusik-for-abseiling-where-does-it-go&quot;&gt;Backup prusik for Abseiling: Where does it go?&lt;/a&gt; . One concern would be that when things go wrong in a rap, the solution is often to ascend the rope with a friction hitch or a mechanical ascender -- but a person with a broken arm might not be able to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-04-11T17:33:44.943" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5549" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5551" CreationDate="2014-04-11T18:06:00.893" Score="9" ViewCount="1827" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Jasper National Park, when I am hiking on trails, must I camp on designated backcountry campsites, or can I camp anywhere I want?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154917-i464-k1750422-Backcountry_camping-Jasper_National_Park_Alberta.html&quot;&gt;this forum post on tripadvisor&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, random camping along established trails is frowned upon and park regulations are enforced by wardens on patrol - on foot, on horseback, and by helicopter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's neither clear nor authoritative.  What are the rules that apply here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-04-12T22:45:46.530" Title="Can I camp in the backcountry outside backcountry campsites in Jasper National Park?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2014-04-11T19:29:02.900" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had celiac for 8 years now. I am self described outdoor enthusiast and celiac is nothing that should hold you back from having fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out on the trail I eat quinoa, brown and black rice (black rice is super healthy), dried fruits, nuts. I'll normally bring one or two cans of soup or baked beans, sometimes canned chili, corn tortillas, jerky, lentils, CANDY, another good option out on trail is to bring some protein powder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point of this post is to let you know that eating gluten free isn't hard once you're used to it. And actually it's quite healthier if you look into it. You can easily find &quot;organic&quot; &quot;health food stores&quot;  that sell gluten free products by the masses. I've been to gluten free bakeries that were delicious! But even if you're only going to the regular supermarket there are tons of options. Also if we're going as far as raw meats, then dude, bring a friggin steak, chicken breasts. Get some dignity dank seasoning and make yourself some bomb bomb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3135" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-04-11T23:35:57.223" LastActivityDate="2014-04-11T23:35:57.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5549" CreationDate="2014-04-12T18:32:09.913" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;no, you may only camp in designated areas&lt;/strong&gt;. Camping is only allowed in designated areas at Jasper park. If you contact the park directly by e-mail the answer is the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In Jasper National Park, when hikers are hiking on trails they must camp in the designated backcountry campsites only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the official Parks Canada &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/ap-bc.aspx&quot;&gt;Backcountry Guide in Jasper National Park 2013&lt;/a&gt; you must&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Obtain a Backcountry Camping Permit from a Park Information Centre. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/~/link.aspx?_id=4AB625323FF642F38BCC86E53CEEF171&amp;amp;_z=z&quot;&gt;Parks Canada Jasper section&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;backcountry camping permit is mandatory for all overnight trips&lt;/strong&gt; and can be obtained by phoning the Trail Office (780) 852-6177.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These permits are obtained for specific campgrounds and/or designated sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Jasper, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/ap-bc/bivouack.aspx&quot;&gt;exceptions exist&lt;/a&gt; for climbers which allow them to bivouac in specific cases. You still need to obtain a backcountry camping permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-04-12T22:45:46.530" LastActivityDate="2014-04-12T22:45:46.530" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2014-04-12T18:53:21.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have several gluten-intolerant people in my life, and though I haven't taken them camping, here's how I would feed them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast: for a short trip, bring some gluten-free muffins or bagels. For a longer trip, learn how to make a dough (premix the rice flour, xanthan gum etc at home) you can rise and then fry into English muffins. Not kidding, we did this on trips with small children and it's very feasible to make a batch of dough on arrival at the site, let it rise, and cook muffins after dinner. Jam, peanut butter or both on a muffin is a nice start to the morning. I've also made corn pone at breakfast time which is delicious warm with cheese. (Small packages of cheese, kept sealed, that spend each night underwater keep well for a week or so.) If oatmeal is an option for you it makes a great breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lunch: jerky, nuts, dried fruit, ... not much gluten happening here usually, because we tend to eat lunch on the go or at a portage. We sometimes have packaged dried soups for lunch on a stay-put day, choose a gluten-free one. Also the same gluten-free muffins and peanut butter, jam, or cheese as at breakfast can work well if you like a sandwich for lunch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dinner: pasta and rice dominate for us. Either buy gluten free pasta or have rice more often. Premix some dumpling mix to use in stew or chili (I know it sounds weird but chili with dumplings is delicious.) The meat-and-sauce part of most dinners will be gluten free if you make it yourself (dehydrate vegetables, tomato sauce etc and put it all together at the camp site.) You can also buy dehydrated potato dishes (au gratin etc) but read carefully because not all are gluten free. I've made these in a pot and they are delicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-04-12T18:53:21.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2014-04-13T15:26:21.737" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently hiked in the desert in April and drank 8 oz (~¼ litre) per half hour, which was a pint (~570 mL) an hour. That was not enough. I felt like a dried out sponge for a couple days after, and this was only a six hour day hike. I will plan a quart an hour in the future if at all possible, so that means a gallon (3.8 litre) for every four hours out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3139" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-01-14T22:31:35.183" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T22:31:35.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4859" CreationDate="2014-04-14T12:25:27.210" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general trekking/hiking is not very common in RSA and most of the possibilities will be maintained by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://mcsacapetown.co.za&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MCSA&lt;/a&gt;. I recommend that you get in contact with the Cape Town section of the MCSA and ask about longer hiking trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally you have to consider that most land in RSA is private property and owners may not allow trespassing. But if the MCSA tells you about routes this may be no issue because they should have an agreement with the land owners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crime is definitely an issue in RSA. A huge number of South Africans belong to the poor and if you show your wealth around, someone may help you getting rid of it. These people will hardly understand why someone hikes through their country, wearing/carrying all the sophisticated outdoor stuff which they never will be able to buy. Of course you won't meet as much people as in the cities but you have to be aware of this. A good way to deal with this issue would be to never do a hike on your own. Always go in groups or join organized trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end one little story. We wanted to hike to the top of the cable car in Hartbeestpoort but the officials (employees at the cable way station) denied access although we knew that there is a trail and it would be possible for us to reach the summit in about 2 hours. So you really need to be well prepared when hiking in RSA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T08:11:06.447" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T08:11:06.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2014-04-14T14:16:39.923" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I visit AZ every summer and include some hikes in the desert when I'm there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, don't just take water.  That can lead to electrolyte loss, as actually happened to me the first year I did this.  Now I dissolve some gatorade powder in the water, and I haven't had that problem since.  I usually mix it 1/2 to 2/3 strength relative to what the directions say.  The first thing I do when I get to AZ is to buy one of those large tubs of gatorade powder.  I go thru most of it in the 10 days or so I'm out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like carrying more than 1 gallon of water, so I plan my hikes accordingly.  Depending on where exactly and the weather that day, that can be good enough for a all-day hike of 8 hours or more, or only 4 hours in some cases.  In cases where I know the conditions are severe, I either plan to be out no more than 4 hours or I'm going out and back along the same route and turn around when the container gets half full.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good example of the severe case is when I went hiking in the southern White Tank mountains west of Phoenix.  (I recommend avoiding the White Tanks, too many yahoos with guns, dirtbikes, and trash everywhere, but I didn't know that at the time.)  It was a hot day, even for that location in August.  I drank all I could stand before leaving, and took a gallon of diluted gatorade.  When that got down to 1/2 gallon, I turned around and went back to the car.  I only got a few miles in, and I think the whole hike lasted only about 3 hours.  I had a little liquid left when I got back to the car, which I then drank and felt about right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other times at somewhat higher elevations and a bit cooler temperatures, I've gone the whole day on one gallon.  One example was a whole-day hike around Juniper Mesa in the Prescott NF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in the end it matters a lot where you're going and what the conditions are in that location on that day.  For the real serious desert in the heat of summer, I'd say a gallon per 3-4 hours, then derate according to weather from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-04-14T14:16:39.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5556" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-14T18:09:24.687" Score="14" ViewCount="7743" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This is not a shopping question just to preface that issue. I'm not looking for a specific brand or model of trekking pole. Also to add some background information, I have borrowed trekking poles once, but do not own any. They are a rather new thing for me to consider as I've been a bit stubbornly (and maybe irrationally) opposed to them until I began to have knee pain as I grow older.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several trekking pole manufacturers, and they all seem to have a myriad of options and models. One of those major categories is the &lt;strong&gt;Anti-Shock&lt;/strong&gt;, (hereafter known as &lt;strong&gt;&quot;AS&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;), or shock-absorbing models. These poles use different methods to reduce the amount of force transferred to your hands and arms upon the poles' strike with the ground. Well, at least that's my understanding anyway. &lt;strong&gt;Standard&lt;/strong&gt; poles do not have this mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So my question is what are the pros &amp;amp; cons of each: AS versus Standard trekking poles?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a few of the the things I'm wondering about as a jumping off point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Effectiveness of the AS mechanism. Does it really make that much of a difference over non-AS poles?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weight differences between AS and standard: noticeable or negligible?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reliability: is one type more reliable than the other? Or are they about the same?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are all AS designs roughly the same or are some better (more effective or more reliable) than others?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there specific occasions when AS is a definite advantage/disadvantage when hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a nearly overwhelming number of trekking pole reviews out there so to help direct this question, I'm really looking for answers from those who have owned or used both types of poles thus having their experiences with them informing those answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any possible studies out there would also be welcome information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-21T20:14:27.513" LastActivityDate="2015-03-07T18:24:57.723" Title="Trekking poles: what are the pros and cons of Anti-shock vs standard designs?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5557" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-14T18:45:30.080" Score="5" ViewCount="575" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a geocacher's nightmare, when you do a nice urbex cache, and then, when leaving, find the entrance blocked by angry homeless, that seem to live there and are not happy from unexpected visitor (which isn't surprising).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to deal such situations, to avoid the confrontation, which could end poorly, or loosing your wallet, which also isn't a dream situation? Are there any tricks to lighten the atmosphere, for example offering cigarettes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:13:58.713" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:13:58.713" Title="How to deal with aggressive homeless when exploring urbex?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;urbex&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-04-15T12:32:56.230" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5558" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-14T18:58:15.207" Score="9" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any special effective technique (parkour or something similar) for crossing very high and dense mountain pine? Those ones can be really dense, and sometimes the only possibility to cross them is to walk on the top of them, and crossing it is usually very slow and tiring, especially with big backpack that likes to hook the branches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R1nZH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen some running technique in a documentary with Bear Grylls, but I've forgotten the name, and I know you can't believe everything you see in his films...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2014-04-15T16:28:50.380" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T04:13:21.747" Title="Effective technique for crossing high and dense mountain pine" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5559" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5560" CreationDate="2014-04-14T21:23:04.183" Score="5" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.route62.eu/bilder/artiklar/zoom/11378r_1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Haglöfs Grepp Glove&lt;/a&gt; which are quite thin but have a Windstopper membrane.&#xA;I like those gloves because they offer great grip. But I am also a bit confused because I got really cold fingers on my bicycle during the winter with approx. 30 km/h speed. It wasn't that cold (0°C/32°F) so I wouldn't get frosty fingers with those gloves without the wind, especially when I am making sports. Is the membrane not working like I expected? It is said to be 100% windproof, so wind-chill shoudn't be the major issue. Is this just marketing or is it the unfortunate exposure of the finger tips while cycling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all being said I am searching gloves for mountaineering. I am not explicitly planning to do winter tours. I was thinking in getting a second, thicker pair to wear over the thinner one. I don't know if this might be a good choice. I have to clip carabiner, use ropes and (un)tie knots. I will grab in the snow, it could be raining the whole day and there might be quite strong wind - and not just 30 km/h...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All those thoughts make me doubtful although I am not expecting really cold temperatures at all. So &lt;strong&gt;which system is recommended to protect the hands&lt;/strong&gt;, if most important requirements are those for typical glacier/alpine tours:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water- and windproof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;good grip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;layering?!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking a pair waterproof gloves of construction workers besides the Softshells could be a solution? Or even add very thin liners or mittens?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:27:45.810" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:27:45.810" Title="Gloves for alpine tours in summer" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5559" CreationDate="2014-04-14T21:58:16.893" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From looking at the pictures I would say that for the &quot;default&quot; conditions at summer glacier/alpine tours they should be perfectly fine. In dry but slightly coldish conditions they will give you good grip and rope handling, as long as you don't have to dig through snow with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason why you have got cold fingers while cycling might be on the one hand, that there is no &quot;100 % windproof&quot; unless you take something like a rubber glove, which will not breathe at all. The second and more influencing reason might be, that while cycling the blood circulation into your fingers might be affected due to leaning with your hands on the handlebars and also due to the fact that you will not be able to move your fingers too much while cycling. As you are walking you will play with your fingers unconsciously to keep them warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the case of bad weather I would get me a second pair which is more water resistant. This can either be an independent pair of gloves with own insulation or some overgloves that fit over your given pair of light ones. If you choose the overglove version, you will have to check if they need to be just more water-resistant or should also have a bit of insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used fleece gloves (without windstopper but about the same thickness) on my last high alpine tour and was perfectly fine with them. But I had a second pair of thicker and more water-resistant ones in my backpack for the case of a snow storm where my fleece ones would have been way too thin and also would have gone wet quickly when working in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-04-14T21:58:16.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5561" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5562" CreationDate="2014-04-15T08:28:55.323" Score="10" ViewCount="1917" Body="&lt;p&gt;During some Urbex explorations sometimes I'll encounter a building with an asbestos warning. Is there any way that I can safely explore these buildings? Would Just something like a surgical mask and some gloves be enough or can I not go into these places without a hazmat suit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3142" LastActivityDate="2015-01-17T00:29:27.537" Title="Urbex question: How to protect myself from asbestos?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;urbex&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5561" CreationDate="2014-04-15T14:06:13.917" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome to outdoors.SE! Older buildings often contain asbestos in solid form, and it may be sealed up (under floorboards, in tape around heating ducts, etc.). As long as it's not ground up into dust, the hazard is minimal. For example, construction workers knocking down a building or remodeling it can get exposed to asbestos dust if they don't realize that there's asbestos in it. Simply walking around in a building that contains undamaged asbestos isn't dangerous. The danger would be greatest for people who have long-term exposure, e.g., the people who used to work in the asbestos industry. You could try to judge whether the building is damaged, but it might be difficult to figure that out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2014-04-18T16:42:32.233" LastActivityDate="2014-04-18T16:42:32.233" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5558" CreationDate="2014-04-15T14:13:15.153" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are ways to approach every mountain. The route that goes by ridges that are with sharper  slopes / drops can take you to the top exceedingly faster since the forest on such a ridge is relatively thinner as compared to the milder ascends of it. At the same time such a forest can be bushy or more-or-less thorny all the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas, if you take a milder ascend, you may travel geographically more than a sharper ridge as I said earlier. On the other hand, such a route will allow you to run through dense forests as you should expect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally prefer sharper ridges when I am climbing up a mountain and a milder ridge to get down as I can simply run through on a descend (though it is not advised to run while descending). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you just traversing a mountain and not actually getting on the top of it, then you may not have much of a choice. OR may be even if you intend to go from one mountain to another, you should take the milder ridge to ascend as you just might have exerted your knees and ultimately lower body while descending. Alas, its more about who is good with what!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2732" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-10-22T04:13:21.747" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T04:13:21.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5564" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5565" CreationDate="2014-04-15T15:43:40.660" Score="6" ViewCount="3902" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a hennessy hammock which is great, but so far I have always taken my tent along too... as it is rare that campsites have trees the correct distance apart, or let you pick a pitch with the few trees on the site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a list of campsites that cater for hammock use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I would like to do some wild camping, but a pretty strong factor in English wild lands is a lack of trees! Is there a resource that lists good areas to try?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2081" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T09:57:20.443" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T09:57:20.443" Title="Where is it possible to use a hammock in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5564" CreationDate="2014-04-16T14:12:16.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to study an Ordance Survey map of the area. Incidently &lt;a href=&quot;http://binged.it/1j00Hj9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;you can get these off Bing&lt;/a&gt; which is cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd look for a campsite symbol &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wDkqm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; with some form of forest near by: &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IEo8R.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preferably deciduous forest, which will have well spaced out trees, forestry commision land tends to be densely packed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OGfIz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same applies for any wild camping spots. Bear in mind wild camping isn't particularly legal in the UK (excluding Scotland where it is legal), though it is generally tolerated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another note, I have a hammock and I have rock climbing anchors. You can suspend a hammock quite well from quarry's, etc. if you put good anchors in...not at height obviously!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CNz5C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your after specifics I'd say &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/camping/camping-in-the-lake-district/low-wray/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Low Wray on Windermere&lt;/a&gt; would be perfect for your needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dv0GC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://binged.it/1j0beee&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Map link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-16T14:37:04.863" LastActivityDate="2014-04-16T14:37:04.863" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="725" CreationDate="2014-04-16T14:33:22.727" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I make my own laundry soap.  I just found out that fels naptha soap found at walmart in the laundry isle is the best to use for the oils left on material items. Try it it works great and i save tons of money. Just grate the soap and mix with borax and washing powder. If you like you can also put in crystals. I use purex. 2 tsp in the wash cycle and WOW!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3148" LastActivityDate="2014-04-16T14:33:22.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5568" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5571" CreationDate="2014-04-17T00:18:12.963" Score="11" ViewCount="2574" Body="&lt;p&gt;For winter camping it is recommended to use a sleeping pad with an R value greater than 5.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you alternatively use two closed cell 2.5R pads one on top of each other? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If using an inflatable pad with an R value of 5 and a closed cell with an R value of 2.5 will you effectively have a 7.5R value set up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-05T16:29:25.880" LastActivityDate="2019-05-05T16:29:25.880" Title="Do &quot;R&quot; values add proportionally?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2014-04-17T08:00:52.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that a fair way to split the weight between group members is ... everyone to carry their own. Including food, clothes, bedroll, part of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This prevents the inexperienced and unfit &lt;strong&gt;new&lt;/strong&gt; hikers form bringing a ton of cosmetics, drinks, clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2014-04-17T08:00:52.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5568" CreationDate="2014-04-17T09:50:02.693" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, the R-value will add of your different layers. If you wear layer A with R=5 and layer B with R=2.5, the overall insulation value will be &lt;strong&gt;R=7.5&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To explain this a bit, we think of two layers or flat walls which interact only due to thermal conduction. This is just a model and in reality other effects will come in play. The Fourier Law for thermal conduction (relative to the surface) of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;one layer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;heatFluxDensity = thermalConductivity / thickness * temperatureDifference&#xA;&#xA;[W/m²]          = [W/(mK)]            / [m]       * [K]&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The R-value is stated as a material property as&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;R = thickness / thermalConductivity&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;with the unit [m²K/W] which leads from Fourier law to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;R = temperatureDifference / heatFluxDensity&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding several layers, we can use the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_resistance#Explanation_from_an_electronics_point_of_view&quot;&gt;electrical analogy&lt;/a&gt; and are able to add the resistances of each layer to an overall resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing your material properties (which might be difficult in the clothing industry), assuming a temperature gradient or a heat flux, you can then evaluate the other using this equation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;heatFluxDensity = (innerTemp - outerTemp) / (R1 + R2 + ... + Rn)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More interesting links to read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_%28insulation%29#Thickness&quot;&gt;Wiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_02.html&quot;&gt;Insulation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tadvgear.com/page4.htm&quot;&gt;Relating to outdoors&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.258.8876&amp;amp;rep=rep1&amp;amp;type=pdf&quot;&gt;Mathematical model&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-04-17T09:50:02.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2014-04-17T11:38:15.030" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I face this problem not for hiking, but for portaging. That is a slightly different situation, but not entirely different. We often went as two families: 4 adults and as many as 5 children. Not only could some children not carry anything, some of them had to be carried. Our approach:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;separate kitchen packs from tent packs. Kitchen packs have food and cooking equipment and never go in the tents. Tent packs have tents, bedding, clothes etc. Typically the kitchen  pack is much heavier than the tent pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;each family was responsible for their own tent pack, but we split supplies across the kitchen packs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a LOT of stuff you only need one of. Pots and pans, stoves, firewood saw, first aid kit, repair kit, water treatment, binoculars, ... we either worked out in advance who would bring something, or moved things between packs before setting off. (And often, the family with less children had some shared stuff in the tent pack, too, like books for bedtime stories.) We also balanced out the food as it got eaten. For ease of finding things, one bag held snack foods (jerky, nuts) and an entirely  different bag held meal ingredients. Knowing where to find things when 4 or more bags might hold it sounds like a nightmare to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the children got larger we had bags for them to carry, but could always clip those things to an adult pack if we needed to. In the same vein, a mixed-strength group should pack in a way that makes it easy to take something (the [whatever] kit, the rope bag) out of one person's pack and put it on someone else's. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, too, that you may start a trip as a matched group, then a minor injury or illness may afflict one of you, and splitting up the load may be the key to continuing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-04-17T11:38:15.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5568" CreationDate="2014-04-17T13:38:30.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_%28insulation%29#Multiple_layers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;According to wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_02.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In calculating the R-value of a multi-layered installation, the R-values of the individual layers are added.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine a slight diminishing return as the r-value is a laboratory measurement in ideal condition which is not quite the same as on the field (variable temperatures, moisture, air movement, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-04-17T13:38:30.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5591" CreationDate="2014-04-18T01:46:18.680" Score="10" ViewCount="9790" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently moved from Sweden to Canada.  In Sweden, I always bought ethanol for my trangia ethanol stove at petrol stations.  Where can I buy such ethanol in Canada?  Is it sold at petrol stations, or will I need to visit more speciality stores?  What is the colloquial name?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T23:13:19.747" Title="Where to buy ethanol in Canada?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5564" CreationDate="2014-04-18T12:40:31.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to add to Liams answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan your trip and search for natural campsites (so don't go for the busy familily and tourist ones).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I found they mostly have two parts, one open-ish field and a forest part with 'normal' tree spacing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Since I mostly go car camping I will often hang one side of my hammock of the roof of my jeep thus requiring one less tree.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also consider using a tree protector of some sorts (a dirty t-shirt does the trick), this get's any tree huggers at ease.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;People (and most importantly the grounds keeper) never seem to mind it that much, they'll more often be intrigued about my setup then annoyed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy camping!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-04-18T12:40:31.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5577" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5578" CreationDate="2014-04-18T14:10:15.913" Score="20" ViewCount="6943" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a 70 meter climbing rope from REI because it was a great price on the outlet. Last weekend I used it for the first time in the Texas hill country, where 99% of routes need a rope less than 35 meters. The rope is overkill for what I will be climbing in the foreseeable future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question-- is there any problem with taking the rope to REI and asking them to cut it in half (or even 30/40) so that I have two more manageable ropes? I'm specifically asking about safety considerations, but any practicality considerations would also be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2016-09-03T05:36:31.903" Title="Is it safe to cut a climbing rope in half?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5577" CreationDate="2014-04-18T15:21:50.127" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can take it back to REI or to another gear store that deals with climbing gear. Make sure they know the rope is indeed being used for climbing. They should be able to cut it and prepare the cut ends so there isn't any fraying/unraveling, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2374" LastActivityDate="2014-04-18T15:21:50.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5577" CreationDate="2014-04-18T19:36:22.857" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is safe to cut (while you are not using it). You can cut it yourself. I would use something sharp so that you get a clean cut. Healing (using a flame to melt) the cut ends and wrapping them in tape (like they come from the manufacture) will be needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you do that though, you might want to consider not cutting it at all. While a 70 meter rope is pretty long for most applications in climbing, it's certainly useful at times. A 30 or 40 meter rope is really pretty small for rock climbing. Keep in mind that will limit your rappels to 15-20 meters. Still, lightweight 30 meter ropes are made and used (usually in more alpine situations) and if you are going to use this shorter rope only for one area that has smaller crags then the decision is yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just keep in mind, once you cut there is no going back on it and climbing ropes are expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastEditorUserId="2568" LastEditDate="2014-05-12T17:06:47.097" LastActivityDate="2014-05-12T17:06:47.097" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5556" CreationDate="2014-04-18T20:18:16.933" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have any hard evidence other than personal experience, but using poles with shock absorption tends to be easier on the joints - it cushions, at least a little bit, the jolting on your body, especially when going down steep terrain. With a standard pole, when it connects with the ground, that's it - your downward motion is halted immediately. With the shock absorption mechanism, when the pole hits the ground, the pole gives at least a little bit to decrease the sudden impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2374" LastActivityDate="2014-04-18T20:18:16.933" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5577" CreationDate="2014-04-19T03:31:31.617" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a perfectly legitimate thing to do.  It's not uncommon for climbers to take a 60 or 70 meter rope and cut a few meters off the ends (since the ends of a rope take a lot of abuse).  You can either take it to REI, as you suggested, and tell them you are cutting it for climbing or check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/cutting-a-rope/&quot;&gt;this how-to on Climbing.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few things you need to consider before cutting your rope, though. If you are planning on climbing at other crags, I would check out what the height of the routes are there and make sure you'll have enough after you cut it.  If you plan on climbing anywhere else in the country, I'd suggest having at least a 50m rope (and better yet, a 60m rope) to be on the safe side.  I have a 70m rope and although I don't use more than maybe 50 meters of it at a time at my regular crags, it's been the difference between safely climbing a route and not when climbing at other crags.  If it's a possiblity, you should look into buying a shorter rope.  I say this only because I agree that it is annoying to use a rope that is on average twice the size of what you need, but nothing is more frustrating than realizing you don't have enough rope to climb a route.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3074" LastActivityDate="2014-04-19T03:31:31.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1373" CreationDate="2014-04-20T21:46:05.107" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;the question is a bit old (2012) but there might be people still searching for an answer to : where and how to walk in the Lofoten Island? I asked myself the same question and I found a web site (in English and in French) which is dedicated to this subject. You will find many pages with day-walks description, maps, pictures, and free-downladable gps tracks. So you might want to have a look at it, as it may help you preparing your trip, as much as it did for me : &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hiking-lofoten.net&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.hiking-lofoten.net&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Antonio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3163" LastActivityDate="2014-04-20T21:46:05.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-21T21:06:19.840" Score="12" ViewCount="2035" Body="&lt;p&gt;On trips I lead, we always split up into smaller cook groups, yet I did have one occasion a long time ago where we cooked as one large cook group. Long enough that I don't remember if it worked well or not. &lt;em&gt;(I don't think that it did, but we also could have done something wrong.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On extended trips into the wilderness, whether it be backpacking, kayak trips, etc, what are the advantages of cooking together as one entire group? Conversely, what about the advantages of splitting up into smaller cook groups? Would the type of trip, and environment be a factor in the advantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say we have a group size of 9 people, and the trip is 10 days, no resupplies, and it is a temperate, forested environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:48:13.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:48:13.843" Title="Group Trips: 1 Large cook group or smaller cook groups of 3 or 4?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5586" CreationDate="2014-04-22T09:07:30.337" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To get the hygiene part out of the way, everybody needs to bring or have access to good (alcohol based) hand sanitizer at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For deciding on the size of cooking groups: how large is your cooking pot?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;At scouting we either set up a base camp where we'll cook for the entire group (25 persons) or when hiking we use smaller gear and would split up in groups of 8 or smaller depending on how much each person in the group eats and how large the pots are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's always more efficient to cook in groups as large as possible so you can share the weight of stoves, fuel, pots and food (and remember that you can fit food and gear inside a large pot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, eating with the entire group at once can boost morale a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-04-22T09:07:30.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4208" CreationDate="2014-04-22T09:58:26.020" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First do a proper assessment and determine that it's actually a dislocation and not another problem or that there isn't also another injury in addition to the dislocation. This requires the proper training which is beyond the scope of this medium. &lt;strong&gt;This is not a substitute for proper training.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you've done the assessment and there are no life-threatening issues or other injuries to complicate treatment of the dislocation. If possible, it needs to be reduced, which means you want to get the shoulder back in its proper place. There are several techniques for this, but the primary one being taught in Wilderness First Aid classes is called the &lt;a href=&quot;http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/109130-overview#a15&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stimson maneuver&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJjOT.gif&quot; alt=&quot;https://www2.aofoundation.org/wps/portal/surgery/?showPage=redfix&amp;amp;bone=Humerus&amp;amp;segment=Proximal&amp;amp;classification=11-A1.3&amp;amp;treatment=&amp;amp;method=Closed+reduction%3B+screw+fixation&amp;amp;implantstype=&amp;amp;redfix_url=1301988722696#stepUnit-2&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(credit: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.aofoundation.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www2.aofoundation.org/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Administer an NSAID pain reliever such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patient lies prone and must be as relaxed as possible with the injured side hanging over an edge as depicted. The arm must be able to hang freely.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using available materials (triangle bandage, ACE bandage, t-shirt...) fashion a sling around the hanging wrist and attach 5-15 lbs of weight (larger muscle mass requires more weight), gently releasing it so that it is pulling down on the arm. This applies passive traction to the shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wait around 15-20 minutes or until the shoulder reduces. A distinct sound will be heard upon reduction. Deformity will also no longer be present in the shoulder. However inflammation will remain. Patient will also likely report feeling less pain upon reduction. Check CSMs (circulation, sensation, motion).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next immobilize: sling &amp;amp; swathe the injured arm/shoulder with triangle bandages or other available materials.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UQgdB.gif&quot; alt=&quot;https://www2.aofoundation.org/AOFileServerSurgery/MyPortalFiles?FilePath=/Surgery/en/_img/surgery/05-RedFix/11/2010/N40_Nonoperative/11_N40_i110_540.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(credit: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.aofoundation.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www2.aofoundation.org/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PrwhO.gif&quot; alt=&quot;http://www.troop471.org/4-9.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(credit: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.troop471.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.troop471.org&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is simply a summary and not an exhaustive step-by-step. I skipped many things that should be done as part of any proper patient assessment and treatment. Any first-time dislocations should evac because of possible complications. If it is not a first time then do a proper assessment and determine whether it's needed based on information from the patient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again I can not emphasize enough that this is not a substitute for proper training. It's highly possible for the mechanism of injury (MOI) that caused the dislocation to have cause other injuries that need treatment, some of which could be life threatening. That's where the proper assessment is key.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: My own training through both NOLS WMI and ARC is the primary resource I pulled from. The links referenced outline the the same basic procedure with slight variations since my training is intended for a backcountry environment with no immediate access to primary medical care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-22T17:58:04.007" LastActivityDate="2014-04-22T17:58:04.007" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5575" CreationDate="2014-04-22T17:50:44.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did find ethanol at Canadian Tire (in downtown Toronto).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they only had a large bottle (almost 4L), so it's not suitable if one is already on their way; you should still get a smaller bottle and find a place to store the larger container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-04-22T17:50:44.567" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5592" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-24T06:59:26.573" Score="18" ViewCount="6419" Body="&lt;p&gt;At this very moment, I'm out in the woods typing away on my laptop.  I have an internet connection, and my phone can use that connection to send text messages, but I have no voice phone service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I contact emergency services from here?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in the United States (San Jose, specifically¹), so normally I'd call 911.  Currently the local 911 service doesn't support text messaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹ More specifically, I'm in a cabin in the mountains just outside San Jose, 20 minutes drive from the nearest hospital.  There are a surprising number of places in these mountains where you can find a wi-fi signal being broadcast from some hidden cabin, but very few places where you can get a cell phone signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3175" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-28T12:28:21.443" LastActivityDate="2021-05-10T14:48:36.040" Title="How can I contact emergency services in the US via the internet?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5247" CreationDate="2014-04-24T09:06:24.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This really depends on what sort of condition you're in.  For example, if you're a trail-runner in good shape who's used to high altitudes, the 28 miles from the rim to Phantom Ranch and back would be a reasonable day trip; if you're a sedentary lowlander, even a flat one-mile hike might be hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The National Park Service has a list of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/day-hiking.htm#CP_JUMP_103529&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North Rim trails&lt;/a&gt;.  If you want to go down into the canyon, there's really only one choice: the North Kaibab Trail.  You can follow it to Coconino Overlook, Supai Tunnel, or Roaring Springs in a day depending on your level of fitness (rule of thumb: hiking out takes twice as long as hiking in).  For views from the canyon rim, there are various trails ranging from the half-mile Bright Angel Point trail to the ten-mile Ken Patrick trail: pick one (or more).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T09:06:24.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2014-04-24T09:33:22.367" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Naismith's rule is a good starting point, but it doesn't really cover unusual trail conditions.  My rule of thumb is to convert distance, elevation, and trail condition to &quot;equivalent miles&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Each mile is a mile. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Each 500 feet of elevation gain is a mile.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance traveled on snow or loose rock counts double.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance traveled above 7000 feet elevation counts double. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance spent breaking trail counts double.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figure I can cover three equivalent miles per hour carrying a day pack, or two per hour carrying an overnight pack.  The resulting time estimates are usually good to within an hour or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T09:33:22.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5767" CreationDate="2014-04-24T13:40:03.350" Score="7" ViewCount="1039" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been using a double uni knot to go from braid to a fluoro leader, and just recently learned a perfection loop, and accompanying loop-to-loop for fly line to fly leader. For spinning gear with a variety of bass fishing tackle and line, would the perfection loop work in braid to quickly swap leaders that are not braid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3178" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T02:25:12.500" Title="Can you use a loop-to-loop going braid to mono/fluoro?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5592" CreationDate="2014-04-24T19:33:07.960" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even Google voice has to call your phone to connect a voice call, thereby requiring a signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really are anticipating the need to contact emergency services without cellphone reception, look into purchasing an inReach &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.inreachdelorme.com/why-inreach/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.inreachdelorme.com/why-inreach/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T19:33:07.960" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5592" CreationDate="2014-04-24T19:42:58.137" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;All 4 major carriers have either implemented or are implementing text-to-911 service.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://goo.gl/a1IN6T&quot;&gt;U.S. mobile providers commit to emergency texting service&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event that this doesn't work, you can always text a friend or family member. They can then call 911 for you. If they are in a different area, then they will be transferred to the correct area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T19:42:58.137" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5599" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5602" CreationDate="2014-04-24T20:20:41.630" Score="9" ViewCount="537" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I saw one of the last &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eoft.eu/programme/08-the-beginning/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;EOFT&lt;/a&gt;-&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l0-R0zfhY4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;films&lt;/a&gt; I am really curious about trying canyoneering, but I can´t quite figure out how to get started. What would you suggest to try it? What would be the minimum of equipment needed for that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some background on me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am a student, so (expensive) guided tours are basically no choice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the same reason I would like to spend little money on equipment - at least in the start, till I know more&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don´t have any mountaineering or climbing experience - all I know (related to canyoning) is swimming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I live in northern Germany&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-04-25T23:23:58.147" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T12:33:19.157" Title="How to get started on canyoning?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3515" CreationDate="2014-04-24T21:18:14.330" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am neither from Brazil nor experienced in primitive fire starting - nevertheless I will try to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Find out what to use as tinder&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned, I don´t know a lot about Brazilian plants. Things I would try to light with matches to see how they burn before you go on a trip or get in a survival situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry parts of cactus or, if they grow there, palm trees &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Parts of (dead) trees - especially bark can bee a good guess.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everything that looks like lichen or algae or moss&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;smell intensive plants, as they can likely contain essential oils that burn well (the same thing that makes birch bark burn that well, though it doesn´t smell)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;everything kind of foamy - in Europe we have some kind of reed whose insinde is just like foam and burns quite well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;grass or straw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dung&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are many possible ways to prepare tinder so it burns better/longer by putting it in oil and so on, but I think thats not your intention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Doing the bow-drill style&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many different ways to light up that tinder, but I will only comment on this one. &#xA;For the bow you need a stable stick. If the string you get (e. g. made from grass or cactus filament) is very stable you can try using a more flexible bow to get more tension in the string, but you will have to experiment with the setup a lot. For flexible bows I would suggest the only Brazilian wood I know: biribá, as is used for &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Berimbau&lt;/a&gt; instruments. But I would guess it rather grows in humid climate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest you get also some inspiration from famous Les Stroud aka Survivorman as he also did some episodes in desert climates (look &lt;a href=&quot;http://lesstroud.ca/survivorman/episodes.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) and covers on fire making as well as fire carrying. I think he uses the bow method in one of his episodes in Africa, but I can´t remember which.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T21:18:14.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2014-04-24T22:06:33.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year I was taught an approximation by a mountaineer guide. It is an average and worked quite well for me. Of course you need adaption for alpine tours (3000m+), physical condition, weather, extremely rough paths and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rule is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4km per hour on a flat path&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;400m altitude per hour&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take the so calculated longer time and add the half of the shorter time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10km path (horizontal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;800m ascent (vertical)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2.5h (horizontal) + 1/2 * 2h (vertical) =&gt; &lt;strong&gt;3.5h&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding following: If you go several times and have this (or another) rule in mind, you can adapt it accordingly. For example I am tending more to 500m ascent instead of 400m. Going downhill I noticed that I only need half of the time I needed for the same path uphill. This will also differ a lot for different style of hikers/mountaineers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-04-24T22:24:18.387" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T22:24:18.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5599" CreationDate="2014-04-24T22:15:32.963" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although theoretically one can do canyoneering alone, in reality it's not something you can safely start doing all by yourself, especially since you don't have mountaineering or rock climbing experience. So the first thing to do is to try to locate someone more experience with whom you can go. Canyoneering can be dangerous, basically because it involves lots of rappelling. If you read Accidents in North American Mountaineering for a randomly chosen year, you will see lots and lots of rappelling accidents. Canyoneering is also difficult to do safely because a trip down a canyon is committing. Once you've done the first rappel, you generally have no choice but to complete the remaining rappels. If you get to a certain rappel and find that the anchor is unsafe, you have a serious problem. Wet canyoneering adds to the danger. For all these reasons, it would be extremely foolish for someone with your skill set to try to do this without guidance from someone who is going to be there with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you're going with someone else who is more experienced, the minimum personal equipment you would need for yourself would be a climbing harness, pear-shaped locking carabiner, rappel device, helmet, cordage for making a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/617/backup-prusik-for-abseiling-where-does-it-go&quot;&gt;backup Prusik&lt;/a&gt;, and some kind of Prusik (such as a Texas Prusik) to carry on your harness in case something goes wrong and you need to ascend the rope. The other person would presumably provide rope, rope bag, webbing for anchors, extra oval carabiners for misc purposes, and other shared equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To build up a minimal set of skills, it would be a good idea to do a little rock climbing, either at a gym or outdoors. You should buy the standard textbook on mountaineering, called Freedom of the Hills, and study the chapter on rappelling extremely carefully. You also need to learn how to ascend a rope on a Prusik and how to stop a rappel with a leg wrap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some additional skills that your leader might have, but that it would also be good for you to have. These including building an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5423/what-do-i-do-if-i-lose-my-belay-plate&quot;&gt;emergency rappel setup&lt;/a&gt; and building an anchor. Anchor building is an extremely technical skill. Although you may intend to go on canyoneering routes where all the anchors are supposed to be pre-built (e.g., there are bolts at every rappel station), in reality you can't assume that they will all be OK. If you get there and the anchor is damaged or appears unsafe, you need to know enough to deal with the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T22:26:03.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5603" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-04-24T22:31:50.197" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canyoneering, also called &quot;canyoning,&quot; involves hiking/trekking, swimming, rappelling, scrambling, and climbing to explore and enjoy natural features that primarily include canyons, waterfalls, and the like. It is very much geared toward the water, so while similar to them, it often differs in technique and equipment from the other sports to which it is related. Thus it is a sport of a technical nature, requiring proper training and knowledge from a wide variety of disciplines for the varying situations one will encounter while canyoneering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-25T05:18:29.037" LastActivityDate="2014-04-25T05:18:29.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5604" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-04-24T22:31:50.197" Score="0" Body="An sport engaging multiple disciplines aimed at exploring and enjoying canyons, slots, waterfalls and other natural features similar to canyons." OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-04-25T05:18:16.467" LastActivityDate="2014-04-25T05:18:16.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5599" CreationDate="2014-04-24T23:09:31.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quite simply, find someone else who is doing this and has been doing it for a quite a while and is willing to teach you. This sport is quite technical, and you can't do it (safely) alone anyway.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One possible way is to find a company that guides canyoneering trips and get a seasonal job with them where they train you. At the very least you could make a connection with someone that works there that will help you. And if you get such a job then you also get to make some money while learning, which is always a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the meantime you can look for books on the subject to help increase your knowledge base once you find a canyoneering partner/teacher. There are many online resources as well to learn basic concepts. Many of them seem to be geared toward canyoneering in the US, but the same principles apply anywhere. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.math.utah.edu/~sfolias/&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; is one such example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2014-04-24T23:09:31.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5606" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5614" CreationDate="2014-04-25T02:53:48.290" Score="3" ViewCount="428" Body="&lt;p&gt;In European campgrounds, it is common that there is a kitchen shelter with a freezer, where people who camp without electricity can freeze their ice packs, in order to subsequently use those with cool bags for refrigeration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/visit/visit4.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Parks Canada website for Gros Morne National Park&lt;/a&gt; indicates that each of the frontcountry campgrounds has a kitchen shelter.  Does such a kitchen shelter typically have a freezer with the aforementioned purpose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2014-04-25T20:22:35.770" LastActivityDate="2014-04-27T04:50:48.140" Title="In Canada, does a frontcountry campground kitchen shelter typically include a freezer?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5592" CreationDate="2014-04-25T17:01:22.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a VoIP-account and are able to use it from your mobile-phone you &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Consumer-info/All-about-numbers/VOIP-numbers/voip-and-emergency-call-services-i-acma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;should be able to use it&lt;/a&gt; for calling emergency service. Note that with VoIP I don´t mean Skype but a real SIP). You can find out about this contacting your VoIP-service provider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are staying some time in the same area it can be worth calling directly at the local hospital or police department and ask if they can provide you with call-through numbers to their emergency service. You should be able to find their number on the internet. You can then use any internet call service to call these numbers, e. g. Skype (make sure you have enough credit for calling!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would refrain from using texting services like suggested by @TomCollins via Internet. Thats because there is no reason why VoIP should not be allowed but texting via internet would be. You can´t use Skype because they wouldn´t know where you are - I would guess you can´t use WhatsApp for the same reason, even if there is text-to-911 service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-04-25T17:01:22.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="488" CreationDate="2014-04-25T19:57:35.493" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One point I would like to add to all the good answer before:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow is good at catching pollution. But it isn´t good in containg minerals. Apart from short-term hydration, you should NOT rely on snow as water source for a longer period of time because you simply won´t get the electrolytes you need - at least if you don´t supply them for example through food. This is also true for rain water and to some extent for ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I would like to point out, that Russels calculation may be right, but it doesn´t take into account &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; the heat is consumed. So it can be true that it doesn´t need to much heat, it can also be true that it lowers your core body temperature. I would try to melt it outside my body (e. g. in a bottle close to my body) or in the mouth, if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-04-25T19:57:35.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5599" CreationDate="2014-04-25T21:21:15.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the case you don´t have an experienced friend who can help you get a start and you don´t have the luck a company will pay you for learning it, you can try the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look out for a canyoning association or club. Since these are non-profit organisations they often offer low-cost workshops, sometimes with equipment-rent included. Also, they are likely to have a strong community which can help with further steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A useful link for Germany: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deutschercanyoningverein.de&quot;&gt;German Canyoning Club&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-04-25T21:21:15.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5611" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5615" CreationDate="2014-04-25T22:12:38.563" Score="6" ViewCount="695" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a back-up stove capable of burning wood and alcohol.&#xA;Can you suggest one?&#xA;I would like it to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;burn alcohol and wood (most important)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be cheap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be small&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be robust&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be light (least important)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought about a DIY-can-stove, so any advice on a specific design will be appreciated. I also like the &quot;Vargo Hexagon Titan&quot;, but it´s way too expensive for my needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some more background (ignore it, if you think it makes the question too specific).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I used to cook on open fires during trekking. We never brought any back-up (only did summer/early fall trips so far). I would like to have some for the next trip though, because I am afraid of restrictions due to e. g. risk of forest fires (we never had any problem because of rain, though). So the stove would probably not get used during the most trips.&#xA;We enjoy outdoor cooking and normally carry a ~2l pot, so it should be able to support that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:37:35.720" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T23:44:29.367" Title="What's a good back-up wood and alcohol stove?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5612" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-25T23:49:45.483" Score="6" ViewCount="306" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I will be retiring soon and will spend 5 months of the year in a bricks and mortar house.  The other 7 months, we'll be gypsying.  We don't want to deal with the complexities and expense (both initial and ongoing fuel costs) of an RV.  We DO want some space to stretch out.  We are long-time, avid tent campers and are thinking about doing our roadtrips in a camping yurt.  We'd stay no less than 2 weeks in each site and carry a small tent for overnight stops.  We plan to pull a small trailer with our gear.  Any thoughts?  (Have we completely lost our minds?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3183" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:31.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:31:31.893" Title="Any ideas about long-term camping in a 16x16 foot yurt?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5612" CreationDate="2014-04-26T02:45:24.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was younger I used to sleep in yurts as a scout. Things I would consider important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Staying dry can be difficult&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending strongly on the actual yurt (and the weather of course) sometimes it can be struggling to stay dry inside it. If it is made of cotton you have to pay attention nothing touches  walls or roof because water would enter there. Seams and joints can let in water to. Most yurts don´t bring a flooring with them, so after extensive rain streams could go through your tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Paying attention to your tent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why with most camping tents you only have to set them up and then are done for the next week, a yurt needs regular &quot;service&quot;. Lines get loose, the plane gets bulges (great places for rainwater to gather and drop through to the inside), the pegs would get loose. While it isn´t much work, you should not neglect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bugs visiting&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A yurt will give only marginal protection against bugs. You can use mosquito-nets for sleeping, but the rest of the tent can be crowded with gnats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Temperature&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A yurt is not as technical as many modern tents. It depends strongly on the color and if there is a hole for (smoke) ventilation in the middle, but our black tents got warmed up by the sun really fast. While in spring and fall this was a nice feature, in summer it was certainly not. Anyhow, considering the size of the yurt, you only beeing two persons and that air ventilation in yurt is a lot better than in normal tents, I would rather think about beeing too cold. Even if you don´t use it through winter you should think about heating, because there is no chance to warm up a tent of that size just by yourselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Setting it up by two persons&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending a little bit on the actual design you will use, setting it up by only two persons could be challenging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bring your stuff&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably its not necessary to mention it: You need a lot of poles of different sizes. While we would get them from the woulds, this is probably no good idea at camping sites. Also it takes quite some time - you should bring them yourself. And they can be very long. The central poles we used (two or three) were at least 4-5m high, and I think our yurts were smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Try it out&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don´t want to discourage you, but I think there are some reason one can find a yurt challenging. I would suggest you try it before you decide - best would be on rough conditions (e. g. cold and rainy). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope you find that it suits you, because a yurt really is a great place to sleep (and to call home, I imagine)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T02:45:24.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5606" CreationDate="2014-04-26T15:24:35.627" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there won't be anything electrical.  A front country kitchen will usually contain: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a wood burning stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2-4 picnic tables&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food storage lockers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a bear proof trash container (nearby)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the park there may be a woodpile next to the kitchen. Food storage lockers are also dependant on the park and the wild life situation (e.g. bears, racoons), and are more likely to be found at backcountry or walk-in campsites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kitchens themselves are open concept, usually about 10m X 5m in size with a wall that's about 1.5m high and then open space until the roof, which means a lateral wind will blow into the kitchen.  This is to stop people from sleeping in them and to avoid smoke problems (a lot of people don't know how to work a wood stove).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g4fdz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Front-country kitchen at Cascade Ponds, Banff National Park. April, 2014&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I live in Banff National Park and have camped in just about every National Park from East to West. In fact, I had a BBQ in one last night, as you can see from the above photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2014-04-27T04:50:48.140" LastActivityDate="2014-04-27T04:50:48.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5611" CreationDate="2014-04-26T15:41:21.393" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One expensive component is the cooking pot; depending on if you already have one, you might want to find a stove that is compatible with your existing pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildesigns.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Trail Designs&lt;/a&gt; have several models that can burn both alcohol and wood. You can order their stoves for specific pot sizes. I have experience with their Sidewinder Ti-Tri which can also burn esbit. I would consider the keg version instead of the sidewinder as having the ashes inside your pot is a poor idea in hindsight. Unfortunately, they are not cheap and only 'robust' if you use and handle them properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe your best option will be to find a cheap cooking pot and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thesodacanstove.com/alcohol-stove/how-to-build.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;build your own soda can alcohol stove&lt;/a&gt;. Plenty of people have built theirs and used them on long hikes. Use a small plastic container for transportation. To save space, try to store items inside of the container when you are on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as your wood burning stove have support and space for placing the alcohol stove inside of it, you should be good. Although I have no experience with this specific diy, I would consider trying and adapting this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/falk-woodstove/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wood Burning Trail Stove&lt;/a&gt; to your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could also spend part of the money on a used wood stove. You could start by looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;gear swap on BPL&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T15:41:21.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5586" CreationDate="2014-04-26T16:14:43.970" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cooking as a large group is bad for a variety of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More work to coordinate roles, responsibilities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Limited cooking resources (stoves, pots, etc.) means waiting, frustration, idleness, or carrying more than one of everything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More likely to waste fuel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waste of energy/misuse of downtime e.g. Instead of cooking every 3rd day/meal you're cooking every meal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to build consensus on menu, cooking methods, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the technique that has worked best for any group that I've been in, whether for a 3 day trip or a 10 day trip, 4 people or 25 people:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Break group up in cooking teams&lt;/strong&gt; For example, for 9 people I'd probably do 3 teams of 3.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Each team is assigned one ore more meals.&lt;/strong&gt; We usually assign &lt;strong&gt;breakfast&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;dinner&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its easier for people to manage their own lunch/snacks, mostly because people might split up or lag behind during and/or have different eating habits during the day. By keeping lunch light/simple it also helps avoid lunch becoming a 2 hour break on a busy day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For dinner, the meal must consist of: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;appetizer&lt;/strong&gt; lets people satisfy hunger quickly while the team prepare the main dish. In a back country hut appetizer might be vegetables, bread, dips, meats and cheese, or in a more remote location it might simply be instant soup and crackers.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;main dish&lt;/strong&gt; the hearty main course, could be anything from pasta to beans and rice to mexican, or just a bunch of freeze-dried packets cooked together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;salad (optional)&lt;/strong&gt; usually reserved for nicer conditions. People need roughage. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;dessert&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This allows each team to further break down responsibilities (you do salad, I'll do dessert) but more importantly it creates the conditions for a calorie complete meal (ever have a team bring some instant soup and say that's supper after a long day?), it offers variety for the picky eater and eliminates the risk that a 1 dish meal fails (burnt, missing ingredients/fuel, over salted, poor cooking conditions, etc.) which would leave everyone hungry.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the other crews volunteers to do dishes/cleanup afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The team that cooked the meal packs out the leftovers/garbage, putting better emphasis on portion control.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coordinate teams in advance of the trip so that they can arrange menus and do their shopping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assign teams and the meals (but not the menu) they will be making. Don't forget to share email addresses! Provide some suggestions for menus if you've got newcomers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;provide them with the above instructions. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have anyone with dietary concerns speak up in advance and share those dietary concerns with all teams.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have each team post their menus in advance so that there can be feedback/synergy and to make sure you're not eating canned beans 3 meals in a row.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arrange cooking supplies in advance: pots, stoves, fuel, etc. so that it leverages efficiency and keeps weight to a minimum.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find this process tends to create positive one-upmanship as people show off their culinary prowess. It also lets teams that have done this before share simple recipes/tips for those that are doing this for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Downsides&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downside to this method is that if you've never cooked for a large group before it can be a bit daunting.  The first time I cooked for 25 people in the backcountry I tried the meal in advance with 4 people at home, measuring and portioning meticulously, and worked out the portions from there.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some tips for cooking for large groups&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;practice a smaller version of your meal in advance to perfect portions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;measure everything in advance, at home.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make sure that you'll have enough pots to feed everyone efficiently. You can't feed 25 people with a 1L pot in 1 hour.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;manage portions yourself for the first serving, then let anyone go back for as much as they want.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make sure everyone else is fed one serving, THEN serve yourself and THEN let people go back for seconds, thirds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put an extra portion or two in and you'll avoid not having enough. Someone will have the appetite for seconds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;everything tastes better in the woods when you're tired and hungry. Don't sweat it!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2014-04-27T04:47:03.037" LastActivityDate="2014-04-27T04:47:03.037" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5547" CreationDate="2014-04-26T16:37:30.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Banff National Park and go backcountry camping on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peak season for Banff, Kootenay, Jasper, Glacier, Yoho, and Revelstoke (and really, pretty much any Canadian National Park) are July and August.  That said, it's also usually the best time to camp, as the weather is mild, the trails are at their best, and there is less chance of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I answer your question, It's worth pointing out that of the 3 million that visit Banff, 80% don't leave the town.  Most of the rest camp at the major campgrounds and visit the major sites.  Not a lot of people do any backcountry camping and you can usually book your site without any problem 48 hrs in advance, usually on a first come, first serve basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question, the best quiet time is shoulder-season, especially after Labour Day (first Monday in September).  Tourists will all be back at work/school with the exception of seniors and families with small children, neither of which are prime backcountry campers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of September: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no crowds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;still relatively warm temperatures in the day, but not excessively hot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;excellent trail conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chance to see the larches change colour at higher altitudes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disadvantages of September:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cooler evenings in the rockies means you'll need a warmer sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;risk of snowfall (I've had 10 cm of snow on Sept 3rd, and then 27c on Sept 24th)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;June would be my second choice for shoulder-season backcountry camping, but it has several additional disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's more likely to rain (we call it Monsoon June here in Banff)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trails are more likely to be muddy because of May/June rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Often trails on southern aspects will still have snowcover on them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Higher altitude routes might still have significant snow cover, obscuring trails/routes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Washed out bridges won't have been maintained yet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said all that, the best time for conditions, at least for Banff/Jasper is the last 2-3 weeks of August. It's when all the alpine flowers are blooming, it's warm at day and at night, and precipitation levels are at their lowest.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T16:37:30.747" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5618" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-26T19:09:33.693" Score="4" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to be alone in the wild.  I know it's not the wisest thing to do, but I do it anyway (and I'm not the only one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today I learned that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5547/when-if-ever-do-backcountry-campsites-in-the-major-canadian-national-parks-in/5617?noredirect=1#comment9880_5617&quot;&gt;some routes in Canadian national parks may enforce minimum group sizes&lt;/a&gt;.  What routes in the Canadian Rockies enforce minimum group sizes, and where can I find information on those?  I didn't find anything on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasper National Park website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T23:13:17.743" Title="What routes in the Canadian Rockies have minimum group sizes (and where can I find about those)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5618" CreationDate="2014-04-26T23:13:17.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak for Jasper National Park, although you'll want to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/ne/urgence-emergency.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;check out this page on warnings and closures&lt;/a&gt; regularly, but for Banff National Park the two areas that are commonly restricted to group access are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/gestion-management/ours-bears/moraine.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Moraine Lake/Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass/Mt. Temple/Paradise Valley area&lt;/a&gt; (groups of 4 minimum, from mid-July to early October) and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Lake-Minnewanka-Trail-Notice-2011.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Minnewanka/Mt. Aylmer&lt;/a&gt; area from mid-July to mid-September.  Again, Banff has their own page that lists &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/fermetures-closures.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;restrictions and closures&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-04-26T23:13:17.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5621" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-27T09:35:52.550" Score="6" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking at GPS Trackers such as Spark Nano 4.0. I wanted to apply one of these devices inside my boat to exclusively use it for motion detection in case of theft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The battery life of this device is of 2 weeks, for accurate tracking in movement. But I can't find how long it last for the motion detection task.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to deactivate it then, when I'm sailing to save the battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1863" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:28:31.963" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:28:31.963" Title="How long is the battery life of a GPS tracker, when used to detect motion only?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5624" CreationDate="2014-04-27T10:36:20.313" Score="8" ViewCount="3006" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I started indoor climbing this year I would like to know what distinguishes it from outdoor sport climbing, especially when you are lead climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that there are huge differences in safety, like outdoors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there aren't always bolts available as belay points (like indoors) so we need to use the less safe cams/friends, nuts, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bolts might be insecure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stand isn't as stable so we should belay dynamically&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bigger falls because of less belay points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This list isn't complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What could you add to this list of safety concerns?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Besides from safety, what are major differences between sport (indoor) climbing and rock (outdoor) climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are the difficulties comparable to indoor scaling systems?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the last point I can think of tougher conditions outdoors (again safety issues or strong wind, wet rock, psychology aspects and so on) and pure length of the routes. Besides that, I &lt;em&gt;guess&lt;/em&gt; an indoor UIAA 6 should be as tough as an outdoor UIAA 6.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right guys, the question was too broad when asked about comparing sport to trad climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit2&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do you still think, the question is too broad, comparing bolted indoor sport climbing to bolted outdoor sport climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-04-29T18:47:45.417" LastActivityDate="2014-04-29T18:47:45.417" Title="Indoor vs. Outdoor sport climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2014-04-27T14:52:15.253" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additional to the other tips and warnings I would like to mention one special tecnique I found in the book &quot;Outdoor Praxis&quot; by Rainer Höh. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically it consists of some kind of reflector fire, but the reflector will feed the fire instead. You would stick two or more thick, maybe even green, branches in the soil to support the reflector. Make sure to incline them away from the fire - while this makes the reflector less effective it allows self-feeding. Now pile your firewood up reclining onto the support sticks. Make/move your fire close to the reflector so the one at the bottom starts to burn. While it is burned up, the pile of wood will slip down, allowing the next branch to burn.&#xA;This works probably best with wood 5-10cm in diameter. Smaller ones will burn to fast, thicker ones wouldn´t start burning easy enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note that this needs some practice and doesn´t garantuee that the fire will burn overnight. Still, its better than nothing. If you want to use it for staying warm its perfect, because you can stretch it and it has at least a little reflector. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Illustration (not quite what I am suggesting, since this reflector here isn´t meant to burn and the support sticks would be way to thin, but its similar):&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xXZJv.png&quot; alt=&quot;reflector fire&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivalistssite.com/~canuck/page19.html&quot;&gt;www.survivalistssite.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9IXBn.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9IXBn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-11-13T05:24:40.747" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T05:24:40.747" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5622" CreationDate="2014-04-27T21:36:33.230" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a pretty broad question; I'll try to answer, but this is going to be long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have already noted many differences between indoor and outdoor climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What could you add to this list of safety concerns?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some more ideas on safety:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You mentioned &quot;pure length of routes&quot;; the issue here seems to be about having a &lt;strong&gt;too short rope&lt;/strong&gt;, so if you don't have a knot on the other end, the climber will fall when he is being lowered (i.e. when both the climber and the belayer least expect that). In indoor climbing, someone more experienced is usually responsible for rope length, so this is less likely to happen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Falling rocks&lt;/strong&gt; are often a major safety concern (you should wear a helmet, even though it doesn't guarantee safety).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You mentioned insecure bolts, but there may be &lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/b/2010/10/17/worn-carabiner-cuts-climbing-rope-at-red-river-gorge.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;other &lt;strong&gt;hazardous pieces of gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;; in the indoor gym they are certainly going to check and replace gear regularly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the case of an accident, &lt;strong&gt;help may be far away&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Besides from safety, what are major differences between sport (indoor)&#xA;  climbing and rock (outdoor) climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Differences besides safety (just a few of ideas; there certainly is an enormous number of differences, like between &quot;working out&quot; in a gym vs. running natural trails):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most important difference: &lt;strong&gt;natural rock is natural&lt;/strong&gt;; it's just &quot;the real thing&quot; vs. pieces of plastic. Depending on your spiritual inclination, you may absolutely hate climbing gym after you try &quot;real&quot; rock climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Natural rocks have &lt;strong&gt;different types&lt;/strong&gt; (limestone/sandstone/granite/other), while gyms have plastic, maybe wood and the occasional imitation of limestone (plaster?).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holds on natural walls have an &lt;strong&gt;infinite number of shapes&lt;/strong&gt;, so &quot;what you see&quot; is not &quot;what you get&quot; (the hold may be better or worse than you expect). It may also be tricky to find the usable holds, when they are not painted in colours. It's common to have long holdable cracks in nature, which are hard to find in gyms. There is also &quot;slab climbing&quot; (60° walls with almost invisible holds), which you cannot find in gyms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on how many natural rocks you have, &lt;strong&gt;on-sight climbing&lt;/strong&gt; may be either very hard or very easy to find. For example, when I go climbing to my usual crag(s), if I want to climb a route I have never tried, it has to be much harder than I am able to (because I have tried almost all routes there already) - but when I go to a new place, I climb just new routes. This is unlike indoor climbing, where they are constantly building new routes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route-finding&lt;/strong&gt; may be tricky in nature - depends on the site.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are the difficulties comparable to indoor scaling systems?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding grades:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is to have the grades for indoor and outdoor climbing as equal as possible; however, it's not really possible... For the reasons you mentioned (variable weather conditions; unusual bolting). Here are some more ideas on what differences you can find:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some rock-climbing sites have a sort of &quot;snobby&quot; &quot;elitist&quot; culture: they insist that in their site &quot;F6a is hard, and stop complaining&quot;, while others say that &quot;F7a should be doable, otherwise no one will come here&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may be individually well-suited for a particular type of rock, but ill-suited for another (overhangs/vertical walls).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a route in outdoor climbing may be easier or harder then an indoor route of the same grade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-04-28T11:53:23.780" LastActivityDate="2014-04-28T11:53:23.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5621" CreationDate="2014-04-28T11:46:47.203" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sources:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gps-tracker-review.toptenreviews.com/spark-nano-details.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://gps-tracker-review.toptenreviews.com/spark-nano-details.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sparkgps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://sparkgps.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reading up on the device and from simple knowledge.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'd say device life would largely depend on the update frequency.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The device will always easily acquire a GPS fix with an accuracy of at least 5-10 meters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find the default interval to quickly but I assume that you can easily get more then 2 weeks when updating every 2 hours or so. (should be enough unless you're dealing with a racing cat)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-04-28T11:46:47.203" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5599" CreationDate="2014-04-28T12:23:44.043" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;All the above are relevant and good answers. One thing I would add that is missing is the &lt;strong&gt;Environmental impact&lt;/strong&gt;. Cannonying is (generally) very bad for river ecosystems and requires specialist knowledge on where and when to do certain activities. Some examples include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the UK you should avoid protected rivers or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sites of Special Scientific Interest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Groups should not be overly large&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stick to well established areas, remember you tramping through a river system causes significant environmental damage (removes important algae, etc.). Sticking to well established rivers (which are already trashed) limits this impact. If you do enter a new river, be very wary of the damage you are causing and try and limit this as best you can, do not return until some months later, when the river has had time to recover.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay off the banks (this is where the most erosion is caused) keep to the river channel where the water limits the erosion you cause&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally organised groups and companies stick to well established rivers, this limits the impact to a few rivers (which do actually suffer quite badly for this but at least it's only a few rivers and not lots of rivers!). New rivers are not and should not be advertised, if it attracts large groups it can cause severe damage to the ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-09T12:33:19.157" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T12:33:19.157" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5381" CreationDate="2014-04-28T13:48:46.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a good trawl though my local outdoors shop I came across this book:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7d3hH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009Q6EC8K/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=center-2&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=148TEMRZMNA7YYA1HX0M&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=101&amp;amp;pf_rd_p=455344027&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=468294&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yorkshire gritstone&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It covers an area called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=549&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;slipstones&lt;/a&gt;, which appears to be the nearest significant crag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-04-28T13:48:46.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5628" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-28T19:27:50.887" Score="6" ViewCount="197" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to buy this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.electroflip.com/products/gps-tracking-devices/itrack-2-0-real-time-long-term-gps-tracker.html?acc=aab3238922bcc25a6f606eb525ffdc56&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GPS Tracking device&lt;/a&gt;, to place it on my boat. I don't need to track my boat coordinates while sailing. I need to be alerted when my boat is stolen. Therefore, I need this device to inform me when the boat is moving and I'm not on board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Battery life is extremely important for me, since I don't want to change battery every month or 2 months. On the website, they write that battery life is 4 months in &quot;Stand By&quot; mode, and &quot;2 months&quot; on average use. There is also a 6 months &quot;deep sleep&quot; mode which I'm not sure what it means. I tried to contact customer support but they didn't answer yet, therefore I try to give it a go here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scrolling through the functionalities on the website, I believe this device doesn't have a &quot;motion detection&quot; sensor, so the only way to detect movement is either with a &quot;Geofencing Perimeter&quot; or &quot;Speed Restrictions&quot;. But I believe both functionality requires active gps tracking, right? Are they expensive functionalities in terms of battery? or not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1863" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T20:36:51.073" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T20:36:51.073" Title="Anti-theft tracking device: how to configure it to deal with the battery?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5636" CreationDate="2014-04-28T22:36:42.790" Score="8" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can sea currents be dangerous for surfers? How common would this be? Should I ask locals about currents before surfing at a new spot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-04-29T21:52:45.277" LastActivityDate="2014-04-30T09:40:22.603" Title="Dangers of currents for windsurfers" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5631" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-29T12:08:39.550" Score="6" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a new Kayak enthusiast with limited molded plastic boat experience, in the midwest (Michigan). As a newbie that is desiring a &quot;Better than Average&quot; 12-14' unit I am considering the &quot;HURRICANE&quot; brand of Fiberglass Kayaks but it was not mentioned on several sites I visited that included lists of brands. Why is that? They appear to be high quality and well designed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I plan to make the necessary 2 hour drive north for a day of testing them before I buy, but am a bit concerned by the absence of the brand. Can I please get a bit of advice on both the brand mentioned AND on general suggestions for an average sized man (6', 200#) who wants better performance than the cheap plastic units offer? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3195" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-04-29T16:13:33.623" LastActivityDate="2014-04-29T16:13:33.623" Title="Kayaking - 'Brand' ? and Plastic vs. Fiberglass?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5631" CreationDate="2014-04-29T12:41:18.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are probably several brands out there that you're not familiar with. A lot of smaller manufacturers only have regional distribution networks (and some have no distribution network) so I bet there are several on the east and west coast that you haven't heard of. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stellarkayaksusa.com/find-a-dealer.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Stellar&lt;/a&gt; is fairly new and has little distribution in the midwest and west. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlelincoln.com/find-a-dealer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lincoln&lt;/a&gt; is far more established (55 years) but only has distribution in the northeast. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phseakayaks.com/dealers.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;P&amp;amp;H Sea Kayaks&lt;/a&gt; is well established around the world, however on the entire west coast there are only five dealers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of &quot;performance&quot; difference are you expecting from a glass vs plastic boat? There's nothing wrong with plastic -- it has some advantages over composite layups, in fact -- and shouldn't be discounted just because it's less expensive. All plastic boats are not like the cheap sporting goods store boats -- many manufacturers offer excellent kayaks made of plastic. In fact, some searching on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://hurricaneaquasports.com/hurricane/faqs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hurricane&lt;/a&gt; site leads me to believe that all of their boats are thermoformed plastic -- not fiberglass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="356" LastActivityDate="2014-04-29T12:41:18.097" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5633" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-04-29T18:59:48.320" Score="9" ViewCount="342" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two weeks to prepare for a 1 day 10 mile professional guided hiking tour of the Gettysburg Battle fields.   I walk a mile a day now easily.  But at 74yrs wonder if I can build more endurance in 2-3 weeks for this 2 day tour.  First day 10 miles, 2nd day 5 miles over gentle to moderate topography.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3196" LastActivityDate="2014-05-16T19:54:49.910" Title="How to prepare for a 1 day 10 mi hike around Gettysburg, PA?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5633" CreationDate="2014-04-29T20:51:48.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general you can't do that much in two weeks, regardless being 20 or 80 years old. It depends on your general fitness level and your life habits. If you usually are a healthy living (wo)man, being active, eating balanced, no-drinker, no-smoker and so on, it will be easier to get a proper endurance level. On the other side I don't think you can achieve a lot quitting your vices for those 14 days. Like @Chris Mueller commented, quitting the smoking while you are are preparing for the trip could make a huge difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are somehow fit I see good chances to achieve the hike without major problems. Again, I would recommend the same as for youngsters without regular sport activities while doing your preparations: stay active each day but don't over-exercise. I would make a difference as it is harder to regenerate in higher ages and for example I wouldn't recommend to go jogging. It is quite stressful for the body (joints) and you should avoid getting problems and have to quit your prep-training and also the tour itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would stick to general (&lt;em&gt;softer&lt;/em&gt;) endurance training in the aerobic region like cycling, swimming, stretching and breathing exercises, and of course doing some hikes. The most important is to listen to your body, doing breaks regularly, regenerate and drink a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't see this as a benchmark but often oldies are better in endurance sports like running than youngsters, but of course this needs years of training and an active lifestyle. Just had a quick search and found some interesting links, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.2peak.com/archive/training_past_50.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;training past 50&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/186038-how-to-increase-stamina-endurance/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;how to increase stamina&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, try not to be overzealous while preparing and also during the tour. In my opinion for sport activities it should be most importantly about the fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@user3196 Please give us a feedback how you prepared and if you were able to do the complete tour without major issues!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-05-16T19:54:49.910" LastActivityDate="2014-05-16T19:54:49.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5629" CreationDate="2014-04-30T08:52:52.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My surfing/windsurfing knowledge is limited. But &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt; they can be dangerous and &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt; you should seek knowledge on currents before surfing anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are currents that can force you against rocks, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-26646104&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;into sea caves&lt;/a&gt; or under water of the dreaded rip tides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_current&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rip tides&lt;/a&gt; are nasty and can suck you out to sea. My mate was caught in one of these once and in a matter of seconds he was in seriously deep water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an animation of how rip tides work:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9NpSP.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tide builds up pressure behind a sand bank, eventually this bank breaks and the build up of water empties into deeper water, taking everything and everyone with it. To exit a rip tide you swim side ways to the beach, &lt;strong&gt;not against it&lt;/strong&gt;. You won't win against the current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-04-30T09:40:22.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5637" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8248" CreationDate="2014-04-30T09:50:30.497" Score="7" ViewCount="1360" Body="&lt;p&gt;This was actually something new I came across recently. A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXCr7TVaP24&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Czech bed roll&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen a set up like this before. I was also intrigued by the name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone used one of these? Advantages/disadvantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are they called Czech bed rolls? Especially the Czech bit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Edit&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I know the example I tagged was Czech army surplus. I am more interested in the history/usage of these things. The post I came across this on refereed to this as a more generic title. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T07:58:39.880" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T19:48:43.633" Title="Why is a &quot;Czech bed roll&quot; called this? History, uses?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5638" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5639" CreationDate="2014-04-30T12:40:20.807" Score="11" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I do geocaching, I meet sometimes caches on trees. Some of them can be climbed by me without equipment, but in some cases I miss some flexibility or height to reach them :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any mobile (by mobile, I mean, I can put it to regulary city rucksack I go with to job, and it doesn't fill in fully, like normal rope) device to help me climb such trees? Some kind of short rope that can be thrown when I miss 1 meter to the branch above me? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it won't be so secure as normal climbing equipment, but I don't have such and don't plan to wear such with me on long trekking trips or to work, and I'd like to do my geocaching anyway :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An answer with a short tutorial how to relatively safely use such tool would be very welcomed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3198" LastActivityDate="2014-05-01T09:52:02.223" Title="Some mobile helper for tree climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5638" CreationDate="2014-04-30T15:32:36.470" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting question! &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/recreation/hiking/how-to-climb-trees-with-ropes-and-harnesses&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is an article describing the techniques used by arborists. The article describes a number of different techniques and different pieces of gear. I'll describe one specific method, using cheap gear, that is based on techniques that I've used in rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a short length (maybe 20 m) of 9-10 mm static climbing rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a small amount (maybe 10 m) of tubular webbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a small amount of 6 mm accessory cord&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a locking carabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a rock-climbing/mountaineering helmet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prepare a diaper harness made from tubular webbing, tied with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/waterknot/index.php?LogoImage&quot;&gt;water knot&lt;/a&gt;. You can find instructions for this in various places, such as the mountaineering textbook Freedom of the Hills. Clasp it using the locking carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prepare two slings made out of the utility cord, tying them with a secure knot such as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php?Categ=climbing&quot;&gt;double fisherman's bend&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throw the rope over a sturdy branch. Using one of the slings, tie a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php?Categ=climbing&quot;&gt;Prusik&lt;/a&gt; around both strands, put it into the locking carabiner on your harness, and lock the carabiner. Tie another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php?Categ=climbing&quot;&gt;Prusik&lt;/a&gt; lower down. Carefully dress and test the Prusiks, since you're going to trust them to hold your weight. Put your feet into the bottom Prusik. Ascend the rope by alternately putting your weight on one Prusik and sliding the other up the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To descend, you can either reverse the process or rappel on a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntersuper/index.php?Categ=typeslidegrip&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;Munter hitch&lt;/a&gt;. If you're going to rappel, read the chapter in Freedom of the Hills on rappelling, and set up a Prusik backup as described there, as well as following the other safety precautions described, such as tying backup knots on the ends of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you mess up any of the techniques, e.g., by not tying one of the knots correctly, then you could fall and get hurt or killed. Ditto if you rappel without a backup and your hand goes off of the rope. For these reasons, you would be well advised to practice at home with a friend who can provide you with a belay on a second rope. While you're at the top of the climb, you may want to use a separate sling to anchor yourself, so that if you slip, you can't fall to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If space in your pack is really at a premium, then you could reduce the length or diameter of the rope. A shorter rope will reduce the height to which you can climb, and may also make you more vulnerable to rappelling off the end of your rope, which can be a deadly mistake. A smaller diameter rope may be more easily damaged, and there is probably a limit on how small you can go and still have the Prusiks and munter work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-05-01T09:52:02.223" LastActivityDate="2014-05-01T09:52:02.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5628" CreationDate="2014-05-01T12:43:13.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't help you with exact configurations.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But as usual this kind of thing has a basic rule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The less it's activated, the less it will use it's battery.&#xA;Standby mode (time it spends counting the seconds to next use) will use almost no power at all.&#xA;As soon as it comes to life it will aquire a GPS signal, Triangulate it's position and send it to a server from where you'll get the data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sleep, deep sleep, advanced standby modes are all just marketing terms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you need to consider is how often you want to be updated.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You should also take into account the maximum distance anyone would be able to travel with the boat inside that time period, and if authorities can still help you when they've reached that distance.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So if they're able to get your boat into international waters (or at a range where authorities won't help you recovering your boat) in 20 hours then you should obviously set it to update atleast every 10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above is assuming the device has world wide coverage, you should probably look that up as well. And make sure it can still phone home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next there might be an option to have the device activate when a door is opened or when the engine is turned on (making it more of an effective alarm and enabling you to take action immediately).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long the battery would last under any of these conditions is just a matter of trying it out, I'd guess it will message you before running out of juice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-05-01T12:43:13.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5633" CreationDate="2014-05-03T15:27:14.767" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not 74, but I'm closer to it than to 24. If you can walk for an hour easily, you can probably walk for 10 hours easily. That's basically how humans are built - we can walk the entire time we are awake (unlike our ancient prey, who literally cannot do that.) Some people can't walk for an hour, but I really don't know of people who can walk for 5 hours but not 6. What I would focus on is &lt;strong&gt;equipment&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shoes. Not brand new hiking boots with ankle support, because they won't be broken in in time. Whatever you hike or walk in now, do they fit well? Do they need some care like rewaterproofing, lace replacement, getting stretched out where they bother your ankle? If you might be on damp terrain (mud, fording a river) then what will happen if you wear your current footwear? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;socks. Consider buying some expensive high tech super comfort anti blister socks. Search here for people's thoughts on that&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;carrying device. You're going to want water with you, and perhaps a snack if you eat more often than others. You will want to take layers on and off. Maybe a belt that holds a water bottle is all you need and you can tie your sweater around your waist when you're not wearing it. Maybe a lightweight backpack would be better. How are you going to carry your camera? What about a footcare kit (fresh socks, blister bandaids etc.)?Something bumping against your hip or the small of your back all day may have a bigger effect on you than the actual walking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;energy. Everyone I know over 70 eats and drinks more often than me. Between meals they have almonds, or a little chocolate, or a nice cup of tea. If that's you, figure out what you can take and how you will carry it to be able to &quot;top yourself up&quot; when you need it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;painkillers. My joints hurt sometimes when I do a lot. If I wake up with a sore knee when the day hasn't even started, and I know it's a physical day, I take Alleve or Advil or Tylenol (I have a complex way of choosing that is not relevant here) to make sure I don't spend the day in pain. Saying ow on every step for the last hour of your tour will be no fun. So make sure you have a dose or two of your preferred anti inflammatory in your pocket or pack, along with a way of telling time so you'll know when you can have another dose. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trekking poles. People say they reduce knee pain and make you feel less tired even if technically you're burning more calories (by shifting some of the work to your arms.) See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4470/163&quot;&gt;Are trekking poles proven to be helpful?&lt;/a&gt; for more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have time in the next two weeks, find a one mile route in your life (11 laps of the mall or whatever) and time yourself on it. Just to reassure yourself about the pace. My guess is that a sightseeing trip is conducted almost at an amble, so that everybody can see stuff. It would be very frustrating to always be at the back, constantly arriving to find everyone waiting for you, or worse, to hear the guide just finishing the descriptions. If your natural &quot;out for a walk&quot; pace matches (or exceeds) the pace from point to point in your itinerary, you should be able to keep up no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-05-03T18:38:01.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2014-05-04T09:02:07.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Surgical spirit works every time. Rub it in using cotton wool for a month before you hit the trail. The best blister prevention is to walk, walk and walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3201" LastActivityDate="2014-05-04T09:02:07.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2014-05-04T10:48:53.637" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was a light infantry soldier all we used to do was roll each of the ends and use electrical tape to bind them leaving alowences for adjusting straps. I also advise taking a spare roll of tape just in case you need to use the strap and then have to re bind them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3197" LastActivityDate="2014-05-04T10:48:53.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5406" CreationDate="2014-05-04T11:19:26.503" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are staying in one place for a long period then use a canvas,  if it only involves short stay at various sites for example take something easier to put up and pack down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3197" LastActivityDate="2014-05-04T11:19:26.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5592" CreationDate="2014-05-05T03:56:56.990" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost every emergency dispatch center has a non-emergency phone number. While services like Skype and Google Voice can't call 911 directly, you can look up &quot;&amp;lt;region&amp;gt; non-emergency dispatch&quot; and get a number with a local area code. Call them and tell them this &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; an emergency but you couldn't access 911. They will transfer you to an emergency dispatcher. If you're in a National Park or on other federal lands you can typically call the park headquarters and again ask to be transferred to emergency dispatch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-05-05T03:56:56.990" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5648" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-05T22:36:40.393" Score="17" ViewCount="9677" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of switching from old and heavy army boots to modern trekking ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to choose between Gore-Tex and leather with waterproof coating only, I can't get over a simple question - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What do you do when water gets inside your boot?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It happens quite often when you cross swampy grounds (50% of my hikes) and occasionally find your leg ankle deep in water - usually I just dry inner soles and boots (since my old ones don't care about heat) near the campfire, but it's not an option with modern boots (I've read a lot of sad stories about those who'd tried it) so, as I see it, the only way is to take 'em inside the tent or even a sleeping bag for a night. This won't make them dry, but, well, at least less wet and not ice-covered (if it happens during autumn or spring). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I feel pretty unsure that it will work with membrane-protected boots. So, once again - how do dry your boots when they get wet and you're far away from home?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-05-06T10:35:26.657" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T06:37:06.810" Title="How to dry Gore-Tex boots in the field" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2014-05-06T06:32:23.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use a towel or (if you can spare the weight) some old news papers.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Me and my friends dry everything except for the tents by fire.&#xA;Just set a line about 3-4 meters away from the fire so it will only catch some of the heat (30-50 degrees Celsius is fine for anything).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this really doesn't give you an alternative and I'm interested to see what others come up with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="2820" LastEditDate="2014-05-06T06:52:23.907" LastActivityDate="2014-05-06T06:52:23.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2014-05-06T17:31:47.290" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I too recommend newspaper however you can also give the following a try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a pack of disposable diapers and empty the sodium polyacrylate into a sock or any fine mesh cloth/bag.  Carry it in your pack for any absorption emergency.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should make sure to pack it in a sealed waterproof bag until you need it. Otherwise it will suck the humidity from its surrounding while you carry it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sodium Polyacrylate is a polymer capable of absorbing 200-300 times it's weight in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-05-08T14:33:48.770" LastActivityDate="2014-05-08T14:33:48.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5652" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-06T19:49:10.000" Score="9" ViewCount="417" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to replace my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorplay.com/NRS-Creek-Kayaking-Gloves?gclid=CJDY_9_4l74CFcNlOgodgQwAvg&quot;&gt;NRS creeking gloves&lt;/a&gt; that I use for kayaking &quot;bony&quot; rivers and creeks where rock contact is a real possibility.  The problem that I have with them is that the seams are not done very well or neoprene is simply not conducive to hanging onto many seams so they tear easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, this seems to be the only glove on the market that is designed for this purpose.  I was thinking of perhaps goretex gloves that offer some degree of padding on the fingers and knuckles and don't really need to be waterproof as long as they resist tearing in wet conditions.  Their purpose is not to protect against the cold but against impact, so wetness is OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I was thinking about perhaps dirt bike or mountain biking gloves of some kind.  Or perhaps some gloves that commercial fishermen use.  Any suggestions that would meet my needs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:18:32.357" LastActivityDate="2019-08-17T11:55:26.067" Title="Gloves for knuckle protection that can get wet but not necessarily waterproof" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5652" CreationDate="2014-05-07T05:21:44.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go to your nearest builder's supermarket, or even check a normal one, and look for worker's gloves. Or mechanic's gloves. Such as are used by people building houses or repairing cars. Those are very resistant and cheap. I've bought my ones for about 2-3$ (price in Poland, but I've found similar gloves in Germany too, only it was a small craftsman's shop). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The companies making 'dedicated extreme sport equipment' tend to charge unimaginable sums for fancy equipment, where something simple and cheap is just enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-05-07T05:21:44.307" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5654" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5655" CreationDate="2014-05-07T05:22:00.317" Score="12" ViewCount="687" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides demonstrate Fixed-Point belay systems in &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/44869774&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixed-point belay systems as demonstrated make no effort to equalise the loading on the two anchors, but the video also states several times that fixed-point anchors are only appropriate for solid gear: bolts or ice-screws. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixed-point belay systems don't follow &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gainingelevation.com/content/sereneernest-anchors&quot;&gt;SERENE (or ERNEST)&lt;/a&gt;. Why is this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When considering 'bomb-proof anchors' in rock (bollards, for example, that have significant ratings [upwards of 80kN]), using two anchors in this fashion might allow for more ideal placement of the belay point: directly on an anchor, rather than between two anchors. If a single anchor is extremely unlikely to fail, this seems reasonable; I'm happy belaying off a single bollard in our area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is different about ice climbing? Are ice-screws considered stronger than natural protection in traditional rock climbing? &#xA;What are the advantages of ignoring equalisation and creating fixed-point belay systems? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3205" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:20.270" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:20.270" Title="Why are unequalised anchors acceptable for fixed-point belay systems used while ice climbing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5654" CreationDate="2014-05-07T09:43:56.657" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ice screws have a tendency for pressure melting if constantly loaded over some time. Therefore if you build your fixed point belay system and and keep it under more or less constant load while belaying your partner, the screw might start to migrate as the ice below it melts slowly and refreezes above the screw. By this, a screw that was close to bomb-proof when you installed it might lose some of its strength over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you build now a belay on two equalised screws, both get loaded and therefore both are affected by pressure melting, which means your whole anchor system might fail in case of a fall. This can to some point be avoided by building your belay point in a way that only one screw is loaded while having a second one for backup that will only get loaded if the first one fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, one has to take care that the other points of the SERENE or EARNEST scheme are fulfilled – even more in this case. That means especially, that you have to ensure not to shock load the backup screw. Therefore take care that the backup screw is preferably in direct line with the expected load direction behind the loaded one and that they are connected without any slack webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-05-08T09:05:04.433" LastActivityDate="2014-05-08T09:05:04.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2014-05-08T20:23:17.253" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The army solution is to have two pairs of boots so that one pair dries while the other is worn (yes, even in the field). Another solution is to use goretex socks so that it doesn't matter what state you boots are in.  I find wool socks keep warmth even when wet, and don't chafe or cause blisters the way cotton socks can when wet.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can air dry goretex (it's synthetic so dries faster than say cotton) and you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; dry them near the fire, just don't get them too close.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually take off my boots at camp and put on a pair of slippers/flip flops, as it's good to let your feet breath after being in boots all day, especially if you'll be doing the same thing the next day.  I keep my boots in the vestibule of my tent.  &lt;strong&gt;NEVER&lt;/strong&gt; put your wet boots (even if they don't feel wet) in your sleeping bag, as the moisture will stay in your bag and can have significant negative effects in cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-05-08T20:23:17.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5657" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-09T02:23:28.510" Score="24" ViewCount="4475" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm learning to lead climbs, and I'm terrified of big falls. Part of this is learning to trust my gear placements, but a large portion is because I don't know &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; to fall - I've only taken small falls (while top-roping). This has an adverse effect on my climbing - I pump out very early while placing gear, and place too much, because being even a little above protection is very scary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is 'learning to fall' something that climbers do through practise or through on-the-job training, as it were? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't something I've seen addressed much. Is there a 'good fall' technique for lead climbing? Are there things during the fall I should be doing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does one deliberately set about learning how to cope with big falls - higher fall factor than top-roping generally allows? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3205" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T15:27:58.747" Title="Learning to fall when leading: what is good fall technique?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5657" CreationDate="2014-05-09T03:03:59.417" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will learn to fall through practice however there are some important points to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While climbing &lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt; let the rope wrap/run around/behind  your leg(s), when you fall you will flip upside down!  Therefore always know where the rope is!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt; Kick/Push off the wall, you will only pendulum back into it harder!!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always &lt;strong&gt;know where on the route you are&lt;/strong&gt;; have you climbed above a roof and not placed any gear yet?  Are you going to take an awkward swing?  Are you going to hit the deck?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there good technique for a fall?  Yes, feet out with knees slightly bent ready for impact hands up and slightly out elbows slightly bent.  You'll want to be prepared to protect your face/head if need be.  Do not hold gear or make some last desperate attempt to jam a finger into a pocket, it will get stuck and your climbing season will be over.  &lt;strong&gt;If you know you're going to fall, take it and keep it clean.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have access to a sport climb and/or a gym Lead climb some routes that are of a hard difficulty for you in order to guarantee a fall.  When I was learning to Lead my belayer was an experienced German climber, every time I said &quot;TAKE, I'm going to fall&quot; he would pay out slack and yell &quot;Climb On!&quot;.  I would then freak out and down climb to the last draw and yell &quot;TAKE!&quot; again.  It was all in my head, if I could down climb six holds I could have taken 3 seconds to clip the draw.  It's all in your head, get over it!  Take a big fall learn what it's like and you will be prepared!&#xA; Practice on an inclined route as big falls will generally end with you landing in mid air, you don't need to worry about the hands and feet as much but you'll get a good feeling of big falls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of preventing a fall, my personal recommendation is &lt;strong&gt;BREATHE&lt;/strong&gt;! Practice your breathing technique, you will get less pumped and remain calmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="654" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T14:37:41.240" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T14:37:41.240" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5659" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-09T17:54:53.823" Score="-3" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found a great deal on the old Scarpa Manta, but I'm not sure what size I'd be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of size 46 Scarpa SL3 boots (which use the BX last), so does it follow that I'd be 46 in the Manta, which seems to be the only boot to use the DL last?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the boot doesn't seem to be available anywhere locally to try on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="579" LastActivityDate="2014-05-11T09:57:05.160" Title="Scarpa Manta - what size" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-05-12T17:27:37.413" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5174" CreationDate="2014-05-10T17:30:50.857" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;In both the U.S. and Canada, amateur radio operators serve an important role in providing emergency radio communications during war, disaster, terrorist attack, or whatever other emergency. So amateur radio operators &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.n5fdl.com/davids-blog/2013/9/2/unlicensed-cheap-chinese-radios-can-cause-trouble.html&quot;&gt;take an extremely dim view of unlicensed operators&lt;/a&gt; using frequencies allocated to amateur (or sometimes commercial) radio. Many will even hunt down unlicensed transmitters and report them to authorities. Radio Amateurs of Canada says that fines can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio/regulatory/enforcement/&quot;&gt;&quot;run to hundreds of dollars,&quot;&lt;/a&gt; but in the U.S., &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arrl.org/news/florida-ham-issued-25-000-fine-for-operating-an-unlicensed-radio-transmitter-and-interfering-with-li&quot;&gt;fines &lt;em&gt;start&lt;/em&gt; at $10,000 and go up dramatically&lt;/a&gt; from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the U.S., &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arrl.org/band-plan&quot;&gt;446 MHz is used nationwide as a simplex calling frequency&lt;/a&gt;, so if you are transmitting on PMR 446 channel 1 at 446.00625 MHz, you almost certainly &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; be noticed, and you probably will be noticed on any other channel. This frequency is also in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rac.ca/en/rac/services/bandplans/70cm/&quot;&gt;the band plan in Canada&lt;/a&gt; for the same purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can avoid doing so, it's a good idea to not use amateur radio frequencies without being licensed. It's not terribly difficult or expensive to become licensed, so it's an option worth looking into. Even so, in this band in both the U.S. and Canada amateur radio operators are &lt;em&gt;secondary&lt;/em&gt; users of the band and must yield to primary users, such as...the U.S. military.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are close enough to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAVE_PAWS&quot;&gt;PAVE PAWS military radar&lt;/a&gt;, your PMR446 transmission also may interfere with it, since it uses the same frequency band. In your proposed travel, the nearest such installation is at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Air_Force_Station&quot;&gt;Clear Air Force Station&lt;/a&gt; in Denali, Alaska. You do not want to mess with the US Department of Defense's ability to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My recommendation would be to replace the radios with FRS/GMRS radios&lt;/strong&gt; and to keep the PMR446 radios, in case you ever return to Europe. (Note that GMRS does not require a license in Canada, but it does in the United States.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Use_Radio_Service&quot;&gt;MURS&lt;/a&gt;, which has been available in the U.S. for several years, was supposed to be introduced in Canada in 2014, but this has been &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf10822.html&quot;&gt;deferred indefinitely&lt;/a&gt;. It has higher transmitter power limits (2 watts) and, interestingly, far fewer users, at least in the U.S. When these radios eventually do become available in Canada, this may make a good alternative to FRS/GMRS if you need &lt;a href=&quot;http://radiofreeq.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/survivalist-radio-communications-ham-vs-cb-vs-frs-vs-gmrs-vs-murs/&quot;&gt;longer range&lt;/a&gt; or signal quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, while searching the Internet in relation to this question, I learned that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cmlmicro.com/products/CMX883_Baseband_Processor_for_FRS_MURS_PMR446_and_GMRS_Leisure_Radios/&quot;&gt;some radio baseband processors can handle FRS, GMRS, MURS and PMR446 on the same chip&lt;/a&gt;, so in principle a switchable radio could be built that would operate on FRS/GMRS or MURS in North America and PMR446 in Europe, but I was not able to find any such radio on the market. Such radios might appear on the market in the next few years, or I might need to search more thoroughly. It may also be illegal to market such a radio in some countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the same lines, many mass-market PMR446 radios have a nearly identical version with the same model number which is programmed for FRS/GMRS instead, so if you are happy with your existing radios, you can buy (nearly) identical ones that use FRS/GMRS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to purchase a programmable radio, and program in the correct frequencies corresponding to FRS, GMRS, MURS or PMR446, depending on where you will use it. The two main problems with this approach are also legal: Such radios are usually certified as business radios and thus may not be entirely legal to operate unlicensed, and their power output may also be higher than is allowed for unlicensed operation on these frequencies. One popular example of such a radio is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007H4VT7A&quot;&gt;Baofeng UV-5R&lt;/a&gt;. In its low power mode it still transmits at 1 watt, higher than the maximum 500 mW allowed for FRS. It's less likely that you will be caught for this, but it is still possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2643" LastEditorUserId="2643" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T02:47:23.330" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T02:47:23.330" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2014-05-10T19:56:22.300" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cut new growth back and stick the dripping ends in a container. Sap collects quickly and after filtering through a coffee filter it is absolutely clear and tastes refreshing. Never had any health problems from it and the grapevine doesn't even notice as it's a huge vine. Stay away from the main shoots and just nip the new growth back. The vine actually produces better grapes as a result. If you want to avoid bird droppings etc from getting in your container, place a cloth over the top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3215" LastActivityDate="2014-05-10T19:56:22.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5662" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5663" CreationDate="2014-05-10T21:04:55.187" Score="18" ViewCount="1457" Body="&lt;p&gt;In practice, how precise is a pedometer for estimating your progress on a trail? For example, if I'm to hike 10 miles, how far should I expect to be from the 10 miles marker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there data comparing pedometers accuracy with GPS?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-28T19:47:29.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-28T16:24:02.617" Title="How precise is a pedometer for estimating on a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5662" CreationDate="2014-05-10T22:27:06.093" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Searching online I found lots of useful informations, like e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedometer#Accuracy&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The accuracy of step counters varies widely between devices. Typically, step counters are reasonably accurate at a walking pace on a flat surface if the device is placed in its optimal position (usually vertically on the belt clip). Although traditional step counters get affected dramatically when placed at different angles and locations, recent advances have made them more robust to those non-ideal placements. Still, most step counters falsely count steps when a user is driving a car or makes other habitual motions that the device encounters throughout the day. This error accumulates for users with moderate commutes to work. Accuracy also depends on the step-length the user enters. &lt;strong&gt;Best pedometers are accurate to within ± 5% error.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medicinenet.com/pedometers/article.htm&quot;&gt;medicinenet&lt;/a&gt; one can find an overview on the topic. A useful quote on the topic here is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The accuracy of pedometers has been carefully studied&lt;/strong&gt; because they are frequently used in studies and researchers demand to know if they are reliable and accurate. Research shows that pedometers tend to count steps more accurately at speeds greater than 3 miles per hour (mph) than at slower speeds. Accuracy can exceed 96% when speeds exceed 3 mph, whereas the accuracy drops to between 74% and 91% at speeds from 2 mph to 3 mph, and it drops even further to between 60% and 71% at speeds below 2 mph. The error has to do with the insensitivity of pedometers to detect steps when people shuffle or drag their feet at slow speeds. Detectable vertical movement of the hips is necessary for pedometers to work well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two types of pedometers differ in terms of accuracy depending on your speed and your habits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Piezoelectric&lt;/strong&gt; pedometers tend to be more sensitive than &lt;strong&gt;spring-levered&lt;/strong&gt; at slower speeds and so they may be preferable for individuals who walk slowly. In addition, the tilt of the pedometer is critical for performance with spring-levered devices, but not so with piezoelectric devices (the piezoelectric mechanism is not position dependent). For example, a pedometer may tilt forward into the horizontal plane if an overweight individual with excess abdominal fat wears one on their waist. Tilt in a spring-levered pedometer can throw off the accuracy by as much as 20% at fast speeds and 60% at slow speeds. A piezoelectric pedometer does not have this &lt;strong&gt;tilt error&lt;/strong&gt; except at the slowest speed (less than 2 mph), and the error is less than 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More infos and tests on specific pedometers are given on &lt;a href=&quot;http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/pedaccuracy04.htm&quot;&gt;walking.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if they compared to GPS data in the tests but I think GPS is always more accurate to measure your distance. These days you can find GPS watches so size/weight is not really a matter (but maybe the pricing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you asked this question I also had no clue about the accuracy but reading a bit on the topic I think I am not going to try one on the trails ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-05-10T22:27:06.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5659" CreationDate="2014-05-11T09:57:05.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You &lt;strong&gt;MUST NOT&lt;/strong&gt; buy hiking boots without trying them on. Period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to hike in them - yet there are thousands of different foot forms and accordingly a lot of different boot cuts, differing in a lot more than only the length (which the size describes). There are wide and narrow boots, some with a high bumb under your instep and some with little and so on. There is no way of telling, if they fit for you or not if you don´t &lt;strong&gt;TRY THEM ON!&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the first link I found on google has a review that says them to be smaller and suggest ordering half a size bigger. Of course, you have to take into account how your old boots were - if you already bought them half a size bigger than normal (not unlikely if from the same company) then you probably don´t need to add to the size. However, only way telling is to &lt;strong&gt;TRY THEM ON&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-05-11T09:57:05.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5678" CreationDate="2014-05-11T20:37:17.890" Score="10" ViewCount="4358" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year I asked about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3531/rifugio-mountain-hut-trek-in-austria&quot;&gt;mountain hut treks near Vienna,&lt;/a&gt; and the answers I got helped me plan a wonderful trip. This year I'm going to be in Berlin in June, and would be happy to do a (fairly laid back) two-three day trek somewhere near there. One thing I've read about is a 416 km trail that encircles Berlin, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wanderbares-deutschland.de/wanderwege/wanderwege-karte.html#19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the 66 lakes trail&lt;/a&gt;. However, I haven't found much information - certainly not in English - and even in German, I'm missing something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/DE/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Austrian hut finder site&lt;/a&gt; which I used last year to find a good area in Austria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any suggestions for a specific part of the 66 lakes trail, an alternate suggestion, or know of a good resource to help plan something near Berlin? (When I say &quot;near&quot; I mean up to a three hour train/bus ride to a good starting point.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt; An example of a nice resource that I stumbled upon: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meetup.com/Berlin-Hikers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the &quot;Berlin Hikers&quot; Meetup Group.&lt;/a&gt; Their list of past events is a useful (and English) guide to hikes around Berlin that I can use as a starting point for planning a longer trip. It seems like they've been to many of the places Paul mentions in his answer below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T14:07:20.730" Title="Trekking near Berlin" Tags="&lt;europe&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2014-05-12T01:40:46.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without having to carry any extra items and thus extra weight, this is what you can do to dry your boots, Gore-tex or otherwise, in the field, in above-freezing temperatures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prevention:&lt;/strong&gt; Make every effort to keep your feet dry in the first place. &#xA;Sometimes it's just inevitable though.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Absorb excess water:&lt;/strong&gt; After removing your insoles, use a highly absorbent synthetic shammy (&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000BQSL5E&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;like those for drying cars&lt;/a&gt;) to pat down and dry the footwear by hand as much as possible, wringing out the shammy frequently. A typical camp towel will work, but not nearly as effectively. Repeat until no more water is absorbed into the shammy. Likewise, take your wet socks, roll them up in the shammy and wring the whole thing out. Repeat until no more water wrings out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Controlled application of heat:&lt;/strong&gt; If still hiking, return the boots with insoles back to your feet and continue on. The heat from your feet will do a lot to dry your boots, but only if you've removed most of the water by absorbing it. Don't put fresh socks on yet. &lt;em&gt;(Obviously if the boots still will be getting wet then don't bother drying them until you can get to camp.)&lt;/em&gt; When at camp, after absorbing the majority of the water, wear the boots around while setting up camp, cooking, etc. so that your body heat can continue to work on moving the moisture out. I'd recommend dry socks for this part, but no socks could also work if it's warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method to apply heat is to warm up some small rocks by the fire and then place them in your boots, making sure that they are not too hot, otherwise you'll ruin your boots. You should be able to touch them without getting burned. Periodically replace the rocks with more warm ones. A similar, possibly superior, method is to take two water bottles, fill them with near-boiling water and place one in each boot. (This is better suited to overnight drying.) The drawback with the water bottles is that you likely will use valuable fuel to heat that water, unless you can heat the water with the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, when going to sleep, put some freshly warmed stones/water bottles in your &lt;em&gt;mostly dry/barely damp&lt;/em&gt; boots, place the boots in a stuff sack or two, then put the boots in the foot of your sleeping bag with you. This will keep them near heat all night. Although it won't be the most comfortable thing in the world, it's not all that bad. However, don't do this if your boots are still quite saturated. If that's the case, just leave them inside the tent/tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not recommend drying boots directly by the fire. It's very difficult to gauge and control how much heat is being applied and you'd greatly risk destroying your boots. Too much heat will shrink and crack leather, melt synthetic materials, and melt the glue holding your sole to the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In sub-freezing temps, the procedure is similar, but wearing boots to dry them is not the ideal option. Using the hot water bottle/stone method is the way to go then. I'd also note that having the boots near a fire is good, just not closer than you'd want to sit yourself. If it won't burn you, it won't burn your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And one final thought: sometimes there are conditions where you just have to settle for various degrees of wetness/dryness in your footwear, making sure that at least your feet are dry when you sleep.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-09-25T16:50:50.720" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T16:50:50.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5667" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-12T01:56:13.807" Score="6" ViewCount="2831" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm having trouble finding parks and forests that allow backpacking and primitive camping near Chicago, IL. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good locations near Chicago for backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3220" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T15:51:06.607" Title="Backpacking and primitive camping near Chicago?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5657" CreationDate="2014-05-12T21:56:16.667" Score="14" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is 'learning to fall' something that climbers do through practice or&#xA;  through on-the-job training, as it were?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little of both.  You can go to your local gym or outside on routes that you feel comfortable climbing and once you get a few feet above a solid bolt or bomber piece of gear, let go. Read this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/tech-tip-sport-the-basics-of-falling/&quot;&gt;article on practicing falling&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/flight-school/&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.  Since you know you're going to fall, the fall won't feel the same as a surprise lead fall, but you can learn how to relax and react. You can continue doing this on various types of climbs (slab, crack, overhang, etc.) to get the hang of falling. After some practice, try pushing your limits (safely) on a project to get over the psychological aspect of falling.  If falling is all you are thinking about when you're climbing, you won't enjoy the climb and you are much more likely to actually take a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This isn't something I've seen addressed much. Is there a 'good fall'&#xA;  technique for lead climbing? Are there things during the fall I should&#xA;  be doing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest things are relaxing, knowing where your rope should be in relation to your feet based on the last piece of gear, not fighting it once it's happened, don't grab the rope, don't grab gear, and being aware of your surroundings (i.e., potential obstacles you can hit if you should take a fall).  Depending on what kind of climbing you're doing (slab, crack, overhanging, etc.), there are specific things you should be aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slab&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, a fall on low-angled slab is usually unpleasant even if you do everything right.  However, in the event you do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it is steep enough, pat your way down with both your hands and feet. It's all about keeping everything off the wall as much as possible and not catching on anything on the way down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it's lower angled, skip down with your feet (do not jump, just light touches).  Try to keep your balance and keep your feet moving and keep your knees bent so they ease the impact along the way and when you finally come to a stop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of the type of slab, avoid any prolonged contact with the rock, try to avoid getting caught on anything, and if you ever get flipped as you're falling, tuck and roll.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid any jams that might not come out if you fall so you don't break something or get flipped.  If it's a wide crack (off-width), you may need to apply the same types of techniques for falling as you would climbing slab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overhang&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid any jams or positions that will keep you from taking a clean fall.  Watch your footwork and hands so you don't get in a position that will cause you to flip or get caught in the rope.  If you're falling into a wall, relax the knees and elbows to soften the impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How does one deliberately set about learning how to cope with big&#xA;  falls - higher fall factor than top-roping generally allows?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice and experience.  Find some safe projects to push your limits on. Climb routes you are comfortable on, but place one less piece of gear.  The biggest thing is learning to trust yourself and your gear.  As you lead more, you'll start to develop the right mindset for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3074" LastActivityDate="2014-05-12T21:56:16.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5669" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-12T23:24:00.467" Score="2" ViewCount="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could burning &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagera_pseudorhus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Jagera&lt;/a&gt; (Foambark) create an allergic reaction? i.e. swollen throat, feet, hands, eyes, breathing trouble and aching body?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3223" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-05-13T03:22:00.967" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T03:35:16.483" Title="Could burning Jagera (Foambark) create an allergic reaction?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5669" CreationDate="2014-05-13T03:35:16.483" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Foambark can cause &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000869.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;contact dermatitis&lt;/a&gt; and is listed by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aboutthegarden.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ATG-Fact-Sheet-23-Low-allergy-gardens.pdf?38192e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;aboutthegarden&lt;/a&gt; as one of many low-allergen to avoid in an allergen free garden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T03:35:16.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5652" CreationDate="2014-05-13T08:05:32.260" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cop-gmbh.de/images/product_images/popup_images/UA1209661S-L#2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; regularly for Kajaking, since i nearly ripped off my flesh while getting out of my yak at a stonewall. They're not waterproof, but they're very durable in my opinion and they dry very quick, and as an extra they are windproof. And also the seams don't rip at your fingernails while paddling as many others did which i tried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The palms are made out of durable leather&#xA;And the top is made out of some goretex-like material&#xA;The knuckles are protected by a hard plastic, can be taken out if you don't need it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The model i supplied isn't available anymore, but they where from the SWAT series from Under Armour&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="2230" LastEditDate="2014-05-13T09:20:48.873" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T09:20:48.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5672" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5677" CreationDate="2014-05-13T08:46:19.643" Score="23" ViewCount="11297" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there specific techniques for carrying/storing cheese while backpacking for a longer time so it doesn´t spoil?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is related, but different: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3398/3143&quot;&gt;Cheese and eggs on backpacking trips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T12:20:00.673" Title="How to preserve cheese while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5673" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5687" CreationDate="2014-05-13T12:23:29.620" Score="15" ViewCount="6553" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using a trucker's hitch knot for a very long time (camping, strapping stuff down, line length adjustment, pulley system)&#xA;I've always switched my mid-line loop when I've come to not trust them for numerous reasons (not secure, impossible to untie after loaded, rope damage, take too long, etc...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This one is tied using a directional fig 8 as the mid-line knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used the following knots for periods of time, switching between them as I feel uncertain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;slip knot (quick, not reliable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;alpine butterfly (quick, reliable, seizes up)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;directional figure 8 (quick, reliable, seizes up)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sliding prusik (doesn't seize,  not quick if not already on rope,&#xA;sometimes not reliable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bowline on a bight (reliable, doesn't seize, not quick)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;span loop  (reliable, quick, seizes up)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;half&quot; sheep shank with a half hitch to secure also called a bell&#xA;ringer's knot (quick, doesn't seize, reliable?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They all have their uses and advantages but I'm looking for that 'bomb proof' setup where I can load it to the max that the rope can handle and still be able to hold while not making this mid-line knot impossible to remove and doesn't permanently damage the rope. Speed is important as well because I will often pull out my cordage and tie down a trailer full of stuff while my Father/Father In Law will be fiddling with straps that have a tendency to become a nightmare of a mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My go to was a directional figure 8 for the longest time but it started to get very difficult to untie when using heavy loads (I'm heavy and like to use hammocks while camping :) some of my cordage has these in there permanently). I then switched to using the span loop for a long time but that also locks up. I've now settled on a bell ringer's with a half hitch lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has worked well for me when tied properly but it 'feels' like it is not secure. I've never had it fail (even on 6 hours trips being used to tied down kitchen appliances on a trailer) but it just doesn't seem like a very stable setup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What knot is best suited as the 'fixed' knot in a trucker's hitch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-09-29T09:15:01.317" LastActivityDate="2019-09-29T09:15:01.317" Title="Which mid-line knot is best suited for a trucker's hitch?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;truckers-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5672" CreationDate="2014-05-13T13:21:37.470" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Putting cheese in plastic bags. Ever. Mold guaranteed. The cheese should receive enough air and shouldn't get wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cutting a big piece into smaller pieces (for easier service, you know). First, you break the wax or vacuum bag, second, now you have much more surface and much more to cut if mold happens.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best practices&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can, prefer cheese sealed in wax (cheese heads).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can't, prefer cheese packed in vacuum bags. Here your mileage may vary depending on how it was packed, but usually they are safe for a couple of weeks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you just have an &quot;open&quot; piece of cheese, wrap it into paper, then put it into a &quot;breathing&quot; cotton bag. Again, don't use plastic bags! When you allow the cheese to breathe, it takes care of itself by forming hard dry &quot;skin&quot;, which protects the inner contents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prefer hard cheese over soft cheese, if you go for more than a week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you take cheese for adding into spaghetti and not for eating directly, consider buying dried cheese or make it yourself: just grate it fine and let it dry. This you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; (and &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt;) put into plastic bag, and it's probably the most long lasting method of preservation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="1794" LastEditDate="2014-05-13T13:33:56.323" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T13:33:56.323" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5672" CreationDate="2014-05-13T15:04:17.400" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I buy small bricks of &quot;light&quot; cheese (typically cheddar; we have also tried mozzarella) and keep them sealed as long as possible. (The lower fat cheeses are less likely to sweat beads of oil on a hot day. This isn't about going bad but it doesn't look nice.) After opening a sealed pack I put it in a Ziploc but its days are numbered so I'd rather have a day where everyone has a cheese sandwich and there's cheese on the pizza, then a cheese-free day, than a series of days in which we eat a quarter of a small block of cheese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep the cheese in the food pack while we're traveling, but when we get to camp I put the plastic bags in a mesh bag along with a rock, tie a hockey lace (extraordinarily long shoe lace and super useful for camping stuff) to it, throw it as far in the lake (or better, river) as I can and tie the lace to a tree so we don't lose it. This makeshift fridge has kept us happy on the cheese front for trips of up to ten days, and raccoons etc have not found my underwater stash in the night and eaten it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-05-13T16:40:32.660" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T16:40:32.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5673" CreationDate="2014-05-13T15:21:31.550" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do you mean by a directional figure 8? Is that a figure 8 on a bight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An overhand on a bight is quite secure if carefully dressed and pre-tensioned on every strand in opposition to every strand on the other side. People rappel off of an offset overhand, which is basically the same knot. It's quick to tie and easier to untie than a figure 8.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T15:21:31.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5672" CreationDate="2014-05-13T16:33:58.323" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additional to the two great answers already given I want to share my own experience, repeating some things and adding some:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Choose your Cheese carefully&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As already mentioned, harder cheese will last longer. Good sorts (I don´t know if available outside Europe): Parmesan, Manchego, &quot;Bergkäse&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cheese will start to mold on the surface. Take this into account, bring large pieces instead of many small (or even slices). Don´t take cheese with holes with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As already mentioned by others cheese with a peeling of wax or of other kind will be a better choice since this part of the surface is covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven´t tried it yet, but I would refrain from bringing mold cheese (like Roquefort)in warm to hot climates/seasons since their taste will get stronger very fast and its hardly to predict how their (non-harming) mold will grow and affect spoiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vegan &quot;cheese&quot; may be an alternative for you, since it is less prone to molding, especially if you want cheese stretch for pizza or pasta. However, conventional hard cheese should still be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep your cheese cold&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat will make your cheese sweat and mold. This makes it easy to carry cheese in winter, but challenging in hot climates. Some tips for keeping it cold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The refrigerating device suggested by Kate is great. If you don´t have a lake or stream at your disposal, you can try putting it under stones or something alike. Just make sure it doesn´t get eaten by animals - mice and racoon will open most bags, also plastic ones. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;During daytime (in case you are moving), put it at the coldest spot available. Deep in your backpack, it can maintain a cold temperature for quite a long time, especially if you put it near water reserves (e.g. a hydration pack/camelbag). If your paddling, the bottom of your canoe/kayak will be quite cold and a good guess. However, this may conflict with the next point&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep your Cheese dry&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moisture is as bad as heat. While you don´t want to put it in a plastic bag (see also next point), you definitely don´t want it to get wet, as it makes it mold a lot faster. You could put it in a permeable bag and then, together with other stuff (food or clothes, while the latter will probably start to smell) in a bigger, water-proof bag. This will prevent it from sweating as well as from getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Put it in a prepared cloth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read about this technique for storing it and have tried it out with great success:&#xA;Take a clean cloth (e.g. a towel) big enough to wrap your piece of cheese. Soak it in vinegar and let it dry off. If you want to make sure its soaked, you can repeat this. Now (after drying it thoroughfully!) wrap your cheese and carry it always in this towel. It's the best way to store it, the cloth is now kind of antiseptic and will repel mold and is, on the other hand, very permeable.&#xA;You still want to make sure it doesn´t get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-05-13T16:33:58.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5665" CreationDate="2014-05-13T16:51:19.490" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have so far not been hiking close to Berlin. However, I know to areas that might be worth a try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spreewald&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg_Lake_District&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mecklenburger Seenplatte&lt;/a&gt;. Also I just learned about the &quot;Märkische Schweiz&quot;, a small low mountain range. I have never heard of the 66 lakes trail, so I can´t give you information on that.&#xA;Note that you can reach the baltic sea in about three hours, maybe that´s something you would like?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General tips&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During my research, I was quite surprised how scarce information is in English (I am german). However, at most tourist bureaus people should be able to speak it, so phoning or mailing them is a good idea. You can try that directly in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitberlin.de/en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Berlin&lt;/a&gt; or at the suggested places (links follow). If you already know, where you want to hike (the 66 lakes trail e.g.), you can ask them directly for places to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Berlin itself is a big city with some nice places for short walks, but nothing I would call hiking. Around it lies the state of Brandenburg. It is mostly flat, has few forests and a lot of agriculture. Due to this, cycling and paddling (where possible) are more popular, hence my question if you consider that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite this, there are two major long distance trails passing by: the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Germany/trails-E10&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;E10&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Germany/trails-E11&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;E11&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/walking-in-europe/e-paths/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; you can find general information on the E-trails and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fernwege.de/d/e10/etappen/skizze/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; on their particular way in Brandenburg (in German, sorry).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spreewald&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very beautiful lowland forest. Most people go here to kayak along the small streams and channels in the Spree. There are cycling trails as well as dayhikes. The E10 crosses here (Werben till Groß Köris would be the etaps), so there should be a marked long distance trail. If I would be to hike near Berlin, I would give this a try because it is by far the nicest nature in this area. There are a lot of small villages and, during summer, tourists and it is far from wild. There are a lot of places where to sleep, it can be a little expensive though.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spreewald.de/urlaub-im-spreewald/naturerlebnisse/wandern-im-spreewald/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is their tourist information - all German, but you should be able to contact them directly. If you are also interested in history/culture, I would definitely give it a shot, since it is one of the few areas in Germany where there has been preserved some kind of folklore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get here&lt;/em&gt;: ~ 1.5 hrs to Lübben or Märkisch Buchholz by train, about 50-80kms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mecklenburger Seenplatte&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An area with a lot of lakes: Made for paddling and cycling. However, the E10 passes by, so there should be some hiking possible ( &lt;em&gt;I just read that it hasn´t been realized yet between Strasen and Stralsund, which would contain the part through the Seenplatte. This information might be outdated, but please check with the tourist bureau!&lt;/em&gt; ). It would be a good idea to get in touch with their local tourist information, since there are some less densely inhabitated areas where its nicer to walk. They also provide some information in, well, lets call it &quot;semi-english&quot; on their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mecklenburgische-seenplatte.de/seenplatte_erleben/Aktivsein/wandern/Wanderrouten/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;homepage&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get here&lt;/em&gt;: ~1.5 hrs to Neustrelitz by train&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Märkische Schweiz&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A nature reserve with a lush forest, some rolling hills and lakes. For information &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maerkischeschweiz.eu/cms/front_content.php?idcat=31&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (again, in German - sorry!). The E11 seems to pass it. You can probably ask also in Berlin about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meetup.com/Berlin-Hikers/events/190824802/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is a description&lt;/a&gt; of the latest &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meetup.com/Berlin-Hikers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Berlin Hikers&quot;&lt;/a&gt; day hike in this area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get here&lt;/em&gt;: ~1 hr by train (switching to a bus brings you closer to the forest, but you can walk through fields instead)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope you find this information helpful - maybe you could give a small update about your choice and experience afterwards?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT3: Some small improvements for the &quot;Märkische Schweiz&quot; area (Eyal)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT2: After @bashophils suggestion I will add the Saxon Switzerland and steal his links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saxon Switzerland&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_Switzerland&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Saxon Switzerland&lt;/a&gt; is a low mountain range very popular for rock climbing due to the large amount of cliffs. In my personal opinion it is one of the most beautiful places in Germany. A big part of it is a national park. Two options for hiking there would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Following the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en/home-malerweg/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Malerweg&lt;/a&gt;, a 8-9 day round trip. You can easily pick only a part of it, I specially can recommend etaps 2-5, but I don´t know the last ones. You have to pay attention where to sleep, though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting a room in the area, e.g. in Bad Schandau, and do a couple of dayhikes from there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both possibilities will surely provide a unique experience. I didn´t mention this area at first, because it is rather far away and doesn´t belong to the Berlin region. Also, it really merits a visit on its own (like the nearby state capital of Dresden). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get here:&lt;/em&gt; ~ 3(fast train) hrs /4.5(slow=cheaper train) hrs from Berlin to the start of the Malerweg or to Bad Schandau in the heart of the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT1: I just realized I should probably mention that all this is not about &quot;untouched nature&quot; but more or less cultivated lands. I would not call this suggestions a place for an &lt;em&gt;outdoor&lt;/em&gt; experience, but more for a couple of nice dayhikes since you will have to sleep inside. Nevertheless, it can be beautiful, just don´t expect wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2014-06-27T14:07:20.730" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T14:07:20.730" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5673" CreationDate="2014-05-13T17:06:35.743" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My standard habit is a figure-8 on the bight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can't screw it up. (You can tie a slip knot backward and have it not work)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This means it is easier to explain to someone how to tie.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is fairly easy to untie. Just bend it over and break it's back (A marlin spike or a fid may help).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, whatever knot you chose to use, you should not be overly worried about being able to untie it.  Your rope is no-longer very valuable after it has been use this way.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There has been at least one sharp bight (fold) put in the rope while under heavy load, therefore it is no longer particularly safe (especially if it got tight enough to be hard to undo.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying knots in ropes always damages them.&#xA;A truckers hitch is, to my mind (although I haven't seen any quantitative study,) a particularly damaging one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie your truckers hitch in a older bit of rope, or cheap rope you don't care about.&#xA;Go ahead and undo it if you can, and reuse the rope.&#xA;But if you can't, then cut it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rope is not a precious treasure. &#xA;As bad as it feels to cut rope, it is not a big deal.&#xA;You'll always find use for smaller ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3225" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-10-01T03:58:04.823" LastActivityDate="2014-10-01T03:58:04.823" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5667" CreationDate="2014-05-14T01:32:14.233" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For any reasonable definition of &quot;near,&quot; no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you hike into the more remote part of Indiana Dunes State Park and set up a tent, no one will bother you. I've done it with a group of 40. The rangers there are primarily concerned with people being drunk/loud in the designated camping area. This park has the advantage of being accessible by public transit (South Shore Line from Millenium Station).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you must stay compliant with park rules, your best bet is to drive north into WI. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/cnnf/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=27717&amp;amp;actid=29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nicolet National Forest&lt;/a&gt; is the closest good place I know, at 4.5 hours away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can tolerate a 7 hour drive, I recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exploringthenorth.com/porkiesum/map.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Porcupine Mountains&lt;/a&gt; near Ontonagon, MI. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3229" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T01:32:14.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5657" CreationDate="2014-05-14T07:10:43.553" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just two small addenda to the great answers from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2518/am-hawk&quot;&gt;AM_Hawk&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3074/jpdurham&quot;&gt;JPDurham&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Look down.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This advice seems obvious, but if you don't specifically train yourself to do this, you might not do it when you take an unexpected fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know where on the route you should absolutely not fall.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both answers kind of mention this, but I thought it was important to state it separately. These are four situations that I thought of on the spot, but there are definitely more (some of these expand on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2518/am-hawk&quot;&gt;AM_Hawk&lt;/a&gt;'s third point):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When casting off to lead a pitch and you would sustain a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;factor two fall&lt;/a&gt; because you have not place a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbingterms.com/post/19781374423/jesus-nut&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jesus Nut&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When falling would result in decking from a significant height either onto a ledge or the ground. This one seems obvious, but keep in mind that sometimes normal slack in the belay system and clipping high &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4719/1957&quot;&gt;can result in falls that are unexpectedly long&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When a fall would result in a pendulum impacting with a wall close to the lowest point of the pendulum motion. At this point you are moving sideways with the same velocity as if you had fallen straight down. What makes this situation dangerous is that you are likely to impact with the side of your body, which is not at all equipped to absorb an impact. Expect a broken pelvis or worse!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On loose rock where a fall could result in rock fall triggered by you or your rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-12-05T08:57:50.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4995" CreationDate="2014-05-14T07:42:27.863" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Small addendum to the excellent answers already present:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never release a tourniquet&lt;/strong&gt; unless you have received expert instruction on doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the patient who received a tourniquet does not receive medical attention within a few hours, it is likely that the patient will loose the affected limb. Therefore, before applying a tourniquet, make sure that a high likelihood of loosing a limb is a better outcome then not applying a tourniquet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T07:42:27.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5672" CreationDate="2014-05-14T08:42:55.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carry cheese that is already mouldy (e.g. Camembert). Then you don't have to worry. I've stored such cheese at room temperature for weeks, to give it a better &quot;bloom&quot;, and a more developed flavor. I have done this numerous times, eaten all of it and was perfectly fine. Not even any gastro-intestinal discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3232" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T08:42:55.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5672" CreationDate="2014-05-14T12:14:01.550" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hard cheese and Feta keeps well in olive oil, and this can improve the flavour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This saves buttering the bread in sandwiches, means you can store it ready sliced and in plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You see this often in the Med.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eggs will also keep indefinitely if completely coated in oil, it makes the shell impermeable. Although I wouldn't keep eggs and cheese in the same oil since eggs come from a chicken's anus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3235" LastEditorUserId="3235" LastEditDate="2014-05-14T12:20:00.673" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T12:20:00.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5652" CreationDate="2014-05-14T12:26:37.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could look at sailing gloves such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.watersportswarehouse.co.uk/shop/sailing-boating/gloves.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;. There are loads of different varieties with open or closed finger versions depending on your preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned by others many sailors also use rubber gardening or builders gloves. These are much cheaper but wear out a lot faster. I'm not sure how much of an issue this would be for kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-05-14T12:26:37.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5673" CreationDate="2014-05-14T22:02:29.773" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The way I've always done it is with a 'slippery half-hitch.'  It's quick, I don't believe it can spill and it is always reasonable to untie once the load is removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It took me a while to find an illustration, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://fliesbydon.freeservers.com/Images/Knots/truckers_hitch.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; is a fine one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: In response to your issue with removing the slipknot, I was playing with some paracord and I believe something like this will resist cinching and be easy to remove, even after being loaded.  I made it by taking several turns round the standing part before creating the slipknot's loop.  Then use that loop (left uncinched) to take the load after going around your tie-down point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l86WG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the picture, my middle finger represents the tie-down point and the bitter end is being held between my thumb and forefinger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/v/tvgFyqFZK54?start=140&amp;amp;end=175.3&amp;amp;version=3&amp;amp;autoplay=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is a video&lt;/a&gt; showing a similar knot construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HTH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3238" LastEditorUserId="3238" LastEditDate="2014-05-15T16:17:09.813" LastActivityDate="2014-05-15T16:17:09.813" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5688" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5691" CreationDate="2014-05-15T11:36:16.397" Score="9" ViewCount="8090" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to dry the shoes out when they get wet? I am referring to situations specially when I can not hang them out to dry.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Consider a situation wherein I am trekking in the night, and I need to cross a stream and then I know that I am not gonna walk much through wet places (mud, grass lands, etc), but I am gonna walk for sure. So is there a way to dry them out faster? So that I don't get blisters.&#xA;Had this been a daytime I could simply hang them out in the sun for a while when I plan to have lunch or rest for half an hour or so..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T13:39:25.670" Title="How to dry wet shoes quickly?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5689" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-15T19:36:02.420" Score="3" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do hunting licenses work when travelling abroad for hunting? It's not a case of re-locating to a new country, just spending some time there. Is there an international recognition of a national license? Or are international licenses just the privilege of the extremely wealthy travelling to the extremely poor regions (in exotic places like Botswana)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have interest in how a international group of people (mainly from the UK) could go on a hunting holiday in Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T04:14:13.573" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T04:14:13.573" Title="License for international hunters in Canada" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2014-05-16T01:00:19.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring spare river crossing footwear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use hiking sandals (e.g. chacos) as your main footwear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use quick drying shoes instead of big boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultralighttowels.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;small towel&lt;/a&gt; to remove excess water by pressing on it against the sole of your shoe (repeat until no water can be drawn)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a spare pair of socks (wool is often prefered) to keep your feet dry; rotate them as they dry outside your pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also make a fire and try not to burn your footwear while drying it. You could use a hot rock to warm and dry the inside. Your mileage may very with this; I personally wouldn't consider this an option unless a pre-existing fire is already available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, I would be more concerned to have my feet wet over a longer period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-05-16T01:00:19.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2014-05-16T14:09:43.047" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider whether you really need to have dry shoes before going thru all the trouble.  In the winter, wet footwear can be a serious problem.  However, when it's warm out there is really no danger from wet shoes.  The only issue may be that you simply don't like the feel of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where its warm enough and there is no real danger from wet shoes, keeping the shoes dry is not necessarily the best answer.  Here in New England, trails regularly have wet areas when they aren't frozen.  The way I often deal with this is to decide up front that I simply don't care if my shoes get wet.  It's actually quite liberating to not worry about it.  It makes getting thru wet areas and crossing stream much easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things that help make this work, mostly being the right shoes and the right socks.  I use shoes with cloth uppers that therefore breath easily, and fairly thick wool socks.  Thick wool socks versus thin cotton or other synthetic make a huge difference.  With this setup it's really not uncomfortable at all to walk in wet shoes.  You don't get that sloppy squishy feeling, and I've never gotten blisters or felt any rubbing due to the wetness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the plus side, you feel much freer to just walk around anywhere.  You stop worrying about getting wet, finding ways around large puddles in the middle of the trail, when the beavers have flooded the road with 2 inches of water, crossing streams, etc.  All around it makes for more enjoyable hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this may sound somewhat unintuitive, but give it a try before just assuming this makes no sense for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-05-16T14:09:43.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5689" CreationDate="2014-05-17T04:32:29.733" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Canada, you will need a hunting license depending on the province (or territory) and type of game you wish to hunt. Typically, a safety course is also required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, moose requires applying for a draw which is valid for a certain zone as determined by the department of natural resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/hunting/non_resident/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Moose Hunting British-Columbia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/services/services_renderer.200853.moose_hunting_licence_.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Moose Hunting New-Brunswick&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-05-17T04:32:29.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5693" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5694" CreationDate="2014-05-18T01:59:19.083" Score="15" ViewCount="1077" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in California, a lot of trails have signs with a triangular diagram, showing that cyclists should yield to hikers, and both cyclists and hikers should yield to people on horses. I don't have a problem with yielding to horses, but what is the logic behind this? Not to startle the horse? Not to get your feet stepped on? In general, what is the polite way for hikers to behave toward people on horseback?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T23:52:35.583" Title="Logic behind hikers yielding to horses?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5693" CreationDate="2014-05-18T05:32:48.530" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Grand Canyon, it's because it's easier for a human to get off the trail than it is for a mule.  I suspect the same reasoning applies in most places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-05-18T05:32:48.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5695" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5696" CreationDate="2014-05-19T01:35:41.393" Score="39" ViewCount="38395" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always used any old shoes for hiking. Are there any real benefits to using specially made boots?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:14:56.073" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:14:56.073" Title="What is the point of hiking boots, versus any comfortable walking shoes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T05:44:38.363" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are using your old used sneaker-like city-shoes, sport-shoes or jogging-shoes to go hiking? Well, those are made for really flat paths without lots of surface irregularities and they aren't designed for rough conditions (wet and/or cold, difficult terrain, bigger loose stones and so on). Saying that, hiking shoes/boots are better for those conditions, because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they offer more stability in the shaft so you aren't that likely to roll your ankle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they have a special lacing which allows for more adaption&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they are often designed to be highly water-resistant (including membranes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they have a coarse structured sole which is anti-skidding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they can have a thicker lining for colder conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they are robust and aren't likely to break while on a longer trek&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-05-19T17:10:02.420" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T17:10:02.420" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3523" CreationDate="2014-05-19T07:42:54.823" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, Europe has an international accepted definition of Wilderness. These European Wilderness Quality Standards are continuously updated and are available on the Website of the European Wilderness Society (&lt;a href=&quot;http://wilderness-society.org&quot;&gt;http://wilderness-society.org&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the last years the society identified close to one million hectares in Europe that meet at least the bronze standard. These areas are ex glacial,areas in Austria, forest in Georgia, Aquamarine areas in Scandinavia and mountainous areas in Portugal and Italy. Ukraine, Bulgaria and even Albania and most notably Romania (Retezat) are now in the process of certification. Scandinavia has few remaining pristine wilderness due to logging and herding, Oulanka being an exception. Belarus and Poland has some areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Little remaking Wilderness at this point in time has been found in France and the UK. Here restoring is the top priority. Ireland has just designated the first area with 10.000 hectares. The Netherlands are working on an Aquamarine Wilderness area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large Herbivores and Carnivores are essential to the Wilderness Ecosystem. We helped reintroduce Bison in Romania and similar projects are underway in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Slovakia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Wolf is coming back in almost every European country with large numbers in Romania, Spain, Bulgaria and now even in Germany with 18 Wolf Packs roaming the country side. The Lynx is also coming back as can be seen in Austria. The number of bears is increasing in Italy and The Balkans and Carpathians. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically the four different levels of Wilderness start of with small areas with subsistence remaining human intervention and go up to large areas of 20.000 hectares with no human intervention nor extraction like fishing, hunting or logging. Even roads are in the top level being taken out and any use of mechanical vehicles is off limits. Austria has for example changed its forestry laws that do require a forest fire to be extinguished anymore since fires are part of the wilderness continuum (NP Kalkalpen) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The European Wilderness Society has an extensive website and blog where Wilderness Advocates can inform themselves about the latest events and information. They work in a Network with Wild Europe, the Wilderness Society in the US and Australia, the Department of Environment of the EC and many Universities like Leeds in the UK and Alpen Adria University in Austria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The goal of Europe is to identify, designate and protect or restore a minimum of 2% of the landmass as wilderness? especially Germany is here leading this movement and will set designate close to 150.000 hectares of new Wilderness Areas in the next few years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info please visit the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://wilderness-society.org&quot;&gt;http://wilderness-society.org&lt;/a&gt; including all certified wilderness areas that meet the stringent European standards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3246" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T07:42:54.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T11:34:41.697" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many who nowadays shun boots and prefer to have lightweight footwear in all terrains and most weather conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth having a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/&quot;&gt;Chris Townsend's website.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He has hiked many long distance trails, including some in the US and has put together an article on his blog about the topic of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2014/01/why-lightweight-footwear.html&quot;&gt;Lightweight Footwear&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be worth reading this article for the argument against hiking boots in most cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-29T15:35:23.837" LastActivityDate="2014-11-29T15:35:23.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5693" CreationDate="2014-05-19T11:39:06.580" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a similar situation here in the UK. We have routes which are designated as Bridleways which Horse-riders, Cyclists and Pedestrians can use but not motorised vehicles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine that the yielding to horses is because some horses can get spooked easily and it is safer all round to keep relatively still and let the horse and rider to pass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T11:39:06.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T15:18:01.273" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Big, heavy &quot;waffle stomper&quot; boots are mainly a relic of the past, along with wool knickers and steel canteens. For most conditions, modern running shoes work far better. Any weight on your feet cuts down on your efficiency much more than a similar amount of weight on your back. Also, the heavier your boots get, the harder it is to keep from getting blisters, regardless of how hard you try to get the right fit. If you find it a nuisance to have pebbles always getting inside your low-cut running shoes, there are lightweight trail gaiters these days that you attach using velcro and a hook. (I buy them from dirtygirlgaiters.com.) For people like me who have wide feet, it tends to be easier to find running shoes that fit properly; in particular, nobody seems to make crampon-compatible boots in wide sizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots are better in certain specific conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You know you have to walk through mud or cross a large number of shallow streams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You'll be in snow all day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need something crampon-compatible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need to do a lot of bushwhacking through chaparral that includes cactus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the justifications traditionally offered for heavy boots is that they gave ankle support, and some people felt that they needed the ankle support when carrying a heavy pack or on particularly rough terrain such as talus. Many people, however, do just fine in these conditions with running shoes. It's true that when crossing talus, boots will make you less vulnerable to an injury from a heavy rock that hits your ankle from the side or that falls on your toe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T15:18:01.273" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5701" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-19T15:37:53.553" Score="12" ViewCount="3058" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been on a few beach vacations in the last few years and have discovered that I really enjoy snorkeling. I have at least three trips in the next year where I will probably go snorkeling (a few times per trip), so I'm thinking it might be economical to purchase my own snorkel gear rather than rent it at every destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already have a snorkel mask, which was a gift; I'd like to get fins to go with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of fin should I look for that performs well for snorkeling and is easy to travel with? (I prefer being able to stick them in a carry-on, but that's not a strict requirement.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the searching I've done so far, I've noticed that the length of the blade varies quite a bit from brand to brand and style to style; how important is blade length for an occasional snorkeler? The shorter bladed fins seem to be recommended for people who want gear that's easy to travel with, but I have no idea if getting a short fin would make my snorkel trips more difficult or unpleasant in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I evaluate different qualities to determine what's best for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;full-footed v. with a strap&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;open toe v. closed toe&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;split blade v. solid&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;cost&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;length of blade&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;anything else? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cost isn't really a factor, though I don't see a reason to spend $100-300 for &quot;professional&quot; fins at this stage of my outdoor adventuring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="77" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T13:41:43.580" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T13:41:43.580" Title="What to consider when buying fins for recreational snorkeling?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;&lt;fins&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T17:25:44.360" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;My ankles sprain easily. I have good quality walking boots that give good ankle support, because I &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; them. You may not. Everyone’s different. Yes, they’re heavier than &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.stackexchange.com/q/32653&quot;&gt;runners&lt;/a&gt;, significantly heavier, in fact, but for my situation, they’re worth it. When I’m on rough terrain, and especially if I’m also carrying a heavy backpack, I can sprain my ankles very easily. I never have done wearing my walking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, of course, there’s the fact that I do most of my walking here in Ireland, where conditions underfoot are often damp. Gore-Tex lining is awesome stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="258" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:38:11.657" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T17:25:44.360" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5693" CreationDate="2014-05-19T18:39:27.993" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally &quot;X gives way to Y&quot; rules can be found not just on trails but on open water (steam gives way to sail) and in rivers and channels, even on city sidewalks. They seem to be based on these (potentially contradictory) reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;slower movers should allow faster movers to pass them and carry on away (after catching up from behind)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more nimble entities should nip aside where there isn't room for both entities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;those that cannot move in certain directions (sideways is hard for horses; sailboats can't turn arbitrarily) should be allowed to keep on going while the other entity does the difficult/impossible move instead&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;those that can't go in some areas of the pathway (on the soft ground, into the trees, up a fence, in the shallow water) can have the right of way and the other entity can go to the margin or something to enable passing (in either direction)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of horses and people, I see every one of these rules supporting that the person should get out of the way. Sure, in &quot;steam gives way to sail&quot; some of these are contradicted, because the rules point in different directions and they have to be reconciled somehow. But I don't see any logical reason why a larger, faster entity that can't do some of the things people can should be yielding to the slower yet more nimble human, who can do things like climbing a wall or fence to get out of the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, all that said, if this list determined the rules cyclists would be between people and horses, so horses would have priority always, then bikes, then people, and people would be ducking off the trail or climbing a fence to let bikes go by. But that's not the rule on your signs, so it's possible my logic doesn't apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T18:39:27.993" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T18:41:42.993" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer for me is that my feet hurt less.  There are two factors that cause foot pain with regular shoes.  The first is that rocks poke your feet through the soles.  The second is that without good ankle support, you use more muscles in your feet to balance on uneven terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I didn't realize how much pain was caused by my shoes until I tried proper hiking boots.  I just thought that was an unavoidable part of hiking.  I recommend trying a pair out and see what difference it makes in the kind of hiking you usually do.  It's hard to explain the benefits without experiencing it for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other benefit I haven't seen mentioned is snake bite protection.  Rattlesnakes have pretty good camouflage, and I've had them strike my boot when I get too close without seeing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="244" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T18:41:42.993" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-19T19:19:14.363" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One advantage I'm missing so far is that hiking boots also protect the ankles against the outside (not only against sprainng): from getting scratched by or hitting stones,  wooden branches sticking up, or stuff like blackberry twines (which I find &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; bad as they scratch heavily over the front part of the ankle, particularly where that tendon is). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course it is possible to hike safely on bare feet in these conditions, but it is going to be extremely slow compared to having a kind of boots that allows you to just forget these nuisances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(For the rest of the legs I find the scratching far less annoying) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T19:19:14.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2014-05-19T21:03:15.650" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stop PAMPERING Your Feet if you Want Them TOUGHER!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not sure what you mean by &quot;liner socks&quot;, but one of the worst footwear mistakes a hiker can make is wearing TWO pairs of socks. I would sincerely advise against two pairs of socks, if that is what was advised above. Most seasoned distance hikers and runners would tell you that, or ask yourself after doing a nice ten miler with two layer socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know why your feet are not hardening' so to speak. I work in construction, when the economy favors that sort of work.. :). My experience, and you can also ask around on this, is that a tradesman who uses his hands will have rougher hands, developed calluses, etc. I tend to experience soft hands at the beginning of the season, but they get a lot tougher quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I worked with concrete a bit and that has lye, and that would dry me until my hands bleed if I failed to wear gloves. I think that is a dramatic example, but generally, from what I know after decades of running and doing seasonal construction: oily skin is softer than dry skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might benefit from understanding alkaline vs acidity of the skin. You may try to control oiliness of your feet, maybe stop lubricating and moisturizing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of people here recommending using moisturizers. That is new to me..wow. I would NEVER use a moisturizer, two pairs of socks or any type of rub. I don't have any feet issues after thousands of miles of road and alpine trail running in heat and rain, but my experience is FRICTION KILLS. You want to stop your skin from slipping, sliding, and rubbing back and forth inside your shoe. Those blisters are the result of this friction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lubing your feet up and wearing two pairs of socks is just idiotic if you want to eliminate that sort of friction and in effect stop the blisters. If you keep your feet dry, and un-oily, I am willing to bet those feet will toughen up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Construction workers don't rub lotion on their hands, typically. In fact everyone I know doesn't even own lotion. If they crack and bleed we might use bag balm or something as a spot treatment, but the trick to tougher hands is repeated abuse, not pampering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Food for thought, take it or leave it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope your running continues and grows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2347" LastActivityDate="2014-05-19T21:03:15.650" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2014-05-19T21:16:12.660" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, this is why I DON'T prefer boots...at all. Sometimes you gotta' wear them though. Sometimes, for logouts, snow trekking, etc...boots are just mandatory. Boots hold an unbelievable amount of water; it annoys me to no end. Gore-Tex and the like are no better in practical applications. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drying footwear is a problem because of these two items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drying footwear too fast or too hot will ruin leather boots and some shoe adhesives.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drying boots can be an all night effort, often with mixed results.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have done in the past with boots is start a campfire then place the boots at about a 45 degree incline so the foot hole is aiming as much towards the fire as possible. I actually experimented with this for a few weeks on a trip through rain and snow and I found the fire will dry waterlogged boots in several hours, but only to about 60-70% dry factor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option I have used, primarily with running shoes which hold a lot less water; I stuff a shammy or a towel deep down into the shoe. The towel will suck out the water from a running or hiking shoe pretty well..boots not so much but it does work. Shammys are pretty light weight, maybe try them and see how you do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: Do NOT dry boots too close to a hot fire or your boots will be even more water prone each night!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will concur with the people who recommend fording streams etc.: consider barefoot, sandals, or alternative shoes to ford in. Do not wear your Gore Tex boots into a stream thinking they are waterproof. Contrary to what you were told on the box, they really are not...well...not when you get in over the tops or they are broken in..there just is no real way to get a dry pair of boots across a stream reliably, in winter. Just not worth it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2347" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-05-21T04:24:54.780" LastActivityDate="2014-05-21T04:24:54.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-20T12:25:57.250" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest answer is this. Hiking boots, with their higher top, prevent material such as stones, mud, snow, and water from easily getting into the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I hike on a graveled trail for example, I must empty my walking shoes of small stones about every 5 miles. In rougher conditions, it is easy to step into a puddle, or snow drift, that is more than ankle deep, so wearing a high top boot is quite important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3262" LastActivityDate="2014-05-20T12:25:57.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-20T13:53:29.973" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good hiking boots also provide good arch and foot support. Even without the extra weight of a pack the constant stress on ones arches can be very fatiguing if not even damaging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although humans were originally designed to go without footwear, most people today do not have feet that can go miles and miles without proper arch, toe and foot support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if one is going to be walking for miles, it is wise to provide the additional support the feet need to make the trek. Soft soled shoes typically do not provide that support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A steel shank may also be of benefit to most people, as well, because it provides additional support for the arch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3263" LastActivityDate="2014-05-20T13:53:29.973" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5701" CreationDate="2014-05-20T20:03:32.497" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some things I've noticed in my relatively limited snorkeling experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fins with straps are quite annoying.  The strap never really holds well, and you already have enough problems being awkward with fins on that you want them to at least be secure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An open toe will allow them to drain when you get out and the vent makes them easier to get on and off.  The tradeoff is that they put a little uncomfortable pressure on the toes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long blades are really only necessary if you plan on swimming long distances.  Most of the time they just end up being even more awkward, plus as you mentioned they're harder to travel with.  In addition, I'd say that you can get more power from a well-secured fin than a long one, simply because you can kick harder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might also think about dispensing with the fins entirely.  I've found them to be more trouble than they're worth unless I'm swimming long distances.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where your vacations are it might also be worth it to invest in a wetsuit, since relative to rental prices they don't cost very much.  Of course if you're only snorkeling in tropical waters that's probably overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, have you tried on your mask?  I'm not suggesting that you look a gift mask in the snorkel, but you want to make sure it's comfortable and fog resistant and provides a nice wide field of view.  It's essential that the snorkel have a dive option.  In my opinion a nice mask is far more important than nice fins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3269" LastActivityDate="2014-05-20T20:03:32.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5701" CreationDate="2014-05-20T20:23:10.913" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing to understand is that fins are not strictly necessary snorkeling gear; I've often snorkeled without them. &lt;strong&gt;Fins compensate for not using hands&lt;/strong&gt; while swimming. If you have an underwater camera and/or anticipate strong currents, you'll want to use fins in order to help you propel yourself along under water. Even if these don't apply, having fins makes the experience more comfortable since you can let your arms dangle by your side without sacrificing much mobility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All other things equal, bigger fins are more efficient in the water and more of a hassle out of the water. It's possible to buy &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B004PPNSGY&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stubby fins&lt;/a&gt; designed for excercise and packing in carry-ons. On the other extreme, there are &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monofin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;monofins used by freedivers&lt;/a&gt;. Unless you have specialized needs, just go for the traditional sizes which roughly double the length of your foot and aren't excessively wide. These provide more than enough thrust and don't require learning new swimming techniques. You're already committed to using some luggage space for the mask and snorkel; regular fins don't demand much more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Growing up, my parents bought us boys fins with straps (i.e. open foot). The main advantage was that our feet were growing so fast we'd change sizes from one trip to the next. Straps, however, are fiddly. When I bought my own fins as an adult, I picked closed foot (full-footed) fins that fit my fully grown feet. As long as I remember to get both feet and fins wet before pulling them on, full-foot, rubber fins are a lot more comfortable. I also learned that open-foot fins are intended to be worn with booties for insulation or to protect your feet while entering the water. For most tropical locations, you won't need extra protection unless the shore is particularly rocky and rough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never tried split fins, but I understand that good ones are more efficient than traditional paddle fins. For my money, I don't really need more propulsion than I get from my current set. But I'm considering investing in a pair for my wife since she isn't as strong a swimmer as I am. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tropicalsnorkeling.com/snorkeling-fins.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this guide&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your leg stroke with a split fin is very different. Instead of long forceful strokes, you make much smaller, easier, and more rapid kicks in a split fin (sometimes called a flutter kick). You feel less resistance with this type of stroke, through the water, and through your fins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The things folks don't like about split fins is that they don't provide as much feedback, because you don't push against the water as hard with them, and they are considered to be less precise for control of movement and position in the water. They are not supposed to be as good for back paddling, frog kicking, turning, etc. They are better for moving forward.  But we have had no problems with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, &lt;strong&gt;make sure fins fit&lt;/strong&gt;. No matter how great a pair of fins are, they aren't much use if they don't feel comfortable in the water. Since your feet will shrink a bit when they get cold, prefer slightly too tight in the store to slightly too loose. Check the return policy of whichever retailer you plan to buy from and don't hesitate to exchange if you don't enjoy your first outing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="627" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-05-20T20:23:10.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-21T00:51:56.243" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The extra weight gives you more of a workout?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally only use hiking boots when backpacking - due to the need for good stability.  I have done Whitney 2x, half dome/cloud's rest 10x,  other 14'ers, both climbing rapidly and running down in sneakers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also put on thin/lightweight elastic foot/ankle wraps and/or cotton ankle braces and those will go far for helping avoid rolled ankles while still retaining a much lighter total footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3273" LastEditorUserId="3273" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T06:28:17.807" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T06:28:17.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4132" CreationDate="2014-05-21T19:41:01.967" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm fairly new to the Seattle area and have been attempting to plan my own early season trips, both for one day hikes and overnight backpacking. I'm certainly no expert, but here's my experience so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been looking based on the following criteria, and using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Trails Association&lt;/a&gt; hike details and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trip reports&lt;/a&gt; as a guide, as you mentioned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid areas that are still snow covered, or avoiding camping where snow is lingering.&lt;/strong&gt; If you are comfortable hiking on snow or are into backcountry skiing, this is less of an issue, but it is easier to stay warm and safe by avoiding deep snowpacks. Usually you can reference recent trip reports, or historical TRs from previous years both on WTA and around the web and see when the snow typically melts. This season was 'average' with a burst of snow towards the beginning of spring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stick to lower elevation.&lt;/strong&gt; An easy way to pick a hike that will be warmer and less snowy is to stay low, for example below 3-5k elevation seems to be reasonable this spring depending on the hike's location. There's many hikes in the PNW that follow a river in a valley, I'll mention some specifics further down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watch the weather.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.noaa.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NOAA&lt;/a&gt; is a great resource for tracking rain/snow level and temperature at different elevations by using their point-forecast.  Give it a general location and then click on the region/elevation where you plan to be traveling, which is on the map displayed on the right side of the website. In the early season we've still had snow storms at higher elevations and sudden warm-ups have lead to avalanche concerns and bulletins posted by NWAC.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be conservative.&lt;/strong&gt; Early season means a wider range of temperatures and more varied weather. Be prepared to bring 'shoulder season' gear for staying warm and dry, for example, extra layers, jackets, fire making and emergency supplies. Select something that isn't going to push your limits as much, in case the trail is covered in snow and you spend time searching for the trail. Creek fording or river crossings may be more difficult than advertised because of snow melt and if any significant damage was done to a trail over the winter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A few specific hikes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you mentioned Olympic National Park, here's a few that I've been interested in but haven't done, though I have done other day and overnight hikes in the Olympics and Cascades. It's worth mentioning that bears encounters may be more likely in ONP due to lack of hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/elwha-river-trail.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elwha River&lt;/a&gt;. I haven't been here personally but it is a low-lying hike of moderate elevation gain, which starts just south of Port Angeles. There are multiple campsites along the way, making for a good out and back backpacking trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/upper-lena-lake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Upper Lena Lake&lt;/a&gt; On the eastern slopes of the Olympic range, this hike ascends first to Lena Lake, and then continues to the upper lake. The upper one may harbor some snow still but sounds doable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/enchanted-valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Enchanted Valley&lt;/a&gt; Requiring a bit more of a drive, this hike starts neat Lake Quinault, on the south western edge of the ONP. Also a hike through a valley, though bears are known to frequent this area, no one has had trouble in recent history.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/signpost/the-signpost/early-season-backpacking-ideas-on-the-olympic-peninsula&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;WTA's early season backpacking list&lt;/a&gt; which includes Hoh River, Cape Alva, and Slab Creek. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Olympic Coast. I've backpacked a portion of the Olympic coast and it is enjoyable practically all year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that most hikes in ONP require a permit for overnight camping. I'd love to hear more suggestions as well, based on region rather than specific hikes. There's so many great hikes here, it's hard to go wrong picking something conservative in terms of elevation gain or distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3280" LastEditorUserId="3280" LastEditDate="2014-05-21T19:56:39.363" LastActivityDate="2014-05-21T19:56:39.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5701" CreationDate="2014-05-21T21:20:56.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since most high-tech fins are made for scuba diving, you may want to consider wearing small 1.5mm neoprene dive booties with dive fins.  This eliminates several issues with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;fin straps falling off your heels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;chafing / blistering around your fins where they rub the skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;toes getting compressed in your fin in order to get a snug fit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;low selection in fin type when shopping for barefoot-fit fins  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is extra gear to tote around and ease of prep when getting ready to go.&#xA;An additional upside is you get foot protection when you are getting in/out of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also be able to use some aqua socks to achieve the same results, but beware of seams on the top where the fin may create pressure points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3238" LastActivityDate="2014-05-21T21:20:56.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5716" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5754" CreationDate="2014-05-22T08:08:16.777" Score="3" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;How should I maintain my trekking backpack? Are there things I should do/regularly? How should I clean it, if necessary? How should I store it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1346/3143&quot;&gt;Taking care of hiking backpack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T08:13:15.920" Title="How to do maintenance for a trekking backpack?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5717" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5719" CreationDate="2014-05-22T08:21:46.570" Score="10" ViewCount="1825" Body="&lt;p&gt;I consider buying a jacket made from wool. The fabric is some kind of felt. I hade one when I was younger, but since these jackets are really expensive I would like to know how they perform compared to other softshell jackets (I think a comparison with hardshell doesn´t make sense). Categories I am especially interested in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water resistance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind resistance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and, as a bonus: enviromental impact of production/life cycle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two examples of the jackets:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jv7AX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&amp;quot;Mufflon&amp;quot; wool jacket&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VAKGA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&amp;quot;Mufflon&amp;quot; wool jacket with Nylon shoulder pads&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-01T20:15:28.630" LastActivityDate="2017-01-01T20:15:28.630" Title="Advantages of wool/felt jackets" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-05-22T12:11:24.620" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who's done a decent amount of hiking both with proper boots and a standby I used for years, &lt;em&gt;hightop skateboarding shoes&lt;/em&gt;, here's the three major differences I've noticed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The boots definitely win in the waterproofness department.  I would not do an extremely muddy trail in shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The boots have better traction &lt;em&gt;but&lt;/em&gt; the significance of this is less than it might seem.  Skateboarding shoes, which have an almost completely smooth, flat sole, only have significant traction on dry, smooth rock -- but the sole is also very supple and flexible, making it easier to feel the ground, twist and torque from the ball and maintain your balance if you have strong ankles.  I started out using them on weekend trips into the Hudson Highlands from NYC, and eventually did the Appalachian Trail through the whole state one week with them, including a fair bit of up and down with a 40 lb. pack, and never felt a lack of confidence in my shoes.  I was way more impressed than I would have predicted this way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although I guess it depends on the individual article, the shoes are likely to be more comfortable and cooler than boots, probably because they don't have any rigidity, support, or padding in them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was also very surprised doing the Appalachian Trail the number of people I ran into wearing even less substantial things -- such as &lt;em&gt;tennis shoes&lt;/em&gt; -- who claimed to be in the middle of doing &lt;em&gt;months&lt;/em&gt; worth of the trail.  Perhaps I'd just never noticed this before because I am someone who had always worn boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've got a nice pair of light boots now that are great, but in a pinch I'd say if all you have are running shoes, etc., don't worry about it -- if you're like me, you'll be pleasantly surprised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a friend I've done overnights with who swears by trail type sandles also.   The thing that makes me most trepidatious about that is all the exposed skin, although I've never seen him suffer any because of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3286" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T12:11:24.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5717" CreationDate="2014-05-22T13:53:31.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergzeit.de/magazin/merinowolle-materialkunde-die-funktion-der-faser-im-ueberblick/&quot;&gt;German article&lt;/a&gt; about merino wool which is well worth reading. I am just posting it here because I know you are German too @Paul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can expect by merino wool (and I think likewise in other kinds of wool) compared to the usual Softshells/Fleece made from synthetic fiber is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durability: okay&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathability: very good (better)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water resistance: decent (worse if Softshell has membrane)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind resistance: decent (worse if Softshell has membrane)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enviromental impact of production/life cycle: low (natural product, completely recyclable, check the source of the wool and therefore maybe animal protection aspects)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those points above are very general said and this might not be true for all type of Softshells. Which is important is to state the pros and cons of wool. Besides the hefty pricing of merino wool and sometimes bad treatment of the sheep (I think some (most?!) bigger brands changed their strategy and care a lot for this and receive the wool from well treated sheep) I can't think of many cons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Therefore check the pros&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially compared to jackets with membranes, wool will be much more breathable and mostly really comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to synthetic fiber, with merino wool you are getting a clothing with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very fast drying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;feels extremely comfortable, also when wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;actively warms when wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cools when warm (not true for the thick jackets you asked for but it is for a shirt)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;isn't prone to attract bacteria, so it won't smell bad that fast (try it with socks, you can wear them several days on a hike and they will smell quite neutral) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high sun protection factor (50+)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no electrical loading so it won't stick to the skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to clean in the washing machine (but you still shouldn't wash harsh clothing with it and you shouldn't use more than 40°C)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Will check some infos later and will try to make this short overview a bit clearer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T14:02:00.367" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T14:02:00.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5720" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:17:17.637" Score="2" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to add a bit more space (any way is acceptable) to my Deuter ACT Trail 32.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deuter.com/US/us/hiking/act-trail-32-34432-119.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.deuter.com/US/us/hiking/act-trail-32-34432-119.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do understand it will not be a permament solution but for emergencies or for just walking from point A to B I would like to have this option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An idea is put carabiners on the red circles below (there is another one on the other side).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hUDgD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:58.713" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:41:58.713" Title="Add more external space to my ACT Trail 32" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5721" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:24:48.020" Score="4" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to my limitations in my bag (32 ltrs) I would like to know which one is both the lightest and warmest solution I can pack with me (for the torso area). I do not care about doing sports in it. I just need it after a hike or walk i.e. stationery positions only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="468" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T13:07:27.140" Title="Warmest and lightest solution for torso" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5344" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:33:05.647" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if it has a racist note to it I found this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehulltruth.com/sportfishing-charters-forum/200540-any-reels-rods-not-made-china.html#b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.thehulltruth.com/sportfishing-charters-forum/200540-any-reels-rods-not-made-china.html#b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="468" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T15:33:05.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5721" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:34:00.977" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down is the lightest and most compressible delivering the best warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down is the undercoating of water fowl. It provides the greatest amount of dead air space of any insulation material for its weight. A down pod consists of light, fluffy filaments that grow from one quill or point. These filaments intertwine and mesh, forming air pockets which trap air. One ounce of goose down contains 23,000 pods and two million filaments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It comes in different Fills ranging from 450 to 900, also be mindful that manufacturers may also  only put 70% down and 30% other insulation...The best are usually 90/10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also come with different weights for example the Patagonia Nano Puff is probably one of the lightest down jackets, then you get into something like a Mountain Hardwear Nilas, and then last but not least an expedition weight parka like the North Face Himalayan Parka. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/down-jacket-reviews/buying-advice&quot;&gt;Buying Guide&lt;/a&gt; that may help you with your decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T15:46:22.923" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T15:46:22.923" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5724" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:47:25.780" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T15:47:25.780" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T15:47:25.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5725" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-05-22T15:47:25.780" Score="0" Body="Anything on backpacks, as a piece of equipment, its maintenance, modifications and tricks." OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="468" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T18:28:30.150" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T18:28:30.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5726" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-22T22:04:47.750" Score="12" ViewCount="567" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not from the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every time I go into the mountains I lose all depth perception.  I can't tell by looking if a peak is 100 meters or a 1,000 meters above me. I have to stare hard and look for context clues (usually trees).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has led to some hilarious problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I spend enough time in the mountains, will my depth perception improve?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are people who are born and raised in the mountains better at perceiving distances in the mountains?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2014-05-22T22:35:48.607" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T13:18:59.803" Title="Depth Perception in the Mountains" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="494" CreationDate="2014-05-22T22:25:21.153" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt a definitive list exists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But here is an algorithm to create your own list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What altitude-based things make climbing a peak require gear?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At what altitude do problems in step 1 start occurring?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What non-altitude-based problems might cause a climb to require gear?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What peaks nearest me are this height or less?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are my personal answers to those questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snow and Oxygen are the altitude-based problems in mountaineering.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At 20,000 feet (6 km) or taller, most peaks are covered in ice all year round. At 16,000 feet (4.9 km) there is so little oxygen you need to take several days to acclimate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glaciers, steep trails, and scrambles so steep there are no trails mean you have to break out crampons and/or rope. These days I refuse to do anything that includes the word &quot;Crevasse&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; hike Kilimanjaro (~20k ft / 6 km) without any gear. But it takes like a week to get acclimated to the lack of oxygen; how annoying!  So, in my opinion, pick peaks under 16,000 ft (4.9 km) and hike in the Summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in the continental US, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest_mountain_peaks_of_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;all peaks outside of Alaska&lt;/a&gt; are under 14,500 ft (4.4 km). If you're in Western Europe it's the same deal, there are no peaks over 4.9 km (16,000 ft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So look on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt; for all the mountains near you and see if they have permanent glacier-cover. That will require crampons. See if other hikers break out rope because the top is crazy steep with sharp drop-offs. Nothing to it, just read descriptions of the hike before you head out. People will say if they think gear was required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="767" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T15:55:12.113" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T15:55:12.113" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5726" CreationDate="2014-05-22T22:47:12.973" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The difference between someone who knows the elevation of a peak and someone who doesn't is a map. Always bring a map with you, learn to read it well, and keep it dry. You'll live longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-05-22T22:47:12.973" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5726" CreationDate="2014-05-23T06:01:07.427" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, and yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to people I've talked to who work at the Grand Canyon, visitors from the western United States (especially the rural parts of the Mountain West) find the canyon more impressive than those from the east (especially the urban east).  The prevailing theory is that they've learned to see long distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T06:01:07.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2014-05-23T06:06:30.770" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to my father (a self-identified mountaineer), the difference is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rock climber encounters a cliff on a mountainside.  He spends some time studying it, finds the most interesting route, climbs up and back down, and calls it a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mountaineer encounters a cliff on a mountainside.  He pulls out his map, finds a route around it, and continues up the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T06:06:30.770" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="494" CreationDate="2014-05-23T06:09:33.093" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Referring to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5727/2653&quot;&gt;@theJollySin's&lt;/a&gt; answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe the mountains aren't &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; high but you still have to go over glaciers on most routes to the high summits. So you need to learn some basic safety/rope skills. And you can find really tough routes on &lt;em&gt;smaller&lt;/em&gt; mountains, so you just have to read tour descriptions and check the difficulty level. You need to search for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinimages.com/Tourenmenue/Touren/Bewertung/Bewertung.php?PLang=en_GB#Hochtouren&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;F-rated tour&lt;/a&gt; without going over ice (risk of crevasses).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some guide books also mark tours/routes which are solely going over rock, so this would be more the style of tour you have to search for. This is hiking on high altitudes. If you go &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; high (above 4000m or even 5000m), like being said, you need some time/experience to acclimate. And I guess there aren't lots of summits on these high altitudes which are technically that easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kilimanjaro is a good example of a big but technically easy tour. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ararat#Climbing_Mount_Ararat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Ararat&lt;/a&gt; might be interesting too, also in terms of history and culture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T06:09:33.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5732" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-05-23T07:31:45.433" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-05-23T07:31:45.433" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T07:31:45.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5733" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-05-23T07:31:45.433" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions about boots (not shoes) used for outdoor activities including hiking, trekking, climbing, fishing etc. It can be anything related to maintenance, correct use or their accessories. This tag is appropriate for questions which discuss brands, but asking for specific brand recommendations or prices are off-topic. " OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T00:16:03.913" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T00:16:03.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5734" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5736" CreationDate="2014-05-23T10:47:10.747" Score="5" ViewCount="1957" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking into ways of attaching my Canon 7D anywhere onto my backpack (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deuter.com/US/us/hiking/act-trail-32-34432-119.html&quot;&gt;http://www.deuter.com/US/us/hiking/act-trail-32-34432-119.html&lt;/a&gt;) as it will not fit inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will be mounted with a lens while i keep another one inside the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:12:49.897" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:12:49.897" Title="Ways of attaching a DSLR on a ACT Trail 32 backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;dslr&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5726" CreationDate="2014-05-23T13:18:59.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you're talking way above treeline, you can get some idea by what the vegetation looks like at the top or how far the peak seems to be above the treeline.  This works reasonably well in the White Mountains of NH where treeline is about 5000 feet and the tallest mountains a bit over 6000 feet.  Below 4000 feet, this method isn't much good because you can't see the differences between a 4000 foot and a 2000 foot forest from a distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T13:18:59.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5734" CreationDate="2014-05-23T13:33:13.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are any number of ways to do this, but perhaps the simplest is to use something similar to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.miniinthebox.com/k-bm1-tripod-mount-clip-belt-mount-for-canon-nikon-slr-dslr-camera_p470630.html?currency=GBP&amp;amp;litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping&amp;amp;gclid=CJnS1NiTwr4CFcLItAodVmYAPQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this belt mounting clip&lt;/a&gt; and have one of your rucksack straps fed through the belt loops:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FoLsf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest mounting it either on the back of your pack, and allowing the camera to hang lens down, or on the top if you have a pack wide enough to avoid it hitting your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-05-23T13:33:13.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5737" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-24T04:08:42.557" Score="14" ViewCount="1054" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that in the backcountry of Canadian parks, one may only camp on campgrounds, and reservations are required.  For example, in Jasper National Park, one &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5551/566&quot;&gt;must camp on campgrounds to be reserved in advance&lt;/a&gt;, and from the Algonquin Provincial Park regulations, point 6 states that &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;must not&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;camp at other lakes (...) not specified in your permit&lt;/em&gt; (emphasis theirs).  Even the very remote &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks/camping_tombstone_park.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tombstone Territorial Park&lt;/a&gt; requires early reservations.  It amazes me that this is the case in a country as vast as Canada, but it seems this rule is universal in (popular) Canadian parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand the rationale behind the rules, but I don't understand how it can possibly work.  Maybe I can somewhat plan where I sleep on a one-night 40 km trip in Algonquin, but if I'm going to hike for 200 km in Jasper National Park, I don't see how it's possible to know where I will sleep 12 days in advance, as this strongly depends on weather and trail conditions, that vary day to day.  If the weather is very bad for a day I might be a day behind, and I would be violating this rule &lt;em&gt;every single day&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the consequences of doing so?  Of course, campgrounds may be full, and those who are there on the specified day are going to be annoyed.  But it will surely work out in practice (perhaps by illegally camping outside the campground).  The question is: how do rangers handle the situation?  Are they flexible in enforcing the rules, or may I end up with high fines and be blacklisted for any more backpacking permits in Canada?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Perhaps the easiest solution is to avoid parks on backpacking trips, but that means avoiding the most scenic areas that have developed trails!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T14:50:01.643" Title="How are backcountry campground reservations enforced?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5738" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-24T04:21:07.923" Score="6" ViewCount="729" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my outdoor experience in the Nordic countries, I'm used to random backcountry camping.  I've never seen a backcountry campground in my life, but I've recently moved to Canada and it seems that in Canadian parks, camping is not permitted anywhere else (short sample: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5737/566&quot;&gt;Jasper&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/camping/backcountry-reservations.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Algonquin&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/kananaskis-country/activities-events/permitted-activities-regulations.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alberta provincial parks&lt;/a&gt;, or even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks/camping_tombstone_park.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yukon&lt;/a&gt;).  Are there any national, provincial, or territorial parks in Canada where random backcountry camping is allowed anywhere at any time?  Or must I simply avoid Canadian parks (and therefore the most scenic areas) if I wish to camp on my own?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm also particularly surprised that even in public land use zones in Alberta, one must be at least 1 km from a road.  This is at odds with my stereotypical view of Canada of tourists parking their camper-van somewhere and sleeping in it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T17:00:06.663" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T17:00:06.663" Title="What Canadian national/provincial/territorial parks permit random backcountry camping, if any?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5738" CreationDate="2014-05-24T15:03:54.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to distinguish between a backcountry &lt;strong&gt;campground&lt;/strong&gt; - a bunch of sites together - and a backcountry &lt;strong&gt;campsite&lt;/strong&gt;. In Algonquin, while you may only camp on designated sites, you are all alone as though you had chosen a random place. You reserve a particular lake, which could have anywhere from a handful to dozens of sites on it, each night, but you choose your site from those available when you're deciding to stop for the day. An Algonquin site features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;an orange paper sign on a tree letting you  know it's a campsite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a fire ring or two - don't start a fire elsewhere please&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a path back to a box latrine (in some cases shared with other campsites eg on the other side of an island)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sometimes &quot;furniture&quot; such as logs around the fireplace installed by other visitors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's all. It's nothing like a campground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L66Aw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gOJCA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had this whole beach to ourselves, there was no other site on it. The path near the sign leads to a clearing with good tent spots and a fire ring. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0bNxl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were no other sites within sight of this one, either. Not all Algonquin sites are this isolated, but you can see them all on the map and decide which one you want to head for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while Algonquin doesn't permit random backcountry camping, you are not going to be in a campground full of other people, you'll be alone. That's what backcountry means. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/killarney&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Killarney&lt;/a&gt; is the same, except that in winter you can camp anywhere you like &lt;strong&gt;other than&lt;/strong&gt; a designated summer spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/quetico&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quetico&lt;/a&gt; doesn't have any official campsites. Sleep and eat where you like. There are no boom boxes, but in fact the best locations for sites (landing spots, exposure to bug-clearing evening breezes, soft ground) always seem to have fire rings. To quote the website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Quetico is a wilderness park. The backcountry has no facilities, services or signs. Please play your part in the preservation of Quetico Park for future generations by following the principals of “no trace” camping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-05-24T15:03:54.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5737" CreationDate="2014-05-24T15:38:56.887" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two parts to your question, and two parts to my answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, how can you plan your route lake by lake when you don't know the weather etc? You plan for somewhat shorter days, and deal with delays by having longer days. We typically plan for 6 hours of paddling - push off at 10 after breakfast, land at 4. On a crappy day we might not land until 6 or 7. We might have planned to camp at the far end of a lake, and end up running out of light (or muscle power) at the near end, then we'll have to push off early the next day to make up lost ground. Don't make yourself a plan with no slack in it. (This is actually a bigger problem for canoers, who can be completely windbound - we have been, but that was in Temagami which is Crown Land so you can camp where you like - than for hikers, but anyone can be slowed by a minor injury or an upset stomach.)  Schedule a stay-put day every three or four days &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4663/163&quot;&gt;for morale reasons&lt;/a&gt; and in a pinch, use that day to make up your lost time. Schedule less walking or canoeing in a day than you can actually do. If a stretch of terrain is either much harder (portages for canoers, hills for hikers) than the rest, or much more attractive (let's hang out at this lookout or waterfall for a few hours) then plan less distance for that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important you guess right, because there is something worse than running out of light and muscle power a little short of where you wanted to be, and that's getting where you wanted to be and finding no empty campsites because other people didn't stick to their plans. It's an awful feeling. I've camped at the portage takeout a few times, and it sucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, to the second part, enforcement. The parks are full of rangers. In Quetico, they're the only people we ever meet. Killarney and Algonquin are more crowded - we run into people at portages, and see other canoes across the lake - but we still meet rangers there. They check the state of the trails and, for parks that have them, the sites and the signs. They look at your permit to confirm you're where you're supposed to be and you've paid. They make a note of your name in case you don't turn up later, so everyone will know how far you got before getting into trouble and where to look for you. And if you've already run into trouble, they'll help you. It's pretty simple, really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-05-24T15:46:41.557" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5741" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5815" CreationDate="2014-05-24T18:16:27.747" Score="10" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am undecided between sitka and condor 2 packs. Can you please answer few of my question so I can deicide on my purchase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much can condor 2 be shrunk when all 4 side compression straps are pulled as much as they allow (when main compartment is almost empty)? Will it be thinner than Sitka?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do all condor 2 bags have that ruberry bottom or not (read different stories about that)? I am looking to order from amazon, foliage green version.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From the youtube videos I see on some that zippers are turned inwards into the bag so the dust can not get stuck between the zip teeth and on some videos it is the other way around. What is the status with the current condor 2 bags?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can 13 inch macbook air be put in the condor 2 compartment for camel back (water compartment)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also regarding the size comparison between condor 2 and sitka : Can sitka pack 1 pair of sport shoes, towel, t-shirt, 2 medium sized lunch boxes (not to big) in the main compartment, beside ordinary small stuffs and bottle in other compartments?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3293" LastActivityDate="2014-06-06T07:34:30.300" Title="Maxpedition Condor 2 unresolved questions" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5737" CreationDate="2014-05-24T23:13:55.897" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is in fact an annoying feature of Provincial and Federal parks in Canada. I do not know of any which do not have those rules. In fact, even if you are hiking the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Appalachian_Trail&quot;&gt;IAT&lt;/a&gt;, a 3000km hike, you must &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sia-iat.com/en/sections_parc_de_la_gaspesie.html&quot;&gt;reserve in advance&lt;/a&gt; for the Gaspesie National Park in Quebec.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe it is fair to assume that the New-Brunswick IAT portion traverses crown lands. In which case, I would be quite surprised that any crown land restrictions would be applied; even to a non-resident hiker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never encountered a ranger far out in the trails in Canada. In the past, at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.novascotiaparks.ca/parks/cape-chignecto.asp&quot;&gt;Cape Chignecto&lt;/a&gt;, I walked to the coast to get a better cell phone reception in order to reschedule my campground as I had arrived much earlier than anticipated to my mosquito infested campground. In practice, if it is not a holiday, I could had just walked to the next campground and take a gamble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fellow hiker camped in the middle of the trail while doing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nb/fundy/index.aspx&quot;&gt;Fundy&lt;/a&gt; Circuit as he was losing track of the trail when night hiking. Not surprisingly, nothing happened. This hiker would also call ahead, multiple time, to change his campsite reservation depending on his hiking pace. It is quite an inconvenient policy for long distance backpackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of nice places to visit and footpaths outside of the national parks. For many of them, stealth camping is quite acceptable. If you get sick or behind schedule, I believe it is a quite reasonable explanation and I would not worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not expect a harsh consequence from the rangers if you otherwise behave civil, polite and reasonable. I would also have no qualm asking them in person their opinion on the subject the next time you visit to get their point of view prior to your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that the rangers are more concerned with overused areas and individuals cutting down trees or leaving trash behind. If you cannot hit your timeline, camp at dusk, leave at dawn, leave no trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-05-24T23:13:55.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5743" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-05-25T16:45:08.280" Score="17" ViewCount="8796" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering to buy a light-weight backpacking tent.  My current tent (Hilleberg Staika) is very solid, but also quite heavy (4 kg).  I'm looking at various Big Agnes tent models, such as the Slater SL1, Fly Creek UL1, Copper Spur UL1, Fish Hook UL1, or Seedhouse 1 SL.  They seem quite similar.  The local outdoor store doesn't have them in stock, so I can't go and actually look at them.  Based on the specifications, how can I determine which ones will be best for handling strong winds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="38" LastEditDate="2014-05-28T13:06:03.610" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T21:43:39.563" Title="How do I determine if a tent can handle strong wind?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5744" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5750" CreationDate="2014-05-25T21:28:57.720" Score="16" ViewCount="10495" Body="&lt;p&gt;On some occasions you don´t have anything to desinfect wounds, for example during a (short) walk along the beach. If you cut yourself or have a an small wound that needs cleaning, would it be wise to clean it in the sea or better to leave it the way it is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:53.433" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:58:53.433" Title="Is saltwater antiseptic?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2014-05-25T21:57:16.513" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tent is old, maybe 400 nights of use. If I put it down on damp ground water will seep up through the floor whose PU coating is well worn. Since the tent is still serviceable other than that I am thinking of making a bath-tub floor to be used only when the ground is wet or when it might rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I will put it inside the tent so I can make it from one piece of material without any holes, folded corners sewn only on the top, less than 3 yrds of material for my one man tent. I am still thinking how to support the sides of the bath-tub within the tent. I could add a few additional loops to the above nylon mesh interface of the existing tent and then just tie the sides of the bath-tub up to these loops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think just some inexpensive $4/yd, 70 denier nylon, with a decent PU coating should be sufficient.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3295" LastActivityDate="2014-05-25T21:57:16.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5746" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5748" CreationDate="2014-05-26T03:32:24.223" Score="10" ViewCount="1611" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering to get &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear-zone-bear-canisters/gear/14241&quot;&gt;Garcia Machine Backpacker's Cache&lt;/a&gt;.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/4013-928/garcia-machine-backpackers-cache/&quot;&gt;MEC user reviews&lt;/a&gt;, this is the only cache approved in the Adirondack Mountains.  Canadian parks, and other places as well, contain instructions of how to hang your food bear-proof in a tree.  Those drawings are always related to bear bags rather than bear canisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am camping in an area with black bears and grizzly bears (but not polar bears!), do I still need to hang my cache in a tree, or is it sufficient to put it on the ground at a safe distance from my tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T05:24:39.253" Title="Do I need to hang a bear cache?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5657" CreationDate="2014-05-26T05:07:14.563" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great answers here, to add a single (non comprehensive) point I've learned through a dozen or so good falls I've taken or caught: as long as your not at risk of decking (either ground or ledge), and your belay is comfortable, give your belayer some room to move. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've often tied the belayer in with a few feet of slack so the belayer is pulled up (and can even give a little jump late in the catch, especially on a clean 90 degree wall). Doing this will avoid that abrupt jerk when the rope comes taught. It's that abrupt jerk that pendulums you into the rock at an uncomfortable pace (and can break ankles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You fall a few extra feet (which comes with risks if you're not on a clean 90 degree wall, so consider your particular situation), but it really softens the catch. However the belayer definitely has to be aware that they'll be pulled off their feet, and need to be in a comfortable position to accommodate this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We often like to tie into the anchor using a bite in the rope on our multi-pitch routes. Easy tie-in, and you can easily set the slack the belayer has.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3296" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T05:07:14.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5746" CreationDate="2014-05-26T05:16:48.620" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bear canisters should &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; be suspended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing so would make it possible for a bear to steal the canister and take it away. The shape of the canisters make it very challenging for a bear to hold or carry, and normally they will eventually give up and ditch the canister somewhere still close enough that you could find and retrieve it. If you have it hung, and the bear manages to snag it down, it could hold the rope in its teeth and haul it away never to be seen again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same concern should also be for placing the canister near water, where it could float away never to be retrieved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should leave your bear canister on the ground, at least 100 feet from your campsite. I typically bury mine somewhat beneath loose rocks or logs to make it more of a hassle for any critter to get to. Make it difficult for the canister to be accessed and inadvertently rolled very far away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T05:16:48.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5746" CreationDate="2014-05-26T05:54:55.670" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should not hang a bear can; as whatsisname mentions it could be counterproductive and make it easier for a bear to make off with it. Not just that, but it will be a significant hassle for you to hang it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should always prop some rocks around your can so it can't be rolled away as easily. Don't put it near a cliff, because you don't want it getting rolled off the edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(Note that in many places bear canisters are required by law. A few such places I've been (by no means an exhaustive list of where they're required!) include anywhere (National Forest or National Park) in the Sierra Nevada (CA), Yellowstone National Park, Denali National Park, many places in the Washington Cascades, and managed areas (i.e. parks and reserves) in Yukon and Northern Territories in Canada.)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T05:54:55.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5744" CreationDate="2014-05-26T05:58:51.897" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seawater is not itself sterile, in fact, it has all kinds of organisms. Salt in a wound is likely to hurt, and saltwater won't be a particularly effective antiseptic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With wound cleaning, it's always a question of trade-offs. It &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be better to use less-than-sterile water to clean an extremely dirty wound if infection is otherwise inevitable. However, whenever possible you should only use clean water in a wound, so you don't introduce more possibilities for infection. If you do have to resort to salt water to get mud or large debris out of a wound, definitely rinse with any available clean water afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to use some purified water (such as from your water bottle) to rinse the wound, then clean it more thoroughly when you get to appropriate infrastructure to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T05:58:51.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5751" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-05-26T07:22:22.347" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-05-26T07:22:22.347" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T07:22:22.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5752" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-05-26T07:22:22.347" Score="0" Body="Anything on shoes (not boots or sandals) used for outdoor activity." OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="468" LastEditDate="2014-05-27T07:28:09.610" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T07:28:09.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5693" CreationDate="2014-05-26T07:37:57.970" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The safe and courteous way to handle an encounter with stock (horses, donkeys, etc.) is to step off the trail to the downhill side, and also to talk to the riders.  This helps the animals know you are a human and not a predator, and it moves you clear of their path should they spook.  Horses are prey animals and may be sensitive to potential threats from above them, and may also be confused by people wearing large backpacks.  (They also tend to bolt uphill when spooked.)  Allow them all to pass, keeping in mind that less-experienced or problem horses are likely to be placed last in line.  I also suggest giving the rear of any horse a wide berth.  They can't see what you're doing back there, and you don't want to risk a kick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, right-of-way rules tend to favor the least maneuverable.  In this case the 1,000 pound quadruped wins, not just from a maneuverability standpoint but also due to unpredictability (it might spook, bite, kick, or otherwise ignore its rider).  In terms of the priority of cyclists vs. hikers, there is occasional animosity between the two groups that may have affected the rules, similar to how many ski resorts heavily restricted snowboarding when it was first starting out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imba.com/resources/risk-management/shared-trails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail Etiquette and Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T23:51:41.773" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T23:51:41.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5716" CreationDate="2014-05-26T08:13:15.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I have not found backpacks to be very high-maintenance.  After a trip I completely empty my pack, shake it out, and wipe off the dust with a damp cloth.  If there's sap or other problems I'd try spot cleaning them with mild detergent, but so far I've been lucky.  One thing I'm careful to do (with tents and other gear as well as packs) is to prop them open and allow them to thoroughly dry before putting them away.  (The last thing you want is for mildew to start.)  After much use, or in excessively sandy/dirty areas, you may wish to treat the zippers by brushing off any debris and applying some form of zipper lube (spray or wax); this will help extend their life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storage, as with most things, should be a cool dry place away from sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Osprey suggests washing their packs every so often; you can use a bathtub with warm water and a mild detergent to do this.  Gently agitate the pack, rinse thoroughly, and again make sure it dries!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/pack_care&quot;&gt;http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/pack_care&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T08:13:15.920" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5755" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5756" CreationDate="2014-05-26T10:45:08.510" Score="3" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some experience in windsurfing, meaning that I can perform the basic moves and handle the board and sail under normal to slightly difficult conditions. I have always been interested in Kitesurfing but had never had the opportunity to do it so far. I would like to try it out, but I would really be disappointed if I had to start from scratch and climb the whole learning curve again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will my windsurfing experience give me any advantage over complete beginners when starting kitesurfing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other sports that could be helpful?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T11:31:16.187" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T11:31:16.187" Title="Does windsurfing experience help me to learn kitesurfing?" Tags="&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;&lt;kitesurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5755" CreationDate="2014-05-26T11:44:51.303" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your understanding and 'feel' of waves and swell will almost almost certainly help, as will experience of identifying gusts coming in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to carve a board will also be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, while you will still need to learn how to handle the kite, your experience windsurfing will shorten your time to proficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T11:44:51.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5734" CreationDate="2014-05-26T13:38:01.830" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found a few different ways to do this. Each with it's own pros and cons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackrapid.com/products/classic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BlackRapid shoulder strap&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowepro.com/toploaderpro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Toploader chest pouch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://buy.cottoncarrier.com/camera-carrier-vest-system-p/635rtl-s.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CottonCarrier Vest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://buy.cottoncarrier.com/cotton-carrier-strapshot-p/211cps.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CottonCarrier Strapshot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I go between the CottonCarrier vest which offers the fastest access and the Toploader chest pouch if I'm worried about the weather. Your camera just clips into the CottonCarrier vest with a small mount that screws into the bottom. If you are doing lots of tripod work this may not be idea as your tripod won't be flush to the bottom of the camera. The pouch is the most weather proof as it comes with a small waterproof cover as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="49" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T13:38:01.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5758" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5759" CreationDate="2014-05-26T20:35:05.767" Score="27" ViewCount="1605" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by a comment by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5740/2653&quot;&gt;Kate Gregory&lt;/a&gt; I just have to ask this question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What to do on your spare time while being at the campsite?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being outdoors several days while having good friends around and the weather is gracious with you might be easy. But still, good ideas are welcome. So we could read books, slackline, cook, gather wood for campfires, play the harmonica or guitar, tell some bloody bad-ass bear stories, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What to do if it's raining all the time?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What to do with kids?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What to do if you are going alone?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any other ideas?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once with a bigger group on a camping trip we played a nice game: Blind cooking! Except some watchdogs and photo-takers we all had our eyes bandaged and had to cook something. Funny game, do you know other creative activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T18:48:59.330" Title="Activities at the campsite" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-05-26T21:13:06.710" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have children with you, you will have no worries about keeping yourself busy, you'll be plenty busy. If the weather is nice, your kids might enjoy games like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw Rocks in the Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Run Around As Fast As You Can&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See If You Can Throw A Prized Toy Into A Tree And Get It Stuck There&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find A Stick and then Fight Over Whose Stick It Is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My kids also liked Get Firewood and Purify Water (with a hand pump device) because kids like to help. In crummy weather, story books in the tent, and perhaps colouring (with coloured pencils, they travel better than crayons) are old standbys. The adults, of course, are busy keeping the kids safe and generally watching for trouble. Not to mention cooking, cleaning, and straightening up things that got messy over the day, like putting things back where they belong, hanging up wet things, and bringing dry things into the tent so they stay dry. It's also possible you might be talked into wading into the deep water to retrieve all the rocks they threw in, so they can throw them in again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No kids? I guess in this case it is theoretically possible to be bored, though it hasn't happened to me on childless trips (they grow up eventually and you can go out without them.) Try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;read a book&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lie on a warm rock and let the sun shine on you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;write something in your journal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;swim&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;meditate, stretch, do yoga&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get firewood, purify water, make dinner, do the dishes, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;talk to the person you are with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;learn how to skip stones&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;carve a little something out of wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sit around the campfire and watch the flames&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;daydream a little and try to plan out your long term goals and wishes (the peace and quiet of nature makes this easier to do)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;play cards in the tent if the weather is bad&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;look at the maps and plan another trip to another part of the place you are in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trade books with the others if you read all you brought&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a completely stay-put day you can also practice tipping your boat, swimming in your &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_flotation_device&quot;&gt;PFD&lt;/a&gt;, and other &quot;emergency&quot; drills when your possessions are all safe and dry on the shore. If you are not boating, you could practice starting a fire without matches, learn to tie various knots (bring a sheet or two of instructions), and generally experiment with stuff to make you better at the camping you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically bring my books home unopened, but I always take at least one just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="5813" LastEditDate="2015-04-17T17:43:34.070" LastActivityDate="2015-04-17T17:43:34.070" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5744" CreationDate="2014-05-26T21:22:01.360" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, seawater cannot be considered antiseptic.  At minimum, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staphylococcus_aureus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Staphylococcus&lt;/a&gt;, which is the cause of many serious &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/community/photos/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;infections&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1820440/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deaths&lt;/a&gt; every year, and one agent of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1497/133&quot;&gt;necrotizing fasciitis&lt;/a&gt;, is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/staph-infections/basics/definition/CON-20031418?p=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;able to survive: ... High levels of salt&quot;&lt;/a&gt; and may even be &lt;a href=&quot;http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-09-12-staph-superbug-MRSA-beaches_N.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;spread by seawater.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recall reading (but am presently unable to cite) that parasites such as Cryptosporidium cysts can also survive in seawater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-05-26T21:22:01.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-05-27T07:39:54.677" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Kate's excellent answer I have the following advice, from over 35 years camping (13 of them with kids):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is the slightest chance of the entire holiday being rainy, take a tent much larger than you need. This isn't just to give you room to dry wet things, store dry stuff etc., but it gives kids the opportunity to play &lt;strong&gt;in&lt;/strong&gt; the tent without becoming insufferable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used to camp everywhere with a tent big enough for our family +1 (and the +1 was used for storing kit) but one exceedingly wet holiday, our 6 man tent really wasn't big enough for the 5 of us, plus kit, plus the lake that formed in the downhill corner...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We now take a 12 man tent for any camping holiday in Scotland. This gives the adults one wing, the kids have the other, a large play area in the middle, and a decent size awning to sit under/cook etc. We now don't have children playing catch over us - they are happier, we are more relaxed - it's a win all round. Sure, it's a bit heavier, so we usually use it when we can park relatively near the camp site, but with our youngest now nearly 8, we can carry it all on short hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T07:39:54.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5720" CreationDate="2014-05-27T08:08:22.073" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carabiners on the shoulder straps can add two bags of easy-access items. Just don't put more than several kilograms inside, the shoulder straps soft mesh could get damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carabiners on the waist strap can comfortably fit sandals or other shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get the lightest carabiners possible, for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dx.com/p/outdoor-sports-carabiner-hook-set-silver-black-15-piece-set-143856#.U4RH0ShY4Q0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; for bags and something larger, but still light, not climbing gear, for the sandals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tCGKf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T08:08:22.073" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5763" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-05-27T09:01:49.967" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Carabiners&lt;/em&gt;, also known as &lt;em&gt;Karabiners&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;Krabs&lt;/em&gt;, are opening metal links which can connect ropes or slings to each other, or to pulleys or other equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are of critical importance in rope systems including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;lifelining&lt;/strong&gt; with a dynamic rope to arrest a fall in rock and ice climbing or with electron ladders in caves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ascent and descent&lt;/strong&gt; on static rope in caving (SRT) or canyoning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When used as part of a safety system, &lt;strong&gt;locking&lt;/strong&gt; carabiners are often preferred - these secure the gate in the closed position to prevent accidental opening.  An open carabiner is much weaker (typically less than ⅓ of its full strength when closed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light-weight (always non-locking) carabiners are also available, for racking gear to a harness or anchor point.  These must not be used where they might have to hold a fall, or even a body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T19:09:08.410" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T19:09:08.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5764" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-05-27T09:01:49.967" Score="0" Body="Questions on the selection and use of carabiners, either as part of a safety system or simply to attach gear.  Also spelt &quot;karabiner&quot;." OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T19:09:45.307" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T19:09:45.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1077" CreationDate="2014-05-27T12:44:20.737" Score="10" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Store your sandals or boots on the hip belt of your pack, while walking barefoot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hook small items to your pants belt rings - while camping or in the city.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hook the nylon pouch, used to collect rubbish, to a tree branch (no one will step in it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hang your sunglasses pouch to the plastic rings on the shoulder straps for easy access.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Secure your travel mug to the exterior of the backpack for easy access and &quot;mountain guy&quot; looks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T12:05:40.003" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T12:05:40.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5721" CreationDate="2014-05-27T13:07:27.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I agree with AM_Hawk as down being both light and compressible, I'd also suggest layering your clothing. Trapping heat between layers keeps warm air near your body, even without using a specific material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first layer is packed tight next to your body and regulates moisture / sweat: It keeps you dry. For example, a tight t-shirt. Next, a layer to keep the heat next to your body. Down is a great material for this. Finally, a layer to stop the wind. This also prevents the layer underneath from cooling down. A windproof jacket, even without down insulation, should do the trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although this sounds like a lot of bulk to carry, I've found it to be quite effective. Because of their combined effect, the individual layers don't have to be that heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3297" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T13:07:27.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5596" CreationDate="2014-05-27T16:59:43.957" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Verdict is that it works and seems to be very strong, but it is not easy to quickly switch leaders, since the braid-half of the loop-to-loop tightens around it itself much more than the mono/fluoro side of the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3178" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T02:25:12.500" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T02:25:12.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5768" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5769" CreationDate="2014-05-27T21:39:56.910" Score="3" ViewCount="411" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which things should I consider when buying a surfboard for windsurfing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am particularly interested in the first board after finishing a beginner´s course and gaining sufficient experience on one of that huge beginner boards (220ltrs +).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How should I choose the boards size (volume, length and width)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What do the different styles (freeride, speed,...) available mean?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What are other important considerations I should make when I buy a board?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T23:29:44.360" Title="Considerations for buying windsurfing boards?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5768" CreationDate="2014-05-27T23:29:44.360" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is actually a very broad question, and I'm not 100% sure it is best suited here. That said, I'll try an answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sports Stack Exchange has &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sports.stackexchange.com/q/33/103&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; on sail choice for sailboarding, which actually led me to this useful page on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.poolewindsurfing.co.uk/windsurfing-boards-windsurfing-sails-size/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;poolewindsurfing.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have an excel spreadsheet which helps you calculate sizes, and their example for a 68kg sailor agrees broadly with my experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimum size beginner board: Volume 172, Width 82, Length 297&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideal first shortboard:      Volume 118, Width 74, Length 268&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially you need volume to help you stand and balance. When you get better, you can use a semi-sinker or even a sinker (a board which will not support you by buoyancy alone but that requires speed)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A freeride board is much more manoeuvrable  than a long board, but a long board can be much faster. And a board with long hard chines can make long distances less tiring, but will not be able to turn as rapidly. (I remember once watching a guy practicing for the world speed record out in the Falklands. His board was not easily turned, so at the end of his 2 mile beat he would simply fall in, manually cross the sail over and then restart in the opposite direction)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the early stages, your sail/board combination needs to be able to be uphauled. Once you can start from beach or water without uphauling, you have much greater flexibility in sail size, board type etc and can use a much smaller board and much larger sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also want to look at fins, centreboard and footstrap placement.These can be more suited to flat water and speed, or choppy water, waves and jumps. Also, for tricks you will want to look at light boards and possibly short sails (for loops etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl:dr&lt;/strong&gt; Like I said, most of your question is incredibly broad, and probably not worth worrying about at this stage. Just get an intermediate board with maybe a 4m^2 sail and it should do just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:55:24.447" LastActivityDate="2014-05-27T23:29:44.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5770" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5773" CreationDate="2014-05-28T14:18:58.830" Score="5" ViewCount="1399" Body="&lt;p&gt;I admit that this is not intended exclusively for the great outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In truth I rarely venture into areas that are wild and overgrown with vegetation, tending to stick to more sub-urban excursions. And a large part of it comes down to having a moderate phobia of flies (a fear sufficient to endanger driving).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often I find myself faced with my most common of nemeses (both outdoors and in the office (insect screens installed but the smaller ones still get in)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could try bug spray - but not only is it less effective against faster and/or smaller flies - its a very short term solution with an ever-replenishing supply of the pests. Not to mention the health impact of spray (I swear some bug sprays include ingredients causing feelings of paranoia - more notable when used indoors)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could use DEET products - except that I have had allergic reactions to anything other than mild doses (so I mainly apply to hairs rather than the skin these days). that and their effect doesn't quite cut it for keeping them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make things more complicated, I simultaneously cannot stomach use of swatters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering how easy it is to repel mosquitoes, is there no way to keep the flies at bay?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing this, is there perhaps a health-friendly way to exterminate the buggers from a distance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3304" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T00:32:26.160" Title="Are there any phobia-friendly ways to deal with flies?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5770" CreationDate="2014-05-28T14:43:08.503" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because I appear to be a midge's favourite food, I have tried many ways to repel them, with varying success, but the single best solution for you, if you can cope with having flies near but not touching you, is the midge suit and hat. Examples below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This suit from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.treemeadow.co.uk/store/index.php?act=viewProd&amp;amp;productId=1179&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;treemeadow.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZAhH5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this hat from &lt;a href=&quot;http://gillaroo.co.uk/Midge-Protection/midge-hats/rannoch-bush-hat&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gillaroo.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AFSUK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They stop flies, midges, mosquitos etc touching you. Of course, those bugs that are attracted to animals will still fly around you so this won't necessarily be a perfect solution, but it may help you live within your phobia and acclimatise yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-05-28T14:43:08.503" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5734" CreationDate="2014-05-28T14:44:25.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I would not want to mount a camera on a backpack.  Sooner or later you're going to slip or bump into something and the camera is going to get hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mounted on the backpack doesn't sound like it will be easily available.  If you're not walking around ready to take a picture as the right situation arises, then put the camera in the pack.  You say it won't fit in the pack, but that doesn't make sense.  Cameras aren't that big.  What you are really saying is that you have given other stuff priority in your pack, so the camera and the other stuff don't fit together.  I see three obvious solutions: Put some of the stuff outside the pack instead of the camera, bring less stuff, or get a bigger pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are walking around and want to be ready to take a picture on short notice, then keep the camera around your neck and one shoulder.  Just around the neck would allow even quicker access, but I find it doesn't work well for hiking.  The camera bounces and swings aroun too much, and if you lean forwards it is easy to forget about the camera and have it bump into something.  Around the neck and one shoulder works much better for hiking.  Adjust the strap lengths so that the camera is against your side just above the waiste.  That is comfortable, but it won't swing like a pendulum, will not dangle much when you bend over, and it somewhat protected by your arm on that side right behind it.  It's pretty quick to grab and bring to shooting position, although not quite as quick as just around your neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-05-28T14:44:25.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5770" CreationDate="2014-05-28T16:58:38.343" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Common houseflies are attracted to decomposition of meat and sugar. People who find themselves the specific targets of flies often smell sweet to flies usually because they use some kind scented hygiene products. Diabetics in ketosis can also attract them in theory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To my knowledge, flies do not drink directly.  Many insects have trouble drinking water because at their scale, the surface tension of water can entrap them. In in dry areas, you seldom see insects drawn to fresh water. More often, you see them drawn to some liquid with lots of biomatter in it e.g. cow urine. It looks like they're drinking but they're really trying to eat. Plus, the biomatter lowers the dangerous surface tension. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insect get their moisture from food and the air. If you find flies targeting your sweat specifically, then its likely they perceive it as sweet or containing ketones from the breakdown of proteins in the body. Switch to unscented hygiene products and avoid perfumes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of passive traps that use rotting fruit for bait and you can use those to reduce fly population in an area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, most effective area defense for a home and even a vehicle would be the type of fly bait sold to protect cow barns. You have to buy it from agricultural supply. You usually use it around, but not inside of house but because it has an attractive aroma for flies. That's unnoticeable in a barn but not the living room. It's harmless to mammals unless consumed in large quantities and it has no transfer risk. (It's designed to be used around valuable and/or food animals.) I found this highly effective when we had an outbreak of flies here a few years back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEET won't help against houseflies because it jams the CO2 receptors for insects like mosquitoes that hunt mammals. Houseflies do not have those receptors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would note that in a suburban area, you really shouldn't have large numbers of flies. The two most common breeding areas are unsealed trash cans and the feces of large dogs. Check with your neighbors to make sure their trash is sealed and dog feces are picked up. All this should be done anyway as basic sanitation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a folk preventative in the Southern and Southwestern US that says that plastic bags of water, suspended in the air, seems to drive off flies. It plausible that the in the spectra that flies see in, weighted to the ultraviolet, the refractive qualities of the water and plastic combined might cause a dazzling effect which the flies will interpret as predator motion.  It seems to work anecdotally but I don't think anyone has actually bothered to research it scientifically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it might be the only means of fending off flies in a vehicle. The enclosed space precludes pesticides of any kind so some kind of passive defense is required. You could try mounting a plastic water filled bottle to the dash and see if that helps. Bottle must be plastic because class is opaque to UV, so the theoretical dazzling effect won't happen with glass. I would suggest putting some aluminum foil underneath the bottle to prevent an accidental lens effect from concentrating sunlight to a dangerous degree on the dash underneath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Phobias are a very real and difficult problem to deal with. I wish you luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3305" LastActivityDate="2014-05-28T16:58:38.343" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5770" CreationDate="2014-05-28T17:37:34.590" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put out a small glass/bowl of apple cider vinegar and hang one of the sticky Victor fly ribbons over it.  You will have a steady collection of the invaders to dispose of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could make a car safe version if you cut flaps near the top of an empty water bottle and put a fly ribbon inside.  You could put a small sponge in the bottom with the apple cider vinegar but you would need to occasionally add more to refresh it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3306" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-30T00:32:26.160" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T00:32:26.160" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5546" CreationDate="2014-05-28T21:57:01.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Provincial park statistics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sepaq.com/organisation/doc_corpo.dot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Québec&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ontarioparks.com/statistics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ontario&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/research/research.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;British Columbia&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://novascotia.ca/natr/parks/annual-reports.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nova Scotia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/about-us/our-visitors.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alberta&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcs.gov.sk.ca/AboutSaskatchewanParks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Saskatchewan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3307" LastActivityDate="2014-05-28T21:57:01.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5743" CreationDate="2014-05-29T04:15:51.737" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, the more times the poles cross each other, the better the wind resistance. Additionally, tents with crossed-pole designs usually have better head room. Of course, more poles means more weight and more time required to pitch and strike the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How you pitch the tent is also important. Keep the doors away from the wind, put the bottom of the tent as low as possible to the ground, rig extra guy lines to solid anchors, find a small depression to pitch in..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you know you will spend a lot ot time above the treeline. I have a Great Outdoors two-pole design that has handled windstorms reasonably well on ridges here in NZ. Most of the time I am pitching it under trees, so wind isn't a worry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.completeoutdoors.co.nz/tent-info-pages-xidc30801.html&quot;&gt;http://www.completeoutdoors.co.nz/tent-info-pages-xidc30801.html&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/backpacking-tent-reviews/buying-advice&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/backpacking-tent-reviews/buying-advice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2014-05-29T04:24:55.610" LastActivityDate="2014-05-29T04:24:55.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5777" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5778" CreationDate="2014-05-29T18:44:40.480" Score="7" ViewCount="385" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I heard as a general rule of thumb that one should leave at most the width of your hand as space between the knot (a figure eight for instance) and the harness. Its quite obvious that one doesn't want one or two feet of rope between the harness and the knot, since it might catch on something, but I never paid too much attention on whether its one, two or three times the width of my hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from it being caught on something, are there any other dangers associated with having too much space between the knot and the harness?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3309" OwnerDisplayName="ftiaronsem" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:40:06.430" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:40:06.430" Title="When climbing, how far should the tie-in knot be from the harness?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5777" CreationDate="2014-05-29T21:19:39.297" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others might be able to give a more authoritative answer to this, or relate personal experiences where too much distance was a problem. However, I think there would be a clear problem if you were trying to lead climb with the figure-eight knot tied too far from your body. Imagine the situation where you're positioned with your hips directly in front of a piece of protection; in sport climbing, this is actually kind of a reasonable position to be in when you clip in. (For trad, you might want a position closer to your face, where it's easier to see if the placement is good.) If the knot is far from your body, then it's going to be awkward to reach way down and grab the single strand of rope below the knot in order to clip it in the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-05-30T01:37:26.373" LastActivityDate="2014-05-30T01:37:26.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-05-29T21:53:11.607" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;More suggestions. Btw @Kate, I loved your list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day hikes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River / lake swimming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just exploring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice survival skills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Word games&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;book reading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Theological / political discussions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Solve all worldly problems&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get drunk and then tell your best friend to &quot;check this out&quot;. Earn Darwin award. :-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-05-29T21:53:11.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-05-30T00:41:59.330" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look for wildlife. This will depend on where in the world you are camping, but in most rural areas, there will be some wildlife around. And its often possible to see some of it without too much effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See how many different species of birds you can spot - binoculars and a field guide may be helpful. Or try photographing a variety of animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can even look for wildlife after dark. Some campsites have bats flying around - if you get a bat detector, you can listen to their ultrasound calls. And maybe badgers or owls, or other nocturnal creatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you can't actually see the animals, you can still look for signs of them. eg animal footprints, or droppings, or signs they have been eating. Or listen for animal sounds, try and identify bird songs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-05-30T00:41:59.330" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5787" CreationDate="2014-05-30T01:58:58.403" Score="15" ViewCount="2525" Body="&lt;p&gt;The guy who taught me to lead sport in the gym suggested that when I'm going for a clip, I position my body so that the clip is somewhere between my hips and my chest. He claimed it was a bad thing when most people reached up high to clip. This question is about whether this advice is right, and if so, why. I've written up what I was able to figure out about this in my own answer, but I'm not sure if my analysis is right, and I'd be interested in other people's answers or criticisms of my own answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T22:07:46.420" Title="How high to climb before clipping on a sport climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5781" CreationDate="2014-05-30T01:58:58.403" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You certainly don't want to climb so high that your hips are above the clip before you do the clip. Your arms aren't long enough to reach down that far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When leading trad, I would typically prefer to place the piece right in front of my face, so that I can carefully look at the placement and get it right so it will hold. In sport climbing, however, this isn't a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All other things being equal, we would like to minimize:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;the fall&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;the chances of hitting the deck&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had never actually done the math until today, but here's how #1 and #2 seem to work out. Let's say the distance between clips is 1 unit. You climb past your most recent clip until your hips are x units above it, and then you reach for the next clip. As you reach for that next clip, the amount of rope you have out past the last clip is 1+(1-x)=2-x. If you miss the clip and fall, you're going to fall x until your hips are at the last clip, and then another 2-x, plus rope stretch, so the total is 2. In other words the length of the fall is exactly the same regardless of x. In the gym, where the quickdraws are evenly spaced, every fall that you make while attempting to clip is a fall of twice the distance between quickdraws (not counting rope stretch).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your last clip was at a height h above the ground, then the fall factor is 2/(h+2-x). This is actually bigger (worse) if you climb higher before clipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the rope first comes up taut at the bottom of your fall, you're at a height h-(2-x)=h-2+x. This is higher if you climb higher before clipping, and that makes you less likely to hit the deck with rope stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it sounds like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) If you're in doubt about hitting the deck, it's safer to clip from a position as high as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) If you're in doubt about your belayer's ability to hold a high-fall-factor fall (or if you're climbing trad and in doubt about whether your last piece will hold), it's safer to clip from a position as low as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this make sense? Are there factors I'm leaving out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-05-30T01:58:58.403" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5783" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5785" CreationDate="2014-05-30T08:31:14.173" Score="7" ViewCount="1354" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was walking my dog through high grass, in England. We came across a big spider. The web was almost like a bowl/tube. The spider was black but the back part was big and a white colour. We avoided that spider but we came across many more. I have looked them up but can't find a matching image or description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3312" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T22:46:44.430" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T22:46:44.430" Title="What is this black and white spider with a bowl/tube web in England?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;england&gt;&lt;spider&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5781" CreationDate="2014-05-30T08:40:51.547" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;negative points to consider when clipping way above your head as opposed to clipping around chest height:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you have to drag out a load more rope, which will slow you down, wasting energy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the rope may be running over/ in the way of your next hold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extending your arm to its maximum length and doing work with it, is awkward/ uncomfortable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you may not be in the best position for holding on with only one arm. in terms of balance, posture, wait on feet, quality of holds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's probably a few more. With regard to fall factor, it's less of an issue with sport climbing indoors since your unlikely to be doing a multi-pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The likelihood is that people clip way above their heads because they fear falling above the last clip. I do it myself sometimes. Don't be scared, theres little reason to be.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;rock n ice article&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-clip-like-pro-5-tips-from-sasha-digiulian-and-sean-mccoll&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-clip-like-pro-5-tips-from-sasha-digiulian-and-sean-mccoll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2014-10-12T10:41:57.863" LastActivityDate="2014-10-12T10:41:57.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5783" CreationDate="2014-05-30T11:48:45.013" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could be two I'd guess:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Labyrinth spider&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's hard to completly identify but by the sound of the web shape and your description it is most likely a Labyrinth spider&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6BxJ1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uksafari.com/funnelwebs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;More info here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this time of the year, the funnel webs in our gardens are normally&#xA;the work of Labyrinth spiders.  Labyrinths are common, shy little&#xA;critters, and being a dull grey-brown colour they go largely&#xA;unnoticed.  It's only when they start building their webs that they&#xA;draw attention to themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are very common and not remotely poisonous to humans,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;False Widow&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only poisonous spider (that I'm aware of) in the UK is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24636116&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;false widow&lt;/a&gt;. Your description of the spider itself does vaguely match this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o0Frd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither are aggressive though the false widow is more dangerous (still very unlikely to cause serious damage unless you have a heart condition or something)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be interested to know which if any it matches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-05-30T11:53:58.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5734" CreationDate="2014-05-30T18:11:30.120" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look a the &lt;a href=&quot;https://peakdesignltd.com/store/capturepro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Peak Design Capture Camera Clip&lt;/a&gt;. It is designed to attach to the strap of a backpack or a belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m3S97.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The clip screws on around your backpack strap, and a quick-release plate screws onto the tripod socket on your camera. Then that slides into the clip, and locks in place. So it should be easy to take the camera on or off while walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-05-30T18:11:30.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5781" CreationDate="2014-06-02T17:45:12.247" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Petzl does recommend this for the &lt;strong&gt;second bolt&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Clip the second bolt at waist level; this reduces the amount of rope&#xA;  out and thus helps prevent the climber hitting the ground in case of a&#xA;  fall  before making the clip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/files/all/en/activities/sport/tech-tips-sport-climbing_Catalog-2010.pdf&quot;&gt;Section F, second panel&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that's generally good advice for clipping the second bolt (and sometimes for the third bolt if it's far from the second).  For all other bolts, an important thing to remember is that a quality, well-bolted route will have logical stances from which the equipper intended the clip to be made. Bolts are (generally) not uniformly distributed throughout the route, so it's impossible to make blanket statements as to where you should clip from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing past a perfectly good stance to clip from an awkward stance above doesn't make sense, even though it could potentially minimize a few feet of falling.  Keep in mind the huge mental boost (for most climbers) of being one foot below a bolt instead of several feet above it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I've gained more and more experience, I've gotten better and better at judging those &quot;clipping stances&quot; from the climb (or even from the ground).  This makes the climbing more efficient.  The only way to get better at this is to get new pitches of climbing under your belt and recognize when you clipped from an awkward stance where a better stance existed nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2014-06-03T15:22:38.813" LastActivityDate="2014-06-03T15:22:38.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2014-06-02T20:08:36.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a proper survival knife but I always bring my &lt;a href=&quot;http://deadbullseye.com/what-is-the-best-folding-throwing-knife/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Griptilian knife&lt;/a&gt; around whenever I go camping. It is a folding knife but I like the fact the it uses AXIS lock and it's well sturdy! Apparently it uses a type of metal called 154CM stainless steel. They says it is a high quality steel. I don't know much about steel but trust me, this knife is razor sharp the tough - I dropped my knife a few times and it is still very sharp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3317" LastActivityDate="2014-06-02T20:08:36.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5793" CreationDate="2014-06-02T23:31:44.647" Score="23" ViewCount="15361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've purchased my first climbing rope and am wondering how it should be stored when not in use.  I have a rope bag which I assume is a good home for the rope; should it be kept tightly coiled inside the bag; loosely flaked, or stored entirely differently?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2014-06-03T00:10:44.007" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T09:31:05.480" Title="How should a climbing rope be stored?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5789" CreationDate="2014-06-02T23:55:42.443" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Completely personal preference. The only thing to do are keep it out of the sun (check), dry (check... I hope), and away from corrosives and other sharp things (definitely check).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually store it in the rope bag in whatever shape it was last used. Generally, that's flaked out (make sure to tie the ends to the bag). Sometimes, that's coiled (if I was multipitch climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-06-02T23:55:42.443" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-06-03T03:37:16.953" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've camped for a month (4 adults/no kids), no TV, no phone, no radio or power &amp;amp; one water spigot. We didn't manage to get bored. Other than the routine of getting firewood/cooking/cleaning, here's some of the things we did:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swim. We went swimming a few times a day to cool off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explore. This was a new area to us so we took advantage of the time to see what was around us.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Play games. The same board games that sat untouched on the shelf at home were a welcome sight while camping. We also played a lot of cards &amp;amp; dice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk, really talk. At home there is always something to be doing &amp;amp; even when we talked we tended to only half listen to each other, camping lended no distractions for us to really listen to one another.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn to cook. My sister &amp;amp; I have been cooking since we were old enough to see over the stove. But cooking on a camp fire is quite a different thing &amp;amp; 31 days is quite enough time to get sick of stereotypical camp foods. So we learned to cook 'home' food over the fire, as well as new things too! Our husbands were thrilled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Watch the sky. We live in an area where we can see stars at home, but to watch them camping is always better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get up &amp;amp; go down when the sun does. My father once told me that if you don't go to bed tired when you're camping you're doing it wrong. Sounds funny but it's true!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3319" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-06-04T16:34:32.233" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T16:34:32.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5789" CreationDate="2014-06-03T06:45:47.127" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no care-protocol or anything as such. Just ensure that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is neatly packed. Using a rope bag is a good practice, but not mandatory though. Its more for convenience I believe. If you dont have a rope bag, either get one, or you can try using a Tire-tube to keep it. The intention is to benefit the properties of Rubber as a great protective element.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously don't store it in sunlight or where it could be subjected to abnormal temperature, like by a heater, or may be in your store room where people usually store stuff like bleaching compounds or may be in a Garage-like place where the grease would damage it. Keep it off the ground. Yeah, damp air does play a part.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You must not wash it in a machine simply by putting it in, shut the door off and spin it like you are washing regular laundry. You can wash your rope in a &lt;em&gt;&quot;top-loading&quot;&lt;/em&gt; machine. If thats not an option then, You should try to keep it clean, may be sponging it once in a while. Occasionally one should wash them, but not in laundry, use proper rope-wash. I hand-wash my rope in my bathtub.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-06-04T07:47:26.313" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T07:47:26.313" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5789" CreationDate="2014-06-03T09:38:07.793" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a bag at the back of your closet will be fine. Your rope is made of nylon, which does not like the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;acids&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;strong alkalis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;halogens (chlorine, flourine etc. and their compounds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bleaches and strong soaps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;light (UV in particular)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high temperatures (for example over 50°C, such as in a hot car)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dirt (sand is especially bad)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rodents&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sharp things&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nylon will not care too much about the following (but will be happier without them)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gasoline&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;common oils&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other stable plastic-like products&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water (see note about salt water)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sub-zero temperatures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mold, mildew, other organic products. They may live &lt;em&gt;with&lt;/em&gt; the nylon, but cannot live &lt;em&gt;off&lt;/em&gt; the nylon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nylon is perfectly happy in a clean, dry, dark place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Salt water doesn't damage nylon. Salt inside your rope (after the water dries) is millions of tiny knives going to work on the fibers with every movement. If you are near the ocean and it gets wet, keep it wet. Seriously - put it in a cooler and add more ocean water. When you get home, rinse repeatedly in fresh water including an overnight soak. If the rinse water still tastes salty, do it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sub-zero, dry nylon is fine. Frozen, wet nylon tends to break. Frozen, wet ropes that are warmed up and dried out will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3325" LastEditorUserId="3057" LastEditDate="2014-11-12T05:54:45.557" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T05:54:45.557" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5794" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-03T11:25:58.660" Score="2" ViewCount="836" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would love to buy one of those great Ultrafire torches and some spare batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eTe2F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ultrafire Torch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I have heard a lot of people online talking about the huge number of counterfeits that sell on eBay, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are so many companies claiming to supply Ultrafire torches and batteries, but none of them state they are counterfeit, even though some of them surely are. How can I determine which suppliers are offering genuine products?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3326" LastEditorUserId="3326" LastEditDate="2014-06-03T13:55:44.033" LastActivityDate="2014-06-11T13:37:06.827" Title="Reliable supplier of Ultrafire batteries" Tags="&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5743" CreationDate="2014-06-03T13:30:35.260" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trying to find a tent like this, I thought of searching in reviews, blogs and shops in countries or areas that are very windy. Youtube and amateur reviewers always help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example when I got my Terra Nova 1-person tent I looked for reviews all over but it was not until I saw a review from a Scottish guy camping in the highlands that I was convinced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Believe me, up there it can be windy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="468" LastEditorUserId="468" LastEditDate="2014-06-03T14:13:12.153" LastActivityDate="2014-06-03T14:13:12.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4835" CreationDate="2014-06-04T00:22:11.847" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clove hitches on solid protection, clipped together to form master point. &#xA;This video effectively describes the setup of an equalized anchor using just the rope, on three pieces of solid protection.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQukLqiToJE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQukLqiToJE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3334" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T00:22:11.847" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5743" CreationDate="2014-06-04T00:55:41.593" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A first consideration in considering wind-resistance should be your choice of stakes and how you use them; an improperly staked tent is largely equivalent to an oversized kite.  (Of course there is no rule saying you must use the stakes that come with a tent.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of tent design, there are some factors that can only be evaluated though detailed photos or direct inspection, although some may be advertised in the specs.  For example, smaller-diameter poles will be weaker than larger diameter poles, and stiffer aluminum alloys may tolerate less bending before breakage.  Finally, some models allow you to double-up the poles for additional strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will also want to look for well-sewn attachment points for stakes and guy-lines as well as the ability to use doubled-up poles in high wind situations.  If the tent has additional tie-out points you can use them to stiffen the structure; some will even allow you to use internal guy-lines to strengthen the structure.  (These are helpful against downward gusts of wind, which may happen on lee slopes or behind large rocks that block direct wind.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking at overall tent design one question to ask is &quot;how well will this spill wind?&quot;; smaller fabric panels, kept taut, will generally deflect wind better than larger, more drooping sections of fabric.  Thus, the ability to tightly stake out the tent is important to good wind resistance.  Note that the design of tents like the BA ones listed in the original question appear rather vulnerable to flattening out in high winds.  (Refer to the Outdoor Magazine videos for an example of what this looks like.)  Another key consideration will thus be &quot;just how strong will the winds be?&quot;, as some environments call for sturdier designs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, Outdoor Magazine conducted some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoor-magazin.com/test/zelte/zelttest-2013-zeltdetails-und-videos-vom-windmaschinentest.799062.3.htm#7&quot;&gt;wind tests of tents&lt;/a&gt; using a very large fan.  Understanding German is not too necessary, as the videos mostly speak for themselves and should give you an idea of how different designs are affected by high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My primary source for this is the (unfortunately paywalled) article &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/storm_resistance_ultralight_shelters_part_1_intro.html&quot;&gt;Storm Resistance of Ultralight Shelters&lt;/a&gt;&quot; at BackpackingLight, which I must still recommend due to its thoroughness.  Also, the comment thread below the article should be freely readable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional (free) BPL resources include a few discussion threads:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=53189&quot;&gt;Internal guys in a Nallo 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=52688&quot;&gt;What kind of pole is strongest?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=78222&quot;&gt;Wind-resistance of ultralight, 2-person shelters?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T00:55:41.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5798" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7301" CreationDate="2014-06-04T10:23:40.983" Score="24" ViewCount="5461" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having found the general area in which to camp, what should I look for when choosing the exact location for my tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking specifically about conditions along the east coast and great dividing range of Australia. Typically this means gum trees and various low bushes. I'm not likely to be staying above the tree line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T23:06:34.463" Title="Tent placement?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5799" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5800" CreationDate="2014-06-04T10:30:56.357" Score="9" ViewCount="10642" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the daily air temperature is between 0 °C to 14 °C, what sort of temperature would be found within caves?  Will it be any colder or warmer? The caves in question (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombeyan_Caves&quot;&gt;Wombeyan&lt;/a&gt;) do not go terribly far underground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-06-04T15:15:39.337" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T00:08:34.633" Title="What temperatures can I expect in caves compared to surface?" Tags="&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5799" CreationDate="2014-06-04T11:19:04.553" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The temperature within the cave is almost constant whatever the current surface temperature is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once well away from surface influences, i.e., not near an entrance or another close connection to the surface, where air movements can influence the temperature, caves are usually at the same temperature (or very close) as the annual average temperature for the cave's location all year round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T11:19:04.553" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2014-06-04T11:24:35.213" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping under a tree protects against&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wind &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;morning dew&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;heavy sun (worst on beaches)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can hide your bike from the rain ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you lose the sight of the stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If rain is possible, it is a good idea to try to imagine how will the water be flowing downhill and not camp in its way. On the topic, if thunderstorm is possible, don't camp on top of a hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth to investigate sources of water nearby and camp conveniently close to one. However, I think in some places, camping less than 100 meters from fresh water is prohibited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan the safest and least windy fireplace (if using).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is convenient to have a low tree nearby. You could hang equipment from its branches, plus food and rubbish sack - all things that are often needed in the camp and it is not convenient for them to be deep inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually walk around the area, feeling with my feet the subtle bumps, hidden under the leaves and grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="3337" LastEditDate="2014-06-04T14:36:30.553" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T14:36:30.553" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2014-06-04T11:33:50.907" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suppose the two main factors are how comfortable the location is and how likely the location is to have problems should the weather play an influence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comfort, the best location will be flat, free from bumps, and objects such as sharp rocks or sticks which can damage the groundsheet. Even with a decent sleeping pad or mattress, it isn't very nice when the ground is sloping and you slide about all night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding weather, the best location would provide shelter from strong winds, be unlikely to flood in heavy rain (not in a dip or near a river which is likely to rise), not be exposed to possible rockfall if camping near cliffs, etc. and not be in a dangerous location when lightning threatens, such as near a tree. Also it's best not to camp under trees as a branch could fall off (or worse, the tree itself may fall) and even though they provide some shelter from rain, they will drip on the tent for hours after the rain has stopped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is always handy of you can find a decent location near a good water source as this will help avoid having to carry water too far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously strong winds could be a problem in that there could be damage to the tent if the wind is strong enough, but even with moderate winds, it can be difficult to get a good night's sleep with the noise of the tent material flapping in the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also have to consider whether you need to ask permission to pitch your tent at your chosen location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T11:33:50.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5814" CreationDate="2014-06-04T15:18:34.213" Score="10" ViewCount="2058" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I had been to a hike where I had to cross quite a large stream. And I am not so good at swimming either. So after judging the possible depth, I could figure out that I can get across swimming through it. For safety reasons considering a not-so-good kind of guy with me, I picked the shallowest part of the stream. The disadvantage was: The currents were stronger at shallow waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, we had struggle a bit to cross it at first place, and then had to further make our way through slippery rocks of the gorge as we moved ahead with current than we first had anticipated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When trekking in a group, what is the most efficient way to cross the streams with strong current (If we can't avoid crossing it)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to swim through rapid flows in a particular direction?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:43:07.353" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:24:10.563" Title="Swimming across a strong current" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5803" CreationDate="2014-06-04T16:47:22.830" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experiences with white water rafting, It is actually far safer to cross at a deep point where the current will be slower even if you are with someone who is not a particularly strong swimmer. You never want to be able to place your feet down for the risk that a foot will get stuck and the current will force you under. The water is strong enough that even if you are wearing a PFD, you may drown only inches from the surface. The best advice I can give you is to plan ahead to bring PFD's and know where you will be crossing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3340" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T16:47:22.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5805" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-04T17:25:18.430" Score="4" ViewCount="2155" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a fishing pole that can work for fishing trips to the ocean as well as lake fishing. I fish a lot in New Jersey (surf, bay, boat) and also visit lake Winnipesaukee quite a bit. Is there something that would work for both? I haven't purchased a new pole in years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3341" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:57:36.727" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:57:36.727" Title="A fishing pole for lake and ocean fishing" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5242" CreationDate="2014-06-04T19:37:38.310" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your bow can be made of any pliable wood like yew, which archers have used for centuries.  Your drill shaft should be a hard wood like oak or cherry.  Your kindling wood (the wood being drilled into for fire) should be a soft-fibered wood like pine.  If you find pine too resinous, seek out older pines that may have stopped producing resin.  You can identify harder and softer woods by peeling the bark and trying to scrape the inner wood with your fingernail or a knife.  Softer woods will be marked by your fingernail alone.  You can also look for tightness of grain pattern if you happen to have a cross-split piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3342" LastActivityDate="2014-06-04T19:37:38.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6016" CreationDate="2014-06-05T00:28:54.270" Score="13" ViewCount="3271" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have experience trying to resole climbing shoes using products like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://fiveten.com/products/accessories/resole&quot;&gt;Five Ten resole kits&lt;/a&gt;? If so, how involved was the process and how did it turn out? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to decide whether to send it off to a professional resoler or try doing it myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:51:04.703" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:51:04.703" Title="Resoling climbing shoes yourself" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1080" CreationDate="2014-06-05T01:03:18.917" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our smaller tent is a dome, the top has a smaller mesh square that clips inside it. I put one of those puck style led stickup lights in it for a light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our bigger tent is a 2 room tent that we never use the divider in. I use the clip that's supposed to hold the divider to hold either a head light or one of the smaller battery lanterns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A clear gallon water jug with either a stickup light or a headlight under it throws a lot of light. So does a zip lock bag full of water but that can get messy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3319" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T01:03:18.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5803" CreationDate="2014-06-05T04:32:39.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first step is to make doubly sure there isn't already a bridge, or a common place people already cross at. No sense in getting wet or risking anything if there is an easier, or proper crossing, a few hundred yards up or downstream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other first step is to make sure you are all safe when you cross. Bring a strong rope that is long enough to span the river, or to at least span to a spot midway where you can take a break. A hundred foot rope strong enough for this purpose should be fine for most typical back country adventures. You can then tie the rope securely to the first person crossing, and hang on to that as a safety device in case the crosser wipes out and loses control. Learn the proper techniques for the ad-hoc harness. The rope also comes in very handy in hauling backpacks or other gear across the river. Once someone makes it across.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the river is not violent, and the danger of falling in is simply that you get wet, have to swim to the other side, then bushwhack through some dense mosquito infested brush to get back to the trail, then you should not use the rope. Use the rope where the danger of falling into the drink is very serious, e.g. a waterfall is not far ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for where to cross, I disagree with Aaron's answer to target a deeper spot. Shallower is better*. Deeper being slower depends on the width of the stream being constant, which isn't always true. Additionally, the force you feel in a deeper section will be greater, and will be higher up on your body, making it more difficult for you to balance. If it's shallower, and you can see the bottom, you're pretty much in the clear as long as you don't rush yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you cross, walk across, slowly and carefully. Contrary to Aaron's answer, don't swim across, walk. You can put your feet down. However, the dangers of getting a foot stuck, as he mentions, are very real and very serious. If you maintain your balance as you walk across, you will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lose your balance, immediately pull your feet up, and position yourself flat on your back with your feet in front of you, up high. If the river is violent, your friends can haul you in using the rope. If the river is gentle but strong, then float down in the described position, and paddle yourself to one side or the other, and get out. There is no real technique as far as I am aware, just doggy paddle. Resist the temptation to try and put your feet down to stop you from floating downriver. If the river is deep and fast-moving enough to make this whole ordeal concerning, it is fast enough that if your foot gets stuck you will not be coming back up alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterwards, collect all your gear, dry yourself off, and continue onward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*This answer based on the assumption that the river is not very deep, and where 'shallow' is not any deeper than waist height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T04:32:39.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5811" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-05T04:39:36.693" Score="5" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;How frequent are &#xA;thunderstorms in the Canadian Rockies in September?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?stnID=2409&amp;amp;prov=&amp;amp;lang=e&amp;amp;dCode=4&amp;amp;dispBack=1&amp;amp;StationName=Lake_Louise&amp;amp;SearchType=Contains&amp;amp;province=ALL&amp;amp;provBut=&amp;amp;month1=0&amp;amp;month2=12&quot;&gt;Canadian Climate Normals&lt;/a&gt; do not list thunderstorm frequency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T19:26:08.667" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T19:26:08.667" Title="Thunderstorms in the Canadian Rockies in September?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-06-05T05:22:52.917" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My favorite fireside activity is my family's version of 20 questions. Announce whether your an animal, vegetable or mineral and answer yes or no until they give up or get it. Marsh-mellows and the popcorn popper are a must. If its raining all day go into town and find something to do. Bring that Ipad you told your kids they can't bring just in case. We usually camped at places with some sort of attraction, natural or otherwise, so if the weather was bad there was something nearby to do. Part of the trip was always going to the go-cart/mini-golf place if they had one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3347" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T05:22:52.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5746" CreationDate="2014-06-05T05:24:39.253" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't been camping where you are going, but Cliff Jacobson, who is well known for his experience in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (which has plenty of black bears), says not to hang a bear bag. Hanging is just advertising, he says, and bears are clever enough to get it down. Instead, seal your food inside a thick plastic bag, and shove your food back into some thick bushes, or put it under your canoe. Make it harder for the bear to get, however you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you keep the smell to a minimum and make it harder for a bear to get ahold of your food pack, there is apparently a decent chance the bear will just give up and go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, I don't hang food packs. I've been following Jacobson's advice for years. I've never had a bear in camp, so maybe not hanging the bag (and keeping food inside a plastic bag) makes it harder to find. Since I haven't had a bear in camp, though, I haven't had a chance to test whether a bear will get bored if I've made it hard to get to my food pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T05:24:39.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5803" CreationDate="2014-06-05T13:15:24.557" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would avoid swimming across if possible.  For fording the stream, find a wide and shallow section.  If you have a group of people, interlock arms and walk across together with the line of the group being parallel to the stream.  This gives each person stability up/down stream, which is the direction you are more likely to fall due to the push of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To cross alone, use a long pole that you can stick into the ground downstream from you.  You and the pole become a triangle such that you can lean on the pole to offset the downstream push of the water.  Move only one of your feet or the pole at one time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, sometimes you can't cross.  Many years ago, I was on the North Cascades and had gotten dropped off at a trailhead.  The plan was to hike over a mountain range and back to camp on the other side, something like 10-12 miles if I remember right.  There was a sign near the trailhead saying that the &quot;Panther Creek bridge was out&quot;.  It was a nice summer day, so I figured I'll just get a bit wet.  When I got to Panther Creek, I found it was a lot more than what we call a &quot;creek&quot; around here.  It was a swift flowing small river, probably 5 feet deep or so in the middle and maybe 50 feet across.  I tried to ford it, but it got too dangerous, and I could see once I got swept off my feet I'd be carried quite a ways downstream before I could eventually make it to one bank or the other and grab hold of something.  It was a long walk back to camp along the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, on the long hike back to camp along the road, there were several scenic turnouts.  At one such turnout a crowd of people had gathered around a car.  When I got closer, I could see they were all listening to the radio in that car, which had been turned up loudly for the purpose.  I got there just in time to hear the voice of Richard Nixon say &lt;em&gt;&quot;is abhorrent to every instinct in my body&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.  Yes, it was late afternoon (in Washington state) on 8 August 1974.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-06-05T13:15:24.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5741" CreationDate="2014-06-05T16:25:55.650" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ended ordering Condor 2 and find it pretty much perfect for my needs. &#xA;And answers are :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pretty slim, about 5-8cm. But beware that the bag is so stiff and sturdy that this is not an easy task.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has a rubbery black bottom which grips better to surfaces and protects from moisture. A nice thing is that the bag always stays upright when I put it on the floor, even when it is empty, because of this bottom and stiffness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zips are turned inwards, which is good because it protects the teeth of the zip from water and particles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A MacBook Air 13 inch can easily go into the camelbag compartment and that compartment is padded on the back. Maybe some 15 inch slim laptops can fit to but I do not have one to try.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't answer the last question concerning the Sitka because I decided to buy the Condor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3293" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-06-06T07:34:30.300" LastActivityDate="2014-06-06T07:34:30.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1322" CreationDate="2014-06-06T00:08:42.933" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you don't know if this area is national or state &amp;amp; you didn't say which state, I will answer for national forest land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The National Forest's 14 day law (no more than 14days in one spot/must be away for 7days) applies to equipment as well as persons. If you want to follow the law then leaving benches or fire rings (tents/gear/etc) while you leave is not allowed. They generally leave things that are inviting for people to use them, but I wouldn't push the limit.&#xA;Building a structure is a show of ownership of sorts, if I were to stumble upon a firepit or some benches I would feel okay to use it. But coming up on a structure is another thing &amp;amp; not only would I feel like I was invading someone's space but I wouldn't feel welcome in that space. You don't own this area, the courteous thing to do is to not act as though you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, unless you (or your friends) have legal ownership over the property, which isn't the case, I would not build a structure on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3319" LastEditorUserId="3319" LastEditDate="2014-06-06T11:59:18.350" LastActivityDate="2014-06-06T11:59:18.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5770" CreationDate="2014-06-06T04:59:29.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend to go first to a therapist, particularly one specializing in anxiety disorders, preferably one that is familiar with and uses exposure therapy. I know you've already mentioned you are not a fan of &quot;immersion techniques&quot;, but professional therapists have a bit more refined skill than what you've probably experienced so far, plus, they can diagnose other treatments that may work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've already acknowledged you understand your irrational fears, and with some help you may be able to overcome them, and can then deal with the flies no differently than anyone else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-06-06T04:59:29.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5819" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5829" CreationDate="2014-06-06T12:51:10.160" Score="6" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning for a trek in Northern and Eastern parts of England. I am planning to cover the Hull to Liverpool section of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Trans Pennine Trail&lt;/a&gt;, which is roughly 290 km or 180 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have managed and planned for accommodation and camp-sites. As the weather in England is rainy most of the time of the year, I need a way to set-up a bonfire if I am allowed to. In India, we have a lot of restrictions on carrying flammable substances like Kerosene, Rockel, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any restrictions in England about carrying them? Whats the best organization or local body to fetch that information?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T09:57:28.930" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T09:57:28.930" Title="Rules for Carrying flammable subtances in UK" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5820" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5821" CreationDate="2014-06-07T14:07:26.570" Score="16" ViewCount="1729" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard from a tour leader that you shouldn't drink tea in high altitude because it makes you thirsty and cause problem in blood circulation. Is this true? Should'nt we drink tea in high altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:34:44.060" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:34:44.060" Title="Does drinking tea cause problems at altitude?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5820" CreationDate="2014-06-07T14:44:49.663" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The idea that caffeinated drinks dehydrate you or &amp;quot;don't count&amp;quot; toward your body's water requirement is a myth. Laboratory studies have shown that caffeinated soda is just as hydrating as water, i.e., the diuretic effect of the caffeine is too small to measure.[Grandjean 2000] Even in the case of coffee, which has much higher concentrations of caffeine than soda, studies going back as far as 1928 have shown that the diuretic effect vanishes for people whose bodies have learned to tolerate the caffeine.[Eddy 1928]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's extremely common for mountaineers to drink tea at high altitudes. For example, I traveled with several mountain guides in Kenya and Tanzania who drank the stuff in massive quantities. For someone who's a caffeine addict, not drinking caffeine at high altitude is a really silly thing to do. It will give you a headache and make you feel terrible -- exactly the same symptoms as mild altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reviews of the effects of caffeine at high altitude [Hackett 2010], and specifically of tea at Everest base camp [Scott 2004], showed that there were multiple positive effects of caffeine and no detectable negative effects. The positive effects included a decrease in high-altitude lassitude, as well as an improvement in athletic performance that was bigger at high altitude than at low altitude. Dehydration is difficult to avoid at very high altitudes such as the altitude of Everest base camp; however, the Everest study showed that the hydration status of tea drinkers was the same as that of a control group who abstained from caffeine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hackett writes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While symptoms of dehydration are similar to AMS, no compelling evidence suggests that dehydration contributes to AMS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to caffeine’s successful use for headaches at low altitude, owing to its cerebral vasoconstriction properties, it is likely that caffeine will help prevent or treat altitude headaches and therefore AMS [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[T]he symptoms [of caffeine withdrawal] and their timing (12 to 24 h) mimic acute mountain sickness. [...] One can only guess at how many cases of caffeine withdrawal are misdiagnosed as AMS and at what role caffeine withdrawal might play in promoting AMS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eddy NB, Downs AW. Tolerance and cross-tolerance in the human subject to the diuretic effect of caffeine, theobromine and theophylline. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1928;33:167-174.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grandjean et al., &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://coca-cola.com.sg/media/pdf/researchpaper_caffeine.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Effect of Caffeinated, Non-Caffeinated, Caloric and Non-Caloric Beverages on Hydration&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;quot; Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 19, No. 5, 591-600 (2000)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hackett, &amp;quot;Caffeine at high altitude: java at base camp,&amp;quot; High Altitude Medicine and Biology 11 (2010) 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scott et al, &amp;quot;The effect of drinking tea at high altitude on hydration&#xA;status and mood,&amp;quot; Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 91(4):493–498.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T16:39:37.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5822" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5830" CreationDate="2014-06-08T19:12:47.983" Score="24" ViewCount="38477" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I'm caught in a heavy thunderstorm while lying in my tent, on my foam sleeping bad, in my nice waterproof tent.  Suppose I have a good campsite so I don't need to worry about flash floods.  However, suppose that I happen to be in a rather exposed place, far away from any forests.  What is the safest thing to do, to minimise the risk of injury (or worse) as a result of a lightning strike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I stay where I am, cuddle up in my sleeping bag remaining on my sleeping pad?  Or should I get out and crouch on top of my sleeping pad, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/845/566&quot;&gt;while minimising the surface area of my contact with the ground&lt;/a&gt;?  Am I safer inside my tent or outside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3012/is-my-tent-pole-a-lightning-rod&quot;&gt;Is my tent pole a lightning rod?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T05:21:15.927" Title="What should I do when caught in lightning while in my tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5819" CreationDate="2014-06-09T11:17:29.683" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't a problem carrying fuel for camping stoves (assuming in &quot;sensible&quot; quanities) in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HOWEVER&lt;/strong&gt;, when wild camping (i.e camping off of organised camp sites) in the UK, the ethos is to leave no trace afterwards. So setting camp fires is a no-no. And on many organised camp sites, open fires are forbidden (although some do allow small fires and may supply a metal container for this purpose but in my experience, these are in the minority).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-06-09T11:17:29.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5822" CreationDate="2014-06-09T12:54:34.733" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing to do is to not pitch your tent in the middle of a flat area when there is a chance of thunderstorms.  Sometimes that's not so easy, but that doesn't make it any less a good thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a &lt;i&gt;properly sited&lt;/i&gt; tent, the best thing to do during a thunderstorm is to stay put.  Lightning shouldn't hit the tent directly, but it could hit something else nearby.  That can cause large ground currents, which causes voltage over a distance accross the ground.  Inside your sleeping bag on a insulated pad on top of the tent floor should be fairly safe from voltages caused by large ground currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in badly sited tent, like in the middle of a flat area with the tent being the tallest thing around, then staying put inside your sleepping bag is still the best thing to do in a bad circumstance.  If lightning does strike your tent, then there is at least some chance the current will be conducted by the wet skin of the tent or the tent poles (if metal).  This will make the current go around you instead of thru you to the ground.  It will be very unpleasant nonetheless, but still a whole lot better than getting zapped directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, the right answer is to not get yourself into this circumstance in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-06-09T12:54:34.733" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2014-06-09T14:33:47.013" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put some burned paper ash. It will stop the blood-flow. Or else, just stick a piece of paper on the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3361" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-06-10T19:36:29.500" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T19:36:29.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3012" CreationDate="2014-06-09T15:36:58.417" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your other questions: No, don't insulate the pole at the bottom with a sandal, and yes, you are overthinking this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the relatively unlikely (but possible) event that lightning does stike your tent pole, you want the current to be conducted to ground as easily as possible.  If not, it might find other routes, like thru you.  At best a sandal is only going to create arcing around the sandal to the ground.  I don't see any advantage to that.  At worst it will cause the current to jump from the insulated pole thru you on its way to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a lightning storm and lightning is likely to strike near you, there is nothing you can do to stop it.  What you can do is to give it alternate paths to ground that don't include going thru you.  A metal pole nearby will help, but only if it's not so near that it can conduct into your body or arc to your body in preference to conducting straight into the ground.  A tall point that is well connected to ground provides roughly a 45&amp;deg; cone of safety.  Put another way, you want to be closer to it than its height, assuming you're not adding significant height yourself.  For example, being 20-50 feet from a 100 foot tree is about right.  Further than 100 feet or so, the tree isn't giving you much protection.  A 4 foot metal pole planted 30 feet away, for example, is useless as lightning protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to worry about regarding lightning are ground currents caused by a nearby lightning strike.  The current doesn't just stop when it hits the ground, it fans out.  Unfortunately, the ground isn't uniformly conductive, so it doesn't fan out evenly.  There could still be subtantial currents running thru the ground 20 feet from a tree that got hit, for example.  The ground isn't a perfect conductor, in fact it's rather a poor conductor most of the time.  The large currents times the resistance between two points causes a voltage, which in turn can be large enough to zap you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To minimize ground current danger, try to insulate yourself from the ground and minimize your footprint.  The insulation make going thru you a higher resistance path than the ground, and the smaller footprint causes a smaller voltage accross the footprint for the same ground current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-06-09T15:36:58.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5833" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5834" CreationDate="2014-06-09T16:03:10.620" Score="20" ViewCount="689" Body="&lt;p&gt;What products and process should be used to clean a climbing rope when it gets sufficiently dirty?  How would I remove as much dirt and grime as possible without negatively affecting the strength or lifespan of the rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T19:34:19.783" Title="How should a climbing rope be cleaned?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5833" CreationDate="2014-06-09T19:27:09.390" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;All the major climbing sites agree on the two options for cleaning, and the subsequent drying:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=202&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ukclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://basicrockclimbing.com/how-to-wash-a-climbing-rope/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;basicrockclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;etc&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wash in cool water (less than 30°C) and use a mild detergent, either in a bath, or in the shower. Some people place it in the shower while they wash. Gentle brushing can help remove grit or sand, but be wary of abrading the strands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To machine wash, pop the rope in a pillowcase and use a ‘delicate wash’. Some recommend daisy-chaining the rope first to hero keep it tangle free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally treating a rope like a delicate wool article is a handy rule of thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once washed, hang it indoors, in a dark, cool area, and allow it to dry naturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-01T00:02:28.970" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T00:02:28.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5667" CreationDate="2014-06-10T03:03:15.873" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yellow River State Forest just across the border in Northern Iowa has some great trails. At least 50 miles of trails. It's quite large and you won't find many people. I've been there many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3364" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T03:03:15.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5836" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5837" CreationDate="2014-06-10T15:34:25.483" Score="15" ViewCount="1024" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I understand the most important thing to do when bitten by a rattlesnake is to get to a hospital.  I often go on hikes where I am a few hours walk from civilization at the midpoint of my hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am bitten, should I attempt to run back to my car in the hopes of getting to a hospital faster, or should I just try to calmly walk back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My concern with running is that it might spread the venom faster because my blood would be pumping, but I don't know if that's really how it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2355" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:06:47.987" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:06:47.987" Title="Should one run (or walk) back to civilization if bitten by a rattlesnake?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5836" CreationDate="2014-06-10T16:06:30.003" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The concern is valid; your basic plan should be to stay calm and not increase your heart rate.  If other options for evacuation are not available, slowly walking yourself out is the best remaining option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bitten area can swell quite a bit, so remove nearby jewelry or clothing to prevent them from turning into tourniquets.  If you have a pen you can use it to mark the extent of the swelling on your skin along with the time; doing this at regular intervals will allow you or doctors to monitor how fast it's swelling.  (The easiest way of doing this may be by measuring the limb circumference at the bite, and at a few places further up, and recording those numbers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For treatment, wash the bite with soap/water, and splint it just below heart level. When bandaging it remember to not wrap around the limb in case of swelling.  If you happened to get a good look at the snake, try to remember it as that will help with identification, but don't go searching for it.  Finally, don't use tourniquets, ice, incisions, sucking, et cetera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:  My answer is largely derived from Buck Tilton's &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.com/books?id=2DUKdSBUwuUC&quot;&gt;Wilderness First Responder&lt;/a&gt; text.  One might also review Medscape's &lt;a href=&quot;http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/771455-treatment&quot;&gt;Rattlesnake Envenomation Treatment &amp;amp; Management&lt;/a&gt;, but in general the treatment recommendations for pit vipers are consistent across current sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-06-12T19:34:53.637" LastActivityDate="2014-06-12T19:34:53.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5839" CreationDate="2014-06-10T18:45:11.463" Score="12" ViewCount="2783" Body="&lt;p&gt;The past couple years I've been taking a homemade raft out onto the Charles River in Boston to see the fireworks on July 4th (think an old boxspring mattress holding 4 people). One problem we always run into is anchoring the boat in the middle of the river (about 10-20ft deep, ~5mph current). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to have the raft anchored to stay in a specific orientation (so it's easier to view the fireworks), and also strong enough to not move downstream. What kind of anchors should I use, what weight, and how many? Also, is there a specific technique used to drop anchors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previously, I tried just attaching 2 10lb weights and dropping them on opposite sides of the raft, but that didn't work out well. We still seemed to be drifting and turning. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T05:24:04.523" LastActivityDate="2020-12-31T09:30:20.243" Title="How to anchor a raft on a river" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;boating-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5838" CreationDate="2014-06-10T19:25:18.343" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to remain stationary, you need a solid anchor, and the best option is going to be to attach to a tree or something that you can securely fix to on the bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not knowing that river, I can't say whether that would work or not, so I'll discuss anchoring to the bottom. This is the same procedure for anchoring in a tide or a river, except in a river you only need to worry about water in one direction, which is a lot more straightforward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the sea the rule of thumb is to use an anchor rode 8 times as long as the water depth. This way, you are never pulling the anchor up, but always along the bottom - which aids friction. 8 may be overkill here, but perhaps 4 times is a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you'll want two anchors, each on a short length of chain (to help weigh down the rope nearest the anchor - to help further with keeping it on the bottom) with a nylon rope; and row so the two anchors are each 45 degrees off due upstream. Once they are both set, allow your raft to drift out to the full length of the ropes. With each rope attached at one corner of the raft, you should have a nice stable platform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T19:25:18.343" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5840" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-10T19:25:22.900" Score="11" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;I´ve heard and read quite some facts and myths about the Scandinavian concept of Allemansrätten, the right for everybody to use nature, e.g. for hiking and camping. However, I couldn´t find a reliable source, so it´s hard for me to decide wether it´s fact or myth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where and under what circumstances and limitations is the Allemansrätten valid? What differences are there between different countries?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T08:24:59.137" Title="Allemansrätten: What restrictions?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5841" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-06-10T19:50:45.377" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-06-10T19:50:45.377" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T19:50:45.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5842" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-06-10T19:50:45.377" Score="0" Body="Questions about caretaking of your equipment. This can be cleaning, maintaining and storing." OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-06-11T03:44:09.813" LastActivityDate="2014-06-11T03:44:09.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5840" CreationDate="2014-06-10T20:20:04.280" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not a myth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Sweden allemansrätten (lit. &amp;quot;the everyman's right&amp;quot;) is a freedom granted by the Constitution of Sweden. Since 1994 the Instrument of Government says that notwithstanding the right to own property &amp;quot;everyone shall have access to nature in accordance with allemansrätten&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allemansr%C3%A4tten#Sweden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are allowed to &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; nature but you are also responsible for it. There are some restrictions which are summarized by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/Enjoying-nature/The-Right-of-Public-Access/This-is-allowed/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swedish Environmental Protection Agency&lt;/a&gt;. For camping you have to check the local rules, in some areas it's not allowed to camp (check e.g. national parks). In general you have to look for developed ground. I once heard unless the local householders can't see and hear you, it's OK to construct your tent there if you keep everything clean of course. There are no strict rules though. And you shouldn't stay more than one night at a place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a dog owner you have to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/Enjoying-nature/The-Right-of-Public-Access/This-is-allowed/Dogs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;observe strict rules in order to protect wildlife&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check also &lt;a href=&quot;http://naturetravels.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/wild-camping-in-sweden-and-the-right-of-public-access/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;naturetravels.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt; where they e.g. say&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Right of Public Access has a number of parts, but in essence it can be summed up in the phrase “Do not disturb, do not destroy”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and for the differences between other European countries, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/111/2653&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/111/2653&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize, just take care for others - not only human beings - and everything is predestined to have a great time in the Swedish nature :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer regarding the comment from @Paul&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can't give exact rules of behaviour because there are no strict rules in the law. I find this very admirable because the government seems to trust people to act properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the camping aspect is very interesting, I will therefore quote the complete part from &lt;a href=&quot;http://naturetravels.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/wild-camping-in-sweden-and-the-right-of-public-access/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;naturetravels.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I’ve heard that you can camp wild anywhere in Sweden. Is this true?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Up to a point, yes. The freedom to camp wild is one of the great joys of an outdoor holiday in Sweden. You should not pitch your tent on farmland or near a house, and stays in any one location are limited to a night or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Groups of friends pitching two or three tents do not need to obtain permission from the landowner, but as always, you must respect the privacy of anyone living nearby and take care not to damage the natural environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, a good rule of thumb is to ensure that you pitch your tent out of site of people’s houses and do not stay more than two nights in the same spot. Don’t forget to take all your litter away with you (including food scraps –orange peel, for example, can take many years to degrade naturally!). If no other option exists, make sure you bury your toilet waste properly. Choose a spot at least 50m from houses, camping spots, water sources, etc. Dig a hole 15cm deep for your waste and then fill in soil on top. Do not bury non-degradable items such as children’s nappies or female sanitary products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T20:40:52.767" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5836" CreationDate="2014-06-10T23:52:13.010" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, to directly answer your question: &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, don't run. Running increases your heart rate, which increases how fast the venom will be spread through your body. It also increases the likelihood of another injury such as a twisted ankle, which would further delay treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first priority is to distance yourself from the snake and any of its friends. Walk slowly (don't run) back the way you came. The reason you go back the way you came is because you can be more certain there aren't any snakes behind you, but there could be more snakes in front of you. If you can identify the snake before leaving, do so, but do not get any closer to the snake while trying to identify it. There's no need to capture or kill the snake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next thing you should do is find somewhere safe to sit down. Snake venom can cause loss of consciousness, and you don't want to be walking (let alone running) should that happen. Taking a break to sit down, clean out the wound, and come up with an evacuation plan will help ensure that you get to help faster than if you just start booking it for the trailhead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clean the wound, wash it out using clean (drinking-safe) water. If it's still bleeding, apply direct pressure until the bleeding stops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wilderness first aid book recommends then doing the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Apply lymphatic compression wrap with 6&quot; ACE wrap, distal to proximal, then proximal to to distal; leave in place during evacuation. Monitor pulse and CSM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In English, that means if you have an ACE wrap (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.1staidsupplies.com/sc_images/products/ace-type-wrap_346_large_image.jpg&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;) you should wrap it around the bitten extremity, starting further away from the center of the body (distal) and moving towards the center of the body (proximal), then back. The purpose is to apply a small amount of pressure to slightly slow flow through the lymph nodes as this is one way the venom can move through the body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Checking CSMs means checking the &lt;b&gt;c&lt;/b&gt;irculation, &lt;b&gt;s&lt;/b&gt;ensation, and &lt;b&gt;m&lt;/b&gt;ovement below the location of the bite. You want to ensure that the wrap doesn't cut off circulation, and should monitor whether the patient's ability to feel and move their fingers/toes is decreasing over time. You may need to remove and adjust the wrap if swelling occurs, this is why it's important to check CSMs every 10-15 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also optionally take antihistamines (like benadryl) to slow the body's reaction to the venom. This will not prevent tissue damage, but can prevent an anaphylaxic reaction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the wound is cleaned and optionally wrapped, you can walk out, but walk slowly to avoid further injuries. Make sure to take frequent breaks to check if swelling has progressed and to monitor CSMs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to keep in mind about snake bites:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Almost all healthy adults can survive a snake bite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your recovery does depend on how quickly you get to a hospital.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Therefore, don't take any actions that could delay your treatment, like running and thereby getting an immobilizing injury. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most snake bites are to the arms, hands, and face. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most snake bite victims are 18-25 yearold males.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might therefore conclude... that &lt;strong&gt;most snake bites are preventable&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-06-10T23:52:13.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5794" CreationDate="2014-06-11T13:37:06.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The UltraFire product is manufactured by WhaFat Technological Company, which is based in Hong Kong. Their products look very similar to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.surefire.com/illumination/flashlights.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;SureFire flashlights&lt;/a&gt;, so it's possible that UltraFires themselves are clones/knockoffs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultrafire.net/shownews.asp?id=60&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WhaFat website&lt;/a&gt; recommends purchasing from an official dealer, but they don't mention any. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultrafire-shop.net&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ultrafire-shop.net&lt;/a&gt; claims to be an official reseller and even has a list of fake websites to avoid, so that might be a good starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend using a website you trust (like Amazon.com) that has a reasonable return policy that would allow you to send back the torch if you don't like it. Look for products with a lot of reviews (several hundred or thousand) and high marks. I would be weary of products with poor or few reviews.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2014-06-11T13:37:06.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5846" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5847" CreationDate="2014-06-12T07:45:46.243" Score="10" ViewCount="650" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is SPF in sunscreen creams? I go to 2500m-4000m altitude. What should I use? And I've heard that SPF more than 55 is not for men. Does more SPF mean more sun protection?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:40:07.623" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T21:05:38.527" Title="What is SPF in sunscreen cream?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5846" CreationDate="2014-06-12T08:42:21.377" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;As it is stated in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_protection_factor#Sun_Protection_Factor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;em&gt;sun protection factor&lt;/em&gt; (SPF) roughly describes how the time that your skin is able to protect itself from sunburn is elongated. To take the Wikipedia example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;if a person develops a sunburn in 10 minutes when not wearing a sunblock, the same person will prevent sunburn for 150 minutes if he/she wears a sunblock with a SPF of 15&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, yes, more SPF means more protection. How much protection you need depends on how intense the sun is where you are, how long you are about to stay in the sun, and how sensitive your skin is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general one can say, that if you are somewhere with highly reflective surfaces (snow, water...) you need more protection than somewhere in a light forest. Also the higher you are, the more SPF you should take, as in higher altitudes less of the UV radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere. Therefore one cannot give a definite recommendation on what SPF &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; should use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if your skin requires an SPF of 50 or higher, you will need it – male or not male – and in high altitudes on a glacier you might need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are totally unsure about what is suitable, I would recommend seeing a dermatologist to find out which skin type you are and what protection will be needed for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-06-02T20:40:48.917" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T20:40:48.917" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5859" CreationDate="2014-06-13T03:26:07.020" Score="14" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering a hike along the Canadian &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Divide Trail&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper,_Alberta&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasper&lt;/a&gt; southward.  As described in Dustin Lynx' book &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1894765893&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking Canada's Great Divide Trail&lt;/a&gt;, the middle segment inside &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasper National Park&lt;/a&gt; passes through the upper reaches of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maligne_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maligne River valley&lt;/a&gt; over the Maligne Pass.  However, this trail is no (longer) listed in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/activ/ete-summer/~/~/media/E62C0A46A779497EAF037EA26592211E.ashx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backcountry Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(PDF, 5 MB)&lt;/sup&gt;, nor are its campgrounds, and it has apparently &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154917-i464-k7425901-Hiking_and_camping_at_Maligne_Lake_Jasper-Jasper_National_Park_Alberta.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;been decommisioned&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5551/566&quot;&gt;one may only camp on designated backcountry campsites&lt;/a&gt; and that it's 42 km from the (former) Maligne Valley trailhead to the next designated campground on the Brazeau loop, is it permitted to hike this former trail and camp on one of its five former campgrounds?  Strictly speaking I would think &lt;em&gt;no&lt;/em&gt;, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154917-i464-k7425901-Hiking_and_camping_at_Maligne_Lake_Jasper-Jasper_National_Park_Alberta.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this tripadvisor post states that one can still hike and camp there&lt;/a&gt;.  What is the official rule?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be very difficult to hike this segment of the Great Divide Trail if it is no longer permitted to hike here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Of course, I fully expect that hiking here would be significantly slower than in the past.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-06-14T22:41:16.553" Title="If a national park trail with its campsites has been decommisioned, can I still hike and camp there?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5849" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-13T15:49:36.280" Score="7" ViewCount="7502" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of wellington boots (aka rainboots or gumboots), they are now a few years old and getting a bit worn out. They have a few small punctures in them, and are splitting where they bend at the toes. So this means water can leak in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to repair the holes, and restore their waterproofing? Some sort of glue or rubber cement? Or maybe a bicycle puncture repair kit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T08:31:37.540" Title="How to repair rubber welly boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5849" CreationDate="2014-06-13T18:24:01.720" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal recommendation would be to use Super/Krazy Glue for any small &quot;cracks&quot; in the rubber.  I have successfully used it on rubber and it is quite effective!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for the slightly larger holes than cannot be filled using a liquid glue, I would recommend the following:&#xA;Apply a Gore-Tex or similar patch along with some &quot;Shoe-Goo&quot; or similar product.  **After you have applied your patch and goo you can always add a layer of super glue over the top for added protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend using a bicycle tube patch kit as they are very weak and my personal experience with them has only been awful.  I actually now use Krazy Glue on any pinch flats, it has saved me a lot of money and not to mention has worked flawlessly!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If Krazy Glue can hold 110PSI of air inside a thin rubber tube, I am almost positive it will keep the water out of your boots!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**Do not get the Krazy Glue on the Gore-Tex patch, it will destroy it!  Krazy glue can be used on rubber but it will destroy any fluoropolymer such as Gore-Tex!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="2518" LastEditDate="2014-06-13T18:30:09.293" LastActivityDate="2014-06-13T18:30:09.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-06-13T19:27:02.080" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland You can camp almost anywhere in forest and near public waters. Latvia is forest country, and You can camp almost anywhere. There are no restrictions. If the land owner doesn't want to allow it, he must place a sign. There are restrictions on national parks only. In national parks it's allowed in specific places only, but it's free anyway.&#xA;It's similar in Estonia. You can camp almost anywhere except for nature reserves. If a landowner doesn't want you they must place a sign saying so. Try to avoid places near to houses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3372" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-07-25T08:01:21.037" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T08:01:21.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5805" CreationDate="2014-06-13T20:04:35.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much depends on what you are fishing for and how you are fishing for it. I was an avid freshwater angler for almost forty years before my wife and I moved to Florida, and I have the garage full of tackle to prove it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I found when I got here is that my lightest freshwater combos were too light for most saltwater fishing. Probably the most practical combo I have now is a 7 foot medium-heavy spinning rod with a 400-class spinning reel. I use it for everything from panfish along the beach to snapper fishing in the gulf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have another rig for heavier fishing, like reef fishing for grouper. It's a 5' 6&quot; boat rod coupled with a Penn Senator reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given enough line capacity and lack of obstructions and snags, you can land surprisingly large fish on light tackle. My best to date is a ~28# barracuda caught on what the charter boat's mate called the &quot;Snoopy rod&quot;. It was a light action freshwater rod meant for bass, walleye and panfish in fresh water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3373" LastActivityDate="2014-06-13T20:04:35.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5853" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5871" CreationDate="2014-06-14T14:41:24.247" Score="9" ViewCount="63" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the States, we have a Ranger structure, whereby you can call a ranger district that can answer questions about that district.  Similarly, you can call higher up the food chain for questions affecting larger areas.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an equivalent government entity in Canada?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T17:38:17.990" Title="Is there a Canadian equivalent to Forestry Rangers" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5854" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5855" CreationDate="2014-06-14T14:46:58.397" Score="14" ViewCount="18924" Body="&lt;p&gt;My eyes are sensitive and tending towards cataracts. I'm told to avoid the Sun's UV, but many polarized sunspecs don't mention UV. I'd appreciate it if someone knows the answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3374" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:49:35.513" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:49:35.513" Title="Do polarized sunglasses protect against UV?" Tags="&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5854" CreationDate="2014-06-14T15:02:21.133" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polarized sunglasses, as with other type of sunglasses may not block enough UV to be considered safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunglasses&quot;&gt;From WikiPedia:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;for adequate protection, experts recommend sunglasses that reflect or&#xA;  filter out 99-100% of UVA and UVB light, with wavelengths up to 400&#xA;  nm. Sunglasses which meet this requirement are often labeled as&#xA;  &quot;UV400.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, you have to check the manufacturer's information on what degree of UV protection the sunglasses afford, polarized or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-06-18T21:02:14.313" LastActivityDate="2014-06-18T21:02:14.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5856" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5858" CreationDate="2014-06-14T15:45:49.750" Score="11" ViewCount="1076" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend and I often boulder around my home instead of driving to the local area, and when attempting some more challenging features, such as overhangs and slightly taller cliffs, we would feel better using a top rope, as we could try dynos with less risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would hate to use a rope that has not experienced any or few lead falls, as it is still a rope I would prefer to save for actual leads. I have an old rope that should not be used for real climbs any more, but I believe could still be used as a top rope for bouldering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: What are the safety concerns associated with using an &quot;old&quot; rope as a top rope for short boulders?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3375" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-06-16T13:58:08.070" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T21:13:01.593" Title="&quot;Used&quot; top rope when bouldering" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5856" CreationDate="2014-06-14T17:18:51.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5270/2169&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; has some information about when to retire a rope. The core of a rope doesn't become weak from top-roping or from sustaining lead falls with a small &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall factor&lt;/a&gt;. It becomes weak from sustaining multiple lead falls with very large fall factors, approaching 2. The only way to get a fall factor greater than 1 is if you fall past your belay station (e.g., in multipitch climbing with a hanging belay); if you've never fallen past your belay station, then you have probably never strained your rope to the point where the core was weakened by any non-negligible amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I would hate to use a rope that has not experienced any or few lead falls, as it is still a rope I would prefer to save for actual leads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't a correct way to approach the problem. Letting a rope catch some top-rope falls will have zero effect on the rope's safety or usable lifetime. If you've got a new rope anyway, there is no good reason not to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put this all in perspective, a modern climbing rope is ridiculously strong. It's essentially impossible to break one in normal climbing use. When people put a climbing rope on a test machine and stretch it to the breaking point, a brand-new rope typically stretches to about &lt;em&gt;ten times&lt;/em&gt; its normal length before breaking. Try to imagine what that would look like: the rope would look like taffy being stretched so much that its diameter was about 3 mm. The UIAA has a &quot;standard fall,&quot; which is a fall factor of about 1.7 with an 80 kg weight. This is a fall so violent that if you took one in a trad-climbing environment, you'd probably rip out or destroy your gear, your belayer might not be able to keep the brake strand from slipping, and you also might get vertebrae broken by the force of your climbing harness stopping your body. A rope has to be able to hold multiple falls of this type in testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have in fact tried to test empirically whether ropes get weaker under normal use -- as opposed to abuse such as very violent falls. See Smith 1988. With static ropes that had been abused, they were able to detect some weakening with use. But we're talking about dynamic ropes that haven't been abused. With dynamic ropes, they were generally not able to get the rope to break when they put it on their test equipment. The general idea is that materials have an elastic limit, and when you subject them to a strain that's less than the elastic limit, they return to their original size and shape when the strain is removed, and there is no damage. Smith's general conclusion is that &quot;Care and storage is the strongest factor that influences rope strength, far more than age.&quot; This seems to agree with Johnson and Klonowski's finding that dirt and sand can significantly reduce the strength of a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more realistic worry with an older climbing rope is that it can get damaged by rock fall or by rubbing against a sharp edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as pointed out in Mr. Wizard's answer, you should retire the rope if the sheath is wearing out. If the sheath isn't in good shape, the core becomes very vulnerable to damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in summary, here are some things that significantly weaken a rope. If one of these happens, you want to retire the rope. Repeated top-rope falls are not on the list because they're not a serious concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;serious abrasion or damage to the sheath&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;repeated lead falls with fall factors approaching 2&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;damage to the core (possibly invisible) from rock fall&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;possibly dirt and sand infiltrating the rope&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;exposure to chemicals such as fabric softeners&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;other types of abuse such as using it to tow a car or leaving it outside for a year&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://camcamnut.com/guides/what-does-uiaa-falls-actually-mean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://camcamnut.com/guides/what-does-uiaa-falls-actually-mean&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Johnson and Klonowski, &quot;Effects of Abrasive Particles on the Projected Fatigue Life of Nylon Climbing Rope,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/matesp/42/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/matesp/42/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bruce Smith, &quot;Aging rope,&quot; in Nylon Highway 25, January 1988, p. 3. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.karstportal.org/FileStorage/Nylon_Highway/NH25.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.karstportal.org/FileStorage/Nylon_Highway/NH25.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-06-17T00:07:45.727" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5856" CreationDate="2014-06-14T19:59:27.097" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;With due respect to Ben Crowell, who is I believe a far more experienced outdoorsman than I am, I beg to differ with his answer.  (&lt;em&gt;Edit: his answer prior to revision.&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having worked at a very small climbing wall I have seen tough ropes completely worn out by top-rope climbing alone, therefore at least in the extreme &quot;Ropes don't become weak from top-roping or from sustaining lead falls with a small fall factor&quot; is incorrect.  I'll come back to that but first let me mention aspects of wear to a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As described by an industry professional in an excerpt I quoted in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1942/ideal-and-minimal-rope-diameter-for-lead-climbing/2974#2974&quot;&gt;Ideal and Minimal Rope Diameter for Lead Climbing&lt;/a&gt; there are at least to major kinds of wear to a climbing rope: abrasive wear to the sheath, and dynamic wear to the core.  Because the parallel core (kern) of a dynamic climbing rope is very vulnerable without the sheath the rope is useless if the sheath is worn out.  Likewise the sheath, while typically quite strong in its own right when new, is not capable of absorbing impact therefore a rope with a degraded core is unacceptable for lead climbing.  (And since it is hard to degrade the core without at least some degradation of the sheath as well it is probably unacceptable for any human load.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is an entirely valid concern to not want to wear out a new lead rope while top-roping.  In fact top-roping can be pretty abusive to a rope: when you are lowering someone, which I assume would be part of your use, the rope is loaded as it runs across any surfaces it contacts and through the anchor point hardware (carabiners).  Getting back to the climbing wall experience I have seen both things wear out extra-tough gym rated ropes: abrasive wear from running over inconveniently placed holds (which are not nearly as rough as many types of rock) and severe flattening from repeated short falls on the same section of rope.  (At a roof.)  Of note, the gym uses steel quick-links or eye bolts for top anchors rather than the large radius anchors used in some other gyms, so the stress is greater and similar to standard hardware used outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting back to the actual question, top-roping does produce much lower instantaneous stress than a lead fall, assuming an attentive belayer, therefore you have a larger safety margin.  I would nevertheless not contravene any of the guidelines described by Beal Ropes, which I quoted in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5270/when-should-i-retire-my-rope/5273#5273&quot;&gt;When should I retire my rope&lt;/a&gt;.  If the rope is actually worn out it needs to be retired.  However it is common practice to move old lead ropes to top-rope duty to finish them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another option you should consider if you plan to do a lot of top-roping, especially if you climb abrasive rock or sometimes cannot extend the anchor far enough.  You do not need a dynamic climbing rope for top-rope, and dynamic ropes typically wear much faster than static ones therefore you should consider picking out a dedicated rope for this purpose.  The exact definition of a &quot;static&quot; (or interchangeably &quot;low elongation&quot;) rope varies and is more of a catch-all term for non-dynamic ropes.  I recommend that you avoid any very-low-elongation lines such as polyester canyoneering ropes, Sterling HTP Static, etc., and instead pick one that is certified as an &lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/technicite-corde-page.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EN 1891&lt;/a&gt; safety line which requires that it have some impact absorption. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HsE2S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that either type A or B requires handling of a factor 0.3 fall with a limit of 6kN peak force (quite survivable).  This is a larger fall than anyone would expect with a slingshot belay (top-rope, bottom belay) unless the belayer falls asleep.  With a top-belay one could get higher fall factors right near the top if there is significant slack in the system, so don't allow that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T21:13:01.593" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5848" CreationDate="2014-06-14T22:41:16.553" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have phoned with the trail reservation office for Jasper National Park, and this is what they told me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route has been decommisioned.  This means that it is now considered &lt;em&gt;wildland&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;strong&gt;Hiking and camping are permitted&lt;/strong&gt; but require significantly more skills (and some more equipment) than hiking on a well-maintained &quot;semi-primitive&quot; trail.  A backcountry permit and fee are still required.  One should preferably camp on former campgrounds (as they still suitable places), but &lt;em&gt;random camping is permitted&lt;/em&gt; 5 km from the trailhead.  The reservation office still registers who are on the trail in what period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: good news for through-hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-06-14T22:41:16.553" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2014-06-15T03:02:19.717" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Septic pencil, bandage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treatment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leeches must be removed from the skin carefully. If a leech is ripped from the skin, its fangs may break off and remain embedded, which induces ulcer formation. Leech removal is facilitated by application of a few drops of alcohol, vinegar, or brine. An alternative removal method involves the application of a lit match to the leech at the attachment site. After leech removal, the site should be inspected carefully to insure that the fangs are absent. Hemostasis (bleeding control) can be achieved by &lt;strong&gt;applying direct pressure and using a styptic pencil&lt;/strong&gt; ( a short medicated stick, often made of alum that can be applied to a cut to stop bleeding), oxidized regenerated cellulose absorbable hemostat, or topical thrombin. The wound should be cleansed thoroughly with an antiseptic several times daily and a multi-purpose topical antibiotic applied to prevent infection. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0CB0QFjAA&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcphd.org%2Fleeches.doc&amp;amp;ei=ygudU8zlJYKyyASh5YGgCg&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGiFOPNg5WsV7B7imOHsvm22urgEg&amp;amp;sig2=hfnt0cY2caz7aCV2AGTDuw&amp;amp;bvm=bv.68911936,d.aWw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3347" LastEditorUserId="3347" LastEditDate="2016-05-08T19:10:19.720" LastActivityDate="2016-05-08T19:10:19.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5865" CreationDate="2014-06-15T09:38:35.020" Score="15" ViewCount="17548" Body="&lt;p&gt;All over the internet it says that sunscreen does not work all day, but does not say anything about why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why does sunscreen not work all day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the matrials get destroyed by the UV rays? Or is it because they evaporate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A product called p20 claims 10 hours but does not provide any evidence, which does not seem trustworthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The general principle is to reapply every two to four hours,&quot; dermatologist James Spencer, MD, of St. Petersburg, Fl, told WebMD. &quot;Sunscreen does go away with time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/how-sunscreen-works-and-why-youre-wrong-about-it-508910004&quot;&gt;http://gizmodo.com/how-sunscreen-works-and-why-youre-wrong-about-it-508910004&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3377" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:40:15.873" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:40:15.873" Title="Why does sunscreen not work all day?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2014-06-15T14:00:44.110" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that if you do not remove the leech until it gets full and naturally drops off that you will not bleed much, and that it is safer because you reduce the risk of infection.  At the moment I can't find good sources for this, only:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goborneotravel.com/removing-leeches-properly/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to Remove a Leech (Go Borneo Travel. Com):&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In case the leech has already got you, do not pull it out. The commonly used techniques of burning, salting and squeezing result in the leech vomiting harmful bacteria back into your system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leeches fall out on their own once full. If you can continue hiking with the thought of a small Dracula hanging off your body do so. It will not take longer than 20 minutes for the leech to give up and remove itself safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/leeches.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to remove a leech (Wild Madagascar. Org):&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;NOTE: Is it generally not advised to attempt removing a leech by burning with a cigarette; applying mosquito repellent, shampoo, or salt; or pulling at the leech. This can result the leech regurgitating into the wound and causing infection much worse than the leech bite itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not what I would consider reliable and no comment on bleeding specifically, so unless someone can corroborate this theory I shall eventually delete this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-28T03:34:15.523" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T03:34:15.523" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5840" CreationDate="2014-06-15T22:28:50.280" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer shall try to provide a comprehensive list of limitations and rules related to the use of nature in northern european countries, where free access to nature often is known under the name of &quot;allemansrätten&quot;. It builds upon bashophils answer and its links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sweden&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic motto is: Do not disturb, do not destroy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are allowed to hike and ski almost everywhere. Example where you are not allowed to do so because you would destroy or disturb are the grounds of a house, gardens, crop fields and the like.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are allowed to pitch a tent for camping in the countryside. Don´t disturb people living nearby or the landowner, choose a site well away from house and don´t cause any damage to the ground and vegetation. If camping in a large group (more than 2-3 tents) or for a longer period of time (more than 2-3 nights) you must obtain the landowners permission in advance. Some municipalities may also have individual regulations, for example banning camping in certain recreational areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighting a fire is normally allowed. Don´t light a fire on rocks as this will leave scars and don´t light it on vegetation. You are allowed to collect fallen cones and branches, but not more. During dry periods there may be a fire ban which also applies to prebuilt fireplaces. You are still allowed to use charcoal grills or camping stoves during firebans.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The right for public access does not cover motorized access. You are not allowed to drive on uncovered trails with motorized vehicles. It may be forbidden by a sign for private roads.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Access to nature might be restricted for national parks and nature reserves. There will be signs explaining the restrictions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All information has been taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/Enjoying-nature/The-Right-of-Public-Access/This-is-allowed/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Naturvårdsverket&lt;/a&gt;, which also lists in detail rules for a number of other activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="2459" LastEditDate="2014-06-27T08:24:59.137" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T08:24:59.137" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-06-15T22:28:50.280" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5861" CreationDate="2014-06-15T22:36:15.867" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;All sunscreens are physical barriers, designed to absorb or reflect UV radiation. They rub off over time, and they will rub off faster when exposed to water/moisture, most commonly from sweating or swimming. Friction (e.g. from towel-drying) also removes sunscreen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ewg.org/2014sunscreen/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/&quot;&gt;chemical sunscreens do break down when exposed to sunlight&lt;/a&gt; and require the addition of other chemicals as stabilizers. This is less of a concern with mineral (zinc or titanium oxide) sunscreens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common recommendation is to reapply sunscreen every 2-3 hours, but this doesn't take into account many variables such as individual sun-sensitivity, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen#Sun_protection_factor_.28SPF.29_and_labeling_requirements&quot;&gt;SPF&lt;/a&gt; of the sunscreen, and type/level of activity. So the 2-3 hour guideline is a blanket recommendation that won't necessarily prevent one from burning. In fact, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11712033&quot;&gt;a 2001 study&lt;/a&gt; suggests that earlier re-application is more effective:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Advice given to sunscreen users should be to apply sunscreen liberally to exposed sites 15 to 30 minutes before going out into the sun, followed by reapplication of sunscreen to exposed sites 15 to 30 minutes after sun exposure begins. Further reapplication is necessary after vigorous activity that could remove sunscreen, such as swimming, towelling, or excessive sweating and rubbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for claims of all-day (or x-hour) protection, time estimates are based on a rough calculation using SPF. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ewg.org/2014sunscreen/faqs-your-sunscreen-questions-our-answers/&quot;&gt;Environmental Working Group&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SPF is a measurement of sunburn protection, primarily caused by UVB rays. If your skin would normally burn after 10 minutes in the summer midday sun, for example, wearing a thick layer of an SPF 15 sunscreen would theoretically allow you to stay in the sun for 150 minutes (10 x 15) without burning. This is a rough estimate, however, and your own skin, the type of activities you do in the sun (e.g. involving water or sweat) and the intensity of sunlight may affect how much safety it gives you. SPF ratings can be confusing or misleading. The numbers do not reflect the degree of protection from UVA rays, which cause skin aging, immune suppression and cancer. The FDA has warned that high-SPF products can create a false sense of security, contain higher concentrations of allergenic or irritating ingredients and offer little additional sun protection (Branna 2011).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, manufacturer claims are likely based on a best-case scenario that would involve applying a thick layer ~20 minutes before going outdoors to allow for the lotion to bind to the skin, minimal sweating and friction, and perhaps even use of additional protection measures such as a hat or umbrella.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-06-21T15:52:00.717" LastActivityDate="2014-06-21T15:52:00.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3353" CreationDate="2014-06-15T23:20:45.710" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different gasses have different boiling points. Under boiling point the gas is liquid and doesn't have enough pressure to come out from the canister (if used in upright position).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boiling points of usual gasses used in (camping) gas stoves are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Propane: −42.25 to −42.04 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Butane: −1 to 1 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Isobutane: −13 to −9 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;source Wikipedia: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Propane&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;butane&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobutane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;isobutane&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The propane is the best gas to use in cold winter as it will stay gas in really cold temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the vapor pressure of propane is really high (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) compared to for example butane (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) which means 100% propane needs heavy steel canister to hold the gas, adding more weight for backpacking. Making a solution of, for example 70% butane and 30% propane, will allow for a more light weight aluminum canister and decrease the boiling point to be suitable for colder weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3362" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T02:36:03.807" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T02:36:03.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5867" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-16T00:00:35.257" Score="7" ViewCount="66473" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into buying some chaco sandals and tried on pairs with the extra toe strap and without. I've heard chacos can be uncomfortable to wear in and I'm wondering if the extra security provided by the toe strap is worth the additional discomfort? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3378" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T14:17:03.627" Title="Chacos: Toe strap or no toe strap?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2014-06-16T00:13:42.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could also try outdoor crafts like flower crowns, which you can find all the materials for outdoors though are easier to make with a little wire, or tree tapestries, which require some yarn and a yarn needle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need a sturdy, Y-shaped branch. To make the loom's warp (the strands that act as the foundation of the weaving), tie the end of a ball of yarn near the base of the branch's fork. Wrap the yarn once around one leg of the fork, then cross to the other leg and wrap the yarn once around it. Repeat, keeping the yarn fairly tight, until you reach the ends of the fork. Tie off the yarn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the weft (the yarn you weave through the warp), thread a piece of yarn that's about five times the length of the branch into a plastic yarn needle. Tie the end of the yarn to the bottom-most thread of the warp. With the needle, pull the yarn in and out of the warp. It will seem a little strange at first because half the warp threads will be higher than the others -- just treat them as though they were flat. When you've used up the length of yarn, tie another piece to the end and continue weaving. When you're done, tie the yarn end to the warp or just tuck it into the tapestry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3378" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T00:13:42.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2014-06-16T02:42:52.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair with the big-toe strap, and they're very comfortable when I wear them with toe socks. When I first got them, I tried wearing them barefoot, and found that I could only walk a few miles before I started to get blisters. The blisters weren't at the big-toe strap, they were where the other loop of webbing went over the top of my foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T02:42:52.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5870" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5878" CreationDate="2014-06-16T03:09:19.480" Score="7" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a water filtration system that uses activated coconut shell carbon as its media. The filter is listed as being able to purify up to 50 gallons, but I won't be using it for anywhere near that amount in any one use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long is the filter usable after initial use?  If I use it to purify a couple of gallons one weekend, then don't need it for a couple weeks, or maybe even a month, will it still be usable? Or will it need to be replaced?  Is there anything I can/should do to preserve it between uses (e.g. dry it back out somehow)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-06-16T09:54:30.380" LastActivityDate="2014-06-17T05:05:10.560" Title="How long is an activated charcoal filter good for after initial use?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5853" CreationDate="2014-06-16T17:38:17.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the federal level your best bet is either &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/index.aspx&quot;&gt;Parks Canada&lt;/a&gt; or &#xA;the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests&quot;&gt;Canadian Forest Service&lt;/a&gt;, which is part of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/&quot;&gt;Natural Resources Canada&lt;/a&gt;, which also has tons of other relevant areas such as maps and map data.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the provincial level there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadian-forests.com/provincial_governments.html&quot;&gt;a whole gamut of environment, forestry and fishery departments&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T17:38:17.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5811" CreationDate="2014-06-16T17:52:53.153" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.infobanff.com/info/?i=aw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rainfall in Banff/Lake Louise is pretty low in September&lt;/a&gt;. Thunderstorms are much rarer in the Canadian Rockies than in the rest of Canada. I've lived in Banff for six years and there have only been thunderstorms three times in that period. That said, avoid high mountain-exposure in the event of a thunderstorm.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's pretty much guaranteed to snow at least once in September, especially at altitude. It never stays though, usually either a dusting or a few centimetres that melt within 48 hrs.  I've seen it happen in the first week of Sept and be 20c two weeks later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T17:52:53.153" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5743" CreationDate="2014-06-16T18:06:45.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd love to write a nice long post regarding this once I have time.  Short answer: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;height/profile&lt;/strong&gt;: the lower the profile, the better off you are. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;anchoring&lt;/strong&gt;: tent pegs, guy-lines, these are both important, you can't peg a tent on a mountain made of granite, that's where guy-lines really help.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;shelter&lt;/strong&gt;: you can use surrounding geography (e.g. a large boulder) as shelter from the wind, or surround brush. When you're exposed on a mountain top you can use loose rocks to make a wall on the windy side.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tent material&lt;/strong&gt;: if your tent is entirely made of mesh and the fly walls aren't low enough then all that wind will blow through, which will help your tent from flying away, but will also make it drafty and cold. I've got a Big Agnes Seed House SL1 and it's really bad for that when I'm in the mountains. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T18:06:45.670" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5781" CreationDate="2014-06-16T18:10:21.990" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pragmatic answer has already been given, but in my own words:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clip from the most solid stance available&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clip with your harness as close to the rope-end carabiner as possible&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the old mantra &quot;the leader must not fall&quot; still applies&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &quot;trick&quot; I'll share at the end of this post, but first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Analysis&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll use a simplified schematic to illustrate several scenarios.  In each:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The left side of the graphic represents the arrangement before the fall while the right side is after.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The black dot represents an anchored belayer&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The blue dots represent points of protection&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The red dot represents the climber's waist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 1a:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sq24G.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have one bolt at 3 meters and a second at 5 meters.  The climber attempts to clip with his harness at 4 meters but falls a moment before clipping.  Because additional slack was introduced the climber decks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 1b:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KWPuo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same setup, but this time the climber exercises discipline and doesn't attempt to clip until his harness is level with the protection, but he still falls.  The fall factor is slightly higher but the rope arrests the fall at 1 meter and all is well.  Or is it?  First you may have realized that if the red dot is the harness there should be legs (or if inverted a torso) below that point.  Okay, so his feet touch but all is well?  No.  This didn't account for any stretch in the rope, movement of the belayer, or rope slip in the belay device.  Precisely accounting for stretch would be complicated as it will be a function of the fall itself, and the other factors are even harder to pin down.  However if we add only 20 percent rope stretch the climber falls another meter and decks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 1c:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ime8N.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note that in my calculation of fall factor I am including the additional distance fallen due to rope stretch.  I don't know if this is accepted practice but since it represents a release of potential energy it seems appropriate.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(All illustrations hereafter will include the 20% stretch factor.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How might this situation be addressed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The climber can accept that he is basically highball bouldering until the 2nd bolt is clipped (don't forget the pads!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The belayer can attempt to run backward if he sees the climber fall (good luck!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second bolt could be placed one meter lower (Scenario 2a)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 2a:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SYQNO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here even with 20% rope stretch the belay catches the fall.  But how can that help on existing bolts with no opportunities for natural protection?  Here's the &quot;trick&quot; I mentioned at the beginning:  effectively lower the position of the bolt by using an extended draw.  You can reach above your head to clip the upper carabiner without putting any slack in the climbing rope, then clip the rope into the hanging carabiner at waist level.  To make it even more slick you can pre-clip that carabiner to the rope and attach the rest of the extended draw to your harness with velcro; now you can grab, rip, and clip in one fluid motion.  Decking averted!  Well there's one more issue.  Suppose the next bolt is at 7 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 2b:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sgxli.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The first bolt is omitted from this drawing as it is now inactive in the system.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember the extended draw effectively lowered the second bolt to 4 meters so even if the climber is patient about clipping the third bolt he still risks decking if he falls.  The solution is to re-clip the second bolt with a short draw, moving the effective point back to its original 5 meters:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scenario 2c:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1y2Q5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here the climber clips the third draw at chest height.  If he fails he is still caught at 1 meter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's a lot of faff that will rarely be used but it's nice to have in your bag of tricks, along with stick-clipping etc., especially if you are not a bold climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please remember that these drawings are only a rough first-order approximation of the real world and that the combined elasticity factor of 20 percent was merely a guess.  Nevertheless I hope that these figures help others to think about the processes and risks involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T22:07:46.420" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T22:07:46.420" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5738" CreationDate="2014-06-16T18:13:02.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a lot of experience in this field, but yes, Parks Canada has designated back country camping locations in most of its parks. Crown land camping can be done in almost any province. Rules vary by province, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/CrownLand/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_170045.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here's Ontario&lt;/a&gt; for example. I know that in BC you can camp on most logging roads, sometimes for free, sometimes you pay at designated sites, but that it's managed by region so it's hard to get an all encompassing map in BC. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-06-16T18:13:02.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2014-06-16T18:59:24.150" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair without the toe strap. I wear them daily and hike in them regularly. They did take quite a while to break in and initially gave me blisters (mostly the side strap).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend has owned three different pairs of Chacos and here is what she has to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The toe loops are worth it but take some getting used to! They are definitely more comfortable if you are going to be doing a lot of hiking/backpacking in your sandals. On steep inclines, I really notice the difference in how much less my foot slides around and how much more secure/stable my footing feels. I was actually surprised how palpable the difference is! They are, however, a bit more of a pain to put on and take off. You can wear socks with them around camp if you are okay with smooshing the loop down under your toes--some may not find this comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for break-in, Chaco offers several different soles. I cannot speak to the newest thin/minimalist models. Of the classic soles, The Yampa is lighterweight and more flexible; this would be my choice for casual use. However, if you put a lot of miles on your sandals, especially in backcountry conditions, you will find that the tread wears down quickly compared to the Unaweep sole, which is heavier, stiffer, and more durable--comparable to the sole of a good backpacking boot. The Unaweep takes longer to get comfortable (it gave me blisters at first) but lasts practically forever. The ideal would be to have a pair of Yampas for everyday wear and a pair of Unaweeps for adventure travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-06-17T20:57:54.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2014-06-17T02:25:22.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. I have gone through three pairs, two without the toe strap, and one with. The toe strap does not meaningfully stabilize my foot, and it makes my big toe kinda sore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up shrinking the toe strap so it just tightly clings to the shoe, and my toe is on top. It feels weird without socks, but with socks it's great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3229" LastActivityDate="2014-06-17T02:25:22.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5870" CreationDate="2014-06-17T05:05:10.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A filter like that will will be good for 50 gallons even if it's used over two years. You'll want to make sure you dry it properly between uses, and some filters have boiling instructions (esp. those with clay ceramics) when they haven't be used for an extended period of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2014-06-17T05:05:10.560" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5879" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5885" CreationDate="2014-06-17T12:25:12.757" Score="34" ViewCount="5314" Body="&lt;p&gt;My town (Groton MA, USA) has 110 miles of trails open to the public, but virtually no signs helping people navigate at intersections in the woods.  I am on the Trails Committee, and I'm pushing hard to address this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially I figured we'd just do whatever other organizations do that have been at this for a long time.  Just about all backwoods trail signs I've ever seen have been simple routed wood.  It seems the US forest service has been using this type of sign for many decades, perhaps a century.  For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oIa09.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This happens to be from the Tonto National Forest in AZ.  It's about as typical a trail sign as there is in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CMuzS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one is on the top of Mt Lafayette in the White Mountain National Forest of NH.  Again, it's basically the same design.  The sign at top was recently replaced, and I'm not sure if it is more yellow due to being newer and not weathered yet (this location is above treeline open to the sky all year), or whether it's the new &quot;composite&quot; material that is plastic and wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably the Forest Service has looked into this and converged on something that works and has low lifetime cost.  If it's good enough for the US Forest Service, it's good enough for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, we have had several people pushing us to use newer plastic material that is claimed to last longer than wood, although its also much more expensive.  The main body of the plastic is white, but the front has a layer of dark green on it.  Routing lines into it cuts thru the front layer to expose the back, so you get white letters on dark green.  I've seen these signs and they are quite readable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is, do you know of any experience with different materials for trail signs?  Are most wood because that's all that's been available until now?  Are there organizations that are using newer materials where they would have used wood signs in the past?  If so, is there any longevity data, lifetime cost data, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, any opinions on the esthetics?  If you were hiking the back woods of a small town in New England and came accross non-traditional trail signs, would you think &lt;i&gt;Yuk, this high-tech stuff doesn't belong in the woods&lt;/i&gt;, or &lt;i&gt;Cool, these guys are keeping up with the times&lt;/i&gt;, or something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added about plastic signs&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't have a picture of the type of plastic sign I described, so I took one yesterday afternoon:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kK9YR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sign is by the side of a road, so is larger than what would be in the woods.  However, this is the material I was mentioning.  Apparently it is also available in brown.  I have been told that this material will last much longer than wood, and is supposed to be able to stand up to long term UV exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have meanwhile heard back from one sign maker with some good arguments against pressure treated wood.  That and Karen's point about not knowing what volunteer resources might be available in the future to replace worn signs has me leaning towards a format like the wood signs shown above, but using the plastic material shown here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2014-06-18T16:00:50.330" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T18:51:42.940" Title="Wood versus plastic trail signs?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="19" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-17T13:22:47.420" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO, I would like to suggest using the ones made with plastic, probably Custom Engraved Signs.&#xA;I believe its about personal opinion up to certain extent. The people who are suggesting you to use wooden trail signs are right about the fact that we should never put on something in nature there, which is made up of plastic in particular. But on the contrary I'd like to see this from another perspective that We should also consider the durability of the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wooden sign boards would certainly last little lesser than the plastic-made trail signs. The trail sign are very crucial, so they have to stay there for a long time, and just the way they are placed and should be visible. The Wooden trail signs have an upper-hand in eco-friendliness but yes, the plastic-made trail signs outclass them from Durability and Visibility point of view. I believe, No authority personnel would place a trail sign at a place where it can be wiped out by water. Yeah, it may happen that the sign is placed at a windy place where it can be buzzed away by strong winds. There, plastic material is an issue because it would remain lying there in forests for years if un-noticed. But as long as the care is taken that they are placed well, plastic should not be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for more options, I have come across a few other methods to erect a trail sign in my country, such as ones with engraved stone/pillar. These are pretty cheap to arrange, at least where I belong because there is always a lot of enthusiastic local people looking for some job to earn money and they would do it happily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rj8zs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image Courtesy: Google search engine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I personally feel that these lack a lot in terms of visibility, specially during the dark hours, mainly if you can imagine the rains, grass, to worsen the things: if there is fog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; If the care is taken about the placement from visibility point of view, then these should be an excellent idea over wood and plastic. There is a way, rather undocumented protocol about the way trails are marked in India. At a particular distance people have painted small arrows on stones which are perfectly visible. And where there is a tricky bifurcation in routes, they seldom use there stone markers. But yes, there are pretty rare in India as well. We hardly have Trail signs as such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now about considering the visitor's point of view referring to &quot;&lt;em&gt;Yuk, this high-tech stuff doesn't belong in the woods, or Cool, these guys are keeping up with the times, or something else?&lt;/em&gt;&quot;, I'll say IMHO, this depends on perspective, the way He/She feels about it. Most of them would like to see a wooden is my opinion, but as long as the Sign stands tall throughout the longer times, that matters the most. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-09T06:27:25.450" LastActivityDate="2015-11-09T06:27:25.450" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-17T14:31:22.740" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;My only experience with this is as a hiker, and I can only give my own opinion.  But first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Examples&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Columbia River Gorge there are a few different types of signage used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Major road-side signs:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3AwZo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Trailhead signs:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oEkcL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Junction signs:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kqrAj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Masonry signs:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n8Tdi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike the stone sign WedaPashi showed the lettering on these masonry signs is quite fine, so they are easily obscured by moss/debris, but once you find one it is readable with effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wooden junction signs weather and blend in to the surroundings, but they can be difficult to read.  The also seem to weather unevenly, making some signs and parts of signs harder to read than others.  (Below are two clearly different types of wooden signs as well.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PP8Hq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IIWbG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6B5wz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I couldn't find a picture of one some of the wooden signs have become almost entirely obscured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Opinion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Trailhead&quot; style signage is too obtrusive for the middle of a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The wooden signs are aesthetic but can be hard to read and sometimes nearly impossible to read if the inner part of the lettering is worn off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The masonry signs are very nice if there is existing stonework and you are looking for one of them, but they don't seem widely applicable.  (Presumably you can't afford a masonry pillar for every junction!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Proposal&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I would like to see wooden or dark colored signs with larger lettering, possibly filled with paint or resin.  Some general examples, the first being my favorite:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xknZG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CYqHF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U9L1Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ZdbO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that these strike a reasonable balance between visibility and aesthetics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand I do not like this style as it looks too much like a highway sign:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJt7u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-06-18T20:50:08.373" LastActivityDate="2014-06-18T20:50:08.373" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-17T14:48:01.717" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Switzerland has a nationally consistent policy for hiking signs with Swiss precision (for example and inspiration, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/download.php?id=179_d6446cb5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;see this impressive 64 page guide on signage&lt;/a&gt;), as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/download.php?id=161_e3020989&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;required by law&lt;/a&gt;.  This applies whether in the high mountains, on easy forest trails, or (usually short segments) on rural roads.  You might find a sign indicating it's 5 hours and 55 minutes hiking to a particular destination.  In total, 64784 km of routes are signed, of which 21856 km in the mountains and 17723 km on surfaced roads (For more information, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/de/wanderwege&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wandern.ch&lt;/a&gt; in German or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.randonner.ch/fr/chemins-de-randonnee-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;French&lt;/a&gt;).  Signs are present not only in tourist or nature areas, but everywhere; you can hike from one border to the other by following the signs.  Note that Switzerland is rather densely populated, and certainly on any of the trails of the easy category, you're never more than an hour or so from civilisation, and probably the furthest you can get &lt;em&gt;anywhere&lt;/em&gt; from the nearest road is a six hour hike or so.  It doesn't really have anything that would be classified as wilderness, except in the &lt;em&gt;truly&lt;/em&gt; hard-to-access areas where no signed routes lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking signage uses either metal signs at intersections, posting the time in hours, or metal indicators mounted to &lt;del&gt;trees&lt;/del&gt; (they used to do that, but not any more) or other objects, or, in the mountains, paint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have three categories, and the colour indicates the category:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;Wanderweg&lt;/em&gt; (hiking trail) is easy and indicated in yellow.  They are found mostly in lowlands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5YXmm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Schwende Wanderwege&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schwende_Wanderwege.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons, Paebi&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hqXLY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rhombus on a tree&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wanderweg_Raute.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons, Irmgard)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;Bergwanderweg&lt;/em&gt; (mountain hiking trail) requires mountain boots, and is indicated with white-red-white stripes, either on a sign, or in paint on a rock.  They also use cairns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jKM1e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bergwanderweg&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenblick-lingenau.at/ausflugsziele-vorarlberg/sommer-bregenzerwald/wandern-klettern-biken&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wandern im Bregenzerwald&lt;/a&gt;.  Note that this is actually in &lt;em&gt;Austria&lt;/em&gt;, but in this case the signage is identical in Switzerland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, there are &lt;em&gt;Alpinwanderwege&lt;/em&gt; (alpine routes), which require alpine experience and may cross glaciers, extended zones of boulders, be very steep/exposed, etc.  Those are indicated in white-blue-white, or (just like the &lt;em&gt;Bergwanderwege&lt;/em&gt;) with cairns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OwJaU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpinwanderweg&quot;&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/de/wanderwege/wegkategorien/alpinwanderweg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wandern.ch&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Intersections between trails usually have the aforementioned metal signs, and indicate the different categories.  For example, here users can choose between a glacier-crossing route, a mountain hiking trail, or an easy interpretive trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ykKBB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Near the Rothornhütte&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And often they include time estimates as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s5Now.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Near Munt Pers&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Opinions differ, and for a while, the big hiking destination of Zermatt replaced all the metal signs by wooden signs, for aesthetic reasons, but they have now reverted to metal signs.  Personally, I love them, but I may be biased because for me, it was in Switzerland that I learned to love mountain hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of other, newer categories as well, such as cultural routes and prepared winter hiking routes (not backcountry skiing), but those are far less common.  Some more information can be found on the Wandern.ch site &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/de/wanderwege/signalisation/wegweiser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in German&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.randonner.ch/fr/chemins-de-randonnee-/signalisation/panneaux-indicateurs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in French&lt;/a&gt;, including a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/download.php?id=179_d6446cb5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;64 page guide on trail signs with lots of pictures&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T18:51:42.940" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T18:51:42.940" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-17T21:37:35.713" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a New Englander who hikes a lot, I’d say that the sight of any good signage is so startling and unexpected that the appearance of the material should be a distant secondary concern to the signs’ utility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things to consider that you haven’t mentioned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How long will you be on this trail committee?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you likely to have other board members in the future who are enthusiastic enough about signage to upkeep what you put out? Its very, very common to find trails that were last marked 10 or 20 years ago, but with no-one directly responsible for upkeep, or the responsible person being overworked, updating marking falls by the wayside, and you’re left back where you started with unmarked trails. If theft isn’t a concern, I’d go with the longest lasting sign you can afford for this reason alone.  I’ve never worked for a group involved in trailwork that wasn’t hurting for both money and labor, but putting up expensive signs takes just as much time as putting up cheap ones, and if you can’t count on people willing and able to replace them, make sure they rarely need to be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How likely is it that signs will be stolen?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have attractive signs, some people will see them as fair game to carry off and use for décor, especially if the sign has interesting words, or a common name (Johnson Hill, for example).  It’s an ironic problem, but very real.  It means a great deal of extra labor and expense, and the more costly the signs are, the more expensive the problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Are the signs going to constantly in the shade, or in a swamp?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case, wooden signs can potentially have a much shorter life than expected because of damp.  Will you need to use chemically treated wood to keep them from getting covered in moss and rotting? If so, I’d lean towards plastic in these cases, because the lifespan of wood can drop from a couple of decades to less than one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Have you considered Metal?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And another potential sign material is etched metal. When I worked in the desert, these were the only signs that could stand up to decades of direct desert sunlight. I’m not sure if they were aluminum or stainless steel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ambiguity&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration for signs is ambiguity of placement. For example, the sign you posted for Mt Washington is pointing to at least 15 destinations in at 4 directions. I haven’t tried to use that sign in particular, but I’ve often had difficulties at intersections where one sign tries to tell everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You end up spending 10 minutes discussing which direction Snooky’s Nook is in, or is that direction actually Bartman’s trail, which you know goes 5 miles out of your way (or more).  If you can put maps at main intersections, the more directionally challenged hikers will love you. Baring that, put signs 10-20 feet away from the intersection, on the trail, if you want to be really unambiguous about what is where.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;A few alternatives&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m also going to suggest a few alternatives to written signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you considered alternatives like blazing trees on the most popular trails? Painted blazes do need to be repainted every few years, but if you do other trail maintenance, the additional effort isn’t too bad. The Blue Hills outside of Boston uses coded blazes painted onto trees, combined with small numbers at trail intersections. They’re more urban than you, so theft is a greater concern, but I really like their solution. The numbers are unobtrusive, but at the same time are unattractive enough to not encourage theft. However, what makes this work exceptionally well is that they have very good, very easily available maps that hikers can buy (leave money in a box on the honor system). I don’t know if you’d have the resources to create the high quality maps for distribution, and keeping maps in stock is something most organizations fail at.  The more access points, the harder it becomes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good color coded trail system is at Noon Hill in Medway, run by the Trustees of the Reservation. It’s part of the Charles River Reservation. They have color coded trails and maps on pedestals at main intersections.  It might be less practical with over 100 miles of trail than with their 10-15 miles, but I love running across maps when I’m hiking in unfamiliar areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I’m a frequent hiker and sometime trail maintainer and creator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-06-18T20:54:54.397" LastActivityDate="2014-06-18T20:54:54.397" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-18T16:17:53.183" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been researching sign construction various ways, with asking a question here being one of them.  I was just forwarded a email from Adobe Signs, replying to questions from the Groton Conservation Trust (our local private land trust).  Adobe Signs is the regular sign maker used by the Trust for their roadside signs.  These signs are dark-stained wood with white painted routed letters.  Part of Adobe's reply to the Groton Conservation Trust was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have used pressure treated lumber in the past for other customers to&#xA;  produce sign panels similar to the ones I've made for the Trust,&#xA;  always had problems usually within the first 6 months after&#xA;  installation so I discontinued using that type of material all&#xA;  together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pressure treated lumber has a considerable amount of moisture in it&#xA;  from it's treatment process using &quot;chemical preservatives&quot; that makes&#xA;  it very heavy and rot resistant. Unless pressure treated lumber sits&#xA;  for extended periods of time (months) under cover out of the elements&#xA;  until it is thoroughly dry (which is still almost impossible to find),&#xA;  the boards themselves don't rot but instead, because of the moisture&#xA;  content they begin to &quot;crack&quot; the length of the board, always through&#xA;  the area where the routing/engraving is made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have also attempted tests using the plastic decking material&#xA;  (various types from various manufacturers) but it's downfall is any&#xA;  type of paint (water, oil, enamel, etc) used to paint within the&#xA;  engraved/routered lettering in the panel chips, flakes and falls&#xA;  out...paint does not adhere or absorb into the panel like wood which&#xA;  causes the paint to fail almost immediatley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have not used the plastic material for engraving with the dark&#xA;  colored surface and lighter colored core Wendy mentions because the&#xA;  thickest this material is available is only 3/4&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Through my research In the past I have located 1&quot; thick but it's&#xA;  extreamly expensive, only available in 96&quot;x48&quot; sheets, plus, it's&#xA;  still a plastic composite and in frigid temperatures (winter months)&#xA;  it can easily be broken...those darn kids :o)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I've attempted using other types of lumber (oak, redwood, poplar, etc)&#xA;  but they all have their own advantages/disadvantages. Ultimatley I've&#xA;  have chosen to keep using Fir lumber for this type of work because I&#xA;  have found it not only the most cost effective material but also the&#xA;  least expensive to &quot;replace&quot; should a panel be vandalized, or in the&#xA;  case with some of the panels Dan has found, rotting...the round posts&#xA;  I use on these installations is &quot;pressure treated&quot; and that will not&#xA;  change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After an initial installation and many many years of exposure in the&#xA;  elements, I can honestly say it has proven itself time and time again&#xA;  (lack of calls, complaints or upset customers) that I've found as long&#xA;  as Fir timber is prepared, processed and treated thoroughly before,&#xA;  during and after the production process I use to manufacture these&#xA;  type of signs, I would still be hesitant to &quot;try something new&quot;...just&#xA;  my two cents but&#xA;  &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; open to suggestions :o)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-06-19T09:42:05.857" LastActivityDate="2014-06-19T09:42:05.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5887" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5889" CreationDate="2014-06-19T18:40:59.870" Score="14" ViewCount="3092" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone had any experience getting climbing chalk though customs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm off to Guernsey and I don't think I'll be able to buy chalk there so I'm putting it in my hold luggage. Are customs likely to open it up thinking its something illicit? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:30:17.590" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:30:17.590" Title="Travelling and taking climbing chalk through customs" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2014-06-19T20:58:24.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer has already been picked, but I want to throw in my 2 cents as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'm not against plastic, the sample you show turns me off. Looks too urban. If they make one that looks more natural, then I'm all for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I think signage should be minimal. Trailheads and big intersections. Along the trail I like painted blazes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to choosing a color for the blazing, check to see if there's any local laws/customs. For instance, the Appalachian Trail is blazed white the whole way, and approach trails being blue. In NJ, trails in state parks are orange.&#xA;Each trail should be colored as to not have any confusion with any other trail. An example of doing it the wrong way, a bureaucrat in GA mandated that the blazes on all 7, criss-crossing trails, in one wilderness area, were to be changed to lime green (because it's more natural). The number of lost hikers went up after that move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-06-19T20:58:24.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5887" CreationDate="2014-06-19T21:17:36.690" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Customs may complain, but not likely. I'd make sure to pack it with your climbing gear, along with the chalk packaging.  If customs suspect drugs, a simple test will confirm it for them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there's always the chance you'll get someone trying to make a name for himself, and give you a hard time.  I had a friend who was stopped by police when he was marking a trail with flour. The cop accused him of throwing handfuls of cocaine on the ground. Nothing ended up coming of it, but it could have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other option is to ship it to yourself over there.  Just make sure to use a reliable carrier so that it conforms to your travel schedule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T16:00:00.797" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T16:00:00.797" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5890" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5897" CreationDate="2014-06-20T20:19:31.090" Score="16" ViewCount="1512" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have come into possession of two standard 30 litre food barrels, but no method of carrying them while portaging. I have heard of people carrying two of these at a time, possibly using an external backpack frame. However, I can't find any products that do this or just pictures of something I could rig up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V5Dj6.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V5Dj6.png&quot; alt=&quot;30 Litre Food Barrel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 30L barrels are 20 inches tall and about 12 inches in diameter. &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.portageur.ca/tag/canoe-barrels&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is more information about 'canoe/food barrels' for those unfamiliar.&lt;/a&gt; Note that the usual barrels, like those pictured in that article, are 60L, whereas I now have two 30L ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anybody has done or seen this, I would appreciate advice on the kind of pack or frame used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3400" LastEditorUserId="3400" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T11:37:22.010" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T22:15:23.347" Title="Pack to carry two 30 L barrels" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5861" CreationDate="2014-06-21T11:43:42.047" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to add to the existing answer that while sunscreen effectiveness does decrease as it is absorbed into the body, wears off, or is washed off, high SPF sunscreens will still block most sun after the two hours. The FDA recommendations for reapplication every two hours are basically to provide maximum protection, because the level of protection does decrease over time. I don't know the history of how the 2 hour period was introduced, but it is the usage that the FDA considers proven to prevent skin cancer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From my personal experience:&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;The two hour rule is pretty conservative, if you use large amounts of high SPF sunscreen.  I used to spend most of June on a boat in the sun in the desert. I'm very pale, although I do tan a little. Without sunscreen, I would burn in 15-30 minutes. With an SPF 30, I would get lightly burned after 8-10 hours in the sun, unless I reapplied at least once, maybe twice during the day. With a zinc-based high SPF (Blue Lizard brand), I could apply the sunscreen before dawn, and wouldn't be any darker by late afternoon when I finished.  Other coworkers used different brands, but for all of us, using the highest SPF available, we only had to apply it once to keep from burning. This sort of usage hasn't been proven to prevent skin cancer, but I'm not sure it's been specifically tested either. It probably does, since it prevents burns, but it may not do so as well as frequent reapplications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To summarize:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Sunscreen protection decreases the longer you wear it, and it decreases faster if you do activities that will rub or wash it off (sweating, swimming, drying yourself with a towel). Depending on the type of sunscreen, absorption into the skin will also decrease effectiveness. But the protection won't magically disappear after two hours, and may still be sufficient to prevent burning after all day long, depending on the sunscreen you used, your activities, and how thickly you slathered it on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T13:53:20.820" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T13:53:20.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5892" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5893" CreationDate="2014-06-21T18:59:56.390" Score="10" ViewCount="1974" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could you please help me decide whether a &amp;quot;team&amp;quot; of two people needs a guide on their attempt to climb Mount Kazbek from the Georgian side? My doubts come from a passage from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kaukaz.pl/gruzja/turystyka/atrakcje_turystyczne/trekking_w_rejonie_gory_kazbek_1.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; (in Polish), translated below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kazbek is not an easy mountain to climb and requires appropriate equipment and elementary climbing (protection) skills and familiarity with hiking on glaciers. (...) The safest is to climb the summit assisted by a local guide (...) The cost of a guide is around $100 per person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two of us are 23-25 years old, fit. One climbed Kilimanjaro, we both hiked in Polish Tatras in the winter, but we don't have any experience in climbing glaciers, protecting ourselves with ropes etc. We know how to do it, we just didn't have a chance to practice in a mountain setting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be more challenging and satisfying to climb Kazbek by ourselves, but we don't want to take unnecessary risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3403" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T20:25:21.090" Title="Climbing Mt Kazbek in Georgia" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;caucasus&gt;&lt;georgia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5892" CreationDate="2014-06-21T19:48:21.310" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being young, athletic, fit and having great conditions won't help you if you are missing experience in techniques/tactics required when going over glaciers. Kilimanjaro is a high altitude mountain, but it is technically easy. You don't have to touch a glacier there so it's not really a good reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore &lt;strong&gt;I would highly suggest to hire a guide&lt;/strong&gt; at least the first time going on a glacier. You need to know how to walk as a rope team and you need to train crevasse rescue. That being said, &lt;strong&gt;going as a duo-rope-team should only be done by very experienced mountaineers&lt;/strong&gt;. Crevasse rescue is very tough and technically challenging when there is only one guy on the bright side of the glacier...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100 bucks isn't that much for a guide plus you will learn really a lot on that tour. Go for it, hire a guide and enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-06-21T19:48:21.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5894" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-22T18:07:40.147" Score="27" ViewCount="18858" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend we went &quot;pole camping&quot;. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/Overnachten/Kampeerterreinen/Zoekresultaten.aspx?AccommodationType=Kampeerterreinen&amp;amp;campingtype=Vrij%20kamperen&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pole camp site&lt;/a&gt; (dutch link only) is a camp site offered by the departments of forestry in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is very basic. What is offered is a handpump providing ground water, a fire place and and a place for three trekking tents usually some where along hiking trails in both the Netherlands and Belgium. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the pole-camp site we stayed at this weekend, the ground water looked very clear. Directly from the source you could see right through. However, upon cooking the water turned brown with a fatty film floating on top. The longer the water boiled, the more brown the water became. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lIJXp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Brown water with film&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes clear ground water turns brown upon cooking and more importantly can you still consume it after thoroughly cooking it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2304" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:00:54.717" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T00:57:58.403" Title="Can groundwater still be consumed if after boiling the water turns brown with an oily substance floating on top?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5894" CreationDate="2014-06-22T23:17:23.733" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is likely caused by iron in the pump or pipes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/ironFS.htm&quot;&gt;Illinois Department of Public Health&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Iron is mainly present in water in two forms: either the soluble ferrous iron or the insoluble ferric iron. &lt;strong&gt;Water containing ferrous iron is clear and colorless&lt;/strong&gt; because the iron is completely dissolved. When exposed to air in the pressure tank or atmosphere, the &lt;strong&gt;water turns cloudy and a reddish brown substance begins to form&lt;/strong&gt;. This sediment is the oxidized or ferric form of iron that will not dissolve in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iron is not hazardous to health&lt;/strong&gt;, but it is considered a secondary or aesthetic contaminant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When iron exists along with certain kinds of bacteria, a smelly biofilm can form&lt;/strong&gt;. To survive, the bacteria use the iron, leaving behind a reddish brown or yellow slime&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely it is safe to consume, but I would avoid cooking with that water as it may change the taste of your dish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-06-23T01:16:53.450" LastActivityDate="2014-06-23T01:16:53.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5896" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-23T10:47:57.733" Score="6" ViewCount="369" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have gained an interest in arranging a full week camping trip together with some friends(party of 4). We are looking to cut down on our packing by limiting ourselves to emergency rations(freeze-dried and power bars). The distance we will be travelling is not that great(30km with 3 stops) and have come up with several ways to feed our party while we're camped out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fishing, both active and passive(we have already got licenses for fishing).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Setting traps for small game.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scavenging for roots and berries.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bite the bullet and just pack more food, somewhat spoiling the purpose of the trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had some success on my own in fishing with cages, and this is what I consider to be the most promising method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T13:35:47.433" Title="What is the most energy efficient way to get food in the wilderness(Central Sweden)?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5890" CreationDate="2014-06-23T12:24:45.207" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend a soft open frameless pack, like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.duluthpack.com/backpacks/canoe-packs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Duluth&lt;/a&gt;, which is made of canvas. We can fit three food barrels into our Duluth, but they are olive barrels (watertight) not the standard blue ones. I looked at the 115 L dry bags on the MEC site and it looks like your barrel might &lt;strong&gt;just&lt;/strong&gt; squeeze into one, though paying for a drybag and then putting something rigid and waterproof in it doesn't seem like a great plan to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are our two bags surrounded by some other stuff for scale:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oSJpM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oSJpM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is one alone with the outlines of the barrel ends clearly visible:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yHftM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yHftM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer soft frameless bags because frames get caught up in canoes and generally tick me off if I need to climb over them. Especially when you have passengers (my children first went in a canoe at 6 weeks, and my oldest tripped at 11.5 months) a nice soft Duluth to lean back on is essential in-boat furniture. Frames are helpful if you're going to carry 20-40 pounds all day. They don't help much if you're going to carry 90 pounds 700m up and down a hill, and they get in the way all the rest of the time, so I stick with my 30+ year old canvas and leather - they've outlasted all my other camping equipment, btw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We put our three narrow barrels into the bag sideways, with the mouths always at the same end. If you have two, you could consider putting them in upright which might make it easier to access food without taking the barrels out of the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T12:06:30.017" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T12:06:30.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5898" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5902" CreationDate="2014-06-23T17:02:27.917" Score="29" ViewCount="4506" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a few months my fiance and I will be joining two friends camping. My friends chocolate labrador will be joining us for the weekend. My fiance and I, whilst both dog lovers, have no experience camping with a dog. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a decent four man tent with a large living area, which you can easily stand upright in and a bucket ground sheet. So there should be plenty of room for the four of us and the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dog is well trained but as a chocolate lab is rather excitable at times and has a tendency to want to play with wild animals (especially squirrels!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be a good way to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep her entertained in the tent whilst we are not hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep her free to move at night but not allow her to escape and run amok?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Just to say this is regular camping (not wild) but would likely be on farmland in North Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second edit: Also predominantly on the first night we won't have hiked at all and we would have driven for a few hours so she will likely be excitable then, as stated by both answers and comments I understand she will be knackered after our main days hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just an addition&lt;/em&gt; as I made some assumptions which lead to some confusion (I'll know better next time I ask a question), firstly that it would be understood a bucket groundsheet is separated from the main tent - this assumption is due to the bi-annual tent show we go to never having a connected groundsheet for 4 man or larger tents so my apologies there! And also for the confusion about where the dog would have to sleep as leaving her outside the tent in the UK is not an option (despite the high chance for rain, we wouldn't want a kind soul calling the RSPCA on us for neglect, or risk her running off, or the slim chance she would be stolen...) so apologies for that confusion also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt; From advice from some family friends we're staging a trial run in a few weekends to see how the dog gets on with our tent (and allow us to prep it) thanks again for all the wonderful answers / advice here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-09T10:00:36.670" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T00:16:01.143" Title="Camping with a dog for the first time" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5898" CreationDate="2014-06-23T18:33:52.777" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could think through some of the possible problems based on your knowledge of the area: roads with fast traffic; cattle that could hurt the dog; livestock such as chickens that the dog could kill; other dogs that live there and would be defending their territory. If none of these seems like a real issue, then I would just let the dog roam freely around the campsite. She might go chasing after a squirrel, but unfortunately for her, squirrels know how to climb trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If these other issues do seem to make it a no-go to let her roam freely, then I would keep her tied to a tree, not penned up in the tent. I would think that keeping a dog inside a tent would be a disaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;this is regular camping (not wild) but would likely be on farmland in&#xA;  North Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you translate this into USian for me? Here in the US, most people who talk about going camping mean car camping in a campground where you pay for a small spot alongside other groups in other spots. In contradistinction to that we would have backcountry camping, where you hike in with backpacks and camp in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-06-23T18:33:52.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2014-06-23T18:42:49.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a strap called Cho Pat that my dr. told me about -- it helps immensely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3407" LastActivityDate="2014-06-23T18:42:49.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5898" CreationDate="2014-06-23T19:55:55.007" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a decent thread discussing this issue over at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=20521&quot;&gt;BPL&lt;/a&gt;.  Based on that and similar discussions, my suggestions would be as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cover the floor of the tent with a tarp or similar material.  While the flooring will probably be fine, this will provide additional protection (and simplify cleanup if there's mud involved).  (When wild camping you can probably skip this.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the dog has a bed, bringing it along will give her a familiar place to sleep and hopefully keep her off expensive and delicate sleeping bags.  (For those who regularly wild-camp, training her on a section of foam sleeping pad at home will give you a lighter option for the road.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't leave the dog alone in the tent.  Other than items in the tent, the most vulnerable part of the tent will probably be mesh netting, as the dog can see through it and might try to go through it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep the dog on a short leash or tied to a tree when cooking; you don't want an excited or hungry dog knocking over the stove.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have a clean-up plan for when the dog finds water or mud.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regularly trimming the dog's nails is recommended, but keep in mind the edges will be sharpest just after a trim.  So, either trim them well in advance of a trip or do a very thorough job of filing them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-06-23T19:55:55.007" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5898" CreationDate="2014-06-23T20:37:37.373" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly backpack overnight with two dogs (one is a great dane / lab mix) in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tired dog is a good dog. I have an advantage of several miles of hiking in, but you can still tire the dog out when you get there. A frisbee (flying disc) and swimming works well for my big guy (the lab mix), my smaller girl is tired from the hike itself. Whatever works for the dog, it's well worth bringing along.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't leave the dog alone in the tent. At all. Not even for a minute It's a great way to have a torn up tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staking the dog on a long lead may work well in farmland in North Wales. I backpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains (bear and mountain lion country), so my dogs are not tied up ever when we pack. We do a patrol of the campsite before bed (I use a flashlight), and then my dogs spend the night in the tent with me. Most nocturnal animals stay far from the tent because they smell the dogs, and our food never comes near the tent site, so that doesn't attract anything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll echo the advice on a bed for the dog. I tried to skimp on a mattress for them because I didn't want to pack it in. Guess what -- two dogs totaling over 75 kg can easily shove you off your pad during the night, and the ground is very hard and cold. Now I &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; pack that dog mattress and we all sleep better. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3408" LastActivityDate="2014-06-23T20:37:37.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2014-06-24T11:17:25.740" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the suggestions above, regular use of walking or trekking poles are a great help in alleviating knee and hip problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T11:17:25.740" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5898" CreationDate="2014-06-24T13:32:31.280" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly take my two medium-sized dogs car camping and keep them inside the tent with me. I initially took them on a practice trip to a nearby park and let them sleep in the tent with me. The dogs tore holes in the mesh because they kept trying to go after animals. We learned two lessons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dogs that can see out want to get out. We put the rain fly on and they lost interest in leaving. They move around but don't scratch at the mesh (..as much). However, when it's warm out this can be miserable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a nice soft-sided kennel and put it inside the tent. It doesn't need to be very large, just big enough for the dog to stand up and sleep comfortably. The one we found folds up like a standard camping chair and has thick mesh and canvas sides that hold up to pawing and scratching. We've used it dozens of times and the dogs will often whine to get into it at night. This also works well when we don't use the fly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I definitely wouldn't recommend carrying the kennel while backpacking, but it's essential when we're car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I can't find the specific kennel I bought but it's similar to these &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dog.com/crates/soft-sided-crates/2/&quot;&gt;soft-sided kennels&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T13:32:31.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5896" CreationDate="2014-06-24T13:35:47.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Up in the wilds of Sweden I'd go for reindeer rather than moose. Lot easier to drag back to camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem with living off the land is there are lots of things in the land that want to live off you. The reindeer will likely have worms, rodents are almost guaranteed to have some kind of parasites[1], occasionally rabies[2], and the smaller birds are simply not worth the effort. Even the fish you mentioned need proper cooking. Do you already know how to butcher small game? Cleaning fish is easy, skinning a beaver is not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your end goal is weight reduction you need to consider the balance of packaged food against fuel. Yes, you can get fuel off the land but not if it's been raining. Gas burners will quickly boil a litre of water for a packaged dinner without having to gather and build the campfire you would need to cook today's catch. Also consider the time spent hunting unless, again, that's the point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Berry picking will also take a lot of time - are there edible berries in that area, are they in season, can you tell the difference between edible and inedible? Forget mushrooms unless you can positively identify each one that can survive a Scandinavian winter. And by identify I mean &quot;here is a kilogram of mushrooms. Put all the edible ones in this pan, all the poisonous ones in that pan. You have one minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do go the wilderness route, book a doctor's appointment for when you return. Worms, parasites, tick-borne diseases, heavy-metal levels. A veterinarian might be better than a city doctor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stay far away from rabbits. Especially white ones living in caves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A wild animal with no apparent fear of humans likely has terminal rabies. Yes, Sweden is rabies-free but others might read this in the future.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3325" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T13:35:47.433" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4548" CreationDate="2014-06-24T13:52:31.500" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Cattle_Dog#Characteristics&quot;&gt;Australian cattle dog&lt;/a&gt; or other types of working dogs. Mine loves backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cattle dogs have very high energy levels and are bred to travel long distances. Excellent for trail running and hiking long distances.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can carry their own food/water and will do so without whining or stopping (working mentality).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have a very active mind and are very alert, good as a watchdog but have very sweet temperaments.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They require very little in terms of grooming. They have a short to medium-length double coat which is naturally rain-resistant but also can be dried quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are medium-sized, in case you need to carry it if injured.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very trainable if you're looking on taking it out off-leash.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also to note, if you're going to get a long-haired dog for backpacking in the summer, be sure to have its hair cut very short. It's a myth that hair keeps dogs cool-- they get really hot really fast. I also have a long-haired Australian Shepard that goes summer camping in Texas weather with its summer haircut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T13:52:31.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5908" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5910" CreationDate="2014-06-24T19:53:52.607" Score="6" ViewCount="1962" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Vango Hurricane Alpha tent (made in Scotland) which I have owned since new in the early 1990s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have recently noticed that there are irregular white patches on the inside of the flysheet which appears to be the inner coating beginning to delaminate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way of repairing this coating other than as a temporary repair or must I just accept that this tent, otherwise still in excellent condition, is just reaching the end of its useful life?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T15:15:42.343" Title="Can a nylon tent flysheet which is delaminating be repaired?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5908" CreationDate="2014-06-24T20:36:10.820" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you are correct and what you see it is the polyurethane coating chemically breaking down.  Warm or damp conditions will accelerate this.  An example image is displayed on the Outdoor Gear Lab &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/backpacking-tent-reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tent-buying page&lt;/a&gt; under the section discussing polyurethane coatings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually this means it's time to get a new tent, although there is one thing you can try.  A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=36975&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;thread on BPL&lt;/a&gt; mentioned the following steps as received from one tent manufacturer (Sierra Designs):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash in front load washer or soak in a tub with a laundry detergent until the laminate peels off or is no longer sticky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you have all the soap out of the fabric and that it is dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Re-laminate with Tent Sure by the McNett Company. This is a paint-on, and 2 coats should be sufficient.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the tent or fly has time to dry between coats. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also mentioned that this is not guaranteed to work.  However, many people use similar techniques (often with silicone coatings) to seam-seal their shelters, and I have not heard anything to suggest such coatings are particularly temporary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T20:36:10.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2014-06-24T23:03:57.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do both. I use some Tyvek I got from a construction site (one of the workers rolling the outside of the house gave me enough for inside and outside for $5!). I use the outside liner to protect my tent from sticks and other sharp objects that can puncture the floor. On the inside I use it, well, because I can be a bit of a pig, I suppose. Dirt, crumbs, etc are easy to get rid of by folding it and dumping it outside the tent. No sweeping to clean out the tent, either. It works great and Tyvek is VERY lightweight material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3418" LastActivityDate="2014-06-24T23:03:57.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5912" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5914" CreationDate="2014-06-24T23:44:05.287" Score="11" ViewCount="166" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am in my woods with my dog, and it kills a protected species of songbird (which it knows it shouldn't), should I report this? If so, to whom? Should I expect a fine? This hasn't happened yet, but I like being ready, just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2014-06-25T00:25:54.593" LastActivityDate="2014-06-25T09:10:54.407" Title="Am I liable for damage or injuries caused by my dog?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5913" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5915" CreationDate="2014-06-25T08:39:25.663" Score="16" ViewCount="581" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I are both avid walkers / hikers but for a long time have been wanting to get into kayaking. Both of us have kayaked in the past. Separately we did it on school trips - many years ago - at adventure/team building week locations (for Americans, think of a summer camp that lasts a week and you do a bit of everything once or twice). I've kayaked on both a lake and the sea, he has just kayaked on the sea. Both of us did capsizing as well. Together we've probably totalled a weeks worth of experience kayaking, enough to know we both enjoy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're in the UK, and likely our options for locations are either the local canal (Bucks grand union arm), local rivers (the Thame/Thames), travelling to the Lakes (Lake District) or travelling to the coast and kayaking on the sea. It is unlikely we will do any rapids or white water currently. We will be more likely to be on lakes/canals than the sea but the sea is an option for weeks/weekends away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We know we will need licenses in the UK to kayak on any body of water, life jackets, paddles, etc. Just to note we'd also prefer two singles rather than a tandem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few things I would like to know before getting started:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After a few hours scouring the internet and getting overloaded with information, could someone provide a reliable UK book / website with kayaking information?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If we got a sea touring kayak, would that be acceptable on canals/lakes or would it be better to have a light touring kayak instead (or as well as)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What would be the minimum requirements for a repair kit?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of a location in the UK where you don't need a license?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to licenses we'd obviously like to keep equipment costs down, but is it possible to go too cheap - and if so could someone give me a reasonable minimum spend on a kayak? (for the UK so in pound sterling, if in dollars can you take into account most things in the UK are more expensive than the US?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; We ended up talking to a nice guy over at Canoe England who confirmed their licences for us. We've purchased our kayaks - after much discussion with the kayak company we went for sit-on-tops - from a Cornish company and are now waiting for them to arrive. Thanks to Rory and Vclaw for your help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-04-10T10:45:03.587" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T20:41:44.087" Title="Kayaking in the UK" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5912" CreationDate="2014-06-25T09:10:54.407" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have absolute responsibility for your dog, what it does is always your fault in the eyes of the law. If your dog kills an animal, you are also responsible for reporting it to the department that handles the preservation of wild animals(Naturvårdsverket here in Sweden). A fine might be imposed or if the case is severe, the dog might even be put down in some countries(though this is mostly the case if the attack is on a human).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-06-25T09:10:54.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5913" CreationDate="2014-06-25T13:26:51.427" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoe-england.org.uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Canoeing&lt;/a&gt; is an excellent website for this sort of thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 - It would be acceptable to use a sea kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 - Completely depends on your kayak. For a quick temporary repair, you may be able to get away with a patch and glue (costing about £5) but you'd be better off with cloth tape and fibreglass resin if you have the time to let it cure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4 - You only need a licence for registered 'waterways' - read their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/membership/waterways-licences/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;licences page.&lt;/a&gt; which also gives some rivers which do not need a licence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T00:06:49.130" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T00:06:49.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5913" CreationDate="2014-06-25T19:49:19.747" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;4 - In Scotland, you have a general right of access under the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/&quot;&gt;Scottish Outdoor Access Code&lt;/a&gt;. This applies to just about all land and inland waters, and allows non-motorised recreation and passage. So this includes kayaking and canoeing on rivers, lochs and canals. These rights are dependent on being responsible, eg avoid disturbing other people or damaging the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Scottish Canoe Association have produced a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoescotland.org/AccessEnvironment/ResponsibleAccess/PaddlersAccessCode.aspx&quot;&gt;Paddler's Access Code&lt;/a&gt; which summarises these rights and responsibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most canals in Scotland are managed by Scottish Canals. You do not need a licence to paddle on these. If paddling on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/our-canals/caledonian-canal/paddling&quot;&gt;Caledonian Canal&lt;/a&gt; - which is part of the Great Glen Canoe Trail - then Scottish Canals recommend registering with them in advance. This ensures you have understood all of the safety information, and lets you be informed of any works which could affect your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-06-25T19:49:19.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5917" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5955" CreationDate="2014-06-25T23:59:30.243" Score="11" ViewCount="6593" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally climb with a single 10 mm x 60 m rope. On some multipitch trad climbs, I don't expect to have to rappel off, but I might have to in an emergency. Many people carry a special-purpose 6 mm rope for this purpose, referred to as a &quot;tag line&quot; or &quot;pull cord.&quot; They can then do a full 60 m single-strand rappel and use the thin rope to pull down the climbing rope after them after each rap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems as though there is probably not a single rule as to what to bring: no tag line, a tag line, or a second climbing rope that you could lead on. There should be some decision-making process based on knowledge of the route. I'm not very experienced at multipitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Folks who are more experienced, &lt;strong&gt;what factors would you look at?&lt;/strong&gt; For example, if there are three pitches, each more than 30 m, do you say something like this to yourself? -- &quot;If I split each pitch in half and rap off with a single rope, then that means leaving gear behind in six places, and I would run out of gear before I get to the bottom.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the argument for bringing a second real climbing rope would be that otherwise if you pull on the tag line and it gets stuck, you're in real trouble. However, canyoneers do this regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get 6 mm spectra rope, which is lighter than nylon but expensive and just as bulky. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.espritropes.com/water.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polypropylene ropes&lt;/a&gt; are almost as light as spectra, but I haven't been able to find a dealer and don't know how the cost compares with spectra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-06-30T15:21:36.000" LastActivityDate="2015-02-27T20:12:41.187" Title="&quot;Tag line&quot;/&quot;pull cord&quot; for multipitch trad: what kind and when needed?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1560" CreationDate="2014-06-26T02:31:53.147" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you ask civilians, you'll typically get responses along the lines of...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;No way, there are dangerous chemicals!&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;No way, it just doesn't work!&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;No way, you'll smell like ass for weeks!&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I (and &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; other military vets) can tell you that it does, in fact, work extremely well.  Military men (and recently maybe women) have been using this trick for decades, with no side-effects besides potentially smelling really awful depending on how much you consume.  Every MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) comes with a book of matches handy, which is why the trick is so convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One match-head per month will typically be sufficient to keep insects off of you, with no noticeable stink either.  If you need more potency, consume more regularly, maybe weekly or even daily - just keep in mind that more match heads = more stink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, potassium chlorate is a toxic chemical.  &lt;em&gt;However&lt;/em&gt;, it is not contained in nearly high-enough quantities to be harmful unless you're slamming an entire pack of matches (and maybe not even then).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Phosphorus, the final chemical ingredient in match heads, is an element essential to your bodily functions, and represents 1% of your body mass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Final disclaimer: as far as I know, &lt;em&gt;only strike-on-the-box safety matches&lt;/em&gt; will always have the antimony (III) sulfide in them that makes the trick work.  Strike-anywhere matches may not contain this element, and so might just do nothing at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3423" LastActivityDate="2014-06-26T02:31:53.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5919" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5920" CreationDate="2014-06-26T07:56:57.573" Score="10" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago camping in Dorset, England we had an issue with the wonderfully cute local wildlife nibbling away at our guy ropes. At the time, we didn't have a replacement. So with a guy rope loosely held together by the last few fibres my other half decided to put chilli powder on every guy rope at rabbit height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst this worked and we didn't seem to have another nibble-fest for the rest of the week, and I know guy ropes are not the most expensive item to purchase but we're pretty sure our tasty tent would have needed a new 8-10 of them if we hadn't managed to prevent the rabbits eating them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if anyone had any alternatives to keeping rabbits and other nibbling animals off our guy ropes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:19:46.557" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:19:46.557" Title="Guy Ropes and Wildlife" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5919" CreationDate="2014-06-26T09:15:06.167" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use to pitch my ten in such a way that I can use the surrounding vegetation as anchors, or build small metal screens to put around the ground spike and line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-06-26T09:15:06.167" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5849" CreationDate="2014-06-27T08:31:37.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A temporary fix I have tried while fishing is to use duct tape. just tape on both sides if the hole and it should hold until you can make some more permanent repairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To repair damage in a more permanent fashion you can fill the smaller holes with wet-room silicone and then cover the fix with a rubber patch of some description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T08:31:37.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4807" CreationDate="2014-06-27T10:42:41.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll try to answer some of the questions you have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) The kind of lure I normally use for snatching pike is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://images.biltema.com/PAXToImageService.svc/article/large/26143&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wobbler&lt;/a&gt;, when it comes to bait, small fish(eg. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_roach&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;common roach&lt;/a&gt;) usually piques the pikes interest.(no pun intended.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;f) The pike likes to muddle around the reeds and similar environments, so you either need to go get it or make it come to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T10:42:41.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5693" CreationDate="2014-06-27T11:35:45.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having had horses myself, here in England, part of the reason you give way if you hear a horse coming on a Bridleway is because (and I say this having been in the situation) there is no speed limit for horses on Bridleways (some might have a trot sign but not always), if you're cantering or galloping along which you have every right to do it's harder for us to stop and wait than it is for people to step over. &lt;strong&gt;Horses at speed are dangerous to horse, rider and spectator.&lt;/strong&gt; We giveway to bikers in my area for the same reason, they ring their bell, we move over. Same to joggers. My area in general seems to have an etiquette of slowest mover stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I admit that is also incredibly rude to gallop past someone, but there is some historic value to that with UK hunts. Dog and Riders trump people and cars when any form of UK Hunt is being undergone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On roads, horses are inherently skittish, but not always. Anything from a plastic bag to a lorry's air brake &lt;em&gt;may but not necessarily will&lt;/em&gt; set a horse off, which is why in the UK horses on the road trump cars, cars must slow down and pass slowly, emergency vehicles turn off sirens etc. I once even had armed forces slow their march for us as we rode through their land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless, in the UK as well the rider must make themselves clearly known - high vis is required to walk on our roads, and in general this means you should on a bridleway as well. Part of hacking etiquette around where I am from. In some locations where walkers are common you might also need a license to hack, I've had this in public woodland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience as both horse rider and hiker, it's best for the hiker to step over and wait, and for the rider, whether of horse or of bike, to slow down (if possible) and &lt;em&gt;say thank you&lt;/em&gt; ... you will be surprised how many people don't. For the most part around Buckinghamshire, simply being a walker / biker / outdoors person will put you in a sort of polite and thankful outdoors social circle. Many walkers, and various riders, will say 'Good morning / Afternoon' or 'Hello' to you as you pass, and for the most part they remember to say 'Thank you' as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what is the polite way for hikers to behave toward people on horseback?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for that, you answered it yourself really, be polite. That's all I ever expected as a rider, and it's all I do now as a hiker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-06-30T07:03:31.337" LastActivityDate="2014-06-30T07:03:31.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5924" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5928" CreationDate="2014-06-27T12:20:55.327" Score="7" ViewCount="1678" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read in a local organization report log that a group of inexperienced and stranded hikers gambled up a route and had to take a risky way down the hill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the process, a guy got badly injured and he couldn't continue. He had to be carried down on a stretcher, but they didn't have one. The region is very remote and it is difficult to mount a local rescue operation, which may have prompted them to carry him out on their own. They made a  makeshift stretcher, but it gave up at certain times and the guy suffered more injuries due to falls. That, I believe, is horrible decision to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder about the scenarios where one may come across such a desperate need. In such a case, how should I go about making a makeshift stretcher?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:33:13.490" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T04:33:13.490" Title="Makeshift Stretchers" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5924" CreationDate="2014-06-27T14:03:30.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use a heavy duty rain poncho wrapped over tree branches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Simple-Stretcher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; gives a good illustration of how to make one. I've seen this method recommended by outdoor organizations and the US Army. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the misfortune to need to use this technique, better to have four litter carriers than two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-06-27T15:33:49.440" LastActivityDate="2014-06-27T15:33:49.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5924" CreationDate="2014-06-27T23:32:28.310" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are going to need some sort of sticks. If you're canoeing, you have paddles. (It would be great if you had 4 - lash them together blade to blade and get longer stretcher handles. With only two I hope your passenger can sit up or curl their legs up to fit on a shorter stretcher.) Any other activity, you're going to need to attack some trees - get poles as long as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always carry a partial roll of duct tape in my repair kit. It would be ideal for lashing stretcher poles into a frame.If you have plenty of sticks, use two shorter ones to hold the long ones a constant width apart. Otherwise the thing will keep trying to collapse on you. If you don't have shorter sticks, make a triangle (think &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travois&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;travois&lt;/a&gt;) and jam something up in the point to try to prevent it collapsing. Between the sticks you can lash rope, bits of tent, or clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other advantage of a travois is that one person can grab the point and drag it. This will doubtless be an unpleasant ride for the injured person but if you have only a single uninjured person, what else are you going to do? (You need even longer poles in this case so you can get the person a fair way up the poles and not have their feet dragging in the dirt.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-06-30T12:12:10.550" LastActivityDate="2014-06-30T12:12:10.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5924" CreationDate="2014-06-29T02:31:43.087" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The first question you need to ask yourself is, do I &lt;em&gt;absolutely&lt;/em&gt; need to move this patient.&lt;/strong&gt; If somebody is too injured to walk out themselves, you want to avoid moving them without proper equipment if at all possible. If there's any chance of a properly equipped rescue team arriving in the same amount of time (or even more time than) it would take you to get out yourself, it's probably best to have the patient stay put.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving a patient with an improvised stretcher obviously puts them at risk due to dropping, which could exacerbate any injuries they have, especially if they have any spinal injuries. Worse yet, it also puts the rest of the group at risk &amp;ndash; carrying a stretcher is difficult and tiring on even terrain, let alone on steep and rocky trails. Other group members could easily twist an ankle, break a leg, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm getting at, is that before you start dragging people around on makeshift stretchers, stop, sit down, eat a snack, drink some water, and thoroughly analyze your situation and what rescue options might be available. You're likely a couple days from definitive care anyways, so an extra hour is better spent coming up with a good evacuation plan than getting them to the hospital a little bit faster at the risk of never arriving at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In pretty much any first-world country (and many developing nations too), &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; you can get word out to a rescue team, they'll be better equipped to help than anything you can rig up yourself, no matter how remote your location. A stokes litter and extra people to switch out carrying it go a long way. If you're &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; in an isolated location, a helicopter with a winch can extract you from almost anywhere. Don't expect to move more than a mile per hour at best when carrying a stretcher. Is it &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; faster to carry the patient out than to send a couple people out with a note to fetch professional help? If you can hike out and get help in one day, that distance means it'll take you probably two days to a week to carry them out, if you make it at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, suppose you really don't have any other option but to carry your buddy out. After attending to any immediate threats to life (airway, breathing, circulation, serious deformities, exposure to environment), every person in the group needs to sit down, eat some food, drink some water, and generally make sure &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; are as well-taken care of as possible before carrying on. You're going to be carrying 100-300 pounds probably for several days, plus all your own gear. Making sure every group member has their own needs taken care of ensures that they'll be in good enough condition to then take care of the injured group member. Don't let your rescuers become rescuees themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that everybody in your group is in good condition, you can start building a stretcher. Other websites have pretty detailed instructions for different methods depending on what equipment you have available. Here's a good one: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/improvisedstretcher/&quot;&gt;Improvised stretcher: UK Real First Aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general idea is, you don't necessarily want to make a setup with two rigid poles and something in between. Instead, you want to bundle your patient up like a burrito, provide some rigidity, and have a package you can pick up or even drag if necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in an even mildly cold environment, it helps to put the patient in a sleeping bag first. They aren't working, so they'll get cold quick. Regardless of environment, a camping pad is a good first layer. You can then put trekking poles, ski poles, or even use the patient's backpack frame (since they won't be carrying it now) to provide some structure. Lash the whole thing together with straps (again, consider using the patient's backpack as a starting point), utility cord, etc. A sleeping pad and 50' of nylon utility cord should be standard on any trip, especially in such a remote place that any of this would be necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've made your patient burrito, use as many people as possible to lift it. If there's any concern for a spinal injury and you have enough people available, have one person solely dedicated to immobilizing the patient's head. Transporting by an improvised stretcher will cause them to be jostled a lot, and you need to have somebody hold onto the sides of their head to prevent damage. If not enough people are available, you can use jackets on either side of their head to immobilize, or a SAM splint if one is available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're ready to lift, the person holding the head is in charge. If they're not present, then choose a person to be in charge. That person should verify individually with each lifting person that they are ready, then ask the entire group if anybody is not ready. Do a count down before lifting, then lift slowly and together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're carrying, it's imperative to walk slowly and carefully to avoid dropping the patient or injuring any of the carriers. Stop frequently to rest. A slow evacuation is more likely to be successful than a rushed evacuation. When setting the patient down, follow the same procedure as picking them up: head holder is leader, check with the group, count down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be safer in some places to drag the patient than to carry them. If going through very narrow or unstable terrain, you don't want to drop the patient. While being dragged is uncomfortable, being dropped is much worse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, remember to stop often and keep the entire group warm, hydrated, and fed. Hungry, tired, dehydrated, or cold rescuers will quickly become patients themselves, exponentially worsening your situation. Also, don't forget to continue monitoring the patient's vital signs throughout your journey. It's easy to get so focused on the evacuation that you forget to pay attention to the patient you're evacuating. Keep a log of their heart rate, respiratory rate, skin color and temperature, level of consciousness, and any reported pain throughout your journey. This is very helpful to monitor trends and see if their condition is stable, improving, or declining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-06-29T02:31:43.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5929" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-06-29T06:41:47.393" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-06-29T06:41:47.393" LastActivityDate="2014-06-29T06:41:47.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5930" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-06-29T06:41:47.393" Score="0" Body="Speaking in The Great Outdoor's scope, a medical emergency is an injury that puts a person's life or long term health into an immediate risk. These emergencies may require assistance from another person, who should ideally be suitably qualified to do so." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-06-30T11:35:06.330" LastActivityDate="2014-06-30T11:35:06.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-06-29T19:55:15.537" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's legal to camp almost everywhere in the Czech and Slovak Republics except national parks. You are not allowed to make a campfire closer than 50 m from the forest. Although there is a small risk of being fined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3435" LastEditorUserId="3327" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T15:52:04.750" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T15:52:04.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2014-06-30T13:48:28.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Urine is quite effective for removing tree sap from human skin. It is best to have a bit of water handy for step 2, rinsing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-06-30T13:48:28.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5935" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-06-30T18:54:16.750" Score="23" ViewCount="7742" Body="&lt;p&gt;This afternoon there was a tornado warning - TAKE SHELTER IN A PERMANENT BUILDING IMMEDIATELY - for the west half of Algonquin Park issued through the usual channels including &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/OntarioHazards/status/483663009412562945&quot;&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;. I believe by &quot;permanent building&quot; they meant &quot;not a tent, not a camping trailer, not an RV&quot;. What we would normally call a building, but I guess they wanted to emphasize that whatever you're camping in does not count.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Algonquin Park is not what you'd call rich in actual buildings and it's trivially easy to get yourself hours of travel away from one. Just head off away from an access point and however far you've travelled, that's how far you are from the nearest building. Cell phone service is spotty inside, but let's say you have coverage and you're at a campsite, and you get this warning. Or perhaps you have no electronic help but you see a large dark rotating cloud like in &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/JeremyGlobalTV/status/483665010468474880&quot;&gt;this tweet&lt;/a&gt;. Everyone says &quot;go inside&quot; but if the nearest inside is two days travel away, then what?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you do? There is no building to get into. Are you safer out on the water? Are you best off just going in the tent to keep dry (figuring that only a tiny stripe will actually get tornadoed, while the whole park will be rained on and have stuff blown around, and while the tent can't protect you from the latter, it can from the former) or is being outside able to see and run of any value? Should you at least pick up your emergency kit (I have a small belt pack I wear both ways on portages with a whistle, a little first aid, a flashlight, some matches etc and usually some food) so that you'll have it with you if everything else blows away? Should you move your canoe? Tidy the campsite? Try to put all your heavy stuff together and maybe tie packs to each other? Take the tent poles out to make the tent less likely to be picked up by wind? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if you're in transit, on a lake or at a portage? Same set of questions I suppose but with less options. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical Algonquin geography: lots of large coniferous trees, rocky or sandy shores, lakes of various sizes, paths and trails generally leading back at least 50-100 feet from a shore, small clearings and open beaches for campsites, some small islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to keep in mind: if you're in your house and the house next door is destroyed by a tornado, you were very lucky. You have a roof, you possibly have power and water, and you have all the possessions that were inside at the time of the storm. Maybe you have a broken window. But if everything you owned was on the lawn at the time, and has blown away, you have no food, no shelter, no dry clothes etc. And if my canoe has blown away too, I have no way to leave my current location and have to wait for rescue. The severe thunderstorm itself could be as big a problem as an actual tornado. Since more of the park will get the severe storm, high winds, lashing rain, I would feel saving my &quot;stuff&quot; was a matter of life and death. Yet I don't actually know how to save my stuff. And I don't know if saving my stuff works against possibly saving myself. I'm beginning to think saving myself is impossible if an actual car-throwing, roof-ripping, house smashing tornado comes through my campsite, in which case battening down the hatches against merely high winds and stuff-ruination becomes a better use of my time. For example, I can't get more than 20 feet away from a tree unless I go out on the water, which is the worst place to go in a lightning storm. Cliffs, caves, overhangs etc are close to nonexistent in Algonquin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:35:57.003" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:49:56.207" Title="Reacting to tornado warnings while camping with no buildings nearby" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2014-07-01T00:16:13.990" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general guideline for tornado safety is to get as low to the ground as possible and assume the tornado safety crouch: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kEArC.gif&quot; alt=&quot;tornado safety crouch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind speeds will be slower close to the ground, you are less likely to be hit by a flying object, and are less of a target for lightning strikes. In the same vein, it is best to avoid stands of trees if possible because the risk of flying debris and lightning strikes are both higher there. If you cannot reach a permanent building, your best bet is to look for a cave, ditch, rock overhang, etc. Any of these will provide more protection than a tent or a backcountry lean-to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will definitely want to put your rain gear on to protect against hypothermia, the same as you would during a severe thunderstorm. And bringing your first-aid/safety kit is a very good idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thorough outline of safety precautions to take while camping in extreme weather can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/tstm_camping_safety.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-07-01T00:16:13.990" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2014-07-01T01:06:36.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tent and the canoe are both objects that can catch wind. Tornadoes can generate winds in excess of 200 MPH and can throw cars. You would want to avoid being in either. Securing as much gear as possible is good common sense, but think about your safety and the safety of your party first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-01T01:06:36.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2014-07-01T08:43:20.330" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First thing you should do is confirm the validity of the news. Assuming that the news is genuine: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Report your location to some one sitting out safe who can coordinate a rescue once it is all sorted out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are car-camping, take a measure if you can drive away before it hits. If you don't think you can, get away from Cars as soon as you can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have things not packed together, grab every possible thing that can help you survive for at least 3 days, like Cellphone, Food, Medical Kit, Flashlight, a Knife, Body warmers or Rain-proof jacket, a bottle or a mug for water, sleeping bag. You can afford to lose your tent and other equipment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look up for the possible direction from where the tornado looks to be approaching. Head away from that direction and start looking for a safe shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look out for caves, overhanging rock formations. Avoid places with loose rocks. Avoid heading into forest with tall trees. Beware of the possibilities of flooding hence Avoid narrow gorges.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid getting higher, if you already are up a hill, descend as much as you can before it gets to you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look out for dwarf thickets, bushes if you can't find yourself a cave. I have always experienced that Bushes and thickets are pretty good to hide in case of gusty winds. Crouch for protection or lie flat (if possible: in a ditch or other low-lying are). Cover your head and neck with your arms or a jacket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have seen Gas Lines caution boards around, don't light candles or set up a campfire to keep yourself warm, even after the storm has passed. Ruptured gas lines can create a fire hazard. Also try to stay away from Electricity Lines, those lines are suspended from one tower to another at a very high tension. If one of them cut loose, which probably will happen, it can wipe out anything that comes in its way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-07-02T04:54:12.157" LastActivityDate="2014-07-02T04:54:12.157" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-07-01T10:32:36.610" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Romania: I have some experiences here, and I can say that wild camping is permitted, unless it is someone's land surrounded by a fence, however loose or abandoned it may seem (although in Romania you can never know who owns which patch of land, but mostly it is safe and fine). There are plenty of good places for wild camping, especially if you get a bit away from the main tourist tracks, which tend to have some trash here and there, as a result of the irresponsible city people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-07-01T10:32:36.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2014-07-02T05:05:08.697" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use salt as it helps remove leeches. ( I know it works I have personally seen it work and it honestly does dry them up.) You could also just leave them to fill up and fall off and then they are gone. The biggest worry though is probably infection for incorrect methods of removal.&#xA;To prevent leeches I recommend leech socks or pants as they really work but are a bit uncomfortable. Also use stockings (wear stockings). And spray yourself with insect repellent and eucalyptus oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3444" LastActivityDate="2014-07-02T05:05:08.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1110" CreationDate="2014-07-02T10:39:04.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are all very similar. I've attempted to summarise below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chalk&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pure natural calcium carbonate, nothing else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages&lt;/strong&gt;: It's natural, it doesn't dry your hands out (as much), you're not going to leave chemicals on holds and it'll wash off without leaving a trace, cheap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantage&lt;/strong&gt;: It can get a bit sticky and gritty on your hands, needs replacing often&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chalk + drying agent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same as above plus some chemicals thrown in&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages&lt;/strong&gt;: It will stay drier for longer, stays &quot;powerdy&quot;, cheap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt;: It's not 100% natural (though it's mostly just chalk), it &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; leave nasty chemicals on holds out in the wilderness, it &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; leave &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; traces of chemicals on your hands, needs replacing often&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Liquid&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Liquid agent that dries onto your hands, normally used as a base layer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages&lt;/strong&gt;: provides a durable layer that doesn't need reapplying constantly, protects your skin against drying, good if your climbing for extended periods of time&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt;: You'll probably need chalk as well, it's &lt;em&gt;relatively&lt;/em&gt; expensive, chemical based&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-02T12:15:09.993" LastActivityDate="2014-07-02T12:15:09.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5894" CreationDate="2014-07-02T12:59:02.513" Score="15" Body="&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cause of coloring:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you specifically referred to Groundwater, I believe it is most likely due to the Manganese and Iron contents in the water.&#xA;Iron and manganese are common metallic elements found in the earth's crust. Water percolating through soil and rock can dissolve minerals containing iron and manganese and hold them in solution. Occasionally, iron pipes also may be a source of iron in water.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Now when you fetch the water, it looks normal, but as you boil it, or even keep it for a while, over the period it changes the color since Iron and Manganese gets oxidized and change from colorless, dissolved forms to colored, solid forms. May be that is the reason to have the presence of oily substance floating over the water. In wells or other groundwater sources, the oxygen content is low, and so the iron/manganese-bearing water appear clear and colorless since the iron and manganese are dissolved. Exposing to air, triggers the oxidization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Health Hazards:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hemochromatosis:&lt;/strong&gt; Consuming such water over a prolong span can cause &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_overload&quot;&gt;Hemochromatosis&lt;/a&gt;. The symptoms of Hemochromatosis vary and can include: chronic fatigue, arthritis, heart disease, cirrhosis, cancer, diabetes, thyroid disease, impotence, and sterility.&#xA;The symptoms of Hemochromatosis are pretty much similar to Iron deficiency. That is what concerns me the most. However, people with hemochromatosis generally experience a darkening of skin color, often referred to as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/symptom/bronzing-skin-discoloration.htm&quot;&gt;Bronzing of the skin&lt;/a&gt;, while those suffering from iron deficiency Anemia will experience a pale skin color.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-07-02T12:59:02.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1019" CreationDate="2014-07-02T18:57:45.753" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Windpaddle Sails is your answer. I sail the Alpacka Packrafts often and it is awesome! Check out this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.packrafttable.com/blog/packraft-bike-sailing-around-the-puget-sound&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; about sailing with a bike and a packraft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only works with a tail wind, but does not require a mast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d5dbB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d5dbB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3447" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-06T17:26:40.483" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T17:26:40.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2014-07-03T03:14:59.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My idea is to keep your thermos bottle full with ice chips, then when thirsty simply dump some of your ice into a small cup then add your beverage!  Save as much as you can by returning the unused ice to the thermos for future use. Of course its best to stick with the same beverage, and or water, so flavors don't get mixed if you use the ice again. I still had ice at the end of an 8 hr. day, in the thermos when I returned home. Temp was in the high eighties, and dry heat!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3449" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-03T04:01:15.013" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T04:01:15.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5946" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5993" CreationDate="2014-07-03T07:49:07.137" Score="9" ViewCount="307" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read over this post: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5701/3313&quot;&gt;What to consider when buying fins for recreational snorkeling&lt;/a&gt; and found some great advice in what to look for when purchasing fins for snorkelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I was wondering what to look for when buying a snorkel. I've snorkelled a lot before, mostly on holidays in the Mediterranean, in swimming pools and once I was lucky enough to do it on a reef off the island of Mauritius. I've always either; brought a cheap set that literally lasts a week or two (whatever the length of my holiday) then it becomes too worn to use, or I rent / borrow equipment from someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking over potentially buying my own decent set (which is what lead me to the above post) I found myself coming up with a few questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Which is better, an L or J shape (or would this solely depend on the shape of my face?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a preferred material (eg. Rubber or plastic?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it worth buying one with a sump in the mouth piece?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it worth buying one with a ball and cage?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T13:43:37.040" Title="What to look for in a snorkel?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5947" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5951" CreationDate="2014-07-03T09:36:39.557" Score="8" ViewCount="1544" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always wonder, in what way I can pack my things so that the weight distribution will be good and I can find it handy to get the things quickly instead of unpacking the entire backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that light and bulky stuff should go to the bottom, then a bit heavier stuff to go in the middle, and finally on the top of that should be what you need frequently through out the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a benefit to pack it in a Vertical manner? Or should one stick to Horizontal packing sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;: I am considering this in context of 3-4 days of trek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-07-04T04:37:59.633" LastActivityDate="2014-07-04T08:22:28.790" Title="To pack Vertical or Horizontal?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5947" CreationDate="2014-07-03T11:51:52.617" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming you mean whether long and thin things should go in vertically or horizontally, or folded clothes go in horizontal or vertical layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage of packing vertically is that more of your stuff is easily accessible from the top of the rucksack.  Packing horizontally means the things at the bottom are hard to get to.  The disadvantage of vertical packing is that it's harder to get the weight distributed equally from side to side (and a lopsided pack is definitely something to avoid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in practice you'll usually have a variety of shapes and sizes so you'll end up with a combination of both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T11:51:52.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5949" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5950" CreationDate="2014-07-03T11:58:14.550" Score="6" ViewCount="5892" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering starting to use a bivvy bag/tarp combination for solo backpacking in the UK (read: no trees where I'll be walking!)  Most people seem to use trekking pole(s) for rigging these up which is great if you already carry one, but I don't use a trekking pole for walking.  It seems like a lot of extra weight/expense to carry one just to rig a tarp.  But what are good alternatives?  There is a british army-issue aluminium basha pole but they are not that light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:26:21.097" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:26:21.097" Title="What's the best lightweight pole for a tarp?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5949" CreationDate="2014-07-03T14:06:26.793" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many ultra light tents which use trekking poles as part of the framing offer the alternative of using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/tent_pole.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbon fiber poles&lt;/a&gt; (1-2oz), carbon fiber and fiberglass (1.8oz), or aluminium (4oz).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used one carbon fiber pole over a long period of time for the awning of my LightHeart Solo tent (they only sell aluminium now). In one of my first outings, the carbon fiber pole broke. My friend walked on the guy line and the pole broke. After ordering the spare one I never had any problems with it. Anyhow, I find that they can be a bit brittle if not handled properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the tent frame, I would use &lt;a href=&quot;http://gossamergear.com/trekking/lt3c-trekking-pole.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbon fiber trekking poles&lt;/a&gt; which are very, very light (less than 3oz). I typically did not use trekking poles much prior to this. I had good experience with these poles. I've heard of people who complain that they may break easily depending on how hard you can be on your trekking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:23:39.083" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:23:39.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5947" CreationDate="2014-07-03T14:21:12.270" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to find that although I plan to pack either horizontally or vertically it never ends up that way, though I've tried both in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I now tend to pack in a manner of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How likely am I going to need that item.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will using this item remove it from my pack (food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will using this item lighten my pack afterwards (gas canister / water bottles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I have something long and thin, then I try and keep it centred in my pack, working it in the same way my pack framework goes. Whilst if you find you have a lot of items like this you can pack them in in a manner which will leave your pack mostly vertical, but ultimately you will find that things won't stay this way (especially if like myself you get a little untidy, by the time I was done camping in Italy my pack was just stuffed full haphazardly for the plane home - this trip was a week long but we stayed in the one campsite).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5948/2303&quot;&gt;aucuparia stated&lt;/a&gt;, you will find you end up with a combination. What you need to aim for is a balance between weight and organisation. If I have two water bottles, one either side of my pack (usually externally but still could be internally) then emptying them evenly will help your pack. I tend to pack snacks in horizontally across the top of my pack, with cans and cooking equipment vertically (stacked) midway down. With clothes I like to pack either way as I don't notice a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try both out and see which is most comfortable for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; since you stated it was for a 3-4 day trek, I'd recommend doing what I've done in the past which is a day long trek taking what you need for a 3-7 day trek and seeing how it goes. Do this a few times, weeks prior to your planned trek, this will allow you to see whether you prefer vertical or horizontal packing, and how comfortable your pack then is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-07-04T08:22:28.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5953" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-03T19:39:47.053" Score="6" ViewCount="2067" Body="&lt;p&gt;Currently, I use this cooking setup and it is pretty convenient when the travel space is tight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kO6HZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Coleman&amp;#39;s Propane Fuel Burner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, its BTU potential is understandably modest and I would sometimes like to cook a soup or beans when on a multi day trip.  So I was thinking of a regular sized propane tank (20 lb), that people use for deck grills and can be refilled at stores like Home Depot or Lowes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zIvAFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BBQ Propane tank&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I am not having any luck finding a cooktop (similar to the Coleman one on the first picture) for it that is mounted directly on the tank here in the U.S.  I have seen exactly that setup in other countries where some people use it for regular cooking outside their homes.  Any idea where to get that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:36:59.797" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T22:00:03.160" Title="How to get a top-mount cooking burner for 20 lb propane tank?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;propane-tank&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5949" CreationDate="2014-07-03T20:15:13.880" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually use trekking poles when walking and have been for over 20 years as it helps prevent knee injury so I would use them with a tarp.&#xA;Since you want to use a dedicated pole for a tarp which is lightweight, you could have a look at this one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelter-accessories/WA114.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelter-accessories/WA114.html&lt;/a&gt; from a UK website dedicated to lightweight gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no experience of this product but details on the pole are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Expanding aluminium pole designed for any tarp or tent which requires support    from 128cm - 152cm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pole Dia: 19mm &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Weight: 285gm &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Minimum pack length: 37cm &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cost about £25&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T20:15:13.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5917" CreationDate="2014-07-03T21:02:10.343" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of someone more experienced commenting, here is my take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This topic has been discussed on various climbing forums, but a strong consensus has yet to emerge in the US.  (Outside the US, you are probably climbing on doubles, and so the question doesn’t arise.)  I do sense an increased appreciation for climbing on doubles, and using a thin tag line does have its risks.  I also suspect that a tag line made more sense when 10mm or thicker ropes were the standard compared to modern skinny ropes.  &lt;strong&gt;Thus, for someone with less experience I would recommend using a half rope instead of a thin static line.&lt;/strong&gt;  If you are going to use a tag line, what follows is an overview of factors to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, even though you already have a single rope, consider whether your routes might be better suited for a 70m rope or for double rope technique.  The first option might eliminate the need for a second rope entirely, and the second provides additional safety benefits.  You’ll see more of a benefit using doubles on long multipitch routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tag line, particularly a static line, is best suited for purely vertical routes (e.g. Yosemite big walls).  The lack of stretch in a static line will aid in hauling; if you are climbing close to your limit, you may want to use a tag line to haul your pack.  Some also prefer using a thick (10+mm and durable) single rope with a static (more durable, potentially less likely to snag) tag line in environments where the rock is particularly hard on ropes, e.g. desert sandstone.  Somewhat in opposition to this are those who feel the best approach to rope-eating cracks is to &lt;strong&gt;ensure the second rope is suitable for leading on, so that when a rope does get caught it can still be retrieved without an effective free-solo&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people report lines 6mm or narrower are especially prone to tangling, kinks, and other rope management issues.  (Narrow lines are also hard on your hands, whether pulling the rope after a rappel or during hauling.) One recommendation is to knot such lines at regular intervals and hang the knots on a carabiner as an alternative to flaking the line.  Another is to use a stuff sack as a feeder bag rather than throwing it down and dealing with the resulting tangles.  Thicker lines will help with this but reduce the weight benefit.  Once you reach the 7-8mm range you might as well use a half rope; consider the 7.8mm Edelrid Apus or the 7.3mm Beale Gully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more wandering route presents a case where half ropes would provide a benefit in reducing rope drag. &lt;strong&gt;A route known for sharp edges or to be prone to rockfall presents a good argument for the insurance of a second rope.&lt;/strong&gt;  Consider also your retreat; a long series of rappels at the end of the day or due to an incoming thunderstorm will be much easier with double ropes.  If you are attempting multiple rappels with odd-sized ropes, having to pull the heavier rope back up each time to feed it through the anchor means extra effort expended (refer to [3] below); doubles make this a non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding leaving gear behind, I have difficulty imagining situations where this would be considered as anything other than an emergency option.  (Obviously this does not include the occasional bit of webbing and rappel rings or “leaver biners”.)  Your options for building a suitable rappel anchor halfway down a pitch may be very limited, and cams are not exactly cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to materials, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/spectra-versus-nylon&quot;&gt;Spectra and Dyneema&lt;/a&gt; have low melting points, rendering them vulnerable to friction and unsuitable for rappelling.  They are also slicker than nylon; knots tied in them can fail at lower forces than expected (the core separates and pulls through the sheath).  For this reason a triple fisherman’s bend is recommended instead of the traditional double fisherman’s bend.  They are also less durable over time; repeated bending cycles can soon reduce their strength below comparable nylon alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polypropylene floats, and that’s probably its main benefit.  It’s weaker than nylon, not as durable, and also has a low melting point. The ropes you linked have a polyester sheath in order to add strength and block UV.  Personally I would avoid it, especially in an environment that would abrade the sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, some cautionary bits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If using a static tag line, cut it a bit longer than your lead line to account for stretch (e.g. 65m rather than 60m.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If rappelling on only a single line, use a carabiner block (tied on the thicker line) rather than assuming the knot won’t be able to pass through the anchor.  (It can and has.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If rappelling on both lines, the thinner line will feed through the rappel device faster.  Feeding the thicker line through the anchor will mitigate this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tie stopper knots and back up your rappel.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, canyoneers do this regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, and have you seen the sorts of things they call anchors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-07-03T21:59:25.290" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T21:59:25.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5946" CreationDate="2014-07-03T22:56:59.917" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually the face mask is the important decision when purchasing snorkeling gear. I bought a pair of prescription lenses, for example, that has made all the difference. Once you have the mask, it usually comes with a snorkel, and attaches in some fashion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are looking for is something that is comfortable, easy to clear, and easy to attach. The shape of the snorkel basically determines how easy it is to clear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have personally found that a simple J, made out of rubber, is very easy to clear just by blowing.  It's cheap, it's easy, and it works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, when I went to Xel-Ha, they just let you keep your snorkel as a souvenir, and my girlfriend kept hers. The snorkel itself just isn't all that important- the mask is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="169" LastActivityDate="2014-07-03T22:56:59.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5959" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5964" CreationDate="2014-07-04T20:49:34.920" Score="21" ViewCount="8159" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I am out in the wilderness and an emergency arises.  I have an accurate fix on my location (from GPS, map and compass, astronomical observation, etc...).  I manage to get in touch with emergency services and need to tell them where I am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are many different formats I could use to report my position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Latitude and longitude in degrees / minutes / seconds&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Latitude and longitude in degrees and decimal minutes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system&quot;&gt;UTM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(And with any of these systems there is the finer question of which &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_ellipsoid#Historical_Earth_ellipsoids&quot;&gt;Earth ellipsoid&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datum_%28geodesy%29&quot;&gt;datum&lt;/a&gt; my map or GPS is based on, which could make a difference of a few tens or hundreds of meters in the position; in dense forest this could make it considerably harder for rescuers to find me.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously I want to avoid any confusion; if I give my position in (say) degrees / minutes / seconds, and a helicopter pilot blindly types it in their GPS which is set to decimal degrees, they'll go to the wrong place (perhaps many kilometers away).  UTM is less ambiguous, but will they even know what that is?  I may be speaking to a dispatcher in an urban office, perhaps over a noisy and unreliable phone or radio connection, and that's hardly the time for a technical discussion of the fine points of geodesy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a particular position format that's preferred by emergency responders?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are dispatchers and responders sufficiently trained to understand the difference between these positions, so that I can use any format if I tell them which one it is?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there other general &quot;best practices&quot; for this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose the answers may differ between different countries or regions (I'm in the US) or between land and sea emergencies (I'm usually on land).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T18:12:16.797" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:47:29.873" Title="What format should I use to report my location to emergency responders?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2014-07-04T22:48:14.713" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd give them whatever my device or map provided me, and let them convert to whatever their devices or maps use.  Anyone used to receiving lat/lon coordinates regularly should be able to convert from various formats to whatever they use internally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're the one in trouble with limited resources.    You're out there with a broken leg, lost, in the cold or dark, or whatever.  You're a lot more likely to screw up than someone sitting in a office who is professionally used to dealing with this and probably has equipment that does conversions for him routinely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are over-thinking this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-07-04T22:48:14.713" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2014-07-05T00:34:21.527" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd give my position in terms of landmarks (&quot;I'm about five miles up Independence Creek; look for the silver emergency blanket draped over the bushes&quot;).  If I had a GPS, I'd also give coordinates in whatever units it displays.  If you've ever gone geocaching, you'll know that while coordinates are precise, they don't tell you what the terrain is like or which direction to approach from; landmarks can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-07-05T00:34:21.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2014-07-05T00:54:38.773" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always have a water proof map of the area you're traveling in ( one with coordinates on each side if you can help it ), and a compass you can use to triangulate your position with. You'll be better prepared in an emergency and more confident outdoors in general if you practice triangulating your position until it comes naturally: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/navigation-basics.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/navigation-basics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a backup, have a reliable GPS, and carry extra ( fresh ) batteries for it, more than you think you will ever need. Obviously having your coordinates in an instant will save you time, but electronics aren't to be trusted with your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can give your coordinates to dispatchers, you're leaps and bounds ahead of most people that need assistance ( have the dispatcher confirm your coordinates ). Most search and rescue teams have the skill and equipment to translate your coordinates into their preferred format faster than you can even read them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2014-07-15T18:18:38.713" LastActivityDate="2014-07-15T18:18:38.713" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5963" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5965" CreationDate="2014-07-05T01:14:59.343" Score="9" ViewCount="1665" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live at 27° latitude, about 200 metres above sea level and drink water from PET bottles laying around on the soil (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SODIS method&lt;/a&gt;). They are filled with fresh water from a well and reused over and over again. We drink the water directly from the bottles (without glasses, mugs or cups). We only refill them with water from the well when they are all empty – about once a week. Thus the oldest water is one week old. But also exposed one week to the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A visitor told us, that this is bad idea, because water in non-moving water in the sun becomes full of algae where bacteria can grow. He told us that we just have to think of ponds or lakes which are very green, which seamed reasonable to us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is it true that the sun’s radiation is not enough to kill all the germs, but it’s the other way round and the sun even helps bacteria and fungi to grow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3457" LastEditorUserId="3457" LastEditDate="2015-06-17T23:36:46.970" LastActivityDate="2015-06-17T23:36:46.970" Title="Does water in the sun get purified from or polluted by algae, fungi and bacteria?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;sun&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2014-07-05T04:02:01.713" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend UTM coordinates; it avoids the formatting uncertainty of lat/long and is better suited for ground operations.  (Easy to translate to paper maps, define search areas, and calculate distances.)  If you use the WGS84 datum, the numerical portions are also identical with the military grid reference system (MGRS) and the national grid (USNG).  In my area the local mountain rescue groups (BAMRU, Tahoe Nordic) use UTM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, aircraft and ships at sea usually prefer latitude and longitude values as the numbers don't &quot;reset&quot; when you cross zones, and they are usually covering much greater distances than people on land.  Per the addendum I added at the end, the recommended format is degrees and decimal minutes.  The linked PDF suggests reading coordinates as in the following example (for 39° 36.06’N by 76° 51.42’W):&#xA;“Three nine degrees, three six decimal zero six minutes North by seven six degrees, five one decimal four two minutes West.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of coordinate system, have the person on the other end repeat the numbers back to you; this is one set of numbers you don't want to have an error.  Writing down your message before communicating will also help you with a poor connection or low batteries as you'll avoiding wasting time trying to remember what else you need to communicate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, as others mentioned, the dispatcher should be able to handle any coordinate format, and any search teams will be using topo maps and translating the coordinates to their preferred format.  (They are usually familiar with the areas they regularly work in.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum: I suspected that [within the US] UTM was becoming a SAR standard, as a quick Google suggests that to be the case.  Further digging indicates the National Search and Rescue Committee has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/nsarc/Land_SAR_Addendum/Published_Land%20SAR%20Addendum%20(1118111)%20-%20Bookmark.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;designated&lt;/a&gt; the US National Grid (USNG) system as the standard coordinate system for land-based SAR in the United States, and latitude and longitude (in decimal minutes) for aircraft and boats.  This does not mean that some (many?) local agencies are no longer using their older preferred systems; full compliance is probably many years away. If you want to know more about USNG, I suggest posting a separate question, but here's a comparison:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;USNG: 18S UJ 23371 06519&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;MGRS: 18SUJ2337106519&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;UTM: 18 323371 4306519&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note that USNG and MGRS use a letter pair for the 100km grid squares whereas UTM doesn't; UTM instead has additional digits.  The Easting and Northing values always have the same precision: 3x3, 4x4, and so forth.  I personally prefer the USNG style.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-07-11T19:35:10.723" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T19:35:10.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5963" CreationDate="2014-07-05T04:15:44.543" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to assume that you are employing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/safewater/solardisinfection.html&quot; title=&quot;SODIS&quot;&gt;SODIS&lt;/a&gt; method of water sterilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum up the details of the process, this method is where you fill plastic pop bottles, (PET), up with rather clear water 3/4 full, shake them up, and let them sit in the bright sun for 5+ hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mechanism this works by is by utilizing the UV radiation in sunlight. The UV itself blasts the microorganisms in the water. The shaking up dissolves oxygen into the water, which then produces ozone, hydrogen perioxide, and other free radicals from the UV light. These dissolved ozone is especially nasty to microorganisms, but they break down quickly and our bodies are not bothered by the amounts remaining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method of water sterilization depends on the correct bottle composition, sufficient sunlight, and clear water. If the water is turbid and has a lot of particulate matter, it will prevent the UV radiation from doing its magic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the still water being a breeding ground for microorganisms, you'd have to leave the bottles sealed for quite some time to have any effect, not the 6-2day timeframe this sterilization procedure requires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, microorganisms can grow and multiply in rapidly moving water just as quickly as in a still pond. The reason sourcing water in the backcountry from streams is recommended is because typically, the raging river water has been delivered to the river via rain more recently, than a lake where the water could have been in the lake for years. The motion of the water makes little to no difference. A river flowing out of a lake through a field of horse farms will be a Giardia breeding ground regardless its speed and sourcing that would be far riskier than from a mirror calm lake in the remote mountain wilderness slowly fed by glaciers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-07-05T04:15:44.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5966" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-05T18:56:03.900" Score="25" ViewCount="3806" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a workhorse of a tent, an Alpine Meadows, (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5285/163&quot;&gt;described in this answer&lt;/a&gt;) that I really like. We bought it 30 years ago, and at first we just had way more stuff than we should, and eventually we had two small children (and their stuff) in the tent with us. There were times when I read stories to five children at a time in that tent. But now, it has more space than we need. And it's 30 years old, and tent technology has really changed. So we're thinking of replacing it with a tent that weighs less and takes up less room in the pack. (We canoe camp primarily, and create extra bedrooms at a cottage every few years.) I understand I will have to give up something I really like about the Alpine Meadows: I can stand up in it, which makes dressing much easier. I accept that modern 2 and 3 person tents are all generally shorter inside, and I'll take that in exchange for the weight and the pack room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step 1: go to a 2 or 3 person tent instead of a 4. No problem. Step 2: enjoy the lighter materials even ordinary tents come in (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5027-673/mec-nunatak-3-tent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;). No problem. Step 3: what about an ultralight (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5035-509/big-agnes-copper-spur-ul3-tent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;)? Wow, one-third the weight of a regular tent! That's amazing. I'm ready to buy one but hang on, why do they still make regular tents? &lt;strong&gt;What's the downside here?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm comparing floor area, peak height, and so on and don't see significant differences. I have several hypotheses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a tiny difference is huge. You can endure 1.2m peak height but not 1.12.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fabric thickness and material affects durability and I need to pay attention to the numbers and whatnot in that area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ultralights can't be 4 season (don't care: I never winter camp.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there is some other important difference that isn't included in specs that keeps many people away from ultralights&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the only difference is the price&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm really hoping it's that last one. At 30 years per tent, $600 doesn't seem like a big deal. But I worry that it's actually something else and I just don't know about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what a tent is for on my trips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep the rain off us while we sleep and provide a rain free refuge where it's possible to move around a little while reading, or to play cards etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if it is cold (for a summer definition of cold) keep us warm. We have sleeping bags and clothes of course, and the very coldest we've ever camped was a morning we woke up to -1C. That is nowhere near the norm. The norm is 18C nights.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep the bugs off us while we sleep, and provide a bug free refuge once in a while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;guaranteed shade when I want it (I sunburn incredibly easily)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep our stuff from blowing away when we are away from camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;provide a little privacy when traveling with others, whether to change clothes, or just to be alone for a while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would never consider a tarp-only or tarp-and-hammock setup. A tent to me is a place to put stuff and a place to hang out if the weather is bad, not just a place to sleep or a way to keep rain off me. There will be two adults in this tent. Also, we camp during high bug season - blackflies, mosquitos, horseflies, you name it. We never cook in the vestibule - we set up a kitchen tarp across the campsite. We keep lifejackets, empty packs, shoes, and coats in there. It's also a place to put your shoes on while you're exiting the tent, and to take them off while you're entering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're quite capable of carrying our current tent, but I won't deny looking forward to carrying 8 pounds less on every portage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:17:12.320" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:17:12.320" Title="Why shouldn't I buy an ultra light tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-07-06T09:34:52.720" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't buy an ultralight tent if you're going to put the tent through severe trauma or require significant space (e.g. to use chairs inside).  I do think the main difference in buying is cultural; unless you are poking it with sticks tents shouldn't experience that much damage.  The modern ultralights should be good for most any weather outside of snowstorms and severe windstorms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One trend is to cut tent weight by replacing the inner tent with ever increasing amounts of mesh (compare the BA Seedhouse to the BA Copper Spur linked in your example).  The REI (a US equivalent to MEC) Half Dome sold today is almost entirely mesh compared to the one I purchased almost a decade ago.  I don't mind this, as it gives you the option to sleep under the stars in good weather, and if you're using the rainfly there's really no need for a waterproof inner wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second, somewhat more recent trend, is to experiment with pole geometry.  Instead of a traditional dome design or simple crossed poles, many manufacturers are incorporating Y-joints and shorter segments to increase living space while cutting weight.  The BA Copper Spur is a good example of this, as it does both.  Be aware that many tents have only a small area with the stated headroom, which is not so good once you have two people.  The more vertical the sidewalls are, the better the livability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The inner tent fabrics are somewhat delicate but not unreasonably so.  A separate footprint will extend the life of the tent floor, and I'm not sure what would be damaging the walls of the tent.  (Perhaps children falling through a partially-zipped door, but usually the tent just flexes.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main difference between many 3 and 4 season tents I've seen is the use of a traditional dome structure with the poles (better wind and snow resistance) as well as the ability to fully cover the mesh panels of the inner tent.  (I've used the 3-season REI Half Dome mentioned earlier in winter snow during a severe windstorm; ridge gusts were over 90mph, fortunately we were down in a valley.  A small problem was spindrift forced through the small air vents in the rainfly and past the mesh panels of the inner.  The other issue was the two-crossed-poles design being vulnerable to snow piling up on the long sides.)  The MEC Nunatak appears aimed at mountaineering and has additional features to beef it up; it is probably overkill outside of that environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultralight hikers consider even the lightweight tents from large manufacturers too heavy, although some offerings from makers like Big Agnes are now considered reasonably decent for someone getting into lightweight hiking.  A multi-person shelter also helps bring down the weight-per-person.  Smaller &quot;cottage&quot; gear makers build shelters out of materials like silnylon (most common) or cuben fiber (expensive).  These can be smaller and more delicate and range from simple tarps to fully-enclosed shelters.  (Keep in mind that single-wall tents have condensation issues that double-wall tents help shield you from.)  Two example makers are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tarptent.com/index.html&quot;&gt;Tarptent&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents.html&quot;&gt;Six Moon Designs&lt;/a&gt;.  I find the Tarptent Stratospire 2 good for two people; the offset trekking pole design adds space for two people to easily sit facing each other.  (Some designs, most commonly the floorless pyramids, are quite usable in winter.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, $600 is approaching &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hilleberg.com/&quot;&gt;Hilleberg&lt;/a&gt; territory.  Those tents are bomber; the fabric is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hilleberg.com/home/tent_info/tearstrength.php&quot;&gt;incredibly strong&lt;/a&gt; silicone-coated nylon.  I have a Jannu for winter mountaineering, but would suggest taking a look at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hilleberg.com/home/products/kaitum/kaitum2.php&quot;&gt;Kaitum 2&lt;/a&gt; (or 3).  At 3.1 kg it isn't that light, but it's a good trade for something more than capable of handling exposed tundra and arctic winds.  Also, the tunnel tent design makes for good roominess inside; do a Google image search for examples.  They turn up used on gear forums every so often; I recommend keeping an eye out.  Otherwise, something like the BA Copper Spur you found should work quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; I glossed over the materials a bit, and it's one area where technology has improved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern tent poles like DAC's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dacpole.com/html/products.htm&quot;&gt;lightweight aluminum&lt;/a&gt; offerings are made via seamless &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eurekaeurope.com/k/tent-technology#poletech&quot;&gt;extrusion&lt;/a&gt; rather than sheet welding.  This allows for poles that are strong, thing, and lightweight, but do cost more due to the manufacturing process.  (Newer alloys also help.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excluding canvas, tents will come in nylon or polyester of varying weights.  For car-camping family tents where weight is not an issue, a heavier-weight fabric may be used.  Nylon is somewhat lighter and tougher, and comes in various weights.  70D nylon, common for floors, weighs about 1.9oz per square yard while a much lighter 30D weighs in at 1.1oz per square yard.  This is an area where there's a direct tradeoff between weight and durability.  The other advance is the use of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/FAQ_SiliconeVsPU.htm&quot;&gt;silicone&lt;/a&gt; to make the fabric waterproof, which results in a stronger and lighter material than traditional polyurethane coatings.  (E.g. a 30D silnylon may have twice the tear resistance of a 70D nylon coated with polyurethane.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-07-07T07:07:04.940" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T07:07:04.940" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5968" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6032" CreationDate="2014-07-06T11:41:03.610" Score="8" ViewCount="2458" Body="&lt;p&gt;Setting up a (sport) climb, requires a good cordless rotary hammer (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit_shank#SDS_shank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;SDS shank&lt;/a&gt; compatible).  Besides the price-tag, things to consider, for selecting such a tool, are its &lt;em&gt;weight&lt;/em&gt;, its &lt;em&gt;shape&lt;/em&gt; and the &lt;em&gt;handling experience&lt;/em&gt;.  Besides these, which make life easier while hanging on the wall, &lt;strong&gt;Which are the important technical specifications of rotary hammer machines?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;strong&gt;how&lt;/strong&gt; important and &lt;strong&gt;why&lt;/strong&gt; are each of the following characteristics, for a drilling machine suitable for bolting climbing routes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery Voltage?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;BPM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rated &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_per_minute&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;RPM&lt;/a&gt; (vs. actual RPM?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there scientifically sound references that explain their significance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, but not least, are there important health and safety specifications that should not be overlooked? For example,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Noise level&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vibrations on Acceleration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there scientifically sound references that explain their significance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Related sources/discussions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=2562169;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=-1;t=search_engine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Select a cordless hammer drill&quot;&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.rockclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1677172/hammer-drills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;hammer drills&quot;&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/which-drill/106165281&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;which drill&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/drills/108744568&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Drills&quot;&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.mountainproject.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="654" LastEditorUserId="654" LastEditDate="2015-06-24T03:48:24.790" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T10:56:33.503" Title="Selecting a rotary hammer for bolting climbs" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2014-07-06T15:02:03.417" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoor hair is full of sweat, but basically probably cleaner than the normal days. The air outdoor is much fresher than in the city. Probably we can skip the hair washing also prevent environment pollution but I would say You can try dry shampoo to clean your hair, you can look at this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://facianohair.com/camping-outdoor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;As Hiking and Camping Supplies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry shampoo is easy to carry and some really clean quite well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3466" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T23:57:32.077" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T23:57:32.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4929" CreationDate="2014-07-07T01:20:53.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Distilled water is acidic (pH lower than 7), because it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air. Tap water contains all kinds of salts that act as buffers. The acidity is not dangerous, but can be measured easily with pH paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true that distilled water is surprisingly corrosive and can eat through steel, brass or copper. Maybe a few mm a year, depending on the flow velocity. I have seen this myself in a cooling system in the lab that needed distilled water as a non-conducting coolant. If you need to use distilled water, there are special corrosion inhibitors. This is why you are not supposed to use distilled water for your car. It is not a health risk per se.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is the acidity, and the fact that some of the minerals in normal water form a protective film on the metal surface. A steady flow of distilled water steadily corrode the material away till you have a leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a practical point of view, the difference between distilled water and soft water is less than 100 mg of salts per liter, as most food has too much salt anyway, I would personally not worry at all. Only if you drank it for a long time and had no other source of essential minerals.&#xA;Water from snow is probably heavily contaminated and has some minerals, and people have been catching and drinking rainwater forever without adding salts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One reason not to drink commercial distilled water is that I would not touch anything that is not made in a food grade factory. The heavy metals from the corroded piping might have leached into the water, it might have been stored forever in a gas station in the same room with the battery acid. Who knows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3467" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T01:20:53.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-07-07T03:47:40.193" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see an ultralight tent as an expensive piece of backpacking equipment, with the alternative being a tarp. Compared to the tarp, the tent is slightly heaver, much more expensive, easier to set up, and keeps out bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm ready to buy one but hang on, why do they still make regular tents? What's the downside here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would assume that the vast majority of the market for tents consists of people who car-camp. They want something large, comfortable, and cheap, and they don't care about weight or bulk. Then there would be a much smaller fraction of the market that is cheap, relatively heavy backpacking tents, and an even tinier fraction of the market that is expensive ultralight tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the style of canoe camping you do, is the main function of the tent to keep out bugs? Do you want a big vestibule to cook in? Do you sometimes spend long periods of time confined to the tent, e.g., if it rains all day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[EDIT] Based on the further information in the revised question, I'm surprised that an ultralight is an option for you, since I would think you'd want a lot of room. But if it's roomy enough, and you think it's likely to be durable enough for your conditions, then it probably comes down to a trade-off of expense versus weight while portaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-07-07T16:27:54.560" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T16:27:54.560" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5972" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-07T09:10:39.147" Score="7" ViewCount="8539" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have flies always trying to get in my eyes and I wear glasses. The flies just fly right into my eye and it stings from where my eyes are dry. Why are they attracted to my eyes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3468" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-07T19:27:09.253" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T03:33:34.017" Title="Why do flies try to get in my eyes all the time?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1706" CreationDate="2014-07-07T15:14:23.370" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polar pure, the most effective water treatment product availble, is now back in stock and availble for sale on amazon.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to thank everybody for all there support, it was an unfortunately long process due to the &quot;meth heads&quot; that were using iodine, the same chemical used in polar pure, to make crystal meth. This caused the dea to create much strictness regarding the sale and purchase of iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polar pure has been in negotiations with the dea for approximitly 4 years and we are now happy to say we are back in business with limited restrictions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 of the restrictions regarding consumers is that polar pure must be sold directly to consumers which is why we began selling them direct to consumer on amazon.com with an authorized distributor by the dea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second restriction imposed on consumers is the quantity per purchase. A customer may purchase as many bottles of polar as they see fit however we are only allowed to ship 1 bottle per customer per day. So if a customer purchases 5 bottles of polar pure we would ship 1 each day and the customer would receive 1 each day as well. We apologize for this inconvienance however it is a strict rule enforced by the DEA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polar Pure uses a unique chemical process that kill All waterborne bacteria up to 99.99999% including viruses. There is no filter on the market that can kill or cleanse water as effectively and as economically as polar pure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently a new product was released for sale using only a filter and no chemical solution with the claim that is will kill 99.99% of bacteria but makes no claims regarding Water borne viruses which can cause hepatitis!, this is because water filters cannot filter at the necessary micron level needed to kill viruses. Viruses are about 0.004 microns in size, even the best of filter can only reach 0.2 microns in size. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said I am now proud to reintroduce polar pure to the market place for people to safely and effectively as well as economically treat water for all their purification needs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3473" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T15:14:23.370" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4807" CreationDate="2014-07-07T17:44:43.847" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been very successful catching northern pike in Alberta with the following setup.  I should clarify that I was catching pike up to 18&quot; long, and my setup reflects that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) 2&quot;, 1/2 oz Spoons.  The 5 of Diamonds (red on yellow) and red stripe on white also works well.   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lenthompson.com/fishing-lure-patterns.html&quot;&gt;http://www.lenthompson.com/fishing-lure-patterns.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c) Spinning reel, one with an easy to adjust drag is helpful.  It might just be me, but I have often found myself quickly needing to adjust the drag after catching a larger than expected pike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;d) Standard monofilament line.  Slightly heavier weight than normal, sometimes pulling up a pike is comparable to pulling up a log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e) You will want to use a metal leader.  Pike have very sharp teeth and will bite right through the fishing line.  I have typically used 10&quot; long leaders and have had success with both the black leaders and the standard steel.  Gloves and good needle nose pliers to help prevent your hands from getting all cut up while removing the hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2019" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T17:44:43.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5913" CreationDate="2014-07-07T19:56:11.557" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers address your question pretty well but I think you might have jumped in a bit head-first with your research and that maybe the question that you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be asking is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;What's the best way of getting into kayaking&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is go &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoe-england.co.uk/findaclub.aspx&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;find your local club&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  - &#xA;it's by far the safest, cheapest, friendliest and most effective way of getting going. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clubs will be running beginner sessions around this time of year and should provide you with all of the equipment and expertise you need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very least you'll learn the basic skills and learn first-hand the answers to the kind of questions you have above. More likely is you'll discover the breadth and depth of the sport and the rewards that it holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck and I hope that either way you have a wonderful time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps. I recommend that you have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; it has a bit more info on paddling (largely whitewater but also touring etc) in the UK. They'll be the best people to ask about what's available in your area and should be good for general advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T19:56:11.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-07-07T22:28:38.553" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have three tents, including an ultralight Big Agnes Fly Creek 2. The others are dome tents, including a Eureka Tetragon 2 and a Big Agnes four man tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Fly Creek is extremely light, but I only ever use it backpacking when I'll be the only one in it. It is too small to hang out in comfortably during extended bad weather, and there is only enough head room to sit up in near the door. The tent is widest and tallest in the front, then gets narrow and short at the rear. If you've got two people, the only way you'd both be hanging out is by lying down, and if you don't use mummy sleeping bags, you'd be on top of each other.  Unless you don't mind VERY tight quarters, it's a one woman tent, with just enough room for a backpack besides. From what I've seen, this is typical of ultralight tents. Even changing clothes could be challenging if you aren't flexible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to my Eurkea domed tent, the Fly Creek is smaller in every way. The listed dimensions are slightly small, but the differences in how the tents are designed mean that the dome's space is almost all usable for things like sitting and playing cards, as well as sleeping, while the Fly Creek is designed to provide a place to lie down and sleep, and maybe keep a small backpack. The dome is also better at providing a little privacy, because it has windows you can zip up, even if the rain fly is off. The ultralight has large areas of mesh, and if you want it covered, you need to have the windowless rain fly up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get to a store that sells tents, they'll usually be willing to set up a sample for you, and you can see if the light weight is worth the tradeoffs. Try it out with whatever gear you'll need to fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2014-07-07T22:28:38.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5979" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5985" CreationDate="2014-07-07T23:40:08.990" Score="10" ViewCount="1141" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live near the ocean (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Shore_(Massachusetts)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;South Shore MA&lt;/a&gt;) and am new to kayaking. So far, I've paddled in streams and rivers that connect to that ocean. My last kayaking adventure involved me being oblivious to boaters behind me. I was probably at fault for being where I wasn't supposed to be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in an attempt to better myself I'd like to understand buoys and whatever other markers I should be attentive to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_mark&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sea Marks&lt;/a&gt;&quot; seem like a place to start, will fresh water have its own set of markers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3476" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-09T13:47:22.620" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T07:52:36.720" Title="Which buoys and markers should I look out for when kayaking (or other water-recreational sports)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2014-07-08T14:15:11.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An absolutely vital part of my camping equipment is what we call the washing up bowl: a rectangular plastic tub that's smaller than a sink, but larger than your plates and pots. I actually take two or three, stacked inside each other. They serve many purposes at once:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we keep all the kitchen bits and pieces (cutlery, cooking utensils, spices, little bottles of oil, matches, dishcloths etc etc in the stacked bowls, then stick that in a stuff sack. This goes in the pack with the bottom of the bowl (with rounded edges) against my back. Nothing ever digs into me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we put an inch or two of hot water in each bowl after dinner and add dish soap to one for washing, and leave the other clear for rinsing (this also gets your hands truly clean)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the pair of them are fantastic for putting out the fire at bedtime&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when camping somewhere that it's hard to draw water into my water filter, such as a sandy or muddy bottom and shallow water, I can wade out and come back with a washing-up-bowl full and filter that, without getting any of my potable-water containers contaminated with unfiltered water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and finally, and relevant to your question, an inch or two of warm water, a facecloth, a bar of soap, some shampoo and a mug will give you an actually pleasant way to get clean. Do it well back from the water. This isn't a &quot;sponge bath&quot; - you can sling quite a lot of water across the parts of you that you feel need rinsing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Why three? So that while we're using two for dishes, the bits and pieces aren't scattered across the campsite. A hiker might decide to get by with one.) However many you choose, such a multi-tasker has a good argument for being in your bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-07-08T14:15:11.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5981" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5989" CreationDate="2014-07-08T18:45:53.480" Score="8" ViewCount="873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently in the US for an internship and the idea of climbing Mt. Whitney appeals to me. &#xA;I know you need a permit, but there is a good chance on getting one spontaneously. I know about proper equipment and I have hiking experience from the Swiss and French Alps, up to 13,000ft, but this is 2 years back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I find it hard to estimate if I'm physically fit enough. The trip would be about 22 miles (in 2 days) and 12,000 ft. of elevation gain and loss, not to forget the thin air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I regularly go running and do weight training. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to compare stats from this to what is required to be able to do this hike? Say like running 15 miles in a certain time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-08T22:33:36.050" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T13:25:19.403" Title="Compare running fitness to hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5981" CreationDate="2014-07-08T19:10:45.517" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is difficult to give an exact correlation between running time and hiking endurance, but distance running as a fitness regimen is excellent training. It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what you are in for so I would advise that if you run a couple days during the week and hike when you can, you should do fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get an extra day or two to acclimate to thin air before hand, that is a good idea. Back in the Stone Age, my father and I got a ride to Whitney Portal (8,000 ft) one day and started up in the morning. By the time we reached about 11,500 my teenaged lungs were barely pulling oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One possible thing to consider is that the air in the Sierras will most likely be considerably drier than in the Alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-08T19:10:45.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5979" CreationDate="2014-07-08T21:08:45.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Powered boats are typically expected to yield to non-powered boats such as your kayak, but that's not to say you shouldn't be aware of your surroundings, if not for your own safety then at least to be courteous. When I'm in a kayak I tend to stay near the shore unless it's early morning or late evening when few other people are around; it's just easier for everyone involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inland buoys are typically used to indicate distance, direction, and of course hazards. A popular phrase used is 'red right return.' This means that the red buoys will be on your right if your direction is returning you to land, or upstream (away from the ocean, this applies to both sea and inland) and the green buoys will be on your left. This also means you should keep the red hazard buoys to your right in order to avoid the hazard when traveling upstream, and to your left when heading downstream, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The state of Massachusetts has a handy guide you should take a look at that summarizes all of this, the coast guard has a lot of helpful online material as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatma.com/safetytips.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.boatma.com/safetytips.html&lt;/a&gt; &amp;lt;- read this one first&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uscgboating.org/ATON/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.uscgboating.org/ATON/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T07:52:36.720" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T07:52:36.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="5984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5979" CreationDate="2014-07-08T21:11:49.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general most buoys and navigational marks are informational.  (There are some that could mark prohibited or restricted areas, but those are rare)  Mostly they are of the “you are here” or “shallow water past this point” variety.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The “you are here” type can be helpful if fog, rain etc. reduce visibility before you get back to shore.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The “shallow water past this point” type are useful for you because if you are in 2 feet of water, there is no chance of being run over by a large ship that needs 23 feet of water to float. ;)&#xA;What any particular buoy or marker means depends on its location and is best used in conjunction with a chart of the area.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can look at the navigation charts for your area online at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;But you’ll need a little instruction on how to interpret the symbols. (See below)  It’s really a visual thing so it would be nearly impossible to teach it in this kind of forum.&#xA;Also there are a lot of “rules of the road” that determine who has the right of way and who must “get out of the way” but generally as a paddle powered craft you have the right of way in almost all situations.  This of course is of little comfort if you get run over by a large ship or inconsiderate (drunk) power boater.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The United States Power Squadron (a private club, not government agency) conducts public boating safety classes that will cover what you’re looking for.  It will also cover a lot of other things you should know to be safe on the water, as well as a few things that are irrelevant to your situation.  Don’t let the name fool you, the class offered to the public is a general boating safety class not just for power boaters.   I would strongly recommend that you find one in your area and sign up.&#xA;Also I believe that the US Coast Guard Auxiliary conducts boating safety classes, although I am not personally familiar with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3479" LastActivityDate="2014-07-08T21:11:49.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5979" CreationDate="2014-07-08T21:16:11.403" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the US, an excellent starting point would be the Coast Guard's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/workflow_staging/Publications/486.PDF&quot;&gt;Aids to Navigation&lt;/a&gt; brochure; it explains all of the markers you are likely to encounter and provides a brief overview of the &quot;rules of the road&quot;.  The Coast Guard's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=navRulesContent&quot;&gt;Navigation Rules Online&lt;/a&gt; is an unofficial merger of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) and the Inland Navigation Rules.  (The occasional differences are listed side-by-side when they appear.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In questions of right-of-way, you will either be the &quot;stand on&quot; (obligated to continue your current course and speed) or the &quot;give way&quot; (obligated to yield) vessel.  However, you shouldn't think this confers a &quot;right&quot;: both parties have an obligation to avoid collisions.  This means that should a collision happen, you can usually assume both parties will be considered at fault (though to a varying extent).  Which vessel is which depends on many things: is it under power, under sail, constrained in a narrow channel, etc.  In general the vessel with the least maneuverability is the &quot;stand on&quot; vessel.  Kayaks are not really called out in the Navigation Rules, but a Coast Guard FAQ supposedly (the direct link is broken) said the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where do Kayaks and Canoes fit into the Navigation Rules? Neither the International nor Inland Navigation Rules address &quot;kayaks&quot; or &quot;canoes,&quot; per se, except in regard to &quot;vessels under oars&quot; in Rule 25 regarding lights. One could infer that a &quot;vessel under oars&quot; should be treated as a &quot;sailing vessel&quot; since it is permitted to display the same lights as one, but, ultimately the issue of whom &quot;gives way&quot; would fall to what would be &quot;required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case&quot; (Rule 2).”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per Rule 18 (establishing the &quot;pecking order&quot;) a power boat should probably keep out of your way, but per Rules 9 and 10 you must not impede traffic in designated traffic lanes and channels.  Also, be aware that large vessels (like container ships) move deceptively fast; you want to stay well clear of them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest obtaining charts for your area in case there are any special exclusion zones.  They will also show the COLREGS Demarcation Lines, indicating where the Inland Rules take over.  Between the charts and the brochure linked above you should be able to identify traffic lanes and channels in your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-07-08T21:16:11.403" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5981" CreationDate="2014-07-08T22:21:12.650" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is &lt;em&gt;difficult to give an exact correlation between running time and hiking endurance&lt;/em&gt;. I think this is &lt;strong&gt;impossible&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will give you an example from myself: I am not a good runner because my lungs aren't the best. Nonetheless I can hike quite a lot and had no problems at 12.500 ft. Also 6000 ft a single day up/down were possible. Still I am getting problems when I have to run for an hour straight. This is just different stress for the body. I can't give you a reference for 12000 ft on 2 days, this will be tougher when you get a bit heavy-legged on the first day. But still, having the target of a wonderful summit in front of you will push you and will let you get over some pain more easily. Your &lt;strong&gt;mindset&lt;/strong&gt; is very important here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point is the baggage or &lt;strong&gt;weight factor&lt;/strong&gt;. I don't know what kind of tour this is and if you have to take food and water supply for 2 days and where you will sleep. Usually while doing mountaineering in the Alps you will get to pretty comfortable huts and therefore the weight on your back will be quite low. So the weight factor might not be of great importance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The oxygen factor might be very important but once again this will differ from human being to human being. This predisposition is very individual but like being said, giving your body the chance for proper &lt;strong&gt;acclimatization&lt;/strong&gt; will help you really a lot! Coming some days before the tour starts, doing some moderate hikes and sleeping on 8000 to 10.000 ft give you a good chance that the 14.500 ft summit might not be recognized by your body directly. So it's possible that you aren't even getting a minor headache. Though, don't forget to drink, drink, drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have some time until the tour starts, go for shorter hikes with similar equipment. One-day-trips will do it, just make sure you aren't over-exercising and exhausting your body too much because regeneration costs time and you will be weaker afterwards. You can increase your &lt;strong&gt;training tours&lt;/strong&gt; slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said previously, a proper psychological attitude with the will to reach your aims can give you quite a boost and will lay the groundwork for success. If you are physically fit, have the technical requirements and experience (maybe due to a guide) you should go for it. At least this would be my approach to the tour, sounds like a desirable summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-07-08T22:21:12.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5988" CreationDate="2014-07-08T22:44:37.277" Score="17" ViewCount="29534" Body="&lt;p&gt;Saw &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaAblon69sI&quot;&gt;a video on youtube&lt;/a&gt; where some guy made a water filter out of a bottle, charcoal, sand and little rocks. He commented that since the charcoal is very porous it's great for filtering. Then, after constructing the filter he continued to filter some dirty water and commented that the first little bit is going to be nasty since its getting the dirt off the sand and rocks in the filter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't make sense to me, if the charcoal is so great, and all that the rocks and sand bring to the party is dirt, why not just fill the bottle with all charcoal? Not to mention that charcoal is much easier to come by than various grains of sand in a forest or a jungle or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3480" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:18:55.917" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:18:55.917" Title="Water filters - why sand and rocks?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5987" CreationDate="2014-07-09T00:28:40.780" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/water/purification.html&quot;&gt;wildwoodsurvival&lt;/a&gt;, the sand helps remove suspended particles. Charcoal helps to remove chemical impurities. The charcoal plays the role of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon&quot;&gt;active carbon&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water filtration process use multiple materials, from coarse to fine, to prevent clogging. As a last stage, the charcoal can also help remove some bacterias.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the author of the video recommendeds this method solely for water filtration and not water purification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-09T02:10:46.857" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T02:10:46.857" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5981" CreationDate="2014-07-09T12:48:32.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it possible to compare stats from this to what is required to be&#xA;  able to do this hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;VO2 max&lt;/a&gt; is the best indicator of fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running will increase your &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;VO2 max&lt;/a&gt;. VO2 max is the amount of Oxygen your blood can hold per Kg per minute. This is an important factor in all endurance exercise, especially exercise at altitude. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The higher your VO2 max is, the better you will cope with climbing/walking. So running is an excellent training mechanism for walking/climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get this tested though it is not straight forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to bear in mind is that as you climb the amount of Oxygen in your blood will decrease. The rate of this decrease is complicated and reliant on lots of philological factors. Two seemingly identical people will have varying decreases in this depending on many, many factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you do not have enough Oxygen in your blood you enter an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_exercise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Anaerobic&lt;/a&gt; state. Climbing and walking are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/fastandslowtwitch/soleus.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;slow twitch&lt;/a&gt; excercises. These work best in an aerobic capacity. So the more oxygen in your blood the longer you will be in an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_exercise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;aerobic state&lt;/a&gt; and the better you will perform. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said anaerobic exercise is good at increasing your VO2 max capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Say like running 15 miles in a certain time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running 15 miles in a certain time (or whatever) is not a good scientific measurement of fitness. Did you go up hill? How much do you weigh? etc. etc. So no I would say there is no measurement (like running x miles) that is a good indicator of your performance in a climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running is a great exercise but a bad indicator of climbing endurance. Mountain climbing is very different for many reason from running. The best test for mountain climbing ability is to climb mountains. From a practical point of view, try steadily, increasingly, difficult climbs. This will allow you to gauge at what point you start to struggle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-09T13:25:19.403" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T13:25:19.403" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5972" CreationDate="2014-07-09T13:20:13.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer moisture and salts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a particular problem if you're in a jungle area, they're isn't much salt in jungles and flies will obtain it form anywhere they can. Humans secrete salts (in sweat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2014-07-11T01:05:02.677" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T01:05:02.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5991" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5998" CreationDate="2014-07-09T14:44:18.120" Score="10" ViewCount="5422" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have got an old kayak from a friend of mine who no longer needs it. As he told me, there are 3 leaks in that Kayak, one of them is very visible being a coin-sized hole (:D). The others are pretty minor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I, as a total rookie in kayaking and other water sports, do understand that using such a Kayak is something that rings the warning bell, but on a side note, I'll be keen to know what I can do to fix up those leaks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S: Though shallow waters are not supposed to be taken for granted as Safe, I would try and use it for fun around the waters that I know. I do not intend to use them for extreme situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:53:42.500" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:53:42.500" Title="How to fix a leak in a fibreglass kayak?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;fiberglass-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2014-07-09T16:44:34.253" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: Headlamp sucks at real hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long answer: Headlamp and Flashlight has different use.&#xA;As some previous comments already stated, you see NO SHADOWS with a headlamp alone.&#xA;At typical brightness of LED headlight, it very difficult to tell protrusions/pits apart form flat area WITHOUT SHADOWS. Result will be constant tripping/falling while you hike. VERY ANNOYING.&#xA;Headlamps are handy when you need both hand for work, e.g. cooking, making a tent, map-reading etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion: Get both, but use flashlight when you are on the walk.&#xA;P.S. Use a low intensity floodlight normal hike, use a high power spotlight for pathfinding/beaming at distant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3485" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T16:44:34.253" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5946" CreationDate="2014-07-09T17:45:30.243" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like a few features on my snorkels.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A purge valve on the bottom near the mouthpiece. This allows for much easier purging since you don't have to push the water all the up the snorkel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A splash guard of some kind at the top. This greatly reduces the amount of water that can get in the tube. The ball &amp;amp; cage you mentioned works well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Replacing the mouthpiece with a form fitted one. I prefer SeaCure brand. It's molded to your mouth &amp;amp; teeth by warming it up and biting into it. It saves a lot of fatigue on your jaw muscles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Streamline design. Just stays out of the way better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Master SCUBA Diver&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Assistant SCUBA Instructor&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-07-09T17:45:30.243" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5994" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6146" CreationDate="2014-07-09T18:50:56.367" Score="6" ViewCount="2536" Body="&lt;p&gt;And what are the associated risks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3486" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:30:09.457" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:30:09.457" Title="How do you mount ski bindings?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5995" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="5999" CreationDate="2014-07-09T21:16:07.803" Score="7" ViewCount="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently started to write a little tour book. The main reason for this was, I was told some guides want to see this as requirement to take you along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this true? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If so, for which tours/organizations is it standard procedure to check your tour book first?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course it's nice to have a short overview of your tours for personal reasons. I just write down mountain, route, height and tour partner for now. Maybe later I will extend this arbitrarily and maybe end with a short diary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But still, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;doing alpine tours where do I really need such evidence?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be fair, this might not count as evidence, so for bigger undertakings &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do we even need this as proof or what else do we need to convince the guides of our proper qualification and therefore legitimacy for the tour?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would really like to hear some infos from experienced mountaineers, doing classical alpine tours or expeditions. Maybe the last question is the most important one and I could sum my concerns up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I convince the guides that I am qualified enough and where is this even necessary?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-10T10:34:59.703" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T19:59:25.470" Title="What is a tour book used for?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5996" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-10T02:28:32.573" Score="8" ViewCount="13864" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a camping spot that has the qualities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very secluded from other people.  Ideally, well out of earshot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A relatively short drive (ideally &amp;lt;3 hours) from the California bay area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has pretty hiking within a short drive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not important that it's a &quot;real&quot; camp site - we don't need a fire pit or bathrooms or a pre-cleared tent area; any public land open to camping would be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this question is on topic for this site!  If not, please let me know and I can move it appropriately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3488" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:54:22.420" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:54:22.420" Title="Looking for secluded camping land in California, near the bay area" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5995" CreationDate="2014-07-10T08:21:31.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one uses them as absolute evidence, as you could always fake them, but they can really help a tour guide get a feel for your level of experience and to understand which situations you felt comfortable with and which caused you problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also help you remember how a particular tour went, as afterwards you may not remember in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-07-10T08:21:31.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5991" CreationDate="2014-07-10T11:04:53.400" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/fiberglass-repair.asp&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a pretty good article on repairing fiberglass hulls. Its aimed at dinghy's but I guess the same principles apply. Youtube also has many videos on fibreglass repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The small leaks should be reasonably easy to fix. Especially if it is just the gelcoat that is damaged rather than a complete hole. The gelcoat is the hard outer waterproof layer which covers the fiberglass. In this case you need some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.duncanyacht.co.uk/showpartnumber.asp?CategoryID=2463&amp;amp;PartNumberID=48409&quot;&gt;Gelcoat filler&lt;/a&gt; or similar. Follow the instructions, clean and sand the surround area and apply the filler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The large hole will require a bit more work. You'll probably need to make the hole bigger and cut out the surrounding damaged area, sand around it before cutting some glass fibre roll to size (a bit bigger than your new hole). Then apply a resin, either a polyester resin and finish with gelcoat when dry or expoy and no gelcoat (I would probably use expoy, doesn't look as nice but is stronger).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most boat shops/chandlers sell &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.duncanyacht.co.uk/showpartnumber.asp?CategoryID=2463&amp;amp;PartNumberID=48411&quot;&gt;repair kits&lt;/a&gt; which should have everything you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned you can bodge it with duct tape quite well, but this has a limited lifespan and I wouldn't like to really on it too much, e.g. at sea/whitewater. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-10T11:04:53.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="5999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5995" CreationDate="2014-07-10T11:36:14.240" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all I have to admit that the following is mostly not based on knowledge but more or less on educated guessing, so take it with a grain of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Alpine tours&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's first consider hiring a guide in the Alps (maximum height below 5000m). Here the answer, if you will be asked for a tour book should be in nearly all cases &quot;No&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here we can just divide the tours into two categories, based on how risky they are for the guide. In the &quot;easy&quot; category we can put all tours where the guide could easily go alone as well and just has to take additional care to guarantee for the safety of their guest. The normal routes onto most &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-thousander&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;four-thousander peaks&lt;/a&gt; in the Alps will be in this category for example. Here a guide will quite surely not ask for a tour book as they will able to bring you there as long as you are physically and mentally fit enough, as the guide will be able to handle all the technical stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;hard&quot; category are routes that put also the guide at significant risk and where the guest is not only a passive factor in the safety consideration but has to actively perform tasks such as belaying. Here the guide &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; ask for a tour book but will ask at least, what you have done before to get an estimation what you are able to do. In this class you surely also won't do a &quot;let's meet in the morning and rush up that dangerous route&quot; like tour, unless you have been on tour with this guide before. So typically you will be together with that guide over several days and do some easier tours before for acclimatisation and to get to know each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all alpine tours there is also one big advantage: You are not far from civilization and there's not much planning and organization required in advance. Typically you also are on tour in small groups of maybe a maximum of five people or so. Therefore, if your guide sees that you are not well enough prepared for the tour, you can just cancel and return to base without greater financial or organizational costs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Expeditions&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For expeditions, things are bit different as there has to be lot of organization beforehand: flights and transportation have to be booked, a time schedule for the approach to the target mountains is made and there are a lot of people involved. In this case, a single person that is unable to cope with the requirements might make the whole expedition fail. You cannot just turn around and walk back to the airport if you are on tour with a 20 person expedition in a remote area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, the guides in charge will surely want to know if the people they are taking with them will be most likely be able to meet all the requirements for the tour. I know of at least one case, where the guide in charge of a commercial Mount Everest expedition cancelled the whole expedition as he recognized that none of the participants had ever been above 8000m before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;How and what to write into a tour book?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I surfed the websites and catalogs of some expedition organizers but none of them gave some explicit information on what they expect from a tour book. However, I would not spend too much thoughts on that problem as the organizers cannot expect that someone will write such a book just to comply with the requirements of a expedition organizer. So I would just keep some kind of &quot;log&quot; of my activities. Things I would note are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;peak&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;group members&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weather and tour conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;starting time, time when crucial points (peaks, passes etc., entries to climbing routes) were reached, tour end time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;special occurrences, especially when they significantly influenced the time needed for the tour&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some hard facts like photos or stamps from the huts where you slept will increase authenticity but are more or less optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also would not care too much that they will stalk your tour partners to get information about you. I guess they will ask for the tour books before or at the first planning meetings to see if someone is totally unprepared for the planned expedition. If in doubt, they will ask you and make their own picture of you. A good guide should be able to tell if you are mostly honest about the tours you did or you are just a dazzler. For the case that they were wrong they normally have a clause in their terms and conditions that allows them to exclude you from the the peak ascent and stay in base camp. I guess &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; is a shame no serious mountaineer wants to go through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-11T19:59:25.470" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T19:59:25.470" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5996" CreationDate="2014-07-10T12:56:29.740" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 20 years ago, I had a whole day free between two business engagements in the Bay area.  I stumbled upon a apparently little-known state park that if I remember right was south and a little east of the built-up area.  I think it was called &lt;a href=&quot;http://coepark.net/pineridgeassociation/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Henry W. Coe State Park&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was mostly in the hills east of the valley.  I remember being surprised how few people were out there, especially considering the large population that lives nearby in San Jose and the surrounding sprawl.  I hiked in a loop for maybe 10 miles, and ran into people at only two spots that had fairly direct access from the main parking area.  I don't remember if the place had a campground or if it permitted wild camping, but it might be worth checking out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course a lot of things could have changed in the last 20 years, but I'd definitely try to visit there if I had a spare day in the Bay area again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-10T14:27:24.973" LastActivityDate="2014-07-10T14:27:24.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5996" CreationDate="2014-07-10T21:43:15.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many, many state, national, &amp;amp; BLM parks, reserves, forests, wilderness areas, recreation areas, refuges, &amp;amp; conservation areas with a 3 hour drive. I don't know which ones allow wild camping, but seeing how many of them allow backpacking, I would guess quite a few. You may need a permit first. I wish I could tell you exactly which ones may work. If you find some, please post it back here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option, if you a have a large number of people in your group, is called group camping. This is usually an area close to, but separate from, the traditional camping spots. Spots like these are made to handle a large number of people, maybe 15-30, depending on the site. They will have a fire ring, but no set tent spots. You set your tent wherever you want. Often have permanent pit toilets. No showers. And far enough from other that playing music and/or loud talking won't disturb others.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whatever you do, PLEASE, PLEASE, be careful with campfires. Everything is so dry right now because of the worst drought since '77, that even a hard look may start a fire.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-07-10T21:43:15.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5996" CreationDate="2014-07-10T22:58:02.190" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start this as a community wiki and seed it with a few places.  While places like Shasta and the Sierra may be within 3 hours drive, this is usually not the case once traffic and speed limits are factored in.  Note that nearly all of these sites will require reservations, and may fill up quickly in busy months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Local definitions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dispersed Camping: &quot;wild camping&quot;; find your own campsite, water, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Primitive Campsites: Designated spots that usually include a water source, pit toilet, and sometimes tables.  Unless you reserve a group site you are likely to have other people nearby.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;North Bay&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Samual P Taylor State Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Point Reyes National Seashore&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primitive campsites only; may be crowded in good weather but you can also have it to yourself in the shoulder season.  Extensive trails for long hikes, excellent mix of terrain and local wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Golden Gate National Recreation Area&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Four campgrounds scattered around the Marin headlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;In the Bay&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angel Island State Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of primitive campsites and group sites.  Take the ferry to get there if you don't have a boat of your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;South Bay&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Castle Rock State Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good for rock climbing.  The only overnight options are &quot;primitive campsites&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Henry W. Coe State Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the largest State Park in Northern California, Henry Coe is also one of the few places around the SF Bay Area to offer true &quot;dispersed camping&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big Basin Redwoods State Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The oldest State Park in California offers an extensive network of trails, a few primitive campsites for those doing the Skyline to the Sea trail, and some car camping sites scattered around the park headquarters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-07-10T22:58:02.190" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-07-10T22:58:02.190" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6003" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6005" CreationDate="2014-07-11T08:35:53.603" Score="5" ViewCount="449" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've felt of late that my rock climbing has somewhat plateaued. I seem to be stuck at around V4 bouldering and 6(b) rope climbing. I'm pushing my grade as best as I can but simply climbing doesn't seem to be generating the results I want any more. I've not pushed passt V4-5 for a number of years now. Sometimes, if I can't go climbing for some times, it drops but then I'll start making gains again and hit the same plateau.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think my technique is good. I always just either can't hold a crimp for long enough or run out of stamina. At the moment I don't train (at all really), I just climb. I do circuit training once a week, indoor climbing once a week and get outdoors as much of the weekend that I can. I'm pretty busy with my work life, etc. and can't really devote any more time to climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've started doing dead hands (hanging statically from training aids until your grip fails) to improve my grip strength. My climbing gym has installed a series of campus boards and beastmakers, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone suggest any good training systems to improve my climbing? Grip strength, endurance, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-11T12:20:29.393" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T12:20:29.393" Title="Effective training for rock climbing" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6004" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6586" CreationDate="2014-07-11T09:40:14.500" Score="7" ViewCount="794" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6003/effective-training-for-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;improving (actually starting) my training regime&lt;/a&gt;. My local climbing Gym has just installed various campus boards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aENGO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you use these to train effectively? What's the technique process for using them, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What area's of your climbing are they aimed at improving?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T20:49:18.527" Title="How to use campus boards" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6003" CreationDate="2014-07-11T09:51:23.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's one exercise where I can't remember the name but let's call it &lt;em&gt;climbing marathon&lt;/em&gt;. It is best done in a gym at the end of your climbing session when you are already somewhat pumped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search for a sector in your gym that is vertical with routes where you know that you can climb them without really thinking about it and where you wouldn't need any funky moves, so technically easy – typically this should be two or more grades below your limit. You should be able to install a top-rope belay there as we don't want to be slowed down by rope handling issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now try to climb up the wall as fast as you can – don't care if you mix up handles from different routes, just try to be fast. Instruct your belay guy to lower you as soon as you reach the top and start over to climb as soon as you are back on the floor again. The idea is to give you the least possible recovery time between the ascents. Try to climb the wall at least 4-5 times without a break, or until you feel so pumped that you just cannot grip the holds anymore. By this you should develop some stamina in your gripping muscles but also the whole upper body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally you can do some training on finger boards such as the beastmakers. For this, try to make the exercises asymmetric, i.e. do not place both hands into the same grip type on both sides, but take the deep holes for the left and the shallow ones for the right or take holds at different heights. If that is not possible and you only have a simple pull-up bar for example, then don't keep your weight centred between your hands but shift your weight towards one hand when doing a pull-up. By doing things asymmetrically you will invoke more of your shoulder and back muscles and not just train always the same muscles to pull your body straight up vertically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand I would keep away from things like campus boards as they are used to train for some very special movements which won't be of much use in the grades that you are climbing. At the same time they have quite some injury potential, so you might do more harm than good on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-11T10:28:14.673" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T10:28:14.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6006" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6007" CreationDate="2014-07-11T14:42:23.470" Score="14" ViewCount="5185" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different countries and rock climbing disiplines have different grading systems, for example the the British trad grade system (e.g. grade HVS 5(a))  and the US point grading system (e.g. 5.9)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I climb HVS 5(a) in the UK, how do I know what this grade equates to in other countries?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T15:04:52.900" Title="How do you compare between different rock climbing grades?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6006" CreationDate="2014-07-11T14:42:23.470" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockfax.com/publications/grades/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rockfax have a handy conversion chart&lt;/a&gt; this is the generally accepted version though it is (like all climbing grades) subjective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below are the conversion charts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&quot;Bold&quot; trad routes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YxnxW.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&quot;Safe&quot; Trad Routes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SU3yY.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bouldering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gk2RY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T14:42:23.470" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6008" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-11T17:03:06.677" Score="3" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find any pictures of this online. (There were some simulated hunches, but no pictures of people with bad posture.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3490" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T17:03:06.677" Title="Seeking photographs of &quot;climber's hunch&quot;" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-07-24T10:45:24.663" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6009" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6014" CreationDate="2014-07-11T17:16:36.900" Score="4" ViewCount="1493" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in a recommendation for a good hike in New England (MA, NH, ME, VT, etc). We will have Saturday and Sunday and we want to do a long hike/backpacking. Preferably with elevations of 4k+ and with waterfalls. I have been told that some of the good trails to high peaks have areas above the tree line where it is possible to set camp with tents and almost zero light pollution (would be nice to see the stars...). Someone recommended me mount Chocorua and the Three Sisters trail. Any other recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have the option to get there with two cars, and leave one car in one location and not loop around. But I know that some trails kinda do not overlap but the end point is within walking distance from the start point. So anything goes in that aspect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3491" LastEditorUserId="3491" LastEditDate="2014-07-12T13:55:42.793" LastActivityDate="2014-07-12T13:55:42.793" Title="Two day hike recommendations in New England area" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6010" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6012" CreationDate="2014-07-11T17:29:15.033" Score="18" ViewCount="4502" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently a friend and I were offroading in the local mountains and while ascending a trail a storm blew in. We were out in the open near the top of the mountain when lightning started. We weren't sure if we would be safe inside our vehicles so we stopped and got out and moved away from them. After talking a few minutes some other people came down from the other side of the mountain and we decided to follow them back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did we make the right decision regarding exiting the vehicles and moving away from them? Or is it safer to stay inside your vehicle during a lightning storm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3492" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T12:35:50.490" Title="Is it safe to be in a vehicle during lightning/thunderstorms?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6009" CreationDate="2014-07-11T18:44:05.330" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possible route to see waterfalls in White Mountain National Forest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hike in from the end of Zealand Road to Zealand Falls, then take the Ethan Pond Trail down to Thoreau Falls. Hike out the Ethan Pond Trail and you can get picked up by the AMC shuttle. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/lodging-shuttle.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/lodging-shuttle.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drive back would take you through Crawford Notch. You'll want a window seat if you can get it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Randolph Mountain Club maintains some shelters in the northern Presidential Range in WMNF that are about 4000' &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/sheltersinfo/aboutourshelters.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/sheltersinfo/aboutourshelters.html&lt;/a&gt; but they may easily be full on a weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The White Mountains have some degree of light pollution, but on a clear night you can see the Milky Way and there is ample opportunity for seeing man made satellites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T18:44:05.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6010" CreationDate="2014-07-11T19:59:35.077" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is safer to be inside the vehicle than out. The NOAA National Weather Service's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lightning safety page&lt;/a&gt; recommends vehicles as a safe location during a thunderstorm: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You are not safe anywhere outside. Run to a safe building or vehicle when you first hear thunder, see lightning or observe dark threatening clouds developing overhead. Stay inside until 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder. Do not shelter under trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also covered on a couple other Stack Exchange sites: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skeptics: &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3558/are-passengers-inside-cars-protected-from-lightning-because-of-the-tires&quot;&gt;Are passengers inside a car protected from lightning due to the rubber tires?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Physics: &lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/11882/why-stay-in-the-car-during-thunderstorms&quot;&gt;Why stay in a car during a lightning storm?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:46.800" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T19:59:35.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6010" CreationDate="2014-07-11T20:37:21.693" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, you should definitely have stayed in your vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about what lightning will do.  It is attracted to tall conductive things, but that's not the whole story.  A vehicle on a flat plane is more likely to be hit, but the conductive metal on the outside will shunt the current around the contents of the vehicle.  It may be very loud and unpleasant, but the metal box around you will protect you from the lightning currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are outside, either you're close to the vehicle or your far away.  If close and you can get low, then the lightning is more likely to hit the vehicle than you, but you are still in danger from ground currents and possible arcing from the vehicle's metal frame thru you to ground.  If you are far away, the vehicle is irrelevant and you're outside in the open in the thuderstorm.  Not good either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above advice is base on the assumption that the vehicle is a full metal cage around you.  If it has no top or a plastic (not conductive top), then you're not inside a cage and the protection the vehicle provides is not as good.  In that case, I'd try to get as low as possible on the floor below the seats.  You want the lightning to hit the metal frame instead of you directly inside the vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case I was in this situation in a convertable with a canvas top, for example, I'd put the top up and get as low as possible onto the floor of the car.  The top will mostly make it more comfortable by keeping the rain off you, and might provide just a little bit of shunting should lighting hit the vehicle.  Wet canvas is still more conductive than air, but nowhere near as conductive as a steel frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T20:37:21.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6009" CreationDate="2014-07-11T21:28:58.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a number of options, although the 4000 foot requirement pretty much limits it to the White Mountains of NH, the northern Green Mountains of VT, and a few peaks in ME.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not clear if you want to or need to do a out and back, or if you can spot a car and do a traverse.  Here are just a few options that come to mind without looking things up on a map:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;From the end of Sawyer River Road in Crawford Notch, hike up Carrigain one day, stay the night, and back down the next.  There can be some good views, although I don't remember now if the old fire tower on top has been taken down or not.  There are great views from there if it's still there.  This is fairly easy for the alloted time.  You can arrive in afternoon on the first day without it causing a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know about waterfalls, but there will be some stream crossings before you get onto Signal Ridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Take the Ethan Pond Trail from Crawford Notch to Thoreau Falls.  From there you can go down by the falls, south, then west, then north again over Bondcliff, Bond, Guyot, Zealand, past Zealand Falls Hut, and back to Crawford Notch.  This is quite ambitious, but doable if you start early in the morning and are in good shape and willing to do a lot of hiking for the alloted time.  You'd probably spend the night partway up Bondcliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The upside is you go by several falls, and the top of Bondcliff is probably the most spectacular place to stand in the White Mountains.  I screwed up once and ended up spending the night on Bondcliff.  I don't recommend that.  Plan better than I did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this still isn't enough of a challenge, you take the Zeacliff trail &quot;shortcut&quot; down from Zealand Mt instead of going by the hut.  I did that once too, and decided it should be a up-only trail, so I also don't recommend that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Go to some of the waterfalls on the west side of Crawford Notch, but keep going instead of back to the parking lot like everyone else.  There are ways to loop around and come out a different place in Crawford Notch.  There should be at least a couple of choices here you can find by studying a map.  I don't have one in front of me, so can't say much more about this off the top of my head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;There are various options for one-night backpacks in the Carter-Moriah range east of Pinkham Notch.  For example, start going up the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, then pick a way that loops back to the road eventually.  There should be three basic choices, with the southern one including Carter Dome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots more possibilities.  Get a map and look.  However, one thing you probably don't want to do is Franconia Ridge.  There are some pretty waterfalls on the Falling Waters trail, but there are no good places to camp on top.  Either it's above tree line or within a exclusion zone, pretty much all the way from Liberty to Garfield.  This is also the most crowded backcountry area in the White Mountains because of the number of trails providing access from Franconia Notch, and the presence of Greenleaf Hut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for a ambitious but certainly doable day hike, then this works better.  One possibility is up Falling Waters, north along the ridge over Lincoln, to LaFayette, down to the hut, and back to the same parking lot via the Bridle Path.  You get great views for quite a ways along Franconia Ridge, which is above treeline from Haystack to just above the hut on this route.  If you do this, &lt;i&gt;bring winter clothes&lt;/i&gt; in your pack.  You won't need crampons in the summer, but a good rain/wind shell, wind pants, extra wool sweater to put under the rain shell, goggles, and gloves is NOT overdoing it.  The weather can change there very quickly on short notice.  I've started out in shorts and a T shirt from Liberty Springs in the morning, and was wearing full winter gear except for crampons by the time I got to LaFayette.  At that time 20 mile/hour sleet was blowing in my face, and I was very glad to have goggles on.  This was in August.  Yes, it can do that, and you can't see it coming due to Kinsman Ridge on the other side of Franconia Notch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-07-11T21:28:58.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5808" CreationDate="2014-07-12T01:16:46.343" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I am from it costs $60CAN to get your climbing shoes &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andesresoling.com/prices.php&quot;&gt;Resoled&lt;/a&gt; by a professional.  Alternatively, you can try yourself with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/4001-325/five-ten-c4-12-sole-resole-kit/?Ns=p_min_sale_price&amp;amp;h=10%2050001%2050026&amp;amp;f=10%2050001%2050026&quot;&gt;KIT&lt;/a&gt; that costs $35CAN.  However this $35 does not include a knife, sandpaper or acetone to clean the shoe/rubber and does not account for labour, in other words your time taken to repair your shoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately to me it seems to be about the same cost however here are two examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What will happen when &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eEjibbAOMw&quot;&gt;YOU&lt;/a&gt; do it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What will happen when the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLyiFKDumks&quot;&gt;Professionals&lt;/a&gt; do it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would pay the fee and pass the business on to the professional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never re-soled a pair myself however one day I would like to give it a try just for fun.  If you really want to give it a try why not, but remember to take your time and don't get frustrated!  However, if you're hoping to have a shoe that's like new with a perfect edge and don't own any other pairs I would send this pair off to the professioanl and try next time...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-07-12T01:16:46.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6010" CreationDate="2014-07-12T03:44:28.687" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your vehicle has a closed metallic structure, you are definitely safer inside than out: if lightning strikes your vehicle, or near your vehicle, the metal will conduct the electricity away from you.  The protection is almost as good as if you were inside a building with a lightning rod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in an open-top vehicle, or one with a non-conductive roof, things change: in an open-top vehicle, your head is one of the highest things around, while lightning striking a non-conductive roof is likely to burn through and strike you.  In that case, I'd exit the vehicle and take whatever &quot;outside in a thunderstorm&quot; precautions are appropriate for your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-07-12T03:44:28.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6010" CreationDate="2014-07-12T07:57:33.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. It is safe to be in your car when in a lightning storm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cars (pretty sure not soft-tops) and planes act as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Faraday_cage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Faraday Cage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Faraday cages are metal containers or meshes which protects against static and non static electricity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a note... Top Gear also tested this in laboratory conditions with an artificial lightning generator and Richard Hammond inside the car. This is the YouTube for: &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/ve6XGKZxYxA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Richard Hammond gets struck by lightning Top Gear&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-05T12:35:50.490" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T12:35:50.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6019" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-12T13:48:33.390" Score="5" ViewCount="202" Body="&lt;p&gt;Time and again I read how climbers feel incredible fatigue on altitudes 7000+ m. Most of us have probably flown in airplanes on altitudes greater than that in pressurized passenger airplanes and didn't feel any fatigue at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise climbers can bring their own oxygen with them, but still complain of incredible fatigue. So much so, that they cannot even carry away the corpses of deceased climbers off some mountains. What causes this incredible fatigue? The low pressure? Or is it a lie?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3502" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T21:28:52.920" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T21:28:52.920" Title="Fatigue on high altitudes" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6019" CreationDate="2014-07-12T15:34:55.587" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome to outdoors.SE!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most of us have probably flown in airplanes on altitudes greater than that in pressurized passenger airplanes and didn't feel any fatigue at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you gave a partial answer to your own question here. The plane is pressurized. The cabin pressure in a passenger jet is only equivalent to about 2400 m of altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Likewise climbers can bring their own oxygen with them, but still complain of incredible fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The earth's atmosphere is about 1/5 oxygen, and the pressure at the top of Everest is about 1/3 the pressure at sea level. So theoretically, if you breathe pure oxygen at that altitude, you could have a partial pressure of oxygen that's &lt;em&gt;higher&lt;/em&gt; than at sea level by a factor of 5/3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why can't supplemental oxygen make you feel just fine at 8000 m?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others may be able to give more authoritative answers, but I think the general idea is something like this. Your body has membranes in the lungs and brain, and normally various fluids and gases are transported in both directions across these membranes. Your body also has CO2 sensors that are what tell you how much to breathe, and these processes also maintain your blood's pH at some correct level. All of these physiological mechanisms get messed up more and more as you go up in altitude, and simply bringing the partial pressure of oxygen back up doesn't fix everything. To some extent your body can adapt, but this takes months, and there are limits to the possible adaptation. As a result of all this, the level of oxygen in your blood is still too low. (There are also going to be various issues such as dehydration, malnutrition, and sleep deprivation, none of which can really be completely eliminated, and all of which will cause people to feel exhausted.) This causes a gradual deterioration of your health, which is only reversed by descending -- hopefully after you reach the summit that was your goal!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there may also be practical limits on the use of supplemental oxygen. I don't think a climbing party can always carry enough oxygen so that they can open up the regulators to full blast for every climber for 24 hours a day. I think it may also be difficult to simultaneously sleep properly and breathe properly while breathing through an oxygen mask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-07-12T15:40:11.057" LastActivityDate="2014-07-12T15:40:11.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2014-07-13T02:07:58.977" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fresh Un-Refrigerated Egg Storage:&lt;/strong&gt; On many wilderness excursions I've backpacked with store bought eggs (in crush-resistant container) for 7-10 days (or longer when coated with mineral oil) with no problem as long as the shell is intact. You can water-test the eggs - Sink’s is Good / floats it’s Bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info can be found here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.preparednesspro.com/safely-preserving-eggs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Safely Preserving Eggs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3507" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T12:57:56.947" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T12:57:56.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2014-07-13T02:58:28.577" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with raw eggs seems to be mainly that they dry out. As long as the shell is not cracked, no bacteria can get in&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some recipes from old books:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cover the shell with vaseline. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put them in a glass with a 10%&#xA;solution of sodium silicate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep in a container with slaked lime&#xA;solution.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last two are said to preserve the eggs for many months. Luckily I was in no need to try.&#xA;The slaked lime solution sounds best to me. The solution keeps the eggs moist and kills any bacteria &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3467" LastActivityDate="2014-07-13T02:58:28.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6023" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-13T08:01:24.080" Score="11" ViewCount="319" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to spend a few days in California, near Nicasio, &lt;strong&gt;hiking and sleeping&lt;/strong&gt; under the sky (no tent, just a tarp in case it rains). I have a lot of experiences in Europe, but I have never been in US. What things should I take in mind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it generaly OK with the land owners? I have read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28926-i29-k6072480-Rough_sleeping_tarp_with_bivy_along_the_Highway_1-California.html&quot;&gt;sleeping might be a problem&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;What about hiking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What potential predators are present in this area? Black bear, brown bear, grizzly, coyote, wolf, mountain lion? According to what I've found, there is only mountain lion and coyote. &lt;a href=&quot;http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/american_black_bear_712.html&quot;&gt;Black bear shouldn't be present around Nicasio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it generally desired to make fire? It might fend off predators, but could offend land owners?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="141" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:26:00.123" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:26:00.123" Title="Hiking and wild sleeping in California wilderness" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2014-07-13T15:25:13.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are still interested in doing the walk up from the sea-level, don't hesitate. It is a fabulous walk and easy. Just take the traditional 'Camino de Chasna' described &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canariascnnews.com/index.php/especiales/travel/item/453-el-camino-de-chasna-la-hist%C3%B3rica-ruta-de-humboldt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes you from Puerto de la Cruz to the high plain of Las Cañadas. There you take the standard route to the peak from the Portillo information centre. As you walk, you acclimatise a lot better than driving up. You can get to Altavista by 21 hrs, if you don't take very long breaks on the way up. Be sure to take enough water because there are no springs from the urban areas of Orotava until you reach the Portillo. In the refuge at Altavista you can buy water or drink their not potabolised water. I did the walk in June and it was a dream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3509" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:06:20.567" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:06:20.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6023" CreationDate="2014-07-13T15:34:08.257" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The US doesn't have anything like the Scandinavian right to roam (Swedish allemansrätten, etc.). Private land is usually fenced, and it's against the law to enter private land while hiking without the landowner's permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US term for wild camping is &quot;backcountry camping&quot; or &quot;backpacking,&quot; as opposed to car camping, where you pay to park your car in a demarcated area of an organized campground, next to other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US has a complicated system of government lands that are protected from development and that are accessible to everyone. These include national parks, national forests, and state parks. Nicasio is in an area called Marin County. If you look at a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=11/38.0613/-122.7846&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; of the area, you'll see a variety of wilderness areas, such as Point Reyes National Seashore. If you want to camp, you need to go online and look up the information for the specific area. For instance, information for Point Reyes National Seashore is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ptreyes.org/activities/camping-park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it generally desired to make fire? It might fend off predators, but could offend land owners?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, don't build fires. The wilderness areas of California are delicate and have large numbers of human visitors. The days are gone when it was acceptable to have this kind of impact on them. Conscientious backpackers these days follow the philosophy of &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;leave no trace&lt;/a&gt;.&quot; There are specific regulations in specific areas, but basically the landscape just can't handle being picked over by humans for firewood. 2014 is also one of the driest years in the last century, so the last thing we need is people starting forest fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've started a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6026/what-wild-animals-are-there-in-california-that-can-be-dangerous-or-create-hassle&quot;&gt;separate question&lt;/a&gt; about dangerous wildlife in California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area you're going to is extremely beautiful. Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-07-13T17:07:15.217" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6026" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-13T15:56:40.400" Score="8" ViewCount="10272" Body="&lt;p&gt;What wild animals are there in California that can be dangerous or create hassles, and how do I avoid problems with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:19:36.133" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:19:36.133" Title="What wild animals are there in California that can be dangerous or create hassles, and how do I avoid problems with them?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6026" CreationDate="2014-07-13T15:56:40.400" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;American black bears&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are somewhat common in some wilderness areas of California, mostly in the mountains. In their natural state, black bears are thinly populated on the landscape because it takes a large area to support one, and they are also shy of humans. Black bears are not very large; females can be the size of a large dog. There are certain specific wilderness areas in California where there are denser populations of black bears that are habituated to humans and dependent on human food. Examples of such areas are Yosemite Valley and Little Yosemite. This type of bear can be aggressive. The best way to avoid hassles with them is to avoid camping in the specific over-used areas where they exist. For example, you can start a backpacking trip from Yosemite Valley but camp way out in the backcountry. In addition, you can carry your food in a bear-proof canister, which can be either bought, or rented in places like Yosemite Valley. Bear canisters are legally required in many areas of the Sierra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same areas with bear problems also tend to have lots of smaller animals that are also habituated to humans and accustomed to begging or stealing human food. These can include squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots. The same precautions that work for bears also work for these animals: keep your food secured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grizzly Bears&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;California has not had grizzly bears for about 100 years, except on our flag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wolves&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no wolves in california&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Coyotes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes are small, shy scavengers that are mainly a hazard to small housepets. If you're lucky enough to see one, it will probably be around dawn or dusk, and it will probably run away into the bushes, or perhaps watch you from a distance. If you have a small dog, don't let it run around off the leash at dawn or dusk in areas where you know there are coyotes. Ditto for very small children; there have been cases where coyotes have bothered toddlers, but your chances of having this problem are probably about the same as your chances of getting bitten by a shark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Mountain lions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain lions are rare and can kill people, and I don't know of anything you can do about that risk. They sometimes stalk people for a long time without being deterred by yelling or rock throwing. They also sometimes spring out of hiding to attack hikers and mountain bikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rattlesnakes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes are pretty common. They're not aggressive. The most common reason for bites is that the snake is sunning itself in the middle of a trail, and a hiker steps on it without realizing that it was there. It's possible to get aversion training for dogs so that they learn not to pick a fight with a rattlesnake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T09:23:05.053" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T09:23:05.053" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6028" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-13T22:58:11.030" Score="16" ViewCount="582" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/877/566&quot;&gt;This answer recommends solar cells to recharge batteries&lt;/a&gt;.  However, this likely works best during a layover day.  I usually don't have those.  For a &lt;em&gt;nice-to-have&lt;/em&gt; situation, how well does it work to strap a solar cell/panel to the backpack to charge a set of batteries?  When walking, the panel will &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; be optimally oriented toward the sun.  Will I be able to charge a set of 2 rechargable AA batteries during a full day hiking in mountains on a sunny day at 50-55°N in September?  What about a cloudy day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-07-15T14:55:26.120" Title="How well does solar recharging work when strapped to the backpack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6004" CreationDate="2014-07-14T11:50:27.560" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess to understand the use of a campus board it's the easiest to have a look at it's genesis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The campus board was invented by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_G%C3%BCllich&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wolfgang Güllich&lt;/a&gt;, who was with &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Directe_(climb)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Action Directe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; the first to climb the grade 9a. He invented the campus board while training for this ascent. The crux of &lt;em&gt;Action Directe&lt;/em&gt; is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyno_%28climbing%29#dyno&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dyno&lt;/a&gt; into a shallow hole that has to be held with the first phalanx of a single finger. Also the rest of the route contains many dynamic moves into small holes which require a high degree of finger strength in combination with precise coordination. One of the typical use cases of a campus board is to train exactly those two things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Methods of campus board training typically include either dynamic or quasi-static moves upwards or downwards, either one-handed or with both hands simultaneously. Also one can do moves just from one latch level to the next higher or lower or skip one or several levels to increase difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there's also a big &lt;strong&gt;warning&lt;/strong&gt;: it's not a beginner tool! As all the exercises are done hanging freely with the feet in air, it requires a very well trained upper body. With its small latches that normally only take at best the first two phalanges campus board training puts significant strain on the finger tendons and joints which can easily cause injuries. One should only use it after a very good warm-up and only if one is able to hold the latches open-handed and not crimped, as in the picture below, as the crimped version puts even more stress on the finger joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAXfB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAXfB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/images/crimp_open-hand.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;metoliusclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore I would say that a campus board is a training device for high-end use and training of very specific muscles and moves, typically for people that climb in the range of about UIAA IX/French 7c or better. For inexperienced climbers or such that do not have enough strength to use it correctly, it might easily do more harm than good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T20:49:18.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6030" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6151" CreationDate="2014-07-14T13:16:22.657" Score="16" ViewCount="349" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen various images / comments online of how people decide to store their kayaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people wall mount them, some have a rack, some stack them with padding, some hang them (horizontally / vertically) from walls, some hang them from ceilings or store them upright with padding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We would ideally like to wall mount ours but currently do not have the space. They are roughly 9ft x 3ft (2.7m by 0.9m) and there are two of them. Storage for buoyancy aids, seats and paddles is all easily sorted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to store kayaks - inside or outside, in a home or garage - which is preferable to their longevity, or something you should particularly avoid when storing them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; We are actually going to now build a custom shed for the kayaks and gear :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T00:13:34.940" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T00:13:34.940" Title="What factors should I be aware of when storing a kayak?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6031" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-14T18:19:14.737" Score="7" ViewCount="223" Body="&lt;p&gt;Silicon Valley is a place that sees many business travelers, some of whom want to combine their visit with some high quality hiking in the California wilderness. Most of these people know about Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks (four hours away), and some know about &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur&quot;&gt;Big Sur&lt;/a&gt; and the Pacific coastline along the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1&quot;&gt;PCH&lt;/a&gt; (two hours away).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But sometimes these most famous of parks are not suitable. The drives are long, and some of the most famous areas require getting reservations ahead of time for camping, cabins or trails themselves (Half Dome). Also, in winter the higher elevations can be tricky for novice travelers. Are there any high quality hikes that are closer, or overlooked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like this to be a canonical question to service all those business travelers who end up in places like Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Stanford (and many others) and who will probably try googling for their options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:04:43.883" Title="Hiking possibilities near Silicon Valley" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5968" CreationDate="2014-07-14T20:39:58.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Foreword&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fear it will be a bit complicated to get scientific reference for the answers to your questions as those things might be important but too less to be published. Therefore most of the evidence may be hidden somewhere in the corporate knowledge of the hammer drill manufacturers. Nonetheless I will try to answer you question on my experience in construction work and physics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all I think we should set the reference frame for what we're talking about. As you already mentioned in your question, you will want to get a tool that is somewhere on the lower end of the heavy duty tools. This will include a SDS shank for the drill bits and a real hammering mechanism, not just that ratchet like vibrator module that you find in rather cheap hardware store machines. So you will end in the segment of machines that are typically sold to construction companies for their daily stuff like drilling some holes for anchors, demolish some smaller piece of wall or concrete or the like. That is typically also the type of tools you can rely on – you don't want your machine to fail in the middle of a wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Requirements&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;RPM &amp;amp; BPM&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the requirements are bit different when bolting climbing anchors: the typical performance figures to characterize those machines will not hold in your case. When bolting climbing routes you often drill holes while hanging in your harness, therefore you will not be able to apply the force that you would when standing stable on a floor and pushing against the drill with all you have. Therefore RPMs and BPMs are not of great importance as you quite surely in most cases will not be able to use them to all their extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Voltage&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing is the power you need: As a rule of thumb the power scales with the battery voltage. But as you drill rather small holes (10mm to 12mm I would guess) you don't need maximum power. The machines in the range you should look for will anyways be in the 24V to 36V range. Instead, you will want some battery lifetime as you won't be near a wall plug, where you can just recharge your batteries, when bolting a route. So instead of investing in higher battery voltage you better might invest in a high-capacity battery or a second battery pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Weight&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's the factor weight: on the one hand you will want a light tool as you will have to carry it to remote places and up a wall. The heavier the tool on the other side, the less force you need to push it against the wall while drilling as inertia will be on your side here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Drill Bits&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, don't forget about the drill bits. Here it is the same as for the machine itself: don't get the next best cheap ones from the hardware store down the road. Good drill bits don't just work longer but can also ease your life while drilling. From the Hilti company I know that they have constructed their drill bits in a way that they work somehow &quot;in sync&quot; with the hammering mechanism of their machines, therefore you need less force to push the machine against the wall – you more or less only have to hold the machine to prevent it from falling out of the hole. Sounds magic, but really makes a difference and you learn to love it when you drill the n-th hole that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Noise &amp;amp; Vibration&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning your additional points: For the noise level, in doubt just get a set of ear plugs, but I don't think, there will be much difference between the different tools. Acceleration/vibrations shouldn't be that much of a problem, as you will not drill hole after hole all the day but you will do a lot of other things in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h1&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don't care too much about the usual specs but get a tool that is&#xA;  rather lightweight with long battery lifetime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-06-24T10:56:33.503" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T10:56:33.503" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2014-07-14T20:41:51.757" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been a while since I posted this question, but I found an interesting alternative answer some time ago:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loosen your shoulder-straps such that the bottom edge of your backpack rests against your lower back (or butt in some cases I suppose) and the rest of the pack leans away from the rest of your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on very limited fiddling around I did with this, it seems to work best when the back-facing wall of your pack is relatively stiff (keeps the pack up, out, and away) and also when your shoulder straps have a chest strap link (puts some of this awkward load on your chest rather than your shoulders).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might emphasize that I only do this for my short half-hour commute-hike. For real hiking, I'd definitely go with another answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2544" LastActivityDate="2014-07-14T20:41:51.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6034" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6035" CreationDate="2014-07-14T23:16:16.993" Score="24" ViewCount="5554" Body="&lt;p&gt;I seem to have accumulated a good number of carabiners that, while probably still safe, I won't climb on anymore. They might be worn, of questionable origin, or just plain made obsolete by an upgrade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some creative uses for these carabiners? I already have plenty of shoe and leaver 'biners, so non-climbing uses would be most useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T21:14:15.917" Title="What are creative uses for retired carabiners?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-14T23:52:43.660" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;You probably already do this, but make sure you mark all 'retired' carabiners with their own color of tape so that you never accidentally climb with one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then let the fun begin. If you do any backpacking, they are extremely useful for attaching things to your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few other favorites: dog leashes, making clotheslines, or use with hammocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're feeling adventurous, maybe chain a few together and assemble lights to hang from the ceiling with said chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-07-14T23:52:43.660" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-15T08:37:02.397" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6035/2303&quot;&gt;Hillsons suggested a good way&lt;/a&gt; to use it, let me put in what I would do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can use it as a Weight. Simply knot a carabiner to the end of a rope that needs slinging over a pole or onto a roof. The weight helps with accuracy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clip keys inside backpacks to loops for extra security&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Link a few together for your kid to play with while you are shopping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach your water bottle to your backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold electrical cords in a loop (Don't like to have cable-tie?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the neck-belt using the Carabiner to secure your pet to an anchor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie up all your key-chains to it and hang it using a sling?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To hang whatever stuff you wanna hang. Please bear in mind load specifications.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T13:46:57.060" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6038" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6039" CreationDate="2014-07-15T09:52:09.197" Score="20" ViewCount="1258" Body="&lt;p&gt;I loved and appreciate the concept of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_hut&quot;&gt;Mountain Huts&lt;/a&gt;. Though I have never visited one, this really sounds appealing. In my country, India, we don't have Mountain Huts, so we have to manage it all on our own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, I wonder if a local organization clears out the necessary obligations and does finish formalities for that, what should a Mountain Hut be equipped with?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;P.S. I am not referring to higher altitudes. I am typically speaking about Indian subcontinental weather, where it rains heavy during June to September and rest of the season is pretty much hot, ambient temperature is at about 38 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:15:08.777" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T18:47:59.963" Title="Maintaining a Mountain Hut" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6038" CreationDate="2014-07-15T10:41:24.157" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience of mountain huts huts is mainly from UK and Europe. Standards in other parts of the world may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain huts come in a wide range of different varieties. At the basic end you have unmanned huts or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bothies&lt;/a&gt;. These can range from very basic with just a roof and wooden bunks to put your sleeping kit on to reasonably nice with beds, stove, toilets, etc. Generally unmanned huts are free to use but rely on the hiking community to keep them in good order and maintain them. Kit in them should be basic and hard wearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the other end you have maintained huts common in the Alps. Many are maintained by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_club_huts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine clubs&lt;/a&gt; but there are private ones too. These basically work like small hotels in that there are staff who maintain the hut, have a kitchen/restaurant and sell food etc. Generally sleeping is in bunk rooms with blankets provided, but often you must use/rent a sheet type sleeping bag, although some places have private rooms too. Washing/toilet facilities can range from basic with no shower to what you would get in a cheapish hotel often depending on availability/amount of running water. One issue with many huts is resupplying due to their inaccessible location. I have seen a number of solutions including: cable car, helicopter and carrying equipment up by foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a wide range in-between, including staffed places that provide self service cooking facilities. The main question is what sort of hut are you aiming for? The obvious priority is to have somewhere dry (and warm) for people to sleep. Kit in huts is generally kept to a minimum and it is as hard wearing as possible as it will often have minimal maintenance and some fairly rough treatment. Manned huts often have some nicer/luxury kit, e.g. board games, as they can better supervise its use. However, most kit is still on the utilitarian side, and generally people who go to mountain huts generally do not expect luxury accommodation. If you can provide a warm dry bed, good simple food and maybe a beer people will be quite happy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T18:47:59.963" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T18:47:59.963" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6038" CreationDate="2014-07-15T12:46:02.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think &lt;a href=&quot;/a/6039&quot;&gt;nivag covers most of this topic&lt;/a&gt;. I just wanted to add some of my experiences. Mountain huts/bothies cover a very wide range of facilities. Here are two I've actually stayed in to demonstrate this, This one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uoWvf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/bothy-details.asp?bothy_id=97&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in north wales&lt;/a&gt; consists of four walls, a roof and fire pit, that's it. It's big enough for about 2 people to lie flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other hut I stayed in in Bergen in Norway (tried to find a photo but I struggled to find it) had beds, dinning table, cutlery, etc. etc. I believe Norway have a national association that maintains these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T18:47:42.663" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T18:47:42.663" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6028" CreationDate="2014-07-15T14:01:48.640" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer will vary widely for different types of solar panels. For example, some are not suitable for use while walking or can only charge via USB. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;General considerations&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solar cells have the highest power the more vertical the sun rays hit them. Around 50° N the optimum is around 30-40° between solar panel and horizon, being flatter in summer and steeper in winter. The best (fixed panels) would also have an orientation straight south.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The yearly average (and thus including winter and cloudy days) energy output for solar panels (mainly on rooftops) in Germany (around 50° N) is 700 - 1000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) per kW (kilowatt) peak power.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;kWh is the amount of energy gathered, normalized to the power of the generator: kW peak. (The power of solar generators isn´t constant, it depends on sun radiation. But it is capped, it has a maximum for every device. This is the peak power of the panel/charger).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This number means, that on a completely average day you could probably harvest around 2-3 Wh per W peak power. A charger with 10 W power would therefore generate around 20-30 Wh of energy. On a cloudy day, you could be below this. The higher the temperature, the lower the efficiency of the panels. Cold sunny days are the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The capacity of AA batteries also depends on the concrete model. In my country, AA batteries normally are LR6, having a voltage of 1.5 V and up to 2500mAh/4Wh of capacity/energy. To load two of them on the above mentioned &quot;perfect standard day&quot;, you would need a charger with about 4 Watts of power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Real life&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, running around with a backpack on any not-standard day will be a different story. I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.globetrotter.de/shop/goal-zero-guide-10-plus-adventure-kit-220114/&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; solar generator which can be a good example - it charges four AA-batteries (charging only two isn´t easily done, I suspect) and seems more or less mountable on a backpack. In the german description they claim to load the four included NiMH-AA-batteries with 2300 mAh in four hours with good sun emission. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect, that it will be easily possible to load two AA-batteries with everything more than 6-7 Watts on sunny days, as long as the solar cells are not in the shade all the time. That they don´t have the right inclination and orientation isn´t perfect, of course, but shouldn´t be a big problem. More critically is shade, from trees, rocks or your head/hat. If your head casts shadow on the solar cell, you could possibly get some problems on days where you mainly go south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cloudy days it´s even less possible to make any predicition. There are too many unknowns, for example how thick the clouds are, if it´s overcast all day or just some showers coming through - the latter won´t affect your energy harvest to much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you have to ask yourself if you need to load them completely everyday. You can use the charger everyday and just prevent them from getting empty, becaue you always will load them at least a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can improve your energy yield by using every short break to orientate and inclinate the panel so that the rays are hitting vertically. You could load your 2 AA batteries with an 8 W charger and 1 hour around noon at perfect orientation and weather. Doing so in the morning before leaving and in evening after arriving can also make a nice contribution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note that these are theoretical considerations made using research for roof-top panels and to the best of my knowledge. Especially the effect of carrying it around can alter your results widely, so in this point you will have to collect some experiences. Please feel free to share them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; Buy a charger with at least 6, better 8 Watts. Then you probably will, if you pay a little attention to not casting too much shade on it, even on cloudy days be able to refill some of the battery´s capacity and to fill them completely on sunny days. Make sure your charger is able to charge the kind of energy storage you want to use, many of them don´t use AA batteries!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for the complicated style, I am sometimes struggling with my english.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-07-15T14:55:26.120" LastActivityDate="2014-07-15T14:55:26.120" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-15T15:06:17.250" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obsolete biners are very useful for retreating. If (as you state) you've retired them because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;made obsolete by an upgrade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and they are generally solid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then it's well worth dragging a few of these along on climbs you're worried you may not be able to complete. I've been welcome of some old steel biners &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5465/what-to-do-at-the-top-of-a-sport-climb/5466#5466&quot;&gt;when retreating off of climbs in the past&lt;/a&gt;. They're solid and dependable and I don't mind loosing them. Well worth the extra weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T16:41:34.440" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6038" CreationDate="2014-07-15T16:44:20.433" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on what you are going for. If you are heading this up, expect it to be a full-time endeavor for at least a year, and then part time for the lifetime of the hut. Like Nivag said, there are lots of different types of huts, so you have to decide on what you want before anything else. This will depend a lot on how much work you want to put into it, the economic, political, and environmental climate in your region, what people who will use it actually want, etc. If there is no infrastructure already in place (and I'm assuming you still need to work a job to feed yourself), you'll probably want a very basic hut that is unstaffed - basically, an emergency shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an American, I've used these sorts of things a lot. Here are the things I would like in a hut:&#xA;3-4 walls and a roof that doesn't leak. Leaving one wall open will stop the nasties from building up inside, and will discourage squatters. If the wind blows from a constant direction, you can face the open wall the opposite way. In a pinch, a tarp can be set up to make a temporary 4th wall to keep most of the weather out. However, very harsh weather might necessitate a 4th wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An elevated floor. Getting flooded in the middle of the night sucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clotheslines/pegs in the walls. Places to hang things. When it rains, I want to hang my stuff up to dry. In addition, hanging my pack up at night clears a lot of space for other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A broom to sweep out debris. A shovel to dig cat holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A privy - maybe. Once you build the hut, it will attract people. Eventually, the number of people it attracts will be large enough that human waste becomes an issue. At this point, you need a privy. There are lots of different kinds. Do your research to see what works best for your needs in your environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some way to keep rodents out of my food. Tenting, they aren't usually a problem, because they are dispersed across the landscape. Building a hut, increased human population means increased food droppage in the area, which leads to a higher rodent population. Rodent hang lines can be made easily out of bits of garbage: &lt;a href=&quot;http://takealonghike.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/0214.jpg&quot;&gt;http://takealonghike.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/0214.jpg&lt;/a&gt;. Also, try to build your hut without many small nooks and crannies, as rodents will build their nests there if not ousted from time to time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water. A good stream nearby is always a plus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A view. Not necessary, and it should be superseded by other factors like weather. But when there is one, it is a very nice plus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend storing things that are small and easy to take, unless you intend or people to take them. Unless you plan on staffing it, your visitors should be prepared to make due on their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3522" LastActivityDate="2014-07-15T16:44:20.433" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5972" CreationDate="2014-07-15T20:58:35.063" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloropidae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eye flies&lt;/a&gt; feed on lachrymal secretion which your &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachrymal_gland&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eyes produce&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;they feed on lachrymal secretions and other body fluids of various animals, including humans and are of medical significance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The lacrimal glands are paired almond-shaped glands, one for each eye, that secrete the aqueous layer of the tear film. &lt;em&gt;[...]&lt;/em&gt; The lacrimal gland produces tears which then flow into canals&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-07-15T20:58:35.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6045" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-15T21:42:17.320" Score="14" ViewCount="352" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it true that a tarp shouldn't be covering the entrance of a snow-cave while sleeping in one? What's the reasoning to that? Is using a sleeping bag in them just fine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3525" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T08:30:30.663" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T20:39:45.117" Title="Using a &quot;tarp&quot; over the entrance of a snow cave" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6046" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6075" CreationDate="2014-07-15T22:03:41.137" Score="12" ViewCount="2641" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently discovered the lean-to, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/qc/forillon/visit/Hegergement-Camping-Lodging/Abris_Lean-to.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a shelter with three walls&lt;/a&gt;. It seems considered as a shelter with more proximity to the nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fOJvd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some worries though, regarding the wind and the warmth. I suppose it is usually set up so that the windier sides match the walled sides, but I am afraid it is not very isolating overall and that the temperature is very close to the outside temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I plan on sleeping in closed shelters for all my trip but one night in a lean-to so I am wondering what to pack, apart from my sleeping bag, a mattress and a reusable emergency blanket in case I am cold during the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be hiking in October in Quebec.&#xA;According to historical temperatures, I expect it will be 0-5°C outside and I have a sleeping bag for about 0 to -5°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, do I need a tent to sleep inside a lean-to, or any other gear on top of my sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T08:11:18.033" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T22:51:40.833" Title="What sleeping gear should I use in a lean-to?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6047" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6050" CreationDate="2014-07-16T00:05:08.253" Score="7" ViewCount="3455" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to make my own &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrecking-Ball-Grip-System-Crushing/dp/6042453866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1405467760&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=wrecking%20ball%20pull%20up&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wrecking ball&lt;/a&gt; since buying one is expensive and making one is also more fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My idea was to use 2 cricket balls that I have and tie monkey fist knots around them and finish the knot with a hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just wanted a recommendation for the better choice of rope type with a gauge of around 8-10mm. I weigh about 80kg at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3520" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:59:36.920" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:59:36.920" Title="What rope to chose to hold my body weight from a monkey fist knot" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6046" CreationDate="2014-07-16T00:07:56.577" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;That lean-to in the link looks like it would shelter from all but the most wind driven rain. If you pack a cheap vinyl poncho that should take care of most situations. They are light enough that you can pack a second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the temperature rating on your sleeping bag? 15F/-10C will probably be more than warm enough. If you are carrying a summer bag, you can supplement it with a sleeping bag liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T00:07:56.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6045" CreationDate="2014-07-16T00:14:32.303" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want to leave enough room at the entrance for airflow. If the entrance is totally blocked you could possibly suffocate on the CO2 you breathe out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the entrance, keep an eye on the air exit at the top so it doesn't get blocked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can heat the inside significantly with just a candle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T00:14:32.303" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6047" CreationDate="2014-07-16T01:34:37.650" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any 8-10 mm nylon rope will hold many, many times more than your body weight. Climbing ropes are designed to hold dynamic falls, not just static body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could easily get away with 6 mm accessory cord, which is a lot cheaper than a climbing rope. It holds about 700 kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T01:34:37.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-16T08:51:22.557" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Give them to those who need them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, novice students in your gym or mountaineering school will be happy to use a bit heavier/older gear, but ease the burden of buying everything for their first trip. Just make sure that carabiners are safe, because the newbies can't tell themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, any local non-commercial groups, who organize rope fun for kids or everybody. A hand-made fun park needs a lot of stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you are heading to a remote Asian mountain region this summer, you can take carabiners and old ropes, which the locals will happily use for many years in their households to tie their livestock, etc... Of course, this is tricky because of limited airplane weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T15:12:07.693" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T15:12:07.693" CommentCount="3" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3830" CreationDate="2014-07-16T08:56:13.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also using paw ointment, could help to reduce the problem, preventing ice/snow to build up and also helps with problems with salted roads and minor blisters&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.non-stopdogwear.com/products/paw-ointment/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paw Ointment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3528" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-19T16:54:08.733" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T16:54:08.733" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6053" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6092" CreationDate="2014-07-16T09:01:37.700" Score="15" ViewCount="1455" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was going through &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1453/the-outdoors-solitude-and-dealing-with-loneliness?rq=1&quot;&gt;this amazing post here&lt;/a&gt; at TGO which talks of trekking solo.&#xA;As far as I know of TGO culture, this question here might sound a really opinion-based question, or rather a too broad kind to have a concrete answer, but I would rather take up a chance to post it outright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have trekked solo a hundred times, and I do have had close shaves on a rare occasions where a single mistake could put me in deep trouble. Having said this, I also have had times in wilderness, so good and close that I would never be able to have such when within a group.&#xA;And, regularly, when I get back home, people who are really concerned, ask me if its really worth going alone, and I realize that I should have a line drawn in mind that decides on which side I am, to go or not to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe a little work with Pros and Cons over this point can really bring about factors in deciding whether to go solo or not. On a safer side, a rookie hiker/trekker would certainly pick the things he/she might need to consider when deciding upon the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:40:43.223" Title="What are the Pros and Cons of Trekking Solo?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="873" CreationDate="2014-07-16T09:17:08.207" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the often mentioned possibility of bringing enough batteries or buying new ones along the way, I would like to list possibilities for recharging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As already mentioned by @LBell, there are the following two:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Solar:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Solar panels come in a great variety, allowing to find something for most uses. Some models might be able to charge during the hike (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/6028/3143&quot;&gt;see also this question&lt;/a&gt;). Downside: They need sunlight and won´t work well in winter or far north.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wind generators:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I didn´t know that there already exist camping versions of this, so thanks again for @LBell to the link. Looks rather clumsy, but maybe a cool option for a basecamp. Probably no commercial buyable version available. Relies on wind, so maybe not the best option in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hydro:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Pretty much the same as wind, but you need to have a nice stream.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from these, I would like to add some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fuel cells:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are different models available, e.g. from &lt;a href=&quot;http://powertrekk.com/pages/myfc-powertrekk-fuel-cell-charger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PowerTrekk&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/search?q=biolite+stove&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=sz_GU8SEBvHn7AaXg4GAAw&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&amp;amp;biw=1438&amp;amp;bih=720#q=brunton+hydrogen+reactor&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Brunton&lt;/a&gt;. You need to bring hydrogen fuel or special containers that make it out of water, but don´t have to rely on weather conditions. Probably a rather expensive option, but more reliable than the ones above. Note that fuel cells normally are rather sensitive to temperature changes and mechanical stress, so have a good look at the model you are thinking to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thermal elements:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Using (waste) heat. Different models are available, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/search?q=power+practical+powerpot+v&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=oD7GU_7DEbDb7AbfsYGACw&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&amp;amp;biw=1438&amp;amp;bih=720&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one included in the bottom of a pot or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/search?q=biolite+stove&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=sz_GU8SEBvHn7AaXg4GAAw&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw&amp;amp;biw=1438&amp;amp;bih=720&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one included in a multi-fuel stove.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Power packs:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;These are additional battery packs made to recharge your devices. Of course, when they are empty, you can´t refill without another power source. However, might be lighter than carrying spare batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Things to look out for&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Electronic devices look for very different voltages and powers. Make sure, the charger you´re about to buy fits the thing you want to charge or ask the manufacturer if its supported. Rule of thumb: The voltage the charger can supply needs to be higher than your devices input voltage (somewhere around 4-5V for USB-charging, or around 1.5V per AA-Battery), and the higher the power the faster the charging.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Since most of this technology is quite new, make sure to read some tests or reviews. there are device where a nice idea is behind it but it wouldn´t work too well in real life...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T09:17:08.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1393" CreationDate="2014-07-16T10:33:56.077" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is extremely long dive that come with many potential problems.&#xA;Hydration&#xA;Nitrogen Build-up&#xA;Hypothermia&#xA;Nutrition&#xA;Exhaustion&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydration can be solved with soft bottles to drink from, camel backs might work well.&#xA;Nutrition you could look at liquid meals; corn starch syrup, soup, meal replacement shakes which can then also be drunk while diving. Some people take soft food in small soft containers so you do not have issues with air space becoming compressed. also be wary of high sugar content foods and caffeine as these can assist in dehydration and also causing sugar spikes and crashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly first practice long dives with eating and drinking in a pool before doing it in the ocean and at depth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Talk with technical divers who spend a lot of time at great depths and long hours decompressing as they will tell you what they experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-04-28T10:25:42.337" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T10:25:42.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4997" CreationDate="2014-07-16T10:41:01.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I would say regular exercise routine with swimming and cardio will help improve your air consumption. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the best exercise for scuba diving is more scuba diving. The more you dive, the more comfortable you will be and the more efficient your movements become underwater the lower your breathing rate will become. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;practice not using your arms/hands underwater, &#xA;practice more efficient finning techniques, &#xA;make sure you are not over or under weighted,&#xA;remember to check weight when you change gear,&#xA;remember diving is not a race so swim slowly,&#xA;breath deeply and slowly&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T12:22:50.633" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T12:22:50.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5076" CreationDate="2014-07-16T10:46:48.630" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ankle weights may only be a solution for beginner divers.  The fact that your feet may be  floating is not a real problem, the problem is when your whole leg floats as this causes a feet up head down profile which is bad. (Especially when diving in a dry suit)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get your feet down get yourself a pair of heavier (less buoyant) fins (jet fins tend to be heavier and favored by tec divers), you could also use thinner wet suit boots. Another option that helps is to practice leg muscles and use them to keep legs down, the larger and heavier the leg muscles the less chance of floating, also look at moving weight belt lower on your body. It is all about in water TRIM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at technical divers you will see that most of us have our feet up on purpose. Especially when penetrating areas with silt deposits as we do not want to kick up the silt. (bend knees and have feet higher than legs)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I stated before floating feet are only really an issue when your feet float up and your head down and this you most likely could correct by moving the weight belt lower on your body and moving your cylinder down as well. It is amazing what you can do to your profile by distributing the weight differently across your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a dry suit you could use straps to help keep air from going in your legs and boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you still have problems seek a divemaster or instructor, especially one that has technical diving experience, and ask them to help you with this. If they say buy ankle weights you may want to look for someone else.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember it will take you up to 20 dives to get your weighting and trim correct. Please practice improving your diving position (trim) on each dive until it becomes natural and comfortable. PRACTICE DOES NOT MAKE PERFECT! Practice forms habit. PERFECT PRACTICE FORMS PERFECT HABIT!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the words of Dory: &quot;Just keep swimming&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-08-08T12:15:26.610" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T12:15:26.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5077" CreationDate="2014-07-16T10:53:01.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to compare diving qualifications is to look at the ISO standards: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_diver_training#International_standards_equivalence&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;International Standards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The International Organization for Standardization has approved six recreational diving standards that may be implemented worldwide (January 2007).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The listed standards developed by the (United States) RSTC are consistent with the applicable ISO Standards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;(USA) RSTC Standard              ISO Standard           Alternative ISO Title&#xA;&#xA;Introductory Scuba Experience    No equivalent&#xA;No equivalent                    Level One Diver        Supervised Diver&#xA;Open Water Diver                 Level Two Diver        Autonomous Diver&#xA;Dive Supervisor                  Level Three Diver      Dive Leader&#xA;Assistant Instructor             Level 1 Instructor&#xA;Scuba Instructor                 Level 2 Instructor&#xA;Instructor Trainer               No equivalent&#xA;No equivalent                    Service Provider&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a table format of various diving certifications compared:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/training/qualifications.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;List of Qualifications compared&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T07:57:36.067" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T07:57:36.067" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5234" CreationDate="2014-07-16T11:12:48.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is an interesting article on wikipedia to give overview of pressure related injuries.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysbarism&quot;&gt;Dysbarism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Embolism in diving would most likely refer to Arterial Gas Embolism (AGE) and the internet is full of articales on AGE, DCS, Baurotrauma etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to give you a quick laymen overview of the issues related with rapid ascents while scuba diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In scuba diving we breath gas (in most cases air, but could be Oxygen, Nitrox, Helium, Heliox, etc) under pressure. This means for every breath of air we take the volume will be same as at the surface but the density would be higher. For instance when we are 10m deep in sea water we will breath twice the amount of air which means same volume but double density. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I now did a rapid ascent while holding my breath or if some obstruction like flem was present in a part of my lung the gas would expand (based on boyle's law) causing a rupture of the lung this can be small or large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The air in the lung can now enter the arteries and could end up blocking blood flow to the brain, the heart muscle, etc. which will cause heart attack or stroke. If a larger rupture happens we could also have air entering the chest cavity which could cause lungs to collapse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DCS/Decompression Sickness is different this could happen whether you did a slow or rapid ascent, as this is based on how much gas was absorbed into your body (blood, bone, muscle, etc) And DCS could take several hours to affect you after the dive where as AGE would effect you immediately and normally be much more life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please read DAN's article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/Decompression_Illness_What_Is_It_And_What_Is_The_Treatment&quot;&gt;Decompression Illness: What Is It and What Is The Treatment?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T11:57:19.697" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T11:57:19.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6060" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6070" CreationDate="2014-07-16T13:26:26.340" Score="9" ViewCount="2011" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I regulate my temperature in a -15°C down sleeping bag when it is cold but not quite -15°C?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a down sleeping bag rated at -15°C. Used it at a previous hike where the temperature went down to -5°C. I was uncomfortably hot, and as a result didn't sleep well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a mummy shaped bag, so the zipper only goes down halfway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tried putting my arms out of the bag, but my arms gets too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3530" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T16:13:23.247" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T05:04:12.817" Title="Sleeping bag too hot" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6061" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-16T13:30:27.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scuba diving is an underwater activity where a diver uses a self contained underwater breathing apparatus to breathe underwater.  This differs from snorkeling and free diving where the breath is hold and time underwater is limited by breath hold capability/capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scuba diving includes Semi-closed Circuit, Closed Circuit and Open Circuit (OC) apparatus. Semi-Closed Rebreathers (SCR) and Closed Circuit Rebreathers (CCR) extend time over the normal Open Circuit diving by using scrubbers to remove Carbon-Dioxide from the exhaled air, allowing the diver to re-breath the same air and also by keeping an optimal Oxygen partial pressure during the whole dive allowing for extended dive time as less nitrogen is absorbed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard Recreational Open Circuit equipment include: Compressed Gas Cylinder, Regulator (1st stage regulator, primary 2nd stage regulator, alternate 2nd stage regulator, submersible pressure gauge, Depth Gauge, 1 or 2 Low Pressure Inflator Hose(s)), Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)) and the soft gear which can include mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt, wet, semi-dry or dry suit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various organisations doing training for Recreational and technical scuba diving using OC and/or SCR or CCR&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T15:12:34.160" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T15:12:34.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6062" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-16T13:30:27.630" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to any thing related to scuba diving. Examples include, but are not limited  to; diving gear, diving physics, diving injuries, dive sites, diver training, recreational diving, technical diving, etc." OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T15:12:44.370" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T15:12:44.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6069" CreationDate="2014-07-16T15:47:53.007" Score="29" ViewCount="20541" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a backpacking trip later this summer and on the list of things to bring is 3 yards of duct tape. I don't want to bring an entire roll of duct tape because it would be heavy and cumbersome, as well as far too much tape.  How can I bring 3 yards of duct tape without it getting stuck to itself and becoming useless?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3486" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T23:19:50.067" LastActivityDate="2019-03-15T14:53:22.867" Title="How can I take duct tape with me backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T15:58:18.620" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Duct tape wraps around items fairly and can be stored by wrapping on your gear. Nalgene (or similar) water bottles have a good shape for keeping the tape flat. I have wrapped tape around spare batteries, but the tape was wider than the batteries were long. Even so, to the tape was usable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water bottles would also better in that you don't have to dispose of the tape in order to use the item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T15:58:18.620" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T16:17:44.193" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is fairly common to store duct tape just below the handle of your trekking poles. This is my preferred way as it is always accessible. Some people prefer to wrap it around Nalgene bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative you could also buy it in small square pieces instead of the typical roll.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually place about 10 layers around each poles. I would not bring three yards of duck tape. I typically only need small pieces for minor temporary repairs (tent or feet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T16:17:44.193" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6060" CreationDate="2014-07-16T18:16:04.550" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately you are limited in your options: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a mat under you and the sleeping bag as a blanket. This will be a lot colder, though&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buy another bag, perhaps rated to -5 as an alternative. If you have the carrying capacity, it can be simpler to have a lighter sleeping bag plus blankets, so you can adjust the temperature to suit. Or you could go for a sleeping bag with a full length zip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second option would be my preferred one - I have a range of sleeping bags based on expected conditions, and any of them (except for the coldest rated) will work over a reasonably wide range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T18:16:04.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T19:01:53.750" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy much smaller rolls in most department stores or from the dollar store, sometimes they are the decorated kind instead of gray (check the boxing and tape section of the store) but the amount on the roll is much less than a standard massive home-improvement-store roll. With a smaller, lighter roll (or nearly used roll like someone suggested) you can just clip it or hang it onto the outside of the backpack. The dust/dirt will reduce the outer edge stickiness and it won't get all over your stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dollar store/decorated kind usually only has a few yards and you can flatten the roll out easily to store it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3534" LastEditorUserId="3534" LastEditDate="2016-06-24T05:23:24.377" LastActivityDate="2016-06-24T05:23:24.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T19:17:49.703" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always folded it on itself. One of my OCD things is getting other things sticky via the use of duct tape so I never wrap it around a bottle or pole, however I've seen plenty who do this with no trouble...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I prepare it by folding about quarter inch patches over each other (kind of like packing a tent that you fold instead of roll). I would not roll it because that can do some weird things when you get to the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your end result is a &quot;nugget&quot; of duct tape that, hopefully, has no exposed sticky sides and is entirely &quot;self contained.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like this because it makes a neat little &quot;clump&quot; of duct tape that you can throw anywhere. I usually make a bunch of medium sized ones and stick them all over (i.e. first aid kit, backpack, day pack, pants pocket).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3535" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T19:17:49.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T19:48:26.230" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know you said in your question that you don't want to bring a whole roll, but I've found that Duct Tape can be easily collapsable if you use a knife and cut out the cardboard inside of the roll. After that, take a strip of Duct Tape, fold it on itself and stick it to half of the inside roll. Flatten the roll and you have a rectangle of usefulness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;strong&gt;o&lt;/strong&gt;) Duct Tape roll with cardboard liner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(o) Without liner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(o)____  Cut a strip of tape off&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(o)  __| Fold it in on itself&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(o)   __ &amp;lt;--Strip after it's folded&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(&lt;/strong&gt;(--)&lt;strong&gt;)&lt;/strong&gt; Stick it in the hole&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;___&lt;/em&gt; Flatten it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have a extremely light rectangle of duct tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-07-17T09:15:45.493" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T09:15:45.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6060" CreationDate="2014-07-16T19:54:40.620" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5021-089/mec-amulet-ultralight-overbag/?Ntk=productsearch_en_q32008&amp;amp;No=40&amp;amp;h=10&amp;amp;q=overbag&quot;&gt;Overbag&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the Overbag when it's too warm for your down bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the down bag at and around -15C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the Overbag and Down Bag together when it's colder than -15C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AND if you want to get real fancy get a Vapour Barrier Liner and use all three together for expeditions and temps below -30C.  You now have all your bases covered! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is much more cost effective than to buy a summer bag, your -15 bag, and an expedition bag...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're too cold in the overbag but too hot in the -15C mummy bag, try playing with your layers, add a base layer top and bottom while in the overbag, or even throw on a nano puff or fleece top...there are many ways to regulate your body temp.  Vests are a great way to keep your core warm but your arms still feel nice and cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T19:54:40.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-16T20:18:44.817" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I do is wrap the duct tape around a pencil. I just wrap as much as I might need and since I also need/want to take a pencil it kills two birds with one stone. I've been doing this for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T20:40:25.080" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T20:40:25.080" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="835" CreationDate="2014-07-16T21:31:36.217" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping pads: I was on a motorcycle trip with very little storage space. I bought a couple of those inflatable pool mattresses at Walmart. The adult-sized, rectangular ones were cheaper than the tapered ones, and they re-folded nice. They also proved to be more durable than I expected. I only used one of the pads on my trip (5? nights). It made a few squeaky noises as I moved in the night, but I found the tradeoff quite nice. $1.99 sleeping pad alternative is cheap/light/compact (though I'd still bring 2 in case of puncture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you buy gear can have a huge impact on cost. In particular, a cheap tent and sleeping bag can halve in price if you buy it on a real sale (not the post-marked up so we can mark it back down Christmas sales). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tent: I bought 4 hiker/biker tents from Sports Authority when they were on sale for 10 bucks. I think the sale price is now 15 bucks. It's a compact and reasonable weight tent (requires stakes to stand, though). It's super-fragile. I've broken a couple poles and ripped a door before. Low quality, but at a rather great price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ground Cover: cheap tents often have really thin floors, making ground cover somewhat necessary to help the tent endure. Those mylar emergency blankets can function as ground cover, doubling the lifetime of your cheap tent. Throw the mylar away every trip and use a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpack: Weight- = Cost+. I bought a 7 pound backpack for under 40 bucks. It was actually quite (unnecessarily?) rugged. Thick fabric, beefy zipper, etc. Very adjustable, fitting friends with about a foot in height difference and 50 pounds in weight difference. Anyway, if you don't want to rent or buy used, adding a few pounds can save you/your friend a ton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking poles: My girlfriend (now wife) mocked me for suggesting a pair of walking poles on her first trip. They look ridiculous to anyone who hasn't backpacked. I bought a pair of cheap poles for 20 bucks. First stream crossing in February (hovering around freezing), she almost fell in. She caught herself with a pole and now considers them a necessity. There's not a huge difference in quality between those cheap poles and the ones my folks bought me for 80 bucks. However, for an even cheaper alternative, see &quot;stick found on ground at trailhead&quot;. As an aside, freezing stream crossings might not be a good first trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3541" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T21:31:36.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6031" CreationDate="2014-07-16T21:47:23.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Sunnyvale and my favorite place for hiking is Rancho San Antonio near the Los Altos Hills. It butts up against the Santa Cruz mountains, and there are a network of trails including some that venture into the mountains. I like this area because there are some great views of the bay, and much of the hiking occurs among the trees (more shade) and there's also a fare amount of wildlife to be seen (wild turkeys, deer, etc.). Also it's quite hilly so you can get a decent workout. Additionally, I believe the trails connect up with the larger network of Santa Cruz Mountain trails of which some across burrow over the mountains all the way to the coast (13 miles.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2014-07-16T21:54:30.200" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T21:54:30.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6031" CreationDate="2014-07-16T23:22:44.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe Pinnacles National Park. Or if you go across the Golden Gate, Point Reyes is gorgeous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch out, because some of the trails in the more remote central coast backcountry areas have not seen any maintenance for a long time, partly due to government budget cuts. I tried to do a long-distance trip there a few years back, and had to turn back due to stuff like the trail heading straight into a steep hillside completely covered in poison oak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-07-16T23:22:44.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6046" CreationDate="2014-07-17T00:15:59.140" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMO you totally don't need a tent. Plenty of people, including me, prefer to sleep out under the stars even if there's no hut. It can be difficult to sleep with a wind blowing across one's face, but that won't be happening inside the hut. It's also off the ground, so you won't be losing heat into the dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, the temperature inside will be the same as outside. Your bag is rated for colder temperatures than you expect, but if you're worried about being too cold, you could bring long underwear, which will also help you to stay comfy in the mornings and evenings around camp. Bring a wool beanie, too. I don't think an emergency blanket is going to be very useful in boosting warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T00:15:59.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6045" CreationDate="2014-07-17T01:53:58.390" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the sleeping bag question: Snow shelters drip. Constantly. You can deal with some of the drips by placing your ungloved finger on the drip and then moving down to the bottom of the wall. The heat of your finger melts a tiny channel and encourages the drip to follow it. Still, you will get damp, so the best approach is either to have a water-repellent sleeping bag (lots of alpine ones have this) or to put your sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build your sleeping platform high, ideally higher than the entrance. Build a &quot;cold sump&quot; so the cold air flowing down has somewhere to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following &lt;a href=&quot;http://rustinandkim.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/to-build-snow-cave.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;diagram&lt;/a&gt; (found at the top of a Google search) shows snow caves but the concept is the same for a shovelup or an igloo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-29T20:39:45.117" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T20:39:45.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6078" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6102" CreationDate="2014-07-17T04:44:34.137" Score="18" ViewCount="2549" Body="&lt;p&gt;The last weekend when I was coming back home from a trek on Sunday noon, I got a news about &lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/Trekker-stranded-at-Chanderi-hill-in-Thane-rescued/articleshow/38310828.cms&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; accident that took place. The place was on the way, so instead of choosing to rest at home, I chose to alight at the station closest to the place where this happened and add my ounce of help if it was needed. I know those hills very well, and AFAIK the rescue was not that difficult. When I reached there, I was horrified seeing the people who were there as a rescue team. No preparations at all, Lack of necessary equipment. Later after discussing with them, I came to know that the team was formed out of local cops and Fire-Brigade (Fire station guys) dept. Except for Fire fighters, there was no one who was in a good shape to rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this may (rather must) sound absolutely horrible that the most of the part in our country, except for Himalayas, there are no dedicated rescue teams for trekking/mountaineering and other adventure stuff. Its the local hikers who coordinate at the juncture and launch a rescue op.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that sense, if a team plans for it, what all equipment should a rescue team have with them? I can pick most of the things like a Foldable/portable stretcher, Rope, Climbing equipment, Flashlights, Ready-to-eat food (probably dry fruits), etc..&#xA;But may be answers here would help to jot down a concrete list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:34:50.430" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T00:37:49.280" Title="What should a rescue team be equipped with?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6079" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-17T07:30:54.827" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snorkeling/Snorkelling is the practice of swimming on top of water while equipped with a diving mask and a snorkel. In most cases fins are also worn and in colder water wet suits may be worn. Normally no weights are worn. Snorkeling is used to observe underwater attractions for extended periods of time with relatively little effort and no or little training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freediving differs from snorkeling in that the free diver holds his breath to make dives to depth. Free diving is used by spear fishers, free diving/apnea divers or advanced snorkelers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T08:28:54.447" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T08:28:54.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6080" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-17T07:30:54.827" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to any thing related to snorkeling and skin diving. Examples include, but are not limited  to; snorkeling gear, skin diving gear, snorkeling sites, etc." OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2014-07-17T09:15:49.557" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T09:15:49.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6081" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6082" CreationDate="2014-07-17T08:41:15.507" Score="15" ViewCount="4285" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the best knot for turning a piece of cord into a loop? The cord would then be used for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/&quot;&gt;prusik&lt;/a&gt; so needs to be very secure and load bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T12:54:43.967" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T19:57:48.417" Title="Knot to turn cord into loop (load bearing)" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6081" CreationDate="2014-07-17T09:00:41.483" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the conventional way is to use a double (triple) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;fisherman's bend&lt;/a&gt;. This has the advantage of being and relatively compact. The main disadvantage is that it can be hard to undo if you need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options include the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8join/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;figure of 8 bend&lt;/a&gt; which is bulkier than the fisherman's but easier to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use a (double) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/sheet-bend/&quot;&gt;sheet bend&lt;/a&gt; or even a reef knot but these definitely fall into the less secure category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T09:00:41.483" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6081" CreationDate="2014-07-17T09:08:43.920" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the (double) &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Fisherman's knot&lt;/a&gt; for such cases. It's easy to tie and has a clear and concise form (easy to check if done right). As already mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6082/2410&quot;&gt;nivag's answer&lt;/a&gt;, it can be hard to untie if it was heavily loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of its drawbacks is that it is not applicable for webbing as it is not possible to tighten it there to be stable. Here the &lt;a href=&quot;http://timberlinetrails.net/ClimbingKnots.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;waterman knot&lt;/a&gt; comes in handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-17T12:39:39.560" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T12:39:39.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6084" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6093" CreationDate="2014-07-17T09:15:48.373" Score="35" ViewCount="19418" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I've had the complete and utter luck of never having had to pitch my tent in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, with needing to pitch it this weekend and the high probability of rain and potential thunderstorms (I might add, British thunderstorms, so rather tame and mostly lasting 15-30 minutes maximum so we should be able to avoid that) and going to Wales in a few weeks where there is more chance of rain, I was wondering if there were any particular DOs and DON'Ts in regards to pitching in the wet. There will be two of us pitching the tent this weekend, four in Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this will vary slightly depending on what tent people have. I happen to have a 4 man tent (Eurohike Sandringham) it has an outer layer, a hanging inner sleeping area with its own attached groundsheet and a separate bucket groundsheet for the other area - so technically it comes in three parts. There are at least a dozen guy ropes, and more tent pegs than I can count, and we have plenty spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would guess there is a case of more haste less speed, but is there anything one should completely avoid when pitching in the wet, or on the other hand something that one definitely should do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Some people have mentioned 'crawling about' - this won't be an issue in this particular case because of the sheer size of a Eurohike Sandringham - you can stand upright easily, and we can fit our Ford Focus inside when just the outer layer is pitched. But the comments are good to know nonetheless as we won't always have such a big tent! We plan to get a Vango Halo 300 in the future which is much smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I accepted the answer I felt most relevant to my personal situation, however all give brilliant advice to bear in mind in all locations / with all tent types!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-02-05T15:51:52.657" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T16:58:53.557" Title="Pitching a tent in the rain?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;pitching&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T09:30:16.650" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the poles of your tent attach to the outer you're in luck. Before you go remove the inner from the outer and pack these separately, potentially wrap them in plastic bags or something so they stay dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then when you turn up your first task is to get the waterproof outer up as fast as possible. If it rains while you're putting this up, it's fine. Just keep the inner's as dry as you can. Remember to add some pegs straight away then if it's windy and you're half way though it won't disappear down the camp site. Doing this first means that if it rains you've got shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once it's functionally up I'd spend a bit of time getting it pegged out properly, peg the guy ropes and get them nice and tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then add the ground sheet and inners. If it rains now, who cares, you'll be dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is basically why tents changed from inner with poles and outer over the top to outer with poles and inner attached separately. It allows you to get the waterproof bit up without getting the inner wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your tent isn't like this... well just do it as fast as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-17T10:36:29.740" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T10:36:29.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T10:57:29.510" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The outside of a tent is designed to get wet, the key trick is to keep everything else dry. You will want to pitch the outer first and only then add the inner. The other answer has covered that well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some more general tips though is to have a look at the base of your inner tent and see how waterproof it is. A lot of ground sheets are not waterproof at all. If you pitch the tent onto very wet ground then the water will come up through the ground sheet. There is nothing you can do about that once it has happened, however if you take a sheet of plastic with you (just any old plastic will do) and put that down under your inner tent it will add another layer of protection between the water and your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have sleeping mats of some kind between you and the ground as well, again that helps to keep you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will also want to put in a rule about no wet stuff coming into the inner tent. Wet boots, muddy trousers, etc should all get removed in the porch or they will end up covering everything inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T10:57:29.510" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T11:14:55.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers, if you expect heavy rain (I'm also heading for Snowdonia this weekend...) be careful about the location you choose as well.&#xA;Avoid places near rivers or streams but also avoid hollows in the ground or the bottom of slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your groundsheet may be waterproof but its sides only extend upwards for a certain length and it is possible for the sides to be swamped by pools of water, etc. if the pools are deep enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bear in mind if thunderstorms are forecast avoid high points and also keep well away from trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T11:14:55.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6078" CreationDate="2014-07-17T11:19:17.263" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To be honest, the most important thing a Rescue Team needs to have is plenty of manpower (and womanpower!) with &lt;strong&gt;training&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;experience&lt;/strong&gt;  (speaking as a member of a UK Cave Rescue Team).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T11:19:17.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T12:44:08.227" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, if possible, wait a while. Find somewhere to shelter out of the rain, and wait to see if the rain stops. For typical UK summer weather, most heavy rain is only short showers. So it will probably stop raining (or at least ease off) in 10 minutes or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If its not going to stop raining, you can unpack your tent while under shelter. Then sort out which bits you need first, maybe join parts of it together. This can make it a lot faster to erect when you have to go out into the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T12:44:08.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T12:45:02.200" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are all kinds of people who put up the fly first, then crouch under it putting up the inside. It's generally a very unpleasant experience from all I have heard, what with the crouching, crawling, and being rained on at least while getting the fly up. I handle it completely differently, because I have a free standing tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On arrival at a site the &lt;strong&gt;very first&lt;/strong&gt; thing we put up is a tarp. Whether it's currently raining or not, up goes that tarp. It is high enough that we can walk around freely underneath it. Sometimes one end goes down somewhat lower to keep out wind-driven rain. Then if it is raining, we can put everything under the tarp immediately. If it's a quick shower that should blow over soon, we can just hang out under there for 30-60 minutes, have some hot chocolate, whatever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's no sign of the rain letting up, we can put the tent up - inside, outside, the whole shooting match except for pegging it - &lt;strong&gt;under the tarp&lt;/strong&gt;. Then we can quickly put down the footprint where we want the tent, carry the erected tent over there, peg it, and tada! the inside stayed dry. We can then use the drybag in which we transport sleeping bags, pads, and clothes to carry all that over to the erected tent, open it in the vestibule, and unpack perfectly dry stuff into the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the tent is up, we can set the area under the tarp up as a kitchen and the campsite is all set. We'll typically string a few lines under the tarp for hanging wet things while we're at it. Here's a side-on look at a &quot;rain kitchen&quot; in action. Notice the ground is a much lighter colour under the tarp - that's because it's dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LmuYj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rain kitchen&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here's a facing-in look:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/77rZM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-07-17T12:58:21.720" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T12:58:21.720" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-07-17T13:00:06.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about a center or cross cut to create &quot;post-it&quot; strips? If any of the resulting pieces are too heavy you could just peel off a few (cm)s of layer.&#xA;--(-)--&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with buying pre-cut pieces is there is typically a mark-up in price. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3553" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T13:00:06.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6053" CreationDate="2014-07-17T13:06:38.503" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there are several factors to consider when traveling alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can set your own pace. For me this is one of the main reasons to hike alone. When with other people they often want to go faster than you and you end up breaking yourself trying to keep up or are slower/less confident and you have to slow down/not do those 'interesting' scrambles you would want to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More flexible. Similarly when on your own you don't have to worry about what other people want. If you decide you want to take a detour or break you can if you want to push on to the next campsite you don't have to worry if anyone else is exhausted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More peaceful. Being on your own also gives you more time to think about things and admire the beauty of you surroundings without having to worry about being sociable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Easier logistics. If all your friends are busy (or you have no friends) you can either hike on your own or not at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Less support in case of injury. This is one the most commonly cited disadvantages. If you fall/trip/do something stupid and do yourself a serious injury you have no one else to help you. How serious an issue this is will depend on your situation. For injuries where you can walk out it doesn't really matter if you are alone as long as you have a decent first aid kit and can treat yourself. For more serious injuries it depends on location. If you are in heavily trafficked areas where there are almost always people around then its not so much a problem as hopefully a passer-by will assist you. On the other hand if you are in a back-country trail which sees one group per week or less then anything which stops you walking could kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Greater risk from wildlife/humans. Depending on where you are hiking there may be dangerous wildlife or risks from other people. In general these risks will be greater when traveling alone. Dangerous animals will view a single person as easier prey than a group, and a group of people will often make enough noise to scare away any nearby animals anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heavier pack. Many pieces of equipment don't scale directly with number of people. E.g. you only need one stove and tent if there are one or two people. This means if you travel alone your pack will probably be slightly heavier although this is a minor concern.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can be lonely. Being on your own all day can be very lonely particularly at mealtimes/evenings when you would normally chat with the rest of the group this can leave you with little to do particularly once it gets dark. This may or may not be an issue depending on your personality.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To decide whether you are comfortable hiking alone you must decide whether the pros out way the cons. The main cons being increased severity of issues caused by any injuries and higher risk of attack by animals etc. The risk caused by injuries will depend on where you are going and how careful you are. Generally one does not break their leg walking. If you don't have an injury the fact that you would be screwed if you do doesn't matter. Having said that accidents happen so you should always consider whats the worst that can happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T12:39:58.480" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:39:58.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T13:28:09.317" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;For tents that erect outer first, pitching in the rain is no different to any other time, just don't leave the dry inner out in the rain while putting the outer up. The outer will get wet on both sides anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make this easier a bit of forward planning is useful, like pack the inner and outer separately so that you can just leave the inner in the car until its needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choose your spot carefully, ideally the lee side of a wall or natural windbreak, on shortish grass (relative to the depth of the tray in your groundsheet) that is slightly higher than the areas around it (avoid boggy and low lying areas where water will accumulate).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large tents that erect outer first can be pretty floppy in high wind, so extra pegs and guys can be useful. If you have a geodesic tent with flexible poles a pole repair kit (a metal pole sleeve made from narrow pipe and duck tape) can be a life saver too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other Essential Kit (esp for Wales): &#xA;Wet weather footwear, even if its not actually raining you'll be walking around a lot in wet grass. Go for total exclusion (wellies) or man up and go for total immersion (sandals). In summer months I prefer sandals as you can wear them when/if the sun shines as well. Outdoor sandals, made from fast drying man made materials are go anywhere footwear, great for paddling around in wet places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also recommend shorts, wet legs are far easier and quicker to deal with than wet trousers. Save your dry clothing for when you're inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Head torch, totally indispensable item, my single best purchase, ever! Try doing anything that requires two hands in the dark without one of these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been camping and backpacking in the mountains in all weather and all seasons for 40+ years, these are hard won lessons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all, a bit of adversity never hurt anyone, and next time you will go prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T13:28:09.317" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6031" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:04:43.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Henry W Coe State Park is within reasonable driving range, and offers many hiking trails with good vistas and surprisingly few people.  I go into more detail &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6000/1854&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:04:43.883" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:21:49.107" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you don't have an outer first tent pitching in the rain comes down to planning and practice. It is actually possible to stay fairly dry if you're organised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no sure fire method but there are a few tricks which can help you keep the inner dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't wrap the tent poles up inside the tent, this will force you to unwrap the tent while it's raining&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the inside of the inner covered as much as possible at all times, you can do this by either keeping it folded so the groundsheet protects it or covering it with the fly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your tent can stand without pegs pitch it, get the flysheet over it THEN peg it in (not always a good idea in windy conditions). Pegging in a tent takes a long time, make sure you're not letting it get wet during that time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there are two of you pitch one tent as a team before moving onto the next, if your partner is unsure how to pitch yours make sure you're very explicit - don't leave them standing in the rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're pitched:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get in the tent until you absolutely have to, you'll be wet and all that extra movement will just make the tent wet too!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be organised, keep things in the porch which you'll need outside. Don't go back into the tent for your matches, stove, midge net, waterproof, torch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep bags away from the sides of the tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously there are the location considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't pitch in a hollow which may flood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trees may stop the rain but they also hold it (not to mention the midges)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short grass is good (and more comfortable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally (and this may sound pessimistic) &lt;strong&gt;always assume your tent WILL leak&lt;/strong&gt;. If you have a car keep as much kit as possible in the car and out of the tent. This guarantees you dry clothes and means if you do have to evacuate there's less to carry. This may sound obvious but don't keep anything electrical which isn't designed for outdoor use (phones, iPods/Pads etc) in the tent. It's not worth the risk!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget pubs are often much drier than tents!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3322" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:21:49.107" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6081" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:30:30.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming from a climbing and industrial rope access background, the double fisherman's is the recommended way to make a loop using rope/cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Undoing the knot was never part of the question, however under body weight loading even this shouldn't be too difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The figure of eight would work equally as well, I'd use it more for joining ropes for long abseils where undoing it afterwards is essential. Once you've made your prussik loops though there should be little reason to alter them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay away from the sheet bend, this is not really for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reef knots again, not really for climbing. Use with caution and back them up with a stopper hitch to stop slippage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:30:30.490" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5808" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:53:46.613" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I managed a climbing gym we got some resole kits so I thought I would give one a try.&#xA;The result was not particularly good, but meant a pair of shoes that were totally trashed were at least wearable.  The edges didn't bond particularly well, so there is not a very precise toe/edge.  It is certainly nowhere near as good as if you get it done professionally, but if the kit is cheap you could consider it for a pair of shoes for thrashing in the gym / on easy stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up buying a new pair of shoes and giving the resoled pair to one of the kids in our kids club, so they did at least get a second life out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:53:46.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3798" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:57:25.207" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;None of the photos show the bowline with the loose end tied off. In this (untied off) form the knot is unsafe as there is a strong chance of slippage. It's also easy to tie badly with fatal consequences. On the plus side its possible to tie one single handed in about 4 seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When tied off with a single or better double hitch though then this knot is pretty safe, for most situations it still would not be my knot of choice though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Bowlines best application is possibly tree or post belays, but even here after moderate loading it can be hard to untie and a better choice would be round turn + 2 half hitches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For heavy loading situations the double figure of eight (or fig 9 for super heavy) is a better knot but lacks the ease of set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T14:57:25.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5887" CreationDate="2014-07-17T14:58:44.427" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've carried all my climbing gear when travelling as carry on with no problems in NZ, Australia, UK, and Europe - chalk and full trad rack included. For travel in Canada, I had it all in checked luggage with no issues.  Cannot comment on other areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T15:58:22.043" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T15:58:22.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6101" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6110" CreationDate="2014-07-17T18:14:35.053" Score="11" ViewCount="141" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking if there is an alternative to renting a satellite phone when it's to be used in absolute emergencies only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as my searches showed, most prepaid plans have very short expiration times like a month, and for subscriptions you pay a lot without talking a single minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did I miss something, or is there really nothing with low costs when not used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T10:05:49.150" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T10:05:49.150" Title="Satellite phone payment plans for irregular use" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6078" CreationDate="2014-07-17T18:18:44.180" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Below is the bare minimum list of gear I would require anyone on my team to carry during and rescue operation. It does not include any of the numerous pieces of rope equipment that members of the rope team would cary in addition to the basic equipment ( only specific team members that have completed extensive training are qualified to be involved in any of the rope operations ) and, it is just equipment. Having the right equipment makes no guarantee of the training and skills needed to cary out a rescue operation. The worst thing you could possibly do is attempt a rescue without the skills and training needed and end up injuring or killing yourself in the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, enjoy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather appropriate top and bottom base layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather appropriate top and bottom outer layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof breathable coat with hood ( brightly colored )&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather appropriate gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lug sole boots, gaiters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing Helmet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 pairs of weather appropriate socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra sweater&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass with mirror and declination adjustment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS Device(s)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;VHF and UHF radio&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof notepad and pen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Area maps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fixed blade knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy duty survival blanket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Survey tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire starters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 pieces of 20 foot 1&quot; tubular webbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50 feet of 500 pound nylon cord&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Storm proof wooden matches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof match holder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimum 24 hour supply of food and snacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eye protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon tarp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamps, extra batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spare flashlight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimum 3 liters of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wood saw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 plastic bags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duct tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Metal cup or small pot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First aid kit with ace wrap/israeli bandage, heat and ice packs, trauma pads and tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather appropriate snow gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A backpack that fits you and can hold all of this gear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T18:18:44.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6103" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6195" CreationDate="2014-07-17T18:22:35.457" Score="5" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a new 9 acre lake that we stocked just last spring with minnows, georgia giants, perch, small mouth, hybrid striped bass, and koi. We're adding catfish and some other fish this year, but we have yet to catch anything but georgia giants or perch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any tips on getting the smallmouth or striped to bite instead of the others? We live in Indiana and it's a pretty open lake that we put some &quot;habitat&quot; in like wrapped field tile and old evergreen trees.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3562" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T19:54:15.913" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T19:56:17.480" Title="How can we catch the smallmouth/striped bass in our lake?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6104" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-17T18:30:07.187" Score="8" ViewCount="251" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to Friendship, Maine, USA, 04547, for the first week of August 2014. I am thinking about kayak fishing. Are they any good spots? What kind of fish species should I expect to find there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3563" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-09T22:20:10.170" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T22:20:10.170" Title="What are some good kayak fishing areas in Friendship, Maine?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5353" CreationDate="2014-07-17T18:36:17.467" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could talk to the guys at Panther Primitives. They make high-quality canvas wall tents for the historical reenactment community, and they spend a sizeable amount of time camping in them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I really think your answer is a yurt (or ger).  They are round, so that helps with high winds. They are big enough to walk around in. They have accordian-wood slate walls covered with canvas, so you can hang things from the walls and even add extra cloth for insulation (Mongolian herders used felt). They have doors that can be secured. In the middle of the roof is a hole with a removable cover so you could install a heating stove with chimney, or just use for ventilation. Add a wood floor, and you are pretty much protected from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only thing is you would probably need a skilled person to put it up for you. It's kind of tricky and not something you can just read the instructions for and go out and do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3565" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T18:36:17.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6103" CreationDate="2014-07-17T19:32:19.023" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, I'm not a good bass fisherman, so I can't say much, except that the only times I've caught smallmouth was in rocky ledges of the lakes using nightcrawlers on the bottom. Maybe add some boulders/large rocks in certain parts of the lake and perhaps the bass will congregate in those areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T19:55:04.773" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T19:55:04.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6081" CreationDate="2014-07-17T19:40:43.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I alternate between the double fisherman's (which everyone has already talked about) and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/flatoverhand/&quot;&gt;flat overhand&lt;/a&gt;. Lately I've been leaning towards the flat overhand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefit of the flat overhand is that it's much easier to tie, inspect, and (most importantly) untie after it's been loaded. When properly tied and dressed, the flat overhand has &lt;a href=&quot;http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html&quot;&gt;been shown&lt;/a&gt; to be more than adequate for joining two ropes together (or creating a loop) in climbing applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to untie a loop can be very useful and provide more flexibility. For example, you can turn a long cordelette into bail gear during a descent, or use the cord for an application where it would otherwise be too short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-07-17T19:40:43.433" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6101" CreationDate="2014-07-17T20:37:21.703" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like what you want is a personal locator beacon (PLB). They cost about $250, and there is zero cost after you buy it. It's not a phone. It's just a beacon that broadcasts your position so that a search and rescue team can come and rescue you. They're small and lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people use a device such as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPOT_Satellite_Messenger&quot;&gt;SPOT&lt;/a&gt; instead. IMO the SPOT is more of an entertainment device, but it does also allow you to do some other stuff besides acting as a beacon. They have a reputation for being unreliable, and I believe they also have a monthly fee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T09:26:17.870" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T09:26:17.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6131" CreationDate="2014-07-18T03:30:10.340" Score="9" ViewCount="2083" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan on living out of my car for a while, and was trying to find out about the rules/legality of pulling off on the side of mountain roads to setup camp; roads like the San Gabriel Canyon Road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the San Gabriel I know you can pay for a parking permit to park at the top, where many tourists/hikers venture, but I'm wondering about just pulling off much earlier than that without many people around.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I wouldn't be spending more than 3 or 4 nights in any given location, so as not to upset anyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I still generally need a permit?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Are these rules strictly enforced?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Are there other places around the LA area where this might be allowed?&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't seem to find much information on this topic.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'm ultimately just trying to find secluded places near LA that I can legally (or not get caught) drive to and spend a couple nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3567" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T10:56:24.473" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T10:56:24.473" Title="Legality of parking and setting up camp on side of mountain roads in California near Los Angeles" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6114" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-18T08:19:00.913" Score="18" ViewCount="4121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a youtube video where this guy skinned a spruce tree stick and ate the bark while claiming it is nutritious. That got me curious since trees are everywhere and this could be a great tip so I tried searching for what kind of nutritional value it would have exactly. All i found was &lt;a href=&quot;http://survival.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2011/11/survival-foods-can-you-really-eat-tree-bark&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; page which says that the bark is &quot;relatively nutritious&quot; and packs around 500-600 calories per pound. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure they realize that a grown human being on average needs 2000 calories a day to survive for longer periods of time so you'd have to eat around a metric ton of the stuff per day. Maybe it was a typo and they meant kilocalories but that would mean the bark has to be mostly fat and all the sources I've seen say its mostly carbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody have solid information on what kind of nutrition tree bark has?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3480" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-02-24T00:10:30.163" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T00:10:30.163" Title="Tree bark as food" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2014-07-18T08:28:19.297" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black robes are worn predominantely by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouin&quot;&gt;Bedouin&lt;/a&gt; tribesmen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A scientific paper has been written on this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v283/n5745/abs/283373a0.html&quot;&gt;Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot deserts?&lt;/a&gt; article in journal &lt;em&gt;Nature&lt;/em&gt;. This is summarised quite neatly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/19/most-improbable-scientific-research-abrahams&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To cut a long story short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;It seems likely,&quot; the scientists wrote, &quot;that the present inhabitants&#xA;  of the Sinai, the Bedouins, would have optimised their solutions for&#xA;  desert survival during their long tenure in this desert. Yet one may&#xA;  have doubts on first encountering Bedouins wearing black robes and&#xA;  herding black goats. We have therefore investigated whether black&#xA;  robes help the Bedouins to minimise solar heat loads in a hot desert.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They then conducted an experiment getting a volunteer to stand in the desert wearing various colours and types of clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The results were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...As the report puts it: &quot;The amount of heat gained by a Bedouin&#xA;  exposed to the hot desert is the same whether he wears a black or a&#xA;  white robe. The additional heat absorbed by the black robe was lost&#xA;  before it reached the skin.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So though the black clothes adsorbed the heat faster it also looses the heat faster. The style of the clothes (&lt;em&gt;worn loose&lt;/em&gt;) increases this convection processes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These people have spent millennia in the desert and know what they're doing. Their lifestyle, animals and clothing are all highly optimised for desert travel (there's also religious reasons for what they wear, covering heads, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said for modern western people, you're unlikely to go into the desert wearing full Bedouin dress. So if you're wearing western clothing, without the loose fit, etc. You're more likely to find that light colours are best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T10:24:44.750" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T10:24:44.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6116" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-18T10:08:45.183" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A phone that uses orbiting satellite's for communication. Useful when in regions where traditional, earth bound/tower based, phone systems do not exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T11:18:27.037" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T11:18:27.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6117" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-18T10:08:45.183" Score="0" Body="A phone that uses orbiting satellite's for communication. Useful when in regions where traditional, earth bound/tower based, phone systems do not exist." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T11:18:21.617" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T11:18:21.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6118" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-18T10:28:46.983" Score="10" ViewCount="1486" Body="&lt;p&gt;For example the plastic that one can attain from most hardware stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavier plastics that are less prone to tearing, and mainly used for construction. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/9b/9bfe916b-8e59-4ca2-9bdd-22535e07fde6_400.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(like here)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some of pros and cons to this approach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which color would be more beneficial:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasoning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheapest most efficient way to keep several people dry if needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other issues that I might want to consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The length I am considering:  10ft x 25ft&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight: 3.8lbs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With 60ft of 550 parachord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&#xA; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4942/why-do-people-who-backpack-sleep-in-tents-instead-of-tarps&quot;&gt;Why do people who backpack sleep in tents instead of tarps?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1513/what-is-the-proper-way-to-tarp-tent-to-avoid-condensation&quot;&gt;What is the proper way to tarp tent to avoid condensation?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3569" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2020-09-22T09:35:55.850" Title="Would 4mil polyethylene plastic make a good tarp tent? Clear Plastic Tarp?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6119" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6141" CreationDate="2014-07-18T10:41:36.673" Score="9" ViewCount="2041" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have experience on which burns the cleanest, and would work best with the MSR?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kerosene&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unleaded Gasoline / White Gas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol ( isoprpyl, ethanol, methanol )&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;others? Naptha?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am preparing to go on a bicycle trip with an MSR Universal Whisperlite, the multi fuel stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a really terrible experience with kerosene, and Coleman fuel is expensive, and bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was considering E85, since its 85% ethanol I thought that maybe it would burn cleaner. Thoughts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the difference between white gas, propane, kerosene, and gasoline?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit/update:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had good luck with standard premium gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The start/priming technique is the secret.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;add a squirt of 70%+ rubbing alcohol to the bottom wick bowl [ the rubbing alcohol has a sootless burn, leaving the outside of the stove clean ]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ignite the alcohol and let it burn completely off to heat prime the stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;turn on and ignite the gas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the gas should be coming out as a vapor and the stove should turn jet blue right away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;alcohol based sootless start ftw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3569" LastEditorUserId="3569" LastEditDate="2021-01-26T16:29:39.800" LastActivityDate="2021-01-26T16:29:39.800" Title="Which fuel burns the cleanest? Can I use E85 for an MSR stove?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6119" CreationDate="2014-07-18T11:06:30.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kerosene, white gas (Coleman fuel) and unleaded should all work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you need to change the nozzle/jet where the fuel comes out depending on the fuel used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe (though I'm not entirely sure) there are different diameter holes for different fuels - presumably due to different viscosity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/MSR/FAQ/Stoves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MSR FAQ&lt;/a&gt; has some useful information, particularly the question: Where do I get fuels in foreign countries and what other types of fuel can I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always used standard unleaded with MSRs and never had any problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note MSRs will not run on alcohol (its in the FAQ)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T11:06:30.510" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6121" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-18T11:23:03.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about the activity of trying to catch fish, usually in the wild, using a wide range of techniques. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:52:08.507" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:52:08.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6122" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-18T11:23:03.180" Score="0" Body="Questions about the activity of trying to catch fish, usually in the wild, using a wide range of techniques" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:43:23.097" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:43:23.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6123" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6125" CreationDate="2014-07-18T14:06:04.553" Score="7" ViewCount="1771" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have made myself a pair of wrecking balls from a cricket ball and 6mm accessory cord for pinch grip pullups and I am currently debating what is the best way to create a knot to hang them. Currently one of them looks as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hkW8V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Monkey&amp;#39;s fist round a cricket ball with 6mm accessory cord&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The objective is to be able to tie these anywhere that has a bar element, from gym, to tree, to home suspension beam or a simple hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My original idea was to simply tie the remaining cord to the carabiner and attach that to the nylon straps of my rings. However it would be much sweeter to use a knot that can self hook (i.e. attach onto itself) with some adjustability (terrain is never perfect).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My idea would be to throw the carabiner over and hook it back onto the cords which could use a ladder knot. I put this query to the more experienced climbers / rope savvied folk to see if there is a better option than my idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is of relevance, the remaining cord available is 1.5m at least on both ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3520" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T14:42:27.200" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T17:48:21.933" Title="An adjustable length knot for 2 lines and a carabiner for easy suspension" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6127" CreationDate="2014-07-18T15:15:49.533" Score="14" ViewCount="2928" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I've made myself a handy dandy tent footprint out of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyvek&quot;&gt;Tyvek&lt;/a&gt;.  It's durable, packs easy, cheap to replace.... and NOISY.  My entire camping group has complained that it wakes them up when I roll over at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to &quot;wear it in&quot; so that it no longer makes that loud crinkle noise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T15:18:11.147" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T08:12:17.603" Title="How can I make Tyvek less noisy?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6123" CreationDate="2014-07-18T15:26:57.493" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/clovehalfhitches&quot;&gt;clove hitch&lt;/a&gt; is probably what you're looking for. You can even tie it directly on the branch/beam/bar without worrying about adding a carabiner. You could also tie it to the carabiner, adjust the length, and clip the carabiner to something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The clove hitch is one of the most under-utilized climbing knots out there. It's infinitely adjustable because you're directly using the rope/cord, and you can tie it on any number of things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T15:26:57.493" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6123" CreationDate="2014-07-18T15:46:49.387" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless I'm missing something you could just throw the rope over the bar and tie the two ends together with figure eight bend/sheet bend/reef knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about it moving too much you could give it a couple of turns round the bar or even tie directly to the bar with two clove hitches (as Felix suggested) or round turns &amp;amp; two half hitches which IMHO are easier to tie to a closed bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want more adjustability you can make a simple ratchet system. Tie two figure of eight loops, one near the end of the rope leaving at least one with a fairly long end after the loop. Loop your long end over the bar then through the loop on the other rope. Back through the first loop and finish with a couple of half hitches. The second loop isn't strictly necessary but helps tidy away your excess rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T15:46:49.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6124" CreationDate="2014-07-18T16:05:21.777" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;My other half used Tyvek when he was practicing Archery and one of the factors there was it had to be quiet, they used it for 4-6 hour stints to sit on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what he and some others in his club did:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash it on a cotton / white cycle in your washing machine without any soap or detergent or powders.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash it three times but let it dry thoroughly between each wash.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then if you have a tumble dryer put it on on a standard cycle with three new tennis balls in, this will soften it up further.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He thinks it should retain the waterproofness but bear in mind it might pick up leaves etc more as the fibers will be softened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T08:12:17.603" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T08:12:17.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6123" CreationDate="2014-07-18T17:48:21.933" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could probably tie a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/&quot;&gt;sheetbend&lt;/a&gt; using the carabiner as one of the &quot;lines&quot;.  It's easily adjustable and can be doubled for more holding strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back when I started climbing in the '70's we used to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/techtips/CrabBrake.htm&quot;&gt;double carabiner brake&lt;/a&gt; to rappel (abseil) back down the face.  We didn't have descending 8's or any other specialized gear for rappeling, and they still taught the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_Dulfersitz.htm&quot;&gt;dolfersitz&lt;/a&gt; method.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wanted to, it was quite easy to lock off the line so you could stop mid-rappel to enjoy the view or take a break.  To do so, you'd simply pull the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_knot_terminology#S&quot;&gt;standing end of the rope&lt;/a&gt; (the part dangling behind your brake hand) up over the top of and pop behind the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_knot_terminology#W&quot;&gt;working end&lt;/a&gt; (the part above any of your hardware except the anchor) where it entered the brake.  I think you could use this method to lock off your monkey's fist.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have access to a camera to show what it looks like and haven't been able to find one on the 'net.  You would need a regular sized carabiner to do this probably, I think the one shown in your photograph would be too small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T17:48:21.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6118" CreationDate="2014-07-18T18:03:32.660" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, even heavy plastics tear easily with wind. This from trying to use such plastics to cover cargo that I'm hauling with a truck. I think this would be the only thing that would deter me from using such a thing as a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T18:03:32.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6026" CreationDate="2014-07-18T18:24:15.787" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different parts of California have different wildlife, so you should probably narrow the region. Anyway, I'll talk about the areas I'm familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Santa Cruz mountains, there are a lot of pumas (mountain lions.) Encounters are very rare. The advice is that if you do encounter one, make yourself appear large and noisy by waving your hands and your hiking stick; if you are attacked, fight feriously, using sticks and rocks to try and injure the animal (an injured animal will run away). It is very possible for an adult human to successfully fight off a mountain lion - an adult mountain lion is roughly the size and weight of a large dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Santa Cruz mountains, there are no bears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Sierra Nevadas, there are a lot of black bears, particularly in the Yosemite area. Black bears are very mild, docile creatures. Normally they want to avoid encounters with people. When encounters do happen, it's usually because they want your food. Again, the same advice applies: yell at them, wave your arms - don't not run (running away triggers the predator instinct). Nor should you attack, of course. But if you are attacked, fight ferociously and try to injure the beast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've gone on two 3-day backpacking trips into the Sierra backcountry, and did not see any bears at all. One of the trips was only about 10 miles north of the Yosemite area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My coworker last year spent 30-days on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking from Washington State into California, hiking along the Cascades and the Sierras, and he never saw a single bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other large, potentially dangerous animals don't exist in California. Back in the old days, there were wolverines, wolves and grizzlies, but those were pushed out 80 to 100 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: ... Interestingly, my wife and I are some of the only people in California to actually hear the only wolf that has been living in the wild in California in the past 100 years. We were camping in the Cascade mountains in Northern California a couple years ago, and heard wolf &quot;OR-7&quot; howling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2014-07-18T18:54:25.427" LastActivityDate="2014-07-18T18:54:25.427" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6113" CreationDate="2014-07-19T16:22:59.670" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want to do seems to be referred to by the Forest Service as &quot;dispersed camping,&quot; and you can find a lot of information by googling on that phrase. Different jurisdictions seem to have different rules, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/05/dispersed-camping-on-public-lands.html&quot;&gt;this blog post&lt;/a&gt; has a nice attempt to summarize how the rules usually work in national forests and on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/&quot;&gt;BLM&lt;/a&gt; land. Basically what they seem to want you do to is this. Drive along a paved road to somewhere where there's a dirt road. Then drive at least 1/4 mile down the dirt road, and camp at least 1/4 mile away from any campground and 100' from water. Park your car on the side of the dirt road, not in a meadow, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't camp for more than 2 weeks in any consecutive 4-week period. You can't leave your stuff at your camp unattended for more than 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have rules about fires and poop disposal, but anyway IMO you should follow a stricter leave no trace ethic because it's the right thing to do. That includes burying your poop and taking your used toilet paper away with you (e.g., after you wipe, throw it in a ziplock bag that you'll take away). Toilet paper doesn't biodegrade well, because it consists of long-chain molecules that bacteria can only attack from the ends. Since this is one of the driest years in California since 1877, I'd suggest simply not making a fire at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may need an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Forest_Adventure_Pass&quot;&gt;adventure pass&lt;/a&gt; to park in certain areas. Court rulings have restricted the adventure pass system, but the forest service has interpreted those rulings in the narrowest possible way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-19T19:44:01.993" LastActivityDate="2014-07-19T19:44:01.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1576" CreationDate="2014-07-20T15:51:56.003" Score="-5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock falls from the sky and hits bike helmet. Good chance I'll survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rock falls from the sky and hits bare head. Good chance I'll get bad headache or worse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though it's not exactly designed for this purpose it will be better than&#xA;nothing. I find it hilarious when people get super into design and what can and cannot be used.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reminds me of salad vs dinner fork. And someone saying that the salad fork just will not work for eating your steak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I plan on using my bike helmet when I do Longs Peak. If you can pick up the real deal that's better, but if all you have is a bike helmet, I imagine its better than a baseball cap deflecting a rock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3582" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T12:44:21.500" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T12:44:21.500" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6136" CreationDate="2014-07-20T19:06:34.843" Score="8" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a good starter tent for my wife and I.  We primarily do light backpacking (anywhere from 3-5 day trips in summer/fall) and would like a tent that balances comfort, weight, and space.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on my research thus far, we've narrowed down our search to three different options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/tents-and-bivys/mesa-tent-BD810190MARIALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Mesa&lt;/a&gt; (2-person, 3-season)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) &lt;a href=&quot;http://marmot.com/products/details/traillight-2p&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Marmot Traillight&lt;/a&gt; (2-person, 3-season)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) &lt;a href=&quot;http://marmot.com/products/details/limelight-3p&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Marmot Limelight&lt;/a&gt; (3-person, 3-season)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone out there have thoughts on these models or comparisons between them? They are all a relatively similar price so this is not an issue&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3583" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T19:59:13.187" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T13:57:28.797" Title="Comparing 2-person, three-season backpacking tents" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6134" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6157" CreationDate="2014-07-20T20:17:59.297" Score="9" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is emergency equipment to survive nights, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&quot;&gt;emergency blankets&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivi&quot;&gt;bivouac packs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As opposed to this, if you &lt;strong&gt;plan&lt;/strong&gt; to stay overnight on winter trips (e.g. in the Alps) you don't &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; want to survive, you want to have a relatively comfortable night. Of course you bring an isolation pad and a sleeping bag with you. Besides that, what equipment do we need and what features do we have to look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T08:13:19.913" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T20:52:56.290" Title="Planned winter bivi" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6133" CreationDate="2014-07-20T21:39:09.190" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;These three tents are very similar; freestanding, double-wall dome construction. The limelight is a bit heavier with more floor space. The trail light does not have a transversal pole. Any of them should do just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used a similar tent, the MSR Hubba Hubba, for a while and was quite satisfied with the design. I now retired the Hubba Hubba in preference of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tarptent.com/stratospire2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stratospire 2&lt;/a&gt; as it is more lightweight and spacious (also cheaper compared to the Hubba Hubba). However, it is not freestanding and require trekking poles instead of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dacpole.com/html/products.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DAC poles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2014-07-20T21:39:09.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6081" CreationDate="2014-07-21T00:12:29.507" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8join/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Figure 8 Bend&lt;/a&gt;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easy to untie even under heavy load. &#xA;We use them all the time in rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uERsl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastEditorUserId="489" LastEditDate="2014-08-08T19:57:48.417" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T19:57:48.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6138" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6144" CreationDate="2014-07-21T08:14:59.407" Score="8" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to do a winter bivouac but have no gear for it yet. Especially the choice of a bivi pack is really tough for me because I'd prefer to be able to use it also in summer as a rescue item and therefore size and weight matters a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For bivi packs, what do we have to look for referring to emergency and planned situations?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are big differences for bivi packs pricewise, what are the technical distinctions?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; regarding the answer of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6144/2653&quot;&gt;@RogerB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already checked the packs in stores, breathability is an expansive feature. Somehow this seems to be very similar to the Hardshell jackets market. You get very cheap rain- and windproof stuff but when you want breathability it gets expensive. When you additionally want a durable item, it gets high-end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your question: I don't have a bivi pack yet and I don't really want to buy two. So I need it as a rescue item for mountaineering/alpine tours and I am thinking of using it for planned overnight-stays. You are right though, I won't start right away to do this in winter. And I won't do this on my own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T22:35:34.673" Title="Differences for bivi packs" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6156" CreationDate="2014-07-21T12:47:00.070" Score="15" ViewCount="8523" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a camera setup outside. Wasp seem to enjoy nesting in and around this camera. I know there are all kinds of wasp killers but is there anything I can do to repel wasps from nesting in and around the area of my camera? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most all of my motion pictures are of wasps climbing on the lens which does me no good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3562" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-18T19:56:27.420" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T19:56:27.420" Title="Wasp repellent for an object/area?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2014-07-21T13:45:24.237" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Citronella candles set up around a perimeter are what we use when camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we are going somewhere exceptionally bug-ridden, we do sometimes use DEET - it is much more effective, but rather toxic. As long as you are spraying and then leaving the area, I'd go with DEET. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hadn't realised it would melt plastic (thanks @Liam) so be careful where you spray it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T13:45:24.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6119" CreationDate="2014-07-21T14:32:56.933" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience Coleman Fuel burns the cleanest out of everything that I've tried, it is unfortunately the most expensive and hard to find (relative to gasoline or diesel).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unleaded - Cheap and widely available, burns well but a little sooty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diesel - Slightly less cheap (in UK/Europe) works very well. Use with wider jet. More sooty than unleaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend that you get hold of the MSR maintenance/spares kit for any extended journey, it's saved my bacon a few times, literally. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is avoiding a bit of soot worth the effort and bulk of carrying both fuel and alcohol, personally I think not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T14:32:56.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2014-07-21T14:48:40.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since the problem seems to be that the wasps enjoy nesting around your camera, I would suggest making it unattractive for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, cover it with a kind of box or anything similar. Normally wasps and kind like cracks, corners and similar things to glue their nest to. If you present them with a smooth box they won´t find it attractive anymore.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also try to find out why they are attracted to the camera. Maybe there is lot less wind directly at the location of the cam, so that would be a reason for them to nest there. You could also try to make a nesting point for them close to the camera, using the things they like (wind and rain protection with small corners).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it might fail as well; Maybe they just like the ultraviolet-color of your camera. However, there is the chance that it keeps them away in a more reliable and permanent way than just spraying DEET around. It depends on your setup if its worth the struggle though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3596" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T08:43:17.873" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T08:43:17.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3458" CreationDate="2014-07-21T15:05:16.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have successfully used mixtures of gasoline, diesel and kerosine in various portions and had no problems that couldn't be solved by swapping to the other jet. Use the suck it and see approach works fine without getting technical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If availability is an issue and it comes to hot dinner or raw dinner are you really going to be that picky which fuel you use, I mean that is why you bought a multi-fuel stove right? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the additive issue, most automotive fuels will have these wherever you are so don't use your stove in an enclosed space. All hydrocarbon fuels will consume oxygen and generate carbon monoxide/dioxide so this is just good practice anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T15:05:16.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6138" CreationDate="2014-07-21T16:32:42.687" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bivying used to be regarded as a desperate act that you'd do in an emergency. In these circumstances a large polythene bag would serve as a make do shelter. Very cheap simple and pretty awful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In more recent years bivying has become more widespread in the outdoor adventure arena and purpose built kit is now available. A comfortable bivy is a fine art that requires both forward planning and personal discipline. Even with the most expensive kit available, there is still a very fine balance between surviving and actually enjoying the experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question has all of the hallmarks of inexperience which in some respects is commendable, however I don't recommend bivying in winter as your first experience. There's a huge learning curve, usually born out of a bit of suffering so best get it out of the way before winter comes and it actually becomes important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheap bivi bags are most likely to be made from heavyweight non-breathable fabrics, whereas expensive ones will be made from lightweight breathable materials. There's also likely to be a halfway house that has a durable fully waterproof ground sheet and a breathable upper. Generally you get what you pay for, these are the criteria that will attract a higher price tag, (in no particular order):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reduced weight &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small Pack size &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breath-ability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra features such as a pole/hoop, insect mesh.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultralight bivi-bags with minimal luxuries are intended for the climbing / mountaineering / extreme enduro market where having to bivi is a necessity rather than a pleasure. These are made from high performance materials that offer both high breathability low weight and small pack size but are likely to not be particularly durable. These are likely to be top of the market price wise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheaper alternatives exist for the outdoorsman where weight and pack size are not so crucial, these are usually made from heavier and more durable fabrics and might also offer luxuries such as insect meshes and poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Budget bivi-bags will be similar to the above but likely to have a fully waterproof groundsheet. This will have the effect of reducing the breathability of the bag and cause increased condensation, not really a great idea in winter. Damp insulation == cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without knowing what your intended activity is it's difficult to be any more precise, so base your decision on budget and durability versus weight and performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T16:32:42.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6133" CreationDate="2014-07-21T20:09:22.907" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tenting with two people always comes down to a few items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How easy is it to get in/out?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there enough room to fit both people and gear?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much does this thing weigh?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can we afford it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've ruled out the cost.  Given that all three tents have two doors, getting in and out should be equivalent.  So it comes down to balancing weight vs. space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Marmot 2P should be ruled out immediately due to only having one vestibule.  The Marmot 3P has a little more room, and a lot more vestibule space than the Black Diamond 2P, so the decision just depends on how much the extra room is worth the weight.  If you hike ultralight, you should not need all the extra vestibule room of the Marmot 3P, and can save the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T13:57:28.797" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T13:57:28.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5994" CreationDate="2014-07-21T20:18:26.290" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most people, having a shop do the mount is a hassle-free and relatively inexpensive way to mount bindings. Shops will often mount the ski &quot;on the line&quot; but many will mount it to your basic specifications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why mount yourself?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the main reason someone would choose to mount their own ski bindings is that they want to mount older but still serviceable bindings that a shop refuses to deal with, they want to do a custom mount involving binding inserts, swap plates, quiver killers, or they want to use multiple boots and mount the binding in a way that multiple BSLs (boot sole lengths) would fit, which would not work in a standard mount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tools &amp;amp; Templates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A binding mount can usually be done with some C-clamps, epoxy, masking tape, a power drill, some bits, and a binding template. It is difficult to provide templates here as they are usually printable in PDF form and specific to the binding make and model. They are available online from sites such as: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.techinfo.bindingfreedom.com/&quot;&gt;Binding Freedom&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slidewright.com/weblog/ski-snowboard/bindings-ski-snowboard/paper-ski-binding-templates/&quot;&gt;Slide Wright&lt;/a&gt; both of which I've used in the past. An important thing with templates is to ensure they are printed to scale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Risks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the comments above mentioned, mounting skis is a somewhat precise process, which definitely embodies the adage &quot;measure twice, cut once&quot;. Common risks are: drilling too many holes and turning your skis into &quot;Swiss cheese&quot; thus making them very fragile, drilling through the ski if you aren't careful, or incorrectly measuring by enough of a margin so that you can't click in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tutorials&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General tutorials are available online, in fact my friend and I have &lt;a href=&quot;http://1water1coffee1beer.com/grep-prepswap-plate-mounting/&quot;&gt;written several&lt;/a&gt; from our first few mounting experiences. I'll try to summarize the steps very briefly here. Extensive tutorials including video can be found at: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.techinfo.bindingfreedom.com/Tutorial_Videos.html&quot;&gt;Binding Freedom Tutorials&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tetongravity.com/&quot;&gt;Teton Gravity Forums&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildsnow.com&quot;&gt;Wild Snow articles&lt;/a&gt;, or articles &lt;a href=&quot;http://1water1coffee1beer.com/grep-prepswap-plate-mounting/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://1water1coffee1beer.com/quiver-killers-and-powder-baskets/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://1water1coffee1beer.com/winter-readiness-dual-dynafit-duke-binding-insert-mount/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Basic Summary&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acquire the following: power drill, printed template, epoxy, a sharpie, drill bits slightly smaller than the binding screws (~3.6 mm), a pilot hole bit, a ruler, C-clamps, and a sturdy table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clamp the ski to the table. Find the center of the ski &quot;on the line&quot;, the line printed on the ski from the factory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Align the binding template, centered on the center point, and tape it down. Measure a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optional: Visually check by placing bindings over template and putting the boot in. Center-punch the template hole marks to ensure the bit won't skip on the ski's surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are sure on the placement, tape a &quot;stopper&quot; around your drill bit(s) at about 9mm (standard wood screw thread length). Drill some holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once holes are drilled, put a small amount of epoxy on each screw and screw bindings in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3280" LastEditorUserId="3280" LastEditDate="2014-07-21T20:24:15.777" LastActivityDate="2014-07-21T20:24:15.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2014-07-21T20:32:18.837" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very similar problem with wasps nesting in my mailbox. This has made it rather difficult to get to my mail, and pay my bills on time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest staying away from traps as, while they will trap and kill a wasp, they do have a scented bait meant to draw wasps to the area. So your camera would still probably capture a fair amount of wasps on the lens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have just recently implemented the first of these two solutions myself. I needed not try the second option, however, several other people have vouched for both solutions, both online, and at my local hardware store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mothballs: Apparently these are just as effective on wasps as they are on moths. It seems so effective the wasps have abandon their (small) nest. However, this may not work outside in a breezy location, but it still might be worth a try. Perhaps you can hang an old sock full of the mothballs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Decoy Wasp Nest: Wasps are very territorial creatures. If the wasps think there is a larger, already established, nest nearby they won't dare try to build their own. There are several pre-made nest decoys out on the market, but I've heard you can make one yourself out of a paper bag shaped to resemble a wasp nest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said, I can't personally speak to the effectiveness of the second option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3591" LastEditorUserId="3591" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T05:21:09.407" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T05:21:09.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6133" CreationDate="2014-07-22T00:40:59.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I narrowed the choices down on a few factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) I wanted to spend under $400 for the tent since my wife and I will only use it a handful of times a year.  I don't mind buying a nice tent if it's an older model and purchased off season.  Perhaps that's way my fashion sense is always a year behind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) I was willing to trade weight for a bit of comfort and space since my last tent (a Kelty) was officially a two-person, but was a bit tight for the both of us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) I like the gear loft addition (great for lightening, odds and ends, etc) and a double entry tent was a must. Climbing over one's partner in the middle of the night to take a piss is not fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, I'm thinking a three-person, three-season like the Marmot limelight is the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks, all!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3583" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T00:40:59.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2014-07-22T05:16:56.423" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm allergic to wasp/bee stings so this is a question I've been pondering for a long time, what works for me is slicing a lemon in half and putting a few cloves in there. Put it near the camera and the wasps wont go near it. It has a fairly penetrating and unpleasant odor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3598" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T08:43:41.597" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T08:43:41.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1576" CreationDate="2014-07-22T05:30:23.130" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main standards to focus on for bicycle helmets are probably the CPSC standard in the US, and the EN 1078 standard in Europe.  The climbing helmet UIAA 106 standard is based on the EN 12492 standard.  Unfortunately the EU standards do not appear publicly available due to copyright issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bike helmets:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CPSC:&lt;/strong&gt; Helmet is attached to a 5kg headform and dropped: 2 meters onto a flat anvil, 1.2 meters onto hemispheric and curbstone anvils.  The test is performed on helmets conditioned for at least 4 hours at ambient temperature, sub-freezing temperatures, high temperatures, and immersed in water.  Peak acceleration must not exceed 300 gravities for any impact.  Each helmet receives a test of the retention system (chinstrap) and 5 impacts: two each from the flat and hemispheric anvils followed by one from the curbstone anvil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EN 1078:&lt;/strong&gt; The EN standard appears to call for two impacts from 1.5 meters; one onto a flat anvil, the other onto a curbstone anvil, with a 250 gravities limit.  Helmets are conditioned by temperature and UV aging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Climbing helmets:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EN 12492:&lt;/strong&gt; Helmet is placed on a headform and a 5kg striker is dropped onto the helmet.  Front, side, and back impacts are done by tilting the headform 60°.  A hemispherical striker is dropped 2 meters for the top impact, and the flat striker is dropped from 50 cm for the front, back, and sides.  A penetration test is done using a 3kg conical striker dropped from 1 meter.  Finally, there is a retention system test.  To pass, none of the impacts must transmit more than 10kN of force to the headform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UIAA 106:&lt;/strong&gt; Identical to EN 12492, except the transmitted impact force must not exceed 8kN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Comparing the two:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One item immediately apparent is the use of acceleration in the cycling helmet standards vs. kilonewtons (a unit of force) in the climbing helmet standards.  (I suspect this is because for a cycling helmet the total force is known; it's a person's head falling from a bike to the pavement.  Thus, the goal is to manage the deceleration.)  If we assume a 5kg headform is experiencing 250g's from the bike helmet test, the classic F=ma equation gives us: 5.0 kg * 250 g * 9.80665 m/s&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt;/g = 12.3 kN.  (Hopefully someone will speak up if I'm completely off-track here!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combined with the types of tests performed, one might conclude that a climbing helmet of the expanded foam sort, should have a better chance of passing the cycling helmet tests than the other way around.  A well-known example is the Petzl Meteor III+, but others, such as the Kong Scarab, also exist.  I would point out that these meet the European cycling standard, but have not been certified against the American standard.  This may be due to the high cost of certification, but it may also be due to the stricter CPSC requirements.  Hard-shell climbing helmets are likely to have trouble with the side impact cycling helmet tests.  Personally I would not use a cycling helmet to climb with, but I have used a foam climbing helmet on my bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;CPSC standard: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.helmets.org/cpscstd.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CPSC's Bicycle Helmet Standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycling standards comparison: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bhsi.org/stdcomp.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Comparison of Bicycle Helmet Standards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 12492 standard summary: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.satrappeguide.com/EN12492.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helmets for mountaineers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UIAA standard: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_106_Helmets_March_2013.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA Standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a related note, there's an excellent article about the overall effectiveness of helmets in reducing brain injury at bicycling.com.  The takeaway is that most helmets are not designed or tested to offer protection against concussion or similar traumatic brain injuries; only against direct physical impact:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bicycling.com/senseless/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bicycling.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-10T23:24:58.510" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T23:24:58.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6030" CreationDate="2014-07-22T08:47:28.687" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suspenzkayakstorage.com/kayak_storage_tips&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; might have the answer for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main points there are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Protect against Hull Damage &amp;amp; Distortion.&lt;/strong&gt; Do not let the kayak to bend, distort, and getting damaged.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Protect from Harsh Weather, Sun &amp;amp; Other Elements.&lt;/strong&gt; The kayak is usually made out of materials which don't resist the sun infinitely, better to protect them from direct sunlight and of course other elements such as wind and storms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety For Your Kayaks &amp;amp; Yourself.&lt;/strong&gt; Some obvious things, don't let the kayak fall down on your or other's head when you try to detach or attach to the storage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See more tips on the linked website for choosing the right space and place it contains valuable data on size, spaces between two kayaks etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On &quot;hanging or lying&quot; question it says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;store the kayak on its side; the strongest part of the boat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3601" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T08:47:28.687" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6114" CreationDate="2014-07-22T09:05:24.013" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkbr%C3%B6d&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this entry&lt;/a&gt; in the Swedish wiki, flour made out of pine bark contains about 82kcal/100g, or 400 kcal/pound (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6114/tree-bark-as-food/6152#comment12002_6152&quot;&gt;thanks to a comment&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This flour is not made of the bark itself, but the thin layer between the bark and the wood. It is harvested in the spring when rising sap makes it come of rather easily. To make it into flour you have to dry it, roast it and then you sift it and presto. You have your flour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T05:22:31.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6114" CreationDate="2014-07-22T09:10:23.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most probably the numbers were typo. There are numerous websites on &lt;strong&gt;pine tree&lt;/strong&gt; bark eating. So far the best I found is &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivaltopics.com/edible-pine-bark/&quot;&gt;this one from Survival Topics&lt;/a&gt;. I agree with the statement, this option should be an emergency option. The 2500 kcal requirement is more than the actual minimal need of energy per day. More like 1700-1800 given by the numbers of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.google.hu/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=2&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CCYQFjAB&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fao.org%2Ffileadmin%2Ftemplates%2Fess%2Fdocuments%2Ffood_security_statistics%2FMinimumDietaryEnergyRequirement_en.xls&amp;amp;ei=0SjOU6nWNKj-4QTOt4CgBQ&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNFHK-_9XApF-Qx4jB7X2M5DGyKkKQ&amp;amp;sig2=JoNOAmCM66f0Yb4z0yJpAA&quot;&gt;FAO&lt;/a&gt; research. So if we ask for survival, those few pounds of bark could save your life in emergency and give enough energy to hunt, find more suitable food for yourself, with @MarcusWigert's answer the nutrition fact would end up with 400 kcal/pound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3601" LastEditorUserId="3601" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T09:19:57.977" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T09:19:57.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6226" CreationDate="2014-07-22T11:26:51.723" Score="11" ViewCount="1293" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages/disadvantages of climbing helmet design (foam or hardshell)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Foam&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bIIH2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Hardshell&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JQMsL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I do not intend to compare them by how much they cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:00:34.663" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:00:34.663" Title="Foam vs hardshell climbing helmets?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6154" CreationDate="2014-07-22T12:08:49.953" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion you should also take the hybrid helmets into account.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, hardshell helmets are more robust than foam ones but they are heavier. That's also the reason they invented the hybrid, to get a compromise of both. Hybrid has a thinner hard outer shell (lighter than the extremely robust hardshell helmets) to protect against deformation. Nonetheless, the real safety factor comes only in combination with the foam (for hybrids).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The foam helmets (which are no hybrids) aren't that robust, you shouldn't take it as a seat for example. They are more like bicycle helmets, so they aren't that likely to be very durable for multi impacts (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1576/2653&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point is that the foam helmets are typically warmer because of the higher isolation. That might be of interest on winter tours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T12:08:49.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2014-07-22T17:21:35.480" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Forget the DEET. That's for mosquitoes, and it's not a repellent, but rather it interferes with their sense of smell so since they can't smell you (food) they don't bother you. It's also toxic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Citronella is not a repellent of any kind. Smoke from Citronella candles is a repellent (downwind from the candle). Smoke from ANY candle is the same repellent. There have been many, many studies on this, but the legends live on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I use is &lt;strong&gt;Permethrin&lt;/strong&gt;. This is an insecticide (meaning it's designed to kill) but works good as a repellent as well. It's a synthetic copy of a natural compound, ‎Pyrethrin, found in marigold flowers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's mostly used to spray orchards.  It's also used a lot in dog flea control medicines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stuff binds to materials, so keeps working even when dry. When sprayed onto clothing, it will continue to work for months, even after washing. The military even washes their uniforms with it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once dry, it is odorless, colorless, and doesn't effect the feel. Basically, you won't know it's there. It will leave a residue on glass though.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safe for clothing &amp;amp; gear. I spray all my outdoor clothing and gear every spring, then need to reapply it in the fall.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find it in cans at REI and other outdoor stores. I buy the concentrated stuff off of Amazon, then dilute it and apply it with a garden sprayer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been using this for years and am very rarely bothered by bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Btw, if you spray the perimeter of your house, it's pretty good at keeping bugs out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING:&lt;/strong&gt; While it's still liquid, this is very toxic to cats and fish. Once dry, it's safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastEditorUserId="1915" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T01:22:57.743" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T01:22:57.743" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6134" CreationDate="2014-07-22T20:46:42.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are going to alpine area, your most important concern has to be security. Even with best equipment, knowledge about the dangers and how to avoid them is far more important. As you specifically asked for equipment, I will address these points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way I know of to spend a cold winter night comfortable is in some sort of a snow cave. There are multiple ways to build one, in all cases you need a good shovel. Look for an aluminium one (compound materials tend to brake fast) with a big blade and a D-shaped handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in uncontrolled areas you need avalanche rescue material. You need an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel. The shovel can of course be the same one you use for building the snow cave. With modern 3-antenna transceivers by Mammut or Pieps you can do nothing wrong, Arva brought good models to the market lately too. The probe you can also use building the cave for guidance when digging and making holes in the cave walls for air circulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take a gasoline stove with you. A propane stove works too, but in high altitudes gasoline works better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mentioned bivy bags: I generally don't use them in snow caves, as they keep moisture inside (even breathable ones to an extend). You don't have direct exposure to snowing, so why bothering using one. Far more important is an accurate sleeping bag and well sized isolation pad. The importance of the pad often gets underestimated, get a fat one!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-22T20:52:56.290" LastActivityDate="2014-07-22T20:52:56.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6114" CreationDate="2014-07-22T21:47:34.167" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This doesn't really answer the question of how many calories per pound, but why eat the bark when the pine has so many good edible parts: Pining for You (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eattheweeds.com/pines-not-just-for-breakfast-anymore-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Eat The Weeds&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2333" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-08T07:59:40.107" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T07:59:40.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6159" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6161" CreationDate="2014-07-23T03:11:06.530" Score="10" ViewCount="1074" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering to go on a multi-day backpacking hiking trip in the Adirondack Mountains, New York, USA, soon.  In Canada one must often purchase a permit and reservations, and one can only camp on specific campgrounds.  I was looking for information at the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), but their &lt;a href=&quot;http://apa.ny.gov/Faqs/faqs.cfm&quot;&gt;FAQ&lt;/a&gt; does not seem to contain any answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a multi-day hike in the Adirondack Mountains, do I need permits and reservations?  Where can I camp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T23:19:01.533" Title="What permits and reservations do I need for the Adirondacks?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6160" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-23T03:19:20.597" Score="22" ViewCount="6081" Body="&lt;p&gt;Situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clay Ground covered in pine needles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pacific Northwest Climate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No River&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No Electricity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can provide purified water, and whatever building materials needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goal:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Construct a cooler which can permanently serve as an fridge out there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must be able to keep eggs from spoiling for at least two weeks, and Milk for at least one week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can't use electricity.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the spring, winter, and fall; cooling is generally not an issue, living in Canada after-all. The summer here though has proven a bit of a challenge. What I have tried so far, is to keep my milk cold by filling a bucket up with water, and placing my milk in that. It does not work excellently, but I gather it is at least doing something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that if you dig a hole in the ground, this may be a better way to keep things cool. I am willing to go to just about any extent short of buying a fridge and a generator. The most naturally cold substances I gather would serve as the best means to surround my container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A solution is needed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3603" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T16:06:08.223" Title="Permanent Camping Cooler - No Ice Needed" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6159" CreationDate="2014-07-23T04:12:12.390" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://visitadirondacks.com/stay/campgrounds/backcountry-camping-rules-guidelines&quot;&gt;http://visitadirondacks.com/stay/campgrounds/backcountry-camping-rules-guidelines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You only need a permit if your group is 10+ or you are staying in one location for more than 3 days. You don't need reservations for areas which allow primitive camping, but there are some campgrounds which require it. The Adirondacks are composed of a lot of areas with varying regulations, so where you can camp depends on your route, but most of the places allow primitive camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2280" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T04:12:12.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-23T04:31:49.657" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first solution that comes to mind is a &quot;zeer&quot;, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-in-pot_refrigerator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pot-in-pot refrigerator&lt;/a&gt;.  However, this functions best in hot and dry environments as it relies on evaporation to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such a device is &lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/5935104/how-to-make-an-electricity-free-refrigerator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;constructed&lt;/a&gt; by nesting one clay pot inside another, with a layer of sand between them (about an inch on the bottom, a few inches on the sides).  The sand is then soaked with water until saturated.  The food goes into the inner pot, which can then be covered with a sheet of wet burlap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GI271.png&quot; alt=&quot;A Zeer&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Clay pot cooler - Canari Frigo - Tonkrugkühler&quot; by Peter Rinker - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_pot_cooler_-_Canari_Frigo_-_Tonkrugk%C3%BChler.PNG#mediaviewer/File:Clay_pot_cooler_-_Canari_Frigo_-_Tonkrugk%C3%BChler.PNG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_pot_cooler_-_Canari_Frigo_-_Tonkrugk%C3%BChler.PNG#mediaviewer/File:Clay_pot_cooler_-_Canari_Frigo_-_Tonkrugk%C3%BChler.PNG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternate solutions include an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_refrigerator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Einstein-Szilard&lt;/a&gt; refrigerator, which would require a good bit of skill to construct but only needs a source of heat to power it.  Another option is the traditional &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hobbyfarms.com/food-and-kitchen/root-cellars-14908.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;root cellar&lt;/a&gt;.  However, it usually requires digging quite deep into the ground to construct a root cellar that will maintain ideal temperatures.  You may be able to get somewhat OK results with only a foot or two of soil as the top insulating layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T06:43:56.573" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T06:43:56.573" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6047" CreationDate="2014-07-23T07:26:36.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Ben Crowell already noted you are not going to be taxing a rope very much in this application, and unless you are planning acrobatic moves off of these holds (which you very well may be) there is little danger even if the rope (or cord) fails.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless you happen to get a very good deal even 6mm accessory cord, the real UIAA certified stuff, is quite expensive, especially when viewed from the perspective of price per mass or volume.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using a thinner cord will result in you using more feet of it to form your monkey's fist than would using a thicker cord.  You may actually end up paying &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; to use accessory cord!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons I do not agree with the recommendation to use accessory cord.  Quoting your comment for reference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... it is indeed a lot cheaper and nicely sold by the metre. I found a Mammut one for £1 a m.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A price of £1/meter for accessory cord is really quite high as rope goes, especially if it is 6mm.  I regularly find factory-short lead ropes for that linear price and it would take a much shorter length of 9mm-11mm rope to complete your wrap than it would of accessory cord.  (On the other hand the last time I bought 6mm Accessory Cord I got it for less than 20¢/foot which would make it more practical.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Why even bother with climb-certified rope or cordage for such a project?  Any braided nylon rope or cord should handle well while making your wraps, and people seem to &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2fbhy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;make these&lt;/a&gt; just fine out of three-strand rope so even that is probably overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider also how the size and type of cord will affect the &quot;grippiness&quot; of the holds.  You might actually prefer the friction of natural fiber rope or the slickness of polypropylene for example.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As a point of reference there is currently an eBay sale (&quot;Buy it now&quot;) for 620 feet of 3/8&quot; polyester double braid at under 21¢/foot, assuming local pick-up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You probably want to size the rope or cord to the size of the object being wrapped.  Too thing a cord will result in a lot of wraps and a lot of work, while too thick a rope and you won't be able to complete the knot very well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I had the right lengths of used rope or cord on hand I would just use that.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In fact this is probably a great answer to the old question of what to do with retired climbing rope:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;a DIY monkey's fist &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/atomik-cannon-bomb-9-inch-ball&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cannon Bomb&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T07:42:07.387" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T07:42:07.387" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2014-07-23T07:35:11.923" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use a simple emergency bivy bag, a butt-pad (short sleeping pad) (thermarest, exped), some extra socks, buff and then you can sleep in all your clothes on the pad in this bag. this should work for emergency, it's not the best comfort but it works in 3 season conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more comfort you can use a light silk liner in your bivy bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this together is quite light and not to big for a small backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T01:15:55.397" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T01:15:55.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-23T08:15:49.700" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion because it's not nearly as &quot;feel good&quot; as helping remote Asian herdsmen.  (Which incidentally is probably one of few exceptions to what follows.)  Nevertheless:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is my belief that unsafe carabiners should be destroyed.&lt;/strong&gt;  In my opinion it is too great a risk that someone will get ahold of one and see that it has the right marking to be a &quot;real&quot; carabiner and use it for some kind life-support application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mind that I am strongly opposed to excessive safety regulations and I firmly believe in using your brain and &quot;swim at your own risk&quot; etc.  This notwithstanding I feel that the risk outweighs the benefit when it comes to distributing unsafe carabiners.  (I also realize that even when new &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1384/133&quot;&gt;carabiners are dangerous&lt;/a&gt; for those who do not know how to use and inspect them but people do not usually give away brand new carabiners.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the uninformed there may be certain expectations of climbing equipment.  Just as &quot;a little knowledge is a dangerous thing&quot; so too I believe is a bit of old climbing equipment in the wrong hands.  Worse, the &quot;real&quot; equipment may give a sense of validation to ignorant use that results in greater risk-taking than if hardware-store equivalents were used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now if the old carabiners &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; truly still safe to use then use them!  If your equipment doesn't wear out before it truly becomes obsolete you should make it a mission get out and climb more. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T16:34:47.207" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-23T08:47:34.470" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can drill some holes in your carabiner and use it as handle for mugs and other things in your home you need to lift. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rdklr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000VT2RZG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mug example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T09:05:21.407" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T09:05:21.407" CommentCount="3" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6169" CreationDate="2014-07-23T08:49:55.853" Score="5" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read an article stating that to access Banff National Park, you need several permits: A park permit, a backcountry permit and, if you want to, a fire permit.  I also read about these permits frequently on TGO, for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1819/3143&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5737/3143&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, this system is completely new, since everywhere I visited so far things either had been allowed without permit or forbidden (maybe apart from fishing, but I never did that). In my understanding, a permit is something you apply for, and which can be declined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I understand the concepts of these permits? Are they more like a fee or can the permit be declined? Do I get a piece of paper I need to carry around?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I understand some of the answers may vary for different types of public land, for the US and Canada or even for different national parks. I try to understand the general concept.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, I know this question is very close to the first linked question, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1819/3143&quot;&gt;When do I need a permit to go into nature?&lt;/a&gt;, but I want to know how this system works/looks like from a practical point of view rather than when I have to care about it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-10-24T22:50:35.917" Title="How do permits for US/Canada public land work?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6168" CreationDate="2014-07-23T09:42:47.867" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I understand it the permits have a couple of goals:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a revenue stream to pay for the maintenance of the areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a way of controlling numbers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a way of enforcing that the person with the permit has an understanding of the activity they are undertaking and has agreed to some kind of terms and conditions for said activity, it also means that if you don't have a permit or break these conditions you can be convicted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Counting people in and out to ensure people return when expected (sometimes this may trigger a search)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different permits cover slightly different aspects of the above, for example a fire permit covers all three, a park permit is primarily a revenue stream, a back country/hunting permit is primarily about limiting numbers, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US's complex justice system also makes it easier to prosecute people if there is some kind of formal system that people have signed up to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, if you have a permit you need to carry it around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, some permits may be declined, this is typically because of numbers, i.e. they will only allow &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; number of people a wild camping permit from &lt;em&gt;y&lt;/em&gt; trail head, so the area doesn't become saturated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-24T13:48:22.990" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T13:48:22.990" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-23T10:08:50.613" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although technology has brought us many conveniences most of them require supporting power or &lt;em&gt;other&lt;/em&gt; technology.  You seem set on refrigeration and you say: &quot;I am willing to go to just about any extent short of buying a fridge and a generator.&quot;  Perhaps you should consider solar panels (photovoltaic) and an electric refrigerator.  Both technologies are readily available and highly developed.  Absorption refrigerators may be less so and they still need a fuel source.  (If the refrigerator is well insulated it should stay cold over night if it is not opened.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better alternative may be store things that do not require refrigeration, and even your examples are compatible with this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It happens that many people around the world don't refrigerate eggs at all.  You may find that undamaged eggs keep just fine for two weeks if stored below ground at a relatively constant temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There exists UHT pasteurized milk that may be stored unrefrigerated for a month or more before it is opened.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that hard cheeses can be kept at a cool (cave-like) temperature if tended properly.  I'm sure there are many more examples of traditional foodstuffs that do not require modern refrigeration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T18:35:45.577" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T18:35:45.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6171" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6172" CreationDate="2014-07-23T10:09:04.287" Score="9" ViewCount="929" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read this news report today about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/shooting/28418330&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Malaysian competitor in the commonwealth games&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Commonwealth shooting champion Nur Ayuni Farhana Abdul Halim will be&#xA;  unable to compete in Glasgow after her competition jacket went&#xA;  missing.... &quot;The rules clearly state that a rifle shooter must wear a&#xA;  jacket. &quot;We tried to borrow one but it did not fit her. We tried to&#xA;  make a new one but she said that she would need two months to get&#xA;  used to it.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This begged the question, what on earth is a shooting jacket? Why do you need one and why would it &quot;need two months to get used to it&quot;???&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T18:19:50.207" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T18:19:50.207" Title="What is a &quot;shooting jacket&quot;?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6171" CreationDate="2014-07-23T10:49:14.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/04/foghorn/competition-shooting-101-cmpnra-high-power/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Competition Shooting 101: CMP/NRA High Power&lt;/em&gt; By Nick Leghorn on April 21, 2011&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shooting Jacket&lt;/strong&gt; – This is another tool for keeping you steady. While standing or sitting, having an extremely tight jacket to hold&#xA;  you up can be a real help. It also helps keep the sling in proper&#xA;  position during prone. It’s a little spend-y, but worth the expense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.creedmoorsports.com/shop/World_Famous_Shooting_Coats/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Creedmoor Sports&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Creedmoor’s world famous shooting coats deliver advantageous support&#xA;  for the shooters standing position. Wearing a Creedmoor shooting coat&#xA;  every time provides the consistency necessary to achieve better&#xA;  performance.  Not only will a Creedmoor shooting coat improve scores,&#xA;  but utilizing a high-quality Creedmoor shooting coat will add comfort&#xA;  during a competition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T10:49:14.453" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-23T13:04:12.817" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A nalgene water bottle holder! You can then clip it to the back of your pack, and it helps with carrying it around!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_az07PLfwhLw/SweOgHXhI2I/AAAAAAAABlY/EN0bhrsBws8/s1600/binerz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;nalgene caribiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to decorate yours though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also caribiners are nice just to always be attached to your backpack for anything with a loop!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3375" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.657" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T13:04:12.817" CommentCount="6" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6174" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6178" CreationDate="2014-07-23T13:17:35.163" Score="9" ViewCount="889" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hi I am a new boulderer and have climbed many difficult routes, or official ones for that matter. Currently when I am not able to go out the local region, I attempt to send the side of my house. The brick wall is about 6 or 7 moves, all closed crimp until the last move which is a jug. The grooves between the bricks are about 1/2 a centimeter wide. It is at a 90&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; angle with the ground. There are holds everwhere because the bricks are only 5cm tall. I can post pictures on request. What do you think would be an appropriate rating for this route? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Sorry if this question is off topic, I haven't seen others like it closed on here and it doesn't seem to be against the rules&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3375" LastEditorUserId="3375" LastEditDate="2014-07-23T14:12:27.953" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T05:26:59.950" Title="Brick Wall Rating" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2014-07-24T09:12:35.200" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6174" CreationDate="2014-07-23T15:14:38.450" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I wrote above, it's hard to rate this wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you can challenge yourself and mark some routes on the wall with colored tape, and then you can also see a progress in your climbing, or you can leave a given hold and try to go to the next, or do it dynamically, or use not all your fingers to hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a selfmade boulderwall in our house and that is how I marked my routes as well :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-07-24T05:26:59.950" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T05:26:59.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4856" CreationDate="2014-07-23T15:51:20.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know if this is local to New Zealand, but this is fairly common practice for both shore-based and boat anglers.  You can either buy or make a Berley Bomb, which is exactly this.  It is ground up fish / blood / bits frozen into a block, then hung in the water to defrost and disperse.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are surfcasting, you can put one out a few hours before you start fishing to get fish to gather nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T15:51:20.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-23T17:55:55.017" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll need to do several things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change your habits and foods&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Combine several techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you need to more carefully consider the necessity of refrigeration. Refrigerators are used to keep food in a &quot;safe&quot; temperature zone where bacteria is less active, and this requires temperatures close to freezing.  Passive cooling, such as root cellars and rivers, only reach these temperatures in extreme environments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to live in a place without refrigeration, it's far easier to change your habits and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation&quot;&gt;preserve foods&lt;/a&gt; in a way that requires little to no cooling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, cooling methods that will produce refrigerator-like temperatures require a lot of work.  Typically that work is obtained from the electrical grid, but since that's restricted in this case, you get to do the work. Digging a root cellar, carrying insulation, and exposing it at night to a cloudless sky with a clear covering for nocturnal cooling, then covering it if it becomes cloudy, or air flow is too great, etc, etc, etc, require a lot of micromanagement.  You can, however, obtain freezing temperatures in may places with such a method.  It requires a lot of work on your part though - work that could be replaced by a solar panel and thermo-electric cooler, or a small pedal generator where you can contribute work when it's convenient for you, rather than pay attention to the environment and act on changing conditions to best preserve what little cooling you obtain each night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of techniques you'll need to know and use depending on the environment.  In a humid environment, evaporative cooling won't work well. In a rocky place you're going to have a hard time digging a hole deeply enough for a cellar. In a windy environment you are not going to be able to use nocturnal cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no single, universal method that will work everywhere your question is applicable.  Combining methods will become necessary in most cases to maximize cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3338" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T17:55:55.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6174" CreationDate="2014-07-23T18:16:45.377" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlike others, I think the route is pretty well described. There's basically a lot of flat, useable feet and a lot of flat crimp holds that are roughly 1/2 cm thick on a 90-degree wall. I think the grade depends on an accurate measurement of the crimp width--the grade could change +/-1 V grade if the thickness changes just by a couple mm. It also could depend significantly on the roughness and texture of the brick surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But based on a 5 mm thick crimp (less than 1/4 of your finger pad), new brick, and assuming you can use any brick &quot;hold&quot;, I would say a close grade would be V2/V3. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T18:16:45.377" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4856" CreationDate="2014-07-23T19:29:55.107" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is possible.  In my experience, the best attractant is food.  You want to put the attractant out well in advance, and preferably over a number of days.  Anything blood based will work for most bottom feeders (catfish and the like).  Rice also works fairly well for catfish, over a period of time.  For active predators such as bass, you have a harder job ahead of you.  Mostly they hunt based on motion, but there are many reasons (legal and environmental) to not release live bait.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;That's effectively what this forum is for.  Seed the questions and we'll all go find the answers :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T19:29:55.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-23T22:59:13.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your ambient temperatures (air/water/earth) don't get down below refrigerator temperatures (2-4 C), and in summer I suspect they don't, then the second law of thermodynamics says you can't do this without an energy source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since electricity is out, you could consider a &lt;a href=&quot;http://home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator5.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;propane refrigerator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T22:59:13.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6168" CreationDate="2014-07-23T23:24:13.837" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are really no general principles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some permits are free and self-issued: you pick up a form at the trailhead and fill it out.  This is really more of a registration system, so that the authorities know who is out there, but it's still required.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=fse_005446&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some permits are automatically issued to anyone who pays a fee, so it's really a way of requiring the fee to be paid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some permits have a numerical limit; the first N people to apply for a permit automatically get it, and everyone after that is denied.  This is a way of limiting the number of people using the area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some permits have more stringent requirements, and each request is considered separately.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just have to learn about each permit individually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="553" LastActivityDate="2014-07-23T23:24:13.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6104" CreationDate="2014-07-24T10:24:54.333" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The list of fish in that area is relatively easy to find, but the trick is identifying useful areas - the fishing trip websites don't give too much away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One useful place a friend told me about is between about 5 and 10 miles south of Friendship, northwest of Allen Island. This time of year you can expect cod, pollock and halibut. Going further south you get into trawling area, so that's maybe a bit far out for kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is supposed to be good fishing all around the Penobscot Bay area, so have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://penbay.org/wrich/fgotgom01.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://penbay.org/wrich/fgotgom01.html&lt;/a&gt; for some of the fishing areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-04-09T21:55:14.133" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T21:55:14.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6183" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-24T10:29:37.593" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For crossbows or bows please use the &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/archery&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;archery&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;archery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T14:12:08.267" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T14:12:08.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6184" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-24T10:29:37.593" Score="0" Body="Shooting is the act or process of firing firearms. Use this tag for questions relating to the shooting for sport or shooting for hunting purposes." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T14:12:08.267" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T14:12:08.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-24T10:37:44.477" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It there is a well nearby use it. &#xA;1. by dropping sealed and floating containers to water and then using a net to get them back. This works very well with beer cans.&#xA;2. Put the food in a bucket and use rope to lower it near the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3618" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T10:37:44.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6186" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-24T12:37:08.760" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions including reference to domestic dogs, this may also refer to working dogs or hounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-24T14:05:34.093" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T14:05:34.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6187" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-24T12:37:08.760" Score="0" Body="Questions including reference to domestic dogs, this may also refer to working dogs or hounds." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-24T14:05:40.517" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T14:05:40.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6188" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6189" CreationDate="2014-07-24T13:34:10.143" Score="13" ViewCount="462" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is sprouted from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6174/brick-wall-rating&quot;&gt;Brick Wall Rating&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I occasionally climb in places where it seems unorthodox, such as a brick wall. I've found that even with the plethora of hand holds that buildings tend to offer, it tends to be some of the hardest climbing that I've tried.(just ask Kristen Stewart in &lt;em&gt;Catch that Kid&lt;/em&gt;) What is a way to rate some of these climbs based off of handhold types, hold sizes, distance, and footholds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be using &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoorswithdave.com/climbing/climbing-ratings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; guide, except generally there isn't much change in tilt angle on buildings, which makes parts of this guide obsolete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3375" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T16:26:13.130" Title="Rating unorthodox climbs" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6188" CreationDate="2014-07-24T14:08:25.357" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would question that particular link. Rating climbs isn't really a tick box exercise, for a start their are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6006/how-do-you-compare-between-different-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;multiple different grading systems&lt;/a&gt; all of which are slightly different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You cannot say: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;well it's at x angle and the hand holds are y size therefore it's w&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different challenges to grading climbs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing grades are a rule of thumb and are open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are a measure of how hard it is to climb. Different people find&#xA;different aspects of climbing more or less difficult so it is always&#xA;open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Indoor grades are often very different to outdoor grades, bouldering&#xA;gardes are very different to Trad grades, etc, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grades tend to overlap so there is very little difference between a &lt;code&gt;5.9&lt;/code&gt; and a &lt;code&gt;5.10a&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height of climb, length of pitches, rock type, all need to be included in the grade. This makes comparing grades in different areas difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is to the point that when a new climb is &quot;put up&quot; the grade that the first climber gives it is a provisional one. This grade needs to be confirmed by one or more climbers before it is accepted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to grade a climb is to gain experience of climbing well know climbs that the grade is well known and accepted. Then when you want to grade something that you don't know the grade for you need to ask yourself (and others preferably) is this harder or easier than x and y climbs? How much harder or easier? What about w climb? etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll likely never get it 100% right, people argue over grades constantly. But the whole point is that it's impossible to get 100% right. It's a guide only. You may find a V1 that's easy or a completely different V1 that you find difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T14:13:47.243" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6190" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-24T14:12:40.070" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbs are often graded. The grade is an indication of how difficult or easier the climb is. Grades are often subjective and open to interpretation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many climbing grading systems for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;British Traditional&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bouldering V system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UIAA&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yosemite Decimal System&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6006/how-do-you-compare-between-different-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;Grades can be compared&lt;/a&gt; but their subjective nature makes this open to interpretation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T08:01:36.927" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T08:01:36.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6191" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-24T14:12:40.070" Score="0" Body="Climbs are often graded. The grade is an indication of how difficult or easier the climb is. Grades are often subjective and open to interpretation." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T08:01:50.133" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T08:01:50.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6192" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6198" CreationDate="2014-07-24T17:02:39.233" Score="6" ViewCount="600" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm off to a Festival in late august and am looking for a cheap festival tent. I'm not exactly asking you guys what I should buy, more about the considerations I should take into account.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some details:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preferably under £50 and obtainable in the UK (ideally online)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'll throw it away after one use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preferably lightweight and extremely easy to set up. I would literally like to throw it on the floor and it pops up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size doesn't matter, as long as it can fit myself in comfortably (5'9)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't particularly care for comfort, but I don't want to get wet, the tent to break, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I need to look for in a tent? Where are the best sites? Amazon? Any tents that are known for being awesome for festivals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3620" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T03:25:35.260" Title="Affordable Festival Tent" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6192" CreationDate="2014-07-24T18:48:46.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most small tents these days are pretty easy to set up, but you will have to do a little more than just &quot;throw it at the ground&quot;. :-)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, we have a retail chain called Walmart that sells pretty cheap stuff. This is where I would go. I don't think they're in the UK. Maybe you have something similar.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What kind of weather will it be. If it's going to be warm/hot, you'll want something that has big windows to catch any breeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need to store your gear inside your tent? If so, plan on that space. Some tents have a vestibule outside that will protect your gear from rain, so you don't have to store inside the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it possible you'll have company? If so, plan on that as well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-07-24T18:48:46.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6207" CreationDate="2014-07-24T18:54:27.007" Score="11" ViewCount="449" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an abandoned quarry near my house, in which I would like to make a hiking route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost all of it is enjoyable hiking and easy scrambling, except one part, which requires climbing (estimated French grade - 4) up about 5 metres, on a wall with mostly unstable holds. So I wonder whether it would be possible to remove (with bare hands or tools like crowbar) all the unstable rocks, and leave a rock face that would be safe to climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rock at the quarry is limestone with varying quality. We have a climbing wall with bolted routes not far from there (I mention that to make it clear that the rock itself is climbable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is such &quot;cleaning&quot; possible? Does the answer depend on whether explosives were used in the quarry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(BTW I am not interested right now whether this is legal)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, here is a picture:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pkzfD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T11:24:32.283" Title="In an abandoned quarry, is it possible to pry loose rocks from walls until stable?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6103" CreationDate="2014-07-24T21:10:50.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You never mentioned what kind of baits you are using (from your description of what you are catching, I would assume worms or crickets).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small mouth Bass primarily eat live creatures.  Most places where I fish for them, we use crawdad imitating baits.  We fish rivers that are primarily rocky and they feed heavily on crawdads.  Smallmouth will also hit things that imitate other smaller fish.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hybrids in my experience are typically caught on spoons, jigs, anything that will imitate prey fish.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to use live bait, (who doesn't, I love it), I would use live minnows.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You just have to remember that bass eat other aquatic creatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2333" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T19:56:17.480" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T19:56:17.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6196" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6199" CreationDate="2014-07-25T03:30:54.687" Score="11" ViewCount="923" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking of digging a six feet narrow hole, and filling it in with a piece 2ft wide piece of sewage pipe, and using that as barrel style root cellar. The reason I want to go so deep, is that I am under the impression that the deeper it is, the cooler it will get. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true? How much cooler can I make it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3603" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T12:21:47.873" Title="Do barrel style root cellars get colder the deeper you dig them?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6192" CreationDate="2014-07-25T05:23:52.670" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would look for a 2 person tent for a single Person. So you have more comfort and also more space for your backpack and things. The shape is not very important for a festival. Only bring some color tapes with you to mark the strings, otherwise all people will walk over and into your strings and then destroy your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want something that is very fast look for pop up tents. They are open in a sec. You can throw them in the air and they will open itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsdirect.com/camping/tents/festival-and-pop-up-tents&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;webshop&lt;/a&gt; you should find some of this tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T14:08:57.010" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T14:08:57.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6192" CreationDate="2014-07-25T07:39:05.563" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blacks / Millets do festival pop up tents (take it out the bag and it literally pops up) and pole system tents in your price range  by Eurohike and Vango, who are both good well known brands. Bear in mind for that price range I don't see you getting anything that will have brilliant reviews.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll be able to buy them brand new so shouldn't have to worry about leaks / getting too wet. But remember it's a festival in the UK, the Gods of British Camping and Festivals will likely make it rain, and with all those people it will get muddy - but you can't blame the tent for that if it seeps through when you are only going to spend £50. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are only planning to throw it away after you might even go for the £20 on sale tents they have on offer. I wouldn't say at this price range you really need to worry about what to look for - especially since you are going to use and bin it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blacks.co.uk/equipment/tents-camping/tents/festival-pop-up-tents/&quot;&gt;Blacks Festival Tents&lt;/a&gt; also @user3840692 also linked to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsdirect.com/camping/tents/festival-and-pop-up-tents&quot;&gt;Sports Direct&lt;/a&gt; which is where I get a lot of my Karrimor gear from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What my fiance an I usually look for in a tent (based on a mix of Car Camping and planning to future Wild Camp): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Space inside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrostatic Head (Ours is only 2000mm - this is to do with how much water it can take before leaking &gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/hydrostatic-head.asp&quot;&gt;Hydrostatic Heads&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footprints/groundsheets + their Hydrostatic Heads - our groundsheet is 5000mm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How heavy the tent is &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size dimentions when the tent is up (in the UK you can in some campsites pay more for a bigger tent pitch, happened to us at Haven)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind at a festival you might not get to choose your pitch like you can in some campsites. I don't know which one you are going to but usually they are just rented out farmers fields, but if you can be picky with your pitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try and avoid any stones or overly bumpy ground, many people put extra footprints or tarp under their tents to help protect the tent itself but you will not likely be able to do this at a festival.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try and avoid being in a big dip in the ground, although we're flat here in the UK in places many fields are also floodplains.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:13:11.543" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:13:11.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6196" CreationDate="2014-07-25T09:58:28.910" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, it is not true that necessarily the deeper you get the cooler it gets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For really deep holes it is actually the opposite, the deeper you get the warmer the temperature gets. This is called the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_gradient&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geothermal Gradient&lt;/a&gt;. This states that temperature goes &lt;strong&gt;up&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;25C per 1KM of depth&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the first couple of meters the temperature will likely &lt;em&gt;drop&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;or&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;raise&lt;/em&gt; (depending on the above ground temp) dramatically. But it will then level off and begin to slightly increase. This is because your moving away from the influence of the Sun and start to be influenced by the temperature of the earth's core.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a root cellar, you're not going to go 1km deep (obviously). You really need to think of a root cellar as a way to maintain (roughly) a constant temperature. The depth (that your likely to dig) alters this slightly but not much. This temperature could be hotter &lt;strong&gt;or&lt;/strong&gt; colder than the temperature above ground, as shown in the picture below which are taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJs2t.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Temperature over depth&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This figure shows the maximum temperature deviation from the annual average is dampened out at about 30 feet depth. You can refer to the figure´s source for more detailed information, i.e. on seasonal changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-28T12:21:47.873" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T12:21:47.873" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6200" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:33:03.097" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions relating to the continent of Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:45.163" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:45.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6201" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:33:03.097" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to the continent of Africa." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:42.690" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:42.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6202" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:34:13.120" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to just beginning to learn a skill or take part in an activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:18.260" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:18.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6203" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:34:13.120" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to just beginning to learn a skill or take part in an activity." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:25.907" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:25.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6204" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:35:34.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to the process of putting up a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:23.017" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:23.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6205" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:35:34.207" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to the process of putting up a tent." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T10:42:12.513" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:42:12.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6192" CreationDate="2014-07-25T10:49:34.767" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also hadn't thought of tent hire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quick search gives &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tent2hire.co.uk/&quot;&gt;http://www.tent2hire.co.uk/&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campinggearhire.co.uk/&quot;&gt;http://www.campinggearhire.co.uk/&lt;/a&gt; for UK services. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cost about £20-30 for a weekend + ~£100 deposit for a 2-3 man tent. The deposit would make me nervous about taking a tent like that to a festival. Depends what sort of festival it is though...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned by Aravona I would probably get a cheap/popup tent from Blacks/Millets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T10:49:34.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6194" CreationDate="2014-07-25T11:24:32.283" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in an area (in the UK) with a lot of limestone (and gritstone) quarries, some still working and many abandoned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the abandoned quarries have been equipped with bolts for sport climbing (NOT the gritstone though!) and are regularly used. However, the rock itself is a compact limestone with not much in the way of natural fracturing and once the odd loose bit from quarrying operations had been removed, what is left is pretty solid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at your photo it looks like this area of limestone is highly fractured, probably due to geological movement rather than due to quarrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think you would ever get down to a section to solid rock no matter how much loose material you removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T11:24:32.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6208" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-25T12:41:32.073" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions with reference to children (0-12) and possibly younger teenagers (13-14).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T13:06:32.867" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T13:06:32.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6209" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-25T12:41:32.073" Score="0" Body="Questions with reference to children and possibly younger teenagers." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-25T13:06:36.967" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T13:06:36.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5854" CreationDate="2014-07-25T12:57:03.573" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polarization and UV protection on sunglasses are two different things. While UV refers to light of a wavelength of approximately 10nm to 400nm, light of any wavelength can be polarized. Sunglasses with a polarization filter block light, that is horizontally polarized (e.g. light reflected on water). This has no specific effect on UV-light. So polarized sunglasses do not generally protect against UV, they also need a filter dedicated to blocking UV-light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I suspect the question arises because it is not clear what the use of a polarization filter in sunglasses is, some background information on this topic:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Light emitted by the sun oscillates in all directions perpendicular to the direction it travels. When reflected on a surface such as a lake, it becomes polarized parallel to the surface of the lake. This means, the light only oscillates along the axis parallel to the surface in the plane perpendicular to the direction it travels. Polarized sunglasses block horizontally polarized light, in order to protect your eyes from these strong reflections. Polarization in the sky occurs when light scatters the molecules in the atmosphere. A good explanation can be found on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.polarization.com/sky/sky.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polarized Light&lt;/a&gt; site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T15:42:35.057" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T15:42:35.057" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6192" CreationDate="2014-07-25T14:31:39.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany, cheaper pop-up tents like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.startpage.com/do/search?q=wurfzelt&amp;amp;nj=0&amp;amp;cat=pics&amp;amp;l=deutsch&amp;amp;lui=deutsch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; are quite popular for festivals. I would never buy one, though, for the following reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Every tent of those I have seen have been very prone to breaking. A friend of mine just discovered his (brand new one) was broken when he arrived on the campground. Because the poles are fixed inside you can´t even improvise and repair them with duct tape.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are often more expensive than comparable cheap tents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Setting up a modern, regular tent, even a very cheap one, is done in five minutes. Not that much of discomfort, especially compared with repairing broken poles on a throw tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They often have a strange form when packed (big, wheel-shaped), which can´t be fit in any backpack. Probably not a problem if you get there by car, but for public transport or hitch-hiking or if you have to walk to get to the campground I wouldn´t like it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would strongly advise against buying any pop-up tents. Many festivals, although short and not comparable with &quot;real&quot; outdoor use, are a rough ground where many things can break due to alcohol and other drugs. And these tents are ridiculously unstable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent I have used for many festivals without any problems is a standard two-person iglu tent like the one shown below, available for around 25€, well below your price margin. It is easy to set up (5 minutes), more robust and cheaper than pop-up tents and gets the job done. You will have to look for a reseller on your own, though, but probably just searching for &lt;em&gt;iglu tent&lt;/em&gt; will do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For ecological reasons, you might consider buying a used tent, so you don´t throw away something brand new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UUlRl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;2 person iglu tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2017-05-14T10:07:43.367" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T10:07:43.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6214" CreationDate="2014-07-25T15:34:52.763" Score="8" ViewCount="1377" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to start being a little more active by getting outdoors more. My state offers a &quot;water guzzler&quot; program that puts water in remote locations for wildlife. They also publish a large atlas that has all the guzzlers because they can make for great locations to observe wildlife. However, the atlas publishes all coordinates in UTM coordinate format. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding these guzzlers is similar to geocaching. But I have yet to find an app or device that can handle entry in UTM. I can find devices that will &lt;em&gt;show&lt;/em&gt; me UTM coordinates but I want to be able to &lt;em&gt;input&lt;/em&gt; UTM and have the device/app show me the location on the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any devices/apps that have UTM as an entry option? I'm OK with someone pointing me to an app, but I think I would prefer a dedicated device instead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2014-07-28T01:14:36.140" LastActivityDate="2014-10-11T05:28:00.460" Title="GPS navigation device or app that allows entry of UTM coordinates?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6212" CreationDate="2014-07-25T18:14:55.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many devices that will let you enter in UTM and LatLong coordinates interchangeably. be sure to bring a waterproof map with you too though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/869473/garmin-gpsmap-64-gps&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/869473/garmin-gpsmap-64-gps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.magellangps.com/Store/eXploristSeries/eXplorist-510&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.magellangps.com/Store/eXploristSeries/eXplorist-510&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T18:14:55.297" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2014-07-25T18:49:29.390" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're handy with welding (or a drill and screws, brackets, or a hot glue gun), you can make a pretty cool coat rack or key rack out of old carabiners. You can remove the gate for a coat rack by knocking or drilling or cutting off the pins, or leave them on if you're making a key holder. Just attached the carabiners with the hook down and out from the wall by welding, gluing, bracketing, or drilling and screwing it onto some form of a back plate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address the safety issue: once carabiners have been mechanically attached to a wood or metal plate and hung on a wall, no one will identify them as serviceable climbing equipment (except for children, who would probably recognize dental floss as suitable rope for rappelling off the roof before they could remove the carabiner from your wall).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T18:49:29.390" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T18:24:30.513" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2014-07-25T19:16:31.407" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because water evaporates at any temperature over 32 DegF, a swamp cooler or evaporative cooler is possible in any climate that needs cooling (though perhaps not in a powerful enough fashion depending on the cooling required). In a still body of water, the evaporation rate is proportional (in some form) to the humidity of the air, the air temperature, the dew point, and the water temperature. Taking all this into mind, here is a simple (unanalysed) design for your consideration:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dig a shallow trench (the volume of your refrigerator) on the crest of a ridge or hill, or some other location in which you find natural, dry air flow. You will want well insulated walls and floor for this trench, so don't line it with copper plate or anything silly like that. Over the top of the trench you will lay a thin, highly conductive lid like sheet metal. The downward side of this lid should be thinly painted a dark, matte color (to improve radiation from your food to the lid). Once in place, you should poor water onto the lid to create a &quot;roof pond.&quot; As the water naturally evaporates from the roof pond into the naturally flowing air, it will cool the chamber underneath it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This entire pit should be in the shade however, as evaporation due to the water heating from the sunlight will have no benefit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To create a swamp cooler in this same area, you would need to dig out a (long) channel to let wind into one side of the refrigerator and leave some gaps in the lid for it to escape out the far side, much like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;windcatcher&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. Pour water into a long hole in the channel, such that the wind flowing into the fridge flows over the surface of the water before entering the fridge. The evaporation of water into the air will drop the air temperature, and you will have cooler air than the outside blowing across your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the combination of these two ideas would be enough to chill your food to a reasonable temperature? Alternatively, here is a website about passive cooling: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm#Passive&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/passive_cooling.htm#Passive&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T19:16:31.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6196" CreationDate="2014-07-25T19:57:11.227" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For any reasonable depth (ie. something you'd be willing to dig without specialized machinery), a deeper hole makes for a more stable temperature.  The extra mass of soil surrounding your cellar acts to average out temperature changes: shallow burial averages out day-night shifts, while deeper averages out seasonal changes as well.  The end result is that a deep enough hole will hold a constant temperature, at the annual average temperature of your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-07-25T19:57:11.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6212" CreationDate="2014-07-26T01:16:31.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;On mobile devices, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gaiagps.com/about/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gaia GPS&lt;/a&gt; app allows creating a waypoint using whichever format is currently selected (which includes UTM).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your computer, you can enter UTM coordinates into &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com/map.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CalTopo&lt;/a&gt;; this is convenient if you are printing out paper maps.  (It also has some ability to annotate maps and save them to KMZ/KML files for use with Google Earth or your GPS.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Google Earth accepts UTM coordinates.  However, you must ensure they are correctly formatted (e.g. &quot;10N 548936 5274344&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As hillsons mentions there should be plenty of devices that allow this; I can confirm the Garmin 62s model allows this and would be rather surprised if the other models don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-07-26T01:16:31.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6219" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6220" CreationDate="2014-07-26T10:31:13.390" Score="7" ViewCount="7109" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am brand new to fishing and have only made it out 4 times before this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today I planned on fishing all morning. After a few casts (I have a &lt;em&gt;Shakespeare Ugly Stik&lt;/em&gt; spinner) I noticed that the handle wasn't properly attached to the reel; instead it was slightly dislodged and at an angle, but still physically connected.  So instead of spinning around the normal way, it was spinning around at a weird, difficult-to-put-to-words angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I snapped it back into the reel and kept going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few casts later, the handle flew off of my reel completely, kerplunked into the lake, and will never be seen again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am very not happy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what my reel looks like in case anyone can spot something &quot;wrong&quot; with it (as you can see, I'm left-handed and like to reel with my right-hand):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LvemG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I ask: what happened here, and &lt;strong&gt;how can I prevent it from happening again?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3628" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:56:06.293" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T00:15:43.490" Title="Why did the handle come off my spinner rod?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6219" CreationDate="2014-07-26T16:58:03.393" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Perhaps this is too obvious an answer but there's a little thumb-screw bolt that goes through the reel from the other side and screws into the handle to keep it in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like this was loose when you started fishing and completely detached from the handle while you were fishing. It's normal that you'd have to tighten this from time to time but may not notice if you're not used to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastActivityDate="2014-07-26T16:58:03.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6229" CreationDate="2014-07-28T08:55:07.497" Score="11" ViewCount="15505" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background info:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;For environment, it is southwestern British Columbia and the weather is fair and there is plenty of water around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pace wise, on level terrain, with or without water I have sometimes been able to travel 20-30km (~15mi) with no break but feel quite sore and dead in the end beyond my lingering endurance. Going on 10-15km with breaks seems to be nice, and recoverable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I go about my first week long trip in terms of distance, each day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My draft plan:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wake up and do my morning routine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike from 7-noon (5hrs = ~20km with my ~40lb (18 kg) pack big pack)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take an hour or two break for a main meal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike until 5pm or so (~4 hours = ~10-15km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set up camp, small nightly meal for energy and soak in the sunset.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The journey is roughly 150km in a valley route by the way, which if I do that routine each day without falter can be done in ~4 1/2 days, but I plan to give myself lenience and visit small towns/and interesting things along the way giving 7 a good margin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How's my routine sound? should something like every second day be half the distance, to help preserve my legs from lugging 40lbs (18 kg) or as felt is needed? (I tend to overdo it.) Any tips or hints on sustaining long distance travels for journeys many weeks long if I were to above this relatively simple starting trek, that I can practise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2644" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T10:49:29.873" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T13:13:49.380" Title="Week long trek, how far each day? pace?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6222" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6223" CreationDate="2014-07-28T09:38:21.760" Score="24" ViewCount="3885" Body="&lt;p&gt;And what situations should I try and avoid in regards to wildlife and areas prone to hazards in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited my question to cover the other answers more as they were very good additions to the wildlife aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:17:42.867" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T12:19:59.623" Title="What hazardous wildlife is there in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2014-07-28T09:41:42.787" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK we have, comparative to other countries, very few venomous creatures. However the false widow and adders are still a risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;False widows&lt;/strong&gt; have mostly been recorded in the South of England and Wales (though I've personally never seen one) but have been recorded to have bitten and hospitalise people, whilst this maybe when out and about it has also occurred when people are asleep in their own homes. There are other spiders that are capable of biting humans, but of the 650 or so species in the UK only 15 or so can do so. False widows are also considered non aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adders&lt;/strong&gt; are the only venomous snake in Britain (and again after 25+ years here I have never seen one, only a common and harmless grass snake) however the NHS still records roughly 100 cases of bites in a year. They are more common to heathland and sea cliffs. Be wary if you have a dog out with you as there are reported dog deaths and dogs being bitten by Adders in the UK as well. They will likely only bite when feeling threatened, and if you do see one in the countryside, just be careful, avoid handling and let them be. &lt;strong&gt;(I have now actually seen one! Slithered across the grass when walking the dog, 26 years it took to see one!)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deer&lt;/strong&gt; should be treated respectfully in the UK if you happen to see any of the species (Personally saw a young Roe deer buck holding some rutting ground in my local forest.) We have Red, Roe, Fallow, Sika, Water deer as well as Reeve's muntjac. Some of the larger deer obviously have antlers over the autumnal months and can be aggressive during the rutting season but the likelihood is when out walking they will run from you - the issue here is being careful at night when driving they can come running out across the road (happens to me at least once a month) and they can go through a windscreen if hit. Also for dogs not used to deer, chasing them (also known as worrying) can lead to conviction and fines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Badgers&lt;/strong&gt; should be avoided whilst out night walking, again more commonly when out with dogs, due to their ability to destroy footpaths / walking routes with their dens, creating risk of a twisted ankle or worse. Near where I live badgers have almost completely collapsed a footpath by digging dens underneath it, which is something to watch out for. The likelihood of seeing one would be slim however, but dogs who like running down holes should have an eye kept on them. As a note they also are likely to be a bTB carrier (bovine tuberculosis).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cows and Bulls&lt;/strong&gt; are however a very common cause of injury when out in the British countryside. Cows can stampede when they feel threatened, especially when they have calves in the field. There were 215 injured and 6 deaths recorded in the UK between 2008-2011 due to being trampled by cows. However a good farmer will always signpost a Bull field or when cows have calves - allowing you to enter &lt;em&gt;'At your own risk'&lt;/em&gt; or leaving you to take another route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wild boar&lt;/strong&gt; were reintroduced in 2004 to the Forest of Dean, there have been reports of damage to gardens, and attacks on walkers, dogs, and riders in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people can worry about their dogs as &lt;strong&gt;Myxomatosis&lt;/strong&gt; is a threat in the UK to British rabbits.  It is not a threat to dogs or humans, but it can infect pet rabbits - so try not to handle wild injured rabbits if you see them unless aiming to take them to a vet or the RSPCA/SSPCA for treatment. And if you do need to handle them, anti-bacterial hand sanitizers will help prevent spread of infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fleas and ticks&lt;/strong&gt; are also common both domestically and in the countryside in the UK and they can be nasty for both humans and dogs, and Lyme disease can be passed onto humans by ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a debate / request you can find online and that comes up in wildlife searches for the reintroduction of Wolves to Scotland - however currently there are no wolves in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;strong&gt;Seagulls&lt;/strong&gt; can also be a pest when eating along the coast as they can swoop down grab food from your hand, as they can get quite large these birds shouldn't be hand fed or encouraged. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27588210&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Perils of the British Countryside BBC article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T17:34:27.163" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:34:27.163" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2014-07-28T10:55:39.660" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general the British Isles are very safe. Most paths are well marked, dangerous areas are also marked off, and there are no large predators or other animals that are a serious threat to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wildlife&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answer already covered this well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially there are no animals in the British isles that are deliberately dangerous to you, although there are a few that may injure or worse you if they feel threatened (and even those are rare). You're far more likely to be killed by the weather than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Situations to avoid:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most paths are well signposted but on coastal cliff paths erosion is always a risk. Don't go too close to cliff edges unless you know it's safe as they can erode underneath and then collapse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weather can change rapidly and you should be prepared. Particularly if you are going mountain climbing make sure you take appropriate supplies, check the weather forecast and have a decent map and good walking boots. Even experienced walkers/climbers often have to turn back because the weather turns against them so do not feel that you can just press on - people die doing that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General etiquette is to leave a gate in the situation you found it, if a gate is open leave it open. If it's closed then leave it closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:33:14.743" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:33:14.743" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2014-07-28T11:56:41.627" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the wildlife hazards mentioned in the other answers, &lt;strong&gt;swans and geese&lt;/strong&gt; can be intimidating even if not highly hazardous - the adage about a swan's wing being able to break your arm &lt;a href=&quot;http://theswansanctuary.org.uk/faq.php&quot;&gt;is said to be&lt;/a&gt; just about true, but unlikely - and walkers occasionally report hostility or aggression from &lt;strong&gt;landowners&lt;/strong&gt; who dispute their right to use a particular route across their land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add a couple of non-wildlife hazards: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avalanches&lt;/strong&gt; can occur on British hills in sufficiently snowy conditions, so winter hillwalkers should be aware of how to identify and minimise this risk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some countryside areas are used as Ministry of Defence &lt;strong&gt;firing ranges&lt;/strong&gt; (marked as 'Danger Area' on Ordnance Survey maps). Where footpaths cross these areas there should be clear warning signs and systems such as locked gates or flags to prevent access during firing, but walkers should be aware of the possibility of unexploded ammunition. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/public-access-to-military-areas&quot;&gt;Public access to military areas&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3633" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T11:56:41.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6154" CreationDate="2014-07-28T14:39:28.217" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has a downloadable &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bmcshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=6260&quot;&gt;helmet guidebook&lt;/a&gt; which addresses this question pretty well. As a brief summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hardshell helmets give good protection against impacts from above, e.g. rock fall, and can cope with repeated small impacts. This makes them the most suitable type for mountaineering or long routes. However they give relatively little protection against impacts to the side of the head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foam helmets give protection against impacts from all angles, which makes them more suitable for crag and sport climbing where falls are likely, but they are less durable against long-term use and accidental damage than hardshells.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hybrid helmets are a compromise between the two types so share the advantages and disadvantages of both.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3633" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T14:39:28.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6221" CreationDate="2014-07-28T14:45:15.640" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Making 30-35 km every day is perfectly sound, if only you're used to making such distance. The famous Polish hiker, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lukaszsupergan.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Łukasz Supergan&lt;/a&gt; have written to made 30 km a day on average on his 4000 km long trip to Santiago de Compostella. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trained hiker can made 30-50 km a day without days off. This is confirmed in the memories of wandering workers, partisants, historical sources about marching troops etc. So such tempo can be surely kept for much longer than a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it may be hard if you've never hiked so long. But with proper training, everyone who's not disabled should be able to keep such tempo (note that the ability to walk the long distances is our genetic adaptation, whoever wasn't able to keep up, died and left no genes to that day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T14:45:15.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6232" CreationDate="2014-07-28T15:41:22.447" Score="15" ViewCount="2751" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the slow process of acquiring all of the gear I think I will need to do a week-long backpacking trip somewhere in the Midwest. Many of the more experienced backpackers I've spoken with or read about say that you should test your gear out before you take it on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to test out my setup without breaking it, and hopefully without taking up too much of my time. What do you recommend as a thorough yet reasonable test for a backpacking setup? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to develop a backpacking and camping routine with my portable gear but don't have much experience with anything other than car camping. What are your tips and tricks for backpacking success?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The gear I have that I would like to test out includes (but is not limited to) the following: Gregory Baltoro Backpack, sleeping bag, tent, stove, water filter, first aid kit, knife, machete (possibly not included), water bottles, and a cheap, bulky sleeping bag pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose I probably need to assemble a mess kit, acquire cooking supplies, and select clothing before I'll be able to do a full test run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastEditorUserId="3626" LastEditDate="2014-07-28T15:59:06.820" LastActivityDate="2017-05-30T09:46:58.807" Title="How can I test out my equipment before a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6221" CreationDate="2014-07-28T15:43:19.223" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal opinion is you may be being a little bit optimistic on your speed. I would probably aim for 20-30km per day (~15 miles) if you have not done such a long trip before and are reasonably fit. Although there are several factors to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hiking with a 40lb pack is significantly different and more tiring than hiking with just a day pack, especially if you get sore knees. This is a good reason to get hiking poles, although I know some people don't like them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Doing a week long hike is not just doing a day hike seven times. You don't get a chance to recover fully in between each day, especially if didn't sleep particularly well because you're in your tent and rain/wildlife/whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Terrain is also a significant factor. 20km on the flat != 20km with 6000ft of climb. As a rough guide &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule&quot;&gt;Naismith's rule&lt;/a&gt; adds 1 hour (~5km distance) for every 2000 ft of ascent. If your route involves any bushwacking/river crossings these can take a significant amount of time too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your camping arrangement is also a concern. If you are wild camping distance is not too important. You can just go at your own pace and are only limited by the availability of suitable camping spots. However, if you are camping at a fixed campsite/campgrounds or otherwise have limited camping options it is better to be conservative on the distance you need to travel. There are few things worse than having some unforeseen detour/delay and then having to navigate to you camp in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is more personal preference but I prefer to have several more regular stops than have one big stop for lunch. This may be because I mostly walk in the UK where it is often raining so stopping for long is grim. Also when it is nice regular stops are good for admiring the scenery and stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hiking is generally more enjoyable if you don't push yourself too hard. On one hand completing a challenging hike is very rewarding in its own right. However, speed and distance aren't everything. If you're hiking for a week you probably want to actually enjoy it while its happening. It is therefore important to not be completely exhausted/in pain because you've tried to do too long a walk. Some people I know may disagree with this idea. They also run mountain marathons for fun so....&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion 5 days would be a reasonable time to do your walk in, although it is definitely good to leave a couple of days extra in case there are any unforeseen issues/interesting detours/you're not as fit as you thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T15:43:19.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2014-07-28T15:58:13.407" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure how hazardous they are, but wasps, bees, hornets etc could spoil your trip in sufficient numbers or if you have an allergy to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The NHS has a good page on biting/stinging insects, how to avoid them and what to do if you don't:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/bites-and-stings/Pages/insects-bugs-that-bite-sting.aspx&quot;&gt;12 UK insects and bugs that bite or sting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3609" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T15:58:13.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-28T16:00:53.170" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would imagine the &quot;testing&quot; others referred to is suitability for purpose rather than will the gear end up damaged or broken. For example, if using a new tent, have you practiced pitching it at home first rather than waiting until you have to use it while in the middle of nowhere? Or is the stove and cooking equipment you plan to carry able to cope with the quantities you need to cook? Is your sleeping bag warm enough or too warm for the conditions you are likely to meet? Will everything you plan to bring fit in your pack? Is there anything you plan on taking not really needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest a trial trip say over a weekend or maybe two not too far away to try out everything first before you set off on your actual trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T16:00:53.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-28T16:01:17.150" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;To test your hiking kit/boots to see if it is all comfortable/fits you can do a day walk but carrying your full rucksack and kit (or stuff of similar weight). This will give you a idea of how your kit fits and the difference in hiking with a full rucksack compared to a daysack to help you judge how far you should aim for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of your camping kit can be tested at home. For example I would definitely check you can put up your tent and light your stove before going on a trip. Getting it wrong at home is much better than doing it wrong in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally if time allows you could also do a short one/two night backpacking trip before your main trip. This will allow you to check your kit in action so to speak and will give you an idea of some of the small items you may have forgotten. Forgetting loo-roll for a 1 night trip is bad. Forgetting it for a week trip is dire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On that note you may want to make a list of the kit you need well in advance. If your not confident get someone to check it for any glaring omissions. Then update it with anything you missed after you practice camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T16:01:17.150" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-28T16:06:44.197" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There can't be any general rule on testing equipment but you should have tested at least all the features that you think you will need during your journey. You also do not necessarily have to test all your stuff at once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For &quot;technical&quot; equipment such as tents, stoves and the like, it might be enough to just learn their handling. Nothing is more annoying than arriving at your camping spot all tired and pulling out your tent for the very first time ever, reading the manual and finding out, that the pegs are not suitable for the kind of ground you're on. As Aravona already mentioned in a comment, testing your stove might be easily done by cooking some dinner on it at home. But you also might want so test it somewhere outside when it's a bit windy to see how it handles in windy conditions. The same with a tent for example: just pitch it somewhere in your garden (or a public park, if you don't have a garden).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With clothing, it's a bit more complicated. Finding out if your new rain jacket can cope with a whole day of heavy rain without soaking through requires to get out for a day in heavy rain... Same for other stuff you want to rely on in uncomfortable situations – you get the idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, also do a packing check where you fit all your stuff into your backpack some days before you finally pack all your stuff for the journey. If you find out then, that you have too much things to ever fit into your pack, you have still some time left to think about what is not urgently necessary or save to leave at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T16:06:44.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-28T20:39:41.923" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most gear you can test out in your house. Take your boots out on any trail, each time you go out pack a little bit more in your pack and get used to the weight. Come up with a good clothing layer system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you can get your tent set up quickly. There is nothing like setting up in a downpour minutes before sundown. You can practice this inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you understand how to properly setup and use your water filter. &#xA; - Keep the input hose separate from the hose that goes into your bottle. &#xA; - Make sure you know how to &quot;prime&quot; it if necessary. You may need to take it apart on the trail, fill it with water and put it back together before pumping water.&#xA; - Make sure you know how to service the filter as well, it will likely get grains of sand in it which may plug it and prevent it from working. Or you may fall and crack it, what is your backup plan? Do you have something to boil water in? Do you have chemical water treatment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn all your gear. Understand how the stove works. Do some tests with the fuel source outside in trail conditions and see how much fuel you'll need with your stove for that period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Figure out how you'll sharpen your blades if it becomes necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build your skills, they come in as handy as gear does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure you left it off on purpose, but I didn't see a mention of maps or compass. Learn to use a compass and read a map(and maps scales). Get a waterproof map of the area you will be going. Trails turn to crap quickly and all of a sudden you'll find sketchy 'flagging tape' to get you around closed off areas. Know the markings for the section you will be on. Markings usually have a meaning. Call ahead or check online for trail conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you are prepared for the climate. It may be beautiful at the bottom of the mountain, but you may get smacked with a snow storm at the peak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a separate note, a construction size garbage bag is a great inexpensive liner to keep the inside of your pack and keep its contents dry. Bring an extra bag, they are cheap and light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring some petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls in a pill jar to help you start fires. Lighters are awesome, but a backup source is handy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3638" LastActivityDate="2014-07-28T20:39:41.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-29T01:35:55.987" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;All the other answers are correct and good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Car-Camping&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the problem is that you want a realistic test but either (a) do not have much time, or (b) wisely do not want to go out backpacking on a test trip alone, then do a &lt;strong&gt;car camping trip as a &quot;dress rehearsal&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a car-camping site.&lt;br&gt;Preferably in the wild or woods, rather than a developed &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampgrounds_of_America&quot;&gt;KOA&lt;/a&gt;-stlye campground. In the United States, we often have a choice of county and state parks, National Parks, National Forests, and others.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack your gear.&lt;br&gt; Pack all your gear &lt;em&gt;completely&lt;/em&gt; as if going on a real backpacking trip. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load your gear, boots, and such in a car, and drive to the camp site.&lt;br&gt;Do this early in the morning as you would on the real trip. See how you do while still sleepy, sans caffeine, with finding and remembering all your stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sling that pack on your back and head out for a day-hike.&lt;br&gt;Whether long or short, does not matter. The longer the better, but long enough to test your boots and socks, use your water bottle, and so on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Return to camp, but ignore the car. Pitch tent, make dinner, pull out TP for bathroom run, do not sit at the park’s table, wash your dishes, and so on, as if on the real trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Return home, 24-hours later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As other answers suggest, it is the little things that get you. Did you remember matches/lighter for stove? Do you know how to safely fill the fuel bottles, and maybe need a funnel? Is something in the pack poking you in the back so you need to practice re-loading? Is using a sock liner with those socks too thick or too hot and you need to buy some thinner hiking socks? Is that narrow-mouth water bottle driving you crazy and you'd rather get a wide-mouth bottle? Are your pants wet from sitting on wet grass and cold rock so maybe you need to buy/make a sitting-pad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing a full car-camping trip rather than just testing at home helps to flush out these details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3640" LastEditorUserId="3640" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T01:46:32.653" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T01:46:32.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2014-07-29T01:40:03.333" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in the day, they told us to run to a nearby ditch and duck and cover (on the news during tornado warnings and watches). I was in a trailer, with no cellar/basement nearby. Instead of blindly offering that as advice, I thought I'd do a quick google check. My search turned up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_19417.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this nifty article&lt;/a&gt; on pros and cons of ditch vs car. Excerpt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hazards of getting out of the car and into a ditch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Flying and tumbling debris may land on you, possibly even your vehicle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Heavy rain may fill the ditch and threaten drowning, particularly if you are pinned down by debris&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;You may be pummeled by hail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;You are at risk from lightning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hazards of staying in the vehicle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The vehicle may be rolled or tossed by the tornado and you may be injured or crushed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Flying debris may penetrate the vehicle and hit you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Benefits of getting into a ditch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Getting into a ditch puts you below the strong winds and flying debris near and above the prevailing ground level&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Benefits of staying in the vehicle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Metal frame and safety glass offer some shielding from strong winds and flying debris, while seat belts and air bags cushion the jolts if the vehicle is overturned or tossed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the article contains a dead link from red cross (which I guess is why StackExchange encourages following up links with explanations). Searching their site came up with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/tornado&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, which recommends getting &quot;noticeably below road level&quot; if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/ttl.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NOAA Brochure&lt;/a&gt; linked in that article says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take shelter in a sturdy reinforced building if at all possible. Overpasses, ditches, and culverts&#xA;  may provide limited protection from a tornado, but your risk will be greatly reduced by moving inside a strong building. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;limited protection still seems better than none.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, running to a ditch in high winds hurts. Rain itself can become painful, without adding flying debris. Once in the ditch, if you are sheltered from the wind, the cold is much more bothersome than the rain. Never personally been hit by hail during a tornado warning/watch, but I can imagine it would do a bit of damage. Imagine a major league pitcher throwing ice at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To your other points, you are not safer out on the water. There is nothing to shield you from the wind there, and tornados can certainly pass over water. Fiberglass tent poles can break under significantly less wind than 100mph (not sure about aluminum), so staking the tent down isn't a guarantee of keeping your tent. Without the poles, the tent still seems a bit like a kite, but I've never seen or tried it. Most (all but one) of my trips to the ditch never actually saw me close to a tornado. It is incorrect to think that just the &quot;strip&quot; that gets hit directly by the tornado is the only danger zone. The winds can be extremely strong miles away from the tornado. I've seen lawn chairs ending up a hundred yards or so from where they were, with no tornado for miles. Getting out of the rain is good thinking, though. Avoiding flash floods is also wise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3541" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T01:40:03.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4680" CreationDate="2014-07-29T08:33:50.780" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The traditional Sami way of marking trails is with small constructions that are not intrusive but still easily visible if you know where to look, such as stacking stones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the website from the Swedish world heritage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.laponia.nu/gusiide/leder/&quot;&gt;&quot;Laponi&quot;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;De traditionella samiska ledmarkeringarna är ofta sparsmakade. Tanken&#xA;  är att inte göra för stor påverkan på naturen, markeringarna sätts där&#xA;  behövs och med små medel. Det kan handla om att lägga en liten sten på&#xA;  en större, placera ut en sten med en naturligt speciell färg eller&#xA;  luta en större sten mot en annan. De gamla markeringarna lades i&#xA;  stenig terräng, över fjällpass eller andra ställen ställen där man&#xA;  lätt kan gå vilse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My translation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The traditional Sami trail markings are often restrained. The thought&#xA;  is to not have too big impact of the nature and the markings are put&#xA;  where needed and with small means. A small stone could be placed on a&#xA;  bigger one or a stone with a different natural colour could be used. A stone could also &#xA;  be leaned on  another. The old markings where placed in stony terrain, over&#xA;  passes or other places where you could easily get lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be hard to find the trails if you have no idea where to look, but if you know the general area some stacked stones usually stick out a lot from the surroundings. This is also how many of the summer hiking trails are marked in Northen Sweden, but then it is usually higher cairns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2369" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T08:39:34.813" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T08:39:34.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2014-07-29T11:54:14.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few others I could think of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foxes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes are generally not aggressive are easily scared away by humans. However, there have been &lt;a href=&quot;http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/14/are-humans-responsible-for-fox-attacks-on-babies-3475398/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cases&lt;/a&gt; of fox attacks of on small children. It should be noted these incidents are very rare. Interestingly this appears to be more of an urban problem possibly caused by the close proximity between humans and foxes and the apparent trend of people feeding foxes in their gardens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dogs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dog attacks are probably one of the larger 'wildlife' risks in the UK. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10429862/Dog-attack-laws-and-statistics.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; there have been 5 deaths from dog bites since 2005, estimated &gt;200,000 incidents per year resulting in approximately 6,000 hospital admissions. Recent legislation has increased the maximum sentence for dog attacks which cause injury from two to five years. Anecdotally I'll also add that dogs often try and run in front of my bike while cycling which could be another hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds of Prey&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many species of birds of prey in the UK some of which have been relatively recently re-introduced after becoming extinct due to hunting. Some are quite large (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/White-tailed_Eagle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sea eagles&lt;/a&gt; are the largest with a 2.5m wingspan. There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/perth-kinross/farmers-distressed-by-savage-sea-eagle-attack-on-newborn-lamb-1.35213&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;various reports&lt;/a&gt; of birds of prey &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361000/Golden-eagle-clutches-lamb-Isle-Mull-razor-sharp-talons.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;attacking lambs&lt;/a&gt;. This has caused some unpopularity with farmers with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/scottish-birtd-of-prey-colony-mass-poisonings&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reports&lt;/a&gt; of some birds being illegally poisoned on killed. There have also been &lt;a href=&quot;http://safaritalk.net/topic/12124-should-the-scottish-sea-eagle-population-be-controlled/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fears&lt;/a&gt; that eagles may attack small children although there have been no reported cases and the RSPB calls these claims &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-14762183&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;'alarmist'&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T11:54:14.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2014-07-29T12:01:30.883" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a sailboat skipper with 25 years experience, so perhaps my tips could help a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the skipper is responsible for the safety and well-being of his/her crew, he or she also has a responsibility to avoid when possible situations which will make members of his crew seasick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the crew:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are susceptible to seasickness, consider starting to take Stugeron at the morning of the first travel day. Take it, and if you don't get sick after 2 days, you can stop. Works very well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take time to get used to the motions of the boat, if possible sleep on the boat one night before putting to sea. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid heavy eating or drinking the day before departure, especially histamine rich food like red meat, wine, garlic etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Listen to your body and react at the first signs! Get on deck, watch the horizon, breathe deeply, if possible steer, keep yourself warm with a jacket and a hat, eat salty crackers and coke in small portions, if available take a travell chewing gum or similar. Avoid going below decks for longer time, so make sure that you find stuff like camera, sunglasses, gloves, clothes etc. quickly. Tell your skipper that you're not feeling not perfectly well, so that he can keep an eye on you and exclude you from work below decks. Signs of a beginning seasickness are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;head starts to feel a bit quizzy ('electric' or like a migraine/headache incoming)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;strange taste in your mouth&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;feeling cold and/or dizzy &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the skipper:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If at all possible, start the journey in light conditions, with wind of 3-4 Bft and seastate light to moderate. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure that your crew is comfortable, i.e. adequately clothed and equipped, has eaten but not too much, has enough liquids (water and coke) and snacks (biscuits, crackers, salt sticks) available without going below. When a crew member has to go below shortly after getting out of the harbour to get  f.e. a sweater and and a jacket or to use the heads, this may already be enough to trigger sea sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look out for signs of seasickness: crew members feeling cold, yawning, paleness, absent minded, falling silent. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If a crew member is heavily seasick, insist that he wears his lifeline when on deck. Also, sending seasick crew below to sleep (with a bucket if needed) helps in a lot of cases. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3646" LastEditorUserId="3646" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T12:42:54.010" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T12:42:54.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3761" CreationDate="2014-07-29T13:18:47.877" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although @ReverendGonzo gave a nice &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3762/2653&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; I want to start a little debate. There is no explicit answer to this question. Different alpine clubs have different opinions and even different mountain guides in one organization. That being said, I think the process described by @ReverendGonzo (which I will call &lt;em&gt;default process&lt;/em&gt;) is very common and also the doctrine of the biggest German Alpine club (&quot;Deutscher Alpenverein&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, I will share the opinion of a very experienced guide* I was pleased to have a course with. The question was about a steep slope with frozen snow. That isn't ice. For bare ice holding a fall is even more troublesome. If you are on snow (which is most likely for a classical Alpine tour), his suggestions were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't climb with an ice axe unless you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need it (use hiking or ski poles instead)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;falling with an ice axe in hand might cause serious injuries e.g. hitting your own face (relating to 1.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the axe really bites the gound (which should be your primary goal) it's likely that you can't hold the axe, especially if you have no sling on the axe or you simply aren't using the sling (relating to 1.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the crampons would already cause you to get flipped, you are already too fast and self-arresting will be really difficult at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those previous thoughts are all together just a point of view against the default process. In theory this default process works but may be really difficult under real circumstances. Therefore the suggestion was to get you self-arrest &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; fast or it's very unlikely at all (if you're not roped in). Get yourself in a pushup position, use your hands/fists (always wear gloves!), crampons, maybe also the knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said I don't want to state that this point of view is better or describes the best strategy at all. The specific conditions of the snow, weather, equipment, the degree of the slope, security possibilities, ... all that has an impact. I was a bit surprised by the opinions of the guide but this somehow opened my eyes. I wanted to share this with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are no rules.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&#xA;*He was raised directly in the Alps close to big mountains, working as a professional mountain guide and ski guide for nearly 30 years. He also works for the mountain rescue team.&#xA;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T13:18:47.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2014-07-29T14:30:55.953" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been with the Boy Scouts for many years and one thing that we always did when backpacking in remote areas was to not get too cozy. By that I mean don't unpack everything. We always kept as much of our gear as possible in our backpacks so if we needed to leave in a hurry, like if a tornado is coming, all we had to do was break down our tents and sleeping bags, grab our packs, and we were good to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Living in Northern Texas for 6 years has also taught me a few things about tornadoes. The general rule of thumb is to stay away from things that can be blown away (hey, that rhymes). This includes cars, tents, and canoes. The reason behind this is that the tornado can pick these items up and throw them all which way and can easily kill you. Sure, a car has a roll cage and an air bags, but what if you land in water? Good luck getting out in time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, back to the original question. Your best bet is to get down. The further down you go, the better. If you have time, I would try to &quot;baton down the hatches&quot; as best as possible to keep your stuff from flying away. I like the idea that someone suggested to get into some low brush. Once there, get into the tornado position and wait for it to pass. Keeping your pack on may help protect you from the hail/rain/debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in transit, same rules apply but bonus! You already have your stuff together!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be to turn your canoe over and use that as protection from the elements when waiting for the storm to pass. That means your shelter can &quot;break away&quot; without taking you with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So in conclusion (TL;DR):&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only unpack what is necessary/keep your stuff together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep an eye on the weather. If there is a tornado warning/watch be ready to leave at a moments notice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your 10 essentials (survival gear) on your person.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it can be blown away, stay away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a location that is low down and can protect you from other hazards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your camping equipment is covered by your insurance and keep a list of all items and there prices. (Just in case)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember to create a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floatplancentral.org/download/USCGFloatPlan.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FLOAT plan&lt;/a&gt; and TELL PEOPLE WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND FOR HOW LONG. Tell these people to not hesitate to call the authorities if you don't show up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After the fact, try to tell your FLOAT Plan holder that you are okay (or that you need help).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow the advice of these other really good answers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3535" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T14:30:55.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6243" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6249" CreationDate="2014-07-29T15:46:35.417" Score="5" ViewCount="951" Body="&lt;p&gt;For canoe camping with a large group (say 10-15 people) for 3 days, what/how much should we pack for cooking equipment/supplies (minus the actual food) and eating utensils?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The group is relatively inexperienced at camping. We are going to the US Northeast in October, so it can get a little cold (30-40F at night). Fires are permitted. We'd maybe be 30-60 minutes from the nearest place to buy supplies, so it would be preferable to bring everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="3345" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T12:38:41.963" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T02:11:48.647" Title="Group camping - cooking equipment and eating utensils packing list" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6245" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-07-29T18:50:02.130" Score="6" ViewCount="245" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to camp over rocks and snow in a The North Face Assault (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/assault-2.html&quot;&gt;TNF Assault&lt;/a&gt;). It's necessary to buy or make a footprint?  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TNFSearchResult?langId=-1&amp;amp;storeId=207&amp;amp;catalogId=10201&amp;amp;searchTerm=Assault%202%20footprint&quot;&gt;There's not one for this model at their website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you recommend?.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3653" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-07-29T19:03:56.340" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T07:45:26.817" Title="Footprint or no Footprint in a TNF Assault" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6245" CreationDate="2014-07-29T19:08:20.080" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, if you are camping in rocks and snow, you will want a footprint.  Since there don't appear to be any specifically made for this tent, I suggest making one out of Tyvek.  It is readily available at most home supply stores here in the states (not sure on your location).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making the Tyvek match your tent dimensions perfectly is a touch of work.  You'll have to set up your tent, trace out the pattern, cut, and grommet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I am doing is to set up my tent on a large rectangle of Tyvek.  I then mark a pole and set a grommet.  I put the tent pole through the tent grommet and the Tyvek grommet.  Then I do the grommets to the left and right of the first.  Next I do the grommet opposite.  Each time I make sure the Tyvek is taught before marking and setting the grommets.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, with the tent up, and the poles fully set through my Tyvek, I mark where to cut for my footprint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned with strength, reinforced grommet areas with a strip of Tyvek tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T19:08:20.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6243" CreationDate="2014-07-29T19:13:38.847" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going to make some assumptions here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Communal cooking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People bringing own ingredients, contributions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the two above&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reasonably large pot (two liter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reasonably large pan (more than 8&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grill surface/fuel.  It is hard to advise here without knowing more.  But something like this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coleman.com/product/perfectflowtrade-portable-grill/2000004121?contextCategory=27110#.U9fx6_ldWqY&quot;&gt;coleman&lt;/a&gt; would work.  If you are SURE you can have a fire, just grab a actual grill surface.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight spatula&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight large spoon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell everyone to bring their own bowl/cup/utensils.  I strongly advise against sharing utensils.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That list should do you for cooking most things.  That being said, as noted in the comments, a more sophisticated list requires knowing more about your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T19:13:38.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-07-29T21:18:44.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another two cents (experience: two Philmont expeditions).  Do all you can at home to test things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots: if you've got a pack, test the boots and break them in with local hikes. This also lets you work out the 'fit' of the pack -- find that sweet spot where the hip belt takes the weight and the shoulders stabilize. Gradually add weight to the pack up to what you expect to carry (experienced tip: use old 2 liter bottles filled with tap water to increase the weight - then you'll have no qualms about dumping weight halfway through a hike if issues arise - its just water weight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping gear: Setup in the backyard, multiple times, some at night, with only what you plan to carry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cook on the stove you intend to use - get to know its quirks - they all have something to watch for. Plan on a mix of cooked and uncooked type foods -- cooking dinner is a great way to finish the day. Quick and easy package food in the morning and perhaps lunch gets you on the trail much quicker (opinion: tuna packed in water in foil packaging worked great for me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan your water sources on the route, and the quantity you think you need to hike, and cook, and clean up. Meals that use hot water to cook and hydrate the food leads to less water 'waste' (opinion: pasta is a fool's meal (too much water to cook), rice is much better). If you're fond of flavored drinks, take two water bottles and keep one with just clear water. The clean one stays with you at night, the other goes up and away in the bear bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you figured out how to hang your food and dirty items (smellables) in a bear bag? A sturdy bag and strong lightweight cord to go over a tree limb at least 8 feet from the trunk and 10 feet up (the bottom of the bag). Ideally more than one cord (30-40 feet each) tied to different trees, since there are some scary smart wildlife out there that will pick at a knot to see if the 'treats' will drop. Practice using a small rock to get the line over the target branch. Keep that tree away from the campsite (100 feet or so).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General: read up on what &quot;smellables&quot; are, and avoid them -- no smelly deodorants, no bug sprays. Use a liquid form if you must. No application after say 3:00pm to let the scent dissapate. Heck, even duct tape is considered a 'smellable' to bears. Smellables go up in the bag every night. Batteries (other than the one in your flashlight) go in the bag. I take a couple of feet of duct tape for emergencies wrapped around a Nalgene bottle -- but that goes in the bag each night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3655" LastActivityDate="2014-07-29T21:18:44.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6243" CreationDate="2014-07-29T22:14:37.640" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key here is to plan the meals. If you know all the dinners you will make you will know what pots etc you need. That said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plates 1 per person + 2 or 3 for cooking purposes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mugs 1 per person, more if oatmeal is a morning thing for you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;knives, forks, spoons 1 per person&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wooden spoon, tongs, flipper, ladle (or mug as ladle) according to the meals you plan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 large pot for rice or pasta for the group, and its lid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 smaller pot for sauce to go on that rice or pasta&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 stove [*] (Cook sauce first and set aside then cook starch, or cook one pot stews etc) and enough fuel to run it for the total time all your meals, morning coffee, dishwater, and washing water will need&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a camping kettle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a non stick skillet for pizza, first night steaks, morning bacon, English muffins etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sharp knife and thin cutting board&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;something you can measure &quot;1 cup&quot; or &quot;300 ml&quot; of wet or dry ingredients with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;washing up bowl(s) - see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5980/163&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5980/163&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nalgene bottle for soaking dried meat in all day or beans overnight - reserved for this, don't use someone's drinking bottle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Work through your meals to see if you need a grater, strainer, can opener etc. You can usually get by with less but one of the luxuries of canoe camping is being able to have cooking equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course you'll need your ingredients, spices, salt and pepper and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[*] I would NOT recommend a two burner Coleman-type stove. I've done it, but it's just too heavy and too hard to carry in a backpack. We save that stove for car camping these days. I've used a wide variety of stoves over the years and am now happy with my WhisperLite, though it is famous for not simmering well. If you choose to take two stoves - and when a group gets above 10 you may need to use two pots to cook enough volume for that many - I would recommend two different stoves (so their strengths and weaknesses balance) that use the same fuel. But the details of what stove to get probably belong in another question anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T16:45:43.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6243" CreationDate="2014-07-29T22:39:17.040" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's what I've done for group camping (both car &amp;amp; canoe camping). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Communal food &amp;amp; cooking. It's just easier. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooking equipment. You bring what you need depending on what food you buy, or buy food that can be cooked with the equipment you have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some details. &#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pot/pans. Think about what you may be cooking at the same time. Are you going to boil water &amp;amp; make spaghetti sauce at the same time? If so, you'll need 2 pots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plastic cooking utensils. Lighter weight makes it easier to carry, and less rattling noise. Wood not recommended because it can carry germs easily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A cutting board / prep surface. Or 2.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like paper plates/bowls/cups, then burn them in the fire after use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A common set of eating utensils. These I use metal as they are easiest to clean and I have to wash the pots/pans anyway. And if they are from the same set, they will stack together when packed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooking with the campfire. You can use the campfire, but that's a PITA. The only thing I cook in the fire are hobo packs. Otherwise, bring a large grill and make sure you can find enough large rocks to support it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp stove. This is what I use. A nice big, 2 burner stove. With large groups, we bring 2 stoves. And again with large groups doing car camping, I hook the stoves up to a large propane tank (5 gal). I haven't tried this with canoe camping, and wouldn't bother if it's just one night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food. The less that has to be refrigerated, the better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ziplock baggies and/or plastic storage containers for food that has been opened.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coffee. I find it's easier to use those new instant coffee pouches (Starbucks or generic) that only require hot water, rather than a peculator. They actually taste pretty good.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did I forget anything? Probably. :-)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I knew I forgot something: Kitchen knives. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastEditorUserId="1915" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T14:55:45.857" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T14:55:45.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6245" CreationDate="2014-07-30T07:34:32.613" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, I would highly recomend a footprint. There are a lot of pros. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your tentfloor lasts much longer because of friction from rocks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You dont break your floor that fast as without footprint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's also a little bit warmer with a floor on rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's much cheaper to replace the footprint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use a piece of plastic as footprint. In the snow it's really nice to use a  rescue blanket, they reflect the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T07:45:26.817" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T07:45:26.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6253" CreationDate="2014-07-30T09:59:22.637" Score="7" ViewCount="588" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently brought a buoyancy aid to use when kayaking. One thing I noticed when purchasing it though was the 50N rating. All buoyancy aids I looked at seemed to have a 50N rating and I vaguely remember one result saying this was the minimum safety rating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the safety ratings for buoyancy aids, and if these differ in other countries from the UK how do they compare?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T10:47:25.440" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T10:52:21.053" Title="Buoyancy aids ratings" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6252" CreationDate="2014-07-30T10:30:59.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;50N refers to 50 newtons. This is the buoyancy force that the buoyancy aid provides (10N ~= 1kg). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.watersportswarehouse.co.uk/shop/ljba-info.html&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; site has some useful information on buoyancy aids and ratings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;50N is the pretty much the standard rating for things like kayaking or dinghy sailing, with the occasional higher rating (60/70N). However, note that they are not designed to self right and so won't stop you drowning if unconscious. Therefore they are advised for use only when help is readily available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100N buoyancy aids basically foam life-jackets and are primarily designed for weak/non-swimmers and to protect against drowning if unconscious. However, there is still a risk of drowning as not may not self right and does not protect well against heavy seas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;150N is generally inflatable life-jackets.  These provide better protection against drowning but are obviously not suitable for kayaking, dinghy sailing or anything where you are likely to go in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T10:30:59.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6254" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-07-30T10:48:53.253" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T10:48:53.253" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T10:48:53.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6255" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-07-30T10:48:53.253" Score="0" Body="Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is defined by the International Canoe Federation as a boat where the paddler faces forward, legs in front, using a double-bladed paddle." OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T12:54:03.317" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T12:54:03.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6252" CreationDate="2014-07-30T10:52:21.053" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bare-minimum that I'd buy should have a 50 Newton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;50 Newton&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guys I've known who do Surfing, Water-skiing, Kayaking, Water-sailing, Canoeing and all sorts of crazy water sports stuff, would go for a 50N rated aid.&#xA;It also depends on how much are you going to bank on that, right? And, mainly this is applicable to all those who knows swimming or rather most suitable for competent swimmers. So it does imply that the help is really at the hand and within reach without much of a hassle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;100 Newton&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 100 Newton thingy is more suitable for usage in more troubled waters, probably for ones with yachts and Powerboats in waters where the help is at a relatively longer distance. It should be used by Non-swimmers, or may be 'Not-so-good' kind of swimmers in calm waters since they assure a reasonable safety from drowning in relatively calm waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;150 newton&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its rather a 'Do-whatever-you-want-and-get-away' kind of a safety aid. Its suitable for Swimmers as well Non-swimmers in troubled water. Absolute safety, rather as @nivag said, its more of a inflatable Life-Jacket and indeed gives reasonable assurance of safety from drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T10:52:21.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6257" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6262" CreationDate="2014-07-30T10:58:21.657" Score="20" ViewCount="18139" Body="&lt;p&gt;I taking a bunch of scouts camping next week. While we are staying at a Scout campsite with facilities and some organised activities. We have decided we want to have a bit  more of back to basics/survival focus. Do people have suggestions of any good activities that are survival/scout skill orientated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I have the obvious ideas of firefighting without matches, making a bivy/shelter for a night and pioneering (what is yet to be determined). I'm particularly looking for any interesting but non-obvious ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Age range is 11-14.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T13:05:33.380" Title="Survival type activies for Scout camp" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6258" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6264" CreationDate="2014-07-30T11:48:34.207" Score="15" ViewCount="1249" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know canoeing is the generic term which contains e.g. canadians and kayaks. What do I have to look for as an absolute water sports beginner in terms of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;costs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;knowledge (eskimo roll and the kind)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;safety&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;storage room&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;group suitability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fun (yes, may be very subjective)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say the group is 2-6 people, physically fit and wants to have some fun being on the water. The nights will be spend outdoors in tents, food will be cooked by the group and hiking is an alternative to the daily boating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;I think the term &quot;canadian&quot; may be confusing. I don't mean the people from Canada, I am thinking of this type of boat: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t192W.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t192W.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Women_C-4_Canadian.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:04:38.687" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:04:38.687" Title="Kayaks vs canadians (canoes) from a beginner's perspective" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6159" CreationDate="2014-07-30T13:17:30.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are unfamiliar with the Adirondacks (ADK), the term &quot;High Peaks&quot; is the most talked about area for backpacking in the Adirondacks. They are the 46 tallest peaks in New York.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jesse Black's link was great, its provided by the ADK tourism council. The &quot;state government's authoritative&quot; site is a terrible mess for the information you are looking for, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/camping.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here it is&lt;/a&gt;. It gives a little more information about camping at specific elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adk.org/play/hiking-information/hiking-in-the-adirondacks/high-peaks-trail-conditions-weather/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;trail and weather conditions&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also find a lot of useful information from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adk.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adirondack Mountain Club&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you bring paper trail and road maps. You can't rely on your cell phone for much of anything in the Adirondacks. There are towers near towns, but for the most part, you will be on your own! If you have a GPS loaded with New York maps it is very helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3638" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T23:19:01.533" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T23:19:01.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T13:27:51.987" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend covering some of the following topics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Aid&lt;/strong&gt; - focus on how to stabilize an injured person and how to transport them. Teach them how to splint a sprained ankle and treat heat stroke, hypothermia, dehydration, shock, how to stop bleeding, and other basic first aid skills. A good teamwork skill to practice is transporting an injured person from an unsafe location (BSA has a &quot;Lifts and Carries&quot; document available).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water Purification&lt;/strong&gt; - show the scouts several ways to acquire and filter water (boiling, chem tablets, and filtering). While not as fun, you could cover the importance of staying hydrated in a survival situation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt; - it could be pretty fun to show them how to cook without fancy equipment (grilling on a soaked board, boiling water with hot rocks, etc). If you go fishing, you could demonstrate how to gut and clean a fish before cooking it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mental Preparedness&lt;/strong&gt; - have a talk with the scouts about the importance of staying calm and making logical decisions. Give them some possible situations around the campfire and ask them what they would do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastEditorUserId="3626" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T17:09:00.257" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T17:09:00.257" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6261" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6267" CreationDate="2014-07-30T13:49:23.543" Score="5" ViewCount="556" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a few questions concerning bouldering in California (Mickey's beach and Castle rock) during the month of August. We have two crash pads and a guide book for bouldering in the area. I have had experience bouldering outside at a number of places (Swede's forest, Taylor's falls, and Cooper's rock, to name a few). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should we bring bug spray?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How can we avoid the heat?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have any general tips? Like do these areas have any special&#xA;things we should look out for?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3629" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T15:39:03.193" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T15:39:03.193" Title="Bouldering in California in the summer" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T13:51:54.797" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get them lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you want to get them out to where they lose their bearings, and then as a group, get them to find their way home.  Good acting helps.  If you can pretend you are &lt;em&gt;also&lt;/em&gt; lost then they get the mental experience.  This is a great way to teach people how to deal with really being lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of key points here, and the first is that &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; know the area, can navigate, and plan this in advance.  If you have a second adult who can respond to emergency signals (blown whistles, etc) that is even better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step 1 - Get them lost.  This can be trickier than it sounds.  A &quot;trail run&quot; can be a great method, especially if you aren't actually on a trail.  However, a good conversation will often do the trick just as well.  The key is to trick them into not paying attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step 2 - Reveal that you have &quot;lost track of the turns&quot;.  Solicit the group to get you home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important that you are always there for safety.  You must always know the way back.  Don't let them get you lost trying to find camp.  Give them enough support so that they can succeed as a group.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T13:51:54.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T14:30:51.687" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know which part of the world you are in, but if it is the United States, and if these are Boy Scouts, then be certain you consult the &quot;Guide to Safe Scouting&quot;.  You may also want to consult the &quot;Wilderness Survival&quot; merit badge book for some ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3661" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T14:30:51.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6258" CreationDate="2014-07-30T14:57:00.310" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Canada, at least, we do distinguish between &lt;em&gt;kayaks&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;canoes&lt;/em&gt;, and those are the words I'll use for the contrast here.  To first make sure there's no confusion, have a look at the articles in wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;A &lt;strong&gt;kayak&lt;/strong&gt; is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of &lt;strong&gt;a double bladed paddle.&lt;/strong&gt; The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayak&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/awTF4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kayak&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;A &lt;strong&gt;canoe&lt;/strong&gt; is a lightweight narrow boat, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel using &lt;strong&gt;a single-bladed paddle.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ksYDd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the boat you've referred to as &quot;a Canadian&quot; counts as a canoe. Now on to the substance of your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cost:&lt;/strong&gt;  You can pay a lot for either one, but the obvious economic advantage of a canoe is it fits twice as many people (although there are two person kayaks, of course).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knowledge:&lt;/strong&gt; Most people will not find either activity too difficult on calm water.  Canoes are slightly more technical; you'll need to understand the &lt;em&gt;J-stroke&lt;/em&gt; and where and how to sit (it isn't as obvious as it seems).  The person in back steers, making it the more complicated position.  However, don't let this deter you -- it's still pretty easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going any distance from shore, you should at least think first about what you would do if your boat capsizes, and it is an even better idea to try it once near shore (but in water deep enough so you cannot stand). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;WRT to kayaking, you do not need to know or even know about the Eskimo roll (feel free to try it, lol -- then you can practice the Eskimo swim, the Eskimo bail, and the Eskimo sheepish grin), but you do need to know how to get back in in case you do come out.  There are lots of youtube videos, etc. about this online.  The basic solo method is to place the paddle perpendicular to the hull (in a T), pin the two together with your arms, get one leg over the paddle, one leg over the hull, then turn your body to lie flat on top of the hull.  This is made easier with the use of a &lt;em&gt;paddle float&lt;/em&gt; or lifejacket attached to the far end of the paddle.  It is not as hard as it sounds, but it is not all that easy, either; this is definitely something to practice.  Keep in mind bailing a kayak can take quite a while; using a decent capacity hand pump may be easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Righting a capsized canoe &lt;em&gt;alone&lt;/em&gt; in deep water is not something everyone can do, and once it is upright, getting back in is even more of a challenge.  With two people, getting back in is a matter of having one person hold the other side, but getting it righted is still hard enough to potentially rhyme with &quot;impossible&quot;.   This is something you should find a video regarding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety:&lt;/strong&gt; Canoes tend to tip more easily because the people in them move around more, but in general both kinds of boat are quite stable if you are reasonably careful.  Do not stand upright in a canoe; if you need to move, stay hunched and shuffle with your hands on the gunnels.  I've lived on a lake for the past few years and kayak several times a week when it is not frozen; I've also done it on the ocean, but I still have yet to accidentally roll one over.  My record in a canoe is only &lt;em&gt;slightly&lt;/em&gt; worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One significant danger when soloing a canoe is windage on the hull.  If it is windy &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; take a canoe downwind alone -- by which I mean, at any angle where the wind is behind perpendicular to the hull -- unless you are positive you can row it back.  You may end up unpleasantly surprised to learn that even trying to tack the canoe back upwind in the wrong conditions is impossible.  If this does happen, sitting forward in the boat &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; help, but the best idea if you are not an experienced paddler is to avoid the situation completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, unless you are a Canadian, drinking beer in a canoe is dangerous, very likely illegal, and should not be attempted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equipment:&lt;/strong&gt;  Besides the obvious boat and paddles, you also need at least lifejackets, a bailer or pump, and a whistle.  In many places these are required by law.  If you are going out in chop with a kayak, you may also want to consider using a &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spray_skirt#Kayak_spraydeck&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;spray skirt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; (and the aforementioned paddle float).  Hats with a complete brim (shading neck, ears, and face) are a good idea if it's sunny.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a 10-20' rope attached to the boat before you head out is a good idea too.  With a kayak I tie it to the seat if possible and keep it in the back of the cockpit.  With a canoe, you should be able to put it on the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fun:&lt;/strong&gt;  A prerequisite of fun for many people is comfort.  In my experience canoes are all fairly similar in this regard, but seats with sling mesh in the middle are nicer than solid ones.  You may want something padded with you ;)  Kneeling in a canoe is a very effective paddling position, in which case you may want that padding under your knees.  Kayaks are variable, but will probably seem more comfortable initially.  You are more restricted in the potential to move around in a kayak, however.  Kayaks also come in two fundamental styles, &quot;sit in&quot;, and &quot;sit on top&quot;.  I am not a fan of the latter, but they may be more fun for kids since you can fall off and roll them over, etc, without having to bail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3286" LastEditorUserId="3286" LastEditDate="2014-07-30T17:28:42.153" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T17:28:42.153" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T15:21:57.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wildcamping is always a lot more interesting than staying on a &quot;safe&quot; campsite with showers, toilets, taps etc. Since you are staying at one of these campsites you could try finding an area that is far away from the facilities to make it seem more remote. &#xA;If there is a clean enough stream/river/burn nearby you could encourage the scouts to collect water from there and boil it to make it safe to drink (done this several times when I was in scouts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cooking on an open fire is another idea, teach them to construct a fire with support for a pot (IIRC washing up liquid on the bottom of the pot stops it being blackened too much from the fire). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Building shelters/bivys can be a fun team activity, if you are in a forrested area make them team up and find a spot to build their bivy but to keep it as hidden/camouflaged as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One activity we did a lot was building a tower with a triangle base and an inverted triangle on top. Get a platform on top with a rope ladder and make it the 'base' for a wide game when it gets dark. Something like hide and seek where one team needs to get back to the tower without getting seen or caught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really, I think anything where the scouts are not allowed to rely on home comforts makes for a good learning experience, and encouraging teamwork and competition in building challenges will make things more interesting for the scouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Experience, Beavers -&gt; Venture scouts (UK) with being an assistant leader on several cub/scout camps]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3662" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T15:21:57.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T15:51:16.997" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Your [plane/ship] has [crashed in the jungle/sunk near an island].  Here's what you were able to salvage from the wreck.  Oh, and $HeaviestKId has broken his leg&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our case we had food but no cooking equipment, i.e. we had to cook bread wrapped round a twig and improvise a frying pan from metal sheet, make a stretcher... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3663" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T15:51:16.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6261" CreationDate="2014-07-30T19:34:24.333" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bug Spray:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Unless you're backpacking in and are extremely weight conscious of how much you're carrying, if you think you might need bug spray, why wouldn't you bring it? Better to have it and not need it then the other way around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to stay cool when climbing:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Wake up early and climb from sunrise until it gets hot. Then, take a break through the heat of the afternoon and start climbing again in the early evening.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hydrate often and hydrate a lot. Sweating will keep you cool up until you hit dehydration (to a point of course). Dehydration is not a fun thing to pair with climbing or the great outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General Tips:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Make sure a couple of your friends and family members know where you are on this trip and when to expect you back. Have a backup plan in place in case one of you is injured bouldering (how will you get home with a sprained ankle or broken wrist?).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, if you plan on trying some really challenging problems, I would recommend bringing a crash pad with you. It could save you some pretty hard landings and let you climb more difficult routes in a  much safer way.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biggest Tip: Bring someone with you who knows the area. Having a resident pro can be invaluable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T19:34:24.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-30T19:56:10.837" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I went survival camping my troop always pretended that it was a day hike that turned into an overnight survival situation. We only brought what we would normally bring on a one day hike. Obviously we packed &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; lunches and brought extra clothes acting all like &quot;My mom sure packed me a big lunch! Maybe I should save most of it for later.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once we got to our campsite (our leaders only gave us the location of the camp, we had to do everything else; we got lost), we did things like lighting no-match fires and building survival shelters. Day activities would include things like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why don't you kids see what's on top of that hill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Survival training (water purification, light wilderness first aid, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Realizing you forgot toilet paper.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perfecting your shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike way upstream to find water because the river by your campsite is dried up. (I was in California)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Who can build the best survival shelter?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In better response to your question, what we would do that's a bit different is to play survival themed games and sometimes some more serious wilderness first aid (for the older scouts). A good game is the classic &quot;see who can patch up billy the best after his 'tumble.'&quot; Also who can't resist a good game of capture the flag? I would caution against pioneering because using logs and trees goes against Leave No Trace and you probably are not going to want to drag a bunch of poles wherever you are going. Also keep in mind Safe Scouting so don't build anything platforms for standing in that are over shoulder height without proper safety precautions (sorry, not my rules!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a really good scare, plan a &quot;Whodunnit Party&quot; but instead it's survival camping. I'm not sure how you would make that work, but I think it would make a really memorable camp out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just remember that after surviving the weekend on minimal food and sleeping on the ground your scouts deserve a hot meal. After survival weekend, we would always go out to IHOP afterwards...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3535" LastActivityDate="2014-07-30T19:56:10.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6243" CreationDate="2014-07-31T02:11:48.647" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have cooked for 19 people on a five day trip around Stewart Island in New Zealand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were eating dehydrated meals (from Backcountry), so our cooking requirements were three large billies and cookers to boil lots of water. Pretty simple stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main advice to you is about serving. The first night, I tried dealing with all the &quot;can I have less of that if I have more than that&quot; and it took ages. The second and subsequent nights, I told everyone to put their plates or bowls on a table and then go away. We served equal amounts of everything into every bowl. If people wanted less peas but more potato then they could swap with someone else who wanted more potato and less veges. Much, &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; easier on the cooks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T02:11:48.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-31T02:25:38.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make a sunhat or rainhat out of grass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a stretcher out of wood and bootlaces and carry the heaviest Scout (heh heh) for twenty metres (over some mildly challenging terrain, like a small creek).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boil water in a plastic bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find bugs and worms and cook them and eat them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make up songs about the scout leaders and sing then at full volume around the fire. :-) Then use this to teach that the most important piece of survival gear is... (cue Chief Scout Bear Grylls!) a PMA - Positive Mental Attitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T02:25:38.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6277" CreationDate="2014-07-31T09:22:28.143" Score="16" ViewCount="25716" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past I saw climbers climb alone on multi-pitch routes only by themselves (but not free solo). What's a correct technique to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know how to do it with two ropes, rope ascenders and on top rope, but is there a way to do it without?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2014-07-31T21:49:44.670" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T00:34:03.710" Title="Technique for lead solo climbing with rope" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-31T12:33:02.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In our last camp we had the scouts build a bridge over the river; also, bivouac during a 2-3 day long hike; or you might try what we call the &quot;three eagle feathers&quot; challenge: each feather stands for a test - 24 hours alone in the forest (with extra task to sneak close to the camp and spy without being seen), 24 hours with no speaking, 24 hours with no food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what was really fun, and already usable for 13+ age, even if it would mean connecting with civilization: give them 1 object, and tell them to swap it for food. We gave to each patrol one single piece of match, and they came back with a lot of potatoes, eggs, some cheese, apples and pears. We were camping near a village, and the locals had a great fun swapping things with the scouts: the match was changed for a whole box, then that was divided and swapped to other stuff. The result may vary according to the local culture though. Here, in Transylvania, locals found it fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, challenge the patrols to find their day food with volunteer work in the first village in the surroundings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T12:33:02.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-31T17:50:48.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;a good stalking exercise is fun!  Draw straws to see who the first &quot;target&quot; is and have them sit in a clearing blindfolded while the other players hide in the woods around the target (specify a starting distance).  Once all are hidden the target may remove the blindfold and stand up, turn, but not move.  The stalkers then begin to close in on the target.  When the target detects a stalker they call him/her out and they come into the clearing and sit quietly while the others continue to close in.  Last stalker found wins the round and becomes the target of the next round!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may seem very creepy, as &quot;stalking&quot; isn't a skill one would put on their resume.  But in a &quot;back to basics&quot; environment, stalking teaches scouts to use all of their senses and pay attention to their surroundings.  It is also a great way to teach patience!  Watch as your scouts discuss tactics between rounds for moving trough brush while not disturbing their surroundings and giving away their position.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your troupe could sponsor a capture the flag event after some stalking activities and royally dominate using their newly found stealth skills!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3671" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T17:50:48.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-31T17:56:03.543" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;teach them how to make charcloth... use it to make a fire using as many different starting methods as possible (lense, flint/steal, bow/drill, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3672" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T17:56:03.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-07-31T17:58:36.130" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;go out and collect sample leaves and see if they can identify them (don't pick anything poisonous... show them the plant without disturbing it if/when you find it!) bonus points if they can identify which ones are edible or which have medicinal properties!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3672" LastActivityDate="2014-07-31T17:58:36.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6271" CreationDate="2014-07-31T20:29:25.253" Score="16" Body="&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Advanced climbers only&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Climbing is inherently dangerous. Soloing is even more so. Please learn from experienced people and &lt;em&gt;in person&lt;/em&gt;, not from Internet. So this answer mainly describes physical principles, supported by &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; experience that I have. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhAww0CI-Gw&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is an excellent tutorial, by a climber more experienced than me, that explains the technique in much more detail.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a belay device, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/Essential_Equipment/Belay_Devices_Descenders/Soloist_602.html&quot;&gt;Soloist&lt;/a&gt;, designed specifically for roped soloing. However, soloing is also possible with the usual &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/Essential_Equipment/Belay_Devices_Descenders/Grigri_2_Belay_Device_13330.html&quot;&gt;grigri&lt;/a&gt; device. To add to the general warning on the danger of soloing, let me note that using grigri for this purpose is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/grigri-experience#GE-autoassurage&quot;&gt;prohibited&lt;/a&gt; by the manufacturer (however, it's possible and some people do it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, anchor one end of the rope. If you fall, this anchor will be pulled &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt;, so take this into account when building it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, grab the rope a few metres from the anchored point, and load it into your grigri. Give it a quick pull to verify that the grigri locks (if you loaded it the wrong way, it won't).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arrange the rope (starting from the other end) on the floor to make sure you can pull it up, and it will not get tangled when unsupervised (while you are climbing). (Note: it's better to stuff it into a backback to eliminate the chance of it getting stuck, but I don't know how to do it properly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start climbing the usual way, placing protection regularly. While climbing, feed rope through the grigri when you have the need and opportunity to do so. With grigri, feeding the rope is especially awkward and may require both hands; some people &quot;mod&quot; their grigri by drilling a hole to ease that process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will have two strands of rope going down; you should pay attention and clip only the right one (the one that is anchored).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should avoid coming to the awkward situation when the rope stops you from climbing further (grigri &quot;thinks&quot; that you fell and locks). If a difficult section is ahead, where you cannot afford fiddling around with the rope, you should feed yourself enough rope to pass all of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you arrive to the end of a pitch, build an anchor (might want to make it so it can support upward loading direction, to serve for next pitch), descend to the previous anchor, collect the protection gear and climb back up, using the top-rope technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things that can go bad when soloing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You fall; grigri gets tangled or stuck in something, and doesn't lock. Some people tie knots in the rope to mitigate this risk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You fall; since you have no partner, dynamic belaying is impossible, and protection points/anchors are loaded too hard, so they break away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You fall; since you have no partner, grigri pinches the rope hard, damaging it to the point it is unusable. Now you must bail from the route using this damaged rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rock falls on you, bruising your arm. Now you must bail from the route with a damaged arm, with no one to help you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-01T08:22:37.407" LastActivityDate="2014-08-01T08:22:37.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6278" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6351" CreationDate="2014-08-01T02:03:51.890" Score="5" ViewCount="4584" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in taking advantage of the delicious, invasive and underutilized crawfish here in Minnesota. I recently purchased several minnow traps (they look like two metal mesh cones placed together) but once receiving them I noticed the entry holes seems pretty small (approximately 1&quot; diameter). It would seem crawfish can get larger than this, I'm wondering if I should return them and try to find traps with a larger entry hole. What is the optimal range for this opening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I've checked with state regulations and there is not explicit size range, so I'm looking for the optimal size for catching medium to large crawdads, so basically can a large crayfish fit through a 1&quot; opening?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3674" LastEditorUserId="3674" LastEditDate="2014-08-01T13:37:39.910" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T01:34:01.340" Title="Optimal size for crayfish (crawfish) trap entry hole?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6279" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6282" CreationDate="2014-08-01T07:15:46.290" Score="13" ViewCount="1086" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, next week I will be leaving on a hiking trip, which was supposed to be in the middle of summer whilst it's at its hottest, but instead it will be raining all week. Luckily there are public use 'cottages' on the trail to spend the nights in, but as this is the first time that I will be backpacking for more than an afternoon in the rain I was wondering which different things I should take with me. Of course I get some of the obvious things, but I am especially interested in things you might not think about 'til it goes wrong or things that are relatively cheap to get beforehand and which will save me a great deal of worry later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3279" LastEditorUserId="2285" LastEditDate="2014-08-01T20:17:24.017" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T17:17:08.783" Title="How should I pack for a week of backpacking in the rain?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6280" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6284" CreationDate="2014-08-01T09:08:58.220" Score="16" ViewCount="11720" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some common knowledge about knots used for Climbing and Rope-care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was an incident last week, where I needed a Seat-Harness which I didn't have with me. I needed one for tying up a friend when we cross water streams. I could do that with just a Bowline around her waist but then on the other hand I always carry tape Slings like shown &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.in/search?q=tape+sling&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;imgil=j0sH8zctvbEDJM%253A%253By0RV8ApJHmmLlM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.frjonesandson.co.uk%25252Fproducts-page%25252Flyon%25252Fstrops-slings%25252Flyon-tape-sling-rescue-20cm%25252F&amp;amp;source=iu&amp;amp;usg=__ST-WtJifMiLLCVE5EjQgSzKYQ_U%3D&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=WljbU-ejFc69oQTF2oLQCQ&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CCYQ9QEwAg&amp;amp;biw=1164&amp;amp;bih=817#facrc=_&amp;amp;imgdii=j0sH8zctvbEDJM%3A%3BouxiS2aMTTnqEM%3Bj0sH8zctvbEDJM%3A&amp;amp;imgrc=j0sH8zctvbEDJM%253A%3By0RV8ApJHmmLlM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.frjonesandson.co.uk%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252Fwpsc%252Fproduct_images%252Ftt100a.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.frjonesandson.co.uk%252Fproducts-page%252Flyon%252Fstrops-slings%252Flyon-tape-sling-rescue-20cm%252F%3B550%3B374&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have anyone ever made a make-shift harness out of such tape slings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, Why don't I carry a actual Harness with me, is valid question. I'd do that most of the times, but yeah the way like the last time around I missed it, I may again do the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:31:46.960" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T04:31:46.960" Title="Making a Make-Shift harness from Tape-Slings" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6279" CreationDate="2014-08-01T09:55:11.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Non-cheep correct-size raincoat. Mine is a decent quality (maybe 40 euro), but is too small for me and my trousers get soaked. Also, it should cover the backpack, as backpack-only rain-protection doesn't work in heavy rain - water finds it's way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gaiters and boots, obviously.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One more pair of socks than you think you will need. There are cheep wool socks for the equivalent of 2 euro in street shops here in Sofia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plastic bags. In addition to being useful for thousands of things, such as protecting your wallet and phone when the backpack gets soaked for some reason, they can be used between dry socks and wet boots. I doubt your boots will hold dry for a week in the rain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Space/safety/whatever-they-call-it blanket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I usually carry a 20 square meters plastic sheet. It costs the equivalent of less than an euro (from the hardware store) and can be used for: shelter, raincoat, other things. Always results in a fun story, though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2014-08-01T11:15:04.690" LastActivityDate="2014-08-01T11:15:04.690" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6279" CreationDate="2014-08-01T11:33:47.867" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other things to consider than just what to bring are what the rest of the weather will be beyond just raining.  Will it be cold or still quite warm, what is the wind doing (especially if you're going up any big hills), etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how severe the rain is, flash flooding may be a risk, especially when it has been very dry before. Similarly if some paths may not be usable due to high rivers/flooding. Probably check with locals before walking if it looks like this might be an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for actual equipment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Raincoat that is actually waterproof&lt;/strong&gt;. If its going to be raining all day you don't want a rubbish raincoat, especially if it is cold too. I'd recommend you just spend the money and and get a good one, but if you don't mind getting a bit damp, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/walking/clothing/waterproof-jackets/poncho-p8219.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;plastic poncho like things&lt;/a&gt; are not bad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof trousers&lt;/strong&gt;. Similarly getting wet is bad, waterproof trousers are good. Try and get ones with long zips that go at least up to the knees (preferably higher) This makes it much easier to put them on when it starts raining without taking your boots off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sensible walking trousers (&lt;em&gt;quick dry&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/strong&gt;. Most hiking type trousers are quick dry and dry in ~5mins. This is important when there is a short shower and you don't want to get your waterproofs out or you get wet anyway. Whatever you do, do not wear jeans hiking: they are very heavy when wet and take ages to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dry bags/bin liners&lt;/strong&gt;. These are to put the rest of your clothes/other kit in to keep dry while hiking. A few medium size dry bags are good as they allow you to divide your kit up easily. Black bin liners are definitely the cheaper option though. Another option or additionally you may want a bag cover (these often come with hiking rucksacks). I've found these to be less effective. Also make sure your bag cover is well attached to your rucksack. I've seen someone's blow off in the wind, resulting in them chasing it across a field. This was amusing for me at least.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival bag/blanket.&lt;/strong&gt; You should probably carry one of these anyway. I've seen two main types - the silver space blanket type ones and the orange plastic bodybag type. The silver ones are significantly lighter and smaller but can degrade over time if not stored properly. The orange ones also have the advantage that you can cut a hole in the bottom and make an emergency poncho rather than just wrap it around you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival shelter/tarp/tent&lt;/strong&gt;. Something you can shelter in if needed. If you're not camping, you probably don't want a tent. A tarp is definitely the cheaper option. Make sure you know how to set it up though. Also not so good if it's blowing a gale. Survival shelters (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/trekmates-2-3-person-equipment-emergency-shelter-p108828?gclid=CjwKEAjw9eyeBRCqxc_b-LD8kTESJADsBMxS3BSnS1nPkmOtb6bejMgp6qENKUayUnY_1AUFP71YgBoC1C3w_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt;) are very good even if the weather is really bad and are an actual piece of emergency equipment I would recommend. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Washing line/string/thin rope&lt;/strong&gt;. Basically you want something to make a washing line so you can dry any wet clothes easily. I prefer sisal/strong string as it is easy to cut and has lots of other uses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Duck Tape. Generally useful&lt;/strong&gt;. In particular, it's waterproof so it can be used for repairs when you make a hole in your waterproofs or something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof map case/laminated maps&lt;/strong&gt;. Its quite hard to use a wet map, nuff said. I don't entirely trust laminate maps. Apparently they work but I would use a map case anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-08-22T17:12:36.900" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T17:12:36.900" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6280" CreationDate="2014-08-01T17:00:02.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a description of this in Freedom of the Hills, around p. 149 in the edition I have. They describe it as an emergency alternative to a manufactured harness. Peter Croft also suggests using them intentionally for lightweight climbing, if you don't think the climb requires a harness, but you will want to rappel at some point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic idea is to make a loop out of webbing, using a water knot. Put it behind your butt, and then bring three bights forward: one between your legs, one around the left hip, and one around the right hip. Clip all three bights together using a locking carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may take some trial and error to get the length right. For instance, I have a 75 cm waist. I used 254 cm of webbing, made a water knot with two 8 cm tails, and got a loop with a circumference of 213 cm, which was about right for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-08-01T17:00:02.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6280" CreationDate="2014-08-01T17:17:49.600" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll preface this by saying I've never tried this in a real world application myself, but I was curious and found some instructions for creating quick harnesses out of webbing from a web search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to add that I am in no way endorsing this for climbing or prolonged use beyond a static hang or an emergency situation.  I've heard and read that rope/webbing harnesses can be quite painful and can possibly cause injury if someone were to fall in them, due to lack of padding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first way I found is from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2011/02/harness-alternatives.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Alpine Institute blog&lt;/a&gt;, which, half-way down the page mentions the diaper sling shown below, and then another alternative called the Swiss Seat &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qogNohudpo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;shown in a Youtube video&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;similarly here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5Ipz0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swiss Seat Harness from Animated Knots&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next is called a Diaper Sling. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?23400-Make-a-Diaper-Sling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MrWNC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Diaper Sling Instructions&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diaper Sling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You'll need one piece of 1-inch tubular webbing. The length will vary&#xA;  depending on the size of your waist and thighs but 12-feet is usually&#xA;  plenty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Create a loop out of the sling by tying the ends together with a Water&#xA;  Knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With the loop horizontal (parallel to the ground) run the top half of&#xA;  the loop across the small of your back, and the lower half of the loop&#xA;  below your buttocks. Keep the knot towards the front so that it is&#xA;  smooth against your back and thighs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Then, reach between your legs, to grab the lower loop and pull it in&#xA;  between your thighs. Keep holding on to the original loop!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finally, clip the whole mess together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ta-da.... you have created a diaper sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the instructions to create a test diaper sling myself, and it seems like it would hold me, but if i really needed a harness I'd probably opt to spend the time making the Swiss Seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I mentioned above, mountaineering harnesses can be little more than stitched webbing with some added thickness which might be a better alternative if this is going to be more than a one time use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last comment addressing your question. I don't know your exact use case, but using rope while crossing streams/rivers is generally risky business. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adn.com/node/1387901&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;For example&lt;/a&gt;, &quot;The two hikers had tied themselves onto a rope that had been placed across the stream earlier this summer. They lost their footing and were pulled under by the current.&quot; Though there are techniques to use rope and anchors to successfully cross streams/rivers, when misused the rope can get pulled into the water, creating lots of drag and usually taking whoever is attached right off their feet. You might be quite experienced with this, so I'm just leaving this as a general fair warning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3280" LastEditorUserId="3280" LastEditDate="2014-08-01T18:44:12.697" LastActivityDate="2014-08-01T18:44:12.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6285" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6296" CreationDate="2014-08-01T19:05:34.160" Score="19" ViewCount="8000" Body="&lt;p&gt;My sister lives at sea level -- Baltimore and Chicago. She is coming to visit me in Denver (5280 ft or 1600m). She wishes to climb Mt Bierstadt (14,065 ft or 4200m) the same day she arrives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read over the answers to &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/464/what-are-some-proven-methods-of-training-for-week-long-backpacking-trips-in-high&quot;&gt;What are some proven methods of training for week long backpacking trips at high altitude?&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, which covers coming to Colorado for a hiking trip across several 14-ers. My sister is in excellent physical condition, however, and I am mostly concerned about the adjustment in altitude given the very short period of time involved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will the effects and onset of altitude sickness exacerbated by the short time-frame involved and the drastic change in elevation given what her body is acclimated to?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most questions relating to altitude sickness agree that the best way to acclimate yourself is to go to high altitude regularly. Given that this is not an option, is there any way to mitigate the risks somewhat? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If she climbs the mountain the day after she arrives, will this make much of a difference?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3677" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:00:54.533" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:00:54.533" Title="Altitude sickness when going from sea level to 14,000 ft (4,200m) in a single day" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6285" CreationDate="2014-08-01T19:31:25.410" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really funny because I am from Toronto (Sea Level) and flew to Denver a couple months ago and climbed Bierstadt the morning after arriving followed by Quandary Peak the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upon arriving in Denver I drove to sleep at 10,000ft then woke up early and climbed Bierstadt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Will the effects and onset of altitude sickness exacerbated by the short time-frame involved and the drastic change in elevation given what her body is acclimated to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I certainly felt it and I am a fit cyclist and rock climber. Towards the summit I had what felt like a belt around my head and it was slowly being tightened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most questions relating to altitude sickness agree that the best way to acclimate yourself is to go to high altitude regularly. Given that this is not an option, is there any way to mitigate the risks somewhat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try Diamox, which is an epilepsy drug used by mountaineers to help acclimatize. I have used it before, just makes you pee a lot. From what I understand you do not take it to make a one day trip better, you take it for ten days while gaining 1,000ft elevation per day to prepare for a climb like Denali.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Her other option is to improve her cardio prior to coming. Run Run RUN! The fitter you are the easier it will be to acclimatize, but don't be fooled ,even the fittest coming from sea level feel it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If she climbs the mountain the day after she arrives, will this make much of a difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, every second at altitude the body is adjusting. Ideally she would want to sleep at 10,000ft the night she arrives. The climb will only feel worse if she sleeps at 5280ft.  An alternative is on the day of arrival to do a small workout and then climb the next day. The small workout will help acclimatize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now for the disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I am not a Doctor, everyone is different! Everyone's body reacts differently to altitude. This is only my personal guess based on my own experience and the fact that it's the easiest climb in Colorado. This also assumes she is in good shape!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no doubt she could summit on the same day of arrival, my guess is she will experience shortness of breath towards the top due to altitude and exertion, she will most likely have a headache towards the top and she will most likely wake up the next day with a bloody nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to ensure success is to pace yourself, breathe every step, take it slow and steady, bring lots of quick carbs and 250ml water every 15mins and stay positive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS.  Sorry if this answer seems like it was written for a beginner I have no idea what your experience or your sister's experience is, I just tried to provide a good answer for anyone who reads in the future...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T21:34:23.080" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T21:34:23.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6285" CreationDate="2014-08-01T19:32:42.330" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a clip from this webpage - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/acclimatization-to-altitude.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Acclimatization To Altitude&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Preparing for Competition at Altitude&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can athletes who live at sea level prepare for a competition at&#xA;  altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One approach is to &lt;strong&gt;compete within 24 hours of arrival at altitude&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;  Not much acclimatization will have taken place but most of the&#xA;  classical symptoms of altitude sickness will not have had time to&#xA;  manifest. &lt;strong&gt;After the initial 24 hours, dehydration and sleep&#xA;  disturbances become more prominent.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An alternative option is to train at a higher altitude for at least 2&#xA;  weeks prior to competition. Although full acclimatization to altitude&#xA;  takes 4 to 6 weeks, many of the physiological adaptations occur in the&#xA;  first 2 weeks and the more severe disturbancs should have settled. It&#xA;  is important to remember that during the intial days at altitude work&#xA;  capacity is reduced, so athletes should train at 60-70% of sea level&#xA;  VO2 max and build up gradually over 10-14 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A third approach is to &lt;strong&gt;devote a greater percentage of training time&#xA;  at sea level to endurance training several weeks prior to&#xA;  competition&lt;/strong&gt;. This is a strategy often adopted within many team&#xA;  sports, helping to raise players' VO2 max to a peak so that they can&#xA;  perform at a lower relative intensity without significant loss in&#xA;  performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sleeping in altitude tents and hypobaric chambers may be able to&#xA;  adequately simulate the effects of altitude but these tend to be very&#xA;  expensive. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that&#xA;  spending 1-2 hours per day breathing hypobaric gases at sea level&#xA;  results in the same adaptations as living at altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, a different webpage says this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Prevention of Altitude Illnesses&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Prevention of altitude illnesses falls into two categories, proper&#xA;  acclimatization and preventive medications. Below are a few basic&#xA;  guidelines for proper acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If possible, don't fly or drive to high altitude. Start below 10,000&#xA;  feet (3,048 meters) and walk up. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If you do fly or drive, do not&#xA;  over-exert yourself or move higher for the first 24 hours. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If you go&#xA;  above 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), only increase your altitude by 1,000&#xA;  feet (305 meters) per day and for every 3,000 feet (915 meters) of&#xA;  elevation gained, take a rest day. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;Climb High and sleep low.&quot; This is&#xA;  the maxim used by climbers. You can climb more than 1,000 feet (305&#xA;  meters) in a day as long as you come back down and sleep at a lower&#xA;  altitude. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you begin to show symptoms of moderate altitude illness,&#xA;  don't go higher until symptoms decrease&lt;/strong&gt; (&quot;Don't go up until&#xA;  symptoms go down&quot;). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If symptoms increase, go down, down, down! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep in&#xA;  mind that different people will acclimatize at different rates. Make&#xA;  sure all of your party is properly acclimatized before going higher.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay properly hydrated&lt;/strong&gt;. Acclimatization is often accompanied by fluid&#xA;  loss, so you need to drink lots of fluids to remain properly hydrated&#xA;  (at least 3-4 quarts per day). Urine output should be copious and&#xA;  clear. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take it easy; don't over-exert yourself when you first get up&#xA;  to altitude&lt;/strong&gt;. Light activity during the day is better than sleeping&#xA;  because respiration decreases during sleep, exacerbating the symptoms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid tobacco and alcohol and other depressant drugs including,&#xA;  barbiturates, tranquilizers, and sleeping pills. These depressants&#xA;  further decrease the respiratory drive during sleep resulting in a&#xA;  worsening of the symptoms. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Eat a high carbohydrate diet (more than 70%&#xA;  of your calories from carbohydrates) while at altitude. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The&#xA;  acclimatization process is inhibited by dehydration, over-exertion,&#xA;  and alcohol and other depressant drugs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altitude sickness really differs from person to person. If you're a very fit individual (distance runner, swimmer, cyclist, or other endurance athlete), the transition to altitude usually isn't as drastic. My personal experience tells me that the only real benefit of waiting a single day will be to give her a chance to recover from the jet lag (not the altitude acclimatization). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of what you do, hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate. Also, if the altitude sickness happens, don't just try to climb through it, as it generally worsens with higher altitudes. Hopefully it won't happen, but if it does, realize that protecting her health is more important that puking on top of the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T04:42:38.947" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T04:42:38.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6271" CreationDate="2014-08-01T20:16:45.940" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Warning: Yer Gonna Die&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this answer I'll discuss the devices and considerations specific to lead soloing, rather than describe a particular technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Available Devices&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are very few devices on the market for roped solo lead climbing.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockexotica.com/products/downloads/belay.html&quot;&gt;Rock Exotica&lt;/a&gt;'s Soloist device used a camming mechanism similar to that of Petzl's GriGri.  (As mentioned, the GriGri is not intended for solo climbing.)  The successor to the Soloist is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockexotica.com/products/belay_devices/all_solo_belay.html&quot;&gt;Silent Partner&lt;/a&gt;, which uses a rotating drum around which a clove hitch is tied.  A centrifugal clutch locks the drum when the rope moves too quickly, similar to some seatbelt mechanisms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Device Limitations and Failure Modes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to realize that solo belay devices have their limitations.  For example, the Soloist will not catch a head-first fall.  If you are falling backwards on a lower-angle slab, or catch the rope with your leg, the rope will be exiting the device at an angle that will not trigger the cam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people consider the GriGri an auto-locking device but it is technically only an &quot;assisted braking&quot; device.  While it will lock-off in many cases, this should be considered an added bonus rather than an integral feature.  You should assume that a GriGri will at some point decide not to lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Silent Partner is very convenient as it feeds the rope as you go.  However, this also means that near the top of a pitch the weight of the payed-out rope can cause it to self-feed additional slack.  This can be mitigated by attaching some thin cord or a hefty rubber band to the rope and a piece of protection.  The cord should be weak enough to break in the event of a fall so as not to increase the fall factor.  It's also possible to tie the rope to the protection piece, but this will effectively shorten the rope and increase the fall factor.  (Also, while the Silent Partner is probably the best choice for lead soloing, it's not a very good rappel device.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, there is the question of device orientation.  Some of these devices are rather large, and some need to be fixed in position (e.g. the Soloist requires a chest harness).  A fall can cross-load the attaching carabiners and break them.  Years ago &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=169777#169777&quot;&gt;this happened to a guy soloing El Capitan&lt;/a&gt; in Yosemite using a GriGri; the DMM belay 'biner holding the GriGri snapped first, after which the GriGri itself was damaged and unusable.  Accordingly, some people use steel maillons rather than aluminum carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Backups&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with rappelling, you should always back up your system.  The guy in the El Capitan story had backup knots; that's the only reason he didn't end up as chunky salsa on the rocks below. One traditional way of doing this is to attach loops of rope to your harness by &lt;a href=&quot;http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo294/norwegian8/Picture070.jpg?t=1222713423&quot;&gt;clove-hitching them through carabiners&lt;/a&gt;.  This will also help the rope feed better through the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Self-rescue&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When soloing you usually don't have the benefit of a partner who can go for help.  This means that your self-rescue skills need to be well-practiced.  You should be able to ascend or descend the rope if needed, as well as know how to escape the belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing outside of cell phone range you need to be willing to drag yourself back to the trailhead, or at least to some place with other people.  If you've broken both ankles hitting a ledge you may encounter added difficulty.  I suggest ensuring your first aid kit has material for splints and a decent amount of ibuprofen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-08-01T20:16:45.940" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6289" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6409" CreationDate="2014-08-01T23:10:40.713" Score="7" ViewCount="501" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're following a pitch on a trad climb, what is a good method for racking and handling the nut tool? My goals are to be efficient but not to drop the tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current system, which I'm not very happy with, is this. I have the nut tool tied to one end of a 30-cm cord, and on the other end I have a tiny biner. When I'm getting ready to follow on a pitch, I clip the biner both to the front gear loop on my harness and also through one of the holes in the handle of the tool (so that the tool isn't swinging loose). When it's time to clean a nut, I have to unclip the biner from the hole in the handle, and usually I also have to remove the biner from my harness and clip it to the climbing rope, since otherwise I can't reach far enough. When I'm done, I put everything back the way it was. This is all very awkward and time-consuming, and although I haven't dropped my tool yet, it seems like it's only a matter of time before I fumble while doing one of these complicated clipping and unclipping operations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T16:19:16.710" Title="Efficient and reliable method for managing a nut tool while following on a trad climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6290" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-02T09:08:21.997" Score="2" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking for an idea of the characteristics for a rod (length, action...) before I go shopping. Using small lures, commonly 2-4g bladed spinners or 12 g Toby,  going after small brown trout and Arctic char. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2467" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T13:28:38.667" Title="Rod characteristic for spinning for small freshwater fish" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6291" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6294" CreationDate="2014-08-02T15:31:39.433" Score="8" ViewCount="4201" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1228/2653&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; and especially the comments leads me to questions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should one use Aspirin in high altitudes? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should one use it as a precaution or only when actually getting headache or other problems?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heard that the decreasing oxygen level in the blood will cause the body to produce more (and bigger) red blood cells if you acclimate properly. This thickens the blood, to get it thinner a drug like Aspirin could be used. But also drinking a lot helps. Still, disguising headache and therefore the major sign of acute mountain sickness (AMS) might be a drawback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this is a general question about medicine which is difficult to answer without doctors and for the specific person of interest. Still, I would like to know the pros and cons of Aspirin in high-altitude or in general the influence and consequences for mountaineering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-08-02T16:24:55.783" Title="Taking Aspirin in higher altitudes" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6292" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-02T15:37:58.983" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-08-02T15:37:58.983" LastActivityDate="2014-08-02T15:37:58.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6293" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-02T15:37:58.983" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to everything related to mountaineering in higher altitudes (generally 10.000ft+/3000m+) like concerns about your health because of the thin air." OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-08-02T19:29:39.357" LastActivityDate="2014-08-02T19:29:39.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6291" CreationDate="2014-08-02T16:24:55.783" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First I want to make clear, that I do not have professional medical training. Everything I am going to write down, I acquired by reading articles published by various high-altitude medicine societies. As the question is pretty broad, this answer will certainly not cover all involved aspects, but I will do my best to give some information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While Aspirin is widely used, it is not unproblematic. Contrary to popular believe, it is not directly blood thinning, but it inhibits blood coagulation. In case of an injury, it can prolong the bleeding. Especially for internal injuries this can be very dangerous, as these are very hard to recognize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For high altitude headaches, Ibuprofen is considered more effective than Aspirin and can thus potentially substitute it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, Aspirin in high dosage can interact dangerously with Diamox. So it is certainly not advisable to use both as precaution (but your doctor would not administer that anyway).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to this factors, the use of Aspirin should not be taken lightly especially in high dosage. If you need precautionary measures for high-altitude, consult a doctor for proper medication. I would not recommend taking Aspirin regularly. If you do take it in the field for headaches or anything, be very careful about bleeding injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2014-08-02T16:24:55.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6271" CreationDate="2014-08-02T16:30:03.203" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers, a blog post by Andy Kirkpatrick (a leading proponent of the art of solo roped climbing) on his description of what he does, can be seen at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/rope_soloing_101_part_1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/rope_soloing_101_part_1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-08-02T16:30:03.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6285" CreationDate="2014-08-02T16:52:42.247" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers already gave lots of information about altitude adaption, so I will focus on one certain point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AMS (acute mountain sickness) evolves when staying at high altitudes. It is a pathologic disease with potential severe consequences. This should not be mixed up with the immediate influences of high altitude on the body like decrease of physical performance, fast breathing or even headaches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These symptoms can be very troublesome and prevent a successful ascent, but as long as you descent the same day, they will vanish. So it is very important to take the possibility of a need to turn back on the ascent into account when planning. But going fast to high altitude does not put you at risk for AMS and thus long term medical problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live at 600m altitude (~2000 feet) and climbed mountains of up to 4200m (14000 feet) several times. In my case I always did an ascent to a mountain cabin the first day and climbed the peak the next, so there was a certain &quot;acclimatisation&quot;. I never had any headaches, just the normal decreased physical performance. A friend of mine ones made a trip from 600m (2000 feet) by train to 1500m (5000feet) and then an ascent to 4400m (&amp;lt;15000 feet) in one day. He had a nasty head ache when reaching the summit, but absolutely manageable, and by the time he was home he was fine. The next day we went multipitch climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in my opinion it is perfectly save to do day trips to high-altitudes as long as one can turn back when experiencing problems. Of course this is all considering a healthy and fit person, if one has a history of heart or lung problems, it is obvious this does not apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Most questions relating to altitude sickness agree that the best way to acclimate yourself is to go to high altitude regularly. Given that this is not an option, is there any way to mitigate the risks somewhat?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the above answers the other questions, I want to address the implication in this question:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I understand the statement put in the question about acclimatisation the following way: By going to high altitudes many times (but not staying up high) you build a lasting resistance against high altitude sickness. This is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; the case.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long the effects of high altitude acclimatisation after getting back down to low altitudes lasts is an ongoing subject in research and kind of controversial. But many findings suggest, that you loose the effects of acclimatisation to high altitude faster than you build them up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course when going to high altitudes to do mountaineering often you will train some resistance to the symptoms described above as with every other training in sports. But this is no substitution for true acclimatisation and wears off if not trained, like everything else.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you practically have to live in high altitude to really be acclimatised, not just go there regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T03:50:42.077" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T03:50:42.077" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6297" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6302" CreationDate="2014-08-02T19:52:42.590" Score="27" ViewCount="4856" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I do not want to bother wish dishes. The other day, I took a yellow pepper, and placed into a wood fire I had going, and left it there for a good 5 minutes while I prepared a curry. I pulled it out, peeled the skin, threw it into the curry, and enjoyed it well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious if there is any other food you can do this with? Something that you can just stick directly into a fire without having to worry too much about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3603" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:45:09.367" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:45:09.367" Title="What foods can you cook by directly placing them into a fire?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6258" CreationDate="2014-08-03T02:35:52.230" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big difference between canoeing and kayaking is the cargo capacity. Kayaks might have small hatches to store gear in, otherwise you're stuck with what you can lash onto the top of the kayak (or stuff down from the cockpit). Whereas canoes are the pick-up truck of the backwoods and you can have a level of great luxury, rivaling car-camping.  Want a proper chair to sit in at camp? -- just toss it in the canoe; they can easily handle hundreds of pounds of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3681" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T00:40:12.180" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T00:40:12.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-03T02:48:01.290" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically tin foil is your friend!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though you could also place some of these foods directly on the embers, if you're willing to carry some tin foil and do a little bit of preparation, you can create some awesome meals on a campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Potatoes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/5wMrnW&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jLLTu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Potato&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image by &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/5wMrnW&quot;&gt;Ryan Dickey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slice them open unpeeled and fill them with &lt;strong&gt;cream cheese&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Season with salt, chives, garlic, rosemary, thyme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap tightly in tin foil and place on hot embers for about 25-40 minutes, depending on size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fish&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/dPJG4D&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MX21m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fish&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image by &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/dPJG4D&quot;&gt;jypsygen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gut and clean the fish, season with salt and pepper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slice open lengthwise, and fill with lemon slices and spring onion rings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add some fresh herbs and spices: Parsley, coriander, garlic, cumin, chilli flakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap in tin foil and place it on hot embers with the opening facing up so it doesn't dry out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Mushrooms&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/dFmqFE&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s0vy0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Grilled Mushrooms&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image by &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/dFmqFE&quot;&gt;Richard Lee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some large mushrooms - large Portobello mushrooms work well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the stem and cut out some of the flesh to create a large opening&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very lightly salt the inside and fill with cream cheese with some finely chopped chives mixed in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap in tin foil and place on hot embers - only takes a couple minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chocolate bananas&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/5e2WYd&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/64lV4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chocolate Bananas&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image by &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/5e2WYd&quot;&gt;Mike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut a lengthwise slit in the bananas (can be done with or without peeling them)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill the bananas with chocolate chips or small pieces, and possibly other goodies like marshmallows or graham cracker crumbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap in tin foil and place on hot embers for a couple minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3384" LastActivityDate="2014-08-03T02:48:01.290" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-03T09:59:58.710" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another one would be &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damper_(food)&quot;&gt;Damper&lt;/a&gt;, an Australian bush bread traditionally cooked in the hot ashes of a dying fire, with or without tin-foil (just don’t eat the crust). It has a pretty delicious smokey taste and is fun to make with the kids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I won’t suggest a particular recipe because there are so many variations. The core is just flour, baking soda, salt, and water, and then it can be varied with milk, honey or golden syrup, beer, herbs, cheese, olive oil, tea… whatever you happen to have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9275&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/84AzK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;damper being cooked in coals&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3685" LastEditorUserId="3685" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T15:12:55.400" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T15:12:55.400" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6303" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-03T11:01:11.743" Score="6" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;What can I do to see wombats in the wild?  I'm aware of places that have wombats as I have seen their droppings, but what can I do to see wild wombats?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:19:25.990" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:19:25.990" Title="How can I maximise my chances of seeing a wild wombat?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6304" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-03T11:09:25.863" Score="13" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;What exercises can I do at home to get fit for surfing?  I would like to improve my fitness so that when I travel to a surf break I'll be able to enjoy myself rather than just being exhausted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-21T23:03:51.183" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T22:05:53.327" Title="Fitness for surfing?" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-03T14:45:38.000" Score="10" ViewCount="888" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering climbing Mt. Triglav in late September and am torn between the Via Ferrata routes or the less strenuous hiking trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone provide advice on the following -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accomodation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Route Choice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Airport Transfers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment / Clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T12:51:53.533" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T17:36:55.353" Title="What advice would you recommend for climbing Mount Triglav, Slovenia?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6306" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6599" CreationDate="2014-08-03T14:52:54.567" Score="10" ViewCount="281" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a number of hammock posts which replace the traditional tent structure by incorporating a waterproof bivi as top cover.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have any Outdoors.SE used a system of that description and can they make any recommendations of features I should be looking for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="489" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T15:14:56.443" LastActivityDate="2014-08-28T16:49:08.203" Title="What features should I consider when evaluating a hammock-tent hybrid?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5564" CreationDate="2014-08-03T18:19:38.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that the forestry commission runs 'private' forests too. We should call them woodlands I suppose. However, to the question. The trees may have been planted methodically in neat lines but some saplings die. I have slept in the woodlands around Macclesfield and found some of the more mature trees to be too far apart, even the pines. I use tree huggers as they are quick and cause no damage to the bark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as being seen is concerned I tested this out with a double duvet cover strung vertically between two trees. It was a white and yellow pattern. I stood alongside with a coffee and no interest was shown by either people, their dogs, children or horses. &#xA;Look and ask around most people are helpful and will often make suggestions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Give it a try. Being woken by deer or the early morning chorus is worth the effort.&#xA;p.s. I'm 70 so if I can enjoy it so can you.&#xA;Peter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3690" LastActivityDate="2014-08-03T18:19:38.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-04T02:43:39.423" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fc2fw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mielies (bbq corn)&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picture via Google from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/south-african-barbecue.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Our South African barbecue, a way of life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you actually bbq by smearing butter on them first then grilling. The outside caramelizes into golden to just short of black. Some black is fine too, it all tastes so much better than boiled or in foil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lack a grill then desperate measures include chucking it in the ashes (with tin foil or still in husk), or propping it up against some wood in the flames. If you have a long stick like thing you can hand roast it (like kebab skewers or something similar).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3692" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:37:28.123" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:37:28.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-04T03:01:53.937" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you use wood chunk charcoal, skirt steak is awesome cooked right on the coals. Credit: Alton Brown, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5y2voEWJ6U&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Cook Steak on Coals (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oxqtG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;How to Cook Steak on Coals &quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3693" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:40:14.203" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:40:14.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-04T05:38:16.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best tasting dish I personally ate that was cooked over fire is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandi_%28food%29&quot;&gt;mandi&lt;/a&gt;. Image Credit: Wikipedia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUGrO.png&quot; alt=&quot;From Wikipedia&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mandi is usually made from rice (basmati), meat (lamb or chicken), and&#xA;  a mixture of spices. The meat used is usually a young and small sized&#xA;  lamb to enhance the taste further. The main thing which differentiates&#xA;  mandi is that the meat is cooked in the tandoor (taboon in Hadhrami),&#xA;  which is a special kind of oven. &lt;strong&gt;The tandoor is usually a hole dug in&#xA;  the ground and covered inside by clay. To cook mandi, dry wood is&#xA;  placed in the tandoor and burned to generate a lot of heat turning&#xA;  into charcoal. Then the meat is suspended inside the tandoor without&#xA;  touching the charcoal. After that, the whole tandoor is closed without&#xA;  letting any of the smoke outside. Raisins and pine nuts can be added&#xA;  to the rice as per one's taste.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mandi serves as the main dish considered served during special events,&#xA;  such as weddings and feasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3694" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T05:38:16.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6289" CreationDate="2014-08-04T07:17:43.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You probably want your tool to have a longer extension, more like 100 cm. If this length bothers you, consider using an extendable bungee cord (e.g. 80 cm long, which you can stretch to 100 cm); twist it so it compacts itself when retracted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be possible to use a spiral/telephone cord, however it may be too bulky (I have seen it used for ice axes, never for nut tools).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T07:17:43.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6304" CreationDate="2014-08-04T11:28:31.880" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend Yoga.  Yoga when done to the extreme is very exhausting, good for balance, and stability muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As trying to define yoga routines would be way to long of an answer, I would recommend checking out youtube for some tips. They even have surf specific yoga there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3562" LastEditorUserId="3562" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T11:36:01.707" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T11:36:01.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6304" CreationDate="2014-08-04T11:30:07.030" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without knowing your level of physical fitness, I would say that the following points would be important to be able to enjoy surfing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balance, critical for enjoyment of any &quot;ride the thing&quot; sport.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Static legs, beef up those thighs to be able to brave the highest of waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stamina, run, cycle or swim to add to your current stamina (more stamina =&gt; longer sessions).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to warm up before and wind down after exercise, also stretch to keep yourself limber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2459" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T11:30:07.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-04T12:23:08.717" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once I did bread buns stuffed with sweet cottage cheese, some cream and raisins, wrapped up in tin foil and placed in the embers for some 10 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar: cut out the middle of an apple, fill it with diced nuts, raisins, sugar, cinnamon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other one: dice any juicy vegetable (courgette, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, paprikas), apply some spices (I used oregano, pepper and salt), wrap in tin foil, cook it for 15 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T12:23:08.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-04T12:26:43.623" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something we always did as scouts was to put cut up potatoes, vegetables, and sausage into a tin foil bowl and stick it in the fire. I always remember them cooking very well and they were also very hearty. Also, very little setup/cleanup; which I am always for!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast can also be done in a foil bowl, just put scrambled eggs, sausage, green onions, cheese, and whatever else into a bowl and stick that into the fire for a nice crustless Quiche.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I'm no chef, so I don't really have anything else per se but some general advice: if it's a food item that does not need much attention, then it will probably work in a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pro Tip:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Double wrap it if you can, you don't want the foil taring and getting ash all in your food!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Other Good Recipes:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Anything you can stick a stick through works as well (hot dogs, marshmallows, etc.) In a completely separate category, making peach cobbler in a dutch oven is always a good camping desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3535" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T12:26:43.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6333" CreationDate="2014-08-04T13:11:59.157" Score="13" ViewCount="3253" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning on purchasing a kayak for next year, and am trying to strategize on how to transport my boat. I have a small 4 door car no rack and my wife has a slightly larger 4 door crossover style vehicle no rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be transporting this maybe 30 miles or so for general usage but would need to take this as much as 300 miles for some family vacations. I'd love to use a &quot;cheap&quot; solution(plain foam blocks) but I do want to be as safe as possible so my guess is that cheap is not an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to transport a kayak? Are foam blocks ok or am I asking for trouble? Is there a strategy for using plain foam blocks without a rack over long distances? I'm fine with pulling over every 45 minutes or so to check things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kayak I had in mind is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildernesssystems.com/kayaks/aspire/aspire-105&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wilderness Systems Aspire 105&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3691" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:17.367" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:37:17.367" Title="What is the best way to transport a kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6319" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-04T14:51:03.467" Score="47" ViewCount="31269" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can detect, in the outdoors with minimal equipment, if I am &lt;strong&gt;dehydrated&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;need electrolytes&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some background:&#xA;I get overheated very easily, possibly because I don't sweat as much as most people around me (in the same conditions). When I get overheated I get migraines. I found that Hammer Strength Enduralytes (electrolytes*)  really help with the Migraines. It'll basically keep a headache from turning into a migraine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I may just be overheating but I thought  that perhaps I was low on electrolytes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Endurolyte contents: Sodium Chloride, Calcium Chelate, Magnesium Chelate, Potassium Chelate, Vitamin B6, Manganese Chelate, and L-Tyrosine all held together with Rice Flour.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T05:31:48.947" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T23:27:13.143" Title="How can I tell if I am dehydrated or have low electrolytes (need salt, etc.)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="16" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6304" CreationDate="2014-08-04T15:09:40.760" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having been a keen surfer since the late eighties, I can give you a reasonable list of the essentials:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Press ups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull ups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit ups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burpees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swimming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it. Seriously. All you really need to focus on is upper body strength and cardiovascular fitness, and you can do all of these without buying equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technique can help a lot as well - when you arrive at the beach watch the water for a while. Learn where the breaks are, and where the rip will help you paddle out (If you use the rip correctly you don't really need to use any energy to get out to beyond the break)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and of course the best exercise for surfing is surfing...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T15:09:40.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-04T16:44:59.450" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You really don't need equipment as such.  There are quite a few symptoms that you can observe, may be at a gradual rising rate.  Symptoms are observed with as the degree of Dehydration gets worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Normal:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'll say recoverable without having to stop the venture then and there itself. One can continue only if he/she can start hydrating himself/herself from that point onwards)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extreme thirst.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extreme fussiness or sleepiness. This is more often observed in infants and children, because when they play a lot than they usually do, they forget about keeping themselves hydrated. This may be observed in adults as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes. Its rather an advanced stage of the first. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Little or no urination, any urine that is produced will be darker than normal. This can be correlated with #1 and #3. The more fluid you lose, you body metabolism is adjusted in way to preserve what it has, Osmoregulation mechanism doesn't cope with the need of dilation of Urine, ultimately resulting in darker urination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cramping limbs and thighs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cramping back and stiff fingers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Worst:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Higher degree of dehydration: Extremely risky to rely entirely on local hydrating products, in such cases one should stop and seek for help and proper medical attention)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry skin that sags slowly into position when pinched up: Indicating that your sweat glands are dried and you are not gonna sweat much from now on if you don't hydrate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased sweating and urination. The moment you observe that you are passing small amounts of urine infrequently (less than three or four times a day), that is where you should know that it has got worst.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rapid heartbeat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Muscle spasms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blood in your stools or vomit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunken eyes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A weak pulse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cold hands and feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seizures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-08-04T16:52:18.057" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T16:52:18.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-04T16:53:07.627" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Colour if urine is a good indicator. The lighter the colour, the better your hydration is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you start to feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T16:53:07.627" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6323" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-04T17:22:47.620" Score="0" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to go camping soon and would like to have a dependable knife that I can use when I'm there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you guys recommend? Not to be &lt;em&gt;that guy&lt;/em&gt; or anything, but I'd prefer if it was American made, and could buy it in store (online is fine, too). Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3697" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T04:48:17.070" Title="What is a great, all-purpose knife?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2014-08-06T14:24:28.817" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-04T18:26:25.377" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, you won't need to make this observation if you routinely drink when you stop to rest, and if you eat something at least slightly salty whenever you snack (if your snacks include jerky or salted nuts you're more than covered.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, pay attention to your thirst. Many of us ignore our bodies for hours at a time - postponing bodily functions during a commute, a meeting, a lecture, the workday, a movie, and so on. If you're working outside in the heat you need to pay attention to the signals from your body. If you're utterly unable to tell whether you're thirsty or not, then develop a habit of drinking every 30 minutes or the like, but it's better to regain the ability to listen to those signals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, learn what your urine is usually like when you're clearly not dehydrated because you're at home in your normal environment. What colour is it? (Not &quot;what colour does it turn the water in the toilet?&quot;) If it gets much darker and stronger smelling than normal, you may be dehydrated. If it still seems normal, you are drinking at the correct rate and can relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourth, learn your own idiosyncrasies. My lips get chapped (even in the summer) if I am not drinking enough. If yours are the same, learn to recognize the sign and increase your fluids. Many people get a &quot;dehydration headache&quot; - if you're outdoors working hard and get a headache that comes on quickly, get a litre of liquid inside you before you take a painkiller. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything I've seen and read (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/sports-drinks-unnecessary-counterproductive-for-most-people-1.2517424&quot;&gt;example from the CBC&lt;/a&gt;) suggests that electrolyte replacement is only necessary for elite athletes who are sweating profusely and not eating regular food while doing so, and only after several hours of that. If there is salt in your snack foods and your meals, you can ignore electrolyte replacement worries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-08-05T12:43:22.553" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T12:43:22.553" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6325" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6326" CreationDate="2014-08-04T19:11:14.440" Score="5" ViewCount="106" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm finally going to take the plunge and trim all the excess cordage and belting off of my pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much strap material should I leave to allow for adjustments in gear (adding layers for cold, etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T10:07:31.030" Title="How much spare strap should I leave when trimming a pack down?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6325" CreationDate="2014-08-04T21:15:25.583" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a difficult one. Like you, I always trim down my distance packs because I can't stand excess straps flapping about (for small day packs I just tie them up if necessary)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way I do it is pack for a worst case cold winter trek - planning for the longest expected time I would go for, and all the clothing and gear, and pack it up as if I was about to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then add about 3 1/2 inches (I expect to lose 1/2 an inch sealing the end of the strap - most seem to take a bit of flame to melt together to avoid fraying) as 3 inches is long enough to pull on but not so long it flaps annoyingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-08-04T21:15:25.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-04T21:50:22.923" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The symptoms of dehydration and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564296/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;over-hydration&lt;/a&gt; are similar, and this can lead to occasional mistreatment.  Symptoms common to both include headaches, confusion, loss of appetite, irritability, nausea and vomiting, muscle weakness, muscle cramps, and seizures.  With the popularity of sports drinks and staying hydrated, &lt;a href=&quot;http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/2/1/151.long&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;exercise-associated hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt; (EAH) has become an increasing problem.  As many answers here tackled dehydration, this answer somewhat emphasizes issues of over-hydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A non-science based recommendation around 1990 regarding hydration led to over a hundred hospitalizations in the U.S. Army, and several fatalities, before the problem was recognized and corrected.  However, the original recommendations also made it into American College of Sports Medicine guidelines as a recommendation to &quot;drink as much as tolerable&quot; during exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most people can't measure their plasma sodium concentration in the wild, here are a few factors to consider when confronted with such symptoms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What color is your urine?  Clear or straw-colored urine indicates adequate hydration, while dark or amber color suggests dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much water are you drinking?  If the answer is more than a liter per hour, you should consider over-hydration as a potential issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if your urine is too dark, drinking more is probably a good idea.  Otherwise, you should only drink to thirst.  Keep in mind that sports drinks do not contain sufficient sodium to correct low sodium levels; they will only worsen them.  If EAH is suspected, salty foods or broth are a better option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example case of over-hydrating: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014811/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exercise-associated hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Article on EAH treatment guidelines: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildernessmedicinemagazine.com/1041/articles/1041/EAH_PG_EPub.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T01:26:15.570" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T01:26:15.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6328" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6330" CreationDate="2014-08-04T23:59:58.343" Score="9" ViewCount="304" Body="&lt;p&gt;When looking for trail permits for a particular trail at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recreation.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recreation.gov&lt;/a&gt;, I almost always see the status &quot;W: Available at the Facility&quot; for today and the next day, and rarely anything available for 2 or more days in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this &quot;W&quot; status really mean that you can be pretty sure to get a permit when you drive there, or is it rather &quot;If there are any permits left, then they are at the facility and not online&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:04:07.353" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:04:07.353" Title="What does the status &quot;W: Available at the Facility&quot; mean regarding trail permits?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-05T00:35:40.087" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydration occurs when there is more water going out or being used than is going in. Additionally, if you're drinking too fast (more than a litre an hour for an average adult male), you're not absorbing the water and so it doesn't count as going in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Confusingly, dehydration can also be classified loss of water, loss of electrolytes or loss of both. To add further confusion, electrolyte imbalance can be too high or too low. In one sense the electrolytes can be lost through something like sweating, and in another, the concentration can be too high due to lack of water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's generally the electrolyte imbalance that causes you the problem and to the symptoms of dehydration are really the symptoms of electrolyte imbalance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For completeness, the electrolytes we're talking about are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calcium&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chloride&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Potassium&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Magnesium&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phosphate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sodium&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume you've not got to the kidney failure end of matters, which causes electrolyte imbalance and that we're not accounting for medical conditions or medications. Instead stick to those which are associated with dehydration and the causes of dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dehydration reduces the ability of the kidneys to remove excess &lt;strong&gt;calcium&lt;/strong&gt; from the body. This will cause mild hypercalcemia and is likely to by asymptomatic. Equally, an increase in &lt;strong&gt;chloride&lt;/strong&gt; can have no symptoms, but in some cases can present with thirst, difficulty breathing and weakness. And high levels of &lt;strong&gt;potassium&lt;/strong&gt; can cause heart rhythm problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low levels of &lt;strong&gt;magnesium&lt;/strong&gt; can be caused by sweating and the symptoms are normally associated with severe dehydration. These include muscle weakness, shakes &amp;amp; twitches, nausea, vomiting, lower limb cramps and changes in blood pressure which if low could cause fainting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are unlikely to get a &lt;strong&gt;phosphate&lt;/strong&gt; imbalance due to dehydration as far as my research goes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sodium&lt;/strong&gt; is the annoying one as you can have both low sodium because you sweat it out and high sodium due to lack of free water. Symptoms of low sodium include headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion and fatigue. High sodium can cause increased thirst, confusion, lethargy and muscle twitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my original list of symptoms of dehydration are actually symptoms of electrolyte imbalance, but for the first one. This is because they are so tightly linked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your urine will be darker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll get a headache.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll get a bunch of symptoms like lethargy and confusion which others are more likely to notice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll feel thirsty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something to be aware of is that many of the above symptoms are also associated with thing that can happen outdoors such as heat stroke, hypothermia, sleep deprivation, malnutrition and low blood sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to answer the question about &quot;needing salts&quot;, you'll be looking for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nausea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vomiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fatigue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of solutions. An imbalance where the concentration is too high can be solved by drinking more water. Where too low, you should go for oral rehydration and eating something. Six teaspoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and a litre of water should do it. Don't forget to drink that little and often over an hour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS for generation interest, the sugar is there to help the salt be absorbed through the small intestine and was considered one of the most important medical advances of the 1960s&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: experience, training, training materials, NHS, Healthline, Medicinet and May Clinic&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastEditorUserId="2611" LastEditDate="2014-08-11T18:39:16.633" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T18:39:16.633" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6328" CreationDate="2014-08-05T01:37:10.660" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In areas with quotas on permits, often only a certain percentage of permits can be reserved. The remainder are available on a first-come first-serve basis at the ranger station. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Mt Whitney, there is definitely a quota. There's likely to be a lot of competition to get a permit for such a popular trail at such a popular time of year. I would recommend getting to the ranger station at &lt;em&gt;least&lt;/em&gt; an hour before it opens. There could already be people in line even then. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may also be limits on how far in advance you must reserve a permit. It's possible that the reason you only see permits for the next couple days is because people cancelled reservations, and now those permits are available on a first-come basis in-person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T01:37:10.660" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2014-08-05T03:27:06.587" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I fish daily in a kayak and have caught and eaten thousands of fish from snapper to mackerel to wahoo. I throw them in the hull of the kayak with no ice and continue to fish, sometimes for several hours. Been doing this for years and have never had an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3700" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T03:27:06.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6325" CreationDate="2014-08-05T08:42:11.567" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it's better to have a bit more than 3 inches left. When you drink/eat a lot in the beginning of a trip (to not carry to much water). And also 3 inches are not that much to pull with gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My tip is to cut the strap so that you reduce the width. Normally the straps are very wide and only for pulling you can use also a smaller strap. So let 1-2 inches normal with and then 4 inches with the half of the width to pull. In the end melt it. So you have a bit more to pull, with (almost) the same weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-08-05T10:07:31.030" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T10:07:31.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6318" CreationDate="2014-08-05T09:11:11.623" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get roof bars for just about any kind of vehicle*. It's the only real option for safely transporting a boat on top of a car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you meant what type of fittings would be good to go on top of the roof bars (J-bars, uprights, v-bars, foam etc.) then post up the kind of kayak you're talking about and I'll add a specific answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned foam blocks, if you meant these strapped directly onto the roof then you'd be best to avoid this as it's really not that secure and &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; damage the roof of your car - a lot. Handi-racks are the same (they're only really suitable for surf-boards).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a fairly normal plastic boat like the Aspire 105 you can just strap it straight onto the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.volkswagen-accessories.ie/images/polo_roofbars_l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;roof bars&lt;/a&gt;, preferably upside-down (this is because it's going to deform the boat a little bit  and it's better to deform the deck than the hull). Uprights, J-bars or foam blocks would be suitable and will cut down on deformity but they're really not necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps. invest in some decent straps and tie the excess through grab-loops whenever possible - a kayak flying down a motorway on its own is a heck of a sight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T13:18:42.513" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T13:18:42.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6285" CreationDate="2014-08-05T10:30:38.020" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers given already address almost all the issues well, but I'd like to add one final point which hasn't been given enough focus; ease of descent in case something goes wrong. If the OP's sister arrives, makes it up, and comes down before the AMS symptoms begin, that's great. But if something goes wrong and she's stuck at 4000+ meters, she is in some risk. Although &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitude.org/altitude_sickness.php#HAPE&quot;&gt;high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE)&lt;/a&gt; only occurs after a few days, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitude.org/altitude_sickness.php#HACE&quot;&gt;high altitude cerebral oedema (HACE)&lt;/a&gt; can occur after a few hours. If your sister is injured, trips, falls, etc - can she be safely taken back down quickly? In Mount Bierstadt, the answer appears to be yes, since it is an easy and popular climb, and other people will be able to help carry her. But this is not necessarily the case in all trips to this height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T10:30:38.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-05T12:20:51.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dried and cracked lips might be a late, but sure sign of dehydration. I also experienced headaches and a burning, feverish feeling in my face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T12:20:51.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6336" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-05T12:55:01.063" Score="8" ViewCount="1814" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 5 year old Haglöfs Para M5.  I've used it for on average 30 nights per year, perhaps 150 nights in total, with one long trip and some 8 short trips per year.  I store it uncompressed in a dry and dark place, and I pack it in its bag inside a drybag (heavily compressed).  I don't use a liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Increasingly, there is no loft and therefore little insulation in the upper part, above the chest.  The loft in the lower part, above the legs, is still fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this normal for the level of use I describe?  Did all the feathers somehow accumulate in the lower part and can I somehow redistribute them, or do I need to get a new one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T16:36:26.937" Title="Is it normal that a down sleeping bag loses its loft after ~5 years ~150 nights?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6337" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-05T13:45:02.353" Score="11" ViewCount="3475" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 4-season tent is a tent suitable for winter use; for example, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1833/566&quot;&gt;this post&lt;/a&gt;.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://sectionhiker.com/what-is-a-4-season-tent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sectionhiker&lt;/a&gt;, the phrase is actually a misnomer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Moreover the phrase “4 season tent” is a misnomer since it refers to winter tents, which you might not use the rest of the year because they could be too heavy or too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This raises the question: when I'm hiking in the mountains, I might one day be camping in the valley with 10+°C (50 deg F)night time temperatures, and the next night at the mouth of a glacier with a high -5°C (23 deg F) (wind coming down).  Are any tents suitable under both conditions at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T21:26:48.203" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T21:26:48.203" Title="Do truly all-season tents exist?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-05T13:47:47.630" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do a google search for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=urine%20color%20chart&amp;amp;rlz=1C1CHUH_enGB490GB493&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=Qd_gU4CBJbPn7Aa5tYHQCw&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&amp;amp;biw=1600&amp;amp;bih=813#facrc=_&amp;amp;imgdii=_&amp;amp;imgrc=w0Bhn_0Jut3kCM%253A%3BflZscwKbjjyfgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-jfjXvZGAId8%252FUpLSXnmqcBI%252FAAAAAAAABok%252Fsc8w1xo1rtw%252Fs1600%252Fpee%252Bchart.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fkalumbimbi.blogspot.com%252F2013_11_01_archive.html%3B630%3B397&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;urine colour (or color) chart&lt;/a&gt; and you will find many charts showing examples of what your urine should look like when you are hydrated. or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a slightly more humourous version but shows the principle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V2yh4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3704" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T13:47:47.630" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:02:20.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my favourites is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_fruit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;breadfruit&lt;/a&gt;, which I acquired a taste for while living in Jamaica.  They apparently grow all over Southeast Asia and the Pacific too. In Jamaica they grow wild practically everywhere (there is a peak season when they end up littering the ground in places), making them a staple bush food. I've seen them occasionally in the supermarket in North America; you can also cook them whole in a barbecue or an oven.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what they look like fresh:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JyD11.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And after roasting in a fire for 45-60 minutes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ktpNP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer rind can be completely charred black; this one perhaps is a bit under done.  Inside, there's a mild tasting, wonderfully soft textured (hence the &quot;bread&quot;, I would guess) carb rich meat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lqKw5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are the size of small melons. If only the forests here had stuff like this!  I might not have to take any food hiking at all.  If you are ever anywhere where they have this, try it.  It's also prepared various other ways and served with all kinds of stuff, as it's complementary to most things (again, like bread) and can absorb sauce.  Mmmm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3286" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T14:02:20.213" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6340" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:27:09.983" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions related to various scenarios wherein one need to consider the temperature as a factor, be it on context with Performance of materials and/or individuals when subjected to certain temperature (of course in scope of what is on-topic at The Great Outdoors), or in context of atmospheric condition, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T10:49:27.870" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T10:49:27.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6341" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:27:09.983" Score="0" Body="Temperature is a measurement of a substance and/or atmosphere. " OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T10:49:27.870" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T10:49:27.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6336" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:33:48.150" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot tell you whether it is normal for your level of use, but it is perfectly normal to happen at some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you describe sounds like common clotting of the feathers due to the influence of moisture and pressure in use over time. When you detect this very early, shaking and crushing the bag may be enough to restore loft. If this is not the case, you can wash the bag with special detergent. Do not use normal detergent or softener, only detergent clearly labeled to be used on down bags! If you use a machine for washing it, do not use spinning! After washing, either dry it at normal temperatures while shaking the bag very often or use a tumble-dryer. The first way is optimal, but very laborious. For tumble-drying, you should put the bag in a cloth-bag together with several tennis balls. This will make sure that the feathers do not clot when drying. Dry it on low heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it is necessary to wash the bag, when clotting gets persistent, and it thus prolongs the time you can use it, still do not overdo it. After too many times of washing the performance of the sleeping bag decreases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; concerning top-loading washing machines:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do not use top-loading washing machines, the agitator can damage your sleeping bag.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Maybe the delicate settingfixes the problem by locking the agitator in place, but check that first.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Thanks to requiem for the note, I was not accustomed to the concept of top-loading waching machines (not common in switzerland). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2014-08-05T16:04:27.640" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T16:04:27.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6343" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6344" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:37:51.880" Score="5" ViewCount="513" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an MSR Elixir 2 tent with footprint that is great for my spring/summer/fall rock trips and is made of quite durable fabric.  It has worked quite well at very cold temps and has very effectively kept rain out.  I am hoping to use this tent for weekend ice climbing trips during the winter months.  The only issue is that the fly is silver/white! I have reflective guy lines but am wondering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a bright coloured tape, preferably orange, that I can apply to a portion of the fly so it is more visible in snow during daylight and also has some reflective properties so it is visible at night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasons for wanting to do this is to save ~$750 on a four season tent until I actually need one!  There may be hunting permitted in the area the tent is pitched, emergency situations where we would need to be identified from the air...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also please consider that the tape or markers need to accommodate the stretch in the fly.  Does any such product exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T19:48:17.473" Title="Tent Fly Coloured Reflective Tape" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6343" CreationDate="2014-08-05T14:42:31.447" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campmor.com/kelty-triptease-lightline-reflective-cord.shtml&quot;&gt;reflective lines&lt;/a&gt; for at night, and standard &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-6089FO/Flagging-and-Marking/Fluorescent-Orange-Flagging-Tape?pricode=WY606&amp;amp;gadtype=pla&amp;amp;id=73106589322&amp;amp;gclid=CKHC3dqt_L8CFYMF7AodcCwAIg&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot;&gt;flagging tape&lt;/a&gt; for during the day.  Both are lightweight and the triptease line really jumps out at night when hit with a light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T14:42:31.447" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6336" CreationDate="2014-08-05T16:36:26.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say no, it is not normal. I have several sleeping bags, some with as much annual use as your example, which are at least 25 years old and are still good at lofting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some bags allow the down to move around, which can be handy to cope with warmer conditions. Have you tried fluffing up the bag with gentle shaking to make sure the down is evenly distributed between the top and bottom?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't help, it is most likely that your bag needs washing. Even if the bag doesn't appear very dirty, a build-up of body oils can cause the down to clump together and lose its loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would certainly try washing your sleeping bag using a specialist cleaning material, such as that sold by NikWax (&lt;em&gt;Down Wash&lt;/em&gt;) for example. But unless you have access to a large enough washing machine and are able to dry the bag properly, I would recommend getting a specialist company to clean the bag for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T16:36:26.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2014-08-05T16:45:26.383" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After you kill and gut the fish, then clean it (wash it and scale it, if it needs scaling.) I don't know what you mean by &quot;bleeding&quot; a fish: I only ever gut it. After doing this, you do not actually need to put it in the cooler. You can leave it out for a couple hours, it will not spoil. This has been my experience - I've done this, and then cooked the fish when arrived at home later. If you stick it on ice, it will preserve even longer, so no worries there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: someone mentioned that fresh fish will spoil if left outside even for a short period of time in South Georgia. Should probably be aware of this. I can't say whether it's true or not: my experience is entirely in the dry desert southwest and Rocky Mountains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T16:48:43.447" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T16:48:43.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2014-08-05T16:51:40.063" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry two knives when i'm backpacking: a small Swiss army knife (the &quot;Classic&quot; model) and a large hunting knife (I can't remember the brand, it is a good quality one, cost about $150). The Swiss army knife is lightweight and indispensable for its use as a can opener, for gutting fish, and general purpose tools. The authentic Swiss army knives are also extremely good quality and durable. The hunting knife I carry on my belt primarily as a weapon in case I need it for some reason (attacked by an animal, which has never happened in my 35 years of hiking), and also will sometimes use it to chop up smaller pieces of firewood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T16:51:40.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6279" CreationDate="2014-08-05T17:11:00.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before, you leave treat your equipment with water-repellant spray, and consider taking a small bottle with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things that come to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;raincover for your backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;breathable rain jacket/poncho. You don't want to use something that is not breathable because you end up sweating a lot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;waterproof matches, lighter, and firestarter sticks that work when it's wet. the idea here is that it's easy to get the firestarters to light, they are slow-burning so they will help dry out and get a fire started with the wet firewood you have collected&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperatures you mention are pretty chilly, so it's going to be damp and cold. This means you need proper clothing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no cotton&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wool cap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;base layer top and bottom. this would be some kind of polyester blend that retains warmth while providing some moisture-wicking and breathability. For years I have owned a base layer made by Cloudveil and it's wonderful. Very warm, light, packable, and comfortable. Makes a big difference in your body warmth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a thin or mid-weight fleece jacket. you wouldn't necessarily use this while hiking, but rather while sitting around camp and also for extra warmth in your sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Silk socks. You'll be hiking a lot. you need these to help prevent blisters. also carry some moleskin with you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA; - &#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T17:11:00.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6228" CreationDate="2014-08-05T17:22:56.010" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can test everything at home, in your yard, and at the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At home, test your water filter, setting up the tent in the backyard, assembling and lighting your stove and boiling some water (don't forget your windscreen), any fishing gear you might have, and setting up a fire in your backyard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the gym, take your loaded backpack with you and do some workouts on the stairmaster. This will serve you in multiple ways: let you know how prepared physically you are for backpacking, and let you know how the backpack feels while it sits on your hips and shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T17:22:56.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1442" CreationDate="2014-08-05T17:55:31.297" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's unclear whether you are experienced in backpacking. Are you asking how is Yellowstone different compared to other locations, or are you asking how to prepare for backpacking in general?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first case, Yellowstone would be different than some other places due to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;geothermal activity. you can encounter hot waters and some of these may have chemicals that are toxic/harmful to your skin, so you wouldn't want to get in them, while other pools and sulfur springs are okay to bathe in. So you would either need to know how to recognize the difference, or stay out of all of them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the presence of large animals: bears, wolves and moose. some general knowledge about how to deal with these animals is in order. For example, grizzlies cannot climb trees. Moose can be very volatile. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the second case, cannot be answered succinctly here, but I recommend a small book called &quot;The Pocket Survival Guide&quot; by J Wayne Fears (the one with the orange cover.) This is a brief discussion of what equipment and knowledge you need in the backcountry. Useful because it is small (can be taken with you), direct and to the point, and accurate, and of course what you need for survival is a subset of what you need to take with you backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also another small, slim book of similar disposition, aimed more towards backpacking, which I don't remember the name of, but I'll look it up when I get home. If I remember correctly, this one goes more into gear, clothing, etc. Ah! As luck would have it, I just remembered: &quot;Backpacking Tips: Trail-Tested Wisdom From Falconguide Authors (Kestrel) by Bill Schneider, Russ Schneider and Laura Zorch&quot;. There are a lot of nuggets of wisdom here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T17:55:31.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6278" CreationDate="2014-08-05T19:30:17.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got plenty of good sized crawfish in a minnow trap.  I usually save my soda bottles and build crawfish traps out of them and I've got some large ones in that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the 1-inch size will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Crawfish-Trap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make a Crawfish Trap&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2333" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-03-24T01:34:01.340" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T01:34:01.340" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6343" CreationDate="2014-08-05T19:48:17.473" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Russell mentions, flagging tape can work well in this situation. I carry a roll in my first aid/survival kit, as it's also useful for marking your path if you're lost, among other uses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more permanent and reflective alternative would be to get some type of reflective fabric and attach it to your fly. You could potentially sew it on, if you're not too concerned about water ingress, or you could just sort of drape it over the fly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3M makes a reflective non-stretchy fabric &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0093OUWNE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;which you can buy on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v2ypu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3M fabric&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also get some reflective elastic, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00GOFTU2Y&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this reflective stretchy running belt&lt;/a&gt;, and just remove the buckle and use the stretchy material:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Es4Dj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;reflective belt&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T19:48:17.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2014-08-05T19:51:25.370" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course. You can (almost) always cool down a 4-season tent, but you can't very well protect a 2-season tent from a blizzard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary concern is weight, but if you're going to be camping near a glacier with -5&amp;deg;C winds, you'll want a sturdy tent, so that's going to come at a certain cost of weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep a tent cooler, you can pitch it in the shade, you can open the vents and windows, etc. There's nothing wrong with using a 4 season tent in the summer; I've done this on many a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of the quote you referenced is that a 4 season tent may not be &lt;em&gt;ideal&lt;/em&gt; in non-winter conditions, as there may be a more convenient tent, but the a 4 season tent is certainly more than adequate for camping in summer conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T19:51:25.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-05T20:23:12.957" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, it can be hard to tell the two apart, plus there is also &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis&quot;&gt;ketosis&lt;/a&gt; to worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are exercising vigorously (cycling, running, vigorous climbing, etc.) for several hours and not eating much, you can consume all of the readily-available glucose in the body and begin burning protein instead.  A waste product of burning protein in this fashion is ketones in the blood, which is OK in low levels but can become toxic fairly rapidly. This leads to the same light-headed sensation, weakness, stomach churn, and other symptoms as dehydration and low salt (and is easily mistaken for those), but, whereas the others can be fairly quickly corrected, if you operate in ketotic state for too long it can take you days to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To tell low salt from dehydration, I drink a relatively modest amount, and if I'm still thirsty I try to get something salty.  If low salt is the problem then usually a modest amount of salt will perk you up a bit (though if it does you probably need more).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never known urine color to be reliable, since various things (eg, vitamins) can color it, and some conditions (e.g. ketosis) can make you pee more and have lighter urine even if you're dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3708" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-08-05T21:31:27.157" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T21:31:27.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2014-08-05T21:50:09.547" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well... a 4 season tent is a 4 season tent... You can use it during the whole year without any problems while a 2 season tent might not be as pleasant during the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I receive questions like this all the time. &quot;What sort of boot should I get?&quot;, Packs, tents...&#xA;My answer is kind of consistent for most of them... You buy gear for what you are going to use it for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a variety of tents to use from 2 season, 4 season and flys. I do lots of mountaineering so I carry my 4 season tent a lot. My 2 season one was a cheap/light one for camping/hiking during autumn/Spring and because I live in a place where there are no things to eat or kill me during the night, I carry my fly during summer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you can chuck a lot of money in outdoor gear, it's for sure a black hole. That said, you can get around with a 4 season and be fine while a 2 season would restrict you a bit more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As said by nhinkle, there are other considerations to keep in mind. A 4 season tent is much heavier than a 2 season one, and if you are going to camp on top of a mountain or close to a glacier, you will need more gear for that which will stack up pretty quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had trips where, due to the amount of gear, I took my two season tent to the mountain, top up with warm layers and we camped a few hundred meters below the exposed tops. The next day, we left the campsite, climbed the mountain and went back to the campsite. We had the weather in mind and it was perfect conditions but it could be done under some average weather as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2014-08-05T21:50:09.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2014-08-06T01:27:42.210" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a lurker on two knife-related forums (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bladeforums.com/&quot;&gt;Bladeforums.com&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/fusionbb.php&quot;&gt;Knifeforums.com&lt;/a&gt;). On both of them, &quot;what knife should I buy&quot; or &quot;what is the best knife for X&quot; are either closed quickly or become very hot topics because there is no right answer, only lots and lots and lots of opinions. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1183124-I-need-help-finding-the-right-knife!?highlight=what+the+best+knife+for+hiking&quot;&gt;this thread&lt;/a&gt; for a recent discussion of the topic (including some nice pictures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, there are some general guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First of all, make sure it is legal!&lt;/strong&gt; Carrying an illegal knife on the Appalachian Trail will get you in the same trouble as carrying an illegal knife on the streets of New York. A LEO might cut you some slack in the wilderness, but they don't have to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fixed blade vs folding blade.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixed blades are tougher, which is great if you are going to be splitting firewood or cutting branches or digging holes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Size&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bigger blades (both length and thickness) are better at chopping wood but are far worse at small tasks like skinning small game and slicing food and cutting rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Serrations&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Serrated blades are better at cutting fibrous materials like rope but suck at cutting soft food like cheese and tomatoes. Typical bushcraft tasks are usually better with a straight edge (though a serrated edge makes pretty good feather sticks for firelighting).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Metal&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harder steels hold an edge longer but are harder to sharpen in the field. Softer steels might roll over the edge when chopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some types of steel are better than others at making sparks from your fire rod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no such thing as rustproof. Stainless steel is just steel that takes a bit longer to rust. :-)  All knives need good care. Unless you are spending a lot of money on a titanium blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shape&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Straight edge blades (like the &quot;american tanto&quot; design) suck at cutting food. The curve, or &quot;belly&quot;, of the edge is what helps cutting through the entire draw of the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Saws on the back of the blade mean you can't use the blade for batonning very well and you will hurt your hand in some knife grips. A lot of military knives with saw backs are for ripping through aircraft skin. Leave the sawblades to Rambo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What do I carry?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.victorinox.com/ch/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Pocket-knives-with-lock-blade/Pocket-knives-with-lock-blade-111-mm/Outrider/0.9023&quot;&gt;Victorinox Outrider&lt;/a&gt; Swiss Army lockable folding knife. The long blade is for food prep (it is long enough to cut through an apple in one go). The sawblade on it is long enough to deal with firewood and track maintenance. The scissors probably get used more than anything else on the blade. I've used the can opener a few times and the corkscrew only once (wine bottles and tins don't go hiking often as they are heavy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am going somewhere camping I also carry a CRKT Stiff KISS MDP. It is small, light, strong enough for me to whack it through wood with a baton and cheap enouygh that if I break it I don't care. It is a bushcraft knife and does not go near food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Victorinox is legal carry in New Zealand. The CRKT is not, so I have to make sure it stays in my backpack when driving to and from the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Final Thoughts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not Rambo. Don't carry a massive piece of movie-madness cutlery (termed &quot;tacticLOL&quot; on the forums above). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are Rambo, then disregard all of this. You can do whatever the heck you want - I'm certainly not going to argue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Thanks Ben.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T04:48:17.070" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T04:48:17.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-06T01:39:01.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked my fitness instructor this question a few years ago. She had several things to say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electrolyte replacement is for when you have been in a high cardio, sweating mode continually for an hour or more. Endurance runners and cyclists, yes. Gym bunnies, trampers, walkers, no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very few things on the market are actually true electrolyte replacement. Almost all the things in the fridge at your local store with things like &quot;vitamin water&quot; on the label are just soft drinks, full of sugar and caffeine. She said that in New Zealand there were only two proper electrolyte replacement products you could buy without going to a specialty sports shop. As an aside, you can usually tell a decent one by the fact they taste metallic and &quot;slimy&quot;. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long distance hiking (6 hours or more) she suggested that if I suffered from headaches on the drive home then perhaps I could put a bottle of electrolyte replacement in the car and drink it at the end of the trip. Otherwise, I should stick to water and the usual hiking snacks of peanuts, crackers, dried fruit and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the gym, she said there should be nothing but water in my bottle and I should replace water lost exactly. I should stand on the scales with my full water bottle at the beginning of the workout and stand on the scales with my empty water bottle at the end of the workout and the two weights should be the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T01:39:01.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1485" CreationDate="2014-08-06T02:40:47.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends a lot on what you plan to do, and I don't think there's any such thing as an all-purpose knife. I mostly use mine when hiking and backpacking, when it would be silly to bring a big, heavy knife that I don't need. For what I do, what works great is a tiny swiss army knife, which I mainly use for slicing food (knife blade), cutting moleskin (scissors), and pulling out splinters (tweezers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T02:50:25.510" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T02:50:25.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2014-08-06T09:46:52.897" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the tent fly can be pitched without the inner then your winter tent becomes a summer tent by leaving the inner at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T09:46:52.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1411" CreationDate="2014-08-06T11:17:30.170" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additionally to longboards, you could investigate a mini-Malibu (&quot;mini-mal&quot;) / mini-longboard shape, with lengths in the region of 7'&lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt;&quot; - 8'&lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt;&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a beginner you'll find such a board easier to control than a longboard, and thus less frustrating to use, although longboarders will out-pace you when paddling onto a wave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3714" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T11:17:30.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-06T11:31:43.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Years ago I read a book called the bodies many cries for water. It is wriiten by a doctor, that has since passed away. Ithink he said from the age of 30 we can not distinguish between thirst and hunger and should drink first, then wait about 10? minutes and if then feel hungry eat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also read that it is good to drink water before going to bed to minimise dehydration while sleeping and on waking drink water, to rehydrate your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recenly had a SECA scan done that measures a variety of things including hydration,  extracellular water and total body hydration. Overall it showed I needed to drink more water. Not sure what it costs for the scan in other countries, but I paid the equivalent of US$66. Also shows phase angle, which I was told relates to cellular health and info regarding Fat mass. hope this is helpful in some way. Can also buy roll of PH tape to test the PH level of your urine. Yellow is acid and drinking some apple cider vinegar(buy made from whole apples with the mother - eg Braggs brand) and drink a bit in small amount of water with each meal. will aid digestion and improve PH levels. I have recently read complete Idiots guide to thyroid disease. As the thyroid gland is referred to as the master gland suggest it is good to be familiar with the contents of this book. Thyroid health can have a large impact on your feeling of wellbeing. Also suggest have a look at Mickel therapy. Is the best thing I've seen regarding recognising our emotions and how to respond in a way that you clear negative emotions, rather than them building up, left unattended. Wish everyone happiness and wellbeing. Glad to contribute. It is a long time since I've been on a site about health and participated. Many activities in the body need water, so is worth being aware and cease to drink from plastic bottles. Food grade stainless steel or glass bottles are great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3715" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T11:31:43.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6318" CreationDate="2014-08-06T11:58:19.153" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do most of the transport for our scouts group and have found that the solution is mostly the simplest.&#xA;Get a set of roofrails and crossbars.&#xA;You should be able to get them for any type of car, make sure they're factory spec and/or from a good brand so they won't simply fly off as it's the only thing connecting the whole construction to the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply put the kayak upside down on two crossbars and use a ratchet strap to strap down firmly.&#xA;I do however recommend using the bigger car as you'll prevent overhang and you can have the crossbars further apart (put them as far apart as possible).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can put some rubber/foam padding between the kayak and the crossbars if you want to.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you find the kayak wobbling around to much you can attach a rope from the ends of the kayak to your bumpers (use tow points if possible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T11:58:19.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6290" CreationDate="2014-08-06T12:36:11.133" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal opinion would be to go with an ultralight rod, in the four to six foot range, with five and a half feet being ideal.  An ultralight open face reel to match, loaded with four pound test monofilament compleats the set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3716" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T12:36:11.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2014-08-06T12:56:24.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Part of my kitchen is 3 twelve inch gutter nails.  When a pot needs to simmer, it goes on the nails, which act to increase the distance from the Whisperlite's flame.  Lots easier than working to adjust the gas pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3716" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T12:56:24.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2014-08-06T12:58:36.407" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many 4-season tents cannot be ventilated as well as tents made for summer conditions. Also, they tend to be larger. this means, you can use them, but it won´t be &lt;em&gt;ideal&lt;/em&gt;. This differs a lot with the actual models you are comparing, some might be well suited for all conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the temperature difference between summer and winter trips normally has to be taken care of with the sleeping bag you choose - tent insulation is (normally) not that much better in 4-season-tents. The main difference is sturdiness, as its needed with wind and snow loads. For the scenario you described, where storm and snow are not really important concerns, you could just bring the 2-seasons tent and a good sleeping bag inlay, which allows you to adjust to the different temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T12:58:36.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6368" CreationDate="2014-08-06T13:01:37.743" Score="5" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at buying some B2 rated alpine/winter boots for use with Crampons, etc. I'm trying to avoid paying full price for them (searching ebay, looking for special offers, etc.) as they are prohibitively expensive (£300+).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the main UK sites selling this kind of stuff only seem to offer two brands, &lt;strong&gt;La Sportiva&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Scarpa&lt;/strong&gt;. I was under the impression that these were the only brands that made these kinds of boots (I did see one pair of now discontinued &lt;strong&gt;North Face&lt;/strong&gt; boots) when someone pointed out that &lt;strong&gt;Meindl&lt;/strong&gt; also make these types of boot. I've never seen a UK shop selling these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what &lt;em&gt;other&lt;/em&gt; brands make B2 rated alpine/winter boots? Which one's am I missing. If I can build up a list of brands it will hopefully make my bargain shopping easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T01:25:04.170" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T01:25:04.170" Title="Are there B2 alpine boot brands in the UK besides La Sportiva and Scarpa?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;b2-boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6367" CreationDate="2014-08-06T13:22:56.000" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like you have a very limited range of brands over on your island * &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beside the brands you already mentioned here are some others that spring to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hanwag.com/products/outdoor/alpin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hanwag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowa.de/en/products/outdoor/alpine.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lowa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mammut.ch/en/products_footwear.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mammut&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.salewa.us/footwear/mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Salewa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dachsteinschuhe.com/en/produkte/mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dachstein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I know, you're the continent, we're the island ;-) !&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-06T13:27:15.187" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T13:27:15.187" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6369" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6371" CreationDate="2014-08-06T14:07:52.990" Score="7" ViewCount="2241" Body="&lt;p&gt;Somebody told me that Gore-Tex products would be hazardous waste. Is this true? If I want to dispose of them, what should I do? What are the dangerous substances?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true for other breathable membranes as well? Are there membranes that are free from toxic substances?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:34:35.257" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:34:35.257" Title="Disposal of Gore-Tex or other membrane products" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6369" CreationDate="2014-08-06T14:56:37.267" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.com.au/faq/w1/i1085252/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.gore-tex.com.au/faq/w1/i1085252/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How should I dispose of a GORE-TEX® product in an environmentally safe&#xA;  way? Garments or footwear made from Gore laminates can be safely&#xA;  disposed of just like any other apparel product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Contrary to most other plastics, Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) – the&#xA;  raw material of our membrane - is not made or processed using&#xA;  plasticizers or stabilizers. It doesn’t contain residuals like heavy&#xA;  metals, organotin compounds or phthalates. If disposed of in a&#xA;  landfill, PTFE will not degrade, so it will not contribute to the&#xA;  formation of greenhouse gases (i.e. Methane) or release substances&#xA;  into the water or air. In an incineration plant, PTFE is safely&#xA;  converted to CO2 and Fluorspar. Potentially harmful gases are captured&#xA;  by pollution control devices (alkaline scrubbers) that have been in&#xA;  place for a number of decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finding ways to extend the useful life of a product has always been&#xA;  the environmentally preferred option over product disposal. One might&#xA;  wish to consider donating footwear or garments to charities or&#xA;  repurposing the product for other applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Gore Tex answer to this seems very straightforward and reasonable to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T14:56:37.267" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6369" CreationDate="2014-08-06T15:01:49.620" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Goretex, generally consists of three chemicals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The outer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer (wear resistant part) is simply nylon or polyester. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is typically non-hazardous and can be disposed as any other plastic (bearing in mind the long periods of time this is likely going to take to decompose)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The inner&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the &quot;Gore-tex layer&quot;. Goretex itself is simply a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polyurethane&lt;/a&gt;/&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PTFE&lt;/a&gt; polymer based plastic. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane#Health_and_safety&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fully reacted (as in Goretex) polyurethane polymer is chemically inert&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene#Safety&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PTFE does generate potentially noxious gases at temperatures over 250C&lt;/a&gt;, So don't burn it! Again this is typically deemed safe though (as above) it takes a long time to decompose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/oct/11/outdoor-clothing-ethical-living&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;production of PTFE also involves&lt;/a&gt; the chemical &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PFOA &lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Health_concerns&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is highly toxic&lt;/a&gt;. Though all of this chemical is removed by the final product (i.e. &lt;em&gt;the Goretex itself is not toxic&lt;/em&gt;) this chemical (used in the &lt;strong&gt;production&lt;/strong&gt; of Goretex/PTFE) is potentially long lived in the environment. Several &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid#Legal_actions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;legal actions have been successful against DuPont&lt;/a&gt; (though no liabillity was admitted) against the release of this chemical into water course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;DWR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goretex is also coated with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durable_Water_Repellent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Durable water repellent&lt;/a&gt; coating. This is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5115/2766&quot;&gt;Fluoropolymer&lt;/a&gt;. Again this is typically safe. If large amounts of Fluoropolymer's get into water they can cause issues with fish, aquatic animals, etc. So again this is an environmentally sensitive product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;To summarise&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goretex is &lt;em&gt;safe&lt;/em&gt; for humans, all the chemicals involved are generally inert and have been passed as safe by every government agency in the world&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When Goretex is disposed of it can cause environmental damage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The production of the chemicals in Goretex are themselves&#xA;environmentally sensitive, the production creates pollution and uses&#xA;oil as the main ingredient.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this true for other breathable membranes as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, they all use variations on the theme above&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there membranes that are free from toxic substances?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt; plenty! Wool, wax jackets, etc. &lt;em&gt;Are they as effective and breathable&lt;/em&gt;, typically &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, especially when your talking about breathabillity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T09:36:15.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2014-08-06T15:39:03.780" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no reason to kill, bleed and gut the fish immediately. The ideal way to preserve freshness is to keep the fish alive as long as possible. Depending on your situation this is best accomplished via a livewell (found in most recreational fishing boats), if fishing from shore, a traditional fish stringer or a wire basket are your best bets.&#xA;Once you are done fishing, then you can clean the fish entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Liveswells: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/livewells-aerators/_/N-1100640/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104434380?WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat104743980&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Livewells &amp;amp; Aerators&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stringer: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley%C2%AE-Fish-Stringer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Berkley®-Fish-Stringer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basket: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley%C2%AE-Floating-Wire-Basket---15in/1285980,default,pd.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Berkley®-Floating-Wire-Basket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3674" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T04:58:05.467" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T04:58:05.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6373" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6380" CreationDate="2014-08-06T16:17:03.433" Score="32" ViewCount="8834" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to leave-no-trace principles, one should bury human waste (poo).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But burying damages plants and roots.  Is this really always better than not burying it and pooing on the surface?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Of course, the only way to truly leave no trace is to not go at all.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;This assuming a context when I am carrying everything on by back; solutions that require carrying significant additional mass are not preferred.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-05-30T10:15:39.877" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T10:15:39.877" Title="Is burying human waste always the lowest-impact solution?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6303" CreationDate="2014-08-06T16:56:58.180" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know nothing about wombats, but I do stalk a particular wild animal here in my part of the world. Here is some general advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scat is a good start. Are there areas where it is more concentrated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get well away from human activity. Wild animals avoid us, some more so than others. I gather that wombats are on the shy side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get out there, be quiet. It is difficult for some to fathom just how noisy we are. Move slowly and only move a few steps at a time. Can you hear birds singing in your location? You are starting to blend in. If they are alarming or silent, the wild creatures know that you are around. Rain can be helpful for stalking wild animals in two ways. 1) It makes dead vegetation less crunchy 2) it creates ambient noise that can mask a lot of low level sound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider your scent. How well do wombats smell? You can try to approach an area from down wind. Some hunters do their best to de-scent themselves and their equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they have good vision, you might consider camouflage clothing to give you an edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T16:56:58.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-06T17:03:21.140" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of myths about water and dehydration: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drinking Water for Hiking: Myths and Facts&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of these is the belief that people are in danger of being dehydrated without knowing it. Dehydration is a serious medical condition that sets in long after thirst, and thirst is a powerful sensation that commands your attention. When people say casually, &quot;I'm dehydrated,&quot; it's like saying &quot;I'm OCD today&quot; or &quot;Of course I have Asperger's, I'm an engineer.&quot; It's taking trivial issues and pretending they're serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can detect, in the outdoors with minimal equipment, if I am dehydrated or need electrolytes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can tell you're dehydrated because you got thirsty many hours ago, you haven't had access to any water since then, and you're becoming so thirsty that it feels terrible and you're miserable. All you can think about is getting some water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electrolyte imbalance is not something to worry about unless you're in the desert or running a marathon. Scaring people about electrolyte imbalance is a marketing strategy used by the people who make &quot;sports drinks.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real sneaky killer is heatstroke. Heatstroke can kill you even when you're well hydrated. It's insidious, because your brain stops working, so you lose the ability to make good decisions and save yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T01:28:06.800" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T01:28:06.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-06T17:23:04.703" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some heavily used areas, especially where there's little chance for natural decomposition to occur (such as at high altitudes where there is poor soil), you're required to pack out all human waste. For example, climbers on Mt. Rainier in Washington are required to carry specific bags to pack out their waste. This is not the most desirable configuration for the climber, but is the most effective way to leave no human waste behind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than packing it out, there's not much you can do besides bury it.  Burying the waste is preferable to leaving it exposed because buried waste is less likely to be carried into nearby water sources by rain runoff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T00:05:33.120" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T00:05:33.120" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6377" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6386" CreationDate="2014-08-06T17:29:35.060" Score="20" ViewCount="3270" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always drinking pure water can be boring and tasteless, especially when you have to filtrate it or use sterilizer/purification tabs which might cause the water to taste really bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are easy (lightweight and not complicated to use) ways to get some flavour and diversion in my drinking while being outdoors for several weeks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2020-02-24T15:10:34.487" Title="How do you flavour your water on camping trips?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-06T18:22:15.003" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Few things I do:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring tea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring water flavoring packets, like Crystal Light or Propel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring coffee or instant coffee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;know your surrounding vegetation and make tea out of different plants, leaves, and/or roots. Emphasis on &lt;strong&gt;knowing your surrounding vegetation&lt;/strong&gt;; make sure you know which plants (or parts of plants) are suitable for consumption. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="580" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T07:02:46.380" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T07:02:46.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-06T18:23:59.697" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main reason it's buried is to keep it from washing into water supplies. The ground provides natural filtration, where surface waste is fully exposed to the elements and can flow along the surface until it reaches a stream or pond. Yes, digging holes might be bad for one plant, but it's a whole lot better than polluting a water supply that animals (or even humans) might consume or people might swim in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could bag it and take it out with you if you really want to, but you aren't doing much harm if you dig appropriately sized holes. Besides, plastic bags are worse for the environment than holes in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T18:23:59.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-06T18:45:00.423" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;In more temperate climates (forests, jungles, etc.) burying feces &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-3&quot;&gt;is preferred&lt;/a&gt; as it will be broken up by microbes in the soil while being somewhat protected from the environment.  Plant growth in these areas is also rapid enough that cut roots are generally a non-issue.  (I'm assuming you aren't hacking through larger roots.)  In general the warmer the climate the better the decomposition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deserts, canyons, and alpine areas above treeline represent special cases; there is generally a lack of organic soil in which to bury waste and vegetation grows very slowly, if at all.  In such areas, particularly heavily impacted ones, packing out waste via WAG bags is preferred and sometimes legally mandated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rarely-visited routes in the high alpine there are &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2008/08/human-waste-disposal-in-alpine.html&quot;&gt;two other options&lt;/a&gt; which are sometimes used: the first method is to go on a rock then toss it down a moraine or crevasse.  The second is to smear it into a paper-thin layer on a rock facing the sun; the sun and wind will slowly bake and abrade it away.  (It's worth noting that the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics found most people don't spread it thin enough.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding toilet paper, many advocate packing it out.  I've heard differing opinions on how well it decomposes in the wild, and often that's climate dependent.  Outside of areas with good organic soil I would pack it out.  Another option that many use is to skip toilet paper and use snow, rocks, or leaves instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of supporting data, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crctourism.com.au/WMS/Upload/Resources/bookshop/humanwaste.pdf&quot;&gt;one Tasmanian study&lt;/a&gt; looked at decay rates of different products (facial tissue, tampons, as well as bleached and unbleached toilet paper) at different sites and with or without added nutrients (i.e. poo).  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479704001781&quot;&gt;actual paper&lt;/a&gt; appears to be paywalled, but the results suggest unbleached paper is slightly better, tampons decay much slower than the other products (and should probably be carried out), and outside of alpine/subalpine areas decay proceeds at a good pace, particularly when combined with waste:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There was a significant site×time×treatment interaction in the generalised linear model for mean decay rates which included 6 m (a/w), 12 and 24 months (Table 2). At 6 months over autumn and winter mean decay of products was well-advanced at the coastal eucalypt forest and the grassy eucalypt forest, but negligible in the lowland rainforest, the heathy eucalypt forest, the montane moorland and the western alpine sites (Fig. 2). By 24 m decay was almost complete (at least 75% decayed) at all sites except the montane moorland and the western alpine site (Fig. 2). At all sites, except lowland rainforest, there was a significant positive impact of nutrient addition on decay (Fig. 2). The impact of nutrient addition on decay was most marked at six months over autumn–winter (Fig. 2).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-08-11T17:41:32.233" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T17:41:32.233" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-06T20:16:48.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take the small packets of gatorade or similar that offers flavor plus electrolytes. I find that flavouring helps to make certain sources of water palatable when filtering it out in the backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T10:46:22.587" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T10:46:22.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6383" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6392" CreationDate="2014-08-06T20:32:41.613" Score="14" ViewCount="1813" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is said that a semi-static rope should be submerged for 24 hours before first use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is this, and is this before every first use ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T16:26:04.407" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T18:40:29.670" Title="Semi-static rope 24 hour rule" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6383" CreationDate="2014-08-06T20:38:01.697" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;They shrink, apparently. For example, Beal's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bealplanet.com/notices/2007/index.php?id=302&amp;amp;lang=us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Precautions&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before first use, soak the rope and leave to dry slowly. It will&#xA;  shrink by about 5%. Take this into account when calculating required&#xA;  lengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And first use means just that: The very first time the rope is used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T18:40:29.670" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T18:40:29.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-06T21:17:35.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a very tricky question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pure water is the best for everything.&#xA;There are lots of things you can use to add some taste and make it easy to drink but there are some considerations about that as well. For sure those electrolytes are the best options but they are not cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a camping trip, where exercise is not the focus, all those already said, should be fine. Coffee, tea bags, those juice powders...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are for something a bit more intense, you need to take in consideration dehydration. Teas and some juice powders have diuretic effect and you will get more dehydrated, which in this case I would prefer the electrolytes drinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are doing that most of people wouldn't, Water will be just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some times, when I'm on the go in a really long/intense trip, I feel that after half way, it gets hard even to eat. My body gets so tired that even digestion becomes hard. That is when I start on soup packs and soft food. The same thing for the drink. More pure water, your system will work better. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2014-08-06T21:17:35.120" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-06T21:31:55.497" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a former soldier (and Medic), I personally don't flavour my water during the outdoors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The contents of the canteen/flask might be required for a non-drinking purpose such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eyewash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinsing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleaning etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I do flavour my water on a day-to-day basis for the gym etc using super-concentrate micro capsules such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.robinsonssquashd.co.uk/default2_closePh2.aspx&quot;&gt;Squash'd&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have not seen them then you can read about the growth in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/britvic-predicts-200m-category-for-super-concentrate/352120.article&quot;&gt;super-concentrate market&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a frequent Coca-Cola and Pepsi drinker I am a bit of a sugar addict and I can attest to the hyper-sweetness of even a 1/2 second squirt of Squash'd.  It is very flavoursome without being overpowering.  One little capsule should last for a week easily.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electrolyte water however is really just a fancy name for some carbs (sugar) with a dash of salt.  You can make exactly the same chemical solution at home with a pinch of salt and the juice of a citrus fruit - which is exactly what we used to make soldiers sip when suffering from heat exhaustion.  For the price of a Lucozade sachet, I could make 40-50 litres of homemade electrolyte.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3728" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T10:35:04.743" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T10:35:04.743" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-07T02:48:37.457" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not. The lowest-impact solution is to use a poo-pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are compulsory in alpine areas here in New Zealand.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/aoraki-mount-cook-national-park/know-before-you-go/pack-it-out-poo-pots/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pack it out - Poo pots&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2017-09-18T01:41:54.317" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T01:41:54.317" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-07T04:11:17.203" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you were the only visitor to the area, the lowest impact would be to defecate on the surface and leave it.  Few animals bury their waste, so natural disposal has evolved around dealing with surface waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you aren't the only visitor.  Burial slows decomposition and disrupts the soil, but it reduces the ability of microorganisms to reach water supplies, and it keeps the area looking cleaner.  Packing out eliminates the impact to the local area, but increases the net impact because now you need to deal with whatever you packed the waste in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waste-disposal techniques are about reducing the collective impact of many people in an area, rather than the impact of the individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T04:11:17.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-07T07:14:20.153" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I preferably avoid artificial materials, so I would use lemon, orange or grapefruit juice, just a bit for the taste, not really making lemonade (although it might irritate your stomach after several days of drinking it). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crushed herb leaves can also give a new taste to the already &quot;boring&quot; water - for this purpose I would use mint, wild thyme, basil or maybe rosemary. Better experiment with these, because some could have stronger taste than what you would enjoy. Also, these aromatic plants have oils which might influence the digestion, so use with care. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T07:14:20.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-08-07T07:46:46.293" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Muscle cramps, especially in the leg, are a symptom of low electrolyte (salt) levels (though there are other possible causes). Note that they are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a symptom of dehydration, though the two often happen in conjunction due to sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3727" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T07:46:46.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6391" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-07T09:24:10.623" Score="3" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if you guys knew about some good websites to find canyons on with the necessary information ? Necessary information being:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Longest abseil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;French level (V.A.I.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wether the canyon is open/closed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The entrance of the canyon and the exit of the canyon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sensitivity to weatherconditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fine example is given by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.descente-canyon.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the French canyonsite&lt;/a&gt;. There you can search the name of your canyon at the right of the site. For example if I look at the canyon &amp;quot;Barranco del Furco&amp;quot; (in Spain) i find the following &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.descente-canyon.com/canyoning/canyon/21051&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;technical sheet&lt;/a&gt;. It gives the necessary information (mentioned above) together with some pictures of the canyons and the state of the water in the canyon. This site mainly deals with French canyons but it also knows a lot of other canyons. Once you have enough reputation on this site, you are free to add other canyons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I've also discovered an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canyonguides.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;English canyonsite&lt;/a&gt;. They put the different canyons they know on a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canyonguides.org/guide-book/canyon-locations-map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyon Locations Map&lt;/a&gt;. This site is very handy to find places which have canyons. However the data about canyons outside of England is rather limited. And the data about the canyons that they do know is not that extensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing that I was wondering is the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there more websites like the two above?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer will probably be yes, so my follow-up question would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the addresses of these websites? How much information do they give? What region do they cover?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And maybe a followup:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any tips to find these kind of websites ?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-01-25T09:28:25.537" Title="Good canyon (or canyoning) websites" Tags="&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6383" CreationDate="2014-08-07T11:35:08.020" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is accepted practice to wash new Semi-Static rope (or Single Rope Technique/SRT Rope as it is known by cavers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dave Elliot is a highly respected SRT expert, and he wrote the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cncc.org.uk/anchors/tg-rope-care.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CNCC Rope Care&lt;/a&gt; page, which says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are two reasons why new ropes are best washed before use.&#xA;  Washing removes the anti-static lubricants used in manufacture and&#xA;  also shrinks the rope. This serves to compact the sheath and tighten&#xA;  it onto the core, stabilising the rope and perhaps improving its&#xA;  wearing properties a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When first soaked all ropes, particularly nylon ropes, can be expected&#xA;  to shrink by various amounts up to 8 or 10%. Obviously it is as well&#xA;  to roughly determine the shrinkage before cutting and marking ropes&#xA;  for length. Never the less, the rope will continue to shrink (at a&#xA;  much lower rate) throughout it's life, mainly due to the effects of&#xA;  the mud which inevitably penetrates the sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T16:36:59.553" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T16:36:59.553" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-07T11:41:14.123" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I don't like putting anything besides water in my water bottles while I'm backpacking, I typically will just alternate Gatorade powder with a swish of water, then mix it together in my mouth. Definitely gets rid of the sugar craving, since, after all, you're just eating sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3730" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T11:41:14.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6394" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6396" CreationDate="2014-08-07T12:09:02.207" Score="12" ViewCount="2962" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to ascend a rope with minimal equipment, I use 2 Prusiks: one tied to my harness, and the second one for my foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are two ways to arrange the Prusiks on the rope - the foot below the chest, and the opposite way. The first arrangement is most intuitive and described and in all places on the Internet I looked, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/AscendRope.htm&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Also, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/save-yourself-a-guide-to-self-rescue/&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; tells that it's the right arrangement:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Notice that the waist Prusik (E) is above the foot Prusik (F)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but doesn't explain why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we practiced crevasse self-rescue, I noticed that my friend used the second &quot;counter-intuitive&quot; way; he said that he always used it, while I always used the &quot;normal&quot; arrangement. I tried the &quot;opposite&quot; arrangement, and it worked marginally better: I could ascend a bit higher each time I extended my leg (this might have been by luck). One difference I noticed is that you have to choose the length of the Prusiks carefully (use a long one for the foot) in order to avoid getting stuck. Otherwise, the arrangements seemed pretty similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to choose one arrangement or the other? Should my choice be different in different situations? (assuming I have Prusiks of any length)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I am not talking specifically about crevasse rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T13:55:35.697" LastActivityDate="2019-10-18T14:50:35.107" Title="How to arrange 2 Prusiks when ascending a rope?" Tags="&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6394" CreationDate="2014-08-07T12:12:44.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always ascend the other way around (foot-prusik &lt;em&gt;above&lt;/em&gt; the chest prusik). This allows for a bigger movement with your foot and hence a bigger climb during your ascend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; I actually use bloqueurs, but basically the methods should remain the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T14:32:30.273" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T14:32:30.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6394" CreationDate="2014-08-07T12:33:06.667" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In case of ascending on a rockface it does not really matter which way round you use it. I put the chest-prusik above the foot-prusik, but this is only because of personal taste. By adjusting the lengths of the slings you can do huge steps in this configuration too. Even though this may not be desirable, as shorter steps can be more efficient (also up to personal taste, try it, find what suits you best).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of self rescue out of a crevasse, this is different. The main problem here is getting over the edge, where the rope has most likely cut into the snow/ice. To get over it you have to bring your foot-prusik as high as possible.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Put the foot-prusik above the chest-prusik.  Then get as high as possible until the prusik is stuck because of the snow. Then try to get the rope loose by pushing away from the side of the crevasse to get the foot-prusik higher. Then step into it, get the chest-prusik higher. Repeat until you can get over the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality I do not think this will be needed very often, as may have crampons and/or axes to help you ascend or in most cases your partner can help you get out. But for the worst case scenario its always well to know a way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small remark concerning ascending knots: If you have a biner, I always recommend using the &quot;Prohaska&quot; knot, which does not seem to be known in the english-speaking part of the world, at least I do not find any online reference. The advantage is, that it does not get stuck after being loaded, so no fiddling around the prusik to get it sliding along the rope again. And it is very reliable, not influenced by rope diameters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tti7t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The Prohaska knot. Image by alpintech.at (http://www.alpintech.at/wichtige_kletterknot.html)&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The Prohaska knot. Image by alpintech.at (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpintech.at/wichtige_kletterknot.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.alpintech.at/wichtige_kletterknot.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T12:42:49.273" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T12:42:49.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6397" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6398" CreationDate="2014-08-07T12:42:56.323" Score="10" ViewCount="563" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simple question, which has been prompted from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6395/2766&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What is a bloquers?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing it's some kind of prussik and it's a French term. But I'm not familiar with it. A quick google search returned no results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T16:50:41.717" Title="What is a bloquers?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;&lt;french&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6397" CreationDate="2014-08-07T12:56:00.927" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only assume, that it derives from bloquer which is french for blocking. What the &quot;c&quot; is doing in there I have no clue - but then, I am not a native french speaker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case there are several devices that are generally used for this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/multi-purpose-ascenders/tibloc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzls Tibloc&lt;/a&gt;, a very light device. But it is also very aggressive and may damage the rope so it has to be used with care.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are various blockers like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildcountry.com/products/ropeman-1-and-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Country's Ropeman&lt;/a&gt;. They are more sturdy and somewhat less aggressive towards the rope, but also more expensive and heavier.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/self-jamming-pulleys/micro-traxion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzls Micro Traxion&lt;/a&gt; which works like a ropeman but has a pivoted roll for less friction (especially useful when doing a pulley). It's not even heavier but somewhat more expensive.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T16:50:41.717" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T16:50:41.717" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6397" CreationDate="2014-08-07T14:41:18.023" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's what @imsodin said. Bloqueur is the french term for &quot;blocker&quot; in English. So when I talk about a bloqueur, I'm talking about blocking devices. The two that I use for ascending a rope are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/pro/rope-clamps-hauling-and-lifting/basic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Petzl basic&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/pro/verticality/rope-clamps/rope-clamps-progression/croll&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Petzl croll&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The use of French terms is a habit that I picked up from canyoning, which is by origin a French sport, so most of the terms used there are French.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately I can only speak decent French, my writing sometimes sucks (since it's been 5 years that I learnt the language and only use the spoken version of it nowadays).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So long story short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A bloqueur is a mechanical blocking device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that I prefer a bloqueur above the standard prusik is because in the situations that I need it (passing a knot during ascending or abseiling, switching from descending to ascending, ...) the bloqueurs simply work faster than the prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And to fully answer the question, &quot;bloqueurs&quot; is just the multiple of &quot;bloqueur&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extra addition: the mechanical prussik&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bloquers presented above all have teeth that will (slowly but surely) damage the mantle of your rope. There also do exist other kinds of bloqueurs, for example the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Ascenders/SHUNT?l=GB#.V9EMYfl95pg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Petzl shunt&lt;/a&gt;, which is known as the &lt;em&gt;mechanical replacement for the prussik&lt;/em&gt;. The advantage is that is doesn't damage your rope as much. The disadvantage is that it can slip when used incorrectly (training needed!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="3721" LastEditDate="2016-09-08T07:03:13.430" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T07:03:13.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6401" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-07T19:01:58.047" Score="6" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;By technical skills I am specifically referring to advanced ropework and rock climbing skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua&quot;&gt;Aconcagua&lt;/a&gt; is achievable with good fitness, equipment, self-awareness, medical skills and planning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which other &lt;strong&gt;notable&lt;/strong&gt; peaks are achievable under similar conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T22:27:22.130" Title="Which notable/challenging mountains can be ascended with few technical skills?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2014-08-08T05:05:10.953" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6401" CreationDate="2014-08-07T19:34:53.753" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Iztaccihuatl would use about the same skills as Aconcagua, but is lower altitude and can be done in a day, rather than the 2 weeks usually required for Aconcagua. I acclimatized by spending several days hiking on La Malinche. If you're interested in Aconcagua and don't have a lot of high-altitude/snow experience, you might want to do Izta as a warmup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point Lenana on Mount Kenya is high altitude and a lot of fun. It's not the main summit on Mt Kenya; the two main summits are technical. In general, the area of Mt Kenya is very beautiful and can be explored more casually than Kilimanjaro. Conditions on the summit of Pt Lenana can vary -- sometimes it's quite icy, and then you will want good ice ax and crampon skills. Guides are extremely easy to find and not expensive to hire; you don't need to hire one before you go to Africa. Climbing Pt. Lenana would take about 2-4 days, depending on how much of the mountain you want to see. I did it on the same trip as Kilimanjaro, which was cool but not as fun or beautiful as Mt. Kenya.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mt. Russell in the California Sierra Nevada is a very cool YDS class 3 traverse at pretty high elevation and with a lot of exposure. It makes a good 3-day backpacking trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a big snow climb in California, there's Shasta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2014-08-07T22:27:22.130" LastActivityDate="2014-08-07T22:27:22.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4813" CreationDate="2014-08-08T09:27:30.043" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to make an addition to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4815/2303&quot;&gt;the answer by @RoryAlsop&lt;/a&gt;. Namely the case where only ONE end of the rope is used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next to descending on both rope-ends at the same time, it's also possible to do it only on one end. This is for example done if you have very technical rappels where you need to use extra gear or lock yourself into the rope (in that case single-rope techniques prove to be easier).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example when to use one-rope techniques is when you are canyoning with other people (people of the same level, or even clients who don't have any techniques if you are acting as a guide).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A typical installation one only one end of the rope is given on the figure below. The big advandage of installing a rappel like this is that when someone gets stuck in the middle of the descent, you can still lower them from above without the need of special techniques.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dTa7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rappel&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the figure you see that the eight blocks the rope from going trough the two anchor-points. So the rapelling is done on the left end of the rope. Once you're at the bottom of the descent you pull the other end of the rope (the one containing the eight) to retrieve your rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notice that no material stays behind after my descent !&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T13:18:01.810" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6404" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-08T09:32:12.813" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Named after Austrian mountaineer &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Prusik&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Karl Prusik&lt;/a&gt;. A prusik typically involves looping a thinner diameter cord around a thicker cored or rope. In this way the prusik can grip the rope or cord. Prusiks only &quot;grip&quot; the rope when loaded, so they can be slid up or down a rope. They are generally used for ascending vertical rope or as a back up to a belay device (i.e. if the user of the belay looses their grip the backup will prevent the rope from feeding unhindered)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-08T15:45:20.873" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T15:45:20.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6405" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-08T09:32:12.813" Score="0" Body="A Prusik is a friction knot used to grip a section of rope. It is typically used for ascending ropes or providing a backup lock to a belay device." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-08T15:45:08.253" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T15:45:08.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6373" CreationDate="2014-08-08T20:08:58.423" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually it's looking like Bio-charing the waste is going to be the best option. Biocharing stores the carbon in the soil for over a thousand years, and there is a growing body of research on the climate mitigating effects of soil supplementation with biochar. You can also produce energy in this process which can be harvested electrically or as a fuel called syngas (which can power common lawn/farm equipment). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biocharing leaves just the carbon in a sequestered form so that nutrients can be reclaimed. Once in the soil, biochar provides a robust environment for soil microbes that help to store nutrients reducing the need for fertilizer. It also absorbs water helping the soil to weather drought better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3750" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T20:08:58.423" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-08T22:39:07.290" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might consider boiling it up with some berries, (suitable) plants or pine needles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of treatment tablets, there are neutralisers to sort the taste out, but they are not perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a double solution, you might want to try those effervescent vitamin c tablets. Orange is nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T22:39:07.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3482" CreationDate="2014-08-08T23:35:13.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For lowering on top-rope: Grab a quickdraw and attach one end to your belay loop and the other end to the belayer end of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For lowering on lead: Same idea, but you will have to unclip the quickdraws on the wall as you go down essentially cleaning the route before getting stuck on the quickdraw attached to your belay loop&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3752" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T23:35:13.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6289" CreationDate="2014-08-08T23:41:03.457" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild Country's nut tool has a spring leach with a tiny biner. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountrygear.com/wild-country-pro-key-nut-key-with-leash-silver.html?gclid=CKeQ87vrhMACFQowaQodXk4AeQ#.U-Vf0_ldVvo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;See here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ive used it many times and the leash provides enough length for almost any position and the spring keeps it closer to you body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3752" LastActivityDate="2014-08-08T23:41:03.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2014-08-09T04:38:52.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Propel Zero powder packs is what I use on backpacking trips once I make camp. During each day of hiking I only drink water and obtain needed nutrition through food. After I finish for the day I will drink 16 or 20 ounces of water flavored with one Propel Zero packet while I rest and setup camp or my area in a shelter. Then it's back to water for dinner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3753" LastActivityDate="2014-08-09T04:38:52.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3482" CreationDate="2014-08-11T09:13:28.480" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm presuming your on an overhanging wall here as if you can touch the wall you should walk down preventing this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very common to twist and spin a little when being lowered off overhanging terrain so don't worry about it! Keep calm and relax. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you tense up and try and correct any spining or swinging your likely only going to make things worse. &lt;strong&gt;Do not grab the wall!&lt;/strong&gt; You may well hurt yourself. Parry it away with your hands and feet but don't hold onto a hold. You could down climb (but this is likely going to become very tiresome very quickly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to let my arms hang loose by the side of my body and lean forwards slightly. If I spin or swing (providing I'm not going to hit anything) I let it happen and just stay loose. If this becomes too violent, your belayer should slow down or stop, let the swing finish then continue. The belayer should do this without you having to shout and tell them if they are paying the correct attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your belayer doesn't do this consider talking to them (ideally when you get down &quot;next time can you not do that, etc&quot;), they may not see it as an issue, but if you do they should adjust their technique according to what you want (climber is always in charge). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-11T11:10:08.863" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T11:10:08.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6413" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6414" CreationDate="2014-08-11T15:13:29.490" Score="21" ViewCount="6202" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started geocaching roughly a month ago and it's really fun activity to get into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a few questions (though one was answered already here &gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1845/3313&quot;&gt;What should be carried in a standard Geocaching bag?&lt;/a&gt;) but my main question is typically for the UK due to people nature here, though all ideas are welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far we've a small geocaching kit consisting of pens, extra paper and lunch bag style plastic bags to help protect damp logbooks (of which thus far we have found many). Sometimes we pick up a few small items that we add in - so far we haven't taken any items out of a cache - these were mostly small toys, coins, etc. This is commonly what we find in caches as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Most caches we find currently are small (excluding micro) with the odd regular. And per item we would look to pay £3 or less, as we can find 6-7 caches per day out, but price does not necessarily constitute value to an outdoorsman. I would reserve pricier items for harder caches (4-5) but we are currently only finding 1-3 rated caches.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am loathe to leave things like matches or fire starters or other useful outdoor tools such as that due to &lt;em&gt;idiots&lt;/em&gt; who might abuse them. Though once or twice I've seen a compass in the caches and think these are a good idea. Caches should be, I believe, &lt;strong&gt;useful outdoors items&lt;/strong&gt;, but to avoid caches being filled with toys and money, and wanting to overall improve the quality of my local caches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are considered good items to leave in a geocache? What items should be avoided?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T00:43:29.267" Title="What are good items to leave in a geocache?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-08-11T23:27:10.690" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-11T15:33:43.257" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;All under £3:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Fire-Spork-Pack-Colours/dp/B0013L2FGW&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spork&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jtbZz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;everyone should have a spork....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/vango-eye-light-91210048?id_colour=98&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vango eye light&lt;/a&gt; £3 bargain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kx7Vc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/vango-mug-230ml-93310061?id_colour=180&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vango mug&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tjN6Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-11T15:38:44.403" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T15:38:44.403" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-11T18:51:34.910" Score="8" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;button compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pencil sharpener&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;magnifying glass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(updates when I think of some more)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T18:51:34.910" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-11T19:14:44.767" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being in the military, I particularly like the idea of Challenge Coins (if you have the funding to put into it) as a geocaching reward. Places like this (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.challengecoins4less.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.challengecoins4less.com/&lt;/a&gt;) let you make your own, or you could consider buying a pre-made coin. They're small and pretty fun to have. I would definitely save them for a tougher find though, as they can cost 2-3 USD a piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-11T19:14:44.767" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-11T21:37:29.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A cheap ($17) camera! Would document geocachers, perhaps with instructions to take your pic! &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Zeikos-ZE-KDC31-S-Mini-Digital-Keychain-Camera/7585916/product.html?refccid=ITUARJN42ZE3NO2DIXUXW5DCUQ&amp;amp;searchidx=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Keychain Camera&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dx.com/p/stainless-steel-5mw-red-laser-pointer-pen-2-aaa-22336?tc=USD&amp;amp;gclid=CJW2qYCZjcACFUVo7AodylkAAQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Small laser pointer&lt;/a&gt;. Batteries last a long time, light shines long distance, and it's lightweight - great to help emergency crews find you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3763" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-12T07:38:33.273" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T07:38:33.273" CommentCount="5" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6419" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6420" CreationDate="2014-08-12T03:42:58.023" Score="8" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and followed the link printed on its back side (beaconregistration.noaa.gov). Following the instructions on the page, I am somewhat put off by the message displayed at the registration page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WARNING**WARNING**WARNING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is a United States Department of Commerce computer system, which may be accessed and used only for official Government business by authorized personnel. Unauthorized access or use of this computer system may subject violators to criminal, civil, and/or administrative action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All information on this computer system may be intercepted, recorded, read, copied, and disclosed by and to authorized personnel for official purposes, including criminal investigations. Access or use of this computer system by any person whether authorized or unauthorized, constitutes consent to these terms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;**WARNING**WARNING**WARNING&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not consider myself authorized personnel, but I cannot see any other suitable option for registering my beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I just ignore this message?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="3478" LastEditDate="2014-08-12T04:53:44.167" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T06:23:16.300" Title="Personal Locator Beacon registration - warning text" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6419" CreationDate="2014-08-12T06:23:16.300" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is actually a fairly standard warning message &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.csp.noaa.gov/banners/Banner-DOC.html&quot;&gt;for U.S. Government systems&lt;/a&gt;.  It dates back to a 1986 law (Public Law 99-474) and a time when it was considered necessary to display such warnings in order for computer crime prosecutions to be successful.  (Otherwise a person might argue they didn't know they were trespassing, or something along those lines.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it appears you can also register by mail or fax, I would have no problem using the online system to register a beacon.  It is the stated purpose of the site and consistent with the directives given both on the beacon and on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/faq%202.html#registration&quot;&gt;noaa.gov&lt;/a&gt; site itself.  If it helps, I would also argue that those instructions constitute authorization, though I seriously doubt you would ever have need to make that argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T06:23:16.300" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-12T08:20:51.670" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to drop some really useful outdoor items, consider that all plastic straps, strap side release latches and strap adjusters, as well as safety-pins, needles and threads, and other repair items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some caches may bless you for it if his/hers rucksack is damaged while hiking, and they have not repair kit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such things are cheap to buy in bulk, but if you need them they are very precious :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T08:20:51.670" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6423" CreationDate="2014-08-12T17:11:56.697" Score="11" ViewCount="547" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Ontario where I live and do most of my climbing the routes are not clearly marked.  Guide books also lack clear approaches and thus it just turns into a big guessing game of what route you're on and what grade it is.  With a new guidebook for Ontario in the works I was thinking I may approach the authors and suggest we mark the routes more clearly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have climbed at crags that have numbers written with what appears like black paint or tar on the rock face; another example is at Muir Valley in Red River Gorge, Kentucky they use engraved coins at the base of each route.  Some Spanish crags have a loose rock engraved and placed at the base of the route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the most eco-friendly/sustainable approach to marking routes with the least impact to visual scenery...I personally do not like painted numbers as it ruins the view, the silver coins used in Muir Valley are much less noticeable by hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some other ways of marking routes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Initial/Maintenance Costs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visual Impact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Environmental Impact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T21:24:54.907" Title="Most Eco-Friendly way to Identify a Climbing Route" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6422" CreationDate="2014-08-12T21:17:15.050" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about if you just take photos and post them on mountainproject or summitpost, along with verbal descriptions and UTM coordinates? Physically marking the starts of the routes is not compatible with a leave-no-trace ethic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T21:17:15.050" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6424" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6426" CreationDate="2014-08-12T21:24:50.687" Score="8" ViewCount="3279" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question reffers to &quot;single&quot; alpine climbing boots used for mountaineering with a stiff 3/4 to full shank, not heavy duty backpacking boots or &quot;double&quot; (plastic) boots. I have owned two pairs of climbing boots, both of which have caused foot pain and/or blisters on many trips. While climbing 3rd to 5th class rock or climbing vertical ice/snow, I appriciate the stiff shank and am able to stand in my crampons and climb in boots just fine with no pain. However, most of the climbing in my area requires long and sometimes bushy approaches on anything from level ground to steep hills. I find my feet start to really hurt on the approach (even more so on the walks back to the car) as the boots are so stiff and hard on my feet they seem to really pound with each step. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess I'd like to know, as the boots are designed for climbing, should I always just expect this when walking on flat/moderate terrain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T09:27:03.627" Title="Do alpine boots hurt when walking (not climbing)?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6422" CreationDate="2014-08-12T21:24:54.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Muir Valley is a privately owned area, so presumably the coins are acceptable to the retired couple that owns it.  Don't know about Ontario, but in the US (the Red River Gorge aside) most climbing areas are owned by federal or state governments who may likely have regulations against physically marking the starts of the routes (this is in addition to any leave-no-trace or environmental concerns).  You should probably work with a local climbing groups (who have contact with the land owners) to address this issue, rather than risk alienating the government agencies that control the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="651" LastActivityDate="2014-08-12T21:24:54.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6424" CreationDate="2014-08-12T22:36:10.257" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not entirely sure, but I think you are referring to boots like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain/nepal-evo-gtx&quot;&gt;La Sportiva Nepal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, while these shoes are as you mentioned designed primarerly for technical mountaineering, you should not expect these sort of problems. I did my military service mostly in these boots and we did a lot of marching on flat concrete. While this is a shameful misuse of great boots, it did not result in hurting feet. There are a few points in the design that make it less practical for flat walking though, but some of thame can be remedied:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You mentioned the stiff shank:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This gets a whole lot better if you do not tie the shoelace too hard in the upper shoe lace hooks and leave out the top shoe lace hooks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Much more of a problem is the stiff sole with almost no damping. This makes your walking very harsh to your knees. This is the main reason why I would not recommend these kind of shoes for walking. With time, you learn to roll as smoothly as possible while walking, but it still is quite bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But despite these two points, if these shoes fit, they should not cause hurting feets. Even in mountaineering you have to walk and they are designed to do this. It seems like the model you use does not entirely suit you. Very often a personaly optimized sole can help that problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summarizing: You should not expect hurting feets from walking in these boots, but they are not optimal for flat terrain. For this I advise to use some sort of approach shoe to personal taste. That can be anything from a running shoes to dedicated climbing approach shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-08-13T00:49:59.747" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T00:49:59.747" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6427" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6431" CreationDate="2014-08-13T02:23:04.400" Score="10" ViewCount="296" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the most common plants that can cause rashes when touched in North America?  What are the most important ones to be aware of and avoid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before coming to the US I was only familiar with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica&quot;&gt;nettle&lt;/a&gt;.  I've heard about poison ivy, but I had no idea what it looked like, how common it was, or how bad a sting could be.  Since then I learned to identify poison ivy and poison sumac and avoided them, but I got stung by something which was neither of the two (the severity of the sting was comparable to the nettle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, from a practical point of view, which stinging plants should one be aware of when hiking in North America?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3771" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:44:52.943" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:44:52.943" Title="What are the most common stinging plants to be aware of in North America?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6424" CreationDate="2014-08-13T09:09:42.587" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imsodin's answer is good and covers a lot of good points. One thing that is relevant here is Alpine boots come in 3 grades (to match the grades of crampons). You need to pick the right boot grade for the job you want it to do. Some trade off comfort (when walking) for ability when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;B1&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B1 one boots are softer and allow the most comfort when walking. This softness comes at the expense of technical ability though. You'll find yourself using much more effort when using your crampons, you should also only use your crampons for short period of time as the softness stresses the joining arm in the middle of the crampon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use these when your spending more time walking than using Crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;B2&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harder than B1 but softer B3. These are what most winter alpine boots are. They're designed for using crampons for extended periods. They have some flex but it's limited. The trade off for better ability with crampons here is the comfort when walking (especially without crampons)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;B3&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the stiffest. These are technical ice climbing boots. I wouldn't walk in these at all if you can avoid it. The soles will generally be solid. They are designed for front pointing with crampons on sheer ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Compatibillty&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A B1 boot can only use C1 crampons (typically only strap on crampons)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B2 boot can use C1 or C2 crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B3 boot can use C1, C2 or C3 crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are all rules of thumb. There is variations between brands, models, etc. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/getting_the_right_mountain_boots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick has written a good blog post on the subject&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=4385&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UKClimbing article going into greater details and some specific boots&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-13T09:27:03.627" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T09:27:03.627" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2014-08-13T11:33:36.163" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Books&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check charity shops, you can often get books for £1, or sometimes 4 for £1. Or any books you have read, and don't want to keep. You can pick relevant books, ie anything about the outdoors, or children's books for a family friendly cache, or something specific to the local area or theme of the cache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do have to be selective as to what books will actually fit in a cache. But there some reasonably large caches that will fit a standard paperback. It is worth putting the book in a ziplock bag, in case the cache gets wet inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can register the books on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bookcrossing.com/&quot;&gt;BookCrossing&lt;/a&gt;, which allows people to log them, and you can track them if they are released again. I have left a number of BookCrossing books in caches - most are never logged again. But a few are moved on to other caches, or left in the wild elsewhere, sometimes travelling great distances, and being read by many different people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T11:33:36.163" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6427" CreationDate="2014-08-13T13:50:41.880" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what I've found in the wonderful world of the internets: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buildablock.com/blog/poisonous-plants-to-avoid-in-north-america&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.buildablock.com/blog/poisonous-plants-to-avoid-in-north-america&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal experience living in the USA for 22 years says that there are more issues with thorn bushes than with stinging nettles. Most poisonous plants I've run into are low to the ground. If you wear pants (and are not extremely sensitive), you're almost always fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, on a side note: most hiking trails are poison-ivy free, as long as you stay on the trail and don't wander off. Unless you particularly enjoy brushing your ankles along the greenery, the hiking trails should keep you pretty safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T13:50:41.880" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6433" CreationDate="2014-08-13T13:53:06.343" Score="9" ViewCount="588" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was camping recently and someone was complaining that they were finding it hard to sleep, as their new self inflating mat was much more slippery than their old foam one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a real effect, and why does it occur?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a general feature of self-inflating mats vs foam, the particular design, a factor of age, or are they just imagining things?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be fair we were camped on a fair slope, but no one else had this problem (or at least didn't complain about it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-08-13T14:04:42.803" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T06:21:56.003" Title="Are self-inflatable sleeping pads more slippery than other mats?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6432" CreationDate="2014-08-13T14:49:50.547" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the reason for this difference in slipperiness is purely a factor of surface material. Most foam pads have a tacky surface finish. Inflatable pads, on the other hand, usually have a sturdy synthetic fabric as the surface. Fabric on fabric (sleeping bag on inflatable pad) will stick less than fabric on foam, unless the fabrics have been treated somehow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a legitimate effect to notice. I'm sure that somewhere on the internet you can find a coated inflatable sleeping pad, however the gain of friction on your pad will then come at the cost of additional weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T14:49:50.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6432" CreationDate="2014-08-13T17:01:25.280" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old person it seems like EVERYTHING is slipperier than it used to be. I'm not sure if new stuff starts slippery and gets less so, or if things are now made more slippery. But I have bought a new tent, new sleeping pad and new sleeping bags this year and between them - I had better set up on 100&amp;amp; level ground. I used the sleeping bag as an underpad on a cottage bed this weekend, fully unzipped, and have never moved around so much in a bed as I did on this sleeping bag's interior surface. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that the same chemistry that makes a fabric lightweight and soft (so it can fold very small) while still strong also makes it slippery (think plastic compared to cardboard.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T17:01:25.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6437" CreationDate="2014-08-13T18:29:14.513" Score="11" ViewCount="373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading through the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/aaj&quot;&gt;AAJ&lt;/a&gt;, and I came across a report from April this year when somebody died due to an anchor failure. The webbing was joined with some masking tape at the ends, instead of knotted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13200106101/Fall-on-Rock-Inadequate-Anchor-on-Top-Rope-Set-Up-Colorado-Boulder-Canyon-Happy-Hour-Crag&quot;&gt;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13200106101/Fall-on-Rock-Inadequate-Anchor-on-Top-Rope-Set-Up-Colorado-Boulder-Canyon-Happy-Hour-Crag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The editors note is as follows: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is — or should be — fairly common knowledge that webbing, unlike&#xA;  rope, comes packaged in this manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone ever seen this? I've been climbing a fair bit of time but I've never seen webbing come pre-packaged with the ends taped. It would be great if anyone can shed some light on where this practice happens, and why, bonus points if you can share a picture of what it looks like too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Raz&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T20:04:08.043" Title="Climbing Webbing with Taped Ends (where &amp; why)" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6436" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-13T19:04:52.140" Score="5" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning on camping on the beach in Florida. Since I will be on an island I have to pack what I can carry. I do not have a tent yet, and was wondering what I should look for in a tent for a Florida Beach. Current temp here 80-90°F (27–32°C) with not much wind on average.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3776" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:26.160" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:31:26.160" Title="Island camping tent advice" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6435" CreationDate="2014-08-13T19:54:11.233" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the first time I heard of this. But look at this PDF document: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/outdoor_safety/AnalysisHappyHour1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/outdoor_safety/AnalysisHappyHour1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently it is common practice to wind lengths of webbing onto spools and join lengths together (or &quot;splice&quot;) with tape of some sort!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the above document:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jTuUN.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo of both sides of the &quot;splice&quot; after the accident: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8Mwz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-08-13T20:04:08.043" LastActivityDate="2014-08-13T20:04:08.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6436" CreationDate="2014-08-13T21:29:48.687" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two options. You could buy a 2-season tent, that would be light(er than a 4 season for sure) or a tent fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tent fly would be ideal as it would be very light but I wouldn't use in some places where there are animals dangerous wandering around during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 2-season tent you can zip it up and sleep without the problem of snakes, scorpions or spiders coming to snuggle with you during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live, there are no animals to concern me, so I usually carry a fly from end spring to beginning fall and a tent the rest of the year. I only carry a full tent because of rain. I can also carry only my tent fly and poles, so if it's going to be windy but warm enough, I can shave some weight on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please keep in mind my answer is more of a generic answer, I don't know Florida beaches but I come from a country with similar kind of weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-08-14T09:50:33.880" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T09:50:33.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6432" CreationDate="2014-08-14T06:21:56.003" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's &lt;strong&gt;not the material&lt;/strong&gt; or fabric on the top it's &lt;strong&gt;more the shape&lt;/strong&gt; of the pad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most self inflatable pads are fully flat and even on top. The most other pads aren't flat because they have chambers. This gives a uneven surface of the pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my &lt;strong&gt;conclusion&lt;/strong&gt; is: You have less friction with the inflatable flat pad because of the surface structure, even with the same top fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T06:21:56.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6440" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6446" CreationDate="2014-08-14T07:19:54.360" Score="12" ViewCount="16814" Body="&lt;p&gt;So roughly a month ago my other half and I brought ourselves each a SOT plastic kayak, we've been out on the water for maybe 2 hours total paddling time, but mine filled up with water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We found a hole, approx. 1cm by 0.4cm, in the seam of the plastic in one of the two rear drainage holes, &lt;em&gt;too small to get your hand down easily&lt;/em&gt;. I am currently talking to the manufacturer about a replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However this has lead me to wonder (outside of warranty) &lt;strong&gt;how would I go about repairing a hole in a plastic kayak?&lt;/strong&gt; Varied sized holes, and temporary and permanent fixes, I understand will vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:54:25.117" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T22:58:04.533" Title="How do you repair a plastic kayak?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6440" CreationDate="2014-08-14T08:40:47.507" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen people use a soldering iron and a piece kf abs plastic to repair tears in the hull but the best answer is short and simple to use for small holes: epoxy putty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;just follow instructions on the packaging, fill the hole with a small (few mm) overlap inside and out and if you want sand down when hard and paint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T08:40:47.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6440" CreationDate="2014-08-14T09:25:34.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For from upto small leak holes to upto coin-sized holes, You can possibly use a Duct tape on the both sides. One more thing to add between the Duct Tape's point of contact is a filler like Some local Epoxy Compound product, or worst case a Chewing Gum (Chewed one :D).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a crack, you might just get it fixed by a Duct Tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T09:25:34.533" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6444" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-14T09:59:55.327" Score="9" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;I make heavy use of my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Msr-11780-MSR-WhisperLite-Internationale/dp/B000BBS49C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR Whisperlite Internationale&lt;/a&gt;, the version from 2010 or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Beh5bfXl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Virtually always I use unleaded gasoline in the small 11 fl oz (325 mL) bottle. I carry a larger bottle for carrying more fuel, but I find using the small bottle in camp is easiest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is once the level of the fuel in the bottle below 1/4, I can't get the stove to stay lit, regardless of how many times I pump it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that at this low level, if the bottle was sitting upright, the fuel tube and filter are sitting above level of the fuel. Of course I use my fuel bottle lying on its side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its quite annoying because there's always a decent portion of fuel I can't burn in the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do perform regular maintenance on my stove, though I haven't had to replace any components in a year or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any tricks for using the remaining fuel in the bottle? Am I doing something wrong?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3778" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2014-08-14T15:43:41.020" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T16:14:49.330" Title="How to use all the fuel in a bottle with a MSR Whisperlite Internationale?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6440" CreationDate="2014-08-14T10:59:26.993" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's quite common to melt in some plastic - but be sure to get the same as the boat is made of.  Most are PE so try to get some of that -- avoid ABS.  Kits are available (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.plentypupule.com/weldkit.htm&quot;&gt;random web example&lt;/a&gt;).  The general recommendation among people I know who've done this is to use a hot air gun rather than a naked flame.  You can also overfill a touch and smooth down later.  The repair will be pretty good for flat-water use, but will always be a weak spot to be wary of in significant white water and to a lesser extent surf. As you've got SOTs I'm guessing/hoping you're not doing much if any river-running so you should be fine.  Be sure to get all the water out first though, you don't want to trap it in there, and make sure the surface is clean before repairing it (e.g. of salt if you've been in the sea).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T10:59:26.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6440" CreationDate="2014-08-14T11:20:17.847" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main issue with repairing plastic hulls is that is that most adhesives don't bond very well to the plastic. For temporary repairs duct tape is the way to go. Its quite adhesive and waterproof. If the hole is too big use the duct tape to secure something else waterproof (e.g plyboard or plastic) in place. If possible try and do both inside and out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to do a permanent repair there seem to be two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westsystem.com/ss/molded-plastic-boat-repairs/&quot;&gt;Repair in a similar way to fiberglass&lt;/a&gt;. I.e. Sand the surrounding area and apply a fiberglass patch and epoxy. The one significant difference is that the area around the hole should be flame treated before applying the patch by lightly heating with a propane torch or similar. This helps the epoxy bond to the surface. Be careful not to burn your boat though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alternative, more conventional, way is to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.windriderforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=832.0&quot;&gt;melt/weld more plastic into the hole&lt;/a&gt;. I suspect this is what a professional would do if you asked them to do the repair. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Fixing-a-plastic-polyethylene-kayak-with-a-hole-/&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; another good article on it. For smallish holes you want to get some polyethylene welding rod (presuming the boat is polyethylene) for large holes you need to get a patch. The basic idea is to melt the rod into the hole using a hot air gun or hot metal. As you've melted two of the same material together this repair should be very strong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I'm mainly a dinghy sailor so haven't actually repaired any plastic hulls. This is just based on my general understanding of boat repair and reading the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T11:20:17.847" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6257" CreationDate="2014-08-14T13:58:03.027" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always found fake &quot;moulage&quot; injuries to be a popular activity. You apply the wounds then ask them to perform proper first aid based on the injury they see. One of the times I had my brother apply a broken bone moulage to me, then I just waited on the trail for our troop to hike by--they had no idea that I was going to be there. They had to treat the wound and then make a stretcher out of the supplies that they had on hand. Scouts also tend to enjoy being the victim and having their fellow scouts treat them--just make sure all victims are wearing clothes they don't care about, as moulage can be messy and stain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use simple supplies like starch, food coloring, red grease, petroleum jelly in recipes to create the makeup for the injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the recipes I use: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cert-la.com/downloads/moulage/moulage-recipes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cert-la.com/downloads/moulage/moulage-recipes.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the supplies will keep for indefinite periods of time once you've created them. The corn syrup based blood, however can go bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an actress that my brother and a friend applied wounds to for one of my short films. It called for bite marks and claw marks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J8AME.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info about application and recipes can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cert-la.com/cert-training-education/moulage/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; link (click the green links for application, kit and recipe guides).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3779" LastEditorUserId="3779" LastEditDate="2017-07-05T13:05:33.380" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T13:05:33.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-08-14T13:59:11.243" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;strong&gt;Greece&lt;/strong&gt; wild camping is illegal in general. The more famous/well known is the place where you camp, the more probable is to have a visit from the police. Checks more often take place during summer in islands and in general near tourist sites. On the other hand there are certain places where wild camping is silently permitted since it is a boost to their economy and other places that it is encouraged (eg Tilos) but these are the exceptions to the rule. &#xA;Camping is also not allowed in mountains but you will not find much trouble there, specially if you decide to camp near a refuge. Of course you are not allowed to make any campfire in the forest and specially in national parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3780" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T13:59:11.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6444" CreationDate="2014-08-14T16:14:49.330" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most things I can think of would stop it working even when full.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My one suggestion is, is the pump below the fuel line when on its side?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fuel line is the white tube in the picture. If it is in the middle of the bottle and the fuel is low it might not be submerged when the bottle is horizontal. Have you tried putting the bottle vertically or rotating it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9n0ax.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-08-14T16:14:49.330" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6452" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-14T20:21:11.730" Score="5" ViewCount="487" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently started sport climbing outdoors and was looking for some definitive safety information published by some reputable organization (i.e. American Mountain Guides Assocation, AMGA), but I couldn't find anything. Does a best practices guide for climbing safely exist online? If there's an organization that certifies mountain guides, they must have some written curriculum they follow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you buy a textbook on rock climbing, it seems most people get their safety information orally from someone who's more experienced, which results in lots of arguments (mainly online) and wide ranging perceptions of what's safe or reasonable risk. Being able to point to an authoritative reference would settle a lot of these disputes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example safety best practices question might be whether it is better to lower off anchors vs. rappelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T15:31:55.077" Title="Is there a best practices guide online for rock climbing safety?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6454" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6456" CreationDate="2014-08-15T14:25:31.520" Score="12" ViewCount="1416" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's imagine for a moment that you're solo hiking somewhere you've never been before and take a fall off the edge of a trail, injure yourself (to the point of limited mobility), and become entirely disoriented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, this is a scenario that could be avoided with proper planning and better practices. The best solutions would have been preemptive. Regardless, this scenario is where my question is to be asked from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're alone, injured with limited mobility, and lost. Assuming a normal load out (normal clothing, some water, a knife, etc.), what do you do to survive and make it back to a safe place? What are your priorities, and what is your course of action?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastEditorUserId="3626" LastEditDate="2014-08-15T15:02:40.340" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T18:24:11.407" Title="If injured and lost, what are your biggest priorities for survival?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;injury&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6454" CreationDate="2014-08-15T15:25:08.573" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two things come to mind above all else&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your mind &amp;amp; wits about you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With these two you can survive a ton of scenarios. Stay alert, don't let panic set-in, maintain a positive mindset and stay hydrated as much as you can. If you can do those above all else then good things will happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T15:25:08.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6454" CreationDate="2014-08-15T15:37:59.030" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Obviously, this is a scenario that could be avoided with proper planning and better practices. The best solutions would have been preemptive. Regardless, this scenario is where my question is to be asked from. (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Assuming a normal load out (normal clothing, some water, a knife, etc.), what do you do to survive and make it back to a safe place?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say the best planning is to make &quot;a normal load out&quot; adequate to keep you hydrated, fed, and sheltered even if you have to spend the night unexpectedly. On anything more than a casual stroll around the city park, things you should consider carrying include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At least 2L of water, preferably 3 in a hot/dry environment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Means to purify additional water (I carry chlorine dioxide tablets, they're very small and just go in my first aid kit. They purify a bottle of water in 4 hours.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enough food to survive for a couple days. Throwing extra granola bars in your pack is easy. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothes to stay warm overnight. Temperatures drop at night. It can also rain unexpectedly. Bringing a rain coat, rain pants, fleece jacket, long underwear, gloves, and a warm hat is a good start.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For longer hikes, I bring a small tarp, for even longer hikes I'd consider a bivvy sack. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50' of paracord can help if you need to improvise a shelter. Particularly useful with aformentioned tarp. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A headlamp is a must. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A good first aid kit, with more than just band-aids.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you should look at the 10 essentials, and make sure you have those and some additional gear any time you go out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now supposing you're actually well prepared as outlined above, your priorities are going to depend on the climate. In any emergency situation, your first priority should be to treat immediately life-threatening injuries &amp;ndash; severe bleeding, etc. Anything that won't kill you in the next hour should wait. Then, sit down, eat a good snack, drink water, and take a rest. It's important to be rested, fed, and mentally prepared to tackle the situation. It's easy to freak out in an emergency, so it's crucial that you force yourself to physically sit down and take care of your most basic needs before proceeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully you have enough food, water, and clothing that you can then focus on treating any injuries enough to enable you to walk for help. If you need to spend the night, look for a sheltered spot before it gets dark. You may need some water to clean the wound, so you should be looking for some additional water to use the purification method you brought with you. In a hot environment, water might be a higher priority than finding shelter. It all depends on the environment and context. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, the topic of extended wilderness survival is enough to fill entire books. Many organizations also offer wilderness survival classes which you might be interested in. But the most important thing is to make sure that your &quot;normal load out&quot; is sufficient to support you in the even of an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-08-15T15:44:05.133" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T15:44:05.133" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6454" CreationDate="2014-08-15T17:29:54.920" Score="6" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orient yourself to the situation. Admit that you're injured and lost, but stay calm. Don't fool yourself into feeling invincible, but recognize that you are in fact strong enough to survive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your current location and situation is a source of danger, immediately move to a safe location. It's better to be alive and lost than dead and not lost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stabilize your immediate physical condition. If you're bleeding more than a minor scratch, stop the bleeding and bandage it. If the injury is a broken leg, try to splint it with whatever is available. If you're in a survival situation, you want to keep your health from deteriorating so you can focus on improving your situation, not just fending it off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once physically stabilized, develop a simple plan. Unless you plan on living as a mountain man for the rest of your life, how will you find civilization and safety? How long will it take? How much water, food, and shelter will you need to find civilization? How can you aid others in finding where you are?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you make it to step four, you can follow most any guide to wilderness survival and reacting to being lost. The first three steps, however, are those that I would prioritize as the most important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T17:29:54.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6454" CreationDate="2014-08-15T18:12:20.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's next to impossible to answer your question in a classic &quot;if this/then this&quot; kind of format. There are so many variables and factors that would contribute to choosing what a priority is in any situation like this one. Many will try to &quot;armchair&quot; a situation like this, but really, it's better to have a &quot;toolbox&quot; full of useful skills and techniques that you can pull from when it comes to survival. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much water am I carrying? Where is the nearest water source? Is it hot out? What season is it? Does it get below freezing at night in this area? Should I worry about freezing or heat? Is my injury severe enough that it is life threatening? How far do I think it is to help? Am I on any kind of life supporting medication (diabetes/heart condition) and when was my last dosage? These are just some of the questions I would be asking myself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally speaking, some things that I could draw on from my skillset would be: I try to always try to have at least 750ml of water with me and collect and purify water whenever I can. I almost always have a sun hat with me in the sunny months. I could make some shade with my pack/hiking poles. In cold months, I usually have extra warm clothing that stays warm when it's wet. I have lots of first aid training and, provided I was able too, could possibly use some gear or clothing to fashion a sling/splint. I might build a smoky fire (if there was wood available) to signal for help and push my GPS locator (if I have one with me). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, the &quot;right things to do&quot; and priorities are very varied in these situations. Certainly, there are some things that (while basic) will be quite helpful to your survival: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay calm. Try to think rationally and logically despite the fear and anxiety that you are surely experiencing. Imagine yourself doing a task before you execute it and think about what the one to do after the one that you are doing will be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water is important. Ration or locate water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoiding exposure (to the heat and/or cold) is important. Make a shelter if you are staying put, or, put more sunscreen on! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use anything you've got in your &quot;toolkit&quot; to figure out where you are. Things like this could include: a map, a compass, the position of the sun, the direction/flow of a river, the position of the stars, the side of a tree that moss grows on (although, I tried this once with limited success), your elevation, your gps watch. (I find it strange that if I simply fell off of a trail that I would become disoriented. Although, this is something that could happen to anyone.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't have to do the above items in order. In fact, the order in which you do these things will depend on the time of day, your injury, your energy levels, and much more. You may not do any of these things and still survive. You might do all of them and die. I wouldn't think about that though and I would give the above ideas &quot;a go&quot; before just giving up and allowing my life to pass away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all else fails, cut off your arm. ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastEditorUserId="2568" LastEditDate="2014-08-15T18:24:11.407" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T18:24:11.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6452" CreationDate="2014-08-15T18:42:27.650" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some resources I found:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/rock-climbing-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/rock-climbing-technique/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/stawamus/bp-guide-rock-route-dev.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/stawamus/bp-guide-rock-route-dev.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Climbing_Technique.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Climbing_Technique.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason people usually share best practices orally and in person is because the experienced climber can correct the mistakes the student will make. No matter how good you are at reading, translating potentially life or death skills from a page to the rock wall is no sure thing. Some things can be learned by reading, but it will only take the smallest mistake to kill you or someone you're climbing with. Use resources like the above with a big grain of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T18:42:27.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6460" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-15T19:38:29.813" Score="7" ViewCount="1093" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm joining a rock climbing club that requires an evaluation test in order to become a member. (I think this is a great idea.) They have a detailed handout listing exactly what you need to know for the test, including a bunch of knots. Most of them I was familiar with, but one knot they listed was the slip knot, which I've never used for climbing. Googling turns up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/SlipKnot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;, which says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You might use it to sling a horn (&quot;chicken head&quot;) of rock for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the right way to do this? After you tie the knot, pulling on one strand (call it strand 1) tends to tighten the loop, but the other strand (2) won't support tension. Presumably you need to do something else to make it safe. Do you tie a stopper knot in strand 1? Tie the two strands into a butterfly? I'm assuming that in this application you wouldn't have tension on either strand yet, and you may only have access to one end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the slip knot the best knot for this purpose? Are there other rock-climbing applications of the slip knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-13T05:09:15.930" LastActivityDate="2014-12-13T05:09:15.930" Title="Applications of a slip knot in climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6484" CreationDate="2014-08-15T22:07:26.720" Score="13" ViewCount="736" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was doing a sport climb recently where there was a pretty good distance between bolts, resulting in long rope runouts. Falling before the next bolt could easily cause a person to deck on a ledge. Luckily, no one fell at this point, but it was very precarious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: What are some techniques, as a belayer or climber, can you do to minimize risk of injury in a fall during long runouts? For example, if the  belayer sees the climber falling, should they run back to take up slack quickly? I've also heard of the belayer standing on high ground so they could drop at the same time as the climber to take up slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume this is a sport (not mixed) route and no additional protection can be placed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="3345" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T12:53:04.000" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:16:57.457" Title="Dealing with large runouts during sport climbing" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6460" CreationDate="2014-08-15T22:48:26.397" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from the slip hitch*, you can also use a girth hitch or clove hitch to sling a chicken head (or similar protrusion).  The slip hitch will place only a single strand around the object, which may be helpful if space is limited or if you need the additional length.  It's very easy to remember and tie, although with practice a clove hitch can also be quickly placed one-handed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you mention the other strand won't support tension, I assume you also figured out that the slip hitch is structurally similar to a Reepschnur rappel; pulling on the wrong strand will cause the slipped strand to pull through and eventually there is no more loop.  This is why you should be tying it with a sling rather than the rope itself.  (And yes, you can also add an overhand in the sling if you want.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The slip hitch isn't one that immediately comes to mind when I think of climbing knots, although it might be the first thing to mind if I wanted to quickly hang some gear.  (When done, unhook the gear and just pull the strand to undo the knot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Technically any knot can be &quot;slipped&quot; by inserting a bight rather than the end of a rope; pulling the end allows the knot to be undone.  The standard shoelace knot is an example of a slipped reef knot (a.k.a. square knot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-08-15T22:48:26.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6460" CreationDate="2014-08-16T23:31:38.433" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slippery versions of knots/hitches are very useful in many applications, but have limited use in climbing. But there is one application for which I often use a slippery overhand knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In Sport climbing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm cleaning a sport route and need to rappel, I'll tie a slip knot in the rope (before I untie myself from the rope) and clip it to my harness so that I cannot lose the rope when I'm removing my gear and putting the rope through the rappel rings. (Of course I'm off-belay and clipped into the anchors with other gear while doing this.) The slip knot is great because it's quick, I can do it with one hand, and it doesn't have to hold any load for the short amount of time that it's actually tied. Once I've got the rope distributed through both rings and the ends are down at the bottom of the route, the slip knot is no longer needed and comes right out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In Arborist climbing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question was general enough to &quot;climbing&quot; that I decided to add this: In arborist climbing, sometimes putting a slip overhand knot in your trailing rope is useful as a backup to prevent an accidental descent. The  slip knot is tied in such a way that if you descend onto it (meaning your hitch/device is butted up against it), it gets tighter and stops you. If tied in reverse, it would simply get pulled loose when descending and your hitch/belay device hits it. When tied properly, the slip-knot is effective and easy to remove when descending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, I have primarily used this for beginners for tree climbing as an added backup for them, tying multiple slip knots under them in case they inadvertently descend. When they are actually ready to come down, from the ground I simply pull down on the rope to remove the slip knots and transfer to bottom belay as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-11T17:46:39.963" LastActivityDate="2014-12-11T17:46:39.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6466" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6521" CreationDate="2014-08-17T12:20:10.783" Score="13" ViewCount="11907" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically as the title states. I placed my tent under a tree at the weekend to give a bit of respite against the torrential rain while setting it up. Said rain has mixed with sap laden leaves (which I was unaware the tree had) and covered it in a sticky layer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if it will effect the waterproofing, but even if it doesn't the stickiness is something I would like to remove. For reference it is a big four man tent, 3m x 6m. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-08-12T08:53:16.943" LastActivityDate="2018-08-12T08:53:16.943" Title="Dealing with Sap on a Tent" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6504" CreationDate="2014-08-17T14:14:10.380" Score="10" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does garlic balance your blood pressure? Do we need to take that in case we have a long walk through a jungle for 2 days? Does anyone have experience on this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T11:06:12.140" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T12:22:35.480" Title="Does garlic balance your blood pressure on long walks?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6467" CreationDate="2014-08-17T15:14:03.770" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whilst I have no direct experience, garlic tablets can lower blood pressure, a clove of garlic itself will not have much of an impact unless you eat a lot of it. Other options are Cayenne Pepper, Green Tea and foods with a high vitamin C level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to raise your blood pressure then keep hydrated and your salt levels up. Fresh fruits with vitamin B will help as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not aware of anything that balances blood pressure as a single component, it is more a selection of foods based on what is needed at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine jungle would involve increasing your blood pressure due to physical exertion in the heat, but don't quote me on this. It might be an idea to have a word with a doctor before going to get some guaranteed medical advice based around your specific circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2014-08-17T15:14:03.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="551" CreationDate="2014-08-17T15:44:18.633" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to meet the minimum requirement in the hunting regulations. A crossbow has a different minimum poundage than a recurve for example. Go as high a poundage without sacrificing accuracy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3792" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2016-05-09T15:18:23.323" LastActivityDate="2016-05-09T15:18:23.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6466" CreationDate="2014-08-17T21:16:48.387" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is most likely not sap but the excretion from Aphids (Greenfly). They suck the sap from the tree and then excrete this sticky substance, often called Honeydew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be worth contacting the tent manufacturers for advice, but I would suggest careful washing first with just water and if that isn't enough, try with some soap flakes (like Dreft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-08-17T21:16:48.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2014-08-18T02:33:10.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got back from hiking Inyo county Bishop Ca. area call Sage flat and when coming down my outside knees began to hurt and by the time we got down it was hard to take steps. I hoped over night it would feel better so i could hike the next day, It did and we decided to take the lower trail which is flatter but again coming back i started to feel my knee again this time I met a hiker who was wearing nylon knee brace, the are a pull on over the knee with a hole over the knee bone with boning for support on the side he said they help him. also he said take a mussel relaxer if it gets bad and poles help too. today I made it back down taking slow wider steps lifting my leg at the knee higher that helped. Good luck and good hiking.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3794" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T02:33:10.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6472" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6473" CreationDate="2014-08-18T03:50:51.850" Score="20" ViewCount="18243" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I went camping this weekend and I bought a package of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johnsonville.com/lines/brats.html&quot;&gt;Johnsonville brats&lt;/a&gt; to cook over the fire. Many a person said that one should 'never bring raw brats to cook over a campfire', their rationale being that raw brats are dangerous to eat because of the possibility of bacteria and/or undercooked meat, but &lt;em&gt;moreso than other types of raw meat&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, if the brats are fully cooked (I checked, they were!), is there inherently more danger in brats vs other raw meats? Is it a 'pork thing'?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But more generally: assume that no external factors would make the food in question unsafe to eat (such as hot dogs being left out of a cooler - becoming a haven for bacteria, or woods that put off toxic smoke) - are there any foods that are simply &lt;em&gt;not a good idea&lt;/em&gt; to cook over an open fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3795" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:45:01.653" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:45:01.653" Title="What foods are unsafe to cook over an open fire?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6472" CreationDate="2014-08-18T04:35:41.647" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cooking raw brats over a fire is only dodgy because cooking brats well requires fairly precise (for a campfire) temperature control. Even with hot dogs, it can be a bit challenging to get the whole thing consistently cooked through without burning the outside. With a bratwurst, its larger size makes that especially difficult without some skill or tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are skilled and patient, you can however cook them over a fire, just like with anything else. However, because of the extra challenge, fully cooked brats and sausages are better. If your fully cooked brats you bought could be eaten right out of the cold package, then you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to pork vs other meats, pork was a bit more dangerous than beef because of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis&quot;&gt;Trichinosis&lt;/a&gt;, however to my knowledge in the developed world it is quite uncommon. This is probably why people in your group had that position. However, other common meats have plenty of other nasty critters in them, so it's debatable whether pork is actually any worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of the danger of a particular meat today is not so much the animal it comes from, but from its preparation. Even chicken meat can be consumed raw if the animal was well cared for and kept free of disease. However, unless you've sourced your meat from a world-class shop, assume it is crawling with dangerous microbes that must be eradicated via cooking, because it almost surely is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, all cooking involves the application of heat, so there is nothing that should not be cooked over a campfire, from a safety perspective. You'll just have to learn the techniques of campfire cooking and you'll be able to cook virtually anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T04:35:41.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6475" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6477" CreationDate="2014-08-18T08:23:28.680" Score="13" ViewCount="1770" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been using backpacks which did not have setting for Torso adjustment. This time around I have bought myself a backpack with such adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KFCce.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Product Link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.quechua.com/en-IN/five-stars/88/symbium-access-backpack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quechua backpack Product&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I still have not managed to adjust it neatly, as I found myself adjusting the straps all the time, and still ended up with an uneasy feeling with lower back and shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tips for how to adjust the torso setting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:29:38.903" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:29:38.903" Title="Adjusting the Torso setting for the backpack" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6481" CreationDate="2014-08-18T09:03:06.697" Score="13" ViewCount="1230" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.dk/maps/@57.5983563,11.8034825,22809m/data=!3m1!1e3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swedish skärgård located just west of Gothenburg&lt;/a&gt; is a beautiful place. I have travelled there a couple of times, taking the bus-ferries around between the islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are quite a lot of uninhabited islands, with some grass and rocks, and sometimes a few animals. I was thinking of the possibility of renting a boat and go tenting (camping) on one of these uninhabited islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should I be aware of if I plan to go camping on one of the uninhabited islands?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With aware I mean things that might be a problem which is not clearly obvious, that could be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it legal? (according to the Swedish &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikitravel.org/en/Right_to_access&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;right to access&lt;/a&gt; rules, I would assume yes but there might be some restrictions that I am not aware of.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there some special equipment that are would be good to bring?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Non-obvious dangers (desolate island, perhaps the tides may be a problem?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5PkfW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skærgården&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.naturvardsverket.se/allemansratten&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another link to Allemandsrätten&lt;/a&gt; for those that might be curious.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="187" LastEditorUserId="187" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T07:37:51.963" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T07:37:51.963" Title="Camping on a uninhabited island in Sweden's skärgård near Gothenburg" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6475" CreationDate="2014-08-18T09:20:11.437" Score="9" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Back length&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first one to get right is the back length; loosen everything off (so you can wear it but nothing is tight) and put the pack on and see how it sits. You want the waist straps to sit just above your hips. If they don't adjust the back length (up or down). Once this is set &lt;strong&gt;don't alter it&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other straps will likely alter depending on your clothing and what your carrying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shoulder strap length/Chest strap&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd put it on attach the chest strap and pull this into position, then  tighten the shoulder straps so that they're tight(ish). Then tighten the chest strap, you want the shoulder straps slightly off your shoulders so that some of the weight is distributed onto your chest slightly, this prevents heavy weight's pulling your shoulders too far back. The weight should be evenly distributed into a &lt;strong&gt;H&lt;/strong&gt; shape across your chest and shoulders with no one part (one shoulder or just your chest or just your shoulders) holding more weight than the other areas. This evenly distributes the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't feel pulled into any particular position, if you are they're probably too tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shoulder length&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last strap to adjust is the shoulder length (the strap behind your shoulder). This is designed to slightly pull your shoulders back and evenly distribute the weight across your back (i.e. so that the weight doesn't simply sit on your lower back). Pull these tight so that you feel the weight move up slightly (to the middle of your back) and doesn't sit too low. You should feel your shoulders being &lt;em&gt;slightly&lt;/em&gt; pulled straight and backwards (imagine your shoulder blades being pulled flat with your back, this should naturally adjust your posture so your shoulders are flatand your back straight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Waist strap&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The back length dictates this really. You can alter the tightness but that's it really. It should be snug but not tight. Waist straps can distribute some of the weight from your lower back to your hip area. they also prevent the bottom of the bag from moving around&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will likely adjust the shoulder (not length) and chest strap often, but if you get the others right these shouldn't need to much adjustment at all. Adding and removing clothes alters your bulk so you will normally need to adjust your pack too. Adding and removing weight will also naturally require some adjustment. Try not to fiddle too much though, get it into a good position initially and try and maintain this position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T12:12:58.137" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T12:12:58.137" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6467" CreationDate="2014-08-18T09:37:49.240" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Garlic and Onion are most common members of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Allium family&lt;/a&gt;. The Allium family members are known for by far the most common domestic methods to &lt;em&gt;reduce (Does not mean control&lt;/em&gt; / &lt;em&gt;Balance)&lt;/em&gt; Cholesterol, High blood pressure (hypertension) and the incidence of flu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garlic is a good Blood thinner. When chopped, most of the Allium family produce &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allicin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Allicin&lt;/a&gt;, which is strong in oudor (is that a reason they also repel flees). Basically its a compound that has antibacterial and antifungal properties as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garlic in addition to that also contains Garlic Sulphides (chemically speaking, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diallyl_disulfide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Diallyl Disulphide&lt;/a&gt;) which is a substance (under controlled manner) that works in relaxing blood vessels while also reducing any pressure, ultimately reducing the Cholesterol and reducing the Blood Pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along with that, Garlic also has the ability to stimulate Hydrogen Sulphide and Nitric Oxide synthase production, these work in relaxing blood vessels. But I am not entirely sure about this when I discussed this with a friend of mine who is a doctor. According to him, its still a globally debated topic if the Hydrogen Sulphide and Nitric Oxide work together and do the magic or they are mutually exclusive. But yes as long as you and I are not Doctors to debate about it, Garlic helps with Hypertension in numerous ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always been told that Sherpas always eat more Garlic-rich food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't say it balances the Blood Pressure. But yes, &lt;em&gt;should you be considering Garlic in All time best Mountaineering Diet?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Hell Yeah!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T13:01:29.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6472" CreationDate="2014-08-18T09:43:14.283" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pork should be cooked to a minimum of 63 °C or 145 °F&lt;/a&gt;. This is regardless of what type of pork it is. Providing that you heat &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; (including the center) the pork to this temperature or above, you will be fine and will not get ill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you should also let the food rest once cooked. This allows time for the heat to destroy all bacteria in the meat (with the added advantage of making it taste better!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could carry a thermometer if you're paranoid. As a rule of thumb though, if &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; the meat is steaming hot and too hot to touch, you're pretty safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that &lt;strong&gt;anything&lt;/strong&gt; that touches the raw meat will need thorough cleaning, or if it's food, heating to the same temperature. Cross-contamination is likely your biggest danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="9041" LastEditDate="2017-10-25T21:57:23.433" LastActivityDate="2017-10-25T21:57:23.433" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6472" CreationDate="2014-08-18T09:47:21.830" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be more dangerous simply due to the fact that it is raw - but this danger is real only in the case you travel with the meat for 2-3 days without proper cooling. If you cook it the first evening of your hike then it should be fine - and again, whatsisname's answer applies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer trips, I would recommend to take smoked sausages, something properly dried, or maybe try pickled ones. Also, the smoked bacon can be a good choice if you plan to carry it around for several days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T09:47:21.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6476" CreationDate="2014-08-18T10:24:23.373" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some considerations I can think of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Legality&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As long as it is not a nature reserve or a military restricted area, it should be allowed. You could probably check with some authority if it applies to the smaller islands as well. I would just try to contact &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/About-us/Contact/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naturvårdsverket&lt;/a&gt; or Gothenburgs tourist agency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Since its in the blatic sea, tides aren´t that high. However, also for changing weather, you should choose a campground at some distance from and some elevation above the coast - five meters above seem fine to me, but I am without any actual experience in this point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camping&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Those islands normally are nearly pure rock, maybe with a little bit of soil on top. If you want to sleep in a tent (probably a good idea, I imagine temperature drops quite fast for the night at the sea) it would be the best to bring a tent that is free-standing, so you don´t have to bother with pegs. Don´t damage the rock to get pegs in - normally locals and authorities get quite angry about that. Also, remind that the surface is likely to be a lot harder than forest floor, so bring a nice matress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most likely, there wont be any fresh water on the isles, so bring plenty. Also for cooking, and rinsing. To be on the safe side, I would bring about 4-5litres per person for one night with dinner and breakfast on the island.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rubbish&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It is self-evident you should take all your garbage. In this case, it would be sensible to pack out excrements, or at least the toilet paper, as well since the soil probably won´t be deep enough to bury it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun, and share your experiences afterwards!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="182" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T14:04:52.563" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T14:04:52.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6472" CreationDate="2014-08-18T11:12:03.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tinned beans, or any tinned food that is sealed. Nothing to do with food poisoning, it's because the tins can explode as the pressure builds up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3798" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T11:12:03.930" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6483" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:15:01.787" Score="13" ViewCount="3954" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is recommended after finishing a sport climb--lowering off from the anchors or rappelling ? Rappelling preserves the hardware better, but is usually thought to be more dangerous since you take yourself off-belay.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming the answer changes depending on the hardware at the top:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fixed carabiners (lower-offs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rap rings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chains&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eyebolts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I think it depends on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how overhung the route is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;whether the last person has seconded and cleaned the climb already or has to clean on the way down. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="3345" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T18:43:36.510" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T07:49:08.160" Title="Lowering off from anchors vs. rappelling after a climb?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6462" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:16:57.457" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your options are limited and I think you've mentioned most of the only possibilities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where the belay is and presuming it's at ground level you could get your belayer to run backwards as you fall or jump down off a small rock to take in the slack quickly (you've already mentioned these). This will likely slow you decent a little at best and only if your belayer can act fast which isn't guaranteed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend paying out less slack, this is likely just going to make it harder to climb and potentially pull the climber off. You could minimise slack as best you can but your always going to need some slack. Being able to clip quickly and easily is going to be very important if the bolts are spaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only other thing I can think of is &lt;strong&gt;bouldering pads&lt;/strong&gt;. As many as you can get your hands on, but one is better than none. Put them under the route. This will protect you up to a certain height (10M prob at best) but not beyond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a serious climb, then it just is. That's how the person laying the route wanted it to be. You need to make a personal decision on the danger and simply accept it and mitigate it as best you can, though any mitigation will be severally limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:16:57.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6485" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:31:00.763" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to the use or care of boats&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T13:55:58.770" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:55:58.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6486" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:31:00.763" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to the use or care of boats" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T13:56:05.170" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:56:05.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6487" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:38:00.833" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to camping where you are close to or next to your car, common examples would be camp-sites with set pitching and parking. This can be referred to simply as 'camping' (especially in the UK) with 'Wild camping' and 'Back-country camping' being the more adventurous alternative. Car-camping experiences can vary, depending on the amenities available - from almost nothing to shower, washing up, and toilets blocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T13:56:25.230" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:56:25.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6488" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-18T13:38:00.833" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to camping where you are close to or next to your car, common examples would be camp-sites with set pitching and parking." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-18T13:56:14.033" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T13:56:14.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6489" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-18T14:07:43.753" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to water that is safe for human consumption. This may be learning to recognise suitable drinking water, or how to prepare water to become suitable drinking water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T22:38:41.850" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T22:38:41.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6490" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-18T14:07:43.753" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to water that is safe for human consumption." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T22:38:41.850" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T22:38:41.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6491" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6493" CreationDate="2014-08-18T14:29:58.740" Score="10" ViewCount="8191" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all have discussed and read Hypothermia quite a lot of times and are aware of general concepts about it. What made me wonder the most was an incident about a mountaineer on Mt. Everest.&#xA;With the sort of wisdom I have, I still can't see why he is still alive (No offense, that is a great thing and I am awestruck as well as very happy for him) and how he made it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That guy was stranded, it was a team of two if I got the whole documentary right. And they did summit and this fellow here, got stranded and had a Bivouac between Camp III and Camp IV. Later in the morning he was found undressing himself and standing at a cliff which seems like he is totally out of his mind. He was later rescued by a team who gave up on the summit attempt and chose to bring him down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the situation, He should have died of the Hypothermia.&#xA;Is Paradoxical Undressing a later stage of Hypothermia? Because the actions/symptoms speak absolutely otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have anybody more study or information about this stuff? Yes, I can simply browse for it, but there is too much sci-stuff and physiology stuff said about it, and that didn't help much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can it be treated? Does the same treatment as Hypothermia helps to treat this thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T03:40:11.993" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T22:41:11.613" Title="Is Paradoxical Undressing a stage beyond Hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6491" CreationDate="2014-08-18T15:08:36.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Erm yes and no. With moderate hypothermia you loose rational judegment and do unrational things, like remove your clothes. But removing your clothes is not a stage of hypothermia as such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The symptoms of hypothermia are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Mild hypothermia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The symptoms of hypothermia can vary depending on how low your body&#xA;  temperature has become. The early symptoms of hypothermia are often&#xA;  recognised by a parent or carer. This is because hypothermia can cause&#xA;  confusion, poor judgement and changes in behaviour, which means the&#xA;  affected person may not realise that they have it.  Mild hypothermia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If someone has mild hypothermia (generally with a body temperature of&#xA;  32-35˚C), the symptoms aren't always obvious but they can include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;constant shivering&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;tiredness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;low energy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;cold or pale skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;fast breathing (hyperventilation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Moderate hypothermia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Moderate cases of hypothermia (generally with a body temperature of&#xA;  28-32˚C) can include symptoms such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;being unable to think or pay attention&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;loss of judgement and reasoning (someone with hypothermia may decide    to remove clothing despite being very cold)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;difficulty moving around&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;loss of co-ordination&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;drowsiness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;slurred speech&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;slow, shallow breathing (hypoventilation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People with a body temperature of 32˚C or lower will usually stop&#xA;  shivering completely. This is a sign that their condition is&#xA;  deteriorating and emergency medical help is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Severe hypothermia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The symptoms of severe hypothermia (a body temperature of below 28˚C)&#xA;  can include: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;unconsciousness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;shallow or no breathing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;weak, irregular or no pulse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;dilated pupils&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Someone with severe hypothermia may appear to be dead. However, under&#xA;  these circumstances the individual must be taken to hospital to&#xA;  determine whether they have died, or if they are in a state of severe&#xA;  hypothermia. Medical treatment can still be used to resuscitate people&#xA;  with severe hypothermia, although it is often fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hypothermia/Pages/Symptoms.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NHS website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="19184" LastEditDate="2020-01-02T22:41:11.613" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T22:41:11.613" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6491" CreationDate="2014-08-18T17:13:23.920" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Between the moderate hypothermia stage it has been noted that a body will trick your senses into thinking it is burning up. So you naturally begin to strip.  Here is a more direct answer from Survivaltopics.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A funny thing happens to people when they get hypothermia. Many of them strip off their clothes as one of their last acts before they die. This is common phenomena among fatal hypothermia cases and is known as “paradoxical undressing”.  Why in the world would someone who is literally freezing to death take off their clothes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here’s the answer from SurvivalTopics.com:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the key to what causes paradoxical undressing. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasoconstriction&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vasoconstriction&lt;/a&gt; occurs when the smooth muscles within the vasculature contract. This effort requires a steady input of energy in the form of glucose from the body’s energy stores. However, due to a lack of blood now travelling to these muscles, they eventually tire. As the muscles of the constricted blood vessels run out of energy, they fatigue, relax, and open up. This is known as vasodilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With vasodilation of the blood vessels, an infusion of warm blood from the core of the body rushes into the peripheral extremities. This causes the hypothermia victim to feel overly warm and to start shedding layers of clothing, contrary to the reality that their body temperature is continuing to drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The victim’s warm blood rushing from their core, coupled with the removal of warm clothing, causes their body temperature to fall even faster. This serves to hasten death from hypothermia and results in another case of paradoxical undressing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3803" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T04:12:14.653" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6494" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-18T20:17:29.457" Score="5" ViewCount="2072" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have looked into a number of solutions to power 12v devices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goal Zero battery packs (too expensive? $300+)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;12v sealed lead acid battery with adapter (too dangerous? impractical to recharge? ≈$50)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anker Astro Pro2 20000mAh (would this even work? ≈$80)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a Goal Zero solar panel which ideally I could use to cycle the charging of my power source(s) during the daylight hours. One of my use cases might be heating a large family tent and I don't really want to use propane as an energy source. Are there alternative (low power draw) heating solutions that might work for this use case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Assumptions:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm already bringing at least one fully charged Sherpa 50 power pack as I use it for several other things as well. So, I'm kind of trying to maximize its utility during the trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In fact assume any battery I bring will be fully (solar) charged prior to the trip and will (hopefully) only need a partial trickle charge during the sunlit hours.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An electric blanket adds insulation on its own even without supplying power.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An electric blanket has an automatic shut off after 30 min, and moreover will only be used intermittently during the night. I don't intend to draw 8 solid hours of power for this blanket each night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Additional devices I'm considering running on these batteries:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tablets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phones&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speakers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lights&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0002D6K86&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Frying Pan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electric blankets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air mattress pump&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anything else?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Extra credit implied question:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If one were to go all in with solar powered camping; what would the ideal core of that system look like?... and why?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3805" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T09:03:46.557" Title="What batteries would make sense to power 12v devices (e.g. blankets, lights) for camping?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3961" CreationDate="2014-08-18T22:16:54.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used the listed below website for as long as they have been around.  They provide very detailed and regularly updated maps from the national survey association.  I recommend getting a lamination machine and printing off these maps that are along the trail just before leaving for your trip.  The weight is no more than carrying the Guthook book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://market.weogeo.com/?lat=41.5507&amp;amp;lon=-84.8867&amp;amp;zoom=8&amp;amp;layers=BT&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://market.weogeo.com/?lat=41.5507&amp;amp;lon=-84.8867&amp;amp;zoom=8&amp;amp;layers=BT&amp;amp;page=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a quick video about the site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weogeo.com/support/WeoGeo_Basics.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.weogeo.com/support/WeoGeo_Basics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also never had any issues from them for viruses or malware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3803" LastActivityDate="2014-08-18T22:16:54.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6494" CreationDate="2014-08-19T04:35:05.137" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some back-of-the-envelope calculations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;12 volts * 4 amps = 48 watts * 8 hours = 384 watt-hours.  That's the minimum battery capacity you'll need to power this for a night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Goal Zero Sherpa 50 you propose to use will power it for about an hour, give or take efficiency losses.  To power the blanket for the night, you're looking for something more along the lines of the Yeti 400.  Solar charging is also a problem: you can only expect 4-6 hours of good sunlight unless you're constantly moving or re-aiming your panel, so you'll want at least a 100-watt panel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should never fully discharge a lead-acid battery: doing so will destroy the battery in only a few charge-discharge cycles.  For reasonable life, you'll want to work with the top half of capacity (deep-cycle battery) or the top 10% (automotive battery).  To power an electric blanket for the night, you'll want a 64+ amp-hour battery (deep cycle) or 320+ amp-hour (automotive).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;25 pounds of lithium batteries, 100+ pounds of lead-acid batteries, or just get a warmer sleeping bag?  I know which I'd pick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; In response to your list of additional gear, a Sherpa 50 cannot run the frying pan: it's got a current draw of 13 amps, while the Sherpa 50 has a maximum output of 8 amps.  The rest of your list is fairly reasonable, assuming the lights are LED and not incandescent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastEditorUserId="3112" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T19:40:08.607" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T19:40:08.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6499" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6506" CreationDate="2014-08-19T09:37:44.310" Score="15" ViewCount="2537" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering buying a personal locator beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I understand it they should only be activated in case of dire emergency. What happens if it is set off accidentally while at home? What about somewhere remote?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it makes a difference, I'm in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T02:02:17.843" Title="What happens if I inadvertently set off a personal locator beacon?" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6500" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-19T10:35:40.660" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is for questions seeking to know whether or not an item may be safe to eat. Questions can include the edibility of items which have not been sampled yet, and would like information before doing so. It can also be used for questions about items which are known to be edible, but have potentially spoiled or been found under circumstances where the edibility is now uncertain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a general tag and should not be used alone. Always include at least one or more specific tags regarding either the item, or the reason for asking the question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:34:52.577" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T22:34:52.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6501" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-19T10:35:40.660" Score="0" Body="Questions seeking to know whether or not an item may be safe to eat. This is a general tag and should not be used alone. Always include at least one or more specific tags regarding the item or the reason for the question. " OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:34:52.577" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T22:34:52.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6502" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-19T10:36:58.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing horses (Equus ferus caballus) or equine specific items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T13:28:54.340" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T13:28:54.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6503" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-19T10:36:58.723" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing horses (Equus ferus caballus) or equine specific items." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T13:29:01.127" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T13:29:01.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6467" CreationDate="2014-08-19T11:16:25.457" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does garlic balance your blood pressure on long walks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/08August/Pages/Garlicandhighbloodpressure.aspx&quot;&gt;Garlic is proven to &lt;strong&gt;lower&lt;/strong&gt; blood pressure&lt;/a&gt;. Not &lt;strong&gt;balance&lt;/strong&gt; it. Though this study also suggests that the  &lt;code&gt;this reduction was not large enough to be statistically significant&lt;/code&gt;. So no garlic does not balance blood pressure, neither does it (scientifically) lower it a significant amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overall, they found that garlic preparations reduced systolic blood&#xA;  pressure (SBP) by 4.6mmHg more than placebo. Although garlic reduced&#xA;  diastolic blood pressure (DBP) compared with placebo overall, this&#xA;  reduction was not large enough to be statistically significant. When&#xA;  the researchers looked only at the studies that included people with&#xA;  high blood pressure, they found that garlic preparations reduced SBP&#xA;  by 8.4mmHg, and DBP by 7.3mmHg. There was no significant reduction in&#xA;  either blood pressure measure with garlic preparations in studies&#xA;  including people with normal blood pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said, your question is based on an incorrect assumption: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do we need to take that in case we have a long walk through a jungle&#xA;  for 2 days&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your presuming that walking though a jungle will raise your blood pressure. It won't. When walking though a jungle your biggest concern should be &lt;strong&gt;dehydration&lt;/strong&gt; (your sweating a lot). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-pressure-(low)/Pages/Treatment.aspx&quot;&gt;Dehydration &lt;strong&gt;lowers&lt;/strong&gt; blood pressure (&lt;strong&gt;it does not increase it&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;. So &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; eating garlic will have little or no affect when walking though jungle terrain. Infact it might even make it (a minuscule amount) worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall Garlic intake will have little or no effect especially if taken over a short period of time. Taking large amounts of garlic over a long period of time &lt;strong&gt;may&lt;/strong&gt; reduce your blood pressure a small amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-27T12:22:35.480" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T12:22:35.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6472" CreationDate="2014-08-19T11:24:58.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;not particularly, there are however meats which are safer than others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: solid chunks of beef only needs to be seared.(still a good idea to cook through but less important) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid confusion: this does not mean you can eat rotting beef but if it's not rotten, beef doesn't contain parasites all the way through and normally it's only the surface you need to worry about. minced meats have had any bacteria that were on the surface mixed into the center so always need to be cooked through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.food.gov.uk/northern-ireland/nutritionni/niyoungpeople/survivorform/dontgetsick/cooking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cooking food properly will help make sure that any harmful germs are killed. Eating food that isn't properly cooked could make you ill.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's fine to eat steaks and other whole cuts of beef and lamb rare, as long as they have been properly cooked and sealed on the outside.&#xA;  Steaks are usually sealed in a frying pan over a high heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's important to seal meat to kill any germs that might be on the&#xA;  outside. You can tell that a piece of meat has been properly sealed&#xA;  because all of the outside will have changed colour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Minced meats such as burgers should also not be eaten rare. Pork&#xA;  joints and rolled joints shouldn't be served rare. To check these&#xA;  types of joints are properly cooked, skewer the centre of the joint.&#xA;  The juices shouldn't have any pink or red in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Remember, you shouldn't eat these types of meat rare:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;poultry pork burgers, sausages, chicken nuggets rolled joints kebabs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;minced meat of any kind, like in brats, you need to be much more careful to cook all the way through. Though pork and chicken need to be cooked all the way through no matter what.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:&#xA;Some of the other comments talk about cooking in half opened tin can. DO NOT DO THIS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;many cans have a plastic coating on the inside which isn't supposed to be heated over a fire and can contaminate the food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talk-can-dont/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Can-Don't: Cooking Canned Foods in Their Own Containers Comes with Risks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;In order to prevent any such leaching—which is bad for the food and&#xA;  eater but also for the can (as it can cause corrosion)—the insides of&#xA;  most cans on grocery shelves today are coated with food-grade epoxy.&#xA;  But these liners have been shown to contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) and&#xA;  other potentially harmful chemicals. BPA is a synthetic plastic&#xA;  hardener that has been linked to human reproductive problems and an&#xA;  increased risk of cancer and diabetes. &quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3808" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T03:54:14.873" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T03:54:14.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6499" CreationDate="2014-08-19T14:38:47.293" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're not very easy to activate. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3s5cRPTLw&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a video showing how to activate the one I own. It's a multi-step process. You have to flip up a tab (which I think involves cracking a thin plastic connection), use the tab to pull off the cover, unfurl the antenna, and then press the on button, which is hidden until you get the cover off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I did find a description &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bcusers.com/safety-in-the-backcountry/what-happens-when-you-accidently-activate-your-plb-personal-locator-beacon/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; of what happened when a skier accidentially activated his. Apparently he had his PLB in his pocket during a ski run, and somehow knocked the cover off, didn't realize that the cover was off, and then the &quot;on&quot; button got pressed. Seems like a very unlikely sequence of events, but I guess out of some large number of users, freak accidents like this are going to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happened next in his case was that the Air Force called his wife, his wife called him on his cell phone, and they were able to straighten things out over the phone. He wasn't fined or thrown in jail. Presumably the Air Force called his home phone because he'd supplied that phone number when he registered the unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you accidentally activate it somewhere that you can't be contacted by phone, then I don't see any way for them to distinguish that from a real emergency. The most serious consequences would then be for whoever's trying to rescue you. If it's a volunteer search and rescue team, then they have to leave work, roll out of bed or whatever, head off into the wilderness, and possibly put themselves in danger searching for you. It's very common for search and rescue teams to get hurt, especially in mountain environments. You want to be very careful not to put these folks in danger unnecessarily. There are probably two reasonable options if you do activate it unnecessarily and don't have phone contact. (1) You could hike out to where you can get phone service and prevent a search from being initiated. (2) You could stay put and make it easy for them to find you. This is what is usually advised in an actual emergency: just stay put.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-08-19T18:32:53.260" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T18:32:53.260" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6499" CreationDate="2014-08-19T17:53:02.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing you need to answer this question is to know who will be responding when your beacon goes off. The beacon manufacturer should be able to provide you with this information. Then you can find out what their policies are in regards to false alarms. The responsder may vary depending on where you are traveling. Often, the very first response is to contact an emergency contact phone number you provide when you register the unit, to find out whether it is a false alarm or not. In this case, you tell them it was an accident, and the case is closed with no more trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you do set it off accidently, and know that it happened, your best option is to make sure everyone knows it was an accident as quickly as possible. If it happens at home, immediately contact the responders, and let them know what happened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it happens somewhere remote, you may still be able to call and let them know what’s happened. If you can’t, stay put until the rescuers come. You’ll need to apologize, and depending on their policies, maybe pay for their time and expense. But by staying in your last known location, you will have minimized their time and trouble to reach you.  You may be facing fines and rescue costs for a false alarm, but at least you minimized the rescue costs. Also, a lot of agencies won’t fine you for an accident, because they don’t want to discourage people from carrying beacons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it happens somewhere remote, and you don’t know that it’s happened, your rescuers will be relying on the plans you left before heading out (you did leave detailed written plans, right?). This will still let them find you fairly easily because they know where you expect to be. In either of these two cases, some agencies will charge you for the rescue, some won’t. If no one knows where you might be, except for a last known point, and a rescue has to start a serious search, it could get expensive, and a lot more groups will charge you because their expense was high, and you failed to follow the good practices that would help them minimize the cost (not setting off the beacon in the first place, and not letting someone at home know where you were going).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the models I’ve seen are very hard to set off accidentally, and if you store it and pack it with reasonably care, it won’t happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is in the US. Rescue policy is determined very regionally, often on a park by park, or at most state by state basis. I’ve got no idea how it would be handled in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T17:53:02.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6483" CreationDate="2014-08-19T18:01:46.427" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This, probably more than any issue in climbing, has generated more discussion, heated debates, and vitriol (especially on the internet) than any other issue in climbing. Both sides (lower vs. rappel) are equally ardent in their belief that their way is the One True Way. Unfortunately, both sides are wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My rule is simple: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Climber's choice&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. You should choose the method you prefer and believe is safer, and you should do it the same way each time to minimize the chance of a serious climber error. (You should still know both ways.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are the last climber going up and will clean a route, it's important to tell your belayer what you intend before you leave the ground. This way, both parties have a clear idea of what will happen. This can be helpful if communication is hard from the top, and decreases the chance of a miscommunication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get to the top, your command to your belayer should be clear and completely unambiguous:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Off belay&quot;: I will rappel, you can take me off belay and go do something else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Slack&quot;: Just give me slack (for a lower). I don't say &quot;in direct&quot; because some belayers may misinterpret that to mean off belay (I've trained that out of anyone that belays me regularly, but you never know).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tradeoffs roughly fall into three categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Speed&lt;/strong&gt;: lowering is significantly faster.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety&lt;/strong&gt;: when done correctly, both are equally safe. However, lowering tends to have slightly fewer steps where you can mess up and more places where you can &quot;double check&quot; yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ease when cleaning draws&lt;/strong&gt;: lowering is significantly easier because the belayer controls your descent and can help pull you back into the wall on steep climbs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equipment&lt;/strong&gt;: rappelling puts &lt;em&gt;slightly&lt;/em&gt; less wear on the fixed anchor and the rope. Most rap-vs-lower arguments revolve around wear and tear on the anchor; as long as you're not top-roping directly off the anchor this is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, in regularly visited areas I almost always lower. It's my choice, but if I'm belaying someone who wants to rappel I do as they wish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some exceptions to the &quot;climber's choice&quot; rule would be if the area's guidebook says otherwise, or if the local climbers all rappel (&quot;do as the locals do&quot; is always a good rule of thumb). In seldom-visited areas, I generally rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T18:01:46.427" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6517" CreationDate="2014-08-19T18:16:54.490" Score="10" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming up with emergency information for a recent trip got me thinking: What information &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; you leave with your emergency contact?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine the answer depends on the length of the trip, remoteness of the area, how much your plans are set in stone, etc... Some things I ended up coming up with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expected departure and return&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Date &amp;amp; time to consider overdue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment information: color of clothing, packs/tents, helmets/ropes/climbing, etc...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rough itinerary&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;List of potential hikes/climbs/etc..&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:02:55.303" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:02:55.303" Title="What information to leave with your emergency contact?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;emergency-contact&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6513" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6520" CreationDate="2014-08-19T18:59:29.537" Score="9" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're a family of 4 - two adults, one toddler and one infant (5 months) recently moved to the US for a year. We'd like to go camping for a few long weekends this month and next on the East coast (as far North as Acadia) but need to buy gear because we've left most of our stuff at home.&#xA;Can anyone provide some recommendations for essential kit? Currently I'm looking at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6 man tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air Bed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2x adult summer sleeping bags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleeping bag liners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sunshade, picnic blanket, bug spray, head torches, stove, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what to put the kids to sleep in, though and not sure about sleeping mats, etc for them. Can anyone advise me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3810" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-08-21T07:32:40.807" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T20:31:47.590" Title="Gear for Car-camping with 2 small children" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6512" CreationDate="2014-08-19T19:16:57.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the more specific you can be about what route you'll actually be taking the better, but the most important detail is nailing down the trailhead or launch point you're going to begin your trip from. This usually establishes a good starting point to work from in any kind of emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should establish the time that you expect to return, your emergency contact should use good judgement to determine wether or not you're overdue. If you're going on a seven day backpacking excursion, it wouldn't be unreasonable for you to end up needing an extra day. But if you're just doing a 2 hour loop on a Sunday morning and you're nowhere to be seen come dinner time, then it's time to sound the alarm now isn't it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, just the usual list: itinerary, colors of clothing and equipment, whether or not you have a GPS or a radio, etc ( which you probably should ). You get the idea. The more accurate your information is, the better your chances of receiving help in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T19:16:57.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6512" CreationDate="2014-08-19T22:15:54.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;These two you mentioned are very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expected departure and return&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Date &amp;amp; time to consider overdue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just saying what time you're expected back isn't enough. If I'm going in an area that has any level of danger, I tell people when I expect to make contact, and when to call 911.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-08-19T22:15:54.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6499" CreationDate="2014-08-20T02:02:17.843" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Australia, you are advised to call the Rescue Coordination Centre on 1800 641 792 if possible to ensure a search and rescue operation is not commenced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amsa.gov.au/search-and-rescue/rcc/&quot;&gt;http://www.amsa.gov.au/search-and-rescue/rcc/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T02:02:17.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6512" CreationDate="2014-08-20T08:01:44.910" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If something goes wrong, the information you provide your emergency contact will be the starting point for the information Search and Rescue groups use to look for you.  Much of this information will remain the same for multiple trips and some will be trip-specific.  The items I list won't be comprehensive, but rather a selection of items from an online trip-report form that was created for just this purpose.  Thus, you can prepare in advance a packet with most of the information and just update the trip details each time you head out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Identity Information&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Name, age, sex, height, weight, hair and eye color.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any medical conditions, medications, or allergies?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A recent picture of yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you a skilled hiker, a novice kayaker, regularly climb 5.13 trad or stick only to trails?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much first aid knowledge do you have?  What about navigation and survival knowledge?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Local Agencies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your emergency contact can always call the local emergency number, but contact information for the Sheriff's office (or appropriate local agency) where you'll be starting your hike may be more useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transport&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you taking a car, bus, train, plane, or llama to the trailhead?  For personal vehicles, the make, model, color, and license plate number are helpful.  (If you take a bus, the driver or other passengers might remember you.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Itinerary&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A map with your expected route highlighted is most convenient.  Alternate routes, expected campsites, and potential side trips should also be noted.  You should have a rough idea when you'll start, when you'll return, and generally how quickly you cover ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Communications&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What navigation or signalling equipment do you have?  If a PLB, is it registered?  If a cell phone or two-way satellite messenger (InReach, Spot, etc.), what type is it and what's the contact information? Is there a URL where it displays its location?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equipment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to list every item, but larger items are easier to spot and smaller items may be found by searchers.  An easy way to inventory is to simply lay everything out on the floor and take a picture.  While you're doing this, it's also good to note your shoe size, model, and include a picture of the soles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T08:01:44.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6494" CreationDate="2014-08-20T09:03:46.557" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend has made a camping power box that uses (two?) car batteries to store the power. Instructions for making something similar can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://graywolfsurvival.com/2302/a-simple-prepper-camping-solar-acdc-powerbox/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and probably many other places. This more than supplies our needs including phones, lights, radio and electric 'fridge'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major issue is getting enough solar power to recharge it particularly when it is not sunny the entire day. IIRC his setup currently has 2 ~40W panels which just about do the job provided the weather is decent and you don't use too much power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously this setup is not appropriate for backpacking as it weights 5-10kg and lies in a tool box plus two large solar panels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T09:03:46.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6452" CreationDate="2014-08-20T14:39:21.807" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does a best practices guide for climbing safely exist online?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To learn safety you need a &lt;strong&gt;practical introduction&lt;/strong&gt; by someone you're sure knows what they're talking about. Techniques can vary considerably between country and country and climbing techniques, e.g. it's common to use two half ropes in the UK. This is less common in other parts of the world. This leads to conflict (especially online) as what one country deems safe acceptable behaviour another country views as dangerous and sometimes bizarre. Sometimes this is for very good reason. Terrain and weather varies considerably, what is perfectly fine on a long straight bolted pitch in California may well be problematic on a meandering, wet, cold day, trad leading in the highlands of Scotland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nearest thing to a (international) standard on this kind of thing is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt;. A countries climbing federation (for example the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BMC&lt;/a&gt;). Are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/training-standards.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;accredited (or not) by the UIAA&lt;/a&gt;. This is an &lt;strong&gt;attempt&lt;/strong&gt; to standardise the information internationally, see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/mission.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mission statement&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The UIAA promotes the growth and protection of mountaineering and&#xA;  climbing worldwide by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;preserving their spirit and traditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;advancing safe and ethical mountain practices&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;promoting responsible access, culture and environmental protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;supporting youth participation and the Olympic movement&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your best bet is to get in touch with your nearest UIAA accredited mountaineering federation and ask about safety courses. This will teach you the actual (not bad habits) proper safe way to do things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is a climbing club. Climbing clubs will be full of knowledgeable people who can teach you lots (not just safety). You're also going to have a better idea they know what they are doing. Just because someone says something forcefully does not make it correct. I've been told all sorts of odd things over the years, some of which are correct but a scary amount were plain wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-20T15:31:55.077" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T15:31:55.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6513" CreationDate="2014-08-20T14:44:51.277" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used Outdoor/Indoor Protective Flooring interlocking Mats inside the tent ($20) (above ground sheet) insulates, soft enough to sleep on.&#xA;Toddlers like this from experience (good for naps too)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lgtVJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;thermal rest (roller mat) $30 -$200 each depending on climate&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTvCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baby can sleep with lots of cotton blankets wrapped up&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This mother blogs about it&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventurousparents.com/2013/06/09/10-tips-for-camping-with-a-baby/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://adventurousparents.com/2013/06/09/10-tips-for-camping-with-a-baby/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;note:take extra nappies/diapers...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2601" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T14:44:51.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6466" CreationDate="2014-08-20T17:01:50.613" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;From experience with small sections I have used hand sanitizer and it works.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My parents used to use baking soda for our pop up camper.  It was a thicker material then a tent, but it cleaned and absorbed a lot of sticky substances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3815" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T17:01:50.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6522" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6525" CreationDate="2014-08-20T17:51:11.727" Score="11" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;We'll be camping at Yellowstone for a week.  What solutions are there to get weather forecasts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;NOAA weather radio: would prefer to avoid if there's anything better because it's bulky and costly (for something that's only used this once and only works in the US)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Smartphone + data plan: do not have a smartphone&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sign up for text message alerts: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.com/mobile/textmessaging.html&quot;&gt;weather.com had a service&lt;/a&gt;, but despite the still existing webpage it appears to be discontinued (no command works and calling support plays a message saying that subscriptions are discontinued).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other simple solutions that I may have missed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My cell phone does have a standard FM receiver built in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3816" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:49:00.300" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:49:00.300" Title="How to get weather forecasts at Yellowstone?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;yellowstone&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6522" CreationDate="2014-08-20T21:33:44.547" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A forecast should be posted daily at all ranger stations and visitor centers in the park. This will be the most reliable (i.e. not dependent on technology) way to get an up-to-date forecast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the National Weather Service website, it says the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The National Weather Service does not provide direct email/SMS alerts to the general public.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they do have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.gov/subscribe&quot;&gt;a list of alternative sources for weather alerts&lt;/a&gt; via SMS and email. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://profile.weather.com/#/registration/home-location&quot;&gt;text service by weather.com&lt;/a&gt; looks to be the most promising from what I can see. It appears to be much more up-to-date than the weather.com page you linked to, perhaps it's superceded the page you found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most cell carriers allow you to send and receive very short emails via text message. If you send a new text message to an email address instead of a phone number, you'll see what email address corresponds to the phone. For example, mine is &lt;code&gt;&amp;lt;myphonenumber&amp;gt;@vzwtexts.com&lt;/code&gt;. You could then use that email address to subsribe to weather alerts if you find a service you like that isn't available via SMS but is available via email.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-08-20T21:33:44.547" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6526" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-21T07:58:40.560" Score="12" ViewCount="912" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm toying with the idea of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation_trap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;collecting water from tree leaf transpiration&lt;/a&gt;, while hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oBWZf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, vegetation with larger leaf surface area (and certain types) would be better than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But is it useless to try and collect water from trees during the night? Do trees not transpire as near as much during the night as the day - or maybe not at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if you are thru-hiking, daytime tree water collecting is simply not possible (as a principal water source at least), it could only possibly be done at night time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how practical might this idea be? Perhaps it is more practical in certain climates but not others?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2189" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2189" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:34:38.427" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T03:17:49.710" Title="Is it possible to 'moisture trap' from trees while thru-hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6526" CreationDate="2014-08-21T09:48:42.070" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tree's generate water as part of the respiration process (not to be confused with photosynthesis which is different). This happens at night and day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IXBAk.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is relatively static day or night. Photosynthesis alters dependant on sunlight, respiration (being the process of producing energy) does not. Respiration will alter dependant on the time of year, i.e. in winter a tree may be dormant with no leaves, etc. and respiration almost stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not going to be able to generate anywhere near enough water using this method, regardless of the time of day. This is a useful survival method but that's it. &lt;strong&gt;do not rely on it as a source of water&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trap you show above is likely to produce a few &lt;strong&gt;ml of water per day&lt;/strong&gt; regardless of climate. You're likely going to need several &lt;strong&gt;litres&lt;/strong&gt; of water per day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find any exact figures on the amount of water you're going to get but this &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation_trap#Condensation_Trap_Efficiency&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; describes a condensation trap much larger than the one you describe that yields very low volumes of water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Condensation traps are not in themselves a sustainable source of&#xA;  water; they are sources for extending or supplementing existing water&#xA;  sources or supplies, and should not be relied on to provide a person's&#xA;  daily requirement for water, since a trap measuring 16&quot; in diameter by&#xA;  12&quot; deep will only yield around 100 to 150 ml per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-21T16:19:40.423" LastActivityDate="2014-08-21T16:19:40.423" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6528" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6529" CreationDate="2014-08-21T10:40:27.087" Score="11" ViewCount="635" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trekking nearly for a decade now and all those years I have never had a tent with me. It was roughly a couple of years ago, I bought my first tent. :-)&#xA;I had always relied on natural caves and structures. Sometimes I still do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was very recently that I had gone for a long jungle trek with a fellow and we were supposed to reach a cave before sunset. But we got stranded and would have had to stay up in the middle of nowhere in the forest. We had all the stuff except for a shelter. So I could somehow manage to get an idea of where we needed to go and then we set a small campfire, cooked our food and walked into the forest to reach the cave something around 3 am. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This idea still tickles me what I could have done, or anybody can do, to make a shelter without wasting much of the time and energy, especially when it's raining. Has anybody tried making a kind of thing that comes closer to what a tent looks like?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a personal note, I would love to try that instead of staying up in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:54:19.697" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:54:19.697" Title="Setting up a shelter" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6528" CreationDate="2014-08-21T11:08:08.800" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of shelter you can build will depend on &lt;strong&gt;what is around you at the time&lt;/strong&gt;. If you are in a forest or woodland you will obviously have more to utilise than in a desert or moorland, but from &lt;em&gt;my own experiences&lt;/em&gt; I've built shelters in British deciduous and coniferous woodlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During Girl Guides (bit like Scouts) and school based Team Building weeks we would build shelters (this kind sometimes called a 'lean to') mostly comprising of sturdy sticks leaning against a tree branch that had grown horizontally, then cover this with branches that still had their leaves on. Using a horizontally growing branch helped give the shelter structure but you can use two smaller trees even, there are plenty of variations. The thicker and type of foliage on top of the shelter though the less likely you will get dripped on by water - and obviously it will keep you a bit warmer in colder climes. But these kind of structure you can see throughout British woodlands as often kids build small ones as 'dens'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would do for no more than a night or two really, we never built them to be sturdy - but you can see a few examples by Ray Mears and he explains how you can then use a one sided shelter with a fire pit to keep warm. Here is one example of him making a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsbSMplJ6g4#t=97&quot;&gt;shelter&lt;/a&gt; - we never made them to this extent however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-21T12:33:31.053" LastActivityDate="2014-08-21T12:33:31.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6531" CreationDate="2014-08-17T11:44:15.627" Score="14" ViewCount="3182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing and bouldering tours are classified e.g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sierra from 5.2 to 5.15c or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fontainbleau 2 to 8c+.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you advance in your climbing experience you achieve higher&#xA;grades and learn new movements, new aspects of already known skills and &#xA;new combinations of them. Moreover, there are route setter certifications for &#xA;local, national and international level and a proper organization e.g. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.routesettingassociation.org/&quot;&gt;http://www.routesettingassociation.org/&lt;/a&gt;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a route setter creates a new route with a wished level e.g. FB 6c+ - he or she probably has some movements and some skills in mind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where does the route setter know from which movements capabilities and skills are assigned to each grade?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there some general catalogues / guidelines which movements or skills are necessary to master a certain grade?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" OwnerDisplayName="Jon" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T15:34:36.100" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T15:34:36.100" Title="How do you decide on a climbing grade?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6530" CreationDate="2014-08-21T16:01:37.543" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where does the route setter know from which movements capabilities and&#xA;  skills are assigned to each grade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He doesn't. &lt;code&gt;Skills != grade&lt;/code&gt;. Grade is a measure of difficulty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may find you prefer a particular type of climbing (say slabs or ones involving dynamic moves, etc). you have good skills in this area. This can make climbs of that style easier for you. But grades should ignore this fact. That's why it's better to get a range of opinions when grading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there some general catalogues / guidelines which movements or&#xA;  skills are necessary to master a certain grade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, grading is a subjective process. It's more art than science. There is no rules that say all v3s must be overhanging and use x size holds. It's purely down to how the route is set. Routes have different characteristics, these can make a climb more difficult or easier, but the route and characteristics of a climb are secondary to the grade. The grade purely exists to add a figure to the difficulty of the climb. i.e. a severely overhanging climb can be easy if it uses large well spaced holds or very difficult if it uses smaller difficult to reach holds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Moreover, there are route setter certifications for local, national&#xA;  and international level and a proper organization&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Route setting and grading is different. You may set a route at 5.2 but following feedback you may change it's grade. It's common in indoor gyms to have a route feedback form. Outdoors route grades can and do change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bear in mind a grade is typically &lt;strong&gt;a grade of the hardest one(or more) moves on a single climb&lt;/strong&gt;. If 90% of the moves on a climb are 5+ but one move is 6a, the climb is graded 6a as that is the hardest part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I'm going to reiterate some of the answer from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6189/2766&quot;&gt;Rating unorthodox climbs&lt;/a&gt;. This is a different question but the answer is pretty much identical.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rating climbs isn't really a tick box exercise, for a start their are&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6006/how-do-you-compare-between-different-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;multiple different grading&#xA;  systems&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  all of which are slightly different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You cannot say: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;well it's at x angle and the hand holds are y size therefore it's w&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are a number of different challenges to grading climbs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Climbing grades are a &lt;strong&gt;rule of thumb&lt;/strong&gt; and are open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;They are a measure of how hard it is to climb. Different people find    different aspects of climbing more or less difficult so it is&#xA;  always    open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Indoor grades are often very different to outdoor grades, bouldering    gardes are very different to Trad grades, etc, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Grades tend to overlap so there is very little difference between a &lt;code&gt;5.9&lt;/code&gt; and a &lt;code&gt;5.10a&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Height of climb, length of pitches, rock type, all need to be included in the grade. This makes comparing grades in different areas&#xA;  difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is to the point that when a new climb is &quot;put up&quot; the grade that&#xA;  the first climber gives it is a provisional one. This grade needs to&#xA;  be confirmed by one or more climbers before it is accepted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;hr&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The best way to grade a climb is to gain experience of climbing well&#xA;  know climbs that the grade is well known and accepted. Then when you&#xA;  want to grade something that you don't know the grade for you need to&#xA;  ask yourself (and others preferably) is this harder or easier than x&#xA;  and y climbs? How much harder or easier? What about w climb? etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You'll likely never get it 100% right, people argue over grades&#xA;  constantly. But the whole point is that it's impossible to get 100%&#xA;  right. It's a guide only. You may find a V1 that's easy or a&#xA;  completely different V1 that you find difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T15:47:08.770" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T15:47:08.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6528" CreationDate="2014-08-21T17:13:50.323" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can improvise a tent-like shelter with a sturdy rain poncho and some cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie one corner to a tree a 18&quot; (~1/2 meter) off the ground, then spread the poncho in a diamond shape. Pull the corner opposite the tree somewhat taut and tie it to a peg or stick. Spread the other two corners and secure them likewise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the hood, tie it off so rain can't get in, then pull up and tie to a branch (if available or to the tree on which you started. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A sturdy poncho with grommets in the corner weighs about a pound (~450g). Army surplus stores or camping supply stores most likely have this item in stock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole thing takes less than 10 minutes to put up and just a couple minutes to put away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-08-21T17:13:50.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6533" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-22T07:42:58.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions relating to the French language.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T08:56:33.153" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T08:56:33.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6534" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-22T07:42:58.533" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to the French language." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T08:56:27.460" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T08:56:27.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6535" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-22T09:06:48.210" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions which reference plastic based kayaks. Commonly plastic kayaks are made from HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) or LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T10:43:18.017" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T10:43:18.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6536" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-22T09:06:48.210" Score="0" Body="Questions which reference plastic based kayaks." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T10:43:03.857" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T10:43:03.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6537" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-22T09:08:01.997" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions which reference fibreglass based kayaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T10:42:59.683" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T10:42:59.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6538" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-22T09:08:01.997" Score="0" Body="Questions which reference fibreglass based kayaks." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-22T10:43:09.603" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T10:43:09.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6539" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6542" CreationDate="2014-08-22T13:45:44.887" Score="6" ViewCount="331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I marked my single rope so I can find the middle when rappelling and also to give my belayer a warning when I'm on a route of unknown length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going to purchase a set of half ropes soon for some Mixed/Ice Alpine Routes in the Rockies and am wondering if it is a good idea to mark the middle.  I'm only wondering because rappelling you just tie the two together so no need there and if doing running belays and making your own belay stations in an alpine setting a middle mark warning to the belayer doesn't seem to be of concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do Half/Twin/Double Ropes get Middle Marked? If so, why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T16:30:43.383" Title="Do Half/Twin/Double Ropes get Middle Marked?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6540" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6541" CreationDate="2014-08-22T15:02:03.517" Score="4" ViewCount="1708" Body="&lt;p&gt;For trad climbing, I normally carry shoulder-length slings racked on my harness, set up in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/the-alpine-quickdraw/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alpine draws&lt;/a&gt; at 1/3 their full length. When I'm leading and need to extend my protection, I either use them at this length or extend them to their full length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some cases, though, where I find that I want 1/2 the length, not 1/3, and I want something I can securely girth-hitch. Specifically, when I'm extending my ATC for rappelling, 1/2 the length is just right, while 1/3 is too short and doesn't keep my autoblock from getting into my ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to shorten a sling to 1/2 length for this purpose? Let's say I want to hitch to my belay loop and connect to a biner on the other end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The simplest thing is to put the sling through the belay loop, which then gives me the two ends of the sling hanging out of either side. If I bring these ends together, I can clip in with a biner. For reasons explained below, I think this is a very poor method.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I can tie a butterfly in the sling and adjust it to get the desired length.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I can tie an overhand or figure-8 in the middle of the sling and load it at the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 1 is lousy, because the strands aren't redundant, and furthermore when I'm taking it apart there is an extreme tendency to drop the sling, which isn't securely girth-hitched to anything. I could fix these problems by tying an overhand in the middle, but that makes the sling much shorter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 3 is what I used to do, but I've seen this criticized because the knot is sitting right on the biner. However, if the knot slips, the system doesn't fail, it just extends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 2 is what I'm doing right now. It seems OK, although it's difficult to properly dress the butterfly when you make it in a dyneema sling, and it can be a little time-consuming to untie. It requires some fiddling to get the bar tacks out of the way before you tie the knot. This method uses the butterfy for its intended purpose and loads it in the intended way. If the butterfly pops undone, you get extension but not failure. An advantage is that you can adjust the length quite a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T16:19:27.573" Title="Shortening a shoulder-length sling to half-length?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6540" CreationDate="2014-08-22T16:19:27.573" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I am trad-climbing (actually generally when rock-climbing), I carry 60cm (shoulder length) and 120cm slings. Some 60cm slings set up as alpine draws, the rest over my shoulder. When setting up a belay station, 60cm slings tend to be too short. When using a double boolean as central point, that uses already most of the sling length. Further, when abseiling, I use 120cm slings in the following setup: Girth hitched parallel to the belay loop (alternatively directly into the belay loop), then a knot (eight, butterfly) at about a third of its length. Thus the autoblock cant reach the abseiling device. The remaining loop in front of the knot I use as self belay sling. Thus when I reach the next belay station, I can immediately secure my self. Another small benefit for the forgetful: While abseiling, you can clip the self belay biner into the rope, that you will pull down afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not see, what the problem of loading the sling at the knot should be. Even if you dislike it, you can simply adjust the girth hitch such, that the knot is not at the end. Both eight knots and butterfly knots can handle ring loads. If you are using a dyneema sling, the knot can slip, but very slowly. This means that under constant load the knot may creep upwards, but I never saw this being the case when abseiling. Burning trough is anyway not a problem in this setup, as a slipping knot will not concentrate the friction heat to one point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 1 could be adjusted in the way, that you take your sling in a double loop and girth hitch it to the belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T16:19:27.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6539" CreationDate="2014-08-22T16:30:43.383" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are rope manufacturers which mark their half ropes in the middle (as an option) or even produce them with different colors on both sides (&lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/corde-cobra.php#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beal half ropes&lt;/a&gt;). For the reasons already mentioned, this is not standard. When abseiling you use both ropes so the middle is their connection. Still, when climbing alpine routes, I like to have the middle markers for orientation. When climbing one pitch trad routes, I like to use half ropes and there it is good to know, when half of the rope is out (afterwards you cannot lower your partner anymore). Some people even put two marks in the middle and one mark each on one/three quarters. Thus you have even more information about how much rope is still left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2014-08-22T16:30:43.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6543" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-22T17:32:59.357" Score="1" ViewCount="241" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're lost in the wilderness (and you've foolishly left behind your handy dandy water purification tablets and water filter), what are some of the best and safest ways to purify water? What do you do if you don't have a metal pot to boil water in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3626" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:16:03.720" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:16:03.720" Title="What are some emergency water purification methods?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-08-23T12:51:31.247" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6466" CreationDate="2014-08-23T00:05:34.447" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's honeydew, then soap &amp;amp; water should do the trick. Do not use harsh soap.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative method is to use a gritty, oily mixture to rub it out. I'm thinking maybe baking soda &amp;amp; vegetable oil. The grit helps break up the sticky substance, and the oil keeps it from re-sticking. Similar to using peanut butter to get gum out of your hair. Then use a soap &amp;amp; water solution to wash the oil out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck, and let us know what ended up working.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-08-23T00:05:34.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6513" CreationDate="2014-08-23T00:14:28.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't mention budget, but a couple things I really like when car camping are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beautyrest air mattress (about $100). Can be very firm if you like&#xA;that, and the edges don't collapse like most air mattresses do. It's&#xA;like a real bed. Does require A/C close by.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tent tall enough to stand in. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll rough it while backpacking, but I like to be comfortable when car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-08-23T00:14:28.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6543" CreationDate="2014-08-23T06:43:03.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the very least, you'll want some type of plastic bottle. You can cut the end off of your plastic bottle and layer in ground ( smashed ) charcoal from your camp fire along with cotton, sand, grass, most anything you can get your hands on to filter out the different sized particles. Charcoal being the most likely to weed out micro organisms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Water-Filter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Water-Filter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, with most water bottles you can string it above the fire and bring the water to a boil before the plastic melts if you're careful. This typically works best when the water bottle is completely full and capped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all that fails, remember that it's easier to treat diarrhea tomorrow than heat stroke today .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-08-23T06:43:03.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6554" CreationDate="2014-08-23T11:30:18.887" Score="3" ViewCount="437" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning for a trek in coming winters. Thats not a regular or a trodden trail, its more of an optimistic approach onto a mountain. All the information that I have says that I was never a route, but I intend to make an attempt over the slopes and screes, occasionally having to climb up a not-so-long sort of a patch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can use a contour map to decide which possible line to take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:04:28.203" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:04:28.203" Title="How to understand contour map and plan a possible trekking route using one such contour map?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2014-08-23T18:39:21.230" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6550" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-08-23T11:46:20.830" Score="4" ViewCount="111" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a very good swimmer. I don't swim regularly either.&#xA;When I swim and relax for an less than an hour, I start getting cramps, specifically in Toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could be the reason?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:00:17.160" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:00:17.160" Title="Struggling with Muscle cramps when in water" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;muscle-cramps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-08-27T17:18:32.727" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6551" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-23T12:30:41.550" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A stove is an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating to the items placed on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T13:50:48.570" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T13:50:48.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6552" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-23T12:30:41.550" Score="0" Body="Questions about stoves" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:42:36.983" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T17:42:36.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6553" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6577" CreationDate="2014-08-23T12:36:20.300" Score="9" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;During a long expedition, how to safely pack, place and carry a portable gas filled stove?&#xA;It looks something like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/gear/multifuel-stoves/&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/gear/multifuel-stoves/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T15:39:42.743" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T15:39:42.743" Title="Carrying a portable stove" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6548" CreationDate="2014-08-23T13:47:46.497" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In places where the contour lines are closer together, the slope is steeper. Where the lines are further apart, the slope is gentler. In a spot where you see several lines merge together, that is a sheer drop-off. Avoid those, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for nesting Vs on the map. These are ridges, or possibly ravines. Water (blue) bisecting the V will tell you it is a valley. Through practice, I can pretty distinguish a ravine from a ridge in a few seconds. Sorry, I can’t describe a technique for that. &lt;em&gt;*&lt;/em&gt; Perhaps I am recommending spending time poring over contour maps ;—)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware of the scale of the map and the level of elevation change for the map. In America, the USGS topographical maps generally go with 20’ per contour line. Some use 6m, but the style is distinct. We also have some maps with 40’ contours done in the same style as the 20’. Read carefully. My brain is trained to see that style of map and see 20’ contours. I have gotten myself into some difficulty expecting the terrain to be not so bad, but finding it quite steep in 3-D.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, realize that because of the nature of maps, there can be an awful lot of terrain variety hiding between two contour lines. The scree slopes you mentioned will be quite irregular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;*&lt;/em&gt; Having thought this over, if you are planning an off-trail hike, definitely spend some time studying the contour maps. I would suggest enough time to be familiar with the major features of the locale, including possible departure routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="3426" LastEditDate="2014-08-23T18:25:01.647" LastActivityDate="2014-08-23T18:25:01.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6558" CreationDate="2014-08-24T13:06:56.437" Score="9" ViewCount="1848" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I choose the right climbing shoes especially for toe and heel hooking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically: I have been using very comfortable beginner shoes for the last two years. When I started to advance to higher grades I realized how often you can use toe and heel hooks for your problems. However, my shoes did not grab small holds and I even struggled with huge holds when toe hooking. When I used my&#xA;friends shoes all these problems faded away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:51:48.813" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:51:48.813" Title="How to find climbing shoes for toe and heel hooks?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-08-24T14:01:12.483" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have bought the Copper Spur 3 and slept in it now on a cottage lawn and on a backcountry campsite. The advantages (lightweight, easy to set up) are real. There are some disadvantages that I have not seen mentioned in the other answers, so I've decided to add an answer providing them. None of these are enough to make me regret buying the tent or tell someone else not to buy it, but I feel they're worth mentioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the tent floor is extremely slippery. (As are new mats, bags etc, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6434/163&quot;&gt;my answer to Are self-inflatable sleeping pads more slippery than other mats&lt;/a&gt;?) I think this is a natural side effect of the thin and flexible material. I really noticed this camped on a slight slope - I had to crawl back up hill several times in the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the zippers are very thin and buckle easily. If whatever you're trying to unzip isn't tight, you'll need another hand to hold it tight while you unzip. Think about the difference between unzipping a big suitcase zipper and a delicate dress zipper. This was more of an issue on the vestibule than the doors, but on a different ultralight it might vary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's cooler in the same weather than my old Alpine Meadows. We slept one cottage night in the old tent before letting someone else have it the next night, and I felt the breeze around my ears the second night for sure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;everything is smaller and lighter and thinner. Everything. I took far too long trying to hook a mini carabiner (with a lantern on it) through the gear loop at the peak, but it was just so damn small!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we had a very rainy trip in, and were looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6090/163&quot;&gt;setting up under the tarp&lt;/a&gt; if it didn't stop, but eventually it did. The other couple, using our AM, could have set it up out in the rain if need be. The mesh roof on the ultralight makes that a very wet strategy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was able to change clothes in it although I couldn't stand up, but I'm not sure I could have done so had anyone else been in there. Luckily we tend to get up and go have coffee in what we slept in, then pop into the tent to change for the day, so this isn't an issue for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was also pleasantly surprised at the effect of the two-doors-two-vestibules setup. Most of our stuff was in the vestibules - stuff sack of clothes as pillows were inside, along with water bottles, flashlights, and cameras - but sitting up, unzipping the door, and poking around in a pack in the vestibule was astonishingly easy. In the AM, the vestibule was for stuff you didn't need in the tent at all ever, and I accessed it from the rest of the site if I needed something. The experience in the CS blurred the lines between inside and outside more, and overall I think I like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-08-24T15:22:02.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6555" CreationDate="2014-08-24T20:29:53.903" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some features to keep in mind when buying climbing shoes once you're past the beginner phase:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Downturned&lt;/strong&gt;: Most beginner shoes are pretty flat, which are fine for mainly vertical walls. However, as you climb harder stuff on overhanging walls, it's helpful to have downturned shoes for maintaining a hook-like foot shape. This allows you to hook your toes onto small foot holds to keep your body on the wall or rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPigD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good-fitting Heel Cup&lt;/strong&gt;: You want to make sure the shoe fits your heel snugly, or else your heel will feel like it's slipping out during heel hooks. This is something you just have to try on at the store, since a lot of people's feet are different. Personally, I've tried on several shoes that were very tight fitting otherwise but had a lot of dead space in the heel, which is undesirable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rubber covering top of shoe&lt;/strong&gt;: Make sure the top part of the shoe has rubber covering it to help with toe hooks. Most beginner shoes just have the canvas material on top of the shoe, which makes toe hooks less effective and the shoe can wear out faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Py17s.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rubber Type&lt;/strong&gt;: Not all climbing shoe rubber is the same. Some are harder, some are softer (stickier). Harder rubber is good for edging off of small foot holds, and it's more durable. As an example, the Five Ten Team VXi (pictured below) has the softest, stickiest rubber I've seen and is great for overhanging climbs since it molds to really small footholds well. However, it would not be an ideal shoe for a route with lots of edging. This is probably less of a consideration, though, compared to the other 4 points for most shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HmsGd.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sizing&lt;/strong&gt;: Don't make the mistake of getting the tightest fitting shoe you can fit your feet into at the store. Make sure it at least feels bearable to stand on your toes or on a small ledge in the store. A little discomfort is fine (that will get less over time), but if it's very painful get a larger size. Yes, it would eventually stretch out a little bit, but only if you wear it many times (and experience a lot of pain all those times).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T03:37:05.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6553" CreationDate="2014-08-25T06:49:15.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should define whether you are asking about white gas stoves or isobutain (canister) stoves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For most backpackers, your main decision will be between the 2 broad stove categories: canister fuel vs. liquid fuel. You may also want to consider one of the growing number of alternative-fuel options now available.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good resource to get started if you have not yet picked a stove, might be REI here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-stove.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;REI | Picking a backpacking stove&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically you will want to make sure you are aware of altitude considerations as sealed bottles of white gas, for example, are known to burp, even burst and get gas all over your gear. I would say other than that, provided you are not hiking through a fire or smoking you would be safe. I carry ultra light stoves, a MSR Pocket Rocket these days, which comes in a neat and tidy carrying case to protect the stove, as well as my gear from ripping on its jagged edges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2347" LastEditorUserId="2347" LastEditDate="2014-08-25T06:54:41.407" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T06:54:41.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6562" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6565" CreationDate="2014-08-25T14:49:59.257" Score="0" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently my girlfriend and I were invited to go camping with our friends at a cabin in Flagstaff, Arizona. My buddies have already left and we're supposed to  leave tomorrow to go and meet them up there. Everything has worked out great so far... except for one thing.... I want to bring my dog.&#xA;Now I'm sure your wondering what the issue is, and well my friends have already left and took their dog with them. Now both theirs and mine know each other very well for they have played together during SEVERAL bbq's, so thats not going to be a problem. The problem we are currently facing is apparently if my dog goes, according to my girlfriend, that my friends will have to tie up their dog while ours is there where as if I just leave her home their dog can &quot;run free&quot; so to speak. Now I can honnestly see their point in the sense of the two dogs playing and getting carried away and taking off twoard another cabin. But outside of that? I don't personally see a problem and I seriously doubt they would do it, but you never know...&#xA;This is the first time I have gone camping in YEARS and its most certanally the first time since I've had my dog... I don't think its fair to just leave her home like my girl seems to think so.... We do live in an apartment where she doesn't get out as much as she should, but she DOES get out. We can't take her to the dog park because of her breed, despite the fact she is friendly. She gets to go for walks and about once a week to once every two weeks she gets to go and run free on a 2 acre property until lays down in a heap of happy tails and belly rubs. She does really well as far as listening goes when on this property, but thorw in another dog and she doesnkt listen as well as she should, to be honnest sometimes I have to call her multiple times. sometimes I don't. just depends. So please, I'm asking for your advice, should I bring her or should I leave her?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Dog:&#xA;Breed: Pitbull Boxer Mix&#xA;Age: 3 Years.&#xA;Sex: Female&#xA;Personality: Loving, Sweet Adhd Hyper, protective will probably run circles around the cabin for at LEAST 30 minuets when we get there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their Dog:&#xA;Breed: Brindle lab mix&#xA;Age: 4 years?&#xA;Sex: Male&#xA;Personality: Loving, sweet, protective, at times adhd hyper and will probably run circles around the cabin with my dog once/if she gets there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many people total there:&#xA;4 adults.&#xA;3 kids (6, 7, and 9)&#xA;and 1 dog for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many days:&#xA;For my friends: a week&#xA;For us: Two Nights and two and a quarter days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I would just like to add that if we leave the dog, the dog will NOT be neglected. I have a cat as well who needs to be fed and given attention to. We have someone who is going to be stopping by the house to spend time with the cat/make it seem like someone is home. The main reasons why my girl does not want to take the dog are because we recently have gotten knew neighbors within the last week, we're pretty sure the people beside us do drugs and we don't want to risk our things stolen and in her mind the dog would scare intruders away (yes i have pointed out that if they REALLY want in, they could kill or harm her) and the last reason, she doesn't want to have to worry about said dog doing something she's not supposed to. I'm confident in her, but my fiance is not with another dog around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need to know opinions soon, we're leaving tomorrow (8-26-14) evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3834" LastEditorUserId="3834" LastEditDate="2014-08-25T19:20:26.823" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T05:01:40.193" Title="Should I bring my dog with us to a Cabin" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-08-26T10:17:51.290" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-08-25T15:14:31.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO. You shouldn't buy new.&#xA;Throughout my attempts to find that &quot;one great tent&quot; I've waisted so much money buying all the &quot;best reviewed&quot; ones, and ones I thought would serve my needs.&#xA;To be honest, the best tent I ever slept in was an old cotton canvas covered with bee's wax to repel water. But that was so heavy you needed a stagecoach to haul it.&#xA;The thing you need to remember, in today's world, is that marketing is everything, where as the actual products are nothing.&#xA;These tents today, are paper-thin and provide little to no heat insulations.&#xA;They tend not to breath, which is why the there is mesh in the roofs, plug those wholes and it's like sleeping in a sealed garbage-bag, you wake up sweating and since the moister has no place to go, the entire inside of the tent is wet.&#xA;And the taller you go the more it tends to sway in the breeze and feel unsafe to be inside.&#xA;I understand the weight issue, I really do since I am an avid hiker, but when it comes to something that you know works and something you are unfamiliar with and might cost a pretty penny, you might find out that you just wasted $500+ on a house made of straw (which in my opinion would be stronger than the nylon weaves they use for tents nowadays).&#xA;I can be really hard on my gear and thus, using nylon tents I've ripped holes in the sidewalls (with minimal effort, something as simple as hanging a lantern on a loop, that clearly states in the instructions that is it's purpose), the zippers buckled or broke off or just didn't zip correctly, along with any down-pour and you have a nice rain catch from the roof bowing in on itself.&#xA;To me, if I have to baby something that I buy so much to keep it in good working condition, it's just not worth it.&#xA;However, if you must buy a tent, I recommend a dome type (I shouldn't have to explain the construct of an arch design).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy Trails&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastEditorUserId="3825" LastEditDate="2014-08-25T16:13:57.450" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T16:13:57.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6562" CreationDate="2014-08-25T15:34:20.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaving a dog alone in an apartment for this length of time would be neglectful, even if you were able to provide enough food and water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your girlfriend's logic doesn't make sense to me. Just having your dog there doesn't imply that the other dog has to be tied up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would bring a long rope for your own dog and evaluate the situation once you get there in order to decide whether it's OK to let her run free. Discuss it with your friends when you get there. Figure out if there are roads with high-speed traffic, or livestock. Figure out if there are fences that will limit your dog's movement. If your friends are familiar with the area and normally let their dog run free, then that tells you it's probably going to be OK, but your standards for safety might be different from theirs, or your dog's tendency to run away might be different from theirs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T15:34:20.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6562" CreationDate="2014-08-25T15:36:50.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, if one dog has to be tied up and they are worried about them being too boisterous, why not have yours tied up? In most campsites in England (I know it is different where you are) dogs have to be on leads and tied up at all times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan on future trips with your friends, eventually she will have to go. If you follow the always on a lead rule to begin with, she will get used to it over time. Then you can let her off the lead for longer periods until it is no longer 'new' to her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be an idea to train her so she is a little less hyper and more willing to follow commands around other dogs. She is still young and is more than capable of learning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, assuming you have a sitter for your dog, you are not going for that long. You can always skip taking her this time, and if a trip happens again talk to your friends before going. Have them spend more time together if possible so they don't become so enthused at having a play friend. Then if you go on holiday together again it shouldn't be a problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot give a definitive answer saying yes or no, it is ultimately your choice. I can only give my views and experience on the situation. I used to train hearing dogs to be less enthused at seeing other dogs, it can be done with a little patience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We recently took a chocolate lab puppy on her first camping trip, my other half asked a question about camping with her, and this was the suggested answer: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5902/3673&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5902/3673&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T15:36:50.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6562" CreationDate="2014-08-25T15:37:41.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly. I think this should have been addressed with your friends and/or the campsite/resort.&#xA;If you know all this and the 2 dogs get along then, take your dog.&#xA;The worse that will happen is that your, or both, dogs will have to be leashed.&#xA;I honestly don't see how this should be a community question because every campground, resort, or just someone's cabin has their own set of rules and/or guidelines as to bringing animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastActivityDate="2014-08-25T15:37:41.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2014-08-25T16:44:53.687" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spearing is both viable and varies in legality within the U.S. Spearing during salmon runs has been done for centuries in the pacific northwest. &quot;Darkhouse&quot; spear fishing is popular on frozen lakes in the upper midwest and during the summer natives still spear for pike and walleye on many upper midwest lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/issues/issues.aspx?issue=indian&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indian Fishing and Hunting Rights&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3674" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T20:30:31.830" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T20:30:31.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4197" CreationDate="2014-08-26T02:32:27.000" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using a bear fence lately:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n4CfJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best sleep in bear country.  Look it up on Internet.  Does add about 3-4lbs to your kit, so get lighter somewhere else.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3836" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T12:40:37.367" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T12:40:37.367" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6570" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6572" CreationDate="2014-08-26T05:50:43.993" Score="6" ViewCount="2559" Body="&lt;p&gt;(This question is related to &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3268/how-can-i-improve-my-footwork-while-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;How can I improve my footwork while rock-climbing?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are common rock-climbing footwork mistakes and how can I spot them?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically: When I started climbing I mostly focused on the hands. After some months, I advanced in the grades, but I started to fail in certain climbs because I slipped from the foot holes. During the time I realized the first time that I had bad footwork - so I started to train it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The months passed, impossible climbs became easy and I thought: well, my footwork should be good now. In the next grade I struggled again, slipped away or could not hold my body at the overhanging wall. So, footwork training again... But maybe I overlook some mistakes or common flaws in this training again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T12:03:56.140" Title="What are common rock-climbing footwork mistakes and how I can spot them?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6570" CreationDate="2014-08-26T10:28:20.683" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mistakes I mention might be more common at lower grades than yours, here goes anyway:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Too big steps. When I started climbing I tended to make massive steps, leaving out many good footholds in between. A more experienced friend taught me to avoid this by clipping a quickdraw between my climbing shoes on a toprope climb well within my ability; suddenly I started to notice all the other options that were &quot;in range&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not planning a couple of steps ahead. A beginners mistake is to locate the next good hole, then place whatever foot's most convenient (usually not the one you moved last) without thinking about how to carry on from there, leading to an inelegant &quot;hop&quot; as you switch feet on a little hold so you have the right one free to carry on. Another tip from a friend: think about which foot you would like free when you're in a particular hold, not which foot is easiest to place there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toeing everything and forgetting that there are often good ways to place a foot sideways on a protruding piece of rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T10:28:20.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6570" CreationDate="2014-08-26T10:32:01.453" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;a common footwork mistake is &lt;strong&gt;not keeping it still&lt;/strong&gt;! I see this all the time with people starting in bouldering, their footwork can be indecisive. You need to pick how and where you want to place your foot and do it. Don't keep moving it around, unless you plan to do this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use the correct parts of your foot/shoe.&lt;/strong&gt; You want to only use the outside/indside edge(s), toe and occasionaly heel. These are the efficient areas of your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gOqPI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try not to bang around&lt;/strong&gt;. If your making a lot of noise then you are likely not moving efficiently. Pick how and where you want to move your foot and do it slowly, controlled and efficiently. Try not to throw your foot in the general direction and hope that it sticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get correctly fitting shoes.&lt;/strong&gt; Beginners often have shoes that are too big for them. Climbing shoes shouldn't have dead space. They should be tight on your foot. If they are not then your foot will be moving around inside the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Old shoes.&lt;/strong&gt; again I see this a lot. Rental shoes can be pretty crappy. Consider buying a cheap pair instead. A very worn shoe will not stick to the wall as well as a newer one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trust it.&lt;/strong&gt; This takes time. You have to learn that you can stand on a tiny hold and it will hold you. If your planning on using a foothold. Place it transfer your weight, believe that it won't move. If you get nervous you don't commit. You place less weight on the hold. You slip. You trust it less and the cycle gets worse. If you commit 100%, their is a greater chance your foot will stick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=3694&quot;&gt;article covers some exercises to improve your footwork&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T10:32:01.453" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6574" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6716" CreationDate="2014-08-26T10:44:15.767" Score="15" ViewCount="10950" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I went for a walk on Sun. We climbed 3 peaks in Snowdonia. My girlfriend had one of them Nike tracking apps running on her phone all the while. In the end it gave us these stats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Distance: 20Km (as the crow flies)&#xA;Time: 8 hours&#xA;Calories: 4000&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The calories though were based on us walking on the flat. It didn't allow for the fact that we'd climbed over 1000m multiple times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how many calories did we realistically burn in the period of time we were walking? or is there a better way to work this out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T10:49:52.250" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T00:48:20.917" Title="How many calories does hiking burn?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6576" CreationDate="2014-08-26T11:12:04.737" Score="5" ViewCount="202" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently browsing around a well known outdoor shop when I noticed a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/?fuseaction=products.search&amp;amp;source.x=0&amp;amp;source.y=0&amp;amp;searchvalue=insoles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;confusing array of insole products&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seemed to be a very confusing array of entirely different looking insoles all coming with various claims on their benefits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are the important factors that I should be looking for should I&#xA;decide to buy some insoles?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What benefit's do bought insoles bring as opposed to the insoles that&#xA;come in a standard boot?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why would I want to spend (£50) on an insole when my boots come with&#xA;one already?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T12:07:35.660" Title="What to look for in an insole?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6575" CreationDate="2014-08-26T11:47:11.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The insoles typically are the first thing that gets worn out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insoles will eventually flatten from the weight of your body. this will then put downward pressure on your arches. Insoles get flattened from use and no longer hold your heel in the correct place. I've had tough and irritating times when my insoles got so flat that, in wet conditions, they would get folded and would go towards my toes, making walking a miserable experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Comfort Insole:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am gonna look for an insole, I'd definitely go for some product that has a more thicker layer, but fits in well. This can be more-so-ever called as the insole for comfort. Which are usually made up of soft foam and provide shock absorption and cushioning.&#xA;You should go with such class of insole if you are going through some sort of pain in Toes after a long walk, more specifically a downhill walk, and worst case if you are suffering from  Blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KgIS0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sports/Support Insole:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am looking for an insole typically for support, and not because its just getting thinner, I'll go for some Sports Insole or Support Insole. These typically should be used in case you are planning for a run or a trail-run. These are less comfortable as compared to Comfort Insoles. These typically features arch support. This help with Overpronation problems as well, and I found them more useful for someone like me who has an odd size of feet that doesn't fit in a standard shoe size. The arch part of the insole helped me with problem that I faced that in my shoes the feet slips forward when I run, causing a toe pain, worst case sometimes a black toe, just because I had a bigger size of a shoe than what suits me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zbGgu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Heel Pads&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another thing called Heel pads. There are used to lift your heel slightly higher than what a normal insole would do. These are typically meant to reduce the discomfort with Heel injuries. I have never tried them at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dTwk4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Metatarsal Pads&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;: This type of insoles is designed to decrease the pressure on the metatarsal bones. They fit under the balls of the feet and are recommended for athletes who often run uphill or experience pain in their mid-foot. These never made any sense to me but I have seen so many people using them for ascends and removing them on a descend. May be this idea of taking off shoes just for that matter never made sense to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NI9ad.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mVUwH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, I were you, I would look for insoles that offer a higher arch to hold the heel in place which will help in supporting the leg and keeping it steady rather than having the entire pressure slipped to toe on a descend. The cushion part is up to you to decide on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T12:07:35.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6553" CreationDate="2014-08-26T12:39:42.190" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When packing/carrying the stove there are two main aims: to not break it and not get the rest of your kit covered in fuel. There are some tips for achieving this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;pack the stove somewhere secure where it won't get too knocked about/crushed/bent. Most stoves will pack inside a pot/pan which is my preferred way of doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Similarly for the fuel bottle make sure it is well packed and try not to drop it. Be particularly aware of anything sharp. While they are fairly tough it would be very bad if you pierce it. For liquid fuel (petrol/white gas) I generally just put the bottle in a side pocket of my backpack. Also if you have a fuel bottle make sure you attach the cap securely when not in use as you don't want leaking fuel in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are going for a long trip bring a repair kit with the necessary spares and know how to do simple repairs on your stove as necessary. What this actually involves will depend on what stove you have. For example on the MSR whisperlite there are several o-rings in the pump which can be replaced and the jet may need cleaning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In fact you should probably give your stove a check/service before going on the hike. This will reduce the need for doing repairs in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When setting up the stove make sure you set it somewhere stable on level ground as you don't want it to tip over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring sufficient fuel. Make sure you know how quickly your stove uses fuel and probably bring a bit extra just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T12:39:42.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6574" CreationDate="2014-08-26T13:52:09.970" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;An adult person burns between &lt;code&gt;100 to 150 kcal additionally per 100m elevation gained&lt;/code&gt;.&#xA;Moreover, if you carried some common &lt;strong&gt;back bag&lt;/strong&gt; you should add around &lt;code&gt;50 to 100 calories per hour&lt;/code&gt;. If the &lt;strong&gt;bag was very heavy&lt;/strong&gt; you should add around &lt;code&gt;200 calories per hour&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of course, these are only average values - for a more exact calculation we would need the weight, age of the persons as well as the weight of a possible back bag.&lt;/em&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://85.25.34.248/bergmed/bergmed.php?section=7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;, unfortunately in German:)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T23:51:48.507" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T23:51:48.507" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6579" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6709" CreationDate="2014-08-26T13:55:29.947" Score="9" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;Warm-up routines are very important for most of the activities that involve rapid and/or vigorous body movements. Trekking too is not an exception to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am planning for a trek which goes through a long distance path at altitudes ranging from 18K to 23K feet. The route goes through world's few of the highest passes. (Yes, I am trekking in Nepal).&#xA;What I have observed is, the temperature there is usually far less than what I am habituated to. I live in subcontinental region where 25 to 30 Degree Celsius is a very pleasant weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prima facie it appears that it would require a neatly planned warm-up routine up there rather than usual stuff that I do as warm-up routines.&#xA;Is it a valid assumption that it takes more time and effort to warm-up at higher altitudes?&#xA;It Yes, what are the routines meant for higher altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much is enough and how much shall be too much?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: I am aware of the Acclimatization thing. And, I am aware of the concerned do's and dont's regarding the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T11:48:35.693" Title="Fine tuning the Warm-up routines at Higher altitude" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6580" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6581" CreationDate="2014-08-26T14:02:17.390" Score="23" ViewCount="8760" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6539/do-half-twin-double-ropes-get-middle-marked&quot; title=&quot;Do Half/Twin/Double Ropes get Middle Marked?&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; and the first thing that popped into my head is &lt;strong&gt;what do you use to mark the middle of the rope?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was taught not to use any kind of marker on the rope (because there's no sure way to know it wont be abrasive). &lt;strong&gt;Are there safe ways to mark a rope?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3641/&quot;&gt;Safe Way to Mark a Carabiner&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T08:46:04.853" Title="How to safely mark a rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2014-08-26T14:04:30.233" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=off&amp;amp;rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB785GB785&amp;amp;ei=KBRDW8uDNeqKgAaMsY7ACA&amp;amp;q=climbing+rope+markers&amp;amp;oq=climbing+rope+markers&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3...5455.6437.0.6628.9.9.0.0.0.0.166.879.2j5.7.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..4.1.165...35i39k1j0i13i5i30k1j0i8i13i30k1.0.Xlh2R-nQ8mo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;specialist markers&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IMX2B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're designed to not impact the rope strength. Always use a specially designed rope marker as there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1635/things-to-keep-away-from-climbing-ropes/3676#3676&quot;&gt;comprehensive list of things to keep away from your rope&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;marker pen is one of them&lt;/strong&gt;. The solvents can break down the nylon rope fibres making your rope potentially unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-07-09T07:52:07.117" LastActivityDate="2018-07-09T07:52:07.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2014-08-26T14:15:45.910" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;No matter what, try not to use the spray-paints at all.&#xA;Considering that fact that most of the spraypaint and allied products contain solvents/chemicals like CCl4, Acetone, Methyl ethyl ketone, Ethylbenzene, Butoxyethanol and Xylene, etc. If I were you, I would not use it on my ropes for that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dedicated Rope Markers : Spend some bucks and get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/beal-rope-marker&quot;&gt;rope marker&lt;/a&gt; which is specifically engineered for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Worst case you might use the dental floss by simply stitching it into the sheath. All you have to do is get a sewing needle with dental floss. Thread/Sew/Work the dental floss around the middle of the rope, making sure that its through the rope's sheath and not through the core. Repeat the same till you find the mark large enough to spot. But this is advised only if you know how to do it, else you will end up killing the strength of the rope by tampering it's core. Guidance highly recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Marking the rope with a tape: I have seen some climbers, typically beginners that they use a Duct-tape or electrical tape and wrap it around the point where you want mark it. This works fine for an event/session or so, but as after a few passes through descenders and carabiners and other equipment, the tape goes. But this works for a day or two. And, I personally that it should to be removed when you are done for the day as you never know how does the adhesive in the electrical or duct-tape react over longer times. Having said the above, one should also consider that the tape can come loose over the time and use and obviously shift its position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T16:24:56.657" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T16:24:56.657" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6583" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-08-26T14:22:05.687" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions with reference of best practises on keeping items.This could be gear or food related. This also maybe how to or where to store an item, whether storage is required, or why something has been stored in the way that it has.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T14:56:35.807" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T14:56:35.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6584" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-08-26T14:22:05.687" Score="0" Body="Questions with reference of best practises on storing items. This could be gear or food related." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-08-26T14:56:39.060" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T14:56:39.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2014-08-26T16:11:44.363" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used fishermans thread, the sort used to bind the guide loops to the rod, as a whipping around the approriate point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2014-08-26T16:11:44.363" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6004" CreationDate="2014-08-26T21:18:51.697" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Moving up a 1 cm wide campus board one hand at a time is on par with the intensity of &lt;strong&gt;V4/V5&lt;/strong&gt; boulder moves, approximately. So unless you're very comfortable bouldering in this range, it's not suggested because you will probably injure yourself. If you are past this phase, then campusing is a very good training tool for increasing strength and power in a very focused manner, compared to just climbing random routes at a gym. I don't agree with the previous answer that it's just for people who climb better than 7c (5.12d/V9-ish)--you can definitely incorporate it into your workout long before then with moderation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike climbing routes at a gym, which have lots of different styles, campusing allows you to very &lt;strong&gt;quantitatively monitor your progress&lt;/strong&gt;. One week you can only hang on a rung for 2 seconds; next week you're up to 5 seconds--that is well-defined progress. It's also more efficient compared to climbing in some respects because of its high intensity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some training exercises that the campus board is good for (Note: all should be done with an open-hand grip):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deadhangs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What: Hang from a rung of the campus board for 5-15 seconds x 5-10 reps. As this gets easier, you can add weight, move to smaller rungs, do more reps, hang for longer time, use &amp;lt;4 fingers per hand, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why: Increase your finger strength and endurance for holding onto small holds statically&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u2lBI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lock-offs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What: There's variations to this, but you want to start hanging with both hands on a rung, then reach up with one hand a couple of rungs and go back down.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why: Lock-offs are used often in climbing. This exercise develops your lats and shoulder muscles so you can reach up higher from a small handhold. You also develop power from exploding off the starting rung.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l1f1S.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Dynos&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What: Start hanging on the campus board, then dyno up with both hands to the next rung, all the way to the top. Maybe wait til you're at V6s before doing these.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why: Develop power and strengthen fingers to handle these dynamic moves. Also, develop hand-eye coordination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XlIIM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Laddering&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What: Just move up the campus rungs, one hand at a time. You can either match hands or not on each rung. For added difficulty, skip rungs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why: Most similar to normal climbing movement, develop general strength and power. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MR5gS.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="3345" LastEditDate="2014-08-27T13:06:23.573" LastActivityDate="2014-08-27T13:06:23.573" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6587" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6590" CreationDate="2014-08-27T08:47:47.230" Score="9" ViewCount="3224" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following on from this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6574/how-many-calories-does-hiking-burn&quot;&gt;How many calories does hiking burn?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in the same journey my girlfriends tracking app said we'd travelled 20km. Now this was based on us travelling on the flat, but we hadn't we'd also travelled upwards about 1Km too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how far had we actually walked? I had a thought that this would be something to do with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pythagoras's theorem&lt;/a&gt; but that seemed too far. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if we'd walked, say 10Km as the &quot;crow flies&quot; and climbed 1Km how far had we actually walked (roughly)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:29.637" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T14:50:33.947" Title="Measuring actual distance walked on a map (Allowing for changes in height)" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2014-08-27T09:11:45.410" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bing.com/maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bing maps&lt;/a&gt; supports topo-maps (in the UK at least and not on the mobile client) via the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tWtoi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T08:56:51.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T08:56:51.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6587" CreationDate="2014-08-27T10:10:34.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pythagoras is actually exactly what you would use, approximated as finely as you need for accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I mean by approximated, is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are following a continuous incline, you really only need one right angled triangle to calculate your hypotenuse, but if your incline varies, a more accurate figure will be gained by taking each change of incline as a new triangle. This also copes with you walking up and down slopes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This gets complicated and annoying very fast, so for most purposes, you can approximate to 'a bit over' a single right angled triangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preferred solution: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A GPS which either includes a height measurement (from GPS or barometric pressure) or orographic data in its built-in maps so it can calculate total distance traveled for you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in answer to your specific question, 10km across and 1km up gives you a total distance of 10049m (which is basically 10km :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-08-27T10:10:34.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6587" CreationDate="2014-08-27T11:36:35.573" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a good estimate of the distance walked by timing or pacing. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith&amp;#39;s_rule&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Naismith's Rule&lt;/a&gt; (a way of estimating the time to walk a distance when ascents are involved) can help with the timing aspect but is only an estimation of the time taken to walk a certain distance taking ups and down into account. From the knowledge of expected average speed and time taken, you can estimate the distance travelled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pacing can be very accurate once practised but obviously is a bit onerous when you are trying to measure relatively long distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get an indication of distance travelled when in hilly country by making use of the contour lines on maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcofs.org.uk/estimating-distance-travelled.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.mcofs.org.uk/estimating-distance-travelled.asp&lt;/a&gt; for more details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-08-27T11:36:35.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6587" CreationDate="2014-08-27T12:54:11.140" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What exactly do you want to measure? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to estimate shoe usage, it would be better to measure steps, not the distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to estimate fatigue, than there's a heuristic, you should assume that 100m up is the equivalent of 1km on flat terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you have walked 20 km equivalents. It has taken you twice as much time as you would be walking on flat terrain, and you've burned about twice as many callories. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's only the estimation, but from my personal experience, it's very accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-27T12:59:15.290" LastActivityDate="2014-08-27T12:59:15.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6587" CreationDate="2014-08-27T13:34:50.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So if we'd walked, say 10Km as the &quot;crow flies&quot; and climbed 1Km how far had we actually walked (roughly)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(looks like Math Markup isn't enabled here?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;km = sqrt( distance^2 + elevation^2 )&#xA;&#xA; = sqrt( 10^2 + 1^2 )&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You added a whole 50 meters to your hike with that 1km elevation gain. That's assuming a steady slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the route is up hill and down dale you get to repeat with every slope. Clearly not a job for a slide rule. You would need both an accurate GPS and an accurate terrain map&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3844" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-27T14:05:09.250" LastActivityDate="2014-08-27T14:05:09.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6598" CreationDate="2014-08-28T05:24:34.203" Score="29" ViewCount="12602" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done plenty of camping in my life, especially since it's part of my job, but one area where I've been particularly challenged is camping where sand is involved. It just gets everywhere and into everything and can become quite miserable quickly if not managed well. It almost seems impossible to keep it from getting into all my gear. (And sand coupled with saltwater and high humidity are quite the team of irritants.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some fool-proof techniques, habits, or equipment for minimizing the invasion of sand when camping on or near the beach (or other sandy areas)? What are some good ways in the field to get rid of it once it has already gotten into your gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Theoretical ideas are good, but I'm really looking for answers that speak from experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-08-28T05:30:33.393" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T18:05:22.770" Title="What are some effective ways to deal with sand when camping on or near the beach?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6596" CreationDate="2014-08-28T06:33:37.063" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having spent most of my life within a couple of miles of the beach in pretty windy areas, I have learned some tried and tested things you can do (although I have never found it much of an issue in any case)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always point the opening of your tent downwind so sand doesn't blow in. This will prevent the majority of your sand-related problems. Keep sand from your kit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove footwear outside the tent, and store it outside (under the fly or similar)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a groundsheet with a rug outside the tent. Something that can easily be shaken out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep spare water handy for rinsing. I'm okay with sea water, but if you don't like the salt, then camping near a river is very handy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have sand stuck to you where you don't want it, and can't wash it off, use a handful of talcum powder and just brush the sand off. We use this when trying to de-sand our kids. It works especially well to remove sand stuck to you with sweat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-08-28T06:33:37.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6596" CreationDate="2014-08-28T12:52:12.927" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;If possible, don't pitch your tent on the sand - get back a bit into some vegetation. Then apply these strategies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;set up your cook area well out of traffic and impose a strict no-running rule anywhere near the cook area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep lids on everything you cook, to keep sand out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep a clean plate near the stove to put in-use (wet, sand can stick to) items like wooden spoons. Consider another clean plate over them to keep them clean&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no shoes in the tent ever. Take them off while your body is in the tent but your feet are still out, and keep them in the vestibule. Put them on in reverse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put a lifejacket or other non-fuzzy item down in the vestibule to put non-shoe things on, out of the sand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring a small hand whisk to keep the tent swept out and use it at every takedown, plus daily if you stay in one spot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if your knees or backside are sandy, get them brushed off before you get in the tent. Use your dry hands, or the tent whisk, to get the worst off while you're still outside - ideally, step a few feet away from the tent while you do so&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buy replacement sliders for your tent zippers and keep them permanently in a tent pocket or your repair kit. Sand abrades the inside of zipper sliders and keeps the zipper from closing. Replacing them is a matter of minutes and presto - your zipper closes again&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hang things up even if they aren't wet, to keep them out of the sand or to give sand a chance to fall / blow out of them. To that end, get several clotheslines up pretty much as soon as you've set up camp, and always bring a dozen clothespegs with you (I keep mine in the rope bag)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;work out a way to get from your sand-rinsing place to the tent without picking up more sand. This may mean taking a towel to the rinsing place and coming back dry, or it may mean setting the rinse station up somewhere that has a no-sand path back to the tent area. Or you might go the baby powder way and keep water out of the desanding process.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can generally avoid sand even on a beach site, and just keep a towel at the border of sand and vegetation, but a forest site can have a lot of &quot;bittiness&quot; - shreds of tree material I guess - that most of this also applies to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-08-29T13:05:27.593" LastActivityDate="2014-08-29T13:05:27.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6306" CreationDate="2014-08-28T16:49:08.203" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hammock&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can you lie flat in it?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How large/heavy is it? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footbox?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Color (stealth camping?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suspension&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How easy is it to adjust?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can you adjust your hammock to different sags?  Do you always want to have the same amount of sag?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the furthest distance between trees that your suspension can accommodate?  This will depend on&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much stretch there is in the suspension&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a structural ridgeline that allow you to get the amount of sag you want while running your ropes closer to horizontal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it rains will water run down your suspension onto your hammock?  (Hint - drip lines).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight/size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choices are typically: Underquilt or sleeping pad for the bottom, sleeping bag or top quilt for the top.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you want to sleep on the ground if you can't find suitable trees?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Typical insulation questions and tradeoffs such as: weight, what temperature range are you targeting?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shelter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you want to use the shelter for other things or sleeping, ie cooking, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small &amp;amp; light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shape?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bug Protection:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How should it attach to the hammock?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Integrated system or separate system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can sometimes get systems that include insulation/bug netting/hammock in one system. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Benefits: Lower cost, comparability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drawbacks: Harder to use pieces independently (day in the park).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastActivityDate="2014-08-28T16:49:08.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6596" CreationDate="2014-08-29T02:16:05.200" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go camping in the sand all the time.  (see Rainbow Beach, QLD, Australia)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two best things to have are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Small dustpan/brush - (or just the brush really).  Use it to wipe dry sand off your feet before going into the tent, and as you're packing up, wipe things down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shade cloth - Used as a ground sheet at the door of your tent, or other areas of camp.  It sits above the sand, and sand falls through it giving you a pretty clean surface all the time to walk on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some shade cloths are better than others for this - experiment!&#xA;In Australia, shade cloth can be found at large hardware stores, or direct from the supplier if you want larger quantities of higher quality material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of recent years, I see camping stores selling &quot;ground sheets&quot; which are basically just shade cloth with eyelets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple guys in Melbourne, Australia that have a patent on the use of (basically shade cloth) for commercial/military application.  They use it for quick/temporary helicopter landing pads in sand/desert environments.  Sand goes down through the weave, but not back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3851" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-06T17:55:02.723" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T17:55:02.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6601" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6606" CreationDate="2014-08-29T08:58:12.167" Score="13" ViewCount="3308" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen people using a ropes &quot;alpine style&quot; in the past but I'm not sure on the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By &lt;em&gt;alpine style&lt;/em&gt; I mean where the rope is coiled around the body and attached to a second of third person. Anchors may or may not be used but typically the people move together. The idea being that all people in the party are &quot;roped&quot; up. You'd use it when moving together on unsure ground (not necessarily when climbing) I'm pretty sure you need to add a knot into the system somewhere, so if someone falls it doesn't just tighten. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone demonstrate the specifics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you set the rope up?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What knot to use on the coil?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much slack should you use?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking in and giving slack?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly give me the correct name for this type of rope work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-27T12:47:08.887" LastActivityDate="2014-10-27T12:47:08.887" Title="Using a rope &quot;Alpine Style&quot;/Moving together" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6602" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6799" CreationDate="2014-08-29T09:14:01.817" Score="6" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;The UIAA says that you should retire your gear after a major fall is a fall with fall factor &gt; 1.77.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I was wondering if this criterion is the same for all kinds of material ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dynamic ropes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Semi-dynamic ropes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Static ropes (or slings)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your metal gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/files/all/technical-notice/both/protecting-equipment-tips_EN.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tips for protecting your equipment&lt;/a&gt; on the Petzl site and they don't seem to make a distinction between the above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-08-29T17:40:42.517" LastActivityDate="2014-09-21T02:39:05.147" Title="Major fall, same for static and dynamic?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6603" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6605" CreationDate="2014-08-29T09:15:48.970" Score="6" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;So the UIAA sets a major fall (fall after which to retire your gear) to be a fall factor of 1.77.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I was wondering what would count as a major load (load after which to retire your gear) ? 50 kN ? More? Less ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the petzl document &quot;tips for protecting your equipment&quot; they don't seem to make a distinction between metal gear and ropes. So is that the same for all ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="3721" LastEditDate="2014-08-29T09:29:54.743" LastActivityDate="2014-08-30T17:02:21.073" Title="How much is a major load?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2014-08-29T09:18:03.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a figure-eight loop. Fairly easy to remove when you need to. Also gives the possibility to descend on one or two ends of the rope if the middle is brought to your anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit1: Of course not to permanently damage your core, it is advised to regularly (eg after each trip) take out the knot. This way the core gets a chance to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit2: I strongly advise against marking the middle of your rope with a permanent marker. This for the simple reason that when you have to cut your rope, the &quot;middle&quot;-marking will still be there. When you have multiple middle-markings it will be hard to know which one really marks the middle when you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="3721" LastEditDate="2015-08-10T11:07:04.517" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T11:07:04.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6603" CreationDate="2014-08-29T09:42:04.680" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your equipment should all come with a Kn rating. this is the force that that piece of gear will hold (often in what direction).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So looking at a standard carabiner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ys87d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This will hold 25Kn when loaded correctly (from the base to the top)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;9Kn when loaded correctly but with the gate open&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and 7Kn when loaded incorrectly (though the screw gate)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All pieces of gear should come with these ratings written on them somewhere or in the documentation included (this includes ropes). Different pieces of gear will hold different kns and they all vary slightly so you need to check the rating of that particular gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For another example here are some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Empire-BRASS-CHOCK-ROCK-CLIMBING/dp/B004WPWORQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;brass nuts&lt;/a&gt;. You can see the ratings below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Brass Chock 1-2 : 6 kN, Brass Chock 3-4 : 7 kN&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Brass Chock 5-6 : 8 kN, Brass Chock 7-8 : 9 kN&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rock strength&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing to bear in mind is the strength of the rock. There is no use putting a 20Kn cam into soft brittle rock. The cam may hold the fall but if the rock gives way it doesn't matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-08-29T13:19:25.590" LastActivityDate="2014-08-29T13:19:25.590" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6601" CreationDate="2014-08-29T11:20:38.847" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, the technique you describe is actually called &quot;Moving together&quot; at least by British climbers. The technique is used to move rapidly on relatively easy ground while also providing a degree of protection from falls. It is also used to rope up while crossing glaciers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbingcompany.co.uk/Technical-Information/Rope-Coils-Scrambling.html&quot;&gt;This website&lt;/a&gt; has a good set of photos showing how to attach the rope to your harness and coil it around the body. The knot is a simple overhand knot which is tied around the coils and clipped to a carabiner clipped to the loop formed at the rope's attachment poin to the harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the distance to keep between climbers, that depends on the terrain. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/climb-skills-moving-together&quot;&gt;This page on the British Mountaineering Council's website&lt;/a&gt; gives a description of what sort of distances to keep between roped climbers while moving together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can change this distance by &quot;taking in coils&quot; either for a long period by untying the knot and letting out coils or adding coils around the body or if only for a short distance, maybe on easier ground between more tricky parts, by simply taking in a few coils and holding onto them in your hand (usually the climber in the rear would do this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While moving together on say a rock ridge, the climber in front can place the rope alternately behind any spikes or flakes and the other climber than removes the rope from the spikes or flakes. You could also place the odd piece of artificial protection in the same way. As the ground should be relatively easy, the distance between these running belays need not be close together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for this technique is that it is much quicker than &quot;pitching&quot; a climb in the normal way but still provides some protection on the event of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-08-29T11:26:47.657" LastActivityDate="2014-08-29T11:26:47.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6603" CreationDate="2014-08-30T17:02:21.073" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a fall, roughly the same load is applied at every point along the rope, at the climber's harness, and at the anchor. &quot;Roughly&quot; means that this is an approximation where rope drag is negligible, the mass of the rope is negligible, and we're not taking into account the geometry of a redundant anchor. (If the anchor is equalized, the load could be shared by the different pieces, but if the angles aren't favorable, the load could be increased.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fall factor and the maximum load are not independent parameters. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor#Impact_force&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WP has a formula&lt;/a&gt; that expresses the maximum load in terms of the climber's body mass and the fall factor. Since people's body masses are all on the same order of magnitude, the fall factor almost completely determines the maximum load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Physically, the maximum load is probably the most relevant thing that determines what bad things will happen to the rope, climber, and gear. (It's also possible that total energy dissipation could make a difference.) But since maximum load is essentially determined by fall factor, all you really have to worry about is a single number, which is the fall factor. This is good, because fall factors are easy to estimate while climbing, but it's not practical to estimate while you're climbing how big the dynamic load will be from a lead fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-08-30T17:02:21.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6522" CreationDate="2014-08-30T23:16:05.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update after coming back from Yellowstone:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was originally looking for a way to get frequent weather forecast by text message.  As @studiohack pointed out in the comments, cell phone coverage is very spotty in Yellowstone.  I have never managed to catch an AT&amp;amp;T signal.  Don't count on being able to use a cell phone. That said, Weather Underground can send frequent weather forecasts, not only severe weather alerts (like most services).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best advice is the one from @nhinkle.  &lt;strong&gt;Look for weather forecasts at ranger stations, general stores, etc.&lt;/strong&gt;  They have it posted.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are however daily forecasts, and again as @studiohack mentioned, &lt;strong&gt;the weather changes quickly there&lt;/strong&gt;. A sunny day (and sunny forecast) doesn't mean that there won't be a hailstorm the same night (it happened while we were there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3855" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-08-30T23:31:17.237" LastActivityDate="2014-08-30T23:31:17.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6619" CreationDate="2014-09-02T04:00:37.067" Score="7" ViewCount="956" Body="&lt;p&gt;My propane/butane/isobutane canister with stove top attached is about 6&quot; tall. When I put a cookware filled with liquid on top of it, the center of gravity seems very high and the whole system seems not very stable, especially when it's windy.   Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cphMT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T20:57:37.217" LastActivityDate="2017-11-25T20:01:37.327" Title="Backpacking propane canister too tall and unstable" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6614" CreationDate="2014-09-02T04:33:45.410" Score="14" ViewCount="21934" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been said by a specialist doctor that any form of mountain descent would affect your knee caps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do old mountaineers have knee problems? Is it related to the way you descend?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-02T08:47:28.170" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T13:19:30.420" Title="Knee pain when descending a mountain" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6610" CreationDate="2014-09-02T08:16:06.570" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say it is likely you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; have issues with your knees when you get older as a mountaineer - in the same way someone who regularly runs on the roads can get damaged knees, in this case it is recommended to run on grass (as it's obviously more cushioned) or on uneven ground such as in a forest, which is usually a mix of leaf litter and harder ground - bit harder to do this on a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently having climbed Snowdon my other half has hurt his knee. We're not sure if this was from the climb itself, or a combination of the 7.5 hour climb and the 4 hour drive back home afterwards, so the type of injury itself is not uncommon even in a casual climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you descend a mountain, or even a hill, you put pressure on your knees among other joints. For the most part you can feel this when you're walking down a slope. However there are a few things you can do to help lessen the work your knees have to do. Most people use a trekking pole or two - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4470/3313&quot;&gt;Are trekking poles proven to be helpful?&lt;/a&gt; has some good info on this. Stretching properly before a hike. Resting when you feel the need to. Good supportive boots. Don't overload your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more you do - in any sport - to look after your body and joints the better you will be in later life. This would however depend on how regularly you climb, what care you take of yourself before and after each climb, if you do any other activities that can damage your knees, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do old mountaineers have knee problems? I would say not all of them, but if you are &lt;strong&gt;likely&lt;/strong&gt; to get knee problems later in life as a mountaineer, I would say it is possible but not a cert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T08:16:06.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6610" CreationDate="2014-09-02T08:58:48.303" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'll be sticking to the &quot;Descent and Knee pain&quot; part of the discussion here.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, there is no doubt that a descent definitely makes knee-pain worse. (I am strictly sticking to the point that it's not &lt;em&gt;caused&lt;/em&gt; solely by descending the mountain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The intensity can vary person to person and that is depending upon habits one has developed over time. &lt;em&gt;Habits&lt;/em&gt; here refer to the speed of walking on a descent, Calcium-rich diet,  packing sense, load-carrying abilities, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to a physician, He/She will term this pain as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chondromalacia&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patellofemoral_pain_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome&lt;/a&gt;. These are the most common types of pain around or behind the kneecaps, which is often diagnosed among not only trekkers, but in runners, skiers, and cyclists.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this makes one understand that it's not only because of the &lt;strong&gt;Descent&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;In layman's terms I'd say it's there when you exert your knee, be it in a way with your driving as well sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The weight/load that you carry, adds more strain to the knees. Period!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A downhill walk with a heavy backpack is definitely a strenuous task for the knees. It's because anecdotal studies say that while descending with each step that you take, the amount of force exerted on you knees is roughly thrice the normal body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moment you find your knees hurting on a descend, try and keep a steady and a calm pace, need not to rush downhill, if you are carrying excess weight, make sure that the load is distributed in a well manner and see if your fellows can help you with the heavy backpack. Drink adequate water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you experience pain on the trail after a hard day of walking, bring along some Ibuprofen/Painkiller or maybe some gel/ointment to reduce the pain and inflammation (if there is any) and stretch your quadriceps before you start again. You may also find that wearing a knee brace/cap is helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never hike knee-locked down a steep decline! Walk at a steady, slow pace and keep the knees flexed. The faster you hike, the longer your stride tends to be, which intensifies the weight and impact to your knee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not jump or take long strides: It kills the knee!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If time permits, pick a trail that goes in a zig-zag manner, sideways or s-shaped rather than going straight down hills whenever possible by making your own mini-switchbacks on wide trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, plan hikes where the downhill is at the end of the journey rather than the beginning. This way you have consumed most of your food weight, cooking fuel, etc.&#xA;Dump unneeded water before heading downhill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear the shoes that are of your shoe size and have good cushion for comfort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the long term, make sure your body is prepared for a hike with lots of downhill by doing exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee, and hike or walk downhill regularly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="16176" LastEditDate="2019-03-29T13:19:30.420" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T13:19:30.420" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6615" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:45:57.040" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing the person, or group of persons to contact in case of an emergency&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-02T10:35:12.193" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T10:35:12.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6616" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:45:57.040" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing the person, or group of persons to contact in case of an emergency" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-02T10:35:19.883" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T10:35:19.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6617" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:47:11.417" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please use &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/trekking&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;trekking&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;trekking&lt;/a&gt; with a specific tag describing what kind of equipment this is about (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/backpack&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;backpack&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;backpack&lt;/a&gt;). If nothing is applicable, use &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/equipment&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;equipment&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;equipment&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:33:30.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:33:30.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6618" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:47:11.417" Score="0" Body="Please use the trekking tag with a specific tag describing what kind of equipment this is about (e.g. backpack tag). If nothing is applicable, use the equipment tag." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:33:30.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:33:30.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6609" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:47:52.953" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it seems unstable as in wobbly then you might get better results by clearing out the ground you place it on so you have a level surface to work with (or by building a level surface with rocks or what you can find)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to get legs that attach to the underside of the bottle to make the setup more stable. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/itm/330872815669?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&amp;amp;_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is an example from ebay&lt;/a&gt;, but check your local stores as well, as in Sweden buying at &lt;em&gt;biltema&lt;/em&gt; is cheaper than ebay in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3731" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-02T10:37:51.760" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T10:37:51.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6609" CreationDate="2014-09-02T09:54:01.253" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the photo, if the ground is as soft as that, burying the canister by 2-3 cm could help a lot. If you're camping at a beach and bury it halfway in the sand, then that should even work in high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, if you're willing to buy a new stove, there are a number of them that come with built-in legs, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campingaz.com/de/p-26478-bleuet-206-plus.aspx&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T09:54:01.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6610" CreationDate="2014-09-02T12:50:47.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been a martial artist for over 30 years in a style which puts a lot of strain on your knees, as well as regular cyclist, occasional skier, hiker and ice-skater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I damaged a knee cartilage and tendons over 20 years ago and have to be careful and have particularly noticed problems hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing which has helped a lot is long-term consumption of glucosamine, far more so than regular anti-inflammatory drugs, but that's not enough alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now to the downhill bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two factors to consider, IMHO, which haven't been addressed exactly by the answers so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, consider the mechanics of going downhill. Apart from the additional impact of descent, consider in particular the leg mechanics. Depending on the slope, your toes may well be flexed forward, &quot;pointed&quot; so the front of the shin is tightened. This changes the geometry of the knee and can cause bits to rub together repeatedly and under more pressure than normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can help alleviate this effect by paying attention to your gait, the rotation of your foot in or out, the alignment of you knee over the foot and if you are tending to be bowlegged or knock-kneed. I think this factor is why knee or ankle braces can help. You may also find that loosening the top of hiking boots, so the ankle can flex forward more, will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A related factor is leg flexibility and this is where preparedness and actions during the climb can both help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some reason, many people find it hard to relate the flexibility of their muscles and tendons to joint pain (this is an endless argument with my wife, although the lecture from a recently-seen physiotherapist may have ended it :-). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when you consider how everything is (literally) connected, if you add tension in the middle between joints it is obviously conveyed through the anchor points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sustained effort, particularly if you're not used to it, tends to make muscles tighten up. So, improve your starting point. If you have leg muscles that are so tight you nearly hobble when barefoot, you're asking for trouble. Incorporate stretching into your daily routine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, when you're on the hike/climb, make sure you are stretching regularly. Front and back, above and below the knee. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It may also reduce back pain if you notice some after a climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3864" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T12:50:47.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2014-09-02T12:51:31.097" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knots I use the most while camping is the Taught-line hitch, Siberian hitch, Trucker's Hitch, Prusik Knot, Figure 8 loop, and the slip knot. In fact these are the only knots I ever use, besides tying my shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A great easy way to rig up a ridge line between two trees is to use the Siberian hitch and Trucker's hitch. The Siberian hitch allows for a quick anchoring of one end of the rope to a tree. And then a Trucker's hitch on the other end allows for you to pull the rope nice and tight. Both knots have a slip-knot release, so take down is easy!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2507" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T12:51:31.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6587" CreationDate="2014-09-02T14:37:55.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The change in distance from flat is fairly small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 10% slope is about when you start toe striking instead of heel striking.  Your leg is bent when your foot touches the ground and you have to straighten it.  This is a lot more work.  Your distance is about 0.5% extra due to the slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A standard stair has a rise over run of 7 over 10.  Now you are going about 12% extra distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical scree slopes are at the angle of repose -- about 35-40 degrees.  Now you are going about 25% extra distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This however is a bad way to look at it.  Going up and down takes a lot more energy than traveling horizontally.  When you are walking on slopes of 8% or lower, the biomechanics of your leg swing, and your stride length determine your speed.  With some training you can lengthen your stride and increase your pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around 10% slope you have to use a different motion, that is less efficient, much higher energy.  For most of us at 20% slope (steep hill) conversation is short phrases separated by puffs.  (I knew one lad who could sing going up a 15% slope.  He also played the bag pipe.  Another could carry on a conversation at slopes and speeds I could do little more than grunt.  He had planted trees on mountainsides for 5 months.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming down isn't a lot better.  Your muscles are not designed for absorbing energy.  Coming down hill you often need to take time to pick your way.  A long descent can leave you at the bottom with &quot;jello legs&quot;  quivering from the effort of contracting under load.  This too you can train for, but a stair climber machine doesn't work.  You have to go down slopes or stairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For running trips in one sense I don't care how far I really traveled.  I want to have a good idea of what time it will take.  So I have an estimater for the 'effective distance of elevation change'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of planning distances I figure 5:1 for elevation.  That is, a meter up effectively adds 5 meters horizontally.  This is true for up and down both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice the up part takes longer for any but the most fit, but coming down is still slower than flat (you are picking your foot landing more carefully.)  Both going up and going down you are taking shorter steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a 20 km loop route with a 1 km total of up and down will take about the same time, and leave the same fatigue more or less as a 25 km flat route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In more detail:  8% is a magic number in terms of gradients.  Up to about an 8% grade (8 foot climb per 100 foot horizontal) you can walk normally.  You have a heel strike.  Your step shortens up hill and lengthens down hill.  At 10% for most people, you change to a toe strike, and you are climbing, rather than walking. This is not nearly as efficient.  You will find that the vertical change entirely determines your speed.  E.g. when you are walking you do 3 km/hour.  When your are climbing you do 1200 meters an hour up.  Your numbers will vary.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the 5:1 rule is good enough for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-10-13T14:50:33.947" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T14:50:33.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6635" CreationDate="2014-09-02T15:07:37.350" Score="6" ViewCount="1707" Body="&lt;h2&gt;My story&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to hike and pack light. Lately I have been experimenting with various setups for making a 2-3 day trek along the Appalachian Trail. I have tried a few different methods of carrying gear within different packs.&#xA;(I've used a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0091CUDS2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;KoolerTron&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00DEGUAXY&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A.L.I.C.E&lt;/a&gt; pack and &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00695698W&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;East German Pack&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far; my favorite is my East German, followed By the Koolertron.&#xA;(I buy and use military, mostly, because I know it's rugged and will withstand my abuse.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the East German pack because (once I changed the straps) it's comfortable, light, and waterproof, only downside is that it doesn't hold a lot.&#xA;The Koolertron is comfortable, but not waterproof, carries a moderate amount, but a bit heavy because it's made from thick cotton canvas.&#xA;The A.L.I.C.E made me feel like a pack mule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These Latest three trials have taught me a few things about what I should and shouldn't take on my excursions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My setup at current:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2, 1.5ltr (Military) Canteens with cup inserts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light weight, compressible, sleeping bag (2lbs) by Eureka&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A small Pouch that consist of, protein bars, a couple small cans of beans, crackers and tuna in a can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toiletries.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feather-light, compressible, Hammock (By Grand Trunk).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50' of Para cording.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knife.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this is on a Military Suspender-harnes-like rig, so that if need be, I can also attach the East German Pack to include change of clothes, wet weather gear, pack more rations, or anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does this sound like a well rounded, bare essential, 2-3 day trekking setup, if not what should I change?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please Keep in mind that I am not looking to purchase a new pack, especially if they are the New, thin-nylon &quot;Rip-stop&quot; light weight packs with, or without, frame support. I am simply asking about the gear in tow right now.&lt;br&gt;&lt;Br&gt;&#xA;My Current Gear without/with Back pack&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iKun2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-09-03T06:06:56.963" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:22:37.150" Title="Bare Essentials for 2-3 day Hike" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6625" CreationDate="2014-09-02T15:15:57.847" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't mention any first-aid or survival items. I would include a first aid kit with maybe a compass and signaling mirror, maybe a firestarter of some kind. I would think that would add a negligible amount of weight to your rig.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T15:15:57.847" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6609" CreationDate="2014-09-02T19:55:54.920" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try a different brand of canister. The MSR, and others, come in a shorter height, but burying it is the best solution. Plus, gives some wind break.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3869" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T19:55:54.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6628" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-02T19:56:18.773" Score="16" ViewCount="3828" Body="&lt;p&gt;After using water bladder, how to dry it thoroughly besides simply pouring out the water content so any remnant of water inside it is cleanly eliminated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:28:45.850" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:28:45.850" Title="How to effectively dry/clean the inside of water bladders?" Tags="&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1762" CreationDate="2014-09-02T19:58:14.807" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go ultralight and use quart size freezer bags stuffed inside a stuff sack. Not the best, but cheap and light weight. I like the clothes stuffing method, but sometimes they can get damp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3869" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T19:58:14.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1762" CreationDate="2014-09-02T20:13:37.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always had this trouble and I find using spare clothes in my sleeping-bags compression sack works the best. Whoever, since I bought a Hammock I sleep comfortably without the need for a pillow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T20:13:37.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6609" CreationDate="2014-09-02T20:50:11.057" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a hose or pipe which allows you to connect the burner to the hose then the hose to the canister. This allows you to put the burner closer to the ground, in a small divot, behind a stump or otherwise shielded from the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1934" LastActivityDate="2014-09-02T20:50:11.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6625" CreationDate="2014-09-03T00:04:50.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect you are bringing more items than you have listed, since you've alluded to some of them in the comments.  That said, here's what I see as missing or improvable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flashlight.  Is that because you carry it on you?  An LED microlight is quite small.  Letting your eyes adapt to the dark often works, but sometimes more is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kitchen gear.  Are you boiling water in the canteen cups or do you have a separate pot?  Are you using a stove, or just a wood fire using found wood?  (I see you have a flint stick; what do you use for tinder?)  I assume you have a spoon?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Toiletries&quot; can cover a lot; does it include a spade (or tent stake) for burying waste and a pair of tweezers for tick removal?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water.  Do you really need to carry 3 liters?  If water sources are plentiful, you could likely get by with 0.5 to 1 liter and treat as you go.  Are you carrying that much because your only option to treat the water is to build a fire and boil it?  Chlorine dioxide tablets, a Sawyer Mini filter, or Steripen make water treatment much simpler.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Food.  As mentioned, fresh food is heavy and canned food especially so.  Re-packing may help, but use durable materials when spills would be trouble.  I suggest looking into recipes for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;creating your own light-weight backpacking meals&lt;/a&gt; that you can carry and eat out of freezer bags.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Repairs. You listed a ton of para-cord and mentioned a sewing kit; I might suggest a bit of duct tape and gauze.  (If you have dental floss there's no need for additional thread, and unless you're hanging your food you probably don't need that much para-cord.  For that matter, utility cord might be lighter, especially since you're probably not going to weave a fishing net or lower yourself down a cliff.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to nhinkle's comment, there's no reason to suture in the back-country.  While many first aid items are more about comfort, there's good reason to have tape and sterile gauze.  (I'd point you to a story about someone de-gloving their toe, but I'm sure you're smart enough to wear shoes at night.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;big 3&quot; (sleep, shelter, and pack).  It looks like the hammock is saving you weight over a sleeping pad and tent, and your sleeping bag is reasonably light as well.  Other than the rig, it looks pretty light.  (You may want a light tarp in case of rain.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T00:04:50.080" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5343" CreationDate="2014-09-03T01:53:01.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say to look up basic basket/container weaving techniques. The First picture obviously shows some form of stitching around the middle of the container, as well as when they are packing the Sago into the leaf container for transportation home. The basic mechanics for weaving can be applied to just about anything that is flexible and retains its shape once formed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T01:53:01.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6625" CreationDate="2014-09-03T06:26:54.413" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a bare essential setup, you'll do just fine. You might want to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better food selection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duct tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emergency kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light source&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change the water containers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mini-carabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prefer non-canned goods because they are lighter, take less space and the resulting trash compacts better. You can find tuna packs too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can roll duct tape on your poles or bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a ziplock bag on me with some basic emergency items in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider changing the water containers with a gatorade/smart-water bottle and perhaps bring a foldable container (platypus/evernew).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-09-07T17:16:25.247" LastActivityDate="2014-09-07T17:16:25.247" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2014-09-03T07:40:15.137" Score="7" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drain all the water out of the tube&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the tube from the bladder and the bite valve and hang it up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bend a metal coat hanger in half (make sure no sharp edges are exposed)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;push the coat hanger into the bladder and hang the coat hanger up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also buy airers but the coat hanger works just as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a cleaning point of view you just need baby bottle steriliser and some brushes. The clean the inside of the tube you can by specialist brushes, they're a brush on the ned of a flexible wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T08:06:02.903" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T08:06:02.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2014-09-03T09:21:18.423" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I clean my drinking system with lots of hot water then sterilise it using baby bottle sterilising tablets. Once it is clean, I don't dry it - I store it in the freezer. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, I don't use anything but water. People I know who use powdered drinks or sugar solution tell me the black mold grows really quickly inside the drinking tube and valve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2014-09-03T09:26:20.967" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T09:26:20.967" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6639" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6640" CreationDate="2014-09-03T09:52:12.387" Score="26" ViewCount="11392" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a one day hike, and I want to cook an egg whilst on it. I'd like to avoid carrying excess water, and the route goes past a couple of waterfalls and several streams, so there is no problem in acquiring extra water. However, I don't know whether there would be risks from bacteria in the water getting into the egg, meaning I would have to purify the water first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3664" LastActivityDate="2020-12-03T13:07:56.860" Title="Can you boil an egg in dirty water?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6639" CreationDate="2014-09-03T10:18:13.210" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5109/2766&quot;&gt;You do not need to purify all water sources&lt;/a&gt;. Just because it is not out of a tap does not make it immediately dirty. Most fresh wilderness water (providing it isn't stagnant, etc.) is fine for drinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be familiar with the source of the water. Just because the river looks clean doesn't mean that an industrial unit isn't dumping into it upstream. I always check a river on a map before using it. Generally a mountain stream above human habitation will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Providing the water is fine for drinking there is no reason not to boil an egg in the same water, if anything it's going to be safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the water is actually &lt;strong&gt;dirty&lt;/strong&gt; (e.g. polluted, stagnant, in a built up area, etc.) Then &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, don't boil your egg in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Most&lt;/em&gt; bacteria should be destroyed by the boiling, but things like heavy metals, etc. will survive boiling and this can either enter the egg (though the shell) or be passed onto the inner egg from the shell when you break it (cross contamination)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-05T18:41:59.160" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6639" CreationDate="2014-09-03T12:37:59.397" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can but the question you need to ask yourself is should you ? If the water is dirty it will contaminate the egg (some toxins are horribly bad for you)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most fresh (flowing) spring water is VERY clean&#xA;if above human habitation areas&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3874" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-03T13:28:42.727" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T13:28:42.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2014-09-03T12:46:14.967" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt; you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in a small Swiss village of 380 inhabitants&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the water we use comes from above the village as spring water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is piped to our house and to a village water trough (for animals and humans )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tourists often ask to drink from our house because the idea of drinking from an outside water source is euuk (yes many are American)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However &#xA;a) it's the same water (origin)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) it runs continually from a clean spigot into the trough so it is cooler, &#xA;it is fresher (it has not been standing in a metal or plastic pipe so fewer contaminants), &#xA;it is more highly oxygenated. &#xA;it is free - we pay for our metered use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3874" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-03T12:54:46.980" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T12:54:46.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6625" CreationDate="2014-09-03T12:59:58.227" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are a coffee drinker, meaning you enjoy caffeine, you can bag some instant coffee grounds in a plastic bag and toss the grounds into your mouth and then drink some water.  I would lie if I said it tasted good, but it does provide that kick in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also find taking a couple strips of duct tape can go a long way.  I usually find a surface like a water bottle or something and tear off a couple and put them on right over each other.  From blisters to holes in a tent duct tape can really help out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3815" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T12:59:58.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6639" CreationDate="2014-09-03T13:28:07.437" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone with +10 years experience as a boy scout, I have never had an incident or heard of an incident where cooking with wilderness water led to bacteria infections, sickness, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should take care not to use stagnant water (this was also mentioned in other answers) and I'd personally avoid very shallow streams, to avoid dirt and bacteria from the ground polluting the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be as safe as possible, make sure the water has been boiling for some time before putting the eggs in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On a sidenote:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it is supposed to be a one-day hike and you don't mention anything else, I assume that the trip will be somewhere near to you. If you are visiting a foreign country, I'd definitely make sure beforehand that the water sources there are safe to drink from (i. e. I probably &lt;strong&gt;wouldn't&lt;/strong&gt; do this without proper water filtration in some African or South-American (or even European) countries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3876" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-19T04:34:36.733" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:34:36.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6646" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6647" CreationDate="2014-09-03T16:09:29.183" Score="10" ViewCount="280" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the spur of the moment I bought a flint and steel. This was mainly because it seems manly and cool. My main problem is I really struggle to light a fire with the thing and normally give up and use a lighter instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone give me some pointers to lighting a fire successfully using a flint and steel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:28:38.143" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:28:38.143" Title="Lighting a fire using a flint and steel" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6646" CreationDate="2014-09-03T16:37:02.440" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick search yielded &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IERpeSRBew0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;, which seems straightforward enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen anyone use charcloth like in the video, but it seems to work nicely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize the video:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the charcloth on top of the flintstone with your fingers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strike the flint until the charcloth is lit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the glowing charcloth into a tinder bundle (old rope that has been pulled apart, wood shavings, dryer lint, cotton wool, etc.) and blow gently until you have a flame.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly add more fuel to the fire. Start with small twigs, dry grass, etc. until the flames are high and hot enough to add firewood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, have something that immediately starts glowing or burning, like wood shavings etc. Start the fire by igniting the smallest fuel at hand and build your way up from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might consider &quot;cheating&quot; using &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1733/wax-paper-as-a-fire-starter?rq=1&quot;&gt;wax paper&lt;/a&gt; or a magnesium bar, which can be bought online or in outdoor equipment stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3876" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T09:19:04.160" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6646" CreationDate="2014-09-03T21:32:14.113" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simple demonstration &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVpGFAJmG3g&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVpGFAJmG3g&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The trick is to pull the Flint-stick towards you while keeping the scraper stationary. Make sure you are using something dry, tiny, or chard cloth, or fine steel wool works well. I've never had a problem with mine, but I still like to rough it a little more and use the Bow and Drill method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastActivityDate="2014-09-03T21:32:14.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6651" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-09-04T07:34:34.597" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to the current atmospheric state of a place, usually temperature, precipitation, wind speeds, etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T08:46:24.927" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T08:46:24.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6652" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-09-04T07:34:34.597" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to the current atmospheric state of a place, usually temperature, precipitation, wind speeds, etc" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T08:46:19.637" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T08:46:19.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1762" CreationDate="2014-09-04T09:38:03.140" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use my hiking boots in combination with clothing. This may sound uncomfortable, and that may be quite subjective, but I sleep fine like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stuck my shoes in a plastic back to keep the dirt contained. Open side away from my body and    not covered by clothing so that the shoes can still ventilate and dry. Then I usually put the clothing that I wear during the day on top of the plastic bag, not covering the top of the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that using my shoes gives me more lift and structure than using just cloths alone. And this doesn't require more space or weight to my backback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T09:38:03.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6656" CreationDate="2014-09-04T10:05:05.307" Score="15" ViewCount="3087" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning for a trek at the Advance Base Camp or if possible up to Camp II of Saser Kangri. The region is so deserted of people and expeditionists/mountaineers that there are usually only two to three odd tents at the Base Camp of the mountain, and it's a known fact that once you are beyond the Base Camp, yours is the only team at campsites en-route the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather is very harsh, and the mountain does not allow much area to take a walk on a day when you are not going up the mountain. All you have is a deserted campsite and solace to enjoy. And this goes on for days, worst case for a week. In such cases, you are stuck at higher camps with absolutely no way to roam around or move up the mountain. All you can do is to hope and wait for the weather to get suitable for further progress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like to read for hours or sit around idle. I usually tend to doze off when I am not doing anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In such a case if I sleep for more than 16 hours a day, does that put me in a trouble by any means?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What are your tricks to stay up?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-05T16:13:16.993" LastActivityDate="2015-06-05T16:13:16.993" Title="Is it safe to sleep for more than 16 hrs a day at altitudes above 6000m?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6655" CreationDate="2014-09-04T10:15:48.837" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, the only three factors which may cause you problems are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;supplies running out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;losing fitness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;boredom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And these are really only an issue if you are stuck for extended periods of time. Your solutions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;exercises you can do in your tent, or just outside - stretches, press-ups, sit-ups, basic cardio - will help you maintain a level of fitness while potentially recovering from any stresses encountered in getting to camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;planning your supplies to take account of enforced downtime, and being prepared to contact emergency services of some kind before it's too late&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you could try writing, rather than reading. A wild and isolated environment can provide a good muse &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;depending on your circumstances, you could take a small musical instrument (this &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; annoy fellow travellers after a while...) or a hand- or solar-powered radio.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt; - to answer the specific point about sleeping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleep itself is not a problem, however if you are on your own, you should take certain precautions - eg if snow is heavy, an alarm set every hour so you can check you aren't getting buried or having your oxygen cut off is a good idea&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T10:29:15.997" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T10:29:15.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6657" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6659" CreationDate="2014-09-04T12:41:40.390" Score="12" ViewCount="1655" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I read articles about climbers having freed a route. For example: &quot;Lynn Hill freed the Nose&quot;. What does this exactly mean in terms of how they climbed it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are they not allowed to fall at all during the climb?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there ropes and partners involved (like a normal multi-pitch climb)? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What sort of protection is available? Bolts, trad gear?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is a route freed only once by the person who climbed it first (so a synonym of a first ascent)? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is &quot;freeing a route&quot; ever used for single-pitch climbs, or is it mainly used for much longer climbs? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T13:00:16.703" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T14:26:40.217" Title="What does it mean to free a climbing route?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6657" CreationDate="2014-09-04T12:57:18.673" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Freeing&quot; a route does basically mean to climb a route, which up to then was only aid climbed, in free climbing style for the first time (i.e. using only the natural holds for gripping and stepping on them). Therefore it is a thing that can only happen once per every route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the great times of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redpoint_(climbing)&quot;&gt;redpoint&lt;/a&gt; movement from the mid-70ies on, many single-pitch routes were freed by the famous free climbers of that time. But in the meantime the term might typically refer more to multi-pitch climbs as there are not many people who climb new single-pitch routes in aid climbing style.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be accepted as freeing, the route must typically be climbed &lt;em&gt;redpoint&lt;/em&gt; or – for multi-pitch routes – at least &lt;em&gt;team free&lt;/em&gt; (i.e. every pitch as to be climbed &lt;em&gt;redpoint&lt;/em&gt; by at least one of the team members). The protection can be of any type but it seems that in most cases it's considered ethical to not install more bolts for the free ascend than are already there from former aid climbs. So it can be a mixture of bolted and trad-style ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T14:26:40.217" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T14:26:40.217" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6660" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6668" CreationDate="2014-09-04T14:38:44.740" Score="15" ViewCount="3172" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to cross a Crevasse when its absolutely unavoidable?&#xA;What gear/equipment is/are required?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;What are the things that one should look for when choosing where to cross?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it the hard ice from where I should cross, or is it the snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; I am referring to a crevasse that I &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; need to cross some point in time during a trek that I am planning around Saser kangri II and Saser Kangri IV.&#xA;The said crevasses is roughly a 20-25 ft (6 to 7.5 m) wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-05T08:51:28.490" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T19:31:46.917" Title="How to cross a 25 feet wide Crevasse?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6661" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6664" CreationDate="2014-09-04T14:40:30.493" Score="16" ViewCount="25953" Body="&lt;p&gt;In climbing what do the terms &lt;strong&gt;Redpoint&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Pinkpoint&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Flash&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Onsight&lt;/strong&gt; mean? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where does it come from?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T02:19:33.810" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T02:19:33.810" Title="What do the climbing terms &quot;Redpoint&quot;, &quot;Pinkpoint&quot;, &quot;Flash&quot; and &quot;Onsight&quot; mean?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6662" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6667" CreationDate="2014-09-04T14:47:03.487" Score="14" ViewCount="687" Body="&lt;p&gt;There has been handful discussions about How to fix a bolt on a climbing route. But there seldom any point made about How the one should go about when removing/replacing the bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When to decide in favor of replacing the bolts, considering the crucial part bolts play in climbing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to do it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T07:57:02.317" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T11:33:06.523" Title="How to go about replacing sport climbing bolts?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6661" CreationDate="2014-09-04T19:15:48.817" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two terms specifically refer to the finer aesthetics of &lt;strong&gt;Lead Climbing&lt;/strong&gt;, in which a climber will either create intermediate anchors using gear (referred to as traditional climbing), or will use the bolted anchors on a wall (referred to as sport climbing), and clip the rope to them as he/she ascends for protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To understand the two terms, you will need to understand some other terms first: &lt;em&gt;Onsight&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;Flash&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flash&lt;/strong&gt;: If you were to climb a route using either of these two methods, and made it to the top of the route both without falling, and without resting your weight on the belay chain, you have successfully flashed the route, congratulations!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Onsight&lt;/strong&gt;: If you did all the above without getting any &lt;strong&gt;Beta&lt;/strong&gt;, then you have successfully on-sighted the route, you get a double congratulations! (&lt;em&gt;Beta is defined as any information pertaining to the climb, like where the hardest moves are or the best ways to get through or avoid them&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fall or rest on the rope (held by your belayer) during your first attempt to flash or on-sight a route, but know that you could have done better, you may decide to try again after coming down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pinkpoint&lt;/strong&gt;: A successful second, third, or twentieth attempt to climb the route from start to finish, without either falling or resting on the rope, will net you the pinkpoint, hi-five!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Redpoint&lt;/strong&gt;: Lastly, the redpoint, which is only slightly different to the pinkpoint, refers to climbing the route in exactly the same way, but while having to place the gear to protected the route as you ascend. If you managed to do this, you have redpointed the route, double hi-five!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between redpoint and pinkpoint can seem subtle, so here is a picture from Alli Rainey's site to better explain. The route he is climbing on the left side already has some quick-draws in place to clip to, the route to his right however, does not. A climber going up the right side of the picture would have to take quick-draws with to attach to these hangers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/COClk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alli Rainey Climbing in Scotland&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term redpoint originates from German climber Kurt Albert in the 70's. He painted a red-circle at the base of a climb which he later filled in once successfully free-climbing the entire route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T21:25:04.110" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T21:25:04.110" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6662" CreationDate="2014-09-04T19:55:25.857" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing from how you phrased your question that you are really interested in how rebolting, specifically bolt removal, is performed. I have never rebolted anything, but the ASCA (American Safe Climbing Association) has pretty thorough articles for people interested in learning how to rebolt climbs &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safeclimbing.org/education/howtorebolt.htm&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It goes over the following topics in very good detail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Determining candidates for rebolting (types of bolts used, condition of bolts)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Procedure and equipment to remove old bolts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What hardware (specific bolts and hangers) to replace with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The actual rebolting procedure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="3345" LastEditDate="2014-09-04T20:00:49.693" LastActivityDate="2014-09-04T20:00:49.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6666" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6669" CreationDate="2014-09-05T07:11:39.397" Score="5" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking at the things that I should have with me when I am climbing higher altitudes.&#xA;I came across this meds one should always have along: Dexamethasone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamethasone&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dexamethasone&lt;/a&gt; is used in the treatment of high-altitude cerebral edema, as well as pulmonary edema. It is commonly carried on mountain-climbing expeditions to help climbers deal with altitude sickness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is available in the form of Tablets and Injectable. As this may well be a solo expedition, I might have to take the dose on my own. Yes, if there is another team around who have a medic with them, then its obvious that I'll consult him/her for that matter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it always advised to get injected only from a medical professional?  I know I can, but should this medicine be self-injected when needed? I have given insulin doses to my father, so I know I can inject, at least &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcutaneous_injection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;subcutaneously&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a definite/solid set of instructions for doing that?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-02-25T12:52:06.990" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T12:52:06.990" Title="Is there a dose guide for Dexamethasone?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6662" CreationDate="2014-09-05T08:34:55.417" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK this is controlled/coordinated by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BMC&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They publish an extensive guide on how and when to do this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmcNews/media/u_content/File/equipment_advice/bolt_funds/Users_guideLR.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bolt Guidance Document&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a working group, coordinator and they even pay for new bolts. There are lot's of issues around this, the document goes into a lot of detail these. The most important one (in the context of your question) is.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;When to replace bolts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(sic: Bolts do fail but not very often).....After all when was the&#xA;  last time you heard of a bolt failing? Well it  does very occasionally&#xA;  happen and recorded cases suggest in some  situations that are hard to&#xA;  predict. So what factors should we take into  account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rock quality&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Like any other form of protection, a bolt is only as good as the rock&#xA;  it is placed  in.....Always remember that the erosion that creates our&#xA;  crags has not halted. The  weather and particularly cliff vegetation&#xA;  has great capacity to loosen and lever  off even very large lumps of&#xA;  rock. Once sound placements have been known  to change as the rock&#xA;  around them unexpectedly crumbles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Depth &amp;amp; Position of Bolt&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bolts placed close to edges will have a reduced strength; 200mm is&#xA;  often  quoted as a minimum clearance distance. Unfortunately bulging&#xA;  limestone  doesn’t usually accommodate bolts being placed with that&#xA;  allowable distance.  Likewise, bolts placed close to cracks, pockets&#xA;  or other discontinuities may  well be reduced in strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Evidence of Corrosion (Rust)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....Just because a bolt is rusty it doesn’t mean it is dramatically&#xA;  weakened.  However, if it is rusty it has lost some metal and&#xA;  consequently some of its  holding capacity. It is not unknown for the&#xA;  nut to be of a different metal and to  have corroded so that it no&#xA;  longer holds the hanger in place. Bolts where the  hanger is fresh and&#xA;  shiny but the bolt itself is rusty may suffer from a particular  form&#xA;  of corrosion and have been known to break with the lightest of load.&#xA;  It  makes sense to inspect bolts that are placed in drainage lines.&#xA;  Unfortunately  the wettest place part of a bolt is in the hole and&#xA;  behind the hanger making  inspection difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accidental Unclipping&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hangers or eyes ideally should be of a size that they don’t allow the&#xA;  karabiner  to snag in such a way that the gate can be forced open and&#xA;  unclip. Correct  orientation of the karabiner gate away from the&#xA;  direction of travel also helps  avoid this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spinning Hangers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hangers can spin because the bolt has moved in its seating or because&#xA;  the  securing nut has become loose. If there is evidence of the former&#xA;  then the bolt  is likely to be unsafe. If the latter is the cause then&#xA;  the nut should be  immediately retightened. The leverage and wear&#xA;  caused by a weighted  hanger rotating on the bolt body can give rise&#xA;  to weakening of the unit due to  the formation of microscopic&#xA;  fractures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Old Bolts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Despite the number of renewal programmes there are still many old&#xA;  bolts out  there, especially ones used to protect blank sections on&#xA;  80’s trad routes.  Common sense dictates that bolts have a limited&#xA;  useful life and it is always  worth consulting the guidebook to see&#xA;  when the route was first done or, if the  gear has been replaced, when&#xA;  that might have been done. Whilst stainless  steel products are likely&#xA;  to be good for a lot longer, experience has shown that  many bolts&#xA;  placed in the past are dangerously weak after 10 years. Some  early&#xA;  staples had no notches on their legs making them prone to pulling out &#xA;  relatively easily if an outwards force is applied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wobbly or Damaged Bolts - Mechanical or Glue-Ins&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It makes sense to doubt the holding power of any bolt that wobbles in&#xA;  its hole!  With glue-in bolts a problem can arise if the drill dust is&#xA;  not thoroughly cleaned  out of the hole or if it was placed in a damp&#xA;  hole. Some wobbly glue-ins have  been found to take quite high loads&#xA;  but it’s probably not sensible to test these  with your own weight!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unset Glue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Glues have to be mixed properly. Failure to do as instructed can&#xA;  result in the  mixture not curing, or hardening as was designed and&#xA;  not holding the bolt in  place. Several serious accidents have&#xA;  happened when climbers have come  across new bolts and attempted the&#xA;  route without checking the glue has set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deteriorating Glue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Like the bolts themselves the glue can and will deteriorate with time&#xA;  though for  appropriate glues this should be a very slow process.&#xA;  However, there is  anecdotal evidence that some inappropriate glues&#xA;  have been used, that are  not suitable for the alkaline solutions&#xA;  likely to be encountered in limestone  rocks. Unfortunately this could&#xA;  mean that once sound bolts become less so,  perhaps as little as two&#xA;  years after placement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worn Belay Bolts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If top-roping a route the climber can always arrange slings so that&#xA;  both bolts  are weighted. This is good practice and climbers should be&#xA;  discouraged from  top roping with the rope directly through the belay&#xA;  bolts, as significant wear on  the eye can quickly result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Home Made Hangers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Various types of bolt hanger were homemade during the 1950s and 60s. &#xA;  Usually these were simple angle iron (or aluminium alloy) with holes&#xA;  drilled in  each side. A few may still be encountered on old aid&#xA;  routes today but  generally they are now of little relevance and most&#xA;  have been superseded by  modern bolts or other forms of protection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stress Corrosion cracking&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although there is no evidence of this type of attack occurring in the&#xA;  UK, a  number of bolts have failed by stress corrosion cracking (SCC)&#xA;  in Thailand  and Cayman Brac so it’s worth being aware of it if you’re&#xA;  going sport climbing  in the tropics. SCC can occur in stainless&#xA;  steels in aqueous chloride solutions  (e.g., seawater) so the bolts on&#xA;  sea cliffs appear to be most susceptible.  Luckily for us, there is a&#xA;  temperature (~50°C) below which it doesn’t occur  (except in very&#xA;  acidic conditions) so it shouldn’t be a problem in the UK until &#xA;  global warming really kicks in. The corrosion is very localised and&#xA;  takes the  form of cracks that can penetrate through the metal,&#xA;  reducing its strength to  almost zero. These cracks can be very fine&#xA;  and difficult to detect on the  surface and impossible to see how far&#xA;  they penetrate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/Download.aspx?id=216&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;part II&lt;/a&gt;. This goes into details on how to go about actually replacing the bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to removing the bolts, it depends....You can sometimes unscrew them, sometimes the need chopping. TBH, it doesn't matter as you should drill a new hole, etc. for any new bolts anyway. Just make it obvious that the old bolts should not be used/remove them as best you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T11:33:06.523" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T11:33:06.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6660" CreationDate="2014-09-05T09:23:31.137" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;A crevasse that wide cannot just be jumped across (unless you're among the top long jumpers of the world), therefore you have only two possibilities: avoid it or build a bridge over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically such bridges are built using aluminum ladders (cf. image below) that are placed across the crevasse and fixed on both sides. In the ideal case one also builds some handrail rope to hold onto.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://2012everestbasecamp.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/everest-l110-869.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;crevasse&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see from the image such bridges are rather permanent constructions, that need some material (ice screws, rope, webbing slings) to get it properly fixed. Also for a crevasse of 7.5m width you can plan for a minimum of 10m (better more) of ladder to have enough spare lengths on both sides for support and fixation. So this is nothing that you carry up the mountain just for the possibility to need it but you will have to plan ahead to bring the right material. It also requires some time to set it up, therefore such ladders are only of use on points where a crevasse is frequently crossed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you say you plan or at least expect to go solo on that trip, you won't have the capacity to carry huge amounts of material. In that case your second best choice will be to find a snow bridge over the crevasse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As those bridges (and also the snowy edges of crevasses) can look firm while being quite unstable, be very careful with your safety measures. That means, create a save anchor (using ice screws, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_protection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;snow protection gear&lt;/a&gt;, or whatever is suitable for the conditions) some meters away from the edge and tie your rope there. Cross the snow bridge while you are belayed by the rope. Once on the other side, create another anchor there and fix your rope here as well. If you can afford, leave the rope there until you return to have an easier traverse on your way back (also take into account that you might need to take a fast retreat). If you can't leave the rope there, cross the bridge back again to your first anchor (of course while being secured by the rope somehow), remove the rope and anchor and get back to your second anchor by crossing the bridge a third time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You see, the snow bridge variant requires to put your life onto some anchor built into snow with the risk of hanging on a rope somewhere down in the crevasse. You should be very sure to know how to rescue yourself from a crevasse and have the necessary gear with you. So in your situation it would clearly be the best choice to take a detour to avoid crossing the crevasse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.690" LastActivityDate="2014-09-10T08:30:51.297" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6666" CreationDate="2014-09-05T14:01:26.467" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You asked about dosing.  My recommendation is to get a professional to figure out the dosing.  If you cannot get a professional, then do not carry this as you are potentially introducing as much risk as you are mitigating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When carrying a medication such as this for a possible emergency, there are several things I would recommend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a doctor to prescribe it.&lt;/strong&gt; - This will do the most to ensure you have the correct dosage and minimize adverse affects.  I carry several prescription drugs while hiking.  In my experience it is usually possible to find a doctor who is willing to prescribe medication &quot;just in case&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Only use it for the person prescribed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make sure you carry information on the drug in a weatherproof container&lt;/strong&gt;.  Make sure this container an be found by the rescue personnel.  They need to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know you will be at risk, it is reasonable to carry solutions to said risk.  However, as with any emergency gear, you must make sure that you are trained to use it, and that you have the right solution.  By example, you might need stitches, but unless you know how to suture it is pointless to carry a suture kit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never carry gear you don't understand.  It will tempt you to use it, putting yourself at greater risk.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One could make an argument that if you know someone is going to die, it is &quot;worth a shot&quot;.  I would generally recommend against this.  As a layman, one is not terribly well qualified to determine that someone is &quot;going to die&quot;.  In addition, it could complicate treatment if help is on way and arrives in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-09-07T14:55:45.080" LastActivityDate="2014-09-07T14:55:45.080" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2014-09-05T16:10:24.143" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO. Folding blades are really only meant for concealment and aren't good for long term, heavy duty use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used many folding blades throughout the years for protection as well as in the woods for using on multiple tasks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their poor design is that it uses a hinge and locking mechanism to extend and lock the blade in place. This tends to put all the pressure on the hinge and lock itself when working with the knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After time the hinge wears loose and the blade itself tends to wobble and eventually causes the housing/handle to separate from itself which then in-turn causes you to be stuck with a blade with no handle (2 separate pieces). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend a full tang blade, in a sheath hung at a comfortable position on the belt of your pants/shorts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The things I carry on my person when I hike is a Knife (always), fire starter (lighter or flint), Some toilette paper (flattened) in a plastic sandwich baggy, and then I have a para-cord bracelet that can be extended to 6 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend finding a medium sized blade. Too large and it's more of a small machete and over-cumbersomeness to work with on small tasks. Too small and you will have to work harder at bigger tasks. I tend to stay within a 3.5&quot;-4&quot; blade with serrated and straight edge blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 3 types of of Knifes I use are Ka-bar, Gerber (bear Grills) and an Elk Ridge. You will also want to look for a knife with a nice comfortable handle, maybe a slight curve, and one that you can put your thumb over the spine of the blade in-case you need that fine tuning for whatever you are working on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also. Make sure the knife comes with a good sheath that locks the knife securely inside the sheath using some kind of a buckle or button system.&#xA;I had to make my own sheath for my Gerber/Bear Grills knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If belting a knife is not an option you can always attach to your boot (if high enough) on the outside. I'm sorry. I would really have to see your gear and clothing setup to give a better description as to where to place it other than your belt/pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3825" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T02:49:25.803" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T02:49:25.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6671" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6677" CreationDate="2014-09-05T17:31:29.403" Score="9" ViewCount="1058" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to start doing some hunting in the greater southern Nevada Mojave desert (say within a 2 hour drive of Las Vegas).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that while hiking, there is some &quot;safety&quot; from snakes because you are alerting them to your presence with your steps and things like that. But what about when you are hunting and movement and silence are important? What are some of the precautions I should take from snakes while I'm sitting in a blind? I plan on hunting coyote from a turkey chair, so I will be pretty close to the ground. I've never seen one in the wild, but I've heard that the green mojave rattlesnake can be relatively aggressive. Any thoughts on this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T19:47:33.097" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T19:47:33.097" Title="Snake dangers while hunting in the desert?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6671" CreationDate="2014-09-05T20:26:37.210" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm no &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpetology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;herpetologist&lt;/a&gt;, but in my experience, snakes are in the &quot;you don't bug me, I won't bug you&quot; category. If you're sitting in a blind and are still, you aren't likely to surprise them. Surprising a snake or making it feel endangered is what causes most bites. If you're still, they'll tend to just pass by without bothering you, and will likely detect you well before you detect them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T08:29:03.907" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T08:29:03.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2014-09-07T00:35:45.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was given some horrible smelling perfume, had it in my bag and with one tiny squirt the leech fell off. The next time I went down to the dam, I sprayed it on my legs and ankles, never got a leech, although people with me did!&#xA;I don't know if it's the smell, or the alcohol in the perfume, but it works for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3906" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-09-07T17:18:07.487" LastActivityDate="2014-09-07T17:18:07.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6671" CreationDate="2014-09-07T04:09:53.507" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you specifically mentioned Southern Nevada Mojave Desert, if you come across a snake and considering the worst case its a venomous snake, then its very likely to be a Rattlesnake or a Side Winder or an Adder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to avoid trouble with venomous reptiles is to be aware of your surroundings and observe some rules for your own safety. Most bites result from deliberate harassment of reptiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are sitting in a blind and may not make much movement, at least you should select a place to sit in a blind considering the potential habitats for these snakes and other species as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not pick a blind spot very near to a Bush, Cacti or a pile of stones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Determine safety from a distance before placing hands or feet atop or among rocks or crevices&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are all members of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viperidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Viperidae family&lt;/a&gt;, the pit vipers. There is reason why they are called pit vipers, all these snakes have a pair of pits that help them get the heat signatures and even the fractions of temperature changes within a few feet distance. There is also a Jacobson's Organ, which perceives the chemical data received by flipping of their tongue every now and then. &lt;em&gt;(Not exactly the smell, but chemical data is perceived as smell, that said, Snakes can't sniff, literally!)&lt;/em&gt;. The data from these two Vomeronasal Organs together is what the snake use to estimate the distance between it and the prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Additional minute details of how it happens, which you can afford to skip reading as its not necessarily important in here with this answer:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;When the tongue is flicked out into the air, receptors on the tongue pick up minuscule chemical particles, which are perceived as scent. When the tongue is retracted into its sheath, the tips of the tongue fit neatly into the Jacobson's organ, sending the chemical information that has been gathered through the organ and to the brain, where the information is quickly processed and analyzed so that the snake can act promptly on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you follow safety instructions (&lt;em&gt;probably issued by authority there who know the snake better than I do&lt;/em&gt;) and are very careful about picking the place such that your best bet is avoiding their area of interest/habitat, you should not come across one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now, you checked the place, confirmed that there is no snake, you sit in a blind for hours. Does the safety followed earlier makes sure that no snakes comes there? Of course, it can't be guaranteed. But, with the kind of sensing organs they have and their typical behavior says that, they'll see you before you see them. And, they are more on the defensive side than being on the curious side of an animal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;But, God forbid, if at all a rattlesnake comes around you, its likely that unless you are paying very close attention towards it, you won't &lt;em&gt;see&lt;/em&gt; it since it camouflages itself so well, but you will hear it. Pay attention to the typical rattle noise, just as you hear it, take a careful look around, avoid panicked rapid movements and slowly get away from it at least a 15 feet, let it pass, do not try killing it or messing with it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've never been hunting so this sitting in a blind scenario did make me think about how could you avoid them. In case if you have a companion, use the other person as a dedicated spotter who can spot snakes and other potential threats more carefully and frequently than you will, You can keep your eye peeled for the thing you are hunting, while your spotter ensures that nothing comes closer. Though the risk is there with Side Winders since they are so small and perfectly camouflaged with the land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check with the local authority for details about the area of prominence, where the are spotted more frequently, their meeting seasons, etc. Avoid their mating season. During the mating season, and just before the season of hibernation, they tend to travel more distance than they usually do, and obviously are far more aggressive than they normally are. If I were you, I'd definitely avoid that season.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a lighter note, irrelevant to this question: Its not only a snake than can cause you trouble there, spiders? Scorpions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a safe one!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T15:32:54.043" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T15:32:54.043" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6678" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6680" CreationDate="2014-09-07T21:46:17.793" Score="12" ViewCount="6978" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have relatively sensitive skin.  I have an osprey waypoint 65 backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a43UI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bivouac.co.nz/osprey-women-s-waypoint-65-travel-pack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shoulder straps chafe my shoulders, especially if I go without a shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a softer fabric I can attach to the straps or other solution to prevent this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3907" LastEditorUserId="3562" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T16:06:00.473" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T11:26:59.517" Title="Backpack strap chafing" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4454" CreationDate="2014-09-07T22:08:59.487" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kisu!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common use for old tents or especially their fly-sheets is as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/product/outdoor-survival/survival-shelter-2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;survival shelter&lt;/a&gt;(also called a kisu). They're great for trapping heat to keep people warm for when you have to stop for a while (be it because you've a problem or you just want to have lunch). If you haven't sat into one on a cold day you really have no idea how good well they work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the tent doesn't have a fly sheet you could make one by simply cutting off the bottom half and any other extra bits like porches that you wouldn't need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously it won't be as nice as the commercial ones which only weigh a few hundred grammes and only take up about a litre...but hey, it's free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MdE9e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T12:26:37.087" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T12:26:37.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6678" CreationDate="2014-09-07T22:21:49.653" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently had this problem with a pack and have experimented by sewing on a layer of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;velour&lt;/a&gt;.  It's much softer and padded.  However it is also VERY warm, which may defeat the purpose of going shirtless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T23:57:19.010" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T23:57:19.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6678" CreationDate="2014-09-08T08:01:43.763" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chafing occurs when skin rubs against something whether other skin, clothing, or gear.&#xA;Staying clean, dry, and reducing friction are the ways to prevent any kind of chafing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Ben said above that your hip belt may need be used the way it should be.&#xA;I struggled with heavy packs, so I started following a way to adjust my pack this way: Loosen all the straps, Adjust the hip belt, over the hip bones. If the belt sits too high, it might constrict the stomach. If the position is too low, the fins might chafe. Now tighten the shoulder straps, but not too tight. &#xA;The main weight should be on the hip belt. Once you have found the perfect back length, fix and close the height adjustable sternum strap. Not too tight, since it could hinder breathing. The strap stabilizes the shoulder straps and is a standard feature of almost all packs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you wear a shirt/T-shirt that doesn't fit neat, it may cause chafing after a long walk with a heavy backpack. Wear synthetic fabrics. Clothing that wicks moisture away from the skin significantly reduces chafing.&#xA;When you are without a shirt, then probably some anti-friction lotions might help, but with a heavy pack I'd never go without a shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try out different kinds of anti-friction products. You can often buy trial packs of different kinds to help you find one you like. When you do find one that works, buy several so you’re never stuck without it. (Please reconsider if you have a skin pattern which is too hypersensitive to lotions)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO, I am rather a kick-the-root-cause kind of a guy, and this lotion thing sounds like a work-around solution which I don't like. Rather than going for such products, I'd prefer to add an extra foam cushion under the shoulder straps if the problem persists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Looking at the picture of the backpack that @liam has added, I don't think that pack would trouble me and most of other people, as IMHO, the shoulder straps looks good with cushion. But thats just by the looks of it. I'll just say, don't invest in for a different backpack for that reason too soon. Its a good backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy Outing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T11:26:59.517" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T11:26:59.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6682" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6691" CreationDate="2014-09-08T09:32:24.777" Score="12" ViewCount="2132" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm taking a handful (5) work colleagues up a mountain this weekend (Tryfan in Snowdonia). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WIDMp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountain is a &lt;code&gt;Grade 1&lt;/code&gt; scramble route so it's not overly simple. The group is very inexperienced. I've taken inexperienced people up said mountain a couple of times but never such a large group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've managed to rope in a couple of experienced friends to help out as I was wary that I couldn't keep my eye on everyone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm taking a rope (just in case). The route should be easily doable without a rope but I want to have a safety backup for anyone who is unsure. I've also ensured everyone is bringing the following kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sensible trousers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be putting together a first aid kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any hints/tips/best practice ideas on how to manage such a group of people and keep everyone safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T12:52:30.230" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T12:52:30.230" Title="Leading an inexperienced group" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6682" CreationDate="2014-09-08T11:15:52.780" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A trek group should have a Leader who walks in front who leads the trail/route/climb, sometimes cleaning the route or navigating the route. I believe that will be you.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Then the second most important person is the Back Lead, who is the last head you have, who makes sure that the pace of the group is maintained and adapted as per the slowest member. You'll need your second best trek-mate as the last man/woman. Just in case if someone slips, she/he will be able to act a fall-stopper and make sure no one lags behind. He/she will also be responsible to boost the moral of the ones who are struggling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assigning number to a member is needless as you are just 5+1. So that not really needed. When you are leading a group of nearly 10+ people then assigning a head-number helps in keeping the headcount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are carrying a rope and at places where you think you &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; wanna have an extra safety you can make a human chain with sufficient gap between two people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You should consider carrying an extra couple of ltrs of water, just in case if someone is tired and can't carry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confirm if there is anyone who has ever suffered with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrophobia&quot;&gt;Acrophobia&lt;/a&gt;. Be very careful about the person if there is any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd add Headlamp/Flashlight to the list that says &lt;em&gt;things-to-carry&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T18:33:36.773" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T18:33:36.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6684" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6685" CreationDate="2014-09-08T11:32:21.890" Score="8" ViewCount="1283" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard this is possible but I'm not sure on the details. Can someone elaborate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T18:04:16.010" Title="How do I find north using a watch?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6684" CreationDate="2014-09-08T12:36:06.603" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's the theory: at noon, if you're in the northern hemisphere, the sun is due south of you. At 6am it's due east of you and at 6pm, due west. (Day length may tweak this a little if you're far enough north, but this is not a precise technique, it just needs to beat looking for which side of the tree is mossy etc. That said, you should un-daylight-savings the time by subtracting an hour if you have &quot;sprung ahead&quot; where you are.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you point the hour hand of your watch at the sun. Halfway between your hour hand and the noon mark is south. Test it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at noon, the hour hand is pointing at the sun, the halfway make is the same place, that's south&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at 6am, the hour hand is pointing due east, halfway is 9am which is 90 degrees from where the hour hand is pointing, and that's south&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at 6pm, the hour hand is pointing due west, halfway is 3pm which is 90 degrees from where the hour hand is pointing, and that's south&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need an actual analog watch to do this, just a little logic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T12:36:06.603" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6686" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6689" CreationDate="2014-09-08T13:02:03.233" Score="22" ViewCount="11975" Body="&lt;p&gt;What if it's night and you want to find north? How do you locate the North Star in the night sky?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T18:40:28.350" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T12:49:46.077" Title="How do you locate the &quot;North Star&quot;?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6686" CreationDate="2014-09-08T13:21:17.677" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest way (assuming you are in the Northern hemisphere) is to first find the Great Bear / Ursa Major / the Big Dipper / The Plough, and use the two end stars as a sight line. The star in Ursa Minor that they point to is Polaris, which is currently our Pole Star. This does change, but not noticeably in our lifetimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MrOZ0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.themightyeagle.co.uk/how-to-find-the-pole-star/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(from http://www.themightyeagle.co.uk/ )&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an interesting aside, &lt;a href=&quot;https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/6284/43&quot;&gt;Astronomy.SE has a nice question&lt;/a&gt; on the 'South Pole Star' and a lovely diagram showing precession.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:06.143" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T13:47:04.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6686" CreationDate="2014-09-08T14:15:03.577" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to know if you are in Northern Hemisphere or in Southern Hemisphere or nearby the Equator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If you are in Northern Hemisphere:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First locate the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polaris&lt;/a&gt;. Its the last star in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Minor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Ursa Minor&lt;/a&gt;. I've had trouble in locating it sometimes. Many people do. So, if you are in such a situation, try locating &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Ursa Major&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;The Ursa Major is located just to the north of The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_pole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Celestial Pole&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Depending upon the time of the year constellation of stars may be tipped in different directions as it rotates around the Polaris, so you could use the two stars that form the outer edge of the Ursa Major. Join the two starts from the Ursa Major to the one last star in Ursa Minor. The star that you have pointed to is Polaris. Draw an imaginary straight line from Polaris to the ground, thats the North!&#xA;More popularly, the Ursa Minor is also known as The Little Dipper and the Ursa Major is known as The Big Dipper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9qIHI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If you are in Southern Hemisphere:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In southern hemisphere, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The North Star, Polaris&lt;/a&gt; is not visible, so You'll need to identify the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crux&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Southern Cross&lt;/a&gt;, also known as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crux&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crux&lt;/a&gt;. The Southern Cross is constellation that has 5 starts, the 4 of them being brighter than the other and angled together and quite far away from the 5th star, Acrux aka &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Crucis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpha Crusis&lt;/a&gt;. Draw an imaginary line towards the ground from the axis that intersects Acrux. That is the south, so the north will be exactly opposite to it and behind you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eabF7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now as suggested in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/2010/using-the-southern-cross-to-find-the-date-or-the-time/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sydney Observatory&lt;/a&gt; link, depending upon how deeper south you are, you will find the Crux tipping on &lt;em&gt;nearly&lt;/em&gt; every hour. Then how do you locate the north direction? If you can observe that the Crux rotates around/about an imaginary point. The point shall help you in finding South and North direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mkxdd.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If you are at Equator:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are around Equator, I bet you can easily spot &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Orion Constellation&lt;/a&gt;. Its one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky. It is visible from both hemispheres depending on the time of the year. It is a permanent feature on the equator.&#xA;Spot the 3 starts forming a line, very prominent trio of starts, often called as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion&amp;#39;s_Belt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Orion's Belt&lt;/a&gt;. The Orion's Belt rises from East to West. So now you know your North.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sry0B.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Using Cassiopeia Constellation:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can locate &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(constellation)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cassiopeia&lt;/a&gt; exactly opposite to the Ursa Major. In this spider-legged 'M' shaped constellation, draw a line between 3rd and 4th star (Counting from Left to Right, or to be precise considering with 3 stars at the bottom and the remaining 2 at the top like an M), then draw a perpendicular to that line, the perpendicular points to Polaris. That is your North!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZthrX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T12:49:46.077" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T12:49:46.077" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6682" CreationDate="2014-09-08T16:00:45.777" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are few things which may go wrong:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Injury. Carry some kind of the shelter. It may take few hours for mountain rescue to get to your group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tired. Make sure you have alternative shorter and simpler route in your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dehydrated. Carry a bit of extra water or a purification tablets to gather water from streams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Scared. Your rope can serve a good purpose here, but personally I wouldn't use it as it often gives a false safety feeling. Keeping group in a good mood is much more efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bored. Make sure everybody is having fun. Don't forget to check with everybody and make sure they are doing ok.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cold. Usually I carry extra fleece just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wet. A pair of dry socks and mac-a-pack can help a lot. Even if you ask everybody to bring waterproofs and proper hiking boots, often they ignore that or borrow damaged or old equipment from friends or get it on the eBay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sun burned. I always have a sunscreen to share with the group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's just from my personal experience. I'm sure there are many more things which may go wrong. Usually I'm leading 10 - 20 people groups of people with mixed experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One good tip for a first aid kit for townies group is to take gloves and tweezers. It doesn't matter if you'll remove a bee or a thorn from someones arm with your nails or tweezers, but that person will be much more confident about you doing that if you look 'professional'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3912" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T16:07:57.950" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T16:07:57.950" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6682" CreationDate="2014-09-08T16:28:53.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few items that I find easy to pack, and are usually needed by at least a few people in a group:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ziplock bags for waterproofing valuables&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;unscented baby wipes for a quick personal cleaning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ibuprofen or acetaminophen for minor aches and pain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3M &quot;transpore&quot; medical tape adheres well to skin in wet conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hard candies always provide a morale boost&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3913" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T16:28:53.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6682" CreationDate="2014-09-08T17:18:24.450" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Jim alluded to, you need to be very explicit about gear. I've taken groups of 2-6 very inexperienced people on assorted trips, from strenuous dayhikes to backpacking trips. Here's things I usually make sure to include: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be very strict about &lt;em&gt;no cotton clothing&lt;/em&gt;, and explain why. People may show up with cotton sweatshirts when they really need a fleece vest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure their raincoats have a hood. Surpiring how many people overlook this. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Require everybody to bring a change of socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Require everybody to bring a warm bottom layer. People often bring jackets but forget to bring fleece pants or longjohns. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a minimum amount of water that everybody must bring (usually 2-3 L depending on the duration). Just saying &quot;two water bottles&quot; isn't enough because people will show up with two tiny vending machine bottles. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With food, people often underestimate their caloric needs when doing outdoor activities. For a day trip I usually tell people to bring a hardy lunch, enough for at least 4 big snacks during the day, and &quot;backup food&quot; that's enough such that they would be OK if they didn't make it back for dinner. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some form of lighting is a good idea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I usually encourage people &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to bring certain items, that list depends on the trip and the group. Alcohol and smartphones usually go on the do-not-bring list.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be prepared for somebody to forget something important. I usually bring an extra warmth layer, an extra warm hat, and some extra food (typically some compact energy bars). It's good to personally, visually confirm that people brought all the required gear. &quot;Everybody show me your rain coat&quot; not only ensures that everybody's coat is adequate, it also ensures that nobody accidentally left theirs behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for group management, the most important thing is to check in with everybody often, and don't be afraid to turn back if people aren't up for your original plan. It's better to turn back before the summit than to end up in a bad situation with people who are exhausted and inexperienced. Sometimes people will be feeling tired, but they feel bad about holding back the group so they won't say anything. Keep an eye out for that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before leaving, make sure to ask each person if they have any medical conditions you should be aware of, if they typically carry any type of medication, and if so make sure they have it and that you know where it is. It's better to know people's basic medical info before it becomes necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also important to keep an eye on your own well-being. It's easy to get distracted when taking care of 5 other people, but since you're the person responsible for the group, it's paramount that you're well fed, hydrated, etc. Don't forget to take care of yourself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T23:54:42.543" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T23:54:42.543" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6684" CreationDate="2014-09-08T18:04:16.010" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is another way that was taught to me in the Boy Scouts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need a watch with traditional hour and minute hands, make sure it is showing the accurate time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a small stick, like a toothpick, and stand it up vertically in the center of the watch. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make the shadow of the stick fall on the current HOUR hand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When the shadow is on hour hand, then the 12 on the watch dial will be pointing to north. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T18:04:16.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6682" CreationDate="2014-09-08T18:43:47.340" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For Everyone:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;micro/mini LED flashlight. I don't care if it's on a keychain, whatever.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;BIC or similar lighter that works, at least half full.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Your 1st Aid Kit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mylar &quot;space blanket&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;23 years ago I got caught on a Yosemite switchback trail down-climb; end-of-day, all exhausted. Between the trees and western mountains the local &quot;darkness&quot; was about 90 minutes earlier than official sunset. And it was PDD (Pretty Dang DARK!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We ran 2 hrs. late starting down, our amateur guide was useless, unprepared. My traditional (bulb) flashlight was busted. Lighter had no fuel remaining after meals. (No backup, I'm an idiot.) We all made it down after 4 hrs as a human hand-holding &quot;train&quot; using the sparks from the lighter to illuminate the switchback turns. (couldn't get tinder to light, iffy using a fire-torch in Yos.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never again so dumb and trusting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3915" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-08T19:23:45.177" LastActivityDate="2014-09-08T19:23:45.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6696" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6833" CreationDate="2014-09-09T00:09:53.150" Score="7" ViewCount="976" Body="&lt;p&gt;I remember about a decade ago, my grandfather taught me a particular wire &quot;knot&quot;.&#xA;He called it a &lt;strong&gt;Cocky's Hitch&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;I remember the first step was to take a length of thick fencing wire and fold it in half.&#xA;and the last step was to put a screw driver though the bight, and twist -- wrapping it around the other end and drawing it tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But not the intervening steps. Or the fine detail of those steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think we were using it to build a wind break, attaching some tin sheets or thick cloth to &#xA;some star-pickets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could also be used to secure 2 spars to each other in the place of a lashing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is very strong.&#xA;my grandfather told me how back in the day they used to build houses out of it. I suspect they actually build farmsheds with it, and he was telling some stories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3225" LastEditorUserId="3225" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T12:37:20.080" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T07:36:08.827" Title="Securing things to spars with a wire Cocky's Hitch" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6686" CreationDate="2014-09-09T04:27:29.420" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding this mainly because it's a different kind of approach. The other ones are usually more practical, but this is an alternative that does not require remembering any constellations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a rough idea and a camera, you can take a long exposure (30s minimum, more is better) and check which star in photo is the only one that does not move / stays a single dot in the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture is taken with 45 minutes exposure, but you will be able to make it out with much shorter times:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i858q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T04:27:29.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6698" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6701" CreationDate="2014-09-09T08:14:07.650" Score="6" ViewCount="4763" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a few documentaries where the high altitude mountaineers constantly keep the hand-gloves ON.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Is it really because handling the metallic equipment with bare hands can cause a Frostbite?&#xA;What else risk is there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What temperature ranges are permissible at which I can afford to handle metallic equipment bare-handed?&#xA;Its really difficult for someone like me who has never been very comfortable with any sort of gloves, handling life-banking metallic equipment there at the mountain will need a practice of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T17:03:57.803" Title="Why is it unsafe to handle metallic equipment with bare hand at higher altitude?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6698" CreationDate="2014-09-09T08:49:30.710" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Problem with metallic equipment and cold temperatures is that your hands are moist, if you touch a very cold metallic surface (or any other smooth surface), your moisture will freeze to the surface which causes the top layer of your skin to get stuck on the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Example: it's freezing cold outside and you put your tongue (which is very moist, for an extreme example) to a pole, it will immediately freeze your tongue to the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T09:56:02.800" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T09:56:02.800" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6261" CreationDate="2014-09-09T15:34:36.263" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We didn't go to Mickey's beach, but we did boulder at Castle Rock and the Berkeley area. Hindsight is 20/20:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, if you're bouldering near Castle Rock. There were TONS of&#xA;bugs there and they love to bite your face. No, if you're bouldering&#xA;in the Berkeley area. I would guess the answer is also no for Mickey's beach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climb in the early morning and late afternoon. It's rather&#xA;pleasant then, especially in the Berkeley area. Castle Rock was&#xA;overly humid and hot, so I'd advise against climbing there or around&#xA;the south bay area in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some tips: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're climbing in the Berkeley area make sure you pee before&#xA;you head out. We couldn't find a place to relieve ourselves around&#xA;the park that wasn't public.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring as many crash pads as you can. Some of the classic routes have terrible fall zones. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you find yourself in the Berkeley area and you're hungry, Lama Beans has all day breakfast :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3629" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T15:34:36.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6698" CreationDate="2014-09-09T16:46:53.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The conductive property of the material is a critical part of this phenomenon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be safe to handle many plastics at very low temperatures because energy from your hand (and the moisture on it) isn't readily conducted away, and the energy that is, takes a while to dissipate into the rest of the material so the point of contact retains the transferred energy longer. That is all to say: plastic can be a good insulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metal on the other hand is a fantastic conductor of heat. It will immediately draw the heat away from your hand (and moisture between metal and hand), freezing moisture and cold-burning your hand. Unlike the plastic the heat from contact will quickly dissipate into the rest of the metal (that you're not touching) which keeps the contact point cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can very easily test this by sticking a plastic handled knife or fork in the freezer for a few hours. The plastic will not feel anywhere near as cold as the metal because it won't readily conduct heat away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;limit&quot; for handling metallic equipment is really fine. Seriously, you can get stuck to a big object at just a few degrees under 0°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3925" LastEditorUserId="3925" LastEditDate="2014-09-09T21:36:04.090" LastActivityDate="2014-09-09T21:36:04.090" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2014-09-10T03:09:01.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclosure&lt;/strong&gt; - I work for this company:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GottaTinkle! Female Urination Device is a great alternative. Unlike funnels, GottaTinkle! does not come into contact with pee or the privates.  Rather, it holds a small ziplock style baggie.  Simply pee into the baggie and either pour-out right away, or zip the baggie and dispose of the pee at a later time.  We've used it in our SUV, tent while camping, on our small fishing boat when we did not want to jump into the water to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi4i2py60Do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GottaTinkle! Female Urination Device (Woman &amp;amp; Children Can Pee Standing-Up) YouTube&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3926" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T03:40:24.277" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T03:40:24.277" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6704" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-10T13:22:48.470" Score="12" ViewCount="526" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently began learning to fly fish.  However most of the streams I frequent are small creeks in the Southern Appalachians that have a lot of growth on the banks and overhead making casting rather difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a particular cast technique that works best when you have little room in the back or on the sides?  So far I've learned about rolling cast, are there better alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3930" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T11:59:41.960" LastActivityDate="2020-04-06T21:19:23.083" Title="Fly casting in heavy cover/growth" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;casting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2014-09-10T16:49:54.983" Score="14" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What has already been said: pee and don't drink before sleeping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a bowel movement in the evening if necessary. The full rectum pressing upon the bladder can trigger urination. From the same reason, avoid eating a lot of fruits, beans and other foods that cause gas, which can also trigger urination. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid eating large amount of salt. Sodium keeps water in your body for several hours, but during the night, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/health-39382339&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the kidneys will excrete both the excessive sodium and water&lt;/a&gt;, which will likely make you get up and urinate. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep yourself warm in a sleeping bag. Low temperatures stimulate the excretion of the urine - &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/5197/chapter/14#163&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cold diuresis&lt;/a&gt;&quot; The critical thing, at least for me, is to keep feet warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to be in peace with yourself before you fall asleep - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.news-medical.net/health/Symptoms-of-Anxiety.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anxiety can stimulate urination&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More causes of frequent urination and nocturia (urination at night)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehealthstar.com/frequent-urination.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Frequent Urination&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T12:42:41.493" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T12:42:41.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1093" CreationDate="2014-09-11T08:15:22.497" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are very simple ways to use both the moon and the stars to tell time at night. The moon can be used without complicated charts, and the stars can be used with a simple star dial. &#xA;Here are links:&#xA;Telling time with the moon without complicated charts, like the one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theswordbearer.org/p009_moon.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To tell time using the stars (if you are a newbie and haven't observed the big dipper in relation to Polaris very often) you can print and use this very simple stardial to tell time at night. &#xA;Here is the link to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/2d-Nocturnal-Celestial-Stardial-TJT16/step6/How-to-Use-the-Nocturnal-Celestial-Stardial/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2D-Nocturnal-Celestial-Stardial&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3935" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-11T08:50:23.157" LastActivityDate="2014-09-11T08:50:23.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2014-09-11T08:21:32.620" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend's old boss died while rappelling from a belay loop failure. Our belay loops are subject to the most wear and tear- they take brunt of the forces exerted on our harnesses. Many climbers prefer to have a redundant system. The rope is redundant because of the core, on top rope the anchor is redundant. The only thing in a top rope system that isn't redundant is the system attached to the belayer- the belayer's belay loop, belay carabiner and belay device (ATC, belay plate, ETC) It may seem silly or over-redundant, but why not? There is no real harm being done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3935" LastActivityDate="2014-09-11T08:21:32.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6579" CreationDate="2014-09-11T13:29:46.173" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think you have to treat that topic significantly different than on lower altitudes (but I have to admit, I have never been higher than 4300 m) as long as you stick to trekking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you already introduce your question, warming up is especially important for sports where maximum strength (e.g. climbing) and/or explosive muscle movement (e.g. sprinting) are required or where parts of your body are moved to the full possible range of mobility (e.g. acrobatics). Other than you, I wouldn't classify trekking into none of these categories. Therefore I would characterize trekking an activity that &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; require significant physical condition (especially in higher altitudes) but is – if we omit walking downhill with a heavy pack – rather gentle regarding muscles and the skeletal system. As such, I would not say that you have to take very special care about warming up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two things to remember: your blood will get thicker due to height acclimatisation, therefore the blood circulation into your fingers and toes can decrease and the overall temperature is colder than you're used to. The former is basically a thing to keep in mind and react on if you have the impression that it affects your extremities. The latter is mainly a matter of preparation, i.e. right clothing and gear. Above that, cold climate is something one can get used to to some extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have prepared well, you have brought a sleeping bag and pad that kept you warm and comfy all night, not just a bit warm like in &quot;didn't die from freezing&quot;. Waking up warm and not shivering from the cold will already be an important piece of getting ready to go. The rest should be done more or less automatically by your normal morning routine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're tent camping, preparing a breakfast, unpitching your tent, and packing all your stuff should give you enough amount of movement to get your muscles warm, even in cold weather. If you have slept in a lodge, hut, bed and breakfast, or the like (whatever rather simple but solid accommodations are called locally), the ambient inside should be significantly warmer than in a tent. This will compensate for the less movement you will get, as you don't have to pack that much stuff here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, the key is not to waste much time in the morning as you will get cold if you sit around for too long doing nothing. Then just start to walk rather slowly. Don't rush away from the start but begin with a unhurried pace until your body is fully warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have had an unpleasant night where you didn't sleep well and feel cold or just out of any reason have the feeling, that you are not quite warm in the morning, you can do the same stuff that you would possibly do at home as well: hop around a bit, do some squats, swing your arms around etc. to increase blood flow and get especially your limbs warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above should be enough as long as you're only trekking. If you are climbing (high intensity movement) you will surely have to warm up more thoroughly. This is especially true if you have to start climbing hard right away from the camp without any approach walk that would get you warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-10-16T11:48:35.693" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T11:48:35.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6710" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6711" CreationDate="2014-09-11T15:29:21.827" Score="25" ViewCount="17858" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xQ4QX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Overhang climbing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are common climbing techniques for strongly overhanging walls and roofs?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to avoid a strength oriented climbing style and focus on technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="3826" LastEditDate="2014-09-11T15:55:04.333" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T12:44:50.813" Title="What are common climbing techniques for strongly overhanging walls and roofs?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6710" CreationDate="2014-09-11T16:01:15.937" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Climb on your Skeleton&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overhanging climbing is hard work and tiring. You need to reduce the stress on your muscles by letting your skeleton hold as much of your body weight as possible. Keep your arms straight and your muscles relaxed, don't try and hold yourself against the face. Pull only when you need to pull&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use your shoulders/Twist your body&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When reaching on overhanging terrain in order to make better use of your skeleton (above), if you twist your body (for example) to the left with your (for example) right hand straight, your left hand will be able to reach further without you pulling with your right bicep. This allows you make tough moves with the lowest amount of effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep moving&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're Adam Ondra, you're going to get more tired on overhanging terrain. Try and keep moving. If you have to keep stopping to work out moves, etc. you're going to run out of energy. Visualise the moves, etc. before you start. This will save energy when you get to the moves as you won't have to try and figure them out when you get to them, all the time wasting energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foot work is even more important on overhanging terrain.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep your feet up&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't let your feet fall behind your hands. If you're too stretched out you will swing away from the wall and you'll have to pull hard to get back on it. You want your knees bent most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use your feet to hold weight&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't expect your hands to hold your entire body weight for an extended period of time. You need your feet to hold as much of your weight as possible. To do this you need to tense your core. This requires core strength(stomach/back) which may take some time to build. You also may need to use techniques such as heel hooks. The idea being that your feet are working to actively hold you against the wall rather than simply being along for the ride!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T12:44:50.813" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T12:44:50.813" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2014-09-11T18:32:27.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Piece of cake.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was working for St. John's Cathedral Boys' School in the late 70's.  The school had a winter program that included week long dog sled expeditions.  We had the odd case of frostbite, but nothing serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a bet, I slept under a tarp for a year.  It wasn't a fancy setup.  I started in the fall, and threw a tarp over a large willow bush, bent the branches, and tied the corners down to near by shrubs.  I ended up with a 5' high 8 foot diameter bubble. I then put a foam pad underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I knew I was pitching for the long haul, so I picked a high spot that I was reasonably sure wouldn't flood in the spring melt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once a week I'd bring my sleeping bag in to the house to dry it thoroughly.  Or if the day looked clear, I'd lay my bag on the roof to dry out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minimum temperatures during that time were about -45 C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping out in winter is not a big hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter travel is far more hazardous.  I've done a few solo hikes in cold winter (below -15 C).  The hazard is  a slip and fall.  A badly sprained ankle in summer is a nuisance.  You nurse it for a couple of days, and limp out.  Skiing or snowshoeing on such an injury is far more problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally:  The span from -5 to 5 C (25 to 40 F) is the most dangerous time to be in the wild.  It's hard to stay dry, which in turn means it's hard to stay warm.  Below -5 snow tends to not melt on the surface of your clothing.  Above 5 or 10 drying out with a fire is reasonable, and there aren't piles of snow everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-09-11T18:32:27.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2014-09-11T18:35:43.977" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have traveled the back country for 4-6 weeks a year for 30 years, mostly in the Canadian rockies and on the pre-cambrian shield.  I've never used water purification, nor did we generally in our group.  We've had some cases of the runs over the years, but the spread out nature made it unlikely it was a water source that did it.  Far more likely bad hygiene on part of the kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on the Nechako we got started in the morning, continued to track upstream. Around the corner, not 100 yards upstream from our camp was a bloated cow on a gravel bar.  Bossy was well past her Best Before date, and was likely winter kill left on the gravel by falling spring runoff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite having had diluted cow for the previous evening and breakfast, no one got sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are parts of the world where you have to be concerned about water.  Not here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A large part of the risk comes from substantial exposure.  E.g.  If you get 6 bacteria, your immune system stomps all over them.  If you get a dose of 6 million bacteria (About half a serving of active culture yogurt) AND if they are a variety that is toxic, you are in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2017-03-03T19:44:55.000" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T19:44:55.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6720" CreationDate="2014-09-11T20:06:57.033" Score="8" ViewCount="470" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if altitude is the only thing you need to know in order to evaluate the &quot;thinness of air&quot; at certain point on Earth. For instance, will climbing a 6000 m peak in the Andes or a 6000 m peak in the Himalayas make any difference in how you need to acclimatize to the elevation? (I'm not referring to how tough the climb is.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3432" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-12T10:27:06.913" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T17:31:51.367" Title="Is &quot;altitude&quot; an absolute measure of air &quot;thinness&quot;?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6715" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6722" CreationDate="2014-09-11T21:37:41.180" Score="17" ViewCount="17678" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say you want to be a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs&quot;&gt;voyageur&lt;/a&gt;, canoeing on a river like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Saskatchewan_River&quot;&gt;North Saskatchewan&lt;/a&gt;.  (We'll leave aside the current state of the beaver pelt industry.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you have to do differently to travel upriver, rather than down?  Is there any particular equipment that's more useful when traveling upriver?  Are there any river/weather conditions that would make the journey easier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3175" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T22:07:44.910" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T22:07:44.910" Title="How do you go upriver in a canoe?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6574" CreationDate="2014-09-11T22:02:56.697" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those values seem to be over-exaggerated. I was once measured by the professional equipment (from the local university) and my callory usage was 5000-6000 kcal a day, with average 20 km hike and 1000 meters elevation. This included the normal metabolism per day (about 2000-2500 kcal) + increased metabolism because of cold temperatures in night. The measures was based on blood pressure and skin temperature, from what I know it was the top-tech device for current state of knowledge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the hike 20km + 1000 meters elevation would make about 2500-3000 extra callories for male about 65 kg, with heavy backpack. Those are the extra callories burned, the basic metabolism is not included. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The app may include estimated base metabolism, but the distance made is not enough data to estimate that value. That strongly varies between individuals. Therefore to realisticly measure your metabolism, you need to measure pulse and body temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-09-11T22:02:56.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6698" CreationDate="2014-09-11T22:10:31.660" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wearing gloves constantly is quite normal in the temperatures below -10 C, and on the high altitudes, the temperatures are much lower. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, metal has high warm conductivity, which means, touching it will quickly drawn warmth from you. There are anecdotes about stupid guys tricked by mean girls to lick the axe by the low temperatures, which causes the tongue to immediately freeze to the axe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try at home, cooling some metal item in the fridge, and touching it (but not with your tongue!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the freezing temperature is enough reason to wear gloves, even if you don't have to touch anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answering your question, when to wear gloves when touching metal surfaces. It's quite dependent on the person, some people may get extreme uncomforable already at +5 C. But with temperatures below -10 C, I would in any case recommend wearing gloves, because of the freezing effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2014-09-11T22:10:31.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6715" CreationDate="2014-09-12T04:28:48.103" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you were a voyageur, among your most important equipment would be your fellow voyageurs and a larger boat so as to hold them all. Assuming you're a little more modern and have a 16 or so foot boat with two paddlers, you get upriver by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;paddling somewhat harder than you do on flatwater&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;choosing a river that doesn't flow at you too hard&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lining up stubborn sections where you can't outpaddle the current&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;portaging up sections that you probably could have run downstream&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rivers are not THAT much harder to go up than down. In fact if they're narrow and winding, up is easier because you have time to get turned into a corner before meeting the bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T04:28:48.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1093" CreationDate="2014-09-12T05:49:24.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What is the simplest way to approximate time after the sun has set?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all you want is a rough approximation, this this is extremely easy. For example, if you wake up in the middle of the night, you may just want to be able to look up and get some idea of how much time has passed and how long it is until dawn. Once it gets dark, pick anything in the sky that's easily visible on that particular night, preferably something that's somewhere over in the eastern side of the sky. This could be any object such as the moon, a planet, or a constellation with a distinctive shape. You don't even have to know what it is, as long as you're able to recognize it again later in the night. In 6 hours, that object is going to travel 90 degrees across the celestial sphere. So for example if you wake up and notice that it's traveled about 45 degrees, then about 3 hours have passed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T05:49:24.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6714" CreationDate="2014-09-12T08:49:30.033" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing by &quot;thinness&quot; you mean the ability to breath air. Couple of things to note here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your ability to breath decreases as your altitude increases because of a lack of Oxygen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the relative amount of Oxygen in the air is static (there is almost exactly the same percentage of oxygen 23% at 10,000 feet as 1 foot).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does decrease at altitude is the &lt;strong&gt;air pressure&lt;/strong&gt; (there is less oxygen but there is less of all air gasses)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am wondering if altitude is the only thing you need to know in order&#xA;  to evaluate the &quot;thinness of air&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes and No....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At low altitudes above the sea level, the pressure decreases by about&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;1.2 kPa for every 100 meters&lt;/strong&gt;. For higher altitudes within the &lt;strong&gt;troposphere&lt;/strong&gt;, the following equation (the barometric formula) relates&#xA;  atmospheric pressure p to altitude h&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mVST6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;p0  sea level standard atmospheric pressure 101325 Pa&#xA;L   temperature lapse rate, = g/cp for dry air  0.0065 K/m&#xA;cp  constant pressure specific heat ~ 1007 J/(kg•K)&#xA;T0  sea level standard temperature  288.15 K&#xA;g   Earth-surface gravitational acceleration    9.80665 m/s2&#xA;M   molar mass of dry air   0.0289644 kg/mol&#xA;R   universal gas constant  8.31447 J/(mol•K)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be in the troposphere depending on the height:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AAZ3s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weather also alters air pressure, the &lt;code&gt;high&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;low&lt;/code&gt; symbols on your weather chart. High pressure means their is more air currently and low means less. Though these are very small variations in the scheme of things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the altitudes that people climb at pretty much the only &lt;strong&gt;thing that is important is altitude&lt;/strong&gt;! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;When it comes to climbing mountains&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Oxygen pressure is only one factor&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes a much more important factor is the persons ability to efficiently process as much of the available Oxygen as possible. This is why (for example) sherpa's perform much better at high altitude than someone from Wales. Being born at high altitude (and possibly their genetics from thousands of years of living at altitude) they have more red blood cells and their bodies are much better at processing the available Oxygen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T17:31:51.367" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T17:31:51.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6710" CreationDate="2014-09-12T08:57:00.220" Score="8" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firstly, warm up neatly, and Try to move through the overhang. Visualize the moves and flow through them. If you stop it's hard to get moving again. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use your whole body. It's easy to get good hands and try and pull yourself up.&#xA;If you observe good climbers on overhanging problems or routes you will likely notice that they continually twist and turn, keeping their hips close by twisting one knee inwards, so don't forget about your feet. Get them high and pull/push your way over, since our legs are stronger than our fingers and arms so if we can keep our hip from hanging out too far then our body weight is distributed towards our feet as much as possible. To keep your hips close on steep ground you will find that twisting them helps in a way that you can reach much further using less power than you could if you maintained a square on position.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your foot stance close to your body. If you move your upper body and arms, make sure you moving your feet close to your torso or your feet will fall off the rock and you will be doing a lot hanging on your hands. So, you should keep as much weight on your feet as possible instead of trying to just do a pull up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop-knees can do a lot for taking the weight off your arms for a moment, as can bridging your feet as wide as possible.  Whatever position you get into when you take a quick rest try to hang with a straight arm, as this will use less energy and help you recover faster.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always be aware of your center of gravity and keep your hips close to the wall. Being aware of your body position and focusing on making smooth transitions from one position to the next will perhaps aid your improvement more than anything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not the least: Visualize the moves and flow through them. If you stop it's hard to get moving again. And You may want to learn how to do a heel hook.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T08:57:00.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6715" CreationDate="2014-09-12T11:18:45.583" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Upstreampaddling can be very exhausting, but in genereal it's more predictable than paddling downstream. I got my knowledge purely out of experience and not out of books, i paddled down the whole Rhine and in the process of it i had to change direction a few times, so i'll try to provide you with a rundown of the essential learnings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A River just flows downstream if you've never been on a river, if you've ever been on water (this includes the bathtub) the first thing you'll notice is that water is a very dynamic Element, the current of the water is dependent on multiple factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How wide is the river&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How deep is the river&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How fast is the river&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the riverbed flat (like in canals) or is it a natural riverbed with inconsistencies like large rocks etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather conditions (e.g. wind)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this factors play a major role on a river, especially everything that happens above the water (weather) because you'll most likely got the biggest surface above the water. Below i tried to scribble my thoughts, as you see there are different signs from which you can read the river, see list below with explanations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A6MmO.png&quot; alt=&quot;Current by Riverbed&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Riverbed gets deeper - this will slow down the river, since the same amount of water has more space to flow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Riverbed gets shallow - this will speed up the river, because there's less space for the same amount of water to flow, you can identify those spots by the &quot;mushrooms&quot; the water will build here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the riverbed falls back down again like in my scribble watch out because there might be a whirl under the surface which will feel like something is sucking your paddle down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flat riverbed - not much surprises here, those are the parts where you can eat your lunch etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large Stones etc. in riverbed/uneven - You'll be able to identfy those spots by the waves building there, depending on the speed of the river this will result in whitewater, avoid this parts with your Canoe, speed of river will change between superfast and reverese.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now more details for your question &quot;how to travel upstream&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the outer side of curves you'll have the current with you, this is very counterintuitive, as you see you'll have to change the side of the river from time to time, more about this topic later on. Always keep in mind that sharp stones under the surface are most likely to be at the side of the river, depending on the waterlevel this leads to capsizing or a broken boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YKBSk.png&quot; alt=&quot;Currents in a river, and how to paddle upstream&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To change Sides of the river, you'll need to do some ferrying (see scribble below) this is probably one of the most hectic things you have to do. Because you don't want to lose distance here, and if not everybody works together you'll end up needing to cross the river again because you traveled back and need to get to the outer side again.&#xA;If you travel downstream it's very counterintuitive since you have to paddle backwards to ferry across a river.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yykzD.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ferry movement&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general going upstream is not much of a problem, if you know how to read the water.&#xA;Just as a reminder, make sure to wear safetyequipment (livevests, and tethers) so you minimize the risk of drowning. Rivers no matter how they look have the risk of strong underwater currents which are not always possible to read, those currents really drag you down with no chance of ever catching a bit air again, always keep this in mind and you'll be save.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feel free to correct me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="2230" LastEditDate="2014-09-12T12:58:35.637" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T12:58:35.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6574" CreationDate="2014-09-12T12:50:24.300" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are so many things to consider when you calculate one such thing, and it would again involve a lot of data, equations and that too with subtle variations in data.&#xA;For an example, there are people walking at different speeds, there would be differences, especially between walking and running.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You know, with trekking/hiking, its practically hard to draw a line between walking-like pace and almost-running-like a pace, and to add to mathematical complexity, there is another brisk walking kind of thing, that too considered along with Physiological data of the person? Like Height, weight, etc? So, the Highly accurate estimations are specific to the individual.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To consider those details for getting &lt;em&gt;approximate&lt;/em&gt; measure of Calories burnt during a hike, a detailed bio-mechanical study of walking (and running) on steep gradient would be required for an appropriate characterization of the gait and for a clear identification, from the measure of contact times, of the transition from a walking-like to a running-like gait when the differences between walking and running tend to disappear. There has been a long debate over if the &lt;em&gt;Speed&lt;/em&gt; really has anything to do with &lt;em&gt;Work done&lt;/em&gt;, but I personally feel that, speed does play a (minor) factor in changing mechanical efficiency of human movement, may be a runner can tell better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could have been better if one consider the analytical data about Level Walking and Level Running and, how and why the difference between the Work done in both the case is subtle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of gradients, When walking or running on positive gradients (ascends), both increases as the function of the incline (Elevation). So we can actually get away with obtaining the closer approximations if we consider walking, based on the fact that the approximation of considering just the mechanical potential work (and disregarding the kinetic one) because it is assumed that beyond a given gradient the rise (or descent) of the center of mass (consider, the load that you carried?) is the prevailing contributor to the mechanical external work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-01-11T12:38:37.403" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T12:38:37.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6710" CreationDate="2014-09-12T13:44:29.003" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best single tip I got when I started bouldering (especially overhangs) is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are reaching for the next hold with your right hand, keep most of the weight on your right foot. If you are reaching with your left hand, keep most of the weight on your left foot. This is to prevent barn-dooring. In fact, taking the other foot off a hold will often counter-intuitively make it easier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3941" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T13:44:29.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6725" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6731" CreationDate="2014-09-12T15:11:04.643" Score="3" ViewCount="536" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-tie-a-rope-harness-for-hill-walking/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tutorial&lt;/a&gt;. But I don't recognise the knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2w1oC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone tell me the name of this knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this the correct knot for this use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any alternatives techniques for this or am I good with this one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:09:01.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:09:01.677" Title="What is the name of this knot for tying into a &quot;confidence&quot; rope?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6725" CreationDate="2014-09-12T15:44:44.110" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This knot is what I'd call a &lt;strong&gt;stopper knot&lt;/strong&gt;. You twist turn the end of the rope two times around itself, as shown, then thread the end through the now-created loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is used in rock climbing: If you attach the rope to your climbing harness with a re-threaded figure-of-eight knot, then with the short loose end you tie this knot around the long end. This keeps the short end from dangling around too much, and also prevents it from slipping through the figure-8-knot and making the knot come undone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other use cases would be any situation where you don't want rope to slip through an opening that is smaller than the knot. In the example you post above, it will prevent the sliding loop from closing too much. It's a fine knot to use for that purpose since it should be reasonably easy to get it undone after loading; much easier than the simple overhand (&quot;granny&quot;) knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-09-12T15:49:21.843" LastActivityDate="2014-09-12T15:49:21.843" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6715" CreationDate="2014-09-13T12:47:46.590" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are main things that you would do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;For most flow:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paddle upstream:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you'll do most of the time when there isn't much flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eddy-hop:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving between the relatively still/upstream flowing parts of the river - they usually occur around bends at the sides of the river, outcrops rock in the middle of the flow or sides or, at nodes in waves(and the like). You ferry-glide between these until you get where you want to. There's a tome about it in another answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ferry-gliding is a way of crossing flow by using it's force to push you across, here's a diagram:&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/61j4f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here's what a river looks like. You can see that the flow is going from to bottom but at certain places it flow back up. You can go up in these and then ferry-glide across to the next.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWYg1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Below: For Rapids (big and small):&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Poling:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is moving the boat by means of a long pole (about 4 metres long, normally kept in two screw-together parts in the boat). There are two main techniques: using it to push you upstream(or down-stream) by standing up and pushing off the river-bed. This is ideal for getting up short bits that are a bit too shallow to use a paddle with or would be just a bit too hard so you use the pole as it gets more purchase off the river-bed.&#xA; like this:&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qIuy0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;You can also pole in deeper water by pushing it off the water, kind of like a stringy paddle-wheel, but this probably isn't too useful for going upstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lining/Tracking:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are ways of bringing a boat up or down a rapid by means of ropes, controlled from the bank. One denotes bringing it upstream and the other downstream and y'know, I just can't remember which is which.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, the general idea is that you get two ropes and attach one to the front and one to the back of the canoe. It's a little like flying a kite. You want to keep the front of the boat pointed out into the middle of the flow so that the water keeps it there and not crashing into the bank beside you, but also move upstream. It's a lot easier with two people but can be done with one. And well, sometimes what you're doing will just amount to dragging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Back rope:&lt;/em&gt; Main pulling rope, pulls the boat upstream, must ensure that it's not let out further than the front. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Front rope:&lt;/em&gt; Controls angle of the boat to the flow. The front needs to be further away from the bank you're on than the rear but not so far that the flow exerts more force than you can handle. It needs to be further out so that you can control it with the tension of the rope, if it were nearer you would need to push it back and a rope wouldn't be much use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZrcU0juWzP&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Portaging&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid that sometimes you might have to get out and walk, lift, drag and curse at the boat until you get it where you want it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps. there's obviously many ways of doing all of these things and there are variations on all of techniques. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2014-09-14T02:02:34.257" LastActivityDate="2014-09-14T02:02:34.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2014-09-13T19:08:08.617" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a water reservoir cleaning kit for about $7 from Walmart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I haven't used it yet (I only got it a month or two ago. I haven't gone on a longer hike where I wanted to go to the effort of filling a water reservoir, instead of just bringing a little bottle). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/Outdoor-Products-Hydro-Cleaning-Kit/17017907&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Products Hydro Cleaning Kit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It came with a cleaning brush for the tube and one for the reservoir itself, but most importantly for this question, it comes with a little coat hanger type piece of plastic (similar to Liam's method above). You fold up the coat hanger thing, then push it into the reservoir and let it pop back into shape, then hang it up. Before, I always ended up going to a lot of effort to try to balance the reservoir with the hard opening vertical and the rest of the bag flat, so some air could get in. It would always flop flat after a few hours, or someone closing a door in the next room, etc. I'm looking forward to not doing that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T04:48:25.367" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T04:48:25.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4466" CreationDate="2014-09-13T19:14:51.857" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about the safety of iodine or don't like the terrible taste, you could get some chlorine tablets. They cost about the same, but aren't as  easy to find at general sports stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastActivityDate="2014-09-13T19:14:51.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6671" CreationDate="2014-09-13T19:35:27.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would be unusual for a snake to attack a stationary person. I suppose it's possible that a snake might approach you or your shelter to try to get warm, and you could then surprise them after they had already settled down near you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing there is no coyote season in Nevada, so you could be doing it any time of year. If it's the winter, snakes are likely to be hibernating. I suppose in the early spring, when snakes are coming out of hibernation and actively searching for food, might be the most likely time to encounter a snake if you are stationary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've spent plenty of time out in the Mojave desert, and the vast majority of the snakes I've seen have not been venomous. I've never had a snake do anything other than 1) nothing or 2) try to get away from me, usually by moving just far enough away that it felt safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that scorpions might be a bigger concern. Desert recluses and black widows are obviously dangerous, but unlikely to move to you after you're already set up and stationary - you're more likely to encounter them when you are setting up or taking down your blind, assuming you're setting up on or next to a rock pile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastActivityDate="2014-09-13T19:35:27.907" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6725" CreationDate="2014-09-13T22:21:46.033" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knot in the photo you posted is a double overhand knot. It's often used as half of a double fisherman's bend, and that's essentially how it's being used in the web page. (It will become a double fisherman's bend once the loop of cord is weighted and the two knots collide.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The web page advocates using this as a harness to tie in someone who doesn't have a manufactured harness. This is not the procedure I've seen recommended for this. One problem is that once you weight the loop, you have a double fisherman's knot, which is extremely difficult to untie. Another problem is that the single strand of rope is likely to hurt the person wearing it if they take a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more standard, safe procedure in this situation would be to use a bowline on a coil. I believe that's what people did before swami harnesses and seat harnesses. However, it's not the best thing if someone's going to take a hard fall; it can injure or asphyxiate them. If you have some webbing, it would be preferable to rig up a diaper sling, as shown in Freedom of the Hills, 8e, p. 149.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-09-13T22:21:46.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6732" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6772" CreationDate="2014-09-14T02:26:23.333" Score="2" ViewCount="1173" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some places to purchase rock climbing ball holds like the ones on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/bombs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Atomik Climbing Holds&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.threeballclimbing.com/6-inch-ninja-beast-balls.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Three Ball Climbing&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to build something similar to cannonball alley on American Ninja Warrior as cheap as possible. I'm considering just making them myself but was wondering if there is anywhere to get them cheaper than those sites. I'm not asking for specific advertisements/promotions, but simply all the places to get those types of rock climbing holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3946" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T17:41:05.867" Title="Places to Find Rock Climbing Ball Holds" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-09-23T00:00:46.200" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6734" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-14T09:37:06.480" Score="7" ViewCount="8288" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could my compact SUV/AWD handle a regular off road track that's suitable for 4x4? Is it a dumb/risky idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand it would depend on the type and condition of the SUV, the track and the weather. But some general information from someone who have tried an all wheel drive on a unpaved mountain 4wd track would be good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T10:29:31.873" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T07:10:59.150" Title="4x4 vs AWD off road" Tags="&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6735" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6802" CreationDate="2014-09-14T11:41:20.110" Score="8" ViewCount="2433" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past I have mostly been snowboarding with a simple every-day backpack to hold some lunch and other small stuff. But since it's very loose, not waterproof and not spacious enough sometimes I'm now thinking about getting the right equipment, buying a proper backpack and maybe an emergency kit with a shovel etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But upon researching backpacks I started wondering: A lot of them already have at least some sort of a padded back to provide some protection - like this one&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uzKAXm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Backpack with back protection&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do I then even need a dedicated back protection on top of that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have found about this on the internet is &lt;a href=&quot;http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2243393&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this discussion on snowheads&lt;/a&gt; where the tone mostly seems to be in favor of dropping the extra protector (&lt;strong&gt;unless of course&lt;/strong&gt; you ride without backpack on a given day) especially if you carry a shovel back there anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kori.se/en/products/this-is-kori/back-protector-backpack-alpine-skiing-snowboard/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This company&lt;/a&gt; seems to want to tackle this problem by selling a true protector that can unfold into a backpack, but it seems to me the major benefits of a backpack (separate compartments, structure, waterproof sections...) are then lost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should you wear back protection under your backpack?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it disturbing or even unsafe to combine the two? Might things start to slide out of position?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I be looking for a backpack with no proper padding if I wear a protector?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3948" LastEditorUserId="3948" LastEditDate="2014-09-22T10:32:16.097" LastActivityDate="2014-09-22T12:21:14.660" Title="Combine backpack and back protection when snowboarding?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6747" CreationDate="2014-09-14T15:27:56.967" Score="6" ViewCount="340" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are wandering around Netherlands (on foot, hitch hiking, bicycle). We don't sleep in camping site, we put our tent anywhere &quot;in the bush&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are use to travel on this way in Southern Europe but in Netherlands we have trouble finding water (public water tap, public wc / street fountain so we could get water for showering / laundry / cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until now we only found water tap in cemetery which are not the best place to shower, (especially on &quot;remote&quot; conservative area !). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until know we could get enough water to cook by asking bars or restaurant but, not enough for the laundry and real shower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live there,  you might know some trick to find those precious water tap. Any other trick than laundry-bathing in smelly/polluted rivers, will be highly appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance in Southern Europe we find water to shower and laundry near churches (often there is tap), public fountain in parks, downtowns, cemeteries, free WC (street, train station). And when we can't manage to find anything  we find a way (last option) in public  WC in library toilet or bigger supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice : we know about warmshowers and couchsurfing website we just like to be independent, and spontaneous interaction and without taking into account that planing in advance would require quite a lot of organization / time / battery (because finding a plug is also quite a challenge: we fund one in a parking today!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.s: we know about the app &quot;hoge nood&quot; but it's not available on ios6 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3950" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T12:52:38.703" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T12:09:17.317" Title="Where can I find public water tap for cleaning/bathing in the Netherlands?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;the-netherlands&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6737" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-14T17:39:30.047" Score="6" ViewCount="4117" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year I got myself a first pair of gore-tex B0 boots. Before I used only leather. I took care of those as good as I could. Keeping clean and using special sprays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However now one boot developed 1.5 cm split in gote-tex surface. I tried to fix it with Sugru, a self-setting rubber that is advertised as able to fix mountaineering boots top. After an 8 hour hike on mixed terrain of trail, snow and rock it failed by breaking in multiple places and opening the split.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would sew with glue a leather boot, but what should I do about gore-tex one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3912" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T09:13:10.803" LastActivityDate="2020-12-14T03:10:29.093" Title="How to repair gore-tex boots split?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6738" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6742" CreationDate="2014-09-14T18:55:48.697" Score="11" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last Weekend I made a hiking trip. The coordinates and lakes we crossed I can piont on a map and now I am looking for a good onlinetool to put in the points I remember connect them and calculate the distance in kilometers. Here are the points from start to finish on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/maps/dir/Lundamo/63.16349,10.52637/@63.1500969,10.4309244,12z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x466cd6f25747675f:0xeb85f11d792f8b21!2m2!1d10.284444!2d63.151944!1m0!3e2!6m3!1i0!2i0!3i0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;googlemaps&lt;/a&gt; but the track is not the one we took. &#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iBdpv.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;(The land is Norway) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3951" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:35.600" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:02:35.600" Title="Onlinetool to setup a track in a map and calculate the distance" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6739" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6749" CreationDate="2014-09-14T19:06:40.880" Score="6" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to tie up a tent to a sack in order to carry it over a long distance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently bought &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildcraft.in/Products/Wildcraft-Shop-Gear--Apparel-Equipment-Rucksacks/Wildcraft/Kailash-Outdoor-Adventure-Rucksack/pid-1809721.aspx&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; sack, and I carried it over this weekend with my 4-men tent, and it was damn bad a day to have it along.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Its a large tent, so it doesn't fit into my pack, I have to pack it separate. And the bag/pack they have provided with tent doesn't really have anything that makes it easy to carry. The only way I see is to attach it to my backpack.&#xA;The pack would definitely lean on the side the tent was attached. And I had to tighten up the same shoulder strap so the it doesn't swing my back around, that killed my shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would you tie-up such a tent and managing the load distribution with that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T00:14:06.230" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T11:57:50.003" Title="Tying up a tent to the sack" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6466" CreationDate="2014-09-14T19:23:01.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never tried this with a nice tent that had a waterproofing layer, but I have had to remove pine sap from several items before (backpacks, clothing, car upholstery). You need some sort of a solvent to really take it off without a lot of abrasion. I have used the product Goo-Gone or nail polish remover in a rag, then just rubbed it off, then followed up with soap and water. If it's a tent, you might want to wash and dry it again as soon as possible to try to get all the solvent off, then reapply some waterproofing solution to be sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol would probably be the gentlest solvent, if it worked, so you might want to try that first after soap and water. I've never tried hand sanitizer, but I have tried rubbing alcohol, and it doesn't seem to work that well for pine sap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastEditorUserId="3945" LastEditDate="2014-09-14T19:35:06.327" LastActivityDate="2014-09-14T19:35:06.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6513" CreationDate="2014-09-14T19:44:16.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;We car-camped with our 5 month old using a yoga mat as a sleeping pad wedged in above our heads in a two person backpacking tent. It was summer and in California, so we weren't worried about moisture from touching the sides. We were worried about having him sleeping in anything too soft, because that's against the recommendations for infants (suffocation, etc.). If you do this, make sure to have baby's feet facing your spouse, because whoever is on the foot end could get kicked in the head all night by a squirmy baby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This year I tried sleeping in a tent one night with the same kid, now 1+ year old, and I gave up because he wouldn't sleep, and just screamed for like 2 hours straight. Luckily this was a test run in our back yard, so we just went back inside to our regular beds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cloth diapers would be more virtuous, but we didn't want to have to drive home with dirty diapers (we were camping on national forest land, not in a campground with wash facilities). We just tossed the dirties in the bear-proof trash at the trailhead in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastActivityDate="2014-09-14T19:44:16.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6738" CreationDate="2014-09-14T19:49:51.560" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend a site like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caltopo.com/&quot;&gt;CalTopo&lt;/a&gt; (my favorite) or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hillmap.com/&quot;&gt;Hillmap&lt;/a&gt;;  you can import GPX files into them, or click on points to define a path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Caltopo, creating a path by clicking might not be immediately obvious; first choose &quot;Add New Object&quot;, then select &quot;Line&quot;, and once you've edited any details you can click each waypoint or hold down shift while clicking to draw a free-hand path.  Double-click to finish the path, and right-click the finished path for options such as viewing an elevation profile.  Viewing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com/about.html&quot;&gt;help information&lt;/a&gt; may be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tools like Google Earth may also be able to provide similar information, but may not be as straightforward.  Note that for each of these tools some advanced features such as slope analysis, snow depth, and so forth may rely on sensors or data only present in the US.  For example, CalTopo defaults to USGS maps that do not cover Norway; switching the map to one of the Google layers would be necessary for Norwegian locations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-09-14T19:49:51.560" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6734" CreationDate="2014-09-14T20:13:44.943" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have driven my F(ront)WD Hyundai Santa Fe on plenty of logging roads in northern New Hampshire. It is quite possible to get around safely. I even know someone who owns an off-road Toyota Corolla.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking at roads that get graded on a somewhat regular basis, you should be able to drive ok. Stay alert on watch for rocks protruding up and for dips. There may even be small wash outs. If you unsure about the spot ahead, slow down, maybe even get out and scout it on foot. If you aren't confident that your vehicle can handle a section of road, be extra cautious. Getting a tow truck to your location will take way longer than in town. Don't ask how I know ;--)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for gravel. Think twice (or more) about dirt roads, especially if it has rained or there is rain in the forecast. Gravel holds up well, mud will suck your tires in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you end up on a narrow section, keep an eye out for places to pull over if you need to either turn around or make room for an approaching vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of activity draws you to unpaved roads? I am an off trail hiker, so if I can't drive in as far as I planned, I am just starting the hike early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2014-09-14T20:13:44.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6304" CreationDate="2014-09-14T23:22:16.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you live near the beach? If so the best exercise for surfing is surfing. As an avid surfer for 25+ years, this has been the case for me. Outside of that, swimming, paddling, and rowing are good alternatives. In terms of the goal of &lt;em&gt;&quot;not getting exhausted&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, focus on cardio. I rowed crew for a couple years in college. During that time, I was in my best 'surfing' shape, able to out paddle everyone (and faster paddling means more waves).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3791" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T06:13:07.247" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T06:13:07.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6746" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6752" CreationDate="2014-09-15T06:21:52.533" Score="7" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be travelling to Canada for a business trip, and I can spare a weekend in between my schedule. I'd be keen to trek/hike near Vancouver, and I have banked upon hiking &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stawamus_Chief&quot;&gt;The Stawamus Chief&lt;/a&gt;. As I'll be there as a technocrat, am I legally allowed to hike in Canada? Or do I have to comply to any legal procedures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2732" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T14:01:51.603" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T14:41:59.857" Title="Legal permits required for trekking in Canada" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6736" CreationDate="2014-09-15T06:30:50.103" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, in the Netherlands camping in the wild is prohibited, and they really don't like it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you're in need for some water, first the good news, tapwater in the netherlands is filtered and ready to drink but like you said, you won't find much public water because of the expenses that are needed to get the water to a fountain (you have no watertowers and the land is indeed very flat), so they'd need to put up pumps and everything. So i'd say the solution here is a large watersack to carry around. You'll have to get Drinkingwater from Restaurants, Bars, Cementerys (watch out, water in cementarys or the like shouldn't be drank because the water stands alot and this can make you sick), farmers etc.&#xA;I always carry around 3litres of drinkingwater, and for showering and washing my clothes, i'd either use a river, lake etc. also you could need a douchebag, i got a 20l douchebag from ortlieb which, so far, never disappointed me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to stress it out a little bit more, if you get caught camping in the wild, the police can be a real hassle, and most likely they will. Better ask someone for permission to sleep on private property, and try not to sound German.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T06:30:50.103" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6748" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6750" CreationDate="2014-09-15T08:00:01.047" Score="21" ViewCount="5033" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some background. Whilst car camping down in Weymouth recently I was unfortunate enough to encounter a stomach bug (we initially thought it was food poisoning but later realised it was a bug as my other half developed the same symptoms over 3 days later). I ended up making a mess inside the tent, though not as bad as it could have been (this one was mostly just water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My sleeping bag became unusable however, and this was on the first night, so I slept under a blanket instead, as luckily the weather was still surprisingly warm for September. My other half kindly cleaned up as best he could - the tent seemed to wipe clean ok and was done immediately - but my pack and my sleeping bag took the brunt of the mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we were only there for two nights we just chucked most things effected into the back of the car, but obviously if we had been trekking instead of car camping this would not be possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My sleeping bag is synthetic and machine washable (as stated by the manufacturer on low heat, no or low spin and only a tiny bit of detergent, no fabric softeners) and now lovely and clean. Again, this isn't exactly something I can manage out on a trek in the future - plus we had plenty of towels with us due to swimming etc, which we probably would not have with us trekking. Also as vomit is a rather nasty thing to clean up anyway, I'm not worried if things get &lt;strong&gt;dirty&lt;/strong&gt; but obviously vomit is completely &lt;strong&gt;unhygienic&lt;/strong&gt;, so I would assume it need something more thorough than a splash in a stream like you do with grubby boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: &lt;strong&gt;When out trekking, what is the best way to clean camping gear of vomit?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:41:11.647" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T18:12:28.203" Title="How to clean vomit from camping gear?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6739" CreationDate="2014-09-15T09:36:53.927" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly if you are on your own a four man tent is probably excessive. People buy small two man/trekking tents so that it is easy to carry them and one doesn't have this sort of problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a larger group then it is not necessary for one person to carry the entire tent. You can break it up into at least poles, fly and inner. Different people can take each section which they should be able to fit in their bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need to pack it on the outside of the bag no solution is really ideal. The best bet is to attach it in the lower central section of the bag, basically over the bottom zip. This puts most of the weight on the hips and keeps it central. The bag will probably still feel more swingy when you turn as the center of mass is further from the center of your body, but this can't be helped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the tent bag is small enough you may be able to fit it in the lower compression straps over the bottom zip. This is the easiest way to attach it but not particularly secure. You'll probably want some extra webbing/cord to tie it on better. On your bag the side and lower compression straps and pole hooks all look like decent places to attach extra strapping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't attach it at the bottom you could also tie the tent vertically in the center of the bag or even on top. These are less good as they put more weight on your shoulders and putting on top also tends to restrict head movement (you can't look up). While the side compression strap may look a good place to put the tent try and avoid this as, as you mentioned you'll probably end up lopsided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T11:57:50.003" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T11:57:50.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6748" CreationDate="2014-09-15T10:59:21.850" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll caveat this with -- I've never vomited in my gear, nor do I know anyone who has.  But I did sit and figure out how I'd try to solve this if it happened to me.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry the liquid.  This will depend on gear and season.  Sunshine,&#xA;freezing cold, or dirt can all work for this.  Even cooking&#xA;materials such as flour can work.  Anything to make it less liquid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scrape off the resulting dry stuff/goo.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let it air out as long as possible, preferably in sunlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When completely dry, scrape again and brush over with a small amount&#xA;of hand sanitizer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, it's theory, but this is how I actually clean up vomit anyways, just applied to gear.  There are a lot of variables that could matter here, such as location, weather, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, please do NOT use a stream or water source.  It should go without saying, but contaminating the water for everyone else is bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T10:59:21.850" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6738" CreationDate="2014-09-15T11:11:35.677" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For central Europe I can recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wanderreitkarte.de/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.wanderreitkarte.de&lt;/a&gt;, which is a German site but has also an English and Italian language layer. Its data is based on openstreetmap data which is (at least in Germany) much more detailed off the beaten track than google maps is. Unfortunately it does not contain Norway, where your hike has obviously been done. Nonetheless, I will reference it here as it might help other visitors to that site who are within the covered area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tool has some nice core features, with the most appealing (for me) being able to mark some points along a desired route and make the tool figure out a route through those points along certain characteristics. The characteristics can be divided into horse riding vs. hiking and then into generate a preferably flat route, allow some ups and downs or include even via ferratas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The generated route can be downloaded in .gpx format and it's also possible to get an elevation profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T11:11:35.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6746" CreationDate="2014-09-15T14:35:04.063" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;National parks tend to be absolutely open to anyone, their goal being to allow &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Parks_of_Canada&quot;&gt; public enjoyment without compromising the area for future generations&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the park's own &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/permits/&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A permit is not required for front-country camping, hiking, moorage,&#xA;  etc. in most parks. Campsite reservations are accepted at many&#xA;  front-country parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be absolutely sure, you could try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/info/feedback.html&quot;&gt;contacting&lt;/a&gt; the park itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/stawamus/&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of general information related to your planned hike. The only fees are for camping!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3846" LastEditorUserId="3846" LastEditDate="2014-09-15T14:41:59.857" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T14:41:59.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6753" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6756" CreationDate="2014-09-15T15:18:07.200" Score="25" ViewCount="54269" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some background links to Aravona's question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6748/how-to-clean-vomit-from-camping-gear&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Basically I am her other half and over the course of the night the tent was opened many times. As people will know opening a tent in the wee hours of the morning will lose all the heat accumulated through the day and take a long time to warm back up. It warming up is nearly impossible if a certain someone has to keep leaving, bolting for open ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is this: What methods / equipment can be used to warm a tent up rather quickly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T04:10:11.613" Title="How To Quickly Warm A Tent" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6734" CreationDate="2014-09-15T15:32:48.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly drive my 2003 Honda CR-V AWD on forest roads here in New Mexico.  There isn't much gravel anywhere, generally it is graded dirt and rocks.  Some roads haven't seen any work in a year or two, sometimes more, but we don't get nearly as much rain as NH.  If it is dry, the real issue is ground clearance, which is pretty good in my CR-V - you just have to pick your way around the biggest bits.&#xA;The most exciting trip I did was with a group to go caving in the Malpais, south of Grants, NM.  This was in the spring, so the snow had melted, but the Malpais doesn't drain well, being a thin skin of dirt over the lava flows. So, the roads were all mud (several inches).  One car in the group was FWD only, and it had to be towed through the worst because once the rear wheels started sliding sideways it would end up in the ditch. When we encountered meadows they were covered in standing water, and you had to pick a line across the meadow and go for it, not knowing really what was under it. On one meadow I was unlucky and managed to bounce down on a rock at some point, which took out my evap filter (which I had to get fixed later). At one point, one of our 4WD F-350's got bogged down and had to get towed out - it was that messy of a road. I'd say the CR-V performed very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, I've been very happy with the CR-V and regularly take it down pretty nasty forest roads.  I'm not sure that I'd take it 'off road', i.e. where there is no road at all.  I have friends who do serious off-roading events, and my CR-V is certainly not suitable for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a tire pump and repair kit.  A winch isn't a bad idea either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T15:32:48.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6734" CreationDate="2014-09-15T15:37:46.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love going for off-road drives in my Audi Q5 with quattro (she's no asphalt queen!). I think that you need to consider tires and ground clearance just as much as the drivetrain of your car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good tires intended for off-road will give you significant improvement over street-only tires. I'm not saying you need to go full knobby on them, but make sure you at least get some crossover tires. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second is ground clearance. I find that this is most important for traversing gullys or small canyons (think of things like a dry river bed or something like that). The ground clearance helps increase the number of angles that will be able to traverse. In addition, ground clearance also helps with the exposure of the underside of the car to the elements. A stock Toyota Corolla going off-road might find itself with a snapped oil-pan and that's never good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, do the research on your roads. Look at topo maps of your intended route, talks to others that have done it. And remember to have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T15:37:46.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2014-09-15T15:42:22.307" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically you should never find yourself in such a situation under normal circumstances. Tents are supposed to keep you warm, and not the other way round. If you are doing that more often then I'd say you have the wrong gear being used at the wrong place.&#xA;Yet, there may rise a situation when you need to do it, there are ways to do it, but honestly you'll need to be very careful and cautious about them.&#xA;Firstly, Larger tents require more heating, and require more insulation to keep the heat in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The weather will keep on making it cold, so I'll say as a preventive measure you should try and arrange something that can keep you warm, and then may be think about having something that keeps the whole tent warm from inside. Its always necessary to have a insulation between you and the ground, you can do that by means of using air mattresses and inflatable sleeping pads, these are convenient to carry. This was more like a corrective measure just in case if you fail to keep your tent warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As an additional measure you can put a lukewarm water bottle in the sleeping bag before getting into bed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can built a small fire in front of the tent at a distance with a flat rock set up as a heat reflector. Wake up once in a while and check if everything is good and in control. But IMHO, You sleep way better when not having to worry about your heat source sometimes. I do this when its absolutely cold, and I am no longer able to sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could consider a newly introduced thing called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coleman.com/product/2000004165#.VBcGPsKSygw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a catalytic heater&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campingworld.co.uk/en/Summit-2kW-Portable-Gas-Heater/m-10774.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; that are safe to use in an enclosed area, and are made specifically for car camping when things get cold. You'll need to take care of the ventilation though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But IMHO, I'd certainly count on my sleeping gear and body warmers more than these products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T13:59:41.040" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T13:59:41.040" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6736" CreationDate="2014-09-15T15:48:50.767" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've wild-camped a few times in NL without problems. I guess it all depends on how well you hide and where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can't really help for rural area's. But in less rural areas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Laundry:&lt;/strong&gt; I'd expect laundry facilities for a few euro's in the poorer neighborhood of cities. Where students or immigrants live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water/shower:&lt;/strong&gt; some truck stops/gasoline stations near highways may have these facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T15:48:50.767" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2014-09-15T19:15:24.743" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To warm a tent, you need to produce more heat. There is a fun way to do this if you're sharing with another person. If this question is aimed at settling an argument with your girlfriend, I would definitely advocate this method. Other than generating more heat with your body, you could burn fossil fuels (risky, poisonous) or use an electric heating element (risky, battery operated).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking at heat loss from the tent, you either need to make sure the minimum heat escapes when you open the door (e.g. by not opening it if possible), or to make the tent a better insulator. Making the tent out of a thicker material like canvas may go some way to keeping the heat in, or using a foil / mylar covering that reflects the heat back in. As you lose most of your heat through the ground, making the groundsheet from an insulating material would make any heat produced in the tent stick around for longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3958" LastActivityDate="2014-09-15T19:15:24.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2014-09-15T23:36:24.040" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;One way I was taught in the uk armed forces (a very long time ago) was to use dry rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat the rock in your camp fire, then carefully just before bed time, place the rock inside your shelter, the rock releases it's heat slowly and acts very much like a radiator producing a consistent source of dry heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A word of warning though&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this method was never designed with polyester tents in mind, it was designed more for the hand made shelters that you may build in a survival situation, and where the heated rocks would be placed on bare earth.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a little bit of common sense however, for example place the hot rock on some logs or a layer of thick sticks, and not allowing it to touch portions of the tent that prolonged contact with t may melt, then you should be pretty much ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heat it will generate will be dry dissipated heat such as would be obtained from a radiator or convection heater, so should not in any way damage the tent, also make sure that you heat rocks that are 100% dry, if there is any moisture at all in them then you run the risk of them cracking and even exploding in the fire, it's not funny when it happens either, I know from experience!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a perfect solution, and it does take you a few hours to heat the rocks up, then you also need a suitable way to carry them, because they WILL burn flesh quite easily, but if done with care, it will work and should work well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update - 23/9/2014&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was just re-reading this, when I remembered something else that's of use in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of you who do outdoor type stuff might carry with your supplies some of those reflective Mylar survival blankets (Like the type rescuers use when they rescue people who are hypothermic).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whats often not realized though is these things are not just good for wrapping yourself in, but, if you use a bit of duct tape fashioned into a loop you can stick them up on the inside of your tent above your head and up the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beacuse of the reflective properties a lot of the heat that rises from things like body heat, or other heat sources in the tent, gets immediately reflected back down over back into the main tent space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also because of the general thermal properties of Mylar, any heat that does make it through will be a lot less than any heat that would escape directly through the polyester/canvas on it's own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shawty&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3962" LastEditorUserId="3962" LastEditDate="2014-09-24T11:42:25.780" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T11:42:25.780" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6760" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6762" CreationDate="2014-09-16T04:02:28.927" Score="30" ViewCount="4313" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why do mountains like K2, Nanga Parbat and Annapurna (36 successful attempts, 47 failed) have higher fatality rates than, say, Everest or Cho Oyu (79 successful attempts, 28 failed)? &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_mountains#List&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I use these statistics to determine what aspect of mountaineering is the most dangerous, between the summit ridge, sudden weather changes or shaky snow bridges?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3846" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T11:10:14.720" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T11:10:14.720" Title="What makes certain mountains more dangerous than others?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;eight-thousanders&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6734" CreationDate="2014-09-16T04:50:50.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have driven my Subaru WRX wagon with M&amp;amp;S tyres on mostly dry logging roads in Northern California. Ground clearance can be an issue from time to time. (And one has to resist the urge to go a little faster...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2270" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T04:50:50.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6760" CreationDate="2014-09-16T07:55:31.577" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally had a similar sort of a question when I first went through similar kind of stats about these mountains. Getting introduced with these stats is different than totally understanding the mountain and the pandora box it opens. For getting acquainted with the reasons for so many failed attempts, one needs to read tactical data and expedition reports. Understanding the weather is not a case because many a times bad weather make a &lt;em&gt;walk in a park&lt;/em&gt; kind of a summit go horribly wrong.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Logistics and Supplies:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along with the weather, the location makes it more difficult. These big tough-to-climb mountains are not easily approachable. Consequently, many a times you find the local support (labor would be an inappropriate term to use for these great people) like Sherpas and Porters tough to find, fund and convince to come. So things are too difficult with limited support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you compare population of these local services around Mt. Everest with other mountains like K2, Kanchenjunga, etc, you would definitely get higher numbers for Mt. Everest,  Lhotse and Cho Oyu. May be that is one of the crucial reasons for higher ratio of successful summit attempts to Failed attempts. It will be reasonably wrong to correlate this ratio with &lt;em&gt;&quot;The Death to Summit Ratio&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Many a times at these great mountains, failed attempt is death and vice versa. And there is a significant number of expeditions where people actually made a summit and unfortunately passed away on the way down the mountain. Afterall, its not only about standing humbly on the summit, but its more about being there at the top tip and get down the goddamn mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Some Technical Data&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the factors that makes K2 so challenging is the sustained technical difficulty. Period! It is like a cone of ice and limestone, and has slopes of 45 degree angles or more. Climbers typically fix up to 2,500 meters of rope on the south side routes, and up to 5,000 meters of rope on the north ridge route. It is a consistently steep pyramid, dropping quickly in almost all directions. Speaking of the weather, the sudden storms are caused in part because the peak is so much higher than the mountains around it, it juts up into the upper layers of the atmosphere and like a rock in a river can create eddies in the jet stream, with good weather on one side of the mountain, and life-threatening conditions on the other. That is not exactly the case for Mt. Everest, it being surrounded by another 2 Eight-Thousanders.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Speaking of technical difficulties:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, its a fact that Mt. Everest is not a &lt;em&gt;walk-in-a-park&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Any-Rich-Tom-Dick-Harry-can-summit&lt;/em&gt; thing either, but apart from void weather and a moderately difficult ice wall before &lt;em&gt;&quot;Hillary's Step&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, Mt. Everest unarguably put much less challenges to a summit-optimist at higher shoulders of the mountain where rescue is difficult and unlikely, as compared to that of K2, Eiger, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;K2 has its own agenda to deny a summit by means of Serac and Bottleneck above Camp IV. There is no need to even comment about how tough it is.  Once &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Bonington&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chris Bonigton&lt;/a&gt; was asked, &quot;What makes K2 such tough mountain to climb, even than Mt. Everest&quot;. He had replied, &quot;It's enormous, very high, incredibly steep and much further north than Everest which means it attracts notoriously bad weather,&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the North face Eiger there is are 2 technical challenges much talked about.&#xA;One of them is called &quot;Hinterstoisser traverse&quot; named after Andreas Hinterstoisser and the other one is called as &lt;em&gt;&quot;The Traverse of the Gods&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Personally, I had my jaw-dropped when I first watched a documentary on Eiger North Face route. All the North Faces in the Swiss Alps were already climbed, but Eiger had parried away all attempts till it was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek in a German–Austrian party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not read and studied much about Nanga parbat, so it will be inappropriate to comment about the technical difficulties it offer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Annapurna the technical difficulty is considered to be graded over Hard Severe for the climbing parts of it. The fact that it is considered as the one of the most sensitive Avalanche-Prone areas, adds more woes to climber's expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, the technical difficulty level, Weather, Local Support altogether make world's few mountains tough ones to scale. The same goes without saying for many other mountains in the world which have considerably lower number of successful summits and a relatively dangerous Death to Summit ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TAT (Turn Around Time), Height Gain and Supply Management&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its also interesting to compare the height gained from Base Camp to Summit.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Height Gains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From Everest Base Camp (South) to Summit: 3484 m.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From Nanga Parbat Base Camp to Summit: 3800 m (Approximately)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From Annapurna Base Camp to Summit (Annapurna I): 3961 m&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From K2 Base Camp to Summit: 4711 m&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the height gain and the distance matter? Yes it does! Because these are all tall mountains and located at a higher altitude, the small change in weather is a major concern and the night sinks in so bad. The actual time for the Summit from the Pre-Summit Camp is a very short time-window. The Expeditions always have (if not, then should have) agreed upon a TAT (Turn Around Time). Turn Around Time is what ethical mountaineers refer as the time, clocking which every expedition member should turn back to the lower camp, no matter how close the summit is.&#xA;This window between Start of the Summit attempt and TAT is substantially favorable for an expedition team in case of Everest as compared to the other mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once I had gone off-road cycling my nephew in remote regions.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The kid asked me, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Why haven't you ever climbed that mountain?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, pointing at a mountain I didn't know the name of.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I said, &lt;em&gt;&quot;I just may some day. But I haven't because I hadn't seen that before and there is hardly anyone who gets here.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T14:07:59.703" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T14:07:59.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6763" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6764" CreationDate="2014-09-16T09:51:04.273" Score="8" ViewCount="802" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never fancied using a stick or pole for hiking.&#xA;With a heavy backpack, its always tiring to walk, especially on an ascend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last weekend it was the same east side story for me. Seeing me struggling, a friend of mine handed me a stick that he had make-shift made from a strong but dead bush, with all its branched cut. He thought that would help me with the load and make my limbs and knees feel better to walk, I felt the same.&#xA;But I couldn't actually figure out how it would, and how am I supposed to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should a walking stick/pole be used on ascend and on descend?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-16T09:56:32.390" LastActivityDate="2015-11-28T02:07:00.400" Title="Walking stick or Pole" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6763" CreationDate="2014-09-16T11:02:59.933" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.headtothehills.co.uk/articles/92-gear-guide-how-to-use-walking-poles.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;pretty useful article&lt;/a&gt; on the correct way to use poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several aims in using a pole. In my opinion, the primary one is to reduce strain on the knees and ankles. Additionally they provide extra stability on rough ground and can make going uphill easier. The disadvantage is they result in extra weight and may increase total energy consumption, although hiking may still seem easier as the extra energy is coming mainly from your arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When holding your pole you should aim to have your arm horizontal with a 90 degree bend at the elbow. This allows you to generate maximum force in the pole. If you have an adjustable pole adjust it so that it is the correct length, otherwise just adjust your grip position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking you want to plant the pole so that you can load it with force to either propel you or lessen the impact downhill. For flat/uphill walking this means placing the pole angled slightly forward with the bit on the ground pointing towards your body. This makes it easier to push forward on the pole. Going downhill, do the opposite. Point the pole away from your body, then push on the pole, lessening the impact on your knees as your foot lands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-11-28T02:07:00.400" LastActivityDate="2015-11-28T02:07:00.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6771" CreationDate="2014-09-16T11:35:19.103" Score="22" ViewCount="2550" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like I'm going to be living in Nairobi for a few years. Along with all of the other amazing opportunities for adventure around here, there's this giant mountain just over the border. Since I'm so close, I've started thinking about whether I could/should attempt the climb, and what I would need to do to prepare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that most of my hiking experience has been day hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, how would I begin to prepare myself for a trek of this magnitude? I've never really done any backpacking or multi day hikes, so I'm mostly starting from scratch. Where do I begin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said, I'll be here for a few years, so I've got lots of time to prepare. I don't want to go rushing into it willy-nilly. I guess I'm just looking for advice on how to get started with something like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3964" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T10:43:40.787" Title="Climbing Kilimanjaro for a newbie" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;kilimanjaro&gt;&lt;africa&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1633" CreationDate="2014-09-16T11:50:22.620" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leavenotrace.ca/principle-travel-camp-durable-surfaces&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace (LNT)&lt;/a&gt; principles actually cover footpath erosion and give specific guidelines to minimize the impact of hikers on trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost, travel on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Concentrating travel on trails reduces the likelihood that multiple routes will develop and scar the landscape. It is better to have one well-designed route than many poorly chosen paths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, choose where you tread on a basis of durability. How much will the ground you are walking on be affected by your footsteps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order of most to least durable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow/Ice: these will melt and/or be snowed over before the season is over, effectively leaving zero trace of you ever being there (if there is enough snow).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rock, sand and gravel: These are not easily affected by footprints and are considered highly durable. Prioritize rocks whenever possible to lower your impact on the trail!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have to step on vegetation, choose durable plants to step on. Big roots are fairly resilient, and dry grass will survive being walked on, whereas flowers and moss will quickly suffer. Avoid vegetation whenever possible, especially on steep slopes where the effects of off-trail travel are magnified.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mineralarts.com/artwork/cryptos.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cryptobiotic crust&lt;/a&gt; (this is the first time I heard about this): according to the LNT guidelines linked above, blackish crust on sand is a tiny community of organisms that help retain moisture and protects from erosion, so, like moss, it is especially destructive to step on it. In the case of moss, avoid stepping on it because it is especially slow to grow back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water/mud holes: go through those mud holes, not around. Avoiding the muddy areas, alongside every hiker before and after you, only widens the trail and affects all the vegetation around it.  Even if you don’t have waterproof footwear, remember that shoes dry overnight while erosion can take years to recover!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3846" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T20:27:33.307" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T20:27:33.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6760" CreationDate="2014-09-16T12:21:16.753" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several things kill people on mountains, many of these are &lt;strong&gt;within the individuals control&lt;/strong&gt; (ensuring they have the right kit, etc.) I'm going to ignore these because all things being equal these should be relatively static (i.e. the mountain itself doesn't make a person more or less well prepared)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here are &lt;strong&gt;some&lt;/strong&gt; factors that affect how dangerous or not a mountain is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Height&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's kind of obvious that a mountain that is 8000m is much more dangerous than one that is 1000m. Height alters several aspects of a mountain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;its &lt;strong&gt;terrain&lt;/strong&gt;: taller mountains have glaciers and crevasses, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;its &lt;strong&gt;weather&lt;/strong&gt;: it's colder the higher you get&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the &lt;strong&gt;oxygen&lt;/strong&gt;: there is less oxygen the higher you go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;time to &lt;strong&gt;rescue&lt;/strong&gt;: it's much harder to rescue someone from height than at lower altitudes, one example of an issue arising from this is at some altitudes helicopters cannot function (because the air is too thin).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Difficulty of terrain&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So height can't account for everything. K2 is shorter than Everest but kills far more people! K2 is a good example of this actually; K2's terrain is generally more unstable and difficult to climb than Everest (it has particuilar problems with overhanging glaciers that are unstable and can collapse on climbers). Some mountains geology make this worse too. I remember reading about a particularly dangerous accent of a large peak where the main danger was falling rocks. The geology simply made the mountain more dangerous than an equivalent peak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Weather&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peaks in different parts of the world have different weather systems. The peaks of Patagonia for example are prone to particularly nasty storms. If a bad weather system can come in quickly and unexpectedly (because that happens on that mountain) people become trapped, freeze or are blown off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Inaccessibility&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inaccessibility can turn a simple injury into a life threatening event. Height obviously makes a peak inaccessible, but also it's geographic location can be an issue. Can you access emergency services? Where's the nearest hospital? How much kit can you take with you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically if you're in a remote difficult to climb mountain prone to bad weather that's high (Like &lt;strong&gt;K2&lt;/strong&gt;), be careful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-09-23T08:25:51.690" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T08:25:51.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6765" CreationDate="2014-09-16T12:28:13.313" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Killamanjaro has relatively simple terrain. The main issue with climbing it is it's height (it's nearly 6000m/20,000feet). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to acclimatise correctly. It will take several days to do this so you will need to spend some time on the mountain (this won't be a day hike!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people who climb this mountain do so as part of an organised group. If you've only done day hikes I'd recommend joining one. In fact as Ben, says in comments (you need one!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need a permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many, many people climb Killamanjaro. It's not overly testing. To prepare you're probably best doing plenty of cardio training and/or climb some smaller peaks to get used to the exertion needed in climbing mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-17T08:36:33.100" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T08:36:33.100" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6765" CreationDate="2014-09-16T13:05:09.593" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aligning the answer strictly for Kilimanjaro, I'd first recommend you to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro_climbing_routes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;select the route&lt;/a&gt; that you are going to take. If you want to take the easiest way up, the Marangu route shall be perfectly suitable for you (No offence, just in case if you remain unprepared, if you have been preparing well, you might try the other routes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'd consider taking two different routes: One for ascent and the other for descent). You'd probably wanna take care of permits required, if there are any.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are on field there, the thing you must be watchful for is Acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This little part &lt;em&gt;&quot;how to get started with something like this&quot;&lt;/em&gt; makes me add the below part to the answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far preparing for the higher scale of mountaineering goes, as you predominantly mentioned that you have been doing Day hiking, it should get easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Strength building and Load Carrying&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;Mountaineering  doesn’t require outright power-lifting skills, nor it requires a well-gymmed body, or weight-lifting ability, but it does require a fair bit of strength in limbs and shoulders. You’re not just climbing the mountain, but also also probably hauling a large and heavy pack on your back and your body needs to be able to move with that extra weight. As you have been doing day hikes, as assume you are aware of how to walk the mountains. You'll need to practice carrying much a bigger backpack, and still be able to cover the distance. For that you'll need stamina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Increasing the stamina:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Unlike one day hikes, you are not going to scale down a mountain in an hour or two, so increasing your stamina is a huge piece of training for mountain climbing. Being able to keep moving and alert for hours is a key skill for mountaineers. Exercises such as stair climbing (may be with a pack?) and hiking steep terrain are great for working those lower body parts. Even Cycling and Swimming helps to develop stamina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. List down the things to pack and way they are packed:&lt;/strong&gt; I suggest preparing a list of the things that you do not want to miss out when you are on the mountain. There is wide range of the things and in initial days I used to forget on or the other. Its always rightly said that, &quot;I'd always prefer to carry a thing that I may not use up there, but I would rather not prefer not having it when I need it&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;e.g. A Flashlight on a day hike? We always plan to finish the activity before sunset, we most of the time do. What if we don't?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So, list down the things, and pack them as you need them. Things which you may need more frequently, you should have them packed in a manner that they are easily accessible.&#xA;The bulky and light stuff should go at the bottom of the pack. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16/what-are-some-good-tips-and-techniques-for-packing-a-backpack&quot;&gt;This question here&lt;/a&gt; covers almost every bit about packing the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Get acquainted with necessary Gear and Equipment:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Firstly, You'll need a good backpack to put all the things into it. Get one that suits you. Get acquainted with the terms and the actual equipment that you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have to/want to use. For Kilimanjaro I think you may not need much of a equipment. Just a good backpack, a tent, a sleeping pad and a sleeping bag, a good footwear along with the regular stuff from your Day Hike packs will be more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Get Mad about it to get better:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;On a bad day at a Day hike you can be a bit harsh on you and keep going, and at the end of the day you'll find yourself at home safe and sound. In multiday hikes, thats not the case. After a bad day, you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have to still keep going so that things don't get worse. At the most, you'll have a night in the tent or a mountain hut to recuperate in order to either turn back or go with the plan. You gotta fight tough times. And,&#xA;Practice and Consistency are key to sustain mountaineering habits. It's always easy to fall off the grid and loose the shape and stop doing the things. It's rather difficult to keep going, keeping the hunger to go on and climb bigger mountains. For me the greediness to trek as much as can keeps me doing the stuff, and sideways, keep doing the stuff prepares me for bigger stuff. Just pat your back and keep it going! There are always new challenges to scale down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a good safe one!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T10:43:40.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2014-09-16T14:10:07.167" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all a tent is made from two thin layers of fabric, expecting it to have sufficient thermal efficiency to retain heat, even with the door closed is perhaps a bit ambitious. Any heat built up in the daytime will be long gone before it even gets to the wee hours. A tent is a shelter that keeps off the rain and the wind, nothing more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since any attempt to retain heat is utterly futile, the only way to actually warm the tent is to produce heat faster than it dissipates. The quickest way to do that (here I assume large family tent) is to put the cooker on. Alternatively gas lanterns are dual purpose, producing heat as well as light. Both of these come with a word of extreme caution though. Fire + Tent + People + Alcohol = Disaster waiting to happen. Once these are switched off the temperature will drop sharply, even with the door closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you're talking about the 'wee hours', when you're in bed presumably and putting the cooker or lantern on isn't an option, then perhaps a better wording for your question would have been &quot;How to stay warm in a tent&quot;. The simple answer to this is to get a better sleeping bag and ground insulation. Being too warm is a nicer problem than being too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not one for putting extra layers on to go to bed, so I have a 3 season synthetic fill bag, (rated down to 0 degrees) for the warmer months and a 4 season goose down bag for the winter (rated down to -20 degrees). I've found these work perfectly for the UK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of 2 season bags in the shops, but I'd only recommend these for warmer climates than the UK. Any sleeping bag will deteriorate over time, so I'd recommend getting one that is a little too warm at the beginning of it's life, then it's good for ten or more years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My 4 season bag is super lush and cosy (and expensive) but ironically is actually only a one season bag, winter, it's simply too warm at any other time of year. So whilst advocating thicker sleeping bags on one hand, I'd also say that there is definitely a point where that will become overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend didn't make it as far as the door, that's a different story. All I can say is that sleeping bags with synthetic insulation can be cleaned far more easily than down filled ones. They also will still have some thermal efficiency even when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I also answered your girlfriends previous question, sounds like you had a good time lol. Hope the weather was kind, I've since camped in north wales in the rain on a swamped campsite, ha ha. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T14:10:07.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6765" CreationDate="2014-09-16T16:34:39.153" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to regulations in Tanzania, you can't climb Kilimanjaro without a guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means you will 100% be with somebody that understands the nature of acclimatization and has likely been up many many times previously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you hire a guide, or book a guided trip via a company, they will also take care of permits for you. Most companies automatically factor in the cost of porters also, whom will transport all food and equipment required for your time on the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With your accommodation and food covered, and a porter carrying your extra clothes and gear, the only thing left to do is hike! It sounds like you already have a good base to build on, so I would suggest working on your stamina like others suggested. Ideally you should mimic the conditions by doing multiple days of long day hikes, 4-8 hours a day is adequate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overnight trips are good too, since it will get you used to sleeping outdoors, but I'd rather you think of Kilimanjaro as a multiple long day trips over the course of a week. Some of the routes involve staying in wooden lodges with running water and really negate the need to feel comfortable in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kilimanjaro is a very very popular mountain, and I think anyone in reasonable fitness is likely to reach the top with adequate support.&lt;/strong&gt; Remember: If you aren't feeling up for walking 8 hours a day, just have your guide factor in addition days on the mountain, this will give you the ability to acclimatize properly, and reach the summit without your muscles being in total agony. I saw Martin and Esther Kafer hobbling around Vancouver last year. They are in their 80's, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/about-the-mountain/record-climbs/&quot;&gt;and currently the oldest people known to have reached the summit&lt;/a&gt;. If they can do it, so can you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pace yourself and have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T16:34:39.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6732" CreationDate="2014-09-16T17:41:05.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rather than give you shopping advice, you can visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dpmclimbing.com/climbing-gear/view/climbing-hold-review&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DPM's climbing hold review page&lt;/a&gt;, where they list and review more hold manufacturers than you probably knew existed. You could start there if you wanted more options, but I've personally shopped around in the past for holds and I can promise you that they are all very comparable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you already know some places though, and have indicated that you would prefer something cheaper, I'll go with the assumption that you might end up jerry rigging something together yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is likely going to mean some work on your part. The easiest is buying some wooden spheres from a craft store like the ones below, and rigging a big fat eye bolt to them. Etsy is a great place for craft supplies if needed, but there are many other places also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LZfPI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wooden Spheres for Sale&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yaAzg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Eye Bolt Examples&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most often, climbing holds are made with a grainy textured finish, making them easier to grip for us mortals. If you chose the DIY path, I'd also suggest asking at your local home-depot for a varnish/finish that will achieve a similar result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8jpif.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Textured Deck Paint&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T17:41:05.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6765" CreationDate="2014-09-16T19:48:27.087" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wrote up some notes &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/east_africa.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; that me be helpful. Climbing Kilimanjaro is not a big deal. It doesn't require a lot of stamina or strength, because the need for gradual acclimatization severely limits how far you can go every day. It's not legal to climb without a guide, and when you pay for a guide, you're also typically also getting a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of support, which is incredibly cheap by western standards. You have porters carrying all the heavy food and gear. You're simply a guinea pig being carefully tended over the course of a week as your body gradually adjusts to the altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you're going to be in Kenya, spend some time on Mt. Kenya, which is more fun and more beautiful than Kilimanjaro. You can use it for acclimatization to Kili as well. That's what I did, and I felt great on summit day on Kili. You can also use time on Mt. Kenya to adjust your gear and observe how your body handles altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have warm clothing. I found it very helpful to have a full goretex rain suit, goretex boots, and thick, high-quality wool long underwear to sleep in. Bring a warm, high-quality down sleeping bag and a good pad for insulation. If porters are going to be carrying most of your gear, carefully figure out what your day pack is going to include, and make sure everything you want during the day fits in it. It's not normally necessary for you to carry a lot of water during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-09-16T19:48:27.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6734" CreationDate="2014-09-17T07:10:59.150" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to have a Subaru Forester Turbo. I crossed rivers, drove up on mountains covered in snow (no chains), 4x4 tracks where other &quot;passagers&quot; car would be struggle. Driving up the mountain to the sky field, people where parking down the mountain while a 4wd was picking up people and taking up to the sky field. I remember the guy saying, &quot;you will struggle to get there&quot; and I reply &quot;that is enough for me&quot; :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is, I knew the car and what I was doing (mostly :) ) and I have experience with Utes off road.&#xA;Driving off road, you go as far as you think you can. You will build up experience and go further next time. Just don't be silly to go to far and get stuck... It might be a long walk back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T07:10:59.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6775" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-17T10:48:47.600" Score="10" ViewCount="631" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bit of experience going on via ferratas. But never wondered about their grading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that most countries have 1 to 5 grading systems. From that I have seen grade 1 would be doable by any body without any outdoor experience. Now how would higher grades correspond to fitness and experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could it be compared with scrambling or rock climbing grades?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3912" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-17T14:29:55.860" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T14:31:10.820" Title="Understanding/comparing via ferrata grades?" Tags="&lt;alps&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6775" CreationDate="2014-09-17T14:24:30.177" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I'm reading that you already understand the grades as weda has posted them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now how would higher grades correspond to fitness and experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Skills != grade != fitness&lt;/code&gt;. Grade is equal to difficulty and is subjective so this type of comparison never works. Some explanation on why this doesn't work in&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6530/how-does-a-route-setter-grade-a-climb&quot;&gt;How does a route setter grade a climb?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6188/rating-unorthodox-climbs&quot;&gt;Rating unorthodox climbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Could it be compared with scrambling or rock climbing grades?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find any official source but reading the descriptions I'd say they are equal to the scrambling grades commonly used. So I would suggest they would sit thus:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;A : Walking (not graded)&#xA;B : Grade I scramble&#xA;C : Grade II scramble&#xA;D : Grade III scramble&#xA;E : Moderate/Difficult climb Sport grade I or II&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So only grade &lt;code&gt;E&lt;/code&gt; would be on any climbing scale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer: I made this comparison up based on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata#Grading&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;descriptions on wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;. They seem to match the scrambling grade descriptiions. I've never been on a via ferrata!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T14:31:10.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2014-09-17T15:43:07.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want a tent that has value for money, don't buy lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a tent that is going to stay waterproof for years and years, don't buy lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a tent that isn't going to break the bank, don't buy lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need the performance and the weight saving, i.e. you will be spending a lot of time carrying it around, and this is your primary purpose, then go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two tents, an everyday cheapie that does for car camping on low level camp grounds, and a North Face VE25 Expedition, 3 man ultralight mountain tent. This is reserved for carrying up mountains only. Whilst the tent is undoubtedly still very strong and stable in high winds, 2 yrs on, the water proofing of both the fly and groundsheet is now pretty poor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultralight fabrics don't have the longevity that heavier, cheaper ones do, for this reason always buy new if you're going down the lightweight route. There's no point buying something that is already likely to be pretty tired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T15:43:07.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2014-09-17T16:05:41.850" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kill the bacteria that turns perspiration into a foul smell, sounds crazy but put them in the freezer overnight. This and a through onslaught with any other antibacterial treatments e.g. biological washing powder in luke warm water. As far as I'm aware there is no permanent cure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do Not&lt;/strong&gt; put them in the washing machine or use hot water as this may melt the glue that helps to hold the shape of the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might add that this trick also works wonders for hard to clean drinks containers (empty ones) like Camelbak or Platypus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the germicidal light approach mentioned by @MrWizard, but mine is cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-09-17T16:05:41.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6779" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-17T18:20:37.273" Score="15" ViewCount="655" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at a map, it seems possible to kayak from Berlin to the Baltic with minimum portage. Does anyone know if this is possible or if any information sources exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3971" LastActivityDate="2014-10-01T23:11:52.037" Title="Is it possible to put a kayak in the water in Berlin and reach the Baltic via lakes and rivers?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6780" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6787" CreationDate="2014-09-17T20:15:17.240" Score="19" ViewCount="8880" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am hiking in black bear country (no other kinds of bears there). It's dark, I have a whistle hanging around my neck to scare away such a potential bear and I'm using my torch light to be able to see the path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, for some reason, the light and noise I made till now were not enough to scare away a bear. It stands on the path, 10 meters away from me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll blow that whistle soon, but what do I do with my torch light? Do I&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shine it into the bear's eyes to blind and frighten it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;activate the stroboscopic mode on the torch and / or wave it around wildly to create a lot of shadows and confusion?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shine it on the path between me and the bear so that the bear is able to keep its night vision and run away?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shine it at myself to appear brighter and more impressive?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been hiking like that recently, so I was wondering what the best reaction would have been in case of an encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:13:45.727" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:13:45.727" Title="Black bears and torch lights" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6780" CreationDate="2014-09-17T22:37:57.023" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't even need to worry about a bear mugging you while you're hiking. It doesn't happen. Bears want your food. They're going to try to get your food when your food is out of your pack and they can smell it. The effective countermeasures involve:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making it hard for them to smell your food (e.g., using ziplock bags)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making it hard for them to get your food (e.g., by using a bear canister, which is legally required in a lot of the Sierra anyway), and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoiding the places with the most problematic bears (such as Little Yosemite).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take all of the above precautions, then the only way this kind of interaction with a bear is going to come up is basically if you have some food out of the canister, like at dinner time, and a bear strolls up and takes your food. At that point, you're losing that food. Just accept it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-18T06:28:06.487" LastActivityDate="2014-09-18T06:28:06.487" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6782" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-18T00:57:36.120" Score="9" ViewCount="2176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am researching the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-European_Trails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;E-paths&lt;/a&gt; and trying to figure out what people do for lodging during their hike.  It's Europe, so could I just pitch a tent wherever?  Are there marked campsites?  Do I need to stay at an inn?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1802" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T19:46:34.060" LastActivityDate="2020-10-01T15:14:19.897" Title="Lodging while hiking the European E-paths" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;european-long-distance-paths&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6784" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6792" CreationDate="2014-09-18T06:56:34.607" Score="9" ViewCount="379" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just recently got information about an easy climbing route. I am not sure about the grade though. The only part the worries me is a traverse, which is exposed. And long traverses have always been my weak point.&#xA;I have a couple months to prepare and practice. I plan to give it a try as soon as winter hits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The traverse is full of all the Undercut-type holds.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How can I practice specifically for traverses?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How should I go about a traverse with Undercut holds specifically?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-18T16:15:04.010" LastActivityDate="2014-09-18T16:19:28.023" Title="How to go about a long traverse with just Undercut holds?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6782" CreationDate="2014-09-18T09:45:08.127" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately being Europe the situation changes from country to country. But I will try and keep my answer as general as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I most places wild camping is not allowed. Main exceptions are Scotland and Nordic countries and some other places where its illegal but widely tolerated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I Alpine and other mountainous areas (except in UK) there is a widespread system of mountain huts that are located on hiking trails in the mountains. You would need to look where the routes go exactly to see what huts are nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hostels are common in larger towns and some other popular backpacking areas. These are probably the cheapest non-camping option if you don't mind being in a dorm room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In smaller towns/villages there are often B&amp;amp;B/guest houses which are slightly more expensive than hostels (but nicer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campsites are fairly common in rural areas and in valleys in some mountainous regions. They tend to be manned and have basic facilities (toilet, shower, drinking water), but exact setup can vary a lot between sites even in the same region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping is probably a viable option for sleeping on most routes, except possibly some areas of the Alps/some other mountainous regions where a long detour would be required to reach a campsite each night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2020-10-01T06:22:27.590" LastActivityDate="2020-10-01T06:22:27.590" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6782" CreationDate="2014-09-18T11:17:30.507" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its nearly just the half of what you would have expected to see.&#xA;Honestly I had head-scratched many details for European Long Distance Trails. But I realized that they are so long that even if I plan to complete one of them in sections, it would take multiple years considering my current economic state :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time I realized that,I already had some data about E1, E2, E3 and E4 trails. And, its kinda hard to wipe them off the drive. I am glad that somehow it just &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; add two cents to some cause.&#xA;I'll help you with as much data I have extracted from various internet resources and a few books. You &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; find many a sections of the answer matching with the contents of one or the other website, at times line by line. Pardon me for that. With all due respect, I cite them in bibliography if I &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; call it so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;E1&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route:&lt;/strong&gt; Begins in Sweden or Norway (you have the liberty to decide where to start, make it to Sweden-Denmark boarder to get the ferry), and crosses the Kattegat between Sweden and Denmark by ferry. It passes through Denmark, Germany and Switzerland to finish at Scapoli, Italy. This path is planned to be extended all the way north to the Nordkapp, Norway and southwards to Sicily, in Italy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Norway Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://english.turistforeningen.no/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norwegian Trekking Association&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;The route between Nordkapp and Grövelsjön does in part go in very remote areas with very few shelters and very little service available. Parts of the path are unmarked so that the hikers need to find their own route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sweden Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Svenska Turistföreningen&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Wild camping in Sweden is allowed (Please confirm). Alternatively there are many &lt;a href=&quot;http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindskydd&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vindskydd&lt;/a&gt; or more precisely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean-to&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lean-to&lt;/a&gt; along the route. These are simple three-sided log cabins with the open side facing a campfire. They are often in idyllic places and are free to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(I know I am being nerd, I could have simply translated Vindskydd as Mountain Hut, but whats the fun without the use of local language :-))&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denmark Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dvl.dk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dansk vandrelaug&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Camping in the wild is not allowed in Denmark, however there are primitive campsites (Danish: lejrplads) along the route which commonly have room to pitch a few tents, a water tap or pump and a simple toilet and are often free to use. It often visits larger towns so other forms of accommodation are possible and supplies are no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;German - Switzerland - Italy Section:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;German Authority -  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wanderverband-norddeutschland.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wanderverband Norddeutschland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Swiss Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schweizer Wanderwege&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Italian Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieitalia.com/fie/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Federazione Italiana Escursionismo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Germany, Switzerland and Italy, for most of the part of the route, the trail is merged with one or the other major and more frequently used route, so finding an accomodation should not be an issue, that too with well managed campsites. You can get in touch with local authorities in order to get the pin-point location of the campsite on you map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;E2:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route:&lt;/strong&gt; Starts at Galway in Ireland to France's Mediterranean coast and currently runs through Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, with an alternative midsection equally designated via the Netherlands and east coast of England.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Irish section of the route is not yet open, so if I were you, I'd start at Stranraer, Scotland.&#xA;Apart from that, the huge section of the E2 is merged with Trans-Pennine trail which has accommodation available at Youth Hostels, camp sites, B&amp;amp;Bs, and pubs. When planning the walk one must sometimes choose between two places offering on-route accommodation or two shorter days involving an evening descent off-route to a nearby village or farm, with a morning re-ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are in Ostend, Belgium, the trail is merged with GR5 trail, which is one of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_footpath&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GR Foothpaths&lt;/a&gt;. This section is more prominently marked with a white stripe above a red stripe. In this section, throughout the distance you should end up at a lodge in nights. Just on a side note, there are very few people who would speak English in a fluent way. For most of the population, English is like a second/third language. In lodgings of all types, if you are polite, people will try to speak English.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;E3:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route:&lt;/strong&gt; Passes through Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, a short optional(?) stretch in Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Spain and France sections, the route is merged with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Way of St. James&lt;/a&gt; and mainly The French Way, which has pilgrim's hostels with beds in dormitories dot the common routes, providing overnight accommodation for pilgrims who hold &lt;em&gt;a credencial&lt;/em&gt; (Refer the &lt;em&gt;Way of St. James&lt;/em&gt; wiki). You might wanna try and issue that Pilgrimage Credential passport thing for you. It costs upto roughly 15 Euros per night.&#xA;From thereon, the further section can really get tricky with finding accommodation and communicating, so be prepared to tent camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;E4:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route:&lt;/strong&gt; Starting from Spain it continues through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to end in Greece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spain Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Follows GR8, GR92, GR172 and GR4. Intermediate Accomodation available.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;France Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Follows  GR36, Villefort through Haut Languedoc and Cévennes (GR 71, GR 7, GR 72), Ardèche and Rhône valleys east via GR 44, GR 4, GR 42, 429, Swiss border near Geneva and then through Vercors, Grenoble, Chartreuse and Culoz (GR 9)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swistzerland section:&lt;/strong&gt; Follows &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jura_ridgeway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jura ridgeway&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Germany and Austria Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Generally there are detours on the route of E4 to avoid the very difficult sections, so the accommodation should not be an issue, but anyways I think, wild camping is not allowed in Germany (Please confirm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Romanian Section:&lt;/strong&gt; The route of the E4 through Romania is not yet clearly defined. No organization is responsible for the trail's upkeep in Romania. Potentially dangerous with civil crime rates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bulgerian Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://bulgariatravel.org/Bulgarian&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bulgeria Travel Org&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;Language shall definitely be an issue. Since the route is not neatly marked, you should stick detour the route and look for the villages/ townships in the trail direction, even though the trail is said to be marked in red. If you detour and manage to march in the same endpoint direction along the civilized areas, barring the language, accommodation should not be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Greece Section:&lt;/strong&gt; Authority - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?id=90&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hellenic Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Accommodation will not be available every night, so that lightweight camping, or bivouac gear, is necessary, as well as several days supply of food. Watch out for Bears when you are in North of Greece. In May, in many areas, there may be plenty of springs and/or fast flowing streams, but it would be sensible to carry ample reserves of water—just in case. With regard to accommodation, the Oreivatein site should not be totally trusted, particularly its idiosyncratic use of the word 'motel' (a warning is also necessary with regard to hotels marked on maps). Even if there is a hotel it may only open in July and August, or at weekends. Mountain refuges will also usually be locked. Coffee shops, if they are open and still there, may provide simple meals. Many mountain villages are uninhabited in the winter and only begin to come alive again after Easter, and not fully until high summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope it adds some value to the data that you have gathered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, keep an eye on the responses of &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/36597/accommodation-on-the-european-e-paths&quot;&gt;accommodation-on-the-european-e-paths&lt;/a&gt; question on travel.SE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Various Britain-based Ramblers websites. Few of them are closed down I guess. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/walkers/e-routes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/walkers/e-routes/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;European Ramblers Association : &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wikipedia: European Long Distance Paths: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2020-10-01T06:16:19.047" LastActivityDate="2020-10-01T06:16:19.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6780" CreationDate="2014-09-18T11:52:34.567" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have personal experience with black bears, but only brownies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you encounter a bear in 10 meters away from you that means you surprised it or the bear is coming after you. In a night scenario with a whistle and flashlight the surprise cannot be a real life case. That means bear is actually after you and that's very bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bear may want to hunt you down and eat or flashlight itself attracted the bear to check on you. Bears are curious animals and many things may attract them. At least I saw many bears coming to camp just to check out who's had a fire going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With any bear in any encounter the key is not to anger the beast. Your flashlight will not blind the bear, neither will strobe. It will just make you to look like a threat and enrage the bear. And the gold rule is to never ever to piss off the bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the light to make you look bigger is the way to go. Since bear came to you backing away will not work, the bear will follow. That means you need the bear to loose interest in you. If bear decides to abandon you because you are big and scary or it satisfied its curiosity that's a win. If that didn't worked and it gets aggressive and especially charges throw you flashlight. To the ground next to bear or in to a bear targeting nose if it's already charges. It will have bear occupied for a while. And you can slowly back off. Or if the bear was after the flashlight it will go away once it chewed it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that didn't work apply standard self defence. Pepper spray and fighting back with that ever means you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3912" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T13:39:11.873" LastActivityDate="2014-09-19T13:39:11.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6790" CreationDate="2014-09-18T12:58:18.083" Score="14" ViewCount="2220" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I fell ill whilst car camping and it made me consider the situations when not around amenities. In addition to this I recently was part of a four man, one dog team climbing Snowdon and one of us fell ill with a severe migraine, and we carried on despite the migraine as the team member wished to do so, which also got me thinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously there is only so far the common sense and opinion of someone who is unwell can be taken before someone has to step in for the sake of their safety, and I understand &lt;em&gt;obviously some sicknesses are more serious than others&lt;/em&gt; but I would assume it is better to stop in the location you are in, or slow your trek down with plenty of rests. If you are in a large group, meals and toilet areas would I assume also become a problem if you are in an area for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a member of your team falls sick mid-trek, and you are rather far from the closest amenity, what is the best cause of action to ensure the safety of the individual as well as the team? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any essential practises that the team leader / first aider should consider?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-24T11:48:00.533" LastActivityDate="2015-12-24T11:48:00.533" Title="What to do if a team member falls sick?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6789" CreationDate="2014-09-18T13:32:41.517" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Decide depending upon the impact that person has on the group and the event.&#xA;If he/she is a crucial member to keep going, may be the group should agree to call it off, and decide to turn back or set up a camp, depending upon the supplies and the location.&#xA;You'd never want to make someone walk back home is he/she is really in not a shape to sustain the exertion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check what dependencies the group have over him/her and make a group decision if He/She can rest and be accompanied by one of the members (preferably the most experienced member), while other go on and come back in a few hours. For a multi-day hike, I'd recommend sticking together, no-one goes ahead, either rest or turn back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If its something like Diarrhea and/or Vomit, Inquire if He/She has drunk and/or ate from unhygienic sources. Food poisoning can get worst by every passing hour. Sometimes sun stroke can also cause similar symptoms. Whatever the reason, everybody turning back and getting to the nearest medical center should be a wise, sensible and obvious decision to make.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If its something like Migraine or bad headache, inquire if He/She has been struggling with Acrophobia or similar issues while exerting at higher grounds. If its a casual Headache/Migraine, then may be He/She can be accompanied by someone wiser and rest in the tent &lt;em&gt;(if the group has brought along)&lt;/em&gt;, a mountain hut or some safe place, preferably sheltered &lt;em&gt;(considering if its rains)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If He/She is still able walk neatly, group should consider asking him/her to walk down to the car with someone wiser accompanying him/her. That shall be the safest place to rest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inquire if He/She has some sort of a reaction from general medicines like Metronidazole, Domperidone, Aspirin, Amoxicillin, etc. Out of these, Amoxicillin is an irregular member in the bunch of medicines known generally. Its used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. I always keep it with me, just in case. One should also consider a fact that overdose of Amoxicillin can cause Diarrhea.&#xA;If that is not an issue, you can consider giving him/her the required and suitable pill. &lt;em&gt;(I assume, if you have them in the Medical Kit at first place, you are expected to have general information about dosage)&lt;/em&gt;. Its usually advised to sit back and rest after you take some medicine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case of Fever, its not out-of-the-blue, the symptoms can be observed before the mercury rises. In such a case, its a wise call to turn back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If its a multi-day hike, and if someone starts suffering from Diarrhea or Vomit, you should ensure that the person is kept Hydrated and if possible consider starting towards nearest medical facility. Just a side tip: I have observed that eating apples helps to at least control Diarrhea.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If someone gets bad migraine on a multi-day hike, you can consider camping immediately rather than making him/her walk further.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a multi-day hike its very much possible that you have to stay, and you can't just turn back and go home. Spending a night in such a case is really difficult for the person as well the ones who care for him/her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. If its Diarrhea:&lt;/strong&gt; Diarrhea is one of the common things that can screw your trek. Keep the poor fellow hydrated with water and Pedialyte, Rehydralyte or similar products which are available without prescription. Give him/her fruit juice (asynthetic, without pulp), broth, soda. Do not give him/her milk and milk-made products. Roasted/Boiled Potatoes are good to eat. Just keep in mind that too much of salt or sugar can aggravate Diarrhoea. If you have Oranges with you, then that is a good food to eat since they are loaded with vitamin C and believed to aid in digestion. Keeping something warm on the belly may also help relieve abdominal cramps. May be a collapsible hydration pack filled with lukewarm water?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Diarrhea is &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; non-contagious, so its totally okay that the carer shares the tent with the one who is suffering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. If its Fever:&lt;/strong&gt; Elevated temperature, pulse, and breathing rate; chills or hot flashes, sometimes flushed skin, headache are symptoms of Fever. Make him/her wear light clothing and keep the bedding light. Medicines like Paracetamol, Ibuprofen relieve pain and reduce fever. I'd personally not consider taking both of them at the same time. Measure his/her body temperature regularly, if its getting higher, sponge him/her with cold water. Keep him/her hydrated. Abrupt fevers are mostly due to climatic changes. So being a caring person I wouldn't hesitate sitting by him/her in the same tent and keep the person calm, but that is absolutely personal opinion. Just in case if you are not ready to gamble about contiguous fevers, then you might consider setting up an alarm to check his/her temperature, make it quick, wear a mask or at least cover mouth and nose, wear gloves, use sanitizers. But that is not me, I wouldn't do that to the person, especially up there on a mountain, but again, thats a personal opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-09-20T16:26:40.053" LastActivityDate="2014-09-20T16:26:40.053" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6780" CreationDate="2014-09-18T15:39:20.090" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;By &quot;black bear&quot;, I'll assume you mean &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;Ursus americanus&lt;/i&gt;, the North American black bear&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These bears are opportunists and aren't looking for a fight.  In all the encounters I have had with them in the wild that I know of, they have run away as soon as they noticed me.  I probably had many more encounters where the bear noticed me and took off before I noticed it.  Encountering wild black bears while hiking is usually not a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three cases where you can be in some danger:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The bear is a mother with cubs.  Black bear mothers are very conservative in protecting their cubs.  They will attack if they think you are a threat to their cubs.  If you see cubs, back up slowly while keeping eye contact.  Do not appear threatening and make it clear that you are yielding to the bear and backing off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to be careful in this situation, but if you do the right thing there is not much danger.  If both of you notice each other at 10 meters, then you should be fine as long as you don't do something stupid.  The bear isn't looking for a fight, just wants to make sure her cubs are safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The bear is a large predatory male.  This is very very unusual, but it does happen on rare occasions.  There have been only a handful of reports of this in the last century.  These bears will follow and stalk you, with the aim of taking you down as prey.  This usually happens when the bear has been pushed to its limit by it being very hungry and it's gotten way down on its list of options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, this is very very unlikely.  Quite a few more people have been hit by lightning in the last century than have been attacked by a predatory black bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The bear is accustomed to humans.  This is really the worst case, and also the most likely cause of a black bear hurting you.  Truly wild bears will run away from you.  However, those accustomed to people will have learned that people are a source of food and not a source of danger.  If the bear doesn't run away when it discovers you, at least in daylight, this is probably what you have.  That's bad.  Yell and wave your arms around and see what the bear does.  If it doesn't run away, you have a problem.  This is a little different at night when the bear doesn't really know what it's dealing with.  Again, yell at it, wave the flashlight, and shine it in its eyes.  If it still doesn't move, brace yourself for a encounter.  Don't turn and run away, since that will trigger the persuit instinct.  Back off slowly and see what happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bear walks towards you, you want to convince it that the risk/reward of messing with you isn't worth it.  Grab a large stick and whack it against the ground.  Throw rocks.  That will probably work.  If it doesn't, you're in trouble.  Use pepper spray if you have it when it gets close enough.  Fight back in any way you can.  Try to convince the bear that fighting with you isn't worth whatever it might get from you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T08:25:03.780" LastActivityDate="2014-09-19T08:25:03.780" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6784" CreationDate="2014-09-18T16:19:28.023" Score="13" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I practice specifically for traverses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of climbing gyms (especially bouldering ones) have traversing walls. If you can find one of these practice there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/twWbN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or find a boulder that you can circuit climb (climb in a circle around the bottom).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0o7Ss.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How should I go about a traverse with Undercut holds specifically?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the trick to undercuts is to stand tall, therefore keeping your arms as straight as possible. This allows you to rest your biceps as much as you can and make's it easier to hold yourself against the wall. If the holds are above you then hang out away from the wall as much as you can, again you want to keep your arms as straight as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Undercut's are all about the biceps. So work on this muscle to improve your undercut(ability)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-09-18T16:19:28.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6789" CreationDate="2014-09-18T21:58:15.573" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your first objective will be to address any immediate threats to life, gain patient consent, and conduct a thorough &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildernessmedicinenewsletter.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/i-the-patient-assessment-system-overview/&quot;&gt;patient assessment&lt;/a&gt;.  Each injury or sickness will have its own criteria for action, but they can generally be classified into three responses: Stay and play, take a rest day, or evacuate.  If you are taking the role of first aider for the group, you should already be familiar with which problems rate a particular response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rest day has potential to turn into an evacuation, and as an evacuation can require as many people available as possible, one should be very cautious about splitting up the group unless sending a party to seek additional assistance.  (For minor ailments on casual excursions, having a few people walk the casualty out may make sense.  I say &quot;a few&quot; to avoid having the assistant being alone if they will be rejoining the group.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, once you have stabilized the patient and determined which category they are in, the next step is planning.  For a rest day or a delayed evacuation you'll want to consider shelter and supplies: unless on a multi-day trip you may find yourself short of both.  If you'll be sending people for help or re-supply, make sure you don't have any tasks that need their help before you send them away.  Prepare two copies of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildmedcenter.com/patient-soap-notes.html&quot;&gt;SOAP note&lt;/a&gt; and send one copy with the team that's going for help, along with information on who else is present, what supplies you have, and where you are.  This is also a good time to make sure everyone else in the party is also equipped and ready for the expected stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of drugs there are very few occasions which require immediate medication.  Epinephrine, for those with severe allergies, is one of the few medications that become necessary in a very short time frame, after which an immediate evacuation is necessary.  Aspirin (for heart attacks) and diphenhydramine can also fall into this category.  However, altitude sickness is best treated by immediate descent and most other ailments will burn themselves out given time and rest.  Painkillers are common comfort items but rarely truly necessary.  I hesitate to list antibiotics both for legal reasons and practical ones: at least in the US administering them isn't legal, outside of a severe infection they aren't really needed, and short-term or improper use is likely to contribute to the growing problem of resistant bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-09-18T21:58:15.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2014-09-19T02:09:12.863" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you read the Snow Leopard, from Peter Matthiessen, he discusses this exact issue and looks at how the Tibetans handle it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of Buddhist teaching is that as human beings we are at one with nature, with earth, with our surroundings. Understand this carefully. We are no better than anything around us - we are part of it. So the Buddhists, just as Olin Lathrop posted above, don't consider the dirt on their skin as something filthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of it. Why do you consider &quot;clean&quot;, fatty acids and the additives from Procter and Gamble, versus the carbon atoms and minerals from &quot;dirt&quot; plus a little interaction from bacteria which are 10 times more populous in your body than your own cells? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peter Matthiessen's remark is that the Tibetans don't care about it and simply embrace it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So stay at home if you prefer Procter and Gamble chemicals on your body over the concept of becoming one with nature, which is the whole purpose of loving the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3978" LastEditorUserId="3978" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T02:14:13.633" LastActivityDate="2014-09-19T02:14:13.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6737" CreationDate="2014-09-19T04:49:34.227" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find some goretex patches that you can use to repair.&#xA;I fixed a pair of gaiters where crampons opened a whole on the side using one of those patches. I didn't turn up very good but I think it was my job instead of the patch itself. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goretex website has some information. I haven't used goretex for a while so I don't know how things are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/content/care-center/repair-information&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Repair Information (Gortex)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T05:27:07.387" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T05:27:07.387" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6779" CreationDate="2014-09-19T05:43:12.113" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;With &lt;em&gt;Baltic&lt;/em&gt; do you mean the Baltic Sea or the Baltic states?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several possible routes from Berlin to the Baltic Sea. If you can read German, here is some information: &lt;a href=&quot;http://forum.kanu.de/showthread.php?t=2310&quot;&gt;http://forum.kanu.de/showthread.php?t=2310&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a translation of the relevant parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are routes from Berlin to the Batic Sea without portage: Either follow the Spree towards the east, and through the Oder-Spree-Canal into the Oder (which flows into the Baltic Sea), or north over the Havel, and over the Oder-Havel-Canal / Finow-Canal also to the Oder. Here you should paddle through the &quot;Oderbruch&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oderbruch&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oderbruch&lt;/a&gt;), a nice, lonely, natural marsh area at the border to Poland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third and longest variant is the route over the Havel resp. Elde-Müritz-Waterway, Elbe and Elbe-Lübeck-Canal into the Trave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beginners should stop at Stettin, before reaching the Oderhaff. The Haff, and the way to the Baltic Sea should only be tried by experienced sea-kayakers. The same is valid for the Trave from Lübeck on, end the &quot;Lübecker Bucht&quot;. Better stop in Lübeck here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3974" LastEditorUserId="3974" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T10:19:17.010" LastActivityDate="2014-09-19T10:19:17.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6789" CreationDate="2014-09-19T13:20:25.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question. Just to add to the already excellent answers; there is an SAS abbreviation which has always served me very well, and it applies here. &lt;strong&gt;PLAN&lt;/strong&gt; your course of action;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Protection&lt;/strong&gt;: The safety of the group, and the individuals within the group, is of greatest importance. Ensuring you &lt;em&gt;protect&lt;/em&gt; the group and it's members is the first priority. It depends on the location, and the weather for you to decide the best course(s) of action to ensure that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Location&lt;/strong&gt;: Exposure is a merciless enemy. High winds, temperature extremes and terrain must all be considered. If you are in a particularly hostile environment, it may be best to set up camp, as above, to ensure &lt;em&gt;protection&lt;/em&gt; of the ill party and the group. Alternatively, given fair weather and relatively accessible terrain, pressing on to the nearest safe point may be best.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acquisition&lt;/strong&gt;: Getting the stuff you need; food, water, (in this case, medicine) is next. Once the &lt;strong&gt;P&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;L&lt;/strong&gt; have been decided upon, it's time to acquire the necessaries for treatment, even if that is paracetamol or ibuprofen. A warm tent, plenty of fluids, in-depth assessment of the ill party all fall under this category. Don't forget you may have one ill person in your immediate concerns, but the group will soon grow hungry, thirsty, and potentially tired while waiting for treatment of the individual.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Navigation&lt;/strong&gt;: By this point, you (or a senior) has taken definite action to &lt;em&gt;protect&lt;/em&gt; all those involved, you have decided on your &lt;em&gt;location&lt;/em&gt; (stay, go on, pitch camp, etc) and you have &lt;em&gt;acquired&lt;/em&gt; the necessary materials, or at least decided how to do so. Now you must decide on &lt;em&gt;navigation&lt;/em&gt;. If you are pressing on, where are you going? If you're staying put, or pitching camp, &lt;em&gt;when will&lt;/em&gt; you move on, who will it be? The whole party or an individual? Do you &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; where you are going - very important to establish this &lt;strong&gt;at the outset&lt;/strong&gt; and make it clear to &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; involved. If you don't know, be honest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PLAN&lt;/strong&gt; applies to group-size decisions, or even your own actions within the group. It's an excellent concept to remember because it forces you to &lt;em&gt;stop and think&lt;/em&gt; about a course of action, and then act on, and ideally stick to the plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you decide upon, &lt;strong&gt;make it clear to all&lt;/strong&gt; parties involved. A deteriorating patient being dragged down a mountain will inevitably cause distress (and potentially, anger) amongst the group; very dangerous in a hostile environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Further Notes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my observation, men will usually want to press on in the event of illness, or injury, if they are able to. Contrasted with women, who are more likely to opt for a rest or to camp up. You or a senior member might have to take the decision on behalf of an ill/injured male companion, for his, and the group's safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pressing on in the event of a persistent high fever is almost always a bad idea. The heart works harder when the body temperature increases, and continuing, even at a reduced pace, increases the work it has to do even more. That has knock-on effects, and may even cause damage to the patient's heart. Knock-on effects include nausea, exhaustion, vomiting, dehydration, etc, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In almost all cases, hydration is key - provided the water is &lt;strong&gt;clean&lt;/strong&gt;. Do not introduce fluids from an non-trustworthy source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And lastly, throw in a pinch of kindness. The dude is ill, how would you feel if you were pressed, or expected to continue under similar conditions. Comfort, and make them comfortable, if you can. Reassurance and a good chat will also do wonders in most cases. Also don't underestimate the heartening effect of a good brew for all parties involved. By &quot;&lt;em&gt;brew&lt;/em&gt;&quot;, I mean tea or similar, NOT alcohol!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope for the best, &lt;strong&gt;PLAN&lt;/strong&gt; for the worst. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3981" LastEditorUserId="3981" LastEditDate="2014-09-19T13:36:02.590" LastActivityDate="2014-09-19T13:36:02.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6798" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6804" CreationDate="2014-09-20T19:58:53.453" Score="5" ViewCount="1254" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walking along my property today I came across some very fresh scat. I'm comfortable with identifying deer and black bear droppings, but beyond that I am lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify these droppings so I can know if there is a safety concern for my family? The terrain around my house is flat and forested, and the scat was found very fresh at 3:30PM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning&lt;/strong&gt;: Click to open shit literally: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ibGpR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://i.stack.imgur.com/ibGpR.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3982" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:50:43.707" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:50:43.707" Title="Scat Identification in Southern NH" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;scat-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6602" CreationDate="2014-09-21T02:39:05.147" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A dynamic rope that sustains a fall factor that high should definitely be retired, even if it doesn't show any immediate signs of damage.  A dynamic rope is designed to elongate (&lt;em&gt;dynamic elongation&lt;/em&gt; of 30-40%) in order to adsorb the shock of such a high-force fall.  By doing so it lowers the forces applied to your gear and your body (keeping gear from ripping out and body from serious injury).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Static ropes have essentially zero dynamic elongation ability.  A factor 1.77 fall on a static rope would almost certainly rip gear, and cause severe bodily harm either in the catch or the corresponding fall.  This is why you should never lead on a static rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as slings go, it's pretty cheap to replace the sling that caught the fall.  You can easily re-sling cams and hexes.  In my book it's worth the ease of mind for the next time I'm above that piece of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-21T02:39:05.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6798" CreationDate="2014-09-22T05:28:43.860" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Was it too big to be a coyote? There are certainly coyotes in Western Massachusetts, and there have been for probably twenty years. That's not far from Southern NH, so they might be in your area as well. They can be fairly large dogs compared to the coyotes found in the west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3945" LastActivityDate="2014-09-22T05:28:43.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6803" CreationDate="2014-09-22T07:33:59.553" Score="13" ViewCount="433" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just going through the details about processes and dependencies, and associated tough-nuts with planning and executing a trek to Everest Base Camp from Nepal side.&#xA;In the same context, I had previously asked a question about travelling and itinerary to reach &lt;em&gt;Namache Bazzaar&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst, I have most of the necessary information about the route and day-viz plan along with the accommodation en-route, I was recently informed by a fellow (who spends a quite a lot of time in and around Himalayas) that with the kind of a season I am looking forward to, I'm &lt;em&gt;most likely&lt;/em&gt; gonna find the trek pretty much crowded. As per my current plan, I can somehow put extra efforts and make a way-back trip to EBC instead of staying there, but I'd certainly like to have a stay for a day or two at the EBC and have a look at the level of preparation the summit aspirants have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said this, I also heard a people mentioning that the base camp settlers often mark their sites with spray paints for their clients and all sorts of things, that sounds weird. And as we all know you don't wanna have to bivouac there with extreme weather and amount of littering the expeditions cause. The area around EBC is painted yellow with human waste. Marking a site to acquire it is not a new trend as I see, since Rob Hall had a huge area marked as his campsite by spray paints on and around  boulders saying &quot;NZ&quot; which meant &quot;New Zealand&quot;. With all due respect, that is quite annoyingly stupid. Though it doesn't seem like his direct order, it was his settlers who might have done that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I be stubborn and insist to have a stay, is it necessary to have a campsite &lt;em&gt;booked&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;reserved&lt;/em&gt; if that is the right word to use?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How much this stupid booking thing may cost considering a busy season?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can still make it a way-back day schedule, but asking just in case I want to or I may have to camp there at EBC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The base camp I am referring to is from Nepal side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-07T09:08:51.613" LastActivityDate="2017-11-07T09:08:51.613" Title="Acquiring a Camp Site at the Everest Base Camp" Tags="&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6735" CreationDate="2014-09-22T11:26:23.800" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the answer is, &lt;strong&gt;it depends&lt;/strong&gt;... :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowboard back protectors come in several guises, some better than others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bv5sE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FzJCP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowboard packs (with protectors) are similar. I would suggest that a protector (stand alone, not built into a pack) is going to offer much better protection than any back pack can offer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Main difference&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main difference appears to be how the back protector is held against your back. There is a big difference to a protector made so that is held tightly to your back via several &lt;strong&gt;wide&lt;/strong&gt; straps and a back pack with a thin waist band and a couple of shoulder straps. (similar to the one in the pack you mention). the back pack is going to move if you fall, the body armour isn't, thus it will provide better protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now on top of this you don't mention what kind of terrain your boarding on? Is it off or on-piste, etc. The more difficult and dangerous the terrain the better the back protection your going to want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's simple on-piste green run, I'm sure a back pack (with some protection in it) will be fine. If your planning on heli-snowboarding, I'd invest in a good level back protector/body armour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it disturbing or even unsafe to combine the two? Might things start&#xA;to slide out of position?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, I don't see why it would be? Providing you wear the protector under your pack... :)&#xA;Providing the back protector is fitted correctly (typically under you coat, etc.) putting a pack on top isn't going to make any difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-09-22T12:21:14.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6801" CreationDate="2014-09-22T14:18:08.413" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly there are 2 Everest base camps, one in Nepal and one in Tibet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing you're after the Nepal one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both are set up on large flat areas at around 17,000 feet. There should be no problems with actual space. The area is large and flat. You may not get the best pitch but you will be able to fit somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Couple of other factors relating to this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are only 2 seasons that you can climb to the base camps (March&#xA;to May, and from September to December).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will need a permit, these are expensive and limited in number. &lt;em&gt;Maybe this is what the person was talking about?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is also talk of forcing people to get guides, though this has&#xA;yet to be enforced but could be in the near future. This is due a recent spate of deaths by solo travellers on the trek up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fee's depend on where you're climbing from, for &lt;strong&gt;Nepal&lt;/strong&gt; the fee's have recently been cut. To base camp you're talking between &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Nepal-2015-Permit-Fees.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;$70-$250 depending on when you want to climb&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-23T08:08:36.343" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T08:08:36.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6798" CreationDate="2014-09-22T20:41:47.180" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately your picture doesn't give a good sense of scale, but my first reaction was that it looked like dog poop.  Some other canid is also possible, with coyote being the most probable, then fox.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for safety concert, you don't need to examine poop for that.  There is nothing in southern NH that is a physical threat to humans, at least assuming a normal healthy animal.  Black bears can hurt you if they want to, but they don't want to, unless you do something deliberately stupid.  The most dangerous animal in NH is a human.  Second on the list is a moose.  But again, other than humans, nothing is going to bother you unless you do something stupid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike around a lot in nothern MA and sometimes in the White Mountains of NH, and I have never come accross any animal that presented a danger.  We have coyotes living in the woods around our house in northern MA, but they present no danger.  They run away as soon as they see us.  Actually we see them only occasionally, but we hear them howling every night in response to nearby train whistles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-09-22T20:41:47.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6779" CreationDate="2014-09-22T23:57:02.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't done that specific trip, but I went from Bremen to Bremerhaven on the Weser river, and thought I would chime in with what I learned on that trip that might be applicable to your itinerary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you study the tide tables in advance. The closer you get to the sea, the more you will have to battle the tides, which in Germany are quite extreme. When the tide is coming in, you might not be able to make any forward progress for a couple of hours, even when you are still miles away from the baltic sea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of those rivers and canals are shared with huge container ships, which have the ability to displace quite a bit of water. If you pull over somewhere where there is no floating dock, make sure that your kayak is not anywhere near the water, or you might come back and it is gone!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get ready for some surprised looks, especially on the main thoroughfares! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2014-09-22T23:57:02.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1239" CreationDate="2014-09-23T04:14:39.327" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm taking an Eddie Bauer bag, 850 fill down, 20 degree and 2.5 pounds, and I've used it before and it's pretty nice on a chilly evening.  And when I say chilly, I mean anything from 45 degrees to 10 degrees, and I tend to sleep on the cooler side of the spectrum.  Their gear is terrific, especially their FA lines, and no I don't work for them, I've just had really good luck with their items.  And it's only $350, much better than other name brand companies that were listed but equally invaluable.  Hope this helps&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3988" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T04:14:39.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6807" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6808" CreationDate="2014-09-23T09:16:11.813" Score="14" ViewCount="788" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following the thread about Everest Base Camp related questions, its almost a globally known fact that the Everest Base Camp is very much crowded and consequently very much into garbage disposal problems.&#xA;Various sources talk about the issue:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.salon.com/2014/03/04/mount_everests_massive_trash_problem_nepal_cracks_down_on_littering_tourists/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(Source 1)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/mount-everest-litter-nepal-climbers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(Source 2)&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the kind of people visit the place are not entirely responsible to the garbage, or are they?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;These expeditions are lengthy and exhaustive, and they consume a lot of your energy and funds. Most of the visitors prefer to have porters. With such people you can't expect them to pack their own non-biodegradable waste to be brought along to the civilized areas where the waste can be disposed in a proper way. They should do the very best effort to do so, but its practically not possible for everyone to follow the protocol. &#xA;This garbage dump at the Everest Base Camp is really a potential threat to hygiene and can jeopardize an expedition for such a stupid cause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it the crowd, (or should I say mob) sole reason for it getting that bad with Garbage issue?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I always believe managing own garbage is the way to go in nature, and should be made mandatory by means of well-drafted rules and regulations. But considering the geography, How one should really go about managing &lt;em&gt;own&lt;/em&gt; garbage at higher altitudes and camps set at higher altitudes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a solid solution to prevent this problem? This would really sound like a very broad issue, and I do not expect an answer here at the forum, this is organizational stuff, but this question has to be raised and talked about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Narrowing the scope, I'd like to say that as I am planning to go there in near future, not for a summit but for a Base Camp trek, I'd like to receive any suggestions and ideas using which I wouldn't add more to the issue, and can manage my own trash. I always do, but this is going to be a trek of nearly 2 weeks, from Kathmandu, to Kathmandu and that make it a challenge to carry own stuff that too including the garbage.&#xA;I am not sure about the garbage disposal infrastructure at Lukla, if there is any. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T00:36:00.197" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T00:36:00.197" Title="Managing the garbage over a lengthy trek at higher altitudes" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6807" CreationDate="2014-09-23T10:22:51.920" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing you need to ask yourself is why is there so much rubbish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting things up and down to Everest base camp is exhausting! The Sherpas (who do the vast majority of the lifting and carrying, and are typically not paid well) have no incentive to carry down things that the majority of their western clients don't ask about. Clients typically don't ask why that discarded Oxygen cylinder wasn't brought down and so it has been easy to simply leave any discarded equipment on the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this recently has started to change, with some companies now paying their Sherpas for each kilogram of rubbish they bring down (as well as up). This incentivizes the Sherpas to bring that old Oxygen cylinder back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Government has also stepped in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It recently announced that all climbers will need to bring back &lt;strong&gt;8 kg&lt;/strong&gt; of&#xA;  rubbish on their way &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt; unless they want to forgo their $4,000&#xA;  deposit. - See more at:&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/05/economist-explains-15#sthash.4mCGpvXR.dpuf&quot;&gt;http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/05/economist-explains-15#sthash.4mCGpvXR.dpuf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing with Sherpas they will likely do this carrying for you. If you're on your own, you'll need to do this yourself. Eight kilograms doesn't sound like a lot at sea level, but at 28,000 feet (8500 m), that is a lot! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Nepalese government is seriously considering banning solo treks up Everest. If this happens you will need to book with a company to do this. If you book with a comapny, they will deal with this for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-09-23T17:58:05.530" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T17:58:05.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6809" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-23T11:19:02.897" Score="9" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone know a good method of finding Aconcagua guides that will work with a pair solo outside of an organised group? Most guides I've seen online so far take groups &amp;amp; use a lot of porters. We're really only after a guide who will work with ourselves for the duration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Online the main search results are fixed party numbers only and quite structured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are experienced to 5000m, we're fit and looking to do it in good time (~10days).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3989" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-09-23T21:09:24.920" LastActivityDate="2014-10-17T13:07:21.487" Title="Recommended Aconcagua Guide Source?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6810" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6816" CreationDate="2014-09-23T16:37:19.557" Score="10" ViewCount="1167" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently in the process of getting together a winter walking kit. I've got B2 boots and I'm buying suitable crampons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice Axes though seems more...confusing. What kind of features should I be looking for? I'm not planning on ice climbing, simply winter use on ridges, mountain tops in Scotland/Alpine walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-22T23:12:26.133" LastActivityDate="2017-01-22T23:12:26.133" Title="What to look for in an ice axe for use in classic alpine terrain?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6810" CreationDate="2014-09-23T22:08:54.127" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Searching an ice axe for what I would call &lt;strong&gt;classical alpine terrain&lt;/strong&gt; isn't that tough in my opinion. There might be fancy new features and very durable items (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spadout.com/a/basic-technical-ice-axe-ratings/&quot;&gt;T-classification&lt;/a&gt;) but those might not be necessary for an ice axe typically used as a walking support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important for me is the &lt;strong&gt;correct length of the shaft&lt;/strong&gt; so that you can actually reach the ground on your not too steep slope. Holding the head in hand, the ice axe should end approx. 5-10 cm over the flat ground. Going uphill you will then reach the ground (typically snow/ice on a glacier). Normal range of the shaft lies between 50 and 70 cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;shaft and head both are straight&lt;/strong&gt; because you simply don't need the curvature. Similar to the stability of the head this curvature will be more important if the slope increases, especially doing ice climbing. A &lt;strong&gt;paddle&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;supporting loop&lt;/strong&gt; are standard features which are nice to have. You are then able to dig a deadman and you aren't likely to lose the axe. A drift pin at the end of the shaft is also nice to get more grip with the axe while using it as walking support. As for the head you should also care how to carry the axe so that you won't harm your other equipment or people with the sharp edges. Some axes have rubber stopper for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above described ice axe is kind of &lt;em&gt;THE&lt;/em&gt; oldschool alpine item per se. I also think it is a must have for lots of mountain tours with moderate difficulty. An important difference compared to the older days is besides the higher resistance of the metal the &lt;strong&gt;lower weight&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also modern types of ice axes for this scope of application. Some want higher curvature of the shaft or a head with a higher breaking resistance. Just keep in mind where you are planning to use the item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For myself I decided to get a standard ice axe to be able to do classical alpine tours safely. For ice climbing and higher difficulty terrain, I am planning to get a proper ice tool or an advanced ice axe. There it is also extremely more important that the head won't break because it is an essential item. Material failure could risk your life then. For the standard tours, you still would be able to finish them without major issues because the axe is more of a comfort item if not luxury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And like for everything: weight matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-09-24T08:06:07.270" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T08:06:07.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5953" CreationDate="2014-09-23T22:20:06.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try at forestry supply stores.  The guys that sell pulaskis, fire pumps, etc.  They have the entire setup for portable kitchens.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones I've seen were a separate stove and bottle, but the stove and pedestal were sized that the stove would stack on the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used such a rig on a large canoe expedition, and used a pot that would fit the bottle and stove.  We could boil 5 gallons of water in about 20 minutes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you will need a regulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could make one of these yourself.  You'd need a regulator, a short hose, a stove, then some form of adapter fitting.  That you might have to make, or hire made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short brackets bolted to the upper flange of the bottle would support the stove.  You need room to turn off the stove valve.  It's also a good idea to have at least a reflective layer between the stove and the bottle so that the stove doesn't warm up the bottle too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stability is a concern, but is certainly no worse that the first stove pictured.  You definitely want an auto-shutoff if tilted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that the height of your proposed unit is actually inconvenient.  It's too tall to use sitting down, and not tall enough to use standing up.  If you are using while car camping, you almost always have picnic tables.  A stove that sat on the table, and connected by a short hose to the propane bottle below would be far easier to use.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is that you need to detach the hose from the bottle each time.  This requires a wrench.  We had enough experience losing the wrench that we tied it with a 2 foot rope to the ring on the bottle.  The wrench applied to the bottle made a good supper bell too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T22:20:06.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6813" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-23T22:21:46.137" Score="18" ViewCount="1548" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just heard of an incident where a group of people were caught unprepared by a flood. It is known as the &quot;Bulacan State University Field Trip&quot;, Looking at the images online, I couldn't help but ponder as to whether their formation stance was a facilitator to their death and if a better formation could have saved their lives ? A similar incident also known as the &quot;Tragic Patalpani Accident&quot; had people standing in a horizontal formation. So my question is, assuming a group of 5 or more people are being stuck in a river with the stream approaching them, what formation could best save their lives calculating the water pressure and impact on their formation ? could standing using the line formation as drawn in the picture be better ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xYyDX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3992" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:29:15.293" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T05:31:25.233" Title="What formation to best survive a flood?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6814" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6817" CreationDate="2014-09-23T22:58:25.317" Score="11" ViewCount="38106" Body="&lt;p&gt;After several years of abuse and poor care my boots have completely gone at the seams around the inner ankle (see photos)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M2Ncs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oB5uB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to repair my boots? My current plan is to just get some thick thread and just resow them, but I am concerned about whether they will be at all waterproof afterwards. Is there anything else I should do/consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My boots are leather and made by Meindl if it makes any difference&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S yes, I should definitely look after my boots better so they don't get in this state, but ts a bit late now...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-11T19:13:24.910" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T14:41:44.997" Title="How to repair the broken stitching and seams in my leather boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6813" CreationDate="2014-09-23T23:42:35.403" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, you're better off not going near the water in the first place. If there are storm clouds anywhere within your vicinity, do not spend unnecessary time in the water and consider the possibility of flash floods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do find yourself in the water, form a circle. You place your hands around the shoulders of the two people closest to you, and they do the same, etc, until you form a tightly knit circle. In a group of three, one person moves at a time, in a group of six two people move at a time, etc, so that two thirds of the group has strong footing at any given point while the other third moves towards the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found this to be by far the most stable formation for group crossings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More tips here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Cross-Rivers-Safely&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wikihow.com/Cross-Rivers-Safely&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C9Rir.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-09-23T23:42:35.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6810" CreationDate="2014-09-24T00:23:47.390" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For winter walking a traditional straight-shafted mountaineering axe seems most appropriate.  This would include products like the very common BD Raven or Raven Pro, and also those with a slight bend such as the Petzl Summit, Grivel Air Tech Evo, and BD Venom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As there are existing questions regarding length (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11/how-do-i-know-what-size-ice-axe-i-should-get/&quot;&gt;How do I know what size ice axe I should get?&lt;/a&gt;), I'll be brief and only repeat the traditional advice of holding it by the head with your arm hanging down and picking a length where the spike reaches your ankle.  (E.g. I'm 185cm tall and use a 70cm axe.  I would probably be happy with a 65cm length as well.  Others may advise shorter lengths; this becomes more applicable as the slopes become steeper or you don't expect to use the axe for much of the route.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days nearly all mountaineering axes have very similar features: a positively-curved steel head and adze, a steel spike, and a straight or slightly curved shaft.  A few products deviate from this:  Grivel's Futura replaced the adze with a plastic handle and Petzl's Sum'tec has a pick with negative curvature.  Ultralight models may use aluminum for the head and eliminate the spike, but these are not suited for sustained use or harder snow and ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A negative curvature pick may be useful on technical routes, but is not so good for self-arrest.  A straight pick is somewhat old-fashioned and not commonly seen.  Note that features on the shaft (finger rests, rubber handles, etc.) may make it more difficult to plunge the shaft.  With modern crampons the adze is less used for chopping steps, although it's still quite useful if you need to carve out a platform or snow bollard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not until you get into dedicated ice tools that you run into significant differences: interchangeable picks, being able to select between a hammer, adze, or neither, significantly curved shafts, and very ergonomic handles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally don't use a leash, although some people do.  Regardless of your choice, there are two very important rules to keep in mind.  The first is Do Not Fall, and the second is Don't Let Go Of The Axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ice-Axe-Reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ice-Axe-Reviews/buying-advice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ice-Axe-Reviews&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ice-Axe-Reviews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-01-22T23:12:03.787" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6814" CreationDate="2014-09-24T03:38:57.607" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet for sewing is to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.speedystitcher.com/&quot;&gt;Speedy Stitcher&lt;/a&gt;.  The thick gauged thread works really well in boot/shoe repairs and is easy to use.  You will be punching holes through the leather which creates potential for water to invade, but the waxy thread helps eliminate this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would finish up with a coat of &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00CQJDQ90&quot;&gt;Sno-Seal&lt;/a&gt;, which is a great way to help waterproof while also conditioning the leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with the holes you create sewing it up you will still have a good pair of boots that are perfect for your feet.  A little water is easily manageable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T03:38:57.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6818" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6822" CreationDate="2014-09-24T05:44:22.667" Score="9" ViewCount="10625" Body="&lt;p&gt;For years I've seen high-tech &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuben_Fiber&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cuben fiber&lt;/a&gt; gear and drooled over how incredibly lightweight it is, and longed to buy or make some of my own equipment with it. (Then upon seeing the price tag, well, my mouth then closes.) It's made of Dyneema so it's theoretically quite a strong fabric for outdoor gear as well. It's become almost a staple material among the super-ultralight gear crowd, but I don't personally know that many people (well, none) who have any equipment utilizing this wonder-material. It's also not common among mainstream manufacturers, being primarily used by cottage gear-makers or DIY outdoors enthusiasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What research I've done online is also not very convincing because it is generally based on what the material is &lt;em&gt;supposed&lt;/em&gt; to do, and not what it actually does in real-world scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm interested in knowing is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How durable is cuben fiber? How does it stand up to abrasion, punctures, tearing, repeated folding/packing...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How does it's durability compare to sil-nylon (silicone impregnated nylon) which is quite the mainstream lightweight fabric today. (Also much cheaper.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And once it's damaged, how difficult is it to repair? Does it have &quot;self-healing&quot; properties like sil-nylon?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-22T19:59:53.443" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T02:55:33.027" Title="How durable is cuben fiber in real, practical use?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6813" CreationDate="2014-09-24T06:56:20.960" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best plan is to plan to make sure that you don't get in a situation where you may need to cross a flooded stream. But, that said, as you talked of a flood situation, that can happen over a night with heavy pouring and so on so forth.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Where, its really worth a second thought, that should you be crossing the stream at all, sometimes, with some careful thought and knowing the right techniques and having some kind of sensible plan, it could mean the difference between survival and getting victimized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Before you get started:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Judge the water, select the points to cross&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get these questions answered, depending upon group size ans swimming skills of each member. Deep water or Shallow water? Crossing rapids?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Think about the obstacles in the selected route. Make a plan to get through.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Things to do when in water:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a trekking pole or wooden stick to form a tripod with your two feet for added stability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lean into the current against your walking stick and shuffle your feet sideways. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always maintain two points of contact with the riverbed: two feet or one foot and the stick to keep a solid support to rely on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Angle slightly downstream as you cross the stream/river.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strongest and Biggest person should be placed at the up-stream, top of the group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nbrUf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He/She faces upstream and plants himself/herself solidly. The other members of the group,  stand behind the leader in a human chain and hold onto the hip belt of the next person upstream. The first upstream person breaks the current and creates a passage, while each successive downstream person helps create a larger passage, making it easier for the group to shuffle sideways across the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFuH0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They can also lock arms or clasp hands although neither is as strong as holding onto the pol&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T05:31:25.233" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T05:31:25.233" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6820" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6821" CreationDate="2014-09-24T08:19:25.070" Score="10" ViewCount="1027" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few questions here about suitable foods for different excursions / types of food to take etc. Inspired by questions like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3524/3313&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4647/3313&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; I decided to finally ask this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I happen to have Acid Reflux which, for those who don't know what it's like, is like a permanent heartburn / indigestion feeling at its best, at it's worst there are chest pains, constant burping, and the oh so attractive 'sicky burp'. There are a number of foods which are supposedly good for Acid Reflux, but I'm not sure which would be good for trekking and I am unable to go too long without meat before needing some. For example on a bad AR day or a few days meat free a burger settles my stomach best, and this has been talked over with my doctor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What foods are good for trekking, but also won't upset to stomach / Acid Reflux?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-12-25T05:55:07.957" Title="What food is good to take trekking for acid reflux?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6820" CreationDate="2014-09-24T08:52:52.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its an answer which you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; not find specifically good for you, but rather more of a generic approach towards a person suffering from Acid Reflux.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Narrowing down the scope up to foods/meals over a trek, I'd suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yogurt. You can try &lt;a href=&quot;http://backpackerrecipes.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/fresh-yogurt-on-the-trail-%E2%80%94-is-it-really-possible/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Trail Yogurt Recipe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peanut butter as against eating Walnuts, Almond, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whatever that is rich with Fiber: Oatmeal, Blackberries,  whole grain products, You can find bran cereals, digestive biscuits and fiber bars nearly everywhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a tea, with Ginger. Ginger helps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat Salads, though without Tomatoes and Onions. Let the Salad be green with Celery, Parsley, Cauliflower and other Green vegetables.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking diet should contain fruits, but you can only afford to have Bananas, Melons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chicken and Fish are good to have, but remove the skin as its high with fats. You can have it boiled, baked, do not fry it though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't ask for it, but I'll suggest what you should avoid eating:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Citrus fruits: Lime, Grapefruit, Orange&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Curd and allied food that contains Lactic acid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lactose rich diet: Milk and allied products. The Lactose Intolerance can                                                 vary person to person. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid fried meat, Pork, Beef.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid Potato chips, Fries and Onion rings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enzymes and Acids play a huge role in Digestion. The more heavy you eat, the more enzymes and acids are needed and hence secreted. High-Fat foods are hard to digest, that can really cause you a trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="7964" LastEditDate="2015-12-24T05:52:22.017" LastActivityDate="2015-12-24T05:52:22.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6818" CreationDate="2014-09-24T15:00:57.237" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cuben fiber is not as durable as some other materials used in the construction of backpacking gear. In backpacking lighter often means less durable which is generally true for cuben fiber as well. A cuben fiber backpack will probably hold for 2000 miles (e.g, a thru-hike) but not much more. For this reason, there is now a hybrid cuben/nylon material which is a bit heavier (2.92 oz/sqyd) and more durable. It can definitely be expensive if you use it everyday for long hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cuben fiber &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gfcuCh7h04&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;resists puncture and tearing relatively well&lt;/a&gt;. Not so much with abrasion and folding. I have a rock sack (for bear bagging) made of cuben and it is heavily beaten up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cuben fiber is less durable than sil-nylon in my experience. It also depends on the application (tent, stuff sack, pack, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once damaged, it is easy to apply duct tape to it for field repair. You can also use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/tape.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cuben fiber patches&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/FAQs.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ZPack FAQ&lt;/a&gt; backpack section:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Should I go with the normal 1.43 oz/sqyd Cuben Fiber Material or the&#xA;  heavier 2.92 oz/sqyd Hybrid material?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I used packs made with the 1.43&#xA;  oz/sqyd material on my 2007 Pacific Crest Trail and 2009 Continental&#xA;  Divide Trail thru-hikes. In both cases the packs lasted the full 2600+&#xA;  mile trips (with some duct tape repairs) but the material was very&#xA;  frayed and ready to be replaced by the end.  If you want the lightest&#xA;  backpack possible the 1.43 oz/sqyd material is fine, especially for&#xA;  shorter trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many people including Joe and Sheryl have completed thru-hikes with&#xA;  our newer Hybrid material backpacks. Those packs held up much better&#xA;  and were still in good condition at the end. The material only adds a&#xA;  couple ounces to the weight of a pack, a small price to pay for the&#xA;  added durability on a long trip. &lt;strong&gt;If you are doing a thru-hike, get the&#xA;  Hybrid Material&lt;/strong&gt;, such as our Arc Blast pack!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T02:55:33.027" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T02:55:33.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6704" CreationDate="2014-09-24T16:48:52.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found the &lt;a href=&quot;http://eat-sleep-fish.co.uk/content/2012/02/fly-casting-jim-williams&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;side cast&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sexyloops.com/flycasting/tsidecasting.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, to be very useful in the situations you describe. I spent a number of years fishing small streams in the Blue Ridge of VA, and this type of cast gave me better reach than roll casting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also favored a 6'6&quot; rod in 1 or 2 wt. The short length of the rod kept me out of a lot of overhanging vegetation, but it also limited the distance I was able to get from roll-casting. The side-cast doubled or trebled the distance in many instances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T16:48:52.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6825" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6826" CreationDate="2014-09-24T17:21:29.050" Score="7" ViewCount="1817" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I want to play a 10-people outdoor ultimate frisbee game at night, with no power outlets available at the field. I expect it to last no more than 2 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What kind of portable power supply should I buy?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What kind of lighting should I be looking for?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How do I know the light and power supply are compatible and how long it will last?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3998" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T04:58:47.913" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T04:58:47.913" Title="What lighting equipment do I need for playing ultimate frisbee at night?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6825" CreationDate="2014-09-24T17:50:10.837" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why all the lights? you could solve everything you need and have a REALLY cool event with nothing but a lot of glow sticks :) Make people wear different colors for different teams, then one each side of the body for arms, hips and legs (so 6 glow sticks per person). That should be more than enough for a good time out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T17:50:10.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6825" CreationDate="2014-09-24T22:15:10.343" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;With ultimate specifically, traditional outdoor lighting methods won't work well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlights are right-out, because you need both hands to play.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamps are a bad idea because you'll blind your teammates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lanterns don't cast light far enough to illuminate a whole field.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glowsticks work well for illuminating players, as pointed out above. For illuminating field markings, such as goals and boundaries, you can use a variety of stationary lights. A flashlight inside  a gallon milk jug creates a nice diffuse light that's easily visible but not blinding. You could use those for markers, as it would be cheaper (and safer probably) than buying full-fledged lanterns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2014-09-24T22:15:10.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6825" CreationDate="2014-09-25T00:31:54.690" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I played pickup this way in college for several years. Like some of the others suggested, an &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0001WP232&quot;&gt;LED disc&lt;/a&gt; works well (green works far better than red or blue in my experience). We also used glow sticks, although we generally only used them on the arms because it was cheaper, an they tended to get in the way for running when on the legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest thing I found helped though was using small battery-powered road flares for marking end zones. Ones with LEDs can be seen all the way down a regulation field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biggest caution is watch out for holes in the day before you play, as injuries from twisted ankles were far more common at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4003" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T00:31:54.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6831" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 14 such mountains in the world and all the eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everest (8848 m / 29,029 Ft). Located in Nepal/China.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;K2 (8611 m / 28,251 ft). Located in China/Pakistan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kangchenjunga (8586 m / 28,169 ft). Located in India/Nepal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lhotse (8516 m / 27,940 ft). Located in Nepal/China.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makalu (8485 m / 27,838 ft). Located in Nepal/China.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cho Oyu (8201 m / 26,906 ft). Located in Nepal/China.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dhaulagiri-I (8167 m / 26,795 ft). Located in Nepal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Manaslu (8163 m / 26,781 ft). Located in Nepal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nanga Parbat (8126 m / 26,660 ft). Located in Pakistan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Annapurna-I (8091 m / 26,545 ft). Located in Nepal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gasherbrum-I (8080 m / 26,444 ft). Located in China/Pakistan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Broad Peak (8051 m / 26,414 ft). Located in China/Pakistan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gasherbrum-II (8035 m / 26,362 ft). Located in China/Pakistan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shishapangma (8027 m / 26,335 ft). Located in China.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the matter of fact, the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders was Reinhold Messner, who completed this task on October 16, 1986.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6832" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" Score="0" Body="The term &quot;Eight-Thousanders&quot; is specifically used for the mountains on Earth that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) high above sea level." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T06:09:06.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6696" CreationDate="2014-09-25T07:23:20.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This wire knot comes under other names and I found it under a Cobb &amp;amp; Co hitch knot (another Australian name).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It requires wire, what you intend to tie together, a bolt or screw driver, and pliers to cut the wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cut yourself a bit more than twice the length of wire to go around the job.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fold the wire in half.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pass the folded part (bight) of the wire around the job.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Put your lever (my bolt in this case) through the bight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use the lever to drag the bite around the other parts of the wire (this isn't easy to describe; hopefully you can see what I mean in the&#xA;  pictures). NB Start the twist as close as possible to the job or you&#xA;  will twist the wire off before it's tight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep twisting the bight around the wire. The lever allows you to apply a lot of force and you will probably notice the wire cutting&#xA;  into the timber. If you go too far at this point you will break the&#xA;  wire and will have to start again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;When you are happy with the tension and the shape, cut the scratchy excess wire ends off to make it a bit safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ol8Jp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Tie-a-Cobb-Co-Hitch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How-to-Tie-a-Cobb-Co-Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-09-25T07:36:08.827" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T07:36:08.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6825" CreationDate="2014-09-25T08:15:12.813" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having actually tried this on a campsite I would advise you to play in a well lit area. It turns out throwing spinning plastic discs at people in low light can actually be quite dangerous!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A well lit area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flat ground (checked during the day, you don't want anything to trip over).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally some kind of glowstick/band to indicate teams clearly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can get a frisbee which has it's own lights that would work best (I'm not sure how good a frisbee it would be though).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in other answers lighting should come from external forces not headlights, because you look at other players to throw the frisbee to them, this results in the intended recipient being dazzled while they're trying to catch!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3322" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T08:15:12.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6835" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6836" CreationDate="2014-09-25T11:26:23.060" Score="10" ViewCount="1926" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Should one be shaving on a lengthy high altitude trek?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; shall be the question that I'd like to ask to great mountaineers with wisdom in high-altitude mountaineering.&#xA;If you have observed, there are so many mountaineers who do not prefer (or should I say bother?) to shave during an expedition.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has it got any scientific or significant reason for they being aberrant, beyond the lethargic approach of being socially good? (&lt;em&gt;Culture is different up there at the mountains&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, a shaving trimmer is a handy instrument to take along, what are the pros and cons of shaving against not shaving, and vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, having a face covered with beard can really keep your jaws from freezing?&#xA;But, then do we jeopardize the hygiene, as we may not face wash everyday?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: I am restricting the scope of the question to Facial Hair only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-29T13:44:55.737" LastActivityDate="2014-11-29T13:44:55.737" Title="During high-altitude lengthy expedition: To shave or not shave?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ClosedDate="2014-09-26T07:27:40.080" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6835" CreationDate="2014-09-25T12:33:04.937" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the practical advantages mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1651/practicality-of-beards&quot;&gt;practicality of beards&lt;/a&gt;, there's also some aspects that are special to remote and/or high altitude trekking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Melting snow to obtain water costs a lot of fuel (and time) which makes water quite a valuable good. You don't want to spend 10% or more of your expensively molten water just to pollute it with shaving soap. It is much easier to just let the beard grow and possibly just trim it with scissors if it should get too long, as this does not require water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beside that, shaving can irritate your skin. Especially if done with cold or only lukewarm water and possibly with little shaving soap, you are prone to cause a lot of micro-cuts with your razor. Exposing the skin to cold air afterwards won't make the situation any better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand: not washing your face for some days and not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; thoroughly over some weeks should not lead to serious hygienic issues (unless your skin is somehow sensitive in that way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T12:33:04.937" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="406" CreationDate="2014-09-25T14:01:23.877" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others pointed out zippos might leak fuel, make a good choice and use a reliable one. I would prefer zippos over disposable things simply because it is greener, not producing garbage, and also it is cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But a few important thing:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you should have alternatives, even which don't depend on fuel: flint should be ok with iron. Remember, the fuel might get low, or accidently you can lose the lighter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you expect rain, keep a small bunch of well cut wood dry, and take it with yourself if possible. It shouldn't weight more than a few 100 gramms extra, but if the rain catches you, it will save you a lot of time. You can add some dry grass or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say an ideal pack for making fire would look like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 pieces of zippos (one might be exchanged for a disposable, it surely doesn't leak)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 flint with iron  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;optional:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;~100-200 grams of fire starter wood in a waterproof protective small bag, which shouldn't be a lot bigger than a regular lunch box. You can fill up the bag's open space with dried straw/grass if available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course never forget a decent knife if you want to cut even smaller pieces of wooden sticks for starting the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3601" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T14:01:23.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6835" CreationDate="2014-09-25T19:23:32.397" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would have to agree. In the west we have been accused of being overly clean. after a few days you will likely reach some form of equilibrium with the mess. And while I don't recommend going more than a fortnight, its unlikely to be too much of a concern. Also it gives that first shower and shave after the trip an extra special &quot;return to normal&quot; feeling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides, whom are you likely to meet that you want to impress on a slope? yetis? bears? they are into the furry face look. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4009" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T19:23:32.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6835" CreationDate="2014-09-25T22:22:08.520" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a beard wearer for many years (though not for ever) I would recommend not shaving. The practical benefits of not having to wet shave when water and energy are at a premium, let alone the logistics of carrying batteries for your trimmer are pretty obvious. The hygiene risk is actually slightly lower as you are not putting a sharp but not necessarily clean edge against your skin in less than ideal conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, beards are not for everyone. Do not wait until you are out in the wilds to find out that you are one of the unfortunates. Grow it at home and become comfortable with it. You do not have to go &quot;wild man&quot; if you don't want to and with a little practice, you can easily keep it neat and trimmed with nothing more then the nail scissors on your multi-knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4010" LastActivityDate="2014-09-25T22:22:08.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6841" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6842" CreationDate="2014-09-26T05:47:47.560" Score="10" ViewCount="6695" Body="&lt;p&gt;How should one carry crampons when not actually using it, but knowing that they are going to be needed in the further stage of the expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further clarification: Suppose I am gonna need to have crampons on only in a certain stage of the expedition, and not all the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best possible safe way to carry them they don't damage my backpack?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I am not in favor of tying them outside the pack, as they may get damaged and I personally don't like things tied to the pack when it can be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:00:14.193" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:00:14.193" Title="Carrying crampons safely when not using them" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6841" CreationDate="2014-09-26T06:21:38.587" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Collapse them down, sandwich them with the points facing each inwards, and wrap the straps around them.  You can then use a &quot;real&quot; crampon bag to hold them, or improvise.  Some ideas for packaging them include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut the top off a 2 liter soda bottle (use two bottles for full containment).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make or buy a heavy (e.g. 500D) cordura nylon bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut off an old denim pant leg and slide them inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap them in a towel or similar padding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nothing at all, just keep them away from anything especially delicate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also keep in mind that while they may be nice and clean on the way in, coming out they will be muddy and slushy.  My pack has a crampon patch and straps, so that's where I carry them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further discussion and images can be found here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=84284&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=84284&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-09-26T06:21:38.587" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1242" CreationDate="2014-09-26T14:19:51.487" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those large sun glasses that are used after cataract surgery are great - stops 100% of all types of uv and completely covers your eyes. New $70, used $5 at charity store or just take your mums. Yes, you will look like an old person and they are breakable plastic, but for $5, buy 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4015" LastActivityDate="2014-09-26T14:19:51.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6825" CreationDate="2014-09-26T14:25:39.280" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Glow sticks and an LED disc are great ideas. Another option could be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4uenADqdG8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;glowing body paint&lt;/a&gt;; looks like fun :) That game is also on a beach which means less concerns about twisted ankles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4006" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-09-26T14:33:31.187" LastActivityDate="2014-09-26T14:33:31.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6845" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6846" CreationDate="2014-09-26T20:33:45.113" Score="22" ViewCount="14489" Body="&lt;p&gt;When my friend planned to hike the Appalachian trail, his mother insisted he take her small handgun. I didn't think it would be a great idea in that case, but I'm sure there must be times when such gear would be advisable. Is it ever necessary if there aren't known dangers from large predators?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:16:46.233" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:16:46.233" Title="When should you carry a firearm when hiking/trekking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2014-09-26T21:21:30.490" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the purposes of defense, the only situation that comes to mind would be hiking through an area known for criminal activity ( think marijuana farm ). And even then, is a small handgun really going to help you ward off criminals with assault rifles ( it would probably just get you killed faster )?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're thinking of situation involving large predators, think again. Even if you managed to hit a target that's charging right at you, you're chances of doing sufficient damage with a small handgun are slim unless you've some type of professional training for such a situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll live longer if you stick to nonviolent methods ( avoiding criminal activity / alerting animals to your presence ). I leave my firearms at home when I'm out hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-09-26T21:21:30.490" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2014-09-27T00:23:50.130" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are being attacked by a large predator a &quot;small handgun&quot; will accomplish nothing. If you hit something sensitive you will probably make it angrier - it won't make any difference to you if it dies from it's injuries the day after tomorrow, but at least it had a good final meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smith &amp;amp; Wesson used to make a short-barrel .50 revolver aimed at the wilderness survival market - a 3 inch barrel is nearly useless outside of an elevator but that much power &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; drop most carnivores in their tracks, assuming you hit it on the first shot. As you won't get much notice from a hunting predator you will have to have the weapon ready - in your pack won't work. If it's a territorial animal you usually have lots of time to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Churchill, Manitoba has a problem with polar bears. The residents there carry either a 12-gauge with deer slugs or a .45 rifle. Yes, that's big, and without experience it's just a noisy club. A charging bear can cover 100 feet in 3 seconds - can you draw faster than that? It's very much like a wild-west duel, loser gets eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that powerful weapons are heavy - you need the mass to soak up the recoil. The above S&amp;amp;W .50 revolver has recoil comparable to a mule's kick, the much larger Desert Eagle is quite manageable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So unless you are planning on hunting small game, don't bother with mom's .38. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3844" LastEditorUserId="3844" LastEditDate="2014-11-02T14:39:26.390" LastActivityDate="2014-11-02T14:39:26.390" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2014-09-27T14:29:55.720" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you need to ask, the answer is almost certainly never. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are places (Northern Quebec, Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba near Hudson's Bay) where due to polar bear activity you should be accompanied by a guide/guard who will have a serious rifle and dedicate significant time to watching for bears while you do your scientific research or marvel at the scenery. These guides are trained on how to shoot and how to know when to shoot, and their guns are not small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also less wild places where your big worry is the two-footed predators. If you think they are enough of a danger to you that you need a gun, they probably have a bigger gun. You're restricted by what you can carry over days or weeks and the bad guys are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not to say that you shouldn't bring a gun with you if you are a hunter, you know how to use it, and you know how to tell you should use it. But if you're someone who lives in the city and worries about wild animals attacking you on the trail, not only are you worrying about the wrong thing (spraining your ankle is far more likely to kill you) you are imagining the wrong solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2014-09-27T16:35:22.033" LastActivityDate="2014-09-27T16:35:22.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3139" CreationDate="2014-09-27T15:29:45.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois doing volunteer work with the Boy Scouts, we camped every month of the year, never using anything more than three season tents. There were nights where the snowfall was quite heavy, but the tents never ripped or collapsed. For floor insulation we would distribute several moving blankets and cover the tent floor. Very effective insulation. They slept quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4017" LastActivityDate="2014-09-27T15:29:45.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2014-09-27T23:28:06.743" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there is nothing on the AT that justifies carrying a firearm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The extra weight and space is much more of a detriment than the extremely unlikely and frankly inconceivable case where a firearm would be a help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the AT crosses many jurisdictions, there may also be legal issues that could vary every few miles.  The whole concept just doesn't make sense.  A spare water bottle consuming the same space and weight would be far more useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-09-27T23:28:06.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6852" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-28T21:27:41.523" Score="1" ViewCount="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm abseiling with a double rope what's the common way to add a safety knot? Is it a prusik knot around the 2 ropes instead of 1 or something like 2 prusiks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4024" LastActivityDate="2014-09-28T21:27:41.523" Title="How do to a safety knot when abseiling with 2 ropes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2014-09-29T07:39:08.470" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6853" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6894" CreationDate="2014-09-29T06:50:51.097" Score="12" ViewCount="522" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hunting small game in a hot climate, is it advisable to field dress the game where it falls, or wait until the carcass can be refrigerated?  Searching has turned up plenty of conflicting answers, but few offer any explanation or justification.  The question is complicated by the fact that small-game hunting is often considered a cold-weather activity in most parts of the US, and most advice found on the Internet is probably based on that assumption.  (For example, there's an axiom that you should only hunt rabbits in months that contain the letter 'r', and/or only after the first hard frost.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm weighing the importance of quickly determining whether the animal I've just killed harbors diseases such as tularemia, vs. the preservative value of keeping the skin intact, at least until I get back to my vehicle where I can put the carcass on ice.  I've also read that carcasses are traditionally hung whole to bring out the best flavor, but I don't know how much importance to attach to that considering that it's also traditional for people to die of preventable diseases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-26T15:50:43.197" LastActivityDate="2015-02-26T15:50:43.197" Title="Field dressing small game in hot climates" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6854" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6857" CreationDate="2014-09-30T06:04:10.553" Score="12" ViewCount="4904" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was going through anchoring techniques and I came across this well-received question:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4835/anchor-without-cordelette&quot;&gt;Anchor without cordelette?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should one decide when to go for a Cordelette or an Equalette?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T22:47:48.417" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T22:47:48.417" Title="How should I choose between setting up a Cordelette or an Equalette climbing anchor?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2014-09-30T07:55:03.420" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Howdy I'm a street person in South Texas (DEATHLY hot and humid, day and night) and I sleep in a tent almost every night of my life (if I can't find a safe unoccupied building that is).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's probably THE most important tip: hang one, or two, moisture absorbing dehumidifiers in the tent. They are kinda rare to find in stores but no problemo online. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep on keepin on brother :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4031" LastActivityDate="2014-09-30T07:55:03.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4835" CreationDate="2014-09-30T18:38:59.480" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many climbers are moving away from using cordelettes, including Will Gadd and John Long.  Instead a double length sling is clipped to two pieces making a magic x with a third piece and a second sling adding complete redundancy.  This set up equalizes much better than a cordelette in most situations and you don't have to carry around a bunch of bulky 7mm. Also, tying and untying of knots takes time, especially if they have been weighted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3991" LastActivityDate="2014-09-30T18:38:59.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6854" CreationDate="2014-09-30T23:07:21.120" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had to deal with this question a lot teaching anchor building. When people have asked in the past I normally suggest they &lt;em&gt;use the anchor you are most comfortable setting up, as they will both definitely work.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if we want to dive deeper into the rabbit hole, it's important to identify some distinct differences between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equalette&lt;/strong&gt;: Typical top-rope setup on bolts or gear using a sewn-sling or cord. Characterized by carabiners on separate strands, most often with limiting knots to each side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/daveebel92/IMG_0265.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Equalette Anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages over Cordelette:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchor is self-equalizing (meaning if you pull the load 20 degrees to the left, it's still going to distribute the weight between the two points).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Faster if pre-setup and tossed around your shoulder (when you get to the bolts at the end of a climb, attach one slide to each bolt and you're done).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stronger than cordelette if tied using a sewn-sling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cordelette&lt;/strong&gt;: Mostly now seen where an Equalette isn't. Characterized by a huge knot joining all connection points together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ETnH9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cordelette Anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages over Equalette:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just as easy to setup with 3, 4 or even 5 pieces of gear as it is with 2 (making it more versatile for trad anchors or suspect ice anchors).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheaper than sewn-slings if you need to leave it behind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Faster to set up from scratch, and much much faster to re-rack when you're ready to take it down (often only one knot needs to be removed, and it's usually much bulkier and easier to untie).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While discussions about anchors, (especially theoretical holding power), may rage on for generations to come, you can probably make some good rules of thumb by thinking about the most significant differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For single-pitch climbing: use an Equalette setup whenever the route traverses&#xA;  significantly, and use a Cordellete when the route follows a direct line up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional reading:&lt;/strong&gt; Lots of anchors variations exist - the &lt;em&gt;Triplet&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;ACR&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;Sliding X&lt;/em&gt; to name a few. They are all useful to know also. In a multi-pitch context, having a master point involving two carabiners is a major pain so the Equalette would be off the table for me. The more anchors you can tie, the more you can plug in what makes the most sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: See &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9005/what-is-an-equalette-anchor&quot;&gt;what is an equalette anchor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; for additional pictures and discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T22:45:48.253" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T22:45:48.253" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6854" CreationDate="2014-10-01T05:47:33.283" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both cordelettes and equalettes are made from loops of durable material; either a very large sewn sling or a loop of accessory cord (6 meters of 7 mm accessory cord is a common length).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue with cordelettes that led to the idea of the equalette is that a standard cordelette does not equalize loads all that well.  Most of the load will be applied to the shortest arm, and a chance in the direction of pull results in significantly different forces being applied to each arm.  Good equalization with a cordelette is only achieved when each arm is the same length and the direction of pull remains constant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if all your anchor pieces are roughly level with each other, and the direction of pull will remain straight up and down, your cordelette should still work OK.  The equalette tries to address the problem of off-axis loading (i.e. the direction of pull not remaining constant) and unequal length arms.  Note that both the equalette and the cordelette may be made with any number of arms; it's common to use 3-4 pieces of gear when a pair of solid bolts is not available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In testing, a cordelette with unequal arms resulted in the largest difference in forces between each arm (around 3-4 kN difference).  A cordelette with equal arms and a sliding-X with unequal arms performed similarly to each other, with a much better difference in force between arms, about 1 kN.  Finally, an equalette with unequal length arms performed similarly to a sliding-X with equal arms, and both of those saw the lowest difference in forces, around 0.5 kN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762782072&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Anchors (How To Climb Series)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-10-01T05:47:33.283" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6853" CreationDate="2014-10-01T18:29:53.823" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done both.  I've never had a problem with squirrel spoiling (disease) in hot climates.  However it's going to be safest to empty the guts in the field, as soon as you reasonably can.  The goal of course is to get the temperature down as quickly as possible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The method I prefer is to open them neck to stern, pull the soft organs out, and put a spacer between the ribs to keep the cavity open to cool and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as hanging and dry aging goes, I've never known anyone to do that with small game.  When you hang meat you typically have to cut some off.  With something like a squirrel or rabbit, I don't see that leaving you with much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2014-10-01T18:53:36.987" LastActivityDate="2014-10-01T18:53:36.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6862" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6863" CreationDate="2014-10-02T13:06:54.717" Score="13" ViewCount="3734" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a climber one aim is to toughen up your hands (related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1562/how-to-toughen-up-hands&quot;&gt;How to toughen up hands?&lt;/a&gt;). Building up callused skin is important but how do you keep it? Having dry hands especially from the climbing itself I suffer from skinning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What's the best method to take care of your hands/skin?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just use moisturiser or is it better to use those waxes they are selling for climbers pretty expensive? What are the differences and what are general suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2020-02-15T12:41:36.467" Title="How to take care of climbing hands?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6862" CreationDate="2014-10-02T13:29:09.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally you want your skin to be quite tough (this helps you hold onto small/sharp holds), but not too tough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you skin get's too thick you get callouses, callouses are thick tough areas of skin. The problem being the skin around the callouse isn't as tough. This means the callouse can be pulled off, called a &lt;em&gt;flapper&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KRZMP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To maintain your skin you want to sand down any callouses that get too thick (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5157/sandpapering-finger-tips/5161#5161&quot;&gt;see this question&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea of moisturising is that it keeps the skin elastic and prevents it becoming too tough, i.e. start forming callouses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most moisturisers will do this pretty well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climber specific moisturisers are a little bit marketing a little bit made with climbers in mind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The waxy bars tend to have a few things in common:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They smell all extreme and awesome (not traditionally girly), ironically the main brand SorePaw is run by women....make of that what you will&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They don't make your hands slippery but instead coat your hands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Often made with environmentally friendly materials (natural wax, etc.), climbers tend to be a bit tree hugging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good at removing chalk from your skin while moisturising&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Help to massage your hands post climb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I like &lt;a href=&quot;http://skinourishment.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ClimbOn&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sorepawproducts.moonfruit.com/#/hand-repair-balm/4560249038&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sore Paw&lt;/a&gt;. I think Sore Paw may be a local company here in the North West of UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-01-22T09:36:56.673" LastActivityDate="2018-01-22T09:36:56.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4412" CreationDate="2014-10-02T15:51:46.820" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contact &lt;a href=&quot;http://tentpoletechnologies.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tent Pole Technologies&lt;/a&gt;. They make custom tent poles and can do so based off of the pole specs you have already listed.  Many in the outdoor industry (EMS, REI, etc) use them for repairs and warranty work when they run out of the extra pole sets they have ordered for production tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4035" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T13:30:04.467" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T13:30:04.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6862" CreationDate="2014-10-02T18:35:30.783" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the most important kind of care of your hands please read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5256/133&quot;&gt;Can a Finger Pulley injury be predicted / anticipated?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For skin care specifically:  I am not hard on my skin, climbing mostly on worn plastic these days and with the local crag being smooth basalt, but when my hands do get a bit overused or dried out I have found O'Keeffe's Working Hands® Cream better than various brands of hand lotion or Bag Balm®.  I haven't tried any of the climbing-specific exotics but after using Working Hands I don't feel the need to look for anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried Working Hands because it was recommended by other climbers and is available locally.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are a number of positive reviews in various forums and blogs, e.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rockclimberlife.com/skin-care-product-review&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://rockclimberlife.com/skin-care-product-review&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Working Hands is by far, the best product of the four reviewed.  It is much less expensive than the others, and better overall.  Working Hands is not greasy at all.  It absorbs quickly, so much so that you could apply this and go climbing soon after.  It has no obvious scent.  The jar is wide and shallow so it can be applied easily and rubbed into your sore finger tips.  In my opinion, the healing properties are the best of the four.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't say that I agree with the &quot;go climbing soon after&quot; as chalk won't stay on my hands after recently applying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-10-02T19:13:11.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6866" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-02T21:24:03.630" Score="5" ViewCount="445" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any camping water filter that handles mercury in the water?  I live in an area with lots of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnabar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cinnabar&lt;/a&gt; (mercury ore), so all the streams have some mercury content.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the local water authorities, the lake in the area has:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mercury up to 35 ppb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;methylmercury up to 10 ppb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3175" LastEditorUserId="3175" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T22:58:34.700" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T22:58:34.700" Title="Water filter that handles mercury?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6868" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6876" CreationDate="2014-10-03T06:35:08.273" Score="10" ViewCount="4758" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been borrowing this High Sierra small backpack from my friend for a few days and I'm looking to buy my own. So far I haven't found any barcode or product name on it, and I haven't found anything similar online or in REI's flagship store. In other words, I'm having a remarkable amount of difficulty searching for a &quot;small backpack.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume this has some more specialized name or description, possibly a function or type of hike you would use it for. Here's a picture, any help identifying it or describing it? U.S. size 11M hiking shoe for scale (banana unavailable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jXcyc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:45.247" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T17:34:51.530" Title="What do you call a small backpack? (so I can search for it)" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6869" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-03T07:25:20.343" Score="7" ViewCount="3606" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've learned several points in rock climbing where one must perform &lt;em&gt;checks&lt;/em&gt;, but none that come with a &lt;em&gt;checklist&lt;/em&gt;. And there is a serious difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I passed an indoor belay test roughly as follows: when asked to check everything, I said something like: &quot;check that the rope has 2 sets of 5... tighten the knot to make sure...  no more than 6&quot; of loose rope... [several others]&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And these are all intelligent things to check. The problem is: &lt;em&gt;how do I know I didn't miss any?&lt;/em&gt; On live climbs I remember one time I definitely forgot to check my partner, for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is not &quot;make your own checklist.&quot; A checklist needs to be standard and perfect to assuage the temptation to play with it and mess it all up. But so far I haven't learned a standard one used for belaying. Is there one I should know, or has anyone in the community taken care to develop a personal one that works well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:21.393" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:21.393" Title="Belay checklist?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6868" CreationDate="2014-10-03T08:14:45.837" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find smaller backpacks called &lt;strong&gt;daypacks&lt;/strong&gt; but regarding the actual activity they are mostly around 25-35 litre. Smaller packs are often used for &lt;strong&gt;biking&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;trailrunning&lt;/strong&gt; and as climbing backpack. The last mentioned might not be the right ones for you because you simply don't need to attach a rope or other features of those backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cycling and trailrunning the backpacks are sometimes ultra tiny just to carry a bladder plus a minimum of extra gear (jacket, energybar). Those are often called &lt;strong&gt;hydration-backpacks&lt;/strong&gt;. Still in this range you could find appropriate backpacks which allow to carry not only the bladder, e.g. for REI:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/cycling-backpacks-and-bags&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/c/cycling-backpacks-and-bags&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/hydration-backpacks&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/c/hydration-backpacks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the brands even offer a search for the size, e.g. for Deuter (Do they sell Deuter in the US? It is the biggest brand for quality outdoor backpacks in Germany/Mid Europe):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deuter.com/DE/en/lightweight-34.html&quot;&gt;http://www.deuter.com/DE/en/lightweight-34.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deuter.com/DE/en/hiking-11.html&quot;&gt;http://www.deuter.com/DE/en/hiking-11.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way REI also lets you search for gear and liquid capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-10-03T08:21:48.717" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T08:21:48.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6868" CreationDate="2014-10-03T08:56:10.990" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Such small bags are often known as daysacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in my experience the best way to search for bags is by their size. Bag size is generally measured in L (even in the US I think). Most larger bags will have their size in the name. Some smaller bags don't, but is you can find the bag online it will generally have size information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at this bag I would say it is probably a 20L (or even possibly smaller, 15L)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick google search gives the bag you picture as probably a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00HPLQE1G&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;High Sierra XBT TSA Backpack&lt;/a&gt;. Which according to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.highsierra.com/High-Sierra-XBT-TSA-Backpack/dp/B00GR8M7N2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;High Sierra website&lt;/a&gt; is 2500 cu in or 40L. So it looks like my guess of size was a bit off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T08:56:10.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6872" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6879" CreationDate="2014-10-03T10:43:04.703" Score="10" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm researching winter skills courses for the new year. Most cover all the basics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self arrest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using crampons and ice axes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche awareness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Route planning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything else I should be looking for? They all seem very similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm specifically after something for a Scottish winter with a view to move into the Alps (summer) eventually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-10T07:47:55.607" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T01:19:11.583" Title="What to look for in a winter skills course?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6868" CreationDate="2014-10-03T14:21:11.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say search for biking backpacks.  In my REI store specifically they were in the bicycle section as opposed to the hiking area with all of the other larger backpacks.  The one I got was a Novara, and what is nicer with the biking backpacks is that they supposedly try to lay flatter on your back to keep the weight more centered (which is nice for biking, but feels good otherwise).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4039" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2014-10-03T16:42:38.127" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T16:42:38.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6869" CreationDate="2014-10-03T16:22:37.917" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are definitely some &quot;checklist&quot; mnemonics for new climbers, but no standard set. Even among the ACMG &amp;amp; AMGA, every guide and instructor might use something slightly different, or not use any at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the one I teach new climbers personally. It's rather simple, but it seems to stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;nchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;elayer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;limber&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anchor&lt;/em&gt; may simply be a check to make sure you are tying in to the correct side of the rope. &lt;em&gt;Belayer&lt;/em&gt; is a check to make sure the belay device is rigged correctly (this includes a gate-check for the carabiner), and &lt;em&gt;Climber&lt;/em&gt; is a check to make sure the tie-in is done correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our last guide training day, one of the instructors, a long standing-rock guide, used A.B.C.D.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;nchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;rain-Bucket (helmet)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;limber&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;D&lt;/strong&gt;evice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen people ad the E to this mnemonic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;nds (meaning rope end, which is typically tied with a stopper knot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knot prevents the rope from feeding through the device while lowering in the case that you mis-judged the distance of the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another one I've heard in the past is B.A.R.K.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;uckles (or sometimes brain-bucket)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;nchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;R&lt;/strong&gt;appel / Belay Device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;K&lt;/strong&gt;nots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen A.B.C.D.H. used as &lt;em&gt;Anchor, Buckles, Carabiner, Device, Helmet&lt;/em&gt;, so I'm sure many adaptations exist!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to note that most of these checklists are also very situational so It's somewhat hard to standardize them. I include an additional check for falling ice in winter for example by adding a &quot;D&quot; for dangers, I've also used the &quot;D&quot; for daisy chains in the context of aid climbing. You really do have to pick one that you will remember, and roll with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The process of climbing may seem like a lot to remember initially, and does seem to warrant some type of standard checklist, but it sinks in very quick actually because of how much repetition is involved. Additionally, I've found that new climbers are &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; very safe and very cautious &gt; the trick is to not get complacent down the line. I've personally caught myself having tied in to only one tie-in point on my harness on more than one occasion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2014-10-03T17:33:29.833" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T17:33:29.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6875" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6918" CreationDate="2014-10-03T16:48:37.197" Score="23" ViewCount="12655" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a situation where you don't know when you will find water again, is it better to ration the water you have over time (and ever increasing dehydration) or to drink it to quench thirst as soon as needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like there would be a tradeoff between longevity and performance in choosing one or the other course of action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:42:16.470" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:42:16.470" Title="Ration or consume water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6868" CreationDate="2014-10-03T18:33:31.913" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the bag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierratradingpost.com/high-sierra-whitewater-hydration-backpack-insulated-2l~p~1071h/&quot;&gt;http://www.sierratradingpost.com/high-sierra-whitewater-hydration-backpack-insulated-2l~p~1071h/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you didn't know it was a hydration pack, the water bladder must have been removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the posts about &quot;daypacks&quot; are somewhat correct, most of the time when I see super-small backpacks, they are like yours - hydration packs that have room for storage, and sometimes people just remove the water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4041" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T18:33:31.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6872" CreationDate="2014-10-03T18:52:54.363" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a complete answer, just an answer about the avalanche stuff, but it's too long to fit in a comment. Research shows that most avalanche training actually is not helpful in reducing people's chances of getting killed. It may even produce a negative effect on safety, because people get a false sense of competence. This is called the &quot;expert halo.&quot; Beacons add to this halo; in reality, it is usually not possible to rescue someone buried in an avalanche, even if they have a beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avalanche safety is actually really simple, and it needs to happen at home when you're planning the trip. From a topo map, determine whether the slope is steeper than about 30-35 degrees. If it is, then don't go to that area within 48 hours of a big snowfall (more than about 15 cm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go and then make your decision on-site, the evidence is that social and psychological factors make it extremely unlikely that you'll make an appropriate decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &quot;Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidents,&quot; Ian McCammon: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidents&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T01:19:11.583" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T01:19:11.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6875" CreationDate="2014-10-03T19:11:04.637" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The usual advice to someone in an emergency situation in the wilderness is to stay put, so that it's easier for rescuers to find you. In this situation, performance isn't an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a folk belief that &quot;thirst is too late,&quot; and that people are commonly dehydrated without knowing it. If you believed that, then you might drink some of your water even if you didn't feel thirsty. The belief is false, however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, thirst is an extremely powerful physical sensation, and when you're actually dehydrated (not just thirsty), you will feel so thirsty that you will simply drink because the urge is so strong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a referenced article on the subject at &lt;a href=&quot;http://lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T04:13:36.783" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T04:13:36.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6872" CreationDate="2014-10-03T22:52:07.713" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak for the Scottish winter and there definitely are differences to the Alps. But still I can give you an overview what is important to learn if you are going to do alpine summer tours in the Alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The German Alpine Club (German: Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV) is the world's largest climbing association. The number of members is over one million. (source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Alpine_Club&quot;&gt;&quot;Deutscher Alpenverein&quot;&lt;/a&gt;). I will therefore give you the topics which are covered by the glacier courses (courses for alpine tours). The list might seem long but I think it gives you an idea what to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Basic course&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rope up on glaciers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;crevasse rescue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;general techniques with ropes, knots and belaying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walking with crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice axe techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anchors in ice and firn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;abseiling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;self arrest on firn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;orientation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;planning routes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;checking material&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first aid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;environment and nature protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Advanced course&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;repeat basics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;going on combined terrain with faces and arêtes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climbing (leading and following)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;belaying in steep rock, firn and ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;advanced ice axe techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hitting pitons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;return strategies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mountain rescue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and much more...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are additional courses for crevasse rescue which show the importance of this topic. Avalanche is only a topic in winter courses. I guess they aren't learning the topic of avalanche because it is pretty complex for itself and you are generally trying to avoid situations with a lot of fresh snow in summer. Of course they have avalanche courses but it's not a topic in those glacier courses!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal advice is to take a course which covers the important points from the basic course above. How to rope up on glaciers is the first thing you have to know and it's not very complicated. But still you should learn the general ideas from a professional (distances long enough to hold possible falls, maybe using knots between members, having rope for a possible crevasse rescue, NOT meeting up when you are doing a break...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crevasse rescue is also important, I would suggest that you learn at least one method. Under real conditions the rescue might be really tough but having stopped the fall of a companion (or even two) you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; still call the mountain rescue services most of the times (still: learn how to rescue someone fallen into a crevasse!). That being said it shows the importance to actually get into this position of braking the fall, setting a deadman and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To rope up on glaciers, to be able to belay correctly and to rescue crevasse falls you naturally have to learn some knots. You cover this in the fitting sections of the course. Maybe they don't write those topics explicitly in the description but I am pretty sure all will cover this. Check the course requirements though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Techniques with crampons and ice axes are nice to learn although I don't think they are as important as the security relevant topics mentioned above. What's really important is how to set an ice screw correctly. Still, you will be using crampons in all glacier courses and you will be excited if you do it the first time. I personally didn't had big problems walking in them but you should care when you climb in them or you might get some porous trousers like I did...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-10-03T22:52:07.713" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6892" CreationDate="2014-10-03T20:56:55.793" Score="10" ViewCount="5042" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hunt grouse I usually wear hip waders to be able to cross small creeks and to not get my pants wet from dew. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My problem is that I get a lot of junk collected in my waders, and specifically I'm concerned about ticks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I wear to avoid this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4042" OwnerDisplayName="serge" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T13:32:28.050" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T13:32:28.050" Title="What clothing or gear should I wear to prevent ticks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6881" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-09-07T21:23:42.867" Score="1" ViewCount="416" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking for a long distance, my legs and lower body get used wonderfully. They become really strong, lean, and exactly what I want with my lower body in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But one burns a lot of calories when long-distance hiking, and if the upper body is not used enough, it will lose important muscle mass and introduce many disadvantages to everyday tasks and aspects of even safety and survival etc!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further to this, I wonder how people in civilisations past - who walked almost everywhere they went - dealt with this too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first instinct is that as close an exercise type to what the lower body's getting - aerobic - is best for the upper body, for optimum balance. Thus, I assume swimming (especially freestyle with relaxed kicks letting the muscles above the hips do most of the work) is one of the best you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But one is not always near bodies of water on a regular basis when hiking. And I'm assuming strength training (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups) are a second best due to not being aerobic - but maybe that's all I'd have access to if I'm wanting to significantly balance out muscle strength distribution throughout my body while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what things can you do in general to keep an upper / lower body muscle mass balance when extensively walking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2189" LastActivityDate="2019-01-25T10:22:37.623" Title="How do I balance the muscle usage and strength of my body when long-distance hiking?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6882" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6889" CreationDate="2014-10-04T03:36:29.020" Score="7" ViewCount="1630" Body="&lt;p&gt;5.10s are known to be more comfortable, softer shoes, but I've also heard they tire your feet out faster. Edging, in particular, is harder in these shoes because it's your toes' responsibility instead of the shoes' responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My shoes are nearly broken in by now. I've had them for about 3 weeks and have been climbing about 3 times a week. They slip on easily. Obviously, they were more painful during break-in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My toes can hurt due to some nerve damage but indoor climbing through V3s has generally not been a problem at all. But advancing to outdoor climbing, particularly edging when my shoes aren't great for edging, is more trying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I make sure I'm building strength in my toes and mitigating injury? What amount of discomfort would tell me I'm doing something wrong or need to back off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-14T00:19:45.647" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T06:34:36.347" Title="How much should my toes hurt in climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6881" CreationDate="2014-10-04T22:26:07.250" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have outlined a couple of assumptions in your question which there is no evidence for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in prehistory, people did what they needed to do to survive, and that often wasn't very long. One thing they didn't do, as far as the evidence suggests, is any extra exercise - there was no need for fitness clubs, as they were spending most of there time surviving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while you suggest that there was a lot of walking (true for some civilisations, not so much for others) this is almost irrelevant to what the upper body was used for. Erik's comment around hauling firewood, building pyramids etc is spot on here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That has nothing to do with what is best for you. We have moved on genetically, we have the luxury of spare time, and we live much longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply put, walking, even long distance walking, is not that much trouble for a human. We have evolved to cope with keeping up a constant pace for far further than any prey we typically hunt. All you need to do is avoid major impact, and feed with a lot of calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your upper body, focus on what you need to do. Are you carrying a heavy pack? If so, carrying a heavy pack is a good way to keep this fitness. If you are more of a daysack kind of person, then carry a light pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Muscle distribution happens because of what you do, so decide what you will need, and just do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is really much simpler than I think you realise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-10-04T22:26:07.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6875" CreationDate="2014-10-05T14:40:29.033" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very simple reasoning about it. It's only based on personal experience, so don't regard it as absolute truth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body needs a certain amount of water to be comfortable, say, N. Comfort here includes urination (removal of poisons from body) and sweating (removal of heat). If you drink N or more, the body will function well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drink less than N, the body will adjust to the deficit of water; it will decrease urination (so unwanted stuff will accumulate in the body), and then reduce sweating (body temperature will rise, leading to bad mood and less-than-optimal physical power).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can often tolerate these effects (e.g. in emergency; also in general, depending on your goal and attitude), so you should drink less than your &quot;normal&quot; need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In additon, imagine that you decided to conserve your water and drink 80% of N during the day, and you accept the ill effects of doing so. If you temporarily exceed that plan, drinking e.g. 30% of N in a quarter of a day, the body will &quot;use&quot; the excess water for natural but undesirable functions (urination/sweating). So you should be careful about how much you drink, and not succumb to thirst easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tradeoff between longevity and performance is not easy to resolve; I feel that if you are carrying your water on your back, the tradeoff is always to drink less than needed for optimal performance. Some people will surely disagree though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2014-10-05T14:46:26.540" LastActivityDate="2014-10-05T14:46:26.540" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6866" CreationDate="2014-10-05T16:28:28.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to do canoe trips on the English River, in western Ontario.  One of the mills polluted the river with mercury, and it made the fish poisonous to eat in quantity. Throughout the lakes downstream there were signs giving the allowable eating -- on the order of one trout per week.  We could drink the water.  Local indians at the Grassy Narrows reserve drank the water year round.  But the fish were off limits, creating severe hardship for the indians, both from a loss of an important food source, and from guiding tourist fishermen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Methylmercury accumulates up the food chain.  Bass are tertiary feeders, eating the bugs that eat the plankton. So you shouldn't eat the bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the bass are still doing quite well.  The Osprey that munch on bass may have problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm surprised that there is only a factor of 50 difference between the levels in the water and in the bass.  Usually there is about a factor of 10 increase in concentration at each level of the food chain.  I'd expect the difference to be between 1000 and 10,000 times.  One source claims a food chain concentration of a million times for top predators.  You may want to verify that water level.  Could it be parts per billion instead of parts per million?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your figures for the concentration in the water are correct, they are a factor of 20 higher than Liam's figures.  This is still reasonably safe for occasional visits -- a week canoeing each summer -- but not a good idea if you live there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.purewateroccasional.net/wtimercury.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.purewateroccasional.net/wtimercury.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;claims that mercury will be removed by an activated charcoal filter or by starch xanthate.  Activated charcoal filters are commonly used to remove H2S from water. (rotten egg smell)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-10-05T16:28:28.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6872" CreationDate="2014-10-05T16:40:31.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting.  All of the answers address winter mountaineering, which I would regard as a separate subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter skills for someone like me, living 4 hours from the mountains, would primarily be about how to prepare and cope with winter conditions, such as encountered by a hunter or hiker below timberline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skills I would see as important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia.  Occurrence, recognition, prevention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cold related injuries -- frost bite&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dress.  What to wear, what to carry, adjusting your heat balance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fire making.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Route planning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Emergency shelter building (hunters mostly)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Adjustments to your normal first aid response due to cold weather:  Mostly on how to keep a victim warm, and for the rest of the party to not become hypothermia victims.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This skill set is a pre-requisite to the mountaineering skills mentioned in both the question and in the previous answers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a slight change in how the hypothermia is addressed, it's also a good starter course for anyone engaged in water sports where water/air temperatures below 50 F (10 C)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-10-05T16:40:31.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6882" CreationDate="2014-10-05T17:45:42.993" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your climbing shoes shouldn't hurt at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Andrew Bisharat has a great article to read on the subject: &lt;a href=&quot;http://eveningsends.com/climbing/climbing-shoes-tight/&quot;&gt;http://eveningsends.com/climbing/climbing-shoes-tight/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, here's what the article says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's a misconception that shoes have to be uncomfortably tight for good performance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using shoes that are too tight can cause various physical problems. It's especially important for children not to use shoes that are too tight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The type of shoe you want depends on the type of climbing you do. You want a stiffer, looser shoe for multipitch trad climbing, and a softer, tighter shoe for technical bouldering and sport climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nearly all shoes on the market now have liners, and therefore they don't stretch. Don't buy one of these shoes expecting it to stretch and become more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-10-06T20:11:01.837" LastActivityDate="2014-10-06T20:11:01.837" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6875" CreationDate="2014-10-05T19:13:16.373" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, I will refer to a single event: the outdoorsman Aron Lee Ralston survived 127 hours rationing his water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aron Lee Ralston had access to only 350 ml (12 imp fl oz) of water for a period of 127 hours. He was 28 years old and he was trapped in a slot canyon in eastern Wayne County, Utah, USA, between April 26, 2003 and May 1, 2003.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to his book, &lt;em&gt;Between a Rock and a Hard Place&lt;/em&gt;, he rationed his water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4048" LastEditorUserId="4048" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T18:58:35.633" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T18:58:35.633" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6875" CreationDate="2014-10-06T03:41:36.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I took a wildlands firefighting course in Arizona, the instructor said that if you find yourself lost in the desert, you should not ration your water.  People have died of thirst with water in their canteens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2014-10-06T03:41:36.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6880" CreationDate="2014-10-06T05:48:41.160" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ticks can attach anywhere, in particular, they will find spots like the back of your knee, around waistbands, under armpits, undergarment straps or any other constricted place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firstly, prefer to wear the clothing which is already treated for tick prevention by means of some tick repellent solution. The solution is supposed to contain &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Permethrin&lt;/a&gt;. Spray shoes, boots, socks, pants, sleeves, gloves, kerchief, and hat. Keep the sprayed items away from your pets (if any) for their own safety. Insecticide and Pest control Products that contain Permethrin are only for spraying on clothes and gear and not to be sprayed on human/animal skin or any external use on the skin in diluted form either.&#xA;The wiki about Permethrin does say that Permethrin is used in medicines but that is in a different context from what is being discussed here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear long pants. Preferably light-colored. That will make spotting a tick easy. It may look a bit odd, but do tuck pants into socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear long sleeved shirts. Tuck shirt into pants. This will prevent a tick from crawling under clothing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the long socks with good elastic, or they may slip downwards exposing your skin. Else, you can tape them as shown in pic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a1512.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear a bandanna and/or hat to protect your neck and head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side-note: If you at all doubtful that you still have ticks on your body, have a quick shower and examine your body with a mirror. Tumble clothes in a dryer on high heat for an hour to kill remaining ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-09T10:24:26.363" LastActivityDate="2014-10-09T10:24:26.363" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6882" CreationDate="2014-10-06T08:01:22.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you bought the wrong pair of 5.10s. I've got some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.e-outdoor.co.uk/440820/products/five_ten_anasazi_lace_up_climbing_shoe.aspx?origin=pla?kwd=&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKEAjw-8ihBRD2t9qT3NaW7igSJAD3_sNVZqbg5rLUjUUP9bztuzMButs9_OMYoezfdCmKyi4DfBoCv-Tw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anasazi Whites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uru1C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I specifically bought them for edging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;they have a thick(ish) sole area around the rim to provide better support when placing weight on the edges. I would suggest that the Moccasym's are a lot softer and are optimised for smearing on rough rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;5.10s are known to be more comfortable, softer shoes, but I've also heard they tire your feet out faster&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd dispute this TBH. 5.10 rubber is softer (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stealthrubber.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stealth rubber&lt;/a&gt;). This is to &lt;strong&gt;aid friction not to make them more comfortable&lt;/strong&gt;. What makes shoes more comfortable is buying the right shoe, regardless of make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every shoe will fit differently and everyone's feet are different sizes and shapes so it's hard to give advice in this area. Try on lot's and lots of different shoes and see which one's work for you. Look out for &lt;em&gt;&quot;hot spots&quot;&lt;/em&gt; (where the foot feels hot in a&#xA;particualr area). This is a sign that the shoe is a bad fit in this area. I wear my 5.10s tight. They're 2 sizes smaller than my street shoes but different people opt for different options in this regard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want your toes (somewhat compressed) in general. This aids your ability to place weight though your toes. How compressed is a martter of preference, it's about balancing comfort with performance. &lt;code&gt;More compressed&lt;/code&gt; = &lt;code&gt;more performance&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;less compressed&lt;/code&gt; = &lt;code&gt;more comfort&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How do I make sure I'm building strength in my toes and mitigating&#xA;  injury?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't really build strength in your toes. There is no major muscle in your toes to build. This is why your shoes support your toes. I would suggest trying to train your toes is a waste of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're experiencing pain, &lt;strong&gt;The culprit is probably your shoes&lt;/strong&gt;. You may need to buy a new pair. This could be because they are too tight, compressing your toes too much or too loose, not supporting your injured toes enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's impossible to tell this from here. I would suggest going to a good climbing shop or local climbing gym and talking to someone experienced who will be able to offer advice based on your current shoe and foot shape, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article may provide some helpful insights also&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/climbing-shoes-is-pain-insane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing shoes: is pain insane?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-06T10:20:25.993" LastActivityDate="2014-10-06T10:20:25.993" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6853" CreationDate="2014-10-06T14:19:02.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hanging game birds is very common in the UK. All Pheasant shot in the UK are normally hung (whole and unplucked for several days). Pheasant are shot in the autumn here, the temperatures normally being &amp;lt;10C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea of hanging is to improve flavour. Game birds can be pretty tastless if not hung or aged correctly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wasn't sure about hotter climates so I did a bit of research and came &lt;a href=&quot;http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;across this site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It states (quoting good sources):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pheasants hung for 9 days at 50°F have been found by overseas taste&#xA;  panels to be more acceptable than those hung for 4 days at 59°F or for&#xA;  18 days at 41°F. The taste panels thought that the birds stored at&#xA;  59°F were tougher than those held for longer periods at lower&#xA;  temperatures. Pheasants hung at 50°F became more ‘gamy’ in flavour and&#xA;  more tender with length of hanging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;50F is about 10C. It does though also say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Furthermore, an English study from 1973 &lt;strong&gt;found that clostridia and e.&#xA;  coli bacteria form very rapidly once you get to about 60°F&lt;/strong&gt;, but very&#xA;  slowly — and not at all in the case of clostridia — at 50°F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It ends with the advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep your birds as cool and as separate as possible in the field. Use    a game strap, not the game bag in your vest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Separate your birds in the truck or put them in a cooler — do not get    them wet!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hanging your birds by the neck or feet does not matter, as several    studies has shown.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hang the birds between &lt;strong&gt;50 to 55°F&lt;/strong&gt; for at least three days, up to a    week with an old rooster. Old roosters will have horny beaks, blunt&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  spurs and feet that look like they have been walked on for quite some &#xA;  time. They will also have a stiff, heavy keelbone. Hen pheasants only &#xA;  need 3 days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not hang any game birds that have been gut-shot or are generally    torn up. Butcher these immediately and use them for a pot pie.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dry-pluck any bird that has hung for more than 3 days. Wash and dry    your birds after you pluck and draw them. Only then should you freeze &#xA;  them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leads me to say that your correct that in a hot climate you may suffer potential disease when hanging birds or keeping them whole for long periods of time. I would suggest that if the temperature is 55F(12C) or above you should gut, pluck and get the carcass into cold storage ASAP, though this will limit the flavour when compared to a hung bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-06T16:07:39.393" LastActivityDate="2014-10-06T16:07:39.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6881" CreationDate="2014-10-06T15:59:57.550" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Four possible ways to work upper body muscles harder&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack heavily&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking, even a casual stroll, is work for core torso muscles. More weight and more strenuous walking will make these muscles work harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in doubt, pack it. Carry extra water, extra food, extra clothes. Instead of energy bars, pack a a can of soup and a stove. You can enjoy a hot lunch and work your torso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Find difficult terrain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for terrain or trails where you will need to use your upper body. Scrambling is a lot of fun and uses your arm muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Go off trail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trackless woods have plenty of obstacles. You could even turn it into a sort of woodland parkour.&#xA;    (&lt;em&gt;caution&lt;/em&gt;: Downed trees are in some state of decay, so approach them with caution)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do trail maintenance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fallen trees and limbs have to get cleared from trails and that work is typically done by volunteers. If you carry a folding saw, next time you encounter a large tree limb blocking a trail you can clear it out instead of going around. If this turns out to be something you really enjoy, some local trail council would be happy to have your assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-10-06T16:09:43.347" LastActivityDate="2014-10-06T16:09:43.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6906" CreationDate="2014-10-06T21:55:35.927" Score="12" ViewCount="2233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been working on improving my self-rescue skills, but the skills I've learned so far seem to pertain mostly to single-pitch climbing. For example, a lot of people emphasize knowing how to escape a belay, which is fine, but that seems to be mostly applicable to the situation where you're giving someone a belay from below on a single-pitch climb, you can't just lower them (maybe because they'd end up on a ledge), and you need to run and get help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in the middle of a multi-pitch climb, it seems like it escaping the belay may not be relevant, or may at best be only part of the solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are many different possible self-rescue situations that could come up in multipitch trad. But one likely-seeming situation I can come up with is that I'm giving someone a lead belay, he gets injured too badly to be able to up- or downclimb, and we have more than half the rope out, so I can't just lower him all the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you do in this situation? My best guess would be to lower him down to the lowest piece of protection I can get him to, escape the belay, ascend the rope, improve that piece of pro to a solid anchor, secure him to the anchor, and free the rope from the gear higher up (either by climbing and cleaning, or by untying and pulling the rope through). Then maybe clip him in to the rope with a locking biner, lower him to the belay station, have him unclip, and then rap down to the belay station myself (possibly leaving a lot of gear). Wow, this seems complicated and difficult, especially if I can't see the situation clearly from the belay station.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think a solution to this problem would also pretty much apply to single-pitch climbing in an area where it's not possible to run and get help, e.g., because you're in a remote area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question: what would be some general strategies for dealing with this type of situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-10-07T00:00:56.357" LastActivityDate="2014-10-10T17:31:15.163" Title="Leader injured during multipitch trad climb, what to do?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2014-10-07T01:24:06.400" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Find yourself a good deep tissue massage therapist who specializes in things like carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, and thoracic outlet syndrome; someone who knows the muscles well enough to address these concerns will know the muscles well enough to massage the muscles of a climber. Just be prepared for to hurt a bit; just like every other muscle, the tiny muscles of the fingers can have lactic acid built up inside them, and getting that out can hurt like mad!  But the relief you feel following a good stripping session on your hands and firearms is worth the temporary pain!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4049" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T01:24:06.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6898" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6900" CreationDate="2014-10-07T06:36:36.690" Score="23" ViewCount="6538" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is possibly a little of a generalisation but, why are indoor grades easier than outdoor grades? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having climbed at many many indoor walls (all over the uk) and done multiple outdoor climbs (bouldering and trad) pretty much universally I can climb much higher grades indoors than out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example at my local gym I I boulder at about V4-5. Outdoors I've completed one V1. In fontainebleu I was struggling at V0.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T23:19:35.183" Title="Why are indoor climbing grades easier?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6869" CreationDate="2014-10-07T06:47:34.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a climbing checklist is very important, but it's a fairly personal process.  Of course in climbing you are part of a partnership and the person on the other end of the rope needs to be safe as well, but you can role-model and set a good standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two ways that I teach pre-climb checking off, each of which can and should be customized to fit your needs and specific situation (single pitch, multipitch, etc...):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1)  Head to Toe method:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start at your head, check that your helmet is buckled and fitted correctly (not showing more than two finger widths of your forehead above the brow).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check your attitude and goals for the climb, check your partners (this can be silly, but it's good to know when your partner is freaking out)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move down to your harness. Check that your knot (figure 8) is tied properly, has the correct amount of tail, and is properly dressed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check that the rope is running through both hard-points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check that your buckles are doubled back (or speed buckles are done correctly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check your partners carabiner.  Make sure it's connected to the belay loop, belay device, and rope is running through.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check their harness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check that you have the pro/gear needed for the climb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check your feet, shoes ties, no stuff that is going to get in the way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then go!  Here's another method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2)  C.R.A.S.H. Method&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carabiner:&lt;/strong&gt; Check that the belayers carabiner is locked, belay device loaded correctly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rope:&lt;/strong&gt;  Check that the belayer set up the device right with the rope running through the carabiner.  Or if it's a brake assist device that it's not loaded backwards.  Check your figure 8 knot, that it's dressed, and that you have enough tail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Attitude:&lt;/strong&gt; Check your and your partners level of comfort in the climb/belay.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stuff:&lt;/strong&gt;  Make sure your don't have hair/shoe laces/ gear that is going to get in your way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Helmet/Harness:&lt;/strong&gt;  Check that your harness buckles are set up correctly, there are no twists, and it is sitting above your waist.  Check your partner.  Check that your helmet is buckled and fitting appropriately.  Check your partner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to know you didn't miss anything is to be consistent about doing thorough checks.  And to make sure your partner does them as well.  Things get missed and having two people looking is a big help.  I like to choose a system and stick to it.  Often times if I miss something (even if it's not a problem) I will have an uneasy feeling before I leave the ground which is a reminder to run through my checklist again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T06:47:34.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6898" CreationDate="2014-10-07T07:11:02.250" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest difference in indoor climbing is that your routes are mapped out for you.  It can be challenging to figure out the proper sequence, but it's much easier if you know where all the holds are right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another big factor is the abundance of large(ish) foothold.  When setting in a gym (from 7 years of personal experience) even the tiniest jib can be very positive.  Outdoors you struggle with purchase and deal with dirt/sand/etc... Which makes footwork even harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some gyms make their grades soft on purpose, I've never really been able to understand why.  They think it's beneficial to the beginner climber, but consistency is more important.  Where I worked (in Seattle, WA) the grades would always stiffen back up when the setters got back outside in the summer, and soften a bit over the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If nothing else, indoor routes are &lt;em&gt;set&lt;/em&gt; with the intention of being climbed a certain way.  When we set we know the moves will work.  Outside it's just a blank canvas with a grade attached to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T07:11:02.250" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6880" CreationDate="2014-10-07T09:00:37.013" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's good to wear long clothes and close all small entry spots through the layers. You can also use some repellents that contain 20 to 30% DEET &lt;em&gt;(N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide)&lt;/em&gt; for your skin and permethrin for your clothes. But for hunting and also if you're doing some sport or work it's normal that you can't protect yourself 100% from tick bites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the most important part is to &lt;strong&gt;examine&lt;/strong&gt; yourself every time you were exposed in a tick area. The most diseases are not transmitted until the head of the tick is in your body. So you should have at least one day to remove the tick properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To remove a tick follow this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;instruction from CDC&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T09:00:37.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6896" CreationDate="2014-10-07T11:52:25.147" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although there is information on various websites and forums on self-rescue techniques, you really cannot learn enough to cope with a situation just by reading about it without a LOT of hands-on practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start with try and get help as much as you can - for instance shouting for help if there are any other climbers nearby. Get them to phone immediately for help (e.g. Mountain Rescue if available). If there are other climbers about, then you should have access to more rope and gear hopefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ensure you can escape the system safely and also ensure that the injured climber remains safely belayed. If it is possible, safely gain the top of the crag and abseil down to the injured climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say the priority is to safely get access to the injured climber and carry out the basic ABC's (Airway with C-Spine control if possible, Breathing, Circulation) of First Aid and ensure their airway is not compromised and that they are able to breathe (for example they haven't been caught by a sling around the neck and are being strangled or maybe their mouth or jaw was injured an compromised the airway). If there is a lot of bleeding from a wound try and apply some sort of bandage so that pressure can be applied to help stop the bleeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are unconscious, there is a problem known as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harness Suspension Trauma&lt;/a&gt; where if an individual is being suspended motionless in a harness there is a chance of death after a relatively short time. So there is an urgent need in this case to get the injured climber in a position where they are no longer being suspended motionless in a harness (e.g. lowering to the nearest ledge or the ground if possible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next priority is TO GET HELP and continue with the ABCs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-10-10T17:31:15.163" LastActivityDate="2014-10-10T17:31:15.163" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6903" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6919" CreationDate="2014-10-07T14:01:37.113" Score="10" ViewCount="4130" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently, I've started drinking more and more tap water instead of buying bottles all the time (which is usually absolutely no issue in Germany).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to use a bottle for that not fill a glass all the time. At the moment, I'm using 1-l-bottles like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tgh24.de/WebRoot/Store10/Shops/62063627/4A16/7B43/8BD5/FF01/CDB7/C0A8/28BB/BEF8/3106_0020_RS_0020_Sprudel.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. They're meant to be reused, and the plastic is harder than for single-use bottles. I could not find the exact kind of plastic, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is be how often and how I have to clean that bottle. I'm drinking directly from it, but I'm not sharing it and using only tap water, nothing else. I'm refilling it around three times a day approximately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is rinsing the bottle opening with tap water once a day and using dish soap once a week reasonable, or more than necessary, or not enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:32:30.767" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:32:30.767" Title="Reusing the same water bottle for drinking tap water" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6903" CreationDate="2014-10-07T14:50:53.467" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that your water is clean I don't think cleaning the bottle is a major concern. Personally I would rinse a water bottle out with tap water before filling (or maybe once a day if using it lots) and only bother with soap if visibly dirty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore I would say your suggestion is more than necessary but not excessive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference I fill my water bottle for cycling to work most days and clean it less than I recommended (I don't clean it at all if filling from the office water cooler) and I haven't had any ill effects yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One case where I would recommend you clean your bottle well is if you leave it filled for a long time (say over a week), particularly if it is left in direct sunlight. In this case bacteria/mold can grow in the water which you probably don't want to be drinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a hiking perspective, providing that the water is drinkable, I would apply pretty much the same principles. Although I would be even less keen drink water then has been standing a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T14:50:53.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6903" CreationDate="2014-10-07T19:36:33.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as the water you are filling it with is clean, it won't be the problem. What may cause an issue is your mouth. Human mouths are not especially clean, and while microorganisms are kept at bay in the mouth, they can start to multiply rapidly in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always recommend washing bottles once a day. As a simple, convenient and quick hygiene step it removes one worry from your list of health checks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T19:36:33.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6896" CreationDate="2014-10-07T19:59:43.037" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To start with, each situation will be different.  E.g. if you have an overhang and your partner is hanging freely in space, you may need to handle things a bit differently.  Lowering an unconscious leader is also dangerous, as lower-angle terrain can exacerbate their injuries, and getting them caught on an unseen ledge could introduce slack.  Also, if you have a sufficiently strong tag line, tying it to the end of the rope and removing some of the lower pieces of protection may allow you to lower the leader down.  I suggest viewing the various self-rescue skills as a toolkit, from which you assemble a plan for each situation.  Escaping the belay is one of many tools you have to work with.  Some of the basics you should be well-practiced in include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Locking-off and escaping the belay&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tandem and counterbalance rappels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transferring loads between the rope and anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ascending a rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roped-solo techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basic first aid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Passing a knot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rigging hauling systems&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scenario mentioned is particularly dangerous since you have no idea if the top-most piece is still safe to climb on.  (The original fall might have nearly pulled it out.)  For a very general solution, I'd suggest the following steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assess the situation and make a plan.  Is there anyone else who can help?  Is there an easier way to get above the leader?  Is the leader conscious?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Escape the belay and beef up your anchors.  Make any necessary adjustments to your anchor (e.g. for direction of pull).  If the leader is still conscious, they may be able to place additional protection or give you more information.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get to your leader.  As mentioned, you don't know how secure the rope is.  If you have a second rope you may want to consider roped solo techniques.  Alternatively you can ascend the rope.  Fix any immediate life threats, (although anything that serious will probably already have killed them).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Construct a proper anchor and transfer the leader's weight to it.  You will likely need to return to the bottom anchor to lower them onto the new anchor.  Once this is done, you can return to the leader to set up a lower or rappel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Administer any needed first aid and re-assess your plan.  If this new anchor is sufficiently low, it may allow you to do a tandem rappel to the original belay station.  Otherwise, you may want to lower them first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/089886772X&quot;&gt;Climbing Self Rescue: Improvising Solutions for Serious Situations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2014-10-07T22:10:39.063" LastActivityDate="2014-10-07T22:10:39.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6907" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6913" CreationDate="2014-10-08T09:20:58.710" Score="11" ViewCount="2534" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 1891 Hugh Munro published his list of mountains in Scotland over 3000 feet, since then the list has been revised a number of times and the current total stands at 282.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many revisions have been made between 1891 and the present day and what was the total at each revision?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3322" LastEditorUserId="3322" LastEditDate="2017-05-22T09:45:32.087" LastActivityDate="2017-05-23T18:02:04.767" Title="How many &quot;Munro&quot; revisions have there been?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;scotland-munro&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6908" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-08T09:21:27.010" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T09:21:27.010" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T09:21:27.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6909" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-08T09:21:27.010" Score="0" Body="A munro is a classification of mountain in Scotland which is over 3000 feet" OwnerUserId="3322" LastEditorUserId="3322" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T14:07:20.737" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T14:07:20.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6910" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-08T10:47:27.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Hugh_Munro,_4th_Baronet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sir Hugo Munro&lt;/a&gt; compiled his list of peaks in 1891. The table was produced in association with the newly formed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smc.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Scottish Mountaineering Club&lt;/a&gt; (now an affiliate of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;British Mountaineering Club&lt;/a&gt;) of which Munro was a founder member. At the time a list of significant peaks in Scotland was unknown. Munro attempted to rectify this fact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The current figure of accepted Munro's stands at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Munros&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;282&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term for climbing Munro's is often called &quot;Munro bagging&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="4025" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T14:07:13.253" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T14:07:13.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6911" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-08T10:47:27.677" Score="0" Body="A Munro is a Scottish peak over 3000 feet in height. Munros are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet (1856–1919)" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="4025" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T14:07:09.457" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T14:07:09.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6907" CreationDate="2014-10-08T11:04:50.380" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I had originally thought &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munro&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; had a good list, nivag pointed me in the direction of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/munros/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;walkhighlands&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.themunrosociety.com/sir-ht-munro.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Munro Society&lt;/a&gt; pages have more info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1884 - 236&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1891 - 282 or 283 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1921 - 276 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1974 - 279&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1981 - &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1984 - &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1990 -&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1997 - 284&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2009 - 283&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2012 - 282 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-10-08T12:41:34.960" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T12:41:34.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6907" CreationDate="2014-10-08T12:50:50.173" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A list of changes to the Munro list and database of Munros and tops can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hills-database.co.uk/downloads.html#munrotab&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Database of British and Irish hills&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The list is maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering club (SMC) and is published in the SMC Journal. As far as I am aware, an update is only published when there is a change to the list. This is normally because of new survey data putting a mountain above or below 3000’ (914.4m) or changes in whether the mountain is a full Munro or a top (subsidiary peak).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The changes are summarised below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1891&lt;/strong&gt;: Munro’s first list published – 538 summits over 3000’, 282 of which are separate mountains. In modern terminology, that is 282 Munros with the rest being Munro tops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1921&lt;/strong&gt;: First revision after Munro's death. Mostly changes in what is a top or full Munro – 276 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1933&lt;/strong&gt;: A few more switches between Munros and their associated tops – still 276 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1953&lt;/strong&gt;: A couple more switches in location of the Munro peak. Beinn Tarsuinn added as Munro – 277 Munros&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1969&lt;/strong&gt;: Some coordinates updated; no changes to Munros/tops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1974&lt;/strong&gt;: Some changes between Munros and tops. Beinn a' Chlaidheimh (see 2012) and Ruadh Stac Mòr as Munros. First edition to give 6 figure grid references of the peaks. - 279 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1981&lt;/strong&gt;: Various changes, several Munros demoted to tops – 276 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1984&lt;/strong&gt;: Beinn Teallach promoted to Munro, several GR updated -277 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1990&lt;/strong&gt;: Minor changes to some GRs – 277 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1997&lt;/strong&gt;: Several tops promoted to full Munros - 284 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2009&lt;/strong&gt;: Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean demoted – 283 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2012&lt;/strong&gt;: Beinn a' Chlaidheimh demoted – 282 Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-05-23T18:02:04.767" LastActivityDate="2017-05-23T18:02:04.767" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6914" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6917" CreationDate="2014-10-08T13:28:18.097" Score="11" ViewCount="3865" Body="&lt;p&gt;a little related to this question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6907/how-many-munro-revisions-have-there-been&quot;&gt;How many &amp;quot;Munro&amp;quot; revisions has there been?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leads me to wonder do mountains change height? or is this because the equipment is more precise these days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that erosion will (very gradually) lower a mountain. I suppose I mean geologically and I suppose specifically in &lt;strong&gt;relatively un-active areas&lt;/strong&gt; such as the Cairngorms/Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they do change height by how much? (roughly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:00:53.597" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:00:53.597" Title="Do mountains regularly (for a mountain) change height?" Tags="&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6914" CreationDate="2014-10-08T13:45:53.217" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountains change height on geologic time scales.  If a list of mountains above a certain height changes in one or two human lifetimes, then very likely this is due to measurement errors or refinements.  I remember a decade or two ago when GPS first became widely available that someone made a big deal of claiming K2 was higher than Everest.  That turned out to be false, by hundreds of feet.  The original measurements done by the Everest team using theodolites turned out to be quite good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountains wear down by erosion, but also go up and down as parts of the earth's crust move relative to each other.  For example, India is still moving northeast relative to Asia at about 2 inches a year.  That's really fast for continental plate movement.  This same movement is what created the Himalayas when India slammed into Asia and the crust buckled and crunched at the impact zone.  Since this process is still going on, the Himalayas are still rising.  Mt Everest is getting a few 10s of mm higher each year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the flip side, some older mountains are relics from long ago plate movements and are wearing down over time.  The Appalachians in the eastern US are good examples of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T13:45:53.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6914" CreationDate="2014-10-08T14:06:48.607" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common reason for a mountain to 'change height' is because it's been remeasured. Erosion, rockslides and other natural causes can change the height of a mountain however in comparison they're relatively minor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason that the Munros are reclassified is because they have been measured to a far greater degree of accuracy. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt; and several &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hills-database.co.uk/articles.html#surveying&quot;&gt;amateur groups&lt;/a&gt; periodically survey the UK, when errors are found the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smc.org.uk/&quot;&gt;SMC&lt;/a&gt; updates it's list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reclassification is fairly unique to Munros, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wainwrights&quot;&gt;Wainwrights&lt;/a&gt; for example are not reclassified as they are set on guide books rather than a set criteria of inclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common way for a mountain to change it's height is because it was incorrectly measured previously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3322" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T14:06:48.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6914" CreationDate="2014-10-08T14:21:35.270" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;While heights do change slowly by natural processes such changes are likely to be on the order of centimeters barring any extreme events.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most changes in published heights of hills since people started measuring these things accurately (only the last couple of hundred years) are due to improvements/investments in technology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Measuring the height of a hill is surprisingly hard. One of the earliest ways to determine hill height was &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometry&quot;&gt;trigonometry&lt;/a&gt;. If you have two points with a known distance between them and one known height (sea-level works well here) then by careful measurement of angles you can determine the height (and distance) of a third point. The accuracy here will depend on the the ability to measure an accurate angle and the distance to the third point. I haven't done any accurate calculation but with tools of the late 19th/early 20th c. I reckon accuracy of a few meters is reasonable. Possibly a bit higher with careful repeated measurements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly this is what lead to the introduction of the system of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_station&quot;&gt;trig points&lt;/a&gt; in the UK and other places. Which used this principle to map out distances and heights across the country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in modern times calculating heights is not trivial. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/how-do-you-measure-a-mountain/&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is an interesting article but the ordnance survey describing the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primarily, they use photogrammetry (and probably related techniques such as LIDAR) to measure height by air. This is a quick way to cover large areas by is limited to accuracy of a couple of meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to measure height accurately you need to leave a fixed GPS receiver in place for several weeks. While the accuracy here can be a few centimeters it is too expensive to be used in most situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore there is significant uncertainty about some Munros height considering how close they are to the 3000' (914m) cut-off. The two post 1997 Munro re-classifications have both been due to interested parties hiring an team of surveyors to do very accurate measurements of some mountains which are more accurate than what the OS would normally do and they found that these two are just below the cut-off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T14:21:35.270" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6875" CreationDate="2014-10-08T21:14:07.870" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The literature is mostly pro-drinking and anti-rationing.  Hopefully these sources will provide some details for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aircav.com/survival/asch13/asch13p02.html&quot;&gt;U.S. Army survival manual does not recommend that you drink water only when thirsty&lt;/a&gt;, as this leads to under hydrating. Instead, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivalebooks.com/survivalfm3-0570.html&quot;&gt;water should be drunk at regular intervals&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in cold weather:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don't take chances with hydration. Do not ration your water; it is&#xA;  better inside you than in your canteen or thermos. Push yourself to&#xA;  drink as much water as you can while on a wilderness trip or while&#xA;  stranded in the wilderness in a survival situation. &lt;a href=&quot;http://boreal.net/articles/survival-training/water-balance.php&quot;&gt;http://boreal.net/articles/survival-training/water-balance.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3464" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T21:14:07.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6903" CreationDate="2014-10-08T21:38:08.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your water source is clean and assuming you are a relatively clean person in a fairly clean environment (not working in sanitation), You can probably get away with never cleaning it and not get sick.  Tap water usually has some chlorine in it to keep basic bacteria and virus levels low.  So refilling it with this water will keep the general levels low inside the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contamination will primarily come from you -- your hands and mouth.  Your body is constantly fighting off bacteria and viruses and the levels you transfer to the bottle will be quite low and easy for your body to kill.  However if bacteria left unexposed to the cleansing tap water (like trapped under a piece of food or debris) they can multiply.  In these cases the most common bacterias will alter the flavor of the water, however your body will easily fight them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are sick or very unclean (wiping the lip of the bottle with dirty hands), the amount of harmful animals transfered to the bottle will be very small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allowing the bottle surfaces to completely dry will kill a large range of bacteria, and rinsing/washing occasionally will also remove debris where they can breed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An occasional rinse with vinegar will help destroy both viruses and bacteria on many of the hidden surfaces that the chlorinated tap water isn't strong enough to penetrate completely.  Vinegar is also non-toxic to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example I live in the tropics where bacteria and viruses thrive in the heat and humidity.  In our case the water is chlorinated, but the water is filtered through a charcoal filter before being placed into the bottle to reduce the chlorine levels (the bottle itself does not get the benefit of the chlorine to clean it).  With daily use (and drying, but not washing) it can take several months before a water bottle starts to taste off and a vinegar rinse removes it.  We also store water in water bottles that we do not put in our mouths, but pour directly from them.  In this case, they are on their second year of never being washed and are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3464" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T21:38:08.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6898" CreationDate="2014-10-08T23:19:03.067" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting question. Here's some speculation, but I don't know if I'm right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There has been a clear tendency for climbing grades to inflate over time. You can really see this, for example, if you look at the climbs at Tahquitz Rock that were originally used to define the Yosemite Decimal System. For example, The Trough was the original definition of 5.0, but Vogel and Gaines (2001) call it 5.4. Climbing gyms are a relatively new invention, and most climbing gyms are not that old. Therefore it seems natural that there would be a tendency for gym ratings to be soft, compared to outdoor ratings at long-established climbing areas, which may have been assigned at one time and then resisted inflation. The most inflated ratings I've ever seen are at the gym Sender One in Santa Ana, California, which opened a year ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We're just talking about different types of climbing, which aren't comparable. Routes in the gym often have &quot;jug&quot; holds, which you almost never see outside. Outdoor trad climbs are often crack climbs, but the gyms I've been to don't even rate their cracks. Gym routes are super safe because they have many bolts, no ledges, no loose rock, and so on. The consequences of a fall in the gym are zero, whereas outdoors a fall often is a more serious thing. I'm conservative on multipitch climbs because they're committing; gyms don't have multipitch climbs. In general, I'm willing to attempt stuff in the gym that I would never try outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gyms want to stroke the egos of their customers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-10-08T23:19:03.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6903" CreationDate="2014-10-09T09:20:04.607" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;More important than the cleaning is, in my opinion the choice of the bootle. I switched to a bottle explicitly designed for a use like yours, in my case a &lt;a href=&quot;http://nalgene.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nalgene&lt;/a&gt; drinking bottle. My reasons for doing so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Health concerns:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;While I think there are regulations about what materials are allowed in drinking bottles, they have shown to be insufficient in many other areas. Soft plastics often contain softeners which have hormonal or cancer-inducing effects. The nalgene (and others designed for this purpose) bottle is BPA-free.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hygienic reasons:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The wide-mouth bottles are super easy to clean. You can easily clean the inside as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Practical reasons:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The lower building form allows for easy refills, even under lower taps. If you have problems drinking from the wide-mouth models (which is not as easy as it looks!), you can buy an adapter or one with a smaller opening. These bottles are also very useful for outdoor use (for example because of the scale on their side) and can therefore be found in nearly any outdoor store.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Environmental concerns:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Because they are easier to clean and more durable, it is the better choice to buy a good bottle once and use it for months or even years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About your original question, how (often) to clean it:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I clean my bottle every couple of days to prevent them from smelling. I wash them by hand with normal dishwashing-soap, but you could also put them in the dishwasher, if you have one. If you really want to desinfect them thoroughly (which seems like a little bit of overkill for me, since I never had any problems), don´t use boiling water, since this could destroy the coating of the bottle and make bad substances solve in your water (this is true for any plastic bottle!). I would use vinegar for desinfecting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2014-10-09T09:20:04.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6914" CreationDate="2014-10-09T09:57:50.243" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some mountains change height at a surprisingly fast rate.  For example, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;magma chamber beneath the Yellowstone caldera&lt;/a&gt; is currently inflating.  This is causing &lt;a href=&quot;http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/yellowstone_monitoring_47.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;some of the nearby mountains&lt;/a&gt; to grow by as much as an inch or two per year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2014-10-09T09:57:50.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="646" CreationDate="2014-10-09T10:08:50.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think of the time you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; invest and rather you'd &lt;em&gt;want to&lt;/em&gt; invest into making one of these, as it takes quite an effort and time to make one that you'll be wanting to be inside of.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are in a hurry, consider making a trench instead of a snow cave.&#xA;As a trench can be made far more quicker and takes less efforts, and can be relied upon in case of emergency &lt;em&gt;(not the avalanche of course)&lt;/em&gt; with proper use of bedding sheet or a tarp underneath and over to keep you warm. Obviously you can't expect that to be as warm and comfortable as a cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snow cave, needless to say not to be confused with an Igloo, is a make-shift thing: &lt;em&gt;Spend a night and get going&lt;/em&gt; kind of a shelter.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The idea of a snow cave is digging snow in a manner that the entrance of a tunnel/cave is slightly lower and the main space is a bit higher in order to retain warm air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pick your place: To make one such cave, you need to pick a silent site with no gusty winds and with adequate snow depth of course, &lt;em&gt;Not the ice&lt;/em&gt; and free of rocks. A depth of 4 to 5 ft is more than enough, provided that you make sure that you dig it carefully so your snow cave won't collapse on top of you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need a dome-like snow structure to get started with the actual digging in. Look out for snow piles which are created by winds. If you don't find one such, pick a safer place and pile up snow by means of some equipment &lt;em&gt;(something like a cooking pot?)&lt;/em&gt; and make a dome-like thing. Consider making the a solid snow-dome of the dimension which would allow you to have 1-ft thick walls on either side and 1-ft thick roof. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once done, wait for a while, catch your breathe. Don't get started right away with the powdery snow, as you may find it tough to work it around the way you want as its more likely to collapse. That said, know that snow tends to harden once disturbed and then left as is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plan the entrance in such a way that it is not directed against the wind as blowing snow could clog the entrance tunnel and block access to the outside air, that would suffocate you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dig &lt;em&gt;(Carve would be an in appropriate term to use, considering a first-timer may spend quite a lot of time in carving it, artistically)&lt;/em&gt; an entrance sloping downwards. Brush off corners of the entrance for safety. A good 4 feet long and 3 ft downward slope from the entrance is enough, then you can start digging a trench. Ideally, when you sit in the trench, you should just be able to take a look at the weather outside and when you lie flat, you should be at a lower ground than the actual surface outside. The thicker the walls the more stable the structure and the better it will insulate. &#xA;Be very delicate with the roof and make sure you don't scrape it too much that it gets thin and then collapse, resulting in rework.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure that you have the entrance blocked by something like your backpack, so that the inside remains warm, but keep a went good enough for ventilation.&#xA;Its important to make some arrangement to make sure that you can monitor snow fall, so that you don't get buried while you are asleep.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-23T19:48:39.243" LastActivityDate="2017-11-23T19:48:39.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6903" CreationDate="2014-10-10T13:59:46.943" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cleaning once a week may be slightly more than enough, but it is reasonable. Depending on your environment, there may be factors that cause the bottle to smell bad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something I have learned from biking is to &lt;em&gt;store the empty bottle in the freezer at night&lt;/em&gt;, or when not in use. Freezing kills a lot of things and prevents growth of mold/mildew. It has the added benefit of slightly cooling your water when filled in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My recommendation would be:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse it out when filling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeze it while empty at night when possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash with soap when you feel it needs it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2638" LastActivityDate="2014-10-10T13:59:46.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2014-10-11T07:29:46.133" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is absolutely yes. DO IT! If you do have trouble with the height just go back down. As somebody said it's not about how trained you are, the affect is individual and you have to get up there to see how it specifically affects you and the adjust to the situation. Needless to say your heart must be healthy doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a badly planned and equipped little trek for one day in 2013. I went from sea level (Puerto de la Cruz) to about 2,500 m and back again after some beer and water in Las Cañadas del Teide. It was dark when I got back after this 60k walk. As you can see I didn't go straight at all and had to battle with dogs and thirst since I had too little water with me. But besides some ill tempered dogs and really dumb path choices there was great trails and small roads all the way up up and it was truly epic. Some of the descent was pretty much jogging down in a straight line through the the terrain, which was a bit gnarly, until I hit the roads further down. I didn't want to end up on the mountain in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had trainers and shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses, sun screen and a hoodie in a little backpack. Food wise I had two candy bars, an apple and 1 liter of water with me... as I said badly planned, time and food wise. The clothes and trainers worked really well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could really feel the height (heavy in the head/head ache, swollen hands, breathing like pregnant hippopotamus) but other than feeling tired with a &quot;few&quot; blisters on my feet I felt freaking great when I got back!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With better planning and maybe some advise from any of you of the straightest/fastest path up, or if someone wants to join, I'd like to see if I can do Teide (view point at 3 500) from sea level and back again in one day. I'm 46, healthy and in OK shape and I have done a few really average marathons done in the past. I'll be in Puerto de la Cruz Nov 23rd to 30th 2014.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the plot from my trek. The spike in the end is from a 2 km car ride I got from a local since it was getting dark and I had no clue which way to go except down ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;/Lars, Stockholm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NU895.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A days walk plot&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4063" LastActivityDate="2014-10-11T07:29:46.133" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4398" CreationDate="2014-10-12T17:21:47.767" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I too have wondered about the difference. It makes no sense to me… for years women have used the same bag and now they need a whole new line? I am a tall woman (5'11&quot;) and a man's bag fits just fine for me&#xA;A recent New Yorker interview with the guy who started UnderArmour said to make women's gear &quot;shrink it and pink it&quot;. Pathetic, but seems to be true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4064" LastActivityDate="2014-10-12T17:21:47.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6929" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6934" CreationDate="2014-10-12T19:31:02.687" Score="12" ViewCount="2045" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often, when I leave my tent during the day, cats and other animals come and pee in the corners and on the carpet. They probably do this to mark it as their territory. They don't come at night when I sleep inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides building a fence around my tent, which is expensive and time-consuming, is there other way to convince animals that they shouldn't come?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4065" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T22:27:06.313" Title="How can I prevent animals from marking my camp as their territory?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6930" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6938" CreationDate="2014-10-12T21:15:13.403" Score="8" ViewCount="4813" Body="&lt;p&gt;When doing a multi-pitch and you reach a belay station (the top of a pitch) you can choose between belaying the lead climber from the body (like you do e.g. indoors where you aren't doing multi-pitches) or from the belay station (anchor) itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone experienced please compare those types of belaying? What are pros and cons? What should be preferred in which situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know for example that you have to care if you are using a Tube (e.g. BD ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso) and you are going to belay from the body because the device will fail if the pull of the rope isn't coming from above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:56:29.127" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:56:29.127" Title="How to belay on top of a pitch" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6929" CreationDate="2014-10-13T00:04:09.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try marking the tent as your territory. Same way they do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3844" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T00:04:09.857" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6930" CreationDate="2014-10-13T01:22:23.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Update: I have now realized you were talking about belaying the leader, and not the second climber. I am updating my answer to take this into account.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does &quot;belay from the body&quot; mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to your remark on the direction of the pool, I guess it means the rope doesn't pass through the anchor at all. This type of belaying seems not safe, regardless of which belay device you are using. If the climber you are belaying falls, he will pull you down (or to the side, if it was a traverse), and you will find yourself hanging on your self-belay in a very uncomfortable position, possibly letting go of the belay rope! I also heard that harnesses are designed to be weaker when pulled downward, but I don't know whether this is true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very easy to fix this arrangement: just pass your rope through the anchor (most likely by adding a dedicated carabiner to the anchor, and passing the rope through it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could think about just a few reasons not to pass the rope through the anchor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a very unreliable anchor, or no anchor at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the rope is too short&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above is especially true for belaying the second climber; it is also usually true for belaying the leader; however, when the station is very comfortable and you (the belayer) have nowhere to fall, there is little use in passing your rope through the anchor. In this case, until the leader places the first piece of protection, he most likely hits the ground (or ledge you are standing on), and the rope doesn't help. Also, you might want to help him land safely in this case (aka &quot;gymnastic belay&quot;), and being attached to the anchor hinders your movement. So, in this case you should &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; pass the rope through the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The following part describes belaying the second climber. I have never tried to belay a leader with belay device anywhere except my harness, and I suspect it's impossible.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &quot;belay from the body&quot; only signifies where you attach the belay device (your harness vs the fixed anchor) - the choice is mostly a matter of convenience. It's usually more convenient to use the anchor (assuming you use a device that supports it); in some situations the &quot;indoor&quot; mode is better:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are going to move around while belaying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the anchor is high above you, and you don't have spare webbing for extensions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes you want to apply a constant sideways force on the anchor to guide the rope away from sharp rock outcroppings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maybe you want to use your weight to help the following climber cheat through hard sections? (just guessing here; never had to do this)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2014-10-13T11:13:03.680" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T11:13:03.680" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6930" CreationDate="2014-10-13T01:49:44.643" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many different types of belays from above, e.g., you could be belaying for someone on third-class snow, with your dug-in crampons as part of your anchor. In that particular situation, you want to belay off of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying off of your body has the disadvantage that if the climber takes a fall, you may be whipped around. A possible advantage is that it's a pretty natural and physically comfortable way to belay, and one that many people are familiar with from the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying with the belay device hung off of the anchor has a couple of advantages. If the follower falls, you won't be moved around. Also, if you're using an ATC Guide, this setup allows you to use its autoblocking mode. This protects your climber if, e.g., you get hit in the head by rockfall. One possible big disadvantage is that if you don't understand how to set up your belay device properly for belaying in this mode, you can be in a situation where you effectively are not giving a belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every belay station is different, and you may want to take into account the physical setup and your physical comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T01:49:44.643" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6929" CreationDate="2014-10-13T06:21:33.180" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume that the way the said animal is marking it's territory, and with reference to &quot;&lt;em&gt;They don't come at night when I sleep inside.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;, can I assume that you are camping there more than a night or two? If thats the case then I am hoping that its not a backcountry area where you have bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Marking the territory in the sense you are talking of definitely suggest that you're referring to domestic and more or less harmless animals, cats and dogs being the ideal examples. Assuming the way of marking the territory, we are not talking of big wild animals like Bears and Coyotes, etc.&#xA;So, as far as the cats and dogs are concerned, No matter what, Your best bet to keep tent as your &lt;em&gt;territory&lt;/em&gt; should be zipping it neat when you go out and its unattended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet, if you are looking for some thing that can keep them away, probably odors are best bet to bank upon: Apart from peeing around own tent, there are a few tricks to work it around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can use a room freshener with a  strong fragrance, that shall help you keep the dogs and cats away. Most of them are irritated by strong odors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the room freshener for some reason is unacceptable to you, then you can try for something like putting mothballs into a Net-pouch, that can keep many insects and dogs away. That works for my dog, (&lt;em&gt;Though we never intentionally try to keep her away from us, or out of our territory, she is always with us!&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've observed that such animals tend to occupy the corners. So if I were you, I would try and keep some stuff at the corners, but this really doesn't work on almost every situation though, at least never keep your bedding at the corners, they would really get tempted to take a nap there and often try coming in and snuggle. Instead, if its a cat (and not a dog for sure) you can keep your shoes or some other footwear (spare one of course if you carry along) at the corners, most of the cats tend to hate them, while dogs would love them. Keep the stuff at the corner, whatever stuff that won't make an animal feel cozy and comfy.&#xA;My pet, she loves sleeping on (and fortunately not inside) my sleeping bag and she does that all the time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-16T06:02:28.603" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T06:02:28.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6935" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-13T07:16:56.153" Score="10" ViewCount="2916" Body="&lt;p&gt;Overhangs are a weak point in rock climbing for me currently. I think I know the theory: the goal is to use the legs to push yourself up, keep straight arms as much as possible and avoid pulling, and generally keep the hips closed even to the extent that one leg is flagging when reaching for another grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a good chance that I'm weak in the lowest part of my squat, to the extent that if my legs are too crouched in I have very little strength to stand up with. (I realized this today). That makes it hard to crouch up with feet then stand up. This may be my problem (but leaving this question open for better intel).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it always feels like a trade-off to me: if I use straight arms and keep hips closed, it's far too much stress on my hands and I won't be able to maintain grip strength even on the juggiest v0s and v1s. Otherwise I can just strong arm it but this is obviously poor technique and doesn't scale (no pun intended). How can I repair this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastEditorUserId="4038" LastEditDate="2014-10-13T07:29:24.390" LastActivityDate="2014-12-11T18:27:22.790" Title="How to use legs more effectively to avoid grip stress on overhangs" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6936" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6937" CreationDate="2014-10-13T08:00:54.743" Score="5" ViewCount="1775" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bumped into this page at the Bicycles at StackExchange, which talks about &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q/44/8605&quot;&gt;how shaving limbs can help a cyclist&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the same apply to climbers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:32:41.257" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T13:44:01.873" Title="Do climbers shave limbs?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6936" CreationDate="2014-10-13T08:16:49.817" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not as clear cut as for cycling. For cycling you have definite benefits, and of the 3 listed in the accepted answer on the cycling page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To prevent infection when crashing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To pull off bandages more painlessly after dressing a wound.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are really not an issue in climbing. Crashes in cycling often cause road rash, where dirt, grit, and hair are forced into a surface wound. This is not your typical climbing injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third one, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To get a massage of the legs without hair pulling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is in my opinion nonsense. You can have a massage just as easily with hairy legs (disclaimer - I don't have hairy legs; I'm going on hearsay from colleagues and friends)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answer, around wind resistance, may or may not be true - but in any case it does not apply to climbers :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-10-13T08:16:49.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6930" CreationDate="2014-10-14T07:39:00.200" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belaying Multi-pitch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's often recommended to belay off the harness (an &quot;indirect&quot; belay) when belaying the leader, and off the anchor (a &quot;direct&quot; belay) when belaying the follower.   Use of an indirect belay for the leader reduces the force on the anchors, but does require consideration of how the belayer may be pulled in a fall.  Use of a direct belay for the follower similarly minimizes the force on the anchor by avoiding the pulley effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the anchor pieces are extremely solid (e.g. bolts), a direct belay may be desirable in both cases.  Still, do bear in mind that neither setup is mandatory; if a direct belay would place you in an awkward or less secure position then an indirect belay would offer, you should probably use the indirect belay and vice versa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belaying the leader&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should the leader fall before placing any protection, and continue falling past the belayer, the direction of pull then comes from below, and so the belayer must reverse their braking direction.  As the belayer may not recognize the implications of this and thus not respond quickly enough, it's common to want to find some way to redirect the rope.  However, an easier way to address this is for the belayer to bring their brake hand around behind their hip, rather than making a habit of braking purely downwards.  Having your hand further from the device when it's locked-off may also reduce rope burns in a high fall factor situation as more rope can slip through the device before it has to also slip through your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a redirect is still wanted, the leader can do this by clipping the rope into the shelf, master point, or the topmost piece of the anchor, which the belayer may unclip once additional protection has been placed.  Alternatively the belayer could lower themselves a few meters below the anchor.  I've also seen it suggested that the previous leader could climb slightly above the belay station in order to place an initial piece, and descend to build the belay anchor.  (This makes an exception to the &quot;never back-clip&quot; rule, as back-clipping this piece lets the rope run the correct direction when the other climber takes the lead.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Redirecting the belay by clipping the anchor may slightly reduce the fall factor due to the additional rope out.  However, it also means the belayer will be pulled violently into that piece when such a fall happens.  The pulley effect will also multiply the force on the anchor (or the particular piece that was clipped) in contrast to a direct belay.  Thus, unless the clipped piece is solid (e.g. a bolt) and the belayer can also be anchored to prevent them smashing into it, it may be preferable for the leader to simply place good protection soon after leaving the ground rather than clipping the leader's rope into the anchor.[1]  (Of course, if you have an extremely solid anchor, you might also consider a direct belay.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A strong argument for an indirect belay (off the harness) is that by incorporating the belayer into the system, some of the load on the anchor is shifted to the belayer's stance.  This may be helpful if the quality of the anchor or gear is in question.  If you do use an indirect belay, be mindful of the direction a fall will pull the belayer.  It's also advisable to clip the belay device into both the rope tie-in loop and the belay loop when doing this, in order to prevent discomfort from the harness being twisted in two different directions.[2]  (Clipping the belay loop vs. clipping the tie-in loop is also a way you can further adjust the amount of force going to the anchor.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, a direct belay (off the anchor) will be much easier to escape if something goes wrong, and essentially eliminates the weight of the belayer as a factor in catching falls.  This may be beneficial if the leader significantly outweighs their belayer, but it also means that it's harder to give a &quot;soft catch&quot;.  It also places significantly higher forces on the anchor and gear.[3]  (Along those same lines, use of a tube-style belay device such as an ATC or Reverso will allow additional rope slippage that further reduces the impact on the anchor.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Will Gadd &quot;Anchor Clipping #2 (Now 3)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://willgadd.com/anchor-clipping-2/&quot;&gt;http://willgadd.com/anchor-clipping-2/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belaying – From the 'Rope Loop' or from the harness 'Belay Loop'?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1129&quot;&gt;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1129&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Max Berger &quot;Steinzeitmethode Fixpunktsicherung?&quot;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2012/3/36-41%20%28steinzeitmethode%20fixpunktsicherung%29.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2012/3/36-41%20%28steinzeitmethode%20fixpunktsicherung%29.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-10-14T07:39:00.200" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6939" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-14T11:02:43.390" Score="4" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having read this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/168/are-drop-bears-dangerous&quot;&gt;question on drop bears&lt;/a&gt;. I have been wondering what other fictitious animals are there in other parts of the world that have been invented to amuse/confuse tourists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone compiled a list?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do these animals share any common features?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular I'm interested in the more &quot;modern&quot; fictitious animals such as drop bears or haggis rather than more traditional mythical beasts like dragons or the minotaur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-10-14T11:43:45.113" Title="What fictitious wilderness animals are there as tourist attractions?" Tags="&lt;folklore&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2014-10-14T11:43:54.733" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6940" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-14T12:10:20.313" Score="3" ViewCount="58" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to ask If someone knows a method for taping wrists that supports wrists. I got stretched tendon in my wrist and I would like to support it with tape. I have only found methods for making tape gloves that are used to protect hand from rocks etc. but haven't found anything that would support my wrist/tendons in forearm/wrist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4072" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T07:27:03.637" Title="Methods for taping injured wrists" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2014-10-16T15:14:07.873" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6942" CreationDate="2014-10-14T17:22:37.273" Score="21" ViewCount="4769" Body="&lt;p&gt;My compass has become increasingly untrustworthy. Over the past couple years I had noticed that it often pointed pretty close to magnetic South, but it corrected after a light tap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In two recent trips to the woods this compass has been wildly inaccurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This compass is stored by hanging from my rear-view mirror. Could various electrical devices like the radio and the fan motor degrade the needle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:40:32.787" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:40:32.787" Title="Can a compass needle become de-magnetized over time?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6941" CreationDate="2014-10-14T18:22:37.883" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yep!&lt;/strong&gt;  If you store your compass near objects that have strong magnets in them (such as your car speakers) it can demagnetize over extended periods of time.  There are a few other issues your compass can run into that makes it less reliable as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air getting into the compass housing (in excess)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bubbles can form within the compass housing when doing big ascents or changes in weather.  There bubbles often go away upon descending or when the weather changes back.  However if the bubbles get large enough it &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; cause some inaccuracies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Traveling to a different regional magnetic zone from which your compass was designed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compass needles are often balanced based how much dip a magnetic zone has.  This allows the needle to sit level within the housing.  The northern hemisphere is lucky to have a similar magnetic zone throughout, but if you travel south with a northern calibrated compass you might run into troubles.  The image below shows magnetic zones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uESng.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that a compass always points to the strongest magnetic object, so if you are using it near a car it can be pretty inaccurate.  Make sure the earth is what it's referring too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuIkvUTxYdU&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn how to re-magnetize a compass by watching this video.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/outfit/navigation/#compasses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn more about compasses and navigational tools here (OS).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy Navigating!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-10-14T18:22:37.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6944" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8197" CreationDate="2014-10-14T20:02:07.520" Score="5" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend not to use surface plugs in rough water, merely because I find them more difficult to fish. But are they less productive in choppy water than when the surface is calm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:55:48.867" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T12:55:48.867" Title="Are surface plugs effective for fishing in choppy water?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6946" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6976" CreationDate="2014-10-13T23:56:16.147" Score="6" ViewCount="632" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can lash a mini tripod ($2 on eBay) to the top of a quad-sected tent pole with 4 equal sections with internal elastic to make a tripod.  This gets me about 2' off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can lash a mini tripod to the top of two bi-sected tent poles together, to form a tripod.  This gets me about 4' off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two Trek poles and a cord with a tent anchor, leaning away from the tent anchor makes a tripod; and the mini tripod lash to the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the heaviest part of my backpack tripod is the mini tripod and the lashing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This all sounds great, but it wants to twist and role around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas for a better way of lashing/connecting the mini tripod to the poles and have it be stable?  As it turns out, it takes a lot of lashing and time to get it stable.  The poles want to slip through the lashing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wrapping each leg of the mini tripod to each of my tent poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is probably a sailor out there that knows the perfect knot, a mechanic that is going to have a better solution, or a photographer that has figured this out a long time ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping.  Currently it takes me about 10 minutes and 15' of cord to get it stable.  And about 10 minutes for me to tear it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small amount of weight really makes a big difference, and I would rather take a reflector, flash, and a remote... than haul a &quot;light weight&quot; tripod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My makeshift backpacking rig:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJvlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;My makeshift backpacking rig&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/15352796309/in/set-72157648742501902&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/15352796309/in/set-72157648742501902&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Member contributed solution:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5602/15387884019_f86a500642_z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hanger Clip Substitute for rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4080" OwnerDisplayName="jamesbdunn" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.730" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T14:19:37.587" Title="Create ultra light camera tripod w/ mini tripod and 3 tent poles?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6946" CreationDate="2014-10-15T09:39:32.487" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have several suggestions of how you could do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to use rope I would use 3 pieces of thinner rope 2/3mm paracord should be more than strong enough. I would then tie a shear lashing (see picture) on each leg. You want to try and use a significant length of the pole or possible even tie to lashings per pole to reduce the amount of twisting you get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, using rope takes relatively long to setup and is relatively hard to do if you are not experienced, so I would probably use a different method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wWDvb.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative would be to use bungee You would need 2 pieces of thinnish bungee per leg, probably no more than 20-30cm for your thickness of pole. Tie each bungee into a loop using a large knot such as a figure of eight, although a simple overhand knot would probably do. Then wrap the loop several times around the two poles until it is extended and reasonably tight. To tie it off just loop the remaining end of bungee through the knot in the other end. To make this more secure you can wrap knot under all the wrapping of bungee. You can also get hooks you can hook onto rather than looping through the knot which can be a bot unsecure if you're not careful. This is a very fast and easy way to attach the poles but is not the most secure and can slip a bit if left for a long time. Its also better suited to slightly thicker poles you may have difficulty getting the elastic tight enough on these poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/plBkK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sorry this is a terrible diagram&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third suggestion you be to use &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_tie&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cable ties&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_Clip&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;jubilee clips&lt;/a&gt;. You would probably need two of these per leg. Cable ties are plastic, much lighter and easy to attach, but generally have to be cut off and so are one use only. Which may be an issue depending on how often you use the tripod. Also you need to dispose of the old clips sensibly, easily in an outdoors environment. Jubilee clips can be a bit of a pain to attach and generally require a screwdriver to tighten or remove. This could be an issue for outdoors use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My final suggestion would be to make a connector to attach the poles to the end of the the legs. From your picture I cannot tell but this would work best if the tent poles are not attached together, but it might work anyway. There are many ways you could make such a thing but my suggestion would be for each leg use a short piece of PVC pipe, just slightly larger internal diameter than the poles so that they can slide inside. Drill a hole right through the middle of the pipe and put a bolt through it. If you want to make it more secure and have the right tools you could but a threaded hole on each side and put a bolt in to act as a tighter. This method requires the most work beforehand but would probably result in very easy assembly in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yTX2o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-10-15T09:39:32.487" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6948" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6951" CreationDate="2014-10-15T10:59:23.313" Score="26" ViewCount="4424" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am contemplating a river journey from Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico. 981 miles on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio river&lt;/a&gt; and 2340 miles on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mississippi River&lt;/a&gt;.  The current plan calls for completing the journey in 1 or 2 week trips over several outings.  Put the boat in the water at the mouth of the Ohio in Pittsburgh and drift/paddle down river, when it is time to get out, rent a truck one way and drive home with the boat.  Next trip rent a truck one way to where I got out last time and get back in (&lt;em&gt;repeat as needed&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this early point in the planning (&lt;em&gt;dreaming&lt;/em&gt;) I envision the need to travel some distance on land occasionally, probably with the canoe in tow, and prior to the return truck rental. Any number of reasons to portage exist, from an occasional motel/ shower/shopping to going around locks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of pictures on the internet of bicycles towing canoes, but if there are any pictures of bicycles in canoes I have not come across them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am traveling down river with a canoe how do I include a bicycle?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Other&lt;/em&gt; Reasonable &lt;em&gt;suggestions for human powered amphibious mode would also be welcome&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256&quot;&gt;How to tow a canoe with a bicycle?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T17:41:31.940" LastActivityDate="2018-03-31T17:41:31.940" Title="How to carry a bicycle in a canoe?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6949" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6950" CreationDate="2014-10-15T11:14:19.610" Score="31" ViewCount="20658" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend often complains that a route or boulder was created for tall climbers. In my experience that sometimes is true: I easily get a hold, she has to jump. However, Lynn Hill proved that a small climber can achieve wonderful, unthinkable things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking at mixed gender bouldering competitions in Germany (like described in the &lt;em&gt;Art and Science of Bouldering&lt;/em&gt; by Udo Neumann)&#xA;girls easily manage the guys' problems, but with different techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the advantages of short climbers?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How should short climbers train to compensate for their shorter reach?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T12:54:28.883" LastActivityDate="2018-12-21T09:28:17.727" Title="What are the advantages of being short when climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2014-10-15T12:06:05.050" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a disclaimer I'm 6'3&quot; so this isn't from experience!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a tall climber you're correct, I have a lot of advantages. Reach can be very advantageous, especially on bouldering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience the &lt;strong&gt;disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt; of me being tall (therefore the &lt;strong&gt;advantages of being shorter&lt;/strong&gt;!) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have a longer reach but I also have longer levers. This means I&#xA;find certain power moves more difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taller people tend not to be as powerfully built as shorter climbers so again I'm maybe lacking in sheer strength (to weight) sometimes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I find close claustrophobic moves difficult. My elbows and knees can get in the way. Shorter climbers often find these moves easier as they are in more natural positions for them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a shorter climber you need to train for your advantages. So train for power moves. Use your lighter weight and shorter levers to perform dynamic moves. This also has the advantages of allowing you to reach the longer moves that you may struggle with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important is technique. A climber with good technique will out climb any climber with worse technique, regardless of physical features. There are lots and lots of examples of brilliant short climbers The legend that is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Brown_(climber)&quot;&gt;Joe brown&lt;/a&gt; was well known as a short powerfully built man. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't say a shorter climber should train much different to a taller climber. A shorter climber will often simply need a different &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_(climbing)&quot;&gt;Beta&lt;/a&gt; to a taller climber, i.e. a more dynamic move to reach the holds, different foot positions, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a firm believer that the best training is climbing. So stick at it. Try some dynamic jump moves and practice them, use this to help you out of sticky situations. Work on your grip strength (dead hangs, etc.) but I would recommend this to anyone climbing short or tall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;tl;dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I climb with a guy who's better than me. He's also a lot shorter than me. It really annoys him when I can just reach something that he can't. But 9 times out of 10 he'll climb stuff I can't. That is simply because he's better and height is almost irrelevant. So don't let height be a disadvantage. Keep practising and getting better and it will become less and less of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-16T08:55:28.770" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T08:55:28.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6948" CreationDate="2014-10-15T15:43:35.227" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a large enough canoe, you can simply put the bike in the canoe, albeit somewhat precariously. What's more common though is for people to bike their canoe to an input, lock up the bike on shore, then return to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hmwFJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bike in canoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sN7Jz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Another bike on a canoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good alternative is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding_bicycle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;folding bike&lt;/a&gt;. They're not as efficient to ride for long distances, but can easily be fit inside a canoe. For just biking relatively short distances, a folding bike and a collapsible canoe trailer would probably work well for your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KNc4k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Folding bike on a canoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-10-15T16:02:30.117" LastActivityDate="2014-10-15T16:02:30.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2014-10-16T05:55:15.830" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a very good climber as such, and I am 5'7&quot; only. I think I am dwarf enough to put in my experiences here:&#xA;As you rightly said, being short can be very frustrating when you don't get to access a specific hold. There are a few techniques that might help a short climber do amazingly well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Realize that you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; not be able to do exactly the same movements as a tall climber would do. So, try and look for intermediate holds, if you are climbing indoor in a local gym, or a bouldering station, try to climb through intermediate holds, often you can try using footholds as handholds. In case if you are climbing outdoors, you might want to find those hidden finger pockets or crimps that are not covered in chalk?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change your power building routines to improve arm pinch strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being short might help in being a bit more movable. Try and work out technique like rotating your torso to the left or right as much as you can, and a bit more, further. The more mobile you can be on the fall, the more you can reach, irrespective of the height.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try getting your leg higher. Being short, you just may manage to take your knees out of the way and find a higher foothold after an intermediate hold. There comes the flexibility. Practicing hand-foot matching is a best bet in such a case, where you put your foot just where your hand is, thats tough for a tall climber.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop-knees are very helpful, where you can’t reach the next hold. Take your knee inward as you turn your torso sideways and into the wall. Sometimes, even extending your leg helps to balance your weight, which taller guys will struggle with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice dynamic moves. Add exercises like hanging on two handholds and footholds, with your knees bent in your Practice and Power building sessions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More importantly, keep climbing, that helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T05:55:15.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6955" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6959" CreationDate="2014-10-16T08:57:28.017" Score="11" ViewCount="1750" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the locks on rivers in the United States are built for commercial traffic. like barges to navigate the river system. I know they exist and I have seen them on television, but that is all I know. Can and/or how does a person in a canoe navigate through locks on major rivers (like the Mississippi) in the US.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:03:56.397" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:03:56.397" Title="What is involved in taking a canoe through a lock on a major US River?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6956" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6962" CreationDate="2014-10-16T09:49:07.213" Score="20" ViewCount="3920" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to make ice axe protectors yourself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have few ideas from using duck tape to 3D printing, but it would be nice to hear about methods proven to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I want to add protectors is a lot of travelling using public transport coming winter in weapon paranoid country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3912" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T08:03:31.547" Title="How to make DIY ice axe protectors?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3480" CreationDate="2014-10-16T10:00:06.253" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/219585-how-to-wrap-a-wrist-with-athletic-tape/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; covers the details of taping a wrist after an injury:&#xA;Basically you want to wrap a stretch bandage around the area first then add support to it using  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;keywords=physio+tape&amp;amp;tag=googhydr-21&amp;amp;index=aps&amp;amp;hvadid=23265927169&amp;amp;hvpos=1t1&amp;amp;hvexid=&amp;amp;hvnetw=g&amp;amp;hvrand=17218431410405606723&amp;amp;hvpone=&amp;amp;hvptwo=&amp;amp;hvqmt=e&amp;amp;hvdev=c&amp;amp;ref=pd_sl_8j48bp8pnc_e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wide athletic/physio tape&lt;/a&gt;. If you still want to climb on it (&lt;strong&gt;if it's injured you may want to consider resting it to prevent further injury&lt;/strong&gt;) make sure you allow good movement of your fingers and thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BmXFT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T00:26:43.357" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T00:26:43.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2014-10-16T10:19:22.440" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can think of the following two ways to cover the blade:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can use something like a Bike Handle cover, the one that has a cap on the other end. You can get it of the size that your axe-blade fits in.&#xA;I assume that the main blade will be a bit hard to fit in, but then you can always give a try towards getting the handle cover which is a bit flexible(probably made of vulcanized rubber?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could get a leather packet sewed/tailored to fit the blade in. Provide some kind of a sling-thread thing to wrap around it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T08:03:31.547" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T08:03:31.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6955" CreationDate="2014-10-16T12:27:58.477" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is not a definitive guide for all locks, however most of the major locks in the US are run by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and they do not charge recreational boaters to pass through them. To my knowledge, all locks on the Upper Mississippi are accessible via paddling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the Ohio river, you can try calling &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Navigation/LocksandDams/McAlpineLocksandDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;McAlpine Lock and Dam&quot;&gt;McAlpine lock and dam&lt;/a&gt;, and they'll be able to answer for sure what the situation is on the Ohio river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To use the lock, when you approach the lock, there should be a section at the entrance of the concrete wall with a signal rope, hopefully well marked. Paddle up to the rope and pull it, and that will signal the lock operators. They'll then instruct you on what to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going through locks is not a rapid operation, and priority is allocated to commercial traffic, so you may be waiting for awhile prior to entry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the following brochure for further info, it has information on the hazards and restricted areas surrounding locks: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Portals/48/docs/Nav/LocksAndRiver.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Locks and Rivers&lt;/a&gt;. I'd recommend reading that because since the locks are built where elevation drops the fastest, the pools, dams, and weirs around the locks can be deathtraps if you paddle where you aren't supposed to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring rope 75 to 100 feet of rope. When you enter the lock, the lock master will lower a rope on a hook, put the center of your rope over the hook.  Your rope is placed on the rail and you payout (double) or take in rope as the water elevation changes in the lock.  When the gates open release one end of your rope and pull it all in, and you are on your way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some locks may both a small boat and commercial (tug boat/barge) lock. If two, the signal pull cord will be near the small boat lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2015-08-23T16:46:30.977" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T16:46:30.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4133" CreationDate="2014-10-16T14:29:46.503" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can relate to the desire to fish close to home. I rarely travel more than 30 minutes to fish. However I think you would be missing out on a lifetime experience if you didn't spend some time fishing the small brook-trout streams out in Rappahannock, Madison and Greene Counties. I'm talking about the Rapidan, Rose, and Conway rivers for starters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fishing is only &quot;good&quot; if you like challenging fly fishing. However even when the fishing is mediocre, the experience is incredible. Follow these streams into deep chasms cut off from most man-made noise and you'll encounter picturesque scenes you'll ache to take home with you.. Much of the time you'll have the place to yourself, and the audio - between the water rushing through rocks and the birds and the wind in the trees - is the stuff of movie sound tracks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And should you be luck enough to catch an 8&quot; or 9&quot; brook trout, you'll feel as though you held a pile of jewels in your cupped hands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can tell, I'm quite moved by the time I spent up there and wish I could get back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T14:29:46.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2014-10-16T16:24:23.247" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was once shown a great way to protect the blade on a wood axe or hatchet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that ice axes are a different shape than wood axes, so this may not be a perfect solution, but maybe it will give you an inspiration for something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get an old garden hose. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut a length of the hose about as long as the axe's blade.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut an incision down the length of the piece of hose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Force-fit the axe blade into the slice in the hose. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a stiff enough hose, it stays on pretty well, but for travel you may like to tie it on with twine or tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the pointy end of the ice axe, perhaps an old tennis ball can protect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4086" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T16:24:23.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5394" CreationDate="2014-10-16T19:52:40.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this post is probs a bit late for the original poster. However, I grew up thinking that walking boots had to be worn in and were supposed to be initially uncomfortable for the wearer. Having watched my father hardening his feet in surgical spirits before and after wearing what looked to be hard leathery walking boots, I wasn't looking forward to ever wearing a pair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, I got to my early thirties, and having decided I liked the outdoors, decided to buy a pair. With a limited budget, I sat in Blacks trying on the cheapest own brand shoes (having never spent more than £40 on a pair of shoes). I tried on a pair of Peter Storm shoes, and yes, they were hard and unforgiving, but I thought that was what they were supposed to feel like at first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was about to buy them, when out of curiosity I thought I'd see what the fuss was about with the more expensive shoes. I tried a pair of Berghaus on at £80, well….what a difference! Like walking on a cloud of marshmallow pillows! I had to buy them, and that was a decade ago. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have NEVER had a blister in those shoes, I've walked through peat bogs, up mountains, through snow (with one pair of socks), and been as warm, dry and toasty as if I'd been walking on my own living room carpet. &#xA;The thing I learnt was that, with shoes, the cheapest option is usually a false economy. You don't need the most expensive option, but try and compare, because you may have to buy many cheap pairs before you find one that suits, and by then, you might as well have bought the better quality pair . I've since bought my poor Dad a pair of Berghaus Explorers, and he's very grateful :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4088" LastEditorUserId="4088" LastEditDate="2014-10-16T19:58:31.230" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T19:58:31.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6929" CreationDate="2014-10-16T22:27:06.313" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for different animals, or yourself, marking their territory, I think the only time that makes a difference is when the two animals are in competition with each other.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A bear or mountain lion will have a large territory marked that they hunt within. However, a raccoon may occupy a smaller territory within a bears territory. The bear will ignore any raccoon markings since they don't compete for the same food. And a field mouse may have his own territory marked within the raccoon's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T22:27:06.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6880" CreationDate="2014-10-16T23:03:59.923" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @wedapashi already stated, permethrin is a very good choice. And even though it's an insecticide, I find it works well as a repellent also. I treat all my clothing (even socks and underwear) and gear. I can't even remember the last time I found a tick on me. Even keeps the mosquitoes away.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once dry, it's safe for all animals (except insects).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Permethrin is not new. It's a synthetic version of what's found naturally in marigolds (pyrethrin). It's currently used by the military when washing uniforms, and also sprayed on orchards and farm livestock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy it in small aerosol cans ($$$), or buy it concentrated on Amazon ($) and use a garden sprayer to dilute &amp;amp; apply it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid using DEET if at all possible. DEET is toxic even to us. If you do use DEET, don't use anything greater than 20-30%. Higher concentrations DO NOT provide more protection, but may melt any plastics you have on you, and/or remove any paint (latex) that may be hit when spraying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T23:03:59.923" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2014-10-16T23:19:10.467" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the spike, I usually just take a piece of corrugated cardboard, fold it to double the thickness, punch holes through it, and use some thin cord to tie it through the hole in the spike. This is low-tech and works if I lose my protector while traveling, which is what always happens. No matter where I am, it's always pretty easy to get some cardboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the adze, duct tape works. In fact, I know people who climb with duct tape over the adze, on the theory that it will keep them from getting cut accidentally by the edge. You don't need the adze for self-arrest. If you need to cut hard ice or something, you can take off the duct tape (or the act of cutting might just take it off). The duct tape method also works for me when traveling, since I carry a small amount of duct tape anyway for use in taping toes, repairing ponchos, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2014-10-16T23:19:10.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6935" CreationDate="2014-10-17T10:57:04.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest core strength is more the problem than leg strength, if you notice it specifically on overhangs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a slab, your legs are doing most (or sometimes all) of the pushing, while minimal weight is on your hands for balance.  As it gets steeper more of your weight will always be on your hands, but the stronger your core is the more you can keep your feet on the wall, meaning you can transfer weight onto them.  There will always be more weight on your arms on steep stuff, but technique can help a lot on how to transfer this onto your feet / knees / whatever else you can get involved.  Look for creative rests like knee-bars too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that is not directly in answer to this but may help, would be to focus on not re-gripping holds - try to hit the sweet spot first time, as every time you adjust your hand you are effectively doing another move and getting more pumped.  Technique is always the answer, alongside getting stronger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastActivityDate="2014-10-17T10:57:04.287" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2014-10-17T10:57:28.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What came to my mind when I read WedaPashi's answer about bicycle handles was the use of old bicycle tubes to build some sheath. The rubber of the tube is flexible but it's not too easy to perforate it, therefore you can build your sheath rather close-fitting. Also you can glue it easily with bicycle patch glue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2014-10-17T10:57:28.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6809" CreationDate="2014-10-17T13:07:21.487" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would look for a club or group of climbers, not a business, and see if they want to go with you. As long as you are willing to cover transportation, you'll probably find people who'll take you, and probably new friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've belonged to a climbing club in Peru and we did that a couple of times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4089" LastActivityDate="2014-10-17T13:07:21.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6935" CreationDate="2014-10-17T18:00:47.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no hard and fast guidelines for climbing overhangs that don't already generally apply for vertical or even slabs. I generally agree with SpoonerNZ, core strength is a huge part of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On steep ground try to place your feet so that you can adopt a body position that relies on major muscle groups, not minor ones, sometimes this is likely to be higher than you might think, especially if you have a big move coming. Some of it is about forward planning for where you need to be and being energy efficient. Some moves can only be started with low feet, as balance and momentum come into play. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something this natural is difficult to explain and this is technique that is largely developed through practice and observation of others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly the only real answer is simply get stronger, there are some things you just can't tech your way out of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2014-10-17T18:00:47.533" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6971" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6973" CreationDate="2014-10-17T22:03:19.000" Score="7" ViewCount="374" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across several shots of the 'Canoe Bike' which seems to be a custom build by Jay Broemmel.  There are several action shots of this vehicle on the internet.  There are a couple of similar ones also, but this one looks like it might be functional.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/7243293818/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ecofriend.com/interesting-bike-hacks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are even images of it in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mybikeisawesome.com/post/24079577136/my-bike-is-awesome-because-its-amphibious-it-can&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to be based on the commercially available &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.autocanoe.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Autocanoe&lt;/a&gt; design. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jay's version seems to be bike additions to a used aluminum canoe, while the Autocanoe appears (from the video) to be a bike with a flat bottom boat built around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my planned trip from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico&lt;/a&gt;, would a design along these lines be viable? My trip is planned as a pleasure trip going down stream, with short land trips. I am not overly worried about efficiency, but it needs to be able to pedal up some hills (slow is ok), be able to brake going down, and have enough energy in the water to stay/get out of danger on major waterways.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary concerns are longevity and safety. Can one of these survive a 3300 mile water/land trip?  Will it leak un-manageably or in some other way be unsafe? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T00:38:00.103" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T00:38:00.103" Title="Is a Canoe Bike a viable mode of human powered amphibious transportation?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2014-10-17T22:39:40.877" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pan of cool charcoal left in the foot of the tent or if possible hanging from the tent roof will help absorb much of the moisture. Most of the moisture comes from us (breathing) and cools as it raises. If you can hang it about mid level of the tent the charcoal will soak it up like a sponge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4091" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-10-18T08:22:13.337" LastActivityDate="2014-10-18T08:22:13.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6971" CreationDate="2014-10-18T19:01:33.660" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;John Montgomery here, designer of the Autocanoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that with a careful build and a few modifications for taller freeboard and a small forward cabin a long trip would be quite viable. Especially if you have some previous experience with this kind of trip. The main thing being to foresee and plan for the mitigation of contingencies. My friend Colin Angus, Angus Adventures, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.angusadventures.com&quot;&gt;http://www.angusadventures.com&lt;/a&gt; , has a world of experience in this kind of interdisciplinary trip and would be a great source for suggestions in this regard. Please let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And thanks for the interest!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;John Montgomery&#xA;Autocanoe Co.&#xA;info@autocanoe.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4092" LastActivityDate="2014-10-18T19:01:33.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6974" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-18T19:28:27.707" Score="13" ViewCount="1524" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most recent (2013) edition of Climbing Anchors, by Long and Gaines, makes some interesting statements in the preface about catastrophic failures of anchors. Long first says that: when belay anchors fail, it's usually in cases where the gear was placed in a horizontal crack, and the anchor was subjected to a shock load &lt;code&gt;sideways to the intended direction of pull.&lt;/code&gt; He attributes this to &lt;code&gt;anecdotal reports.&lt;/code&gt; He also says the following, which I find very surprising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because statistically, the majority of climbing accidents occur from leader falls, we'd expect catastrophic anchor failure to result from a leader taking the dreaded Factor 2 ripper right onto the anchor. Not so. Most of these failures involved a leader belaying a second up on a toprope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So from this information, it sounds like these failures often happen the first time the anchor is ever loaded, i.e., it was such a poor anchor that it wouldn't hold even a top-rope fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to find systematic statistics anywhere on the types of anchor failures (top-roping, leading, ...) and how survivable they were? In the case of the leader belaying the follower, it seems like the failure might actually be survivable in many cases, since there might still be a lot of gear down below that hadn't yet been cleaned. (But the belayer had better maintain a serious death-grip on the rope!) Even if, as Long says, few failures are from factor-2 falls, those are probably the ones that would not be survivable at all, since there is no other gear present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also having a hard time reconciling the statements that: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;anchor failures are usually from a load &quot;sideways to the intended&#xA;direction of pull,&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they usually happen while the leader is belaying the follower. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the leader is building the anchor, his rope is trailing right back toward his last piece of pro, so it should be dead obvious what the direction of pull is going to be when he catches a fall by the follower. The exception would be, I guess, when there is a traverse from the last piece to the belay station, and the follower takes a fall after cleaning that final piece (and in this case, the anchor failure is probably not going to be survivable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also be interested in statistics about how many accidents are caused by anchor failures while climbing, as opposed to rappelling. The latter seems more common, which probably isn't so surprising, since people usually try to make their belay anchors really bombproof. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T12:52:05.077" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T06:18:14.690" Title="Statistics on types and survivability of anchor failures?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2014-10-19T06:26:58.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not mentioned yet: shorter people probably have smaller hands, hence shorter fingers. Shorter fingers have more crimp strength. This creates a disadvantage for sloper terrain, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastEditorUserId="4038" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T21:48:11.673" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T21:48:11.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6946" CreationDate="2014-10-19T16:46:36.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using a hanger worked great.  The clips I made replaced the slider legs of the mini-tripod, and the other end engaged the tent pole sleeves.  I bent up a pressure clip so they would not slide out.  I can even move my ultra-light tripod around and it stays together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See pictures below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/15574507645/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Set Up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/15387884019/in/photostream/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Close Up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/14953752834/in/photostream/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Mounted&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbdunn/15571828011/in/photostream/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bottom View&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://farm4.staticflickr.com//3935//14953740724_2a2706d6a9_z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The Clip&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice the pressure clip ends are for different diameter tubes.  The hole in the leg of the tripod is smaller than the hole in the tent pole sleeve.  When put together (about 20 seconds), the tripod can be moved around roughly and still stay together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you everyone for contributing.  Especially Nivag; it was their insight regarding a mechanical connection that inspired my hanger solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;James Dunn&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4080" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.747" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T14:19:37.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-19T19:28:28.910" Score="8" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was trying to make a sling the other day to entertain my kids (yes this is a terrible idea) and although the finished product worked (sort of) it occurred to me that this, like all ancient handi-craft, is probably deceptively complicated and has some crisply defined right and wrong materials and methods associated with it. Case in point, our sling is made of para-chord and a leather pouch. It works okay but the release is unpredictable and sometimes fails altogether.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My questions are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what are the traditional/proper ways to stitch the elements together, what are the right materials?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;where if any are some resources on how to implement said sling safely and accurately?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9zgSB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sling&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K2CFo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sling&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4095" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T10:43:04.037" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T13:38:32.693" Title="What are the things I need to know when fashioning a sling?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="31" CreationDate="2014-10-20T08:29:26.780" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd try and be more specific towards the kind of the fuel we are talking about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;White Gas / Naphtha&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burns clean without any smell and/or effect on food taste.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accidental Spilling of the fuel is not much to be worried about. Evaporates very quickly, without leaving an odor. That said, make a note that the spilled fuel is very flammable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;White gas is safer to store and transport than probably most of the other products.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additional information: White gas is a more volatile distillate of petroleum, to which no poisonous automotive-oriented chemicals have been added.  It is much safer to store and use, with far superior shelf-life than gasoline/petrol (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britannica.com/science/naphtha&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.britannica.com/science/naphtha&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Propane/Butane/Isobutane Gas&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A Propane gas stove would most likely be a Canister type? So, pressurized fuel? : Might be more dangerous if canister is leaking?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the products that are available are the ones that work on Propane and Primarily Isobutane. They burn hot and clean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pressurized fuel = No Pumping, preheating required.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No spill play at all as the canister holds the pressurized gas, so self-seals when the stove is detached: Safe!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you don't &lt;em&gt;pour&lt;/em&gt; the fuel into the canister yourself, its difficult to gauge remaining fuel level.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Performance degrades when the fuel is consumed beyond a certain level because the pressure is not enough to inject the fuel into the jets. Take an example of a aerosol deodorant. So, when &lt;em&gt;nearly&lt;/em&gt; emptied, the remaining fuel is apparently useless.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel is more expensive. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If its Butane, it doesn't work in freezing conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If its Propane, it will work under conditions roughly upto -32 C. I know someone who has used it at that temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kerosene Stove&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;function really well in extremely cold temperatures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burns hot, better than Alcohol stoves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Relatively inexpensive fuel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Needs proper storing, since it evaporates slowly if spilled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prone to spills during the pouring process. But, spilled fuel won't ignite easily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not Odorless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many of the Kerosene based stoves need pumping and pre-heating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some points about common terms used in different parts of the world. Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/4098/a-e&quot;&gt;A E&lt;/a&gt; for suggesting this concept and the data provided. I have done a mere copy+paste from comments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be helpful if this question/answer also contains the translation for non-American readers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the UK, &lt;em&gt;'Coleman fuel'&lt;/em&gt; is same as what is known as &lt;em&gt;'White Gas'&lt;/em&gt; in America.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Propane'&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;'Butane'&lt;/em&gt; are two universal terms for two different chemical compounds.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Some people find it hard to understand what this means, So, it means, &lt;em&gt;Propane&lt;/em&gt; is not equal to &lt;em&gt;Butane&lt;/em&gt;, those are two different chemical comppounds. The compound which people around you call as 'Propane', probably almost everywhere in the world its called 'Propane', same goes for a different compound called Butane.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;US &lt;em&gt;'Kerosene'&lt;/em&gt; is UK &lt;em&gt;'paraffin'&lt;/em&gt;, the same in India is &lt;em&gt;'Kerosene'&lt;/em&gt; and more popularly known as &lt;em&gt;'Rockel'&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;US &lt;em&gt;'Gasoline'&lt;/em&gt; is UK &lt;em&gt;'Petrol'&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the UK, they also have &lt;em&gt;'White spirit'&lt;/em&gt; which should not be confused with &lt;em&gt;'White gas'&lt;/em&gt;, it's not the same thing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;'White Gas/Coleman Fuel'&lt;/em&gt; is called &lt;em&gt;'Naphtha'&lt;/em&gt; in Eastern Canada, and English-speaking chemistry labs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T05:19:42.027" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T05:19:42.027" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="6981" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The scope for the tag and it's usage should be prohibited from using with/for posts that may look like Product-marketing attempts, promotions, etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6982" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" Score="0" Body="This tag should be used with questions/posts relating to aspects related to purchasing some equipment, gear, etc." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T11:26:49.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5326" CreationDate="2014-10-20T19:40:57.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the good advice already offered in other answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The national parks have websites offering you advice on safety - e.g. for &lt;a href=&quot;http://mountainsafe.co.uk/site/en/#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowdonia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/visiting/vi-enjoyingdartmoor/vi-walkingforall/vi-walkersafety&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dartmoor&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Military 'live firing ranges' exist in some more remote parts of the UK such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/visiting/vi-planningyourvisit/dartmoor-military-firing-ranges&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dartmoor&lt;/a&gt;. This means that the military use them for firing &lt;strong&gt;live ammunition&lt;/strong&gt; (not blanks, actual explosives). Such areas should be shown on your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt; map. Double-check safe access dates on their website before you visit. Be cautious of metal objects you find anywhere in the area. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/public-access-to-military-areas&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of military live firing ranges in the UK&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4098" LastActivityDate="2014-10-20T19:40:57.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6985" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6986" CreationDate="2014-10-20T21:10:13.523" Score="12" ViewCount="6673" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went kayaking for the first time this weekend, and it was a blast! Unfortunately, I also ended up with some abraded skin on my hands, where the paddle shaft had chaffed the skin. I've done other paddle sports before, and while my hands would often develop callouses over time in specific areas, I never experienced discomfort/blisters like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some good ways to avoid this? Just get over it and wait for callouses to form if I kayak more often? Are there gloves that help reduce the friction? Maybe some kind of wrap on the shaft, similar to bar type on bike handlebars?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T16:59:21.997" Title="Preventing hand blisters while paddling" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6985" CreationDate="2014-10-21T02:29:36.963" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kayak guide here...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blisters form because of friction, as many know. What most don't realize is that it matters little if your hands are wet or dry. Because you are gripping the paddle tightly, your hands will rub against the paddle plastic.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how you are holding it, you want to minimize the &quot;sliding&quot;, try to keep your hands on the same place on the kayak paddle - don't move them up and down the paddle shaft as some do. I usually open/close (flex) my &quot;highest&quot; hand when I am paddling (i.e. my lower hand is down by the water, pulling me forward, and the other hand is higher up the paddle, keep it in line). The biggest place for a blister is the inside edge of your thumb, between your thumb and first finger, so move your thumb around as you paddle to different positions; your thumb doesn't always have to wrap around the paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I still developed small callouses, but little by way of blisters. Never used gloves personally - I would only recommend them for part-time paddlers (3-5 times/year - any more than that, start working on callouses, it is worth it for longer paddles) as it really reduces friction and makes beginners more comfortable. You may want gloves if you're doing much whitewater/rougher water (rapids, lots of rocks) since you may be trying to push off rocks/trees, etc., but the focus should always be on your paddle and using it properly). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, REI.com stocks a few pairs (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/paddling-gloves&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T02:29:36.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6988" CreationDate="2014-10-21T03:20:18.223" Score="9" ViewCount="6037" Body="&lt;p&gt;Choosing a trail gun is proving more challenging than I would like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What handgun calibres are powerful enough to provide some protection against aggressive  bears?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want something manageable enough for a smaller framed shooter ( whether that be a younger shooter, a female shooter or like me a shorter guy... 5'7&quot; ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4102" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-10-24T12:37:57.270" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T07:30:52.087" Title="Trail gun for protection against bears" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6987" CreationDate="2014-10-21T07:14:29.563" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is &quot;bear spray&quot;; a firearm is really not the most effective option.  That said...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will assume you are looking for grizzly protection, since you didn't specify the bear and black bears are relatively shy.  Again, using spray is a far more effective way of improving your odds; a review of its use in Alaska found a 98% success rate, with no fatalities.  On the other hand, bringing or using a firearm does not appear to do anything to improve your odds in a bear encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is likely due to a number of factors, one being that most people's aim goes totally to pieces under stress, another being that the animal is, well, a bear.  On all fours it's nearly as tall as you are, it outweighs you by several hundred pounds, it's faster than most residential speed limits, and unlike many humans it doesn't freeze up or faint when shot in a non-vital area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, since you ask, a .44 Magnum with 240 grain bullets is considered sufficient, assuming you can place your shots on target and learn to handle the recoil.  (Ok, yes, this does fall into the &quot;hand cannon&quot; category.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given your question, I assume you are not qualified as &quot;expert&quot; in terms of shooting ability.  This means that if you want to be effective you will need to put in a great deal of time at the range, hopefully with a good instructor so you develop proper habits.  (A good goal is 3&quot; groups at 25 yards.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also strongly recommend the Herrero book below, to better understand bear behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: Herrero, &lt;em&gt;Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Shoot-or-Spray.html&quot;&gt;http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/Shoot-or-Spray.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T07:14:29.563" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6989" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here at TGO, we would consider 'Walking' as an activity slightly more than just another mode of locomotion, typically slower than running and other gaits, but more as an outdoor activity that involves moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6990" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" Score="0" Body="Questions typically related to walking outdoors shall be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T07:15:18.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6991" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The scope for the 'Snow' tag on TGO.SE should be restricted to use within the posts that relate snow with typical outdoor activities like Camping, Hiking, Mountaineering at various altitude, and other adventure activities like Snow-Sports like skiing, Snow-Boarding, Snow-Surfing, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6992" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" Score="0" Body="Snow is vapor frozen forming ice crystals, often lying on ground or falling as a snow flake, often termed Snow Fall." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" LastActivityDate="2014-10-21T08:07:43.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6993" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="6995" CreationDate="2014-10-22T09:31:28.330" Score="8" ViewCount="1417" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its somewhat wrong to say a leak, I should rather say a small hole. But how would you go about sealing/fixing it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know many of us would say, &quot;Why so much trouble? trash it, and get a new one&quot;, but still I'd like to receive any ideas if you can think of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Psqo9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:40:37.780" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:40:37.780" Title="How to fix a leak in Hydration pack?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6993" CreationDate="2014-10-22T11:24:22.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_Goo&quot;&gt;Shoe Goo&lt;/a&gt; or similar. Just dab on a small amount to seal the hole and ensure it doesn't stick to the opposite side of the hydration pack internally be keeping the sides separated until the Shoe Goo has dried. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I repaired a small hole in a waterproof Ortlieb bag quite a few years ago and it is still holding up as a repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-10-22T11:24:22.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6993" CreationDate="2014-10-22T16:35:33.233" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Push the torn area up to the mouth and apply a bike tire patch to it from the inside (make sure it's dry). Then apply another patch from the outside. Where the two patches bond together will form a plug that should stand up better to water than a single patch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3933" LastActivityDate="2014-10-22T16:35:33.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6985" CreationDate="2014-10-22T17:34:37.483" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear lightweight gardening gloves, cotton I suppose, available in men's, women's, and children's sizes for $3 or so at pretty much any hardware or gardening store in the summer. I avoid anything with leather or rubber, I want pretty much just fabric. Gently elasticized wrists are fine. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/women-39-s-floral-print-jersey-39-n-more-gloves-0592839p.html#.VEfo-Y10wps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example 1&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goclc.com/products/Work-Gloves-Gardening-Women/2204&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example 2&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fQpUt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;gloves&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These protect against blisters, keep your fingers warm on a cold or windy day, and absorb sweat on a super hot day. They can dry hanging up in your tent or on a clothesline when you set up camp. (Leather and suede take too long to dry.) They are also handy for handling hot pots and lids when you're cooking. (Rubber might melt.) You can stick them in your pocket if you take them off, so you're unlikely to lose them. (Leather gloves are just too big for that.) And they're cheap, so if you wear a hole in them you can just replace them. You can also sew up a rip or small hole to get you through a trip until you can replace them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I take beginners on trips, I make sure everyone has gloves. My most recent guidees had done an all day paddle the previous week and all the paddlers got blisters. With these sorts of gloves on we did two all day paddles (one day in, one day out) and nobody got blisters. Same people, skin, and technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2014-10-22T17:34:37.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4829" CreationDate="2014-10-22T17:51:23.323" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is true that people say this. While I know that the plural of anecdote is not data, I will tell some stories. I camp in black bear country (Algonquin and other Ontario parks) and we hang our food or put it in barrels. We never allow any food in the tent, but we do keep soap, toothpaste etc in the tents and we may have someone in the tent who has rubbed scented hand lotion on just before bed. Certainly everyone brushes their teeth before bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had two bear encounters. One was broad daylight, we were washing breakfast dishes, I saw the bear coming down the trail and said &quot;oooh&quot; and after a period of mutual staring, it turned and ran back away from us. It was not fullsize. Our food was down but the bear was technically never in our site. The other was at night during a very dry period in which all campfires were banned, and there had been reports of very hungry bears interacting with people. The bear walked past our two tents (each family thinking it was an adult from the other family walking past) then bashed around the bear barrels for a while. This got everyone's attention. It then gave up and walked right past our tents and off into the woods again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This second bear utterly ignored our tents, didn't even pause and sniff. It walked right past. Trust me, I was paying great attention to where it was, how it was breathing, etc. My &lt;strong&gt;children&lt;/strong&gt; were in that tent with me. And the children of my closest friends were in the next tent. We were scared. Yet, the possible presence of toothpaste inside did not attract the bear. This bear was hungry enough to smack at barrels, and at stacked empty pots and pans, but didn't even stop for a better smell of the various lotioned, scented-shampooed, toothpasted people and their supplies inside the tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard all kinds of wild claims about what will make bears break into your tent. Women in general have been listed as dangerous. Then only women who are fertile, or menstruating (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4369/163&quot;&gt;debunked&lt;/a&gt; by an actual study) , or wearing perfume. None of it is backed up by actual anecdotes, just by the fear of &quot;wouldn't it be awful if a bear busted into the tent and attacked us! Surely any inconvenience is worth it to avoid that!&quot; From where I sit (and remember, I put my own children where my mouth is,) telling people to be afraid of their toothpaste and shampoo is not sensible. If it's simple to toss your &quot;ditty bag&quot; in with the food, then go ahead. But don't lie there in the dark wondering if the peppermint on your bedtime breath will lead to the death of you all. It won't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T16:33:06.443" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6998" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-22T20:03:49.457" Score="14" ViewCount="3010" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw an ad today for a pressurized hydration pack.  My first thought was &quot;why?&quot;.  I can't imagine a scenario where this would not lead to (a) more weight, or (b) greater risk of failure... neither of which I'd care for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons of a pressurized hydration pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:40:11.810" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:40:11.810" Title="Why would I want a pressurized hydration pack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="6999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6998" CreationDate="2014-10-22T22:21:04.397" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've already mentioned the cons. The advantage of a hydration pack that doesn't require sucking on the tube becomes apparent after slogging up a long, hard hill. Your diaphragm is already exhausted and putting all its energy into pumping your lungs. Putting in the extra effort to create the vacuum necessary to suck water out of a straw suddenly becomes monumental. It's a wonderful feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3933" LastActivityDate="2014-10-22T22:21:04.397" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7001" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-10-23T11:25:53.293" Score="11" ViewCount="735" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am office bound for 10 hours a day working at a computer. As I am off skiing this season, are there any exercises that will help my leg muscles I can do whilst sitting at my desk? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4109" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:41:35.733" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:41:35.733" Title="Are there ski exercises I can do whilst sitting at a desk?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7001" CreationDate="2014-10-23T12:15:27.787" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few quick and easy ones that will help your &lt;strong&gt;strength&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squats will be the most useful. Not exactly at your desk, but you can definitely do it next to your desk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seated leg raises. Keeping your legs straight, hold the side of the chair and raise and lower your legs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calf raises. Put your weight on your toes and lift yourself up. You don't need to raise far, just get your heels a couple of centimetres off the ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Standing up. Every opportunity you get, stand up. Simple, but useful&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the stairs. A lot. Don't go near the lift ever again&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These will all help - but nothing office-based will really cover off the fitness requirements fully, especially &lt;strong&gt;cardio&lt;/strong&gt; so I'd suggest using the gym, swimming or running as further exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-10-24T10:34:01.613" LastActivityDate="2014-10-24T10:34:01.613" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7003" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7006" CreationDate="2014-10-23T15:52:23.597" Score="37" ViewCount="6895" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to really enjoy climbing (almost all indoors).  I was bouldering around V2-3 and leading at 5+.  The mismatch was all down to fear of falling - I would repeatedly bail or fall from routes that I felt were well within my ability because of it.  It quickly got to the point where it started interfering with my enjoyment of leading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a cautious kind of person and am happy being limited by my lowish tolerance for risk (that's a decision I take), but the fear is not rational - e.g. I have no fear while clipping the 2nd bolt although a fall here is probably the worst place on an indoor wall to fall.  I get to a point where I'm scared and just freeze - I know the next move but my arms and legs just will not obey so I hang there, get tired and panicked and then either downclimb to the previous bolt or fall off.  What makes it worse:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;being above a bolt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;body weight not above feet (side pull, overhangs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;empty space below me (overhangs, stepping across onto the other side of a dihedral)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dynamic moves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have taken a few falls, but I don't seem to get used to it.  The irony is that I quite enjoy a big fall &lt;em&gt;as soon as I have left the wall&lt;/em&gt;.  Up to that point it's all panic and terror and climbing badly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tips on how to overcome this?  Or should I just give in and stick to bouldering and slabs!   &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5657/learning-to-fall-when-leading-what-is-good-fall-technique&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; looks similar but covers the techniques for falling safely.  My problem is all in my head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T12:03:59.653" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T08:35:26.567" Title="How to overcome the fear of falling in lead climbing" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2014-10-23T18:44:29.737" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you say, it's only in your head. Here are some things that may work (worked for me with various degrees of success):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just do it more. You say that you climb &quot;almost all indoors&quot; and &quot;have taken a few falls&quot; - I sense a contradiction there. Make a rule that for every route you climb, you fall off at the end. This way you will be doing 10 scary falls every day, and maybe after some time you will get used to them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hum some slow soothing music in your head (e.g. the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&quot;&gt;Moonlight Sonata&lt;/a&gt;) while you are climbing. It may be difficult in gyms, where someone else chooses songs for you. It's good outdoors though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have your partner shout encouraging stuff for you, like &quot;Climb on!&quot; or &quot;Go with your left hand!&quot; or &quot;I am catching you!&quot; or just a bunch of swearwords...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a video of yourself falling. Maybe the different viewpoint will help you rationalize your fear. In addition, when the camera is looking at you, you might be more willing to push yourself, even just to make some cool shots (this one depends a lot on your personality).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2014-10-23T18:44:29.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7030" CreationDate="2014-10-24T10:31:22.713" Score="13" ViewCount="506" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a long night of geocaching with some friends, one of them had a car full of climbing gear which he said he used for tree climbing - if the cache is up a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of times now myself or my other half (Dynadin) have climbed 3-6ft up a tree to get a cache, usually these are pretty big oaks that are leaning. In the future however we might come across caches that are much higher up. Sometimes people even slingshot the cache back up into the tree, to save them re-climbing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question is:&lt;/strong&gt; is there a recommended height to which you definitely should wear gear for climbing a tree, bearing in mind a fair level of common sense, and a low mid level of risk-taking - how can you recognise a tree that actually is more likely to need gear than others?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5199/3313&quot;&gt;How to estimate is the branch thick enough to stand on it?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5638/3313&quot;&gt;Some mobile helper for tree climbing?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T13:05:39.213" Title="When should you use gear to climb a tree?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2014-10-24T11:37:03.027" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone who climbs suffers from this to some degree, so you need to accept that doing this will make you scared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What didn't work for me&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had very similar issues to the one's your describe over the years. I've tried several techniques to help with this with mixed result. From my personal experience the below &lt;strong&gt;didn't work for me&lt;/strong&gt; (they may for you)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fall training, i.e. taking a fall deliberately to get used to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps with your fall technique but for me it failed to address the issue. I wasn't scared of taking a controlled fall I was scared that I couldn't hold on while clipping, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People shouting encouragement/telling me to get on with it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This just annoyed me/made me more frustrated than anything, which made me not want to get into that situation even less, which made me more annoyed at them and me, repeat until I end up shouting at them to simply p**s off and storming away from the crag in a terible mood.. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Putting pressure on myself to succeed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partly as a result of the above I ended up getting into a mindset that I was just being silly and I should just man up and get on with it. again, for me this simply made the matter worse, to the point where the grade I could lead gradually got worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What did work for me&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok so what &lt;strong&gt;did&lt;/strong&gt; work for me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coming to terms with it&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will get scared, that's fine; don't fight it, just accept it. &quot;Ok I'm scared, now what&quot;. This helps you think though the panic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Turn your brain on to fight your chemical response&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Panic/fear is a chemical response to being in a dangerous situation. Your body is flooded with Adrenaline and you go into &lt;em&gt;fight or flight&lt;/em&gt; mode. So do you fight or flight? &lt;strong&gt;Well neither&lt;/strong&gt;: you're 10 meters off the ground attached to a rope, &lt;em&gt;neither option is helpful&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have two options, fall (fine you're not bothered by this but ultimately this just releases more adrenaline and makes matters worse) or engage your brain and out-think your chemical response. Start concentrating on what's around you, focus on your breathing, get this under control: you're safe remember that, where's the next really good hold, I need 5 mins to just get myself in order, try not to down climb but if you do, do it slowly and controlled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay put/stay calm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try and wait it out. Don't simply let go and don't down climb. Wait, close your eyes, concentrate on your breathing, wait for the adrenaline to die down to an acceptable level, then continue. Try and hold on at this point (as opposed to letting your belayer &quot;take&quot;), realise you can probably hold at this point longer than you think. Rationalise the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't freeze&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, I know I said to stay put (above), but this can only get you so far, at some point you're going to need to do something. So do something. Plan what you're going to do, work out what you're going to hold onto, where you're going to put your feet and then do it slowly and deliberately while breathing though the panic. Again, &lt;strong&gt;rationalise the situation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try to turn the negative into a positive&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you get scared when you climb and get swamped with Adrenaline?! Isn't this why your doing this? for the buzz? The Adrenaline! Turn the negative into a positive. Next time you get scared, try and enjoy it! I know this can be hard but adrenaline can be pretty enjoyable if you learn to deal with the fight or flight response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Break the vicious cycle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get frustrated because you're not climbing at your ability which makes your more anxious which makes you push yourself, which makes matters worse, repeat. STOP, go for a boulder, relax, enjoy yourself, the wall's not going anywhere and you can come back whenever you want. Your supposed to be enjoying this!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visualisation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where you visualise the moves and convince yourself you can do it, etc. I've now started using this more and more. I often find that working though moves in my head, thinking about falling, etc. repeatedly desensitises me. So I now use this technique more than I did at the time of writing. I've also been watching videos of myself and others climbing. It helps to put the actual danger I'm in into perspective. It can seem a long way down when you're up there but if you look at it externally it often occurs (to me anyway) that it's really not as bad as it seems at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Repetition&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to overcome something you're scared of is to keep doing it, in fact do it more. The more you get yourself into scary (but safe) situations the less daunting they seem. There really is no substitute for just getting out there and climbing as often as you can. Start at the point where you feel scared but not too scared. Climb lots of routes at this grade. When it starts to become less scary do a harder route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above is based on my personal experiences. Different people will react differently to this. You need to find a solution that fits you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A nice story&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the turning point was when I was trad climbing, outdoors. I was leading an easy(ish) pitch but it was harder/more exposed than I'd expected. I found myself balanced on an arete 3-4m above my next placement which (in my head at least) would never hold a fall. I couldn't take a fall here, I had to get my sh*t together or I could hurt myself (in reality I was probably perfectly safe but I'd worked myself into such a state that I felt in real danger). I sat there slowly praying looking for a placement and not finding one, gradually I started to feel better, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;hold on this hold is solid, I could hang here one handed for about a minute easy&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Now my legs stopped shaking that foot placement is about the size of my living room&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;There's a crack there, why the hell couldn't I see that before?, what's that? a number 10&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Bloody hell I could hang a mini off of that placement&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It suddenly occurred to me that indoors I would have just let go and become annoyed at myself. But by sticking it out I'd overcome it. I felt awesome at the top and jumped about like an idiot. My girlfriend didn't understand what the fuss was all about, &lt;em&gt;&quot;That was easy?!&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I feel like I'm loosing it I try and remember this situation and how focused I felt once I'd gotten control of my emotions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="458" LastEditDate="2019-01-24T08:35:26.567" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T08:35:26.567" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7007" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7009" CreationDate="2014-10-25T12:04:16.553" Score="19" ViewCount="11147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of winter /climbing gloves. Each glove has a small loop on the ring finger, top of the glove. Why? What's it for? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:11:40.890" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:11:40.890" Title="What is the loop on the finger of my winter gloves for?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2014-10-25T15:19:19.577" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wrap mine around a Q tip shaft and snip off the cotton tips. 2 ft of duct tape ends up being the diameter of a finger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4114" LastActivityDate="2014-10-25T15:19:19.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7007" CreationDate="2014-10-25T15:36:46.060" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;The loop allows the gloves to be hung, on a carabiner for example, such that the fingers point up preventing the gloves filling with rain or snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, see the manufacturer's description of &lt;a href=&quot;http://arcteryx.com/product.aspx?language=EN&amp;amp;gender=Mens&amp;amp;model=Venta-SV-Glove&quot;&gt;these gloves&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finger-mounted clip-in loop enables gloves to be attached to a carabiner with finger-tips facing up, eliminating snow-fill&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2015-02-28T09:03:01.670" LastActivityDate="2015-02-28T09:03:01.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2014-10-25T17:20:54.827" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found a great way to work through this is doing intentional fall progressions.  Since you are climbing mostly indoors this is easy to do frequently.  Make sure you have a solid and patient belayer while doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with leading up to a bolt (4th or higher is best) and take a short lead fall from there.  Since being at the bolt doesn't make you as uncomfortable this shouldn't be too hard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, climb just a foot or two above the bolt and take another fall.  After the catch spend some time bouncing lightly against the wall by pushing away with your hands and feet (arms &amp;amp; legs always slightly bent).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then climb almost to the next unclipped bolt and take a bigger fall (this is where being at least 4 bolts high is very important).  Here's the key.  &lt;em&gt;Fall with intention&lt;/em&gt;.  Before you start have it in your head that you are going to reach some specific hold (big red jug with your right hand) and then IMMEDIATELY fall.  No taking a big breath, or looking at your fall.  Just cast off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You definitely have the intellectual understanding of climbing safety, so it's just about teaching your gut what is okay and what is not.  Practice on what you are uncomfortable with (overhangs and dynamic moves) which are really clean/safe falls anyway.  I wouldn't recommend doing this exercise where there is any risk of taking a pendulum fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And repeat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do this a lot, until it become easier.  Having a strong mental leading game isn't like riding a bike.  You could feel very comfortable and then come back a little later and be gripped again.  So you have to work it into your practice routine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it's also important to remember that if fall potentials are taking the fun out of climbing, that it's okay to not lead (or not lead routes like that).  I have a number of climbing partners who are quite good, but don't ever lead.  Don't get overcome by other climbers &quot;lead ego&quot;, climb how you like to (which it sounds like you already have a good mind for).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope that helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-04T14:56:59.210" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T14:56:59.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7011" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7015" CreationDate="2014-10-25T19:14:13.767" Score="14" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to prepare for a long route (700 m altitude gain, 12-16 hours, including descent, with alpine start), one like which I have never [successfully] climbed before. It involves many sections of roped climbing, mixed with longer sections of what should be unroped exposed scrambling. I have done longer easy routes (ones not requiring a rope), and shorter trad routes (roped climbing all the way up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem for me there is the change from roped to unroped climbing and back. When I decide where I need to change, it's usually too late, and every such mistake costs time. For example, if we climb without a rope and get to a more technical place, it's usually very inconvenient (=wasting time) to unpack the rope. And the other way around: if we climb with rope and protection, and come to a section that doesn't require it, I have to realize that early (which I usually fail), so we can pack the rope and move more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's the mixture of &quot;roped&quot; and &quot;unroped&quot; that makes me waste a lot of time and abort the route (2 unsuccessful attempts so far on similar routes). I would like to do some training in that regard; however, here is my problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have proper mountains where I live; ones that come close are 200-300 metres high and easier than needed; we also have 1-pitch routes of any difficulty but I guess this doesn't help at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how can I prepare as good as I can for such a route? Should I climb the short sections I have access to, repeatedly (it gets boring, really fast)? In bad weather? With an oversized backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I have inflated the expected time for the route; it's 8-12 hours officially but experience shows that I have to apply some factor to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2014-10-27T09:43:45.717" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T15:37:55.850" Title="How to prepare for a long rocky alpine route, which is unusual for me?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7012" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7017" CreationDate="2014-10-26T04:01:49.490" Score="8" ViewCount="1319" Body="&lt;p&gt;My hiking poles have started making an odd, springy noise with every step. The noise sounds like the poles themselves are vibrating each time I plant them into the ground, and it starts about an mile or two into a hike. The poles work well, but this noise is slightly alarming. Is something in the poles about to give? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Information that may help: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm using a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/863073/black-diamond-trail-ergo-cork-trekking-poles-pair#tab-specs&quot;&gt;Black Diamond trail ergo cork&lt;/a&gt; poles. They're aluminum, the locking mechanism is the latch/pressure type, and they don't have shock absorbers. I usually extend them to about 115cm. My usual hiking stride is a short nordic walk, to give me speed while supporting my knees a little. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2047" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T22:51:24.907" Title="Trekking poles making odd noise" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2014-10-26T08:27:19.670" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One test I've done was to fill two cups with partly ice and emptied one cup every 5 minutes. The ice in the cup that was emptied of its water lasted longer than the ice that sat in the melted water. Showed easily the best way to make ice last longer. Seems it could be a different story if your aim is to keep the cooler temperature colder for longer. But if I'm keeping food cool I like to keep it relatively dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4115" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2014-10-26T15:07:49.537" LastActivityDate="2014-10-26T15:07:49.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4120" CreationDate="2014-10-27T09:05:17.427" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have tried a couple of things. I'm not entirely sure that all would agree up on these measures, but let me state them none the less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrating before you start off the trek (Already stated)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking in regions with enough natural water supplies. (Already stated by others)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stashing water along the trek. This works only if you are going to return the same route. We did it during a few treks in Indonesia, Western Ghats(India) and the Himalayan range. Just make sure you carry more water before you start off so that you can stash the water (water bottles of course!) along the way. But make sure you don't forget to carry back the stashed water bottles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As already stated, keep additional water bottles in your vehicles/base camp for re-hydration once you are back to your camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-10-27T09:05:17.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7011" CreationDate="2014-10-27T11:09:22.733" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I interpret your question correctly, your problem is not so much about the climbing  itself but more about the strategy, i.e. to identify where to rope up and where to remove the rope again. As you say, this can cost you lots of time if you recognize those points too late. This isn't something that you can train by climbing but more a thing that should be part of your planning both at home and in the climb itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Planning skills&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess you have some description or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topo_%28climbing%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;topo&lt;/a&gt; of the route you want to climb and don't just run up some undocumented piece of rock. As you plan your ascent, try to identify those stretches where you have to go roped and where you can leave the rope in your backpack. And even more important, identify points where it is good and safe to change between both. In the end, you should come up with a plan like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rope up at the start of the ridge;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climb roped for 10 pitches;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;then there's about 200m of steep grassy/rocky terrain to be scrambled;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rope up again at a small plateau about ten meters below the start of the  vertical crack...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general rule (unless one of the team is a trained mountain guide which learn some techniques for such cases) is that whenever you rope up the team members, you have to install some protection, otherwise a fall of one member will pull down the whole group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A second rule of thumb is that you better go some extra meters roped than having to do all the preparation stuff somewhere in steep terrain where you already are halfway into climbing and suddenly have to find a place to stand, build an anchor, and untangle your rope while you just have one hand free as you need the other to prevent a fall. The drawback of that rule is that for the leader it can be somewhat awkward to leave the steep climbing terrain into some more scrambling like terrain and finally don't find a spot to place a solid anchor to belay their second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This requires some experience to see such situations as they appear and is also the reason why it isn't quite easy to train such skills somewhere at home at a single-pitch route that you know by heart. The best training option I could imagine here would be to scramble into some unknown mixed terrain and try to figure out the places where you would start to rope up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Technical skills&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You did also mention that all the roping and unroping takes you quite long. You can try to add some technical training here, i.e. in terms of rope handling and organization, which can also be done at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This includes for example unroping only as much as necessary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The team members should wear their harness and the stuff rigged there at least as long as there are still climbing passages to be done&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the passage to go unroped is rather short, untie the rope only from one team member but let is tied to the harness of the other one and either have the rope wrapped up as ring-shaped package around their neck (cf. image below) or in their backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4tM5d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4tM5d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rope&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2011/2/artikel7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bergundsteigen.at&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T15:37:55.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7012" CreationDate="2014-10-27T15:35:08.803" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on where the pole is striking the ground, the surface hardness, and the extension of the poles you can get some vibrations and noise (I do).  My guess is since the poles aren't extended all the way the shaft surfaces (where the extra length is hiding inside the pole) are colliding and causing that noise.  You might be able to add a small o-ring to the level locks to help dampen the movement.  Or try extending the poles all the way to see if it still happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as safety goes I wouldn't be concerned.  The material won't suddenly have a catastrophic failure and the vibration noise (either from the locks or shafts colliding) isn't unusual.  That being said, if you don't like hiking to the sound of your poles vibrating it might be worth replacing the poles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you regularly use a 115 cm pole then just purchase a single length pole which would be lighter, cheaper, and eliminate the noise.  You just won't have the adjustability.  Or maybe going back to a carbon fiber pole would be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some links...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skiwalking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example of one piece poles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/Outfit/Trekking-Poles/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;More on trekking poles (OS)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T22:51:24.907" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T22:51:24.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7018" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7019" CreationDate="2014-10-28T07:01:14.130" Score="13" ViewCount="1095" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Foam Helmet, made for climbing. Its kinda old and looks like it needs a wash.&#xA;The Helmet is old, and so is the foam. Roughly a bit more than 3 years now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With other foam-made things that are a bit old, I have a personal experience that when I washed them, the foam got screwed, like lost its shape and cushion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to effectively wash a foam-helmet and &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; kill the cushion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. depending upon the solution provided, I may consider using the same technique to wash my biking helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:57:26.173" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:57:26.173" Title="How to wash a foam helmet?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7018" CreationDate="2014-10-28T07:43:40.077" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;In all likelihood, you just need to replace the helmet. Nearly all helmets, climbing and bicycle helmets included, need to be replaced once they become worn or older than 5 years. Ideally, you would track the age of each helmet. If you don't know how old one is and it looks well used, I wouldn't risk it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stick to gently wiping it with a soft dry cloth. Trying to clean a helmet with water or most any kind of soap only risks damaging the foam. If a helmet is so worn that a dry cloth doesn't restore it, it might be too worn. Consider how important your head is before try to cover it with compromised foam ( or compromised plastic, etc ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2014-10-28T20:18:02.357" LastActivityDate="2014-10-28T20:18:02.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7020" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7023" CreationDate="2014-10-28T09:18:58.133" Score="18" ViewCount="6057" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ccUOO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Glacier&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to walk on a glacier you usually do this roped together as a team. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to walk as a roped party on a glacier?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I have to pay attention to when knotting the rope?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1264/mountaineering-glacial-traverse-rope-up-or-go-it-alone?rq=1&quot;&gt;Mountaineering / glacial traverse: rope-up or go it alone?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-10-28T09:28:20.037" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T20:47:49.450" Title="How to walk as a roped party on a glacier?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7021" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7026" CreationDate="2014-10-28T11:27:30.393" Score="18" ViewCount="5329" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're walking in a roped party over a glacier, how can the leader detect crevasses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it's possible to walk existing tracks, but even then it's possible to have a  crevasse fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are good ways to find a save path on a glacier?&#xA;Some mountain guides use wood sticks with an iron tip to try to detect crevasses. How deep do I have to stick with my ice-tool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:44:49.393" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T23:18:24.153" Title="How to detect a crevasse on a glacier" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7021" CreationDate="2014-10-28T12:21:50.050" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes shadows or shapes in the snow give away the location of covered crevasses. Sometimes you can detect a crevasse with a shallow covering of snow by poking with an ice axe or a probe of some sort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only &lt;strong&gt;sure&lt;/strong&gt; way to detect if there is a crevasse is when you can see it, or when you fall into it when you cannot see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-10-28T13:03:56.750" LastActivityDate="2014-10-28T13:03:56.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7020" CreationDate="2014-10-28T13:01:01.770" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all: &lt;strong&gt;Walking a glacier contains some serious risks&lt;/strong&gt; and roping up is not enough to cover that risks, but also knowledge of crevasse rescue is needed. Therefore &lt;strong&gt;I strongly recommend a glacier course&lt;/strong&gt; where all those things are taught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for some basic things to consider when walking a glacier as a roped party:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When walking a glacier, one normally does not place any protection where the rope is fixed or runs through, therefore the only thing to hold a fall of a team member into a crevasse are the other team members. The problem is, that the force exceeded by a falling person attached to your harness can easily tear you down, especially if you have not been awaiting it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore the base rules are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not walk a glacier with less than 3 persons on a rope. Some people also go as two-person teams but this is only acceptable under very special circumstances (e.g. glacier known to have little to no crevasses, both are very experienced in glacier walking and crevasse rescue...), but it is not recommended.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The group size should not exceed 6 to 7 persons, otherwise the whole rope party will get rather slow. Bigger groups should be split into several rope parties.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The less people there are in a rope party the more rope should be between them. For a 3 person party, 10 to 12m of rope between them are recommended, for larger groups distances around 8m are OK.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whenever possible, try to walk through the crevasse zone perpendicularly to the crevasses. Walking parallel is quite risky, especially if they are covered with snow, as crevasses can extend under the surface much longer than they appear and may change direction under the snow cover.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While walking, do not allow for slack rope between the members. If one is falling into a crevasse and there is slack rope between them and the next member, the falling body is able to gain some momentum before the rope tightens and catches the fall. The more momentum the body already has, the higher is the chance that other team members are carried away and cannot hold the fall. [1]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the same reason, one should keep the rope straight, i.e. do not walk zig-zag lines but as straight as possible. If someone falls while the group is taking some zig-zag path, they will get pulled sideways &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; have again the possibility to gain some momentum before the others can catch them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;If&lt;/em&gt; someone needs some slack rope, for example when they have to jump across a crevasse, they shall tell the members in front and behind them about how much slack is needed. If someone has to jump, the other members should be extra prepared for a fall. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the rope straight as long as you are in crevasse terrain, also during breaks. Gather only when the rope leader has secured a spot with safe ground and commands the team to come up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point to know and be aware of is where it is better to go everyone on their own instead of roped up. Hard-frozen snow, especially hard-frozen firn does provide nearly no friction. That means that if someone falls on a slightly inclined firn surface, they will immediately gain some momentum and if their fall is not stopped immediately, can easily tear away the other members of their rope party. Once this has happened, it is nearly impossible to stop such a sliding rope party as whenever one of them can arrest his fall, the others still falling will tear him away again. The case, that all members are able to arrest at the same time is negligible and will happen only by very rare chance.&#xA;This is already the case for rather slight inclines of about 25°.[1] Here the doctrine (at least in the German speaking countries) is that the risk of one member stumbling and taking away the whole rope party outweighs the risk of a crevasse fall (crevasses tend to get less frequent as the terrain gets steeper) and therefore it's better to go unroped at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinerecreation.com/pdf/safetyresearch_shortrope.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.alpinerecreation.com/pdf/safetyresearch_shortrope.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-01-09T20:47:49.450" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T20:47:49.450" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7020" CreationDate="2014-10-28T20:56:51.130" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7023/2653&quot;&gt;@BenediktBauer&lt;/a&gt; covers pretty much everything you have to know as a beginner on glaciers. What you also have to know is the proper knot (and that was the second part of your question). You can use the figure eight, like is recommended in sport climbing too (so most people will already know this knot). You of course have to watch out, because of the dead end of rope the knot has to be laid instead of the stucked knot when you rope on e.g. in a climbing gym:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2k3na.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There exist illustrative pictures for the rope-in locations when your group is of different size. Being a duo (like being said already, it is not recommended to go this way as a beginner) or trio additional knots in the rope are recommended (not on the picture for the trio!). In case of sliding you will increase the friction considerably with those additional &lt;em&gt;&quot;brake knots&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. The following picture will give you some hints for roping together. On the left you also see a possibility how to rope in using an overhand bend with two contrary attached carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sX65T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;click original to enlarge: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tourentipp.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sicher-unterwegs-in-Eis-und-Firn04.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tourentipp.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sicher-unterwegs-in-Eis-und-Firn04.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-10-28T20:56:51.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7021" CreationDate="2014-10-28T22:41:26.407" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the glacier isn't snowless (aper) you can probe for spaces under the surface which should be noticed by less resistance in the snow/Firn. Still it is preferable to &lt;strong&gt;avoid going in regions where one would expect crevasses&lt;/strong&gt;. This isn't easy like it is tough to know how the weather is going to evolve in the mountains. But still we could try to use some theory to spot possibly dangerous areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glaciers are moving, they are literally flowing. Crevasse are a result when this flow is getting influenced/restricted by e.g. elevation through rocks under the ice, different slopes or merging of different glacier flows. So it's all about the different flow velocity of the ice. This is similar to fluids. Being in your dinghy on a rock-loaded river, even when you can't see those rocks they will cause you some issues. Glacier ice is more or less solid and can only deform to a certain point, then it breaks and we are getting those inhospitable yet beautiful - this summer I was let off into one, it was impressive - crevasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are mainly four types of crevasses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;transverse&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;A crevasse oriented more or less perpendicular to the long axis of a glacier. Transverse crevasses typically open on a valley glacier when the terrain becomes steeper, such as above an icefall.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KPast.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/transverse-crevasse-en.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/transverse-crevasse-en.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;longitudinal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;A crevasse oriented more or less parallel to the long axis of a glacier. Longitudinal crevasses typically open on a valley glacier when the glacier becomes wider.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7oRln.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/longitudinal-crevasse-en.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/longitudinal-crevasse-en.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;en-echelon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Series of crevasses oriented at an angle to the glacier margin. These form as a result of rotational strain within the ice along the glacier's edge.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They form due to the velocity difference (slower edge area compared to the faster main glacier) lateral to the moving direction of the glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uZLvD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/en-echelon-crevasse-en.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/en-echelon-crevasse-en.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;bergschrund&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;A bergschrund (from the German for mountain cleft) is a crevasse that forms where a moving glacier ice separates from the stagnant ice or firn above&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mma2Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergschrund&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergschrund&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-10-28T22:41:26.407" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7021" CreationDate="2014-10-29T07:03:10.920" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its more important to know where to expect them. Under tension, Ice is brittle, and strong and in compression. Can we relate the &lt;em&gt;tension&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;compression&lt;/em&gt; under the circumstances like gradient and slope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least I don't have a strong geology, so there no exact bullet-proof way of detecting a crevasse (&lt;em&gt;unless you don't have a GPR with you :D&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can actually afford to react to false alarms. In winters there is no way to detect one, as the ice is hard, so you have to make a way by probing the snow with something like an avalanche pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In later season, as the weather gets a bit warm, snow bridges begin to sag, so the ice that buries a crevasse, fall apart. You certainly do not want to go nearby a sagging snow bridge, since it &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have a crevasse nearby. Along with that, undulations in ice, cracks on the snow surface in the glacier are something you need to be worried about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2014-10-29T07:03:10.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5189" CreationDate="2014-10-30T05:42:32.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have the equipment already, I would go back to the book and practice using the equipment.  In the US the standard text is &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;; there may be equivalents in other countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basic techniques such as knots can be practiced in your home, and a bit of regular practice each day should soon make them second nature.  With a tree or strong overhead beam you can also practice ascending and descending ropes using friction knots, and with a buddy (or a bag filled with weights) you can also experiment with setting up different hauling systems.  (Don't run the rope directly over a branch; the friction will damage the tree.  Run the rope through a pulley or carabiners instead.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is to have the core skills well-practiced, so that once you're out with a buddy you can focus on when and why to apply them, rather than trying to remember how to tie a particular knot.  On a related note, it's also important to make very sure you have learned the techniques correctly.  An &quot;eh, it looks close enough&quot; approach can result in subtle and undesirable variations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good subsequent step is to poke about the Internet and look at how things go wrong.  For the US the American Alpine Club publishes &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/anam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Accidents in North American Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; each year and I expect DAV has its own publications as well.  This will help you anticipate and take steps to prevent such risks, rather than risking rediscovering them on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T05:42:32.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7005" CreationDate="2014-10-30T09:25:16.190" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;People perish from falling from 0 meters (just standing, you faint and the back of the head hits the concrete)*. Others can jump from roofs and continue running (parkour guys). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, I think this is a question of &lt;strong&gt;confidence&lt;/strong&gt;. Cars are among the biggest killers, but we do not generally wear protective equipment when crossing the street. We know that if we are careful, the danger it tolerable and not worth putting on knee pads and spine support. But a drunk man, or a reckless kid, at the middle of the street, are in danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a child I have climbed up to about 10 meters up trees - for fun and to shake down walnuts. The latter includes jumping onto the branch one is standing, or reaching far with a staff in one hand, to hit the nuts. All the time being confident that this is no riskier than crossing the street.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, as with other dangerous sports, I would advise &lt;strong&gt;not to overcome one's fear&lt;/strong&gt;. If you are afraid of doing something - then maybe it is objectively dangerous. Go train on lower difficulty activities until the fear goes away on it's own. &lt;em&gt;Then&lt;/em&gt; it is safe to, very carefully, thy it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example have a beer while sitting on a low branch and chatting with friends. Climb a tree and climb down at another spot. Find a low branch, but one you cannot reach, and jump, grabbing a hand hold, then walk with hands, to see how long can you hang should the need arise (and discover is it difficult to hang on a thick branch). When you are comfortable with a drink in hand on the low branch, you will be comfortable when using both hands on a higher spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I don't think this is a good question. My answer is &lt;strong&gt;subjective&lt;/strong&gt; and there are no others as of now. The comments under the question doesn't even begin to address safety equipment. It's kind of &quot;Should I have unprotected sex, if I am confident the other person is healthy?&quot; &quot;Should I quit my job if I'm unsure if I'll find as good one?&quot; &quot;Is a bicycle without brakes safe?&quot; (IMHO it's absolutely not, but many people ride them fixies).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* - can't find a reference for that, but on page 17 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2000-116/pdfs/2000-116b.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is documented a fatality from less than 6 feet.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T13:05:39.213" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T13:05:39.213" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7005" CreationDate="2014-10-30T13:33:33.410" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is quite a tricky one. Even when I read the Health &amp;amp; Safety Executive guidance in the UK (a country quite keen on its health and safety rules) it isn't clear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HSE has an 'Are You a Tree Surgeon' page, which links directly to their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/height.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Working at Height&lt;/a&gt; page. There we have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Falls from height are the biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the biggest causes of major injury. In tree work, falls from height are still common, and the result is often death or major injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around 16% of all reported tree work accidents involve falling from height and about 6% are due to uncontrolled swings in the tree leading to impact with branches or the trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They provide a range of guidance statements, but nothing that defines what height counts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hierarchy of control measures&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For every task that needs to be done at height you need to assess the risk and put appropriate control measures in place.&#xA;There is a hierarchy of control measures that you need to follow.&#xA;You only move up the hierarchy when you decide that the control is not practicable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid the need to work at height, for example by using extending equipment from the ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevent falls using appropriate access equipment such as work platforms or rope access&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reduce the distance and consequences of a fall should one occur.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/climbing-operations.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tree Climbing Operations&lt;/a&gt; also gives the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Regulations say that climbing work with a personal fall protection system - ropes and harness - can only be done if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A risk assessment has shown that the work can be done safely while using that system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The use of other, safer work equipment (e.g. mobile elevating work platforms) is not justified&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The user and a sufficient number of available people have received training specific to the task, including rescue techniques.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in summary, you should use some common sense risk assessment. HSE reckons tree climbing should be avoided if possible, but if you need to then take precautions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For you, if you want to climb a tree, assess it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it wet and slippy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are branches thick enough to take your weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it healthy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are branches a comfortable distance apart&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T13:33:33.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7031" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7037" CreationDate="2014-10-30T16:31:56.037" Score="8" ViewCount="608" Body="&lt;p&gt;Commonly when setting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbingtechniques.org/basic-principles-of-climbing-anchors.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SARENE-SA&lt;/a&gt; trad anchors on multi pitch routes the only protection available are nuts/wires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, there is very rarely an option to place a nut to protect against an upward force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand the importance of the anchor being able to withstand an upward force, such as that caused by a leader fall causing the belayer to move upwards. In my mind I imagine every carefully placed piece popping out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is. Are my fears of the anchor pieces popping out justified? If so, how can I protect against this, given the described environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T00:10:57.337" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T01:20:51.703" Title="How to achieve a climbing anchor that can withstand an upward load?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6987" CreationDate="2014-10-30T21:31:19.153" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A .357 for any type of bear that is not a grizzly. For a grizzly there is no handgun that will help you - all you will end up doing is upsetting it and making it more aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;11/4: Additional info. Quick internet search reveals the following thread, which is reasonable due to the amount of participants (and accordingly various levels of experience) chiming in. The following post caught my eye as well-written and reasonable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one by ArchAngelCD December 28 2012 11:02AM&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;11/4. More additional info: Extract from the following link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2010/06/dont-take-bear-to-gun-fight.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2010/06/dont-take-bear-to-gun-fight.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Alaskan guide Phil Shoemaker used a Smith .357 for a while, and reported it killed bears fine with heavy solid bullet loads in head shots&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I want to add about why I said handguns won't work with grizzlies. There's a lot of information about it, perhaps the most compelling is the Lewis and Clark journal (I can't remember the title of the book, it's available through Amazon). If you haven't read it, I suggest you do so. Early on in the book, they start documenting their encounters with grizzlies and how incredibly difficult it is to kill them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But overall, you need to evaluate whether you need to carry anything at all. Yes, off topic, but still worthy of thought. Statistically incredibly low chances of encounters. I've got a friend who grew up in northern Alaska, very gun savvy (and a firearm collector), as well as an avid outdoorsmen. A few years ago he went with his wife backpacking in Glacier. I asked him what kind of firearm he took and he said he didn't take anything, the chances of a grizzly encounter were so remote that it wasn't worth it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2014-11-04T23:04:41.977" LastActivityDate="2014-11-04T23:04:41.977" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4826" CreationDate="2014-10-30T21:39:02.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have backpacked and camped in the Rocky Mountains most of my life (and also more recently in the Sierra Nevadas) and have never had any issues with bears. I would say that as long as you're not sleeping with food in your tent, it's highly unlikely you'll ever have a bear encounter while you are snoozing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T21:39:02.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="226" CreationDate="2014-10-30T22:03:16.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mountains in the West are larger, higher elevation, and therefore possibly more strenuous than what you're used to. So: extra physical preparation and altitude climatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the Western mountains are drier than the East, so you don't need as much of the equipment for rain than you would out East (unless you're backpacking in western Washington state).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;animal-wise, it's about the same except out here there are Elk, which in their behavior and their interaction with humans (or lack thereof) are basically &quot;large deer&quot; meaning there's nothing special you need to do. I don't know whether moose live in New England, but depending on where you are in the West, you may find yourself in moose country and this is more of a concern as moose can be very dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stream crossings. I somehow picture streams in New England as placid, gentle-flowing things. I don't know whether that's true or not, but out here in the West, mountain streams and rivers are often very swift and dangerous to cross. Even small ones. So you need to be aware of the dangers of stream crossings. In my life, there have been a couple of very precarious and life-threatening situations I found myself in while fly-fishing streams in the Rockies. So you need to be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T22:03:16.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="319" CreationDate="2014-10-30T22:12:25.843" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Open it up, sweep it out, let it air dry if it's damp, and pack it up and keep it dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-10-30T22:12:25.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7031" CreationDate="2014-10-30T22:37:51.393" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are my fears of the anchor pieces popping out justified?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. This is an especially big concern when the climber has already placed the first piece of pro above the anchor, but falls before getting a second piece in. The fall factor can be large, and the direction of pull is up. If you don't have any gear that can hold against an upward pull, then your anchor isn't an anchor in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Additionally, there is very rarely an option to place a nut to protect against an upward force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is fairly limited, but in my experience it's not true that there is very rarely such an option. There should be, and there usually is. If you're on a well known rock-climbing route, then the route should have belay stations where it is possible to place adequate protection. If the belays were inherently unsafe, then hopefully nobody would have published a route description that told you to use those belays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may take some ingenuity to find an appropriate placement. It may be more difficult to do with only passive gear, although in long-established areas like Tahquitz, the routes predate SLCDs, so it should be possible to slot a nut somewhere. Take some time and look around for placements. In recent memory, I recall a lot of cases where the piece that protected against an upward pull was a small cam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're using passive gear, then you probably need to place two pieces in opposition, one above the other. Then you tension them against each other, e.g., with clove hitches on a sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the kind of thing that is discussed in great detail in Long and Gaines, Climbing Anchors: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762782072&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-How-Climb-Series/dp/0762782072&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T01:20:51.703" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T01:20:51.703" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7038" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:38:02.937" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to use of firearms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T11:08:07.743" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:08:07.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7039" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:38:02.937" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to use of firearms." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T11:08:18.543" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:08:18.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7040" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:40:15.007" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing any type of glacier, eg. Mountain, Valley, Hanging etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T11:08:15.423" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:08:15.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7041" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:40:15.007" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing any type of glaciers, safety precautions to be taken while on Glaciers, etc are supposed to be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:34:59.273" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:34:59.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7042" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:42:53.823" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to beaches, this maybe sand, shingle, or rocky shores. It could also include bars and spits which usually are sand or shingle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T11:07:58.077" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:07:58.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7043" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-31T10:42:53.823" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to beaches." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T11:08:01.770" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:08:01.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4826" CreationDate="2014-10-31T11:06:30.223" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Romania we also have a high population of bears, and recently they wander also in forests on lower sea level altitudes (such as ones at 300 m); they even enter the towns and villages, picking food from the trash. Attacks have been reported usually in cases when people went too close to bear mothers with cubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider the following steps when wildcamping in bear areas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the food up on a tree ~200 m away from the place where I sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay away from spots which might be interesting for the bears (although you can never know what is in a bear's head, there is some probability that he would visit the nice little spot near the creek or spring just to drink some water in the morning - true story, I saw their footprints in the mud). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there are several people, night guarding shifts could be made, along with a watch fire constantly kept alive (10+ years of scout camp experience stays for this, best effective when there are stray dogs or shepherd dogs in the area - common issue in Romanian mountains; it is so effective that until this day no bear visited our camps :) just the creek 300 m away... that was scary). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T11:06:30.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7045" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-31T12:26:07.563" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring specifically to Kayaks and Kayaking as an activity are supposed to be tagged with this Tag. This tag shall be used with questions that talk about maintenance of Kayak, Kayaking as an activity, do's and dont's of Kayaking, safety associated with Kayaks. If the question is more about Kayaking as an activity and immaterial of the type of the Kayak in discussion, then it is advised to tag it with 'Kayaking' tag (which is already an approved Tag synonym).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:48:52.163" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:48:52.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7046" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-31T12:26:07.563" Score="0" Body="Questions referring specifically to Kayaks. Kayaks can come in a few forms. There are Sit in kayaks and Sit on Top kayaks, both come single or tandem. You can have kayaks made from plastic or fibreglass, as well as inflatables." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:48:52.163" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:48:52.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7047" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-10-31T12:33:02.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing Rivers, this may also include springs, streams, tributaries and river mouths. There are numerous parts of a river, from spring through to the river mouth, and the water varies in speed, depth and danger levels as you travel from one to the other. Speed of the river will affect the silt levels, which can cause the water to require treatment or filtering before being safe to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T13:32:44.507" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T13:32:44.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7048" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-10-31T12:33:02.180" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing Rivers, this may also include springs, streams, tributaries and river mouths." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-10-31T13:32:23.870" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T13:32:23.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7005" CreationDate="2014-10-31T15:00:41.457" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid rock climber and the answer to all similar questions is always the same:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Use safety gear when you feel unsafe.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a number, falls from over ~5 meters (15 feet) are where you will start to incur more serious injuries. However, you can twist your ankle standing on flat ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will know when you start to feel unsafe. At that point, grab a harness and tree-climbing loop. Or just bring a ladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2014-10-31T15:00:41.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3379" CreationDate="2014-11-01T22:19:10.873" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a definite danger of hypothermia depending upon the &quot;type&quot; of tent you choose to use.  Eskimos live in -70F environments from one day to the next, so it is doable certainly.  Native Americans as cited above have tents to provide for living in environments that commonly get to -50F (by keeping a fire burning inside the tent).  A TeePee isn't what I would call portable; it's more of a temporary building (early mobile home).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you choose a tent that does not deal with the humidity produced by your sweat and breath, you can drench your sleeping bag AND clothing while you sleep.  Moist means loss of effective insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If looking for a semi-permanent place to live, learn from homeless people, or the traditional hobo.  Solid walls make better wind barriers and newspapers provide excellent insulation if kept dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you want to use a backpack style tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not pitch a tent under trees.  Branches falling can rip your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flooding for a backpack style tent in the winter is of no concern.  So resting in a depression can block the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never started a fire; ever.  I always used fuel just for cooking; really just heating food and drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Separate water bottles for bathing and eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You MUST have a closed-cell foam mat (or other non-compressible insulation like layers of pine needles) to lay on.  This is NOT optional.  Your weight will compress your sleeping bag.  The warmth of your body will melt the ice/snow under the tent and 1) freeze you down, and 2) freeze the bottom of the tent and sleeping bag to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is NOT subjective, this is personal experience.  I used to backpack in the winter and when I first started out, I had a few things to learn.  My first night it was 10F and my breath created frost on the tent inside the tent, and when the wind blew it would shake the frost down over me while I slept (snowing inside my tent).  My body heat caused the frost to melt and saturated my sleeping bag (actually just very moist, not really saturated).  I began to get cold and woke up groggily.  It was a bit before I had the awareness of potential danger.  I was only about 5 miles from home, so I got dressed quickly, even though my clothes were very moist (I was sleeping with them in by bag anticipating the morning cold).  Cold, I hurriedly put everything on and started moving quickly to tear the tent down; frozen to the ground. I left it.  I began running to build up my body heat. My pack was lighter because of no tent and no sleeping bag.  I didn't want to start sweating, so I walked/ran to try to build body heat controllably.  Was more difficult because my feet started to sweat (get cold from lack of effective insulation) before my body was warm.  Once I was &quot;comfortable&quot; again I kept a fast pace until I got home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things I changed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Willed my tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fell in love with Gortex.  Closed-cell sleeping pad.  Arctic tent by Kelty (vented differently; Gortex liner lets moisture out and outer shell collects frost and slides down outside the Gortex liner).  Gortex top sheet to lay over sleeping bag while sleeping (humidity out, moisture from frost stays out; a cycle of drying).  Keep all my clothes hanging under the flap of my backpack at night (pull clothes in during morning to warm them up).  Made lined Gortex tent bags for tent and poles, and wear these during the night for added insulation for my legs and feet (dual duty because weight is important; turn them inside out while hiking).  Don't eat or drink anything within 3 hours of going to sleep.  Evacuate before bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day, even at -10F (coldest I've been in), moving, eating, Sunlight, insulated foot gear, and head gear make a huge difference.  But at night, none of that day gear helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have almost always hiked alone.  I prefer the winter because there are no insects.  Sounds are softened.  Water is clear.  Fish are hungry.  Animals are bold and visible. You can hike for weeks and not see anyone else.  I stash supplies for long outings; for daily sustenance and for emergencies (keep hand drawn mylar maps of local area features and resources; cheap, and every trip it's something to do to keep the mind engaged).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bathing is a wash cloth, and a bottle of water you slept with the previous night.  Hair gets washed with the same wash cloth; no soap.  Every day a water source is found, wash and wring the wash cloth out and hang it on the pack to dry while walking.  Wash your feet daily also.  If you are sensitive about mixing your hair and feet, then I suppose bring two wash cloths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep a very small bottle of clear chlorine bleach in my pack.  I put 2 drops in my bathing water bottle.  This lasts for multiple outings.  I use an ultraviolet sterilizer for my drinking water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use soap when near a water source to clean the wash cloth.  But your body is at-risk for hypothermia if you drench yourself.  You can clean part of your body while the rest of your body is covered.  Then when warmed up again, wash the other parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At altitudes above 10,000 feet, do not bathe in water sources when air temperatures are below 60F.  The higher altitude causes water to extract more heat from the body faster due to drier conditions and the related much greater evaporation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot address the needs of a woman, I've never backpacked with a woman.  I've only backpacked in the Summer with my father during fair conditions.  My summer packs have otherwise been solo except for one trip to a high mountain lake in New Mexico.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4080" LastEditorUserId="4080" LastEditDate="2014-11-06T15:21:13.217" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T15:21:13.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7053" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7054" CreationDate="2014-11-03T15:34:45.570" Score="10" ViewCount="3054" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From which bouldering and climbing grades do you start using Campus Boards, Hang Boards and Peg Boards for training?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wTLI5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="3826" LastEditDate="2014-11-03T15:43:40.420" LastActivityDate="2014-11-03T21:31:08.893" Title="When should you start to train with Campus Boards, Hang Boards and Peg Boards?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7053" CreationDate="2014-11-03T21:31:08.893" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the comments have mentioned, grades vary somewhat between gyms, but I think you can still provide some rough guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Peg boards can probably be done by anyone at any climbing level. You're not stressing your fingers really, so there's little chance of injury. It's essentially like practicing pull-ups. It probably won't help your climbing too much (except for lock-off moves).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You should be at least a solid V4-5 climber to start hangboarding. You should be able to do &lt;strong&gt;crimpy&lt;/strong&gt; climbs at that grade range, since that is basically what hangboarding is. If you can hold onto a hangboard grip &amp;gt;15 seconds, you're probably not stressing your fingers too much (thus, relatively safe). But make sure to take it easy at first and stop at the first sign of pain. Also, make sure to take at least a day off between hangboard workouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hangboarding, you could start even earlier if you wear a harness and attach a weight on the other side of a pulley system to take weight off your fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Campusing is more intense on fingers than hangboarding, so you should probably be a solid V6 climber to start. Again, you should be able to do &lt;strong&gt;crimpy&lt;/strong&gt; climbs rated V6+.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-11-03T21:31:08.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7055" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7056" CreationDate="2014-11-04T12:17:08.913" Score="11" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently reading a article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5947&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scottish Winter: Ten Must-do Routes at II and III&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it occurred to me that I had no idea how winter grades work? I understand &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6006/how-do-you-compare-between-different-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;British trad grades&lt;/a&gt;, etc. But what are the grades described in that article and how do they work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-12-22T16:35:06.633" Title="Winter route grades" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;&lt;winter-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7055" CreationDate="2014-11-04T16:23:21.200" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US ice grades fall into three categories; &lt;strong&gt;Water Ice&lt;/strong&gt;, which is seasonal and often shifting in difficulty; &lt;strong&gt;Alpine Ice&lt;/strong&gt;, which is permenent ice found on glaciers or high altitudes; and &lt;strong&gt;Mixed Ice&lt;/strong&gt;, which is a mix of ice and rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water Ice and Alpine Ice are on the same scale -- though alpine ice tends to be a little easier at the grade. (ratings taken via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinist.com/p/climbing_notes/grades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alpinist.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI1:&lt;/strong&gt; Low angle ice, tools not always necessary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI2:&lt;/strong&gt; Consistent 60 degree ice with possible bulges; good protection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI3:&lt;/strong&gt; Sustained 70 degree ice with possible vertical bulges, decent rests and good protection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI4:&lt;/strong&gt; Continuous 80 degree ice with long vertical sections, broken up by concessional rests&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI5:&lt;/strong&gt; Long and strenuous, with a ropelength of vertical ice offering few good rests; or a shorter pitch of thin or bad ice with difficult protection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI6:&lt;/strong&gt; A full ropelength of vertical or past vertical ice with no rest, or a shorter pitch even more tenuous than WI5.  Highly technical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WI7:&lt;/strong&gt; As above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered Columns.  Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scottish winter grades&lt;/strong&gt; are fairly similar to the US Water Ice grades, but bumped up roughly one solid roman numeral and add in the rock difficulties to the grade.  So:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I:&lt;/strong&gt; Snow gullies and easy ridges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;II:&lt;/strong&gt; Steep snow where two ice tools may be required but technical difficulties are short.  Possible difficult cornice exit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;III:&lt;/strong&gt; Mixed ascent of moderate rock routes; ice gullies; sustained buttresses&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IV:&lt;/strong&gt; Steep ice with short vertical steps or long pitches up to 70 degrees, or mixed routes requiring advanced techniques&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;V:&lt;/strong&gt; Sustained ice to 80º or mixed climbs with linked hard moves. Climbs are difficult, sustained, and/or serious&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VI:&lt;/strong&gt; Vertical ice and highly technical mixed routes. Grade VI and above routes have exceptional overall difficulties&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VII:&lt;/strong&gt; Multi-pitch routes with long sections of vertical or thin ice, or mixed routes with lots of highly technical climbing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VIII:&lt;/strong&gt;  The hardest routes in Scotland&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this article talks about some II and III Scottish Winter Grade routes which means steep snow, moderate rock, lower angle ice gullies, and rock buttresses.  Where you would need to use two ice tools but the protection is good and rests are abundant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpinist has a good article talking about a variety of grades &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinist.com/p/climbing_notes/Trades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-12-22T16:35:06.633" LastActivityDate="2014-12-22T16:35:06.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2014-11-05T00:12:19.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to do a lot of backpacking with my wife in the backcountry in the Rocky Mountains. The places we hiked were remote - often hours would pass without seeing anybody else. I gave thought to getting a handgun, as protection from bad folks and/or wildlife. My father and I are fisherman, not hunters, so my knowledge of wild animals was minimal, and I had never given it thought in my younger years. So I started reading up on it, and occasionally talking to people who were hunters (I myself am not). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the years I've read various books on the outdoors, have talked to friends and other folks, and of course have spent a lot of time in the mountains, and I came to the conclusion that it is not necessary to carry a firearm for protection against animals in the mountains. Most animals, including black bears and mountain lions, are just too timid, they end up running away when they see you. Chances of a close encounter with an aggressive animal are slim. Supposedly bear spray is as effective, or more, than a firearm, so this, a hunting knife and a walking stick is what I carry. I've never had to use any. That's not  to say I can't and won't someday feel threatened by a large animal, but so far I haven't. The handful of times I've seen bears in the wild, they ran away once they saw me. I've never seen a mountain lion at all. (That's not to say they haven't seen me.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now regarding whether you should carry a firearm as protection against other people, this is more of a personal choice, but statistically the answer here probably would be no, too. I'm sure we've all got a much greater chance of getting mugged in our hometown than getting attacked out by someone in the wilderness. But I have thought about it before, because where we used to hike we occasionally encountered hunters and once in while our paths would cross with men who didn't seem particularly savory. Again, nothing ever happened, but I think I would have felt better if I had a handgun with me, or at least if they could see that I had one (although not a hunter I am experienced shooting guns). Again, we're talking about people here, and there are certain types of people who will try to take advantage of others if they feel they have the upper hand. So I think this is a personal preference and if I were to go backpacking a lot again in remote areas, I might reconsider getting a .38 or .357. As one of my friends used to say, it's not the 4-legged animals he's worried about, it's the 2-legged ones. I've got a mountain-man buddy in Colorado who lives by himself for months at a time backpacking in the mountains (he's in 60s now and still does this) and he carries a .38 with him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So... for protection against animals? Should not carry a firearm. Carry spray instead. &#xA;Protection against people? Personal choice. Generally speaking should not need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;now of course if you plan to go hunting, that's a different matter. One time, we were hiking and came across a man hiking down the trail with a .22 rifle (with a silencer) slung over his shoulder and holding a blue grouse in his hand. We stopped to talk with him, he had just killed the grouse and was going to prepare it and eat it later for his dinner. He said it's the best-tasting bird you could ever have. After a few minutes, we parted ways and, sure enough, a little bit later on the trail we came across a clearing with a bunch of blue grouse frolicking around. Well, I gave some thought to the idea of getting a .22 (or resurrecting my dad's old .22s), but never acted on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-11-05T00:12:19.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6998" CreationDate="2014-11-05T06:01:53.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are obvious pros and cons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking, I've never come across a situation where I want to have water as quick as possible in a quantity. For me using a hydration pack, on a never-ending ascend, is to make sure that I don't have to stop for long. I can take an &lt;em&gt;optional&lt;/em&gt; pause every 200 steps, to sip some water, take a look around, take a picture and move. (I don't intend to say that one has to stop to suck water out of the hydration bladder). &#xA;I don't really need a spray of water at all.&#xA;So, on such a thing using something like a pressurized pack would be a too much trouble with an extra care it demands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same goes without saying for Rock-Climbing as well (where you can self-arrest and take a sip and then climb on, no Hurry!), Hiking, Geocaching, etc: To the activities for which the normal hydration pack serves the necessary purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am cycling, be it anywhere, like be it off-roading, be it pure mountain-biking, be it BMX, Its more likely that I am going to pant for breath and I want to drink water as quick as I can in order to quench the thirst. Sucking the rubber knob does really annoy me, as compared to having a sip of water from a bottle, or even under a tap, but thats at the cost of a longer halts, which is is again annoying. So, I'd definitely consider having a pressurized hydration pack when I am cycling at higher speeds, mountain-biking, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-11-05T13:05:38.600" LastActivityDate="2014-11-05T13:05:38.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7059" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-05T08:21:38.130" Score="14" ViewCount="3635" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a techie, I once came across this hilarious post on StackOVerflow: &lt;a href=&quot;https://stackoverflow.com/questions/184618/what-is-the-best-comment-in-source-code-you-have-ever-encountered&quot;&gt;What is the best comment in the source code you have ever encountered?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the similar bar of questions, which one or many a people &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; find off-topic (or &lt;em&gt;not a real question&lt;/em&gt;) thing, I'd like to ask: What is the best mountaineering quote that you have ever read?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: Answer can be a community wiki to be fair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MOD NOTE:&lt;/strong&gt; this is a special case list question. Polls and list&#xA;  questions are generally discouraged&#xA;  and will be closed outright. There is&#xA;  some precedent for this one and I see&#xA;  its use, but SE really is not designed&#xA;  for &quot;infinite list of X&quot; questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-23T00:03:11.563" LastActivityDate="2017-11-23T00:03:11.563" Title="What is the best mountaineering quote that you have ever read?" Tags="&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="20" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="8" ClosedDate="2014-11-19T21:43:53.533" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-05T16:09:49.777" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;I wanted to achieve something essential in life, something that is&#xA;  not measured by money or position in society... The mountains are not&#xA;  stadiums where I satisfy my ambitions to achieve.  They are my&#xA;  cathedrals, the houses of my religion...  In the mountains I attempt&#xA;  to understand my life.  They are the way I practice my religion. In&#xA;  the mountains I celebrate creation, on each journey I am reborn.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;-Anatoli Boukreev&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-11-06T15:24:19.223" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T15:24:19.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-05T19:23:43.760" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My two favorite &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5297.John_Muir&quot;&gt;John Muir&lt;/a&gt; quotes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I never saw a discontented tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-11-05T19:23:43.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-05T19:26:31.957" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;The mountains are calling and I must go.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-- &lt;strong&gt;John Muir&lt;/strong&gt;, the naturalist who had in great influence on the preservation of e.g. Yosemite and Sequoia National Park&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The quote may be rather commonly used, but I still like it very much. It can, for example, be found on a large sign at the city limits of the town of Mammoth Lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2014-11-05T19:26:31.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-05T19:36:43.837" Score="16" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's a round trip. Getting to the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory. - Ed Viesturs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and of course,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves - Sir Edmund Hillary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-08T09:27:55.540" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T09:27:55.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-05T23:45:50.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Muir on planning a trip&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Abbey&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3522" LastActivityDate="2014-11-05T23:45:50.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T06:37:45.470" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Great things are done when Men &amp;amp; Mountains meet. This is not Done by Jostling in the Street.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; - William Blake, &quot;Great Things Are Done&quot; (c. 1807-1809), line 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures. Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity — and sleep finally adds to them liberty.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; - Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1996), p. 373 (translation by R. J. Hollingdale)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; - Reinhold Messner, All Fourteen 8,000ers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This without a doubt is my most favorite:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb&quot; - Greg Child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-12T07:52:13.747" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T07:52:13.747" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-11-06T06:37:45.470" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T07:09:03.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;My absolute favorite:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;code&gt;“There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men&quot;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--Maurice Herzog&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T07:09:03.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T12:37:40.287" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both are from Wolfgang Güllich - he is known for climbing first 8b (5.13d), 8b+ (5.14a), 8c (5.14b) and 9a (5.14d). By the way, he is the inventor of the Campus Board:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If climbing is an art, then creativity is its main component.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A man doesn't go to drink coffee after climbing, coffee is integral&#xA;  part of the climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wolfgang Güllich&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3826" LastEditorUserId="3826" LastEditDate="2014-11-06T21:38:08.943" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T21:38:08.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T12:56:54.443" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, there is only one! When asked “Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?” George Mallory replied:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because it's there...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or more fully: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because it's there... Everest is the highest mountain in the world,&#xA;  and no man has reached its summit. Its existence is a challenge. The&#xA;  answer is instinctive, a part, I suppose, of man's desire to conquer&#xA;  the universe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1789" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2014-11-06T18:20:42.290" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T18:20:42.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T13:00:21.170" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Notwithstanding Mallory's classic, there is Sir Edmund Hillary's response when it was suggested Mallory may have reached the summit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’m rather inclined&#xA;  to think, personally, that maybe it’s quite important, the getting&#xA;  down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or more fully:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you climb a mountain for the first time and die on the descent, is&#xA;  it really a complete first ascent of the mountain? I’m rather inclined&#xA;  to think, personally, that maybe it’s quite important, the getting&#xA;  down. And the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and&#xA;  getting safely to the bottom again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1789" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T13:00:21.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T15:32:11.393" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not really mountaineering but certainly outdoorsmanship:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About&lt;/strong&gt; (not by him) the famous Arctic explorer &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ernest Shackleton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uyZm0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of&#xA;  travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is&#xA;  gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quote after he'd spent &lt;strong&gt;2 years&lt;/strong&gt; on the sea ice in the antarctic, including a journey of 720 nautical miles in an &lt;strong&gt;open&lt;/strong&gt; 10 man rowing boat across one of the worlds most dangerous oceans:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B97BL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the 30 men that were marooned with him, all survived and only one one man suffered severe frost bite. He was pretty bad ass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-11-06T15:32:11.393" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7072" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7095" CreationDate="2014-11-06T17:23:24.143" Score="13" ViewCount="2473" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of runners use calf and leg compression sleeves, as these are supposed to improve blood flow. It would seem a logical extension to use compression sleeves on your forearms during climbing, especially on pumpy routes. Are there anecdotal or actual studies on the effectiveness of forearm compression sleeves for climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T20:16:34.167" Title="Arm compression sleeves for climbing" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T20:08:18.543" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use this for my outdoor activities in general, and not just mountaineering. Not sure who said it first, the quote is attributed to many.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&quot;Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty &gt;&gt; and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally &gt;&gt; worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- WOW-- What a Ride!&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-07T05:17:21.210" LastActivityDate="2014-11-07T05:17:21.210" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-06T22:20:31.450" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The repetition of the really great alpine routes seemed to us much more interesting than discovering obscure little climbs in remote corners. Like ugly girls, many of the ridges and faces which preserved their virginity until comparatively recently did so more from lack of attraction than from intrinsic difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lionel Terray in &quot;Conquistadors of the Useless&quot; (the book title itself is a great quote)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ich will nicht schwer klettern. Ich will leicht klettern. Also schon schwer,  nur dass es eben leicht aussieht.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I translate this to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don't want to climb difficult. I want to climb easy. Well, difficult but it should look easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bernd Arnold&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Have we vanquished an enemy? None but ourselves. Have we gained success? That word means nothing here. Have we won a kingdom? No... and yes. We have achieved an ultimate satisfaction... fulfilled a destiny... To struggle and to understand - never this last without the other; such is the law...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People ask me, 'What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?' and my answer must at once be, 'It is of no use.'There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behaviour of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron... If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won't see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;both from George Mallory in &quot;Climbing Everest: The Complete Writings of George Mallory&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-11-14T21:43:13.963" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T21:43:13.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7072" CreationDate="2014-11-07T11:07:41.640" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do use those compression sleeves when I am going for cycling.&#xA;I have observed that with the sleeves that I have, there is a gradual difference in the elasticity of the material towards the middle of the arm sleeve, such that the compression is tighter at the lower endpoints, like wrists in case of arm sleeves and ankles in case of leg sleeves.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The idea that the Decathlon guy explained me is to have the progressive/gradual compression on the targeted area of muscles.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The science says, When you are exerting your arm/legs, you are going to need oxygenated blood which arteries carry from heart to limbs, so its important that the de-oxygenated blood flows back to the heart, which is carried by veins to heart, so that it gets oxygenated in lungs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Have you observed what a physician does when he/she measures your blood pressure?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;He/She tightens a band, use the rubber bubble to pump air into the band.&#xA;Why?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Because, an optimal level of consistent and controlled compression results in dilation of the walls of the arteries, and increasing the blood flow through them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional information: &#xA;While walls of Arteries dilate due to compression, walls of Veins constrict under compression action, which helps to increase the velocity of blood flow through them.&#xA;Quickening up this process would result in a faster process of converting de-oxygenated blood into oxygenated blood and sent over arteries. This entire thing would result in provision of more oxygenated blood per average time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you climb, you are making your arms work harder. Thats one of the reasons to have a numb arm, cramping fingers after an exhaustive climb. Cramping fingers can be a consequence of lack of Oxygenated Blood supplied to them. With Compression Arm Sleeves, you aid in the purpose of ensuring that your arms would not go numb too soon, or at least earlier than when you are not using them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like all other users you might think that I am blabbering more about cycling and not climbing, but to be fair, I've never tried them on a climb. But I have used them extensively during mountain-biking and when I play cricket, being a fast bowler, I've always preferred having them on eve since I used for the first time. Allows me more spells to bowl before I feel my forearm hurting and/or start loosing pace.&#xA;Its no harm to related the Blood Flow concept with the Compression Arm Sleeves, be it for any sport where you count a lot on arm workout. If you ask me about why people don't use them when the workout in gyms, I've got no answer to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen the difference that I don't feel my elbows that exhausted when I wear a compression sleeve. May be because its like a strapped elbow? Muscular vibration during physical activity contributes to fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from the science behind it I have observed that there is absolutely no possibility of the chafing that one may feel due to compression, like you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; feel when you put on the socks that are smaller than what suits you, or may be undergarment would be an ideal example of chafing due to skin compression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, these help you with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Used as Sun protection when Riding, Cycling, Trekking, Climbing, Hiking, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Help you minimize the injuries when you face a minor fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When trekking, Allow you to wear a Half-Sleeve T-shirt (&lt;em&gt;Thats my personal choice&lt;/em&gt;) and help you avoiding the scratches, rashes, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;have you observed that these are typically used by people who do a lot of tasks that require arm strength? Be it Baseball, be it Basketball, We've seen Cricket Fast Bowlers using these..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-10T07:19:57.307" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T07:19:57.307" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-11-07T11:36:18.760" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is generally illegal in Denmark. You may sleep on all beaches, but you are not allowed to pitch a tent on beaches. In some state-forrests you may camp where you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More than 1.000 primitive campsites are scattered around the country. Most are free - some cost 1-3 euro pr. night. They may just be a lawn but some have shelters, firewood and access to water and toilet. These campsites are only for walking and biking users, so if you travel by car or motorcycle, you may not use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the locations of camping-sites and forrests here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://udinaturen.dk/?searchid=7653dbbf-b087-4c30-9edc-2517a02fd28e&quot;&gt;http://udinaturen.dk/?searchid=7653dbbf-b087-4c30-9edc-2517a02fd28e&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4150" LastActivityDate="2014-11-07T11:36:18.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-07T12:21:13.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Speaking about reaching the summit of Nanda Devi after the first ascent in 1936: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;I believe we so far forgot ourselves as to shake hands on it&quot;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Tilman&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;Bill Tilman&quot;&gt;Bill Tilman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-10T10:33:34.953" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T10:33:34.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7079" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14942" CreationDate="2014-11-07T22:09:33.743" Score="10" ViewCount="5991" Body="&lt;p&gt;The obvious answer is find a proper fitting boot, but what about those of us that are unfortunate enough to have improper fitting feet? I feel like a mutant sometimes because I have wide feet, huge heel spurs, really long toes, and skinny ankles. They almost resemble hands more than feet. I've been experimenting with insoles, socks and different ways of lacing an tightening my boots, but I still get heel lift, especially when toed in with crampons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling part of my problem is just having weak toes, but are there some tricks or products out there that help eliminate heel lift? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-11T15:24:22.943" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T18:47:03.057" Title="What can be done to eliminate heel lift?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7080" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14911" CreationDate="2014-11-07T22:24:14.567" Score="8" ViewCount="1778" Body="&lt;p&gt;My favourite backcountry ski area has a really long approach along a groomed trail. I started putting a bit of kick wax on the base of my skis so I could make better time on the flat instead of skinning in to the base of the mountain. It works great, and I don't notice any loss of speed on the downhill (not that I go very fast in tight trees). I thought I was pretty brilliant until a guide told me that it ruins the base of my skis. Is this true? I would imagine that the solvent used to remove the wax would ruin my bases, but I don't use that much wax and usually just ski it off instead of using the solvent. Am I going to ruin my bases?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T19:18:35.633" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T15:41:54.153" Title="Will using kick-wax on my alpine touring skis ruin the bases?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2014-11-07T23:36:43.423" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Keep the bag Warm not your clothes!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both clothes and sleeping bags are insulators, the problem with wearing too many clothes in your sleeping bag is that you will actually insulate yourself &lt;em&gt;independent&lt;/em&gt; of the bag, as a result, &lt;strong&gt;your bag won't get warm&lt;/strong&gt; or it will take a &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt; time to warm up. You will eventually have issues with moisture control, as your bag will slowly warm up after you fall asleep as heat escapes your layers and eventually replaces the cold air in the loft of the bag, causing you to sweat. There's nothing worse than waking up with that clammy sleeping bag feel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The best solution:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Layer your bag!&lt;/strong&gt; – Fleece, cotton or silk &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;bag liners&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;–although some are not technically designed to add warth to your bag–can actually add close to an extra 10°C to your bag, in addition, adding a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5010-753/integral-designs-vapour-barrier-liner/?q=vapour%2Bbarrier&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;vapour barrier&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; keeps warm air next to your skin, and reduces moisture build-up in your bag, keeping your bag dryer &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; warmer by a few more degrees. Not only will you stay warmer, but you will also be &lt;em&gt;way more comfortable&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Overbags&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; add an additional 5-10°C by adding a layer of insulation and by reducing built-up condensation from frost and the sleeper's own perspiration. The result is your sleeping bag's insulation stays drier and more effective. In &lt;em&gt;really cold&lt;/em&gt; weather you can even consider layering with a second sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multiple benefits to layering your bag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can stay warmer with fewer layers of clothing on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less moisture condensation in the bag keeps your bag dryer and therefor warmer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better heat distribution prevents cold spots/toes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More comfort in bag means a much better nights sleep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You protect your bag the same way sheets protect a mattress, keeping your bag cleaner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less time needed to air out your bag/let it dry in the mornings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best routine: strip down naked and put on a &lt;strong&gt;DRY&lt;/strong&gt; base layer before getting into your bag. I usually sleep with nothing more than a polyester base layer and a pair of wool socks in cold weather (except for a touque and neck-warmer to keep the drafts at bay). In the morning, I change out of my sleeping layer back into my hiking clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is of course assuming that you already have a good ground sheet and sleeping pad, which are essential components of a warmer sleep system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-24T16:37:31.703" LastActivityDate="2015-03-24T16:37:31.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2014-11-07T23:39:43.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried using newspaper in my boots several times. - I hike at least once a week in normally wet, muddy conditions in BC Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually stuff 4 large pages of newspaper in each boot. It really works and the boots dry in a matter of 6 hours!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I knew this trick, I'd leave the boots to air dry, which took days and days. Eventually they'd be rotten before they'd fully dried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4155" LastActivityDate="2014-11-07T23:39:43.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2014-11-08T10:06:41.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put some sort of thick covering that prevents oxygen from reaching the bite. Popular options include Vaseline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4157" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T10:06:41.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="180" CreationDate="2014-11-08T10:16:43.350" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Arizona and worked at Philmont scout Ranch in new mexico. I also am an eagle scout. When hiking it is recommended that you carry a litre of water for every two hours of hiking you plan on doing. If there is a certain water source where you are hiking I recommend taking a water filtration or purification system to be certain you can refill on clean potable water. Never sacrifice water for pack weight, that is foolish and deadly thinking, especially if you are hiking somewhere dry or hot. If you have trouble conserving water or rationing, chew gum or have something like sunflower seeds, these keep your mouth busy and moist and will keep you from constantly using water to moisturize your mouth. Just remember to still drink enough water to stay healthy, and happy hiking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4157" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T10:16:43.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7005" CreationDate="2014-11-08T10:23:25.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;a dangerous height to fall is defined as between two and two and a half times your height, which for most people is 12- 15 feet. however, using gear to climb a tree is VERY damaging to the tree and therefore I do not recommend it unless it is absolutely necessary. If you can see a safe way to climb using large branches, especially on a commonly used tree, do not use gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4157" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T10:23:25.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-08T12:16:22.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought&#xA;  without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the&#xA;  happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step;&#xA;  and from the beginning think what may be the end.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-- Edward Whymper, in Scrambles Amongst the Alps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4159" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T12:16:22.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2014-11-08T16:04:51.727" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't scratch!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquitos inject an anti-coagulant under your skin as soon as they puncture you, this is to prevent the blood from clotting so their noses don't get glued to the inside of your dermis while they're sucking. This is what makes you itch, scratching spreads the anti-coagulant around over a greater area and makes the itch worse than if you had just left it alone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your natural immune system will have a much easier time containing and eliminating the annoying toxin if you simply do not touch the area around the bite, the itching will not last as long, and you may not even show a bite. It takes some mental training and some will power to overcome the urge to scratch, but you'd be amazed how fast they go away when left alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are times when you don't know you've been bit until after you've already unconsciously scratched the area. To alleviate things, I've found that you can control the itch by 'containing' the anti-coagulant. This can be accomplished by gently scratching &lt;em&gt;towards&lt;/em&gt; the bite from just outside the perimeter of the itchy area, but don't scratch the bite itself. This accumulates the anti-coagulant into a smaller area, the smaller area the itch covers, the less itchy it will feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2014-11-08T16:04:51.727" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7089" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-09T00:53:59.883" Score="20" ViewCount="1429" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a campfire discussion not long ago with a man that got pulmonary edema while attempting the summit of Aconcagua, and we got into the discussion of the effects of high elevation. I had always assumed that after you adapted to the thin air, the risk to your body was how thick your blood got with the production of extra red blood cells to compensate for the lack of oxygen. The thicker blood making frostbite and edema more likely because of poor blood flow, and heart attacks and strokes more likely because of increased chances of forming blood clots. But my friend said it had less to do with thick blood and more to do with the lack of air pressure...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does low pressure do to you? What &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; happens to your body at high altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T10:56:29.510" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T15:46:06.100" Title="What are the real dangers of climbing at high altitude?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-09T03:15:56.907" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neither of these are directly related to the sport of mountaineering (more general outdoor passion) but both amazing people who paved the way for many of our mountaineering pursuits...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A true conversationalist is a man who knows that the world is not&#xA;  given to him by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;— John James Audubon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning&#xA;  to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness&#xA;  is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful&#xA;  not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as&#xA;  fountains of life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;— John Muir&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2014-11-09T03:15:56.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-09T05:51:31.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ed Hillary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4165" LastActivityDate="2014-11-09T05:51:31.700" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-09T08:47:02.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But I shall go down from this airy space, this swift white peace, this stinging exultation,&#xA;  And time will close about me, and my soul stir to the rhythm of the daily round.&#xA;  Yet, having known, life will not press so close, and always I shall feel time ravel thin about me,&#xA;  For once I stood&#xA;  In the white windy presence of eternity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eunice Tietjens&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Other times, climbing throws you into the heart of your own life, which is the only thing that really matters. To know what this book has really been about - because technique, like professionalism, is only a means to an end - get up early on a sunny Saturday morning at the beginning of May. Walk down the Manifold Valley to the bottom of Beeston Tor. A jackdaw circles out from the rock. On the steep, deteriorating terraces below, white thorn blossom is massing on the bare black branches. Everything is coming out of the thermal lag of winter. Stand there with the sunshine beginning to warm your back, listen for the noises of the valley as it wakes up - a woodpecker that sounds like a toy gun, a footstep in the dry river bed. Think of all the things you have had to do in the week so that you can be here now. Then slowly reach out and touch the rock with the flat of your hand. Let it lead your eye upwards. There, you’re alive again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ron Fawcett 1987 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The cold fresh mornings, when the mist is creeping from the grey hills and the vigour of dawn is in the blood, the warm sun-steeped spaces at noonday, the purple dusk when the veld becomes a kind of land east of the sun and west of the moon, full of fairy lights and misterious shadows, the bitter night when the southern constellations blaze in the profound sky, - he who has once seen them must carry the memory for ever. It is such things, and not hunger and thirst and weariness, which remain in a man’s mind. For the lover of nature and wild things ... it is little wonder if, after these, home and ambition and a comfortable life seem degrees of the infinitely small. And the others, who are only brief visitors, will carry away unforgettable pictures to tantalise them at work and put them out of all patience with an indoor world - the bivouac under the stars on the high veld, or some secret glen of the Wood Bush, or the long lines of hill which huddle behind Lyndenburg into the sunset.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;John Buchan. The African Colony. 1903.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The climbers run, jumping over puddles on the way to their one-star hotels. They know that the beds and mattresses that they are heading for are probably older than themselves. But in such places one can really dream, especially if it's raining outside. Then one can dream the old climber's dream of the french girls, that are too young and too pretty, and the great climbs that are too high and too difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What would have become of Georg Winkler, had he returned from the Weißhorn? When his plan to climb with Prof. Eugen Guido Lammer had come true? Nobody knows. What we do know is that in a letter to Lammer he wrote: and not seldom I find myself staring, with no thoughts, at a good book until I wake up out of a dream of ropes, crampons, fog and rock walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At this point the excitement and beauty of the moment have reached 100%. More is not possible, but can only change to the excitement and beauty of rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hermann Magerer climbing to the start of the Badile north ridge in the Bregalia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;It's so difficult to accept nothingness... You would like to know how things really are beyond life, be sure it's not all a big joke, but, as big as it may be, how can a joke survive for millenia? Look how beautiful the stars in the coal black sky are, those little twinkling gems, those little fantastic worlds. You've got Creation before your eyes, here, on this same mountain that's taking your life and you can't hate, not even now. And what if truth is really here, amongst these pyramids of granite?&quot; 9.10.2007 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rene Desmaison, died 28.9.2007: From his book &quot;342 Hours on the Grandes Jorasses&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I built my house near the village,&#xA;  but don't hear the horses and wagons.&#xA;  How is this at all possible?&#xA;  If your heart has parted from the world,&#xA;  then you are at peace with yourself.&#xA;  At the east fence I pick Chrysanthemum,&#xA;  watch the mountains in the south.&#xA;  The fresh air in the evening,&#xA;  when birds are flying to nest.&#xA;  In all these things is a deep meaning,&#xA;  which however I can't put it into words.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a drinking song from T’ao Ch’ien 365- 427 AD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two things are needed for happiness: an intact countryside, and a good climbing partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... every bit of unspoilt nature which is left, every bit of park, every bit of earth still spare, should be declared a wilderness area as a blueprint of what life was originally intended to be, to remind us.&#xA;  A Walk with a White Bushman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Laurents van der Post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The immense longing not just to protect, but to rehabilitate the Earth.&#xA;  A Walk with a White Bushman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Laurents van der Post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the great beasts are gone, man will surely die of a great loneliness of spirit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chief Seattle of the Neg Percé 1884.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samuel Johnson (1709-1784).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in a magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jack London   &lt;em&gt;Dedicated to the crew of the Columbia&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When talking about Rock Climbing, people would often say: &quot;You must have a Death-wish.&quot; I explained it was really a &quot;Life-wish&quot; and while that is accurate I never felt it conveyed enough - so here is my answer: What's occurring is a conscious act of craziness. What you are seeing is pinpoint focus combined with mad abandon in such a way as to cause spectres of death and the exaltations of life collide at some kind of crossroad. The sparks that fly from that collision are like little shards of God. If you can hold them in your mind for more than 5 seconds, you can understand everything that ever was, or will be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jerry Dodgen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4166" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-11-09T17:45:33.590" LastActivityDate="2014-11-09T17:45:33.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7072" CreationDate="2014-11-10T06:05:54.197" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Part of the reason you get pumped out while climbing is because your arms are up over our head. Compression sleeves work for runners because the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fleetfeethartford.com/sports-medicine/sports-medicine-corner/compression&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;gradient compression&lt;/a&gt; helps the blood in their legs flow back up to their hearts against gravity (they give extra elasticity to the veins which are superficial[&lt;em&gt;nearer to the surface of the skin&lt;/em&gt;] to your muscles). Running is also an aerobic exercise, their heart rate is higher which enables them to clear away lactate more effectively. Climbing is more of an anaerobic exercise, the lower heart rate and elevation of the limbs makes it more difficult to clear the lactate. The problem in climbing isn't getting blood back to the heart, it's getting new blood up into your arms against gravity. Compression sleeves would do little if nothing at all to aid your more profound[&lt;em&gt;deeper in your body&lt;/em&gt;] arteries. I imagine compression sleeves would only aggravate the buildup of lactic acid in your arms while climbing. The most effective way to control blood flow on a climb is to control your breathing, the more you breath, the more your heart pumps. That's probably why the best climbers in the world are also some of the loudest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/gear/110-alchemy-arm-sleeves/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;compression sleeves for climbers&lt;/a&gt;, but they're for recovering &lt;em&gt;after&lt;/em&gt; a climb, they're not meant to be worn while climbing, and don't prevent arm pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-10T20:16:34.167" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T20:16:34.167" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6655" CreationDate="2014-11-10T06:45:33.163" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The weather is very harsh, and the mountain does not allow much area to take a walk on a day when you are not going up the mountain.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like two points mixed up. Is it the bad weather what keeps you on the camp or is it the lack of routes or ideas? For the last part I would suggest to at least go up and/or down on the route you are planning to do. You could explore the route, search for other (better) routes, enjoy the nature you are pleased to attend or even do some team trainings like possible crevasse scenarios or mountain rescue in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stay in the camp for several days without really doing something, this could yield to bad physical shape. Doing a several-hour walk every two days will fasten your acclimatization and increase fitness. The day between will be great for regeneration including eating, sleeping, gear preparation and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point I could imagine while being a week or more stuck in a camp are social issues. Even if you stay there with people you know for years and who are good friends of you, this might be difficult. Especially if you are under harsh conditions and there is only that limited room in the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is so badly that you have a very limited visibility and/or the cold/wind won't let you out for a longer walk, you might be really lucky to be even &lt;strong&gt;able&lt;/strong&gt; to sleep properly. Most will be frightened. Indeed this is a situation where you should be concerned not getting snowbound or cut off supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T06:45:33.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6998" CreationDate="2014-11-10T15:58:34.487" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) Can rinse items off.&#xA;2) A dog can use it.&lt;/strong&gt;  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone gave one (Geigerrig &quot;Rig 500&quot;) to me as a gift since he had leftovers from an event.  The reservoir had a traditional water reservoir (clear) and a separate air reservoir (blue), which was inflated with a small shoulder mounted pump.  Image below but picture the one used for taking your blood pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0041CA6BQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Here's the unit on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The use case my friend cited was that users could use the pressurized water to rinse themselves off.  Medical professionals have a sink on demand (cuts, eyes, etc) and athletes could wash off mud, rinse glasses, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The use case I've found most valuable is actually running with my dog.  If we do a longer run I'll bring the pressurized reservoir in a smaller pack.  We can now go for longer runs without planning around water sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not a huge fan of the pack but like the concept and it doesn't add too much&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-03-10T09:56:47.313" LastActivityDate="2015-03-10T09:56:47.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7098" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-10T20:31:24.607" Score="0" ViewCount="940" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love my Osprey backpack but the waist belt is too long so the extra strapping ends up being about 2' long and annoying.  I've avoided cutting it and have been tucking it into a pocket on the waste belt but would like to find a better solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T22:55:45.537" Title="How can I keep the loose ends of backpack straps from blowing around?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2014-11-11T09:04:03.930" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7098" CreationDate="2014-11-10T22:55:45.537" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;interesting question. I usually carry a couple things like GPS and knife that loop onto the belt, so these things actually keep the strap ends in check. ... But if I didn't have these things, I'd probably do one of two things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a small Velcro strap (so called &quot;cable ties&quot; that you can purchase at computer or office supply store)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;try to find some of those hard plastic &quot;clamp&quot; things that sometimes come with the straps, I wish I knew what they were called, but it's basically just a hard circular loop that slides up and down the belt or the strap. I'm sure there's gotta be someplace that sells these in different sizes. Maybe someone here knows the official name for them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-11-10T22:55:45.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7100" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-10T23:24:03.917" Score="20" ViewCount="34035" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a &lt;em&gt;very long&lt;/em&gt; time now, I've believed and taught that burning &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmia_latifolia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Laurel&lt;/a&gt; in a campfire will make you sick because of the toxins in these plants becoming airborne then inhaled around the fire. Many people I know that I trust also believe the same thing, but &lt;strong&gt;is this really true&lt;/strong&gt;? My own research hasn't found anything definitive; most say yes, some say no. The plants most certainly have toxins in them, but most information pertains to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1011/1908&quot;&gt;ingestion of the toxins&lt;/a&gt;, not burning them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/2996/1908&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; is similar, but not the same. It's only answer also provides no references.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This stuff is everywhere in my region and it would be so much easier and quicker to gather firewood if it proves to be possible to burn the dead wood of these plants, and related species, without ill effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In addition, I'm really looking for more definitive information than anecdotal evidence. That type of evidence is certainly useful, but I really think this needs more than something that says, &quot;I'm still here&quot; type of thing.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:00:55.417" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T15:41:54.483" Title="Are Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel truly toxic to burn in a campfire?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7101" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7102" CreationDate="2014-11-10T23:58:50.123" Score="15" ViewCount="1946" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I was out in the canoe on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongahela_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monongahela River&lt;/a&gt; I started out paddling up river, and there was a head wind.   I noticed that when I got with in about 100 feet of a bridge the wind picked up. The current also seemed a bit stronger near the footing in the water.  I was sitting in the back of a 17 foot fiberglass canoe which brought the nose up out of the water a bit.  At one point just as I was about to pass under the bridge the wind caught the bow of the canoe and swung it around, as hard as I paddled to turn it I could not bring it back around without losing position, I had to fall back to about 50 feet from the bridge to bring the bow/nose around and paddle hard keeping the nose into the wind to make it under. With in a few feet of passing under the bridge the canoe handled well again.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like both wind and current are stronger near a bridge.  What is the most ergonomic position and technique for paddling a canoe under a bridge?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T13:14:04.310" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T10:40:31.797" Title="What is the most effective means of paddling a canoe, against the current, under a bridge?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7101" CreationDate="2014-11-11T02:01:05.350" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 17.5' Clipper Tripper, and I live in Southern Alberta, which means I sometimes get caught on the water in Chinook winds (90km/h gusts), I know what it feels like to get tossed around in the wind like a wind sock. Unless you have a heavy load to keep the bow down, or someone in the bow that can help you out, your best option is to paddle the canoe &lt;strong&gt;backwards&lt;/strong&gt;. You can sit where you are and back paddle if you just need the extra control for a short distance, but if you're fighting big gusts, sustained winds or strong currents, your best option is to turn around in your seat, and start paddling &lt;em&gt;into&lt;/em&gt; the wind/current like you're steering from the bow. This way the part of your canoe getting blown around will act like a rudder instead of a sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HiYE1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T10:39:47.313" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T10:39:47.313" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5744" CreationDate="2014-11-11T02:17:38.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seawater, no. But clean salt water, yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Salt-water solution should be isotonic, i.e. same salt level as your body; ca ¼ teaspoon of sea-salt to 250 ml water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used it on my nose piercing and it was very effective. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4176" LastActivityDate="2014-11-11T02:17:38.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7100" CreationDate="2014-11-11T03:38:33.887" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Poisonous plants are typically &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; dangerous when you burn them, at least that's true with plants that have oily toxins (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.teclabsinc.com/blog/2011/11/9/beware-of-burning-poison-ivy-and-oak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;poison ivy/oak&lt;/a&gt;). Toxins in plants aren't necessarily vaporized when burned. Smoke is a particulate, not a vapour. If you are burning something toxic, the toxins can potentially be carried by particles of smoke and be inhaled which is far more dangerous than being consumed in some cases. Even dead plants can still be toxic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The toxin in Rhododendron and Mountain Lily is Grayanotoxin. Every &lt;a href=&quot;http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?sid=49991798&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;material safety data sheet&lt;/a&gt; I've looked at says that Grayanotoxin is fatal if inhaled. But that's for pure manufactured Grayanotoxin II.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, &lt;a href=&quot;http://ourgreencottage.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/invasive-rhododendron-in-woodlands-a-permaculture-approach/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this guy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; thinks Rhododendron makes &lt;em&gt;great&lt;/em&gt; firewood: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Another property of rhododendron is that it makes &lt;strong&gt;excellent firewood&lt;/strong&gt; –&#xA;  even when it is green. It is a fast-growing hardwood with a very high&#xA;  calorific content, and the stems of larger plants are so thick that&#xA;  they can easily be sawn up into logs which are perfect for either an&#xA;  open fire or a wood burning stove. &lt;strong&gt;I have taken rhododendron logs home&#xA;  to burn in my woodburner during the winter&lt;/strong&gt;, but a particularly good&#xA;  use for the rhododendron firewood is on-site, where I need to keep&#xA;  warm during the winter when I am there working. Burning rhododendron&#xA;  means that I can generate firewood as I am clearing the rhododendron&#xA;  from the woodland, meaning that I don’t have to have a big stack of it&#xA;  seasoning and I don’t have to cut down broadleafed trees and season&#xA;  them for use as firewood on-site, I can leave them standing and&#xA;  growing. So rhododendron has become my staple firewood, leaving the&#xA;  trees for better purposes.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7AFJh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities/Options/Controlofinvasivenon-nati/Rhododendroncontrol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scottish government&lt;/a&gt; recommends burning Rhododendron to control its spread as an invasive species, so it would appear that it is at least less toxic than poison ivy or poison oak when burned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They say that one of the first indications of Rhododendron poisoning is salivation, I suppose you could have a campfire in your yard and see if the smoke makes you drool... But I think the fact that the guy in the Blog is praising Rhododendron as fire wood, that he burns &lt;em&gt;indoors&lt;/em&gt; and is still alive and blogging means that it's probably ok to burn for heat outdoors. I probably wouldn't inhale the smoke though... or roast hotdogs over a grayanotoxin fire... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over 1000 species of rhododendrons/azaleas exist. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous, and as little as ingestion of 0.2% of an individual’s body weight can result in poisoning. When ingested, clinical signs include gastrointestinal signs (e.g., drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, inappetance), cardiovascular (e.g., abnormal heart rate, heart arrhythmias, weakness, hypotension), and central nervous system signs (e.g., depression, tremors, transient blindness, seizures, coma, etc.). The overall prognosis is fair with treatment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When burned the gryanotoxin is destroyed at temperatures of 150 degrees Celsius and above, and no evidence of toxicity has been found in the smoke or coals of the rhododendron plant. It is a hard long-burning wood and can be used safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, inhalation of any smoke from any fire can have harmful health effects and should generally be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-18T07:20:26.713" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T07:20:26.713" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7079" CreationDate="2014-11-11T14:07:36.440" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you buy a new shoe, it's very nice to have one with thermo fitting or foam fitting technology. (Scarpa, Dynafit, black diamond, Fischer, are a few brands that have shoes with this support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What also helps if you have a Powerstrap (Velcro) and/or more than only one or two iron hoop to tight you boot. I've one with 4 and this works very well with my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get blisters you can use neoprene ankle protectors like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ezeefitsports.com/product-p/011.htm&quot;&gt;eZeefit Ultrathin Ankle Booties&lt;/a&gt;. They work also with wet feet and reduce the friction on your skin. It's probably much cheaper than buy new shoes. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xsJ06.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And when you're climbing try to tight your shoes on top, that you don't loose them and still get blood circulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-11T15:36:22.623" LastActivityDate="2014-11-11T15:36:22.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7080" CreationDate="2014-11-11T14:10:52.837" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's good to have first a normal wax as base on you skis and on top of that you can add the sticky wax. So you don't ruin your skis. &#xA;But it's also good to remove the sticky wax if not needed and have faster skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this don't work well if you have climbing skins :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastActivityDate="2014-11-11T14:10:52.837" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7101" CreationDate="2014-11-11T15:21:33.890" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, and from what I've heard from my whitewater canoeing friends, the best thing to do when handling a canoe in rough conditions is to kneel in the middle.  This will&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bring the bow down&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bring your paddling position closer to the front, giving you more torque and precision in the direction of the bow&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;lower your center of gravity, making the canoe more stable&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;increase the power of each stroke, and your endurance, since you can put your whole body into it, rather than just your arms and upper core&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, try to read the current and avoid the wind. I find that the wind is often slightly slower along the shoreline, so you might try sticking close to it when you make your assault. Faster currents occur in deeper parts of the river, so if you can see shallow water, stick nearish to that. If the river bends, the outside of the bend is often the deepest, fastest part, while the inside is the shallow, lazy part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3522" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T10:40:31.797" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T10:40:31.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7100" CreationDate="2014-11-11T18:41:54.387" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;At least for some species, Rhododendron wood is not especially toxic when burned. I've seen (and used) many species of Rhododendron in the Chinese Himalaya as firewood, in both outdoor and drafty indoor conditions. This included seasoned and unseasoned wood, and large enough quantities of smoke that my Rite-in-The-Rain notebooks still smell like bacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long tangent on &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; Toxicity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this doesn't directly address the question of burning &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; wood, the whole idea that &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; smoke might be poisonous springs from the idea that it is a very poisonous plant to ingest. And, while I'm not encouraging anyone to eat large quantities of &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt;, I suspect that the often-repeated stories about its toxicity are overblown:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tales of poisonous &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; honey go back literally thousands of years (and were even repeated in the 2009 &lt;em&gt;Sherlock Holmes&lt;/em&gt; movie!), but don't apply to all species / methods: &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; honey is common in the Himalayas, and made in Europe as well (it's tasty!). It's used in Asia and Europe as a medicine. Most of the modern cases are of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404272/&quot;&gt;people becoming sick from using medicinal-grade &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; honey&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also evidence for species differences and processing effects (drying reduces grayanotoxin) on the toxicity of other parts of rhododendron, both from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25215540&quot;&gt;chemical studies&lt;/a&gt;, and again from my experience in the Himalaya, where flowers of some &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; species are eaten and others considered poisonous, and leaves of some species used as animal forage and others for animal medicine.&#xA;American &lt;em&gt;Rhododendron&lt;/em&gt; vegetation is more famous for poisoning livestock, but this also varies between &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/plantox/detail.cfm?id=15123&quot;&gt;goats and sheep who show more ill effects&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/plantox/detail.cfm?id=9144&quot;&gt;deer with fewer&lt;/a&gt;. The toxicity seems to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404272/&quot;&gt;even less in humans, and the cases of poisoning are in fact very rare&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2389" LastEditorUserId="2389" LastEditDate="2014-11-12T13:28:26.280" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T13:28:26.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5544" CreationDate="2014-11-12T03:48:17.180" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/v-g/nation/sec3/nation59.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Parks Canada website&lt;/a&gt; has this to say about the region:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h1&gt;East Coast Boreal Region&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Natural Region 21&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;hr&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;WILDLIFE:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wildlife characteristic of the boreal forest thrives here: moose,&#xA;  caribou, black bear, red fox, lynx, snowshoe hare, wolf, spruce&#xA;  grouse, raven. Along the coast congregate seabirds and waterfowl:&#xA;  Atlantic puffins, murres, petrels, gannets, Canada geese, eider ducks,&#xA;  and black ducks, among others. Seals, whales and the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;occasional polar&#xA;  bear&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; frequent the coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer appears to be; &lt;strong&gt;there are polar bears near the coast on occasion, but not inland.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area is &lt;strong&gt;not yet&lt;/strong&gt; an established National Park, it's a land reserve that the Government is still in the works of committing into a Park. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/pc/plans/rpp/rpp2014-15/index.aspx#sec02-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2014-15 Report on Plans and Priorities&lt;/a&gt; indicates that they expect to achieve establishing Mealy Mountains as a National Park by March 2015 so they can roll it out as part of Canada's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ottawa2017.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sesquicentennial&lt;/a&gt; (150yr anniversary). After it is established, then the recommended place for getting detailed information about bear activity would be on the Important Bulletins board on the National Parks website. (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/scond/Cond_E.asp?oID=18306&amp;amp;oPark=100349&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this Polar Bear Warning&lt;/a&gt; for Prince of Wales Fort National Historic Site as an example.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Established National Parks in Canada post warnings when Polar Bear encounters are possible:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lt07X.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully the park has enough of an infrastructure to post bulletins by the time you go on your trip, if not, then it would be advisable to carry effective, &lt;em&gt;approved&lt;/em&gt; polar bear deterrents and know how to use them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-14T17:06:24.067" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T17:06:24.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5789" CreationDate="2014-11-12T09:31:05.480" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would also not hang your rope on one single cord, because this causes damages on this part. This is a problem specially if you have it over a sharp edge or a small hanger, where diameter gets really small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's better to have in like you described stored in a dark dry rope bag in a shelf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T09:31:05.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7114" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7115" CreationDate="2014-11-12T14:02:10.777" Score="10" ViewCount="18160" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent walk my girlfriend and I discovered a decomposed horse carcass, nothing but bones left. We took some photos and moved on. She's now decided that the bones would make great ornaments and we should go back and pick some up...?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the best way to obtain and clean bones found in the wild? Preferably without obtaining some kind of skin eating disease in the process?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C3Kh7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T19:40:45.707" Title="How to clean bones found outside?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7114" CreationDate="2014-11-12T15:15:02.760" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The great thing about finding bones outside is that for the most part, they're already clean! I'm from a small hunting town, going out for hikes to look for bones and sheds is a popular thing to do in the spring. I found bear skull on a game trail once, you don't need to do much more than collect them in a garbage bag or a cardboard box, old bones aren't toxic, just dirty. If you're going to use them for garden decorations then I probably wouldn't do anything to them, just drop them back in the dirt once you get them home, but if you plan on bringing them inside then you'll certainly want to clean them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taxidermists have several methods for cleaning a skull, the trickiest part is always de-fleshing (and getting the brains out) which is often done with maggots or beetles, but can also be done by boiling the skull, or just soaking it in water (which is stinky and gross). In your case it looks like nature has already done all the dirty work for you! All I would do no is boil the skull for a bit (outside, some BBQs having heating elements that work good for this) to disinfect it and soften up any grime you may need to scrub off (use a bottle cleaning brush to get up inside the skull and scrub away any leftovers) then proceed to whitening the skull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whitening is best done with Hydrogen Peroxide, you can use the over the counter stuff from the drug store, or you can buy the heavy duty stuff from a taxidermist. just soak the skull in a tub overnight or for a day or two (no longer or you can start to ruin the skull) then let it dry for about the same amount of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After your skull is nice and white, you can superglue any loose teeth back in place, and finish your skull with a spray coat of clear wood finish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you could always give your local taxidermist a call to see how much he would charge you to clean them up himself, you'd be surprised how cheap they'll do some jobs, it would probably be good to consult them about the condition of the bone either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-12T16:14:47.343" LastActivityDate="2014-11-12T16:14:47.343" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7117" CreationDate="2014-11-12T20:00:30.087" Score="27" ViewCount="21629" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given a mitten and a glove (made of the same materials, thickness, etc), is the mitten warmer than the glove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that having all four fingers together in one area (vs separate fingers for gloves) would make it so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2615" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T20:38:18.973" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T21:09:15.830" Title="Are mittens warmer than gloves?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7116" CreationDate="2014-11-12T20:21:12.010" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gloves or Mittens?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All things being equal (fabrics, thickness, and insulation), mittens are warmer than gloves. Mitts trap body heat by keeping your fingers together and reducing evaporative heat loss. In frigid temperatures, a layered mitt system is the best choice for warmth. Layers dry faster than one heavily insulated piece, and let you swap out wet layers. However, gloves offer better grip and dexterity for fiddling with ice screws and ski bindings. Wearing a shell outer glove and a thin polypro or Windstopper® liner is a good compromise. Your hands will retain some warmth even when you have to remove your outer gloves or mitts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tip: In wet, cold conditions, carry a spare pair of gloves or mittens in the inside pocket of your jacket. This ensures you always have warm, dry handwear to put on when your fingers get really cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Clothing/Accessories/GlovesAndMittens.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Clothing/Accessories/GlovesAndMittens.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operations/life-in-the-polar-regions/clothing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Antarctic Survey clothing list&lt;/a&gt; includes this kit - many layers!:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yl9xL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-03-12T06:51:14.750" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T06:51:14.750" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7118" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7178" CreationDate="2014-11-12T21:09:05.123" Score="14" ViewCount="17926" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is well known that a down sleeping bag should be stored as open as possible when not in use, but that can be squeezed and compressed to a very small fraction of its size when necessary (that feature is among down's best appeals).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would love to know for sure if storing the sleeping bag in a compression bag down to its minimum volume (or, almost that) for several hours, like, 16 in a row, or 24 perhaps, will allow it to recover &lt;strong&gt;fully&lt;/strong&gt; when the trip is over; or if over time even short bursts of tight compression like that are going to slowly ruin it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to invest in such a piece of jewelry but I'd want to be sure that with proper care it would last for a lifetime or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you so much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T03:44:52.210" Title="Will a down sleeping bag recover 100% after being squeezed if it's not for a long time?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7118" CreationDate="2014-11-12T22:00:31.073" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Over compressing &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; bag, whether it be down or synthetic, will eventually lead to loft degradation.&lt;/strong&gt; If you compress your bag &lt;em&gt;too tight&lt;/em&gt; you can cause damage to the barbs and barbules of the feathers, which &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; decrease loft over time, but this is apparently less of an issue with higher quality down. To be honest, I think you would have to have one incredibly hefty compression bag to actually compress a sleeping bag down to it's &lt;em&gt;absolute minimum&lt;/em&gt; volume. Every compression bag I've ever owned seems to have a limit, usually where the buckles start to slip, or the seams start to burst. Never leave your sleeping bag compressed for longer than you need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I don't use a compression sack for my sleeping bag anymore. I use the roll top drybags with the webbing clips that came with my newer down sleeping bags and stuff those into the bottom of my backpack. They compress the sleeping bag more than enough for it to fit nicely in the bottom of my backpack, and they help keep it dry. Putting soft items in an overly-compressed compression sack turns them into hard items, which don't fill you bag very nicely. I've found that I can actually save space in my bag by allowing the soft sleeping bag to fill the bottom of my backpack and packing it down, opposed to putting a solid compression-sack in the bottom of my backpack and then trying to fill in all the voids around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not the only one that prefers using drybags for my sleeping bag: &lt;a href=&quot;http://community.cotswoldoutdoor.com/users/team-account/blogs/2013/5/13/the-experts-view-expedition-sleeping-bags/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Experts View: Expedition Sleeping Bags&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T15:17:16.720" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T15:17:16.720" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7116" CreationDate="2014-11-13T00:45:55.347" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is simply a question of the increased surface area of gloves which will therefore increase temperature (heat flux) exchange. Same reason why foxes have smaller ears as further away they are located from the equator. This reduces the heat flux of polar foxes and in this case keeps the body temperature higher. Compared to gloves mittens are therefore preferable, they lower the loss of body heat to the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also easier to achieve a certain amount/thickness of insulation in mitts than it is for gloves because fingers are so filigree and don't offer much room between each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the bulky appearance of mittens also have disadvantages but you just asked about warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-03-08T22:10:24.527" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T22:10:24.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7116" CreationDate="2014-11-13T09:42:52.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mittens are normally warmer than gloves. On most expeditions (high mountains or very cold temperatures) most people wear thick down/synthetic mittens, because they're warmer than gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blood flow in one finger is not that much and so it helps if all the fingers are in one big mitten. It's also not possible and practical in use to produce very thick fingers on gloves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T00:20:49.973" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T00:20:49.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7116" CreationDate="2014-11-13T11:57:33.873" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other people have mentioned mittens are warmer in almost all circumstances, a large part of this is that your entire hand is keeping the inside warm rather than each finger trying to warm itself individually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where they fall down is when you need to take your hand out of the mitts, everything from taking photos to having something to eat becomes a chore and can leave you with very cold hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option is to wear very thin gloves inside your mitts, you need to experiment with the combinations here. Too bulky and inner and too small a mitt and you end up restricting bloodflow and actually cooling your hands. Big is often better! Consider wearing a pair of &quot;thinnies&quot; with your mitts close by which you can swap and change for tasks which need some dexterity - robbed of your big gloves even a cheap pair of thin ones will keep your hands warmer longer than your bare skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short take lots of different pairs of gloves and keep them handy. When I walk in winter I often have four or five pairs of gloves with varying thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3322" LastActivityDate="2014-11-13T11:57:33.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7126" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7129" CreationDate="2014-11-13T16:34:51.660" Score="14" ViewCount="5685" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've often heard that it is the altitude and exposure that makes Everest most challenging, but technically speaking, it's not a very challenging climb at all. Supposedly, if base camp for Everest were at sea level, then summitting Everest, for the most part, would be a simple walk up to the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the different sections of Everest be rated using the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite decimal system&lt;/a&gt;? (i.e. Trek into base Camp, Khumbu Icefall up to Camp 1, Camp 1 to Camp 2, Lhotse Ice face, Yellow Band, Hillary Step, etc...) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nXH8i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The accepted answer will preferably do something cool like; list of all the sections of the climb to the summit and their classes, draw a rad doodle with arrows and labels, make a piechart, etc... Links to articles or other posts will only get upvotes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-08T01:11:41.217" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T01:11:41.217" Title="Using the Yosemite Decimal System, how difficult is Everest?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7127" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-13T17:05:41.487" Score="6" ViewCount="2315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a +5 in the ape index, (6'2&quot; tall, with almost a 6'7&quot; wingspan) Buying nice fitting jackets has never been a luxury I could enjoy. My solution for a while was to buy jackets made for ice climbing, because they are designed to have your arms extended over your head, which made a perfect fit for me for normal use. My problem now is that I'm getting into ice climbing, and my sleeves just aren't long enough when I'm hanging from my tools. I fit most Medium Tall stuff pretty well, the problem is that not many brands make their nice technical gear in a Medium Tall, just the general, more affordable stuff, and they usually end up being a bit long in the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What brands of technical wear are out there that have &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;extra long&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; sleeves? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:10.777" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T21:39:10.777" Title="Technical clothing brands for extra long arms?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2014-11-13T18:00:07.643" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Be careful to check the health warnings on most sterilizing sprays as most of them state not to get on your skin (I don't wear socks in my climbing shoes). There are also a large number of deodorizers, but they can at times produce a far more distracting scent that will fill a room instead of just filling your shoe. As for freezing your shoes, this can damage rubber and only puts the bacteria in a dormant state temporarily until the shoes are brought back to room temperature. In addition the freezing can damage the adhesives in the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My recommendation&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proper storage&lt;/strong&gt;: Leave shoes in the open after climbing and in general. Only store in a bag while transporting your shoes to and from the gym or crag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Washing&lt;/strong&gt;: Rinse and wash with handsoap in room temperature water. Leave to air dry.   Heat drying can shrink and deform the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stuffing&lt;/strong&gt;: There are loads of products that you stuff in your shoes (bananafingers, sneakerballs, bags of coffee beans even) simply to allow air movement and to absorb smell while also infusing the interior material with a gentle yet pleasant scent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use old chalk bags that I rinse out and stuff with different things to then stuff my shoes. I've made several different pairs using everything from coffee beans, lavender, potpourri, and cinnamon. I like to mix them up every now and again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Best of luck!&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4189" LastActivityDate="2014-11-13T18:00:07.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7126" CreationDate="2014-11-13T20:18:52.333" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/outdoor-adventure/is-an-everest-climb-technical.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;post&lt;/a&gt; provides a YDS rating for various sections of the Everest climb. Recall that the YDS rating system begins at class 1 for easy trail walking, class 4 is like climbing a ladder, and technical climbing begins at class 5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, it seems like the climb up Everest is not very technical--it's mainly the altitude and weather that make it so difficult. Here are some sections taken from the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trek to Everest Base Camp is mostly class 1 intermixed with brief class 2 sections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the route from Camp 2 at the base of theLhotse Face to the South Summit is class 3 but mostly class 2 via the fixed ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would rate the Khumbu Icefall overall as class 4 due to the crevasse danger and the need to use hands and feet on ladders and climbing over ice formations. However, a large part of the Icefall is on somewhat smooth terrain which would be rated class 2, however at 19,000'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the route fixed, almost none of the South Col route meets these definitions [of class 5] even though an axe and crampons are used. However, obviously, there are much more difficult routes on Everest that significantly exceed the South Col and Northeast Ridge difficulty&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-11-13T20:18:52.333" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5355" CreationDate="2014-11-14T03:04:29.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: there's a lot of public land, most likely state owned (not federal), that's available for hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XwJvI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XwJvI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Counties offering public hunting by annual permit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/lands/images/Texas_Public_Hunting_Map.jpeg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;state.tx.us&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XwJvI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be limitations for nonresidents and/or based on what you plan to hunt with (e.g. firearm, black powder, bow) but this looks like a great starting point for information: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Public Hunting and Access to TPWD Lands&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) offers a variety of hunting opportunities through two public hunting systems.&quot;[2]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the Texas page for licensing: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/online_sales/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/online_sales/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a breakout of licenses with associated fees for both residents and non-residents:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/public/recreational/index.phtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/public/recreational/index.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can add a bit more information about what you're looking for I can try to be a bit more specific. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XwJvI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/lands/table_contents/7houston.phtml#offerings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/lands/table_contents/7houston.phtml#offerings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note, as for search terms try, &quot;texas game and wildlife hunting license&quot; and &quot;texas public hunting land&quot;.  I suspect you'll get fewer ranch ads if you're specifically including the word &quot;public&quot; in your query. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-02-23T03:42:45.587" LastActivityDate="2019-02-23T03:42:45.587" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7089" CreationDate="2014-11-14T10:37:01.107" Score="13" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I had always assumed that after you adapted to the thin air, the risk&#xA;  to your body was how thick your blood got with the production of extra&#xA;  red blood cells to compensate for the lack of oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;an increase of red blood cells will only happen &lt;strong&gt;after a long period of time&lt;/strong&gt;. This is why athletes often train at high altitude. this is a very gradual process though and is not to be confused with what happens to you on a high altitude trek. On a trek you body will not produce any significantly greater number of red blood cells (dependent on time spent at altitude obviously).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, more red blood cells does not equal increased blood clotting. Blood clotting is performed by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;platelets&lt;/a&gt; not blood cells. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hematology.org/Patients/Clots/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Totally different mechanism&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The thicker blood making frostbite and edema more likely because of&#xA;  poor blood flow, and heart attacks and strokes more likely because of&#xA;  increased chances of forming blood clots&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See above. More Red blood cells does not make your blood thicker. It increases its ability to carry oxygen. For &quot;thicker&quot;, don't think &lt;em&gt;&quot;syrup&quot;&lt;/em&gt;; think &lt;em&gt;&quot;marbles moving though a smooth tube&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. More marbles doesn't make it more likely they will get stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you're getting confused with &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_vein_thrombosis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deep vein thrombosis&lt;/a&gt; which is caused by inactivity in a pressurised cabin (i.e. plane). High altitude does not increase your likelihood of getting blood clots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But my friend said it had less to do with thick blood and more to do&#xA;  with the lack of air pressure...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He's right. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6720/2766&quot;&gt;The higher you go the less air pressure there is&lt;/a&gt; (oxygen remains static as a percentage of air regardless of height). Less air pressure means less air, which means less oxygen. So every breath contains less oxygen the higher you go. So you blood has less oxygen in it because your body cannot receive enough oxygen from its surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Frostbite&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frostbite is caused by tissue not receiving enough oxygen, i.e. it's so cold your body diverts blood to your core to keep you alive, potentially sacrificing a finger in the process. If your blood has less oxygen because of the above, you're more prone to frostbite because it takes a lower amount of blood starvation to reduce the amount of qxygen in the tissue to the point where frostbite occurs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;HAPE and HACE&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HAPE and HACE are slightly different to frostbite. They are still caused by the lower amount of air pressure, but no one's 100% clear. You can have two people climb the same mountain at the same rate and be of the same fitness, one may get HAPE and the other won't, obviously something about the person is involved. It is known that lower air pressure causes HAPE and HACE. It's thought that it's to do with the pressure imbalance in the air. Put overly simplistically: Your lungs are designed to work at x pressure, they have difficulty at x -10 pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having increased blood cells in your blood may or may not increase you're chance of getting HAPE or HACE. It's been known for Sherpas to get these issues and they have a much greater ability to handle altitude than your average western climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T15:46:06.100" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7132" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7134" CreationDate="2014-11-14T10:46:54.263" Score="7" ViewCount="1152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it would be fun to climb all the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munro&quot;&gt;Munros&lt;/a&gt; as a single long distance type route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wikipedia page indicates that several people have climbed all the Munros as a continuous round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where can I find more information about completing such a challenge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular is there a standard route and how long should I expect to take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T08:30:37.873" Title="Climbing all the Munros as a continous round" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;scotland-munro&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7132" CreationDate="2014-11-14T11:22:05.590" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6907/how-many-munro-revisions-has-there-been&quot;&gt;282 Munros&lt;/a&gt; scattered all over the 30,414 sq mi of Scotland. The average time taken to bag all the Munros is &lt;strong&gt;eight years&lt;/strong&gt;....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fastest munro bagging is &lt;strike&gt;48 days 12 hours&lt;/strike&gt; now &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munro#Fastest_round&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;39 days, 9 hours&lt;/a&gt;. I'd imagine you could probably double this unless your a world renowned fell runner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no standard route to do it all in one go, because very few people try. You're going to need a very understanding boss!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your after a easier challenge You could try the welsh 3000's (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/&lt;/a&gt;). 15 peaks in 24 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T08:30:37.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7132" CreationDate="2014-11-14T12:20:54.960" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would be worth getting a copy of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamishs-Mountain-Non-Fiction-Hamish-Brown/dp/1905207336/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1415967294&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=9781905207336&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Hamish's Mountain Walk: The First Traverse of All the Scottish Munros in One Journey&quot;&lt;/a&gt; by Hamish Brown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hamish Brown was the first to do the Munros on a continuous round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a winter attempt interests you (obviously a more serious undertaking), then Martin Moran's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Munros-Winter-Martin-Moran/dp/1905207697&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Munros in Winter&lt;/a&gt; is also worth getting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you are not planning on the continuous round, these books are an excellent read.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a definitive guide on the Munros, then look for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Munros-Scottish-Mountaineering-Hillwalkers/dp/0907521940&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide&lt;/a&gt; from the Scottish Mountaineering Club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-11-14T12:30:11.260" LastActivityDate="2014-11-14T12:30:11.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7127" CreationDate="2014-11-14T12:50:38.137" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The UK company &lt;a href=&quot;http://rab.uk.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rab&lt;/a&gt; have a reputation for selling jackets and tops with longish sleeves. I'm 6'3&quot; (I don't know about 'wingspan') and find quite a lot of their jackets/tops have sleeves more than long enough for me, perhaps a bit too long in some cases!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, here is a link to Rab's sizing guide, which also gives sleeve lengths: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rab.uk.com/reference/your-questions-answered/size-guide.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sizing guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-11-17T11:49:57.007" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T11:49:57.007" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7137" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7139" CreationDate="2014-11-14T15:52:33.837" Score="8" ViewCount="7400" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tyvek is labeled as &quot;water resistant&quot; and not &quot;water proof&quot;, but I'd really love to know &lt;em&gt;how much&lt;/em&gt; is the fabric resistant to water in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people built tarps or even tents out of it, but I was not able to find any tests result of the actual water resistance of the fabric - or better, of the fabric&lt;em&gt;s&lt;/em&gt;, since there's more than one version of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any information about how much rain could a tyvek sheet actually take before starting to leak? Did anybody made any tests? Thank you so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT.&#xA;Thank you so much for those values, I missed them. But still, can you please describe how do those numbers relate to actual outdoors (that means, rain) practice? For instance, is &quot;15&quot; a light rain for about one hour? Is &quot;1016&quot; comparable to heavy rain for several hours non stop? I'd love to get an idea in simple terms of rain if that's somewhat possible and if anybody has an experience with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T16:56:18.463" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T16:56:18.463" Title="How resistant to water is Tyvek in practice" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tyvek&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7138" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7143" CreationDate="2014-11-14T15:58:55.680" Score="3" ViewCount="625" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's about -30°C this morning, and a couple random thoughts popped into my head while enjoying a nice hot shower. The first was how terrible would it be to get out of a shower at -30°C in a tent. The second was, how much does it cost to enjoy a shower in a tent at 17,000ft? There are no liquid water sources at that elevation, so you have to make water by melting snow or ice, which uses fuel, which also doesn't exist at 17,000ft (no wood above the treeline), so anything you burn has to be carried in. That means that by having a shower you are forfeiting precious, and expensively produced hot water that could have been used for cooking and drinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order you have a shower at that high of an elevation you probably need at least the following carried in by a sherpa (for this question I'm making the assumption that you don't help doing any of the work):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel to melt snow or ice (kerosene, white gas, diesel)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snow and ice, likely carried from a clean area at the edge of basecamp/border of&#xA;the glacial debris you're camping on. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A shower tent - which includes:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tent you can stand up in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something to stand on (mat, pallet, maybe a tub)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A large basin that holds all of the water you're going to be using to shower with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An apparatus to hang said basin, or pump the water out of the basin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plumbing (hose, shower head)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Towels - You've got to get dry after you shower, which requires dry towels, and to have dry towels you need a heated tent where they can dry before they freeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not even sure people take showers at such high elevations, or if people take baths in some nasty shared-bathwater tub, but supposing you wanted to have a shower at Everest Base Camp, about how much would one cost? I don't imagine that people would go a 1-2 month long expedition in the Himalayas and not bathe at some point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is more of a curiosity, something that could potentially go into a list of interesting facts about Everest or something like that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/10079261/Everest-Sixty-fascinating-facts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(see Everest: Sixty fascinating facts)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-11-18T09:10:10.300" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T08:51:17.557" Title="How much would a base camp shower cost in the Himalayas?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7137" CreationDate="2014-11-14T18:39:14.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you stated in your question, there are many different Tyvek fabrics, some are only water resistant, whereas others are completely waterproof (such as is used for express mail envelopes and printing materials). There are lots of forums online that discuss the use of Tyvek tarps for backpacking, to determine how water resistant your fabric is you need to know &lt;em&gt;which&lt;/em&gt; fabric you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The post below is from the thread, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=412&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;&lt;em&gt;Is Tyvek Truly Waterproof?&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.backpackinglight.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h1&gt;Tyvek waterproofness depends on the style&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hydrostatic head is a measurement of how waterproof a fabric is. It&#xA;  refers to the height of a water column the fabric can support before&#xA;  leaking. &lt;strong&gt;It depends on which Tyvek style you purchase as to what the&#xA;  hydrostatic head is.&lt;/strong&gt; The inches hydrostatic head is less than 15&#xA;  (water resistant) except for the following styles: Homewrap = 82.7,&#xA;  1025BL = 53, 1059B = 56, 1073B = 59, and 1422A = 40.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The above values are in inches H2O; to convert to mm H2O, multiply any&#xA;  of the above in H2O values by 25.4. Other than the following&#xA;  exceptions, Tyvek versions are less than 381.0 mm H2O (water resistant&#xA;  at best):1025BL = 1346.2, 1059B = 1422.4, 1073B = 1498.6, and 1422A =&#xA;  1016.0. Homewrap, which has printing, is 2100.0.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unlike most light shelter materials, Tyvek maintains its original HH&#xA;  head through multiple wash cycles. You can compare these Tyvek mm H2O&#xA;  HH values with the common light weight shelter materials mm H2O HH I&#xA;  tested in the thread&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=45026&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=45026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain resistance is measured and expressed as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_head&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;hydrostatic head&lt;/a&gt; in millimetres (mm). This indicates the pressure of water needed to penetrate a fabric. Heavy or wind-driven rain has a higher pressure than light rain. Standing on a groundsheet increases the pressure on any water underneath. Fabric with a hydrostatic head rating of 1000 mm or less is best regarded as shower resistant, with 1500 mm being usually suitable for summer camping. Tents for year-round use generally have at least 2000 mm; expedition tents intended for extreme conditions are often rated at 3000 mm. Where quoted, groundsheets may be rated for 5000 mm or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent#General_considerations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia: Tent-General Considerations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-16T05:13:26.707" LastActivityDate="2014-11-16T05:13:26.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7118" CreationDate="2014-11-15T12:44:01.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked this question to my mother who knows well the quality of down. During your trek, if you compress your down sleeping bag a lot and if it's a very good quality down (90-10 or 95-5), you shouldn't have any problem in your trekking. It's very important when you return home to bring air to your sleeping until your next adventure, so hang it in your closet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4197" LastEditorUserId="18480" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T03:44:52.210" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T03:44:52.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5292" CreationDate="2014-11-15T23:41:40.277" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can anchor your belayer, this is especially important to do when multi-pitching (if you're belaying from your harness), but if you're belayer is always going to be on the ground then she should learn how to catch a fall without being anchored to the floor. It's easier on your gear and it softens your fall if the belayer comes off the ground, especially on big falls. I had one climbing friend who was 90lbs at most and would get offended if you offered her an anchor. She'd get launched off the ground almost every fall, but she enjoyed going for the ride and rappelling back down to the ground. See the video below for proper technique when you get lifted off the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvEQrKOtUZg&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=2m52s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock Climbing Basics: Belaying the Leader&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nP2XD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rock Climbing Basics: Belaying the Leader&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-25T14:41:07.243" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T14:41:07.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7142" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7153" CreationDate="2014-11-16T03:24:48.693" Score="15" ViewCount="42128" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where would I look if I was in a survival situation and wanted to find some rocks for fire starting? Where does flint occur naturally? What environments could you expect to find some in? I've created sparks by accident by throwing big rocks around here in the Canadian Rockies, like when making a fire ring, but if I were to go out looking for rocks that make spark I'd be lost as to what to look for and where. Where do you have good odds of finding stones that spark? How do you identify them besides the striking them to see if they'll make a spark?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1417/is-there-a-way-to-light-a-fire-in-the-wild-using-rocks/1622#1622&quot;&gt;Is there a way to light a fire in the wild using rocks?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:28:29.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:28:29.910" Title="Where can I expect to find naturally occurring flint in the wild?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7138" CreationDate="2014-11-16T12:00:04.943" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's an inn/tea house/lodging at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorakshep&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gorak Shep&lt;/a&gt;. It's about 2-3 hours walk from the base camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2004, when I was there, most of the villages and lodgings on the way to Everest had, at the very least, the possibility of a &quot;hot bucket&quot; shower, which is basically a closed room where a person with a bucket of hot water can clean themselves. I don't remember if Gorak Shep had one or not - I didn't use one there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But a few years later I was in Nepal again, in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosaikunda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gosaikundu&lt;/a&gt; region, and by that time most of the lodgings had solar-powered showers. It's not unreasonable to assume that at least one has been put in Gorak Shep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt; A friend who trekked to Everest in the autumn 2013 reports that solar showers have been put in at least as far along as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingboche&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dingboche&lt;/a&gt;, and that showers cost $3-5 per person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastEditorUserId="483" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T08:51:17.557" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T08:51:17.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7144" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-16T13:06:23.810" Score="17" ViewCount="8474" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a traffic officer and in winter I always have issues with fingers freezing. Are there any hints besides hand warmers to keep my fingertips from getting so cold they hurt? I direct traffic so swinging my arms around is not an option!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put on rubber gardening gloves before I put on my winter gloves to help keep cold air from passing through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4202" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:27:31.670" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:27:31.670" Title="How to prevent fingers from freezing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7144" CreationDate="2014-11-16T15:37:36.693" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some general rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;layer system also for the hands is a good idea but those gardening gloves won't work pretty well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better use inner liner gloves (wool or even a softshell glove) and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7121/2653&quot;&gt;warm mitten&lt;/a&gt; as the outer layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;to avoid cooling off use hats (again use a layer-system) including a warm winter hat which covers the ears (also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/2839/do-we-lose-most-of-our-body-heat-through-our-heads&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; about heat loss through the head)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adjust the rest of your clothings because your &lt;strong&gt;cold hands are just the first sign&lt;/strong&gt; of the entire body getting too cold: the human body will first lower the blood circulation in the limbs (hands, feet) to stabilize the body core temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preventing &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/879/are-there-any-reliable-and-or-easy-to-use-rule-of-thumb-guides-for-windchill-c&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;wind-chill&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is very important, use windproof gloves!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat and drink more than you normally would, burning fat or complex carbohydrates will warm you from the inside while digesting (counterintuitively &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/15/surprising-foods-that-toy-with-body-temperature/?AffiliateWindow&amp;amp;awc=5160_1416151430_685f9314a16538289de566640ecebf9c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eating ice cream will warm you too&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in breaks like you will most likely already do: swinging arms, rubbing hands, eating hot soups or drinking something hot (unless you aren't starting to sweat from the hot drink!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a traffic officer you could try to be very active while &lt;em&gt;performing&lt;/em&gt;, a little dance will keep you warm and delight the people waiting in their cars ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-11-16T15:37:36.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7144" CreationDate="2014-11-16T22:20:09.997" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the suggestions in Everything's answer don't work, try these heating options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-69323.html?adtype=pla&amp;amp;kwd=&amp;amp;option=5612&amp;amp;gclid=CJOIudqTgMICFTLMtAodkw8Amw&quot;&gt;Heated gloves&lt;/a&gt; (I have linked to an example)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ellis-brigham.com/products/little-hotties/hand-warmers---10-pair-pack/668050?channel_code=300&amp;amp;itemid=36818&amp;amp;product_code=84594718&amp;amp;gclid=CNj94POTgMICFcrMtAodMz8Alg&quot;&gt;Hand warmer packs&lt;/a&gt; to tuck into your gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife has Reynaud's which leads to poor circulation in fingers and toes, so needs to use these solutions on occasion, and they are very effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-11-16T22:20:09.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7144" CreationDate="2014-11-16T22:37:03.680" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have friends who swear by silk inners. They are thin, so can be worn under other gloves, but are extremely warm for the thickness. Combine these with windstopper outers  - as mentioned elsewhere, layering is good practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the downside, silk is really expensive, at least where I live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the upside, silk lasts a long time and doesn't get smelly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-11-16T22:37:03.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2014-11-17T05:06:37.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I put a heavy pine log in the wood stove 24 hours ago.  It is still giving off heat and I expect it will burn for another 4-6 hours.  I started the fire by exposing the large log on one side to several pieces of burning tinder.  After the tinder burned out and all flames were gone,  there was red hot embers on one side of the log.  The red hot embers slowly worked from one end of the log to the other, like a slow burning fuse.  The downside is the heat is relatively low level - I estimate the heat output to be 3000-5000 btu/hr.  I was easily able to heat a big pot of stew and a couple kettles of water by placing them near the burning embers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4207" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T05:06:37.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7144" CreationDate="2014-11-17T05:25:38.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7146/2303&quot;&gt;Wills writes&lt;/a&gt;, you should focus on all your body parts. To survive the Polar Vortex you need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winter boots. These should comprise of an outer boot and a removable inner boot. The inner boot should be well insulated from the outer boot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trousers. You should wear long underpants, down-filled trousers and a wind stopper over that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down filled jacket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A face mask. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coldavenger.com/what-is-a-coldavenger/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coldavenger&lt;/a&gt; includes a ventilator that warms and moistens the air you breath in.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arctic hat, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tacticalscope.co.uk/ekmps/shops/nickwake/images/arctic-fox-ski-bomber-winter-hat-brown-flexible-small-large-fit-37-p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;see e.g. here&lt;/a&gt;. You should wear a balaclava under such a hat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski goggles to protect your eyes from the cold wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.northernoutfitters.com/northern-outfitters-arctic-mittens/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arctic Mittens&lt;/a&gt; to keep your hands warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When dressed up properly, your face should look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/autLq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot; Felicity Aston&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4206" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:57:33.313" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6610" CreationDate="2014-11-17T09:12:01.163" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can reduce or avoid knee pain by knowing how to descend properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The correct way to hike downhill is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to move your front foot forward and simultaneously load it with your weight at the same time, as most people do.&#xA;That way, the force generated by your weight (which increases while moving down thanks to the acceleration generated by the movement downhill) will be absorbed by your skeletal chain - ankle, knee, hips, and back. That's a lot of micro traumas that wear and tear the joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The healthy way to descend a hill is by far more fatiguing but more effective. You should hold your weight on the &lt;em&gt;back&lt;/em&gt; foot as long as you can while moving the front foot forward. &#xA;When the front foot touches the ground, &lt;em&gt;then&lt;/em&gt; gradually shift your weight on it.&#xA;This way, the above force isn't absorbed by the skeletal structure. It is absorbed by &lt;em&gt;the muscles&lt;/em&gt;, which aren't going to be affected negatively that much (they'll actually become stronger after that). This technique requires a lot more strength because by using your muscles as shock absorbers rather than your bones and joints you're fatiguing them, but it's really a saver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using trekking poles also helps, by helping in applying the very same principle: transferring some of your weight to the ground through the sticks (thus, your shoulders and arms); this helps unloading the knees from some of the load. The main focus, whether you're using sticks or not, should be how you shift your center of balance on your feet: mostly after you moved the front foot ahead rather than simultaneously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Mountaineering-The-Freedom-of-the-Hills-8th-Edition-P569.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The freedom of the Hills book&lt;/a&gt; and ten years of hiking experience with former knee problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-11-18T15:36:21.493" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T15:36:21.493" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7168" CreationDate="2014-11-17T09:18:33.253" Score="12" ViewCount="1521" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am searching for a sleeping bag that would allow me to comfortably sleep in the snow eventually at a significant altitude (2800 meters - 9000+ feet), but also (and likely most often) at lower altitudes (2000 meter or so).&#xA;I plan to sleep mostly with no tent (by digging a hole in the ground and then covering it partially with a tarp, or by digging a cave; along with a bivi bag)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really have no idea about what could be the good sleeping bag temp range to look into. &#xA;I don't want to feel any cold at night, but at the same time I'd want to avoid any extra weight and bulk to carry if it's not necessary - perhaps to end up by sweating in a bag that's way too warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help from any actual alpine winter camper would be appreciated. Many thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-11-17T11:22:48.533" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T15:09:39.793" Title="Winter bivvying in the Alps: what is a good temperature rating for a sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7142" CreationDate="2014-11-17T10:31:46.253" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Flint is a particular form of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chert&lt;/a&gt; which is found primarily in sedimentary type rocks. Flint itself is primarily found in chalk and limestone, although other Cherts have the same sparking properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places there is plenty of flint in the soil and it can be easily found. Your next best bet is to look in/next to river beds/lakes, where it is often exposed. Here is a somewhat helpful &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Flint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;guide&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flint is fairly distinctive in appearance and can be best identified by is smooth, hard appearance and light grey/brown to dark blue color. It can also have a rougher white outer shell which probably has a special name. Once you have something you think is flint you can check by trying to spark it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T10:31:46.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7156" CreationDate="2014-11-17T12:21:34.933" Score="6" ViewCount="357" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most sleeping bags have a rating with several temperatures, one for the upper temperature limit, one for the average woman to sleep in a comfortable position (&quot;Comfort&quot;), one third for an average man in a curled position (&quot;Lower limit&quot;), the last (&quot;Eemphasized&quot;) for bare survival, as defined in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;EN 13537 Standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's two examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.valandre.com/eng/Sleeping_Bags_and_Outerwear/sleeping_bags/freya.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Valandre Freja&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.carinthia.eu/bags/en/shop/Sleepingbags/Down+Sleeping+Bag+ECC+Line+600/?card=71#_tab_content2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Carinthia ECC Line 600&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others bags, though, &lt;em&gt;report one single value&lt;/em&gt;. Here's two of them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/ibis-ex-down-sleeping-bag.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Feathered Friends Ibis Ex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/equipment-sleeping-bags-filter-category-0-f-20-f/inferno-0f_-18c.html?variationId=0C5&amp;amp;variationName=ASPHALT%20GREY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North Face Inferno&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess those are using a different standard. &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;How do those ratings compare?&lt;/strong&gt; I think it's critical to have a mean to compare the two kinds of rating to get an objective idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-12T14:18:05.243" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T02:39:26.773" Title="Why some sleeping bags have four temperature ratings while others have only one?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2014-11-17T13:05:38.603" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience with hammocks: serveral multi-day bike trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need trees. Depending on the area this can be a problem. I have found myself looking desperately for trees in Hungary. On the other hand you may find spots to tie your hammock in strange places (abbandoned customs station, bridge)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rain can be an issue, but that what your tarp is for. Also note that water comes down the lines of the hammock. Use a carabiner at the connection between the lines and the hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stormy weather can also be an issue. The problem can again be migrated with a change of location or a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your sleeping bag will be compressed and you can get a cold butt. My solution: My hammock is double-walled and i put an insulated camping blanked between the lower walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moskitos. Use a hammock with a mosquito net. Trust me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting up at night can be uncomfortable (tall grass, slopes, dense bush)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the good parts: Space an weight of hammock and tarp are the same as a smaller sleeping bag. Setup within minutes, minimal footprint, sleeping on any slope trees grow, camping out of sight 10 meters next to a road. No worries about stones and roots below you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4209" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T13:05:38.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7154" CreationDate="2014-11-17T13:06:15.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer might be already hidden in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1286/2410&quot;&gt;the answer&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1284/2410&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;: In the US, there seems to be no standardized norm for sleeping bags, i.e. every manufacturer can write onto the label whatever they want – which can be more or less realistic... Basically this means that they will possibly write the most impressive number onto the label they think they can get away with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to sell your bags also in Europe, they have to be certified according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;EN 13537&lt;/a&gt; which is based on a standardized test. One might argue about how realistic that test is but it should* provide at least equal conditions for the temperature ratings across different products and manufacturers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this certification is surely not cheap and therefore manufacturers (especially smaller ones like &lt;em&gt;Feathered Friends&lt;/em&gt;) might abstain from it due to cost reasons, especially if they don't target the European markets anyways. Larger manufacturers (such as &lt;em&gt;North Face&lt;/em&gt;) might use the greater freedom of the US arrangement to produce a bag for the non-European market that can be slightly cheaper without the EN certification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Obviously there are significant deviations and measurement precision problems among different testing labs which seems to spoil this comparability, as can be read from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorindustry.org/pdf/EN13537TestLabComparisonMethod.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this report&lt;/a&gt; some major manufacturers commissioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-12-12T15:04:18.623" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T15:04:18.623" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4548" CreationDate="2014-11-17T14:48:03.953" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd need to know a bit more about your winter hiking conditions and duration.  If you're erring on the side of active, I'd suggest a Labrador.  If you're doing colder and shorter, something like a Bernesse Mountain Dog would do amazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;love&lt;/em&gt; running with my Labrador since she can handle heat decently (I don't run with her when it's very hot), she can handle cold better than I can (has had her whiskers and chest get ice covered), and can handle decent distances in comfort (6-10 miles consistently to age 9). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only real tips for running with any dogs - be considerate of the heat and make sure you have some good water sources for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update (after 2 years): Our Labrador, now 12, has some hip issues so she's limited to running an easy 2 miles. I never considered Western medicines in the past but acupuncture seems to work wonders for her. We also adopted another dog which we believe is a Lab / Catahoula mix and, holy crap, can that dog run. I have never heard of Catahoula's before but she has no problems keeping up on 15-mile mountain bike rides. My trail runs don't tire her out unless I'm doing 10+ miles, which means she's probably doing 2x that. I'm glad to see them on the list but wouldn't have put them under long &lt;strong&gt;slow&lt;/strong&gt; runs!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as running, this article on Runners World should answer; &#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bO9of.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Top Running Dogs&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ref: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/breed-apart&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Best Types of Dogs for Runners&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-04-29T11:56:35.773" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T11:56:35.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7158" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7164" CreationDate="2014-11-17T15:18:55.553" Score="13" ViewCount="2971" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a canoe trip, and will be bringing a kerosene lamp for light.  As a backup fire lighting option I am planning on bringing flint &amp;amp; steel and possible a magnifying glass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can either of these be used to light the wick on a kerosene lamp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T03:54:58.927" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T03:54:58.927" Title="Can I light a kerosene lamp with flint &amp; steel or a magnifying glass?" Tags="&lt;kerosene-lamps&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T15:38:47.193" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A magnifying glass will not light it, and I don't think a flint and steel will directly - you need a flame rather than a spark - but that is easily solved through using a piece of newspaper with kindling, or taper. Just use your magnifying glass or flint to light the paper, then use that to light the lamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slightly messy, and you need to be careful where you put your taper, but pretty simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T15:38:47.193" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7020" CreationDate="2014-11-17T16:28:44.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I second the recommendation of taking a course, don't just learn it from a single picture. &#xA;Travelling on glacier doesn't only requires to know how to tie (and, there's not one-way-fits-all-situations way to tie in, you got to know how to tie according to the situation, that is, number of members of the party, their expertise, their weight, the kind of glacier, and weather (visibility affects a lot the distance between members, the less visibility, the longest the distance as a rule of thumb). Also, there's not only one way to tie-in, and that may also vary according to the situation. If you are going to need to frequently vary the distance between members (for instance because you have to cross rock sections, or because the slope severally changes of inclination) then a clove hitch on a carabiner would quickly allow to change that distance without never untying. And then, there's how to walk, that is what you asked for. There's no point in being perfectly tied if you walk all close together. A whole Dutch family died in the Alps so close to the hut because of that some years ago. &#xA;As a general rule, you should stay as distant as possible, but turns change that whilst moving up. So again, practice on sloping terrain with no crevasses.&#xA;And practice how to stop a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, summing it all up: get trained. If you can't afford a course, then then this is a very serious book about the topic: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/glacier-mountaineering-andy-tyson/1018835011?ean=9780762757664&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Glacier Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt; despite the graphics may look kiddish. The content is indeed very serious and complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps somewhat. Enjoy your training and the ice!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-11-17T16:34:11.177" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T16:34:11.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T17:15:12.763" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cigarette lighters are very cheap and very small. Leave the magnifying glass with grandma, leave the flint with wilma, take some spare lighters, its the 21st Century after all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4210" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T17:15:12.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T18:40:35.570" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you think about it, lighting a kerosene lamp with a flint and steel is essentially the same as &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/T-lwHd6HKlk?t=38s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lighting a Zippo Lighter&lt;/a&gt;. The classic of classic lighters has a flammable-fluid soaked wick that is ignited by a small flint and steel. The only significant difference is that Kerosene has a slightly higher &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_nVhkvPEpI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flashpoint&lt;/a&gt; than Lighter Fluid (Naphtha). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQ4L5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighter Fluid's flashpoint is at about 5°C, which means at ~5°C Lighter fluid will let off enough vapour for it to react to a nearby flame and ignite. Kerosene's flashpoint is higher, at ~38°C (just about body temperature) so it'll only put off enough vapours to ignite when it's warm. So you could do it, &lt;strong&gt;you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; light a Kerosene lamp with a flint and steel, &lt;em&gt;but ONLY if it was a really hot day (~40°C) or if your lamp had been left in the sun long enough for your canister to heat up.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Considering that Kerosene's flash point is pretty much at par with body temperature, theoretically, in a desperate situation, you could conceivably warm the Kerosene canister up enough with your body for it to reach it's minimum flashpoint. But lighting a small fire and using that flame to light your lamp would be a much easier solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time you could light anything with a magnifying glass is during the day when there is enough intense sunlight to focus a beam. So even if you could get it started with this method, it wouldn't be practical unless you plan on burning your lamp until it gets dark, or taking it from the light into somewhere dark like a cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-23T20:58:01.883" LastActivityDate="2014-11-23T20:58:01.883" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T20:04:52.393" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wasn't able to light an Aladdin kerosene lamp with the sparks of a zippo. (Kerosene needs much more energy to ignite than lighter fluid)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an ironic side question - do you really need a lamp when there is enough sunlight to ignite it with a magnifying glass? ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4212" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T11:09:30.947" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T11:09:30.947" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T22:11:11.383" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a good idea to carry along some snacks, Fritos, potato chips, doritoes. You can light these with a magnifying glass, if the sun is out. I've had to resort to this to get the wood stove lit when my lighter was out of fluid while snowed in. There is a high fat/grease content in those snacks. They burn like a candle. Try it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4215" LastActivityDate="2014-11-17T22:11:11.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-17T23:14:03.163" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;fire steel can be used but you would be wise to find a tinder i.e. birch bark, Vaseline soaked cotton in a pill bottle.. I would not recommend a kerosine lamp where a candle in a safe enclosure would work just as nice. also practice a bit before your trip as it does take some skill.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4216" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2014-11-18T02:41:03.610" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T02:41:03.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7152" CreationDate="2014-11-17T23:30:15.590" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, I will just spread some ideas. I never did a winter bivi by myself. &lt;strong&gt;Please don't blindly trust my words.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But... because I am interested in the idea and like to do something similar in future, I searched for some info which might help you (and me). Still I am looking forward for better answers (which are based on experience and real knowledge!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is such a thing as too warm. Weight. Size. Depending on your activity outdoors you shouldn't &quot;simply&quot; get the warmest sleeping bag. You might get really slow while climbing due to the heavy load and we all know the premiss: speed means safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not in extreme heights and winter isn't necessarily &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; cold in the Alps. Of course it's not the Himalayas, but we also shouldn't downplay the risks. I tried to get some information about temperatures. There has to be better and more detailed data, but this is a starter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperatures for the Eastern Alps over the last years as an average over several summits in the asked height level &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.querschuesse.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/A423.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.querschuesse.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/A423.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4HGgA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climate diagrams and normals from Swiss measuring stations for the periods 1961-1990 and 1981-2010: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/en/climate/swiss_climate/climate_diagrams_from_swiss_measuring_stations.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;overview&lt;/a&gt;, detail e.g. for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/files/kd/climsheet/en/GUE_norm8110.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gütsch ob Andermatt&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/files/kd/climsheet/en/ZER_norm8110.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zermatt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the above links we can &lt;em&gt;guess&lt;/em&gt; how cold it will be at night. But we can't say for sure. Tough to find some night temperatures (with statistics) but at least here is a &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.meteocentrale.ch/en/weather/hitlists/lowest-temperatures.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hit list which shows the 20 coldest weather stations in Switzerland of today&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can observe the actual temperatures at night for some cold places in Switzerland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More food to think about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which part of the Alps are you going to? South Alps are generally warmer due to Mediterranean influence, even at winter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will there be Foehn? Atmospheric inversion?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the weather even more detailed as you would in summer!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you generally feel in terms of coldness? Are you feeling cold easily?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sleeping bag is just a part of the equipment. &lt;strong&gt;As important is the kind of bivi sack and mattress you are using.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are going to sleep in underwear or fully dressed (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/645/2653&quot;&gt;related&lt;/a&gt;)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How long do you plan to be outdoors? One night or five? Wet conditions on a multiday trip without having the possibility to get dry clothing is a major problem. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/470/synthetic-vs-down-sleeping-bags&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down suffers from this even more as synthetic fibre&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and even the second night could be really bad if you have to go in your damp-wet sleeping bag...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will you use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://sectionhiker.com/vapor_barrier_clothing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vapour barrier liner&lt;/a&gt; for the sleeping bag (and maybe also socks)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you are going to dig a snow cave, please learn how to do it properly! Otherwise choking instead of the cold might be the biggest danger. If you have the conditions (you won't necessarily have enough snow to get a good cave) you could get a pretty warm place to sleep - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/104/2653&quot;&gt;around freezing point&lt;/a&gt;. Please read along: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6045/using-a-tarp-over-the-entrance-of-a-snow-cave&quot;&gt;Using a tarp over the entrance of a snow cave&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1966/best-approach-to-camping-in-snow/1967#1967&quot;&gt;Best approach to camping in snow&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/2977/how-to-set-up-a-tent-in-deep-snow/3674#3674&quot;&gt;How to set up a tent in deep snow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For bivi packs see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6138/differences-for-bivi-packs&quot;&gt;Differences for bivi packs&lt;/a&gt;, for the bivi see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6134/planned-winter-bivi&quot;&gt;Planned winter bivi&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorseiten.net/forum/showthread.php/46212-Alpen-Winter-Biwak-Schlafsack-mit-Klettergewicht&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topic in German&lt;/a&gt; where they discussed a similar question. He asks for nights down to -35°C which might occur but this is somehow extreme for the typical night in the Alps. I think -20°C is more likely. With your additional gear and clothing you most likely don't need a sleeping bag with comfort temperature of -20°C...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guy in the link above ends up with following setup: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Therm-a-Rest Haven, 3/4- 14mm- Eva- mattress, Exped VBL-Liner&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a bag with T_comfort=-1°C, T_limit=-6°C, T_extreme=-23°C which I personally wouldn't suggest. But he tested it with all his personal requirements and gear in around -20°C and was very happy with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a very good and complex question. I think there is no distinct answer like &quot;you need a T_limit=-25°C bag for the Alps&quot;. There is so much to think of for preparing the trip and I would suggest to not just jump into a winter bivi in 2800m from zero experience, get there with incrementalism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, I just tried to gather informations, this isn't a proper answer. I hope we get more useful replies soon!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T06:00:15.307" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7169" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-18T08:30:47.187" Score="6" ViewCount="330" Body="&lt;p&gt;So of course the common standard for proper burying of solid human waste is burial in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4590/1908&quot;&gt;cat-hole&lt;/a&gt;, and generally this means one hole per instance per person. This is what I practice and teach on personal and group trips, per &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LNT guidelines&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But in what instance is using one large, group hole (latrine style), an appropriate and practical option?&lt;/strong&gt; In other words, what situations make a latrine hole a preferable option to the standard cat-hole practice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course it would be covered up, but only after moving on from that campsite. This sounds pretty gross to be honest, but I've known of some people who practice this in some locations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:30:29.377" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T05:34:04.270" Title="Groups: What are proper occasions for a large, shared hole for waste?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7089" CreationDate="2014-11-18T10:19:13.723" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Liam has described, most problems are caused by the lack of oxygen which messes up all kinds of vital biological processes, and what exactly happens and how is still subject of (obviously difficult and dangerous) medical research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most extreme form is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_high_altitude_on_humans#Death_zone&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;death zone&lt;/a&gt; above 7500 or 8000m (sources differ), where acclimatization becomes impossible: there is simply too little oxygen there for the human body to work, and it starts shutting down not-immediately-vital functions like digestion to operate at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T10:19:13.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7169" CreationDate="2014-11-18T15:25:07.610" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several aspects to take under consideration:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Group holes are not a good practice because your deposits can't be buried too deep. The soil needs enough organic material to eliminate your deposits. But, if the upper layers of the soil are big enough, you could make your hole bigger (so making it appropriate for larger groups).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The type of group who are camping.. if you're camping with handicapped/very young/elder people, then you can't ask them to dig their holes, a bigger hole is then more appropriate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in all honesty, don't leave a cat-hole open, close it as soon as you are finished. People can step into, smell,.. As you said, large cat-holes are gross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4220" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T15:25:07.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7158" CreationDate="2014-11-18T16:06:59.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are desperate, a flint and steel or other sparker can be used to light a kerosene lamp but, and it is a pretty big but, you must first warm the wick (and the kerosene in it) to body temp or slightly above. Holding it in your hands and blowing on it will get you close, but it is almost always easier to ignite some kindling and use that to light your lamp. And as someone mentioned above, a generous supply of disposable lighters is by far the easiest approach.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4010" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T16:06:59.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-18T16:49:10.933" Score="16" ViewCount="8212" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are numerous compact and travel guitars that exist, some of which are designed specifically for outdoor pursuits like backpacking. &lt;a href=&quot;http://alpacaguitar.com/alpaca-carbon-fiber-travel-guitar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is one I've been considering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being a musician, music is one of the things I miss most while in the wilderness, and I'm hoping to remedy that soon with a guitar that can be taken outdoors, at least on some of my trips. I have zero experience with taking a guitar on backpacking trips and don't know anyone that has. So...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are some good ways to ensure the guitar stays in good shape while out on trips?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best way to pack the guitar in a pack?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What other functions, if any, could it serve other than being an instrument?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to deal with rain, other moisture?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any considerations for wildlife being repelled/drawn by the sound?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or issues I haven't thought of...?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: Just to clarify, I'm not necessarily looking for recommendations on a travel guitar, but rather the issues associated with taking one (of any type) into the wilderness. However, if certain types lend themselves to better transport than others, then I would think it's worthwhile to mention them in your answer.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:22.550" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:37:22.550" Title="Tips and tricks for backpacking with a guitar" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7173" CreationDate="2014-11-18T18:55:20.387" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My solution to this is a Hohner G3T and a 1 Watt Marshall amp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TuNPO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m8kui.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Hohner fits easily down the side of my bigger rucksacks, and the amp is tiny. They don't add a huge amount to the weight of my pack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is wet I'll wrap them both in a plastic bag, but they have entertained me on many Munro tops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never had any wildlife attracted to the sound, but perhaps that says more about my playing than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T18:55:20.387" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7173" CreationDate="2014-11-18T18:55:36.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lapstick.com/travel-guitar-standard.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;lapstick&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. I don't imagine that you're going to be able to find anything more convenient or compact than this thing is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The best way to ensure your guitar stays in good shape on outdoor trips is to never expose it to the elements. Play it in your tent and only bring it outside when it's clear and calm out, never put it on the dirty or snowy ground, never leave it outside when you're not playing it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The lapstick is small enough to fit in your pack, and you could pack&#xA;it with your dry clothes to control moisture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You listen to it with headphones (and a 9 volt battery), so attracting animals that are&#xA;drawn to unnatural sounds out of curiosity shouldn't be too much of&#xA;an issue, and singing while playing will repel most critters anyway.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do happen to have anything wander into camp while you're&#xA;playing your lapstick, it looks like it would double as a pretty&#xA;effective war club!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Issues: &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extra weight &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extra bulk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cold fingers (or cracked fingertips in extreme conditions)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=killjoy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;killjoys&lt;/a&gt; (camp-mates that aren't necessarily music fans)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sharing? &quot;Dude you have a Guitar!? Hand it over here! ROCK ON PETE TOWNSHEND!&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headphone guitars are only really a one man jam sesh, so unless you brought little compact speakers or a mini amp, you'd probably want something acoustic, which would be larger and kinda awkward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you get, I'd recommend finding or making a light, soft, waterproof padded case for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lapstick.com/travel-guitar-customer-photo-gallery.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photos from Lapstick website:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VEfW1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cgVkB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/scLxM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/osEGX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T18:55:36.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2014-11-18T20:29:36.827" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from getting a few good logs going before bed, I have used a bit of a cheat when taking the scouts camping. I cover the embers (a good bed) with foil. If in abundance you could try using green leaves to act as a reflector though I never tried this. Like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3631/2653&quot;&gt;@whatsisname&lt;/a&gt; said earlier tv cheat having the fire with flame in the morning. I've only ever had embers, but you can get a fire going very quickly with embers..Bear Grylls task I ask ya&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4225" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T20:49:11.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7118" CreationDate="2014-11-18T20:56:23.983" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I emailed &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/&quot;&gt;Feathered Friends&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/&quot;&gt;PHD&lt;/a&gt; about this issue. I only got a reply from FF so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A compression bag greatly reduces the size of a sleeping bag. There is&#xA;  no limitation to compressing down, as long as the down is not being&#xA;  stored compressed for an extended period of time, It will not be&#xA;  damaged.if you are taking it out and using it everyday. Just don't&#xA;  leave it compressed while not on a trip. As for the larger backpacks,&#xA;  some people believe compressing down can damage it. That is true for&#xA;  lower grades of down, but we only use the finest quality down so that&#xA;  does not apply to Feathered Friends products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is reassuring.&#xA;EDIT:&#xA;Also PHD got back. With this link, which I couldn't find before asking. And yeah its states that quality down not only does not degrades but actually benefits from occasional compression! From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/cleaning-down-sleeping-bags-and-clothing&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some years ago, when testing the effects of repeated compression on&#xA;  down and various synthetic waddings, we found that after thousands of&#xA;  compression cycles the waddings had all lost between 30% and 40% of&#xA;  their loft, as expected. By contrast the down was 5% loftier than&#xA;  before - the compressions had merely warmed it up! This illustrates&#xA;  that down is not the fragile touch-me-not substance some people think.&#xA;  Treated right, it will give good service for a very long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-11-21T08:36:17.820" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T08:36:17.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="768" CreationDate="2014-11-18T21:12:53.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you only use PET bottle try to put a neoprene sleeve around them. &#xA;Neoprene is used to insulate the tubes of the so called &quot;hydration systems&quot;, that is those bladders with a tube going from the bladder to your mouth when you want to suck water from it. Neoprene works pretty well both in keeping the heat in winter and the opposite as you need. It doesn't do any miracles but it helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-11-18T21:12:53.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="772" CreationDate="2014-11-19T03:08:08.953" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is always the hunters responsibility to correctly identify their targets and handle their weapons safely.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, you can always help them out by making it clear your are a human as others have noted. Bright colours, standing in the open, and human noise are all good. Trying to hide in a bush and trick the hunter with deer calls is &lt;em&gt;a bad idea&lt;/em&gt;. It's better that we know you are there and that will likely cause us to move on anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bow hunt on public land in New Zealand, frequently in the same areas as trampers (hikers) though I don't actually see them all that often. We do not have any particular seasons on deer here, though you'll obviously find increased activity around the roar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually we are using the same tracks you are to access areas and then hunting out away from them in certain areas. Most game animals don't like humans so the closer you are to huts, well used tracks and other people the less likely you are to be around people actively hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mostly, treat hunters just like other people you see out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The better we all get along together in the wild the safer we'll all be. Most of us like to stop and have a chat, though we're often wary of upsetting people as we know some are not comfortable with weapons around. If you're nervous ask a few polite questions, it's easy for us to show when rifles are unloaded, explain where we are and aren't shooting etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only caution would be to leave weapons alone unless specifically given permissions to go near them, this particularly applies to curious children. Generally this shouldn't be a problem as hunters will be guarding them closely, but it comes up sometimes when we are sharing huts etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun out there :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4229" LastActivityDate="2014-11-19T03:08:08.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7173" CreationDate="2014-11-19T10:53:06.803" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the answers above mainly focus on getting a Easy-To-Carry (new) instrument, I'll stick to an attempt of answering how can one carry a standard guitar like the one I have (a Pluto, acoustic).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;  As the question was having an edit about travelling guitars, I am afraid I have no experience with them, but I'd rather think that same packing technique can be applied to those guitars as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope it is okay if I assume that you have at least a minimal guitar carrying case. If not, then its a good idea to invest into one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a standard guitar like the one I have, made up of wood, its very much possible that it can suffer damage from extreme changes in temperature and humidity, getting wet. And a severe impact during transit and/or walk can crack the wood if hit badly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start with first loosing up all the strings. One can tune them once reached a camping place and then plan to play.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the tremolo bar and/or Capo if there is/are any. &lt;em&gt;Preferably&lt;/em&gt; I won't bother carrying it. Choice is yours.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then see that you have aligned all tuning keys parallel with the headstock, so that they don't get a bump.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are going to an area (or in the rainy season) where you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; encounter rain, Get bubble paper and wrap the whole guitar with it, use duct tape to make sure that it remains wrapped. Consider adding crushed up paper around the headstock and the tuning keys. And then wrap in bubble paper. Newspapers would do just fine as a crushed up paper. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now, put it in the case in such a way that you make sure that any unsupported areas of the guitar are supported with the crushed up paper. Fill up any air space in the case with crushed up paper.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to ensure, I'd recommend carrying other accessories like pick, extra strings (just in case?) the belt, the Capo in a separate pouch that you can accommodate in your backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-20T10:31:47.127" LastActivityDate="2014-11-20T10:31:47.127" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-19T14:18:44.837" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;When you get to the summit and you push the watch, first you try to breath a little bit and get some oxygen in your lungs. When I saw this time I was like, 'Ah, that's not possible.' Yeah...that was a good moment.&quot; - Ueli Steck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-11-19T14:57:27.903" LastActivityDate="2014-11-19T14:57:27.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7059" CreationDate="2014-11-19T16:05:14.320" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I came to win, came as I always do, in order to justify who I am and what I have become; now I don't even know what that is. The rot inside me, the cancer of desire, feels unbearable, now it knows it won't be sated. There's a malignant discontent in there, and without a climb there will be no peace. When - if - I pass over to normal life I know I will drag this feeling with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's not dying that is the problem, he said. 'Climbing is like a lover, and your wife knows this. Whenever you are together, no matter how much you love your family, your thoughts are only of your lover, of climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both from Andy Kirkpatrick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-11-19T16:05:14.320" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-11-19T16:05:14.320" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7152" CreationDate="2014-11-20T08:52:40.157" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you sleep only in a bivy bag direct on snow you need to have a sleeping bag with a good isolated pad for the temperature in the forecast at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you sleep in a well build igloo the temperature is much warmer than the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Snow is used because the air pockets trapped in it make it an insulator. On the outside, temperatures may be as low as −45 °C (−49 °F), but on the inside the temperature may range from −7 °C (19 °F) to 16 °C (61 °F) when warmed by body heat alone. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a snow cave you can plan with this given temperature&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The temperature inside a snow cave is usually 15 to 20 degrees warmer than outside, which can make the difference between life and death. The temperature in a well-constructed snow cave, relatively free of outside air incursion, typically hovers around 32 degrees Fahrenheit regardless of outside temperature. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://seattletimes.com/html/outdoors/2003570749_nwwsnowsafety152.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Seattle Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience I used a comfort -2 Celsius degree sleeping bag in a igloo/snow cave with a isolated sleeping pad and i was comfortable warm during the night. The temperature outside was down to -20 °C. And if you're still cold you could also wear long underwear or your down jacket/pants/socks like on some expeditions and wear also a hat/buff on your head. Then you can go with a cheaper and lighter sleeping bag. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-12T15:09:39.793" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T15:09:39.793" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7188" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7189" CreationDate="2014-11-21T07:59:35.617" Score="13" ViewCount="1347" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just like everyday, I was at the climbing wall this morning, when I reached, there was a group (I have not seen anyone of them there, ever, it being a local place, I know almost everyone who comes there in my time slot) who had finished their practice and were winding up their stuff. I saw an instrument that I have never seen, or seen anyone using it.&#xA;After spending a couple of hours searching for it, I could get a picture of what it looked like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What this instruments is?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I very well know that I should not try to use an instrument that I don't know about right away on a climb, instead I should get it, learn how it should be used in proper way and then try it over a climb (preferably under an experience observer).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qoGCo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-26T12:02:34.987" LastActivityDate="2014-11-26T12:02:34.987" Title="What this instrument is used for?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7188" CreationDate="2014-11-21T08:46:11.660" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a self-belay device for rappelling that works just like a simple figure-eight, but there is a configuration where the lever on the left allows you to release yourself under load. It's meant for canyoning, so you can rappel down some distance before taking a plunge into a pool that's a bit further down than your are comfortable with jumping directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a video (bad quality unfortunately) that shows how it works: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvCYLkG-xec&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvCYLkG-xec&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T08:46:11.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7188" CreationDate="2014-11-21T09:22:31.380" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a self-locking descender with other uses as well.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevicesPage/Rappel/EightPages/ComplexEights/CEight990.html&quot;&gt;The official page by the manufacturer&lt;/a&gt; states that it's not only meant to be used on canyoning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Multiuse descender device, the only one in the world which can be&#xA;  opened under load. Multi-purpose device suitable for canyoning,&#xA;  special forces, rescue and military application. As a descender it&#xA;  fits ropes from 5 to 13 mm in diameter. Useful for many other actions&#xA;  as lifting, belaying, rescue etc.  It works with ropes between 9 and&#xA;  12 mm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately it looks like the manual isn't available online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevicesPage/Rappel/EightPages/ComplexEights/CEight990.html&quot;&gt;This is a page with some more comments about the device.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T09:22:31.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7191" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-21T11:53:38.437" Score="13" ViewCount="2885" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm backpacking through a national park in India, which also happens to be a tiger reserve. I understand that chances of even spotting a Bengal tiger are slim, but still, what precautionary measures can I take to avoid an encounter with the largest non-aquatic mammalian predator on Earth? And if I still find myself facing the beast, what actions can I take to keep me (and others if it's a group) safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="605" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:29:49.763" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:29:49.763" Title="How can I avoid an encounter with a tiger?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;tigers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2014-11-21T15:15:20.130" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use pneumatic hosing, something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-plastic-and-rubber-tubing/=uowues&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-plastic-and-rubber-tubing/=uowues&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's super cheap (runs under a dollar/foot and a foot is more than you will need) and you can buy as short of a section you want at most hardware stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4234" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-11-21T15:19:33.913" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T15:19:33.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7169" CreationDate="2014-11-21T18:47:40.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that digging a deep group latrine works far better when taking youth and other folks who are hesitant about the whole &quot;pooping in the woods&quot; idea.  I make it one of the task as we set up camp, one group cooks, one group sets up tents, one group get water then digs the latrine.  I oversee that the hole is deep enough to accommodate the group for the night (or two) we are staying there.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find it's easier for people to be okay pooping into a designated &quot;toilet&quot; instead of having to dig their own (which likely won't be deep enough anyways).  As weird as that sounds.  It also speeds up the process in the mornings when multiple people need to go at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before we leave camp toss some dirt into the hole, give it a good stir with a stick, then cover it up with the soil you displaced while digging it. It is well covered, deep, and will decompose quickly (especially since people should be packing out their TP).  If we are staying multiple nights I will cover then dig another hole every other day or so.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I've found this to be a much lower impact system, having one hole that is well tended, than having many potentially poorly build cat-holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-11-21T18:47:40.540" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2014-11-22T00:35:10.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Youth, conditioning, and a great attitude towards safety, common sense, and pushing yourself. Safety first. Dead climbers don't get do-overs.  You can die very easily at twenty feet up on a 5.6 beginner route. I saw the consequences, his dying body in front of me and his distraught wife just..broken, maybe forever. You don't &quot;get&quot; that reality probably until you see the consequences. Once you see that - someone dying with so many actually-important things left to live for - climbing becomes so obviously absurd, you understand why it's a sport of &quot;Conquistadors of the Useless.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet, if I wasn't in such crappy aging condition, I would still do more. But remember, you can't really &quot;manage&quot; all risk like it's an entity to put in a safe place. The risk of your making a poor decision is inherently impossible to predict, regardless of what people want to believe. Nobody who died or got injured from poor decision-making thought, &quot;Hey, I can't control personal risk but I'll climb anyway.&quot; No, they thought they could. Yet they couldn't control their own imperfection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, stay alive, take care of your buddy and have them take care of you. That would be having the best equipment you can have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4237" LastActivityDate="2014-11-22T00:35:10.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10" CreationDate="2014-11-22T01:17:37.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get the best fit possible. Then go with the soak them and walk them dry method. Wetting the leather softens it and as it drys the leather shrinks to your foot shape. And at the first sign of blisters stand in a stream. Removes heat and lubricates the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4238" LastActivityDate="2014-11-22T01:17:37.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7191" CreationDate="2014-11-22T04:53:52.677" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;After spending quite some time researching what you can do to avoid tiger encounters, the best advise I can give you is–&lt;em&gt;don't put yourself in a position where you might encounter a tiger&lt;/em&gt;. Tigers are &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eater&quot;&gt;man-eaters&lt;/a&gt;, estimates put fatalities due to &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_attack&quot;&gt;tiger attacks&lt;/a&gt; at about 373,000 since 1800. The only truly effective safety measure is a big gun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_attack#Measures_to_prevent_tiger_attacks&quot;&gt;Measures to prevent tiger attacks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Various measures were taken to prevent and reduce the number of tiger&#xA;  attacks with limited success. For example, since tigers almost always&#xA;  attack from the rear, masks with human faces were worn on the back of&#xA;  the head by the villagers in 1986 in the Sundarbans, on the theory&#xA;  that tigers usually do not attack if seen by their prey. This had&#xA;  temporarily decreased the number of attacks, but only for a short&#xA;  while before the tigers figured out it was not the front of the human&#xA;  being so the villagers no longer wear them for protection. All other&#xA;  means to prevent tiger attacks, such as providing the tigers with more&#xA;  prey by releasing captive bred pigs to the reserve's buffer zones, or&#xA;  placing electrified human dummies to teach tigers to associate&#xA;  attacking people with electric shock, did not work as well and tiger&#xA;  attacks continue. Many measures were thus discontinued due to lack of&#xA;  success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;hr&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.ca/books/about/Spell_of_the_Tiger.html?id=zU7PmIjthpoC&amp;amp;redir_esc=y&quot;&gt;Montgomery, Sy (2009). Spell of the Tiger: The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans. Chelsea Green Publishing. pp. 37–38. ISBN&#xA;  0395641691.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would learn how to identify tiger-sign; what their foot prints look like, what their urine smells like, how they mark their territory, and &lt;em&gt;stay out&lt;/em&gt; of that territory. Other than that, the only advise I could give you would be the usual advise for avoiding encounters with big predators: &lt;strong&gt;Let them know you're there.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If an animal can hear you, smell you, or see you coming form a distance, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;and identify you as a human&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, they will typically try to avoid you. Lots of tiger attacks have occurred because of mistaken identity–the victim was crouched down collecting wood or working on the ground. Be loud, be tall, and don't put yourself in any vulnerable situations, like wandering in to the woods alone. I imagine that you'll be given a lecture about tigers when you enter the park as well, they're an endangered species, they keep tabs on their populations and typically know where the cats are on the reserves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What do do if you encounter a tiger&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing all you can to &lt;em&gt;avoid&lt;/em&gt; an encounter, If you still end up meeting one, and you're still in a group, then you need to get everyone together and be as aggressive and intimidating as you can. Stand tall, get to a high place and act bigger than the tiger, throw rocks (aim for the face), bang sticks, face the tiger and be fierce. Do your best to intimidate it. You either have to scare it off, be prepared to fight it off, or shoot it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you're alone&lt;/em&gt; and you encounter a tiger, then you are in &lt;em&gt;extreme&lt;/em&gt; danger, it's unlikely that one person can scare off a tiger without a gun. You have to try to elude and escape the tiger, but never turn your back on a tiger if one is watching you, and &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;never run&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;–there's actually a wikiHow on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Tiger-Attack&quot;&gt;How to Survive a Tiger Attack&lt;/a&gt;. Remember, tigers are man eaters, you are their prey, your chances of actually fighting off a tiger are slim, but aside from shooting the tiger it's the only option you have if you can't convince it to leave you alone otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never been in tiger country, but I do have some experience with big cats. We have lots of cougars in the Canadian Rockies. When I was a kid we had 3 cougars roaming around my hometown making easy pickings out of people's pets one year. Some rangers came to our school and taught us how to avoid an encounter, and defend ourselves if necessary. Their advise was basically what I told you; stay in groups,  be loud, and don't wander into the woods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-22T20:04:09.400" LastActivityDate="2014-11-22T20:04:09.400" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7198" CreationDate="2014-11-22T07:51:13.810" Score="6" ViewCount="712" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a problem with one hand that has bad circulation, this means that if my hand gets cold and wet for extended times I get &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chilblains/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chilblains&lt;/a&gt; which are more than a nuisance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that I have an outdoor job that causes a lot of wear and tear on the hands, as I am basically lifting a metal pole for hours on end. Every glove I buy becomes torn between the index finger and middle finger, and along the length of the index finger. This happens after only three days of work. I have bought gloves made for work, skiing, climbing, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of trying gloves made for different activities and wasting my money I thought I would ask here: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a good waterproof material for gloves that will be used outdoors in cold and wet conditions, and that will suffer a lot of abuse?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T00:30:43.043" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T00:30:43.043" Title="What material is best for durable, waterproof, gloves in many temperatures and weather conditions?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7197" CreationDate="2014-11-22T21:04:19.637" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The variety used by pipe fitters working the oil fields in the Great White North:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1EmQx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You sound like you're working on the oil rigs, which explains why the pointer finger on your gloves keeps blowing out. Ski gloves and climbing gloves aren't going to take the abuse of turning pipe all day, what you need is a sturdy pair of leather gloves with a reinforced forefinger, or rather, &lt;em&gt;a couple pairs&lt;/em&gt; with warn liners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.superiorglove.com/work-gloves/winter-cold-weather-gloves&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Check out this Canadian line of winter work gloves for working the oil fields up North.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in a mining town in the Canadian Rockies, one of my first jobs was working with my hands outside in the coal pits at -30°C. My solution was to wear waterproof gauntlet gloves layered with wool liners. I currently live in Alberta, Canada, where working outside in the extreme cold is a way of life. I know tonnes of people that are working, or have worked the oil fields up north, where temperatures regularly drop to -40°C. Bombproof winter work gloves are one thing that every work wear store stocks a lot of in this part of the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-22T21:17:40.173" LastActivityDate="2014-11-22T21:17:40.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7235" CreationDate="2014-11-23T15:53:47.257" Score="9" ViewCount="2626" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to travel by canoe from Pittsburgh Pa to Wheeling, West Virginia on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio river&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the navigation considerations?  Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe, will be interested in bike trails paralleling or intersecting the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Locks and Dams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping/accommodations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Launches &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River side services (away from large cities) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothetically the trip would be completed, with only muscle power, rowing or pedaling.  In either a single trip or by pedaling upstream and rowing down stream, in one or more outings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related (downstream) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7238&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Wheeling WV and Parkersburg WV?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Related (upstream) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7239&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers between Ohiopyle State Park (PA) and Pittsburgh PA?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-11-28T19:04:36.220" Title="What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Pittsburgh PA.&amp; Wheeling WV?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;&lt;ohio-river&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7200" CreationDate="2014-11-23T21:49:47.113" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.ohiodnr.gov/boataccessmap/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This Interactive Map Tool&lt;/a&gt; pinpoints all &lt;strong&gt;locks and dams&lt;/strong&gt;, as well as paddling access and amenities, including boat &lt;strong&gt;launches&lt;/strong&gt; on the Ohio River:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nEOAL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are at least two tenting &lt;strong&gt;campgrounds&lt;/strong&gt; by the water about halfway between Pittsburg and Wheeling near East Liverpool: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Smith&amp;#39;s+Landing+Campground/@40.4124516,-80.4929356,10z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1scamping!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xfe9693ffcb198d02&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smiths Landing Campground&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Yellow+Creek/@40.5524188,-80.6158451,12z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1scamping!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x9443aa7238f02470&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellow Creek&lt;/a&gt;. Then another just past Wheeling: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/DC+Ventures,LLC/@40.0212364,-80.85368,11z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1scamping!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xc90dab7e621e9983&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DC Ventures&lt;/a&gt;. There are also a few trailer and RV parks along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend acquiring the appropriate river charts, these charts identify all docks on the river, which would be your best bet for finding &lt;strong&gt;services&lt;/strong&gt; on the banks of the river: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/Districts/LRP/Ohio%20River%20Navigation%20Chart.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio River Navigation Charts: New Martinsville, West Virginia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Bicentennial Commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, 2003-2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IPHyG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTqeC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering your proximity to civilization on the Ohio River, you could probably take advantage of a maps app on your smartphone or on a vehicle GPS device to find amenities when you need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-24T16:09:23.873" LastActivityDate="2014-11-24T16:09:23.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2014-11-24T04:56:03.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For outdoor single-pitch climbing, a pretty bare minimum is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shoes, harness, belay device, locking carabiner, helmet, nut tool&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This assumes that you're climbing with someone who owns a rope. Harnesses are pretty generic. Shoes are theoretically not necessary, since people climbed some pretty hard routes in the 1930s in hobnailed boots, but realistically they're a huge advantage. The nut tool is needed for trad climbing, so you can clean the gear placed by the leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For outdoor multipitch climbing, add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prusiks and slings, headlamp, water bottles that can be clipped to a carabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This assumes that you're going to be following someone who knows what they're doing, and that that person owns all the other necessary gear.  For the water bottles, I just use half-liter plastic bottles with a loop of cord duct-taped on. The headlamp is in case something goes wrong and you have to finish the climb or descent in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Prusiks and slings are for use in case (1) you need to ascend the rope because you have to follow on something that you can't get up, or (2) you're rappelling and need to ascend the rope for some reason (e.g., the rope doesn't reach far enough). You need to practice using these in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these are bare minimums if you're climbing with someone much more experienced, who knows how to deal with things that go wrong. From the fact that you're asking these questions on the internet, I assume that you haven't yet made contact with a climbing partner. That could be OK if you're just asking in order to gauge whether you can afford the gear, or if you want to buy minimal gear before approaching anyone to climb with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-11-24T05:29:25.303" LastActivityDate="2014-11-24T05:29:25.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7191" CreationDate="2014-11-24T07:21:12.960" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The part of the answer may sound very specific to India, and at some part indeed I would try and be more generic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;em&gt;Specific to India&lt;/em&gt;) When you say feline, and specifically in India, you are more likely to encounter a Leopard than a Tiger, even if its a Tiger reserve. If I can relate some data and my experiences about trekking in Tiger Reserves (Rather, to be specific I should say region under STR whats now called STP: Sahyadri Tiger Project), Its very unlikely that you are going to face a Tiger. Of course No one can banish the fact that you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; face one depending upon your location.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;em&gt;Specific to India&lt;/em&gt;) Speaking of India, typically starting towards south from Maharashtra (I'll deliberately not speak of Tadoba Wildlife Sanctuary, as I haven't been there yet and have no experience of the kind of Wildlife and the anecdotal Territory reserved for Big Cats), the kind of regulations and the way authorities have maintained the regional boundary is such that, you'll have to go in deeper sections (what people generally call &lt;em&gt;the core regions&lt;/em&gt;) to come across a Tiger. And, fortunately &lt;em&gt;(or unfortunately for someone like us who only wish to see, photograph the wildlife and not disturb and/or harm it by any means)&lt;/em&gt; the access to these core region is not commercialized yet, and is very limited, and at most of the places it is simply prohibited (For e.g. Chandoli, Koyna). Though one still may have some illegal resources/means to get into the prohibited section, but that is immaterial (and Off topic for TGO.SE) here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its necessary to understand that all the cat family doesn't think the same way, though it may appear that apart from Lions, they all hunt in the same manner, like hunting in ambush. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of the whole cat family, In India, Leopards have been making up news more frequently than any other feline. And yet, Leopards are probably the least likely out of the big cats to attack a human. They are naturally cautious animals and have the tendency to back down if thrown into a conflict rather than attacking. Thats said, if there are frequent news and sightings of an old and/or injured Leopard around a village, it very valid to say that while attacks on adults are relatively rare, leopards on occasion will pick off children, as they are easier prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are precautionary measures to avoid such an attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay in group, move like a convoy, be loud if you have seen pug-marks and/or feces of a feline. Make your presence felt. Being loud can really keep you safe from other wild animals as well. The easiest way that I can think of is, get an empty can with a couple of small stones/pebbles in it, hang it to the side pouch of the bag or something similar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be very selective about picking a campsite. Avoid camping near Water sources in the middle of the forest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(A bit more specific to camping habits in India) If there are sightings near a village, do not camp on the outskirts of the village, or on the river-bed if it is near. Instead pick a temple, or a safe premise like school.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid taking a stroll/wander in woods during late hours of day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the kids and pets safe by keeping them surrounded by adults. That can really make a feline think before attacking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When under attack, don't panic and run, stay together, don't let it corner out anyone, appear big, make rapid movements like waving hands, so don't duck, don't hide.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This one is unlikely but still worth a mention: Never approach a cub if you come across any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you see anyone under attack, charge the animal. That can scare off the animal and retreat. &lt;em&gt;(Or, on a funny lighter note, or worst case you'll get necessary adrenaline to combat a big cat)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And last but important: Follow the rules set by authorities about access limitations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-09-09T16:50:10.863" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T16:50:10.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7089" CreationDate="2014-11-24T15:05:29.670" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll try and be brief but specific towards answering your question: &lt;em&gt;What exactly happens to your body at high altitude?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disclaimer: A lot of data is from Wiki Pages and definitions from Human Anatomy and Physiology Books.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breathlessness and Hyperventilation:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Does it start with one panting for breathe?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yes it does!&#xA;We all know that Atmospheric pressure decreases with the increase in altitude, the air gets thinner, so the oxygen availability is lesser than at Sea-level.&#xA;This change of oxygen level is sensed by a chemoreceptor called Carotid body. The feedback from the carotid body is received by cardio-respiratory centers in the Medulla Oblongata. This is what people call Hypoxia. These centers function to regulate breathing and blood pressure, this is how you then pant for breathe with elevated respiration/ventilation rate, which is medically called as Hyperventilation.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pinching feeling and Fatigue:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It has been observed in some cases that the guy complains about pinching feeling in the far ends of body, and then unusual fatigue and body pain, Why?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The hyperventilation (caused as a reaction mechanism to Hypoxia) sometimes cause Respiratory Alkalosis which is a sensation of tingling, tickling, pricking, or burning of a person's skin. Respiratory Alkalosis needs adaptation which is taken care by balancing the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; production out of the Respiration process. But, that said, it may lead to Hypocalcaemia which is lack of Calcium to put it in a simple way, causing joint-pains? This lowers down the rate of work that one can sustain. With the deliberate lower work rates, the body produces lesser lactate (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-lactic-acid-buil/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interesting article worth a go-through&lt;/a&gt;), as the energy consumed/converted is lower, so the lower is Mitochondria throughput. Speaking of the same at the Cell level, Mitochondria is responsible to convert the energy released by Glucose breaking into ATP. This vaguely can make one understand the reason behind lack of energy and Fatigue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Erythropoietin and Polycythemia:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Speaking of Acclimatization &lt;em&gt;medically&lt;/em&gt;, means that body gradually adapts in such a manner that the Haemoglobin in the blood increases. Haemoglobin is required to carry the Oxygen (dissolved into the blood) to the rest of the body parts. Higher the Haemoglobin, higher the supply of oxygenated blood to the body. &lt;em&gt;What carries the Haemoglobin in the Blood?&lt;/em&gt; RBCs! With higher haemoglobin in blood, you have high RBC count. With higher Haemoglobin, the blood becomes viscous, which becomes harder for heart to pump. Thats what is called Chronic Mountain Sickness. Acute Mountain sickness and Chronic Mountain sickness have two distinct mechanisms.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In Acute Mountain Sickness, Hypoxia has already made an impact on amount of work that a body can sustain. The amount of work done/exercise has got relation with production of Lactic Acid in our body. Under Hyperventilation, the lower lactate production rates trigger the mechanism that tends to demand an elevated lactate production, which leads to Polycythemia, which is increased RBC production through Erythropoietin. Under hypoxic conditions, the kidney will produce and secrete Erythropoietin to increase the production of RBCs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reason behind Yawing and Higher CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; production:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For the acclimatization and to balance the Chemical Equilibrium, body is already up producing more carbon dioxide. This situation is called Hypocapnia. The wiki says, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hypocapnia normally triggers a reflex which increases breathing and access to oxygen, such as arousal and turning the head during sleep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;May be reason for Yawning after being a bit exhausted? (At least I do).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Constriction of Pulmonary arteries and Exhausted Lungs:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Medically it is called Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction. This constriction leads to redistribution of blood flow to better-ventilated areas of the lung. That takes its toll on Lungs and cause Pulmonary Hypertension which is nothing but an increase of blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, or pulmonary capillaries. (Pulmonary is whatever thats related to Lungs). Pulmonary Hypertension AND Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction altogether makes symptoms of HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema)! Edema is a condition characterized by an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavities or tissues of the body.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As we have seen that Hyperventilation may lead to Hypocapnia which leads an immediate cerebral vasoconstriction. In a layman's word, its can be called something like a brain hemorrhage. The increased the pressure leads to leaking of endothelium. Endothelium forms the Blood-Brain Barrier, which separates the circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid (BECF) in the central nervous system. When the blood–brain barrier is disrupted, one is said to be hit by Cerebral Edema. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S.: I am an Engineer and not a doctor :D&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T06:24:11.180" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T06:24:11.180" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7206" CreationDate="2014-11-24T20:44:11.980" Score="16" ViewCount="1698" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably common question, but: What slings do you use to build anchors for belaying the 2nd in rock climbing? Dyneema or nylon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had discussed this problem with my friend and he said that Dyneema is better as it has greater strength ratio and other characteristics (but it's not important).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I know and had remain DMM's tests (&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/how-to-break-nylon-dyneema-slings/&quot;&gt;HOW TO BREAK NYLON &amp;amp; DYNEEMA® SLINGS&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/slings-at-anchors/&quot;&gt;SLINGS AT ANCHORS [VID]&lt;/a&gt;), nylon has better fall absorption, so, I would use these slings on anchors and lanyard when belaying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4244" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-11-25T13:16:47.850" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T11:58:59.957" Title="Slings for anchoring and lanyard in rock climbing" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7205" CreationDate="2014-11-24T21:44:49.870" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;While both materials do have slightly different properties, either one will work in the scenario mentioned. In-fact, any sling with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/files/1/Rweb_Slings.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA stamp of approval&lt;/a&gt; will likely have a working strength of 22kn - more force than you will ever be able to generate by falling &lt;strong&gt;if being belayed by a rope&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter part is important, because the rope (among other things) is what will absorb the energy of your fall in this scenario, not the sling. Again, just to elaborate: Your rope is designed to catch the impact of your fall, a sling is not. In the videos presented by DMM you can see what happens when the sling is forced to absorb the impact of a fall, and it's not pretty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question of what material to choose from will depend on the conditions more than anything else. Materials like Dyneema are lighter, and won't absorb as much water as Nylon in wet weather, making them the ideal choice for applications where weight or weather is a primary concern, like mountaineering for example. They also have the lowest melting point from all the climbing fabrics though, so will probably need replacing sooner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, Aramids (Technora, Kevlar etc..) can be just as strong, and have the highest melting point of most materials, upwards of 500C celcius. This makes them perfect for those long rappels, or hauling and rescue scenarios like firefighting. They also happen to have a much worse shelf life when it comes to UV degradation (from exposure to the sun) however. Nylons fall somewhere in between on both counts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, any UIAA approved sling can be expected to hold the force of a falling second when being belayed by a rope; and if switching leads, you can always use the climbing rope itself to tie an anchor also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67WDm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Climbing Rope Anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a link to the properties of some common materials as further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marlowropes.com/technical/physical-properties.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.marlowropes.com/technical/physical-properties.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond material properties, additional preferences will come from application, and which fabric will be easier to work with. For example, knots are easier to untie from thicker material, so Nylon will be a better choice if you are putting in lots of knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2014-11-24T21:55:08.187" LastActivityDate="2014-11-24T21:55:08.187" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7229" CreationDate="2014-11-25T12:54:35.733" Score="8" ViewCount="3673" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I am moving more and more towards an ultralight approach to the outdoors, I am discovering that carrying less doesn't only lighten the load on your body; it also puts you closer to the environment. So I am experimenting with bivy bags and tarps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am now wondering if I could be able to just carry a solo tarp and no bivy bag at all, and be able to totally cover my sleeping bag under it if the weather really turns bad. Unfortunately the tarp I got is not one of the biggest available: it's an Alpkit Rig 3.5, sized 2.4m x 1.4m, or about 5x8 feet, and I am 178cm tall (5.8')&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found several tarp setup video on youtube that teach how to build a fully enclosed tent with a 3x3 meters tarp, big enough for two people, but nothing similar for what matters a single person tarp and setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would of course sacrifice room and ventilation in such a tarp configuration. But, what would be the best way to set it up? I may carry any number of pegs and guylines as required of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2014-11-25T16:44:58.947" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T10:01:33.680" Title="How to make a fully-enclosed tarp setup with a 1.4 x 2.4 meter tarp, for one person?" Tags="&lt;ultralight&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7209" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7210" CreationDate="2014-11-25T16:45:38.533" Score="9" ViewCount="2667" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a few divers who practiced breathing fast before a dive. What good does it do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does deliberate/forced hyperventilation help to hold breathe over long time?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a connection in the same technique and Some breathing practices in yoga?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:28.433" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T02:34:28.030" Title="Divers deliberately breathing fast before diving into water" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7209" CreationDate="2014-11-25T17:04:41.103" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Divers do this in an &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apnea#Hyperventilation&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;attempt&lt;/strong&gt; to saturate their blood with Oxygen before diving&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Voluntary hyperventilation before beginning voluntary apnea is&#xA;  commonly believed to allow the person involved to safely hold their&#xA;  breath for a longer period. &lt;strong&gt;In reality, it will give the impression&#xA;  that one does not need to breathe, while the body is actually&#xA;  experiencing a blood-oxygen level that would normally, and indirectly,&#xA;  invoke a strong dyspnea.&lt;/strong&gt; Some have incorrectly attributed the effect&#xA;  of hyperventilation to increased oxygen in the blood, not realizing&#xA;  that it is actually due to a decrease in CO2 in the blood and lungs.&#xA;  Blood leaving the lungs is normally fully saturated with oxygen, so&#xA;  hyperventilation of normal air cannot increase the amount of oxygen&#xA;  available. Lowering the CO2 concentration increases the pH of the&#xA;  blood, thus increasing the time before the respiratory center becomes&#xA;  stimulated, as described above. While hyperventilation will yield&#xA;  slightly longer breath-holding times, any small time increase is at&#xA;  the expense of possible hypoxia. One using this method can suddenly&#xA;  lose consciousness—a shallow water blackout—as a result. If a person&#xA;  loses consciousness underwater, there is considerable danger that they&#xA;  will drown. An alert diving partner would be in the best position to&#xA;  rescue such a person. Static apnea blackout occurs at the surface when&#xA;  a motionless diver holds a breath long enough for the circulating&#xA;  oxygen to fall below that required for the brain to maintain&#xA;  consciousness. It involves no pressure changes in the body and is&#xA;  usually performed to enhance breath-hold time. It should never be&#xA;  practiced alone, but under strict safety protocols with a safety&#xA;  beside the diver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-11-26T08:47:26.140" LastActivityDate="2014-11-26T08:47:26.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7208" CreationDate="2014-11-25T17:59:30.053" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your most practical solution would seem to be a wing shelter. For the most part, you simply need your tarp, a tree, sticks and rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pdf I attached recommends making it 5 feet tall, but you could easily make it 2 or 3 feet tall to accommodate the length you need the shelter to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MGXud.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7x6aM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-11-25T17:59:30.053" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="154" CreationDate="2014-11-25T18:43:37.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Years ago in college I took an outdoor rock-climbing class, and what I bought for it were &lt;strong&gt;shoes&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;chalk&lt;/strong&gt;. I didn't buy anything else, as the ropes and belaying equipment were already provided by the instructor when we went out to climb. Chances are pretty good that if you go with a group of people, someone already has ropes and harnesses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-11-25T18:43:37.220" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7209" CreationDate="2014-11-25T21:44:01.660" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;For scuba diving this practice has no use. as you will be under water for a while and will be breathing compressed air from your cylinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the old days people used this for free diving / skin diving /snorkeling to be able to hold breath for longer. I do not want to go into long discussions why this works, but in layman's terms it suppresses the bodies urge to breath by lowering the Carbon dioxide in the blood, which is the main trigger for breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hyperventilation is no longer considered safe even for free divers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2014-11-25T21:44:01.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7208" CreationDate="2014-11-26T12:30:02.367" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could also have a look at the &quot;Reflect Wedge&quot; setup for the ALPKIT.COM Rig 3.5 Tarp in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpkit.com/alpdocs/tarp_tips.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this PDF document on ALPKIT.COM&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although they show a bike and its wheel being used to support the tarp, you could of course so the same thing with trekking poles or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/alpkit-rig-35-dummies-guide.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; also has some examples of how you can setup the Rig 3.5 tarp, and they also sell lightweight poles to use if you don't take or have trekking poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-11-26T12:30:02.367" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2014-11-26T15:04:40.993" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I personally disagree to other answers, I'd like to make a point. According to my understanding an uncovered head will loose a lot of heat. Put a hat on and no top and see what happens. I'm a hunter and when I sit, I find the cold area are the shoulders, kidney and wrist.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I had a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_900&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Saab 900&lt;/a&gt; with heat vents that would blow on my wrist when I put my hand on the dash. It was amazing to experience how quickly my body was warmed up when heat blew on my wrist. These in my experience are the key areas to keep warm when all else in you clothing is equal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4250" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-26T15:32:57.587" LastActivityDate="2014-11-26T15:32:57.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7221" CreationDate="2014-11-26T23:45:10.147" Score="21" ViewCount="2011" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there set rules I should follow which would increase my chances of survival if I get buried by an avalanche?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I try to do anything if I get caught-up in one, before it has settled?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4149" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T20:12:20.007" Title="What is the first thing to do, when buried in an avalanche?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7218" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7222" CreationDate="2014-11-27T00:04:35.847" Score="9" ViewCount="486" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I don't have much with me and I want to catch a rabbit for food, What is the easiest way to prepare a snare? What kind of knot should I use and where should I put the snare?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4149" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-27T09:36:23.967" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T15:12:21.687" Title="What is the easiest way to prepare a rabbit snare with minimal tools?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7223" CreationDate="2014-11-27T02:44:32.160" Score="3" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it a viable practice to not wear a shirt, as long as you smear your body with sunscreen, if you plan to go hiking for hours (assuming reapplication)? Or is it advised to wear a shirt at all times and apply sunscreen anyway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be doing some hard grade mountain walking up to see the steamers &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/main-range/about.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user4252" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:39:58.553" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:39:58.553" Title="When hiking should I always wear a shirt and sunscreen, or is just sunscreen okay?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7217" CreationDate="2014-11-27T05:10:20.407" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;The correct answer is to put your &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/avalung-ii-sling-BD1500110000M_L1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;avalung&lt;/a&gt; mouthpiece in your mouth and inflate your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5033-753/mammut-pro-protection-35-pas-airbag-unisex/?h=10%2050006%2050010&amp;amp;f=10%2050006%2050132&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;airbag&lt;/a&gt;. If you don't have either of those things, then you are &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;NOT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; properly equipped to be in avalanche terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get caught in an avalanche &lt;em&gt;when you are not properly equipped&lt;/em&gt;, then the best you can do is 'swim' like crazy to try and keep yourself afloat, and then bury your face into your arms as though you are sneezing and inflate your lungs as much as you can before you come to a stop. This will hopefully prevent suffocation from the snow pack squeezing the air out of you, as well as provide you with a small pocket of air in front of your face and give you a couple more minutes of breathing. It will also give you the use of your arms when you stop. You will not necessarily be able to create an air pocket afterwards, when an avalanche settles it can be as hard as concrete. Be sure to keep your mouth closed while you're in an avalanche as well, people have been extracted from avalanches with snow packed all the way down their throats to their stomaches, and up into their sinuses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are skiing, you want to drop your poles and try to get your skis off if you can, they will only act as anchors and drag you down leaving you buried deeper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to experience getting caught in a tiny avalanche via GoPro, &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/Tbuk9AyEap8?t=1m&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;watch this video.&lt;/a&gt; This guy only got buried less than a metre deep in a small, slow avalanche of light fluffy snow, but he's still pretty helpless. This situation would afford you more time because the snow isn't packed, which gives you more breathing time because there is more air in the snow. You'll notice he is also able to create a pocket of air around his face, which isn't always possible. This doesn't give you more air to breathe, it merely displaces the existing air in the snow and helps dissipate the CO2 that you are exhaling &lt;em&gt;(this is what the Avalung does, it vents your exhaled air behind you to prevent CO2 buildup around your face-which can give you over a half hour of additional breathing time)&lt;/em&gt;. This guy probably could have dug himself out at this depth, but he didn't pop out of his skis, which I bet are anchoring him down in the snow. He also knows that his friends saw him get buried and aren't far away, so he's playing it smart and conserving oxygen by not struggling. It's important to stay calm and breath slow when you're buried in an avalanche, panicking will only kill you faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you train for avalanche rescue you're taught that you have about 15 minutes from time of burial before the victim runs out of oxygen. So no matter what you do, in an avalanche, your life still depends on your friends finding you, so you'd better have your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5014-268/backcountry-access-tracker-2-transceiver/?f=10&amp;amp;q=avalanche%2Bbeacon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;beacon&lt;/a&gt; on, with new batteries in it, and the people you're with had better know how to preform a rescue. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;NEVER&lt;/em&gt; go into avalanche terrain with out having proper avalanche training.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Informative Resources&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C2eWRvZgKU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VIDEO: Avalanche Burial with Black Diamond AvaLung&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9FeOh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Avalung&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR7aAfuAOOQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VIDEO: Freeskier survived avalanche accident with ABS Airbag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (Notice in this video that the skier first attempts to escape the avalanche by shooting straight down the mountain to try and out run in and get out of the way of it's path. You don't get buried as deeply at the sides of an avalanche, so even just trying to get as close to the sides as possible can help your chances.)&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QvBqr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Avalanche Airbag&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_W4dbVzogw&amp;amp;list=PL2km9ZRWUXGAPwMZ7JHlTmhGQwG2P_bmQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VIDEO: BCA Companion Rescue Series: Beacon Searching 101&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q4KHd.png&quot; alt=&quot;Search Beacon&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-07T20:12:20.007" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T20:12:20.007" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7218" CreationDate="2014-11-27T09:35:51.583" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though I have never been hunting, neither have got into a situation where I had to bank on wildlife for survival, I had once imagined and practiced a very basic snaring technique, without involving an animal in real. But, this technique that I am going to explain is NOT necessarily the best one to implement under extreme circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Things you need:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally a wire or a Strong thread and/or shoelace, preferably a nylon thread of you have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some rabbit bait&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A knife for fine craft work&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZjHfg.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunting is a skill that involves fine craftsmanship, understanding the surroundings and the mentality and habits of animals. Look for the places where you are most likely to find rabbits. You should be looking for their droppings, tracks, rubs, scratches, signs of feeding, shelter or burrow entrances, food and water sources, etc. Select a place suitable for setting up the trap like the one I have drawn in the picture. (&lt;em&gt;Kindly neglect my bad work with the Paint tool&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick a tree or something similar that can give the kind of a recoil action when the latch is disturbed, so that the loop shall swing in the opposite direction and above the ground (+ a rabbit's height).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fix a base deep in the ground. Make a notch on it to latch the trigger in it as shown.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Craft a trigger which can be latched into the base as shown. This may take some time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a string (you can use a shoelace) to the tip of the small plant. The plant should be tough enough to bear the weight of a rabbit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a loop of wire and tie it to the trigger part. Practice the loop part multiple times as this simple knot is too crucial to fail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may have to put some obstacles around the set up so that the animal is forced to be diverted towards the setup.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally put the bait in front of the setup such that the rabbit will have to pass through the loop. So that when he necks though the loop and move ahead, the latch is popped, the trigger is lifted and the rabbit is hung.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This set up may fail in case of strong winds and other physical disturbances. make sure the you don't put one such set up on a cattle trail as that would injure the cattle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, a humble request, on a personal note, though hunting is legal in many parts of the world, try not to hunt for no reason and just for fun, be humane with your hunting techniques. Don't trap an animal for fun and in a manner that it would torture them physically. God forbid, but, if you at all are really into a situation where hunting is the last resort for survival, make sure that you kill them quick, after-all its a life that you are taking, don't make it slow and painful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-28T09:06:11.057" LastActivityDate="2014-11-28T09:06:11.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7220" CreationDate="2014-11-27T10:22:24.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're reapplying the screen often (sweat washes it away) and it's a quality one, then it would do &lt;em&gt;for what matters sun protection&lt;/em&gt; (although you should still properly cover your head with a hat or a bandana or whatever).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I would use a shirt anyways; to protect your skin from the abrasion of the rucksack, to absorb some sweat, and to protect your guts in case of wind or light breeze that could somewhat affect your digestion, in the long run. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-11-27T11:02:34.423" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T11:02:34.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="222" CreationDate="2014-11-27T11:12:17.157" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look for patterns: if several caches have been placed by one owner, what kinds of containers are being used; are similar hiding places being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Logs: look at photos - the person may be blocking the actual hiding place, but the background may be a clue; if the cache container is shown, you know its size, shape, and color.  Also, log may state, &quot;have seen this type of cache/hide used recently&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A flashlight has helped, even in daytime, to see a shape (such as a smooth, round top) or a color that doesn't fit with natural surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4254" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T11:12:17.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7220" CreationDate="2014-11-27T12:39:19.527" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.patient.co.uk/health/preventing-skin-cancer&quot;&gt;this health-related website&lt;/a&gt;, you should still wear a shirt: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You should not think of sunscreen as an alternative to avoiding the sun or covering up&lt;/strong&gt;. It is used in addition. Sunscreens should not be used to allow you to remain in the sun for longer - use them only to give yourself greater protection. &lt;strong&gt;No sunscreen is 100% effective and so it provides less protection than clothes or shade&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T12:39:19.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7220" CreationDate="2014-11-27T21:19:31.747" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Paul says, think of sunscreen as in addition to other protection methods.  So while you can go without a shirt, it's ideal to also wear a shirt and use other protection methods like a hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for whether clothing is always better, that in large part depends on the clothing.  Some clothing provides good sun protection while others (think shirts with looser weaves) provide less protection.  In fact a piece of clothing's sun protection factor is called its &quot;UPF&quot; rating.  Many outdoor retailers sell clothing with a stated UPF rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter what you decide, you should re-apply every two hours to make sure you get full protection.  This is advice for everyone and particularly important when you are active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4257" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T21:19:31.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7228" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-27T21:20:09.733" Score="7" ViewCount="804" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have GPS data for a few hundred walks/hikes/treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to grade the walks by toughness, say from 1 (easy) to 10 (hard)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a mathematical formulae I can use? Just using statistical analysis of the GPS data?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should use &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;distance (longer is harder? e.g. 1 to 10 miles x 1 effort, over 10 x 1.5 effort), &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;height gain and height loss (a mountain at the end of the walk is harder?),&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;gradient (exponential effect? i.e. you may not notice walking up a 10% incline (zero effort), 20% might be ok (x1.5 effort), but 40% might very hard (x10 effort) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks, Andrew&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4256" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-28T09:08:14.730" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T10:30:57.257" Title="How to rate a walk/hike by length, height gain, etc using analysis of GPS data?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7208" CreationDate="2014-11-27T21:50:08.793" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;OK, I finally tried the setup inspired by &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoorswanderer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/minitarpology.html&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;, which can be fully closed by pegging the sides closer to the middle, and pegging it directly on the ground on the opposite side of the entrance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gYeme.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be quite a tight night and you would need to leave your rucksack out, if it's big. But I was able to put the sleeping bag out of the bag from the entrance and to enter it whilst remaining under the tarp itself.&#xA;That would be harder to do with a sleeping bag with no zip.&#xA;Also the sleeping bag will be somewhat compressed at the foot where there's less height space. &#xA;It would not be your coziest night ever, but indeed it is possible to do a completely enclosed setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-11-27T21:50:08.793" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7234" CreationDate="2014-11-28T13:41:59.100" Score="14" ViewCount="7893" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now, this is not very common, however I have heard it enough times from people to know that it actually does happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When sleeping in the open or in an open tent (yes, i know you shouldn't), snakes can 'crawl' up on you due to the heat that you emit. I know of a few cases from friends of mine in which the snake was on top of the sleeping bag on the chest/stomach area. I don't know if that is usual practice or just accident. And both stories they got rid of it by either notifying other members of group, which took care of it, or by removing it by hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a safer, more intelligent way to remove the snake from your chest?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I know that you should avoid this situation all together, however if you've missed something out, you might wake up to that. What do you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4149" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-22T06:52:02.493" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T11:13:21.137" Title="Snake on chest while sleeping?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7230" CreationDate="2014-11-28T14:44:47.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not entirely sure if this answers the question at all and if it does then is it in best possible ways.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no solution to this unfortunate and freaking situation. Whatever you do, it is gonna bite you the moment you move. Although, one should consider covering own face (&lt;em&gt;and, NOT the snake's face&lt;/em&gt; :D) by hands so that he/she may have a better chance to survive the bite and get away with a manageable physical damage but again, thats tough as we have slower reflexes than almost all of them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moment when you realize that a snake is there on your chest, in most of the cases it is going to be an obvious and a natural reaction to freak out and make a sudden move, and trust me 9/10 times, you will already have got bitten by it within 3-5 seconds from the time when you realize that its there and make a move out of panic.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I am not sure if grabbing the snake would help or not. Because if you grab it, it would definitely bite you even if it didn't want to a moment ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put it in a simple way, Prevention is better than cure, follow the basics, don't end up in a situation like that. If indeed you find yourself in such a situation, protect your face.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Interesting piece of information to read if you are bitten: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4798/what-are-the-first-aid-precautions-to-be-taken-in-case-of-a-snake-bite/4799#4799&quot;&gt;What are the first aid precautions to be taken in case of a snake bite?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2014-11-28T14:57:58.160" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7233" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7236" CreationDate="2014-11-28T17:26:35.523" Score="12" ViewCount="24538" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to take a frozen Nalgene bottle of water to my Bikram Yoga class. The problem is, every bottle I have used so far becomes deformed and, as can be seen in the picture below, the bottom bulges out making it difficult or impossible for it to stand upright until some of the ice melts and it pops back in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHJLX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually, the exposure to expanding substance over time causes the bottle to break. What can I do to freeze my water without deforming the container?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:00:43.817" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:00:43.817" Title="How to freeze a water container without deforming it?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7230" CreationDate="2014-11-28T17:58:37.313" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you end up with a snake on your chest while sleeping, you can rest assured that the snake is not in an aggressive mood. It's on top of you because it thinks you're cozy and warm, if it's cozy then it's going to be pretty mild tempered. I imagine you could easily grab it behind the head and take it out of your tent. If you don't want to touch it, just flip the top of your sleeping bag over it, get out of your bag, gather it up, then go shake your bag out away from your tent. Snakes only strike when they feel threatened, if a snake is getting snuggly with you, then it obviously doesn't feel threatened. The most important thing to do would be to remain calm and don't make any sudden movements that might startle the snake, chances are good that it could be asleep, the next most important thing to determine is &lt;em&gt;what kind of snake is it&lt;/em&gt;? You only need to worry about it if it's poisonous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to prevent snakes from slithering up to you is to clear away everything on the ground around where you're sleeping. Snakes don't typically like to slither out into exposed areas, so if you clear away all the leaves, sticks and grass then the snakes may just stick to the shrubs and go around you. Sleeping in a hammock or off the ground some other way is also advantageous in preventing this kind of critter encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your situation could be worse. My aunt was camping alone one time and a big black bear found her and snuggled up to her in the middle of the night, it laid down right on the zipper of her sleeping bag, trapping her there. She had no choice but to wait it out. After a long night of loud bear-snores the bear eventually woke up and just wandered off. My experience with snakes is that they typically want to get away from you, if I had a snake on me I'd probably just bat it off and away from under the bag and roll away from it, chances are good it'll be like, &quot;Holy crap that was a living thing I was on!&quot; and just slither away back into the bushes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-06T22:35:29.260" LastActivityDate="2014-12-06T22:35:29.260" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7200" CreationDate="2014-11-28T18:17:30.957" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is focused to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;bike and canoe combination&lt;/a&gt;.  Camping areas appear to be appropriate but I have not contacted or visited them.  It is the result of several hours searching the internet, I have not been to any of these locations in person. No warranty is made about the accuracy of the information but all appears to be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ohio River begins in Pittsburgh PA at the junction of Allegheny River and Monongahela River&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The river distance from Pittsburgh, PA to Wheeling, WV is 87.4 miles.  Going downstream major points are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Point Pittsburgh, PA (0 mile)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emsworth Dam (6.2 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dashelds Dam (13.3 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aliquippa (16.8 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beaver River (25.5 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Montgomery Dam (31.7 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;East Liverpool, Oh (43.5 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;New Cumberland Dam (54.4 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Steubenville, OH 68.0 (miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pike Island L/D (84.2 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wheeling, WV (87.4 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eNGxf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Distance Grid&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/Districts/LRP/Ohio%20River%20Navigation%20Chart.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Page 111 of; Ohio River Navigation Charts: New Martinsville, West Virginia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Bicentennial Commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, 2003-2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more than 20 Launch points in the Pittsburgh Area, the four closest to the point all are on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Rivers_Heritage_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Three Rivers Heritage Trail (bike path)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mon Wharf Launch (17) - Access near the Smithfield St. Bridge. Pay parking lot is closed on weekends. Ramp Launch, Right bank of the Monongahela about 3,000 feet up from the Point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Station Square Marina (16) - Take out at the marina’s high docks for access to Station Square. (40.4350˚N, -80.0050˚W). Dock left bank of the Monongahela about 3,000 feet up from the Point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clemente (6th Street) Bridge Launch (6) - Along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, hidden under Roberto Clemente (6th St.) Bridge next to PNC Park. Concrete ramp is home to Kayak Pittsburgh rentals and Venture Outdoors guided trips. Long carry down stairs or walkways. Limited on-street metered parking. (40.4466˚N, -80.0037˚W) Right bank of the Allegheny about 2,800 feet up from the Point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heinz Quay Launch (1) - Along North Shore Riverfront Park at Heinz Field. Take out for North Shore attractions. Long carry from stadium parking lots. (40.4448˚N, -80.0151˚W) Right bank of the Ohio Just below the Point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OE1xJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://fishandboat.com/watertrails/three_rivers/three-guide-map.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Three Rivers Guide&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Davis Island (small) &amp;amp; Neville Island (large) begin about 4.5 miles down from Pittsburgh, The Emsworth Dam and Lock will be on the right fork, the lock is on the right bank 6.2 miles down from Pittsburgh.  The left fork has a Dam without a lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emsworth Locks &amp;amp; Dams (lock on right bank)– Contacted November 28, 2014 – No direct portage available, civilians not allowed on walk.  They expect you can lock through faster than a portage in any case.&#xA;&lt;br&gt;0 Western Avenue &#xA;&lt;br&gt;Pittsburgh, PA 15202-1708&#xA;&lt;br&gt;412-766-6213&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/EmsworthLocksDams.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/EmsworthLocksDams.aspx&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neville Island continues until Mile 9.5, after which there is one bridge (Sewickley) and two launches on the right bank a few hundred feet up and downstream from the bridge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chestnut Street Launch (ramp) - Near the Sewickley Bridge, Chestnut Street ends in the Ohio River. 0.5 mi walk to the Beaver St. business district. (40.5338˚N, -80.1854˚W)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walnut Street Launch (beach) - Access to Sewickley Riverfront Park. A 400’ carry leads to a dock and pebble beach. 0.5 mi walk to the Beaver St. business district. (40.5354˚N, -80.1884˚W)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://fishandboat.com/watertrails/three_rivers/three-guide-map.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Three Rivers Guide&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dashields Locks &amp;amp; Dam (lock on Left bank) – 13 miles from Pittsburgh, 1.5 miles from Sewickley bridge&#xA;&lt;br&gt;100 Dashields Lock Road&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Coraopolis, PA 15108-5417&#xA;&lt;br&gt;724-457-8430&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/DashieldsLocksDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/DashieldsLocksDam.aspx&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leetsdale Boat Ramp (right bank) – 1.5 miles down from Dashields lock (local fee use area $100 fine &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecode360.com/11198327&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ecode360.com/11198327&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rochester Boat Ramp – Right bank, 1,500 feet up from Beaver River. In Rochester PA, it intersects the Ohio River Trail which at this point is a mostly a vision &lt;a href=&quot;http://ohiorivertrail.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ohiorivertrail.org&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Montgomery Locks and Dam – (lock on left bank – 6 miles from Beaver River)&#xA;&lt;br&gt;100 Montgomery Dam Road &#xA;&lt;br&gt;Monaca, PA 15061-2221 &#xA;&lt;br&gt;724-643-8400&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/MontgomeryLocksDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/MontgomeryLocksDam.aspx&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ohioville Borough Boat Ramp – A few hundred feet up Little Beaver Creek (right inlet), about 8 miles down from Montgomery dam, will have passed one bridge and a couple of small islands.  2,000 feet down from Little Beaver creek is the PA Stateline, right Bank is Ohio, Left bank is West Virginia &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No camping near the Ohio River is found in PA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chester City (WV) Park (ramp), left bank &amp;amp; Broadway Wharf (East Liverpool OH) (ramp), right bank (4 miles down from Little Beaver Creek) – The Ohio one appears to be public, The WV one is Public &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Hancock&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Hancock&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P22&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;Smith’s Landing Campground is 2,000 feet down stream (left bank), but does not offer tent camping or restrooms&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kennedy Marina Park – Campground and Marina (left bank) 7 miles down from Little Beaver Creek) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kennedymarinapark.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.kennedymarinapark.com/&lt;/a&gt; 304 387 3063 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New Cumberland Locks &amp;amp; Dam – (lock on right bank – 7.5 miles down from Kennedy Marina Park)&#xA;&lt;br&gt;P.O. Box 159&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Stratton, OH 43961-0159&#xA;&lt;br&gt;740-537-2571&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/NewCumberlandLocksDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/NewCumberlandLocksDam.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Empire Ohio right bank 1 mile down from New Cumberland Dam, begins first large sections of bike friendly roads and trails since Pittsburgh. (Toronto Empire Rd/Old State Hwy 7) – No clear public boat launch or beaches in the area (via Google Satellite)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New Cumberland WV Ramp – (left bank – 2 miles down from Dam) Public boat launch &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Hancock&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P21&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Hancock&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P21&lt;/a&gt; Is about 5 road miles from Tomlinson Run offers a 54-site campground 304-564-3787.  The campground office is open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tomlinsonrunsp.com/accommodations.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tomlinsonrunsp.com/accommodations.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Browns Island marks the end of Toronto Ohio (right bank) as well as the Google marked section of bike friendly areas, it stretches 2.5 miles nearly to Steubenville Ohio (right fork is more scenic) Weirton WV is on the left bank, there should be a public ramp “City of Weirton 1/2 mile north of old U.S. Rt. 22 bridge” but I am not finding it on Google  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Brooke&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P23&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Brooke&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P23&lt;/a&gt;  offer the potential for exiting the Ohio River and Google bike maps, imply the potential to return by bicycle to Pittsburgh (39 road miles)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wellsburg West Virginia (left bank) is the beginning of the Yankee Trail, where it becomes the Brooke Pioneer Trail and then to the Wheeling Heritage Trails, running all the way to Wheeling WV.  There is public ramp at the Wellsburg, water plant &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Brooke&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P24&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Brooke&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P24&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pike Island Locks &amp;amp; Dam (lock on left bank – 30 miles down from New Cumberland Locks &amp;amp; Dam) Google did not indicate any public launches or ramps between these two dams. &#xA;&lt;br&gt;RR #1, Box 33 &#xA;&lt;br&gt;Wheeling, WV 26003-9701&#xA;&lt;br&gt;304-277-2127&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/PikeIslandLocksDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/PikeIslandLocksDam.aspx&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wheeling WV &amp;amp; Wheeling Island.  There is a public park on the left bank of the left fork of the river, shortly after passing under the I-70 Bridge (via Google Satellite).  There are docks and gravelly beaches implying a take location.  West Virginia DNR says there is a boat ramp with Ohio River access but I am not seeing it on Google or finding an address.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Ohio&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P25&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/public_access.asp?county=Ohio&amp;amp;type=Public+Access+Sites&amp;amp;point=P25&lt;/a&gt;  this may be the “Wheeling Island Marina” that is on the right fork of the river, left bank of the island (island north west side) it is not clear if the Virginia St/10th st bridge is bike/pedestrian friendly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notes:&#xA;Up and down, right and left&#xA;Downstream always points to the end of a river, or its “mouth.” “Upstream” always points to the river’s source, or “headwaters.” As you look downstream, your right hand corresponds to “River Right.” Your left hand corresponds to “River Left.”&#xA;&lt;br&gt;Source &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanrivers.org/rivers/about/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.americanrivers.org/rivers/about/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-11-28T18:17:30.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2014-11-28T18:26:13.233" Score="24" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't fill the container&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't win in a battle against the laws of physics. Water expands when it freezes, so you need to leave some room in your bottle for it to expand into. What I find works best is to &lt;strong&gt;fill your bottle just over half&lt;/strong&gt;, then &lt;strong&gt;freeze it &lt;em&gt;on its side&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;em&gt;This will give the ice more room to expand than if you freeze it upright.&lt;/em&gt; When you grab your bottle from the freezer, top it up with cold water; the ice being frozen along the length of your bottle will rapidly cool the water, and you'll have a easier time getting water out when you want a drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Example&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(with grape water flavour drops):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ojn7e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;out of the freezer&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTGLS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;full of water&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T12:58:27.397" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7228" CreationDate="2014-11-28T18:32:49.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting question...  It would be hard to really quantify something like this because it will be different for each person.  Sure walking up a steep hill is always challenging, but some people are much better at it (but might struggle with steep downhill walks?).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Determining your Pace Index (how fast in MPH or KPH you walk), using your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/read/estimate-your-hiking-travel-time/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;travel hiking time&lt;/a&gt;, is one approach you could take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try this equation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Pace Index = (Distance) / (Travel Time + Elevation Factor)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, if you are traveling 10 miles, and gaining zero elevation, and it takes 3.7 hours then your PI (Pace Index) would equal 2.7 (mph). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you added in 2000 feet of elevation gain and assume it takes you an extra hour per 1000 feet of gain then your pace index is now 1.75.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;PI = (10 miles) / (3.7 hours + (2000 / 1000))&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the lower the PI the harder the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you could assign each PI value to 1-10 difficulty value, so &lt;code&gt;PI of 5 = 1&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;PI of 4 = 3&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;PI of 3 = 5&lt;/code&gt; etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be a way to factor in hike length and elevation.  It wouldn't help with when the elevation happens or the MANY other factors you may encounter on a hike (quality of trail, weather, altitude, pack weight, etc...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have the .gpx data it would be really interesting to hear is someone has developed an algorithm that factors all those things in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T09:35:20.597" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T09:35:20.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7238" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-28T18:46:48.510" Score="5" ViewCount="100" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to travel by canoe from Wheeling, West Virginia to Parkersburg, West Virginia on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio river&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the navigation considerations?  Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe, will be interested in bike trails paralleling or intersecting the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Locks and Dams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping/accommodations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Launches &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River side services (away from large cities) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothetically the trip would be completed, with only muscle power, rowing or pedaling.  In either a single trip or by pedaling upstream and rowing down stream, in one or more outings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related Question (Upstream) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7200&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Pittsburgh PA.&amp;amp; Wheeling WV?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-11-28T18:46:48.510" Title="What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Wheeling WV and Parkersburg WV?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;&lt;ohio-river&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7245" CreationDate="2014-11-28T19:02:26.360" Score="13" ViewCount="1233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to travel by canoe from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/ohiopyle/index.htm#staythenight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohiopyle State Park&lt;/a&gt; to  Pittsburgh Pa on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongahela_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monongahela&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youghiogheny_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youghiogheny&lt;/a&gt; Rivers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the navigation considerations?  Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe, will be interested in bike trails paralleling or intersecting the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Locks and Dams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping/accommodations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Launches &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River side services (away from large cities) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothetically the trip would be completed, with only muscle power, rowing or pedaling.  In either a single trip or by pedaling upstream and rowing down stream, in one or more outings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related (downstream) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7200&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Pittsburgh PA.&amp;amp; Wheeling WV?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related (upstream) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7446&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Youghiogheny &amp;amp; Potomac Rivers between Ohiopyle (PA) and Cumberland, MD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T15:02:10.507" Title="What are the navigation considerations on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers between Ohiopyle State Park (PA) and Pittsburgh PA?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;&lt;youghiogheny-river&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7240" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7311" CreationDate="2014-11-28T23:46:02.637" Score="13" ViewCount="839" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when I'm trad climbing it seems really tough to avoid an awkward belay, and a common type of awkwardness is when the belay device ends up too low. Below is a drawing of a situation I was in recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GeWT3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree was small, and I didn't want to depend on it all by itself. To back it up, the only other placements I could find were in the crack. So I ended up with an anchor where the belay device was basically inside the tree, at my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would have been a better way of setting this up? In general, what are strategies for avoiding a belay anchor too low down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:10.530" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:10.530" Title="Avoiding building a belay anchor too low down" Tags="&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2014-11-29T04:02:26.830" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't freeze the bottle - fill it with ice cubes. Better still, don't use ice cubes, use &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00683RN58&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ice sticks&lt;/a&gt; that fit in the neck of bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-11-29T04:02:26.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7242" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-11-29T04:59:17.963" Score="12" ViewCount="39616" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently hitchhiking in South East Asia where it's of course always hot. I'm getting a rash around my ankles that I've had in the past but never looked into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/skl5W.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/skl5W.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rash on my lower leg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(The same rash, but on a different trip, in Korea, about 5 years later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Australia I guess we would call something like this &quot;heat rash&quot;, though I was never prone to such things when I was younger so I'm not that familiar with what such rashes look like. Doing some Googling it seems to be known as &quot;golfer's vasculitis&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't hurt or itch or sting. I know it's not caused by poison ivy or allergies. It just looks ugly plus I wonder if it could be doing harm that I don't know about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought it might be to do with type of socks or socks being too tight. But those are just guesses. Is there something that can be done to prevent getting this rash?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T14:51:37.957" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T14:51:37.957" Title="Preventing &quot;heat rash&quot; around ankles and shins?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7242" CreationDate="2014-11-29T11:21:10.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heat rashes are caused by excessive heat trapped under the skin.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you specifically referred to ankles and shins, I'd suggest you considering using shorts instead of full pants, &lt;em&gt;only if&lt;/em&gt; those tiny red rash-bums have &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; burst. If those are already burst then you should be going to a doctor in order to avoid any infection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid clothing with synthetic fiber material as they are less breathable. Cotton should be an obvious choice. Wear something which is a light-weight, loose-fitting attire. Socks would be an exception to that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before the rash actually appear, you may have felt some sort of itchy feeling. That is a sign of possible heat rash development. In such a case, dry that part of skin thoroughly. Consider applying Calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream to get rid of itchy feeling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it the weather is hot and humid than what you are habitual with, apply a paste of baking powder (Mix baking powder with a little bit of water). (If you have hypersensitive skin, then please consider taking a professional medical advice first before trying this.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider taking a  shower when you get a chance. A Detox bath shall be even better. Apply talcum powder or cornstarch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Applying Lavender/coconut oil to the skin is one of the ways to prevent the Heat rashes and chafing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink adequate water, Stay hydrated. Staying well hydrated will help prevent them by allowing you to perspire freely. The moment you stop perspiring, your sweat will form salt crystals on your body, closing the sweat glands and heat will trap beneath the skin causing a rash.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not sure if its applicable to your situation, but if possible avoid getting out in the sun.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-11-29T13:36:17.357" LastActivityDate="2014-11-29T13:36:17.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7244" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7299" CreationDate="2014-11-29T11:32:19.013" Score="8" ViewCount="479" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently planned to go for a long trail that passes through a territory that is known for elephants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While speaking of camping overall, I know what basics should I be following, but are there any special precautions that I should be taking &lt;em&gt;specifically&lt;/em&gt; considering the elephants?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Like the specific discussions about taking precautions in bear territory).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: If possible we could have a generic perspective, if not, then I'd like to have more emphasize on Indian elephants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T18:34:11.950" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T18:34:11.950" Title="Tips for camping in the territory of elephants" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;elephants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7239" CreationDate="2014-11-30T01:24:24.667" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is focused to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;bike and canoe combination&lt;/a&gt;.  This answer began as a an internet search, but I have completed all of the legs by bike and/or canoe. No Warranty on the information is implied here, it represents my findings at the time each piece was written. The bike trail is generally rails to trails, the trail generally well above the river (flooding concerns in narrow areas) or is separated from the river by private property.  Access points listed are public, a few private access points are available, but the causal traveler should assume only those listed are viable.  While you can often see one from the other, the trail and river are generally not physically accessible to the other by the causal travler.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigation considerations on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongahela_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monongahela&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youghiogheny_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youghiogheny Rivers&lt;/a&gt; between Ohiopyle State Park (PA) and Pittsburgh PA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The entire course of this journey has bike paths paralleling or in very near proximity to the river.  The section of trail at Ohiopyle is the Great Allegheny Passage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atatrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.atatrail.org/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Legs for day journeys: bike up (5 mph), canoe down (2 mph).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ohiopyle to Connelllsville ~ 17 miles - Water is impractical/unsafe for a bike &amp;amp; canoe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Connelllsville to Layton ~ 13 Miles &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Layton to West Newton ~ 13 Miles &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alternate: Round Bottom to Cedar Creek Park ~ 10 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;West Newton to Buena Vista ~ 7 Miles&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alternate: Cedar Creek Park to Buena Vista ~ 11 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buena Vista to Boston/Elizabeth ~ 8 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boston/Elizabeth to Port View ~4 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Port View (McKeesport) to Southside ~14 Miles (includes Braddock Locks &amp;amp; Dam)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Southside to Westhall (Pittsburgh) ~6.5 miles &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ohiopyle to Connelllsville ~ 17 miles - Water is impractical/unsafe for a bike &amp;amp; canoe&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ohiopyle Falls (with observation area in the city of Ohiopyle) is the beginning of a 7 mile stretch known as the ‘Lower Yough’ it has numerous class III and IV rapids.  Open Canoes are prohibited on this stretch.  There is a beach launch near the observation area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/ohiopyle/ohiopyle-whitewater/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About 1.5 river miles down from the falls or half a bike path mile from the city of Ohiopyle is the Kentuck Campground (PA state) there is path connecting the campground to the bike trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JLyQk.png&quot; alt=&quot;Kentuck&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003522.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Kentuck Campground (map)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ohiopyle State Park with Camping at Kentuck Campground has about 200 campsites and is open from April to mid-December: flush toilets, warm showers, some electric hook-ups &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;P.O. Box 105&#xA;Ohiopyle, PA 15470-0105&#xA;724-329-8591&#xA;GPS DD: Lat. 39.88783 Long. -79.49427&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/ohiopyle/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seven miles down from the falls is the Bruner Run Take-out&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uR4eQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bruner Run&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003520.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Lower Yough Ohiopyle Falls to Bruner Run Take-out&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The river between Bruner Run Take-out and Connellsville, is 12 miles from the takeout to where the path crosses W Craford Ave.  This section has class II-III white water. A pass is needed at Bruner Run takeout/in and the South Connellsville Rod &amp;amp; Gun Club take out is for members only (&lt;strong&gt;No other public launches are on this stretch&lt;/strong&gt;), as you come down into Connellsville there are a three empty bridge supports, followed by a railroad bridge.  300 feet farther is the extremely hazardous South Connellsville Dam. Casual boating on this stretch seems impractical.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fishandboat.com/watertrails/yough/yough_south_guide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Connelllsville to Layton ~ 13 Miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Connellsville is 44 miles from the Monongahela, The Yough River Park is a popular put-in and trailhead for the Great Allegheny Passage.  The remainder of the river is class 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 miles down from Connellsville is Broadford island, in another 3 miles Dawson is on the right bank. The hwy 819 bridge crosses the river here.  On the left bank under the bridge is public parking with trail access and beach used by locals for canoe launching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5 miles down from Dawson on the left bank is the primitive camp ground Roundbottom, it is only accessible by river or trail.  Room for over 100 tents it is free site with SST toilet and well with pump.  It is on the left bank as the river curves to the right, you will have just passed an island about 800ft long.  It is very visible from the trail, moderately visible as grassy beach from the river. &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atatrail.org/pv/camping.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Layton to West Newton ~ 13 Miles -&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no public launches in Layton, but there are two launches on private property that are options. A canoe rental (open seasonally) with launch and honor system pay box ($3 in 2015) right bank &lt;em&gt;(accessible to the trail by a single lane auto bridge)&lt;/em&gt;. About a mile down river on the left bank, is a private low bank access (short carry) that is open for public fishing. It is nearly parallel with end of the island (179 River Rd, Perryopolis, PA 15473)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 Miles past Roundbottom is Layton on the right bank, followed 2 miles later by Whitsett, In another 2 miles you pass under the Banning Trestle it is 160 feet high.  You are now 27 miles from the Monongahela. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2.5 miles Downriver is a the Smithton Beach and trail access.  The Beach would be fine for launch or landing, it is moderately visible from the river if you are expecting, other wise it looks like a private access. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit farther you pass under I-70, 1.75 miles Farther on the left bank is Cedar Creek County Park, it has free camping, SST toilet, water and ramp launch. It is very visible from the river and the trail.  3.3 miles down from here is West Newton there are two access launches and at least one bicycle shop in town.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atatrail.org/pv/camping.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;West Newton to Buena Vista ~ 7 Miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One public launch is about 3,000 feet down river from the bridge, behind Giant Eagle. The other is just up river from the bridge. I used the up river launch; from the trail, cross the bridge and take the first right. Just pass the VFW is a blue house, then an unmarked brick drive going to the launch. It is really easy to miss as it looks like a private driveway.  I biked passed it twice before I located it, even after getting directions from the local police. From the river on the right bank (&lt;em&gt;image below&lt;/em&gt;) you can see the concrete barrier that is part of the landing, the ramp is a muddy, rutted path that is okay for hand launch but I can't imagine using a car and boat trailer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TNlTk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;West Newton Public Launch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Buena Vista to Boston/Elizabeth ~ 8 Miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;7 miles down from West Newton is Buena Vista, there is a public boat launch on the left bank, it is easy to find from land or water. Another 2 miles takes you to Dravo Cemetery (left bank), which has 25-30 tent sites. SST toilet, well with pump.  Very visible from the bike trail, &lt;strong&gt;not visible from the river&lt;/strong&gt; there is a marked canoe launch (&lt;em&gt;sign&lt;/em&gt;) from the campground but there is no signage or clues from the river. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Draco Cemetery Canoe Launch from the River, minutes after a dragging a 17 foot canoe through the foliage and and launching.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rx5Sq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Draco Cemetery Canoe Launch from the River&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://fishandboat.com/watertrails/yough/yough_north_guide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youghiogheny River Water Trail, Northern Section Connellsville to McKeesport&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Boston/Elizabeth to Port View ~4 miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6 miles from Dravo Cemetery is Boston (left bank), there is a ramp launch (&lt;em&gt;highly visible from the river and the trail&lt;/em&gt;).  You are 4 miles from the Monongahela. As you approach the Monongahela, The bike trail splits for part of this journey traveling both sides of the river, the right bank (McKeesport) side is an easier journey with a canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Port View (McKeesport) to Southside ~14 Miles (includes Braddock Locks &amp;amp; Dam&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Port Vue Launch on Atlantic Avenue has a ramp on the left bank. (&lt;em&gt;40.3523˚N, -79.8714˚W&lt;/em&gt;) easily viable from the river, and the fifth avenue bridge.  The launch is across the river from the trail, taking a canoe across the bridge on the crosswalk is possible.  The next down stream launch accessible by a bike towing a canoe is Pittsburgh South Side Riverfront park (left bank) 14 miles away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down river is to the right, 4 miles on the Monongahela takes you to the &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Braddock Locks &amp;amp; Dam (Lock on Right bank)&#xA;11th Street&#xA;Braddock, PA 15104-1704&#xA;412-271-1272&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/LocksandDams/BraddockLocksDam.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Braddock Dam has two locks, one for large commercial tugs and barges, the smaller for pleasure boats.  Tugs use the  lock on the bank side, while small boats use the one closer to the dam.  They are only separated by a few feet of concrete.  There is a sign directing small boats to pull the cord for access, there is a stop light to provide stop/go direction. This is a twelve foot elevation change, 50 feet of rope is required to tie off during lock operation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a Ramp Launch just down from the dam right river (bike trail is left river), there are 10 miles of river before arriving at the Point of Pittsburgh (right bank) and the Ohio River.  There are 7 Takeout’s along this stretch of river, but most are right river. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail continues bike access into Pittsburgh along the river.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fishandboat.com/watertrails/three_rivers/three-guide-map.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source Three Rivers Guide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://friendsoftheriverfront.org/trails/three-rivers-heritage-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CAUTION&lt;/strong&gt; If biking with a canoe on the trail, between Pittsburgh and Port Vue, there is a  pair of gates at Sandcastle; Haysglen St (image below), that will be problematic (&lt;em&gt;as of August 2015&lt;/em&gt;) I was able to cart the canoe through one of the gates, but the other gate had to be portage over.  All the rest of the trail in this section is okay to tow a 17 foot canoe on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8fRV3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8fRV3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gate at Haysglen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Southside to Westhall (Pittsburgh) ~6.5 miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The south side launch is near the Birmingham Bridge, it is very visible from the river and the road.  The &quot;Three Rivers Guide&quot; suggests there are two left river (trail side) launches between here and the point of Pittsburgh neither is practical for the causal travel. The Bike trail cross to the Point of Pittsburgh over the Fort Pitt bridge. This is tight crossing, but I have crossed with a 17 foot canoe, at the point the &quot;Mon Wharf Launch&quot; is feasible.  The trail crosses the the Allegheny river (&lt;em&gt;just up from the Ohio junction&lt;/em&gt;) on the &quot;Fort Duquesne Bridge&quot;, river/trail access is available.  The bike trail continues (right river on the Ohio) to the &quot;Westhall Steet Launch&quot; (beach).  It is moderately visible from river and road &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; you are planning on finding it. This is the last bike trail to river access for many miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-09-19T15:02:10.507" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T15:02:10.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7240" CreationDate="2014-11-30T05:46:12.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know what the rules are where you climb, but those kinds of situations–where you find a bomber belay point (comfy ledge), but no suitable anchor points–are where I'm temped to bolt an anchor or two. I like to keep a couple pieces of hardware on me specifically for when I need to make an anchor where there's no natural protection, and I'm an advocate for developing routes. There are purists that frown at fixing protection on &lt;em&gt;popular&lt;/em&gt; trad routes though, which isn't much of a problem up here climbing wild rock on crown land, but I imagine more of a problem if you're climbing high traffic routes in national parks. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with bolting proper &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/4006-570/fixe-38-belayrap-station/?h=10%2050001%2050019%2050274&amp;amp;f=10%2050001%2050277&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;belay stations&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What belay method you use can vary on the availability of anchors and risk of fall potential. Depending on how bomber that ledge was, and if there was low fall potential (your second has a good chance of catching themself if they fall) you could have used a &lt;em&gt;hip belay&lt;/em&gt;, which I recommend backing up to your harness using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;klemheist&lt;/a&gt; on the feeling or guidehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/how-to-hip-belay/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hip Belay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7BchY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hip Belay&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you described is certainly an option, I imagine when you said you were belaying between your feet, that you had an equalized anchor in the crack, and were possibly sitting nearer to the tree, tied into the anchor using a locking carabiner and clove hitch while belaying between your legs like the illustration below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pgkTH.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sitting Belay&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have difficulty imagining why the route wouldn't follow the crack though...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing to remember is of course to always set you anchors to load in the direction of pull if your second were to take a fall. In the situation you've presented here, where the good anchor point (crack) is to the side of the route, you could avoid swing and control the direction of pull by placing a &lt;strong&gt;directional piece of protection&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sKuy5.png&quot; alt=&quot;directional piece of protection.&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you climb up onto the ledge place a solid piece of protection that will control the direction of pull, then set up a solid semi-hanging belay stance over in the crack. This will allow you to belay to the side of the climber, but it eliminates a swing if they take a fall. You could have even used that tree as your directional piece of protection, just throw a sling around it with a locking biner or a couple of quickdraws. As long as you test it out (give it a couple firm kicks/yanks) and it feels like it could hold, you could use it, just maybe not as your main anchor.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Setting anchors is more of an art than a skill. A good trad climber needs to have excellent problem solving skills to be able to take advantage of everything at his disposal, I love going out with old veteran climbers just to watch them place anchors and set up belays, I always learn something new from them. It's amazing to watch decades of experience at work, if I were to use a corny analogy; I'd say it's like watching a master paint a perfect landscape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you end up doing, you'll eventually find something that suits you best. Just stick to the anchor building mantra and make sure every anchor is &lt;strong&gt;SRENE&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;S.R.E.N.E&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S&lt;/strong&gt;olid. Each individual component should be solid to the greatest extent feasible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;R&lt;/strong&gt;edundant. Always use redundant components in setting up an anchor; to solid anchor points are considered an absolute minimum,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  and then only if they are really bombproof, but three are more&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  preferable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;qualized. Use a rigging method that tries to equally distribute the load between the various individual anchor points,&#xA;  which greatly    increases the reliability of each part of the system.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;N&lt;/strong&gt;o &lt;strong&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;xtension. Eliminate the possibility that failure of one component in the anchor system will cause the anchor to suddenly&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  extend, which would cause subsequent shock loading and generate high&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  impact forces on the remaining components.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Illustrations from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-50th-Anniversary/dp/1594851387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1417326259&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=freedom%20of%20the%20hills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt; - &quot;The Bible of Mountaineering.&quot;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-11-30T05:52:38.187" LastActivityDate="2014-11-30T05:52:38.187" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2014-12-01T04:03:12.117" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that soda pop bottles are designed for higher pressure and don't deform as badly.  Plus they are cheap to replace.  In general a soda pop bottle filled to just the start of the shoulder won't break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water freezes from the top down.  In a tall bottle, water freezing at the top gets a grip on the sides, and so as the water freezes down, the expansion pushes out the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Laying it on its side, and not quite filling it to the half way mark, the slab of surface ice is a wedge that can easily be lifted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition:  If you freeze the water, then add ice water from the fridge to fill up the bottle, the resulting mix won't melt very fast.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, put the bottle in a thick sock and it will insulate it, keeping it cold longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are freezing larger containers, such as barrels, the following technique works well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put the barrel on a pallet.  This allows the bottom to freeze as fast as the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Float 3-4 inches of styrofoam peanuts, or broken up styrofoam on top.  This slows the ice formation on the top, and also weakens it.  The core then breaks through the top when the pressure gets high, instead of pushing out the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T10:42:30.223" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T10:42:30.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7228" CreationDate="2014-12-01T04:13:27.940" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very rough rule of thumb is that effort distance (ED) is horizontal distance (HD) + 5 * Vertical distance (VD)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;code&gt;ED = HD + VD&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;example:  A recent hike I took had a horizontal distance of 85 miles, and a vertical distance (up and down) of 25,000 feet. The effort distance &lt;code&gt;ED = 85 + 125000/5280&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;110 miles&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice I've found that there is a critical slope for most people around 8-10%  Below this slope, assuming you are in good shape, your travel is mostly due to your normal walkint speed, with slight slowing on the up hill and slight speeding on downhills up to about 4%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you get beyond 10% up or 4% down, your speed is determined by your aerobic fitness for the uphill, and what condition your knees/ankles/tendons are going downhill.  However these limits are variable per person, and require constant determination of slope.  Given that the vertical error of GPS's is twice the horizontal, determining slope continuously is a crap shoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try the first formula, and see if it matches your feel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to evaluate difficulty separately from length, try taking the ED and dividing it by the hours.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T10:30:57.257" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T10:30:57.257" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7220" CreationDate="2014-12-01T04:22:20.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are a person who burns readily then sunblock at all times plus long sleeve shirt and hat are your only answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the danger of sun, IMHO is overrated, compared to the other hazards of life.  At one point I used the World Almanac for figures:  Fatal skin cancers kill about 2 people per hundred thousand per year.  So skin cancer has about the same risk as getting murdered in a civilized part of the world, or about 1/4 that of being murdered in the U.S.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given also that skin cancer risk is greatly increased if you have had even one serious sunburn, the risk seems to be associated with burning, not the exposure.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are more comfortable without a shirt, do so.  If you have a sensible prep plan for a couple months ahead of time, you can skip the sunblock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  In 35 years of working outside and canoeing, I have ended up using sunblock on nose and ears, and occasionally full face at higher elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-01T04:22:20.153" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7208" CreationDate="2014-12-01T04:29:22.233" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The second one is the better form.  I have used that form, with the tall end in a spruce in both heavy rain and in snow, and stayed perfectly dry.  However I didn't use a tarp as small as 1.4 x 2.4 m  The one I used, I think was sold as an 8 x 10 foot tarp, but in fact was about 7.5 x 9.5 feet -- call it 2.4 x 3 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first one is good for heavy dew conditions, and hot weather, when you want to catch the breeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-01T04:29:22.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7242" CreationDate="2014-12-01T10:43:07.690" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds to me what we would call in the UK &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Prickly-heat/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot;&gt;prickly heat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;What causes prickly heat?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Prickly heat usually develops when a person sweats more than usual,&#xA;  such as during hot or humid weather. However, it is also possible to&#xA;  get prickly heat in the winter. The condition is caused when the&#xA;  body's sweat glands become blocked. Excessive sweating can result in&#xA;  sweat becoming trapped beneath your skin. The trapped sweat causes&#xA;  skin irritation and the characteristic heat rash. The symptoms of&#xA;  prickly heat are usually worse in areas that are covered by clothing.&#xA;  This is because clothing can make you sweat and sometimes causes&#xA;  friction (rubbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case I'd say the cause is likely sweat not being able to evaporate off your skin, thus blocking the pores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Couple of hints I'd suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ensure your socks, shoes, etc. are as breathable as possible&lt;/strong&gt;, give the sweat a chance to evaporate. If you're in a humid climate this might be easier said than done though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try to keep the irritated area dry and clean.&lt;/strong&gt; Again easier said than done but try and take care of the skin. When you stop, wash and &lt;strong&gt;dry&lt;/strong&gt; the area carefully.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try and keep the area cool.&lt;/strong&gt; Thin cooling socks and shoes where possible, don't use water unless you intend to dry the water off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hydrocortisone cream should help with any reactions.&lt;/strong&gt; Try and use sparingly because of side effects (thinning of skin, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2014-12-01T11:33:01.540" LastActivityDate="2014-12-01T11:33:01.540" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7253" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7255" CreationDate="2014-12-01T12:17:59.000" Score="14" ViewCount="4012" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the chances of falling and turning upside down, with your head down. Is the gear special from preventing such falls?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4267" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-12-01T12:26:12.020" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T15:14:39.947" Title="Rock Climbing falling.Turning upside down" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7253" CreationDate="2014-12-01T12:36:30.963" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can happen, sure, but because of the way a climbing harness fits (you sit in it) and because of the way falls typically happen (you fall straight down from an upright position in many cases) it is generally very easy to remain upright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various pros and cons on holding the rope when you fall (the main problem being grabbing the wrong rope and getting your fingers crushed) but most climbers agree that in the event of a fall grabbing the rope immediately in front of your waist point gives you a safe point (which also keeps your hands away from gear.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are deep under an overhang and your hands slip you could drop head down, but that would be a rare case - and hopefully your belay point will keep you away from hitting the wall head down anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benedikt did point out a rare, but dangerous issue - catching a foot in a loop of rope on your way down, this flipping you upside-down. An argument for &lt;strong&gt;always handling your ropes carefully - as your health and life do depend on them!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-12-01T13:23:03.630" LastActivityDate="2014-12-01T13:23:03.630" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7253" CreationDate="2014-12-01T14:30:34.063" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It happened to me. I was the belayer, and it was a slab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The leader panicked before reaching the next bolt and started to &lt;em&gt;walk backwards&lt;/em&gt;, pushing her shoulders back, out of control. &#xA;When the rope finally pulled, most weight was on the upper part of the harness and she flipped down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She hit a spike with the bottom of her head. She had a bad injury despite the helmet, which very likely saved her life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to sum it up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn how to fall in control. That is something that is hardly taught, and requires practice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a helmet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;For what matters the gear&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you climb with a chest harness along with a regular one, then  falling upside-down is just not going to happen. So that is a surefire way not to fall head down; but it's more weight and cumbersome to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is especially recommended to wear a chest harness when climbing with an heavy backpack, typically - but not necessarily - on via ferratas. Climbing with an heavy pack significantly increases the chances of falling head down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T04:39:19.810" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T04:39:19.810" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6738" CreationDate="2014-12-01T15:11:01.100" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: updated 11 Aug 2015 to add Viewranger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a similar question (which I have deleted) relating to the UK, here's what I found (from comments to my deleted Q and from answers here) that varies from the other answers here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I primarily wanted to draw a post-walk track from memory as a longer term record of where I'd been. I carry a GPS but don't turn it on unless I'm lost (it's hard to be lost in the UK if you carry a OS explorer map and stick to marked footpaths).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wanderreitkarte.de seems to have a blank spot for the UK (maybe a temporary glitch)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caltopo is USA only. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hillmaps.com does almost exactly what I want. You can save or import GPX files.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;OS Mapfinder App (IOS, Android 4+) does what I want (will also export GPX).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Viewranger is a good smartphone/tablet app that allows you to plot routes, it will then show you the distance along the route. I've been using it with downloadable OS 100km² 1:25k squares but a variety of mapping sources seem to be available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4266" LastEditorUserId="4266" LastEditDate="2015-08-11T09:00:51.240" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T09:00:51.240" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2014-12-01T15:11:01.100" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-12-01T17:35:48.090" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that hiking boots help protect my ankles and feet from twigs and things that can scratch or hit against them, help prevent rain from getting in (I can wear long pants with sneakers but still water will get inside), and protect my toes from stubbing them against rocks and boulders. Also the soles of the hiking boot offer more traction than the typical sneaker. For these reasons, I always use hiking boots when I'm backpacking or even just doing day hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-12-01T17:35:48.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7258" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-02T00:35:51.977" Score="1" ViewCount="397" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, when I go to this lake I can usually catch table size catfish and I want to take some home, however due to the rough terrain and long trails to get to this secluded lake, it would be a hassle to bring a cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could I do to bleed or gut a fish without a cooler? What could I use instead of a cooler, and where can I store/carry it in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4271" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-12-03T14:57:43.503" LastActivityDate="2015-01-03T19:52:34.223" Title="Bleeding a fish without a cooler" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2015-01-05T12:33:22.640" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7253" CreationDate="2014-12-02T12:18:32.823" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When climbing wearing a heavy rucksack (such as Alpine climbing), it is quite possible to end upside-down after a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why many European alpinists favour a full body harness or a separate chest harness worn in addition to a typical sit harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This raises the tie-in point on the harness and therefore raises the centre of gravity to help prevent turning upside-down in a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T12:18:32.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7260" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:17:25.410" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prevention is an action taken or carried out in purpose of stopping something from happening or arising. This tag could be used with the questions that need advice in order to prevent accidents from happening, specifically in outdoor scope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:02:27.147" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:02:27.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7261" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:17:25.410" Score="0" Body="Questions that require possible options to prevent something from happening. " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:02:27.147" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:02:27.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7262" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7263" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" Score="0" Body="Speaking of Waterproofing in scope of TGO would mean packing, wrapping the things in order to isolate them from water and other fluids. " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:24:10.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7264" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:29:33.510" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A situation when the body heat is lost more rapidly than the body can generate.&#xA;A medical complication occurred when one is exposed to cold temperatures, especially with a high wind chill factor and high humidity, or to a cool, damp environment for prolonged periods, your body's control mechanisms may fail to keep your body temperature normal. When more heat is lost than your body can generate, and internal body temperature gets less than 95&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; Fahrenheit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:27:33.990" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:27:33.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7265" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:29:33.510" Score="0" Body="Questions discussing about symptoms of Hypothermia, how to avoid it, things to be done as a first aid in case of survival in such a situation, etc are to be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:27:33.990" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:27:33.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7266" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Managing the rope at belays and rappels is an art and skill, and it should be as smooth as possible so that it leads to quick transitions and more climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7267" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" Score="0" Body="This tag is for the questions that are about techniques for managing the rope at crucial positions, for example at the top of a climb." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:35:34.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7268" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of these that are portable are typically are GPS-based devices, and the ones which are fixed may work on GPS or Doppler mantra. A Personal Locator Beacon should be activated only in situations of grave and imminent danger, and only as a last resort when all means of self-rescue have been exhausted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7269" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" Score="0" Body="Personal Locator Beacons are battery-operated devices that are carried and used in order to transmit a personalized emergency and/or distress signal." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:44:42.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7270" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Avalanche is a mass of snow, ice, and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside. Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack  when the forces on the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradually widening. After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they tend to drag more snow with them. If the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7271" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" Score="0" Body="Questions that are specifically about avalanche situations are supposed to be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T14:48:38.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7218" CreationDate="2014-12-02T15:12:21.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best place to snare a rabbit is on a trail.  Find an area that is overgrown and thick.  Look for areas like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Snaring/step8/Game-trails/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.instructables.com/id/Snaring/step8/Game-trails/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, baiting rabbits is very hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a good knot I use for snaring.  I typically make snares before I go out to the woods, but in a survival situation this is not practical.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are two good snare videos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;www.youtube.com/watch?v=YANo1IWJZNI&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS0KI573vIk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2333" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T15:12:21.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7240" CreationDate="2014-12-02T15:33:39.717" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mate if I got it right what you made was even worse than the American Triangle of Death: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution there, would be using only the crack by placing some (3 or 4) pieces there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hadn't enough pieces to stick in the crack, it'd had probably been safer with a single piece of gear in the crack and nothing else, than with one piece there, and the other one on the tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T15:33:39.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7277" CreationDate="2014-12-02T17:34:14.433" Score="28" ViewCount="33039" Body="&lt;p&gt;You run across a wire cable, or wire fence in the wild, with which you would have to interact in some way. How to check if electricity runs through it without having special tools?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; As the question states it could be a low-voltage fence however I could be checking some sort of cable that I happen to find going over a cliff, which I would like to use as a 'bridge'. (So question includes very high-voltage check too :) ) ...hand-testing shouldn't really be an option...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4149" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:44:15.243" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T13:29:49.213" Title="How to check if a fence or cable has electricity without having special tools?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2014-12-02T18:18:51.037" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never heard of someone &lt;em&gt;legally&lt;/em&gt; setting up a fence with a strong potential good enough to be fatal. That said, it is very much a possibility that the fence might severely injure (or worst case kill) a dog or some small animal &lt;em&gt;(Pets when hiking?)&lt;/em&gt;. In such a case, one indeed needs to be worried about an electric fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First things first. If responsible owners (or authorities) have bothered to put a board of instruction which says that it is a live fence, trust them and do not take a calculated risk.&#xA;Secondly, Look out for people around who might know if it is a live fence. Confirm and proceed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may receive horrible advice such as throwing up some metal on it, if it sparks, it is alive. That might work as well, but then the owner would cause you more trouble than the fence itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am in such a situation, my best bet would be the humming sound they make. Its a minor hum, you will have to get closer carefully in order to hear that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way that I can think of is a bit inhumane. Grab a metal wire if you can, fix one end of the wire in the ground very close to the fence, grab an earthworm, rest it on the wire, put the other end of the wire on the fence carefully such that you are not in contact with the wire when it gets in contact with the fence. If the worm twists into a coil, its a live fence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How much does a tester cost?&lt;/em&gt; I always have one in my waist pouch, comes handy in thousand ways, right from fixing solar lamp battery boxes (I meant tightening the screws on the boxes) on the trail (if they are loose), till opening a beverage glass-bottle if I don't have an opener.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-10-18T06:33:50.853" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T06:33:50.853" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2014-12-02T18:56:43.553" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand your question such that you are asking about fences for livestock and alike, not high-security fences. It is your responsibility to check if you could get in danger. If the fence looks like it was made to withstand humans and/or aggressive animals, I suggest not to touch it with anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that (I have actually never seen a fence like this), you will probably deal with the standard pasture fence. I has a couple thousands volts, which sounds like a lot, but a really low current. It cannot injure you if you do not have a special preposition (like a pacemaker). So there are different ways of dealing with that kind of fence:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hearing: As @WedaPashi said you will be able to hear a hum. If its a cable that is under constant current (which sounds strange), you would hear a noise of around 50 to 60 Hz (like an overhead line). The normal fences, however, get impulses every 10-30 seconds, which you can also hear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Probing: Grab something which can conduct electric current, but badly. (Very) Wet wood, a blade of grass... Hold it on the fence (long enough for one of the impulses to pass by). You get a small shock if its live. Using something to probe will the reduce the pain it makes. If you don´t feel anything, it is off or the resistance of the piece you used was too hight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Touching: You can touch the wire. As told above, pasture-type fences normally (!) don´t do any damage besides a little pain. As @organgejewelweed added in a comment, touch with the back of your hand as a safety measure so it can´t contract around the wire. In most cases the other tests will reveal if there is current on the fence or not, so I would not use this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Handle electricity with care. You are responsible for what you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-12-02T20:08:35.193" LastActivityDate="2014-12-02T20:08:35.193" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2014-12-02T19:57:40.977" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt; - First try to &lt;strong&gt;identify&lt;/strong&gt; if the wire is supposed to carry electricity (insulators on posts/wire goes to an electrical box/posted warning signs/ect...). There's really not much you can do to check the wire for current without a device aside from listening to it, touching it (potentially dangerous), or throwing something onto it that might react to a current (something wet/metallic/living/etc...). Maybe hold your arm close to see if your hairs stand up? If you have a &lt;strong&gt;compass&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3WWAghWbjo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be able to use it to detect a magnetic field around the wire&lt;/a&gt; depending on the type  and flow of electricity. These methods will only confirm that there &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; electricity in the wire, but without proper equipment, you can't really confirm a wire &lt;em&gt;isn't&lt;/em&gt; charged, and you're operating under assumptions and risk shock by touching the wire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're asking how to identify an electric fence, the answer is that &lt;strong&gt;there will be insulators on the posts&lt;/strong&gt;. Plain wire fences are just stapled or tied to the posts. Also, if the fence emits a powerful enough charge to hurt you, there will be caution, warning, or danger signs posted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/86ARA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Insulator on steel post&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YTWwl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Insulator on wood post &amp;amp; electric gate with insulated handle.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've climbed over electric fences plenty of times, they use them out here to deter bears from getting into certain areas (like the local dump) and keep deer out of crop fields. First few times I climbed through one I felt nothing, so I thought it was turned off (I was a kid at the time). It wasn't until I was holding two wires wide apart so that my dog could get through and touched the back of my hand to the wire above it that I got shocked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing about being a human is that you're typically insulated against the ground to some degree because of the rubber soles of your boots. Electric fences only really work if you're grounded or touching more than one wire. Even if you do get shocked, it's meant to smart, not injure, at the very most you might get a little red burn. Electric fences don't use a constant current, they pulse, sending out shocks that don't feel too dissimilar to a shock from a BBQ sparker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this is only true for fences designed to keep animals at bay, if you encounter an electric fence designed to keep humans out, they will typically have big signs indicating that they are charged and will hurt you. Razor wire at the top is another give-away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: In response to edit by OP. If you happen upon a cable that you might want to use for a crossing, first of all, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;use common sense&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Ask yourself, &quot;Why is this cable here?&quot; Is it meant to carry electricity, or does it have some other purpose? &lt;em&gt;Your number one priority is still to identify if it is an electrical cable or not.&lt;/em&gt; In my part of the world it's common to happen across a forestry cable car for crossing creeks or canyons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2QZ90.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But they're typically a dead giveaway, the cables don't extend beyond the anchors, and there's a basket with pulley wheels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not going to be able to &lt;em&gt;easily&lt;/em&gt; access high-power electrical cables, they're put high up on poles for a reason, &lt;em&gt;and won't necessarily carry your weight.&lt;/em&gt; The biggest giveaway that a cable is carrying a lot of electricity is that it will hum. Every power cable I've been under in the backcountry is easy to hear especially if it's raining or snowing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To be brief:&lt;/strong&gt; there's not much you can do to safely detect electrical current in a wire without some sort of a device, but something that you may have on your person if you're in the woods, is a &lt;strong&gt;COMPASS&lt;/strong&gt; which you could use to check for an electrical current. Hold the compass near the wire, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3WWAghWbjo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the magnetic field will move the needle&lt;/a&gt; if there is a current in the wire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-04-19T21:21:02.550" LastActivityDate="2017-04-19T21:21:02.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7278" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-02T20:37:24.113" Score="4" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I go to a secluded lake and want to take some table size Catfish home. However, the lake is particularly muddy and dirty, the water is actually brown. Is there a problem with bleeding fish in it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4271" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2014-12-03T15:00:39.690" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T15:00:39.690" Title="Is it ok to bleed a fish in muddy water" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2014-12-02T22:49:46.477" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Growing up in rural New Zealand, we often encountered electric fences. Some of them were illegally high-powered to deal with big animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We tested fences either with the back of our hands or with a piece of grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As specified a few times in this question (thanks @Michael Martinez), using the back of the hand is for safety. An electric shock can cause muscles to clench. If you place your hand around the wire and get shocked then you risk being unable to unclench your hand. Using the back of the hand, with the palm away from any wires, means that if a shock clenches your muscles then your hand and arm move away from the wires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An anecdote: A mate of mine grew up on a farm used for Sweetwaters (a popular music festival a few decades ago). He says that the combination of stoned hippies and electric fences was extremely entertaining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In answer to another question above, I have a cousin who peed on an electric fence. It was not a pleasant experience (for him, anyway, his mates were laughing their heads off).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2016-02-24T00:22:53.187" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T00:22:53.187" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7278" CreationDate="2014-12-03T01:59:12.727" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the water is sufficiently clean that you are willing to eat the fish, it's clean enough to use to bleed the fish.  Dirt as such isn't poisonous.  Clear water isn't necessarily safe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two ways come to mind:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a pail of river water.  This will at least keep most of the local critters nibbling on it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap in wet burlap, and set up a can to drip on it.  The evaporation of the water on the burlap will gain you another 5-10 degrees cooling (dpending on humidity)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T01:59:12.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7278" CreationDate="2014-12-03T09:01:55.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would follow the same rules as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5109/2766&quot;&gt;drinking water&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The water was not standing, i.e.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;it comes from a stream that is rather fast and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;the stream is big enough that it is not just a connection of puddles or ponds where the water rinses from one to the other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are no sources of contamination upstream. As you mention, thinkable sources are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;agricultural areas where fertilizers or herbicides could have been used&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;meadows, where cattle was present&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;mining&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;(quite unlikely) the water runs through some geologic formation where harmful stuff gets washed out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your not confident enough to drink it I wouldn't be confident enough to place any food into it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T09:01:55.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2014-12-03T15:25:14.227" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;a fence for horses or cows, Take a grass straw, wet it a little bit, hold it against the fence, if it ticks in your fingers it means the power is on.  i always do that do double check before put my hands on the fence, if im fixing it and say someone else turned it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4278" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T15:25:14.227" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7283" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-03T19:49:48.350" Score="1" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you used portable folding solar panels (5-20W) like Anker or GoalZero with much success?  It seems like they would really only work well on a pack trip if you have a day off periodically to recharge equipment, otherwise I would think there's just not enough time to charge up your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4243" LastActivityDate="2014-12-03T19:49:48.350" Title="Are portable solar panels useful on pack trips?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2014-12-03T23:10:51.020" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7284" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-04T03:21:43.517" Score="6" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=77&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spyderco Tri-angle sharpmaker&lt;/a&gt; to sharpen both a drop-point fixed blade and a folding tanto blade. It has 2 settings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 20 degree sides for a 40 degree working edge &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 15 degree sides for a 30 degree back bevel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like it says in the title, is there a particular order I should be grinding the knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xnzld.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4285" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:50.973" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:23:50.973" Title="Should I grind the edge or the backbevel first when sharpening my knife?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7285" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7288" CreationDate="2014-12-04T10:14:57.100" Score="19" ViewCount="19521" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a knife and a whetstone. One side of the whetstone is rough and the other is finely grained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I occasionally sharpen my knife but I'm not 100% clear if I'm using it correctly. I normally move the knife in a circular motion trying to hold it at &lt;em&gt;an&lt;/em&gt; angle.. o_O&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually use the rough side first then polish it with the finer side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this correct? What is the best technique for knife sharpening in general?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:41:37.017" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T08:41:37.017" Title="Best technique to sharpen a knife using a whetstone?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7285" CreationDate="2014-12-04T10:36:04.707" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are right about using the rough side first and then some polishing with the finer side.&#xA;Holding an angle is a real tricky part and needs some stability and skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prevent the blade from getting damaged, you can run an ink marker over the cutting bevel. This way you'll have a reference to manage the amount of tilt you need to have. The typical angle should be between 15 to 20 Degrees.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check if it is okay to lubricate the stone with water or edible oil before you go ahead.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Make slow strokes rather than faster strokes. There are 2 basic reasons behind preferring the lubrication:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;That gives you more control over the angle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Removes the metal powder left out of when you sharpened a knife last time around, so that the stone remains clear and efficient as the grain-pattern remains clean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Acts as a cooling agent where the friction takes place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you proceed to polish it, all the ink should go off. Once the ink is gone, you can take a look at the knife with the blade edge in line with light and tilt the knife around a bit, slowly. If you see any glint on the edge, that part needs some work with the finer side of the stone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once done, clean off the stone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2014-12-04T20:58:34.700" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T20:58:34.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7284" CreationDate="2014-12-04T13:54:12.743" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You sharpen the secondary / backbevel (the 15 degrees) when you do not get that hair-popping sharpness form the 20 degree angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you use the 15 degrees to get a knife with a thick bevel to razor-sharpness and then use the 20 degrees afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the CD that comes with the sharpmaker has some more hints.&#xA;A visual for your target bevel from spyderco:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=20&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=20&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4209" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T13:54:12.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7285" CreationDate="2014-12-04T15:28:47.447" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;My advice is to always use the entire length of the the stone, to make sure wearing is even, and it's easier to be slow and steady.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &lt;a href=&quot;https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/42539&quot;&gt;some good information on cooking.SE&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How often you sharpen depends on how often you use them and the type&#xA;  of steel. I use Globals and Mundials and the Globals require much less&#xA;  sharpening Mundials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Here's a video from Chefs Armoury&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TPDgdo7jfM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TPDgdo7jfM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Prep your stones&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Depending on what stones you use, you may need to soak or not. I use&#xA;  the Naniwa stones that just need to be wet and don't require soaking.&#xA;  I keep a spray bottle for this. I use 400, 1000 and 3000 stones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Make sure your stone is flat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You want a flat stone so that the angle between your knife and stone&#xA;  is stye same along the entire length of the stone. If your stone has a&#xA;  curve in it, get it flattened first. If there is a noticeable curve,&#xA;  ask a professional to flatten it. After this, maintaining a flat stone&#xA;  is easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Decide your angle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Usually 15-20 degrees. I find the Japanese knives are usually at&#xA;  around 15 degrees and European knives are around 20 degrees based on a&#xA;  bit of trial and error. You'll know if your angle is too low since you&#xA;  won't make progress after a few strokes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Holding the knife &amp;amp; stroke&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One hand on the handle (of course) holding the knife at the desired&#xA;  angle. The other hand, fingers on the flat of the blade. Wrists&#xA;  straight. The sharpening stroke is when the knife moves away from the&#xA;  edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So if the edge is facing towards you, push into blade as you push your&#xA;  blade away but release the pressure as you pull the blade towards you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the blade is facing away from you, push into the blade as you pull&#xA;  towards you and release as you push away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Make sure you maintain the same angle on both strokes and &lt;strong&gt;always use&#xA;  the entire length of the the stone&lt;/strong&gt;. If you only use part of the&#xA;  stone, that area wears away more quickly and you can't be sure of the&#xA;  angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Sharpening&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Start with the coarsest stone. Pick a side, say edge facing towards&#xA;  you. I start at the tip of my knives. The tip is usually curved, so&#xA;  your hand position changes slightly. After a few strokes, move down&#xA;  the edge and take a few stokes. Keep doing this until you have done&#xA;  the entire edge applying water as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now pick up the knife. On the side that is not being sharpened, run a&#xA;  thumb or finger across the flat of knife from the spine to the edge.&#xA;  On the edge, you should feel a burr. When you can feel the burr along&#xA;  the entire length of the edge, that side is done, otherwise it needs&#xA;  more work. Now sharpen the other side until you can feel the burr on&#xA;  the other side. We'll address a complete lack of burr later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; _  &amp;lt;- Burr&#xA;  \&#xA;  /\  &#xA; /  \&#xA; |  | Just sharpened side&#xA; |  | &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once you have done both sides, go up to your next stone and repeat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As the stones get finer, the size of the burr gets smaller and harder&#xA;  to feel. On a 3000 stone, it gets very fine. If you cannot feel it,&#xA;  wash the blade of any material that you removed. This can sometimes&#xA;  help you feel the burr. I also find that dry hands work better than&#xA;  wet hands when trying to detect the burr.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Finishing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When you get to your final stone and have done both sides, you need to&#xA;  remove the burr. Just hold the knife at the same angle as you've been&#xA;  using with the burr side in contact with the stone, and pull the edge&#xA;  of your knife across it to remove the burr.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can also strop your blade, but it is not necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7. Reflatten your stone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can do this with a special flattening stone, or a bit of very fine&#xA;  sandpaper. I wet some 600 grit sand paper and put it on my bench&#xA;  (flattest surface in my home). Then sand the stone down. It only needs&#xA;  a few strokes if you do this regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't feel a burr trouble shooting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you have been working at if for a while and cannot feel the burr&#xA;  here are a couple of suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wrong angle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your angle may be too low. Increase the angle slightly and try again.&#xA;  On a coarse stone, you should be able to feel the burr after only a&#xA;  few strokes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knife is too blunt&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Detecting the burr only works if the knife is close to being sharp. If&#xA;  it is too blunt, you need to remove a lot of material before you are&#xA;  close to a sharp edge again. Don't do this. If you do, you'll end up&#xA;  with an asymmetrical edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  _            &#xA; / \                                      /\&#xA;/   \  Keep working one side and you get /  \&#xA;|   |                                    |   \&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Instead, give a few strokes across the entire length of one side. Flip&#xA;  it over and do the other side. Make sure you do a similar amount of&#xA;  work so that the edge is symmetrical. The idea is to try and meet in&#xA;  the middle. Check after working each side and eventually you will get&#xA;  a burr.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3528" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:33:38.840" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T17:17:22.757" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7289" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7290" CreationDate="2014-12-04T16:08:42.487" Score="17" ViewCount="10511" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a really good swimmer. While swimming casually, when I get a cramp in my thighs or toes, it definitely makes me panic a bit and hampers my swimming in a bad way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I be doing if I get a cramp when I am swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2015-11-30T19:03:04.240" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T19:03:04.240" Title="What should one do when get a cramp while swimming?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;muscle-cramps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7289" CreationDate="2014-12-04T16:54:45.690" Score="15" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Survival Float.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;survival float&lt;/strong&gt;-also know as a &lt;strong&gt;deadman float&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;jellyfish float&lt;/strong&gt;–is when you relax your body, over-inflate your lungs, and try to stay afloat using natural buoyancy by either laying out on your back or your front. On your front you obviously need to come up for air regularly, but on your back you can relax and just focus on your breathing and relaxing the cramp. I know people that are so buoyant they can actually fall asleep and take naps floating on their backs on lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of summers ago I agreed to swim across a lake with my much more fit cousin. I tried keeping up with her for the first bit, but just past half way across I got a wicked cramp in my side. I was in the very middle of a lake so I had no choice but to keep on going. How I coped with the cramp was to first change my stroke (freestyle, to breast stroke, to side stroke, to back stroke). Eventually I had to stop kicking my legs and focus as hard as I could at relaxing the muscles where I was cramping. When the cramp got real bad, I ended up on my back in a survival float using gentle figure eight wrist motions to keep me moving towards shore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@Sherwood Botsford shared a very specific survival floating technique in the comments called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drownproofing.com/&quot;&gt;drownproofing&lt;/a&gt;. It's very similar to a deadman float except you are vertical and &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the surface of the water, only using very gentle motions to just bring your mouth to the surface every 10-12 seconds for a new breathe of air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-04T20:40:50.923" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T20:40:50.923" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7258" CreationDate="2014-12-04T19:23:17.430" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the weather, I would try to keep them alive in the water until you are lamost ready to start back.  Clean them just before you start back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is colder than that water, clean them immediately, and hang.  You can wrap them in a burlap bag.  If you keep the bag wet, evaporation will further chill them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Refrigerators are kept below 40 for a reason.  And from experience I've found that keeping ours at 34 F (1.5 C) increases the shelf life a lot.  (E.g. at 34 F keeping hamburger for a couple weeks isn't a problem) At 40, its good for about 4 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spoilage rate is first order exponenential from above freezing to about 120 F.  What will keep for 4 days at 40 will keep 1 day at 50 will keep 6 hours at 60 will keep 2 hours at 70.  Will I swear to those numbers?  No.  Much depends on the bacteria count at the start.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be to your advantage to use an edible anticeptic on the fish immediately after cleaning it.  E.g. 2 oz of Jack Daniels in a gallon of water.  This will reduce surface bacteria and may double the time you have until it spoils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option is to bring a collapsible cooler.  They aren't as effective.  You still have the hassle of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is cool, I wouldn't worry about it.  If the weather is hot, let the fish be until you come up with a portable cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  If the trail is a good trail, a bicycle makes a great carrying system.  Don't ride it, just strap what you want to carry, and roll the bicycle.  Viet Cong used to move 600 lb loads this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T19:23:17.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7285" CreationDate="2014-12-04T19:39:25.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ray Mears has produced videos on sharpening knives. In particular, sharpening them &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm53mCOQTR8&quot;&gt;in camp&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4y8u_iJf1M&quot;&gt;in the field&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The teqhnique is pretty much as @WedaPashi explains it, but it's good to see a video of the correct approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T19:39:25.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5695" CreationDate="2014-12-04T19:39:39.090" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I only wear hiking boots if there is significant off trail or heavy scree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last dozen or so expeditions (1 week + trips ~50 lb pack) I did I mostly wore MEC reef boots, or divers boots, sized to allow medium weight work socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The routes we did were mostly horse trails in Willmore Wilderness or in Rocky Clearwater Recreation Area (Alberta).  With this combination, my feet were wet all day, but were warm.  At camp I would change into dry socks and a pair of runners&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was rare that we didn't have a stream crossing per hour.  Waterproof boots do no good in knee deep water. The first few crossings, we'd wait while a few would take off their boots and socks, walk over barefoot, get their socks wet putting them on wet feet...  Then they came to their senses, realized that the socks were getting wet anyway, and would charge on through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This combination doesn't work in snow.  Feet get cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't work if there is a lot of shale or slate on the trails.  Boots get cut up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's fine for rounded rock.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a good solution if you have weak ankles, but I find that wearing this sort of footwear trains a new set of reflexes.  You are far more aware of your foot placement, and you just don't turn them as often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You walk very differently, with very little heal strike.  You will feel every stone, every root on the trail.  If you like going barefoot generally, you'll like this.  Not recommended for city feet that have spent the month before the trip in city shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing I tried sandals. Bad idea.  Stones, twigs, etc come in and park. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T19:39:39.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1023" CreationDate="2014-12-04T19:50:10.463" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Real examples abound.  The best one from a story perspective is Wallace's &quot;Lure of the Labrador&quot;  An entertaining read for so many bad decisions.  They were out 5 months, expected to live by hunting, and had only 2 months food with them.  One died.  The other two started out plump, and came back bone racks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &quot;Mutiny on the Bounty&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these stories is zero food and zero water.  Both give insight as to what is doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-06-11T02:47:09.613" LastActivityDate="2017-06-11T02:47:09.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2014-12-04T20:42:57.287" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over most of your body your system can restrict blood flow to the skin, cooling the skin (and making you feel cold)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Locations where bloodvessels run close to skin big sources of heat loss.  Parts of your body that have sub-cutaneous fat lose heat more slowly.  Wehre there is little fat (sides of the chest, under the arms) heat loss is more rapid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The head has no auto-regulation for heat, and receives about 25% of your blood supply.  If you were standing naked, then initially some fairly large percentage (the head isn't 25% by area, so it will be under 25%) will come off your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As your body realizes, &quot;hey, it's cold out here&quot;  surface circulation will be reduced.  Later even main flows to limbs will be reduced.  Muscles get stiff. Fingers get inept at doing up zippers and buttons. (Fumbles) You are now in trouble.  Further chilling will result in cooler blood going to the brain.  Large muscle coordination gets erratic (Stumbles)  Judgement starts to go, and speaking is impaired (mumbles)  Note that the 'umbles are also characteristic of low blood sugar.  Eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But backing up, as you cover up, what heat losses there are come from the parts that are still uncovered.  So yes, if you are wearing winter boots, good mitts, pants over fleece and a storm parka, then, yes your head is likely to be some very high percentage of your heat loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevention:  Stay cool to stay dry.  Open up when you even start to sweat.  If your hands get cold put on your hat.  If your still cold, put up your hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you start to shiver, your body metabolism is falling behind.  Reduce the heat loss.  Get out of the wind, get more clothes on. Change wet or sweat soaked clothes for dry ones.  You need to fuel that shivering.  Eat.  Drink.  Hot sweet liquids are best.  Dehydration interferes with metabolism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevent dehydration.  Eat snow if you must..  If you aren't already cold it won't hurt you.  The energy of half a snickers will melt a kilogram of snow into water. (The ice crystals however will scrape your throat raw)  One trick I use on winter trips is to bring a thermos of triple strength juice at as close to boiling as I can.  Fill the cup 1/3 full and pack snow into it until it doesn't melt.  One liter in the back becomes 2-3 liters in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T20:42:57.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7285" CreationDate="2014-12-04T21:06:22.463" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly it's pretty tricky. The other answers have good info but I thought I'd add a tip:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you think you've found the correct angle, you can use your thumb on the back of the blade as a guide to keep it at this angle against the stone. Rest the bottom of your thumb on the stone as you move the knife across it and it will keep the knife at a fairly constant angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Run the knife across the stone a few times this way and you should be able to see where the stone is grinding, by which part of the knife is shiny. If it's along the cutting edge and is approximately covering the whole of the existing bevel (and not just one edge of the bevel, which would indicate that you are at too sharp or too shallow of an angle) then you know what angle you're aiming for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't be discouraged if it takes you a few times to get right. It can be better to start with a cheap knife before using your favourite one. Also generally speaking, don't expect to get a razor sharp edge with just a whetstone as you typically need either a really fine diamond stone or a leather strop to finish a blade to that standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4292" LastActivityDate="2014-12-04T21:06:22.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7297" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7320" CreationDate="2014-12-05T04:26:11.300" Score="9" ViewCount="9872" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I was watching &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/UqEFRq9AEjE?t=1m43s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;, and got to the part where this guy and girl are discussing and demonstrating whose method of peeing off the portaledge is scariest. Then I of course thought to myself, &quot;What if there was some unseen person down below?&quot; I don't even want to imagine what it'd be like to be starting your big wall climb then all of a sudden getting caught in yellow rain. Or worse, catching someone's stool in the helmet (&lt;em&gt;&quot;Rock!&quot;&lt;/em&gt;). Does everyone bag their business on a big wall and haul it the rest of the way with them? Do they catch it and then lob it away from the wall so it doesn't hit anyone below? &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/UqEFRq9AEjE?t=3m54s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Do they aim for the British?&lt;/a&gt; Do they just check below to make sure the coast is clear? What is proper toilet etiquette on a big wall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cm3mc.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:32:35.547" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:32:35.547" Title="Big Wall Climbing Portaledge Toilet Etiquette?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7297" CreationDate="2014-12-05T05:07:23.043" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To my knowledge, all popular routes in the United States require packing out &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the rules for Yosemite, which has good guidelines applicable everywhere:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/climbingtrash.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/climbingtrash.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, back country climbing might not have rangers to enforce those rules, but you should abide by the Yosemite rules everywhere anyway. Defecating off the wall is a clear violation of Leave No Trace ethics, so the only option when on a big wall is the &quot;poop tube&quot; or similar systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the people on the video, they didn't actually show them doing the deed, so they probably (hopefully) were just demonstrating the mechanics of anchoring and balancing themselves when nature calls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2014-12-05T05:07:23.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7244" CreationDate="2014-12-05T05:52:22.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been through a couple of mammalian surveys in the south Indian forests known for elephants.&#xA;Here are my few suggestions (Disclaimer: These were told to me by forest officials. I cannot vouch for the validity of these).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid anything that has a strong odor. (Deos, soaps et al).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid bright coloured clothes. (It was told to me that bright coloured clothes can attract unwanted attention and possible aggression from elephants who are very protective of their young).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid watering holes. (These are frequented by elephants and it is best to not camp near to one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for signs of broken branches/trees, elephant dung(trust me you wont miss this!) and stay away from those paths which are frequented by elephants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never get too close to one in case you do find an elephant. Climbing up a tree or running up a mountain won't help either. For elephants can tear down a tree and use their trunk as a fifth limb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bamboo is a delicacy. You might want to stay away from heavily bambooed forest areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not the least, keep a fire up all night at your camp and never intrude the personal space of an elephant. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: As an afterthought, in case you have information regarding a tusker roaming around in musth, you might altogether want to avoid the route. Tuskers in musk are unpredictable and no amount of precautions can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2015-01-02T05:29:59.413" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T05:29:59.413" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2014-12-05T11:09:21.140" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, a good place is where you can fit your tent's guy lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the &lt;strong&gt;weather&lt;/strong&gt; (forecast)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;good weather&lt;/strong&gt;: sunny, clear, stable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;distance to the fireplace&lt;/strong&gt;, water and toilet&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;go close to the fireplace to reduce walking, not too close to burn your tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;go at least ~90m from the fireplace, toilet and water if there are wild animals attracted by the smell (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears/229#229&quot;&gt;bear safety, 300 feet triangle&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;levelness&lt;/strong&gt; of the ground to have a comfortable sleep&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is the &lt;strong&gt;view&lt;/strong&gt; important find a nice spot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;close to some bushes and trees: helps to hang clothes and &lt;strong&gt;tighten your tent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;maybe far away/close to others to have &lt;strong&gt;freedom or community&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;bad weather&lt;/strong&gt;: rain, thunderstorm, wind&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;priority 1: find a &lt;strong&gt;safe place&lt;/strong&gt;, not on top of a hill to be not too exposed to the lightning and also not too close to a higher tree, which can fall on you or attract lightning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't place your tent in a &lt;strong&gt;ditch&lt;/strong&gt; to stay dry :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;find &lt;strong&gt;good ground&lt;/strong&gt; where you can use your tent picks (stakes), secure them with stones, logs or tighten them around small bushes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;close to some bushes, small trees helps to &lt;strong&gt;reduce surface exposure&lt;/strong&gt; to the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;place the &lt;strong&gt;entrance&lt;/strong&gt;(s) of your tent not into the wind direction to prevent a flying tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when you have found a good trade between these points, you can check some points from &quot;the good weather&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's normally not possible to find the perfect spot, so you need to choose a tradeoff between some of these points. In bad weather go primary first for the safety points and then for comfort factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T23:06:34.463" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2014-12-05T16:57:47.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;High and Dry&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a flat area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that flat area won't pool with water if it rains. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's really not much else you need to be concerned about in a well forested area except for critters, which everyone knows Australia has in abundance - all sorts of little deadly creatures that could easily kill you in your sleep with a single bite, but I digress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Great Dividing Range looks awesome, and rich with natural shelter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b5kHT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Great Dividing Range&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm from &lt;a href=&quot;http://static.flickr.com/68/185947298_ace7721b5d_b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BC&lt;/a&gt;, camping in the trees is always preferable to sleeping in an exposed area, trees provide natural shelter from the elements, they typically have softer ground around them, and make tying down your fly super convenient (tie lines to the trees instead of sticking pegs in the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was camping this summer in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soistheman.com/diary/2009/09_08a/06.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ptolomy Plateau&lt;/a&gt; just below the treeline when it started to pour rain. We were in a nice patch of big trees that kept the rain off nicely. We discovered that the area we picked to pitch our tents was apparently a popular shelter for the local wildlife too, as deer kept running out of the bushes to our spot to try and escape the downpour. They didn't seem too impressed when they discovered that their spot had already been taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing I do when I find a nice flat area large enough for my tent is to take a look around and see which way the the ground slopes around it. You don't want to set your tent up in a spot were you think water might flow towards you, you want water to flow away from your tent. Sometimes I'll even dig a little &quot;moat&quot; around my tent with a stick or trowel to help the water flow around it in case I can't find a perfect spot that's guaranteed to stay dry. The next thing I check is which way I want my head to point. I actually lay down on the ground and get a feel for which way is &quot;head up&quot;. If there's even the slightest bit of a grade it will affect your comfort, so you want to orient you tent so your head is uphill, and your feet downhill. Of course you also want to check to make sure that there aren't any big rocks or roots that are going to poke you in the back while you sleep. In especially soggy areas, people will set their tents up on gravel or scree beds. Small scree is easy to work with because you can rake it around with your hands to make a flat spot, and you don't have to worry about water as much because it will actually flow right under your tent through the scree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2014-12-05T16:57:47.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7306" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-07T19:49:08.970" Score="3" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was checking these small hand powered or electric powered washing machines, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/oneConcept-Camping-Washing-Machine-operation/dp/B00B0100BC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1418030849&amp;amp;sr=8-3&amp;amp;keywords=camping+washing+machine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, and I was wondering if they are actually effective. Do they wash properly? Are they worth the price?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="72" LastEditorUserId="72" LastEditDate="2014-12-08T09:28:19.110" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T09:28:19.110" Title="Are camping washing machines actually effective?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2014-12-10T11:20:11.957" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7308" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7309" CreationDate="2014-12-08T17:42:35.590" Score="8" ViewCount="4898" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen a few of &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/how-to-break-nylon-dyneema-slings/&quot;&gt;these comparisons&lt;/a&gt; around but I've always struggled to make sense of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the moment I do quite a lot of Alpine style routes (lowish grade (HS), long multi pitch routes, typically up arete's etc) in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdonia&quot;&gt;Snowdonia&lt;/a&gt;. These routes typically have lot's and lot's of spikes. So I tend to use these spikes as lead anchors as I move up. At the moment most of my slings are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/wc-120cm-sling-blue-p152347&quot;&gt;Dyneema slings&lt;/a&gt;. It occurred to me the other day that maybe this wasn't a great combination?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the low stretch properties of Dyneema. Should I be using these as lead anchors over flakes or should I switch to nylon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presume the flake will take a the impact. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T23:47:44.337" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T23:47:44.337" Title="Should I be using Dyneema slings for lead climbing anchors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;dyneema&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7308" CreationDate="2014-12-08T18:13:59.707" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;See: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7205/slings-for-anchoring-and-lanyard-in-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;Slings for anchoring and lanyard in rock climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different question, but but it contains a lot of the same releveant information for an answer to this one also; basically &lt;strong&gt;either one will work well&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short summary: Your rope is designed to absorb the impact of your fall, while a sling is absolutely not. In the videos presented by DMM you can see what happens when the sling is forced to absorb the impact of a fall, and it's not pretty. There might be some marginal decrease to impact force on your protection (namely spikes in this case) by using Nylon slings, but it's rarely going to be a measurable difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good and attentive belay, and a soft catch is your best defense from high impact forces, and any UIAA approved sling can be expected to hold the force of a falling climber &lt;em&gt;when being belayed by a rope&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T18:13:59.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7308" CreationDate="2014-12-08T18:48:56.990" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Given the low stretch properties of Dyneema. Should I be using these as lead anchors over flakes or should I switch to nylon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it's absolutely fine. Whichever sling you use, your rope is the dynamic (shock-absorbing) part of the system, and that doesn't change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't clip directly into either, and Raz's linked answer covers most considerations for choosing between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4299" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T18:48:56.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7240" CreationDate="2014-12-08T19:05:08.947" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the crack was good enough for your anchor all on its own, there are a couple of ways to use that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;redirect a regular direct belay:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hang a karabiner from a sling around the tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;belay sitting on the ledge, redirecting the live rope through that karabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;here, you're just using the tree to avoid pulling the second off sideways or letting excessive slack build up, and if they fall, to absorb at least some of their pendulum. Try to make sure your legs won't be trapped under the live rope if the tree fails, though&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;use an indirect belay (and re-direct that too)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make the highest anchor you can in the crack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;attach the belay device directly to it, independently of yourself&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do the same redirection of the live rope, but now you can stand anywhere on the ledge and not worry about getting trapped (or having your legs go to sleep)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these are perfect, and they do add friction to the system (unless you have a pulley).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is essentially the &quot;directional protection&quot; part of ShemSeger's answer - except that we don't have high expectations of the tree to actually hold a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4299" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T19:05:08.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7314" CreationDate="2014-12-08T20:22:05.113" Score="14" ViewCount="2080" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm reading up on winter technique. The book im reading states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most (slab) avalanches happen on slopes between 30 and 45 degrees&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I've seen this before but ; how do I recognise (easily) a slope in this range? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-10T11:52:08.523" LastActivityDate="2015-04-25T20:24:24.660" Title="Measuring a dangerous snow slope" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7312" CreationDate="2014-12-08T21:21:46.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;To put it simply, carry a compass with you that has a clinometer to measure a slope's angle, set one of your poles down on the slope and place the compass on top of the pole to get a solid reading. If you spend enough time in one area you'll start to become familiar enough with the terrain to remember roughly what the angles are and which routes are the best. But if you're exploring new areas, take the time to get good measurements. Taking risks in avalanche country isn't the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This site has a lot of good information.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skiingthebackcountry.com/skiing-resources/how_to_use_inclinometer&quot;&gt;http://www.skiingthebackcountry.com/skiing-resources/how_to_use_inclinometer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, get this book if you haven't:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594850844&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-12-08T21:21:46.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7312" CreationDate="2014-12-08T21:33:51.533" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a compass or other instruments, it is possible to measure the slope with your two (ski) poles solely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just hold one pole vertically by using gravity and stick it into the snow. Hold the other one horizontally until it reaches the slope with one end and the first pole with the other end. Now you check the height in which the poles contact each other. If it is at the top of the first pole, your slope is 45°, if it is approx. in the half of the first pole size, you are facing a 30° slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will understand this better, if you have a short look here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F6XUN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or more in detail here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ortlg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because you asked exactly for 30 and 45 degree, the previous mentioned method should work pretty well for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still there is another method to get an approximation which I like even more. There you can (in a typical range) get some useful measurements of your slope with an accuracy of approx. 3 degree.&#xA;I wont try to explain it, just found a great video explanation here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;amp;v=vlCiJma_rpA#t=111&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;amp;v=vlCiJma_rpA#t=111&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-04-25T20:24:24.660" LastActivityDate="2015-04-25T20:24:24.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7312" CreationDate="2014-12-09T03:51:25.623" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two other answers have given methods for measuring this on-site. The trouble is that there's a lot of behavioral and sociological research showing that this doesn't really work. Once you get to the location where the activity is planned, you'll tend to go ahead anyway because you feel committed, and because there is a strong psychological need to show other people that your actions are consistent with the way you present yourself. See  McCammon, &quot;Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidents,&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.snowpit.com/articles/traps%20reprint.pdf&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, it's better to determine the slope angle at home, using a topo map, before you go. Use a ruler to measure the distance between two topo lines on the map, and use the scale on the map to convert this to a horizontal distance &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; in units of meters. Let &lt;em&gt;y&lt;/em&gt; be the vertical spacing of the topo lines in meters. (If your map has elevations in feet, then determine both &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;y&lt;/em&gt; in feet.) Divide &lt;em&gt;y&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt;. If the result is between 0.6 and 1.0, then the slope angle is between 30 and 45 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I just use the following ultra-simple checklist:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) Is the slope 30-35 degrees or more (or is the area bare of old-growth trees)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) Has there been more than 6 inches of snow in 48 hours? I can determine this online, e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=34.294097509045734&amp;amp;lon=-117.64572143554688&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;'s info for a mountain near where I live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If both of these factors exist, I figure that out at home, and I don't go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2014-12-09T03:56:26.723" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T03:56:26.723" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3197" CreationDate="2014-12-09T14:44:39.227" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anon is correct. Nor'easter is a storm system blowing high winds and Artic air coming from the north or north east.  A Sou'wester originates in the tropical/subtropical Atlantic and brings warm air and heavy precipitation.  Newscasters tend to call these northeasters thinking, I guess, that it's a storm on the northeastern United States and therefore a nor'easter or they simply get things backwards.  Again, the storms with heavy precipitation moving from the south into and along the East Coast US are sou'westers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4304" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T14:44:39.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7297" CreationDate="2014-12-09T15:00:25.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Etiquette varies a great deal according to locality. In the same way that trad/bolting ethics does. Best practice would be to see if your guide book has advice for the area you are climbing in and if not speak to the locals, ie climbing shop, guides office, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/climbingtrash.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; has some rules and advise already laid out for climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elsewhere people are largely left to their own devices so practices range from finding a good ledge to leave your waste on, doing it straight over the edge or using a 'sh*t put' method involving pooping on a stone that can then be thrown away from the wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for peeing I have never heard of anyone carrying it with them though techniques for going will vary. Alpinists or those engaged in long climbs in cold conditions will pee in a bottle inside their sleeping bag so they can avoid risks associated with the cold. The bottle will be slept with over night so it does not freeze and can be emptied in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how you manage going to the toilet with your climbing partners you will have to decide what is most comfortable/least disgusting between your selves. I'll leave you with another example&lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7swBsl91r8IC&amp;amp;lpg=PP1&amp;amp;dq=psychovertical%20andy%20cave%20fruit&amp;amp;pg=PA172#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=the%20worst%20thing%20about%20andy&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;[p172]&lt;/a&gt; from Yosemite...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-09T21:58:48.823" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T21:58:48.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5657" CreationDate="2014-12-09T15:27:58.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would try to separate the concerns of placing good gear and learning the action of falling safely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1838&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; from UKC covering the falling aspect! In the video they use a sport route at a climbing wall so falls can be taken without worrying about the quality of the protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other step would be to improve ability to place good protection, practising in an environment where you will not fall or a fall has no serious consequence. Ie, while walking along the base of the crag, while traversing at a low hight, while on a mock lead protected with a top rope or on a climb well within your comfort zone. Have a more experienced friend, or a paid instructor, inspect your work. Weight your protection and give it a some jolts with your body weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third and often overlooked ingredient is your partner, build a relationship with someone you trust or feel you will come to trust as your skills develop. Develop good belaying practices with them so you will know what is happening while you are climbing and will be reassured by their presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully a combination of these things will allow you to know how to fall and if it is safe to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T15:27:58.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7322" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7323" CreationDate="2014-12-09T15:55:42.763" Score="5" ViewCount="802" Body="&lt;p&gt;My crossbow has a 50LB draw. It has no mechanism to decrease the amount of strength you use to cock it (you literally just grab the string and pull it back). So my question is: &quot;If the draw is 50LB (and it has no mechanism or system to aid you in cocking it) does it require 50LBs of strength to pull it back? You see I am considering installing a new draw on it that will be stronger and I need to know if I will be able to cock it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4306" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-02T18:47:13.850" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T18:47:13.850" Title="Crossbow draw strength" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7322" CreationDate="2014-12-09T16:20:52.810" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes - 50lbs draw means you need to be able to pull 50lbs, unless you have a pulley/gear reduction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you increase to a higher draw, you'll need to be able to pull it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T16:20:52.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7322" CreationDate="2014-12-09T16:27:39.903" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have to pull it back manually without a mechanism then you will need the strength to pull it back. Also consider when putting a new draw on it, that the body can hold the increased vibration and tension without shattering. I would suggest going for a new crossbow if you want increased poundage, or get a professional to change it for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, it depends on what you want to do with it. If you are gallery 50lbs is enough. If outside target then I wouldn't say any more than 100lb. If you have hunting in mind I would suggest 150lb for small game, or 175lb for larger. Unless you plan to take down a bear you won't need to go any higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T16:27:39.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7308" CreationDate="2014-12-09T21:38:08.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Either will work, but Dyneema and Nylon have different properties that can make them more or less advantageous in certain situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dyneema is obviously a lot lighter than nylon, which gives it a lot of it's appeal for alpine climbers, it is also more abrasion resistant, in fact the material is also used to make &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dyneema.com/americas/applications/performance-textiles/protective-gloves.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cut-resistant gloves.&lt;/a&gt; The disadvantage to dyneema is it's low melting point (which is partly why it fails so easily when knotted), and that it's too slick to hold knots very well, which means dyneema typically always has to be stitched. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nylon is preferable to dyneema in many situations because it does have some stretch, as well as a higher melting point, but it is a lot heavier, and less abrasion resistant. Another advantage that nylon has over dyneema is that it can be easily tied, very useful for anchoring around trees, in natural threads on rock, and vthreads on ice. If you only had stitched dyneema slings, you'd have to cut one to thread it, and you'd have a very tough time tying a knot in it that would hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation (placing slings over flakes) I would suggest using dyneema slings, as they would be more resistant to being cut by a sharp flake in the event of a fall, just don't tie any knots in them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-09T22:15:05.960" LastActivityDate="2014-12-09T22:15:05.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7327" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7330" CreationDate="2014-12-09T22:13:54.940" Score="15" ViewCount="2788" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rolled aluminum descending rings like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.innermountainoutfitters.com/descending-ring/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SMC Descending ring&lt;/a&gt; are light &lt;em&gt;(11g)&lt;/em&gt; and cheap &lt;em&gt;($3)&lt;/em&gt; which makes them great for carrying and leaving behind on long descents, but in my mind they are disposable pro, you use them once for retrieving your rope after a rappel and then then leave them to rot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More than once I've seen these rings used with mallions on bolted anchors at high-traffic rappels, but I never use them, some I've replaced with strong 50kN &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/4007-356/fixe-descending-ring/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;steel rings&lt;/a&gt;. They're rated for 14kN, which is more than enough for body weight on a nice controlled rappel, but are they suitable for multiple uses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the rule of thumb for this style of descender ring? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cVegt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;SMC Descending rings&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:36.243" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:34:36.243" Title="Is it ok to use rolled aluminum descending rings in permanent anchors?" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2014-12-09T22:32:37.760" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I look for&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;flat ground on dirt or grass free of pebbles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not underneath dead branches (which could fall and hit you while you sleep)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-12-11T11:07:53.630" LastActivityDate="2014-12-11T11:07:53.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7327" CreationDate="2014-12-10T05:16:42.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;SMC's site doesn't say anything very helpful but, keep in mind that 14kN is enough to lift a medium sized car. In a rappel only situation, it should last for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said....using 'left gear' is a judgment you should make for yourself. Even if you can't see any defects in a piece of metal, you never know if it has an invisible crack from taking a big fall, freeze-thaw damage (that thing is hollow, right?) or previously being to used pull a car out of a ditch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For myself, I would want a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T05:16:42.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7327" CreationDate="2014-12-10T06:33:31.257" Score="13" Body="&lt;h1&gt;No&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; ok to use that type of descending ring for fixed anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SMC Descending Rings are a one-piece aluminum ring which are intended to be placed at the top of a pull down rappel in place of a carabiner in order to facilitate recovery of ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SMC &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rocknrescue.com/acatalog/SMC81600DescendingRing.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;issues the following&lt;/a&gt; for care, maintenance and retirement schedule needs of their descender rings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CARE, MAINTENANCE and RETIREMENT SCHEDULE NEEDS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Always inspect Descending Rings before each use and periodically while&#xA;  in storage. The user, depending upon their specific environment and&#xA;  storage methods, must determine the period between inspections.&#xA;  Inspect for cracks, warping, deep gouges and worn areas, making sure&#xA;  that what may appear to be a scratch is not actually a crack. Look for&#xA;  sharp edges or rough areas that might abrade a rope. After each use,&#xA;  remove all dirt and allow Descending Rings to dry in a warm place&#xA;  before storing. SMC Descending Rings will continue to provide&#xA;  reliable performance only when used safely and properly maintained and&#xA;  stored. It is also suggested that the user maintain a permanent&#xA;  record listing the date and results of every usage inspection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We recommend the regular inspection of all rescue equipment &lt;strong&gt;and&#xA;  strongly suggest retiring gear when ANY of the following applies:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Regular inspection reveals warping, cracks, deep gouges or any wear. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;It is physically damaged or no longer functions as when new.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;It has been subjected to an abnormally high loads, such as in a fall or exposed to heat sufficient to alter its surface appearance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;You are not completely satisfied that it meets the needs of its intended use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The history of the gear is unknown or otherwise in question.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rocknrescue.com/acatalog/SMC81600DescendingRing.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[PDF] SMC Descending Rings #81600&lt;/a&gt;, Seattle Manufacturing &#xA;Corporation&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The history of any SMC descending rings that you may find attached to an anchor is &lt;em&gt;unknown&lt;/em&gt; and therefore it is strongly suggested by the manufacturer that you retire those rings.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do your fellow abseilers a favour and remove those rings from any anchors you may find them attached to. Either destroy them, or mark them as retired and use them to hang your hammock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightweight aluminium descender rings are designed for quick descents of alpine routes, they are not intended to be used for heavy duty applications. The improper use of &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; piece of equipment is unsafe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Trz0d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bad rap rings&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use the right tool for the right job!&lt;/strong&gt; Thin alloy rap rings are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; intended for heavy-duty use, carefully inspect descender rings and retire if they show any sign of wear.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T16:26:58.543" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T16:26:58.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7312" CreationDate="2014-12-10T07:00:04.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use the common technique with the poles to measure the slope angle like discribed by @EverythingRightPlace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a ski-pole-&lt;strong&gt;sticker&lt;/strong&gt; that you can attach to your pole and then simply read the angle with a single pole (found on this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1368073986/poleclinometertm-the-ski-pole-inclinometer-sticker?ref=tgr&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also several &lt;strong&gt;smart phone apps&lt;/strong&gt; for your smart phone to measure the angle of a slope. These Apps are only an additional help for the existing physical methods and are not completely reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/ski-slope-angle/9022cf47-9c1f-4f85-b1c7-1ed79978a8cf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;WindowsPhone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iYOK.AngleMeterV10&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Android&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for &lt;a href=&quot;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clinometer-bubble-level-slope/id286215117?mt=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;iPhone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-01-14T15:50:48.637" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T15:50:48.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6483" CreationDate="2014-12-10T07:42:25.253" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This applies to most sport situations, but there will by some exceptions. This assumes you have draws or other proper gear at the anchors that are not part of the fixed anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Just led the route:&lt;/strong&gt; Lower&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Following but not last:&lt;/strong&gt; Lower&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Following, cleaning all pro but anchors:&lt;/strong&gt; Lower&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Last and cleaning anchors or all pro:&lt;/strong&gt; Rappel&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common exception to lowering would be a sharp edge or other harsh features on the route where lowering (especially repeatedly) across it is going to abrade the rope and rappelling would alleviate some or all of this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rappelling is usually not necessary while draws are still at the anchors. Lowering is far more practical in this situation. However when cleaning, it is poor practice to lower through the fixed anchors. If everyone did this the bolts (or other fixed pro) would wear out incredibly quickly. &lt;strong&gt;Always rappel when cleaning the anchors of the route. Never belay/lower through bolts or fixed anchors. Never.&lt;/strong&gt; Communicate with your belayer about this and also have them practice a fireman's belay on your double ropes as you descend. This will also help you clean if you are cleaning the entire route as you descend, as they can pull down to assist braking you while pausing at each piece of protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-10T07:49:08.160" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T07:49:08.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7333" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7335" CreationDate="2014-12-10T08:38:54.223" Score="10" ViewCount="691" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I clean my hiking boots after any hike I made and how can I clean them after extended use e.g. multi day hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can i clean them back home and on the field?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:18:08.700" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:18:08.700" Title="How to clean hiking boots" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4090" CreationDate="2014-12-10T09:33:39.867" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is why I would not do what that group was doing.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;It would be safer to just lead this route and/or do a top-belay if possible.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's look at this simply from a safety standpoint, and more specifically rope stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 200 foot single pitch top-rope climb means 400 feet of rope from top to bottom and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Common dynamic rope dynamic elongation (falling) specs range from approximately 25% - 35%, with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3607/1908&quot;&gt;maximum being 40%&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maximum static elongation (not falling, just hanging) is 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This spreadsheet shows how much the rope would stretch when falling from a given height and at different elongation percentages. The red numbers indicate where the fall height and rope stretch are essentially equal.&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nf2Sy.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rope Stretch Table&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do believe this speaks for itself...but just to make it clear: &lt;strong&gt;If you were 36 feet (11 meters) off the ground and you fell, you'd deck at 10% stretch.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T19:35:10.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7333" CreationDate="2014-12-10T11:33:43.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;My boots are leather, as you've not stated what yours are made of at time of writing, here goes with what I do to clean my boots on walks and to store at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly for at home I will always leave my boots to dry off usually overnight - just on some newspaper away from any radiators or the fire, slow drying as they are leather. It's easier to remove dry dirt than wet. Once dry I'll bang my boots together to remove the worst of the mud, if I'm off out again there is no point doing more than this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, I'll then use a soft bristled brush to get as much mud off the leather and soles as possible. Next I'll wipe them over with a slightly damp cloth or kitchen roll, this leaves the leather clean enough so that I can reapply a protective coating - something like NikWax for leather. They then live in a hiking boot bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On route and out camping, well this depends. I have two tents, one is larger with living area separate to sleeping so I don't really mind leaving my boots in there, the other is much smaller with only a little area outside for bags and boots. I aim to never step inside the actual tent with my muddy boots (this helps keep as much mud from getting in the tent as possible) but to clean them I will do little more than find some damp long grass (dry works but damp is better) and drag my boots through them. We do this a lot when out walking in the British countryside as you will get a lot of farmland and it's better than leaving mud on a fence post. Also I will stomp a little in standing water - a puddle on the roadside for example, again this only helps if you have one, but helps get rid of the mud on the sole of your boot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're lucky with the weather on hikes and camping you should be able to dry your boots over night and bang them together in the morning to remove as much mud as possible. If you have the space for a microfibre cloth you could probably give them a good wipe over if you want to - but if you're going to get muddy again the next day then I'd say don't bother, just clear as much mud off the sole of the boot (a knife works as well, not a sharp one, or a stick to clear your sole out) so that you can stand evenly without discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best and easiest way I've ever cleaned my boots is to go for a walk in the snow, they come back sparkling. I'll leave them to dry, apply NikWax and they're good as new. It's just a shame the south of England only gets snow once every few years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-12-10T11:49:03.023" LastActivityDate="2014-12-10T11:49:03.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7253" CreationDate="2014-12-10T17:16:30.387" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FA7Y3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UTnfO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having the rope behind your leg massively increases the chance of being turned upside down when falling, this is quite dangerous but is avoidable with care!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps to answer your question more specifically the proper use of normal gear prevents such incidents and a helmet can add protection if the worst does happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This link contains a video showing bad practice and a diagram illustrating the likely outcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/belaying-the-leader/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/belaying-the-leader/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another video where the climber finds the rope behind their leg and takes the time to reposition it to increase their safety margin, though the rest of the climbs is still pretty unsafe for other reasons....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/U7dPa2MGqhE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://youtu.be/U7dPa2MGqhE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-02-19T18:30:38.863" LastActivityDate="2015-02-19T18:30:38.863" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1693" CreationDate="2014-12-10T18:14:31.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the top biner gets loaded weirdly against a hanger, a fixed connection to the sling (girth hitch) makes it more likely that the biner will break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why non-alpine draws have the top biner free and the bottom one fixed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/oBWpoLg.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4143" LastEditorUserId="4143" LastEditDate="2014-12-23T20:14:06.763" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T20:14:06.763" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6935" CreationDate="2014-12-11T18:27:22.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a novice, momentum, and fear of falling, matter more here than in most things you'll do on the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Statically reaching on an overhang is very intense. Use your legs (generally) to push/propel yourself up. If you keep your arms straight you should move throw the arc like a pendulum and grab effectively. But the next trick is to remember to pull with your feet when you do this. Say you can get your foot in a jug (using an easy example like this helps get to the pith of overhang, which is what you're asking about). You push for momentum, then pull for stability and to keep your foot from slipping out. Anyway, that is technical - I'm trying to say, yes, momentum makes it easier for foot to slip while you're unpracticed, and yes, that is exactly the sign you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be doing it and practicing, not a sign that it's hard and to be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your hands are getting tired because you're spending too much time on the wall in general. This applies to all climbing. But I think overhang can create a particularly intense feedback loop: you do indeed need to use momentum more, so you slow down because you're unsure what to do, so your hands have more time to drain more, so you try to slow down to make sure your positioning is exactly right...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, this is a vicious cycle in all climbing, but very acute here. Try moving faster and falling more. Train falling too, no joke. Even if you're not an acrophobe, it takes many - some say hundreds - of falls before your fear of falling really leaves the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastActivityDate="2014-12-11T18:27:22.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6460" CreationDate="2014-12-12T08:33:39.123" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When aiding, you can use a slip knot to tie off a fixed piton close to the rock face (if the eye is broken). You can do the same thing for a chickenhead if its shaped in such a way that the rope must be tighten to stay on. In that case I'd rather use that for body weight, not fall protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T08:33:39.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7342" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7343" CreationDate="2014-12-12T17:57:48.037" Score="13" ViewCount="5463" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ask this question based on the fact that tensile strength tests show that putting a double fisherman's knot in kernmantle rope makes it more likely for the rope to snap than a rope tied with a single fisherman's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knots weaken kernmantle rope, &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; in fact. Polymeric fibres are extremely strong along their &lt;em&gt;longitudinal&lt;/em&gt; axis, however they have low flexural strength, meaning they are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; strong along their &lt;em&gt;horizontal&lt;/em&gt; axis, which is why ropes lose significant amounts of strength when tied&lt;sup&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sterlingrope.com/media/document/techmanual.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/sup&gt;. Knots create a stress concentration on a rope's horizontal axis, crushing the rope's core and causing it to fail under less force or weight than an unknotted rope. The tying of a double fisherman's knot will cause a measurable reduction (20-35%) in the tensile strength of a rope&lt;sup&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Outdoor-Knots-Book-Clyde-Soles/dp/0898869625&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/sup&gt;. Moreso than a single fisherman's knot (15-20%)&lt;sup&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.ca/books?id=O_SNr4LPdUQC&amp;amp;source=gbs_similarbooks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/sup&gt;. The &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; real advantage that a double fisherman's has over a single is that it is less likely to slip, especially on newer synthetic fibre ropes, which is why it has mostly replaced the single in mountaineering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Single Fisherman's&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AHa2z.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AHa2z.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;PROS:&lt;/strong&gt; Lower reduction in tensile breaking strength of Kernmantle rope (15-20%), easier to tie, easier to untie.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONS:&lt;/strong&gt; More likely to&#xA;  slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Double Fisherman's&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XrIfq.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XrIfq.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;PROS:&lt;/strong&gt; Less likely to slip.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONS:&lt;/strong&gt; Greater reduction in tensile breaking strength of Kernmantle rope (20-35%), more&#xA;  complicated to tie, hard to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's fair to note that a double fisherman's knot still reduces the tensile strength &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; than most other knots, and that a knot isn't really useful if it slips, but with certain types of rope it's unlikely that even a single fisherman's will slip, whereas on fancy lightweight ropes–like aramid ropes–a &lt;em&gt;triple&lt;/em&gt; fisherman's is necessary to prevent your rope from slipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the rope or accessory cord that you are using will hold a single fisherman's knot without slipping, would it be better to use a single fisherman's knot (leaving really long tails) and take advantage of the higher tensile strength the knot provides over a double?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sterlingrope.com/media/document/techmanual.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling Rope. Guide to Rope Engineering, Design, and Use. Volume 1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;2 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Outdoor-Knots-Book-Clyde-Soles/dp/0898869625&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Clyde Soles, The Outdoors Knot Book&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;3 &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.ca/books?id=O_SNr4LPdUQC&amp;amp;source=gbs_similarbooks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills 7th Edition&lt;/a&gt;, citing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/aaj&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Alpine Journal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-10-05T21:50:23.560" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T18:34:28.517" Title="Which is better, a single fisherman's knot or a double?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7342" CreationDate="2014-12-12T20:59:27.003" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great, and well thought out question! I'll try best as I can to answer as somebody that both climbs, guides, and teaches, but I worry that a correct answer doesn't exist, and at best it'll be an informed answer based on what we currently know. I'll elaborate below..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the rope or accessory cord that you are using will hold a single&#xA;  fisherman's knot without slipping, would it be better to use a single&#xA;  fisherman's knot (leaving really long tails) and take advantage of the&#xA;  higher tensile strength the knot provides over a double?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer: &lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;, hands down. If there isn't any reason to weaken the rope further, why would you..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, (and this is the really important part), are you sure it won't slip? 100% sure? If it's your lifeline you better be 100% sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of pull tests have been done on this topic, many of which have been documented in the Textile Industry Journal for reference. In short though: expected outcomes can't be predicted across the board because of the different ways kernmantle ropes can be woven and twisted together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, your fisherman's knot is going to slip in one of two ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot(s) will stay in place, but one of the ends (the yarns) will pull through.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot(s) configuration will change under tension, slipping over the other side and inverting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal tests for these scenario's involve rapidly loading a rope, and in those test cases the first slippage scenario is somewhat rare (provided somebody left a sufficient enough tail, up-to a few feet in some cases). You can mostly expect failures to occur in this situation when the core is already damaged - a quick inspection should be enough to rule that out though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second case also happens when rapidly loading the rope, and is the cause of failure in tests more often than the first. Unfortuantely, there aren't definitive ways to rule it out as a possibility, and no UIAA standards on slippage when rope is tied in this configuration exist, which leads me to my next answer for the same question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;would it be better to use a single fisherman's knot..?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer: &lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, not very likely anyway. Not knowing how much force you need to put into the rope before it will start to slip or unwind is enough to deter me from using the single fisherman's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it does weaken the rope or cord by a certain amount more, but usually even skinny accessory cord is used in a capacity in which it's total tensile strength far exceeds what we are expecting it to load it with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember also, if you are joining the same rope or cord to itself, (most common application for this knot), and then loading it, chances are the force is mostly distributed between the two stands, which gives you a higher tensile strength maximum to work with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T20:59:27.003" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7346" CreationDate="2014-12-12T22:14:18.467" Score="13" ViewCount="15909" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most (if not all) the big rock climbing brands do manufacture their gear in China - carabiners, cams, slings, whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I stumbled on this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Climbings/1453743_258307418.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Climbings/1453743_258307418.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like well made gear and the price is interesting. &#xA;The brand isn't well known though. I am very curious about Chinese brands and I feel like those devices may rival the most famous ones. But, I don't know for sure. Considering that most if not all production is made there, the Chinese must have the skill and the know-how.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I judge whether these products are reliable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-08-21T13:18:46.057" LastActivityDate="2017-08-21T13:18:46.057" Title="How can I tell if Chinese rock climbing gear is reliable?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7344" CreationDate="2014-12-12T22:43:22.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; Look for manufacturer standards associations (UIAA, CE, ISO):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kar31.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Climbing Gear Strength Rating and Testing Standards&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general rule of thumb about gear in Rock Climbing is when you have any doubt about any piece of gear, &lt;strong&gt;don't use it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said there are a couple of things to go off of when judging safety equipment manufacturers: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;STRENGTH RATINGS&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pieces of equipment that are designed to absorb the force that a fall generates (these include rope and webbing, your harness, and all gear used as anchors or protection on a route) will be rated with the maximum number of kiloNewtons they can withstand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These Chinese manufacturers have at the very least stamped strength ratings on the side of their equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;MANUFACTURING STANDARDS&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most quality climbing products meet widely accepted standards of quality and safety. Although it is not explicitly required by law in some areas, such as North America.  Some of the standards you will see associated with climbing products are: &lt;strong&gt;CE&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;UIAA&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;ISO&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt; A product stamped with the CE mark indicates that it has passed strength testing requirements, and the manufacturing processes&#xA;meet European Union laws. The CE mark is accompanied by a number (for&#xA;example CE 0639) that identifies the registered testing facility the&#xA;company uses. The standards that products need to be tested to are&#xA;identified by “EN”; for example EN 959 covers rock anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe, all climbing products in defined categories must receive&#xA;CE certification before they can be sold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UIAA (UNION INTERNATIONAL DES ASSOCIATIONS D’ALPINISME)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt; CE standards are based on the pre-existing UIAA norms that climbing&#xA;equipment manufacturers referred to before CE testing was&#xA;implemented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, the UIAA norms still exist and often lay out additional&#xA;(though voluntary) requirements for certain products. For instance,&#xA;the UIAA helmet rating calls for even higher force absorption&#xA;standards than the applicable CE norm. Products that meet the UIAA&#xA;norm have been tested in UIAA approved facilities and have the UIAA&#xA;stamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many non-European climbing manufacturers seek both CE and UIAA&#xA;certification in order to sell in the European market and demonstrate&#xA;the quality of their products to consumers in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISO&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt; ISO is an international standards organization. Manufacturers that are ISO certified have a registered facility&#xA;oversee their quality assurance systems to make sure they conform to&#xA;the norms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source:&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Climbing/Hardware/StrengthRatingsAndTestingStandards.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Gear Strength Rating and Testing Standards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking a brief look at the specs on some of those pieces of gear I noticed that some had CE certification listed in the specs, some had both UIAA and CE certification,  but others did not list any manufacturing standard, though they appeared to have some sort of certification based on the four digit number stamped on the side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're welcome to buy gear that has been strength rated without certification, &lt;strong&gt;but if you want to play it safe, only buy gear that has a listed manufacturer standard certification.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-12T23:27:58.687" LastActivityDate="2014-12-12T23:27:58.687" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7344" CreationDate="2014-12-13T02:25:07.063" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I'm not too familiar with this brand, a 2013 article on BackpackingLight (largely paywalled) discussed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/2013_developments_canister_stoves.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;recent developments in canister stoves&lt;/a&gt;, most of which are now manufactured in Asia.  I think some of the comments from that article, and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/made_in_china.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;preceeding 2009 article&lt;/a&gt; discussing Chinese manufacturing of outdoor gear, may apply here as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturing quality can range from very high to quite low.  (Most high-quality Western brands are also coming out of Chinese factories now.)  An OEM factory doing a &quot;few extra runs&quot; in the evening, or making cosmetic tweaks will likely produce goods that are still of decent quality.  A factory that hasn't had direct contact with Western designers and is simply creating products that &lt;em&gt;look&lt;/em&gt; similar is much more likely to have quality issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One problem identified in the 2009 article was that the manufacturers may not be familiar with the design history, and thus not understand why certain decisions were made.  (They also may not be familiar with the actual end use of the product.)  This can result in cost-cutting decisions that also impact safety or performance, particularly with manufacturers that don't have in-house engineering talent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 2013 article has a more optimistic view, noting some of the in-house Asian stoves makers are showing &quot;serious design and development work&quot;.  An example of this would be with the Chinese stove-manufacturer Fire Maple, which appears to have added skilled engineering talent to their company and is doing its own development.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Returning to the &quot;GoodMakings&quot; company and their climbing hardware, I would be curious as to whether this company is an OEM for more well-known brands, as that suggests a better chance of manufacturing quality.  (Someone with access to the appropriate testing equipment could likely order some of their items and run a few tests.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the questionable bit.  I see their helmet displays the &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UIAA_Safety_Label_logo_color.svg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA Safety Label&lt;/a&gt; (the image on the back of the helmet), but am not able to find mention of this brand in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/risk-management.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA's database&lt;/a&gt;.  This is worrisome, and suggests a possibility that the certificate markings may be &quot;purely decorative&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; It appears the company is now a UIAA safety label holder, and has at least received certifications for some of its hardware.  Based on descriptions of GM products listed on &lt;a href=&quot;http://storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml&lt;/a&gt; GM may be an OEM for smaller western companies, now expanding under its own name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T01:16:21.707" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T01:16:21.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7352" CreationDate="2014-12-13T05:34:13.657" Score="27" ViewCount="45140" Body="&lt;p&gt;The United States is a very developed place. Sometimes this can prove to be challenging when trying to find a place to get away from everything, especially east of the Mississippi where I reside. I am pretty sure the answer is likely somewhere western (Montana maybe), but &lt;strong&gt;what is the most remote place in the contiguous US&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So let's define &lt;em&gt;remote&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Furthest distance from civilization or any signs of it including anything man-made like roads, forest service facilities, huts/shelters...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Furthest distance from medical care or rescue if something goes wrong; difficult terrain could trump the distance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Number of visitors recorded? Or other USFS data...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, no visible traces of humans, or &quot;untouched&quot; if that's even possible these days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Now, I know this could seem like an opinionated question to some folks, but I'm really looking for places that can be backed up and grounded with as much factual data as possible.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;I previously said &quot;continental&quot; US, when the correct term is &quot;contiguous.&quot; Oops. Please bear that in mind regarding my comments below.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T08:56:13.190" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T19:44:33.003" Title="What's the most remote place in the contiguous US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7348" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-13T05:45:54.043" Score="19" ViewCount="1849" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an answer given to this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4801/micro-fractures-in-climbing-equipments&quot;&gt;Micro-Fractures in Climbing Equipments&lt;/a&gt;, it's stated that dropping gear causing micro fractures is a persistent myth, quoting &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/faqs.html##CLIMB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond's statement&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q. Is it okay to use carabiners that have been dropped?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt; A.&#xA;  Unfortunately, the only way to know if “dropped” carabiners are fit&#xA;  for use is to test them to their breaking point. This doesn’t do you&#xA;  much good, now does it? It's best to inspect dropped gear for dings&#xA;  and significant trauma. If only light scratching is visible and gate&#xA;  action is still good, there is a good chance it is fit for usage.&#xA;  Remember, only you know what your gear has been through and if there&#xA;  is any doubt, it's best to retire the gear rather than take a risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This myth is certainly something you hear climbers talking about all the time, and there's a constant paranoia about gear that people have dropped onto rock or concrete floors at gyms.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When did this myth start? Has there ever been a case where a piece of protection has failed because of micro-fractures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T19:18:31.523" Title="Dropping gear: Where did the hairline/micro fracture urban legend come from?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7347" CreationDate="2014-12-13T06:08:00.147" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the &quot;untouched&quot; places left in North America are that way for a reason, no one wants to touch them. There are loads of barren desserts in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona that people don't bother going to because it's dead, there's nothing there but heat sand and rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to figure out what parts of the USA are isolated from people, is to look at a cell phone coverage map. Those white areas, there aren't many people living there. Some of them are &lt;strong&gt;National Forests&lt;/strong&gt;, some are &lt;strong&gt;deserts&lt;/strong&gt;, others are &lt;strong&gt;reserves&lt;/strong&gt;. The hard thing to find would be an area that doesn't have any roads or tracks going through it. Even the most barren of desserts typically have a freeway to get you to the other side. Looking at different Human Geography maps will give you a broad idea of which parts of the country are most isolated. You can then do some region specific research to find out more about what makes those area so isolated. The only truly large wild country is in the Canada part of the USA, up in Alaska. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cell Phone Coverage&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ht27v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Population Density&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yVFce.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Point population density&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://luminocity3d.org/WorldPopDen/#4/42.03/-98.61&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interactive version here&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/exUQA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripinfo.com/maps/USA.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roads&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EF58O.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11830" LastEditDate="2016-12-20T03:24:46.720" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T03:24:46.720" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7348" CreationDate="2014-12-13T07:33:48.243" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quite the contrary, many experiments support the argument that modern carabiners retain their strength or even gain some strength when dropped a couple of times (from a reasonable height).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geir.com/mythbuster.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.geir.com/mythbuster.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Steve Nagode, a quality assurance engineer with REI, conducted an experiment in which carabiners were dropped six times from a distance of 10 meters onto a concrete floor. The breaking strength of the carabiners was then determined with a 50-kN load cell. The results: no reduction in strength was observed when comparing the dropped carabiners with carabiners that had not been dropped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://fatcanyoners.org/bush-guide/dropped-carabiners/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://fatcanyoners.org/bush-guide/dropped-carabiners/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At the International Technical Rescue Symposium, 2000, Garin Wallace and Kevin Slotterbeck of SMC presented data on the strength of carabiners that had been dropped 27’ or 54’ onto concrete or asphalt. One by one, they dropped 115 new, SMC locking D aluminum carabiners. Then they broke the carabiners, measuring the breaking strengths. What do Garin and Kevin say about using climbing hardware that has been dropped? Retire your hardware if you drop it (they do work for a manufacturer, after all). What do their numbers say? The carabiners that were dropped were no weaker than the un-dropped carabiners. In fact, the average strength of the dropped carabiners was slightly stronger than the un-dropped carabiners&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that Black Diamond's lawyers will let them say that you can still use your hardware after it has been dropped speaks volumes about the confidence they have in the product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2016-09-01T19:18:31.523" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T19:18:31.523" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7348" CreationDate="2014-12-14T11:36:14.693" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will always find climbers saying they want 100% safety for their hobby. That's a bit like the mountaineers trying to go on ski tour or doing alpine tours only if there is literally &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; avalanche risk, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; risk of stone fall, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; chance to get bad weather and so on. It is impossible to get these bulletproof safety margins. You aren't 100% safe if you go in the mountains. If you don't accept that rest risk, you shouldn't go climbing or mountaineering at all. Therefore the reason for that myth has to do with the attitude of climbers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even not going climbing you are exposed to risks all the time. You know the mantra that most accidents happen in your household. Also in terms of micro-fractures people shouldn't fly with planes then, because &lt;strong&gt;every&lt;/strong&gt; plane has millions of micro-fractures in the wings. Still the risk of fail is &lt;strong&gt;extremely&lt;/strong&gt; low. The whole aircraft industry is aware that one fatal error yields to immense harm, therefore the safety factor is very high. Same for climbing gear where one error will most likely be fatal. For your everyday vacuum cleaner it's not that bad when it moulders some day...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you throw away each biner when it shows some minor scratches, outdoor industry won't be unhappy to sell you more new stuff. Naturally they are sometimes exaggerating plus they are responsible to exclude damage of their customers because of marketing issues. So most times the outdoor industry will be very conservative with their recommendations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above just gives some suggestions what could be reasons for this mindset. I want to add that the attitude of society changed over the last decades. I bet if you ask climbers 30 years ago, they wouldn't be as concerned as today's climbers are. Of course they didn't had the scientific background we have today. But more importantly today we &lt;em&gt;tend to delegate responsibility&lt;/em&gt;. That is a valid point I recently read from well known climbers which got me reflective. The number of self-responsible climbers/mountaineers decreases in our modern society.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-12-14T11:36:14.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7347" CreationDate="2014-12-14T14:36:26.057" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;Project Remote was started by a scientifically-minded couple to quantitatively determine the most remote locations in each of the 50 states mainly using the distance to the nearest road or town and whether cel phone coverage is available. They've cataloged quite a few states already east of the Mississippi, which you can check out here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://remotefootprints.org/project-remote&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Project Remote&lt;/a&gt;. The caveat is that the exact coordinates are kept secret to protect the area's remoteness, although the general location is specified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a map of what they found. Each documented state (light green) has a pretty extensive report of the area, along with distance to nearest road, cel phone coverage, and accessibility issues:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAHVK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the states with the most remote spots discovered so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Montana&lt;/strong&gt;: 18.0 miles from nearest road, no cel coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Idaho&lt;/strong&gt;: 17.6 miles from nearest road, no cel coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;: 17.0  miles from nearest road, no cel coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Minnesota&lt;/strong&gt;: 14.3 miles from nearest road, no cel coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2014-12-14T14:36:26.057" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7348" CreationDate="2014-12-14T21:36:49.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't label this as a &quot;myth&quot; tout court because it may depend on the very single piece of gear, I mean it's material, design, and manufacturing. While one carabiner may not suffer from being dropped from a significant height, one other could. Just like Black Diamond states in the very text you quoted,  &quot;if only light scratching is visible and gate action is still good, &lt;em&gt;there is a good chance&lt;/em&gt; it is fit for usage&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A good chance&lt;/strong&gt; doesn't mean certainty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dropped carabiner &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; retain almost all of its strength, if not all of it. And in most cases, just &quot;almost all&quot; may be more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Still, it is true that you don't know what happened &lt;strong&gt;inside&lt;/strong&gt; of it and &lt;strong&gt;you don't have any chance to know it&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may use a rope that's damaged in the core and not in the sheath. That &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; happen, and it is hard to inspect and notice. Nevertheless, it's somewhat possible. But, inspecting the inside of a carabiner is just not possible in any way. So, I simply wouldn't label this as a &quot;myth&quot;, and I would not use a piece of gear that sustained a significant fall for climbing any longer (I may still use it to rack gear or the like, though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-12-17T09:13:49.980" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T09:13:49.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7347" CreationDate="2014-12-15T02:53:47.587" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to your question is: the middle of the Selway-Bitteroot/River-of-No-Return Wildnerness in Idaho. These are actually two wilderness areas joined together (separated by a single dirt road) which together form the largest roadless area and the largest wildnerness in the Continental US. The Selway Bitterroot is where the author of &quot;A River Runs Through It&quot; spent his youth as a Forest Ranger. If you look on a electrical power-line map of the United States, you see a huge area in Idaho in which powerlines are completely absent, the largest such area devoid of electrical transmission lines in the continental US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OhIMt.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OhIMt.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These mountain areas are also known for thwarting the Lewis and Clark expedition due to how rugged they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Church%E2%80%94River_of_No_Return_Wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;River of No Return&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selway-Bitterroot_Wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Selway Bitterroot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T09:02:18.407" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T09:02:18.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2014-12-15T06:14:14.750" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The three knots you listed are all quite suitable for tying in to a sit harness for rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The figure eight is the most widely used and most readily and easily inspected, and is not a bad choice for tying in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://efclimbers.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Knot-and-cord-strength.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;...When tying into the rope there’s a reason the figure eight knot has been the knot of choice for years. Strong, simple, easy to untie and nearly as strong as the rope, there is no better knot for connecting the climber to the system...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie the knot that you and your partner or group are &lt;strong&gt;absolutely&lt;/strong&gt; confident in and can inspect without having to even think about it that hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might think it's silly, but if you can't tie the knot with your eyes closed, you probably shouldn't use it until you can. Whatever the knot, it should become second-nature, and then you and your partner still need to check it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T06:19:20.583" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T06:19:20.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7356" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-15T06:55:31.927" Score="4" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was thinking of heading to some of the northern California national forests, but I wasn't sure which to pick. I've read all the relevant links in each fs.udsa.gov website, including attractions, scenic drives, and the front page which a short blurb and description. But this doesn't really tell me enough of what I want to know, which is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is each national forest most known for? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which national forest can offer me specific and diverse landscapes? I'd like to see meadows, vast wide open valleys, and mountains, but most of all I'd like to see vast wide open valleys (like the battle plains in the Lord of the Rings!) &amp;lt;-- this would be really amazing to me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5316" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T21:12:06.153" Title="What are some good guides to the U.S. national forests, specifically those in California?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7357" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-15T07:15:12.517" Score="8" ViewCount="2618" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been a dream of mine to thru-hike the AT ever since I first discovered it. I'm hoping to plan a trip one of these days, but honestly don't even know where to start as far cost. I imagine it could vary quite a bit, depending on what kind of equipment you use, what type of food, how often you stay in hostels &lt;em&gt;...other relevant criteria...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, some guidelines should help this along. I'm thinking three rough figures or ranges of cost are what I'm looking for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bare-bones:&lt;/strong&gt; As cheaply as possibly, and still eating what you need for proper nutrition. Replacing essential equipment only...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Average:&lt;/strong&gt; This is simply the mean cost of what most thru-hikers spend on hiking the whole AT.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Luxury:&lt;/strong&gt; All the best gear, all the best food, frequent hostels or even hotels...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T16:59:53.430" Title="How much does it cost to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7358" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7366" CreationDate="2014-12-15T07:19:45.210" Score="10" ViewCount="7420" Body="&lt;p&gt;Might be a silly question, but if the place I want to travel to has 35 degree F highs and 27 degree F lows, and the ideal temperature for a refrigerator is 35 degrees F ... can't I just loosely pack raw meat in ice for the car and then once I'm outside just leave it outside (with packaging)? It should technically keep for a few days right? Assuming a bear doesn't get to it first (maybe something like two odor proof bags).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5316" LastEditorUserId="5316" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T09:09:41.900" LastActivityDate="2015-01-19T16:28:05.243" Title="Can cold weather be sufficient to act as a refrigerator?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="354" CreationDate="2014-12-15T07:28:54.413" Score="2" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a spot at least 200 ft away from water sources, camp, and trails. (Per &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/7-principles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;LNT guidelines&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place soiled items in a gallon zip-loc bag with water and small amount of concentrated, biodegradable camp soap &lt;em&gt;(I use Dr. Bronner's)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burp all air from the bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Agitate the mixture until desired laundering is reached&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open the bag slightly, squeezing it and broadcasting used water in a flinging motion to aid dissipation and breakdown of waste water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the same procedure to rinse &lt;em&gt;(don't use too much soap to begin with)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Optionally reuse the soapy water to wash multiple items if they don't fit in one bag. Two zip-loc bags is helpful &lt;em&gt;(and they can serve other purposes.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wring out excess water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the item in a camp towel or shammy and re-wring with it inside to remove more water. Repeat until no more water can be absorbed. &lt;em&gt;(This will greatly aid drying.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use sun &lt;em&gt;(hanging on branches, rocks, pack)&lt;/em&gt;, body heat &lt;em&gt;(wearing)&lt;/em&gt;, or careful placement by a campfire to further dry items.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T07:36:22.803" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T07:36:22.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7360" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7365" CreationDate="2014-12-15T07:32:39.837" Score="18" ViewCount="4568" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there too great a chance of accidentally setting your only pair of undies on fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about putting the undies on a hot rock? Or would the rock explode ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5316" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-16T10:33:30.937" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T11:40:13.530" Title="Is it a bad idea to dry clothes by the fire?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7356" CreationDate="2014-12-15T08:01:53.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a broad question, so here's a broad answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The coastal ranges north of SF are heavily forested and have narrow steep valleys.... and hillbillies and marijuana farms. Although as you go inland there is more grass and some of the valleys are very nice when the grass is green and flowers come out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;North &amp;amp; east of the Sacramento Valley you have a couple Cascades-style volcanos, low-ish mountains, lots more trees, and more meadows than in the coast ranges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Tahoe to the southern end of the Sierras you have increasingly larger mountains. Yosemite is a very popular valley for good reason. Many high mountain meadows can be found throughout the Sierras, but they might have snow already. (check road conditions!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;East of the Sierras, the Owens valley is nice, but desert-like. East of that...Nevada.&#xA;Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T08:01:53.357" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7360" CreationDate="2014-12-15T09:46:08.040" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its not necessarily bad as long as you are careful, also somewhat dependent on material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, you want to arrange your clothes so that they are about a temperature where you could comfortably hold your hand. If your clothes are steaming keep a close eye on them and think about moving them back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Material is also an important factor synthetic materials such as polyester in fleeces and such like tends to melt if overheated, especially if it gets hit by by embers from the fire. Therefore, be careful when drying them. Wool and cotton clothes are more resistant and only singe if too hot unless you really try to burn them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By very careful drying boots by the fire, they are easily damaged by too much heat aim to keep your boots at a temperature of a warm day and check regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never tried using a hot rock, my concern would be that this may cause local burning due to conduction of lots of heat in a small area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T12:16:28.210" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T12:16:28.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7360" CreationDate="2014-12-15T13:18:38.183" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make a big fire.&lt;/strong&gt; This may sound silly and couterintuitive, but the reason is pretty simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you make a small fire you need to put your stuff &lt;em&gt;pretty close&lt;/em&gt; to it to have any chance of drying it in a decent amount of time. &#xA;And if you put clothes or boots near the fire, then you concretely risk to burn them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While if you make a bigger fire, your equipment can dry while staying at a safe distance from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's pretty much it.&#xA;For what matters exploding rocks, please see the comment by Benedikt Bauer to this very reply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T14:45:24.300" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T14:45:24.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7358" CreationDate="2014-12-15T16:23:51.730" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;35&amp;deg; is 35&amp;deg;, whether in your car, in your pack, or in your refrigerator back home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, handling raw meat otherwise is very different outdoors than at home.  Personally, I think bringing raw meat into the wilderness is a bad idea.  There are plenty of other foods that give you the same or better nutrition, don't require as careful handling, weigh less, and aren't as much of a predator-magnet.  For example, if you really want to bring meat, try jerky.  It preserves much better, can be chewed as-is without needing cooking, weighs a lot less, and takes up less space for the same amount of protein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going into bear country, then raw meat is a particularly bad idea.  Bears have such sensitive noses that a couple layers of plastic bags won't help much.  I'm not sure there is such a thing as a &quot;odor proof&quot; bag to the point a bear can't smell meat inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage of being human is being able so survive on a very wide spectrum of foods.  If you're going into the wilderness for a few days, leave the raw meat at home.  Have a steak dinner when you get back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T16:23:51.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7358" CreationDate="2014-12-15T16:25:48.243" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can. Degrees are degrees no matter if in a fridge or outside of it. And some less degrees won't hurt to food preservation (while some extra ones of course could). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to carry the food in a backpack for a long time remember that the body radiates warmth, so take that into account, and don't keep the food close to your back in the rucksack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T16:52:49.003" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T16:52:49.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7356" CreationDate="2014-12-15T16:49:52.093" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since wide open plains is one of your objectives, I'd stick to the relatively drier areas east and north of the northern end of the Sacramento Valley.  The coastal range is quite wet in comparison, so you won't find open valleys with no trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might enjoy exploring by starting in Westwood and heading north thru the Lassen NF.  You will go thru small grassy valleys surrounded by wooded hills, although nothing on the scale of Rohan.  Before you get further north, walk around there a bit.  Hiking thru the forest here is a different experience than in most forests.  There are large Poderosa pines spread out, with usually easy walking around between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climate gets drier as you go north and east.  Around Eagle Lake, the area is more open with fewer trees.  Further north instead of east it gets drier too.  However, the open valleys won't be large grasslands but more rocky plains, culminating in a totally different landscape in Craters of the Moon and the Modoc NF by the OR border.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you can do is poke around in Google Earth to see where the flat treeless areas are.  Most places now have some uploaded photographs so you can see what it looks like from eye level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, go to 40.580N 121.078W.  That's one of the meadows I mentioned north of Westwood.  It's relatively small in the scheme of things, but is otherwise what I imagine Rohan to be.  It's wet enough for there to be lots of grass to support horses, like Rohan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, take a look at 40.903N 120.738W.  That's a much bigger area, and you should be able to get a feeling of hiking around in large openess.  However, it's dryer than I imagine Rohan.  Further north are even larger, but also dryer flat areas.  In this part of the world, the larger flat areas will be more desert than grassland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T21:12:06.153" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T21:12:06.153" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7357" CreationDate="2014-12-15T16:59:53.430" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you need to separate this into two parts:  Money spent before the trail starts, and budgeting while on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you start, you're going to spend money on gear for sure.  Your sleeping bag that was good enough for a weekend trip is now your home... Do you really want to put up with that limp, cold bag for 5-6 months?  Same goes with a lot of things.  Every book you read about the AT is going to suggest you cut the weight as much as possible, in order to increase you chances of success.  If you can buy new lightweight gear, particularly tent/backpack/sleeping bag, and that saves you 5-6lbs on your back, it's huge.  Of course, that's also the most expensive stuff :)  That being said, there are cheaper and more expensive options for everything!  As an example, Walmart brand blue foam mats are $5-10, very light, and do the job for many people.  Thermarest (and others) make inflatable, very light, high R value mats that are infinitely more comfortable, but cost $100-150.  Literally every piece of gear is like this :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, for gear buying:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bare-bones&lt;/strong&gt;:  Assuming you can leverage much existing gear, &amp;lt; $500&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Average&lt;/strong&gt;:  Needing to replace most things, but not always choosing the best stuff: $2,000-3,000&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Luxury&lt;/strong&gt;:  Buy the best of everything, $3,000-4,000&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For actually hiking the trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bare-bones&lt;/strong&gt;: No hostels, town-days kept to a minimum, pre-buy all food in bulk and have it shipped to you.  Minimize new shoes/socks (maybe 4-5 pairs of shoes total?).  Hike faster to make the trip shorter, so aim for 5 months at $500/month.  $2500.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Average&lt;/strong&gt;: 10-15 zeros with a hostel and occasional shared motel.  Buy most food as you go, ship some food from home to expensive areas.  6 months @ $1000/month.  $6000.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Luxury&lt;/strong&gt;: 10-15 zeroes with regular motel rooms to yourself.  Stop in every town for a bite to eat.  Replace all your gear as you go with lighter gear.  Buy a round of beers for your friends :)  Carry 2 of everything, take 9 months, 3 kinds of maps, 2 cook pots, and a sherpa or two.  Cost: sky's the limit!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other fixed cost, transportation to/from the trail:  For me, that means 2 one-way flights at ~$400/each.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T16:59:53.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3926" CreationDate="2014-12-15T20:11:50.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your body needs a certain amount of salt (electrolytes) to process water (and also for many other bodily functions). If you don't have enough electrolytes then your body's use of water is not optimal. A typical American diet gives you enough electrolytes so that you actually do not need to do anything special to make sure you are consuming enough. If you are eating a &quot;normal&quot; diet (steak, potatoes, vegetables, etc) then there is no need for you to supplement, at least for typical daily activities, and even if you are doing moderate sports. When I go backpacking in the mountains, I tend to not be concerned about electrolytes because the foods we eat out there are replenishing them in any case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are engaged in more extreme physical activity, like hiking in the desert and sweating a lot in the sun, then you can supplement your water intake with additional electrolytes. But beware of typical sports drinks like Gatorade, which are not a good idea because, although they give you extra electrolytes, they also give you extra sugar which reduces the rate of water absorption. Instead of these you can choose some sports drinks that contain electrolytes without the extra sugars or other artificial ingredients, or you can simply add a sprinkle of sea salt or table salt to plain water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in the desert southwest and for us when we went outdoors boating or other activites in the sun, we usually would take along some salted snacks (chips, etc) in addition to plain water or iced tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2014-12-15T20:19:27.633" LastActivityDate="2014-12-15T20:19:27.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7371" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-16T05:22:37.043" Score="8" ViewCount="1215" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's always been a dream to thru-hike the A.T. but life is looking like I will not be able to tackle that until retirement. The doesn't mean that I cannot do sections of it as a day/weekend/week here or there becomes available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any online tools or websites that will keep track of the overall progress that one has made on the trail? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets say I do a section of the trail from Harper's Ferry (I'm located in MD) to South Mountain State Park early in 2015. Then do a Maine section later that summer. And then lets say I do more day trips here and there depending on where I'm going to be for that weekend. If I'm looking to do another larger piece of the trail in early 2016, it'd be nice to have one central location available to keep everything in place and organized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides doing it yourself manually (which isn't that hard), are there any available tools to make tracking pieces of the trail easier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caltopo.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CalTopo&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hillmap.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HillMap&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6738/onlinetool-to-setup-a-track-in-a-map-and-calculate-the-distance&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; but they are not specific to hiking trails and are more generic (which will still be useful but not what I'm thinking of).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I do not own a GPS (besides the one in my smartphone) and am not looking for immediate tracking of my hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for an ability to track the different sections of a hike (I say where I started and ended for a specific hike on the AT) and keep them available in a simple way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pickatrail.com/hiking/long-distance/appalachian-trail/menu.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pickatrail&lt;/a&gt;, they list 212 sections of the trail at roughly ~10 mile pieces. If i wanted to start at a specific point on the trail, I'd probably start at one of these pieces but wouldn't be able to guarantee that I'd finish the whole piece in one day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to eventually finish the AT over numerous years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T23:20:28.193" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T23:20:28.193" Title="Online website to track A.T. section hikes and overall progress?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7360" CreationDate="2014-12-16T08:57:41.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have your clothes by the fire and not in the fire it's not to likely that they burn if they're in a safe distance. It's good to hang it in a safe distance to the fire. But be also aware of the sparks from the fire (if you have synthetic clothes), they can get holes or also start burning in worst case. And your staff smells not so nice when it's in the smoke of the fire. So if you have a big fire hang it up close to the ground. The smog goes normally straight up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rock will not explode because of the undies. But it's not so safe for your gear to put it on a hot stone it can melt to the stone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T08:57:41.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5949" CreationDate="2014-12-16T09:11:09.370" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some really light weight Easton poles, check &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trekking-lite-store.com/Zelte/Zelt-Zubehoer/Easton-Front-Pole::133.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.trekking-lite-store.com/Zelte/Zelt-Zubehoer/Easton-Front-Pole::133.html&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; around 50grs (this is really light!). There is also a sturdyer version available at 120grs.&#xA;I have successfully used my old leki hiking poles which weigh in at 280gr a piece, (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpzJAHbsbow&amp;amp;list=UUzaxH-olcpIse8R6HDxaNmQ&amp;amp;index=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpzJAHbsbow&amp;amp;list=UUzaxH-olcpIse8R6HDxaNmQ&amp;amp;index=1&lt;/a&gt; for a pretty windy night) but I do not normally carry trekking poles, as I want to have my hands free. I was considering to do some poles myself from bamboo, but coming across the above easton poles, I had to realize I will never be able to make poles that light. Have not had a chance to test the easton poles yet, but will do so soon. Hiking poles are somwhat of an &quot;overkill&quot; if you do not carry them anyway, as they have to be able to cope with quite some bending forces. A properly pitched tarp will only exert compression forces to the pole, so there is no need for the sturdyness of a hiking pole&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T09:11:09.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5611" CreationDate="2014-12-16T10:34:31.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Combining alcohol and wood burning in one stove is not easy, as both media ask for completely different designs to burn efficiently. &#xA;Consider to carry one cookset for alcohol (burner, pot stand and windshield). Made from pop/beer can, wire and aluminum foil, such a set need not weigh more than 100grs, depending on the size pot you want to use. For wood burning, just hang your pot with an improvised tripod over your campfire. No need to use anything besides a pot with bail handle and some cord with proper knots (taut line hitch, explained in wikipedia) to adjust the height of the pot over the fire. If there is firewood, there will also be sticks to serve as a tripod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood fires burn too hot for aluminum foil. There are some really nifty titanium foil gadgets to either burn wood alone or to combine with alcohol stoves. My favorite so far is the trail designs sidenwinder Ti-Tri with inferno add on, see  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-sidewinder&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-sidewinder&lt;/a&gt;. There are also &quot;stand alone&quot; &quot;hobo stoves&quot; like this one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stc-shop.ch/shopad/de/?artgruppeid=22657&amp;amp;artikelid=696885&amp;amp;sid=804042166&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.stc-shop.ch/shopad/de/?artgruppeid=22657&amp;amp;artikelid=696885&amp;amp;sid=804042166&lt;/a&gt;. The latter is a bit costly compared to the traildesign stuff, but it works nicely with wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T10:34:31.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-12-16T13:12:26.543" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What works well for me (just personal experience from years of trips in the alps):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I force myself to drink about half a liter more than on normal &quot;office days&quot; in the morning before I start a tour.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I do not have to pee every three or for hours, I have to drink more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the pee has a discernible (yellowish) color, I have to drink more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the absolute amount of liquids depends widely on temperature, level of activity and surroundings (altitude!).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the weather is cold, I have to force myself to drink enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;variety helps, I carry some instant coffee, some sugar, sometimes instant meat broth, sometimes some electrolyte drink (powder) or a syrup to mix in my water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;frequency and color of pee is the most important and also pretty accurate indicator for me, helping me to avoid headaches in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T13:12:26.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7379" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7380" CreationDate="2014-12-16T13:54:05.640" Score="9" ViewCount="1125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to practice my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3761/proper-technique-for-self-arrest-with-an-ice-axe-when-wearing-crampons&quot;&gt;self arrest technique&lt;/a&gt;. So I need to find a snowy slope to slide down and practice digging my ice axe in, turning, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of slope should I be looking for? What kind of angle, etc. I obviously want somewhere safe but steep enough that I will actually slide down it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also how do you start a slide to practice this? In my experience it's quite hard to start sliding on purpose!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-09-10T15:17:44.967" Title="Finding a suitable slope to practice self arrest?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7379" CreationDate="2014-12-16T14:18:06.140" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general it really depends on the snow condition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angle:&lt;/strong&gt; If it's &lt;strong&gt;powder snow&lt;/strong&gt; you need a quite steep angle (&lt;em&gt;25 degrees and more&lt;/em&gt;). If it's &lt;strong&gt;icy/ hard/ wind slab snow&lt;/strong&gt; then you can try it on a less steep (&lt;em&gt;20 degrees&lt;/em&gt;) slope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety:&lt;/strong&gt; I would search for a slope where you have a &lt;strong&gt;safe run off&lt;/strong&gt;, if you can't manage do arrest yourself. And also that your runoff is &lt;strong&gt;not in an steeper avalanche terrain&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to slide:&lt;/strong&gt; To start sliding you can start &lt;strong&gt;on your butt&lt;/strong&gt;, that's the simple way. You can also start head, knee down with your head to the sliding direction. then bend over and start to slide and enjoy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional Infos:&lt;/strong&gt; Keep in mind to train it also with a backpack, crampons, rope, ... this makes it also much harder to turn and arrest yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-16T15:47:35.977" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T15:47:35.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7381" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-16T16:52:34.713" Score="6" ViewCount="5430" Body="&lt;p&gt;We recently purchased a slackline to take on family camping trips.  Does anyone have a good do it yourself indoor solution for the winter?  How can I tell if the poles in my basement can support a slackline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4296" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T12:28:28.730" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T12:28:28.730" Title="Winter Slackline solutions" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7381" CreationDate="2014-12-16T18:18:27.393" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;strong&gt;lots&lt;/strong&gt; of options for buying indoor slack line setups, or if you're confident in your engineering abilities, you can build one yourself, &lt;em&gt;I would &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; recommend trying to anchor a slack line to anything in your house&lt;/em&gt;, unless you are willing to drill holes in the concrete foundation in your basement to make fixed anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DIY Indoor Slackline&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PxuRb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;DIY indoor slackline&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Manufactured Indoor Slacklines&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Odxi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/So7uQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-16T20:18:52.433" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T20:18:52.433" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7381" CreationDate="2014-12-16T22:27:54.713" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your basement columns are made out of reinforced concrete as I suppose, get a metal stud finder to be sure not to drill the steel and just go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a chemical bolt (see here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fischer.de/en/Home/Product-Range/Product-Selector.aspx/cpage-category/pcategory-1001076852/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.fischer.de/en/Home/Product-Range/Product-Selector.aspx/cpage-category/pcategory-1001076852/&lt;/a&gt; for an example) by following its instructions and then happily go for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I hung a hammock that very way, and bolted a 'rock climbing' anchor indoor to practice with ropes and knots as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this is only true in case you have a concrete basement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T22:27:54.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7371" CreationDate="2014-12-16T22:59:25.167" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know about online website, but you can use a handheld GPS like Etrex to keep track of your progress. And since this stores GPS in a common format, you can import this data into another program that will render it in Google Maps which you can then display on your web browser.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-12-16T22:59:25.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7371" CreationDate="2014-12-17T07:49:29.577" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different web services which combine maps (usually downloadable) with GPS and the possibility either to permanently communicate and save your progress (update-rates usually can be chosen manually) or to let someone know your position at your discretion. The permanent update requires connection to a network and may not be available everywhere on the trail, plus it eats up quite a lot of battery (less than 10hrs on my Samsung with endomondo).&#xA;Currently, I like viewranger best, as you can get the finest of map material for download and you can save the maps on the external memory card of your smartphone. I have a Samsung Galaxy x-cover 2 (or GT-S7710) which works well for me, even though the mainboard has only 1G memory. I have a 32G SD card for the maps, which is plenty. Now for the services:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.viewranger.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.viewranger.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.endomondo.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.endomondo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oruxmaps.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.oruxmaps.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2014-12-17T08:55:19.880" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T08:55:19.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2014-12-17T08:10:30.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would take one of the flexible bottles like the platypus brand and make sure to fill it only about 70%.&#xA;You can not beat the physics: Water expands if you freeze it. If you have a flexible bottle and make sure it is not full, the water will be allowed to take its form without damaging the bottle.&#xA;To be clearly on point: You can not freeze a water container without deforming it. You can actually blast rocks wiht freezing water. This is what happens in the Alps all the time and gives us those talus slopes of all kinds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastEditorDisplayName="user5329" LastEditDate="2014-12-17T09:01:20.513" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T09:01:20.513" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7379" CreationDate="2014-12-17T09:33:34.617" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless the slopes gradually becomes less and less steep &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; you're sure there are no glaciers hidden under it, then the &lt;em&gt;only way to &lt;strong&gt;safely&lt;/strong&gt; practice&lt;/em&gt; that is to build a solid backup anchor on top of the practice slope and tie into it with a significant amount of rope slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to build the anchor is dependent on the terrain. There could be ice on top of the slope, or rocks, or most likely just snow. How to build an anchor in the various situations is a vast and wide argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't know how to build one, learn that before learning self arrest. Seriously. Then, you can build one &lt;em&gt;and also&lt;/em&gt; utilize it to practice self arrest even on very steep slopes with the safety of the rope backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: own experience and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glacier-Mountaineering-Illustrated-Travel-Crevasse/dp/0762748621&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this book&lt;/a&gt; which is great and has a chapter on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T09:33:34.617" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2014-12-17T10:24:46.370" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had similar problems and I used hiking poles for some time. I however discontinued the use of hiking poles as I like to have my hands free and I do not like the additional weight. What really matters for me is the stride, especially downhill. Imagine yourself to &quot;sneak&quot; through the country as opposed to &quot;trudge&quot; like a cow for example. Wearing light shoes helps: You can set down your toes first and absorb the shock from walking downhill for example. It does take some practice and some awareness. One of my sons had knee problems at 20 until he accepted his fathers advice and paid more attention to his stride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T10:24:46.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2014-12-17T11:32:05.157" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Switzerland again:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;all farmland and forest area is owned by someone who has to give you permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I never bother, but I apply strictly no/low impact techniques: Cooking only in designated recreational areas, and not where I will camp and sleep; camp and sleep in a &quot;stealth camp&quot;, sneaking in when night falls, disappearing in the morning before anyone notices you are there.&#xA;Above the alpine grasslands, and even in the grasslands if there is not yet or no more stock present, bivouacking is accepted if you leave no trace (trash!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lager group or a longer stay should always go for the landowners prior consent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastActivityDate="2014-12-17T11:32:05.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7391" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-17T14:50:24.573" Score="7" ViewCount="1743" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone &lt;strong&gt;practical&lt;/strong&gt; experience with the light, soft version of Tyvek used as footprint / groundsheet or tent bottom?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the material, used it once so far as a ground sheet (footpint) on grass and had no troubles with moisture migrating through it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this material waterproof? And if so, how waterproof? What conditions should I expect it to remain waterproof? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5329" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2014-12-18T09:46:19.910" LastActivityDate="2015-01-01T03:19:13.947" Title="Is Tyvek 44grs/m2 (Tyvek® Soft Structure Style 1443R) waterproof enough to be used as a groundsheet/footprint or tent bottom, any experience?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tyvek&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7392" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-17T15:26:56.510" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tyvek is a brand of flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers, a synthetic material; the name is a registered trademark of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dupont.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DuPont&lt;/a&gt;. The material is very strong; it is difficult to tear but can easily be cut with scissors or a knife. Water vapor can pass through Tyvek, but not liquid water, the material lending itself to a variety of applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T04:22:03.440" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T04:22:03.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7393" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-17T15:26:56.510" Score="0" Body="Tyvek is a brand of flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers, a synthetic material; the name is a registered trademark of DuPont. The material is very strong; it is difficult to tear but can easily be cut with scissors or a knife. Water vapor can pass through Tyvek, but not liquid water, the material lending itself to a variety of applications." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-12-09T21:17:13.253" LastActivityDate="2019-12-09T21:17:13.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-17T22:24:47.823" Score="1" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a backcountry skier/snowshoes hiker and I finally want to do an overnight experience in the Alps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Simplon Dorf area would be ideal (for I can access it quite easily), but any southern Swiss Alps may be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would love to do is a round trip (that is, getting back to the starting point by another route than the first day's), and I'd like to cover at least 2000 meters of ascent, but if the scenery is worthy even a less exerting tour may be great. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T04:28:27.890" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T04:28:27.890" Title="What could be a long and scenic two days backcountry ski tour in Switzerland, bivying on the snow?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="12" ClosedDate="2014-12-18T18:03:27.107" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4470" CreationDate="2014-12-18T01:45:08.930" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently hit 40 and have been using hiking sticks for the past five years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I began having problems with my knees, my doctor originally suggested the problem was with osteoarthritis.  Doing a little bit of searching on the Internet suggested that hiking sticks would help so I purchased a pair.  The reasoning was that it removed some stress/pressure from your knees and ankles by changing the way you carry your upper body weight.  For every pound of weight above your knees, it translates to six pounds or so of pressure in your knees as you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About the same time I began using hiking sticks, I decided to get into better shape for hiking at the gym.  I worked with a trainer and took pilates and yoga classes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For about three years, I had little problem with my knees.  The combination of the hiking sticks and the additional exercise allowed me to nearly double my &quot;comfortable&quot; hiking distance from 8-10 miles to 15 miles with little to no knee pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Earlier this year, I began slacking off on my weight training.  To my surprise, I began having trouble with my knees  despite my continued use of the hiking sticks.  On one particularly rough hike just two months ago, I was barely able to walk after seven miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing some more research, the strength of your knees has a large part to do with knee pain when hiking.  I've started doing lunges and squats both at home and at the gym, and I'm much better off now.  I just completed a 20 mile hike last weekend with only minor discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get me wrong -- my hiking sticks will continue to go on every trip.  They DO help by providing stability to your upper body on rough trails, taking a lot of stress off of your (possibly) weak knee muscles.  This is especially true on rocky trails where your footing will cause your knee to work at odd angles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T01:45:08.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2014-12-18T01:57:28.417" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a few years of hiking as an adult leader with the boy scouts (who are NOTORIOUSLY difficult to keep hydrated), I can say with certainty that symptoms vary between individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, my muscles begin to cramp and I get a headache (in that order).  These symptoms are fairly common.  Many of the boys get nauseous.  Some go through minor personality changes (grumpy, irritable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While urine color may be the best indicator of hydration, it is not reliable.  I know that I don't urinate often when dehydrated.  If I'm thinking I might be dehydrated, this would be a secondary symptom to confirm my suspicion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's best to get into the habit of forcing yourself to drink frequently, and I acknowledge that this can be difficult.  When I'm out hiking with the boys, I try to make note of water levels in the canteens I can see to make sure that they're being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T01:57:28.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="593" CreationDate="2014-12-18T02:20:53.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few things to think about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fabric.  Selection of fabric will affect weight and durability.  Whatever you get, make sure it's UV resistant, and you should probably consider something with rip-stop.  For me, the ultrasil nylon is a bit light (I doubt it would handle much of a tree branch falling on it).  At the same time, a durable canvas tarp would be relatively heavy.  Mine is a 210T rip-stop nylon -- not the lightest, but it's plenty durable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dimensions.  Too small is useless, too large is extra weight.  I use a 10x10 foot tarp, which is quite spacious.  In fair weather, it is plenty large (possibly too large!) for my hammock.  In the rain, I have plenty of room to relax and cook beneath before stringing up my hammock.  I'd consider an 8x8 an absolute minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight.  Obviously, this is a concern if you're thinking about a tarp, but it's a trade-off between fabric and size.  You'll have to make your own call on what's acceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Construction.  This will not add much to weight, but may add a great deal to both overall quality and price.  Check the seams on the edges and how the grommets/tie-outs are attached - a brisk wind could easily tear these.  Seams should be seam-sealed.  Compare a few vendors product, and you'll begin to learn what works and what does not.  Find someone who knows something about sewing and have them look (my wife sews professionally).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Positioning of the tie-outs or grommets.  This will affect how your tarp can be set up.  Because of the positioning of attachment points, some tarps must be set up either square or on a diagonal.  If this is important to you, be sure you check first!!  Ideally, you should have loops which allow the ridge line to be run above the peak of the tarp rather than pitching the tarp over the ridge line.  Allowing the ridge line beneath the tarp will allow water to run down the lines and drip beneath.  Further, there should be attachment points in all four corners as well as at least one point in the middle of each edge.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest going on YouTube and looking at some of the tarp videos.  Many are quite thorough, including the various knots you will need to learn and methods of rigging and positioning the tarp for various use cases.  I learned a lot when I was first shopping for tarps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I would not buy a tarp online without having seen it in person.  It's difficult to judge the quality of construction or durability of the material without actually having it in your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T02:20:53.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5662" CreationDate="2014-12-18T03:22:08.297" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a lot on the terrain.  I wear a pedometer throughout the week (health program for work), and I use a GPS when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From experience - on level terrain - I know that I get between 2100 and 2200 steps per mile.  I walk between work and the coffee shop (a round trip of about 1.25 miles) each day, and this is fairly consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you calibrate your pedometer to your stride on level ground (such as a road or sidewalk), it will not be accurate when your environment changes.  Likewise, your stride will be different when you are going uphill vs downhill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I go hiking, though, this changes.  My stride tends to be longer on downhill sections of trail, shorter on uphill sections.  Even more noticeable, when I am on rough, rocky trails, my steps can increase by as much as 50%.  This variation is enough to make the pedometer useless for measuring distance while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to be careful with distance measured by GPS as well.  In many cases, such as when you're moving consistently, it's quite accurate.  Realize, though, that when you're sitting still, the jitter (noise resulting in inaccuracy) in the signal adds to the distance tracked.  Just last weekend, I racked up 0.1 miles while sitting still for three or four minutes.  Don't believe me?  Open up your GPX track file on a computer and zoom in -- I guarantee you'll be able to spot the locations where you take breaks along the trail! ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that I can more accurately measure hiking distance by time rather than paces.  My pace tends to be about 2.8 mph with a medium-sized pack.  10 miles equates to just a little under four hours (3:45?) of walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2014-12-18T03:22:08.297" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5662" CreationDate="2014-12-18T12:10:42.943" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pedometers seem to be calibrated for use on flat ground. Rough or difficult terrain can cause you to take more steps and it is this mechanism which pedometers use to determine their output.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a known pace length and can compensate for it using some measure for it to be diminished when walking a route that isn't flat then id say it could be mildly accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider using &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Naismiths rule&lt;/a&gt; to determine a coefficient of terrain difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5342" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2016-02-28T16:24:02.617" LastActivityDate="2016-02-28T16:24:02.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2014-12-18T22:42:00.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several people have already mentioned getting special gloves that have &quot;flippable&quot; finger tips, but no one has specifically mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://aquatech.net/product/sensory-gloves/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sensory gloves&lt;/a&gt; which can be a little bit different than gloves that just flip their tips. In addition to flip-tips they also have a little hole that you can touch through, so you don't actually have to take your finger tip all the way out of the glove. They're for Photography and give you the use of your fingertips when you need them. In extra cold weather you could layer them with a thinner pair of gloves that can still operate a touch screen, like a pair of those capacity gloves everyone else here is talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/26zdm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZTrtn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2014-12-19T17:31:47.150" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T17:31:47.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7404" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7405" CreationDate="2014-12-19T13:57:00.863" Score="8" ViewCount="373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I follow an outdoor group on facebook and one of the guys on it asked about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Strap-Type-Crampons-Ski-Belt-High-Altitude-Hiking-Slip-resistant-10-Crampon-/191131895865?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_Climbing_Mountaineering&amp;amp;hash=item2c80594839&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these crampons on ebay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t6PQW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They look very suspicious, they're a little too cheap and don't seem to fit very well, etc. They seem to be some kind of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grivel.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grivel&lt;/a&gt; copies to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Made me think though, what kind of saftety standards/acreditions should crampons come with?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-19T14:45:08.393" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T14:45:08.393" Title="Is there a recommended safety standard for crampons?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7404" CreationDate="2014-12-19T14:20:59.340" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030216607&quot;&gt;there is an EN standard&lt;/a&gt; that regulates how crampons should behave to get the EN certification. Unfortunately the guide is not available for free, as far as I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_153_Crampons_March_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;UIAA reccomendations&lt;/a&gt; mostly rely on top of the EU ones.&#xA;The only added requirement by UIAA is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the information to be supplied the manufacturer shall draw attention to the dangers of snow balling up under the crampons when used in snow and shall advise the user how to reduce the risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I don't know what are those tests, but yes &lt;em&gt;there is at least one standard&lt;/em&gt; (or two, if you may dare to count the UIAA as another one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would contact the ebay seller asking informations about this. There's no mention to any certification in the listing though so those crampons are likely not certified by any mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T14:20:59.340" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7406" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7411" CreationDate="2014-12-19T15:12:31.753" Score="14" ViewCount="1520" Body="&lt;p&gt;This partially answered in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/746/what-are-some-toilet-paper-alternatives-you-could-use-in-the-woods&quot;&gt;this question about toilet paper alternatives&lt;/a&gt; but it only says be careful what plants you use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know specifically what plants are the best in your part of the world and why? Also, where is that part of the world? If you could comment on availability, durability, potential for collection and carrying, and other relevant info that would be a big help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T07:06:37.770" Title="What are safe/effective leaves from around the world for use in tidying up your backside after answering the call of nature?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2014-12-19T15:18:24.597" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dock leaves&lt;/a&gt; are good:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w0mYS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're big, durable, plentiful, and (most importantly) non-stinging. A little rough, maybe, but what do you expect from a leaf... ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6373/is-burying-human-waste-always-the-lowest-impact-solution&quot;&gt;Remember, try to leave no trace&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2014-12-20T23:07:07.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2014-12-19T15:18:33.080" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start with a local favorite: great mullein or common mullein &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbascum_thapsus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;Verbascum thapsus&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Introduced to the North America. I've found it from New York to North Carolina. Apparently originated in Europe and Asia, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The leaves are large, moderately durable, thick, but soft and fuzzy. Their usefulness is somewhat limited by the fact that they tend to be found on disturbed sites in full sun - and not likely to be found in deep shaded forest areas. But the leaves remain usable for some time, so you can collect some for later use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/au5QX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3995" LastEditDate="2014-12-19T15:43:16.090" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T15:43:16.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4508" CreationDate="2014-12-19T15:21:54.920" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did this with my dog the other day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qLOgy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He seemed to quite enjoy the experience...It was much warmer in the bag than out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T15:21:54.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7410" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7413" CreationDate="2014-12-19T15:54:48.143" Score="11" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;I follow &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick&lt;/a&gt;(&lt;em&gt;Hull's second best climber&lt;/em&gt;) on instagram. He rencently posted this photo:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fqFNx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;with the comment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Teaching self rescue...(how to belay with a broken arm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5424/2766&quot;&gt;munter hitch&lt;/a&gt; with a crab in it for some reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this technique and how does it help with a broken arm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T17:37:59.880" Title="Belay with a broken arm" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2014-12-19T16:54:59.120" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The leaves of the Striped Maple (&quot;Moose Maple&quot;) are a no-contest winner, at least in the forests of the northeastern US.  The leaves are large, and softer than some forms of toilet paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Moosewood_leaves.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Striped maple&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for availability: Anecdotally, I tend to see this plant in most deciduous forests of New Hampshire.  It tends to grow bush-like near the ground, at least while it's young.  At higher elevations you may need to resort to another alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for durability: It's a leaf of the same thickness as a standard maple leaf - don't expect it to survive days in your pack.  It's got the durability of a leaf; nothing special.  Shouldn't break while you're using it, if you're reasonably careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_pensylvanicum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;via Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5349" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.760" LastActivityDate="2014-12-22T14:12:26.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7410" CreationDate="2014-12-19T16:56:19.543" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;He was demonstrating how to tie a Clove Hitch one-handed for setting up a belay when one arm is broken. The karabiner in the knot is to help release and untie it afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2014-12-19T17:18:46.067" LastActivityDate="2014-12-19T17:18:46.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7410" CreationDate="2014-12-19T18:19:25.163" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is simply a Clove Hitch on the belay loop. It could be quite effective to use instead of a belay plate if you can only use one hand because it doesn't require you to hold either side of the rope - it simply tightens and locks up in the event of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biner is placed where it is to make it easier to loosen the rope with one hand in-case it locks up. Once slightly loosened, you can simply pull the loop (coming from the tail side of the clove) through, and feed it back out to the leader. The reverse is also true if top-roping or using a redirected belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having tried this method in the past, I will attest to it being secure; even if a leader falls with slack in one of the loops of the clove, it will lock up appropriately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you ever need to use this method, I would highly recommend a &lt;strong&gt;3 motion locking biner&lt;/strong&gt;, or one that doesn't just twist lock. The issue with slack in the clove is the potential for the rope to run along the gate or spine when loaded, possibly cross-loading the biner or unlocking the gate entirely (depending on orientation) and ending up like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3EXjp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Opened Clove&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not very fluid either, and you'll likely find it very difficult to keep up with your climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this scenario, (needing to belay with a broken hand), there is also an auto-locking munter hitch variation, which I actually think is a lot more appropriate. I have seen it set up incorrectly a number of times though, so if in doubt, clove it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The munter hitch method places a biner on the load side of the rope, and prevents the hitch from flipping around, thus making it auto-locking. Climbing.com has a good write-up on that method here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bhODJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Locked Munter&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2014-12-21T17:37:59.880" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T17:37:59.880" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2014-12-19T19:39:29.883" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thimbleberry&lt;/strong&gt; leaves are my favourite (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_parviflorus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rubus spectabilis&lt;/a&gt;), They're all over the place in the Kootenays in British Columbia (Southern Canadian Rockies). They're soft and they're about the size of your hand or bigger. The berries are very tasty too, so you you can have a peachy-fuzz-tart-raspberry snack while you do your business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OMo6k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8bpvg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Hand for reference, this leaf was about 30cm wide.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IgEo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IgEo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-10-05T22:19:55.987" LastActivityDate="2015-10-05T22:19:55.987" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3284" CreationDate="2014-12-20T03:55:11.247" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say it's not a question of too cold, tents don't add that much warmth. Tarps and a shovel can make some very nice shelters in the snow. The real limitation is blowing snow/rain and the wind speed you expect to stand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wind is shifting at all, or is much above 20 mph, a tarp is going to be fairly miserable. ( I'm not including floorless tents like the megamid, but a plain old tarp ). The big advantage of a tent over a tarp in the cold is that it provides an omni-directional wind shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2014-12-20T03:55:11.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6297" CreationDate="2014-12-20T14:09:28.180" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pumpkins and the like. The skin will protect it, and will peel off nicely once burnt to a crisp. After; Peel the skin off, scoop out the middle, and eat it nice and soft like a potato, or make a pumpkin pie~&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3603" LastActivityDate="2014-12-20T14:09:28.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7418" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7427" CreationDate="2014-12-20T20:27:29.267" Score="11" ViewCount="1286" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I had the chance to print a map on A3-sized sheets (11.69 x 16.53 inches) I usually just needed &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; sheets of that size for my whole planned trip, and most of the time it was fine enough to keep them apart and to swap them according to where I am and where I am heading to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By printing on smaller A4 size sheets though (that's half the above size) any single sheet is rarely enough to hold sufficient information to be useful. Four sheets are necessary to represent the same area printable on two A3-sized ones and keeping to swap between each other and holding them next each other when I need to really feels clumsy and impractical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So. I'd really love to join those sheets togeter to get a decent map out of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to &lt;em&gt;print&lt;/em&gt; such a map, as the first step? I guess I should leave some margins so to be able to overlap the sheets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, how to actually join those sheets in the best possible way, so that the result is strong and stable and - ideally - &lt;em&gt;gives the feel of a single map&lt;/em&gt; rather than a crappy bunch of sheets held somewhat together?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T16:55:41.573" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T16:55:41.573" Title="What is an effective way to join a map that is printed on several sheets?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7418" CreationDate="2014-12-20T22:00:53.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why are you printing A4? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Join the sheets electronically on the computer then print A3 or even A2. If you do not have an A3 capable printer, its a few cents a page to print them at a commercial outlet or local library.  Alternately print a large scale map onto A4 - often you do not need the full detail and use what you see on the larger scale with the detail of the smaller scale maps available if needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Printing a second set of maps so the 4 corner overlap of the first set is in the middle of the second set can help, but you still get areas where you have to use two sheets. In this case if you are following a planned route print maps so you have overlapping sheets an no point on the route is overlapped.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Years ago the only way to get maps was to buy paper ones, and invariably the trip you were doing would span the corner of 4 maps. In this case we either lived with handling 4 maps in the field, or used to tape the maps together putting wide tape on the back of the maps. and photocopied the corner section (usually onto A3).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2014-12-21T02:32:23.193" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T02:32:23.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7418" CreationDate="2014-12-20T23:35:13.853" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most applications will let you minimise your margins, which reduces waste, then all you do is cut the margin off one page, and then stick that page over the other one, which gives you a solid connection - adhesive tape front and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2014-12-20T23:35:13.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7421" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7547" CreationDate="2014-12-21T00:59:15.543" Score="12" ViewCount="401" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm reading a very good novel, called &quot;Smilla's sense of snow&quot;. A minor figure tells this story from the time he was a frogman with the marines: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Going down, I glide through a cold belt [...] I panic. I lose my safety rope. [...] They told me later that Føjl saw it. And took a lead belt in the hand and jumped into the water without bottles. Only a rope in the hand. Because he couldn't waste any time. He dives to me. He catches me at a depth of twelve meters. But he's diving in a dry suit. It means that the water pressure presses the rubber against the skin. Every ten meters, the pressure rises by one atmosphere. At ten meters, the rubber edge cuts at the joints and knuckles through the skin. All I remember are clouds of blood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never dived, but I've worn a dry suit, and can't imagine this happening. Even if the construction used to be different - the story must be happening sometime in the 1970s - what would the use be of a suit which hurts you at 10 meters? Why would people dive in them? So the story sounds like an implausible melodramatic plot device. On the other hand, the book seems to be correct at its other plot devices (I hadn't heard of Guinea worms before, but they are as shocking as described in it), so maybe this story is possible after all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be too subjective to speculate about the likelihood of somebody trying this heroic saving and succeeding. But the &quot;your suit cuts your wrists&quot; part should be easier to judge. So, is (or was) this a real danger? If yes, how do divers avoid it when diving under more controlled circumstances? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T12:59:50.307" Title="Is this &quot;dry suit cutting wrists&quot; story realistic?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7426" CreationDate="2014-12-21T01:18:45.717" Score="11" ViewCount="1990" Body="&lt;p&gt;So we were out looking for some new ice to climb today and discovered this short pitch of ice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OyX4p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;There's only &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; problem:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wLFRL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The ice is on the &lt;em&gt;wrong&lt;/em&gt; side of a rather wide creek.&lt;/strong&gt; The nearest crossings are pretty far away, and the approach from either direction would not be easy (steep cut banks, cliffs and &lt;em&gt;thick&lt;/em&gt; trees). The easiest route to the ice is across the creek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found one spot to cross that looks only about knee deep, and the water is flowing probably a little bit faster than walking speed. Now I'm just trying to decide what would be best way to get across with all our gear. I'm thinking an extra pair of boots and pants combined with some warm blankets/towels and a thermos of hot chocolate at the other side. Pants off would hurt, this water is painfully cold in the summer time, I can only imagine what it's like now... What's the best way to wade through a creek in winter? &lt;strong&gt;Anyone know of any painless winter water wading techniques?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-13T23:56:51.360" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T23:56:51.360" Title="River crossing in winter?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7422" CreationDate="2014-12-21T17:54:01.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the water is running, it can't be much under 0 C. It's likely not much colder than it is during the summer. It's also likely warmer than the ambient air temperature. Of course, due to the much greater rate of heat loss due to conduction, that doesn't really mean much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think the chance of falling in is low, ( current not too fast, reasonable footing) and that the crossing can be done quickly, I would just go with bare feet and legs. You'll need to be prepared to dry off on the other side. A foam sleeping pad would be handy to keep warm/dry while you're getting clothes back on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real alternative is to find a friend that is into fly fishing and borrow their waders. Even that will still be fairly cold and unpleasant.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2014-12-24T17:48:52.883" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T17:48:52.883" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7424" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-21T21:23:44.750" Score="10" ViewCount="769" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594850844&quot;&gt;this highly-rated book about avalanches&lt;/a&gt; and I was impressed by this sentence, in its beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Over 25 percent of avalanche victims in the U.S. die from trauma from hitting trees and rocks on the way down (about 6 percent of avalanche victims in Europe and as many as 50 percent in Canada)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can there be such a &lt;strong&gt;massive&lt;/strong&gt; difference? 6 percent of people dying from trauma from hitting trees and rocks in Europe and 50 percent in Canada... with the US being about in the middle of that statistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The very first - quite rough - idea that comes to my mind is, there may be &lt;em&gt;much more&lt;/em&gt; trees and rocks in the &lt;em&gt;average&lt;/em&gt; Canadian ski route compared to European ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, it sounds quite superficial. Still, those numbers differs too much; there &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; be some reason behind this spread. Does anyone knows what this reason is (or are)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T14:37:21.727" Title="Why are death percentages of death from trauma in an avalanche so different between USA, Europe, and Canada?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7422" CreationDate="2014-12-21T22:11:23.920" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought about fishing boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IvFe5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fishing boots&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They would probably take the same space as an extra pair of pants and boots anyways, but they would save you from getting wet from freezing water and be a lot cheaper as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T22:11:23.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7422" CreationDate="2014-12-21T22:11:58.713" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traditional military routines for crossing a river under such conditions are the following &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bag your pack and items in a waterproof sack/black bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie it up and use as a buoyancy aid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear your normal boots and thin socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensure Gore-Tex socks are in your pack.  They cost approx $10-14&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cross the river and accept the cold - embrace it :-) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once across remove wet boots and socks.  Bag the wet socks in a zip lock.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the dry Gore Tex socks on your feet with talcum powder and dry socks if required underneath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place boots on feet.  The heat from your feet will now dry your boots from the inside out whilst maintaining completely dry feet inside Gore-Tex.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If wet boots require further drying due to non-porous materials then pack two or three child's nappies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the inners and stuff the absorbent pads inside your boots. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zip lock the wet nappies for disposal once they are sodden. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T22:11:58.713" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7418" CreationDate="2014-12-21T23:29:51.020" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many printer drivers and other software allow you to &quot;tile&quot; a large document or a magnified one on multiple pages.  You can usually specify the overlap between pages, which only needs to be enough for you to cut cleanly.  0.1 inch is usually good enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acrobat reader may even have such a option.  I know I've done this a few times with my printer, a Lexmark Pro905.  That printer is a piece of crap, and I definitely NOT recommend getting one, but the procedure has worked.  I don't rememer if the tiling capability was in the printer software or the app.  Look around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have the tiles printed on separate piece of paper, you have to trim off the excess paper from one tile for each overlap.  Line them up carefully, then put a &lt;i&gt;small&lt;/i&gt; piece of tape at each end of the overlap.  Continue until all tiles are taped together, even though loosly.  Now put a piece of tape over each seam.  First do this on top where you can see what you're doing and can be sure the alignment isn't getting messed up.  Then flip the whole thing over and tape the seams on the back.  At this point you don't have to be that careful anymore because all the alignments have already been fixed by the tape over the seams on the front side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, the whole thing isn't going to feel like a single piece of paper.  You will definitely notice the seams being stiffer when you try to fold it.  That's the way it is.  If you can't live with that, go to your local office supply place with a print shop and have them print whatever you want on large size paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2014-12-21T23:29:51.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7422" CreationDate="2014-12-22T10:56:21.957" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the rivers fast moving, rope up. You prob want to use a figure of eight lasso:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tie a single figure of eight in the rope, towards the end you want to build a lasso in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tie a re-threaded figure of eight in the end and rethread so that the rope passes though the bight, ensure the first single figure of eight is on the &lt;em&gt;inside of the loop&lt;/em&gt;. Make sure the loop in the bight is small enough so that the single figure of eight will not pass though it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slide the single figure of eight up or down the rope so that the lasso won't tighten and constrict the person who is using it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put this over the person crossing the river, under their armpits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone looses their footing they can be swiftly swept down river, if it's very cold they can become unconscious very quickly so the idea of the rope is to prevent this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hip belay will likely be fine for this. If it's very fast consider constructing an anchor around a tree. Be careful not to pull the person under the water if they do fall. Let the rope slide a little and guide them to the side/shallower water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on the other side you probably want to secure both ends of the rope to trees. This way you can haul your kit over separately and the other people can cross secured to this (use a lanyard/cows tail type set up). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-12-22T10:56:21.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7429" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7701" CreationDate="2014-12-22T22:29:57.717" Score="12" ViewCount="1635" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a pair of Adidas Elevation Climacool eyeglasses which served me quite well for about ten years and whose sun lenses now need replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those glasses allow to use a visual defect correction insert. Please notice it in the bottom left of this picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hp0Kp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Adidas Elevation Climacool eyeglasses&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This feature gives me the freedom to choose between using contact lenses, or the insert, according to my will. I normally chose the second because my eyes get very dry very quickly with contact lenses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;But, there is a big drawback&lt;/em&gt;. Whenever I use the insert, everything looks significantly farther than it actually is - that is, when I look where I am about to put my feet, what I see is distorted. It looks smaller and significantly more distant. It takes me some ten minutes all the times to adapt to this, and I never do completely. I always feel slightly impaired and this feeling, though bearable, is definitely not nice.&#xA;It must have to do with light passing through two lenses and not only one before reaching my eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever the case may be, I would love to get rid of it and I am considering to get a different pair of eyeglasses rather than just getting new lenses for these ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you aware of any model of this kind that would not be effected by this issue or that has minimal effect?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sidenote: I don't want to get glasses with sun-prescription lenses because I like to be able to swap sun lenses according to the weather and location, which is also a feature of this kind of eyewear - for example I can put on CAT 4 lenses when on a glacier under a bright sun, or fog lenses when cycling in the woods in November.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="5540" LastEditDate="2015-02-28T23:05:10.547" LastActivityDate="2015-02-28T23:05:10.547" Title="Are there any sunglasses with prescription insert that does not alter depth sense?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7436" CreationDate="2014-12-23T00:05:45.190" Score="5" ViewCount="764" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently learned about tree tents such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tentsile.com/&quot;&gt;Tentsile&lt;/a&gt; and while they certainly look interesting and fun, they seem to combine the drawbacks of hammocks (heat loss due to wind and need for trees) with the drawbacks of a tent (size, weight and complexity).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in which situations would this type of tent have more benefits than existing shelters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T16:58:36.897" Title="Benefits of tree tents over typical shelters?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7433" CreationDate="2014-12-23T06:45:47.443" Score="9" ViewCount="2386" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been reading this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594858403&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;book about mountain scrambling&lt;/a&gt; in Washington State, U.S., and at some points it mentions the idea of using a hand line on some more exposed routes to give something to hold on to, as well as mental reassurance to less experienced climbers. This whole book is supposed to be about &quot;non-technical climbs&quot; so I was wondering how one would go about setting up a hand line like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Presumably, the most able climber in the group would go forward and anchor a rope along the route for other climbers in the party to use? How would you do this safely (is this even possible to do safely)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal (relatively inexperienced) opinion is that if you're at the point where you're considering using a rope for safety, the route is either beyond your skill level, or you should be doing proper technical climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2014-12-23T08:59:12.957" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T11:20:41.050" Title="Installing a hand line for scrambling?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3404" CreationDate="2014-12-23T07:58:18.073" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the major risk wearing no snowshoes on &lt;em&gt;deep&lt;/em&gt; snow (besides the time aspect) is that you step close in front of a stone or other obstacle. You don't have to run, it is just normal that your leg benches and it is likely that your shin gets levered against that obstacle. That leverage increases the force on your shin and maybe the ankle which might cause harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are wearing snowshoes you are increasing your footprint where those injuries aren't that likely to happen anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I was lucky not to get injured by that scenario but I think it is quite a likely risk. And of course this is not valid on every terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2014-12-23T08:03:40.670" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T08:03:40.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7431" CreationDate="2014-12-23T08:52:03.420" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would you do this safely (is this even possible to do safely)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This technique is based on one member of the party being more competent than the others and the grades being very low (probably nothing more than a Grade III scramble)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example I lead a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6682/leading-an-inexperienced-group&quot;&gt;group of friends up Tryfan&lt;/a&gt;. This is a grade I scramble. I took a rope. I was confident soloing any climbing sections (this is well below my climbing grade) and I used the rope to help the less experienced members.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't use a &amp;quot;handline&amp;quot; (something for people to hold onto is of limited use as if someone falls it's not really going to help)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there isn't a member of the party who is competent enough to solo the climb then your right, your into the realm of &amp;quot;technical&amp;quot; climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grade I or below&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most Grade I scrambles are within the range of anyone who is competent in the mountains. Above this you need more skills. If your not confident to lead a Grade I then your not confident to be doing this at all. Get some more experience then come back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grade II/III and climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't totally inaccessible you just need take a bit of time to learn scrambling rope techniques, how to belay, etc. you can still do this. You will likely need some more kit and you will need to learn how to use it (i.e. harnesses and belay plates and some kind of protection such as nuts). Your local climbing wall is probably where you start with this, most have beginner courses that will teach your how to belay, etc. You then need to learn to place the gear and protect the climb. But scrambling is a really good place to learn to climb and improve your confidence. &lt;strong&gt;But learn the basics somewhere safe (indoors) first!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a series of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/scramble-on-new-videos-in-the-art-of-advanced-scrambling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Mountaineering Council videos covering the subject in detail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;at some points it mentions the idea of using a hand line on some more&#xA;exposed routes to give something to hold on to....Presumably, the most&#xA;able climber in the group would go forward and anchor a rope along the&#xA;route for other climbers in the party to use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't a technique I'm familiar with, plus I don't really see the benefit. If someone isn't confident they either shouldn't be there at all or should be properly secured for their safety. Couple of issues here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rope is really unpleasant to hold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you fall and hold the rope, expect serious burns.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you fall what are the chances of you catching the rope?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for that reason I'd prefer to use a different technique:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7428/2766&quot;&gt;figure of eight lasso&lt;/a&gt;(passed under the armpits of the person) to secure the people and I either belayed off spikes or &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7246/2766&quot;&gt;hip belayed&lt;/a&gt;. The rope's main job was to give the person confidence, but in the unlikely event that they do fall, I could catch them without relaying on them holding onto something. If the pitches are quite long, then you probably want harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if you mean like on a via ferrata?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Cku6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this instance the line is secured to pitons hammered into the rock and is permanently fixed. Someone will of done this for you. You typically secure yourself using a cows tail or via ferrata kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T10:09:55.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7430" CreationDate="2014-12-23T09:04:41.210" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look fun, but seems entirely a gimmick if you ask me. If you wanted to save weight you'd bivvy, if you wanted to be comfortable a tent is much more flexible. With my fully practical head on, I can't see any useful benefits. They look comfortable though I'd imagine you and everything in the tent would slide towards the middle of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;in which situations would this type of tent have more benefits than&#xA;  existing shelters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because fun and different....and you could bounce. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T09:04:41.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7439" CreationDate="2014-12-23T09:12:47.543" Score="6" ViewCount="545" Body="&lt;p&gt;A long time ago when I was about 10 I went potholing on a school trip in Devon, and despite mild claustrophobia I found myself eventually enjoying it - egged on brilliantly by my friends. I hadn't thought about it in years until recently and now I'm curious, as a beginner: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where are good places in the UK to go potholing^, either experienced, or with a group for training?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;^&lt;em&gt;caving / spelunking&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T23:01:33.570" Title="Good places to go potholing in the UK" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7430" CreationDate="2014-12-23T09:50:32.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a 'pod' hammock tent for backpacking and enjoy it a lot.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This bigger tree tent wouldn't be for backpacking but for car camping with friends or family.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Sleeping in a suspended tent is clean, dry and more comfortable then sleeping on the ground.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(everything being subject to your own opinion)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T09:50:32.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2014-12-23T11:02:53.550" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like being said you could also ask if price scales with quality. That's not true in general as we all know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What hasn't been said is that there are big differences in terms of labor conditions, sustainability, environmental influence and animal protection. Especially the latter is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-mulesing-and-what-are-the-alternatives_113.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;very critical&lt;/a&gt; issue in the Merino industry. I am not going to blame a brand here but please have this in mind. Fair gained quality wool or down has its price. But we don't have to buy the most expensive stuff therefore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(similar discussion for e.g. recyclable Hardshells)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T11:02:53.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7431" CreationDate="2014-12-23T11:20:41.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, that book is quite odd being aimed to beginners, so it should at least explicitly give some more information about that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said. If you want to do that, here's one way to (there are several). I did this in the past to help a party of less experienced people cross a slope full of unstable snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First, get a lightweight rope. It does not have to be a rock climbing rope - and it should better not be. Rock climbing ropes are dynamic, that is, &lt;em&gt;elastic&lt;/em&gt;, and you don't want to get something elastic here, but something that holds tight. Moreover, rock climbing ropes would be too weighty and in most cases too long: that means, overkill. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.decathlon.co.uk/hiking-rope-8mm-x-20m-id_8249406.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; could be fine (it is explicitly meant to be used as an &quot;handrail&quot;) but in my opinion something thinner may work as well, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/corde-cordelettes.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a 5.5mm cordelette&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;em&gt;length&lt;/em&gt; is up to you and the trail you want to do. Realistically, if you need anything longer than 20m, probably yes, you'd better be somewhere else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also get a sewn sling &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Rock-Climbing-Equipment/Slings-Extenders/Slings/Aramid-Cord-Sling&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt; and a pear-shaped rock climbing carabiner. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the tying itself.&#xA;I will keep things simple and assume that you will have something sturdy to attach your rope to - that means, trees. It would be of course pointless to assume that you need to also carry cams, nuts, piton, and other rock climbing gear. So, you have trees. If there aren't trees in the hike you're planning, don't even bother carrying that rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie one rope end to a tree before the tricky part. There are &lt;em&gt;several&lt;/em&gt; ways to do that. The bowline is one option, it is described &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.asiteaboutnothing.net/cr_most-useful-knots.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move up - or across - the tricky section while trailing the rope. Reach for the safer place and find another three up there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap your sling around the tree and clip the carabiner into it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the rope into the carabiner by using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/clove/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoG..&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;clove hitch&lt;/a&gt; and tension the rope as much as you can before tightening it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're done. If you're going back by the same route, leave it there. When you will get back last, you will dismantle the top anchor and then the bottom one. If not, the last member of the party will need to untie the bowline and get up with the rope not tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practice it in a safe place several times&lt;/strong&gt;. Go to any park and do that with threes, fences, or whatever you may be able to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remember&lt;/strong&gt; that any person would be &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; safer if scrambling with her foot and hands than by leaning onto a rope that is not tied properly and that would slip off. Just think of it. If you don't use any rope while moving, your weight is on your feet. If you hang on the rope, you partially unload your feet to weight the rope. If the rope fails now, you're out of balance and very likely, fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T11:20:41.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7435" CreationDate="2014-12-23T12:30:46.583" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main areas for caving in the UK are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Yorkshire Dales &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Peak District &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South Wales &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Mendip Hills (near Bristol)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The North Pennines&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other, smaller areas as well, such as: Forest of Dean, Devon, Barrow in Furness, Assynt (in Scotland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ukcaving.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page&quot;&gt;The UK Caving WIKI&lt;/a&gt; has some more information on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you would like to get back into caving, the best bet is to join a caving club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The British Caving Association's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trycaving.org.uk/&quot;&gt;Try Caving&lt;/a&gt; website is a very good resource for beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go on, give it a go! Not all caves are small! For example, near me in the Peak District:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vmzwm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Titan, a shaft in Peak cavern near Castleton, by Robbie Shone&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2014-12-23T12:30:46.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7424" CreationDate="2014-12-24T00:03:55.530" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have my copy of How to Survive in Avalanche Terrain in front of me, but one of the things that stood out to me relating to this is the wide variety of avalanche climates that exists not just from country to country but from mountain to mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've got intermountain, continental, and maritime avalanche climates all with their own habits and characteristics. There are so many variables at play here that Bruce was able to write an entire  book about it. Avalanches tend to occur at a specific slope angle in each climate, and that angle can be very different from each other climate, but trees and rocks probably tend to exist in the same type of terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking all of that into consideration, what seems to be going on here is that the avalanche terrain in Canada that lures back-country snow-goers must contain slopes that allow for more rocks and trees. There are several types of avalanches in that book that aren't necessarily powerful enough to easily bury you, but still powerful enough to sweep you into a tree. Combine those types of avalanches with slopes rich in trees, and you've got the recipe for the blunt force trauma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Europe, on the other hand, could very well have mostly terrain that either doesn't promote as many trees and rocks, or does promote larger avalanches that are more likely to bury the victims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T00:03:55.530" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7430" CreationDate="2014-12-24T04:14:38.947" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Benefits are probably quite limited. It allows you to camp where ground conditions do not suit - e.g. very wet, rough or not level ground, in dense or fragile (that you care about) undergrowth. Leaves a smaller trace of an overnight stop - lower impact of camp - good for military use or those who care about such things. Protection of sometimes poisonous things that bite in the night are all things that come to mind - while maintaining the group structure (unlike hammocks which are solo). Its current weight would prevent it being used for most of these situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looks like fun and interesting and the benefits are probably not the reason you would buy or use one. I have not tried the product and don't particularly subscribe to the philosophy eluded to by the manufacturer, but should the opportunity present itself I am certainly a starter for a difference experience. I suspect it will be around for a while, but will always be a niche product. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T04:14:38.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7442" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7457" CreationDate="2014-12-24T11:33:45.100" Score="8" ViewCount="1174" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have plenty of gear and I live in a small apartment. &#xA;I am planning to buy an outdoor closet to put on the balcony to get some extra space. Here's a sample to show you how it would be like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bIi0s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;outdoor cabinet sample&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to know if I can stock some of my gear out there so that it won't get ruined &lt;em&gt;not even in the long run&lt;/em&gt;. Just to give you an idea I left my skis in a similar circumstance (it was out on the balcony, not in a closed but in their own case) and they rusted &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt;, in only one winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, I would of course everything indoor if leaving them out would reduce their &quot;life expectations&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But perhaps something (carabiner? backpacks?) can be left out without any damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what I own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skis accessories: skins, bindings, ski crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountaineering boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carabiners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ropes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nuts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quickdraws&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rock climbing shoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chalk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plenty of other climbing gear (gri-gri, silent partner, ascenders, and other gimmicks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tents&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tarps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice screws&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice axe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance. Will a silnylon tarp lose any of its features (elasticity, water resistance) if exposed for a very long time to high humidity? And the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2014-12-24T17:25:09.867" LastActivityDate="2019-12-25T13:27:31.810" Title="Gear storage: what gear that can be safely stocked outside?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7430" CreationDate="2014-12-24T16:58:36.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Likely to be less buggy than a hammock, and doesn't have the weight of hiking poles.&#xA;Also (and I'm not sure I'd try this), if you are concerned about being trampled/attacked by large animals, you could install it several feet up the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the floor looks flatter than a hammock, and the 3-point tiedown seems to keep it from rotating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T16:58:36.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7444" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-24T18:59:04.480" Score="7" ViewCount="950" Body="&lt;p&gt;Googling seems to show that the conventional wisdom is that it's not a good idea to chain carabiners together:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to avoid is chaining carabiners together to lengthen a connection in the system. If subjected to a twisting motion they can unclip themselves. S. Peter Lewis, Toproping&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid chaining carabiners in succession, because they can twist, which weakens them and can open a gate. -- Freedom of the Hills, p. 170&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason not to chain carabiners together if they're locking biners? The specific application I have in mind is extending my ATC for rappelling. The FotH quote says that twisting can weaken the biners, but I don't believe this is realistically anything to worry about in a rappel setup, as opposed to an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I've been doing previously is to girth-hitch a dyneema sling through the tie-in points of my harness, and tie a butterfly knot in the sling in order to shorten it a bit. I'm not happy with that technique because (1) I've learned that a girth-hitched dyneema sling fail in lab tests under surprisingly small loads (small fall factors), and (2) it can be a pain to get the butterfly knot out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried replacing the dyneema sling with a nylon one, but the nylon one is too fat to make it practical to tie a knot in order to shorten it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2014-12-31T01:06:11.690" Title="Chaining locking carabiners" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7444" CreationDate="2014-12-24T20:31:08.180" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carabiners are designed to be strongest in tension.  That's why the biner has two limits -- closed (where the forces are distributed lengthwise among two sides of the biner) and open (where the remaining arm is in tension and torsion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you twist two biners together, you are putting rotational forces on each biner that they weren't designed to take. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And while you are correct in that rapping doesn't usually put the kinds of dynamic stresses on biners that anchors do, if you lose half your anchor, it may be a different story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short answer is it probably will work, but you could just go buy a quickdraw and be done with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2014-12-24T20:31:08.180" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7446" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-24T22:17:06.637" Score="5" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to travel by canoe from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/OhiopyleStatePark/Pages/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohiopyle State Park&lt;/a&gt; to Cumberland, MD on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youghiogheny_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youghiogheny,&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casselman_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Casselman&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potomac_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Potomac&lt;/a&gt; Rivers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the navigation considerations?  Also I will have a bike and trailer for the canoe, will be interested in bike trails paralleling or intersecting the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Locks and Dams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping/accommodations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Launches &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River side services (away from large cities) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothetically the trip would be completed, with only muscle power, rowing or pedaling.  In either a single trip or by pedaling upstream and rowing down stream, in one or more outings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related (West) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7239&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers between Ohiopyle State Park (PA) and Pittsburgh PA?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-22T18:19:48.477" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T23:05:41.670" Title="What are the navigation considerations on the Youghiogheny, Casselman &amp; Potomac Rivers between Ohiopyle (PA) and Cumberland, MD" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;&lt;youghiogheny-river&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7424" CreationDate="2014-12-25T19:51:22.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't read too much into any avalanche statistic. While there may be plausible reasons behind the difference, the data sizes are just too small to make any reliable comparisons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avalanches are exceptional events and avalanches that involve injuries that get reported are even more exceptional events. When you look at statistics based on infrequent events the &quot;law of small numbers&quot; applies. This means that you will see wide variation in any statistic simply because the sample size is so small. This in no way means that avalanches are not a serious risk in Canada, but since Canada only accounts for 10% or less of reported fatalities world wide, in a statistical sense you expect to see wide variations in a small sample. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our brains are built to make coherent stories based on minimal data, and when we see such a striking difference, we want to build a story around it to explain it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: Imagine that I flipped a coin 4 times in Canada and they all came up heads, I then flew to Europe and flipped a coin 4 times and they call came up tails. It would be very tempting to then create some theory around why coins behave differently in different continents, but in reality it's just random chance at work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning to recognize and compensate for the inherent heuristic traps in your thinking is likely the most important skill for long term survival in avalanche terrain. Given the highly random nature of avalanches it's very easy to fall into the trap of confusing luck with skill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2014-12-28T19:46:20.977" LastActivityDate="2014-12-28T19:46:20.977" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3362" CreationDate="2014-12-26T07:02:52.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few phones have a setting that adjusts the capacitive screen sensitivity for use with gloves.  An example is the 'Touch Sensitivity' setting on Galaxy S5s:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.androidcentral.com/how-increase-touch-sensitivity-galaxy-s5-use-it-gloves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.androidcentral.com/how-increase-touch-sensitivity-galaxy-s5-use-it-gloves&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2014-12-26T07:02:52.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7422" CreationDate="2014-12-26T19:17:47.030" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use fly fishing waders with fly fishing boots. underneath use your regular pants with whatever undergarments you normally wear (thermals, etc). The fishing waders and boots will keep everything dry, and by using a base layer (which you probably normally do anyway) you will be warm enough for the crossing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2014-12-26T19:17:47.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7450" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7451" CreationDate="2014-12-28T01:39:26.920" Score="18" ViewCount="7937" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider we are trying to pre-acclimate for an expedition in Himalaya to shorten the actual timespan on site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, I am expecting a benefit if I go in the Alps for several days above 4000m and sleep over 3000m. If my trip to the big mountains like the Himalayas starts a week (or two) after that &lt;em&gt;pre-tour&lt;/em&gt; am I still acclimated to some extent? If so are there approximations (maybe scientific studies) for how long the acclimatization benefit holds on and to what degree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit to further explain the matter:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not asking the question because of a specific planned tour in Himalaya. I am interested in general, first to understand better how acclimatization really works and second to possibly shorten the (sometimes very expensive) acclimatization time. Of course it would be the best preparation to stay in Himalaya for a long time and acclimate slowly. But it should make a considerable difference if I am acclimated to my home-town at 500m or to 3500m. The question is how big this difference will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:07:08.010" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T02:26:26.090" Title="For how long afterwards do we benefit from acclimatization?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7450" CreationDate="2014-12-28T04:08:32.377" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Altitude acclimatization is not just a single change in your body but a long list of different things that are going on. There is a nice chart on p. 326 of House and Johnston, Training for the New Alpinism, which gives a list of the following adaptations (they label #6 as two items):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;increased ventilation rate&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;increased heart rate and blood pressure&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;blood pH increases&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;decrease in plasma volume&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;increase in red blood cell mass and hemoglobin concentration&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;decrease in size of muscle cells, and consequent increase in capillary density&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;increased density of mitochondria&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question is about how long it takes to lose the adaptation, but that doesn't seem to have been studied very thoroughly, so I'll start by relating the more well established information on how long it takes to gain the various adaptations and then circle back and try to answer your question somewhat. For each of the items above, House and Johnston give a &quot;time for adaptation to begin&quot; and a &quot;time to end.&quot; I think the &quot;time to end&quot; means how long it takes until you're fully adapted. The time to begin is zero for 1-2, a few days for 3-4, hours for 5, and weeks for 6-7. The time to end is weeks to months for everything except 4, which is supposed to be complete in 1-2 days. #3 only happens above 5000 m, so you won't experience it at all from being at those altitudes in the Alps, but you can get the same effect by just taking acetazolamide (diamox).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OK, so what about de-acclimatization? House and Johnston have a short section about this on p. 358, titled &quot;How fast do you de-acclimate?&quot; It seems to be short because there's not a lot of solid evidence. In one study, people spent 16 days at 4000 m, then went to sea level for 7 days, and then went up to 4300 and were tested. &quot;They were found to retain about 50% of their acclimatization.&quot; Unfortunately, House and Johnston don't give a reference to who did this study. I would like to know, e.g., by what measure the 50% is computed. In another study, called &quot;Operation Everest III,&quot; the subjects lost their elevated hemoglobin levels in only 4 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the evidence is obviously pretty scanty and not completely consistent. House and Johnson say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When we examine our own experience, look at the historical record of high-altitude climbing, and ask others, we find that the most common rule of thumb is that you lose your adaptation to altitude at about the same rate as you gain it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything I've said so far was general. You have a more specific trip in mind. The big question to ask would be how high you intend to go in the Himalayas and how long you intend to stay there.  It seems like the necessary acclimatization time rises very quickly with altitude. For Kilimanjaro, at 5900 m, most people take about 7 days to acclimatize. House and Johnston give some sample acclimatization schedules for higher elevations. For Denali, at 6200 m, they show 18 days as normal, 10 as a &quot;fast ascent.&quot; For people climbing to 8000 m, the schedules they show are all about a month. If you're going high in the Himalayas, then realistically you're going to need weeks to adapt, and compared to that, a few days spent in the Alps is probably not going to be significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-01-05T02:01:03.737" LastActivityDate="2015-01-05T02:01:03.737" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7450" CreationDate="2014-12-28T05:40:20.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anecdotal evidence: my wife and I take periodic trips from a few hundred meters altitude to 3000-4000m (and sometimes over a pass at 4480m). We feel that going a little as one weekend per month provides a noticeable benefit. We've even camped in the same spot at ~3900m on a couple occasions and definitely slept better the second time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2014-12-28T05:40:20.303" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6678" CreationDate="2014-12-28T21:36:58.693" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you considered moleskin? I use it to get my boots just right...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5372" LastActivityDate="2014-12-28T21:36:58.693" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7454" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-29T14:06:07.893" Score="19" ViewCount="52021" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I, er… a friend of mine, put up a rope swing in a nearby park. It's in a large eucalyptus, about 25 metres high, and is much loved by many local kids – and parents. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Originaly I just used super cheap polypropylene rope (I think it was polypropylene, it was that cheap, hard, twisted stuff sold in hardware stores for general utility) with an eye splice forming a slip-knot around the branch. The splice has held up well, but the rope started to deteriorate to the point where it is fraying, so I had to cut it down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since then I've been seeing kids and parents turn up to the &quot;swing tree&quot;, look up at the cut-off end of the rope and walk away in disappointment. And it's Summer holiday time here, so I need to replace it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, can anyone recommend what sort for rope I should use? Selection criteria are:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability&lt;/strong&gt; - It's out in the weather all day long, Winter (mild, never freezes) and Summer (can be blazing hot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enough strength&lt;/strong&gt; to support an adult swinging from it; and lastly, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;affordability&lt;/strong&gt; - While it doesn't have to be super cheap, it could get cut down by the council or some grump (I did have a problem with it getting cut off at head height by some unknown person for a while, there's a few grumpy old Boo Radleys around), so I'm not going to use proper climbing rope or anything. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, any suggestions for better ways to attach it to the branch would be good. I'm thinking this time of having a stopper knot below the loop, so that it doesn't cinch on the branch, and maybe adding a sleeve of some flexible tubing to avoid rubbing on the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5374" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-06T19:37:21.483" LastActivityDate="2018-10-28T20:31:59.640" Title="Best rope for a rope swing" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7455" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-30T01:45:49.213" Score="1" ViewCount="330" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no Water Purification tablets and wanted to know if there was a substitute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5376" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T19:22:56.563" Title="What is a good substitute for water purification tablets" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2014-12-30T22:56:19.990" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7442" CreationDate="2014-12-30T06:05:58.860" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;All mountaineering gear comes with proper storage instructions. Most gear is best stored in a dry, cool, dark place. Humidity will rust your screws, crampons and axes. That box will effectively turn into an oven unless your balcony is on the shady side of your building. Garden closets are for storing garden tools, not precious climbing and camping gear. If you lived in a different climate then to might be able to pull it off, but hot and humid are a bad combo. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can consult the care and storage instructions for each of your pieces of gear, but I very much doubt that any of them will say, &quot;Store outside in a hot, humid box.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you desperately need the space, then I would say only store your largest items in the garden closet. (Skis, backpacks, etc...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T06:05:58.860" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2014-12-30T10:27:00.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm getting back into leading indoors and going through similar things with the 'head-game' part of climbing. Agree with Brian and the others. Practising indoor falls, and talking to myself are helpful strategies for me. Although I'm doing more of the talking myself over stuff (&quot;You'll be OK, you can do this!&quot; or through moves &quot;right hand, twist-lock then foot up there...&quot;) than falling right now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also mentioned, and crucial for me, is the communication and relationship with my belayer. I find when moving to lead and harder stuff, it's so much better for me if I have climbed with my belayer lots before. They know me, and I know them. I know they will watch me, listen, and look out for me, and that helps with my confidence to crank through harder stuff and try getting to the edge of my physical strength before my mental-power gives way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5378" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T10:27:00.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6862" CreationDate="2014-12-30T10:53:19.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a climber (mostly indoor these days) with a lifetime of eczema on my hands, and some nasty flapper experiences (and a pulley injury), I've done lots of research into this! So lots of mentions of product, but I'm not getting handouts ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;RE. Moisturisers. I think this is a very personal decision about the type, frequency and timing. I'm a big fan of unscented Neutrogena Norwegian Formula concentrated hand cream for my day-to-day moisturiser. I'm trying Ultrabalm from the smelly shop Lush as it's all nice and natural. I've also got a jar of the O'Keeffe's but I'm still getting used to it. Plus what the doctor ordered for the eczema.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, after a chalky, skin-shredding bouldering session, I'll:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash my hands throughly in warm water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply moisturiser thickly and leave it to sink in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to do as little as possible with my hands for the next 20 mins or so. Gripping a nice glass of your favourite cool beverage can feel great ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reapply moisturiser when needed. This is also when I do some serious tendon massage on my recovering finger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the other thing is I also swim. And post swimming is when I file my calluses to make tidy, flat calluses which are less likely to rip. &#xA;I picked up this fake-pumice &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/lloydspharmacy-hard-skin-remover-17850&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;hard skin remover from Lloyds chemis&lt;/a&gt;t - (in the UK). I haven't tried sandpaper, but this works really for me. The slightly curved edges give it a variety of shapes for the different bits of callused hand, and it's not too tough to remove live skin, but still nice and grind-y on the hard bits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just sticking to this routine seems to help. Hope this is useful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5378" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T10:53:19.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7455" CreationDate="2014-12-30T19:22:56.563" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some methods for purifying water are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Iodine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bleach&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boiling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Filter Systems&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each has pros and cons in terms of taste, purification, convenience, and costs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5379" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T19:22:56.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2014-12-30T19:28:34.113" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of these answers have the basics, and new posts are redundant, others miss things or aren't true.  I've been plenty warm in 0° with a mummy bag from KMart.  The trick is knowing how to use what gear you have.  Always have a ground layer to prevent conduction.  Go to bed warm, hydrated, and fed.  Don't bother with a tent, in general.  You'll most likely have ice falling on you in the night from the condensation.  An emergency blanket works WONDERS.  Wrap yourself within the bag.  As little exposed skin as possible, and you're good.  Clothing has been well covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5380" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T19:28:34.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7463" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-30T21:04:40.780" Score="6" ViewCount="498" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do you think is the correct way to grade a single pitch route (about 10 to 30 meters)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know climbing grade are affected by subjectivity. However is there a list of objective elements to take in account which have been agreed in the climbing community?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here follows some &quot;disputable&quot; objective elements:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;size of holds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;overhanging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;relative distance between holds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how the route is bolted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another disputable objective element in grading is the common rule that the actual grade of the route reflects the hardest passage in it. This means we can have a 30m route with a lot of 6a passages, and a 10m route with a single 6a passage, both graded 6a: in this case the first route I think would be much more difficult to send, even if it is graded the same as the second route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5381" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2014-12-30T23:10:09.787" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T14:37:57.333" Title="What are the rules to grade sport climbing single pitch routes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7463" CreationDate="2014-12-30T23:10:01.777" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would argue you've left off the most subjective of metrics, but the most useful: &lt;strong&gt;similarity to other routes in the same area&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there's going to be a single equation to grade a route. You'll have general rules of thumbs that hold true (more holds = easier, more overhang = harder), but those will never give you a grade from first principles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to grade a route is to compare it to others in the same area. &#xA;While a single person (datapoint) is likely to provide a biased estimate (unless they have a lot of experience), a large number of climbers providing estimates will end up with some consensus that is the best you're likely to get.&#xA;This is why some route grades change over time, as more climbers provide an opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I purposefully mention to check routes primarily in the same area because (in my experience) grades &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; tend to vary slightly between areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How the route is bolted is unlikely to have an impact on the grade itself, but more on the enjoyment of the route (and its safety).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The length of a route impacts its &lt;em&gt;style&lt;/em&gt;, but not necessarily the difficulty. For example, a route could be bouldery (i.e. short) or more endurance-y (i.e. long). For &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; long routes (multiple pitches) you often get a commitment or seriousness rating: a roman numeral describing how long the route generally takes an experienced party. Unfortunately this is again all subjective: a super-fit highly-experienced party can cruise up a grade V in a few hours, whereas most may take up to several days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2014-12-30T23:10:01.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7444" CreationDate="2014-12-31T01:06:11.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The technique I learned through AMGA is to extend your rappel using a full length nylon sling.  Girth hitch one end through your hard points, tie an overhand knot halfway through the sling then clip the remaining end back to your belay loop with a carabiner.  You can then clip your ATC carabiner through both loops (over the midway overhand knot) and set up the rope.  An autoblock or prusik can be attached below the ATC via your belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/extended-rappel-and-updated-belay-techniques&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this Mountaineers article&lt;/a&gt; for more details on the set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its a pretty slick set-up that I use frequently.  You avoid the mess of attaching a third-hand via the leg loop and instead have everything right in front out you.  Also very useful when doing multiple rappels because you can unclip the biner from your belay loop and attached it right to an anchor while still being set up in your rappel (since it's redundant).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as linking carabiners is concerned, the one time I do this is when I am managing a topside belay and have set up a large lockers as my masterpoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2014-12-31T01:06:11.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2014-12-31T01:10:14.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd focus less on the falling part and more on the climbing part. Get some miles under your belt by leading climbs that you feel comfortable on. Leading is a  separate skill from the purely physical act of climbing, you need to train your mental control as well as your physical. It's unreasonable to expect that you'll be leading at the same technical level as you toprope until you have many climbs&#xA;under your belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing gyms have drastically accelerated the rate at which people gain physical competency in climbing, but there has been no comparable advance in training the mental aspect. Getting a &quot;climbing head&quot; takes time and everybody does it at a different rate. Having a lot of positive experiences at a lower technical level is much more beneficial than forcing a bad experience at a higher one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2014-12-31T01:10:14.883" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1239" CreationDate="2014-12-31T04:36:41.927" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I met a guy who left February 14th, the same day as I did, and he used a 40F Katabatic quilt the whole time. He slept with his down coat and gloves on. I didn't meet many people with 0F bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took a 0F Feathered Friends bag and was never uncomfortable. I swapped it out for a 35F bag in early May and had a few cold nights in Northern Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaving late to mid March, you're going to see some cold nights. Just remember that the trick is layers. With a merino base layer, a sleeping bag liner, nice down coat, and a 20F bag, I think you'd be comfortable enough most nights, and sweating your balls off in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was going to try to get one bag that would last me the whole trip, I'd probably do a 35F bag, and bring a liner and plenty of layers. I basically used the 35F bag as a blanket on the summer days. The only place I was ever ridiculously hot was Pennsylvania.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5382" LastActivityDate="2014-12-31T04:36:41.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7468" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2014-12-31T04:53:59.143" Score="10" ViewCount="836" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm preparing for a (solo if I can't find anyone to go with me) hike on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.greenmountainclub.org/the-long-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long Trail&lt;/a&gt; in Vermont. I thru hiked the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail (AT)&lt;/a&gt; starting in February, but Georgia is very warm compared to Vermont. The average temperature high in January is below 0F for much of the state. I'm hoping to hear from someone who has experience doing extended hiking and camping in temperatures that don't get above 0F and dip as low as -40F for weeks on end. I want to know how to be sure I can stay warm without taking way too much stuff, and some guidance on issues to watch out for. Here's my basic setup:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Staying Warm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0F Feathered Friends bag &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A merino blend sleeping bag liner &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A merino wool base layer &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Several synthetic base layers &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Primaloft light jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Couple layers of gloves &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy wool pants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-40F Sorrel boots &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy wool socks &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aether shell &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Silk scarf&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balaklava &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vaseline or fat to insulate any exposed skin &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wool cap &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire paste&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vaseline soaked cotton balls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multiple lighters and matches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dealing with the snow and ice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;22&quot; Snow shoes with teeth for climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crampons for boots &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski goggles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Communication&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight dumb phone with long lasting battery and extra battery pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Garmin etrek-20 GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PLB&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recco fitted gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of fatty meats and cheeses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sugars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you think I am reasonably well prepared? What can I do to lessen my chances of dying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5382" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:24:56.860" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:24:56.860" Title="Thru-hiking the Long Trail (Vermont) in late January" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;long-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7469" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2014-12-31T16:39:29.153" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vermont's &quot;footpath in the wilderness&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The oldest long distance hiking trail in America&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Built by the Green Mountain Club between 1910 and 1930, the Long Trail is the oldest long-distance trail in the United States. The Long Trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border as it crosses Vermont's highest peaks. It was the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail, which coincides with it for one hundred miles in the southern third of the state.&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-01-02T05:00:19.770" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T05:00:19.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7470" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2014-12-31T16:39:29.153" Score="0" Body="The Long Trail is a 273-mile hiking trail located in Vermont, running the length of the state. It is the oldest long-distance trail in the United States." OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-01-01T20:45:24.953" LastActivityDate="2015-01-01T20:45:24.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7468" CreationDate="2014-12-31T17:30:05.313" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some pointers and questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gloves: Layers are good. Have spares, as well as a set of mittens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wool pants: How water resistant are they? The greatest potential for problems would be from precipitation in temperature ranges from 32F down to +10F. You don't want frozen stuff melting into your trousers when cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorels: Is that -40F for active or sedentary? Mine are rated -40 when active. That could well be enough to get you through the trip, but if the bottom drops out, you might want the extra insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gaiters: Not on your list. Do your trousers go over the boot tops? I will hike all day in difficult terrain with just snowshoes and Sorels, but I get some snow in my boots. It's not a big deal for a day hike, but I end the day in a heated car driving home to a hot shower. You will want to minimize the amount of snow in your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoes: 22&quot; is quite small. It should be okay for a packed trail, but you will end up breaking trail. Most of the way, I would venture. At 220#, closer to 250 with gear, I have 35&quot; shoes. Depending on your weight, 27&quot; - 30&quot; would be minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crampons: Overkill, in my opinion. You have crampons on the snowshoes. Perhaps pack some sort of ice creepers for when you over going over icy rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GPS: My Garmin has more bells and whistles than the eTrex, but I do know that I get about 15-18 hours of life out of warm batteries. The GPS should probably go with your emergency gear, not be in daily use. You will be on a well known trail. I suspect it is easy to follow. Maps will be a better use of space than spare batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fatty meats: Sardines packed in oil. You may even learn to like them ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of a backpack consider a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hardwarestore.com/expedition-sled-147520.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sled&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="3426" LastEditDate="2017-08-15T14:10:34.917" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T14:10:34.917" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7472" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7475" CreationDate="2014-12-31T22:52:30.250" Score="4" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite searching the various online databases I cannot find any documented routes, reports of guides to ascending Mount Othrys / Gerakovouni.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help appreciated from people who have made the ascent or links to guides online.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T07:53:48.097" Title="What considerations are required for making a hiking ascent of Mount Othrys, Greece" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7391" CreationDate="2015-01-01T03:19:13.947" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have tested the 1443R multiple times from multiple roles and it has consistently resulted in water seepage through the fabric after having 200 pounds of weight on top of it (shelter + person). These testings were performed on wet ground, muddy ground, and wet grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are wanting to have tyvek that will work in all weather conditions, best to go with the heavier weight fabric. However for most dry weather conditions the 1443R is an excellent weight-to-protection ground sheet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the smaller body and lighter weight hikers are going to have less pound pressure on top of the fabric and thus less likely to have water seepage through the fabric. All of my tests were with 200 pounds on top of the 1443R fabric, as a baseline for testing. The standard tyvek handled 300 pounds without seepage. So depending on the wetness of the ground you tend to encounter and your overall sleep weight, that should give you a good insight into which to go with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-01-01T03:19:13.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2015-01-01T03:34:53.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your basis for this question is a bit out of skew with the &lt;code&gt;myself more at risk&lt;/code&gt; clause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between truly top end Merino Wool and lesser quality wool is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool_measurement&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;micron (µm)&lt;/a&gt; being used. The really good quality stuff, say, Icebreaker, uses the highest quality micron which results in a warmer garment that is able to handle ‘peripheral temperature regulation - and therefore &lt;a href=&quot;http://hikelighter.com/2012/04/01/what-is-core-temperature-how-important-is-it-what-you-need-to-do-and-know/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;thermoregulation&lt;/a&gt; - better for most outdoor activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, however we address the subject question you are asking, &lt;code&gt;Is department store merino wool less effective than branded (i.e. SmartWool) merino wool in staying warm and wicking moisture?&lt;/code&gt; than the answer to that, as explained above, is absolutely, &quot;YES&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will be highly superior in regards to helping you stay warm in a broader range of temperatures and helping 'wick away moisture' from your body through the Merino next-to-skin base layer and into your other base layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there is sooo much more to this question. What are your other base layers? Do they have a high enough &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisture_vapor_transmission_rate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MVTR&lt;/a&gt; to take the moisture from the next-to-skin layer to the second layer, and to the third layer, and out to the soft shell layer if the conditions require you to wear one. If just one of these base layer garments is not doing its job, you are going to sweat out the sub-layer garments, at which point none of this matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, anyway, yes, the top name Merino wool outdoor garments that use the ultra high micron wool are far better than some no-name random garment off the shelf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-01-01T03:34:53.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7472" CreationDate="2015-01-01T04:38:20.053" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There you go: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=8287543&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=8287543&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;In two languages, no less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f5ehY.png&quot; alt=&quot;three peaks of Othrys mountain walk&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A long trek to three peaks of Othrys mountain (Gerakovouni 1640 m, Gkiouzi 1725 m, Piliouras 1558 m). Distance 17,1 km, walking time 6.45, total time 8,5 hours. Start and finish on the asphalt road, about 2,5 km apart. On Almiros main road exit towards Platanos, at the bridge turn right towards 'Kofoi'. Approaching Kofi village, turn left towards 'Tsatali'. Excellent views if the sky is clear, no shade except a short section in fir forest (so better avoid walking in summer period), no drinking water fountain on route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-02T07:53:48.097" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T07:53:48.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7519" CreationDate="2015-01-01T16:00:29.730" Score="7" ViewCount="2951" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really enjoyed hiking in green, grass covered mountains in Scotland, especially Dalveen Pass.  Are there any mountains like that to hike in the US, especially in parks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Dalveen Pass&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BA5eA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5389" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-02T14:26:41.693" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T18:28:30.863" Title="Where in the US can I find green mountains to hike like in Scotland, such as Dalveen Pass?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7476" CreationDate="2015-01-01T22:24:28.593" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're looking for &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_balds&quot;&gt;balds&lt;/a&gt;. They are quite common in the southern Appalachians. The Roan Highlands along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina are particularly beautiful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-01-01T22:24:28.593" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7479" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-02T02:40:24.453" Score="8" ViewCount="1773" Body="&lt;p&gt;When doing my PADI open water course, including all the stuff around pressure groups and calculating maximum depth times by hand, I was told that I should always do my deepest dive first, and go shallower in subsequent dives in the day. When doing things with the pressure tables, that seemed to make sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week, while diving with a computer on a liveaboard, the PADI qualified instructor who was also the dive guide repeated the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When diving with a computer, does the &quot;do your deepest dive first&quot; rule still apply, and if so why? Or can I just rely on the dive computer to calculate how much time I can safely spend at each depth on each dive, and go to whatever depth on each subsequent dive makes most sense for the conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T07:29:58.493" Title="Does &quot;dive your deepest dive first&quot; still apply when using a computer?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7480" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-02T02:47:43.160" Score="13" ViewCount="543" Body="&lt;p&gt;This week, when diving mostly with people more experienced than myself, I noticed something about my buoyancy compared to theirs. I'm wondering how to fix it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before setting off, we all selected what seemed an appropriate amount of weights. Everyone (possibly after a small change) was able to achieve &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scuba-instructors.co.uk/padi-dive-skills-buoyancy-check-at-surface.htm&quot;&gt;eye-level buoyancy at the surface after breathing out&lt;/a&gt;, so I think we all had about the right amount of weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we'd reach our diving depth, and had put the right amount of air into our BCDs, we all seemed to be floating about level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around then, and later when swimming along at that depth, I noticed that the more experienced divers were pretty much staying exactly at that depth, not really varying at all. However, I found myself rising anything up to 2m higher as I breathed in slowly, and falling to up to 1.5m below them as I breathed out. My average buoyancy was the same as theirs, but it varied a lot more with my breath than for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I need to do / change to have my buoyancy change less at constant depth as I breathe in and out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1895" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-05T20:23:50.083" LastActivityDate="2020-05-12T17:22:56.240" Title="If my depth varies +- 2m when breathing in and out, what's going wrong?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7476" CreationDate="2015-01-02T04:18:05.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In northern California, after a rainy winter, much of the coast ranges are green and grassy, especially as you get further from the Pacific. But timing is very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the same region,  Pt. Reyes Nat. Seashore looks similar and stays greener, although it's not a very big area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AWQAh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T17:03:35.363" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T17:03:35.363" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7483" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7485" CreationDate="2015-01-02T09:10:10.317" Score="12" ViewCount="1358" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an experienced hiker/hillwalker and plan to tackle the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theskyeguide.com/walking-mainmenu-32/34-stretching/205-trotternish&quot;&gt;Trotternish Ridge&lt;/a&gt; on Skye , possibly a few other coastal walks, whilst also taking a reconnaissance &lt;em&gt;look&lt;/em&gt; at The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/cuillin.shtml&quot;&gt;Cuillin&lt;/a&gt;.  My plan is to spent 4-5 days on the island with wild camping for 3 of them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although an experienced hiker and Team Medic I have not spent a great deal of time between 600m and 1200m in Scotland.  &lt;strong&gt;Would May be an optimum month?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I understand that the primary concerns would be &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Scottish Midge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Changeable weather patterns made worse by coastal conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am hoping to have the best chance of &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low rainfall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Excellent morning and evening light for photography&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not particularly concerned with cold climate as I have the experience and equipment; however I get grumpy if I am not dry or being bitten.  ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T08:34:30.350" Title="Which month would be, on probability, the best month to trek on the Isle of Skye, Scotland?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7484" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-02T09:16:30.640" Score="18" ViewCount="251" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2015 I am planning to make a solo traverse of the Olympic National Park in Greece, including a summit of Mount Olympus.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a former soldier and team medic with considerable experience in the outdoors, although none of it on the Greek peninsula.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What conditions would affect my success in the month of June and what considerations might I  possibly overlook?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T14:12:47.580" Title="What are the primary considerations when trekking across the Olympic National Park, Greece including a summit of Mount Olympus?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7483" CreationDate="2015-01-02T10:26:39.817" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're going to have to take a chance. The west coast of Scotland (where Skye is) is the wettest part of the UK. If you're up there for 5 days, it might rain everyday regardless of time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.holiday-weather.com/isle_of_skye/averages/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;statistically, the driest time of the year is between March and May&lt;/a&gt;. This also has the advantage of being out of midgy season. &lt;strike&gt;I don't believe that&lt;/strike&gt;  Skye is badly affected by midgies; the sea wind tends to keep them down (when compared to, for example, the central highlands anyway)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spent a week on Skye a couple of years ago, in about March. It rained about 50% of the time, but the weather was warm and we walked in the Cullin's and Trotternish but we weren't camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;May would likely be a good month, though you're likely just as good either side of that, i.e. Apr-Jun. Be prepared for being wet still. As a backup I'd look into the youth hostels (there are several in Portree). That way you've got a good backup to get dry if worst comes to the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-26T08:34:30.350" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T08:34:30.350" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7424" CreationDate="2015-01-02T14:37:21.727" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it does not account for the difference between Canada and the USA, I'm pretty sure that one reason for the low numbers in Europe is that the latter has a lot of seasonal mountain pastures in active use, so livestock grazing keeps many slopes completely free of trees:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/T%C3%A4schalpe_%28Wallis%29_mit_Kuh.jpg/1280px-T%C3%A4schalpe_%28Wallis%29_mit_Kuh.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, the word &quot;Alps&quot; for Europe's main mountain range is related to the words for such pastures in German (alm/alpe) and French (alpage).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.773" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T14:37:21.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7476" CreationDate="2015-01-02T14:40:40.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your going to struggle. Let me explain why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scotland has a very different climate to the US. Scotland is a northern region warmed by the Gulf Stream. At the same latitude in the Americas the temperature is much much colder, think polar bears and ice flows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those green hills are the product of lot's and lot's of rain, shortish daylight hours, thin peaty upland soil and lot's a lot's of sheep farming. None of which I would argue is likely to be replicated in the US continental land mass. The UK is a small island and the US, well isn't...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people think of the UK uplands as wild untamed spaces, in fact most of it is intensively farmed and has been for thousands of years. If it wasn't for the sheep farms most of those hills would be covered in trees. The US, again, doesn't have this to the same extent because it has a lot more space. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do find somewhere it's likely going to have the following aspects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hilly (not mountainous)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High average rain fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Farmed (upland sheep farms)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low amount of sunshine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thin  soils unsuitable for intensive agriculture&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-05T15:00:44.113" LastActivityDate="2015-01-05T15:00:44.113" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2015-01-02T14:43:57.743" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a very, very common problem, perhaps the most common limiting factor among all climbers. It may be worse for you than for most climbers, but at least you realize it and wish to adress it, so you have a better chance of overcoming it than someone who pretends there is no problem!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, to really get used to falling, you need to take &lt;em&gt;far more&lt;/em&gt; than &quot;a few&quot; falls. We're talking about dozens, even hundreds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if the act of falling itself is not scary to you, maybe what will work best is what I've been doing recently: specifically train making moves that I'm not sure I can do without falling. To do that, I climb overhanging routes, where falls are least dangerous, yet you get pumped quickly and at the right grade you're almost guaranteed to reach a point where you're not sure you can stick the next move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, the combination of the factors &quot;Falling here is not problematic&quot;, &quot;Trying this risky move is what I'm here for!&quot; and &quot;Each second I spend worrying reduces my chances of succeeding&quot;, and having these mentally addressed in advance, is enough so I can push myself to actually try the move with minimal hesitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest advantage of this approach is that half the time, I actually &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; fall and instead (barely) succeed with the move. And that is, after all, the thing you actually want to achieve and therefore need to train!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2015-01-03T04:01:27.013" LastActivityDate="2015-01-03T04:01:27.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2015-01-02T18:22:04.357" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I think it was polypropylene, it was that cheap, hard, twisted stuff sold in hardware stores for general utility&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may find a larger hardware store sells a wider quality spectrum of plastic-based ropes.  Your best bet will be to browse stores until you find something that seems well-made, at a price you're willing to pay.  Hemp rope is an old classic, but can rot over time (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp#Cordage&quot;&gt;confirmed by Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;).  &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_rope&quot;&gt;Manilla rope&lt;/a&gt; is supposed to be resistant to rot, but you may find it prohibitively expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as specific rope, the cheapest durable rope I've found was marketed as &quot;anchor rope&quot; for small boats.  It had an incredibly high rated breaking strength, and was a reasonable price for a 100 foot spool.  It was a little small for good hand-gripping, but you could solve that with knots.  I found this particular spool in Wal Mart, but your local stores may carry something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For fastening, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch&quot;&gt;clove hitch&lt;/a&gt; will probably cinch less than a slipknot, but could shift around the branch.  A &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt; won't cinch at all, but will rotate around the branch, possibly abrading the rope and the branch.  My go-to knot for this kind of thing is &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_half-hitches&quot;&gt;two half hitches&lt;/a&gt; - which will cinch down, but will keep the rope fixed relative to the branch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5349" LastEditorUserId="5349" LastEditDate="2015-01-02T19:38:06.700" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T19:38:06.700" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1329" CreationDate="2015-01-02T18:35:00.107" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the time, if it's a public beach &amp;amp; you know how to build a bonfire &amp;amp; keep it under control, you should be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, a music festival in Whitby has had an unofficial beach bonfire twice a year &amp;amp; has had 1 visit from the Police in 20 years. They took a quick look at the fire, saw that it was being looked after by people who knew what they were doing &amp;amp; wished us a good evening &amp;amp; have not been back since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5395" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T18:35:00.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2015-01-02T19:01:17.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid eating sugary foods, the digestion of sugar tends to heat your core quickly, and then just as quickly your core temp goes back down. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat some cheese right before going to sleep. This does not have the problem that sugary foods do.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink warm liquids periodically during the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a small stove going at&#xA;night and occasionally wake up, heat some water, put the hot water in&#xA;a canteen/thermos, drink a little and then sleep with it in your&#xA;sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T19:01:17.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="29" CreationDate="2015-01-02T19:07:42.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Be aware of the difference between removal of harmful pathogens and removal of chemical contamination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harmful pathogens include amoeba, bacteria, viruses, and worms, and these are effectively destroyed by the following methods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;boiling water for 90 seconds kills all the above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;iodine and chlorine kills bacteria, worms and amoeba but not viruses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filters remove everything except viruses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can use any of the above as a &quot;blanket&quot; one-size-fits-all method for killing pathogens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The methods used for killing pathogens do not remove chemical contamination. The removal of chemical contamination is a different matter. First you must identify the contaminant. Depending on what it is, there may or may not be a method for leaching it out, it varies from one contaminant to another. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T19:07:42.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7494" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-02T20:11:23.730" Score="4" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning a trip to walk from Macugnaga (Italy) to Saas-Fee (Switzerland), probably as a 2-day hike over the Monte Moro pass through the Alps. The trip is planned for August 2015. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone done this route, and have any local details that might come in handy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5395" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-23T07:29:35.037" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T07:29:35.037" Title="Walking from Macugnaga to Saas-Fee" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-11-24T14:32:20.207" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2015-01-02T22:53:46.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For certain contaminants such as Giardia, it doesn't matter whether the water is running fast or slow. You will get infected regardless. So this idea about &quot;fast water&quot; is a myth that is not correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are drinking close to the source of streams and there is not any mining activity or industrial pollution nearby, then OF COURSE you are drinking clean water. Assuming horses and cows aren't defecating in it further upstream from you. The appearance of things in the water that you need to worry about is usually associated with activity from animals pooping in it or humans putting things in there that they shouldn't. Particularly when talking about cold mountain streams near their source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife is from a small town in the coffee-growing region of Colombia, and her family has always, and continues to, get their water by taking a bucket up to where the small springs shoot out of the sides of the mountains (the places where the springs are born). They don't boil or filter this water, they drink it straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T22:53:46.950" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7476" CreationDate="2015-01-02T23:26:05.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are specifically asking for is quite rare.  That is because any place wet enough to have the kind of grass you want will have trees.  There are vast grassy areas in the center of North America, but they are grassy because they are too dry for trees.  They don't look so lush and green except perhaps a few weeks of the year.  If they were so lush all year around, trees would be there instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are places sortof like that in the US, but you have to go far enough north so that trees don't grow due to cold.  The North Slope of Alaska is one such place.  In this case, &quot;North Slope&quot; refers to the north slope of the Brooks Range, which runs east-west in northern Alaska north of the arctic circle.  Check out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Here is a picture by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.panoramio.com/user/6908161&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GabrielGersch&lt;/a&gt; that I found by looking around Google Earth:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ijXJf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not as lush green as Dalveen Pass, but if it was it would have to be warmer and there would be trees there.  However, the vast open expanse is certainly there, even more so than Scotland seeing as ANWR is the size of all of Scotland, and that's just one part of the North Slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're willing to give up on some of the lushness, then there are more options.  Again, in North America lack of trees requires either that it be too dry or too cold for trees.  For example, here is the Laramie Valley in northern Colorado:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NnPaE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're OK with something like that, then there are many more options.  Check out some of the National Grasslands in the Great Prarie.  That won't be grassy as you are used to in Scotland.  This is real prarie, so the grasses are tall, and not so lush due to everything being drier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-01-02T23:26:05.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7500" CreationDate="2015-01-04T00:24:36.627" Score="10" ViewCount="2436" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a knot that can be used to hitch a rope to a pole without access to any of the rope's ends OR the pole's ends? I know of hitches that work in the one case or the other but not both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5406" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T16:36:29.883" Title="Hitch with no ends" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3257" CreationDate="2015-01-04T01:16:37.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also, On top of it all.. someone has to pay for advertisements as well. The more hype a company puts out, they need to make that money back which then raises there price of items. That's why Costco can sell things so cheap as well as purchasing so many at a time which then reduces the overall price for you. On top of that, you pay a membership fee at Costco (As do I). I actually just purchased 71% Merino wool socks from costco for hiking (4 pairs for 12 dollars) while I was about to click &quot;Buy&quot; on a website for 2 pairs of Smartwool PhD's for 50 bucks. Huge difference? Probably not.. Did I save 38 dollars and end up with double the socks that feel just as good? Yup. Comes down to preference. Also, Costco purchases name brand items and throws there &quot;Kirkland&quot; Logo on it. Just do your research. Great post by the way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5404" LastActivityDate="2015-01-04T01:16:37.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7498" CreationDate="2015-01-04T06:31:27.090" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For what purposes? For 'general' purpose, you should be able to get by just fine by making a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bight_%28knot%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;bight&quot;&gt;bight&lt;/a&gt; in your line, then tying any knot you'd normally use in your situation using the bight as your line. This is known as tying a knot 'in the bight'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the classic &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;bowline&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt; could be used with the rope doubled up &lt;em&gt;(aka; a double bowline)&lt;/em&gt;, as can two half hitches or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_bend&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;anchor bend&quot;&gt;anchor bend&lt;/a&gt;. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;rolling hitch&quot;&gt;rolling hitch&lt;/a&gt; may work if your knot needs to resist sliding along the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just be sure to leave plenty of slack on the free end to tie an overhand backup knot, or clip a carabiner or something to the free loop as backup to keep the knot from pulling out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NA3zH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://books.google.ca/books/about/Mountaineering.html?id=aySGSQAACAAJ&amp;amp;redir_esc=y&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T16:36:29.883" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T16:36:29.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7480" CreationDate="2015-01-04T11:31:36.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this means you are varying the volume of your body too much or holding a full breath too long. Try holding your chest in a more consistent position as you breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2015-01-04T11:31:36.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7502" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7505" CreationDate="2015-01-04T17:20:50.007" Score="8" ViewCount="11921" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I know very little about skiing and have only skied about 3-4 times. I would like to ski more this winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to purchase a ski set, but I don't know which one to get. Here is what I wanna do, most likely I want to do more of backcountry skiing, but I also would like to do random downhill skiing as well. So basically I would like to purchase something which might not be the best but good enough for both types of skiing . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read about telemark skis and they tend to do the both. Are there any other options out there? Are telemark as much fun as normal backcountry and downhill skis? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5408" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T13:29:59.313" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T13:29:59.313" Title="Ski set that does both downhill and backcountry?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7503" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7556" CreationDate="2015-01-04T17:34:33.940" Score="12" ViewCount="822" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading Hermann Buhl's tour book* of the Nanga Parbat expedition in 1953 (yielding to the first ascent on third of July, Buhl did the final ascent solo) I got curious about the height difference he made and therefore created following plot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UpXED.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So they needed 6 weeks to get the gear for the high camps up the mountain, struggling with the weather, Sherpas, expedition leaders and the gear itself.&#xA;Of course we can't compare nowadays expeditions to the old days and the expedition of Buhl was complicated but still I am asking myself&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this style of complicated looking height progression done nowadays too?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If so, is it done due to acclimatization?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How did acclimatization strategies change over the last decades in general?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The expedition of 1953 wasn't having the infrastructure modern expeditions have but nonetheless I am interested how the effects regarding acclimatization are. I would assume Buhl was extremely well acclimated when he started to go for the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*The book I read is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Achttausend-dr%C3%BCber-drunter-Tageb%C3%BCchern-Chogolisa/dp/3890293034&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, I am not sure but possibly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238371.Nanga_Parbat_Pilgrimage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; is a translation into English.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:06:49.830" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:06:49.830" Title="Acclimatization strategies" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7498" CreationDate="2015-01-04T18:42:06.760" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could do two half hitches using a bight in the cord. In fact, I would expect many (most?) hitches to work well using a bight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do this frequently when hanging a ridge line for my tarps using an overly-long cord and it holds well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2015-01-04T18:42:06.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7502" CreationDate="2015-01-04T19:31:19.313" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to telemark, there are randonnee, aka alpine touring bindings. These are basically regular alpine bindings, where the heel can be released, for climbing. When going downhill, the heel can be clipped back in, for greater support during steep alpine descents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Telemark skis usually aren't super great for climbing on their own, and usually require removable skins that are put over the skis for grip when climbing. When it's time to descend, the skins are removed. Whether telemark skis are fun or not will depend on the person, however, there are plenty of people that do it and think it is a lot of fun. The telemark turn is different and needs to be learned and practiced, and it is said to be a lot better on your knees, and brutal on your quads. You are also required to grow a big bushy beard if you want to telemark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither telemark or randonnee are as common as cross-country or alpine setups, but both are common enough that gear should be easy to aquire at reasonable prices, for example REI typically keeps both in stock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-01-04T19:31:19.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7503" CreationDate="2015-01-05T01:27:06.393" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The graph looks exactly like a bunch of graphs in House and Johnston, Training for the New Alpinism, pp. 334-337, except for the scale on the time axis. The ones in House and Johnston are for modern climbs that are not done in &quot;siege style.&quot; They even have one for Nanga Parbat, which covers a time period of about 35 days, from 3700 m to the summit. It looks like Buhl took about 50 days. So it looks to me like nothing fundamental has changed, and although Buhl may have taken somewhat longer because of the expedition style, he was already not that far away from the maximum speed that you can do, simply based on human physiology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did Buhl spend a significant amount of time waiting for good weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-01-05T01:46:12.633" LastActivityDate="2015-01-05T01:46:12.633" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7507" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-05T14:20:22.330" Score="14" ViewCount="6847" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Eqyd.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On both of my backpacks (40L and 100L) the construction is as in the picture. The shoulder straps are connected to the backpack body at some point &lt;code&gt;A&lt;/code&gt; on the back of the backpack. Separately, there are adjustment straps, that connect some upper part of the shoulder straps to the top of the backpack (those are different from the shoulder strap length adjustment at the bottom of the shoudler straps). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, if the adjustment straps are fully loose, the shoulder straps are attached to point A, and if they are fully contracted, the shoulder straps are attached to point B.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the purpose of this? How do I adjust them correctly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T19:21:39.333" Title="What is the purpose of the shoulder strap upper adjustment?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7507" CreationDate="2015-01-05T14:58:57.480" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the response I gave to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6477/2766&quot;&gt;a similar question&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....This is designed to slightly pull your shoulders back and evenly&#xA;  distribute the weight across your back (i.e. so that the weight&#xA;  doesn't simply sit on your lower back). Pull these tight so that you&#xA;  feel the weight move up slightly (to the middle of your back) and&#xA;  doesn't sit too low. You should feel your shoulders being slightly&#xA;  pulled straight and backwards (imagine your shoulder blades being&#xA;  pulled flat with your back, this should naturally adjust your posture&#xA;  so your shoulders are flatand your back straight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-01-05T14:58:57.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7498" CreationDate="2015-01-05T15:11:28.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Blake's Hitch&lt;/a&gt; tied with with a bight should work okay as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a tree climbing/friction/sliding knot very similar to a prussik or klemheist but without needing a loop for its structure. Tying it with a bight end and either 3 or 4 wraps (of a bight will create either 6 or 8 actual wraps) will allow the rope to grip the pole. Most people will put some sort of stopping knot in the end of the bight end but I've personally never had it come loose while tree climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastEditorUserId="3222" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T04:56:26.060" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T04:56:26.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7507" CreationDate="2015-01-05T16:15:46.417" Score="16" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Stabilizer/Load-lifter/Load-adjuster... Straps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are &lt;strong&gt;stabilizer straps&lt;/strong&gt;, also known as &lt;em&gt;load lifter&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;load adjuster&lt;/em&gt; straps. You typically have another set of stabilizer straps on your waist belt as well. These straps essentially prevent your bag from flopping around on your back and help balance the load, which will ultimately lift the weight of the bag off of your shoulders and better secure the bag to your back. If you really want to get a sense of how beneficial they are, try going for a hike with those straps completely slacked off, then compare that to hiking with them properly adjusted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your bag must be properly fitted &lt;em&gt;and packed*&lt;/em&gt; for the straps to be fully effective. Adjust the back length on your bag (if it is adjustable) so that the shoulder straps drop about 2&quot; (5cm) behind your back with the hip belt comfortably fastened around your hips. Then adjust the buckles on your shoulders for the stabilizer straps so that they are at about a 45° angle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rYbZr.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rYbZr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;*You want to balance the weight in your bag so that it will lean more &quot;towards&quot; your body than away from your body. One way to test if you've properly packed your bag (If your bag has a flat bottom), it to rest it on the ground to see how the load is distributed. If the bag sits upright or falls forward, then you have properly distributed your load. If it falls backward, then your bag is going to force you to lean forward more to balance, which will pull more on your shoulders and ultimately fatigue you faster, in which case it would be beneficial to repack your bag.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T19:21:39.333" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T19:21:39.333" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7502" CreationDate="2015-01-06T01:21:39.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on where you live and where you ski, but unless you've got solid enough skiing skills to manage ungroomed terrain at a resort, you'll struggle a lot backcountry skiing in a typical situation where AT or telemark gear would be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an entire range of gear from relatively light XC touring gear to full on Alpine setups that can be used for touring in the backcountry. The trick is to pick the gear that most closely matches your current skills and the terrain you&#xA;plan to ski. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without knowing more about your situation, I'd suggest spending a season focusing on improving your alpine skills and then maybe look into getting an appropriate AT setup. Learning on AT gear is not really a great idea. The release mechanisms aren't anywhere as near as reliable as regular alpine bindings and the gear is built around the idea that it's for relatively expert skiers who don't fall often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it may seen cheaper to just get one AT setup, alpine gear is often much cheaper. New AT bindings often twice the cost of basic alpine bindings. It's also much easier to get used alpine gear that is still in good shape. If you decide to stick with it, you can later have AT bindings put on your alpine skis. Or even get a plate that will allow you to switch bindings easily.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is almost impossible to answer without a lot more details about where and when you are skiing. It's also very important to get some appropriate Avalanche education if you are venturing into the backcountry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T15:25:30.957" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T15:25:30.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7513" CreationDate="2015-01-06T09:34:38.737" Score="13" ViewCount="3824" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was hiking with some friends and we concluded that most/all our bags have ridiculously long waist straps that leave lots of extra strap that is annoying or must be tidied away. Additionally, some of us have to have the strap as tight as it will go to make it vaguely tight. Given that many hikers are fairly slight, this seems quite bad design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a sensible reason why its like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:31.213" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:41:31.213" Title="Why are backpack waist straps so long?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7512" CreationDate="2015-01-06T09:45:28.370" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some reasons for the long waist straps are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most backpacks have only &lt;strong&gt;one size for everyone&lt;/strong&gt;, so the backpack must fit a short/ tall/ tiny/ big person. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It also depends what your wear for &lt;strong&gt;clothes &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; your rucksack&lt;/strong&gt;, if you wear it over a single shirt or over a big insulation-jacket. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;For alpine backpacks or traveling&lt;/em&gt;: the waist straps need to &lt;strong&gt;fit around the backpack&lt;/strong&gt; so you can clip them out of the way so they're not over your harness while climbing, or so they don't get caught on handrails, etc... while using public transport.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you &lt;strong&gt;wear gloves&lt;/strong&gt;, it's also handy to have the straps a bit longer than without gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some styles of backpacks you can find different sizes, these sizes include the length as well as the width of a person, which will offer a better fit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T07:21:48.880" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T07:21:48.880" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7514" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-06T12:33:41.477" Score="7" ViewCount="1518" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Felixstowe,+Suffolk/@51.9265855,1.705288,8z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x47d97635581d89a3:0x821bdd4b6b3e6df0&quot;&gt;Felixstowe&lt;/a&gt; in East Anglia.  It's rather flat around here - and we enjoy hill walking.  We've not been for a good walking holiday for some time, mainly due to having children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst we can get to the likes of the Peak District in around 4 hours for a holiday, I'd like to know if there are any localised hills that may not be well known outside of their particular area that are closer by to us that would potentially be a day trip away to introduce the kids to the type of walking we like, and see how they get on.  Ideally they'd be fairly rural, with some worthwhile views at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5413" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T11:00:47.120" Title="Hills closest to East Anglia" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7514" CreationDate="2015-01-06T13:37:00.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What about the Chilterns (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiltern_Hills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiltern_Hills&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Chilterns+Area+of+Outstanding+Natural+Beauty/@51.681974,-0.769593,8z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xdea1d4697751d669&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Relatively near&lt;/a&gt;, though not very high&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LEYeR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T13:12:21.160" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T13:12:21.160" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7514" CreationDate="2015-01-06T14:00:57.660" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you say it is rather flat around there. So you will be quite hard pressed to find any significant hills that close to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most obvious area that comes to mind is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiltern_Hills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Chilterns&lt;/a&gt;. Although, that is still a good 2 hour drive so probably too far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various websites provide possible hikes for a given location. If you look through some of these you may find something of interest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discoversuffolk.org.uk/walking-in-suffolk.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.discoversuffolk.org.uk/walking-in-suffolk.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/walking-map/Suffolk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/walking-map/Suffolk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/find-a-walk-or-route.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/find-a-walk-or-route.aspx&lt;/a&gt; (This one looks quite good but you have to sign up to actually view the routes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to use another one for hikes around London/south coast a couple of years ago, which was good, but I can't remember what it was called/find it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go some where with cliffs coastal walks can also be relatively hilly. If there is anyone more local to you on here they may be able to give more specific advice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T14:00:57.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7468" CreationDate="2015-01-06T16:04:46.280" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For an extended trip, one of your problems will be the accumulation of moisture in your insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would definitely get some kind of vapor barrier layer for your sleeping bag and at least try some vapor barrier socks. It is very important that you test your gear for a couple nights before you head out. Better to make your mistakes in the back yard than 10 miles from shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation from the ground is also important. I would recommend using two pads for your bag if at all possible. The higher R number you can get the better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have a windproof layer for your legs? IMHO, there are much better choices than wool pants these days. Wool outer garments are relatively heavy, dry slower than synthetics and don't provide much if any windproofness. If you really expect -40F, your sleeping bag is a bit on the light side, a pair of primaloft insulation pants would both help extend the range of the bag and provide useful insulation around camp. I would also want a thicker insulation layer than a single light primaloft jacket. Maybe add a vest as well, or get a&#xA;warmer jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a double layer sock system works well and you definitely want a backup pair of socks. Your feet and hands are the first to suffer in the cold and it can become impossible to do what you need to survive when your hands stop working. I can highly recommend these socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.techspun.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.techspun.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put a lot of thought and care into socks/boots/gloves/mittens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing to keep in mind is the historical January Thaw in NE. Constant cold is tough, but IMHO the hardest to deal with is when you get storms near the freezing point. Generally, when it's very cold you don't get much snow. But when you do get snow it will warm up enough that some kind of waterproof layer might&#xA;be required. The alternative would be to simply hole up during storms and wait out&#xA;the weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take every chance possible to dry out your gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't list what you intend to use for shelter and cooking. A small snow shovel can make a huge difference in creating a comfortable winter shelter. Snow is both an  insulator and building material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This book has lot's of great tips for winter camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762745851&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0762745851&quot;&gt;Allen &amp;amp; Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, while Vermont is not known for avalanches, you will be traveling in the terrain and season in which they could occur. Getting some basic education in avalanche hazards &#xA;( even just a simple slopemeter check ) would be advisable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T18:35:28.930" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T18:35:28.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7502" CreationDate="2015-01-06T16:08:43.810" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;AT (Alpine Touring, aka-randonnee) is quickly rising to be the most popular form of downhill skiing. There are still those die-hard telemarkers that will never switch, and they will out distance you on the flats, but hands down AT is best for back country downhill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buying skis is like buying shoes nowadays, what type you get depends a lot on what type of skiing you're going to do, if you're like me then you've got more than one pair of skis, one for all the different skiing conditions (or as many as your wife will let you get). The main differences in ski types are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flex, Length, Waist size, Sidecut, Rocker, and Camber&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Snowsports/SkisBootsAndSkins/BackcountrySkis.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;–– Mountain Equipment Coop has a good guide for choosing skis based on what type of a skier you are. ––&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just getting into it, then look for an all-mountain ski, which will preform adequately in all terrain. Once you start specializing in a particular type of snow–deep backcountry pow for example–then you'll want to get a wider ski with a bigger shovel and more rocker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wCqvs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wDyrT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T16:08:43.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7476" CreationDate="2015-01-06T16:58:10.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find grassy mountains in &lt;strong&gt;Colorado&lt;/strong&gt; in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanella_Pass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guanella Pass&lt;/a&gt;, but you may find that the air is a bit thinner up there than it is in Scotland:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Guanella Pass&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eqMJH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z3Iqd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SICUK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another place you'll find mountains very similar to the the Scottish mountains is in Newfoundland Canada:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Grand Codroy Valley&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g77fo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uCnMJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-06T18:28:30.863" LastActivityDate="2015-01-06T18:28:30.863" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7479" CreationDate="2015-01-07T16:13:08.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is yes.  Dive your deepest dive first is a safety mechanism that pairs with other safety mechanisms (like a dive table).  Using a computer (or any technology) does not obviate the need for all other safety mechanisms.  The computer replaces the dive table, not the safety rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T16:20:44.787" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T16:20:44.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7521" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7543" CreationDate="2015-01-07T18:04:35.533" Score="10" ViewCount="602" Body="&lt;p&gt;At an online shop I found a great deal for an avalanche shovel (14€). It's not a no-name brand, indeed it is a trustworthy German label. Still there are users complaining about the robustness of the shovel. Someone tested a brand new shovel and it directly broke while digging some tight snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because an avalanche shovel is relevant to safety and even surviving could depend on it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there some kind of standard or reliable quality criterion for avalanche shovels?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T20:04:23.490" Title="Quality/robustness of avalanche shovels" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7522" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7591" CreationDate="2015-01-07T19:07:11.473" Score="8" ViewCount="487" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it a matter of personal preference, or are there advantages to using different front-point setups on your crampons specific to what you are climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I'm still just getting into ice climbing and I have a pair of DMM Terminator crampons, which can be setup a variety of ways; &lt;strong&gt;dual front points&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;mono point&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;offset mono&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;mixed mono&lt;/strong&gt;. They also come with bolt on &lt;strong&gt;heel-spurs&lt;/strong&gt;, for doing things that I will probably not be doing anytime soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages to these different setups? I understand that mono points are preferred for mixed and dry ice climbing, I can see offset mono points being useful climbing overhanging ice or ice columns, but could someone please list exactly what these different front-point setups were developed for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8jGGX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T03:01:27.263" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T03:01:27.263" Title="What crampon front-point setup options are specific for various types of ice climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7521" CreationDate="2015-01-07T19:37:55.777" Score="7" Body="&lt;h1&gt;No there isn't.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it would be kinda nice if there was...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shovel is a shovel, they aren't a piece of fall protection or something that your life depends on. Someone &lt;em&gt;elses&lt;/em&gt; life may depend on your shovel, in which case it is important to ensure that the shovel you carry will preform when you need it to, but you'll have to use your own judgment when selecting an avalanche shovel. Cheap typically means cheap, invest what your friends lives are worth to you when purchasing an avalanche shovel, but when venturing out into avalanche terrain, what type of shovel someone has is less important than making sure that &lt;em&gt;everyone&lt;/em&gt; in your group has one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took a backcountry skiing leadership course where the certified mountain guide cautioned us on carrying questionable shovels. He told a couple stories about old mountain veterans that had their old trusty shovels they've been using for years and years, and said that it's not something that you should skimp on or neglect. If your shovel breaks in its time of need because it's old, worn, or just cheap, then it could mean that you're not going to get to your friend in tome before he runs out of breathable air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting too that a piece of gear–even a shovel–is only good if you use it properly. I broke my old avalanche shovel while trying to build an igloo out of bomb-shelter sized blocks I was prying from a wind drift that had a couple solid layers of ice in it. Needless to say that shovel got retired, and I invested in a smaller, more robust design from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryaccess.com/products/avalanche-safety/bomber-shovels/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BCA&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone likes to save money, but when it comes to safety equipment, ask yourself how much your life (or the life of a friend) is worth to you, and invest accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T20:03:11.643" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T20:03:11.643" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7521" CreationDate="2015-01-07T19:43:38.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there doesn't seem to be any standard in place for avalanche shovels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though an avalanche shovel has to be depended on in a life or death situation, there are plenty of cheap ones out there that would snap in half shoveling well-packed snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to avoid buying one online, and avoid buying any that have questionable customer reviews. If you can, buy one in person where you can pick up each one and compare the build quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spend twice as much time worrying about and inspecting your partner's shovel ( you aren't going out into avalanche terrain alone now are you? ) than your own, because if you're caught in an avalanche you won't be digging yourself out, your partner will be digging you out with the shovel that they brought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some more purchasing advice to peruse:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/snow-shovel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/snow-shovel.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T22:27:07.577" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T22:27:07.577" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7525" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-07T20:23:53.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obsessed with the gear of climbing as much, or more, than with climbing itself, the Widgeteer will routinely divert the majority of his or her paycheck to the purchase of draws, cams, stickclips, Big Bros, prismatic belay glasses, Ball Nuts, grip strengthening devices, crampons, rope bags, and so on. Ironically, though Widgeteers are well-versed in the intricacies of load distribution, impact force, and lobe geometry, they rarely have as keen a grasp of the physiological techniques of climbing itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use this tag when seeking knowledge or info about climbing gear or the use of climbing gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-07T21:56:08.120" LastActivityDate="2015-01-07T21:56:08.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7526" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-07T20:23:53.587" Score="0" Body="Widgeteering is the pursuit of obtaining every fancy piece of gear that you can, and knowing everything there is to know about them. " OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T10:52:56.140" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T10:52:56.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7527" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7528" CreationDate="2015-01-07T21:49:28.157" Score="13" ViewCount="2998" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the different types and diameters of accessory cords. I usually always get 7mm for making my prusiks and cordalettes, but I've often wondered who uses the smaller diameter stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I naturally assume smaller cord is used for friction knots on smaller ropes, but how small is too small? The answer given to this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5116/whats-the-minimum-diameter-cord-to-use-when-climbing-a-rope-using-a-prusik&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the minimum diameter cord to use when climbing a rope using a prusik&lt;/a&gt; , states that you should use cord for prusiks that is 2mm smaller diameter than your rope, with a minimum of 5mm, but who on earth is ascending 7mm ropes with 5mm prusiks? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are there so many different accessory cord diameters, and what are their intended uses in climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u1Cf0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T03:01:34.477" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T03:01:34.477" Title="Why all the different accessory cord diameters?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7527" CreationDate="2015-01-08T03:10:36.587" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in the bad old days, people used chocks for protection. These chocks or aluminum wedges came in many different sizes and each size had a different diameter hole in it. You bought the cord and chock separately, and tied the perlon cord in a sling using a fisherman's knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pA3n9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chocks with perlon slings&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, almost all chocks come with wire slings already installed. But manufacturers still continue to make perlon in all the sizes required for the old chocks. It is handy in that you can choose the lightest weight line for any given application if you have some idea of the load involved. However, I can't think of a use for the multiple sizes in any modern climbing situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perlon is a static nylon rope that has many uses outside of climbing. That explains why the manufacturers continue to make all those sizes. And climbing shops carried that stuff in the past, it is easier to just keep the sizes around rather than decide which to keep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-29T20:39:39.590" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T20:39:39.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7527" CreationDate="2015-01-08T09:45:11.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thinner diameter ropes such as these have a wide range of uses but are not primarily designed for climbing. See this description from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sterlingrope.com/product/458868/A050/_/5mm_Accessory_Cord&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sterling Ropes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These smaller cords can be used in a wide range of applications from tie-down straps to braided braclets and &lt;strong&gt;any other non-life-safety applications&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(emphasis mine) The main point is they are not designed for anything that is safety critical and load bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the range of sizes I suspect it costs them little more to manufacture a large range of sizes and they can be useful for different situations. Thinner ropes are lighter and can fit through smaller holes, whereas larger ropes feel more secure, are less prone to failure due to abrasion and can be easier to work/tie. I suspect most people will only use a selection of 2/3 sizes on a regular basis, but may want a specific size if they know what they need it for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T09:45:11.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7531" CreationDate="2015-01-08T09:55:48.333" Score="17" ViewCount="3651" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently in the mountains of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdonia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowdonia&lt;/a&gt; in thick snow. It was about 2 foot (about 0.6m) in places. It was a lovely day just after Christmas so it was quite busy too (even a few snow boarders on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carneddau&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carneddau&lt;/a&gt;). Everyone was postholing up the slope (me included). It was hard work!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hKYuE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It occurred to me that snowshoes would be perfect in this situation. At the same time it occurred to me that I have never ever seen anyone in the UK use snow shoes, or for that matter a shop sell them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a practical reason for this or is it simply because snow in the UK is so transitive?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that most of the slope was of a lesser gradient than above&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-22T23:48:02.243" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T23:48:02.243" Title="Why don't people in the UK use snowshoes?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7530" CreationDate="2015-01-08T10:31:00.180" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really interesting, and I think it might be similar to why we don't generally have snow tires / chains etc as a common item here in stores. Certainly the South rarely gets snow, with Wales, The North and Scotland being more likely to get snow days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the MET Office:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK gets on average 33 days of snow fall or sleet a year (1971 - 2000). Most of this is snow falling on higher ground where temperatures are lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also from the MET office:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much snow settles?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of this snow fall does not settle, and the figures for snow on the ground (snow lying) are much lower. On average across the UK there's only 16.5 days a year when snow is on the ground, compared to 27.7 days in Scotland. Again, most of the snow on the ground can be found in mountainous areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without going too in depth into marketing... stores are very likely to sell what they know a consumer is likely to buy, and in numbers. If you'll note snow shovels and sledges turn up in UK stores in winter and certainly in the South they are plastic, and not likely to be used (or last if they are!). They will sell well when people are going to &lt;em&gt;panic buy&lt;/em&gt; and therefore the quality can be low due to an unlikeliness to sell but not many people will panic buy snow shoes. The stores we have would prefer to cater to weather they can guarantee we will have... rain is more common all year round - you're more likely to find waders than snow shoes in our stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally if you want something that companies like Blacks, Millets (acutally owned by Blacks), Sports Direct, Go Outdoors, Trespass etc might consider specialised, you're better off buying online as they might not keep the items in stock, as here I would say they would very likely come under &lt;em&gt;seasonal stock&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a note Blacks (and others) have 'Snow Boots' but they certainly look more fashionable than servicable, being more like very winter wellies... So lack of continuous snow and availability would be why people are less likely to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/snow/snow-in-the-uk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MET Office UK Snow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T11:07:28.750" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7532" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boots come in 4 grades&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ungraded&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B1&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B2&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B3&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B2 boots will require a C2 graded crampon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7533" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" Score="0" Body="B2 graded boots are winter mountaineering boots. They typically have a stiffer sole than normal walking/trekking boots, are more insulated for use in snow/winter and are designed to take a crampon" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T10:55:23.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7534" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-08T10:58:56.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing or requesting standards for safety in a given field, such as diving, rock climbing, kayaking etc. This may vary in different geographical locations or by country standards, and would need consideration based on travel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T12:24:36.093" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T12:24:36.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7535" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-08T10:58:56.723" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing or requesting standards for safety in a given field, such as diving, rock climbing, kayaking etc." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T12:24:44.567" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T12:24:44.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7536" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-08T11:50:16.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to the different etiquettes of going to the toilet in the outdoors. In different climates, geographical locations and cultures this may vary, and differences in environmental factors and vegetation that can be affected by defecating out of doors would need to be considered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where, When and What to avoid type questions would come under this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T16:54:42.870" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T16:54:42.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7537" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-08T11:50:16.107" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to the different etiquettes of going to the toilet in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T12:24:51.027" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T12:24:51.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7538" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7539" CreationDate="2015-01-08T12:14:57.463" Score="18" ViewCount="14620" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, my best chance of survival is in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7217/what-is-the-first-thing-to-do-when-buried-in-an-avalanche/7221#7221&quot;&gt;not being buried&lt;/a&gt;, but if I am unfortunate enough to become buried in an avalanche what are my chances of surviving it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T01:51:56.290" Title="If you are buried in an avalanche will you survive?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;winter-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7538" CreationDate="2015-01-08T12:14:57.463" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been quite a few studies on this. There are various factors that will affect this, these include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Position in the snow: people upside-down sometimes live longer because the brain has more blood flow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment you may be carrying (aqualung, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Injuries or bleeding: if you bang your head you could be dead before the avalanche even stops, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Type of ground the avalanche happens on: people may not be able to safely get to you or you could be &quot;washed&quot; off a cliff, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baring the above your chances of survival are linked to the &lt;strong&gt;time spent buried under snow&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, the good news is you will likely survive under the snow longer than you think:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The only finding giving grounds for optimism is that the initial&#xA;  survival probability is much higher than previously assumed. Indeed,&#xA;  of the 123 skiers extricated within 15 min, only 8 were dead and,&#xA;  moreover, only 2 had died of asphyxia (extrication times 10 and 15&#xA;  min), whereas the remaining 6 skiers had all sustained fatal injuries&#xA;  during descent of the avalanche.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important time frame is the first 15-35 min:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The survival probability then plummets from &lt;strong&gt;92% at 15 min&lt;/strong&gt; to only &lt;strong&gt;30%&#xA;  at 35 min&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rate of survival then typically slowly decreases. One factor in this slowing of the death rate is the effects of the cold on metabolic rates:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is known that the snow cover prevents rapid hypothermia (maximally&#xA;  3 degrees C per hour) and that oxygen consumption decreases&#xA;  significantly with lowering of the body temperature and loss of&#xA;  consciousness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time you get to 130 mins the survival rate is only 3%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're lucky enough to survive intact in an avalanche, &quot;death is (typically) due to a combination of &quot;slow asphyxia&quot; and hypothermia.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the important thing to remember is to find and get people out as fast as possible (while still staying safe yourself). &quot;Professional help should be sought immediately after, but not during, the (15 min) critical phase.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As MichaelKjörling says below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you can summon help immediately after someone is buried in an&#xA;  avalanche, without leaving the site, I would argue that doing so is&#xA;  probably better. Cell phone, emergency light, radio, anything you have&#xA;  on hand to draw attention to the predicament. Even a ski stuck in the&#xA;  snow might very well help&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jGwBn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.avalanche.org/moonstone/rescue/avalanche%20survival%20chances.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind these are &lt;strong&gt;survival rates&lt;/strong&gt;, there is still a chance of potentially severe injury. Lack of oxygen to the brain can cause permanent damage, even if you do survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5425" LastEditDate="2015-01-08T20:54:09.070" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T20:54:09.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7530" CreationDate="2015-01-08T13:53:40.633" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the good answer by Aravona, there are two important reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow shoes are impractical on steep terrain because they put a lot of stress on your ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to buy equipment for going up snow-covered mountains, there is a much better solution: mountain skis with skins attached. Skins increase the grip tremendously.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Example:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lAFGi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;skier using skins&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skis with skins are better than snow boots because &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) skis have a larger surface area, so they sink less in deep snow&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) you have small metal objects you flip up under the heels of your ski boots, making it much less stressful on your ankles. The experience is similar to walking up stairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c) when you are finished going up, you remove the skins and can go very fast down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5423" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T13:53:40.633" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7541" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-08T16:29:10.643" Score="3" ViewCount="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me and my partner will be spending a week in February in the Lake District, UK (Monday to Friday).  We want to get as much walking in as possible and attempt a number of the peaks / ridges.  We are very aware that we will find heavy snow and cold temperatures and that crampons / ice axes are recommended for that time of year.  Neither of us have experience of using crampons and ice axes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've had a look at the local centers who offer courses, and they all offer 2 day courses where they show you how to use the equipment and how to stay safe.  However all the courses run at weekends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know of a mid-week course?&#xA;Or alternatively, does anybody know of a good guide we could hire for a few days to guide us on some of the hikes and show us the techniques along the way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5424" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T11:16:27.843" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T11:16:27.843" Title="Can anybody recommend a good mid-week winter mountaineering course or a good mountain guide in the Lake District, UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-01-12T00:03:23.073" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7538" CreationDate="2015-01-08T17:48:35.017" Score="11" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Only 1 out of 10 survive Avalanches&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are completely buried in an avalanche the odds of survival are slim, unless you wear a transceiver (beacon), and you have partners that escaped the avalanche who have the right gear (beacon receivers, probes, and shovels) as well as the experience from practicing with them to save you. Statistics show that the chances of them rescuing you alive are about one in ten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they do not die as a result of &lt;strong&gt;trauma&lt;/strong&gt; by hitting trees and rocks on the way down (around a quarter of avalanche victims die from trauma impact injuries) completely buried victims begin a desperate race against time as &lt;strong&gt;asphyxiation&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;hypothermia&lt;/strong&gt; set in, and the statistics show that &lt;strong&gt;only 28 percent of avalanche victims that do not die of trauma survive being buried&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may have heard that you should spit and see which way the saliva runs across your face to try and figure out which way is up, then dig in that direction, but typically it doesn't matter which way is up because you will be effectively entombed, as if frozen in concrete and unable even to move your fingers, so it is highly unlikely that you can dig yourself out. In the vast majority of cases there are only two ways for completely buried victims to get out of the snow - to be dug out (are you wearing a transceiver?) or to melt out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;It was once believed that you had just a 50 percent chance of being dug out alive if found and rescued within 30 minutes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, but as rescue times have become shorter and shorter it seems &lt;strong&gt;you need to be dug out much faster than that to have a good chance of survival&lt;/strong&gt;. Statistics now show that 92 percent of completely buried victims can be revived if recovered, within the first 15 minutes, but only 27 percent are alive after 35 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most contemporary research shows that around half of the victims are dead within the first 25 minutes. Bear in mind also that brain damage starts well before death - perhaps at 10 minutes for the average victim - and there are plenty who emerge unconscious and blue-faced when dug out after only five minutes. The pressure of the snow packing itself can easily squeeze the air out of your lungs, effectively suffocating you in a very short amount of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are buried more than 6 feet deep, your odds are almost 0%. It is unlikely that you can be dug out in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are alone and caught in an avalanche, or your entire groups is caught and buried, you will most certainly not survive. The &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; chance an avalanche victim has of surviving complete burial is &lt;strong&gt;IMMEDIATE RESCUE&lt;/strong&gt;. If no one witnesses the avalanche, or the witnesses are not equipped to mount a rescue, and have to go for help, then the situation quickly transforms into a body retrieval effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source: Bruce Tremper, Author of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.ca/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h6GFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T01:51:56.290" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T01:51:56.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7521" CreationDate="2015-01-08T20:04:23.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2008/4/print/78-87%20%28zwischen%20himmel%20und%20hoelle%29.pdf&quot;&gt;this article in the bergundsteigen journal&lt;/a&gt; (unfortunately in German) the authors, one of whom is a known Swiss expert in the development of avalanche rescue systems and techniques, did a review of a bunch of avalanche shovels. As they do not cite any norms that these shovels must comply to but comment that some manufacturers seemingly don't even test their products under realistic conditions, I guess there is no such norm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background of this review was that during a test of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2007/4/print/76-79%20%28schaufel%20strategie%29.pdf&quot;&gt;shoveling strategies for avalanche rescue&lt;/a&gt; (same source, also German) they encountered several shovels that broke during the test after only rather moderate use time. Hence they obtained some shovels from various manufacturers to test them in practice. The (at least to me) surprising outcome was, that more than half of the tested 11 products were more or less only suited for one-time use, i.e. they developed serious signs of wear during use – cracks in the blade, bent shafts and the like which would not qualify the shovel for further use. One product failed so much that they qualified it as unsuitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite some ergonomic considerations they stress the importance of one key fact: durable models were all made of 6061 aluminum with T6 temperature hardening. Only if those two properties are &lt;em&gt;explicitly&lt;/em&gt; specified (not just something generic like &quot;special hardened aluminum&quot;) one can expect a shovel that lasts for more than just one or two employments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-01-08T20:04:23.490" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7479" CreationDate="2015-01-09T04:54:11.077" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reverse profile dives are not taboo as they were once thought:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scubadiving.com/training/basic-skills/deepest-dive-first-not-anymore&quot;&gt;Deepest Dive First? Not Anymore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan your dives and dive your plans.  Going shallow and then deep should be fine as long as you don't push the limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, there are times when deep first can be better logistically.  For example I can do a deep dive on double 80s and use half my gas with half my gas for emergency.  Then on a second shallow dive I can dive for as long as my gas will allow.  I wouldn't have nearly as much  reserve gas for my deep dive if I did it second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5432" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T04:54:11.077" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7479" CreationDate="2015-01-09T07:29:58.493" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many discussions going on around this.  Just remember the decompression models are theoretical mathematical models, backed by practical dives/research. We implement some rules for safety, like slower ascend rates, deep stops, safety stops, deep dives first, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember many factors determine your ability to on and off gas from day to day.  The big problem is that we are still collecting data to compare theory with practical, and as more data is analysed and more research is done we understand decompression better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So basically doing a deeper dive after a shallower dive or doing two deep dives on same day is not a problem. But it might be if coupled with other factors like for example, if you are dehydrated, ascend rates where very fast, you dived to the limits, short surface intervals, lots of body fat, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice, do not always push the limits. :) And do not stress if you once in a while do deeper dives after shallow dives. Computers work the same for everyone but not everyone is the same. that is why on a dive 10 people may have no symptoms of DCS and the 11th person might.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T07:29:58.493" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7480" CreationDate="2015-01-09T07:35:33.180" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, it's very nice to see someone do the eye float thing :) But this should be done on an &lt;strong&gt;near empty&lt;/strong&gt; cylinder (50 bar). Else you are perfectly weighted with about 2kg of air in your cylinder (single cylinger) and at the end of your dive you are 2kg lighter, and therefore might struggle with safety stops, ascent rates, etc. (2kg is just an estimate; depends on cylinder volume and pressure. Air weights about 1.2466km/m3). Also remember the eye level buoyancy check states - &lt;strong&gt;float&lt;/strong&gt; at eye level while &lt;strong&gt;holding&lt;/strong&gt; a normal breath, then as you breathe out you should descend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On to the actual question. By regulating how much air you breathe in and out, you can regulate how much you rise and fall with each breath. This is easy to practice in shallow dives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Set your buoyancy to neutral at, say, 5m and then swim in a straight line, keeping to that depth by regulating your breathing. Then once you get that right, adjust your depth with your breath only between 4m and 6m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a fun exercise and will improve air usage and buoyancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="8833" LastEditDate="2017-06-02T12:52:46.550" LastActivityDate="2017-06-02T12:52:46.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7421" CreationDate="2015-01-09T08:20:11.630" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I shall have to call bullshit on this. I personally forgot to hook up my dry suit inflation hose many years ago and sank to 36m (4.6 atm) in cold UK waters. Where I suffered from serious love bites (dry suit squeeze). Luckily my buddy figured out what I was trying to imply and attached my hose for me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cuffs would not cut you no matter the pressure as there is no air between cuffs and your wrist. The issue is with rest of the suit where the squeeze leaves beautiful purple marks as the air sucks blood through the skin (love bites).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as an add-on: People are diving dry suits over 300m and if your skin was cut at 10m (2atm) imagine what would have happened at 300m (31 atm) :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T12:59:50.307" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T12:59:50.307" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7548" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-09T08:27:09.457" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about learning or improving a skill or becoming more fit in an organized manner through working with an instructor, or with an expert friend, or taking a group course, or following a course in, e.g., a book, a video or online. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tag covers a vast area of How To, When To and What to look for questions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T16:41:53.930" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T16:41:53.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7549" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-09T08:27:09.457" Score="0" Body="Questions about learning or improving a skill or becoming more fit in an organized manner through working with an instructor, or with an expert friend, or taking a group course, or following a course in, e.g., a book, a video or online." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T16:41:58.243" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T16:41:58.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7480" CreationDate="2015-01-09T12:09:27.583" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't mention if you are adding/removing air from your BC while doing this. It sounds like you may be overweighed and compensating by having too much air in your BC. As you breath in you displace more water and rise a little.  This causes the air in your BC to expand lifting you higher and magnifying the effect.  Same happens exhaling. You descent, the air compresses and you descend more.  This is known as &quot;yo-yoing&quot; in reference to the popular child's toy that goes up and down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's hard to say for sure without seeing you so either consider taking a class such as peak performance buoyancy,  diving a lot while working on your weighting, buoyancy and trim skills and/or finding a mentor to help you with this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5432" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T12:09:27.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7551" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-09T14:20:00.097" Score="3" ViewCount="8698" Body="&lt;p&gt;The old saying goes that &lt;code&gt;Innuit have a 1000 names for snow&lt;/code&gt; (as @venture2099 says this isn't actually true but you get my point). This kind of makes sense to describe the various states and types of snow you get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can name a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Neve&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grappel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind slab&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rime&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hoar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other names for snow exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;English only please, don't just say &quot;snow&quot; in as many languages as google translate will let you...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T19:31:54.093" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T20:18:01.647" Title="1000 names for snow" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-01-12T13:36:58.397" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7551" CreationDate="2015-01-09T14:54:36.760" Score="6" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Firn/névé:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow consisting of several millimeters sized grains that develop by repeated melting in the sun and freezing over again during the night. Typically occurring in late winter and spring when the temperatures rise again or – in higher altitudes where snow exists all year – during summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Powder:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the name says, very fine-grained snow that fell at rather cold temperatures (I would guess something like -5 to -10 degrees Celsius).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;sticky snow:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow that fell at temperatures around zero degrees Celsius. Heavier than powder and sticks together when compressed – good for building snow men and snowball fights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;harsh (Does this word exist as a noun in English?)/snow crust:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hard and thin, ice-like surface on softer snow underneath. Forming mostly on powder that whose surface was slightly molten during the day and froze over again in the night. Especially annoying if it is not thick enough to hold the weight of a person as moving (skiing, snowshoeing, walking) under such conditions is quite exhaustive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;hardpack/wind slab (Don't know if necessarily the same?):&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;snow that was carried away from its initial place and deposited somewhere else. Through the wind it is mostly quite compact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T14:54:36.760" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-01-09T14:54:36.760" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7551" CreationDate="2015-01-09T15:26:44.530" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_pellets&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sleet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As snow descends through the atmosphere and the air warms it melts and turns back to liquid (rain). If rain or partially-melted snow falls through a layer of sub-freezing air, sleet forms as small pellets of ice. So while not all sleet is still snow, some it may only be partially melted to the point that you may still consider it as such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleet is the American terminology. This phenomenon is referred to as ice pellets in the rest of the Angloshpere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The French term is &lt;em&gt;neige fondue&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastEditorUserId="3426" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T18:27:20.707" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T18:27:20.707" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7551" CreationDate="2015-01-09T16:44:24.190" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on how strict your definition is...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Windrow&lt;/strong&gt;: The pile of snow along the edge of the road left behind by a snowplough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2012/12/31/how-many-words-for-snow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this list&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://poetry-contingency.uwaterloo.ca/fifty-five-english-words-for-snow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.  Not every word on these lists might apply to your question, but I'm sure you'll find a lot of good ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5437" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T16:44:24.190" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7551" CreationDate="2015-01-09T20:09:43.753" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skiiers have many words for snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Packed Powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glare Ice (If you dig in, you can catch an edge on ice, but not on glare ice.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crud (Used to be powder, but then it got warm and partially melted, then it re-froze. You sink through it almost like powder, but it's heavy and hard to ski through.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Corduroy (That's the fresh tracks left by a grooming machine. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Corduroy%20snow&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;See some pictures here.&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slush&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mashed potatoes (This is typical of late spring skiing: it's not so much snow as bits of ice, maybe 2-3 mm in diameter. It's hard to turn, you end up sinking in with each turn, so you often have to muscle around large quantities of snow with each turn.) (Reading the other answers, it sounds like this is the same thing as &quot;Firn/névé&quot;. That definition mentioned repeated melting/freezing, which is definitely what happens in the late spring.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sugar snow (Powder that isn't sticking together at all.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5443" LastEditorUserId="5443" LastEditDate="2015-01-09T21:32:01.657" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T21:32:01.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7503" CreationDate="2015-01-09T20:10:34.520" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to assume your question is geared towards high altitude (20,000+ ft) climbing. Haven't done any myself but this topic is covered at length in almost every book written regarding Everest and the other 25k peaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this style of complicated looking height progression done nowadays&#xA;  too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common mantra for high-altitude acclimatization is &quot;climb high, sleep low&quot;. A modern graph of a typical climber on Everest would follow a similar pattern, yes. The amount of oxygen in the air decreases as you climb up. Sleeping lower than you've climbed is the best way for your body to recover from the shock of taking in less oxygen during the stress of the ascent. During the night you'll be inhaling a greater percent of oxygen than during the day. It's similar to exercise training using heart rate intervals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If so, is it done due to acclimatization?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primarily due to acclimatization, yes. To a lesser extent, it is used to fix ropes and stash gear (oxygen, fuel, food, sleeping accommodations). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How did acclimatization strategies change over the last decades in&#xA;  general?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not much. &quot;Climb high, sleep low&quot; fundamentally hasn't changed. Its the most scientifically proven acclimatization strategy. There isnt much agreement as to why some acclimate better than others from a genetic or preparation standpoint for most of the population living at &amp;lt;5000 ft. There are some medications which will alleviate the symptoms of high altitude sickness, but in a sense they dont really acclimate you any better. I've also read about some sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buhl is considered a forbearer of modern &quot;alpine style&quot; climbing, in his day norm for climbing 25k+ peaks was to &quot;siege&quot; the mountain with an over-abundance of porters, gear, and camps, gradually establishing camps up the mountain. This typically took several months. &quot;Alpine style&quot; climbing took over in the 70s, led by Reinhold Messner. The general idea is to climb light and fast, establishing less camps and minimizing the time spent above base camp. It's certainly possible that an elite modern climber could progress straight up - but many expeditions now are guide/client (especially on Everest) and in these cases they normally have 3-5 camps above base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good overview of altitude sickness and best practices to acclimate can be found on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/altitude.html&quot;&gt;Princeton's website&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, +1 on the graph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5441" LastActivityDate="2015-01-09T20:10:34.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7551" CreationDate="2015-01-09T23:12:41.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's an excellent ski term glossary &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20150101220035/http://tetonsandwasatch.com/glossary/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; from the Tetonsandwasatch blog, which includes words for snow, some of which I find hilarious. Some of my favorites:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chunder&lt;/strong&gt; – Generally, chopped up, bad – even heinous – snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Corn&lt;/strong&gt; – Granular snow formed by repeatedly melting during the day and&#xA;  freezing at night.  It’s generally icy at night; the ‘corn’ appears as&#xA;  the snow warms with daytime heating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Facets&lt;/strong&gt; – Snow which has undergone metamorphosis, such that the&#xA;  crystals are poorly bonded together.  Often compared to sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Glom&lt;/strong&gt; – 1) A nasty condition in which accumulated material, usually a&#xA;  combination of semi-frozen, frozen, and melting snow, sticks to&#xA;  everything, particularly one’s skins as they attempt to ascend, thus&#xA;  resulting in ‘glomming.’  2) Amalgamation of various food items which&#xA;  end up in the cooking pot on a camp stove.  Best served with hot&#xA;  sauce! To learn to protect against glom, look here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Graupel&lt;/strong&gt; – Precipitation that is created by the interaction of droplets&#xA;  of water condensing on a snowflake, creating a ball of rime. Best&#xA;  represented by images of ball bearings or tiny styrofoam ball filling&#xA;  material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pow&lt;/strong&gt;, powder – Snow of a low density.  Has many names, types, and&#xA;  varieties: gunsmoke, cream, fluff, air, bottomless, gnar gnar (often&#xA;  used by powder technicians), champagne, and many more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rime&lt;/strong&gt; – A type of snow that has typically been wind blasted into place&#xA;  with such other factors present that it can hold on to vertical&#xA;  objects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sastrugi&lt;/strong&gt; – Snow that has been shaped and affected by the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snain&lt;/strong&gt; – A barely frozen snow which is a lot like rain. Or vice versa –&#xA;  a frozen rain that’s a lot like snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snice&lt;/strong&gt; – Snow that’s got plenty of ice content.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snirt&lt;/strong&gt; – You guessed it – snow that’s got plenty of dirt in it. Or dirt&#xA;  that has a little snow upon it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3280" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T20:18:01.647" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T20:18:01.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7530" CreationDate="2015-01-10T00:45:13.897" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snowshoes are available in the UK, but generally you have to go to more specialist mountaineering shops. I doubt any of the high street chains stock them, instead look at the smaller independent shops. Especially those shops located close to mountainous areas, where snowshoes could be more useful.&#xA;eg&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.braemarmountainsports.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;amp;cPath=288_344_395&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Braemar Mountain Sports&lt;/a&gt; have a few models&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.icicle-mountaineering.ltd.uk/icicleshop%2Bsnowshoe.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Icicle&lt;/a&gt;, in Windermere, claim to have the largest range of snowshoes in the country&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Winter-Climbing-Equipment/Snow-Equipment/Snow-Shoes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Needle Sports&lt;/a&gt;, in Keswick&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or Decathlon list a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-593222-snowshoes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reasonable range of snowshoes&lt;/a&gt;, including several own-brand Quechua models (fairly cheap). This is probably because Decathlon are a French company. And I suspect they won't have many of these in store, you would have to order online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, it may be best to buy online. It seems the MSR snowshoes are quite widely available from UK online shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2015-01-10T00:45:13.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7559" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-10T20:29:32.813" Score="6" ViewCount="380" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any recommendations about how to use a poncho to get shelter from the wind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking about wrapping some cord around my waist to hold it in place, but maybe there are better options (that don't require any extra item for instance, or more effective ones).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:54:08.087" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T01:54:08.087" Title="How to use a poncho in high winds?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2015-01-11T03:06:27.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, stop climbing. Your connective tissues are not ready for it. Active rest (easy climbing/easy training) and rehab/prehab for your fingers, wrists, forearms, and upper body in general will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at it this way, however long you have had the injury/been feeling pain, you will need to rest and rehab your joints/connective tissue for the same amount of time until you are even back to normal. For example, if you've been injured for 8 weeks, then you will have to rest and rehab for 8 weeks to get back to neutral, if you will (before you were injured) before you can even start to increase your strength. Connective tissue takes a long time to heal (around 10x longer than muscle). It's not fun stuff, but you just have to be patient, consistent, and not rush it, otherwise, you'll just stay injured, be unable to train optimally, and possibly make it worse until it gets to the point where you do permanent damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people will just say climb less, or climb less intense routes, but that's not enough. It's gotta be comprehensive. We deal with the same stuff in gymnastics. It takes years to develop not just our skills, but the strength of ALL our tissue (muscles, bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, etc.). That's why rushing things like iron cross training can cause injuries. The muscles might be strong enough for it, but the connective tissues are not, which is where you run into problems. It shouldn't be painful after climbing. If it is, you're just not ready for it yet and need to back off and start over. That doesn't mean your training and climbing should be easy, but there's a huge line between pushing yourself and hurting yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep that in mind.&#xA;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5447" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2017-07-05T15:42:55.593" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T15:42:55.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7562" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-11T16:45:54.287" Score="6" ViewCount="222" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to get some B2 boots, but am having difficulty getting a good fit. I tried Scarpa Manta's but my heel kept lifting. I think the issue is that my ankles are quite narrow. Does anyone have any good advice for getting better fitting boots or is it just a case of trying a range of brands? Are some brands known to make narrower boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-01-11T20:43:12.533" Title="B2 boots for narrow feet" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;b2-boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2015-01-11T20:28:55.500" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've unsuccessfully used elastic bands and duct tape.  Elastic bands break or slip off, and duct tape left a sticky residue.  I now use Web Dominator, an excellent strap management system using a small plastic clip with shock cord attached.  Here's a post describing my experience:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://packinglighttravel.com/travel-tips/health-safety-and-comfort/tame-dangling-straps-web-dominator/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://packinglighttravel.com/travel-tips/health-safety-and-comfort/tame-dangling-straps-web-dominator/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5449" LastActivityDate="2015-01-11T20:28:55.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2015-01-11T20:39:32.277" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry two colours and widths of duct tape when I travel.  The narrow black is wrapped around a short piece of pencil with paper clip wire inserted to create a key fob that can be attached to my daypack.  Wider transparent tape is wrapped around a plastic hotel room key with a hole drilled in the plastic to attach to my backpack with a carabiner.  Here is my experience in a post:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://packinglighttravel.com/travel-tips/travel-gear-hacks/travelling-duct-tape/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Travelling with duct tape&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5449" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T12:25:02.243" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T12:25:02.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7562" CreationDate="2015-01-11T20:43:12.533" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;While some brands may be known for narrower boots, this also depends on the last[1] they use for a particular model.  La Sportiva boots are often considered to be narrow and low-volume compared to Scarpa, but there are also differences between the lasts they use for their Trango vs. their Nepal lines of boots.  (The Nepal last is wider than the Trango.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't able to find a model that works, you may be able to improvise.  A few weeks back my girlfriend's bootfitter added foam under the tongue of her ski boots to help reduce her heel lift.  It occurs to me that this the same idea behind the extra tongue supplied with the Nepal Evo's, and so you might be able to do similar with whichever boot you end up buying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final idea you might try is using a women's boot (assuming you are male).  La Sportiva's FAQ says &quot;Our women’s models have a wider forefoot to heel ratio compared to our men’s shoes and are narrower, straighter and lower cut heel and have less volume overall&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] A roughly foot-shaped form used to design the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-01-11T20:43:12.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7566" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-11T21:43:58.710" Score="7" ViewCount="117" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the United States, many &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_%28United_States%29&quot;&gt;national monuments&lt;/a&gt; are managed by the national park service, but not all.  For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/grand_staircase-escalante.html&quot;&gt;Grand Staircase-Escalante&lt;/a&gt; in Utah and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/content/mt/en/fo/umrbnm.html&quot;&gt;Upper Missouri River Breaks&lt;/a&gt; are both managed by the Bureau of Land Management.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From an outdoor recreation point of view, is it relevant who manages a national monument?  Does it make any differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:44:04.090" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:44:04.090" Title="From an outdoor recreation point of view, does it matter who manages a national monument?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-monuments&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2015-01-11T21:56:30.163" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/rockhoundstatepark.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock Hound State Park&lt;/a&gt; near Deming, Luna County, South-Western New Mexico, USA, you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; allowed to collect rocks.  This is highly unusual.  I read it in various sources.  The state park website seems very limited, but from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/rockhound/home.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was established in 1966 as the first park in the United States that allowed collecting of rocks and minerals for personal use. Each visitor is allowed to collect as much as 15 lb (6.8 kg) of rocks and minerals from the 1,100-acre (4.45 km²) park; mineral dealers are not allowed to collect for sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if your ways ever pass through southern New Mexico (and why wouldn't they?), feel free to fill your backpack with small rocks at Rock Hound State Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2015-01-11T21:56:30.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7566" CreationDate="2015-01-12T12:09:47.870" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;From an outdoor recreation point of view, is it relevant who manages a&#xA;  national monument?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Yes!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several resons why it's important who manages the land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a start they control how the land is &lt;strong&gt;managed&lt;/strong&gt;. Should it be farmed, should it be left to nature, should x area be allowed to flood or should we repair the dykes, etc., etc. This has a massive say on what the land looks like and who wants to use it for what.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Access&lt;/strong&gt; can be contentious issue. Who is allowed to do what and when. The people managing the land will likely have the biggest say in this. For example the issues around &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accessfund.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=tmL5KhNWLrH&amp;amp;b=5071835&amp;amp;ct=7922795&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;climbers having access to Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; has become a big issue in which the climbers are in often direct opposition to the park authority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These authorities will also &lt;strong&gt;maintain&lt;/strong&gt; areas of the park. They are typically responsible for making sure footpaths are accessible, camp sites, clean, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different agencies are likely to have differing views on what is important in a particular area. They are also likely to be effected to various pressure groups (such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BMC&lt;/a&gt; as a UK example) and have differing budgets for the areas. How these agencies address these issues is bound to vary between agencies, if not members in said agencies. So it's vitally important that the correct people (from you point of view) are in charge of the correct areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that these &lt;em&gt;&quot;wildernesses&quot;&lt;/em&gt; are actually managed areas. Historically many of the parks were created to &lt;em&gt;&quot;preserve the wilderness of the american west&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. This actually &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yosemite_area#Mariposa_Wars_and_legacy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;involved kicking out all of the native american people&lt;/a&gt; who had lived and managed the areas for generations. The new parks, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yosemite_area#Human_impact&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;effectively changed the wilderness they were attempting to preserve&lt;/a&gt;. The environment is constantly evolving and this is constantly being managed by some agency or other. So they have a great deal of input into the park's look, feel and environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-12T17:27:23.603" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T17:27:23.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7559" CreationDate="2015-01-12T13:15:58.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen people wear ponchos with a belt around the midriff, it looks cool. Ultimately it's probably not the best garment in high wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try sewing in elastic draw cords.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T13:15:58.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7566" CreationDate="2015-01-12T14:36:30.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it doesn't matter &lt;i&gt;much&lt;/i&gt;.  The regulations for what can be done in a national monument or park (the only difference between the two is that one is established by presidential edict, the other by act of congress) are pretty strict, so there won't be huge differences in what you are allowed to do in one national monument compared to another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, each different park or monument is run by different people who will invetably make different decisions about details.  However, more significant differences arise due to the nature of the park/monument itself.  Yosemite is relatively small, particularly the valley, and close to major population centers.  As a result, it gets a lot of visitors, and this can't be ignored in formulating detailed policy.  For example, the numbers of people in the valley are limited, and you need a permit to stay overnight in the back country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grand Staircase / Escalante, in contrast is large, farther from large populations, and the main attractions more spread out.  There is no attempt to limit numbers, even in the most popular places like the Dry Gulch slot canyons.  It's far enough and hard enough to get to that the numbers of visitors is way less than Yosemite Valley, so management policies can be much looser.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general feeling is that the BLM is more laid back about things than the Park Service, but that is really hard to measure because of the kinds of lands the two agencies manage and what they are charged with.  Would the Park Service manage Grand Staircase / Escalante all that differently?  It's really hard to say since comparing it to places like Yosemite and Yellowstone is apples to oranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The BLM manages so few parks/monuments that it's hard to say whether there is a significantly different philosophy compared to the Park Service &lt;i&gt;for lands that are mandated to have the same level of protection&lt;/i&gt;.  My personal impression is that there isn't much difference.  The few parks/monuments the BLM does manage are more out of the way and less major tourist attractions than many of the Park Service parks/monuments.  To make any kind of fair comparison, you'd have to look at Park Service parks/monuments that are also similarly out of the way and less visited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The BLM does manage a significant number of Wildernesses.  These have even a higher level of protection than National Parks or Monuments.  I've been to a number of them, and haven't really noticed much difference in how Wildernesses are managed by the BLM, the Forest Service, or the Park Service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one difference that does stand out is not in how the resource is managed or what you're allowed to do, but in interpretive programs.  The Park Service has ranger-naturalists that lead guided hikes, give talks, and the like.  This is either rare or non-existant in parks/monuments run by other agencies as far as I have experienced.  Park Service parks/monuments are more likely to have a entrance fee, perhaps as a result of the extra services offered.  Grand Staircase / Escalante does have a visitor center, which is actually quite nice and doesn't feel any different from visitor centers I've been to for lands run by the Park Service.  However, I don't recall nature programs offered there as you would usually find in a Park Service park, although I wasn't explicitly looking for them when I was there last summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T14:36:30.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7571" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-12T18:08:17.267" Score="54" ViewCount="19254" Body="&lt;p&gt;For outdoor hiking, backpacking or camping trips, I always hear people saying &lt;strong&gt;Cotton Kills&lt;/strong&gt;. That means don't wear cotton anywhere (underwear, shirts, pants), and no cotton blends. Usually it's given as a strict, no compromise rule if the temperature is somewhat cold &amp;lt; 40F. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that cotton retains moisture (sweat, rain), which makes it less thermally insulating, harder to dry out and heavier. This can lead to hypothermia, pneumonia, etc. Thus, synthetic materials and wool are preferable. But by how much? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any studies showing how much more thermally insulating damp synthetics or wool are compared to damp cotton? I'm curious if cotton is just like 50% worse or more like 5x worse.  That might allow you estimate, for example, that you could survive 5 hours with wool vs. 2 hours with cotton under certain temperature conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-24T08:39:20.080" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T00:44:28.657" Title="Does cotton really kill?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cotton&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-12T18:25:31.653" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there have been studies on how much various fabrics insulate when wet and dry.  I remember Dr Murray Hamlet mentioning these statistics in one of his lectures on outdoor survival in the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been a long time, but I think cotton looses something like 80% of its insulating properties when wet.  I may be off on the exact number, but I definitely remember it is significant.  Good cloths for this purpose were wool and polypropylene.  They only dropped by 10-20% if I remember right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, cotton is still more comfortable, at least to me.  You can wear cotton in the cold if you understand the risks, tradeoffs, and are prepared to deal with it getting wet.  Dealing with it can include changing to other clothes you brought for that purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, when hiking around town, I wear whatever is comfortable.  I'm never that far from the car, and the conditions are predictable enough over the short term that the worst that will happen is I'll be a little uncomfortable on the way back to the car.  That's often a risk I'm willing to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, when hiking in the White Mountains of NH, I need to be more conservative.  It can be miles to hike out or to the next shelter.  There I usually wear a polypro sweater with a wool sweater over that and a windbreaker over that when going deep into the wilderness in winter.  In that case, carry a few reserve layers too, including extra socks, balaclava, ski goggles, and usually a stove of some sort.  You can't plan for every possible contingency, but I like to cover at least the situation of a twisted ankle several miles from civilization.  It can be deadly if you just went out with a cotton shirt and wind breaker, then you twist your ankle, you don't get back when intended, it gets dark, and starts raining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T18:25:31.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-12T18:47:40.960" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is this informal study that suggests there isn't much difference&#xA;between wet gear of any fabric: &lt;a href=&quot;http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2012/11/cotton-vs-wool-insulation.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cotton vs. Wool Insulation &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it misses the point entirely. It's not getting wet that kills, it's how long it takes you to get dry afterwards that kills. A much better test would be to&#xA;keep the water at a constant temp and measure how much energy is required&#xA;to do that over a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For base layer garments, both wet cotton and wet synthetics/wool are pretty uncomfortable and don't have a lot of insulation. However, the advantage of wool/synthetics is that they absorb relatively little water and your body heat can dry them out enough so that the insulating values go back up relatively quickly.&#xA;They also continue to wick moisture away from your skin even after they are wet,&#xA;cotton does not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with cotton is that you'll be hypothermic before your body heat can significantly dry the clothes to the point were the insulation value returns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For higher lofted garments like jackets, there probably is a significant difference in the loft between a wet wool jacket and a wet cotton one. But outside of old school hunting jackets, I can't think of any piece of modern apparel where this difference would matter. Cotton batting for insulation has gone the way of the button hook. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T00:33:05.167" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T00:33:05.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7559" CreationDate="2015-01-12T21:02:55.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had this issue on canoe trips.  I would wear my life jacket over my poncho.  Worked a treat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the things in my backpack is a bungie cord long enough to use as a belt.  It has a bunch of uses in camp too, but fastening around a poncho works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other easy mod for ponchos is to add some snaps or velcro tabs to make sleeves.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing I did with one poncho was to wrap it around me, and at waist level put gromets in the hem.  This allowed a short chunk of parachute cord to link them together.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T21:02:55.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6977" CreationDate="2015-01-12T21:12:11.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you did just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key factors:  You want the leather to be non flat, so the stone sits in in one place.  This will get you far more consistent throws.  You have in essence created the pocket by making the rim with the line.  I think the common way is just to tie the line to the pocket material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a better pocket by getting the leather soaking wet and stretching over a stone a bit larger than your usual throwing stone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also: Put a pair of knots in the throwing string at the distance you hold it.  This will allow you to get the strings the same length each time, which will also improve your consistency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One ancient people noted for slinging would put a piece of bread in a shrub or tree.  Their kids had to knock it out of the tree to eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, few cultures have both slings and bows.  Seem to be one or the other.  I suspect that it's hard to get good with either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sling ammo can be as simple as stones picked up on the route.  Lead 'eggs' are denser, and can be cast more uniformly.  In single combat I'd want to use lead ammo.  In mass combat accuracy isn't as important as rate of fire, so using local stones may improve the logistics situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that lead eggs are heavier than an arrow, but are easier on the logistics situation.  An archer fires 10 arrows a minute for minutes at a time.  It doesn't seem unreasonable for an archer to use 500-1000 arrows in a long battle.  This adds up to wagon loads of baskets of arrows.  Arrows have to be protected from the weather lest they warp.  Significant labour to create.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-08-03T13:38:32.693" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T13:38:32.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-12T21:42:03.920" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is an article that quantifies the heat loss effects of cotton, polyester and polypropylene: &lt;a href=&quot;http://archiwum.ciop.pl/25864&quot;&gt;Rossi et al., &lt;em&gt;Dry and Wet Heat Transfer Through Clothing Dependent on the Clothing Properties Under Cold Conditions&lt;/em&gt;, International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) 2008, Vol. 14, No. 1, 69–76.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Experimental Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a rough summary of their experimental setup so you can understand the applicability and limitations to real-life scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Test on a human manikin which simulates body heating and sweating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The clothing was fit similarly between materials as much as possible and consisted of underwear covering upper body and legs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothing consisted of an inner layer (cotton, polyester, or polypropylene) and an outer layer (categorized by being impermeable, semi-permeable, and permeable to moisture). This two-layer system more accurately simulates real life layering. (You probably aren't just going out in the cold in a t-shirt). Here is the information on the materials:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q8932.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nGiM9.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The amount of sweat produced by the manikin is kept constant for all trials (550 g)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The length of time per trial is 2.5 hrs, under steady-state conditions, with an ambient temperature of 10 C.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not specifically stated, but I believe overall heat loss rates are measured by the manikin (how much heat required to keep the manikin at a certain temperature). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Results&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Moisture Distribution in Layers&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The change in mass of each layer was measured after the experiment to determine how much moisture was absorbed. Cotton contains almost 4x the amount of water as polypropylene (a much more hydrophobic material). Also note that more of the water is contained right at the skin layer for polypropylene and polyester. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer layer makes the biggest difference in where the moisture goes, with semi-permeable and permeable outer layers resulting in most of the water being evaporated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tells us what we already expect, but how does that effect total heat loss?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p8iq1.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Effect of Wet Conduction&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of the argument against cotton is that when it's wet, it transfers a lot of heat from your body. While this is true if all you are wearing is a single cotton layer, it doesn't seem to hold up when you are wearing an outer layer. When comparing the heat loss of cotton + impermeable outer layer with and without sweating, the authors state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The additional heat loss due to wet conduction at ta = 10 °C was calculated to be only &lt;strong&gt;0.9 W/m2&lt;/strong&gt;, which accounts for &lt;strong&gt;less than 2%&lt;/strong&gt; of the additional heat loss observed. [...] For impermeable clothing combinations, wet conduction can only explain a small fraction of the additional heat loss seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason this occurs is that &lt;strong&gt;the total thermal resistance of an outfit is the sum of thermal resistances of the layers&lt;/strong&gt;. Thus, even if you have a really thermally conductive, water-soaked layer, heat is still limited by the most thermally insulating layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Evaporative Heat Losses&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The figure below shows the evaporative heat losses for different materials combinations. Because cotton retains more water, less water evaporates, resulting in lower heat losses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q5igV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Heat Loss of Permeable vs Impermeable Outer Layers&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following figure shows heat loss results for different outer layers while keeping the inner layer polypropylene. Notably, total heat loss is lower for an impermeable outer layer compared to a permeable one. The reason is that evaporation of water is higher (see the previous figure), which removes energy from the body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite an impermeable layer having higher liquid water content, total heat loss is lower due to less moisture evaporation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KLVfI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While cotton does retain much more moisture than other synthetic materials, it does not necessarily translate into significantly larger heat losses when layered with an outer shell. Breathable and water wicking layers will remove water, but at the expense of evaporative heating losses. The comfort of not having a moist layer next to your skin is another issue to consider, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2015-01-12T21:42:03.920" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7577" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7579" CreationDate="2015-01-12T23:16:06.303" Score="20" ViewCount="13881" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that in cold conditions, you'd freeze faster wearing wet clothes than not wearing any. I cannot find any proof that this is true. Is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5455" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T19:54:03.213" LastActivityDate="2019-04-22T15:20:34.177" Title="In cold conditions, will you freeze faster wearing wet clothes than not wearing any?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-12T23:48:37.180" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As always the answer differs depending on application, the experimental summary above tells us what happens very well while offering a conclusion that is only subjectively useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my own experience cotton is comfortable, inexpensive and can be obtained in the right size, but should not be used exclusively when traveling outdoors any significant distance or period of time. The tradeoffs for wool versus synthetics may not be obvious for those living away from rural areas, but flammability is a major problem with modern camp gear that is entirely missing from the older generation's wool, leather, canvas and metal hardware, but it should be no surprise that this gear introduces it's own limitations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As several posters have noted perhaps not firmly enough, in my opinion, comfort is not a trivial concern in an emergency, having that wool or synthetic sweater hold heat even when wet does save lives. Anyone who has experienced hypothermia will attest that something is better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, synthetics make me nervous around camp fires due to the ease with which a single ember will destroy them, though manufacturers are getting better at that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per the U.S. Forestry Service, fire fighters are recommended to wear cotton for it's availaability, wicking, cooling and lack of flammability properties (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf98512841/pdf98512841dpi300.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The task for firefighter’s clothing is not to keep heat out but to let it out!&lt;/a&gt;).&#xA;Other Branches researched this as well for first responder equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cotton underwear is affordable, comfortable 25 to wear under normal&#xA;  conditions, and readily available. Although not inherently flame&#xA;  resistant, untreated cotton will not melt or drip after ignition:&#xA;   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.firstresponder.gov/Lists/TechnologyProfiles/attachments/18/Wildland%20Firefighter%20Personal%20Protective%20Equipment%20Final%20Report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;First Responders&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5456" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T00:44:28.657" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T00:44:28.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7577" CreationDate="2015-01-13T01:15:37.483" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends on the actual type of clothing and mostly on the wind speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The wind evaporates moisture from the body. Since evaporation is a cooling process and absorbs latent heat away from the body, the person feels colder. Skin always has moisture on it. Just like a tree transpires, the human body is constantly having water evaporated from it. Wind intensifies this process. A hot day with a breeze will feel more comfortable than a hot day with calm wind. Wind and evaporative cooling are closely linked. The higher the wind, the greater the amount of evaporative cooling, especially if air is dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/36/&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an efficient outer wind impermeable shell, your inner fleece layers will warm you even when they are wet. Therefore it's better to wear something, even if you sweat due to activity. Still you won't feel that comfortable with wet clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-01-13T01:15:37.483" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-13T03:57:35.320" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure this concept originated with search and rescue teams, who noticed a correlation between what the lost hiker was wearing, and whether the result of the search was a 'rescue' or a 'recovery'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I strongly believe this to be true, and I tried to find good data online, but no luck yet. If somebody can find a proper, double-blinded study of the benefits of parachutes, I'll keep looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience cotton is terrible outdoors. I've gotten hypothermic a couple times back when I thought cotton was 'comfortable'. High-ish altitude, low humidity, a little sweat and setting sun does the trick nicely. I stopped wearing cotton for hiking years ago and haven't had that problem since.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an experiment most of us can do at home: put wet cotton and synthetic shirts in your clothes dryer for ten minutes then take them out and try them on. Which one keeps you warmer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-01-13T03:57:35.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-13T10:30:23.980" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know some people (mostly female) who wear cotton on winter hikes, but they claim they don't sweat (and they drink very little, which makes that plausible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I sweat a lot, and if you sweat a lot, in winter it's very important to wear breathing clothes. And with breathing clothes is so, that one non-breathing layer breaks the whole thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton likes moisture. It's easily getting wet and it takes a lot of heat to dry it. Syntetic T-Shirts are not keeping many moisture in the first line (if you wear breathing, the most of the moisture gets away) and if they get wet, they dry very quickly. After a few minutes pause it's already dry on me, even under polar and jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton, on the other way, gets very quickly very wet on the hike and is not getting dry even when the sun shines. So you have a wet layer on you, which makes you tremble from cold, especially when the wind is blowing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each physiology is individual, and generally in cold condition you should avoid overheating in the first line (sounds like a paradox, but the last thing you need is to sweat). You can also change cotton T-Shirt if you stop walking and feel cold in wet shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Cotton kills&quot; is overexaggerated. It drains more energy from you, yes. It can be dangerous if it gets wet, and you don't have anything for change, yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2015-01-13T10:30:23.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1044" CreationDate="2015-01-13T11:28:06.990" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The principle of washing in winter is, generally speaking, the same as in summer. You find some stream (you usually camp near the stream) and wash there. The water in streams is fluid even by slightly minus temperatures, only the washing is more extreme because of cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the water in the stream is frozen, you can melt in in the canteen and you can wash yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really a bad idea to wash yourself on the morning. Firstly, because there's never much time, second it's good idea to wash before going into your sleeping bag. First you keep it cleaner, second, according to many people, the body is able to produce more heat at night if it's clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2015-01-13T11:28:06.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7217" CreationDate="2015-01-13T16:52:09.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignoring having an airbag or airlung (which aren't common in the UK at least)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a list of things to do if your are caught in an avalanche. They should increase your chance of survival, obviously the best way to increase your chance of survival is to not get caught in an avalanche at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Get clear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;90% of avalanches are triggered by the people caught in them, if you are near the edge or top of the flow try and jump clear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Hold off for as long as possible&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get clear try and maintain your position for as long as you can. Get a hold of something, push your ice axe into the harder snow if you can, try and fight against the snow. The longer you can stay upright the less snow your likely to get buried in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Swim and roll&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you loose your position and find yourself being buried, try and swim and roll to the surface. Forget your ice axe, it's useless now, fight to stay as near to the top as you possibly can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep your airways clear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a hand in front of your face, try and maintain some kind of gap between your face and the snow. A lot of people die in avalanches because their airways become full of snow, they literally drown in it. As the snow begins to settle try to clear some kind of air space in front of your face. You might be able to wiggle your fingers enough to clear a space, do this before the snow &quot;sets&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep calm&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the snow settles it will set like concrete, &lt;strong&gt;you will not dig yourself out&lt;/strong&gt;, so don't try. Relax (if you can) and try and keep calm, don't use your oxygen up. Most averlanche deaths are from slow asphyxia and hypothermia. You've got &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7539/2766&quot;&gt;about 15mins to be found&lt;/a&gt;, so you won't suffocate immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Now what?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your life now depends on your friends and people around you, so you need to be sure that the people around you know where you may be, how to get you out and &lt;strong&gt;have a good shovel&lt;/strong&gt; and, also, preferably a probe to try and find you. So you and everyone your with needs to be prepared. If your heading into terrain that have avalanches, learn the risks, how to mitigate them and what to do should the worst happen. &lt;strong&gt;Training is key.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-01-13T17:42:24.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7584" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-14T08:59:54.173" Score="18" ViewCount="8855" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4826/how-safe-is-sleeping-in-bear-country&quot;&gt;How safe is sleeping in bear country?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I, too, like to sleep in a bivy sack under the stars. And while during the summer I am not too concerned about wolves (in spite of locals reporting attacked horses and cattle), the winter scares me. Recently, along with one more person, we slept for 3 nights in the snow, and on the night of the fourth day we saw a pack of wolves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We got scared and immediately headed for the civilization. However, I would hate it to never again have the courage to sleep in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any precautions that can be taken against wolves, especially during the winter, to make sleeping safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We hike on marked trails. There are no marked campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T00:04:28.790" Title="How to camp in wolf country?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7584" CreationDate="2015-01-14T09:51:46.667" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wolf attacks are incredibly rare whereas bear attacks are &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; common. Typically wolves are afraid of humans and will actively avoid contact. Humans are the predator typically in wolf encounters so they are much more afraid of us than we of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said wolves have been known to attack humans, normally when driven by hunger or disease (rabies). When they attack humans &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans#Characteristic&quot;&gt;they will generally only attempt to attack children&lt;/a&gt; under the age of 18. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A worldwide 2002 study by the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research&#xA;  showed that 90% of victims of predatory attacks were children under&#xA;  the age of 18&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fully grown adult should have nothing to fear from wolves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there any precautions that can be taken against wolves, especially&#xA;  during the winter, to make sleeping safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very very unlikely that a wolf will wander into your camp, rip though your tent and attack you. Your biggest chance of encountering a wolf is for you to (inadvertantley) go to it. A wolf will stay well clear of a human camp. If on the very low chance that a wolf is driven by hunger into your camp it will want to eat what scraps it can and get away. You could mitigate this risk by keeping food in sealed containers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;especially during the winter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter is actually the safest time, wolves are actually more likely to attack in the summer, when they have hungry pups to feed and food pressure is much greater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS I'm very jealous that you saw a wild pack of wolves. Wolves were (unfortunately I think) &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolves_in_Great_Britain&quot;&gt;killed off in the UK a long long time ago&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-01-14T09:59:32.333" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T09:59:32.333" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7586" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7587" CreationDate="2015-01-14T12:29:50.273" Score="36" ViewCount="15849" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of talk in the media about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30793748&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell's free ascent of the dawn wall of El Capitan&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This wall has been climbed before, but this is the first time it's been free climbed. What are Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell doing differently now that hasn't been done before?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-02-07T14:00:00.947" LastActivityDate="2020-02-07T14:00:00.947" Title="If the Dawn Wall had been climbed before, why was the 2015 attempt so difficult?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;free-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7586" CreationDate="2015-01-14T12:29:50.273" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Dawn wall is one of the largest and most difficult climbs in the world, it's nearly 1000m of blankness, there isn't a lot to hold onto all the way up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbFM4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dawn Wall&amp;#39;s climbing route&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you're right, it has been &quot;climbed&quot; before. The Dawn wall was &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first climbed in 1970 by Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell&lt;/a&gt;. These climbers used a different technique to what Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell are using today.They (Harding and Caldwell), and everyone else after them, used &lt;strong&gt;Aid Climbing&lt;/strong&gt; to climb this wall. Where as Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell are &lt;strong&gt;Free climbing&lt;/strong&gt; the Dawn wall. So what's the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Aid Climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aid climbing uses a series of specialist tools to scale the wall. These vary considerably from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-loaded_camming_device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mechanical cams&lt;/a&gt; to sharp &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/beaks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bird beaks&lt;/a&gt;. The idea of this &lt;em&gt;&quot;aid&quot;&lt;/em&gt; is that you place it on (or in) the rock above you and hang special ladder like devices called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/aiders.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;aiders&quot;&lt;/a&gt; from. You then climb the aiders and place another piece of gear, repeat. All your weight is taken by the gear on the wall. You don't really climb (the rock at least) with your hands and feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZxTJx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Climber using aid&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Free climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not to be confused with Free soloing (where no rope is used)&lt;/strong&gt;. Free climbing is what most people think of when they think of climbing. You climb using your hands and feet. You still place protection using similar tools to aid climbing but these are below you, not above you and are designed to catch you should you fall. The climbers use special sticky shoes to aid friction with their feet and often tape hands but apart from that they pull on the rock using their hands and feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SCfOH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Climber free climbing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell are the first people to climb the Dawn wall without using aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of people get Free climbing and Free soloing mixed up. For completeness &lt;strong&gt;Free soloing&lt;/strong&gt; is when you climb as in free climbing but without the protection (or rope) to prevent serious falls. No one has ever free soloed the Dawn Wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3BN4D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Climber free soloing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since writing this, &lt;strong&gt;Alex Honnold has (amazingly) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/alex-honnold-completes-first-free-solo-of-el-capitan/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;free solo'd El Capitan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (now a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7775622/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;major motion picture&lt;/a&gt; :) )....he didn't do the same route as Jorgeson and Caldwell he did  Freerider (which at &lt;em&gt;VI, 5.13a&lt;/em&gt; is slightly easier than the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18422/2766&quot;&gt;dawn wall (New Dawn)&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-02-05T04:03:49.457" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T04:03:49.457" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7588" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7589" CreationDate="2015-01-14T13:03:36.720" Score="28" ViewCount="21520" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a down jacket. They all seem to come with numbers but I'm not sure what they mean. For example :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;90/10 Down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill Power 700&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do they mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-15T07:19:16.443" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T08:48:10.620" Title="Numbers on down jackets" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7588" CreationDate="2015-01-14T13:18:34.703" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are basically measures for the quality of the down fill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 90/10 part refers to the mixture of down and feathers. As down contains nearly no rigid structure, one adds some amount of feathers to give the whole filling some more stability. The example of 90/10 means 90% down, 10% feathers and seems to be quite a typical mixture. I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but mixtures worse than 80/20 or so would give significantly worse insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fill power, often with the unit &lt;em&gt;cuin&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;cubic inch per ounce&lt;/em&gt;, defines, how good the downs regain their loft after compression. To test this, an ounce of the respective down is compressed in a cylinder for 24 hours. After release of the pressure the volume that the downs regained is measured in cubic inches. Good down for outdoor clothing typically has a fill power of at least 650 to 700 cuin, very good (but also very expensive) products reach fill powers up to 900.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T13:18:34.703" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7590" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7598" CreationDate="2015-01-14T14:40:52.553" Score="16" ViewCount="1071" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine asked a experienced long distance hiker, how to drink during such a hike. The answer was, drink 0.1l water per hour and then you are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this correct and can anyone add some facts to this answer? Can I stay hydrated over several days with a this given amount of water? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are factors to drink more water and how much more e.g. (wind, activity, temperature, ...)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side question:Are there studies on this topic?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:33:35.293" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:33:35.293" Title="How to stay hydrated with minimum water usage" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7522" CreationDate="2015-01-14T15:22:21.980" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The single point setup was developed to aid in very high technical levels of mixed climbing. &#xA;Dual points can make it hard to keep the crampon on small rock holds. Also in certain kinds of ice, the monopoint can get a better grip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The various other setups are attempts to make a compromise between getting full grip in the ice and staying stable on rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My ice climbing experience is 30 years out of date, but I can see the advantage of being able to tweak the front point setup for various climbs and conditions. With any luck someone with more recent experience can chime in on exactly which setups are optimal for which conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T15:22:21.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7590" CreationDate="2015-01-14T15:54:19.247" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, 100 ml per hour is way too little in many circumstances.  That would mean only 1 l over a 10 hour hike.  Anyone that's been on a 10 hour hike, even not in particularly hot or dry weather, can tell you that's not nearly enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking in hot desert conditions, 1 l per hour (&lt;i&gt;10 times&lt;/i&gt; your suggestion) is more like it.  I have done significant hiking in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and I can tell you the 1 l per hour is a much more reasonable figure.  I usually bring a gallon and turn around when it gets to half a gallon.  Sometimes that has been in less than 2 hours.  Sure, I could have &lt;i&gt;survived&lt;/i&gt; with a bit less than that, but I drank whenever I felt thirsty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, trying to survive in such conditions with only 1 l for 10 hours is downright dangerous.  After only a few 10s of minutes you'd feel a little thirsty.  After one hour, even with drinking 100 ml, you'd definitely feel thirsty.  It wouldn't be dangerous yet, but just being uncomfortable is not a good thing.  It keeps your mind off of other things you should be paying attention to and can interfere with rational decision making.  Besides, you're probably out there or the enjoyment, and hiking around the hot desert when you're thirsty is not enjoyable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After two hours, even with 200 ml total to drink, you're going to be very thirsty.  This still isn't by itself dangerous, but it's starting to get there.  Soon you'll feel yourself dragging.  Your ability to hike at normal speed will go down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't turn around NOW, you'll be in serious trouble.  Even if you do turn around now, you've got another 2 hours at least to get back, although probably more since you'll be dragging.  After 4 hours with only 400 ml, you'll be very thirsty and the dehydration will have some effects on your body.  If you make it back to the car after 4 hours and 400 ml, you drink a decent amount then, rest in the car in the shade for a while, you should be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you didn't turn around after 2 hours, you're headed for trouble.  You are already somewhat dehydrated, although not enough for long term harm yet.  But staying out there with only 100 ml per hour in the hot desert will only degrade your condition.  After another hour or two, you probably won't be able to go much farther.  Getting out on your own is no longer a option.  You are now too weak for that.  Your body tries to conserve the water it has, and reduces sweating.  This can lead to heat stroke, especially if you can't get out of the sun or your mind is too foggy to figure out how.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the beginning of the end.  Even if you find shade and maybe not succumb to heat stroke, your kidneys will start shutting down and waste products start building up in your blood.  A little while longer, and the kidneys will start to become irreversibly damaged.  At the same time, your blood volume goes down, and your heart has a harder time pumping what's left.  If you're lucky, you pass out before your heart gives up and you die of cardio-pulminary arrest.  In a few days, the coyotes tear thru your clothes and pick the large chunks of meat off your bones, then the turkey vultures pick off the rest, and the rodents gnaw on the remaining bones for the calcium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some day someone will find the few larger bones that haven't been scattered, and you've become a statistic.  If they discover your pitiful 1 l water bottle, you may even be mentioned in future lectures where the audience is shown pictures of your remains and told not to do what that moron did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T15:54:19.247" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7590" CreationDate="2015-01-14T16:48:20.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this interesting article on the topic of cold weather and hydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.unh.edu/news/news_releases/2005/january/sk_050128cold.html&quot;&gt;http://www.unh.edu/news/news_releases/2005/january/sk_050128cold.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold weather you lose significant moisture just by breathing the dry air.&#xA;Even in 100% humidity ( very rare in winter) the cold air can suck moisture&#xA;from your lungs since it warms up in the lungs and can then absorb more moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO, 0.1l per hour would be the minimum to replace just the moisture lost by &#xA;breathing in cold conditions. Even if you are super efficient in managing your layers to avoid excess sweating ( very difficult for most people), you will still need more &#xA;to keep your hydration levels in balance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;0.1l per hour could work if you supplement it with &quot;topping up&quot; at meals. (i.e. when you've got the stove out and are melting water drink as much as possible. ) This matches&#xA;some advice I've seen from some outdoor adventure programs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineskills.com/bcsm_sbsv.html&quot;&gt;http://www.alpineskills.com/bcsm_sbsv.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really feel like there is some piece missing in your friend's advice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T16:48:20.510" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7590" CreationDate="2015-01-14T16:55:40.383" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems a bit low to me, but there are lots of other factors to consider. The main ones are temperature and exertion/walking speed. Different people also definitely need different amounts of water. One of my friends was nicknamed desert-man as he drank approximately 4x as much as everyone else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the UK or a similarly cool climate, then 100ml per hour is not entirely unreasonable (although still on the low side). But if you are somewhere hot, then it definitely wouldn't be enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another major factor is what do you drink while not walking. If you drink 100ml per hour for an 8 hour walk then drink 2L while setting up camp that is very different from continuing to drink 100ml per hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T16:55:40.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5561" CreationDate="2015-01-14T19:41:06.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no way to prevent asbestos fibers from entering your lungs except by certain facial masks with specialized air filters. An ordinary surgical mask will NOT work. The fibers are too small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-01-14T19:41:06.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7612" CreationDate="2015-01-14T21:39:28.850" Score="13" ViewCount="702" Body="&lt;p&gt;V-threads, or Abalakov threads (after the inventor &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalakov_thread&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vitaly Abalakov&lt;/a&gt;), can be tricky to make (especially left handed in the dark...), but when you miss the mark on your first attempt, or second attempt, or third... at what point do you abandon your anchor and try again somewhere else? How far apart should v-threads be from other screw holes in good ice? I have a hard time trusting a v-thread unless I get it perfect the first time, I feel as if I'm compromising the integrity of the ice if I try to drill another hole to meet the first if my first attempt misses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6dFGS.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what point does an attempted v-thread become unsafe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:28.197" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:34:28.197" Title="V-threads (Abalakov): How many holes are too many?" Tags="&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;v-thread&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;ice-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2015-01-14T21:53:59.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously there's a good case for considering the wear and tear on the belay loop and harness itself. Consider the case of Todd Skinner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/climber/loss-of-a-legend/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/climber/loss-of-a-legend/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They discussed the worn harness, talking about how people back up the&#xA;  belay loop with a tied sling, but neither considered it a significant&#xA;  safety hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2952" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-15T10:45:27.207" LastActivityDate="2015-01-15T10:45:27.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7590" CreationDate="2015-01-14T23:03:54.860" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;How much water you need depends on how big you are, how fit you are, where you are and what you're doing.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, on Mount Everest, the average person needs to drink 4-5L of water each day just so that their body can function properly. You lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. If you're a big guy that's out of shape, breathing heavy and sweating lots while hiking through the Western Cwm, then you're going to need a lot more water than the skinny little Sherpa that's leading the way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be situations where 100ml per hour is plenty, I can definitely survive on less than that depending on what I'm doing, I managed to go 48hrs straight without any food and water at all while trekking out in the summer heat once, but my body definitely wasn't functioning normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It's important to understand your own body and how much water YOU need for certain activities.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This comes with experience, your friend may be able to operate on only 100ml/hour, but that doesn't mean everyone else can. Learn to recognize the beginning stages of dehydration (fatigue, headache, yellow urine) and drink enough to stay hydrated. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to budget water, then do it the same way you would budget fuel on a long drive: go slow, don't over work the engine, keep it cool, and take the easy route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Techniques for reducing water loss while hiking:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dress&lt;/strong&gt; - In hot hot environments, you will actually retain water better by wearing long sleeve shirts and pants made out of light breathable materials. Also cover your head and neck. There are reasons why you don't see anyone in the Sahara riding camels wearing shorts and t-shirts, and the sun is only one of them. Hiking in shorts and t-shirts will keep you cooler, but so will hiking with a spritz bottle of ice water and a portable fan... Hiking in sweat-dampened clothing may not feel like it keeps you quite as cool, but keeping the sun off your skin will heat your body less, and you won't lose water into the air through evaporation quite as fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breathing&lt;/strong&gt; - Close your mouth. Breathe through your nose. You're sinuses preform a function beyond producing excess amounts of mucous when you get a sniffle. At the very least &lt;em&gt;exhale&lt;/em&gt; through your nose. Leaving your mouth wide open while you hike will dehydrate you just as fast a sweating. Move at a pace that your respiratory system can keep up with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Toileting&lt;/strong&gt; - Hold it (if you can). Sometimes when people get moving, other things get moving too. You need to give your large intestine enough time for it to reclaim as much water as it can from your stool. Relieving yourself multiple times will also relieve you of extra water in your stool. In more desperate situations, try to soak up as much of that precious moisture as you can before discharging your bowels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recycle...&lt;/strong&gt; - In extremely desperate situations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/INhxm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Drink your own urine&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bear-grylls-better-drink-my-own-piss&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Grylls Meme&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-15T19:26:50.647" LastActivityDate="2015-01-15T19:26:50.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7599" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-15T08:58:39.383" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;To produce a v-thread you use an ice screw to produce a v-shaped cutting into solid ice and thread some cord though it. You can then use the cord as an anchor point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6dFGS.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0s3LF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T07:26:34.733" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T07:26:34.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7600" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-15T08:58:39.383" Score="0" Body="A v-thread (sometimes called an Abalakov thread) is a technique used in ice climbing to produce a disposable anchor when abseiling off an ice flow (as opposed to leaving some protection, such as an ice screw behind)" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T07:26:42.980" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T07:26:42.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6491" CreationDate="2015-01-15T11:12:22.707" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also, the portion of the brain partially responsible for the sensation of warmth is the sub cerebral structure producing met enkephalins. This flood of alkaloids is the bodys last ditch effort to induce a state of physical pain immunity and hopeful euphoria that may save the organism's(you) life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5479" LastActivityDate="2015-01-15T11:12:22.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7602" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-15T15:37:53.373" Score="21" ViewCount="2643" Body="&lt;p&gt;When ice skating on a frozen lake or river, how thick should the ice be in order to have fairly high confidence you aren't going to fall through?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small drill (for ice fishing) is available to determine the thickness of the ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3115/how-to-be-safe-on-lake-and-river-ice-and-what-should-i-do-when-i-fall-through&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, but couldn't find any mention of a specific range of ice thicknesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T01:46:55.323" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T13:05:45.917" Title="Ice skating on a frozen lake -- how thick should the ice be?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;iceskating&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7602" CreationDate="2015-01-15T16:34:08.680" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found an answer by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/ice/thickness.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For new, clear ice, &lt;strong&gt;4 inches&lt;/strong&gt; should be good for ice skating or any activity involving just a person's weight. They recommend double that thickness (&lt;strong&gt;8 inches&lt;/strong&gt;) for white ice which has about half the strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F5ulH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2015-01-15T16:34:08.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4341" CreationDate="2015-01-15T19:45:40.933" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is simple, if not trusting the belay loop grants you safety then why would you trust it? &#xA;Their lives depend on it, of course they won't trust it and will take measures to ensure that if it fails that they got a backup to fall on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A new born baby can't move at all, but no mother would leave it on a bed where there is a possibility of a miracle of that baby falling of that bed, unless that mother has no clue of such a possibility existing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cautious people are those who survive critically small errors which could killed them whereas somebody who takes other peoples word that something is indestructible doesn't live to tell if that one thing really was indestructible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5482" LastActivityDate="2015-01-15T19:45:40.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7606" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7608" CreationDate="2015-01-16T23:34:22.240" Score="13" ViewCount="4303" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I was gifted two of those survival paracord bracelets.&#xA;I untied one so to check the resistance of the cord. &#xA;It holded my whole body weight (75kg) hanging from the ceiling, and I also bounced on it a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, given that the lenght of such a string, once unfolded, is 3.30 meters, I am wondering what practical uses there could be in real life with such a piece of string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only ones that came to my mind are a replacement bootlace (providing that it's not too thick for the boot lace holes) and as an extra guyline for a tarp or tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What else could you do with 3.30 meters of cord that could eventually hold your weight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2016-04-29T02:14:47.023" Title="What are practical uses of paracord survival bracelets?" Tags="&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5561" CreationDate="2015-01-17T00:29:27.537" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be worth noting that asbestos can contaminate things, ie your clothing. So even if you wear a mask while on site you could still expose yourself, or others after you have left. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/em6.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here's&lt;/a&gt; a link to a pdf about PPE for working with asbestos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here's&lt;/a&gt; the HSE's (uk goverment body for health and safety) site for asbestos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-01-17T00:29:27.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7606" CreationDate="2015-01-17T16:43:48.080" Score="14" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The whole point of the paracord bracelets is having paracord on your person when you need it.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PX2F3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paracord has many, &lt;strong&gt;many&lt;/strong&gt; applications in survival situations. You can use it like you said as backup boot lace, you can tie it into a &lt;strong&gt;sling for hunting&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JHhs2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use it to attach your knife to a pole to &lt;strong&gt;make a spear:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PmL8z.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a bow for hunting or to &lt;strong&gt;start a fire:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/brgnB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lash stuff together:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h1Od4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tVzQe.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uavgG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hang a shelter:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RhmmP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're really only limited by your imagination, there are &lt;em&gt;hundreds&lt;/em&gt; of things you could use 10' of strong cord for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-17T16:43:48.080" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7571" CreationDate="2015-01-18T04:43:18.617" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cotton does not kill, hypothermia does,&lt;/strong&gt; It just happens to be a lot easier to get hypothermia when you wear cotton, not because it doesn't insulate you as well as other materials, it just doesn't insulate you as well when it is wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that I think a lot of people don't know is that during the early expeditions in the himalayas, people wore cotton blend (and cotton filled) clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first summit of the highest, most exposed peak on Earth, they were wearing cotton. The picture below is of the famous duo after their successful ascent. the poofy pants that everyone's wearing are filled with cotton fluff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lB85w.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that these days people are simply a lot more careless in the backcountry than they were in days of old. New technology like waterproof Goretex and breathable moisture wicking Polar Fleece make it easy for people to expose themselves to the elements without having to worry about moisture control as much. I think people were somewhat smarter and a lot more careful back in the day when the World was a lot bigger, the backcountry was a lot further back in the country, and people couldn't rely as much on technology to protect them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The biggest killer in the backcountry is bad decision making.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Letting yourself sweat or otherwise get wet when exposed, going out into the storm, taking short cuts, going outside your field of experience, and taking unnecessary or foolish risks are more likely to kill you than your choice of clothing material.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-18T04:43:18.617" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7483" CreationDate="2015-01-18T13:28:23.460" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;tricky,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain - Scotland is pretty wet but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.holiday-weather.com/isle_of_skye/averages/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;May and June&lt;/a&gt; look to be your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light - Skye gets very long summer days which stretch out the 'golden hour', the summer solstice is in June&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Midges -  apparently the first midges start hatching May-June, unfortunately the best time to go to avoid them is winter but this isn't the best time for your other interests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus route suggestions - The Clach Glas Traverse is a good choice for those working their way towards the Cuillan Traverse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-01-18T13:28:23.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7596" CreationDate="2015-01-18T16:57:46.883" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Will Gadd's book Ice &amp;amp; Mixed Climbing states that if you mess up the first attempt at a V-thread, start over in clean ice. This includes if your screw holes intersect only partway down the hole, the two holes didn't intersect, or the distance between the holes isn't large enough. Practicing making V-threads on the ground is much better than trying to figure it out on rappel when it's cold, dark, and everyone is soaked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good rule of thumb for all anchors (but especially rappel anchors) is to &lt;strong&gt;make the best anchor possible with what you have available.&lt;/strong&gt; Fortunately, on most ice climbs starting over means moving over a foot or two to solid ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases, building a &quot;textbook&quot; anchor may not be possible. If you have to use an anchor that is less than optimal, make a backup anchor and clip the rope to this backup in case your V-thread fails. You want the backup to be relatively taught but all of the weight should be on the primary V-thread (just a little bit loose).&#xA;The last person will remove the backup when they rappel. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/80485814&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl video&lt;/a&gt; shows a good example of this (at 4 minutes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2015-01-19T14:21:54.493" LastActivityDate="2015-01-19T14:21:54.493" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7613" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-18T19:29:47.720" Score="13" ViewCount="1801" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paracord is widely considered a must-have for wilderness survival, and there are hundreds of tutorials for making bracelets out of it, etc. With this popularity has come a glut of people selling &quot;paracord&quot; that doesn't actually have the strength and durability of &quot;real&quot; paracord, and may not even be made from nylon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the inconsistent quality of cord sold as &quot;paracord&quot;, is paracord actually the most practical cord to carry while backpacking or engaging in other wilderness activities, or is there a better alternative? I'm thinking of uses like replacing broken shoelaces, rigging a tarp up as a shelter, creating extra guylines for tents, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not really looking for a specific click-here-buy-now product link; I'm more interested in what types of cords are available, how to identify them, what their merits are, and how to select a good one based on what I'll be doing with the cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:32:09.813" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:32:09.813" Title="Is there a more practical type of cord to carry than &quot;550 paracord&quot;?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7614" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7620" CreationDate="2015-01-18T21:12:12.230" Score="4" ViewCount="5115" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have only skied couple times and with the lesson plan I am getting ski pass next weekend!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I obviously don't want to rent Ski equipment all the time so I am looking to own one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing some research, I don't feel like getting completely beginner skis as most likely I will have to upgrade next year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually, I feel like I might want to do little bit of everything and Salomon BBR 10.0 really caught my eyes. I was thinking of Salomon BBR 8.9 first, but 10.0 seems just better than 8.9. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I might have to struggle first couple times as I am only beginner and this skis is made for intermediate - advanced skiers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you guys think? Any suggestions and recommendations will be highly appreciated :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5408" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T15:35:47.790" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T15:35:47.790" Title="Beginner or intermediate skis for a first pair to buy?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7613" CreationDate="2015-01-19T02:51:20.437" Score="16" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Masons Line&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paracord's biggest selling point is that it's strong enough to hold your body weight. That's great and all, but honestly, it's very rare to get caught in a situation where you're &lt;em&gt;forced&lt;/em&gt; to use a rappel. The most common situation is when parachuters get caught in trees, but in those situations, you already have a bunch of lengths of paracord attached to you (your parachute). For every other situation you're probably already going to be carrying a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all of the more common practical applications, I use nylon string. I have had the same roll of braided nylon string (masons line) in my backpack for over ten years now, and &lt;strong&gt;I use it for &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. A roll of 500ft fits in your hand, it's light, and it's surprisingly strong–I've never had it break on me–but I've also never used it to hold body weight, though with 500ft, you could string a few strands together which would certainly hold body weight, and seriously, a roll of 500ft last &lt;em&gt;forever.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used this stuff for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent strings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothes lines&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food caches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bow strings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snares&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hanging a tarp for a cook shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Setting up tarp lean-tos&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lashing together emergency shelters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lashing a wheel back onto a hiking trailer (also using steel tent pegs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lashing lot's of other things...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Random repairs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hanging a computer monitor from a curtain rod... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I know I've used it for many many other things as well, it's just super handy to have strong lightweight string. The only thing about it is that it's got some stretch to it, and if you use it for lashing off the roll without gloves it cuts into your hands because of how thin it is, but everything I've lashed with it has been super solid. If you leave it on the roll while tying then you can use the roll as a handle to help you get some comfy leverage and get things real tight.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like other cords, there are lots of brands/varieties, so maybe test a couple strings to find a real strong one (I'm pretty sure I got my roll in a crafts store). I also recommend buying a bright colour that's also reflective, the roll I have is black, and I can't tell you how many times I've almost eaten dirt from tripping over black tent lines in the dark...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/00rMN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T22:10:02.600" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T22:10:02.600" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7616" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7644" CreationDate="2015-01-19T10:13:37.347" Score="11" ViewCount="1401" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could the use of anti-perspirant give benefit in extreme cold climate where sweating can be a significant problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read many articles regarding keeping warm when alpine climbing in the extreme cold of winter in say, the alps. Commonly, sweating is described as being potentially dangerous, and is avoided by removing layers or exerting less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sweating is obviously an important bodily function, especially during physical exercise. So whats the tradeoff, and could the use of anit-perspirant be beneficial, or detrimental? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:45:43.663" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:45:43.663" Title="Using anti-perspirant in extreme cold climate" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7616" CreationDate="2015-01-19T10:43:43.277" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Could the use of anti-perspirant give benefit in extreme cold climate&#xA;  where sweating can be a significant problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR answer: &lt;strong&gt;Unlikely&lt;/strong&gt;. The issue is the sheer amount of water your body will secrete during physical exercise. It would be impossible for anti persperant to prevent this amount of moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify Anti-perspirants work by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aluminium-based complexes react with the electrolytes in the sweat to&#xA;  form a gel plug in the duct of the sweat gland. The plugs prevent the&#xA;  gland from excreting liquid and are removed over time by the natural&#xA;  sloughing of the skin. The metal salts work in another way to prevent&#xA;  sweat from reaching the surface of the skin: the aluminium salts&#xA;  interact with the keratin fibrils in the sweat ducts and form a&#xA;  physical plug that prevents sweat from reaching the skin’s surface.&#xA;  Aluminium salts also have a slight astringent effect on the pores;&#xA;  causing them to contract, further preventing sweat from reaching the&#xA;  surface of the skin.[16] The blockage of a large number of sweat&#xA;  glands reduces the amount of sweat produced in the underarms, though&#xA;  this may vary from person to person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deodorant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you say, sweating is an important part of your body's thermoregulation. As you exercise, your body heats up. Your body regulates this heat by sweating. Even in cold climates you will need to sweat to regulate your body temperature. An important part of this is the waters potential to evaporate off the skin (taking the heat with it). If the water didn't evaporate (because it was being stopped by some kind of super antiperspirant) and your temperature didn't lower your body would simply produce more sweat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to deal with this is to allow this process to work as it naturally should, i.e. to allow the water (sweat) to evaporate away from the skin and though your layers (breathable clothing). This will cool you when you need it to but prevent the moisture from becoming trapped and &quot;chilling&quot; you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T09:16:49.037" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T09:16:49.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7621" CreationDate="2015-01-19T11:40:49.597" Score="6" ViewCount="1280" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for good protocol on waxing my cross country skis (Salomon Equipe 8 Classic skis). I have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cork block &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stiff nylon brush &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wax removing fluid &amp;amp; paper &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;scraper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ski*go waxes; blue (0 through -20C/+32 through -4F) and yellow ( 0&#xA;through +10/ +32 through +50F)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swixsport.com/Products/Wax-Tuning/Glider/F4-Easy-Glide/F4-Universal-Glide-Wax-100ml&quot;&gt;swix F4 easy glide wax&lt;/a&gt; (liquid&#xA;fluor).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have access to a wax iron, and can buy more tools and waxes if necessary (or to just make the job better). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could someone describe how to best apply both the kick and glide waxes to the skis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2467" LastEditorUserId="2467" LastEditDate="2015-01-19T12:54:01.003" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T22:24:21.107" Title="Waxing cross-country skis" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7358" CreationDate="2015-01-19T16:28:05.243" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When meteorologists tell you the temperature, likely they mean the temperature more than 1m off the ground in a shaded place (for example in a Stevenson screen).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything sunlit is likely to be warmer. The ground is likely to be different (warmer or cooler depending what else is going on). You can't assume that just because the weather report for the region gives a high of 35, therefore no spot in the region went above 35 all day. At best it means that a specially-constructed place in official weather station for the region didn't go above 35. And a forecast isn't even a measurement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you put with your meat a thermometer that tracks highest temperature seen, or if the ice doesn't melt, then you know the stuff stayed cool. There's every chance you can keep food chilled out of doors in refrigerator-temperature weather, if you can keep it well-shaded (stone or brick enclosures are good).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Olin says, don't leave food out for bears. Whether it's &quot;for bears&quot; or not is decided by the bear, you don't get a say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3643" LastActivityDate="2015-01-19T16:28:05.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7614" CreationDate="2015-01-19T18:29:17.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a very personal, subjective thing, and I don't think anybody can tell you exactly what type or even style of ski to get when you're first starting out. The perfect ski depends on how much you weigh, how that mass is distributed, what types of conditions you typically ski in, whether you ski on groomed paths or narrow trails, and many other considerations. For that reason, the advice I would give you is, &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; buy your skis right away, and &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; rent some so you can get a feel for what works best for you. To make a brief analogy, I wouldn't rush out to buy a fancy road bike if I wasn't sure yet if I'd rather go mountain biking or road biking a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Renting skis gives you the opportunity to try many different styles and sizes without having to make a long-term investment. You might inquire with local shops as to whether they have any discount program for repeated rentals. After you determine what kind of skis you really like, then you can start considering buying some. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to check out are ski swaps and discounted gear sales. You don't necessarily &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; brand-new skis to start out with; in fact, many experienced skiers primarily buy used gear. You could easily get 2 pairs of used skis for the same price as 1 pair of new skis, and having two different types of skis will give you more flexibility for different snow conditions and types of ski routes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-01-19T18:29:17.100" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7618" CreationDate="2015-01-19T18:32:29.910" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Waxing skis is an art, it can get very complex and precise, you can get a kickwax for every 3 degrees of temperature change, but you only really need to be precise if you're super serious into it and do competition skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You only need an iron for hot-waxing, and that's typically for skate skiing, or for prepping/refreshing the bases on your classic skis. Hot waxing often involves making minor repairs to your bases before application. Check out this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reliableracing.com/downloads/1c41c5be75.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SWIX nordic ski preparation guide&lt;/a&gt; for professional instruction on how to apply hot wax. The quicker alternative is glide wax, which you simply apply to the glide zones of your skies like you would apply deodorant to your underarms. How often you need to refresh your bases depends on how much you ski on them, how much you abuse them (crossing roads, skiing trails with rocks and twigs, etc.) and how serious you are about going fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been a recreational cross-country skier my entire life (x-country skiing was even part of the primary school curriculum in BC 25yrs ago) When I switched from scales to waxed skis I of course bought all of the different colours of wax, and the super sticky klistar, but honestly, I only ever use blue wax, because I really don't have much fun skiing in any temperature outside of the blue wax range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only people that really use all of the other colours are racers, serious skiers, and widgeteers, and they have to apply pretty much &lt;em&gt;every time&lt;/em&gt; they go out for a ski. I've skied with people on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canmorenordic.com/about/the-club/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canmore Ski team&lt;/a&gt;, they showed me their technique for waxing skis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key technique is &lt;strong&gt;Multiple layers of wax,&lt;/strong&gt;  below is the clubs basic kickwax guide:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o2krE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Technique&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clean all of the old wax of of your skis, first scrape off as much as you can, then use your solvent to clean of what remains (It's best if you do this inside with warm skis).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Select the appropriate wax for the conditions you're going to be skiing in. Either apply indoors on warm skis, or outdoors on cold skis. If you have to travel a distance to go skiing then this is probably best done once you get to the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Apply stripes of your chosen wax across the width of the kick zone of your ski (typically indicated on the sides of newer skies with arrows). How far you space the stripes depends on the temperature of wax, warmer waxes are softer so you can space them more, whereas really hard grey wax (only crazy people ski in grey wax conditions) is like applying a rock to your bases. Don't gob it on, you're going to be applying several layers. How big you make your kick zone can depend on where you are in the temperature range for the wax if you're like me and only use one type: Warmer=bigger kick zone; colder=smaller kick zone. &lt;br&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kNXmj.gif&quot; alt=&quot;kick zone&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Work the wax into your bases using your cork until it doesn't look like it's there anymore, and your base is smooth (I use different corks for each type of wax, one cork has two sides so you can use one cork for two wax types).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reapply until you have 4 or 5 layers.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, how you wax depends somewhat on experience. The basic rules for selecting wax go out the window when you go skiing on my home trail, as it's a long uphill climb into a Rocky Mountain basin (1500-2000' elevation change), so the temperature at the top can be 10 degrees cooler than at the start of the trail. If you wax for the air temperature at the start, you aren't going to get half way up the trail until you start cursing yourself because of all the snow you're collecting on the base of your skis, which eventually turns to ice, and then you have to stop, scrape and reapply your wax again. So the trick is to wax colder, then just struggle for the first bit with slippery skis until you gain a bit of elevation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T17:01:36.880" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T17:01:36.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6985" CreationDate="2015-01-19T22:23:51.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/shop/watersports-gloves/50004+50112/?h=10%2050020%2050111%2050112&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paddling specific gloves&lt;/a&gt; and they work amazingly well. You can buy &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5034-352/mec-h2o-3mm-gloves-unisex/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;neoprene gloves&lt;/a&gt; which provide varying levels of insulation for cold water, which is pretty much necessary for paddling in places like the Canadian Rockies where all the creeks and streams are mostly Glacier ice runoff. For warmer water you can get light gloves with quick-drying polyester mesh backs that just help you grip the paddle and prevent blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0Cki.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5034-332/mec-h2o-lightweight-gloves-unisex/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MEC H2O LIGHTWEIGHT GLOVES (UNISEX)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-19T22:23:51.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7623" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7649" CreationDate="2015-01-19T22:56:12.357" Score="7" ViewCount="341" Body="&lt;p&gt;I stumbled across it and I saw it in a showcase.&#xA;I couldn't recognize it. It looks like it's a way to tie fixed loops in the middle of a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FUPId.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/emERn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:08:53.663" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:08:53.663" Title="What knot is this one? What are its purposes?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2015-01-20T04:36:43.727" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience trekking in the jungle, if the path you are walking on is infested with leeches, there is no way you can avoid them.&#xA;Leeches get excited with the vibration your foot steps create, and will hang onto your shoes when they get the opportunity. Then you absolutely do not feel them climbing on your skin, nor feel them biting you.&#xA;Socks are absolutely helpless. I have tried wearing 2 pairs of socks. High shoes or boots are helpless too.&#xA;I found salt didn't work.&#xA;What worked well was spraying this mosquito repellent on the leech. It was a spray I got from the supermarket. It has citrus juice in it and that is what repells leeches away I believe.&#xA;Spraying twice would make them drop their grab. You then only bleed a little.&#xA;Also you should not panick having leeches on you as they are said to suck out the toxines you have in your blood. They are said to bring good to your blood. You won't die from leeches bites.&#xA;The thing to avoid is to panick and attempt to pull out the leeches with your fingers. &#xA;This is based on my personal experience (in south east asia). Leeches were small.&#xA;Now there might be some nasty leeches in other parts of the world (south america) more difficult to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5508" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T04:36:43.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7628" CreationDate="2015-01-20T07:53:03.983" Score="15" ViewCount="2604" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've spent a lot more time cross-country skiing than I have snowshoeing, but have some snowshoeing opportunities available to me in the near future. In the few times I have gone snowshoeing, I've basically just treated it like normal walking, just with extra equipment on my feet. Is there a more nuanced technique that I may not be aware of? For example, with skiing, you learn to kick-and-glide instead of just shuffling back and forth. What (if anything) can I do when snowshoeing to ensure that I'm expending my energy efficiently and doing it &quot;right&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T01:51:29.583" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T01:51:29.583" Title="Is there a technique to snow-shoeing besides &quot;walk on the snow&quot;?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7623" CreationDate="2015-01-20T08:14:22.357" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are examples of a round turn and two half hitches. Sometimes known as an anchor hitch or a fisherman's hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/roundturn/index.php?Categ=boating&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/roundturn/index.php?Categ=boating&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A Useful Boating Knot: A Round Turn and Two (or more) Half Hitches&#xA;  (ABOK # 1720, p 296) is useful for attaching a mooring line to a dock&#xA;  post or ring although probably less secure than the Anchor&#xA;  (Fisherman's) Hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T13:02:28.467" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T13:02:28.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7625" CreationDate="2015-01-20T08:24:52.170" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's quite similar to skiing because the reason for &lt;em&gt;kick-and-glide&lt;/em&gt; is to save energy. Same for snowshoes; try not to elevate the whole weight of the shoe for every step. Of course in deep snow you have to lift the leg including the snowshoe quite high, but not as high as you'd have to not wearing snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Open the fixture at the back to make the gliding-like walking possible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTMBc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;walking in snow shoes&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going uphill you will be pleased most snowshoes have the heel lifter feature:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJhzA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;snow shoe heel lift&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T08:39:50.790" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T08:39:50.790" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7625" CreationDate="2015-01-20T09:58:47.327" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Walking technique&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can save energy by not &lt;strong&gt;lifting&lt;/strong&gt; your shoe higher then needed. And also how long steps you take. If it's steep try to make &lt;strong&gt;smaller steps&lt;/strong&gt; to save energy. If you walk with poles &lt;strong&gt;use your poles&lt;/strong&gt; with the correct length and technique as with cross-country-skiing, both for every step, one per step or asymmetric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Path planing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you can save the most energy, when you &lt;strong&gt;use existing snowshoe paths&lt;/strong&gt;. If there are no existing paths you can create a efficient path. When going uphill try to go as &lt;strong&gt;straight up&lt;/strong&gt; as possible and use the &lt;strong&gt;heel lift&lt;/strong&gt;. The heel lift helps you to walk uphill like on stairs and save energy. The reason to walk straight up is, to reduce distance where you need to walk trough heavy snow and also traversing is much more exhausting and frustrating. You have also crampons on your snowshoes and are not as much limited as touring-skis with skins on it (to an maximum angle of 30 degree). Keep also &lt;strong&gt;avalanche safety&lt;/strong&gt; in mind and don't go for the steepest hills if the risk is increased.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T09:02:33.383" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T09:02:33.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7629" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:20:12.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions which may reference high mountains, alpine habitats, the Alps, skiing terms or fauna and flora.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpine has a varied usage (not to be confused with various manufacturers by this name) and can be used to describe: plants and animals who tend to live in an alpine habitat such as alpine hare; alpine skiing; the various Alpine countries - or areas within a country; as well as higher mountain regions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tag would likely need to be used in conjunction with another to help be more descriptive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T11:03:02.930" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T11:03:02.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7630" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:20:12.803" Score="0" Body="Questions which may reference high mountains, alpine habitats, the Alps, skiing terms or fauna and flora." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T11:03:06.237" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T11:03:06.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7631" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:27:19.607" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T10:27:19.607" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T10:27:19.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7632" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:27:19.607" Score="0" Body="Maintenance is the process of looking after equipment, trails, huts, .... The form and action of a maintenance act can vary considerably. Use this tag to tag questions where you need help for repairing, maintaining or improving anything in the outdoors or to be used in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-31T10:46:15.290" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T10:46:15.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7633" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:27:53.327" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T10:27:53.327" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T10:27:53.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7634" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T10:27:53.327" Score="0" Body="Questions about animals likely to be encountered outdoors, whether from the perspective of food (hunting, preparing, eating); shelter (skinning);  avoidance (bears, lions, other dangerous animals); enjoyment (bird and other animal watching, care, understanding of behavior). " OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-04-16T22:35:24.207" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T22:35:24.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7635" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T11:12:45.113" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping questions which are specific to the winter season or camping in low temperatures, as winter may not always be cold in every geographical location. These maybe questions such as How to prepare shelters in the snow, ice or bad weather as an example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T11:46:03.190" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T11:46:03.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7636" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T11:12:45.113" Score="0" Body="Camping questions which are specific to the winter season or camping in low temperatures, as winter may not always be cold in every geographical location." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T11:45:31.863" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T11:45:31.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7637" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T14:06:20.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Small flies. The females need to drink blood to breed. Responsible for the spread of many blood born diseases. Ask questions with this tag for anything relating to these insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T07:28:34.657" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:28:34.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7638" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T14:06:20.630" Score="0" Body="This tag is for the questions that discuss about Mosquitoes in Outdoors scope. Example topics include Prevention of bites, Prevalence in a particular outdoor area, Equipment to protect against, etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T07:28:34.657" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:28:34.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7463" CreationDate="2015-01-20T14:37:57.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is basicaly a cut and paste of my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6189/2766&quot;&gt;answer here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rating climbs isn't really a tick box exercise, for a start their are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6006/how-do-you-compare-between-different-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;multiple different grading systems&lt;/a&gt; all of which are slightly different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You cannot say: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;well it's at x angle and the hand holds are y size therefore it's w&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different challenges to grading climbs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing grades are a rule of thumb and are open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are a measure of how hard it is to climb. Different people find&#xA;different aspects of climbing more or less difficult so it is always&#xA;open to interpretation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Indoor grades are often very different to outdoor grades, bouldering&#xA;gardes are very different to Trad grades, etc, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grades tend to overlap so there is very little difference between a &lt;code&gt;5.9&lt;/code&gt; and a &lt;code&gt;5.10a&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height of climb, length of pitches, rock type, all need to be included in the grade. This makes comparing grades in different areas difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is to the point that when a new climb is &quot;put up&quot; the grade that the first climber gives it is a provisional one. This grade needs to be confirmed by one or more climbers before it is accepted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to grade a climb is to gain experience of climbing well know climbs that the grade is well known and accepted. Then when you want to grade something that you don't know the grade for you need to ask yourself (and others preferably) is this harder or easier than x and y climbs? How much harder or easier? What about w climb? etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll likely never get it 100% right, people argue over grades constantly. But the whole point is that it's impossible to get 100% right. It's a guide only. You may find a V1 that's easy or a completely different V1 that you find difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T14:37:57.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7640" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7643" CreationDate="2015-01-20T14:41:53.827" Score="10" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently reading an article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6903&quot;&gt;UKClimbing by Andy Kirkpatrick&lt;/a&gt; about clothing in winter. It talks about vapour barriers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve played around with vapour barrier socks over many years, and&#xA;  think just having a cheap thin shopping bag next to your skin, then a&#xA;  good sock over the top, is a no brainer on any super cold, or extended&#xA;  routes.  Having it next to your skin means you don’t end up with&#xA;  stinking liner socks, and you also have a little more friction between&#xA;  the layers when front pointing.  You really get the advantages from a&#xA;  vapour barrier system when your day becomes extended, say that 12 hour&#xA;  winter route on the Tacul draws on to a 24 hour epic, where saturated&#xA;  socks suck the heat out of your feet with the combination of nighttime&#xA;  temperatures and fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really get this, I would of thought that keeping moisture next to your skin would be a bad thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the thinking behind this? When should they be used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T11:34:12.527" Title="What are the advantages of a vapour barrier?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7641" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-20T15:17:31.307" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T15:17:31.307" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T15:17:31.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7642" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-20T15:17:31.307" Score="0" Body="Questions related to cleaning equipment or people during or after outdoor activities." OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T16:48:12.883" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T16:48:12.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7640" CreationDate="2015-01-20T15:25:43.260" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When to use it:&lt;/strong&gt; An vapour barrier is used when the temperature is very cold and when a wet down-suit/sleeping bag, clothes or shoes can cause serious hypothermia. It's also used if you can't dry your stuff because of no sun, cold temperature or bad weather, so everything stays dry at least from the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thinking behind this:&lt;/strong&gt; When the isolation layers get wet they are not functioning well or not at all. So it's better to have the sweat directly on your skin and dry it off in the evening/morning with a small towel than have all layers wet and cold. And wet feet in a insulated shoe are not the same as wet feet exposed to cold wind. And the theory goes that you will stop sweating once your skin is completely wet. So your feet will be damp, but not soaking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T11:34:12.527" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T11:34:12.527" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7616" CreationDate="2015-01-20T16:28:03.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was in central Alaska, courtesy of Uncle Sam, we wore vapor barrier boots. They are great for extremely low temperatures, but of you are heavily exerting in milder weather* (down to -23C/-10F range), your socks would get downright soggy. Some soldiers did put anti-perspirant on their feet to help with cold and trench foot symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If plastic mountaineering boots don't breathe, anti-perspirant could be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;milder, not mild&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T16:28:03.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6985" CreationDate="2015-01-20T16:59:21.997" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suppose for recreational paddling you could use gloves, but they come at a cost of decreased grip, which translates to less power in stroke and fatigue in hands. The best way to prevent blisters is to toughen up your hands. I have done 1000+km trips without gloves. The only time I use gloves is for cold. Perhaps work on your stroke too, when paddling your hands should not move at all and power should not be generated through your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5505" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T16:59:21.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7646" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7650" CreationDate="2015-01-20T17:10:29.220" Score="5" ViewCount="2893" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I completed my fourth day of cross-country skiing last Saturday, with several bruises resulting from falls going downhill as I was barely able to control myself, I was curious:  Why don't cross-country skis have edges?  I can't think of any downside to them, as far as I am aware, they would only enhance control going downhill.  Please enlighten me if I am missing something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-21T20:24:31.713" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T20:24:31.713" Title="Why don't cross-country skis have edges?" Tags="&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7647" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7651" CreationDate="2015-01-20T17:13:47.603" Score="5" ViewCount="1873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't serviced my snowboard for a couple of years but then again I haven't used it much in that time unfortunately either.  I went a couple of days ago and did fine, did double black diamonds with moguls and it went well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My ride notwithstanding, how do I know when my board needs to have the edges sharpened?  What are some of guidelines?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T17:30:00.870" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T19:13:54.750" Title="How do I know when my snowboard edges need to be serviced?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7625" CreationDate="2015-01-20T18:23:35.060" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're not walking on very steep slopes, there is basically no special technique to learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On steep slopes, you can use many of the same foot techniques as with crampons, and in fact many snowshoes include a type of built-in crampon. Front-pointing doesn't work with snowshoes, however, and I don't think three-o'clock position works either. Snowshoes designed for steep slopes have heel risers that you can pop up when needed. As the slope goes from level to steep, you can do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;walking (pied marche)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;duck-walking (pied en canard), like herringbone technique on skis&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;flat-footing while facing sideways (pied à plat)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The choice of using poles, an ice ax, or nothing basically works the same as with hiking in boots or climbing in crampons. As with those other activities, poles are always optional. When climbing something steep, I prefer an ice ax, and I may duck-walk while driving the shaft of the ax into the snow with both hands as in a self-belay. Carrying an ax rather than poles makes it much more likely that you would be able to self-arrest if necessary. Poles are just as useless for snowshoeing on level ground as they are for hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-01-20T18:29:12.673" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T18:29:12.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7623" CreationDate="2015-01-20T18:56:28.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Slip knot&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's undoubtably a &lt;strong&gt;slip knot that's been tied off with a half hitch&lt;/strong&gt;. some of the knots look different because some are tied off right-handed while others are left-handed. Compare the image below to the second image in the question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j3AhR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I even know why that knot was used in that display case too. Whoever made that display and tied the knot is obviously artsy or crafty, and probably &lt;strong&gt;crochets.&lt;/strong&gt; When you start  a crochet you tie of your yarn to the hook with a slip knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine the picture below with the tail end tied off with a half hitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JBmxF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what's being hung in the display case, but the same person probably pre tied the overhand knot in the rope to mark how high to hang whatever it is they're hanging, then wrapped the tail end around the bar, fed it through the over hand knot, snugged it up the the bar then quickly tied off the tail with a half hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-01T06:24:39.033" LastActivityDate="2015-02-01T06:24:39.033" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7646" CreationDate="2015-01-20T19:07:40.447" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many cross country skis &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; have metal edges &amp;ndash; I've owned many such skis. They tend to be backcountry XC skis though, not trail skis. Newer backcountry skis are fat and often practically indistinguishable from downhill skis other than for the bindings, but metal edges skinny skis used to be quite common. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For groomed trails or relatively flat, low-angle skiing, metal edges add unnecessary weight and provide little advantage. For more difficult trails and backcountry skiing, they're very useful to have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T19:07:40.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7647" CreationDate="2015-01-20T19:13:54.750" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;If it ain't broke don't fix it.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These's only one real guideline for sharpening anything, and that is to &lt;strong&gt;sharpen things when they get dull&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your edges aren't dull, or dinged, or rusty, then they likely don't need to be serviced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inspect your bases and edges for any nicks or gouges regularly, if you take your board or skis to the shop to get waxed they typically sharpen them at the same time. When I sharpen my skis I check the edges with the backs of my thumbnail. If the edge shaves bits of nail off–then it's sharp, if not–then it's dull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically the biggest indicator that it's time to service your board or skis is when things &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; feel like they're going well anymore while you ride. Or you've hit a big rock or stump and you've done damage to your bases. That's if you're a casual recreational rider. If you're a serious racer, then you're probably going to get your skis serviced before every race. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-20T19:13:54.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7625" CreationDate="2015-01-21T00:07:08.647" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Search and rescue guy here. It's been a while since I've skied, XC or downhill, but I do plenty of snowshoeing, and they are nothing alike, even with shallow snow. If anything, snowshoeing on shallow or crusty snow is more like using crampons. Just keep your gear tight, with straps pointing out (eg, gaiter strap on left foot is pointing left, straps on right snowshoe are pointing right) so they don't get caught and trip you, and keep your gait a bit wider than normal hiking. Poles with snow baskets are a good idea almost all the time, even when not in snowshoes. Poles help take stress off your lower joints, so they are good for all around hiking as well. I recommend the adjustable ones with interchangeable baskets so you can use them for multiple things and they don't get in the way when strapped on your pack. If the slope is steep and icy, you're better off putting on crampons and having your ice axe ready for arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget in addition to the ten essentials, for winter mountaineering you will almost always want the trifecta of snowshoes, ice axe and crampons. If there's possibility of avalanche, beacon, probe and shovel are also essential. Out of all of these, snowshoes take the least training. Just hike with a wide gait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5514" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T00:07:08.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7653" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7654" CreationDate="2015-01-21T02:37:54.860" Score="12" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are times when I just barely miss getting sprayed by a skunk (there are a lot of them in my area). I haven't actually gotten directly sprayed, but I would like to be ready in case that happens. I hear that taking a bath in tomato soup helps, but don't want to waste all that food if I can help it (especially if it doesn't work).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I have quick access to civilization, what's my best route of action?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I'm out in the middle of nowhere, how can I make it tolerable while I finish/abort my mission, and return to civilization?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T17:38:42.750" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T14:59:57.340" Title="What should I do if I get sprayed by a skunk?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;skunks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7653" CreationDate="2015-01-21T02:58:14.900" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The magic skunk-smell-be-gone recipe:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a &lt;em&gt;plastic&lt;/em&gt; bucket, mix well the following ingredients:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 quart of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1/4 cup of baking soda&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 to 2 teaspoons liquid soap&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing you want to do is get as much of the skunk goo off of you as you can. Using paper towel, tissues, or a rag you can throw away, &lt;em&gt;dab&lt;/em&gt; the spray off your skin. Rinsing with water does not work because the skunk spray is oil based.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go somewhere with a shower, get as much of the stuff off of you as you can with a rag/towel, shower (soap very well), then wash any areas that still smell using the H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concoction. Note: H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; breaks down quick so use the stuff immediately after mixing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Breath through your mouth. Burn your clothes. But seriously... remove your affected clothes and put them in a plastic bag (to burn later-or wash). Remember that the spray is an oil, so washing in creek water will just spread it around and not necessarily wash it off, dab off as much as you can, wash up to the best of your abilities and then just deal with the smell. There really isn't much else you can do. If the smell is making you gag, put some sap on your lip, or pee into a rag and tie it around your face (it works for mustard gas...). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T14:59:57.340" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T14:59:57.340" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7656" CreationDate="2015-01-21T04:14:25.977" Score="23" ViewCount="23440" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bunch of partially-full Jetboil canisters from various trips, and I'm trying to figure out approximately how much fuel is left in each of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much does a full canister weigh (fuel + canister), and how much does it weigh when it's empty (canister only)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(For reference purposes, I think covering all canister sizes would be useful)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T01:42:49.890" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T01:42:49.890" Title="How much does a full/empty jetboil canister weigh?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7655" CreationDate="2015-01-21T04:18:18.510" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;This information is available under the Specs on Jetboil's website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/Products/Jetpower-Fuel-100G-24/&quot;&gt;100g canister&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; 100g fuel; gross weight 194g; empty weight 94g (51.5% fuel by weight)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/Products/Jetpower-Fuel-230G-24/&quot;&gt;230g canister&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; 230g fuel; gross weight 356g; empty weight 126g (64.6% fuel by weight)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/Products/Jetpower-Fuel-450G-12/&quot;&gt;450g canister&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; 450g fuel; gross weight 645g; empty weight 195g (69.8% fuel by weight)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T04:18:18.510" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7655" CreationDate="2015-01-21T05:39:35.443" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a scale, you can still figure out roughly how much fuel is in each canister with a simple bowl of water. Drop a full canister in bowl of water and mark the water line. Then, drop an empty one in the bowl of water and mark the water line. This gives you your full and empty lines for reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you can drop each of your partially-full canisters in said bowl of water and mark the water line. Now you can estimate the amount of fuel in each one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="5409" LastEditDate="2015-01-26T20:43:02.630" LastActivityDate="2015-01-26T20:43:02.630" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11792" CreationDate="2015-01-21T05:41:28.487" Score="13" ViewCount="571" Body="&lt;p&gt;High on my list of places I want to visit one day in my life is Iceland, but I am worried by a warning I heard.  One of two people who talked to me about Iceland experiences told me she was rather disappointed, because in many areas where they went, they were annoyed by four-wheel-drive cars driving by, spoiling the nature experience.  The warning has stayed with me ever since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed, looking around on Google Images, Panomario, etc., one finds many photos of cars and 4WD-roads in the middle of the wilderness.  Example &lt;a href=&quot;http://matthiasbook.de/travel/island2004/img/max/20040704/pict0458.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.panoramio.com/photo/75974821&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;two&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.panoramio.com/photo/58540217&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;three&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.panoramio.com/photo/83668472&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;four&lt;/a&gt;.  I would not like to be disturbed by a noisy 4-WD that can likely be heard kilometres away, while three days into a backpacking trip.  Below is a map of Vatnajökull National Park, and it seems the glacier is surrounded by 4WD-roads on all sides, making a backpacking trip that does not frequently cross such areas possibly challenging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any larger areas of Iceland where 4WD-driving is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; permitted?  Apart from the obviously inaccessible areas such as Vatnajökull, that is.  A map with explicitly prohibited areas would be a great aid in planning a backpacking trip that includes a tranquil nature experience and solitude, without frequent encounters of motorised traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Bz5l.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-20T07:15:28.267" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T07:15:28.267" Title="Avoiding 4WD-areas in Iceland" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7658" CreationDate="2015-01-21T08:47:51.923" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you wanted to avoid the 4WD areas* my suggestion would be to make your start point for a multi-day hike at one of the furthest reaches of a 4WD trail. And if that trail is one of the lesser used ones, you should be well away from petrol-based signs of civilisation rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, with the ongoing popularity of volcano watching in Iceland, you'll probably still have to contend with noise from helicopters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read these associated questions on Travel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/24803/1381&quot;&gt;Circular hikes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/21376/1381&quot;&gt;Hiking trails&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/q/23765/1381&quot;&gt;Crowding&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*although I would heartily recommend spending a day on either one of the glacier trips by 4WD or the uniquely Icelandic cliff race buggies - different to anything elsewhere in the world)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:52:12.723" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T08:58:41.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7660" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-21T13:01:01.947" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sport climbing is a style of climbing where the basic aim is to climb as difficult routes as possible. It is typically done at single-pitch routes either on natural rock or artificial climbing walls. It follows the idea of freeclimbing, i.e. only natural structures or in artificial climbing walls the structure of the wall and holds are allowed to move forward while the rope and other gear are only for fall protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has to be distinguished from&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bouldering, where climbs are not as high as to cause serious injury when falling off and which is therefore done ropeless;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;alpine climbing, where not necessarily high difficulty but the ascent to a mountain peak is goal and typically the routes are several pitches long;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;technical or aid climbing, where the climber uses not only natural structure but also ropes and gear attached to the wall to move up the wall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sport climbing is done for recreational purposes as well as in competitive fashion with championships.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4635/whats-the-difference-between-sport-climbing-and-traditional-climbing&quot;&gt;What's the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T14:19:44.530" LastActivityDate="2017-06-23T14:19:44.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7661" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-21T13:01:01.947" Score="0" Body="Roped up climbing with the aim of climbing as difficult as possible. Mostly done at single-pitch routes on natural rock or in climbing gyms. Different style of climbing than bouldering, alpine climbing, and technical or aid climbing." OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T16:49:52.553" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T16:49:52.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7658" CreationDate="2015-01-21T16:46:07.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your best bet would be to look at their other &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visiticeland.com/things-to-do/national-parks-in-Iceland&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Parks&lt;/a&gt;, Vatnajökull is the biggest (It covers 13% of Iceland), but apparently &lt;strong&gt;Snæfellsjökull National Park&lt;/strong&gt; is Iceland's main attraction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2b53S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/381Sj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9DzPB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like Rory said in his answer, you're likely going to have to 4x4 to the end of the road to find a good vehicle-free area to hike in. That's what Bear Grylls did on his adventure in Iceland:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xk6dit_man-vs-wild-iceland-fire-and-ice-s07-e03_shortfilms&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Man vs. Wild, Season 7 Episode 3 - &lt;strong&gt;Iceland: &quot;Fire and Ice&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T16:46:07.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1966" CreationDate="2015-01-21T18:42:13.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your criteria, I would go with bivy sacks. Making shelters from snow (even just tarp covered windbreaks) is energy and time consuming, eating up your already scarce daylight and what little energy you have leftover from hiking/snowshoeing/skiing to camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A commentary on group size, though: it's almost always a bad idea to go winter mountaineering with less than three people, both for trailbreaking reasons and most winter (four season) tents are heavy and not made for less than three people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter what you decide, you will need a snow shovel to carve out and help pack down a space for your shelter (or carve out your shelter). Snowshoes are also very handy for packing down snow to make a surface for a bivy sack or tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5514" LastEditorUserId="5514" LastEditDate="2015-01-21T18:48:16.947" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T18:48:16.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7664" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7665" CreationDate="2015-01-21T22:07:37.857" Score="9" ViewCount="1840" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://kokatat.com/products/insulation/polartecr-power-dryr-liner-men.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kokatat fleece union suit&lt;/a&gt;, which we kayakers also refer to as a &quot;bunny suit&quot;, which I wear under my &lt;a href=&quot;http://kokatat.com/products/dry-suits/gore-texr-front-entry-dry-suit-with-relief-zipper-men.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dry suit&lt;/a&gt; when kayaking in cold conditions.  I also wear it when snowboarding or XC skiing because the beauty of it is that the top does not untuck from the bottom, leaving your skin exposed. It is really one of the awesomest pieces of gear I own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the bunny suit keeps me warm, the regular &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;cotton&lt;/a&gt; underwear worn under it gets wet from sweat (I swear not for any other reason, LOL) even when the temps are in their 20s.  I tried wearing my &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002O346A6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prana yoga shorts&lt;/a&gt; but they too absorb moisture, albeit to a lesser degree.  Ideally, I would like some material like what is used for &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001N2MLY2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helly Hansen base layer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for recommendations for what kind of underwear to wear inside by union suit in the winter that will be moisture repellent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T08:22:52.437" Title="What kind of underwear inside union suit in winter?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7664" CreationDate="2015-01-21T22:22:02.207" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you are facing a serious sweating problem, maybe your overall setup is too warm. What layers/jackets do you wear above the one-suite-fleece? I am thinking of a very thin layer which is highly breathable and will just be a shelter against the elements (wind, rain/snow) like e.g. the Gore Active Shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, sweating to some degree is pretty normal. What I can recommend in general is merino wool. It feels comfortable and warm also when it is wet. It also dries fast. Please check &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5719/2653&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt;. Also very very nice is that merino doesn't attract bacteria like common materials like cotton or synthetics. Especially for underwear this is a unique and great feature. Going on multi-day trips you (and your friends) are still fine when you have 2 pieces of underwear with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relating the comment of @amphibient:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right, cotton absorbs the sweat which isn't that favourable. Synthetics and also wool will transport the moisture to the outside. Your outer layers have to work the same way, otherwise your system won't work. Wearing a high-end merino shirt won't help when you have a cotton pullover over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your one-piece fleece midlayer and your one-piece hardshell outer layer, this might be great in terms of being waterproof and warm (no wind will break in) but I think you don't have the versatile options normal setups have. I am able to open zippers under the arms or open the main zipper from the top or even from the bottom when I feel slightly too warm. This lets me react to changes in weather/activity nicely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-01-21T22:49:49.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7664" CreationDate="2015-01-21T22:40:45.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Not Cotton&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;Does cotton really kill?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any active base layer will suffice as long as it is &lt;em&gt;not cotton&lt;/em&gt;. Cotton is great for keeping you cool, but terrible for wicking moisture and keeping you warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The classic &quot;Union Suit&quot; that your suit is modelled after was developed as, and is still worn by some as &lt;em&gt;underwear&lt;/em&gt;, so you could use your suit as your base layer–I'd recommend washing it as often as your undies if you do–and then add layers over top of it as needed, otherwise I'd recommend choosing some other active-wear base layer like polyester long-johns, or underarmour, or some other base layer made out of moisture wicking materials.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T16:07:02.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7667" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-22T12:59:30.230" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag should be used with the questions regarding the encountering (positive or negative), avoiding encounters, safety precautions when venturing through the regions known their presence, first-aid in case of a snake-bite in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:40:28.987" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T13:40:28.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7668" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-22T12:59:30.230" Score="0" Body="Legless, long bodied, carnivorous reptiles. " OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:40:28.987" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T13:40:28.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7669" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some questions for this tag may be more relevant to &lt;a href=&quot;http://fitness.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;http://fitness.stackexchange.com/&lt;/a&gt;. Please limit questions in this tag to running issues relevant to outdoor pursuits (fell running, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7670" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" Score="0" Body="Running is the human process of moving fast. The difference between a run and walk can is typically speed plus one (or both) feet being off the ground at any one time. Use this tag to ask questions about running in the great outdoors. " OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T13:02:29.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7671" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7672" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" Score="0" Body="A top rope is when a rock climbing rope is mounted in such a way that the climber is always protected from above. this is typically peoples first experience in rock climbing. Top-ropes can be mounted utilised indoors or outdoors. Use this tag for issues and questions concerning the usage  or mounting of a top rope." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T13:06:25.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7584" CreationDate="2015-01-22T18:37:34.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should have some deterrents, such as bear spray or air-horn. Wolves will generally not harm you though they can often approach you (at least here in BC) and in this instance, the recommended advice is to make them believe that you are a threat to them, by shouting, banging, etc.. Bear spray can be used as a last resort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5505" LastActivityDate="2015-01-22T18:37:34.213" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7613" CreationDate="2015-01-22T21:59:08.463" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nylon is great for climbing ropes, but it's sub-optimal for lashing and repair since it stretches so much under load. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to carry string, carry polyester braided cord. It's just as strong but stretches much less. This is all I could find on the web quickly: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Northern-Flight-Braided-Decoy-Cord/1840383.uts?productVariantId=3860276&amp;amp;srccode=cii_17588969&amp;amp;cpncode=45-27946039-2&amp;amp;WT.tsrc=CSE&amp;amp;WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&amp;amp;WT.z_mc_id1=03884004&amp;amp;rid=20&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cabela's Northern Flight™ Braided Decoy Cord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pfBwL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's 2mm cord with a 450lb breaking strength. A lifetime supply (200ft) is $7 and it comes in lots of colors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've got money to spend, a marine supply store is the place to go,&#xA;not a climbing shop. You can buy 2mm cords with over 800 lbs breaking strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westmarine.com/buy/ronstan--mrx-2-dyneema-lashing-line--15337272?green=27EDC63E-85E3-5DA8-9984-9B262DA19C1B&amp;amp;cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-MB-_-PDP&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FSE ROBLINE MRX-2 Dyneema Lashing Line&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v4R2t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I really carry for quick repairs is zip ties and voile straps, but that's another question.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-23T16:10:46.667" LastActivityDate="2015-01-23T16:10:46.667" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7675" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-23T10:54:50.287" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekking_pole&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekking_pole&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:32:48.663" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:32:48.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7676" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-23T10:54:50.287" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to trekking poles or other walking sticks used to assist walking, both fixed and collapsible. " OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-01-23T15:10:45.863" LastActivityDate="2015-01-23T15:10:45.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7677" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-01-23T10:56:56.450" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-01-23T10:56:56.450" LastActivityDate="2015-01-23T10:56:56.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7678" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-01-23T10:56:56.450" Score="0" Body="Any questions related to repairing broken or damaged gear or equipment." OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-01-23T15:10:35.143" LastActivityDate="2015-01-23T15:10:35.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7679" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-23T12:08:46.917" Score="9" ViewCount="844" Body="&lt;p&gt;What can I do to survive multiple (2-4) days in a cold environment (like in mountains in winter)? As resources I've normal Skitouring gear with me for a single day, no sleeping bag or bivy bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the points and priorities to keep in mind to look for, when you're stuck in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One point is to stay warm like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/27/keeping-warm-in-an-emergency&quot;&gt;the linked answer&lt;/a&gt;. What are others?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:50:21.400" Title="How can I survive multiple days in cold environment?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-01-23T16:04:24.183" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most importantly: be prepared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Always&lt;/em&gt; bring sufficient warm and waterproof clothing to make the worst possible weather for the area and time of year survivable. An emergency bivouac sack, a warm hat and gloves weigh very little, and can save your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, something to start a fire (a lighter is not ideal as it could fail in very cold conditions), which can keep you warm &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; increase your chances of getting found by a search party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20150516150156/http://www.friendsofyosar.org:80/rescues/missions/11-11-07_Cathedral_Fatality.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; written by a guy who lost a friend and barely survived himself when they were caught in a storm while climbing in Yosemite valley, with insufficent clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T21:50:21.400" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:50:21.400" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7681" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-23T20:53:41.813" Score="9" ViewCount="60489" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does someone have a list or a link of exactly which UK wildlife it is legal to hunt &amp;amp; safe (&amp;amp; tasty) to eat? For example, are rabbits safe to eat, or is myxomatosis still a problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background: I'm a reasonable shot with a shotgun on a clay pigeon shoot, and am prepared to train in order to learn to take wild game cleanly &amp;amp; safely. I'm only really interested in genuine wild animals, not pheasant shooting or the like, and I'm aware that I'll need a shotgun licence and a suitable gun cabinet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5395" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:07.780" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T19:34:54.170" Title="Which wildlife is it legal to hunt in the UK?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2015-01-24T14:24:09.597" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;People do not realize that their public water are delivered by iron pipes buried 20 to 80 years ago. I was an engineering student and if you cut those pipes you will see rust around the pipes. So people do not realized that they are drinking water through rusted interior of water pipes. No one has died from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5528" LastActivityDate="2015-01-24T14:24:09.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7683" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7684" CreationDate="2015-01-24T21:03:08.390" Score="13" ViewCount="1814" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just saw a documentary where they investigated lakes inside of glaciers. They rapelled in big crevasses and even dived in those sometimes huge water reservoirs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scientist had a regular looking headlamp but on top of it there seemed to be an open flame. What could be the purpose of this tool and how does it work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Made a picture of that headlamp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EkIQ9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-01-26T08:41:55.767" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T07:42:19.080" Title="Headlamp with open flame" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7683" CreationDate="2015-01-24T21:24:38.060" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would guess it's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbide_lamp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbide lamp&lt;/a&gt; as it was in former times used by mining workers and is still used in speleology (caving) sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic working principle is a box with carbide and a water reservoir from which water slowly drips onto the carbide. Carbide and water chemically react and form acetylene gas which is guided through a hose to a small nozzle where it is burned. The flame is in front of a metallic mirror to concentrate the light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why is this (still) used? The advantage of this setup are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less problems with cold temperatures: Batteries tend to provide significantly less power when they get cold. As in caves and glaciers the temperatures are at best something like 10°C, this can be some serious problem if one has to work there for longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better energy density (energy per weight ratio): Compared to batteries carbide provides more energy per weight and in many glacier or caving spots water – the second ingredient – can be obtained nearly everywhere, so one has to carry only the amount of carbide needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No electricity problems: there are no electric circuits that could be short cut when water enters the lamp system.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly they did wear those lamps just for the documentary to give it some nostalgic touch, but there are situations where such lamps are at least not worse than battery powered ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-01-09T20:39:10.223" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T20:39:10.223" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7686" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7691" CreationDate="2015-01-26T03:11:21.287" Score="12" ViewCount="3510" Body="&lt;p&gt;At what pitch does it become more effective to zig-zag up and/or lose the skis entirely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2015-01-26T16:30:36.940" Title="How steep of a slope can you skin up in AT gear?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7686" CreationDate="2015-01-26T07:15:11.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think I've gone straight up 30° on good snow, maybe steeper for short bits. This would be on old Diamir bindings and fairly stiff alpine boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Dakatine mentioned, not all snow is equal, powder tends to let the tails drop even further than the actual slope. So loose snow, presence of hard ice are a problem, and of course you'll also want full length skins cut for maximum grip (minimum glide). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for an upper limit on what your gear can do, I think it's a matter of comfort &amp;amp; balance: your heel elevators, ankles &amp;amp; boot flex will determine the steepest angle where you can stand up straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="4310" LastEditDate="2015-01-26T16:20:27.723" LastActivityDate="2015-01-26T16:20:27.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7681" CreationDate="2015-01-26T08:20:25.920" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;From gov.uk you can hunt the following legally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don’t need a licence to hunt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;game birds, eg pheasants and grouse&#xA;quarry birds and certain wild birds, eg moorhens and woodcock&#xA;certain waterfowl, eg some ducks and geese&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don’t need a licence to hunt deer in open season. Open season varies by region and species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other animals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no hunting seasons for other animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can hunt some small animals, such as hares, rabbits and foxes, all year round. But you can’t shoot hares or rabbits (game animals) on Sundays or Christmas Day in most of the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However all of the above are restricted to seasons, and / or various permissions to cull / control. Details of which can be found on the gov.uk website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One not listed directly by gov.uk but that are hunted and eaten due to being a pest are &lt;a href=&quot;http://basc.org.uk/game-and-gamekeeping/advice-and-fact-sheets/basc-grey-squirrel-control/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grey Squirrels&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mentioned rabbits, yes for the most part they are safe to hunt and eat (myxomatosis is still in the UK but rabbit is hunted and sold so just be careful with what you shoot) - my local butcher often has some for sale which are caught locally. But often you need landowners permission to hunt them. Most people shoot rabbit with only an air rifle and the more powerful licence free ones will kill them (and leaves less buck to pick out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something to bear in mind is the wildlife licence which can be required if you're considered to be controlling a pest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/hunting/hunting-equipment&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;restrictions on equipment&lt;/a&gt; you can use to hunt in the UK. For example, no dogs for hares, deer, foxes etc - but they can be used to retrieve these. No bows, nets, vehicles, explosives can be used to hunt in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/hunting/overview&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gov.uk/hunting/overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some serious detail you can look into the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/section/11&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildlife Act&lt;/a&gt;, which you have to conform to for hunting animals in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-01-26T08:27:33.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7686" CreationDate="2015-01-26T15:43:54.067" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The optimal skin track angle is a subject of much debate in the backcountry skiing world. There are generally two schools of thought on skin tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The steeper the better&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wp35O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Steep skinnging&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slow and steady wins the race&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lYz7F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Smooth skin track&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you used &quot;effective&quot; rather than possible, my 2 cents would be that you should set the steepest skin track that allows you to climb at a consistent rate. If the track is so steep that you are stopping to rest every 10 steps, you will gain elevation slowly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a school of thought that says your uptrack should be as beautiful as your tracks descending. This school tends to smooth transitions and lower climb angles. They view zig-zag kick turns as the method of last resort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A great source for tips from the &lt;strong&gt;Steeper is Better&lt;/strong&gt; school is the website &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://straightchuter.com/steep-skinning-technique/&quot;&gt;SteepChuter.com website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The exact angle that will be 'too steep' on any given day is far too dependent on conditions and equipment to pick any numeric values. Generally it's somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees. A good rule of thumb is that if it's too steep to skin straight up, you should start thinking about avalanche hazard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to when booting up is a more efficient means, this depends a lot snow conditions and how heavy your skis are. If the snow is hard and icy, crampons can be faster on even relatively flat slopes. I often use just crampons for early morning starts in spring corn snow ski season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Booting up is generally only used in soft snow conditions when the terrain doesn't allow a   zig-zag skin track. (i.e. couloirs and narrow ridges.) And if the snow is deep enough booting up can be next to impossible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-01-26T16:30:36.940" LastActivityDate="2015-01-26T16:30:36.940" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7693" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7694" CreationDate="2015-01-27T00:24:12.250" Score="11" ViewCount="4403" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages/disadvantages and typical use cases for different sizes of locking carabiners?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-carabiners-quickdraws/rocklock-carabiner-BD2102520000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond RockLock Screwgate&lt;/a&gt; vs a &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-carabiners-quickdraws/mini-pearabiner-screwgate-BD2100730000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mini Pearabiner Screwgate&lt;/a&gt; (or the differently-shaped &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-carabiners-quickdraws/positron-screwgate-carabiner-BD2102710000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Positron Screwgate&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if one is better for belaying, anchoring, or if it's purely preference. I would think that the smaller ones would be nicer all-around, but I may be missing a use case for larger carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-01-29T02:08:46.527" LastActivityDate="2015-01-31T01:33:58.637" Title="Uses for different size locking carabiners" Tags="&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7693" CreationDate="2015-01-27T01:32:40.493" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically a small biner is fine. The larger ones are useful in a number of scenarios though, for example rigging a belay where you have multiple anchors each tied into your carabiner, the bigger biner gives you more space to add clove hitches, etc. This is only really applicable to trad climbing where you build complex belays with 2+ anchors spread out on a cliff that need equalising, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ovDq7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll likely find the big biner will take a larger load too so it's safer if it's cross loaded, etc. (though this, as mentioned is highly variable)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another slight advantage is heat, if your applying a lot of friction to your biner, say using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5423/what-do-i-do-if-i-lose-my-belay-plate&quot;&gt;munter hitch to belay&lt;/a&gt;, the big biner will heat up less and dissipate the heat faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trade off to this is obviously weight and price. Normally one large &lt;em&gt;belay&lt;/em&gt; biner is enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-01-27T17:07:12.620" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7693" CreationDate="2015-01-27T02:14:32.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bigger carabiners will work better for a double rope rappel or for belaying two ropes if you're into that kind of thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bigger is easier to attach to your harness if you don't have belay loop (or you prefer not to use it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; that belay devices are meant to interface to a larger biner when locked off, for smoother action ... but I could just be imagining that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-01-27T02:14:32.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7696" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-27T16:10:29.833" Score="4" ViewCount="366" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there was a website where I could find the different kinds of statistics of accidents in the mountains. I know that Dragon 06 (rescue service of Alpes-Maritimes) posted some numbers online in 2008. But I'm looking for more recent figures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The data that I'm looking for includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The number of accidents for each month (in the old data you really see a peak in the middle of the season).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The state of the victim after the accident&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The cause of the accident&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The kind of accident (broken bones, cuts, ...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The place of the fractures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The way the victims got evacuated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The time between calling the helicopter and being actually rescued&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm focusing on canyon-accidents, so if the statistics include these kind of accidents only that's a big plus :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3721" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-01-30T22:39:13.170" LastActivityDate="2015-01-30T22:39:13.170" Title="Site with statistics of mountaineering accidents" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7696" CreationDate="2015-01-27T19:13:10.097" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know of a source for Europe, but The American Alpine Club published &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanalpineclub.org/p/anam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Accidents in North American Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;&quot; annually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Published annually since 1948, Accidents in North American Mountaineering reports on the year’s most significant and teachable climbing incidents. In each case, the American Alpine Club analyzes what went wrong, helping you to prevent or survive similar situations in the future&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for overall statistics, I don't think there's any unified reporting system for mountaineering accidents. Each search and rescue agency and mountaineering group tends to keep their own numbers but there isn't an organization in place to collect and publish those data in aggregate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You ask about canyon accidents and have the &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/canyoneering&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'canyoneering'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;canyoneering&lt;/a&gt; tag, so I'm not sure if you're referring to mountaineering/climbing/hiking accidents that occur in canyons and ravines or if you're referring to canyoneering as in exploring rivers in canyons. If the latter, you might find more relevant scenarios and statistics by looking for data about swift water rescue. I'm not aware of any specific resources for this but they may be more readily available than canyoneering-specific data in mountaineering publications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-01-29T03:05:54.877" LastActivityDate="2015-01-29T03:05:54.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7696" CreationDate="2015-01-27T21:17:11.840" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The American Alpine club publishes this data for North America annually, though it's unlikely to cover &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; accidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the best visualizations of this data I've found is from Steph Abegg: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stephabegg.com/home/projects/accidentstats&quot;&gt;Mountaineering Accident Statistics&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stephabegg.com/home/projects/rainierstatistics&quot;&gt;Mount Rainier Accident Statistics&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2015-01-27T21:17:11.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7693" CreationDate="2015-01-27T23:30:59.177" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The number one reason for having different sizes of carabiners is for working with different sizes of ropes.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size is one of many differing factors in the design of locking carabiners, there are also different shapes and different profiles, each carabiner design is intended for offering the best performance for different functions. Larger biners are typically for working with larger ropes and larger loads. Small biners are for working with smaller ropes, smaller loads, and saving weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the three biners you listed, only two are different sizes of the same style of biner: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Diamond RockLock = &lt;em&gt;Large&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Pear-shaped Carabiner&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mini Pearabiner = &lt;em&gt;Small&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Pear-shaped Carabiner&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third, the Black Diamond Positron, is an &lt;strong&gt;offset 'D' Carabiner&lt;/strong&gt; with a 'T' profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pear shaped biners were designed specifically to be used with a munter hitch, load release hitch, or more recently the radium release hitch, and work excellent for belays and rappels. Different sizes accommodate different rope sizes. I have both large and small biners, large for when I'm working with 11-15mm ropes, and small for 10mm and smaller. The pear shape and rounder profile makes them great for reducing wear on ropes (and the biner), but they're not as strong as the D-shaped positron carabiner because the load is distributed differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D-shaped carabiners are stronger because they carry the load along the spine of the biner, as opposed to pear or oval shaped carabiners which carry the weight dead smack in the middle, hence the bulkier design. D-shaped locking biners are ideal for making anchors, attaching anchor plates, and for use with certain rappel devices, but aren't well suited for accommodating a lot of knots, especially the munter hitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-01-28T01:54:08.217" LastActivityDate="2015-01-28T01:54:08.217" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1722" CreationDate="2015-01-28T18:22:45.703" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;cfi's answer describes the classic situation, but if you have a skegg, you can have the front person steer (it can be wired to the front). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been regularly paddling in a touring K2 regularly for 4 months now. My partner (an expert kayaker) sits in front, while I (a beginner, but have also paddled in single) sit in back. He basically does everything - picking a line, steering, setting the pace. All I do is sync my strokes to his, and work on my technique (height, entry angle, strength which I can keep up without tiring after a kilometer, etc.) Only if I see my partner doing something unusual - poising the paddle above the water instead of paddling during large waves, or stroking backwards when we approach the place to go out - do I make a decision to either &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stop doing anything and let him handle the situation, or &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;replicate exactly what he's doing, if I know why he's doing it and trust myself to not undo his efforts, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;continue paddling in our previous steady rhythm, keeping a forward velocity to the boat and trusting him to brace us if needed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does mean that, as in the previous answer, there is one person who takes the lead, steers, and makes all the decisions. The difference is that the passive person watches the leader all the time. Thus the passive person does not sit in front, facing the possible dangers coming up at the kayak, and feeling that he/she should be doing &quot;something&quot;. Rather, he or she can observe the leader doing something (while not having to face dangers rushing into his/her face) and thus feel calmer and just paddle. Another advantage is that the passive person learns the correct ways to behave when something happens, like large waves, or taking a turn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has worked so well for us that we made it perfectly well on the first day we went out as a team, doing a short (4km) ride on a river with breast high waves - weatherwise, we happened to pick one of the worst days of the year. All I had to do was to perfectly sync my strokes with his and stay calm and upright, and we did not even come close to tipping despite wind and passing ships. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2015-01-28T18:22:45.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7429" CreationDate="2015-01-28T19:05:29.640" Score="10" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Background&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the very nature of light and lenses it is impossible to not have depth perception change when looking through a lens.  The light will pass through the first surface of the lens, slow down (plastic is denser than air), hit the principle axis and then exit the second surface of the lens and converge at the focal point.  What you are seeing at the focal point is an image that has changed direction twice.  Once at each surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O5zGo.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Answer&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the very nature of the process, depth perception change is impossible to overcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IF you have a very light prescription, the thinner the lens the less effect the lens will have on the light and the less depth perception change you will experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-02-28T18:05:26.370" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7429" CreationDate="2015-01-29T09:57:07.233" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is that eyeglass prescriptions are calculated for a standard distance between the lens and the eye, with the lenses in flat frames parallel to the face.  You can see the effect of varying lens-to-eye distance simply by pushing or pulling on your conventional eyeglasses, and the effect of angle by tilting them on the bridge of your nose.  Your prescription needs to be adjusted for sport frames that hold the lenses at an angle and closer to the eye.  And the stronger your prescription, the more severe the effects of failing to make that adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, now that the production of eyeglasses has been centralized and placed in the hands of unskilled technicians, it's nearly impossible to find a manufacturer that even understands the problem, let alone knows how to make the correct adjustments for a particular set of sports frames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2015-01-29T09:57:07.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7703" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-29T17:12:27.483" Score="5" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am getting ready for a Colorado snowboarding trip in a couple of weeks...  YAAAY !!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been all over the country and I generally like CO resorts best (Keystone and A-Basin being my favorite), however, one thing I liked better at Heavenly was tree riding, which was absolutely phenomenal.  There were multiple wooded trails and rather nice and steep, just the way I like.  I suppose one thing that made that possible in the Sierras is that the trees were bigger and somewhat more spread apart for that reason than regular evergreens in the Rockies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be mostly around Summit Co. resorts, including the two above mentioned, also Copper, Winter Park etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was looking for ideas on which of the ski areas in the general vicinity and up to an hour away have a good variety of legal (so not off bounds) tree skiing/riding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CLARIFICATION:&lt;/strong&gt;  What I mean by &lt;code&gt;tree skiing/riding&lt;/code&gt; is skiing/riding through forested areas, trees presenting an obstacle to dodge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2015-01-30T20:34:38.370" LastActivityDate="2015-01-30T20:34:38.370" Title="Tree skiing/riding in Colorado" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7703" CreationDate="2015-01-29T18:31:59.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Steamboat has some very nice tree skiing. In general open tree skiing in Colorado involves finding an aspen or similar hardwood grove and those don't occur at the very highest elevations. So as a rough first guess, I'd look for resorts at similar elevations to Steamboat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't think of any similar evergreen groves like those at Heavenly, but it has been 20+ years since I skied Summit County. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-01-29T18:31:59.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7429" CreationDate="2015-01-30T15:46:11.243" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paul and Kevin are correct here - any corrective lens &lt;strong&gt;has to&lt;/strong&gt; alter what your eye sees. Your brain very rapidly corrects (a few minutes) but it is a basic function of optical physics that is unavoidable. It's not because of two layers of glass, it is the correction process - you are changing the light path. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that if you need the corrective lenses you just wear them in the goggles permanently. It doesn't sound like contacts are a useful solution for you anyway, so when skiing, just use glasses all day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-01-30T15:46:11.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7706" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-31T00:18:50.780" Score="10" ViewCount="1224" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be doing some backpacking in sections of desert in Eastern Washington, U.S. and I was wondering if anybody has tips on food storage while hiking? There will be no trees to hang the food in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not worried about bears because they don't live in the desert, but I am worried that rodents or coyotes would eat through a food bag if I left it out. Others have suggested keeping the food in the tent with me, but I worry that animals would just chew through my expensive tent and eat all the food anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:18:45.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:18:45.677" Title="Storing food in the desert" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7693" CreationDate="2015-01-31T01:33:58.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good things about large 'biners.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry one large 'biner for building belays, I use my rope to equalise my anchors and join them at my harness using clove hitches and a screw gate through the bite of my figure of 8. Being able to fit multiple knots onto a single 'biner saves the need to carry extra. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUltp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;such clove hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When moving together across glaciers, etc. I would pass a screw gate through my harness in the same way I would pass a rope if I was tying in (not on the belay loop to reduce chances of cross loading.) and tie a knot on a bite so I can secure my self with the appropriate amount of rope between me and the rest of my party. A 'biner that is smaller than the belay loop will alter the fit of the harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eS6Xw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;just add harness&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A larger radius is kinder to your ropes and can make the rope handle more smoothly. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkmYiwbZWg&amp;amp;t=6m32s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;See Steve House talking about his gear for Nanga Parbat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite subjective but I think they are less fiddly to handle, especially with gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bad things that you've already thought of.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavier and take up more space on your rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-01-31T01:33:58.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7709" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-01-31T12:42:07.533" Score="10" ViewCount="1431" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first started (indoor) bouldering, I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to commit to it, so I went and bought a pair of shoes in the sale that were relatively cheap (or at least cheaper than continually renting from the centre).  I bought these in my street size (UK 11) rather than a smaller size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were perfect (and still are) for the problems my centre sets between V0-V2, however, I'm struggling with V3.  I'm not sure if it's down to having street sized shoes which don't curl my toes (though are snug) the same way a 10 or a 10 and a 1/2 would.  I mainly have problems getting good strong holds on smaller footholds where just the edge of the shoe should be on the hold. Now this may be just my terrible footwork, but I'm also wondering if shoe size comes into play at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should I choose the proper size of my climbing shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4133" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:52:37.057" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T15:13:31.500" Title="Shoe sizes for bouldering" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7709" CreationDate="2015-01-31T13:12:00.853" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;, shoe size plays a role which is quite important. But for beginners I would suggest to think more about foot technique than caring about the best possible gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For climbing shoe sizes I give the following simple hints:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;choose the shoes as small as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;choose shoes which aren't causing ache of the foot/toes/nail/heel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climbing rubber shoes will break in too&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't care too much about your street size because the climbing shoes of different brands turn out very different - always test the shoes thoroughly in your climbing shop, never buy them untested!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally first realised that my left foot is bigger than the right one when I was starting to go climbing. Because never before I was using that tight kind of shoes. Keep that in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will regularly see people getting out of their shoes as fast as possible after each climb. Simply because their feet hurt. I would suggest for the beginning to get some shoes which aren't &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; tight. Also to avoid enduring health problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-02-02T22:14:42.937" LastActivityDate="2015-02-02T22:14:42.937" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7709" CreationDate="2015-01-31T17:03:35.303" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There probably is a point where not having a toe-crunched fit would make a difference, but it's not V3. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing shoes do wear out relatively quickly. The difference in the sharpness of the rubber edge between a newly soled shoe and worn shoe can make a difference on small holds. Your climbing gym likely has a referral for getting climbing shoes re-soled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even climbers that use the toe-crunched fit shoes tend to save them for special efforts. Keeping your toes in that &quot;hammer edge&quot; configuration for long periods of time is very bad for the long term health of your feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bouldering is a great sport, but if you want to be in it for the long haul you need to be aware of the potential for long term joint injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-01-31T17:03:35.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7706" CreationDate="2015-01-31T20:21:26.673" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're not concerned about bears, I would (ironically) suggest using an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ursack&lt;/a&gt;. The Ursack is a kevlar bag that is &quot;bear resistant&quot; but not legally approved for use in many areas which require bear canisters. They weight much less than bear cans, but are very resistant to punctures, so a coyote shouldn't be able to break into one. You may have concerns with a rodent squeezing through the opening, so you'd have to be certain that you completely and snugly close it every time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/phVeRm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ursack image&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The company recommends hanging it in a tree so the contents don't get crushed by an inquisitive bear, but you could lash it to a rock or bush to prevent it from being dragged away by smaller animals and I don't think crushing is much of a concern if bears aren't around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-01-31T20:21:26.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7706" CreationDate="2015-02-01T01:57:13.330" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to keep the food in the tent you could use an odor resistant bag such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loksak.com/products/opsak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;OPSak&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=99127&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NiloBarrier&lt;/a&gt;. NyloBarrier is very light and convenient. You could combine this with a Ursack as mentioned by @nhinkle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to odor proof the food but would like rodent protection a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/stuff_sacks.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cuben fiber stuff sack&lt;/a&gt; would do just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-02-01T01:57:13.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7715" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7719" CreationDate="2015-02-01T10:58:14.107" Score="12" ViewCount="1979" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly see online that on expeditions snow anchors are strapped to the side of the backpacks. This is typically an item like the upper on following pic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yzeqf.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never saw this in the Alps by myself. But I also saw it in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=85114404&amp;amp;feature=player_detailpage&amp;amp;v=a3zz2r5340E&amp;amp;x-yt-ts=1422579428#t=228&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; where he shows his stuff for alpine multi day trips. I learned to build a deadman (snow anchor) with my ice axe. For more technical routes I have 2 axes and it's said that you could even use &lt;em&gt;nearly&lt;/em&gt; anything to build a reliable anchor (poles, backpack, gloves and even a lighter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;So what is the point in carrying this additional item?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are differences in using this snow anchor compared to using my ice axe?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And what are the differences in the items seen on the pic?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How does the actual activity/tour makes a difference what to choose?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:03.860" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:34:03.860" Title="Why should I carry a snow anchor?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7716" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7725" CreationDate="2015-02-01T11:04:18.307" Score="12" ViewCount="1822" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just discovered there is a way to rapell (e.g. for crevasse rescue) without any equipment building a &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2008/07/snow-anchor-options-part-i.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snow bollard&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lywbl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How is this done in the best possible manner?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What do I have to look for in terms of (snow) conditions?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How can I check the reliability of my construction?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if anybody uses this to rapell without backup (e.g. on top of a climb). But if so I would like to have &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; idea how secure this setup will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T03:04:56.803" Title="Reliability of snow bollards" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7709" CreationDate="2015-02-01T13:03:51.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feet and fit are very personal and shoes are no substitute for good technique and strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How should I choose the proper size of my climbing shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the best thing you could do would be to borrow a smaller pair from a friend next time you go climbing (or rent a pair) and see what works best for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;some general guidelines;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not being able to move your toes independently will allow you to push harder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stiff shoes for edges, bendy shoes for smearing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The longer you intend to wear them the more comfortable they should be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid empty space in the heal and shoes that can be pulled off the heal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-02-01T13:03:51.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7715" CreationDate="2015-02-01T20:38:29.377" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are roped up for glacier travel and the person in front of you has just fallen in then you can hammer a snow stake in to provide an anchor. Note that in this case you probably won't have your ice axe available since it will be stuck in the ground with your knee bracing it, holding up your mate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've not seen the shorter stakes (the snow flukes) in the photo in action. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2015-02-01T23:42:01.973" LastActivityDate="2015-02-01T23:42:01.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7715" CreationDate="2015-02-01T20:38:54.227" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, the primary difference is that once you've used your ice axe as an anchor, you can't use it to climb with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, two anchors is almost always better than one, especially in snow. You never know the exact strength of anchor in snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it is possible to improvise a deadman anchor in snow out of almost anything you can wrap a rope around, it's not fast and if it's not cold enough for the snow to refreeze can be very iffy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those snow anchors work best when climbing when the snow conditions are &quot;spring corn&quot; (i.e. heavy wet snow, that has been through freeze/thaw cycles.) Very common on summer climbing on glaciers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that you would see those anchors most commonly on expeditions where they are setting up fixed lines or glacier travel is involved. When you need to do a crevasse rescue, being able to set up an anchor quickly matters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The names for the items are snow picket and snow fluke. Here's a good demo of how to setup a snow fluke. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/63963124&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://vimeo.com/63963124&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare the time required for that verses the time required to build a deadman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-02-02T16:39:46.573" LastActivityDate="2015-02-02T16:39:46.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7716" CreationDate="2015-02-01T22:17:45.910" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not super experienced with snow anchors, but basically a snow bollard can be a bomber anchor if the snow is hard -- hard enough that you have to use an ice ax to chop the trench. You can back it up using one or more objects such as ice axes or pickets, to make it more difficult for the anchor to fail by having the rope cheese-grater itself through the snow. You will need to remove these before the last person raps off, so usually the lightest person raps off last.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snow bollard is actually a stronger anchor than a dead-man or picket, but it will be very time-consuming to construct. In soft or fresh snow, a picket can be made at least somewhat strong by filling in the trench with snow and working the snow; however, I would not want to rappel off of one, especially if it wasn't redundant. I believe a snow bollard is more commonly used as a rappel anchor, because it's strong. Because you're rapping off of it, you can't fill in the trench with snow as you would with a picket, because then you wouldn't be able to pull the rope down. Even though you're not filling in the trench, one of my main worries about using a bollard would be that there would be too much friction to pull it down, especially if the rope entrenches itself in the snow where it goes over a ledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-02-01T22:17:45.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-02-02T12:15:47.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the cold conditions are relative temporary, say being caught in a blizzard or being benighted, as well as having extra clothing, food, bivouac sack, etc. there is also the question of whether it is better to conserve energy and find somewhere sheltered to wait until it is safer to continue or try and push on to reach safety and risk becoming exhausted and then not be able to find shelter and suffer from exposure out in the open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-02-02T12:15:47.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7723" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-02T17:37:56.207" Score="5" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that the leather part (if any) of ski gloves should be treated with some grease such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://hestragloves.com/sport/en-us/gloves/accessories/hestra-leather-balm/000/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hestra Balm&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atsko.com/sno-seal-wax-8-oz-jar/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sno Seal&lt;/a&gt;.  But should the cloth (non-leather) part of the glove (again, if any), like most modern gloves have, be treated with something to prevent moisture/cold penetration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T02:02:16.383" Title="Should the cloth part of ski gloves be treated before use?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7723" CreationDate="2015-02-03T01:56:17.660" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most ski gloves will have a waterproof/breathable layer (Gore-Tex or something similar, they should be labelled to say what it is). In my experience new gloves also seem to have a water repellant on the fabric to help water drops fall off before they get to the Gore-Tex. This surface water repellant will wear away and could be refreshed with various spray-on products &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/productselector/waterproofing.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(products I've used)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you should be able to put your gloves (or any hard shell clothing) under a running faucet and have all the water run off. Gore-Tex is great stuff, but still better when it's dry on the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="4310" LastEditDate="2015-02-03T02:02:16.383" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T02:02:16.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7716" CreationDate="2015-02-03T03:04:56.803" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used them heaps for Rappelling, and am more comfortable using a Snow bollard than any other single anchor. I have seen snow stakes bend under the load of one person, ice screws pull the ice off the rock.  I have seen deadmen fail when the knots came undone (might have been incorrectly clipped 'biner) (students on that course got a valuable knot tying lesson as free extra) ..... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an instruction coarse we would build them smaller and smaller till 3 or 4 students could make them fail. Even in really soft conditions I never saw one that size fail, and when they did fail, it was pretty clear it was not going to hold. Anything you can walk on rather than wade though is more than strong enough.  The strength not only comes from the weight of the snow in the bollard, its from the bond that snow has to the undisturbed snow below the trench. Its critical there are no weak layers in the snow close to the depth of the rope or the whole bollard can slide off in one piece.  Dig a test hole twice the depth of the trench and look for weak layers - if there are any, and you cannot get below them, the snow is unsuitable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick when building them is do not step or disturb in the middle. Dig the trench deeper than you think it needs to be and slope the side so the rope goes deeper into the snow. Obviously back the bollard up for the first rappel - just like any other rappel,  only the last one down needs to take the risk a single point failure.  (If in doubt, the second to last down can place gear so if the top anchor fails the last guy is protected). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In really soft snow, the only other options are dead men and burying a pack. If you are repelling no option but to leave gear behind. Not sure about you, but I don't carry enough gear to leave a pack behind at every repel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An option if you are worried about the rope getting stuck on retrieval (apart from a smaller bollard) is sacrifice a long sling around the bollard and rap off the sling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T03:04:56.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7715" CreationDate="2015-02-03T03:19:46.960" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In additions to other answers, I build my own stakes for about $10 each and happily leave them behind when rappelling off routes if no other options exist. Leaving your ice Axe, pack, hammer etc behind is not only iffy in terms of survival, its expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T03:19:46.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7727" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-03T23:24:32.103" Score="6" ViewCount="811" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering what the difference in performance is between the Paradox Rain Jacket and the Paradox 2.5 Layer Rain Jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Mens-Paradox-Performance-Beyond-Limits-Waterproof-Rain-Jacket-UPF-50-/331441700614&quot;&gt;http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Mens-Paradox-Performance-Beyond-Limits-Waterproof-Rain-Jacket-UPF-50-/331441700614&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paradox-Mens-Rain-Jacket-New-in-Box-/181655200756&quot;&gt;http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paradox-Mens-Rain-Jacket-New-in-Box-/181655200756&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seem to be almost identical other than the 2.5 having the rain flap and the inside mesh, and I'm not sure which is the latest model, but I'm wondering if the laminated zipper design (it's a little hard to see) on the first is going to keep out as much rain as the rain cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that this is a lot less than most people spend on rain gear, and a lot of outdoors people recommend Marmot and similar, but I'm a student and I commute to work and school on my bike, so I need something light without dropping a lot of $$.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was looking at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Rain-Jacket-Reviews&quot;&gt;this Outdoor Gear Lab review&lt;/a&gt;, and it looks like their top pick has the same style zipper and no rain flap as the first jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is, are there zipper designs that mitigate the need for a zipper cover, or are zipper covers inherently better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3030" LastEditorUserId="3030" LastEditDate="2015-02-03T23:52:16.827" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T03:44:12.660" Title="Are zipper covers crucial?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7727" CreationDate="2015-02-03T23:55:28.887" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer will depend on the quality of the jacket and therefore somehow also the price. In the high-end range you often find jackets without zipper covers and still they are &lt;em&gt;100% waterproof&lt;/em&gt; (well to be honest this is a lie because at some point water will get through the zippers, still there are standardised tests so they can be called waterproof and not only water-repellent). You often will notice those zippers are specially treated and have quite a resistance while being zipped (I won't say this resistance is a sign for quality).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For lower quality jackets the above might not be the case. The jackets you linked to have no membranes so they aren't &lt;strong&gt;that&lt;/strong&gt; pricey &lt;em&gt;by definition&lt;/em&gt;. Still they &lt;strong&gt;could&lt;/strong&gt; be of low quality, especially regarding the zippers. Without knowing the brand, the shop, asking an expert, reading tests, ..., you can't know the quality of the jacket just because you read that price tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; the zippers are of low quality, it will be the case that the cover over the zippers will help preventing water getting though. Simply because you add an additional barrier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short, the answer on your question &lt;em&gt;&quot;Are zipper covers inherently better?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NO for high quality jackets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;YES for low quality jackets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-02-03T23:55:28.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7729" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-03T23:58:31.803" Score="1" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed a lot of similar looking packable down jackets this year, and I don't know if this is a new style or if I haven't been paying attention, but I'm wondering if there's a big difference to them, how much the &quot;down number&quot; matters &quot;(650, 700, 800), or if it's just price discrimination and they're all manufactured by the same company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that Patagonia has one with 700 down for ~220, OR has one with 700 down for about $140, Eddie Bauer has one with 800 down for $120, and there's even a Cole Haan one for $50 at Costco that claims to keep you warm &quot;down to -3 degrees&quot; (which is actually about the temperature I'm looking for).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My instinct is to go with a better brand, but I got the Eddie Bauer because their guarantee allowed me to trade in my 2 year old coat for a new jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to objectively test which is going to be warmer and lighter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3030" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T05:28:15.663" Title="What is the difference between packable down jackets?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-02-04T09:15:16.503" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7730" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7737" CreationDate="2015-02-04T00:43:26.880" Score="11" ViewCount="1491" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to emulate old sap gum but it seems I have chewed some sap that was premature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now it has covered my gums and teeth. How on earth do I remove this stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have tried:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brushing (slow, damages brush)&#xA;Isopropyl Alcohol (too painful)&#xA;Ethanol Alcohol (negligible effect)&#xA;Picking (works slowly, doesn't get rid of everything)&#xA;Flossing (same as picking)&#xA;Oil (negligible effect)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm out of ideas... This is really not doing my teeth any good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5551" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T13:43:23.203" Title="How to get pine sap off my teeth" Tags="&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7727" CreationDate="2015-02-04T03:44:12.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good zipper may keep out more water, but a rain flap will do the trick.  A rain flap has a vulnerable direction.  Driving rain from side with the open edge of the flap will seep further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain gear that will keep you dry bicycling is tough.  You are either going to get wet or you are going to sweat, unless you have a flat route done at constant effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a general rule for outdoor equipment:  Don't buy anything that hasn't been made unchanged for 2 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative:  Get what keeps you comfortable, even if you get a bit wet, then change at school.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T03:44:12.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7730" CreationDate="2015-02-04T04:07:20.810" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Been there, done that, can't remember why it happened..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will go away in a few days. Eating few apples, or maybe some dry, high-fiber crackers will probably help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T04:07:20.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2015-02-04T04:21:53.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Change shoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visit a physiotherapist, and take your current shoes -- both the ones you use on trips, and the ones you wear every day.  A good physio can learn a lot from reading the wear patterns on your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to a doc, go to a sports doc.  Call the coach at your local high school or college and ask who's good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the problem is sudden shocks, Learn to keep a spring in your step going down hill.  This will usually mean slowing down.  One technique I've used is to take rapid, but very short steps.  This doesn't work in big talus, or trails with lots of roots and holes.  Land on a bent knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the various stretches and strenthening routines, get ready for trips by going to your local skyscraper, large stadium or river valley park, and do stairs.  Lots and lots of stairs.  This is where you practices you bouncy springy stride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T04:21:53.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2015-02-04T04:27:22.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's harmless.  Rinse out anything loose.  If you want, add a handfull of gravel, a cup of water, and shake for 10 minutes to get stuff out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thermos is going to be food grade metal.  So the alloys will not be exotic ones with chromium or vanadium in quantity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  a 1 or 2 liter bottle with a pair of heavy socks pulled over it works nicely as a cheap thermos.  I've used this for coffee on all day orienteering in winter, and even by day's end the coffee is at least warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T04:27:22.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7584" CreationDate="2015-02-04T04:33:05.290" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've spoken to trappers.  Wolves are a non-starter.  Even in a trap, they try to get away, not attack. One trapper said that the only time he's been bitten by a wild animal it was a muskrat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While wolf attacks are rare there ahve been several attacks by cougar/mountain lion of late.  In each case the person was alone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the bear incidents I've read about have been with groups of 4 or less. Bears in winter, are uncommon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In winter I keep a fire going all night, not for wildlife, but because I get up in the night to pee or get a drink, and will sit by the fire for a bit to ease my back.  Winter nights are always too long.  (Central Alberta.  Dec 21 sun time is 8:45 to 4:30, add an hour of twilight.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T04:33:05.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7588" CreationDate="2015-02-04T05:28:15.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question is also addressed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Down-Jacket-Reviews/buying-advice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Down-Jacket-Reviews/buying-advice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High-end jackets often use lighter-weight fabrics and high-quality down.  The only practical differences between them may be in features (hood? two-way zipper? water bottle pocket?) and exact fill weights.  Lower-end models may use heavier, more durable fabrics and lower quality down[0].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most effective means of objectively testing the jackets will require sending them to a lab for testing on a thermal manikin.  Since you probably don't have that available, there are a few numbers you should look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fill weight (not power)&lt;/strong&gt;.  This tells you how much actual insulation is present in the jacket, and has perhaps the greatest impact on warmth.  Unfortunately this is not often posted (at least in the US).[1]  If this number is not available, you can make a guess based on the amount of loft it has (i.e. how thick does it puff up).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total jacket weight&lt;/strong&gt;.  Obviously, since you're looking for the lightest and warmest, you also need to know how much the whole thing weighs.  For this you may wish to bring a small scale to measure the actual weight.  (Posted weights are often optimistic.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fill power&lt;/strong&gt;.  Fill power is directly related to insulating value and the ratio of down to feathers.  It is inversely related to weight (when comparing equal volumes).  Extremely high fill values may be more vulnerable to humidity, but in general it is considered an indicator of quality (and certainly costs more).  Higher fill power down also compresses smaller.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final check is whether the jacket is &quot;sewn-through&quot; or &quot;box-baffled&quot;; the former allows for cold spots as there is no insulation at the seams.  For a lightweight &quot;sweater&quot; this is of minimal impact, but if you're looking for something to use in serious cold you want baffled construction.  Also keep in mind the temperature to which a jacket will be suited is very dependent on activity.  Sitting around talking is quite different from snowshoeing, or even doing basic camp chores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[0] E.g. duck instead of goose down, or lower fill power down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] For fill weights I use the following rough examples, based on 800 fill power down:&#xA; 75-125g: light down &quot;sweater&quot;&#xA;200-250g: mid-weight winter jacket&#xA;350g+: expedition-weight parka&#xA;(Jackets using lower fill power down will likely need additional weight to provide the same amount of insulation)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-02-05T08:48:10.620" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T08:48:10.620" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7730" CreationDate="2015-02-04T08:37:58.197" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use different methods to remove the pine sap from your teeth. Here are a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a small amount of &lt;strong&gt;margarine&lt;/strong&gt; and rub on the sap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix a solution of &lt;strong&gt;warm water, salt, and about 3 drops of honey&lt;/strong&gt;, keep this mixture in your mouth for about 3minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use some drinkable strong &lt;strong&gt;alcohol&lt;/strong&gt; and try to rub it of&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use &lt;strong&gt;oil or peanut butter&lt;/strong&gt; and rub it over the sap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;try to let the sap &lt;strong&gt;dry out&lt;/strong&gt; and then remove it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3605" LastEditorUserId="3605" LastEditDate="2015-02-04T13:43:23.203" LastActivityDate="2015-02-04T13:43:23.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="576" CreationDate="2015-02-05T01:12:41.170" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plantar fasciitis is a degenerative (not inflammatory) repetitive stress injury (RSI). Studies using radioactive tracers have shown that the rate of tissue replacement in connective tissues is often extremely slow, maybe even zero. Therefore these injuries can be extremely slow to heal, and in some cases the microscopic damage is simply permanent. So you really want to avoid injuring these tissues in the first place, and the basic prevention is not to do too high a level of activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although people usually feel PF as heel pain, the damage is actually in the webbing that makes up the arch of the foot, which only happens to have a point of attachment at the heel. You just don't have nerve endings in the main body of the plantar fascia. Therefore the issue isn't really heel strikes or lack of padding in the heels of your shoes. It's just an over-use injury involving the natural use of the whole foot. Plantar fasciitis is correlated with obesity and with standing up while working, but that's probably not so relevant here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many treatments that have been promoted for PF, but the scientific evidence for almost all of them is weak. There is no evidence to support massage, stretching, taping, therapeutic ultrasound, or modifying the patient's stride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Orthotics are the one treatment that is reasonably well supported by research. Custom orthotics are no better than cheap off-the-shelf ones. The idea that they correct problems with mechanical alignment is empirically false. Many podiatrists believe that choosing the right orthotic is important, and that they know how to do it; evidence doesn't support this. Orthotics provide an improvement in function that lasts for a few months. They do not give any statistically significant reduction of pain. After 12 months, they're no better than a sham treatment consisting of an orthotic made of soft, thin foam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runningwritings.com/2013/02/injury-series-plantar-fasciitis-in.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Injury Series: Plantar fasciitis in runners as a degenerative overuse injury&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/health/nutrition/07best.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Treat Me, but No Tricks Please&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/health/nutrition/18best.html?ref=science&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Close Look at Orthotics Raises a Welter of Doubts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2003/02000/Effect_of_Shoe_Inserts_on_Kinematics,_Center_of.21.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Effect of Shoe Inserts on Kinematics, Center of Pressure, and Leg Joint Moments during Running&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T12:43:19.380" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T12:43:19.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7739" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7740" CreationDate="2015-02-05T01:23:25.780" Score="14" ViewCount="779" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that running in a zig-zag pattern makes it more difficult for the alligator to keep up with you. Is that true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T18:04:41.343" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T18:04:41.343" Title="What is the most effective way to flee from an alligator?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;alligators&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7739" CreationDate="2015-02-05T02:35:43.100" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just run. Alligators (and crocodiles) are cold blooded and as a result don't have a lot of stamina. Warm blooded animals can maintain high energy output for longer periods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to aim for something other than 'away from the alligator', go for high ground. That will lessen your chance of ending up in the water where the gator has a better chance of catching you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3426" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T02:35:43.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7741" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7745" CreationDate="2015-02-05T06:20:51.390" Score="9" ViewCount="7910" Body="&lt;p&gt;9mm is considered minimum for a vertical rappel with a nylon or polyester kernmantle rope, 6mm with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scarpa.com/edelrid/rap-line-60m&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;high strength aramid&lt;/a&gt;, but what if your rappel isn't vertical? What's the minimum safe rope diameter for rappelling a slippery slope that may be 60° or less? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking because we plan on going here this summer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NdAAp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where if you make one slip then you're going for a wild luge run to the centre of the earth with an unhappy ending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd rather bring one &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; long rope, then carry several heavier, shorter ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I picked up one of these a while back: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bluewaterropes.com/product/mini-rescue-8/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mini Rescue 8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bqSMF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which is made for rappelling on 7.5-9mm ropes. I'm not really familiar with any common situations where you rappel on a 7.5mm rope, but I'm thinking that using one as a fixed line for a non-vertical descent may be one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When is it considered safe to use ropes &amp;lt;⌀9mm for a descent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T23:50:04.233" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T23:50:04.233" Title="Minimum safe rappel rope diameters?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7739" CreationDate="2015-02-05T08:53:18.963" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;They can't run for long periods. They have brief sprints up to about 12mph so you can outrun one, especially if you keep going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, alligators don't attack humans. From &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/10/nation/la-na-nn-alligator-attacks-rare-20120710&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this LA Times article:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alligator attacks are still extremely rare. In fact, the likelihood of a Florida resident being injured in an unprovoked alligator attack is roughly one in 2.4 million, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you do provoke one, all the advice suggests forgetting about swerving - just run fast, and away from water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T08:53:18.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-02-05T11:12:34.653" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that its vital to let someone know your route &amp;amp; radio in at a set time of day to let them know where you are &amp;amp; how you are coping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5561" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T11:12:34.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7741" CreationDate="2015-02-05T12:40:15.487" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It isn't that unusual to use 8mm rope in caving on vertical (at least in Europe) especially in deeper caves with more rope to carry down and of course, back out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US cavers tend to rig pitches from a single anchor and take care that there are no sharp bits of rock the rope could come in contact with and use rope which is more abrasion-resistant. In Europe we will place intermediate anchors (a &quot;rebelay&quot;) on longer pitches which helps prevent rope rub and speeds up abseil and ascent as the pitch is split into sections. Also this means that thinner rope can be used as there should be no chance of abrasion because of rubbing on rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes are rigged such that the chances of the rope rubbing anywhere on rock is reduced to nil (or as near as possible) because when prusiking back up ropes, any rope rub will damage the rope and with thinner diameter ropes, the safety factor with respect to damage is much reduced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often visit a local old lead mine with a 100 metre shaft which is generally at an angle 45 degrees or steeper with several large steps or platforms cut into the rock at different points. Even though the angle is nowhere near vertical, the shaft is not straight as it wasn't bored by a tunnelling machine but formed partly be natural activity and partly by miners. This means that a single length or rope would rub at various points, both on the lower side of the shaft and also on the upper side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cavers do not use Figure of Eight or similar descenders due to the fact that they twist the rope and can be dropped when attaching or detaching to or from the rope. Cavers use either racks (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/RACK?l=INT#.VNNfoNKsU3Q&quot;&gt;for example&lt;/a&gt;) or &quot;bobbin&quot; type descenders (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/SIMPLE?l=INT#.VNNf3dKsU3Q&quot;&gt;for example&lt;/a&gt;) as these do not twist the rope and remain attached to your harness even when loading or unloading the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you intend to descend a slope, if it is of any real length other than a few metres, I would treat it as a normal abseil (or rappel) and would be happy to use 8mm rope (bearing in mind my points above). However, below this diameter I would be worried about the ability to absorb any shock in a fall or any possibility of damage from abrasion. Even on a slope, a fall can occur. For example an intermediate belay could give way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T12:40:15.487" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6084" CreationDate="2015-02-05T16:58:53.557" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One last tip, if you don't get everything just right, carry a pack towel or other microfibre super absorbent towel to get the inside as dry as possible before putting&#xA;gear inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T16:58:53.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7747" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7748" CreationDate="2015-02-05T20:27:13.200" Score="9" ViewCount="1574" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to do long hikes in black bear country.  I don't really go on multiday trekking trips, just day trips but often need to bring food along.  I know that backpackers often keep their food in bear vaults but since I don't spend the night, I am only really interested in not smelling to the bear, not keeping them from getting to my food while I'm sleeping.  I was wondering if a dry sack, like this &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FlkeM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;would seal the contents so they don't smell outside, just like they keep water from getting in.  The advantage of this vs. a bear vault is that the extra air can be bled out for a minimal size of the cargo in the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:15:00.723" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:15:00.723" Title="Can bears smell food inside dry sacks?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7747" CreationDate="2015-02-05T20:40:39.897" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it will not. A bear will smell your food regardless of what container you put it in. A dry bag may reduce the distance from which a bear can smell your food, but will not make it impossible to smell your food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's extremely uncommon &amp;ndash; especially for black bears &amp;ndash; for a bear to attack a person to try to steal their food. &lt;em&gt;Unattended&lt;/em&gt; food is a big risk, but if the food is in your pack, it's not a  significant problem. The bear may smell it, but it'll also smell &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; and hopefully hear you, and generally decide it's not worth the risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For day hikes I don't think special food protection against bears is necessary. Being aware of your surroundings and making sure bears hear you coming will be much more effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-02-08T09:09:22.740" LastActivityDate="2015-02-08T09:09:22.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3367" CreationDate="2015-02-05T21:19:08.003" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rust is not harmful to consume in either form (red or black) Black rust is magnetite and is what makes cast iron cookware black.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is dangerous is being cut by something rusty, and danger has nothing to do with the rust itself. It is simply a great place for tetanus bacteria to live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T21:19:08.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7747" CreationDate="2015-02-05T21:30:51.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears have a seriously sensitive nose. I can't remember the correct values, but they have magnitudes more smell receptors than a bloodhound (I just looked it up, a bear's nose is estimated to be 7 times more sensitive than a bloodhound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;em&gt;minimize&lt;/em&gt; what can be smelled by using ziplock bags and placing those in uncoated stainless steel containers. Stainless steel electrochemically absorbs many food smells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-02-05T21:30:51.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7751" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7753" CreationDate="2015-02-06T11:25:53.150" Score="15" ViewCount="23141" Body="&lt;p&gt;During a storm one of my tent poles that used to be straight, became bent. Is there a way to straighten the pole again?&#xA;Or is it a bad idea to try straightening the pole because is would likely snap anyhow and is replacing the pole the way to go? (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4412/how-to-find-new-poles-for-old-tent&quot;&gt;There is already a question about finding replacement poles&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a clarification, a picture of the bent pole. It shouldn't bend at all.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PK55E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of the bent pole&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T11:01:13.037" Title="How to straighten a bent tent pole" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7751" CreationDate="2015-02-06T15:29:30.280" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your likely out of luck. Aluminium is used in tent poles because it is stiff, strong and light. The trade off is that because it is less dense and more stiff it is less forgiving to being &quot;manipulated&quot;. When steel fails it fails slowly, aluminium simply breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could bend it back and see what happens, who knows it might hold. But bending it back is likely only going to stress it more. Also what harm does it do if it breaks when you don't want it to and can't replace it?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you'll be after a new pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.missionbicycle.com/blog/oversimplified-steel-vs-aluminum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This mountain biking site summarises the properties quite well&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter how you bend it back, you will be weakening it more (it's already been weakend by bending it). You could try and warm it &lt;strong&gt;slightly&lt;/strong&gt; to decrease the stress (hair dryer on high) or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m19h_pOoffg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;use a plumbers bending spring&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Edi7y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But these are for soft copper pipes not aluminium ones so it may still break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2533" LastEditDate="2015-02-06T21:20:25.947" LastActivityDate="2015-02-06T21:20:25.947" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7751" CreationDate="2015-02-06T17:56:02.163" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aluminum has a crystal structure and can be hardened using a process called &quot;work hardening.&quot; Long story short, &lt;em&gt;you've hardened your pole by causing dislocation movements in the crystal structure of the aluminum.&lt;/em&gt; If you compare your bent pole to your other poles, you'll notice that it doesn't flex as much as it used to, that is because it is now a harder alloy than the rest. Any attempt to bend it back now that you've somewhat work-hardened it will cause fractures in the alloy. The only way to soften the aluminum is to anneal it, which involves heating the aluminum almost to it's melting point and then letting it cool slowly, but if you try to do that then your pole will be so soft that it won't flex, it'll just bend like welding wire. You would have to know how to re-harden the aluminum after you annealed it and bent it back, not a simple process, and not that cheap to get a metal worker to do it for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're best option is to either replace your pole, or deal with it being bent, unless you have a friend who is a millwright and knows how to anneal and harden alloys. Bent poles aren't that bad, I've been using bent poles in my MSR Hubba Hubba for years. Your pole is still strong, it's just not as straight and flexible as it used to be, annoying, but still functional. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You won't be able to get your pole back to what it was, but if you wanted to attempt to get your pole straight and see how much longer it lasts, my recommendation would be to use a pipe or &lt;strong&gt;tube straightener&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2RcR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just don't expect results, and expect a struggle, like I said, that hardened bend won't bend back easy, if you take the pole to a hardware store then you might find some plumber guy that'll be convinced he could get it straight for you. But don't be surprised after he breaks it or puts stretch fractures in it from trying. You can be surprised instead if he actually gets it straight and it doesn't bend right back the first time you try using it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-06T23:47:39.587" LastActivityDate="2015-02-06T23:47:39.587" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7754" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7755" CreationDate="2015-02-06T19:34:12.483" Score="4" ViewCount="1051" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a tent with a hole in it. I've bought some ripstop waterproof nylon fabric. What glue will stick it on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastActivityDate="2015-02-06T23:41:21.247" Title="What glue will stick ripstop polymide / nylon fabric together - e.g. patch on hole?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7754" CreationDate="2015-02-06T23:41:21.247" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contact cement is my go-to for most similar purposes.  It bonds well and is flexible to a large extent it should do well for your purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5570" LastActivityDate="2015-02-06T23:41:21.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7757" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7773" CreationDate="2015-02-07T11:01:15.160" Score="13" ViewCount="1441" Body="&lt;p&gt;We already have topics on fuels &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1195/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-between-gas-liquid-and-solid-fuel?rq=1&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline?rq=1&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; which give quite an overview. Also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-stove.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt; gives some info how to choose your stove and fuel properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still I would like to know what are the best options for my stove/fuel setup if I want to melt snow for drinking and cooking meals on a multi-day trip in &lt;strong&gt;high altitudes (over 6000m) with cold (under -20°C) and windy conditions&lt;/strong&gt;. Weight, seizure, error-proneness and ease of usability of the equipment counts as well as the heat output efficiency. The stove should be sufficient for 2-3 people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T03:56:29.637" Title="Stove/fuel setup for harsh conditions" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7758" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7759" CreationDate="2015-02-08T19:34:21.643" Score="7" ViewCount="425" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spend a lot time rock climbing and walking and generally being around rocks. But I've never seen a fossil. I've always liked the idea of finding a nice fossil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I go about doing this? Any beginners guides? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-21T06:37:30.767" LastActivityDate="2021-01-30T12:06:28.543" Title="Beginners guide to fossil hunting" Tags="&lt;fossils&gt;&lt;fossil-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7758" CreationDate="2015-02-08T20:12:47.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fossils are very prevalent in certain geographic areas, and practically non-existent in others. A lot of that depends on the geography of the area &amp;ndash; both the present geology and the geologic history of the location dating back millions of years. Fossils require very specific conditions to form (which you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;read about on Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; and elsewhere in great detail), and then must be exposed on the surface when the surrounding sediment is eroded away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sithsonian Institute has published a map showing areas of North America with significant dinosaur fossil formations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This map shows (in green and dark blue) the regions of North America where rocks that formed during the Age of Dinosaurs -- 225 to 65.6 million years ago, are exposed at the surface of the Earth. The red dots mark all the dinosaur discoveries ever reported in the scientific literature. If you live near near one of these places, there might well be dinosaurs in the bedrock under your home!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJ8xH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJ8xH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fossil Map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, dinosaurs are but one of many fossils out there, and this map only shows North America. The best way to find fossils near you is to search the internet for &quot;fossils&quot; and &quot;your region&quot;, e.g. &quot;fossils in Oregon&quot; or &quot;fossils in Ireland&quot; or wherever you are. Many known fossil deposits are protected areas for conservation, but there are plenty of places where you can see them yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people think of giant dinosaur bones when they think of fossils, but there are millions (if not billions) of fossils of much smaller organisms out there &amp;ndash; fossils tiny sea creatures abound embedded in rocks along coastlines, like these: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZN0lJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fossils embedded in rocks&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're unlikely to just spontaneously find fossils in areas you go climbing/hiking; you need to specifically research where they are found and go to those areas. If you do find fossils, remember that they have been there for millennia. Practice good leave-no-trace principles, and leave the fossils as you found them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-02-08T20:12:47.733" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2015-02-08T23:02:43.860" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skiing is a gear sport and it is expensive, but it doesn't have to be nearly as expensive to start as many of these posts suggest. If you're going to spend money, spend it on lessons first. If you've got the clothes to go for a walk on a winter day, you've got all the clothes you need for your first few ski days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest starting as late in the ski season as possible. The weather will be warm and the conditions will be soft. The snow will be wet, but you don't need to spend $300 on special ski pants. If it's nice and sunny, in the spring even just a fleece pullover will be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can often rent ski bibs where you rent the skis. Or you can just ski in jeans and long underwear. When you get wet and cold, go into the lodge. You are unlikely to have the ski specific strength anyway to last more than a few hours to start with. I'd also highly recommend renting a helmet as well. As a beginner you aren't going to be skiing fast enough to need googles unless it's snowing. Sunglasses will work just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping the hands warm and comfortable is important, but again you don't need to &#xA;break the bank. Many professional ski patrollers use cheap winter work gloves. &#xA;It's much better to have two pairs of gloves, than a single pair of expensive gloves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zoro.com/i/G7628521/?utm_source=google_shopping&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=Google_Shopping_Feed&amp;amp;gclid=CL-_noG608MCFQeDfgodjFwAMg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.zoro.com/i/G7628521/?utm_source=google_shopping&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=Google_Shopping_Feed&amp;amp;gclid=CL-_noG608MCFQeDfgodjFwAMg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is definitely a time and place where all that expensive clothing makes a big difference, but it's not the first few times out. Get your feet wet, decide if you are willing to put in the work to learn to ski and then spending money makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-02-08T23:02:43.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7761" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7780" CreationDate="2015-02-09T01:07:15.037" Score="7" ViewCount="6465" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy a drybag for washing clothes while backpacking (travelling, not hiking) and also keeping dirty/wet clothes until it is time to wash them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have available near me 5L, 10L and 20L dry bags, they are almost the same price. For washing clothes I think the 10L would work, but since they are close in price and weight, is it better to pick up a larger size? Can I keep rolling it down to compress it more?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, those dry bags are made from polyester with PVC &quot;sealing&quot; (loose translation here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: Couldn't find better keywords for this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2087" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2015-02-11T15:59:28.680" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T15:37:50.243" Title="What size dry bag is best for keeping and washing clothes?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="576" CreationDate="2015-02-09T03:10:35.657" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;With plantar fasciitis, weight is a big causal factor.  If you think you could loose a few pounds, that might help your feet too.  Pack weight is also a big deal.  Buy a balance that measures in grams, and then start weighing everything you carry.  Weigh your knife, food, cellphone, empty bottle, empty bag, even your underwear.  Put all that into an excel spreadsheet and it will be simple to start slashing those pounds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also want to reduce the shock when your feet hit the ground.  The mass of your shoes is important.  Use that balance and weigh all of the shoes you have.  In general, your heel strike will be more forceful in heavy shoes.  Try getting some trail running boots for when you need something sturdy.  These can be a third the mass of traditional day hike boots, and they are usually more comfortable anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paying attention to your gait is a great idea. Watch some videos on gait pathology to get an idea of what is and is not normal.  The knee should be flexing ever so slightly during the loading phase.  Speaking with a medical professional is also a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5573" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T03:10:35.657" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7761" CreationDate="2015-02-09T08:31:59.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't keep clothes to wash in a drybag at all, it will smell worse than wearing those clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't wash your clothes in one night, you'll probably be taking the wrong clothes with you. And all in all i'd take more smaller bags than one large one, because you can put them better in your backpack, and use the space given to you optimally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But really rather than keeping them in a backpack, put them in some cheap tights, because it probably won't matter if your dirty clothes get wet again, and it's able to breathe which means you won't get knocked out of the odour coming out from a drybag filled with dirty clothes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="2230" LastEditDate="2015-02-09T10:45:25.420" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T10:45:25.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7764" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7770" CreationDate="2015-02-09T16:40:04.663" Score="9" ViewCount="1713" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if it is safe to put snow in water filtration and then just wait until it melts down if the temperature is right.  Of course, carefully picked, clean looking snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T22:13:26.593" Title="Is it safe to put snow in water filtration?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7775" CreationDate="2015-02-09T16:47:33.740" Score="7" ViewCount="265" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following on from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7758/beginners-guide-to-fossil-hunting?noredirect=1#comment16368_7758&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; there was a map of the good areas in Northern America where there are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;significant dinosaur fossil formations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where in the UK would this be the case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to narrow this a little. I am aware of the Jurasic coast in Dorset (mantioned by nivag and aravona) but that's about 150 miles away from me (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Treuddyn,+Mold,+Flintshire+CH7/@53.1148542,-3.1214929,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x487acf1fae4768c1:0x988154851a5f2acb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in North wales&lt;/a&gt;), So I'm more after somewhere in the North of England/north wales or failing that a map of the whole of the UK like in the answer to my previous question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-06-20T12:31:12.150" Title="Where in the north of the UK are locations with good and easy to locate fossils?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;fossils&gt;&lt;fossil-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7766" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-02-09T16:49:36.740" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-09T16:49:36.740" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T16:49:36.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7767" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-02-09T16:49:36.740" Score="0" Body="The act of looking for fossils. Questions on this topic should apply to the outdoor pursuit of fossils or the identifying of fossils found in the outdoors." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-09T17:14:40.057" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T17:14:40.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-02-09T17:35:35.703" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When caught unprepared in really bad weather you should try to at least not sweat, stay dry, stay well hydrated and well fed, hide from the wind, insulate yourself from the ground (if sitting) with anything you find (wood, dead tree leaves, ... etc) and don't sleep. If you should absolutely sleep, aim for very short naps and get up and move whenever you feel hypothermia is coming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5574" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T17:35:35.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7769" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7772" CreationDate="2015-02-09T17:37:50.133" Score="6" ViewCount="9358" Body="&lt;p&gt;I finally got to demo backcountry skis this past weekend and generally liked them better than regular skinny skate skis like they use for competitions because I like exploring off trail.  However, I had regular (NNN, I think) bindings and I still felt like I could use more heel control upon turns as my feet would pivot around the binding clip in the front as that is the only point of attachment between the foot and the ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I saw a lady that had skis as wide as mine and with a steel edge but she had telemark style bindings with a harness going around her heel and I think her toes didn't clip in but were just pressure gripped to the front part of the binding.  At first sight, it looked like that kind of binding would give me the heel support and control upon turning and in deeper snow. Of course, that system requires a different boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to hear some more aspects of this telemark style binding vs the one I was using (front clip or NNN).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SOMEWHAT RELATED:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7646/why-dont-xc-skis-have-edges&quot;&gt;Why don&amp;#39;t XC skis have edges?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T19:32:11.470" Title="NNN (front clip) vs. telemark style bindings for backcountry XC skis" Tags="&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7764" CreationDate="2015-02-09T18:17:34.390" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. There's nothing wrong with melting snow and then purifying it with a standard water filter. Most of the water in mountain streams was snow at some point anyways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, this is generally going to be a very inefficient way to make water, and if the temperature is below (or really anywhere near) freezing, you're going to be thirsty. I would strongly recommend carrying a stove instead. Bringing water to a rolling boil kills almost all pathogens. It doesn't remove particulate matter, but clean snow generally won't have many particulates anyways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small stove like the MSR Pocket Rocket I have weights much less than a good water filter. Not only does it allow you to melt snow, it also allows you to get a warm drink if you need it, and you can purify regular water by boiling it too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T18:17:34.390" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7769" CreationDate="2015-02-09T22:18:12.260" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It isn't the bindings that give you the control you're looking for as much as it is the &lt;strong&gt;boot&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you're looking at here is the crossover from old-school to new-school technology. Telemarks with the toe bails and heel cables have been around forever. The cables reduce heel friction, and do offer more down hill control, but there are newer technologies out there that pretty much render telemarking obsolete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NnqX6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're talking more about the culture of skiing when you start talking about telemarking than you are about superior technology. Telemarks were the backcountry ski of choice for many years, but AT skiing is quickly overtaking it on the Alpine skiing scene, and NNN and SNS have been dominating the X-country scene for years already because they are lighter, easier to use, don't ball up with snow and ice, and are cheaper, leaving Telemark as a kind of niche sport with a strong cult following. But even telemark is evolving more into AT, you'll notice that the telemark boots on the far right in the picture below are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dynafit.com/en/equipment/bindings.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dynafit&lt;/a&gt; compatible, so you could use those boots with both telemark or AT bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QUouJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see from the image above the two styles of skiing both have their extremes but also share some middle ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just getting into it, and want to invest in new gear, I would seriously recommend going with an AT setup if the type of backcountry skiing you want to do is going to be mostly looking for an untouched slope to ski down, but if you're more interested in long tours, but want more control, then go with a beefier SNS setup like the one pictured second from the left above. I personally am partial to the SNS system over the NNN system, because they have a deeper heel grove that offers more heel control in my opinion, even more so with the SNS pilot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SNS (Salomon Nordic System) Binding:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GkPR3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nordic Skiing interface comparison:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hArUS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your other option is to demo some more gear, or pick something up second hand, I typically try a new sport out first on used cheap gear, then if I really like it, save up and invest in something good. We live in a day and age where there are lots of technologies that favour slightly different styles. So who knows, maybe you're a tele-groupie and just don't know it yet and telemark is the direction you want to go. There are still newer technologies coming out for telemarking, like the NTN binding system, and I hear they're developing hydraulic knee braces that allow telemarker's legs to last almost as long as AT skiers on the slopes (jokes, telemarkers will always burn their legs out way faster than ATers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-02-09T22:18:12.260" CommentCount="20" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7757" CreationDate="2015-02-10T03:29:55.983" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard expedition stove for extreme conditions would be an MSR XGK.  You will likely want to bring a pair of them, along with a repair kit, on the assumption that due to the cold or poor quality fuel you'll break a pump or need to make other repairs.  Now, you may be thinking &quot;what are all those people doing with canister stoves on Everest/Aconagua/Olympus Mons?&quot;  Well, it's true; many people use canister stoves like an MSR Reactor or WindPro with an isobutane/propane mix at altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few not-so-obvious reasons behind why someone might turn to a canister stove, most having to do with the altitude.  First, being above 6000 meters means having less oxygen to work with.  This means your stove will likely burn rich (yellow flames, less complete combustion).  The lower air pressure will help offset the colder temperatures which normally present issues for canister stoves.  It also means your brain will have more difficulty with complex tasks, so the simpler the stove, the better.  Finally, it means there are a limited number of places you might be:  the Himalaya, Andes, or on Denali, and that may affect what fuels are available as well as the likelihood of being forced to cook inside your shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fuel Availability:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If, for example, you are in the Himalaya you may only have kerosene available, and not white gas (naptha).  Kerosene will have more issues with the lower oxygen levels at high altitudes (particularly around carbon monoxide production), and will also make a bit of a sooty mess (of course, so does white gas).  It is also a fairly dirty fuel and may clog your stove, necessitating more frequent repair.  Regardless of fuel type, if you bring a liquid fuel stove you should also being a repair kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking inside and carbon monoxide risk:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;While every stove will come with clear warnings about how unsafe it is to use it inside an enclosed space, this sometimes becomes a necessity in mountaineering.  This warning is mainly out of concern for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, but there is also the risk of catching your tent on fire.  (Silnylon is particularly vulnerable to fire, and flareups do happen.)  Thus, lighting a liquid fuel stove with its usual priming &quot;fireball&quot; becomes problematic.  (You &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; don't want to use a white gas stove inside a tent!)  If in-tent cooking is a likely possibility, you should have a good grasp on how to mitigate the risks of CO poisoning through proper ventilation and fuel management.  In theory canister fuel should produce less CO than liquid fuel, but this is also affected by stove design and the pot used.  Often CO production can be also reduced by raising the pot about an inch above its normal position, to allow for more complete combustion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Know that this is an easy way to end up dead, so you should know what you're doing before trying it, and only try it if conditions are such that cooking outside your tent would also make you dead!  I suggest reading this thoroughly as well: &lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/COHazard.htm&quot;&gt;http://zenstoves.net/COHazard.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cold temperatures:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Regarding the temperatures, you still want to use a winter fuel mix for canisters.  Usually this is a 30% propane, which vaporizes around -40 degrees at sea level, and includes isobutane (boils around -12C) as well as the traditional butane which boils around 0C.  However, higher altitudes mean lower air pressure and thus the fuel in a canister will vaporize (boil) at lower temperatures (just like water does).  For example, the -12C vaporization point of isobutane drops to -27C when at 6000m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's often described that in cold temperatures only the propane will burn off, leaving just the butane.  Gas mixtures do not actually behave that way; they instead form a blend:  a 70/30 mix of butane and propane will have a boiling point atound -18C.  The propane will vaporize at a greater rate, however, and the &quot;boiling point&quot; of the blend slowly rises, eventually becoming that of pure butane (because that's all that's left).  Using a stove that allows inverted operation will help avoid this, as you are burning the canister fuel in liquid form.  More reading at &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2012/04/gas-in-cold-weather-myth-of-fractioning.html&quot;&gt;http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2012/04/gas-in-cold-weather-myth-of-fractioning.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do use a stove that allows inverted operation, don't just flip the canister over.  Stoves that allow this route the fuel through a pre-heat tube that passes through the flame in order to vaporize the fuel for burning.  This means you need to let the stove run with the canister upright for 30 seconds or so until the tube can properly pre-heat.  Be careful when turning over the canister; sloshing fuel can easily cause a flareup!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, you will often need to take steps to warm the fuel.  Always remember that too much heat will make the canister explode.  You should start with always keeping at least one fuel canister warm against you or in a sleeping bag.  An insulated base for the stove also helps with both temperature and stability.  To maintain output while cooking, you should have a stove with regulated output (i.e. as the fuel cools it opens the throttle to keep the pressure up).  Setting the canister in about an inch of water should also provide a temperature buffer to help keep the canister from going below freezing.  &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Warning: Extreme Danger Here!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Some people use more interesting methods to heat the canister, including hammering flat some thin copper tubing and using it to bring heat from the flame back to the canister or using a handwarmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are applying heat to the canister, remember that the canister should &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt; be too hot to touch, and you should always have a (nonfrozen) hand on the canister to make sure of this.  (&quot;Too hot to handle&quot; is usually around 42C; expect the canister to have a &quot;core breach&quot; around 50C, and realize that dents and low air pressure at altitude may cause it to rupture before it gets that hot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High winds:&lt;/strong&gt; Stoves like the MSR Reactor are particularly good for handling wind, but with other stoves cases you'll likely want a windshield.  With canisters you are often cautioned to make sure the shield does not cause the canister to overheat, but in cold weather this can be helpful.  Just remember to monitor how warm it gets!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lighting your Stove:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;You may find that piezo ignitors and other fancy lighters stop working due to the cold or altitude.  I suggest having multiple starting methods; a simple mechanical Bic lighter kept warm close to your body is good to start with, and a ferrocerium rod + striker makes a good backup.  Waterproof or stormproof matches make a good third choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2015-02-10T03:56:29.637" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T03:56:29.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7774" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7778" CreationDate="2015-02-10T05:24:02.407" Score="11" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Sweden, I've cycled a lot of logging roads. But Sweden has the Right to Roam and it doesn't really matter who owns the land. When cycling on logging roads in Ontario, is any permission or permit required? If so, from whom would I obtain the permit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose one plans a cycling trip through Northern Ontario.  Would a route such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://goo.gl/maps/u0oSh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; — can I assume that roads that are on Google Maps as well as topographic maps are accessible by bicycle, or do I need to plan in advance for every non-provincial road along the route if I am allowed to go there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T15:05:09.550" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T15:05:09.550" Title="Cycling in Ontario — do I need to worry about permission to access logging roads?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;permits&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7765" CreationDate="2015-02-10T08:06:11.273" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To quote UK Fossils, picking out a few of the many areas they suggest where Fossils are Common or Often Found in the North:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;North Wales:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The North of Wales is well known for is Carboniferous limestone rocks. These rocks contain fossils of corals, brachiopods, and crinoids. Some of the most popular areas to collect are on Anglesey. The best locations here are at Caim and Great Ormes Head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Areas include: Caim, Great Ormes Head, Moel Findeg and Burley Hill&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yorkshire:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Yorkshire coast is the second most popular area in the UK for fossil hunting. The same Jurassic fossils, famously found along Dorsets heritage coastline can be found here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Areas Include: Port Mulgrave, Kettleness, Whitby and Saltwick Bay&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scotland:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most of the fossil bearing sites in the Midland and Grampian of Scotland area are along the Eastern coast. Here, the Carboniferous rocks yield plant remains, brachiopods, trilobite tracks, giant millipede tracks, corals and crinoids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Areas Include: East Wemyss, Crail, Kinghorn and St Monans&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukfossils.co.uk/main.htm&quot;&gt;UK Fossils&lt;/a&gt; have a &lt;strong&gt;good map&lt;/strong&gt; where you can pick a location (eg, North Wales) and it will list all the areas where you can look for fossils, how common they are, and what period the fossils are from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T08:06:11.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7774" CreationDate="2015-02-10T15:30:09.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't answer for Ontario or that route specifically, but only give you a general idea how private property and trespassing works in the US and Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right in that we don't have Allemansrecht here, and you have to be aware of that.  Legally, in many places you are allowed to walk or ride a bike on a established path as long as there is no phyisical barrier or something like a &quot;No Trespassing&quot; sign.  This isn't universally true, and the details can vary by jurisdiction.  The only way to know for sure is to ask, but this is a reasonable rule to follow if you don't know anything more specific.  If you follow this rule, at worst you may be told to leave.  I really don't see anyone getting arrested or fined for trespassing when they got there via a established route with no indication they weren't supposed to be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A physical barrier could be a fence, or a gate or chain across the road.  But context also matters.  If you see a dirt road that goes into a farm field and ends at a house, clearly that's a driveway and you shouldn't be there unless you have business with the people in the house.  It would be inappropriate to ride your bike up the driveway just to ride the bike when there are reasonable hints it's a private driveway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Signs are more clear and explicit.  Not all signs are there to keep everyone out.  Read any such sign carefully.  The basic &quot;No Trespassing&quot; is clear.  Don't go there.  Sometimes you see &quot;Private property&quot; or &quot;Private driveway&quot;.  That generally means don't go there unless you have business with the owner or have previous permission from the owner.  Other signs just disallow particular uses, like hunting, motorized vehicles, horses, etc.  Hiking and biking are usually the least restricted activities.  There are many old roads and paths were it's fine to hike or bike, but motorized dirt bikes and the like are not wanted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tranveling along a path and camping overnight are two very different things.  Generally, unless you know its OK to camp, it's not.  Where it's OK varies considerably across North America.  In the densly populated east, like here in New England, you're basically not allowed to camp anywhere it doesn't say so or you find explicit permission listed someplace authorotative, like the web site of a National Forest if you are in that National Forest.  In practise, stealth camping and being careful to not hurt anything and leaving minimal trace is a viable option in many places, but be aware that you may get fined or arrested if caught.  The less you are in anyone's way or affecting the area around you, the less anyone will likely care.  Still, that doesn't make it legal, so there is always some risk when you don't have explicit permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, you can't assume you are allowed to bike on a back country road just because it appears on Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, etc.  When you get there, you may find a gate across the road and/or a &quot;No Trespassing&quot; sign.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for logging roads on land owned by the lumber company, that can vary.  Most will probably have a No Trespassing sign at the entrance just to cover their butt legally.  If someone gets hurt due to a large pothole, broken bridge, etc, then the logging company has a good legal case by saying that person wasn't allowed to be there in the first place.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some logging companies require you to get a permit, mostly so that they can make you sign a release acknoledging various hazards and absolving them of any responsibility.  They may charge a fee for that to cover the cost of having to process the permit.  You really need to contact the logging company ahead of time.  Chances are they don't really care that you're there, just want to make sure you can't sue them if you get hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also watch out for the logging trucks.  They own the road, literally, and often drive that way.  They will come barrelling around a corner without consideration of a bicycle possibly being there.  When you hear one coming, make sure to be off towards the side of the road and out of their way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T15:30:09.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7769" CreationDate="2015-02-10T16:52:47.750" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The accepted answer has lot's of useful info, but misses the mark. The problem is that the term backcountry is so overloaded, it can mean anything from a simple tromp through the woods to the most difficult ski mountaineering descents. My reading of the original question is the next step up from classic XC skis meant for groomed trails to a long skinny ski with a metal edge. (i.e. something like the Fischer S-bound or Madhus Glittertind skis)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can get an AT setup that will work on &quot;backcountry&quot; skis, you'll need to spend somewhere in the range of $1000 for boots and bindings, and unless you are skiing terrain that is similar to a downhill resort, it will be a very awkward setup with the mode switching that AT gear requires. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of ski and skiing mentioned in the original question is often referred to as the &quot;holy grail&quot; among people interested in this kind of stuff. I've spent 30 years trying many various combinations of boots and bindings and all of them work and all of them have serious drawbacks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any boot that is light and flexible enough to make kick'n'glide fun on flat and gentle sloping ground is going to make turning on steeper and icier ground difficult. Any boot/binding that provides enough support for turning skinny skis is going to be a dog on the flat ground. You have to pick your poison. I find that I have the most fun when boot, binding and ski are roughly balanced. Putting a burley boot on a light ski or light boots on a burley ski can work, but it just&#xA;isn't that much fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advice I always give is to pick the boot first, and then pick the binding that works with that boot. How well a light boot fits is by far and away the most important factor in turning light skis with light boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can find an SNS or NNN/BC boot that gives you a snug ski boot like fit, (no heel movement when you flex the boot), then that's the boot you should get. If you find a 75mm light boot that fits you well, then 3pins would be an appropriate choice. The market for lightweight 75mm gear has shrunk significantly in the last 5 years or so, there aren't that many choices anymore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been that impressed by current offerings for SNS or NNN/BC boots, they are all pretty heavy and don't offer much extra control for the weight. I would take a serious look at XC combi boots ( i.e. skate and classic combo boots ) for at least the skinner end of the &quot;backcountry&quot; ski range of skis.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be very helpful to this question if you could list the dimensions of the skis you are looking at ( width at tip/middle/tail ) and the typical terrain you want to ski.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-02-10T19:32:11.470" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T19:32:11.470" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7774" CreationDate="2015-02-10T21:11:17.197" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is usually no, but there may be some restrictions depending on exactly where you're going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most logging roads are on crown land. The use of forest roads is managed through road abandonment, road decommissioning (making it impassable) and road access controls (i.e. signage, gates, etc.). In Ontario, public access to Crown land is&#xA;restricted for a variety of purposes depending on the location and the priority of land use values in those areas. Restrictions to Crown land access are often used to protect the remoteness of an area for resourcebased tourism, for fish and wildlife management, for species-at-risk protection (i.e. woodland caribou), as well as due to liability concerns and budgetary restraints.&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.giscoeapp.lrc.gov.on.ca/web/MNR/NHLUPS/CLUPA/Viewer/Viewer.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry provides an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.giscoeapp.lrc.gov.on.ca/web/MNR/NHLUPS/CLUPA/Viewer/Viewer.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;online crown land use policy atlas&lt;/a&gt;. So you can go online and see what the policy is for whatever land you plan on going on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.giscoeapp.lrc.gov.on.ca/web/MNR/NHLUPS/CLUPA/Viewer/Viewer.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CROWN LAND USE POLICY ATLAS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yShBG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0CB8QFjAA&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ofah.org%2Fdownloads%2Fgetfile.php%3Fid%3DPDF%2FInformation%2FPublic_Lands_Q_A.pdf&amp;amp;ei=K3LaVPK7MoyzoQT1roGoDw&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNHH1SWkE49jOJ6nIigwNh29ST0E2A&amp;amp;sig2=LT3FZwOkpo-ZjrQWK8VlVA&amp;amp;bvm=bv.85464276,d.cGU&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Public Land Access in Ontario Q &amp;amp; A&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T21:11:17.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7764" CreationDate="2015-02-10T22:13:26.593" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the filter.  Many filters use microtubules.  If there is water in the filter and the snow freezes that water then you may crack the microtubules.  You'll likely have no indication that you just broke your filter, potentially leading to the consumption of contaminated water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-02-10T22:13:26.593" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7761" CreationDate="2015-02-11T15:58:44.800" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need two separate bags.  Washing clothes requires something be mostly water tight.  Storing them requires airflow.  These two things are mutually exclusive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For washing, you need movement inside the bag.  Figure out what size will just fit your clothes, then buy one size larger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For storage, I would buy one mesh bag that fits what you most often carry.  The mesh will allow airflow and help prevent mildew and smells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not toss wet clothes in a bag.  I recommend hanging them on your pack somehow.  You look like a bum, but at least your clothes won't grow things....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T13:10:06.200" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T13:10:06.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7782" CreationDate="2015-02-11T17:02:30.523" Score="5" ViewCount="787" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7761/what-size-dry-bag-is-best-for-keeping-and-washing-clothes&quot;&gt;What size dry bag is best for keeping and washing clothes?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/354/washing-clothes-on-long-hikes&quot;&gt;Washing clothes on long hikes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After reading the first question above, I'm wondering to myself, &lt;strong&gt;is there an effective &quot;bag method&quot; for washing clothes while backpacking?&lt;/strong&gt; I've never washed my clothes in a bag before, but I'm imaging soap and water with your dirty clothes in a roll-top waterproof bag then just shaking it, rolling it or working it with your hands similar to a front-load washing machine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a popular thing to do? If so then what are some good tips for effectively cleaning your clothes using this technique? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-02-12T22:25:48.940" Title="Bag technique for washing clothes while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7781" CreationDate="2015-02-11T17:36:58.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;After googling, &quot;wash clothes in a bag&quot; I discovered that there are actually special washboard bags that you can buy specifically for washing clothes while you're backpacking/traveling (see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://thescrubba.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scrubba&lt;/a&gt; below).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They provide instructions on their website on how to use the bag, but Im pretty confident that you could get similar results with any watertight roll-top bag using these modified instructions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your clothes, water and soap into the bag &lt;em&gt;(fill 20-40% of the volume of the bag)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get as much of the air out of the bag as you can &lt;em&gt;(saturate your clothes and work out any air that might be trapped in material-getting as much air out as possible really helps you out in the next step)&lt;/em&gt; and then roll the top 4-5 times and clip it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub your clothes together inside the bag for a couple minutes - for better results you could pack a small silicone washboard, something like an anti-skidding silicone washboard for the shower might even work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pour out the soapy water and replace with clean rinse water. Rinse (shake the bag).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wring out as much water as you can, if you have a towel you can press your clothes in it to draw out extra moisture, then hang them to dry while you sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thescrubba.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Scrubba&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k18t9.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T5yXr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T4Cat.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-12T22:25:48.940" LastActivityDate="2015-02-12T22:25:48.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2015-02-11T19:47:29.503" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contrary to what some may feel is a limited use for polarization the sole purpose of this filtering is to minimize glare directly and indirectly caused by but not limited to bright sunlight. By doing so your visual acuity is increased in any bright light environment. Keep in mind light itself travels so it will bounce off any reflective surface. The more reflective your environment is the more intensive the glare will be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most effective way to protect your eyes from harsh reflection is polarization. There are several levels of quality to this filter so dont&#xA;be to surprised if cheap (low end) protection doesn't do the job. In addition to a higher quality filter, choose a color that best suits the environment you are in most often, the amount of allowable light transmission is critical to expected performance. The frame you select is just as important as color, wrapped coverage for the sportsman will help maximize your vision by blocking the amount of light coming in from the sides as where the casual activity sunglass wearer will be just fine with a fashion style frame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5585" LastActivityDate="2015-02-11T19:47:29.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2015-02-11T21:41:22.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are actual standards for this. If you are going somewhere where snow blindness is a real possibility, you should have sunglasses that meet the standard. The most common standard used in outdoor sunglasses is the Category standard based on the european CE standards. There are 5 categories 0-4 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This page has a good overview:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://us.shadestation.com/lens-categories.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;An Explication of Sunglasses Lens Categories.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, general purpose outdoor sunglasses should be in Category 3, which is appropriate for skiing in the winter when the sun is generally at a low angle. If you are climbing a glacier in the summer, you want category 4 &#xA;level glasses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polarized lens can certainly help, but ultimately it's the reduction in UV light levels&#xA;that prevents snow blindness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-11T07:39:12.453" LastActivityDate="2016-07-11T07:39:12.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5854" CreationDate="2015-02-11T22:02:56.330" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic idea of polarizing glasses is not to block all light, it's to block light that undergoes a glancing reflection, such as sunlight coming to your eye off of water or snow from near the horizon. The initially unpolarized light becomes highly polarized by this type of reflection, so by eliminating it, you make it easier to see and be comfortable without the blinding glare, while still allowing a lot of the unpolarized light that you want to see to get to your eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A polarizing filter can have varying degrees of effectiveness at various wavelengths. An ideal polarizing filter would block 100% of the light with a particular polarization, regardless of wavelength, and would block 0% of the light with the other polarization, regardless of wavelength. In reality, polarizing filters have efficiencies that depend on wavelength. &lt;a href=&quot;http://pe.taylorjl.net/PE_Blog/?p=153&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; has a graph for polaroid film, which is just one type of polarizing filter. It shows that in the UV band, the filter is almost perfect at blocking the polarization it's supposed to block, and that furthermore it blocks about 70-85% of UVB polarized the other way, depending on the exact wavelength. So if you have sunglasses that have this specific type of filter, then it's going to do a very, very good job of blocking the highly polarized UVB that comes to your eye from glancing reflection off of water or snow, and furthermore it will be at least somewhat effective in protecting you from the other polarization as well. But this filter all by itself will not do a super-great job of protecting you from unpolarized light, such as light that comes directly from the sun. For these reasons, if you're going to be on glaciers for many hours a day, in bright sun, it would be preferable to have not just sunglasses that have a polarizing film, but also a highly effective special-purpose filter that blocks UV in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Complicating all of this, we have several factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the style of sunglasses and where you have them positioned on your face, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1349214/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;as much as half&lt;/a&gt; of the light can get in the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sunglasses are often labeled as polarizing when they &lt;a href=&quot;http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/sunglass6.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;actually aren't&lt;/a&gt;. (But this is easily tested once you have the glasses in your hands.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Standards bodies have apparently decided that &quot;100% UV protection&quot; only really has to mean &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/6524-sunglasses-carry-shady-uv-protection-claims-study-reveals.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;95% UV protection from UVB&lt;/a&gt;. (Of course exactly 100% is mathematically impossible.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You probably have no way of knowing what specific polarizing material is being used, and therefore you don't know how that filter acts on polarized UV.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So any sunglasses are better than nothing, polarizing sunglasses are quite good, and sunglasses with both a polarizing filter and a UV filter are better. However, you may have a very difficult time finding out whether the glasses you buy really are what they claim to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-02-11T22:02:56.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2015-02-11T22:06:29.200" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/adult-health/expert-answers/uv-protection/faq-20058021&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;classic applications&lt;/a&gt; of polarized sunglasses is to skiing. Light from the sun is unpolarized, but when it is reflected from a surface at a glancing angle, it becomes highly polarized. When you're on a snow field, a lot of the bright light getting into your eyes is light reflected from the snow, and when the sun is low in the sky, this glare is coming from glancing reflection, so it's highly polarized. If you wear polarized sunglasses, they will help to cut out this glare disproportionately, making it easier to see other stuff without having your view interfered with by the intense glare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is all about comfort and ease of seeing, but doesn't necessarily tell you anything about snow blindness. Snow blindness is mainly caused by UV, which you can't perceive and which doesn't cause immediate pain or discomfort. In addition to snow blindness, UVB (and possibly UVA, although the evidence is not as strong) can cause long-terms problems with vision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So then the question is whether polarizing lenses are or are not effective against UV. We have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5854/do-polarized-sunglasses-protect-against-uv&quot;&gt;separate question&lt;/a&gt; about that, but basically the answer is that they're probably pretty darn effective, but probably not as effective as you'd ideally like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-02-11T22:06:29.200" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7787" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-12T04:11:32.873" Score="9" ViewCount="1951" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently been using figure 8 follow through on anchor webbing, and although it takes more time to dress properly and setup than a water knot, it's easier to untie at the end of the day and I feel like I get more than my time back on the untie. With either system, I also tie backup stopper knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This led me to thinking, is there an even better knot for anchor webbing? Would some sort of bowline variant be useful? If it's too hard to look at it and instantly see that it's correct though, I probably won't use it in practice, but I'm interested for curiosity's sake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3947" LastActivityDate="2015-02-12T16:17:14.110" Title="water knot vs figure 8 follow through vs X for rock climbing anchor - What is easiest to untie?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7787" CreationDate="2015-02-12T05:21:15.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A water knot is the best knot for joining two ends of webbing, I wouldn't recommend any other knot except for maybe the beer knot, but that's certainly not going to save you any time. You don't need to tie back up knots either, webbing doesn't slip like rope does, in fact I've never known webbing to slip at all, and I've set up a lot of slacklines using 1&quot; tubular webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A figure 8 follow through is more likely to slip than a water knot, because the webbing can't lay flat, so there's less friction in the knot. If you're concerned about slippage in your water knots, leave longer tails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do to aid in the quick untying of a water knot, is to tie either a piece of cord, or a rappel ring, or a carabiner into the knot that you can use to leverage on when untying. That's what I do when I'm setting up anchors for a slackline, as a slackline will tighten a water knot a lot more than any top anchor ever will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other options for using webbing as an anchor that don't involve tying and untying a knot: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can simply throw your pre-tied 1&quot; webbing sling around the tree and join it with a carabiner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EyTFF.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also put a girth hitch around whatever you're anchoring to, but you have to be careful with girth hitches, because if tied wrong they can actually put twice as much tension on the webbing when tied one way vs another (think of a basic pulley system). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-12T16:17:14.110" LastActivityDate="2015-02-12T16:17:14.110" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7790" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7791" CreationDate="2015-02-12T16:36:00.810" Score="10" ViewCount="555" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2974/2241&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; answer about rope thickness, and it mentions a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2974/2241&quot;&gt;tragic incident&lt;/a&gt; where a rope was severed during a lead fall due to the rope being dragged across rock edge whilst under tension. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It got me thinking. If the sling was the component being dragged across the rock edge, would it hold out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously that is too broad a question, so I'm interested in whatever information people can provide about the absolute and relative properties of Dyneema slings regarding abrasion by contact with &quot;sharp&quot;  rock edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:32:05.260" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T15:36:09.163" Title="Relative abraision resistance of Dyneema slings vs an average dynamic climbing rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;dyneema&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7790" CreationDate="2015-02-12T18:10:43.670" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of all the products that are out there for climbing, Dyneema is considered to be the &lt;em&gt;most&lt;/em&gt; abrasion resistant. That means that it is the least likely to be cut on a sharp edge, in fact Dyneema is used to make cut-resistant gloves, but that does not mean it's impossible to cut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s4rTy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.toyobo-global.com/seihin/dn/dyneema/seihin/tokutyou.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dyneema Properties&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not your sling would be cut by a rock edge depends on how sharp the edge is, and quite frankly if you're dragging you protective gear over a razor sharp edge then you're probably doing something wrong. Features in the rock that could cause damage to your gear or rope must be taken into consideration when lead climbing, if you find yourself in a situation where you are going to be dragging your rope or laying a peice of pro over a ginsu arête, then you should probably consider setting up a new anchor or belay and try to climb around the feature, or setup a short belay with minimal fall potential just to get over it. It may take some extra time, but if the alternative is a potentially tragic accident that leads to a fatal fall, then it's time well spent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are products that are designed to protect your rope over sharp edges. if you're climbing a route that you know has a notorious sharp edge, you should probably consider bringing something along in your rack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abaris.co.uk/prod/edge-protection/Lyon-edge-guard.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rope edge protector:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m5sRy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-01-26T15:36:09.163" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T15:36:09.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7792" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7793" CreationDate="2015-02-13T11:39:30.677" Score="17" ViewCount="7138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am surprised at how many people I see doing this wrongly (my experience being an ex-horse owner and now hiker in the UK).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the correct way to traverse a field containing horses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's exclude the different trespass laws and property defence laws in different countries - here in the UK we do have rights of way that cross fields with horses and livestock: my question is focused on the safety and welfare of the horse and the person traversing the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-02-16T07:59:05.617" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T08:32:43.467" Title="How should I traverse fields with horses in?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;biking&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;&lt;horses&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7792" CreationDate="2015-02-13T11:47:50.877" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often in British countryside you'll find fields with horses in (and cows and much of this is applicable to bovine) where it is &lt;strong&gt;unavoidable or rather difficult&lt;/strong&gt; to go a different way and the are a few things to be aware of. Usually you'll be heading over something similar to this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fvEgN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Credit to geograph.org.uk&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As public rights of way here allow footpaths through any field, garden, park, etc etc. I've walked through many a front or back garden whilst people are sitting out in summer (Kinda awkward!) but it's how footpaths work here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly if you do come across a field with horses in, before entering the field take a good look around you, if the horses are far away, then enter the field and keep yourself, any children, or dogs close to you, with dogs on a lead (though child leads are not uncommon for toddlers!). Walk around the edge of the field to the other exit. Try and keep children and animals quiet too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty simple if that's the case, but not always will it be so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the horses are scattered, stick to your chosen path around the field. Don't think to cut across unless you feel confident and it's not a large field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's muddy, which is common, try not to make a lot of fuss, I've seen horses spook at their own shadows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the horses are close to the gates, never fear. Actually that's a valid point and not a saying. Don't act skittish, keep your head up, don't make eye contact and sensibly navigate the horses keeping to the front, a bite is better than a kick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always avoid approaching the horses where possible, and definitely don't bother feeding them (most likely they're going to be on strict diets and an apple from every stranger won't help!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're cycling through horse fields the above is all completely applicable, but the best advice I can add is to dismount and walk around calmly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also&lt;/strong&gt; bear in mind that in the UK people can possibly be riding in these fields, I used to gallop down the fields in summer and often had to deal with people who did not look around before rushing out into our fields.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T08:32:43.467" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T08:32:43.467" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7792" CreationDate="2015-02-13T13:28:03.733" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how this is in other countries, but here in Austria you usually don't cross a fenced area but rather walk around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a horse owner myself I also wouldn't want any stranger wandering in the fields where my horse is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horses are flight animals and therefore they usually flee from any unknown or suspicious things. But domestic horses could react different, because they have learned that humans give them food and pet them. So it could be that some horses don't flee or ignore you, but come to look if you have something to eat or simply to get pet.&#xA;It depends on your actions and your body language how horses react if they are near you. They will know if you are afraid or unsure. For example, if the horse is very confident and it realises that you are afraid then it could be that it simply 'attacks' you to get something to eat or to defend it's own personal space and thereby clarify it's ranking in the herd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though I know how to handle horses, I would &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; walk on a field containing horses I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And please, &lt;strong&gt;never feed someone else's animals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Just for completeness, the only place I know where it is common to cross fields where animals (mostly cows) stand, is in the mountains. But there the animals live more or less free on huge areas, often even without any fences. And they are used to hikers and most of the time they just ignore you. And there my sugestion is, to just ignore them back. Don't look at them and don't call them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5590" LastEditorUserId="5590" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T13:39:14.893" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T13:39:14.893" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7792" CreationDate="2015-02-13T13:51:54.553" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in the US, &quot;horses in a field&quot; would imply the field is fenced.  That means you should stay out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is one exception, which is if you know the land is public property and it's OK to walk on it.  This is often the case with cattle on BLM and Forest Service land in the western US.  In that case, there will be fences with gates, or roads crossing cattle guards.  Just continue following the road or path, but be sure to &lt;i&gt;leave any gate the way you found it&lt;/i&gt;.  Cattle will usually just ignore you, but I wouldn't get deliberately closer on foot.  Bulls can sometimes be aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T13:51:54.553" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7796" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-02-13T15:07:18.477" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use this tag to tag questions concerning how to access area's of the outdoors. This includes topics such as: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Right to roam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footpaths&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accessing enclosed spaces such as fields&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gaining access to a water course&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where to wild camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improving and keeping access&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-01T20:12:06.020" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T20:12:06.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7797" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-02-13T15:07:18.477" Score="0" Body="Questions concerning the rights of individuals or groups to access area's of the outdoors. i.e. questions on the &quot;right to roam&quot; or accessing river banks for water activities, etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T15:07:18.477" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T15:07:18.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7798" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7799" CreationDate="2015-02-13T16:46:45.593" Score="10" ViewCount="344" Body="&lt;p&gt;I totally need &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shavenraspberry-Navigators-Slope-Angle-Tool/dp/B00K9733G2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of these&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ka98v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps you estimate the slope angle on a contour map by measureing the gaps between the contour lines. This is to help you avoid avoid avalanche areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure I could work this out but my maths is terrible. Anyone know what the mm gap is between each of the markers on this tool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T16:57:24.937" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T17:46:43.513" Title="What are the measurements on this slope angle tool?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7798" CreationDate="2015-02-13T17:41:02.557" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lk85l.png&quot; alt=&quot;Image capture from John Balwin&amp;#39;s website&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johnbaldwin.ca/trip-planning-slope.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Baldwin: Slope Angles from Map Contours&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;View &lt;a href=&quot;http://geokov.com/education/slope-gradient-topographic.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; for a refresher on how to do the maths to calculate slope on a topographic map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-13T17:46:43.513" LastActivityDate="2015-02-13T17:46:43.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7800" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7801" CreationDate="2015-02-14T18:48:38.013" Score="21" ViewCount="1524" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a backpacking trip with a well-established partner. I would like to invite a third person along, but he has not met the second, and I do not want to extend an invitation to the third until the second meets him and approves the invitation. My question is, how do I arrange this vetting without potential hard feelings on the part of the third?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came up with a couple of options, neither of which I really like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Invite both the second and the third to a vetting meeting over coffee or something, and be clear with the third what the purpose of the meeting is. If the second approves, this would work fine, but if not, then the third will be understandably hurt. Further, because of this, the second may feel pressured to approve when he would prefer not to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Invite both to a vetting meeting, but do not tell the third what the purpose of the meeting is. The issue here is either the lack of a purpose will be suspicious, or a fake purpose will be difficult to produce without seeming fake.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am sure this situation comes up for others, so I am wondering what the best practice is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; While we all work at the same place, we commute from different cities. For this reason and others, the logistics of gathering outside working hours may not be practical in the time available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5597" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:32:02.613" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T18:03:27.977" Title="How can I vet a hiking partner without potential hard feelings?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7800" CreationDate="2015-02-14T21:32:26.373" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Invite them both on a day hike.  That's a end onto itself, so no need to pretend anything else.  You can watch the interaction between #2 and #3, and talk about experiences to find out what #3's qualifications are.  If after that you still think #3 is a good fit with you and #2, then suggest to #2 to invite #3 along on your backpacking trip.  If he agrees, then fine.  If not, #3 will never need to know you considered this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see that #2 and #3 don't get along or you realize that #3 isn't sufficiently qualified, you don't ever have to mention what you were considering to #2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-02-14T21:32:26.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7800" CreationDate="2015-02-15T10:15:44.227" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO, up to a certain level in mountaineering, friends that you make in mountains or at a base camp are likely to be good/close friends for life. So, If I were the guy with the lesser experience in mountaineering and being set up in a meeting for an approval sort of a thing from a veteran, that might go wrong, because the veteran guy on the other end can have a cut-throat approach, and its likely that I may panic to face such an informal test. In such a case, I'd rather prefer to have a short hike with the person as an opportunity to  prove myself, and also that would allow me to see if I am fit/good enough for the kind of an agenda the veteran guy is having.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, If I am the veteran guy in the picture and if I am supposed to decide if I should take someone with me or not, I'd rather like to meet him/her on an easy one-day hike where I can get to know him/her, gauge the skill-set he/she possess and the habits and then make a decision on what I see on field rather than listening him/her in a coffee-shop or a bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go for a short hike with them, let them interact, they'll both get answers to their questions, and mainly you remain unbiased, and nobody's ego gets hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T18:03:27.977" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T18:03:27.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7818" CreationDate="2015-02-15T10:21:27.227" Score="27" ViewCount="532" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually I have a walking stick with me. But this time around I didn't have one along. With the hot and humid weather adding to the woes, we were going up a seemingly unending ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The constant ascent was a worry for my knees, so being tired I started putting my hands on the knee while taking an upper-step, and that went on for the whole day. The overall experience made me think that putting a hand on the knee on an upper-step helps to keep going on an ascend.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following night knees were in pain like never before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this exert knee?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-14T06:46:54.340" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T06:46:54.340" Title="Pressing the knee while ascending" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7800" CreationDate="2015-02-15T20:49:07.660" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should arrange a &quot;trial heat.&quot; Olin had a very good suggestion for a day hike. Alternatives might be a one mile run, or a tennis match, etc. Either one of these followed by a cup of coffee or a quick lunch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you need to have the other two get to know each other, both in a social setting, and &quot;athletically.&quot; You need to invest a certain amount of time, not necessarily a whole day, to find out if they are reasonably well matched on both counts. This investment will save you the loss of a &quot;whole trip.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they pass this &quot;first test,&quot; then you might want to talk to your close friend about taking the other one along. And since you've done a &quot;test run,&quot; he can reasonably refuse just on this basis. If the second agrees, then approach the third; otherwise, just &quot;let sleeping dogs lie.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5603" LastEditorUserId="5603" LastEditDate="2015-02-15T21:06:39.620" LastActivityDate="2015-02-15T21:06:39.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-02-15T20:52:35.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One point besides being warm (which is a really tough task by itself), is having something to drink - it's not easy in below-freezing temperatures. You'd want to have a reliable stove or you'll be forced to share your body heat with this show filled bottle. Another option is using sun light to melt snow during the daytime: use a lens or try to heat your black sleeping mat - but this will probably work in the summer only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a stove and a gas cartridge is really a big deal in winter survival. Just as a good map and a compass are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope you are asking just to be prepared for some highly improbable emergency. If chances of this surviving-without-sleeping-bag situation are high, I would just cancel the trip - or get enough camping gear to make this not an emergency but a routine. And please don't go alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you get such an emergency, it's essential to think of it as an emergency, i.e. don't try to finish he planned route, don't hesitate to call a helicopter if you have the option, don't hesitate to leave some expensive but heavy/unnecessarry gear behind, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2015-02-15T20:52:35.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7800" CreationDate="2015-02-15T23:13:02.103" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of trip are you planning for? It makes a big difference if you are going for a multi-pitch climb on an alpine route, a long distance trekking trip maybe even in high altitude or a sporty one day hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a simpler hiking trip I would say if you are used to each other already from work, just go for your trip and enjoy it. Requirements are small for those kind of trips and if the new guy really drops out after 30 minutes hiking you are most likely not going to hike with him again. There should be a similar level so he won't ask you again to take you for a strenuous hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anything more demanding: Do a smaller version of the tour you are planning, you will see if the groups chemistry works and if the skill levels are appropriate. Don't hesitate to invest some time for your preparation. You are working at the same place so you can't live &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; far away from each other. If you are planning to go climbing on your trip, at least go climbing in the gym. If you are going for strenuous multi-day hikes, test your condition on a shorter hike. You naturally will get used to each other and notice if it works. And you get some idea of the fitness level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-02-15T23:13:02.103" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7812" CreationDate="2015-02-16T17:30:53.153" Score="9" ViewCount="1874" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were abseiling into a cave (about 15 metres height) using a rope hanged by its middle from an anchor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; _&#xA;/o\&#xA;| |&#xA;| |&#xA;| |&#xA;| |&#xA;| |&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience on abseiling is mostly from climbing, where I descend on both strands. But my friend said that one should do it on one strand (it's understandable because it was a very stiff static rope). So we made a knot on the rope. Then she connected to one strand, leaving the other completely free, and descended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;   _&#xA;  /o\&#xA;  \ /&#xA;   &amp;amp;&#xA;  / \&#xA; |   |&#xA; |   |&#xA;:)   |&#xA; |   |&#xA; |   |&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later, someone else told me that one should connect the descending device to one strand, and the prusik to the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my question is: should one connect the prusik to the same or the other strand, and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also: if using two different strands, should one also tie a knot on the rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(side note: we used the setup with one free strand to practice building a hauling system. It was very easy to retrieve the free strand for that purpose. Is this a significant consideration when deciding how to connect the prusik?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2015-02-18T12:09:36.213" Title="Abseiling on one rope: should I attach the prusik to the other one?" Tags="&lt;prusik&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7808" CreationDate="2015-02-16T23:23:41.317" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your first question, it doesn't matter very much whether you put the prussik on the same strand as your dcd or on the free strand. One reason it might be considered safer is that putting the prussik on the other strand would allow the other rope to prussik to catch you if the line you were repelling on somehow failed. As this event is extremely unlikely the gain in safety is marginal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the second question about double strand raps, it depends. If you'd like to pull your rap line (a common thing in climbing and canyoneering, very uncommon in caving) you wouldn't want to tie a knot in it. If you're planning on ascending the line later you probably would want to tie a knot in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this said, the common strategy caving is to fix a single line to the anchor. While in climbing the rope is usually doubled over so that it can be retrieved. The setup you've described isn't super common which is why the answer is a bit wishy-washy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-02-16T23:23:41.317" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7800" CreationDate="2015-02-17T04:33:13.630" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't waste time vetting- just do it... Putting things in perspective - you are not arranging a marriage, a round the world sailing trip on an 8 meter sail boat, or a climbing trip into remote Patagonia. You said its 3-4 days - not that long, certainly short enough they can work out how to tolerate each other if the worst happens. I have done many trips of that length with complete strangers -a few guys I would never go into the hills with again, and some were never going to be best mates, but overall I made many more friends and had much &#xA;more fun than if I had stayed at home vetting every one of them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask your #2 if he minds if you invite a #3. If he does, no problem #3 need not know. If #2 does not mind, invite #3.  If you have any doubts that they will get along, discuss with #2....  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-02-17T04:33:13.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7808" CreationDate="2015-02-17T12:36:55.720" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pulling down ropes after abseiling in caving is common here in the UK, where a cave has an upper and a lower entrance with one or more pitches in between. We use Static rope and caving descenders are usually designed to only use a single strand of rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We double the rope and tie a knot with a small loop near the middle of the rope. Then feed one end of the rope through the anchor (usually a bolt and hanger of some kind) so that the two sides of the rope are parallel as in your diagram, with the knot and loop near the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then we clip a carabiner to the loop formed by the knot and clip this carabiner to the other side of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next step is than to abseil down using the end of the rope passing through the carabiner (the side without the knot). This causes the rope to pull through the carabiner and tighten around the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the last person is down, you pull down the rope using the other side of the rope from which was abseiled down (the side with the knot and loop) and continue on your way.&#xA;Obviously you need to take extreme care and not abseil on the wrong side of the rope. This can be mitigated against by clipping the carabiner to the anchor until the last person is on the rope and ready to abseil. They double check they have attached their descender to the correct side of the rope and then unclip the carabiner from the anchor and abseil down. Also you can coil the &quot;pull-down&quot; side of the rope and keep it at the top if the pitch until the last person is ready to abseil and lowers this end down, in order to prevent someone attaching to the wrong side of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AafU3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Here is an example of the set up&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2015-02-18T12:09:36.213" LastActivityDate="2015-02-18T12:09:36.213" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5913" CreationDate="2015-02-17T19:22:02.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For question 3; as a minimum I would carry an epoxy stick, which is a clay/putty like substance which cures very quickly and can be used to fix minor cracks and holes that can be caused by dropping your kayak etc. See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/29/outdoors/when-you-ding-your-plastic-kayak-epoxy-can-patch-it/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;When you ding your plastic kayak, epoxy can patch it&lt;/a&gt; for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5505" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T00:09:38.300" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T00:09:38.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7808" CreationDate="2015-02-17T21:37:54.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding the hauling question, I suggest keeping the descender and prusik on the same strand.  Here's my reasoning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It keeps the second strand free in case you need to rap down to the person to administer first aid or other assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It allows you to use the second strand for hauling, in case you don't have a second rope around for that purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It keeps things simple; if you haul only one strand and the device (prusik or descender) on that strand stops working, the person will fall back to their starting point.  (Unless the device on the second strand fails as well, in which case they continue to fall.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the knot at the top, if you didn't knot the two strands together below the anchor, you would have a double-strand rappel.  A double-strand rappel requires both strands to be fed through both the descender and prusik; if you put them on only one strand, &lt;strong&gt;you go splat&lt;/strong&gt;.  Splitting the descender and prusik between the ropes means they no longer back each other up in such a situation.  If &lt;em&gt;either&lt;/em&gt; of the two fails, &lt;strong&gt;you go splat&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you use Paul's technique (reepschnur) but attach yourself to the pull-down side, that's right, &lt;strong&gt;you go splat&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-02-17T21:37:54.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-02-18T02:16:11.960" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Historically, many &lt;em&gt;coureurs de bois&lt;/em&gt; survived on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican&quot;&gt;pemmican&lt;/a&gt;, a mixture of rendered fat, dried meat, and dried fruits rich in vitamin C.  It's supposedly a nutritionally complete meal, and capable of sustaining you over long periods of strenuous activity.  Marrow fat is supposed to be the most nutritious and least likely to spoil, but any thoroughly rendered fat will do for a short trip.  You can find many different recipes online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2015-02-18T02:16:11.960" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7817" CreationDate="2015-02-18T11:30:24.350" Score="11" ViewCount="949" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just got Grivel The Tech Machine Ice Axe. It comes with Ice blade by default. Mostly I am going to do Mix climbing on granite in Norway with Ice climbing occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you recommend to get Mix blade additionally?&#xA;What are drawbacks of using Ice blade instead of Mix blade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4B7cP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5343" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-18T16:20:03.267" LastActivityDate="2017-04-29T15:23:00.257" Title="Ice Axes - Ice blade or Mix blade?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7816" CreationDate="2015-02-18T16:57:58.443" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ice blades are designed for penetration, mixed blades are modified to help you also get a good bite on rock without doing to much damage to your tips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://willgadd.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Will Gadd&lt;/a&gt;–who is considered to be the best ice and mixed climber in the world (watch him climb the hardest mixed climb &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redbull.com/ca/en/adventure/stories/1331694914093/will-gadd-climbing-the-world-s-hardest-mix-route-climb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;)–has this to say in his &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Ice-Mixed-Climbing-P259.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;book&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For mixed climbing I generally keep my pick completely stock, as it came from the shop, except for the angle of the first tooth, being especially careful to make the tip hook extremely sharp and square. A pick filed like this will place tremendous amounts of force on the rock as you hang on it, which will help it hold on even smooth edges. If I have to climb a delicate icicle at the top, I'll also set the tip up for best penetration, but this means the pick will crumple easily if I hit rock. In general, I run two sets of picks: one fairly stock for working on routes and general climbing, and one for those desperate redpoints and sick icicles. Very thin cracks sometimes demand a very thin pick, and I'll modify mine to fit them, but this makes the pick quite weak when torqued in the same crack. One day we'll have picks as thin as knives that will take any degree of abuse, but until then we'll be going through a fair number of picks each season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Ice-Mixed-Climbing-P259.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mountaineers: ICE &amp;amp; MIXED CLIMBING - Modern Technique&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you said, you can buy mixed blades now, so there's no longer a necessity to modify a blade for mixed climbing. If you know you're going to be switching between ice and rock, then I'd recommend running two picks. Using a pick designed for ice on mixed routes will blunt the tips very quickly, and you'll end up having to file it down like a mixed blade anyways, and then you won't have the same penetration for climbing ice routes. Having two sets of picks will mean less maintenance in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-29T15:23:00.257" LastActivityDate="2017-04-29T15:23:00.257" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7803" CreationDate="2015-02-18T17:25:56.223" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pressing on your knees will relieve some of the stress on your muscles, giving you additional endurance on a climb, but it puts unnatural stress on the joint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without going too deep into the specifics of the anatomy, you have four muscles in your &quot;quad&quot; that attach to your patella, which is attached to your tibia (shin) via the patellar tendon.  &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q2vse.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is your muscles that support the structure of your knee, when you apply pressure to the top of your knee, you are applying pressure from a direction that the knee is not designed to take it, this can cause patella maltracking, as well as put lateral stresses on you meniscus and ligaments (ACL, PCL). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not an issue if you only do it in moderation (help you get up that last step), but over time, especially if your muscles are already fatigued, it can cause serious injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best friends are now a pack of ice and an a chair. You need sufficient rest for your knees to heal. These musculoskeletal injuries are the kind that are notorious for reappearing if you don't give them adequate time to repair themselves. You need to rest beyond the point of your knees feeling better in order for them to heal fully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget your walking stick next time. Consider investing in hiking poles, they look kind of dorky, but they undeniably save your legs on long hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-18T17:39:36.450" LastActivityDate="2015-02-18T17:39:36.450" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7816" CreationDate="2015-02-19T00:32:27.890" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mix climbing on granite in Norway with Ice climbing occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means you have mostly rock while on the mixed climb? If this is the case I would advise to get a mixed blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are drawbacks of using Ice blade instead of Mix blade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice blades are very thin and have a conical shape. Even when they are brand-new you should most likely file them to get your blade as sharp as possible. The prior isn't necessarily true because you could have the problem to release the blade from the ice. After filing the front tip it will be extremely sharp (dot-like). Some people remove this tip so the ice tool won't enter &lt;em&gt;too much&lt;/em&gt;. This depends on the type of ice of course. To save energy while trying to get the tool out of the ice this can be very important. That's also the reason why you shouldn't forget to file the back (top) of the blade so you can release the tool by levering away from you in the plane of swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ice blades&lt;/strong&gt; are designed to penetrate very easily and to avoid breaking the ice. Some are even B-classified because the &lt;strong&gt;robustness of the blade isn't the main concern&lt;/strong&gt;. If you aren't going to abuse the ice tool by side-wise lever or torque, it will still last a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mixed or dry tooling blades&lt;/strong&gt; are designed for rock, thus for robustness. Without taper at the top the &lt;strong&gt;material is thicker&lt;/strong&gt; in general. You don't have to file them as sharp as ice climbing tools because you don't want to penetrate the rock as you penetrate ice. You place the mixed blade on small rock irregularities, often you will wedge it in cracks and therefore have high loads on the material. An ice blade will &lt;strong&gt;break&lt;/strong&gt; more easily, at least it will &lt;strong&gt;get blunt&lt;/strong&gt; faster. The &lt;strong&gt;lifespan&lt;/strong&gt; of your blade will therefore decrease if you use the ice blade in rock especially in hard rock like granite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Referring the answer of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7817/2653&quot;&gt;@ShemSeger&lt;/a&gt;: If you are going to push the limits and climb extremely thin cracks and hard maneuver, you are therefore able to climb very difficile/careful and you have no problem with wear (and money) you are free to use the ice blade on rock. But I think most of us won't compare ourselves with Will Gadd ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T16:15:16.800" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7820" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-19T08:42:00.970" Score="6" ViewCount="394" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read a lot on the many running sites about training.  The consensus seems to be that you should have a mix of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tempo runs (20-40 mins at e.g. 20 sec/mile slower than 10k race pace)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;long slow runs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;intervals, fartlek, hill reps etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What doesn't seem to be explained is why bother with all that time and distance at significantly slower than your goal race pace?  Why not just run the distance you're training for as fast as you can?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to get my 10k time down and I can only fit in 2 runs a week.  I used to just do two 10k runs as fast as I could, and saw my time gradually come down.  But since reading all this stuff I switched to a tempo run and either a long run or intervals.  And...I've got slower (by 2-3 mins over 10k).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the idea with lower intensity that you get most of the benefit but much less injury risk (so you can train more often)?  In which case I may as well go back to trying to max out on each run since I am more limited by time than recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T10:46:24.500" Title="Why train at less than max intensity? Especially if not training often" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7820" CreationDate="2015-02-19T12:47:34.137" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not an expert, however I can give you general direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason why you want run slower to run faster is for one: less risk of injury and second: training to stay in aerobic zone, avoiding going to anaerobic zone and build endurance in the end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you exercise, first you are well rested and your body receives enough oxygen. This means all muscles work bellow their peak performance. If you stop training at this point your recovery time will be better, which in the end leads to better performance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you go to anaerobic zone, your muscles start having problem getting enough oxygen, they are more prone to injury and recovery time is much longer. You will notice this when after training your muscles are in pain - some call it: milk acid muscle pain (which is not true, by the way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To see benefits from this you need patience... a lot of it. It's good to train once in a while without watch/endomondo and let your body decide the peace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me an eye opener was book by Rich Roll - Finding Ultra. He explains some basic principles behind training for endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5343" LastEditorDisplayName="user5343" LastEditDate="2015-02-20T13:32:29.590" LastActivityDate="2015-02-20T13:32:29.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2015-02-19T13:21:29.210" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like Les Stroud's(survivorman) book called &quot;Survive!&quot;.  Just like in his tv show, he outlines survival in all different climates and locales.  It's very specific and sounds like something that would interest you. There's a great(and short) list of survival books &lt;a href=&quot;http://militarybackpackguide.com/7-best-survival-books-of-2015/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;  Another of my favorites is &quot;Wildwood Wisdom&quot; which isn't locale specific but focuses on fundamental survival skills - those which I would call &quot;evergreen&quot;.  Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5614" LastActivityDate="2015-02-19T13:21:29.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7820" CreationDate="2015-02-19T18:14:22.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can only run 2x a week and only have limited time, then running 10k as fast as you can is a reasonable training plan. However, you will rapidly reach a plateaux and see no improvement in results. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The long slow runs need to be for times and distances that are generally 2-3x the length of your event. ( At least for events less than an hour. )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Serious training is as much about recovery and &quot;training to train&quot; as the actual workouts. &#xA;You get the most benefit from relatively intense event specific workouts, but you have to recover before the next intense workout or else you actually go into a negative spiral. The more you work, the worse you get. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long low effort runs are &quot;training to train&quot;, they build the endurance and recovery you need to be able to do enough of the hard intense workouts to make progress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-02-19T18:14:22.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7824" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7826" CreationDate="2015-02-19T18:41:35.747" Score="12" ViewCount="11096" Body="&lt;p&gt;The last weeks I observed couple times that I am getting stiffness/muscle ache in the upper arms after a boulder session. What's special about this is that it is very delayed. For example I went to the gym yesterday in the evening. Today I had no problems at all while working on the bureau. Arriving at home tonight an intense pain in the upper arms starts. Sometimes the stiffness even comes two days after the boulder session.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not facing cramps during or after bouldering. The issues I have while climbing are the typical hard forearms, lacking strength in the hands and skin resistance. No problems with the upper arms while climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am facing muscle ache after an exhausting endurance run or a soccer match they come directly after the sport or by no later than the next morning. Therefore I am really wondering what is going on here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So besides the general opinion that my body needs minerals like magnesium/calcium and lots of liquid what would you suggest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-02-20T11:58:00.047" Title="Delayed muscle ache after boulder session" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7820" CreationDate="2015-02-19T18:59:05.353" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will a bit of a more general answer because I don't run 10k but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peak fitness is something you aim to hit at a certain point in time and is not something that can be maintained for a great period of time. Expecting to perform your best every time will likely lead you to be disappointed. That's not to say you're not capable of running 10k faster than your current best every day, just not yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kA2zE.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While exercising you are not actually getting stronger you are damaging your body, but your body will adapt to the stress of training by getting stronger during the recovery phase. As the diagram above shows your fitness will peak for a period of time after the initial stress, provided the intensity was not too high or low. What you need to do is find out what the correct amount of stress is for your body and by which point your recovery has peaked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rZHC8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By matching the peak of your recovery with your workout you will be able to increase the intensity of your training and gradually increase your performance. This will be quite personal and should be determined by logging performance over time. Your experience of decreasing personal bests being a good example of feedback that your over-doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diagrams from &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WGHoBAAAQBAJ&amp;amp;lpg=PP1&amp;amp;dq=training%20for%20the%20new%20alpinism&amp;amp;pg=PP1#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Training For The New Alpinism&lt;/a&gt;, probably not the best book for running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-02-23T10:46:24.500" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T10:46:24.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7824" CreationDate="2015-02-19T19:16:42.647" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you ever done any weight training? This kind of &quot;delayed onset muscle soreness&quot; is very common for people beginning a weight training program. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_onset_muscle_soreness&quot;&gt;This wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; attempts to explain the mechanism. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For weight training, the general advice is to not stop lifting, but to reduce the weight and intensity. If you google &quot;delay onset muscle soreness&quot; you'll find a lot of advice about dealing with problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that you are working on problems that require a level of strength in certain muscles that is at the upper limit of your strength. Spending some time in the gym working&#xA;on specific exercises for those muscles might be helpful. Working on different problems for a while and limiting your time on the problems that induce soreness will also help.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-19T19:18:22.527" LastActivityDate="2015-02-19T19:18:22.527" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1330" CreationDate="2015-02-19T22:05:28.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0883173050&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Pocket Survival Guide. by J. Wayne Fears&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Accurate, concise, to the point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-02-19T22:05:28.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7824" CreationDate="2015-02-20T02:51:51.547" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That sounds like a rotator cuff problem to me. It's a common problem that I see amongst my climbing friends and I experience myself. Usual symptoms are soreness in the elbow join/lower bicep, sometimes causing carpal tunnel pain, sometimes causing more extreme shoulder pain, sometimes even limiting movement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that we overuse the big muscles in our back (esp our lats, which attach to the front of the shoulder) which causes smaller muscles to become too strained and give up/get tired, resulting in an imbalance in the skeletal system causing pain. Apologies if my understanding is off; rotator cuff exercises seemed to fix my problems so I didn't delve any deeper to the actual mechanics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of my friends just do a little rotator cuff maintenance every now and then - if I'm climbing a lot, I might do 2x15 reps twice a week. The actual exercise I do is to use a theraband to pull from inside of my body to outside of my body with my elbow held firm just above my hip. A better description is here (under the intermediate section):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8292250/rotator-cuff-strengthening-exercises-rotator-cuf.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8292250/rotator-cuff-strengthening-exercises-rotator-cuf.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many friends believe in the benefits of this, but to try it out, just do 2x10 reps every day with a medium to light theraband.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One friend went from not being able to lift his arm above his shoulder to no pain, full movement and climbing in three days just by doing this. A week of rest and light stretching before we suggested it saw no improvement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5617" LastActivityDate="2015-02-20T02:51:51.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7824" CreationDate="2015-02-20T08:43:13.927" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to disagree with the above answer about rotator cuff problems. It &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a good idea to strengthen your rotator cuffs for various reasons, but to me this does just sound like Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Any type of high intensity exercise where you put strain on your muscles is likely to cause the same thing. I get delayed soreness (which always seems to be 2 days later) from weightlifting, roped climbing/bouldering and from squash (tends to be in the thighs and glutes). As you strengthen your muscles this soreness will lessen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that increasing my protein intake (whether with shakes or otherwise) post-exercise seems to lessen the soreness experienced a couple of days later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth noting that DOMS tends to make the whole muscle ache. If you feel a sharp localized pain in a part of a muscle, or only on one side of your body, or more on the tendons at the ends of your muscles, then it's likely that you've done some (probably minor) damage to the muscle or tendon, and in this case you should rest until the pain goes away. With DOMS you can work right through it without doing any harm (if you can face it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4292" LastEditorUserId="4292" LastEditDate="2015-02-20T11:58:00.047" LastActivityDate="2015-02-20T11:58:00.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-20T19:14:09.720" Score="5" ViewCount="1811" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a damaged pupil that stays partially dilated. And regular polarized sunglasses which I am wearing over the regular glasses aren't working better than my prescription sunglasses. I have a new prescription that includes an extra coating on the polarized lens to make them darker. I haven't received them yet.&#xA;I think I am looking for sunglasses that are &lt;strong&gt;extremely dark&lt;/strong&gt;. What is available? I do not ski or mountain climb, just everyday stuff. Sunny days are no fun anymore because the sun light even on hazy days is hard on my eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:39:50.200" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:39:50.200" Title="Extra strong sunglasses for sensitive eyes" Tags="&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7832" CreationDate="2015-02-20T19:32:36.170" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are generally known as glacier glasses. They are rated as Category 4 on the CE scale and you aren't supposed to drive while wearing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunglasses in Category 4 only transmit 4-8% of available visible light. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hidalgos.com/selecting-sunglasses/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hidalogos sunglass guide&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;has a very complete list of  the different factors in choosing sunglasses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Category 4 come in a wider range of styles than in the past. Julbo in particular makes&#xA;several models that don't resemble the classic leather side flap models. &#xA;I can recommend their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.julbousa.com/lenses/zebra/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zebra&lt;/a&gt; photochromic lens, but that may not work for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Category 3 might work for you as well, most standard sunglasses are only Category 2. You need to buy &quot;sport&quot; sunglasses to get Category 3 level glasses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get prescription versions of some versions of these sunglasses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-02-21T01:05:40.300" LastActivityDate="2015-02-21T01:05:40.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7832" CreationDate="2015-02-20T21:15:41.707" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be overkill, but welding shops sell (at least) up to #5 shades as lightweight plastic glasses. Kinda ugly and very green, but the way darker than sun glasses. And you can still see the ground in front of you on a sunny day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-02-20T21:15:41.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-21T20:09:11.107" Score="11" ViewCount="2795" Body="&lt;p&gt;How long can you leave a synthetic sleeping bag in compressed its stuff sack before you lose insulation? 2 days? 2 weeks? 2 months? The manufacturers say &quot;long periods&quot;, but don't define it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T11:42:14.350" Title="How long should you leave a synthetic sleeping bag compressed?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7835" CreationDate="2015-02-21T22:05:28.193" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't leave your sleeping bag compressed any longer than you need to. Store it out of it's bag on a shelf, hanging up, or in a large breathable &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5027-801/mec-sleeping-bag-storage-sack/?f=10&amp;amp;q=sleeping%2Bbag%2Bstorage&quot;&gt;storage bag&lt;/a&gt;. Only stuff it into it's stuff sack or a compression bag when you're packing it. If you store it compressed it will lose loft, which is what gives you insulation. How quickly it loses loft varies depending on the type of synthetic insulation, and &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; compressed it is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're going to be sleeping in it every night, the longest it would be compressed is 16hrs at a time so you don't need to worry about it. If you're traveling then it may stay packed for a couple of days, in which case only compress it as much as is necessary, and unpack it as soon as you've stopped moving for the day. Never leave you bag compressed longer than you need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags will lose insulation over time no matter what due to regular wear and tear, but you can minimize the wear and tear by properly carrying for you bag, some bags can last a lifetime with minimal insulation loss if cared for properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-02-21T22:05:28.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7837" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-23T00:19:27.653" Score="12" ViewCount="12162" Body="&lt;p&gt;What method would I used to calculate the likely force placed on a piece of protection if I were to fall onto it. Using knowledge of my weight, distance between myself and the gear and the amount of rope between myself and the belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario, I'm above a small but well placed nut. I'd like to know how far I can climb before the force of my fall will overcome its stated strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps ignore potential for a soft catch from the belayer for simplicity.&#xA;No imperial measurements please, i.e. meters, kilograms, kilonewtons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T11:57:06.177" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T21:30:04.003" Title="How to calculate the force (kN) generated by a falling climber onto their protection?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7837" CreationDate="2015-02-23T01:45:43.253" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_factor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; has a simple treatment of this problem, as well as some notes on at least one of the reasons why the simple treatment is only a very rough approximation. Let &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Su4OK.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt; be the impact force quoted by the manufacturer, which is normally 12&amp;nbsp;kN for a single rope. Let &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IkadE.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt; be the 80&amp;nbsp;kg mass used for lab tests, let &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/95Z2f.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;, let &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/niVtd.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt; and let f=h/L be the fall factor (ratio of length of fall &lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt; to the length of the rope &lt;em&gt;L&lt;/em&gt;). Then in their simplified model, the maximum tension in the rope is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/79uHB.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplified model ignores friction, including both friction in the rope and friction where the rope goes around the carabiner attached to your top piece of pro. In this approximation, the force on your hypothetical micronut is 2T. This is because there are two strands pulling down on the pro, and due to the lack of friction the tensions is the same in these two strands. In some online discussions I've seen, it's not really clear whether they have in mind the stress on the pro or the stress on your body, leading to an ambiguity by this factor of 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another surprising factor of 2, which is that in the special case where f=0, we get T=2mg, which is a little surprising. You would think that in a factor-zero fall, the rope would just support body weight. But the peak tension is actually more than body weight, because the rope stretches and the person does fall down through some height. In this model the peak tension is actually twice body weight for a factor-zero fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you put in &lt;em&gt;f&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;=&amp;nbsp;2 as a worst-case scenario, then we have 2&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;T&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;=&amp;nbsp;26&amp;nbsp;kN. This is more than 10 times the 2&amp;nbsp;kN rated strength of the smallest micronuts, and even exceeds the ~8&amp;nbsp;kN rating of much burlier pieces of pro. Uh oh!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OK, so it's not quite as bad as that. Internal friction in the rope seems to cut the maximum force by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Physics_of_climbing_ropes.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;about 3&amp;nbsp;kN&lt;/a&gt;. If you're using an ATC rather than an autolocking belay device, the dynamic properties of the device will cut the force by &lt;a href=&quot;http://bealplanet.com/sport/anglais/facteurdechute.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;maybe another 30%&lt;/a&gt;. If the belayer is giving an indirect belay, then they're going to get picked up by your fall, and their body becomes a dynamic element in the system, further reducing the maximum stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a factor-2 fall, the combination of these factors might reduce the force on your nut by quite a but, but it's still very likely to fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the basic answer is, don't take any kind of serious lead fall on the smallest 2&amp;nbsp;kN-rated micronuts. Just as a simple reality check, I climb pretty often with a guy who's 100&amp;nbsp;kg. His body weight is 1&amp;nbsp;kN, which would put 2&amp;nbsp;kN of force on a piece of pro if he simply hung his body weight on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T21:25:57.697" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T21:25:57.697" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-02-23T08:59:52.933" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fat, fat and fat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hardcore, you can get products like: &lt;a href=&quot;http://innordicclub.com/produkt/kompeet/kompeet_3_kg/#.VOrq9vmG8wB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naturlig energi til heste&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;This one is a Danish product though, but it is 99,5% pure vegetabe fat in powder, odor-/tasteless. Pretty cool to add to your food, you get the highest density of calories possible and it just melts in your mount, without a taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5630" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T05:35:42.230" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T05:35:42.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7840" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7844" CreationDate="2015-02-23T12:24:24.500" Score="14" ViewCount="5387" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking at a map of the hot springs in my state, and near my area there are 4 in a 60 mile range. These hot springs all are lined up in a straight line, and so my incredibly wishful thinking is that there is another undiscovered (or at least, secret) hot spring somewhere along that line. I will live there next summer, so I'll get plenty of chances to go hiking and exploring the area. If such a treasure does indeed exist, how can I maximize my chances of finding it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5632" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:00:58.113" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T19:35:30.910" Title="How would I find a hot spring?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7840" CreationDate="2015-02-23T14:26:15.203" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walk the line on a humid very cold still morning.  If the hot spring is of any significance -- e.g. enough surface to get in, and enough flow to be hot, -- you should get a plume of steam rising off the water.  This will likely require an air water temperature differential of at least 40 degrees F to be visible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen 'steam' (fog) tendrils off of lakes with a 20 F degree differential, but they were fairly insipid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can check this by going to one of the known hot springs, and seeing what sort of conditions are required for reasonable visibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a friend with a plane, you may be able to check more quickly from the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 2.  The forest service uses some satellite (don't know which one) to spot forest fires when small looking at the earth in IR.  See if the known springs show up in IR on the views from this satellite. If they do, track the fault line.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method will give you a false positive for every furnace chimney and badly insulated shack, but comparing locations with a visible light image of roads and access points will weed most of these out.  Note:  Remote buildings that are too bright may be a grow-op.  Proceed with care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T14:26:15.203" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7840" CreationDate="2015-02-23T20:25:25.837" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It helps to know what is going on &lt;em&gt;underground&lt;/em&gt; when looking for geological patters. Hot springs are of course geothermally heated by pockets of magma in the crust that are relatively close to the surface. Understanding the underlaying strata and ground water patters are essential to accurately predicting where hydraulic phenomena will appear. At the very least you need a stratigraphic map so you can examine fault structures and determine where layers of porous rock intersect with faults, the surface, and also where aquatards may inhibit ground water flow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have already indicated here, the fact that the hot springs you are observing are in a line suggests that they are over a fault line, likely an area of tectonic uplift. If you were to examine the stratigraphy of the areas where the known hot springs are, you could identify which layers of strata the heated groundwater is permeating to the surface from, and then locate other areas along that line where those same layers intersect with the surface again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll confess that reading a stratiographic map isn't that easy, but if you can even get a vague idea of where you might suspect undiscovered springs will appear based on the geology and geography, it will greatly reduce your search area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without conducting a geological survey with a team of geologists, the next best thing to do is to go bush whackin' away from the beaten trail, using the suggestions that @Sherwood gave you in their answer. An IR thermal imager would be handy to bring along with you, you can get relatively affordable ones that &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00K0PXFB6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;attach to your iPhone&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's no simple task to actually go out and find natural resources. Which is the number one reason why geologists are able to get jobs other than just teaching... Most of the time when people stumble onto hot-springs it's because they're looking for something else. Lots of springs are discovered by hunters and trappers this way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck finding your personal secret hotspring, I'm sure you'll have fun exploring the untamed bush whether you find one or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Example of stratigraphic map:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PEM9i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-02-23T20:32:14.233" LastActivityDate="2015-02-23T20:32:14.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7845" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-24T01:04:31.620" Score="13" ViewCount="11474" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some walking poles that have not been used for some time. They have become stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I unlock the sticks which have not been used in a while?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5636" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-24T09:05:05.033" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T11:39:35.097" Title="How to unlock walking poles that have not been used for a while" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7845" CreationDate="2015-02-24T09:12:27.217" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This actually happened to me the other day!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's likely (if they've not been used for some time) that they've corroded slightly and this has produced a seal between the moving parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd probably try the below in this order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray it with Wd40 or GT85 or someother spray oil leave it to penetrate; try and move them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some latex (grippy) glove and try and move them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the poles in gaffer tape (to protect them), get some mole grips, grip the gaffer tapped area try and move them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they still won't move then try a couple of times if they are still not moving then try heating and/or cooling the stick to break the bond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-24T10:21:35.597" LastActivityDate="2015-02-24T10:21:35.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7848" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-24T19:10:51.503" Score="9" ViewCount="234" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actively participating in a couple of adventure (AKA extreme) sports, I have had my share of accidents/carnage/trauma.  Anyone who participates in such pastimes knows that we're all in between accidents and they are part of the game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all know that severe bodily injuries can require assistance from others to get to the front country or a safe location, which may include a rescue squad dispatch if your buddies are not there or unable to assist.  That scenario is not the subject of this question.  What interests me is what happens when the bodily injury (if any) does not prevent further motion and getting to safety BUT the post traumatic stress does.  Let's call it a mild form of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder&quot;&gt;PTSD&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my 8 years of whitewater kayaking, I (as well as anyone else who's done it that long pretty much) have had my share of ugly carnage, swims, and close calls that, if not beating your body, causes your mind to become shaken and so freaked out to the point of walking off the river (hasn't happened to me but I've seen it in other people).  In a recent snowboarding accident, I fell on my rear end, which sent reverberations up my spine to my head and the rest of the day I was getting quasi hallucinations (I swear I wasn't drunk or drugged) that I almost couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not, it was creepy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious to learn about the psychology of outdoor trauma and how to overcome mental hurdles (loss of confidence in proceeding) caused by it.  Someone told me that when trauma occurs, your blood sugar level drops, causing a feeling of weakness and loss of confidence, therefore it is advisable to carry a candy bar to compensate for it.  What are some techniques in overcoming the mental implications of adventure sports trauma so that you can at least get yourself to safety? They can really finish the handicapping job that the bodily injury (if any) left off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2015-02-24T20:52:15.867" LastActivityDate="2015-03-01T16:10:09.543" Title="How to overcome mental hurdles of adventure trauma?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-03-01T22:01:00.680" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7850" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7851" CreationDate="2015-02-25T07:06:21.630" Score="20" ViewCount="110605" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last night I was walking my dog when I came across an injured racing pigeon. I've reported it to the owner who's coming to pick it up today, providing it's survived the night.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking maybe I should of just put it out of its misery though, a cat has obviously mauled it badly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the easiest/most humane way to kill an injured bird? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:07:30.307" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:07:30.307" Title="How to humanely kill an injured bird?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-25T10:07:54.110" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK you should probably contact the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspca.org.uk/home&quot;&gt;RSPCA&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/&quot;&gt;RSPB&lt;/a&gt;. I think RSCPA is probably best as they actually do welfare stuff whereas RSPB is about conservation. They should have the best knowledge of whether the bird needs to be killed and how best to do it. I presume other countries have similar charities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to kill the bird yourself I think the best way, without specialist equipment, is to wring its neck. If you do it properly it should kill the bird pretty much instantly. However, you need to make sure to commit fully and not do a half assed job that will cause it more suffering. This is mainly an issue if you are a bit squeamish about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option which I've heard is reasonably humane is to put the bird in a carrier bag and hit it hard against a wall. This seems horrible to me, but may be easier to actually do than to wring its neck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/how-to-kill-a-chicken&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a guide for how to kill a chicken by wringing its neck. The principles should be the same for other birds too. The basic process is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hold the bird by the legs (or possibly around the body for small birds) in our weaker hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place the back of the birds head in the crook between you thumb and fingers and hold firmly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull the neck sharply downwards, bringing the neck backwards at the same time by twisting your hand and to push your knuckles into the bird's back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bird may still flap a lot for some time when dead. However, providing you broke its neck it will not be in any pain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another suggested method is to place the birds neck under a broom handle or similar. Stand on the handle to secure it, grab the bird's body and pull up hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-02-25T13:54:31.673" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T13:54:31.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7852" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7856" CreationDate="2015-02-25T13:03:19.047" Score="10" ViewCount="2111" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I was re-reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/7089/2303&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; where there is a lot discussed about impact of higher altitude on the physiology, acclimatization and things around it. Though, I have had put in an answer in the way I could study and think of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One question that alarmed my mind, what impact does the blood donation may have on acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the situation asks for it, should a mountaineer be donating blood at higher altitude? (I personally would do that without a second thought). What precautions should one take later?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does that mean that he/she should repeat an acclimatization programme/excursion? If yes, should there be changes in the routine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altitude I am referring to is close to 17K feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:06:09.030" Title="Donating blood at higher altitudes and Acclimatization" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-25T14:20:09.723" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Decapitation. Cut the head with a cleaver, machete or axe. It is gruesome, and the body will flap (so I suggest you tie the legs and wings). But the bird will almost instantly die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check your local laws if the bird is endangered or protected. You do not want to be on the wrong side of the law when trying to be humane. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2302" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T14:20:09.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-02-25T16:02:19.367" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, it's all about dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, 12-15 days without resupply? I highly suggest you research the surroundings of this place you are going to trek. Like knowing your water supplies are at (springs, creeks, etc) so you are not packing heavy. Finding out, if you can have camp fires because don't waste your fuel but use it on a raining day. Understand the weather, this will tell ya how much gear you really need. Also pack as light as you can! You need to reduce your pack wight to counteract the food weight!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do A LOT of dehydration on your OWN! There is web sites out there that gives you step-by-step on how to do this, and cut wight out too. I have the Nesco Food Dehydrator FD-75A which has worked really well over the years. I also bought a book from &lt;a href=&quot;http://backpackingchef.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backpackingchef.com&lt;/a&gt; that went into detail about stoves, cooking, packing my meals, planning, inventory, etc... The best part, it has a lot of GOOD recipes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another site to check out is thebackcountrychef . com (different from above URL) which has some info about calories of energy per day, meals, etc. I would highly suggest watching videos on Youtube by OnlyTheLightest to help reduce wight in your pack. Also Harmony House Foods site has a lot of already dehydrated foods. Good site for buying supplies for those last minute trips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also there is NO RIGHT WAY for backpacking, years living by the Appalachian trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5639" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T16:02:19.367" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="898" CreationDate="2015-02-25T16:33:44.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following is something which could help prevent a knee injury, though you shouldn't be put off trying skiing in spite of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of alpine/downhill skis, once you have them in hand, rented or bought, the bindings will have been adjusted to release your boot(s) at a pre-determined torsional force, to save your legs from injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe this is performed according to a published standard. Customers provide their age, height, weight, ability-level and the length of their ski boot, resulting in a calculated &quot;DIN&quot; or &quot;Z&quot; number. (Charts and calculators abound on the Internet for reference, eg: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dinsetting.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;dinsetting.com&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of an incorrect fall, the store-set Z-number ensures that your boot will be released before your tibia breaks, but perhaps not before knee ligaments are injured. I and some recreational skiers I know choose to reduce our Z-numbers so that the boot is released well before this point, ideally before ligaments can be injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eg: for a calculated Z-number of 6, one could reduce to perhaps 3.5 or 4 and be okay on medium-steepness slopes (much of the mountain). Too low and the boot will release when skiing normally, which is also undesirable. Never set above your correctly-calculated value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To adjust the binding Z-number, without the boot engaged, turn each of the large screws at the front and rear of the bindings, and observe the Z-number indicator moving accordingly. Initially, set front and rear of both skis to a lower number. If you pop-out prematurely, increment front and rear of both skis by 0.5 (always set F&amp;amp;R of both skis to the same value). Many ski resorts provide sets of screwdrivers at bottom or top lift-stations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3714" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T16:33:44.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7852" CreationDate="2015-02-25T17:12:11.893" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your first question,&lt;code&gt;&quot;If the situation asks for it, should a mountaineer be donating blood at higher altitude?&quot;&lt;/code&gt; I'm assuming you're referring to a life and death situation on the mountain where someone desperately needs an emergency transfusion to survive an accident, and whether or not it is safe to offer your blood. My answer would be &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt;, but don't expect to be making your summit attempt right after. Giving your blood won't necessarily put your body at risk of altitude sickness, but it will likely delay or postpone the rest of your expedition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acclimatization to elevation involves building your red blood cell count so that you can more effectively transfer oxygen from you lungs to the rest of your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you donate blood, your plasma will replenish after 24 hours, but you're typically expected to wait at least 6 weeks to rebuild your red blood cell count. This process could take longer at altitude depending on the person:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The length of full hematological adaptation can be &lt;em&gt;approximated&lt;/em&gt; by&#xA;  multiplying the altitude in kilometers by 11.4 days. For example, to&#xA;  adapt to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) of altitude would require 45.6 days.&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you acclimatize and donate blood, you won't have to repeat your acclimatization programme, because your red cell &lt;strong&gt;production&lt;/strong&gt; will still be up from your previous programme. You will however be required to wait for your body to replenish it's red cell count from the blood you've lost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine that you'll feel somewhat the same donating blood at altitude after you've fully acclimatized as you would donating back home. If you already know how your body performs after donating blood, then you can probably expect it to perform the same at altitude as long as you're acclimatized and feeling fit. If you've never donated before, then I would &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;NOT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; recommend trying it for the first time high up on a mountain, &lt;em&gt;unless&lt;/em&gt; it means saving a life of a friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.worldcat.org/title/journal-of-physiology-and-pharmacology-an-official-journal-of-the-polish-physiological-society/oclc/52535444&quot;&gt;Zubieta-Calleja, G. R.; Paulev, P-E.; Zubieta-Calleja, L.; Zubieta-Castillo, G. (2007). &quot;Altitude adaptation through hematocrit change&quot;. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology: an Official Journal of the Polish Physiological Society&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T17:12:11.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-25T17:19:56.123" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In situations like that, I wring the neck.  Just grab the bird's head and twist it around and around.  The skull will detach from the spinal column and kill the bird quickly.  You have to actually kill the animal with your bare hands, but that's better than letting it suffer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5644" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T17:19:56.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-25T20:03:06.870" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it were a wild bird, I would call the nearest wildlife rehabilitator for instructions. Sometimes a bird can be saved, or at least they will gain information about what is going on with the local populations, which is valuable not just for them, but for others who may use their data. Scientists and government are increasingly finding that wildlife rehabilitators have the most actual data about local animal populations and what is happening to them. They also have lots of experience with injured animals of all types, care deeply about animals, and have developed skills for handling injured animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5426" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T20:03:06.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-25T22:57:27.260" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a rancher, I routinely have to dispatch injured birds.  If you don't have a knife handy, there are two ways:  Grasp the bird by the head and use a whipping motion to decapitate. The body separates from the head.  Toss the head.  Another way is to do pretty much the same thing and rapidly rotate the body of the bird, but with less force - this breaks the neck in a split second, and there is no blood.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note - don't try any of these techniques on anything larger than a pigeon or maybe a small grouse.  Use a blade on larger birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is not much point in trying to &quot;save&quot; hurt/sick birds.  It would mean a very expensive trip to the Vet, and the outcome is almost always a lingering death. I spent $300 USD on a sick chicken recently... and it died. My motivation was to keep the rest of the flock from getting sick, but I think you can see how pricey it can get... And with no good result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Save the poor thing's suffering and give it a quick death.  It is the most humane thing you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5651" LastActivityDate="2015-02-25T22:57:27.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7862" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-26T04:32:11.117" Score="8" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will have a work trip in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada early June, and I'm seeing if I can combine this with a backpacking trip in the nearby coast mountains for 2–3 nights.  However, it's very early in the season and from the presence of big glaciers I deduce the Coast Mountains are very snowy, so I expect alpine routes in e.g. Garibaldi Provincial Park will be inaccessible due to deep snow, perhaps down into the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some backpacking trails in the area, that are accessible in the spring/summer shoulder season (early June)?  As I have only 2–3 days, I don't want to be more than 2–3 hours of travel from either Whistler or Vancouver.  I prioritise solitude over having the most spectacular scenery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2015-02-27T19:21:22.520" Title="Shoulder season backpacking near Whistler (early June)" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;shoulder-season&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7863" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-02-26T15:47:28.763" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions on topic include birdwatching bush craft, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/hunting&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;hunting&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;hunting&lt;/a&gt; and any outdoors related bird based activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-07-23T07:49:39.217" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T07:49:39.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7864" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-02-26T15:47:28.763" Score="0" Body="Egg laying, two legged, warm blooded, vertebrates with feathers. Use this tag to ask questions about our feathered friends." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-02-26T15:47:28.763" LastActivityDate="2015-02-26T15:47:28.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7850" CreationDate="2015-02-26T19:17:35.397" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was told the following by an old chicken-farmer when I was young:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;'humane' is our (humans) notion/idea of the least amount of pain/stress/fear (which we believe takes place in the brains).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He believed that the brain in decapitated heads (and broken necks) remain operational for about 30 seconds (probably based on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aintnowaytogo.com/beheading.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;well known guillotine stories&lt;/a&gt; where the victims blinked their eyes for 15 to 30 seconds, could answer questions (with eye-blinking) and make facial expressions (to the executioner)).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Quite recently, researchers found that the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/15264-brain-death-decapitation.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;brains of decapitated rats remained conscious for about 3.7 seconds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He would smash the chickens with their heads against a wall (knocking them out) and then break their neck (or bleed them out, the drop in blood-pressure and lack of oxygen would keep them unconscious). He grabbed the bird by the legs (the knuckle-part of his index-finger was then near the anus of the chicken, which he therefore called his 'ass-finger', so the palm of his hand faced the chicken's head) and swung it hard in a circular motion (like a backhand in tennis). The centrifugal force ensured the back of the chicken's head was the first thing that hit the wall.          &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Small) injured birds (laying on the ground) got knocked out with a swift blow from a rock or log (which usually also smudged their entire head (between the ground and object) which was kind of an intended side-effect).       &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He learned this from his father, who in turn learned this from his father, etc.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While finding references to the 'lesson' (above) that I was taught (instead of just posting something I once learned), I found the following &lt;a href=&quot;https://howlingduckranch.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/butchering-chickens/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; describing a similar methodology, they swung the bird overhead:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v0cKZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swing bird overhead, grabbing by legs, hitting head on log or rock, source: howlingduckranch.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/butchering-chickens/&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also note that they learned this technique from another farmer and that they: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;once saw an Australian Aboriginal women do this with monitor lizards in the Outback. She drug it from its hole (after tracking it) by the tail and swung it overhead–exactly as I’m doing in the above photo–and brought its head down over a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ironically (for this answer), I once had a vacation-job at a slaughter-house. The pigs and cows that entered there were knocked out by a '&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;non-penetrating captive bolt pistol&lt;/a&gt;'. Think of it like a one-handed single-shot mini 'jackhammer' (which is what we called the thing). Variations of this thing are also used for in-the-field euthanasia (of animals).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it appears (to me at least) that what the farmer taught and practiced might indeed be the best way to go about it (since &lt;em&gt;the underlying idea is identical in all references and even cultures&lt;/em&gt;): &lt;strong&gt;knock 'm out&lt;/strong&gt; (optional side-effect: destroy head/brain), &lt;strong&gt;then finish-off the bird properly&lt;/strong&gt;, for example by breaking it's neck as described in other answers (just make sure it doesn't wake up with a splittin' headache added to it's list of ailments once you are gone..).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Follow the warning from the other answer: &lt;em&gt;Don't do a half-assed job&lt;/em&gt;!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, It appears there is no need to put the bird in a plastic bag and swing it, in fact: it would be hard to take proper aim making it a piñata instead of hitting the bird head-first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; partially due to the picture, this answer might appear to mostly advertise 'swinging the bird', while it is more intended to explain why the seemingly barbaric method of 'bashing in the head' is often the best humane way for birds that can no longer run/fly away from you (and simple: just find a rock or log). Also, it might be safer for yourself (you don't know for example what kind of disease the bird carries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5654" LastEditorUserId="5654" LastEditDate="2015-02-26T20:47:15.387" LastActivityDate="2015-02-26T20:47:15.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="665" CreationDate="2015-02-27T13:10:27.610" Score="-1" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find water &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find food &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make shelter &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make fire &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the morning hike until find salvation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5656" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-02-28T00:53:28.993" LastActivityDate="2015-02-28T00:53:28.993" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7868" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-27T17:39:09.643" Score="11" ViewCount="728" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an 18 ft. fiberglass sea-kayak, which I mount to the roof-rack of my junky old station wagon with Yakima &quot;Sweetroll&quot; saddles - ratchet straps around the saddles and bow and stern to the bumpers. Unfortunately, while on a recent trip I suddenly noticed a 3-inch crack materialize in my windshield, which rapidly grew to an 18-inch crack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't see any impact that started the fracture and no part of the mount or the straps actually rests on the windshield - so I'm concerned it was the tension of the bow and stern guy-lines flexing the roof and putting too much pressure on the glass. The windshield is fixed, but I'm a little gun-shy about putting it up there again. Is there a better way to distribute the pressure on the roof? Should I just not ratchet the bow guy line down as hard? (I generally ratchet it down pretty tight to keep the strap from vibrating madly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5658" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T18:58:15.953" Title="How to avoid cracking your windshield while strapping down a kayak" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7868" CreationDate="2015-02-27T19:03:50.080" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see lots of people using bow and stern lines but really they are not required. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have travelled 600kms in a single journey with my 18ft sea kayak on the roof using only two centre straps. Bow and stern lines have more chance of causing your kayak serious damage imho.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5505" LastEditorUserId="5505" LastEditDate="2015-03-02T18:25:27.393" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T18:25:27.393" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7862" CreationDate="2015-02-27T19:21:22.520" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since the snow has been quite light in BC this year, Garibaldi should be okish mid June, unless you wish to go all the way up to Black Tusk. The valley and lakes below Black Tusk should be ok, i.e. there may be snow but you should be able to hike without snowshoes. However be aware that Garibaldi is a very popular destination and there will definately be campers there. It's worth it though, very nice spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5505" LastActivityDate="2015-02-27T19:21:22.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7868" CreationDate="2015-02-28T03:22:01.163" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem probably won't happen again, assuming you tighten down the kayak with reasonable force. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The glass in most cars is (was originally) installed with some flexible material around the edges (rubber or urethane sealant in my experience). That stuff probably hardened on your junky old station wagon, allowing more stress to get to the glass. Also, many years of heat cycles doesn't make glass any stronger. Then when you put the kayak up there, it was the straw that broke the camels back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully your new windshield was installed with new rubber/sealant/whatever, and is now isolated from the flexing of the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, try putting a knot or twist in the straps instead of tightening the !@#$! out of them. It'll look sloppy, but vibrate much less than a perfectly flat strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-02-28T03:22:01.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7873" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7888" CreationDate="2015-02-28T09:32:03.813" Score="11" ViewCount="541" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're semi-frequent visitors to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0811424,1.4357633,5445m/data=!3m1!1e3&quot;&gt;Rendlesham Forest&lt;/a&gt;, in Suffolk, England.  A few years ago (probably 2008-2009), whilst walking not too far from the main car park we came across a large wooden structure roughly resembling a bird.  You could climb up its back, go inside it and it had a firemans pole at one end.  It wasn't anywhere near or part of the &quot;UFO&quot; trail and the associated games/climbing structures that are to the north west of the car park, I feel it was more to the south / south west amongst the red and blue walking trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On more recent trips within the last couple of years, we've been unable to find it again - despite being pretty sure we're back in the right area, there is no sign of it.  Does anyone know if anything has happened to it, and if it's still there, a sure fire way to find it on a visit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are posts, along with the blue/red coloured walking trails, that seem to indicate &quot;bird this way&quot;, but we followed those on a trip last year without finding it, and walking a lot further and in a different direction to what we remembered, so I'm almost sure that those posts are directing you to something else - there are a couple of RSPB sites nearby for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5413" LastEditorUserId="5413" LastEditDate="2015-02-28T10:23:53.060" LastActivityDate="2015-03-03T12:58:16.977" Title="What happened to the Rendlesham Forest Bird climbing frame?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7874" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-02-28T18:35:30.280" Score="3" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are planning a hike that will have us above the tree line for several days.  I am interested in recommendations regarding stove and fuel types under the reduced oxygen constraints as well as weight.  The factors I believe are important include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;efficiency&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;safety&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most all of my experience is below the tree line.  Any recommendations are appreciated.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T17:38:14.427" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T17:38:14.427" Title="High Altitude Cooking - Most efficient fuel and stove type" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-03-02T08:08:21.757" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2015-03-01T05:01:24.447" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not much advantage being a short climber to be honest.I'm probably the shortest around, I'm 5'1&quot; male @ 120lbs and getting stronger in my mid 30's. &#xA;I can solve most problems, but not all reachy problems with no intermediates. Be creative all the most, no different than your daily life. Its what life has brought to me is to think outside the box. &#xA;Sometimes I can surprise myself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How should short climbers train to compensate for their shorter reach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I train on weakness. That's everything because I'm never good enough. Call it DRIVE or motivation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mental psyche, nurture your self competitiveness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;flexibility and dexterity - you need to be light and fast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;strength - everything, upper, core, legs, hands...including dead hangs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything that has to do with balance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;throwing and dead points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;footwork - your other 2 hands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Time on the wall - without injuring your self!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;luck&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Master athlete ref: Jule Worm 5'2&quot; &amp;amp; Alex Pucchio 5'3&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be great&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5661" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-03-01T09:30:30.850" LastActivityDate="2015-03-01T09:30:30.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7848" CreationDate="2015-03-01T16:10:09.543" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there have to be two parts to the answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in an &lt;strong&gt;immediately life-threatening situation&lt;/strong&gt; where you have to act in order to survive, then the only thing that can save you when you are mentally shaken is training and routine. You can train dangerous situations in a safe environment so that when they occur for real, you know what you have to do and can do it almost on autopilot, without having to think about it. This is an important part of what the training of firefighters, police officers and soldiers tries to achieve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if you are in a &lt;strong&gt;reasonably safe place&lt;/strong&gt; (or can get to one without effort), then the most important thing to do is to stop, calm down and think. There's an aphorism in wilderness survival that says, very aptly,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can survive three minutes without air, three days without water&#xA;  and three weeks without food, but three seconds of panic can kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So calm down until you can asses your situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there real danger? Are you injured or is what you were doing more dangerous than you thought or than your skills can handle safely? If so, walking off and getting to safety is &lt;em&gt;absolutely the right thing to do&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did you make a mistake that created an actually dangerous situation? Did you skip some preparation or check, go beyond a safety margin? If so, that's what's known as a &quot;wakeup call&quot;, and you should absolutely take it serious and make sure not to make that mistake again. Take your time to let that sink in, go over it a few times mentally, and then you should be able to find the confidence that as long as you don't make such mistakes, you can continue without worrying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or was the situation well within what your equipment and skills can handle safely, even if it felt scary? Then the process of calming down and assessing that the two previous cases don't apply should help you get recover mentally to the point where you can go on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-03-01T16:10:09.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7877" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-01T20:59:59.520" Score="8" ViewCount="2405" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan on driving to Alaska via the Stewart-Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) in British Columbia, Canada. Where can I legally camp along or near the highway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5662" LastEditorUserId="6" LastEditDate="2015-03-09T22:18:52.643" LastActivityDate="2015-03-09T22:18:52.643" Title="Where can I camp when driving Highway 37 in British Columbia, Canada?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7878" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7879" CreationDate="2015-03-02T09:12:00.003" Score="8" ViewCount="3644" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was watching Top Gear last night and Richard Hammond was (supposedly) trapped on a mountain in British Columbia and had to &quot;survive&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one point he laid a snare for rabbits on a track and said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The instruction on this say I need to bait this with my own pee (continues to pee on snare)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(or words to that effect).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess this is just a slightly silly joke, but is this simply Top Gear making a joke or is there &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; truth in this practice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2015-03-02T15:48:10.593" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T19:29:29.650" Title="Top gear presenter pees on snare, why?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7878" CreationDate="2015-03-02T09:27:58.917" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, urine has a strong smell, and rabbits are very sensitive to smells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Too sensitive, in fact - human urine will repel, not attract rabbits and is sometimes even suggested as a means to keep them out of gardens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabbit urine, on the other hand, could definitely work, there's a good chance that rabbits in the vicinity would come to inspect what strange other rabbit has invaded their territory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2015-03-02T12:06:45.147" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T12:06:45.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7880" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-02T10:14:14.593" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains of fauna, flora or other organisms, as well as tree sap (amber) or footprints.They can vary in size from the size of a grain of pollen to the size of a prehistoric bone. The process of fossilisation can preserve the harder parts of an organism for millions of years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-02T13:58:37.190" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T13:58:37.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7881" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-02T10:14:14.593" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains of fauna, flora or other organisms, as well as tree sap (amber) or footprints." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-02T13:58:40.410" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T13:58:40.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7882" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-02T11:22:12.650" Score="7" ViewCount="584" Body="&lt;p&gt;We hiked a well-packed gradual trail in New England (Mt. Moosilauke in NH) and debated what would be faster - skinning up on AT skis or just boots with skis on your back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Argument for skis on the back is the idea that 1 pound on your foot is equal to 5-6 pounds in your back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trail was gradual and the snow was quite packed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2015-03-20T16:48:23.797" Title="What's faster on packed, gradual terrain; skinning or booting up with skis on back?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7882" CreationDate="2015-03-02T16:21:44.113" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;6 of one, half dozen of another. A lot comes down to how easy it is to hike in the ski boots you are using. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with hiking is that it only takes a short stretch of unpacked trail to lose any gain in time and you can't take advantage of any brief downhill stretches. Even with skins you can get a bit of glide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if the trail has been boot packed, skinning can be difficult and in hard crusty conditions, boots and crampons are generally faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure I buy the 1lb on the feet vs 6 on the back argument. If you're moving your skis up and down that much, you need to work on your skinning technique. Also half the time, half&#xA;the weight of skis is just resting on the ground vs you having to support it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-03-20T16:48:23.797" LastActivityDate="2015-03-20T16:48:23.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7877" CreationDate="2015-03-02T16:33:35.423" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Milepost Guidebook has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.milepost.com/highway_info/cassiar_highway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a list of points of interest&lt;/a&gt; along the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which includes campgrounds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 2.5 Cassiar RV Park to west.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 96.5 Meziadin Lake Provincial Park; camping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 97.5 Meziadin Junction. Junction with BC Highway 37A which leads west  38 miles to 5th Avenue, the main street of  STEWART, BC (pop. 699). Road continues across international border (must stop at customs) to HYDER, AK (pop. 100); camping, general store.  Dining and lodging in Stewart at the King Edward Hotel &amp;amp; Motel. Camping just outside Stewart at Bear River RV Park, turn at Mile 36.9 on Highway 37A. Attractions: Historic buildings in Stewart, Fish Creek bear viewing, Bear Glacier, Salmon Glacier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 155 Bell 2 Lodge; food, lodging, camping, propane, gas, diesel and pay phone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 227.1 Kinaskan Provincial Park; camping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 254.1 Mountain Shadow RV Park &amp;amp; Campground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 298.1 Dease Lake Lions Tanzilla River Campground; 15 natural wooded RV sites plus tent sites; picnic tablels, firepits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 310 Water’s Edge Campground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 374.9 JADE CITY (pop. 50); Cassiar Mountain Jade Store; jade cutting demonstrations, 5-room hotel, free overnight camping (no services).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;J 397.2 Boya Lake Provincial Park: campground 1.2 miles east of highway.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've traveled this highway with my family a couple of times, although it was quite a few years ago so I don't remember all of the details. I remember camping at Boya Lake and seeing loons and owls there, and I definitely recall camping at the RV park near Stewart - they have a tent section of the campground, and it's well worth staying a couple days so you can drive over the border to Hyder and see the bears at Fish Creek and travel up to Salmon Glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T16:33:35.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7868" CreationDate="2015-03-02T18:58:15.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hauled pretty much everything you can imagine on the tops of my vehicles through hurricane force winds. Southern Alberta is one of two places on Earth where &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chinook winds&lt;/a&gt; regularly occur. Winds in excess of 100km/h are a common thing here, I used to fight constantly with my 17' Canoe before I finally installed a roof rack. I used to use foam canoe blocks and 4 ratcheting cargo straps to clamp the bow and stern down so hard onto the top of my truck that the roof would collapse, the hull would flex, and it still wouldn't be enough to keep it down, but I've &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; cracked a windshield before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually happen to be an independant Yakima rack dealer now. While I very much doubt that the cause of your crack was the rack system, I can't speak for the integrity of your station wagon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bow and stern lines aren't meant to be cranked down either way, just firmly &lt;strong&gt;and evenly&lt;/strong&gt; snug so that they can help reduce whatever wiggle your kayak may have. What @Pepi says is right about putting a few twists in your strap to reduce vibration, you'll notice every trucker you see on the highway does the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/udzG6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't worry too much about your windshield, there's no way that you should be able to generate enough force to flex the steel frame of your vehicle using your kayak and a boat strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T18:58:15.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7878" CreationDate="2015-03-02T19:29:29.650" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't find any immediate answer regarding &lt;em&gt;rabbits&lt;/em&gt; in the mountains, but I was able to find a &quot;&lt;em&gt;mountain goat&lt;/em&gt; action plan&quot; from the National Park Service website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/management/upload/Mountain-Goat-ACTION-PLAN_2011_Final.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/management/upload/Mountain-Goat-ACTION-PLAN_2011_Final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of particular note is that the mountain goats have become nuisances, and will stamp and lick human urine in order to get the salt. This likely extends to rabbits in the mountains, where salt is hard to come by, and even drinking urine is preferable to going without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They can be a nuisance along trails and around wilderness campsites&#xA;  where they will persistently seek salt and minerals from human urine,&#xA;  packs and sweat on clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5669" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T19:29:29.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7873" CreationDate="2015-03-02T23:08:29.170" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apparently it was removed due to lack of funding for repairs. &lt;a href=&quot;http://saveourwoods.co.uk/get-involved/local-campaigns/forest-users-tell-the-government-fund-and-run-our-forests-properly/&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a link to an article about it. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobby45/1304429936/&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a link to a picture for the curious. Too bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-03-02T23:08:29.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2015-03-03T12:53:06.643" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a girl 167cm tall (5'7&quot;) I'm on a shorter side of climbers spectra. I believe that while sometimes not being able to reach a hold can mean a no-go on a route, there is plenty of situations where being short gives you the edge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shorter body means shorter levers. This comes handy in steep overhangs and in any other situation that requires a lot of body tension to place as much weight as possible on your feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being short means that often you can place your feet high. This can be great advantage while getting out from the overhang or where footholds are limited. Often when I can't reach to a hold I try to step up or alternatively try too heel hook high - a solution impossible for longer climbers, who will be too compressed in such position.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smaller hands, that usually come together with short size, hold better on crimps and in finger holes. Where other people can only use two fingers, I can often put in three, which can be a game-changer. What is a larger finger-hold to my taller friends can become a comfortable full-hand hold for me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the wall has big structures (cavities, positive protrusions, chimneys, short horizontal overhangs) you might be able to fit comfortably where others have to squeeze and even find good resting spots where others are cramped.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less weight always helps and is especially advantegous on mediocre intermediate holds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a few things you need to practice in order to benefit from short-climber advantages. Being stretched is essential for placing feet high and strong core muscles allow you to place weight on your feet both while stretched and compressed. Also, you should get comfortable with &quot;funny&quot; moves increasing you reach, high heel hooks or figure 4 being an example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are also disadvantages which cant't really be overcome:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is no intermediate holds, no additional footholds and no structure you can rely on, sometimes you will have to jump.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On the vertical, balance-based routes I find it often impossible to find leverage to jump, especially where I'm already stretched. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smaller hands perform worse on slopers as well as on some pinches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorUserId="3784" LastEditDate="2015-03-03T13:09:27.927" LastActivityDate="2015-03-03T13:09:27.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7873" CreationDate="2015-03-03T12:58:16.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After the prompt by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7873/what-happened-to-the-rendlesham-forest-bird-climbing-frame/7890#comment16667_7873&quot;&gt;Liam&lt;/a&gt; in the comments, I got in touch with the Forestry Commission via their website - it seems they list an email contact for each site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I received the following reply, confirming &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7888/5413&quot;&gt;Joe's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Nightjar (wooden bird) had been repaired over many years.  However, the foundations had begun to rot beyond repair; it was with some sadness that we dismantled it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It used to be on the 'blue' walking trail - the site is easy to find as it has two benches on the edge of a clearing.  In addition the years of woodchip has created something of a dome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5413" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-03-03T12:58:16.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7891" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7915" CreationDate="2015-03-03T19:12:50.783" Score="9" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Whymper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edward Whymper&lt;/a&gt; is most known for his sweeping ascent of the Matterhorn 150 years ago. You can read about the competition with J.A. Carrel and the struggle to find a path to the top in the famous book &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41234/41234-pdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scrambles Amongst the Alps&lt;/a&gt;. By the way indeed a nice book because Whymper made wood engravings for a living and therefore there are lots of beautiful pictures in the book made by Whymper himself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ucF5B.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here a list of mountains I have read that Whymper was first climber:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chimborazo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotopaxi&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antisana&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pichincha&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cayambe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sincholagua&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there more volcanos in Ecuador he climbed first? Did he first summit on his trips to the Canadian Rockies too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would love to get a complete list or even more infos/links for this great mountaineer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:10:27.280" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:10:27.280" Title="First ascents by Edward Whymper" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;books&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7892" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7893" CreationDate="2015-03-03T19:19:02.397" Score="8" ViewCount="927" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used a regular curved helmet mount for my GoPro on my recent snowboarding trip, which comes self-adhesive.  At one point I fell on my back and hit the back of my helmet, the shock of which unglued the mount from the helmet.  Luckily, I was able to find it as it wasn't too far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to make the adhesive bond between the mount and the helmet stronger?  Should I add some super glue over the existing layer of the peel-off adhesive surface?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:59:12.957" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:59:12.957" Title="Stronger bond between GoPro mount and helmet?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7892" CreationDate="2015-03-03T20:39:24.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sugru.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sugru&lt;/a&gt; is the bond you are looking for.  I use it for lots of uses and it will work ideally for your needs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply Google Sugru and be amazed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-04T08:59:33.380" LastActivityDate="2015-03-04T08:59:33.380" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7894" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-04T16:14:49.590" Score="6" ViewCount="22353" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a queen-sized four-inch memory topper and cut it into two halves to get two twin(ish)-sized toppers.  I use one half on my bed at home, but that left me with another extra half.  I've heard people talk about using memory foam toppers for camping, and so I've taken this topper out into the outdoors (car camping only) on several occasions as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cool weather&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is, I've had mixed results.  In cooler weather, the memory foam gets cold and hard and is only comfortable once you wait for the foam to warm up directly underneath you.  If you move in your sleep, this can be disturbing, as you have to wait for the foam underneath you to warm up for it to be comfortable. This isn't a huge deal, but it's not as comfortable as the same topper at room-temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm weather&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In warmer weather, the memory foam loses its &quot;memory&quot; and just ends up being super squishy foam. I believe it retained heat (in the summer, not cooler weather!) more than I would have liked.  Again, not as comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Has anyone else tried this?  Is your experience different from mine? What am I doing wrong?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5680" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T11:55:10.963" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T02:23:02.800" Title="Memory foam mattress topper for camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7894" CreationDate="2015-03-04T16:46:09.997" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Has anyone else tried this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No I've not tried it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Would I use a mattress topper while camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're heavy and awkward to move in and out of tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they'll absorb water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they'y designed to sit on top of a nice flat mattress not a bumpy&#xA;stone covered field&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(as you say) they will react differently depending on the temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So what should you do?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd invest in a decent ground mat (some in cotswolds &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/activity/camping/sleeping-mats-pillows&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). Ground mats have come a long way from the thin peices of foam rubber you stuck under you sleeping bag. Most (good) ground mats these days are inflatable. This allows them to be much thicker than the old foam ones. This keeps you warmer and more comfortable. You can also adjust the pressure depending on your preference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-03-04T16:46:09.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7897" CreationDate="2015-03-04T18:03:35.070" Score="14" ViewCount="15557" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a trip to the Alps, where I'll do some mountaineering, mostly on rocks (little or no ice) at altitudes around 4000 m. I expect to do mostly scrambling, with only a few places per day where we'll need to climb with protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the time left (a few months), I would like to improve my fitness. I can devote 30-60 minutes a day and a few additional hours at weekends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which types of exercise should I do, to prepare my body most effectively?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How important is it to do interval training?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it important to run uphill? Downhill? If yes, how steep?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I carry weight?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can devote a few hours at weekends to hiking with weight. How important is this? Should I carry the same amount of weight that I expect to use in the mountains? Maybe more? Or should I carry less, and aim for speed instead?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Biking&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do mountainbiking for fun, but I feel that it doesn't give me much advantage in fitness for mountains. Is there any way to adjust mountainbiking for this specific purpose?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do gym and rock climbing 2-3 times a week. Do I need any other anaerobic exercises?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-05T10:33:13.147" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T16:46:34.747" Title="Most efficient training before alpine hiking/climbing?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-03-04T20:28:26.750" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of running or walking, I recommend you go to the gym and do the &lt;strong&gt;Stairmaster&lt;/strong&gt;. This will provide an aerobic workout while building the muscles you need for hiking and scrambling. This is what I do to get in shape for backpacking trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 3/5/2015: Providing an answer to anatols questions in the comments:&#xA;I use the Stairmaster 4-5 times a week, 30 minutes each. The speed will depend on your aerobic profile: the idea is to spend the first five or ten minutes building up to your target heart rate, and spend the remainder of the workout keeping it within the target range. You can search online for &quot;aerobic target heartrate&quot; for details. I carry a small electronic pulse-meter to measure my heartrate. Although after you've done this a few times you'll get to know your body and you can pretty accurately guess your heartrate without it. You can use the Stairmaster with or without backpack. I recommend both. With the backpack will greater strengthen the specific muscles and better simulate the backpacking experience. Without backpack is just as good for your heart too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2015-03-05T18:20:35.440" LastActivityDate="2015-03-05T18:20:35.440" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7898" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-04T21:05:12.363" Score="26" ViewCount="3098" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/too-much-human-poo-on-mount-everest-says-nepal&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; recently.  I also know that human solid (not sure about liquid) waste is collected in buckets on river trips down the Grand Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some basic guidelines for determining when it is not okay to leave feces behind as they may pose a sanitary hazard and disturb the ecosystem equilibrium?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:30:45.407" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:30:45.407" Title="When is it not OK to leave feces behind?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7898" CreationDate="2015-03-04T22:42:30.473" Score="26" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Leave no Trace&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic guideline is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;do not leave your feces anywhere that it can be discovered or uncovered in the future&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as upsetting the ecosystem equilibrium, good luck with that, there are much bigger things than you in the woods are that are indiscriminately defecating on the ground and in watercourses. It's less of a sanitary hazard to the environment than it is to other human beings.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When disposing of your human waste in nature it's important to consider how frequently the area you're in is traveled, and whether or not your waste will break down where you leave it, or affect near by water sources. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In areas where lots of people visit regularly, it's unethical to leave your gastointestinally processed meals on the side of the trail or anywhere someone might step in it, see it, or smell it, or worse–ingest it by drinking from a violated water source. Specific rules may differ region to region, but always be considerate when toileting in the woods, if you have no other option, &lt;strong&gt;bury your business a good 60m away from any watercourses, trails, or gathering areas&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineers spent a lot of time in harsh climates (alpine, desert, arctic) where your waste is more likely to be preserved than it is to break down. In these areas, your petrified protein-rich poo could linger for years, and it's necessary to carry it out &lt;em&gt;(or find a deep crevasse to drop it in–in places where it's still acceptable to do that)&lt;/em&gt;. Visiting these areas requires planning on how to dispose of your waste &lt;em&gt;prior&lt;/em&gt; to your excursion. Rock climbers will pack a wag bag, biffybag, or poop tube, appropriately sized for the length of their climb, and also plot out waste disposal sites where they can &quot;lighten their load&quot; (dumpster or outhouse at camp site they plan on passing by).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest concern with human feces is exactly what that article you linked to was pointing out, that having too many people visiting an area, and not regulating their bowel placements, will eventually leave a place unfit for humans to visit. For the sake of preserving the beauty of nature so that many more people may enjoy it just as much as you have, leave it as natural as you found it, and &lt;strong&gt;leave no trace&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-04T23:36:21.337" LastActivityDate="2015-03-04T23:36:21.337" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-03-05T09:56:59.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically for training for this kind of thing you want to work on two aspects of your fitness, strength (to carry the weight you need for the periods you need without pain/injury) and cardio vascular performance (you want to have the lungs and heart to process as much energy as you can as fast as you can and recover quickly when resting to allow you to continue).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Running&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running will increase your cardio vascular capacity quite well. Really I would argue that the type of running your doing isn't that important (even short sprint type work outs have proven to be very effective at building fitness). What is important is the amount of running your doing. Basically the more you run the better trained your going to be. So basically do whatever you can when you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I carry weight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likely yes, this will help improve the muscles you will be using while walking (think stability muscles in your core) as well as your cardio. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're runnnig you're already working at a higher intensity then walking so alter the weight accordingly, don't try and run with a full pack because you'll likely just injure yourself and then you won't make it at all!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Walking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously walking in hills is the most similar exercise to what you will actually be doing and is therefore the exercise that will improve your performance the best. I would try and simulate the conditions of what your going to do as closely as possible, so take a full pack with everything in it that you plan to take. This also helps you decide, do I really need that pillow or would I prefer less weight?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Biking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;think of biking much like running, good for cardio but the muscles used are not quite right. So I'd say good, but not ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A note on slow twitch vs fast twitch&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Muscle fibres come in two forms, slow twitch and fast twitch. Fast twitch are power and speed muscle fibres, slow twitch are endurance muscle fibres. When it comes to muscle training you want to concentrate on the slow twitch ones. So weight training and sprinting are less good. If you do do weight training you want high reps, low weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-05T10:29:01.640" LastActivityDate="2015-03-05T10:29:01.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-03-05T10:02:02.870" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short: &lt;strong&gt;Build up your base endurance!&lt;/strong&gt; This will give you the ability to perform at moderate intensity over several hours and to recover quickly after the tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means, try to get many low-intensity but long training sessions. For your cardiovascular system it doesn't matter in the first place whether you do this by bike, running or hiking, just keep it long and easy. You basically wouldn't need any anaerobic exercise for that, however going to the gym or some climbing doesn't do any harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For base endurance Steve House's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/training-for-the-new-alpinism?p=BK695-0&quot;&gt;Training for the New Alpinism&lt;/a&gt; recommends running or hiking over cycling as with cycling you are sitting and don't have to engage your core muscles that much which you will need to stabilize your body. I for myself am tempted to deviate a bit for that since Steve House seems to have only road cycling in mind if he thinks of cycling. In my experience mountain biking is not that bad here since it invokes a greater part of the body. In my personal experience also the type of load that you put on your thighs when pedaling is quite similar to that you have when when walking up over block terrain where you often have ascend up over steps of 20 to 50 cm height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning running, don't care too much about intervals, up- and downhills and stuff, but focus on long and easy runs and not on pushing for speed. If you feel like doing some intervals, then do so, but sparsely. If you have some nice hilly ways to run then do that every now and then but don't concentrate too much on them (especially not in the early phase of your training, you can shift a bit more on those as your trip comes closer). In hilly terrain concentrate on the uphills – running downhill is primarily putting your leg joints at risk and doesn't give you much benefit, so see it as a necessary thing that you need to do to compensate for the uphill elevation gain but don't search it. If you run in hilly terrain try to combine steep uphills with flat downhills to maximize uphill performance and minimize injury risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking, in general don't take a heavier backpack than you have to (you can of course every now and then, to get a bit used to it and if you want to check things like if it fits) but try to have fun and get a long endurance workout. If possible, try to get your hikes in terrain that resembles a mountain tour, i.e. don't walk the rolling hills with 50m up, 50m down but try to get somewhere where you can have an hour or more of uphill followed by a downhill. In this case practice to hike quick but stay in the zone of aerobic exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a recent song by Meghan Trainor says: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5KdGNq65BQ&quot;&gt;It's all about that base&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-03-05T10:02:02.870" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-03-05T17:19:48.447" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;All these are well and good, but &lt;strong&gt;&quot;No training plan survives contact with real life&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing something vaguely aerobic that you enjoy doing for several hours at a stretch one or two times a week is far better than the &quot;optimal&quot; aerobic exercise that you never do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best training for long days in the mountains is long days in the mountains. If you can't do that for some reason, at least do long days. How much time you spend training is far more important than exactly what kind of training you do. There are adaptations your body makes that simply won't happen in any kind of one hour or less workout. Building base endurance[1] requires at least one 3+ hr effort every two weeks or so. If you can recover in a week then 1x a week is good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid intervals and intensity, since they require recovery time and limit the long efforts you can do. What I would suggest is keep doing the things you enjoy, just gradually increase the length of time you do them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one specific thing I would recommend is to spend as much time hiking with the pack, load and boots you plan to use on your trips as possible. There are lot's of small control muscles that are hard to exercise in any other way than carrying your pack. You'll also work out any pack fit issues. And well boots, there is nothing more important for a long day in the mountains than having well fitting, broken in boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1]- For most people running is too intense for this kind of long workout, biking, hiking or even just going for a long walk are more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-04-09T20:21:57.363" LastActivityDate="2015-04-09T20:21:57.363" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7905" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-06T06:15:13.370" Score="5" ViewCount="727" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking at hiking half dome, but the hike is so long, it requires camping out the night before. Campsites open up for reservations 8 months before the date at 7am, and immediately fill up. The only problem is that the results of the hike permit lottery don't come in until April.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do I just have to apply for a bunch of campsites then cancel the ones that don't work out with the date I draw through the lottery?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3947" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:48:06.443" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:48:06.443" Title="Hiking half dome - What are the most efficient logistics for getting a campsite in little Yosemite?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7905" CreationDate="2015-03-06T08:00:32.417" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I wanted to hike Half Dome, it was too late to apply to the lottery you mentioned. Therefore, upon arriving in California in September, I tried to get a last minute &quot;daily&quot; permit through &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Park Service's web site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I got this permit, it was for the next day, and of course I didn't have a camp site. I drove to Yosemite with my wife, and within the campsites, we looked for a campsite with only one car (each campsite is allowed to have up to two cars). We asked the people there if we could join them. The third couple that we asked agreed, and we ended up staying at their campsite both the night before and then night after our hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think in most cases, this will work out. Obviously, there is a certain element of risk, but the closest camp site or lodging we could get on a single day's notice was so far away that it seemed like practically the only choice for us, given the constraints we had, and it might work for you, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T08:00:32.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7907" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:21:55.667" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions concerning outdoor activities that include the use of a bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-03-06T12:46:41.253" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T12:46:41.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7908" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:21:55.667" Score="0" Body="Questions concerning outdoor activities that include the use of a bicycle." OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-03-06T12:46:46.400" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T12:46:46.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7909" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:29:29.790" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions that ask for exercises to generally train for any outdoor activity or improve certain skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-03-06T12:46:49.683" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T12:46:49.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7910" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:29:29.790" Score="0" Body="Questions that ask for exercises to generally train for any outdoor activity or improve certain skills." OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-03-06T12:46:34.523" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T12:46:34.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7911" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:48:14.850" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag refers to questions that deal with &quot;urban exploration&quot;, i.e. visiting and exploring areas that have been created by humans but are abandoned and left on their own now. Typical subjects of urban exploration are abandoned military (e.g old bunkers) or industrial complexes both in urban areas and at more remote places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="11971" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T19:45:16.607" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T19:45:16.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7912" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-06T12:48:14.850" Score="0" Body="Questions that deal with &quot;urban exploration&quot;, i.e. visiting and exploring areas that have been created by humans but are abandoned and left on their own now. " OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="11971" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T19:44:58.367" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T19:44:58.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5777" CreationDate="2015-03-06T21:43:51.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One other issue with having a high knot is what happens when you fall. I once tied a figure-eight close to my harness (no issue there), but then followed it up with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangle_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;strangle knot&lt;/a&gt; that was quite high (maybe a foot above the figure-eight). When I fell, I was sure someone had punched me in the face. In reality the rope had snapped tight and the strangle knot had struck my face since it was so high above the harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2985" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T21:43:51.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7898" CreationDate="2015-03-06T23:43:48.233" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only time I'm aware when you shouldn't leave feces behind is near bodies of water (within 200 yards of a body of water), which is why the feces are packed out of the Grand Canyon. (This is taking things too far in my personal opinion.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-03-06T23:43:48.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7891" CreationDate="2015-03-07T01:20:54.560" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Whymper_%28Edward%29&quot;&gt;Mt. Whymper&lt;/a&gt;  in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, was first ascended by a party led by Edward Whymper in 1901.  He also got first ascent at the beautiful &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Peak_(Ball_Range)&quot;&gt;Stanley Peak&lt;/a&gt;, which is named after the same Stanley as the Stanley Cup, and located just across the highway from Mt. Whymper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2015-03-07T01:20:54.560" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5777" CreationDate="2015-03-07T03:02:04.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another benefit of a close knot is less rope movement at the tie in. This is the rare case of nylon-to-nylon contact in the safety chain, abrasion will happen with heavy use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, +1 for getting hit with the back up knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-03-07T03:02:04.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7845" CreationDate="2015-03-07T07:48:48.957" Score="8" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anchor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place upper section of pole in a vice. Wrapping the pole in a rag or soft cloth will help prevent damage to the pole. Tighten enough to prevent slippage, but not too tight as to crush the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unfasten and Twist&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the poles are of the latching variety, make sure latches are disengaged, then pull and twist lower section of poles to loosen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the poles have a twist-lock mechanism, you will need to twist the lower section in a &lt;em&gt;counter-clockwise direction only&lt;/em&gt;. Twisting in a clockwise direction will only tighten the pole more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: Gloves with rubber palms may help you maintain a firm hold on the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pull Apart and Clean&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the vice you should be able to loosen the pole enough to remove it. Before putting it back in, it is a good idea to clean it well to prevent oxidation or debris from jamming the pole again.  You might try some oil like WD-40 to lubricate the pole, but be aware that this can prevent it from latching properly, especially with twist-lock poles which need to hold firmly to the interior walls of the tubing and rely on friction to stay in place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Future Prevention&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking poles often get stuck for a variety of reasons, especially when left for long periods of time. &lt;strong&gt;Before storing them it is a good idea to disassemble or fully extend the poles&lt;/strong&gt;. Moisture trapped in the collapsed poles can cause the aluminum to oxidize and prevent them from extending them again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3078" LastActivityDate="2015-03-07T07:48:48.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7918" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-07T09:45:50.930" Score="4" ViewCount="2511" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best technique to lock a trucker's hitch in a strong way that's also easy to release, but most important, that doesn't loose any (or the least amount of) tension in the line, when I lock it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-09-29T09:15:14.150" LastActivityDate="2019-09-29T09:15:14.150" Title="How to lock a trucker's hitch without losing any tension?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;truckers-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5556" CreationDate="2015-03-07T18:24:57.723" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main advantage of anti-shock poles is that they tend to be less jolting on joints (like elbows and wrists) when used on firm ground or rocky terrain. On softer ground, where the dirt, sand or snow provides natural impact absorption, they can sometimes feel &quot;mushy&quot;, and most people would find the benefits negligible. For this reason (and also to prevent lockup due to freezing), you'll notice that snowshoeing and skiing poles usually do not have the option for shock absorption. Much of the perceived effectiveness of anti-shock poles will depend on the conditions and environment they are used, as well as the user's personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as weight and reliability, the performance will vary depending on the mechanism (which is usually a spring of some kind). For example, some telescoping poles with a latching lock have anti-shock built into the handle (such as Black Diamond), which keeps the mechanism more protected, but can add weight to the pole. Other poles (such as Komperdell or Leki) have the anti-shock mechanism built into the lower section of the pole, integrated into the twist-lock mechanism. This can result in weight savings, but tends to be less reliable, as it is more delicate and prone to damage. In general, considering there more moving parts on pole with anti-shock features, there is more chance of failure (even if only nominally). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3078" LastActivityDate="2015-03-07T18:24:57.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7918" CreationDate="2015-03-08T23:38:50.683" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tie two half hitches, with the second one being slipped. I don't have any trouble with tension, and it's easy to remove later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2015-03-08T23:38:50.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7921" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-09T09:10:28.040" Score="7" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;So winter is well and truly over in Wales. Pretty much all the snow has melted and the weather is improving. So it's time to retire my winter gear until next winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I do with my Ice Axe and Crampons to ensure they're in tip top condition for next winter? Should I oil or clean them? What about any patches of surface rust? I'm thinking about cleaning them all off with a wire brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:00:30.607" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:00:30.607" Title="Ice axe and crampon post winter cleaning/preparation" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-03-10T09:25:50.213" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7921" CreationDate="2015-03-09T11:44:24.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not exactly the guy who have been doing that year by year, but I have some thoughts about cleaning and packing the gear after a high altitude expedition. I think some of it can be applied to your scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would first soap-wash (if recommended) the gear so that there is no dirt. Dirt, deposited and remained there over the longer period time can cause the moving parts to malfunction/jam and catch rust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then I would consider wiping it dry off from any moisture so that no corrosion will occur by condensation on a surface that could be colder than the ambient environment. The key is not to pack them right away. Once washed, dried off, you can still keep them warm by wrapping them into some cloth that absorbs moisture, e.g. a Turkish Towel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oiling them is optional I'd suggest. If you know that you are going to box them up neat so that no dust can get onto it, oil them. If its likely that those will eventually catch dust, don't oil them. You can just drop a couple of drops to the moving joints though, so as to keep them intact, just in case. People like me who live along the sea, should consider oiling since the degree of Adsorption increases with Relative Humidity. Needless to say, costal regions are more humid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, what I do is, I regularly take them out, like once a month or so, cloth them a bit and pack them again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-03-09T11:44:24.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6998" CreationDate="2015-03-09T21:03:38.953" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two things that haven't been mentioned in addition to the spray action is that Geigerrig has a filter that snaps into the drink tube allowing water to be filtered on-the-go under the pressure from the system.  This way you can refill from about anywhere---rivers, streams, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the reservoir can be turned inside out and washed in the top shelf of the dishwasher.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5695" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-03-09T21:22:38.380" LastActivityDate="2015-03-09T21:22:38.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7918" CreationDate="2015-03-09T21:57:04.453" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm partial to the taut-line hitch, but you could also use a rolling hitch. I like using adjustable knots because they're easier to get tight, quick to re-tighten if they come loose for any reason, and easy to loose and untie. Simply tie the taut-line hitch back onto the same line after feeding it through the loop, you can then slide the knot along the rope as you tighten the trucker knot (or butterfly pulley as I've always called it), then tie the slack off around the whole system using slip-overhand knots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-09T21:57:04.453" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3301" CreationDate="2015-03-10T05:22:33.493" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like I'm a few years late to the discourse here.  Hopefully, we can can revive the conversion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm cutting a walking path from my home to the river.  I live on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina, which, has a lot of history to say the least.  The historical impact relevant here are the &quot;earthworks&quot; built by slaves add defensive topography to the area.  Earthwork are basically small hills.  The ground is flat and I avoid them to preserve history.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More significantly, in regards to my location, I am  in the swamp.  Heavy rains and high tides change the landscape significantly, and unfortunately, bring to shore a lot of flotsam and jetsam -- or litter...  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have briar patches and thorns that I'm having trouble not just cutting, but then removing.  I cannot use spray paint to mark a trial or anything on wheel.  I could probably take a small chain saw back there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus far, the Gerber Machete I have has worked the best.  I plan to try the bow saw -- I agree that folding saws are not effective.  Clippers and Cloppers are slower than a machete when it comes to anything with a radius of 1.5&quot; inches or less.  Gloves are essential.  Eye protection is also very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5698" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-10T08:02:55.570" LastActivityDate="2015-03-10T08:02:55.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7933" CreationDate="2015-03-10T09:32:01.603" Score="11" ViewCount="4800" Body="&lt;p&gt;Senario: I am leading the climb with 2 ropes. I reach at the first pitch. I put myself on the self anchor and  built a master point. Now I want to top belay 2 climbers at the same time. They both will be climbing with approximately 15-20 feet of distance between them.&#xA;I know how to top belay 2 climbers simultaneously with the following ATC:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F0pcSm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-belay-rappel/atc-guide-belay-rappel-device-BD620055_cfg.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the ATC-Guide features a lightweight design, two friction modes and &lt;strong&gt;an&#xA;  auto-blocking guide mode that lets you belay a seconding climber off&#xA;  the anchor&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I don't have this ATC with me. I have this one:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/30kB6m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://peakexperiences.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ATC-XP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wanted to know if I can give a simul--top belay to 2 climbers using the ATC shown above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And is it safe to do it?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If not can anyone suggest me a another time efficient way of climbing a multi-pitch route with 3 people in a team?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equipment that I have includes ATC, 2 Ropes, 20-Quick Draws (sport route), slings and cordelette. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5699" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:43:29.083" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T14:38:00.913" Title="How to top belay 2 climbers at the same time on multi-pitch climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6998" CreationDate="2015-03-10T14:41:04.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the Gerrig system and for me the primary advantage is the ability to spray water. In really hot weather sometimes the most effective use of water is to spray it on you, rather than drink it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is easy to do with a standard cycling water bottle and next to impossible with most hydration packs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing 8 hr MTB races, I have problems with muscle cramping late in the event. Spraying water on my legs helps a lot. With the Gerrig system I don't need to carry both a water bottle and a hydration pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also quite useful in muddy conditions to alleviate the gunk in the drive train. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the pressurization is a nice benefit for actually drinking water, I don't think it's enough of a benefit on it's own to balance the trade off in extra weight and complexity. Having said that the system I have works really well and outside of the extra weight has no other drawbacks in over 3 years of use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-03-10T14:41:04.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7926" CreationDate="2015-03-10T15:08:14.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing you don't want to do is hang the ATC from an anchor by its wire loop and provide a belay from above. This method is a poor one because the braking position would require the brake strand to go upward. But that's awkward and contrary to what people have in their muscle memory. (A workaround for this problem is to redirect the brake strand through a carabiner.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Auto-locking would be generally impossible with this device, at least as far as I know. &#xA;While there might be ways of achieving that, I have not found any, and would strongly discourage any experimentation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying via your body and e.g. dummy runners might be possible, but I haven't found any mention of this in the DAV (german alpine club) brochures that I've read so far, only some forum threads talking about it. The gist seems to be that it's not a good idea since one of the followers falling might draw you into the anchor point, leading to a loss of control&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: An ATC Guide would be a really good investment for your (and your partners') safety, don't try anything you might regret.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-03-11T15:38:58.997" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T15:38:58.997" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7926" CreationDate="2015-03-10T16:11:04.727" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's possible, even feasible, and I'll explain how to do so further down. I'd like first suggest that in the absence of a guide mode loop on your belay tube, your likely going to be better of using another system like the auto-locking Italian hitch, than using your ATC XP or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read here for more information on locking Italian Hitch: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/munter-magic/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IFILS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Locking Italian Hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, you could still do it by extending your belay station. Here's how:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you've finished constructing an anchor, clip your followers&#xA;rope(s) through your master point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower yourself a certain amount to a comfortable belay spot, say 10 or more&#xA;feet to a ledge / edge, or just hanging if needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belay from your harness like you normally would on the ground, using&#xA;the strand(s) of rope that are now redirected through the anchor&#xA;above you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: If there is a weight differential, you may want to anchor yourself down using a tree, slcd or other piece of gear, just like you would want to if belay at the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have employed this system myself in certain scenarios, mostly topping out on blocky terrain, where you are slightly less worried about your second falling, but are concerned about lack of visibility or communications. As the probability of falling increases though, so should your inclination to belay directly from an anchor. &gt; It simplifies things &lt;strong&gt;a lot&lt;/strong&gt; should you have to do any self-rescue for your group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;: There are several ways to make a belay locking and I'd encourage you to read the following book if the topic is of interest to you: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Climbing-Self-Rescue-P262.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Climbing-Self-Rescue-P262.aspx&lt;/a&gt;. For the sake of inclusion though, here is one method that most people should already know. Any type of grabbing hitch tied to the brake side of the rope, mostly commonly used when belaying yourself (rappelling), but you could can certainly use it to belay somebody else also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QS8yY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QS8yY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Backup Belay Hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountain-guiding.com/newsletters/tech-2001-09/images/PIC00004_JPG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountain-guiding.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-02-24T14:38:00.913" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T14:38:00.913" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7926" CreationDate="2015-03-10T17:50:31.383" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1) Is it possible to belay 2 climbers using the picture-2 ATC &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think It would be as possible as belaying one leader using double ropes. You would need to take in slack at different rates, as apposed to give it out and prepare to hold a fall with either rope. (in case it isn't obvious) You would belay from your rope loop/belay loop instead of off the anchor as there is no 'guide mode'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you would run into trouble would not being able to take in slack for one second while holding the fall of the other. For this reason I would avoid doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One alternative is for the first second to trail a rope and instead of cleaning the route unclipping to pass protection, then clipping the trailing rope back in for the second-second(third?) to clean/be protected. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2) Is it possible to achieve an auto locking effect while belaying..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not with out impairing use of the belay device. &lt;strong&gt;So no&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-03-11T09:47:41.477" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T09:47:41.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2015-03-10T18:42:56.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a Grand Trunk Double hammock (10.5' long x 6.5' wide), I'm 5'10&quot; 160 lbs, my wife is 5'4&quot; and not overweight (I'm not writing the # ;) ). Slept 2 nights so far with her in the hammock. We each had our own sleeping bag. We were definitely squished together tightly. We couldn't roll over. That said, we both slept okay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is definitely less comfortable than solo sleeping, but would take a double hammock over the ground any day. I definitely felt stiff from not moving, but not sore from pressing into my wife, or (compared to a tent) the ground. To summarize - it is definitely squishy, and you can't move much, but that was fine for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5702" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:03:08.567" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:03:08.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7926" CreationDate="2015-03-10T22:11:31.060" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simple answer is the same way you would belay one climber. The two should climb simultaneously with the second tied in to a loop (Alpine Butterfly) about 5-10 meters above the third.  If the difficulty is such the a fall is more than a remote possibility for either of the following climbers, or simultaneous climbing maintaining same separation is too difficult, they should not be belayed together and should climb separately.  Simultaneous climbing is not for everyone, it adds difficultly and requires constant communication. Recovery from a fall is often a lot more difficult.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By trying to jury rig a special case for a relatively (I hope) rarely used scenario, you are creating plenty opportunities for incorrect rigging. The rope management problems that could come from two climbers moving at different rates at different times, along with the need to lock off of the correct strand all make it what I would consider and unsafe set up  (However, I personally believe any auto-locking set up unreliable and should only be used as a last resort or backup, never relied on as the primary safety measure) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-03-10T22:11:31.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7935" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7936" CreationDate="2015-03-11T11:33:00.053" Score="9" ViewCount="4897" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen several down jackets stating what species of down the jacket is filled with, i.e. Duck, Goose, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the differences between the various species' down and which is best?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T15:27:09.023" Title="Down feather species, which is best?" Tags="&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7935" CreationDate="2015-03-11T13:02:17.440" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thefeathercompany.co.uk/pages/downs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Feather Company, London&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Duck down is the most common type of filling&lt;/strong&gt;.  Down from geese is&#xA;usually larger than down from ducks.  Muscovy down has features very&#xA;similar to eider down i.e. they are more crooked and intertwined.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Eider down is the world's lightest and best insulating material&lt;/strong&gt;.  It&#xA;is a very exclusive and collected manually when the eider bird has&#xA;left the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down is the best insulating material in the world and is also very&#xA;good at regulating heat and moisture in duvets.  Generally speaking,&#xA;down quality is dependent on the raw material:  healthy adult birds&#xA;produce better quality down, which has a better insulating capacity&#xA;and lasts longer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In decreasing order of quality&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eider Duck Down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Siberian Goose Down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moskus Down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goose Down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Duck Down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T15:27:09.023" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7939" CreationDate="2015-03-11T14:14:25.410" Score="8" ViewCount="3121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of knickers I use for bike commuting year round. Since it's the start of the rainy season on the east coast, I was wondering if a spray on waterproofing product such as nikwax spray on would add water repellency to my non-dwr polyester/spandex knickers or is will this treatment perform poorly on non-dwr materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T09:07:16.297" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T09:07:16.297" Title="Spray on waterproofing for non-dwr fabrics?" Tags="&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5673" CreationDate="2015-03-11T16:30:14.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the same question and that is how i ended up finding this discussion. After pondering all the solutions, i believe that a slippery half hitch via twisted loops is the best answer. I got inspiration from this youtube video: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvgFyqFZK54&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvgFyqFZK54&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The twists keep the slip knot from rolling down the rope. Maybe that is the problem that you are having with reliability.  Add more twists for more friction. As the load increases, the twists unwind and i believe it helps in distributing the load along the length of the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other way to take the load off the rope  and keep it from seizing is to use a device like a rope wrench; the curve of the wrench takes most of the load (2/3 as a recall from some tests done on youtube). Add more bends to take off even more load and share the load along the whole of the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to preventing damage on a rope by putting a sharp bight on it under heavy load, use X rings, rope thimbles or pulleys to keep the bight at a wider angle and distribute the load along the entire bight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5705" LastEditorUserId="5705" LastEditDate="2015-03-11T16:41:20.250" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T16:41:20.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7937" CreationDate="2015-03-11T17:08:13.680" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL;DR - It will help, but it's no magic bullet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spray on DWR like nikwax or granger's will help the water bead up for a while when applied to knit fabrics. But the garment will still wet out with any significant rainfall, at best they will keep you from getting wet in a slight drizzle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of these products have specialized versions for different fabrics, nikwax has cotton-proof and versions for fleece garments, etc. I've no idea if these are just different labels or actual real differences in the formulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one thing to be aware of is that using these products will affect the wicking ability of any fabric you apply them to. This is not a big deal for something like a&#xA;jacket or overpants, but for layers next to the skin it is likely not worth the effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the best use for these products is to revive the DWR of something that came with a DWR in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T17:08:13.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2015-03-11T18:05:13.293" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of dubious assertions in the answers here, and frankly some bad advice regarding how long to wait before treating a blister. We just had a lecture on blister management in my WFR class yesterday, so I'll give this a go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to &quot;should I deflate this blister&quot; comes down to a very simple question: Will it pop itself if I don't? Any blister on the foot is likely going to pop itself if you don't. Blisters in other locations (typically the hands) may be less likely to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's always preferable to deflate a blister under (relatively) clean and controlled conditions, rather than let it pop itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A blister that pops itself is more likely to get infected, and more likely to spread pus around and infect other areas. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An untreated blister or hotspot &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; grow larger. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to understand why blisters form. Friction causes heat to build up in an area, and the body creates a blister to protect the underlying skin from this excessive heat. If you don't reduce the friction, the blister will worsen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing you want to do is treat any hotspot before it becomes a blister. When a blister first starts to form, before it is pus-filled, is the optimal time to treat it. Clean and dry the area, then cover it in athletic tape. When possible, wrap the tape all the way around whatever body part is blistered, so the tape adheres to itself and you aren't just relying on the tape sticking to sweaty skin. The tape is there both to cover the hotspot, and also to provide a lower-friction surface to prevent further damage from occurring. You should also readjust your footwear/gloves if possible to reduce that friction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a blister does form, &lt;strong&gt;time is of the essence&lt;/strong&gt;. The long you wait, the larger the blister will grow, because that heat is still being applied. This is why you should &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; wait until they end of the day to treat your blisters &amp;ndash; treat all blisters ASAP! If the blister is relatively small and in an area where you can simply stop causing friction, then you don't need to deflate it. This is likely only going to be practical for some hand blisters; foot blisters usually need to be popped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To pop the blister: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash your hands first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash the area on and around the blister with soap/water, iodine solution, or rubbing alcohol, and allow to dry. This will reduce the likelihood of introducing bacteria. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sterilize a needle, safety pin, or similar object over an open flame; or, use a packaged sterile needle if you have one available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stab the base of the blister in a couple places, then &lt;em&gt;gently&lt;/em&gt; press to deflate. Be mindful of where the pus drains to. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the skin in place. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have moleskin, 2nd skin, etc. make a donut-shaped cutout to encircle the blister but not cover it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill the donut hole with 2nd skin, antibiotic ointment, etc. if available. A bit of sterile gauze with iodine on it is an acceptable alternative. This is mostly to prevent infection and cover the blister site. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cover the entire area with medical tape. Consider what motion was causing the blister to form, and try to apply the tape in such a way that the motion will not strip it off. When possible, wrap the tape around whatever body part the blister is on, so the tape can stick to itself and not just the skin. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inspect the blister at &lt;em&gt;least&lt;/em&gt; every 6 hours!&lt;/strong&gt; If you don't inspect the blister and replace the dressing, it may get worse without you noticing. Leave the donut in place, but replace the dressing in the donut hole and the surrounding tape. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-03-11T18:05:13.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7942" CreationDate="2015-03-12T01:45:42.913" Score="10" ViewCount="1400" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking about getting some tarp as a 1-person shelter for hiking this summer. There is a large choice of tarps on the market. The difference between them are often the size and the material it is made of, which influences the weight. And for similar prices, there are sometimes particularly light but smaller tarps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am therefore wondering what size I should pick my tarp. I took a piece of paper to draw triangles and calculate hypothetical dimensions with Pythagorean theorem. However that does not help me so much, because I have few ideas of how high I should expect my shelter to be, or how wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose that sitting under the shelter requires a height of about 1 meter (~3 feet), and the width to sleep should be between 50cm and 1m (~2 to 3 feet) (which is a very wide difference). I also suppose that the length (on the ground) should be about 2,2m (7 feet, I am 1,90m - 6'3&quot; - tall). I expect to have three sides touching the ground and one being hung up by a pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up with some surface of 2.2m x 2.4m with these hypotheses, but I am not sure at all that is reasonable, as that does not include any margin and that matches more 2-person tarps on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have an experienced, better built idea of how to set up a shelter and therefore estimate the need for a tarp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorUserId="731" LastEditDate="2015-03-18T01:42:57.930" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T01:42:57.930" Title="How to decide which tarp size to take?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7941" CreationDate="2015-03-12T02:39:22.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the fun things about tarping is that every tarp setup is different. For that reason it's hard to make generalizations. Also, it may make a difference what environment you're in. In some places, you're virtually guaranteed a rainstorm every evening. In others (the Sierra in summer), you basically don't expect rain, and the tarp is a piece of emergency backup equipment that may never come out of your pack. For summer in the Sierra, the tarp I use is 1.5 m x 2.4 m (5 feet x 8 feet), and it's been fine for me. In a really major, long storm, it's a little cramped because I want to fit my pack under it as well -- but that's such a rare occurrence that I'm not motivated to use a larger tarp, which would be heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-03-12T02:39:22.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7943" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7944" CreationDate="2015-03-12T08:40:08.460" Score="9" ViewCount="2462" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I was shopping for breathable waterproof boots* and this is what the salesperson explained to me. The shoe material does NOT matter. The damp air from the foot goes through the membrane (Gore-Tex) to an intermediate &quot;pocket&quot; between the membrane and the outside shell of the shoe. Once the shoe is removed, the dampness begins flowing back through the membrane and into the air, thus drying the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this correct? Do shoes not breathe through the outer layer at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* - I call 'boots' any shoes, that are high enough to support the ankle, but mainly leather ones&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:34.167" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:02:34.167" Title="How do membrane-based boots breathe?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7943" CreationDate="2015-03-12T13:33:20.227" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The salesperson explained that leather keeps much warmer, but has no&#xA;  effect on breathability or water proof-ness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well he's not really correct there, so breathability is based no the concept that moisture will pass from a high saturation of moisture (next to your skin) to a low saturation of moisture (the outside). The temperature is also important, the high saturation area needs ot be a higher temperature to the outer (that's what the DWR helps with in a goretex jacket) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Goretex material facilitates these process with pores that that allow water (in the correct state) out but not in. So if the water is trapped inside to the goretex layer (i.e by the outer fabric) this will obviously lower the ability of the moisture to pass though the goretex layer and therefore make the boot less breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leather is not as breathable as fabric. Air/moisture, etc. does not pass though leather as well as fabric. It is breathable but not &lt;strong&gt;as&lt;/strong&gt; breathable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there was a &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;pocket&quot; between the membrane and the outside shell,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which I don't think it does, this is going to become saturated fast, and if it's saturated your boot won't breath. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7640/what-are-the-advantages-of-a-vapour-barrier&quot;&gt;This is what a vapour barrier is&lt;/a&gt; but that works totally different to a breathable shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would suggest that breathability is going to be better in fabric boots than leather ones. That said, he is correct that leather is warmer, so it's a a balancing act, warmth vs breathability. How much this is effected is debatable but it will have an effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He is correct that the outer has little input into the water proofoness of a gore text boot, that's what the goretex layer does. Obviously none goretex boots are different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL/DR; he was making it up...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-03-13T10:52:48.593" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7943" CreationDate="2015-03-12T15:37:40.953" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Goretex does two things well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's a very light completely windproof layer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Properly cared for it's waterproof. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many places it's used where it's completely inappropriate and just adds cost. In my experience boots are one of those places. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goretex only &quot;breathes&quot; when there is a significant difference in the moisture content on one side of the barrier verse the other. That's why it breathes best in &#xA;cold dry conditions. If it's 100% humidity (i.e. raining ) it's not going to breathe much if at all, if the DWR fails and the jacket wets out, it doesn't breathe at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goretex in a boot doesn't have much going for it. It's generally put in as a &quot;sock&quot; layer behind the inner lining of the boot. This means the layer behind it is not exposed to the cold dry air, but whatever the outside of the boot is. At best the moisture vapor will just go through the barrier and condense on the inside of the boot. All the Goretex is doing is slowing down the drying time of the boot and acting as a vapor barrier to keep your feet wet longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of keeping outside moisture out, by the time it gets to the Goretex layer it's too late. The boot is wet and as it drys out, the moisture vapor can go IN &#xA;just as well as out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get all of the advantages of Goretex in a boot when it works well by getting Goretex socks. These are vapor barrier socks made with Goretex, you can use them when it makes sense and not use them the 90% of the time when Goretex in a boot makes no sense. Here's one example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/875635/showers-pass-crosspoint-waterproof-bike-socks-mens&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/875635/showers-pass-crosspoint-waterproof-bike-socks-mens&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-03-12T15:37:40.953" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7946" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7951" CreationDate="2015-03-13T04:18:38.010" Score="20" ViewCount="11702" Body="&lt;p&gt;I visited my local forest preserve recently (in a suburb of Chicago, IL) and found new signs every mile or so that read something to the effect of &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please stay on the trail so as to preserve the natural environment&#xA;  beyond the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the joy for me in visiting a piece of nature is to go &lt;strong&gt;off&lt;/strong&gt; the trail from time to time, so I found this new notice a bid disheartening. This particular forest preserve is about 4 miles long and 0.25 miles wide with a small river/stream running through it, and has lots of deer within its boundaries. My initial guess about this new rule is that perhaps because of the small size of the preserve and the amount of people frequenting it, they needed to create this additional restriction to minimize the wear on the surrounding land/habitat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing Google search on &quot;off trail hiking&quot; I found at least one national park that says it's OK to do this on their property: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/off-trail-hiking.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Off Trail Hiking&lt;/a&gt;.  So, I now know that &quot;hiking exclusively on the trail&quot; is not a universal rule in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My original question:&lt;/strong&gt; How common is this rule of staying strictly on the trail for forest preserves vs. a state/federal forest park?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My updated question (based on some responses below):&lt;/strong&gt; How to know whether it is alright to hike off-trail in a particular nature area when there is no signage saying otherwise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Followup:&lt;/strong&gt; The comments below inspired me to take the basic hour-long Awareness Course from the &quot;Leave No Trace&quot; website: &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/online-awareness-course&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Online Awareness Course&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;I thought it was very informative in addition to the other info on that site, and helped address my question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5711" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T12:51:28.440" LastActivityDate="2017-01-22T20:09:24.987" Title="When is it OK to hike off trail?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7946" CreationDate="2015-03-13T07:59:23.930" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without knowing the numbers using it, the signs are absolutely acceptable. The forest floor is very fragile, and although one foot print might not make a noticeable difference to most people (Having tracking training for SAR, I see the damage one person makes), 10 people will leave obvious damage, and 50 a trail. The problem is people walk off the main trail and then retreat back the way they came - the side trail carries twice as much traffic. Before you know it, the side trail looks the same as the main trail, and develops side trails.... Eventually anyone walking though the forest can't see the trail for the trails, and whats worse - they come to think the bare ground stripped of all under growth is normal healthy forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live such restrictions are not common, only the most frequently visited places. Walking more than 30 minutes gets you away from such restrictions. We are fortunate that we have a sparse population and lots of natural space. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So although rules like this are annoying, its much better than the two alternates - only having unhealthy forest to visit, or not being allowed to visit the healthy forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-03-13T07:59:23.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7948" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-13T10:38:15.527" Score="10" ViewCount="2606" Body="&lt;p&gt;We will be in New Zealand in April, the adventure capital of the world, but supposedly I can't do anything because I'm 5 months pregnant.  I can't hike (was planning on doing the tongariro crossing and milford track), I can't abseil, I can't ski, I can't parasail, I definitely can't bungy jump, I can't even kayak or jetski.   Is there anything that I can actually safely do without risking harm to the baby? Baby comes first, even if it means that we'll just be like an elderly couple going on sightseeing cruises and taking photos &#xA;&lt;em&gt;sigh&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5713" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-03-13T21:33:02.903" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T03:08:48.670" Title="What can I do on a honeymoon in New Zealand while five months pregnant?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7948" CreationDate="2015-03-13T12:27:13.943" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Who says you can't hike? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have no medical concerns (ie high blood pressure, blood results showing complications etc) then guidance is to keep doing the sports you enjoy (with some exceptions - generally sports where impact or similar forces could cause injury - bungee jumping, motor racing etc - and those that could cause excess damage to ligaments, as these soften towards the later stages of pregnancy)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know the two particular hikes you mention, but as long as you are aware of your water/food requirements and plan accordingly, there is nothing to stop you hiking as you normally would. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaking may depend on the water - I wouldn't plan an extreme white water trip, but lake or calm seas or rivers may be fine - plan for more frequent stops and remain comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skiing is similar - don't plan on black runs, but you'll find many people ski on more moderate runs while pregnant. If you feel like you are comfortable doing it at 5 months then just do it. My wife was still running 10k runs at 8 months with one of our children, and did a 10k walk the day before my youngest was born.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping fit and having regular exercise is considered a very good thing during pregnancy, so while you won't manage adrenaline sports, activities in general will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus: It's your honeymoon - have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-03-13T12:27:13.943" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="311" CreationDate="2015-03-13T15:38:28.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, depending on your definition of &quot;known&quot; and &quot;documented&quot;, you're in luck.  There's a workout tracking app that has gained enough popularity in New England to map out a large number of trails.  In the areas I can geographically confirm, all the well-traveled trail-running trails have been tracked multiple times using Strava, and hence show up strongly highlighted on their Global Heat Map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for a great map of well-traveled trails (many of which do not appear on published maps), check out:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#6/-75.12855/42.91677/yellow/run&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#6/-75.12855/42.91677/yellow/run&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a particularly striking example of how Strava's maps are superior to the published ones, compare the &lt;a href=&quot;http://council.lebnh.net/_/rsrc/1304541254763/bcomm/conservation-commission/boston-lot/Boston%20Lot.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;official map&lt;/a&gt; of a park called Boston Lot to its &lt;a href=&quot;http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14/-72.29279/43.66415/yellow/run&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Strava map&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5349" LastEditorUserId="5349" LastEditDate="2015-03-16T17:05:41.410" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T17:05:41.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7946" CreationDate="2015-03-13T17:51:31.033" Score="18" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in a place that was surrounded by open wilderness. There are no, &quot;stay on the trail rules&quot; there. After spending a lot of time in Parks, where there are a lot of rules, and comparing them to growing up in the lawless wilderness, I have to admit that the Parks are a lot prettier. Visiting the wild trails and campgrounds from my youth now is kind of disheartening, because the lack of regulations has basically destroyed the areas compared to how I remember them as a kid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question really ventures into &lt;em&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/em&gt; ethics. Even if you're not in a Park or forest reserve, the fact that you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; go off trail shouldn't serve as an invitation to indiscriminately trample around in the forest. Even the wild animals will make trails and stick to them, that's what most of the trails in the woods back home were; game trails made by elk, bears or mountain sheep. If I'm venturing into untamed forrest, and find a game trail, I'll typically follow it for as long as I can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb, always stick to the trail, especially in frequented areas. In places where venturing off trail is allowed, try to do your best to minimize your impact on the forrest floor. Back home we had a lot of deadfall in the lodgepole pine forests. So we could actually move through the woods without touching the ground by walking on the fallen logs. Avoid stepping on vegetation, especially soft mossy fragile areas, and look for routes that follow more rocky ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question, be responsible and do your best to make sure you're familiar with the rules for the area you're in. If you are in an area where hiking off trail is permissible, please be respectful, minimize your impact on nature while you do, and for the sake of future outdoor enthusiasts; &lt;strong&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-13T17:51:31.033" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7948" CreationDate="2015-03-14T01:43:23.157" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to know people who went skydiving into their third trimester. The only reason they stopped was because sitting in the airplane was rather uncomfortable. Admittedly they were experienced jumpers - we declined to accept students or tandem passengers who were visibly pregnant but if you've been doing it for 10 years....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Abseiling: if the harness fits...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parasailing (Mexican skydiving): ditto. It doesn't knock you around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jetski: take it easy and it's no different than a car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayak: a) do you fit? b) avoid the rapids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bungee: yeah, I'd skip this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skiing: done by pregnant women daily. Avoid moguls, olympic-grade jumps etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could just stick to the more common honeymoon activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3844" LastActivityDate="2015-03-14T01:43:23.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7948" CreationDate="2015-03-14T01:55:12.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, it seems wise not to do anything that could make you fall on your bottom, although I have the impression your hubby thinks pregnant women are made of sugar. That's not uncommon at all, BTW.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, the  &lt;strong&gt;Waimangu Volcanic Valley&lt;/strong&gt; could be what you need. New Zealand has the largest hot spring in the world, the Frying Pan Lake. There are several attractions, this is just the most prominent. They are all along &lt;strong&gt;Waimangu walking track&lt;/strong&gt;, which is wheelchair-friendly. It is a very scenic location, with lots of exotic fauna and flora.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastActivityDate="2015-03-14T01:55:12.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7946" CreationDate="2015-03-14T02:59:29.163" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked all over the USA and the general rule is that on public land, you can hike anywhere you want, unless there are specific rules for a given sensitive area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally these rules are posted at least at the trailhead or in any wilderness permit you get. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one place where there aren't posted signs, but that you should &quot;STAY ON THE TRAIL&quot; is making cuts across switchbacks. This damages both the trail and any nearby streams. It's one of the primary reasons why &quot;Stay on the trail&quot; rules get created.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a real difference between making your own route, and wandering just to the side of an existing trail. The first is generally much more acceptable since it's unlikely anyone will be following your tracks. The second can cause real problems in high traffic areas. As the population grows, more and more areas are &#xA;becoming high traffic areas, and the rules will have to change if we want to preserve both access and habitat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other caveat is that it isn't always clear when you are leaving public land. Some trails only have a narrow right of way for public use and any wandering puts you on private land. Access there is up to the landowner. There are no &quot;wander right&quot; laws in the USA. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-03-14T18:04:31.367" LastActivityDate="2015-03-14T18:04:31.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7948" CreationDate="2015-03-14T11:47:22.160" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on where in NZ you are planing to stay. If the first idea was to enjoy outdoor sports, this may be compromised... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whale watching is a possibility, although the tours are done in rough weather as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visit a sheep farm, go to a marae, have your man participate in the haka and film him for your kids ;).&#xA;Visit a winery, the whites are famous and often fetch top prizes (many swiss people work there, is this a certificate of quality?). Don't gulp the glass down, delicately sip and add air in your mouth to savour flavours and fragances and then spit everything out, as connaisseurs do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can safely sail in the Bay of Plenty or stay in a hotel or nice Bed &amp;amp; Breakfast around there. Make a day trip to Cape Reinga and 90 miles beach in a confortable bus (don't be fooled, Cape Reinga is not the most northern cape, and 90 miles beach is much shorter!). Discover Napier, the art deco city and look at its history (careful for the tremor reproduction in the museum). Lake Taupo and surroundings, Rotorua and the mud pools &amp;amp; geyser park (prepare to smell sulfur). Stop at the French bakery there and enjoy! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Careful about hotsprings, you can go there but don't get water in the nose (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/parasitic.html&quot;&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/parasitic.html&lt;/a&gt;), plus depending on your condition, hot water tend to induce birth...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NZ is known for its landscape and outdoor activities, but there are other cultural things that are possible and enjoyable in your condition! Being pregnant is not a disease. &#xA;Think about other things you may like such as Paintings, History, Plants (beautiful botanical gardens like the one in Wellington - 26 ha free to roam), Scenery (Mount Vic in Wellington again, accessible from downtown), the huge sea aquarium in the old sewage station of Auckland, the national archives near the beehive. Stroll beaches and think if the movie the piano could have been shot there as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you are from, and if it is not too late, think about staying a few days in Australia. Sydney is a nice place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus, will you rent a car? In that case rent locally, it is usually more affordable and the quality of the service excellent. Will you fly around? Which places? Where from? Carefull about road naming. A highway can be a dirt road ;) with no gas stations... and villages so tiny that if you blink you miss them :). this is particularly true around the Taranaki, which is majestic! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last remark... Are you prepared to feel the ground shake? Have you revised what to do in case of an earthquake? What aftershocks are etc...?&#xA;I went there several times with small kids and never had any issue, but it is like Japan. Seismograps continuously pick up tremors. Don't worry, life would be so dull without a bit of risk!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5717" LastActivityDate="2015-03-14T11:47:22.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7948" CreationDate="2015-03-15T02:57:00.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;(I live in New Zealand, Have been everywhere from Cape Reinga to Bluff, Climbed and hiked extensively in the back country and done many of the Great Walks, and many more other trips. I also have done or do MTB, Ski, Ski Tour, fish, hunt....)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New Zealand is seen as an action adventure capital. However when you arrive here you will find a vast majority of tourists are not adrenalin junkies, and even most of the junkies spend most of their time doing spectacular, but far from Adrenalin junkie stuff that any pregnant woman could do safely.  Our industry has options for everyone of every physical ability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is not what can you do -that is impossible to answer and way to broad. Plan your trip like you were not pregnant, tell us what you can not, or are not prepared to do as a result of your condition and I will suggest something else equally spectacular. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2015-03-15T03:08:48.670" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T03:08:48.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7959" CreationDate="2015-03-15T03:21:40.213" Score="7" ViewCount="1637" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to use a liquid hydrocarbon-fuel stove for backpacking, but I hated it, one of the main reasons being that the stove and/or fuel bottle were always leaking and stinking up my car and pack. Mainly for that reason, I switched to using an alcohol stove for summer backpacking, and I'm very happy with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the alcohol stove is less than optimal for mountaineering in snow, since it takes a long time to melt snow, and may be difficult to start in very cold conditions. For that reason I've bought a newer, lighter hydrocarbon-fueled stove (MSR XGK).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I avoid the noisome leaks? Is this likely to have been a problem with old o-rings? Scratched o-ring grooves? Maybe I need to crank down harder on the seals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T15:52:36.600" Title="Avoiding leaks from stove and fuel bottles?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7958" CreationDate="2015-03-15T05:13:01.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the biggest culprits for leaking fuel are bad o-rings, but replacement o-rings of the wrong size and loose caps have also played a part. Over-tightened caps can also be a problem especially if the o-rings are a bit off size. Another consideration is the amount of fuel spilled on the stove or canister during fueling and use. Especially if one fills the stove and then immediately puts it into the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solutions are to make sure all o-rings are the right size and in good condition. Then make sure everything's tightened down and the outsides of canisters are washed off. (This last is especially true when using unleaded or white gas as fuel because spills are likely.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long car trips I also have occasionally put stoves and fuel bottles in a rubbermaid type plastic box. (Also my stoves usually live in the thule when possible.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T05:13:01.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25" CreationDate="2015-03-15T06:43:50.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear polarized lenses in snow, even at night; and when I come back indoors I can see everything just fine. If I spend significant time outdoors in blanketed snow, even at night, without my polarized glasses on, when I come back indoors I am basically blind or searching for focus until a number of minutes have passed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5719" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T06:43:50.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7958" CreationDate="2015-03-15T14:05:01.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One other issue is altitude changes.  Even with 'new' gas bottles going from 0 to 10000 feet (or back down) may cause problems.  One way I've dealt with this is to put the gas bottle in a zip lock bag (the larger bag sizes sometimes have two &quot;zippers&quot;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eric&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2845" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T14:05:01.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="54" CreationDate="2015-03-15T18:04:52.910" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using a NON Silicone based spray will keep them waterproof longer.  Silicone is not recommended for canvas and gore-tex for waterproofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5720" LastActivityDate="2015-03-15T18:04:52.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6814" CreationDate="2015-03-15T18:10:08.310" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a similar problem with two great pairs of waterproof leather boots, with seams un-stitching alongside the ball of the foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mcnett-117570-Freesole-Shoe-Repair/dp/B007UTZXT2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;GearAid Freesole&lt;/a&gt; is a tough flexible urethane repair highly recommended to re-bond the leather seams tightly instead of trying to sew them. A tube of this was 6.50 CAD at MEC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5721" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-16T09:43:59.760" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T09:43:59.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7964" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-16T02:41:06.940" Score="7" ViewCount="566" Body="&lt;p&gt;In reference to this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7958/avoiding-leaks-from-stove-and-fuel-bottles&quot;&gt;Avoiding leaks from stove and fuel bottles?&lt;/a&gt; What fuel type is the easiest on your stove as far as cleaning and maintenance are concerned? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a stove that can burn more than one type of fuel, which type will have the least negative effect on your stove and on the o-rings in your bottle? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T17:05:29.763" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T21:52:24.850" Title="Which camp fuel type is the easiest on your stove?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7964" CreationDate="2015-03-16T04:08:14.200" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rather than the type of fuel - any stove designed to run a fuel will run it with little maintenance, but the quality is important. I had to strip and clean my cooker, that had never had a problem, daily - at 6000+meters due a batch of bad fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best option for trouble free cookers is Gas (Butane/Propane) - the cannisters are sealed in the factory the fuel cannot get contaminated after that. The major downside of gas (poor cold temperature performance) have largely been resolved with modern cookers with anti flare tubes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, like me, you prefer liquid fuel, a multi fuel burner designed to run a wide range of fuel types is best. If you then use clean, high quality White petrol (Naptha) it will run trouble free for years with a lot of neglect. The security of replacing O Rings periodically is worth the few cents they cost, as it a good clean and flush of the fuel tank.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2015-03-16T19:29:53.763" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T19:29:53.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7964" CreationDate="2015-03-16T04:30:45.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal preference is for gasoline (yes, even ethanol added). I've never had to clean any of my stoves since I started using it. Given that the quality is pretty closely monitored and regulated in the US this is an extremely consistent, clean burning, and cheap option. It's also extremely easy to find...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that the &quot;white gas&quot; available for purchase in lots of stores is pretty similar to low octane gasoline, but is priced at 17$ per gallon instead of 2.25$. In my experience it burns about the same (maybe just a tiny bit better), but any marginal advantage isn't worth the cost. Octane of the gasoline used doesn't seem to make any difference, nor does 10% ethanol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T04:30:45.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="311" CreationDate="2015-03-16T14:03:53.110" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most trails for hiking are also good for running.  In fact, I'd make the assumption that a hiking trail &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; a running trail without specific knowledge that makes it inappropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to get a list of trails others deem acceptable for running is to use those that trail races are run on.  There are quite a few of those.  For example in my area, trail races are held every fall in the Groton Town Forest.  The specific routes used are carefully cleaned up over the previous week, but really, these are just ordinary hiking trails that work out to the right distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Groton Town Forest race is part of a larger trail races circuit.  You can probably find a list of the other races by digging around a little.  All those will show you courses that are obviously fine for running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I know several avid trail runners in town, and they use a number of our local trails that aren't special with respect to running versus hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Local trails will largely be documented on local web sites.  Again, you haven't specified your location so I can't tell how relevant it is to you, but if you're near Groton MA, check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grotontrails.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.grotontrails.org&lt;/a&gt;.  We have a network of over 110 miles of trails (more miles of trails than paved roads), and I can't think of good reasons why they aren't just as runnable as they are hikable.  And, we're just one town in north-central MA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer routes, check out some of the regional trails, like the Midstate or M&amp;amp;M, in central MA, but there are others in other regions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T14:03:53.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7964" CreationDate="2015-03-16T16:57:16.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general 'lighter' fuels with less additives will mean that the stove needs less cleaning. Most of the reason I've needed to clean a stove is from additives which don't burn properly (particularly when igniting the stove) can can block the nozzle and things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason compressed gas (not gasoline) is probably best, followed by Coleman fuel (white gas), petrol (gasoline) and paraffin (kerosine) bring up the rear. I haven't really used paraffin enough to know which is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said this the biggest risk is that most multifuel stoves (at least the MSR whisperlite) have different nozzles for different fuels. Using the wrong nozzle is the easiest way to block it, particularly using the white gas/petrol nozzle for paraffin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other big source of soot is lighting the stove. If the stove needs preheating to burn this involves burning fuel under atmospheric conditions. The fuel burns inefficiently and will produce lots of soot. Once it is burning well little soot should be produced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if fuel type has a significant effect on o-rings etc. I wouldn't think it is significant. The only advice I've been given on that is to not store your fuel bottles pressurized. There are probably several reasons why this is a bad idea but forcing fuel into the seals for a long period isn't likely to do then good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion: If you use it well any fuel shouldn't require much more maintenance, but gas and white gas are probably easiest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T21:42:08.803" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T21:42:08.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="7969" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7978" CreationDate="2015-03-16T18:56:43.170" Score="22" ViewCount="14998" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to determine the best way to attach trail signs to trees in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with trees is that they grow.  If you firmly embed a nail in the wood, the tree will eventually grow around the nail head.  When we put up small plastic trail markers (what we use a blazes), we deliberately leave a &amp;frac12; inch or so gap between the nail head and the marker.  Put another way, we don't bang the nail in all the way.  This gives the marker room to slide along the nail, instead of the growing tree pushing all around behind the nail head, and eventually buckling and cracking the plastic marker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am now going to put up some aluminum signs that will last much longer than the plastic trail markers.  A tree could grow multiple inches over the expected life of the sign.  What I'd like is a way to mount the sign so that it stays on the outside, moving with the growth of the tree instead of getting swallowed up by it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems that just the right diameter and length of nail might do it.  You want the sign to be held, but the nail be able so slide out as the tree grows and pushes against the sign.  What diameter and depth might that be? What studies are there that have looked into this? What experience do you have with this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:01:31.337" Title="How to attach signs to trees considering tree growth?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7974" CreationDate="2015-03-16T19:38:00.330" Score="14" ViewCount="2861" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about taking my Scout troop (boys aged 11-17) on a sea kayaking trip.  What expectations should I have for the distance that we can travel in one day?  Assume good weather (clear skies, very light winds, and calm seas).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2615" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:23.633" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:58:23.633" Title="What's a realistic distance to expect boys aged 11-17 to sea kayak in a single day?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7970" CreationDate="2015-03-16T19:49:16.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a sea kayak you might get significantly better results but my 9yr old could maybe do a mile on our rec boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5570" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T19:49:16.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2015-03-16T19:52:07.057" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming from a heavy ranching area the method used for properly attaching fences to trees is to add a board in between.  The board provides enough surface area and strength that instead of the tree growing around the nail it pushes it out .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5570" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T19:52:07.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2015-03-16T19:53:27.640" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The right answer will depend vastly on how fast the trees grow. For example Aspen trees grow extremely fast in certain climates while subalpine fir are pretty slow growing in almost every case. Fortunately, there is an extremely easy way for you to find out the growth rate of your trees. Cut one down, count 10 years worth of rings and measure the distance between them. (As a mathematician I really can't support the math behind this, but it'll probably work.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the expected lifetime of your sign, divide by 10, and multiply by the distance you measured. This'll give you the distance the nail should stick out of the tree. Add a couple of inches so the nail won't fall out and you're golden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example if your signs were going to be good for 50 years and the distance between the rings for the last 10 years was 1 inch you would need 5 inches of nail sticking out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note) I'm not sure this is the best way hang signs from trees, but it is the answer to the question asked. I'm pretty sure that dkippers answer is a better idea in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-03-16T19:53:27.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7970" CreationDate="2015-03-16T21:55:21.427" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't know what your boys are capable of then it's unfair to have expectations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a Venturer Scout adviser for Scouts Canada; I take boys in that age group on trips regularly. I don't know what your group is like, but if it's anything like mine, then the boys probably all have different levels of ability, strength, and skill. For trips like this one, you can only go as far or as fast as the slowest boy. My experience has taught me that you can't realistically set goals for distance unless you already know what your boys are capable of. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you even plan your trip, I would recommend that you plan a day or two of kayaking just to see what your boys in fact can do. Don't plan on covering a certain distance, just plan on being on the water for a certain amount of time. You can then use this time to answer your own question by keeping track of their progress over a certain amount of time or distance. It's important make sure that your boys also have a firm grasp of basic skills, and how to respond in case of an emergency. I always take my boys to a local lake just to have them paddle around together before I'll consider taking them on trips. I give them all a quick instruction, then let them play for a bit while I observe so I can get a sense of what their natural ability levels are. I'll get them to play games too; races are a good way to separate the fastest from the slowest. If you're using two-person kayaks, this can help you balance the group by pairing the stronger paddlers with the weaker ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know you won't have an opportunity to assess your boys before you take them on a trip, then you need to either plan a trip that anyone of any skill level could accomplish, have more than one plan in case Plan A doesn't pan out, or supplement the trip with other activities. South California is obviously different than up here, so you probably can't just tell the more adventurous boys to paddle off and explore a nearby island while the exhausted boys hang out by the fire and rest their aching arms, but you could perhaps have them paddle to the horizon and back, or have them create an obstacle course where they paddle to a point and back, then sprint-portage the kayak down the beach, and paddle to another point, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I gave up having expectations without experience a long time ago. Get to know your boys, have them set goals, then let them have the expectations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-13T17:44:16.010" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T17:44:16.010" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2015-03-16T22:27:19.457" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you're asking to do is impossible to accomplish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The signs will &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;code&gt;&quot;move outward with the tree as it grows&quot;&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureisawesome.net/trees-ftw/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trees don't grow like that&lt;/a&gt;. The reason trees have rings is because they grow layer-by-layer each season. If you tie a thread around a tree, the tree will not grow and break the thread, it will grow around it. Similarly, you're not going to get a sign to move outward as a tree grows because the layers (rings) that you've pounded your nail into never move. The tree will engulf your sign as new layers grow each year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's for this reason that you'll notice that most signs in parks are nailed to posts that were planted into the ground, or are nailed to &lt;strong&gt;dead&lt;/strong&gt; trees that do not grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If live trees are the &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; option you have for sign posts&lt;/strong&gt;, then I would recommend doing what the logging companies do for their signs: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nail a stake to the tree, and attach your signs to the stake:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qfLW.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way when the tree grows, it'll only engulf your stake. These signs are far more visible in the woods too, they hang out over the trail, and they're visible from both sides of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T15:13:52.963" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T15:13:52.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7970" CreationDate="2015-03-17T08:43:56.287" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I paddled from Zürich to Amsterdam with no experience in kayakhiking, the following rule was pretty accurate for me.&#xA;But before i get into that rule you have to do a testrun to see how far you can go in one day (preferably on the same type of water you plan to paddle on like a river or a lake).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's my rule of thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If it is a river:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;hoursYouPlanToPaddle * (velocityOfRiver / 2 + distanceYouCanCoverPerHour) = distanceYouWillCover&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If it is a lake:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;hoursYouPlanToPaddle * (distanceYouCanCoverPerHour / 2) = distanceYouWillCover&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this is certainly not a scientific Formula, but it gives you a good idea of how many kilometer you can cover, and you're still prepared for unexpected timekillers like kids having to pee, breaks and other hurdles you have to overcome when travelling in a group.&#xA;And i think this fits a Family which have no intentions to be stressed out the whole day because you're not quite there where you should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless be sure to make a oneDay journey first, and in reality you could encouter strong winds or currents which make you slower and cost alot of power, which is why you should be generous with shortening the distance per Day, it's not half as being able to skip a destination then not arriving there&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T11:47:07.523" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T11:47:07.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2015-03-17T11:29:35.573" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that trees don't push outward, one option is to use lag bolts, and once a year two go around and turn them out a little bit so they are never engulfed in the growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of turning you'll need to do and the frequency will depend on the speed of growth and how secure you need the sign.  If you can leave a half-inch out of the tree and have the sign hang on it, as you are currently doing with nails, and if they are slow growing trees, you may only need to turn them every few years.  Fast trees with no bolt head gap may need to be loosened twice a year or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the signs are light a thicker lag bolt than necessary should be considered so you can exert the force required to loosen it after the tree re-seals the damage caused by it and makes it much harder to turn initially.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of resources about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thetreehouseguide.com/constructiontutorials/fixturesandfastenings.htm&quot;&gt;fixing items to trees&lt;/a&gt; in the tree house communities and businesses on the internet.  There you can find out more about &lt;a href=&quot;http://treehouses.com/joomla/index.php/construction/garnier-limb&quot;&gt;how trees grow with items attached&lt;/a&gt;.  There are situations where &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.treetopbuilders.net/fasteners/&quot;&gt;a tree will exert apparent pressure&lt;/a&gt; on items affixed to the outside, but the issue is that the pressure isn't great enough to overcome the friction of the fastener into the heartwood. Most accounts suggest that if small nails are used on large flat boards, some trees will push the board away, pulling the fasteners through.  Otherwise the board is engulfed as well, becoming part of the tree (and a vector for disease and damage)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treehouses are usually built using lag bolts with several inches of space between the tree and the board attached to the lag bolt.  Once the tree grows to the board, the tree house must be adjusted to move the board away from the tree again, and the lag bolt loosened or re-positioned depending on the tree house redesign.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stainless steel or hot dipped galvanized bolts are needed for long term tree attachment use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3338" LastEditorUserId="3338" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T14:41:27.703" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T14:41:27.703" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7979" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7987" CreationDate="2015-03-17T12:21:10.353" Score="7" ViewCount="422" Body="&lt;p&gt;I broke my friend's ATC, and am trying to find a replacement, but I don't quite know what to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was a somewhat unique unit, at least among those I've seen; it was a standard &quot;basket&quot; ATC with a screw-lock carabiner, but it had a plastic clip that secured the cable from the ATC to the slotted side of the 'biner, presumably so there was no possibility of losing one or the other. The plastic wasn't structural/weight-bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, it broke, it's my fault, and I can't for the life of me figure out what to ask Google to find the term for such a device, or a manufacturer that sells them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does anyone know what the term for a belay device with a plastic clip that secures the ATC to the carabiner is? More to the point: who manufactures them?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5728" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T03:01:54.133" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T03:01:54.133" Title="What is the term for/manufacturer of belay devices with a clip that holds the ATC onto the carabiner?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7979" CreationDate="2015-03-17T12:36:52.780" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hmmm... could it be that you mean the DMM Belay master? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yzb62.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main functions of the plastic clip are to ensure that the carabiner gate is screwed shut before it can be closed, and to prevent cross-loading of the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T12:36:52.780" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7982" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7997" CreationDate="2015-03-17T17:59:40.383" Score="12" ViewCount="3109" Body="&lt;p&gt;So my toddler just barely fits the smallest child's harness on the market, which of course means she's big enough to go climbing and rappelling with daddy ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been playing around with different techniques of tandem rappelling with her (both walking and free rappel) and I'm wondering what established techniques people use for different ages/sizes of children? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some good techniques for tandem rappelling with a small child?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-17T19:59:51.503" LastActivityDate="2016-06-18T08:49:38.317" Title="How to tandem rappel/abseil with a child?" Tags="&lt;children&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7679" CreationDate="2015-03-17T18:16:14.053" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keep 3 things in mind: 1. Hydration 2: Shelter/ Fire 3: Food.  Oh yes the most important item: being rescued.  For hydration you have to be careful what you do.  It is easy just to reach down and grab a bunch of snow and suck on it.  Yes it will give you water, but it will also take your body temperature down.  Keeping your body temp up is very important to avoid hypothermia.  Make sure cloths do not get to wet.  Layer your cloths so you can take some off during the day while you are hiking to your survival.  Shelter is also going to be very important.  Finding resources for shelter is difficult so keep on the lookout for good places to sleep or stay out of the wind.  Find some pine needles if needed to sleep on.  Use anything dry to keep you directly off the ground.  Get a fire started as soon as possible.  Pine cones are good to burn and stay pretty dry.  You may want to grab some real green stuff to throw on the fire to create smoke for a rescue.  Finally food.  That is always going to be difficult in a cold weather environment.  You may have to eat things you have never desired to eat before.  Meat will be tough to find but you can still find food.  Pine needles have good vitamin c in them.  Just don't eat to many.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5732" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T18:16:14.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7984" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8000" CreationDate="2015-03-17T18:43:53.780" Score="8" ViewCount="2453" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trying on some new hiking boots.  The ones that seem most comfortable in every other way feel somewhat snug on the top of the front of my foot (the instep, I think).  Possibly because of this snugness, these boots seem to hold my foot in place better than any others I've tried, and I don't get any issues with my toes sliding forward when walking downhill, or with my ankles lifting at all.  But I worry that the pressure on the top of the foot may cause problems.  None of the boot fitting guides I've found online have discussed the height/fit of this part of the boot.  The boots are not painful when they're on, but they are exerting pressure on the top of the foot, even when totally unlaced.  I can't tell if this is a good thing or something to avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5733" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:14.470" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T21:39:14.470" Title="Hiking boot fit: how snug should height of instep feel" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7979" CreationDate="2015-03-17T21:08:33.017" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is this what you're referring to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a &lt;strong&gt;Petzl UNIREVERSO&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XZeM0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-17T21:08:33.017" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7988" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7992" CreationDate="2015-03-17T23:01:25.917" Score="8" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Mountaineering-Boot-Reviews/buying-advice&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; about mountaineering boots I found following quote by Ian Nicholson quite interesting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;When climbing in a double boot, bring the liner in your sleeping bag at night to warm them and slightly dry them, but don't leave them on your feet. It doesn't seem to make that much sense, &lt;strong&gt;but wearing them can make your feet quite cold&lt;/strong&gt;, and just letting them dry in your bag makes them that much more pleasant to put on in the morning.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emphasis by me and that is the point I am interested in. Did you made similar experiences? And if so, why is this the case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T02:52:57.193" Title="Does sleeping with liner shoes make you feel colder?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7989" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="7990" CreationDate="2015-03-18T01:42:36.990" Score="9" ViewCount="3138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never camped using a tarp (and just a sleeping bag under), and I am wondering about it. I am thinking about camping in Canada, and the animals around there are apparently mostly bears and other animals from the hills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid bears, the best advice is put your food far enough from where you camp, so I am not so afraid, especially compared to a tent. However, I am more worried about small animals and snakes. I suppose there are few, but since the tarp is not closed, I am wondering about what risks I am taking. I will be backcountry-camping, i.e. not next to RVs with lots of humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, compared to using a tent, are there serious risks linked to animals when using a tarp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:18:07.937" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:18:07.937" Title="Camping with a tarp, what are risks about animals?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7989" CreationDate="2015-03-18T02:44:26.440" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not animals you really need to worry about, it's &lt;strong&gt;bugs&lt;/strong&gt;. I pack a tent to keep out of the bugs more than I do to keep the critters out. The only time I can ever remember having issues with animals was in the Ptolemy Plateau, for some reason there were a lot of gophers, and they were all over our campsite at night, scratching at the walls of out tent and even trying to come up from underneath. We spent the night playing whack-a-mole. The small critters that will approach your bed at night don't pose any risk, they're just a serious annoyance while you're trying to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears and other scavengers are a non-issue as long as you keep all of the sweet smells a long ways away from your bed, this includes food, tooth paste, deodorant, gum, &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; with a smell–doesn't matter if it's packaged or freeze dried, bears and Candis can smell through packages and bags–if it has a smell, put it in a cache. If there's nothing but you and your stinky human stench in your sleeping bag, then you can be pretty confident that all the big critters in your vicinity will leave you alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smaller critters... well, pack rats will make off with your keys and eat a hole in the foot of your expensive sleeping bag so they can get fluff for their beds. If you're at a backcountry campground that has ropes in the trees, it's to hang your gear off the ground so nothing gets stolen by the local wildlife. Last camp I went on with a big group, we carried an extra tent just to store all of our gear in at night, but there were also people there sleeping under tarps. I think it really boils down to whatever you're more comfortable with. Myself, I'm ok with carrying the extra weight so I can have the extra comfort at night, keeps my gear cleaner too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as risks, I don't think there are any more risks using a tarp than there are using a tent. You put yourself more at risk to exposure than you do to wildlife. But if it's something you're going to worry about, then you might just get a better nights sleep in a tent where you're not going to be up all night paranoid that something's going to slither up to your face in the middle of the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-19T20:20:07.057" LastActivityDate="2015-03-19T20:20:07.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7988" CreationDate="2015-03-18T02:50:18.453" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're sleeping bag only works if you can get it warm. If you wear too many clothes in your sleeping bag, you're not going to fill the loft of your expensive down mummy with cozy warm body heat. This is what can happen if you're wearing your liners in bed, the bag around your feet doesn't warm up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think whether or not you get cold toes depends a lot on what else you're wearing under your bag. If you're in your base layer and wearing your liners it shouldn't be an issue, but if you're layered up as well as wearing your liners, then you're not going to warm the bag, and your extremities will pay the price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T02:50:18.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7988" CreationDate="2015-03-18T02:52:57.193" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with clothes you were wearing while you climbed, the liner boots are damp - if not wet from the days activity. Energy is required to evaporate the moisture - this cools you down, including your feet. You get cold from it very easily. Also as most people will feel cold if they have cold feet, so you will feel cold even if you are actually warm enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, removing all clothing used though the day (and ideally putting on dry clothes) will be warmer, and this definitely includes socks and boot liners. It is usually warmer to use you day cloths under your sleeping bag for better insulation than wear them inside the sleeping bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping the liner in the bag also cools you down, but you have control over how close to you, and to some extend, how much cooling they inflict on you. Not keeping them in you bag means frozen liner, cold feet, and in cold climates risks frost bite next day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Some say using socks for a pillow improves sleep..... :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T02:52:57.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7982" CreationDate="2015-03-18T09:09:26.450" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd probably use the same technique I'd use if I was tandem abseilling with anyone, i.e. extend the abseil and attach both parties to it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;     |&#xA;     |&#xA;     @&amp;lt;- belay plate&#xA;    / \\&#xA;   /   \\ &amp;lt;- rope to adult&#xA;child--adult&#xA;      ^   |&#xA;     /    | &amp;lt;- tail of rope&#xA;    /&#xA;  attach child to adult as well as rope for safety&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you extend the belay away from yourself, and attch both parties to the belay, also attach the child to your harness as a backup (don't drop the baby). You then belay as normal (keeping the rope away from the child). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Add a prusik backup&lt;/strong&gt; (don't drop the baby!!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually found a photo of a similar set up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n83vo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The black rope going east from the adult's harness tie-in is also tied to a second karabiner on the child's harness and then up (behind the pink sling) to the safety belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-06-18T08:49:38.317" LastActivityDate="2016-06-18T08:49:38.317" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6974" CreationDate="2015-03-18T15:56:16.483" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I can easily see how this unintended loading can happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second gets to a tricky part, asks leader for beta, leader moves over to get a better view of second. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is an example of one of the really hard problems in climbing. It's almost impossible to get feedback about how well you are building your anchors. You just don't get many chances to be wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;99% of the time any protection you place simply won't be tested in any way. Most of the time it simply doesn't matter if you build a crap anchor or a bomber one. If nobody falls or the belayer has a good enough position to hold the fall with body weight, the anchor never gets stressed.  It's next to impossible to know if you are good or just lucky. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can develop or follow really bad practices for a very long time and not suffer any consquences. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_death_triangle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;America Death Triangle&lt;/a&gt; is a classic example. In the 70's when I was learning to climb, that was standard practice in the USA. Everybody I climbed with used it, so I used it too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you'd like to spend time building anchors and throwing dummies off cliffs, but that's expensive in ropes and time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way you can get better at building anchors is aid climbing, but that&#xA;pretty old school these days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T15:56:16.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="7999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2015-03-18T21:52:56.827" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did it for three nights. First night was more like intermittent napping, but my girlfriend slept great. The second night I woke up twice. The third night I was more concerned with the flapping sound from my rain fly, the creaking trees and the sideways wind. After minimizing the flapping sound I slept as fine as I would have in those conditions on my own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The extra body heat was a benefit we used an underquilt and sleeping bag for her and a sheet for me. the sleeping bag was a nice spacer. She had zero problems sleeping and wants to double up again. I found she cramped my shoulders, prevented the perfect hang (bit more banana like) but maybe that's because I went higher up to get shoulder space. I would do it again but would prefer my own. We used a grand trunk double hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that I might wake up twice a night next to her in my own bed so I really can't complain. Bonus is that after that ive found sleeping next to her easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5743" LastActivityDate="2015-03-18T21:52:56.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7984" CreationDate="2015-03-20T01:42:24.377" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bit of pressure at the top of your foot will not cause any long-term problems, so long as it isn't causing any pain. Boots are designed to hold your foot in place — the snug fit in the midfoot is an important component in keeping your toes from sliding forward when walking downhill or side-to-side when climbing. This additional stability will also reduce heel movement, helping to prevent blisters. In minimalist shoes, a tight midfoot fit allows for a larger toebox and additional toe splay, but that's a feature unlikely to be included in a hiking boot design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware, however, that your feet will swell after a long hike. Most of the swelling typically occurs widthwise and lengthwise, but the top of your foot may swell slightly as well. This can normally be accounted for by adjusting the laces, but be sure that you have room to make that adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last personal note: I have a very high instep, and most shoes are tight enough there to be painful. I've started re-lacing my shoes to skip that section. This allows me to fully tighten the laces for a snug fit without causing undue pain and pressure in the instep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/1hGCDbM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skip Lacing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5594" LastEditorUserId="5594" LastEditDate="2015-03-20T03:13:35.400" LastActivityDate="2015-03-20T03:13:35.400" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7989" CreationDate="2015-03-20T03:11:28.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The risk of a serious problem is quite small. Animals instinctively stay away from humans, and that instinct is even stronger in backcountry areas where they haven't become accustomed to human presence. The gear that you don't sleep with is in more danger than anything else — rodents will chew pack straps and trekking pole handles for the salt. They're very unlikely to mess with you or the things directly around you, especially if there's no food to be had.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are stories out there of snakes and spiders crawling up inside or next to peoples' sleeping bags, but first-hand accounts are hard to find — it's typically a &quot;friend of a cousin&quot; type of story, and prone to embellishment. Doubtless these things do happen, but not frequently enough to worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquitos and biting flies, on the other hand, can be a problem while you're sleeping, so depending on the season you may want to bring along a net tent or bug bivy. Something as simple as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/849594/sea-to-summit-nano-mosquito-pyramid-insect-shield-net-shelter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5594" LastActivityDate="2015-03-20T03:11:28.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7970" CreationDate="2015-03-20T14:28:05.463" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most grown people are good for an hour or two of constant paddling. Children get bored more quickly then they tire. People who go farther are either more athletic or more disciplined. I go fishing in my kayak, and my fishing grounds are about an hour's paddle each way (depending on currents and wind), and I spend an hour or two trading between drift fishing and paddling back up current again.&#xA; At the end of that, I am pretty worn out, my butt hurts and I don't feel like doing anything at all physical after that. Sometimes catching a fish is a curse when you get back and have to bend over and clean your fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to what Shen wrote, first drill then in self rescue, spend a whole afternoon on it until the boys can slip back into their kayaks like otters. This is perhaps the most important excersize/drill you will do before bringing anyone out on the water deeper than they are tall. I drill with my kids the beginning of EVERY summer before we go paddling anywhere. Self rescue, swamping kayak or canoe, any of the rescue type scenarios including pretending you got knocked out so they can rescue you. Thankfully my kids think it's fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-03-20T14:33:57.533" LastActivityDate="2015-03-20T14:33:57.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8003" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8007" CreationDate="2015-03-21T15:34:35.187" Score="8" ViewCount="2816" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am moving to Boulder, CO for my PhD and am interested in doing a lot of hiking on the weekends. To get to trailheads near Boulder and Rocky Mountain NP, all year around, do I need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High clearance (Are roads paved,...?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;AWD (Are roads groomed, muddy,...?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am intersted in what I really need, (to not get stranded).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5746" LastEditorUserId="5746" LastEditDate="2015-03-22T16:04:26.303" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T23:33:59.487" Title="What kind of car do I need to reach most hiking trailheads near Boulder Colorado, Rocky Mountain NP" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-03-23T13:29:04.053" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently, nutritional drinks that fulfil the complete nutritional requirements of adults (optimum proportion of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and other nutritients) have been on the rise. Backpackers are probably not the target audience, but their needs should be served pretty well by these shakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Popular brands are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soylent.me/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Soylent&lt;/a&gt; (US only) or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.joylent.eu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Joylent&lt;/a&gt; (Europe based but shipping worldwide). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have tried Joylent and I still drink it from time to time, especially if I need some quick energy after work before going to the gym but don't have the time to cook. It's not a culinary explosion, but I think it wouldn't be a big problem to live off it for two weeks, especially if you add dried fruit for some variety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's about 2100 kcal per bag of 600 grams, so for 10 days, assuming you need more than these 2100 kcal due to the permanent exercise, you'd end up with around 10kg. That's quite a load, but significantly less weight would only be possible with a far more fat-centered diet. Apart from the powder itself, you only need water and a plastic shaker. No fire necessary. As long as you have access to fresh water, using the same shaker all the time shouldn't be a problem (if you clean it properly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, I wouldn't live off that stuff alone, but for my next longer trip I'm planning to cover about half of the food needs with Joylent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="3478" LastEditDate="2015-03-23T13:36:34.817" LastActivityDate="2015-03-23T13:36:34.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8003" CreationDate="2015-03-23T14:43:14.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many trails and therefore many trailheads with a variety of road types leading to them.  Most of the roads in Rocky Mountain National Park can be traveled by ordinary passenger cars, at least when it's not snowy.  The roads in the nearby national forests vary widely.  The main forest roads can be traveled by ordinary passenger car, but a more capable car will give you access to more places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to maximize your ability to access lots of different trailheads, particularly in the more remote parts of the National Forests, you want something with high ground clearance and all-wheel drive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been on many remote forest roads throughout AZ, NM, UT and CO, both with passenger cars and high ground clearance all wheel drive vehicles.  There is a lot you can get to with just a passenger car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I had to pick between high ground clearance and all-wheel drive, I'd definitely choose the high ground clearance.  In pratise, one usually comes with the other though.  The roughness of some of the roads is much more of a issue than getting stuck due to lack of traction.  In some cases I was in a high ground clearance vehicle that had to be manually switched into all wheel drive.  While I did that in a few cases, most of the time it wasn't worth the trouble and possibility of forgetting to switch back to two wheel drive when getting to a paved road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can go a lot of places with a ordinary car if you're careful and are willing to stop, get out, look at the road, and plan your route.  I've actually re-arranged rocks in a stream bed to be able to drive over it in a passenger car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow on the road totally changes the tradeoffs.  Lots of back country roads are closed in winter instead of being maintained.  Unless you have a snowmobile, you'll have to get out and ski or snowshoe them anyway.  If you want to go as far as you can with a car in winter, definitely get chains and a vehicle that can do all wheel drive.  In some areas, chains are actually required at certain times of the year or under certain conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-03-23T14:43:14.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8003" CreationDate="2015-03-23T14:51:34.423" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, most of the trailheads in the Boulder, RMNP area are accessible to little cars almost the whole time they are open. I'm not saying all are, but most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, you could easily go three ways with the choice of vehicle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AWD, little clearance -- Something like a Subaru will get you to almost all the trailheads that are open almost all the time. You might occasionally have to pick a different trailhead, but most of the time it'll be just fine. (This is what lots of people would recommend, with good reason.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4x4, high clearence -- An Xterra or similar small suv on a truck frame, will get you to basically every trailhead at any time. I personally wouldn't go this route in the Boulder area, because I feel like it's totally overkill. You won't every have to pick a different trailhead, but the extra gas money and higher purchase price isn't worth it in my mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;little car -- Something like a civic will get you to &lt;strong&gt;a&lt;/strong&gt; (not maybe the one you want) trailhead anytime you want. This would be my personal choice, you'll have to pick a different trailhead once in a while, but most of the trails in Boulder are accessible to little cars most of the time. If you're not open to changing plans get an AWD with a little clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL:DR -- Most of the trailheads are accessible by almost any car. A bit of extra clearence and AWD might make you more comfy, but are probably not needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-03-23T14:51:34.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8008" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-23T20:35:00.793" Score="9" ViewCount="340" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a sleeping bag, rated at 15°c comfort, 6° limit and -8° extreme. I'm planning on a backpacking trip bivvying with a tarp. Currently the nighttime temperature is about 2-4°c. Is there any way to cheaply and easily increase the range of the bag with minimum extra space or weight? Or will this be a suitable set up as is? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I could possibly use a cotton liner)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5753" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2015-03-23T22:26:17.360" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T12:16:26.453" Title="Using a synthetic sleeping bag on/under it's limit" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8008" CreationDate="2015-03-23T23:20:35.240" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using a sleeping bag liner can usually add 5-8°c or more warmth capability to your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, do not use a cotton liner if you are in cold climates, as that can hold onto moisture from your body and cause you trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-03-23T23:20:35.240" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8008" CreationDate="2015-03-24T16:26:52.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used a cotton bag liner for winter camping for the past couple years, I love it. I'm usually a huge opponent to wearing cotton in winter, but that's because most people are pretty careless about moisture control these days. If you read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill#answer-7609&quot;&gt;my answer&lt;/a&gt; to, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Does Cotton Really Kill?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, I point out that cotton was worn on the very first summit of Everest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing is to be dry when you get into bed and properly layer your bag. See my answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/645/is-it-warmer-to-sleep-naked-in-a-sleeping-bag#answer-7081&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; about layering in your sleep. I think you're fine with cotton liners as long as you don't over-layer inside your bag. Too many clothes layers will make you feel clammy in your bag, but fewer layers means your bag can get warmer, and having a warmer bag means the moisture inside it is more likely to vaporize and breath out of the bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it may seem like thin bag liners may add temperature to the bags &lt;em&gt;(and I'm one of the one's who's convinced that they do)&lt;/em&gt; they technically aren't designed to make your bag warmer, they're designed to keep it &lt;em&gt;cleaner&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;more comfortable&lt;/em&gt;, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5025-835/mec-fleece-sleeping-bag-liner-barrel/?q=fleece%2Bbag%2Bliner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;fleece liner&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; would add the most warmth, and it also happens to be the cheapest option compared to silk and cotton. The advantage to silk is that it's &lt;em&gt;by far&lt;/em&gt; the lightest and most compact option, but costs almost as much as a new affordable sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that will keep you significantly warmer while sleeping on the ground, is to use a reflective ground sheet, like an emergency blanket, or a nice insulated air mattress. You lose a lot of warmth into the ground due to conduction, so it's important to put something between you and the cold Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other ways to keep warm at night include eating a lot of calories just before bed &lt;em&gt;(stoking the oven)&lt;/em&gt; and making sure you pee before crawling into your sleeping bag, as extra water takes extra energy to keep warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-03-24T16:26:52.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8011" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-24T16:32:54.620" Score="6" ViewCount="5225" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently gave a belay from above to a group of five people who were all doing the same single-pitch climb and then being lowered off. (In this case the reason for belaying from above was that the climb was too long for top-roping from the ground with a single rope.) I was using an ATC Guide in guide mode, directly off of an anchor. Afterward, I went back and researched different methods for doing the lowering. Any comments on the following methods, or suggestions of other methods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 1&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't even lower people in guide mode. Reserve that for emergencies. When the climber gets to the top of the climb, have them clip in, then switch the belay device to normal mode and lower them off. This requires redirecting the brake strand like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/lower-away/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/lower-away/&lt;/a&gt; . (If I'm understanding correctly, the redirect is necessary because otherwise you would need to pull &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; on the brake strand to brake. That's both physically more difficult and contrary to your muscle memory.) You can attach a backup prusik to your belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BD's instructional video &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM5c9wlTReo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM5c9wlTReo&lt;/a&gt; shows the technique at 2:37. They show the belayer using her hand to pull down on the release cord, which has been redirected through the anchor. I found this technique to be extremely fatiguing due to the large amount of force required from my hand. They also show a Munter tied to the harness used as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 3&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This instructional video &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3zOisWbuB8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3zOisWbuB8&lt;/a&gt; shows yet another technique. There's some discussion here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/anyone-have-problems-lowering-a-second-with-atc-guide-or-reverso-in-guide-mode-/106715350#a_106718389&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/anyone-have-problems-lowering-a-second-with-atc-guide-or-reverso-in-guide-mode-/106715350#a_106718389&lt;/a&gt; . He ties the release cord to his harness, so that his hands are free and he can apply the force to the release cord by using his body weight. He then has both hands free, and can use them to tend a Prusik backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do people think? I haven't tried method 3. It seems nice, but I'm worried that in the event that the belayer slips and inadvertently puts his body weight on the release cord, the only thing saving the climber's life is the Prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the BD video, they show a Munter rather than an autoblocking knot such as a Prusik, which seemed odd to me. After some dialog in comments with Shem Seger, I'm going to write up my attempt to analyze this issue in an answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-03-24T18:52:32.270" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T16:31:54.533" Title="Lowering a climber from above using a belay device in autolocking mode" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8011" CreationDate="2015-03-24T18:14:42.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to be clear, what you are describing here is top-roping while belaying from above. Aside from doing it for the fun of it, or for the sake of gaining the experience of belaying from above, the only advantage I can see to top-roping with the belay up above is if you're climbing a pitch where there is a lot of drag on the rope, and pulling one strand over the rocks is a lot easier than pulling two. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; As Ben Crowell pointed out in the comments, top-roping a pitch that is longer than half the length of your rope would necessitate belaying from the top.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 1&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would get really redundant really quick, and adds risk because it requires taking the climber off belay at the top of the climb. The climber would be required to clip into the anchor while you take them off belay and set up the new belay. That being said, I don't think that autolocks are intended to be used for lowering, so this may be the preferred method if you wish to belay using the device in autolocking mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 2&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mention, this would be fatiguing. As I mentioned in my comment on your question–in answer to your question about the munter hitch backup: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;If something goes wrong, it seems that the rope would start whipping&#xA;  through the setup, and the belayer would have to rapidly grab the&#xA;  brake strand of the Munter and pull up, which would require a lot of&#xA;  dexterity, speed, and presence of mind.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their hand should &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt; be &lt;em&gt;off&lt;/em&gt; of the brake strand. In the set up in the BD video the rope would auto lock as soon as they let go of the release sling. They just say, &quot;use a back up,&quot; they show a munter back up, but don't specify that's what you have to use, you can back up however you want. They're using a munter most likely because they're quick and easy to tie. An autoblock would take time to set up, but you could throw a munter into your belay loop in just a second, one handed, and lower straight away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Method 3&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a brilliant set up, it's bomber and it's redundant, but maybe a little too redundant for top-roping a single pitch. You'd still have to take the time to redirect the belay end of the rope through the top shelf of the anchor and tie your autoblock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;ALTERNATE METHODS&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;2 ATC Method&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attach the release sling to your harness as is demonstrated in method 3, but instead of using an autoblock, &lt;strong&gt;use another ATC&lt;/strong&gt; on your harness. With this set up, you can quickly put the belay end of the rope into the ATC on your harness when the climber gets to the top, then put your weight on the sling to fully release the autolocker and then simply lower the climber from the ATC on your harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Petzl Method&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like Black Diamond's method better, but Petzl demonstrates giving slack to the second by using a carabiner instead of a sling. This would be quicker than setting up the sling, and it may give you some leverage on the device which would make it a bit easier than yanking on a sling, but would still prove to be fatiguing on long or multiple lowers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PRcZZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My personal opinion:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 3 is essentially just a more bomber way a of doing meathod 2. Either would be the preferred, safer methods of doing short lowers while multi pitching, but I don't think either are intended to be used for top roping a group of people. Or doing long lowers in general. It's my impression that lowering with an autolocking device is only supposed to facilitate giving the second some slack in the event they need it. I think it would be easier to top-rop belay from above the same as you would on the ground, except with the belayer closer to the anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately, you could belay them straight off the ACT &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; going through the anchor as is demonstrated in &lt;a href=&quot;http://tv.thebmc.co.uk/video/how-to-belay-at-the-top-of-a-climb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3forc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose some other advantages to belaying top-ropers from above, other than the view, would be: if you didn't want to be distracted by the other people on the ground taking to you; you wanted a different/better view of the climber; you wanted better communication with the climber when they got up higher; or you simply didn't like one or more of the people on the ground and would prefer to avoid them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-25T16:31:54.533" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T16:31:54.533" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8011" CreationDate="2015-03-24T18:56:27.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a complete answer but is just my attempt to analyze, after discussion with ShemSeger, the issue of what the Munter does for you as opposed to a Prusik. It seems that there are several different possible modes of failure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A. The belay device gets inadvertently put in release mode or stuck in that mode.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;B. There is a biner whose spine the rope is running over. The system could fail if this biner isn't a locker, is a locker that didn't get locked, or is a locker whose knurled knob gets spun open by the passing rope. The rope pops out of the ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;C. The belayer's hand goes off the brake strand, e.g., because he's hit by rockfall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mode of failure A might be a real possibility in method 3, if the belayer's body weight inadvertently falls onto the release cord. As long as this failure doesn't occur simultaneously with taking the belayer's hand off the brake strand, the Munter should suffice. But note that the guy demonstrating method 3 specifically advocates it as a method that allows getting hands free. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In mode B, the climber starts to fall, and our only hope is that the Prusik holds. Again, this is a good reason to use a Prusik rather than a Munter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In mode C, the question would be whether the thing causing the belayer to lose his grip on the brake strand is also something that would cause A simultaneously. If so, then you need a Prusik, not a Munter. In method 3, if the belayer gets incapacitated, his weight will probably slump onto the release cord, and you probably would get A and C simultaneously. This seems like a solid reason to use a Prusik rather than a Munter if you're using method 3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-03-24T18:56:27.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8014" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8018" CreationDate="2015-03-24T22:05:07.560" Score="4" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on slightly peaty ground, (i.e loamy forest rather than very peaty heath) is there any possible safe way to light and tend a small fire? I'd envisaged scraping away the top soil, dousing below with water, then making a large bed of rocks with a mat of sticks/logs on top to raise the fire away from the ground. Does anyone have any other suggestions?&#xA;Obviously, if this isn't safe I won't use a fire, and will instead increase pack weight and carry a stove.&#xA;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5753" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-13T04:00:56.383" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T04:00:56.383" Title="Is there a safe way to light and tend a small fire on earthy/peaty ground?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7984" CreationDate="2015-03-25T02:39:18.043" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that it is something to avoid. If you notice it now. You will notice it more when your feet swell. Or you get a small foreign body in there. Or your feet get wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend continuing to look for a better fit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My (slightly psychological-based argument) is... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you buy them there are 2 mutually exclusive outcomes: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The instep causes no problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The instep turns out to be painful in some circumstances. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the latter - you will be kicking yourself (presumably with the other foot) for buying boots that you knew weren't an ideal fit when you bought them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the former - at least any problems that you DO have were not forseeable at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5754" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T11:06:42.347" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T11:06:42.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8016" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-25T08:07:41.800" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing Cotton, Cotton based items, or the potential hazards or benefits of Cotton; Cotton is a fibre grown around the seeds of the Cotton plant, and is harvested and turned into clothing, blankets, sheets, liners, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-25T12:58:36.113" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T12:58:36.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8017" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-25T08:07:41.800" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing Cotton, Cotton based items, or the potential hazards or benefits of Cotton." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-25T12:58:44.293" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T12:58:44.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8014" CreationDate="2015-03-25T19:13:59.413" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightweight stoves are preferred over campfires, but it is still important to know how to make a &lt;strong&gt;leave no trace campfire&lt;/strong&gt; when the occasion calls for it &lt;em&gt;(run out of fuel too soon, stove failure, etc.)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think a &lt;strong&gt;mound fire&lt;/strong&gt; would be best in this situation. Lay a sheet on the ground and pile a mound of dirt on top of it &lt;em&gt;(get your dirt from a previously disturbed source, like the root pit of a fallen tree, or a mound next to a critter hole)&lt;/em&gt;, and light your fire on top of the dirt pile. The dirt will insulate the ground from the heat, and when you're done, you can simply gather up the dirt pile in the sheet you laid down and return it to where you collected it from. Do it right and there should be no indication that you had a fire at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9vka.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;View the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leavenotrace.ca/principle-minimize-campfire-impacts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace Principles: Minimize Campfire Impacts&lt;/a&gt; page to learn several different methods for building a leave no trace campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-25T20:26:32.883" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T20:26:32.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8019" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8025" CreationDate="2015-03-25T21:37:40.107" Score="13" ViewCount="1384" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot;&gt;Centre for Outdoor Ethics&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;The use of campfires, once a necessity for cooking and warmth, is&#xA;  steeped in history and tradition [...] the natural appearance of many areas has been degraded by the overuse of fires and an increasing demand for firewood.&quot; &lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in my lifetime, I've seen the rapid increase of traffic into the backcountry, and I've seen many favourite camp areas devastated because of trees being cut for firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With modern technology and the availability of very lightweight and economical camp stoves, campfires really aren't necessary anymore. There's a certain romance and nostalgia attached to campfires, and they can still save a life an emergency. But for the most part they result in trampled terrain, delimbed trees, blackened stones, unneccesary trails that weave through the woods but go nowhere, and hatchet/ax scars in trees from 'hanging up' your campfire tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In todays backcountry, &lt;strong&gt;according to &lt;em&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/em&gt; ethics&lt;/strong&gt;, when is it unethical to have a campfire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5&quot;&gt;Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T14:50:41.923" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T19:50:26.767" Title="Leave no Trace: Are campfires unethical?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="17" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8003" CreationDate="2015-03-25T23:33:59.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're hiking in and around Boulder, you don't need anything special for a car. If you live near a bus route, there are routes that can take you to the edge of the city and within 15 minutes easy walk of the trailheads at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.normankoren.com/sw_trailmap_Chautauqua.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Boulder Chautauqua&lt;/a&gt; , which are all great day hikes on their own. Off the top of my head and experience (I live in Boulder), You won't have any problems getting to any of the trails you want to get to with a &quot;normal&quot; car, with the exception of the winter, in which most places that necessitate off road capable vehicles are either closed or well marked as &quot;off-road only&quot;, but most of these are a ways from Boulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5755" LastActivityDate="2015-03-25T23:33:59.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-03-26T11:49:35.063" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Avoiding the word 'ethical', I'll ask: Is it good for the forest to stop all fires, and let fuel accumulate? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In North America this has led to many very destructive fires that kill every tree in the forest. Lot's of money and time is being spent to clear out the excess fuel with controlled burns before it is too late. So in these areas, I'd say go ahead, clear out some dead wood. But leave the hatchet at home, burn only wood that is down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, it is destructive to have a fire in a place where trees grow slowly and fires are rare, for example high altitude area of the Sierra Nevada. The trees there usually well spaced, thunderstorms are not so common, and dead wood lays around for decades before breaking down. In this case you're taking carbon from an environment that has very little to spare. Half Dome used to have trees on top, but granite doesn't make soil very well, and now they are gone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, the US Forest Service and National Parks say pretty much what I've written here, and I think they are doing the right things these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T14:37:03.333" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T14:37:03.333" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-03-26T18:00:29.433" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like most activities, campfires aren't simply ethical or unethical. There are only a few things in this world that are always ethical or always unethical. Rather, there are ethical and unethical ways to behave. I don't expect a campsite to look exactly like the land around it - I understand there will be artificial clearings in the trees, perhaps a sign indicating it's a campsite, a fire ring, and perhaps a latrine a little way back in the woods. I accept that and in fact prefer that the humans-sleep-here changes to a place are restricted to campsites rather than diffused randomly through the entire natural area. With that in mind, I find it unethical to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;build a large campfire every day, or several times a day, for no reason other than to cook, when you could use a stove instead&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;leave the campsite and surrounding forest a mess &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cut down green trees (which don't burn well) leaving a mess and less live trees than you found&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;build complex structures to surround or contain your fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make any kind of hole in or damage to a live tree for convenient hanging up of things (I don't even put nails in trees, ever, anywhere.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find it not necessarily unethical to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gather up some fallen wood (from the campsite and the land nearby) and use it for a small campfire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sweep the ground around your campfire of tinder and other things that might cause your fire to spread, even though doing so leaves the campsite less &quot;natural&quot; than it was&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use 10 or 20 rocks to build a fire ring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;furnish&quot; the area around the fire ring with logs, stumps, or rocks for people to sit on &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sit around a small fire in the evening, chasing away the dark with light and heat of our own making, is one of the joys of camping and one of the ways we feel competent and capable. Yes, someone else coming later to my campsite will see soot  on the stones of the ring. So? Perhaps yesterday I saw someone's tent, bright blue among the trees, and realized I wasn't actually the only human for a thousand miles. That doesn't make using a tent unethical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for overharvesting and devastation, that is best prevented by limiting the numbers of people who use a place, rather than letting everyone in and telling them they can't have campfires. Of the list of troubles campfires supposedly cause:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;trampled terrain, delimbed trees, blackened stones, unnecessary trails that weave through the woods but go nowhere, and hatchet/ax scars in trees from 'hanging up' your campfire tools&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;only &quot;blackened stones&quot; can be laid at my feet, and to be honest a neat fire ring with signs of use and a few logs stacked next to it warms my heart and gives me a sense of connection to those who camped here before me. The rest of it are by no means inevitable consequences of a campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T18:00:29.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-03-26T19:09:59.073" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this largely depends on the specific area you are traveling in.  My approach is to always minimize campfires in the backcountry as a general rule.  That being said, if I am in an abundant backcountry environment, where there is an already well made fire ring, I have no qualms making an occasional fire from dead, down, dry, and less than wrist size wood.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think Leave No Trace ethics are a great jumping off point for folks who are newer to the outdoor recreation space, but I find taking a more global approach to land-use ethics is a better direction to be going.  I would encourage you to read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/read/leaving-leave-no-trace-behind/&quot;&gt;this article on &quot;Conscious Impact Living&quot;&lt;/a&gt; to learn more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the principles is summarized as &quot;Use Appropriate Technology,&quot; here is the brief description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Seek to use situation-appropriate fuel sources for cooking, heating,&#xA;  light, and transportation. Seek technologies which support rather then&#xA;  destroy the integrity of wild places and natural systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3983" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T19:09:59.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8026" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8027" CreationDate="2015-03-26T20:55:08.737" Score="15" ViewCount="621" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the fundamental principles of leaving no trace in the backcountry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T21:11:29.990" Title="What are the principles of Leave no Trace?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8026" CreationDate="2015-03-26T20:55:08.737" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot;&gt;Centre of Outdoor Ethics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, which runs the most widely accepted ethics program used on private lands for outdoor recreation, there are &lt;strong&gt;seven principles&lt;/strong&gt; to leaving no trace:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-1&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plan Ahead and Prepare&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-3&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dispose of Waste Properly&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-4&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leave What You Find&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Minimize Campfire Impacts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-6&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Respect Wildlife&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-7&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be Considerate of Other Visitors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are outlined on &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/7-principles&quot;&gt;their website&lt;/a&gt; as shown below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The Leave No Trace Seven Principles&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-1&quot;&gt;1. Plan Ahead and Prepare&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you'll visit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prepare for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Schedule your trip to avoid times of high use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visit in small groups when possible. Consider splitting larger groups into smaller groups.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repackage food to minimize waste.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a map and compass to eliminate the use of marking paint, rock cairns or flagging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-2&quot;&gt;2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durable surfaces include established trails and campsites, rock, gravel, dry grasses or snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protect riparian areas by camping at least 200 feet from lakes and streams.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good campsites are found, not made. Altering a site is not necessary.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In popular areas:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Concentrate use on existing trails and campsites.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk single file in the middle of the trail, even when wet or muddy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep campsites small. Focus activity in areas where vegetation is absent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In pristine areas:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Disperse use to prevent the creation of campsites and trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid places where impacts are just beginning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-3&quot;&gt;3. Dispose of Waste Properly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food and litter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6 to 8 inches deep, at least 200 feet from water, camp and trails. Cover and disguise the cathole when finished.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack out toilet paper and hygiene products.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap. Scatter strained dishwater.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-4&quot;&gt;4. Leave What You Find&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preserve the past: examine, but do not touch cultural or historic structures and artifacts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not build structures, furniture, or dig trenches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5&quot;&gt;5. Minimize Campfire Impacts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Campfires can cause lasting impacts to the backcountry. Use a lightweight stove for cooking and enjoy a candle lantern for light.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings, fire pans, or mound fires.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep fires small. Only use sticks from the ground that can be broken by hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burn all wood and coals to ash, put out campfires completely, then scatter cool ashes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-6&quot;&gt;6. Respect Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never feed animals. Feeding wildlife damages their health, alters natural behaviors, and exposes them to predators and other dangers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protect wildlife and your food by storing rations and trash securely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Control pets at all times, or leave them at home.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising young, or winter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/principle-7&quot;&gt;7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack stock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let nature's sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(c) Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.LNT.org&quot;&gt;www.LNT.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T21:11:29.990" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T21:11:29.990" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-15T16:35:46.590" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8028" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-26T21:17:29.103" Score="2" ViewCount="102" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say you're camping in the backcountry where there aren't any developed campsites or fire rings. What methods are there for building a camp fire that will leave absolutely no trace afterwards?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-03-26T21:26:20.177" LastActivityDate="2015-03-26T21:26:20.177" Title="How do you build a campfire that leaves no trace?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-03-27T07:52:20.650" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3742" CreationDate="2015-03-27T05:07:10.357" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would add that I did Jiri to EBC in Feb 1992 (the coldest time of year?) and found it to be cold (4 season sleeping bag) but manageable. I am just re-reading my diary from the time - and the noticeable thing is that the cold is mentioned quite a lot - but my 'whining about the cold' is ALWAYS related to wind. So make sure you have windproof gear handy to put on top of your layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5754" LastEditorUserId="5754" LastEditDate="2015-03-27T06:15:13.647" LastActivityDate="2015-03-27T06:15:13.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5673" CreationDate="2015-03-27T20:30:52.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Bell Ringer with the added a Half Hitch on the ear is a good one.  However, if a Span Loop seized up on you, then you must be tying something else accidentally.  A Span Loop should not come even remotely close to seizing up in any kind of rope.  I have used the Span Loop in all kinds of rope in all kinds of conditions.  The Span Loop never came remotely close to seizing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5764" LastActivityDate="2015-03-27T20:30:52.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8035" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8036" CreationDate="2015-03-28T00:58:05.893" Score="8" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it feasible to hike trails to at least some overlooks around &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/news/climbingclosures_2_28_17.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zion National Park&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bryce Canyon&lt;/a&gt; in Utah in mid-May? If yes, do we need a 4x4, or will a sedan do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are only interested in day hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T20:43:23.637" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T20:43:23.637" Title="Is it feasible to hike Zion and Bryce in Utah in mid-May?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8035" CreationDate="2015-03-28T02:03:50.743" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can definitely hike Zion/Bryce in May. In fact it is a good time of the year for hiking in that area. A sedan will do just fine for most trailheads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-03-28T02:03:50.743" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3328" CreationDate="2015-03-28T17:03:22.070" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Canada (undisclosed area) and yes even in the capitol you can carry a knife from 4-6. The laws are clear and police (-if not corrupt) few will want a good reason for why you are carrying one. Now obviously you are not going to be prancing around showing off your knife. Likewise to what was said about looking normal and staying normal in ie: public places and possibly by police. As an example dress without any style, so what that means is wear a color that cannot draw attention or symbols. If you choose to carry a knife then do so but always make sure it is in plain view and if or when you are stopped by police for whatever reason (-possibly harassment) or a check because you might be drawing attention somehow (ie: acting suspicious, or nervous) act normal as best as you can and make absolutely sure you tell the officer right away before he (possibly) searches you (&gt;Do not consent to a search&amp;lt;) that you have a 4-6(whatever the length) inch knife (location) and that it is sheathed. Now prepare for questions given the area you are in and situation. If this knife is a tool and intended as a tool and you can prove that, also you may you have to prove you did not have intent to commit a crime with it and you will have no issues with enforcement. They may tell you to keep moving on or try to entrap you into incriminating yourself via (possibly) the knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case just use your right to say nothing and just do as the officer says without resistance. Know your laws and what your right is. Keep a low profile and just do things away from people that you do not trust. Working a job is like acting on a stage. You get paid you leave and do your own thing. Speaking from my own experiences I can tell you it is pretty lonely at times to constantly trying to stay &quot;hidden&quot; among people. I feel like I live in a secret society. The way the laws and police work the whole functionality of the &quot;system&quot; in order to protect us &quot;you&quot; from ourselves is absurd. The way in which we live has become absolutely dependent on a system governed and controlled by individuals for a single purpose. I enjoy the simple pleasures of life and am not a violent person unless threatened (like how animals react). I left society and basically live off-grid but I have way more time to be involved here and there with things going on in the city. You can imagine how low profile I have to be when going into the city, right? I have to blend in and it's not easy with my gear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5767" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-27T16:46:56.470" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T16:46:56.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8038" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-29T00:59:15.087" Score="14" ViewCount="13761" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to hardboil some eggs and immediately, while hot, wrap them in cling-film before stowing in my pack. How long will they last before going off? (I am in NZ so eggs are not washed like in the Us. Not sure if that makes a difference once boiled anyway.) Any other suggestions for storing boiled eggs unrefrigerated? I do not want to cook them on the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update 08 Apr 2015: Just to report on 2 pieces of empirical data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Experiment. I hardboiled an egg and immediately wrapped it in clingfilm. Kept indoors for 5 days. Unwrapped and ate. Delicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Hiking buddy and I hardboiled and clingfilmed 8 eggs. Refrigerated for 2 days before hike. 4 were eaten 5 hours into the hike. 4 were good 30 hours into the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5754" LastEditorUserId="5754" LastEditDate="2015-04-08T20:27:56.770" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T19:19:50.673" Title="Carrying hardboiled eggs when hiking" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8039" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8041" CreationDate="2015-03-29T01:47:23.760" Score="6" ViewCount="1184" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does a tent need any special care after camping on or near ocean beaches? I know that salt can corrode metal (e.g. metal in the poles, stakes, zippers, etc.) and sand can mechanically abrade many parts of a tent. I don't know to what extent occasional use in those conditions will affect the longevity of a tent though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need to rinse everything out when I get done with such a trip, or is simply drying and brushing out the tent as usual sufficient to protect it from wearing out? Is there some other maintenance I should be considering following use in these conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-03-29T04:58:07.273" Title="Does a tent need special after-trip care when camping on and near ocean beaches?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8038" CreationDate="2015-03-29T03:10:22.117" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pioneers of the old west used to trek across the prairies with jars of pickled hard boiled eggs. So pickling your eggs is one option of preserving them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long they'll last plain depends a lot on the temperature and conditions of where you're going. Keeping them hot isn't going to preserve them, keeping them cold will. I don't know how many eggs you're planning on bringing with you, but I would recommend you plan on eating them within the first 24 hrs. I wouldn't want to carry them around any longer than that myself, first of all, eggs aren't exactly light in your bag, and second–you don't want to mess around with salmonella while you're out in the backcountry, bacteria can start to grow in unrefridgerated eggs in as little as two hours, and food-poisoning can literally be a killer if you're stuck a days hike or more away from civilization. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to keep them for longer, pack them in a small insulated lunch cooler with a frozen water bottle to keep them cool as long as you can. You could try freezing them first and keep them cool even longer, but freezing hardboiled eggs changes their texture when they thaw, so they may not be as appetizing after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If for some reason you want to put off eating your eggs for a couple of days, you can actually construct an &lt;strong&gt;evaporative refrigerator&lt;/strong&gt; in the backcountry that is powered by the sun. Basically you use the same principle as sweating to keep your food cold. The easiest way to do this is to dig a hole in the sand next to a creek, put your food in it, and stretch a damp towel or t-shirt over the top of the hole. If you can devise a way to keep the material wet (water bottle with a small hole in it, or divert a small trickle of water from the creek) then the sun will evaporate the water off of the material and significantly cool the inside of the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many other ways to make an evaporative fridge, you can search the internet for more ideas, or use you own imagination to come up with something else on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Evaporative fridge examples:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vwWtx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sXKyC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LUcy7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-08T16:42:50.990" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T16:42:50.990" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8039" CreationDate="2015-03-29T04:58:07.273" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Salt, sand and moisture are a bad combo for anything and everything. The salty sea air will wreak havoc on all your gear over time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You won't have to worry about it too much just for occasional use, but I would recommend at least rinsing your tent with fresh water before storing it away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ultramarxl.com/why-ultramar/&quot;&gt;impregnatng agents and cleaners&lt;/a&gt; that you can buy that are designed to protect your tent materials as well as clean them so they don't deteriorate. They're used mostly on sails and canvas tents, but you can can also get some for more modern tent materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that there's no such thing as caring too much for your gear, it's always a good practice to put things a away nice and clean after a trip. Use your judgement when inspecting your gear after a trip, if it looks, smells or feels like it could use a cleaning, then you should probably give it some TLC. If you do get some products to help care for your tent materials, make sure you follow the cleaning schedule recommendations for those products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-03-29T04:58:07.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8042" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-29T15:31:26.777" Score="11" ViewCount="8014" Body="&lt;p&gt;My daughter is going on a trip with me and we bought the backpack for the smallest torso size that we could find, it is a 37 liters Quechua backpack but after many tries fittings it up one of the following would always happen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoulder straps would bulge a bit up (no support from shoulders).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoulder straps would dig in to the front of the shoulders (and chest straps would press directly on her breasts).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hip belt would rest a bit below the top of the hip bone (this time the weight was distributed on shoulders and hip, but since it was below the top line of the hips, I'm afraid the weight was being supported more by the buttocks).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Brazil, so buying another one online is out of question (it would take to long to arrive and if it didn't fit I wouldn't be able to return it). I have to either use it like that (I think the last option is the less troublesome) ou maybe pad the shoulder straps to add a bit of extra thickness, or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My daughter is 155 cm high, and her torso length is 42 cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can be done that doesn't involve re-sewing stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Here is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/a/IE9Qh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;album with photos&lt;/a&gt; of the backpack and how it fitted. Notice the gap between shoulder and shoulder straps and the gap on the back portion of the hip belt. The shoulder straps are on maximum, the hip belt is tight enough. I also bend a little more of internal frame (an alluminum rod kind of U shaped) to better fit the back contour. On those pictures the backpack is not fully weighted (just about 5 kg).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:20.217" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T21:39:20.217" Title="Is it possible to &quot;pad&quot; the shoulder straps of backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8042" CreationDate="2015-03-29T16:43:59.173" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an out there solution but may very well work. Automotive stores sell seat belt pads, they velcro together. From what I remember they aren't too pricey and I know for a fact you can get a pair in Brazil. This is what I'm referring to. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drivingcomfort.com/travel-with-kids/microfiber-memory-foam-seatbelt-pad.cfm&quot;&gt;http://www.drivingcomfort.com/travel-with-kids/microfiber-memory-foam-seatbelt-pad.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck and I hope you are able to figure something out! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2015-03-29T16:43:59.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2015-03-29T23:19:30.493" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hold up two pieces of cloth in front of the sun, one black and one white, and see for yourself which passes more light.  Dark cloth can be very thin and still block light effectively.  Re-emission of energy from darker colors may be a little faster but I think other factors (see below) are much more significant.  And don't kid yourself into thinking people in older cultures wear dumb clothing and somehow don't know any better.  It tends to be the other way around: they wear what works and that gets incorporated into the culture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Airflow and ambient humidity are the key concerns here, more than color.  Cotton and linen are advantageous in the desert but not in the tropics because they retain moisture, slowing water transport away from the body and therefore slowing dehydration.  You'll see outdoor workers in the desert US routinely wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants in summer because the low humidity allows their sweat to cool them effectively even through all that fabric.  The same workers in Hawaii or Florida can't do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important consideration is fabric mobility.  Europeans tend to wear form-fitting garments that are wrapped around the body and don't move much, like shirt, pants, and hat.  This traps hot air next to the body.  Also, any fabric that's exposed to direct sunlight and touching your skin offers a heat-conduction path from sun to body.  Head, shoulders, and hips tend to be hot spots.  If the fabric isn't cooled by air circulation, reflecting sunlight away with pale colors is the only option but it doesn't really help much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Desert-dwellers wear loose, hood-like head coverings (e.g. shemagh) and a flowing open-weave tent covering the rest.  The only area of cloth directly exposed to sunlight that remains in constant contact with the body is the headband supporting the head/neck skirt.  The head-skirt drapes over the shoulders and moves around so the robe covering the shoulders is not getting direct sunlight.  The coolest attire (in more ways than one) would probably be a flowing, loosely-woven black linen hand-carried umbrella that reached almost to the ground: good air circulation, good shade, and no direct heat conduction.  The burqa worn by women in some Islamic cultures approaches this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, desert robes are not fashionable in North America, especially in the recent past.  The best compromise that doesn't look too weird is probably a broad-brimmed hat with neck/shoulder skirt (skirt is key), oversized long-sleeved shirt, and loose, flowing long pants.  Sandals with socks are a fashion faux pas but great for keeping your feet cool and sun-protected.  Less noticeable if your socks are the same color as the sandals. Fingerless gloves or garden gloves (like Foxgloves) are great for driving.  Remember, this only works where humidity is very low.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;http://faculty.weber.edu/jcavitt/OrnithologyMaterials/Coatcolorinanimals.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to a study of desert animals and birds showing that dark fur/plumage is better than white as long as there's airflow:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;tl;dr In the desert, loose fit and good airflow affect body cooling more than color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5769" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T02:48:31.627" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T02:48:31.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8045" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-03-30T19:27:17.390" Score="6" ViewCount="401" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a rock climbing trip this summer and I've been considering the Red River Gorge as a possible stop. I've been there before in the late fall and it was absolutely awesome in terms of sport climbing, but what about the summer? Is it buggy/too humid? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5755" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-03-31T07:44:30.553" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T07:11:59.620" Title="Red River Gorge Summer" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8046" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-03-31T14:13:39.423" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bite or bites, referring to lumps, rashes, or marks left by animals, typically insects, reptiles and mammals, or referring to the after care of bites. Bites can vary from irritating to life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-03-31T18:28:23.390" LastActivityDate="2015-03-31T18:28:23.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8047" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-03-31T14:13:39.423" Score="0" Body="Questions about avoiding a bite, first aid in case of a bite (kindly use the [first-aid] tag along with this), etc should be tagged with this tag. " OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-12-31T22:13:52.040" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T22:13:52.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8042" CreationDate="2015-04-01T08:55:37.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;155cm quite short but not extremely so. I would be surprised if you can't get a decent fit with that sort of pack. To make sure you are fitting the pack correctly see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6475/adjusting-the-torso-setting-for-the-backpack&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; or many other guides on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your description 3 sounds not too bad and pretty much how my pack is. 2 is the one you definitely want to avoid is straps digging into your shoulders is quite unconformable after a while. 1 may be ok depending on how loose the straps are. it's quite annoying if everything is bouncing around though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your descriptions make me think more that you haven't fitted the pack correctly as 1 and 3 seem to describe opposite problems, where the back is too long in 1 but too short in 3. Although without seeing it, it is hard to be certain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my friends is at least that short and seems to manage. Although I do recall her saying she has some problems with bags that are too long in the back, particularly womens bags for some reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to adjust the bag, I would recommend adding some foam padding under the shoulders. You may be able to wrap it in a cloth and tie/sow it on, but I would probably just use duct tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T08:55:37.500" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8049" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T15:17:04.110" Score="21" ViewCount="7794" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose you needed to dispose of a large carcass for &lt;em&gt;one reason or another&lt;/em&gt; while in the backcountry... what would be the best way to dispose of it in the woods so that it wouldn't be discovered? You always hear stories of people burying bears that they've had to shoot, but I can't imagine digging a big enough hole in the rocky ground to hide a 500lbs+ bear. Especially if you weren't carrying a descent shovel. Is it easier to section the animal and bury the smaller parts? What about when you're up above the treeline? is covering it with rocks enough to hide it, or would you need to drag it into the trees and find some soft soil? I don't see anything on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot;&gt;Leave no Trace website&lt;/a&gt; that talks about this. Does anyone have any tips or stories about what they've done in these types of situations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="3338" LastEditDate="2015-04-01T18:41:04.393" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T17:21:22.530" Title="What's the best way to dispose of a body in the backcountry?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-04-03T20:02:11.670" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-01T15:28:50.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Burn it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;True, campfires are not really a perfect example of leave no trace.  But what you can do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry the carcass far above the treeline, where there is no vegetation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry firewood to the same location (of course, only already dead branches and gathered from a sufficiently large area to be not suspicious)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burn!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whatever is left, carry out.  If you can carry it up when it is full, surely you can carry the remains out.  Don't forget to take the ashes, too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T15:28:50.537" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8051" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T15:37:23.443" Score="10" ViewCount="3428" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is the energy absorber of a gear kit for via ferratas for just one use? I mean, one fall and it has to be replaced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the product description, there is often mention of it being &quot;tearable.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastEditorUserId="3241" LastEditDate="2015-04-01T21:13:45.510" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T20:14:42.877" Title="Climbing gear: can the energy absorbers of a lanyard for via ferratas be used only once?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-01T15:45:19.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Eat it&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; Happy April Fools!!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T15:45:19.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8053" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T16:43:55.590" Score="5" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking for trails that are open in mid-March for a multi-day hike. I believe Laugavegur is closed, and I haven't found much in the way of marked trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5781" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-07-12T18:31:23.603" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T08:16:14.987" Title="Looking for trails that are open in Iceland in mid-March for a multi-day hike?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-01T17:00:39.227" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can just leave whatever parts you don't eat for the scavengers.  Seriously, this is the outdoors, not Disney: critters have died, from time to time, and worms have eaten them* - which is why the woods are not cluttered with corpses. &quot;...we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Apologies to Will Shakespeare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5454" LastEditorUserId="5454" LastEditDate="2015-04-01T17:37:23.280" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T17:37:23.280" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8051" CreationDate="2015-04-01T17:11:39.813" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are such things as reusable energy-absorbers, they use rope and a braking plate to absorb the energy of a fall. &lt;strong&gt;Stiched webbing energy-absorbers are only intended to catch one fall&lt;/strong&gt;, but that fall typically has to exert at least 2.5kN (250kg) on the device before it will start to tear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the threads in the energy absorber tear, then yes, it needs to be replaced, if you do not replace it, then it will not absorb as much or any shock at all the next time you take a fall and could fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8fdAf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW_YOPq-Cqg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tearing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is how they absorb shock forces, the lanyard is actually rather long, but it's folded over itself and stitched in a way that when you take a fall, the stitches will take the force and tear. This relieves shock-loading to the anchors and your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to inspect your lanyard for signs of damage before each use and after any fall. You should retire your system if the energy-absorbtion lanyard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;is cut, worn, melted or abraded&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;stitching is broken or shows signs of wear&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;has any amount of energy-absorbtion webbing separated&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, if your lanyard hasn't gotten any longer after you take a small fall, then you probably haven't exerted enough force to cause any tears or separation, but always inspect your gear carefully to be sure, the reason you use this stuff is so it can potentially save your life in the event of a fall. Whenever you have any doubts about your equipment, you should always choose to retire it (destroy it so no one else can use it) and replace it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reusable Energy Absorbers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reusable energy absorbers, more commonly known as energy absorbing plates, or ferrata breaking plates, have been around for a while. They're still in use, but they've largely been replaced by the webbing absorbers because the webbing absorbers are lighter, and don't have a tail of rope that needs to be managed somehow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kong.it/en/2-products/items/c2-sport/f8-ferrata-kit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;KONG KISA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MgF3H.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kong.it/en/2-products/items/f8-ferrata-kit/p320-kkr-kong-klettersteig-rope&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;KKR KONG KLETTERSTEIG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Du3eV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CSHGQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbers-shop.com/10129603/products/climbing-technology-revolving-k-set-via-ferrata-set.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CLIMBING TECHNOLOGY REVOLVING K-SET&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5v8PK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-02T20:14:42.877" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T20:14:42.877" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-01T20:23:37.563" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Throwing a dead body down a ravine in a rugged mountain area is a morally blameless act, much like throwing your biodegradable orange peel into a bush. Crows and coyotes will rapidly take care of it, leaving only disassembled bones, which they'll scatter. Just make sure to remove all the nonbiodegradable stuff, like clothing, credit cards, and so on. This also helps with not getting caught. It's easy for a search and rescue team to find someone if they're wearing a brightly colored tee shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T20:23:37.563" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-01T20:55:30.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;the correct way to dispose of...er-hem,(ex-living tissue !),is to dissect it into smaller,manageable pieces,(portions ?),and bury them in the ground,not together,but separately.Make sure that when you bury them,there is at least 30 cm's of space above the meat,you need to add a capstone to every piece buried,and then compact the soil above that.&#xA;Cover your handiwork with twigs,leaves and brush etc.&#xA;The whole exercise is best carried out at sundown,so any vapor condensation is not immediately visible.By the way,how old(fresh) is the stiff ? body heat is retained for 2-4 hours after the kill,so if you dismember it too soon,bare in mind,vapor condensation will escape,and could be seen by others !!!!-This could be a bad thing....it may mean you have more digging and dismembering to do.&#xA;The reason you need capstones above the meat is to prevent them from being dug up by scavengers,and there-fore exposing your dirty secrets to all and sundry.&#xA;I definitely haven;t killed anyone and buried them in the woods,LATELY ....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5782" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T20:55:30.790" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-04-01T21:00:05.813" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let me turn the question around: Is it ethical to use a portable stove to burn irreplaceable fossil fuels? Is it ethical to carry that fossil fuel in a pressurised can (for gas fuel stoves) or metal bottle (for liquid fuel stoves) that can't be easily recycled and so ends up in landfill? However, note Shem's comment below - Aluminium bottles are almost infinitely recyclable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the answer lies in the scale. Using a few twigs in a twig burner is fine. Using all the dead trees in a half-kilometer radius to build a bonfire the size of your tent is not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the outdoor places where I go in New Zealand are under fire bans and most of the huts have had their open fires replaced with potbelly stoves which aren't that good for cooking, so I have no choice but to carry a portable cooker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2015-04-01T21:13:01.650" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T21:13:01.650" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8059" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T22:15:49.870" Score="16" ViewCount="2040" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in doing multi-day hikes (i.e. backpacking) in the desert where water sources are not readily available, thus requiring one to carry in enough water for the duration of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On  any given day I feel the need to drink &lt;strong&gt;a lot&lt;/strong&gt; of water, much more than most people that I know.  About a gallon in a typical relatively inactive (working at a desk) day.  If I don't drink this much water, I start to feel thirsty.  To do a multiday trip I will be drinking considerably more water (at least 1.5 gal/day?) which will become burdensome: this would mean 36 pounds of drinking water for a 3 day trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said, I definitely begin to feel thirsty and dehydrated (dizzy) if I lower my current water intake much at all.  Is it possible to train oneself to require less water per day (by slowly weaning down the amount)?  Or, alternatively, is it possible to adjust one's chemical levels (e.g. electrolytes) to retain water longer in such a way that you do not need to take in quite as much water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:42:09.397" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T20:46:35.820" Title="Train yourself to need less water" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8060" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T22:52:18.103" Score="2" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;The photo below shows my new ATC Nano. Sweet! This is an innovative new belay device that is definitely going to be in my ultralight mountaineering setup from now on. After all, when you're bagging multiple 7000-meter peaks in a day, you don't want to be held back by a bunch of heavy technical gear that's really optimized for roadside cragging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lsA2X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately Black Diamond's documentation does not provide a lot of detailed information about how to use the thing properly. It came with one of those poster sheets with little diagrams without words, but every diagram has a skull and crossbones. Has anyone had a chance to rappel or give a lead belay with one of these so that they can share their practical experiences? I'm especially interested in any info on compatibility with various types of ropes and harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-04-02T00:20:26.503" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T00:59:35.617" Title="Guidelines for safe use of ATC Nano?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-04-05T14:30:59.723" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8060" CreationDate="2015-04-01T23:20:59.627" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The good news is, it's compatible with just about every harness. However, you'll only be able to use it with 3mm static cord. It's best that you retire all of that heavy 6mm cord, it's slowing you down anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A colleague of mine recently obtained one of these as well and they have plans to rappel with one sometime today and report back the results (though for some reason, he didn't tell anyone where he was going or what time he expects return).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2015-04-01T23:20:59.627" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8060" CreationDate="2015-04-02T00:59:35.617" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Talking to a lead developer of it (I think he was the 5th to work on the project, no mention of what happened to his predecessors), he said that as it is not designed for use on single ropes, which is why they can get down to 3mm. They  did think about a 5mm version for single rope, but a market survey indicated there would be no demand for it, as under about 9mm everyone uses double ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As 3mm rope has about a 213.7489kg (+/- 87.3453) breaking strain, a safe working load for 3mm double is 87.6523kg, climbers, including all carried equipment and clothing, must not exceed this weight at any time in the climb or descent. Regular toilet stops for those close to this limit is suggested.  BD are currently working on a UIAA rated 3mm rope to go with this, and hope to have it in the market by fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T00:59:35.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-02T01:23:49.410" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to my wife, who is an experienced backpacker, it’s insufficient to merely leave the carcass to scavengers. You also need to leave a Snickers, to attract bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3257" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T01:23:49.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8035" CreationDate="2015-04-02T02:51:03.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Zion has only one unpaved road you're likely to want to drive on: a one-mile stretch of the Lava Point road.  That road is marked on the map as &quot;impassible when wet&quot;, which I suspect means an SUV won't do any better than a sedan in bad weather; it's not marked as high-clearance, so a sedan will do just fine in good weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no unpaved roads in Bryce; the roads are either open to everything or closed to all traffic depending on the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T02:51:03.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8065" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8074" CreationDate="2015-04-02T09:04:59.800" Score="10" ViewCount="827" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a regular hydration pack. I had given to a friend of mine to use it as she had her pack leaking. I guess she filled it with some sort of refreshment/flavored sports drink, and that has caused some precipitation in the pipe of the hydration pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I could clean it with a traditional method by passing a cotton thread tied to a wire. But do you guys know a better method?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:39:59.077" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T10:15:14.633" Title="Cleaning the sipper pipe of a hydration pack" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8108" CreationDate="2015-04-02T09:09:12.233" Score="12" ViewCount="719" Body="&lt;p&gt;We know left-footed football players, we know right-handed and left-handed batmen and bowlers, we know left-handed or right-handed tennis players, and so on.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know being a right handed guy I could hold a crack better with the right hand, and probably my first move upwards would prefer a right hand grip. But, &#xA;does the idea or the phenomenon of climbing makes a person rely on both arms and legs equally (most of the times) ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T15:52:29.560" LastActivityDate="2017-04-15T13:52:04.423" Title="Is climbing an ambidextrous sport?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8066" CreationDate="2015-04-02T09:41:20.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mostly yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Right- or lefthandedness is generally about very fine coordination and timing, which are necessary for accurate throwing and hitting. Strenght and endurance may be affected because one arm is then favored.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the precision and timing of movements in climbing is much less critical. Using the hand that is better able to reach a hold given your current position in the route is far more valuable than doing the move perfectly on a hundreths-of-a-second and millimeter scale. And then, since both arms/hands are used equally, they both get trained equally when it comes to strength and endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course that also means climbing will not make you ambidextrous in other things, since you'll not be training precision and timing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2015-04-02T13:32:06.973" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T13:32:06.973" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8068" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-02T14:50:38.307" Score="11" ViewCount="2908" Body="&lt;p&gt;Supermarkets often have &quot;fire starting liquid&quot; on sale - that's usually transparent oil-like liquid looking much like kerosene. The label typically says the product it &quot;mix of paraffins&quot;. It behaves more or less like kerosene, just a bit harder to ignite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usage is to spread perhaps 50-100 ml or so onto charcoal or firewood, wait for a minute, then set it on fire with a match or lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can such liquid be used in place of kerosene in a kerosene lamp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2528" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T03:55:16.147" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T01:34:44.740" Title="Can fire starting liquid be used in a kerosene lamp?" Tags="&lt;kerosene-lamps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8068" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:27:48.107" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lighter fluid and charcoal lighter fluid may be one of or a combination of the following: alcohol, kerosene, naphtha or other petroleum solvent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore I would stick with kerosene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T15:27:48.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8065" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:29:23.503" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about using a long pipe cleaner? You can make them by joining and twisting the ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T15:29:23.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8059" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:32:10.280" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'd be better of strength training your muscles to carry the extra weight of the water you need to carry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much water an individual needs to stay hydrated is not a standard measure. Different individuals need more or less water to keep their bodies properly hydrated. I don't think it's necessarily wise to try and train your body to do with less of what it needs to function normally. All the personal trainers I know (my wife included) typically tell their clients to drink &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; water, especially when they are being active. Most people have the opposite problem you do, they don't drink enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're a larger guy then I wouldn't be surprised by the amount of water you're drinking. More muscle mass means you need more fluids for your tissues and body functions, as well as cooling. Burly guys tend to sweat more because it's more difficult to cool your core when you're muscle bound. In this case, you'd need to lose a lot of mass before you could get away with drinking less. I hike with some pretty big guys, and they always plan on carrying extra water because they know they're going to drink a lot more than the rest of us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supposing you are a big guy, it would be less of a burden for you to carry the extra weight compared to a smaller framed guy, especially considering how rapidly you're going to lighten the load by the amount you drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T20:46:35.820" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T20:46:35.820" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8068" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:40:27.733" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kerosene is different from other carbon fuels in that is has a much higher flash point, meaning that it has to be warmer than other fuels before it will produce a vapour that can be ignited. Other fuels with a much lower flash point produce a lot more vapours at warmer temperatures, making them much more volatile.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your lamp is designed to be used with Kerosene, then using any other type of fuel could cause the lamp to explode, or worse, vent vapours that could fill a room, find a spark, and catch a cabin on fire (worst case scenario). Only use fuels recommended for your gear, you're flirting with disaster it you start experimenting with other igniters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T15:40:27.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8065" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:42:13.093" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also gave this option a thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cleaning it up with strong potable soda water. This has to be done when the precipitation is moist, and not dry. That would flush it off at least better then water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T15:42:13.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8065" CreationDate="2015-04-02T15:47:34.383" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are cleaning kits designed specifically for cleaning hydration packs like Camelbaks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JGu4G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camelbak also provides cleaning instructions on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Support/Product-Care/Cleaning/How-to-clean-your-CamelBak-reservoir.aspx&quot;&gt;their website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The best way to care for your reservoir is to clean and dry it after&#xA;  every use, especially if you fill the reservoir with anything other&#xA;  than water.  However, theoretically, if someone didn’t clean it after&#xA;  every single use, and mold or discoloration happens to develop…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use hot water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda or bleach.  Mix the    solution inside your reservoir and hold it up above your head while&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  you pinch the bite valve, allowing the bleached water to run through&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  the tube.  You can also use CamelBak Cleaning Tabs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Let the reservoir and cleaning solution sit for about 30 minutes.    Wash the reservoir with hot water and mild soap. Be sure to&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  completely rinse away any bleach or cleaning solution before using&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  again.  You can also use CamelBak brushes from our Cleaning Kit to&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  scrub your reservoir and tube.  Brushes are the best way to ensure&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  you are scrubbing all of the areas of the reservoir clean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Once the reservoir is clean, be sure to air dry the reservoir so no    moisture is trapped inside, which can cause mold to grow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These steps will make your reservoir safe for use.  If you have spots&#xA;  left from the mold, they will never come all the way out because the&#xA;  reservoir is permanently stained, but still safe and usable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T15:47:34.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8049" CreationDate="2015-04-02T17:21:22.530" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on where you are. Near Las Vegas, there are plenty of abandoned mines where a body will almost certainly remain undiscovered for years. Talk to the local mob for specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T17:21:22.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8076" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8939" CreationDate="2015-04-02T17:39:00.887" Score="6" ViewCount="1726" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just learned about the via ferrata route in Banff on Norquay, but if you don't go with a guide then it's considered trespassing. Are there any via ferrata routes in the Canadian Rockies that are open access?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T20:01:55.513" Title="Are there any unguided via ferrata routes in the Canadian Rockies?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2015-04-02T21:40:10.807" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can dig a hole then burn wood in it when it turns to coals put dirt back on it then tent over that believe me it works good&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5800" LastActivityDate="2015-04-02T21:40:10.807" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6118" CreationDate="2015-04-03T02:49:36.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my favorite clear plastic tent. I saw one of these at a distance, but could not get close to it to see the details of its construction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.toxel.com/tech/2010/11/20/transparent-camping-tent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.toxel.com/tech/2010/11/20/transparent-camping-tent/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am planning to try to make one of these for myself using heavy crystal clear pvc film and sewing it with an industrial sewing machine. To keep it inflated, I plan to use a small battery operated blower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be really cool to be inside one of these during a rainstorm! I would be cozy and dry, yet outside in the rain!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5804" LastActivityDate="2015-04-03T02:49:36.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8082" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8088" CreationDate="2015-04-03T10:12:33.110" Score="34" ViewCount="65576" Body="&lt;p&gt;My new head torch has a mode that produces a red light. I've seen this several times and I have no idea when our why you would use it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T13:28:37.577" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T13:28:37.577" Title="My head torch/lamp has a red mode, why?" Tags="&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8082" CreationDate="2015-04-03T13:06:34.310" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;The automatic f-stop mechanism (iris) in your eye is less sensitive to red light than the shorter wavelengths.  Therefore, red light provides some illumination, but doesn't trigger your eye to stop down and make you temporarily blind when you shut the light off.  There are also other ways your eyes adapt to ambient brightness that are also less sensitive to red.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, if you were to read a map using a bright white light, your eyes would adjust to the brightness and you'd have trouble seeing for a little while after the light was shut off.  Using red light instead of white decreases the eye's response to the brightness significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-04-03T13:06:34.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-04-03T20:17:22.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have only hiked Hawaii on long multi day trips but I can add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GORP granola, oreos, raisins, peanuts. Can substitute m+m's for the oreos&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dehydrated meals by Mountain House, or BP Pantry etc. bring spices to taste.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;any dried fruits to choice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;energy bars.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;find local food in the hiking area you can enjoy, fish, harvest, scavenge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have the other people carry more of the weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5811" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-04-06T19:16:38.817" LastActivityDate="2015-04-06T19:16:38.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8082" CreationDate="2015-04-04T03:44:22.070" Score="39" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Red light preserves your night vision.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red lights are used in photography dark rooms, military bunkers, submarines, and anywhere you might find yourself working in the dark. It gives you light to see by, while at the same time keeping your eyes adjusted for the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qXruX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use my red light mostly when I'm when I'm around a camp fire, in the middle of the night when I'm in my tent, or when I have to go out to do my business in the pitch black. It's also excellent to use when there's a bright moon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using your red light in the tent is great because you won't blast your eyes out, or disturb anyone else in the tent, your eyes don't need to adjust to it like they need to adjust to white light. This is exactly why digital alarm clocks have red numbers. @Olin explains some of the science in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8082/my-head-torch-lamp-has-a-red-mode-why/#answer-8084&quot;&gt;his answer&lt;/a&gt;, and @radpin's comment to the OP links to &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/does-red-light-preserve-your-night-vision&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; on biology.SE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using your red light outdoors in the dark gives you much more peripheral vision. When you're using your white light; your eyes adjust to the light so you can only see what's being illuminated by your headlamp. When your eyes are adjusted to the dark, you can use the red light to illuminate the trail, but you will also be able to see everything that's being illuminated by the moon in the distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try it out next time you're in the dark, give your eyes enough time to adjust to the dark, then turn on your red light. You'll be surprised how much you can actually see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:13.777" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T21:06:26.467" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8089" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-01T22:48:08.863" Score="8" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning my first road trip with a friend. We're going from UK through France, probably Germany or maybe Belgium to Denmark and over to Sweden, back down to central France and then back home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'll be over the channel for 5 weeks all in all. I have a gas camp cooker. We'll be travelling from mid-June until mid-July. Not interested in meat really (it'll be hot and my travelling companion is veggie). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be great if you have any tips on good food items to buy and cook with on the road/ recipes that are cheap and easily doable or local goods that are tasty and cheap or any items that you can get in these countries that are great for road trips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking forward to hearing your top tips :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Becca" LastEditorUserId="8181" LastEditDate="2015-11-21T03:59:45.777" LastActivityDate="2015-11-21T03:59:45.777" Title="Road Trip food on the cheap" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8090" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8091" CreationDate="2015-04-05T02:48:59.763" Score="16" ViewCount="8965" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently taken an interest in both rock climbing and mountaineering. Both require a harness, but is there any difference in the harness used for each activity? I understand that the most basic functionality will theoretically be the same, i.e. be securely attached to you and have a sturdy loop you can tie/clip into. I'm interested in knowing what differences there are beyond the most simple functionality though. If I were to purchase a harness, what types of features would I be looking for that would lend themselves to climbing vs. mountaineering or both?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-06T02:15:27.533" Title="Is there any difference between a harness used for rock climbing vs for mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8090" CreationDate="2015-04-05T03:09:07.523" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many types of specialized harnesses, including harnesses for sport, trad, and mountaineering. Personally I use the same harness for trad and mountaineering, and it works fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trad climbing, you want four gear loops. Since people don't carry such heavy racks for sport and mountaineering, some harnesses specialized for those activities may not have that many gear loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sport climbing, there is no real need to go to the bathroom while keeping your harness on. For mountaineering and multipitch trad, this becomes more of an issue, especially for women. Some harnesses have leg loops that are easy to drop or release for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering, you need to be able to put on your harness while wearing boots and possibly crampons. For this reason, it may be more convenient to have adjustable leg loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trad it's pretty common to have to hang on your harness for a long time while belaying. That's going to be more comfortable if you have wide, padded leg loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that people used to just tie in with a bowline on a coil. Manufactured seat harnesses are a relatively recent invention. Some people who prefer a light and fast style of mountaineering just use a loop of webbing that they can make into a diaper sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T03:09:07.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7751" CreationDate="2015-04-05T11:01:13.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You say that the tent is held up by a single straight pole. That pole looks pretty minimal for the job, so if you make a straight replacement you'll likely face the same issue again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you walk with trekking poles, you may have the option of using one as a tent pole if you use a little ingenuity. Much stronger. I've been doing this for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, replace with a stronger pole - as others have explained, this one will never be right again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T11:01:13.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1194" CreationDate="2015-04-05T11:33:47.020" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the ground is firm or frozen rather than rocky I strongly recommend a quality Y shaped peg such as the Groundhog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E1fDy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When made with good materials this shape is so strong it can easily withstand repeated pounding with heavy stones, and I've never found ground so hard that I can't set up a secure pitch. The Groundhogs will even smash through small buried rocks. I have a set I've used and abused for years and they're good as new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also hold well in soft ground, and are the most versatile and robust peg I've found in decades of wild camping. Not the lightest of pegs, but I've had such good service from these that I feel it's well worth a few extra grams for anyone who camps in exposed places and values a safe night's sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2015-04-05T14:03:18.403" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T14:03:18.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7984" CreationDate="2015-04-05T11:59:24.947" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good luck in your quest to find a well-fitting boot - I never managed it. So I'm going to suggest an alternative approach. Outside of technical snow and ice, more and more walkers are abandoning boots altogether in favour of trail shoes and sandals. And for good reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used boots for decades and could never get a good fit: the idea of encasing your foot and ankle in a rigid prison and then trying to move doesn't really make sense. In my experience, walking in boots led to discomfort, fatigue, blisters and instability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trail shoes are far more comfortable. They are also much lighter, much more agile and dry much quicker (go for breathable models over so-called &quot;waterproof&quot; models). The idea that walking boots protect your ankles is nonsense in my experience - I've had many ankle injuries in boots, and none since I shifted to trail shoes. Provided you use designs with a low stack-height and decent ground feel, trail shoes allow your feet to work properly and protect your ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every serious long-distance walker I know of uses trail shoes these days - even on technically demanding off-trail routes. Check out the blogs of Andrew Skurka or Chris Townsend, for example. So rather than try and find a well-fitting boot, do yourself a big favour and make the switch to trail shoes - it will change your whole outdoor experience for the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T11:59:24.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8008" CreationDate="2015-04-05T12:16:26.453" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience the two most important things you can do to improve the range of a bag are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Improve your ground insulation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm your extremities.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ground insulation is far more important than most people appreciate. If budget is no object you can invest in the NeoAir Xtherm, which is a breakthrough product. On a tight budget you can buy closed cell foam mats. Take along as much as you can carry. You can also insulate the ground under your bag with natural materials such as heather or dry leaves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warming your extremities also makes a big difference. What you need are warm, dry sleeping socks, gloves and hats. A scarf or buff around the neck works well too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T12:16:26.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-04-05T12:54:32.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A personal anecdote. Two fairly unfit blokes go to the Alps and spend a week on long but easy training climbs. Then they are joined by two athlete friends who are in hard marathon training. The two fairly unfit blokes who have trained in the Alps proceed to walk the runners into the ground for the next few days till their friends build up their Alpine conditioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that one of the main lessons from research is that training is very specific. Beyond basic endurance conditioning, I find that nothing helps to prepare me for carrying a pack up and down steep hills nearly as well as carrying a pack up and down steep hills - you'll be using muscles that simply aren't engaged so much in other sports. The carry-over from flat-surface running and from cycling might be less than you hope for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though I disagree with the poster who advised against anything intense - the benefits of HIIT seem to be so pervasive that it surely plays a role in any conditioning programme if done in moderation with ample recovery time. In the hope of getting the best carry over, I use hill-sprints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stair climbing with a pack or weight vest might be worthwhile if you can't get to the hills. I've also found benefit in squats and lunges with low reps - building the strength of the support muscles helps with endurance, I find, especially with long descents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But perhaps the most important advice is to schedule some time at the start of your holiday for progressive training climbs to acclimatise to the altitude and specific physical demands of Alpine work. If you have a level of basic fitness, you'll quickly adapt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T12:54:32.537" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3485" CreationDate="2015-04-05T18:48:52.060" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never been to this area, but searching reveals what appears to be the key difference to me: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fastest (and cheapest) helicopter trip is to Franz Josef Glacier – a 5-minute flight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fox can be accessed on foot, without requiring an expensive helicopter flight at all. Additionally, poor weather can often lead to heli flights being cancelled, so it's a more guaranteed trip to go in by foot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I've been able to find online, it sounds like the Franz Josef has a steeper face and larger elevation change, whereas the Fox has a more gradual approach. Image searching seems to indicate that both are quite scenic though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-05T18:48:52.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8090" CreationDate="2015-04-06T02:15:27.533" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to Ben Crowell's answer, some additional differences between mountaineering and rock-climbing harnesses include &lt;strong&gt;comfort while hiking&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;weight&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare the two harnesses below; the first is for alpinism/mountaineering, it's simple, light, and very minimal in size and bulk. A harness like this would be extremely comfortable to hike in, and wouldn't be that uncomfortable to wear with a backpack, you can see how quick and easy it would be to put on and take off as well. There are some harnesses on the market that are even more minimal than this one, they aren't designed to be comfortable while being sat in, they're just supposed to be there to protect you incase you or one of your team slips on a traverse or falls into a cravass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T0b3J.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next harness is at the other side of the spectrum, this is a big wall harness made for being sat in for extended periods of time and carrying lots of gear and tools. This harness would be very comfortable to sit in and hang all of your pro off of, but it's pretty bulky, so if you were to try and hike in it you'd notice it a lot, and would probably chafe your legs and it'd be really uncomfortable under the waist belt of your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QLGAo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're planning on getting pretty serious into both activities I'd recommend getting a good trad harness &lt;em&gt;(the big wall harness I show above is super overkill, better for aid climbing than most trad)&lt;/em&gt;, and then buy a &lt;em&gt;second&lt;/em&gt; harness for mountaineering (or just carry some webbing like Ben suggests). One big advantage to buying a light and simple alpine harness, is they're also a lot cheaper, so you can actually get one for cheaper than one of your cams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-06T02:15:27.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8103" CreationDate="2015-04-06T09:25:07.687" Score="24" ViewCount="18895" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently went bouldering for the first time and liked it a lot. One thing I wondered about are the climbing shoes. The mostly form your feet to a very firm, compact package. So the following question came up in my mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why don´t climbers embrace the power of their toes? Why can´t I find anybody climbing barefoot or in (toe-)socks or shoes like Vibrams fivefingers?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Would it be worth a try or can I be sure it doesn´t work as well as climbing shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;_  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you would need to train your feet to get the strength you need. But considering the amount of training climbers put into their hands and fingers for things like &quot;one-finger-holes&quot; I think this is probably no good reason for not trying it with your feet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am primarily interested in indoor bouldering, but aspects for other types of climbing are welcome as well. I am aware that most gyms probably don´t want you to climb barefoot for hygienic reasons... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some background:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/167&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; whatsitsname describes for him climbing barefoot and in vibrams didn´t work well.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5287/3143&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; question is about the use of vibrams five-finger shoes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5268/3143&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; closed question is about a specific five-finger model for climbing...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:52:27.870" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T23:30:05.373" Title="Climbing barefoot/in toe-shoes?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2015-04-06T12:31:41.857" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question is how to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;quickly&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; warm a tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer is: use the most efficient way to turn material into heat energy, which will speedily bring up the temperature in the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used a fuel stove to warm the air inside the tent before, the draw back on this is that you need to bring extra fuel. This method is only suitable for certain type of fuel stoves - the one that burns fuel thoroughly because carbon monoxide is poisonous &amp;amp; it does not heat up the ground below because you don't want a hole on the floor of your tent. Also the roof of your tent need to be high enough so the naked flame would not affect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are portable heaters that you can buy that run on the same bottled gas you use for camp cooking. It uses the identical principle - turning fuel into heat energy. There are quite a few youtube videos on that: (&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/_9BtZaOWzNs?t=456&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/co62EMjGH68?t=432&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt; ...). But if you use a stove, you can put it to other uses while warming yourself: i.e. brewing yourself a cup of tea which you also can use to quickly make yourself feel warmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorUserId="3482" LastEditDate="2018-06-24T13:10:08.100" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T13:10:08.100" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2015-04-06T13:29:39.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing is that I doubt it's possible to train the toes to have significant strength; unlike the fingers, they are simply not built for that job. And most of the time, you have a lot more weight on your feet than on your hands. Injury and strain would be a big problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's the sweating: there's actually more sweat glands in your soles than anywhere else on your body! And you can't use them to get chalk directly; I don't even want to think about going one-armed &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; one-footed to reapply chalk while hanging in a tricky spot...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the most important factor is probably that the rubber soles of climbing shoes are a much bigger aid to your climbing than you seem to realize; it's very specialized rubber specifically designed to give you maximum grip on tiny footholds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not the latter two points might not apply if you had toe-shoes specifically designed for climbing, but the first one still holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2015-04-06T13:36:43.947" LastActivityDate="2015-04-06T13:36:43.947" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2015-04-06T16:29:38.780" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I climb barefoot and in vibram five-fingers (KSO's), climbed in them for the first time in 2008 and loved them, where they excel is in roofs and overhanging problems because you can hook holds a lot easier with your toes, but for tougher wall climbing with small features (5.11+) I still use climbing shoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some gyms that allow climbing barefoot, but for the most part it's not allowed because of hygiene reasons-not many people want to touch toe grime on climbing holds, and feet just stink for the most part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vibram five-fingers don't work very well for edging, so you have to change your footwork when you're climbing in them and think of your feet more as another pair of hands. The technique I use is to basically smear your foot on the front of the hold and use you toes to crimp on the top of it, you'll get some pretty bad cramps in the bottom of your feet while you're training them, so roll out on a tennis ball after. The only way you can really get purchase on small chips is to use the tip of your big toe while you point it, which takes the toe strength of an accomplished ballerino, so practice your &lt;em&gt;en pointe&lt;/em&gt; poses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-08-01T15:56:23.910" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T15:56:23.910" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2015-04-06T17:13:59.983" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from the excellent answer by Michael Borgwandt, I have to add that a climbing shoe isn't just there for better gripping. Just like any other shoe, it also protects your feet from any sharp objects or rough surfaces that you may encounter along your trip. The more widely used paths have probably been worn down, but if you're on a new path, it is likely that there are sections that you can do fine with your hands, but where your feet can get injured by the larger amount of pressure when doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, shoes protect you against any small objects that might fall out of your hands or off the cliff face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While these answers aren't really related to indoor climbing or bouldering, they are relevant to climbing in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5821" LastActivityDate="2015-04-06T17:13:59.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8106" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8118" CreationDate="2015-04-07T10:25:42.327" Score="37" ViewCount="510916" Body="&lt;p&gt;A little grim this but I was discussing &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8126/bouldering-vs-aid-climbing-vs-free-climbing-vs-free-solo-climbing&quot;&gt;free soloing&lt;/a&gt; with a non-climber in work and I said&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Well once you get over a certain height you're not going to survive a&#xA;  fall anyway so anything over this doesn't really make much of a&#xA;  difference.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... which got me thinking, how high is too high? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd guess it's reasonably low. So does anyone have any &lt;strong&gt;empirical evidence&lt;/strong&gt; of how high a fall a human being can fall and survive (though not necessarily walk away from)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-06-11T21:42:40.463" Title="How far would you need to fall for it to be fatal?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;free-solo-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8089" CreationDate="2015-04-07T11:32:46.417" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This slightly depends on size and heat output or your stove, but camping stoves are universally good at one thing, heating water. So this makes them ideal for using with dyhydrated food's. These have come a long way from super and pot noodles and you can now get some pretty decent tasty food that you simply have to add water too, there are a couple of good suplpiers of these, like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.expeditionfoods.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.expeditionfoods.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.eu/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountainhouse.eu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also has the advantages of not taking up much space. They do do a lot of veggie options too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;they do have also few disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expensive, £6 per person per meal can be a lot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Limited number of flavours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need good supply of water to use them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option I can think of is eggs, Take plenty of &lt;strong&gt;eggs&lt;/strong&gt; and you can generally make lot's of types of omelettes and spanish omlettes are particuarly tasty. Provided you get eggs from a supplier where the chickens are vacinated against salmonella (such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.egginfo.co.uk/british-lion-eggs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lion mark in the UK&lt;/a&gt;) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2421530/So-eggs-fridge-Scientists-crack-age-old-argument-chilled-room-temperature-best.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;you can keep them unrefrigerated  &lt;/a&gt; for quite some time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, find a chip shop. Every town or village will have one. A bag of chips will cost you about £1 and will easily feed one person (sometimes two). There is nothing more British than chips. Personally I like them swimming in malt vinegar, if the fist chip doesn't make you cough then you've not put enough vinegar on them!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/syOVr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-07T12:15:48.907" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T12:15:48.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8066" CreationDate="2015-04-07T11:43:33.527" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I both agree and disagree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8067/2303&quot;&gt;Michael's answer&lt;/a&gt;. If you can train your weaker hand to be as good as your stronger hand then good on you but this isn't always possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My left is much weaker than my right. I train my left all the time but it's always not as strong as my right. As such, I will sometime vary my approach to &quot;crux&quot; moves so that I can get my stronger side onto it if possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so to answer the question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But, does the idea or the phenomenon of climbing makes a person rely&#xA;  on both arms and legs equally&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Not equallly&lt;/em&gt;. You will always try and get your weaker side as strong as your strong side but it's very very difficult to make both hands/feet equally as strong (depending on your dexterity). So you will naturally rely on your stronger side (especially during difficult moves) more than your weaker side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly recently I broke me right hand(I am right handed). Fractured the 5th metacarpsal and my knuckle collapsed. Suddenly I found myself in a position where my left hand was my stronger hand. I've been slowly building the strength back up, but interestingly I now feel a lot more balanced. I'm not so worried about using my left for crux moves anymore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Begs the question what comes first, is your right hand strong so you favour it or is it strong because you favour it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-04-15T13:52:04.423" LastActivityDate="2017-04-15T13:52:04.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8089" CreationDate="2015-04-07T12:36:24.363" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Presuming you're planning on eating at/near your vehicle you're not really limited by the weight or bulk of the food. So, anything you can easily cook in 1 or 2 pots is a good bet. Generally, I have some version of pasta/rice/couscous and sauce. You can make your own sauce if you can get fresh ingredients or get reasonably cheap jars or dried packets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like adding some chorizo or similar spiced sausage to my sauces, particularly various red sauces. It keeps well and you can add it separately if people are vegetarian. Most places in Europe, definitely Germany and Italy, have there own varieties. They are also quite good for snacking, although some varieties may need cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For breakfast, fried breakfasts are always good. Otherwise, if you can get fresh milk cereal is an option or bring powdered milk. I also like porridge, although it is a pain to clean. For porridge, I'd recommend a mix of half porridge oats and half ready brek/instant porridge, with powder milk that can be prepared in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T12:36:24.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-07T14:49:06.307" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no such thing as this certain height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can fall from a chair, hit your head badly and be right dead. On the other hand, a couple of people fell thousands of meters (without parachutes...) and survived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things affecting the outcome of the fall are: Your posture (head/feet first), the surface (water, rock, snow, trees or bushes...) and protective gear. And, of course, there is always a lot of luck involved.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some facts:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_fall#Surviving_falls&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; cites that 50% of children who fall from 4 to 5 storeys (12 to 15 meters) high die. On the other hand, after falling approximately 450 meters you have reached terminal velocity, which means you don´t get faster. So after that, your survival chances should be - more or less - unaltered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T14:49:06.307" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-07T15:03:35.427" Score="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no specific distance from which a person can fall and have it said they will survive or &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; survive. There are simply too many variables that will dominate the factor of &quot;distance.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 1971, flight attendant &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vesna Vulović&lt;/a&gt; fell 10,160 meters (~33,300 ft)  and survived without a parachute. On the other hand 556,000 people died in 2013 from slip-and-fall accidents from essentially 0 meters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any studies I could find cite too many variables such as your physical condition, what you land on, the orientation of how you land, any obstacles that may have changed the way you fell, how fast; even what you are wearing can change survivability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, pole workmen and tree arborists seem to cite &lt;strong&gt;9 meters (~30 ft) as the &quot;cutoff&quot; for fatality&lt;/strong&gt;  in a fall &amp;mdash; that is, &lt;em&gt;most&lt;/em&gt; who fall from thirty feet or higher die. Figure that after only 27 meter (~90 feet) of free fall, you are traveling over 80 km/h (~50 mph). Survivability at those speeds is just not that high. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T17:47:28.107" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T17:47:28.107" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-07T15:15:00.497" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://regionstraumapro.com/post/328981320&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;doctor's blog&lt;/a&gt; claims that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The median height leading to death is about 49 feet (15 meters), or about 4 to 5 storeys. 100% of victims die after falling 85 feet (25 meters), or about 8 storeys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the 100% figure is incorrect as there have been individual people who survived higher falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, the &lt;strong&gt;height alone is not decisive&lt;/strong&gt;. It makes a &lt;em&gt;huge difference&lt;/em&gt; what surface you fall on and in what position. You'd have a pretty good chance to survive a 20 meter fall legs-first onto half a meter of snow on top of grassy ground, while a 5 meter drop head first onto concrete or rock is almost certainly fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T16:47:22.607" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T16:47:22.607" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-07T15:36:25.760" Score="18" Body="&lt;h1&gt;16ft (5m)&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When rock climbing, you're pretty much guranteed to be landing on rock if you fall. When I trained in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skipatrol.ca/en/&quot;&gt;CSPS&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hsi.com/empcanada/home/&quot;&gt;EMP III&lt;/a&gt;, the magic number was 16ft (~5m). If someone fell from upright with their feet above that height or higher onto a solid surface, then they were an instant bag and drag, &lt;em&gt;aka: strapped to a spine-board and rushed to the hospital.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you land on your feet, &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; you have the leg strength to soak up the force of the landing or you have the skills to tuck and roll, then you're either going to break bones or suffer internal injuries. You won't die instantly from this height (unless you land on your head or neck) but you will be at risk of dying from shock if you can't get help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, according to emergency first-aid responders (in Canada), the answer to your question would be; &lt;strong&gt;a fall from any height above 16ft or 5m can result in serious injury that could lead to death.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-08T00:49:10.297" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T00:49:10.297" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-07T17:47:26.303" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other answers have mentioned, there are too many factors to determine a fatal fall height. However, the rule of thumb for determining if there's a likely mechanism of injury for a spinal injury is whether there's a fall from more than 3x the person's height. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-07T17:47:26.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8082" CreationDate="2015-04-07T20:06:16.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Night vision and, if you're camping with a partner, a nice way to not blind them around camp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also a way to see in the dark without disturbing animals you're hunting, or the fish if you're night fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5834" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-09-30T04:23:39.580" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T04:23:39.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-08T00:04:29.380" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I knew a guy who was a medical examiner for the State Coroner. He dealt with a lot of people who had jumped from things.  His rule was &quot;Jump from seven, straight to heaven&quot; ie 7th floor or more if you wanted to go right now rather than after a very painful interval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5837" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T00:04:29.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-08T10:29:59.123" Score="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not the fall that gets you, it's the sudden stop at the end.  The most detailed data on the effects of large accelerations (or equivalently, decelerations) on the human body comes from research into spaceflight and aircraft ejection systems.  There is a very detailed &lt;a href=&quot;http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930020462.pdf&quot;&gt;paper from NASA here&lt;/a&gt;, from which figure 5 (p. 36) is most useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The summary is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it depends a lot on where and which way up you land - feet-first onto a soft surface is best (pretty obvious)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For a hard surface, assuming you don't land on your head, up to about 12m/s impact velocity, you are almost certain to survive (corresponding to a fall from a height of just over 7m).  Though &quot;survive&quot; is likely to involve life-changing injuries at the top of this range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Between 12 and 17m/s you may or may not survive (corresponding to about 7m - 12m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Over 17m/s you are almost certain not to survive (corresponding to over 12m)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="3327" LastEditDate="2015-04-14T13:15:02.733" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T13:15:02.733" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8119" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-08T14:42:30.427" Score="18" ViewCount="2237" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a boy, my father and I were unexpectedly swept into a log jam (pile of logs the size of a house) on the banks of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_River_%28British_Columbia%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elk River&lt;/a&gt; while canoeing near our home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Somewhat similar looking jam, but think bigger pile of logs, and more rapid waters:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1zS5r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Dad, being an experienced voyageur from NW Ontario, instinctively jumped out of the canoe up onto the log jam. Me, being barely 13, watched the water hit the hull of the canoe with wide eyes for about 2 seconds before the canoe suddenly flipped in the swift current and took me under the log jam with it. Fortunately for me, the logs were piled there during higher waters, so after a couple of seconds of getting drug along the rocks at the bottom of the river under the logs and my canoe, I eventually popped back up on the other side of the jam, with my Dad close behind me (he jumped in after me when I got towed under).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that incident I just considered jumping out of the canoe onto the jam before it gets sucked under to be the appropriate course of action in this situation. But now that I'm a father, I've been wondering, &quot;What would my Dad have done, if there was no way out the other side?&quot;. He just dove in blindly after his son, and we were lucky that there was room under the jam for us to go all the way underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if there was no way out the other side?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can you do to help yourself or someone else if they get sucked under a jam and get pinned against the logs underneath by the current?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:05:43.357" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T22:05:40.440" Title="How do you survive getting towed under a log jam?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8066" CreationDate="2015-04-08T15:45:23.443" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say the answer to this question is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being ambidextrous while climbing will make you a better climber, because there are certainly routes that have forced, right-handed or left-handed cruxes that simply can't be done the other way around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen people really struggle on problems that force them to rely on their weaker hand, instead of committing to going for the next hold with the hand that makes sense, they'll spend excessive amounts of energy trying to match hands on a tiny geek so they can attempt an awkward off-balance cross to the next hold with their strong hand, which of course doesn't work much of the time and they end up taking a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These types of climbers are typically found in the gym, where they constantly set problems that suit their style, and their strong hand. I knew one guy that seemed to always make the crux of his problems to be a big move off of a strong right hand pinch, so I'd set problems with strong left hand pinches just to throw him off his game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbers naturally have a dominant hand, but if you asked me which of my hands was stronger I'd probably have to say both hands were equally as strong, but my right hand is more &lt;em&gt;accurate&lt;/em&gt;. I don't think I can hold on with one hand longer than the other, but I certainly have better aim with my right when I'm making big dynamic moves. If I did have a stronger hand, it would be my left, because it's the one that's hanging on most of the time when I'm aiming for a dead-point dyno to a tiny crimp with my right hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you could get away with being a climber that is dominantly right or left handed, but it will put a limit on your potential. &lt;strong&gt;I guarantee that the strongest climbers are indeed the more ambidextrous ones.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T15:45:23.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8119" CreationDate="2015-04-08T16:12:22.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh....you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would only be a matter of luck, physical strength and breath holding capacity...much emphasis on luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was once kayaking with my GF in Florida when I was in my early 20s and still very althletic ally capable. We kayaked through a tidal creek, and the tide was on its way out. We were drifting down stream. The river looks navigable for power craft, but it really isn't and so there were three piles barring passage for anything larger than say 4 ft wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water was only moving maybe 2 MPH, maybe 3. It was moving slower than I walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kayak turned with the eddies and The kayak got pinned with my bow and stern across two of the piles. I say pinned. I was stuck in the seat and under water from the chest down. I wasn't in any immediate danger because the kayak was pinned so hard it was stable. It took me 5 minutes to get&#xA;Myself out of the kayak in such a way that I wasn't swept down stream, and it took another 30 minutes of shoving the kayak a couple inches at a time until I got it free again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The barnacle gashed the beeguz out of the kayak while I was dislodging it, and when it came free I was shoved across the barnacles myself and still have the scar on my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of the story is,&#xA;Moving water is very powerful. You aren't &quot;climbing&quot; back upstream if the water is moving even just a couple of MPH unless you are super strong and can hold your breath during the exertion...this of course all while being unprepared for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T16:12:22.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8119" CreationDate="2015-04-08T17:35:58.233" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I was crossing a stream, I was caught in one such but not so serious kind of a strainer. We call that strainers. These are formed when some obstacles get piled up and let a very narrow window for a person to pass through, but the water pass through it. Most of the strainers that you will (unfortunately) come across are likely to be formed by trees and wooden logs.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When I could feel being pressed under, I realized that swimming defensively isn't helping at all.&#xA;Few things to start with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When it rains damn heavy over a day, you can see abrupt rise in water level. Avoid going rafting/kayaking or if you are already out, avoid taking narrow paths in such a situation. That said, you should also consider other water bodies and hazards they may pose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These are easy to locate, whenever you are passing through a narrow water passage with thickets, small trees in contact with the water stream, keep your eyes peeled. Its a perfect place for a strainer to form.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you locate one such strainer, try to get closer to the shore. If you can't and are sure that you are going to go at it, be alert, aggressive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are likely to be tossed up from your ride. In such a case swim aggressively towards the strainer and with the pace try to stay somewhat above the water that passes below the logs and loft yourself on the log instead letting it swallow you. By aggressive swimming here, I meant go head-first, just when you are about to hit the log, loft up and grab the log, keep your torso up and out of the water. When you can't get around it, go over it with pace.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the people who get trapped under one such strainer, have their legs locked in water and thats why they can't get out of the water and get swallowed. So, Try and get your feet up on the surface, that should help you get out quickly with the help of the strong water current.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If at all you have to rescue someone out of a strainer, start from the sideways or downstream. Never go upstream as you may end-up at the same place as the victim. He/She will be panicked and approaching him/her upstream would pose a lot of danger as you go against the flow. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-04-08T17:35:58.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7896" CreationDate="2015-04-08T21:11:44.020" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As most people have recommended &lt;em&gt;Training for the new alpinism&lt;/em&gt; is a very comprehensive sports science book on exactly the subject your interested in. It covers much more than a stackexchange answer could expect to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From said book, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aerobic threshold power output is the single most important measure of a person's aerobic system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why should you care so much about your aerobic fitness? because the body can only store about &lt;strong&gt;2500&lt;/strong&gt; calories in glycogen, the fuel used to generate power anaerobically as apposed to around about &lt;strong&gt;100,000&lt;/strong&gt; calories in fat, which will be used to generate power aerobically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As alpine climbing is an endurance activity lasting sometimes several days you can see that dipping into your glycogen supply is a luxury that should be reserved for difficult crux moves or unexpected emergencies, not to compensate for a lack of aerobic fitness on the approach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most effective training will likely be quite boring unless you have access to some really nice country side. Walking with a weighted pack up something, local steep hill, stair master, staircase of multi-story building. Put something like water or rocks in your bag that you can dump out at the top to save your knees on the descent. I'd avoid running with weight for the same reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Improving aerobic fitness is quite a large topic but the consensus is low intensity high volume. Adequate recovery is as important as the workout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T16:46:34.747" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T16:46:34.747" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-09T04:15:15.650" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The extract from a report linked below might be of assistance, and the report is well worth the read and should be quite accessible to those without a medical background. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The American College of Surgeons' Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) defines a critical threshold for a fall height in adults as &gt; 20 feet (6 meters), as part of the field triage decision scheme for transport to a designated trauma center [3]. A retrospective analysis of 101 patients who survived vertical deceleration injuries revealed an average fall height of 23 feet and 7 inches (7.2 meters), confirming the notion that survivable injuries occur below the critical threshold of a falling height around 20-25 feet [1]. A more recent study on 287 vertical fall victims revealed that falls from height of 8 stories (i.e. around 90-100 feet) and higher, are associated with a 100% mortality [4]. Thus, a vertical falling height of more than 100 feet is generally considered to constitute a &quot;non-survivable&quot; injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3212924/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survival following a vertical free fall from 300 feet: The crucial role of body position to impact surface&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5854" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T12:16:14.350" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T12:16:14.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8125" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8133" CreationDate="2015-04-09T10:49:21.810" Score="6" ViewCount="2045" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4716/3143&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; answer @Vorac mentions &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footwraps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;footwraps&lt;/a&gt;. So I wondered, if I want to try them, how should I put them on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have experience with this? Are there different methods to try?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T21:02:41.520" Title="How to put on footwraps correctly?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8126" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8127" CreationDate="2015-04-09T11:24:41.083" Score="18" ViewCount="20786" Body="&lt;p&gt;What re the differences between these 4 styles of rock climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bouldering&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aid Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Free Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Free solo climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T17:55:57.923" Title="Bouldering vs aid climbing vs free climbing vs free solo climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;free-solo-climbing&gt;&lt;free-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8126" CreationDate="2015-04-09T11:24:41.083" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the above are styles of rock climbing. The differences/similarities are highlighted below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bouldering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low-level climbing (usually up to about 3m) without the use of a&#xA;rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Falls are typically protected against by the use of large portable&#xA;mats (bouldering mats).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Concentrates on technically difficult short climbs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually (though not exclusively) performed on boulders, as opposed to cliff faces (hence the name).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jQimY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jQimYm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Aid Climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Uses ropes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rock itself is climbed utilising special ladder-like equipment&#xA;called &quot;aiders&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Items of equipment are placed onto or into the rock face and an aider is attached. The climber then climbs the aider.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Part of the climbing may be done using hands and feet, but at least some portions use aid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At least in Europe it is also called &lt;em&gt;technical climbing&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One of the earliest forms of rock climbing coming out of the alpinist movement of the 1930s.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With enough effort practically &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; can be climbed. Therefore countermovement of free climbing evolved in the 1970s.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Siege tactics&quot;&lt;/em&gt; can be used. This can involve people taking months to climb difficult climbs, coming up and down at will (see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rock_climbing#1950s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1958 climb by Warren Harding and team to climb the 3,000 foot &quot;Nose&quot; of El Capitan in Yosemite&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FSeK6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FSeK6m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Free Climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What most non-climbers think climbing is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Uses ropes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climber climbs using hands and feet only. Using aid to climb on can be considered &quot;cheating&quot; and will &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6657/what-does-it-mean-to-free-a-climbing-route&quot;&gt;degrade the climb to an aid climb&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gear is placed in the rock face to protect against falling only, but is not used to help the climber in gaining height.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Free climbing may be &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4635/whats-the-difference-between-sport-climbing-and-traditional-climbing&quot;&gt;trad or sport&lt;/a&gt;, single-pitch or multi-pitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DdEjG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DdEjGm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Free solo climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing without rope or protection whatsoever in height where a fall will &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8106/how-far-would-you-need-to-fall-for-it-to-be-fatal&quot;&gt;most likely kill you&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Falls can be fatal and no attempt is made to protect against falling and hitting the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Considered the most dangerous of all climbing styles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An Especially psychological variety of climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7W607.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7W607m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T08:24:58.907" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T08:24:58.907" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-04-09T11:24:41.083" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8128" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8126/bouldering-vs-aid-climbing-vs-free-climbing-vs-free-solo-climbing&quot;&gt;Bouldering vs aid climbing vs free climbing vs free solo climbing&lt;/a&gt; for differences between this and &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/bouldering&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'bouldering'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;bouldering&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/free-climbing&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'free-climbing'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;free-climbing&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/aid-climbing&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged 'aid-climbing'&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;aid-climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" LastActivityDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8129" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" Score="0" Body="Free solo climbing is climbing at height without a rope or any protection. Ask questions using this tag that relate to climbing at height without ropes." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" LastActivityDate="2015-04-09T11:26:14.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8106" CreationDate="2015-04-09T12:00:03.133" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally a fall of 50-60 ft will kill almost anyone. However, I had a friend fall of the back of a motorcycle that was not moving, and he died because he hit his head on a rock, so go figure. A number of people have survived falls of 100-200 ft without substantial injury. There are three people who have survived falls of 10,000 feet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An airline passenger who fell into the jungle in South America after the plane tore apart. She was still strapped in her seat, not badly injured and survived in the jungle for 10 days until she found help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A pregnant sky diver whose chute did not deploy. Her emergency 'chute deployed entangled and she hit face first into asphalt. Although she had extensive injuries to her frame, she and the baby both survived.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A sky diver whose chute or emergency chute deployed. He landed in a blueberry bush without substantial injuries. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5859" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-04-06T02:12:08.443" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T02:12:08.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8131" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8134" CreationDate="2015-04-09T20:44:22.097" Score="-4" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just thinking, how great would it be to be able to have a surf spot (live or not live) streamed directly to my PC, with no distracting voice over.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could have it on my desk while I work, look at the surf, hear the waves and the birds, and it would be like a window on an awesome spot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a website that offers a variety of recordings of surf competitions or just a variety of webcams with audio?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5865" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T02:00:51.617" Title="Surfing competitions, no commentators" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-04-10T18:54:23.957" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8132" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8136" CreationDate="2015-04-10T01:22:09.790" Score="8" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose one is in distress in the wilderness, and is being searched for by planes or helicopters because they thoughtfully told their friends where they were going and when they'd be back. Alternately, suppose you're just on a hike but happen to look very similar to a party of lost hikers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would you indicate to the crew of an aircraft that you are or are not in distress? Are there globally recognized hand signals to definitively say &quot;I need help&quot; or &quot;I'm fine&quot;? What if one wanted to relate more specific information, such as how many people are injured or what type of supplies you need? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T13:17:00.410" Title="Are there standardized signals to communicate with aircraft?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;communication&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8125" CreationDate="2015-04-10T01:37:08.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;портянки (portyanki)&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EPkua.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Russian army wore portyanki (footcloths) up until the ministry of defence abolished them in 2008. There's an interesting article about them &lt;a href=&quot;http://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/portyanki/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, the author of which apparently wore portyanki for 695 days in the army.&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to put on footcloths:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;spread the piece of cloth (40cm x 90cm) flat on the floor;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put the foot closer to the edge of the cloth to wrap the edge around the big toe (the left foot should be closer to the left edge – and the right foot – to the right) ;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take the side of the rag and wrap it tight around the foot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;take the back of the rag and wrap it tightly around the leg;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pull the edge to adjust tightness and bend it behind the rest of the cloth;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put your boots on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/18NCL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/portyanki/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Russiapedia. &lt;em&gt;Of Russian origin:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Portyanki.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Properly tying a portyanki takes a lot of practice, and improperly tying them can result in some serious blisters and foot sores. Learning how to properly and quickly tie a portyanki was the first thing a rookie in the Russian army had to learn at the beginning of his military career.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Eu979.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/21RDo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OhtHT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-10T21:02:41.520" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T21:02:41.520" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8131" CreationDate="2015-04-10T02:00:51.617" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know of any webcams with audio. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, here's a couple of YouTube videos that might do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/Sn98Gu41n2U&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Surfing on Maui (Honolua?)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/jKCyFB5LmPo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;some bodysurfing/boogieboarding &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/qREKP9oijWI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Relaxing 3 Hour Video of Tropical Beach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/fIlJyZEbrzo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;another one in Big Sur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might be able to find more. I just did a couple quick YouTube searches using &quot;ocean waves&quot; and &quot;relaxing surfing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3791" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T02:00:51.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8132" CreationDate="2015-04-10T02:13:33.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two arms up (Y) indicates you are in distress.&#xA;One arm up, one arm down, indicates that you are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; in distress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, when in distress, our friends in Europe tend to recognize the rule of 3 ( or 6 ):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal#Mountain_distress_signals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal#Mountain_distress_signals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have flags, or sticks and fabric to form flags out of, you can utilize the entire semaphoric alphabet to communicate, provided you have it written down with you or memorized. No flags (or lights at night)? Arms and hands will work in a pinch:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_semaphore#Characters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_semaphore#Characters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-10T13:17:00.410" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T13:17:00.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8132" CreationDate="2015-04-10T05:06:09.257" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;International standard and very easy to remember is the &lt;strong&gt;Y&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;N&lt;/strong&gt; signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kEXsGm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to communicate more than that, your signals should be easy and self-explaining. If you are e.g. climbing and it's not that obvious who needs help you could also inform the rescue team in the helicopter by pointing to the casualty after signaling &lt;strong&gt;Y&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T05:06:09.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8137" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-10T13:34:47.127" Score="8" ViewCount="1371" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of all the equipment that I have been looking at in order to get started backpacking the sleeping bag is the one that I have been completely blown away by prices. I just would never expect something that is serving as a blanket, to have things that are considered normal consumer products that are $400+.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it realistic to expect to pay $100 or less for a sleeping bag that will keep me warm enough for camping in places such as the U.S. Midwest, Yellowstone, etc. in the spring-fall seasons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen bags that are cheaper but they don't seem to be geared towards backpacking (maybe not necessarily a bad thing). The only thing that worries me about these bags are their pack-down size. I am not really sure what a normal size of a sleeping bag is once in it's stuff sack ... it would be helpful to have a range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info:&#xA;The pack it needs to fit into: Osprey Volt 60&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5868" LastEditorUserId="5868" LastEditDate="2015-04-11T14:50:26.067" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T09:58:09.400" Title="What is a good (and affordable) sleeping bag for someone who is beginning to backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-04-12T18:18:01.647" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8137" CreationDate="2015-04-10T13:43:34.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is almost as hard to answer as the question about a good knife. :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A general rule: The more expensive the sleepingbag, the more expensive the materials involved, the better the ratio between packweight, packsize and temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However this totally ignores the additional costs for the brandname and such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One company I can really recommend is snugpack. I personally use a SpecialForce 1 for the spring/summer/fall seasons (+6 celsius comfort, 1000g, 16x16cm pack size). In europe it's around 130 euros, but they also have cheaper models like the Merlin or such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the price you should try to aim for a cheap primaloft filled sleeping bag. Primaloft, if you can afford it, is almost as effective as down, but doesn't care about humidity that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try to get surplus military sleepingbags. The US amongst others have a modular sleeping bag system you can use for all climates and seasons. It's a a small summer bag, a winter bag and a bivi bag. Combined these allow for around -30 celsius, but the summer bag is still light enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a look at the snugpak ones. I am happy with the two I have and preferr them to my Anjingulak or Mamut bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5869" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T13:43:34.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2015-04-10T14:03:34.907" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of good and correct things have been said here. However I want to add something:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I used to sleep in a tent, I took a UCO candle lantern (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/Relags-UCO-Kerzenlaterne/dp/B0028BY9N8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.de/Relags-UCO-Kerzenlaterne/dp/B0028BY9N8&lt;/a&gt;) to give me light, but also heat. It works similar to the hot stone, but is much more safe and easy to operate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the tent is good enough, this small and quite safe to use, lantern, will heat up your tent quite quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you can also say: The smaller the tent, the more warm it will get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5869" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T14:03:34.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2984" CreationDate="2015-04-10T14:18:18.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fire in combination with a reflector in front or even inside your shelter is a really good way to get a lot of warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the type of fire: It really depends on your type of shelter, but the so called top-down fire is the one I can really recommend. If done right, this will warm you while building it :) and once lit, will provide you with around 6-8 hrs of warm fire without the need to care a lot about the fire and without too much smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key concept about this fire is to use thick wood (at around 15-20 cm in diameter) for the base. Use 4-6 of these and lay them down parallel to each other. Upon this base, put a little sand/dirt. Just enough to cover the space between the logs. Put the next layer on top in a 90 deg angle, while using slightly smaller wood. Repeat this, until you have 5-7 layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On top of this yenga-pile, create a normal fire and feed it until the first layer of thicker wood burns as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The time this fire burns is determined by a few factors: Type, thickness and humidity of the wood used. And obviously on the number of layers, amongst other factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now what's so special and cool about this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is no or just little wood above the flames. This reduces smoke a lot. Also the construction allows from loads of fresh air flowing in from the bottom of the flame.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fire burns from thin to thick, top to bottom. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Less maintenance. Sure, this takes some time to build and collect the wood for it. However, you don't need to take care of it during the night very much. Means more sleep for you as well as longer sleep periods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hot ashes and coals will not be wasted, but start to burn/dry the wood under the actual flame. This way you can even use quite wet wood for the base.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Safe: This fire is relatively save. This means: Most of the time the burning ashes and flame won't touch the ground and heat it up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A variation of this, suitable for an a-frame shelter would be a long-log fire. However without the correct tools (aka a good and long saw and dead trees with a diameter of at least 40cm) this is an impractical fire and takes quite some time to build.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5869" LastEditorUserId="5869" LastEditDate="2015-04-10T14:24:55.653" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T14:24:55.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8137" CreationDate="2015-04-10T14:21:52.917" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to give specific advice on exactly what sleeping bag you should buy. What I can help with is some general advice on what to look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Filling&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Probably the most important thing&lt;/strong&gt;. Generally two types of filling will be offered:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7935/down-feather-species-which-is-best&quot;&gt;types of down&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Synthetic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetic is typically much cheaper than down. But it's also bulkier, heavier and less resilient. There are also various &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7935/down-feather-species-which-is-best&quot;&gt;qualities of down&lt;/a&gt;, so two downs are not necessarily the same quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both types may of been &quot;treated&quot; to make them more water proof, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Materials of outer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much like the filling the materials that the outer are made of will vary in quality, weight, etc. Again this depends on what you want. If you're going up everest and will be living in your sleeping bag for long periods of time you'll want a good, light, strong outer, if you're camping once a year then a cheaper one will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Materials of the inner&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This basically boils down to how comfortable it is inside the sleeping bag. Again materials vary considerably from silk to polyester. Down to choice and what you want it for again I'm afraid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Zip&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How strong is the zip, will it break? If you're going to use it a lot you want one that's quite resistant, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shape&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mummy shape (or other hybrid on this theme) will be more expensive as it's more difficult to make but it also minimises &quot;dead air&quot; and materials, when compared to a bog standard rectangular one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Range of temperatures&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All sleeping bags should come with a range of temperatures that they are made for. Look for one that meets what you expect to encounter. They will also be classified as 2,3 or 4 season. So:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;2 season - spring summer&#xA;3 season - spring, summer, autumn&#xA;4 season - spring, summer, autumn winter&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it realistic to expect to pay $100 or less for a sleeping bag that&#xA;  will keep me warm enough for camping in places such as the U.S.&#xA;  Midwest, Yellowstone, etc. in the spring-fall seasons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;. Most sleeping bags will be fine for 2 season use. You'll want to pay extra to keep it small and light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The only thing that worries me about these bags are there pack-down&#xA;  size. I am not really sure what a normal size of a sleeping bag is&#xA;  once in it's stuff sack ... it would be helpful to have a range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is vast, roughly, I've seen sleeping bags that will compress down to about 4&quot; diameter to one's that are about the size of a spare tyre. all of the above varies this and typically the smaller the more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T09:58:09.400" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8142" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8144" CreationDate="2015-04-10T20:29:25.250" Score="22" ViewCount="81083" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if I was to follow the advice of letting bears know I am in the area, keeping my cooking and anything that smells at least 100m from my camp &amp;amp; downwind, etc, suppose a bear finds my tent and likes the smell of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I do? Suppose I do have a means of defending myself (maybe a canister of bear spray and/or a gun of some description)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5873" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:43.960" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:43.960" Title="What do I do if a black bear is right outside my tent?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8142" CreationDate="2015-04-10T21:27:36.557" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would make noise to confirm the bear is aware of my presence. I would try to gently get out of the tent and take some distance (10 feet / 3 meters) from the bear and tent acting normally. And I would wait it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ran into this situation once and this worked out just fine for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I would not use the shotgun or bear spray. If I had the bear spray with me, I would only use it if the bear charges towards me which is unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the key points are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calm behavior&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Provide space between you and what the bear has interest in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If cubs are involved, be extra extra cautious&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T21:27:36.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8142" CreationDate="2015-04-10T22:08:44.733" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been up close with grizzly and black bears before, I've had them come sniffing through my camp and I've done nothing but lay quiet in my sleeping bag and wait for them to wander off, which they usually do. Most of the time I don't even know they were there, I just find their tracks the next morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Believe it or not bears spook really easily. I've never had to use bear spray or shoot at a bear, they always run off as soon as we let them know we're getting close. So if you're in your tent and a bear is taking his time investigating your site, all you have to do most of the time is just announce yourself and that should be enough to scare them away. &lt;strong&gt;The human voice is the number one deterrent for bears&lt;/strong&gt;, so just start making loud noises. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will work most of the time, but the real problem bears are the ones that are used to humans, especially the ones that have been fed by humans in the past or found food in camps before, if one of these bears wanders into you site and doesn't act like it intends to leave without first finding something to eat, then get your bear spray out, get out of the tent, act big and keep shouting. You need to be pretty close for bear spray to be effective (30ft/9m or closer) so only spray it if your other attempts don't work and the bear is approaching you, or letting you approach him. Do NOT spray it inside of your tent, you will immediately regret it and possibly do yourself some serious harm. Try to get &lt;em&gt;upwind&lt;/em&gt; of the bear if possible, and aim for his nose. One good blast and that bear should take off real quick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people only cary one or the other, bear spray or a gun. A warning shot from a gun does just as good as bear spray does. People around here (Canadian Rockies) that hike with shotguns load it with 3 different types of ammo; the first round is just bird shot, to shoot in the air as a warning shot; the second shot is a slug, to shoot past the bear so he can hear the ball whistling past him; the rest of your rounds are all hollow-point bear stoppers, to put the beast down, because if the first two shots don't scare him away then nothing else is going to stop him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunters have bigger problems with bears than campers do, because hunters typically have a fresh kill with them that the bear wants (usually grizzly bears), with campers and hikers, it's usually a case of the hikers sneaking up on the bear unintentionally and surprising it-in which case the bear acts defensively- or bears happening upon a campsite because it's on the side of a trail (bears use trails too) and finding food there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shotguns are only necessary if the bear charges, tries to get into your tent, or is following you and you can't shake them off your trial. This is especially true with black bears, if a black bear is following you, and isn't scared off by any of your attempts to get him to leave, then odds are good you're going to have to either fight it off or shoot it, because there have been incidents where black bears have been known to stalk people for food. These incidents are very rare, and will typically only occur in the most wild areas where bears don't have much contact with humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... suppose a bear finds my tent and likes the smell of warm man-flesh&#xA;  inside of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming from bear country, if shouting at it doesn't scare it away and you have a gun, ten out of ten people where I'm from would say &lt;strong&gt;shoot it&lt;/strong&gt;. Right through the tent. Don't even feel guilty about it, because if you don't shoot it, then a ranger probably will as soon as you report the encounter (assuming you managed to scare it off some other way). They don't tolerate bears that behave that way because they're  a risk to people's safety. You've probably heard the saying, &lt;strong&gt;&quot;A fed bear is a dead bear.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; They say that because 99% of the time, bears that get hand outs or find&#xA; human food end up getting put down because they always come back for more.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a bear trying to get in your tent, and you &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; have a gun: &lt;strong&gt;FIGHT IT&lt;/strong&gt;. You are literally fighting for your life, so kick, scream, hit it in the face with anything you've got. Bear spray will only work if there's nothing in between you and the bear, so try to get out of your tent before trying to spray it, or like I said already, you can actually make things worse for yourself if you spray it inside of your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For Reference:&lt;/strong&gt; To put it in perspective, deaths from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America#2010s&quot;&gt;black bear attacks&lt;/a&gt; in North America are about as common as &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal,_unprovoked_shark_attacks_in_the_United_States&quot;&gt;shark attacks&lt;/a&gt;, and in many of the fatal encounters with black bears, the bear had fed on the victim.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-16T18:18:15.050" LastActivityDate="2015-04-16T18:18:15.050" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8142" CreationDate="2015-04-10T22:50:19.197" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black Bears simply don't like the smell of warm man-flesh; in fact, if one notices you, it's likely to take off. I've had bears sniffing around my camp before. Assuming all your food is safely stored already and you don't need to scare it off to protect your supplies, a perfectly valid option is just to stay still, and wait until the bear leaves. If you want to encourage the bear's departure, making a lot of noise is an effective deterrent as well. Shout, bang metal together, etc. If the bear is still sticking around, getting out of the tent, and waving your arms while shouting will be likely to drive away most black bears. In a properly secured camp, bear spray - let alone a firearm - are unlikely to be necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-10T22:50:19.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8142" CreationDate="2015-04-11T23:02:17.640" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;People getting killed by black bears is exceedingly rare.  There are roughly 1 per year in North America, and most of those in Canada and Alaska.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in your tent at night and hear what you think is a black bear outside, the best thing to do is nothing.  I have been in this situation a few times, and in all cases the animal (never saw it so can't confirm black bear) wandered off after a minute or two.  They aren't interested in you.  If it's a regular campsite, they may have learned that occasionally there are scraps of food to be found.  They will sniff around and then leave if they don't find anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have bear spray with you (I didn't on any of these occasions), then get it ready in your hand.  That's not because you'll need it to defend yourself, but it will make you feel a little more secure so that you're less likely to do something stupid that will get you into trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the unlikely event that the bear starts poking at your tent, make loud sounds.  Yell at it at the top of your lungs.  Unless this happens to be the 1 in 1,000,000 encounters where the bear is predatory, it will run off and leave you alone.  In the very unlikely event it is a predatory bear, use the bear spray.  However, you have to spray at the bear, not inside the tent.  This requires you opening the tent, unless of course the bear has already ripped thru it.  Seriously though, you are more likely to get hit by lightning than have a black bear break into your tent trying to harm you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave the shotgun home.  The chances are much greater that you'll have a accident and hurt yourself with it than getting hurt by any bear it might have stopped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have encountered black bears in the wild while hiking by myself at least three times that I can remember now (probably 4 or more if I thought about it some more).  More accurately, those were times when I noticed the bear.  Surely there were many more times when a bear noticed me that I wasn't aware of.  Each time the bear ran off as soon as it saw me.  To give you a better feel for black bears, where is what happened each time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 - Northern Yosemite National Park well out of the valley on a trail heading to Hetch Hetchy.  I saw a bear about 50 feet in front of me standing sideways across the trail.  It saw me about 1/2 second after I saw it.  It immediately ran off sideways, and I could hear it running thru the forest for a good distance.  The total visual encounter was maybe 1 second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 - On top of Mormon Mountain in north-central Arizona, Coconino National Forest.  I was standing in the middle of a dirt road and saw a bear cross the road maybe 100 feet in front of me.  I stood still and it didn't notice me.  It came diagonally closer by going off the road but also partway in my direction.  It found a old rotted log 50 feet from me and started clawing at it and was breaking it apart, most likely looking for grubs.  I had a camera with me and was going to take its picture, but thought I'd pick up a nice size rock first.  I tried to do this when the bear had its back turned, but it caught my movement anyway and ran off so quickly I couldn't get the camera to my eye and focus before it got out of sight into the forest.  Again I heard it running some distance into the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 - On the road down from Mt Greylock in northwestern Massachusetts.  It was dusk and I saw a dark blob maybe 200 feet ahead.  I thought it might be a bear, but it was too far and too dark to be sure.  I kept walking and at maybe 100 feet I could tell it was definitely a bear.  As I was deciding what, if anything, I should do about it, the bear saw me and ran up the steep slope at the side of the road.  I couldn't see it after it entered the woods, but could hear it running up the slope a ways.  Although I tried, I did not see the bear again as I hiked on the road past the spot it had been.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-04-11T23:02:17.640" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8147" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8149" CreationDate="2015-04-12T01:21:48.907" Score="17" ViewCount="9125" Body="&lt;p&gt;When setting up a rappel anchor, using things like webbing, rings, that kind of stuff, what happens to the anchor when you get to the bottom? Assuming you can't hike to the top and grab it, do you most people leave it behind? I've seen some instances where people don't use artificial anchors, but just wrap the rope around a tree and then pull the rope down when they're done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems awfully wasteful, and against LNT to just leave a bunch of webbing on a rock. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2819" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T19:55:23.310" Title="What happens to rappel anchors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8147" CreationDate="2015-04-12T03:14:56.023" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaving a sling behind is not as wasteful as you might think - a sling that has been rappelled off (without a 'biner or ring) must be retired anyway.  In the scheme of the cost of recreational activity a few slings and rings add up to a minimal cost. Within reason, waste is not a reason to avoid leaving gear behind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple of things you can do to avoid leaving gear behind. Plan the route to use fixed anchors for the descent, use natural anchors (But not a tree - you risk ring barking it as you pull the rope down). In snow conditions use a snow bollard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using slings that are naturally colored as opposed to brightly colored ones helps with the visual pollution. Locate them where they are least visible. One personal hate of mine (I won't climb with a partner who has them) is brightly colored slings littering a mountain, as natural colors do the job equally well and bright colors add no useful function to the sling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reusing other peoples gear is not advised - you have no idea of its history, and in the case of a sling, it will be severely weakened by the pulling of the rope though it and UV damage.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always try to bring more gear back to camp with me than I left with. The only reason not to is because there's nothing left to clean up. If every climber cleaned up the route as they went, the problem of gear left behind is minimal - even on the most popular routes you would only have a sling or two left behind on each pitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T03:14:56.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8147" CreationDate="2015-04-12T04:19:07.100" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;, it does get left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Descending rings are meant to be used to facilitate the recovery of ropes, they save your rope from getting horribly dirty, damaged, or stuck, and leave much less of an impact than rappelling off of a tree or branch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pulling you rope off of a tree will saw into the trunk and leave permanent scars, it could even possibly lead to the eventual death of the tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes it leaves a trace, but they're fairly inert articles, and it's unlikely that anyone will ever find your sling except for fellow alpinists, they're only typically used for fast descents off long alpine routes in places where there's no other way down (aside from down-climbing, which is how most climbers get into accidents).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If an alpinist finds a descending ring while on a descent, the proper ediquette is to cut the webbing, retire the ring and replace it with one of your own–as it's never advisable to use climbing gear that you don't know the history of–but usually they will inspect the ring and the webbing to see if it's still usable. Someone my reuse it if they feel that it is safe, sometimes they will reuse the ring only but add a sling of they're own, leaving the original sling as a backup. This is when things get messy, when old slings start to pile up, but some responsible climber eventually comes along and cleans the mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When rappel anchors pile up:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TldAa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EqHqu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-07-27T19:55:23.310" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T19:55:23.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8150" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-12T15:04:43.470" Score="4" ViewCount="418" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had limited success finding hiking boots that really fit me. Therefore, I'm thinking about custom-made ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, I'm not sure how to think through this decision. What are the advantages and disadvantages? At a first order, it seems they would be &quot;better fit&quot; and &quot;extremely expensive&quot; (i.e., pushing $1000 for a pair), respectively, but it seems there should be more nuance than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my case, the main uses will be dayhiking, often off-trail in rugged terrain, and backpacking a few times a year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5597" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:26.557" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T13:45:27.167" Title="What are the pros and cons of custom-made hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8150" CreationDate="2015-04-12T15:16:11.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What nuances are you referring to? If you have an atypical foot shape you of course will be able to get a good fit in a custom-made boot. If it's made by a shoemaker who knows what he is doing it should be a lot more durable too. In contrast the high price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What nuances besides quality (fit, durability) and price are there? Maybe the time it takes to get the custom-made boot done. But to be honest that's not an interesting fact if you think of the time searching a good fitting boot bought off the shelf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could compare it to a handmade suit. It's expensive but of very high quality. You have to decide for yourself if it's worth the money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hanwag, Lowa are in general narrow in width, so are the italian shoes from e.g. La Sportiva, Scarpa, Asolo. You could also try ladies version which are narrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-04-12T19:46:39.037" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T19:46:39.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8154" CreationDate="2015-04-12T16:20:26.080" Score="9" ViewCount="3096" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I was hiking in partly deep snow where &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3404/should-i-be-more-careful-about-postholing-during-winter-hikes&quot;&gt;postholing&lt;/a&gt; was inevitable. I had no problems until one moment when I was getting cramps in the femoral. Luckily it was close to the end of my tour and walking got easier because the snow height decreased. But if this wasn't the case and I had to hold on for hours I'd been in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to &lt;strong&gt;quickly get rid of cramps&lt;/strong&gt; so I am able to get to the camp or the end of a hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think dehydration plays a major role here so I would pause, drink and get some calcium if I have. What else to do? Which drugs are helping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T15:55:07.700" Title="Continue a hike when legs start cramping" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;muscle-cramps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7664" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:03:09.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Merino wool is amazing. There are many brands of merino wool underwear, such as Icebreaker and Ibex. It is simultaneously the coolest and warmest fabric I've encountered. It never smells (I wash mine every 10 wearings just because I feel obligated), it drys in minutes, and it wicks moisture like sheep evolved their fibers for millions of years (because that's what happened). The downsides are its expense and lack of durability. To mitigate the latter, never dry wool at high temperatures (eg hang dry, air dry, or use a heat pump dryer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5881" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T18:03:09.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8152" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:35:23.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its well-known to relate Cramps and Dehydration. So its obvious that you talked about hydrating yourself. But, in most of the situations muscle cramps can be stopped if the involved muscle is stretched. Be a bit careful about stretching at the same time.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safe stretching exercises that I opt for involves stretching ankle by pulling the toes up and lying flat with the leg as straight as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treating muscle cramps in Calf:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Straighten your leg and lift your foot upwards, bending it at the ankle so that your toes point towards your shin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightly massage the area until the cramp subside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk around on your heels for a few minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That may not be the case, but check if its temporary &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudication&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Claudification&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T18:35:23.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8155" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:55:01.020" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canoe is a small, lightweight, narrow boat, pointed at both ends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:32:26.217" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:32:26.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8156" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:55:01.020" Score="0" Body="Questions related to maintenance, safety in regards with Canoes shall be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:32:26.217" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:32:26.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8157" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In scope of The Great Outdoor, the term altitude shall be used to related vertical distance measured from a standard level, usually the MSL (Mean Sea Level).&#xA;Questions related to altitude gain, altitude sickness can be tagged with this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8158" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" Score="0" Body="Altitude literally means height. " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" LastActivityDate="2015-04-12T18:58:16.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8152" CreationDate="2015-04-12T19:47:14.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on what's causing the cramps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation, high stepping is what was causing your quads to seize up. The best solution there would be to slow down and stretch frequently. If you start chugging fluids you can actually give yourself more cramps, the kind that you'd have to simply wait out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think electrolytes are the best way to get rid of most cramps that you can't stretch out, aside from rest. I keep a bottle of those &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coca-colacompany.com/press-center/press-releases/new-powerade-zero-drops-turns-h20-into-a-zero-calorie-sports-drink&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;electrolyte water drops&lt;/a&gt; to squirt into my water bottle if I need a little extra recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that I'll do in this situation–when I know that I'm going to post hole no matter how lightly I tread–is actually break the surface &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; transferring my weight to my leg. I do this by spearing through the crust with my pointed toe. It takes less energy to kick with each step than it does to lift your whole body out of the hole, so you fatigue slower, and put less strain on your muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T15:55:07.700" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T15:55:07.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8160" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-13T02:20:36.683" Score="14" ViewCount="6452" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do leeches fall from trees onto unsuspecting hikers?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or do they only dwell on the ground and attach to passing feet/boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T14:16:25.393" Title="Do leeches fall onto prey from trees?" Tags="&lt;leeches&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8160" CreationDate="2015-04-13T03:38:14.357" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leeches swim in still water, they don't live in trees, and they don't dwell on the ground. They attach themselves to bare skin, you won't even notice them do it. Last time I had a leech latch onto me I didn't find it until that night when I went to bed and found it mostly dried up attached to my toe when I took my socks of to get into my sleeping bag. (it was just a small one, somehow I didn't notice it when I put my socks on after getting out of the water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think what you're thinking about is perhaps not leeches, but &lt;strong&gt;ticks&lt;/strong&gt;. Ticks will climb up onto tall grass or shrubs and hang out with their long arms up in the air just waiting for something to walk by that they can grab onto. They then crawl up your body and will either go under your shirt and attach to your back (the only place I've ever had them attach to me) or they'll climb right up to your neck or get into your hair and latch on to your scalp. You might notice them crawling on you, but you usually find them after they're already attached. To get them off all you have to do is get a good hold on their bodies, give them a gentle tug–just enough to raise your skin to where you can really feel it pulling on you–and then hold it there, they will eventually lose their grip and come off. Don't try to rip them off, just hold on and and wait for them to let go, if you rip them off you could rip their bodies from the head that's lodged inside you, which will likely get infected, and I don't know about you but the idea of having a severed head stuck under my skin kinda grosses me out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Leech:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y9Qma.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tick:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/okiTs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T03:43:35.077" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T03:43:35.077" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8160" CreationDate="2015-04-13T10:14:03.457" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech&quot;&gt;leeches&lt;/a&gt; can live above ground, on trees, and drop on their prey. I have seen this happen while hiking in Nepal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The leeches of which @ShemSeger speaks of are water leeches, but leeches also include the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemadipsidae&quot;&gt;haemadipsidae&lt;/a&gt; family, which are ground leeches. They will do amazing things to reach you, including (but not limited to) dropping on you from above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T10:14:03.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8160" CreationDate="2015-04-13T10:50:04.340" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This really depends on what part of the world you are in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are leeches in Australia that live in wet undergrowth (fronds, plants, etc) next to trails. When anything edible walks past they grab hold and start feeding. You don't even notice them until they drop off and the bleeding starts (since they inject anti-coagulant and numbing agent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've experienced this myself, it was common when we went hiking in the rainforest to have multiple leeches on us by the time we finished the hike and you would have no idea they were there until you rolled up your trousers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience they don't drop down onto you though, they wait in bushes beside the trail and grab on as you walk past. This is why you generally get them on your legs, and not anywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T10:50:04.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1560" CreationDate="2015-04-13T12:44:53.763" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a military vet from Vietnam, I've used this and I still use it. Every year in the summer in Tennessee, when the mosquitoes come out it works very well for me. Others may not be able to handle the taste. Talking to non vets who haven't used it will tell you I'm not chewing on a match.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5883" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-04-13T18:27:44.223" LastActivityDate="2015-04-13T18:27:44.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8165" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-13T14:47:40.433" Score="8" ViewCount="763" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a trail (Not really a &quot;trail&quot; as such), adjacent to my appartment I am lucky to be by a 100m x 500m patch of earth (not an official park), that is not built on. &lt;strong&gt;Swerving from the trail, where people walk their dogs, there is a tiny opening, covered by a tree.&lt;/strong&gt; I like it a lot and would like to maintain it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem is, it is not a good neighbourhood. Once with a few friends we built a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/swingtime-ceramic-tire-swing-bird-feeder-2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;swing&lt;/a&gt; and a bench, they were gone in less than 24 hours - apparently people with knives and heavy boots didn't like it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By maintain I mean clear up the broken bottles and possibly even out the earth with a shovel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luckily, the opening isn't visible from the main &quot;trail for dogs&quot;. Its a  clearly marked trail turn, but a 90 degree turn hides the destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;My question is how can the trail turn be hidden?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't have to resist careful inspection, but it should fool a couple of drunks, making them think twice about entering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I visit the place with at most a couple friends at a time about twice a week. The broken bottles and other rubbish seem quite dug into the earth, therefore I doubt a great amount of people visit the place in recent years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I was wondering which advice to adhere to, summer weeks passed and someone did it before me. They cleaned up some vegetation, constructed simple table and chairs out of thrown away furniture. The place is quite nice now for a good book, high above the evil ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;So, I shall not accept an answer, because there is no way to judge what would have happened. But I like the answer about approaching from different angles the most :D&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-16T05:24:44.173" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T21:49:35.927" Title="How to hide a trail turn?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8165" CreationDate="2015-04-13T14:58:41.620" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is &lt;i&gt;&quot;you shouldn't&quot;&lt;/i&gt;, since it appears from your description it's not your land and you have no authority over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unauthorized private modifications to public land can be a serious problem.  Not only can you get into trouble doing it, it may make work and cause problems for those who are in charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to see this trail marking changed, find out who owns the land and who has authority over the trails (may not be the same people, committee, etc), and make a request to them.  When doing so, make it clear you are willing to help as a volunteer to perform any work.  However, you should not take it upon yourself to make modifications to something that's not yours without the proper permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell you for sure that if you came to my town and started modifying markings at trail intersections, we'd take a very dim view of that.  If you came to the Trails Committee instead with a proposal, we'd kick it around and evaluate the idea with the benefit of the general public in mind.  There may also be various restrictions and deals made about trails on that property that you are not aware of.  Those may proclude a certain type of use, or even a certain type of signage.  Yes, both of these restrictions, and a number of others, exist of various parts of our trail network.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added in response to comments&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wow, we have a tough crowd here.  The main objection seems to be that this answer doesn't apply to the OP's location.  Maybe it doesn't, but there is no way to know since the OP never mentioned a location.  If you want a answer that is specific to a location, you need to specify that location in the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just checked, and the OP is in Bulgaria according to his profile.  I don't know what laws and customs are like in Bulgaria, and of course we don't know if that's where the OP is actually asking about either.  In any case, this answer is still correct for significant parts of the world, including where I am, which is in the US, more specifically New England.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around here, even in a city, &lt;i&gt;someone&lt;/i&gt; will own the land and have authority over it.  While walking on it is generally OK as long as it's not specifically posted &quot;No trespassing&quot;, making any modifications without permission of the land owner is not OK.  This would include trimming branches to make a trail, or to deliberately obfuscate a existing trail.  It would absolutely include putting up a swing and installing benches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To take this even further, in some cases modifications, even just clearing a trail, may take more permission than just the land owner's consent.  There can be various ordinances in a city governing vacant property.  Here in Massachusetts anything within 100 feet of a wetland requires permission from the local Conservation Commission in addition to consent from the land owner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all those quick to downvote because they &lt;i&gt;assume&lt;/i&gt; it doesn't apply to the OP's particular sitation need to consider that it does apply to many such situations in many parts of the world.  I don't really care whether this answer ultimately helps the OP or not.  However, it is something anyone else contemplating something similar should consider carefully since it may apply to them.  Downvote as you see fit, but I'm leaving this here because it is in line with the Stack Exchange stated goal of building broad and long-lasting repository of questions and answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2015-04-14T13:19:39.800" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T13:19:39.800" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8168" CreationDate="2015-04-13T18:16:30.920" Score="8" ViewCount="7420" Body="&lt;p&gt;Poison oak season has begun around here, with fields full of the nasty stuff growing everywhere. I tend to dress conservatively in areas I know have poison oak, to avoid getting exposed in the first place. Were I to be exposed, how should I clean the poison oak from my skin? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm aware of various hi-tech products designed to clean poison oak, but am unsure whether they're actually any more effective than just using regular soap and water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:43:30.697" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T18:30:05.093" Title="What is the most effective method to clean skin exposed to poison oak?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;poison-oak&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8167" CreationDate="2015-04-13T18:16:30.920" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Poison oak's &quot;poison&quot; is an oil-based substance; therefore any oil-removing soap will do the trick. Dish soap is a low-cost and easily available substance for cleaning poison oak from skin. &lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-4362.2000.00003.x/abstract;jsessionid=56C63288DDBEE05659A7742E6AE6E0C7.f01t01&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This study&lt;/a&gt; found that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dish soap was significantly better than no treatment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dish soap was not significantly different from two other products (Tecnu, which is much more expensive, and Goop).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vigorously washing the affected area with dish soap and water will typically remove poison oak oils. It's best to wash the area immediately -- within a matter of minutes after exposure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-04-15T05:02:44.953" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T05:02:44.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8165" CreationDate="2015-04-13T19:41:24.773" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak for lands inside a city, but out in the woods &lt;strong&gt;the best way to hide a trail, is &lt;em&gt;not to leave a trail&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. I grew up in the sticks where growing up everyone I knew had a secret fort somewhere in the dense forest, the thing to do with your buddies after school was to hang out at your secret fort; building it up, fortifying it, shooting BB guns, or  scouting around trying to find someone else's fort to raid for nails and other building supplies (there was no hardware store in town to buy that kind of stuff). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trails were a dead give away, if you saw a small foot trail heading into the trees off of one of the many access trails, odds were good you'd find a tree fort at the end of it, the hardest forts to find were ones that didn't have an obvious trail leading to them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want people to find your secret spot, don't tread down a nice path to get there, access it from different directions, but don't damage the under growth. This was easy enough for us to do in the East Kootenays, because there's loads of deadfall in the woods, so we would just walk along the fallen trees and never touch the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to Leave no Trace as you move through the bush, you do this by not disturbing any of the growth and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leavenotrace.ca/principle-travel-camp-durable-surfaces&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;traveling on durable surfaces&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No one is going to lecture you about picking up broken glass and maintaining a pretty spot in the woods. Picking up litter is a service, and everyone enjoys when things look more pretty. But I wouldn't leave anything behind though, dropping swings and furniture on someone else's land is littering, doesn't matter if it's nice comfortable litter or not. Bring a picnic blanket and a hammock in your bag instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-18T21:49:35.927" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T21:49:35.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8170" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-13T20:50:45.333" Score="10" ViewCount="363" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a whitewater kayaker and my GF, who does not kayak, sometimes accompanies me on river trips. She loves the outdoors and is never bored when I am boating (besides driving my vehicle from the putin to the takeout, AKA &quot;shuttle bunny&quot;) but she has mentioned that she wouldn't mind to do some trout fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the water level needs for kayakers (higher flows) are different than for fishermen (lower flows), some of the rivers I paddle are dam released, IOW, the basic flow is low and then the dam releases, injecting a necessary flow for kayaking for a few hours, then it is low again.  So it could work out that she could fish on the same river where I am boating or find another stream with (stocked) trout nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what is the basic setup for trout fishing with a spinning rod (which would be more basic than fly fishing)?  What size of rod is optimal.  Our rivers/creeks are mostly smaller (e.g. 30-100 ft across, 300-1400 CFS) with some rapids and some swimming/fishing holes in between and lots of trees around (which makes fly fishing less practical).  What kind of bait and test lines?  Other equipment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:56:09.513" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T01:03:19.980" Title="Basic setup for trout fishing" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8167" CreationDate="2015-04-13T22:37:15.713" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ivory soap (for North American campers)...it's the only one that actually cleans and does not leave any residue (which can hold oils) begins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what other brands of a similar product there is, but I bet you can find your own if you look for ivory soap on the Internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-04-14T16:06:30.623" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T16:06:30.623" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8170" CreationDate="2015-04-14T01:16:50.537" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Local regulations have a part to play in gear selection - e.g. are you allowed to bait fish?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal preference in this situation is a telescopic rod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a bad reputation, mainly because you get lot's that are really cheap and nasty. Get a decent quality one and its nearly as good on the water as a similar priced 4 piece. I go telescopic as they are so easy to pack and travel with, and when on the water can be folded down very quickly to move around obstacles (trees etc) without getting snagged. If you prefer sectional rods, go 4 rather than 2 piece. Teles are more prone to breakage so treat them gentler than you would a sectional rod, especially when collapsing them down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the rivers you describe casting distance is not so important, a light rod that can case small lures and soft baits is probably best - length is not everything and a short rod with a good action will be better than a long rod -again, think about the trees and snagging.  The exception would be if you live in a very windy location, when you need weight in the lure to get a good cast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a decent real with a smooth action. The last couple of seasons I have switched to braid and floro carbon leaders, mostly using small light soft baits. I keep a selection of small spinners and lures as often the trout will take one but not the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other gear - a vest with pockets for knifes and lure boxes etc is almost super handy. As is a landing net - ideally a folding one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best be is find a local shop and talk to them, or a local fishing club. Fishing is on of those sports that local knowledge is very important, and the shops are usually manned by guys that live and breath the sport. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am sure you are well aware, but I have to say it - She should not go near the river prior to dam release.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-14T08:15:32.893" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T08:15:32.893" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8173" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8177" CreationDate="2015-04-14T10:11:35.893" Score="11" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I am going swimming in the pool my skin gets tanned due to sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which SPF value is suitable for my purpose? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I go for some specific ingredient, so that the lotion won't dissolve in water?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there other possibilities how to effectively protect against UV radiation from the sun?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5377" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:39:35.057" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T12:40:32.410" Title="Best sun protection for swimming" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2015-04-14T12:04:03.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it is quite possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just did it last week in 1 day, starting at 6am at Porto de la Cruz and after 10h20 of walking with few stops I reached the summit at 3,718m a bit after 4pm. Then you can go down for the night at Altavista (c. 3,200m) and see the sun rise the morning after (with a great view of the shadow of the Teide). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to book in advance the permit to reach the summit (at least a good month in advance), for the sun rise from Altavista there is no need of a permit. You can get water at Portillo and also in the bathrooms at the top of the cable car (c. 3,500m) (I drunk both and did not get sick). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously you need to be fit and cope with the altitude (I have been at 4,200m before but after 3 days of progressive climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5888" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-04-14T14:32:24.720" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T14:32:24.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8167" CreationDate="2015-04-14T13:31:05.233" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know about poison oak, but have lots of experience with posion ivy.  I think the irritant in both is similar (urushiol oil, or something like that).  This answer applies to poison ivy, which I think transfer to posion oak too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, ordinary soap does no good against this oil.  I have taken a shower with ordinary soap shortly after being exposed to poison ivy, and got the nasty rash.  Last year I started using a product called &lt;i&gt;TechNu&lt;/i&gt; (or something similar to that, can't remember exact name) and I can tell you it does work.  It is something you use like soap after exposure, but unlike soap, it actually does wash off the irritating oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been a least two cases now where I'm quite sure I got exposed to poison ivy while doing trail work.  I went home afterwards, took a shower and washed with the TechNu stuff, and had no symptoms.  I'm quite allergic to poison ivy, and am convinced that washing with this stuff made a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm at work now and the bottle is at home, but I sortof remember that poison oak is listed on the label as one of the irritants it is effective against.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T13:31:05.233" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8176" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8178" CreationDate="2015-04-14T17:50:10.163" Score="8" ViewCount="914" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I prevent (re-)infecting myself from my barefoot shoes? The obvious answer would be not to wear them while I am infected, but taken that aside, are there possibilities to clean/disinfect the shoes so I can wear them again? Is there a possibility to reinfect myself again at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My shoes - as probably most barefoot shoes - are washable with 30 - 40° C. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T22:04:36.963" Title="Prevent athlete´s foot (re)infection in barefoot shoes?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8173" CreationDate="2015-04-14T18:29:23.610" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will want to look for a sun cream that is designed for swimming - don't bother looking for specific ingredients, look for the bottles that say they are for sun and swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually in addition to the SPF they will have a rating or guide as to how often you need to reapply (eg every swim, or every two swims)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@ShemSeger's comment is the recommended way to protect children, and those who burn easily - get a Rash Vest or Sun Top. Typically these have an SPF over 50 and this doesn't need topping up through the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-04-14T18:29:23.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8176" CreationDate="2015-04-15T00:39:04.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some options I have used in the past&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UV Pen - Strong UV Light will kill fungus&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anti-Fungal Powder - Works just as well on shoes as it does on toes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anti-Fungal Cream - Same premise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T00:39:04.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8167" CreationDate="2015-04-15T00:40:55.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As noted, the key is removing it quickly.  If you like to carry around dishsoap, that will work great.  However if you do not regularly carry that around, abrasives are a good alternative.  I've effectively used the sand at the bottom of a small waterfall to remove the oils and of the entire hiking group, all of whom realized too late what we'd walked through, none had a reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T00:40:55.007" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8176" CreationDate="2015-04-15T05:40:06.953" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Key thing is to get the shoes clean and dry. Wash the shoes at the hottest possible temperature and let them dry thoroughly. (Use a hair dryer on cool/warm setting carefully if needed). Use an anti fungal laundry rinse such as CANESTEN laundry wash if the problem is persistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't wear the same shoes two days in a row - with barefoot shoes look at rotating 3 pairs if you can afford it - ideally wash after every use until the problem stops recurring, then wash regularly. With three pairs you can wash one and cycle the other two till the first is dry, then wash another pair. Wear them as little as possible - put them on just before you leave and take them off as soon as you get home and let you feet breath.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously unless you treat your feet properly its all a waste of time.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, use socks until you have the infection under control. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T05:40:06.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2015-04-15T11:42:30.073" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For an evening meal... this stuff is GOLD!... Batchelors Beanfest. Unfortunately, only on sale in the UK as far as I am aware. But I live in NZ and can get them shipped. One packet feeds 2. With couscous or rice. Light. Nutritious. Yum!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5754" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2015-04-17T02:58:59.667" LastActivityDate="2015-04-17T02:58:59.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8176" CreationDate="2015-04-15T21:54:04.240" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trick to preventing chronic athletes foot in toe shoes is the same as with regular shoes, and that is to &lt;strong&gt;wear socks&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YQnGr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.injinji.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Injinji&lt;/a&gt; toe socks are by far the most popular socks to wear with fivefingers shoes. They keep your shoes cleaner, and help prevent funguses from forming inside them. Just keep in mind that if you wear toe socks in your toe shoes, that you can't exactly go back to not wearing socks, as the shoes will stretch to make room for the sock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't wear socks in your shoes, then you pretty much have to treat your shoes like socks and wash them very regularly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-15T22:04:36.963" LastActivityDate="2015-04-15T22:04:36.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8186" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8187" CreationDate="2015-04-16T04:05:24.280" Score="11" ViewCount="520" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a normal waterproof backpack. Last weekend when I went camping, I lethargically packed it, and the whole bottle of edible oil got spilt inside. I have tried cleaning it with salt water, luke warm water, the smell just wouldn't go. How should I clean it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I am more concerned about getting rid of the smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:26:22.220" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:26:22.220" Title="Cleaning the inside of a backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8186" CreationDate="2015-04-16T04:58:06.563" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oil needs a soap or detergent, and ideally hot water to dissolve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hand washed with a laundry detergent and hot water. if it is still a problem, remove the aluminium frame and any loose bits you can and wash it on a gentle cycle (no spin) in a front loading washing machine. You may want to take it to a laundrymart with large washers. Ideally put it into a large cloth bag to stop straps etc getting caught up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Commercial Dry cleaning will also be able to deal with the oils.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you mean by &quot;normal&quot; all this may destroy the waterproofing, so once fully dry rewater proof it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-04-16T04:58:06.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8160" CreationDate="2015-04-17T05:27:54.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience in the Western Ghats of India:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have found them in still water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They dwell on the ground hunting for prey.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can climb up trees barks and search for the heat signature of animals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are found only in regions with considerable wetness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ADDITIONAL INFO:&#xA;I do not think this is specific to any region of the world. As long as they have a wet patch of land to dwell on, they'll be around. They wont harm much. They use two chemicals: An anticoagulant(hirudin. Proven and well documented) to prevent blood from clogging and a local anaesthesia(not proven yet) to prevent you from feeling their bite (Some even suggest morphine). So basically, they attach on to you, bite with the chemicals in place, and sit there opening their mouth while your blood drips into them :P. They are more of a nuisance. And yes, they are kinda squishy and feel weird to touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number of leech bites I've had: At least a thousand till date :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2015-04-17T06:25:25.330" LastActivityDate="2015-04-17T06:25:25.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8191" CreationDate="2015-04-17T13:34:13.437" Score="13" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a lot of backpacking trips lined up this summer, including one multi-week one. I'm considering picking up a dehydrator because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It probably would be more cost effective than buying freeze dried food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I get more (total, in fact) control over the ingredients.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In addition to meals, I can make snacks like jerky and fruit leathers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the meals side (breakfast, dinner) it seems like &lt;a href=&quot;http://backcountrypost.com/threads/diy-dehydrated-backpacking-meals.1098/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the re-hydration times are nearly half an hour&lt;/a&gt;. Maybe half of that is just letting it sit, but depending on the climate you might need to keep the stove running on simmer for even that phase. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm comparing that to freeze dried food which is simply (in my experience) to add boiling water, wait ~7 minutes, and you're good to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'd like to know if anyone has any experience dealing with rehydrating dehydrated food and what kind of dent that puts into fuel use and meal times (compared to freeze dried).&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For whatever it's worth, I typically use an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/709002/msr-dragonfly-backpacking-stove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR Dragonfly&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: I recently just got back from a trip where I dehydrated ground beef and pasta sauce in advance. I combined them both in a bowl with water (in the sun, lid on) for ~45 minutes, stirring. Boiled some pasta noodles, combined, and had a pretty awesome dinner. As indicated by the accepted answer below, re-hydration is a thing to deal with but it's certainly do-able. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="5813" LastEditDate="2015-04-29T00:35:32.657" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T00:35:32.657" Title="The re-hydration time for deydrated foods" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8189" CreationDate="2015-04-17T17:08:46.627" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I cook home-dehydrated food, I often rehydrate for a day - but not on the stove. In the morning, I boil water for coffee, pour some over dehydrated meat in a Nalgene, leave the lid on loosely until the water is only warm, then tighten the lid firmly. It spends the day in the pack and by dinner time the meat is rehydrated. For some vegetables, such as carrots, I rehydrate them (boiling water in a mug typically) on arrival at the campsite about 4pm. Only a few vegetables get nothing more than cook time for their rehydration. A tomato leather (made from tomato sauce and paste combined), pieces of tomato, corn, mushrooms, and dried fruit will plump up ok in 20 minutes or so while you're cooking rice or pasta. Everything else gets some pre-treatment. Beans (for chili) I start the night before, and in the morning I drain them and add new boiling water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I won't deny that freeze dried is both lighter and quicker. But I love controlling the proportions and the taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-04-17T17:08:46.627" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8165" CreationDate="2015-04-17T18:19:08.953" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer assumes that either land ownership is not an issue, or that you have permission from the owner. Please read Olin Lanthrop's answer for a discussion of the ethical issues of whether you SHOULD do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the details of trail obfuscation depend on the local ecosystem. For instance, a general rule is to put branches in front of the trail head, to block it and obscure it. This is very effective in dense woodland, and moderately effective in sparse woodland or dense grasslands, where fallen branches are reasonably common. In a barren area, it simply calls attention to the trailhead, and a new entrance will quickly appear beside the original entrance. In a rocky area, placing small boulders at the trailhead may help hide it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soil compaction is the main thing that distinguishes a trail from the surrounding land. The tramped down soil makes it harder for seeds to take root, as well as providing the ground with a distinctive appearance. If you loosen the first few inches of soil with a rock rake or other tool, it will only take a few months or years for the land to look more like the surrounding area without any interference. To speed this up, you can plant some of the fast growing plants (weeds, probably) common to the park. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disguise the ground cover: If the land around the trailhead is loose-fallen leaves, rake some of the leaves over the trail. If it's all dead grass, lay some dead grass on it, and be prepared to replace it as it blows away. Loosening the soil also changes the appearance significantly, but it gets tramped down very easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, what I would do would be to  scatter some mid-size branches along the first 2-4 meters of the trail, and rake some of the surrounding land cover over the trail for the same distance. This provides immediate cover. If the trail is wide enough to be narrowed, rake the ground cover a few inches deep to allow plants to grow easily, and toss out some seeds for common, fast-growing plants that are already in the lot. It will take very little use to compact the soil again, so the last step may not be worth the trouble on a trail you'll be using frequently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2015-04-17T18:19:08.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8195" CreationDate="2015-04-18T00:46:15.120" Score="9" ViewCount="1809" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this tonight on the external wall:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ghasV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: UK (south)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling it is a young green fang spider, please correct me if I am wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the most important question: is it venomous?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5899" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-06-11T15:10:04.580" LastActivityDate="2020-06-11T15:10:04.580" Title="What is the species of this spider? Is it venomous?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;spider&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8194" CreationDate="2015-04-18T01:05:14.890" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;That actually looks to be a Woodlouse Hunter &lt;em&gt;(Dysdera crocata)&lt;/em&gt;. They prey exclusively on woodlice. They also go by a few other names such as: woodlouse spider, sowbug hunter, sowbug killer, pillbug hunter, and slater spider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j0JCW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Woodlouse Spiders&quot;&gt;&#xA;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/spiders/sow-bug-killers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/spiders/sow-bug-killers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the Pennsylvania State Entomology Department site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dysdera crocata&lt;/em&gt; is a hunting spider found from New England to Georgia and west to California. &lt;strong&gt;It is also a commonly encountered spider in England&lt;/strong&gt;, northern Europe, and Australia. The woodlouse hunter preys on pill bugs or sow bugs (order Isopoda) and derives its common name from the British common name for these crustaceans. &lt;em&gt;D. crocata&lt;/em&gt; is known to feed on other arthropods as well. This is the only species of the family Dysderidae known to occur in Pennsylvania. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/woodlouse-hunter&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/woodlouse-hunter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Important to your question of whether it is poisonous, also from the Pennsylvania State site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Medical Importance&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;D. crocata bites have been implicated in causing a localized, intensely itching erythema 4 to 5 millimeters in diameter. The bites apparently do not result in any systemic neurotoxicity or cytotoxicity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... which means that if you mishandle one and get bitten, you'll likely only experience a swelling or reddening of the skin that itches something fierce. The bites, although painful, and while some of their venom may get injected into you, are not poisonous to humans. At worst, one might experience an allergic reaction from a bite, similar to that of a mild bee sting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5900" LastActivityDate="2015-04-18T01:05:14.890" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1560" CreationDate="2015-04-18T14:14:58.507" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first time I tried this was at Fort Chaffee and the chiggers were so bad that people were laid out in sick call with bites all over their bodies. Me and my buddies were &quot;the communist forces&quot; which meant little amenities...we slept in the tall grasses for 7 days. Every day I ate a match head and never once was bit. This works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5901" LastActivityDate="2015-04-18T14:14:58.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6944" CreationDate="2015-04-18T15:04:34.497" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if you're talking fresh or salt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In salt water I used various plugs (primarily cedar) in some really beefy conditions. 1000+ miles offshore, tradewind belt, 4 meter seas, etc. In those conditions (trolling), the plug is mimicking a bait fish that's at the surface, occasionally popping and bubbling. I have a cedar plug with a lot of teeth marks on it, and it's provided many great meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fresh water I generally get better results from something like a bucktail jig or spinner. The surface plugs don't really mimic any type of natural prey that I'm aware of (in fast moving water, skipping about the surface). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fast moving fresh water my experience is that bottom fish need bottom fish tactics, and something more like a trout is hiding out in the river bends under the banks, looking for opportunities to go right in front of their faces. Sub-surface stuff does good for me there.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-04-18T15:04:34.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8198" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8199" CreationDate="2015-04-18T15:06:59.337" Score="16" ViewCount="1291" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the big difference between Dehydrated and Freeze-dried foods? What are the pros and cons to choosing one over the other for backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T17:24:39.987" Title="What are the main differences between dehydrated foods and freeze-dried foods?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8198" CreationDate="2015-04-18T15:06:59.337" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most significant difference between the two—aside from cost—is the composition of the food due to the different processes of removing moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dehydration&lt;/strong&gt; very simply uses heat to remove moisture without cooking the food. This leaves the food withered and hard, and takes a lot longer to rehydrate. &lt;strong&gt;Freeze-drying&lt;/strong&gt; involves freezing the food inside a vacuum chamber, the boiling point of water is well below 0°C in a vacuum, so when you put frozen food in a vacuum the moisture in the food &amp;quot;boils&amp;quot; and is sucked out as a gas. The significant difference is that the freeze dried food retains its structure, and accepts moisture like a sponge. Dehydrated foods do not so readily accept moisture.  As a result freeze dried foods will rehydrate or &amp;quot;cook&amp;quot; much faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The main differences:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DEHYDRATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moisture content:&lt;/strong&gt; 5 - 10%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Shelf life:&lt;/strong&gt; 15-20 years &lt;em&gt;(fruits and veggies)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Nutritional value:&lt;/strong&gt; Dehydration process breaks down vitamins and minerals; retains less nutritional content.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Appearance and composition:&lt;/strong&gt; Withered and hard&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking:&lt;/strong&gt; 15min - 4hrs; takes a long time to re-hydrate; bland flavour, requires seasoning.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Cost:&lt;/strong&gt; Dehydrating food is easy and cheap; dehydrators are relatively inexpensive and can be easily &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=food%20dehydrator&amp;amp;safe=off&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=EDExVeCaGqTj7QaI2YHIDQ&amp;amp;ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&amp;amp;biw=1680&amp;amp;bih=939#safe=off&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=homemade%20food%20dehydrator&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;homemade&lt;/a&gt; using a box and space heater, or even the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt; Cheaper, simpler process; easy and inexpensive to dehydrate home-made foods.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt; Longer preparation times; retains less nutritional content; heavier to carry. Shorter shelf life than freeze-dried.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FREEZE DRYING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moisture content:&lt;/strong&gt; 1 - 2% &lt;em&gt;(significantly less weight)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Shelf life:&lt;/strong&gt; 25-30 years &lt;em&gt;(fruits and veggies)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Nutritional value:&lt;/strong&gt; Vast majority of the vitamins and minerals found in the original food is retained.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Appearance and composition:&lt;/strong&gt; Moisture is removed from the food without destroying it's structure; becomes soft when wet.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking:&lt;/strong&gt; 5min - 10min; better flavor.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Cost:&lt;/strong&gt; Freeze-drying food is not as cheap as dehydrating it; &lt;a href=&quot;http://harvestright.com/store/freeze-dryer-black.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dryers&lt;/a&gt; are high tech and cost thousands of dollars, and use more power than dehydrators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt; Lighter to carry; tastier; ready to eat in as little as 5-10 minutes preparation time; more nutritious. Longer shelf life&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt; More expensive; home Freeze-dryers are a big investment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thereadystore.com/food-and-water-storage/8376/dehydrated-vs-freeze-dried-food/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dehydrated vs. Freeze-Dried Food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main deciding factor between the two for most people is the often comes down to cost. Buying freeze-dried food is more expensive. You can get &lt;a href=&quot;http://harvestright.com/home-freeze-dryer-machine/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;home freeze-dryers&lt;/a&gt; and freeze-dry your own foods, but the dryers are high-tech and expensive. If you're cost-driven, then carrying dehydrated food may be the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2021-01-17T17:59:30.067" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T17:59:30.067" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8200" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-18T15:34:20.753" Score="6" ViewCount="8135" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately, as I boil water in a steel pot, it is making the pots very dark brown, and the inner surface of the pots seems to have changed to feeling rough and scrubby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone help with this?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as I was doing slow cooking in the pot, strangely, the bottom thick layer came off!  I am baffled!  My pots look awful.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is what is happening to pots, how is this water for drinking?  I live in northwest Indiana.  I have lived here for twenty years and this hasn't happened before.  I had also boiled water from brita in these small pots first, and as it reduced.  Seems tap and brita water are doing the same thing to the pot. I want to know what is causing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:21.353" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:26:45.447" Title="Why is boiling water making my steel pot brown?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8201" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8202" CreationDate="2015-04-18T15:46:55.933" Score="9" ViewCount="1272" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Paradox Rain Jacket from Costco that's served me well over the years. It's basically a single layer hardshell that I wear over everything in the rain and snow. I know that it says that the finish will wear out and to simply throw it the dryer to refresh it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Right now my lady friend is borrowing it, but she says it's not working anymore, and that she's &quot;uniformly wet underneath.&quot; I didn't think rain jackets wore out like this (my last rain jacket came apart and leaked at the seams), and since it has low breath-ability, I wondered if she had just sweat a bunch, since she bicycles over 30 miles a day for her work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She also mentioned that she had fallen and that the jacket could have road rash on the elbows or body, though I didn't see any holes last time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I could get the jacket back from her and test it, I would, but I can't, so I'm wondering if someone with more experience in this knows anything about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When rain jackets wear out, do they soak through, or is this more likely caused by low breath-ability?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3030" LastEditorUserId="3030" LastEditDate="2015-08-30T20:14:54.467" LastActivityDate="2015-08-30T20:14:54.467" Title="When rain jackets wear out, do they soak through?" Tags="&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8201" CreationDate="2015-04-18T16:07:17.973" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would imagine it's a breath-ability issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Breathable&quot; waterproof fabrics, in my experience, are basically &quot;pretty waterproof and allow some/most moisture out in most conditions.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially in high humidity or in absolutely soaking weather, the math isn't right for the membrane to allow moisture out. But even in dry conditions if you put a GoreTex jacket on and went for a 5 mile run, the interior will be wet with sweat. Not as wet as non-breathable, and less so if it's not humid or otherwise wet outside, but it's not going to be a bone-dry experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially if she's uniformly wet, that really points to sweat build up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to consider (maybe) is a wind jacket (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/849128/sierra-designs-microlight-2-jacket-mens&quot;&gt;one that I use: a Sierra Designs Microlight 2&lt;/a&gt;). People often ignore them because they don't have the serious GoreTex or (or GoreTex-ish) fabric, but they really do a decent job of keeping you dry in all but the wettest of weather, are really light, pretty cheap, and &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; more breathable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also consider the sizing (maybe you're a lot bigger than her, so she's swimming in the jacket). And, ask what her layer was underneath. If she had a cotton shirt on it won't matter what else is above that, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygroscopy&quot;&gt;hygroscopic&lt;/a&gt; fabric will keep her nice and wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-04-18T16:07:17.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8200" CreationDate="2015-04-18T16:32:15.473" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you boil water, the minerals and anything else dissolved in the water will remain and can build up as deposits. This is true for filtered water as well, filters don't really soften your water, they only help remove any particulates and organisms that may be in it. I imagine the brown mineral layer you're getting in you pots is fine silt from your water supply, if I had to guess, I'd guess that the banks of the rivers in your area are probably close the same colour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you're seeing in your pot are likely mineral deposits, they aren't bad, it just means that you have &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;hard water&lt;/a&gt;. It doesn't affect your health, hard water is only a concern for appliances and in industrial settings because the deposits can cause maintenance issues by clogging up pipes, faucets, etc. There are cleaners that are designed to help you clean mineral deposits out of you pots, they dissolve the minerals and make them easier to remove.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-22T20:29:28.590" LastActivityDate="2015-04-22T20:29:28.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8204" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8205" CreationDate="2015-04-19T03:36:10.077" Score="35" ViewCount="47464" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a wide variety of pre-cut firewood available when camping. In my experience, even wood that's been kept covered is often very wet and can be difficult to light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some techniques for lighting wet firewood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there ways to tell wet pre-cut firewood from wood that's only damp on the outside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:00:46.490" LastActivityDate="2019-07-20T04:25:18.433" Title="How to light a fire with wet firewood?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2015-04-19T04:17:42.997" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from British Columbia; lots of BC is technically a rain forest, which pretty much means you're always starting your fire with wet wood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick to getting wet wood to light is to generate a lot of heat when you first start your fire - that means using &lt;strong&gt;lots of extra kindling&lt;/strong&gt;. Cut triple or quadruple the amount of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;fine&lt;/em&gt; kindling&lt;/strong&gt; and build yourself a thick teepee with a good amount of tinder to get it started. Regardless of how wet a log feels on the outside, if you split it open, the centre will be relatively dry, so use that for your tinder and smaller kindling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you build your fire with lots of wood it's easy to smother your tinder, you need good airflow with wet wood, so make sure it can breathe. Your goal is to get a lot of flame as soon as you light it; this flash of heat will help you get some hot coals quicker, which will dry out the rest of the wood. Completely build your fire before you light it; this helps the fire grow faster once it's lit. You risk your fire burning out if you try to light your tinder first then build it up after it's lit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To help keep your fire going, stack your fuel wood around the fire like a wind screen; they'll catch a lot of the heat off of your fire and dry out a bit before you need to use them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T13:17:46.057" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T13:17:46.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2015-04-19T09:46:46.437" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did something a little like this in 2008, though less impressive than Lars &amp;amp; co. I hiked up to the observatory above Puerto de la Cruz on one day, and did Teide from the Montana Blanca bus stop a few days later. So not a continuous ascent, oh dear no, but it did acclimatise me to the altitude. Two wrinkles: if you don't have a summit permit, the 'legal' Mirador de Forteleza has a cool view; but do watch out for the sulphur fumes. If you are awake, the stink will drive you off, but do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; take a nap up there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5905" LastActivityDate="2015-04-19T09:46:46.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8207" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8216" CreationDate="2015-04-19T12:59:48.967" Score="12" ViewCount="4733" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent walk we ended up with a lamb following us. I picked it up and took it back to its mother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I walked past someone else on the trail shouted that I shouldn't &#xA; touch the lambs as &quot;it will follow you now&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't think it was a problem as I'd picked up lambs in farms (with the farmers permission) before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5vPgg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So should I have handled the lamb? Should I have actually just ignored it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will picking up the lamb do &lt;strong&gt;it&lt;/strong&gt; any harm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-20T09:29:34.750" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T19:18:02.053" Title="Should you avoid handling lambs?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8207" CreationDate="2015-04-19T15:20:53.967" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you should if pregnant for your own health rather than causing an issue with the lambs or ewes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/934.aspx?CategoryID=54&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UK NHS advice&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the risks for pregnant women?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Infections that can affect female sheep (ewes) and which could be passed to pregnant women include:&#xA;chlamydiosis&#xA;toxoplasmosis&#xA;listeriosis&#xA;Q fever&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risks are low&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These infections are uncommon in sheep and very rare in humans. The number of human pregnancies affected by contact with sheep is extremely small.&#xA;Although the risks are low, pregnant women should still avoid close contact with sheep during lambing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-04-19T15:20:53.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8209" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8211" CreationDate="2015-04-19T20:50:52.833" Score="39" ViewCount="5431" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I walked in the woods and it was quite late in the evening. While I was walking, a deer jumped and ran away. I guess I disturbed it while it was sleeping. And it came to my mind that I'm the only one who is making some noise at this hour.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best way to become like a ghost, in respect to shoes, clothes, walking technique etc?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in how hunters (not modern ones) prepared for the silent hunt with primitive weapons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5890" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:02:08.813" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T18:00:46.653" Title="How to walk silently in the woods?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1938" CreationDate="2015-04-19T22:08:30.237" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, there are some misconceptions about knives:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is no such thing as an all-purpose knife. A knife's blade shape, steel, length, weight, type and angle of edge all determine what a knife is best at. While it surely will do other cutting tasks, it will never excel there. Take a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.barkriverknives.com/index/knife-series/search-rescue/bravo-1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BRKT Bravo 1&lt;/a&gt;, for example. It is an excellent knife for heavy duty tasks, and in a survival situation, I'd bet my life on it. But it s***s big time for everything else. Food prepping is a plain horror, and the rather light campsite tasks are no fun, either. On the other hand, you would not want to try to split wood with your Victorinox Classic, would you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A knife does not have to be expensive to be good. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moraofsweden.se/adventure/companion-heavy-duty-orange&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mora Companion Heavy Duty&lt;/a&gt; surely will never win a design price (except for &quot;The Ugliest Knife built. Ever.&quot;), but it is one of the sturdiest, most easy to sharpen and dependable knives I have ever had the pleasure to put my hands on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least: a knife does not have to be big to be useful. While some tasks become easier using a big knife, almost everything can be done using a small knife.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, now your tasks are mainly light cutting tasks, with an implied hiking. So you need a knife suitable for light to medium tasks. As for hikes, I'd always imply the use as a survival knife. I'd suggest a neck knife, as it comfortable to wear, easy to conceal (running around with a visible bald may be unacceptable in some areas – and even illegal) and quite easy to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you want to cut fish and plants, which I'd roughly classify as food prepping calls for a flat ground edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A drop point or clip point shape is ideal for extra control during light to medium tasks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the steel, the general question is wether you want stainless or carbon steel (setting aside all shades between those two for now). As your question implies that you don't want to put much, if any, work into maintenance during the travel, I'd suggest a stainless steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are willing to pay some money, I suggest a knife you will be happy with even when you &quot;get into it&quot; and buy other knifes, for more specialized tasks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why vote goes for the ESEE Izula in the stainless 440C steel with a paracord wrap as handle. Not an awesome steel, but a good workhorse. The edge retention is not great, but it will retain a good working sharpness during all but the longest trips. It is lightweight, sturdy, suitable for your tasks, legal in many legislations and not too expensive. Though even when you will buy other knifes, you will come back to your ol' trusty Izula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a backup, I suggest a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.victorinox.com/ch/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/The-Original-Swiss-Army-Knives/The-Original-Swiss-Army-Knives-Linerlock-85-mm/EvoGrip-S18/2.4913.SC8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Victorinox EvoGrip S18&lt;/a&gt;. It has all the tools you need outdoors and then some. It even offers some of the highly underestimated tools for personal hygiene. If you can get your hands on the older models built by Wenger, I'd suggest taking that instead. The slide in tools are built a bit nicer, imho.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some side notes: I am not a fan of integrating survival tools into a knife. Such a Frankenknife will always be good in one part and sub-par in the other. When it comes to survival equipment, you want the best of breed for every single item. I am no fan of serrated blades, either, not even partially serrated. They can do nothing a fine edge blade can't do, but you simply can't do a clean cut with a serrated blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5906" LastActivityDate="2015-04-19T22:08:30.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8209" CreationDate="2015-04-19T23:24:27.617" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a boy I learned about a tribe of natives (Lipan Apache) that had an initiation into manhood which involved plucking a hair from the tail of a live deer. These people had developed a mode of stealth that allowed them to walk right up to deer–head on–without the deer sensing their presence or noticing their advance. I adopted the technique for moving through the woods silently, but never to the point where I could stealthily touch a deer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll skip the masking your scent and disguising your appearance parts and just give you the silent walking part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, you must have good balance, so take a semi-squat stance to lower you body weight. With each step, you will balance on one foot, while you test the ground ahead of you with the smallest toe of your other foot. You want to plant your foot where it isn't going to make any noise, first touch the ground with your small toe, using it to part the grass or move leaves, then gently rock onto your lateral arch down to your heel as you shift your weight onto your forward foot and flatten it out onto the ground, the last part of your foot to touch the ground is your big toe. Complete the step by transferring all your weight to your forward foot, then feel ahead with the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The deer touchers did this very slow, averaging about 80 seconds per step, in a breeze they could rock with the grass and branches and go about 60 seconds a step. The super slow speeds were so the deer wouldn't register them moving, even if they were staring straight in their direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When nothing's watching you you can move quickly through the woods stepping this way, just touch with your small toe first and ease into each step, when you get good you tend to &lt;em&gt;glide&lt;/em&gt; more than you stride. The part to practice is making contact with the ground without making a crunch, it's easy to do on a path, but harder to do when moving through the bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as what clothes and shoes to wear: the deer touchers went barefoot and wore nothing but a loincloth and ash from a fire, but any soft soled shoe will work for foot wear, toeshoes would be the best. For clothing you don't want to wear anything synthetic, nylon and polyester make that whishing sound when you walk. Soft cotton or wool is best for moving silently, think ninja knickers, light and breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T18:00:46.653" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T18:00:46.653" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8201" CreationDate="2015-04-20T10:03:04.027" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A long time ago (when I was teenager) I had one of the early GoreTex jackets. I had this Jacket for years and years and used it constantly. Over time the fabric wore out and it started to leak. This actually got to the point where you could see though it in places (imagine a thin cotton t-shirt, that kind of thiness).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to answer your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When rain jackets wear out, do they soak through&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, rain jackets can wear out. I've seen it happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Couple of caveats:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I had this jacket for a very long time (possibly 10 years Goretex was&#xA;very expensive then)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It was a very long time ago (15 years ago maybe) so you'd imagine&#xA;materials, etc. will of improved.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-04-20T10:03:04.027" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8207" CreationDate="2015-04-20T17:10:52.300" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only way you could do the lamb harm by picking it up &lt;em&gt;(aside from dropping it, or otherwise injuring it by handling it wrong)&lt;/em&gt; is if for one reason or another it wasn't accepted back into its herd, or if your interaction gave it a reason to leave the herd. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some animals will reject their dependant young if they smell like human, as far as I'm aware this is not true of sheep. Domesticated animals don't reject their offspring if they detect human scent. &lt;em&gt;It's a known behaviour for some deer&lt;/em&gt;–which is why petting newborn fawns is taboo–but often times this largely depends on the mother, as it's not guaranteed that &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; does will react the same way to the smell of human on their young. It also depends on the size of the baby, it's only at risk of abandonment if it's too little to keep up with it's mother, or if it hasn't weaned yet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sheep are often handled by people (sheering, herding, children taking lambs as pets, etc.), I don't think they're going to feel threatened if they catch a hint of one. I think what that other hiker was referring to is the potential the lamb could have to taking a liking to you to the point where it might leave it's herd and follow you home, or come looking for you and end up lost and alone. Lambs are a lot like puppies in that they can crave affection. If you give it affection (picking it up and holding it) you could win the lamb over and make it want to come back for more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T19:18:02.053" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T19:18:02.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8218" CreationDate="2015-04-20T17:31:54.623" Score="11" ViewCount="918" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do climbers ever remove their harness when they are sleeping on the side of cliffs or for going to the bathroom?  I imagine I would want to keep my harness on and be roped into the anchor even if the suspended bivouac has been set up and I am safely nestled inside of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4082" LastEditorUserId="4082" LastEditDate="2015-04-21T00:21:38.637" LastActivityDate="2015-04-21T00:21:38.637" Title="Big Wall Rock Climbing - Harness Off" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8217" CreationDate="2015-04-20T18:11:14.367" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Big wall climbers always leave their harnesses on, at most they will loosen or unstrap their leg loops while they're in their portaledge. There's really no reason to &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; take off your waistbelt, as you can change your pants and shirt with it on (although maybe slightly loosened) and when you toilet you only need to take your leg loops off so you can pull your pants down to poop into a bag with detergent in it and store it in your poop tube/waste case. Climbers will pee over the edge (depending on what the etiquette is for the area), but only girls need to remover their leg loops to accomplish that (unless they're packing a funnel like a GoGirl or Freshette).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-20T18:11:14.367" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8219" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8221" CreationDate="2015-04-20T18:27:57.667" Score="19" ViewCount="15943" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering replacing my North Face Gore-tex jacket as it's starting to get a bit tatty, some of the zips are breaking, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen quite a few &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paramo.co.uk/en-gb/index.php&quot;&gt;Paramo jackets&lt;/a&gt; about. I'm presuming they're quite good as they are the jackets I see a lot of mountain rescue members and mountain guides wearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mentioned this to a friend and he said, &quot;they're the marmite of mountain equipment, some people love them, others hate them&quot; but didn't elaborate further. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what does a Paramo jacket do that's different to Gore-tex? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:25:35.043" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T22:30:20.060" Title="Paramo vs Gore-Tex jackets?" Tags="&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2015-04-21T06:34:26.287" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I cannot provide numbers on the nutrition facts, I would still share my experience; before leaving to a week-long hike with three friends we prepared small bags of instant porridge: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some amount (1-2 spoons) of the above-mentioned whole milk power&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4-5 spoons of oatmeal (preferably the one which is already broken a bit)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some sugar, if you feel the need for it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These small packages (everything packed in the corner of a plastic bag, then tied firm with rubber band) were great for breakfast, a warm and nutritious food which keeps the digestion going. Sometimes we varied it with raspberries and blueberries picked from the forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drawback: you need to cook it. Benefits: lightweight, filling, even tasty, needs only water to be prepared, doesn't produce a lot of heavy trash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-04-21T06:34:26.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8219" CreationDate="2015-04-21T08:56:15.770" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a high-end gore-tex jacket and my wife has Paramo.  I also have Paramo trousers.  They are quite different: Gore-Tex is designed to be a physical barrier that prevents water getting through, while Nikwax Analogy (the fabric in Paramo jackets) is designed to be highly water-repellent and wick water quickly from inside to out rather than being actually waterproof.  Buffalo (pertex/pile) is a similar concept in some ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, my experience is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Analogy is softer and quieter (no rustle)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Analogy is much more breathable than Gore-Tex&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Analogy is less likely to wet out as the DWR is particularly good - so breathability in tough conditions is also better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because it's not based on the idea of a watertight barrier, rips and tears are easier to repair - just sew&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Paramo is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/bestbuylabel/p%C3%A1ramo.aspx&quot;&gt;Ethical Consumer Best Buy&lt;/a&gt; company  - the fabric can be (and is) re-used to make new garments, the process doesn't use PFCs (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/aboutus/persistentflurocarbondanger.php&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; for some references - biased but does link to research), the production directly supports social projects in Colombia &lt;a href=&quot;http://hillandmountain.paramo.co.uk/Why-Paramo/Why-choose-Paramo/Ethical-production&quot;&gt;link here&lt;/a&gt;, etc etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nikwax Analogy is heavier than nearly all Gore-Tex fabrics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it also tends to be warmer (I guess could be an advantage in some conditions)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Analogy will let some water in under pressure (sitting on wet grass, leaning on wet rock, sometimes under rucksac straps), though it dries and wicks out very quickly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I think the Paramo jackets are pretty ugly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;less garment choice as fewer companies use Analogy (apart from Paramo, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cioch-direct.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Cioch&lt;/a&gt; also use it - and they do made-to-measure/custom)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really rate Paramo: many have been the times when I've been clammy sweaty and cold inside my Gore-Tex while my wife has been dry and comfy.  I particularly like the trousers: they are so breathable and comfortable that they can be worn next to the skin all day (in cold conditions), saving the annoyance of dragging waterproofs on and off as the weather changes.  However it is warm and heavy.  For Scottish winter it's probably ideal; for mountain marathons less so!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth adding that this relates to the standard jacket (Cascada).  Paramo also do a line of tops with separate water repellent and wicking layers, so you can mix and match according to conditions - possibly saving some weight if conditions aren't too bad.  I have no experience of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="3327" LastEditDate="2015-04-21T09:12:30.840" LastActivityDate="2015-04-21T09:12:30.840" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8200" CreationDate="2015-04-21T22:14:57.590" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is this rust by chance? If so, let it dry and it'll be powdery at the bottom. Run your finger on the surface and some will come off on your finger. If it's rust, you may be able to get it clean with some steel wool. Just make sure to keep it dry after use from then on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SmemSeger could be correct and that it's mineral deposits. I usually find those to be whitish rather than brown, but I'm not sure. If you want to clear out the mineral deposits, just get some white vinegar from the grocery, and fill the pot half with vinegar half with water. Boil it to speed up the process and it'll dissolve those minerals right off. Best part, no chemicals to clean up. The vinegar evaporates completely and leaves nothing behind. It's also safe to pour down the drain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16" LastActivityDate="2015-04-21T22:14:57.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8223" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-04-22T13:05:04.193" Score="6" ViewCount="167" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany, there are many hiking/hillwalking trails. Is there any apps or sites that allow people to share hiking routes? Where I can try to search for nice places people have been, or create my own routes (&quot;I want to do a 20km hike in a circle, starting from within 50km of some town, and there should be a restaurant near the middle for lunch&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sites like Strava for fitness allow you to share runs and cycle trips you've done. Is there anything for hiking/hillwalking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5926" LastActivityDate="2015-04-22T14:04:10.733" Title="Any sites/apps for sharing and rating hiking/hillwalking routes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8223" CreationDate="2015-04-22T13:41:33.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Sharing and downloading routes done by others&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning sites where you can upload and share GPS tracks you could have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gpsies.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.gpsies.com/&lt;/a&gt;. There are lots of GPS tracks for hiking, cycling, mountain biking, running, skating, horse riding,... you name it. The extended search allow to filter routes for the things you ask for, e.g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;of course the type of activity you want to do – either roughly (&quot;give me all activities by foot&quot;) or precisely (&quot;give me hiking, jogging and nordic walking&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;distance from a certain point,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;distance covered, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;round trip or one way track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;characteristics (flat, hilly, mountainous)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;path quality (compacted, rough, smooth, rocky...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and some other...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only option I couldn't was the question for a restaurant in the middle, however, if you narrow the choice down to some routes you might get away with reading their descriptions and looking into the map to see whether there is such a spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Planning own routes&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For planing own routes you can consider &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wanderreitkarte.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.wanderreitkarte.de/&lt;/a&gt;. They have a route editor where you can define a start and end point (and some points in between, if you like) and it will propose a route between those points that tries to keep away from big streets and prefers official hiking routes. Here you can also give some rough characteristics to search for, i.e. if you want it as flat as possible (and accept a longer route instead) or don't have a problem with some more ups and downs for the sake of a shorter distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you cannot explicitly ask for a round trip of a certain length, you can do this basically &quot;by hand&quot; by roughly defining some route points where start end end point are at the same spot and that are as the crow flies somewhat (10 to 20%) shorter than the desired route. The route that the engine proposes should then be roughly the distance you wanted. If not, then you can still nudge some of your way points around a bit to get a better fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-04-22T14:04:10.733" LastActivityDate="2015-04-22T14:04:10.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1867" CreationDate="2015-04-22T22:38:46.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beta Titanium? Good luck (and I really mean luck) with sharpening it. Unless you are a pro knife sharpener, I doubt you will get any halfway decent edge on it once it got dull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the requirements you describe and the money you are willing to pay, I suggest getting a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.barkriverknives.com/index/knife-series/search-rescue/bravo-1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BRKT Bravo 1&lt;/a&gt;, designed as a survival knife for and with the now defunct Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IJF7Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BRKT Bravo 1 with Desert Ironwood burl handles&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have it in CPM3V, which has the best combination of toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance – for me. Ask 10 people for a knife for any given application, and you'll get 20 different opinions, if you are lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, more of often than not, people tend to highly overestimate the size their knife needs or the punishment it has to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the times, I use the smaller brother Bravo 1, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.barkriverknives.com/index/knife-series/search-rescue/bravo-necker/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bravo Necker&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ElDBL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bravo Necker 1st Production Run in 12c27 (below)&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have the 12c27 steel version. It is rock solid, convenient to carry and does all but the most heavy duty tasks. For splitting wood, you might need to carve some wedges first. However, two advices here. First, the powder coating isn't very durable in my version. So I'd go for a non powdered version. Second, there is a CPM3V steel version. I have yet to find a disadvantage of the steel during usage, and it is just a tiny bit harder to sharpen than 12C27, at last in my personal experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you'd like a slightly bigger neck knife, you might want to go for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.barkriverknives.com/index/knife-series/search-rescue/bravo-necker-ii/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Necker 2&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note that I am &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; affiliated with BRKT (I wish I was). But imnsho their knifes simply are not only the best for the money you pay for them, but the best of breed for their intended purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they all fail when it comes to food preparation because of their convex grind. I tend to have a pocket knife with me anyway, so I use that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5906" LastActivityDate="2015-04-22T22:38:46.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8227" CreationDate="2015-04-23T00:14:30.223" Score="12" ViewCount="5156" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard mountaineering textbook Freedom of the Hills has a long discussion of fixed lines, and they state simply that you use a mechanical ascender on them. This seems odd to me, since for most mountaineering I would be carrying a pretty light rack, and it probably wouldn't include a heavy mechanical ascender. I would just have a Prusik loop handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the pros and cons of one versus the other? Is a Prusik any less likely to hold if the rope has snow or ice on it? Is it an issue of speed on siege-style climbs, where you're ferrying loads? They seem to have in mind some kind of massive expedition, where you bring a special-purpose 100-meter static line just for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T19:49:09.027" Title="Fixed line: Prusik vs mechanical ascender" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8226" CreationDate="2015-04-23T01:53:06.830" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Freedom of the Hills also states: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;&quot;Mechanical ascenders are stronger, safer, faster, and less tiring.&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;– &lt;em&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key advantage in there being, &lt;em&gt;&quot;less tiring&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, yes you could save a couple hundred grams by not carrying ascenders and instead using some prusiks, but how much do those weight savings benefit you after you've ascended a rope a few times fighting with tight knots and all that extra friction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mechanical ascenders should be used in any situation where you plan on using a static rope as your main mode of ascent&lt;/strong&gt; versus carrying dynamic rope as fall protection. If you're free climbing, then it's not necessary to carry ascenders, and prusiks will suffice if a situation arrises where you need to ascend the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You very well could use a prusik in every situation you'd use an ascender, but ascenders were invented to replace prusiks, their only disadvantage is their superior weight, and if you're super picky you could maybe also complain about their superior size. But the time and effort you save on an ascent while using ascenders more than makes up for the effort you put into carrying the extra weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your other suspicions are spot on, prusiks can be absolutely useless on iced-up static ropes, I've been in icy situations where my prusssic wouldn't bite the rope at all. Mechanical ascenders will never slip (unless it's completely worn out and doesn't have anymore teeth to bite with).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In aid climbing it's a no brainer, if you're laying siege to a big wall, you'd run the risk of wearing through your prusiks from the milage you put on them, also you're not too concerned about a tiny bit of extra weight because you're not climbing with all your gear, you're hauling most of it. Ascenders are what you use to haul your gear anyways, nobody is going to choose a prusik over an ascender for that job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering, fixed lines are used for high traffic routes on slippery slopes, typically if you're climbing a route with fixed lines, then your ascender is likely going to be the only piece of gear in your rack, the only other thing you'd be carrying would be an ax (unless you're the guy fixing the ropes). I'll use Everest as an example: Everest basically has a fixed rope from the bottom of the Lhotse face all the way up to the summit. Congestion is a problem as it is, I can only imagine how infuriating it would be for a climber queued in line behind a guy using a prussic, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Hold on just a moment while I tie my prusik onto the next rope...&quot;&lt;/em&gt; Aside from the increased risk of frostbite from all the finger work, the extra time spent fiddling with your knots could put you at greater risk of getting caught on the mountain after dark, not to mention the fact that prusik knots will &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; grab the rope unless they are tight and weighted, if you slipped while following a fixed line with a prusik, there's no guarantee that the knot would catch you, at least not right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If being weight conscious is your only hang up for carrying ascenders, then I'd recommend getting couple of these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Petzl &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC?l=INT#.VThNqot8v0c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tibloc&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oz1v6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never go anywhere without one, it's got all the biting power of an ascender at only 39g. I still recommend carrying prusiks, but they should be used mostly as backups. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage that is noteworthy for prusiks, is that you can also &lt;em&gt;descend&lt;/em&gt; a rope with prusiks as easily as you can ascend it. Ascenders are one-way, so you have to stick your fingers in the device to get them to release.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T19:43:49.927" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T19:43:49.927" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8229" CreationDate="2015-04-23T08:23:53.443" Score="10" ViewCount="836" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a lot of questions concerning GPS device usage, however I couldn't find any specific information on more passive usage (as in waiting for rescue).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say I have a watch and a phone which both have inbuilt Global Positioning Systems (GPS). When I am stranded in the wilderness, what can I do with them, in order to use them in a most optimal way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By this I mean, while i'm waiting for search and rescue... for the sake of argument say I cannot use those devices as the actual means of finding my way out, because of some environmental/physical impossibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some points which I am interested in, but do not limit your answer to them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should the device be switched on?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should the GPS on the device be switched on?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What can I do to prolong battery life?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the device useless once the battery is dead? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I know they are looking for me, would they pick up the signal, if I switch it on for short periods every now and again?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it best if I stay in one place (environment permitting) and would it be harder for them if I am on the move?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4149" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-04-23T15:05:12.963" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T23:25:18.507" Title="Optimal use of available GPS devices when stranded" Tags="&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8228" CreationDate="2015-04-23T08:40:19.183" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're not using the device to find your way, it is useless as far as the GPS functionality is concerned, no matter whether it's switched on or off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I know they are looking for me, would they pick up the signal, if I switch it on for short periods every now and again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What signal? The GPS signal is sent by satellites, GPS devices receive this signal, they don't send out anything. A phone might send out a GSM/UMTS/LTE/whatever signal when trying to contact a base station, but that has nothing to do with GPS, and I'm not sure whether rescue services can use those signals to detect a phone; typically they use information from the base station to find the location of phones, but in your situation there would not be a base station in reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-04-23T08:40:19.183" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8228" CreationDate="2015-04-23T08:48:16.237" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use the GPS to determine your position and then text or email that to your rescuers. That will be the end of the GPS's contribution to the rescue process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Staying put is generally best (saves your energy and ensures you don't move into an area they have searched and think you are not in) but that place should be safe and you should be discoverable in it. Ideally you would find that place and then send your co-ordinates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-04-23T08:48:16.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8209" CreationDate="2015-04-23T13:53:18.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;While looking for mushrooms mid-morning in the summer, I saw a deer perhaps 50' away,  in brush maybe 5' high- it was upwind of me and couldn't smell me. It was browsing and slowly moving as it ate. Slowly, stopping frequently, and gradually approaching, I stopped and listened. I'm sure the deer was able to hear me but not see or smell.  I kept my head and body crouched down, below the top of the brush, and got within 6' of the deer before the wind shifted, it looked up and saw me moving. I believe my mimicry of slowly browsing deer behavior was the key. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2015-04-23T13:53:18.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8226" CreationDate="2015-04-25T03:57:55.397" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In ShemSegers answer fixed lines for ascending are properly addressed, there is nothing to add for me. As an alpine based mountaineer I come across lots of fixed lines whose primary purpose is security against falling and also aiding the ascent. So the line is not the primary means for ascending.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, the described benefits of an ascender do not apply and simply using a sling instead of an extra device makes sense. The exeption of icy ropes still holds, in this case you need to use an ascender.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a note about the Petzl Tibloc:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is an extremely efficient tool, but also dangerous. Its teeth and edges due to the slim design wear a rope gradually out and improper or just careless use can immediately damage it. The sheath is affected, and I've never heard about rope failures, but a torn rope sheath is bad enough. So use it carefully as instructed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the case I described above, where you attach to a fixed line but do not use a hand to manage the tool all the time, do not use a tibloc. When sliding along and maybe touching rock it is quite probable that the teeth come in contact with the rope and damage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T19:49:09.027" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T19:49:09.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8228" CreationDate="2015-04-25T13:36:57.080" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take the batteries out and use them to start fires. You won't even need to encode your lat/lon in smoke signals, that feature is built in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;follow up (edited again - note that the question does not say the person is lost, just trying to get rescued)&#xA;My answer sounds flippant, but seriously, if you can't move or send info out, it's useless. Maybe MacGyver could turn the GPS into a transmitter, but can you? You can use the batteries &amp;amp; wires to makes sparks, or maybe use the screen as a signaling mirror. Or, if it has an illuminated screen, use that as a signal at night. Other than that, your GPS is as useful as a brick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="4310" LastEditDate="2015-04-28T07:50:52.063" LastActivityDate="2015-04-28T07:50:52.063" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8235" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8240" CreationDate="2015-04-26T05:24:04.090" Score="9" ViewCount="7718" Body="&lt;p&gt;We want to trek in a jungle for 4 days and we want to carry sufficient food for all days without it becoming rotten. Is there a special tool we should buy or a specific case to take into account in order to keep the food safe? We absolutely don't want to see rotten food in the 2nd day or so! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is your suggestion? What do you do to keep food fresh over multiple days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, question is not broad! Any food that is potential to become rotten needs a way to preserve it. For example lets say that we want to carry meat, egg, vegetables. I need a way to keep them healthy and fresh. Why you should say it is a broad question?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to carry foods with the potential to become rotten????&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-28T16:57:19.970" LastActivityDate="2020-11-22T06:32:02.560" Title="How to carry perishable foods on a multi-day trip, without it going rotten?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8235" CreationDate="2015-04-26T08:40:22.750" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, you need to choose food which will keep that long without refrigeration (and, indeed, at the temperatures you expect, probably higher than normal room temperature), and you need watertight containers or packaging, either for individual portions or resealable (the jungle tends to be &lt;em&gt;wet&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-04-26T08:40:22.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7003" CreationDate="2015-04-26T11:38:00.407" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no secret to beat Fear. &lt;strong&gt;Fear is part of our inner core&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Observe&lt;/strong&gt; it widely, &lt;strong&gt;try small&lt;/strong&gt;, under controlled conditions, &lt;strong&gt;learn&lt;/strong&gt; when it leads the body, &lt;strong&gt;act big&lt;/strong&gt; with this knowledge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Just dive!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beat Kammerlander said once:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When I rest, fear can come. When I climb, concentration has to be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="654" LastActivityDate="2015-04-26T11:38:00.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8235" CreationDate="2015-04-26T18:39:04.757" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy freeze dried meals such as Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry, which come in the form of sealed, airtight packages that are easy to pack, lightweight, and easy to prepare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5941" LastActivityDate="2015-04-26T18:39:04.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8235" CreationDate="2015-04-26T22:18:48.810" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many methods of preserving food for days, weeks, or even years. Traditional methods include canning, pickling, smoking/jerky, and dehydration. There are modern counterparts to all of these. Canned food is not a good choice if you're carrying the food on your backs. Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods are your best bet, combined with non-perishable items that you might normally eat. Foods like crackers, roasted nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, granola bars, etc. are good for uncooked quick meals. You can purchase dried milk which can be reconstituted with water and eaten with dry cereal. For hot meals items like rice, couscous, and pasta are common. There are many types of commercially available prepared meals which you just add hot water to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to avoid anything which would go bad without refrigeration. I suspect that if you look around your pantry at home you'll find all kinds of items you regularly eat that keep well without refrigeration. Four days isn't very long, and even things like bread and fresh fruit will keep over that amount of time, though they may be heavier than you wish to carry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your modified question asking how to keep perishable items safe to eat... there really isn't any way to do that. If it's perishable, it needs refrigeration. This can work in cold environments, but for trekking in the jungle, it's simply going to be impractical from a weight perspective. You're better off bringing non-perishable food items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-04-27T18:03:01.587" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T18:03:01.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8244" CreationDate="2015-04-27T03:36:07.833" Score="6" ViewCount="1897" Body="&lt;p&gt;About three years ago, I picked up a used &quot;MSR Wisperlite&quot; for a great price.  At the time, I was not aware of the difference between the classic and the International versions of the stove.  Since purchase, I have only used white gas as a fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can tell, these two stoves are nearly identical.  Current diagrams available on the manufacturer site show slightly different designs of the stand, but this may have been changed over time.  My stand is wire, as opposed to what appears to be stamped aluminum on the current version of the International.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one notable difference between the two models appears to be the presence of a metallic wick in the priming pan on the International version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that my stove has this wick, I suspect that I have an International model.  Is there any way I can confirm this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T03:01:47.980" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T03:01:47.980" Title="How would I identify between MSR Wisperlite and Wisperlite International stoves?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8242" CreationDate="2015-04-27T05:15:15.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I happen to have both stoves that you're talking about. They look pretty much identical, but you're right that the wick is in the international stove, the whitegas-only stove does not have the wick. The international stove also has a brass sleeve over the coil of pipe that directs the liquid fuel through the element where it's vapourised, the whitegas-only whisperlite does not have the sleeve either. If you're still uncertain, you can simply try using your stove with kerosene, if it's the international stove it'll work just fine, but you'll probably notice that it doesn't start as easily, that's because kerosene needs more heat to reach it's flash point. I think that's the biggest difference between the two, is just getting it started, the wick and sleeve on the international stove aid in heating the kerosene to a vapour. You can't damage it by putting kerosene in it, even if it isn't the international, it'll just sputter and flame and get black from not burning right, but as soon as you put white gas back in it it'll clean it right out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-27T13:17:13.307" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T13:17:13.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8242" CreationDate="2015-04-27T08:38:22.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it has a wick in the priming pan it is most likely an international. The other main difference is the fuel tube on the international is slightly larger diameter. Although, this would be hard to tell without a comparison. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as I commented to ShemSeger's answer there is a different diameter nozzle for kerosene. Therefore if you don't have this nozzle I wouldn't try and use kerosene. You can probably get new nozzles from MSR. I think there are some in one of the service kits, but didn't check if they are the right ones for Kerosene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T08:38:22.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8245" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8247" CreationDate="2015-04-27T19:43:20.730" Score="11" ViewCount="16345" Body="&lt;p&gt;Am going to do some repairs on my roof, (not a climber).&#xA;not sure regarding the type of rope I should get?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, any advice as to how to secure the rope to my harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5945" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-04-28T16:26:16.907" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T21:41:01.557" Title="What type of rope should I use for roof work?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8245" CreationDate="2015-04-27T19:59:27.990" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there are slightly different needs (on your roof you are likely to get more friction against edges than a climber) for most purposes you can use perfectly normal climbing ropes, and a standard figure eight knot to connect to your harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However - you should be equally as interested in how you will use the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have an experienced belayer? Or are you solo?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How are you fixing safety points? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you top-roping? Or passing the rope over the roof and down the other side (worst case for friction damage)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These all need to be considered. If the building already has safety points or wires, as many public buildings do, then use them - clip your harness onto them. Otherwise you need to identify safe points - for example a chimney that you can lash an anchor to. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/300/66&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; for more guidance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T19:59:27.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8245" CreationDate="2015-04-27T21:16:44.833" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're not a climber, then don't buy a climbing rope for doing roof repairs. If you're going to buy a rope for a very specific job, then you should get the right equipment for the job. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For about the same cost as a climbing rope&lt;/em&gt; you could get a full &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JFK77C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;roofers kit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; that comes with a:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5 point safety harness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50ft lifeline&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anchor plate &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3' shock absorbing lanyard:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple reasons why you &lt;strong&gt;shouldn't&lt;/strong&gt; use climbing gear for roof repairs: &#xA;If you slip, you are most likely going to end up &lt;em&gt;upside down&lt;/em&gt; as soon as you slide off the roof if you're wearing a climbing harness instead of a body harness; You put your expensive climbing rope at risk of damage that will make it &lt;em&gt;useless&lt;/em&gt; for climbing (nails, saws, getting stepped on, sharp edges, etc.) You risk overloading the rope with more shock when you take a fall on a short length, the dynamic qualities of a rope are most effective if you have a good length of rope to absorb the shock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless your plan is to use repairing your roof as an excuse to invest in some climbing gear so you can get into climbing after, then I would recommend buying a roofers kit, and asking your roofing questions on &lt;a href=&quot;https://diy.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;this SE site&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; using the roof as an excuse to buy climbing gear (I come up with any excuse I can), then what you want to do is get a good &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Climbing/RopesAndWebbing/ChoosingRopes.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;single&lt;/a&gt; rope that's &gt;10mm&lt;/strong&gt; of whatever length you want, a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-582/edelrid-chest-harness-unisex/?q=chest%2Bharness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chest harness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5035-386/metolius-alpine-pas/?q=personal%2Banchor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;personal anchor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5035-281/petzl-scorpio-vertigo/?q=feratta&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lanyard&lt;/a&gt;/&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5016-280/black-diamond-18mm-nylon-slings/?f=10%2050001%2050282&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sling&lt;/a&gt;) and a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-657/petzl-basic-ascender/?q=ascender&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mechanical ascender&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Anchor one end of the rope to the ground on the opposite side of the house you're working on, either to a tree or your truck or something that's a lot heavier than you, then simply throw the rope all the way over the top of the house. &lt;strong&gt;Don't tie into the rope&lt;/strong&gt;, instead put the ascender on the rope and tie into your harness with your personal anchor, then run it through a biner on your chest harness and clip it into the ascender. Voila, you've just rigged your own roofers kit out of climbing gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JFK77C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roofers Kit:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ItYeo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:22:16.620" LastActivityDate="2015-04-27T22:03:47.697" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5637" CreationDate="2015-04-27T23:35:27.887" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am Czech! The blanket rolls were used as standard issue bedrolls in the Army. In barracks, they were also used on the cots instead of the bed blankets and sheets issued, because as anyone knows who has been in the army, making your bed in the morning and then suffering barracks inspection with roll call is a real pain in the butt!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It saved us time and made inspection much easier, so we just unrolled them at night and slept in that. Also in the field, a thermal underlay was placed between the waterproof layer and the inner layer, and then sleeping under a overhead waterproof roof, like a poncho. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The system worked very well, heavy, but bulletproof for lumbering soldiers in the field. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5946" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T19:48:43.633" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T19:48:43.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8228" CreationDate="2015-04-28T13:14:53.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two scenarios are to be explored.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have mobile coverage? Yes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then just find out your gps coordinates, send them to your rescuer. And stay put. In case your location changes, resend them (sounds lame but essential). Since you are asking about battery life, it's okay to switch off your GPS (given the device[mobile/watch] provides that option) to save your battery(assuming you have passed on the coordinates already). Also, keep your mobile network on to contact the rescuer (again, sounds lame, but essential).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No mobile coverage?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to use the GPS to find your way out. GPS only shows where you are located on earth. It doesn't give you any more information. In case you are using a mobile, there are apps(ex: maps.me) which allow you to have offline maps which can be used in mobile network-less regions (these maps need to be downloaded upfront using mobile network). In this case, you'll have to use this information to navigate out of your situation using the GPS. (GPS does not require mobile connectivity). Also, note that GPS does consume your battery based on the update interval. It's best to switch off your mobile network (since you have it not anyway) so that your device doesn't keep on searching for a network(which eats up your battery) and navigate out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I've added this answer is because there's an inherent assumption that mobile coverage is present in one or two of the answers and the comments provided for the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point to be noted. In case you are waiting for rescue and have no mobile coverage, GPS has zero value. You might as well switch the whole thing off :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2015-04-28T13:14:53.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8235" CreationDate="2015-04-28T16:53:00.800" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carrying perishable foods is &lt;strong&gt;not practical&lt;/strong&gt;, but it is &lt;em&gt;doable&lt;/em&gt;. The only way to do it though is to keep your food cooled, and the easiest way to do that, when it's hot out, is to carry a cooler, which I have definitely gone backpacking with before:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OUXqY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are such things as &lt;a href=&quot;http://solarcooltech.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar powered coolers&lt;/a&gt;, which can keep your food cool without the necessity of carrying ice, or stopping at cool creeks to refill bottles in your cooler with cold water. You can also pick up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.softcoolers.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;soft coolers&lt;/a&gt;, which are essentially insulated bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to keep the food cold as long as possible, ideally you want to keep your food below 4°C, anything above 4°C has the potential for bacteria growth, so it's best to freeze everything that can be frozen (I even put the cooler in the deepfreeze for a night to maximize how long it stays cold) and pack the cooler full, as an empty cooler doesn't stay cool as long as a full one. You don't have to pack it full of food, but if you have any space left, you could shove your clothes or a towel in there in a bag to take up the space and help insulate. Also consider keeping a small thermometer in the cooler, and give it a quick check whenever you need to open it, make sure your food is always below 4°C if you're packing things like meat. Once everything thaws out, you're not going to be able to keep it cool for very long, so plan on eating all your fresh foods on the first couple nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the picture above we were backpacking to a glacier lake, so there was still snow in spots, and the water in the creeks was painfully cold, which made it easy to keep our food cold (hamburgers and veggies, the boys made the meal plan-we ate well on that camp). You just need to have someone in your company who's willing (or foolish enough) to carry the cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://solarcooltech.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar Cooler:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cj3JS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.softcoolers.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Soft Cooler:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsExd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-04T19:11:02.660" LastActivityDate="2015-05-04T19:11:02.660" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8251" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8253" CreationDate="2015-04-29T00:47:10.097" Score="17" ViewCount="539" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just came back from a backpacking trip in an alpine area. I was cleaning some kitchen items (pot, spork, pan, etc) with some remnant food particles that were coming off. I use a very small amount of baking soda or campsuds to clean with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know to stay at least 200' away from water sources, and not to put food particles near camp because of increasing unwanted visitors (bears, bugs, mice, etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it matter beyond that though? Are there some places that are better than others? Vegetation versus sand? I default to rocks (big ones) because it's generally cleaner to set down wet cookware while working it and I function under the idea that food particles out there in the open on a rock will be quickly munched up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:34:46.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:34:46.053" Title="Where is the optimal place to do dishes in the backcountry?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8245" CreationDate="2015-04-29T01:35:57.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to ShemSeger's excellent answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try hanging in the harness in a safe spot and think about how you will be rescued if you fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hanging in a harness might be disabilitatingly painful.&#xA;Some people loose consciousness within minutes of being suspended (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&lt;/a&gt;), and there are many deaths on record, in climbing, hunting and at work.&#xA;If you use a harness, especially with the attachment point in the back, you might not be able to rescue yourself if you fall and cannot pull yourself back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be very embarrassing to call 911 and have all your neighbors see you dangling helplessly in space. You might even make it to the title page of your local newspaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3467" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T01:35:57.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8251" CreationDate="2015-04-29T02:01:54.840" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you have the right idea. Leave No Trace principles (and wilderness permit regulations in many areas) dictate that washing be done at least 100 feet from camp, trail, or stream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's some soil nearby that would be the best spot, because there'll be higher activity from decomposing organisms there which will break down any tiny bits of food you may wash out. Avoid impermeable surfaces like granite slabs, because your rinse water will run off and end up contaminating a much larger surface area than if it can percolate down into a permeable material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mention, large, clean, flat rocks nearby can make organization easier, but I would try to avoid accumulating food particles in the open to get &quot;munched up&quot;. Too much food accumulated in one place is more likely to attract animals than a bunch of small particles dispersed in the soil, and you don't want to attract animals to your camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T02:01:54.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8251" CreationDate="2015-04-29T03:05:04.800" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following strict leave no trace principles, you're already doing a pretty good job. Where you can improve is to use no soap, small amounts of biodegradable soap are acceptable, but you can clean your dishes with just hot water. When you're done scrubbing, it's best to strain your scraps out of the water and pack them out with the rest of your garbage, then either dig a small cat hole to pour the waste water down, or better yet fling the water out in an arc to disperse it as small water droplets over a greater area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've dug a latrine area, you could also dump your dish waste in there, but &lt;strong&gt;do not&lt;/strong&gt; dump your scraps in an outhouse. You can pour your dish water out in an outhouse, that's actually helpful, but don't put anything solid in an outhouse unless you're pushing it out after first digesting it. Someone else dug that hole, it's very rude to fill it with anything except what they dug it for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not good to bury anything in sand, because sand is technically a system, not a layer of soil. Soil decomposes, sand does not, sand actually &lt;em&gt;flows&lt;/em&gt;, albeit extremely slowly, but all sand eventually ends up at the bottom of the ocean where it eventually lithifies into a new sandstone layer, but I digress... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you bury your scraps, treat them like the rest of your human waste, bury them in soft soil (under some nice rich humus, right in the 'A' horizon of topsoil, or right on top of the 'B' horizon of subsoil), but try not to disturb any vegetation. Avoid rocks, gravel and sand. Your waste will just end up down stream in the next runoff if you try to plant it in anything but soil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-04-28T19:31:24.533" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T19:31:24.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8255" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8256" CreationDate="2015-04-29T06:44:33.757" Score="4" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a limitation of 2000 points in &lt;code&gt;Garmin etrex 20&lt;/code&gt;. I have bought it recently and have not used it for a real trek. As far as I know when you reach the 2000 points limit and want to save it, the device will remove extra points. So you will not have an accurate track. What is the solution to this problem? Should I add an SD card? Will it save me in the wild? Or should I save track every 5 hours in order to prevent it from removing extra point?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T09:27:12.230" Title="How to record 2-day trek track when Garmin etreX 20 has limitation of 2000 points?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8255" CreationDate="2015-04-29T09:27:12.230" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I rarely use GPS system personally so feel free to correct me if I've misunderstood something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I think that 2000 points should be more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say you are doing a reasonably long route of 40km per day. If you use all 2000 points in that distance that will give you one point every 20m. Give that the accuracy of your GPS under some conditions is probably about the same as this, more points won't really help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison when using a paper map I guess I will look at the map maybe 100 times in such a walk although it is dependent on terrain and (mentally or physically) I will actually mark 10-20 points per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a safety point of view the GPS should provide your position irrespective of the route you have set. So this should not be a factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reading your question again I think you might actually be talking about saving the route you've been. In any case my point on the distance per point still stands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick look at the model in question shows that 2000 is the number of locations you can save.  It can save 200 routes each of (up to)? 10000 points. So you should have no problems in that regard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T09:27:12.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2015-04-29T12:30:29.037" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Average dayhiking speed for reasonably fit people is 2.5 mph on moderate terrain. Divide the number of miles of the hike by 2.5 and add in extra time for snacks, lunch, pictures, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5952" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T12:30:29.037" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8258" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8260" CreationDate="2015-04-29T14:14:55.250" Score="14" ViewCount="5488" Body="&lt;p&gt;The outside of a down jacket is usually made of nylon or polyester, which is inflammable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While trying to build a fire, is it safe to wear this jacket? Or will the flying embers be enough to set the person ablaze?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, what should the person wear? Fleece?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T11:49:32.303" LastActivityDate="2020-10-20T22:11:12.587" Title="Is it safe to wear a down jacket while building a fire" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8251" CreationDate="2015-04-29T15:01:42.973" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider using freezer-bag cooking. You boil your water in a pot, then pour it into a freezer bag with your food to cook. Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No dishes to wash.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zero environmental impact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Makes it easier to avoid backpackers' diarrhea, which the evidence shows comes not from contaminated water but from hand-to-mouth contamination from your hiking partners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T15:01:42.973" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8258" CreationDate="2015-04-29T15:08:29.037" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having built several fires while wearing down jackets I can confirm that your jacket will &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; burst into flames, nylon is not that flammable. The worst you will experience is a small burn hole in the outside if an ember lands on you. &lt;em&gt;Probably still a good idea to keep a safe distance away anyway there are plenty of other ways to burn yourself on a fire.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Me wearing my down jacket next to a fire (note the lack of flames on my person :) )&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n41b2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is it possible to get rid of the smoke smell from clothes without&#xA;  actually washing them every single time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air the jacket well (preferably outside) and it should be fine. In my experience down tends to hold the smell less than man made fibres so it should be better with a down jacket than fleece, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T08:09:13.533" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T08:09:13.533" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8261" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8276" CreationDate="2015-04-29T16:56:23.610" Score="6" ViewCount="25140" Body="&lt;p&gt;So &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/4007-146/tru-flare-pen-launcher-kit/?q=bear%2Bbangers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pen launcher bear bangers&lt;/a&gt; have apparently been around for quite a while, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNh-KyndVOk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;training video&lt;/a&gt; for Truflare looks like something from out of the 90's, but they don't appear to be very popular, and I don't hear many people recommending them as an alternative to bear spray, despite the fact that they're much cheaper than bearspray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;The smaller flare cartridges below are classic red signal flares, the larger cartridges are the bear bangers, which have a delayed explosive charge that makes a &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; loud bang.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UxiHd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm familiar with bear bangers that you fire from a shotgun, but those are different, they're actually a large rubber wad that you shoot the bear with, so the bang is the impact the shot makes when it hits the bear. These pen launcher bear bangers get shot in the air, so the bang is the noise from the explosion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from being a lot smaller and lighter (and cheaper), these seem to me like they could potentially be a lot more effective than bear spray, especially considering you could choose to aim the banger &lt;em&gt;at&lt;/em&gt; the bear in desperate situations, and it would be effective from a greater range, and could be deployed against more than one bear at a time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How effective are bear bangers compared to bear spray? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:18:47.490" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T03:05:54.297" Title="How effective are pen launcher bear bangers compared to bearspray?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;&lt;bear-bangers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8258" CreationDate="2015-04-29T17:49:45.743" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It may be safe for you, but not for your jacket. While it won't instantly burst into flames, your very expensive jacket will get holes melted in it by hanging around a fire, same goes for any other nylons or non fire-resistant synthetic materials. Goose down will burn fairly well, oddly enough there are quite a few youtube videos of people &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/5ygpdt8nJu0?t=3m24s&quot;&gt;burning down jackets&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a certain romance associated with having a fire, but it will leave you smelling smokey–necessitating extra washings of your delicate gear–and it will damage your technical clothing if a spark or ember lands on you. I used to wear my nice outer layers around campfires until it dawned on me that most of the stuff I have was designed for alpinism, which takes you up above the tree line into areas where there isn't anything to burn. They aren't meant to be worn around a campfire. In fact it's very ineffective to wear a down jacket around a fire because it will actually insulate you against the heat it radiates. Zipping up your jacket and sipping on some hot apple cider, or hot soup will warm you infinitely faster than sitting by the fire will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campfire clothes are the heavy &lt;strong&gt;wool&lt;/strong&gt; jackets, and &lt;strong&gt;flannel&lt;/strong&gt; shirts worn by mountain men, hunters and lumberjacks. I have a wool jacket from nepal that I use as my sit around the fire jacket. Lots of people around here bring their hippie hoodies (aka baja jackets) when they go camping or hang out around a campfire. In scouts, everyone wore their wool scouting blankets like ponchos. First-aid responders will tell you that synthetic materials are actually one of the worst things to have on when working with a fire, because they will melt to your skin if they do catch. There are flame-resistant synthetic materials, Scouts Canada stopped selling wool scout blankets because there had been incidents with boy scouts sitting too close to the fire and setting their blanket aflame, so they started making their blankets out of a flame resistant polyester that feels like thick wool.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T17:49:45.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8258" CreationDate="2015-04-29T18:55:45.957" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the context of camping, it's perfectly safe to wear a down jacket.  Keep in mind that fleece is typically also made from synthetics, and so can be expected to have similar properties to your down jacket.  (Actually somewhat worse, given the texture.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A table of synthetic fiber characteristics at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tensiontech.com/tools_guides/burning_characteristics.html&quot;&gt;http://www.tensiontech.com/tools_guides/burning_characteristics.html&lt;/a&gt; provides the following information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both nylon and polyester will melt and burn in a flame, but stop burning when removed from the flame.  Polypropylene and polyethylene continue to burn when removed from the flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For activities where there is a greater risk of exposure to heat or flame (e.g. hot air ballooning or glassblowing) it's common to require only natural fibers* such as wool or cotton.  This is because synthetics melt as they burn, and can fuse to your skin which increases the severity of the burn.  (Cotton actually has greater flammability than nylon, but has the benefit of not melting.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, a fabric's characteristics will also affect how it burns.  A looser weave allows greater airflow compared to a thick, dense weave, and a fuzzier surface texture can make it easier for flames to propagate. (Example: using dryer lint for tinder vs. a piece of smooth paper.)  The fabric may also have been chemically treated with flame retardant or DWR coatings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Nomex is also useful, but unless someone is a firefighter or race car driver, they are unlikely to have such a suit lying around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T18:55:45.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8264" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8265" CreationDate="2015-04-29T19:13:00.697" Score="16" ViewCount="5496" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually do &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/sport-climbing&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;sport-climbing&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;sport-climbing&lt;/a&gt; so I've never owned a static rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, most rope-related Q&amp;amp;As in TGO.SE don't bother specifying dynamic vs static ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told that for &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/rappelling&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;rappelling&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;rappelling&lt;/a&gt; (or even &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/canyoneering&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;canyoneering&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;canyoneering&lt;/a&gt;) it's not only pretty common, but actually advised to avoid elongation when you're not expecting it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand I know you should avoid at all costs using a static rope when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But other than that, when is the use of a static rope recommended?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T15:42:11.627" Title="When to use a static rope?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8264" CreationDate="2015-04-29T20:11:58.853" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Static ropes&lt;/strong&gt; are used whenever you're working with a static load, either raising or lowering. &lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dynamic ropes&lt;/strong&gt; should be used whenever there is potential for a fall and high impact forces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Static ropes are used for &lt;em&gt;rappelling/abseiling, ascending, hauling, rescue work and making anchors (accessory cord)&lt;/em&gt;. Pretty much they are to be used in every situation except for catching a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rappels, static ropes (9-11mm) give you more control on your descent, with dynamic ropes it's often very temping to descend faster because the rope will soak up a lot of the force when you come to a stop, while fun to do, it's not great for your gear or your anchors, you could also put yourself into a dangerous situation by lowering too fast and hitting something or losing control. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've ever tried to ascend a dynamic rope then you know that it is almost twice as tiring as ascending a static rope, it's the same difference as climbing up stairs vs, hiking up a sand dune. The stretch and bounce in the rope puts excess fatigue on your muscles with every motion, you also feel like you have to climb twice as far because you have to take the stretch out of the rope before you can make any vertical progress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hauling is done on big wall climbs typically using &gt;7.5mm ropes when you're climbing for multiple days and carrying a lot of gear, static ropes are much easier and faster to pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rescue work, large diametre 13mm ropes are pretty much standard, because they regularly have more than one person on a rope and lift victims strapped to a spine board in a basket. You want zero stretch in your rope when you're doing this kind of work, because before you can lift a load you have to first take all the stretch out of it, and when you're dealing with a spinal injury you don't want your rig to bounce around. They also use very complex pulley systems, with dynamic ropes, you would have to pull way more rope through the system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Accessory cord can be categorized as any static rope that is &amp;lt;8mm, it's used to make cordalettes, equalettes, any other kind of anchor or 'lette you can think of, slings, prusiks &lt;em&gt;(although dynamic prusik cord is better, static cords still work)&lt;/em&gt;, and back in the day it was used in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7527/why-all-the-different-accessory-cord-diameters&quot;&gt;every size&lt;/a&gt; down to 2mm to thread your chocks. You're really only limited by your imagination when it comes down to what you can use accessory cord for.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dynamic ropes are used to absorb shock forces sustained from a fall, if you were to use a static rope for free-climbing the force of a fall would rip your protection out of the wall, or snap you in half when your fall is caught and you stop very suddenly and abruptly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T15:42:11.627" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T15:42:11.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3095" CreationDate="2015-04-29T22:06:08.407" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is against the geocaching rules to hide a geocache near a school because the parents might call the police first before asking questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5956" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T22:06:08.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8228" CreationDate="2015-04-29T23:25:18.507" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always mark or keep track of your starting point co-ords, or finish co-ord. Turn off the unit to save power and check once in a while to see if # are getting closer, you will find out fast if you are headed in the right direction. #'s will get closer. Play with it in your backyard and learn the capabilities of these new machines, awesome!!! Never rely on this tech though, learn the old fashion way first. They sure can help you to learn how to use a compass and topo map though!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5959" LastActivityDate="2015-04-29T23:25:18.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1795" CreationDate="2015-04-30T06:04:38.373" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cut a pair of socks in half!  Cut across about two inches above where the toes would be.  Then slide these over the top of your boots.  Works for me!  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5962" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T06:04:38.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8269" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8273" CreationDate="2015-04-30T07:14:14.023" Score="14" ViewCount="4974" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that to take precautions in mountain lion country, people should hike and camp in groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that mean solo-backpacking is not advisable in mountain lion country (Rocky Mountains in my case)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2538" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:03:05.977" LastActivityDate="2021-01-01T22:58:10.590" Title="Solo-backpacking in mountain lion country" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;solo-backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1795" CreationDate="2015-04-30T08:40:13.907" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking in warm weather and want to keep things more light and airy, trail running gaiters (such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://dirtygirlgaiters.com/shop/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;) are light and breathable and will protect from sand and pebbles specifically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T15:50:29.717" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T15:50:29.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8269" CreationDate="2015-04-30T08:49:00.157" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The precautions are exaggerated. These animals are extremely reclusive. Adult humans are outside their prey schema and will be avoided except in extremely unusual circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal dog attacks, fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat. Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd still avoid solo backpacking not because of wild animals but because there won't be anyone to help (or get help) in case of any accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T18:16:22.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8219" CreationDate="2015-04-30T09:36:42.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nikwax Analogy (Paramo) fabrics and Gore-Tex fabrics are very different, and in fact fall under two different categories: Nikwax is more of a softshell and Gore-Tex is a hardshell. That means Paramo is not 100% waterproof, even when treated while Gore-Tex fabric is (when well maintained).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that Nikwax fabric is not completely waterproof means that it is much more breathable and comfortable to wear when active, but facing a down pour water will get through. Gore-Tex on the other hand is a waterproof/breathable fabric, but offers much less breathability compared to softshells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day the question is what you are trying to get: a waterproof shell or a comfortable and breathable softshell? That will depend on the conditions you are usually at, NW USA or Scotland, I'd go for a waterproof shell as the chances are very high for rain and temperatures are lower. If you are in warmer and drier (rare rain storms), a softhshell with a really simple (and cheap) emergency shell for those few minutes of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to remember that there are great alternatives to both fabrics: eVant is also a great breathable hardshell while most companies have a synthetic softshell that will work just as much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick what you are going for and buy accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T09:36:42.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8269" CreationDate="2015-04-30T15:45:22.220" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can think of many reasons why solo-backpacking wouldn't be &lt;em&gt;advisable&lt;/em&gt;, but cougars isn't one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not saying cougar attacks don't happen, last summer there was a incident in Waterton National Park close to home here, &lt;a href=&quot;http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/cougar-menaces-hikers-in-waterton-lakes-national-park-1.1977383&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a cougar was menacing hikers&lt;/a&gt; along a popular trail, and even attacked a teenage girl that was part of a group.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cougar attacks are very uncommon, and typically only occur when a cougar is sick, injured, or old and frail, and even then they usually target easy prey, like slow fat dogs, though they have been known to go after children that are a distance away from their parents. In the incident with the teenage girl, the ranger that shot the cat said that it was acting very unusual, and appeared to be disturbed. Pretty much all cat encounters have a similar story, but 99.9% of the time, aside from finding foot prints, it's highly unlikely that you will ever find a trace of one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in a small mountain town in the Rockies, when I was 9 years old there were 3 adult cougars roaming around town preying on peoples pets. Before the cats were caught and relocated, rangers visited our school and taught us how to stay safe, avoid cougar attacks, and how to defend ourselves if we were ever attacked. Their advice was to hit the cougar in it's sensitive areas, namely, the butterfly under it's nose, and if it's a male, kick it in the balls. They also instructed us to cover our throats, as that is where all feliforms typically go for the kill. There are tonnes of cougars where I'm from (South of Banff National Park) but to be honest, &lt;em&gt;I've never seen on in the wild in my entire life&lt;/em&gt;, and I grew up roaming their territory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are out there—my brother went out one day with a friends dad who has hounds for cougar hunting, and he said they were able to tree one in no more than 10 minutes—but cougars are very secretive, and will go out of their way to avoid human contact, so you don't have to worry about them, they're the last thing on my mind when I'm out in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time you would ever need to worry about a normal cougar, is if you were crashing around in the woods and stumbled upon a shallowly buried deer carcass. When cougars kill large game they will bury what they don't eat to save it for later, and they will get defensive if you approach their cache, so just leave it alone and get away from it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For as much as encountering wildlife is a concern while backpacking solo, the greatest danger is silence, the odds of creeping up on a predator are a lot better when you're not having a conversation with anyone, so talk to yourself or sing while you walk, if a cougar hears you coming, it'll get off the trail long before you get near it. I guess if you were a really petite person you might have some reason to worry, I've heard stories of women getting jumped while jogging, but one thing that's going to deter a cougar from attacking you is your backpack, it makes you look bigger than you are, which is intimidating for large cats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about it, one of the best defenses you can have against a cougar attack is actually a taser. An inventor from California actually &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3INLDm2ryY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;designed a taser&lt;/a&gt; specifically for defense against cougars, it's called the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.armstar.net/armstar-bodyguard-sport/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Armstar Bodyguard&lt;/a&gt;, and it's pretty dang sweet if you ask me: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PkLhk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His idea quickly made it's way into the defense and security market, but he's still trying to get the sport model he originally envisioned (pictured above) out into the consumer market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T05:47:45.067" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T05:47:45.067" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8278" CreationDate="2015-04-30T17:34:27.150" Score="15" ViewCount="3725" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just looking at a product my friend was bragging about, a headlamp with 2000 lumen intensity. When and why would I be needing &lt;a href=&quot;http://in.dhgate.com/product/bright-2000-lm-cree-xm-l-t6-led-headlamp/212749620.html?utm_source=pla&amp;amp;utm_medium=GMC&amp;amp;utm_campaign=dhgatejintong&amp;amp;utm_term=212749620&amp;amp;f=bm%7c212749620%7c024061-OutdoorGear%7cGMC%7cAdwords%7cpla%7cdhgatejintong%7cIN%7c024061001-HikingCamping%7cc%7c%7c0LRF%7c&amp;amp;gclid=CKGK-9jGnsUCFdUXjgoduIsASg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;such a powerful headlamp?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually trek in jungles and forests and so seldom like (from now on I plan to) once in an year in Himalayas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A flashlight with 2000 lm capacity is what I can understand as a product, but a headlamp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture of the product my friend referred to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cEoEo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;headlamp&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:33:53.313" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T09:28:37.040" Title="Why might one need a 2000 lumen headlamp?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8274" CreationDate="2015-04-30T18:49:46.470" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all I doubt that you get a quality product for under 20 bucks which says it is going to be 2000 Lm. There are concerns that it won't be so bright as it states (read the advertising: &quot;Output bright &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; come to &lt;em&gt;max&lt;/em&gt; 1800-2000 lumens.&quot;), battery life will be very poor, the item isn't very robust or all three points are valid. Especially the robustness is a feature I personally don't like to miss on mountaineering gear, particularly on emergency items. If it comes to an case of emergency you have to trust your gear and don't want to think about the reliability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless if you just want to know where you need bright headlamps: this is typically the case if you are going to &lt;strong&gt;move fast&lt;/strong&gt;. So you won't need such light intensity for hiking/mountaineering to be honest, you will be able to move safely with less light. But if you are e.g. going to &lt;strong&gt;trailrun&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;ski tour&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;mountainbike&lt;/strong&gt; in difficult terrain &lt;strong&gt;at night&lt;/strong&gt;, such powerful headlamps are very useful. The faster you move, the more range your lamp should have to give you enough reaction time. There are headlamps on the market which are brighter than car spotlights so think of similar activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another area of application would be &lt;strong&gt;spelunking&lt;/strong&gt; where you need to illuminate big rooms of pure darkness. Also &lt;strong&gt;hunters&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;fishers&lt;/strong&gt; might be looking for those kind of lamps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T18:59:39.390" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T18:59:39.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8261" CreationDate="2015-04-30T18:54:25.270" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bear bangers and bear spray are designed for slightly different situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear bangers are intended to use when a bear is still a ways off, but is showing no signs of leaving, or is wandering towards you. The idea is to scare the bear off before he gets close enough that you need to be seriously worried. They generally shoot a few hundred feet.  Looking through online forums, there's some suggestions that they are illegal in at least some National Parks, but I didn't find any specifics. But if you are planning on taking them with you, I'd recommend contacting whoever is in charge of the land you are hiking on, and asking if they are legal. Since they work with an explosive charge, there's also a fire risk (relatively low, but if it's a dry environment, the fire risk will still be high). They are louder than things like bells and shouting, but the principle is the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear spray is for close encounters. By the time the bear is close enough for the spray to be effective, it's obvious that the bear is behaving aggressively.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.centerforwildlifeinformation.org/BeBearAware/BearSpray/bearspray.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.centerforwildlifeinformation.org/BeBearAware/BearSpray/bearspray.html&lt;/a&gt;, bear spray should be used when the bear is 25 feet away or more, and should be sprayed for at least 6 seconds (enough to deter even a determined bear). Most of the sprays I read about claimed to shoot 30-35 feet. I'd guess that distance is in ideal conditions- warm, no wind. Bear spray is intended as a last resort, once its clear that noise is not making the bear back off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, bear bangers are meant to work as a deterrent, much like bells or shouting. Bear spray is meant as a defense, for use once you are already in trouble, and the bear is clearly behaving aggressively and is close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: A note on bells, since their effectiveness is being questioned in the comments. A quick internet search shows that their effectiveness is low, and probably varies geographically and with species: Alaskan bears were observed ignoring it, Sierra bears were slightly less likely to attack a group with bells. Maybe because the Sierra bears are more likely to run into hikers wearing them, and hear them as a warning sign, while in Alaska, there's a lot fewer hikers, so it's just an unfamiliar, unimportant noise. But since the bells are cheap, and no one's reported evidence that they increase bear attacks, I'd still be willing to use one. If anyone finds evidence that they really work do work as a dinner bell though, I'll be very quick to change my mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival/bears-and-the-34-blend-in-34-theory/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.backpacker.com/survival/bears-and-the-34-blend-in-34-theory/&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490408409513035&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01490408409513035&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/trail-news/do-bear-bells-really-work/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/trail-news/do-bear-bells-really-work/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T20:22:17.447" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T20:22:17.447" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8274" CreationDate="2015-04-30T18:58:14.393" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lumens are used to compare the total amount of light output from a light emitter. However, lumens isn't the end-all, be-all. In fact, lumens will only tell you a one part of the picture because when it comes to producing a great beam pattern, it doesn't give you enough information to tell you how the light output is used.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lumens are to light what Litres are to liquid, they measure the amount of light in a beam. Imagine if you had 2L of paint (2000mL) that's enough to paint a decent sized wall, but how you apply that paint to the wall makes a big difference. You could just throw it against the wall, and make an ugly splash, or you could use some tools to make a smaller amount of paint go a lot further and do a much better job of applying it to the wall. Bottom line is, when it comes to marketing, bigger numbers mean more sales, so some companies will bump up the numbers that make a sale, but skimp on the qualities that make a good beam pattern. In short, you could buy a headlamp with fewer lumens that gives you much better light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question, &lt;strong&gt;high powered headlamps are for high-speed activities&lt;/strong&gt; like skiing or Mountain biking in the dark. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/SPECIALIZED-headlamps/ULTRA-RUSH?l=CA#.VUJ0NZNTxBY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl sells another headlamp that's 760Lm&lt;/a&gt; which is specifically for skiing and biking and can cast a beam up to 170m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other reason you might get a more powerful headlamp is if you're like me and you like to carry a GoPro everywhere and film your activities. Cameras need &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of light to film in the dark. One of the reasons I bought a big expensive spelunking headlamp–the Petzl Ultra Vario–is so I could film cave trips like this one I took a company of venturer scouts on last summer: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p85Wwc0J_s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gargantua, Cave Spelunking (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T13:45:00.057" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T13:45:00.057" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8274" CreationDate="2015-04-30T23:34:15.930" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers have addressed the &quot;why&quot;, but let's talk about the &quot;what's real&quot; regarding lumens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before we get into calculation the actual output of this light (which is definitely nowhere near 2000 lumens), we need to understand what lumens are. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)&quot;&gt;Lumens&lt;/a&gt; is the SI unit for luminous flux, which is essentially the total amount of light in the visible spectrum emitted by a source in all directions. Lumens does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; depend on distance from the light source, because it must be measured in all directions. A related unit, lux, measures light at a point, and &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; dependent on distance. 1&amp;nbsp;lux = 1&amp;nbsp;lm/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. If you were to measure the lux at every point on an imaginary sphere around a light source, add them up, and multiply by the surface area of that sphere, you would get the total lumens output of the device. No matter what the diameter of the sphere, you would get the same number of lumens. As you increase the diameter, the lux measured at each point decreases, but the surface area and number of points you must measure at increase. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It turns out this is almost exactly how you measure lumens in real life - with a scientific instrument called an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrating_sphere&quot;&gt;integrating sphere&lt;/a&gt;. An integrating sphere uses a highly diffuse coating to evenly disperse light inside a sphere. All light entering through the sample port bounces around so many times that the brightness is nearly even at any point on the surface of the sphere. A photodetector, typically a radiometer, measures the intensity of the light received at the exit port across all visible wavelengths, then sums the intensities to determine the total luminous flux. Below is a photo of the integrating sphere I used to conduct testing of bike lights: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJqAP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Integrating sphere&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI%2FNEMA%20FL%201-2009&quot;&gt;ANSI FL1 Standard&lt;/a&gt; specifies measurement procedures and reporting criteria for measuring the output (lumens), beam distance (calculated from lux), battery life, and other properties of flashlights, headlamps, bike lights, and other personal lighting equipment. This provides a repeatable, verifiable, and trustworthy way for lighting manufacturers to report device specifications. Most reputable personal lighting manufacturers follow this standard, but random generic manufacturers - like those selling the light mentioned in the question - do not. These generic sellers tend to drastically overstate and even outright lie about specifications, claiming insanely high lumen values with no data to back them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, now let's prove why this light doesn't put out 2000 lumens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears this light uses two 18650 batteries. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://industrial.panasonic.com/lecs/www-data/pdf2/ACI4000/ACI4000CE17.pdf&quot;&gt;Panasonic NCR18650&lt;/a&gt; &lt;sup&gt;PDF&lt;/sup&gt; is one of the most common 18650 lithium battery cells, and is the cell used inside of many repackaged batteries sold by flashlight companies and inside many devices with integrated batteries. Its rated capacity is 2700 mAh and the nominal voltage is 3.6 V. For two batteries, that gives &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2.7%20Amp-hour%20*%203.6%20V&quot;&gt;9.7 Watt-hours&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's look at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules/products/xlamp/discrete-directional/xlamp-xml&quot;&gt;Cree XM-L T6&lt;/a&gt; emitter, the LED specified for the product you mentioned. Cree's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/Data%20and%20Binning/XLampXML.pdf&quot;&gt;Data Sheet&lt;/a&gt; &lt;sup&gt;PDF&lt;/sup&gt; gives luminous flux (lumens) data for up to 2000 mA current draw. The maximum forward current for this LED is 3000 mA. At 3000 mA the forward bias is 3.35 V, so the light would draw just about 10 W. With the batteries mentioned above, the light would last just under 1 hour, if we ignore the power consumed by the control electronics and any efficiency losses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much light does the LED put out at 3000 mA? I plotted the luminous flux vs. current draw for the light, and fit a linear function to the data: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9sfF.png&quot; alt=&quot;Cree XM-L T6 LED current vs flux&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 3000 mA current, the maximum current for this emitter, the extrapolated luminous flux is 1000 lumens. To achieve 2000 lumens, the LED would require over 6000 mA, more than twice the maximum for this emitter. Keep in mind that the lumen values here are calculated estimates based on the emitter's specifications. They don't take into account losses due to reflector design and lens material. LEDs also drop in output when they get hot, and most cheap lights have poor temperature management. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I run a bike light testing and review site called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bikelightdatabase.com/&quot;&gt;The Bike Light Database&lt;/a&gt;, and I've tested similar generic headlights like this one. I measured a nearly identical light with a Cree XM-L T6 emitter and the actual output was 600 lumens, half of its claimed 1200 lumens and less than a third of this headlamp's claimed 2000. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to answer your question rather long-windedly, why a 2000 lumen headlamp? Well, it's simply &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a 2000 lumen headlamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-04-30T23:41:34.230" LastActivityDate="2015-04-30T23:41:34.230" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8279" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8278/2766&quot;&gt;answer here&lt;/a&gt; detailing what a lumen is and how it is calculated. In short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;..Lumens is the SI unit for luminous flux, which is essentially the&#xA;  total amount of light in the visible spectrum emitted by a source in&#xA;  all directions. Lumens does not depend on distance from the light&#xA;  source, because it must be measured in all directions. A related unit,&#xA;  lux, measures light at a point, and is dependent on distance. 1 lux =&#xA;  1 lm/m2. If you were to measure the lux at every point on an imaginary&#xA;  sphere around a light source, add them up, and multiply by the surface&#xA;  area of that sphere, you would get the total lumens output of the&#xA;  device. No matter what the diameter of the sphere, you would get the&#xA;  same number of lumens. As you increase the diameter, the lux measured&#xA;  at each point decreases, but the surface area and number of points you&#xA;  must measure at increase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8280" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" Score="0" Body="A lumen is a measurement of the brightness of a bulb, LED, torch or any other light emitting device. Use this tag to tag questions about the the use of lumens on light emitting items such as head torches, etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T08:59:55.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8281" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-01T09:09:46.660" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T09:09:46.660" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T09:09:46.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8282" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-01T09:09:46.660" Score="0" Body="A headlamp is a type of torch (flashlight) that you wear on your head, sometimes also referred to as a head-torch. Use this tag for questions about the use, maintenance or any other issues or general question about headlamps." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-24T16:27:48.797" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T16:27:48.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8283" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8284" CreationDate="2015-05-01T15:34:40.067" Score="14" ViewCount="13926" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to burn any kind of wood as campfire if you are going to be cooking on it directly? Like broiling a steak on a grill over the fire where the smoke and the flames will touch the meat. Can some wood produce fumes that are not safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about inhalation? Does campfire smoke cause damage to lungs? I am in Canadian Eastern woods, so mostly willow, pine, maple, birch etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other question is...the wood itself burns hot enough for cooking, so what is the purpose of store bought charcoal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:44:53.520" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:44:53.520" Title="Is campfire smoke safe for inhalation and cooking?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8283" CreationDate="2015-05-01T16:31:46.903" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, it is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; safe to burn just &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; kind of wood, because some woods contain toxins that have the potential to be fatal if inhaled as ash (poison oak, poison ivy). However, most wood found in nature is safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no such thing as smoke that &lt;em&gt;won't&lt;/em&gt; cause damage to the lungs, smoke is a particle, your body has many levels of defense to try and prevent particles of &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; from getting into your lungs (nose hairs, sinuses, mucus, coughing, sneezing), but they aren't exactly impenetrable defenses, a little bit of smoke won't hurt you, but avoid directly breathing the smoke from a fire.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as cooking over wood, while bad in your lungs, smoke can actually be very tasty on your tongue, of the four types of wood you listed &lt;strong&gt;maple&lt;/strong&gt; would be the best to cook with because it will flavour your food as well as cook it. Best fish I've ever tasted while camping was cooked over a maple wood fire. Pine would be one of my last choices for a cooking fire, as well as any other soft wood, because soft woods burn faster and seem to release more ash into the air which ends up on your food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-08T15:48:27.993" LastActivityDate="2015-05-08T15:48:27.993" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8285" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8295" CreationDate="2015-05-01T17:27:10.110" Score="21" ViewCount="11117" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Polish grandfather in early 1950's was sent by communist regime to a gulag. People were starving there and malnourishment was common, so they came up with idea of burning some kind of trees and eating the ashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you know what kind of tree can be devoured like this? And why ashes? How does this method work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking here, because it is strictly a survival thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4188" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-06-11T10:20:24.300" LastActivityDate="2021-05-06T22:11:54.667" Title="Eating ash in Soviet Union" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8286" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8288" CreationDate="2015-05-01T18:26:39.407" Score="8" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that all campfire cooking (grilling meat/veggies, not boiling water) can be done by building a decent fire, wrapping meat/veggies/potatoes in a aluminum foil, setting it next to the fire and covering it with coals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when does a grill become indispensable for cooking over a campfire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:44:44.187" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:44:44.187" Title="Is a camping grill an indispensable cooking utensil in the wild?" Tags="&lt;grilling&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8283" CreationDate="2015-05-01T19:25:38.090" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't inhale too much smoke. Everything which is (or used to be) alive is mostly carbon, and whenever carbon burns, you get carbon-monoxide which is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning&quot;&gt;poisonous&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Symptoms of acute carbon-monoxide poisoning are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dull headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weakness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dizziness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nausea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blurred vision&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you have these symptoms while spending some time near a campfire, get away from the fire and inhale fresh air. When you don't, you might fall unconscious. Cold CO is heavier than air, so it accumulates on the ground. That means when you fall unconscious you will likely inhale even more of it which could kill you. To prevent CO poisoning from happening in the first place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make sure your fire gets plenty of oxygen - the more oxygen your fire gets, the more of it burns to harmless carbon-dioxide instead of toxic CO. Also, a hotter fire means hotter CO which raises up and dissipates faster into the atmosphere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when you make a fire in a tent or shelter, always have an opening over the fire so the smoke can leave and doesn't accumulate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when outdoors, always stay upwind of your fireplace&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO is only toxic when inhaled. Food which got exposed to CO is safe to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3519" LastEditorUserId="3519" LastEditDate="2015-05-01T20:25:57.943" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T20:25:57.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8286" CreationDate="2015-05-01T19:55:45.743" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A camping grill is not the indispensable cooking utensil in the wild, at least not anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in the day cooking over a fire was your only option for eating hot food, and a grill was the lightest thing you could carry for cooking. Cooking over a campfire is still fun, it's nostalgic for a lot of people, but it's not necessary in the backcountry these days, in fact it's often discouraged in the backcountry because it isn't in perfect harmony with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8026/what-are-the-principles-of-leave-no-trace&quot;&gt;leave no trace ethics&lt;/a&gt;. Small, light, and efficient camp stoves leave no impact on the environment, whereas campfires often encourage breaking branches, cutting trees, and leave a scar the ground. Not to mention the fact that grills leave your backpack really black and dirty if you don't clean them well before strapping them to your bag...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where cooking over campfires is still acceptable is in developed campgrounds that have designated fire rings and supply wood for burning. Feel free to enjoy the romance of a fire in these settings, but when venturing out into the wild, or exploring back country trails, please plan your meals to be cooked with a backpacking stove.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question: &lt;em&gt;&quot;So when does a grill become indispensable for cooking over a campfire?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; A: Whenever you decide you want to eat something grilled verses eating a tinfoil dinner, or: when you run out of tinfoil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the ultimate indispensable camping cookware is still a cast iron pan, as it has been for hundreds of years, but not many people carry those in the backcountry anymore unless they've got a pack horse to carry it for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T03:03:09.673" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8283" CreationDate="2015-05-01T20:10:20.123" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pressure treated wood is especially toxic, since it contains chemicals meant to preserve it and kill things that would destroy it. Never burn pressure-treated wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other answers covered the rest pretty well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2278" LastActivityDate="2015-05-01T20:10:20.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2015-05-02T07:44:17.767" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I practice that: If one on board feels seasickness, (s)he should work with ropes and sails on the deck for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not concentrate on the problem&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lot of fresh air&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staying near the center of mass of the boat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Facing forward&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Con:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not universal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5970" LastActivityDate="2015-05-02T07:44:17.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8283" CreationDate="2015-05-03T07:28:11.253" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the third question: Charcoal is basically wood (technically any biomass, but it's usually wood) that has had its water and other volatile components completely removed, leaving pretty much a lump of almost entirely carbon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Charcoal compared to wood is similar to comparing distilled, concentrated alcohol to sugar cane. The charcoal burns considerably hotter for a given mass of fuel, and burns much more predictably. Because its composition is almost entirely carbon, it doesn't really create flames because there is little to create particulate matter, and little smoke for the same reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it burns so predictably, and sufficient temperatures are so easy to achieve with charcoal, that is why it is commonly used for grills and outdoor cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Curiously enough, a lot of people speak of 'charcoal flavor' but that is actually not a flavor of charcoal. Properly made charcoal will not impart any flavor, as when it burns it releases almost purely CO2. The 'charcoal flavor' comes from impurities in the charcoal, or flavorings added specifically for that reason, or burned fats from the foot itself that are vaporized and attach to the food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-05-03T07:28:11.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8292" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-04T08:14:55.150" Score="6" ViewCount="2256" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to my jacket instructions, it performs best when clean (gore-tex pores need to be clean from sweat, skin oils, and whatever else from the outside).&#xA;Also, they instruct to tumble-dry the garment after washing so to renew its water-repellent treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can there be &lt;em&gt;too much washing and tumble drying&lt;/em&gt;? Would that ruin the cape on the long run? Or, should I just follow the instructions slavishly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2015-05-04T18:02:32.647" Title="How often to wash gore-tex?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8292" CreationDate="2015-05-04T15:48:52.757" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are just my personal rules of thumb for WB gear care. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It goes in the drier after every trip. If there is dirt on it, it gets rinsed&#xA;first, but not washed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it looks dirty after it comes out of the drier, wash it, but don't wash it until it looks dirty. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that following 1 reduces the need to do 2 a lot. Renewing the DWR( durable water repellency) helps keep the garment clean since a good DWR reduces the ability of dirt and grime to stick to the jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with &quot;safe&quot; detergents, every time you wash the garment you are removing some of the DWR. While you can use products like NixWax or Grangers to renew the DWR, it never is as good as the original. You want to make that last as long as&#xA;possible. For the gear I own and use, I've found that putting it in the dryer&#xA;every other weekend only seems to help. This same strategy also works quite well&#xA;with softshell gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-05-04T15:48:52.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8292" CreationDate="2015-05-04T18:02:32.647" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience with WP/B garments, keeping them clean will keep them useful and functional for a long time (I have a 11 years old Gore jacket). What I do is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean the garment in the washing machine (30 degrees, delicate cycle) using pure soap flakes under two conditions:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy soil (WP trousers after a very muddy trip) will be cleaned straight away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regular use - wash after 10 days of use in total (can be multiple trips)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply a spray on DWR (Nikwax/Storm/Granger) after every wash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wipe excess with a cotton cloth (also spreads the spray on)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put in the drier for 20 minutes on very low heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far that worked very well for me in maintaing all my shells. I use the same principles for wind jackets (for cycling/running) and softshells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note about softshells (weaves)&lt;/strong&gt;: Make sure you give them a second rinse as the soap tends to get really stuck in the fabric and than continue with the spray on and drier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first 60 days of actual use (first year for heavy use, 2-3 years for less frequent use) I won't apply the spray on, as the factory DWR will hold with just a wash and heating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a drier, just place the garment on a warm radiator for 30-60 minutes (depends on heat) or use &lt;strong&gt;VERY CAREFULLY&lt;/strong&gt; a low heat iron. If you are not sure about the iron &lt;em&gt;don't use it&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just wrote an overview the other day about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsfather.com/2015/05/waterproof-clothing-basics/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;waterproofs&lt;/a&gt; if you need some more in depth &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsfather.com/2015/05/waterproof-clothing-basics/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;information&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-05-04T18:02:32.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8285" CreationDate="2015-05-04T18:04:49.803" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a survival technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to determine how many calories is in a particular food item is to measure the amount of heat energy emitted when an item is burned. Anything burned to ash is basically calorie free as far as food value goes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ash is composed of whatever was unable to vaporize into smoke in a fire. The hotter the fire, the more material burns. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_ash&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wood ash&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of calcium carbonate and potash (potassium salts) (~35-55%). Traces of metals in the wood will be concentrated in the ash, because it takes a very hot fire to vaporize them. Wood ash can be used to fertilize plants, but not people. It probably wouldn't poison you, and you might get a few trace elements (or some heavy metal poisoning, if the ashes were concentrating some of that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the sort of desperate measure you can try when you are starving to death, and are willing to try anything, even stuff that rationally, you know won't help. I'd expect it to stave off starvation about as well as eating dirt: there might be some questionable, miniscule benefit, but don't plan on it as a technique to live longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-05-08T13:03:34.560" LastActivityDate="2015-05-08T13:03:34.560" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3429" CreationDate="2015-05-05T00:27:58.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to all the excellent advice, I'd like to recommend a few other things that help me. I have a digestive disorder, as well as an inner ear disease which causes the type of vertigo commonly experienced on moving boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @jrovermier mentioned, ginger has been medically proven to help nausea, and I rely on it every day. I recommend sipping on tea made from 100% ginger root. It's caffeine-free, safe for breast-feeding, and can be either hot or iced. Tea bags are easy to pack, and if the taste is too strong, buy some sugar packets and pack them together. Peppermint also helps nausea, and adding a 100% peppermint tea bag is a good way to temper the strong ginger flavor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For convenience, my favorite product is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tummydrops.com/products/tummy-drops-ginger/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tummydrops&lt;/a&gt;, which are individually wrapped lozenges. Even tough they're made with real ginger, they don't have the harsh flavor that can make raw or candied ginger hard to swallow. For me, they work quickly and are more effective than ginger capsules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ginger tummydrops contain a patent-pending specialized blend of purified gingers that are enriched in the special compounds that can help soothe nausea and digestive upsets. Each ginger tummy drop is made from the purest and best tasting ginger, which may assist with occasional stomach upset, nausea, morning sickness, &amp;amp; motion sickness. They are great for travel and when you're on the go, and always keep your tummy happy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're low in sugar, have no high-fructose corn syrup, are gluten-free, kosher, non-GMO project verified and made in the USA with only the most premium ingredients! The NATURAL choice for upset tummies™&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tummydrops.com/products/tummy-drops-peppermint/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;peppermint&lt;/a&gt; drop. It's made from real peppermint oil, which, as I mentioned about the tea, is helpful and soothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-05-05T05:10:25.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8297" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-05T07:09:02.403" Score="10" ViewCount="6961" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can i keep my beer cold up to 12 hours while hiking ??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5368" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T04:34:45.253" Title="How to keep your beer cold up to 12 hours?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8297" CreationDate="2015-05-05T09:16:31.893" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in a place that has streams, placing the beer in the water every time you take a break will cool them.&#xA;Place in a cold/cool body of water about 30 minutes before drinking will also help. &#xA;If you don't have a body of water, wrap the individual cans/bottles in a wet towel in the shade, preferable where it is windy. Evaporation will cool the beers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last option will be to use some form of insulating container, keeping it will shaded in the backpack and add cold water just before drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the USA look into Pat's Backcountry beer mixtures, that way you just add cold water from a stream/spring to have a cold beer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-05-05T09:16:31.893" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8299" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8300" CreationDate="2015-05-06T18:42:35.253" Score="6" ViewCount="273" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are a reasonably athletic couple who enjoy hiking and being outdoors. We will be in Austria for a wedding in August so we decided to make a week of it, stay in a couple of towns, but also do a couple of days' hiking (anywhere between 5 and 10 hours a day is what we're expecting).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can get dropped off in the Austrian alps round about the Liezen region - I found the Via Alpina trail for this area (&lt;a href=&quot;http://via-alpina.org/en/stage/25&quot;&gt;http://via-alpina.org/en/stage/25&lt;/a&gt;) but information about how it all works is fairly vague.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How good is public transport in the region? If we book to stay in the same place for 2 or 3 nights, can we get to / from different sections of trail fairly easily? Or is it better to book different places for each night, and hike from one to the next?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How good are transport links getting in and out of the area? At the end of the hike we will need to get to somewhere like Linz, is this possible? Are there any good websites that will help us figure out how to get from A to B by public transport?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We will probably want to carry sandwiches / snacky food for lunch, and have a big evening meal. How easy will it be to acquire sandwiches and snacks in the smaller villages near / along the route?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This one is a vague one - any recommendations on the best stages or areas to hike, in terms of scenery and variety of terrain? If possible we would like to avoid spending too much time hiking along the side of roads etc and would prefer to be as high as possible with views of the valleys.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any input, suggestions or personal experience would be much appreciated!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5979" LastActivityDate="2015-05-06T22:28:22.103" Title="Good 2-day Alpine hike near Liezen, Austria?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8299" CreationDate="2015-05-06T22:12:19.620" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The linked topic of @Eyal is a good starting point to get an idea what to expect on those kind of hut treks. I would recommend to get information from online trip reports like on the site you linked to. They already marked the different sections of the Via Alpina where you could pick out 5 sections/days. First of all you should get something to work with like the local maps from the Alpenverein (see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/d3af7975-b73c-279b-9fc8-20efa51e53fe/Alpenvereinskarten-Uebersicht-2013_22650.pdf&quot;&gt;PDF&lt;/a&gt; for an overview what maps are available). To get some idea you can research online thanks to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.austrianmap.at/amap/index.php?SKN=1&amp;amp;XPX=637&amp;amp;YPX=492&quot;&gt;land surveying office&lt;/a&gt;. You can zoom up to a scale of 1:10000.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So even without sticking to some online trek reports and to Via Alpina or a similar trekking route, you are able to get a nice time outdoors. This is also nice if you are going to &lt;em&gt;adjust&lt;/em&gt; trek sections for you. Maybe you aren't feeling that good one day? Or you arrive at the destination of a day-hike-section at noon and want to continue? Maybe you want to stay two nights at that location you like so much? So just get some nice maps and improvise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your questions, yes, hiking along a street isn't the way we want it. Also the very remote places aren't what most people like being outdoors (of course there are exceptions). But it's typical in the Alps that you have a ton of day-hike routes with possibilities to stay for a lunch or even over night. So I wouldn't book a room in a village and try to do trips from that &lt;em&gt;base camp&lt;/em&gt;. I would just walk from hut to hut and don't sleep in small towns/villages at all. The paths and huts are interconnected pretty well. So you don't need to care about a super market too much - just eat at the hut. You will also get a sandwich for the day there. You should also pack some energy bars at the start of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do a round-like-trip the way I would do it, you also don't have to worry about public transportation which isn't that favourable in backcountry. You just have to have &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; idea where to start and where to end so that you know there are bus stops there. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.verbundlinie.at/lang/en/&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; the homepage of the Styria public transport and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; the austrian federal railroad. You could also try to hitchhike like Eyal did on his trip. I never did this but why not, if it's not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; remote like a forest road where only the forester is allowed to come by ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way you could also call the guys from DAV (german alpine club) or OEAV (austrian alpine club) directly. For example the DAV has people &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davplus.de/kontakt&quot;&gt;helping&lt;/a&gt; for exactly that kind of questions. I am sure they will also help you in English.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-05-06T22:28:22.103" LastActivityDate="2015-05-06T22:28:22.103" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8301" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8303" CreationDate="2015-05-07T08:54:32.737" Score="16" ViewCount="3638" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to run around lakes and through forests. But when the spring comes and it is wet with high humidity, many little flies and mosquitoes are flying in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, sometimes some of these insects will get into my mouth, which is a bit open to get more air when breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried running leaning my head a bit down, but this is not quite comfortable since the throat is not wide open and less air goes in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can be done to prevent this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5981" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:57.133" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T13:52:24.237" Title="How to prevent mosquitoes entering in your mouth while running?" Tags="&lt;running&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8301" CreationDate="2015-05-07T13:02:15.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could wear a mosquito net:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NLsSW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not clear how this is going to affect your running though...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-05-07T13:02:15.450" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8301" CreationDate="2015-05-07T15:48:51.727" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breath through your teeth&lt;/strong&gt;, that's what we'd do when cycling in NW Ontario, the bugs are &lt;em&gt;horrible&lt;/em&gt; there year round. I've inhaled more than one mosquito in my life time, now I just grit my teeth and put on a psycho smile if I'm breathing hard while moving fast through bugs. Of course this method doesn't prevent bugs from getting in your teeth, so you have to &quot;clean the filter&quot; every now and then &lt;em&gt;(lick the bugs off your teeth and spit them out... or swallow them)&lt;/em&gt;, and you look somewhat ridiculous, but it works well, and it's something you can do on the fly vs having to wear something over your face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option that looks equally as ridiculous is to suck in your chin and cover your lower row of teeth with your lower lip, then stick your upper lip out and down as if you're trying to kiss your own chin. This prevents bugs from flying straight into you mouth, and if you have a bit of a beard or even just a little scruff, you can use that as a filter so you can't even suck the bugs in. You tend to slobber a bit with the &lt;strong&gt;beard filter&lt;/strong&gt; method...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-07T16:37:09.563" LastActivityDate="2015-05-07T16:37:09.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8304" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-07T20:21:50.843" Score="10" ViewCount="5988" Body="&lt;p&gt;My down sleeping bag smelled like a wet dog after a damp night out.&#xA;By reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=40712&quot;&gt;this forum thread&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realized that it probably didn't dry enough after the trip.&#xA;So I let it out at the air, and the smell partially went away. Two more days in the open air, and the smell was still there though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I washed it. I know how to do it properly, using the proper detergent, a front load machine and a very gentle cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I have &lt;strong&gt;two&lt;/strong&gt; issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One, the bag left the washing machine still smelling. The odor is there, persistently strong though it diminished after the first day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I headed to the self-service laundry to discover that it was not open 24h.&#xA;It is going to open tomorrow in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, finally, the questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;why is my sleeping bag smelling so much even after letting it drying for several days, and even after a proper wash cycle?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what should I do now while I wait for the self service laundry to open (that will be in about 12 hours?) to limit its damage - if there's any that may happen meanwhile?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks everybody&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-05-08T07:47:35.260" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T01:14:59.623" Title="How to care for a smelly (as in wet dog smell) down sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8304" CreationDate="2015-05-08T14:50:41.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible to clean/repair your bag if it's not too far gone, but buying a new one will be easier, might even be cheaper, and will certainly be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Options for cleaning slightly mildewy bags include using &lt;strong&gt;vinegar&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;bleach&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(bleach will likely discolour the bag)&lt;/em&gt; and hot water in the wash cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If washing the bag and tumble drying doesn't get rid of the smell then the only other option aside from consulting a professional cleaner that I know of its to &lt;strong&gt;inspect the down itself&lt;/strong&gt;. Cut the threads along one of the seams in a spot where it would be easiest to repair, or where the smell is strongest, then pull out a good amount of the down and give it a look. If it looks bad, then it needs to be replaced. New down costs about $5-$10 per ounce depending on what loft you get. Considering that just about half the weight of your bag is down, you can guesstimate how much you would need. A 1kg bag would require about 18oz of down, so you're looking at about $90-$180 just to replace it, but you also have to make sure that the other materials of your bag aren't too affected, so wash the empty bag with bleach again before refilling it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=32521&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where to Buy Down&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thru-hiker (800 fp, $25/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;KookaBay (750 fp, $16/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seven Wonders (Hungarian 800 fp, $24/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speer (allegedly 900 fp, $30/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feather Industries (unknown price, grade)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feathered Friends (800-850 fp, $30/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feathertex (unknown, probably low fp, ~$8/three oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to down sleeping bags, it's important to &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt; let them get wet, your bag &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; have been protected on your damp night out by your tent or overbag. When it does get wet, you should &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; pack away a damp bag, always let it dry fully before packing it up. If you have no choice, then &lt;em&gt;never compress it&lt;/em&gt; while it's wet, and do your best to get somewhere where you can dry it out it if the rain isn't letting up or spending a day in your tent with your bag open to the air isn't an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-05-08T20:32:56.247" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8306" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8307" CreationDate="2015-05-09T18:47:19.300" Score="9" ViewCount="1839" Body="&lt;p&gt;I put some used Superfeet insoles in my new Danners and they slipped just a little on the downhill part of a hike (1/4in to 1/2in) but they're very prominent insoles. Is this a huge problem as far as in-shoe wear goes, or most importantly, preventing blisters? I don't really want to glue my boots or modify them for insoles, I'll just go get some new ones if needed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5988" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T19:59:49.817" Title="Sliding Insoles: does this need to be resolved?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8306" CreationDate="2015-05-09T20:34:21.100" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most insoles are either sized to fit, or cut to fit in your shoes, if your insoles don't fit right then you should probably buy new ones. But first I would question whether or not your new boots are the proper fit. If your insoles are slipping, chances are that you have more room in your shoes than you need, and your foot might slide around with or without properly sized insoles, though getting the right insoles can also improve the fit of your boot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insoles will only give you blisters if they're sliding against your foot, or causing your foot to rub against the sides or uppers of your boots, if they shift a bit in your boots when switching from uphill to down hill, it's not a big problem, you'll maybe put additional wear on the inside of your boots over time. You could try a strip of double sided tape or gluing them in and see if that helps, or just tighten up your laces a bit more to keep your heel in it's cup on the down hill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-21T19:59:49.817" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T19:59:49.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2015-05-10T13:23:56.063" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having various long hiking experience I find the following seems to help reduce blistering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toe socks .. big help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stopping and changing socks OFTEN or as soon as tehre is any burn feeling.  This is the biggest thing.  As soon as you sense friction STOP and deal with it.  Let feet cool and dry and change socks at least.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use Band        Aid blister pads.  They help a lot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Treat any blister right away.  A needle used to drain it will stop the sting and pain.  Apply band aid after.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have had good results with Second Skin liquid on anything that is sore.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taping works!  I have used sometimes a couple of rolls of white tape to protect sensitive spots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important.  Be careful not to overdo things.  I had an Achillies problem from that.  Plus be careful of Merigial Paresthitica.  I just had my first experience and it is not fun so adjust your pack belt carefully.&#xA;HAVE FUN by not having blisters or injuries by easing the pace and taking care of problems early.&#xA;Dara&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5989" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-05-10T21:38:58.373" LastActivityDate="2015-05-10T21:38:58.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8309" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8311" CreationDate="2015-05-11T04:00:19.507" Score="15" ViewCount="7922" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally use cheap, lightweight water bottles to carry my water when I'm hiking. However, sometimes I'm with people who use bladders such as a CamelBak, and I offer to go and fill water bottles, so I have to fill theirs. Maybe I just need to ask them to explain or demonstrate the technique for me, but I find it really slow and difficult to fill those things, especially when I'm filling from a lake or pond. Is there a trick? If I stick the bladder under the surface, it sort of crumples, and when I pull it back up, it's only about 10% full. The best method I've improvised so far is to fill one of my own rigid bottles with water, then pour that into the bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:27:52.647" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:27:52.647" Title="How to efficiently fill a bladder with water?" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8310" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8320" CreationDate="2015-05-11T04:05:19.333" Score="15" ViewCount="2675" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking at big wall harnesses and I've been noticing that a lot of them come with two belay loops: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TvqoC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8IuN7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that it isn't there as a back up. What's the advantage of having two belay loops on your harness when aid climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T19:25:40.783" Title="Why do big wall harnesses have two belay loops?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8309" CreationDate="2015-05-11T05:24:34.743" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer depends a lot on the style of bladder, there are a couple different styles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a classic camelbak, which has a nalgene sized opening on it and a handle to hang onto for filling one handed, so it's real quick and easy to stick in the water and fill up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JLEqI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had other types of water bladders though that you had to fold the tops over and slide on a top piece. These types of closures are not as user friendly, but apparently leak less, and are able to hold back a lot of pressure which is why they're used on the fancy &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geigerrig.com/hydration-packs/accessories-reservoir-bladders-bite-valves-backpacks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geigerigs&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Pmxg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ones aren't super easy to fill in flowing water, you need to use two hands and depending on the flow they tend to spill a lot. Easiest thing is exactly what you were doing, fill a bottle and pour it into the bag, I always carry an extra nalgene, even when I'm carrying my camelbak, it's handy to have for those small streams where you can't seem to get your bladder under the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I prefer the Camelbak twist closure over the slide tops, even though it can be a pain to open if you tighten it too much, and it does drip a bit sometimes, they're just easier to fill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T05:24:34.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8313" CreationDate="2015-05-11T08:26:53.027" Score="12" ViewCount="3142" Body="&lt;p&gt;My current harness has these single-piece buckles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ea4hw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;buckles&quot;&gt; (source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/harness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/harness/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be due for replacement in one or two years, and I really like these buckles, since I can completely open all parts of the harness if I need to. Also, I heard friends complaining about their harnesses (with other types of buckles) becoming slightly loose while wearing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am having a hard time finding any new harnesses with that type of buckle. Is that kind of buckle considered obsolete? If so, what is the reason for this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it because you basically have to double check your harness to be sure that you have correctly fixed the buckles? Or are there other reasons that might make them unsafe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T03:08:35.037" Title="Are manual double-back buckles on harnesses considered obsolete?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8312" CreationDate="2015-05-11T08:53:57.430" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is that kind of buckle considered obsolete?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obsolete, no, they work fine they've just been superseded by autolock style buckles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what is the reason for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite simply they're just harder to do up wrong. It also means you can adjust your harness faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some cheaper harnesses still have single buckle harnesses but the autolock one's are pretty much ubiquitous now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Also, I heard friends complaining about their harnesses (with other&#xA;  types of buckles) becoming slightly loose while wearing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can slip a little but not much. They, also won't come completely open, which an incorrectly done single buckle can!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-11T10:36:12.523" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T10:36:12.523" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8314" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8318" CreationDate="2015-05-11T09:15:48.207" Score="9" ViewCount="1442" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm training currently for a long distance walk (the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;welsh 15 peaks in 24 hours&lt;/a&gt;) and I'm doing some long days (12 hours plus). I'm having some real trouble though with quite painful chafing in my (ahem) crotch area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears to be being caused by my underwear and trousers rubbing while I'm sweating and moving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like I could do with some kind of Base Layer but not 100% sure what to do about this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have any ideas how I can minimise this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS I'm not wearing a harness for this so it's not that that's causing problems&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-05-11T11:47:37.067" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T16:59:32.970" Title="How to prevent chafing in my lower regions" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-05-12T08:01:48.153" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8314" CreationDate="2015-05-11T10:11:08.503" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having suffered similar on a marathon I had to run in freezing rain once (ending up with not just large areas with the skin chafed off entirely, but also deep cuts into my thigh muscles from the stitching!) I can heartily recommend combining very supportive underwear with non-slip, stretch leggings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way the only rubbing will be between the underwear and the leggings, and not between you and the fabric!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By personal preference, UnderArmor provide suitable items of clothing, but there are a wide range available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(While recovering, Vaseline is your friend!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T10:11:08.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8314" CreationDate="2015-05-11T12:50:01.847" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a runner, I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bodyglide.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Body Glide&lt;/a&gt; to prevent chafing.  It works like a charm.  Even if I put it on early (say, before driving to a race) it stays well enough to protect me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a little on the pricey side, and I've read that you can get the same effect from &lt;a href=&quot;http://discoveraquaphor.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Aquaphor&lt;/a&gt;, so you may want to experiment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5991" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T12:50:01.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8309" CreationDate="2015-05-11T13:58:24.763" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My standard daypack came with a Camelbak shutoff valve and quick disconnect for the bite valve. I upgraded all my other packs to have the same using &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.camelbak.com/hydrolink-filter-adapter/d/1004&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camelbak's HydroLink Filter Adapter kit&lt;/a&gt;, which also comes with an endpiece you can put onto a filter hose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This allows me to stop for water and, without removing the bladder from my pack, simply disconnect the bite valve, plug my filter into the place where it was, and pump water through the hose into the bladder. I use this with both my Katadyn Hiker PRO pump filter and my Sawyer Mini filter and it works great with both. On the Katadyn, it takes about 40 pumps to add 1 liter to the bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T13:58:24.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8314" CreationDate="2015-05-11T14:41:02.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suffered from chaffing for years and tried a whole range of options. What I found that worked best is the Under Armour Original Boxer Jocks, the 9&quot; version. They cover most of the thigh and holds well enough to keep everything separated to avoid the chaffing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get them from USA when they go on sale, but Wiggle, SportShoes and others stock them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a chaffing does start, keep a few wipes and some Fenistil Gel in hand to clean and treat the area. Chaffing happens when the skin is moist, irritated and has bacteria starting to grow. Wiping the area with the wipes and killing any bacteria with the Fenistil will make sure it won't get inflamed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This combo of methods works for me for 24 hours speed hikes, multi days hikes (20-30 miles a day, 3+ days) and long trail runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck with the Welsh 15.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastEditorUserId="5963" LastEditDate="2015-05-11T16:59:32.970" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T16:59:32.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8301" CreationDate="2015-05-11T15:12:12.993" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try a running mask &amp;mdash; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=running+mask&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Google &gt; &quot;Running Face Masks&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face masks are commonly worn by bicyclists and runners in the winter, but  lighter-weight materials are available for runners concerned about inhaling dust and other pollutants. They are perfectly suited to keeping the bugs out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9td2s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9td2s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="5981" LastEditDate="2018-08-10T13:52:24.237" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T13:52:24.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8310" CreationDate="2015-05-11T15:45:49.890" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's simply for organization sake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aid climbing on big-walls involves lots of gear, and you'll very quickly realize how much of a mess your perfectly racked gear will become.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With two belay loops you can separate your aid ladders and daisy chains a little, which helps to keep them from wrapping around each other (and keep things a little bit cleaner too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IpWmR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pete&amp;#39;s picture from MP showing gear quantities&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Couldn't find a good close-up picture for you, but Pete's picture from MP is a good visual indication of exactly how much is going on around your belay loop sometimes when climbing big-walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chris McNamara talks about it a more in his book on big wall climbing also. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/a/How-To-Big-Wall-Climb-Table-of-Contents/a139n.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.supertopo.com/a/How-To-Big-Wall-Climb-Table-of-Contents/a139n.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-11T19:25:40.783" LastActivityDate="2015-05-11T19:25:40.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4307" CreationDate="2015-05-12T19:46:13.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might act like a pressure sore. From what I understand, the whole reason why pressure sores normally only affect physically disabled people is that anyone else would stop putting pressure on that one spot. An untreated pressure sore will result in gradual breakdown of the layers of the skin, until you have a big nasty open wound that gets infected really easily. Pretty nasty stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5997" LastActivityDate="2015-05-12T19:46:13.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2015-05-13T00:37:25.477" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a 1 lb bag of random foreign coins on eBay for $5. A cheap, neat little thing to find in a cache. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5999" LastActivityDate="2015-05-13T00:37:25.477" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8323" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-13T02:34:34.447" Score="1" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocaching.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Geocaching&lt;/a&gt; and I was wondering what else I've been missing out on. I didn't know where to ask this but if you know and love any similar adventure / exploring services please share!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6000" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-05-13T02:42:18.967" LastActivityDate="2015-05-13T06:49:31.523" Title="Geocaching websites" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2015-05-13T07:06:43.757" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8323" CreationDate="2015-05-13T06:49:31.523" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A derivate of Geocashing is &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Geohashing&lt;/a&gt;, which started with an xkcd comic. The basic principle is the same: you take a pair of coordinates and try to get there.&#xA;What differs is the way these coordinates are generated. As the page linked above describes, they are generated randomly each day for each 1°×1° latitude/longitude zone. A good place to look today's location for your area is &lt;a href=&quot;http://geohashing.info/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;geohashing.info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You won't find any treasures at the end (usually...), but it's a fun way to explore the countryside around you. You might go somewhere and discover places you'd never go to otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2015-05-13T06:49:31.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8325" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8331" CreationDate="2015-05-14T20:19:08.950" Score="13" ViewCount="2942" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about to purchase my first belay device, and am wondering how long I might expect it to last. What signs should I be looking at to determine when a belay device eventually needs to be replaced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-05-16T19:36:48.270" Title="When should a belay device be replaced?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8325" CreationDate="2015-05-14T21:02:25.323" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The minute you have any doubt about it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There really is no other way to answer this question. There are so many different devices with different levels of mechanical complexity and&#xA;different use and wear patterns, that it's impossible to describe what to look&#xA;for in each one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, most recreational climbers would have a very hard time climbing enough to wear out a belay device in less than 5 years. Generally they are only replaced when dropped from height or something newer/better comes along. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary way belay devices get worn out is using them to rappel. Rappeling&#xA;will wear a device much faster than belaying. The more mud, dirt and bad weather the device sees the sooner it will need replacing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2015-05-14T21:02:25.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8328" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8330" CreationDate="2015-05-14T22:00:09.543" Score="11" ViewCount="1561" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like cliff-diving, but I am always scared that there might be a rock hidden in the water. If it is a popular spot, then I just trust that someone has already done the work, but what if I am going somewhere new. How do I know where the rocks are?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:00:34.370" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T10:55:42.237" Title="How do I make sure my cliff-diving location is safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8328" CreationDate="2015-05-15T04:16:20.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I'm from the water is clear enough for you to simply look over the edge and visually check if it's safe, you can see at least 30-40ft deep sometimes if not all the way down to the bottom. The occasions where you need to check depth around here are when you're by a waterfall and your vision is obscured by all of the bubbles. Swimming around the bottom is one way to check depth, but often you don't dive as deep while swimming as you may go after jumping. It's more effective to tie a rock to a long rope and drop it in the spots you're thinking of jumping into. If you use a heavy enough of a rock, you'll easily be able to tell when you've touched bottom, and you'll be able to hear it hitting other rocks as well, the vibrations travel back up the rope and make a deep clunking sound. You only need about 10-15ft of water to jump in depending on how high you're jumping from, less if you've got a soft or sandy bottom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-15T14:05:18.467" LastActivityDate="2015-05-15T14:05:18.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8328" CreationDate="2015-05-15T08:06:13.163" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always surface dive/snorkel first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have cliff dived in two locations - one is normally deceptive: poor visibility, shadows etc but on visual checks turned out to have 100 ft straight down to a sandy floor; the other looked clear and deep but had rocky ledges at about 20 feet!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering we dived from 80 - 100 feet, that second location was scary!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that while you may try to go 10-15 feet, as per ShemSeger's post, sometimes you will end up much deeper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-05-15T08:06:13.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8325" CreationDate="2015-05-15T08:38:58.233" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple of red lines for me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As soon as there is anything resembling a sharp edge on any point of&#xA;the equipment, this can cut your rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If any part of it is broken, visibly cracked or obviously heavily worn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's been dropped form a great height (though the whole micro cracks thing is a little contentious, better safe than sorry)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If any kind of &quot;groove&quot; starts to form (wether that is where the rope attaches of where the belay device interacts with a  carbiners)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like Fred says, if your in doubt bin it. Why take the risk, they're &lt;em&gt;typically&lt;/em&gt; cheap to replace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-05-16T19:36:48.270" LastActivityDate="2015-05-16T19:36:48.270" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-16T19:39:01.793" Score="1" ViewCount="1533" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8142/what-do-i-do-if-a-black-bear-is-right-outside-my-tent&quot;&gt;this question about bears and tents&lt;/a&gt; and according to the answers, if you ever have to use a bear spray, you have to do so outside of your tent (quite reasonably).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if camping with a tarp, especially with a open (as in suspended a-frame) configuration may be somewhat safer than using a tent in such a situation.&#xA;In my mind, this would allow the bear to see you (and leaving accordingly, since in the majority of the cases that's what is going to happen - again, still according to the answers of the above questions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And&lt;/em&gt;, in those rare case where the bear might want to predate you, you would have an easier life firing with the bear spray - or a gun, without the hassle to leaving the tent in panic first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to travel in bear countries and I'd be interested to know if the above speculation might actually be right or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-05-16T20:21:01.640" Title="May camping with a tarp be safer than using a tent, in bear country?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-05-23T05:00:36.773" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8332" CreationDate="2015-05-16T20:21:01.640" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see 0 benefit to a tarp over a tent with regards to travel in bear country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;this would allow the bear to see you (and leaving accordingly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are going to smell you and your camp long before they see you. If your tarp/tent setup is any good at all, it'll be covering you from most directions anyhow. I can't imagine an open tarp having any significant difference in terms of how long it takes for the bear to realize you're there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;And, in those rare case where the bear might want to predate you, you would have an easier life firing with the bear spray - or a gun, without the hassle to leaving the tent in panic first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear spray can only be used outside the tent, but if you did decide to use a gun, the walls of a tent aren't going to do much to stop a bullet. Anyhow, the walls of a tarp are going to get in your way too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real issue here is that a tarp A-frame tent is vastly inferior to almost any kind of real tent. You're far more likely to get hypothermia from having inadequate shelter than you are to have a bear even come through your camp, let alone get into a situation where your choice of shelter affects the interaction with the bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-05-16T20:21:01.640" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2015-05-17T14:56:08.617" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not tested yet. Criteria lightweight, long shelf life, low bulk, no cook, easy and cheap resupply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oat meal&lt;/strong&gt; [compressible]-amino acid: methionine, tryptophan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Powered milk&lt;/strong&gt; [compressible]- amino acid: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine; electrolyte: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Almond&lt;/strong&gt;- (due to gout, I can't eat peanuts which is much cheaper and more accessible at resupply) amino acid: lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine; electrolyte- potassium, calcium, magnesium.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Instant potato&lt;/strong&gt; [compressible]- amino acid: histidine, methionine; electrolyte: sodium, potassium, chloride.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wheat flour&lt;/strong&gt; [compressible]- amino acid: histidine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Olive oil&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: isoleucine, leucine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Honey&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: proline, phenylalanine, tyrosine, lysine.&#xA;Powdered milk contains all needed electrolytes, combined with oat meal and/or almond completes protein.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nature provided fruit &amp;amp; vegetable: vitamin, fiber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dandelion&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: histidine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lambsquarters&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: isoleucine, leucine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amaranth&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, valine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watercress&lt;/strong&gt;- amino acid: threonine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cat tail, Miner's lettuce, Manzanita berry, Huckleberry, Oregon grape, Wild strawberry, Wild rose, Black berry leaf and root, Pine nuts, baby pine needles, Prickly pear, Beaver tail leaf, Agave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many plants found in meadows, beware of poisonous ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Berry, leaf, stalk, roots- raw, tea, mashed, cooked.&#xA;Some plants have medicinal benefits also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish are a definite bonus but require cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6010" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-05-17T15:52:54.783" LastActivityDate="2015-05-17T15:52:54.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8336" CreationDate="2015-05-16T13:17:47.880" Score="15" ViewCount="26145" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know what &lt;em&gt;camping&lt;/em&gt; is, but what are frontcountry and backcountry camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5623" OwnerDisplayName="Sparkler" LastActivityDate="2018-07-13T18:44:10.073" Title="What's the difference between frontcountry camping and backcountry camping?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8335" CreationDate="2015-05-16T13:33:58.790" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Front country is a rarely used term; it would only be in contrast to backcountry. Backcountry camping means that you are not near the road or in a developed area. Typically sites can only be reached by foot or boat, often several hours of travel from any development. Facilities will range from absolutely nothing - camp where you like, try not to make a mess - to spartan - a sign on a tree, a ring of stones for a fire, a latrine pit with a wooden box on it. Your behaviour will typically be more restricted (eg no cans or bottles may be brought) than in a developed campground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Front country camping is what I call car camping. There are sites with picnic tables, fireplaces, possibly grills, taps, central bathrooms with sinks, perhaps even flush toilets or showers, electricity, there might be a store or an office with a phone, and it's on a road so you can go out and get things if you need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither one of them matches festival camping, which is a farmers field full of tents with no real camping support (fireplaces, picnic tables) but plenty of event support (food stalls, entertainment.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can ask questions about the details of any kind of camping here on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;The Great Outdoors&lt;/a&gt;, btw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" OwnerDisplayName="Kate Gregory" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-05-18T14:54:46.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8335" CreationDate="2015-05-18T23:03:42.533" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have mostly commonly heard those two terms used together in skiing. Frontcountry is lift served skiing inside the resort boundaries verses backcountry skiing where you ski up the hill first before you ski down it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(i.e. the front of the mountain is where the lifts and trails are, the back &#xA;is where they aren't. ) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frontcountry is a relatively new term compared to backcountry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry in general implies a more remote setting and one that you reach only by self-propelled means. I would expect nothing in the way of facilities at&#xA;a backcountry camping site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never heard the term frontcountry applied to camping. But I guess it makes sense as an antonym to backcountry. Backcountry camping would generally imply that you carry in everything you need on foot and there isn't anything&#xA;setup for you when you get there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in general frontcountry would imply some kind of facility or access that somehow make it &quot;not backcountry&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2018-07-13T18:44:10.073" LastActivityDate="2018-07-13T18:44:10.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8335" CreationDate="2015-05-19T03:57:20.880" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I live (Outside US), Front-country is used to refer to facilities and activities that are close to roads and easily accessible. Short walks, nature trails etc 10 minutes up to a couple of hours, camps and visitor centres you can drive to are &quot;Front Country&quot;.  Front country is often wheel chair accessible, suitable for all fitness and age levels, although extends to some longer hikes in more remote areas that are heavily used and require high levels of signage and maintenance. Facilities are well maintained and cleaned regularly. Users are typically townies and tourists in street cloths and street shoes and young families. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back-country are remote locations - typically more than 4 hours walk from a formed road, although 4x4 trails and farm access tracks might get you into back country, if you can get there in a 2wd car, its probably not back-country. Facilitates are basic. Huts and Shelters have limited facilitates - often no cookers and sometime not even heating (despite sub zero temperatures) -think one step up from a tent. Tracks are rough or just marked routes, bridges across rivers are basic swing bridges, 2/3 wire bridges. Unlike front-country users, back-country travellers are expected to be competent and self sufficient. Safety and comfort are the users responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Wilderness Area&quot; is defined at least eight hours walk from nearest road end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2015-05-19T21:09:57.337" LastActivityDate="2015-05-19T21:09:57.337" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2015-05-19T11:17:09.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are camping for long periods buy tubs of damp rid and place them in the tent. Remove everything out of the tent on hot days. Make a clothes line and let items dry. Place clothes in a tub and add container of damp rid, also add fabric sheets. Let the tent air out during the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should wipe walls down as well to reduce musty smell and mildew. Don't add moisture by cooking or making coffee in the tent. Put all clothing in totes. Backpacks are not moisture proof. Though a bit costly buy a battery operating fan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trick is to place newspaper in the tent. It will also absorb moisture. If the ground is wet take boots off before going into the tent and leave them outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6013" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-05-19T12:16:36.183" LastActivityDate="2015-05-19T12:16:36.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11012" CreationDate="2015-05-19T21:19:15.383" Score="18" ViewCount="863" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as the wood is dry and you have good kindling, does it matter how I start a fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:23:17.413" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:23:17.413" Title="Is a tepee, log cabin, or lean-to configuration most effective for starting a fire?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8341" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-19T21:37:19.710" Score="12" ViewCount="212" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am getting back into sport climbing and I am planning a trip to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_Gorge_National_River&quot;&gt;NRG&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get very nervous about safety issues in regards to climbing, almost to the point where I don't want to start again. One thing that makes me most nervous is bolt and anchor quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering what are the general quality of the bolts at NRG? I know there have been significant rebolting efforts in the last five years, are there old bolts left? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I only assume the bolts will be good on more popular routes and walls?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any places to avoid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6016" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-05-20T15:06:46.903" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T14:33:27.963" Title="Bolt Conditions at the New River Gorge" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8340" CreationDate="2015-05-20T15:11:04.557" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It honestly depends on conditions and what you are trying to accomplish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have nice whittled shavings to start with, the make a log cabin of those, and slowly increase the size of kindling and finally logs added to the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have branches that are roughly 1 inch, then a teepee is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget the star configuration. That 5 logs laid out radially, with a fire started in the center. As they burn you push the logs in closer to each other. It's perfect for cooking because you can control the heat, and it can maximize the lifetime of your fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of configurations depending on conditions like the dryness of your firewood, how big it is, is it split or solid, what are you going to use the fire for. Do you want smoke or smokeless, do you want lots of heat or do you just want light to keep animals away, etc etc etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really too broad a question without knowing what you want to accomplish and under what conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-05-20T15:11:04.557" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8345" CreationDate="2015-05-21T02:09:20.137" Score="13" ViewCount="1437" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a multi-week backpacking trip (the JMT in California), and want to bring a real camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some good solar power options for charging my camera batteries on a long backpacking trip?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Just to be clear, my camera is a Sony a7 and doesn't take AA or AAA batteries. It takes those wonky &quot;camera batteries&quot; that you have to charge with a special wall-socket charger.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastActivityDate="2015-05-23T18:26:58.337" Title="Solar Power While Backpacking" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8344" CreationDate="2015-05-21T02:42:48.543" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm very satisfied with my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goalzero.com/p/11/Nomad-7-Solar-Panel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Goalzero Nomad 7&lt;/a&gt;, it's small, easy to strap to your backpack, and it fully charges your batteries or anything that charges from USB or even 12V power in as little as 3hrs in good sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w3eZ0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of solar panels to choose from, any one will probably do the job, so shop for one that suits you. &lt;strong&gt;What you really need&lt;/strong&gt; in your situation, &lt;strong&gt;is an &lt;em&gt;adapter&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to charge your sony specific batteries using USB power (which most backpacking solar panels generate). For example, you can pick up something pretty cheap on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.ca/itm/S-USB-Travel-Home-Battery-Charger-For-Sony-ILCE-7-a7-ILCE-7R-a7R-Digital-Camera-/400789143239?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&amp;amp;hash=item5d50e4fec7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ebay&lt;/a&gt; like the USB charger for Sony a7 batteries shown below: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X5EGc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.ca/itm/S-USB-Travel-Home-Battery-Charger-For-Sony-ILCE-7-a7-ILCE-7R-a7R-Digital-Camera-/400789143239?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&amp;amp;hash=item5d50e4fec7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;S USB Travel Home Battery Charger For Sony ILCE-7 a7 ILCE-7R a7R Digital Camera&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can shop for whatever solar panel suits your fancy, you simply need to order a USB charger so you can use whatever panel you get to charge your camera specific batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-21T02:50:29.100" LastActivityDate="2015-05-21T02:50:29.100" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2015-05-21T10:07:29.893" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're a little too late for this kickstarter campaign, which covers your exact use case:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ezelleron/kraftwerk-highly-innovative-portable-power-plant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ezelleron/kraftwerk-highly-innovative-portable-power-plant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a fuel cell that converts lighter or camping gas from standard containers to electricity for USB charging with outdoors in mind. However fuel cells aren't new. What's new is the support for standard gas containers in a portable and somewhat robust device. Earlier products required hydrogen, specific containers and/or a fixed orientation to operate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope it'll hit the market in mid 2016.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I'm a backer but not affiliated to eZelleron otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6020" LastActivityDate="2015-05-21T10:07:29.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8348" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-21T15:40:23.013" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A flashlight is a portable hand-held device which has a small incandescent light bulb or a set of LEDs as a light source. Flashlights are mostly operated on batteries/dry cells. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:01:00.280" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:01:00.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8349" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-21T15:40:23.013" Score="0" Body="Questions about flashlights (torches) in context of outdoor use. A flashlight is a portable hand-held device which has a small incandescent light bulb or a set of LEDs as a light source." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:01:00.280" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:01:00.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8350" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-21T15:46:39.880" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Steeper than a hill/hillock/hump, a mountain stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:50:38.433" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:50:38.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8351" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-21T15:46:39.880" Score="0" Body="Questions specifically about mountains and their properties, geology, geography and topology should be tagged with this tag. This tag is not to be confused with mountaineering tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:50:38.433" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:50:38.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8352" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-21T15:58:56.347" Score="8" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need clothing for kayaking in the summer. I already have the &quot;heavyweight&quot; equipment - thick neoprene longjohn and a whitewater cag. But for places where I need less protection from cold and injuries, I'd like something more breathable and less restrictive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked into products marketed at kayakers and other water sport activities and ended up buying a kite surfers' rash guard for the top. I am quite happy with it, as it does not have the same hothouse effect as neoprene does. But the kitesurfers wear boardshorts as bottoms. They would have been OK for me, if they were available in long, but they end up well over my knee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like some comfortable ankle-length layer which gives a small amount of warmth and can protect me from scraping my skin if I have to swim out, preferably also UV-protecting for the time I hang around before and after I get into the boat. And as all my watersports stuff, I'd like it to be quick-dry and machine washable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The few striders sold by kayak stores are too short and/or made from neoprene. They're also quite expensive when compared to bottoms produced for other purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a type of clothing which covers the above criteria, the way rash guards cover them for tops? I was thinking of slightly denser pantyhose, but there are probably better solutions (is pantyhose quick drying?). Are there sports whose practitioner wears this type of clothing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-02-20T21:58:09.453" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T22:01:37.213" Title="Where can I get long but light bottoms for water?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8355" CreationDate="2015-05-21T16:56:52.497" Score="18" ViewCount="6494" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my next vacation, I will be camping in a tent on a designated campsite. I saw somebody use a hammock for lounging during the day last time, so quickly got a cheap hammock from eBay, with a &quot;let's see if that works for me&quot; attitude. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hammock came, and it is a piece of silk with a spread of ropes on each short end. The ropes are braided together into a loop. I think this might be intended for a specialized hammock stand, but I won't have one, I'm hoping there will be a usable pair of trees in or around the campsite. It is roughly this style: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vQOLu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hammock type&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I attach it to the trees? Can I use any old cord and wrap it around a tree trunk? Won't it slide down? What cord thickness do I need? Are there special knots I should learn? Is there something more convenient than a cord, e.g. some kind of short belt with clasp? (I've seen long ones for fastening kayaks to car roofs, for example). If I want to buy something for this purpose, 1) how is it called, 2) which shop has it, and 3) how do I use it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastEditorUserId="9205" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T13:30:39.457" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T07:47:12.070" Title="How do I attach a hammock to trees?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8352" CreationDate="2015-05-21T17:45:32.797" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds like what you're looking for is either an &lt;strong&gt;undersuit&lt;/strong&gt;, or simply some &lt;strong&gt;swimming pants/tights&lt;/strong&gt;. Wetsuit undersuits are worn under diving wetsuits to add insulation and comfort to the suit, and they help slide the suit on and off a bit easier, some are essentially built like a body-rashguard. Swim tights are exactly what they sound like, tight pants that are made for swimming. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hAPNS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also try out some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5007-207/kokatat-tropos-deluxe-boater-pants-unisex/?h=10%2050004%2050020%2050089&amp;amp;f=10%2050004%2050089%2050106&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;boater pants&lt;/a&gt;, they're waterproof and breathable with neoprene trim. They're great for keeping you dry while you paddle, but they're not exactly intended for being swam in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-02-20T22:01:37.213" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T22:01:37.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8353" CreationDate="2015-05-21T17:57:21.680" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hang my hammocks using the same slings I use for anchors while climbing, a girth hitch around the the tree is more than sufficient, but wrapping the sling around the tree twice, then tying it with a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/waterknot/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;water knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; is best. It holds well, it's easy to adjust the height, and it doesn't slip when weighted. The wide surface area of the webbing is better for the tree than cord too, because it doesn't cut into the tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can attach the hammock directly to the anchor using carabiners if the trees are just the right distance apart, or you can use a length of cord to attach the hammock to the anchors by tying a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/index.php?Categ=boating&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8follow/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;figure eight follow through&lt;/a&gt; to the hammock, and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/clove-hitch-carabiner-8129423.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;clove hitch&lt;/a&gt; onto a carabiner clipped to the anchor. Clove hitches are nice because they're quick to tie, and easy to adjust length. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bpiTA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1eGp7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T17:52:13.093" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T17:52:13.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8344" CreationDate="2015-05-22T10:23:39.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use two cheap solar panels (A5-paper size, folding ones) on bike trips, one without a battery and one with. I have both installed on my bike all day, with my GPS device plugged in to one of them all the time. I travel on roads and in a particular direction, so I can adjust them every two hours or so to face the sun. This keeps the battery on a respectable level, but the real charge comes when I stop for an hour to make something to eat. I direct the panels to the sunlight, and after one hour, my GPS is full, phone is recharged, and the camera (pocket-size automatic one) also gets some. In the evening I plug the camera to the second charger. Never had energy problems, but I am aware that this setup is very sensitive to unexpected sun outages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for lack of specs, the new bike season is starting soon, and forgot everything from the last summer. :-) Just my 0,02€.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6024" LastActivityDate="2015-05-22T10:23:39.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8358" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-05-22T17:11:05.743" Score="6" ViewCount="937" Body="&lt;p&gt;Theses shoes are still good (picture have been removed), but the small missing part of the heel makes them painful to wear. I'm looking for the most efficient way to extend my shoes life (robust, cheapest, aesthetics and ecological). I'm looking for feed backs about what you tried: what work, and what doesn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sole could be &lt;em&gt;theoretically&lt;/em&gt; fixed in several ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;● by adding the missing matter on the sole with a form-work&#xA;That would be the easiest solution : filling the missing part with some rubber like matter that would solidify. And maybe a bunch of small screws that would be cover by the matter and increase the adhesion between the filling and the remaining part of the sole. That would be super, but since I haven't seen anything about it on the web, it's probably because it doesn't work... Did you try it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;● by cutting few centimeter of the heel and gluing a new heel sole:&#xA;I'm tempted to use a piece of tire, that seems to work and that looks great. Did you try, which kind of glue did you use, which did last, which didn't? I know that &lt;em&gt;theoretically&lt;/em&gt; many glue should fit &lt;em&gt;but&lt;/em&gt; I also know by experience that resoling did failed most of the time (I spent my childhood running after my soles...). I'm tempted to use neoprene glue (contact adhesive) for the first adhesion to be completed by superglue for the tricky parts. What do you think?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps: I would prefer practical feedback rather than theoretical advises (pictures of your experiments are warmly welcome!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps2: such worn out is cause by an &quot;overpronation&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: shoe goo &amp;amp; heel are extremely expensive where I'm living. So we need to be creative. Any feedback about what did work for you, &lt;em&gt;or not&lt;/em&gt;, (kind of glue or heel) would be extremely appreciated (don't hesitate to post pictures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6022" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:30:36.120" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:30:36.120" Title="What refilling material or glue did you chose to resole your trekking shoes? (What works, what doesn't)" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8358" CreationDate="2015-05-22T22:14:43.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The go to shoe repair glue I've always used is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tools-hardware/small-job-home-repair-maintenance/tape-glue-sealants/glue/shoe-goo-ii-0670004p.html?utm_campaign=bazaarvoice&amp;amp;utm_medium=Default&amp;amp;utm_source=RatingsAndReviews&amp;amp;utm_content=Default&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shoe Goo&lt;/a&gt;. I've used it mostly for when my soles started to separate from my uppers, and it's always done the job for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FGMU5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as resoling your shoes, you're right in your suspicion that the &quot;easy solution&quot; doesn't last, Shoe Goo advertises that it can be used to rebuild worn soles, and it will for minor repairs, but in my experience, it eventually just comes off in a messy clump if you try putting a substantial amount on. Best thing to do is to grind the sole down flat and glue a new heel block on with shoe goo and clamp it tight. You could probably get a way with only grinding it down &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; flat and fill in the rest of the void under your new sole with shoe goo. You can try using tire rubber for your sole (have fun cutting it), but a new heel block doesn't cost that much, you can get them for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/eCobbler-Walking-Repairs-Repair-Supplies/dp/B007VA2050&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;couple bucks&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/am0YH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tip about the shoe goo, make sure you apply it smoothly! gobs will dry as gobs and you will feel them when you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-23T02:04:28.637" LastActivityDate="2015-05-23T02:04:28.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8360" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8362" CreationDate="2015-05-23T18:24:22.203" Score="9" ViewCount="2225" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a winter sleeping bag rated down to -40c but its heavy and it won't get that cold where I am going. The coldest it will be is +5 to -5. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've another lightweight sleeping bag rated 5 degrees comfort and it weighs very little. I would rather take this bag and know how to get warmer if needs be by putting on more clothes for example, but this might make me sweat.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So any best practice recommendations for how to get warmer if the temperature does drop further?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T18:57:07.770" Title="Staying warm in a lightweight sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8344" CreationDate="2015-05-23T18:26:58.337" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having done tonnes of research in this area, I settled for products from a company called Portapow. They do an 11w panel which I combined with their 6000mah solar battery and a AA/ AAA battery charger. With this set up I can charge my phone from either the solar panel, battery pack or solar battery. I can charge batteries for my GPS. The 11w panel charges my phone in full sunlight in about 1.30 hr.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastActivityDate="2015-05-23T18:26:58.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8360" CreationDate="2015-05-23T19:49:13.737" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You covered it already—layers. This is actually a very common technique among ultralight backpackers. They will often intentionally bring a sleeping bag with 5-10ºF less insulation than needed and compensate by wearing all their clothing to bed. If you need to get warm fast, you can do some sit-ups to get your blood moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You only need to worry about sweating if you overinsulate. The form of insulation (sleeping bag or clothing) won't make a difference. In fact, having more layers gives you more flexibility so you can adjust your insulation level depending on the actual conditions. If you bring your -40 sleeping bag, you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; overheat and sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source:&#xA;Common knowledge, but available in Mike Clelland's &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=qy_0RPh8O_AC&amp;amp;pg=PA98&amp;amp;lpg=PA98&amp;amp;dq=ultralight+wearing+jacket+to+bed&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=nz35lMPiq7&amp;amp;sig=WbNLD0xD1ACz0bHIV4G57kfk9dk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=UNlgVZCHM8rboATLr4B4&amp;amp;ved=0CCYQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=ultralight%20wearing%20jacket%20to%20bed&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ultralight Backpackin' Tips&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; among other places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5594" LastActivityDate="2015-05-23T19:49:13.737" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8360" CreationDate="2015-05-23T22:19:20.520" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from layering your clothes inside your bag, or layering your bag using a bag liner, it's also important to make sure you have a good ground sheet or sleeping pad that will insulate you against the ground and reflect your body heat back up. You lose a lot of body heat into the ground while sleeping, so at the very least, using a survival blanket as a ground sheet (shiny side up) will reflect some of that heat back up. You also lose a lot of heat through your head, so bring a toque or warm hat to wear while you sleep, this adds a surprising amount of warmth and comfort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eating will keep you warmer too. Deer spend a lot of time feeding in the middle of the night when it's cold out, not because they're hungry, but because it's fuel on the fire and keeps them warmer. Eating a good hot meal before bed will help your body generate more heat during the night. Emptying your bladder will also help, your body wastes a lot of energy keeping a full bladder of water warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tricks for warming up in the middle of the night include preparing a thermos of hot soup or hot drink just before bed, and drinking it when you wake up cold. In the himalayas everyone carries a pee-bottle for when they have to pee in the middle of the night. Instead of getting out of their warm bag, they'll pee inside the bottle, then keep the warm pee-bottle in their bag until morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I pack a warmer bag, I sleep with a -10ºC bag in the summer time, if it's warm enough out I'll use it as a down comforter when I lay down at the end of the day, but I always end up zipped up inside it sometime during the night. Even in the middle of summer it still dips down close to freezing at night here in the rockies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-05-24T14:29:41.157" LastActivityDate="2015-05-24T14:29:41.157" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8360" CreationDate="2015-05-23T22:42:08.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several good tips have already been posted; another to consider is a hot water bottle. I was on a trip for a mountaineering class recently and was surprised by how many people had never slept with a hot water bottle before! Use a solid bottle which won't leak and is designed to handle high temperatures, like a Nalgene bottle. If you're already carrying fuel and heating water to cook with, it's easy to heat a bit more and throw it in your bag before you go to sleep. Then it'll already be nice and toasty before you get in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-05-23T22:42:08.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8365" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8366" CreationDate="2015-05-24T09:37:53.140" Score="8" ViewCount="1831" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have noticed that most sunglasses leave quite a bit of gap on the side and only cover the &quot;front&quot; of the eyes. Does this give adequate UV protection, or are these types of sunglasses mostly &quot;fashion accessories&quot;, and if you want real protection you have to wear wrap-arounds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see what I mean in this image&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kEUB0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2894" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:49:25.473" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:49:25.473" Title="How much side protection should sunglasses have?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8365" CreationDate="2015-05-24T20:35:00.820" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those types of glasses &lt;em&gt;do not&lt;/em&gt; provide adequate protection from sunlight, especially in areas with lots of reflective surfaces (desert, snow) and at high elevations where there's more UV radiation due to the thinner atmosphere above you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you want are either wrap-around glasses which don't let light in the sides, or particular glasses called &quot;glacier glasses&quot;. Glacier glasses have a fabric/leather/plastic shield on the side which prevents light from coming in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w35Yl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Glacier glasses example&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your eyes will dilate slightly to allow more light in when you're wearing dark glasses, which compounds the issue - because your pupils are open wider, the potential for UV damage from light coming in the sides at full brightness is increased. You should always wear full wrap-around or glacier glasses when you're outdoors in areas with intense light and reflected surfaces, and especially at high elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-05-24T20:35:00.820" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4439" CreationDate="2015-05-25T05:33:02.040" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, when you touch something very cold, it can be like touching something hot. You get the same reaction to jerk away from it quickly. I believe Cold Shock is essentially the same thing, except you're either immersed or covered in the cold water, so your brain goes into a state of panic as it's trying to get away from the water covering you - Obviously not possible to do immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems like one of those now-useless features we still have from our ancestors. Like a lot of them, we don't know what they're for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6028" LastActivityDate="2015-05-25T05:33:02.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8368" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8369" CreationDate="2015-05-25T09:53:51.587" Score="10" ViewCount="4808" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that a recurve bow should have its string removed when not shooting, so that it does not stretch and the limbs do not experience plastic deformation. On the other hand, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-PW-Fq12U&quot;&gt;the procedure&lt;/a&gt; to unstring, string and tune a compound bow looks too involving to be performed on daily bases&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How often should a compound bow be unstrung?.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T10:09:51.957" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T10:09:51.957" Title="Should compound bows be unstrung when not shooting?" Tags="&lt;bows&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8368" CreationDate="2015-05-25T14:11:28.573" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, the only time you need to unstring your compound bow is when you're replacing the string, or doing some other repair. If you have an older compound bow that's made from laminated wood, then you'll want to back off the tension on your string when you store it, but modern compound bows have limbs that are rated up to 200,000psi, and can be stored for years while strung without any problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's your strings you need to worry about more than your limbs. Make sure your strings are properly waxed and store your bow in a cool, dark, dry place, preferably in it's own case. One tip I heard once was to tighten your strings all the way to the max, then back them off about 10 lbs (~2 1/2 turns) before putting your bow away into storage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all bows are the same, so it may be wise to consult the user manual for your bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-05-25T14:11:28.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4439" CreationDate="2015-05-25T14:38:44.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canadian glacier lake swimmer here - You can train your body to overcome the cold shock response. It's a matter of mind over body, yes your body responds to the sudden shock of diving into cold water, but the trick to overcoming it is to &lt;em&gt;relax&lt;/em&gt;, slow your brain down, and focus on controlling your breathing. The best way to do this minimize your movements, moving around in cold water makes the water feel colder, if you can hold still, take slow controlled breaths and just relax your shoulders and arms, then you can overcome the cold shock response. As soon as you gain control over your body, the cold water doesn't feel so bad and you start to feel like you could hang out in it for a while (just don't hang out too long). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-05-25T14:38:44.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8360" CreationDate="2015-05-26T21:18:19.990" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are car camping,you can take both. If not, a good down jacket that is really lightweight down. Wear a hat to add warmth.maybe socks too.down booties are another option to stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6033" LastActivityDate="2015-05-26T21:18:19.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8375" CreationDate="2015-05-27T08:15:31.787" Score="8" ViewCount="1697" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep seeing a particular bird lately and I don't recognise it. Can anyone help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only ever seen it from the car and in flight so I have no photo's unfortunately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's black and white&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;about the size of a magpie (possibly bigger, has broader wings)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has very &quot;square&quot; short but wide wings in flight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has a strange &quot;swooping&quot; flight pattern, tips it's wings backwards and forwards flashing the distinctive coloured underside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tops of the wings are black&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The underside of the wings are black and white, black on the tips with a wide flash of white&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distinctive flash of white on the underside of the neck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first I got excited thinking it was an osprey but I'm now pretty sure that's incorrect, it doesn't appear to be bird of prey too me. I put the weird flight pattern down to it being mobded by crows but it seems to always do it. Almost like a display. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the first time I saw the bird it was in a field next to the sea. So I thought it was a sea bird, but now I've also seen one inland by my house. So I think it's a farmland bird. I've only ever seen one or two, never a flock. I live in North Wales. I've tried googling it but I don't seem to get any results...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:47:13.017" LastActivityDate="2018-07-28T22:24:42.600" Title="Help identifying black and white &quot;square winged&quot; bird?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8373" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" LastActivityDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8374" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" Score="0" Body="Ornithology is the study of birds. This can encompass bird watching and more scientific pursuits, such as tagging,etc. Use this tag to tag questions regarding the spotting, identification of birds as well as the wider hobby of &quot;Ornithology&quot; itself." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" LastActivityDate="2015-05-27T08:17:34.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8372" CreationDate="2015-05-27T09:10:54.453" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of the three possibles I came up with from your description (wagtail, oystercatcher and lapwing), wagtail was ruled out by its size, and you would have seen an oystercatcher's beak as they are pretty bright (and oystercatchers don't have a swooping flight) - the only one that matches correctly is the lapwing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is black and white and has very squared off wings. On the ground the crest of feathers is obvious, but in flight the flash of white on the underside of the wings and the swooping display flight pattern are quickly identifiable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WExQ2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picture from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/l/lapwing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get to hear one, they have a call that can be piercing or melancholy - and which gives them their common name, Peewit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-05-27T09:10:54.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8377" CreationDate="2015-05-28T14:12:33.363" Score="12" ViewCount="5103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a knot similar to a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheepshank/&quot;&gt;sheepshank&lt;/a&gt; but adjustable and stable under load on both ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of two poles that have the two ends of a rope permanently attached to them but you want to shorten the rope in-between like you would do with a taut-line hitch. Obviously, you have no free ends for a taut-line. A sheepshank would at least shorten the rope mid-line but could not create tension like a taut-line hitch would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like there should be a knot for this but I haven't seen one like it yet. Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6040" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-28T14:33:34.163" LastActivityDate="2020-07-27T22:36:36.020" Title="Adjustable mid-line knot?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8376" CreationDate="2015-05-28T14:38:18.127" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheepshank/&quot;&gt;Knots by Grog&lt;/a&gt; say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you are asked to learn to tie the Sheepshank, please request your&#xA;  Troop Leader to eliminate this knot and replace it with something safe&#xA;  and useful, e.g., the &lt;strong&gt;Alpine Butterfly Loop&lt;/strong&gt; is an excellent way of&#xA;  creating a loop in the middle of a length of rope and can also be&#xA;  safely used to shorten a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it sounds like you want an &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebutterfly/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;Alpine Butterfly Loop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are several methods for tying it. We devised the method that is&#xA;  used in the animation. It is an improvement on other &quot;hand-winding&quot;&#xA;  methods. It helps locate the loop: the second crossing of your hand is&#xA;  near your fingertips and away from the other two turns. This helps you&#xA;  to locate it, pick it up, and wrap it around the other two strands.&#xA;  Setting the knot usually requires holding the loop in your teeth and&#xA;  pulling both ends with your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need tension then you could also try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;Truckers Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Form a bight in the standing end and use it to tie a Directional&#xA;  Figure 8 Knot. Pass the tail round the hook below and through the&#xA;  Directional Figure 8 Loop, and pull tight. Complete the knot with two&#xA;  Half Hitches below the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-28T15:42:10.810" LastActivityDate="2015-05-28T15:42:10.810" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8378" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8379" CreationDate="2015-05-28T18:07:12.657" Score="9" ViewCount="1401" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say I'm walking to the top of a really nice cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at this beauty:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1YaNW.png&quot; alt=&quot;cliff0&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there are some nice cracks to place some protection in, with the slings/rope coming off the cliff, kinda like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PcuBa.png&quot; alt=&quot;cliff1&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's a good way to set up, equalize, and knot the anchor while on the cliff? Assume there aren't any trees or anything to tie off on above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;One possible solution gotten from everyone's help:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie a three point anchor without an equalizing knot, but with &quot;magic x's&quot;, like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3D0GJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;tie0&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, have your partner at the bottom help you get the master point into the right position. Finally, tie clove hitches to the biners and then adjust them to fine-tune equalizing, again with a bit of help from your partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's your finished anchor! (isn't it pretty?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MMR8N.png&quot; alt=&quot;tie1&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way, you don't actually have to go below your anchor to set it up, and it's equalized without risk of extending if a piece of pro breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy climbing! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastEditorUserId="6042" LastEditDate="2015-05-29T15:27:25.373" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T15:27:25.373" Title="How can you safely set up a climbing anchor from above?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8378" CreationDate="2015-05-28T20:16:20.957" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off, there's tons of information out there on various types of anchors, different ways to equalize and secure them. One book I'd recommend is &lt;em&gt;How to Rock Climb&lt;/em&gt;. Different anchor types each have their pros and cons. The best way to learn to build solid anchors is to have a more experienced climber, particularly someone who knows the area, walk you through building an anchor step by step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I've been taught and often use two different methods for top roping, depending on how far away from the cliff edge I can place protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specific to top-roping, you have more time to place gear and double check everything. While there's often more stress in the system, you can also find more bomber placements and use sturdier rope, etc. In many places, two points of solid pro are just fine, but three is almost always better. One point should almost never be used, even if it's really solid, except perhaps in specialized situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anchor position and attaching the rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, the anchor should be long enough so at least the carabiners you're going to attach the top rope to are hanging over the edge. Many people use two locking carabiners facing opposite directions, as a just in case, though one burly locking carabiner is not unheard of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had any specific issues building an anchor at the top of a cliff. If needed, I'll place an extra piece of pro to clip myself into, or use the same pro as the anchors. I make sure the anchor falls where I want, and test it from the top before I toss the rope down. Sometimes it helps to have someone below looking at the route to make sure you've got the right spot. They can also give the rope a good tug while you inspect the protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Two/Three point cordelette anchor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E5ab9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3 point cordelette anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use 7mm PowerCord cordelette that was about 25ft, tied together with a double fishermens. You can also use a webbing cordelette, or a piece of webbing tied with a waterknot. Loop the cordelette through your protection, and ensure the knot is not in the way. Then pull the strands between the pro with your fingers, until it looks about like the image below, draped towards where you want the rope to fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1judk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cordelette equalizing&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grab all three loops, and adjust left or right, until the force on each end feels balanced, then tie a figure 8 (or a figure 9) behind the loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pros of this method are its simplicity, and that any one strand or piece of pro could fail, and the failure wouldn't cause much change in the rope's position or exert a lot of stress. The con is that you're using essentially one rope and so there's a greater risk if something happened at or below the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Two/Three point anchor with static rope or webbing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ggvFs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;webbing anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases, you need a longer anchor than you can easily get with a cordelette. In these cases I'll use webbing or static rope. I often use two separate ropes here, which could be cordelettes or single strands. It's more difficult to equalize since you'll need to approximate where the ropes should meet before you fully tie off extra slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same basics apply though, and the upside is that although if one piece failed, there would likely be more change in the ropes position, there's overall more redundancy since the carabiners holding the rope go through the loops of both separate strands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these methods are the best or end all be all of top rope anchors. There's always a few ways to set an anchor in a given spot. I'd love to hear others chime in with common top rope anchors they use, or hear critiques. One setup that is always difficult for me is top belay systems over water. As always, test your anchor, and double check yourself and your partner, before climbing or rappelling. Also, apologies on the images, since they are not mine and don't do the best job of showing an anchor over a near vertical cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3280" LastActivityDate="2015-05-28T20:16:20.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8378" CreationDate="2015-05-28T21:23:50.713" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Building anchors is an art more than it is a skill. In your situation, I think the easiest thing for you to do would be to buy an anchor that's easy and fast to set up, and does the job of equalizing for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rising in popularity is the &lt;strong&gt;Anchor chain&lt;/strong&gt;. Just anchor each end then clip your rope into whichever loop you think is hanging lowest. If you guess wrong, it's easy enough to simply clip your rope into a different loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/anchor-chain.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;METOLIUS ANCHOR CHAIN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LnhAZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love my Trango Alpine Equalizer, it equalizes your anchor perfectly every time, it's fast and flawless. Simply clip into your anchor points then pull on the master point to watch everything slip into place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trango.com/p-253-ultratape-alpine-equalizer.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TRANGO ALPINE EQUALIZER&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SHjxX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-05-28T21:23:50.713" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8381" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8388" CreationDate="2015-05-29T07:26:47.737" Score="7" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just informed that our group is going to have a Gam-off, technically known as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamow_bag&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Gamow Bag&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I have never seen one such thing and so I don't have any experience with them, I browsed the internet about it for a while. &#xA;A few questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do they have a high-altitude operating ranges like sleeping bags have?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much do they cost?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much do they weight?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it okay to drag someone off the snow in a Gam-off? (Looking at the structure), or are they just meant for keeping the cold victim safe and warm while Evac is arranged?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On a funnier part, Can that it be used as a shelter rather than bivouacking?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:36:50.747" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T04:36:50.747" Title="Properly using a Gamow Bag" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8382" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8386" CreationDate="2015-05-29T07:38:46.897" Score="22" ViewCount="26760" Body="&lt;p&gt;Driving into work this am, the woods were full of wild garlic, you could actually smell it in the car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e4klt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always presumed that it is edible but I'm not 100% sure. Can you eat wild garlic? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which parts are edible? Does it have bulbs like the garlic you buy in the shops? How do I go about collecting, using, preparing it? Any recipes?! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The leaves of A. ursinum are edible; they can be used as salad,&#xA;  herb,[7] boiled as a vegetable,[8] in soup, or as an ingredient for&#xA;  pesto in lieu of basil. The stems are preserved by salting and eaten&#xA;  as a salad in Russia. A variety of Cornish Yarg cheese has a rind&#xA;  coated in wild garlic leaves.[9] The bulbs and flowers are also&#xA;  edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is great, but I'm not sure I trust wikipedia! &lt;strong&gt;Does anyone have any experience of eating/preparing these?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T08:06:54.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T16:06:25.660" Title="Is wild garlic edible? How do you prepare it?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-29T08:25:18.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia is basically right – you can safely eat it (according to the German Wikipedia article the whole plant, however, the leaves are the most used part) and here in Germany they sometimes even sell the leaves in the supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The typical use I know of is the one that is given in the cited Wikipedia text you gave, i.e. adding the leaves to a salad or making some pesto from them. Cooking them is also possible however, as the article on the German Wikipedia also states, the flavour will be way less intense then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a risk of mistaking the leaves of the wild garlic with the poisonous &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_of_the_valley&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lily of the Valley&lt;/a&gt;, however this can be mitigated by rubbing the leaves between your fingers – wild garlic leaves will have the typical garlic smell, lily of the valley won't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-29T08:30:55.423" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T08:30:55.423" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-29T08:44:57.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just been sent this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/10833740/Get-out-more-a-beginners-guide-to-wild-garlic.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;article in the Telegraph about it&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At this time of year (May) the flowers (a nice edible addition to a plate)&#xA;  are also a giveaway: delicate, thin, six white-petalled things forming&#xA;  into rough globes that look like exploding fireworks. The true test of&#xA;  wild garlic however is the scent. Usually you will smell it before you&#xA;  see it. It perfumes the woods. So follow your nose and break a leaf to&#xA;  check. It will remind you of a powerful spring onion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chose plants in sites that are, ideally, on a slope - these are less&#xA;  likely to have had any human or animal traffic – and pick healthy&#xA;  leaves from far down towards the ground, keeping the stems long. This&#xA;  will be useful if storing the garlic as you can pop it in a pint glass&#xA;  filled up with water and it should last three or four days without&#xA;  losing any freshness. Stick your haul in your jacket (if you don’t&#xA;  mind the lingering scent) or double-up a plastic bag or water bottle.&#xA;  Once home, wash it thoroughly under a tap or in a few changes of fresh&#xA;  water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T08:44:57.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2015-05-29T08:50:06.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ideally you want an independent device for your navigation. Such as a Garmin Dakota 20 or a Garmin Foretrex 401 which are both considerably cheap. On established trails you don't need that at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However if things go south, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;murphys law&lt;/a&gt; suggests, that your cellphone will be dead by then as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An external power bank (plenty of links above already) can hold up to 4+ charges and is good to have around in your normal urban life as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you run your phone on airplane mode and have one of these powerbanks you should be good for up to 14 days without a gridbased power source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the GPS on your phone WILL drain your battery in no time. I have an app for topographic maps. However it will use the GPS constantly, resulting in your phone being dead in 3-4 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5869" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-29T10:54:31.860" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T10:54:31.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-29T10:23:08.673" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in Slovenia, the use of wild garlic is quite widespread. Although the whole plant, including bulbs, is edible, leaves are most commonly used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried only leaves so far, so I can share my experience with only them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Gathering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Young, light-green leaves are a bit more aromatic, but smaller; older are darker and larger. I pick a mix of both and look for undamaged, clean leaves. (I found very few with a bit chewed out by some animal; sometimes there are some webs on the bottom side, maybe spiders, not sure. It's no problem removing them, but if a leave is already &quot;settled&quot; I like to leave it intact.) I pick a leaf with the stem, somewhere at the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaves of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_of_the_valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lily-of-the-valley&lt;/a&gt; are similar to wild garlic and are poisonous. To confirm that a leaf is wild garlic, I do the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;smell the leaf (must be like garlic),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;look at the underside of the leaf (a bit lighter than the top),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;each leaf grows from the ground on its own stem, whereas lily-of-the-valley grows several leaves from one stem (seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Convallaria_majalis10.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lily-of-the-valley has pronounced lines on the underside (also seen in the linked image above).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good handful should be enough for one person for a risotto. I put it in a paper bag and it stores well several days in the fridge, but it's best used fresh to keep the most aroma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild garlic can be used raw in salads or more commonly to add flavor to soups, risottos, etc. It can be made into a pesto for later use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rinse leaves before use. Chop them to your liking and add them towards the end of your dish so it retains more flavor.  You can also sauté it on olive oil or butter beforehand for a minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: Added two recipes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wild garlic risotto&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boil risotto rice (half to one cup per person) with just enough water that it's mostly gone when the rice is done (commonly around 1 unit rice, 2 units water). Melt butter in a pan and sauté chopped wild garlic (30-40g) and 2-3 cloves garlic for a minute, add cooking cream, season to taste (nutmeg makes a good seasoning here). Pour this into the risotto a few minutes before it's done, mix well, cook until the rice is done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wild garlic pesto&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chop 250g wild garlic, 10 garlic cloves, 200g sunflower seeds (or pine nuts), mix with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. You can blend it all in a blender for a finer paste. Fill into a jar and top with olive oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To continue adventuring with recipes, try google-translating for &quot;&lt;em&gt;čemaž recepti&lt;/em&gt;&quot; (Slovene for wild garlic recipes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6044" LastEditorUserId="6044" LastEditDate="2015-06-02T06:54:47.207" LastActivityDate="2015-06-02T06:54:47.207" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8381" CreationDate="2015-05-29T11:11:11.527" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are emergency kit - specifically to help those suffering health problems due to altitude. As I understand it they are used within the climber's tent or bivouac, which provides the shelter required, and they provide an environment that matches a lower altitude, through pressurising the bag, allowing altitude sickness to be alleviated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, looking at your 5 points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no. They are for use at altitude&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not a good question for SE. I'd suggest editing it out - a web search comes up with suppliers who have a range of costs and specifications&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there are different versions. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chinookmed.com/cgi-bin/item/06001/s-high_altitude/-Gamow-Bag-Hyperbaric-Chamber,-Civilian-Model-&quot;&gt;The one in the picture below&lt;/a&gt; weighs in at 12.7lb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are not specifically for keeping the victim safe and warm - but yes, they are designed such that the victim can stay inside the bag until they are at a lower altitide.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No. It will shelter a victim, but should not be used as a replacement for shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/16l3U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-05-29T11:22:42.300" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T11:22:42.300" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8389" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-05-29T12:53:39.063" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-05-29T12:53:39.063" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T12:53:39.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8390" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-05-29T12:53:39.063" Score="0" Body="Questions about obtaining food(s) from the outdoors. This often takes the form of collecting plants, fruits, or mushrooms. " OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T22:47:57.533" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T22:47:57.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-29T21:26:20.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild garlic is very definitely edible and quite delicious!  I eat all parts of it (leaves, stems and flowers) but usually only when it is young (before the flowers are fully out).   I think it is delicious wilted in a frying pan with some butter or olive oil (like spinach).  I've also used it to make pesto (in place of basil).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't be put off by the possibility of mistaking for lily-of-the-valley, it is very easy to distinguish between the two plants as others have described - the leaves of the lily are more leathery/less delicate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I have tasted lily-of-the-valley!  It takes very little of it to give you a really nasty burning sensation in your mouth (that leaves you wanting to spit for a long time afterwards) - so you'll know very quickly if you have made a mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6052" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T21:26:20.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2015-05-29T23:11:53.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend getting a solar powered charger. I go for multi-day hiking trips and I use one all the time. I ordered mine from aliexpress.com, waterproof, for less than $20. It's really inexpensive because you're ordering it directly from China and it's free shipping since China ships so many goods all around the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6053" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T23:11:53.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8264" CreationDate="2015-05-29T23:18:43.260" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use my static rope for any arborist work and tree climbing in general. It's not constantly being stretched since you self-belay, hence static. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6053" LastActivityDate="2015-05-29T23:18:43.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-30T09:01:36.350" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild garlic is perfectly edible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My usual ways of cooking it are either to eat it raw (after washing) as a salad leaf, or to saute it like spinach (and it will reduce by a similar amount). It can either be cooked on its own, or mixed with spinach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only caveat I have is that some people find that eating a lot (2 x similar portion of spinach) may have a slightly laxative effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5395" LastActivityDate="2015-05-30T09:01:36.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2015-05-30T15:42:47.757" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it is and tasty too. There are some good recipes at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/search/index?search_term=wild%20garlic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;riverford.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; recipe pages. I've cooked most of the recipes on that page, I particularly like the Wet &amp;amp; Wild Garlic Risotto and Spring green &amp;amp; Parmesan Tart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never tried eating the flowers though I've also read they were edible. I also didn't know that some Yarg was wrapped in wild garlic, I thought it was always wrapped in nettles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6057" LastActivityDate="2015-05-30T15:42:47.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5611" CreationDate="2015-05-30T19:18:48.820" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Might I suggest &quot;Trangia&quot; stoves? I've had mine for 21 years.&#xA;Alright, it looks knackered, but it has never let me down, never.&#xA;This is the old style Trangia, with a liquid fuel burner, not the type where you can adapt it to take gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose not to use liquid fuel, the base of the stove can be used to burn anything you desire, as long as it doesn't burn so hot that it melts the aluminum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Trangia is one of my essential four. As long as you have a knife, some rope, a tarpaulin, and a stove, (hopefully Trangia), you could go out in the wilderness without any clothes on and live quite happily, I can assure you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6058" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-17T14:24:44.557" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T14:24:44.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8397" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8398" CreationDate="2015-05-30T21:07:49.747" Score="16" ViewCount="2820" Body="&lt;p&gt;When packing a tent, is it best to stuff it in its sack or roll/fold it? I always stuff my sleeping bag so I wasn't sure if it was the same for tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6053" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:31:19.540" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:31:19.540" Title="Stuff or roll a tent for storage?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8397" CreationDate="2015-05-30T21:36:17.110" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are differing schools of thought on this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rolling/folding&lt;/strong&gt; is a lot easier to manage in my opinion, easier to keep track of all the pieces, and when camping in dirty/snowy/wet environments makes it easier to keep the ground side of the tent together and the clean(ish) parts away from it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stuffing&lt;/strong&gt; results in fewer creases in the fabric over extended periods of use, because you stuff it differently each time. This may make it less likely for the fabric to eventually wear out along a fold line. On the other hand, you're applying more stress to all the other parts of the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally prefer folding my tent, but there isn't necessarily a &quot;best&quot; way. It depends on what's easier for you and what you think will be better for the long-term longevity of your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-05-30T21:36:17.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2015-05-31T02:18:47.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've slept a few nights in a double hammock with my girlfriend, and it definitely works well- but you have to take into account your normal sleeping habits in a bed. We tend to sleep spooning, which is very easy to accomplish in a hammock. We have an ENO double nest, and I'd say the biggest problem we've encountered is just difficulty with bedding, which always seems to be either too hot or cold, or gets crumpled up between or under us. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6061" LastActivityDate="2015-05-31T02:18:47.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8397" CreationDate="2015-05-31T09:57:03.147" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is the same discussion with paragliders getting porose due to packing methods. And there has been a lot of literature to that topic (a paraglider costs 3.000 USD after all), with a simple conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As nhinkle mentioned, the different methods result in different stress to the fabric. Usually your tent will get damaged due to constant stress on the same spot (e.g. folding line), not due to a high overall average wear. So I recommend to &lt;strong&gt;regullary change the packing method&lt;/strong&gt;. Fold today, stuf tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9185" LastEditorUserId="9185" LastEditDate="2015-05-31T12:43:44.963" LastActivityDate="2015-05-31T12:43:44.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8402" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8407" CreationDate="2015-06-01T10:16:51.017" Score="7" ViewCount="736" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on doing a long distance hike (mountain climb) for charity in the next few weeks (the &lt;a href=&quot;https://snowdonia3000.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;wales 3000s/15peaks&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've spent a bit of time looking into nutrition but I couldn't find a lot on how much I energy I should be ingesting for this. The nearest I could find was a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/nutrition/best-energy-gels-153397&quot;&gt;cycling article on the usage of energy gels &lt;/a&gt;. this stated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Guidelines suggest that for those cycling at a moderate intensity over&#xA;  90 minutes, you will need between 30g and 65g of carbohydrates per&#xA;  hour to replace what’s being lost and maintain performance. Consuming&#xA;  anything more won’t improve performance. In fact, it may cause gastric&#xA;  distress, as the body struggles to be able to absorb such large&#xA;  quantities....For the everyday cyclist, &lt;strong&gt;60g of carbohydrate&lt;/strong&gt; per hour will suffice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are obviously a couple of flaws comparing cycling for 90 mins to walking for over 18 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone give any idea how much energy/carbohydrates I should be aiming to ingest per hour throughout the day to maintain an optimal amount of energy? Preferably in g of carbohydrate as this seems to be the easiest to plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously I'm going to be tired and there is no way I can ingest the amount of energy I will be using (we've estimated this at 8000-9000 calories) but a target would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:40.193" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:02:40.193" Title="How much Carbohydrate should I ingest during a long distance hike (18 hours plus)?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8403" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8569" CreationDate="2015-06-01T12:12:19.860" Score="2" ViewCount="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to get some info on the grade of the North ridge (going into Cwm Glas, &lt;strong&gt;not the main crib coch path&lt;/strong&gt; but the alternative route coming from Nant Peris) of Crib Coch. I've been up Crib Coch several times but never done the north ridge. There is no footpaths marked on the maps. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/?i=125&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This description&lt;/a&gt; of the 3000s route says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Eventually you should reach Crib Goch's north summit where an obvious&#xA;  continuation descends towards the Pen y Pass, &lt;strong&gt;however you need to&#xA;  follow the ridge as it curves around to the north&lt;/strong&gt;. As the ridge comes&#xA;  to an end, descend the pinkish screes in a north-westerly direction&#xA;  via an indistinct path. Set your compass to 312 degrees and follow&#xA;  this bearing to a steep descent down a little gully (SH 61992 56084).&#xA;  Follow the faint path, at first to the west and then to the north&#xA;  west, to another short descent (SH 61800 56200). Continue descending&#xA;  in a northerly direction to cross a stream. Follow a path besides the&#xA;  stream going downwards (north-easterly) to a good track over a bridge&#xA;  at Blaen-y-nant. Finding the best way down from the north ridge of&#xA;  Crib Goch is not easy and this is one section that you may wish to&#xA;  recce first (but in reverse) from Blaen-y-nant&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I'm struggling to get a sense of the route and difficulty of this path, there's very limited information on this route on the internet. Has anyone been this way before? Any maps of the route or more detailed information anywhere? Should this require a rope, what grade is it (I'm guessing scrambling grades?)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I'm going to reccy it this weekend but I'd like to have some information or other sources if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-08T03:38:41.853" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T03:38:41.853" Title="North Ridge of Crib Coch grade" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;&lt;snowdonia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1576" CreationDate="2015-06-01T19:27:03.797" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A multi-purpose kids bike helmet / rollerblading helmet would work, but not the bike helmet with holes and a pointy end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know because the first time I led a climb i used a multi-purpose helmet, non-hole type, padded, and it is much heavier than a climbing helmet.  I used it because toproping with a guide I had hit my head on some ledges, and was glad to have the helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It happened when I took a 30 foot whipper on my first lead w/ quickdraws, and flipped upside down.  The bike helmet did not crumple, and I hit the back of my head but luckily the helmet saved my life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6068" LastActivityDate="2015-06-01T19:27:03.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8397" CreationDate="2015-06-01T22:39:28.753" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is best to put everything away in the same order. the chance of the folds being along the same lines is very low. I find with modern tents the groundsheet wears out, (the very thin layer of waterproof that is on the woven nylon).&#xA;I count the pegs and put them in the peg bag, the pole in the pole bag. The peg bag in the pole bag. Then fold the tent flat so the outside is outside. Make sure the strings are all in the right place (so that when opened the strings fall to the correct side) (There is one string that goes under my tent, if this ends up on the top it is not noticed until the tent is half up and then the tent has to be taken down again the pole removed, the string moved to the underside, then the pole put back in and the tent put up again.) Then roll the tent around the pole bag and put the lot in the tent bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Stuffing a tent in a bag also means that it is harder to get in, it increases the volume, some parts of the tent will be under high compression.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting stuff away in a fixed order means that pieces do not get lost. (This does not just apply to the tent)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Folding it up neatly means that you can put the tent up quickly in the dark when stealth camping. (Using the head torch to the minimum as this projects a beam of light like a lighthouse that can be seen from miles away) Also if you have to put the tent up in the rain the inside of the tent is protected from the rain. (I usually keep the inner and outer tent clipped together. But if I do separate them then the outer tent is wrapped around the inner tent. If it's raining the inner is tent put somewhere (eg in the rucksack) out of the rain, while the outer goes up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2015-06-01T22:39:28.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2015-06-02T00:03:10.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Porridge is good for breakfast. The small packets of &quot;golden syrup flavour&quot; are the best, but a bit more expensive than regular porridge. (N.B. The more powdery it is the faster it cooks.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbs: rice/pasta/&#xA;cous cous (I like &quot;Moroccan medley&quot;, &quot;tomato &amp;amp; chilli&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[aluminium bubble foil: DIY shops sell this in the insulation dept. Use this to make a wrapper for your pan. Once that water is boiled, the rice/pasta etc put in and the brought to boiling again, the heat can be turned off and the pan put in the insulating wrapper.  The stored heat will be enough to cook the rice/pasta. [For larger paster shaped eg spirals the water can be left till it's cold then re-heated] Saves weight. For long hikes I use a petrol stove because it is easier to find petrol supplies.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For faster pasta cooking use the very thin pasta (UK vermicelli, FR cheveux d'ange)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When cooking pasta there is no need to use a lot of water. When cooked, instant soup can be added (eg &quot;East Indian mulligatawny&quot;, &quot;Italian minestrone&quot;), or tinned fish (sardines), or tinned meat (bully beef).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all these for extra flavour squirt in some olive oil (high carbs) (transfer a glass bottle's oil to a plastic bottle), especially good with cous cous. Lumps of cheese can also be added and mixed in. Some butter is also good but melts easily in warm weather. (margarine is high in water and emulsifiers, it is not high in calories).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not throw away any hot water. Soak it up with instant mash. (Instant mash comes in two forms: 1) flakes added to water 2) lumps where the water is added to the lumps. You need (1) as you can add as many as needed to get it solid.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protein: tinned sardines, bully beef, soya (&quot;wholefood soya mince&quot; cooks a lot faster than the lumps). All sorts of dried meats and sausages on the continent. And cheese, harder varieties keep best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get eggs along the way these can be cooked by mixing the egg into the boiling water with the pasta etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dried fruits, usually raisins, for flavoursome snacks. Biscuits, eg custard creams, and chocolate are also good snacks. On shorter hikes I also take fresh fruit, apples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a meal I like a cup of tea. With lots of sugar. This can be made in the same pan used above without washing. The tea gathers up the bits and cleans the pan. ps If you prefer real coffee this can also be made in an ordinary pan if you don't mind a few coffee grains in the last couple of sips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="2082" LastEditDate="2015-06-02T00:12:12.817" LastActivityDate="2015-06-02T00:12:12.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8402" CreationDate="2015-06-02T00:43:35.970" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reaching for my Kindle copy of House and Johnston's book*, I find the statement: &quot;In an ideal world we’d eat seventy grams of carbohydrate per hour to replace the roughly 400–800 calories per hour we’re burning while climbing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously at 4 calories/gram, 70g of carbs will not supply 400-800 calories.  The reasoning for this amount becomes more clear after further reading:  &quot;For athletes engaged in high-intensity exercise for thirty to sixty minutes or longer, sport science recommends consuming thirty to seventy grams (120–280 calories) of carbohydrate per hour. This is based on numerous studies that suggest endurance athletes perform best ingesting 1.0–1.2 grams of carbohydrate per minute, which is the maximal oxidation rate of carbohydrate.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding long days, the authors write, &quot;On a long all-day or multi-day effort you have to stick to conversational pace most of the time. In this case, plan to eat frequent small amounts of food balanced with carbohydrate/protein/fat such as a sandwich or wrap. Trail mix is also a nice balanced source of macronutrients. Gels and bars can work as well. Drink a bit every time you feed.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your estimate of the total calories suggests a burn rate of 300-500 calories per hour, which is consistent with the low end of the range in that first quote, and makes sense for a less intense but longer duration effort.  Keep in mind that a decent chunk of that number (at least half, if you're in good shape) will be supplied from fat rather than carbohydrate, and that the sort of endurance exercise you're doing will also increase the amount of protein that's being metabolized.  Also, don't forget about electrolytes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I take this info to suggest that 60 or 70g of carbs can be considered an upper limit, and that the number can easily be dialed down since you need to keep to a reasonable pace.  If there are portions of your trek where you do need to go all-out in terms of intensity, those would be the places to be downing 3-4 gels per hour. (I'm thinking here of the smaller 90-cal, ~20g carb packets.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also find some useful discussion and calculations here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete-articles/ski-mountaineering-nutrition-for-alaska-trip/&quot;&gt;http://strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete-articles/ski-mountaineering-nutrition-for-alaska-trip/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(This article describes a more intense endeavor, and has an emphasis on liquid calories which you may also find useful.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Training for the New Alpinism&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-06-02T00:43:35.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8402" CreationDate="2015-06-02T01:13:58.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://running.competitor.com/2014/04/inside-the-magazine/the-long-run/the-long-run-eating-on-the-run_28754&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page on endurance running&lt;/a&gt; discusses a formula of 0.7 -1.0 gram/kg body weight per hour. Although higher than your figures, the ultra endurance runner can tolerate food digestion better than a 90 minute sprint cyclist, and must also replace energy being used (A 90 minute cyclist gets the half of his energy needs from from Glycogen reserves). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are probably considering this too late. You cannot just grab a bunch of random laboratory produced super-dupa-carbo-gel-gue bars and expect not to puke it up at the first hill climb.  Everyone is different and tolerance to different foods various enormously, as does the ability to consume while exercising. The only way to get this right is through trial and error, and 18 hours walking is a long time to spend with a heavy stomach rejecting the food you have with you. If you cannot do a few trial runs, stick with foods you know you tolerate well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally for an 18 hour event, you consume protein and fats as well as carb. Your body will have consumed glycogen stores within 60-120 minutes, and you need to replace these with a steady stream of energy rather than a short bust provided by simple carbs (sugars). Complex Carb require less oxygen to digest than protein and fats, which is why they are preferred by athletes who are operating close to anaerobic thresholds, but digest moderately quickly. If you are not operating close to this threshold additional Protein and fat provides a more consistent energy release over a longer time. If only using carb for energy, you must be more vigilant about consuming small amounts regularly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manufactured high protein bars are ideal for this, however 'natural' foods (my preference) involving nuts, dried fruit and chocolate for snacks, along with &quot;real&quot; meals with some volume such as crackers and cheese, sandwiches, filled rolls works for me. Fresh fruits like an apple or banana have a place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find long days on laboratory produced food rodents won't eat leaves me hanging out for real food and depressed, while mates of mine can go all day on a couple of Power bars. I have had plenty of experience and well used to eating on the trot, and would rather slow down for 1/2 hour while my lunch settles than skip it - this works for me but may not work for you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-06-02T01:13:58.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8409" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-02T08:24:38.113" Score="6" ViewCount="253" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should the crew and passengers do on a long voyage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they do nothing, their attention is scattered and may become remiss. You can begin to wash the boat, but I do not think that is the best solution for a vacation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are suggested best practices?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5970" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T10:29:58.967" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T10:29:58.967" Title="Activities on a long voyage to avoid boredom?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4673" CreationDate="2015-06-03T08:55:33.890" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the trekking routes are grading on the basis of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Altitude from Sea Level&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance of Campsite or Lodges&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking speed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Geographical conditions e.g Up and Down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trekking Trail e.g Dirty, Sandy, Snowy, Rocky &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6075" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T04:36:33.583" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T04:36:33.583" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1609" CreationDate="2015-06-03T11:49:21.527" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For sustaining a person long term in extreme conditions such as walking daily 15-25 miles in varying conditions, the biggest problem after having enough energy to walk is the ability to properly &lt;em&gt;recover&lt;/em&gt; every night to do that again and again. To be able to recover well you need a good amount of &lt;strong&gt;protein&lt;/strong&gt; every day, especially during the night, to get good muscle recovery and reducing fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just finished walking 250 miles over 11 days (roughly 23.5 miles a day), fully self sustained without too much weight loss or any muscle injuries. My menu consisted of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breakfast&lt;/strong&gt; - self made mix of 1/4 cup semolina, 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1/4 cup of chopped nuts, 1/4 of dried fruit, 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt.&#xA;The trick is to use different nuts and fruit for each breakfast for the variety.&#xA;This breakfast is packed in slow release carbs, protein and fats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day food&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Here it is a combination of trail mix, protein bars and dried meat.&#xA;In a single day I ate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 oats based gluten free protein bars by &quot;Battle Oats&quot;. 70g per bar offering around 300 calories and 22g protein.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50g roasted cashews, slow release fats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50g banana chips, natural carbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50g beef billtong, all organic meat packed with protein and a salty variation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dinner&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;This is where the recovery really come into play. My meal was a high energy freeze dried meal from Expedition Foods - gluten free, providing 800 calories per meal, 6 different flavours.&#xA;For desert I made a hot chocolate drink using the SiS protein night release powder. The idea is to boost the recovery over night to allow better performance the day after. They recommend 3 scoops (42g) powder with 300ml of cold water, but I found that dissolving the 3 scoops with a 1/4 cup of cold water and adding boiling water after dissolved gave a nice, lightly sweetened desert drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extras&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I also had 2 coffees a day, one with breakfast (around 7:00) and one at my mid day break (around 13:00).&#xA;When I reached villages/towns I picked some cake and coffee as a booster to be consumed on the spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nutrition&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;This menu provided me with roughly 3400 calories per day out of 700g of food to carry per day. This translated to 8.5kg of food to carry for 11 days, plus and extra day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the food is gluten free (I'm intolerant) and provided around 147g (20%of total weight) of protein per day. Though it wasn't the most varied menu, it provided a good mix of textures and flavours that I wasn't sick of it by the end.&#xA;Non of the meals required any cooking, only to add hot water and a little wait.&#xA;i will note that I was in a mild environment (5-10 deg c) and for colder environment I'll add another 1000 calories - half in breakfast and half at dinner using extra meals.&#xA;If you would like to read more about my menu choices for that trip, have a look &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsfather.com/2015/04/menu-planning-cape-wrath-update/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-06-03T11:49:21.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8413" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8423" CreationDate="2015-06-03T14:16:23.750" Score="13" ViewCount="2384" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on doing some Grade III scrambling/low grade multi-pitch climbing this weekend. Normally just me and my girlfriend would do this kind of thing, I'll lead she'd second. But I'm thinking of taking another friend along this time. I'll still do all the leading with two seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm unclear on techniques to belay two seconds from above though?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:48:02.467" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T08:07:18.217" Title="Belaying two seconds?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8413" CreationDate="2015-06-03T15:33:36.467" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its pretty easy for the 2 seconds being together or always nearby, and a bit stretchy for the one leading the climb (You). &#xA;When I did one similar not-so-tough scramble, I used a trick that at least worked for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was climbing on a single rope, tied at the center &amp;amp; the two idiots with me were on a single strand each. I used a 8mm'er rope, light and good enough. Since it was easier and the two seconds were climbing with very much the same pace and loading the rope at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Should you choose to go on a Linked end approach where obviously you are tied up at an end and at the other end you have your best second and you have the second &lt;em&gt;second&lt;/em&gt; tied at the middle. With you on lead, your girlfriend should set after the other second gets a good 20-25 feet up, since you don't want your &lt;em&gt;second&lt;/em&gt; second being a bit more experienced (I assumed) getting frustrated having to climb slower than what she would prefer but then the faster one must gauge where they are with respect to each others position, ensuring that while on the move, little time is consumed between moves either below or above the other second.&#xA;The issue with this system is that, you will lack time-efficiency since you belay one second at a time (comparatively easier for you) and, maximum pitches you can go up are half the length of rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you go for Double link, with you at one end, the two seconds tied at the other end 10-15 feet apart, you could gain more on efficiency, but then both of them will be loading the rope at the same time. Here as well you should have stronger climber tied below and the weaker one 10-15 ft above her. If your last climber falls, it is likely that she will pull off the climber above her. So, it is advisable to have the weaker climber on the team tied-in above the stronger climber on the end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For tieing the middle second, an overhand on a bight with about 10-12 inches of slack tail should do enough.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you at all find it necessary, you can go for something like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/REVERSO-4?l=INT#.VW8TGdR515Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzyl reverso&lt;/a&gt;. Understanding how a Reverso works, I just now pull out a book (thanks to your question, I could at least take it off from my store room after months!)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Mountaineering Methodology Part - III&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;em&gt;Thomas Kublak&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Self-braking is caused by the fact that the second who is loading the rope causes the upper strand leading to the belay device to press against the lower strand, thereby pinching it. The sitting second essentially breaks the rope herself. The belayer at the stance therefore does not need to contunually hold the inactive part of the rope in her hand, it is enough that she takes it in during the phases when the second is advancing upward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless, have a great time out there buddy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T08:07:18.217" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T08:07:18.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1254" CreationDate="2015-06-03T19:06:41.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought that a sportsman has more red blood cells because his body needs more oxygen during peak performance. Working out uses up oxygen, and breathing hard is required to get more oxygen into your body. This demand for oxygen stimulates red blood cell production, and lowers the age of red blood cells. The result is that a sportsman has more oxygen carrying capacity.&#xA;Therefore an athlete can deal better with low oxygen at high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it has no effect on high altitude disease, which is caused by the pressure difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6076" LastActivityDate="2015-06-03T19:06:41.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8413" CreationDate="2015-06-03T21:29:41.883" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Double Rope&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need two ropes (of obviously different colours so as not to confuse them). Tie into both ropes, one on each side of your belay loop, your seconds will each tie into the other end of one of the ropes. When you set up your belay after you've led the climb, put both ropes into your belay device, you can belay for both of your seconds at once. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying two seconds at the same time is easy if they pace each other (let the slower climber go first, so the faster one can easily keep pace), or you can belay them up one at a time. If you're really good, you can belay one of your seconds as they lead the next pitch while simultaneously belaying up your other second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Top belaying with two ropes using a Petzl reverso&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4NpUR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This of course takes serious rope management skills, so for your first try it will be easiest to belay one up at a time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T20:57:29.300" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T20:57:29.300" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1049" CreationDate="2015-06-04T03:33:29.327" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those B1 patches work great for Deterring mosquito, fleas, flys and ticks. I am a naturalist, wild crafter and herbalist, when we do plant identification, scout and harvest we use them and they do work. We have field tested them in the woods of North Carolina, in the rain as well. Bugs stay away and ticks will not attach. they will try, but we have never had one attach. I personally, usually get bit by mosquitoes, they love me, but when I use these patches they don't. All I can say is try them. I personally will not use anything that is not natural and safe. DEET IS NOT SAFE. I lived in Africa for 3 years in the 70s and as long as you take the anti-malaria pills, you should be okay. Wouldn't hurt to try the patches as well. Each Don't Bite Me Patch contains less than 10mg of Vitamin B1. From our experience, we find that they work very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6078" LastEditorUserId="6078" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T03:40:36.663" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T03:40:36.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8419" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-04T05:39:40.987" Score="4" ViewCount="2692" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, I am wanting my dog to retrieve birds, but also hunt rabbits and foxes. I may also want to use him to smell for blood trails from deer, elk, etc. Would this be possible, or would it just confuse him?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6079" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T08:13:33.360" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T15:28:12.407" Title="Can hunting dogs be trained to hunt multiple animals?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8419" CreationDate="2015-06-04T14:51:45.763" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;You can't teach an old dog new tricks.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting dogs are trained from pups, you wouldn't necessarily confuse your dog, but you might discover that it doesn't do the best job of what you want it to do (rips your birds apart while retrieving them, isn't fast enough to catch rabbits and foxes, leads you to a steaming pile of poop instead of following a blood trail) Or you might find he isn't that smart, I have a labrador retriever, and he's pretty dumb, he loves to chase things but I've never seen him catch &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt;. Some cats will let him catch up, but that always results in my dog getting scratched in the face and running away crying (then he goes and pouts to mommy). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the reasons we have so many breeds is because certain breeds proved to be more effective than others for certain tasks. Pointers are great for letting you know where animals are hiding and flushing them out. Hounds proved to be excellent trackers and following trails with their extra keen sense of smell. Retrievers proved to be efficient at retrieving game birds without shredding them to bits. Greyhounds were fast enough to chase down and kill rabbits, foxes and coyotes. Irish Wolf Hounds are the reason that wolves are &lt;em&gt;extinct&lt;/em&gt; in Ireland. Dachshunds with their powerful bodies and short legs were bred for digging into borrows and hunting badgers. Yorkies, believe it or not, were originally hunting dogs, used to eradicate small mammals like rats, mice, even skunks and other borrowing animals, those little ankle biters are mean for a reason-they're killing &lt;em&gt;machines&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you already have a dog, you're not going to have much luck training it to be effective at preforming the duties of all the other breeds, but if you started training him early, you could probably teach it how to do an &lt;em&gt;okay&lt;/em&gt; job at at least some of them. If there was such a thing as a well-rounded hunting breed, then we'd probably hear about it more often, but as it is hunters prefer their job specific breeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2013/6/18/best-all-round-hunting-dog/&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; the &lt;strong&gt;Pudelpointer&lt;/strong&gt; is the best all-round hunting dog, so if you want one dog that can do it all, you should consider getting a Pudelpointer pup and start training it from a young age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-04T15:28:12.407" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T15:28:12.407" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8413" CreationDate="2015-06-04T17:33:31.590" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you are only looking for options by going from belay to belay (as opposed to continuous securing like going on taught rope).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using half-ropes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You tie in on both ropes, your partners on a single one each. They belay you normally on both ropes until you set up the belay-station. Then you secure them using a Munter hitch or a tuber like system to belay them. Using a tuber is preferable, as it autoblocks and does not twist the ropes around each other. They can climb simultaneously, just having to keep a minimal distance, which depends a lot on how fast the rope is pulled in by the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Both partners can go at their one pace (as long as the faster one starts first).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One falling does not affect the other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two half ropes are heavier than one single rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The belayer has two ropes to manage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using one single rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You obviously tie in on one end, the partner which climbs best on the other end. The weaker partner ties in at a save distance from the end. The exact distance is always a compromise between available rope length and safety margin between climbers. The one in the middle can be tied in using a variety of knots, I prefer an overhand secured by a double fisherman's knot. The weaker one starts climbing and the second one follows as soon as the rope in between them is almost taught. If the first falls, this does not affect the second. But if the second falls, he will pull the first off the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only one rope needed which is lighter than half ropes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The second has to climb exactly at the pace of the first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The second has to be fairly competent as a fall will pull off the first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The usable rope length per pitch is reduced by the distance between the partners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using two single ropes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You tie in on one end of the first rope, one partner ties in on this and the second rope. The other ties in on the other end of the second rope. After you led the pitch the first partner climbs it and clips the second rope into the protection. If the pitch goes sideways and he is insecure, the second partner which is still down at the previous belay can belay him from behind. Thus falls with swings can be caught. After the first partner reached your belay, the second one climbs the pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very easy to handle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perfectly save, especially in traverses for the first partner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full rope length available for pitches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very slow (nearly twice as long as with half ropes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;heaviest setup as you carry two full ropes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would always prefer the half-rope method, its the fastest and save. And the additional weight should not be an issue, after all you are three climbers. If you really do not want to handle two ropes (though it is very easy, just try it out) I would recommend the method using one single rope. The last method is really just in case you need the rope length, and both your partners struggle with the grade you are using or you are insecure handling two ropes (again, thats a none-issue). And keep in mind: You are always a lot slower in a three person rope team than with two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T15:04:21.840" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T15:04:21.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8425" CreationDate="2015-06-04T18:45:39.687" Score="19" ViewCount="2428" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have finally convinced my brother and our good friend to go hiking with me. I love hiking and being outside as much as possible, but they seem to hate it. How can I make our hiking trip fun and more enjoyable for them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6081" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-05T10:17:17.033" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T08:06:04.643" Title="How do I help people enjoy camping/hiking (like I do!)?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8413" CreationDate="2015-06-04T20:09:37.950" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;While belaying two seconds at once using the method ShemSeger pointed out is &lt;em&gt;my&lt;/em&gt; favorite, it does take a fair amount of experience so I would not recommend it to someone climbing for the first time with two seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just starting out, I recommend you use the &lt;strong&gt;Caterpillar technique&lt;/strong&gt;: You lead on a single rope and belay the second as you would normally, except the second climber trails another rope behind them and clips it into each piece of gear. When the second reaches the belay, pull up the rest of the slack on the third climber's rope and put them on belay (just as you did for the second). The third climber climbs and removes the gear you placed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the belay, the second climber can help with rope management: flaking ropes so they're ready for you to lead off the next pitch, and making sure the ropes don't tangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does have several disadvantages (mostly... it's slow), but it's extremely safe. Most importantly, it's also closest to what you are already used to doing. It's my recommendation for any first-timer party of three: you've already got enough new things going on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T19:46:10.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T19:46:10.677" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8422" CreationDate="2015-06-04T21:13:40.450" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't really &lt;em&gt;force&lt;/em&gt; anybody to like anything. When you try so you will most likely discourage them even more. What you can try to do is convice them to give it a shot (what you did) and prepare the trip so you have a nice time. Would be a big put off if it starts raining and you aren't well equipped. Just to mention some part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of helpful topics (I think you plan to hike &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; stay overnight in a camp), e.g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/854/first-time-camping-need-advice&quot;&gt;First time camping, need advice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5758/activities-at-the-campsite&quot;&gt;Activities at the campsite&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3720/how-far-is-a-reasonable-distance-for-someone-to-hike-on-their-first-trip&quot;&gt;How far is a reasonable distance for someone to hike on their first trip?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6279/how-should-i-pack-for-a-week-of-backpacking-in-the-rain&quot;&gt;How should I pack for a week of backpacking in the rain?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you read the answers in those and other topics you have a good idea what's important for new hikers/campers. Try to be really well prepared and enjoy your time. Then you can only hope your friends will do the same and stick to it :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-06-04T21:13:40.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8422" CreationDate="2015-06-05T06:06:27.917" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had the privilege on introducing the outdoors to quite a few people in my life, lately focusing on my wife and child; and from my experience there are a few simple things that &lt;strong&gt;increase the chance&lt;/strong&gt; they might enjoy it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep them comfortable&lt;/strong&gt; - make sure they have as little physical discomfort as possible as that makes an immediate excuse for not enjoying. Make sure they have the right clothes for the weather, that you carry enough food, water and treats and that your breaks are in a comfortable setting to sit and enjoy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make the walk short but with a very clear goal&lt;/strong&gt;: climb a peak, reach a waterfall, etc. Another part of it is to try and find a circular trail so they don't feel they are &quot;going back&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack a handful of things they don't expect&lt;/strong&gt;: maybe a few cold beers for when you reach your mid walk goal, an excellent coffee kit for some really nice coffee with fresh pastries and so on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If possible on the trail, find a perceived dangerous point&lt;/strong&gt; that will give them something to talk about later on and will become their &quot;type 2 fun&quot; to think back on. This can be walking on a small exposed ledge, crossing a river etc. Just make sure you can keep all of you safe there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to think about all the things that you are happy to grind your teeth and ignore in the outdoors as part of the bigger picture while hiking and eliminate them as potential problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck in getting them to join. If you do succeed the feeling is great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastEditorUserId="5963" LastEditDate="2015-06-05T11:16:27.353" LastActivityDate="2015-06-05T11:16:27.353" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8422" CreationDate="2015-06-05T12:14:05.437" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I make our hiking trip fun and more enjoyable for them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of people have fairly irrational reasons they don't like the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bugs, animals, uncomfortable sleeping (camping), food choices, fear of heights, being out of shape, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these have ways you can address them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are getting resistance try to understand &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; they don't want to go with. You may even be able to do this now, asking something like &quot;what are you looking forward to and apprehensive about?&quot; and try to understand this. This will help you understand why people do not want to go or do not enjoy things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day some folks will just not want to and have no reason other than &quot;because.&quot; You can't really do anything there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6084" LastActivityDate="2015-06-05T12:14:05.437" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8427" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8431" CreationDate="2015-06-05T14:55:34.003" Score="10" ViewCount="5451" Body="&lt;p&gt;What time of year are the the dreaded &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_midge&quot;&gt;midge&lt;/a&gt;'s in Scotland at their worst?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only really been into the Higlands in Winter and I would prefer to avoid the worst time for these if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:26:04.113" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:26:04.113" Title="When is the midge season in Scotland?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;midges&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8432" CreationDate="2015-06-05T18:35:55.710" Score="7" ViewCount="426" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pigeon meat is good! 1 squab (whole pigeon) has &lt;a href=&quot;http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/poultry-products/799/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;37g of protein&lt;/a&gt; which is the majority of most people's daily needs. On top of that wild pigeon has practically no carbon footprint, which is impressive considering that meat is often very high carbon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can purchase squabs at my local farmers market, but they are quite pricy. There are lots of pigeons on my land. If it where legally possible I would definitely hunt them, but I'm having trouble working that out. So far my searches have turned up similar information to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7681/which-wildlife-is-it-legal-to-hunt-in-the-uk&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, original source &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/hunting/what-you-can-hunt-and-when&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly someone is hunting pigeons, or they wouldn't turn up at farmers markets. &lt;strong&gt;Can I hunt the pigeons on my land&lt;/strong&gt; (UK), and &lt;strong&gt;what methods can I use&lt;/strong&gt;? (I'd rather not use a gun, but I'm not squeamish.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6086" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:07:22.780" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:07:22.780" Title="Law on hunting wild pigeon? (UK)" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8429" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8430" CreationDate="2015-06-05T20:34:33.803" Score="15" ViewCount="1298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently started backpacking in the Olympic Mountains. While camping, I usually bring along a trade paperback for light reading before bed or during a lunch break on a day-long hike. Up until now, the only protection my books have had has been a ziplock bag, for moisture, and being wrapped up inside clothing, to insulate from the cold/heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this all I can do for them? &lt;strong&gt;Are there any solutions for protecting books from the humidity and the day-night temperature swings associated with backpacking in the mountains?&lt;/strong&gt; I'm not incredibly worried about pests taking chunks of paper from them, but any suggestions that cover this would be appreciated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please let me know if I need to clarify any of the above statements or add additional information.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-06-05T21:06:59.743" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T17:27:19.890" Title="How do I protect my book(s) while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8429" CreationDate="2015-06-05T21:56:55.190" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if there is something you know about temperature's affect on books that I do not? I would not have thought temperature would be a problem.&#xA;That aside, I think the ziplock solution is pretty good. It obviously doesn't provide any rigid support, but if you aren't concerned about that, there are a myriad of dry bags / pouches, map cases &amp;amp; floating dry boxes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two examples are &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001AZR868&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coghlans.com/products/load-n-lock-5inX8inx2in-1352&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. There are also more similar items on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coghlans.com/product-catalog.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coghlans site&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T17:27:19.890" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T17:27:19.890" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8427" CreationDate="2015-06-06T06:12:47.470" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is not really a defined time in which midges are out and about, but usually they are seen from early June until October. Midge season heavily depends on the weather and a wet and cold June will mean less midgets or a later start to the season (as it happens this year).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a really good resource to know about midges is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://midgeforecast.co.uk/&quot;&gt;Midge Forecast&lt;/a&gt; that gives some estimate about the menace of midges in different areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-06-06T06:12:47.470" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8428" CreationDate="2015-06-06T13:37:11.783" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of information can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://basc.org.uk/cop/woodpigeon/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting wood pigeon (and other pest birds) is covered by a general license, which means you don't have to apply for it, but must follow it and may have to report what you do using it. There are different licenses for England, Scotland, Wales and NI so I suggest you check out the appropriate one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must have reason to shoot pigeon this can include prevention of crop damage or spread of disease. You must also have landowners permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The allowed methods of hunting are primarily shooting or cage traps. Check the licenses for specifics. Obviously, if you are shooting you'll still need to comply with the appropriate firearms laws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-06-06T13:37:11.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8433" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8434" CreationDate="2015-06-06T18:04:10.183" Score="9" ViewCount="1341" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently was given some old Chouinard hexes my uncle used back in the 70s. They look great, and I see no reason why I can't re-sling them and use them as perfectly safe protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found some 5mm Dyneema rated for over 5000lbs, but I can't find any as good rope with a sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that with Kevlar, this isn't really a problem because its abrasion resistance is so high, but what about Dyneema? Am I mistaken about Kevlar? Can I use this rope without a sheath for building anchors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:31:39.050" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:30:29.023" Title="Is dyneema rope without a sheath safe for climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;dyneema&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8433" CreationDate="2015-06-06T18:47:26.637" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; use this cordelette for your protections: Knots will slip so the connection of the cordelette ends to form a ring will fail under load. Only use sewed Dyneema slings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still Dyneema cordelettes are often used for climbing as they are much lighter for the same strength than nylon based ones. To know how this is possible despite the problem mentioned we look at the materials used to construct ropes: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dyneema, a trademark name for high-density polyethylene (PE), Nylon (polyamid PA) and Kevlar (aramid Ar). Dyneema and Kevlar have both about 4 times more strength per diameter than Nylon. Nylon is highly elastic and breaks at ca. 37% elongation, Dyneema and Kevlar are almost static (break at 2-4% elongation). The resistance against abrasion is only given qualitatively in my source: Nylon small, Kevlar medium and Dyneema high. The melting points are 250degC for Nylon, 130degC for Dyneema and 550degC (actually it decomposes) for Kevlar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the image provided in your link it really looks like the Dyneema cordelette in question has no sheath. The abrasion is not a problem as it has a very high resistance, but another characteristics is: Dyneema has very low friction on itself. Never ever form a ring of Dyneema webbing or cordelette using a knot, the knot will open under tension. Only sewed Dyneema slings can be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason dyneema cordelettes for climbing come with a sheath made from nylon or polyamid. These are perfectly suited for your case but more expensive than plain nylon cordelettes. Dyneema webbing which does not have a sheath is always sold as sewed sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My source is the alpine security journal bergundsteigen 3/12 &quot;FAQs-Dyneema&quot;. It may be accessible online, but is maybe behind a paywall: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2012/3/62-67%20%28faqs-dyneema%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2012/3/62-67%20%28faqs-dyneema%29.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:30:29.023" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:30:29.023" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8433" CreationDate="2015-06-06T19:54:25.263" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;PPE or ALL climbing gear in general should only be used if there is ZERO question in your mind about the safety of the equipment (ropes, slings, anchors, prussiks, carabiners etc). Your life depends on this stuff. Don't short cut or try to save a few bucks. Do it right or don't do it at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-06-06T19:54:25.263" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8436" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-06T21:06:49.840" Score="12" ViewCount="1090" Body="&lt;p&gt;While Dyneema is in use for cordelettes for quite some time manufacturers started bringing long ropes made of dyneema on the market. The benefits are obvious: Less weight, less volume and no water absorption. The big difference: The rope is static so it does not stretch and take up energy in case of a fall. This makes it unsuitable for climbing. So I am thinking glacier tours and ski touring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does the dyneema rope being static influence the ability to stop a fall into a crevasse?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If as a consequence the same procedure as for dynamic ropes cannot be applied: Is there a method so that static ropes are save to use in this scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other factors to consider when using dyneema ropes on glaciers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification on the material:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Dyneema is a Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW), also known as high-modulus polyethylene (HMPE), or high-performance polyethylene (HPPE). Spectra is the same material. From my web search it looks like dyneema is more commonly used in Europe and spectra in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T21:26:44.157" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T21:26:44.157" Title="Are static dyneema/spectra ropes suited for use on glaciers?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8436" CreationDate="2015-06-07T03:49:52.253" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use a dyneema rope as a lightweight hauling rope, rap line, or rescue rope, but I would &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt; use &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; kind of static rope to catch a fall, this would include a fall into a crevasse, or a slip on a slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With static ropes there is nearly &lt;em&gt;zero&lt;/em&gt; energy absorption, I imagine this is even more true with dyneema. In the event of a fall during glacier travel, the immediate response for the rest of the team is to fall onto their ice axes in self arrest (team arrest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TPZEi.png&quot; alt=&quot;Team Arrest&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The team's job is to catch and hold the fall. A static rope has the potential to pull everyone else into the crevasse with the leader, because the initial impact of the fall would be extremely jarring for not only the victim when he hits the end of his rope, but for the rest of the team as well, it could be enough for them to lose grip of their axes which would take them into the crevasse as well. The dyneema's slick texture and thinner diameter would only make things worse because there would be little friction over the edge of the crevasse to aid the team in catching and holding the fall. Falls into crevasses are usually a surprise for everyone, they most commonly happen when the leader is crossing a hidden snow bridge that suddenly gives way underfoot, it is &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; appropriate to use a static rope for fall protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Dyneema rope would be in the same category as a 6mm Aramid rope. They are meant to be an ultralight alternative to carrying a larger nylon static rope. They would work for Glacier travel and ski touring, but &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; as an emergency rescue rope, not to tie your team together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-07T14:16:07.373" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T14:16:07.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8429" CreationDate="2015-06-07T12:57:28.997" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might sound a bit odd and not-so-related to the question, but have you considered carrying a Kindle? I got used to carry mine along, wherever I go (bagpacking included). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it doesn't get bent corners and broken spine; if you pack it in a good place, it doesn't break at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a fully charged battery lasts several weeks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is quite lightweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can store many books in case you get bored&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mine has a case with lantern included, which is useful (I fall asleep pretty fast in the evening, I don't have to use my lantern's batteries for reading, and it turns off on its own as the Kindle goes to sleep mode)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a ziplock bag is usually enough to keep it safe from moisture&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drawback: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if it does break eventually, then it is a shame (although personally I am more sorry for &quot;deadtree&quot; books)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you cannot put a wild flower in it :) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2015-06-07T13:39:14.693" LastActivityDate="2015-06-07T13:39:14.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8439" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8451" CreationDate="2015-06-07T15:41:16.347" Score="13" ViewCount="7298" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most backcountry navigation I use a topo map and compass when necessary. Generally I'm following known trails and combined with some basic awareness of cardinal direction and land features I don't really need electronics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This fall, I'm going to a large desert that's fairly off the beaten track with little in the way of established trails. There are some features I'd like to be dead-accurate on (water sources, primarily) so that when I find them I'll be able to accurately record their position for future use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to decide between my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, or a dedicated GPS receiver (Garmin, etc). GPS receivers seem a bit more bullet proof, seem to have a more stable operating system, and as a dedicated device probably have better battery life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What would be the main reasons why someone would pick one versus the other?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I have a 16K mAh Anker battery, but given the weight (~11oz) I'd prefer to not lug it around if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-08T03:38:48.210" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:19:59.443" Title="Is a smartphone or dedicated gps receiver better for navigation in the desert?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2015-06-07T18:32:22.773" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you already answered your own question. Most dedicated GPS devices are more rugged, have better battery life, and don't require a data connection to work well. A phone has a lot of power overhead and is fragile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few possible advantages to a phone. If you're already going to be carrying one, it reduces the total weight required. It's often easier to update data on a phone than on a GPS device. On the other hand, there aren't in my experience very many &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; apps for phones which have full-featured GPS capabilities without a data connection. Most of the GPS type apps I've tried I've been unimpressed with, and would've preferred a dedicated GPS device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-06-07T18:32:22.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8441" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-07T19:26:05.080" Score="11" ViewCount="938" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reflecting on how different disciplines of climbing help you become a stronger climber in other disciplines. Like how bouldering makes you a better sport climber, because it teaches you beta and helps you develop the strength you need to get you through the hard cruxes of a sport route. And how sport climbing makes you a stronger trad climber by giving you the endurance from climbing longer routes, while letting you climb near or at your limit safely while on fixed protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting into trad climbing is where you make a huge transition from juicing though routes to learning how to route find, place protection, find good belay points and set up bomber anchors. As a sport climber you don't have to commit much brain power into following a route or placing anchors, it's like connect the dots, you just follow the bolts, and clip in your draws until you find the next belay station. Trad climbing requires a lot more specialized gear, a lot more knowledge and a lot more route finding skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being a strong climber isn't good enough for trad climbing, you need to be a &lt;em&gt;wise&lt;/em&gt; climber. Most people learn to trad climb I think by following a good leader. You climb with someone who has a lot of wisdom, and you get to  clean all the gear they place, which gives you an opportunity to see what they use and how they use it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that aid climbers get a lot more use out of their gear, place way more pro and get a lot more practical experience with it, would it benefit some one getting into trad climbing to first try out aid climbing to to give them more experience with their gear and make them better at placing solid pro?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T11:31:45.480" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T20:10:35.363" Title="Will aid climbing make you a better trad climber?" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2015-06-07T21:35:51.983" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the marine environment, it's often a little easier if you reference a known location. Offshore, you want to use lat/lon coordinates for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you're a mile from the coast (or less), it's a lot easier for people to find you if you say &quot;We're a hundred yards south of buoy three, looking at the hotel with the red roof.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I worked for a water rescue service for a bit, and it takes time and clarity to hear a full string of coordinates across a VHF connection. Also, if you're a single minute of latitude or longitude off, that's a big difference. Plus, those same coordinates need to be manually plugged into a chartplotter, which takes time and can't be done while the boat is racing towards you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the people who are coming to get you inshore on the water are very familiar with the coastline and will know buoy #3 instantly, and there's no way you're going to know the red roofed hotel unless you're really staring at it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while not to discount coordinates, stating what you can see around you is a great confirmation and at least where I worked would get me headed in your direction ~30 seconds faster and with a bit more certainty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-06-07T21:35:51.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8441" CreationDate="2015-06-07T21:46:59.623" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Learning how to place gear is a lot different than actually using it. Trad climbers place their pro, but hope they never have to fall on it. They give it a few tugs, maybe weight it to make sure it'll hold, but for the most part it's there just in case of a fall. Aid climbers on the other hand, they &lt;strong&gt;use&lt;/strong&gt; every piece of gear that they place, they get real practical experience with their gear because not only do they place pro every couple feet, they weight it and hang off of every piece. When they set up an anchor, that anchor isn't there just in case of a fall, they're using it to haul heavy loads and often their followers will be ascending a rope secured from that anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think learning how to aid climb before trad climbing will benefit your skills with placing pro the same way sport climbing and bouldering will benefit your strength and endurance. Strong sport climbers (5.12+) with the experience of big wall aid climbing are the most well rounded climbers in my opinion, and will naturally be very strong Trad Climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-07T22:12:02.117" LastActivityDate="2015-06-07T22:12:02.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2015-06-08T00:50:15.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Timble GPS Hunt Pro on my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone.  You can download topo, BLM boundaries, private property and other types of maps that work just fine without a cell signal.  The maps I use are incredibly detailed.  If you do have cell coverage, you can add weather overlays. Map prices are reasonable, and you can buy a subscription that lets you download as many maps as you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I turned off most of the power draining features on my phone and got reasonably acceptable battery life.  I did have to recharge the phone back at camp.  I would imagine a 1.6 Ah battery would last for quite a while, as long as you don't run the phone's screen a lot and shut off all the non-essential stuff (WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use an Otterbox case on my S5.  Almost bullet proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6094" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T00:50:15.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8445" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17519" CreationDate="2015-06-08T04:04:53.057" Score="5" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to monitor the forest behind my house for intruders, predators, and game. Mainly I'm interested in being immediately informed (by getting an alert and a picture on my smartphone) when there is something moving in the woods. Are there any game or security cameras that can do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the locations I would like to monitor are several hundred yards away from the house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the only cell carrier that works here is Verizon (if that makes any difference). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6098" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:21:28.630" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:21:28.630" Title="Is there a game camera that can immediately alert me when it sees something?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8448" CreationDate="2015-06-08T08:45:44.350" Score="7" ViewCount="1257" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just pulled out a bag of old hiking gear to discover that the storage bin had a leak and floor had 2 inches of water.  My sleeping bag, a Jungle Snugpack, had been partially submerged and has been wet/damp for a considerable period of time (6 months+)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could not find any visible traces of mould but other items in the bag did have a small white covering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going to throw it out but I wanted to understand what risks would remain if I boil wash the bag and attempted to use it again?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T12:56:36.757" Title="Sleeping Bag Damp for long time - risks of use?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1049" CreationDate="2015-06-08T08:49:15.777" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vicks Vaporub works for me.  I used this method in Iraq when nothing else would work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://skinverse.com/vicks-vaporub-repels-mosquitoes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://skinverse.com/vicks-vaporub-repels-mosquitoes/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T08:49:15.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8446" CreationDate="2015-06-08T09:27:04.850" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being as the bag is &lt;strong&gt;synthetic&lt;/strong&gt; and the water was &lt;strong&gt;relatively clean&lt;/strong&gt; your likely ok to boil wash it and use it again. If it had been down and/or contaminated water I'd strongly recommend binning it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down would have rotted and you couldn't guarantee getting rid of all of the nasties in contaminated water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Caveat(s)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's not going to be like brand new. The water itself likely hasn't&#xA;done much damage (the filling will be a plastic type). The washing&#xA;may damage it more. The boiling and drying will likely stress the&#xA;material and cause damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There could be some nasty stuff in the mold which could cause respiratory issues. If you're sensitive to this kind of thing, don't take a chance, bin it. But a boil wash should kill most of the nasties off. If in doubt, don't take risks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It may well smell even after you've washed it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have access to a large tumble drier (laundrette kind of thing) then give it a really good dry after you've cleaned it. You want to dry the filling out as fast as possible to prevent the mold simply growing back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-06-08T12:56:36.757" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T12:56:36.757" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2015-06-08T09:54:33.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For your situation I strongly advice against relying on your phone. It's a great backup but to much of a risk to use as a main device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three reasons to get a dedicated gps:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Batteries: A gps mostly works on standard AA batteries which can be bought anywhere and rechargeable ones are easily charged on solar energy. (look up goal-zero for instance).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rugged: Yes you can put your phone in a case... but devices like the Garmin gpsmap devices are water and dust proof on their own, and they can stand up to some physical abuse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Offline: Yes, also something your phone could do. but a dedicated gps device is made to work offline and will in no case accidentally delete your files because it couldn't find your license key or something like that (I had it happen with some marine map apps).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next you'll need to choose what type of gps you want.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Please note that my preferred brand just is garmin, there are probably loads of other devices).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you'll only be going out trekking once or twice you probably don't want to spend to much on a device.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Get one that just does the basic trekking and point to point navigation, you can load your waypoints/routes from your computer before you leave.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Check out the Garmin eTrex for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going out a lot then go spend some more..&#xA;The battery life will be a bit shorter with every big feature added but not to much.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;First of a device with an actual detailed map is great, use (free!) open source maps from open-streetmap and you even get all the small bushtrails.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Colour screen is a nice addition for better orientation by map.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Other features like a 3-axis compass and glonass/waas support are also a plus for better precision (even get's you point and shoot compass navigation).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have a Garmin gpsmap 64s myself, I use open source maps for street, trail and even nautical navigation.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Battery life is mostly about 20 hours when I use it in a battery saving mode (just checking the map every now and then but still tracking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T09:54:33.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8450" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8452" CreationDate="2015-06-08T10:15:12.503" Score="12" ViewCount="3216" Body="&lt;p&gt;I come from a family where outdoors activities include picknick baskets and a time limit of four hours tops. However, my girlfriends family loves taking me on outdoor holidays, the kind where you won't see another human being for a few days. During last years holiday, my cheap coat was clearly insufficient to withstand anything more than a light Spanish shower, so they surprised me with a 'good' outdoor raincoat for our upcoming canoeing trip to Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, I sprayed my coats with some kind of water-proof spray before use to make it at least a little water- and dustproof, since &lt;em&gt;'you should always do that before first use'&lt;/em&gt;. However, this coat has some kind of high-tech breathing fabric that I'm not familiar with, and the labels did not provide any directions on whether (not to) spray the coat before first use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my question: should I or should I not use water-proof spray on a 'professional' outdoors jacket? If yes, should I invest in a good spray from an outdoors shop, or will an all-purpose spray do? Or will this actually do more harm than good?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, it's Venturi ® fabric from Schöffel.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schoeffel.de/shop/sterling/&quot;&gt;Link to the coat in question (if that's allowed)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6099" LastEditorUserId="6099" LastEditDate="2015-06-08T10:41:38.093" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T07:31:34.547" Title="Should I spray a 'good' raincoat with 'water proof' spray?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2015-06-08T10:49:55.707" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most GPS receivers in phones do not work nearly as well as stand-alone GPS devices. Usually, one wouldn't notice this because phones use assisted GPS where they get the orbital data and/or almanac of the GPS satellites as well as the exact time from the GSM network. Also, they have an approximate position of the device.&#xA;Without that data, phones are very slow getting the position. Usually it works okay if there is still AGPS data downloaded, but that data goes stale after a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downloading the full almanac data from one satellite takes 12½ minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some phones I used instantly forgot the data sent by the satellites after closing the app using GPS. This means another 12½ minute wait on the next usage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standalone devices are optimized for that situation. While some of them can also use AGPS data, they are expected to work without it. No such device will, for example, &quot;forget&quot; the almanac and expect it to be downloaded from the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a fairly recent Sony Xperia Z3 phone at the moment which can use Glonass satellites in addition to GPS but without Internet, a ~5 year old i-Blue 747A+ beats it by far. Faster fixes and more accurate position.&#xA;If you insist on using your phone (or want it as a backup) I suggest you buy a Bluetooth GPS tracker/mouse and use that with your phone. On Android, there are apps to use the GPS position via Bluetooth instead of the built in receiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can test how well your Galaxy S5 works by downloading the &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2&amp;amp;hl=de&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPS Status &amp;amp; Toolbox&lt;/a&gt; app, disable all data connections (Wifi and mobile), reset the AGPS data using that app, restart the phone and then get the GPS position. You will notice that it is very slow. After the phone got a first fix, try to close all apps using GPS, wait a few minutes and try to get the position again. Do the same but restart the phone.&#xA;This should give you a realistic estimation of how well your phone will serve you in the desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6100" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T17:19:59.443" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:19:59.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8450" CreationDate="2015-06-08T11:18:30.513" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a website giving information on jackets, specifically for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whatjacket.info/jacket-fabrics/venturi&quot;&gt;&quot;Venturi&quot; fabric&lt;/a&gt;, the material appears to be similar to GoreTex, etc. and recommended washing is given as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The durability of Venturi is dependent on proper care. Regular and correct care has a positive effect on the durability of the membrane. Unless otherwise stated, wash in the washing machine with similar colours on a gentle wash at 30°C or 40°C,   taking care to close all zips, Velcro fastenings and press studs and turning the item inside out before washing. Liquid detergent specifically for membrane clothing can be used and detergent residue can be avoided by rinsing the garment until water is clear, however the use of fabric softener is not recommended. It is better to care for the garment often with a little detergent than rarely with a lot of detergent . After washing, the garment can be spun briefly on the gentlest setting. Impregnation is one of the basic requirements for supporting the membrane’s function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to regular washing, all breathable fabrics need some sort of treatment to allow water to bead on the surface, to assist with breathability. To check this, try pouring a little water on your jacket's surface and see if it beads or wets out. If you find the water beads (forms into droplets which roll off the fabric) then all is well. If not, then using a spray which helps the fabric repel water (such as those sold by NikWax or Grangers, at least here in the UK, but I'm sure similar products are available in other locations) would be a good idea.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T11:18:30.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8453" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-08T11:55:36.967" Score="26" ViewCount="983" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is quite well known that goats are into &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/gallery/ddcWE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;free solo rock climbing&lt;/a&gt;. Is there any evidence (even if anecdotal) of the highest &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28climbing%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;grades&lt;/a&gt; they are able to climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2682" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T09:15:29.797" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T09:15:29.797" Title="What sort of rock climbing grade can a goat do?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8450" CreationDate="2015-06-08T11:59:06.937" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;To answer the question simply - no, you shouldn't spray it with anything.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproof fabrics (the higher end kind) are coated in the factory with a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) finish that is usually silicone based. DWR will wear out over time (and then you spray again), but straight off, it is good to go for many days of wear and use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just wash it regularly (I do after 5-10 days of actual use) on a gentle cycle with a non-bio detergent (or use a designated soap from the likes of Nikwax, Granger's Storm or even just pure soap flakes). At some point the water will stop beading, mainly at high wear areas such as the waist or shoulders, and than a spray of those areas after a wash will do the trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T11:59:06.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2015-06-08T12:24:44.177" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's go through the different aspects of phone versus dedicated GPS device point by point (however, quite surely without being complete). Basically you have to decide which points apply in your situation and how you weigh them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;GPS reception and accuracy&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the first smartphones with GPS units hit the market, there was the saying that their GPS positioning was less precise than that of dedicated GPS devices. The technical rationale given for this is that the GPS antenna of a smartphone has to be mounted hidden somewhere within the phone's body where it might not have optimal reception. In contrast dedicated devices have an antenna that is positioned in an optimal way, even if that means that the antenna sticks out a bit. However, that does not mean that the GPS accuracy in a smartphone is necessarily worse than a dedicated one, as for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.singletracks.com/blog/gps/gps-distance-accuracy-test-smartphone-apps-vs-dedicated-gps/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this test&lt;/a&gt; has shown. State-of-the-art smartphones, especially the higher end ones, are in principle able to play in the same league with dedicated devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are two possible drawbacks due to the internal antenna:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The reception depends more strongly on the orientation of the device with respect to the sky, i.e. accuracy might worsen a bit if you just throw your phone into your backpack and it rests there in a way that the GPS antenna is shielded towards the sky by all the electronics, the battery and parts of the case. When held in hand, there should not necessarily be a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basically the same limitation occurs if the device is used in conditions where the sky is to some extent shielded by the environment – imagine being in a thick forest, maybe additionally in rainy weather with all the trees full of wet leaves or in a deep valley with not much open sky above you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Battery life and endurance&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here the dedicated device is clearly in favour, however, it depends on the use case, how big this advantage is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use the device for full navigation and/or tracking, i.e. doing location updates and maybe having the display on all the time, your smartphone might easily only last for some hours, even with all unnecessary things (WiFi, Cell Connection etc.) turned off. Even if you just use your phone only to look up the location every now and then and keep GPS off the rest of the time, it might suck a lot of power just by having to run its operating system. There are lots of processes running on the phone all the time that will drain your battery even in standby. Turning the phone off when not needed would be impractical as well, because it will take some minutes to boot until it is ready to use and booting a full-blown smartphone can easily drain several percents of battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dedicated device on the other hand has a very slim operating system that is not using much battery when idle and also does boot up quickly if you prefer to shut the device down if not needed. Above that, there are devices that run on standard AA or AAA batteries which makes it easy to bring some sets of spare batteries. Those give you quite surely more battery lifetime per weight for your dedicated device than a battery pack for smartphones &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; you can tailor the amount of batteries to take with you depending on the length of your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally there's also some safety issue if you carry your phone also for emergency contact reasons: by draining your phones battery with GPS use you do not only lose your navigation but also your phone functionality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Maps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to have maps on your device, your mileage will vary with both devices. With a phone you can basically have every map that is available as long as you have cell coverage and many maps to be downloaded to the device if you have the right app installed. With a dedicated device it depends on what the manufacturer allows you to install on it and how easy it is to get additional maps for certain purposes like sailing, hunting or the like. This depends also strongly on the manufacturer or device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Handling&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Handling issues can be divided into software and hardware based ones:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Software&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a dedicated GPS you are basically limited to the software that the manufacturer has designed for the device and the functionality they give you. Hence it is important to have a look at your need and the provided functionality to chose a device that suits your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a phone on the other hand, you can basically get apps for everything, but not necessarily one that will bring all you need. Also as far as I see, there's some divide into small, slick apps that do only one or two certain tasks on the one hand and big, heavy ones at the other hand that provide a lot of functionality (which is mostly not needed for your use case), at the cost of higher battery drain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Hardware&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the hardware side I see a clear advantage on the dedicated device for several reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of them are more or less waterproof which is not only a matter of carrying them in humid weather or for tours around water but also for example when having them get moist in the pocket of your hardshell jacket or trousers on a sweaty ascent (yes, I know of people who have killed their smartphone that way). Also using them with dirty hands is no problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are constructed for harsh environments with a rubber casing so they won't be damaged seriously if they get some scratches or fall out of your hand or pockets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of them are designed to be usable with gloves, so no need to get your gloves off. This can be essential in cold winters but is also nice on bike trips where it's quite annoying to get off your gloves just to see how far you've already ridden.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally, and for me one of the most striking parts: have you ever tried to read something on your smartphone display on a summer noon in bright sunlight? You won't have any chance since the background illumination of the phone display is not strong enough to outshine the sunlight. Most GPS devices have instead transflective displays that use the ambient light instead of a backlight and stay readable in the brightest sunlight. They have a backlight as well, however this is only needed for low light situations and thus saves you battery time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you have to decide yourself and I hope to have given you the most important properties to influence your decision. If the device is somehow part of your survival plan (this is what your question sounds like) then I for myself would go for a dedicated device since the smartphone solution appears to have many more modes of unwanted and unexpected failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-06-08T15:17:23.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8450" CreationDate="2015-06-08T15:42:42.137" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The German website you linked contains the following paragraphs under &quot;Pflegehinweise&quot; (maintenance notes):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Die Oberstoffe der Bekleidung werden bereits bei der Herstellung&#xA;  imprägniert. Diese Imprägnierung kann durch Wärmezufuhr im Trockner&#xA;  (falls laut Pflegeetikett erlaubt) reaktiviert werden. Da die&#xA;  Imprägnierung aber nicht dauerhaft hält, sollte das Kleidungsstück&#xA;  regelmäßig nach etwa 2-3 Wäschen mit einem speziell dafür geeigneten&#xA;  (silikonfreien) Imprägniermittel - erhältlich im Sportfachhandel -&#xA;  behandelt werden. Spätestens aber dann, wenn das Wasser nicht mehr vom&#xA;  Obermaterial abperlt und das Bekleidungsstück sich klamm anfühlt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Idealerweise verwenden Sie eine Sprühimprägnierung, da Sie hiermit den&#xA;  Oberstoff gezielt behandeln können. Durch Wärmezufuhr, beispielsweise&#xA;  mit einem Haartrockner bei geringer Temperatur aus ca. 10-15 cm&#xA;  Entfernung oder für kurze Zeit auf niedrigster Stufe im Wäschetrockner&#xA;  (falls laut Pflegeetikett erlaubt) können Sie den wasserabweisenden&#xA;  Imprägniereffekt reaktivieren. Wärmen Sie dazu das trockene&#xA;  Bekleidungsstück an, imprägnieren es und führen anschließend nochmals&#xA;  Wärme zu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tipp: Besser oft und mit wenig Waschmittel als selten mit viel&#xA;  Waschmittel pflegen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This roughly translates to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The outwards facing fabrics of the clothes are already proofed during manufacturing. This proofing can be reactivated through heat in the dryer (if allowed according to the care label). Since the proofing does not last, however, the piece should be treated regularly after approximately 2-3 washings with a special adequate (silicone-free) proofing product-- available in dedicated sports stores. At the latest, when the water does no longer beads from the outer material and the piece of clothing feels damp.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ideally, you will use a spray proofing, since you can treat the outer fabric specifically with it. Through the application of heat, for instance with a hair dryer from short distance of approximately 10-15 cm, or for a short amount of time in a dryer on the lowest setting (if allowed according to the care label), you can re-enable the beading proofing effect. For that, warm up that dry piece of clothing, proof it, and apply heat once again afterwards.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tip: It's better to care often and with little detergent than rarely with a lot of detergent.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6103" LastEditorUserId="6103" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T07:31:34.547" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T07:31:34.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8458" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-08T23:48:55.713" Score="7" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been doing some research on what type of cord to use for resligning some hexes, and I found something very surprising &lt;a href=&quot;http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/High_Strength_Cord.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, the paper seems to suggest that while the &lt;em&gt;tensile&lt;/em&gt; strength of high performance cord vastly outperforms nylon, the strength once it's tied in any sort of knot is significantly less. It also suggests that while other materials might outperform nylon when new, several of them rapidly degrade when stressed, to a tensile strength well below ordinary nylon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this just a fluke? Is regular old 5mm nylon really the best choice with a rating, for example, of just 5.6 kN for slings? (Given the average breaking strength of a loop of 7mm nylon tied with a double fisherman's was rated at about 5/3 of the tensile strength, I'd think it's probably a -3-sigma rating pretty close to 9kN when tied... Obviously not tested though.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems odd that it isn't more well-known that nylon is the best choice if it's true... Everyone seems to swear by high performance rope for slinging chocks and setting anchors, but it seems the &quot;high performance&quot; rope might just offer a better sounding number than an actual performance increase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone had any experiences with cord failing on a piece of pro? What failed, when? What's worked? What do you trust? Does anyone have any other info on the failure of rope when in actual climbing configurations, and &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; just the tensile strength?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastEditorUserId="6042" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T02:55:47.267" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T02:55:47.267" Title="What is the best rope material to use for climbing protection?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-06-10T14:06:05.603" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8453" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:14:50.370" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apparently &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen_Rowell&quot;&gt;Galen Rowell&lt;/a&gt; took a picture of a goat in the Cirque of the Unclimbables mantling past Galen's rappel anchors with a grade (US) of 5.9+.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:14:50.370" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8462" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For wind surfing please see the related &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/wind-surfing&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;wind-surfing&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;wind-surfing&lt;/a&gt; tag&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8463" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" Score="0" Body="Surfing is the sport of standing on a surf boards with the intention of riding the board on sea waves. Use this tag for all questions related to surfing." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:52:38.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8464" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8465" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" Score="0" Body="Rain is precipitation that falls out of the sky in a liquid form. Use this tag to tag questions related to rain." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:54:17.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8466" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8467" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" Score="0" Body="An ice axe is a specialist piece of mountaineering equipment used in winter conditions. It is roughly axe shaped but can come in many forms from long handled walking axes to specialist ice climbing axes. Use this tag for all questions regarding the use, maintenance, etc. of ice axes." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T11:56:29.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8468" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8472" CreationDate="2015-06-09T15:33:42.640" Score="13" ViewCount="1856" Body="&lt;p&gt;I intend to use a &lt;strong&gt;dry bag as a bear-bag to store my food&lt;/strong&gt; while camping and I was going to hang it.  I had read in another post that a dry bag would not limit the bear's sense of smell as a bear bag would. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is, &lt;strong&gt;how far away from my campsite would be safe to hang my dry bag&lt;/strong&gt;?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6053" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:44:55.433" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:44:55.433" Title="How far away should I hang my food with dry bag?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1201" CreationDate="2015-06-09T15:42:27.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you should wax your skis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are a racer, ideally every time you race&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do freestyle, once at the start of the year, end of the year, and in-between when needed (see 4-6)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you ski powder, once per week or when needed (see 4-6)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whenever there is a noticeable snow (dry or wet) or temperature change (5-10 degrees Celsius)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your bases get roughed up or dry.  If there are large scratches, use P-Tex to fill your bases.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally, if your skis aren't sliding as well when off-edge.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6053" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T15:42:27.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8470" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-09T15:55:46.850" Score="9" ViewCount="5903" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my first bow - it's a low-end recurve with a draw weight of 14kg nominal. At the shop they told me not to string it by bracing it against my foot, because the limbs get twisted sideways. They recommended I purchase a stringer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I am a bit skeptical. Firstly, at the training grounds that I visited several times, the instructor was stringing the (I admit, very introductory, maybe 7kg) bows by hand and foot. Secondly, the guy at the shop also didn't use a stringer when he was test-stringing the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is a stringer necessary? If not, what is the proper technique to string a recurve without twisting the limbs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-18T17:30:07.510" LastActivityDate="2017-03-18T17:30:07.510" Title="Is stringing a recurve without a stringer damaging to the bow?" Tags="&lt;bows&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8471" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8475" CreationDate="2015-06-09T16:35:04.387" Score="9" ViewCount="2929" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm asking this just for curiosity: Imagine your are alone in the wilderness without any resources since a few days. You're dehydrated and you find a bottle of an alcoholic liquor in your baggage. Should you drink it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol gives you a bit more time to find rescue instead of dying immediatly. But from a long term perspective alcohol is a bad drink, since it requires a lot of water to degrade the alcohol. Another side effect is that you're drunk and could lead you  to a deadly decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6110" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:37:27.047" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:37:27.047" Title="Drinking alcohol as the last choice in survival situation" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8468" CreationDate="2015-06-09T16:53:31.970" Score="9" Body="&lt;h2&gt;At least 60m away, and 5m high.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt that there is such a thing a bag that bears absolutely can't smell through. Bears and other animals with rhinariums (wet nose) not only smell better than humans, they smell in a &lt;em&gt;different&lt;/em&gt; way, they can literally &lt;em&gt;taste&lt;/em&gt; odours. A bears sense of smell is roughly 2100 times more sensitive than a humans. Even if you got a fancy odour-proof bag to stick your food in, the bear would still be able to smell &lt;strong&gt;the bag&lt;/strong&gt;, which could be enough for it to want to come take a closer sniff. Up close, I doubt there's anything a bears nose couldn't penetrate. Your greasy hands that handled your food also handled the bag, a bear will be able to smell that, and will probably assume there will be more of that tasty smell &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's not much you can do to prevent a bear from smelling your food, so you have to take measures to ensure that the bear isn't attracted towards your sleeping area. I live in bear country, and personally, I don't use any kind of fancy bag to hang my food (a plastic bag is good enough), I just make sure it's a good distance away from my tent, and hung at least 15' off the ground between two trees where there's no way a bear could reach it. In my opinion, it'd be better &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to use a smell proof bag, I'd rather the bear was following his nose &lt;em&gt;away&lt;/em&gt; from my tent site and kept distracted all night far away from where I was sleeping rather than not notice the cache and come sniffing around our tents in hopes there might be scraps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to keep your cooking area, and toileting area a good 60m away from your tent as well. Small spills, boil overs, even just touching the log you're sitting on with the same hand you barely wiped your mouth with will leave a scent.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dry bag will work fine as a food cache, these's no need to go buy one of those gimicky expensive bear bags. As long as you build a good cache a couple minutes walk away from your tent, and put absolutely &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; you have that carries a scent with it (including lip chap, tooth paste, deodorant and chewing gum) you'll be just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-09T22:00:47.033" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T22:00:47.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8471" CreationDate="2015-06-09T16:54:45.993" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If all I had was some liquor, I would not be drinking that. Drinking alcohol causes dehydration, so while you &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; feel some very very temporary relief from having liquid in your throat, it's going to hurt you in terms of dehydration overall. Additionally, as you said, alcohol leads to poor judgement and reduced decision making skills. That's only going to make it harder to find the actual resources you need to survive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol and wilderness survival don't mix. It's possible to enjoy alcohol in the outdoors in a responsible manner, but if you get to a situation where the only thing you have is a bottle of booze and yet you don't have a means to purify water, you've made some poor decisions to get to that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T16:54:45.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8474" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-09T17:12:08.133" Score="35" ViewCount="22903" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just recently gotten into climbing and so far the ropes have always been provided for me. I'm starting to look at getting my own rope for outside climbing, and am confused by some of the terminology. Many of the ropes say &quot;dry rope&quot;, &quot;non-dry rope&quot; or &quot;dry core rope&quot;. What do these terms mean, and what are the conditions or types of climbing in which you would prefer one or the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:28:00.620" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T22:24:39.910" Title="What is the difference between &quot;dry rope&quot;, &quot;non-dry rope&quot; and &quot;dry core rope&quot;?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8471" CreationDate="2015-06-09T17:12:57.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alcohol is poisonous, it saturates your blood with sugars and will dehydrate you faster as your body sucks your own cells dry in need of water to dilute those sugars. If you're in a survival situation, and all that you have left is the heavy bottle of alcohol that you somehow forgot about and didn't notice weighing down your bag, the best thing to do with it would be to try and separate the water from the alcohol by distillation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be accomplished, but unless you're a chemist and have the appropriate instruments or mad MacGyvering skills, you'd be better off pouring the alcohol out onto the ground to avoid the temptation of drinking it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T04:07:52.047" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T04:07:52.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8474" CreationDate="2015-06-09T17:24:47.477" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wet ropes are heavier and provide less energy absorption, which is a big problem when you can't avoid wet conditions and you rely on your rope to protect you if you take a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry ropes have been impregnated with a fluoropolymer-based solution to prevent them from absorbing as much water as possible. Use of dry ropes is essential for alpine and ice climbers, or for glacier travel. Non-dry ropes will suffice in other conditions, although a dry treatment is also useful for reducing wear from abrasion, and it provides better energy absorption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xXhyr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are at least two types of dry ropes, those that have a &lt;strong&gt;single dry&lt;/strong&gt; coating, and those that are &lt;strong&gt;&quot;double-dry&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;, they've had both their sheath and their cores coated. Single dry ropes typically are only coated on their sheaths, but the coating tends to wear off quickly, so some manufacturers use a single treatment that penetrates to the core. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The terminology doesn't seem to be consistent, some distributers only categorize ropes as dry or non-dry, others add categories like dry-core, dry core and sheath, or 2X dry. But the difference is just how many times the ropes are treated to be water resistant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/AST/ContentPrimary/Learn/Climbing/RopesAndWebbing/ChoosingRopes.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MEC - Choosing a climbing rope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Image: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/outfit/climbing-ropes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Blueprint - Climbing Ropes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T14:09:36.887" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T14:09:36.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8474" CreationDate="2015-06-09T18:22:43.037" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many phrases that you will find concerning dry treatment of ropes, but they can all be easily related to your three categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;non-dry rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This rope has no treatment to repel water. Consequently it absorbs the most water and thus getting heavier. Wet ropes also loose some of their dynamic properties, so falls will get harder. As it is the cheapest variant, it is well suited for indoor climbing and also fine for sports climbing (you usually don't sport climb in heavy rain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;dry rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The sheath of this ropes has a dry treatment. This means that the individual fibres are treated to repel water. As the sheath is on the outside, this is already a good protection against water. This is a goto rope for any multi-pitch, alpine climbing and mountaineering (except in case of heavy icing, see below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;dry core rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Both the sheath and the core fibres are dry treated. This is an additional protection against water that may pass the protected sheath. As the core has much more fibres than the sheath, this is more expensive. This rope is for ice-climbing and mountaineering in mixed conditions. In those activities it is pretty much possible for a wet rope to freeze which makes it unusable, so it is vital it stays dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T18:22:43.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8441" CreationDate="2015-06-09T18:40:41.163" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before I started to trad climb, I was using mobile protection in an alpine environment. As a consequence, I never fell into a piece of gear and belays (that were not bolted) were save by location, often by slinging some big rock. This is the extreme case, but also when starting to trad climb the same happened: I didn't have much experience so I wasn't sure about my placement. This meant I could not go to my limit which made it boring fast. Then I went to training weekends where we set up top anchors from which we were loosely belayed while trad leading. The deal was: Every placement is tested by jumping into it. This is more or less save, at least as long as you don't look up while falling (one helmet was cracked by a cam :) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big advantage of this method over aid climbing is that you actually fall into your gear. As to the reports of a friend, which is a lot into aid, you don't want to fall in aid climbing. Falls get messy all the time and many aid placements can just sustain body weight, they will fail in case of a fall. On the other hand you will place a ton of gear when aiding, so you get a very good eye for placements. This helps you a lot in trad: One hugely challenging aspect is, that in trad you are concentrating on climbing, but still have to find protection places. The friend with lots of aiding experience does this almost automatically and seems to always choose the right gear on the first try. This saves vital time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion I would say that for getting proficient in placing gear, aid climbing is great. But it does not give you that much information on the quality of your placements. Aid placements are usually &quot;only&quot; loaded by bodyweight, while trad placements always need to sustain high loads in case of a fall. For getting better at judging placement for high forces and getting confidence, go jump into your gear while being on a backup belay. Just be prepared for flying gear and for damaging some of the gear - but the result is well worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-02T15:47:11.440" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T15:47:11.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8474" CreationDate="2015-06-09T18:56:56.317" Score="14" Body="&lt;h3&gt;What are the differences?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The different ropes basically differ by how they have been treated to handle water: &lt;em&gt;non-dry&lt;/em&gt; ropes (although I've never seen that mentioned explicitly) have no special treatment at all, &lt;em&gt;dry&lt;/em&gt; ropes have only the sheath, treated with some water-repellant, while &lt;em&gt;dry core&lt;/em&gt; ones also have a treatment for the core. In both latter cases, the dry coating does not make the nylon fibres immune to water, it just prevents that they suck up any water immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Why does it matter?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rope can soak up a significant amount of &lt;strong&gt;water&lt;/strong&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;will make it heavier, worsen handling and will strongly reduce the dynamic strength, i.e. the fall energy it can absorb – the figure of 70% loss in strength&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/wet-rope-myths-debunked/)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;is around&lt;/a&gt;. Besides that it does also not matter much whether it is soaking wet or just damp, as stated &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/wet-rope-myths-debunked/)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tests have shown that just being splashed under a shower had comparable strength reduction to ropes that have been fully soaked; i.e., the amount of strength and performance loss is nearly equal for both a damp rope and a fully soaked rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So basically everything more than some single rain drops may be too much. But it should also be mentioned that these issues are temporary, so once you have dried the rope it does behave as before. The only exception is the case, where the rope has taken a lead fall while wet, in that case it may have been significantly weakened and it is better to discharge it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any fall on a wet rope causes more damage, so its future performance (even when dried) is compromised. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/wet-rope-myths-debunked/)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Which treatment for which use case?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning the question which rope to use for which activity: I would say for 90% of climbing activities you are fine with a non-dry one and a rope with dry treatment is just wasted money since the treatment will wear down as you se the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as long as you use your rope for activities where you don't expect to have it exposed to water or snow for prolonged times, a non-dry rope is enough. This covers basically indoor and outdoor sports climbing since normally you are only performing those activities in fairly good weather and even if some unexpected rain shows up it's no problem to rappel down one pitch on a rope that got a bit wet from the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For multi-pitch rock climbing, it is somewhat debatable if a dry coated one is just nice to have or essential. It depends a bit on what type of climbing you are doing there. If you are just doing some multi-pitches in a developed climbing area where you just rappel down some pitches, get to your car and rush home if it starts to rain, you won't need a dry rope. You can do all this also on a wet rope  – the handling will be a bit uncomfortable but it works. If you are climbing in some alpine area where there is a chance that you have to rappel some ten pitches in a heavy rain storm on a soaking wet rope with cold water running down the rope as the rappel device squeezes it out of the rope and the whole rappel taking twice as long since friction has increased dramatically and then you have to hike out another one or two hours while carrying your soaking wet rope that is more than twice as heavy as in dry condition, you will condemn yourself that you wanted to safe those bucks on a dry coating. If you plan to climb on the last few pitches to the top instead, you should make sure you have a rope with dry coating, since a not coated one might break under a lead fall (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/wet-rope-myths-debunked/)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where a dry coating is quite inevitable is everything where it is clear a priori that the rope will come in contact with water and/or snow, i.e. ice climbing and glacier hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;In short&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rappelling on a wet rope is ugly but still OK – having a lead fall into a wet or even damp rope may be critical.&lt;/strong&gt; So whenever there's a chance that you will have to climb on (and not just rappel down to go home) even after your rope has been in contact with water, you should invest the additional money for a dry coating. On the other hand, it's wasted money for the most widespread cases (sports climbing) where you just stop as it starts to rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2018-05-04T18:54:24.153" LastActivityDate="2018-05-04T18:54:24.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8436" CreationDate="2015-06-09T19:18:51.453" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer by testing is yes, it is perfectly suited in those cases. Peter Popall and the Petzl team tested static and dynamic ropes for crevasse falls and held more falls with the static ones. In a ski touring guide course I attended this year one mountaineering guide brought such a rope with him. He uses it all the time and already had one real case of a crevasse fall. But lets look at what happens in case of a crevasse fall:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the following the scenario is a two man team on a snow covered glacier (icy is not relevant, as you cannot stop a fall on ice and you see the crevasse anyway). The process can be divided into two phases: The buildup of the tension and the stopping of the fall.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The buildup with a dynamic rope is delayed while for the static rope it is abrupt. This means it is much more likely to hold the fall standing with a dynamic rope. But this is only possible when being ready for the fall which in real life is normally not the case. So normally this phase ends by falling off your feet and being pulled towards the crevasse. The abrupt jerk by the static rope is described as unpleasant but bearable. By personal experience I can say, that those jerks are unpleasant for dynamic ropes too.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When breaking to stop the fall the rope being static has no more negative effects. Contrary Popall found the dynamic rope to show a jojo-effect: When cutting into the crevasse edge the rope can get stuck and start to stretch and thus accumulate energy, which then gets released again. With static ropes no energy can build up so the force is constant. Thus stopping the fall should in theory be even easier with a static rope. Whether the jojo-effect is really an issue in reality, I cannot judge, atleast I never experienced it so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article by Peter Popall can be found under the following link, it is in german and may be behind a paywall:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2014/3/60-65%28statisches%20dyneema%20vs%20dynamisches%20seil%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2014/3/60-65%28statisches%20dyneema%20vs%20dynamisches%20seil%29.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-06-09T19:18:51.453" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8471" CreationDate="2015-06-10T05:23:50.313" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alcohol is a high flammable liquid so better answer is to spread it all over the woods (if there's any) and make a spark, the help will reach you faster than you thought. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6116" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T05:23:50.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8422" CreationDate="2015-06-10T08:06:04.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heh this question is similar to: &lt;strong&gt;How can I convince my friend to become vegetarian&lt;/strong&gt;. You can't simple as that. But you can show them another dimension of life while hiking or for example eating vegi food, and if they are in the state of changes they would love some life changing decisions to be made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was young my father always asked me to go with him on some hiking, but I always say no, because I was not in to it. But now that I'm little bit older and wiser, I see living and spending time in the nature as another dimension of life that I want to live. So in the case of your friends your best shot is that you showed them another dimension of life or &lt;strong&gt;happynes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the best reasons to spend more time in the nature are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To softening my heart&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See that the most &lt;strong&gt;beautiful elements of the universe are not man made&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Feel that nature don't need human&lt;/strong&gt; and its perfect as the way it is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding that &lt;strong&gt;lost mother bond with mother nature&lt;/strong&gt; and aware my self that I'm her lost child.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And to become more like a tree, if somebody throw at you a rook you should still give him a shadow when it's hot, and your fruts when he wish one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5890" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T08:06:04.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8474" CreationDate="2015-06-10T08:21:25.200" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dry ropes and dry-core ropes are very similar. Basically they've been treated so they repel water (this &lt;strong&gt;does not make them water proof&lt;/strong&gt;). &quot;Wet&quot; ropes have no treatment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What do these terms mean, and what are the conditions or types of&#xA;  climbing in which you would prefer one or the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live anywhere where it rains and you plan to climb (dynamic loads), I'd get a dry treated rope. Almost everyone in the UK has some kind of dry treatment on their ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So why do this?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically a wet rope is not a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rope companies do not recommend falling on a wet rope, which may have&#xA;  its dynamic performance reduced by up to &lt;strong&gt;70 percent when wet&lt;/strong&gt;. Modern&#xA;  dry-treated ropes are a bit better, with dynamic performance&#xA;  reductions of about 40 percent, depending on the type of dry&#xA;  treatment. Any fall on a wet rope causes more damage, so its future&#xA;  performance (even when dried) is compromised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So how wet does a rope need to get for it to be compromised?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tests have shown that just being splashed under a shower had&#xA;  comparable strength reduction to ropes that have been fully soaked;&#xA;  i.e., the amount of strength and performance loss is nearly equal for&#xA;  both a damp rope and a fully soaked rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is where the dry treatment comes in.&lt;/strong&gt; A dry treated rope will likely pass the &quot;shower test&quot; where a wet rope won't. But if you submerge either into a pool for any length of time and they could be compromised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So I shouldn't get my rope wet?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, getting it wet isn't a problem, &lt;strong&gt;getting it wet and then using it is&lt;/strong&gt;. It's actually a very good idea to clean your rope once in a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If there were any long-term effects of soaking and then drying ropes,&#xA;  rope manufacturers would not recommend washing them at all. However,&#xA;  the rope has more elongation and is more susceptible to abrasion when&#xA;  wet, which can reduce the cord's ability to absorb future impacts&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/wet-rope-myths-debunked/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing to remember is that a wet rope is a compromised rope. Dry treatment will help prevent it getting wet but if it get's wet, don't use it for anything dynamic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do fall on a wet rope then you should retire it immediately:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So if it underwent any major trauma when wet, retiring the rope is&#xA;  recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A note on gorge scrambling.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's common (in the UK at least) to use ropes while gorge scrambling. This is fine as they are typically confidence ropes and will be under static load (as opposed to dynamic falling loads)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T14:33:46.757" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T14:33:46.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8485" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8488" CreationDate="2015-06-10T09:59:33.253" Score="11" ViewCount="286" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into purchasing a dog life jacket for kayaking with our Shetland Sheepdog puppy, when he is fully grown (6months, he's currently almost 4months).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally this will be for rough water such as the sea, as potentially on calm water like the canals he may be ok swimming. However he is long haired so swimming may get tiring without the jacket for him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking for my own life jacket I found the safety ratings confusing (first time purchase!) &lt;strong&gt;Do dog life jackets have the same / similar ratings to human life jackets?&lt;/strong&gt;... Also &lt;strong&gt;What rating would be recommended for a mix of sea, canal and lake activity?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: here he is in his new jacket&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/wYkGcYE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T11:31:08.477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T11:31:08.477" Title="Do dog life jackets have the same ratings as humans?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8470" CreationDate="2015-06-10T10:01:07.207" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can string a recurve by bracing it on your foot. For casual shooting it is okay but I would advise against it. While it can twist the limbs, the actual issue is the uneven stress on the screws / bolts that hold the limbs in place. Believe me, you don't want one of them slipping mid draw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest getting a stringer. They save a lot of time and hassle, and increase the longevity of your bow. If you are going to be stringing it several times a week you can understand how it would affect the bow after a few years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Archer for 20 years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T10:01:07.207" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8471" CreationDate="2015-06-10T11:09:02.580" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As many other posters pointed out, drinking alcohol to prevent dehydration is counter-productive. However, there are other uses for a bottle of high-proof booze in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When its proof is high enough to be flammable, it can be used as a fire accelerant or even as fuel for cooking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can be used to disinfect open wounds to avoid a nasty infection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can be used &lt;a href=&quot;https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/8034/historical-use-of-alcohol-as-a-source-of-clean-water&quot;&gt;to disinfect water&lt;/a&gt; by mixing the water with a small (!) quantity of alcohol&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing which might be worth pointing out is that while alcohol will accelerate your death from thirst, it might prolong your death from starvation: One liter of booze has about 2000 kcal - about the daily calorie intake of an adult human (if you can keep it inside). But still: getting drunk in a survival situation is a very, very bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3519" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:47:51.977" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T11:51:55.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8485" CreationDate="2015-06-10T14:26:01.820" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I can tell dog life jackets do not have different ratings as for human life jackets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the models I have seen in a brief search seem designed for the situation where your dog is conscious, can keep themselves afloat, relatively to land and therefore assistance if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, I suspect due to dog life jackets being a relatively niche product no standards will have been made and standards from human life jackets won't easily carry over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems the main concern of manufacturers is the size of the dog. As dogs come in a wide variety of shapes and weights this seems reasonable and just as for humans a poorly fit life jacket could cause lots of problems for dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T14:26:01.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8489" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8490" CreationDate="2015-06-10T14:50:04.327" Score="22" ViewCount="4802" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our ancestors have cooked and eaten meat for thousands of years with only primitive equipment (no pots, pans, etc). In a survival situation or when traveling with minimum equipment it may be useful to use similar methods. However, I have little experience in cooking in this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What good methods exist for cooking meat with minimal/no equipment (I'm sure there must be several), how should they be done and what are their pros/cons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also be interested to know about the historical usage of different methods if known.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T18:58:20.710" Title="How to cook meat with no equipment?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-10T14:55:14.257" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can cook meat on a wooden skewer, piecing it like a kebab, and turning it frequently to prevent burning and to allow it to cook evenly. Similarly you can do this with two sticks and have the meat tied between the two. This is useful for smaller chunks, but becomes difficult with larger ones. You also will have to take care with dripping fat which can spit in the flames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the same way meat can be spit roasted, but you would have to prepare a spit out of logs for this which could be too excessive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also cook meats on a heated rock, which is a technique still used in restaurants today for steak cooking. This should be easy enough if you have prepared a fire ring. A flat clean rock is best, and you can take the rock out of the fire to prevent spitting or over cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can leaf wrap the meat and cook it over coals (I saw this on TV done with a deer, over heated coals and covered by sand / dirt) and leave it for a few hours. - I'm almost certain I saw this on Time Team, but can't remember the era. This is time consuming but works similarly to a bbq, as the coals are no longer on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T15:02:26.440" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T15:02:26.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8491" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8492" CreationDate="2015-06-10T15:24:22.580" Score="11" ViewCount="627" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously it is hard to surfboard without any decent surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know in England the best surf is near the South West, Cornwall and Devon being famous for it (Woolacombe and Newquay), but elsewhere I'd have no clue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also know weather is a factor, requiring offshore winds, but that can ultimately change a lot even in the best surf areas, so let's assume the wind is favourable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to go abroad and wish to surf,  &lt;strong&gt;What kind of location do you need to look for in order to get a decent surf?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Artificially created factors are important too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:03:20.873" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:03:20.873" Title="What makes a good surfing location?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8491" CreationDate="2015-06-10T16:16:22.207" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple of factors that I'm aware of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Swell/Geography&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why most of the UK has bad surfing. The swell is the energy generated in the Ocean, this is ultimately what drives the waves. To generate swell you need big powerful weather systems. These typically only form in oceans. The problem with the UK is that Ireland is between us and the Ocean. So all the energy is deflected around us. this is why places like Newquay and the west coast of Scotland (as well as the west coast of Ireland) have good surf. Because they are exposed to the Atlantic swell and not the Irish sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The break&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The break is the terrain that the swell hits. Different &quot;breaks&quot; generate different types and aspects of waves. A wide shallow sandy beach will generate different &quot;waves&quot; to a pointy rocky headland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need some kind of obstruction though, something that forces the swell to rear up and form a wave. So you want the water to go from deep to shallow in a relatively short period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Weather&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low and high pressure systems are what generate the swell. The effect of the air pressure above the ocean (potentially far away from the beach) will have big impacts on the swell. This can turn a bad surf beach into a good one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-10T16:27:22.737" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T16:27:22.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-10T16:19:00.510" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have clay, you can form it into a sheet and wrap the meat with it. You cover the thing with hot coals and wait. When it is ready you break the shell and retrieve the goods inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bookdome.com/outdoors/Camping-Woodcraft/Baking-Meat-In-Clay.html&quot;&gt;Baking Meat In Clay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, if you have flour you can do the same but with dough. The dough will be burned to char, but the food inside will be protected by the dough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6118" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T16:19:00.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-10T17:13:07.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alternatives to cooking are also a possibility.  Pickling, for example.  Or fermentation, as practised by the Inuit and other Arctic tribes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6120" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T17:13:07.353" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8499" CreationDate="2015-06-10T17:33:00.287" Score="12" ViewCount="2105" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am pretty much a newbie when it comes to wild swimming, or swimming in rivers and lakes having only went once or twice. However, I'm an avid swimmer and have participated in several swimming contests. I was wondering if that would be enough to swim in the wild and if there is any advice about the activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm currently living in Ontario, Canada and it'd be great if anyone had any locations they use for safely practicing wild swimming because a simple google search brings up nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6122" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:53:51.953" LastActivityDate="2021-03-06T17:54:24.593" Title="Advice on wild swimming in Ontario, Canada" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-10T18:10:43.727" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fire pit is always a good one.&#xA;Dig a hole.&#xA;Build a nice fire and put stones in it until they heat up ( don't use stones from a river as they will burst).&#xA;Drop the stones into the hole, add meat wrapped in leaves or rushes and fill the hole back in with the excavated soil.&#xA;Leave for an hour or two and you will have beautifully cooked meat. Also works with sand ( Hawaiian style ) or water. To broil your meat make a waterproof hole (line with clay) drop some hot stones in and add your meat then cover the hole with branches covered with soil or sand to keep the heat in.&#xA;We used to use all three techniques all the time on camping trips with Scouts - the younger ones (Cub Scouts) always thought this was really cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6124" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T18:10:43.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8495" CreationDate="2015-06-10T20:12:35.803" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The way to get started is to swim in areas that are marked as generally safe. These will typically be a sandy beach on the shores of a small lake. Provincial Parks generally have one of these with float lines marking the &quot;safe&quot; areas. As you can see, you're free to swim outside the lines if you want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7sCaK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/mikisew&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/mikisew&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may not be a lifeguard in these areas, but there are no sudden drop-offs, dangerous currents, or similar known hazards. It may be a little crowded, depending on the park you choose, but you can get used to things that make swimming in a lake different from swimming in a pool - waves, walking on a bottom that may be sandy, muddy, or stony until you get to deep water, and vegetation brushing your foot and scaring you a little. You don't need to worry about sharks, jellyfish, sea urchins, or coral scrapes in Ontario water, only drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a provincial park near you, investigate conservation areas - some are completely undeveloped, some have a beach and some amenities. Don't Google for &quot;wild swimming&quot; - that's not a common Canadian phrase. Google for &quot;beach&quot; or &quot;swimming park&quot; for better results. (Not that a swimming park is a thing, just that pages containing both words are likely to be about swimming in some kind of park.) We have some amazing beaches in Ontario but since it's bigger than many countries, you can't really ask for a list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're used to lake swimming you can evaluate whether it's safe to swim in a particular lake, such as in the backcountry of Algonquin where there are no lines of floats to tell you where it is safe. Don't swim in rivers with a noticeable current until you have a lot of lake experience, and never do so alone unless you are wearing a PFD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-06-10T20:12:35.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-10T20:49:15.287" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One technique that I remember from my old boy scout book was putting a steak directly on hot coals. Covering fish in clay and burying it in the fire is also a good technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we allow ourselves to use string then we can use a technique called string roasting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/pennsic2007cooking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Open Fire Cooking Experiments&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One person to study is chef Francis Mallman who cooks everything on an open fire. He mostly uses equipment but he has some techniques he uses that are very basic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6125" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-14T16:02:43.417" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T16:02:43.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8495" CreationDate="2015-06-10T21:07:35.170" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a lot of swimming in NW Ontario when I was a kid, and I've spent more time swimming in lakes and rivers than I have in swimming pools. I find the phrasing of this question curious, because I've never heard any one use the words &quot;wild swimming&quot; nor have I ever considered swimming in a mountain lake or a river &quot;wild&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None the less, there are some serious considerations when it comes to swimming outside when not swimming at a public beach with a lifeguard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lakes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factors to consider when swimming in lakes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size &amp;amp; Depth &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remoteness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Debris&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Size and Depth&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small lakes with beaches are the best to play in, they're calm, warm, and very tame. You can pretty much treat such lakes as swimming pools. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Larger lakes are where you need to be careful. Bigger lakes are deeper, have bigger wave potential, and can experience more severe weather. When swimming in a big lake, you can stay close to the shore, or choose to wander out into the middle/try to cross the lake. The difference is you can't just get out of the pool if you get tired, get a cramp, or inhale a mouthful of water. If you're out in the middle of a lake, no one is going to come to your rescue, so it would be good for you to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7289/what-should-one-do-when-get-a-cramp-while-swimming&quot;&gt;learn how do preform a survival float, or drown proofing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia is a real danger when swimming outdoors. Lots of lake swimmers such as triathletes swim in special wetsuits that have great mobility for swimming. Depending on where you are you can find lots of lakes that are warm enough to swim in for long periods of time without getting too cold, and what the temperature is outside with the sun will have an effect on the water as well, but being in the water long enough, especially while moving through the water will slowly cool your core. If you start to get hypothermia in a large open lake, then you're in trouble if you can't get back to shore quick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4439/is-cold-shock-response-a-real-danger-if-someone-is-used-to-cold-water&quot;&gt;cold shock&lt;/a&gt;, if you've never experienced swimming in icy waters, cold shock can be a killer, I've seen lots of kids dive into cold water for the first time where I'm from and come up choked for air, frantically flailing their arms, and stumbling to get back out of the water. If you're not prepared for it, and don't have experience with it, cold shock can shut your respiratory system down and really make you panic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remoteness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How remote a lake is obviously affects how quickly you can get help if something goes wrong, but less remote lakes have their own hazards. Unless you're at a public beach that's roped off and has a lifeguard, then your number one concern is often &lt;em&gt;other people&lt;/em&gt;, particularly yahoos in speedboats blasting their music, drinking their beers and all looking out the back of the boat at their buddies riding their wakeboards, not paying attention to whomever might be swimming in the water in front of them. Be cautious on lakes where motorboats are present. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Debris&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heard of drift wood? Well it comes from somewhere, and floating wood in still water is trouble depending on how big it is. Dead heads are trees that have mostly saturated with water and float vertically just below the waters surface. Aside from devestating the hulls and motors of small boats, they can also give you a wicked bonk on the head if you're moving along through the water and make cranial contact with one, so keep your eyes out for what's in front of you, don't just get into your stride and watch the bottom, I have video of swimmers not watching where they're going and head-butting the side of my canoe. You can't even shout at them to warn them of obstacles, because they can't hear you under water. Be alert and aware of your surroundings when you're in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rivers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rivers are far more dangerous to swim in than lakes for obvious reasons. Depending on the size and speed of the water, rivers can generate very powerful currents that can sweep you away, suck you under, bash you against rocks, pin you into a log jam, or throw you off a waterfall. It's important to know what hazards are present in a river before diving in and going for a swim. You also need to learn how to swim in a current. Getting back to shore isn't as simple as aiming for shore and paddling, because you are going to be moving with the current. You have to aim for a location &lt;em&gt;downstream&lt;/em&gt; then swim perpendicular to the water's flow in order to reach the side, and try to time yourself so you reach the shore the sametime you're flowing past the point you're aiming for. If you miss your mark, don't try to swim back upstream to get to it, keep swimming perpendicular to the current until you can touch bottom. Swimming against the current is pointless and wears you out fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large slow rivers also often have commercial and recreational traffic on them, so once again you need to watch out for boats, as well as weirs (drowning machines) dams, and flood gates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;. . . . .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often go out with &quot;accomplished swimmers&quot; into lakes and rivers, and they scoff at me when I hand them a lifejacket for a float downstream or playing on windsurfers. It's easy to change their mind about wearing a lifejacket simply by asking them, &quot;How well do you swim while unconscious?&quot; In rapid rivers especially, it's sometimes wise to wear a life jacket for the off chance you take a hit to the head by log floating by, or you roll over a rock and get slammed to the bottom. Or an overhanging log clips you in the head while you float by. They also provide extra warmth, padding (for bouncing off rocks when going for a swim in an extra &quot;wild&quot; river) and they can help you if you get a cramp while out over deep water. I know it's a pride thing for swimmers, but this is &quot;wild water&quot; so maybe consider it for your first couple times out if you're swimming out somewhere exposed or remote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-09T20:38:19.060" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T20:38:19.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-11T00:41:10.307" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most ancient form of simmering is to use a piece of supple tanned leather and some stones. It works with a plastic bag too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to make a fire and heat 3-4 fist-sized stones in it. You also have to form a pouch from your leather somehow, e.g. By binding the corners to a stick and suspending it. A nylon bag doesn't need that, it can be laid in a soft pile of dirt or leaves which support it slightly without spilling. You put water, meat and the hot stones in the soft pot, and after sufficient time, you have a soup (may need to exchange the stones now and then for hotter ones). Interestingly, the heat is not enough to melt the bag, but the meat does get cooked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a fiddly and long process, but it has the charm of feeling very primal, pre-metal-working style. If I were in a survival situation though, I would rather spend the time on getting back to civilization and grill the meat the quickest way I can, over open fire, regardless of culinary merits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T00:41:10.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8501" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-11T01:57:44.703" Score="9" ViewCount="498" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of caves around where I'm from in the Southern Canadian Rockies, including the largest cave, and the longest cave in Canada, as well as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=booming%20ice%20chasm&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjF28eOppbWAhVF6oMKHVkuA2QQ_AUICigB&amp;amp;biw=1319&amp;amp;bih=736&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Booming Ice Chasm&lt;/a&gt;. The caves around here were carved out by the flow waters off of the continental ice sheet during the last ice age, so they aren't growing anymore, instead, &lt;em&gt;they're filling back in&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scree that falls off of the mountains finds it's way into the cave entrances, then slowly makes its way deeper into the cave, filling in some tunnels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vvvI0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1IuLf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's obvious in some places where the cave dead ends that it used to go further, deeper, or higher, but the tunnel is blocked by scree. Even though many are filled in, there's still water flowing into or out of them, so who knows how far they may go, or whether they may connect to other unexplored chambers or even connect to other nearby caves. Chances are good that the entrances to lots of undiscovered caves in the area are buried by scree too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QjuCA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm wondering is if there's any risks to excavating these tunnels? I don't think that they would cave in, they held themselves up just fine before getting clogged up with scree, I'm more concerned about digging &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; into the scree. There's one cave that may have a blocked entrance on the other side of the mountain it's in, which could be easily excavated from the inside out, but I don't know how much scree might be behind where we want to dig. I'm worried about an avalanche of scree pouring into the cave once we clear out enough of the tunnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How safe would it be to attempt to dig through some of these blocked passages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-08T19:17:05.907" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T19:17:05.907" Title="Dangers of excavating caves?" Tags="&lt;caving&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8502" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-11T02:07:08.187" Score="11" ViewCount="929" Body="&lt;p&gt;When going camping on a multi-day trip, how do you clean metal pots, metal silverware and plates (for metal or ceramic)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution that came to mind was to bring dish soap and a sponge. However:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It adds bulk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The dirty sponge will dirty up everything else in my backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drying and cleaning the sponge when done takes a long time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dumping soapy water in the wilderness is bad for the environment (and often against the rules)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In many areas (such as deserts) water is limited, and park rules say you should conserve water (and using up a lot of water to first wash, then rinse, then wash the sponge seems like a waste)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In other places, clean water is not readily available. If I just rinse my things with water from a random stream, then put them in my mouth/eat off them, won't that expose me to pathogens in the stream water?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm curious if there's a better solution to this than just using disposable items like paper plates and cups, plastic forks and spoons, and disposable aluminum foil cooking vessels (this also seems wasteful since you can easily go through a bag of each in a week).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6126" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T07:56:53.070" Title="How to clean cookware?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8502" CreationDate="2015-06-11T03:37:31.420" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like using a soap and sponge, but it's not the only solution. It is possible to cut the weight of a soap and sponge setup pretty significantly. Using a small scrubby like the one shown below works well and is much lighter. You can also take a regular sponge and cut it into a much smaller mini-sponge which is typically still fine for the duration of a backpacking trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rhpw8m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;scrubbies&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap can be decanted into a tiny container, like the Nalgene 1-oz bottle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RPo4Gm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;nalgene tiny bottle&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are assorted biodegradable soaps which purport to be more environmentally friendly, although biodegradable soaps &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/biodegradable_soap.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;are not necessarily 100% environmentally friendly&lt;/a&gt;, especially if they end up in a water supply. The biodegradation typically only works in soils. If you're following LNT principles though, you should be washing over soils whenever possible as that will help prevent runoff into water sources and any tiny food particles are more likely to be broken down quickly in biologically active soil than in relatively lifeless dirt or rocks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are viable alternatives to soap and water though. One method which is fairly effective is to just clean with a bit of sand/grit to get the mechanical agitation required to remove food, then rinse with water as normal. This method may not be adequate though if your dishes have been used with meat. You can use a small amount of rubbing alcohol as a disinfectant after rinsing; the alcohol will evaporate very quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choice of cooking equipment can also affect how difficult it is to clean. Food will come off of non-stick pans easier than it comes off of some other materials, and making sure not to burn your food will also prevent the much more difficult cleaning which comes from that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pre-rinsing can also greatly reduce the amount of cleaning required. Putting a bit of warm water in your bowl and using your spoon to get gunk off the edges and bottom, then drinking (if you can bear it!) the soupy mixture which results gets more of the food in you and less to clean up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of your cleaning procedures, you definitely should use purified drinking-quality water for &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; the final rinse of your dishes. I always play it safe and use purified water for all dish washing, unless I specifically intend to boil water again in the same pot later for purification. You should also do all cooking and cleaning at least 200 feet away from any stream, trail, or campsite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T03:37:31.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8504" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-11T04:58:06.863" Score="10" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a couple of opportunities to go standup paddle boarding (SUP'ing) which is pretty fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/72sqn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;SUP boards&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every time I've used one so far, I've rented it form a place where somebody pointed and said, &quot;OK that should be about the right size for you&quot;. I know there are different lengths as well as different thicknesses, but I'm not sure what determines the right size for a given person and conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would assume that weight definitely has some effect, as well as whether you'll be in the ocean, a calm stream, or in whitewater. Does anybody have some good guidelines to determining the right size paddle board for a particular outing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T19:56:13.073" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T19:56:13.073" Title="How does one choose the right standup paddle board size?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8505" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8506" CreationDate="2015-06-11T05:43:57.137" Score="6" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the correct way to store a bow after use? Is there any specific care that is needed pre and post storage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T08:19:14.390" Title="How to store a bow?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8505" CreationDate="2015-06-11T07:02:21.740" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on the bow. I'll run through the three most common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;For a recurve.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never left strung and detach the limbs. My personal superstition is make sure the top and bottom bolts always go in the same locations, but this isn't proven to make any difference. Make sure it is kept in a dry place. You can get some nice padded boxes to store them in. When restringing make sure it is twisted enough and not frayed, and give it a rub with some solid beeswax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Longbows are similar.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always unstring. Keep in a dry location. Also make sure it is stored on a flat surface to prevent warping. You can get some nice cases to store these in as well. Same goes with the string as the recurve; once strung give it a good wax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Compounds are different.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave these strung. Some people ease off the tension before putting away, some don't, it seems to be personal preference. Once again store in a case. Before using, waxing the string is also a good plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I have noticed many people have their own answers or rituals that they swear by; so I am sure some answers other than my own will crop up as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T08:19:14.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8504" CreationDate="2015-06-11T07:21:14.997" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paddles board sizing are relative to what you wish to do with said board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short boards 8' or under are generally used for children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Medium boards 9' to probably around 12' are good for calm lakes / rivers and for some fun in the surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long boards, 12' or more are for the more serious journeys, touring or racing. They are faster and track straighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Width is also an issue. Wider boards are slower but are more stable, thinner boards are faster but less stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-choose-a-stand-up-paddleboard.html&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; website gives some good information. I've quoted it below in case the link ever stops working.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUP Volume and Weight Capacity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A SUP board must work for your size. If the board doesn’t displace the&#xA;  correct amount of water for your weight, you won’t be supported. Board&#xA;  volume and weight capacity are two important factors to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Volume: A paddle board's volume, expressed in liters, gives an&#xA;  indication of the board’s ability to float with weight on it. The&#xA;  higher the volume, the more weight the board can support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A short board can have a high volume if it is wide and thick.&#xA;  Likewise, a long board can have a low volume if it is narrow and thin.&#xA;  This means that a person weighing 200 lbs. who wants to ride his or&#xA;  her SUP in surf will look for a short, maneuverable board with a high&#xA;  volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Weight capacity: Each paddle board has a rider weight capacity, which&#xA;  is listed in pounds on the specs tab on REI.com. Knowing weight&#xA;  capacity is important because if you’re too heavy for a board, it will&#xA;  ride lower in the water and be difficult to paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUP Length&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When choosing the length of a paddle board, think about where you want&#xA;  to paddle. Riding waves in the ocean and racing on a calm lake are&#xA;  very different styles of paddle boarding and require different length&#xA;  boards for the best performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Consider, too, board length in regards to your type of car, home&#xA;  storage situation and length of walk to the beach or shore (longer&#xA;  boards are more difficult to carry, especially in windy places).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Short boards (under 9'): Great for surfing. Short boards are more&#xA;  maneuverable than long boards. Boards designed specifically for kids&#xA;  are typically around 8' long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Medium boards (9' to 12'): Ideal for all-around use on calm lakes and&#xA;  in the surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Long boards (12.6' or 14'): Great for racing or touring. Long boards&#xA;  are faster than short and medium boards and they tend to track&#xA;  straighter. If you’re interested in racing or touring, you’ll need a&#xA;  long board to either keep up with the competition or to paddle several&#xA;  miles to your campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUP Width&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Board width is an important factor in determining stability. SUPs are&#xA;  made up to 36&quot; wide to accommodate a variety of body types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wide boards (about 31&quot; or wider): Wide boards are more stable than&#xA;  narrow boards, making them easier to stand on. However, they are&#xA;  slower than narrow boards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Narrow boards (29&quot; to 30&quot;): Narrow boards are faster than wide boards,&#xA;  however, they can be less stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUP Core Materials&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;EPS foam: A foam core wrapped with fiberglass and epoxy is the most&#xA;  common board type. Carbon fiber and plastic are also used for board&#xA;  exteriors. Board weight varies based on construction technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hollow core: Some mid-range plastic boards have hollow cores due to&#xA;  the manufacturing process. Other high-end boards have hollow cores to&#xA;  save weight and increase performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Polyurethane foam: Heavier than EPS foam, polyurethane is used on&#xA;  entry-level boards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Inflatables: Inflatable SUPs feature PVC exteriors with drop-stitch&#xA;  construction that create an air core. Inflatable boards are very&#xA;  durable, light to carry and easy to store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SUP Fins&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fins add tracking and stability to a paddle board. Variations include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Large single fin: This is placed in a finbox and secured with a nut&#xA;  and screw. The finbox has a channel for the fin to slide back and&#xA;  forth in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3-fin setup: Also called a thruster, this setup promotes straight&#xA;  tracking on flatwater and offers good control in surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Race fins: These straighter, stiffer fins are best for downwind runs&#xA;  because they help longer boards (up to 14') track easier in large wind&#xA;  waves or rolling swell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fins for inflatable SUPs: Inflatable SUPs feature either flexible&#xA;  rubber fins attached to the board or detachable semi-rigid fins that&#xA;  can be removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T07:21:14.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8502" CreationDate="2015-06-11T07:37:16.803" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nhinkle gives an amazing answer here, but I wanted to add an option which we quite often use, which is to soapy wash less often throughout the day. &lt;em&gt;This will depend on what you cook / eat / water supply etc however.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example when camping we often eat, packet noodles, porridge, beans, packet soups, couscous etc from our cups or mess tins. My point here being that &lt;strong&gt;what you choose to eat&lt;/strong&gt; will have an effect on how dirty your pots pans etc become. Routinely, even at home, I will reuse a glass for a few drinks throughout the day without cleaning it. We do similar camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because packet noodles and the like actually don't leave a lot of grime in a mess tin or cup, you can get away with a quick rinse right after you finish, I don't even use a brush or sponge, just wipe around the tin with my hand and chuck the water away. No soap needed. It will not be sparkling dishwasher clean but it will be reusable throughout the day - ultimately then just clean thoroughly in the evening. This saves on soapy waste, but a rinse right after eating with just water can leave mess tins and cups &lt;em&gt;good enough&lt;/em&gt; for the days use. Like I said, I reuse my cup a lot before washing it up, mostly it will only have water in anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously this won't work so well if you've cooked meats, as the grease will not come out without soap when only using cold water... However most grime will come up with hot water if you've the time to boil some up and use a bit of elbow grease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also try &lt;strong&gt;microfiber&lt;/strong&gt; cloths as I find these dry out really quickly compared to regular sponges and dishcloths and I find they can clean just as well as a sponge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Definitely&lt;/strong&gt; avoid disposable items as you'll find you'll carry more than you need to and will have to recycle them afterwards. Not so good for the planet!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T07:56:53.070" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T07:56:53.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8509" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8529" CreationDate="2015-06-11T08:18:12.597" Score="22" ViewCount="7016" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen this happen several times. The robin hops along, stops, tilts it's head slightly and then grabs the worm/grub, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the purpose of this gesture? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking it maybe helps them focus on the target?&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UNLoC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T15:24:11.490" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T15:24:11.490" Title="Why do robins tilt their head to the side before pulling a worm out of the ground?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2015-06-11T08:19:42.373" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We also got both (in various sizes for each), I think it make no sense to get into manichean fight tarpVStent as i've often seen in many places on the net... it just depends on the personnal/punctual aim of the trip, trying to keep a certain gear consistency&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if i go in woods/hills with 6years old son: 100% tarp (3*3m, diamond pitch for nice weather or 1/2 pyramid if rain and wind)&#xA;the goal here is to spend time together watching the fire, playing, listen to animals and look for flying stars... tent just makes no sense, and he doesn't want it anyway :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if I tour with the whole familly (wife+3yo daugther+6yo son+2dogs): 3*3m tarp+3places tent is the best combination, as it make a small ''village-like'' arround the fire... first ones to be tired (usually ladies) can go in the tent while the others (usually son&amp;amp;I) can keep playing cards and shadow plays.&#xA;tent is for sleeping, tarp is more of a ''common room'' so to say&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;we've tried once to take only the 4 places tent, but is far less fun/zen for everybody!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if I go for some solo ''nature hicking/canoe'' trip: 2*3 tarp+bivy (will get a poncho tarp soon), goal is not performance but enjoying the environnement, taking time to set up the camp, cooking, playing some music in the evening... weight also somehow comes into consideration&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if I go for a sporty trip (climbing, mountain bike, kayak or so): i'd consider taking the 1place tent, as i'd need to sleep longer than dawn&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for the rest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;rain: tarp is great (remember it's made for it) as you can continue to play/cook/Watch the rain falling... in the 1place tent, rain usually means the end of the evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bugs: cream+2 candles+fire in front of the tarp has always been enough so far (i'm located in the North-East part of France, near by switzerland, lot of woods, hills, lakes, waterfalls)&#xA;I would not consider overnighting in any ''exotic'' over-bugged environnement anyway... staying the whole evening closed in a tent... no way&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;dogs: no smell/wet paws for us, and free going in/out for them... (i know this is a bit controversial)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;kids: they LOVE it, pitching is fun and educational, knots, environnemental consideration, etc... &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Atmosphere: tarp is a place to play, to talk, a place to stay together... tent is a place to sleep (or... to... well... you've understood)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;comfort: i've seen once that tarp was for masochist... well... come with us once, you'll see how hedonist and nesty it can be :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;well, that was my 2cents on the original question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;have fun in nature ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6128" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T08:19:42.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8511" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8513" CreationDate="2015-06-11T08:51:45.327" Score="14" ViewCount="91859" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now certainly if you're British you likely just had a wave of nostalgia over the idea of Crabbing! I did when I thought this through certainly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crabbing is not only a great way to spend the afternoon at a rockey sea side or pier with your kids but I was thinking is actually a useful skill for survival. Nowadays you can catch a crab with a line with a bait filled bag on the end, super easy... And edible crabs line many shores across the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you won't always have a bait shop nearby... &lt;strong&gt;So what are good baits to use when Crabbing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-06-05T16:06:30.303" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T12:39:47.860" Title="What are good baits for crabbing?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="18" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8509" CreationDate="2015-06-11T08:59:38.497" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know for sure, but your suggestion seems right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see on the picture you posted, these birds have their eyes on the side of their head which means that they quite surely are not able to see things right in front of their beak. So by turning their head they can look at their prey with one eye (no stereo vision but with better detail) before they then have to peck it more or less blindly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For us this appears kinda strange and impractical, but obviously it works quite well since their prey is moving slowly and is rather large compared to the bird's beak. So even if the prey is moving a bit over the time the bird needs to turn their head there and back, it will still be nearly at the same spot and the bird will normally need a maximum of two attempts to pick it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T10:46:52.107" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T10:46:52.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T09:10:12.120" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rotten fish. That's all I need to say. Crabs go mad for rotten fish in a net bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get your hands on rotten fish, raw chicken is probably the next best thing and is certainly easier to buy. Place it in a bag or secure it to a line and have a net ready.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the both of these remember to thoroughly wash your hands before eating anything after handling them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T09:10:12.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T09:22:06.867" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anything smelly!&lt;/strong&gt; Though crabs can't smell (as we think about it) they are scavengers by nature and detect their food by &quot;smelling&quot; microscopic particles in the water. So something really stinky and rotten will generate more &quot;smell&quot; thus attracting more crabs!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping them on the line is more tricky...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T09:22:06.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T09:27:49.253" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing I saw a lot of last time I went crabbing and &lt;em&gt;apparently&lt;/em&gt; rage threw my net off the pier (I hold to the fact it slipped out my hand!) was people using left over cooked sausages cut into small chunks, or raw bacon again in small bits. They seemed to be fairly successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a waste of bacon...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T09:27:49.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8517" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8520" CreationDate="2015-06-11T11:22:30.530" Score="9" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could somebody please identify the birdcall in &lt;a href=&quot;http://game-point.net/misc/BirdCall.mp3&quot;&gt;this recording&lt;/a&gt;?  The bird is calling at 00:01, 00:10, 00:29, 00:36, 00:52, 01:06, and 01:18.  This recording was made in England, in mid-June.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, how do you quiet these birds down?  The call is very noisy and annoying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6132" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:47:21.093" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:47:21.093" Title="Identify this bird call?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T11:29:21.773" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prawn heads.&#xA;When I was a kid my parents used to buy a bag of prawns when we were at the seaside. I got the heads to use as bait. The crabs almost went into a frenzy to get at the head and didn't let go even when they got above water.&#xA;A delicacy for the grownups and the crabs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6133" LastEditorUserId="6133" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T12:22:46.630" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T12:22:46.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T12:07:10.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Meat, of any type except dead crabs, on a string or in a net bag. but be quick, a tug on the string and they book!  Crab pots typically have a way of holding the bait so it can't be raided from the outside. either a shield or on the bottom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T12:07:10.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8517" CreationDate="2015-06-11T12:25:19.767" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a magpie&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a copy of an &lt;a href=&quot;http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment/British-wildlife-recordings/022m-w1cdr0001537-2800v0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;identical call from the British Library archive&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SZ2B0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T12:25:19.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2015-06-11T12:55:26.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in Brazil, more specifically in the southern states of the country, we are used to make the weekly &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Churrasco&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's basically a way of cooking meat with skewers (made of iron, but you can make it with wooden ones aswell). You pierce the meat with those bad boys and place them on top of a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Churrasqueira&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Inside the Churrasqueira, you have your ember and from time to time you must rotate the skewers to prevent burning the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make an improvised Churrasqueira with either bricks, stones or with a half-cut barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OeW5E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Churrasqueira&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know when the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Churrasco&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; was invented, but it's a long-time tradition of latin-american people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another funny fact: we have this tradition in the southern part of Brazil called &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Costelão&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (translates to &lt;strong&gt;big ribs&lt;/strong&gt; for the lack of a proper word) where we gather with lots of people to eat... well, take a look:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dGJFB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Costelão&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assure you it tastes better than it looks :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More informations on Wikipedia: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churrasco&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Churrasco.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6136" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-14T10:56:10.960" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T10:56:10.960" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8522" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-11T13:17:30.443" Score="2" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boar taint&lt;/a&gt; which describes an unpleasant taste in the meat of non-castrated pigs. &#xA;Which left me wondering more broadly: Are there other animals whose meat (from an animal of the &lt;em&gt;same age&lt;/em&gt; on the same diet) tastes different depending on whether it came from a male or a female of the species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Originally &lt;a href=&quot;https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/57003/35182&quot;&gt;asked this on Cooking.SE&lt;/a&gt;, but apparently there aren't many eaters of game or &quot;bush&quot; meat there!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:33:38.840" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T05:56:03.767" Title="Which animals taste different by sex?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="16" ClosedDate="2015-06-19T07:05:34.383" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T13:19:43.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen someone use a raw chicken leg. Very meaty and once the crab latches on it doesn't let go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6125" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T13:19:43.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7344" CreationDate="2015-06-11T14:25:24.333" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;They don't have certification from the UIAA. As it states on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/safety-label-holders.html&quot;&gt;UIAA official website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The UIAA warns that the following brands may be using the UIAA name and/or  Safety Label logo with out UIAA authorization:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GM&lt;/strong&gt;: The UIAA has received email from climbers in USA, Brazil, Finland and Australia that GM advertising gear with the registered&#xA;  UIAA Safety label logo GM has never applied for a UIAA Safety Label.&#xA;  We consider this to be an unacceptable use of UIAA name in order to&#xA;  create the impression that these products have been tested and&#xA;  approved by the UIAA. The UIAA therefore, cannot guarantee that the&#xA;  products from GM meet up to the standard set by the UIAA Safety&#xA;  Label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6138" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-06-11T14:39:53.973" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T14:39:53.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T15:37:20.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Lowcountry of South Carolina, we used turkey necks as bait.  We'd tie the end of some narrow cord around a turkey neck, attach a few small fishing weights and toss if over the side of the boat or dock.  Every few minutes, slowly pull up the line with a net at the ready.  Toss the crabs into a cooler full of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's how we did it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6140" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T15:37:20.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T15:47:14.240" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked my wife about this - she's from the Chesapeake Bay area, and is the daughter of a Navy man who loves fishing, so she knows a few things about what bait to use for crabs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Her recommendation is raw Turkey Neck - it's soft and has the right smell to attract crabs, and isn't quite as pungent to our own nose as rotten fish.  Raw chicken will do too, or really any raw poultry, but ideally you want something tough enough that the crab won't tear it off, but not so firm that they won't be able to latch onto it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also leave the skin on - which seems to help keep the crab's claw stuck on the bait.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6141" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T15:47:14.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-06-11T19:26:53.130" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chicken legs!! They were always the best bait we tried. Easiest to secure to the trap, and the crabs find them irresistible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6145" LastActivityDate="2015-06-11T19:26:53.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8509" CreationDate="2015-06-11T21:09:09.600" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are indeed correct that robins use their eyes individually as they tilt their head from side to side. It's known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocular_vision&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;monocular vision&lt;/a&gt;, and is how they, and many other birds, locate their food, primarily worms and grubs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In May, 1965, an ornithologist named Dr. Frank Heppner published a 10-page report entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v067n03/p0247-p0256.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sensory Mechanisms and Environmental Clues used by the American Robin in locating earthworms&lt;/a&gt;. It's based on research done by many scientists over the years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He set up experiments based on the five senses, designed to test which was actually being used. It is summarized in detail in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/HeppnerStudy.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Which Senses Do Robins Use to Find Worms&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By various methods, hearing, smell, taste and touch were ruled out. He concluded that sight was the only provable hypothesis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dr. Heppner suspected sight was the most important sense robins use to find worms. He drilled holes that looked exactly like worm holes. Robins ignored the holes UNLESS a worm was inside the hole within visual range. Whether that worm was alive and normal, alive but coated with a bad-smelling odor, or dead, the robins found the worms and ate them. He concluded that sight is the key sense robins use to find earthworms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-08T20:51:32.097" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T20:51:32.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8530" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-11T22:04:55.890" Score="5" ViewCount="80" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several weeks ago (on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May, I believe) I did the practise weekend for an expedition with school - the practise weekend was a two day hike, covering about 25km-30km total over the weekend. I am not in great shape, had a heavy load and quite soft feet and thus got enormous blisters on the balls of my feet and all along the back of my heels. They were swollen and each about the size of my middle finger. I struggled to walk at all for a few days, then the pain wore off. The blisters on the balls of my feet popped and peeled off. However, one of the blisters on my heels has not yet popped. It is filled with a white liquid, but is not painful in everyday use. It is still roughly the same size.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This weekend (13th-14th June) I will do my qualifying expedition, walking in the same shoes as before and walking a slightly longer distance. I plan to wear Compeeds (blister plasters) over all sensitive spots, including the blisters, but I don't know whether I should pop this blister now (about two days before the walk) or leave it intact for the protection it provides. I am concerned that the walk may only make the blister worse as it is still swollen and so will likely rub against my shoes. Alternatively, it may rupture on the walk and become infected - I have been warned to expect river crossings and muddy conditions - plus, forecast is for rain. If I pop them, however, I know that I risk infection anyway and it will become an open wound. I left it this long in the hopes that it would heal naturally - but is it too late to pop it, and if not, is popping it the advisable course of action in my situation?&#xA;Thanks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6148" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-12T05:25:12.180" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T05:25:12.180" Title="Should I pop my blister before a hike?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-06-12T07:47:42.287" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8531" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag should be used with questions that relate to situations where any advice related to manage protection to something or from something &lt;em&gt;specifically in outdoors&lt;/em&gt;. &quot;Safety&quot; tag and this one might look alike, but not to be confused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8532" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" Score="0" Body="Broadly, protection the action of protecting, or the state of being protected." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T06:00:40.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8533" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8534" CreationDate="2015-06-12T06:43:01.247" Score="8" ViewCount="637" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back on my childhood nostalgia train... After thinking about Crabbing I began to wonder &lt;strong&gt;if there are any particular sea life that I might have to be wary of when going rock pooling along the coastline?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For this, please don't mention litter or various flotsam and jetsam type items, just sea life.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst I live in the UK I do travel abroad and love to rock pool throughout my travels so please mention what country you're posting about! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For those unsure...&lt;/em&gt; Rock pooling is where you discover sea life, shells etc in the water left by low tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T09:06:35.710" Title="What sea life may be hazardous when rockpooling?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;rock-pools&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8533" CreationDate="2015-06-12T07:09:18.010" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus&quot;&gt;blue-ringed octopuses&lt;/a&gt; (genus Hapalochlaena) are three (or perhaps four) octopus species that live in &lt;strong&gt;tide pools&lt;/strong&gt; and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia (mainly around southern New South Wales and South Australia, and northern Western Australia). They are recognized as some of the &lt;strong&gt;world's most dangerous marine animals&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T07:09:18.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2015-06-12T07:22:55.473" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you didn't limit the question to materials found in nature:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've lit wet firewood in the rain using pieces of waxed cardboard.  They burn very fast and hot.  And wax firestarters are essentially waterproof themselves, so they're pretty reliable even in wet conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You used to be able to get waxed cardboard from any supermarket, in the form of broccoli boxes, but it's getting harder to find now that more stores are using reusable shipping containers.  Of course, you can always melt a candle and dip pieces of cardboard in it.  I've also heard of molding wax and sawdust firestarters in a cardboard egg carton.  You can take the whole carton with you and tear pieces off as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T07:22:55.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8536" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-12T07:23:01.063" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions relating to specific or unusual behaviour shown in animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-12T08:31:28.630" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T08:31:28.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8537" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-12T07:23:01.063" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to specific or unusual behaviour shown in animals." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-12T08:31:24.983" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T08:31:24.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8533" CreationDate="2015-06-12T09:06:35.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK one of the more dangerous sea creatures is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weever&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;weever fish&lt;/a&gt;. They are often found in shallow, sandy water, particularly around Cornwall and the south west, and have venomous spines on their backs. Being stung is very painful and can result in severe swelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stings are generally caused by standing on them unawares while barefoot, so can easily be avoided by wearing footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various types of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Jelly.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;jellyfish&lt;/a&gt; may wash ashore in the UK. In particular the Lion's mane jellyfish is common on the coast of Scotland and has a painful sting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that larger crabs can be painful if you try and pick them up and get bitten. Another minor risk are barnacles which can cause very nasty scratches if you fall on them, but if you fall on rocks it will probably hurt anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T09:06:35.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8539" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8575" CreationDate="2015-06-12T11:56:57.650" Score="8" ViewCount="1012" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have observed a strange thing happening with me these days. In India, month of March to May are of Summer with extreme heat, May to be worst. Midday, the mercury rises up to 40&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C. I was walking on a long plateau for close to an hour  or so in the afternoon, with ambient temperature of about 40&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C. I was well hydrated. The water in the hydration pipe (and not the bladder) was a bit hot due to the sun. Yet, I took a sip and then came the colder water. I immediately got goosebumps as it felt cold. That happened frequently. Have anybody observed this? It didn't affect my performance visibly, but I felt that really strange. Is that an issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:27:28.653" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:27:28.653" Title="Why did I get goosebumps after drinking water while walking in Hot and Humid weather?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2015-06-12T17:18:39.170" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I went out canoe camping in some light rain that turned into a torrential downpour and wouldn't stop. When it finally did, there was a puddle in the fireplace and we had no dry wood. We had a little paper with us, and we got tinder from the inside of logs, and all those tricks, but nothing worked and we had a small child with us who was getting majorly unhappy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had already laid birch bark down over the puddle to give us a dry place to work, and we had a fair amount of wood of various sizes, and plenty of dry matches. We also had our stove fuel (Coleman fuel here in Canada.) Just a few teaspoons underneath the dry wood, a match (tossed in from a respectful distance) and that whooomph that anyone will recognize/remember from the time their Dad did the same thing, and we had a roaring fire in no time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't do it every time, but every ten years or so it's the right thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-06-12T17:18:39.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8541" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-12T17:22:14.630" Score="2" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been walking for exercise for four years now, with no problems.  Now I've moved to a hilly location, and I thought the inclines, up and down, would be a great addition to my flat land walking.  In general everything is fine except I experience inflammation and pain from beneath and under my right kneecap.  I've used anti-inflammatories, ice, and rest to cure it, but I would really like to know how to prevent it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full disclosure - I am a fit 58 year old male and I had perhaps 25% of the cartilage removed from my right knee fifteen years ago with no problem until now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6154" LastActivityDate="2015-06-14T03:46:13.650" Title="What is the knee pain beneath and under the kneecap from hiking up and down inclines?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2015-06-14T03:47:04.117" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8501" CreationDate="2015-06-13T09:06:29.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK and at least some other European countries, it is very common to dig in caves to get through blocked passages. Normally this is done through either sections of cave blocked by boulders from ancient roof collapses or through sediments left from post-Ice Age flooding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, this photo looking upwards to the caver at the top of a dig currently ongoing locally to me, where cavers are removing boulders in the floor of a large room (or chamber) by following a wall downwards and shoring the boulders on remaining sides with scaffolding and boarding:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQubV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old records mention ongoing passage somewhere lower down in the room (chamber) and they are hoping to gain access to this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are correct in that the problem is movement of the scree rather than dangers of walls or roof collapsing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your example would have to be treated as an exercise in removing scree and then somehow preventing the cavity from being re-filled afterwards by more scree. Unfortunately it seems to be a very difficult problem in this case due to the long length of sloping cave passage and the amount of scree involved. I imagine you would need a major engineering project for a permanent solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-06-13T09:06:29.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8543" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-13T12:00:53.370" Score="7" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for shoes that I can wear for all day long in moderate outdoor conditions, both in rainy and dry conditions, at +10°C..+15°C (50°F..60°F). My feet sweet quite a lot, so breathability sustaining for long hours would be a great advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The target conditions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rainy day in a rural conditions, both walking a lot and sitting on an open-air terrace for long hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rainy day in a small town full of puddles and with lots of unpaved pathdays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a cool day with a &quot;chance of rain&quot; when rain doesn't actually happen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What brands and product lines to look first? Which characteristics/features to look for? What keywords to search for in customer reviews to make sure given model is what I need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I best explain what I need in a advanced-outdoor gear shop?&#xA;Or what stores should I actually look at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6155" LastEditorUserId="6155" LastEditDate="2015-06-14T10:28:22.517" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T11:00:41.517" Title="Waterproof shoes for men for +10°..+15°C and full-day use" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2015-06-13T18:25:53.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Soak feet in salt water. It dries out bottom of feet so blisters don't occur&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6156" LastActivityDate="2015-06-13T18:25:53.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8546" CreationDate="2015-06-13T19:33:28.050" Score="8" ViewCount="730" Body="&lt;p&gt;While walking in a state park in New Jersey last week, my husband and I came upon what looked like anthills. This small sign was posted on a nearby tree: &quot;Please don't step on the mounds of dirt. Miner bees are at work below!&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We generally avoid anthills anyway, so as not to injure the ants. As far as we know, though, this is the first time we've run across Miner bees. In what ways do they differ from other bees? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T17:11:13.687" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T17:11:13.687" Title="What are Miner bees, and how do they differ from other bees?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8545" CreationDate="2015-06-13T20:03:32.527" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The more common term is &quot;mining bees&quot;. As the name says, they build nests underground, usually in sandy ground. The other big difference between them and regular honey bees, is that they are so-called &lt;em&gt;solitary&lt;/em&gt; bees, so they do not form hives. The nest is built by a single female, who lays eggs in several chambers and provides each with pollen and nectar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So since they do not form hives, they never really become a nuisance, and they provide good pollination for plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/mining-bees.html&quot;&gt;http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/mining-bees.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-06-13T20:03:32.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8541" CreationDate="2015-06-14T03:46:13.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I had to fancy a guess I'd say it sounds like you're suffering from &lt;strong&gt;Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/tc/patellofemoral-pain-syndrome-topic-overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;What is patellofemoral pain syndrome?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the only sure way to prevent it–in your situation–would be to avoid the hilly inclines. Aside from that you would likely need professional help from an athletic therapist, or surgery. There's not much by the way of solid science that tells us what the sure causes or treatments of PFPS are, so you either have to self treat through trial and error, or see a specialist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-06-14T03:46:13.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8543" CreationDate="2015-06-14T19:46:11.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have leather hiking shoes. I went to outdoors gear store and those were the first pair I tried and I fell in love. The pair of shoes were perfect match with my feet. It felt good to walk around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping leather shoes in good condition is a bit of constant work. Washing the outside after hiking in dirt and mud and always before waxing and wet proofing. Waxing keeps the leather in good condition and leather doesn't dry and fracture. Wet proofing adds the water resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also like to add insoles which can be removed when drying the shoe and replaced when too smelly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And don't forget to use good, clean and dry socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3362" LastActivityDate="2015-06-14T19:46:11.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8550" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8551" CreationDate="2015-06-14T22:32:27.313" Score="15" ViewCount="10649" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming it's very impractical to get down to reach the tree line; and that the wind is changing direction very often - so a setup with several sides closed would be preferred - what would be a good tarp setup for very strong, direction changing winds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kind of tarp I am interested into is the square one (that's what I have), 3x3 mt or 2.5x2.5 mt. &#xA;Possibly, it should provide room for two persons, eventually leaving the gear out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T15:26:44.353" Title="What is a good tarp setup for very high winds above the tree line?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8550" CreationDate="2015-06-15T04:06:47.187" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the wind is blowing from all directions, then you need to get as low as possible to the ground. Do your best to find a spot that is somewhat sheltered from the wind. The lee of a crest usually works, but if you have wind blowing from all directions then try to find a recess in the ground - a low spot where the ground that slopes up in all directions away from your bed, just make sure the ground you're setting up on won't pool water. If you can, build up a wind screen around your tarp using rocks, even if the best you can manage is a short wind screen of only an unstacked ring of rocks around your tarp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your priority is to seek shelter from the wind. It would be unwise to try and use your tarp to do this in such an exposed environment (not to mention deafeningly noisy). I've tried setting up a tent in the Nevada Desert with 90km+ wind gusts, personally, I think the easiest thing to do is simply lay your tarp flat on the ground, pile rocks around the edges then slip in underneath it. It's not worth bothering with poles and tie lines, you don't want any wind to get underneath your tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If no rocks are available, then your best bet would probably be to use the tarp as an emergency blanket, and wrap yourself up in it, then lay on top of the edges. If you're serious about trying to set up your tarp, the configuration I'd try first would be the Mushroom fly from the illustration below, which isn't much different from my suggestion to pile rocks on the edges of your tarp and slide in under it, except that you've got a small pole in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0oNsK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QCD96.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NC2B2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-15T14:11:12.320" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T14:11:12.320" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8543" CreationDate="2015-06-15T04:27:01.070" Score="1" Body="&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;HI-TEC&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may or may not have seen the viral video that circulated a few years ago about Hi-Tec's water repellent shoes. If not, then you &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to watch it: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3St1GgoHQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Liquid Mountaineering.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3St1GgoHQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3St1GgoHQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hi-Tec has a whole line of water repellent shoes, including walking shoes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hi-tec.com/uk/alto-waterproof-mens-walking-shoe-charcoal-grey-beacon.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ALTO WATERPROOF MEN'S WALKING&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rb3vD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T04:27:01.070" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8553" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8554" CreationDate="2015-06-15T06:44:09.697" Score="6" ViewCount="1895" Body="&lt;p&gt;Title says it all really, if I were out practice shooting on a boss, or if I were hunting, how could I tell if I can reuse the arrows I've just shot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T08:31:28.883" Title="How can you tell if you can reuse an arrow?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8553" CreationDate="2015-06-15T08:31:28.883" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there are a variety of different arrows, there are some common signs you can look out for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all are the fletchings. If they are supposed to be straight, check if they still are. Others have a bend or curve in them, if this is the case check if the curve is still correct. Also check to make sure they are fully attached to the arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second most common problem is the nock. Make sure it hasn't weakened and become loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next is the shaft. Make sure it is still straight. You can either look down its length from the head (away from your eye) or spin it on your palm. The latter takes quite a bit of practice. For wooden arrows make sure there are no chips, scrapes or gouges out of the shaft. If there are it will have to be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Head / points. This is more of a concern on arrows where these can be changed. If you have such an arrow make sure they are well tightened, threaded correctly, and sit straight to the arrow. For anything with barbs make sure they are not bent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most commonly the only issue you will face shooting a boss is loss or damage of fletchings, and these can easily be replaced. Arrows are commonly made of aluminum, carbon fiber, or a mix of the two. Simple target shooting is unlikely to bend them. The only commonly used bow that uses wooden arrows is a longbow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting is different. If the animal moves, or you hit a bone, it can damage your arrows quite easily. I will add hunting with a bow is not a suggested idea unless you really know what you are doing. There are a lot more variables to take into account than hunting with a gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a full day of shooting using twelve arrows, you might damage one, and only minor damage that you could repair yourself. They are made to withstand a lot of use. As an example mine cost £29 each. If I had to keep replacing them I would have no money left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T08:31:28.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8341" CreationDate="2015-06-15T14:33:27.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally you should be able to assess the quality of each anchor you're going to use by your self. Please read the article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/bolts-check-your-safety&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Bolts: Check Your Safety!&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snippet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Make a constant effort to maintain awareness while climbing. When you get to a bolt, even if it has a fixed draw, as you clip the rope: Check your safety! It only takes a casual split second glance. Is the rope end carabiner sharp? Is the sling/dogbone new or is it faded and frayed? Is the bolt end carabiner grooved and ready to break? Does the bolt look safe and shiny or more like a Titanic relic?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It only takes a second to survey the scene and a further second to decide whether to back down or engage the next sequence. Make it part of your routine, like checking your knot, and soon enough it will become almost mindless allowing you to maintain focus on the climbing at hand. It's always your judgment call and only you are responsible for your own safety. Do not clip fixed gear blindly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally I recommend to check the route if it is possible to place additional protection (nuts, friends). If I climb routes I don't know and can't overview from the bottom, I always carry a trad rack (at least some nuts) to be prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T14:33:27.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8557" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-15T15:45:39.660" Score="9" ViewCount="1620" Body="&lt;p&gt;Avalanche shovels come equipped with holes in the blades for use as rescue sleds and making anchors. I've got plenty of my own ideas, but I'm looking for any documentation provided by manufacturers about how to properly set up an avalanche shovel as a &lt;strong&gt;snow fluke&lt;/strong&gt;. I've got a couple of BCA extendable shovels with the four holes in the blade like the one pictured below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/INv9h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q: Making use of the four holes, how would you attach cords/cables, and which way would you orient it in the snow to make it the most effective as a snow fluke?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow fluke:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hYGH4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fkuO7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-16T15:44:52.963" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T06:02:28.257" Title="How to use an avalanche shovel as a snow anchor for a belay?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7344" CreationDate="2015-06-15T17:00:10.517" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The products seem to be rip offs of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbxgear.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Climb X&lt;/a&gt; gear. Here's the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theclymb.com/show-product/178753?utm_source=googleshopping&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=Google+Shopping+-+Brands+Carried&amp;amp;utm_term=&amp;amp;utm_content=70120689133&amp;amp;Network=Search&amp;amp;SiteTarget=&amp;amp;iv_=__iv_p_1_g_15549188773_x_pla_y_100374003_f_online_o_10665_z_US_i_en_j_78592938277_s__n_g_t__d_c_v__vi__&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjw7_mrBRDH4Y2UjLHEmfcBEiQA8OTHf40ukoUY8AH0nOZZm1Eb6PcMB8u-XYz0exv-EODNXnoaAjkx8P8HAQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ice axe at a cheaper price&lt;/a&gt;. It would make more sense to buy the Climb X branded gear since the price difference is small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6162" LastActivityDate="2015-06-15T17:00:10.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2015-06-15T21:12:37.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great topic deserving of some controlled experimentation. In general the system is non-linear, but can be analyzed in a piece-wise linear fashion the same way many other difficult problems are approached. Some thoughts on the matter; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;conduction not convection, is the main transport mechanism, &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;cold does not exist, only the absence of heat, &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;heat transfer is a function of temperature difference between the inside and outside of the cooler, cooler thickness, thermal conductivity (w/m-k) of the cooler material, and surface area of the cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use Fourier's law of heat transfer to calculate how much heat in watts enters the cooler through its walls. As ice melts, it takes 3.3x10^5 joules/kg to do so. Remembering that a watt is a joule/second you can then calculate how long a given mass of ice will last. Heat, like electricity, takes the path of least resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water, at 24X the thermal conductivity of air, provides a low thermal impedance path for heat to reach the ice, so if a block of ice is sitting in a water bath it should melt at a faster rate. I would like to propose and experiment where the ice and melt water in one cooler are kept segregated, and one where the ice and melt water are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the time that the ice is completely melted, the two systems are the same in mass and phase (all liquid) but perhaps not temperature or even at the same time. Then its a different process, but with different initial conditions (temperature). There are some variables which have to be controlled in order to see the effects of draining vs not draining the water, namely ambient temperature has to be monitored and kept the same for both, admitting outside are into the system has to be eliminated, the coolers must be identical, the mass of the ice has to be measured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave the system undisturbed, measure the inside water and air temperature at as many places as possible using thin thermocouples and a digital thermometer. Allow the experiment to run well past the expected lifespan of the ice. Some sort of viewing port capability would be helpful to examine the state of the ice without perturbing the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6164" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:04:59.907" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:04:59.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8557" CreationDate="2015-06-16T04:30:31.870" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ideal direction is with the shovel facing away from the direction of the pull. If facing in the direction of the pull, The sharp edges cut though the snow significantly reducing its holding power. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sharp edges of the shovel though the holes would cut a nylon cordette or sling - you would need to use a stainless wire or carabiners in the holes. You would need 4 carabiners, more than you are likely to have spare in an alpine situation.  If you used carabiners, the holes would mean you would need to place the shovel facing the wrong way (in the direction of the pull). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were planning to use it as a snow fluke, you would want to be carrying a suitable wire strop to thread though the holes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a wire strop, my preference would be use the shovel to dig a T Slot and bury pack (or similar suitable object - climbing partner etc), or dig a snow bollard. To use it as a fluke you would need to weigh up having it facing away from the pull, and the risk of cutting though a sling/cord vs facing the direction of pull and the risk of it cutting its way out of the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T04:30:31.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8561" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-16T05:16:29.667" Score="5" ViewCount="702" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drinking too much (and wasting it) or insufficient water quantity can be dangerous. The current method that I am using to judge if I am doing it correctly is urine colour:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clear white - if water is not abundant, you are wasting it!    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very light yellow - correct &quot;setting&quot;    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dark yellow - dehydration has begun occurring (now a lot more water and a long rest are needed to exit this condition, otherwise body and mind begin suffering and chances of survival drop).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this method reliable? If not, which one would be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:23:40.653" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:23:40.653" Title="How do I reliably diagnose my own dehydration?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-06-16T10:26:22.577" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8561" CreationDate="2015-06-16T06:00:38.293" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often heard this method is reliable and I am also using it. From experience I can say it works. Also if you search the web you will find articles like for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/10/what-the-color-of-your-urine-says-about-you-infographic/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.urinecolors.com/urine-health/dehydration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also available are color charts to get an visual impression, see e.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wjaI0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides that personally I know that I am not prone to get headache. So when I start getting slight headache I am aware it &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; be due to dehydration. Often it helps to drink some water which is the cheapest and healthiest medication against headache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the link above you see there are a lot of symptons to be aware:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fatigue/Weakness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dizziness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Muscle cramps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry Skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry mouth/lips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vomiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Agitation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High body temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Convulsions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unresponsiveness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get one or several symptons or your physical perception changes, you should be aware it &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; be dehydration. Because, as I already said, the medication has no negative effects at all you should simply use it just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still keep in mind that you could get the symptons because of other reasons/diseases too and if nothing changes after you got hydrated you should start investigating. One common issue is AMS (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Altitude_sickness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;altitude mountain sickness&lt;/a&gt;) which has a lot of similar symptons than dehydration. So simply drinking water might not help you if you are getting headaches and start feeling dizzy/fatigue at higher elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T06:00:38.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8563" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8568" CreationDate="2015-06-16T08:42:05.607" Score="18" ViewCount="491" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8501/3313&quot;&gt;this good question&lt;/a&gt; I felt it covered mountainous regions very well however myself and my husband are big fans of the coast and he certainly has (with his ex-fisherman father) explored many coastal caves over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What dangers or points to be aware of (tide, potential debris, etc) are there when exploring coastal caves?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How would you safely explore a coastal cave? (would it be better over a few days etc...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-09-21T07:16:58.973" Title="Exploring coastal caves safely?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8564" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-16T12:47:08.493" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions which are about the coast or coastline, the part of the land adjoining or near the sea. This tag should be supported by others as it is a location tag reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-16T13:17:15.180" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T13:17:15.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8565" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-16T12:47:08.493" Score="0" Body="Questions which are about the coast or coastline, the part of the land adjoining or near the sea." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-16T13:17:04.103" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T13:17:04.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8566" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-16T12:48:08.143" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing the use of a bow, this being a weapon often used in target shooting. Types vary but include recurve, compound, longbow and crossbow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-16T14:21:00.393" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T14:21:00.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8567" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-16T12:48:08.143" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing the use of a bow, this being a weapon often used in target shooting. " OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-16T13:17:29.420" LastActivityDate="2015-06-16T13:17:29.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8563" CreationDate="2015-06-16T17:34:37.187" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;While &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5359/2303&quot;&gt;this answer on a different question related to safety precautions for caving&lt;/a&gt; explains most of the &lt;em&gt;what-to-have-along&lt;/em&gt; things, I'd like to put forth some points that can help  you understand situation better.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get confirmed information about Tide times and tide chart. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid planning one such venture on a Full Moon or New Moon, since the Moon and the Sun both have their own impacts on sea tides. The general term for the tides during this span is called &lt;em&gt;Spring Tides&lt;/em&gt;. The term &lt;em&gt;'Spring'&lt;/em&gt; is in accordance to the fact that water is higher than normal.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The ideal time to plan one such venture is around Half Moon, during &lt;em&gt;Neap Tides&lt;/em&gt;, since the Sun and the Moon are 90&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; apart. This cancels the effect of both gravitational pulls. So there is no much difference in water levels at Low tide and High tide. This should allow you with added time to explore the cave. &#xA;See if the tide chart also provides information about &lt;em&gt;Apogee&lt;/em&gt; (The Moon's farthest location from the Earth in Earth's orbit) and &lt;em&gt;Perigee&lt;/em&gt; (The Moon's closest location from the Earth in Earth's orbit). If you are not so much in love with tides at all then you can plan the venture around Apogee, the Moon will be farthest from the Earth and so the effect on tides will be minimum.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are in a coastal cave, a wave is the most dangerous thing to deal with. Unlike the case of normal mountain caves, in a coastal cave, you have to keep an eye on waves. When it hits you, you might get pushed towards walls which might injure you severely, you might bump onto one of your teammates, might get pushed into a narrow crack. The Key to safety here is being together and reachable, (which is not that critically needed in case of a mountain cave). The link to the other answer should help you with the kind of safety equipment you need to have along.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Its not just the waves you need to keep an eye on, you need to keep an eye on substantial increase in water levels. When entering deeper section of a cave, take necessary precautions in order to be prepared that if you are not out within the expected time and a wave hits you, it might lift you above the exit point to that deeper packet. In such a case, first see to it that you don't get hurt, and as the wave lapses, you'll have a very short time window to sneak out of the packet and turn elsewhere so that next wave doesn't send you back in. It is believed that rolling upside-down when the wave hits helps you hold your position better than being pushed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While moving in or out of the cave, or anywhere around the cave, watch out for those sharp and slippery edges. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, someone should know when you are going in and by what time you plan to come out of it. If anything goes wrong, the person should be able to manage/initiate the rescue operation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-09-21T07:16:58.973" LastActivityDate="2017-09-21T07:16:58.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8403" CreationDate="2015-06-17T10:45:09.967" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walked this route the other week. It's a simple &lt;strong&gt;Grade I scramble&lt;/strong&gt;, probably easier ground than Crib Coch itself and simple to navigate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finding the best way down from the north ridge of Crib Goch is not&#xA;  easy and this is one section that you may wish to recce first&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't find this an issue we simply kept moving NW until we entered Cwm Glas Mawr&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-06-17T10:45:09.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8570" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8573" CreationDate="2015-06-17T14:44:37.837" Score="15" ViewCount="639" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent walk I got bitten to death by midgies. I was itching all day until I got home and put some antihistamine cream on them. Is there anything available (plants, etc.) that I could of applied to stop (or help with) the itching?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T13:24:31.273" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T11:28:36.147" Title="Back country solution to itchy insect bites" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;bites&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2015-06-17T22:26:08.157" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only thing I can recommend from experience is mud: Cover the itching area with plenty of it and the itching will go away. After the mud dried out and has fallen off, sometimes the bites start to itch again, just reapply. But in most cases I never had to do that again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally cold helps by dulling the itching. The opposite, heat, will temporarily  help as all histamines (proteins by the immune system which cause the itching) are released by heat. But the itching will come back. Just don't burn yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a variety of plants that have antihistamine properties. What will be available obviously depends on where you are. In Europe the ones you might find most likely are jewelweed, chamomile and echinacea. I don;t think (though I am not sure) that simply crushing and applying will do the job, I guess extracting by cooking to make a poultice will be needed. So the difficulty to find such plants and the preparation needed will make it quite unpractical as a solution on the go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-06-17T22:26:08.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2015-06-18T00:01:00.963" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over the counter antihistamine products - especially tablets (due to light weight and effectiveness), but also topical creams such as stop itch and antihistamines are the most effective solution. These should be carried in your first aid kit if you have a history of allergy problems. Even for those that normally don't have problems, the size and weight of antihistamine tablets is so small, and its importance a potential life saving treatment make it an item I always have in my first aid kit (Wasps are a real problem for us in summer).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as plants, the best I can think of is Aloe vera - although you are unlikely to find it when you need it most.  Others I have read about, but have not tried are Peppermint, Basil and apparently banana peel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T00:01:00.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2015-06-18T01:46:47.343" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all &lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt; scratch. blood sucking insects inject anti-coagulant under your skin to prevent your blood from clotting and forming a scab so they don't get their mouthes stuck inside you while sucking. If you scratch, you only manage to spread the anti-coagulant around under your skin, which intensifies the itch and makes things worse. Train your brain not to unconsciously scratch every itch, and they won't persist as long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The go-to medicinal plant for pretty much everything is &lt;strong&gt;yarrow&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Achillea millefolium&lt;/em&gt;). It's as common as plants come in North America, but I checked and it's apparently also native to the UK. We were taught to use it as kids to remedy stinging nettles, but it also works for other types of stings and bites by drawing the toxins out of your skin. Simply pick the fern-like leaves, chew on them a bit to partially mash them into a paste, then apply to the affected area. Relief is almost instant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also works well as a tea for relief of cold symptoms and fever, which doesn't surprise you after you've tasted it, since it tastes like a kinda minty but mostly sappy-bitter cough syrup. Whenever I use it on people suffering from a rash out the woods, I always get &lt;em&gt;them&lt;/em&gt; to chew it up for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/htrTO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T22:24:28.817" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T22:24:28.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8312" CreationDate="2015-06-18T03:08:35.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The real safety issue is the condition of the harness webbing, not the type of buckle. Metal buckles don't soon wear out, whether you have to manually double-back the webbing belt or not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't believe the new buckles are mechanically safer, however accidents occurred simply because too many climbers forgot to double-back the webbing belt—enough so that manufacturers took notice. The new buckle design is an &quot;innovation&quot; dedicated to the prevention of user error.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if your harness has an old-style buckle, it should be an indication to you that the webbing may soon be reaching the age of retirement, which is a subjective call based on use, your personality-type, and manufacturer's specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6174" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T03:08:35.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8539" CreationDate="2015-06-18T07:11:37.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, I think I have figured it out a bit after discussing with a few fellow mountaineers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 3 major factors to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heat and Humidity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perspiration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I had mentioned, it was pretty hot and humid out there. It was almost midday and I was alone and had climbed up close to 4000 ft that morning and descended about 2000 ft with a little more than 3 ltr of water consumed. Whether I was doing okay with hydration or not is another question but I had not observed any of the symptoms of dehydration at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have observed that on a humid day, one may end up drinking some quantity of water and perspire more due to humidity and so loose more fluids than what he/she has consumed through the day. After a certain exhaustion, with that amount of heat and humidity, the thermal regulation system might get overwhelmed. That would result in increasing the core temperature. The exertion would inhibit the evaporation of sweat further compromising the body’s thermoregulation mechanism.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Another question arises when I ask myself &lt;em&gt;&quot;Was I consuming enough fluids to remain hydrated?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; The other factor that impedes the thermoregulation mechanism is Dehydration. It has its impact on sweat production. So even though I had drank enough water, the humidity was causing an even greater Perspiration rate than usual.&#xA;Then there are two possible situations: both resulting in Blocked sweat pores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The excessive sweating blocks the sweat pores (Eccrine Sweat Glands), the perspiration accumulates on the skin, it naturally evaporates. As the sweat evaporates, it cools down the skin surface and the Thermoregulation mechanism goes haywire resulting in a Heat Stroke. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't continue drinking water and continue to sweat, and finally get so dehydrated that no more sweat is produced. That is when you see rashes on the skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my case, those were early symptoms of a Heat Stroke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T07:11:37.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8576" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-18T09:41:41.983" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about shooting with a bow and arrows, especially at a target as a sport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T10:50:41.223" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T10:50:41.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8577" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-18T09:41:41.983" Score="0" Body="Questions about shooting with a bow and arrows, especially at a target as a sport." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T10:50:44.860" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T10:50:44.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8578" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-18T09:42:09.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about a pool of water among rocks, typically along a shoreline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T10:50:50.883" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T10:50:50.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8579" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-18T09:42:09.630" Score="0" Body="Questions about a pool of water among rocks, typically along a shoreline. Use this tag for questions regarding rock pool on the coast line" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-18T10:21:09.473" LastActivityDate="2015-06-18T10:21:09.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2015-06-18T14:15:13.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Plantago&lt;/a&gt; works excellent againt nettle because of its anti-histamin properties and, in my experience, also against musquito bites. It grows usually in the neighbourhoud of nettle and might be the only plants that survices on a pathway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to crush the leaves and apply it on the 'wound'. (it's like pressing water out of a stone, but it can be done).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6175" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-04T08:38:35.863" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T08:38:35.863" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8582" CreationDate="2015-06-19T01:10:59.017" Score="24" ViewCount="3070" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every time I go walking or hiking, I generally spend most of my time looking down to make sure I don't step on a snake or hole or dog poop. I don't do it consciously, it just happens. Obviously, I miss out on a lot of birds and small animals up in the trees and I'd like to see how other people cope with the urge to avoid obstacles and just enjoy their surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I go walking and hiking without constantly looking down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T17:40:30.037" Title="How to hike without constantly looking down" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-19T02:12:21.073" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may seem kind of obvious, but I use a scanning technique. I like to look at the next 10-20 feet, look up on all sides, look down, and then look up. It's a lot like driving, scan your mirrors, then your environment, then your dash or whatever you need to, and then repeat. It does take mental purpose, so you will have to train yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to scan ahead, look up at one area, say my right, scan, and then look to the left. Mostly it is second nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T02:12:21.073" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2015-06-19T08:00:57.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I remember buying in pharmacies a liquid prepared on the spot, from mint powder and saline solution (unfortunately this mix is sort of local-specific to our Romanian pharmacies, so I cannot provide a link). This was applied on mosquito bites and allergy rash - it stopped the itching for an hour or two. Based on this experience: try some sort of minty cream (or even toothpaste) to cool down the itchy feeling. Might sound a bit extreme, but worth a try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2015-06-19T08:40:33.917" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T08:40:33.917" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8584" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8591" CreationDate="2015-06-19T08:22:46.097" Score="6" ViewCount="5572" Body="&lt;p&gt;In strong wind (and bad tent placement) on the top of a hill, one of my tent poles snapped. I've subsequently replaced it. But the snapped pole has put a hole though one of the pole guides on the tent outer. My tent comes with a &quot;repair&quot; kit including scrapes of material to fix the outer but no glue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;what glue should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent is a Vango Cyclone 200+ from about 2010. The outer is laminated nylon I guess though it doesn't say. I'm wary of using a glue that will melt the plastic fibres but I also want one that will seal the hole quite securely as it will need to resist the tent pole pushing though the hole when erecting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mEnNI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T11:17:58.747" Title="Which glue to use to repair a tent outer?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8589" CreationDate="2015-06-19T08:38:04.217" Score="13" ViewCount="1008" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in a relatively rural area of North Wales in a new build house. I've been trying to encourage birds into our garden with limited success. There are plenty of birds in the area just not many in our garden! The problem is I can't make any radical changes to the garden as it's a rented house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've put up a bird table&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've added a small bird bath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;built a log pile&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and added some shrubs (in pots)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've had limited success, a couple of wood pigeons and a black bird that visits occasionally and roots thought the lawn. the area is full of swallows, starlings, tits, etc. none of them seem to want to enter our new estate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any better ideas (reversible ones that I can either remove or take with em when I leave) of what  I can do to encourage birds into my garden?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My garden&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l45xT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-19T19:49:53.317" LastActivityDate="2018-01-19T19:49:53.317" Title="How to encourage birds into the garden of a rented house?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8586" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-19T08:46:48.373" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tarp tent is a lightweight camping setup. The fully enclosed nature of an actual tent is sacrificed for lightness and a greater exposure to the outside worlds. Think of a tarp tent as the out of a tent only with a few poles. There are many, many ways to erect a tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8551/2766&quot;&gt;This answer provides a very good overview&lt;/a&gt; of the many ways that a tarp tent can be erected:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NC2B2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:49:13.873" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:49:13.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8587" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-19T08:46:48.373" Score="0" Body=" Use this tag for all questions relating to the usage, acquisition, etc of tarp tents" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:49:13.873" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:49:13.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8543" CreationDate="2015-06-19T09:25:44.593" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What brands and product lines to look first?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try as many as you can! The fit (not the brand) is the most important. Try on lots and see which ones feel the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Which characteristics/features to look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that temperature range you want something pretty cooling. Lighter, thinner material boots are likely your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't sound like your going anywhere too technical so try not to get drawn into all the jargon, etc. Most of this is just marketing spin anyway. Remember the sales person (though I'm sure will be helpful) is trying to get you to buy the most expensive boot he/she can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What keywords to search for in customer reviews to make sure given&#xA;  model is what I need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want waterproof, so that's your staring point. Then it comes down to price and fit, like I said try not to get drawn into all the nonsense, your not doing anything overly difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I best explain what I need in a advanced-outdoor gear shop?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't be intimidated, it's s shop like any other. Talk to the staff (I find gear shop staff are typically very helpful) and explain what you want. I'd say your not after anything fancy or expensive but you want it to be waterproof, light and good for reasonably warm temperatures&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Or what stores should I actually look at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All brands have pro's an con's, like I said try several pairs on and decide which one's work best for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-19T11:00:41.517" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T11:00:41.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8585" CreationDate="2015-06-19T09:43:18.853" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before we did the following we had barely any birds in the garden...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We put up one of those stick in the ground multiple feeders which has three hooks with three different feeders on, a table/bowl and a water bowl &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NCMS1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what you've added to the garden should be plenty. The issue here maybe what food you use - what you feed when is important, however your question is about &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;attracting&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; so here is what &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;worked for us&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A good suet based pellet will attract a lot of birds, magpies certainly love them! You can get them with or without berries but I found berries were gobbled up faster!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peanuts, good all year except for early-mid spring as fledglings can choke on them, but especially in winter they attract both birds and squirrels (a peanut feeder will not outfox a squirrel, unless you buy a fancy one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mixed seed - in a plastic feeder (which you can make out of an old bottle and a wooden skewer) will attract smaller birds like sparrows. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't be too hasty at throwing slugs and snails out the garden if you can easily cater for your plants (eggshells etc) without chemicals, as birds love the little ones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Suet coconuts, these are a massive favourite of little birds again we got plenty of them with these.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another favourite is leftovers especially bacon fat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Suet / fat balls, again you can get a cage feeder for these, magpies love them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Live / dried mealworms, these are yummy as anything to birds and are a very good natural sources of food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with all this food available we had the Starlings poking holes in our lawn / flowerbeds for hours, it's a supplement for them, not a feast. We also don't have all food out constantly, we let it empty for a few days before refilling as this got the other species interested in the rest of the garden (but that's the next step!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the above feeds and feeders we get: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pied Wagtails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pigeons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collared Doves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Magpies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sparrows&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blackbirds &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Redstarts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Starlings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh just as a note... Cooked sausages and old chicken legs will bring down Red Kites if your area is big enough :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; just from your photo, might be worth bringing the feeder closer to the shrubs if your worried about cover. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also... If you put bread out on the lawn, it'll bring up worms and insects if not eaten (wet bread after a rain does this), which Blackbirds in our garden loved :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is our garden looking bare in early spring. As you can see despite gravel instead of grass we don't have much plant life either :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WntRd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-07-11T05:15:35.507" LastActivityDate="2015-07-11T05:15:35.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-19T11:05:09.230" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find this is something I do when I can't see much of the scene in front of me at once. This is normally because I'm not far from the person in front of me. Therefore, my advice is: walk in front. Or, leave a big gap between you and the person in front of you. This is perhaps somewhat antisocial, but personally I quite like to walk alone about half the time. It lets me focus on my surroundings a bit more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5537" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T11:05:09.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8584" CreationDate="2015-06-19T11:17:58.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;SilNet Seam Sealer is designed to seal the seams on nylon flysheets and can also be used glue to repair the same. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/tents-and-spares/all-tent-accessories/seam-sealer-glue/&quot;&gt;http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/tents-and-spares/all-tent-accessories/seam-sealer-glue/&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could get Vango to repair the flysheet for you: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vango.co.uk/gb/content/28-aftersales&quot;&gt;http://www.vango.co.uk/gb/content/28-aftersales&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T11:17:58.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8585" CreationDate="2015-06-19T13:37:38.653" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Birds need somewhere to perch and sing to claim their territory. So the first part of the answer lies in planting a tree or two. If you plant a tree that flowers, you'll also be offering them food of a natural sort, i.e.  flower buds, nectar, berries. Then if it's twiggy and spiny enough, somewhere to nest out of reach of the local cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DON'T KEEP FEEDING BIRDS! they need to teach their young to forage for the precise range of foods for which their beak and digestive tract were adapted. They don't have long to teach it and once lost the knowledge may not be easy to reintroduce. We know this from human behaviour experiments like table-manners vs fast food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ghastly urban bird-feeders are wiping thousands of generations of parent-fledgeling interaction from the gene-pool and instead leaving the coming generations dependent on handouts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds 'see red'  -  no, they're pretty mellow, but their eyes respond to long-wave light and so a lot of trees put out red or orange berries to make use of their wings to spread the seed far and wide.&#xA;Fast-growing trees like Elder, and spiny tall bushes like Pyracantha, make a good place to start creating perching (singing) + foraging + nesting habitat. Cotoneaster is a good one, get hold of a tall one called Cornubia for a corner spot, it's a beauty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6183" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-06-19T14:39:26.783" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T14:39:26.783" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-19T14:24:37.157" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike with my feet slightly turned upwards against the direction they are moving. This prevents stubbing or anything abrupt and lets me get a firm grip on the firmament whether I see it or not. Also, after some thought, I tend to place my foot from the back-outside to front-inside and let it settle a bit until I feel it catch and then apply weight; for places with loose or jagged terrain, or simply where I want to move with the ground that is really helpful for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally rather than scan, I sort of observe, which lets me see beneath and above, then too I listen since a lot of snakes I can hear or catch their motion visually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me the ground really isn't overly concerning, if I can see the challenges in general, and don't have to be concerned with the nitty-gritty of minor debris than I am golden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6184" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T14:24:37.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-19T15:23:55.837" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trick to be able memorize the immediate trail ahead of you and pick your footfalls several steps before you get to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the same as offroad driving. You can't see over your hood, and hanging out your window only lets you see one side of your vehicle. You have to memorize the features on the ground ahead and know where your wheels are so you can avoid those features when they disappear from view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same can be done while hiking. While you have your head up enjoying the scenery, make mental notes of the trail ahead, if you know where you're feet are, then you can learn to step over obstacles and avoid trip hazards without having to look down and watch your feet the whole time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T15:23:55.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-19T16:47:42.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ha ha. You can't. At least not off a leveled surface.  I've struggled with this too.  If I look down I miss the views; if I look up I trip.  So I look ahead for a place to stop and enjoy.  Then I march on, eyes on the rocks and detritus in the trail, until I reach my looky place.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6186" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T16:47:42.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8596" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-19T19:38:16.857" Score="6" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;What tackle do I need for catching bass on live bait in fresh water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish: Largemouth bass, Northern pike and Smallmouth bass&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mean depth of lake is 8ft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6187" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:56:00.240" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T05:30:06.747" Title="Tackle for catching bass on live bait" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8597" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8600" CreationDate="2015-06-19T21:25:48.353" Score="11" ViewCount="550" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I work, there was a great pine tree which was recently chopped (actually, sawed) down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prior to its demise, this tall pine was visited often by lizards and birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After its removal, though, the remaining stump has seemed to hold a fascination for a pair of dark birds, and I'm stumped (no pun intended) as to why. I don't know what kind they are. They're not juncos, but are about the same size. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are not actively seeking bugs or such - they simply stand on the stump looking around and at each other, sometimes walking around on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it because this was their tree, and they are confused? They still feel an attraction to it? They had a nest in it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in Santa Cruz, on the central California Coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:54:16.333" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:54:16.333" Title="Why are two birds obsessed with a chopped-down tree?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2015-06-19T22:03:29.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading you post and thought of something. And its free. Works for small light backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to put something semi rigid/flexible (like cardboard) at the inside back panel of your bag. Cardboard should do. You attach the waist straps through the top handle. It form like a triangle. You tighten it until the back panel bends a little. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you have a lot of weight thr bend of the back panel should let some air circulate as you back touches the waist straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just detach the waist straps if not confortable.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/photos/VJ4tDZw2LmpyAUR27&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://goo.gl/photos/VJ4tDZw2LmpyAUR27&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6189" LastEditorUserId="6189" LastEditDate="2015-06-19T22:24:29.460" LastActivityDate="2015-06-19T22:24:29.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8599" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8602" CreationDate="2015-06-20T00:19:58.513" Score="16" ViewCount="473" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been getting into making maps with compass and a ruler and just triangulating positions of objects. I would like to start making topographical maps but how?&#xA;How did they make them before the modern times? If you can answer and point me to some where to teach me that would be great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6190" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:04:19.700" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:04:19.700" Title="How did people make topographical maps in the pre-modern?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8597" CreationDate="2015-06-20T06:36:14.833" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This usually means that they had a nest in the tree. If they are still there after a few days it probably means they also had young. Either still in the nest or young enough that they still returned to be fed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-06-20T06:36:14.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8601" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-20T11:05:07.300" Score="5" ViewCount="1301" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently taken up golf but have been a keen hiker/outdoorsman for a while.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am struggling to find a compelling reason to invest in &quot;golf-specific&quot; waterproof clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason why a waterproof wind cheater jacket for hiking is fundamentally different from a waterproof golf jacket? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:25:19.337" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:25:19.337" Title="What are the differences between golf and hiking/outdoor waterproofs?" Tags="&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8599" CreationDate="2015-06-20T11:28:27.080" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you describe is exactly how it was done:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accurate measurement of distances and angles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, measuring distances on flat ground is relatively straightforward: you use a known length measurement (perhaps a robe marked at known intervals); and to measure the distance to a distant point, use two points and a bit of geometry (Pythagoras is helpful here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the challenge comes when you want to measure the height of a point on a hill, for example. A quick and dirty solution loggers use is &lt;a href=&quot;https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/7100/is-there-an-easy-way-to-measure-the-height-of-a-tree&quot;&gt;detailed here&lt;/a&gt;, but for more accuracy surveyors have used &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Theodolite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;theodolites&lt;/a&gt; since the 16th century.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZUa6Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ssplprints.com/image/104927/method-for-determining-the-height-of-a-tower-by-using-a-theodolite-1534&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This image from sslprints.com dates from 1534&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Theodolites give you great precision on angle measurement, so to ascertain the height of a mountain, you can work from two points on level ground, measure the distance between them, and then measure the horizontal and vertical angles from each of those points to the target (top of the mountain) - with a little more Pythagoras, this then becomes simple - you just end up adding a vertical triangle into the calculation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:22:16.620" LastActivityDate="2015-06-20T18:42:31.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7765" CreationDate="2015-06-20T12:31:12.150" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whitby is a good place to start. The East Cliff area of the town below the Abbey is accessible at low tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Church Street, find the Duke of York pub (good for a post explore pint) and take the steps down to a small beach. Walk across the beach and up the ramp to the far pier. On the other side of the pier, the shore is rocky and has limited sand. Up against the cliff face, you will easily find fossils such as palm fronds that can be prised free from the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5395" LastActivityDate="2015-06-20T12:31:12.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8599" CreationDate="2015-06-20T19:52:16.323" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;While &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8602/2303&quot;&gt;Rory Alsop's answer&lt;/a&gt; points exactly to the method followed by cartographers and geologists before the invention of GPS and other modern techniques, I'd like to make a point that it was done with an assumption that they knew what altitude they are at and when you stand at planar location located from a mountain at a known distance and you can figure out the angle from where you are to the top of the mountain, you can calculate its vertical height. And then you can go on plotting the contour lines using the same technique. But it looks only simple, where its actually far more complicated. &#xA;Sorry for the low quality images. I currently don't have a mouse with my computer, so I can't use any drawing tool. So I chose to draw a sketch and get it done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J2Wgq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without much a study, I guess its a fair assumption that all of us know what Pythagoras theorem is. Looking at the image, we can assume that we know the distance between &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, and we know the dip angles &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;ɸ&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;ɸ&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and distance &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; thanks to Theodolites. But, to apply the Pythagoras we would need to know the distance from &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;P&lt;sup&gt;'&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, refer the image below. A simplistic knowledge of trigonometry can make you understand the notations. By relating the distance between both points with the tangents of their angles &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;θ&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;α&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; and the angle (&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;θ&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Sorry not denoted in the image&lt;/em&gt;) between the True Horizon and line drawn from Centre of the Earth to the point &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gzluy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should determine the height (&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;) of the mountain or the height (&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;) from any point on the mountain. This formula should give you the height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt; = &lt;em&gt;((Distance between A and P)&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;tan Ɵ&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;tan Ɵ&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; )&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;/&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;(tan Ɵ&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt; - tan Ɵ&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: Kindly excuse me for bad handwriting and poor quality of the image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T04:58:30.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8601" CreationDate="2015-06-20T21:54:36.613" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reason a) Golf is synonymous with a form of fashion, to play Golf you must be wearing the 'correct' (i.e. insanely expensive) clothing. Some Golf courses have a high required standard of dress and although not breaking the rules, non-Golf specific gear is frowned on. Other courses are more relaxed and as long as you don't wear your crampons on the green they don't care. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reason b) A Golf jacket is likely cut differently to minimize the  effect on the swing. At sub 20 handicap it makes a difference if you swing is altered by wearing a jacket. Starting out, there are more important things to worry about and the jacket will not make a measurable difference to your game. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are a cyclist this is exactly same as the Lycra requirement on road bikes. Once you reach a certain level you splash out on the specific gear the 'rules' of the sport dictate you must have, so you fit in and have the  gear to maximize your enjoyment of the sport. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-06-20T21:54:36.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2015-06-21T02:29:06.820" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;seems to me if you're hiking for distance, then watching where you're going is really important; but if you're there to see, listen, smell, etc., just slow down. Animals don't move quickly, they pause, look around, smell, listen, then move on. Birds are always looking around for threats &amp;amp; food. Slowing down is good- you may not cover a lot of ground, but it will be a richer experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2015-06-21T02:29:06.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2015-06-21T10:54:14.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've lived in coyote country for most of my life and I've never even seen one. I've heard them, but never seen them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid, I used to wander around the ranch I lived on in Santa Cruz with two golden retrievers. One of them was a male. He was a massive, powerful beast of about 90 lbs. Golden retrievers have a reputation for being friendly, and that's generally true, but the males can also be fiercely protective of family members, especially small children, and they are very powerful dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The coyotes used to come near the ranch at night, but they never came close to the house. I think that they knew that my dog was too smart to let them lure him out into the open, and if they tried to invade the back yard, he would kill them one-by-one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6197" LastActivityDate="2015-06-21T10:54:14.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2015-06-21T19:31:44.883" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some statistics on coyote attacks versus dog attacks in the US, on a per-year basis. (See notes at the end on how I got the numbers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dog bites: 4.6 million&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fatal attacks by dogs on humans: 25&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;coyote bites: 8&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fatal attacks by coyotes on humans: 0.06&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These figures show that your chances of getting bitten by a dog are about 500,000 times greater than you chances of getting bitten by a coyote. The chances of death from a dog are about 400 times greater than for a coyote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States, a lot of the interactions of coyotes with humans happen in the Los Angeles area, due to the large human population and a large interface between suburban housing tracts and nearby open-space areas such as the Angeles National Forest. Many Angelenos believe that their missing cats and small (&amp;lt;20 lb) dogs were killed and eaten by coyotes, but there is no way to verify this except in the rare case where people see a coyote kill their housepet and carry it off. It's likely that many of these pets actually died because they were hit by cars, or wandered away and died of thirst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes tend to be most active in the times around dawn or dusk. They have puppies in the spring, and spring and summer are their denning season. During this time, they tend to be very defensive of their dens, and they may be active more during the day. A very common den-defense behavior is for the adult coyote to persistently follow an intruding human, dog, or horse. People may incorrectly interpret this behavior as evidence that the coyote is stalking them as if they were prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Common-sense precautions against coyote problems are the same as the ones you would take to avoid hassles with other wild animals such as raccoons. Don't leave lids off of garbage cans. Don't leave dishes full of dog food outside. If you have pets, make sure your yard is well fenced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notes on how I got the numbers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources of statistics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attacks_on_humans&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coyote attacks on humans (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fatal dog attacks in the United States (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When estimates were given as ranges, I took the middle of the range. All of the numbers are fairly rough. I got the third figure by taking the total for the 6-year period 1998-2003 and dividing by 6, and the fourth figure by taking the total since 1981 and dividing by 34 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources of information on den-defense behavior:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&amp;amp;context=gpwdcwp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Decoying Coyotes with Dogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74135.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coyote Management Program (UC-IPM)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lostpetresearch.com/2011/08/coyote-behavior-assessing-risk-cats/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Understanding Coyote Behavior in Urban/Suburban Areas and Assessing Risk to Cats&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/03/coyote_sightings_on_the_rise_a.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coyote sightings on the rise as denning season begins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T15:54:16.047" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T15:54:16.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8599" CreationDate="2015-06-22T08:58:11.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the other answers point out using trigonometry you can determine the height of a distant peak. You can also use the same approach horizontally to determine the distance between two points. Provided that the length of one side of a triangle is known the other two sides can be calculated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a combination of these techniques any area can be divided into a series of triangles between landmarks. In order to do this you just need one absolute distance measurement (usually done over some nice flat ground) and a height reference (often sea level where possible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many countries a series of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_station&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;triangulation posts&lt;/a&gt; have been setup which provided a more accurate reference point than arbitrary landmarks. In the UK these modern versions of these can still be seen dating from the 1930's although many were built on the sites of older cairns or posts that have been used for triangulation since &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/topics/trigpts.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the late 18th century&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T08:58:11.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8611" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-22T09:09:44.470" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Waterproof clothing is used to keep the user dry in the outdoors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:39:56.063" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:39:56.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8612" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-22T09:09:44.470" Score="0" Body="Questions about clothing that is in some way waterproof." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:39:56.063" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:39:56.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8613" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please note gardening advice is off topic&lt;/strong&gt; and should be posted on our sister site &lt;a href=&quot;http://gardening.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;Gardening &amp;amp; Landscaping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8614" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" Score="0" Body="A planned outdoor space attached to a dwelling. Garden's can be green and planted or more urban./ Use this tag to tag questions about outdoor related questions related to a garden. Please note gardening advice is off topic and should be posted on our sister site http://gardening.stackexchange.com/" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" LastActivityDate="2015-06-22T09:13:20.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8615" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8616" CreationDate="2015-06-23T05:59:13.770" Score="17" ViewCount="6200" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed that if I collect water from a stream dense of small debris/thin mud, if I keep the water bottle close to the surface, while it takes a longer time to fill the bottle, the water is cleaner there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that occasion, the water was not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; muddy, but it was muddy enough not to look clear - it had a very light brownish colour - and to &lt;em&gt;taste&lt;/em&gt; &quot;groundy&quot; as well, despite my care in collecting it on the top of the small stream (which made a difference).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I boiled it; for quite some time (one good minute of hard boiling), so I assume it was very safe from a bacteriological point of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering though: &lt;strong&gt;there may be any health dangers caused by drinking all that tiny debris?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, unhealthy or safe, it still tasted bad. Are there any - possibly simple and lightweight - ways to filter that? &#xA;Like, may a coffee filter help? Or, what could/should be used, assuming that the water contains no dangerous chemicals and that the biological dangers are removed by boiling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please notice that this is not a generic question about water purification but it's &lt;strong&gt;very specific to debris&lt;/strong&gt; and to lightweight backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-06-23T13:20:16.150" LastActivityDate="2018-12-01T22:28:52.857" Title="Is drinking water containing dirt harmful?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8615" CreationDate="2015-06-23T13:26:05.650" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The terms to google on seem to be &quot;turbidity,&quot; &quot;total suspended solids,&quot; and &quot;total dissolved solids.&quot; TSS refers to solids that can be eliminated by a filter, and TDS to solids that are in particles so small that they get through a filter. High TSS seems to be harmful to fish because it indirectly reduces the amount of oxygen: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ndhealth.gov/WQ/SW/Z6_WQ_Standards/WQ_TSS.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ndhealth.gov/WQ/SW/Z6_WQ_Standards/WQ_TSS.htm&lt;/a&gt;.  (Note that on 12/1/18 that link is not accessible.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re safety for human drinking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Turbidity itself is not a major health concern, but high turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. It also may indicate the presence of microbes[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.water-research.net/index.php/stream-water-quality-importance-of-total-suspended-solids-turbidity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.water-research.net/index.php/stream-water-quality-importance-of-total-suspended-solids-turbidity&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;High TSS in a water body can often mean higher concentrations of bacteria, nutrients, pesticides, and metals in the water. These pollutants may attach to sediment particles on the land and be carried into water bodies with storm water. In the water, the pollutants may be released from the sediment or travel farther downstream [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-- &lt;a href=&quot;http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/NEW/info/TSS.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/NEW/info/TSS.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;High TDS concentrations can produce laxative effects and can give an unpleasant mineral taste to water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-- &lt;a href=&quot;http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/NEW/info/TSS.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/NEW/info/TSS.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like drinking water with dirt in it is not usually a problem in and of itself, but may be correlated with the presence of disease-causing organisms or nasty stuff like pesticides and fertilizers. Of course if the alternative is to get seriously dehydrated, you're going to have to take your chances by drinking the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-01T22:28:52.857" LastActivityDate="2018-12-01T22:28:52.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8615" CreationDate="2015-06-23T14:00:50.283" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer, &lt;strong&gt;it depends&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5106/do-you-need-to-purify-all-mountain-water-sources&quot;&gt;all fresh water sources the &lt;/a&gt; the important thing to notice is the context in which the water is in. I.e. where has the dirt come from? Where has the water come from?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Couple of points that affect this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the &lt;em&gt;dirt&lt;/em&gt;? Inert clay or run off from a sewer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of terrain are you in? Low agriculture, mountain terrain or a heavily populated city?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's above the water source? Does this water come from a natural mountain spring or a reservoir or lake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dirt, does not mean contaminated (&lt;strong&gt;just like clear water does not mean clean&lt;/strong&gt;). The dirt could be very good for you (some minerals in suspension are actually beneficial)! or it could be very bad. It all depends on the context of where the dirt has come from and what it has been exposed to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything in this question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5106/do-you-need-to-purify-all-mountain-water-sources&quot;&gt;Do you need to purify all mountain water&#xA;   sources&lt;/a&gt;) is relevant here. The fact that the water contains some particles in suspension is &lt;em&gt;almost&lt;/em&gt; irrelevant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Boiling&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling will kill &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;micro-organism contaminants&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, but not all, this is not a panacea. Lead and other heavy metals are not removed by boiling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T08:11:44.067" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="191" CreationDate="2015-06-23T15:20:32.967" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Boiling#For_making_water_potable&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia has some interesting points on this&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The elimination of micro-organisms by boiling follows first-order&#xA;  kinetics—at high temperatures it is achieved in less time and at lower&#xA;  temperatures, in more time. The heat sensitivity of micro-organisms&#xA;  varies, at 70 °C (158 °F), &lt;strong&gt;Giardia species (causes Giardiasis) can&#xA;  take ten minutes for complete inactivation&lt;/strong&gt;, most intestine affecting&#xA;  microbes and &lt;strong&gt;E. coli (gastroenteritis) take less than a minute&lt;/strong&gt;; at&#xA;  boiling point, Vibrio cholerae (cholera) takes ten seconds and&#xA;  hepatitis A virus (causes the symptom of jaundice), one minute.&#xA;  Boiling does not ensure the elimination of all micro-organisms; the&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;bacterial spores Clostridium can survive at 100 °C (212 °F) but are&#xA;  not water-borne or intestine affecting.&lt;/strong&gt; Thus for human health,&#xA;  complete sterilization of water is not required.[3]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The traditional advice of boiling water for ten minutes is mainly for&#xA;  additional safety, since microbes start getting eliminated at&#xA;  temperatures greater than 60 °C (140 °F) and bringing it to its&#xA;  boiling point is also a useful indication that can be seen without the&#xA;  help of a thermometer, and by this time, the water is disinfected.&#xA;  Though the boiling point decreases with increasing altitude, it is not&#xA;  enough to affect the disinfecting process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-06-23T15:20:32.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8619" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-23T17:22:29.337" Score="15" ViewCount="22664" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was out caving yesterday and apparently picked up a passenger on the trail either on the way up or back down the mountain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I discovered it in my hair on the back of my head while showering. It was a tick, but it wasn't stuck to my scalp and it appeared to be dead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put it on the counter while I pondered why it hadn't attached itself over night, then after a few minutes it started to move again, slowly at first, then it started to stagger around as if it were intoxicated (shortly after which I sent it on it's way down the porcelain express).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing I can figure is that my shampoo somehow knocked it out and made it loose it's grip. Has shampoo been known to remove ticks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T03:17:24.253" Title="Can you wash ticks out with shampoo?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8563" CreationDate="2015-06-23T19:16:37.170" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to WedsPashi's answers, in the past when I've waded and scrambled around coasts I've gotten scratched and pierced by sharp mussels and rocks. I had a friend once step on a particularly long barnacle which broke inside his foot and we had to go to the ER. Also bear in mind that sea caves are formed in places that ocean currents batter the coast, and with those currents come nasty debris like glass. So in general, going barefooted or barehanded is not advisable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, while WedaPashi is right about being wary of king tides, sometimes caves and beaches are only accessible at king low tides. These sites tend to have the most wildlife, too, because of their remoteness. Just make sure to be very vigilant to do all your exploring within +- 30 minutes of lowest tide so you don't get stranded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have a plan in case you do get stranded. For instance, one cave I explored like this had a strong current running parallel to the coast. If I ever got stranded, the plan was to stay afloat and ride the current to a beach down the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6205" LastEditorUserId="6205" LastEditDate="2015-06-23T23:05:45.453" LastActivityDate="2015-06-23T23:05:45.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8625" CreationDate="2015-06-24T01:07:52.827" Score="13" ViewCount="24244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a nylon rain jacket that I wear to walk my dogs when it rains. It seems that no matter what clothes I wear underneath, I always end up very sweaty. I've tried long sleeves, short sleeves, quick-dry and cotton shirts, but it just happens after about 10 minutes. Of course, Texas weather is generally hot anyway, but still..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have tips for avoiding or lessening sweating while wearing a rain jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:57:20.647" LastActivityDate="2018-04-21T22:40:13.987" Title="How can I avoid or lessen sweating in a rain jacket?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8623" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-24T03:12:16.810" Score="5" ViewCount="634" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband transplanted a sedum to an area under our bird feeders about ten feet away. The plant is 6 inches wide, 14 inches long, and the hole was approximately 10 inches deep. After removing it, he filled in the original hole. The following morning, the entire plant had been dug up and returned to the spot from whence it came! It was just resting there on top of the dirt, with no bite marks or other visible damage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a suburban back yard in Massachusetts, in the northeast region of the United States, growing zone 6a. We have a number of regular visitors. I've eliminated chipmunks and rabbits for obvious reasons, so from what we've seen, the possible culprits include opossums, skunks and raccoons. According to what I've read, &lt;a href=&quot;http://opossum.craton.net/faqs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;opossums&lt;/a&gt; don't dig. Skunks and raccoons &lt;a href=&quot;http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/whos_that_digging_in_my_yard_skunks_raccoons_or_moles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;do&lt;/a&gt;, especially when the soil is newly turned, because insects and other food sources are more easily accessible, so one of them may have uprooted the plant. We have no idea, however, what would have relocated it! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, my husband returned it to the same new hole under the feeders without taking any pictures, so I'm posting one of just the plant, and one including its surrounding habitat. The incident took place two weeks ago, and the plant has not been disturbed again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for full size.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gl4dx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gl4dxm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pvFhB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pvFhBm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:17:21.023" LastActivityDate="2020-04-26T13:35:18.643" Title="What animal might uproot and relocate a newly-transplanted sedum?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8622" CreationDate="2015-06-24T04:57:45.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even breathable fabrics like Gore Tex will make you sweat when it's too warm - there needs to be a certain temperature difference for the fabric to work. So, you'll need to increase ventilation. The aforementioned pit zips are a good idea. A waterproof hat/cap instead of the jacket's hood also helps. Or just use an umbrella ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6208" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T04:57:45.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8622" CreationDate="2015-06-24T04:59:02.790" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Staying dry in a rain jacket requires you to sweat less moisture than the cloths you are wearing can breath out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most effective way to let moisture out is ventilation, unfortunately, that means holes big enough to let water in -e.g. cotton. With a rain coat, apart from wearing it open, Pit zips (zips under the arms) are a very effective way to get a lot of ventilation without letting too much water in (even some very good breathable jackets have them.). The extreme form of a well ventilated rain coat is an Umbrella :) . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alternate is what are known collectively as breathable fabrics that let water vapour though the fabric, but not water. Goretex is probably the most well known as it was the first to be widely commercialised (It came out of the NASA space program), but there are many others now.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choosing a fabric is really a trade off between breathability, water proofness, robustness, and cost. Choose three, accept the fourth. Goretex has different fabrics suited for different tasks, with different pricing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humidity significantly affect how breathable a particular jacket is on a given day. If humidity is high and its warm, forget about staying dry, even the very best jacket will not breath enough and you might as well wear nylon (or nothing).  If its cold and dry, even a cheap breathable jacket will breath well enough to keep you dry.  If the outer layer has water build up on it, the jacket won't breath - new jackets have coating (DWR) that makes the water bead up and run off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, some days you are just going to get wet, and the only thing you can do to stay dry is stay home. The more you spend, the fewer of these days you get. Some days, its just as easy to leave the raincoat at home and wear cloths that keep you warm even if you are wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2015-06-24T15:17:59.497" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T15:17:59.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8622" CreationDate="2015-06-24T09:23:12.257" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately there isn't much you can do if your rain jacket is not breathable. My recommendation is to replace your rain jacket with a poncho, which may be very cheap - while a highly breathable rain jacket cost hundreds of dollars.&#xA;A poncho is &lt;strong&gt;much&lt;/strong&gt; more ventilated than any jacket and will allow the moisture to leave your body by leaving it way drier; especially for an activity that is not physically demanding as walking the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drawback of using a poncho is it's &quot;flappiness&quot; in high winds, you may need to put a cord around your waist to hold it in place (there are ponchos that include a waist cord already).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T09:23:12.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8615" CreationDate="2015-06-24T09:55:42.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to Liam's answer, it depends what minerals/chemicals are in the water. Many of these are harmless (e.g. peat or clay), but other can be dangerous. &lt;strong&gt;In general, mineral contamination is not effected by boiling&lt;/strong&gt;. Some chemical impurities can be removed by filtering, but most filters are primarily designed for removing microbes and will be of limited use for removing chemical contamination. There are lots of filters available (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://snarkynomad.com/best-portable-water-purifiers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Water-Filter-Reviews/MSR-SweetWater-Microfilter&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most filters are not effective for chemical contamination as most of the chemicals are small single molecules and/or soluble in water, where as filters designed to remove bacteria have a pore size ~2um. To somewhat effectively remove chemical impurities a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_filtering&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbon filter&lt;/a&gt; can be used. Some ceramic pumps have a carbon filter built in. It should be noted that carbon filters clog up and need to be replaced or will stop working effectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your location mineral contamination is not likely to be an issue. It is mostly a concern in areas where there has been significant mining, industrial or agricultural activity, although does occur naturally in some areas. Some chemical contaminates to be aware of are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_heavy_metal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heavy metals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;: e.g. lead, mercury, arsenic. Are not normally a concern for surface water but if mining or industrial pollution has occurred in the area the wash out may contain high levels heavy metals. Severe exposure can cause vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Longer term exposure can also lead to many unpleasant illnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pesticides etc.&lt;/strong&gt;: Mainly occur as run off from agriculture can also get organic chemicals in mine run off. Can cause liver and kidney problems, primarily after long term exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Uranium&lt;/strong&gt;: Occurs naturally in some areas, but is more a concern where mining has effected the water supply. Primary health risk is from long term exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hydrogen sulphide&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Occurs naturally in some areas and can also be introduced by sewage water. Has a notable rotten egg smell. Drinking such water can cause stomach cramps and diarrhea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iron and copper&lt;/strong&gt; Can occur naturally or from mine run-off. results in foul tasting water. In high concentrations they have been linked to liver failure but are not poisonous at low concentrations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-06-24T09:55:42.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8629" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-24T10:32:56.583" Score="2" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had a pair of Brasher Air 8's for some years now, but will get rid of them as they feel heavy now that I am getting older and more arthritic. However, whilst they are size UK 7, on each heel (on sole) they have the number 5. Any idea what that means, please?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6210" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T09:28:56.547" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T09:28:56.547" Title="What do the numbers on sole of heel mean on my Brasher boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-04-11T15:06:25.120" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2015-06-24T23:30:05.370" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used a Black Rapid (clone) shoulder strap and added a carabiner that I attach to my belt loop to keep it from swinging or banging against the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also connect the carabiner to the clip that attaches the camera to the strap so it holds the camera firmly at my waist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6215" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-06-25T06:08:17.547" LastActivityDate="2015-06-25T06:08:17.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2015-06-25T08:31:02.880" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently got the Mantona Elements, an interesting hybrid camera/trekking backpack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q7kPz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q7kPz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lower part of the pack contains a small removable camera bag, while on top of it there's some space (not too much, though) for gear, food, clothes, etc.&#xA;Alternatively, you can reconfigure it without the camera bag to use the entire space like a regular backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty happy with it, it's comfortable to carry and not too large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T08:42:08.420" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T08:42:08.420" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2015-06-26T01:20:37.027" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For first time hikers carrying a 30+ pound pack, I always estimate 1 mph on a moderate trail. I say this only because there are so many variables that one almost cannot calculate what will be. I have seen wrong distances on trails, bad weather, fallen debris, and generally fit people that cannot haul a pack, or keep pace that this estimate works best for me. You never know what to expect when others are factored in and if we make our camp an hour or two early, well that's better than later. If it's an 8 mile hike to camp, I assume it will take 8 hours especially if you have to make frequent stops for tired hikers, or those that wish to sight see. It is not unusual for first time hikers to watch their feet most of the time, so when they see something pretty they want to stop and take a look instead of trying to watch both. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6221" LastActivityDate="2015-06-26T01:20:37.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8491" CreationDate="2015-06-26T11:13:51.770" Score="6" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Accessibility of the Break&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choose breaks that you can reach before tiring, thereby saving energy reserves for the main event of catching and surfing waves. Avoid a long paddle!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If legal and safe to do so, it might be possible to enter the surf from a boundary feature to shorten the paddle (eg: shoreline rocks, groynes, piers and harbour walls).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you can identify channels in the surf where the wash is not rushing towards the shore. A channel may be calm or could be a rip current flowing seawards. These channels can be exploited to more easily reach the break (though can pose a danger to swimmers lacking surf equipment). Boundary features can cause these conditions, or they can arise naturally at intervals in a long shoreline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safety&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plenty of surf locations are safe but you should weigh the specific risks at each spot. Be aware of: tides and washes, potential currents, the form and composition of the seabed, localism, dangerous sea-life and any safety measures (eg: municipal lifeguards, nets and drum-lines). Consult sources of local information (eg: print/online surf atlases and guides, tourist bureaus, posted notices and other beach-goers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prefer clean and clear seawater. Dirty and polluted water can result from effluent and river outflows, particularly after rains. Swimming and surfing in this water can cause illnesses and heighten the risk an encounter with a shark (if swollen nearby rivers are capable of carrying dead animals out to sea).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Seasonal Changes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seasonal changes of climate and weather might result in sizable and consistent waves only at particular times of the year. The best surf season might not align with the warmest air and water temperatures, requiring a wetsuit and possibly booties/ hood/ gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interactions with sea-life might be seasonal (eg: I believe the jellyfish risk in tropical Australia is highest in summer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3714" LastEditorUserId="3714" LastEditDate="2017-07-25T07:08:52.433" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T07:08:52.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2015-06-27T18:32:58.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in NE Ohio. We have coyotes in a number of the local parks here including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The only warning the park service gives is that you keep dogs on a leash. They also request that you report any aggressive behavior. The rangers and naturalists I talk to have never had an issue with one except where someone has run their dog off a leash. If dogs wander into the woods away from their owner and a coyote sees them, there is a chance the dog will be a meal - especially if the pet is very small. But, that is the owner's responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have monitored bird nests for a volunteer program off-trail for the past few years. I have seen coyotes on many occasions. I have even seen small families. I make sure the coyotes see me so they aren't startled. I have only seen curious coyotes from time to time that stop to look at me. Most run off when they see me. Now, if you are in some remote area injured, on the ground and bleeding, maybe something could happen. If you are near a den, a coyote might be aggressive. But, most dens are well-hidden and far away from where people go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastEditorUserId="3028" LastEditDate="2015-07-02T15:28:17.797" LastActivityDate="2015-07-02T15:28:17.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8622" CreationDate="2015-06-27T18:39:36.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I make sure the rain jackets I buy have pit zips. They make a big difference. I have also left the jacket at home and used compact umbrellas for hiking when I'm walking on open area paths. In some cases when I'm wearing a jacket I can stick the umbrella behind my head into the jacket and don't have to carry it with my arms. However, umbrellas can be a problem if you walk in woods with a lot of branches. I wish someone would make a decent long poncho. But, the ones I have seen are all too short and don't cover one's arms very well. The open sides would provide good ventilation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-21T22:40:13.987" LastActivityDate="2018-04-21T22:40:13.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8429" CreationDate="2015-06-27T18:49:35.067" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there is a scuba diving store nearby, check to see what they have. I know there is a wide variety of bags and boxes that people use to keep items dry on a boat or underwater. While you may pay a little bit more, you will get something that will last. I have a small Scuba Pro dry bag that I use for canoeing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T18:49:35.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8365" CreationDate="2015-06-27T18:52:07.310" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is to try on the glasses in a store. Take your time and look around with your eyes to see how much is covered. You can also determine if the nose bridge or other part of the frame is in the way of your line of sight. I never buy glasses online unless I am buying a model I have owned before. Cycling eyewear is a very good option because most brands are well-made and impact resistant. Another option is to use the glasses in the photo and to wear a baseball cap. But, you still won't be covered on the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T18:52:07.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8360" CreationDate="2015-06-27T18:57:07.770" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to also recommend a sleeping pad. They make a big difference for comfort on bumpy ground in addition to adding insulation. I think the closed cell pads work better than the inflatable ones. But, that's a personal choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T18:57:07.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8639" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8640" CreationDate="2015-06-27T20:58:21.047" Score="8" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this is perhaps the most important question ever to be asked in this forum, touching as it does not merely upon matters of life and death but on questions of ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;beer&lt;/em&gt; ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;itself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard that it's possible to use an ice ax to open a bottle of beer, but when I tried it with my Black Diamond mountain ax, I couldn't get it to work. The adze hole didn't seem to fit in any useful way over the bottle cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there in fact a way to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did notice, by the way, that a copy of Freedom of the Hills works. I support the edge of the cap on the edge of the cover, and then I hit the cap with my fist. This doesn't work with ordinary paperback books because the cardboard cover isn't strong enough, so you just chew a bite out of the book. But because FotH has a laminated cover, it's strong enough to hold under the impact and pop off the cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T23:02:54.810" Title="Opening a beer bottle using a mountaineering ice ax" Tags="&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8639" CreationDate="2015-06-27T23:02:54.810" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The same way you would with the spine of a knife or other flat piece of metal with enough thickness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NYyRLGUMCY&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NYyRLGUMCY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2015-06-27T23:02:54.810" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8641" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8642" CreationDate="2015-06-28T00:10:01.773" Score="7" ViewCount="307" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's a good ratio for clothes to days on a long backpacking trip, or to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/About.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Philmont&lt;/a&gt;? For instance, how many clothes should I bring for two weeks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6190" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-06-30T01:17:42.140" LastActivityDate="2015-06-30T01:17:42.140" Title="How many clothes should I bring to Philmont, or any long backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8641" CreationDate="2015-06-28T05:27:36.193" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;At least one of everything, an extra pair of undies, and as many socks as you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're going out into the backcountry, not staying at a Hilton. If you're going to be out on a long trip, bring a bag and some soap to wash your clothes if they get too soiled. The last thing you want on a long trip is more weight on your back. Bringing multiple pairs of anything (except undies and socks) is not necessary.  The only time I pack more than one outfit is during the winter, when the necessity to get out of wet clothes and into something dry could mean the difference between life and death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So at least one of everything, and at most two of everything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-06-28T05:27:36.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8641" CreationDate="2015-06-28T14:03:45.787" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I keep it simple. One long sleeve shirt for daytime use, one long sleeve shirt at night. I wear one set of boxers in a week, and a pair of long underwear at night (if it's under 50f).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One pair of pants I can roll up. Three pairs of socks per week. One to wear, one for bed, and one that's been rinsed out and drying on my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bringing a beanie is usually a good idea. For rain, that's a whole topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most new people bring way too many clothes. Wool stinks &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; less than synthetics, so if smelling like ass is a concern, go with a lot of wool. Particularly your shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-06-28T14:03:45.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8644" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-29T15:32:51.913" Score="9" ViewCount="4657" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in a survival situation in extreme heat (i. e. in the desert), which is the best clothing and footwear to use? It's better to cover yourself up entirely, like the tuaregs, or to go about stark naked, like the Aboriginal australians?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some questions I've read are related, but not the same. In particular, I don't need &lt;em&gt;plausible&lt;/em&gt; answers. I would like &lt;em&gt;correct&lt;/em&gt; answers. Bibliography of experimental studies would be the best option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5534" LastActivityDate="2015-07-02T07:59:35.273" Title="Which is the best clothing in extreme heat?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8644" CreationDate="2015-06-29T18:24:48.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll offer up my experiences. I spent a summer in the Sea of Cortez, in which the night time lows didn't go under 100f and the sea water temperature was above 90f for months. It was around 20 degrees latitude, and was &lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; hot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In pure sun like that, you need to keep the sun off of your skin, period. You will be hot no matter what you do. There's no way to walk around in 125f heat and not feel intense heat, but you can do your best to keep from being physically harmed from it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hat&lt;/strong&gt;: In the tropics, the sun is typically at a very high angle so broad hats will cover your shoulders. Umbrellas work too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shirt&lt;/strong&gt;: Long sleeve. I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exofficio.com/products/mens/collections/sol%20cool?refine=Feature%7CSun%20Protective&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ExOfficio's Sol Cool&lt;/a&gt; line with great success. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pants&lt;/strong&gt;: Typically in disgustingly hot heat there are disgustingly nasty bugs to match so as much as it stinks you need to wear long pants. Thin synthetics work good. I like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prana.com/stretch-zion-pant.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Prana pants&lt;/a&gt;. You can roll them up to your knees. Also, this keeps the sun off your skin (rolled down).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;: Sneakers with a lot of mesh. Cheap ones might melt (seriously), but given the ground heat and bugs you can't really play around with flipflops if you're in the back country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Umbrella&lt;/strong&gt;. It might sound very un-outdoorsy, but I'm a convert for the silver-lined go-lite clone umbrellas (ultralite trekking models). They keep a tremendous amount of heat off of you, and you can take your hat off to cool down more. I use one any time backpacking in the summer with direct sun (no trees). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things to consider are skin rashes, infections, heat cramps, and other super fun heat related issues. Until you've lived in the tropics (without AC) for a couple of years, it's really hard to fathom exactly how brutal the sun is. We started nicknaming it &quot;The Orb of Death&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're only hanging out for a few days in the desert at 35 degrees latitude, some of this is no big deal. But if you're in the real tropics mid summer, this stuff really can kill you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-06-29T18:24:48.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8646" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8648" CreationDate="2015-06-29T22:33:20.520" Score="14" ViewCount="1631" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid runner. I will be visiting British Columbia for the first time, soon. My trip will include a few weeks in the Rocky Mountains (Glacier, Banff, Yoho) and north of the Sushwap Lake. At least the former regions are &quot;bear country&quot;. While I have looked up recommendations about hiking in bear habitats and about possible bear encounters (also on this site), I am unsure what they imply about going for a run for an hour or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where do people in these or any other bear-populated regions run? Which precautions do they observe, if any?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would love to explore the natural surroundings in my running shoes, but as a second best, I would contend myself with saver but less interesting routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2015-06-29T23:29:46.793" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T08:29:11.507" Title="Running in bear country" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8647" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-30T00:26:00.767" Score="7" ViewCount="12010" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a pop-up camper that has seen better days.  Last summer the canvas covering the bed ends began to leak in a few critical places, and we are looking for a solution that stops short of buying all new canvas.  I am thinking about purchasing a spray-on waterproofing product like Aqua Armor but don't have any experience with this kind of product and would appreciate suggestions.  In particular, I would like to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Does anybody have experience waterproofing the canvas on a pop-up camper?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Aqua Armor advertises a product with the phrase &quot;for Tent &amp;amp; Gear&quot; in its name, and another with the phrase &quot;for Natural Fabrics&quot; in its name.  Which would make more sense to use for this purpose?  The &quot;Natural Fabrics&quot; one is advertised as being non-solvent based, which is appealing (we are going to be sleeping underneath that fabric and would prefer not to breathe in solvent fumes) but I also want something that will be very effective at keeping out the rain.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anybody can recommend something better to do, I would also appreciate that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6231" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:01:16.710" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:01:16.710" Title="Waterproofing leaking canvas on a pop-up camper" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8646" CreationDate="2015-06-30T03:02:15.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's when you're moving quickly and quietly along the trail that you're most likely to encounter a bear in the Rockies, and that's because they're  easier to sneak up on that way. I run into more bears when I'm on my mountain bike than when I'm hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large predators use trails as often as people do. If you're not making enough noises to identify yourself as human, then you might not give the wildlife enough notice to get off of the trail ahead of you. While trail running, you're typically concentrating on breathing and don't talk a lot, you're also focused on the trail, so you yourself are often unaware of what's on the trail not far ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time the bears will startle and run off the trail, but if you're cruising along, and round a corner right up behind a grizzly bear, it could act defensively. This is the scenario where you would play dead, the bear might paw at you for a bit, but if you play dead it'll figure it's taught you your lesson and then wander off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears are completely different. If you play dead with them there is a chance they're figure they just scored a free meal and start eating you. With black bears you either have to scare them off, or fight them off. Both scenarios are rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best thing to do is to sing while you run alone or shout down the trail occasionally. But it's always advisable to run with a partner, someone you can talk to while you run, and who can help you tag-team intimidate a bear if you encounter one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They sell small cans of bear spray at the till in the markets in the mountain towns. It might be wise to pick one up and run with a water pack to carry it in just to be extra safe, but I can pretty much assure you that 99.9% of the time the bear will wander off to a safe distance. That safe distance is quite a bit shorter in national parks however, bears are quite more accustomed to people there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part you don't need to worry about bears. You may see some, thousands of people do in the Rockies, especially in national parks. Enjoy your runs, just make sure you know what to do in the unlikely event of a dangerous encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-06-30T03:48:42.397" LastActivityDate="2015-06-30T03:48:42.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4655" CreationDate="2015-06-30T05:56:24.360" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just today I had a very interesting time watching a coyote (while it watched me) at the golf course across the street from my house in Oregon. S/he wasn't at all aggressive, but wary enough of me to not be seen as a threat to me (for example, the coyotes down in California, where I live outside of summer, are completely unafraid of humans, to the point of it being unnerving). I got within forty feet of it, and it watched me from a rocky outcrop. I also acted very submissive, not meeting its gaze and at one point even lying down to expose my belly for a few seconds. However, when I left I didn't once turn my back to it, just in case it decided to attack for whatever reason. I think that by acting like the animal, and treating it with respect, while being responsible for your own safety, you can observe them for quite a while (in fact, the only thing that bit me this evening was a fire ant. Ouch).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, if the coyote isn't absolutely starving or rabid, and you don't threaten it, then no coyote is automatically &quot;dangerous,&quot; though you should always be wary, as all animals can be unpredictable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6233" LastActivityDate="2015-06-30T05:56:24.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8647" CreationDate="2015-06-30T10:15:28.823" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If its true canvas (cotton) and its leaking its pretty much past its best before date and replacement is the most reliable solution. Good news is Canvas takes water proofing products well and as long as its not rotten, should last you a many more seasons with the occasional re coat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its been a long time since I have had to do a tent or similar. Its best to get a good, heavy duty product designed for canvas tents rather than synthetic products. In my experience (many years ago now) Aerosol cans worked for raincoats and touching up seams, but were designed to leave no trace and only left a light coating that quickly wears off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are probably better to get a heavy duty liquid product than can be brushed or sprayed on and will last longer. For a long lasting waterproofing, you need to soak canvas - which may mean working it in with a brush, not put a light layer over the top. Unlike a rain coat, stiffening fabric and such is not an issue for a tent, so a more robust formulation can be used. You are definitely better to get a tent specific waterproofing product   rather than one that does &quot;Raincoats, fabrics and tents&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the fabric is not canvas, but a synthetic PVC type product, you are less likely to be successful at water proofing it. Its still worth a try - get a product specifically for synthetics.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-06-30T10:15:28.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8651" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-30T12:08:37.410" Score="4" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just finished part of this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peaksofthebalkans.com/index.php?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.peaksofthebalkans.com/index.php?lang=en&lt;/a&gt; and cannot recommend it highly enough. Aside from the beautiful mountains, another great aspect of the trip was that we met probably only around 15 other hikers in 6 full days making it feel even more remote. Does anyone have any good suggestions for similar things? I.e. a long distance hike route which is not very well known, or perhaps a mountain range with a hut network that could be used to construct a multi-day route. Does not have to be in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Following on from the first few comments below, I'm not looking for loads of information or a trip report or anything, just a lead, a place name, or a link to a map, etc. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6235" LastEditorUserId="6235" LastEditDate="2015-07-01T08:35:23.097" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T10:37:41.267" Title="Little or lesser-known multi-day hike routes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-07-06T07:49:57.867" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8652" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-30T15:00:50.313" Score="8" ViewCount="252" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I are working on section hiking the GR5, a long-distance trail that goes from Rotterdam to Nice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are going for two weeks with our 1.5-year-old daughter. I will be carrying her in the baby backpack...plus my water and something light and not dense, like diapers, my husband will be carrying everything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trip involves 6 nights of either tent camping or staying in refuges (dormitory-style, no private rooms).  We will be eating at the refuges so we don't need to carry as much food, and can dispose of dirty diapers :-)  The rest of the nights we are staying in hotels (yes, I know hiking in Europe is cushy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any input on the decision to bring along our tent and sleeping bags or to stay in refuges?  Other tips for trekking with a toddler would also be appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6236" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T16:03:51.280" Title="Trekking in the Alps with a toddler - should we stay in refuges or backpack?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8652" CreationDate="2015-06-30T17:04:02.280" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't really a clear yes/no sort of question, I'm also pretty reticent to tell someone what would be best for their child. Aside from that hopefully someone will provide some information that will make your decision or others thinking of doing the same easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first suggestion would be to work out which huts you are thinking of staying at or around and ring the guardians who are usually very helpful/knowledgeable!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how much you know about huts in the alps but some things to consider;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some regions camping near huts is frowned upon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some regions camping near a hut is OK but using hut facilities is frowned upon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most huts make their money on food, so some places are quite happy to have people who camp but buy meals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most water at huts comes from melt water near by so going to the toilet close to huts (especially uphill) is a bad thing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many huts will not want to dispose of your rubbish for you as it will have to be lifted out by helicopter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is quite likely there will be people getting up and moving around in the night which may or may not bother you, particularly climbers who must make the best of snow/ice conditions to make safe ascents of nearby routes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even if people disapprove of camping near by there is not much anyone can do about it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &quot;reciprocal rights card&quot; may save you money - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/get-alpine-hut-discounts-with-a-reciprocal-rights-card&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;uk example&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;booking a bed is often required at busy times of year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;camping gear is heavy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like quite the adventure, good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-07-01T16:03:51.280" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T16:03:51.280" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8654" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-06-30T17:28:20.180" Score="8" ViewCount="933" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to hang up a hammock.&#xA;There are vertical square tubes made of galvanized steel of 10cm x 10cm.&#xA;I want to hang up my hammock by using ropes (polyester, ⌀6mm, 9500N) and shackles.&#xA;The rope should remain attached to the square tubes. The shackles are for fast and easy mounting and dismounting of the hammock.&#xA;I also bought some thimbles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the best knot or method to attach the rope to the square tubes. With:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preferably highest knot strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No slipping down of the rope, since the square tubes are vertical.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The square tubes must not be modified. No drilling, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the best knot or method to attach the Rope to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Stainless_steel_shackle.jpg&quot;&gt;shackle&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Thimble_for_the_stay_of_radio_antennae.jpg&quot;&gt;thimble&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a rope loop instead of a rope ending to increase the holding force?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If yes: How to mount the thimble to the rope loop?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am generally able to hang up the hammock. What I am asking and interested in is what would be the best knot or method to do so. Taking into account knot strengths and other factors about knots and ropes I have no clue about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6237" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-06-30T21:44:41.030" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:08:57.733" Title="How to attach a shackle to vertical square tubes by using a rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8646" CreationDate="2015-07-01T08:29:11.507" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest for you to attach some kind of small bells or something that will produce noise, on the shoes, hands, and your belt. Mobile would not be recomended because battery might die on your trip. So every time you run it will signal every one in the nature, HERE I AM. After some time you will not notice the sounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5890" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T08:29:11.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8651" CreationDate="2015-07-01T08:55:51.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;would you look at visiting as far a field as New Zealand.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of trips, lots of information online - Its possible to do 10+ days and not see another person if you choose the trip and the time of year carefully. We have a vast track and hut network (In our terms a track can be nothing more than markers nailed to trees or cairns on a mountain side. A hut can be a corrugated iron 'tent' with a dirt floor and no door though to a facility with heating, cooking, bunks and mattresses, very few have power)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to filter out the most popular trips that target tourists, and many well known ones if you want the &quot;alone&quot; experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T08:55:51.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8644" CreationDate="2015-07-01T09:29:23.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Which is the best clothing in extreme heat?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to this is; what have people who have lived in deserts for thousands of years done?! Desert peoples have adapted their clothing and culture to provide the most efficient desert survival techniques, so &lt;code&gt;Which is the best clothing in extreme heat?&lt;/code&gt; think desert tribes, &lt;em&gt;Bedouins&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;touaregs&lt;/em&gt;, etc. What do these people wear, long billowing robes loosely fitting with much of their head and face covered:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kv4pE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bibliography of experimental studies would be the best option&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went into &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6115/2766&quot;&gt;this in some detail&lt;/a&gt; in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5224/are-dark-or-bright-clothings-preferable-in-the-desert&quot;&gt;similar question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;like I said there; the Journal nature has conducted a study &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v283/n5745/abs/283373a0.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot deserts?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;It seems likely,&quot; the scientists wrote, &quot;that the present inhabitants&#xA;  of the Sinai, the Bedouins, would have &lt;strong&gt;optimised their solutions for&#xA;  desert survival during their long tenure in this desert&lt;/strong&gt;. Yet one may&#xA;  have doubts on first encountering Bedouins wearing black robes and&#xA;  herding black goats. We have therefore investigated whether black&#xA;  robes help the Bedouins to minimise solar heat loads in a hot desert.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so the evidence, &lt;em&gt;though indirectly&lt;/em&gt;, also points to this dress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It's better to cover yourself up entirely, like the tuaregs, or to go about stark naked, like the Aboriginal australians&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your comparing chalk and cheese there. The desert(s) in Austrailia and the African deserts/Arabian peninsular are very very different. The people are also very very different. There are cultural as well as  geographical differences (it's part of Islam to cover up). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For me&lt;/em&gt; Aboriginees are the exception rather than the rule, people have &lt;strong&gt;lived in the African deserts for much, much longer than the Australian deserts&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans are around 200,000 years old (much of this in Africa), people have lived in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory_of_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Australia for &lt;em&gt;&quot;only&quot;&lt;/em&gt; around 40-60,000&lt;/a&gt;. So you &lt;em&gt;would guess&lt;/em&gt; that the North african humans would be much better specialised for desert conditions. Almost all African/Arabian tribes wear robes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-07-02T07:59:35.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8651" CreationDate="2015-07-01T10:08:38.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about &lt;a href=&quot;http://viadinarica.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Via Dinarica&lt;/a&gt;, virtually no information and similar experience in another neck of the Balkans. Three trails, each about 650 km - still more of an idea than established project. Part of it overlaps with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://zbulo.org/peaks-of-the-balkans/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Peaks of the Balkans route&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6240" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T10:08:38.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8445" CreationDate="2015-07-01T10:18:07.050" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are game cameras that can send an mms or use gprs to email the picture/video, see for instance this &lt;a href=&quot;http://z-aim.com/produktfiler/MMS%20scouting%20cameras%20english%20mannual%20.pdf&quot;&gt;manual&lt;/a&gt; for one example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option might be wifi cameras and repeater(s) to extend the range or use directional wifi antennas on the cameras, but I feel this is more dependent on the terrain between where you wish to have the camera and the resulting image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3731" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T10:18:07.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8661" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8662" CreationDate="2015-07-01T19:34:38.020" Score="10" ViewCount="493" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were up above the treeline below the final climb to a scarcely visited cave and discovered an old rusty piton with a length of weathered webbing tied to it. It was obviously there as a safety for a belay, but it easily came out of the rock when I tested it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what point should you remove old pitons? Should you clean your own pitons while cleaning the rest of you gear? Is it even wise to use pitons that you find in the rock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-01T22:34:09.037" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T22:34:09.037" Title="When should you remove old pitons?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8661" CreationDate="2015-07-01T20:21:12.927" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it &quot;easily came out of the rock,&quot; then it was at best useless and at worst a safety hazard, because of the possibility that someone might naively trust it. Removing it was a public service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it even wise to use pitons that you find in the rock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use old fixed pins as pro all the time. If it's on a popular climbing route and has obviously been there for decades, the reason is probably that it's stuck solid and will never come out. You'll even see them described in guidebooks and drawn in on topos. However, I wouldn't use one as a non-redundant rappel or belay anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should you clean your oun pitons while cleaning the rest of you gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. The more relevant question is what the local climbing ethics say about whether you should even place pitons. Most people in the last 40 years have practiced clean climbing. Pitons leave behind pin scars, which mar the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-07-01T20:30:27.890" LastActivityDate="2015-07-01T20:30:27.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8663" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8665" CreationDate="2015-07-02T02:24:08.030" Score="10" ViewCount="682" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt; The weather that day, as well as the week before, had been dry and warm. At about nine pm on August 2, 2014, I fell off of a log onto rocks. The fall was roughly twenty feet. The rocks were jagged and each larger than my torso. The nearest person was about 75 yards away (at the group campsite) and it was getting dark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember losing my balance (read: &lt;em&gt;the tree's bark giving way&lt;/em&gt;) and falling. I do not remember the impact with the ground. I awoke to find myself nestled between several large rocks and felt a little chilled. I yelled a few times and was quickly found. I ended up a broken wrist, and a variety of minor injuries. All told, I feel pretty darn lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do I self-assess my physical condition, including mechanical injury, trauma, contusions, lacerations, etc, after a fall in the backcountry?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Note: I can supply additional information about the incident and its circumstances upon request via the comments.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-07-02T06:43:04.800" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T10:02:28.297" Title="How do I self-assess my physical condition after a fall in the backcountry?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8663" CreationDate="2015-07-02T08:04:51.273" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Self-assessment is difficult because your level of consciousness (LOC) may be impaired. Unfortunately, one's own state of mind is also very difficult to self-assess. I'll list here a brief overview of some of the &quot;self-checks&quot; you can do, but (as I'm sure you're already aware), getting a second person to check you out as soon as possible will help ensure you haven't missed anything. In situations where there may be nobody else nearby at all, it might not be a bad idea to carry a small checklist card with you, which you could refer back to and check things off as you assess yourself to make sure you don't forget anything if your LOC is reduced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In wilderness medicine we use the concept of the Patient Assessment System (PAS) as a standard way to check a patient and systematically identify possible problems. The full PAS could take a whole post of its own, or indeed most of an entire course. If this stuff is interesting to you, consider taking a wilderness first air or wilderness first responder course to really learn it in detail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first step is to assess your immediate physical safety, i.e. a scene survey. In a self-assessment situation, the main thing you need to get out of a scene survey is whether or not it's safe to stay where you are. Just fell off some rocks? Are you at risk for further rockfall coming down on top of you, or is your current position at risk for falling further down the slope? If you need to move to eliminate possible life-threatening hazards (and you are physically capable of doing so), you should try to do so as soon as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing what you can to prevent any further injury, you go into a primary assessment, which can be remembered by the acronym ABCDE. The first two are less relevant in a self-assessment, but I'm including them because these go in order of priority, and it's good to know. If any issue is identified during the primary assessment, that's a &quot;stop-and-fix&quot; problem &amp;ndash; you deal with that before moving on to the next step. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;irway:&lt;/em&gt; Is anything blocking your airway? In a self-assessment, this should be very obvious.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;reathing:&lt;/em&gt; Again, obvious. If you aren't breathing, you probably aren't going to be assessing yourself in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;irculation:&lt;/em&gt; Is your heart working? If you're checking yourself, probably. This is also the time to check for any major bleeding. Do a quick blood sweep &amp;ndash; run your hands over your body, checking to see if any blood appears. Sometimes serious wounds may not even hurt at first when you have adrenaline pumping and other injuries may be distracting you from the pain. Physically running your hands over your head, neck, arms, back, chest, legs, etc. and checking to see if any blood shows up is a good way to make sure you aren't missing something major. This step is very important in a self-assessment, because you can't see every inch of your body yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D&lt;/strong&gt;eformity/disability:&lt;/em&gt; Is anything deformed or out of place? Are you at risk for permanent disability from a spinal injury? In considering whether a spinal injury may be a problem, there are various possible mechanisms of injury (MOI) which would lead one to suspect a possible spinal injury until proven otherwise. This includes a fall from &gt;3x your body height (which occurred in your example), tumbling falls, sudden changes in movement (e.g. falling off a bike, crashing while skiing), falls directly onto the head or neck, and a variety of other causes. Standard procedure is to immobilize the spinal column when there's an MOI for a spinal injury, but it's near-impossible to keep your own neck still while inspecting yourself. If you do have to move your neck, make sure to do so very slowly, and if you meet any kind of resistance or pain when turning your head/neck, stop that motion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding &quot;deformity&quot;, this is where you do a &quot;chunk-check&quot; to see if anything else is out of place on your body. This part is a bit more difficult to do on yourself than to do on somebody else, but you can do it. The basic idea is to use your hands to quickly feel your body from head to toe (and finger), feeling for anything which is sticking out where it shouldn't be, or not sticking out where it should be. If something feels kinda weird, you can compare to the other side of your body to see if it's generally symmetrical or not. If you find any pain anywhere, try to take a closer look &amp;ndash; that's a spot where you may need to deal with something. Note that minor injuries found during the chunk-check don't need to be dealt with immediately. If you can, write them down so you don't forget. If it's an immediate threat to life, then you should stop-and-fix. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;nvironment:&lt;/em&gt; The last part of the primary survey is to take note of your environment and protect yourself from the elements. Once you get too cold, it's very difficult &amp;ndash; especially when injured &amp;ndash; to warm back up. It's always a good idea to sit on a pad if you have one handy, put on some jackets and a hat, or if it's hot go sit in the shade. You need to take care of any environmental risks before proceeding to treat non-life-threatening problems such as sprains or small fractures. If you have some kind of portable shelter like a tarp or bivvy sack, now is a good time to get that out. If you fell into water, get dry before you develop hypothermia. Environmental emergencies like hypothermia and heat stroke are very preventable yet frequently complicate wilderness emergencies because it's easy to neglect. You should also take a moment to take care of your other bodily needs &amp;ndash; drink some water, eat a snack, and make sure all your bodily systems can run as well as possible, so you can focus on fixing any injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point you've completed the primary assessment. Standard procedure is to proceed into the secondary assessment, which consists of collecting vital signs, patient medical information, and performing a more detailed patient exam. At this point things get more complicated and more difficult to self-assess, so I would suggest looking at more detailed wilderness medicine resources if you're interested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;Note: This information is based on my training as a wilderness first responder and the accompanying textbooks and practice. Reading medical advice on the internet is no substitute for proper medical training. This information is provided as-is, with no guarantee of correctness or effectiveness. You alone are responsible for ensuring an appropriate level of training for the activities you engage in, including administering first aid to yourself and others. Neither Stack Exchange, the author, nor any other party shall be responsible for any harm that comes to you or others by following any advice in this post.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-07-02T08:04:51.273" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8654" CreationDate="2015-07-02T08:52:59.353" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming from a climbing background, I would propose the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the cord/rope into a loop, for example using the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sided_overhand_bend&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;One-sided overhand bend&quot;&gt;One-sided overhand bend&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_fisherman%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;double fisherman's knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Secure it around the pole using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Prusik&lt;/a&gt; knot. Note that the english wikipedia entry is only about climbing; the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusikknoten&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;german version&lt;/a&gt; also mentions that this friction knot can be used e.g. to drive stakes into the ground (and has some images of that, section &quot;Heim und Garten&quot;). So I would assume that this knot would work for you, maybe with a few more loops to make it &quot;grab&quot; the tube stronger if it slips down when you load it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put the shackle into the remaining loop of cord of the Prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't yet tied a Prusik around a square tube, but I would assume that it should hold well enough. The upsides of this method is that the rope would easily be removable (just in case), and that you can move it along the tube as long as it is not loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2015-07-02T09:29:02.020" LastActivityDate="2015-07-02T09:29:02.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8663" CreationDate="2015-07-03T10:02:28.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to the nature of many injuries your awareness and ability to treat yourself may be impaired. Therefore, extra care should be taken. Don't do anything rash or hastily as that will probably just make things worse. Take a few moments to collect yourself and get an initial impression of how you feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first concern is to prevent further injury and get yourself into a safe position. What this involves will depend on the state of your injuries and your current position. You want to move to somewhere where there is no further risk of slipping/falling/getting hit by rocks etc. However, you are probably not feeling the most agile right now and don't want to cause further injury so think carefully about if you should move and do so carefully. If help/other people are nearby now is the time to try and contact them, they will be in a much better situation to assess the dangers and help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are safe you should assess your injuries. The good news is you are conscious (or you wouldn't be assessing yourself) so you are not dying immediately. However, you may still have life threatening injuries that need immediate treatment. Unfortunately, most of the more serious injuries lead lower levels of consciousness and awareness making them difficult to self assess. Again, contact help if possible. In roughly decreasing level of seriousness some major things to check for are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000028.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Head injuries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: Head injuries can lead to concussion and/or internal bleeding both of which can be very serious. Check for any bleeding or swelling around the head. Can also lead to lower levels of consciousness, confusion and vomiting. If you suspect severe head injuries or conditions worsen you should get professional help as soon as possible. Direct treatment in the wilderness is limited - apply ice or cool any swelling and stop further bleeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000045.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Severe bleeding&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000039.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;shock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: Severe bleeding can lead to large loss of blood, resulting in shock and loss of consciousness. Your first concern is to prevent further blood loss. Check your body for any bleeding. Treatment for bleeding is to apply pressure and then bandage. If there is a large object stuck/impaled in the wound do not move it as this may make the bleeding worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shock can be caused by large amounts of blood loss and can result in confusion/dizziness leading to unconsciousness. This can make it hard to self assess. Treatment is to stop any further blood loss and if possible raise the legs to increase blood flow to the heart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hypo/hyperthermia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: Depending on the weather conditions and how long you have been out in them you may be at risk due to exposure. The symptoms of these are quite well known but should be they also lead to confusion and lower levels of consciousness again making self-diagnosis hard. Try and protect yourself from the weather and heat/cool your body as appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breaks and sprains&lt;/strong&gt;: While brakes and sprains are not generally immediately life threatening, if they prevent you moving that can become a major issue in a wilderness situation. Learn how to splint the most commonly injured areas. I like to carry a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sammedical.com/products/sam-splint/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;SAM splint&lt;/a&gt; in my first aid kit as they are very flexible, light and easy to use, but sticks and walking poles also make good splinting materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll focus on lower body injuries. Upper body break can be very painful and should generally be splinted and or immobilized, but generally won't stop you walking to safety. For femur (thigh) or pelvis breaks your are probably screwed without assistance. The force required to break these and the amount of blood vessels in these areas will result in severe internal bleeding. Your should try and minimise this. For pelvis injuries you want to make/apply a &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildernessmedicinemagazine.com/1120/Pelvic-Splints-Guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;pelvis splint&lt;/a&gt;. This basically pressurizes the pelvis to minimize further bleeding. For femur injuries a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_splint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;traction splint&lt;/a&gt; can be applied. These can be rigged up using a hiking pole. However, they are quiet difficult to apply correctly. In either case you aren't going to be walking out so need to be able to contact help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildernessmedicinenewsletter.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/lower-leg-splint/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;lower leg injuries&lt;/a&gt; the area between the knee and ankle should be immobilized. Sticks or walking poles can be used to do this although sleeping pads also work well.  Depending on the severity of the break you will probably be able to walk out although it may be very painful. For ankle injuries either splint the ankle or just bind tightly with a bandage. Again painful but probably walkable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T10:02:28.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8651" CreationDate="2015-07-03T10:37:41.267" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many areas in Scotland can be quite quiet, especially outside the peak season. There are also many &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/long-distance-routes.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;long distance walks&lt;/a&gt; ranging from the well known to the less so. I've heard the Rob Roy way and the Cape Wrath trail are quiet good although I've actually done neither. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no system of manned mountain huts like in many places but many unmanned &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/locationmap.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bothies&lt;/a&gt; which can be used and you can wild camp in most places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discoverzakopane.com/hiking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tatra mounatins&lt;/a&gt; on the Poland Slovakia border. There is a good network of huts but they aren't that remote (and were reasonably busy) but are not well known (at least in the UK).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T10:37:41.267" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8669" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8670" CreationDate="2015-07-03T14:26:24.837" Score="18" ViewCount="22053" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently at a music festival in a field here in the UK. It was a nice hot day and I was staring up into the lovely blue sky. I noticed there were high numbers of seagulls circling above, seemingly riding thermals to a great height (they quickly became speks in the sky).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started wondering, what are they up to? I couldn't make sense of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they were riding the thermals as a mode of transport, they didn't appear to be going anywhere (just round and round in circles). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It didn't make sense that they were doing it to spot food either (that I thought). There was plenty of food about, but none of them appeared to be making any attempt to come down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It almost appeared that they were simply riding the thermals for fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why would these birds by seemingly riding thermals for no reason? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:54:07.737" LastActivityDate="2018-07-02T23:33:16.663" Title="Why do seagulls circle around at high altitudes?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8669" CreationDate="2015-07-03T15:47:54.600" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the same reason carrion birds circle over fresh kills: They're waiting for an opportunity to swoop in and get some food. All the gulls see is a large gathering of humans, which typically means dropped chips, bits of hotdog buns, discarded scraps, leftovers on tables, people throwing bits for the birds. Wherever you have big gatherings of large mammals there will be flocks of scavengers. You'll see the same behaviours in nature too, scavengers will follow herds of deer or caribou waiting for one of them to either drop dead or get picked off by a predator so they can swoop down to pick away at what gets left behind. The reason they ride the thermals and circle overhead is so they can conserve energy while they watch and wait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T15:47:54.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8671" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8690" CreationDate="2015-07-03T17:10:09.453" Score="9" ViewCount="14186" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took my sandals out of storage in the basement today because it's two-hobbits-just-threw-a-ring-into-my-room kind of hot in here and outside, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that they have mold on them. How do I get rid of the mold?&#xA;I am trying to clean them by hand right now and am wondering if that's enough.&#xA;After all the fungus is &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I put them into a washing machine? What temperature in °C should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are Teva sandals, FI 2 was the model name if I remember correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T17:05:38.847" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T17:05:38.847" Title="How do I get mold off my sandals?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8671" CreationDate="2015-07-03T20:44:20.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start by wetting them so you don't get mold into the air.  With a weak Lysol solution, scrub them with a toothbrush.  Let them dry, and spray them with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/694530/mcnett-mirazyme-odor-eliminator&quot;&gt;MiraZyme&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or as ShemSeger says, just get new ones :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-07-03T20:44:20.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="215" CreationDate="2015-07-04T21:16:55.063" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs have far superior senses to humans, which is why dogs became man's best friend, it was mutually beneficial for us to coexist. Early man gave docile wolves their scraps from their kills, and in return, the domesticated wolves provided man with an early warning system against predators and other enemies. Protection from large predators such as bears and wild wolves is exactly what dogs were originally kept and bred for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm from wild bear country, where no one goes out into the woods without some sort of bear protection. Usually that bear protection is a shotgun or a large rifle, next to that, they take dogs. Bear spray is one of the last things they consider bringing with them (except for in certain national and provincial parks where dogs are hardly welcome). I feel infinitely safer hiking with my dog than I do with a can of bear spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've encountered several bears while with my dog. The first time was when I was only 10 years old backpacking with my Dad, we had our pure-bred German Shepherd with us off leash in Height of the Rockies Provincial Park. She was leading the trail when all of a sudden we rounded a corner and found her with her hair raised looking up the mountain into the trees, she let out one insecure bark after which it sounded like the forrest started to come down. Not far up the hill was a &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; Grizzly, who was startled by the bark and started crashing through the bush to get a safe distance before turning to check us out. We quickly moved on and the bear didn't pursue us. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs are also great for sniffing out bears that you don't yet see, and scaring them off &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; you encounter them. My current dog is a German Shepherd/Black Lab cross (who more often than not gets mistaken for a black bear by other hikers), and he gets very aggressive and intimidating when he catches a whiff of a bear on the trail ahead. He doesn't chase them, but his barking seems to be enough to warn the bears that we're approaching and scare them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it makes a big difference what type of dog you have and how well they behave. My dogs all grew up hiking in the woods, they've met all sorts of wild creatures and they've all been obedient enough to come when called and not give chase when commanded to stay. The dogs that would give you problems would be the little ankle biters that yip at everything and don't listen to anyone, I can see one of those antagonizing a bear, because they aren't intimidating, and are more likely to be pursued as food. The reason parks say keep your dogs on leash, or don't take them into the backcountry at all is because far too many people that visit parks have stupid disobedient family dogs that spend most of their time tied up in the back yard or at the end of a leash, they don't know how to behave in the woods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs are excellent protection from bears, especially in numbers, but they must be the right breed, the right temperament, obedient, and large enough to intimidate a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Height of the Rockies Provincial Park is an example of a park that doesn't say, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Keep dogs on leash in the backcountry.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; instead &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/height/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;they say&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Dogs in the backcountry &lt;strong&gt;must be under control&lt;/strong&gt; at all times.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; If you have an obedient dog that comes when he's called, and doesn't chase every critter that he encounters on the trail then odds are good he'll do more to deter a bear than provoke one as long as he's got a big enough bite to back up his bark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-04T21:16:55.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8675" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8678" CreationDate="2015-07-05T11:33:18.480" Score="10" ViewCount="726" Body="&lt;p&gt;Considering just taking a hammock (Grand Trunk double) and tarp on my next camping trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wondered what things I am likely to miss/get wrong for the first hammock camp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location is likely to be within Western Europe within the late Spring to early autumn climate.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3686" LastEditDate="2015-07-05T13:00:50.193" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T22:06:54.090" Title="What are the basic considerations for hammock camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8676" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8682" CreationDate="2015-07-05T16:24:02.800" Score="11" ViewCount="7713" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the legal and practical position on wild camping in England and Wales, specifically in the Brecon Beacons National Park. I think I am right in saying that technically you need to ask the landowners permission but how much of an issue is this in reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking to pitch a single one man tent for a single night and then move on the next day to a new location. As long as I pitch away from the path and in an unobtrusive location, how likely am I to encounter any problems? Does anyone have any experience of camping in this area and could give me some advice? Also what about camping in forested areas. I will be using a self-contained stove so fire isn't a risk but am I likely to run into any other problems?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6255" LastEditorUserId="6255" LastEditDate="2015-07-05T16:31:53.223" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T03:50:39.310" Title="Wild camping in the Brecon Beacons" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8677" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8692" CreationDate="2015-07-05T21:58:30.977" Score="9" ViewCount="563" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about buying a new reel for my weight 8 rod (which I use for steelhead), but want also to use it for my weight 5 rod (which I use for trout). The reel is supposed to be used with lines weight 7 to 9, but I wonder if its performance will be affected if I use a lighter line. Anyone there who knows if it would work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T10:09:25.813" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T10:09:25.813" Title="What are the disadvantages of using a lighter fly line than the indicated for the reel?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8675" CreationDate="2015-07-05T23:34:58.977" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been hammock camping for about four years, and there are a few issues you should be aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, as already noted in the comments under your original question, insulation is critically important.  I know that below about 65 F (18 C), I sleep uncomfortably cold.  This is because your insulation (sleeping bag) beneath you is compressed by your body weight and the air under your hammock is free to circulate.  Combined, this will quickly sap your body heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Hennessy Hammock I use has an insulation package available as an option.  This consists of an open-cell foam pad and an &quot;all season&quot; outer liner.  If this isn't warm enough, you can add a Mylar emergency blanket between the foam pad and the liner.  Most importantly, this system installs on the OUTSIDE of your hammock.  Using this setup, I have camped comfortably at temperatures below freezing.  Videos of this system and how it is installed are available through their web site at &lt;a href=&quot;http://hennessyhammock.com&quot;&gt;http://hennessyhammock.com&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options include using a foam pad or a Therm-a-rest style inflatable inside the hammock.  Some hammocks have an option to install these trapped between two layers of fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second consideration is the way you pitch your tarp.  In general, it should be perpendicular to the wind (lest it act as a funnel).  If possible, the ridge line should run above the tarp (rather than under) since this configuration will not allow water to run beneath the tarp if it rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to staking the corners of your tarp, make sure you keep the edges taut as well.  If the wind picks up, the edges can start whipping around, creating a lot of noise at night.  I run lines from the center of each edge to the tie-downs in each corner (which results in something of an 'W' shape) and pull these tight with a taut line hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure you know your knots.  If they slip during the night, you will find yourself dragging on the ground or with a tarp flapping in the wind. If the knots supporting your hammock slip, the dip in the hammock may lead to your head and/or feet being uncomfortably elevated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have taken to using hammock straps (such as the ENO Atlas) and carabiners with my Henessy.  Once these are set and stretched, there is no noticeable sag during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2015-07-05T23:34:58.977" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8675" CreationDate="2015-07-06T03:08:51.080" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are really only &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; main considerations for hammock camping: the first is hanging the hammock (&lt;strong&gt;trees&lt;/strong&gt;); the second is whether or not it will be warm enough to sleep in a hammock (&lt;strong&gt;temperature&lt;/strong&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hammocks are great at keeping you cool, so they are best suited for sleeping in hot humid environments where there are plenty of trees to hang it from, and where you aren't going to get cold at night. I've been camping with people who have brought their department store hammocks out into the Canadian Rockies, they had no problems with finding trees to hang them from, but they froze at night when the temperature dropped to nearly zero. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are of course hammock systems suitable for sleeping in cooler climates, but there's a learning curve, you can't simply apply what you know about ground sleeping to sleeping in a hammock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of convective heat loss in a hammock, particularly from below, whereas in ground sleeping you're more concerned with conductive heat loss against the ground. The solution in hammock camping is to put blankets on your bottom:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qFyIC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can still go hammock camping and stay warm without buying a expensive hammock. The trick is to zip your sleeping bag all the way around your hammock so that you're not compressing it underneath you. Results will of course vary depending on your hammock and the zipper of your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T03:08:51.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8680" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-06T07:30:10.200" Score="9" ViewCount="811" Body="&lt;p&gt;What level of UV protection is recommended for glacier travel? For example, I have sunglasses which says 40% UV layer. Will this be ok for glacier trekking, or do I need glasses with higher level of protection? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6257" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:49:17.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:49:17.053" Title="What level of UV protection is recommended for glacier travel?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8680" CreationDate="2015-07-06T07:44:52.010" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow blindness is at best very painful. UV damage to your eyes is not something you want to play around with. If only 40% protection they are are not sunglasses, they are fashion accessories and offer no where near enough to protect your eyes for more than an hour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For $10 you will get glasses that provide 99% protection, why risk it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T07:44:52.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8676" CreationDate="2015-07-06T08:39:08.820" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild camping in the UK is a grey area. &lt;strong&gt;Technically it is illegal&lt;/strong&gt; to wild camp anywhere (Scotland and Dartmoor are the exceptions it is actually &lt;strong&gt;legal&lt;/strong&gt; to wild camp in any unenclosed area there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practically though, wild camping is &lt;em&gt;tolerated&lt;/em&gt; in most wild areas (&lt;strong&gt;unenclosed&lt;/strong&gt; remote areas like the &quot;Breacons&quot;). You need to be careful though and obey some simple rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't camp in enclosed fields; these will be owned by someone (farmer) and they will likely not take kindly to someone rocking up and camping. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Leave no trace&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;; don't spoil it for everyone else. If hordes of people start appearing in the mountain areas leaving rubbish everywhere, it's going to get clamped down on and you'll ruin it for everyone, take &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; out with you!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be discreet; don't camp in the middle of a busy footpath at 1pm (though I have seen this done and no one really complained). Find a quiet remote area, pitch late and leave early (you'll enjoy it more anyway).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep away from roads. You don't want your camp site to be visible from the road. This will likely result in a knock on your tent from the police or the local landowner who will move you on. Ideally you want to walk about ½ hour away from the nearest road to be safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're relatively careful and considerate, wild camping is great. I hardly ever camp in camp sites in the UK any more; I much prefer being out in the wilderness on my own. Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several Facebook groups which you can sign up to for more info: search for &quot;wild camping&quot;. I'm a member of one called &quot;Wild camping and bothying UK&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a photo of my friend who wild camped with me in Snowdonia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2vqtP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T03:50:39.310" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T03:50:39.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8676" CreationDate="2015-07-06T08:57:29.313" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Strictly speaking, it is illegal to camp without the landowner's permission. If you really want to be legal, the best way is to ask a farmer if you can stay in a field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, as long as you are sensible and don't camp right by a road or main path, no one is likely to complain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for where, a Google search for wild camping in the Brecon Beacons gives a number of possible locations. I haven't camped in any of them so can't comment on whether they are any good or not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, bear in mind that the army regularly train in the Beacons. You might want to see if you can find out where they are likely to be before you go, as you probably don't want to get woken by people with guns in the middle of the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-05-29T14:26:14.330" LastActivityDate="2019-05-29T14:26:14.330" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2015-07-06T10:45:41.130" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For UK birds the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/a/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB maintains a directory of birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The information on each bird includes a recording of it's call:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qRvpB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T10:45:41.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8686" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-06T12:09:24.260" Score="13" ViewCount="576" Body="&lt;p&gt;We (a uni student club, mostly hiking) own a rope that is practically unknown. We know that it's a year since it was bought (presumably new) and that it has hardly ever been used (no dead hangs, etc). It contains no rating tags/tape outside. We don't know the maker or how much it was bought. Superficially, it's a kernmantle that looks pretty legit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've been thinking about whether we should buy a new rope that we KNOW is legit. But because of funding, buying a new rope isn't top of the list. We'd rather determine for certain the legitimacy of the rope (whether legit or not) before making a move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By luck, we found a strip of plastic hidden underneath the sheath that says &quot;LIFE SAFETY ROPE OF NFPA 1983. 2001 EDITION SET(?) CERTIFIED&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nPNy3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/baveD4N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://i.imgur.com/baveD4N.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this sufficient reason to conclude that the rope is indeed legitimate for aid/rescue use? Can it carry more than 2000 kg as specified by the NFPA 1983?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6261" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T07:44:19.463" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T07:44:19.463" Title="How can I know if a rope is certified? I found a hidden tag" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8687" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8688" CreationDate="2015-07-06T13:13:35.757" Score="42" ViewCount="56970" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have this tool on a few Swiss Army knives (though I think I've seen it on other multi-tools as well). What is it and what is it for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HKZ9rl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On one edge, it has a sharp edge. It also only opens halfway (as seen in the photo).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6262" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T08:56:18.750" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T11:32:31.400" Title="What is this tool on a Swiss Army knife for?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;swiss-army-knife&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2015-07-06T13:28:37.673" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a &quot;reamer with sewing eye&quot;, according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://assets.victorinox.com/medias/service-sak-function-en.pdf?context=bWFzdGVyfHNha3wxNjgzMjY3fGFwcGxpY2F0aW9uL3BkZnxoMWUvaDBiLzg4MDUxMjM5NDg1NzQucGRmfDZiM2NmZDA3NjVhMDE3M2I3Y2U0ODEyNmY4MmU0ZTdjMjFhNTU1MDMwNjk5NDRjZjczMjQ3YzgyZDIzNDkyZTM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Victorinox (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qIMxO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is used for punching holes in leather or canvas and can also used to get a thread through the hole, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Reamer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAKWiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6263" LastEditorUserId="6263" LastEditDate="2016-10-31T16:23:31.890" LastActivityDate="2016-10-31T16:23:31.890" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2015-07-06T13:29:31.743" Score="58" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &quot;punch/reamer&quot;. It allows your to repair leather (for example). You thread a thread of something though the hole and then use the sharp end to punch/push the thread though leather. In this way you can repair boots, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bz5Cx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T13:29:31.743" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8671" CreationDate="2015-07-06T13:41:18.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I solved the problem with a combination approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that throwing them away was one option, I didn't see the point in trying anything &lt;em&gt;weak&lt;/em&gt;. We all know the phrase &quot;kill the mold on your shoes or destroy them trying&quot;. These are tough sandals and have seen quite a bit of abuse during the years. I'm a bit emotionally attached, which means that I don't really want to throw them away. Here's what I did exactly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;wet cleaning with a brush and a regular general purpose cleaning agent&lt;/strong&gt;. As suggested by @Russel (+1 for that), this keeps the mold from getting into the air and thus into me. The downside is that it also destroys the custom fit footbed out of dirt and sweat, which took me almost a decade to build up. What a bummer!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then I got myself some &lt;strong&gt;cleaning agent that's specifically made for (against) mold&lt;/strong&gt;. The purpose is to clean bathrooms, not shoes. But as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. When shopping for this stuff, go for the most ridiculous name that you can find. Mine was labelled &quot;mold annihilator&quot;. If you can find one with an image of Vlad the Impaler or Hitler, even better, go for those! Otherwise, buy the one with longest list of warnings. They usually contain bleach.&#xA;As @Shem suggested: &lt;strong&gt;let them soak&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I then put them into the &lt;strong&gt;washing machine&lt;/strong&gt; to get rid of the Chernobyl cocktail. The slowest setting (400rpm) and 40°C worked great. If you have, put them in a bag and add some additional load to the machine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then I dried them in the sun quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shoes look clean. Of course I cannot tell if the fungus is gone entirely. I'm happy with the results and will continue wearing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T13:41:18.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2015-07-06T14:44:02.663" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tool has two purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a punch, it acts as a large needle. You can use it to sew leather or canvas, as mentioned in the other answers. Punch the tool through your fabric, put thread through the hole, retract the tool, repeat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a reamer, the non-uniform blade shape allows you to make quite good circular holes in plastic or wood. Punch the tool through, then rotate it to carve off a small circular sliver. Rotate again and again and again, adjusting position, to carve a fairly even circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6265" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T14:44:02.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8677" CreationDate="2015-07-06T15:14:16.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you are considering a new reel with multiple spools. The reel's performance will not be affected except that with a lighter line you will be able to fit more backing. In a 5wt setup that usually wouldn't offer any benefit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One potential issue with using a much larger reel is the balance. You may be able to cast well with a poorly balanced setup, but it will get very tiresome over a long day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T15:14:16.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2015-07-06T15:38:38.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you say short, I'm assuming your girlfriend is probably about my height which is 5'0.  I boulder with my boyfriend who is about 6'.  It is very frustrating watching a taller person walk in front of me and effortlessly reach a problem that I was just popping a vein to reach.  As a shorter person, we will be forced to learn better technique, flexibility for higher feet, and to build core strength to make dynamic moves. It's a rocky start but after a year, I became more aware of my body and started surprising myself with what I can do.  I also am blessed because my boyfriend encourages me and reminds me that I am doing great.  I just remind myself that some goals are unreachable at eye's view but after patience and failing, there is a chance of succeeding and that's what climbing is about.  I hope your girlfriend continues trying, it's a fun journey!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6267" LastActivityDate="2015-07-06T15:38:38.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8686" CreationDate="2015-07-07T04:58:21.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a bit of research and it appears that NFPA 1983 is a standard for ropes used in technical rescue, similar to UIAA ratings for climbing ropes. The tag you found seems to imply that this rope meets the specifications of the 2001 edition of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/document-information-pages?mode=code&amp;amp;code=1983&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NFPA standard 1983&lt;/a&gt; for a life safety rope. I couldn't find a free copy of the 2001 standard, but in the 2012 edition the following performance requirements are specified: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPZZJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;NFPA 1983 Life Safety Rope Standard&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not clear to me whether your rope is a &quot;technical use&quot; rope or a &quot;general use&quot; rope, but the standard calls for a minimum strength of 20 kN for the former and 40 kN for the latter. Note that in all cases these are &lt;em&gt;static&lt;/em&gt; ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This gives some information about what your rope &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be, but again, you can't know 100% for sure what it is until you figure out who bought it, and they figure out what they bought. If you're sure it's been well-cared-for it might be safe to use, but I would be very hesitant to use it, &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; with groups of less-experienced climbers who may be depending on your judgement and assume that any equipment you provide would be safe to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-07-07T05:09:16.650" LastActivityDate="2015-07-07T05:09:16.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8686" CreationDate="2015-07-07T05:07:41.477" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is never advisable to use any safety gear that you do not know the history of.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doesn't matter if it is legit, what matters is the &lt;em&gt;history&lt;/em&gt; of the rope. If it's a club rope for climbing then there should be a record of usage and falls. If no record exists, then it is unknown whether the rope has taken any significant falls or if it is still safe to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Larger diameter static ropes are a little more lenient than dynamic climbing ropes however. Odds are good your safety rope is at least 13mm in diametre. In which case a thorough inspection of the sheath for cuts or abrasion could be sufficient to pass the rope for rappels, I'd probably use it for myself for single rappels, but I'd never use it for rescue work.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-07T05:07:41.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8671" CreationDate="2015-07-07T08:13:56.227" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be a bit brutal solution though, but the dermatologist once told me to use formaldehyde to disinfect shoes after infections - it might be an option for mold too. Wiki confirms &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde#Disinfectant_and_biocide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. The procedure was: put the shoes in a plastic bag, soak a huge cotton ball in the formaldehyde, tie the bag tight so the air would not circulate, leave it like that for 2 days. The solution should not touch the leather parts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-07-07T08:13:56.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8697" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8698" CreationDate="2015-07-07T12:14:15.010" Score="15" ViewCount="2476" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trekking for years now, mostly in Scandinavia, Canada and Peru. For most of treks we had to be sustainable and carry food for 10-14 days at a time - so weight is always a big issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously this requires very optimized equipment, and for this reason I never considered bringing a multitool (like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.victorinox.com/ch/category/Swiss-Army-Knives/1008?f=category&amp;amp;v=1/100/1008&amp;amp;m=add&amp;amp;&quot;&gt;swisstool&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leatherman.co.uk&quot;&gt;leatherman&lt;/a&gt;): personally I just never saw the benefit of such a tool, as out in the wild I essentially never encountered situations that would call for pliers, screwdrivers, or any of the other sophisticated tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, over the years I have seen plenty of people who absolutely swear by their multitools and bring them on every occasion, including long hikes or trekking trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know of you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why do you bring your multitool on long trips?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What kinds of purposes does it serve, which a normal knife can't?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:29:04.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:29:04.760" Title="Why bring a multitool on long treks?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8697" CreationDate="2015-07-07T12:32:49.733" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's always a difference between required and excessive. A lot of these multi tools have specific purposes. Do I require a screwdriver on a trek?  Mostly no. Will I use a knife, a pair of scissors or even a pair of tweezers? Mostly Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do I recommend carrying a multi tool to a trek? Yes. But having said that, there are multitude of these tools out there. What one needs to look at is the one which makes sense for a trek. I have multitools which have the basic knife-scissor-tweezer-pin combination and also another one with a screwdriver-plier combination. I do not carry the screwdriver ones on treks. They are heavy and pretty much useless. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What all have I used my multi tools for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cutting fruits, opening cans, opening up packed food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Removing thorns from my fingers using tweezers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sewing up my shoes with reamer (a temporary but useful solution).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a lighter note, once when I was on a forest survey, I met a fellow who felt his swiss multi tool knife could provide him sufficient protection against wild animals. So yeah, for some, it might give some mental strength as well :D ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a normal knife can't? That  would be a very selective list. And probably one could argue that pretty much everything could be achieved using a normal knife with sufficient skill. Personally I do not use a bigger knife for delicate stuff like removing a splinter ;). Also, I've met folks who do not carry a knife (mostly those going for guided treks) and prefer multi tool instead. I also believe that the human tendency to feel more comfortable with more options has to do with this somehow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2015-07-07T12:50:07.193" LastActivityDate="2015-07-07T12:50:07.193" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8699" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-07T14:50:46.217" Score="7" ViewCount="1466" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to rent a boat (not a pontoon, but one with a sleeping area, bathroom etc.) which I can use for an overnight stay in open ocean. I am an absolute beginner about boats and don't know anything besides that boats run on water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The questions I have are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is that kind of boat called?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Should I search for yachts, power boats, resident boats?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some places I can rent it from?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'm based in Delaware, so DE beaches and the coastal areas of NJ, MD are easily accessible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What sort of training would I require?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Driving the boat is for sure a required skill, but the rental place will certainly provide that training. In addition, do I require any based medical training like CPR etc.? &lt;em&gt;I know how to respond to simple issues like taking care of small wounds, burns, insect bites etc.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How far in open waters can I go before I'll get into international waters?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I don't want to leave the US territory. Will there be some indication or coastal guards to help or assist if I get too close to leave US waters?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it safe?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Pirates are still there, aren't they? I mean spending a night outside away from everything seems a bit ... frightening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How will I keep the boat from drifting when it is not moving?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor&quot;&gt;anchors&lt;/a&gt; still in use?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What else should I be prepared for?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For example: navigation equipment, another rescue boat?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3929" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-08T15:46:48.733" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T17:49:15.380" Title="Renting a boat for overnight in ocean?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8700" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8704" CreationDate="2015-07-07T18:51:50.440" Score="11" ViewCount="1808" Body="&lt;p&gt;My younger brother (14 years old) has recently expressed interest in joining my outdoor escapades (hiking, camping, backpacking, etc). As part of this interest, he has asked me to teach him how to correctly use a knife for various tasks. I'm alright with teaching him some of the basics, but would like him to figure it out for himself while reinforcing safe habits and correct technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some simple tasks and activities that teach knife safety and proper technique?&lt;/strong&gt; I am interested in information regarding fixed-blade knives, but welcome answers including information regarding folding knives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-07-07T19:02:16.240" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T11:54:14.013" Title="What are some simple tasks to teach knife safety?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8669" CreationDate="2015-07-07T20:23:32.330" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are centering good thermal spots and picking up altitude so they're  not putting any effort into flying while looking for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S6D9D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5890" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-07-08T00:10:39.753" LastActivityDate="2015-07-08T00:10:39.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8699" CreationDate="2015-07-07T20:53:59.470" Score="18" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I want to rent a boat (not a pontoon, but one with a sleeping area, bathroom etc.) which I can use for an overnight stay in open ocean. I am an absolute beginner about boats and don't know anything besides that boats run on water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For virtually all skill levels this is a very poor idea.  You should not under (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-handed_sailing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;almost&lt;/a&gt;) any circumstances spend the night in the open ocean without someone handling/driving the boat.  You need to sleep in shifts and make sure that: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The boat continues to go the direction and speed you want it to.  Auto-pilot can steer the boat, but doesn't know how to adapt to changing conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wind hasn't changed.  When it does you will need to adjust your heading or sails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't collide with anything.  Land is the most likely thing, but other boats or ships could be problematic in some shipping lanes or close to shore.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a beginner, I would try to find a well protected harbour (like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/No+Name+Harbor,+Florida+33149,+USA/@25.6765658,-80.1628009,545m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88d9ca471b4022f7:0x8005807f1c5c8891&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;No Name Harbour&lt;/a&gt;, outside of Miami).  Ideally as a beginner, you should find something that has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waypointamsterdam.com/picking_up_a_mooring_buoy.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mooring buoys&lt;/a&gt; but when you get a bit more experience, it is definatly possible to anchor as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, I would advise you to proceed very cautiously.  Boating is largely unregulated but the complexity/risk is greater than driving a car.  Everyone learns to drive by either taking a class or being taught by someone who knows.  I would strongly advise you to take some sailing or boating lessons before proceeding with your project.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How will I keep the boat from drifting when it is not moving? Are&#xA;  anchors still in use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wrote up a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11804/305&quot;&gt;anchoring summary&lt;/a&gt; for another question.  The question is asking specifically about rivers, but I think that the answer applies more generally.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don't want to leave the US territory. Will there be some indication or coastal guards to help or assist if I get too close to leave US waters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably not.  There are some services that you can use that may be able to help if you have engine problems or run aground.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seatow.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seatow&lt;/a&gt; is one such service.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would strongly advise you to only use these for &lt;em&gt;convenience only&lt;/em&gt;.  These services are to help you do something more efficiently (in terms of time/cost/etc).  They are not there to help you remain safe.  At all times you are responsible for your own safety.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What else should I be prepared for?&#xA;  For example: navigation equipment, another rescue boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is probably not answerable without more specifics.  Just to layout some of the things you may/may not need: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of this depends on what boat you will be using and where/when you will be using it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking a Kayak out along the shore - No maps or compass needed.  Just a kayak, paddle, life jacket, and a bail bucket.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crossing the Atlantic requires many orders of magnitude more equipment and experience.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will you be traveling at night?  You need lights and maybe additional navigational equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will you be traveling somewhere with cell reception?  Do people in your area us VHF radios?  Will you be traveling somewhere where authorities or commercial vessels will try to communicate with you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may need paper charts for many or most areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may &lt;em&gt;want&lt;/em&gt; a GPS to help with navigation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You probably have required safety equipment depending on your jurisdiction.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What sort of training would I require?&#xA;  Driving the boat is for sure a required skill, but the rental place will certainly provide that training. In addition, do I require any based medical training like CPR etc.? I know how to respond to simple issues like taking care of small wounds, burns, insect bites etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your mind think about learning how to fly and maintain a plane.  This is of a &lt;em&gt;similar&lt;/em&gt; complexity.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Renting a canoe is certainly a good place to start and will familiarize you with the basics, however you should still be careful.  Remember that of 1035 deaths in American National Parts from 2007-2013, 365 of them (35%) of them were due to drowning (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/What-are-the-top-causes-of-death-in-national-6449157.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be safe and see you on the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T17:49:15.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8700" CreationDate="2015-07-08T06:26:53.253" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a kid we often went on hiking trips and I got my first knife when I was around eight to ten years old. Below are some of the things my parents looked out for when I was a child. Obviously this is addressed at an even younger age than OP described, so you might have to adapt it accordingly...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;General advice&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For beginners either get a &lt;em&gt;fixed blade&lt;/em&gt;, or one with a sturdy &lt;em&gt;lock&lt;/em&gt; - not one that freely folds together (e.g. not a Swiss Army Knife). A good example would be:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://opinel.com/en/pocket-knives-and-tools/kids-my-first-opinel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Opinel kids - My first Opinel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you chose a folding knife, first teach how to safely open and close it and how the lock works. And obviously you should only use it properly locked.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never use a knife when standing on uneven footing (i.e. some slippery tree trunk) or in a moving vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Teach beginners to &lt;em&gt;always work the knife away from their body&lt;/em&gt;. Whether cutting fruit, carving wood, ... --&gt; never cut towards you or your extremities. That way if you slip you're far less likely to cut yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also teach a beginner to &lt;em&gt;always cut away from other people&lt;/em&gt;. For the same reason as above really.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For kids it can be a good idea to get a knife with a &lt;em&gt;blunted point&lt;/em&gt;: using the point effectively requires a lot of skill, and at the same time a knife without a sharp point is really a lot safer. Btw, if you can't find a suitable knife with blunted point it is quite easy to grind it blunt yourself using any file.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Less about safety, but still valuable advice when dealing with kids:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose bright colors so the knife can easily be spotted when it's lying around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the knife on a cord or chain that attaches too the belt (or similar) to avoid loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Activities/Techniques&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cutting a branch of green wood (where appropriate of course). Teaches efficient cutting techniques.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peeling the stick. Teaches control of the angle of the edge and cutting away from the body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sharpening the stick (to roast sausages/marshmallows/...). Teaches about controlling the blade in relation to the wood you are cutting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Advanced: Carving patterns (e.g. rings/dots) into the stick (or into a stick which still has its bark). Teaches detailed control of edge and/or tip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally I'd try to find some kind of useful 'project' that involves knife work and just try and do it together with whomever you're trying to teach. Examples that come to mind: make a simple bow &amp;amp; arrow, make a walking stick/spear, build some small shelter, build a rack that allows you to suspend a grill/kettle for outdoor cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-07-09T21:42:04.523" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T21:42:04.523" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8700" CreationDate="2015-07-08T09:34:21.027" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is going into a slightly different direction than fgysin's one since I just noticed that your question is about &lt;strong&gt;activities&lt;/strong&gt;, not &lt;strong&gt;technique&lt;/strong&gt; itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestions might be obvious to some, but this is what I would teach (and how I learned handling knives):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;making a &quot;spear&quot; (or improvised trekking pole, if you prefer) from sticks, i.e. remove the bark, make it pointy -&gt; Especially useful to teach correctly handling hard(ish) materials, cutting away from one's body etc..&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other kinds of simple wood carving&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cutting food when cooking. This might be especially obvious, but arguably one of the most useful things to do with a knive. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, if he asks you for specific tasks, just show him how to do them. And keep a look on him, to correct mistakes and tell him if he does something wrong/dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2015-07-08T09:34:21.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8706" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8714" CreationDate="2015-07-08T16:39:08.023" Score="8" ViewCount="7663" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to go tent-trailer camping as a kid ('60s and '70s, west coast US and Canada) and don't recall worrying about people going into our campground and stealing things. Now I'm thinking about getting back into camping (tent, not tent-trailer, and now in New England), and am worried that, if we pitch a tent, then go off to the beach or something, someone will steal our stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that a reasonable concern? If so, is there something I can do to keep from getting ripped off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6300" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T16:59:50.387" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T16:59:50.387" Title="Theft and tent camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2015-07-12T18:50:48.747" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8699" CreationDate="2015-07-08T16:49:24.323" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've got quite a bit of study before you are ready for this kind of voyage. I am not how far off shore &quot;open ocean&quot; means to you, but if it's anything beyond swimming distance to shore, you're going to need more training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the kind of boat called?&lt;/strong&gt; Generally it is called a bareboat charter. To my knowledge, most bareboat charters are for sailboats. I haven't seen powerboat bareboats, but I'm sure they exist somewhere. However, being an absolute beginner, &lt;em&gt;no one is going to rent you a boat in the first place.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Driving the boat is the easiest element, and the rental place won't even train you on that, they'll expect you to know how to do that already. The only thing they'll train you on are the novelties and specifics to a particular boat. The main sheet on a rental might be at a different spot than on another boat, so they'll show where that is, but when they point it out to you, they expect you know exactly what that is supposed to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Training?&lt;/strong&gt; The training you require for being on the ocean is extensive. Not only do you have to know the basics of sailing, but you also have to know basic engine repairs, navigation, usage of the radios, man overboard procedures, and a whole bunch of other stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Territorial waters extend out 12 nautical miles from shore. &quot;International waters&quot; extends beyond that, however partial jurisdiction extends out 200 nautical miles from shore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will be the coast guard patrolling around out there, but if you run into one of them, they're going to see what you're doing, they're going to board and inspect your vessel for seaworthiness, and they're going to talk to you and quickly recognize you have no business being out there. I don't know what they'll do at that point, but it won't be fun, likely ordering you to shore immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe? There is no risk from pirates in US coastal waters whatsoever. However, the water itself is very dangerous. There have been a lot of people lost at sea throughout history, and even very large and professionally operated ships go down from time to time. The sea is unforgiving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, on the upside, with many bareboat charter operations, you can hire someone to skipper the boat for you. If being alone on the boat isn't important to you, then you can do that, the hired skipper takes care of all the responsibilities, and all you have to think about is having a good time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-07-08T16:49:24.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6053" CreationDate="2015-07-08T22:54:30.203" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ultimate freedom – from where to camp to pace, breaks or even&lt;br&gt;&#xA;where to go, it is all up to you &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is a lot more room in the tent and you can spread your things everywhere &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No one makes stupid navigation errors and argues about it with you (unless it is you...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are camping, you can just read a book, or look at the sunset&#xA;or just lay down, no need to entertain anyone else&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other walkers and locals will be so happy to chat with and share a good story or a cup of tea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is only your farts in the tent!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you made a mistake it is all on you (from responsibility to the danger)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might get lonely, especially on longer trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No one is there to look at that amazing sunset with you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping becomes too practical; it is all about doing things efficiently&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you had enough or the climb is really endless, no one is there to give you a boost&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have to carry everything&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That will be my half hearted addition to the pros and cons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;At the end of the day, it is what you feel like - I like hiking and camping alone, my wife doesn't. Simple.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T12:40:43.223" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:40:43.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8709" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8710" CreationDate="2015-07-09T02:54:52.657" Score="5" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to find a long trail in Michigan's upper peninsula for myself and 3 friends to hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We plan on hiking for 7-9 days, and cannot seem to find a trail that is long enough to accommodate that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SO, what are some hiking trails in the UP long enough to travel on for a minimum of 7 days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6304" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-09T09:20:51.060" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T13:26:04.053" Title="Michigan Upper Peninsula Hiking - Long Trail" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8709" CreationDate="2015-07-09T13:26:04.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you do want to stay in the Michigan area, you might want to check out the &lt;a href=&quot;https://northcountrytrail.org/trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North Country Trail&lt;/a&gt; . As a disclaimer, I've never done any of the sections in Michigan, but I the section I hiked in Pennsylvania/New York was really nice. There are thousands of miles in the trail, so you can't really get bored. There are some sections that are connected by roads and bridges, however, so keep that in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6306" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T13:26:04.053" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8619" CreationDate="2015-07-09T13:37:52.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never heard of shampoo being a tick deterrent or being more efficient at tick removal than say washing your hair simply with water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in an area where diseases transmitted by ticks are an issue then I'd suggest you use the common safety procedures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vaccination&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;search your body before going to bed/while showering (it's best to have somebody help you for hard-to-observe places)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;try to limit activities which will expose you to many ticks (e.g. crawling through think underbrush, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a tick remove it quickly and safely, see our related question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/139/how-should-i-remove-a-tick&quot;&gt;How should I remove a tick?&lt;/a&gt;. I wouldn't bother fussing around with shampoo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-07-06T08:01:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-07-06T08:01:00.420" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8619" CreationDate="2015-07-09T14:58:24.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree shampoo is not the way to go with removing ticks.  The CDC has a short explanation of removing them: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Do make sure to get checked out by a doctor if you start feeling sick, it could be something serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5732" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T14:58:24.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8700" CreationDate="2015-07-09T15:04:57.253" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always like the way they thought knife safety in Cub Scouts.  It is called the Whittling Chip.  Here is a link to the description: &lt;a href=&quot;http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Whittling_Chip_Course&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Whittling_Chip_Course&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;You would be amazed on how much the kids love the quiz portion:&#xA;Knife Safety Quiz&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Part I: Circle the correct answer&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 1. A knife is NOT a toy. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 2. A dull knife is safer than a sharp knife. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 3. Dirt on a knife blade helps keep it sharp. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 4. Never carve your initials on anything that does NOT belong to you. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 5. When someone hands you a knife you say “Thank You” to show good manners. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 6. A knife is handy for cutting bark off trees. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 7. A pocketknife should always be closed when it is not in use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 8. It's okay to keep your knife wet. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 9. A Cub Scout can take his knife to a pack meeting at the school if school is out. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 10. You should carry your open knife in your pocket. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 11. You should close the blade with the palm of your hand &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;True / False 12. A Cub Scout should carry a fixed blade knife if it is kept in a sheath. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Part II: Fill in the blank&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Close the blade with the ________________ of your hand. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A __________________ should never be used on something that will dull or break it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;People watching you work with your knife should not enter your __________ __________. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Your knife should always be kept ___________ and _________. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Scissors should be handled with the same safety rules as a ____________. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Always ________ when carrying a knife or scissors. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Part III: Circle the correct answer&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Always keep your knife ( dry / wet ) so it will not rust. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;When using a knife, do not make ( big / little ) shavings or chips. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A ( dull / sharp ) knife is more likely to cut you. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A Cub Scout ( can / cannot ) take his knife to a den meeting at school if it is held outside. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A knife should be cleaned ( before / after ) cutting food. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A fixed blade knife or scissors should be passed to another person ( blade / handle ) first. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;The Pocketknife Pledge (fill in the blanks)&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I understand the reason for ________________________________________ rules. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I will treat my pocketknife with the ______________________________ due a useful tool. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I will always __________________________ my pocketknife and put it away when not in use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I will not use my pocketknife when it might _______________________ someone near me. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I ______________________________ never to throw my pocketknife for any reason. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I will use my pocketknife in a safe manner at ________________________times. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Choices: Close Respect Injure Promise All Safety&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5732" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-09-12T09:28:48.610" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T09:28:48.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8706" CreationDate="2015-07-09T15:59:11.777" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most places I think the risk of theft while camping is generally low. People who choose to do camping for their holiday often don't give the impression of having lots of expensive gear. Even if some camping gear is quite expensive you either need specialist knowledge to know its value and/or its resale value is quite low. Added to the relatively low payoff there are often people around campsites even during the day (although this varies a lot by location) which would increase the risk of thieves getting caught. Therefore, campsites rarely attract dedicated thieves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you are still leaving all you possessions in your tent easily accessible/unlocked so some precautions are advisable. Mainly, I would try and lock any valuables, particularly electronics, in your car or similar. At least hide then somewhere not obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While things such as sleeping bags can have significant value I think the chance of anyone stealing them is very low. Personally, I would be more concerned about people breaking into my house while I was away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T15:59:11.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8706" CreationDate="2015-07-09T20:07:15.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've probably been car camping at a public campground a few 100 nights in my life.  Of all those, I can only remember having stuff stolen from the campsite once.  For some of the early experiences I was too young to remember such things, but I didn't hear any stories of getting ripped off from my parents either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one time was when my son and I went to the White Mountains of NH for a few days.  We stayed at the Russell Pond Campground in Thornton and Woodstock.  It must have been around 2000 since my son was in grade school at the time.  We left a Coleman stove and a pot on the table in our campsite and went hiking for the day.  When we came back, the stove was gone.  This stove was at least 45 years old, and not particularly valuable monetarily.  Fortunately a neighbor let us cook our dinner on their stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It turns out this was just some urchins going around and causing trouble in the campground.  Apparently the police got envolved due to other things these kids did, but didn't know about our stove until after they let them go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is, don't leave obviously valuable things in plain sight, but things are generally safe.  However, you can't count on your stuff being absolutely safe in any one instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T20:07:15.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8697" CreationDate="2015-07-09T23:10:28.827" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a compact &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/sports/dp/B0001P151W&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Victorinox Swiss Army Knife (Huntsman)&lt;/a&gt; which I find perfectly adequate for all of the situations I have encountered in the wilderness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you consider that too heavy to carry (3.5 inches and 28grams) then you need to reevaluate your fitness (joke!) and what kind of trade-offs you are making between weight and functionality.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an ex-soldier I know plenty of guys who swear by huge industrial leatherman tools but I have never felt they were particularly more efficient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are my primary reasons;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The UK has very stringent laws regarding knives; it's not worth owning a larger variant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will always need to cut paracord or tape or bandages so a small blade is fine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I often strip sticks for the kids into items/poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have sawn down small foliage for various reasons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have used the bottle opener several times ;-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have whittled poles to slot into the eyeholes of the tarp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have used the tweezers quite a few times&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But ultimately it is really the idea that I would rather have a small, useful utility tool in my packing list and not need than the other way about. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was trekking the Appalachian Trail or the Rockies I would probably invest in a large, suitable knife because you are correct; 90% of the actions involve cutting, sawing, stripping or the blade portion in some way but for the UK and most of Europe a Swiss Army Knife is perfectly adequate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The limitation of a multi-tool versus a knife is the force you can bring to bare through the handle of a knife as a hammer-like strike (tent pegs, stakes, general all-round man smashing of stuff).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3686" LastEditDate="2015-07-09T23:15:31.070" LastActivityDate="2015-07-09T23:15:31.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8585" CreationDate="2015-07-10T04:30:58.040" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had a very similar yard at our last house, and had to work quite hard to attract the birds, but once they settled in, they stayed for the three years we lived there, so it was well worth it!  Food has been thoroughly covered, so I'll discuss other things that helped us. (I'll come back and post some pictures, which will be small, but you can click on them to get a closer look.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make use of the fence.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our area was also too open, so we put plants and feeders by the fence, as @Aravona has done. You can move your potted shrubs, but more is always better, so I recommend leaving those and adding new ones, especially larger and of the type @Rupert Rankin described, with flowers and twiggy bottoms. Our birds like weigela, if those grow in your area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you allowed to drill holes in the fence? If so, mount brackets and attach flower pots and feeders. If not, there are feeders which can be hung over the top. Rope tied on two fence posts across your corner would provide a nice place to hang lightweight feeders. I know you're under strict rules, though, so if you can't mar the fence at all, just put your feeders as close to it as you can. Birds like to perch on fence posts. If from there, it's only a quick hop to a meal, and a cozy spot, they'll come, and bring their friends! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Provide multiple types of feeders.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aravona's is an example of a good variety, but there are many more. The swallow-size birds will eat anywhere, but some of the larger birds appreciate wider feeders with bases they can sit on. Flat-tray types are fine too, like your bird table. As you've learned, it's not ideal for suet or wet food, but dishes of seeds on it are fine. We hang suet in cage feeders on hooks or trees. Height's another consideration. Our tallest feeder is over 6 feet, making it easier to spot. Also, some birds are fine in groups, while others prefer to eat alone, so provide some individual feeders too, off by themselves. As for the base, if you can't stick feeders in the dirt like Aravona's, many are available with flat or tripod-type bottoms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flowers are very important.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Colors and pollen attract birds, hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Also, grubs, worms and other yummy bird-meals live in the soil. Groups of potted flower plants are fine, either on the ground or on benches or other plant holders. Intersperse them among the feeders and shrubs. To mimic a garden, use some pots that are much larger than the flowers, leaving exposed dirt, for rooting around, hiding, eating and dry-bathing. You can put out pots of just dirt, if you don't mind looking at them! The craters in the picture of my annual flower bed are from sparrows rolling around like dogs in the dirt. Unfortunately, every time I try to take a picture of them, they fly off! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds love water!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birdbaths are for drinking, bathing and playing. The type doesn't matter, as long as you have more than one and keep them full and relatively clean. Large plastic saucers, similar to the one on Aravona's feeder, are fine too. Put them all over the yard, on your bird table and on the patio. Some people use upside-down lids from a trash barrel, either aluminum, plastic or rubber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you've been told, patience is important, but the right combination of food, feeders, plants and water will make yours the busiest bird-house on the block! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2015-07-10T04:30:58.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8585" CreationDate="2015-07-10T09:03:27.597" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think like a bird. If I were a bird, I would go were I can feed, breed, and hide from predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feederwatch.org/learn/feeding-birds/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird-&lt;strong&gt;feeders&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; address only one of those needs, and most of the time birds can find natural food, which they prefer, elsewhere. But come winter, they will happily stop by at hygienic, crow- and cat-proof feeders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds love &lt;strong&gt;trees&lt;/strong&gt;. This is were they live, breed, feed, and hide. You have already some shrubs, but your garden still looks very exposed. If you are not allowed to plant a tree, one option might be to put more trees and shrubs in pots or to let &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/planting/climbers/index.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbing plants&lt;/a&gt; grow on the fence. Maybe you are allowed to plant a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/planting/hedges/index.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hedge instead of the fence&lt;/a&gt;. This is something you could discuss with your landlord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/catdeterrents.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birds hate &lt;strong&gt;cats&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/a&gt; We used to have neighbours with cats. At some point they relocated, and I could &lt;em&gt;hear&lt;/em&gt; from the sound level in our garden that, once the cats were gone, the sing-birds were back. If you have a cat, I am afraid, there will be few birds in the garden. If there are cats around, this is one more reason to put up trees and shrubs for the birds to hide in. However, make sure that cats can't climb up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/planting/index.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birds love &lt;strong&gt;naturally occurring food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; like berries, slugs, beetles, and insects. These are found in gardens that are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2013/09-10/humane-backyard-maryland.html?credit=web_id86139400?referrer=http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/feeding_birds.html?referrer=https://www.google.de/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;free from pesticides&lt;/a&gt; and not too tidy. You don't have to let your garden run wild. Just leave some piles of leaves and fallen fruit, and let a patch of flowers go to seed. Maybe let the grass grow a little longer. Pick a shrub that has berries. (Maybe some that are not edible for humans, unless you don't mind the birds eating all your currants.) And pick arable flowers that attract insects and grow seed, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/feeding_birds.html?referrer=https://www.google.de/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;corn cockle, corn marigold, poppy and cornflower&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2015-07-11T08:23:39.447" LastActivityDate="2015-07-11T08:23:39.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2015-07-10T22:56:49.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This youtube video offers another option that I have found useful:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmhG4LX3Jg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Managing excess webbing straps on backpacks etc.&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;I purchased what is called in the US &quot;Velcro One Wrap&quot; at a fabric store, around $5 for a 3/4&quot; x 4' roll. Much more than I needed for one backpack, over half is left over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6312" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-11T02:25:36.590" LastActivityDate="2015-07-11T02:25:36.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8722" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8727" CreationDate="2015-07-11T11:15:12.257" Score="10" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen some folks handling fish in a rather rough way before releasing them. The other day I was in a similar situation and realized that I don't know well what the best practices are either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get that keeping them in the water and using a landing net are two essentials, but what else is there? Barbless hooks? Is there a better type of landing net? How about the way you land the fish? Any other tips?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-28T00:51:01.550" LastActivityDate="2018-11-28T00:51:01.550" Title="What are the best practices to ensure survival of catch and release fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8726" CreationDate="2015-07-11T11:38:11.980" Score="12" ViewCount="273" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was down at high rock lake N.C. and I was making a little map of the shore lines in my kayak, or at least going to. I ran into a problem, I could not judge the distance from the last mark I made to the next(needed to make a map).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is &lt;strong&gt;how did people make maps of shores before modern times?&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also did they make them on boats&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also How can I tell how fast I'm going on a kayak?&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6190" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:41:27.330" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T19:41:27.330" Title="How did cartographers map out shores before modern times?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8723" CreationDate="2015-07-11T14:31:17.800" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the primary techniques is the use of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_reckoning#Marine_navigation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dead Reckoning&lt;/a&gt; although the secrets of long distance &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Polynesian maritime navigation&lt;/a&gt; still remain a mystery despite huge evidence of their wayfinding ability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way for maritime navigators to map locations was to build on the predecessors knowledge through the use of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Periplus&lt;/a&gt;.  It served the same purpose as the later Roman itinerarium of road stops; however, the Greek navigators added various notes, which if they were professional geographers (as many were) became part of their own additions to Greek geography. In that sense the periplus was a type of log. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Henry Davis has a large &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/EMwebpages/219mono.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;presentation&lt;/a&gt; about the History of Cartography and Slide 19 details that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Idrisi fused elements from East and West with Arab knowledge to produce a world-picture. He was critical of traditional sources (even though he squeezed his map into a climate-zone framework) and he gathered much of the data for his map not only from contemporary lore and explorers' reports, but also from charts or from &lt;strong&gt;books of sailing instructions the Greeks called Periploi (these charts dated back to a mariner named Scylax, who kept a periplus, or record, of his voyage around the Mediterranean in about 350 B.C.).&lt;/strong&gt; Idrisi's map of 1154 took the form of a silver tablet, probably measuring 3.5 X 1.5 meters (12 X 5 feet); later, in 1160, this tablet fell into the hands of a mob and was smashed to pieces. In 1154, a few weeks before Roger's death, manuscripts of the book in Latin and Arabic were completed, together with the rectangular map, which was drawn on 70 sheets, along with a small circular world map. Roger named this book Nuzhat al-Mushtak, however the author named it Kitab Rudjar, i.e.,The Book of Roger, and the map, Tabula Rogeriana.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I cannot answer your question fully I would direct your attention to the&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fra_Mauro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Fra Mauro&lt;/a&gt; from 1450 by the mapmaker of the same name who authored it primarily from first hand accounts he took from travellers and merchants returning to Venice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Curiously several maps have led to unexplained or certainly interesting thought exercises by their nature.  For instance; the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Peri-Reis&lt;/a&gt; Map arguably shows large swathes of a non-ice covered Antartica, amazing considering the map was compiled in 1513...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several authors have argued the Peri-Reis map as evidence of human technological advancement by cultures prior to those we currently have documented (Egyptian, Greek, Aztec etc) and/or enlightenment from external visitors to earth since, as you raise in your question, how could maps of such detail and breadth possibly exist given the state of human knowledge and exploration...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3686" LastEditDate="2015-07-11T14:38:00.173" LastActivityDate="2015-07-11T14:38:00.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8723" CreationDate="2015-07-11T22:28:22.760" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The topics of navigation and cartography are two sides of the same coin, and there are entire books written about each.  It is interesting to study the history of cartography because it very graphically shows the corresponding improvements in navigation over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to make an accurate map, you need to know first where you are making your observations from.  Making the observations from a previously known position will result in much greater accuracy.  This position may have been established by an earlier survey (eg, working from a known point on an existing map) or by being able to independently figure out your position with good certainty on the position of the globe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prior to the mid-1700's, the primary means of navigation was dead reckoning (DR).  This requires that you iteratively advance your position on the map from your last known position using direction and time/distance.  Of course, over time, errors will compound resulting in reduced accuracy.  You must have a way of measuring your direction of travel and a (somewhat) accurate value for your speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later in the 1700's, it was possible to navigate more accurately using celestial navigation.  This allowed a skilled navigator to determine his position rather accurately (typically within a few miles) at any point on the globe.  The position was typically found once each day and advanced using DR as necessary.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, we have GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Measuring distance north and south is considerably more easy than measuring distance east and west.  Lines of latitude are evenly spaced, where lines of longitude are not.  In the northern hemisphere, latitude can be measured by finding the elevation of Polaris above the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, lines of longitude converge at the poles resulting in variable distance.  Measuring longitude is very tricky, though there is a great book called &quot;Longitude&quot; (Dava Sobel) which covers the topic (and its solution) exceptionally well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will note in many older maps, distances north and south are quite accurate where distances east and west are often distorted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To your immediate concern - mapping a shoreline - I would recommend using a GPS receiver (modern equivalent of celestial navigation) to record your position at the moment you are making your observations.  In making your observations, use a cruiser compass, which allows you to shoot relatively accurate bearings from your position.  Record the bearings to several reference points over a couple of observations, and you will be able to triangulate them accurately on paper.  From these triangulated points, you will have to interpolate the coastline between the points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a lot of navigation in the Navy, and this technique is the converse of what is known as &quot;piloting&quot;.  With piloting, you are determining your location using bearings from reference points on accurate maps. Here, we are using the bearing to objects to determine position of points along the coastline.  Still, it works much the same way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maps - especially of shorelines - were almost certainly made from observations taken from boats.  Naval navigation is much more accurate than navigation on land (especially without good maps!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You give a nod to the problem of dead reckoning in your question regarding the determination of speed.  I don't kayak, but I do hike, and I have found that over time, things average out.  I can't say what my hiking speed is at any instant, but I can say that I average about 2.8 miles per hour over the course of several hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in this topic, I'd recommend you pick up a copy of Dutton's Navigation and Piloting.  This is a text book used to teach navigators, and is perhaps the authority on the topic.  The older versions (older than mid-1980s) are especially interesting since they still include some information on celestial navigation.  My copy is from 1969.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also recommend Barefoot Navigator (Jack Lagan) which covers the navigation skills of the &quot;ancient&quot; cultures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Finding Your Way Without Map and Compass&quot; (Harold Gatty) is another fine book.  The author was a navigator (both naval and aviator), so he has some interesting takes on navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, &quot;Longitude&quot; (Dava Sobel) is a fantastic read about solving the problem of longitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="5341" LastEditDate="2015-07-11T22:43:37.010" LastActivityDate="2015-07-11T22:43:37.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8722" CreationDate="2015-07-12T01:18:12.663" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In certain BC rivers, fishing is catch and release only, it's illegal to fish with anything but a single barbless hook. I have a whole tackle box full of spoons that have been hacked to death by a pair of side cutters in order to make them legal for catch and release. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you hook a fish, reel them in normal, but pick them out of the water with a net, don't just fling them onto the dirty shore where they can flop around in the sand and dirt and bash their bodies against the rocks. Grab them gently behind the gills to take the hook out, take a picture if you want one, then submerge them back in the water, head facing away from you, and gently &quot;wave&quot; them back and forth to get some water flowing through their gills. Reeling them in tires them out, so you need to give them a chance to recover before letting them go, don't just toss them back in the water, there might be a chance that they'll just float there and drown. Let them regain some strength and when they're ready they'll simply swim out of your hands and back down into the depths. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fish will mostly be ok, in fact it'll likely go right back to what it was doing before it got caught: looking for food. It's not unusual to catch the same fish over and over again while fishing catch and release. I sometimes wonder if they get used to being caught, and know they're going to be released so they just bite everything, not worrying about whether or not it might be a hook because they know they're going to be tossed right back in the water even if it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-12T01:50:13.117" LastActivityDate="2015-07-12T01:50:13.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2015-07-12T03:23:56.843" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend using a pee jar for all middle aged and older men who prefer not to get up at night. I do this at home all the time and I barely have to wake up to use it. A wide-mouth salsa jar is perfect because it has a lid that seals well so there is no oder escaping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I empty the jar in the morning and rinse it out. I was getting yellow urine deposits in the jar that I would clean out with a Brillo pad every now and then however I recently started putting a small dab of hand soap in the jar with a small amount of water and shake this up on the way back to the bedroom. So far in two weeks no urine deposits have appeared. I also was going to try a small amount of vinegar as a deposit preventer but the soap is working. The jars hold 16 ounces and I almost always fill one jar with one to three uses at night or in the morning before I get up to dress or shower. One advantage of using a jar is that it interrupts my sleep less and is much less likely to wake up my wife even if she is in another room. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6315" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T03:59:50.347" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:59:50.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8729" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8731" CreationDate="2015-07-12T17:27:42.023" Score="6" ViewCount="450" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am attending a conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and afterwards I am considering going for a 3-day hike somewhere around Turbine Canyon[&lt;a href=&quot;http://albertascampgrounds.com/turbine-canyon-campground-walk-with-grizzly-bears/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;], 3-isle[&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Three-Isle-Lake-and-South-Kananaskis-Pass-near-Kananaskis-AB-1634&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;] or Aster Lake[&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Aster-Lake-near-Kananaskis-AB-11653&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;] in the Rockies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How safe is it with Grizzly bears in that area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:17:43.540" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:17:43.540" Title="How safe is it with Grizzly bears when hiking in the Rockies near Calgary, Alberta?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8730" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8735" CreationDate="2015-07-12T18:56:15.903" Score="5" ViewCount="373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/2984/can-i-heat-a-shelter-with-fire&quot;&gt;this question about heating a shelter&lt;/a&gt; and it occurred to me: I've always been told to use a reflector and how it benefited me, but never told how to position it to maximize efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the most efficient way to position a reflector?&lt;/strong&gt; I'm interested in answers regarding both wooded areas and flat plains with a light wind. Assume it's a small group, or one to four persons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T02:18:40.527" Title="What is the most efficient way to position a reflector?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8729" CreationDate="2015-07-12T19:53:24.283" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;As safe as you make it.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't fool yourself, bears are there, and they &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; attack you if they feel they are being threatened. The Canadian Rockies are wild and full of large predators, it's not not a zoo or game preserve, the danger is real. You must understand that you are in &lt;em&gt;their&lt;/em&gt; territory, &lt;strong&gt;the most important thing to do is to properly educate yourself for travel in bear country&lt;/strong&gt;. Treat the bears and wildlife with respect, be wise, and you will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thousands of people hike and camp in those mountains everyday from all around the world, notices are posted at trail heads and advisories of bear activity or aggressive animals are always available at the visitor centre and often online on the park websites. The Parks Canada website also provides a page for educating yourself on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bears in the Mountain National Parks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, I suggest you read it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to that link there are many other questions that address &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/search?q=bears&quot;&gt;bears&lt;/a&gt; on this site, so I suggest you browse those as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you go into the backcountry with at least one can of bear spray, something to hang a food cache with &lt;em&gt;(if you're staying at any campgrounds that don't have caches or bear boxes, which most do)&lt;/em&gt;, and a good amount of bear wisdom, then you'll be plenty prepared to enjoy your trip and be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-12T19:53:24.283" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8732" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8737" CreationDate="2015-07-12T22:09:06.883" Score="11" ViewCount="814" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're lead climbing, the most common way for the rope to hang naturally, if you don't do anything special, is usually between your legs. Is this OK on rock? On ice? Why or why not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rock, the impression I get is that it's fine, as long as you don't back-step the rope. I have heard people in the gym tell people not to do it, but I suspect they're either wrong or oversimplifying. Flipping through some rock climbing videos on youtube, I pretty quickly came across examples of extremely skilled sport climbers with the rope in this position, e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P5akoQ_eNI#t=380&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P5akoQ_eNI#t=380&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On ice, are you supposed to keep the rope over one thigh because it makes it less likely that you'll damage it with your crampons or get your crampon points tangled in it? I've had a small amount of instruction and experience ice climbing, but I don't do it often enough to remember much of the technique from one time to the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T03:55:38.390" Title="Rope between legs while leading on rock, ice" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8733" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8751" CreationDate="2015-07-12T23:10:48.520" Score="9" ViewCount="2800" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will go to a wet territory (Jotunheimen) next week and would like to prepare my &lt;a href=&quot;http://hanwagboot.com/products/tashi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;full leather shoes&lt;/a&gt; for that. I have read a lot of articles about shoe care and they are either about impregnation (spray) or waxing but what to do first? &#xA;Could anyone tell me in what order I have to treat my shoes so it does not harm the leather and I get the best water resistancy effect?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4068" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:37:49.610" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:37:49.610" Title="Impregnation and waxing full leather shoes" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8734" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8796" CreationDate="2015-07-12T23:32:20.753" Score="7" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been spending many hours by the water recently and usually try a lot of flies before I find what is working on a particular day. The question is: what to do with all the flies that got wet after I used them? I reckon that I should dry them, but is there any nice way to do it before putting them back into my fly box?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: attaching them to hats seems to be a popular option, but what if I don't want to damage my hat or if I don't wear one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T12:08:00.503" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T17:01:39.483" Title="Is there a good and fast way to dry used flies before storing them?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8730" CreationDate="2015-07-13T02:18:40.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, modern technology has eliminated the necessity of using campfires to stay warm at night with light weight tents and effective sleeping systems. There was a time when fires were almost a necessity in order to sleep comfortably in the cold, but nowadays they are only required in survival situations, and are actually frowned upon by people who practice Leave No Trace ethical camping. But, knowing how to construct an effective fire screen is still valuable knowledge to possess if you ever do find yourself in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reflectors were used to capture more of a fire's heat by reflecting what heat was being radiated away from your bed back into your open sleeping shelter. A more efficient reflector would obviously reflect as much of that radiating heat into your shelter as possible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wjKzL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In brief, the better your shelter is planned out, and the more time you dedicate to building it well, the more efficient your reflector is going to be.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your biggest enemy is going to be the wind, if you can't avoid setting up camp in a windy location, then you need to spend more time constructing a shelter which will protect against the wind, in the plains you can easily accomplish this by digging a &lt;em&gt;pit shelter&lt;/em&gt; if it's feasible for you to do so and the ground is soft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have as many as four people, you could build four lean-tos in a closed square and all sleep around the fire, then the only heat that could escape the would be that which is going straight up. This basically emulates a teepee, which is also an extremely effective shelter for reflecting heat from a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tips for improving the efficiency of your wind screen would be to use more reflective materials such as tin foil, or a survival blanket, or by building screens in a semi-circle around the back and sides of your fire so no more heat is wasted. Simple geometry can even aid in improving efficiency, by angling your screen/s to more effectively direct the heat where you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplest way to make your screen more effective, is just to make it bigger. Walk around your shelter and your fire to see where the heat is radiating away from your bed and keep adding onto your reflector, or add more reflectors to direct more heat from your fire back into your shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T02:18:40.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8732" CreationDate="2015-07-13T03:35:22.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest problem with a rope between you legs is what happens in a fall and the way the rope can cause all sorts of nasty outcomes when its between your legs and you don;t get a clean offload. In the gym you expect to fall, its something that happens regularly in gym climbing. Despite many falls being well controlled and expected, a rope between your legs significantly increases the risk of a bad fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rock, you do not expect to fall - a minimum you do not climb with the same tolerance to falls as indoors, especially if on sketchy natural pro. On ice, a fall is normally considered a major screw up. As such, what happens if the rope is between your legs is almost irrelevant - there are so many other things to go badly wrong the rope flipping you upside down and out of control does not significantly increase the risk of a bad outcome (especially on ice). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as cramponing the rope - if you do not pay attention where it is, you will crampon the rope sooner or later no matter where it is. In my experience the rope though my legs is no more likely to get in the way. If backing off, it pays to flick the rope from between you legs, but otherwise its not normally an issue.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It comes down to risk acceptance and avoidance. Often you will change rope position - thinking ahead of time helps you choose a time and place that its easy(ish), sometimes its more dangerous to try and move the rope position than climbing on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T03:35:22.283" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8732" CreationDate="2015-07-13T04:34:50.223" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that rope management at your harness (in both rock and ice climbing) is an extension of managing your rope while you're clipping into your pro. You carry different lengths of draws and slings so you can keep your rope as straight as possible to reduce drag and avoid popping out all your pro when you weight the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're climbing left of your last piece of pro, it makes sense to hang your rope over your right foot, if climbing right of your last piece, then hang your rope over your left foot, if climbing directly overtop of your last piece of pro, then it may make sense to let the rope hang between your legs. If your rope is in your way, move it, just make sure wherever you hang your rope, that it doesn't get behind either of your legs and put you in a position that might flip you if you fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reading through Will Gadd's book on ice climbing, he doesn't seem to make any mention of where you should let your rope hang, but looking at the pictures he seems to favour between the legs. Personally that's where I feel most comfortable keeping it, because if you have it off to the side while kicking your next step with that foot, the rope tends to fall off your leg to in between your feet anyways while you draw your leg back to kick. I tend to shift my weight away from where I'm kicking anyways, so the rope naturally swings over to my other foot and away from where I'm making my next step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIZQV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nt1Yt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NU7PH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Images from Will Gadd's book, &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Ice-Mixed-Climbing-P259.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice and Mixed Climbing: Modern Technique&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as the rope isn't in your way, and it isn't in a position where it can tie you up if you take a fall, then it's fine to let it hang where it may.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-15T03:55:38.390" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T03:55:38.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8738" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:18:53.460" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to fishing with fly tackle should have this tag.&#xA;Fly fishing techniques differ substantially from other modalities of fishing.&#xA;Fly tackle consists of :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly rod: more flexible and usually longer than rods used with a spin reel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly line: a thicker and heavier line than monofilament. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flies are extremely light lures which is propelled by the weight of the fly line as it loads (bends) the rod. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T11:58:18.350" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T11:58:18.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8739" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:18:53.460" Score="0" Body="Fly fishing is the modality of fishing that uses a fly, a fly line, a fly rod, and a fly reel. Questions referring to fishing with fly tackle should have this tag.&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:42:51.157" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:42:51.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8740" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:20:20.380" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about how to choose, use, maintain, repair, and otherwise deal with fishing equipment should have this tag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:43:09.177" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:43:09.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8741" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:20:20.380" Score="0" Body="Questions about how to choose, use, maintain, repair, and otherwise deal with fishing equipment should have this tag. " OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:42:43.920" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:42:43.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8742" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:24:33.097" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions involving food that is used to attract fish and entice them to take the hook when fishing should have this tag. Examples are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Is shrimp a good bait for rainbow trout?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bait usually attracts fish because it is food. Other types of lure such as wobblers and flies – which attract food using movement, color, and shape – are not considered bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T11:57:45.993" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T11:57:45.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8743" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:24:33.097" Score="0" Body="Questions involving food that is used to attract fish and entice them to take the hook when fishing should have this tag. " OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:51:48.170" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:51:48.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8744" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8782" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:39:39.463" Score="6" ViewCount="1579" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been practicing fly casting in my backyard using the same line that I use to fish. The question is: will my line get damaged from this? I reckon that these things are made to drag through water and vegetation, but I'm still worried that me dragging it through my lawn will accelerate the wear and tear process. Should I use an old line for that? Is there any better way of doing it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T18:05:02.410" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T18:05:02.410" Title="Will practicing casting on my backyard lawn damage my fly line? If so, how to avoid it?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;casting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8745" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:41:30.233" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions involving how to cast using a fishing rod and line should use this tag. Casting is the act of propelling your bait, lure, fly through the air towards where fish are. It can become a sport in its own, as with fly casting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:43:18.000" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:43:18.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8746" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T10:41:30.233" Score="0" Body="Questions involving how to cast using a fishing rod and line should use this tag. Casting is the act of propelling your bait, lure, fly through the air towards where fish are. It can become a sport in its own, as with fly casting." OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:51:57.757" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:51:57.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8733" CreationDate="2015-07-13T13:57:11.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I treat my leather boots with neatsfoot oil, and that generally is plenty to protect the leather and keep it supple in mud and wet.  If it is snow with a lot of salt and things around, I might add something waxy like Snoseal or mink oil.  Overall, neatsfoot oil is cheap and works wonderfully.  Generally it is all I need spending a lot of time outdoors in Upstate NY.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6318" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T13:57:11.160" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8749" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8759" CreationDate="2015-07-13T13:59:38.177" Score="10" ViewCount="1434" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read a few books about gathering wild mushrooms as it's something I'm interested in exploring, and all of them stress the importance of using a wicker basket to transport the mushrooms so that they can &quot;breathe&quot; on the way home. However, I live in a very urban area and would look somewhat out of place, to say the least, carrying a basket of organic goodies down the street like Little Red Riding Hood; in short, I want a container that preserves both the mushrooms and my dignity. What can I use? I usually carry a backpack, but would this be too enclosed for the poor fungi?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6321" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:27.613" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:37:27.613" Title="What should I bring home foraged mushrooms in?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8733" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:10:22.663" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Full leather shoes are easy to take care of in a way: they'll perform exactly accordingly to how you treat them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;First off:&lt;/em&gt; if the shoes are new, don't to anything. They'll already be treated/impregnated and ready to use (apart from breaking them in). You'll likely not gain anything by applying additional impregnation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treatments I have experience with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wax:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion natural bees wax is your best option. Makes the leather 100% waterproof, but keeps it breathable, so less sweatiness for your feet. Works best if you warm your shoes up (e.g. using a hair drier), then apply the wax, then warm some more until the leather soaks up the hot wax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grease:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is quite similar to wax, but from my experience (and what I heard) it impairs breathability of your shoe a bit, so you're more likely to sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Impregnation:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imho this is good for short duration uses, but needs to be repeated frequently. Also if you do hikes that really tax your shoes (i.e. lots of water, walking through high grass, underbrush, rocks/sand, ...) it is my experience that the impregnation will rub off/disappear quite quickly. So for a hike of a week or more, I'll stick with grease/wax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal favorite is &lt;strong&gt;natural bees wax&lt;/strong&gt;. Makes my full leather boots 100% water proof, keeps them breathable and I don't have to repeat the procedure very often... One waxing before a 2 week hike is enough for example (I repeat it maybe once a year).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no experience combining the above techniques, and don't think it's worth trying. Find something that works for you and stick with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note:&lt;/em&gt; if you're using wax or grease, don't treat your shoes more often than necessary. The treatment (especially if using the trick with the hair drier) will also make the leather more supple. This can be a good thing in the beginning, but if done excessively you can lose some of the stability your shoe gives you (e.g. around the ankles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T14:10:22.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8749" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:14:55.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A brown paper bag should allow them to breath and keep your dignity. Don't keep them in it too long though, it's better than plastic but still not as good as something that allows the air to circulate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T14:14:55.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8749" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:15:30.660" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have good experiences using &lt;strong&gt;cloth grocery bags&lt;/strong&gt; (note: breathability).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how many mushrooms you are gathering it might be necessary to put something like a bowl/small basket into the bottom of the bag to keep the mushrooms from getting squished by the downwards pull of the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T14:15:30.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8754" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8797" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:23:37.107" Score="4" ViewCount="987" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of wading sandals (made by Keen and designed for water sports) to which I added a few metal studs and have been using for wet wading while fly fishing in shallow streams. Now I wonder if I can use them with proper waders in lieu of wading boot or wading shoes (i.e. wear the sandals over the neoprene 'socks' of the waders). Is there anyone there who has tried it? Are there any disadvantages or problems that would make it impractical? I currently don't own waders, so I can't test it myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T17:10:18.797" Title="Can I use wading sandals with waders?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;wading&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8755" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:26:07.890" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about walking through water, usually while practicing sports such as fishing.&#xA;Examples are:&#xA;- Crossing rivers and streams.&#xA;- Wading techniques (i.e. proper use of wading staffs)&#xA;- Use of wading gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:07:46.520" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:07:46.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8756" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T14:26:07.890" Score="0" Body="Questions about walking through water, usually while practicing sports such as fishing." OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:07:49.340" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:07:49.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8757" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T15:12:55.563" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about how to behave during outdoor activities in order to preserve the environment and to protect animal or plant species. Example questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What to do with waste from camping?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to make sure that catch and release fish survive?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:43:01.550" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:43:01.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8758" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T15:12:55.563" Score="0" Body="Questions about how to behave during outdoor activities in order to preserve the environment and to protect animal or plant species. " OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T15:52:00.507" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:52:00.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8749" CreationDate="2015-07-13T15:47:18.873" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any cloth bag with a loose weave will also work. Closely woven bags are a second good choice, but won't breathe as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the reason for a basket, though, is that you'll also have a lot of structural support, and the goods will have less crushing, bumping, and bruising.  You can use plastic fruit containers that have built in drainage and air holes inside a cloth bag to provide the structural support, and the bag to keep them out of the light while providing an easy, discreet way to carry them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3338" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T15:47:18.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8760" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-13T15:49:58.140" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about cleaning fish and preparing it for consumption. Cleaning fish involves removing guts, scales, spikes and other parts unsuitable for consumption. Different species may have different anatomies and therefore need different techniques for cleaning. Example questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to clean and gut perch?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it possible to leave a trout's scales if I'm planning to not eat its skin?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T16:59:58.680" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T16:59:58.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8761" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-13T15:49:58.140" Score="0" Body="Questions about cleaning fish and preparing it for consumption." OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T16:59:55.017" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T16:59:55.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6160" CreationDate="2015-07-13T16:06:08.223" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ground temperature up to 30 feet deep varies as a function of depth and the seasonal temperature.  The further down you go, the more it &quot;averages&quot; the location's seasonal variations and the more it lags the seasonal changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Hole in the ground&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In southwest canada (vancouver, for instance) you can expect that four feet down the ground will be around 50F (10C).  Go further down and you can lower it another few degrees, but for your purposes this should be sufficient for your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the simple case, dig a hole four feet deep, drop a metal or plastic trash can into it, and then tie a rope to your goods (perhaps a small cooler) and lower them in the trash can.  Keep the top covered, and if possible insulated.  Lining a sheet of marine plywood with foam insulation on both sides, for instance, and laying it over the top will allow the hole to remain cool regardless of the air currents at the surface. If your area is prone to surface water, keep the top of the can several inches above ground level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the more complex case, dig a full root cellar and consider it a walk-in fridge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you insulate well, and your can/cellar are in the shade, you may find they maintain temperatures well below the above estimate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Groundwater temperature&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use a well for water, then you'll find it gets even colder than the ground immediately below your feet. Find your water pressure tank, insulate it with a small area enclosed in the insulation.  Store your perishables in that area, and the groundwater you're pumping up will keep the tank and the enclosed area cool.  If you use a thermometer you can figure out how much water you need to use a day to keep it at a reasonable temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3338" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T16:06:08.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="388" CreationDate="2015-07-13T16:15:16.183" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to ssduplantis's mention to Tenkara, I would like to write that some fly rods are very portable. Some manufacturers make rods consisting of up to 7 pieces, which fit into a 40cm canister that is very portable. One example is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.orvis.com/travel-fly-rods&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Orvis frequent flyer series&lt;/a&gt;. That, a fly reel, a box of flies, and a leader would not take much more space than a Tenkara rod. I personally own a 8 wt 9ft of these rods and am very satisfied with it's quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T16:15:16.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8749" CreationDate="2015-07-13T17:23:04.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could actually try a mushroom bag, which is basically a cloth bag with a plastic liner that usually has a draw string to keep it tight. My mother in law has one, she uses it for shop brought mushrooms sometimes (you can also get similar potato ones) but the idea then is you can store them straight away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They tend to stop sweating and moulding of the mushrooms when you store them. You could also try a plastic container with holes in the base and loosely cover with clingfilm such as how they are stored in supermarkets. That should allow it to still breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that John Wright always uses a wicker basket, and he is the mushroom man. Doesn't mean you have to use a traditional one, you could find a painted modern one? White painted wicker is pretty popular here for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T20:13:46.010" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T20:13:46.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8766" CreationDate="2015-07-13T18:46:13.667" Score="11" ViewCount="9478" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let us say we have around 0 degrees celsius and I have wet feet and I am in the middle of nowhere (let us say 2 days away from any civilisation). On the one hand people say it is no problem to walk in wet shoes on the other hand I have heard about pneumonia. So what should I do in this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4068" LastEditorUserId="4068" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T07:25:59.893" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T09:25:29.297" Title="How dangerous is it to walk with wet feet in cold terrain?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8765" CreationDate="2015-07-13T19:17:52.827" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pneumonia is not what you have to be worried about in this situation. It is a serious pathological condition of the lungs commonly (but not exclusively) caused by viral or bacterial infection. Unless you were previously infected it is not likely to catch anything away from civilization. There is a widespread notion of a relation between being cold and catching the common cold (which is not pneumonia), but many studies could not find any relation. If interested google it or start here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2008/04/02/2205865.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2008/04/02/2205865.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand you are in danger of frostbite on your feet. I guess you do not have the possibility to dry them (otherwise this is the obvious way to go). If you already have frostbite and have any means of calling rescue, do that. If you feet are still fine you can walk towards civilization, walking should keep your feet from getting frostbite at 0 degrees with appropriate shoes. When stopping your wet feet are in high danger of cooling out, so you cannot stop for long. Including other problems like the blisters you will probably develop with wet feet and trench feet, it will probably be inadvisable to try to go on, so again get rescue if you can. In case this is no option you will just have to walk on, there is not much to do. For the night you can obviously remove the shoes and thus should be fine (or at least not worsening).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-10-03T09:25:29.297" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T09:25:29.297" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8765" CreationDate="2015-07-13T19:18:17.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;48 hours is very definitively too long for your feet to be wet, even regardless of temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_foot_syndromes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_foot_syndromes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the CDC article &quot;Injury occurs because wet feet lose heat 25-times faster than dry feet. Therefore, to prevent heat loss, the body constricts blood vessels to shut down circulation in the feet. Skin tissue begins to die because of lack of oxygen and nutrients...&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/coldstress/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/coldstress/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should make every effort to avoid finding yourself in the situation you describe, because if you are unable to dry your feet in subzero temperatures your are extremely likely to die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2015-07-13T20:27:20.267" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T20:27:20.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5892" CreationDate="2015-07-13T19:52:02.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While experience from winter hiking and climbing (its more high altitude trekking) Kilimanjaro will be of use in the approach and for having some idea of how you react to high altitude it is still not at all sufficient for climbing this peaks. According to internet sources there are glaciers, seracs, zones with rockfall and a steep of ~45deg. This is a serious mountaineering undertaking which apart from technic also requires experience to judge the dangers. Especially the glacier which is described as a labirynth of crevasses in combination with dangers from rockfall and seracs makes local knowledge of a guide very valuable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: Having no previous mountaineering experience it is &lt;strong&gt;essential to hire a guide&lt;/strong&gt; for such a tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally you will profit a lot from his knowledge and will be able to enjoy the trip. If you insist on doing it unguided you first need to get the technical knowledge (look for courses by mountain/guide organisations) and apply it on easier tours to get experience. With that you will also get a feeling for how challenging such a trip is and whether you are able to master it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-07-13T19:52:02.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8596" CreationDate="2015-07-14T03:31:50.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rod, reel (with line), hooks, sinkers, and probably bobbers. Landing net is optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T03:31:50.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8770" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8771" CreationDate="2015-07-14T03:43:05.567" Score="4" ViewCount="2210" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week, my husband was walking on a path beside a shallow brook in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mass.gov/locations/rutland-state-park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rutland State Park&lt;/a&gt;, a wooded area in central Massachusetts, USA. He came across a bright yellow mushroom with a very short, white stem. It was very small, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high and just a bit wider. The cap was fully rounded, almost bulb-like, and firm.  The stem was flexible, but not wanting to break it, he didn't bend it far enough to get a view from underneath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with all other items found in nature, it's important to leave things as they are, so he didn't pick it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was the only one of its type he saw on the two-mile path. What is this pretty mushroom?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on photos for full size.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://I.stack.imgur.com/rEr8b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rEr8bm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://I.stack.imgur.com/h3egn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h3egnm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T23:55:30.470" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T23:55:30.470" Title="What is this small, bright yellow, mushroom found in the woods in Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8770" CreationDate="2015-07-14T04:11:31.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bolbitius titubans&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also known as &lt;em&gt;Bolbitius vitellinus&lt;/em&gt;, that there looks to be a young &lt;strong&gt;Yellow Field Cap&lt;/strong&gt;. They're quite small when they're yellow, but they quickly mature into taller, flatter, brownish mushroom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7jw7y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qwBgM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g47i0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T04:11:31.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8765" CreationDate="2015-07-14T09:56:28.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am presuming this is not a hypothetical survival situation and it can be planned for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to regularly walked in wet boots for days, often in near (although rarely below) 0 degree temperatures, although pass hopping we could spend most of a day above the snow line with wet boots.  A typical week to 10 day trip where I live you will cross a river within minutes of leaving the car park. In many of our forests the river is the track and you will cross it a dozen times every kilometer. Wet feet is a given, in winter, cold wet feet is a given.  Its usually frowned on to remove boots to keep feet dry - apart from the risk of an accident, its an exercise that slows you down and is pointless because eventually your mates will leave you behind so they can get to camp before dark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It won't kill you if you are careful and look after yourself. Frost bite and less severe cold injury must be avoided at all costs- do not carry on if you cannot feel you toes, stop and get you feet warm. Blisters can be a problem, and good socks and foot care is essential, as well as proper fitting boots and correct lacing. First sign of blister you must stop and correct the problem (usually lacing is enough, maybe a dressing). If you feet are starting to feel they are getting worse, stop and remove boots and socks for an hour will make a huge difference, even a half hour of fresh air helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key thing is letting your feet dry out and breath when camped. Most people only are on the move for no more than 8-10 hours a day, leaving 14-16 hours for feet to dry and recover. The reason the solders in WW1 had such a big problem with trench foot was 24 hours of submersion and wet feet. As soon as you stop to make camp, boots and socks must come off and dry socks go on. If multi day, wash socks and hang up to dry if at all possible - clean and wet is better than dirty and damp. I always carried a pair of light sandles, as these allow plenty of air movement. Don't use your dry socks the next day (unless its the last day), you must get your feet dry and warm in the evening. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in survival mode the advise above applies more so. Take every opportunity to look after your feet, they are the only thing that will get you home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T09:56:28.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8773" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8774" CreationDate="2015-07-14T10:19:26.087" Score="18" ViewCount="3333" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to make a trip on a river in an inflatable rowing boat. The trip is going to be two days long: one day down the river and the next day - back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is how I should spend night. I don't have a tent and now am pondering over whether I should buy it and spend night onshore or not. Have anybody spent night in the boat on the water? Is it safe? What safety precautions should I take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The river is relatively calm, it's the Dnieper river in Ukarine, and at the section I'm going to boat at it is about 500 meters (540 yards) wide, current speed is 0,6 - 0,7 m/s (up to 2 miles per hour).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6329" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T13:47:43.917" LastActivityDate="2020-12-31T09:38:57.167" Title="Sleeping in an inflatable boat" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8773" CreationDate="2015-07-14T10:45:30.190" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest not sleeping on the boat. Apart from the safety issues this will bring up - the boat could slowly lose air, or could start drifting away, the water could rise, ... - it will not protect you against wind or rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in any case, the least I'd suggest for you to get is a good tarp or a rain-proof bivouac sleeping bag. A tent is obviously even better, but will also be more expensive. Without these you'll not be a happy camper should it rain during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You could pull the boat to shore and use it as an improvised shelter. For example you raise it up on one side using the paddles, which will form a sort of roof over your head. Then you'll only need to worry about a sleeping mat and sleeping bag to keep you warm at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T10:45:30.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8775" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-14T11:07:52.983" Score="8" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have begun adventuring where I drive to a boat launch on a river near a bike trail, put the canoe on a trailer, and tow the canoe up the trail with the bike.  At another boat launch I put the canoe in the river and the bike in the canoe, and paddle back down to my vehicle.  I find that I make about 5 miles an hour pedalling up, and about 3 miles an hour paddling down.  This limits a day trip to about 15 miles; 3 Hours up, and 8 hours down plus drive time, lunch, launch, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am currently working on the section of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7239&quot;&gt;Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers between Connellsville(PA) and Pittsburgh PA?&lt;/a&gt; The trail and goes farther up stream but at Connellsville the river is closed to open canoes, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/40.4719102,-80.0433231/40.0207347,-79.5981537/@40.2462177,-79.9681553,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;63 miles down stream the bike trail ends(Google map)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the bike trail feature of Google maps and followed the Ohio to the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. in the 3300 river miles between Connellsville  and New Orleans, the section I am working on now seems to be the longest stretch.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little thought on the subject suggest that old rail systems that parallel small to midsize rivers, that have been converted to bike trails will probably offer the longest stretches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So where is the longest stretch?  I would like to go someplace and spend a week or two biking up and canoeing down different stretches of river, where is the longest stretch of bike path that parallels a river I can canoe on? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;How to carry a bicycle in a canoe?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/27234&quot;&gt;Trailer connection, off the shelf parts and proven performer&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T05:06:04.657" Title="What is the longest stretch of bike trail that parallels a navigable river in the US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8744" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:01:09.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first began fly fishing I learned in the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops (free weekend class).  After that, I went home and practiced in an empty field.  After practicing for a while I replaced the tippet but never touched the fly line itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, YMMV - but that's my experience&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6331" LastEditorUserId="6331" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T16:30:06.663" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:30:06.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8773" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:09:41.707" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wile the faint of heart might find this answer disturbing, Yes it is fine to sleep on an inflatable boat, if it is durable thick rubber like a Zodiak. I have done so many times, and find it quite relaxing even on the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers. These after all are life raft level construction. You are actually safer in a boat on the water than in a tent, creepy bugs, snakes, rodents and bears typically do not moonlight skinny dip. A tarp and some rope using the oars, you can make it rain proof. You can also just tie it up on the 'beach' or landing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping on the ground without a sealed tent , at least at the base is a good way to get bit. Hammocks are also good, light weight and small. a sleeping bag and a tarp make this a real nice sleep in any weather. We used to hang off the tight rocks near old rag mtn in the shanandoahs, using ptons and rope, really fun. and somewhat bear proof.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:09:41.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:13:20.727" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rope and pulley will keep bears from getting to it and if it is on the ground then it is a target for critters. And then so are you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:13:20.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:17:50.027" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Know how to identify it and avoid. that is the only way. Long pants and socks will help, but if you get it on them and use your hands  in contact, surprise .. and then ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Homeopathic remedies sound fun but the only way to over come poison ivy is with the expensive soaps that enzymatically break down urushiol oil, the oil that causes the irritation. Anything else is going to cause it to spread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastEditorUserId="6134" LastEditDate="2015-07-14T20:15:17.950" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T20:15:17.950" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="381" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:21:41.713" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Treat it like it is a snake bite. always have a snake bite kit with you when hiking and camping. As well as a basic first aid kit. Also have an Epi-pen handy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:21:41.713" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8775" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:30:21.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might consider .. &#xA;The C&amp;amp;O canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac starts in harpers ferry ( accessible by rail on Amtrak) and goes to Georgetown DC just past the Key bridge. The end is literally a 1 hour walk back to union station. It can be a week if you want. It is one of the greatest isolated bike paths in the world. until you get to Georgetown, you never cross a single road. I have done it many times and this is one hat will amaze you. promise. &#xA;You can also canoe almost all the way down the Potomac and get out just above the falls and then take the canal until it get calmer, unless you are good and the falls are awesome to run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:30:21.747" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8744" CreationDate="2015-07-14T16:58:36.157" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fly lines have &lt;a href=&quot;http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/flylines/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;special coatings&lt;/a&gt; that help you cast and manage the line on/in the water. Under ideal conditions you would use an older line for practice on the land because repeated contact with the ground, vegetation, sticks, etc. will damage your line:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rough spots will not shoot through guides as smoothly as unblemished line. This will have a negative impact on the distance you can cast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rough line will experience more turbulence moving through the air. This will also have a negative effect on the distance, and possibly on accuracy of your cast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the coating of a floating line gets damaged enough, it can permit water to soak the braided core. This can cause the floating line to sink - or at least not float as well. Aside from the obvious fact that it will no longer be floating, the line will also be more difficult to pick up off the water to cast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rioproducts.com/fishing-tips/cleaning-fly-lines/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cleaning a flyline&lt;/a&gt; can help mitigate some of these effects, but it is very difficult to dry out the core once it is wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T16:58:36.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8773" CreationDate="2015-07-14T20:02:18.357" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping in an inflatable boat could be very similar to sleeping on a water bed. Water beds have heaters for the water, or else it is rather cold. Check the temperature of the river before you decide on this. &#xA;(Other answers already providing other forms of safety advise, but non mentioned temperature.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6333" LastActivityDate="2015-07-14T20:02:18.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="264" CreationDate="2015-07-15T06:10:03.633" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Rectal infusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read of a case where people survived in a life raft not by drinking their own urine, but by &lt;em&gt;rectally infusing urine&lt;/em&gt; through a tube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is apparently quite a safe way to get your body to extracting the water in a fluid without absorbing all/too many of the potentially dangerous waste products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turns out one of the survivors was a nurse and new how to place a rectal catheter - lucky them. :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find the actual link to these survivors story, but here is an article describing rectal fluid infusion as a means to rehydrate people: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.academia.edu/3736978/Emergency_rectal_infusion_of_fluid_in_rural_or_remote_settings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Emergency rectal infusion of fluid in rural or remote settings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T06:10:03.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8786" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-14T09:46:04.293" Score="3" ViewCount="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to make a trip on a river in an inflatable rowing boat. The trip is going to be two days long: one day down the river and the next day - back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is how I should spend night. I don't have a tent and now am pondering over whether I should buy it or not. Have anybody spent night in the boat on the water? Is it safe? What safety precautions should I take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The river is relatively calm, it's the Dnieper river in Ukarine, and at the section I'm going to boat at it is about 500 meters (540 yards) wide, current speed is 0,6 - 0,7 m/s (up to 2 miles per hour).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6329" OwnerDisplayName="olegst" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T09:21:20.227" Title="Sleeping in an inflatable boat" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-07-15T10:11:35.907" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8787" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-15T06:45:29.133" Score="8" ViewCount="1873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I consider buying my first tent. I do night-day hiking (once in several months). I am still a newbie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have very hard choice: either to buy 1-person tent or to buy 2-person tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently prices are &quot;good&quot; 2-person tent (60 eur), 1-person tent (100 eur), &quot;advanced&quot; 2-person tent (150 eur). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone said to me that it is impractical to buy 1-person tent. 2-person tent always has more space, maybe you will want to share the tent with someone else. But 1-person tent is more personal and more compact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually during hiking we carry only daypack with essential stuff, tent and heavy stuff we leave on parking slot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="fog" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-07-15T12:48:50.687" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T19:20:58.173" Title="What are the criteria for tent for one person" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8787" CreationDate="2015-07-15T12:11:37.593" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you are not carrying the tent, I would buy a 2 person tent for the extra space. This will allow more room for clothes, sleeping stuff, changing your clothes etc. If it rains it would be easier to stay away from the wall of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are carrying the tent, then you need to think about weight and a 1 person might be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T12:11:37.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2015-07-15T12:30:13.233" Score="-5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT18oZv21vKvFhHmpW1M05MIpbvF2lUU1C4kUMaiMbhdJbtQDMNSQ&quot; alt=&quot;bear pepper&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear spray doesn't always work and isn't even allowed in Yosemite.  Guns are allowed in Yosemite by federal law per state law as Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana have sensible gun laws.  There are similarly stupid rules about bear spray in other parks.  It's not stupid that guns ARE allowed as a backup plan is just good business, it IS stupid that bear spray isn't allowed as, when effective, it may be a better option depending on the circumstances.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A charging bear is &quot;faking&quot; about 90 percent of the time, but if I knew I was going to get shot in the face one out of ten times I went out my front door, I'd go out the back way.  If I was facing something that was going to eat me one out of ten times (i.e. a charging bear) I would not rely on a method that was not completely reliable for prevention of dietary inclusiveness. I would use a gun, I might fire a warning shot if I could retain sufficient presence of mind, but if the bear didn't respond immediately it would be dead as immediately as possible.  High caliber cast bullet pistol rounds (not .45, I know of people who've had to empty two magazines into a medium sized black bear to get any traction), large caliber high velocity non fragmenting rifle rounds, or shotgun slugs, preferred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are &quot;studies&quot; that say a gun is less effective than bear spray, but I find those studies in complete. The only bear that's incapable of killing me is a dead one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears don't have a &quot;natural&quot; fear of man.  Men killing and hurting bears is what makes bears fear men. I'm ok with letting bears live and have no interest in hunting them, but for any bears around me that will be an option and not my sole resource.  It's just foolishness to be unprepared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6340" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-17T10:33:21.920" LastActivityDate="2017-04-17T10:33:21.920" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8787" CreationDate="2015-07-15T13:36:49.770" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before deciding on the tent to buy think about the characteristics of your different options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent size (how many people does it hold, is there room for luggage or even indoor cooking?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent weight (you want to keep that as low as possible obviously)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Type of construction (generally this doesn't matter too much unless you have a favorite)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of weight-per-sleeping-space you can generally say that &lt;em&gt;the bigger the tent, the more efficient it is&lt;/em&gt;. So while a one person tent is slightly lighter overall, a two person tent is a lot lighter &lt;em&gt;when the load is shared between two people&lt;/em&gt; (or as a probably more realistic example: one person will carry the tent, and the other the cooking equipment). And again a three person tent will be more efficient for three people, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The one person tent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will have a slightly lower weight generally, but &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; less space. I'd say that you are generally saving at best 20-30% of the weight as compared to a two person tent, but have something like 50% less space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The two person tent&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will generally be a bit heavier, but will also provide much more space. Not only can you bring a friend along in the future, but if you are using it alone it will also be a lot more comfortable, there will be room for the backpack, to get dressed inside, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To sum it up:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Unless weight is a very critical factor that you need to minimize &lt;em&gt;absolutely&lt;/em&gt; - for example when doing very long (10 day+ hikes) - I would go for the two person tent. It is more versatile, more comfortable and the weight savings of the one person tent are just not worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T13:36:49.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8793" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8794" CreationDate="2015-07-15T15:03:48.030" Score="8" ViewCount="37173" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last summer, I went camping with my family for the first time. We bought a second hand tent, similar to the one on the picture below. We had a great time, but after a rainstorm that went on for 24 hours, the tent started leaking at the seams at the top, causing the rain to drip down at the inside and soaking our sleeping bags. More rain was coming for the next day, so we were forced to pack up our wet tent and return back home a few days earlier than planned.&#xA;Back home, we discovered that the rubbery sealing of the seams had worn out, so we have repaired this, but it might not provide enough protection for heavy rainfall during a next camping trip.&#xA;So I was thinking to bring a large tarpaulin and use that to cover the tent at the top.&#xA;Is this a good idea ? Or might this get dangerous if heavy wind gets under the tarp ? And should I tighten the tarp directly over the tent (like &lt;a href=&quot;https://tips4camping.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/210c-settingup-tarpovertent-20090905grundylake11-resized.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;) or keep some distance using cords (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn.instructables.com/FDH/XT78/FA190M34/FDHXT78FA190M34.LARGE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;) ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eXBBz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6342" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T08:06:51.117" Title="is it a good idea to cover a tent with a tarp to protect for heavy rainfall?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8793" CreationDate="2015-07-15T15:33:59.103" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;First of all&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might need to look into getting a new &lt;strong&gt;impregnation&lt;/strong&gt; for your second hand tent. This can be done either yourself using sprays or wash-in-products (and in your case a probably huge washing machine) or by giving the tent for re-impregnation to professionals, i.e. your local outdoor/tent supplier (this can be expensive though). In any case it might be a good idea to get their professional opinion on if and how you could re-impregnate the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;As for the &lt;strong&gt;tarp&lt;/strong&gt; idea&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is totally feasible and also quite cheap. The main disadvantage is the added weight and packing space. But looking at the size of your tent it seems you're likely not carrying it for any significant distance, so the additional weight of a tarp (and the needed additional tent pegs/cords) shouldn't be much of a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I's also possible to just directly tighten the tarp over your tent. This will actually make the entire construction quite a bit more stable I'd guess, as there will be less area of attack for wind. Just make sure to tie the entire thing down well enough and you should have no worries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As correctly mentioned by @mattnz draping a tarp directly onto your fly sheet can lower its life expectancy, as friction between the two (cause by wind for example) can degrade the impregnation a bit. But seeing as your fly sheet is not currently rain-proof in the first place I think you'll still be better off with an additional tarp than without: that way at least you should have a working (read: rain-proof) construction for the time being.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T08:06:51.117" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T08:06:51.117" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2015-07-15T16:27:01.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thing i keep hearing is if you just practice enough you can place the lure wherever you want with a baitcaster. Its the same with a spinner reel, you just practice. I would almost bet i can Place it just as good with a spinner as anyone with a baitcaster, i can Place my lure wherever i wanto and i can cast anything from &gt;1g - 120g with a spinner but i will get fubar with a baitcaster on the lakes if i use a baitcaster below 10g and some wind. I would argue during perfect condictions baitcaster wins, any other condition the spinner Wheel will win. The baitcasters are more or less a Commercial thing, people need to buy new stuff and it looks cooler on the rod, its like Iphone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6344" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T16:27:01.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8734" CreationDate="2015-07-15T17:01:39.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This type of &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002138YZM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;dry fly floatant powder&lt;/a&gt; is quite effective at drying off smaller flies. I believe it's the same silica gel that is used to keep packaged electronics dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I typically just press flies between folds of a cotton t-shirt briefly. This will draw most of the water out and restore &quot;floatability&quot; to the fly. It should also leave it dry enough to put back into storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T17:01:39.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8754" CreationDate="2015-07-15T17:10:18.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would hesitate to do so. The keen wading sandals I've worn let in a fair amount of gravel. This gravel, when caught between the sandal and the neoprene bootie, will make mincemeat of the bootie - causing it to leak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gravel is a concern even when using full-on wading boots. To combat this many waders have gaiters built in. Mine do not, but I purchased neoprene gaiters to help keep gravel out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I have use an old pair of high-tops over my neoprene booties - with the gaiter. Works just fine as long as the traction is up to the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-15T17:10:18.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8798" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8942" CreationDate="2015-07-15T20:58:45.887" Score="2" ViewCount="361" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dock leaves&lt;/a&gt; are the wild cure to stinging nettles, right? Everyone knows this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how do they stop the stinging? What's the mechanism? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3516" LastEditDate="2015-07-16T07:33:02.193" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T08:13:47.163" Title="How do &quot;Dock leaves&quot; work to reduce itching from stinging nettles?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8800" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8803" CreationDate="2015-07-16T01:03:55.720" Score="6" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to make maps in my kayak, so I need to know how far away I was from the last point, so the only way I know of is dead reckoning, and being in kayak its not that accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: &lt;strong&gt;Is there a better way to judge how far I have traveled, something better than Dead Reckoning (without gps)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6190" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:45.917" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:02:45.917" Title="Most accurate way to judge distances traveled in a kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8793" CreationDate="2015-07-16T01:14:05.993" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally a tarp is a bad idea as a long term solution as it shortens the life of the tent. As they are not shaped to fit around the tent (like a rain fly), they tend to sag in the middle and touch the outer. this quickly wears of the water repellent, and rubs the water into the fabric. Before long, the tent is leaking very badly without a tarp. Most people doing this use a cheap tarp, which leaks fairly quickly  and the worn tent fabric leaks, so you are back to square one. If you use a tarp, remove it as soon as possible after the rain has stopped to let the tent dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experienced campers do not use tarps. Tents are maintained (as already suggested) with water proof treatment etc. Most of us have had water get in at some time, you have already learnt the importance of keeping stuff inside dry when it happens. Its possible (although difficult) to have dry sleeping bags and cloths even if the floor is awash with water. It starts with good water proof storage and putting things away.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better, newer tent made of canvas based product is the best protection against heavy, long rain (the cotton swells when wet and seals small holes caused by stitching etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When tenting, there is nothing wrong with heading home early if weather and equipment conspire against you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-16T01:14:05.993" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8802" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-16T02:03:39.293" Score="5" ViewCount="994" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking for locations near London Ontario Canada, within a 2 hour drive where I can hike in and set up camp. I'd prefer to not have to go past Toronto because of the heavy traffic, if I can avoid it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far, I haven't found anything except provincial parks, where they don't allow camping except at designated areas. I've only found places near Algonquin, and again, that's pretty far out and past Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6345" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T21:04:54.547" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:04:54.547" Title="Where can I go backcountry camping in southern Ontario Canada" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8800" CreationDate="2015-07-16T13:18:30.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to do some research on the area that you are traveling on. Google maps or the NOAA maps using seaclearII.exe will allow you the ability to make a map guide, that you can annotate as you travel. mark off 100 yard and point to point track measurments. If you are going to dead recon from point to point on a river as an exercise or recreation you might take along a golf range finder. It is a small pen sized telescope thing that will allow you to range 100-400 yards pretty accurately and is non electronic and waterproof. I do suggest you make a kindle 3 or other eink display reader waterproof with silicon seal and place your itinerary on it in pdf docs. They are pretty bullet proof and stay charged for a month. use a sharpie fine point with your notebook.&#xA;Once you get a feel of distances on the water you will find your estimates will get you with in 5 yards in time. &#xA;What you are going to do is a great pastime, and will take you back to simpler times, like those of lewis and clark.  Keep good notes and maybe you can make water colored maps when you get back. it is fun. enjoy&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-07-16T13:18:30.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8804" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-16T15:33:31.743" Score="2" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are traveling the North Country Trail in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this August. Even though odds are small, we could encounter a grizzly bear. This is something none of us have experience with, so as we prepare it is the top discussion of safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We understand that we should cook food more than 100yd's away from our sleeping area, and hang food in a bear canister (or bag)/anything else that may attract them via smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we encounter a grizzly bear, what should we do? What if we are in a tent and hear a bear walk by (which I've heard is most common, because they are traveling to hikers' food, typically through a campsite)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of us are registered to carry a gun, so that isn't an option. For the sake of this website and the completeness of question for future users, the answerer &lt;strong&gt;could&lt;/strong&gt; also provide an answer assuming we had a weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:17:33.140" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:17:33.140" Title="How to handle grizzly bear encounters" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="10" ClosedDate="2015-07-16T17:58:58.600" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2015-07-16T18:11:54.727" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a friend who's lived with a guy that had a wild boar in a cage in his backyard. When my friend went into the cage to feed it, she was attacked. She was able to get out of the cage but the boar also did and one of it's tusks hit her upper calf. Luckily it didn't hit any arteries and she only has a scar. Worse was also avoided by her climbing on top of her car. The best you can do is climb up higher and hope you don't get one of the rare cases of a boar that will attempt more than one attack. If you can though just avoid being charged at in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6347" LastActivityDate="2015-07-16T18:11:54.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2015-07-16T22:07:10.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;do I stand a chance to pretend to be aggressive if they out-number me?  Few of the civilians suggested that it works most of the times if they out-number you. They loose their formation and run away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like complete nonsense - boars do not have a &quot;formation&quot;. They are not predators and will not pursue you (the case where &quot;pretending to be agressive&quot; makes sense is when faced with predators who tend to instinctively pursue anything that runs away). They might form groups for defense, but never for attack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is really only three cases where boars might attack humans:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When they're cornered / don't have a way to escape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A mother sow defending her young against a threat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adult males during mating season&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, as long as the young are small, the families are extremely shy and stay away from humans. Later on, if they are used to encountering humans, they'll just ignore you. The only aggression I've ever experienced was from juvenile males doing a &quot;mock charge&quot; of about half a meter, signalling &quot;don't get any closer to me!&quot;. I don't think I've encountered adult males, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-07-16T22:07:10.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8809" CreationDate="2015-07-17T03:25:19.040" Score="10" ViewCount="1243" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm going on a four-day hike, I don't want to lug around a 15-lb cast iron dutch oven. I've thought of graniteware, but the handle on a saucepan is a bit bulky and makes packing it awkward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do other people use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastActivityDate="2018-03-15T00:56:24.907" Title="What's a good, lightweight solution for portable cookware?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-17T03:39:13.817" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Titanium cookware, combined with a small gas stove, is very common in backpacking. If you look at camp cookware from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/pots-pans&quot;&gt;Backcountry&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/camp-cookware&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;, and other outdoor gear vendors you'll see a lot of titanium. It's sturdy, light-weight, not too terribly expensive, and has good heat transfer properties. If you're looking for something even cheaper, aluminum is another common material. It's not quite as light-weight but it doesn't cost as much either. There are also stainless steel cooksets, which are even heavier but typically even cheaper than aluminum. Regardless of whic you choose, it'll be lighter than cast iron!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned a dutch oven... are you specifically expecting to cook in/over an open fire? If so you may need to consider different cookware options. Most of the areas I've backpacked in either disallow or strongly discourage campfires though, so if you continue doing a lot of overnight trips, you're going to need something that works with a stove eventually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-07-17T05:36:28.127" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T05:36:28.127" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-17T03:39:51.897" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what &quot;graniteware&quot; is, but it doesn't sound lightweight! What you want is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;durable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/cooksets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI Cooksets&lt;/a&gt; page would probably be appropriate. There are a variety of styles and sizes there. For one person on a 4-day hike you won't need much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T03:39:51.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-17T04:36:43.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cook almost everything in a titanium pot, by boiling water and rehydrating dehydrated meals, whether they be prepackaged backpacking meals from a variety of sources (including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhouse.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mountain House&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.packitgourmet.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Packit Gourmet&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.packlitefoods.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Packlite Foods&lt;/a&gt;, or the many other options out there), meals sold in dehydrated form at grocery stores but not necessarily intended exclusively for backpacking use (flavored mashed potatoes, mac &amp;amp; cheese, ramen, etc.), or dried soup mixes. For shorter trips or trips with a base camp, I will take a lightweight aluminum frying pan with a folding handle and also cook things like rehydrated hashbrowns, eggs, quesadillas, potato pancakes, regular pancakes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By doing this, you can carry both lightweight cookware and lightweight food—dehydrated food is much lighter than the alternative, and while it may not be as good as fresh, it can be good enough. Most foods taste great in the backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T04:36:43.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-17T06:28:53.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A buddy of mine has an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trangia.se/english/2924.mini_trangia.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ultralight set&lt;/a&gt; made by a Swedish maker called Trangia. It weights 330 grams for the burner, windshield, a 800 ml pan and a frypan. It works with a spirit burner, so you don't have to carry a large gas canister. The whole thing has 15 cm of diameter and about 6 cm of height. All pieces fit inside of the 800 ml pot an the frypan (which has a detachable handle that also fits into the pot) acts as the lid.  I don't think that it gets lighter and more compact than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-07-17T10:10:24.840" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T10:10:24.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8813" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8822" CreationDate="2015-07-17T08:01:16.233" Score="12" ViewCount="2455" Body="&lt;p&gt;Peanut butter and tahini sauce are very high in calories and I am searching for a lightweight but safe way to carry some while backpacking. They are soft and oily, so of course I &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; don't want any leak from the container.&#xA;But also, I'd avoid a container that is so big and heavy to cancel the advantage of the high calories-to-weight ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am thinking about sturdy freezer bags (would you recommend any?) that would resist some impact or scratch that may accidentally happen, closed with a clip like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70083252/&quot;&gt;http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70083252/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but I did not try it yet, so I don't know if it would work and how well, or not.&#xA;Any reccommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2016-07-02T11:44:20.010" Title="How to carry fat, greasy foods like tahini sauce and peanut butter?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T09:19:43.250" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;If in doubt, double bag...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;put them in a sealed bag of your choice, then put them in another sealed bag with the &lt;strong&gt;open end (of the first bag) facing towards the closed end of the second bag&lt;/strong&gt;, if the first leaks the second should catch it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T09:19:43.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T09:21:36.940" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would probably use a small tupperware or similar, something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00208665/?cid=gb%3Eps%3E%3EIKEA_Shopping_%28NF%29_All+Products%3E%3E%3Emckv%3EscvaElhyX_dc%3Epcrid%3E62461880237&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. You can also get ones where the lid clips down which are probably more secure. If you are concerned about it leaking/coming open I would use some elastic bands to secure the lid and store it in a separate freezer bag to contain any leaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a freezer bag as you suggest may work, but I would definitely double/triple bag it. My main concern would be how easy it would be to get the paste out again. I think you would end up wasting a lot. But I've never tried so it may be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T09:21:36.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8852" CreationDate="2015-07-17T09:49:55.487" Score="4" ViewCount="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;My fly rod says 5/6 wt, and the instructions tell that it can be used with lines of both weight classes if I make the proper adjustments to my cast. My question is what would these adjustments be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T20:31:07.197" Title="What adjustments should be made to cast when using a heavier fly line than rod class?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;casting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T10:45:06.403" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of some wonder, the peanut butter in our area comes in plastic jars, meaning that it is lighter than a normal jar. I save these plastic jars during the year and use them later on hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in the local grocery stores I can buy some dairy products which come in plastic buckets and boxes (like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.unicarm.ro/premio/products/iaurtgaleata_iaurt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://five-continents.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/iaurt-galeata.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.unicarm.ro/premio/products/iaurtgaleata_iaurt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;) - I save these for trips and hikes: they can be easily packed into each other, or I can fill them with other objects (berries I pick from the forest, socks or anything else) after they get empty. They also hold liquids quite well, although I use a plastic bag to be sure there would be no leaking. Also, in case they become redundant I am not so sorry to dispose them as if I would be for a tupperware box. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T11:06:54.393" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T11:06:54.393" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-17T11:43:38.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy yourself a light-weight wok. They are superb. You can cook anything any how you like in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been camping-travelling for decades, and yes, the trangia IS good. But a wok is surprisingly &lt;strong&gt;better&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was fortunate to find a 10 inch, double handed wok in japan when I was travelling with the trangia. I was replacing the trangia's pans with the wok. I found efficiency improved, cooking time decreased and cleaning time was reduced as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;only negative&lt;/strong&gt; is the pack size which is slightly increased, as is the weight, but only by 113 grams. Unless you are travelling ultra light, this is immaterial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6353" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-07-17T14:50:52.330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T14:50:52.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2015-07-17T11:57:32.987" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always used my backpack as part of my sleep system.&#xA;All food stuffs are double wrapped,in the center of the pack,then the pack is placed at the head of the sleeping bag,with a fleece placed over it.&#xA;If you are worried about vermin getting at it,in the past I have been known to cover it with a rain hood and suspend it from a tree,using a rope thrown over a sturdy branch,a vibration-sensing alarm is an optional extra,if you are uber-paranoid !!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6354" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T11:57:32.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8802" CreationDate="2015-07-17T12:54:47.737" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you drove 3 hours there may be some possibilities along the Bruce Trail.  I'm unsure where you might be able to camp but you may want to check out this link from their website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://brucetrail.org/pages/trail/camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://brucetrail.org/pages/trail/camping&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6355" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T12:54:47.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T14:59:58.180" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is going to be small mylar pouches (any other thick plastic you can get your hands on will probably work just as well). They hold up much better than flimsy freezer bags and have a thick reassuring seal on the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bjVSJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get them resealable as shown, or you can weld non resealable bags closed. What you're really going for is something like the food relief peanut butter we send to starving nations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7XVhL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to specifically buy bags for this, Capri-Sun bags are made of mylar and just about the perfect size for small snacks. Mylar welds at household ironing temperatures as long as you keep the seal clean from the bags contents (very difficult with peanut butter I imagine). After you seal your mylar bags you can cut a small notch in the side so you can rip them back open without any tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lyw8Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6356" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T14:59:58.180" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T18:14:12.527" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/696007/coghlans-squeeze-tubes-package-of-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Coghlan's Squeeze Tubes&lt;/a&gt; (available from REI)  The base of the tube opens up so it's easy to fill and then closes securely. It's easy to squeeze the contents into your mouth, or on to crackers or other media for eating, without using utensils or trying to lick/scrape the gooey contents out of a bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6357" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-07-02T11:44:20.010" LastActivityDate="2016-07-02T11:44:20.010" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-07-17T19:55:43.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;GoToobs. They're food grade plastic, super light weight, and reusable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6358" LastActivityDate="2015-07-17T19:55:43.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8824" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8825" CreationDate="2015-07-18T13:02:11.447" Score="5" ViewCount="1092" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a beginner. I live in Toronto. In the February/March season, temperatures drop to -20°F, sometimes it's even colder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the following a good outfit for cross country skiing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For top: base layer that wicks moisture and a ski jacket. Do I need a fleece? The fleece makes me sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For bottom: thermal and snow pants.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wool socks and snow boots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ski gloves&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:27:15.970" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:27:15.970" Title="Should I wear a fleece while cross country skiing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8824" CreationDate="2015-07-18T14:01:47.080" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes and don't even think about leaving your fleece at home... Even if you are moving fast and therefore producing a lot of warmth by the exercise there is always the possibility to get into bad weather. And if not, what are you doing when you stop for a break? You are wearing wet clothing and it is cold. Maybe even windy. This will feel really cold and you even might get hypothermia in those conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Always&lt;/strong&gt; take one layer of waterproof clothing with you while going in remote areas outdoors. I never use all my gear on each trip but in case of emergency you will be freaking glad you carried the extra weight in your backpack all day long 99 times, and have it with you the hundredth time you go on a ski tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is cold or there is a chance it might get cold (and -20°F is very cold in my opinion), &lt;strong&gt;always&lt;/strong&gt; take appropriate layers for warmth. If you sweat going uphill in the sun, just make a 30 second stop, drink something and pack that extra layer in the backpack. Try not to sweat too much, because sweating makes you cold! It is great to use the layering system where you are able to adjust very fast to the conditions and you will therefore always stay comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides that I suggest to carry a second pair of gloves and even take two items for the head. Just in case it gets wet (very likely for the gloves) and you can even use the layering system for those items. In cold conditions you described I bring a balaclava with me. Additionally it's not a bad idea to have a spare base layer shirt because you will be wet from sweat at the summit before you go on the descent. Because of the wind speeds while going down, you will be happy to have dry clothing. For the first layer I like merino wool a lot, try it and you will love it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-08-31T20:17:41.897" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T20:17:41.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8824" CreationDate="2015-07-18T16:02:37.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always bring plenty of layers, so you can add/remove as necessary. When I cross country ski, I often end up very warm. Even if it's only 20&amp;deg;F out I may be skiing in a synthetic T-shirt. The important thing is to have the warm clothes available to put on when you stop or if the weather worsens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should you &lt;em&gt;bring&lt;/em&gt; a fleece jacket? 100% yes! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have to wear it the whole time? No, do what feels comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important not to overheat, as the sweat you will produce can freeze when you stop moving and can make it more likely that you get hypothermia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-07-18T16:02:37.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8828" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8829" CreationDate="2015-07-18T17:33:29.840" Score="11" ViewCount="5943" Body="&lt;p&gt;American signal crayfish are a delicious invasive species in the UK. I'd love to catch and eat some but I'm unsure how to go about this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where/how can I catch American signal crayfish in the UK? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also wary that UK crayfish (because of the invasive species) are now endangered, so I'd want to make sure no harm was done to them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-22T10:29:25.470" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T19:45:46.960" Title="Where/how can I catch American signal crayfish in the UK?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8828" CreationDate="2015-07-18T19:06:28.083" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first you need to contact the correct authorities. You require written permission to trap crayfish in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was an episode of River Cottage where they trapped them on the River Kennet. The Gov website doesn't list where you can or cannot trap signals, as you need landowners and angling club permission to trap on our lakes and rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you trap crayfish without written permission you could be prosecuted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus however of the fact that the crayfish licence is free currently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the traps you must follow the guidelines set out by Gov.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crayfish trap rules&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are strict rules about the design and size of crayfish traps because they can harm other wildlife. If traps are the wrong size or design your application will be refused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traps must:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be no longer than 600mm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be no wider than 350mm at the widest point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have an entrance no more than 95mm wide&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have mesh no bigger than 30mm at its widest point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have EA identity tags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tell EA or NRW about crayfish you trap using a catch return form (you get the form when you’re authorised)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;return species not covered by consent to the water they came from&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the native species, these can be trapped soley for scientific research, and you again require written authorisation to do so. If you trap by accident simply return to the water where you found it, there won't be harm to them if they are trapped by accident, they just get a free meal off you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be aware&lt;/strong&gt; when catching an invasive species you cannot release it back into the wild, it must be kept, or killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout#crayfish-trap-authorisation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Gov.uk trapping permission pages&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-07-19T05:31:35.257" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8824" CreationDate="2015-07-18T22:33:24.587" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's based on my experience of &lt;em&gt;bicycling&lt;/em&gt; in Toronto in winter (a daily 18km / one-hour each-way commute) ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't let your hands and feet (fingers and toes) get cold. They don't have a lot of fat and blood circulation and muscle (I guess they're mostly bone and tendon) so they need insulation. It's been decades since I last cross-country-skied but when I did I was wearing &lt;em&gt;cross-country-ski shoes&lt;/em&gt; (which are designed to fit the binding of the skis), not &lt;em&gt;snow boots&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway to answer your question I recommend &lt;em&gt;a zipper at the front&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A base layer (I used a cotton shirt, to be honest)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A fleecy &lt;strong&gt;with a zipper&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An overcoat &lt;strong&gt;with a zipper&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My overcoat is bulky and down-filled from Mountain Equipment Coop. It has a built-in (insulated, optional) hood, and an interior elastic belt (so that warm air doesn't escape out the bottom of the coat). The point is that the coat is more than warm enough: if I close it up completely then it will keep me warm, even if I stop exercising (if I were waiting for a bus or whatever).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be comfortable while exercising I undo the zipper[s] to let warm air spill out and away from my chest and from inside the coat (to keep my 'core' temperature cool enough). The fleecy, too, has its own zip. So I can get the right amount of heat spillage, by unzipping the coat &lt;strong&gt;and/or&lt;/strong&gt; unzipping the fleecy underneath it, &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; varying the amount of unzippedness (throat, collar, mid-chest, diaphragm, or almost completely unzipped).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people will tell you that you shouldn't have a cotton T-shirt in case it gets wet. I found that as long as I unzip &lt;em&gt;enough&lt;/em&gt; (and adjust the amount occasionally) then I don't get too hot and hardly perspire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the temperature is warmer e.g. -7°C or higher then it might be too warm to exercise in a feather coat even if it's unzipped; so then I'd have the same as above (i.e. gloves and fleecy) but a thinner jacket padded/quilted with artificial insulation instead of the feather coat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for wearing a fleecy underneath is probably so that I &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; unzip the winter coat. Where the coat is unzipped, the fleecy lets the body heat out, but still keeps the freezing air/breeze off my skin. At -20° you can't expose your skin to the air for too long even if your body core is warm enough (skin gets too cold even if the core is warm). Having a fleecy underneath is why I can afford to unzip the coat a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to be able to adjust the insulation to match the wind and the heat-from-exercise (so that I'm always neither too hot nor too cold). As you may know it's fine to perspire when it's hot but it's better to avoid that (getting wet) when it's very cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastEditorUserId="6365" LastEditDate="2015-07-19T01:38:03.533" LastActivityDate="2015-07-19T01:38:03.533" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8831" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8832" CreationDate="2015-07-19T13:15:31.063" Score="12" ViewCount="439" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are planning our first backpacking trip and the date is less than a month away. We just have a couple of loose ends to finish up on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were wondering what the best method to tie your food into a tree is. I would imagine 20ft above the ground would be plenty - but then again I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Parks Canada&lt;/a&gt; website suggests a &lt;strong&gt;minimum&lt;/strong&gt; of 100 meters between yourself and your hung food/cooking fire/cooking clothes, but the image they show with an example of hung bags seems pretty complex (see picture below). Would we really have to have someone climb all the way to the top of a tree to hang our bags effectively? Not that this would be an issue, but I feel like that is a lot more work than necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R6t7t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Backcountry campground set-up&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the method shown in the picture the best/safest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-07-19T19:26:13.853" LastActivityDate="2015-07-19T19:26:13.853" Title="What are the best methods for hanging food in a tree?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8831" CreationDate="2015-07-19T13:49:34.517" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most places without extremely human habituated bears, a simple hang with the line tossed over a sturdy, isolated branch and tied off to an adjacent tree trunk is suitable. The bag should end up being roughly 12 feet above the ground, 5 feet away from the trunk and 5 feet below the branch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The PCT hang is a clever variation of this which eliminates the possibility of a bear swiping the line with its claws where it's tied off to the trunk. You begin the same way, but ensure you have a carabiner at the end of the line, then clip the line back through it again before pulling it up as high as you can go. You then take a sturdy several inch long stick, put a clove hitch into the line as high as you can reach, and slide that stick into the clove hitch before gently lowering the line back down. The stick will bump into the carabiner, preventing the bag from lowering any further and preventing any cutting of the line below from releasing the food bag. To get your food back down, pull down on the line until the stick comes back into reach, remove it from the clove hitch, and then lower as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-07-19T13:49:34.517" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4982" CreationDate="2015-07-20T15:59:14.037" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on your situation, you don't have to necessarily gut the fish, but in that case should cook it much longer than you otherwise would. Parasites are a concern, and the innards will make it harder for heat to propagate through the meat. Longer cooking times to ensure the insides are properly cooked mean a greater chance of overcooking the outer meat if you're not careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration in more and more places is pollution and mercury, and the concentration is going to be higher in some organs. I'm not sure of the scientific difference it might make, but for that reason, I don't want livers and intestines cooking next to the meat. I'm sure over long term exposure, you're getting it in the meat/flesh anyway, but if it is worth being concerned with, then taking care to avoid as much of what you can, doesn't hurt. Additionally, you don't know what the fish ate before you caught it that day. There might be something in the stomach/intestinal tract you wouldn't want cooking inside your meat...like plastic or other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, it's a good habit to not do it, from a survival perspective. Fishing is a great way to provide food in a survival situation, and you can move up the food chain, from a cricket or crumb of bread--or by crushing acorns and tossing them in a shallow pool full of minnows--to small fish, which can be eaten, but are often more useful as bait for bigger fish. From a minnow, a fisherman can work his way up to the largest fish, if he has bait and chum--and that's one reason why I don't cook or eat fish innards. I always fillet, and you then have tail, head, innards to use as chum or bait. Also, it provides bait for trapping. Raccoon, coyotes, wolves, bear and pretty much any predatory carnivore is drawn to the smell of fish guts. You will tend to do in a survival situation what you do out of habit, which is why you should get in the habit of seeing the fish innards as a potential health threat that in a survival situation, which might supply a parasite, toxin or illness that takes you out. And you should also see the guts as a resource that you should have on hand to increase your food supply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly, if you intend to store fish and not cook it immediately, gutting should be done. You don't want to try curing a fish with the guts intact, like some cultures might do with a pheasant. It does not work out near as nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2015-07-20T15:59:14.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2015-07-20T17:27:46.060" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply walking barefoot everywhere is one way to toughen your feet. If you live in a city, spend time outdoors in your yard, on the concrete of your garage, patio and on the grass of your lawn. But there's more than just going barefoot that will harden your feet. Jumping rope, running, jumping...you need friction and impact. But, even walking barefoot indoors helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing good backpacking or heavy duty hiking boots under load toughens your feet from friction and impact. You build up pretty good callous on your feet if you regularly backpack. Or you're an infantryman in the military. I've had my feet so tough while an infantryman that dragging a Cold Steel Recon Tanto I could shave with across my feet, would only cut callous. I have gone hunting barefoot at times, even in late Fall or late Winter, and there's something to be said for having access to sand, be it on a lake, beach or in a sandbox so that you can walk through it. Toughening the bottom of your feet is a result of impact and friction over time, but being able to sink your feet in sand helps toughen the sides and tops a tiny bit. You usually won't notice such things unless you purposely walk in nature barefoot, because you just don't encounter briars, sticks, rocks and other things contacting the tops of your feet on manicured lawns and pavement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've known an old farmer who soaked his feet in kerosene for prolonged periods so that his feet stopped sweating. He did it for about 20-30 minutes a day for a month, and he said his feet never sweated again. Essentially killed off his sweat glands I assume. But at the end of the day, soaked from sweating in the fields, I watched him pull off his boots and his socks/feet were bone dry...while I who was visiting, and from just short leisurely walking, would have socks damp with sweat on those humid Kentucky days. He had tough feet too. I won't pretend to know the medical wisdom or doing such a thing or not, but it worked for him and he learned it from others who had done it before him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When your feet are damp, it's harder for them to callous up. I and many other infantryman have watched our hard earned callouses waste away and fall off in the swamps of Panama, where days of constant submergence or dampness were normal operating conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2015-07-20T17:27:46.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8802" CreationDate="2015-07-21T01:53:21.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thanks for your help. I've purchased a Bruce Trail map and found Terra Cotta Conservation Area and Pretty River Valley Provincial Park with a camp spot in adjacent Petun Conservation Area. The latter is 2 hours away, but I think it'll suffice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6345" LastActivityDate="2015-07-21T01:53:21.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8836" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8857" CreationDate="2015-07-21T02:55:43.760" Score="3" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was told that a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.irishsetterboots.com/USD/product/all-season-footwear/outdoor/02845-shed-tracker-chukka-tan-grn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Red Wing Irish Setter&lt;/a&gt; boots won't work for going to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scouting.org/Philmont.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Philmont Scout Ranch&lt;/a&gt;, because they've never seen them (according to Philmont outfitter boots department).  I'll be doing &lt;a href=&quot;http://philmontscoutranch.org/filestore/philmont/pdf/TreksBook.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Itinerary 6 as an adult leader&lt;/a&gt;. This is a 66mile route over 12 days with approx 10000 ft total height gain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6373" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-07-23T15:29:06.500" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T08:36:49.640" Title="Would the Red Wing Irish Setter work for Philmont?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2015-07-21T07:16:07.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In such cases the kindling material found on the ground might be also wet: try searching for thin dry branches on the lower parts of trees. Especially the pine trees are &quot;built&quot; in a way that the lowest branches die and dry as the tree grows - the rest of the branches are usually thick enough to keep this bottom part dry, and as so, perfect to be used as kindling material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-07-21T07:16:07.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2015-07-21T11:42:27.483" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Urine....yep urine....if I hadn't worked for awhile doing any kind of hard manual work I would piss on my hands and rub it in till dry.........never ever got blister........at the moment my feet are a bit tender due to all the skin peeling off because of antibiotic side effect whilst in ICU with another matter.....I'm finding it hard to walk so am thinking seriously of urinating in a dish and putting my feet it in..........urine was also and old bush remedy for ear aches......mother used to get me to urinate in a tin the she would pour some in my ear----and it worked&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6375" LastActivityDate="2015-07-21T11:42:27.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2015-07-21T12:24:43.997" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Removing water from the cooler always means the ice lasts longer - solid (ice) transfers heat slowest, then gas (air inside cooler), then liquid (melted ice). This is explained by the Zeroteh Law of thermodynamics. All three work to achieve equilibrium by becoming the same temperature.  Remove the fastest heat-transferring part and your ice lasts longer.  The classic experiment is placing an ice cube in a mesh bag and suspending it with string and lever over a clear glass containing cold water.  Notice the ice melts faster where it is submerged than in the air.  The air insulates the thin layer of melted ice above, but the liquid quickly exchanges heat with the ice to melt it, until all are in equilibrium.  Using the drain to remove the melted water means more insulating air and solid ice in the cooler to maintain cold contents, and longer lasting ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6377" LastActivityDate="2015-07-21T12:24:43.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8841" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8844" CreationDate="2015-07-22T18:02:20.567" Score="6" ViewCount="343" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, I was hiking on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge to help a friend locate an inherited parcel of land. We think we found it, based on a variety of documents and a few handy landmarks. When we were about to head off-trail to get a better view, she halted me and pointed to some small shrubs blocking our path. She claimed it was &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron_diversilobum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poison Oak&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; refused to take another step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the pictured plants?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h3Xl4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Plant2&quot; /&gt; &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pTzrm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Plant3&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:50:23.267" Title="What is this plant? Is it Poison Oak?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;&lt;poison-oak&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8842" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8843" CreationDate="2015-07-22T18:09:01.433" Score="6" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live in Massachusetts, and love trees, flowers, and wildlife of all kinds. Sometimes when wandering around marshy areas, especially in New Hampshire and Vermont, we're blessed with a sighting of a Heron. I don't know how to identify the breeds, but I think Great Blue may be the most common in our region. We generally scare it, accidentally of course, while it's resting in the swamp grass, or out on the water, and off it flies to the top of a nearby tree, displaying its full beauty. Although we stay very still, it doesn't come back within close enough range to take a picture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we've rarely, if ever, seen more than one at a time, I wonder if they generally travel alone. If so, are they territorial, meaning that if we return to the area, would we see the same bird? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:44:43.143" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:44:43.143" Title="Do Herons travel alone in New England?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8842" CreationDate="2015-07-22T20:53:58.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great Blue Herons don't seem to be territorial.  Nesting sites usually have a few to a dozen nests at a time, sometimes three in the same tree.  This is so common they are referred to as heron &quot;rookeries&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except at the nest, it does appear that these birds work alone.  Sometimes you can see two nearby, but not usually next to each other.  Most of the time you see a lone heron standing in shallow water waiting for a errant fish or frog to come by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to see herons is in a nesting area before the chicks fledge.  That's either up to about now or already too late.  We have a number of heron rookeries here in Groton MA.  You don't say where in MA you are, but if you want to come to Groton I can be more specific and perhaps even show you around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good place to see herons not nesting is Great Meadows National Wildlife refuge in Concord MA.  There are usually half a dozen standing the in the shallow water on either side of the built-up causeway.  There are so many people regularly walking there that the wildlife has gotten used to it, and you can often get quite close.  I've taken pictures using a 300 mm lens with the heron filling the whole frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday (23 July 2015) I had to go from Littleton to Cambridge, and was on Route 2 by the heron rookery in Acton.  There were still birds sitting on nests, maybe half a dozen, so it's not too late.  Don't wait long though, I expect the young will fledge within a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2015-07-24T11:59:59.587" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T11:59:59.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8841" CreationDate="2015-07-22T23:09:32.977" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no knowledge of the plant, but I did find some interesting information, which I hope will help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Western Poison Oak, also called Pacific Poison Oak, is common in your region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Poison oak, also known as Western poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), is native to western North America with a distribution extending from British Columbia to the Baja California peninsula. In Washington and Oregon, poison oak is found mainly in the western regions of the states. In California it is widespread and grows in a wide range of habitats from sea level to the 5,000-foot elevation and in areas including open woodland, grassy hillsides, coniferous forests, and open chaparral. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7431.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presenting most frequently as either a vine or bush, it can also be tree-like with a thick stem, growing to 9 or 10 feet tall. As with others in the family, the most tell-tale sign is leaves grouped together in threes, called leaflets, the middle being the longest. They're green throughout the summer, turning red in the fall. The leaves are often, but not always, shaped like those of a regular oak tree, although it's actually a member of the cashew, not the oak, family. Also, it's technically allergenic, not poisonous, which makes it less dangerous, though not necessarily less uncomfortable, than some other plants!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.poisonoakandpoisonivy.com/Resources/Sure-Fire.%20ONLINE%20%20with%20cover%20copy.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Sure-Fire Poison Oak and Poison Ivy Identification System&lt;/a&gt; is an extremely comprehensive 14-page booklet, with detailed information about the various types of poisonous plants; instructions for discerning their characteristics; drawings; and location maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, your pictures appear to match many of the criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The middle leaf in the group of three is always longer than the other two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The veins that run off the main vein are in alternating patterns, rather than meeting each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though difficult to see, each leaf in the group has its own stem. If the leaves are joined together, it's a different plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tiny black &amp;quot;resin&amp;quot; spots, as well as other spots, scattered around on the leaves are not always present, but can be an indication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The leaf stalks always grow up the stem in an alternating pattern, never connecting directly across from each other. (This one is very important, and can be a determining factor in the identification. Since I can't seem to tell by your pictures, though, I can't say it meets the criteria.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the same source:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you will never see on Poison Ivy or Poison Oak plants:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Flowers growing from the end of a stem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Single large flowers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Flowers any color other than cream or white.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Upright flowers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Fruit larger than a pea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Red, blue or purple fruit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Leaf stalks directly across from each other on the stem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Sharp spines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• A vine twining like a barber pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information and pictures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TODI&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.poisonoakandpoisonivy.com/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poison Oak and Poison Ivy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zanfel.com/newsletters/Zanfel-newsletter-v1i2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zanfel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7431.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of California Agriculture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T05:07:18.943" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2015-07-23T10:55:53.027" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bike to work here in Japan and sometimes I have to bike back late in the evening (coz of overtime). I live in a mountainous forrested area and there are many boar around (because there's few hunters here). In the past 5 years, boar have crossed my path about 6-7 times (always when it's dark) and they ran at really high speed (there is no way to even outsprint them on a roadbike). I can usually hear them approach through the bushes (sounds like a heavy boulder rolling of a hill).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last night was the first time though a boar -hidden in the bush- started snorting and grumping (I think it was a kind of a warning to let me know it was there). I stopped and staid still, then slowly backed off and waited for a car to drive by so I could kind of follow the car in it's track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing that I have seen on Japanese TV that seemed to do the trick was an umbrella pointed at them and then quickly open it. It just sent the charging boar running in the other direction. However, fat chance I will be able to do that while riding my bike, but it might be a good thing to know if you're hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6390" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:02:12.497" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:02:12.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8848" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-23T14:39:30.363" Score="8" ViewCount="787" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are going on our first hiking expedition through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and I was wondering what type of shoes are recommended by experienced hikers? I have looked up information online, but it seems all I get is advertisements saying &quot;THIS shoe is meant for hiking! Best price, best quality!&quot;, which isn't very credible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of shoes do you wear? What do you look for in good hiking shoes (i.e. comfort, wide-toe, etc)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="15797" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T18:46:25.560" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T18:46:25.560" Title="What to look for in hiking shoes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8848" CreationDate="2015-07-23T15:16:49.347" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lean towards light and fast dry running shoes such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.altrarunning.com/men/lone-peak-20&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lone Peak&lt;/a&gt; from Altra. This shoe goes under $100 on sale. It also comes with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://dirtygirlgaiters.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;gator-ready&lt;/a&gt; velcro at the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no ankle support which I don't personally consider a problem. I've seen this shoe recommended at trail shops. They seem to be quite popular on long trails nowadays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend avoiding gore-tex boots (they all have a giant hole where you put your feet!). Good boots will typically be slightly over your budget ($140+).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T15:16:49.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8848" CreationDate="2015-07-23T16:02:20.800" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of boot you want will depend greatly on what sort of hiking you are doing, both in terms of distance and terrain. Personal preference also plays a strong role.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For day walks on decent paths you will probably be fine with a sturdy pair of trainers or running shoes. Whereas for longer routes over rougher terrain, a studier boot if probably better, as they normally have better grip and ankle support. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I generally prefer a solid boot with good ankle support as I tend to roll my ankles a lot otherwise. However, I've been hiking in the alps for a week with someone who just had trainers and sandals. So people vary a lot in what they like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproofness is also a factor, depending on where you are going. If the ground is likely to be wet or muddy or you cross any rivers or streams you will want a waterproof boot, especially if you are doing a multi-day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is to be comfortable in what you are wearing. Poorly fitting boots that give you blisters are the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For buying I would recommend going to your local outdoor shop. I only know of REI in the US but I'm sure there are others. They usually have knowledgeable staff who can advise you on what type of boot is best for you and help you get a good fit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T16:02:20.800" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8848" CreationDate="2015-07-23T18:53:02.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot definitely comes down to personal preference. Some like tall boots, light weight trail runners, more &quot;classic&quot; hiking boots, regular sneakers, or even sandals (I don't recommend that last one...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preference is actually for a 8&quot; combat / law enforcement style boot (preferably with a side-zip for easy removal). I feel that they provide a good amount of cushioning for comfort, provide excellent ankle support &amp;amp; as a bonus defend the foot and ankle from snake bites &amp;amp; stickers / sticks etc. They are designed for people potentially working on their feet all day and carrying heavy loads / moving large distances in rough terrain. (&amp;amp; no, I have no military background).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although some of these will be above your price range, others will not. Some good brands are &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.danner.com/product/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Danner&lt;/a&gt;, Bates, Converse, 5.11 Tactical&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;strong&gt;Rothco&lt;/strong&gt; (there are others too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current pair are a 8&quot; Bates side-zip. All that said, I also have a pair of Danner hiking shoes, which while comfortable enough, usually stay home. Same goes for a pair of North Face trail running shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add to those recommendations, it should go without saying that you shouldn't attempt a hike of any significant length in footwear that hasn't been broken in yet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also important to recognize that even with the most comfortable seeming most expensive high-tech hiking boot on the market, if it doesn't fit your foot right, your hike won't go well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from obvious size &amp;amp; width, you also need to determine whether or not your foot &lt;a href=&quot;http://stretchcoach.com/articles/pronation-supination/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;pronates or supinates&lt;/a&gt; (the tendency of the foot to roll in such a way to place more pressure on the inside or outside of the ball of the foot). If you wear shoes or do not use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/#q=pronation+inserts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;inserts&lt;/a&gt; that properly address this, you will end up with blisters at the pressure point.&#xA;I suffered blisters on the ball of my foot because of this when wearing trail running shoes that actually caused my feet to pronate MORE than they would have to begin with...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to where to buy, I used to live in the Detroit area &amp;amp; recall that at the time &lt;strong&gt;Meijers&lt;/strong&gt; sold a couple models of Bates. Also, there are &lt;strong&gt;Red Wing Shoes stores&lt;/strong&gt; all over the area. I've never had a pair myself (why I didn't mention them above), pretty much anyone will tell you they have an excellent reputation. If you are in the Detroit area, you can also check out &lt;strong&gt;Joe's Army Navy&lt;/strong&gt; (in Pontiac &amp;amp; Royal Oak) if you want to try on some combat boots (they may also stock other hiking boots as well).&#xA;There is of course also &lt;strong&gt;REI&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;strong&gt;Dick's Sporting Goods&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T18:53:02.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8816" CreationDate="2015-07-23T20:31:07.197" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your rod will take longer to unload and shoot the line under these conditions, giving the line more time to fall. Since the extra line weight will cause your rod to behave as if it has a &quot;slower action,&quot; you will need to slow down a bit and open your cast as well as cast higher on back cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The magnitude of the effect will depend on the he rods listed action (slow, medium, fast) and the difference in line weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-23T20:31:07.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8853" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8923" CreationDate="2015-07-23T20:55:07.537" Score="8" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to get into fishing but don't know the technical side because I just fish with rods pre-setup. So I decided that I wanted to get a spinning reel and am pretty sure I want a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uglystik.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shakespeare ugly stick&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want a general rod I can use to land anything from bream to a small catfish. What would the best combination of action, test #, reel, weight of end tackle be for a general fishing rod? I will be fishing mainly in bays/rivers/ponds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-10T21:42:12.983" LastActivityDate="2017-08-10T21:42:12.983" Title="Rod and Tackle Combination for Beginner Fisher" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8854" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8856" CreationDate="2015-07-24T00:19:13.140" Score="14" ViewCount="2722" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are going backpacking and want to keep a single item cold for 2-3 days.  Freezing is not a problem - preferably the closest to being frozen as possible. It is medication that may be needed in case of emergencies. It's about the size of a large snickers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our idea is to buy some kind of snap-cold pack and place our belongings in a small cooler filled with ice water. We only have to carry this stuff for 2 days, max, so the weight won't be too big of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there better was of approaching this? What gel packs have backpackers used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6304" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2015-11-10T19:04:41.687" LastActivityDate="2015-11-10T19:04:41.687" Title="Keeping Single Item Cold While Backpacking For 2 Days" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8858" CreationDate="2015-07-24T01:27:17.817" Score="17" ViewCount="2124" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have climbed indoors and outdoors for several years, both top rope and sport, and I somewhat recently took an outdoor &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;trad climbing&lt;/a&gt; class. In the class, we placed protection while on top rope and never took any falls on the gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, after the class, I would like to try putting some of the knowledge to use, but I am not yet comfortable enough doing an entire route on trad gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any methods for practicing trad climbing on the gear while not 100% using it as protection? How do people usually transition from sport climbing to trad climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T12:30:01.777" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T12:50:19.743" Title="How can I safely practice trad climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8854" CreationDate="2015-07-24T04:55:14.273" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One suggestion, which you will need to try by experiment - dry ice on the bottom of a Thermos. Pack some layers of insulation on top of the dry ice, and put the item on top, with a thermometer so you can keep an eye on temperatures.  Adjust the insulation to get the temperature sitting where you want it. The thermometer can be checked though the trip and insulation adjusted if needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not seal the thermos tight - the dry ice is CO2, and the gas released as it evaporates needs to escape or pressure will build up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal Ice might last a few days in a good Thermos, but its melts to water - the container the item is is need to be water proof and thermo needs to be sealed. Its unlikely you will be able to maintain below freezing for much more than a day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far a Thermos goes, a glass vacuum one is usually the most efficient and relatively light, but prone to breakage. If a stainless steel one keeps the item cold enough for the time, it would be my preference. Bigger will hold more dry ice and stay cooler longer than a smaller one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T04:55:14.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8836" CreationDate="2015-07-24T08:13:15.110" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen any particular rules for boots at Philmont.  I am aware of a wide range of footwear having been used, ranging from the traditional heavy high-topped boots to lightweight, low-cut trail runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general it seems the Philmont trails are well-maintained, and with the exceptions of places like Valle Vidal (off-trail) and Mt. Baldy (plenty of scree) the terrain should not pose any problems that demand specific footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means you can fall back to the basic rules of hiking footwear: that which fits properly, does not hurt your feet, and does not cause blisters.  If you have used your boots before, and have had no issues with them, I would recommend sticking with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if you are buying new boots and gear for Philmont and are lacking backpacking experience, you will want to spend a few hours trying on different brands of boots and walking around in them in the store.  Once a comfortable pair is found, you will then want to do a number of practice hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another question will be the weight of your gear; most people wearing trail runners will likely also have reasonable pack weights (e.g. 20-30 lbs or 9-14 kg).  Knowing Scouts, the packs may lean toward horrendously heavy, and that's an argument for boots with decent ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar question was asked on BPL a few years back, so I suggest reading over the responses to that as well: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=41005&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=41005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T08:13:15.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8855" CreationDate="2015-07-24T08:16:01.480" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to lear how to place protections is to climb sport routes that are also suited to protection placement. Bring plenty of quickdraws (and of gear to place of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the bolts, but place protections as if those were your only alternative up there. &#xA;This will, as the very first and foremost thing, allow you to &lt;em&gt;place plenty of them. The more, the better&lt;/em&gt;. You will have a the real feel for that, and will be able to notice if they slip out of their socket when you move up the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat again, plenty of times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Next step is, place a protection just above a bolt, then FALL on that protection on purpose.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will then be able to really tell if it would have held an accidental fall or not: while safely having the safety backup of the bolt just beneath it. &#xA;This will also teach you how to remove protections, which sometimes can be very tricky. Warning: it may take quite a long time until you get the hang of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such is the way to learn how to trad climb. You trad climb alongside with bolts (eventually using fewer of them as you learn and feel more confident with your placements) so that you have the real experience of trad leading with the safety backup of bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-07-24T10:16:03.437" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T10:16:03.437" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8836" CreationDate="2015-07-24T08:36:49.640" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;These boots seem perfectly reasonable to me. If they are comfortable and not about to fall apart I can't see why they should be a problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect what they mean is that the are not familiar/do not stock that brand of boot so can't recommend it. It would seem crazy to me if they said you can't use perfectly good boots because they aren't on some list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are mainly on good paths then the comfort of your boots is probably the biggest concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you've had the boots for a while make sure they are in good condition and will not fall apart half way through, as that is bad!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T08:36:49.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8860" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-24T08:55:30.863" Score="3" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;Esbit tabs can't be lit with a firesteel, &lt;em&gt;unless you grind (produce a powder) some of the tab up first&lt;/em&gt; (here's a video about how to do that: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHRmWVitRyE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHRmWVitRyE&lt;/a&gt;).&#xA;A firesteel is much safer than matches or a lighter in my opinion, as it can hardly (if ever) fail, so I'd prefer a system that allows a firesteel to be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I am considering grinding the tabs before leaving home, and to store the Esbit it in a suitable strong and tightly closed bottle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this would work, It would also have the advantage of being able to dose the amount of fuel you want to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, I don't know how effective may that be in real use. &#xA;What I feel is, a ground Esbit could be very problematic in case of wind, if you don't protect it properly, a strong gust of wind could blow the dust away. But &lt;em&gt;assuming that there's no wind or you properly sheltered the fuel from the wind&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is a ground Esbit as effective in producing heat as the intact, un-ground, tabs? Or, if there is a difference, how significant is that?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-24T09:20:58.027" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T12:59:46.547" Title="Is it a good idea to grind Esbit fire tabs?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8860" CreationDate="2015-07-24T09:29:53.227" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tab ground up to produce a powder will have a higher surface area, therefore the fuel is more readily available for burning, this is why you can light a ground tab using a flint and steel. The flint and steel produces less energy for a shorter period of time than a match or lighter so it needs access to more fuel initially to catch (think of the fire triangle, heat, fuel &amp;amp; oxygen, your not producing much heat so you need more fuel, the ground state allows the fuel to access more oxygen also, your almost starting lost of small fires that require less of all 3 elements...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main problem I can see with keeping something in a ground state is that the added surface area also produces more evaporation (the tabs are volatile chemicals that evaporate away over time, that's why when you buy them they're sealed in plastic). So the ground powder is going to become less effective the longer it's in a ground state. How much of an effect this will have will depend; so a bit of trial and error is likely needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say your best bet is to grind them at the last minute or use an intermediate material to take the spark off your flint and steel first (tampons are perfect for this, they're compressed cotton wool, unravel them and strike the spark into the cotton, blow carefully into it until the cotton catches then introduce the cotton into your tabs).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another potential problem with this is the chance of contaminating your food:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Esbit's Material Safety Data Sheet states combustion can create&#xA;  formaldehyde, ammonia, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen cyanide and ingestion&#xA;  may cause nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal disturbances, and kidney&#xA;  damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easier to get a fine powder accidentally into your food, water, etc. then a solid block so be careful withhow and where you store them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-07-24T12:59:46.547" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T12:59:46.547" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8855" CreationDate="2015-07-24T09:47:43.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK trad climbing is the most popular form of outdoor rock climbing: there are sport routes but there are many many more trad routes, so many people (me included) actually trad climb before they sport climb (outdoors anyway).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Instruction&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the best (and &lt;strong&gt;safest&lt;/strong&gt;) way to learn is from someone more experienced than yourself. Three good options for this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Join a climbing club&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;befriend that old guy in your climbing gym who's been trad climbing for 20 years and get him to take you out and teach you!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some professional instruction from someone who knows what they're doing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My personal route&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I learnt by trial and error with a little instruction, mostly. &lt;strong&gt;This way is possibly more risky&lt;/strong&gt; but I manged the risk myself and I was confident with my own abilities; if you're not confident then &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;this may well not be the best route for you&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. This is what I personally did to start trad climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I took a course and learned how to set top ropes - this involved some basic techniques for using protection, setting up belays, placing gear, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I then used this to top rope trad climbing venues. Setting up the top ropes allowed me to get a feel for what protection to use at the top of the crag, what worked in what scenarios and what didn't. This is also good practice for setting up belays for later on, a top rope set up and a belay share many features, equalizing the load, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I then started practising what I'd learned at the top of the crag while climbing on a top rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once confident I would go to easy low grade trad crags, practice them on top ropes until I was confident on them, then move onto leading them. I'd pick short safe crags where I was confident of finishing (this is often called red pointing); many of the early ones were high boulder problems so the consequences of a dangerous fall were low.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From then on it's just a case of ramping up the grade, etc. as your confidence grows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've learnt a lot from being a member of my local climbing club. A lot of guys I now climb with are more experienced and climb a lot harder than me so it's been good to absorb this information by watching them and asking questions etc. This has only cost me £26 a year too, where as a professional instructor would cost several hundred pounds for a single day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also bought books on the subject and read these religiously, the more information you can absorb on the subject the better,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T10:32:53.913" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T10:32:53.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8864" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8866" CreationDate="2015-07-24T09:57:52.253" Score="7" ViewCount="570" Body="&lt;p&gt;In bear country, we are told, &lt;em&gt;never eat food in your tent&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I no longer live in bear country but I may return in the future.  If I eat food in my tent now, does that mean that, from a bear's point of view, it will smell of food even one or more years in the future?  Or does &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; mean the less restrictive &lt;em&gt;never while in bear country&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T18:48:21.063" Title="Can I use a tent in bear country, if I ate food in it over a year ago?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8855" CreationDate="2015-07-24T12:52:03.507" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Liam hinted at the method that was popular in the US while back, and probably still is: follow an experienced climber and clean their gear. You'll get to see actual placements &amp;amp; find out how hard or easily a piece of pro should come out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aid climbing (with bounce testing) is a great way to learn too. And a great way to kill six hours going only 100 feet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have access to multi-pitch crags, you can try leading when you're far enough up a route with a bomber anchor and not too many ledges. Being close to the ground may be comforting, but remember that the ground is what often makes falls lethal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T12:52:03.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8864" CreationDate="2015-07-24T13:01:05.893" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure bears can distinguish fresh food from year old residues. Otherwise nothing you own could ever go into bear country. Our clothes, cell phones, wallets etc have all been to so many more restaurants than your average bear, yet bears almost never take this stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional evidence: finding old old french fries under the seat of my car after many trips to Yosemite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, last time I checked, bears there still haven't realized they should break into RVs. So it seems they are a little picky about where they steal food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T13:01:05.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8867" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10060" CreationDate="2015-07-24T13:13:24.313" Score="5" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am searching for a limestone multi-pitch sport route in France, in the Briançon area, that is nicely bolted, up to 5c (French grade) difficult and that has at least 7 pitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am searching online since a while, but in vain, and maybe some local can help me quick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:34:01.787" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T02:34:01.787" Title="Searching for a sport route in the Briançon area, France" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8870" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8872" CreationDate="2015-07-25T05:57:19.870" Score="5" ViewCount="1380" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to the Rockies (trails in Jasper and Banff). Would it be safe for me to cook food while on the trail? Won't bears be attracted towards the smell of the food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6403" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T08:52:29.890" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T08:52:29.890" Title="Is it safe to cook food during a hike (on trail) when bears are possibly around?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8870" CreationDate="2015-07-25T07:21:39.457" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many people travel for days or weeks in bear country. Several existing questions on this site address bear and camp/food related issues. If you've never traveled in areas with bears before, you should definitely give these a read: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4845/what-are-the-proper-precautions-protocols-for-storing-food-while-car-camping-in&quot;&gt;What are the proper precautions/protocols for storing food while car camping in an area with bears?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8251/where-is-the-optimal-place-to-do-dishes-in-the-backcountry&quot;&gt;where is the optimal place to do dishes in the backcountry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is recommended to cook and store at least 200 feet away from where you sleep. Assuming you'll be moving on after eating, as you asked &quot;on the trail&quot;, then as long as you aren't stopping to eat in the middle of a frequently used camping location it should be fine. If actually &lt;em&gt;cooking&lt;/em&gt;, as in pulling out your stove and not just eating a snack out of a bag, you should also be at least 200 feet from water and trails to minimize impact and follow Leave No Trace principles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; attracted to food, and you do need to take special precautions when you stop to camp to protect your food and the bears from each other. There are both legal requirements, such as use of bear-proof storage containers, as well as best practices, which depend on your location. If you want to know more about the specifics for the area you're visiting, I would suggest calling the relevant land management agency for wherever you'll be - e.g. the Park Service, Forest Service, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T07:21:39.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8870" CreationDate="2015-07-25T18:01:50.827" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think part of the answer to your question relates to WHERE in the Rockies you'll be visiting.  Will you be in an area that is not visited much by humans, or will you be visiting a high-traffic area such as a national park or other popular tourist destination?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you will be hiking through an area that has few or sporadic hikers, then you really have nothing to worry about.  Black bears, in most of the mountain west, are not accustomed to humans and their fear of man is firmly intact - especially in areas where they are hunted a little each year.  They do an excellent job at staying away from humans, no matter how yummy we might smell.  So fire up your stove and cook whatever you want.  Now, that being said, do take precautions.  Clean up after yourself.  Don't leave garbage in the woods.  Hang your food at least 100 feet away from your campsite.  (A few tiny bread crumbs on the ground won't matter; the mice, birds, and chipmunks will clean them up pretty quick.)  You'd hate to acclimatize a bear to humans and have it become a problem to others.  Someone, the bear included, could end up getting hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have spent a LOT of time in areas that have plenty of bears but not a lot of people: backpacking, hunting, fishing, dayhikes.  Sometimes I ate food that I'd prepared at home, while other times, I cooked in the mountains.  I have NEVER had a bear problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, I have not spent much time in areas with lots of visitors.  In these areas, I would still cook my food, but I would be more cautious.  Bacon and foods that have tons of sugar in them are especially enticing to bears.  Go ahead and cook them, but then get them cleaned up ASAP.  NEVER store your food in your tent.  Be serious about hanging it at least 10 feet above the ground and more than 4 feet from any tree trunks.  Better yet, use a bear resistant container, if you can afford it.  Some campsites in high traffic areas have metal, bear-proof food containers.  Use them.  Especially in areas that might have grizzlies - anywhere near the borders of Idaho/Montana, Idaho/Wyoming, and Montana/Wyoming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an extra precaution, carry a canister of bear spray in a spot that is accessible - not inside your backpack.  Be sure you know how to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T18:01:50.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8873" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8888" CreationDate="2015-07-25T18:33:06.740" Score="12" ViewCount="440" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband I have been backpacking in the Sierra and Rockies since 1972.  We are bare granite freaks, and have always gone high.  Alas, time is catching up with us (we are over 70), and we are now looking for places out West 8,500 feet or under that have at least some of the ambiance of much higher elevations -- some bare granite, remoteness, spectacular views -- and, a packer to take our packs in the first day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross country hiking is OK, in fact preferred.  (Please don't recommend group hikes; groups are anathema.)  Some places in Yosemite fit some of this description -- for example, the Yosemite Creek drainage at about 8,000 feet, and Tenaya Creek starting about a mile below the trailhead, and we love these two places for warm-up hikes, but we'd like something more remote.  (Please don't recommend anything east of the Rockies.)         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T23:00:30.957" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T17:47:45.290" Title="Where can we go backpacking out West under 8,500 feet that has much of the feel of much higher altitudes" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8864" CreationDate="2015-07-25T18:37:52.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've got bacon grease or donut glaze smeared on your tent floor, then you'd better wash it off before you head back to bear country.  Otherwise, eating food in your tent now shouldn't affect it's flavor a year from now.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that food in your tent will draw other creatures to investigate the scent - such as mice and ants.  Mice will certainly exploit any hole or tear, although I've never experienced a mouse chewing a new hole into my tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T18:37:52.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8864" CreationDate="2015-07-25T18:48:21.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have over 40 years of experience in black bear country, zero in Grizzly country.  The black bear's nose is exquisitely sensitive to food that &lt;strong&gt;is here&lt;/strong&gt;.  We have frequently eaten in our tent in bad weather (but never cooked food or stored food or spilled food in the tent), and the tent has not been subsequently attractive to bears.  Not sure how much detail is appropriate, here.  You want more detail, I have more detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6408" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T18:48:21.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8854" CreationDate="2015-07-25T18:51:34.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week, I backpacked into Idaho's White Cloud Mountains.  I boiled a few eggs the night before and placed them in the refrigerator.  On the morning we left, I took them out and rolled them up in a t-shirt and tucked them under a jacket in my pack.  They were still very cold the next morning and cold enough on the second morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Daytime temperatures were around 80 and it got down in the 40's at night.  They spent the night with the other food about 12 feet off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure that a small brick of frozen Blue Ice would've kept them cold for at least one more day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sealing the food and ice in a bag, then wrapping your sleeping bag around it would probably work really well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T18:51:34.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2015-07-25T19:08:50.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're using a campfire, some foods, like fresh-caught fish, don't require cookware.  Just wrap in aluminum foil and cook in the coals.  Fish or biscuits can even be cooked directly on the coals: scoop some ashes over the coals so they're not TOO hot, then place the food directly on the ashes.  After it's cooked, just brush off the ashes.  You should probably try this at home a time or two before you do it for real in the woods - personally, I find the gritty taste of ash (that didn't brush off) to be un-appetizing.  Obviously, this won't work very well if rain is falling on your campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cooking on a stove, check your local thrift store for a wide, medium-sized aluminum pot with no lid.  Your food can easily pack into this so it takes very little space in your backpack.  Use a sheet of aluminum foil for a lid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T19:08:50.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4864" CreationDate="2015-07-25T19:17:59.453" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to point out that in my line of work, we have retrievable ring and webbing anchors. They're called ring and rings. They probably wouldn't work in every circumstance, but i know that they would work in some.&#xA;Just look up ring and ring friction savers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6410" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T19:17:59.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8787" CreationDate="2015-07-25T19:20:58.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping near my vehicle, I use an old A-frame, 4-man tent.  There's room for all my gear with plenty of sleeping and dressing space.  I can stand up to change clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am planning on an extended stay, 3 nights or more, I usually pitch a 12x14 foot tent.  Table, chair, cot, stove.  Nice and comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm backpacking, I either leave the tent at home and use a simple sheet of plastic that is large enough to fold over me in case of rain, or I pack a small, light two-man tent that has enough height for me to sit or kneel while changing clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using just the sheet of plastic is great for late summer / early fall, when there are not many mosquitoes and there is little to no threat of snow.  While backpacking in late fall / early winter, I always bring the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-25T19:20:58.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8940" CreationDate="2015-07-25T22:58:30.653" Score="3" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in Toronto, Canada. From mid May to mid September, there is a ton to do outdoors. Fishing, hiking, canoeing ,kayaking , sailing, camping etc etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In winter, January to March , there is skiing, Nordic skiing,winter camping, ice fishing etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some outdoor activities that one can enjoy in Months of October, November, December and April?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="472" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T20:23:10.433" Title="Outdoor activities for shoulder season" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;shoulder-season&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8881" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-23T21:21:08.063" Score="7" ViewCount="2023" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild camping is not permitted in Belgium, but I heard about places where this is allowed. Well itś not exactly wild camping but almost.&#xA;Where are these places? are there any hiking trails associated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I googled for it, but I only get traditional camping places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3248" OwnerDisplayName="nsn" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T04:09:05.707" Title="Where to almost wild camp in the Ardennes?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8881" CreationDate="2015-07-24T07:13:21.743" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Ardennes there are at present 14 places. Nine of them are in the Viroinval-Chimay region (south of the provinces Namur-Hainaut) and five are in the Parc Naturel des Deux Ourthes in the Luxembourg province.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A site that gives a very good overview of such places (for all of Belgium) is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bivakzone.be&quot;&gt;http://www.bivakzone.be&lt;/a&gt; (in Dutch). On this site you can also find information about hiking trails in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you google, the magic words are &quot;aire de bivouac&quot;. That should give you all the information you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" OwnerDisplayName="ptityeti" LastActivityDate="2015-07-24T07:13:21.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8883" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-07-26T06:36:56.900" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammock&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6392" LastEditorUserId="6392" LastEditDate="2015-07-26T15:24:32.353" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T15:24:32.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8884" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-07-26T06:36:56.900" Score="0" Body="A hammock is a sling between two points used for sleeping. It is usually between two trees." OwnerUserId="6392" LastEditorUserId="6392" LastEditDate="2015-07-26T15:24:39.860" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T15:24:39.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8885" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-26T06:57:08.487" Score="13" ViewCount="11734" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got the advice to take a pocket knife with me for 2 weeks of wild camping / hiking in Scotland (West Highland Way). However, I don't understand when I would need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will take the following with me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a knife, fork and spoon for eating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tweezers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tiny can opener&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bottle opener&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any other tool / reason for which I would need a pocket knife? Do people recommend it, because you can combine all / some of those tools in one compact tool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6392" LastActivityDate="2016-10-01T12:27:28.307" Title="Why should I take a pocket knife for wild camping / hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8885" CreationDate="2015-07-26T13:03:59.453" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bring a very small pocket knife with me when I'm backpacking (or whatever they call the activity in Europe...?) As you say, it's convenient because it combines several tools in one. You don't really need three big, heavy pieces of silverware. What works for me is a spoon as my main thing to cook and eat with, plus the pocket knife for tasks like cutting slices of cheese. You don't need a fork.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you really need a can opener and bottle opener on this type of trip? Cans and bottles would be heavy to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My pocket knife has a pair of scissors on it, which can be used for tasks like cutting nails, opening packaging, and cutting moleskin. A knife and scissors are also helpful for certain first-aid operations, such as cutting strips from a shirt to make bandages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people in some situations carry a big, huge knife. I suspect that this is often out of insecurity about their manhood, or because they're imagining some reality-TV fantasy where they tie it to a stick to make a spear for killing lions and tigers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have to fly to get where you're going, don't forget to put the pocket knife in your checked luggage, or you'll have it taken away from you at the security checkpoint. Small pocket knives are also easy to lose while hiking, so I tie a piece of string to mine and girth-hitch it to my belt loop when I have the knife out of my ditty bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-07-26T20:32:21.290" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T20:32:21.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8887" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-26T13:20:07.177" Score="5" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to configure my Aladin diving computer, I built the interface as described &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.muenster.de/~matthias/aladin/building.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;The software &quot;DataTalk&quot; can be used to configure the diving computer. However, the Windows version (which can be downloaded &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scubapro.com/en-GB/FRA/product-support.aspx?subject=manuals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;on the manufacturer's website&lt;/a&gt; together with &quot;DataTrak&quot;) only works with an original &quot;MemoMouse&quot; – which is quite expensive for just using it once (for configuration).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The DOS version of DataTalk seems to work with the self-built interface. However, all the links I find are outdated since about 2006 or 2009.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you know where you can still get the DOS version?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5601" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T08:12:10.337" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T08:12:10.337" Title="Where to get the DOS version of &quot;DataTalk&quot; (for Aladin diving computers)?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8873" CreationDate="2015-07-26T13:36:32.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to get a similar feeling at a lower elevation, there is one simple solution: head north (colder) or head west (more snow — shorter growing season).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The treeline in Yosemite National Park is at 3,200 – 3,600 metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The treeline in Jasper National Park is at 2,400 metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The treeline in the Olympic Mountains is at 1,500 metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The treeline in the Chugach Mountains in Alaska is at 700 metre or less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, you can get an impression of higher elevations, without having to worry about the amount of oxygen in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus for granite-lovers: this Svadet near &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efjorden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Efjord, Ballangen, Nordland, Norway&lt;/a&gt;, and is essentially at sea level:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TR1GI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TR1GI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Near Efjord, Ballangen, Nordland, Norway&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this is near Skjomen, Narvik, Nordland, Norway:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zqdFO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zqdFO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skjomen, Narvik, Nordland, Norway&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this is Litlverivassfossen in Rago Nasjonalpark, Sørfold, Nordland, Norway:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hDCHJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hDCHJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rago Nasjonal Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lake has an elevation of around 300 metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, all are very, very far east of the Rocky Mountains, and do therefore unfortunately not meet your requirements (NB: When I reached Litleverifassfossen, it had been 5 days since the last time I saw any humans, as I hiked in from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laponian_area&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Laponia&lt;/a&gt;, but it can also be reached from the nearest road in less a day hiking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-07-26T14:04:26.480" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T14:04:26.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8889" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-26T15:24:12.583" Score="10" ViewCount="312" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, national parks are in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/learningabout/whatisanationalpark/nationalparksareprotectedareas/iucncategories&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IUCN Category V rather than II&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any protection levels stricter than what UK National Parks have?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3686" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T20:40:07.383" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T13:34:31.217" Title="Is there National Park-equivalent protected nature in the United Kingdom?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="19" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2015-07-26T15:26:06.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, what you are missing here is that we also have heat radiating from our body.   When we wear dark color, it absorbs that heat, and allows it to escape.  When we wear a light color, it reflects body heat right back to us.  There's a number of articles and studies that discuss this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6413" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T15:26:06.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8891" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-26T19:56:45.370" Score="4" ViewCount="1331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just went on a 2 hour hike and was seriously annoyed by many insects that tried to get a bite of me. Through years of experimentation on hikes, I have so far arrived at using a 75% DEET solution that I liberally deposit over myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While very effective after application, I find that the effect only lasts around 15 minutes - presumably due to me sweating a lot, which might have a converse effect to the repellent (just speculating, really). On today's hike, I went through 50 ml of repellent, since I had to keep reapplying it often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a particular type of insect repellent that is effective in such situations? DEET has so far been the only thing I actually notice driving the insects away but I wonder if there are some more &quot;sticky&quot; formulations of it that might work (what I am using right now appears to just be a basic liquid solution without much additive effects). How do you cope with insects in such a case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="303" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T08:17:24.533" Title="How to prevent sweat washing off insect repellent?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8891" CreationDate="2015-07-26T20:50:36.860" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the book Lightweight Backpacking and Camping, by Ryan Jordan, p. 307, Jordan says that a supply of DEET (presumably 100% concentration) for two weeks should weigh about 0.2 oz, including the bottle. That's about 0.001 ounces per hour of hiking. You used about 1 ounce per hour. Now Jordan is writing about how to go ultralight, so his rate of consumption may be low, but it still sounds like you were using hundreds of times more DEET than you needed to. The manufacturer of some 100% DEET I bought said that one application should last about 12 hours. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deetonline.org/faq.php#q9&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; web page says that 5% DEET needs to be applied about every hour or two, so certainly you're doing the right thing by using a high concentration, if you're concerned about having to reapply it too often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With 100% DEET, only a very tiny amount needs to be applied. Two common ways of achieving this are to carry a tiny plastic atomizer, or to put a fold-top plastic baggie on your hand for use as an applicator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds to me like you were using hundreds of times more DEET than you needed to in order to get the full effect, but you just weren't getting enough of an effect to be comfortable -- there is simply a limit on what DEET can do for you. You could try a head net, or you could change the times and places where you hike. Mosquitoes tend to be particularly active in the twilight hours, and thick in the springtime and near stagnant water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T20:50:36.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8885" CreationDate="2015-07-26T20:52:20.027" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;A multi-tool or a knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A multi-tool can be a very appropriate tool for backpacking.  It combines the function of many of the tools you mentioned.  You may carry the tools you mention above, though.  (Note:  I've NEVER needed a bottle opener...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you mean a knife, read on...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do a lot of backpacking in the Eastern US, so I am going to assume that this is the equivalent of &quot;wild camping&quot; in Scotland.  In fact, I've just returned from a five day trip to the Cohutta Mountains during which my knife was used for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preparing food (peeling fruit) and other general cooking tasks (opening packages).  Yes, I keep my knife clean and usually boil it in my sterilizing/wash water daily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preparing fires.  Where I camp, it is typically quite damp much of the year, so we make feather sticks or other tinder (by shaving wood) when necessary.  My go-to fire starter is a ferrocium rod, and I use my knife as a striker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;working with cord.  I carry several types of cord (paracord, jute) for general camp tasks, including bear bagging, rigging a tarp, and clothes lines.  Occasionally, a line or knot will become stuck or jammed and must be cut.  Just two nights ago, my bear bag line became trapped in the tree and had to be cut.  Not having a knife, I would have had to leave 50 feet behind, but instead I lost only about 8 feet.  Lengths of cord are often cut when shorter lengths are needed (this is where I use jute).  There are MANY uses for cord in the back country, and is one of my essential items on any trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First aid, such as cutting moleskin or gauze pads to fit a wound.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will agree that there is not much need for a large fixed blade knife during backpacking activities.  However, I just completed an advanced bushcraft course two weeks ago and we used large knives (4 to 5 inch blades) extensively.  Simply put, bushcraft is the art of creating what you need from what you have in the backcountry.  If used correctly, these knives can be used for serious woodworking (shelter, furniture, etc) or firecraft (crating a bow drill, splitting wood) projects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when I have my large fixed blade knife, I tend to carry my small folding knife to handle the fine/delicate tasks that a large knife cannot do easily (or safely).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a typical backpacking (or wild camping) trip, I would consider a medium sized (2.5 to 3.5 inch) locking blade knife an indispensable item.  In fact, a knife is listed as one of the &quot;10 essential items&quot; on both the classic and contemporary lists (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html&lt;/a&gt;) for any backcountry trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="5341" LastEditDate="2015-07-26T20:58:19.467" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T20:58:19.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8885" CreationDate="2015-07-26T21:03:44.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a Victorinox knife. On my last few trips I've used the various tools on it to pry shellfish off rocks, slice cheese and salami, prepare vegetables, cut sticking plaster, cut duct tape for gear repair, cut cloth to make a dressing, open packets of dehydrated food neatly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have, in the past, used the wood saw on it to clear windfall. It did the job but a folding saw would have been much better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of all the non-knife tools, the scissors get the most use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as other gear, I also carry a KFS set (a knife because the pocket knife is useless at spreading marmite and jam).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I go out with people who carry no knives at all. I wonder what they would do if they had to cut clothes to make bandages or slings? To make an emergency shelter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T21:03:44.220" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8903" CreationDate="2015-07-26T21:18:16.670" Score="8" ViewCount="1519" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just returned from a five day trip during which we used a friend's Solo Stove (wood burner).  My pots are now covered with a thick, sticky, black layer of creosote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried steel wool and soap, but this is a HUGE amount of work (20+ minutes per pot).  What is the easiest way to remove this gummy mess?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2019-10-09T22:08:37.787" Title="What is the easiest way to remove creosote from pots and pans?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8901" CreationDate="2015-07-26T21:48:27.993" Score="11" ViewCount="11955" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a ProForce All Weather Shelter, which is listed as being &quot;210T rip-stop nylon&quot;.  On a recent outing, we had four hours of rain overnight and it leaked on me the entire time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upon closer inspection, there are areas where the fabric appears to have either worn thin or has lost some sort of coating (see light splotches in the fabric below):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YwSrO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YwSrO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had this tarp just under a year, and it's probably been used a total of 20 nights.  For what I paid, I don't want to replace it so I am looking for a way to restore the water resistant qualities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware of the spray-on type of waterproofing typically available at stores such as Walmart, but am not convinced this is the best option.  Are there other alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T08:15:44.333" Title="What is the best way to re-waterproof a nylon tarp?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8897" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8899" CreationDate="2015-07-26T22:27:50.373" Score="7" ViewCount="734" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a child, I remember walking with my family over the Gornergletscher to reach the Monte Rosa-Hütte.  I remember the same for crossing Vadret da Diavolezza.  In both cases, we did not have crampons and and did not use a rope.  We tried the same for the Mèr de Glace, but turned around as it was too icy.  In all cases, there were many other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BjzQv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BjzQv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Vadret da Morteratsch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Vadret da Morteratsch, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hiking book &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nmOqCQAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT258&amp;amp;lpg=PT258&amp;amp;dq=J%C3%B6kuls%C3%A1+i+l%C3%B3ni+footbridge&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ns90ksLV4i&amp;amp;sig=afFsPbi76kQUKRnuruf6ZCGz77g&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=L%C3%B3ns%C3%B6r%C3%A6fi&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Walking and Trekking in Iceland&lt;/a&gt; notes that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Eyjabakkajökull is often crossed by walkers without ice axes, crampons, or ropes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under what circumstances can a glacier be safely crossed without special gear?  How do I judge if this can be done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-07-27T08:46:23.653" LastActivityDate="2015-07-27T15:19:35.047" Title="When can a glacier be crossed without special gear (axes, crampons, rope, etc.)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1837" CreationDate="2015-07-26T23:05:23.180" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am using these on a vango 350 this evening. Turn the plastic through 90 degrees to run the guy along the channel on the plastic. when taught let it flip naturally back to hold in place. They work fairly well.good luck! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6415" LastActivityDate="2015-07-26T23:05:23.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8897" CreationDate="2015-07-27T04:12:09.847" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although always recommended, crampons and axes are only &lt;em&gt;necessary&lt;/em&gt; for hiking on steep or slippery ice where there is fall potential or danger of sliding to the bottom of a slope and seriously injuring or killing yourself. If you're traveling along an easy, flat, or concave slope of a glacier, and you can manage in only your boots, then they aren't necessarily &lt;em&gt;required&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Judging when a glacier can be safely crossed without the appropriate gear should only be done by guides or experienced glacier walkers. If you are unsure of whether a glacier can be crossed without the appropriate gear, then you'd be wise not to take any risks without it.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering always carries with it a certain amount of risk. Responsible mountaineers always educate themselves for the terrain they plan to travel on, and take the proper precautions in order to avoid incidents or be prepared in the event of an emergency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-27T15:19:35.047" LastActivityDate="2015-07-27T15:19:35.047" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8889" CreationDate="2015-07-27T08:21:12.537" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The UK has an incredibly high population density (&lt;strong&gt;262 people per km²&lt;/strong&gt;). This is one of the highest in the developed world. Though you're correct that there are higher ones; Holland has a higher one actually, but they also have space issue, that's why the reclaim land using dykes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK was also the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the 1800-1900s, and as such land was needed to build ships, mine coal, etc. for the expanding empire (the UK had one of the biggest empires in the modern era). This led to much more intensive usage of the wild areas (for example see the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Clearances&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Highland Clearances&lt;/a&gt; in Scotland, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the UK has a very long tradition of intensive farming. All mountain areas in the UK have been sheep farms for thousands of years and the industrial revolution/British Empire led to this being expanded massively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So first off, it's not really fair to compare the UK with somewhere like Lapland (Norway's population density is &lt;strong&gt;15 people per km²&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said, you make a good point about Hoge Kempem. Belgium is even more densely populated than the UK. But does this region have the same tradition of farming and management? Belgium did develop industrially in the 19C but I would wager not to the extent or pace that the UK did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm really trying to say, I suppose, is, that each country has its own pressures over long periods of time. The UK could likely do more but its traditions and culture are different to many other countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there any natural areas in the United Kingdom with a protection&#xA;  similar to the internationally recognised protection for national&#xA;  parks? That is, are there protected areas with no mining or logging&#xA;  allowed, and at best very limited farming and human habitation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, not really, even the most inaccessible areas of the Highlands have sheep farming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If not, are there at least areas with a protection level stricter than&#xA;  what UK National Parks have?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strike&gt;No again, the national parks have the highest level of protection in the UK. These have been used intensively though, since before the national parks existed!&lt;/strike&gt; Turns out I was wrong, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8928/2766&quot;&gt;Gerrit answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind also that the idea of protecting wild areas is a recent one. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite in America being the first one&lt;/a&gt;. By this point almost all of the UK was already being intensively farmed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gerrit makes a point about the New Forest being the first park; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;William the Conqueror&lt;/a&gt; invaded England in 1066. He made the New Forest a &lt;strong&gt;hunting park&lt;/strong&gt; (this is not the same as a modern national park). It is not really a protected habitat as such. It is heavily managed, farmed and even logged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a start, The New Forest has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6a4kql&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rights of commoners&lt;/a&gt;. These people have several farming rights inside the new forest itself, grazing animals mostly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the New Forest is still managed by humans and always has been. So effectively this area is still farmed (to a degree) and even deforested. Anyone who's been to the new forest will immediately notice that it's not all wooded (it's roughly 50% heathland without any trees). In fact trees are purposely removed in large areas. This was originally to aid in hunting but has continued traditionally ever since. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the famous New Forest deer were introduced from France for hunting and are not a native species. So again, you can't really compare this area to a modern &quot;wilderness&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another very valid point &lt;a href=&quot;http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/23036369#23036369&quot;&gt;@aravona raised actually in chat&lt;/a&gt;, is that the parks in the UK are not owned by the government. &lt;strong&gt;They are all typically owned by private land owners&lt;/strong&gt; (sometimes this is the Queen or the National Trust, but still private). The park authority simply manages the land and adds extra rules, etc. The main day to day running of the place is done by private individuals. This is why we don't have issues of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitepark.com/government-shutdown-information.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;parks closing during strikes&lt;/a&gt;, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T13:34:31.217" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T13:34:31.217" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8896" CreationDate="2015-07-27T08:25:09.330" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This addresses the perfect solution for silnylon. &lt;a href=&quot;http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or if you are wanting to continue with instruction that specifically discuss PU coatings there is this: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dzjow.com/2012/06/18/how-to-re-coat-a-shelter/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://dzjow.com/2012/06/18/how-to-re-coat-a-shelter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The processes are identical, one just cites one specific kind of material while the other offers a more general application base. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of page deletions here is a brief summary of the information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shelters made out of cuben fabric never need re-coating. All other fabrics do have a coating which will degrade over their lifespan, mainly due to rubbing, the degrading effect of UV light from the sun and storing it wet. Shelter fabrics usually have either one of those two coatings: a silicone coating or a PU-coating (polyurethane). Tent floors usually have a PU-coating while tent flysheets usually have a silicone coating. However, a PU-coating is still used by some manufacturers on their tent flysheets. It is important to know which kind of coating has been applied to your shelter as each of these two kind of coatings need another product and solvent for re-coating. Some tents like for example those of MSR even have a different coating on each side of the fabric of the tent fly, a silicone coating on the outside and a PU-coating along the inside. If you’re not sure about the type of coating, try to contact the manufacturer.Coatings based on silicone are the easiest to renew. In case of a PU-coating it is more difficult to find the right product and solvent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, what do you need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the necessary items for a silicone coating:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;White spirit&#xA;A tube of silicone: transparent and odorless (without additives)&#xA;A silicone syringe&#xA;A clean pot or jar&#xA;An accurate weighing scale (one gram accuracy recommended)&#xA;A paint brush&#xA;A pair of protective gloves (you’ll notice I didn’t wear gloves but you should know better)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a PU-coating you’ll need an urethane based product and an appropriate solvent. One can also try the expensive option like Tent Sure Tent floor sealant from Mcnett or the Nikwax variant. Otherwise the method for a PU-coating will be rather similar as I’m going to explain for a silicone coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1.Pitch the tent in a well ventilated area, preferable outdoors(on a sunny day). If weather conditions cause a good bit of dust and debris to carry in the air wait, or move indoors. While minimal dust will not affect the quality of your application large particles (like the neighbor mowing) will affect adhesion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2.Clean to prepare fabric for coating. &#xA;Make sure that fabric is completely dry before attempting to recoat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3.Prepare mixture:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Pour white spirits(15) and silicone(1) into a jar (weighing) the components so that there is a 15:1 ratio. As a general guideline try to using a 1.5g/1 sq. m estimate when purchasing materials. Consider each side of your tent/tarp an independent area if you are going to coat both sides.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stir until spirits and silicone are dissolved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4.Paint mixture onto fabric ensuring that no runs or drops gather on the fabric. Once dried touch the surface to determine if coating is thick enough. IF necessary apply another coat. Some minor discoloration may be noticed due to operator errors. (Who can perfectly and evenly paint that kind of surface?) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.After you are confident the tent is 100% dry test the coating with a spritz of water. If the water beads and runs off you have succeeded. If not repeat steps 1-5 again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6418" LastEditorUserId="6418" LastEditDate="2015-07-28T08:15:44.333" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T08:15:44.333" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4232" CreationDate="2015-07-27T09:10:55.030" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I have just returned from a week of hiking in and near the eastern Pyrenees, starting from Foix, having flown in to Toulouse. The train journey from Toulouse to Foix is pleasant and takes about three hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there we did three days on the Sentier Cathar, which follows the route of the GR107, then a day south on the GR107 to Ax les Thermes, where we spent a very pleasant day. Then we spent three days on the Carlit Massif, first along the GR10 from Merens les Vals, followed by a final day back to the end of the French train line at Entveigt / Latour les Carols, via a stretch of the Route due Carlit. It is a very lovely area, with lots of options for making up a tour of about a week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had more guides than we needed (because I can't resist buying them, in English or French) but you could easily find your way without them, if weight was critical, using just the 1:50000 map for the area. The routes are well marked with red and white markers for the GR routes, and red and yellow for the others that we used. The guides do give you an idea of how much ascent/descent you are in for, however, and how long the day's walking is likely to take. Mind you, we always needed longer than the suggested times, but we are slow! We normally set out by 7:30-8:00 in order to get some distance behind us before the heat of the afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only places where it was remotely crowded were where we approached civilisation, for example at the Lac Bioullouse. Otherwise it was gloriously empty, and we actually liked to meet our few fellow travellers along the way when we bumped into them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At Montsegur we camped at a beautiful, simple, quiet and cheap (4 euros each!) municipal camp site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had a tent and slept in it most nights, but mostly outside refuges when in the mountains, and at campsites or gites when lower down. Even lower down, on the Sentier Cathar, you have to think ahead as to whether there will be shops where you can buy food. In the mountains it was significantly cooler than low down, though still felt warm, and we managed OK for water by using fountains at villages when we came across them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were plenty of opportunities for wild camping, but I didn't see anyone doing it, probably because the proximity to refuges where we were meant that it wasn't necessary. In fact, unless you are completely averse to using refuges, or are going to an area where they are not where you want them to be, you might want to consider ditching the tent and just using the refuges. I think we saved 18ish euros a night each by using our tent, but had the weight penalty instead. That said, all the hikers we saw who were doing the whole stretch from Hendaye to Banyuls, or vice-versa, by whichever route, did have tents with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would have loved to see a bear, but the closest I came was a marmot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We both very much want to go back and do more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6419" LastEditorUserId="6419" LastEditDate="2017-01-01T11:44:13.250" LastActivityDate="2017-01-01T11:44:13.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2015-07-27T09:48:56.940" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately this advice may a bit late for you now, but if you cover the outside of the pots in washing-up liquid before putting them on the fire/wood burner and clean it after use. The washing-up liquid should stop the soot sticking and it should wipe of fairly easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This approach is best if you are at a fixed campsite where you can easily wash your pots after use and the extra washing liquid is not too much of an issue. If you are backpacking it means you have to carry a large amount of washing liquid and/or carry sticky washing liquid covered pots neither of which are great ideas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've already got your pots in a mess your options are limited. You'll probably need to do a lot of scrubbing, like you are. If you haven't already soaking your pots in soapy water overnight may help but I doubt it will solve the problem entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-07-27T09:48:56.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8891" CreationDate="2015-07-27T10:16:10.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend trying &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campsaver.com/lemon-eucalyptus-bug-spray-4oz?gclid=Cj0KEQjwrdetBRCJg92s44SB77IBEiQAEIWmVbkjRHzdS2WoQDoLKIYdYzjaEQXGGDTUXHy3sZSiFLkaArdL8P8HAQa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Bug Spray&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Eucalyptus oil acts as a cooling agent and helps minimize sweating. I live in a deciduous ecosystem and can promise you this stuff works. In terms of lightweight: the bottle my husband and I use has been with us on multiple camping, climbing, biking, and kayaking excursions and we still have a good amount left. If you begin to run low you can add water and it will lengthen the life for at least 2/3 more days. We apply twice a day and it keeps the insect away. If you use deet for tick repellent try:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/consultations/deet/health-effects.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;read up on DEET&lt;/a&gt; for yourself and family members (we take our girls camping).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6418" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-07-27T21:41:16.313" LastActivityDate="2015-07-27T21:41:16.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8897" CreationDate="2015-07-27T12:16:08.627" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing you need to find out is how heavily crevassed the glacier is, and whether any crevasses are likely to be big enough to fall into. Crevasses can be hidden by snow, so people can fall into them unexpectedly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have reliable information that there are no crevasses big enough to fall into, then the use of ice axes and crampons is decided by all the same factors as in any snowy mountain environment, such as ice, exposure, steepness of the slope, and whether or not there is a boot track already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If falling into a hidden crevasse is a possibility, then you need to do a lot more than just bringing ice axes and crampons. Crevasse self-rescue is a complicated technical topic. You need to learn it from a competent instructor and practice all the techniques extensively before you go. You will travel in a rope team, and every member of the team needs to have both the gear and the skills, because if someone falls in, it's unpredictable who will fall in, who will need to stay in self-arrest position, and who will need to get out of self-arrest and begin setting up the rescue. In addition to the group's rope and any additional rescue lines carried in packs, the minimum gear that each person needs to have on them would be something like the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;harness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice ax&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at least one ice screw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at least one picket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 shoulder-length slings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 locking biners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 nonlocking biners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 Prusiks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chest harness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard mountaineering textbook Freedom of the Hills has a chapter on glacier travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-07-27T12:42:48.777" LastActivityDate="2015-07-27T12:42:48.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8906" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-27T13:02:02.080" Score="5" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I, unfortunately, am in the situation where my down sleeping bag has been stored in a compressed state for approximately 11 months (it was bought and used once before this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read in many places that down bags should never be stored while compressed. However, is there anything at all I can do to restore/improve the situation now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6420" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T18:07:42.233" Title="What can be done to restore a Down Sleeping Bag after compressed storage?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-07-29T20:53:38.720" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8908" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-27T17:45:28.733" Score="15" ViewCount="35684" Body="&lt;p&gt;This Northface backpack has an elastic strap which criss-crosses the back side of the pack. What is this type of strap called? The image below shows what kind of strap I'm talking about: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6C5ms.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6C5ms.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;screenshot of backpack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6423" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-07-28T00:22:13.960" LastActivityDate="2019-11-13T01:29:59.230" Title="What do you call the criss-crossed elastic strap on this Northface backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8910" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8921" CreationDate="2015-07-27T23:48:46.503" Score="5" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;Decades ago, the rule of thumb was that there were no rattlesnakes above 9,000 feet in the Sierra.  I don't remember what the authority for this was.  It is definitely warmer in the Sierra now than it was 20 years ago. Is there such a rule of thumb now, and if so, what is the rattlesnake line?  This question was prompted by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4693/venomous-semi-venoumous-snakes-at-higher-altitudes&quot;&gt;Venomous/Semi-Venoumous Snakes at Higher Altitudes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:07:08.850" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:07:08.850" Title="Is the &quot;rattlesnake line&quot; higher now in the Sierra than it used to be, decades ago?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8908" CreationDate="2015-07-28T00:29:39.833" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the features list for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/mens-accessories-backpacks/borealis?variationId=EJH&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The North Face Men's Borealis Pack&lt;/a&gt;, that is called a: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Front elastic bungee for external storage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mHXfX.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mHXfX.png&quot; alt=&quot;North Face product features page&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T00:29:39.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6394" CreationDate="2015-07-28T02:49:38.947" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just finished a class using both the Prohaska and Bachmann.  If you have the hardware, the carabiner does mind the cord well.  The Bachmann can slip through a carabiner if used as a catchment hitch in a mechanical advantage system, such as a &quot;Z&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6430" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T02:49:38.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8917" CreationDate="2015-07-28T03:23:57.080" Score="7" ViewCount="1524" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having watched several Bear Grylls shows, I was curious if anyone has any practical uses for a &quot;commando rappel&quot;, as he calls it, or an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rappel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Australian rappel&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. It seems like they're only used for entertainment since I've never seen anyone do one outside of television. On the other hand, their name suggests an origin in military training (perhaps so one could shoot down while rappelling?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was briefly mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4919/3066&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; as being dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any practical uses for a commando rappel, or is it simply unnecessary and dangerous?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T04:38:57.433" Title="Practical uses for commando/Australian rappel?" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8916" CreationDate="2015-07-28T08:12:39.147" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the &quot;commando rappel&quot; was invented by the military (special forces) though I can find no history of this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding of the idea is that it allows you to rappel &lt;strong&gt;fast&lt;/strong&gt;, gives you a &lt;strong&gt;free hand&lt;/strong&gt; (to hold a weapon, handgun, etc) and allows you to &lt;strong&gt;see where you're going&lt;/strong&gt;. So it's basically designed for rappelling into military situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're planning on physically assaulting your belayer, in civilian use it's simply more dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-28T22:23:23.537" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T22:23:23.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8918" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-28T10:55:42.653" Score="11" ViewCount="1261" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have wood canoe paddles, currently after being out in the water, I bring them in the house and lean them against the wall in the corner. They actually look pretty nice and kind of add to the home decor, so I was thinking about making some kind of a rack to hang them on the wall.  Duel function, easy to grab and go, but also outdoorsy decor.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special considerations for maintaining the paddles (&lt;em&gt;obviously no drilling holes in them&lt;/em&gt;) like positioning or contact points, that I should consider when designing the rack? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:05:20.793" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T21:47:29.703" Title="What is the best way to store paddles?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8918" CreationDate="2015-07-28T13:31:50.347" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Overall I think you should be okay with just making sure that the contact points on the oars are a bit padded, or at least, the contact point is not sharp. That way it shouldn't rub on the oar and degrade or scratch the finish. Rubber is a common way to keep oars in place without scratching the finish. You could consider using guitar hooks to keep them in place, as these are designed to hold delicate wood guitar necks, and are usually padded with a soft foam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However it would also be good to make sure that your oars, as they are wooden, are not stored in direct sunlight as UV light will weaken the surface and shorten the lifespan of the oar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously in this case you won't be storing them anywhere damp but additionally never leave oars on wet grass, mud etc. when out and about if you can help it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck with your project - our plastic / metal collapsible oars store neatly in a cupboard but wouldn't look good on the wall anyway!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good info / Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.concept2.co.uk/service/oars/storing-and-transporting-oars&quot;&gt;Concept 2 Storing and Transporting Oars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T13:31:50.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8908" CreationDate="2015-07-28T15:42:17.197" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's simply &lt;strong&gt;elastic cord&lt;/strong&gt; threaded through &lt;strong&gt;tie out loops&lt;/strong&gt; on your bag. It's used to lash everything that can't fit &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; your bag (extra layers/jacket), things that you don't &lt;em&gt;want&lt;/em&gt; inside your bag (wet/muddy clothes or sharp pokey crampons), or things that you want &lt;em&gt;quick access&lt;/em&gt; to onto the outside of your bag (wind breaker/gaiters/rain jacket). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm rapidly gaining elevation, I lash my extra mid layers, Goretex jacket, gaiters, crampons and anything else I'm going to be putting on and wearing as soon as we get high enough in elevation onto the back of my bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lash a lot of stuff to my bag on the approach when I'm going caving, the caves here are never warmer than 4°C and most of them are up at 2000m, so you have to pack extra warm clothes as well as your coveralls and everything else you're going to be wearing through the cave. Instead of carrying a bigger bag that you end up dragging through the cave and getting snagged on everything, or sweating balls all the way up the mountain wearing your extra layers, you carry a smaller bag and lash &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; that you can't fit inside to the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VSu2P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VSu2P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-28T16:49:01.997" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T16:49:01.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8910" CreationDate="2015-07-28T16:23:55.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a scientific evidence based answer, but I think that line should not be changing much, as it should have more to do with snow cover than temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Study-Sierra-snowfall-consistent-over-130-years-3331631.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;history of snow fall in the Sierras&lt;/a&gt;, asserts that there has been no change in snowfall over 130 years despite a change in temperatures. This isn't too surprising as air carries more moisture when warm, and the Sierras are known to getting a lot of powder (aka Sierra cement) days late in the season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note from the chart that there aren't very many 'average' years, it's feast or famine. The years with heavy snowfall might mean six months of snow cover, maybe that's too long for a rattle snake to wait for breakfast?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related trivia:&#xA;The Tahoe basin remains rattle snake free (last time I checked) despite being theoretically in their range. The lake is about 6200 feet, with many passes well below 9000 on all sides, plus the Truckee River canyon going right down to known rattle snake territory (Reno). In a heavy snow year virtually all of the basin will have snow cover, nearly down to lake level, from December to March, with more snow in April and May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T16:23:55.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8922" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8932" CreationDate="2015-07-28T16:48:05.347" Score="14" ViewCount="24969" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very old backpack (10-15 years old) that is perfect for one day or weekend hikes. The problem is that the inside material has started to peel off and it leaves small bits of yellowish plastic on anything that I put in there. This is specially annoying with clothes, fleeces in particular, because it is very hard to clean-off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3JnLX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3JnLX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Old backpack inside material peeling off&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried washing and brushing but with limited success. Is there anything I can do to save this bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:26.117" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T15:13:18.110" Title="Cleaning the plastic residue of the inside of my old backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8853" CreationDate="2015-07-28T17:03:59.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your choice of an ugly stick is fantastic. I fish more specialized rods now, but I have owned many ugly sticks over the years, and they are rock solid performers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the &quot;small-water&quot; fishing destinations and the species you say you'll be targeting, I would go for something in the 5-7' range - in a light rod power (to use Shakespeare parlance). Moderate to moderate fast action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are a novice, I'd recommend using a heavier line weight than you might use after you have more experience - 10-12 lb test braided line. It has the diameter of something like a 4-6 lb monofilament, but greater strength, sensitivity, and performance overall. Look for a spinning reel that will hold 120 yards or so of 6 lb monofilament and it will hold much more briaded line. I believe Shakespeare offers combos that would probably be perfect. &lt;strong&gt;Just make sure that whatever you buy is rated for saltwater&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavier line will definitely limit how far you can cast very light (&amp;lt;1/4 oz.) lures and rigs, but I think you'll lose fewer fish than if you were using 6lb test line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a rig like this you could fish for bluegills or crappie one day, and then fight nice sized stripers the next. And catfish should be no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T17:03:59.903" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2015-07-28T21:25:01.503" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just a suggestion, you could try putting a small amount of something abrasive (such as rock salt or perhaps gravel) into the bag, closing the bag securely with a zip tie on the zipper pulls &amp;amp; placing it in a clothes drier on the Fluff setting (no heat) for some period of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or if putting it in the drier makes you nervous, you could try agitating it by hand instead with an abrasive inside (the last thing you want are bits of gravel zooming around inside your drier.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've of course never tried this, it is just what comes to mind... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-07-28T21:25:01.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8927" CreationDate="2015-07-28T23:31:51.750" Score="13" ViewCount="1794" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sometimes climb in the gym with a partner who outweighs me by about 50%. When he's leading and falls from above his protection, I can get pulled up to the first clip. If he's not very far up, this could lead to the dreaded &quot;ding-dong&quot; effect, where I get pulled up and collide with him as he falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What effective strategies are there for preventing this? I can try to stand out of his line of fall, but that won't help if I'm simply levitated directly up to the first quickdraw on the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when I'm climbing a route in the gym, and I feel confident of the first few clips, I start by clipping a quickdraw that's off to the side, then skip a clip, then clip into the third clip on my actual route. (I skip the second clip because I don't want the rope to go around a sharp corner, which would give a lot of rope drag.) Doing this eliminates the possibility of a ding-dong, at the expense of possibly having a ground fall before I reach the third clip. But this is not something I would ask a climber to do for me when I'm on belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T10:43:33.293" Title="Avoiding a &quot;ding-dong&quot; when lead belaying in the gym?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8926" CreationDate="2015-07-29T00:04:40.237" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest and most straightforward solution would be to connect yourself to a ground anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide to do this while belaying a lead climber, you might want to let the rope slide a little when they fall, because you will lose the ability to provide a soft-catch by offsetting your body-weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-29T10:43:33.293" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T10:43:33.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8889" CreationDate="2015-07-29T00:24:30.217" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I have not found IUCN Level II protected areas, there do exist areas with a higher level than national parks.  So as regards &lt;em&gt;are there at least areas with a protection level stricter than what UK National Parks have?&lt;/em&gt;, the answer is &lt;em&gt;yes&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within England, there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-nature-reserves-in-england&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;National Nature Reserves&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.protectedplanet.net/castle-bottom-national-nature-reserve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Protected Planet&lt;/a&gt;, those are protected at IUCN level IV, so one level higher than UK national parks, that are Level V.  National Nature Reserves are small areas.  The largest is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wash&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Wash&lt;/a&gt; at 88 km², whereas the smallest is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureofdorset.co.uk/nature-reserves/horn-park-quarry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Horn Park Quarry&lt;/a&gt; at just 3200 m².&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mjt8g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mjt8g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Castle Bottom&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve.  Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_Bottom_Nature_Reserve_-_geograph.org.uk_-_679323.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also sister organisations in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nnr-scotland.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scotland&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_nature_reserves_in_Wales&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wales&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/landing-pages/protected-areas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northern Ireland&lt;/a&gt; (including the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.protectedplanet.net/giant-s-causeway-national-nature-reserve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Giant's Causeway&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="16194" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T01:56:28.427" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T01:56:28.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="8929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8926" CreationDate="2015-07-29T02:30:43.970" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without some kind of ground anchor, you'll have to adapt your belay setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, the belayer doesn't have much choice about where to stand. Stand as close as you can to the first clipped draw, or you'll experience the dreaded smacked-into-the-wall-got-knocked-out-and-dropped-my-partner-effect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, a 50% difference isn't huge - lot's of male-female climbing couples handle this. I have hoisted my belayer off the ground before, but we didn't smash into each other violently, just a gentle bump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, friction is your friend here. A little bit of a zig-zag in the rope near the bottom should prevent too much rope movement when the leader falls. If the belayer is careful, he/she should be able to keep the rope loose enough to slide through the zig-zag when unweighted. Avoid this up high, of course, as the weight of the rope will create lots of drag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T02:30:43.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8930" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-29T03:07:48.340" Score="4" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought an MSR Sweetwater pump for a trip next week.  I'm pumping a few quarts now to clean it out, and notice that there is constant dripping water out of the pressure relief valve at the top (maybe three or four drops per stroke -- not a lot by any means).  There is certainly not a strong stream of water.  I scrubbed out the filter a couple times first as instructed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never used one of these.  Is this the normal behavior?  If not, can I still go ahead and use it for the trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6432" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T19:39:42.667" Title="MSR Sweetwater dripping" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8926" CreationDate="2015-07-29T07:29:12.623" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen this managed by having a runner on a low mounted hanger on the a joining climb. The resulting zigzag creates significant friction when the rope is loaded.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An other way to manage this is to give the lead a dynamic belay in a fall - allowing a foot or so of rope to run though the belay, rather than just locking him off. Takes a bit of practice, but is actually something good to know if you ever plan to venture onto trad or alpine routes, or climb sport routes with dodgy bolts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T07:29:12.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2015-07-29T11:37:34.473" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the waterproof coating is flaking off. Try washing with a cloth and warm soap and water. I've had reasonable success with this method in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T11:37:34.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8933" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8934" CreationDate="2015-07-29T13:33:01.153" Score="13" ViewCount="11630" Body="&lt;p&gt;A number of fishing rods you can buy have models that are 2 piece and models that are 1 piece. I have heard people say their rods snapped in half when they were 2 piece. However, it would be extremely beneficial as far as portability to have 2 piece. What are the pros/cons of each? Would one be better than the other? Since this may be brand specific, I am thinking mostly about Shakespeare Ugly Stik models, but any general information would help!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T01:31:09.340" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T20:15:06.810" Title="Fishing Rods: One Piece or Two Piece" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8933" CreationDate="2015-07-29T14:05:42.497" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I fish for everything from 9&quot; brook trout to 15 lb. bluefish to 40 lb. striped bass on both fly rod and spinning tackle, and honestly I don't think I would say that one is better than the other except for the fact that with 1 piece rods you don't worry about losing your tip, OR that with multi-piece rods you can cart them around more easily (and reduce the risk of slamming the tip in a door or something.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nowadays the difference between the two is getting almost too little to talk about. Some will argue that a 1-piece is more sensitive, casts better, and is stronger. One thing for sure is that a 1-piece will never separate when casting or fighting fish - something that happens more than you would think due to people not checking the connection in their two piece rods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, most fly rods are multi-sectional. Since they depend on their flex to fight fish and their strength to cast line, it could be argued that having multiple sections is a non-issue. Modern ferrules and lines do a great job preserving sensitivity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that only Lamiglas is making 1-piece surf casting rods larger than 10'. From what my tackle shop says, a change in shipping rates made it too costly to ship anything longer. So everyone else is making two piece rods for anything longer than 10'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have both one piece and two piece. I mostly fish a 1-piece simply for the fact that I never have to pack them and I won't have to worry about the tip flying off after a cast. BUT, if packing size plays any part in the decision, I don't hesitate to take a multi-piece rod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T14:05:42.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8933" CreationDate="2015-07-29T14:46:00.830" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are looking at two piece rods because of their more compact size, you may also want to consider telescoping rods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had (3) telescoping rods &amp;amp; all but the Amazon-special-carbon-fiber job have served me well (the no-name brand amazon one broke into many pieces...), but I've loved the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.muddcreek.com/calypso-mako-saltwater-telescoping-fishing-rod-8-foot-mak-8mhs-t/&quot;&gt;Mako Calypso 8' rod&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; my much smaller Shakespeare telescoper as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With these rods too, some people will try to argue that they lack sensitivity, but I've felt the hits on these &amp;amp; landed anything from trout, perch, &amp;amp; crappie to a stripper off an ocean pier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I started experimenting with telescoping rods so I could more easily take them with me while backpacking &amp;amp; biking. Now, they are all I have!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used two piece &amp;amp; one piece rods in the past, but that was so long ago I don't think I'd have any practical advice on what is out there now. I'd only note that as @That Idiot noted, multi piece rods do have a tendency to fly apart while casting or fighting a fish &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;IF&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; you don't check the connection between casts. (Note that this doesn't happen with telescoping rods).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="6032" LastEditDate="2015-07-29T15:05:03.000" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T15:05:03.000" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8906" CreationDate="2015-07-29T18:07:42.233" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you tried tossing it in a dryer on Air Fluff with some tennis balls, for a little while? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: See also suggestions &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3809/how-can-i-inflate-or-plump-up-my-my-sleeping-bag?rq=1&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6212" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T18:07:42.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8930" CreationDate="2015-07-29T19:39:42.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water coming out of the pressure relief valve means that your filter is clogged, it say so in the instruction manual. Have you followed the &quot;prepare filter surface&quot; instructions? Did you remember to rinse the cartridge and pump out the loose carbon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T19:39:42.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8076" CreationDate="2015-07-29T20:01:55.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coe.ca/guiding/ferrata/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nordegg&lt;/a&gt; has a via ferrata that was set up by COE, the owner Mike Adolph &quot;...recommends anyone using the via ferrata to do so through a guide, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Face+your+fears+plenty+thrills+tackling+ferrata/8612671/story.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;although if a climber shows up with a helmet and the correct harness and clips, they could go solo.&lt;/a&gt;&quot;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mt. Nimbus, BC has a via ferrata run by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/summer/our-trips/high-flying.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CMH&lt;/a&gt;. CMH says that &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.canadianmountainholidays.com/the-adventure/bid/65731/The-Iron-Way-A-Critique-of-the-Mt-Nimbus-Via-Ferrata#ixzz3hJQ983FO&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;while the public could, in theory, access Mt Nimbus, it would be difficult.&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;CMH also runs a via ferrata in Bugaboos Provincial Park at Trundle Ridge, which in theory is accessible to anyone, but good luck finding it without a guide (and a helicopter). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T20:01:55.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8880" CreationDate="2015-07-29T20:23:10.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ice skating&lt;/strong&gt; is my favourite elusive shoulder season activity. Out here in Banff we'll often get the right conditions in late November for the ponds to freeze over without a snowfall, creating a crystal clear skating surface. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l8fhE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l8fhE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ice skating on the Vermillion Ponds in Banff, AB&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it doesn't happen every year, and it takes just one snowfall to ruin it. Larger lakes take longer to freeze, and some get enough wind that it clears off through December. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Force.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Force.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ice skating on Lake Minnewanka, Banff AB&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In April, &lt;strong&gt;whitewater canoeing&lt;/strong&gt; in the spring thaw is a popular option (wear a dry suit!) while &lt;strong&gt;hiking&lt;/strong&gt; can be done on southern aspects. In Banff you can &lt;strong&gt;downhill ski&lt;/strong&gt; until the end of May, while people continue to &lt;strong&gt;ski tour&lt;/strong&gt; until the end of June. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2015-07-29T20:23:10.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3809" CreationDate="2015-07-30T05:52:56.067" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The impact of compression on loft can come from how long a bag is left compressed, or from the number of times it has been compressed.  As the main risk with compression is the breaking of fibers that would otherwise contribute to increased loft, many repeated cycles are more likely to cause trouble.  That said, synthetics and down are different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Synthetic bags:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;As the fibers break down over time, synthetic bags will lose loft and eventually need to be replaced.  You can try fluffing up the bag, and a bag that is relatively new but just compressed for a number of months is likely return to close to its original loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to down bags, synthetic bags will also lose some loft as they get dirty with use, so eventually you will want to wash the bag.  This will help restore some of the loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down bags:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Refer to Dakatine's answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7118/will-a-down-sleeping-bag-recover-100-after-being-squeezed-if-its-not-for-a-lon&quot;&gt;Will a down sleeping bag recover 100% after being squeezed if it&amp;#39;s not for a long time?&lt;/a&gt; Down is much more durable than people often give it credit, and is quite compressible.  The stiffer feathers may break from compression, but the down itself will be fine.  (Thus, a higher fill power down will compress better and be more resilient.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For down, loss of loft over time is most likely due to the bag getting dirty (e.g. from skin oils) and the down clumping up.  You can try simple fluffing methods (tumble dry, low or no heat, tennis balls), but eventually you will want to have your bag washed.  This is a topic for another question and is a rather delicate job, as you can easily tear the fabric if you're not careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your down bag is clean and dry, and the only issue is that it was stored compressed, your main problem is that it will likely take more time to loft.  The dryer method should assist with this, or you can just shake it out, spread it out, and let it sit for a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something to be careful of is over-compressing wet down, or leaving damp or dirty down compressed for a long period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T05:52:56.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8798" CreationDate="2015-07-30T08:13:47.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has been answered at &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3031/does-rubbing-a-dock-leaf-on-a-sting-from-a-stinging-nettle-help-to-reduce-pain&quot;&gt;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3031/does-rubbing-a-dock-leaf-on-a-sting-from-a-stinging-nettle-help-to-reduce-pain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For posterity I will recreate the answer &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is from a forum post so it could use a bit more of a hard&#xA;  reference, but it contains some useful and verifiable info:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is said that nettle stings are caused by the formic acid in the&#xA;  sting solution. If it were true, then Dock leaves, which contain&#xA;  Oxalic acid, would not be a remedy. The extremely fine syringe type&#xA;  hair of the Nettle breaks off easily and penetrates the skin. Within&#xA;  this hair is a stinging solution which is only 1% Formic acid. A 2% -&#xA;  10% concentration is required for the acid to be an irritant. It is&#xA;  histamine and serotonin in the sting which cause the irritation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dock leaf sap contains a natural antihistamine. If you rub too hard&#xA;  with the dock leaf, you will merely disturb the nettle sting in your&#xA;  skin and make it worse. The best way to deal with the problem is to&#xA;  break off some dock leaf and chew it for a few seconds, then gently&#xA;  rub the saliva/dock sap mixture around the sting. The antihistamine&#xA;  from the dock leaf together with the natural healing properties of&#xA;  saliva will ease the stinging sensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:46.800" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T08:13:47.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8943" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8950" CreationDate="2015-07-30T12:43:17.797" Score="10" ViewCount="785" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I mostly climb trad style, I don't use quickdraws for leading outside of the gym. I use alpine quick draws (two biners joined by dyneema slings) which offer benefits of adjustable length, reduced rope drag, and most importantly reduced movement (which reduces the chance a piece of protection wanders out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some downsides to this, however: two of them being that gates of biners on alpine draws are more likely to open (at least with non-wiregate biners), and without the stabilizers found on ordinary quickdraws, the biners are more likely to move around (meaning the gate gets reversed or, even worse, ends up horizontal and a fall will load the gate—the reason I don't use wiregates for alpine draws).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard before that, because of the above, it makes sense to place a draw with a locking biner every so often when you're at a place where you have an extra second to do so (easy spot, maybe a ledge). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's everyone think of this? Anyone do this? Is it really necessary? Do you use two locking biners, or just one where the rope goes through?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T15:30:34.147" Title="Should you occasionally use locking biners on pieces of protection when using alpine draws?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1693" CreationDate="2015-07-30T12:54:48.580" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this will reduce the strength of your sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at the rating on your carabiner, though. It's probably something like: 23kn, 7kn, 7kn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What will reduce the strength of your system most? Loading your biner sideways!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This technique is a great way to mitigate that risk. Much more worth the reduction in strength of the sling, even if it is as much as 50%, to reduce the risk you load your biner on the gate. Just my two cents. If you're trad climbing as I expect, your piece of pro is probably only rated to 10kn anyway, and this is much more than you'll ever experience in a normal fall (provided you don't do something dumb like directly connect to a piece with a static line and experience a factor 2 fall).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An aside, what you mention about the tendency to slide up is why I prefer D-shaped biners over oval biners. I feel like they don't have this tendency as much, but this is just my preference in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6042" LastEditorUserId="6042" LastEditDate="2015-07-30T16:25:42.510" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T16:25:42.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8945" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8947" CreationDate="2015-07-30T13:34:17.460" Score="8" ViewCount="5874" Body="&lt;p&gt;I intend to hike and camp where the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Barrington-Tops/forecasts/1585&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forecast temperature&lt;/a&gt; is around freezing.  It can get windy in exposed areas, but I would be starting low and camping amongst the snow gums.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day air temperature is typically 5C. Can be windy, 30kmh up to 60km (although not if you trust this forecast). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXHbM.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXHbM.png&quot; alt=&quot;Screenshot of forecast from http://www.mountain-forecast.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to over pack or get cold. I have not camped in temperatures this cold previously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this sound appropriate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;beanie and sunglasses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;long sleeve polypropylene top&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kathmandu.com.au/surna-hooded-jacket-men-black.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fleece&lt;/a&gt; for insulation layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;waterproof shell for rain/high wind (it is gortex, I think)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;long polypropylene pants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full length cargo pants (these are cotton)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;waterproof/windproof over-pants (overkill?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;thick wool socks and hiking boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;waterproof gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My sleeping bag is rated to -8C &quot;comfort&quot;, so I assume that will be sufficient.  I also have one of those small self-inflating mats for ground insulation.  I have a small three-season tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's only a short weekend trip.  Friday night will be camping by the car (elevation 350m), and obviously I can take all manner of warm things.  Saturday morning, drive to start and then &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/Walking-tracks/Corker-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;walk&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/Wombat-Creek-campground&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wombat Creek&lt;/a&gt; (elevation 1400m) and set up camp.  Depending on energy/time/weather, then explore further.  Sunday, return to car and home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB. Similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/896/what-clothing-would-be-appropriate-for-hiking-in-18%C2%B0c-with-up-to-30-km-hr-wind&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, but a 18 degree difference seems significant enough to me that the answers would be different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T01:09:42.443" Title="What clothing would be suitable for hiking and camping in 0°C?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8945" CreationDate="2015-07-30T14:25:11.873" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;So at 5C, with 60Kmh winds, that gives you a &lt;strong&gt;feeling&lt;/strong&gt; of about &lt;strong&gt;-2C&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/ctv-news-at-5/weather-blog/i-had-to-dig-out-my-mittens-and-the-wind-chill-chart-1.1526944&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;See here&lt;/a&gt;. Not zero, If the air temperature gets to 0C then there's a potential for about &lt;strong&gt;-9C&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to be aiming for a laying system so you can adjust your core temperature with movement, if you stop you'll want something to keep you warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure you have anything like that in that list. I'd say what you have is fine for when your moving but if you need to stop for any period of time your going to get cold fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd add at least another thick fleece if not a down jacket if you can get one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be wary that if the worst should happen and you get injured, in those temperatures &lt;strong&gt;hypothermia&lt;/strong&gt; is a real concern. I'd also pack some kind of survival bag (or bothy bag) to give you shelter from the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit concerned by your &lt;code&gt;full length cargo pants (these are cotton)&lt;/code&gt; also, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does cotton really kill?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Cotton is a bad material for these kinds of situations, typically. You'd be better off with some kind of man made fibre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems a bit light to me, you may be fine but if your the temperature drops more or you need to rest/stop then you likely going to get cold fast. If you have too many layers then you carry a little too much weight, if you don't have enough then you could get into some dangerous ground. If in doubt be cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T07:45:44.423" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8948" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-07-30T15:07:56.733" Score="10" ViewCount="1170" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is the opposite from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5174/what-are-the-consequences-of-illegally-using-a-446-mhz-pmr-in-the-north-amer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;: What would the consequences of using a US two-way radio (GMRS/FRS) in Europe? I know Europe has their own frequency range for two-way radios (PMR), but for the moment let's remove buying new radios from the list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone else use the same frequencies (does the radio channel matter)? Would I be able to hear official chatter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to broadcast, who (besides my intended receiver) would hear me, and would they come looking for me? Would I risk interfering with anything?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:21:47.543" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:21:47.543" Title="What would happen if I use a USA (GMRS/FRS) two-way radio in Europe?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8945" CreationDate="2015-07-30T16:28:42.757" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would add an extra insulation layer for the morning. A light down or synthetic jacket would help you warm up when you get out of bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't wear cotton pants. Not only will they keep you cold if they get wet, they will never dry, and will be very uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it does not rain, you'd want your fleece to be wind-stopper, or have a windproof jacket to throw on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always keep a dry change of cloth (especially a pair of socks) with you, that you can wear when you get in your tent. Don't let those get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the clothing you are not wearing dry, in a waterproof stuff sac.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would trade the long sleeve poly for wool, but not every one likes wool. I find it nicer and warmer, especially when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that kind of night temperature, you probably don't need the inner part of your tent (I assume you camp in a tent, I may be wrong), that's usually 1/3 to 1/2 of the weight of the tent, and you'll have more room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then it is a matter of how long you are going to camp. For more than a couple of nights, I'd pack a few extras, in case the first one get wet (which they will if keeps raining).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T16:28:42.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8943" CreationDate="2015-07-30T16:58:21.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually carry 10 single-length slings and 2 doubles, which means I have 24 carabiners just for the draws. That's a lot of biners, which is of course why most people will use all wiregates for this. That's not to say that it's impossible to do otherwise. I imagine that people climbing in the 1970s would have used nylon slings and non-wiregate oval biners, and obviously they managed to lead hard routes despite all that weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're deciding whether to use a nonlocking biner or a locker, the usual criterion is whether the biner is a single point of failure and whether such a failure would have unacceptable consequences. For instance, that's why you use a locking biner when rappelling: it's a single point of failure, and if it fails, you're probably going to die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you apply that criterion to this question, then I think the answer is that if you have a crucial piece of pro, without which you would be in big trouble, then it could make sense to use lockers at one or both ends of that sling. I don't do it myself, because I don't habitually carry enough lockers to spare for that purpose, but I do have an experienced climbing partner who does this once in a while. Usually I'll see him do it when he places his first piece of pro on a pitch -- the &quot;Jesus nut&quot; that ensures that if you fall, it won't be with a fall factor of 2. Another good example might be one of those run-out slab pitches where you only get one bolt in the middle, and that's all the pro there is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a pitch that offers reasonable placements for pro, I would prefer just to place additional pieces rather than trying to beef up one piece by using a locker. Just because you have a locker on it, that doesn't mean that the piece itself is guaranteed to hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a big pile of lockers with you, another possibility is to use two non-locking biners, opposite and opposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T16:58:21.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8943" CreationDate="2015-07-30T19:56:41.983" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, there's no such thing being too safe, do whatever you feel makes you more secure as long as you can do it safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you place all of your pro properly, then you're unlikely to need to use lockers as intermediate protection between belays, &lt;strong&gt;but&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; single gate, non-locking carabiners &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; susceptible to failing if back clipped, or otherwise improperly placed when you take a normal fall. If you take an &lt;em&gt;abnormal&lt;/em&gt; fall however, even properly placed gear can fail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grivel has developed a new piece of technology that I think is absolutely &lt;em&gt;brilliant&lt;/em&gt; and will soon become the new norm for carabiners (or at least it would if Grivel shared the patent), the security they provide is very reassuring:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Twin Gate Carabiners&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As quick and simple to use as a normal carabiner, as safe as a locking carabiner, and still very light weight. I am so impressed with my twin gates, they may be an acquired taste, but I love them. I thought they were going to be difficult to manage at first, but after playing with them I quickly got the hang of the gate action. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkraPv-I_Bk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkraPv-I_Bk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SJ40Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SJ40Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r0vU0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r0vU0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T15:30:34.147" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T15:30:34.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8945" CreationDate="2015-07-30T19:59:26.430" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just browsed the meta site, and am encouraged to add an answer.  I agree with  the above answers and comments, especially (1) don't wear cotton pants; (2) carry spare socks and mitts; (3) poly is lighter and warmer than wool when wet; (4) your clothing is on the light side; consider the additions suggested.  I'd ADD: a neck gaiter.  This is a fleece tube to protect your neck; unless your collar comes up to your chin the wind is going to get to your neck.  You don't mention a tent. If you need a waterproof shell, you need at least a bivvy sack.  Windproof overpants are not overkill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T19:59:26.430" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8943" CreationDate="2015-07-30T21:24:42.477" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an alpine environment there are many ways more likely that pro could fail than the gate opening - it not like sport or gym climbing where the anchor can be trusted, therefore, its wise to presume no individual anchor will hold, so if a gate did open and release the rope, the rest of the system will keep you safe. Carrying extra screw gates 'just in case' is not common due to the extra weight and length of time most people spend on alpine routes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually carry one screw gate (for the harness), but for heavily crevassed glacier crossing I will add a second to simplify setting up a rescue system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the rare times a situation arises where there's concern about a gate opening, its easy to resolve using two snap carbines with gates opposed. Give this solution works every where a screw gate works, and is more versatile in that you have two biners when you need two, it is almost always better to add another biner to your rack than swap one for a locking gate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-07-30T21:24:42.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="438" CreationDate="2015-07-31T02:12:11.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quick stop method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88kq6iZMNM4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MOB QuickStop (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watching this video will not enable you to do this when you actually have an MOB. Like any other aspect of boat handling, it must be practiced continuously.  As compared to any other aspect of boat handling, it's as critical as tying a knot or turning on your motor. The odds are small but the consequences are steep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again - there is no substitute for practice (use a cushion, not a person though ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6440" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-28T14:47:36.277" LastActivityDate="2016-08-28T14:47:36.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6987" CreationDate="2015-07-31T07:19:51.280" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone that says you shouldn't carry a handgun in bear country is misinformed about a lot of things. Better would be a .12 gauge shotgun with slugs, but let's deal with the handgun issue. Sure, bear spray is good to have, and we all like to have recourse to non-lethal measures, but if it comes to playing dead or shooting a bear in self-defense, I'll shoot every time. I've camped, backpacked, and provided services as a guide in grizzly country...and I grew up in the Ouachita Mountains of Southeast Oklahoma where black bears are common and you run into them all the time. I like bears, and I'm not scared of them, but I respect them. Still, let's not let Disney or Nat Geo inspired sympathies and fantasies cloud good judgement--a firearm is a tool, and a useful one when used properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's nonsense that a handgun can't kill a bear. There are plenty of handgun hunters that do just that. And let's dispel the nonsense about you not being able to hit a bear because you're nervous--as if you'll be any less nervous and better able to direct bear spray, which is both less ergonomic, harder to hold onto, harder to aim, and harder to deploy. It's much easier to bring a handgun to bear than bear spray when waking from sleep, whether in a tent or out on open ground. As a former Infantryman, and having worked in the firearms industry and trained others in the use of firearms, emergency preparedness, survival, and being the sort of guy who likes to camp under the stars on the ground or in a hammock rather than in a tent, I've had not only the experience but situations arise to convince me the 'bear spray-only' crowd are essentially bait-in-training. Are you sure you aren't going to have that bear spray splashing back in your face inside your tent when a bear is coming through that thin netting that was previously your entrance? I wonder how many people have actually discharged their bear spray, or any bear spray, and know the best way to bring it into action or what to expect from the spray pattern and range?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, a handgun discharged will generally frighten away a bear that is outside your bear spray range, but is displaying an unwelcome interest or appears like it might be weighing the prospect of further aggression, when a shout or stick or rock tossed its way did not have the intended effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A handgun is handy not just for bears, but for providing you with food, and for defense against other critters that your bear spray was not designed for, including but not limited to the two legged variety that conduct criminal activity in every park, forest, or range frequented by outdoors enthusiasts, hunters, campers, backpackers, and so forth. It also is handy for signalling, and three shots fired has long been one recognized signal for help. Faced with a moose or bison intent on doing you harm, you may regret having only bear spray at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, let's look at the appropriate round(s) you're looking for. Given your specific requirements for small framed shooters. Look at the .45 Long Colt. It has a larger diameter than the .44 Magnum, can take heavy loads that will penetrate deeply, has been long proven for hunting large game, and most importantly for your considerations--will have a lower recoil impulse than a .44 Magnum. You can fire similar loads of similar bullet weights and muzzle energy, but the smaller case diameter of the .44 Magnum means a higher impulse than the .45 LC, which means a sharper recoil. The .45 LC will feel like a heavy push, where the .44 Magnum will feel snappy, jerky. The .41 Magnum is a good round, but it too has a high recoil impulse. A .357 Magnum loaded with heavy 180 grain hard cast, flat nose rounds will give deep penetration and make it through thick gristle and help smash bone better than the common 158 grain hollow points. Check out Buffalo Bore ammunition for appropriate, heavy loads. For higher capacity, if you must go with a .357, check out Coonan Arms' semi-auto pistol, which will also lessen felt recoil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other suitable handgun rounds, but the recoil makes them unpleasant to practice with, especially for smaller shooters. That said, a handgun like a Freedom Arms revolver in .454 Casull will kill bears, moose or just about anything else you care to shoot. A revolver that takes .45 LC/.410 shotgun shells is a good utility handgun as well, and makes your handgun even more versatile should you want to add small game to your pot or need something quick and easy in rattlesnake country or paddling low overhang areas where cottonmouths can drop from branches. Bear spray isn't so handy for snakes, criminals, crazies, dope growers, meth labs, cowboys looking for someone who just stole tack or cattle, jihadist or Aryan Brotherhood compounds you stumble across from time to time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It happens, folks. I'm not alone in having those kinds of encounters. Don't be a victim, not even for bears. We're creative animals--it's what makes us human. Without tools like blades and firearms, whose creation and use are part of what it means to be human, you go from apex predator to weak link in the chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastEditorUserId="5689" LastEditDate="2015-07-31T07:30:52.087" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T07:30:52.087" CommentCount="17" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8916" CreationDate="2015-07-31T09:40:30.863" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;An Aussie rappel is useful for when you need to see and work going forward. It's particularly useful on steep slopes, not just down vertical or extreme slopes you are going to run down. You may need to clear brush down a steep slope, working in front of you as you go, something you obviously can't do if you aren't forward facing and able to stand safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may have to rescue someone who has fallen down a steep slope, and the situation dictates you either cannot or do not want to go past them or get behind them. Imagine someone has slid down a steep incline to a cliff. It may be easier to work in front of/above them than off to one side or below them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind, when training to Aussie, you may have someone on belay, but in practice, it's typically used in situations where you aren't going to have anyone on belay. It requires practice and technical proficiency. There's nothing that says you have to do it with one hand free, either. In fact, you normally have your non-braking hand on the line behind you--unless the situation specifically requires you to have one hand free. That usually means it should have something in it, or you are engaged in an open air rappel and need it for balance. As they instructed us at the Army's Air Assault School, if it comes free behind you, you leave it free because there's always a chance that re-stressing the line while grabbing it, you could cause an accidental disconnect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's non-military applications are special instances where you might need to peer over edges or overhangs, do inspections on steep grades/inclines and such. An example of an application that shares across military, law enforcement, and civilian use is the overhang/edge scenario. You can go to an edge, lean forward and out over it, lock yourself in with a forward incline, allowing you to see down a vertical face like a building, cliff, or extreme slope...and from that vantage point provide direction to others below who are engaged in a traditional descent. Or communicating with someone awaiting rescue below, providing direction and encouragement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is mainly used in military and law enforcement applications where you must enter the immediate vicinity of non-friendlies or are at risk of immediate engagement. Nobody wants to get shot, and you want to get shot in the back even less. And you want to be able to shoot back. It's a warrior thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T09:40:30.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8945" CreationDate="2015-07-31T15:32:41.597" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a simple calculus: weigh the inconvenience of carrying some extra layers (weight and bulk) vs. the danger of being under prepared.  Keep in mind that weather forecasts are only advisory, and conditions can change (sometimes for the worse).  When I hike in the mountains (White Mountains, New Hampshire) or backcountry ski, I always err on the side of carrying extra layers.  I consider a trip a success when I come back not having worn everything I brought (the alternative is that I used all my layers and may have been wishing I had another or different one).  Besides, if you're not doing a very serious hike anyway, some extra weight isn't going to hurt that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And even for short trips near freezing - cotton pants are not the best choice.  In terms of your list: non-cotton pants, another warm layer (like fleece) for the top.  Layers are your friends.  Even multiple thin polypro layers work wonders, and add very little weight or bulk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR - discomfort of carrying extra weight vs. discomfort of being miserable from temperature - easy choice&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6445" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T15:32:41.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8959" CreationDate="2015-07-31T16:28:32.773" Score="10" ViewCount="2302" Body="&lt;p&gt;A group of 4 plan on hiking across Michigan's UP's Ottawa National Forest. We are finishing up our plans and have one last issue with food that we aren't sure how to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We know you are supposed to tie a bag with all food/cooking/smelly materials 12 feet above ground, as to not allow a bear to get a hold of it. What about raccoons and other, smaller animals that may be able to climb down the rope? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We may be being paranoid, I don't know, but will raccoons be a threat against our food hung in a tree 12ft above the ground?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: we plan on using a basic mesh bag for this trip. Is this a bad idea? Bear proof bags are probably not in for consideration, but I was told in the past they really weren't necessary to begin with unless in Grizzly Bear country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-15T00:04:33.013" LastActivityDate="2018-03-15T00:04:33.013" Title="Protecting Food Supplies from wild animals While Backpacking" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8958" CreationDate="2015-07-31T19:08:13.643" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've backpacked in places that have raccoons but I've never had a problem with them. Squirrels and a number of birds can also chew/peck their way through a bag to get at your food.  I don't know what kind of birds you have in Michigan, but here in Idaho, Clark's Nutcrackers and magpies can be a nuisance.  A mesh bag will probably allow them access to your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I hang my food, I've used a simple burlap bag with no problems whatsoever. One time, I forgot my bag and then got real lazy and hung my food in plastic grocery bags.  Huge mistake.  The nutcrackers and squirrels chewed/pecked through the top and ate everything they could reach.  To be on the safe side, since squirrels sometimes carry contagious diseases, I threw out a good portion of what was left!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to just hang your food in a backpack.  When I load my backpack, I try to group items into ziploc bags.  It helps with compression and keeps things organized.  It also makes it easy to empty what I need into my tent and then hang my backpack in a tree with the food and cooking/eating tools still inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T19:08:13.643" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8958" CreationDate="2015-07-31T19:49:15.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are animals out there capable of figuring out how to get into your cache, Wolverines &lt;em&gt;(a cousin of the racoon)&lt;/em&gt; are notorious for cracking into even the most cleverly hung food caches, but you don't really have to worry about them if you're only hanging your food for one night. Animals are more ambitious when they &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; their reward is food, but mere curiosity about something new dangling in the trees isn't as powerful of a motivator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mesh bag won't do anything to keep your food dry or help mask any smells, if you use one, at least make sure that your food is in ziplock bags inside the mesh bag. If you hang your food like potpourri then you're just asking to have critters come investigate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-07-31T19:57:40.973" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T19:57:40.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8961" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15067" CreationDate="2015-07-31T19:56:19.890" Score="7" ViewCount="405" Body="&lt;p&gt;So 1/4&quot; bolts, although not suitable for free climbing protection, are apparently &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5010-280/hilti-kb3-bolt-14-x-1-34/?h=10%2050001%2050019%2050274&amp;amp;f=10%2050001%2050277&quot;&gt;still used&lt;/a&gt; for aid climbing to hold body weight, and for alpine rappels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I want to know is, what do you use for hangers on them? From what I can tell no one makes 1/4&quot; hangers for aid bolts, do you just string them with a rivet hanger (which are twice as expensive as bolt hangers), or do you just use the 3/8&quot; hangers? Is there something else out there that's made to be used as a hanger for a 1/4&quot; bolt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T16:28:15.807" Title="What do you hang on 1/4&quot; bolts while rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8962" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8969" CreationDate="2015-07-31T20:27:57.050" Score="7" ViewCount="15160" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working my way into ultralight backpacking (Knee problems) and have taken interest in hammock camping to drop weight during the summer months. I've hung and slept in hammocks before and found them quite comfortable, but I hadn't heard of a ridgeline until I bothered to look for a solution to rain/bad weather (kinda necessary in the Pacific Northwest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question contains several parts (forgive me if these are brutally obvious): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is a hammock ridgeline? Where is it attached (to the hammock, the attachment points, etc)? What do I use it for?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-07-31T21:11:31.520" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T10:12:32.667" Title="What is a hammock ridgeline and how do I use it?" Tags="&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8962" CreationDate="2015-07-31T21:10:32.017" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ridge line goes from one tie-out point to the other directly above where the user lies down. Some hammocks may not have any ridge line or may have a non-structural ridge line as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeHammock4.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;explained on this site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, a tent setup (e.g. cuben fiber tent) will usually be lighter than a hammock setup for the same temperature setup. Particularly in colder climates where an under quilt is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-07-31T21:10:32.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8964" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9339" CreationDate="2015-07-31T22:04:05.053" Score="15" ViewCount="653" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen people on multi-day hikes with a llama, and the llama seems docile and easily led.  &lt;strong&gt;It seems too good to be true.&lt;/strong&gt; I would never go out with a mule or a horse on my own.  If my husband and I went on a short (two or three day) trip with a llama handler would we learn enough to go on a longer trip on our own?  (We really don't want to go with a group.)             &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-12-08T14:52:23.293" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T14:52:23.293" Title="How much experience is needed with llamas to hike with a llama, on one's own?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8966" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-01T18:49:05.740" Score="2" ViewCount="368" Body="&lt;p&gt;i have a bunch of several-feet-length strips of webbing (polypropyrene) and was wondering if tied together, it can maybe be used as a climbing rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6449" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T05:04:35.460" Title="Would tied strips of webbing have similar strength to a climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8966" CreationDate="2015-08-01T19:38:39.403" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your intending to top-rope with it, or unimaginably lead climb on it, then absolutely not... ever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polypropylene not only has a super low melting point, but the fibres are a really large diameter, which means they are super susceptible to abrasion, i.e. your rope cutting. It lastly won't stretch when loaded, which is all around bad news in climbing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only ropes you should ever be using for this type of climbing is those with a UIAA stamp of approval. You can typically find a tag at the end of the rope with various information, including it's certification - but put simply: No tag, no climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MUZZ4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MUZZ4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;UIAA Stamp of Approval&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you are going to hang it up in your garage or some place similar and use it as a gymnastic climbing rope like the image below, go right ahead! You may even benefit from the knots you'll have to tie every foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NGjHD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NGjHD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gymnastic Rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2015-08-04T05:04:35.460" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T05:04:35.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8966" CreationDate="2015-08-01T20:26:43.830" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A climbing rope, as in sport-climbing, is also known as a &lt;em&gt;dynamic&lt;/em&gt; rope - it stretches when you fall. If you use polypropylene strips and fall 5 metres, even if they are strong enough not to break, the same force acts on your body as if you fell 5 metres onto solid ground. If this weren't a problem, climbers would all be using steel cable which is stronger than any rope. Fall 5 metres into a dynamic rope on the other hand and you'll barely notice, falling during a climbing session is something you get used to and not dangerous if properly secured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may well be situations where you can use polypropylene strips, paracord or similar for rappelling or as &quot;hand rails&quot;, but that's not the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2015-08-01T20:26:43.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8962" CreationDate="2015-08-01T20:58:58.417" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A ridgeline is generally used to suspend a tarp above a hammock. It attaches to the trees at or near the level that the hammock attaches to them, but it is pulled tight so that it is well above the level you will be sleeping at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some hammocks, such as a Hennessey, have integrated ridgelines. Others, like ENO, do not.  In the Hennessey hammocks, the integrated ridgeline helps to provide an asymmetric shape for the hammock (which offers a wider, flatter sleeping area), while also providing support for the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the image below, a piece of paracord is tied as a ridgeline near where the straps are affixed to the tree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/84V3i.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/84V3i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-08-08T00:33:39.680" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T00:33:39.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8970" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-01T21:25:08.543" Score="4" ViewCount="281" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what kind of climbing ropes they are exactly, but the ones I saw online (a bunch of them...) are usually twice as thick (10mm~) as most paracords (4mm~) yet the paracords claim to have twice as much load bearing! Why??? Does that make the paracords stronger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6451" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-08-02T03:28:01.603" LastActivityDate="2015-08-02T08:36:36.770" Title="Why do some climbing ropes have smaller load bearing than some paracords?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8970" CreationDate="2015-08-02T05:41:59.437" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Essentially para cord is stronger, but its less resilient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing ropes do not need to be strong - you die above about 10G (1000kg) force from internal injuries caused by your harness, a braking strain above this is pointless, even if the rope does not break in a fall that generates very high G forces, you die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anchors have a force, which if exceeded even for a very short time, will cause the anchor to pull out. Biners, slings and quick draws have a force that will cause them to fail (typically a few 10's of kN ) - above this they fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A climbing rope will stretch and absorb forces - reducing the very high, short time loads to a lower, longer time frame load - think wire vs rubber band. The maximum loading on the hardness and the anchors is reduced to a constant below the point that failures occur.  Para cord has no stretch. The force was the para cord comes tight is applied to the system in one short instant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing ropes must also be able to resist cutting and chaffing causing them to weaken and break. As they are stretchy to absorb the shock loading, this chaffing can be quite significant. They can be cut by a rock landing on top of them, or being pulled tight over a sharp edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these issues are managed by the construction - The strength is provided by an inner core, and an other sheath that protects the core. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Para cord on the other hand is build to have no stretch, and has no need for protection from chaffing and cutting. Its very strong and very light. Its good for static loads where there is no chance of damage to the cord. Because of this, it can be made much smaller and lighter than climbing rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-08-02T05:41:59.437" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8970" CreationDate="2015-08-02T08:31:26.463" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing ropes are meant to hold &lt;em&gt;falls&lt;/em&gt;, and to absorb the shock of the fall itself through stretching (they can stretch up to 30% of their length during a severe fall so to reduce the impact force on the climber).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;There's no need for a climbing rope to hold more than it does, because any more force during a fall and the body of the falling climber would be injured to death nevertheless.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Source&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/How-was-the-max--impact-force-of-12kN-determined-?ProductName=PASO-7-7-mm&amp;amp;l=US#.Vb3U6vlsGko&quot;&gt;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/How-was-the-max--impact-force-of-12kN-determined-?ProductName=PASO-7-7-mm&amp;amp;l=US#.Vb3U6vlsGko&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paracord in turn does not need to stretch (actually, it's a bonus that it doesn't, for its usage) because it is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; meant to hold a fall, but just a static (as in &quot;non-falling&quot;) load. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, the two kind of ropes are made with very different specifications. The non-stretching paracord can be much more resistant to static loads while being thinner because it does not have to adhere to the severe rock climbing specifications about dynamic (as in &quot;falling&quot;) forces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-08-02T08:36:36.770" LastActivityDate="2015-08-02T08:36:36.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8974" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8975" CreationDate="2015-08-03T12:41:13.363" Score="22" ViewCount="44021" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I live, winter is still a good bit away, but last year I slipped on ice and ended up with a black eye and a broken wrist. This year I sincerely want to reduce the chances of that recurring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering what common materials you can use to increase the co-efficient of friction between the soles of your shoes and the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, you can wear heavy iceboots with ridges, but then it's a hassle having to put them on and off when entering the house, especially the serious mountain type ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two questions that users in cold climates might be able to answer to save myself trouble this winter, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are rubber soles the best alternative to heavy boots, or has anyone found another material that maximises friction with the ice?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is  there a walking style that minimises your chances of a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Penguins (and some other winter hardened birds) seem to have the ability to keep their balance, although in the penguins case, possibly at a cost of the most undignified walking/waddling in the animal kingdom.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On TV,  you do see them slip occasionally , but they seem to manage ok with a high center of gravity, unless they deliberately want to slide on their stomachs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6457" OwnerDisplayName="Acid Jazz" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T19:31:51.453" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T21:31:52.320" Title="What's the best way to avoid slipping on ice?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T12:56:17.963" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yaktrax.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yaktrax&lt;/a&gt; advertises products intended to help with this, which might be less damaging to interior surfaces than crampons.  You can find some SE discussion on those kinds of products &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/918/are-ice-grips-worth-buying&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping a low center of gravity can reduce probability of injury by reducing how far you fall.  Positioning yourself so that if you do fall, a softer part of your body (like your rear end as opposed to wrist or eye) hits the ground first can also help cushion the fall and reduce the chance of injury.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also visually scan the ground for areas that might be rougher (not reflect light as smoothly) or have packed snow instead of ice.  In urban environments, walking along packed snow next to a sidewalk may be safer than walking on an icy sidewalk.  When things start to melt, watch out for and try to avoid places where there's a thin layer of water on top of smooth ice; the fluid can act as a lubricant and reduce friction.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particularly slippery conditions, especially downhill, you can &quot;walk&quot; with your rear low to the ground and your arms down with palms out just above the ground, and your eyes scanning for rougher areas and/or things you can grab onto if you fall / start sliding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6212" OwnerDisplayName="WBT" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T22:58:43.160" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T14:06:26.203" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are rubber soles the best alternative to heavy boots, or has anyone&#xA;  found another material that maximises friction with the ice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rubber soles will have zero effect on ice. You need something that will dig into the ice to stop you slipping, rubber suffers from the same issues as any other material, it simply cannot get enough traction on the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there a walking style that minimises your chances of a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, The only reliable way to not slip on ice is to use something with spikes (yaktrax, crampons, football boots, running spikes...). I've fallen when being extremly careful and when I've been moving fast. Ice has a way of catching you out. This is why all mountaineers use crampons above the snowline. It's the only reliable way to gain traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on what type of ice it is, how warm the air is, how cold the ground is, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Penguins can and do fall over&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KlA0N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KlA0N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have special ridges on their feet to aid with traction, they also spend a lot of time sliding on their bellies over icy ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T14:06:26.203" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8961" CreationDate="2015-08-03T16:25:56.070" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not know a definitive answer to this question, but as there is no other reply so far I will share what I know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When aiding in Yosemite a fellow climber used nuts for this purpose. You pull back the actual nut so that a wire loop extends behind it. This loop is places around the bolt shaft and can even be tightened. According to him this works fairly well. Still he highly dislikes routes based mainly on bolt aiding and thus only had to use it on certain sections. Due to the weight it is obviously not practicable to use nuts if bolts are your main means of ascent. I once used this solution while freeclimbing a slab that has been cleaned of the single bolt in the middle, but I luckily did not find out whether it would have caught me (to be honest, I was amazed it did not drop from rope drag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advice with very limited scope: In Yosemite there is apparently much innovation done in garages, you can find a variety of (sometimes not so)&#xA;useful gear. There you can get such bolt hangers, but you are well advice to test them in advance. In a field test 2 out of 4 broke loaded with bodyweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I do not know a specific product, but you can use the wires on nuts for occasional use. Homemade solutions are in this case very possible but always dangerous as not normed and thus tested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T16:25:56.070" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T17:34:35.000" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My best solution for this is to wear a pair of flexible running shoes with spikes. The spikes are at the front; walk towards your toes to make sure the spikes dig in. Team them with warm socks for insulation (and remember a half-size larger than your normal shoes for comfort!) You can also get undersoles with spikes for ordinary shoes. Like as not, someone will make galoshes with spikes to slip over shoes, which should be waterproof. Anti-slip safety boots will give some traction on some types of ice, but not on all. They're good on snow, though; walk on the virgin snow wherever possible, and stay off slopes if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6461" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T17:34:35.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T17:35:50.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Approaching this from a physics standpoint, the primary reason people slip on ice is due to low friction. I personally think this is not the case, but rather, the low friction is the gunpowder to the bullet that is sliding, but the trigger is not the low friction. The real trigger (in my opinion of course) is force. It is impossible to move without force, and that is true on ice. When we walk on any surface, we rely on friction heavily to keep our feet in place as we move the other foot forward. Ice has little friction, but we still rely on it, so our foot slides. Ice spikes remove the need for friction, by digging into the ice, and using the ice to hold it in place. It's like hammering a nail into the wall, the wall prevents the nail from moving with the rest of the wall. To slip on ice with ice spikes, you have to move all of the ice for the spike to move. Without spikes, its just your foot. So, the trick is to remove that need for friction without ice spikes. The reason we need friction wile walking is, based on experience, because when we walk, we exert sideways force, and a lot of it, on our feet. Friction overcomes this force, but on ice, there is not enough friction, so the trick is to walk without sideways force. It's not an easy idea, but it will greatly help. For ideas on how this might look, think of marching. The foot needs to land on the ground from directly above it, and you need to to have most of your weight already on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the same principle behind the tiny steps people take on ice. They take steps shorter than their own foot length, and all their weight is vertical for each step. It needs to be the same direction as gravity. Drop anything, and it falls straight down, that needs to be your foot. This will remove the necessity of friction in your walking, which is the key, when you have less friction, you need to use less. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't believe me,or want to practice, pay attention to your back foot next time you walk. Feel the force on the ball of your foot. Feel your leg pushing you forward, a non vertical force. Or try running, and really feel the your feet wanting to slide in your shoes. Realize how much you rely on that &lt;strong&gt;massive&lt;/strong&gt; amount of friction on surfaces. Perhaps wear socks as you walk on hardwood or other kitchen surfaces, feel your feet slide, and take them off to feel how your bare feet resist moving in the same conditions your socks slid on. If the force is not completely vertical against gravity, friction is what is needed as a counter for stability. After all, its not nearly as hard to stand on ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, of course this only really works if the ice is not mostly flat. Gravity will apply sideways forces for you due to how it works on non flat surfaces. This is why round objects and liquids go to the lowest points they can get to. Uneven surfaces provide gravity with a way to change its pure vertical pull into sideways force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6463" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-08-03T22:01:50.060" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T22:01:50.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T17:41:57.920" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This actually happens to be pretty relevant to Physics(so it's kind of odd it was migrated away from the Physics.SE).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You were actually on the right track with the penguin idea and increasing your co-efficient of friction.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.today.com/health/stay-safe-ice-walk-penguin-2D12108872&quot;&gt;The graphic in this article&lt;/a&gt; has been floating around the internet for a while now.  It's pretty self-explanatory, but the gist of it is to keep your center of gravity above the leg that is currently supporting you.  The intent is that your weight is then acting perpendicular to the icy/slippery surface.  But, instead of increasing your co-efficient of friction, you reduce the force acting upon that friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not a physicist, but it boils down to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction#Static_friction&quot;&gt;static friction&lt;/a&gt;. The important part is that there is some horizontal force(along the surface) which will cause the sole of your shoe to 'break' the static friction and cause a slip/fall. Of course there are other ways to fall, but this is the most relevant one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking the graphic in the above article: when you walk normally on a normal surface, you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; exerting a force along the surface, but it happens to be smaller than the static friction between your sole and the surface.  So you don't slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a slippery surface like ice, however, the amount of force necessary to break that friction is much smaller.  The more slippery the ice, the less force is needed to break the static friction.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So that covers your second bullet.  As per your first bullet, I can say as a native northerner in the US, I never saw a real need to wear special shoes on icy conditions. My only recommendation is to wear something you're comfortable in.  Wearing boots for the sake of ice means you have to learn how to walk in boots plus learn how to walk on ice - it just needlessly complicates things and you're probably more likely to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6460" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T17:41:57.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T19:58:37.487" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been attending school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. We get ridiculous amounts of snow (for the US anyway) and ice. Generally, when I slip on the ice, my feet slide out from under me to my front, and I land on my behind. To counter this, I've learned to walk with shorter steps, keeping most of my weight on the balls of my feet as opposed to further back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6467" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T19:58:37.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T20:43:12.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;rubber over-shoes are a frequent answer for this.  When I first moved to a climate with a lot more snow than where I grew up I found that they helped a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However to really combat slush and dirt I've moved to using boots.  Yeah they do have the downsides of time to take on and off, that is true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="457" LastActivityDate="2015-08-03T20:43:12.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-03T22:03:07.450" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot that you can do in regards to walking style:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid walking on the ice if you can.  (if it's a poorly cleared sidewalk, and there's snow on grass near it, walk in the snow)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's a layer of ice over a base of snow, crack the ice by walking heel first (and really put your weight into it), so that you create footprints in the snow rather than trying to walk on top of the whole mess.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you must walk on the ice, you'll need to take slow, deliberate steps:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly place your foot down flat on the surface (not heel first or toe first) to increase the contact surface while keeping your weight on your back foot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shift your weight onto your forward foot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring your rear foot forward, and repeat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that #3 is very, very slow.  It'll take a few steps to figure out what a safe speed is to travel at, but you also have to be wary about changing conditions (for example, if you're moving out of shadows onto a sunny patch (for example, as you approach an intersection in a large city), it might have a thin sheen of water and be much more slippery).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming you're wearing normal footwear for this. If you're in a hard plastic boot like a ski boot, which has little to no traction on the bottom, approach #2 is often better for packed snow than #3.  If you're expecting to do a lot of walking in ski boots in icy conditions when you can't put back on your skis (e.g., dealing with stairs), something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/435109/seirus-cat-tracks?&amp;amp;s_kwcid=sd3FdciE5_dc%7Cpcrid%7C71495858765%7Cpkw%7Cseirus%20cat%20tracks%7Cpmt%7Ce%7Cgoogle%7Cmain%7CNB&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKEAjwxYGuBRCtoqjkrIPDqDwSJAAnd-rCUR0XTH1WNd7TBUPYY4G5FZQU1ixoqcRWeHbFWhN9MhoClxLw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seirus' &quot;Cat Tracks&quot;&lt;/a&gt; are quite useful:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4mNWQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4mNWQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6470" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2015-08-05T07:25:41.500" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T07:25:41.500" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8985" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8986" CreationDate="2015-08-04T02:02:40.323" Score="8" ViewCount="1308" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the gym today, a climber referred to &quot;back-stepping&quot; for a move that I would have referred to as a layback. I said, &quot;I would have called that a layback,&quot; and he said, &quot;Yeah, the difference is kind of subtle.&quot; (Clearly nobody is talking about back-stepping the rope, which is simply a mistake.) This guy is a 5.11 leader, so I assume he knows what he's talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone explain the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does back-stepping simply mean turning your body sideways, while a layback implies using your arms to apply pressure at your feet and gain stronger friction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T04:23:07.177" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T04:23:07.177" Title="What is the difference between back-stepping versus a layback in rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8985" CreationDate="2015-08-04T04:40:54.917" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find myself in agreement with the definitions listed on Climbing.com, so I have excerpted them here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backstep n, v : To press your shoe’s external edge onto a foothold and drop the knee lightly, thus bringing the sole’s bottom-outside in contact with the rock and your hip in; often opposed against your other foot’s big toe, off which you resolutely push. Unlike a Lolotte (drop knee), the less aggressive backstep typically exploits footholds below knee level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lieback n, v : To lean horizontally (sideways) off a hold, often a crack, and walk the feet high in opposition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me, simply sideways to the wall is not sufficient to call a move back-stepping.  For example, if my right hip is against the wall, and I extend my right foot forward to place it on a hold, I would simply refer to it as using the &amp;quot;outside edge&amp;quot;.  But if I moved my right foot backwards to reach a hold, I would consider it a backstep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find it hard to confuse with a lieback, as the nature of the lieback is to have your feet in front of you, usually pressing against the same feature against which your arms are pulling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/climbing-dictionary/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skill/climbing-dictionary/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;On a related note, a question about what to call &amp;quot;leg behind rope&amp;quot; was good for about 5 pages on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/is-there-a-standard-term-for-putting-your-leg-behind-the-rope/110746296&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt;, collecting a variety of suggestions, some more amusing than others.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T04:40:54.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8985" CreationDate="2015-08-04T05:03:36.237" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The difference is in the footwork, you back-step (what I always refer to as &lt;em&gt;dropping your knee&lt;/em&gt;) while face climbing, but you can do it &lt;em&gt;while&lt;/em&gt; you are laying back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A classic &lt;strong&gt;layback&lt;/strong&gt; is like when you're climbing a crack while smearing your feet against the wall:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OC87M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OC87M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Back-stepping&lt;/strong&gt; is when you turn your hip into the wall so that you can get a toe or the outside edge of your foot up onto a foothold on the face of the rock so you can keep you balance closer to the wall and reach higher. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said, you can back step &lt;em&gt;while&lt;/em&gt; laying back if for example you were in a layback and found a good foot hold next to your hip. Moving your foot back to that foothold is the back-step. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T05:03:36.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-04T09:35:10.540" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here at south Russia, we have lots of ice surfaces every winter and need to walk around. So, practical experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The simplest option to reduce slipping will be to just glue some hard waterproof low-grit (approx 60-120 grit) sanding paper on the bottom of your shoes. This is often used here amongst aging people that are less agile due to their age. If they use this trick from year to year - I assume it works:)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The penguin-way to walk (particularly, small careful steps) will help you too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are just starting to fall, quickly squat. It helps to retain balance and even if you fall, the damage will be significantly less. Train this movement beforehand and put it to reflexes; it's hard to remember and do this trick when you're already falling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prefer to walk close to walls, handrails, trees, bushes - any object that you can quickly catch with your hands. Especially on stairs, always keep your hand on the handrail!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prefer to keep your steps away from car roads when ice is around; it is hard to drive in such weather and very, very hard to stop the car quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a few lessons of ice-skating, it will teach your body how to balance on ice and how to fall properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope I didn't miss anything important. Happy winter! ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Regarding rubber soles, this depends highly on which sort of rubber. The softer - the better. And some sorts of rubber become more stiff and slippery at low temperature. And beware, there is some plastics that look very similar to rubber, but are slippery as hell. Having it on my feet was unpleasant surprise for me a couple of times.&#xA;Re: Mountain-purposed boots with heavy sole are no good for glass-flat ice. They work well on snow and neve, due to hard, well-developed bottom surface, but easily slip on pure ice. I've tested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4123" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-04T11:22:55.087" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T11:22:55.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-04T10:43:34.220" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your aim is just to avoid falling, do as WBT suggests and get some ice-grips.   These can be put on and removed in seconds and can be carried in a small bag or even a pocket.   But if you get UK-type weather, in which ice is often patchy, avoid grips that use what look like steel springs.   These are easily broken on hard surfaces like pavement.   Better to get grips with small studs.   These used to be expensive but no more;  I bought several pairs of perfectly adequate grips in a well-known UK retailer for, yes, £1 a pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6472" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T10:43:34.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8990" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="8991" CreationDate="2015-08-04T12:26:41.727" Score="31" ViewCount="4339" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are setting off on a hike this Friday through Michigan's UP. I've been watching the forecast which, to be fair, is never accurate in Michigan. Nonetheless, it shows a good amount of rain. We have been planning this for a little over 3 months now, and already have the time taken off work so moving the trip isn't possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What precautions should you take when going on a backpacking trip around the length of one week?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are water-proofing our bags and tents tonight, and all of our food are in safe containers to keep that dry as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How would we dry wet clothes, if need be?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think cold will be too much of an issue during the day - it should be in the mid 70's consistently, but at night it can get down pretty low (40 is normal, could be lower).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If we need to dry clothes/towels/bags/etc WHILE it is raining, what methods are best?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may not even be possible. We may just be stuck avoiding getting our clothing wet, which shouldn't be much of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-04T12:28:23.500" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T19:40:40.667" Title="Backpacking Through Rain" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-04T12:34:15.073" Score="19" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What precautions should you take when going on a backpacking trip&#xA;  around the length of one week?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build a rough route card, &lt;strong&gt;where&lt;/strong&gt; you plan to be and &lt;strong&gt;when&lt;/strong&gt;. Give it to someone you trust who will keep track of you. That way if you get into serious trouble and can't get help yourself there will be someone to raise the alarm. Better than lying in a ditch with no hope of rescue...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How would we dry wet clothes, if need be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire is a good option here, if you get the fire nice and hot (and your in an area where fires are appropriate, i.e. fire pits, etc.) you can hang your clothes out on branches near the fire to dry (careful no to set fire to your clothes and don't do this with anything with a low melting point, GoreTex, etc). It'll also keep you warm. Your clothes may well get smokey but after a week of not washing you likely won't notice that :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If we need to dry clothes/towels/bags/etc WHILE it is raining, what&#xA;  methods are best?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your going to struggle here, I would always keep a dry set of clothes. Keep these sealed in a bag and only put them on when you can stay dry. That way, if you can't dry out your day clothes at least you've got some dry night clothes to wear. though putting the wet one's back on in the morning will be unpleasant...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T12:34:15.073" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2015-08-04T14:06:05.547" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Markers are never a good way to 'mark' your rope. Buy a rope that's already marked with another color. It's in any case better to do it old fashioned and find it using some rope techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We use electrical tape on all our equipment. But I cannot guarantee its safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4220" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T14:06:05.547" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8958" CreationDate="2015-08-04T17:19:43.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a good bit of backpacking in the south where raccoons/possums/rats can get bad. I usually will wrap all the food in the plastic bag and tie it tightly shut. Then put that into a stuff sack that is hung from a tree. Try to find a long branch and get it as far away from the trunk as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, make sure not to put any food in any other bags that you won't be hanging. I made the mistake of temporarily putting some food in my clothes stuff sack...which was then ate to hell by rats in an AT shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6475" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T17:19:43.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-04T18:54:20.607" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;My two concerns for trekking in wet weather are safety and comfort. The safety issue here is primarily hypothermia, which can be a real risk even in the upper 40s or lower 50s (F), if you're wet enough and out for a long period. Definitely something to be aware of. But even if you're warm enough to be safe, being soaking wet for a week just plain sucks- you'd probably end up bailing just as if you'd had hypo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice: Make sure to have an extra insulating layer stashed away where it'll stay dry, and avoid cotton clothing if possible (it tends to hold moisture and lose its insulating properties more than synthetics/wool). Line your pack with a heavy-duty trash bag to keep everything nice and dry, especially clothes and your sleeping bag. Bring a footprint if your tent's base isn't 100% waterproof. Bring a breathable raincoat and rain pants (breathable, cause otherwise you'll be wet with sweat instead of rain). If you were planning on cooking over fires, bring a backpacking stove instead- much less impact and no worrying about wet fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What precautions should you take when going on a backpacking trip around the length of one week?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Liam said, tell someone where you expect to be and when! If possible, scheduling check-ins during the week would be good, if you expect to pass by anywhere civilized or can rely on there being cell reception. It's generally good to set a fixed time to call in the cavalry if you haven't been heard from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How would we dry wet clothes, if need be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a dry spell during the day, either hang clothes off your pack or run a line while in camp. At night, my personal preference is to wear wet clothes to bed in order to dry them- it's a little uncomfortable at first, but gets comfy enough, and it's a sight better than getting back into clammy clothes in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If we need to dry clothes/towels/bags/etc WHILE it is raining, what methods are best?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a genie along? I don't think there's any way this would be possible, except if you find a great natural shelter. Hanging them in your tent probably wouldn't be the best idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T18:54:20.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-04T19:39:47.397" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;So far, no one has stated the obvious:  Don't step on ice!   Walk on snow, bare pavement, rough ground, lawns, flowerbeds, or whatever alternatives there might be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvtXL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvtXL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When stepping on ice is unavoidable, here are some observations which can make slipping less likely:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice is most slippery when it is at freezing temperatures (32 &amp;deg;F/ 0 &amp;deg;C).  When it is colder, it is &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; slippery.  For footstep purposes, ice temperatures below about 24 &amp;deg;F / -4 &amp;deg;C behaves much like smooth finished concrete.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continuing with temperature, if the bottom of your footwear is warm&amp;mdash;as when initially stepping out of a warm auto or building&amp;mdash;it will melt the top surface of the ice and make it slippery.  This is the time to move very cautiously and with very small steps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As your footwear cools, it loses the capacity to melt the ice surface.  If it is able to go below freezing, good traction will occur.  Maybe as good as walking a similarly textured surface (to the ice) like glass or marble tile.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulating your feet from the bottom of your shoe will keep you warmer and the shoe sole colder.  Those are both good reasons to wear layers of socks or choose footwear which has insulation below the foot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wear good footwear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Give your shoe &lt;strong&gt;10&amp;ndash;20 seconds&lt;/strong&gt; to chill before walking normally.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T19:39:47.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-04T20:06:16.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacking in rain is pretty normal in Oregon&amp;mdash;especially along the coast and in the western Cascades.  No matter the time of year, it is usually not more than a week until the next rain shower (except this summer which is unusually dry).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don't take any special or particular precautions.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ten Essentials&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; have been learned from thousands upon thousands of injuries and fatalities.  Whether it is a one-hour hike or a year-long trek, the Ten Essentials are sage wisdom which have saved me at least three times so far.  The &quot;extra clothing&quot; item addresses rain and snow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One can dry wet clothes by hanging them up to dry or by wearing them during times of exertion.  When camped, rig up a tarp with line underneath or a tent to hang things.  Even if it is continuously raining and the relative humidity is high, wet clothes still benefit.  If the humidity is more than about 70%, I'd first wring them to shorten the interval before they are dry.  They may not be 100% dry, but it will be more comfortable than soaked.  Besides, putting damp clothing on before hiking is a good way to dry it, particularly if you wear a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterproof_fabric&quot;&gt;GoreTex or other breathable&lt;/a&gt; shell.  In summer, the humidity is usually not high for long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even during rain, keeping items out of the rain with air circulation will eventually dry them.  Plan B is to bag wet articles until there is a good time to dry them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I practice low impact backpacking, so I do not build campfires.  I have been 98+% comfortable in over 30 years of Oregon backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T20:06:16.983" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-04T20:23:11.373" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a real answer to your question, but maybe it helps. In Holland we use a lot of salt during the winter to lower the melting point of the snow/ice (as a result, we have an abundant salt water vegetation along highways even far inland). This may be a good solution around your home? When not meant for consumption, salt is very inexpensive (we pay like $2 for 25 kg).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of snow, walk on the fresh snow and not on the parts that other boots/vehicles have turned into ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6480" LastEditorUserId="6480" LastEditDate="2015-08-04T20:34:21.210" LastActivityDate="2015-08-04T20:34:21.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-05T00:56:16.017" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as precautions go, look at &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; and ask the question &quot;what happens if it breaks?&quot;  It's much better to have several pounds of gear that you don't use, because the one time you do need it, you really do need it! The most pointless piece of equipment is the spare that's sat on the shelf at home. :) I'm used to solo walking, so I pack heavy and know I can get myself through any problem short of major physical incapacity. If there are several of you going though, then your mates' gear could well be your contingency plan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Needles and thread are the single most important get-out-of-trouble item, and weigh nothing.  Close after that are clothesline, bootlaces, a spare tarp, and a spare torch.  If it's going to be wet, add extra plastic bags for waterproofing stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water-based proofing is a godsend, because you can reproof your boots even if they're currently wet.  Wet feet don't have to lead to blisters if you've got good socks though, so don't cheap out on those, get top ones like Smartwool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event you do get blisters, get Compeed plasters.  Very recommended.  Also good for regular cuts, because they're fully waterproof so they keep the cut protected, which is handy when you can't afford things getting infected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T00:56:16.017" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="8999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-05T01:39:16.750" Score="29" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't get wet!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No I'm not being facetious, I hike through the rain forests of BC all the time, I've spent days in a row in solid rain while backpacking and setting up camp. Getting wet up here can mean death overnight even in the middle of summer, doesn't matter how hot it gets during the day, temperatures can drop to near zero overnight, if you're wet when it gets cold, then you're at serious risk of catching hypothermia, doesn't even need to get cold, you can still get hypothermia when it's warmer out, if you are wet, and there's a wind, then you are at risk of hypothermia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What do you need to go backpacking in the rain?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do you stay dry? First of all, you need to have &lt;strong&gt;waterproof boots and gaiters&lt;/strong&gt;, on top of that (literally, overtop of your gaiters), &lt;strong&gt;wear a full rain suit&lt;/strong&gt;. Ponchos in my experience just don't cut it, you need waterproof and preferably &lt;em&gt;breathable&lt;/em&gt; uppers and lowers, it's not just the falling rain you need to worry about, it's also the water that collects on all the undergrowth. To keep your backpack and everything inside it dry, you need a &lt;strong&gt;waterproof bag cover&lt;/strong&gt; (which many packs come with nowadays) as well as a &lt;strong&gt;waterproof bag liner&lt;/strong&gt; (large black garbage bags work well enough), and &lt;strong&gt;waterproof stuffsacks&lt;/strong&gt; to pack your clothes and food in. You can use a poncho over top of everything to help keep your bag dry if you wish, I've yet to use a bag cover that keeps &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; the water out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like you often get more wet while hiking &lt;em&gt;after&lt;/em&gt; it rains, because the underbrush is saturated with heavy drops of water on every leaf and blade of grass, which soaks into your pants and boots as you brush by. Under your rain suit, &lt;strong&gt;wear fast drying clothing.&lt;/strong&gt; Polyester and nylon blends hold very little water, and shed it quickly. Cotton is awful to wear when you're trying to control moisture and stay dry, it soaks it up like a sponge and hangs onto it forever, so don't wear cotton if it's wet out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only get light rain, then I'd say it's fine to hike through it in your rain-gear, just don't hike so fast that you sweat buckets under your rain suit and get soaked anyways, but if it looks like it's going to downpour like crazy, then I'd recommend pitching your tents where you are and waiting the rain out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something extra you need to bring is a good &lt;strong&gt;tarp&lt;/strong&gt; to hang up over your cooking area. The size will depend on how many people you're camping with, it needs to be big enough for everyone to fit under and prepare their food. Under the tarp will also be where you hang up any clothes you couldn't keep dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How do you set up your tent in the rain?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Set up the fly &lt;em&gt;first&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Whether or not you can do this may depend on what type of tent you have, but I'd recommend practicing setting up your tent under your fly, even if it's a matter of simply spreading your fly out and then fumbling around with your tent underneath it like you're hiding under the covers of your bed. I have an MSR Hubba hubba, which is extremely easy to set up with just the fly, you can quickly put the fly and poles up, then bring the tent in afterwards, clip it to the poles, and spread out the corners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How do you dry your stuff in the rain?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wear it.&lt;/strong&gt; As long as you're still warm, then leave your wet clothes on, your body heat will dry them out, if you get a fire going, wear it next to the fire vs. hanging it up near the fire, I can't tell you how many articles of clothing I've burnt trying to dry them by the fire. Keeping them on your body gives you an idea of how hot they're getting, so you don't get them too close to the heat and flames. Get them as dry as you can wearing them, then hang them up &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; your tent, it'll be warmer in your tent than outside, which will dry them faster than hanging them out in the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that is imperative, is to &lt;strong&gt;always have a dry pair of clothes!&lt;/strong&gt; These should be the clothes that you sleep in, keep them in a dry bag, and only wear them in your tent. In the morning, change back into the clothes that you had hung to dry, &lt;em&gt;even if they're still wet&lt;/em&gt;, make sure that you always have at least one pair of dry clothes for the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T19:40:40.667" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T19:40:40.667" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-05T02:00:46.217" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring a set of clothes that are comfy-when-wet and expect to spend a lot of time in them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep a set of dry clothes for in-the-tent-only use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't ever let your wet clothes come into contact with your dry clothes, cause now you have a whole lot of damp clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of 3-week canoe trips and 3+ day winter hikes at -30 C (-22 F) where wet can actually be life-threatening, so here's my tips for that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What precautions should you take when going on a backpacking trip around the length of one week?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep a drybag for clean / dry clothes, and a separate laundry bag for wet / dirty clothes. Don't mix them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dryness is precious, once you lose it, you never get it back, so avoid putting (even mildly) damp clothes back in with your dry clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to keep your dry's dry, so keeping yourself to a strict &quot;wets on before leaving the tent&quot; policy will ensure that you always have something dry to sleep in. When you get up in the morning, hang up the stuff you slept in (outside if it's nice, or in the tent if it's not) and leave it up for as long as you can before putting it back in the drybag. (This goes for your sleeping bag too, by the way.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will spend a lot of time in your wets, so make sure to bring something that's comfortable and warm even while wet. A base-layer of Under Armour cold-weather and layers of very thin sweaters with a thin rain jacket works well for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How would we dry wet clothes, if need be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned; hanging them by the fire works, but not if it's raining (or if your clothes are frozen solid and it's too cold for a fire -_-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I make the following suggestion hesitantly, but I've had success sleeping with damp clothes pressed against my skin in the sleeping bag so that my skin absorbs the moisture. &lt;strong&gt;Be Careful&lt;/strong&gt; with this, with the wrong conditions this make things much much worse - clothes too wet (you get sick), sleeping bag too cold (you get sick), sleeping bag too warm (you sweat, clothes get wetter), but I've woken up to dry clothes, even at -30 C, using this trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If we need to dry clothes/towels/bags/etc WHILE it is raining, what methods are best?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're able to set up a shelter in which to dry them, that will always be best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're on the move then keeping them inside your rain jacket can help so that they benefit from your body heat and your skin's absorption - provided that you're not sweating on them (though I suspect this trick works better in cold, dry winter than in soggy summer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: (in response to comments)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I bring a tarp to put over my tent as well as underneath it? We waterproofed our tent, but I'm not sure how much I can trust it as I haven't seen it in rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your tent has a good rain fly, then stringing up a tarp over top won't add much, but if you've got the time, it can't hurt - plus tarpology is fun :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing you can do for your tent is to avoid putting it in a place that will become a puddle overnight. Put it on high ground, or even slightly slanted ground so that the water will run away from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for ground-sheets, in my experience, putting a ground sheet &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the tent in heavy rain runs the risk of water pooling between the ground-sheet and the tent bottom. I prefer to put the extra tarp &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; the tent and curl it up near the edges so that if the tent bottom or walls leak, the water will run under the tarp and not touch your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6185" LastEditorUserId="6185" LastEditDate="2015-08-05T14:06:46.597" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T14:06:46.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9004" CreationDate="2015-08-05T02:20:29.180" Score="6" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to drive to Hearst Lake (&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/hJvuL&quot;&gt;map here&lt;/a&gt;) and explore the area on foot, but I am unsure what wildlife precautions I should take at a high altitude. Do grizzly, black bears, mountain lions, elk have a range nearing the treeline? Am I more or less at risk at that altitude? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6482" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-05T07:29:46.407" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T07:29:46.407" Title="What are wildlife hazards/precautions near the treeline at 8200ft on Hearst Lake in Montana?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9001" CreationDate="2015-08-05T02:57:53.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Elk do go to high elevations in the summer, and apparently they're pretty dangerous in spring and fall: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadianparks.com/resources/letters/let-dangerouselk.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.canadianparks.com/resources/letters/let-dangerouselk.html&lt;/a&gt; . The thing to do to avoid being hurt by one seems to be simply to keep your distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears are rarely aggressive, but those that are habituated to humans may try to get your food, so they're a nuisance. To prevent problems, use a bear canister. Safety from grizzly bears is a topic that I'll leave to others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although mountain lions do sometimes kill people, such attacks are so rare that I can't believe it's worth worrying about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, big wildlife tends to be fairly rare up near the tree line, because the ecosystem just isn't rich enough to support a lot of life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-05T03:01:07.860" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T03:01:07.860" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2015-08-05T03:26:04.283" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Emergency Method of Walking a Short Distance on Ice Without Slipping:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself on ice unexpectedly and you don't have far to go, an emergency option is to remove your shoes/boots entirely and walk in your stocking feet.  This is obviously not a good idea if you're not going to be indoors within a couple of minutes, but if you're just walking from the car to your house, it works quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that your body heat can pass through the socks, melting the top layer of ice.  Your socks absorb this melted ice, but immediately refreeze, which means that your sock is now glued to the ice.  The adhesive properties aren't strong enough to keep you from moving, so you can simply take another step, your sock sticks to the ice again, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Low Cost, DIY Solution:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more long-term solution is to get an old pair of boots with thick soles, preferably with the treads still more or less intact.  Buy some short wood screws with rounded heads and screw them into the soles of the boots.  Obviously, you have to make sure that the scres aren't so long that they go all the way through the sole and into your feet.  Arrange the screws in a grid pattern, with maybe an inch or an inch and a half between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boots are the slip-on/slip-off variety, you can easily put them on and take them off when entering and leaving buildings.  Be careful not to wear them on wood or tile floors, because the screws will damage hard surfaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is basically the way old fashioned hobnail boots worked, and it still works today.  All together, the materials shouldn't cost more than a few dollars, and if you already have an old pair of boots, the cost will be no more than a dollar or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Best Way to Walk on Ice:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will slip less if you don't lift your feet at all.  Pretend you're ice skating, and slide instead of walking.  The reason this works is that you are keeping the largest possible surface area of your feet in contact with the ice, which provides the maximum amount of friction.  Since ice and friction don't like each other, this technique isn't foolproof, but in the absence of any better options, it is the best you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next best option is, as previous answers have already said, to take baby steps.  The shorter your stride, the less momentum you have, and it is less likely that you will go ass over elbows.  Move as slowly as you can, and keep your feet close together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6453" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T03:26:04.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9001" CreationDate="2015-08-05T07:17:14.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Animals are the least of your concerns at that altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spend a lot of time at that elevation just on the other side of the border from Montana in Canada. Your elevation is less of a factor for animal encounters than what the weather is. Go hiking in the heat of the day and you will not see another living thing out on those rocks, because every critter with fur is going to be hiding as deep into the cool dark woods as they can possibly get. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for presence, I've watched bears climb right up and over cols just to get to the other side, Grizzlies will dig up an entire mountainside munching on roots, and they'll climb up onto the scree to turn over big rocks looking for juicy moths that may be hiding for the day in their shade. Mountain sheep and mountain goats spend a lot of time up there eating lichens and mosses, but they're super timid. Animals live up there, but they won't be out in the open when the sun is beating down, they'll be out in the early morning, late evening, night, or whenever the slopes are in shade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as risks are concerned, you're at greater risk of falling over backwards while taking a selfie and cartwheeling back down the mountain than having a deadly encounter with an animal above the treeline.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-05T07:23:43.477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-05T07:23:43.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9006" CreationDate="2015-08-05T14:17:39.980" Score="12" ViewCount="9143" Body="&lt;p&gt;When setting up belay there are many ways to connect the anchors. One way is called equalette and is supposed to adapt to a certain extent to the direction of pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is such an equalette constructed? If there is not one definite way: What are different ways of setting up an equalette and how do they differ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6854/when-to-set-up-a-cordelette-and-an-equalette&quot;&gt;&quot;When to set up a Cordelette and an Equalette?&quot;&lt;/a&gt; where an partial image is supplied and a commentary debates whether this even is an equalette, so the topic seems to be debatable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T23:38:34.753" Title="What is an equalette anchor?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9005" CreationDate="2015-08-05T16:34:35.843" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The equalette is the evolution and combination of the cordalette and sliding-x. It makes up for the short comings of each system, while incorporating their strengths to produce a more SRENE anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the criticisms of the &lt;strong&gt;cordalette&lt;/strong&gt; is after you've tied the master knot, you have potentially poor equalization if you deviate from your set direction of pull. The &lt;strong&gt;sliding-x&lt;/strong&gt; anchor offers auto-equalization, but at the expense of adding friction and elongation to your anchor system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Equalette:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The below image shows an &lt;em&gt;example&lt;/em&gt; of an equalette, it looks complicated at fist glance, but the strength of an equalette is that you can tie it with any combination of clove hitches and other knots to meet your needs given the availability of anchors on the rock, it's not necessarily meant to be tied the exact same way every time. For example, if you have four or more placements, then you can tie into them all using clove hitches vs using a figure eight on a bight on the third anchor in the image below. &lt;strong&gt;You adapt how you tie your equalette to your given situation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L87Op.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L87Op.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Image Credit: Freedom of the Hills&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The equalette is tied from 6m (20ft) of 7mm or smaller diametre accessory cord tied with a double or triple fishermans knot depending on the material of the cord.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To set it up, first tie of a 25cm (10&quot;) section with overhand limiter knots near the middle of the equalette, this is going to be your self-equalizing clip in point. Where exactly you tie it may be offset from centre depending on where your anchors are relative to the direction of pull, but wherever you tie it, you're going to be left with two larger loops on either side. This is where you're left to your own creativity, using any combination of knots, tie the loops to your anchors using one or more elements per side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using two locking carabiners is preferable for clipping your rope to the equalette, clipping one biner into each of the loops between the limiter knots. You can still use just one carabiner, as long as you put a half twist in one of the loops to make a sliding-x, but this reintroduces friction into the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An equalette may seem complicated at first, but it addresses the shortcomings of other systems, and needn't take any more time to set up than other systems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Examples:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3fqlS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3fqlS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/spbL3.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/spbL3.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Variations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QirWJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QirWJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MCz8p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MCz8p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The &quot;Triplette&quot;:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RwGhR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RwGhR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zVSg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zVSg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-08T18:42:44.747" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T18:42:44.747" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9009" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9019" CreationDate="2015-08-05T21:31:15.893" Score="8" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to do a short hike (3-4 days) on the Appalachian Trail in September in Connecticut. What safety precautions should I take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What wild animals (and wild people) could I encounter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6492" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T18:58:35.147" Title="What safety precautions should I take on the Appalachian Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9010" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-06T04:58:12.943" Score="11" ViewCount="1320" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just reading through a couple of posts here on outdoors.SE and saw some advice which was a lot more strict than I am used to. For example, in the country where I hike (central europe, brown bears, but that's it) you wouldn't worry about the tent or shirt you sleep in smelling after food from 6 months ago (something I saw in a couple of answers here). And there are tens of other answers that also contain far stricter advice than I grew up with (no toothpaste in tents, bear bells, food canisters, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what my main question is is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are those things related to bears in the US actually acting&#xA;differently or is this just a difference in mentality?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And if this is an actual difference in behaviour, are there parts of&#xA;Europe where bears act similarly to the US?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3279" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-06T13:05:18.530" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T05:26:25.967" Title="US vs central European bear advice" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2015-08-06T06:43:46.507" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.howwhywhere.com/Keep-a-Fire-Burning/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;HowWhyWhere article&lt;/a&gt; has some advice on how to tend a campfire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the fire seems to die out, use a long stick or a fire poker to move the logs and woods around. You should also blow on them, to provide a burst of oxygen. Keep working on the fire until it seems to be stable again, if you neglect it, it will go out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A good sign is red, hot charcoal. These are so much hotter than the&#xA;  original wood was, and they will get hotter and hotter as you&#xA;  accumulate them with the fire poker/stick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If all the wood has become charcoal, and if you still want the fire&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  to keep going, make the charcoal glow red by poking and blowing at&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  them, then put on some more tinder, kindling and firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-03-11T16:11:28.213" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T16:11:28.213" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9012" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-06T12:02:51.547" Score="9" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seatemperature.org/africa/egypt/sharm-el-shheikh-october.htm&quot;&gt;easily find the temperatures at the surface of the sea&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, to choose the correct diving suit, I would like to know the temperatures that can be expected at a depth of about 30 meters (100 ft) at the beginning of October.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5601" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:40.270" LastActivityDate="2020-05-12T17:10:39.513" Title="What will the water temperature be at Sharm el-Sheikh at a depth of 30m in October?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9010" CreationDate="2015-08-06T12:49:18.460" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the things you've listed as precautions used in the US are not real or not reasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;worry about the tent or shirt you sleep in smelling after food from 6 months ago&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is silly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;bear bells&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a joke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a bear canister, on the other hand, is reasonable and in fact legally required in some national parks in the US. But what you're seeing is probably not so much a difference between central Europe and the US as a difference between areas that have a lot of problem bears and areas that don't. Certain specific places in the US, such as Yosemite Valley, are highly concentrated hot spots of bears that are habituated to humans and human food. Although the legal rules about bear canisters may apply to wider areas such as all of Yosemite National Park, in reality if you go 10 miles away from the hot spot in a random direction you will probably be in a backcountry area that doesn't have a significant problem with human-bear interactions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(No toothpaste in tents is just common sense. A bear will perceive the smell of toothpaste as the smell of food.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T12:49:18.460" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8870" CreationDate="2015-08-06T15:41:58.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll add to the existing answers by saying that the time of year likely does matter.  I've been the Canadian Rockies up by Banff and some of those trails are heavily traveled.  But, during the berry season (autumn), that doesn't stop bears from coming around even when you're not cooking something delicious.  If you talk to folks who have hiked up there a lot, they may have stories of close encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're hiking around trails that are frequently used, you should cook far away from the trails so as not to unnecessarily attract bears to the trails.  If they are out roaming about in these areas (e.g. during berry season) they already exhibit some brash behavior and I would be careful about enticing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6500" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T15:41:58.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-06T16:08:53.633" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone has given a lot of good advice about clothing and shoes. I'd like to add to what ShemSeger said about the tent. If you are expecting rain, or if it is raining, you want to be extra careful about how you set up your tent. Normally, you would just be looking for a nice, flat place without stones, but if you're expecting rain, that nice flat place can sometimes become a nice puddle or small lake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're expecting rain, you may want to choose a tent site with a very slight incline and build a slight berm a few inches uphill from it from leaves and dirt to encourage runoff to go around the tent. You will also want to make sure your footprint/tarp/ground sheet under the tent (if you're using one, which I would recommend) is the right size for your tent. If it is too small, it won't protect all of the tent bottom, if it is too large, fold the excess under and tuck it below the footprint. This (and the incline) helps to avoid pooling extra water between the tent and the footprint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid I respectfully disagree with Mike Ounsworth -- I don't think keeping a tarp inside the tent will help you stay dry. Feel free to skip using a footprint/ground-cloth, but I would recommend against bringing it inside the tent. You really want to concentrate on keeping the water outside the tent -- if the water is inside the tent, you're already going to be unhappy, as your seam-sealed waterproof tent bottom will become a small pond, and a tarp inside that mini-kiddie-pool is not going to stop the water getting you and your gear wet. Bringing a used tarp inside at your next campsite on a multi-day backpacking trip is also likely to bring moisture and dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also want to take extra care in staking the tent and fly. If the fly is too slack, it is more likely to catch and hold extra water instead of letting it run off. If water pools in the fly, it is going to seep through and drip inside the tent. It is also a lot easier for stakes to get pulled out due to wind when the ground is wet, so you may want to make sure you have high quality tent stakes that will hold well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you're hiking close to a river or stream, a heavy rain can sometimes cause a surprisingly significant rise in the water level, so you may want to bypass enticing camp spots close to water level in favor of higher ground. (Of course, you should never camp right next to the river -- most areas require a minimum distance from water sources, NPS generally wants 100 ft. But the level of the water also matters for keeping dry.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if your tent has less than a 3/4 fly, you may want to consider setting up an extra tarp above the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more thing I don't see people talking about is your bedding. Down is great for backpacking (light and very packable) but it is terrible when it gets wet -- it loses its insulating properties and takes a long time to dry out. If you use down, make extra sure it stays dry. A silk or synthetic bag-liner can help protect it further from your own dampness, but make sure you have it in a waterproof stuff-sack and not just the regular bag it came in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6501" LastEditorUserId="6501" LastEditDate="2015-08-06T17:16:09.267" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T17:16:09.267" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9010" CreationDate="2015-08-06T17:06:02.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears behave differently in places where they are used to a lot of human activity vs places where they are generally left alone. They learn and adapt. For example, in the Adirondacks in NY, bears have become adept at recognizing and grabbing human food from &quot;bear bags&quot; (food hung from a tree, theoretically out of reach on a limb that won't support the bear's weight) so that they have gradually had to adjust the rules for food storage to keep ahead of the bears, which can be pretty clever and tenacious. The bears there have learned to open some types of bear canisters, so a bear can that is permitted in some parks might not be acceptable in others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In parks like Yosemite and Sequoia National Park in California, there is enough human activity that bears have learned how to get food from the sealed trunk of cars (through the window, through the back seat). They have a good sense of smell and they will be able to detect where the food is being stored. My guess is that if you have a small tube of toothpaste in the tent but a large amount of food in the bear can they would be more attracted to the stronger smell, but considering that you are supposed to keep the bear can away from your tent, the lighter smell might be enough to attract them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's better to be safe than sorry, not just for yourself but for the next person who comes to that area and also for the bear. If a bear becomes aggressive and attacks humans due to that human's carelessness, that bear is likely to start looking in more tents and packs for easy food, so in the US the wildlife services hunt down and destroy bears that attack people, even though it is almost always that person's fault and not the bear's. (And if you break food rules in a US national park and cause a problem with the wildlife, you will be fined heavily in addition to whatever property damage you have to deal with.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It isn't always about fatalities that have occurred -- it is about preventing problems. In the US, many national parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone) used to have big garbage dumps that attracted the bears and became an attraction for people to come and watch the bears. This was bad for the bears and encouraged them to look for humans to provide their food source, which caused more aggression and other problems. In Yosemite, of course they want to avoid fatalities, but not just for people, also for the bears. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstonepark.com/2011/06/yellowstone-bears-no-longer-get-garbage-treats/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a good discussion of this from Yellowstone.&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding bear bells, it is true that most bears will not generally approach humans. The point of the bear bell is not to frighten the bear away, but alert it that something that isn't prey is coming down the trail. Making a lot of noise as you walk (talking, walking heavily, etc) will have essentially the same effect, so a bear bell probably isn't necessary unless you are hiking alone and/or otherwise being very quiet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6501" LastEditorUserId="6501" LastEditDate="2015-08-06T17:20:37.677" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T17:20:37.677" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8958" CreationDate="2015-08-06T17:11:13.293" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've lived in Michigan for 20 years and have spent a lot of time backpacking in state, both in the UP and in lower MI. We've always followed the rules for storing food, hanging everything associated with cooking and  eating along with all toiletries in a tree away from the trunk &lt;strong&gt;UNLESS&lt;/strong&gt; we're at backcountry campsites that have bear poles or boxes, then we use those. We always store food and cook away from where we're sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We store food and toiletries in lightweight drysacks, the type that you roll down the top and then clip the ends together. They keep odors from traveling far and the loop makes them easy to attach to a cord for hauling aloft. We use regular 550 cord and have never had a problem with critters getting into our food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6502" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T17:11:13.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-08-06T17:51:16.907" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say exactly where you're going in the UP, but my wife and I spent a week backpacking in the Porkies last year and it rained every day, for at least several hours. I also took a long trip with my son's Boy Scout troop to Pictured Rocks and it rained buckets then too. They were both great trips, but staying dry/comfortable took some doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My pack has a built in rain cover, but I find it to be worse than worthless since it doesn't fit well and on a trip a few years ago I discovered that water would run down the outside and collect inside the bottom, holding it just right to soak the bottom of my pack where my sleeping back goes...not fun. Since then, I use a 3 mil contractor bag as a liner. I stuff it into my pack then load my sleeping gear and dry clothes into it then fold the top over and tuck that between the bag and the pack, continue to pack as normal. I briefly dunked my pack in a river and while all else was soaked, my sleeping gear and clothes were dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the outside, I use a second contractor bag slit along one edge as a pack cover, putting bottom of the bag over the top of the pack, tying the slit corners loosely under the pack and then tucking the loose part of the bag between the knot and the bottom of the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can at all avoid it, don't set up or take down the tent while it's raining. Make sure before you go you can do it quickly without fumbling around wondering which pole goes where in the tent. Also, if that nice flat area is the low spot, it will be a mud puddle when it rains so think about drainage. As you're setting up the tent, put the rain fly over the tent as you set it up, it won't be perfect, but it will be better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6502" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T17:51:16.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9009" CreationDate="2015-08-06T18:58:35.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done some short stretches of the AT in near-by areas of NY state which should be about the same as the AT in CT. The trail is well-marked and well-traveled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wildlife is mostly the standard small woodland animals, but there can also be bears. We have not had trouble finding suitable trees for hoisting a bear bag and have not had a problem with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The well-traveled part is a mixed blessing. There are lean-tos around, but they may be occupied. I haven't personally had a problem with any people bothering me or any theft or anything, but I also generally hike with a friend or a group, which I think would tend to discourage strangers from causing trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6501" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T18:58:35.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2015-08-06T19:13:36.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd go with either polyester rope or Dyneema cord.&#xA;Both are resistant to UV and neither rot nor stretch. Dyneema has superior wear resistance and is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; stronger by weight, but is probably more expensive. Maybe have a look at an (online) marine store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other yarns such as polyamide (nylon), polypropylene, etc. tend to have inferior UV resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd try to completely avoid knots, as they weaken the rope by at least 50% what in turn forces you to buy heavier and more expensive stuff.&#xA;Just attaching a handle and the branch by eye splice as you did before, 1/8 in resp. 4mm dyneema should definitely be enough, holding more than 1000kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a sample manufacturer, but you may want to look for an Australian rope maker that uses Dyneema fibers:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.samsonrope.com/Pages/Product.aspx?ProductID=872&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.samsonrope.com/Pages/Product.aspx?ProductID=872&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thinner cord might also help in terms of not being removed by local authorities...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6503" LastActivityDate="2015-08-06T19:13:36.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9010" CreationDate="2015-08-07T03:51:19.617" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After taking a look into it, it appears that the grizzly bears in North America are actually a &lt;em&gt;sub species&lt;/em&gt; (ssp.) of European brown bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brown Bear&lt;/strong&gt; = &lt;em&gt;Ursus arctos&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grizzly Bear = &lt;em&gt;Ursus arctos &lt;strong&gt;ssp.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;U. a. &lt;strong&gt;californicus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (Recently extinct California Grizzly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;U. a. &lt;strong&gt;gyas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (Peninsular Grizzly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;U. a. &lt;strong&gt;horribilis&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (Mainland Grizzly) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;U. a. &lt;strong&gt;middendorffi&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (Kodiak bear)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;U. a. &lt;strong&gt;nelsoni&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (Mexican Grizzly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common Grizzly, and the one I'm familiar with, appears to be the mainland grizzly, or &lt;em&gt;Ursus arctos &lt;strong&gt;horribilis&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. I think the sub species name alone should shed some light as to why people are a bit more wary of the mainland grizzly vs. the eastern brown bears, I imagine they were awarded the designation of &lt;em&gt;horribilis&lt;/em&gt; (horrible, dreadful, fearful) to reflect their nature compared to other brown bears.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer appears to be that North American Brown Bears (Grizzlies and Kodiaks) behave different, and are more dangerous than the rest of the brown bears in the world, hence the meticulaous precautions when venturing in their territory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-07T14:45:16.893" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:45:16.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2015-08-07T14:12:24.397" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried using Goo Gone on a small portion of a pack like this. It did not work very well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I then tried a rubber cement eraser (It is basically a hard piece of rubber that gathers up loose pieces of the cement for graphic arts work.) That did not work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Renisis was on the right track. I tried a fine grained paint sanding block (Home Depot). That took off some of the stuff. I was also able to get into the corners of the pack with the sharp corners of the rubbery block. But, it was still difficult to get the old waterproofing off without damaging the nylon fabric. The waterproofing is in the fabric. A heavier grained sanding block would have probably worked better. But, you have to be patient, work on a hard flat surface and be careful not to press too hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:12:24.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8891" CreationDate="2015-08-07T14:23:27.867" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I watch raptor nests which requires me to venture into the woods during the spring and summer. I have found that the best defense against mosquitoes is long sleeves and long pants. I wear a cycling jersey. It is comfortable in the hottest weather because it wicks away moisture. I have lightweight, zip-off legged pants. So, I can zip off the legs when I am done with my hike for the rest of the day. For my exposed areas (neck, face and hands) I use a Deet product. I spray the backs of my hands and rub my neck and cheeks. I have thought about getting a bug net for my head. I have also thought about using a bandana around my neck with a heavy application of the bug repellent instead of putting it on my skin. Maybe that might work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:23:27.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8885" CreationDate="2015-08-07T14:32:15.670" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to carry a multi-bladed knife when doing very long hikes. I eventually put it in my car where I found many uses for it like cutting off tags on newly purchased clothes. I think I own the knife because I think it is cool to own. : )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only useful tool on a folding knife might be the small blade that allows you to make holes in things. I think it is called an awl. It works better than a large flat blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The folding knife I own has a bottle opener, a can opener and tweezers. So, you would just carry one item instead of three. (Victorinox Camper)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also own a Leatherman. It is the basic model. It also has a bottle opener and a can opener. But, no tweezers. Maybe the pliers would be useful for pulling things that you cannot grip with your fingers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:32:15.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8813" CreationDate="2015-08-07T14:41:17.903" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the double-bagging or using a plastic tub inside a bag or the other way around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the best thing you can do is to test out various methods/containers before you go. It will allow you to find out what works and will also allow you to practice having to deal with the messy stuff at home where you can figure out what else you might need to bring along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:41:17.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8775" CreationDate="2015-08-07T14:52:05.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you are in the Midwest: If you are looking for something a bit different: The Cuyahoga Valley National Park has a train (Scenic Railroad) that runs through the park. You can take your bike on the train (at a very cheap price). So, you can park on the very northern part of the park, take the train south and bike back on the bike trail that is the old tow path for the Canal. It is a beautiful place to ride a bike. Lot of information on the National Park's website with a link to the railroad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bike trail is eventually going to go from Lake Erie in Cleveland down to New Philadelphia. Maybe even farther south. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T14:52:05.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9028" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9031" CreationDate="2015-08-07T21:30:47.640" Score="16" ViewCount="1712" Body="&lt;p&gt;While perusing my gear this morning, it occurred to me that I hadn't bothered to buy or make a stove for backpacking. On the whole, I'm not a big fan of hot food, even when I'm a mite chilled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the Pros and Cons of No-Cook Backpacking?&lt;/strong&gt; I'm interested in responses  regarding a three-season/non-winter conditions in a temperate climate, but wouldn't mind additional information about other climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Side-note on the tags: Yes, I am aware that the &quot;Cooking&quot; tag being here is a little paradoxical. It's included because this has to do with food preparation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T01:58:58.897" Title="What are the Pros and Cons of No-Cook Backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9028" CreationDate="2015-08-07T22:56:34.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to carry a stove or fuel. The space and weight that would be spent on these can be devoted to other things, or eliminated altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to take the time to cook things. If there's any meal preparation involving rehydration, it generally just involves putting water into the meal package a certain time before you plan to eat it, then eating it once it's ready.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your meals may be somewhat more limited and monotonous.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A good hot meal can be the one good thing at the end of a long, hard (or cold) day. If you don't have that option, it can make a hard day even harder sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-08-07T22:56:34.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9028" CreationDate="2015-08-08T00:34:37.863" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just considering &lt;strong&gt;weight&lt;/strong&gt;: The great advantage is that you save weight by not carrying a stove and fuel, a pot, a Sierra cup and a largish spoon for stirring. The disadvantage is that you carry more weight than if you had taken freeze-dried or dehydrated food.  That is, you have to carry the water content of &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; your food, which can add up, unless you subsist entirely on nuts, raisins, crackers, cheese and peanut butter.  Which you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other advantages&lt;/strong&gt; to not cooking: Freeze-dried food means a lot of trash to haul out.  Cooking means washing up.  Cooking is a pain, or even impossible, on rainy or windy days, thus you have to carry &lt;strong&gt;extra&lt;/strong&gt; non-cooked food to carry you through such days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it depends on the length of the trip.  I can easily see a no-cook trip for up to a week. Beyond that, peanut butter palls.          &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T00:34:37.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9028" CreationDate="2015-08-08T01:24:33.743" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually don't carry any kind of stove with me when I go hunting - this could be anytime from September to November or in May and early June.  The weather can vary wildly during these times and I've experienced every kind of weather, from 10 below (F) and snow, to 30 degrees and freezing rain, to 90 (F) and dry.  I found that going without hot food for up to a week is not a big deal - for me.  That said, I prefer hot meals so, outside of a hunting/backpacking trip, I put more effort into my meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;pros&lt;/strong&gt; of not cooking while backpacking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have &lt;strong&gt;more time&lt;/strong&gt; to spend doing other things.  Meal preparation time can vary, for example, boiling water for some quick oatmeal is much quicker than making enchiladas or wild strawberry pie in a dutch oven (yes, I have known two backpackers that carry small dutch ovens and eat like kings).  But still, it takes time to open your pack, set up your cooking gear, cook the meal, clean up, and repack.  If you are busy doing other things, such as hiking or watching wildlife in the evening, then maybe this is a chore that should be eliminated.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not taking cooking gear &lt;strong&gt;reduces weight&lt;/strong&gt; and gives you &lt;strong&gt;extra space&lt;/strong&gt; in your pack for other things.  However, this might be cancelled by the increased bulk and weight of the food itself, mentioned in con #6 below.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preparing your meals so that you can eat all day means you will be &lt;strong&gt;less hungry&lt;/strong&gt;.  Instead of having two or three big meals and a couple snacks, you can simply eat whenever you feel like it.  Often, I feel a lot better when I simply snack all day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buying a stove, and cookwear, and the just-add-water meals can get expensive.  Not buying them and preparing simple foods at home can &lt;strong&gt;save&lt;/strong&gt; a good deal of &lt;strong&gt;money&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;cons&lt;/strong&gt; of not cooking while backpacking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooking in the mountains can be very enjoyable.  Planning not to cook &lt;strong&gt;eliminates an enjoyable activity&lt;/strong&gt; (although cooking in downpours and high winds can be very frustrating).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You might need a hot meal.&lt;/strong&gt;  A hot meal can really perk you up at the end of a long day when you're tired, or maybe feeling a little homesick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your &lt;strong&gt;choices&lt;/strong&gt; of foods/meals are a bit &lt;strong&gt;limited&lt;/strong&gt;, which dampens the whole outdoor experience, unless your trip is a short one, or if you can conquer #4.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To eat healthy while not cooking, &lt;strong&gt;you need to be more creative&lt;/strong&gt;.  Coming up with a list of foods that you can (and will) eat can be daunting if you aren't used to, or you don't enjoy, creating healthy menus.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unprepared&lt;/strong&gt;. If you find that you do want to cook a meal (do you fish?), you will need to resort to using a campfire which may not be allowed at some places and times (some parks, fire season, etc.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foods that are ready to eat are generally &lt;strong&gt;bulkier and heavier&lt;/strong&gt;.  Just imagine a couple peanut butter sandwiches next to a cup of uncooked rice.  By the way, I don't advise carrying peanut butter sandwiches beyond day #1 :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when I backpack without typical cooking gear, I'm still prepared to make an emergency meal in case my body temperature gets too low or I simply want or need something hot.  For this, I carry a stainless steel cup and a couple packets of tea and a small ziploc or two of quick oats and sugar (don't forget a spoon!).  Of course, if and when I use these, a fire is then required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as a side note here, since you mentioned &quot;non-winter conditions&quot;: if you intend on backpacking in the Rocky Mountains, be prepared for cold weather at any time of the year.  On July 27, this year, here in eastern Idaho, we had a couple inches of hail in the lower areas and snow in the mountains.  Two days later, although the weather was beautiful and in the 70's, I found 4 inches of snow still covering the trail, in places, on a section of the Continental Divide Trail.  It's never really &quot;non-winter&quot; in the Rockies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T01:24:33.743" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9028" CreationDate="2015-08-08T03:46:06.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cooking or not, being able to heat water can be very useful in many cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A basic alcohol stove, a little fuel, and a fireproof cup will weight less than 200g and fit all in the cup, so that's not much of a big deal. (All for less than 15$ for basic stuff).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll get tea in the morning and you'll be able to boil water if needs be (sterilize water from a stream to drink it or rinse a wound).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T03:46:06.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8775" CreationDate="2015-08-08T05:06:04.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For reasonable values of &quot;trail&quot;, &quot;parallels&quot;, &quot;navigable&quot;, and &quot;river&quot;, the Washington and Idaho Centennial Trails run 59 miles from Higgens Point on Lake Coeur d'Alene to Sontag Park on the Spokane River; an 11-mile extension to the Long Lake area is planned for the near future for a total of 70 miles. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/47.8809501,-117.6743195/47.627506,-116.680598/@47.806017,-117.2015579,10z/data=!4m34!4m33!1m30!3m4!1m2!1d-117.5332745!2d47.7537118!3s0x549e1ae8ae84b5f1:0x7d88f3e86290b5a!3m4!1m2!1d-117.5131898!2d47.7202577!3s0x549e1a3f9b5dcbe9:0x8232092be13127da!3m4!1m2!1d-117.45556!2d47.6711542!3s0x549e184b6fcc271d:0x9c37c866b4d4684d!3m4!1m2!1d-117.4546022!2d47.6644062!3s0x549e1849b6e6be71:0x53930ec3f4aecb7f!3m4!1m2!1d-117.4508629!2d47.6599765!3s0x549e18471d885893:0x8619e305c1c8ad35!3m4!1m2!1d-117.3882657!2d47.6722604!3s0x549e18c134cb6625:0xac62cc7b0643de10!1m0!3e1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Google map&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all of the trail is dedicated bike trail; you'll find yourself sharing the road with cars on some stretches.  The river is mostly seasonally navigable by canoe; you'll need to portage around five hydroelectric dams and/or waterfalls, and there are some mild rapids that might be a bit too exciting for a canoe made top-heavy by a bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T05:06:04.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9034" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-08T09:33:37.643" Score="2" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;(I know this is subjective, but I'm really at loss with all the confliciting advice I get from my friends... help me stack-exchange! :) )  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hey, I'm planning on doing 2 months trekking in New-Zealand. Original plan was Dec-Jan, for the best weather. However, the &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; date I was able to reserve for the Milford Sound track is Nov/7th. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;WDYS? should I go on Nov-Dec and risk crummier weather just so I won't miss the Milford experience? OR is it just another amazing track among many others and aiming for the best chance of good weather is more important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;background: I have no other work/family constraints, and I'm really into outdoors trekking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2426" LastActivityDate="2015-08-08T09:33:37.643" Title="Should I go to New-Zealand on November instead of December just to make it to the Milford track?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2015-08-08T11:29:10.203" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9035" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9044" CreationDate="2015-08-09T03:08:20.820" Score="9" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 16 subspecies of Ursus americanus, the black bear.  The Wikipedia article describes their different physical characteristics and geographical distributions, but not differences in temperament.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article discusses attacks on humans, and attributes the majority to habituation to people and easy access to food.  When access to food was made more difficult, bear attacks dropped off sharply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any analysis or evidence -- even informed anecdotal -- that suggests that any subspecies is more aggressive or more easily provoked to aggression than another?  Can any differences be attributed to the frequency and nature of exposure to people?  I read one article a long time ago in connection with an attack on several male teenagers that said that eastern black bears were more aggressive than western; this is all I remember about it.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first hand knowledge is limited to Sierra and (to a lesser extent Colorado Rocky Mtn) black bears.  None has behaved in the least aggressively towards me, but I still respect them.  Should I be even more respectful elsewhere?         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:13:39.360" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:13:39.360" Title="Is any subspecies of black bear more -- or less -- aggressive than another?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9036" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-09T07:26:21.743" Score="1" ViewCount="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a hike on the Appalachian Trail. I have never hiked in an area with bears. What safety precautions should I take to avoid them (or for them to avoid me) and what should I do if I encounter a bear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe for someone with no experience with bears to hike on the Appalachian Trail where there are bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6492" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T07:26:21.743" Title="What safety precautions should I take when hiking in an area with bears?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2015-08-09T10:44:31.980" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8619" CreationDate="2015-08-09T10:08:56.847" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is exactly the opposite: fat or oil can help to remove ticks; the fat layer blocks air oxygen for them, they start to suffocate and try to detach. So the ticks may feel better after you wash them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, while I have seen this method working, the trick of removing with fat is no longer recommended as it adds chances to transfer the disease from these ticks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6514" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T10:08:56.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-08-09T11:47:18.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most comments here suggest that campfires are a back country tradition when in fact they are mostly in densely populated camping areas in parks.  They are rarely used for cooking.  Most of the noxious smoke blows right into the next campsite and the owners of the campfire sit comfortably upwind of the fire.&#xA;It appears that NPS has no policy on this except to provide fire rings and sell firewood yet this smoke is injurious to anyone with respiratory issues and obnoxious to anyone else.&#xA;Ironic that they ban cigarette smoking which I support, but profit from wood smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6515" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T11:47:18.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8019" CreationDate="2015-08-09T14:58:33.820" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Campfires are not flat-out unethical in all circumstances, but too often they way they are built and used are.  For example, if you passed a fire ring not  long ago, or know there is a fire ring not far away, do not build another one just because you want to camp &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;here&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  If you have to build a fire ring, don't make it larger than  necessary to cook your food and give you a pleasant hour or so of gazing into the flames.  (Unless you are hypothermic.)  Don't leave unburned or unburnable things in the fire ring -- bandaids, aluminum foil, smashed cans, glass.  Unburned bandaids are my pet peeve.  I don't like seeing rocks and fallen trees elaborately arranged to make the area look like a living/dining room.  And carry out or bury ashes and charcoal to the best of your ability.  If you can't do that, clean up someone else's mess on your way out.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-08-09T19:50:26.767" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T19:50:26.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9040" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9042" CreationDate="2015-08-09T15:27:22.033" Score="13" ViewCount="2120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've dismantled several fire-rings in an area that has many fire-rings strung out between a major trail and a river.  (Colorado, 8,500 feet).  These are not official camp sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the years, people decide to camp &lt;strong&gt;here&lt;/strong&gt; rather than &lt;strong&gt;there&lt;/strong&gt; even though a fire-ring was already &lt;strong&gt;there&lt;/strong&gt;. Then they build a very large fire-ring, which is left brimming with ash, partially burned wood and unburnables such as aluminium foil and smashed cans.  I'll dismantle one of these on my way out, tidy up the site, and carry out as much debris as I can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any hypothermic person can easily find another fire-ring.  Most of these fire-rings are old, although still seen as an opportunity for a big campfire. I wouldn't dismantle an isolated fire-ring near timberline. Ethics?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="4038" LastEditDate="2015-08-09T22:18:07.727" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T05:55:32.770" Title="When is it unethical to dismantle a fire-ring?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9040" CreationDate="2015-08-09T16:13:06.873" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say any time you're in an undeveloped area, it is OK and perhaps the most ethical thing to do, to dismantle fire rings. They encourage over-use of a particular spot, collect trash, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're in a developed camping area, you should not dismantle them. Having the fire ring there ensures that the damage from fires is kept to one area, thus reducing impact elsewhere on the site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="6519" LastEditDate="2015-08-10T05:55:32.770" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T05:55:32.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9040" CreationDate="2015-08-09T16:20:04.273" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different land managers have different takes on this so I don't think you're going to get a solid answer that applies across all areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally use the term &quot;trail camp&quot; to describe what you're talking about. An area with up turned rocks for sitting and doing stuff on, a fire ring, some flat spots for sleeping, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never dismantled a single one, personally. I have a part time guide business, and one of the rules for us (US National Parks and US National Forests) is that our groups need to spread out across multiple campsites when possible. So if we have a party of ten with two guides, we'll break into two groups of five with a guide each and use two campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while you might be looking at things through a lens of &quot;one group can just use x instead of y&quot;, there are groups that need to use both x and y on occasion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equestrian groups have even weirder requirements but I don't really know about those, other than the simple math that they have big animals that need to go somewhere and the people need to be a bit (but not too far) away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For whatever it's worth, even in areas where fires are allowed we rarely start them. Under a commercial permit we're required to use existing trail camps whenever possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T16:20:04.273" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2015-08-09T17:20:37.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walk and hike barefoot a lot. My feet have no hard skin (ok a few bits around the heel as anyone would). The skin is just as supple as anyone elses, but it's tougher. So if I walk a long distance barefoot, I don't get blisters. Small bits of glass don't affect me 99.9% of the time. The other main difference is I'm used to the sensation of the ground - the small stones, hot bits, cold bits, rough textures etc. That seems to be the biggest thing people are not expecting when walking barefoot - their feet have always been surrounded by an inch of foam rubber and they have never felt a single thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So - start out easy - grass and smooth surfaces - paths/sidwalks and don't over do it. Give your feet time to toughen up and your brain time to get used to it. Then try more textured surfaces - fine gravel/pebbles/rock. Woodlands are great, mud and natural rock (watch for nettles and thorns). You'll find that you still feel as much as when you started, but your feet are like soft leather and resilient to most things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6518" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T17:20:37.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9035" CreationDate="2015-08-09T20:02:32.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;All research done by the National Park Services attribute black bear aggression to how people affect the bear's foraging behavior. Bears are conditioned by where, when, and how they acquire food. If they find food nearby and easily accessible from dumpsters and tourists that feed them as if they're in a zoo, they begin to associate humans with easily accessible food. Once they become familiar with people they fear them less and they become more aggressive and unpredictable. This behavior usually develop in cubs depending whether the mother is conditioned to forage in moderate to heavily developed areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/scarebears.htm&quot;&gt;What to do if You See a Bear?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/upload/bear.social.learning.pdf&quot;&gt;Mazur, R. &amp;amp; Seher, V. (2008). Socially Learned Foraging Behaviour in Wild Black Bears, Ursus Americanus, The Association for the Study ofAnimal Behaviour, 75: 1503-1508.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearsmart.com/managing-bears/understanding-bear-behaviour/&quot;&gt;Behavior &amp;amp; Communication&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T20:02:32.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5330" CreationDate="2015-08-09T21:35:46.713" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To clarify terms - in New Zealand Wild camping is not a widely used term. If you are to use it here, people will interpret it as back country camping (well away from roads). Freedom camping is used as a term for camping outside of designated camp sites. If by wild camping, you mean road accessible, unserviced camp site in a remote location, New Zealanders refer to this simply as camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The freedom camping act does not distinguish between vehicle supported, RV and Tent based camping.  There is a recognised standard for Self Containment for RV's - commonly referred to as Certified Self Containment (CSC). Camping close to roads is now widely restricted to RV's with CSC - in effect freedom camping is severely restricted unless you have an RV with CSC. In some areas freedom camping is practically banned as its limited to a very few location. Most Local Authorities have $200 fines for breaking the rules, and its commonly enforced (often in the early hours of the morning before sunrise).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to camp in remote, unserviced camp sites, DOC has a large number, typically $6 /per person per night - often with very limited facilities. There are a lot of other places where its allowed and a number of low cost camp-sites offering basic facilities and safe, legal camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good web site for detailed information of places to stay and the rules around them, visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rankers.co.nz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rankers.co.nz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you are well away from roads, on a vast majority of DOC administered land camping is acceptable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T21:35:46.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9046" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-07T05:33:12.647" Score="7" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am doing a silly adventure : &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6LRvj6-7OQ&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6LRvj6-7OQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be riding a russian made sidecar on the frozen surface of the baikal lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Departure from Irkursk and circle on and around the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am just starting the whole prep. thing. &#xA;- What is the smallest yet most efficient piece of clothing to keep me &lt;strong&gt;warm&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned, I'll be travelling in a small sidecar so need to make simple and easy to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6531" OwnerDisplayName="InMktgWeTrust" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T06:14:33.690" Title="Doing The Ice Run 2016. Any recommendation on how to survive Siberian Winter" Tags="&lt;russia&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8933" CreationDate="2015-08-09T23:58:43.563" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a lot of 2 pieces, one 4 piece, and 1 one piece. The one piece is my go to rod because I fish at night often (I live 3 blocks away from the Sacramento River). I'll have a tendency of not paying much attention of how my guides are aligned and end up casting to the extreme left or right initially. I never have to worry about that with my one piece rod and I have a truck so portability isn't issue. As for sensitivity, I don't rely on the rod exclusively because of ever changing circumstances like current, wind, etc., in fact I don't hold my rod constantly, I use a bell most of the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it all really boils down to is space and convenience. If you have limited space, then 2 piece is a better choice, if not, then go one piece because in any type of system, whether it be a computer, car, or rod and reel; the less components the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastActivityDate="2015-08-09T23:58:43.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2015-08-10T10:35:27.143" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look at the average heights of the worlds top climbers and very few of them are over 6ft tall. Being tall is an advantage when you start climbing but the harder it gets and the smaller the hand/foot holds get the more advantage there is to being small and light. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm 6'2&quot; and weight 85kg so moves with high feet push my weight further away from the wall than a smaller climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day, everyone whinges about how its easier to be whatever they are not. Its easier to persuade yourself that its easier for others than to realise that they are either stronger than you or perhaps have better technique than you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6524" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T10:35:27.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9046" CreationDate="2015-08-10T13:31:47.287" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Layers of fleece plus a very wind resistant outer shell. Anything else (Carhartt type clothes, leather, Mongolian reindeer skins...) will be heavy as heck. Full face coverage would be smart, but it looks like you'll have a windshield at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you'll spend time riding in the cold wind, the conditions will be  similar to snowmobiling. Try snowmobiling in eastern Canada or the Dakotas in winter, that should be a good approximation of the conditions. And snowmobile clothes should be the right stuff, heavier than most ski wear - skiers move a little and rarely go more than a mile without stopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't go light on boots and gloves. Those parts cool off fast. Also keep in mind that modern snowmobiles have heated hands grips. Will you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T13:31:47.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9010" CreationDate="2015-08-10T15:35:40.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have extensive trekking experience in northern Europe (Sweden, Norway), some in Central Europe (Switzerland, France) and some in the Canadian Rockies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I can say about &lt;strong&gt;Scandinavia&lt;/strong&gt;, which has a comparably strong bear population, is that most people do not worry over bear attacks &lt;em&gt;at all&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: I have personally spent weeks in the Scandinavian outback, I read many books and talked to a lot of fellow hikers: none out of them consider bears to be a real danger. In the vast wilderness meeting a bear is so very unlikely even the most enthousiastic hikers go their entire lives without ever seeing a bear from afar, let alone getting into a close encounter with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've hiked on long and very popular routes that lead through bear country without ever hearing about bear hangs, bear canisters, bear sprays or any other anti-bear measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T05:26:25.967" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T05:26:25.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9053" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-10T16:25:16.897" Score="18" ViewCount="6217" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coyotes are coming through the lot next to my house. There are several. One ran across my driveway 2 nights ago. When I take my pomeranian out before bed, I hear them about 100 feet to the left of my house. By the time I take the dog in they are in the wooded area directly across the road from my yard. Is this something I should be concerned about and what can I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:31:10.433" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:31:10.433" Title="Pack of coyotes in my neighborhood" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;coyotes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-10T18:12:14.017" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coyotes tend to be pretty skittish around humans (although long exposure can acclimate them) and will normally be frightened off by loud noises or bright light. For you personally, they are very unlikely to be a safety concern, though I would worry a little about your dog- a very small breed like that could be at risk. Based on my knowledge, they ought to stay away from you while you are walking the dog, but I would not be letting it out of the house unsupervised (if ever you do so).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, try to make sure they can't get into your trash, and avoid leaving any other food or food waste where they can get it (e.g. compost). If you happen to have a vegetable garden, it will likely do well with the sudden scarcity of rabbits and other small animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever do feel concerned or threatened, call your local animal control or equivalent, and they will hopefully be able to capture and relocate them. Law enforcement would likely attempt to kill the animals, so I'd ask you not to contact them except in extreme circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases, these coyotes are going to stay away from humans and conduct their business only at night, and will quite possibly move on soon when food starts getting scarce. Leave them alone and they will return the favor to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T18:12:14.017" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-10T19:31:24.423" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Watch out for your little dog. When I was growing up in the high desert of LA County, I recall numerous incidents of coyotes snatching and killing small dogs from backyards in our community. The coyotes would jump over the wall into the backyard, grab the dog and be gone before the owner would have time to do anything. We never saw them during the day, but if you went outside in the early morning hours, on trash day, you'd usually see them eating from an overturned trash can.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6502" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T19:31:24.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-10T19:55:14.763" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your small dog is at &lt;strong&gt;great&lt;/strong&gt; risk.  A coyote recently took the small dog of a veterinary technician at my vet's from the front walk of her house; she was outside and saw it. And if she saw the coyote, the coyote saw her. The coyote did not get a good grip on the dog, and he got away, with a bite wound.  Animal control trapped the coyote; it was definitely a coyote.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Patrick's point about food and food waste is right!  But, in my opinion, the threat is more serious to your dog and other neighborhood pets than he says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the sake of the neighborhood pets, and for the coyotes themselves, you and your neighbors should never leave food or food waste out.           &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-08-10T20:05:31.600" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T20:05:31.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-10T20:56:48.090" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's very rare that coyotes ever attack humans, so I wouldn't worry about that. Small animals are another story. I always shake my head when someone puts up a &quot;Lost Cat&quot; sign on a lamppost in my neighborhood. It is definitely wishful thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have lived among coyotes all my life and have had plenty of encounters with them. I've never had any issues, but I would not take my small dog outside if there were coyotes plainly visible 100 feet away. You will definitely catch their interest, and it's asking for trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6528" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T20:56:48.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-10T22:11:00.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In our neighborhood two small dogs have been snatched off the leash by coyotes (on the trail that runs along between houses and the preserve). Be very wary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6357" LastActivityDate="2015-08-10T22:11:00.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9028" CreationDate="2015-08-11T01:52:59.990" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started out cooking actual meals, which was time consuming and required a lot of clean up. Its not practical to pack out waste from food prep cleanup(like waste water), and I started to realize it was not in good ethic to do so. So I started with the mentality &lt;code&gt;boil don't cook&lt;/code&gt;. I've gone ahead and invested in a MSR WindBoiler(similar to the jetboil). This is usually my setup. The windboiler and freeze dried foods or instant oat meal/porridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically eat nuts, jerky, and energy bars all day long, and usually only eat a hot meal for dinner and sometimes breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me its really more about comfort. I have gone on trips where all I ate required no heating. I can only do this for an overnight trip. I feel heated food is definitely not required. Though I feel its really useful, and can actually ward off hypothermia. When you say &quot;temperate climate&quot; thats rather vague. Here in the Rockies you can expect to travel from a 70 degree F climate to snowy 30 degree F climate in the same day during summer months. To me having a source of heat is especially useful in these kinds of conditions. A warm meal, cup of tea, or cocoa help warm you up &lt;em&gt;even if you don't particularly care for them&lt;/em&gt;. I've been so cold on winter trips that I literally just drank warm water. I've also used my stove to heat water and poured that in my hydration bladder and slipped that in my sleeping bag to help me stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the flip side eating energy bars, jerky, nuts, dry fruit, etc is relatively weight efficient. With freeze dried meals you still have to carry a stove and the water to reconstitute them. You can treat water while your in the backcountry but you still have to carry that water a decent distance if there's no water source where you're camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as energy density, freeze dried foods have more energy per gram than energy bars &lt;em&gt;most of the time&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comparing 1g of freeze dried food to 1g of nutrition bar(of different varieties):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clif Bar(Peanut Butter): 3.8calories per gram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Probar(Peanut Butter Chocolate): 3.4calories per gram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Probar(Peanut Butter Bar): 4.5calories per gram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain House(Mac &amp;amp; Cheese): 5calories per gram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain House(Lasagna): 4.8calories per gram&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enegry bar avg:&lt;/strong&gt; 3.6cal/g&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freeze Dried avg:&lt;/strong&gt; 4.9cal/g&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given this is just a list of food I have on hand(I like peanut butter). So if you look into it more I'm sure you can find energy bars or other non-cooking/heating options which provide similar energy density. Futher more you would save the weight of not having a stove. Also if you look at the protein content of each of these options, the freeze dried foods are far superior. However there are lots of jerkys out there which are packed with protein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also consider the fact that freeze dried food was invented for 3 reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It doesn't spoil for years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It retains almost all of its original nutrients, where as dehydration does not even come close.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Its very light weight, typically even more so than dry or dehydrate foods which still have some water weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My opinion is if you're going to do short 1-3 night trips you can definitely do it without heating or cooking a single thing. If you plan to go on an extended trip or thru-hike then I'd say having a stove is very useful beyond a means of food prep. All in all you can't go wrong if you just bring both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastEditorUserId="5954" LastEditDate="2015-08-11T01:58:58.897" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T01:58:58.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3398" CreationDate="2015-08-11T04:56:36.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To carry raw eggs, leave 'em in their shells, put them in an old peanut-butter jar (plastic, watertight, wide mouthed). FILL the rest of the jar with water and close the lid.  The water keeps the eggs from breaking, as long as there isn't any air space, and they will last at least a week in good weather. That's less than 90° greater than freezin'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method is &lt;strong&gt;For Sure&lt;/strong&gt; worth the weight and the size - specially if the choice is powdered....Fine for baking, BUT...,'sides the jar is great for water or collecting when the eggs are gone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6530" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T04:56:36.840" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8958" CreationDate="2015-08-11T05:40:24.617" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some parks require you to have a bear canister. Here in the Rocky Mountains if you camp up in the mountains(no trees to sling a bag) you're usually required to have a canister, not because of bears but marmots. Bear canisters might be a little much, but its a sure fire way to prevent animals from getting in your food.Once I bought one, I've always used it even when I could bring a food bag, simply because I have it. It's quite a bit heavier and a bit bulky. But it comes in handy if you end up camping far from a treeline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T05:40:24.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9070" CreationDate="2015-08-11T06:05:35.033" Score="16" ViewCount="1012" Body="&lt;p&gt;Earlier last month I witnessed someone fell a tree in the Eagles Nest Wilderness while I was on a backpack trip. Its quite obvious that you're not supposed to cut down trees in a national forest, in this particular wilderness fires are also prohibited. I hadn't any idea how to deal with this group of individuals. I feel that yelling at them would have done no good, as its obvious that what they were doing was wrong and they knew it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I have reported these individuals? I had no way to identify them, and its hard to track who was even in the area during that time frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I have said something? Threatened to report them? Or is it best to just let it happen, because it seems there's not much that can be done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It really upsets me to see someone do something so detrimental to a protected area. Its such an obvious trace of human presence. I've heard this has become a big problem in the Maroon-Bells Snowmass Wilderness, which isn't far from where I was hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T14:01:13.853" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T14:01:13.853" Title="How to deal with unethical campers?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9046" CreationDate="2015-08-11T06:14:33.690" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Merino wool&lt;/strong&gt; (e.g. IceBreaker shirts &amp;amp; long underpants) is very warm compared to its pack size and weight. It combines well with most other outdoor clothing like fleece - and you'll be wearing &lt;em&gt;lots&lt;/em&gt; of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to put it into perspective:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In winter Irkutsk has an &lt;em&gt;average temperature&lt;/em&gt; of around -20°C/0°F. &lt;em&gt;Average&lt;/em&gt;. Meaning you need to be prepared for temps as low as -30°C to -40°C. Adding to that the wind chill effect from driving around in a side car, you'll be needing some serious low-temperature equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd hit up your local outdoor supplier and have a good talk with them about this subject. Snowmobiling equipment and expedition clothes will likely be needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T06:14:33.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9065" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9077" CreationDate="2015-08-11T06:30:11.997" Score="7" ViewCount="1275" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know how the last man rappel. While practicing at a local place, I saw one of the groups using a kamikaze knot for rappel and rope retrieval after the last man rappelled. Kamikaze and Sheepshank are quite the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5gYwL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5gYwL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, How it is supposed to be used: Assume that one of the ropes will be a meter long or less than that which I can fix at the anchor up there and afford to let the piece of rope remain there. And the other strand is what I would rappel on. They did the exact same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knot looked a bit tricky and I don't quite comprehend the amount of safety it would provide when used with the ropes of different diameters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anybody tried it that way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Till that day, I had never used kamikaze knot for last man rappel. And, then I tried it with a piece of rope (trusted strength and life) obtained through the same set of rope coil. So, diameter was equal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:36:48.743" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:36:48.743" Title="Is Kamikaze knot safe with ropes of different diameters?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9075" CreationDate="2015-08-11T07:17:54.620" Score="12" ViewCount="1278" Body="&lt;p&gt;I enjoy doing quite extended treks in the backcountry that rely on us (mostly 2-4 people) being independent from any kind of civilization for up to two weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the foremost problem in these kinds of treks is the &lt;strong&gt;weight of the food&lt;/strong&gt;: I've been on treks where we easily started out with 15kg of food per person, which is obviously a big strain for everyone carrying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have already spent quite a lot of thought and time optimizing our trail food to reduce weight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We only bring food with very high calories-to-weight ratio.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We bring food that require as little fuel to prepare as possible (reduces overall fuel weight needed).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All the food is repackaged into the most light-weight packaging possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Example:&lt;/em&gt; Instant Pasta, Couscous, Chocolate, Peanuts (best&#xA;  calorie-to-weight ratio out there), dehydrated instant soups and&#xA;  sauces for pasta, porridge, powdered milk, energy bars...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So... we're set on carbohydrates, sugar and fat, but I'm guessing what we're still struggling with is &lt;strong&gt;protein intake&lt;/strong&gt;: many protein-rich foods are either fairly heavy (dried meat, hard cheese) or spoil quickly. The few I know that are both light weight and durable (like beans and lentils) take forever to cook, meaning that we'd have to bring a lot of extra fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you have a suggestion on how we could improve our protein-intake on extended hikes?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What kinds of &lt;em&gt;protein-rich&lt;/em&gt; trail food with low weight exists out there? (bonus points if it is tasty)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.&lt;/strong&gt; We use light-weight trangia camping stoves, as they are quite efficient and their fuel can be bought almost anywhere. I'd rather not rely on open fires as this will limit our treks to routes that go through territory where open fires are allowed &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; where there is plenty of firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.P.S.&lt;/strong&gt; Somebody is bound to bring this up, so I'll just say here: &lt;em&gt;fishing/hunting&lt;/em&gt; is not an option for me. Both require a lot of time (and often permits/licenses) and are simply not reliable enough: I can't stake the meals of our group on getting a lucky catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-08-11T10:19:34.500" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T17:59:30.117" Title="Protein-intake on extended minimal-weight treks" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3592" CreationDate="2015-08-11T07:35:11.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my treks I usually keep a trail journal. I only bring a pencil and some eraser (i.e. super light-weight), and use this to write about the journey, draw small maps/diagrams and sometimes even sketches of what I encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a routine&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I also force myself to write an entry on every single day, that way I'm ensured I won't end up forgetting about the thing and ending up with an empty book. Mostly I wrote/sketched during lunch brakes and after dinner, while the others in our group where resting/chatting/reading a book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tip: Do an improvised herbarium&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I sometimes collect small flowers, interesting grasses and the like and stick them into the book with some medical tape from the first-aid kit. Very useful if your drawing skills, like mine, are not quite up there, and it makes up for not having any colored illustrations. (Obviously you should only do this where allowed, so don't go collecting protected species...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T07:35:11.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8891" CreationDate="2015-08-11T08:17:24.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should keep in mind: DEET is not an insect repellent that will prevent insects from landing on your skin! DEET is a contact poison that will be very unpleasant for any insect who gets into contact with your skin - they essentially 'burn their feet'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This prevents mosquitoes/black flies/knot/... from &lt;em&gt;stinging&lt;/em&gt; you, but they will still try to &lt;em&gt;land on your skin&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can literally take a shower in 100% DEET and not achieve your wished effect of never being bothered by a single insect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T08:17:24.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2015-08-11T08:23:23.687" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't understand why you're so centric around protein. There are protein bars, some of which contain over 20g of protein. There are also freeze dried meats which is actually more protein dense(higher protien-weight ratio) than protein bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freeze dried foods generally offer the best weight to calorie ratio, because they have almost no water weight. Even a dry nut or beef jerky will still retain water weight. Freeze drying would likely be the best route when trying to find high protein meals for the very same reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't find enough protein in these meals, and can't carry something like jerky, peanut butter, nuts, etc because of weight. You should probably supplement protein with whey powder or something similar, which is literally straight protein, and about double the amount of protein density as a standard protein bar. Spirulina is a bit higher than protein bars in protein density.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thru-hikers usually don't even supplement protein like this, and get it from eating a standard healthy diet. I can't imagine why you'd need so much protein, unless your traveling a very long distance without possibility of resupply. Even people who do long distance hiking without resupply focus on calorie density, and tend to carry up to(possibly more) 30lbs of food. You might just have to accept the fact that you're going to consume less than optimal amounts of protein for muscle recovery and just power threw the aches for the duration of your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to answer your question, the 3 highest protein density foods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pure Whey Protein powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeze-dried beef&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protein Bars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T08:23:23.687" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9063" CreationDate="2015-08-11T08:28:30.810" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It boils down to the point what one could really do in such a situation.&#xA;When I trek in India, I do come across such situations that beg some action from me and other sensitive people around. I define scope of 'what can I do' as following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't be outnumbered!:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If we are outnumbered, I will rather opt to report it to the authority, without threatening the guys doing it. I would also consider taking pictures of the deed and the doer, preferably without they noticing me doing so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are being outnumbered by us, and they are unarmed: Yes, you can save a tree. Approach them with a sense of unity, warn them for what they are up to and what you can do about it. A bit of controlled but false aggression helps at times like this, at least it worked for me. A fictitious or unreal friend of yours working in the concerned authoritative organization just might do the trick. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For immediate results, the second options works best. But then again, you avoided an incident, that doesn't really alarm the authorities about possibility of happening it again.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long term results, whether you chose to act and somehow managed to stop them, or just saw the incidence, whatever the case, report it at the concerned legal authority. With an increased number of such alarms, authorities will be a bit more keener about controlling such deeds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T08:28:30.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9071" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-11T11:02:58.100" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is to be used with questions that are about identification of animals, keeping the scope limited to what suits The Great Outdoors perspective, since Zoology is not something which fully lies in scope of The Great Outdoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please add a picture, and as many characteristic details as possible. Include the geographic location. Describe the environment, such as woods, mountains, trails, water, near other animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For identification of birds please use the bird-identification tag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T03:34:40.140" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T03:34:40.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9072" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-11T11:02:58.100" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for identification of species and sub-species of animals. Please add a picture, and write as many characteristic details as possible. Include the geographic location. Describe the environment, such as woods, mountains, trails, water, near other animals. For identification of birds please use the bird-identification tag. " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T03:34:40.140" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T03:34:40.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9073" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-11T11:05:51.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Belay has two meanings in climbing. A person can belay another climber or they can use a belay at a stance to support themselves while they belay a second. When building a belay the whole setup is called a belay, this included the equipment used (a belay plate for example), the ropes and the area where the person is standing/sitting. Both words are spelt and pronounced the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you belay another climber, this is the process of holding the end of a climbing rope to catch a climber should they fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are using a belay it is the stance used when belaying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying requires techniques and equipment to feed (or take in when top roping) the rope to the ascending climber, catch a climber should they fall and lower a climber from the top of a climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use this tag for questions that discuss the various methods for belaying, belaying devices being used or belaying techniques, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-03-24T21:27:17.810" LastActivityDate="2019-03-24T21:27:17.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9074" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-11T11:05:51.217" Score="0" Body="Belaying is the process of holding the end of a climbing rope to catch a climber should they fall. A belay is the stance used when belaying. Belaying requires techniques and equipment to feed (or take in when top roping) the rope to the ascending climber, catch a climber should they fall and lower a climber from the top of a climb. Use this tag for questions that discuss the various methods for belaying, belaying devices being used or belaying techniques." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-03-22T13:39:43.453" LastActivityDate="2016-03-22T13:39:43.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2015-08-11T13:39:53.357" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do a lot of strength training when not backpacking, and try to keep my protein up around ~140 grams per day, on average. I asked &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/q/24274/7091&quot;&gt;a related question over on the fitness.stackexchange.com&lt;/a&gt; site, and at this point make all my own meals (usually with my dehydrator) because I find pre-made-hiker-food to be junk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lightest protein source I know of is simply &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/a/25430/7091&quot;&gt;powered whey&lt;/a&gt;. It's nearly gram-for-gram protein, meaning that you're not going to find much that's more efficient in terms of weight. If you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; want to get efficient, you can spend big money for the whey supplements designed for patients with parts of their digestive track removed (typically from cancer treatments). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually eat oatmeal in the mornings, and I drop a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder in, mix it up cold with my oats, add some cinnamon and chow down while on the move. It sticks like concrete, so I like to mix it in a ziplock and eat out of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the evenings, I like to do quinoa and/or whole wheat noodles, re-hydrated pasta sauce, and some re-hydrated ground beef. I don't get to my ideal protein load for the day, but I'm miles better than I would be otherwise. My daily intake looks something like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;24 grams breakfast in the morning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20-ish grams throughout the day eating lunch and snacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;40-ish grams at dinner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protein bars tend to be heavy for the amount of protein in them. They're tastier than a scoop of whey, but they also tend to melt (and freeze), so I leave them home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding calcium and bone leaching (and the need for calcium), I'd raise two points. First, most whey protein has calcium included. Second, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/whey-protein/evidence/hrb-20060532&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mayo Clinic&lt;/a&gt; has a write up which addresses this issue as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:46:51.943" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T13:39:53.357" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2015-08-11T13:54:26.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most efficient &quot;food&quot; you can carry is the body fat you can afford to lose.  In our younger days, we went on 12 to 14 day backpacking trips, with a much more varied diet than suggested in the other answers.  We took freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners, bread, cheese, butter, sliced ham, chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, frozen orange juice (one 6 oz can per every-other day), a 1/2 bottle of champagne, a small can of liver pate and a can of olives.  We figured on losing 5 pounds to 7 pounds apiece during the trip.  We were travelling in country that had an abundance of pure water, although later we did take a reverse-osmosis water purifier.   We weren't especially strong, either.  The luxuries were far, far more important to the enjoyment of the trip than the burden of their modest extra weight.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T13:54:26.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9065" CreationDate="2015-08-11T22:47:14.840" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love these situations &quot;It tried it once, and it worked, must be safe&quot;...... I am so glad aviation and car industry don't work that way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer has to be No, its not safe with ropes of different dimensions. Its also not safe with ropes of the same dimension. Which is less safe -  I don't know and I don't care and neither should you. There is one place I can think of for this knot in a climbers arsenal - if you have got into a position where you have the choice of certain or probable death, or possible death by Kamikaze knot, then using the Suicide knot is your Claytons choice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear Grills showed it in use in his reality show (which we all know a never staged), - or did he? Watching the video, not once does it show him on abseil with just the knot holding his weight. I'll let you decide if he really did it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-08-11T22:47:14.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9079" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-12T03:59:45.890" Score="8" ViewCount="671" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some of the common things people do that are avoidable and contribute to accidents and injuries when climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T15:46:43.647" Title="Most common avoidable reasons for climbing accidents?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9079" CreationDate="2015-08-12T03:59:45.890" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Combing through the 2015 issue of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, here were the four mistakes that I saw over and over:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no helmet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not placing any pro, or climbing unroped&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;starting too late in the day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rappelling off the end of the rope, no knots in the ends&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just my subjective, unscientific impression, and I've biased the list toward concrete mistakes. The ANAM also use a lot of more general descriptions, such as &quot;poor position,&quot; that aren't such simple, concrete things to avoid. You could also lost various psychological factors, or discuss things like miscommunication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I continue with the same flavor of mistakes as the four listed above, some recurring but less common ones were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bad belaying (inattentive, inexperienced, depending on a grigri to catch)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;placing pro behind loose blocks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not testing holds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;attempting a climb without the technical knowledge needed for that type of climbing (e.g., not knowing how to ascend the rope, not carrying Prusiks on a multipitch climb, glacier travel without crevasse rescue skills or gear)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T15:46:43.647" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T15:46:43.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8596" CreationDate="2015-08-12T05:30:06.747" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I honestly can't say for certain until I actually fish at a place, but off the top of my head I'd say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8ft+ rod if your'e fishing from the shore, and 6ft rod if your'e on a boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mono-filament 10 to 20lb test line. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Circle hooks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Net&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bait cooler with an aerator&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 to 3oz weights&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bell and glow sticks for the evening and early morning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pile worms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mud suckers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have time to fish for your bait, bluegills and squaw fish are great. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Night-crawlers for bluegills, Powerbait for squaw fish.     &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T05:30:06.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9079" CreationDate="2015-08-12T05:34:17.823" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A generic list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not testing the holds, anchors and knots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Miscommunication, leading to improper positioning may be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While climbing stepping on the uphill side of the rope leading to upside down falls.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing without Helmets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More Confidence than Competence/Capability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not judging the slack rope and the length of the rope needed, reaching the end of the rope without a knot at it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dropping an equipment and not knowing what alternate safety measure to take.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing behind another team on a looser route, boils down to helmet thing again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shock loading on dodgy anchors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Standing at a drop zone while belaying a second&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clipping into belay anchors with just a daisy chain leading to #9.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wearing a backpack in a chimney climb. I have done this and still regret, it was a long night ahead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While bouldering, not having an experienced spotter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While bouldering, not having a safety mat below&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking the gamble on a particular piece of equipment. &#xA;The Fool, &quot;Aren't we short-numbered on a biner?&quot; The Idiot, &quot;yes, we are, but thats okay!&quot;.&#xA;The Fool, &quot;Hey, I don't have a headlamp with me.&quot; The Idiot, &quot;Not a problem, we'll be back before its dark&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T05:34:17.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-08-12T05:39:04.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take a raw chicken and leave it in a lidded bucket in the garage for 2 to 3 days, along with a a good dose of fish sauce. Sometimes it gets so putrid, I can't use it without retching and gagging. I stuff the wretched concoction in a cage that's strapped to a 2 ring net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastEditorUserId="6414" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T05:44:12.857" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T05:44:12.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9084" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-12T06:22:52.503" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;When being the last one to abseil you obviously need to make sure that when you are down, you can retrieve the rope. While the most common way is probably to use twin/half ropes and to put one rope through the anchor and join it with the other, there are numerous other possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What methods to set up a safe abseil where you can retrieve the rope exist?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When are they usually applied (e.g. for a specific kind of abseil anchor)?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How is the setup done and what material is used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T05:14:52.510" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T05:14:52.510" Title="Safe ways to abseil last" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-08-12T11:18:16.393" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9085" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is supposed to be used with the questions that discuss about Outdoor activities that can take place in Norway. Not all the questions talking about glaciers and mountains in general are to be tagged with this tag. Kindly do best to use this tag with the scope of The Great Outdoors in perspective and not with Travel perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9086" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" Score="0" Body="Norway is a Scandinavian country encompassing mountains, glaciers and other adventure tourism places." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:42:17.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9087" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-12T06:55:16.857" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag is supposed to be used with the posts that discuss about events when an injury occurs. Though this tag and the Safety concept (and hence the Safety tag) appear closely related, at The Great Outdoors, questions that are about Preventing from getting injured are a wee bit outside of the scope of this tag, that might best suited for Safety tag. Questions that discuss about after effects of an injury do lie in the scope of this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T06:55:16.857" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T06:55:16.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9088" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-12T06:55:16.857" Score="0" Body="An injury is damage to your body. It is a general term that refers to harm caused by accidents, falls, hits, etc. Answers given here are not intended as a replacement for professional medical advice. Please do not use this tag to ask for specific medical advice. A Dr should always be consulted to confirm any advice given " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T09:44:05.077" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T09:44:05.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9089" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions that are specifically about while camping in an area with Bears, how a Bear bag should be used, why it should be used, what all goes in it, where to keep it, etc are supposed to be tagged with this tag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9090" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" Score="0" Body="Usually a Lightweight-nylon made-stuff sack used to keep things, specifically food items and anything that can have a strong odor and can attract a bear. Any foods or even water bottles that have contained fruit drink mix in them at any time are placed within the bags including toothpaste and soap. The idea is if the bears cannot reach the items, they will not be tempted to venture too close to the camp and thus won't be a danger to humans or themselves." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T07:12:50.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9092" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9112" CreationDate="2015-08-12T17:17:36.087" Score="6" ViewCount="968" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please note, this question covers different material than that in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5898/camping-with-a-dog-for-the-first-time-]&quot;&gt;Camping with a dog for the first time&lt;/a&gt;.                                                                            &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've often seen dogs on high-altitude multi-day hikes with their people, many of them (the dogs) carrying packs.  Part One of my question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does a dog require about the same acclimatization time to high altitude (8,000 to 12,000 feet) as a person does?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part Two of my question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At these altitudes, how many days of his own food can a dog carry? Water is not a factor; there is always a nearby stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have any immediate plans to go out with a dog, but I am intrigued. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T07:31:55.817" Title="Backpacking with a dog" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8142" CreationDate="2015-08-12T17:39:36.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild bears don't like the smell of warm man-flesh. So, you're inside your tent, make some noise, move around, talk. The bear will go away. You don't need to use your shotgun, you don't need to use your bear spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T17:39:36.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2015-08-12T17:41:16.960" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Protein powder. Add it to your food. Add it to water. Add it to hot-water+powdered milk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T17:41:16.960" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9095" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-12T18:06:51.413" Score="4" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to buy a new backpack. I like one particular one (mainly due to the price) but the problem is i do not know that will i be able to tie my sleeping bag  or sleeping mat to its bottom. I know most of you would say that the sleeping bag should be stuffed inside the bag and i normally do that with my bigger backpack. Its just better to have an option (with a 50-55L bag) to tie something outside  specially if you have a bag, a mat and a tent. I will attach a picture so you guys know if it is possible to attach something to this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3HAdp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3HAdp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;i am looking for to buy one of these&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6545" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T21:29:42.713" Title="Help needed in selecting the right backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-08-13T08:40:45.977" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9096" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-12T18:51:32.920" Score="8" ViewCount="11112" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally use synthetic leather boots for trekking. But recently I had a bad experience with a very cheap pair of boots and I had to walk 3 days in wet boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I was wondering if someone can give here pros and cons of genuine vs synthetic leather boots and which should be preferred when.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6545" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T05:39:24.800" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T05:39:24.800" Title="Genuine leather or synthetic leather boots" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9097" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-12T18:53:47.653" Score="13" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Nemo Morpho tent with inflatable airbeams and have somehow managed to lose the included foot pump. I've found a few US retailers with a replacement pump in stock (called 'Nemoid Foot Pump'), but living in Germany and needing the pump in a three weeks time, I am not sure if delivery and customs clearance will complete in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update July 2018&lt;/strong&gt; - The question is still current, as I have not yet managed to find a replacement pump for the tent. The situation is however slightly different. Nemo, the manufacturer, seems not to produce the tent anymore and does not offer replacement parts anymore. I am right now not able to find any dealer world wide, which sells a replacement pump. If anyone knows the valve connector and can recommend a pump from a different manufacturer or knows where to get an original Nemo pump, I would still very much apprechiate an answer to this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can tell, the connector between the pump tube and the airbeam valve is a proprietary &quot;click &amp;amp; close&quot; system from Nemo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone tell if they recognize the connector and perhaps suggest a pump from another manufacturer suitable for connecting to the Nemo tents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively: There are several European dealers selling the tents or other products from Nemo, but noone seem to stock spare parts. If someone could suggest a European dealer able to send me the pump within a reasonable time, that would also solve my problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6546" LastEditorUserId="6546" LastEditDate="2018-07-28T17:47:42.330" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T02:38:07.593" Title="Alternative pump for Nemo airbeam tent" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2015-08-12T19:17:40.247" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you have easy access to drinkable water and some time when cooking, lentils can be soaked in cold water for an hour or two to reduce the cooking time. Soaked, red lentils should easily be done in about 10 minutes and not take much more time than most sorts of pasta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also reconsider if hard cheese is too heavy. A ripe hard cheese can have water content as low as 20% or less (less than many protein bars) and the rest is mostly a pure nutrition bomb built of protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and trace elements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6546" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T19:17:40.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9095" CreationDate="2015-08-12T19:53:07.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bag pictured, a Karrimor Bobcat, for some unexplainable reason has a single anchor point on the underside. Two is common, none is understandable, but one makes no sense- tying your sleeping bag on there would cause it to swing around and twirl, unless you went in for some complicated lashing. In any case, as you noted, it's better to have your bag inside the pack to keep it dry and to make your load more compact. If it doesn't fit, you either want a smaller/more compressible bag or a bigger pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal philosophy is that if you buy the cheapest product available, what you get is the cheapest product available. Quality is generally going to be lower, especially in less-visible areas, and you'll have the minimum of bells and whistles- including, in this case, attachment points. That's the bargain you strike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T19:53:07.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9096" CreationDate="2015-08-12T20:09:23.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Footwear is generally a personal choice based on what you feel comfortable in. I prefer full-grain leather boots in all but peak season, but plenty of people I know will wear trail runners through shoulder season, and I know a guy who goes out barefoot a lot when it's warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not really familiar with synthetic leather products, but if the material is waterproof, it's waterproof- where you get leaks is in the seams, if it's not well constructed. Other than the fact that a real leather boot is probably going to have better workmanship, I don't think there'll be a huge difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also think about just getting some hiking shoes or trail runners. Spray them with some Nikwax and don't walk through streams, and they'll be waterproof enough. The question is just whether you prefer to save weight or to have the extra support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T20:09:23.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9101" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9104" CreationDate="2015-08-12T21:24:00.953" Score="29" ViewCount="5746" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to get into hiking, and would like some ideas on gear.training to start. I have always enjoyed nature walks and even did some hiking when I was a kid in boy scouts, but that was years ago and now I am out of shape. Don't take that as I need a buggy at Wal Mart, I don't. Any recommendations on how to train and what gear I should consider for training?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6427" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:22:13.400" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:22:42.027" Title="Hiking: How to start?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9095" CreationDate="2015-08-12T21:29:42.713" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Packs are designed to carry the contents within a certain area.  Extending your gear outside this area will cause you discomfort and will increase wear on the pack.  I've never been able to attach more than a poncho or jacket onto the outside of an internal frame pack - such as this one.  They're simply designed to carry everything on the inside.  I would not attempt to tie a sleeping bag or pad to the bottom of this pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to attach extra items to your pack, consider an external frame backpack.  Just be sure the load is balanced and your gear does not extend beyond the edges of the frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer an external frame because I can use it during all seasons.  When it's warm, I use a compact 20 degree sleeping bag and everything fits inside.  But during cold weather (October-December), I carry a -40 sleeping bag tied to the top and my tent tied to the bottom of the frame.  I also have kids and have had, when they were little, as many as four sleeping bags tied onto my pack at one time.  Maybe that's why my wife prefers an internal frame backpack :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-08-12T21:29:42.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-12T22:29:51.293" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two ways to get started on a hike: with either your &lt;em&gt;right&lt;/em&gt; foot, or your &lt;em&gt;left&lt;/em&gt; foot :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost you need &lt;strong&gt;comfortable footwear&lt;/strong&gt;. Doesn't matter what it is to get started, I've led people over mountain ranges and all they wore were cross trainers. When you get more serious into it, then you should determine what type of trails you want to hike on and buy an appropriate pair of boots, hikers, or trail runners for the terrain you're going to be trekking over. If you're going to be hiking on uneven ground or carrying a heavy backpack, get something with good ankle support, if you're going to be hiking on muddy/wet trails, get something that's also waterproof, if you're hiking somewhere &lt;em&gt;hot&lt;/em&gt; get something that breathes well, if you're going to be walking on smooth, flat, well maintained trails, just get a pair of comfy trail runners will likely be more than adequate. Don't go out and get the most intense pair of boots you can, it's vital that you get the &lt;em&gt;appropriate&lt;/em&gt; boot. I have many pairs of boots, and I pick and choose which one I'm going to wear depending on the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After boots, when you feel like you want to upgrade and get some more creature comfort hiking accessories, you should look at investing in &lt;strong&gt;breathable technical clothing&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;a water bladder&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;trekking poles&lt;/strong&gt; (poles make a &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; difference on your legs in the long trails or steep climbs, and save your knees on the descents), and gradually get larger and larger &lt;strong&gt;backpacks&lt;/strong&gt; as you find your going out on longer and longer hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get fit, just hike often, walk lots, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, and just get up and move around more often. Any kind of activity will prepare you for getting into hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T13:37:54.143" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T13:37:54.143" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-12T23:23:44.480" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only gear you need is a good, comfortable pair of running shoes and any cheap backpack (extra points for Hello Kitty).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a popular belief, probably based on pop-culture images dating back to the 1960s, that people need big, heavy hiking boots, or that ankle support is necessary if you're going to carry heavy loads or walk on uneven ground. Totally untrue. Ray Jardine led the way on converting to lightweight shoes with his idiosyncratic and highly influential 1992 book &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0963235931&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beyond Backpacking&lt;/a&gt;. Running shoes become impractical only in very specific situations. They aren't good in snow, for slogging through mud, for technical rock climbing, or for very cold conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need trekking poles, which make you less efficient and are almost never useful except as a way for REI to make more money from you. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4470/are-trekking-poles-proven-to-be-helpful&quot;&gt;Are trekking poles proven to be helpful?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need special clothing. If wet weather is a possibility, just keep in mind that jeans and a cotton T-shirt are not the best choice. Whatever you do in ordinary life to keep from being miserable in the rain, just do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need any fancy water-carrying system. It works fine if you just use lightweight, ordinary water bottles (the kind they sell bottled water in), and refill them. People have a lot of mythologized, inaccurate beliefs about hydration: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drinking Water for Hiking: Myths and Facts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as how to train, just go out and hike, and enjoy yourself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T04:22:42.027" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9105" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9113" CreationDate="2015-08-13T00:32:04.883" Score="13" ViewCount="1577" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought my first set of &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/dragon-cams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cams&lt;/a&gt; and I've been curious about what happens when the slings start to wear out. Are they user-replaceable? The ones I purchased seem to be very un-user-replaceable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MtpeU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MtpeU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;DMM dragon cams&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I get cam slings replaced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:05:46.820" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:05:46.820" Title="How do I get cam slings replaced?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;camming-devices&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9053" CreationDate="2015-08-13T01:34:48.307" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In our neighborhood near Santa Fe NM we have coyotes wandering around everywhere. Small dogs and even large dogs are at risk. a favorite coyote trick is for one member of the pack to act &quot;lame&quot; or injured and lure an unattended dog into chasing them to where they can be attacked by the entire pack. We have lots of birds here because most feral cats and pet cats allowed to roam at night are quickly transformed into coyote food. The Southwest US fits the common idea of where coyotes live and hunt. BUT, there are both lone coyotes and coyote packs living in urban Chicago and probably every other suburban and urban area in the US. They range from California to Washington DC and are interbreeding and changing their hunting habits as they migrate. The northeastern coyotes evidently interbred with wolves and are much larger than both the southwestern and southeastern coyotes and have bigger stronger jaws and can bring down small deer. You can get the full story here &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/news/rise-of-the-coyote-the-new-top-dog-1.10635&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.nature.com/news/rise-of-the-coyote-the-new-top-dog-1.10635&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;An interesting point is that analysis of the food of even urban coyotes (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://urbancoyoteresearch.com/faq/what-do-urban-coyotes-eat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://urbancoyoteresearch.com/faq/what-do-urban-coyotes-eat&lt;/a&gt;) hunt their own prey and are not in our midst to feed on our garbage and pets as much as to eat  all the mice, rats and other pests that inevitably accompany human settlements. Coyotes, crows and cockroaches were here long before we were, all do well wherever we live and all will probably be here when we are gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6548" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T01:34:48.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9107" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9111" CreationDate="2015-08-13T02:00:38.873" Score="4" ViewCount="595" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I started running on trails through the woods, and I'm loving it.  Problem is, running on trails seems to involve a lot more lateral force on the soles of my feet, mostly from sharp turns and trails that bank the wrong way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a result, my shoes tend to slip around my feet.  I've been tying them quite tightly to counteract this effect, but they still roll a little bit when I push off sideways.  These shoes have been fine for many miles on pavement; the problem has only arisen on trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's gotten to the point the shoes have formed themselves into a slumped over shape - this is the direction they slip due to lateral forces:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r9A1X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example rolled shoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to make this pair of shoes hold up better? If not, what can I look for in my next pair of shoes to avoid this problem going forward?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5349" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T16:19:49.130" Title="How do I keep my shoes from rolling around my feet while trail running?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T02:26:59.480" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The single most important piece of equipement you need is a good reference on the hiking trails around where you live. Read it through, pick a few that you want to do. Those books usually give you a good idea of how long it takes and how hard the hike is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the rest, Ben Crowell has a pretty good answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do a few (or just one) hikes and adjust your equipement based on how you feel. (e.g. that raincoat was to warm/heavy/not breathable, when coming back, go to you local sport shop and get something that breathes better)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things you should always have with you. The list depends on where you live, how far you hike, how many people hike the same path as you do... but basically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enough water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something warm enough for the night, even if you plan a day hike (typically a thick fleece)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something to make fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A map/compass whatever you need to make sure you can find at least your position, if not your way back (useful even if the trail is well marked)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A weather forecast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Someone that knows where you are going (ok, not necessarily with you)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A knife, a length of rope, a space blanket (or whatever emergency )&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last point, be careful of the big backpacks. The bigger a backpack, the more things you tend to put in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T02:26:59.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9096" CreationDate="2015-08-13T02:40:02.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Synthetic leather is literally &quot;knock-off&quot; leather, never is synthetic preferred to the real thing unless you are cost oriented, or vegan. Synthetic boots also tend to be made out of lots of pieces of synthetic leather, stitched together with other types of materials in the uppers in fancy patterns, which leaves them vulnerable to being penetrated by water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike in full leather boots, I currently have a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5027-447/mammut-brecon-gtx-backpacking-boots-mens/?gclid=CLDii4GepMcCFc5lfgodv20CuA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut Brecon boots&lt;/a&gt; as my backpacking in the woods boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tmlbM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tmlbM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a pair of Zamberlans for off-trail hiking, scrambling, climbing and wearing crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPe8g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPe8g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long time ago, a seasoned hunter and bushman who has been through more pairs of hiking boots than I will ever own in my lifetime offered me a valuable piece of advice in regards to hiking boots: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;&quot;If a &lt;em&gt;needle&lt;/em&gt; has gone through it, then &lt;em&gt;water&lt;/em&gt; can get through it.&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll notice that the boots in the images above are made from &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; piece of leather. Not only is leather &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; one of the most durable materials on the market, but having a boot with &lt;em&gt;no&lt;/em&gt; seams means there's nowhere for the water to seep in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that a lot of companies boast having synthetic waterproof boots, but they're only waterproof for as long as their waterproof coating lasts. As soon as you get some wear on them, in my experience, the waterproofness begins to diminish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only disadvantage to such boots, is that they are not the boot of choice for super hot weather, they don't breathe exceptionally well so your feet tend to sweat when it gets hot out. You need to pack extra socks and change them more often to regulate moisture inside your boot (I wear &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5006-539/great-canadian-sox-company-super-wool-hiker-gx-socks-unisex/?No=120&amp;amp;h=10%2050089%2050026%2050443&amp;amp;f=10%2050089%2050443&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;marino wool socks&lt;/a&gt; year-round, they are literally the only socks I buy).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the pros far outweigh the cons, leather boots are stiffer, more stable, more durable, more waterproof, and last a lot longer. You'll probably spend as much or more money wearing through multiple pairs of synthetic boots in the amount of time it'd take you to wear out one pair of descent leather boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T15:14:53.150" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T15:14:53.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9107" CreationDate="2015-08-13T02:59:50.203" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trail runners, cross trainers, and court (tennis) shoes have better side support that will help prevent this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T02:59:50.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9107" CreationDate="2015-08-13T03:15:05.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution is to invest in an actual pair of &lt;strong&gt;trail running shoes&lt;/strong&gt;, they are stiffer, and snugger, and compensate for all of the issue that you're having with your road runners there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of asics trail runners: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZiwq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZiwq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;asics gel fuji trabuco 3&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a surprisingly stiff shank in the sole, they are snug even when not laced, and are extremely stable. See here for more info on what to look for in trail running shoes: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/choose-your-trail-runners/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Choose your trail runners&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend learning how to tie a &lt;strong&gt;lace lock&lt;/strong&gt; if you don't already, it really helps keep your heel in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T16:19:49.130" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T16:19:49.130" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9092" CreationDate="2015-08-13T03:19:08.993" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For part one, there are two aspects to consider: one is the regular old hit to the cardiovascular system that makes you tired more quickly because the air is thinner. This will affect you and your dog pretty much equally. However, many dogs will run until they are totally exhausted whenever there is adventure involved, so this aspect at worst it will just slow your dog down and he'll walk with you instead of excitedly running around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two, there is also the issue of altitude sickness, which is a little bit different, with potentially serious symptoms. Like humans, dogs and other animals can get altitude sickness. However, they aren't able to speak and tell you that they are feeling nausea or has a headache. This aspect is important because many of the symptoms are similar to just getting tired, which unless you take steps to prevent, your dog will happily run itself to exhaustion, which will also aggravate the symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, altitude sickness is not really a concern until 8000 feet, and if your dog is in real good athletic shape, he should be fine to 12,000 ft, but keep a close eye on him. I think too if you do your hike with your dog on leash, everything should be ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for part two, from most dog packs I've seen, and from the packs I have for my dogs, you can pretty much jam them completely full of food and or water, and they'll hardly bother your dog. After all, your dog has more important things to sniff and explore than to worry about a little bit of junk he's carrying. I think my dogs could easily carry a weeks worth of food in terms of mass, and have plenty of hauling capacity left, though that is about the limit in volume of the packs I have. You will however need to supply them with plenty of water, which is also important in staving off altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T03:19:08.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9105" CreationDate="2015-08-13T03:40:45.320" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are user replaceable, in fact &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;some manufacturers recommend replacing slings every 2-5 years if they're very frequently used&lt;/a&gt;, but they're only user replaceable if you know how to sew structural climbing gear and have the equipment to bartack a loop of SuperTape or 10mm Dynex.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplest thing to do is simply replace the worn sling with 1&quot; tube webbing, which obviously wouldn't work for the cam shown above in the question, in which case I'd recommend using 7 or 8mm accessory cord (the bigger the better) tied with a double fishermans. Other than that, you may be able to send your cams back to the manufacturer for re-slinging, many manufacturers such as Black Diamond for example have &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing%2Fspare-parts-BD0998020000ALLS.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;re-slinging services&lt;/a&gt; for their cams that pretty affordable, your other option would be to find a climbing store that has the equipment to re-sling your cams for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take time to consider too when your slings wear out if it may be time to retire your cams, all safety gear has a lifecycle, and should be retired at the end of it. When in doubt, throw it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-18T04:12:34.657" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T04:12:34.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9114" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-13T04:08:30.847" Score="8" ViewCount="1508" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently took a short camping trip with a couple of friends when we encountered some intermittent showers. I foolishly forgot to check the forecast and forgot my waterproof jacket. I was handed an umbrella and managed to stay relatively (cheap construction didn't stand up to PNW rain) dry the rest of the trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should I look for in an umbrella for use in the backcountry and/or backpacking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I do not mind a researched answer, I prefer an experience-based answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: &lt;em&gt;I am not dead-set on this as a replacement for rain gear.&lt;/em&gt; I am considering it as a supplement and possible alternative to a hooded outer shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T04:16:09.457" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T10:24:53.590" Title="What to look for in an Umbrella for Backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9114" CreationDate="2015-08-13T05:13:54.447" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;So trekking umbrellas are apparently a thing. And no one can really argue the claim that they are the most &quot;breathable&quot; form of raingear. There are a couple varieties, some are designed ultra compact to be lightweight and packable, and others are designed to be rigged to your backpack for handsfree trekking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?p_id=1128311&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;U.L. Trekking Umbrella&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0qrGc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0qrGc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/loqj0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/loqj0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.euroschirm.com/schirm/Swing_handsfree/index.cgi?session=Cyfwj30LTq8F7&amp;amp;sprache_land=usa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swing-Hands Free: The handsfree backpacking umbrella.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jth48.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jth48.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T05:13:54.447" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9127" CreationDate="2015-08-13T05:55:48.813" Score="12" ViewCount="3122" Body="&lt;p&gt;There has been a lot of lot of discussion about whether the shoes should have ankle support or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen the discussions (not just on The Great Outdoors, but elsewhere too) that ankle muscles do not work much and hence leads to weakening of the ankle muscles.&#xA;The other perspective to this boils down to the point where we would also need to consider the amount of weight being carried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, surprisingly, its not the just the newbies or the rookies debate about, but its a very very common topic for conflicting opinions among the veterans as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What all factor should one consider while deciding upon preferring shoes with ankle support and without them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T10:27:32.723" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T10:27:32.723" Title="When I do and when I don't need shoes with ankle supports?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9116" CreationDate="2015-08-13T05:58:24.367" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you are seeing it right, I am answering the question right away, but I intentionally asked this question so that I can have more views and opinions about it, specially the ones that contradicts what I think.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would rather prefer to have it decided upon what I am planning to do on-field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am going at a route that involves Rock-climbing, I don't want to have shoes with ankle support. One of the major factors to consider will be the fact that they are not meant to be used for that, and the amount of efforts it would need to carry them along.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am going for a route that involves Scrambling, I may not necessarily need to have the shoes with ankle supports as they restrict the movement of ankle muscles to a considerable extent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am up for a speed ascent or move up and down the mountain with a pace than what is considered a usual speed for hiking/trekking, I would prefer to have the shoes with ankle supports, especially for the descending part of it.&#xA;That said, I agree that it is not advised to descend mountains in a rapid manner considering the safety and the impact it will have on knees and other joints.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am up for a long walk in a rain-forest with possibilities of the sections with ankle-high muddy path, I would rather prefer to have the shoes with the ankle support, since they would not just get stuck in the mud.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am hauling a heavy backpack, I would prefer to have shoes with ankle support. Since the amount of exertion I would subject my shin and calf muscles to, specially on an ascend, I definitely would prefer ankle support. The ankle support do what they are said to be doing: Provide more stability such that your ankle aren't likely to roll or twist. Though, I am of the opinion that its not the support that your ankles need, it is the strength or the stability ankles need while hauling a pack without twisting and hurting the ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On snow, I need the shoes with high ankle since its all boggy, and I need that ensures that my ankle doesn't roll up there at the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T05:58:24.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T06:26:20.073" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start small and simple.  The important thing is to get back into the habit of walking long distances and times again.  You probably haven't walked a mile in a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters, walk around your neighborhood.  Walk to the store.  Walk to the movies.  Walk to the bar (and stumble home again).  Google maps provides walking times, distance and directions.; use it to decide if you can walk there instead of driving.  Slowly increase the distance you're willing to walk.  A half mile.  A mile.  Two miles.  These 15 to 30 minute walks will do a lot to get you in shape both physically and mentally.  You don't need any special equipment or preparation, just walk out your door.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you consider a wilderness hike, don't worry about fancy equipment.  Any simple pack to hold a liter of water and some snacks.  Some decent walking shoes.  Maybe a rain jacket if it rains a lot where you are.  And a smartphone with GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a book or website of easy, local hikes close to home.  For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.powells.com/biblio/9780966247398&quot;&gt;&quot;Walk There!&quot;&lt;/a&gt; is for the Portland, OR area.  Many cities have large parks and trails.  Some are along rivers, some are along old railroad tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A book I would recommend reading is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780552997027-5&quot;&gt;Bill Bryson's &quot;A Walk In The Woods&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.  It's about a schlubby, middle-aged author who decides to walk the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt; with no training.  It goes about as poorly as you'd imagine.  It's an excellent description of why people hike by someone who does not hike.  It's also a dire warning to not overdo it at the start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6551" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T06:26:20.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9116" CreationDate="2015-08-13T06:32:29.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is extremely subjective, so anyone with experience will (and should) come up with his one personal way. What I will describe is therefore just an idea of when and why to use shoes with ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distinctions between the two types that cause the different application exceed the (no) ankle support:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;boots (ankle support)&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stiff sole&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;prevents dirt and small rocks from getting in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;heavy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;shoes (no ankle support)&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;flexible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lightweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;generally more breathable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So whenever walking on easy terrain with moderate pack, use shoes . The walking is more ergonomic and they are lighter.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;On the other hand whenever technical stuff like obviously any mountaineering, rock scrambling, walking extensively on loose ground (scree) or on snow/ice and when walking with heavy load you certainly want boots. Here in the first cases the chance of a misstep  and in the second one the consequences are too bad and ankle support ways out the disadvantages by far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where it gets tricky is in between, the most typical case is multipitch climbing in alpine terrain where you have to carry anything (so your shoes/boots) up the route. You usually have quite some gear to carry (but not like tons) and the approach to the climb is somewhat rough but not technical. While ankle support certainly wouldn't hurt the additional weight and size are a pain while climbing. To judge what to take in such a situation requires either knowledge of the path you will be walking or experience. And the conclusion will be that there is not one, or two, maybe not even three models to fit all scenarios. The more you are out there the more justifiable it will be to have several models: Super stiff, heavy boots for technical stuff, lightweight boots and light trekking shoes do the trick for me at the moment. Even though I have to admit, the choice between he latter two still remains tricky :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the weakening of ankle muscles in shoes with ankle support:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is just common sense. If you constantly wear boots with ankle support, your ankle muscles will adapt. Thats another reason to wear light shoes too. Or even better: Do an occasional bare feet walk, this will improve many stabilisation muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T16:17:36.673" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T16:17:36.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T06:50:50.243" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another good idea would be to remember back to your Boy Scout days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scouts are required to always to bring their ten essentials:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydration (Water bottle ... probably 1 or 2 liters)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Illumination (If you won't be out late, you can probably leave this)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extra Clothing (A lightweight jacket that still keeps you warm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pocket knife (multitool)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Matches (Another thing you could probably leave home)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Map and Compass (Even if you have your iPhone or GPS, bring a map and compass)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snacks (Something light, like Honey Stingers. Do not bring a pound bag of peanuts)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sun Protection (Sunscreen and hat)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First Aid Kit (Get a hiking one from REI or Sports Chalet)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain Gear (Just look at the weather before hand, but if you have a light waterproof jacket, just bring it anyway)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want high quality equipment, probably got to a nearby REI. For shoes, hiking boots are definitely recommended. I know my boots saved my ankles at least three times from being twisted on my most recent backpacking trip and I am still young. For daypacks, it depends one how much you are carrying, but approximately 25 liters of space would work great. For trekking poles, if you are going up and down steep hills, one or two would be very helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a runner, so of course I recommend running in preparation for hiking. When you run, you place way more weight on your legs than just your body weight. Also, over-preparing for hiking will allow you to enjoy the area you are hiking through much more than if you are absolutely exhausted. Try to run a couple of miles a weekend and you will be great for a few mile hike. Of course you don't have to run, but it would still help considerably for the hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6552" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T06:50:50.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T09:06:44.977" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start small and work your way up, walk round your local parks etc. You will probably be surprised how many options there are even within a short distance of where you live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also start with what you are comfortable and build up from there. Challenging yourself is good, but deciding to do something you're obviously unprepared for and failing horribly is only going to be painful and off putting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend going hiking with friends or family, while many people enjoy the solitude of hiking having people to talk to on route can make it more interesting and they can also provide encouragement/support if you start to struggle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't persuade anyone to go with you maybe consider joining a local hiking/ramblers club. This also has the advantage of giving you a ready supply of more experienced people who can give you advice and know of interesting walks in your local area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;decent trainers/running shoes. I like walking boots but they are not really necessary when you start.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water. 1-2 L is recommended but this depends on the distance you are doing and climate. Use some common sense, but too much is definitely better than not enough.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Food. Again use common sense. Anything over 2 hrs I would at least take a snack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Waterproof/appropriate clothes. Depends a lot on climate but should be obvious. Remember that weather can change a lot over a day. Unless your somewhere where it definitely won't rain bring a waterproof as being wet is a good way to get cold and miserable. I have a small pack-a-mak that is light and easy to pack for when it warmer/less lightly to rain and a bigger jacket for colder weather/when its definitely going to rain. Also if you are somewhere that gets heavy downpours make sure your jacket is sufficiently waterproof. I've been hiking with people how put on their jackets and are soaked to the skin 5 minutes later - which is not ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Navigation. When starting your phone's GPS and local signage are probably sufficient for navigation. If you are going on longer trips into more remote areas it is probably not best to rely on your phone and a map and compass/dedicated GPS unit are better. If you use a map and compass make sure you know how to use it though.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T09:06:44.977" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9114" CreationDate="2015-08-13T09:12:35.413" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After years of experience doing short and long treks in various climates this is the first time I hear of a trekking umbrella. And honestly, I'm not convinced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, rain protection will be good, breathability is excellent and they are easy to set up and take down when the weather changes (even without taking of the backpack). The single big problem I see is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wind&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the slightest wind will make carrying an umbrella, even hands-free, very annoying. Apart from the thing erratically pulling you here and there, or even breaking, wind will also very much lower the rain protection: if the rain falls with a slight angle you'll be almost sure to get wet at least up to your belly, not to talk of the arms which stick out anyway. So the umbrella will not be able to replace a solid rain jacket (which is important for other reasons anyway, like wind-chill).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are you essentially left with carrying an umbrella in windy weather? A very heavy and unwieldy hat. :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for additional rain protection beside your standard rain jacket I'd suggest looking into:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a &lt;strong&gt;poncho/tippet&lt;/strong&gt;: can be very comfortable as it feels a bit like standing inside a tent. Also I like to be able to just flap the whole thing back over my head (so it only covers my backpack) when the weather gets better, and be able to flap it back down once the rain starts again. Very useful in places like Scandinavia, Scotland or Alpine conditions, where the weather changes quickly and frequently.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a decet &lt;strong&gt;hat&lt;/strong&gt;: this is up to taste, but a rain hat will give you a lot more freedom (and breathability) than the hood of your rain jacket. And it will keep your glasses dry :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T09:12:35.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T09:29:00.963" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others said, you don't need special equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;: If you're going on sufficiently marked, easy short trails, you can even do it in bad shoes or barefoot. Our family, including my 6 year old has covered enough trails under 3 miles in Crocs. Having said that, I do most of my shorter hikes in running shoes, and longer ones (6+ hours) in hiking shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water&lt;/strong&gt;: depending on where you hike and how long the trail is, you will need water. From our experience, it's minimum 1.5x of what we normally consume for the same time period. Our most recent hike was a 6 km round trip moderate difficult trail. For our family of 4 (2 adults, 6 year old and 3 year old -- the little one was carried about half the time), it took us 6 hours, and we consumed 3L of water in total, with plenty of juicy fresh fruits complementing the hydration need. Even then, we were thirsty by the last 30-45 minutes and could certainly consume another 500mL-1L in total.  If there is running streams or lakes along the way, it is possible to capture and treat that (e.g. filter and/or chlorine tabs) if you really don't want to carry all the weight. I've only done it during back country camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;: we usually bring trail mix, crackers and fresh fruits for snack. For longer hikes or hikes near meal time, we also bring bread and canned or cured meat for sandwiches.  For starters, I don't recommend fruits with pits or canned food, as you have to bring the waste out with you on most trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tools&lt;/strong&gt; if the trail is sufficiently marked, you can probably do without map and compass. Don't assume you'll have cell phone coverage for map and directions if you're outside urban area. A Swiss army knife or other multi tool is nice to have. I'd also bring a flashlight just in case. Lightweight waterproof jacket with hood should be good enough to cover most weather conditions for 3 seasons. Kleenex/TP for cleaning if you want. Sunscreen and bug spray as needed. Hat is almost always a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpack&lt;/strong&gt; Since you're bringing water and food and gear, you'll want a comfortable backpack. Any would do, as long as it's comfy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as your legs knees are not totally busted (and even that isn't necessarily a deterrent for some people), you can almost certainly hike. Just start with shorter, easier trails. Most state and national parks I visited have easy trails under 2 miles.  Bring someone along, 4-legged ones if you want to, to make the hike even more enjoyable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6541" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T09:29:00.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T10:21:05.293" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is a bottle of water, which you can carry in any kind of backpack (does not have to be a special one for a start).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further more, it depends very much on what terrain you like to go hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comfortable &lt;strong&gt;running shoes&lt;/strong&gt; are fine if the trail mostly consists of normal soil, but I would recommend &lt;strong&gt;hiking shoes&lt;/strong&gt; with ankle support if you climb up stones in a karst landscape or go down on steep, slippery paths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend &lt;strong&gt;a stick&lt;/strong&gt; if you go &lt;strong&gt;downhill&lt;/strong&gt; more than say 400 meters of hight. This can be trekking poles, or it can be a wodden stick you pick up from the ground. Going down is usually more difficult (for you knees and your balance) than going up (which requires more fitness).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would start with hikes that cover no more than &lt;strong&gt;300 meters&lt;/strong&gt; of height and slowely train until you can manage higher height differences. If you are in the alps, you will find many cable cars that can carry you up the mountain, so you can hike on the mountaintop. If you have more training, you could hike uphill and ride the cablecar downhill (going up is better training and better for your knees than the other way round).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hike alone, always &lt;strong&gt;tell someone your planned path&lt;/strong&gt;, so they can look for you should you injure your leg and not come home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6556" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T10:21:05.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2015-08-13T12:02:05.293" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have sufficent bloodflow to your feet, they will get acclimated to the toe-strap with relative ease. As a manly man, I realy like the toe straps added lateral grip, as well as generally for the added safety of having additional tacticle feedback from the shoe when managing difficult terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend wearing toe straps every day two weeks before hiking, and even so, bring medical or eletrical tape on a long hike to wrap the friction areas before it comes to blister. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All-in-all, I would say buy toe straps if you're lifestyle would allow you (and you really want to) to wear a choco daily, and you value a bit more utility out of your sandle. However, if you're not going to wear them at least every other day, and just want a comfortable open-toe'd boot for casual hikes and what not, go strapless. It boils down to a matter of blistering 3hours into a hike, or even waking up sore on 2day of a camp, and realizing you allowed the toe-strap to shred your feet yesterday. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I pretty much wear my toe-straps whenever I'm sure I don't have to walk through snow for long. If you're attracted to the idea of toe straps just hang-tough, stay mindful and wiggle your piggies regularly to keep good blood flow, and you'll be rewarded for your effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6558" LastEditorUserId="6558" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T12:23:20.770" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T12:23:20.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9116" CreationDate="2015-08-13T13:00:33.483" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question has the tag &quot;mountaineering,&quot; but most of the time when I hear people say that you need boots with ankle support, they're actually talking about trail-walking. The cases of hiking and mountaineering are qualitatively different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering, one big reason people usually don't use lightweight running shoes is that often there is talus, scree, and loose rock. Small scree is a nuisance if it gets inside your shoes, although there are lightweight gaiters with velcro attachments (e.g., Dirty Girl) that do a great job of keeping that out. The bigger issue is that on a steep scree or talus slope (the kind of thing you have to scramble up, not a trail), there is often unstable rock, and it can be nice to have your feet protected against getting banged or crushed. When coming &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt; a scree slope, boots allow you to do a scree glassade, which is much faster and infinitely more fun than the alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trail walking, the idea of wearing heavy boots for ankle support is at best a matter of personal preference, and at worst a harmful superstition. Plenty of people carry heavy packs over uneven ground while wearing running shoes. An influential advocate of lightweight shoes for this purpose was Ray Jardine, who wrote the 1992 book &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0963235931&quot;&gt;Beyond Backpacking&lt;/a&gt;. IIRC Jardine describes in the book how he goes on long-distance backpacking trips with his girlfriend (doing something like 25 miles a day), and he uses running shoes while she uses boots; he portrays it as a matter of personal preference. The problem with boots is that they're heavy, and weight on your feet hurts your efficiency many times more than an equivalent weight carried on your back. Also, the heavier your footwear, the harder it is to get a comfortable fit and the more likely you are to get blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running shoes do become impractical in very specific situations. They aren't good in snow, for slogging through deep mud, for technical rock climbing, or for very cold conditions. Sometimes if you have a day of hiking with 20 or 30 little stream crossings, it can be a real nuisance to use running shoes; if you're wearing water-resistant boots, you can walk straight through a shallow stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running shoes don't work well if there's a lot of snow (although it can be done -- a lot of PCTers get through the Sierra in early season using running shoes). And running shoes are obviously not compatible with crampons, although it is possible to throw a pair of microspikes in your pack if you think you might just encounter a few isolated icy patches on a steep trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For people who are afraid they'll turn an ankle if they try to use running shoes with a heavy pack on uneven ground, there are still alternatives to boots. One is simply to keep doing the activity in running shoes, which will strengthen your ankles until you feel more physically confident. Another is to adopt a lightweight or ultralight style of backpacking, so that you're not tottering down the trail with the Leaning Tower of Pisa on your back. Jardine's book was an early influence in establishing the concept of ultralight backpacking, but today a better source of information is probably the web site &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com&quot;&gt;backpackinglight&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Four mountaineering, many people carry a separate pair of lightweight approach shoes that are more comfortable than mountaineering boots. They hike in to the climb in the approach shoes, then switch to the boots when the real mountaineering starts. There are specialized shoes sold for this, such as the Evolv Cruzer, that flatten down really small in your pack when you're not using them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T16:09:33.383" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T16:09:33.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2015-08-13T14:49:45.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For breakfast I bring freezer-bag-cooking porridge with powdered Scottish oats and chocolate protein powder, mixed with nuts and honey. Each portion is in its own bag. You add warm water, stir, and you have your proteins served along with carbs. And it tastes great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easy to do once you have a bulk of the ingredients (I may point out to my source if anybody's interested)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you don't have to clean anything as with any freezer bag cooking food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you have to lick the sticky bags inside out if you don't want to waste food - and you don't want to, since you carried all its weight and are going to carry any leftovers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;morning theoretically isn't the best time of the day when to assume proteins; but personally I never had any issues (digestion ones nor any other) with it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T14:49:45.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T17:29:33.233" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the answers seem to be telling you how to walk so I'll assume that's covered. I think part of this is motivation as well - one thing I have enjoyed is getting a hiking book with some destinations to see, which will get you out of the house and going to see something instead of just wandering around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe check this book out: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trails.com/catalog_product.aspx?productfamilyid=10928&quot;&gt;60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Dallas / Fort Worth Guide Book&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;by Joanie Sanchez (Menasha Ridge Press). That's just a starter..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://hiking.meetup.com/&quot;&gt;Meetup&lt;/a&gt; - there are always hiking and sightseeing groups in an area that will have people who can help you go farther.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck, and the second step is always the hardest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="626" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-08-13T18:11:48.730" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T18:11:48.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9131" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-13T17:34:44.947" Score="7" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;We car-camp regularly at Ontario provincial parks.  The parks forbid bringing in our own wood (to help prevent foreign invasive species from entering the local ecosystem).  We are supposed to buy local firewood from the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the firewood available at the parks are barely seasoned.  At certain parks, I've seen the firewood are unsheltered (or only partially sheltered) for rain, which makes it hard to build any fire, not just for cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We often grill over seasoned cherry or maple at home and would like replicate that experience while camping.  Are there ways/tips/tricks to cook/grill raw meat such as steaks over a fire built with unseasoned wood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: This is not a question on how to start a fire with possibly wet firewood.  The question is about how to create a fire from such wood suitable for cooking --- suitable temperature for sufficiently long time for meat to be cooked without a high level of smoke to ruin the flavour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6541" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T17:36:43.530" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T17:36:43.530" Title="Tips for Cooking with Unseasoned (green) Firewood" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T18:17:54.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use MeetUp to find local hiking groups. They can lead you to great hikes, and provide company and safety in numbers. @njzk2's answer has good recommendations for equipment you should consider for any hike. I used to use the Afoot and Afield series of books to find good hikes in my area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6357" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T18:17:54.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9131" CreationDate="2015-08-13T20:07:26.543" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, you want to bring a lightweight hatchet with which you can split the  green firewood.  Remember that the more surface area you expose the more flame you will get and the hotter the fire will get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week, my friends and I were having a hard time with your same problem, so we made a bellows (air pump to fire) with an air mattress pump (4 D batteries), with an aluminium foil tube attached, placed close to and pointed towards the nascent embers at the base of the fire.  With some patience, we were able to get a good fire, good coals, and something worth cooking over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things that could help: try splitting the wood thing and stacking it in a log-cabin pattern over the early flames; this will expose a lot of wood to the existing flame and still allow good ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you are taking of any rotted wood or bark that will only smoulder.&#xA;Try using some candle wax melted onto the wood to try and getting going well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6488" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T07:36:34.013" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T07:36:34.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T20:37:26.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You asked about equipment &amp;amp; training. What you didn't ask, but may be useful is where to hike and who to hike with.&#xA;There are hiking &amp;amp; outdoor clubs all over the place. Most of them will accept beginners. Start on easier hikes and work your way up. You'll also get a chance to ask others on their equipment choices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To find these clubs, just do a google search for outdoor club and your city, or try meetup.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T20:37:26.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2015-08-13T20:39:20.420" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you burry your bottle in snow it should be less likely to freeze. The snow is a great insulator and burying the bottle completely should keep the heat from escaping. Essentially you are making a quinsy for you bottle (but much less effort!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6566" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T20:39:20.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-13T21:19:06.990" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers covered what you need as far as equipment goes - which isn't much - but I didn't see any that talked about what you need to &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to know about any potential dangers and how to avoid them. For example, in the DFW area: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;know how to recognize and avoid the types of poisonous snakes (and any other dangerous wild animals) that live around there&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;learn the importance of staying hydrated and how to recognize signs of heat stroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;learn how much water you need to carry while hiking in hot weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to local environmental dangers, there are also things you should be prepared for that apply to hiking anywhere:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;work up to long trails - don't start with a 10 mile hike if you aren't in decent shape already. 1-5 miles are probably plenty for total beginners, but you will quickly improve.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know the length and grade of any trails you plan to follow, and make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make it back to your vehicle in case of injury, bad weather, or any other unplanned difficulties. Most people consider 2-3 miles per hour a leisurely pace. 4-5 mph is a fast pace, almost a jog. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you plan to hike by yourself, make sure someone knows where you are going and approximately when you are supposed to be back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a good idea to learn at least basic land-navigation techniques and to use them, even on well-marked trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm going more than a couple of miles, I also like to pack a small emergency kit with a knife, bandage, flashlight, firestarter, camping toilet paper (biodegradable), hand sanitizer, antibacterial ointment, bug repellent, and some food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6568" LastActivityDate="2015-08-13T21:19:06.990" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9131" CreationDate="2015-08-14T01:42:27.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gotten pretty sufficient fires on a rainy fall day with relatively wet wood. Something that I often do is collect a lot of wet wood use the fire to dry out other logs. Make sure they're relatively small so they dry out by the time you need them. Just keep putting wood around the fire to dry as you use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good recommendation from @whatsisname is you use charcoal. You can even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Charcoal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;make your own&lt;/a&gt; out of what ever type of wood you'd prefer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ADDITION:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot dry the wood. You can try cooking the wood down into coals, and cooking with a dutch over, or cooking directly on the coals. You can wrap potatoes and vegetables and throw them on the coals, you can use a cast iron pan and set it on top the coals, or you can set the coals on a dutch oven to cook via indirect heat. Searing with a pan on top of coals is probably the best alternative to grilling over the fire with something like a tripod. This will also significantly decrease the amount of smoke that contacts your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastEditorUserId="5954" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T20:22:33.627" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T20:22:33.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-14T05:13:02.780" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking isn't too different from walking, except that the terrain may be rougher (depending on the path) and navigation might be more difficult (again, depending on the path).  I am in the northeastern U.S. and can tell you that most people already own the equipment to hike many of the most difficult all-day mountain trails in my region.  You're not even planning to stay overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Stage 1: Short, Flat Walks&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How far do you walk already?  For starters, don't do anything too different.  Go to the local city or state park and walk the fraction-of-a-mile boardwalk or paved trail.  You could probably do this today.  Bring a bottle of water or another kind of drink if it's hot.  The type of container you store the water in isn't important, as long as it's light enough for you to carry.  Wear sunscreen or a hat if it's sunny.  Otherwise, wear whatever clothes you find comfortable, and whatever shoes you'd choose if you didn't care how you looked and wanted to walk from one end of your indoor shopping mall to the other.  On an even paved trail for a fraction of a mile, you'd be OK even if your favorite walking shoes are flip-flops or high heels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to learn more about what you're seeing, read a book about the local nature.  I find it enhances the experience.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Stage 2: A Bit More Rugged&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Congratulations.  If you're having fun on the easiest hikes and want something more challenging, you're ready to do what I would consider serious hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 1-2 mile trail through the heart of a state or national park, possibly on rough and rocky terrain, can really make you feel far away from civilization.  Make sure you bring plenty of water and wear sturdy shoes.  Sneakers or any kind of sturdy flats are a good choice, and hiking boots are also okay.  You might want to wade through streams or into lakes, and choosing stable trekking sandals as your footwear can make that fun.  But don't drink the water without purifying it first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do NOT wear: Shoes that stretch or wobble.  Examples: Flip-flops, leather sandals, Crocs, most dress shoes.  On rough trails, these increase the risk of ankle injury.  You also want to think twice where you put your feet when the trail is rough, and resist the urge to rush downhill.  Uphill or downhill, keep a steady pace on rocky trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be on the safe side, you'd want to hike with a partner starting at this level.  Any type of physical activity incurs a small risk of injury, and you don't want to be alone in a remote area if you're in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would also want to be familiar with the trail markers, and make sure you can clearly see the markers or the trail at all times.  (On some trails this is a challenge...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Stage 3: Moderate Day Hiking&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3-6 mile trails can lead you through several different habitats, around lakes, or up small mountains.  At this level, you can start to really know the hikes in a major state or national park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you're in reasonably good physical shape before you attempt a hike of this difficulty.  You should be very comfortable doing the easy trails.  These harder hikes will take several hours, so you should wear shoes that won't give you blisters.  Bring meals or snack food (such as gorp) as appropriate.  You may also want to bring a flashlight, in case you miscalculate the time and find yourself stuck on the trail after dark.  If you think the weather might change, bring or wear layers of clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Stage 4: Are You Going to Follow the Call of the Wild?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're comfortable with the easy and moderate hikes, you're ready to leave your old life behind and spend a full day immersed in a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably want to wear some of the sturdiest shoes you own - sneakers or hiking boots, so long as they don't give you blisters.  I recommend you take yourself to New Hampshire, which the poet Robert Frost called &quot;one of the two best states in the Union.  Vermont's the other.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/733&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/733&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He wrote this for a reason.  You can take one of his (and my) favorite trails.  It's unforgettable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hikenewengland.com/FranconiaRidge081011.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.hikenewengland.com/FranconiaRidge081011.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hike the whole loop, you will ascend above the Northwoods and reach tundra and spectacular views.  New Hampshire isn't quite as rugged as Jack London's &lt;em&gt;The Call of the Wild&lt;/em&gt;, which is set even farther north.  Still, its motto is &quot;Live Free or Die&quot; and despite its small size, it would mess with Texas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps you will be asking the question &quot;Hiking: How to stop?&quot;  Don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5474" LastEditorUserId="5474" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T17:54:57.387" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T17:54:57.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9140" CreationDate="2015-08-14T06:17:23.630" Score="8" ViewCount="514" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to aid climbing, still practicing on easy and short walls. I am getting the feeling that if you use adjustable daisies you don't need a fifi hook anymore, but I could be wrong and miss something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dooes an aid climber need a fifi hook if he uses adjustable daisy chains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T09:28:00.903" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T09:28:00.903" Title="Aid climbing: do you need a fifi hook if you use adjustable daisy chains?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9139" CreationDate="2015-08-14T07:07:08.360" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, if you use an adjustable daisy chain you do not need a fifi hook. Then it is as easy as attaching the extended chain to your placement and adjusting it to the desired length. As adjustable daysies are made from one tape, there is anyway no attachement point to place a fifi hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One sidenote: Extending the chain with one hand after attaching it is borderline cumbersome to impossible, so if it has been made too short initially you are in a mess. The adjusting also only works if not twisted or otherwise messed up, so you need to be tidy. For those reasons quite some aid climbers do like to use regular daisy chains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-14T07:27:33.777" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T07:27:33.777" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9141" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9142" CreationDate="2015-08-14T13:41:04.810" Score="15" ViewCount="3024" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is about the simple type of bow often (but not exclusively :) ) made by children that consists of a branch of wood with a cord tied to both its ends. Obviously such a branch should be straight and uniformly thick. Furthermore there is the question of how much force it can take. I experienced that wood from certain brushes/trees can take more force (at the same diameter) than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which trees/bushes make good bows, i.e. can take a lot of force?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please also give a reference in what region those types can be found. I am asking from a middle european standpoint, but answers for other regions are welcome as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:04:44.910" LastActivityDate="2020-03-16T14:26:12.553" Title="What trees/bushes are best suited for a simple bow?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;wooden&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9141" CreationDate="2015-08-14T14:53:26.200" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two important factors when bowmaking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flexibiliy, i.e. how easy the wood is to bend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strength, i.e. how much force you can put into the wood before it breaks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just interested in a toy bow that doesn't shoot to hard or far then flexibility is your main concern. You want thinnish green wood which tends to be the most flexible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to build a more proper bow the strength of the wood is also important as it needs to take the load you are putting in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For specific woods, the traditional English longbow is made of Yew which is probably one of the best bow making woods in Europe (note: English yew is poisonous so be careful while handling it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other wood traditionally used for longbows according to wikipedia include ash, elm, hazel and laburnum so these are other good options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T14:53:26.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9141" CreationDate="2015-08-14T15:45:39.840" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid I repeatedly made simple bows from &lt;strong&gt;hazel&lt;/strong&gt; trees/shrubs. The main advantage here is that it grows in very handy, more or less uniformly thick branches that are very appropriate in size to use as bows (also make good walking sticks/spears).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As strength/durability of the bow was never an issue we used freshly cut, green branches - obviously a no-go for any serious longbow. If the latter is what you're going for, I advise using yew or ash stems (not branches) of at least 15 cm in diameter that have been stored and dried for about 12 months. But in this case you'll need to look into some detailed manuals on bow making anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-08-16T15:40:21.723" LastActivityDate="2015-08-16T15:40:21.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9141" CreationDate="2015-08-14T15:54:38.760" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US southwest, Juniper was commonly used by native peoples. I've heard it said that one can still find living Juniper trees around the southwest that have apparent 'slices' taken out of them where material was removed to shape a bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a quick google search turned up this site with a seemingly comprehensive list of woods that will work for bow making: &lt;a href=&quot;https://sites.google.com/site/nativeamericanplants/crafts-catalog/Indian-Craftsman/bow-woods&quot;&gt;https://sites.google.com/site/nativeamericanplants/crafts-catalog/Indian-Craftsman/bow-woods&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To lift a few from the list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apple, Ash, Bay California laurel, Beech , Birches, Cherry, Eastern Redcedar, Elms, Junipers, Koa, Lemonwood, Locust, Maples, Oaks, Etc…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T15:54:38.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9146" CreationDate="2015-08-14T17:27:41.270" Score="8" ViewCount="517" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9139/aid-climbing-do-you-need-a-fifi-hook-if-you-use-adjustable-daisy-chains&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; it stuck me as odd that a fifi hook is mentioned on par with a daisy chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not being trained for aid climbing, I'm not sure why I'd want to use a fifi at all. The only use I know for a fifi (and a somewhat dangerous use) is to retrieve the rope if you're the last descender and can't &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4813/how-do-climbers-retrieve-anchored-rope&quot;&gt;retrieve your rope using the common means&lt;/a&gt; (such as using double rope and pulling one end).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is the fifi hook used in aid climbing?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;And how is the need for it replaced with a daisy chain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What other uses does the fifi hook have?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T20:29:36.810" Title="How is a fifi used in aid climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9145" CreationDate="2015-08-14T18:09:02.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And how is the need for it replaced with a daisy chain?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here you are confusing something: With an adjustable daisy chain you do not need a fifi anymore. Using a standard daisy chain you need a fifi when aiding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is the fifi hook used in aid climbing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First let me describe what a daisy chain and a fifi are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Daisy chain:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EvkUem.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EvkUem.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is a webbing sling that is sewn together at regular distances. Usually about 2 bar tacks are used, so they are not very strong (about 3kn). Therefore they can break when loaded with e.g. a fall. This is not a problem as long as you clip into just one loop. Never clip in over two loops, then you will disconnect from the sling when the bar tacks in between fail. If correctly attached, the breaking of the bartackes can even reduce the impact absorbing energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fifi:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ylK32s.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ylK32s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A fifi is simply a hook that is attached to your harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When aiding you have two daisy chains and a fifi attached to your harness. On the ends of the daisy chains is a biner with a ladder each. One of those is set up at the current pro (a nut, cam, ...) and you placing the next pro. When done you clip in the biner on the other daisy chain and step onto the ladder (using both your hands). To get your hands free and get as much reach as possible for the next go, you attach the fifi in a loop of the daisy chain at the desired distance to the pro. This ca of course also be directly the attachment point of the pro, to get as close as possible. Then your load is on one foot in the ladder and on your harness via the daisy and fifi. Now you can push upwards with your foot and the fifi/daisy will provide the pull towards the wall. You reach the next placement and repeat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What other uses does the fifi hook have?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not aware of any outside of aiding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T18:09:02.547" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-14T22:04:38.123" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gear answer depends on what kind of environment you're in: rainy and wet like the Pacific Northwest, dry and sunny like the Southwest. Mild climate, or very hot or cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At a minimum, comfortable hiking shoes that have decent tread/grip and cover your ankle. The most important criteria is comfortable. You don't have to get fancy or spend a lot of money. I met a guy once who hiked one peak every day for two years in different states, and he used $20 hiking shoes from Walmart. His other gear was minimal too: a light rain jacket, slacks, hiking stick, and a small waste-pouch for carrying a snack or bottle of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Physically the way to start is simply to start doing it. The thing I always remember is a passage from the book &quot;A Walk in the Woods&quot; where the author, who was overweight and out of shape, with no prior hiking experience, relates how he simply started, and by the time he was a few weeks into it, his body was already accustomed to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's really nothing special you need to do for training. If you want you can go to the gym and get on the stairmaster. 30 minutes/day, 3 or 4 days a week is enough to keep you in shape. I sometimes will do this to prepare for a backpacking trip because I don't hike regularly, and this preparation helps a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-08-14T22:04:38.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9149" CreationDate="2015-08-14T22:16:28.850" Score="11" ViewCount="1211" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to buy this kind of fish hook (picture below), but I have no idea what is called. Does anyone know what to search for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main characteristic of this hook is that the hook eye is solid as opposed to a ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gzBQe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gzBQe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6584" LastActivityDate="2018-05-05T13:18:49.103" Title="What is this fish hook type called?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9148" CreationDate="2015-08-15T02:21:07.170" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Spade Hook&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is very simply called an &lt;strong&gt;eyeless hook&lt;/strong&gt; or a &lt;strong&gt;spade hook&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spade hooks are old school, but there are enough people that still say they're  preferable to eyed hooks, in fly fishing at least, you tie both eyed and spade hooks basically the same. Some people pass the line almost arbitrarily through the eye on an eyed hook, but it's easier to tie them &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; going through the eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-18T02:03:14.930" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T02:03:14.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9150" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9151" CreationDate="2015-08-15T02:46:23.030" Score="20" ViewCount="23754" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a notorious kind of crack called offwidths. Several friends of mine stated, that they were pretty devastated at first when they were not able to do 5.8 offwidths in the valley. Later they learnd, that this was quite common. There has even been an epic film called &quot;Wide Boyz&quot; about two british climbers taking on the hardest american offwidths. My questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is an offwidth crack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes offwidth hard to climb? Or less subjective: What technique is required ascend an offwidth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T05:06:36.790" Title="What are offwidth cracks and what makes them so hard to climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9150" CreationDate="2015-08-15T03:20:48.117" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Off width cracks are cracks that are too big to finger jam or fist jam, but too small for you to fit inside and chimney climb, so you have to come up with really awkward and very physically excerting moves to get up them, like climbing upside down (literally). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically they are cracks that are just the right width to not be fun, and take a lot of physical exertion to climb. Off width climbing is a lot of grunting, struggling, and trying to wedge your various body parts any where you can. You come out at the top dirty, sweating, scraped up all over and absolutely exhausted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common technique to get through off widths is to essentially use your arms and legs the way you would use your fingers in finger cracks, shove as much as you can inside the crack and then bend them to get them jammed. Other than that, the answer to how you climb offwidths is, &quot;However you can.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/trfIG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/trfIG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7YV3Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7YV3Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tBfgr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tBfgr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9vJ9f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9vJ9f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74xCC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74xCC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-15T14:32:43.450" LastActivityDate="2015-08-15T14:32:43.450" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9153" CreationDate="2015-08-15T13:19:22.847" Score="7" ViewCount="608" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am practicing falls with a self belay device indoors and I am tying the rope to the anchors so to fall on a single strand of rope as I would in real life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the figure eight on a bight but I searched for something easier to release after several falls. So I tried the bowline on a bight. &#xA;Turned out, that knot is also a pain to release.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything faster to release, while still safe enough to take multiple falls on it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-08-15T13:33:23.233" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T16:36:29.823" Title="What's the easiest to release, though solid, knot &quot;on a bight&quot;?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9152" CreationDate="2015-08-15T14:43:22.800" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend using a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;double figure eight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I always use this knot when tying off the end of the rope, it's stronger, safer, and it's easier to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O4D9h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O4D9h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't work for you, then try a double-nine (double figure nine on a bight), it looks messy, but it comes loose real easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-15T16:32:58.733" LastActivityDate="2015-08-15T16:32:58.733" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9174" CreationDate="2015-08-15T18:08:05.113" Score="7" ViewCount="677" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live close to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sacramento River&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Vista,_California&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rio Vista, CA&lt;/a&gt;, it's current is usually very heavy. I usually use anchovies for strippers and use a second rod to practice with lures. When I can afford it, I'll buy mud-suckers. I fish almost everyday and doing the same thing over and over again is getting tedious. I'd like to know how to make a proper jig and how to use it for those conditions. Diagrams or links to diagrams or videos would be awesome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T22:33:04.273" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T22:33:04.273" Title="How do I setup a proper jig?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9155" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-15T19:38:42.563" Score="11" ViewCount="14418" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of water shoes with a thick rubber sole and a neoprene upper. They provide good protection from coral cuts, stonefish etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GsqkE.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GsqkE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;shoes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past I've used these in the Ontario wilderness (fresh water and mud) for a day or two, then left them kicking around my house, and never had a problem. On this trip, I'm wearing them in the ocean, and walking along trails that cross rivers repeatedly or involve long sections of walking in the river. I am wearing them almost every day, and when I'm not wearing them they are often in a plastic bag in a suitcase. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://transpacifictrip.wordpress.com/&quot;&gt;https://transpacifictrip.wordpress.com/&lt;/a&gt; if you're wondering what I am up to.) Getting them dry is a challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, you can probably guess where this is going. They reek. But I don't think soap or detergent are good for neoprene. And I don't have access to newspaper as a general rule. At the moment I am getting a bit obsessive about getting them out of the plastic bags as soon as we arrive at a new hotel. If there's a deck or balcony, I put them out there. It is helping a little. Is there anything else I can do? Should I get obsessive about finding some newspaper and packing them in that when they have to go in the plastic bag again? Should I rinse them out with clean water whenever I take them off? I wasn't expecting them to need so much looking after and I don't really know how to give them whatever looking after it is they need. So, what do they need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:47:21.107" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:47:21.107" Title="De-stinking my water shoes" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;water-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9155" CreationDate="2015-08-15T20:33:59.590" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Care for your neoprene water shoes as you would for any neoprene wetsuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://scubadiverlife.com/2011/03/15/scuba-wetsuit-care-101-removing-odors-extending-suit-life/&quot;&gt;http://scubadiverlife.com/2011/03/15/scuba-wetsuit-care-101-removing-odors-extending-suit-life/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use any search engine and search for 'wetsuit soap' or 'wetsuit wash' and will find suitable products. Stop by any dive shop where you are travelling and they will likely have some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using them every day, you probably should not be storing them in a plastic bag. You should be washing them in fresh water (warm or cold, not hot) with cleaners/soaps designed for use with neoprene wetsuits. In a pinch, a mild tearless baby shampoo can be used. Washing them thoroughly, rinsing them well, and hanging them to dry in a well ventilated place is appropriate. You do not want to dry them in direct sunlight as it will over time break down neoprene. Ventilation and circulating air are the key factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storing wet neoprene that has not been effectively cleaned, especially in a plastic bag, will only encourage bacterial growth which contributes to bad odors. Additionally, I would say do not use newspaper or paper towels stuffed inside them, as this impedes air flow and the damp paper will only serve to confine moisture inside the shoes. You're better off washing, rinsing, hanging, and letting air circulate through/around them. If you can turn them inside out, this will also help them dry more thoroughly. In a hotel, a few minutes with a hair dryer on a low setting and held about two feet away will help--but be careful, you do not want to heat the neoprene, just simulate the equivalent of a warm breeze flowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are wearing them every day, and even after taking them off considerable time passes before you can wash and rinse them, you should be checking to see if they are in fact drying 100% overnight or if they are still slightly damp when you use them the next time. If this is the case, you have insufficient airflow and too little time. A fan helps. A better solution might be to buy a second pair, and wear one, while allowing the other a full day or two to dry before their next use. If it will be any length of time between wearing the shoes and being able to wash/rinse them, clip them to a pack or your waist/belt (using a snaplink, D-ring or spare bootlace/shoestring) and let them air dry as you walk. If you finish crossing the last fresh water river or stream near for the day, rinse them in that water, before clipping them to your pack/waist and moving on. Keep in mind that even freshwater streams/rivers will have bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're unable carry them outside your pack/person then a good wash/rinse at the end of any day's use and ensuring they have plenty of airflow/ventilation is all you can really do. Just make sure you have them out drying whenever possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possible solution/option is to get non-neoprene water shoes that have mesh uppers, or some sport/water sandals so that the neoprene is not an issue. I make use of sport sandals with a closed toe for uses where there will be frequent immersion in water and wear my neoprene shoes or boots usually for short term activities, like diving or a cold weather kayak trip. It's just easier for bacteria to hide in neoprene and it will be an ongoing struggle against odors with daily/prolonged use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2015-08-15T20:33:59.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9157" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9158" CreationDate="2015-08-15T23:22:51.850" Score="9" ViewCount="957" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week we were walking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-central/wachusett-reservoir.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wachusett Reservoir&lt;/a&gt; in Central Massachusetts, USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next to the path was a group of mature trees, the largest of which was a maple, with various sizes of smaller tree trunks intertwined among them.  In some of the groupings, the narrower trunks are wrapped around the wider sections. Their barks vary, and none have leaves.  One has fur, but only at higher elevations. Our picture of that is at least 8 feet up a maple tree. I didn't get too close to the bases, but as the pictures show, some appear to be growing sideways directly out of the ground. Although the area is draped in vines, we couldn't find leaves attached to any of the trunks, with the exception of the large maples. They have lots of healthy foliage, but only above the area where the intertwining ones end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole tableau is beautiful, almost surreal. What are the names of these trees? Why do they behave in this manner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for full size.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sbqiK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sbqiKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/823fk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/823fkm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jMQcI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jMQcIm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fur!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/owDyM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/owDyMm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Different group&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JWUsB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JWUsBm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;base growing sideways&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBIQu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBIQum.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Vines&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-04T22:19:35.923" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T22:19:35.923" Title="What types of trees are in these intertwined groups in Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9157" CreationDate="2015-08-16T00:36:45.503" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may like the look, but those trees are in the process of being killed by a nasty invasive, Oriental Bittersweet (&lt;i&gt;Celastrus orbiculatus&lt;/i&gt;).  It is one of the more common invasives in MA.  There have been many things writting about this invasive.  It's been on any list of invasive plants in MA that I've seen.  Do a search and you'll see.  DCR (MA Department of Conservation and Recreation) has several publications on invasives, which will include information about Oriental Bittersweet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bittersweet likes a lot of sun, so often starts growing where there is a new opening in the canopy due to a large tree falling over, logging, or other human clearing activities.  There are enough instances of this plant around, that chances are good a bird will drop a seed nearby.  If this is at the edge of the woods where there is a lot of sun, the small plants grow, climb up exising trees, and eventually strangle them to death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is unfortunately all too common at forest edges, like along the sides of highways.  Next time you drive down I-495, 490, and the like, notice the green &quot;blanket&quot; covering the open side of the forest edge.  Once you know what to look for, you'll see this plant everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small areas, like your yard, mechanical control can be effective.  The wood is soft and easy to cut with hand clippers up to maybe 1&quot; in diameter.  Cutting at the ground kills the vine in the tree, but it doesn't kill the roots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These things spread not only by seed, but also by a network of roots.  Find one of the plants a few feet high and pull it up.  You'll see that the roots extend sideways often several times the height of the plant.  Keep pulling and ripping it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep cutting and pulling, and eventually the plants in that area will die.  However, if there are other infestations nearby, and there probably are, birds will deposit new seeds.  You have to be vigilant anyplace there is good sun.  It's a lot less work to pull a few new plants once a month than to deal with a widespread web of roots a couple of years later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your pictures show a mature infestation that has been there for a number of years.  You can get a bunch of volunteers together and cut and pull what you can, but without coming back regularly and pulling any new sprouts, you'll just have the same problem again in another few years.  You have a well established root network that will need to be deprived of food from leaves for quite a while to eventually go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-08-16T00:36:45.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9101" CreationDate="2015-08-16T02:51:01.390" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For any sport, my answer is you have to do it.  Get out there and try! I kayak, hike, road bike, have windsurfed, etc.  Get the minimal gear-for hiking you probably have comfortable soft soled shoes.  I hate hiking with anything in my hands, so a daypack is wonderful to carry lunch, water, and a few clothes.  Done.  In all these sports, there are gradations that people who don't do them do not appreciate.  You need to find what part(s) of the sport you want to do.  For hiking, do you want to stroll along gentle trails looking at the scenery?  Do you want to climb the tallest mountain around, even if the trail to the top is paved?  Do you want to climb a technically challenging trail?  As you hike, you will learn the answer to these questions.  You will also meet people who do the version you like.  Talk to them.  Don't get me wrong, I think having the right gear is great-people have learned what works and it makes the day much better, but until you know what you want to do, it is difficult to figure out what the right gear is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6441" LastActivityDate="2015-08-16T02:51:01.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9160" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9161" CreationDate="2015-08-16T08:54:36.397" Score="10" ViewCount="790" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering what general fitness would suffice to hike to the base camp of Everest? Does it requires special fitness regime and focus on main body parts like legs and core strength?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6544" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T15:19:12.297" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T06:15:16.587" Title="Fitness for hiking to Everest base camp" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9160" CreationDate="2015-08-16T14:25:13.277" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you're talking about the south base camp in Nepal, which is the more popular destination. The typical route gains about 8000 feet over 40+ miles, which is really quite gentle, although the net effect of all that altitude is significant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's mostly class 1 with some class 2 (rough trail/scrambling), so no technical skills required. Supplies/lodging are readily available, so you wouldn't necessarily need more gear than for any day hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than the need to acclimatise, it sounds pretty easy, at least from my perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T08:58:11.610" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T08:58:11.610" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9155" CreationDate="2015-08-16T17:01:42.280" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rinsing them in clean water when you are finished using them will definitely help stop them smelling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To deal with the current smell I would just leave them in a sink/bucket of clean water for a couple of hours/overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't worry too much about drying them as long as they are cleaned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you said using soap is not a a good idea unless you get specialized stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-08-16T17:01:42.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9163" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-17T08:57:08.947" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T08:57:08.947" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T08:57:08.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9164" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-17T08:57:08.947" Score="0" Body="Use this tag with questions relating to walking, climbing or trekking to or around the base camp of Mount Everest." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:45:36.560" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:45:36.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9160" CreationDate="2015-08-17T09:32:49.230" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;While &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9161/2303&quot;&gt;Patrick's answer here&lt;/a&gt; clears many of the points, I would like to make up a few points about warm-up routines and acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few points may sound very specific to you and not really generic at all. &#xA;For us, Indians, that weather is not really what you can call normal and pleasant, with the gradual (if it is) gain in altitude adding to a wee bit woes like milder headaches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While assuming that you are already overall prepared physically, make sure that you go for multi-day hikes before you set off to Nepal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should ideally take 12 days (round trip) to get back in Kathmandu. Make sure that you are physically and psychologically (I know you must be) prepared for a 12-day hike if you are not really used to of doing so. I have seen people hauling a 18 kg backpack effortlessly for close to 5 days and then there they loose it later.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice ascends. In India, specifically in the non-Himalayan terrains, people are not really used to the habit of multi-day ascends. They would usually gain height for a day, camp at night and then probably descend the same or the other way down. At EBC, you would gain height for 3 days on a stretch. Need not be worried about, those are awesome planes to gain heights, but be prepared.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't really pay much attention to warm-up routines here, you can't get away by doing the same there. Get used to with the habits of stretching and other warm-up routines.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know your gear. Gear has a lot to do with your overall physical capability. Be it the shoes, or be it the backpack, or whatever. Get familiar with the gear. Sometimes a newer backpack bought specifically for such an expedition is not something that you get used to with on day 1. You might want to consider using the same lot of gear in the region known to you so that you would know what you are taking along. I have had a bad time on field due to a costly backpack that I thought would suit me, it didn't.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even on your best day, you would not want to gamble with acclimatization as it is planned. If you haven't given acclimatization a thought, do that. From a month before I was to leave, I was advised to stop/avoid taking Aspirin if I do in case headaches. Up there, you would want to avoid painkillers for silly reason and would definitely want to know whats happening with your body. If you have headaches, you need to know, rather than suppressing it with painkillers. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A very important thing to remember: Many a times overall public health in Kathmandu is a something that you should be really careful about. Do not gamble on Food and Water quality in Kathmandu. A Gastrointestinal infection is as common as a mosquito bite over there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the preparedness part of it, you would want be able to check 'Yes' with most of the things below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can haul a 15 kg backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am absolutely game for 3 consecutive days of gradual uphill hikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am absolutely fine with garlic-rich food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My trekking schedule during the whole thing is inclusive of the buffer time should I need to delay something by a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am comfortable at colder weather than I am usually at. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am not going to exert myself beyond a certain limit that I feel like this is once in a lifetime shot at it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a safe trek!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-01-14T06:41:12.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9155" CreationDate="2015-08-17T10:11:32.993" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from what all options suggested by other users here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are up for investing a bit, You might want to look out for Neoprene shampoos that are used by Scuba Divers to clean their Scuba suits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Bacteria and the stinking has a close relation. The other way to go is Vinegar with water. A bucket of water with 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar should do. The Ph kills the bacteria if there are any.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have access to newspapers, is it the same for tissue-paper? They would work just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T10:11:32.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9167" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-17T13:26:20.577" Score="4" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was going through one of the most amazing posts on The Great Outdoors which talks about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/645/2303&quot;&gt;if sleeping naked in a sleeping bag keeps you warmer than with clothes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The is something said about Burrito wrap, and yes, I could simply google and find out what it is, but then there a reason why a forum such as The Great outdoors is preferred (by me, us). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a burrito wrap? When would I need it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:03:45.650" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:03:45.650" Title="What is a Burrito wrap?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-08-27T08:26:41.177" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9512" CreationDate="2015-08-17T13:50:50.240" Score="6" ViewCount="1376" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are dock leaves/rumex edible? They're on of the most common plants we see in the UK (that and stinging nettles) and I find myself wondering how if I could eat them. I've been told before that you should chew them before applying them to a stinging nettle, so they're not poisonous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are they tasty? How would you prepare them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T14:34:01.000" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T04:15:49.647" Title="Can you eat dock leaves? How can they be prepared?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9169" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-17T14:07:37.107" Score="1" ViewCount="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do if I meet a wild bear in the forest? Should I run; fight for my life; climb a tree; or do nothing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:41:38.640" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:41:38.640" Title="What should I do if I meet a wild bear in the forest?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2015-08-17T15:53:00.270" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9171" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9172" CreationDate="2015-08-17T15:03:33.957" Score="25" ViewCount="4378" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my other question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9168/can-you-eat-dock-leaves-how-can-they-be-prepared&quot;&gt;Can you eat dock leaves? How can they be prepared?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@ThatIdiot says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... the stinging&#xA;  nettles are one of the best forage foods out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do you prepare these? What do they taste of? Any recipes or prefared ways of eating nettles? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T15:28:57.317" Title="How do you eat nettles?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-17T15:20:53.743" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have only had them as a tea with raspberry leaves. Refreshing enough, but nothing I'd actively forage to accomplish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However since the &lt;a href=&quot;http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/8258?fg=&amp;amp;man=&amp;amp;lfacet=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=35&amp;amp;sort=&amp;amp;qlookup=35205&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;format=Full&amp;amp;new=&amp;amp;measureby=&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA report&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=3&amp;amp;ved=0CC8QFjACahUKEwj3ieidzLLHAhUBFz4KHXL7CpY&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fndb.nal.usda.gov%2Fndb%2Ffoods%2Fshow%2F8258%3Fformat%3DFull%26reportfmt%3Dpdf%26pdfQvs%3D%257B%257D&amp;amp;ei=CyDTVbfYKIGu-AHy9quwCQ&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNEeAkqT_1t7_gKYNWYu4rrou8bMrw&amp;amp;sig2=9ubdhYJdCxjhJQYzeC61xg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;direct PDF download&lt;/a&gt;) says that stinging nettles are 2.7% protein, and high in a number of vitamins and minerals, I think I'll try using them in a few dishes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initial collection and preparation for cooking should be done with rubber gloves since, as their name suggests, they do sting. However cooking deactivates the sting and renders them safe for consumption. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people I speak with say that they boil them and/or use them in soup. Wild &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Man Steve Brill&lt;/a&gt; also likes them in soups, but he said the best way to cook them is to steam them, and he uses them as a vegetable side dish with rice. Regarding the flavor he says, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because nettles have the richest, hardiest taste of any green, I often combine them with lighter ingredients, such as celery, zucchini, lemon juice, or tomato sauce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a wealth of information &quot;out there&quot; about using stinging nettles, but here's one link I found that covers both &lt;a href=&quot;http://thefarmersfeast.me/2011/03/28/stinging-nettles/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;good links and recipes&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T08:33:54.167" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T08:33:54.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-17T15:27:19.037" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nettles should be blanched to destroy the formic acid before eating (Handle with gloves of course).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil &amp;amp; prepare a bowl of ice water on the side.&#xA;Once the water is boiling, plunge the nettles in the water for no more than a minute or so (the nettles should be bright green &amp;amp; not over cooked). Quickly drain the nettles &amp;amp; then plunge into the ice water. From here use them as you would any other cooked greens like spinach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use nettles in place of spinach in a spinach artichoke dip, as a pesto, as pizza topping, or marinated with garlic &amp;amp; olive oil and served over a steak or chicken breast. I also like them mixed in with pasta dishes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T15:27:19.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9154" CreationDate="2015-08-17T15:41:58.747" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you are asking about &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_bass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;striped bass&lt;/a&gt;. Although I have never fished for stripers (or rockfish, depending on where you are) on the Pacific side of the USA, this is the species that surf anglers in the Northeast target most passionately. Many of the best places to find them are those with strong currents and places to hide in ambush. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These conditions often require fairly heavy lures, and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://onthewater.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/OrientPoint_5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bucktail jig&lt;/a&gt; rigged with pork rind is typically what anglers use to get down to where the fish are. The weight you need will depend on the depth of the water and strength of the current - and you'll have to play around a bit (and probably lose a few to snags) to figure out exactly what you need. But you want enough weight so that a steady slow retrieve keeps the bucktail 1.5 - 2 feet above the bottom&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good way to start would be to use a 2 oz. bucktail with a 6&quot; or so pork rind. I favor red/white, but local anglers would know what works best. Cast the lure and let it sink until it hits bottom (you may get a strike on the descent.) Start cranking steady and relatively slowly - imagine a non startled fish swimming along lazily. After you have the lure moving well, stop cranking and count how long it takes to hit the bottom again. You want it to be 2-3 seconds or so. If it takes longer, it is running too high and you need more weight. Less time and it's too high and you need less weight. This is the bare bones basics, but it should get you started. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://striperpursuit.com/about-john-skinner/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;John Skinner&lt;/a&gt; is a local author and accomplished angler. His videos are worth watching - and his books worth buying. Here's on on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vrFzOssAKY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;fishing bucktails&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the south shore of Long Island we also use small diamond jigs with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jandh.com/j-and-h-tackle-diamond-jigs.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;rubber tube tails&lt;/a&gt;. This might be more in line with what you are thinking, but we really only use these when the bass are focusing on sand-eels in the surf. And we use small ones - too small to be of much use in deep fast moving water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With both of these lures, the most common way to rig them is to tie a 5-6' length of 20 - 40 lb test fluorocarbon leader to your main line. And then tie the jig directly to the leader. No swivels or snaps. The fluorocarbon, while tough, will not stand up to much Bluefish action, so you'll need to switch to wire leader if they're around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3995" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T17:52:48.013" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T17:52:48.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9141" CreationDate="2015-08-17T17:08:42.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Canadian prairies saskatoon and choke cherry trees were used to make bows by the first nations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T17:08:42.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9176" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-17T18:37:21.967" Score="9" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I understand of the history, Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) grades came about when class 5 in the preexisting system was subdivided into 5.0 through 5.9. This was done by Chuck Wilts, Royal Robbins, and Don Wilson, who were members of the Rock Climbing Section of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, as part of Wilts's 1956 guidebook to the Tahquitz Rock area. A particular climb served as the original definition of each decimal point. Wikipedia states that The Trough was the original definition of 5.0, while Open Book defined 5.9. What was the list of ten climbs that defined these grades, and what grades are they considered to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4674/please-explain-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;Please Explain Rock Climbing Grades&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:39:57.313" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T19:39:57.313" Title="What climbs at Tahquitz were the original definitions of YDS class 5 grades?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9176" CreationDate="2015-08-17T18:37:21.967" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Below is the list that I found by googling on &quot;chuck wilts&quot; 1956 tahquitz yds. After the name of each route is the consensus rating on mountainproject.com. Each climb is hyperlinked to a description on mountainproject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.0 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/the-trough/105861086&quot;&gt;The trough&lt;/a&gt;, FA 1936 (.4)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.1 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/fingertip-traverse/105800087&quot;&gt;Fingertip traverse&lt;/a&gt;, FA 1936 (.4)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.2 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/frightful-variation/109479551&quot;&gt;Frightful variation of the trough&lt;/a&gt;, FA 1944 (.2)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.3 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/east-lark/109288309&quot;&gt;East lark&lt;/a&gt;, FA 1950 (.5)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.4 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/angels-fright/105798872&quot;&gt;Angel's fright&lt;/a&gt;, FA 1936 (.6)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.5 - Ski Tracks (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/left-ski-track/105799854&quot;&gt;left&lt;/a&gt; .6, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/right-ski-track/105800125&quot;&gt;right&lt;/a&gt; .9), FA 1947, 1957&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.6 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/sahara-terror/105870946&quot;&gt;Sahara terror&lt;/a&gt; (.7), FA 1942&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.7 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/fingertrip/105798877&quot;&gt;Fingertrip&lt;/a&gt; (.7), FA 1946&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.8 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/mechanics-route/105794121&quot;&gt;Mechanic's route&lt;/a&gt; (.8 R), FA 1937&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.9 - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/open-book/105794117&quot;&gt;Open book&lt;/a&gt; (.9), FFA 1952 (aided previously)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T18:42:53.830" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T18:42:53.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9178" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-17T18:51:21.710" Score="12" ViewCount="4875" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found myself in a situation the other day that I've never been in before. I was paddling along in my canoe with my wife and kids, when suddenly a young black bear came scrambling down the slope, jumped in the water, and started swimming towards the other side of the lake off our bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUs80.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUs80.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We weren't in any danger. The bear was swimming straight for the other shore with an obvious sort of determination. It got out on the other side, shook off, and started to graze. I of course wanted to hang around, take some video with my phone, and let my kids enjoy the scene, but my wife was on the brink of a freak out and wanted to get as far away as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j3BBv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j3BBv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While reassuring her that we were in no danger, that we were much faster than the bear in the water, and could effortlessly paddle away if the bear decided to come swimming after us, it occurred to me that I have never received any instruction about how to handle water-launched bear attacks (as extremely rare of an occurrence it may be).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What can you do to repel an attack from a bear while in water?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="3993" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T20:18:12.290" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T01:27:39.310" Title="Encountering a bear in water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9178" CreationDate="2015-08-17T19:17:47.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll share what thoughts I had in the moment, and after, while reflecting on the matter: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first thought I've already mentioned in the question, being that the bear was slow and we were fast in our 17.5ft Kevlar Clipper Tripper, so we could have speedily paddled away no problem. But what if we were in a situation where a swift getaway wasn't an option, and the bear was able to swim out to our canoe? One paw on the gunnels is all it'd need to capsize us, and I'm pretty confident an aqua-battle against claws and teeth would be pretty one-sided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We didn't have any bear-spray on us (bears are the last thing on my mind in open water), so my next thought was I could scare the bear with a beaver tail smack of my paddle on the water, perhaps the gun-shot crack would startle him away. The next thought I had was to use my paddle to simply keep the bear at a distance from the canoe, push on it in an attempt to either push it away, push &lt;em&gt;us&lt;/em&gt; away from it, or try to submerge it under the water. Perhaps a drink and the sensation of drowning would scare it back to shore (assuming it doesn't grab the paddle out of your hands first). But then I thought, scaring it might just as likely cause it to startle and try to escape the water by desperately climbing out into the canoe. I wonder too if bear spray would cause this same reaction, if not drown the bear as it struggled with a nose full of hot pepper gasping for air? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My last thought was to simply beat the bear in the head with the paddle hoping it would concede and swim away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is all I could come up with on my own, so if I had to answer my own question all that I could recommend would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paddle away if you can.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Smack you paddles and make noise to try and scare the bear away.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bear spray&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(If you have it. Could be fatally dangerous for the bear)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hit the bear with your paddles, push the bear away with your paddles/keep it at paddles length.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try to push it under and scare it with the threat of drowning.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-17T20:35:32.613" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T20:35:32.613" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9178" CreationDate="2015-08-17T22:14:34.717" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears don't generally like people, and the ones who do are usually going to be more interested in dumpsters and campgrounds than a random boat on the river. The likelihood of ever getting into a situation where you have to fend off a bear &lt;em&gt;attack&lt;/em&gt; on the water is absurdly small. Bears are usually either crossing water to get somewhere else and want nothing to do with you, or else they're fishing... and want nothing to do with you. The majority of conflicts between humans and bears occur when the bear is hungry and accustomed to human food. If the bear is fishing, it's clearly not looking for human food, and if it's not fishing, it's probably not hanging out in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, if I were in such a situation, I would do the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure the bear knows you're there. The vast majority of bears will GTFO when they hear a human. Shout, yell, maybe even wave your arms (but not so much that you capsize!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steer around the bear. If you have any room to maneuver, simply slow down until the bear has left or give it a wide berth. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the bear were to actually attack (again, pretty much never going to happen), a solid bonk on the nose will tend to drive bears away. Whack it with paddles, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2015-08-17T22:14:34.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2015-08-17T22:47:02.003" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others have good advice: none-cotton, tight underwear; balm or talcum powder; dry clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have one more option: when I'm on the move and start feeling chaffing in my bum, I'll do the moonwalk. The moonwalk is a technique for drying out one's nether regions while staying on the move (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6pomaq30Gg&amp;amp;t=48s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;not this&lt;/a&gt;) This works best with the loose basketball shorts I usually wear, but can be done with other shorts or pants as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do the moonwalk, stow away any trekking poles you have, drop your pants and underwear so that the waistband is below your butt cheeks (and crotch, if you're having problems there). Grab the crotch of your pants, and start hiking. Note that, for rashes between the legs or between the legs and groin, you will need to do a bit of a waddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothes - even light, breathable, wicking clothes - will trap moisture next to your skin. Under these conditions, the skin will absorb the excess moisture and weaken, making friction applied more damaging than usual. In order to solve this problem, we remove the moisture. This is why underwear made for hiking work at moving moisture away from the skin. This is also why talcum powder works, since it absorbs the moisture (which is why it feels cool when you apply it), moving it away from the skin's surface and allowing it to regain its strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moonwalk works by removing the humid environment around the groin and providing air flow. Since the moisture is no longer trapped in a container of small volume around your groin, it will mix with the outside air to the point where the gradient of humidity around your groin approaches the step function. As the gradient becomes sharper, the rate of evaporation on your skin will increase, leading to drier skin and less chaffing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moonwalk has an advantage over other techniques in that it allows for the highest constant rate of evaporation, whereas breathable clothing will still limit this rate, and talcum powder will need to be periodically reapplied. Additionally, the moonwalk allows for convective heat loss as the atmosphere moves heat away from your body as it flows around you, and does not dampen radiative heat loss as other techniques do. This combination allows skin temperature to stay lower, which will elicit less of a response from the sweat glands, further reducing the moisture content of your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why not simply take your pants off, you may ask? Because, even on relatively lonely trails, there is a chance that other people will come upon you and, conforming to social standards, you will want them not to see your groin. The moonwalk allows you to quickly conceal your modesty when you see or hear others approach. Of course, an alternative may be to use a hiking skirt or kilt, but these will still trap some amount of moisture, and are not very popular - especially among male hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find I air out after about 10-15 minutes of moonwalking, and can pull my pants up after. Just make sure to watch out for strangers coming up the trail in front of or behind you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3522" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-08-24T07:40:39.243" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T07:40:39.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9182" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9188" CreationDate="2015-08-17T23:42:06.770" Score="5" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it harmful for our health?&#xA;How thick should the foam be around the body to be okay down to 0degC with warm clothes underneath?&#xA;Is there enough foam for this in a 500ml can (average man)? Or two?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought this could be a great cheap and compact alternative to expensive and big sleeping bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that a waterproof and windbreaker cover should certainly be used around the foam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6607" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T09:01:59.830" Title="Could spray foam insulation be used effectively as an emergency sleeping bag?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9192" CreationDate="2015-08-18T00:34:22.583" Score="12" ViewCount="1383" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing and canyoning/canyoneering are very different. However, it seems like the two disciplines would also have significant overlap in skills and gear-- knots, rappel techniques, harness, rope, belay/rappel device, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can rock climbers easily transition to canyoning? If so, what sorts of canyoning-specific knowledge and equipment would he or she need to begin, assuming they already have climbing basics?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: I think my question is different from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5599/how-to-get-started-on-canyoning&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; since they stated they do not have climbing experience.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T07:41:18.317" Title="Can rock climbers easily transition to canyoning?" Tags="&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9183" CreationDate="2015-08-18T02:51:49.270" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm American, so I can only address canyoneering, not canyoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easy canyoneering is just lots of rappelling. If you're a trad climber, that means it should be mostly skills you already know. You can use a fireman's belay or a Prusik backup the same way as on rock, except that as pointed out by Shem Seger, you don't want to use the Prusik on a wet rappel. If you have multipitch experience, then you're used to the idea that when something is committing, you need to be extra careful, competent, and self-reliant. Self-rescue techniques like ascending the rope apply equally to canyoneering. What do I do if I try to pull down the rope after a rappel and the rope gets stuck ... same as for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some gear and techniques that canyoneers tend to do differently but that can be done the same way as you'd do when rock climbing. It's nicer to use a static rope, but you don't have to. It's nice to have a specialized rope bag, but you don't have to. If you're canyoneering with a large group, there are practices that you can learn that will speed things up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard canyons do involve different skills and gear than climbing. For example, you may need to be a good swimmer, and you may need a wetsuit. I haven't done any hard canyons, so I'm not an expert on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a climber, I'm used to having a very strict set of criteria for what kind of anchor I would rappel off of. Some canyoneering routes have anchors that would meet those criteria. Others do not. I think the people who do those others are nuts. Look for beta so you know what you're committing yourself to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-18T18:20:26.633" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T18:20:26.633" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9182" CreationDate="2015-08-18T03:12:58.600" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a novel idea, but it's not going to work in any practical sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of those foams take about 15 minutes to setup, and you'll have to come up with some way to fabricate a mold while you spray it. It will be about an hour before you could safely enter your foam sarcophagus, and if this is to be used in an emergency situation, that's probably not time you're going to want to stand around and wait for the stuff to cure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my experience using the stuff for sealing purposes, I think you'd be lucky to get a cubic foot (about 30 liters) out of a can. The best R-value I can find for Great Stuff brand spray foams is about 2-3. Compare that to something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/trek-and-travel/neoair-all-season/product&quot;&gt;an example sleeping pad.&lt;/a&gt; The linked pad has an R-value of 4.9, and an inflated volume of about 2 cubic feet. As we can all know, a single sleeping pad is not going to be enough to keep you warm at the freezing point, even if you use it as a blanket. You'd have to use 4 cans just to simulate the insulation capabilities of a typical sleeping pad. You'll need many, many more to complete your sleeping vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, you're going to end up with a solid, bulky mass of foam that you are going to haul out, and the cured foam is not biodegradable and it will be like managing a Styrofoam cooler making a mess everywhere, as well as all the empty aerosol cans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be other foams that could work, but you won't be able to get them from the hardware store, and they won't cost only 4 bucks/can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T03:12:58.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9183" CreationDate="2015-08-18T07:38:19.470" Score="9" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes there are lots of rock climbing techniques that are transferable to canyoning (or gorge/gill scrambling as it is often called in the UK) but there are other specific skills required also&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Transferable skills&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belaying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchors (these tend to be in a similar vein to one's you'd use when&#xA;scrambling, i.e. placing rope behind spikes, etc rather than using&#xA;knuts and cams)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;General rope skills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Different skills&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these may not be required, it depends on the grade of scramble. Typically you don't spend a lot of time roped up when canyoning (not at the grades that I've done it anyway). It's more a kin to scrambling than climbing where you may use a rope in particularly exposed areas or where there is deep water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water rescue (How do you stop someone from being swept down stream&#xA;but also not drown them by applying to much pressure to the rope? You&#xA;need to guide people into the side of the river not pull them as hard&#xA;as you can)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choosing the right river, are there dangerous undercurrents? how big&#xA;do the rapids get?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sliding, you will often slide down slick river beds, route choice is&#xA;essential here, see above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jumping into deep water. You will often have to choose whether to&#xA;jump into a splash pool or rappel down. Obviously this depends on the&#xA;depth of the water and the currents, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may or may not need a harness. This is somewhat dependant on grade, etc. I've been a few times and never used one. Harnesses (in some circumstances) can be a problem, particuarly when someone is being pulled on a rope in fast water. So a rope is often used as a loop of rope, secured around the participant, a single figure of eight is added to prevent it constricting too much. This technique is preferred as it allows the rope to ride up to the persons shoulders, therefore holding them above the water. If it was attached at waist height it would be easy to tip the person upside down in the water. The addition of a chest strap prevents this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where is it acceptable to do this. As mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5626/2766&quot;&gt;my answer in the previous question&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;This sport can have damaging environmental impacts&lt;/strong&gt;. You need to be very careful where and when you do this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the main difference boils down to, knowing the river and knowing your limits. It's best (as always) if your inexperienced to first go with an experienced friend or and organised group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Additional equipment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have a good set o f climbing gear already (helmets being the most useful). You will likely need the following additional equipment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Life vest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet suit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rash vest to protect the wet suit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Old wet suit, cut up and worn over the bottoms of your main wet suit. This is so you don't wear out your best wet suit when sliding down stuff, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also buy canyoning specific shoes, though an old pair of trainers are fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T07:41:18.317" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2015-08-18T08:39:18.107" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One trick not yet mentioned, but surprisingly efficient:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I start sweating in &lt;em&gt;this area&lt;/em&gt; (and I'm out in the woods where I won't meet a lot of people) I usually just &lt;strong&gt;open the zipper&lt;/strong&gt; on my pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps wonders to boost air circulation, thus preventing sweating. For me this also 100% prevents the hiking rashes. Sometimes I walk for an hour like that, it can be really comfy...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And using this trick I'm essentially able not go get rashes anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T08:39:18.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9182" CreationDate="2015-08-18T09:01:59.830" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it's not going to be feasible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You'd need &lt;strong&gt;a lot of cans&lt;/strong&gt;. To approximate the volume of a sleeping bag and thermal mat I'd say &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; around 5-10 cans. For this weight/volume you can just as well bring a proper sleeping bag/tarp/bivvy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The spray foam is &lt;strong&gt;not stable&lt;/strong&gt; in itself. It will form bubbly clouds of foam, so you'd need a mold. This is not easy, out in the wild - and if you can build a mold you can just as well build a shelter to keep you warm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time to set&lt;/strong&gt;: as noted by @whatsisname standing around for 10-30 minutes while the foam is hardening out will not be very pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lot's and lot's of &lt;strong&gt;waste&lt;/strong&gt;: a ton of non-degradable foam and a lot of empty spray cannisters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least it might &lt;strong&gt;not be very healthy&lt;/strong&gt;. I know of people who got rashes when they got this spray foam stuff on their skin. I'm not at all sure how long you'd need to wait until all the aggressive and unhealthy solvents have left the foam - it could take a lot longer than it does for it to harden.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T09:01:59.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-18T09:16:20.147" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very carefully!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously need to be blanched/boiled to render the Formic acid inert. Formic has a much higher effect on organics than its relative acidity would suggest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From here use like cabbage or such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6610" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T09:16:20.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-18T12:24:24.650" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother makes &lt;em&gt;gnocchi&lt;/em&gt; with nettles. You can make them both with or without potatoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another nice recipe is meat/pork joint wrapped in nettle and bread. This one may be quite unpractical to prepare outdoor though as you need to bake it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6612" LastEditorUserId="6612" LastEditDate="2015-08-18T15:23:58.343" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T15:23:58.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-18T17:12:34.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Russia we make a soup with nettles. It's very very tasty! I have no receipts from myself, but I have some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.povarenok.ru/recipes/dishes/first/?searchid=44&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;links on Russian receipt forum&lt;/a&gt;, maybe it will be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6615" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-08-18T17:51:07.497" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T17:51:07.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9183" CreationDate="2015-08-18T19:08:29.883" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The disciplines are very similar, and it is very easy for a climber to make the transition because they already have experience with ropes, but there are a lot of canyoneering specific skills and gadgets that are different from climbing. If I were to campare the two by their differences, I'd say that rock climbing requires more &lt;em&gt;strength&lt;/em&gt;, and canyoneering requires more &lt;em&gt;wisdom&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, when canyoneering you obviously spend a lot more time on your ropes, so the first essential skill you need to learn how to do is how to make anchors for descending while pulling your ropes. It is &lt;em&gt;incredibly&lt;/em&gt; easy to get a rope stuck in a canyon, and when it happens it could mean big trouble, chances are you'll have to cut your rope and hope there's enough left over to make it the rest of the way out if you don't have a second rope (which you probably should).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Canyoning descenders&lt;/strong&gt; are different too, they offer many different levels of friction, and are easy to tie off if you need to stop and go hands free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Canyoning Descenders&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Kong Hydrobot&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3gGP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3gGP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Petzl Pirana&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f2uOP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f2uOP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Stirling Ropes ATS&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvD64.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvD64.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing about canyons, is that they all have one thing in common: &lt;strong&gt;water&lt;/strong&gt;. Every canyon is cut out of the earth by flowing water, and the best canyoneering is in the canyons that have flowing water. Descending down waterfalls, sliding down natural waterslides, cliff jumping into deep pools and swimming through long winding meanders with tall cliff faces on either side of you in a place that receives fewer visits than most others are the big attraction for serious canyoneers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7E5Bv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7E5Bv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're planning on visiting a wet canyon, then you need a few more things, namely: a &lt;strong&gt;wetsuit&lt;/strong&gt;. Then you'll want to get a &lt;strong&gt;seat protector&lt;/strong&gt; for your harness to protect your wetsuit while sliding on your bum: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Seat Protector&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kpfRv.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kpfRv.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also &lt;strong&gt;special shoes&lt;/strong&gt; for canyoning that are insulated with neoprene and have super sticky rubber for wet rocks, &lt;strong&gt;canyoning helmets&lt;/strong&gt; that don't hold water, &lt;strong&gt;PVC bags&lt;/strong&gt; for your rope and gear, treatments for your ropes to make them float. There's a lot...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canyoneering is it's own sport, but it falls under the family of greater alpinism, so naturally being a climber will make it easier to transition into it, but being a climber isn't enough if you want to do the fun wet canyons, you also need to be a navigator, a swimmer, a cliff jumper, and in some cases a diver.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T19:08:29.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-18T20:34:15.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a good place to start: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/30/nettle-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's nettle recipes&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nettle Soup&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Around 150g nettle tops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;30-35g knob of butter &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 onion, peeled chopped&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 large or 2 smallish leeks, trimmed, washed and finely sliced&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;2 celery sticks, chopped&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;2 tbsp white rice, such as basmati&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 litre vegetable (or chicken) stock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Sea salt and freshly ground pepper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;6 heaped tbsp sour cream, to finish&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 small bunch chives, to finish&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pick over the nettles, wash them thoroughly and discard the tougher stalks.&#xA;  Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat, add the onion, leek,&#xA;  celery and garlic, cover and sweat gently for 10 minutes, stirring a few&#xA;  times, until soft but not brown. Add the rice and stock, bring to a simmer&#xA;  and cook for 10 minutes. Add the nettles, stirring them into the stock as&#xA;  they wilt, and simmer for five minutes or so, until the rice and the nettles&#xA;  are tender (very young nettle tops will need only two to three minutes).&#xA;  Season with plenty of salt and pepper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Purée the soup in two batches, reheat if necessary and check the seasoning.&#xA;  Serve in warmed bowls, topping each portion with a large dollop of sour cream&#xA;  and a generous sprinkling of snipped chives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another one: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/nettle-soup&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nettle soup (River Cottage)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6616" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T13:48:41.477" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:48:41.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-18T23:52:33.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've made Indian-style saag paneer with nettle and it was great! Just substituted the spinach/mustard-greens with the nettle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6619" LastActivityDate="2015-08-18T23:52:33.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9195" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9196" CreationDate="2015-08-19T00:08:15.893" Score="8" ViewCount="1916" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend gave us a satellite communication gadget that has three buttons to send three messages, two of them to a programmed address ((1) location and (2) alert), and the third is a &quot;911&quot; button.  We've never been close to needing emergency help, but of course that is no guarantee of the future.  Does anyone on this site know what happens when one hits &quot;911&quot; in the Rockies or Sierra? (It's OK to narrow it down.)  Personal or second-hand experience?  (Rest assured, I am not going to perform the experiment to satisfy curiosity!)  And, what should I do to maximize being spotted from the air?  Assume above timberline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long ago, before GPS and commercial satellite communication, I was relaxing beside a stream in the Bear Lakes region (over Italy Pass), when a helicopter that had been making repeated passes over the area landed near me, a man jumped out, and asked me if I had pneumonia.  They were looking for a sick hiker near Vee Lake &quot;and you are the only person we see lying down.&quot;  They weren't sure which lake was Vee Lake.  Several hours later, I saw the actual evacuation. The campsite was tastefully hidden among rocks.          &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T00:38:29.657" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T15:44:10.437" Title="What order of response time can I expect if I hit the &quot;911&quot; button on my SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9195" CreationDate="2015-08-19T00:34:59.483" Score="13" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Types of satellite-based emergency beacons&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Personal Locator Beacons&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emerbcns.html#PLBs&quot;&gt;Personal Locator Beacons&lt;/a&gt; (or PLBs) have one and only one purpose: to send your location to emergency responders, indicating that you need &lt;em&gt;some kind of urgent help&lt;/em&gt;. They use a satellite network operated by government agencies worldwide, and send your distress call directly to a government-run rescue coordination center. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you initiate a distress call, the following sequence of events happens (from REI's article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html&quot;&gt;PLBs and locator beacons&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;PLBs transmit powerful signals at 406 MHz (MegaHertz), an internationally recognized distress frequency monitored in the U.S. by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the AFRCC (Air Force Rescue Coordination Center).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A PLB communicates with a network of Russian, Canadian, American and French military satellites known as COSPAS-SARSAT (SARSAT is an acronym for &quot;Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After receiving your transmission, these satellites &quot;fix&quot; on your location using a Doppler Shift method and relay your information to the AFRCC where search and rescue procedures begin. If you use a GPS-compatible PLB, you can deliver your GPS coordinates very quickly without having to wait for the satellites to determine your position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are in a location where the signal can be picked up by a satellite &amp;ndash; which they almost always can be &amp;ndash; the AFRCC will receive your call almost immediately. Most PLBs these days are GPS-integrated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you use a PLB with a GPS interface, the 406 MHz signal will guide rescuers to an area less than 100 meters from your position. At the same time, they will employ a tracking device to home in on the 121.5 MHz frequency put out by the PLB. When using a GPS-compatible PLB in the continental U.S, it takes only 5 minutes to alert search-and- rescue personnel of your position&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it takes about &lt;strong&gt;5 minutes&lt;/strong&gt; with a &lt;strong&gt;PLB&lt;/strong&gt; for the AFRCC to determine your location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Commercial Satellite Based Systems&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various commercial emergency beacons, like your SPOT Messenger, which use privately owned satellites to relay emergency messages or other messages. They usually require an annual subscription, whereas PLBs only have the up-front purchase cost. SPOT and many other companies use the GEOS International Emergency Rescue Coordination Center (IERCC) which is based in Houston, Tx. According to SPOT's info pages: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once activated, SPOT will acquire its exact coordinates from the GPS network, and send that location along with a distress message to the GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled or until the batteries are depleted. The Emergency Response Center notifies the appropriate emergency responders based on your GPS location and personal information – which may include local police, highway patrol, the Coast Guard, our country’s embassy or consulate, or other emergency search and rescue teams – as well as notifying your emergency contacts about the receipt of a distress signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The IERCC is manned 24/7 with dedicated and highly trained operatives who have access to emergency responders worldwide to ensure that in an emergency your situation will be dealt with efficiently and you will receive the resources you need. In fact, the average response time from the receipt of your 911/SOS message until referring an emergency responder is only 11 minutes, wherever you are in the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once a SOS/911 message has been received, the IERCC calls your emergency contact(s) to make sure that it wasn't a false alarm. They locate and notify an emergency responder, and then maintain an open line of communication, including providing updates of your location if needed. The IERCC will also keep your emergency contact(s) informed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The response speed of the GEOS IERCC is going to depend on how well-connected they are with emergency responders in your area, but it looks like it takes about &lt;strong&gt;11 minutes&lt;/strong&gt; for SPOT's service to determine your location and contact the authorities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Once &quot;The Authorities&quot; have been notified&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once they have been alerted, the time for rescue crews to actually show up is going to be dependent on many factors, including: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How easy it is to contact the appropriate SAR agency in your area, and how many levels of communication it takes to get there. For example, in a national park it's pretty easy for the AFRCC or IERCC to contact the park dispatch and initiate a SAR response. In more remote areas it may take time to contact an agency like the local Sheriff office, the National Guard, or some other agency. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How long it takes a SAR team to initiate a response after being notified. Most Coast Guard air stations and some Air Force helicopter SAR units maintain a 24 hour alert posture, with a crew able to depart within 15-30 minutes of receiving a call. Most National Guard units provide 24-hour response but may have to call crews from home during off-hours, and can have anywhere from a 15 minute to a 1 hour time from receiving a call to a helicopter lifting off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ground-based SAR teams which are not on 24-hour standby often take a long time to assemble, especially volunteer teams. While a first responder, such as a Sheriff SAR deputy or an NPS rescue ranger may be able to respond quickly, a fully-assembled team capable of performing technical rescue or a litter evacuation commonly takes several hours to assemble personnel and equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How long it takes for a SAR team to reach the area. This depends on where the nearest SAR resources are and their availability. In the Sierras and Rockies you might see a helicopter within a matter of hours, if weather allows and resources are available. In a remote part of Alaska it may take a day for a plane to do a fly-by and assess the accessibility of the location.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How long it takes a SAR team to actually find you. These devices transmit a homing signal as mentioned above, and with GPS they'll already have a pretty good idea. If there's dense tree cover or poor visibility though, it may take time for a crew to actually locate your exact position. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once they reach you, the time for a rescue to take place. Helicopters can't land everywhere, and ground teams can take a long time to arrive. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With either a PLB or a commercial device, the response time is going to mostly be a factor of your location, not the signal getting out. The signal will be located quickly, but rescue crews may take minutes to hours to arrive depending on the situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Making yourself easy to find&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a GPS-based device, rescue crews should be able to locate you to within &amp;plusmn;100m, so you don't generally need a long-distance signal like a smoke column. Making a fire (if conditions are appropriate and safe to do so) can help especially at night. A signaling mirror is very helpful in daylight for catching a pilot's attention. Place yourself in a wide open area if possible. At night you can use a flashlight to get the attention of helicopters once you hear them nearby. Once you've been noticed, don't shine the flashlight directly at the cockpit as pilots will be using night-vision goggles and could be blinded. Large areas of unnatural colors, such as a bright tarp or tent, can also help you to stand out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T04:30:54.337" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T04:30:54.337" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9195" CreationDate="2015-08-19T04:31:27.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal experience does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; involve a satellite communication device, but may still shed some light on response time. I was day hiking with a small group in a remote canyon in a U.S. Wilderness Area, off-trail, several miles from any road and a number of miles further to any residences. One member of my group fell and broke her hip. Another member hiked out and drove to the nearest phone to call 911. From the time 911 was first contacted, it took 7 hours for the rescue helicopters (in this case, U.S. Air Force) to arrive and at least another hour or more until the actual rescue occurred, late at night. In this case there were no GPS coordinates of our precise location, so they spent half an hour or so searching the area for us, even with our use of emergency strobes to signal them as they flew over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastEditorUserId="2801" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T15:44:10.437" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T15:44:10.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-19T04:32:47.303" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like a lot of other people have said, cooking neutralises the sting, but blending them to a paste, in an oil or a pesto works too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for this is that the sting is not just the acid component, but the delivery mechanism: the little hairs on the leaves are hollow, and act as little hypodermic needles. If you blend the leaves, you destroy the little sharp hairs, and they can't sting you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nettle pesto is called &lt;em&gt;&quot;Pesto di Ortiche&quot;&lt;/em&gt; in Italian, and it's delicious and well worth making.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6620" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T04:32:47.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9199" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9554" CreationDate="2015-08-19T07:32:25.897" Score="7" ViewCount="607" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking about changing the backing on my reel for something thinner and stronger like gel spun line (I'm currently using 20lb Dacron). The goal is to fit enough backing into the reel for Atlantic salmon fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is that I bought a new fly line that is both longer and thicker than the previous one, which was a sinking tip one. Now I can't fit the previous 200 yd of backing that I had.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the answer is to buy a larger reel, but before that I would like to try some alternatives. I have heard that there is gel spun and that some people use fireline as well, but will these work well? Will the attach well to the reel spool? Won't they damage the fly line where it is attached to them? Will I risk cutting my fingers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T07:22:38.257" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T22:35:29.590" Title="Alternatives to Dacron backing on fly reel?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9200" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-19T08:00:04.303" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use this tag when asking specifically about fishing rods. Questions about rod selection, setup, usage would be appropriately tagged with the fishing-tackle-rod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T10:59:10.807" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T10:59:10.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9201" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-19T08:00:04.303" Score="0" Body="Use this tag when asking specifically about fishing rods." OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T10:59:06.457" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T10:59:06.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9202" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tag should be used with the questions that discuss about possible outdoor and/or adventure activities that can be done in Arctic region. General Safety precautions for outdoor activities in this region, legality information, expedition details, etc should be tagged with this tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9203" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" Score="0" Body="The Arctic  is a geographical polar region located at the northernmost part of the Earth, consisting the Arctic Ocean and parts of Alaska, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:44:25.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9204" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Caving is the recreational pastime of exploring (mostly natural) caves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditionally known as Spelunking in the US and Canada, Potholing in the UK and Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9205" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" Score="0" Body="Questions about safety precautions while caving, equipment checklist for caving, possible activities to make caving a better pastime, possible hazards, legalities if there are any for a specific region, etc shall be tagged with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T12:54:54.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9206" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9237" CreationDate="2015-08-19T14:13:28.957" Score="10" ViewCount="430" Body="&lt;p&gt;Considering a high level of fitness, but limited mountaineering skills (some indoor climbing, a few via ferratas and high altitude hikes), what hikes would you recommend as training (and perhaps some acclimatization) for the ascent of Mont Blanc? Ideally they would be in easy/affordable reach from London (via Geneva, Venice, Zurich) and would provide similar technical challenges but perhaps at a lower altitude.&#xA;The last high altitude hike was painful between 3500 and 5000 meters. After that the diamox kicked in :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question was aimed at suitable routes that will provide the training to build the necessary experience. The area where I lack the experience is the use of crampons/glacier hikes. The tour would be guided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: the comments have proven that this question was misworded, so let me try again. What short trips would you recommend for the novice/improving mountaineer in order to build up the necessary skills to tackle more challenging peaks? The focus is on safely acquiring the technique, rather than physical training. Shorter (1-3 days) treks would be preferred, and so would the travel accessibility.&#xA;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6624" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T16:20:37.770" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T09:46:10.733" Title="Recommended ascents for the improving mountaineer" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9207" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-19T15:17:15.813" Score="4" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an older plastic Coleman canoe. It gets a lot of abuse I have noticed some weak spots that may be a problem in the future.  I looked around online and seems that they are made of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;High-density polyethylene (HDPE)&lt;/a&gt; one of the first things I found was &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKUKCcRZy0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this welding video&lt;/a&gt; which seems like a pretty sweet solution.  But I am also finding some references that suggest repairs to plastic canoes don't last long.  I was not able to tell if welding as shown in the video was a long term or short term solution.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if any solution is there for long term repairs to plastic canoes that will hold up as well as the original canoe materiel? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T20:37:59.010" Title="How to repair a plastic canoe?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9211" CreationDate="2015-08-19T15:39:13.223" Score="2" ViewCount="17146" Body="&lt;p&gt;this is my first question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to know how many miles can walk a person in different terrains. The terrains are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flat (Prairie)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snowy &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Desertic &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boggy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a person have a backpack with some weight... How this weight affects his speed? How much it decrease?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6625" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T04:02:35.183" Title="How many miles per hour can a person travel a day on foot?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2015-08-20T04:19:35.243" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2015-08-19T16:59:17.947" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're feeling extra adventurous, you can eat it raw! If you fold up the nettle leaf, such that it &quot;breaks&quot; the little pricklers (they're like little needles) on leaf, you should be able to eat it without issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to fold/roll the leaf up all over and tightly, so it forms a small compact ball. Your stomach acid is much stronger than the formic acid found in the leaf, so the acid is a non-issue. It also seems to help if you have a lot of saliva in your mouth, if you do choose to eat it raw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was in an outdoors camp in elementary school and we actually ate several of these leafs with this method. I don't recall anybody getting stinged, but I know it is a possibility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.culinate.com/mix/dinner_guest/eat_stinging_nettles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;I've found a few comments about it here:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The brave can even eat raw nettles! The trick is to carefully fold&#xA;  them so the spines are within, gather up a bunch of saliva in your&#xA;  mouth, then immerse them and chew them up -- delicious!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve only been stung a couple times out of hundreds of episodes of raw&#xA;  nettle eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don’t know why saliva neutralizes the sting, perhaps saliva’s&#xA;  alkalinity neutralizes the formic acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The seeds are also delicious, and don’t seem to sting. They have a&#xA;  mucilaginous quality, and are said to be an adrenal tonic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finally, nettles also have strong, durable fibres. You can use the&#xA;  stems much as you would flax. You have to rinse away the&#xA;  non-cellulitic material, easily done by putting bundles of the stems&#xA;  in a stream, weighted down with a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://recipesfromthewild.wordpress.com/nettle/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;And here...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can eat raw stinging nettle if you fold the leaves UP over the stems and hairs, the trick is to never rub the hairs against the direction they go. OR, you can simply soak the nettles in cold water, or blanch them, and chop them all up in the food processor. All of these methods deactivate the sting, and then you can use them in delicious recipes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.resilience.org/stories/2010-04-02/three-spring-edibles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Here's another experience with folding the leaves:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nettles can be eaten raw by folding the the leaf over to hide the stinging underside as described. Some people, a small minority, are resistant to nettles inside their mouths and don’t need to fold the leaves, but nettle stings inside the mouth are very painful–use discretion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6626" LastEditorUserId="6626" LastEditDate="2015-08-19T18:40:02.907" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T18:40:02.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9208" CreationDate="2015-08-19T17:29:51.027" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike a lot in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and around here our 'book time' is based off of a book called the White Mountain Guide. It assumes that you will take half an hour for each horizontal mile and each 1,000 feet of elevation gain, so a 10 mile, 3,000 foot hike would take 6:30 by book time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This number can be useful for planning purposes, but it should never be taken literally; I'm far from the fastest hiker around, but on a good day and a decent trail I could beat book time by 30%, and of course there are many who could go much quicker. On the other hand, someone not in great shape or taking things slow could easily take longer than the book predicts. So &lt;strong&gt;personal ability&lt;/strong&gt; is a huge variable in that regard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Terrain&lt;/strong&gt; also matters considerably- on a fairly flat trail, 3 mph is a reasonable speed (50% faster than predicted!). On a particularly steep or rocky trail, you slow down considerably. There are instances where taking a longer trail with the same elevation gain will actually be faster because of the ease of navigating. Even with the fairly constrained context of trails in this one region, the variance is huge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then we get to &lt;strong&gt;weather&lt;/strong&gt;. Rain can definitely impede progress, but snow is the big kicker- if you end up postholing through thigh-deep snow, your speed could be well below 1 mph. On the other hand, if you have good traction and you're on a solid-packed trail, you can go faster than in the warm season (especially going downhill).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically what I'm saying is that there are way too many variables to give you a reasonable estimate. If you set Scott Jurek (recent AT record-setter) down in Kansas on a nice day, he could probably do 60+ miles and feel good about it. Put some average person in that same area in a whiteout snowstorm and they'd probably struggle to make it from their front porch to the mailbox. There's just no way to make an estimate with massively narrowing the scope of your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T17:29:51.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9212" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-19T18:29:47.393" Score="10" ViewCount="822" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of leather boots that are a couple of years old. They were fairly expensive and I'm not a big fan of discarding and replacing things so I'm hoping they can still be of use to me. The problem is that the boots leak through the leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sole seems well sealed and I recently had a cobbler apply a new layer of glue at the sole to ensure this wasn't the issue. I believe the problem is the leather because my feet become wet after an hour or so of hiking in wet conditions and there is little to no beading of water droplets on the surface - the rain just soaks in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have waxed the leather repeatedly and tried both solid (at room temperature) and water-based waxes, following the label's instructions each time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have taken great care to not dry my boots close to a heat source but they have at times been left in a sealed car on a hot day in southern Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any hope for the leather in my boots? Does anyone have a novel remedy for reinvigorating the material and restoring some greater level of water repellency?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T22:48:25.137" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T22:48:25.137" Title="Restoring water repellency in leather hiking boots" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9212" CreationDate="2015-08-19T20:04:16.310" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;That sounds very strange to me- the leather itself seems like the last thing that would be letting water through, especially if treated with waterproofing products. My immediate thought would be to look at the stitching, including the tongue and gussets. How many pieces make up the uppers? If it's more than one, check those seams as well. Do you notice whether your feet start getting wet in a particular area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, re: your car comment- I initially read that as California, which gave me a tiny bit of uncertainty, but I doubt your cars get nearly as hot in Canada. The worry is more with open flames or radiators, especially when the leather is wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T20:04:16.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9208" CreationDate="2015-08-19T20:08:08.943" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a teen I took an Outward Bound winter mountaineering course in the Cascade mountains (lots of elevation change) in which I traveled 7-10 miles per day for 10 days, carrying a 70+ pound backpack (I weighed about 120# at the time) and wearing another 20 pounds in ski gear and clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6628" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T20:08:08.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9216" CreationDate="2015-08-19T21:19:23.440" Score="14" ViewCount="2952" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend and I were on a tough sport climb and couldn't make it to the chains.  Thus, we had one quickdraw still on a bolt and we didn't want to leave this behind, (a quickdraw on this same project had been stolen only 2 days prior when I left it the first time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We decided to hike up and around the cliff and decided it was much too difficult to try and reach the chains from down climbing the cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We saw a big tree (definitely thicker than my whole body and alive, the trunk I could barely give it a hug and connect my hands, I'd say) and didn't want to hike back down the cliff after rappelling.  Thus we had our rope go around the tree equalizing the lengths of the rope and threw the rope off until we could see both ends hitting the ground.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We didn't wrap around the tree at all so we could pull the rope down at the end.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was this safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4082" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T15:52:25.210" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T19:39:35.137" Title="Rappelling from tree" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9215" CreationDate="2015-08-19T21:50:41.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: If the tree is a living and thick one, then it was OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, there are several reasons you should had done a proper anchor with multiple points (trees, in this case) and equalized, and then walked back again to the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One simple drawback of your approach is, that the friction between the rope and the tree trunk, when you recall the rope after the rappel, can be harsh to the rope sheath and abrade it. And your rope costed more than the quickdraw you wanted to recover&lt;/strong&gt;. It would unlikely cut it (and you would already on the ground anyways) but would it be worthy to damage the sheath of your expensive rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you could, although unlikely, misjudge the solidness of that single tree. Having &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; points (trees) is of course going to be better, since we're talking about &lt;em&gt;something you're about to hang your life from&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, what we usually do here in the Alps (where is most of the time, if not always, impossible to reach the top of the crag by other means than climbing) is to leave behind a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peguet.fr/applications/ppe-climbing-and-mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;maillon rapide&lt;/a&gt; in place of the quickdraw when this situation happens. A maillon is much cheaper and many people carry one just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T13:37:35.280" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T13:37:35.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9220" CreationDate="2015-08-19T21:54:48.627" Score="2" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to decipher a text from &lt;a href=&quot;http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/connecting_with_your_silent_partner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this page on rope solo leading&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The other way you can tie in is to create a higher tie in point between your harness and chest harness, meaning you have less chance of taking a head first fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far so good. But now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To do this take a length of full strength cord (I used dyneema, but a bit of skinny rope will do) and create an fig8 knot on a bite through your chest harness (you need to be able to unthread your chest harness from the bite at the end, so don’t tie it through any close loops), leaving a long tail from one side of the knot. &#xA;  Now take the tail and pass it through your sit harness and back up, rethreading it through the fig8 knot.  Now you have a fig8 with two bites on each side, joining sit and waist harness. Now take the tail - which is coming out of the top side of the fig8, and create a small bite by threading it back through the fig8. You now have a fig8 with 3 bites. The location of the fig8 and this last loop (this is where you’ll clip your Silent Partner, needs to be around your belly button, so as to avoid the Silent Partner smashing you in the face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no picture on the site and I am really having an hard time understanding that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T01:59:09.380" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:59:09.380" Title="Please explain this cryptic instruction on soloing related knots" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9208" CreationDate="2015-08-19T23:51:49.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on training and the ability to survive the training. It also depends on the load you are carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After disembarking from ships at San Carlos on East Falkland, on 21&#xA;  May 1982, Royal Marines and members of the Parachute Regiment yomped&#xA;  (and tabbed) with their equipment across the islands, covering 56&#xA;  miles (90 km) in three days carrying 80-pound (36 kg) loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yomp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much more context is needed for a full reply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6594" LastActivityDate="2015-08-19T23:51:49.590" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9208" CreationDate="2015-08-20T04:02:35.183" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Giancarlo Ventura&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scientific answer is for you to do it and the then apply your observed progress to future events.  However for planning purposes most people unloaded on flat terrain walk at about 20 minutes a mile.   If you are moving for extended periods make it 25-30 as you will stop to eat and such.  Keeping going without stopping is harder than people think and I often hear people say about how far/fast they can go.  Its always seems too fast and they are often clearly speaking from zero experience (based on their body fat percentages).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other factors are: climbing where 30 minutes a mile may be the best you can do, even descending steep slopes can be 20 min/mile because you have to pick your way down.   Heat, humidity and fitness for the task are all factors (fitness being not just cardio and muscle conditioning, but also skin hardening on feet and areas that get chaffed).  Developing a sense of pace will also allow you to maintain a constant out put hour upon hour, day to day.  It does not take practicing mega miles to get there but some training is essential (body, mind, pace and nutrition) . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked about walking but I have personally covered 100 miles in a day in mountainous terrain using walking and running, carrying light loads (others have done it in under 15 hours, yikes).  The more you practice you will develop a sense for what your pace will be.  Also load carrying is a pace killer, so pack only what you really need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6631" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T04:02:35.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9217" CreationDate="2015-08-20T05:38:49.980" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It may help to take a bit of cord and work through the instructions in order.  After trying it out here, I would describe the finished product as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3RFlP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3RFlP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;triple re-threaded figure-8&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have a massively-rethreaded figure-8; instead of two side-by-side strands forming the 8, it will have four.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This massive knot will have two loops coming out of one end.  The other end will have one loop and the tails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When each loop is tensioned (by chest harness, sit harness, and Silent Partner), the structure will be Y-shaped, with the knot at the branch of the Y.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me it seems the finished product is similar to a small &lt;a href=&quot;http://people.bath.ac.uk/dac33/high/13SelfRescueSenarios2.htm#spidersandmuntertails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rescue spider&lt;/a&gt;.  For a simpler version I would be tempted to take a sling, fold it in two, and tie a figure-8 using all the strands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T05:51:05.520" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T05:51:05.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9215" CreationDate="2015-08-20T07:52:12.263" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do not say what size tree, but to me big means something like 1/2 meter or more diameter trunk. Presuming a living tree with no obvious movement of the roots the tree was infinitely stronger than your quick draw or chains or bolts holding them to the rocks. &quot;Was it safe&quot; is not the right question &quot;was it safer than what I already accepted as safe enough&quot; is the question and the answer is absolutely yes, its safe enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do have a single point failure, but if you pulled the tree over, its unlikely a second anchor would hold you and the tree. In the end, on abseil you have a single point in the rope. Is the tree stronger and more reliable than the rope? Its it not uncommon where I live to set-up a multi point belay using slings or rope around a single large secure tree. This is to protect against your equipment failing, or you failing to set up correctly - either far more likely than a large tree falling on you head.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the tree was smallish, as long as its over about 300mm diameter, alive, its roots not into fractured rock and not moving when you swing on it, it is more than strong enough to be safe. I have happily abseiled off a much smaller trees but every climber has to deal with situation where absolutely safety no longer exists, weather they know it or not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said in my comment, its not acceptable to pull the rope down if its going around the tree. The correct way to use a tree as an abseil anchor is to use a sling around the tree and abseil off the sling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T07:52:12.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9223" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-20T08:19:47.800" Score="10" ViewCount="1544" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it rains when sleeping in a tent, and you touch the material, the water can leak through. This means that if your equipment touches the tent wall, it can be soaked when you wake up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What methods to people have to avoid this happening - can you waterproof your equipment or are there ways to prevent the water leaking through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are, it would be useful, as a large amount of space can be lost when keeping baggage away from the tent wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6623" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T14:13:30.053" Title="What are some techniques to avoid touching a wet tent wall?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9224" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9230" CreationDate="2015-08-20T10:42:51.027" Score="18" ViewCount="15653" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would you go about preparing an old fashioned torch for use in survival situations where an electrical torch has failed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T19:24:20.027" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T17:47:49.217" Title="How to make a traditional torch?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9223" CreationDate="2015-08-20T12:12:24.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think my slightly tongue in cheek comment is relevant. Maybe you need a bigger tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zoHxX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zoHxX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or to follow the fast and light principles and just take less stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baring that If you tent has something inside it to suspend a clothes line then maybe you could rig up some kind of netting (suspended form the poles at either end of the tent like a hammock) to hold your kit off the ground. It's not going to be comfortable but it sounds like your pretty cramped anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to take some dry bags and just keep your equipment outside your tent in those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T12:24:44.790" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T12:24:44.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9606" CreationDate="2015-08-20T13:00:58.313" Score="25" ViewCount="20247" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9223/what-are-some-techniques-to-avoid-touching-a-wet-tent-wall&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; about how not to make anything touch the outer wall of the tent implies that doing so lets the outer tent leak water through. I never head this problem with my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vango.co.uk/gb/duke-of-edinburgh-recommended/177-mirage-300.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vango mirage tent&lt;/a&gt; during a recent trip in heavy rain and wind even though my bag touched the outer tent and the wind pushed the outer tent onto the lower parts of the inner tent on the sides. Still from scouting I know that with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spatz.ch/default/zelte/zeltart/hauszelt/gruppen-spatz-180.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this Spatz tent&lt;/a&gt; the outer tent will leak when touched from the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What materials/surface treatments of tent outer walls do/don't leak water when touched from the inside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus but not really outdoor related: What is the reason for one material to (not) leak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: The distinction that it is not leaking before touching and leaking after touching is important. It is obvious that when it leaked before and you touch the outer, that the inner gets wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:24:44.557" Title="Does touching the tent outer wall from the inside make it leak?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9223" CreationDate="2015-08-20T13:25:15.790" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best solution will depend a lot on your particular tent and general set-up but here are a few pointers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try and keep kit in your tent neat and to a minimum. If you are trekking you probably won't have too much kit anyway. If you are car camping try and keep as much stuff in you car as possible (its nice and dry in there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping your kit tidy and backed away is generally good practise (I'm terrible at this). In particular, I find if you have a big pile of stuff it is easy to just push to one side/into a corner where it will touch the walls and get wet. If you have one or two bags they are easier to place somewhere sensible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, I keep most of my kit in the inner tent where I sleep. I have a small two man so if it is just me I will lay my bag next to me, and try and keep it off the walls. For larger tents you can also put your bag at your feet. I've also seen people use their bag as a pillow which seems quite good, especially if space is tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most larger tents will have a sort of porch area and even small tents tend to have some extra space at the door. You can leave your kit here. If it is a relatively small space lean your kit into the inner so as to avoid the outer. Also if this area doesn't have an groundsheet you kit may get wet from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, as Liam pointed out dry bags are good. If its raining you'll probably get a lot of damp kit anyway so they can help keep your dry stuff separate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T14:13:30.053" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T14:13:30.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9224" CreationDate="2015-08-20T14:52:38.220" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stick&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hardwood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 to 3ft long&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wick (I guess that's suitable terminology)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cotton rags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fuel &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lamp oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;or in the context of a survival situation, animal fat.†&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Misc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;or fence staples&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Directions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soak the rags in the fuel &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the rags around the stick&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fasten the rags to the stick with the nails, staples, or something similar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply fire from an open campfire or use a blow torch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kerosene, gas, alcohol, etc.. they don't burn long enough when exposed. Plus they're unpredictable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon, polyester, etc.. they fall apart in clumps of melting goo and smells worse than burning hair.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not use indoors. :P&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;†Basically when fat is rendered it's very flammable, once it's congealed then it's properties are more akin to wax candles. Tallow fat (from beef) burns steady and slow. See this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/homemade-candle.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;article&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another article on the previously mentioned site that addresses the topic of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/torches.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;primitive torches&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastEditorUserId="6414" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T17:47:49.217" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T17:47:49.217" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9215" CreationDate="2015-08-20T15:09:50.357" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Was it safe?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Yes&lt;/em&gt;, you were not in any danger here (unless your tree was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Was it the best thing to do?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;No&lt;/em&gt;, for a couple of reasons, the most important being that it does not comply with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8026/what-are-the-principles-of-leave-no-trace/8027#8027&quot;&gt;leave not trace ethics&lt;/a&gt;, and can badly scar the tree. It's also no good for your rope, dragging your rope through dirt and sap can significantly shorten the life of your rope. When anchoring off trees you should tie an alpine rappel anchor around the tree and lower off of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4864/how-to-use-a-rap-ring&quot;&gt;rap ring&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; have done, is rappelled off of the bolt. You could have tethered right to the last bolt you were able to climb to, threaded your rope through the hanger, and rappelled off the fixed anchor &lt;em&gt;while still on belay&lt;/em&gt; with a prussic backup &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; your ATC, cleaning your gear on the way down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only is this cleaner, it's also easier, &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; safer than being lowered by your belayer, because you still use all of your intermediate protection in between your top bolt and the ground. If your top bolt fails somehow, you're prussic will catch and you're only going to fall as far as the next bolt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could leave something else up top instead of one of your quick draws, like an old carabiner that's ready for retirement anyways, or a mallion/quicklink that you brought with you because you knew ahead of time there was a possibility you might need to bail on this route &lt;em&gt;again&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T18:33:15.590" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4310" CreationDate="2015-08-20T15:11:00.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an immunity to mosquito bites. Always have. Never had any bump or noticeable mark from a mosquito bite. Never needed to develop it. They even bite me less often than other people, I've noticed (when concentration of mosquitos is low, but when they are out in droves they go HAAM even on me, but still no effect on me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a microbiology student it does seem to me that mine is more a genetic trait. Maybe one day someone will offer me $ for mah blood so they can give people a vaccine. It's definitely something that could be developed into a topical treatment or into a capsulated form for temporary durations and not at great cost. Kind of like anti-venom, but the synthesis would be the difficult and costly part (but not extremely costly) cause I only gots so much blood. I'm envisioning a Mad Max Fury Road type scenario here lol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly there is value in never feeling itchy after a bite. My kids didn't pick up the trait from me and my parentage does not have it either, so it's likely to be recessive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6638" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T15:11:00.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9226" CreationDate="2015-08-20T15:14:59.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Physics-wise, this is called Capillary Action. i.e. touching the surface changes the physical characteristics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simpler explanation - take a look at water in a glass. Notice the meniscus (the way water seems to rise at the edges)? That's capillary action caused by the water in contact with the glass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't think the hydrostatic head measures this per se.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;UPDATE&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to questions about how touching changes the structure - e.g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That conduit is there before and after the touch. It didn't change,&#xA;  but flow did. That's why I would not attribute the flow change to a&#xA;  structure that did not change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The structure &lt;strong&gt;has&lt;/strong&gt; changed. When you look at the water in a glass it rises at the edge because it's in close proximity to the glass. When your finger touches the inside it is exactly the same as that glass touching the water. The structure now has an additional surface at the end of that (rather short) tunnel/conduit formed by the threads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6637" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-12T07:55:06.733" LastActivityDate="2015-10-12T07:55:06.733" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9206" CreationDate="2015-08-20T16:00:46.180" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll give this a shot, but I'm from the US, and although I've done a little bit of mountaineering in the Alps, I've never done Mont Blanc. Others may be able to give better answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you need to buy an ice ax, crampons, and crampon-compatible boots. This is going to be expensive, and it is possible to rent gear in Chamonix, but IMO it's just not practical to work your way up to the level of skill needed for Mont Blanc without owning gear and using it quite a bit. Finding usable, well-fitting crampon-compatible boots can be a hard process. Don't satisfy yourself with boots that give you blisters. For Mont Blanc in summer, I think you probably want leather/synthetic boots (not double plastic boots) such as La Sportiva Evos, which will set you back about 300 pounds. The shape and design of that particular boot happens to work well for my foot, but you need to figure out what works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, get professional instruction in snow travel and self-arrest, or get instruction through a mountaineering club or from an experienced friend who's willing to devote a full day to it. From googling, it looks like there are courses available in Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you're going guided, there are certain physical skills for snow travel that you need to practice and get in your muscle memory. For example, I've often seen people descending on low-angle snow at an extremely slow pace because they lack confidence and the physical skill. They do things like sitting down and inch-worming their way down the slope, or they laboriously use the ice ax in cane position when they could just be plunge-stepping or boot glissading. So you need to practice these skills. Again, I would guess that you could do stuff in Scotland that would work. These don't need to be big peaks, just anywhere that there's snow and steep slopes. To get really comfortable, you will probably need to spend 10-20 days on snow, experiencing different conditions, higher angles, ice, etc. If I were you, I'd join a mountaineering club in the UK and start going on trips with them, starting with easy stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that most people going guided on this type of climb have zero crevasse self-rescue skills. This may be OK if the route you have in mind on Mont Blanc is wanded and the risk of falling in a crevasse is very small. However, I feel that anyone going into this kind of situation should have self-rescue skills. I know a professional guide who fell into a crevasse while on a two-man rope team with a client. The client didn't respond competently, and the result was serious injuries and a helicopter rescue. Although Scotland apparently has not had any glaciers for hundreds of years, you can get self-rescue training there; rather than practicing in a real crevasse, they would probably use a cliff or something. If you want to train in an area that has real glaciers, big crevasses, and icefalls, I would imagine that you could get that in Norway or Iceland, but I don't really know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-08-20T16:36:44.830" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T16:36:44.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5991" CreationDate="2015-08-20T16:05:00.930" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're definitely right to be looking into repairs for your kayak and I'm afraid, although duct tape may seem a quick solution, when you take to the water you'll want something more resilient! You may find this article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.epoxycraft.com/blog-preparing-for-a-fibreglass-boat-repair-part-i/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;how to make repairs to fibreglass boats&lt;/a&gt; of interest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6641" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-12T05:43:06.393" LastActivityDate="2016-07-12T05:43:06.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9206" CreationDate="2015-08-20T16:58:11.260" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm still a little unclear what your asking but here goes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tally's reasonably well with my own experience. I've spent a lot of time in the mountains of the UK (Mainly Snowdonia in North Wales where I live). My long term ambition is to move into more alpinism type route in France, Germany, etc. (much like yourself)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such I'm going to answer your question slightly indirectly and tell you what I've been doing to get up to where I wish to go (and this will hopefully help you too)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been rock climbing for a number of years. This has helped me develop a number of skills that you will likely need for alpine days, specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rope skills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making belays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving on rock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Placing secure anchors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I knew though that these skills likely weren't enough for what I wanted to do. So my next step has been to get some winter training (the Alps are obviously covered in snow and ice so this is very important).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually looked into doing a winter skills course in Scotland but found these prohibitively expensive. So I decided to teach myself (this isn't for everyone, I'm a bit of a nerd on these types of subjects and I like to think I'm aware of my own limitiaions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so I bought the following items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice Axe (walking style not climbing style)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B2 rated boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C2 rated crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ski goggles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already own a full set of winter and waterproof clothing. I then spent the winter in Wales (when it snowed) walking paths I knew well and gaining experience. I practised self arrest and various other winter specific techniques that I could only do with snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We then spent a week in Scotland walking in the cairngorms (ticking off munroes). I'm now pretty confident up to winter Grade II. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't feel (TBH even after all of this practice, etc.) that I have enough skills to tackle the Alps quite yet (I also can't afford it right now as I'm trying to save to buy a house). I have not done any crevasse rescue or work on glaciers (because there aren't any in Scotland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that Mont Blanc (via the ordinary route I think it's called, the most common one) is typically everyone's first Alpine mountain and you will struggle to find any other peak as accessible (with a guide). So I can't really suggest another European hill to do as training. There are &lt;strong&gt;numerous less busy alternatives&lt;/strong&gt; though, Mont Blanc can get very busy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously none of these mountainous areas are anywhere near London, I'm lucky I live in north Wales. But I would suggest spending as much time as you can &lt;strong&gt;in winter&lt;/strong&gt; in Scotland, etc. this will help you hone you winter skills which you will need for a summer accent of Mont Blanc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly I've just finished reading an article in the perils of alpine routes on Mont Blanc, prob worth a read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7563&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7563&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T09:46:10.733" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T09:46:10.733" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9224" CreationDate="2015-08-20T19:51:53.713" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've helped a few friends make torches for medieval events they were hosting. As I was the only one who managed to burn themselves during assembly and testing, I feel somewhat informed, if a bit clumsy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your choice of materials will depend on how long you want your torch to burn for, as well as how brightly. Specifically, your wick material and your fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Handle:&lt;/strong&gt; Ordinarily, you can bet on using a fire-hardened hardwood. Fresh greenwood will crack from rapid heating. Avoid anything too rotted (e.g.: average stick laying on the forest floor), or anything that has the remotest chance that it was painted or chemically treated (&lt;em&gt;Fun Fact: Some chemicals, as well as the fumes they give off, make for quite the brow-remover if/when ignited by the unwary.&lt;/em&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The diameter and length are whatever you deem acceptable, but I would caution against going less than about 2 ft/~61 cm in length and 1.5 in/~38 mm in width (these dimensions are from a dicey memory). If doing this at home, I suggest looking up the dimensions of a juggler's torch and working from there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wick:&lt;/strong&gt; Natural fibers are the way to go here. Many synthetics will melt when exposed to flame and high-heat. We went with a large amount of jute twine, but I have successfully used burlap and hemp rope. Some careful knotwork and a few well-placed nails will keep it securely bound to the handle throughout the majority of the burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fuel:&lt;/strong&gt; Avoid fuels used in cooking, as they often burn too quickly or too hot. I have used tar, pitch, pine resin, lard, and bear fat. I favor a pine resin/lard mix (mostly because it's readily available and doesn't smell as bad as tar or resin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Directions:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the fuel is not viscous: Submerge the wick in the for soaking and leave it for a few hours, depending on the thickness of the wick. If the fuel is viscous, don some gloves and coat your wick in the fuel. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire-harden your handle (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fire%20hardening%20wood&quot;&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt; for how-to guides). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once your wick is done soaking/coated, put on gloves (Unless you like your hands igniting. Each to their own). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap and fasten, via knots and/or fasteners/nails/screws/wire, your wick to the fired end of the handle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When ready, hold the torch away from your body and ignite. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On safety and legality:&lt;/strong&gt; Check your local fire codes. There's a solid chance that a &quot;torch&quot; will be specifically mentioned somewhere. We've had specific permission and supervision by a couple of on-duty firemen during a ceremony where the torches were handled and moved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do yourself a favor and keep the torch tilted away from yourself and others at a 45-60 degree angle. This reduces the odd fuel &quot;leak&quot; from dripping down on your hand. I advise thick gloves, usually of animal hide, when handling a lit torch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T04:29:07.587" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T04:29:07.587" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9206" CreationDate="2015-08-20T21:42:40.660" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my answer I make the following two assumptions:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You either have someone who can show you the techniques involved, you have access to some courses to teach it or you are a very serious self-taught person. In any case I will suggest tours to gain experience on your own after you learned the techniques (at least theoretically).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am based in Switzerland near Zurich and do not know the Chamonix or Venice area, so I will talk about a location close to Zurich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key abilities to do Mont Blanc guided are rope handling, glacier and steep snow techniques. So that is what I propose:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The area in Glarus around the mountain &quot;Toedi&quot; is perfectly suited for all levels of such trainings. It is located at 2.5h by train or 1.5h by car from Zurich airport (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/maps/dir/Flughafen+Z%C3%BCrich,+8058+Z%C3%BCrich-Flughafen/Seilbahn+Urnerboden-+Fisetengrat,+Uf+em+Port,+Urnerboden/@47.1022626,8.5169315,9z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x479075424052757d:0xc66b77d646887658!2m2!1d8.5554755!2d47.4582165!1m5!1m1!1s0x47853bbff4e21793:0xc5e38c68e898475!2m2!1d8.9025587!2d46.888573&quot;&gt;overwiew&lt;/a&gt; / &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?X=188652.19&amp;amp;Y=712162.54&amp;amp;zoom=5&amp;amp;topic=ech&amp;amp;lang=en&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;layers=KML%7C%7Chttps:%2F%2Fpublic.geo.admin.ch%2Fi0gA4AfySjSUqry6T7sk2Q&quot;&gt;detailed map&lt;/a&gt;). Your base would be the hut &quot;Claridenhuette&quot; (red marker below the glacier) which is accessible either walking from &quot;Tierfehd&quot; (red marker) or from &quot;Urnerboden&quot; (red marker) via the cable car to &quot;Fisetengrat&quot; and from there to the hut. From there the possibilies are endless. For the very beginning there is a flat glacier nearby, where walking on crampons with a rope on a glacier, walking on sloped snow, crevasse rescue ... can be trained. To apply these newly learned skills you can do a tour on eg &quot;Clariden&quot; which is basically a long walk on the glacier with a moderately steep (max 40deg) incline at its end. Many more tours to be made. When you have gained more experience, the tour to the &quot;Toedi&quot; is very similar to the Mount Blanc save the altitude. There are also huge crevassed areas, steep slopes and long distances. But this tour is already quite advanced.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Anyway you can easily get to the hut using the maps I showed you and then you will see the possibilities yourself or can ask the personel, they will gladly point you to suited areas for training. Of course there are also various guided courses available there, but they are expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For additional training the region of Zermatt (4h by train from Geneva) offers great tours in moderate difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-08-20T21:42:40.660" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9240" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9246" CreationDate="2015-08-21T04:29:33.843" Score="9" ViewCount="1163" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a big fan of ultralight hiking. One of the more creative aspects of not taking much on the trail is personal hygiene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My hygiene kit consists of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toothbrush &amp;amp; toothpaste&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dr. Bronner's soap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bandana (towel-function)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash / shower water (via water filter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I like the ultralight aspect of this, what other solutions are there to the toothbrush / toothpaste combo?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6648" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T19:49:20.247" Title="What are some alternatives to drilling holes in a toothbrush?" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9226" CreationDate="2015-08-21T05:18:02.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is indeed due to Capillary action. As there are great answers already by Dynadin and Aravona and Snow Crash, I would strictly limit the scope of my answer to why it happens and how, just to clarify how the Capillary Action comes in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic property of water molecules is staying together, we refer that as Cohesion, and those molecules also tend to stick to whatever that comes in contact, thats what we call Adhesion. The Physics defines Capillary action as the movement of water molecules (for layman, water as whole) within the spaces of a porous material or surface due to adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension. &#xA;Cohesive property of water is what causes to inhibit Surface Tension which is a property inhibited by liquids to acquire surface area as less as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best example to explain this would be half a glass water on a hard flat surface and you wiping it with tissue paper. Tissue paper is fibrous and hence porous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Dynadin explained (quoting from his answer)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In older tents the hydrostatic head was usually quite low. In addition they were quite often base untreated materials, cotton, nylon, etc. When touched there was nothing to stop capillary action from happening so the inside of the material became wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which clearly explains why water drips in through. The only assertion that I think everybody missed is Surface Tension that comes in picture along with the Sorptivity of the tent fabric. The technical term (when specifically considered with Capillary Action) to what we are vaguely referring as permeability or amount of leaking that can take place is Sorptivity, which wikipedia defines as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;measure of the capacity of the medium to absorb liquid by Capillarity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mathematically (and in the harder way to look at it), &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;V = AS(t&lt;sup&gt;1/2&lt;/sup&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where, &lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt; is volume of the water intake, &lt;em&gt;A&lt;/em&gt; is the surface area subjected to water, &lt;em&gt;S&lt;/em&gt; is Sorptivity of the tent surface and &lt;em&gt;t&lt;/em&gt; is the time for which you have pitched the tent while something is touching the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One question: Have you ever bought a cheap rain-jacket? Gets wet at the elbows first than belly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try this, take a cloth which is not really rainproof. Put it onto a vessel as a filter. Pour water quickly, faster and in more volume than what cloth can filter and drip below. You should see water being gathered, slowly filtered and then collected in the vessel below. Now, somehow, put your hand in the vessel and poke the filter-cloth from inside, water shall be collected faster than before. End of play, throw the water away to the plants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, What Capillary Action has got to do with something touching the tent from inside?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It has all got to do with the Porosity and the Sorptivity of the surface and the Surface Tension of the tent fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-21T08:23:47.470" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T08:23:47.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9446" CreationDate="2015-08-21T08:53:18.007" Score="11" ViewCount="1095" Body="&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ume_River&quot;&gt;home river&lt;/a&gt; has a minimum size limit of 50 cm for keeping atlantic salmon, while I have seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uky.edu/~agrdanny/flyfish/ethics.htm&quot;&gt;online&lt;/a&gt; that some other places have a maximum size limit above which fish cannot be retained. Why is there such difference between fisheries? Which way is more efficient in terms of conservation? What are the arguments for one or another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-10-28T13:12:39.113" Title="Why do some fisheries have a lower size limit and others have an upper size limit for keeping fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9243" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-21T12:51:40.353" Score="5" ViewCount="645" Body="&lt;p&gt;My backpack (Osprey Aether 70L) is moving from left to right slightly, albeit annoyingly, when I walk. I believe I adjusted the harness correctly, following the manufacturer's instructions &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/sizing_and_fitting&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I undo the clips that connect the belt to the backpack the problem goes away - I am able to walk and backpack barely moves from left to right, but I suspect that's not a proper solution, as the clips connect the load-bearing frame of the backpack to the hipbelt and when I disconnect those it's only the velco strap on the belt holds all the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this an inherent 'feature' of the backpack or can I somehow get rid of this swinging motion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6651" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:31.087" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T21:39:31.087" Title="Backpack is moving from side to side when I walk - is that the way it's supposed to be?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9243" CreationDate="2015-08-21T13:35:33.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the same pack, and I've never noticed an issue like this. I find it interesting that the sway is resolved by undoing the buckles from the hip belt to the pack- I don't have mine in front of me, but based on my memory those are not a primary load-bearing component, and the velcro would be sufficient on its own. It sounds like this is related to the natural sway of your hips, which shouldn't normally cause the pack to move much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first thought is that the pack may not be riding correctly on your hips. I assume you had someone measure your torso length and the size pack you got is correct for said length? You could try cinching the hip belt a little tighter or looser and seeing if it rides better a little higher or lower. Ensure that your shoulder straps are reasonably tight, but still not bearing much at all of the weight. Also, make sure all of your compression straps are tightened up so the load is carried closer to your body. If none of that works, you can always go back to the store where you got it and ask them to take a look at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T13:35:33.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9243" CreationDate="2015-08-21T19:21:55.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, your bag is not supposed to do that, your bag is supposed to be secure on your back, it's not supposed to move from side to side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of things which could be going wrong. First of all I'd check to make sure your bag is properly adjusted and your stabilized straps are snug. If your bag is still flopping around then you probably need to redistribute the weight inside you back pack. If neither of those things works, then your bag is either the wrong fit entirely, or broken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most critical adjustment is your torso length, you want the shoulder straps to wrap over the top of your should and come back down a couple inches while the waist belt is snug on your hips (some bags allow for fine adjustments on torso length). Start with all the straps loose, snug the waist belt first, rest it right on your hips and tighten it up, then do your shoulder straps, after those are snug, then you need to tighten up your stabilizer straps on the sides of your hips and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7507/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-shoulder-strap-upper-adjustment/7510#7510&quot;&gt;on top of your shoulders&lt;/a&gt;. At this point I typically put a tiny amount of slack back into the shoulder straps to relieve some of the load off of your shoulders, your hips should carry the weight, everything else keeps the bag close to your body and prevents it from flopping around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T19:21:55.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9240" CreationDate="2015-08-21T20:09:02.677" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd cut my brush shorter long before I'd take the time to try drilling it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But If I was serious about going &lt;em&gt;ultra&lt;/em&gt; light, I wouldn't pack a normal/modified toothbrush at all, I'd take a finger brush, either a reusable one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZEL88.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZEL88.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or some disposable ones:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvVwL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvVwL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EYspg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EYspg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to keep a couple brush-ups in my bag, they work ok, but honestly you could probably achieve the same affect using the collar of your t-shirt (which I will sometimes do...), minus the minty freshness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-21T20:09:02.677" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="73" CreationDate="2015-08-22T02:27:09.803" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others have covered the basic knots here already.  Rather than post more, I want to point out that you should know one or more knots for each basic use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tying two pieces of line together requires a &quot;bend&quot;.  Three common&#xA;bends are square (reef) knot, sheet bend, and fisherman's bend.  Each&#xA;has some advantages over the others, and these are important to&#xA;understand, but they all have the same effect (specifically, joining&#xA;two lines...).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &quot;hitch&quot; is used to fasten a line to a stationary object (be it a limb&#xA;or another line).  Three common hitches include a round turn with two &#xA;half hitches, a tautline hitch, and a timber hitch.  Again, each hitch &#xA;has advantages over the others, but I would know AT LEAST one of these.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Some hitches such as a prussik or icicle hitch have a &quot;slip and grip&quot; &#xA;property which can be very useful when done correctly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally, some knots create a &quot;bight&quot; (loop) in the line.  Most of these &#xA;create a bight at the end (bowline, fisherman's loop), but some (alpine &#xA;butterfly or directional figure eight) can be used to place a loop in &#xA;the middle of the line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you continue to learn knots, be sure to understand what makes them different from others of the same type.  Some knots are more suitable for natural fiber cord rather than synthetic cord, some jam easily where others are easier to untie, and some have unique properties (adjustable, decorative, strength, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've learned the basics, you will begin to develop preferences which work for you. Perhaps more important, you will begin to recognize how each knot should be applied correctly or used in more complex applications with other knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a great way to test your basic outdoor knot skills, attempt to hang a tarp using nothing but cord.  Personally, I find that I use half hitches (sometimes slipped), alpine butterflies, trucker's hitch, and tautline hitches among others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2015-08-22T02:27:09.803" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9212" CreationDate="2015-08-22T12:14:54.850" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was in the British Army, the officially recommended way to soften new leather boots and to keep them waterproof was to fill them with cooking oil and leave for it to soak through the leather (some will eventually ooze out, so don't leave them on the carpet).   You can drain the oil and store for future reproofing.   Your socks might smell like French_fries(U.S)/chips(U.K) but it's cheap, simple and it works.   I'm no longer playing soldiers but I still find it the most effective method for proofing leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6656" LastActivityDate="2015-08-22T12:14:54.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9249" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9254" CreationDate="2015-08-22T21:23:21.030" Score="11" ViewCount="2105" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have climbed for a long time, but I want to switch to cordelette anchors for speed on multipitch. My main concern is in redundancy with the cordelette.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mentally check the anchor for any problems, and I usually use two slings in this type of equalized configuration + added knots to prevent shockloading if a bolt fails (knots not shown): &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vTKK6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vTKK6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting into multipitch however, it seems like cordelette is the way to go for setting up quick 3 point anchors. However, the cordelette doesn't seem redundant to me. If the cord breaks above the knot, it's certainly safe, but most breaks happen at the knot. If this happens, the whole thing could potentially unravel!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see everyone using a single cordelette to do multipitch though. It seems to be breaking the redundancy rule. It seems silly to double up on carabiners, double up on bolts, double up on slings, and only use one cordelette when the cordelette 10kN failure strength is one of the lowest breaking forces in the system. Am I missing something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ty0OV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ty0OV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; - here's a picture of a cordelette doubled up. Even if one strand breaks and unravels in the knot, there is an entirely closed loop of cordelette still in the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3947" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:45.160" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:45.160" Title="Learning Anchors - How is single cordelette loop anchor redundant?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9249" CreationDate="2015-08-22T22:54:18.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On cordelettes:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;A cordelette used to set up a 3 point anchor will have three loops of rope above the knot (one per piece) and three loops below.  The knot itself will have 6 strands of rope running through it.  (This eats up almost 2 meters of cordelette length alone.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cut a single strand the location of the cut hardly matters; you will still have two independent loops both above and below the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPDeT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPDeT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If your concern is that the entire loop of cordelette is no longer a closed loop, then why would you consider a cordelette to be a closed loop at all?  After all, whichever knot you used to tie it into a loop could similarly &quot;unravel&quot;.  Fortunately we are not using frictionless materials, and so knots actually hold.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On redundancy:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;While redundancy is often talked about, in actual use it's mostly applicable in cases where the security of a piece of equipment is uncertain.  Thus it is common to double up on bolts or triple up on cams, whereas a good-sized tree or refrigerator sized block of stone can be considered sufficient.  Similarly, top-rope anchors are usually unmonitored, so you use extra carabiners at the powerpoint to ensure the rope doesn't unclip itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In multipitch anchors where someone is at the anchor to keep an eye on things, using a single sling to connect a pair of bolts and a single locking carabiner as the powerpoint is relatively common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your belay device is attached to a single belay loop, your climbing rope (at least in the US) is often single, your personal anchor (or sling, or bit of rope) is similarly single, and I would argue that your harness tie-in points are better described as &quot;complementary&quot; than redundant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes the absolute strength ratings of equipment less important is the rope itself; its elasticity lessens the force on the rest of the equipment.  A fall hard enough to break a sling or cordelette is going to do very bad things to your spine and internal organs.  (Even a factor two fall on climbing rope should not have enough force to do this.)  Thus, if a cord breaks in actual climbing, it's probably because a large rock fell on it or it was cut by a sharp edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2015-08-22T23:23:22.903" LastActivityDate="2015-08-22T23:23:22.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9251" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-23T01:17:02.887" Score="8" ViewCount="450" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never tried rope-soloing and don't have a very detailed idea of how it's done. But reading the 2015 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, I was struck by how many accidents happened to people who were rope-soloing. My impression is that only a very small percentage of climbing is done using this technique, so the number of accidents would be disproportionate, suggesting that it's either an inherently dangerous activity or maybe one that a lot of people do incorrectly. On the other hand, it seems like a technique that could be useful for self-rescue, for example if your partner gets hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why does rope-soloing seem to be so dangerous?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6271/technique-for-lead-solo-climbing-with-rope&quot;&gt;Technique for lead solo climbing with rope&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9079/most-common-avoidable-reasons-for-climbing-accidents&quot;&gt;Most common avoidable reasons for climbing accidents?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T06:13:06.310" Title="Is rope-soloing inherently dangerous, and if so, why?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9249" CreationDate="2015-08-23T02:57:57.463" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbers have traditionally used redundancy for metal objects rather than ropes/slings/etc. because a piece of metal can fail completely, and instantly, from one crack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the same reason that we don't use gear that has been dropped, or has an unknown history: a microscopic crack might be there just waiting for a load to open it up. The same concerns are why cams and other pro are (used to be?) never welded, only brazed or soldered at the factory: welding introduces internal stress and microscopic cracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A sling or rope OTOH, is made of many flexible strands so cracks don't happen to them. Multiple strands mean they have built in redundancy. And when they get damaged from abrasion, cuts and UV exposure, we can see the damage. Multiple ropes and slings are really only used to protect against external threats - rock falls, sharp edges and bad pro.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T02:57:57.463" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9251" CreationDate="2015-08-23T08:28:42.393" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not have knowledge about the particular accidents stated in the question, so my answer is directed at rope soloing in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that more reported accidents happen when rope soloing is moste due to the fact that it is soloing. While in a team many minor accidents can be handled by yourself, so there is a huge number of accidents that do not need rescue and therefore never get reported. When soloing you are almost certainly stuck when anything happens, so you will need assistance. Therefore the number of unreported accidents is much smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second factor is the higher complexity in the system. You have more and complicated gear to handle (just read the question linked, there may even be stuff like modified grigris involved). The amount of errors made always scales with the complexity of the system. Even in the less complex system of climbing in a team, it is highly recommended to do partner checks at all time to introduce redundancy and thus find errors. Because knowledge and experience does not prevent errors (some studies even state the contrary effect, i.e. habituation increases the chance of errors), the fact (true?) that only well trained people do rope soloing does not help either. Again in rope soloing you do not have a partner with a second set of hands, eyes and another brain to check what you are doing. And I am not ashamed to admit that this second brain potentially saved my ass several times in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T08:28:42.393" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9249" CreationDate="2015-08-23T08:57:29.980" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to the question in your title is simple: This is not redundant. Is this a problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to realize the following about redundancy in climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mostly there is &lt;strong&gt;no complete redundancy&lt;/strong&gt; in climbing. You climb with one rope, you use one sling for self arrest, ... In rescue operations we have the order to be always redundantly secured and you can believe, the resulting battle of material is exorbitant. Redundancy always comes at the cost of &lt;strong&gt;more complexity and weight&lt;/strong&gt;, so we only want to go redundant if there is no alternative way to achieve the same (reduced) amount of risk.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The conclusion is that &lt;strong&gt;redundancy is needed where failure is uncertain&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why we back up bolts and pro. They were not tested (in place), so they may fail without you being able to foresee it. In slings, cordelettes, ropes, harnesses, ... this is not the case. These were tested according to norms, so you can determine whether they are strong enough or not. The maximal force a rope can exert is 10kN (again due to testing according to norms), so the maximal force on any point is twice as high (rope redirection): 20kN. Look at slings and quickdraws: They have strength ratings of 22kN so no chance they will brake. Thats why you don't use redundancy on them. Of course this is only true if everything is in good condition and correctly handled, but thats commonplace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maximal load onto a cordelette at a belay is 20kN too, so there is no uncertainty. You need to choose the cordelette accordingly and you are save. So the question is whether it is strong enough or not, and not should I use redundancy. As a matter of fact most belays are not built for the worst case: If you belay the leader on your harness, the rope is clipped into the belay and he falls before reaching the first protection there is the chance of such a 20kN load onto the anchor. Very often just one sling with a knot (-50%) is used to connect the bolts and provide a central tie in point, so it can only take 11kN (half the sling rating). This can be mitigated by belaying directly on the belay stating or justified by &quot;being attentive&quot;, meaning stopping the fall dynamically and thus reducing the actual load (which will anyway never really reach the 20kN). But technically, that situation is not save, but when is climbing save? Never! We just do our best to reduce risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-08-23T09:03:18.393" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T09:03:18.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6948" CreationDate="2015-08-23T10:51:09.903" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thank you to nhinkle who posted the answer that showed it is possible to put a bike in an canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have something over 100 miles of canoeing with a bike and a dolly in my canoe now.  I started with the bike and the dolly laying in the bottom of the canoe. But it took up lots of floor space and everything tended to get tangled together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put the dolly in the center of the canoe, leaning against the cross bar, and lay the bike sides ways across the canoe and dolly (gears, derailleur and chain up).  I strap everything to the canoe, and off I go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no balance issues, but it does make it difficult to get close to dock that is higher then the top rail of the canoe.  On the other hand the bike tires make great bumpers when &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6955&quot;&gt;going through a lock.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nqrze.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nqrze.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bike in canoe from canoew&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LbG6u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LbG6u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And adding a picture of my Recumbent tricycle in the Canoe, Before purchasing this delta trike I measured the back wheel width and the canoe. It fits nicely&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Asnhb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Asnhb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-06-08T22:38:54.973" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9257" CreationDate="2015-08-23T10:55:39.660" Score="31" ViewCount="21943" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few pictures on the internet of people towing canoes with bicycles, there are even complete solutions that you can purchase for the task.  But what is really involved, what are the challenges and the solutions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;How to carry a bicycle in a canoe?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2019-01-03T22:15:24.243" Title="How to tow a canoe with a bicycle?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9256" CreationDate="2015-08-23T11:50:52.597" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on a 17-foot plastic Coleman canoe with an aluminium frame. The length and the plastic increase the challenges. I have over 100 miles experience now, with legs of 14 to 15 miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After much online research I purchased a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seattlesportsco.com/paddling/boat-carts/atc-all-terrain-center-cart.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seattle Sports All Terrain Canoe Center Cart&lt;/a&gt;; there is an option that includes a tow bar to connect it to your bike, but that is for a max of 16 foot canoe.  The Seattle sports hitch is a low mount hitch; most of the home made solutions you find on Google are high mount: see &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/25282/what-are-the-safety-concerns-of-a-high-vs-a-low-mount-trailer-hitch&quot;&gt;What are the safety concerns of a high vs a low mount trailer hitch?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty much all the commercially available carts are designed with a couple of padded rest points that your canoe or kayak will rest on.  This might be OK for short distances or with an empty hard-shell (fiberglass type) boat with nothing in it, but for a relatively soft plastic canoe, loaded with gear, traveling more then a mile or so, in warm (or hot) weather, the issues start to build up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem one: a trailer hitch.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/27234&quot;&gt;Trailer connection, off the shelf parts and proven performer&lt;/a&gt;, for my solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAGlI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAGlI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem two: keep the canoe on the cart. The strap that comes with dolly is not going to work, I tried several variations and a single strap is problematic for any distance.  Every time you hit a pothole the dolly moves a bit.  Pretty soon the dolly has slid back and is partly sideways; your 3-foot wide canoe is making a 5-foot wide swath behind you. I tipped the canoe over on my first outing, brushing against a pole, had to stop every mile and recenter it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution is four straps; the image shows 5, but the center strap turned out not to be required (and is more likely to wear (&lt;em&gt;break&lt;/em&gt;) when you brush against things. Two straps pulling the dolly back and center, two straps pulling the dolly forward and center.  I used 15-foot ratchet straps in the front, and wrapped around the trailer hitch before hooking to the seat.  You don't need much pressure; it just needs to be snug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e0Aee.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e0Aee.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Straps &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem three:The plastic hull is resting on the padded bars of the cart; this was okay at first, but the warm weather and time started causing the canoe to be come deformed. I tried using a strap between the bars for the keel to rest on, but I started to notice the canoe rubbing on the cart wheels (&lt;em&gt;and damaging the canoe&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution build a wood deck on the dolly. There is a space for the keel; now most of the weight is carried by the keel. The large flat area (&lt;em&gt;shaped to minimize pressure points&lt;/em&gt;) provides balance and are helps to reshape the hull.  It is easier to get and keep the boat centered on the cart.  This added a couple of pounds, but it has been more then worth it.  The canoe can't rub against the tires. I actually picked up about 2 miles per hour on the first outing with the wood deck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JeJBx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JeJBx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Canoe on Dolly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although not shown on any of the images above, I also used a bungee cord to support/lift the hitch a way up the seat post.  Without it the hitch would occasionally drag on the rear tire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Pulling the Canoe&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually towing the canoe is not as bad as I had expected.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is heavy, and the cart tires are relatively wide. Racing bikes have skinny tires for a reason: less friction.  Here, I have all terrain tires on the bike and the canoe dolly.  All of which means it is harder to go fast. It also means you go over rough terrain easier and have more control, so it is trade-off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is long, I mean really long.  The national move yourself trailer rental company (US) does not even rent a trailer as long as the canoe. &lt;strong&gt;AND&lt;/strong&gt; because the dolly is in the center of the canoe, it pivots in the center of the canoe when you turn.  When taking a sharp corner the back of the canoe can swing out 8½ feet (nearly 3 meters): if you are on the center line of a road, and turn sharp, the canoe could hit a car parked on the side of the road.  I recommend you practise turning, well away from things that might get damaged (&lt;em&gt;e.g. in an empty parking lot&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With some practice, you can tow on roads without difficulty and on most areas of bike paths fine.  Slow down for corners; get off and walk everything around narrow corners.  Sometimes the bike must be carried or disconnected from the canoe to make it through tight corners or narrow areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My canoe is about 3 feet (1 meter) wide; many bike paths in the US have posts to prevent motor vehicles from going on the path, These seem to mostly have about 3½ to 4 feet of space between them so the canoe does fit. You will want to walk through while learning but now I am able to bike through about 95% of them.  Get lined up well before you get to the posts and don't turn until the entire canoe is through (the tail will swing and hit a post).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expect the canoe to rub in tight spots even if you are moving it by hand; bring extra straps to connect it to the dolly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use extreme cation when corning if there are people, cars or anything damageable around.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:32:41.257" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T12:52:14.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9258" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9259" CreationDate="2015-08-23T13:40:45.190" Score="17" ViewCount="3908" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be doing a guided tour which includes going up a steep slope on a glacier, therefore I need an ice axe. &#xA;I could rent one for a couple of bucks from the tour organizers, but I was wondering if there is any reason not just to use my dad's 30-year-old ice axe (if the length is ok). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't see any rust, but perhaps the design or materials are significantly better today?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some pictures for reference. DIN A4 (210mm x 297mm) sheet for scale:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BjLu0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BjLu0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ice axe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dlvzx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Extra detail part 1&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e71Y8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Extra detail part 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:19:32.507" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:19:32.507" Title="Any reasons not to use 30-year-old ice axe?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9258" CreationDate="2015-08-23T14:18:05.907" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a guided glacier tour: No reason - go ahead and use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not worry about resharpening, as from your description there are no steep ice sections on the route. If there are and you like using your own hands, start filing. The quick option is to keep the geometry and just sharpen everything. The longer one is to reshape the tip so it looks more like a modern ice tool. Just follow the steps described &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/so-you-want-to-sharpen-your-tools-eh/179394&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (will need some imagination as yours looks quite different to begin with).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major difference to recent axes is that it's not normed. This means it is not tested for use as a T-anchor. I used B-rated and non-rated for T-anchors in crevasse rescue trainings and they did all hold up. So as long as you don't do anchors to belay someone on a slope, I would not even worry about using it as a T-anchor. As you are guided you will anyway not come into the situation where you need to set up a T-anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2015-08-24T02:47:24.343" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T02:47:24.343" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9258" CreationDate="2015-08-23T14:38:01.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a safety perspective, there's no reason why you couldn't use that axe. But if it was mine, I'd probably have it hung up on the wall as an heirloom, or in a display case with photos of my Dad carrying it. Stuff like that carries huge sentimental value. The only other reason I can think of why you wouldn't want to carry it, is because it's going to be a lot heavier than anyone else's axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as design and materials go, most glacier travel axes these days are made out of some sort of light-weight alloy, your axe there looks like it's made out of stainless steel, which is much stronger, you could cut stone with that axe, and that spike looks absolutely deadly, it might sink a bit further than you'd like when you lean on it for support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to bring it to save a couple of buck then go ahead, but don't modify it in any way, you'll probably do more damage than good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T14:38:01.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9261" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9265" CreationDate="2015-08-23T20:57:42.233" Score="7" ViewCount="15114" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to leave a fire unattended for a short time and then to return to use it again? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is my imagined scenario: arrive at a camp site and start a fire in a pre-made iron fire pit. Cook and eat dinner over the fire. Then, leave the fire unattended and go hiking for a few hours. Then return and cook dessert over the fire. There will be tents in the vicinity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I put it all the way out and then restart it from scratch, or is there a more effective, but still safe, way to leave the fire unattended?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit after @ShemSeger's answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course I do not want to leave ANY chance of a fire spreading, so maybe a better way to phrase my line of thinking is: what is the best way to completely put out a fire that I will be returning to? I imagine that soaking all the wood in 6 inches of water will make it difficult to restart. Is burying the best way to go?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5745" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-08-24T17:21:52.480" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T00:19:43.163" Title="Leaving a fire unattended for a few hours, then returning" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9258" CreationDate="2015-08-23T21:02:54.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use an axe far older than that as my primary axe. In my opinion, modern ice axes are made too short. Besides, I can get a grip on wood better than the modern materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing of key note, test the self-arrest. On my axe I found self-arrest does not work on any slope steep enough to warrant it, and the only viable self-arrest mode is ramming the shaft of the axe into the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For belay, you must use an old technique suitable to the axe. I did this by ramming the axe into the snow all the way up to the head and clipping a climber's belay to the shaft of the axe. (The third man would rig a backup belay on a short line to the primary belay for leader moves).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T21:02:54.257" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2015-08-23T22:16:43.263" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just came in from a 3 mile hike and I am the kind of person you're talking about.  It took me 1 hour on a flat surface, well maintained trail through the woods.  So 3 mph is a good general rule of thumb for your average joe on level ground, no heavy backpack, no speed competition, but no stopping to smell the roses and take pictures, breaks. etc.  I'm not a poster child for physical fitness, but I care about staying reasonably healthy.  What avid hikers call a &quot;simple&quot; trail I call &quot;moderate.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6662" LastEditorUserId="6662" LastEditDate="2015-08-23T22:22:57.937" LastActivityDate="2015-08-23T22:22:57.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9249" CreationDate="2015-08-24T00:24:54.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The focal knot itself provides redundancy&lt;/strong&gt;. According to the Ashley Book of Knots, when a cord breaks, it usually does so &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=QaSBVuPK9H0C&amp;amp;pg=PA17&amp;amp;lpg=PA17&amp;amp;dq=%22A+rope+practically+never+breaks+within+a+knot%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=iyszSJd9FO&amp;amp;sig=qfmv5qHdsvuhRGiIEXMmcL8wazE&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0CCUQ6AEwAWoVChMIu5nEvbjAxwIVQTiICh1F-QOh#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22A%20rope%20practically%20never%20breaks%20within%20a%20knot%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;outside of the knot and not inside&lt;/a&gt;. Therefore, if the cord breaks below the knot, like you were concerned, the knot will not usually be affected or unravel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfGYmsbYuFg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SARRR has an excellent video demonstration of this behavior&lt;/a&gt; with an equalized cordelette anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the initial failure, the knot is still intact and maintains redundancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar results for different knots &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.balancecommunity.com/slack-science/comparison-soft-shackle-methods/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stcroixmarine.com/aggregator&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (pictures posted here because the articles are long):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YvrQo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YvrQo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NDHwA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NDHwA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T00:24:54.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9261" CreationDate="2015-08-24T02:58:22.953" Score="24" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Fires must be attended at all times!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no such thing as, &lt;em&gt;&quot;the best way to leave a fire unattended for a short time,&quot;&lt;/em&gt; your fire is either being attended, or your fire is thoroughly extinguished and your pit is left cold, &lt;strong&gt;no argument&lt;/strong&gt;. There are no conditions where an open pit fire can be left alone and be 100% guaranteed not to spread. It's the people who ignorantly assume they can walk away from their fires who are often responsible for carelessly ignited forrest fires. My father is a fire captain in a small mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, his department is regularly called out all summer long to extinguish brush fires started by unattended fire pits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have plans to leave your campsite after a meal then you should probably plan a meal that can be prepared &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; a fire, or which can be cooked using a stove, either that, or you prepare a small fire, just big enough to cook with, then extinguish it before you leave, you can still use your partially burned wood when you get back, just put it on top after you've got a new fire going again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only is never leaving your fire unattended a universal rule, it's also a &lt;em&gt;written&lt;/em&gt; rule in every park and campground. In some places it's even illegal, and you can be fined for doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(in response to OP edit to question)&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; If the fire is &lt;strong&gt;hot&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(doesn't matter if it's above ground or below)&lt;/em&gt; then you &lt;strong&gt;cannot&lt;/strong&gt; responsibly leave it unattended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are planning to leave camp immediately after cooking over a fire, then you should to take those plans into consideration while initially building it. Use only as much wood as you'll need to cook, and start cooking as soon as you have some hot coals and the flames die down a bit. Once you start cooking, &lt;em&gt;stop&lt;/em&gt; adding wood to the fire. The coals will burn hot for a long time, and provide you with a good constant heat if you build your fire right. When you're done cooking, kill your fire by spreading the wood out in your pit and exposing the coals. The flames should die almost immediately as the insulation provided by the logs is removed. Spread the coals around your pit and stir them into the dirt/ash beneath. At this point, &lt;strong&gt;soak&lt;/strong&gt; the coals and logs, and continue to stir the coals around until they are cool enough to touch. If you can't put your hand on them, then they are still too hot to be left alone and can easily reignite themselves &lt;em&gt;(I've seen fires come back to life long after they had been &quot;extignuished&quot;)&lt;/em&gt;. Pour as much water as necessary onto your fire until it is cool enough to touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point, you may safely walk away from you fire. When you return, rebuild your fire with &lt;strong&gt;new wood&lt;/strong&gt;, and use the burnt logs to either help build the base of your log cabin or leave them around your new fire to dry and add them on top after. The old wood will dry out quickly enough, and continue to burn to ash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-08-24T17:11:10.377" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T17:11:10.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9266" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-24T11:36:18.783" Score="5" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have trouble seeing distant things and have myopia. Thus I prefer glasses with my prescription number (which is both cylindrical and spherical). I want protection from UV rays as I am going to spend some time during this trek which would be crossing 5000m. Can you suggest me specific kind of glasses that could help me. I read photochromatic lens might not be good enough. &#xA;I don't want to change glass every time so I am looking to explain my local stores to get me a glass with specific properties that have my prescription for myopic vision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5444" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:49:04.907" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:49:04.907" Title="UV Protection while trekking at 5000m for myopic vision" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9212" CreationDate="2015-08-24T17:45:39.670" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand otter oil\wax can restore water repellency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://helmboots.com/products/otter-wax-leather-oil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://helmboots.com/products/otter-wax-leather-oil&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6427" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T17:45:39.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9270" CreationDate="2015-08-24T19:09:51.067" Score="32" ViewCount="7129" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few questions about how to avoid rattlers, and what to do &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; you're bit, but at what point does a rattler actually strike? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had my first rattler encounter ever yesterday, just out in the coulees down by the river, right on the walking path. I was pushing my little girl on her bike and all of a sudden the grass 2ft to my left started rattling, the instant I glanced down and caught a glimpse of the coiled snake hiding in the grass, I quickened my pace and got past it, but had it decided to strike instead of rattle, my little girl could be dead right now (most scared I've ever been with an animal encounter, and I wasn't at all worried about myself).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was the &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/TbuDHIW.gifv&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snake&lt;/a&gt; in question (see the  video the taken with my camera phone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you encounter a rattler, how should you act, what should you do and what &lt;em&gt;shouldn't&lt;/em&gt; you do? Do you freeze and back away slowly? Do you turn and GTFO? Do you dive for cover? When a rattlesnake gets his rattle on, what exactly is the desired reaction it's expecting from you, and what other indicators does it give you that a strike is imminent? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T12:12:26.430" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T19:20:29.427" Title="When will a rattlesnake strike?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9266" CreationDate="2015-08-24T21:54:11.443" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several options &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Goggles that fit over you prescription glasses (Commonly referred to as &quot;Over the glasses&quot; or just 'OTG'.) - probably the cheapest solution, used successfully by many people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Contact lenses  are available for all sorts of prescriptions now days and could be worth considering.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prescription Sun Glasses - good wrap around sports len's will provide enough protection for 5000 Meters. These are expensive, but will be usable for other activities other than snow sports &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prescription lens in Googles - best solution for above the snow line but not cheap and not as versatile as prescription sun glasses. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Talk to to your optometrist as he will be able to offer the best advise for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-08-24T21:54:11.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2015-08-25T00:09:17.960" Score="29" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When a rattlesnake gets his rattle on, what exactly is the desired reaction it's expecting from you, and what other indicators does it give you that a strike is imminent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a warning that it's there, it's not necessarily a warning that it's about to strike (though of course, it could.) Likewise they won't always rattle before they strike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, bear in mind rattlesnakes don't particularly want to strike you. Humans are too big to eat as prey and could easily kill the snake before its venom kills you, so it's not its preferred option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rattlesnake bites occur when the snake is being actively teased or toyed with (in fact a lot involve intoxicated individuals), not to random passers by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you encounter a rattler, how should you act, what should you do and what shouldn't you do? Do you freeze and back away slowly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, pretty much this. Don't make any sudden movements that could startle it, just calmly and slowly walk away, making sure you don't trap the snake in a particular area or make it feel threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T00:09:17.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9272" CreationDate="2015-08-25T01:42:38.427" Score="6" ViewCount="5870" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking at buying some cord to make a three point cordelette (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4878/3066&quot;&gt;I am American, after all&lt;/a&gt;). I see that REI sells a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/716962/pmi-7mm-cordelette-with-lumi-line&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pre-cut length of 7mm cord&lt;/a&gt; that is 6.4 meters (21 feet), but one of the review comments says that it was only long enough to make a two-point cordelette.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long of cord should I buy to make a three-point equalized cordelette like this one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1J0dw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1J0dw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;three point cordelette&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T08:05:33.707" Title="How long of cord do I need to make a three-point cordelette?" Tags="&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9271" CreationDate="2015-08-25T02:01:09.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a loop of 6 mm cord 5.5 m (18 ft) in circumference. Buy some larger amount of 6 mm cord, because the price for the pre-cut cord is a rip-off, and you'll end up going through this stuff for Prusiks and various other uses. You will of course need a little extra length in order to tie the bend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no way to say what is the amount of cord needed for a 3-point anchor, because it depends on how your gear placements are situated. Mine is long enough maybe half the time. The other half of the time, I use slings to add extra length at one or more of the pieces of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're extremely confident that your gear placements are bomber, then you can get away with a somewhat wider angle between the different strands, which lets you get by with slightly less cord. If some of them are not that great, you can pamper them by lessening the angle to decrease the mechanical advantage, but that requires more cord. If the pro really sucks, then you might want to consider an equalette setup, which will give you perfect equalization. Perfect equalization is never possible with the sort of anchor shown in the photo (but it's what I normally use because it's simple to set up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T02:01:09.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2015-08-25T04:40:19.380" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stop and move away. Generally that's all you need to do. The rattle is a defensive warning. Develop the instinct (and teach your kids to do so as well) that you freeze, locate it, and move in the opposite direction the instant you hear a rattle, and you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T04:40:19.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4052" CreationDate="2015-08-25T06:21:17.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a lot of discussions about this and what I gather is hooking a carabiner into both hard tie-in points when belaying from the ground is OK and it's moot point. Here's what happens when you catch your lead climber (from the ground). The rope goes tight and your carabiner has an upward pull. This upward pull will pull the bottom loop up and the impact load will be taken initially by the bottom loop against the carabiner. After that the second 'upper' loop will come into contact with the first 'bottom' loop and more load energy will be dissipated. The carabiner will only see one point of force. So for belaying upwards it is safe. HOWEVER, if you are rappelling and you have a carabiner through both hard tie in points, that is a very different situation. If you lay horizontally the hard tie in points will spread out and you will indeed have a tri-axle loaded system which is a big no-no. So, with that said, I believe the manufacturers are covering their bases by saying 'never' when it really is application specific. So they are saying 'never' to ensure that you don't accidentally use it in the wrong mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6675" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T06:21:17.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2015-08-25T06:24:53.997" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mate, I am so glad to know that you and your daughter are safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, Rattlers are often found under rocks and logs, particularly if the temperature doesn't suit them. So instruct your kids and other concerned people about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes are typically capable of striking up to a distance equal to 1/3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt; to half of their overall length, although longer reaches are quite possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets answer first things first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you encounter a rattler, how should you act, what should you do and what shouldn't you do? Do you freeze and back away slowly? Do you turn and GTFO? Do you dive for cover?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snake sees (senses) you before you can see it, so be assured that it does know you are around. Thats why in most of the cases it will start rattling, but please note that when the rattle is wet, it makes no noise. Needless to say, If you see a rattlesnake coiled and/or rattling, that means it’s agitated. Keep away, Leave it alone. Wait for the snake to leave the trail. &#xA;Do not shout at it, it can't hear, it has no external ears like us.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do not make sudden movements, instead back away slowly. Though Snakes do not see well, they have Jacobson's Organ which is an olfactory organ allowing it to process the chemical senses received by flipping of the tongue. Vipers, as they are called &lt;em&gt;Pit Vipers&lt;/em&gt; have pits (looks similar to nostrils) to sense 1/1000&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; fraction of change in per &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C. It usually perceives sudden movement as a threat. &#xA;Diving for cover doesn't make sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When will it strike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes, rather most of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viperidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Viper&lt;/a&gt; snakes, coil their body except for the forward part of the body which is raised. The body is a bit bulged up than normal and they usually buzz their rattle. &#xA;There is another persistent and common myth is that rattlesnakes always rattle before they strike, which I disagree to. Also, they don’t always strike every time they rattle.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Short story: It can't be predicted like that, you need to study them deeply. May be an experienced Herpetologist can predict better. &#xA;So, assume that it can bite anytime, so move away slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what to do if you're bit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remain calm and first move beyond the snake's striking distance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep calm, panic will make the adrenaline come in picture and the blood circulation will increase, only resulting in causing the venom to spread much quicker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dial 911 (assuming you are in US) or whatever emergency safety number you are authorized to dial.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove jewelry and tight clothing before you start to swell.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Position yourself, if possible, so that the bite is at or below the level of your heart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not let anyone try to suck the venom out of the bite site. (I have heard cases of such a horrid thing done, and the one who sucked also got to be treated as the venom in victim's blood entered the sucker's blood through minute injuries in his gum/teeth).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try not to make cuts around bite site as it swells. It will swell, no matter what.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not apply any kind of disinfectant or tourniquet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do NOT take anything by mouth such as caffeine or alcohol or any painkillers at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-08-27T12:40:44.243" LastActivityDate="2018-08-27T12:40:44.243" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9277" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9291" CreationDate="2015-08-25T11:50:45.517" Score="8" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was talking to a friend on my lunch today about visiting the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_Mountains&quot;&gt;Tatra mountains in Poland&lt;/a&gt; and he said that an issue was the lack of mountain rescue if you get into trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true, there is no Mountain Rescue organisation in Poland/Tatra mountains. What would you do in an Emergency instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:32:11.770" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:32:11.770" Title="Is there a Polish mountain rescue organisation?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;poland&gt;&lt;tatra-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9278" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most questions on this subject should likely be asked on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tag is only available for outdoor questions related to bikes &lt;strong&gt;but not wholly about cycling&lt;/strong&gt;. Any questions that are wholly about cycling or bikes should be asked on the dedicated site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9279" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" Score="0" Body="Bear in mind that there is a cycling stack exchange site dedicated to this subject (http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/). This tag should only be used for outdoor related question that are not wholly about bikes or cycling. These should be asked on the dedicated site." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T11:56:21.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9280" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:21:34.527" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;National Parks are reserved forests, mostly natural, seldom artificial nature parks with an intention of Conservation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:21:34.527" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:21:34.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9281" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:21:34.527" Score="0" Body="Questions related to possible outdoors activities that can be done in a National Park, Safety precautions and Protocols to be followed when in a National Park, Legalities and Permissions related to a National Park are to be tagged with this tag. Kindly ensure that when you use this tag, please use the tag dedicated to that country and/or state." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-07-11T21:56:49.043" LastActivityDate="2016-07-11T21:56:49.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9282" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mode of human locomotion through water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9283" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" Score="0" Body="Questions related to Swimming as an outdoor activity (lesser as a Sports), safety precautions and techniques about swimming, questions related costumes (not the product recommendation ones) are to be used with this tag." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:24:45.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9284" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9293" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:31:03.810" Score="20" ViewCount="14313" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up car camping with my parents several times a year, but as they've gotten older (early 60s), they basically stopped camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently, they've expressed interest in camping again but I'm concerned that all of their gear is between 10 and 15 years old, bulky, awkward to assemble, and just an overall pain for them. For example, they have an old tent that's difficult to setup and very heavy (&lt;a href=&quot;https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/28/a7/30/28a730ea91e8f5cac3151e14525c039f.jpg&quot;&gt;kind of like this&lt;/a&gt;), and I'm sure sleeping on their old 1&quot; pads will be unacceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We will always be car camping, cooking over camp stove, etc, so weight/size isn't generally an issue unless it's particularly heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What sorts of considerations, gear, practices, should I/we/they acquire to help them get back into car camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:30:58.287" LastActivityDate="2018-12-06T10:45:13.047" Title="Considerations for older campers?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9285" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:33:24.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geographical Region: Spain, Country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T13:33:24.587" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T13:33:24.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9286" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:33:24.587" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Spain" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T05:52:03.230" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T05:52:03.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T13:54:59.497" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, you have to be excited and welcoming. Encourage them, thats the most important part of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me Camping means getting back to the simpler life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gear&lt;/strong&gt;: I don't think that you need any sort of a special gear for older people when you are typically &lt;em&gt;car camping&lt;/em&gt;. The normal car-camping checklist should do just well. Needless to say, add their daily medicine kit to &lt;em&gt;things-to-take&lt;/em&gt; along with the obvious medical kit that you have with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Considerations&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra Bedding, they might feel a bit colder than you do, so always have a comfy-cozy and may be some extra bedding for them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might want to plan the food as per what they like more, than what you usually prefer to hog. I and other younger ones are usually okay with quick-grab food, mostly things with bread, while the older ones in my family usually like something domestic like a veg roll, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might have to have word with them before you select what music collection you plan to have with you. (&lt;em&gt;Johnny Cash&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Pink Floyd&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;The Beatles&lt;/em&gt; shall obviously replace &lt;em&gt;Eminem&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Linkin Park&lt;/em&gt;, if applicable).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enjoy &lt;em&gt;with&lt;/em&gt; them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practices&lt;/strong&gt;: The first thing I would ensure is, pick a place that you already have been to. Do not go to a place that you are not familiar with. Just drive easy and slow than you usually do. Pick the least bumpy road. Most importantly, I would allow them to have a good time doing the stuff they love to do, obviously with a caring-keen eye on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T04:50:13.957" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T04:50:13.957" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T14:39:04.700" Score="12" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your parents gear worked for them 10 or 15 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the gear has not seen significant wear in storage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your parents have remained in nearly the same physical condition (or better) as 10 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing they need to do is load their gear in the car and go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously, it worked then, it should work now.  Much of the older gear is better made than more recent gear, so it should be fine.  People being over 60 has little bearing on camping.  Regardless of age, if it has been a while since you went camping start close to home, give yourself extra time, and bring money for a motel room just in case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T14:39:04.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T14:54:24.490" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The single most important consideration for your parents is going to be &lt;strong&gt;their comfort&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters they must have something comfortable to sleep on or they're going to spend every day achy and tired, wishing they were sleeping in their own beds. The older you get, the more precious sleep is. If they can't get a good, comfortable night's sleep, then they aren't going to enjoy camping at all. I know a number of old-time campers who have given up tenting in favour of their memory foam posture-pedic beds for the sakes of their old back bones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend going all out and getting them a luxurious air mattress, something like the Coleman Durarest Queen double high:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s9ku1.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s9ku1.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or a large Aero bed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iXHVo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iXHVo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or a collapsable bed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CmB90.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CmB90.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next item on the list would be &lt;strong&gt;a comfy chair&lt;/strong&gt;, they will likely be spending a lot of time sitting down around camp, so make sure they have a nice place to sit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Zh1l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Zh1l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as tents go, I think it's largely up to them, I know a lot of old school campers who still prefer their beastie canvas A-frame tents because it's what they are familiar with and what they're comfortable setting up. So unless you're the one who is going to set the tent up for them, maybe hold off on getting them a new tent until they decide they want to upgrade (after going out once or twice with you and seeing how nice your tent is for example). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T15:43:26.060" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T15:43:26.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2015-08-25T15:21:11.587" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only way to toughen your feet is to put them in environments where they have to be tougher. I would start by wearing thin sandals everywhere during any weather. Whenever you can walk barefoot in grass or any other natural surface. I hardly ever wore shoes as a child and teenager and it hurt at times but now I can walk pretty much anywhere and my feet are just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6678" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T16:26:58.627" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T16:26:58.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9277" CreationDate="2015-08-25T15:21:42.447" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a great Mountain Rescue in Poland, called &lt;strong&gt;GOPR&lt;/strong&gt; (&quot;Górskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe&quot; - &quot;Mountain Volunteer Search and Rescue&quot;). They cover all the mountain regions of Poland and in case of emergency you can reach them calling free rescue number: &lt;strong&gt;+48 601100300&lt;/strong&gt;. There is even a smartphone app you can use to call help called &quot;Ratunek&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pagasolutions.emergencycall&quot;&gt;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pagasolutions.emergencycall&lt;/a&gt;), which sends the rescue team your GPS coordinates; as far as I know it's only in Polish, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Tatra mountains exists a separate, more specialised rescue organisation called &lt;strong&gt;TOPR&lt;/strong&gt; (&quot;Tatrzańskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe&quot; - &quot;Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue&quot;). As Tatras are the only mountains in Poland with alpine character, the specificity of rescue services is different there, hence different rescue organisation. Emergency number &lt;strong&gt;985&lt;/strong&gt; works in Tatra, but calling +48 601100300 will also work, as both organisations cooperate closely. TOPR also provides information about weather, condition of trails and avalanche danger on their webpage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topr.pl/&quot;&gt;http://www.topr.pl/&lt;/a&gt; (only in Polish, but you can always use google translate).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rescue services are free in polish Tatras, in contrary to neighbouring Slovakian Tatras, where you need to pay search and rescue costs. However, you should consider getting good insurance for medical expenses, unless you are EU Citizen. As a last note I wanted to add that the quality of Mountain Rescue that TOPR provides is top-notch. Rescue officers are stationed in various mountain huts around Tatra, allowing for fast reaction times. There is also a rescue helicopter on duty in headquarters in Zakopane in case of more serious injuries. The standard you should expect is similar to that in the Alps. So don't hesitate and enjoy Polish mountains!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorUserId="3784" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T16:31:43.977" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T16:31:43.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9206" CreationDate="2015-08-25T15:58:36.823" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was personally in a similar situation. Having done a basic mountaineering and crevasse rescue course in Tatra mountains in Poland (in winter conditions), some via ferratas and outdoor rock-climbing course I was trying to get to some glacier hikes with friends having similar experience level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we did is first tackle some three-thousanders that do not require glacier crossing, example of which is &lt;strong&gt;Schrankogel&lt;/strong&gt; in Öztal, Austria (easy to reach from Innsbruck). Afterwards, we moved towards easy mountains where crossing glacier is necessary. I can recommend &lt;strong&gt;Wildspitze&lt;/strong&gt; (3768 m, Öztal, Austria) for a first try - the snow section is relatively short and ascent from the Breslauer Hut not too strenuous, which allows one to proceed slowly and practice some basic techniques. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I found a great experience is actually tenting on the glacier during longer tour. I can recommend a little frequented ascent to &lt;strong&gt;Weisskugel&lt;/strong&gt; from Vent (again in Öztal) through the 7 km-long Hintereis-Ferner. This technically undemanding glacier is great to get used to being on ice for hours straight and the views at sunset are amazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After those tours as well as acclimatisation on Argentière Glacier (close to Chamonix) we were able to climb Mount Blanc from Aiguille du Midi taking the 3 Mouts Traversee route (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/mont-blanc-3-mounts-traversee/202778&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.summitpost.org/mont-blanc-3-mounts-traversee/202778&lt;/a&gt;), sleeping in tents at Col de la Brenva, ascending Mount Blanc peak in the morning and descending through Dôme du Goûter Normal Route. However, you should judge your and your partners abilities and consider having some experience on four-thousanders before tackling Mount Blanc, as acute mountain sickness might kick in :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T07:48:02.933" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T07:48:02.933" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T17:38:00.167" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife &amp;amp; I are both in our mid-50's, and we stopped going car camping a few years ago largely because of the lack of sleep and difficulty getting into and out of our tent.  Our last trip we were so tired that I was hallucinating on the drive back home &amp;amp; we had to pull over on a mountain road to take a nap before we carried on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the nice mattress suggested in @shemseger's answer didn't solve the problem (we have a Coleman queen sized, very comfortable to sleep on, not so easy to get down onto or back up from).  My biggest problem is arthritic knees, and to a lesser extent, arthritic back.  We've since bought a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-OUTFITTER-COT/1752509.uts&quot;&gt;very nice cot from Cabela's&lt;/a&gt; and a very nice &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/848570/therm-a-rest-neoair-dream-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;Thermarest NeoAir Dream&lt;/a&gt; mattress for me.  We've yet to take them camping, but being able to sit down on the cot to get dressed/undressed, put on or take off your shoes, is a very-very nice feature.  The air mattress just makes it better.  My wife is much more spry than I am, so sleeping on a good air mattress (which we have, just can't remember what it's called) on the ground is still OK with her, but I think if we ever get back into camping, a cot for her is in the works.  My brother has almost the exact one we bought, and she slept on it last time we visited, and quite liked it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as tents go, ours is still an older, fairly low (as in you can't stand up in it, not even my wife who's 5'-0&quot;), style tent.  If we were to start camping again, we'd look at much higher tents so there's standing room, at least in the center.  It just makes things easier to do when your mobility is somewhat limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The recommendation for good chairs is a very good idea as well.  My arthritis makes sitting at picnic benches unpleasant pretty quickly.  We have a couple of very good camp chairs, as well as one of the one's shown in the answer above.  I don't particularly care for it, but my wife will fall asleep in it in moments if given the opportunity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastEditorUserId="3574" LastEditDate="2015-08-25T17:55:22.107" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T17:55:22.107" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T20:37:57.277" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You say car camping - does that exclude a caravan ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A caravan is a significant investment in cost to buy.  There may be somewhere near you that hires/leases/rents them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus you'll need a tow fitting on your car rated for the weight of a towed caravan.  Electric cars cannot be fitted with towbars (in New Zealand anyway)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the places you have camped may not permit caravans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot less setup and knockdown time too, its mostly set up already, and you have the option of using an electrically-powered site to run fridges and cookers, or be independent and unpowered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus you can bring more stuff, like camping furniture, and bikes in the caravan, leaving the space in the car for people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6682" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T20:37:57.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1711" CreationDate="2015-08-25T21:07:32.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agreed. The Audubon guides are the best that I know of because you can search in the flower section, the bark section, or the leaf section for your target tree. Not familiar with the apps, but I'm sure they do the same thing if not more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal favorite for tree walks with kids? The &lt;a href=&quot;http://knopfdoubleday.com/sibley/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sibley Guide to Trees&lt;/a&gt;. Here's why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Really good color drawings instead of photos (photos are sometimes ineffective in identifying trees)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Excellent &quot;non-scientific&quot; details or colorful adjectives that Audubon omits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Extra&quot; info, such as tricks for distinguishing from lookalike species, human uses, or unique history/stories about the species.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I would suggest is that you take into account the purpose of your endeavor. Is this about &quot;bonding&quot; over a love for trees, or is it about identifying species as efficiently as possible? If so, maybe using your smart phone while hiking would detract from the experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6683" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-18T19:59:19.303" LastActivityDate="2017-06-18T19:59:19.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-25T21:28:57.653" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you are going, there may be options to stay in a canvas tent-cabins, for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitepark.com/curry-village-cabins.aspx&quot;&gt;these ones in Yosemite&lt;/a&gt;.  I've done this several times with my parents-in-law.  The advantages are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No tent set-up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Often real (if basic) beds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes heated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Space to stand up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally these will end up being more expensive on a per-night basis than a regular tent spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the higher-end, &lt;a href=&quot;https://glampinghub.com/unitedstatesofamerica/pacificwest/washington/olympia/luxury-canvas-cabins-washington/&quot;&gt;some of these look really fancy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3475" LastActivityDate="2015-08-25T21:28:57.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6955" CreationDate="2015-08-26T02:04:15.707" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the Ohio in Newburgh Indiana small boats enter and pull the rope for the signal bell. You must tie off before the lock master will begin closing the lock. There is no fee for pleasure boats and you will wait for the larger traffic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6670" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T02:04:15.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9299" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-26T02:27:04.587" Score="8" ViewCount="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning an overnight hiking trip in Alberta, it will involve one night of camping. I know that in Alberta you are allowed to &quot;random camp&quot; in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/library/land-reference-manual/parks-by-class.aspx?id=Wildland%20Provincial%20Park&quot;&gt;Wildland Provincial parks&lt;/a&gt;, so I'll be heading to one of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that besides the difficult to read overview maps provided in the previous link I can't seem to find any other info about these parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically I was looking for a province map that shows all these parks, and parking lots that are available so I can plan my trip accordingly. Is there any info available, provided by others who have done hiking and random camping in the province?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2804" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T03:02:43.390" Title="Where can I find additional resources about Wildlands Provincial parks in Alberta?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9300" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-26T02:42:44.580" Score="1" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine recently was forced to cancel a backpacking trip because Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada side of Glacier National Park in Montana) canceled his backcountry permit due to a forest fire flare up on the USA side of the border. I was in the park that day, the fire ignited and spread pretty quick, but was easily kept under control due to it's proximity to Upper Waterton Lake (and with the added help of a couple of Canadian helicopters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if you were already out in the backcountry when a fire started? Say you woke up one morning (or in the middle of the night) and you smelt smoke, then when you step out of your tent you can't see anything but a thick haze of ash all around you from a new fire which had very recently flared up near by and you're a day's hike from the trail head. What do you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T02:42:44.580" Title="Surviving a forest fire while backpacking" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-08-26T10:38:21.563" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9299" CreationDate="2015-08-26T03:02:43.390" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/whitehorse.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AlbertaParks.ca&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; resource about all parks in Alberta. I find the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/media/5517941/whitehorse-wpp-map.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;maps&lt;/a&gt; perfectly easy to read myself. If you want to see where all the parks are, just use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Whitehorse+Wildland,+Yellowhead+County,+AB+T0E/@52.9560555,-117.3478255,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x539d1e592c1201f9:0x10457329e7bfd71e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;google maps&lt;/a&gt;, it highlights all provincial, National, and even some regional parks in green, and shows you all roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mubEb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mubEb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T03:02:43.390" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9302" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-08-26T05:56:57.707" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge during an electrical storm between electrically charged regions of a cloud, and from cloud to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-08-26T05:56:57.707" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T05:56:57.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9303" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-08-26T05:56:57.707" Score="0" Body="This tag should be used with questions related to lightning and it's potential threats, safety, etc." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T22:45:17.627" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T22:45:17.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9304" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9313" CreationDate="2015-08-26T06:08:06.760" Score="10" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-sided_overhand_bend&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;one-sided overhand&lt;/a&gt; bend also called the European death knot (EDK)? Is it safe for climbing and mountaineering purposes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T22:46:16.997" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T12:29:45.000" Title="One-sided overhand bend" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9304" CreationDate="2015-08-26T07:19:39.030" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/flatoverhand/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this source&lt;/a&gt; its name arose initially in the US where unfamiliarity bred distrust, and because the occasional disaster, likely with the Flat Figure 8 version, caused both knots to be branded with the EDK (European Death Knot) name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2009/03/euro-death-knot.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another source&lt;/a&gt; says its name is because this knot looked sketchy for Americans when they European climbers using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T22:46:44.877" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T22:46:44.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9304" CreationDate="2015-08-26T09:52:26.193" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The European Death Knot is commonly used for joining two ropes for an abseil.  I would not say it is &quot;not considered safe&quot; - e.g. the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/abseiling-not-the-quickest-way-to-reach-the-ground&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Mountaineering Council's website&lt;/a&gt; lists it as a possible abseil knot.  Although not the most secure knot it has the advantage that it is small and less likely to snag on edges than larger knots or stronger symmetrical knots such as the double fisherman's knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If poorly tied, and/or tied with short &quot;tails&quot; (free ends) then it can invert and come undone under load, which has caused accidents &lt;a href=&quot;https://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;some examples on here&lt;/a&gt;.  This may be the reason for the name, or it may be due to confusion between this and the similar one-sided figure of eight bend, which &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; dangerous and can easily invert under body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some test results for various one-sided knots are &lt;a href=&quot;https://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Some information about the EDK and a potentially safer alternative is &lt;a href=&quot;http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/the_ultimate_abseil_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="3327" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T12:29:45.000" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T12:29:45.000" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-08-26T16:57:13.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main thing is just to do a practise run with their existing kit in the back yard, same way you'd do as someone starting from scratch.  Ideally leave the tent up until it rains too, so you can check if it's waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it all works - don't mess with it.  You can't beat familiarity when it comes to pitching tents.  If something turns out to be broken, or if they're uncomfortable in the morning, you can deal with it and have another shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2015-08-26T16:57:13.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9311" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10711" CreationDate="2015-08-27T12:26:51.720" Score="5" ViewCount="1546" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some time ago I bought a &lt;a href=&quot;http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgKx6AZa37Q/maxresdefault.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quechua T4.2 Dome&lt;/a&gt; tent. Lately, when I was on camping holiday with my cousin I saw quite clever solution on their borrowed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.best4tents.com/shoppingcart/product_images/a/t4.2_xl_air__30573.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quechua 4.2 Xl Air&lt;/a&gt;. In such tent, there's always a space between tent's wall and ground to provide ventilation. However, their tent was equipped with mosquito nets all around on the bottom, what provided quite good protection at least against flying bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering, if it is possible to attach such mosquito nets to mine - for instance, by sewing them to the bottom parts of the tent. I guess, that the biggest risk is that sewing holes might cause tent's walls to start ripping, because it's constantly under tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it generally a good idea? Or maybe there is a different solution, which will be better in this case? Or should I simply buy another tent? :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6696" LastEditorUserId="6696" LastEditDate="2015-08-27T14:13:47.423" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T14:20:20.800" Title="Attaching a mosquito net to a tent" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9314" CreationDate="2015-08-27T18:27:59.233" Score="9" ViewCount="231" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I've been thinking about developing some canyons around here for canyoneering, but while scrambling up Red Rocks Canyon in Waterton and looking at all the large logs jammed rather high up in the canyon, it occurred to me that depending on where you would want to place your bolt, it could end up under water during spring run off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first thought was that I would simply need to place the bolt up higher so it could stay dry, but looking at where I suspected the high water mark to be in some places, you'd be bolting too high for anyone to ever reach it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can fixed protection be placed in areas which are under water for part of the season?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:06.217" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:06.217" Title="Bolting Canyons, can your bolt be under water?" Tags="&lt;canyoning&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9304" CreationDate="2015-08-27T21:38:34.620" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For certain purposes, the offset overhand bend is not just safe but safer than any known alternative. The alternative name &quot;European death knot&quot; is a joke referring to the fact that to the uninitiated, the knot &lt;em&gt;looks&lt;/em&gt; like it wouldn't be secure. It's like the phrase &quot;politically incorrect,&quot; which nobody today uses without irony.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a common misconception that a knot will &lt;em&gt;slip&lt;/em&gt; under a certain amount of load, and that this load is different for some knots than others. Not true. There is a class of knots that physically cannot slip, because the more load you apply, the tighter the knot gets (provided that the coefficient of friction is above some critical value, which in practice will be true, unless you're dealing with a knot that's icy or something). The EDK belongs to this class, as do some alternatives such as the fisherman's bend. These knots do not have slipping as a mode of failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The possible modes of failure for these knots are (1) capsizing, and (2) breaking the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Capsizing is a mode of failure in which the knot turns inside out. This has been observed in laboratory tests with the offset figure 8, and is suspected to have been the cause of several deaths in which people used an offset figure 8 as a bend to join two ropes, and then rappelled off of the joined rope. When the knot capsizes, the tails get shorter. If it happens repeatedly, the tails can get used up, and the knot pops open. The EDK is not subject to this mode of failure. Laboratory tests have never succeeded in getting any EDK to capsize, even when it was intentionally dressed very loosely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breaking the rope is theoretical mode of failure. In reality, you simply cannot break a modern climbing rope (if it hasn't been damaged) with any amount of load that can be achieved in any realistic climbing situation. I know someone who tried to use a climbing rope to tow a car out of a ditch, and the rope simply kept stretching until the tow truck's tires started to spin. Before a modern climbing rope will break, it will stretch like taffy to such an extreme that it's thinner than a pencil. You simply can't do this in any realistic climbing scenario. It is true that if you stretch a rope so much that it breaks, it will tend to break at a knot. There are classic experiments demonstrating this with cooked spaghetti filmed using high-speed video. The strain required for breaking is theoretically lower for some knots than others, because the radius of curvature of the rope is less. In climbing, this is a total non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The EDK is safer than other choices when you want to join to ropes for rappelling. The reason is that the knot is less bulky than the alternatives, and therefore less likely to get stuck when you try to pull it down. The situation where you try to pull down your rope and it gets stuck is potentially a life-threatening one, so this is a huge safety reason for preferring the EDK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A secondary advantage of the EDK is that if you want to untie it after it's been loaded, you can. This is usually not possible with a double fisherman's knot. That's why, for example, I tie my cordelettes and Prusiks with an EDK. Then if I have some other application where I want to use that piece of cord extended rather than looped, I can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you tie an EDK, it doesn't hurt to dress it carefully, pretension every strand against every opposing strand, and make sure it has long tails. These steps will even make a potentially unsafe knot such as an offset figure 8 bend hold. However, lab tests have not managed to make the EDK fail even if the knot was intentionally tied in a sloppy way, so even if you forget to do these extra safety steps, you are not actually endangering yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-08-27T21:38:34.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9312" CreationDate="2015-08-27T22:16:32.907" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This got me curious, &amp;amp; using Expansion anchors in construction applications got me looking. While I couldn't find anything specific to climbing applications &amp;amp; submersion, I did find a reference to 304 or 316 stainless steel being used in submerged marine environments (harsher than typical freshwater) by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.passagemaker.com/channels/stainless-steel-and-corrosion/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;boat builders&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To my knowledge, no expansion anchors are available in 304 SS, so you would be limited to 316. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did come across &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.concretefasteners.com/determine-fastener.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this fastener selector tool&lt;/a&gt; which does specifically mention expansion anchors being used in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.confast.com/articles/wedge-anchor-concrete&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;submerged applications&lt;/a&gt; (in concrete).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth noting that even bolts installed in high, dry desert locations will need to be replaced sooner or later, so it is a good bet that the more extreme environment will shorten their lifespan no matter what you do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, maybe of more importance here, is making certain not to allow different alloys to come into contact with one another for extended periods. Do not use two different alloys for the bolt &amp;amp; the nut, &amp;amp; if you leave your hangers on the bolts when not in use, make sure that they are stainless steel also. Allowing dissimilar metals to remain in contact with water will result in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Galvanic Corrosion&lt;/a&gt;. Which essentially means the rusting process &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/climber/built-to-last/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;will happen much faster&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a thought, but you may want to be especially wary if the bolts are installed in sandstone with a high Iron content, as it seems to me that the Iron in the sandstone could react much more strongly with the stainless in a submerged environment. Anyone else have any observations on the effects (or non-effects) of Iron containing sandstone on anchor bolts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My two cents; give it a try. Maybe just very carefully inspect each bolt before use after a submersion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: It may also be worth firing an email off to a manufacturer: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fixehardware.com/shop/contact-us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.fixehardware.com/shop/contact-us&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Edit: Just did, waiting for response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit(x3): Didn't hear back from Fixe, so I emailed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.us.hilti.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hilti&lt;/a&gt; customer service with the following question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hello, I am a climber &amp;amp; use your KB3 &amp;amp; TZ expansion anchors to secure my safety lines into rock. A route I am considering setting is partially submerged in melt water seasonally. Would it still be safe to use a SS KB3 or TZ that has been submerged for several weeks? (assuming of course correct embedment &amp;amp; compressive strength of the rock).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This Was their reply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After speaking with our engineers, the water part would be no issue. However their question is will there be any freezing of the water. Could you possibly call in to Customer Service next week between 8:00am and 4:00pm CST to speak with an engineer on this further? 1-800-879-8000. They had a few other questions about the application before giving a difinitive yes or no.&#xA;  Thanks,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Jennifer Martin&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Inside Sales Partner | Customer Service&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hilti North America&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it sounds as though while &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;submersion is okay&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, a volume of water collecting behind the bolt, freezing &amp;amp; pushing the bolt out or cracking the rock is their main concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="6032" LastEditDate="2015-08-28T22:28:45.590" LastActivityDate="2015-08-28T22:28:45.590" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9315" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-28T10:52:19.403" Score="14" ViewCount="939" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 20cm long, 2mm wide, 1mm deep gouge in the Fishscale portion of a cross country ski. How would I repair this scratch? Some have suggested Ptex will just burn into it too aggressively, others say that I would be best just getting a new ski. Any solutions/experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6700" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:57:06.767" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T23:26:17.020" Title="How do I repair the &quot;Fishscale&quot; side of a cross country ski?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2015-08-28T17:29:48.183" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When a snake rattles at you, it wants you to &lt;em&gt;move away from it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlers will warn you first before striking, giving you enough time to move away. My wife and I were hiking once in the desert, she was ahead of me and passed right by a large diamondback snake that was curled up next to the trail. He coiled up and rattled at her, scaring her so that she jumped, screamed and ran back to me. He didnt' strike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you suprise a rattler by &lt;em&gt;stepping&lt;/em&gt; on it or touching it before it has a chance to warn you, then you will get bitten. I met a guy once who went rock climbing in the desert, he put his hand into a crevice and was struck by a rattlesnake. So he made his way back to civilization (about a 3 hour journey) and to a hospital. He was not in danger of dying, but what happened was nerve and tissue damage to his hand. Some of the tissue died, his hand was numb and oddly colored for a month. Then it mostly recovered, except for some lingering nerve damage to this day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally accepted knowledge is that adult humans won't die from a rattlesnake bite, assuming it's a controlled bite. Younger children/elderly people would be more at risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Younger rattlers, due to their inexperience, have more tendency to strike than older rattlers, and also have more tendency to inject more venom. But rattlers only want to inject venom into prey that they intend to eat. People do not fall into that category, so the rattler does not want to do this and will avoid it whenever possible. Rattlesnake venom is a necrophic agent, meaning that it kills the tissue cells it comes in contact with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2015-08-28T17:37:03.780" LastActivityDate="2015-08-28T17:37:03.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9319" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9325" CreationDate="2015-08-28T19:01:59.900" Score="14" ViewCount="567" Body="&lt;p&gt;Young rattlesnakes are more deadly than large rattlesnakes, the reason being because when they are young they are more likely to strike, but more importantly because they can't yet control their venom. As a result, when they bite, they inject &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; their venom instead of just a controlled amount. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what point is a snake mature enough to control its venom? I know that rattlesnakes can't rattle until they've shed their skin a couple times, so does that mean if it can rattle then the snake is less deadly?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:07:00.510" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:07:00.510" Title="At what point is a rattlesnake mature enough to control its venom?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9321" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-28T20:50:15.623" Score="5" ViewCount="562" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be going on an multi-day deep sea fishing trip where we are expected to catch between 150lb to 400lb of fish each (Yellow Fin, Ably, Dorado). I'll have a 3 day drive back home across the Midwest. Last time I looked into this about 15 years ago, it seemed like it was easy to buy/find large styrofoam ice chests (like 3 ft long.) Now it seems these are nowhere to be found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are people doing to transport fresh or flash frozen fish or any meat really on a plane / vehicle / boat where maybe dry ice is involved? Am I stuck with buying Igloo coolers at $50 each? Or are these foam ones I used to pay a few dollars a piece for still available and I'm just not looking in the correct place?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6704" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:33.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:37:33.137" Title="Transporting Large Amounts of Fish" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9321" CreationDate="2015-08-28T21:46:53.947" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can still buy those coolers at area grocery stores. If you're headed out of San Diego (where I'm at), I could give you the names of specific locations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also processors that will be waiting for you at the dock (in every major sport fishing location I've seen) that will chop and paper your catch. I think you could go from there, to a grocery store, and then get some dry ice (if you want that route) and cheap foam coolers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that the foam coolers are rightly losing their appeal as they are viewed as disposable, and they generate considerable waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-08-28T21:46:53.947" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9321" CreationDate="2015-08-28T23:58:57.070" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask around, like your mates at work and neighbors and see if you can borrow some coolers. You may also be able to rent a decent sized one from a commercial catering company. You will need to decide if you want dry ice or normal ice for keeping the fish cold on the way home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility is to borrow a small freezer that will fit in your car (consider how big is the car, and how big can the freezer be?). Use a 12V-mains pure sine wave inverter to run it while driving and power it when parked for the night from an AC outlet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="6414" LastEditDate="2015-08-29T15:16:18.083" LastActivityDate="2015-08-29T15:16:18.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9319" CreationDate="2015-08-29T00:36:53.387" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ahh, I have been waiting for this. &#xA;This answer would definitely be not much of a help if you hate complicated biology and physiology and related terms. But anyone who is equally interested in snakes is welcome to have a read through.&#xA;While I am really sorry that I can't simply answer it as &lt;em&gt;these many months&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;these many years&lt;/em&gt;, what I can explain here is a process through which a rattlesnake go to achieve the control on the quantity of the venom it injects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all venomous snakes, the venom is secreted and in a specialized gland: &lt;code&gt;the venom gland&lt;/code&gt;, located along the posterolateral margin of the upper jaw.&#xA;Posterolateral means situated on the side and toward the posterior (as called Dorsal, directed toward or situated at the back) aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Venom is expelled from the gland when one of the surrounding skeletal muscles comprising the extrinsic venom gland musculature contracts hence releasing the fluid pressure within the venom gland. This system is closed, not open to ambient pressures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this &lt;em&gt;extrinsic venom gland musculature&lt;/em&gt; is a whole topic to study for years.&#xA;Sticking to the Pit Vipers and specifically Rattlesnakes, you would need to know two of them for sure. One, &lt;em&gt;Musculus pterygoideus glandulae&lt;/em&gt; and the other is &lt;em&gt;Compressor Glandulae&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the &lt;em&gt;Compressor Glandulae&lt;/em&gt; originates from dorsolateral surface of the venom gland, the &lt;em&gt;Musculus pterygoideus glandulae&lt;/em&gt; originates at pterygoidal bone. To easily explain you what this term mean, open a rattler's mouth, touch its upper jaw from inside.. thats &lt;em&gt;Musculus pterygoideus glandulae&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Do not do this actually!&lt;/em&gt; This muscle is associated with the movement of Fang Sheath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c8VQP.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c8VQP.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming to the fangs, these are folded against the upper jaw and are covered by Fang Sheath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The secondary or additional Fangs grow despite of the presence of the primary fang, and at a certain point the primary fang is broken and replaced by the fang developed immediately behind it, covered in the sheath till this time. Growth rate of fangs is proportional to age of the snake, but it degrades in older state of life of the snake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Referring to &lt;em&gt;Rattlesnakes: Their Habitats, Life Histories and Influence on Mankind, Volume 1 by Laurence Monroe Klauber.&lt;/em&gt;, Snakes can also control the venom through a fang independently. So if right fang injects a certain cc of venom, its not necessary that the left fang inject the same amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does it do that?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You must have seen on Television that the handler presses around it's venom gland and the pits to extract more venom. Its not the gland they are pressing, Its the Venom Duct.&#xA;This duct begins at the forward end of the gland which lies below the anterior edge of the eye, then passing forward below the pit and the nostril, slightly above and outside the Maxilla. Then it turns sharply downward to a point in front of the upper lumen of the fang.&#xA;There is a sphincter in the venom gland by which a valve action is accomplished. &#xA;This venom control is majorly through a mechanical control of the jaw, and hence controlling the Maxilla and the fang movement. &#xA;As the jaw opens, the fangs are being made almost perpendicular to upper jaw, the sheath is pulled back by &lt;em&gt;Musculus pterygoideus glandulae&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was about How is it done.&#xA;Graduating through this control process is a long span in the poor fellow's life, sometimes 3-4 months.&#xA;The experiments shows that a 6 month old rattler went on to give nearly consistent cc of venom per strike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T16:03:15.503" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T16:03:15.503" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9326" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9327" CreationDate="2015-08-29T10:12:21.850" Score="4" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;bike and canoe combination&lt;/a&gt; that I have been using to explore rivers in my area that have public access between the river and the bike path.  I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256&quot;&gt;tow the canoe up the bike path&lt;/a&gt; and paddle back down the river. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio River&lt;/a&gt; is 981 miles stretching from Pittsburgh Pa to Cairo In.  Before planning on exploring the Ohio I was wondering; are there any bike trails or bike friendly roads of significance paralleling the Ohio River?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-29T10:30:54.850" Title="How many bike paths parallel the Ohio River?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9326" CreationDate="2015-08-29T10:30:54.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using Google Maps, with Bicycling as the transportation mode (&lt;em&gt;August 2015&lt;/em&gt;). I was able to identify about 111 miles of dedicated bike paths and a few bike friendly roads that fairly closely parallel the Ohio River.  Local area paths that have less than about 2 miles and not connecting to bike friendly roads near the river, are ignored in this answer. At this time I have personally only validated the first 3 miles on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Pittsburgh. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pittsburgh PA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 3 miles; Three Rivers Heritage Trail&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 8 miles; bike friendly roads on and near Neville island&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toronto OH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 6 miles; paths and bike friendly roads&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wellsburg OH  to Wheeling OH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 20 miles; Yankee trail &amp;amp; Wheeling Heritage Trail&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More detail about the section above in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7200&quot;&gt;What are the navigation considerations on the Ohio River between Pittsburgh PA.&amp;amp; Wheeling WV?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moundsville OH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 2 miles; Glen Dale to Moundsville Rail-Trail&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proctorville OH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 11 miles; Ohio River Scenic Byway, bike friendly roads (with gaps of unclear friendliness)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cincinnati OH&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ 30 miles; Mostly bike friendly roads, in both Kentucky and Ohio (some well away from the river on the Ohio Side)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lawrenceburg IN&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~5 miles bike friendly parts of the Ohio River Scenic Byway&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Louisville KY&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~26 miles; Louisville Riverwalk &amp;amp; Louisville Loop, paths with some bike friendly roads&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the Louisville Loop trail ends at Farnsley-Moremen Landing, there are no more bike trail of significance paralleling the Ohio River.  There are several bike friendly roads beginning at Brandenburgh KY, and continuing to Cairo IN where the Ohio joins the Mississippi River. These do form a continuous bike friendly (&lt;em&gt;per Google&lt;/em&gt;) route roughly following the rivers path. Some of them near the river at cities and towns, but often are 5 or 10 miles from the river. Depending on river access some of these sections may viable for peddle and paddle outings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-08-29T10:30:54.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9321" CreationDate="2015-08-29T10:43:52.740" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was younger, we would use a plastic garbage bag and put in the depression for your feet in the back seat.  This was back in the days of rear wheel drive and drive tunnels going down the center of the car so the depression would easily hold 5 or 10 pounds of ice and 24 cans of cool beverages. The bag would keep the melt water from leaking into the car.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are planning on dry ice, you could use a similar solution with even less risk of leaking melt water.  You don't need a cooler, you just need to keep the heat transfer to a minimum. Put a plastic bag in a cardboard box (I recommend double bagging, with heavy contractor bags, just in case) put the dry ice in with the fish and wrap everything in a blanket or sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coolers are portable device for containing and transporting.  You don't need to transport, everything stays in your car.  You just need to contain the cool and any fluids.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BEAWARE&lt;/strong&gt; dry ice in a closed car for more than a few minutes can raise CO2 levels to hazardous or fatal levels &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dryiceinfo.com/safe.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;(ref by @Chris Mendez)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The expansion rate for dry ice &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.york.ac.uk/biology/intranet/health-safety/dry-ice/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;is 845; 10kg of dry ice sublimes into about 5.4 m3 of carbon dioxide gas&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T16:51:17.290" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T16:51:17.290" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9329" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-08-29T14:41:05.887" Score="9" ViewCount="1275" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every year, in late summer, in Maine, at night, I hear a noise coming from the trees. It sounds like a cardinal's chirp (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/sounds&quot;&gt;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/sounds&lt;/a&gt;, fourth sound down), but longer, scratchier, and lower pitch. The sound starts and ends abruptly. There are three to six chirps in a row from the same tree, and then silence for a few minutes. Sometimes I will hear it again after a few minutes from the same tree, and sometimes from a different tree. No one else in my family can hear it. Does anyone know what this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6707" LastEditorUserId="6707" LastEditDate="2015-08-30T01:56:25.163" LastActivityDate="2016-04-17T20:54:53.450" Title="What nocturnal animal sound am I hearing in the trees in Maine?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4310" CreationDate="2015-08-31T15:24:27.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been living in Wales for 20 years, the mosquitoes here don't bother me at all. Over the other side of the UK, they do. Not half as bad as North Carolina mosquitoes though, they leave red angry marks nearly an inch in diameter that take weeks to go. I'm emigrating to NC soon, so I'm really hoping I develop tolerance to the indigenous mosquitoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6717" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T15:24:27.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2015-08-31T19:25:20.867" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always carry some kind of firearm when hiking, I do not care if I never need one, the fact is, if I do need one it will be a matter of life or death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never needed a seat belt in a car or jeep to save my life, does that mean I should not wear a seat belt? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the made up stats on people having issues in state or federal parks, Google will show you there are plenty of times a firearm (with some training) has or would have made a difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A firearm is a tool and if needed, could be priceless. I doubt anyone would argue rapes, robberies and murders do not occur in isolated areas of the wilderness, because the facts are such crimes do occur there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lite weight pistols that carry easy and are effective, any woman not carrying a weapon of so kind in remote areas is pretty ignorant in my professional opinion as a former law enforcement officer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6718" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T19:25:20.867" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9340" CreationDate="2015-08-31T19:42:55.560" Score="10" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am temporarily relocating from a region with mild climate to Montréal. I run almost every day, in summer and winter, as the temperatures rarely go much below freezing point. Now, I guess I will have to switch sports, at least for the cold season. Also, I think it would be a shame not to cross-country ski in Canada. Doing work and travel, I will be on a budget. Hence my question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are inexpensive ways to learn cross-country skiing? Could I teach it to myself? Is it advisable to buy gear off craigslist or ebay and if yes, what would I have to consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T01:52:45.167" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T01:52:45.167" Title="Inexpensive ways to learn cross-country skiing" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9332" CreationDate="2015-08-31T20:05:13.370" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible to get the gear relatively cheap. Search on ebay or the kind. Search on internet forums where outdoor enthusiasts hang around and offer their used gear on a market place. I know such forums for Germany and Austria but I am sure you will find the kind in Canada too. I have to say I trust those guys more compared to ebay because I think there are more black sheep on ebay. But this is very subjective of course. Relating proper types of ski you could check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1179/starting-cross-country-skiing-off-trails&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is way more important than your gear is to &lt;a href=&quot;http://old.avalanche.ca/cac/training/ast/courses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;take a class&lt;/a&gt; in avalanche rescue training. This is &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; important and I mean it. Compare the prices but do a proper training by real professionals. I am not trying to make the big bargains for safety relevant gear/training (see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7521/quality-robustness-of-avalanche-shovels&quot;&gt;this topic&lt;/a&gt;). They are worth the money. Relating the avalanche topic please check out e.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/347/how-can-i-rescue-someone-lost-in-an-avalanche&quot;&gt;How can I rescue someone lost in an avalanche?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/345/what-causes-an-avalanche-and-can-i-predict-one&quot;&gt;What causes an avalanche and can I predict one?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7217/what-is-the-first-thing-to-do-when-buried-in-an-avalanche&quot;&gt;What is the first thing to do, when buried in an avalanche?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3392/beginner-ski-touring-avalanche-terrain&quot;&gt;Beginner Ski Touring - Avalanche Terrain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want to go on cross-country ski tour alone. One reason might be it's a social event which is more fun then. But more importantly you care for each other. Especially for the case of emergency (injury, avalanche, finding the right path). Maybe you can find people in local outdoor clubs (there are feeless groups too) who are more experienced. You will learn from them. And potentially you could find really good friends there :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-08-31T20:41:21.920" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9334" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9338" CreationDate="2015-09-01T04:57:29.157" Score="27" ViewCount="10444" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a staunch proponent of leave no trace. I don't carry dish detergent (sand and small rocks work much better on stainless steel anyways,) and I don't use soap or shampoo, not even of the biodegradable kind (being smelly I have heard might even help with repelling mosquitos...) I do however use toothpaste, and am feeling pretty bad about it, since I leave a chemical behind in the wilderness. When I spit out my toothpaste, I attempt to spray it over a large area, to avoid creating concentrations of the chemical, and I avoid leaving it behind on fragile vegetation, but I would like to find an alternative that adheres more to the leave no trace philosophy. What are my options without sacrificing the health of my teeth on those multi-week treks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2017-07-30T14:58:28.707" Title="Toothpaste in the back-country and the principle of leave no trace" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-01T06:08:03.950" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because Toothpaste is nothing else than some kind of polish, you could use precipitate chalk.&#xA;Or just brush with water.&#xA;For the fresh feeling just chew some spearmint leaves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T06:08:03.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-01T12:05:52.247" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lushusa.com/Toothy-Tabs/toothy-tabs,en_US,sc.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;toothy tabs&lt;/a&gt;&quot; tablets, sold by lush. The tablets are solid toothpaste. They consist chiefly of kaolinite, baking soda, and essential oils. Besides being non-toxic and biodegradable, they are also lightweight, small, and the packaging is plastic-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be 100% certain, you could just use baking soda or make your own tooth powder. Quoted from &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.trashbackwards.com/2013/03/14/diy-tooth-powder-plastic-free-toothpaste/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;trash backwards&quot;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2 tablespoons Baking Soda&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2 pipette stoppers-ful of liquid stevia (liquid stevia comes in glass jars with stoppers)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1/4 teaspoon organic peppermint flavor (It’s a combination of sunflower oil and peppermint oil)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1/8 teaspoon organic mint extract&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that even many conventional toothpastes do no harm to the environment (safe for their packaging). However, some contain &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/microbeads-exfoliators-plastic-face-scrub-toothpaste&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;microbeads&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, tiny plastic balls that never rot and accumulate in plants and animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2015-09-01T12:11:51.573" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T12:11:51.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-01T13:13:25.117" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate&quot;&gt;Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)&lt;/a&gt;. It's naturally occurring, and to get a level of toxicity to animals you would need to get to 450mg per liter. Unless you're operating a mine or using literally tons of the stuff, it's quite safe and you'll never get near that. From a &lt;a href=&quot;http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5008/&quot;&gt;2008 USGS study&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chronic toxicity was observed at concentrations that ranged from 450&#xA;  to 800mg NaHCO3/L (also defined as 430 to 657 mg HCO3-/L or total&#xA;  alkalinity expressed as 354 to 539 mg CaCO3/L) and the specific&#xA;  concentration depended on the sensitivity of the four species of&#xA;  invertebrates and fish exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At temperatures around 100f, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate#Personal_hygiene&quot;&gt;it rapidly disolves into sodium carbonate, carbon dioxide, and water&lt;/a&gt;. And that's without interaction from other chemicals, which will happen naturally, and hasten the decomposition (especially any acid). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Water/FreshWater/acidrain.html&quot;&gt;Rain water is generally acidic&lt;/a&gt;, so rain in any quantity breaks down baking soda very quickly (like in minutes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically related to teeth cleaning, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19278079&quot;&gt;2008 study&lt;/a&gt; had this to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The collective results from the five controlled clinical studies on&#xA;  over 270 subjects reported in this paper, consistently demonstrate&#xA;  that Arm &amp;amp; Hammer baking soda dentifrices enhanced plaque removal&#xA;  effectiveness of tooth brushing to a significantly greater extent than&#xA;  the non-baking soda dentifrice products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19278080&quot;&gt;Another study of the same year and in the same journal&lt;/a&gt; states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The results of this study indicate that the baking soda dentifrice was&#xA;  more effective than the non-baking soda, antimicrobial dentifrice in&#xA;  plaque removal after a single tooth brushing, and in maintaining&#xA;  significantly lower plaque levels during a four-week period of twice&#xA;  daily, unsupervised tooth brushing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sodium bicarbonate always works as a dish cleaner and antacid. I take a few ounces with me on every trip to cover all those bases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tooth brushing, just wet your tooth brush, put a small pile on the bristles, and go to town. It doesn't taste the best, but you get used to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="5813" LastEditDate="2015-09-01T16:46:54.450" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T16:46:54.450" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-01T13:48:24.740" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even for &quot;multi-week&quot; trips, brushing with water alone is not going to compromise your tooth health. The abrasive action of the brush does most of the work, and missing the flouride hit for a few days won't affect your teeth in the least. Plus, it saves weight. So, the best LNT option: &lt;strong&gt;don't use it&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you MUST use toothpaste (or an alternative), try a few of these options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swallow it&lt;/strong&gt; - pick up a toothpaste made for babies and children made with the explicit understanding it will be swallowed. (Even regular toothpaste says, &quot;do not swallow more than used for brushing&quot; which seems to indicate it won't hurt...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack it out&lt;/strong&gt; - If you are truly leaving no trace, then you are packing out your poop too right? So coordinate your tooth brushing with other trace-forming activities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spray it&lt;/strong&gt; - The &quot;broadcast spray&quot; method has long been championed whereby you spew the toothpaste out in a fine mist so there is no &quot;blob&quot; of toothpaste to attract hungry critters. It does spread the smell, so do this FAR away from camp in bear country.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dilute it&lt;/strong&gt; - in some areas, the recommended method is to spit normally, then urinate on it so there is not a large gobble-worthy glob for some critter to munch on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And remember, even if you are using baking soda, or other &quot;natural&quot; alternatives, &lt;em&gt;these still need to be dealt with properly using one of the above methods&lt;/em&gt;. It is pretty gross to arrive in a well-camped area and see white minty smears on all the vegetation regardless of whether it's &quot;natural&quot; or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2015-09-01T14:27:56.437" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T14:27:56.437" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8964" CreationDate="2015-09-01T14:15:21.580" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rent-a-llama.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;farms rent llamas&lt;/a&gt;. Most require at minimum a 1/2 day &quot;orientation&quot; course in how to handle a llama. This includes things like the care and feeding of the animal, as well as how to pack the animal properly to keep the load manageable and balanced. An overnight with a handler would be more than sufficient to give you the skills you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Llamas are more suited for 'novice' packers than a horse. Mostly, if a llama does get a wild hair and freak out, it won't kill you (but it still might run off with your tent.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IS llama packing &quot;too good to be true&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;less weight on your back&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;another &quot;fun&quot; dynamic on the trip (llamas can be quite personable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;low impact (compared to horses as pack animals): toes diffuse the weight rather than dig into the soil like horseshoes. Llamas are browsers, nibbling lots of plants rather than eating one patch down to the ground. Llama pellets tend to be less offensive to hikers than horse apples.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have something else to take care of during your trip (hassle)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Llamas can be stubborn, and just sit in the middle of the trail far from your destination (kushing) - good luck getting them up again (a lot of this depends on the training they've received)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can go many places, but can't go everywhere, limiting your route options&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many horses freak out if they meet a llama, and can cause wreaks in heavy horse-use areas where llamas are unfamiliar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transporting the llama requires a trailer or an additional fee from the renter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T14:15:21.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9332" CreationDate="2015-09-01T17:28:08.850" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cheapest ways to try cross country skiing are borrowing equipment, yard sale equipment, craigslist, or rentals. If you like it, and rent frequently, that stops being cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you make friends who run or are otherwise active, ask around, and someone might have a spare set of skis and poles they can lend you - you can find them for a few dollars at yard sales sometimes, and some skiers pick them up as spares or loaners (This is why I've got 3 sets of skis for 1 set of legs). Then you'll just need to buy boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Places to ski: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easiest: flat ground, groomed trails, golf courses, snowmobile tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harder: Slopes, or anything with virgin snow (snow with no tracks). With virgin snow, it's generally best to go with one or more buddies who can trade off in trail breaking, or go for very short trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hardest: Very hilly or mountainous, especially with virgin snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're sticking to flat terrain or groomed trails, you can pretty much get out and go with little or no instruction (depending on your tolerance for falling and being awkward). I don't know about Quebec specifically, but in Massachusetts, some golf courses rent cross country skis in the winter, and groom tracks for skiers to use. Other courses don't make it official, but still allow skiers on their grounds. Depending on what you are looking for, a season's pass to a local golf course may satisfy your need for exercise at a reasonable cost. The disadvantage would be that you could only ski at that location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want harder terrain, it would be worth either taking a lesson, or going out with a friend who skis. Going straight is easy to figure out, as long as you don't care about being the most efficient possible. Turns and hills are a little harder. If saving money is most important, and you don't have any skiing friends, you can learn technique from books and videos without much trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-09-01T19:30:07.907" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T19:30:07.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9341" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-01T20:54:29.547" Score="9" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I prioritize teaching about the concept of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8026/what-are-the-principles-of-leave-no-trace&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; to someone who is unfamiliar with it, without coming across as off-putting because there are so many rules?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T21:19:29.887" Title="How to introduce individuals to the concept of Leave No Trace" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9341" CreationDate="2015-09-01T20:54:45.977" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doctrine and strict rules create resentment. Children are a prime example of this, but most adults are sadly not immune either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The importance of Leave No Trace is coupled to a place. Yes, ideally we would all try to minimize our impact on this planet, but some places are more fragile than others and one individual can have a much more lasting impact on an ecosystem. An example are alpine meadows, where growth cycles are short, food is scarce, and living for the local fauna is harsh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your options also heavily depend on the situation. If you are teaching your children you can have a different approach as if you walk up to a stranger camping on fragile vegetation 10 feet away from an alpine lake who is enjoying a camp fire in a no-fire zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What it takes for people to take care of wild places is for them to see the importance of preserving wilderness in the first place. Someone who doesn't understand why a certain rule is in place is not likely to adhere to it. A good first place to take someone who is new to the wilderness is a place that is more resilient so they can begin to feel a connection with nature. A trip to Yosemite National Park for example could spark an interest in exploring the backcountry, and the impact that humans have had on the place can lead to a discussion about why it is important to protect certain places from human impact as much as possible. A sense of awe often goes hand in hand with wanting to preserve what one is in awe of. If you are in the presence of one of the rare human beings who just don't get it, don't take them to places that need our protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T20:54:45.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2015-09-01T22:08:12.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking I agree with the sentiment that carrying a handgun is not necessary and more likely to get you into trouble than out of it, and I wouldn't suggest it was the right approach, however for the sake of a rounded argument...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read &amp;amp; watched several guides on bear encounters, including a mandatory video before hiking in Canada's Kluane National Park. These guides typically say something along the lines of &quot;if you're being mauled by a bear play dead, unless the attack lasts more than 30 seconds, then fight back as it likely has decided to eat you&quot;. One day I finally wondered - how would I fight back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason I always keep a large knife to hand. I don't expect to disable a charging bear with it but I do expect a few slashes to the head / neck could potentially save my life. It's likely a better bet than a clenched fist. The same argument says that a handgun is likely better than a knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you're probably more likely to hit your hiking partner :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2015-09-01T22:08:12.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9341" CreationDate="2015-09-02T00:10:00.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't talk about &quot;The Rules&quot;  rules are made to control people, they create resentment and tend to be broken.... Don't try to teach 'rules', teach the concepts behind the rules. Get the person to buy into the concept and need for leaving no trace, then introduce them to things gradually. Don't give them rules, give them solutions to problems, then show them the problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I use is &quot;See this - someone has been here before us - imagine if everyone did this, or there were 100 times more visitors, what would this place be like?   Another favourite trick of mine is I say, &quot;We are less than 5 minutes from the camp site&quot; - I usually get asked how I know and say &quot;Look - no undergrowth, no dead trees (or &quot;large logs that are stripped bare&quot;), rubbish over their, lots of tracks going in all directions, overturned rocks.....&quot;.  Even the most remote places it's possible to find traces of people where there should not be.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I my experience, a vast majority of people already accept the concept, you just need to help them verbalise it in words and on terms they understand accept. Once that is done, its easy to introduce big picture items for discussion - e.g. rubbish in general, then plastic, then organic rubbish that might not degrade in some environments, then introduce the idea human waste  is just rubbish, so why should it be treated treated differently. Never go straight to &quot;You have to carry out your poo&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T00:10:00.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9345" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-02T04:04:22.507" Score="0" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;This past weekend, I went on my first backpacking trip.  The last 5 miles were all straight down hill which caused a lot of knee pain.  Now, three days later, I still have excruciating, stabbing pain on the right side when bending my knee/applying pressure/going up and down stairs.  I have been icing my knee. What could this be and what should I be doing about it? Thanks!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6723" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T11:01:59.453" Title="Sharp knee pain when going up and down stairs/bending my knee after my first backpacking trip" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-09-02T12:38:28.640" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-02T07:27:27.970" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can also use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miswak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Miswak&lt;/a&gt;, then you don't need to cary a tooth paste along but still have medicinal benefits, instead of having to use just a toothbrush with only water (although there is no harm in that either).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The miswak (miswaak, siwak, sewak, Arabic: سواك‎ or مسواك) is a teeth cleaning twig made from the Salvadora persica tree (known as arak in Arabic). A traditional and natural alternative to the modern toothbrush, it has a long, well-documented history and is reputed for its medicinal benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That way you leave no trace. Only some tiny bristles might be left over which themselves are from a tree so they cant be harmful for other trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3545" LastEditorUserId="3545" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T08:54:40.437" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T08:54:40.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5987" CreationDate="2015-09-02T11:18:00.933" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any little bit a person can do that can increase their chances of staying healthy is not only important, but potential lifesaving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have lived in the bush and was in the military and in an emergency situation, you definitely want to think about water cleanliness. No, you may not be able to guarantee you will not get sick, but getting lost in the bush plus intestinal issues equal dehydration, which is, without a doubt, one of the most dangerous positions one can find themselves in when in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6725" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-02T13:12:52.230" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T13:12:52.230" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9341" CreationDate="2015-09-02T14:52:46.120" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have commented, I would focus on practicality and &lt;em&gt;then&lt;/em&gt; start bringing up the LNT doctrine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two little kids I go backpacking with. The last time out I explained that if we walked ~50 steps from the trail to take a whizz that it created a much bigger area of potential whizz sites than if we only walked ~20 steps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trash, I just point out how gross it is and how it's important that we pack out more than we packed in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The LNT principles are just that: principles. They're not hard and fast guidelines. In some places concepts like packing out toilet paper is honestly ridiculous, and in other places you really do need to crap in a bag and carry it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As important as LNT is, I approach it like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pointing to the negative impact of humans on the environment, since this largely what LNT and environmental concern is meant to address.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talking about where to find specific rules and practices for the area you're in (ranger websites, the back of your permit, etc).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How LNT fits into the above. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being dogmatic about it turns everyone off. Using LNT as a practical means of addressing real issues in a reasonable way is hard to argue against. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T14:52:46.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9341" CreationDate="2015-09-02T21:19:29.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, don't be holier than though.  People resent that.  Be realistic.  Push for what matters in the area you're in.  Hard and strict rules without regard to the situation are just religion.  People will see them as such, think the whole thing is silly, and tune out anything else you say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realize that the only true way to leave no trace is to not go there at all.  Just being somewhere wild will have some affect, so it'a matter of degree.  This again goes back to not preaching inflexible rules.  For example, if you're in a desert with mostly bare ground and few people visit, then it's OK to walk around a bit to explore.  The same thing above treeline in a alpine tundra can cause harm that will take decades to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carrying out poop is extreme for most places.  In most places it's fine to just minimize toilet paper by using natural objects as much as possible and bury everything afterwards.  After all, the moose, bear, coyote, etc, do the same thing.  When there's 2 moose for every human, the extra human waste doesn't make much difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is, use common sense to push for the things that matter, don't preach rules, but explain the problem and show ways to deal with it.  Let them be part of the solution rather than be preached at like sinners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-09-02T21:19:29.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-02T21:34:53.937" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree mostly with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9338/2303&quot;&gt;LBell's answer&lt;/a&gt;: just using water to dislodge food debris is enough! However, I felt I should write against&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dilute it - in some areas, the recommended method is to spit normally, then urinate on it so there is not a large gobble-worthy glob for some critter to munch on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mammals, especially deer and goats, seek out the smell of ammonia because they source their salt from urine. I would recommend against mixing toothpaste with pee because it increases the chances of it being ingested! The best place to pee is on a rock face so that animals don't dig plants at their base and disturb soil in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6205" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-06-25T23:59:10.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9352" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-03T05:44:12.290" Score="3" ViewCount="402" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these structures in a fairly inaccessible area of the creek. The oven like construction is made of bricks (which can be found around in the creek bed itself due to runoff) and mud for the seal (also probably from the creek). It also has some pieces of asphalt I think. It is located on the right hand side of the creek if you are walking upstream. The hole on the side makes it really look like it is meant for an oven. However, as you can verify, it remains unused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Facing it, on the other side of the bank, lies another structure. It has a metal pole bent in an upside down U shape. And a series of stones forming a square whose two foremost corners meet the metal pole's two ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas what it is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4qVC2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4qVC2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ElxyO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ElxyO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KglBI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KglBI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xyuZA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xyuZA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZZMgJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZZMgJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pvcQL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pvcQL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rtaaW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rtaaW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VbIcq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VbIcq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Images included from &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/a/3vOJb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;my picture album&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2645" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T20:55:37.513" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T17:03:58.673" Title="Creek discovery. Two structures at opposing ends of the bank. What are they?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9354" CreationDate="2015-09-03T13:08:30.027" Score="4" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;What does the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BMC&lt;/a&gt; membership discount encompass? Is it just climbing and mountaineering shops or is it other paid for services?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically, would the BMC membership discount apply to the entrance fees of either the Boardroom (Deeside) or Beacon (Caernarfon) climbing centres?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6730" LastEditorUserId="5813" LastEditDate="2015-09-03T17:06:50.240" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T17:06:50.240" Title="BMC Discount on Climbing Walls" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bmc&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9353" CreationDate="2015-09-03T14:29:43.927" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can see a list of the mebership discounts currently at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/membership-discounts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/membership-discounts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It covers a wide variety of things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TBH, if your looking to join the BMC for a discount it's likely not worth it. Often I get better discounts from memberships to walls, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;em&gt;hold on a second while I get on this high horse&lt;/em&gt;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The BMC is really an organisation that promotes climbers rights and interests in the UK, that's why you should join it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T14:29:43.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9355" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9359" CreationDate="2015-09-03T18:02:32.110" Score="10" ViewCount="1819" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from Prusik cord being a different weave, what's the big difference? When would I choose one type of cord over the other? Is there anything I shouldn't I use the different types of cord for? What's the significant difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Yellow = Prusik cord | Orange = Accessory Cord&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GJzcE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GJzcE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T22:38:24.477" Title="What is the difference between accessory cord and prusik cord?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9356" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-03T18:28:45.763" Score="6" ViewCount="544" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came up with this variation of the flat overhand knot &lt;em&gt;(also known as the Euro Death Knot)&lt;/em&gt; for pulling ropes on a rappel. I've never been comfortable using the Euro Death Knot (EDK), but it's hard to deny the virtues of the EDK for retrieving ropes. I set out to try and come up with a knot that had less of a tendency to roll than the EDK and eventually came up with this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kAktH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kAktH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a flat overhand with one of the strands tied in a double overhand, which, if anything, makes the knot feel a lot more secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I want to know is if this is an original knot, or if it's already been discovered, has a name, and most importantly: whether or not it's being used for rappels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came up with a different knot while experimenting, but found out online that it had already been invented and named &quot;knot number 1452&quot; back in the 1940s. This knot however, I can't find any evidence of it being used before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this knot have a name? Or have I come up with something new?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:08:35.857" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T14:53:09.007" Title="What's this knot called?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9357" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-03T20:14:53.133" Score="4" ViewCount="508" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am 6'2&quot; (185 cm) tall, 200 lbs (~ 90 kg).  I am in the market for backcountry touring skis and have my mind set on &lt;a href=&quot;http://en-us.madshus.com/nordic-skis/eon-mgv-omni&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Madshus Eon&lt;/a&gt;.  I have demoed similar skis in the past and really liked the wider ski with an actual steel edge to facilitate downhill while not being too wide (like some XC skis) so they are not too slow.  Essentially, I am looking for a ski that does a little bit of everything but is not too good at any single aspect.  I prefer going off trail than being on trail but I like both and I like climbing hills and going backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone mentioned that, under such conditions, I should look for skis that are shorter than 185.  I am looking for advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2015-09-03T21:05:01.467" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T22:04:18.323" Title="How to choose length for backcountry touring skis?" Tags="&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9357" CreationDate="2015-09-03T22:04:18.323" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question depends a lot on your skill level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say you want a ski that does a little bit of everything, so I'd recommend a ski with both camber &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; rocker, but you're going to have to balance length and width based on how you ski. The shorter ski you get, the more control you're going to have on the downhill, but you're going to have to go wider to get the float you need to support 90kg plus a backpack (you need to factor in the weight of your gear and backpack when shopping for backcountry skis).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm 188cm, but not even 75kg, and I ride skis 210cm long. They are amazing for staying afloat in deep snow, and climbing steep slopes with full skins, but I'm not as strong a skier as I used to be, so I struggle a bit on the downhill in the glades trying to dodge trees. My next pair will probably be 170cm at the longest for tight turning (and slightly slower descents) with a little more rocker because I tend to stay in deep snow. I probably won't enjoy the uphills as much, but if I get a wider ski I should still be able to float fairly well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really not sure what kind of ski to get, then go for the best deal, riding your skis is really the only way to learn what kind of ski you really want or need, but if in doubt, just pick something whics seems to be a balance of everything (rocker, camber, radius, width), and use them for a season, from there you'll be able to discover what type of skier you are and what type of ski you'd need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T22:04:18.323" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9355" CreationDate="2015-09-03T22:38:24.477" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the picture the OP presents, the yellow prusik cord weave has each pair of threads (likely not the correct term) passing over 3 or 4 threads rather than two.  This doubling of length and corresponding reduction of crossing points seems likely to make the cord more flexible than the orange cord, a feature that will assist in making the tight wraps of a prusik or similar friction knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In actual climbing use I don't know of anything that would preclude using one in favor of the other for a given diameter or cord.  The strength differences between different brands also vary far more than the differences between the two types of cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BlueWater Ropes sells both accessory and prusik cord in a variety of thicknesses.  There seems to be a negligable decrease in specified strength for the &quot;prusik&quot; cord, also seen below in the Sterling cords.  The product photos show a similar difference in weave as that seen in the OP's image.  BlueWater says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These use specific cords have a firm, yet supple hand and will hold higher loads before slippage than do traditional accessory cords.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sterling Rope sells 8mm cord in both &quot;accessory&quot; and &quot;prusik&quot; cord variations. The only difference I see in their specifications is a 15.4 kN strength rating for the prusik cord, and a 15.6 kN rating for the accessory cord.  (Effectively the same.)  I don't see any differences in the weave, assuming they used the correct photo. They have this to say about the prusik cord:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The 100% nylon 8mm prusik cord has been specifically adapted from our 8mm accessory cord &lt;strong&gt;to be more supple&lt;/strong&gt; [ed: emphasis added] and provide the best possible compatibility with rescue ropes in both 1/2? and the smaller 7/16? diameter. [ed: I assume the '?' was supposed to be the symbol for inches, further compounding their sin of mixing units.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-09-03T22:38:24.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9360" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-09-04T07:45:15.457" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The BMC or British Mountaineering Council is an organisation in the UK. It's aim is to promote the interests of mountain users, politically and practically. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/&lt;/a&gt;. Use this tag to tag questions related to this organisations activities, membership, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:02:25.950" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:02:25.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9361" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-09-04T07:45:15.457" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to the BMC or British Mountaineering Council " OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:02:25.950" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:02:25.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9362" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13568" CreationDate="2015-09-04T11:08:54.043" Score="14" ViewCount="5507" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been considering adding a sail to my open 17 foot Coleman canoe.  Browsing images on the internet show pretty much every imaginable configuration but they all share 3 or 4 combinations of outrigger and/or leeboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Neither, typically seen with small sails and or low budget rigs going down wind only.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outrigger&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outrigger&lt;/a&gt; only, typically seen on canoes with and without sails.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeboard&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leeboard&lt;/a&gt; only, typically seen on mid-range to high performance rigs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Outrigger and leeboard, occasionally seen in all ranges.  Seems to be the least photographed and posted option. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On browsing the web, everyone seems to think their choice is the best, so I am having difficulty assessing the pro and cons of each choice.  What should I consider when designing my canoe sailing solution as it relates to outriggers and leeboards?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current plans are limited to inland water ways (rivers) but you never know where the next adventure will take you so, considerations for all types of water would be appreciated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T08:55:09.300" LastActivityDate="2020-07-11T21:08:52.833" Title="Outrigger and/or leeboard when sailing a canoe?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2015-09-04T15:31:05.980" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked into this a while ago when I was planning on making my own sailing rig for my canoe. The answer largely depends on the size of your sail, and whether or not you have a prominent keel, but if you want to put your paddle away and actually sail your canoe, then you need both a outriggers and leeboards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been looking at getting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sailboatstogo.com/content/canoe_kit_pics&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this kit&lt;/a&gt; for my 17.5' Clipper Tripper for some time now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CC6U0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CC6U0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering how light canoes are, and how easy they are to tip, I think both outriggers and leeboards are pretty much essential for beginner canoe sailors. With some skill and experience you may be able to go without one or the other, but you're definitely going to have a much easier time with both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-04T15:31:05.980" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-04T16:44:37.933" Score="14" ViewCount="7661" Body="&lt;p&gt;My arm is currently in a sling with a separated shoulder from a mountain bike accident, so I'm trying to learn how to do everyday tasks one handed. Shoelaces are proving annoyingly difficult. What's a good one handed shoelace knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; I'm not interested in recommendations for wearing different types of laceless shoes. I'm only interested in answers that provide details on how to tie one-handed knots in lace-up shoes, preferably without having to re-lace the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-03T19:22:37.413" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T19:22:37.413" Title="How do you tie your shoes one handed?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5987" CreationDate="2015-09-05T02:08:00.590" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;His filter has basically two stages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A series of mechanical filters (coarse rocks, fine rocks, coarse sand, fine sand) to remove macroscopic contaminants (eg. dirt) from the water.  By using several different sizes of material, he's extending the life of the filter: each layer will tend to block material that would clog the next layer down, with the fine sand acting to protect the charcoal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A chemical filter (charcoal) to remove chemical contaminants from the water.  This doesn't work by physically blocking them, but by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsorption&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;absorption&lt;/a&gt;: essentially, the chemicals &quot;stick&quot; to the charcoal as the water moves past it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to note that this will not deal with microbes.  Some protozoa will be stopped by the fine sand, and some viruses will stick to the charcoal, but most will get through.  If you want to be safe, you need to use this in combination with boiling or another method of dealing with microbial contamination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2015-09-05T02:08:00.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-05T03:51:33.397" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Floss.  If you brush with water only and then floss, your teeth and gums will be OK for even a multi-week trip.  The dentist of @Henning advises flossing first, then brushing because &quot;the dirt that you floss out from between the teeth is highly aggressive stuff that shouldn't remain on them.&quot;  Thus I suggest a vigorous brushing, then flossing, then a light brushing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pack out your floss!  Maybe add a pack of peppermints for a cleaner feel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-30T14:58:28.707" LastActivityDate="2017-07-30T14:58:28.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9364" CreationDate="2015-09-05T09:48:31.153" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realize this is not the answer you are looking for, but it deserves to be mentioned. As @amphibient mentions in a comment.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People with long term medical issues that make tying shoes difficult, generally use shoes with Velcro straps or shoes that slip on without laces or ties.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, for short term issue, you can use the shoes you have now, and tie them loosely (&lt;em&gt;put them in your lap where you can use two hands&lt;/em&gt;).  A loosely tied pair of soft shoes will slip on and off without difficulty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard dress shoes (for the office) are not going to work well with the loosely tied option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-09-05T09:48:31.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9364" CreationDate="2015-09-05T15:28:15.643" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, I'm sorry to hear about your arm. Tying a shoelace with one hand may almost be impossible but you could follow these simple steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y9pir.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y9pir.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9a6hm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9a6hm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/umKaf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/umKaf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e1dvo.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e1dvo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;                                            &lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theoatc.org/resources/documents/onehanded_shoe_tie.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source of above diagrams)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all else fails use velcro shoes: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X3tvs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X3tvs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3944" LastEditorDisplayName="user3944" LastEditDate="2015-09-06T10:42:34.467" LastActivityDate="2015-09-06T10:42:34.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4807" CreationDate="2015-09-05T22:03:28.590" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All other answers assume that you want to use spinning reel and lure as your tackle, but it is also possible to catch pike on the fly. It is indeed a lot of fun, as you can check out from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh3VYrUBlqM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; filmed in Sweden. At around 15 minutes they show how they set the tackle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your questions, here is how I would go with a fly rod after pike:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) I would use a heavier rod (at least 7 or 8 wt) with appropriate line (at least 7 or 8 wt). Not only to be able to fight the big pike, but also because you can cast bigger flies on windy days with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) I would use bigger streamer flies with lots of flash. Anything tied to hooks size 4 to 6/o would be nice. Minnow imitations (common roach/mört is the usual food for pike in most Swedish waters) work well. For those, white streamers with flash to them work nice. Perch imitations also work great, and I think that flies with green, yellow, and red patterns can match those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c) You want to have a line that matches your rod (at least 7 or 8wt), and a floating line or sink tip would do. You will mostly be casting towards banks and the weeds, so a full sinking line will not help you much. As with spinning tackle, you will want to have a wire tippet guard, and you can get leaders with those already tied to (many tackle shops in Sweden sell something like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rioproducts.com/fishing-leaders/saltwater/toothy-critter-leaders/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;). You want your leader to have a breaking strength of at least 8 pounds, but it is wise to go higher if you know you will meet bigger fish (depends on where you fish).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;d) You want a reel that can hold at least 100 yd of 20 pound test backing, and preferably one with a big diameter so that you can reel in more line faster. Pike don't often take off with your line like salmon do, but I'd be rather safe than sorry in case you get that one big pike that does it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e) As That Brian Davies mentioned, you want long hemostats/pliers and gloves to handle the fish. A rubber landing net is also a good thing to use if you plan to release the fish (it is nicer on them than just hauling them into the boat). Since we are on this topic, you should try to keep the fish in the water and wet your hands before handling them if you plan to release them. Don't hold them through the gills upright like you see in some pictures, as that risks rupturing their internal organs and is a recipe for dead fish. Exception made to some trout creeks in northern Sweden where you are demanded to dispose of all pike you catch. There you should dispatch the fish humanely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;f) Cast your fly towards the bank/weeds, make an initial strip to straighten your line if you have some slack to it, wait for a while so that it sinks, and then retrieve it with fast short strips like it is a minnow swimming fast. One exception is when it is very cold and during spring when they are tired from mating. Then you should give slower motions to your fly. Otherwise, pike are really aggressive and will attack anything that looks like another fish. I have hooked pikes accidentally while I left my fly in the water and was texting or talking to someone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck fishing, and I hope that you get a fish like this one in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/vasterbotten/de-drog-upp-monstergaddan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I recently found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guideline.no/Matt+Hayes%E2%80%99+Guide+to+Fly+Fishing+for+Pike+Part+1.9UFRrWXl.ips&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; with a lot more information on fly fishing for pike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2016-03-01T09:53:00.987" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T09:53:00.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9371" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-06T04:23:52.370" Score="4" ViewCount="1435" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone recommend what type of rock would work to line a fire pit? I am looking for a type that is unlikely to explode when heated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7737" LastActivityDate="2015-09-06T05:49:57.083" Title="Rocks to line a fire pit" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-09-07T19:58:17.047" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9371" CreationDate="2015-09-06T05:49:57.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I built a pit to roast pigs in some years ago, my brother brought up a bunch of lava rocks from southern Oregon for me to line it with.  What you don't want are river rocks.  Basically you're looking for rocks with rough edges instead of rounded.  Rounded indicates the rock has been smoothed by water action and may contain water which as you've indicated can possibly explode from steam building up inside it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I ever used my pit, even though it was made with lava rocks, I built a couple of small fires in it to slowly dry out any rocks that may have possibly had any water in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2015-09-06T05:49:57.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9375" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9377" CreationDate="2015-09-07T08:19:40.207" Score="12" ViewCount="874" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to transport a litre of a hot liquid, what's the best option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aladdin-Adventurer-Stainless-Steel-flask/dp/B0002X73WS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Use a single one litre flask&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0012USVOE?vs=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Use two 500 ml flasks. (Preferable due to the distribution of weight across two people).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which option will keep the liquid warmer for longer (accounting for the fact that the liquid will be drunk at regular intervals)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6730" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:34:01.183" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:34:01.183" Title="When transporting hot liquids, is it better to use one large flask, or two small flasks?" Tags="&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-07T08:45:28.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prepare my toothpaste using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIpTXQl7qT0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this recipe&lt;/a&gt;, main ingredients here being baking soda and coconut oil. &lt;strong&gt;Positive parts:&lt;/strong&gt; it works just as well as &quot;classical&quot; toothpaste, it is safer to swallow, ingredients are natural. &lt;strong&gt;Negative parts:&lt;/strong&gt; it has a more fluid consistence, needs a somewhat heavier container to carry it around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-09-07T08:45:28.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9375" CreationDate="2015-09-07T10:02:58.567" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Theoretically, a 1L flask will keep the liquid warmer as there less surface area and greater mass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in practise it is really a question of what size insulated (Thermos/vacuum type) flasks are available and how well they work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-insulated flasks will not be much good in either case I would guess your liquid would definitely cool within an hour, and probably quite a bit faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For insulated flasks 1L ones seem to be the standard and many smaller ones are more mug designs which are not great for storing while walking, although I'm sure there are some which would work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other factors are two flasks are likely to be slightly heavier, due to the extra insulation needed. Which may be something to consider, I haven't looked what the likely difference is. Also weight can often be balanced through sharing other kit if using one flask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-09-07T10:02:58.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9378" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9384" CreationDate="2015-09-08T06:21:43.907" Score="4" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;With autumn starting to appear in the UK I find myself thinking about winter technique once again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've practiced self arrest technique, but always avoided doing it while wearing crampons. Obviously in an actual emergency I'd likely be wearing crampons in these situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm unclear how you perform a successful self arrest while preventing snagging a crampon in the snow in some situations. Particularly I'm unsure the mechanics of this if your sliding down a slope feet first face up. It seems difficult to rotate your body into the self arrest position (facing downwards and sliding feet first down the slope) and not accidently catch a crampon in the snow (resulting in some cringe worthy injury). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the best technique to deal with the above situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3761/proper-technique-for-self-arrest-with-an-ice-axe-when-wearing-crampons&quot;&gt;Proper technique for self-arrest with an ice axe, when wearing crampons&lt;/a&gt;, doesn't go into details about my particular scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You never want to stop yourself with the crampons because they are&#xA;  liable to catch...The way you do this is first get into self arrest position&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in &lt;strong&gt;how&lt;/strong&gt; you get into the self arrest position (prone position) without catching your crampons in the process of rotating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-09-08T15:46:31.237" Title="How do you get into a prone position without catching your crampons?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;winter-climbing&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9380" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-09-08T08:03:31.470" Score="0" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3761/proper-technique-for-self-arrest-with-an-ice-axe-when-wearing-crampons&quot;&gt;Proper technique for self-arrest with an ice axe, when wearing&#xA;crampons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-08T08:03:31.470" LastActivityDate="2015-09-08T08:03:31.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9381" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-09-08T08:03:31.470" Score="0" Body="Self arrest is a technique used to prevent a person sliding off into danger when walking on snow and ice. the technique is used to prevent a person sliding should they loose their footing. Use this tag for questions regarding the use of and techniques involved in self arrest" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-10T07:46:52.037" LastActivityDate="2015-09-10T07:46:52.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9382" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9388" CreationDate="2015-09-08T08:28:37.157" Score="4" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just got a new &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.burton.com/default/throwback-snowboard/W16-159771.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Burton Throwback&lt;/a&gt;, and was wondering how you use it. The instinctive choice seems to be to wear snowboard boots with it. However, there are no ski lifts in my test field  so to prevent excruciating pain when walking up and down the hill, would wearing normal walking boots work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just an extra question, do I need to wax the base?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6730" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-09-08T09:50:03.220" LastActivityDate="2015-09-09T22:03:46.820" Title="Snowboard Boots with the Throwback?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9382" CreationDate="2015-09-08T15:38:01.160" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there is a lot of puff where you plan to use it, consider a pair of snowshoes (which you can totally use with snowboard boots, just make sure the snowshoe straps are long enough). Most backcountry backpacks will have straps to attach the board on the way up, and the snowshoes on the way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise aim for the least stiff snowboard boots, as they will be more comfortable to walk. Consider models with fast fastening systems (boas, for example).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend walking boots at all. Those won't protect you from the cold, the straps from the board will be uncomfortable, and snowboard boots are higher, which provides better control (I find).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2015-09-08T18:55:06.313" LastActivityDate="2015-09-08T18:55:06.313" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9378" CreationDate="2015-09-08T15:46:31.237" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So I'm thinking, on my back, head up hill, crampons in the air (to prevent them snagging). I brace my ice axe into against my collar bone. I now need to roll onto my front to push the head of the axe into the snow. But how do I do that without catching my crampons (as I roll). Does that make sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're on your back, you don't need to get your crampons in the air. The front points are what would snag, and they're pointing at the sky. Even if you wanted to keep the heels of your crampons off the snow (which isn't necessary), you really couldn't, because your knees don't bend that way, and it's not practical to raise your legs at the hips in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To roll, throw your weight to the side, as if you were rolling out of bed. The direction to roll is the one that heads the pick toward the snow like an arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you start rolling over, you can bend your knees to keep the front points of your crampons off the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this is theoretical and idealized. It's how you should practice it in order to get it in your muscle memory. But in reality it may not actually work out this way, and in a real self-arrest you may actually need to use your front points -- if that's what it takes to keep from going over a cliff, that's what you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-09-08T15:46:31.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9321" CreationDate="2015-09-08T16:22:47.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go to the local supermarket butcher, ask if he has any shipping styrofoam coolers from incoming meat suppliers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same as the cheapo ones, but&#xA;Much more sturdy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-09-08T16:22:47.910" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4807" CreationDate="2015-09-09T18:50:56.877" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got back from fishing in Minnesota, where one of the kinds of fish we were catching were pike in the 25&quot; range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had metal leaders in my tackle box but I didn't use them. I used a standard spinning reel, 6' medium action rod, and 8'lb monofilament with a swivel and another 2' of monofilament line with a single barbed hook. And nightcrawlers for bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pike are aggressive, so they are more likely to strike when the bait is moving. Particularly if it starts moving suddenly after resting for a while. So all of our pike strikes were when we were trolling or reeling in. One of my catches was when I started up the motor in our boat and started driving while my line and bait was still in the water. The pike struck that and I didn't even realize I had hooked it until I stopped the boat a few yards away and grabbed my pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pike also like to hang out in reeds and vegetation, because they can lurk, hide, and ambush the prey that are swimming by. Unfortunately this makes it more difficult for us fisherman because we're always getting tangled up in the weeds. So I've heard of people using a type of spoon (lure) that is designed to not get caught in weeds as you reel it in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip for pike (as for all fish) is that in the early morning they are more likely to be closer to the surface. Being an aggressive fish, i've heard of people catching them with buzz-bait, which is a noisy, loud top-surface lure. I personally have only ever caught bass on buzz-bait, but I suppose it's possible to catch pike with them too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-09-09T18:50:56.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9382" CreationDate="2015-09-09T21:52:05.600" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually had a backyard board like that back in the early 90s, you can wear whatever boots you want with that board. Snowboard boots were developed for supportive snowboard bindings, those old boards didn't have supportive bindings, just toe straps like what you found on water skis and surf boards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JH306.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JH306.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to wax the bases, but you will glide faster if you do, but I'd probably just use a glide wax, I'm not sure how well hot wax would stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-09T22:03:46.820" LastActivityDate="2015-09-09T22:03:46.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9389" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-10T10:51:49.557" Score="6" ViewCount="1679" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been thinking of putting a sail on my canoe with will probably require the use of an outrigger. &lt;em&gt;(related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9362&quot;&gt;Outrigger and/or leeboard when sailing a canoe?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;  I was thinking about using a section of PVC pipe as an outrigger, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pipe-water-content-volume-weight-d_1734.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this reference&lt;/a&gt; indicates a 4 inch pipe will hold 0.653 gallons of water per foot weighing 5.44 pounds, a 5 inch pipe will hold 1.02 gallons at 8.50 pounds. Every pound of water displaced is a pound of lift. The farther out you place the outrigger the more leverage is applied, but at the same time it applies more strain to the arm that connects the outrigger to your vessel &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first image below could be considered two outriggers with a sail between them. At this point my mind spirals out of control with all the variables. If the base was wide enough they would not tip, but then it would require stronger cross bars, which would add more weight...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the off the shelf out riggers for canoes, only have a couple feet long arms with volume of a couple of gallons, but if you see professional sea going outriggers they have much larger volumes with much longer arms (second image).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the basic things I need to consider and how do I calculate how much lift I need from an outrigger?  I am planning on inland water (river, lake) sailing, so will not be at the extremes in the images, but I want to understand the principles required to keep the canoe from tipping over, and keep away from putting to much pressure on the outrigger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSYu4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSYu4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qLR49.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qLR49.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T01:37:15.077" Title="How do I calculate how much lift an outrigger needs?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9389" CreationDate="2015-09-10T14:43:12.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is possible to answer your question in such a general way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Needed lift of your outrigger depends on your type of canoe, the way its built, how it is packed with people/goods (weight distribution), how big your sail is, how high your mast is, if you are sailing with/across/against the wind, etc, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we can observe is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you choose a hollow outrigger (relying purely on lift from flotation), it will only prevent your craft capsizing in the direction of the outrigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want stability towards both sides you'll need either two outriggers, or attach weight to the outrigger, such that this weight will counterbalance forces which roll your canoe away from the outrigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alternatively you could set up your mast/sail not directly over your canoe, but in the style of a catamaran somewhere &lt;em&gt;between canoe and outrigger&lt;/em&gt;. This could be quite a bit more challenging to build.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest either finding professionally built outriggers, then figure out how much lift they produce, or do some experimentation yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I think you're approaching the problem from the wrong side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I think you should first try to figure out how long your outrigger arm is. This will heavily impact how agile your craft will be. Only then would I try to find the right amount of lift/weight needed for the outrigger to keeping the craft stable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-09-10T14:43:12.717" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7379" CreationDate="2015-09-10T15:17:44.967" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Also how do you start a slide to practice this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go with a friend and randomly push each other over - self-arresting is a lot easier when you expect to fall over. What you really need to practice is how to manoeuvre your body &amp;amp; axe into a suitable arrest position when you're going head first, rolling sideways etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2015-09-10T15:17:44.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9389" CreationDate="2015-09-10T20:20:17.157" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;(I realize my vocabulary about those things in english is very limited. Please edit if I use the wrong words)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding of how that works is that the outrigger displaces the amount of force applied by the wind, like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;        |&#xA;        |&#xA;WIND -&amp;gt; |&#xA;        |&#xA;        |&#xA;BOAT -&amp;gt; O&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;VS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;        |&#xA;        |&#xA;WIND -&amp;gt; |&#xA;        |&#xA;        |&#xA;BOAT -&amp;gt; O----O&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first case, there is absolutely no resistance to prevent the boat from tipping over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the second case, assuming the outrigger always floats (which is an approximation, but will do for now) the wind will need to apply enough torque to lift the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, all that's left is to compare the opposing Torques of a/ the wind in the sail to b/ the weight of the boat. We want equilibrium between the 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wind force can be integrated as a force applied to a single point at the barycenter of the sail. Assuming a triangular sail, the barycenter's distance to the base of the sail is 1/3 of the sail's height. The total heigh needs to take into consideration the offset of the base of the sail&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;boat_weight * outrigger_length = wind_force * barycenter_height&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wind force is (apparently in kg. The 0.063 constant is something I found somewhere, not sure if it is right)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;0.063 * wind_speed^2 * sail_surface&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting it all together, if your canoe with you in it is 100kg, the outrigger is 1m out, the wind is a moderate 10m/s, the sail is 5m^2, the mast 3m and the sail start .5m above water, it gives:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;100 * 1 &amp;gt; 0.063 * 10*10 * 5 * (1+.5) (47.25)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the wind rises the 15m/s, then the force would be 106kg, tipping your boat over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next part is to make sure the outrigger does not sink. I guess the same force applies on it, so you need it to float 100kg, so about 100L. In a 12.5cm pipe, that's about 8m. Using a larger 20cm pipe, only 3.2m. Considering that the floatation device can sink a little, and that you are not going to actually lift your canoe above the outrigger, the real value is probably quite less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same works approximately identically if your consider the outrigger to be a weight on the other side. (except you need weight instead of floatability)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not entirely sure of those computations, but it sounds about right. Overall, the wind applies a force depending on the square of its speed at the barycenter of the sail. The moment of that force needs to be compensated by an equivalent one. Lower winds, smaller sails, will result is less floatation required&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2015-09-11T13:31:52.307" LastActivityDate="2015-09-11T13:31:52.307" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2015-09-11T06:42:23.910" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reserveamerica.com/outdoors/camping-activities-for-your-next-outing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ReserveAmerica article&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of good ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bike Riding&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What better way to explore the region you're camping in than on a bike ride? Strap on your pedaling shoes, and head out for a day of cycling. Whether you prefer mountain biking or street biking, most campgrounds support both camping activities. Don't forget to ask about bike-specific mountain trails or recreational bike paths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plant Identification&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though you might not notice at first, the plants at your campground may be very different from those where you live. Instead of hiking just to hike, spend your day IDing plants in the local forest. This not only gives you the chance to explore and stay active, but to learn something new, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bird Watching&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You wake up to their songs in the morning, but do you know what those beautiful songbirds look like? Be sure to bring a bird identification book, and head out to discover who those singers are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S'mores Contest&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some may argue that s'mores are the best part of any camping trip. So, why not put your skills to the test? This camping activity is great for all ages, and it's a win-win for everyone participating—and tasting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boating&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your campground is situated on a body of water, there's no better way to spend your day than splashing around. Most water-friendly campgrounds will offer kayak, canoe and paddle boat rentals making it easy to get out and come back in time for dinner over the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Volleyball&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friendly game of volleyball is the one of the best group camping activities. If you don't have enough people for a game, take this chance to meet your neighbors and invite them to join in the fun. Call the campground to find out if they have a net or if you have to bring your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spelunking&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a unique experience if you can partake in it. Spelunking is the act of exploring caves, and can be enjoyed by most age groups. If you're camping near caves, ask your local ranger if they are safe to explore before going in and poking around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fishing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of all the camping activities you can partake in, fishing might be the most relaxing. Grab your poles and head out with your family to catch dinner for the night, or simply enjoy the recreation of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T16:18:18.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9394" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9429" CreationDate="2015-09-12T22:39:51.793" Score="15" ViewCount="822" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fishing is 95% waiting and 5% action, well at least that's how it is for me. During the down time, I contemplate deeply on some obscure and inane things. For a while I've wondered if an angler is holding his or her rod when the line is in still water, would it be possible for a fish to actually sense any vibrations of that angler's heartbeat through the water? I know that fish in general are able to sense currents, and vibrations but to what extent? I started alternating fishing without holding my rod (using a bell to indicate a bite or nibble of course), and holding my rod for the whole day and my results were inconclusive. Thanks for not laughing:P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6414" LastEditorUserId="6414" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T15:38:19.600" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T10:18:57.547" Title="Can fish sense a person's heartbeat from vibrations through the line?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9396" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9401" CreationDate="2015-09-13T13:04:55.793" Score="15" ViewCount="3685" Body="&lt;p&gt;The situation is, that you started a high route with fixed protection (bolts) and misjudged its length, so before reaching the belay the middle mark of the rope passes the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can you do to descend safely leaving no or the least amount of gear behind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You only have a single rope and there is no way to retrieve material from above or another route. I am looking for solutions as simple as possible, as you usually have only quickdraws and maybe a sling and a locker with you on such climbs, but feel free to state good possibilities with some additional gear, just try to minimise - thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-14T08:46:18.287" LastActivityDate="2015-10-04T02:38:07.567" Title="What to do when you run out of rope on a sports climb?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-09-13T16:08:06.960" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing I would do is yell down to my belayer to put a knot in the end of the rope. You could also try to evaluate the situation and try to figure out what happened. Is it a route that requires a 70 meter rope, and you just didn't realize that? Is it possible that you passed by a belay and didn't see it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next you could look around for options, such as traversing to a walk-off. Maybe there are other climbers nearby who could climb up to you with a second rope. If your belayer has a ground anchor available and knows how to escape the belay, they could go for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If none of those options exist, then I can only think of one way you're likely to get out of this situation without leaving gear, and that's simply to downclimb the entire climb, while your belayer keeps you on belay. As you downclimb, clean each piece of gear as you pass it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If downclimbing the whole thing doesn't seem appetizing, then another option would be to downclimb until you only have half the rope out, then clip a locking carabiner through a bolt and be lowered off. As discussed in Chris Mendez's nice answer, you can add a Prusik backup so that if the top bolt fails, you don't die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-09-14T14:21:32.197" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T14:21:32.197" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1733" CreationDate="2015-09-14T01:20:01.443" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used the wax paper on the salt water taffies. I compacted one into a small ball, as small as I could get it, then wrapped others until I got about 10 on in total then lit it and it stayed burning for quite awhile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7759" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T01:20:01.443" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-09-14T02:34:14.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've missed by only a little bit, then you should be able to rap down anyway. Removing the knots, plus the rope stretch, will add a some length. But it would be best to have a plan B in case you don't reach the ground: swing to a nearby boulder, free solo the last bit, have some tall strong friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T02:34:14.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-09-14T08:15:07.837" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;An alternative to @BenCrowell's answer would be to rappel like you would on a multi-pitch route. You will be rappelling on single bolts, so you should know how to judge their quality:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Tell the belayer to put a knot into the end of the rope, if not done yet.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rappel down from the next bolt until you reach a lower one where the rope would be long enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fix yourself to that one, retrieve the rope, rappel to the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the quality of the bolts (sharp edges etc), you might have to leave behind a biner or two, or some cord. This answer assumes that you are comfortable with rappelling down from a single bolt. (In my area, bolts are generally really good, and some top anchors even consist of single bolts.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This trick might save you from having to leave behind stuff if the two rappelling sections are at most 1/3 of your rope length each (though the use of a screw link is a highly controversial practice and I personally wouldn't do it if the anchors look solid enough):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhP8P.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhP8P.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Bailing on a flat hanger&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Warning:&lt;/em&gt; The sling/cord will suffer from the rope being dragged through it. The purpose of this method is to avoid leaving behind any stuff, such as quick links that could become rusty and block critical bolts. You probably wouldn't want to use the sling after using this method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2015-09-15T07:10:37.073" LastActivityDate="2015-09-15T07:10:37.073" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-09-14T13:26:34.150" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whether you run out of rope or just can't complete the route, you have to bail as safely as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as your belayer reaches the rope's middle mark, he should double check that there's a stopper knot at the end. Then, you would down climb to the nearest bolt and then proceed to bail on the route using a prusik backup, as described by &lt;a href=&quot;http://4sport.ua/stuff/mn1001/2012-12/13155/files/Solutions-Sport-climbing_Catalog-2011.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this old Petzl article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gsKwe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gsKwe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lowering with prusik&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, the prusik short-circuits the top bolt in the event that it fails, lowering the chance of hitting the ground. The only time you'll be on one bolt is right after cleaning the bottom bolt, at which point you should continue down-climbing to safety. In this situation, you would only leave a single carabiner or quick link, and in your scenario, you would use your (nylon) sling and locker for your prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted in the comments, leaving a carabiner is preferred to quick links, but use what you have to be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-09-15T12:59:05.340" LastActivityDate="2015-09-15T12:59:05.340" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9402" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9408" CreationDate="2015-09-14T16:57:37.483" Score="13" ViewCount="2024" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am curious about some techniques/guidelines for achieving and maintaining optimal hydration while performing moderate to high strain outdoor activities, such as long hikes etc.  IOW, how do you hydrate yourself JUST ENOUGH, not too much, not too little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that I am asking is that I noticed that, when not sweating too much and not peeing, I don't need too much water.  Excessive water intake causes more urination, which means you have to make more frequent stops and also your organism &quot;learns&quot; to use more water, i.e. gets adjusted.  So I am thinking there could be techniques for optimal and balanced hydration that do not rely simply on thirst or a pre set water intake schedule and instead is perhaps a function of drinking water only after urination and in the amount that is approximately commensurate to the amount of urine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-01-14T13:09:19.653" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T13:09:19.653" Title="How do I achieve/maintain optimal hydration?" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9402" CreationDate="2015-09-14T17:59:30.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I honestly go on intuition and avoid taking big gulps.  If you are chugging water and not obviously sweating or in serious heat-casualty conditions, then you are likely not drinking enough water to keep up with your activity level or environment, or you are over-drinking, in general.  By keeping water a casual thing, it tends to discipline when you drink it.  Snow conditions and deserts would be exceptions because you probably will need more than you think.  I have to forcibly remind myself to drink in extreme cold because I don't notice as intuitively how dry the air is.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Obviously, if you are really pushing yourself physically or in severe heat conditions, chugging might be necessary.  This method helps me, at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6318" LastEditorUserId="6318" LastEditDate="2015-09-15T17:49:39.320" LastActivityDate="2015-09-15T17:49:39.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-09-14T18:31:58.367" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you're referring to a single pitch climb. In which case, the simplest thing to do–&lt;strong&gt;without leaving any gear behind&lt;/strong&gt;–is to rappel as if you were descending a multi-pitch sport climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tether to the top anchor, feed your rope through the hangers/rap station at the top to the half way point of your rope, knot your rope ends with triple barrel knots, and rappel down to the lowest anchor that you can. Then, tether to that anchor, pull your rope and repeat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you concerned about rappelling off of only one bolt, first remind yourself that your body is more likely to snap in half than your bolt is to pull out of the rock (supposing whoever set the anchor did it properly), if that doesn't settle your nerves, then just &lt;strong&gt;feed your rope through two adjacent intermediate anchors on the wall&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can accomplish this at least two different ways: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first requires that you have three times as much rope as there is distance between two anchors. As you pass one anchor, feed one of the free ends of your rope through the hanger, then continue rappelling to the next bolt. Tether to that anchor, go off rappel, then feed the same free end through the bolt you're anchored to. Tie your descender back into your rope and you're effectively rappelling off of a backed up anchor.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you guess your distance wrong and end up &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; having enough rope to do #1, then simply tether to the anchor, pull your rope, rappel down to the next anchor, tether off &lt;em&gt;again&lt;/em&gt;, feed a free end of rope through that hanger, then pass the anchor with your rappel device before continuing. It's not as safe as #1, because it's more steps and takes more time, but chances are you're only up one or two bolts from the bottom at this point anyways, so your fall potential is a lot less severe.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-14T18:37:05.307" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T18:37:05.307" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9402" CreationDate="2015-09-14T19:23:24.537" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Too much water is better than too little. It's a good idea to drink before you're thirsty if you know you're going to need it. You can guess how much, and then drink more or less depending on the frequency of urination. Higher altitude, warm weather, and physical exertion all cause more water loss, so you need to drink more. As you get dehydrated, your mouth gets dry, you stop urinating, and you may get a headache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T19:23:24.537" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9402" CreationDate="2015-09-14T20:06:54.577" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drink when you're thirsty, don't when you aren't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T20:06:54.577" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9402" CreationDate="2015-09-14T20:56:15.473" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't usually care too much about making a pee stop if I'm hiking (I just don't mind). In the last couple of years, however, I've taken on running and have since ran a marathon and a handful of half-marathons (and a one-minute pee break is a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; when you're trying to beat your own record). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pro-advice for hydration usually falls under &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.com/hydration-dehydration/how-much-to-drink-on-hot-runs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;two big categories&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink when you're thirsty&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Measure your liquid loss&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's good advice to &lt;em&gt;stay hydrated&lt;/em&gt;, but offers little insight into optimizing urination stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My races so far have taught me quite a bit about how &lt;em&gt;my&lt;/em&gt; hydration works.&#xA;I stress that it's &lt;em&gt;my&lt;/em&gt; hydration because I've seen that it works differently for different people, so YMMV. Nonetheless, these are a few tips that may work for you. Many of these tips are often recommended by some professional trainers and long-time athletes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try taking a sip every five-to-fifteen minutes during exercise instead of a big gulp every hour. If it's still too much water, try just wetting your lips or taking a smaller sip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I found out that &lt;em&gt;starting&lt;/em&gt; my workout very well hydrated is key to staying hydrated. I usually drink abundant water about one hour before starting my workout.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just before starting my workout I avoid drinking too much water (a few big gulps at the most).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have enough water at your disposal (common in races, not quite so if hiking) wetting your head may help you sweat less by helping your body regulate temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I start perceiving (smelling) my own sweat (or a dry mouth, as other have pointed out), it's usually a sign that I need more hydration. I'll usually compensate by taking one gulp right then and there while making sure my sips are a bit larger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you expect to exercise for more than an hour or two, plain water might not be enough. If your average sport drinks have too much sugar for your taste, try &lt;a href=&quot;https://guenergy.com/shop/hydration-drink-tabs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;drink tabs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep in mind that at some point your body will &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to pee (it's not just to discard excess water). So depending on how long your &quot;long hike&quot; is, you're gonna need to make a stop.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, you're gonna have to try it out for yourself and figure what works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T16:42:16.887" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T16:42:16.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9402" CreationDate="2015-09-14T21:03:35.330" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The absolute best way to figure out when to drink is by paying attention to your thirst. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drink a cup of water when you aren't really thirsty, your body will start getting rid of excess fluid within a few minutes. But if you drink that same cup when you are seriously dehydrated, you won't pee it out because your body won't have excessive moisture. This is all related to how much fluid is in your body, not the time since your last urination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to avoid peeing any more than you have to, get very, very familiar with how you feel when you are just slightly dehydrated (a tiny bit thirsty, but not excessively so, and certainly not unpleasantly so). Then drink small amounts frequently when you start feeling that way. Have a couple of swallows: that will momentarily slake your thirst. Then if you are thirsty again in 5 minutes, repeat this. If you drink large amounts, you are more likely to drink enough to completely rehydrate completely, and need to pee again. It will take experimentation to figure out exactly how much you need to drink, and what you should feel like, but once you do, it's quite reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying this, and don't drink enough, you can get seriously dehydrated, especially if you are sweating a lot. So be cautious when you are starting out, and err on the side of drinking more. Also, at the end of the day, it's a good idea to rehydrate completely, both for your own comfort, and because urination is very important for the body to rid itself of toxins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2015-09-14T21:03:35.330" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-15T15:18:18.217" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some alternatives of toothpaste in ancient India as a part of &lt;strong&gt;YOGA&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try Teeth cleaning twig : &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth_cleaning_twig&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth_cleaning_twig&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;DANTA MOOLA DHAUTI&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sanskrit word danta means ‘teeth’, dhauti means ‘wash’ and moola&#xA;means ‘root’. Therefore this practice is concerned with cleaning the&#xA;teeth and gums.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H4MzO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H4MzO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;neem tree toothbrush&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Utensils&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In India today the traditional method of cleaning the teeth is by means of a twig from a neem tree. The twig is usually about fifteen centimetres long and half a centimetre thick and it has good alkaline and astringent properties. The end of the stick is chewed until it forms bristles. These are then used to brush the teeth and gums. Both chewing the end of the stick and using it as a brush makes the teeth and gums strong and clean. After use the stick is thrown away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method is probably impractical for most people. If this is the case, then use a soft bristled brush to clean the teeth and try to clean the brush as often as possible. The gums should be cleaned with the index finger making a hard, rubbing motion over both the inner and outer gums. You should try to clean your teeth at least twice every day, and even better after each meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dentifrice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important qualities of a dentifrice are that it is sufficiently abrasive to remove ingrained stains on the teeth, germicidal to destroy bacteria, as well as being able to wash the teeth and gums.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ancient yogis always made their own tooth powder out of catechu, alum, myrobalan and the ash of burnt coconut shells in the proportion 1:6:1:2. However, these substances are not readily available and so most of us will have to stick with the toothpastes of today, the best of which are generally available at ayurvedic pharmacies, health and macrobiotic food stores. Additionally, some excellent dentifrices are wood ash or lemon juice which can be applied on a brush, or the rind of a lemon which can be rubbed up and down on the teeth and gums. This is a particularly good method of removing tarnish from the teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source : &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tranquilitytraining.com/2010/hatha-yoga-danta-dhauti/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.tranquilitytraining.com/2010/hatha-yoga-danta-dhauti/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interesting Blog: &lt;a href=&quot;http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/06/verdict-on-neem-chew-stick-toothbrushes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/06/verdict-on-neem-chew-stick-toothbrushes/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also read this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/05/eco-friendly-toothbrush-review-and-giveaway/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eco-friendly-toothbrush&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-09-15T15:54:34.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9410" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9416" CreationDate="2015-09-15T17:22:42.527" Score="9" ViewCount="445" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that there might be robins in the woods that I just never see. But why don't I see any robins. I see lots of birds including chickadees, cardinals, and blue jays. There are Hawthorn trees out front where birds often go during the winter and there are worms in the woods. Robins love these. There is also mud in the woods and grass out front for a robin to make its nest. Sometimes during the spring I see grass and flowers in certain parts of the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you want to know I live in central ohio. I have seen robins further north in grassy areas. but never here in central ohio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:43:53.860" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T21:14:28.570" Title="Why do I never see robins in the woods?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9430" CreationDate="2015-09-15T18:19:05.967" Score="14" ViewCount="7821" Body="&lt;p&gt;While car camping this past weekend, I bought some firewood from the park headquarters but unfortunately, it was split into very large pieces that obviously wouldn't light very well. I tried splitting it by using a hatchet and another log to hit it, but this wood was very hard and not splitting using this method. That said, I've always been hesitant to use a hatchet with full swinging power, which is probably what this log needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a safe and effective method for splitting hard firewood logs using a hatchet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y4X2ym.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y4X2ym.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:00:22.850" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:00:22.850" Title="Safe, effective method for splitting firewood using a hatchet?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9412" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-15T20:07:48.583" Score="8" ViewCount="937" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always wanted to visit Balkan region, but I'm affraid of scorpions. As far as I searched there's plenty of those terrifying creatures, but none of species I found was poisonous. So I have two questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is my reasearch correct? Maybe I missed something&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What to do if I find a scorpion in vestibule of my tent (when I'm inside of it and don't have another exit)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4188" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T22:44:07.010" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T18:41:17.377" Title="How to deal with Serbian scorpions?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9413" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9418" CreationDate="2015-09-15T21:28:29.820" Score="9" ViewCount="9588" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a genuine full grain 1.3 mm cow hide motorcycle jacket that was caught in rain. It wasn't a downpour but I was in the rain long enough for the jacket to be pretty wet, not just the surface. I have previously treated my leather with conditioner frequently, designed specifically for motorcycle jackets that boasts waterproof ability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I got home, I dried the jacket surface out with a cloth, and applied conditioner very generously. Then left it to hang dry in my closet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a few days of hanging to make sure it is completely dry, I noticed parts of the leather had stiffened/hardened. No cracks or anything like that. But rather it feels and looks like it became tighter on certain areas, and it doesn't look as smooth. (since it got tighter parts of my jacket now have a funny concave.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, is damage like this repairable? By applying conditioner? Or is it permanent? What is the recommended procedure to treat leather jacket after it has been soaked? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ps. My leather gloves made of genuine full grain leather also has the same issue, the palm patch felt nice smooth and soft but now it looks and feels dry and hardened. Since my gloves are thinner leather, it seems a lot worse than my jacket. Can this be repaired as well? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I have read about this stuff but they all seem different, and I can't find a certain answer. Anything would help! If you had any experience please share! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7768" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:19:13.390" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:19:13.390" Title="Rain soaked leather jacket- how to repair?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9410" CreationDate="2015-09-15T23:20:05.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't see robins in the woods for the same reason you don't see prarie dogs there either; it's not their habitat.  Notice that most of the time when you see a robin, it's hopping along the ground in some open space, or in a tree near some open space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-09-15T23:20:05.557" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9411" CreationDate="2015-09-16T02:33:34.437" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have ruined more than one hatchet in my lifetime trying to split large logs in half. The trick is to &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; try to spit them down the middle as you would with an axe, but to chop around the edges of the logs and split off smaller pieces all the way around, making the log smaller and smaller as you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One technique is to make &quot;helper&quot; chops in the top around the edges, along the radius of the cut in the log, to sort of pre-split your wood. Make your helper chops no further apart than your hatchet blade is broad, then chop into the top perpendicular to them and use your hatchet as a lever to pop the chunk out of the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-16T02:33:34.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9410" CreationDate="2015-09-16T04:45:41.673" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;, American Robins are indeed found in wild places like woodlands, forests, and mountains. Because worms hibernate, the winter robins feed primarily on berries, found on trees and shrubs in the woods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/birds/american-robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; lists robins as native to Ohio. Some migrators travel through but there is a population that overwinters, in both urban areas and woodlands. They're shy and not easy to spot, which is probably why you haven't seen them, but it's worth looking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you're in a great spot! In fact, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metroparks.net/about-us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks Agency&lt;/a&gt; oversees 17 natural parks with 200 miles of trails and over 27,000 acres of land in Central Ohio, one of which is Inniswood park. The agency is headquartered in Westerville, so hopefully that's close enough by for you to check out the area. There are a number of places for bird-watching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A group called &lt;a href=&quot;https://trekohio.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trek Ohio&lt;/a&gt; keeps records of where the robins overwinter in central Ohio. Sightings have risen into the thousands in Inniswood.  They have an interesting article &lt;a href=&quot;https://trekohio.com/2012/03/26/ohios-overwintering-robins/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio's Overwintering Robins&lt;/a&gt;. Here's a picture from that article. It's a robin foraging berries in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VrJTA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VrJTA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one's from the Ohio DNR site referenced above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mblsS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mblsS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get some binoculars, poke around, and let us know what you find! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-09-25T03:58:09.717" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T03:58:09.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9412" CreationDate="2015-09-16T06:05:49.310" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you ask the net, you'll find some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpions_(paramilitary)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Serbian Scorpions&lt;/a&gt;. But I hope you'll never find one of these in your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was a few times in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia and have never a Scorpion in my tent. Also I don't know any scorpions from there being harmful/poisonous.&#xA;Just be care full when entering your tent and keep the tent closed.&#xA;If you want, you can put some lavender at the entrance and in your boots. My Serbian friend's mum put lavender below every window and every door at their datcha during the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides: The sting of a balkan scorpion wont be worse than a wasp sting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-09-16T08:32:09.940" LastActivityDate="2015-09-16T08:32:09.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9413" CreationDate="2015-09-16T08:41:16.067" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is normal to a certain degree that wet leather, after drying, is a bit stiffer than before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The effects will generally be worse&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the longer your leather was in contact with water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if the water was hot/warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the faster the leather dries (so &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; dry over a heater!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally the stiffness should go away soon if the items are worn/used: after a short while they should be quite supple again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In very bad cases it can help to apply leather softener. This is a product which is made specifically to soften stiff/hardened leather. I get mine from my local supplier of good walking boots (there it is used to speed up the process of breaking in new leather boots).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-09-17T05:40:10.400" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T05:40:10.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9411" CreationDate="2015-09-16T08:54:23.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one very efficient trick I will call &lt;strong&gt;reverse chopping&lt;/strong&gt;. (No idea if this technique has a proper name, feel free to correct my answer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with a hatchet is that it is quite light weight, so there is not a lot of force available for splitting logs. The trick here is to inverse this scenario, so that the &lt;em&gt;weight of the log&lt;/em&gt; will work in your favor, i.e. do the splitting for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First place a goot hit with your hatchet/axe into the center of the log (it must get firmly stuck!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  ===========   &#xA;  / \&#xA;------&#xA;|    |&#xA;|    |&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then flip the whole thing, so that the log is above the axe head:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;|    |&#xA;|    |&#xA;------&#xA;  \ / &#xA;  ===========   &#xA;   ^&#xA;   X&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now swing the whole thing upside down so that the back of your axe heads (marked X above) hits chopping block. (If you don't have a chopping block, use a sturdy flat log.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will make the entire weight of the log work in your favor, instead of only the comparably light axe head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Things to watch out for:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The block can fall of/fly away if it is not firmly stuck to the blade. So don't overdo your swings and keep clear of people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never hit your axe head on a rock. Use a chopping block/log or similar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your log is too big to fully split when your entire axe head is buried in the log this technique will not help you and you will have to get your axe 'unburied' from the log which can be a pain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-09-17T05:40:38.993" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T05:40:38.993" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9410" CreationDate="2015-09-16T12:09:47.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've certainly seen robins in woods (I'm in Scotland) but I've also noticed how much the populations of different bird species vary with location.   There might just not be that many robins in your local woodland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  American robins and European robins are apparently quite different.   However, my comment above is probably still valid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7771" LastEditorUserId="7771" LastEditDate="2015-09-16T19:13:17.013" LastActivityDate="2015-09-16T19:13:17.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-16T16:11:19.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Brush without paste. You do not need toothpaste. You get the minty freshness, you get fluoride, you get additional abrasion, but none of those things are essential. Brushing is far more important than the toothpaste. I've been told by multiple dentists that although toothpaste can be helpful, it is completely unnecessary (you can get the fluoride from other sources, and it is not something your teeth need twice a day). Unless you're living outdoors permanently, your teeth will be fine with brushing and rinsing alone for a few weeks, easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, rinse with hydrogen peroxide a couple times a week. You could do it daily while camping if you wanted to. This was also advice given to me from a dentist. When used, hydrogen peroxide breaks down into oxygen and water, so it would be safe to spit out in the wild without leaving crazy chemicals everywhere. It is not used for teeth whitening, which is a common misunderstanding, but the hydrogen peroxide rinse is used to kill the bacteria in your mouth that lead to tooth decay, in case there is any left behind after brushing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7772" LastEditorUserId="7772" LastEditDate="2015-09-16T16:17:51.073" LastActivityDate="2015-09-16T16:17:51.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2015-09-16T20:08:41.023" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When walking uphill, your hips, knee and ankle flex, which reduces the effective stiffness of the articulated leg (i.e increases the 'springiness' of the gait).   When going downhill, we tend to use both a more straight-legged gait with a more pronounced heelstrike, which increases the stiffness of the articulated leg (i.e reduces the 'springiness' of the gait).   Indeed, while walking on the flat on a hard surface can induce peak forces of three times body weight (3BW) at the base of the spine, going down hard surfaces such as concrete steps, can induce peak forces of the order of 10BW.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike running, the wear pattern on the soles of your hiking shoes won't tell you much.   Try adjusting your gait downhill - more bending of the knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7771" LastEditorUserId="7771" LastEditDate="2015-09-19T19:54:58.750" LastActivityDate="2015-09-19T19:54:58.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9411" CreationDate="2015-09-17T01:58:45.773" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, the splitting force necessary to split firewood depends on the length of the wood, the width of the piece, the species, the knottiness/curvature, pre-existing stresses, and the degree of moisture.  Additionally, machine-split wood tends to fracture where it went through the grate/splitting cross and not along the grain of the wood, making it often quite tough to resplit, but offering opportunities to knock off pieces from the corners.  These problems with camp wood are much more likely to happen with hardwoods on the East Coast of the US than with the softwoods found elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hatchet is not designed to split wood; it is designed to cross-cut chop chips out of logs. It is much closer to a felling axe than a splitting maul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, the best solutions to deal with oversize pieces of wood are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the hatchet to chop each piece of wood in half &lt;em&gt;widthwise&lt;/em&gt;, and then chop those smaller pieces lengthwise (shortens length, reducing force necessary).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find an area where the grain is not parallel to the length of the log due to the log having gone through the splitter at an angle.  Split there -- this shortens the effective the length of the log.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make small chopping motions parallel to but into the edge of the log to whittle it down. This will produce a log of chips and longer thin pieces, but will also thin out the log, making it easier to ignite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, a camp hatchet simply isn't built for splitting tough wood.  Bring a maul or buy softer wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastEditorUserId="2725" LastEditDate="2015-11-11T21:31:59.013" LastActivityDate="2015-11-11T21:31:59.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="999" CreationDate="2015-09-17T12:46:56.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;During turkey season I practically bathe in regular deet based spray since turkeys can't smell. Thing is, this spring I had a deer walking around calmly 10-15 yards from me more than once. Can they smell it? Sure. Does it alarm them? Why should it? I would think only if they've made an association between it and danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7773" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T12:46:56.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9425" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-17T13:23:03.063" Score="9" ViewCount="1517" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/&quot;&gt;ENO hammock&lt;/a&gt; when I camp and I have always wondering if a snake would want to slither into my hammock while I'm sleeping. Note that this hammock is open, as opposed to a &lt;a href=&quot;http://hennessyhammock.com/&quot;&gt;Hennessy hammock&lt;/a&gt;, which is enclosed with a bug net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a reasonable concern? Do snakes want to climb trees and webbing straps to get into a warm hammock?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T21:51:44.663" Title="Do snakes try to get in hammocks?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9426" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9427" CreationDate="2015-09-17T13:45:25.263" Score="4" ViewCount="1767" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been an increase in plague cases in the western United States that have been tied to infected fleas. Dogs and cats have flea repellents available on the market, but I've never seen flea repellents for humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are DEET-based insect repellents effective against fleas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-17T14:32:09.020" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T15:25:27.657" Title="Are DEET-based insect repellents effective against fleas?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9426" CreationDate="2015-09-17T14:31:06.327" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes...though we're not sure why?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEET will prevent pretty much all bugs from biting you. &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hiking/deet.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;No one's really sure the mechanism of how or why this is the case though.&lt;/a&gt; DEET was actually developed by accident, the US government was working with new chemicals for use in warfare when they noticed that DEET repelled mosquitoes. They quickly changed it's status from a nerve agent to a insect repellent and shipped it off...enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-09-17T15:25:27.657" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T15:25:27.657" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9428" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-17T14:47:08.870" Score="8" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are any &lt;strong&gt;natural&lt;/strong&gt; insect repellents effective against fleas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although very effective, DEET products are controversial and many people have shied away from their use in favor of natural products with &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00AAA9DS0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;herbs&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00A65IZPQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lemongrass&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004N59OFU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eucalyptus&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are any DEET-free insect repellents effective against fleas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9426/are-deet-based-insect-repellents-effective-against-fleas&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; but not a duplicate (in fact, the exact opposite). I'm asking about natural alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T14:47:55.777" Title="Are any natural insect repellents effective against fleas?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9394" CreationDate="2015-09-17T15:45:33.783" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; under most conditions. And even if they could, it is unlikely that it would scare the fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First the physics. No matter how sensitive fish are to vibrations in the water, a fish investigating your line would have to sort the vibrations from your heartbeat from all the other vibrations in your line that come from other sources, including the line vibrating in response to the wind, the water, and your own movement. It's a matter of signal-to-noise ratio, and when you are fishing, the ambient noise in the environment outweighs the vibrations from your own heartbeat by several orders of magnitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the psychology. Even if the fish could pick out the rhythmic pulse of your heartbeat in the movement of your line, why would the fish know to be afraid of it? Vibrations occur naturally all of the time in nature, especially in water, most of the time for completely benign reasons, so it doesn't make evolutionary sense for fish to be afraid of &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; vibrations. The human heartbeat is relatively slow compared to other predators of fish, so in order for fish to be afraid of the human heartbeat, they would need to have evolved this fear directly because of human fishermen. The problem with this idea, though, is that human fishermen give off way more obvious clues to their presence that fish don't pick up on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So no, you are not scaring away any fish with your own heartbeat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6338" LastEditorUserId="6338" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T10:18:57.547" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T10:18:57.547" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9411" CreationDate="2015-09-17T18:27:03.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally baton with a large knife, but the principle remains the same (driving a wedge to split the wood). I taught myself how to baton in order to quickly make kindling from larger sections, often quarter-rounds, while my little cousin was around. Batoning can be performed on logs or thickers sticks, depending on your needs and the size of your wedge. I often find myself hacking up sections of fallen branches before batoning them into usable kindling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Select your wedge (axe), baton (a piece of wood or plastic that fits comfortably in your hand), location (harder ground or rock, but not concrete, as it can crack), and wood (firewood, branch, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Position your wood and wedge. Where your wedge's blade goes will depend on what you're splitting. You may be able to go straight through the center of a small-ish branch (&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S3Bus.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt;). In the case of logs, I tend to remove lengthwise corner sections (&lt;a href=&quot;https://lansky.com/files/4413/7167/1580/Batoning_2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once you've positioned the wood, wedge, and have your baton in hand, begin batoning. To baton, treat the action like you're hammering a nail. Swinging too lightly won't get you anywhere, while swinging too hard initially may displace your wedge from your wood. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once the wood has been split, rinse and repeat steps 1-3 to make smaller sections of wood or to process other pieces of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason for focusing on smaller sections of the wood/log is that it helps prevent one of the biggest problems that improper batoning has: getting your wedge stuck. This is why the majority of people who baton use a knife of decent size (more blade spine to baton while processing the wood). If the wood is not split by the time your wedge has sunk fully in the wood, you're going to have to remove it (&lt;em&gt;this often involves a groan, a smattering of grunts, and usually a few expletives&lt;/em&gt;) and try a different position. After processing a few bundles worth of wood, you'll likely get the feel for what will, and will not, nicely split.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety concerns of baton selection: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Batons should not be made of metal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I cannot stress this enough. Metal-on-metal contacts can damage your wedge and creates a safety hazard, such as flying shards. I have personally had to remove a few shards from the arm of my jacket when I was tired and absentmindedly used the back of an older camp axe as a baton. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General safety:&lt;/strong&gt; While this may seem safer, you are still swinging a solid object and working with a blade. Treat anybody who's batoning with the same considerations you would give to somebody swinging an axe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Let me know if I left anything out or need to clarify anything.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastActivityDate="2015-09-17T18:27:03.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9431" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-18T06:07:17.540" Score="8" ViewCount="269" Body="&lt;p&gt;Observing and understanding the behavior of wild animals is an integral part of enjoying the outdoors.  Hence the following question about the behavior of robins. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when it is not breeding season for robins I still often see male robins with female robins. But why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the male robin often chirps to find female robins within his territory. I also know that the male robin puffs his chest to try to impress a female robin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I have seen out in the country that even during the fall and late summer the male robins are still with female robins. I don't know whether it is to raise their fledgling chicks or what because only in videos and pictures have I seen robin chicks and robin eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:43:47.210" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:43:47.210" Title="Why do I often see male robins with female robins?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9453" CreationDate="2015-09-18T13:42:56.203" Score="25" ViewCount="39318" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend was walking the dogs this am when she came across what she thought was a road kill rabbit. One of the dogs ran over to the &quot;dead&quot; rabbit and tried to take a bite out of the stomach. The rabbit screamed and hobbled off! So the rabbit wasn't dead just critically injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wasn't there, but if I was I would of wanted to put it out of it's pain. How would I do this most effectively? I do not routinely carry a knife or a gun (illegal in the UK)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hardly anyone is actually answering the question&lt;/strong&gt; (How to humanely kill an injured rabbit?), I didn't ask for advice with what to do with the rabbit, I asked how to &lt;strong&gt;kill it&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the scenario is maybe confused everyone, this rabbit was injured but I was also referring to a hunting scenario, hence the tag &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/hunting&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;hunting&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;hunting&lt;/a&gt; . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:56.740" LastActivityDate="2020-12-08T17:28:25.900" Title="How to humanely kill an injured rabbit?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-18T14:04:03.487" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;unfortunately, you have limited choice. My suggestion is to hold the rabbit body in one hand, and the head in the other, quickly snapping the head up and backwards will break the spinal column and kill the rabbit quickly and painlessly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2015-09-18T14:04:03.487" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9389" CreationDate="2015-09-18T16:57:23.923" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what a sailor with 37Kmiles of blue water sailing thinks ...&#xA;the out rigger needs to have two properties when used with a canoe, floating displacement, keel side area. with out keel side area, you wont be able to tack, unless the canoe has a centerboard or a dagger board. a good general rule of thumb is an out rigger needs to displace at least half of the amount the main hull does in volume. two pieces of structural foam or just 2 inch pieces of home insulating will do fine. make a 1-2 foot keel and floating flat part that is 3/4 as long as the canoe, or just start with 8 foot lengths.  like a &quot;T&quot;. use 2x4/2x3 studs and rope. take it out and trim it ...  relocate the mast and width as needed. you might need to add foam ...  to bond the Styrofoam to anything use gorilla glue. it foams, pushes parts out of place. so clamp it.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2015-09-18T16:57:23.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-18T17:10:49.847" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless the animal had entrails spilling out or was dragging its paralyzed hindquarters, probably best to give it the benefit of the doubt.  It might recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7784" LastActivityDate="2015-09-18T17:10:49.847" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-18T21:58:24.477" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;No! Don't do this with your own hands. You can't kill him instantly without pain and without blood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you try to break his neck, very surely you won't know the correct moves which is needed for that, and you will cause only terrible pain for him. His neck is much stronger as you would think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The surest way is if you take him to an animal ambulance and let him put to sleep forever. It is pain-free, although he will suffer on the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you won't do that, then 1) stun him with a fist hit to his nape 2) cut his neck with a knife. This is the way of the rabbit killing for meat. Do it deeply and hard, and in a wide angle to surely cut the arteries. He will move a lot, so it is better if you do  this with full of your strength. If you kill, do everything so strong as you only can, because his body will be &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; thougher as you would think. So, hit him so strong as you only can, and cut his neck so strong and deep, as you only can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the best is if you take him to a vet for euthanasia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.s. I know this because I worked some years as voluntary animal rescuer. During that I've seen multiple cats surviving sicknesses / wounds where as a layman I didn't ever thought they are survivable. Much earlier, as a child, I've also seen people killing household rabbits for meat (it has a technique which you surely won't reproduce on the spot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only a vet will be able to say, what to do, but they try to get the most possible money from you, and they also don't like to kill (and not only because an euthanasia is only around some tens of dollars while a costly treatment can go on hundreds of $s. But also because most of them is a vet and not a human doctor because he likes the animals). So, the optimal behavior if you take the rabbit to the vet for euthanasia, but if the vet is strongly against it, then you let him to convince you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.s.2. Most stray animal (i.e. which hasn't ever seen a human), if they can choose between a nearly-mortal wound and being yet another second around a human, chooses the first. If the rabbit is in your hands, his largest problem won't be his (mortal) wound, but that he is unable to escape from &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt;. If you capture the rabbit, put it in a dark, closed thing, the best is a cat box with a blanked opening. So he will think he is hidden, and won't suffer from the fear from you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7786" LastEditorUserId="7786" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T06:53:29.457" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T06:53:29.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-19T00:19:31.193" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would probably be best to leave the task of euthanizing the animal to the professionals, unless you are absolutely certain that the animal is enduring intense pain and suffering, and has no chance of recovering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the animal is clearly dying a slow and painful death, you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; ease its suffering, but if you're uncertain or uncomfortable doing it, you'll probably do more harm than good.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can do it properly, in a calm and steady manner, the best of your very bad options are going to be quite gruesome.  You can kill it by severing the head from the body with a swift blow with an axe or shovel, or by crushing the skull &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; quickly, and with enough force to crush the brain itself.  However, I absolutely don't recommend either of these options.  The potential for mishaps is too great, and the consequences of failure are too severe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slitting the throat is not as painless as has been suggested above, and it causes profound terror and pain, regardless of how brief it might be.  It's also easy to do it the wrong way, which is even worse.  The same is true of trying to snap the neck.  The first time you try it, you're probably going to be nervous and shaky, which makes it more likely that you'll just make the animal suffer more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not a veterinarian, you aren't well suited to judge whether the animal needs to be killed.  If you've never killed an animal before, you aren't likely to do it properly.  If you try and fail, you're extremely likely to increase the animal's distress and pain.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only clear solution is to call someone who knows how to determine the need for euthanasia, and how to carry out euthanasia properly.  Your compassion is commendable, but it's best to let the experts handle situations like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6453" LastActivityDate="2015-09-19T00:19:31.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9356" CreationDate="2015-09-19T03:35:00.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you invented a new knot, or at least one that is decently documented (my non-trivial search came up empty).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless, the bigger question (as others pointed out in the comments) is how it handles in various tests, and whether it fares better, worse, or on par with the flat overhand bend. Even if it was previously named, it may not have been tested in climbing scenarios with climbing loads, leading some to a false assumption that it was safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should contact a rope manufacturer or independent lab to test your knot in various scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sarrr.weebly.com/contact-us.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SARRR&lt;/a&gt; has a pull test setup, they might help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/about/contact-us/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DMM&lt;/a&gt; has a drop test setup, they might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep us posted!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-09-19T03:35:00.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-19T12:37:45.077" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't already have the tools, skills and knowledge to complete the task of quickly dispatching a wild animal, then you should not attempt it.  As mentioned in some of the existing answers, it may be against the law and it is a task that can easily go wrong.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not mentioned in any of the existing answers is the risk to you personally. Rabbits (&lt;em&gt;and other wild animals&lt;/em&gt;) can be &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/2210/how-deep-should-i-bury-my-pet-should-i-rebury/2212#2212&quot;&gt;infected with parasites that impact you&lt;/a&gt;.  The list of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Parasite/Parasites_main.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;potential parasites infecting rabbits is long&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of if you follow a Deity or Darwin in your belief system, as uncomfortable as it is to think about, &lt;a href=&quot;http://rabbit.org/articles/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2003NotFreeFlyer.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a rabbit in the wild is food&lt;/a&gt;, a sick or injured rabbit is likely going to be food before a person with the skills to dispatch them could arrive. If you have doubts about the presence of preditors in the area to complete the task, consider the only place &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;with rabbits and without predators is Australia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is even &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.mom.me/can-bunnies-rabies-1252.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;possible (but unlikely) that rabbit has rabies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have to ask, the answer is you can't and you should not even try to dispatch a wild rabbit, or any wild animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2015-09-19T12:37:45.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9242" CreationDate="2015-09-19T15:06:02.507" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, fisheries management is habitat and species specific requiring different tools depending on the outcome desired, i.e more &quot;eating size&quot; fish, more breeding size, more small fry, etc. Adjacent bodies of water may vary significantly in habitat due to fishing pressure, localized impacts (agriculture, human access, etc.&#xA;      This from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/walleye/management.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minnesota Dept. Natural Resources&lt;/a&gt; on walleye fishing might be useful: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Though the DNR is just beginning to experiment with special regulations for walleye, it appears likely they will become increasingly important.&#xA;  One kind of special regulation that has been used with other species and may be useful in walleye management is the &quot;slot&quot; limit, which protects a certain size fish. For example, anglers may be required to return all fish between 18 and 22 inches but can keep fish outside that slot. The slot limit would allow anglers to keep &quot;eating-sized&quot; fish as well as a few trophies. Medium-sized fish would be protected to make for better fishing (not to protect brood stock, which usually exists in sufficient numbers). The number of small fish would be reduced through angling pressure and cannibalism by large walleye. Often, growth rates improve as the small fish become fewer, and the number of large fish increases in this way as well. The secret lies in finding the proper slot for the productivity of the lake and the growth rates of the walleye in it. Success depends on good survey data.&#xA;  What about the familiar minimum-size limit? For example, a regulation may require that all fish under 12 inches be returned to the water. That way, the little ones will have a chance to grow to be big ones, right? Well, no. They'll have the chance to grow to about 113/4 inches and then likely will be yanked from the lake. A minimum-size limit will produce big walleye only if it is pushed up to lunker size--22 inches, for example. That kind of restriction is nearly catch-and-release requirement.&#xA;  Though size restrictions have been a hot topic, there are other ways to limit the kill and improve fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;see: Wiki link &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slot_limit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fishing Slot Limits&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;excerpt&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Generally, the purpose behind the implementation of protected slot limits is to improve the angling opportunities in a particular body or bodies of water. Protected slot limits are most often used to regulate the harvest from waters where natural reproduction of the concerned fish species occurs. The protected slot limit is set in such a way that it protects the size of those fish deemed most important to the species spawning success in that fishery. With the size of the most sexually productive fish protected from harvest it is likely that an increased number will spawn during a given year and hence lead to more naturally produced individuals. The effort to increase the number of fish through natural reproduction mitigates the need for artificial stocking of a species to provide for a viable recreational fishery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-10-28T13:12:39.113" LastActivityDate="2015-10-28T13:12:39.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9447" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-19T15:51:33.017" Score="7" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because I had a major issue with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9155/de-stinking-my-water-shoes&quot;&gt;reeky water shoes&lt;/a&gt;, I am considering getting different water shoes. I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://stohlquist.com/apparel/footwear-gloves/bodhi-watershoe.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;some&lt;/a&gt; that are nyloprene instead of neoprene. They are not as warm, but in a lot of situations I don't need warm. Say hiking a trail that crosses a river multiple times. Or portaging when I want to get out into the water, wade ashore, portage, and then wade into the water as part of getting back in the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if despite being a different material and labelled as quick-dry, they still smell, then I will have gained nothing by getting these shoes. I can't find any claims that they are less smelly. Are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:47:44.337" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:47:44.337" Title="Is nyloprene less smelly than neoprene?" Tags="&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;water-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9448" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-19T16:37:12.713" Score="7" ViewCount="1877" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live not far north of Boston, up against some conservation land.  Last night I heard something that, from its movements, sounded about the size of a raccoon but didn't move like a raccoon.  It was skittering rapidly through the underbush in a prolonged way.  I listened to this cautiously for a couple of seconds.  Then it stopped and made a loud, deep grunt like a demented hog.  I took one step back and slammed the back door and locked the windows.  What was this?  I should add that all my life I've spent a lot of time outdoors, day and night, all across the northern US and southern Canada, and I've never heard anything like it except for an actual pig on a farm.  Also, I've lived in this house for 8 years and never heard it here before.  I'll feel much happier when I can identify it.  Thanks for your help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:15:26.277" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:15:26.277" Title="What nocturnal animal in Massachusetts skitters around and grunts loudly?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9449" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-19T16:47:07.197" Score="8" ViewCount="755" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a question about something that happened on the conservation land just behind my house 3 or 4 years back, not far north of Boston.  For a couple of weeks, I occasionally heard some creature in the woods at night that had a call that sounded just like wind chimes. Then one night a pack of them assembled, chiming back and forth at each other in a manner consistent with baying, and brought down a screaming animal not far behind my neighbor's house, that stopped screaming quite abruptly.  The prey sounded about the size of a cat or a raccoon.  The wind chime hooters, I think were likely also a smallish animal. They seem to have moved on within a month or so.  Does anyone know what these are?  I've never been able to find any references for them. Thank you! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:15:12.233" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T12:25:51.900" Title="Nocturnal pack hunting animal that hoots like wind chimes - Massachusetts" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-09-19T17:33:04.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would look into OraWellness. It's a mix of essential oils that comes in a  very small bottle, so it's nice and compact. You also only need 2-3 drops per use and works so well I can sometimes skip a cleaning or just use water as needed. The &quot;fuzz&quot; or plaque we accumulate on our teeth is delayed when using this. I tried this almost 1.5 years ago and it has completely replaced conventional toothpaste for me. It's a little pricey but its natural, light, effective and damn good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7795" LastActivityDate="2015-09-19T17:33:04.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9451" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9484" CreationDate="2015-09-19T21:07:41.270" Score="14" ViewCount="1607" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our analog altimeter, which we had had for over 20 years, was stolen this summer.  We are now faced with a choice between digital or analog altimeters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are pros and cons between the two? (e.g., reliability, accuracy, sensitivity, ease of use while backpacking) Are there any other devices that can tell us our altitude and the number of vertical feet we have hiked since we last stopped to breathe?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-21T00:23:08.783" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T21:41:58.133" Title="What are the pros and cons of a digital altimeter over an analog altimeter for backpacking?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9452" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9457" CreationDate="2015-09-20T04:59:30.380" Score="5" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are looking for a solid hiking trail in Pennsylvania. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will be our second trip, but we are in reasonable shape and had little issue our first time around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are from Michigan, so the western part of the state would be nice, but we are not opposed to going to the East side of the state if better trailing is found there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We experienced rolling uplands in the UP with an abundance of waterfalls, which was very pleasant. This is the type of terrain we are looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We plan on trekking for 3-4 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:11:01.407" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T14:49:29.303" Title="Hiking trails in Pennsylvania" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-20T08:54:14.840" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I used to go hunting with my brother he used to kill injured rabbits using a pulling motion, I asked him about it today, it's called &lt;strong&gt;chinning&lt;/strong&gt;! I Googled it and found this (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.how-to-hunt-rabbit.com/killing-rabbit.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.how-to-hunt-rabbit.com/killing-rabbit.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply hold the rabbits back legs (in your strong hand) and place your other hand around the rabbit’s neck. Press your thumb into the back of the rabbit’s neck and rap your fingers around its ‘chin’ area. Like your making an ok symbol with your hand but with your fingers closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a solid grip, pull the legs with your strong hand, push your thumb down and pull the chin up as quickly and firmly as you can. While doing this, you want to bend the rabbits back in a whipping motion. This stretches the rabbits neck and then bends it. You should hear a popping or cracking sound. Give the legs and head a few good pulls just to be sure. Killing rabbit is as easy as that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T07:39:07.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9452" CreationDate="2015-09-20T11:28:00.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say what part of Pennsylvania you are in, The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atatrail.org/tmi/maps.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Great Allegheny Passage&lt;/a&gt; offers the option to walk or bicycle from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. It is mostly rail to trail, and relatively flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Eastern side of Pennsylvania is 200+ miles of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail#Pennsylvania&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt; I have not traveled it so can not speak to it's difficulty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T11:28:00.823" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9456" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-20T12:25:15.893" Score="5" ViewCount="2039" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of knife owners who have carried pocket knives for 30+ years talk very fondly of the traditional patterns, like Barlow, stockman, etc. However when it comes to explaining exactly why they carry their old knives over newer styles, it usually comes out something like &quot;sometimes you just want a plain old fashioned knife,&quot; or &quot;they don't make 'em like they used to.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to come up with a reason why they keep saying that (and there must be a reason right?), but here are the only advantages I can see of an old fashioned pocket knife:&#xA;1. Build quality/finish&#xA;2. Availability of carbon steel blades, if that's your thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas a modern &quot;tactical folder&quot; design like the one I currently carry (which at 2.5&quot; blade is decidedly non-tactical in reality) has several advantages:&#xA;1. Pocket clip&#xA;2. 1-hand opening with thumb stud etc. &#xA;3. Easy cleaning inside the open frame&#xA;4. 1-hand closing with liner lock and other blade locks not found on traditional knives&#xA;5. Screw assembly allows for easy disassembly if required, or re-tension of the joint if the blade gets loose&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order for me to switch to a traditional knife pattern I would have to find somewhere to carry it, in a belt sheath or at the bottom of a pocket that's already full (I carry a leatherman and flashlight as well), and getting the knife out and opening it would take 2 hands. I love the classic looks of the wooden scales and shiny bolsters, but my knife is a practical tool, and utility comes first. I'm not trying to start an argument, but there has to be something about old folders that I'm missing. Can someone clue me in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And lastly, let me be clear: this is for everyday use around the home and office, opening packages, cutting threads, paper, food (I once at an entire steak with nothing but my EDC knife because that's what I had on hand and nobody thought to bring knives/forks), etc. I'm not planning on skinning game or surviving in the wilderness with my EDC knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7799" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:43.777" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:23:43.777" Title="Tactical Folder vs traditional knife patterns for EDC" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9452" CreationDate="2015-09-20T14:18:57.607" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want a longer trip in SW PA, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/lhht/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail&lt;/a&gt; is an option of about the right length.  The question is very broad and you could probably get better answers at a trail directory like &lt;a href=&quot;http://alltrails.com/us/pennsylvania&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AllTrails PA&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will find the Great Allegheny Passage boring for hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like lots of waterfalls and don't mind driving east, check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/rickettsglen/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ricketts Glen&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://alltrails.com/trail/us/pennsylvania/seven-tubs-nature-area&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seven Tubs&lt;/a&gt;. Those are single-day or shorter, but beautiful.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also the north-central &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/pennsylvania/old-loggers-path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Logger's Path&lt;/a&gt; you might consider for a few days.  Coming from Michigan you might combine that with a stargazing visit to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Springs_State_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cherry Springs State Park&lt;/a&gt; (weather permitting, of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6212" LastEditorUserId="6212" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T14:49:29.303" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T14:49:29.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9458" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9459" CreationDate="2015-09-20T15:03:02.433" Score="6" ViewCount="110" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to figure out how busy the AT will be in early October in western Maine?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're looking to do a 6 day section and I'm trying to determine whether we need to carry a tent, or if we can plan on shelter space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7802" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-21T08:37:34.533" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T06:38:13.320" Title="When are the peak seasons for Appalachian Trail though hikers in western Maine?" Tags="&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9458" CreationDate="2015-09-20T16:43:09.947" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Early October should not be overly busy. South bounders (SOBO) starts around July and will be out of Main by that time. North bounders (NOBO) must &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/hiking/at.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;finish before October 15&lt;/a&gt; and many of them will already have completed the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For SOBOs, June-July is the peak season for Maine. There are less than 500 thru hikers per season in this direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For NOBOs, July-August is the peak season (in my humble opinion). There is roughly 3000 thru hikers in this direction and about 600 make it up to Main/Katahdin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This makes up the majority of the hikers (GA-ME, ME-GA). Section hikers and flip-floppers may still be in those areas. However those groups don't typically form a bubble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There could still be large organized groups (such as boy scouts) taking 1-2 shelters. Although this is not proper trail etiquette (large groups should have their own accommodation) this can sometimes happen on the AT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider carrying a shelter anyway. October is starting to be cold and I personally find lean-to's not particularly warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acronyms:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GA&amp;gt;ME: Georgia to Maine&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;ME&amp;gt;GA: Maine to Georgia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T06:38:13.320" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9460" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-20T19:13:50.610" Score="8" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to mount a geocache on a string inside a pole that looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ygI2N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ygI2N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pole&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you suggest me an idea &lt;strong&gt;how to attach the string to the pole without drilling anything to the pole&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dimensions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Width: 44,5 mm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height: 49,5 mm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depth: about 70 cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also, what can I do to secure it from falling down (the pole is hollow)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7790" LastEditorUserId="7790" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T16:11:12.770" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T03:50:11.893" Title="Geocache inside of a pole" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9461" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-20T20:56:02.990" Score="0" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine, you are shipwrecked in a warm lake (drinkable water) with 25°C water temperature and without lifeboat or anything, plain naked.&#xA;You have to wait to be rescued and have to pace yourself. So you have to decide about how you keep yourself on the water: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;swim breast stroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;swim backstroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;just drift on the back&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of swimming technique would let you last the longest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2277" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T20:56:02.990" Title="What is the best strategy to survive in water?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-09-21T06:07:59.020" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2015-09-20T21:08:55.843" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used the free &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;caltopo.com&lt;/a&gt; for my recent trips. They use 7.5 minute quadrangles and stitch them together seemlessly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5bFcs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5bFcs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to create custom maps by creating tracks or import tracks created with Google Earth. They also have a topographical &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com/resource/superoverlay/t.kml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image overlay for Google Earth&lt;/a&gt;, which I have used extensively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0lMf0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0lMf0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T21:08:55.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5465" CreationDate="2015-09-20T21:59:09.513" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to leave a quickdraw on the last bolt before the anchor set up.  This gives me a 3rd fail safe redundancy point if the 2 gates on the quickdraws above open.  I also like to use lockers too, but if I have to use gates I will do that and feel completely safe with a 3rd fail safe bolt clipped.  I know it's a bit of overkill, but the most important thing with climbing safety is redundancy, so why not do it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7804" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T21:59:09.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9431" CreationDate="2015-09-20T22:18:04.793" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a robin or even a bird expert; this answer is solely from googling &quot;Do robins mate for life?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;strong&gt;Journey North American Robin -- Annenberg Media&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/RobinNotes2.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/RobinNotes2.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;No, robins do not mate for life. Pairs usually remain together during an entire breeding season, which can involve two or three nestings. However, in spring, sometimes a male and female who mated the previous year will both return to the same territory and end up together for another year. This happens most frequently when they were successful raising babies the previous year.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the same source:  &quot;....as the last brood fledges and becomes independent, the male and female feel less attached to the territory. They grow restless to travel and associate with other robins.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this and another source which I can now not bring up, I &lt;strong&gt;infer&lt;/strong&gt; that you may have seen them late in their third brood, or they may both be briefly hanging around their seasonal territory until it is time to migrate again.  (If you had just raised three broods, you too would &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; a short rest before flying several thousand miles.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;strong&gt;The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds, The American Robin&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory&lt;/a&gt;   This source says that many American Robins &quot;spend the whole winter in their breeding range. But because they spend more time roosting in trees and less time in your yard, you're much less likely to see them.&quot;  It does not say whether the male and female stay together.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-09-20T22:54:41.503" LastActivityDate="2015-09-20T22:54:41.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9451" CreationDate="2015-09-21T00:42:06.783" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the biggest difference between the two is going to be batteries, but digital altimeters are going to come with a lot of fun features like tracking your elevation ascent and descent rates, and warning you when a potential storm is rolling in.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a lot of alpinists carry with them for calculating altitude in the back country these days is a watch with a altimeter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fFwkgm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fFwkgm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of a digital watch with altimeter functionality&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barometric altimeters are more accurate for calculating exact elevation, but unless you're a cartographer then I don't think it's really necessity to know your elevation accurate to +/-1m. Lots of people just use their GPS device, what precision you get will depend on the quality of your device, how fine a reading it's capable of taking, and what angle the satellites are to the horizon, but the accuracy is typically between +/- 5m and 15m. If you're like me, and don't necessarily need to know an uber-accurate elevation, then you'll probably be happy just using the GPS in your smart phone. I suggest you get a backcountry navigation app that also tells you your altitude. I recommend you try out &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crittermap.backcountrynavigator.license&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backcountry Navigator&lt;/a&gt; before you spend big money on a new altimeter or GPS. I'm pretty satisfied with it, and it does a lot more than just tell you your elevation, it also shows you where in the world you are on a topographical map, maps your trail, and lets you set waypoints with pictures or selfies attached to them.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-21T06:04:27.447" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T06:04:27.447" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9466" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9476" CreationDate="2015-09-21T01:15:27.457" Score="32" ViewCount="10226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was watching &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2719848/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1&quot;&gt;Everest (2015)&lt;/a&gt; on the weekend and was wondering what the mountaineers do for sustenance on the day they attempt to summit.  It appeared they left around midnight, aiming for a 2pm summit, returning to camp after dark.  So even if things went well, they would be looking at 24 hours of climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would they carry for sustenance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-22T06:50:25.827" LastActivityDate="2015-12-22T06:50:25.827" Title="What do mountaineers eat and drink on the day of an Everest summit?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9460" CreationDate="2015-09-21T02:39:57.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It already has a hole in it, what if you used a cam? Not exactly the cheapest method but potentially the easiest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a1O3F.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a1O3F.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: if you found the perfect size Tricam that might be a less expensive option&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jqIiA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jqIiA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T16:48:58.363" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T16:48:58.363" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9466" CreationDate="2015-09-21T04:18:53.737" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hot soup mostly, it does depend on the individual diets of the climbers, not everybody eats the same thing, but most carry hot soup with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite the massive amounts of energy needed to summit Everest, the truth is most climbers don't eat much on summit day, and that's simply because they don't have an appetite due to the high elevation. Many climbers have to consciously force themselves to try to eat and drink at the upper camps of Everest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On summit day you're in the death zone, which means it is literally &lt;strong&gt;impossible&lt;/strong&gt; for your muscles to fully replenish themselves. That's why they call it the death zone, your body &lt;em&gt;cannot&lt;/em&gt; survive because basic body functions like digestion begin to shut down. Basically, there's no such thing as rest up there, your body can't rest, if you sit down you just slow down the rate of fatigue a little, but you don't recover any strength. It's unreal the amount of energy they burn up their too, they will be advancing one step for every five breaths they take, travel no faster than 100m/hr (that's &lt;em&gt;metres&lt;/em&gt; per hour) and they burn just as many calories as someone running a marathon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydration is a huge challenge as well, your body actually requires ~5L of fluids a day at high elevation, if you don't drink at least that much, then your body starts taking it from wherever it can, like your intestines, which makes it even more difficult to digest food. Most of your fluids are lost just through breathing, this is compounded by using oxygen, because they have to make the oxygen extra dry to prevent your breather and fittings from freezing up solid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for the most part the answer is &lt;strong&gt;hot soup&lt;/strong&gt;. It's easy on the stomach, it gives you nutrients as well as fluids, and it warms you up. You can also consume it without taking you mitts off. Frostbite is a big problem up there, and it's not entirely because it's super cold (-20°C to -30°C mostly) it largely because you blood is so thick like syrup from secondary polycythemia that you effectively have the circulation of a diabetic with too much sugar in their blood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T06:55:57.327" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T06:55:57.327" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2015-09-21T04:47:01.827" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can observe clearly , you can easily differentiate the two ends of a leech .. the mouth/head part will be thin and the back/tail part where it releases gum to stick will be thick. To remove a leech place you two thumbs on your body such that leech mouth is in between them , now start applying force with your thumbs by pressing hard into your body ... the blood pumps into leech more than required and it starts lifting its head part .. now just flick it away ..&#xA;Never use does / lighter / salt / other sprays on sucking leech , these will make leech vomit blood and at times it may vomit into your body.&#xA;Never flick away leech while it is sucking blood .. if its teeth get stuck into your body .. you will get infected... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7806" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T04:47:01.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9460" CreationDate="2015-09-21T08:21:34.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the width of the hole? I'm thinking of a mounting system like a wall socket. Spread it aginst the inner surface. Then tie the cach on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or the very low cost variant:&#xA;Just use a piece of wire and bend it accordingly&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yPfxg.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yPfxg.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T08:21:34.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9466" CreationDate="2015-09-21T13:56:36.597" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has to go down to all the High-Altitude diets, and not just specific to Mt. Everest.&#xA;Anywhere above 23,000 feet / 7,000 meters most of the mountaineers lose their appetite to a considerable level. So, at that altitude losing weight is a common observation. Thats where the fats come in picture. Body starts consuming these bodily fats and worst case muscles too. With this a climber needs energy to carry on and the higher altitude, low oxygen environment reduces a climber’s appetite and interest in eating, making weight loss a common observation but a serious concern beyond a certain level.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember as we all know Digestion needs energy, and to sustain the much needed energy, you need to eat and digest it. So, intake of the food and fluids that provide the most energy with the comparatively lesser amount of digestive effort is the way to go while at higher altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On the summit day take nothing like a jerky, trail mix, dark chocolate, cheese since they may take too much energy to chew, swallow and digest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat and drink at regular intervals. Make a schedule.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweet liquids such as ciders, Gatorade, Jello drinks and sweet tea are loaded with Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are for Endurance. Anatoli Boukreev drank a lot of coffee during the night of his heroics at the Camp IV and the South Col. Though Coffee is Caffeine-rich, usual guideline is not having caffeinated beverages. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hot soups. And, Whatever local food you eat, soups you drink, it has to contain Garlic, since it is excellent for altitude adaptation. Sherpas eat Garlic-rich food constantly. It thins the blood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cereals and Oatmeal, lots of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boiled eggs while you climb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At increased Erythropoietic responses to altitude exposure, eat Iron-rich food. Pumkin seeds? Apple cider? Apples as preferred by Ueli Steck. Cereals!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mainly, the high altitude diet is not just for high altitude. When you know you are going to eat it at altitude above 7000m and don't want to loose out on a summit, you better make habit of that kind of a diet. You don't want to find yourself asking a sherpa at higher camps: &lt;em&gt;&quot;What is this thing?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T04:56:00.637" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T04:56:00.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9474" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-21T14:06:35.403" Score="3" ViewCount="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of shoes that are really not water-proof. But they are good for not-so-serious treks and have a superb grip over all sorts of terrain in India. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only trouble I seem to have with them is that, after a certain use, the insole and the extra insole that I mostly need to have, they start rolling inside the shoes while descending. That get really annoying and sometimes if not fixed/re-positioned trouble one of the toes by random folds around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I deal with this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-21T20:01:36.987" LastActivityDate="2015-09-21T20:01:36.987" Title="Insoles rolling in when shoes are wet" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2015-09-22T04:08:04.537" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2015-09-21T18:40:04.367" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two simple methods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place a straight stick (broom or shovel handle is perfect) across the back of the rabbits neck and stand on the ends of the stick.  Then grasp the back legs and stand up, pulling the back legs straight up.  This separates the spine at the base of the skull.  Quick and painless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hold the rabbit's back feet firmly in one hand, causing its body to hang straight down, and hit it on the back of the head with a heavy club.  Instant death.  You want blood to begin pouring out of the mouth; otherwise it's only knocked out.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My son raised meat rabbits for some time and he used method #2.  It was quick, easy, and humane.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If I found a wild rabbit that was fatally injured but was still alive, and I had no gun, I would use method #1.  I think just picking up an already injured animal to use #2 would cause it unnecessary pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastEditorUserId="6406" LastEditDate="2016-05-18T13:32:30.393" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T13:32:30.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9466" CreationDate="2015-09-21T18:42:58.180" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In 1996, they seemed to enjoy chocolate bars and candies.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From some of the accounts of the infamous 1996 season related by the 2015 movie, apart for the classic soup, tea and fluids, we can consider &quot;junk food&quot; on summit day:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Matt Dickinson (the other side of Everest) eats &lt;strong&gt;Muesli&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;pistachio nuts&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lou Kasischke (After the wind) was very fond of &lt;strong&gt;M&amp;amp;Ms&lt;/strong&gt; (and write a few time his despise for oatmeal)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jon Krakauer (Into thin air) eats also &lt;strong&gt;M&amp;amp;Ms&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;some candy bars&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Graham Ratcliffe (A day to die for) seems to enjoy a few &lt;strong&gt;Mars&lt;/strong&gt; bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ed Viesturs (No shortcuts to the top) advises to eat a few candy bars, like &lt;strong&gt;Twix&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Snickers&lt;/strong&gt;. He also mentions &lt;strong&gt;energy gels&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On the summit day, it's important to go as light as possible. Lunch, which you eat almost anytime during the day, can be as little as a candy bar or two - Snickers, Twix, and hard semisweet chocolate bars are my favorites. A typical energy bar would freeze like a rock [...] I've come to favor energy gels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But mostly, at very high altitudes, they all say it's very hard to eat and to keep food inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7818" LastEditorUserId="7818" LastEditDate="2015-09-27T13:28:30.640" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T13:28:30.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9479" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-09-22T04:25:16.690" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T04:25:16.690" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T04:25:16.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9480" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-09-22T04:25:16.690" Score="0" Body="Questions about plants that are likely to be found in the outdoors or the use of plants in outdoor activities, including classification, use as food, use for shelter, medicinal use, etc." OwnerUserId="6338" LastEditorUserId="6338" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T06:33:30.103" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T06:33:30.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9481" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9483" CreationDate="2015-09-22T08:42:22.933" Score="10" ViewCount="698" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read an article by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getoutside/explore/a-beginners-guide-to-trail-running/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ordinance Survey &lt;/a&gt; about trail runners for beginners (my interest has sparked due to my recent uptake of running which I do cross country through parks and fields), in which is stated that Trail and Fell^ running are often used synonymously, but that they are in fact different. The difference they stated was simply terrain, one soft ground, one hard ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some interchange 'trail' and 'fell' running, but the two concepts are quite different, with the latter acknowledged as far more 'rugged, rocky and extreme'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an actual difference or differences (terrain, altitude, etc) between Fell running and Trail running, as stated, or are they the same? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be useful to know when looking up local running routes, as I want to progress into more challenging runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;^&lt;em&gt;also apprently known as hill/mountain running&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T14:21:20.353" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T00:28:58.583" Title="Is there a difference between Trail and Fell running?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9460" CreationDate="2015-09-22T10:50:30.913" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A hook/eyelet toggle bolt could work, depending on the weight of the cache:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IwyRF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IwyRF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you unscrew the toggles and reverse them, the hook would be on the inside holding the string, and you would reach in with two fingers and squeeze the toggles to extract the cache. Much cheaper than a climbing cam, but the same idea!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6620" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T10:50:30.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9481" CreationDate="2015-09-22T13:31:46.123" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the main difference is probably in British vs American (/rest of the world) English. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fell&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fell&lt;/a&gt; is a particularly British term referring to areas such as the Lake district that does not really have a direct equivalent in many other places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following from this in the UK there is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fell runners association&lt;/a&gt;, whereas in the US the equivalent would be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://trailrunner.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Trail Running Association&lt;/a&gt; (although there is also a UK &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tra-uk.org/home&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trail running association&lt;/a&gt; to add confusion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, globally fell running and trail running are broadly the same thing. Referring to cross-country running mainly over hilly or mountainous terrain. It is also commonly called hill or mountain running (depending on severity). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in the UK we sometimes differentiate between the two. Fell running, is generally over rougher terrain, normally in mountainous areas such as the Lakes, Peaks or Scotland, and routes will often go over rough or even no paths. Trail running is generally used to refer to more gentle, less wild cross country terrain, although it can still be fairly hilly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see in the UK, while the terms are used to refer to slightly different things, there is not a clear distinction  and there can be significant overlap, both in difficulty and terrain. &lt;a href=&quot;http://fellrunningguide.co.uk/trail-running-or-fell-running/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is quite a good article which &quot;explains&quot; the difference. Although, in my experience many people in the UK use the terms fairly interchangeably with the general preference to call anything in mountains/significant hills fell running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T00:28:58.583" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T00:28:58.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9451" CreationDate="2015-09-22T15:49:40.947" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just spent 8 days in the Colorado backcountry at the beginning of this month and had a similar question before leaving for that trip. Here's what I did...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I looked at a full-featured GPS unit (Garmin, et al), but I did not want to carry the extra batteries needed to power it for that long. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also looked at the Suunto watches and a few similar full-featured, premium watches, but the price range was too steep and there was still the question of battery life. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I checked into using an analog altimeter, but for the same weight, less cost, and smaller size...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I ultimately purchased a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003URP7CQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Casio digital altimeter/barometer watch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The model I purchased was accurate to within 20 feet (6 meters), and was very easy to calibrate at the trailhead. Refresh rate on the display was less than 5 minutes, which was more than adequate for the pace I was moving around at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I had to pay attention to was when the weather would change... my altimeter readings would shift a little (20 to 60 feet, or 6 to 18 meters) with low pressure systems, but they would return to baseline once the weather stabilized. Never caused a problem, but it was something to watch out for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5673" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T15:49:40.947" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9485" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9488" CreationDate="2015-09-22T18:00:10.413" Score="38" ViewCount="191831" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a multi-day backpacking trip, what is the ideal weight of a backpack? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And what is that max weight that no sane human should go over?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7825" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T13:27:02.753" Title="How much should your backpack weigh?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2015-09-22T18:23:55.053" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general rule of thumb is to carry &lt;em&gt;no more&lt;/em&gt; than &lt;strong&gt;a third of your body weight&lt;/strong&gt;. That should be your max, so the answer is to carry &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; than that. Make your bag as light as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from that it largely depends on your level of strength and fitness, and what you feel comfortable carrying. I tend to carry a heavier bag than most people I hike with, but that's because I like creature comforts like my thicker luxury mattress, a pillow and my camp chair, as well as extra clothing items. Since I'm a faster hiker to begin with (except on the downhill) the extra weight kind of balances me out with the rest of my group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big thing nowadays is ultralight backpacking, which modern technology is making real easy to do without sacrificing any comfort. With today's gear it's real easy to keep your bag well under a third your body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to find the balance between weight and comfort that agrees with you. Sure, these ultralight nuts have happier legs on the trail, but I guarantee I'm much happier sleeping at night. I do try to keep my bag as light as possible after I pack what I consider to be the bare necessities, and at the end of every backpacking trip I always re-assess everything I carried, and if there was anything I didn't use, or I decide I could have done without, then I don't pack it on my next trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you need to carry also changes with where you're going, what the weather is going to be like, and what you're going to be doing. When I go caving my bag tends to get heavy, because I need to carry all my ropes and caving gear on top of my camping gear. If I go early in the season, I need to carry even more gear, because there's still snow on the tops of the mountains, so I need to bring crampons and ice axes too, as well as extra warm layers for at night and in the caves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I guess the &quot;ideal&quot; weight, is as light as you can make while still having fun on your trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T23:27:13.333" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T23:27:13.333" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2015-09-22T18:49:45.167" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;How many days is &quot;multiple&quot;? In what environment? Can you sleep out in the open or do you need a tent? Can you share the tent with other people? Do you need to bring all food? Water (then you're screwed)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this influences how low you can get the weight, but in general: the ideal weight is as heavy as necessary to bring the stuff you absolutely need, and as light as possible by leaving out everything else. Unless you are used/trained to carrying heavy weights, a heavy backpack makes for a shitty hiking experience - and I consider 1/3 body weight to be &lt;em&gt;insanely&lt;/em&gt; heavy, would not go above 1/5 if I can possibly avoid it. If in doubt, do a test run, pack everything you think you need and go on a one-hour walk. Then rethink what you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area where it's usually easiest to cut weight is food (and cooking/eating utensils), at least in areas where drinkable water is available. You don't need gourmet foods - after a day of hiking anything will taste great. No tins. Freeze-dried stuff is where it's at. Nuts, Dried fruit (it's called &quot;trail mix&quot; for a reason), beef jerky. Most importantly: take only what you need, actually calculate that, and add only a modest safety margin (and for that take only the most energy-dense stuff, i.e. extra nuts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="2924" LastEditDate="2015-09-22T20:59:57.723" LastActivityDate="2015-09-22T20:59:57.723" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2015-09-22T18:55:25.497" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ideal weight is zero. The less weight you carry the more you will enjoy your outing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, one should try to minimize their weight within reason. There exist different schools (Ultralight, super-ultralight, etc.) on what one should carry and how much it should weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ultralight-backpacking.html&quot;&gt;REI suggest&lt;/a&gt; the following categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;minimalist - Under 12 pounds (~5.5kg)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;ultralight - Around 20 pounds (~9kg)***&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;lightweight - Up to 30 pounds (~13.5kg)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;plush/deluxe - Over 30 pounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*** Typically, in the UL community ultra light is defined as under 10 pounds (~4.5kg). With the popularity of the ultra light movements some big manufactures and stores started branding certain equipment as &lt;em&gt;ultralight&lt;/em&gt; although they would be considered too heavy by many UL backpackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is easier to compare packing weights by dividing the weight of items which will remain constant over the course of the trip and the ones who will vary such as consumable items (food, water, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The constant weight is called the base weight. Super Ultralight (SUL) backpackers aim for a base weight of under 5lbs (2.3 kg). Often this is very dependent on the trip location and weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other extreme, soldiers can carry from 40-90+ lbs (~18–40+kg) on missions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My subjective suggestion is the following: I would aim for a &lt;strong&gt;base weight of under 15 lbs (~6.8 kg)&lt;/strong&gt;. With food and water included I would aim for under 30lbs (~13.5 kg) and at 20 lbs (~9 kg) I'm a happy hiker heading to town.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to bear in mind that water weights 2.2lbs (1 kg) per liter and is a big factor in the total weight. Depending on the availability of reliable water sources your total backpack weight may be greatly affected. Food usually is about 2 lbs (nearly 1 kg) per day. Food and water should make for 50%+ of your weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T16:49:10.550" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T16:49:10.550" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9489" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9491" CreationDate="2015-09-22T22:33:14.440" Score="8" ViewCount="1061" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by @ShemSeger's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9356/whats-this-knot-called&quot;&gt;possibly invented knot&lt;/a&gt;, I'm curious to see if anyone knows anything about this knot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Final knot:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jfKgn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reverse deconstructed:&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IsKTO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Zrpz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DESF0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's basically the same idea from a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double figure eight loop&lt;/a&gt; but applied to an overhand knot. It uses less rope than a double figure eight, but that's the only advantage I could see for its existence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is neither a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doubleoverhand/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double overhand knot&lt;/a&gt; nor a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/surgeonsloop/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double overhand loop&lt;/a&gt; (same knot but tied with loops).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it a known knot that has been tested (and potentially avoided)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:10:49.797" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T22:13:57.710" Title="This isn't a double overhand loop -- what is it?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9489" CreationDate="2015-09-23T03:44:57.840" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother happened to be over tonight using my climbing wall, he does rescue work, and he says they use this knot to tie leg loops for rescue harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, the knot in your picture isn't properly dressed, the loop pulls through the knot and ends up looking like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BXKRM.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BXKRM.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a variation of a &lt;strong&gt;bowline on a bight&lt;/strong&gt;. My brother's going to check his manual for the name, I'll edit my answer as soon as he gets back to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T03:44:57.840" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9460" CreationDate="2015-09-23T05:00:11.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think what I would use would be a &lt;strong&gt;Rubber Washer&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1b3kE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1b3kE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rubber Washer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you got a ~45mm rubber washer, you could tie your string to the washer, then put it into the hole one of two ways: either shove the washer in as deep as you can just to hold the string in place, or you could put your cache in first, then &quot;plug&quot; the hole with the washer. You could recess it completely in the hole so nothing is hanging out, it's black, so it won't draw a lot of attention from passers-by who may glance up into the dark hole in the pole, and the hole in the middle will make it easy for some one to stick their finger in it and pull it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T03:50:11.893" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T03:50:11.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9493" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9494" CreationDate="2015-09-23T05:46:03.990" Score="9" ViewCount="3093" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a black dog, and we can't really take him out hiking in the heat and sun because he can't cool down fast enough. How do you keep your dog cool when it's hot out and you're away from water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, we took our dog to Writing-on-stone Provincial Park, and he didn't last for more than a couple minutes in the hoodoos where it got up to 40 degrees celcius:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/laC58.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/laC58.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had to retreat to the river and walk in the water so he could stay cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T07:06:50.360" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T12:33:41.030" Title="How do you keep your dog cool while hiking on hot sunny days?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9493" CreationDate="2015-09-23T05:46:03.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What your doggie needs is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/855790/ruffwear-swamp-cooler-cooling-dog-vest&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swamp Cooler Vest&lt;/a&gt;. It's basically a wet vest that acts as a refrigerator and cools your dog by reflecting the suns rays off it's back while also stripping away the heat through a natural evaporative process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W2VJs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W2VJs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T05:46:03.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9493" CreationDate="2015-09-23T07:36:15.340" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a rule of thumb here that our dog trainer taught us which is, if you cannot hold your hand on the ground for more than 5 seconds, pavement, dirt etc, it is too hot for your dog to be walking on or be out in. This can be taken with a pinch of salt if you are for example at a beach, the sand maybe too hot but the access to vast amounts of water to play in will keep the dog cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst the coat @ShemSeger linked to can be useful (along with cooling bandanas), as dogs cannot sweat, only reduce their heat from panting, it's only part of a solution (and will obviously only work for as long as the coat has water, the hotter the day gets the more water will be needed as they do need topping up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also with the heat you need to take your breed of dog into consideration as well. We have a long haired breed, a Shetland Sheepdog, and have always had long haired breeds (Rough Collies / German Shepherds) who are bred for colder climes. A 40C day is very unlikely where we live (Bucks, England) however even in 25C heat a all dogs need access to shade, water to drink, or to lounge in (For our dog he gets his own paddling pool). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we take Blaze out for the day he has his own water bottle as well because he can and often will drink more than we will being long haired. (See &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/a/9803/5149&quot;&gt;Warm weather walkies and water&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people are known to shave their long haired dogs in summer like you would do a horse, but for some breeds like a Sheltie which have a triple layered waterproof coat this isn't advised. Short haired dog breeds bred for hotter climes will do much better as a standard, as would lighter coat colours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue I have here is the coat is only a partial solution, if you're out in 40C heat you're also making your dog walk on hot ground with no protection to his feet - which is why I stated the rule of thumb - whilst dogs paws are tougher than human feet it is still unfair to make them walk on ground that is being heated by the sun to the tune of a 40C day. You can purchase shoes / boots for dogs for hiking as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In combination you need to consider a few factors here - the heat of the ground as well as the air. The cooling coats / bandanas  are a partial solution, but you need to consider making your dog walk on hot bare ground without protection (would you want to bare foot?) Also you need to make sure you're regularly allowing your dog to drink and take water for him as well as yourself. As much access to shade as possible is a bonus.&#xA;If it's far too hot, consider not taking your dog with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.rspca.org.uk/insights/2015/08/04/how-to-keep-your-dog-cool-in-summer/#.VgPtPM9wYm8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPCA blog post for hot weather and dogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T12:33:41.030" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9466" CreationDate="2015-09-23T08:30:08.443" Score="16" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lemon juice and tinned fruit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Tenzing's autobiography &lt;code&gt;Man of Everest&lt;/code&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We started pitching the highest camp that has ever been made. And it&#xA;  took us almost until it was dark. First we chopped away at the ice to&#xA;  try and make our sleeping-place a little more level. Then we struggled&#xA;  with frozen ropes and canvas, and tied the ropes around the oxygen&#xA;  cylinders to hold them down. Everything took five times and long as it&#xA;  would have in a place where there was enough air to breath; but at&#xA;  last we got the tent up, and when we crawled in it was not too bad.&#xA;  There was only a light wind, and inside it was not too cold to take&#xA;  off our gloves. Hillary checked the oxygen sets, while &lt;strong&gt;I got our&#xA;  little stove going and made warm coffee and lemon juice.&lt;/strong&gt; Our thirst&#xA;  was terrible, and we drank them down like two camels. Later we had&#xA;  some &lt;strong&gt;soup, sardines, biscuits and tinned fruit&lt;/strong&gt;, but the fruit was&#xA;  frozen so hard we had first to thaw it out over the stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;May the 29th... On the 29th Lambert and I had descended in defeat from&#xA;  the col to the cwm. Down-down-down. At about three-thirty in the&#xA;  morning we began to stir. I got the stove going and boiled snow for&#xA;  lemon juice and coffee, and we ate a little of the food left over from&#xA;  the night before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have Hillary's account &lt;code&gt;High Adventure&lt;/code&gt; to hand but I recall there was a lot of lemon drink and tinned fruit mentioned. The lemon drink was some sort of powdered mix that also contained sugar. Both men write about a constant thirst at high altitude and about how good the lemon drink was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Up very high one never has an appetite - indeed, you have to force&#xA;  yourself to eat- but because of the thin dryness of the air there is&#xA;  often a terrible thirst. For this, in my experience, it is very bad to&#xA;  eat snow or drink cold snow-water, for this only seems to make the&#xA;  throat drier, and often sore. Tea, coffee, or soup are all much&#xA;  better. And, best of all, on this 1953 climb, was the powdered&#xA;  lemon-juice that we mixed with sugar and warm water. On the upper&#xA;  mountain we drank so much of it that I began calling us the&#xA;  &quot;lemon-juice expedition.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tenzing talks about the journey down and getting past the South summit;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At about two o'clock we reached the high tent, where we stopped and&#xA;  rested again, and I &lt;strong&gt;heated some sweet lemon-juice over the stove&lt;/strong&gt;. This&#xA;  was the first drink we had had for hours, and it was like new life&#xA;  pouring down into our bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastEditorUserId="132" LastEditDate="2015-09-23T14:20:47.150" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T14:20:47.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7344" CreationDate="2015-09-23T14:59:22.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are now UIAA certified, as listed here: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/safety-label-holders.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.theuiaa.org/safety-label-holders.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7833" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T16:59:53.830" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T16:59:53.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2015-09-23T22:50:02.090" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's fairly easy, with modern gear, to be around one third to one quarter of your body weight, including food, water, and camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some tips applicable to Colorado (and thus most places):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a tent. It rains, water flows, there are bugs. Tarps and hammocks are lighter, but not nearly as fun in these conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a sleeping bag and a pad. The pad isn't so much for comfort, it's for warmth. At altitude, it's easy to be cold. Decide how warm your bag needs to be by trying some out (near a car!)--the ratings are survival not comfort. Colder ratings are heavy--you can bring some long underwear. Down is expensive, but lighter/smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a Jetboil or similar and use (sadly expensive) dehydrated backpacking food. If you're awesome, you can make your own and save money, but the idea here is the bulk of your food is extremely light and rehydrated on the trail. The Jetboil is used exclusively for heating water which is poured into the bags for &quot;cooking&quot;. No pots, no pans, no cleaning. I bring one, long, plastic spoon. I eat right out of the bag. Only utensil? I small plastic cup for oatmeal, tea, whatever...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a water purifier pump. Even clean, glacier-fed water at high altitude is suspect, because other people before you are pigs, and probably did their business somewhere--it's a bit dangerous to drink their poo run-off (giardia sucks).  Water can be impossible to find in many areas, be very prepared, but in most of non-desert Colorado, it's little trouble...your weight has just significantly decreased, you refil whatever bottle/bladder you prefer as needed for drinking while hiking or for rehydrating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nylon/polyester clothes (even wool!). Lighter, not cold when wet. dry easy. Don't bother with much. Just stink a little.&#xA;Headlamp. Plastic trowel for your poo, and ziplock bags to carry out your TP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skip the first aid kit. Nearly everything that can happen to you is either small enough to ignore, or too drastic to treat in the field. Bring athletic tape and get a Spot transmitter to get you out when horror strikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it, virtually everything else is either details or luxury. Get whatever makes your day happy and lovely, but with this method, my minimum weight is around 25lbs or less and food scales per day, but it's less than a pound/day mentioned above. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7838" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T22:50:02.090" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9489" CreationDate="2015-09-23T23:43:46.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yep, when weighted the rope pulls through and reveals a false pair of loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2njPU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2njPU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Definitely not a knot/loop that should be used!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-09-23T23:43:46.703" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9502" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9504" CreationDate="2015-09-24T09:16:53.530" Score="13" ViewCount="2090" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently doing a scramble route in North Wales. We needed to get past a large rock spike, though easy climbing, it was quite exposed and not a good place to take a fall. As a safety backup I attached a long dyneema sling over a large spike and clipped this directly onto my harness. This was more confidence protection than anything as the move was straight forward. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We did this for speed, we did have a rope but didn't want to spend the time getting it out, etc. just to pass a relatively small section.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It occurred to me afterwards though that maybe this wasn't such a great idea. There was nothing in the system to really absorb any impact. The fall onto the sling would have been minimal (maybe 1m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any problems with attaching a sling directly onto your harness like this? We didn't use a crows foot or any other knot. Just a sling and one carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21RrJ_ISVx4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a video of my girlfriend doing the above for context&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T16:24:56.787" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T18:56:57.917" Title="Is clipping directly onto a dyneema sling safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;&lt;dyneema&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9502" CreationDate="2015-09-24T09:58:05.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Allthough I'm not a professional climber, I do regularly set up climbing obstacles and ziplines for children (scouting).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When working up in the threes we mostly secure ourselves using slings so we can have two hands free to secure children or work on the rigging in general.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've taken a fall or two onto a sling (like you said up to 1 meter) and although there is no real damping it is way better than taking the fall 5 meters down (or further).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I would say that if you're working on a single spot or need to span a really short distance it's fine.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Just make sure it's not to short or to long where you could either really get hurt taking the fall or end up being unable to get back up to where you need/want to be.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(It's not fun hanging under the lowest tree limb, everything soking wet and waiting for someone to throw a climbing rope so you can rappel down ;) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T09:58:05.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9502" CreationDate="2015-09-24T10:27:52.057" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Was it better than no protection? Probably. Would I recommend it? No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is this: DMM performed &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/how-to-break-nylon-dyneema-slings/&quot;&gt;some tests&lt;/a&gt; where they anchored a sling to a carabiner and a load (80kg), and dropped the load from various heights. The results are a bit more nuanced, but the gist is that you should never fall onto a sling from at or above the anchor without any dynamic elements in the system. This sentence sums it up nicely: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even a 60 cm fall-factor 1 fall on to an open Dyneema® sling can generate enough impact force (16.7 kN) at the anchor to pull a Wallnut 11 wire (12 kN) apart. Tying a knot in a Dyneema® sling weakens it even further leading to sling failure in a fall-factor 1 loading on to a 120 cm sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably wouldn't want to experience a force of 16.7 kN, which is what would happen if you fell with the harness at the height of the anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;However&lt;/em&gt;, it might be fine if you stay well below the highest point of the anchor. But I couldn't find any reference to that situation, so I can't comment on that situation specifically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T10:27:52.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9502" CreationDate="2015-09-24T11:41:52.467" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It certainly isn't safe to use a sling or anything else which will not absorb shock in the event of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although you are probably not likely to have this sort of thing while scrambling, if you know are going to need to clip in to something for some reason, you could always take a tip from caving and use dynamic rope to make up what we call &quot;cowstails&quot;. These are used regularly in caving while abseiling and prusiking up ropes and on traverse lines to clip into as a safeguard in case of a slip or equipment failure. We use two at a time as it makes certain manouvres easier and safer but for your purpose just one would be better than a sling which absorbs no shock in the event of a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example of a caver's &quot;cowstails&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oWJTv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oWJTv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cowstails&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: It is possible to take a fall with a very large Fall Factor on Via Ferrata, which is why Via Ferrata &quot;lanyards&quot; have a means of allowing the rope to slip through some sort of fall protector (or have elasticated sections held together by stitching which will burst during a fall) in order to absorb the possible very large shock. The intention with cowstails is NOT to fall but to prevent a fall from happening. However if you do fall (and you should never climb above the item to which they are attached) it should only by with a small Fall Factor and onto dynamic rope. Cavers normally attach the costails to their harness using the Maillon Rapide which joins the two sides of the harness at the front and centre, by using the loop tied in the rope between the two karabiners in the picture above. A Maillon Rapide is used as it can take a 3-way directional loading safely, which an ordinary karabiner cannot, unless it is a specialised karabiner such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Carabiners/OMNI?l=GB#.VgQl4U4SqRs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petz Omni&lt;/a&gt; whcih is designed to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T16:31:59.073" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T16:31:59.073" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2015-09-24T20:14:10.933" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, I'm 5'4&quot; and female. I have small hands and feet, and am very flexible. For my fellow short people, the best advice I got is from this very helpful website from Tiffany:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blicard.com/blogs/news/15333515-tiffanys-climbing-tips-for-short-people&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tiffany's Climbing Tips for Short People&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, cross train with yoga. Tall people have a harder time touching your toes. But if you can touch your toes, you can turn a hand hold into your next foothold. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7841" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:42:40.773" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:42:40.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9507" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9510" CreationDate="2015-09-24T20:23:07.860" Score="14" ViewCount="2415" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being in control of your body and making controlled movements is a skill I can't seem to get down. Are there any good ways to practice this or any workouts that can contribute to helping me build up my ability to be more static while climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5755" LastEditorUserId="5755" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T21:09:15.490" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T07:47:55.807" Title="How do you get better at static climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9508" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-24T21:12:39.400" Score="0" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;what size of knife should I carry to not make peoples eyebrows raise? what manufacturers would you suggest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7843" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2015-09-24T21:15:38.313" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T22:34:08.910" Title="knives, how long a blade should I carry?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2015-09-25T00:47:29.357" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9507" CreationDate="2015-09-24T21:34:45.767" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is more likely than not, related to two things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your balance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your core strength&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those two things are related. I can't find the reference but Sonnie Trotter once said: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Climbing is three things: Strong fingers, strong mind, strong core.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend improving your core strength as this will certainly improve your balance. This will also help to keep your weight closer into the wall (over your feet) and prevent &quot;sagging&quot;. Core strength will help with this also. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked for exercises as well. Personal opinion: almost any video in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=improve%20core%20strength&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this YouTube search&lt;/a&gt; will help you out. For me, just raising my legs above my head on a chin-up bar has helped me a lot. Also, simply trying to climb easy climbs without my hands has helped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T07:47:55.807" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T07:47:55.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9507" CreationDate="2015-09-24T21:55:10.640" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a very static climber, but back in the day I was one of those climbing cave rats who campused and dyno'd his way through as much of a problem as he could. The key to becoming a more static climber, is to &lt;strong&gt;learn more technique and balance&lt;/strong&gt;. I learned how to be a static climber from &lt;strong&gt;bouldering&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can learn a lot from reading a book, or watching some videos, but the best way to learn is to have a skilled climber teach you footwork and different handholds, and then practice &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; at your local climbing gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I learned all my technique from hanging out at the wall and projecting bouldering problems with climbers who were &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; out of my league. The thing I love most about the climbing community is everyone is always very encouraging and keen to share their knowledge and offer advice. Bouldering is a great way to learn technique and develop strength because you're doing short strenuous climbs that usually revolve around doing one or two very specific moves, as a beginner you almost learn a new move every time you climb a new problem, especially if you're with a group of people all trying to project the same problem, because unlike sport climbing where you're usually by yourself up on the wall, bouldering is a very social sport, with a group of people all hanging out on the ground while one person tries the problem out at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few exercises you can do on your own to learn more balance and climb more static, is first of all, learn how to &lt;em&gt;crimp&lt;/em&gt;, and climb more routes that use lots a &lt;em&gt;tiny&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;crimps&lt;/strong&gt; and slopey &lt;strong&gt;sloper&lt;/strong&gt; holds. Crimps and slopers are terrible to hang onto, as you can easily pop or slide off just by changing your body position, they also require a lot of finger and core strength, which makes them perfect for learning how to static climb, because you're forced to learn balance in order to make any use out of them. Teeny tiny crimps are one of my favorites because you can't just grab at them like a big jug, you have to get your fingertips on them, settle into a good crimp and then lock off your thumb before shifting your weight. Slopers are another favourite for a couple of reasons, first of all they're next to impossible to injure yourself on-they're very tendon friendly (unlike crimps)-secondly, they give you &lt;em&gt;great&lt;/em&gt; abs. Slopers are the holds you notice a lot of people screaming in the gym to hang onto them, that's because you have to tense up your core a lot in order to keep them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to practice crimps and balance by traversing my local wall &lt;em&gt;(which was textured)&lt;/em&gt; without using &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; holds. It took me a very &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt; time before I had fianlly figured out the beta to get all the way across, and there'd be some parts where I'd be flexing every part of my body just so I could cross my left hand one hand width over my right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Footwork is hugely important when static climbing, one drill you can try to teach yourself better footwork is to consciously move your feet two or three times every time you move a hand once. Footwork is key for good balance. Another way to learn footwork is to climb one-handed. with only one hand on the wall, you naturally are forced to rely a lot more on your feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, another fun drill to try in order to make you climb more statically is to &lt;strong&gt;climb blindfolded&lt;/strong&gt;. You aren't going to be dynoing to anything you can't see, and being blind naturally makes you &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; cautious, so you slow down and spend more time feeling your balance trying to find holds in places that make sense for how your body is balanced vs. trying to jump up and grab that big tempting jug you can see higher on the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Static climbing is &quot;smarter&quot; climbing, the more you think your way through a climb, the more static you're going to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T02:15:11.093" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T02:15:11.093" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9508" CreationDate="2015-09-24T22:34:08.910" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For backpacking I use a small razor blade to open packages. Trail Design &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traildesigns.com/accessories/ultralight-knife&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ultralight Knife&lt;/a&gt; works just fine although it sometimes poke my fingers when reaching for it in my pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I carry a slightly bigger folding knife. What I usually miss the most is a good spreading knife for cheese / &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nutellausa.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nutella&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2015-09-24T22:34:08.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9168" CreationDate="2015-09-25T04:15:49.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rumex includes both sorrels and docks. The sorrels are generally more widely eaten. You can eat all of them, although they're pretty acid. Sliced finely with other salad greens, they add some bite. You can also wilt them down as you would spinach for a risotto or soup. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/rice-recipes/a-beautiful-sorrel-risotto-with-crumbled-goat-s-cheese/&quot;&gt;http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/rice-recipes/a-beautiful-sorrel-risotto-with-crumbled-goat-s-cheese/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like Swiss chard, they're high in oxalic acid and too much of that can lead to kidney stones. Many vegetables contain oxalic acid, so it's just something to keep in balance. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6692" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T04:15:49.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5898" CreationDate="2015-09-25T09:31:25.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I camp regularly with my black Labrador in the UK.  I have an old sleeping bag I use for her, it has her smell and she can curl up in it if it gets cold.  She sleeps in the sleeping compartment.  I tend to find there isn't an issue when she is in the tent, as others have said if you walk a few miles and tire them out then they don't tend to misbehave in the tent (as long as they can't see out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only issue I have now and again is she has a habit of digging, this can be expensive in terms of built-in groundsheets, so I used cheaper tents to get her used to camping so she didn't ruin a £500 backpacking tent at the start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only issue I have left is if she isn't on a leash or staked down she runs off if she sees people and animals.  She is a Labrador and I don't think I will ever stop that!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7848" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-29T00:16:01.143" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T00:16:01.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9502" CreationDate="2015-09-25T14:17:41.973" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the specific example of the video of your girlfriend, what you did seems to me like a perfectly reasonable way of dealing with that spot in the climb. When we talk about the bad consequences of taking a short fall on a static line (wrecking pro, snapping slings, injuries to the climber's pelvis), we're talking mainly about factor-2 falls on a vertical wall. In the situation you were in, it would have been factor-1 at most, and realistically not anywhere near that bad, because she would have been scraping, scrabbling, and bumping on her way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't really second-guess your judgment based on the view through a cell phone's lens, but if I speculate about the situation if I'd been there and could have seen the total situation more clearly, my concerns might have been completely different. The section before the sling looks exposed, and I would have worried about the possibility of bad rock or of a simple foot slip on a sandy ledge. I also might have worried about the horn that you threw the sling over -- whether or not it was solidly attached to the ridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T18:56:57.917" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T18:56:57.917" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9428" CreationDate="2015-09-25T14:34:16.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer focuses on management not repelling, fleas have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea#Life_cycle_and_habitat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;complex life cycle&lt;/a&gt;, If you repel 99 of 100 fleas, that one is going to be living on you with it's family. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The internet has LOTS of yes answers to this question, &lt;a href=&quot;http://everydayroots.com/flea-remedies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;random example.&lt;/a&gt; most are focused on animals because, well... I don't know why. People get fleas also.  As rule there is a different species of flea for each type of animal they feed on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petmd.com/dog/parasites/evr_multi_common_fleas_dogs_cats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;(ref)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. But when they are hungry will snack on anything available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of questions on the pets.se sister site that address treatment for animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/107&quot;&gt;How can I get rid of fleas?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/5743&quot;&gt;Should I use nutritional and or brewer's yeast for fleas and ticks on pets?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when you really start to research any internet solution, &lt;em&gt;(example &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/17370&quot;&gt;Can dish soap really be used to kill ticks and fleas?&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/em&gt; you tend to find that there is more hype than fact for most claims. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most effective solution is regular bathing and grooming. You either have fleas or not, if you are in a place that has fleas they will be on you.  The most effective non-man-made-chemical-solution is to wash them away with a bath and pick or comb off any that remain. I am not sure if you want to classify soap as natural, but as the dish soap answer shows it is effective remover of fleas (&lt;em&gt;not a killer of fleas&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI - one of the currently most popular &quot;Natural Solutions&quot; is &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/3199&quot;&gt;'Diatomaceous Earth (DE)' which has some health concerns.&lt;/a&gt; Natural does not mean without possible adverse side effects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T14:47:55.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2015-09-25T14:37:18.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a good handful of people suggesting what type of clothing should be worn to minimize chaffing, which are great but not always 100% effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To treat chaffing/rashes between thighs and groins (which I have bad issues with), I suggest bringing some sort of lubricant to apply to stressed areas as they appear. I use Petroleum Jelly and it works like a charm! Aching pain disappears instantly, and the slight oil feeling is somewhat annoying at its worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T14:37:18.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9502" CreationDate="2015-09-25T14:58:26.800" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule of thumb: Never use static material only as protection while moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you anyway know what you do, I suggest you stick to that rule. There are several examples of fatal accidents involving static falls of very short distance into your binding, which then broke. Fall factors are not a factor to consider, as this compares length of fall to length of rope which will dynamically brake, while here there is nothing dynamic. Even if the material holds, such a static fall causes injuries or at least severe pain in the hip region (I know, I once fell about 0.5m into a daisychain while aiding, two connections ripped and thus damped the fall, it still hurt a lot and caused me to abandon the climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However in the exact case shown above when slipping, you would not fall directly into the sling. Scraping over the rocks you would not be very fast when the sling stops you, so it would not be comfortable, but hardly hazardous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still the best method in such terrain would be going on short rope. If properly done and trained you are safer and faster than with such improvised protection, but it really needs some practice. You are connected with about 10m of rope and the stronger climber goes ahead. In very easy and hardly exposed terrain you simply go simultaneously managing the rope so that it does not get in the way. On slightly harder or exposed terrain the leader places the rope over spikes on the go, thus providing security against falling off completely. In case it gets much harder you secure the second (e.g. wrapping the rope twice around a suitable spike) and you climb the section, then you belay the second up with again a spike or shoulder belay (this is a direct translation from German, no idea whether it is the correct term in English).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T14:58:26.800" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9519" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9521" CreationDate="2015-09-25T16:59:03.873" Score="28" ViewCount="1817" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Backstory:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few months ago, I experienced the following situation: We (two people) were climbing the last pitch of a multi-pitch route. Near the end, there was a cave-like chimney. Basically a chimney where the opening was narrower than the chimney itself, and the whole thing getting narrower towards the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I lead that pitch, I had no problem going up, noticing that I had to leave the chimney because the top opening was too narrow for my helmet, downclimbing a meter and continuing on the outside. When I was belaying the second, she got stuck inside the &amp;quot;cave&amp;quot; because of her backpack with no way of going up, down or out. The whole situation looked a bit like this (left: side view, right: front view):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wecd0.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wecd0.png&quot; alt=&quot;Situation&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our problem in that situation was that we absolutely couldn't communicate (cave roof between us, open sea to the back, so no echo), and I had no way of knowing what was happening down there. She finally solved the situation by letting go, falling for at most half a meter and then (with great difficulty) wiggling out of the cave. If I had known that she needed to be lowered like 1-2 m, the whole situation would have been solved in a minute, but like this, it took like 15.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it worked out fine in our situation, what is the generally recommended way of handling a situation where the second seems stuck and absolutely no communication is possible? Also, what would have been the appropriate reaction of she hadn't been able to move?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is mainly about how to handle such a situation if you haven't prepared specifically. However, recommendations about preparing for the case of such a situation are also welcome, if this doesn't make my question too broad!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T16:27:05.733" Title="What to do if the second seems stuck and absolutely no communication is possible?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9520" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9526" CreationDate="2015-09-25T19:02:47.297" Score="7" ViewCount="800" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been researching tents to replace some low-quality dome tents that each have had a &lt;a href=&quot;http://r1.coleman.com/ProductImages/Full/2000007828_500.jpg&quot;&gt;partial rainfly&lt;/a&gt;. Every tent I've owned that has had a partial rainfly has performed horribly in the rain (I pitched them correctly and used guylines when available). I have a tent that has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://demandware.edgesuite.net/aakn_prd/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bdel/default/dwf7d960a7/products/shelter/810195_vista_fly_mrgldgy_ptopn_web.jpg&quot;&gt;full-coverage rainfly&lt;/a&gt; and has performed quite well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the pros and cons of a full-coverage rainfly?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm mostly interested in three-season responses aimed at temperate and subalpine climates, but wouldn't mind four-season/winter responses, as well as other climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer: The images linked were chosen arbitrarily to illustrate my description. I have no affiliation with the tents or brands pictured.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3993" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:30:53.077" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:30:53.077" Title="What are the Pros and Cons of a Full-coverage Rainfly?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9519" CreationDate="2015-09-25T19:19:17.117" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course you want to try simple things first, and waiting is a really simple thing to do. She solved the problem in 15 minutes, which doesn't even seem like an especially long time to me to wait for a second to do a pitch. It could take that long to clean a stuck piece of gear. Another simple solution would be to bring radios in the future, but that doesn't help you in this case. I assume you didn't each have a cell phone in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've exhausted the simple options (say it's been an hour and nothing is happening), this becomes more of a self-rescue situation, and self-rescue is based on improvising a solution using the gear you have and the techniques you know. Often in self-rescue, lowering the climber is the easiest solution. It would have worked here, but you had no way of knowing that, and it could have been dangerous to lower. So...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were giving her a direct belay, then tying off the belay is trivial. If you were belaying off of your harness, then you need to know how to escape the belay, which is an important and fundamental self-rescue skill to practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had less than half the rope out, then you could rappel down on a second strand to see what was up. However, you would need to formulate a plan to make sure you could get back up without having to solo the route, e.g., using a Prusik. The decision whether to attempt this might depend on the difficulty of the route. Because you can't extract your belay device from the system, you would need to do the rappel using an alternate technique such as a Munter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option might be to go and get help. Obviously that has disadvantages, but it beats attempting a self-rescue by a sketchy method that might get you killed. One of the basic rules of first aid and self-rescue is not to create additional victims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T21:24:48.033" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T21:24:48.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9519" CreationDate="2015-09-25T19:47:05.507" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you could do is develop a rope-tug system for situations like this. E.g one tug = hard take, two tugs = slack, etc. This works better when the belayer is below, but it's still useful for situations like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5755" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T19:47:05.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9519" CreationDate="2015-09-25T20:29:41.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is not much to add to Ben Crowell's great answer, just one point. So the next paragraph is merely a short version of his answer, skip to the second if you do not want to read it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a good reason to believe that the second is not badly injured, lowering would be the first thing to try. Just slowly and not much at first. Climbing the wrong way and getting stuck without a way out due to being pulled by the rope is quite a common thing to happen. If that does not resolve the situation just as mentioned, proceed as in an improvised rescue: Start improvising. If you have enough rope, lower yourself down to establish contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot abseil far enough as the rope is too short, you can lower on the rope the second is climbing on. Just use the exact same technique as in ascending on a rope: Two blocking knots, one attached to your harness, the other as a descending aid. Non strategic protections can just be unclipped, otherwise you may need to do a blocking knot below and then untie the one on top, but with some fiddling you might even slide it through the biner of the protection. It is slow, cumbersome and tiring, but an option to descend on a taught rope if nothing else works. Just be careful if the rope is forced against the rock: Trying to get your blocking knots past such an area may get you stuck and thus block you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-09-27T16:27:05.733" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T16:27:05.733" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2015-09-25T20:44:39.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suppose you mean outside of village, so you are talking about streams and sources. In any alpine areas (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria) I drink water unfiltered when I assume that there are no alps (place with cattle during summer) upstream, which worked for me. Of course you usually cannot be 100% sure about it, but almost so. If there is cattle upstream, you have a quite a chance of getting diarrhea. I did it twice until now when I was just too thirsty and once came to regret that decision :)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Many people attribute diarrhea to glacier water, which I cannot confirm. Unless you drink it constantly, the lack of minerals is not a problem either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dwells in towns in Switzerland you can drink always unless there is a sign telling you otherwise. Sometimes such a sign is present as the water is not officially tested, that also very often the case in alpine huts, while the water is fine. But you cannot know, so unless you have somebody trustful to advice you, keep away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T20:44:39.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9520" CreationDate="2015-09-25T21:39:57.213" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The obvious cons of the full-coverage rain fly (FCRF) are the added weight and volume in the pack.  And, it probably takes a bit more time to pitch and take down simply because of the added material to manipulate.  Because your bio says you want to go ultralight, these cons may be very important to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A possible con is that snow may weigh down the FCRF more and faster than the partial because it has more area, but banging from the inside to clear off snow usually works OK (my experience is only April through Nov.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another con to the FCRF is that you are more disconnected from the outside.  Being connected vs not getting wet is a personal decision.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Curious: If you want to go ultralight, why aren't you asking about bivvy sacks vs tents?) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros: The FCRF will not only keep you drier, but warmer, especially if it is windy.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pro to the FCRF that I like is that, except in heavy, driving rain you don't have to bring your boots inside to keep them dry -- the overlap of the fly protects them very well.  My preference is for the FCRF.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-09-25T21:53:43.117" LastActivityDate="2015-09-25T21:53:43.117" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9519" CreationDate="2015-09-25T22:51:26.080" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of Ben's comments are great, but they mostly deal with what you could do once you are in this situation. Avoiding the situation all together might be easier than you think though and likely the better option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do so, you would just need to extend your belay, or simply put - don't belay from the over the lip, belay at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dAr3L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dAr3L.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Belaying at the lip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a technique I employ a lot, especially when guiding, but even when not, and if you're swinging leads or topping out, it really doesn't eat up any additional time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/extending-an-anchor-on-a-multi-pitch-route/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article on climbing.com&lt;/a&gt; that I've borrowed this image from (also linked below), but essentially you establish an anchor, lower &amp;amp; tie off where you want to belay, then either establish a new intermediate anchor at that point using the rope, or set up a redirected belay using the top anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At minimum you should try have audible communication, but it's good to strive towards have visual (line of sight) on your climber also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/extending-an-anchor-on-a-multi-pitch-route/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Extending an anchor on a multi-pitch route&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2015-09-26T20:12:09.107" LastActivityDate="2015-09-26T20:12:09.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9529" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-26T15:27:31.507" Score="7" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have caught bass in the past but they have always been small largemouth bass or smallmouth bass. And this is with wax worms that I often use when fishing with my dad. My dad caught a big largemouth bass with an earthworm once. The day after I had fried bass for breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you would need to know where I often fish, I often fish at Alum Creek Lake because it is a decent place to fish for bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going back to the worms that I use, I often get a bite from a small sunfish such as bluegill. I know that sunfish make up a large part of a largemouth bass' diet. I also know that wherever I find small sunfish, I am sure to find some bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So would leaving the sunfish on the hook if I get a bite attract a largemouth bass even more than the worms do, even though I am risking that I will lose either the sunfish or the bass this way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="91" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T19:35:33.580" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T23:17:50.800" Title="Catching largemouth bass with sunfish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9531" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-27T04:15:50.963" Score="4" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;I built a spreader using steel double lock snaps from a NIB fall restraint lanyard and a 27 kn 50&quot; webbing loop. I ran a bowline with blight to each double snap and one to where my steel 50 kn auto locker carabiner is. With exception of carabiner all knots are loaded and set directly on snaps and carabiner has just enough room for carabiner to pass through. Carabiner is made with knot from doubled loop and ends are just one layer of loop. So in another words there is 4 strands on blight at top and two per snap. Is this a solid use of knot? This is my attempt at reducing triaxial loading of carabiner&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7860" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2015-10-01T21:22:45.087" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T02:40:53.293" Title="Spreader rig safety question" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9532" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9542" CreationDate="2015-09-27T07:41:50.280" Score="13" ViewCount="7342" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am working on a very fun problem with an overhung roof that induces serious rope drag (Goat Rock Roof @ Castle Rock if you know it). I am very nervous about training this beta intensive problem given how easy it is to cut a rope on an edge. What techniques are normally used to protect edges? I've tried placing shirts, but they are useless. What I need is a placeable plastic or metal piece that will stay on the edge and allow the rope to smoothly pass over it.'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need a solution for the dynamic climbing line, not the anchor line. Is there anything that will stay on the rock while a rope goes over it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this route is &lt;em&gt;top rope only&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k5gDt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k5gDt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3947" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T22:33:02.640" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T04:16:50.643" Title="Rock climbing over edge - What can I put under the rope to protect it?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9532" CreationDate="2015-09-27T09:16:40.937" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a piece of Scrap carpet or throw rug on the rock edge to protect the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gscEk.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gscEk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T09:16:40.937" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9534" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-27T11:58:21.187" Score="11" ViewCount="2752" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a beginner to hiking. Last time, I had trouble easily accessing my stuff. Putting things inside the pack was also taking nearly an hour of my time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that I have to empty the backpack at night and bring out everything to access something at the bottom. In the morning, I have to put everything back in the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some things which won't be used frequently, like my clothes. I have to fold them every time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution I see, is to use some small plastic bags &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/ye-0r0OoFes?t=10m13s&quot;&gt;like in this video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the name of those bags and where can I buy them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7861" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T17:21:39.523" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T18:49:43.033" Title="What do you call the bags which help organize items inside a backpack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9534" CreationDate="2015-09-27T13:32:13.860" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those are stuff-sacks, and they're usually fabric. The general principle for loading a pack is to put things you'll need during the day on top, and things you won't need until night on the bottom. Regardless, if it takes an hour to do that, you're overthinking it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7774" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T13:32:13.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9534" CreationDate="2015-09-27T13:44:31.063" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;These bags are called stuff sacks, dry sack or compression sack.&lt;/strong&gt; Often a smaller stuff stack containing the odds and ends is called a ditty bag. You can buy them at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/c/stuff-sacks&quot;&gt;any backpacking outfitter&lt;/a&gt;. Some backpacking gear such as a tent or sleeping bags will often come with an included stuff sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/or-gear/storage-systems/compression-sacks.html&quot;&gt;Compression bags&lt;/a&gt; are use to reduce the volume of some items such as sleeping bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry sacks typically have a roll top closure and are water proof. Dry sacks used for kayaking are typically made of stronger material but are heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stuff sack is the general term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultra light stuff sacks are usually made of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seatosummit.com/product/?item=Ultra-Sil%26reg%3B%20Dry%20Sack&amp;amp;o1=0&amp;amp;o2=0&amp;amp;o3=281-22&quot;&gt;sil-nylon or &quot;ultra sil&quot;&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories.shtml&quot;&gt;cuben fiber&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seatosummit.com/product/?item=eVent%20Compression%20Dry%20Sack&amp;amp;o1=0&amp;amp;o2=0&amp;amp;o3=291-12&quot;&gt;eVent&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T17:23:48.827" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T17:23:48.827" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9534" CreationDate="2015-09-27T13:53:26.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you have the right kind of a backpack according to your requirements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you need to separate things that you need frequently and things you'll need less often. The way I camp/trek and plan things, I am okay to pack everything all over again in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, it is best suited to pack lighter items in the bottom of the pack and heavier stuff toward the top, the idea is to keep heavier stuff closer to your back and not on bum. This keeps your center of gravity relatively high. Center of gravity plays a very important role in balancing your body when in motion. Higher Center of gravity tends to make it easy to haul the backpack easily while your performance with balance is hampered. Women naturally have a lower center of gravity, so the women I know and trek with, they pack heavier stuff at the bottom, that further increases their stability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, The lower your center of gravity is , the easier it is to keep yourself balanced, pack feels heavier. The higher your center of gravity is, the easier it is to haul the pack but chances are more to dwell/tip off or go off-balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your pack doesn't have a separate space for sleeping bag, keep it at the bottom, usually you'll only need it after you are done for the day. So extra Clothing and your sleeping bag can go lower sections of the backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier items like water bottles, tins, food and fuel up against the pack’s back panel, and not in the front. If you place the heavy items on the outer sections of the backpack, you will experience that the pack constantly putting you off-balance, leaning back. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Importantly, keep the Headlamp, Flashlight, Medical Kit (Um, wait, you &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; carry these, right?) always handy, i.e. upper most sections of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unimportant things like Jellys, Bars you can keep in the top outer section of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A well-folded Garbage pack can find its place in the side-pouches if there are any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, order of packing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra Clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food (Heavy meal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go Food for next day (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liquid items (Water, juices, fuel bottles/can)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration pack (closer to the back)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go food for today (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electronic equipment like portable chargers, camera lenses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical Kit, Headlamp, Flashlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain Cover&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T13:28:01.627" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T13:28:01.627" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9532" CreationDate="2015-09-27T13:56:06.047" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9542/2303&quot;&gt;Apart from what ShemSeger suggested&lt;/a&gt; if you are looking for a make-shift option for now, you can get an inner rubber tube  that people use for Cycles. Cut it and run the rope through it at the edge where you see the friction. I have been doing this and seen people in India doing this ever since I have started being outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T04:16:50.643" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4159" CreationDate="2015-09-27T23:47:48.050" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a pac safe metal mesh for my plane travel as my pack is a camping pack not a travel pack with lockable pockets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/wear/bags-luggage/bag-protector-by-pacsafe/&quot;&gt;http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/wear/bags-luggage/bag-protector-by-pacsafe/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a simple padlock and the length of cable you should be able to link it to a tree and put the key in your pocket or around your neck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7866" LastActivityDate="2015-09-27T23:47:48.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9242" CreationDate="2015-09-28T00:42:25.433" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lower size limit is designed to allow a fish to reach breeding age before it can be taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An upper size limit is designed to prevent the most effective breeders from being taken.  It is based on the fact that in many species a more mature adult will have a larger number of successful offspring, and fish continue to grow throughout their lives. Also, in some fisheries it has been found that using only lower size limits pushes fish to evolve to breed at a smaller size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The choice of policy depends on what species are being regulated, the goals of the fishery management, and the history and politics of the regulating agency. Science is always considered when making these decisions, but sometimes politics ends up being a larger consideration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2015-10-28T12:33:54.837" LastActivityDate="2015-10-28T12:33:54.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9532" CreationDate="2015-09-28T03:33:04.997" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Top roping over sharp edges is never recommended, but if you insist that's what you want to do then what you want is an edge roller:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pahYe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pahYe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can anchor it to the top bolts and hang it right over the edge using accessory cord so that the ropes slide over the rollers instead of the sharp edge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JtDqj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JtDqj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture does't show it, but you're supposed to use velcro straps or something else as a safety to prevent the rope from jumping the track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're concerned about your edge protector flipping over, they do make Roll modules for moving ropes that have both vertical and horizontal rollers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQzkY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQzkY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of different styles of edge protectors and edge rollers, but you can typically find them or order them at rescue supply stores. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A slightly more affordable option is a rope pad:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iu7on.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iu7on.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same idea as the rollers, but made out of heavy duty material instead of metal, and you run the ropes trough a sleeve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked specifically for climbing with dynamic ropes, but I figured I's show the cheap and easy method for single rope rappels too:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5007-459/spirol-rope-protector/?q=rope%2Bprotector&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spirol Rope Protector&lt;/a&gt; and I really like it, it's flexible but very durable rubber, and it wraps around your rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s4CEX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s4CEX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple things I like about are that you can leave it on your rope when it's coiled, and you can make it slide along the rope, which is handy if you need to rappel with it a ways to get down to whatever sharp edge you're going over. It doesn't slide on it's own very easily, but it's got a small hole in it so you can tie a rat tail stopper or something with some small cord just in case. But once you've got it pinned against the rock it doesn't move. Another perk is that it stays with your rope, so if you need to swing or traverse you don't have to worry about your rope coming off of you edge protector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XtO3j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XtO3j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T16:45:28.437" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T16:45:28.437" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9543" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9544" CreationDate="2015-09-28T10:21:50.343" Score="9" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;When looking for bird seed (particularly this time of year, Autumn) what kind of bird seed should I be using to attract the most amount of birds into the garden? Is the seed even important or will any type do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-02T07:58:24.100" LastActivityDate="2015-10-02T07:58:24.100" Title="What type of bird seed attracts the most amount of birds?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;autumn&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9543" CreationDate="2015-09-28T11:33:21.577" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer may apply to other countries but is pretty cert for the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird feed sold in the UK (from big chain pet stores, to garden centres, to little corner shops) &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; comes with a time of year printed on the packet. This can be Spring-Summer, Winter or All Year for example. Which is because we get a cycle of birds throught the year and what is good for one species isn't good / appetising for all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A brilliant bird food list can be found on the RSPCB websites &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/&quot;&gt;What Food to Provide&lt;/a&gt; page.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good autumn / winter feeds are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fat balls or bars &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black sunflower seeds &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mealworms &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooked rice (when food is incredibly scarce)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any feed with large chunks of nut in, these are suitable for winter only.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mealworms and black sunflower seeds are good all year round feeds, used to supplement a birds diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of seed does make a big difference to what is attracted to your garden. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Small seeds, such as millet, attract mostly house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings and collared doves, while flaked maize is taken readily by blackbirds. Tits and greenfinches favour peanuts and sunflower seeds. Mixes that contain chunks or whole nuts are suitable for winter feeding only. Pinhead oatmeal is excellent for many birds. Wheat and barley grains are often included in seed mixtures, but they are really only suitable for pigeons, doves and pheasants, which feed on the ground and rapidly increase in numbers, frequently deterring the smaller species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To attract in numbers you may need to provide a mix of feeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T12:15:50.883" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T12:15:50.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9553" CreationDate="2015-09-28T14:11:55.433" Score="10" ViewCount="771" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winter is quickly approaching, and my friends and I (relatively inexperienced backpackers - only been on 2 trips of 9 days each) were wondering how much experience is necessary to safely backpacking winter &lt;strong&gt;assuming the correct equipment is used.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Michigan's weather in the UP ranges anywhere from -30 to 30°F (-34 to -1°C) during the winter, with typical nights ranging from 10°F - 20°F (-12°C to -7°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This trip would last for probably only 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6346" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-23T18:18:08.987" LastActivityDate="2017-12-23T18:18:08.987" Title="Backpacking in the Winter (Michigan)" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9529" CreationDate="2015-09-28T15:33:18.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can certainly use smaller panfish for bait, but you can't just leave it on the hook as you caught it and hope to catch that second fish. You will have to remove the hook and reset it where it will &lt;em&gt;hook&lt;/em&gt; the larger fish and wont simply be ripped out in the energetic largemouth strike. Thread it through the meaty portion of the dorsal fin on their back. You might need a larger hook. The goal is to avoid organs so you don't kill the fish and give the hook a stronger place to stay in should that bass take it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to use only the &lt;em&gt;smallest&lt;/em&gt; baitfish you catch, typically well under 6&amp;quot;. If the panfish is too large, you might be passing up some nice medium-sized bass who will likely pass it over for an easier meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there is one caveat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Legality of Using Panfish as Bait&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some states have banned using certain panfish as a baitfish. Don't risk that hefty fine; check you local fishing laws. There is often a sign next to the main boat ramp at most major lakes listing the laws of the local waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also keep in mind that &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; there is a length limit&lt;/strong&gt; for keeping a panfish, that will also apply to your bait. And often, only fish caught in that water can be used as bait on that water. Live game often cannot be moved away from a body with a few very limited exceptions, so be careful with that. Also keep in mind that any fish caught and used as bait &lt;strong&gt;will count towards your daily limit.&lt;/strong&gt; For example, if you can only keep 25 panfish, that will &lt;em&gt;include&lt;/em&gt; fish that were used as bait. Any fish that is not released immediately must be counted toward your daily bag limit, even if you later release it or lose it to a bigger fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="91" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T19:31:46.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9531" CreationDate="2015-09-28T16:39:44.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I may simplify your question, you have a sling of webbing, you've tied a bowline on a bight into each end, and then folded it in half and tied another bowline on a bight in the middle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(Using Climbing carabiners and 120cm 22kN runner)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mgaVo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mgaVo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you're wondering if it's a good substitute for one of these: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rPNdo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rPNdo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, it'll work just fine, but it's a bit unorthodox, I've never heard of anyone using a bowline on a bight in webbing before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying knots in a loop of webbing makes sense if you're trying to take up some of the length of your sling, or prevent the biners/clips from moving around, but a loop is a loop, and knots make slings weaker. You could just as easily do something like the image below and it would be simpler, and stronger: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WGqT8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WGqT8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a system like this, the longer sling is going to be more comfortable, and if you want to put knots in the webbing I recommend just using girth hitches or water knots instead of bowlines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even still, it won't work as well as a spreader bar, if you want the comfort you should just invest a good separator spreader bar. They aren't all that expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T16:39:44.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9556" CreationDate="2015-09-28T16:41:25.580" Score="14" ViewCount="4980" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; appear a bit opinion-based. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds take a while and a lot of effort to build a nest. Is it okay to take that pretty nest as a sample or a show-piece to put in a personal balcony or a garden?&#xA;I don't know if they or the same kind of bird re-use it. Basically, I have seen birds abandoning the nest after they are done with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, there is bird called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baya_weaver&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baya weaver&lt;/a&gt;, which has a beautiful nest. See the pic below. I have seen plenty of them, haven't studied them at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdWvG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdWvG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nest of a Baya Weaver bird&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:00:31.730" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:00:31.730" Title="Does a bird really abandon the nest? Will similar birds re-use it?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9548" CreationDate="2015-09-28T16:49:33.247" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Birds do not typically reuse nests, as pests and parasites typically move in and use it as a habitat after the birds are done with it. Those birds who do reuse nests often don't have much success raising healthy chicks, because of said parasites. Also, predators have a much easier time finding food in nests that have been around for a while vs. having to find new nests. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds will build their nests in the same spots though. I have Robins that build under our deck pretty much every year, but they only come back if I get rid of the old nest first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T16:49:33.247" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9550" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-28T19:33:48.780" Score="11" ViewCount="1695" Body="&lt;p&gt;After watching Everest this weekend, and reading the books about the 1996 events, I was wondering just one question.  Why would you not carry 3 or 4 bottles of O's to get you up and back?  Or why would a Leader such as Hall or Fisher not had enough carried up in reserve.  Granted the ropes were not fixed, but with the amount of traffic that year, log jams were going to happen.  From what I've read in both books on the subject, it appears safety went out the window in the attempt to put as many on top as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7868" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T22:44:30.517" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T22:44:30.517" Title="Bottled Oxygen on Everest" Tags="&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9550" CreationDate="2015-09-28T19:50:03.047" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first reason is &lt;strong&gt;weight&lt;/strong&gt;, you can hardly carry yourself up Everest let alone extra oxygen bottles, in fact as soon as they empty a bottle a lot of people drop it on the ground as litter because they can't be bothered to carry the extra weight any more. Weight is the number one reason garbage gets left on everest, because people either won't or literally &lt;em&gt;can't&lt;/em&gt; carry it out under their own power. It's for this reason that bodies are left on Everest, because it is physically impossible to carry them off. Most just get pushed over the edge of a cliff, or left on the side of the trail as milestones to the top &lt;em&gt;(Google &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=Green%20boots,%20Everest&amp;amp;safe=off&amp;amp;es_sm=91&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIxsXu_8CayAIVgk6ICh1Jqgcb&amp;amp;biw=1652&amp;amp;bih=808&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Green boots, Everest&lt;/a&gt;&quot;)&lt;/em&gt; There are regular expeditions on Everest where they send people to do nothing but pick up garbage and pack it off the mountain, most bodies are left behind though. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.savingmounteverest.org/index.php?id=70&amp;amp;L=1&amp;amp;tx_t3blog_pi1%5BblogList%5D%5Bcategory%5D=1&amp;amp;cHash=04c547d9c08179d3bbd6bb3954ece294&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.savingmounteverest.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Spent oxygen bottles left on Everest&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ymbAn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ymbAn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second reason is &lt;strong&gt;cost&lt;/strong&gt;, one bottle of oxygen that may last you a couple of hours costs over $500 USD, that covers not only the cost of the bottle, but also the cost of getting it up the mountain. Oxygen bottles are typically carried by sherpas to the upper camps where climbers will pick them up to use on summit day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last reason is &lt;strong&gt;prestige&lt;/strong&gt;, reaching the summit of the highest mountain on Earth isn't enough for some people, the elite do it without any supplementary oxygen, they even put people in different categories when they summit, those who summited with supplementary oxygen, and those who did not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-09-28T21:16:45.550" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T21:16:45.550" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9548" CreationDate="2015-09-28T21:15:01.357" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some species reuse abandoned nests.  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/book_detail.php?press_id=23&quot;&gt;Bird Nests and Eggs field guide&lt;/a&gt;, great horned owls reuse abandoned raptor nests, and elf owls nest in abandoned woodpecker holes.  This is far from a complete list of species that reuse nests; this is just two I remembered off the top of my head and could find a reference for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T21:15:01.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9545" CreationDate="2015-09-28T21:26:57.633" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your number one concern when winter backpacking is breaking out into a sweat while hiking, getting your clothes wet, and then getting hypothermia after you stop for the day, but at temperatures of -30°C you're also concerned with frostbite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layering is key, you must know how to properly layer your clothes so that you can regulate moisture, &lt;em&gt;NEVER&lt;/em&gt; let yourself break out into a sweat, because if you get your clothes wet you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; catch a chill when you stop.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my favourite things about winter backpacking is you don't even need to carry your backpack. You can just bring a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=pulka&amp;amp;safe=off&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;biw=1652&amp;amp;bih=808&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIvbfBxtKayAIVT0mICh296gAM#safe=off&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=pulka%20sled&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pulka&lt;/a&gt; (sled designed for winter travel over snow) and drag your gear behind you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s937x.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s937x.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pulkas are super nice, because you need to carry more with you in the winter than in the summer, like extra clothing layers, heavier boots, a warmer sleeping system, snowshoes/skis, hot water bottle... And you can easily carry twice as much as normal with a pulka. Pulkas are also preferable in deep snow, because having a bag on your back makes you heavier and sink more with each step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My next favourite part about winter camp is that you don't need to bring a tent if you know how to make a good snow shelter, and my third favourite thing is doing dishes, because you can just scour out the inside of your bowl or mug with snow and it gets it sparkly clean in seconds, it's super convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you know how to survive in the cold (assuming you know how to do being from Michigan), then you should be ok, but perhaps spend a night with your buddies in your back yard before embarking out into the wilderness, you can get your sleep system worked out with a warm place you can retreat to if needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-10-25T21:44:05.230" LastActivityDate="2015-10-25T21:44:05.230" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9199" CreationDate="2015-09-28T22:35:29.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done some research since my initial post, experimented with different backing alternatives, and different brands of backing. I tried three alternatives before finding the solution to my problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First I tried fireline. It didn't work because it is very thin and abrasive. It wouldn't be a problem, as I shouldn't have my fingers in the backing as a fish takes it, but it cuts through the fly line very easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second alternative was to find another brand of dacron with smaller diameter. Scientific Anglers advertises thinner backing with the same breaking strength, so I tried their 20 lb backing, which almost did the trick, except that I had to cut off 20' of the running line in order to fit it to the spool. My fly line had 110', so it was not a big problem for me to cut it shorter at the running line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually I managed to get hold of Hatch's premium gel spun backing at a sale, and now I have much stronger and longer/thinner backing than I ever had. So the trick was to get rid of excess running line and to switch to the right gel spun backing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-09-28T22:35:29.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9555" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-09-28T23:00:32.243" Score="6" ViewCount="862" Body="&lt;p&gt;While attempting to locate a specific climbing wall, our group hiked off-trail through several different areas that had large piles of leaves. In attempt to scare off the snakes, we poked the ground with a hiking stick/pole, but I later questioned whether that would even scare them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to hike through a heavily-leaved area or trail to avoid or scare off snakes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T15:01:42.600" Title="How to avoid snakes when hiking in heavily leaved areas?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-09-29T17:21:57.973" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9548" CreationDate="2015-09-29T00:08:04.577" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it okay to take that pretty nest as a sample or a show-piece to put in a personal balcony or a garden?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be a simple question of size.  A large nest, like an eagle's nest, is of course too impractical to take away! but, a really small nest is generally built in a season.  Birds are used to that.  The smaller the nest, the more really good places there will be to build it, from the bird's point of view... unless nest-building habitat is really scarce, in which case, leave it! to be used or ruined or re-used as 'nature' would have it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also very important:  if it is a protected or endangered species' nest, you shouldn't even go near it, much less take it away with you.  As an example, California Condors tend to be very easily 'spooked' off the nest when brooding eggs or young... which can lead to loss of the chick or viable egg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And also important:  for some species, if it is not a highly-constructed nest like that of a typical songbird, which nest is woven together or otherwise wholly made-on-site, the nest can be very scarce as resources go.  Cavity nest sites, for instance, are re-used by many species because such cavities are both rather secure locations, and are also scarce or in short supply - or, require extensive labor to chisel and hollow out.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Another point is, some species have only hollow stubs to nest in - and, for some, the supply of (suitably sited) hollow stubs, or stubs of trees that could be hollowed out with some effort (but for weaker species, not too much i.e. partially rotted softened wood) ... is quite scarce, and a drastic limiter to that species' continued abundance.  I think the American Wood Duck is a good example of this.  They could be more abundant if there were more completely undisturbed (they are very shy and nervous as a consequence of being nearly exterminated/extincted by overhunting etc.) suitable stubs of softened wood near suitable bodies of water... but such rotted wood is eliminated by forestry practices etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in sum:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave rare/endangered/shy species' nests alone and untouched... you could be doing them a great favor, and/or saving yourself from a punitive visit from a Warden or police.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And leave stubs and hollowed-out nests where they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And don't take anything large, of course!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7869" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T00:08:04.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9555" CreationDate="2015-09-29T00:47:13.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snakes are usually harmless. This is their habitat, and you shouldn't be intentionally trying to scare them off. Just don't worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T00:47:13.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9555" CreationDate="2015-09-29T01:00:12.550" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sound of your walking will usually alert them to your presence. Usually, the only time a snake will attack you is if you step on it, frighten it or do something to provoke it. Most snake bites are on the hands and arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7870" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T01:00:12.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9545" CreationDate="2015-09-29T12:54:05.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://samglover.net/basic-checklist-for-winter-camping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;my basic personal gear list&lt;/a&gt;. But even if you have all the right gear, I would find someone experienced to guide you for a few years. Or go car camping a few times. There's not a lot of difference between winter camping next to your car and going on day hikes and winter camping in the middle of the wilderness except that if you camp next to your car and something goes wrong, you can just hop in your car and turn on the heater. You're going to learn how to survive in the cold either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing to know is that winter camping is an extreme sport, but it's not extreme like skiing down a cliff. Split-second decisions don't make the difference between living and dying when winter camping. It's slow-extreme, where a decision you made early one afternoon might be the reason you are screwed the next morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, skis &gt; snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="3346" LastEditDate="2015-10-25T05:17:03.130" LastActivityDate="2015-10-25T05:17:03.130" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9555" CreationDate="2015-09-29T14:50:00.257" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need to try and avoid snakes, they're already trying their best to avoid you, but if you want to give them ample opportunity to get out of your way, walk with a heavy foot fall. Snakes feel vibrations in the ground, so if you come stomping through the woods they'll do their best to slither out of your path before you get too close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something that would work better than just poking or bashing the leaves, would be to clear them out of the way. Snakes like to hide in leaves and grass, and are often deterred from crossing open areas, so if you clear the leaves away the snakes will typically slither away with them to find a new hiding spot. Also, snakes only strike animals larger than themselves in self defence, if they think you're attacking them with sticks they may be more likely to act defensively. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-09-29T15:01:42.600" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T15:01:42.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1720" CreationDate="2015-09-29T19:16:05.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your answer makes sense, but I would caution boaters who use recreational kayaks on class 2 rivers because I've need to rescue recreational kayakers attempting this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recreational kayaks are usually fine for class 1 rivers and for easy class 2 rivers.  I wouldn't recommend one for long class 2 rapids, and not for a class 2+ rapid (and many class 2 rivers contain class 2+ when the water gets higher from a some rain or snowmelt).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And please wear a PFD (life jacket).  Most of those I've had to rescue in recreational kayaks have no PFD.  I think you should have a helmet anywhere there are rocks, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to absolutely step up to a whitewater craft of some sort when you hit class 3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll find that whitewater kayaks will spin more on flatwater when you first start with one, and that after you learn to keep them going straight, that they will be slower and require more work to cover the same distance on flatwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7881" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2016-05-21T23:33:48.107" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T23:33:48.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9545" CreationDate="2015-09-29T23:03:16.480" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the situation you're talking about (3 days backpacking in winter), &lt;em&gt;knowledge&lt;/em&gt; is more important than experience. Know how to use your gear. Know how to keep warm and dry. Know not to walk on thin ice across rivers. It's doubtful there is anything you would encounter in Michigan in three days that would require &lt;em&gt;experience&lt;/em&gt; in order for you to know how to deal with. In other words, Michigan does not have any unusual dangers that common sense is not equipped to recognize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T23:03:16.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9529" CreationDate="2015-09-29T23:17:50.800" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't use an intact sunfish as bait. cut it up and use the cut pieces on your hook. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, as far as attracting and hooking big largemouths, while at the same time deterring other types of fish, what I have found to be the best are crawdad lures and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/buzzbaits.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;buzz-bait&lt;/a&gt;. Both of these are excellent. The buzz bait are large and noisy, this tends to discourage the smaller fish from trying, and it tends to excite the predatory instinct in the larger largemouth bass. I have never caught a small fish on a buzz-bait. It's always been good, healthy sized ones. The crawdad lure is also excellent. Crawdads are almost ubiquitous in any type of lake, it's a natural prey of the bass. You will get some smaller bass on these, but you'll never get a sunfish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting bass on nightcrawlers also works, but not as effective as the lures I mentioned, and in my experience you need to be reeling in the nightcrawler in order to attract the bass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-09-29T23:17:50.800" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9566" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9567" CreationDate="2015-09-30T09:20:54.937" Score="14" ViewCount="16752" Body="&lt;p&gt;In India, the monsoon lasts for 4 months between June and September. Since last week or so the rain is gone, and this monsoon hasn't been decent, the rainfall had been it's lowest since the 1970's and we are already facing a water-scarcity. The temperature has already reached 38 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen birds hovering over waters sources in the cities, starting from winter. Outside the town, birds get water through streams and other water bodies. In India, at the beginning of summer, starting from February people keep water in dishes and bowls for birds in the city.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this weather change is not encouraging at all, I am so sure that I'll see thirsty birds hovering over water sources in cities sooner than usual. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xk8DW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xk8DW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the best possible ways to provide water to birds by means of keeping in a dish/bowl so that many of them can make most out of it? I plan to do that in my balcony and terrace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T13:42:14.993" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T18:54:53.747" Title="How to help birds with water?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9566" CreationDate="2015-09-30T10:07:53.807" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Providing water for birds in summer is always a brilliant idea, not just to drink but for them to have a nice bath in!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually bird baths are actually kind of shallow, or rather the edges usually are dipping gently into a deeper pool in the middle. This kind of dish on a balcony would suffice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our multipurpose bird feeder came with a rather small waterbowl. About 8 inches diameter and 1 inch deep, this does suffice as well and I have seen birds drink from it but never bathe. I think this is due to the fact it's got vertical edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a slight issue with leaving water out in so far as the hotter it gets the faster it will evaporate and therefore in a sense it will be a waste (taking into account a water shortage). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.selections.com/gardman-wild-bird-hanging-fresh-water-drinker.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;water drinkers&lt;/a&gt; though. These act exactly like a chickens water bowl, and should still suit most birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/USpkX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/USpkX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make these with an old plastic bottle and a small plate, the idea being that water feeds onto the plate slowly but the majority is held in the bottle. These from experience can hang or be on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="7888" LastEditDate="2015-09-30T15:37:19.567" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T15:37:19.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5854" CreationDate="2015-09-30T11:16:44.777" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers all correct, but the main questions is, Does unique Polarized glasses protect from UV rays? Yes...up to some extent (some percentage).That is, when polarized glasses block the horizontally polarized light from SUN, It also blocks the UV rays which are horizontally polarized. So one can protect from UV rays by using Polarized glasses up to some extent. Use polarized glasses where there is a glare &amp;amp; Bright SUN, if Polarized+UV glasses are not available. But do not use the UV only glasses where there is a glare. Use Polarized+UV glasses at any situation, i mean UV bright SUN only or Glare only or both. The purposes of the both the glasses are different. one for UV and other for glare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7887" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T11:16:44.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2015-09-30T12:43:20.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some other ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;plasters/band-aid (if you don't worry about them getting &quot;expired&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cat-eye reflectors (even upcycled ones), to be mounted on bagpacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small, one-usage raincoats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T12:43:20.950" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2015-10-01T17:20:36.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9566" CreationDate="2015-09-30T15:00:18.827" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used to use a metal garbage can lid with a brick in it on top of a piece of wide pipe. I'm not sure if that's an option for you because of the size for your balcony. But, the birds loved it because they could take a bath in addition to getting a drink. Of course, we had to clean it out regularly. But, we didn't mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's great that you're looking out for the birds like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T15:00:18.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9545" CreationDate="2015-09-30T15:14:00.590" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've never camped out in winter, I would suggest a trial run. Sleep out in your backyard one night in those temperatures with whatever gear you plan to use for your longer trip. That way you can adjust your gear to your comfort level. You can also try out cooking, washing, changing clothes, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T15:14:00.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9566" CreationDate="2015-09-30T22:54:03.677" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've already received excellent advice, so I'll just describe a few things we've been doing for years. Our bird baths are a distance from the house, so in addition to those, we provide water on the patio just outside the door, as you're planning to do on your balcony and terrace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For drinking, we put out shallow saucers. A convenient choice is the saucer a potted plant sits on. Some are plastic, others are ceramic, and some are just heavy-duty paper plates from the supermarket. We use a lot because, although the small birds share well, the larger types seem to prefer their own. Chipmunks and squirrels enjoy them too. (If you haven't had a close-up view of a chip or squirrel sucking up water while holding the dish with their tiny feet, you've missed something awesome! Of course, I don't know if you even have those where you live!) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For bathing, a favorite of our birds is a plastic tray I use to start seedlings. It's a few inches deep; enough for the small birds to drink and bathe but not deep enough to drown. Anything like that would work. My picture on the left was taken during birdy play-time! I apologize that it's messy, but if you press on it, you'll get a larger view of them. It's too bad I don't have a video; they make a fun splashing sound!  We also have a plastic bird feeder with a dome above it. It doesn't work for bathing, but the birds drink from it, and it offers a little bit of protection from the weather. It's the one from which the cardinal is eating in my picture below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States, we have the opposite problem of those who deal with evaporation. During the cold winter months, our water quickly becomes little blocks of ice. Every day, sometimes twice, we dump those out and refill the dishes with warm water. Rather than bringing in all my containers, I fill up a watering can, or any pitcher I have lying around, step outside and tend to them all at once. It's quick and easy! My caution for those in colder climates is that glass dishes tend to crack in the winter, leaving jagged edges which aren't safe for the birds. Plastic can crack too, but doesn't usually break apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether it's too hot or too cold, there are times when birds rely on us for their survival, and I applaud your desire to help them! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://I.stack.imgur.com/JAR3s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAR3sm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4f1WD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4f1WD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2015-09-30T22:54:03.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9573" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9705" CreationDate="2015-10-02T07:57:14.427" Score="16" ViewCount="77159" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some big raven's I've noticed visit our housing estate in the early am. They're big majestic birds and I quite like them. What food would you put out to encourage these into your garden?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will they be noisy? They seems fine now, but having lived by a rookery in the past I know the noise they can make can be pretty loud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T08:10:08.383" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T10:48:21.367" Title="What should I feed ravens/crows?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;garden&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2015-10-02T13:43:47.787" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Crows and ravens are opportunistic foragers, meaning they eat carrion, rodents, steal eggs and nestlings, insects, etc. You will likely find them curious and very cautious (more so than typical &quot;bird feeder visitors&quot;). I have great success finding roadkill deer in the winter, and placing out of sight, using trail camera and/or binoculars to observe. They are very intelligent, and vocal with a wide range of calls depending on what they are communicating, in my experience, feeding behavior is not noisy.  Fascinating behavior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2015-10-02T13:43:47.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2015-10-02T15:23:00.703" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The real question is what &lt;em&gt;won't&lt;/em&gt; ravens or crows eat. Ravens hang out at the garbage dumps and perch on dumpsters, the easiest way to get them to visit your yard would be to leave garbage spread out behind your house, or leave a hunk of rotting meat nailed to a perch of some sort. They will eat pretty much anything. Crows are always in competition with seagulls, but you typically see them eating roadkill more often than gulls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have plenty of such birds up here, and they are not something you want to wake up to (&lt;em&gt;CAW! CAW!&lt;/em&gt;). Most people around here try to scare them off and keep them out of their yards by mounting fake owls on their houses, and making sure their garbage is covered up. We had a real problem with crows and magpies eating our dog's food off the deck, so we stopped leaving his food outside. That would probably be your best bet for attracting big carrion birds to your yard without offending the neighbours, try dog or cat food, they'd probably appreciate either wet or dry food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-02T15:23:00.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2015-10-03T02:40:12.697" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Banking a fire outdoors can done, but...it really depends on the area. With the droughts out west, a Leave No Trace fire from a Nimbelwall collapsible stove or a portable gas or alcohol stove is best. To bank a fire really just means to bed down all the pieces of wood sticking up and possibly cover the fire with ashes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blocking the prevailing wind with a wind break (big rock, tin, etc) will also slow the burn. If you have built a big enough fire to cook on and have gathered around it for a bit in the evening, there should be enough coals left in the morning to just gently blow the ashes off and add some tinder. My son built one fire at Ottari in VA (smokey mountains) and just stoked it every morning for a week. For Scout outings and in parks this is NOT recommended. Best done in a stove. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7894" LastActivityDate="2015-10-03T02:40:12.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9396" CreationDate="2015-10-04T02:38:07.567" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have three real options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lower off of your last quick draw and recover the others as you descend. This will loose you one quick draw, but is a safe method for lowering. &#xA;(As an alternative you can rerun the rope through the one beaner to save the dog-bone and other beaner on your draw). Worth it depending on how cheap you are.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Down climb unclipping one bolt at a time and taking falls if you have to. This is less than ideal, but in a pinch can work, and you don't loose any gear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I would never do three, but you could set up an anchor where you are.(Depending on your standards for anchors) Belay your be-layer and make it a multi-pitch climb. This is bad for several reasons, but is mentioned in the interest of expressing several options.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7898" LastActivityDate="2015-10-04T02:38:07.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9580" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-04T05:03:15.697" Score="19" ViewCount="2763" Body="&lt;p&gt;So there's been talk of this for a while, but it seems like the Nepalese government is finally committing and closing Everest to inexperienced climbers. So from now on, as a safety measure, if you want to climb Everest, you will be required to prove you have summitted at least one mountain higher than 6,500m in elevation. This is meant to alleviate much of the traffic on the mountain, particularly the bucket-listers who have money, but no climbing experience and pay some guiding outfit to basically hold their hand all the way up to the top, if not carry them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first thought after reading this news was, &quot;So which mountain is going to turn into the &lt;em&gt;qualifier&lt;/em&gt; mountain that people climb first so they can go ahead and do Everest anyways?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which mountain is the most likely candidate for guiding companies to use as and easy qualifier for their clients to summit so that the Nepalese government will let them climb Everest? Are they likely to just pick a mountain close to Everest? Or are we going to see an spike in mountain tourism to South America?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;References:&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/mount-everest-to-be-declared-off-limits-to-inexperienced-climbers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;The Guardian: Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/11896962/Nepal-to-ban-novice-climbers-from-Mount-Everest.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;The Telegraph: Nepal to ban novice climbers from Mount Everest&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T15:40:27.583" LastActivityDate="2020-08-09T12:58:55.477" Title="What easy 6,500m peaks would serve as easy qualifiers for Everest?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9580" CreationDate="2015-10-04T08:28:59.077" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was a guide and my choice would be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordillera_Blanca&quot;&gt;Cordillera Blanca(Peru)&lt;/a&gt; or something similar. Its highest peak is technically an easy climb, very easy access to the range, good support infrastructure (transport etc) and major town very close by and very cost effective. Its a comfortable days bus trip from an international airport (Lima). It has stable, predictable weather with a relatively long climbing season. There are many choices of non technical acclimatization trips in easy reach. If you want to test the technical skills of the party, there are a number of choices in the range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end though 6500m does not make you an experienced climber, and does not mean you are good to go to 8800meters. The guides know this, the Nepalese know this, and the punters (hopefully) know this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It won't make the punters any safer on Everest, but who gives a rats rear end about them. Problem is it won't make the Sherpas any safer - after all, its the Sherpa that are expected risk life and limb to pick up the fee paying customers and carry them off the mountain (The death rate of US Soldiers in Afgansitan is 1/10th of the Sherpa on Everest). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:59:21.323" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T06:59:21.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9580" CreationDate="2015-10-05T03:22:16.167" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, I'll share a list of peaks that are open and people do in India.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Uttarakhand state:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Panvali Dwaar (6663 m) - Song(RH) - Khati - Dwalio - Phukia - Base Camp - C - I,C - II and summit (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;57', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;17')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nanda Khat (6545m) - Bharari(RH) - Loharkhet - Khati - Dwali(Vill) - Base Camp,C - I,C - II,C - III summit attempt (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;58', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;18')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nanda Devi: East (~7430m) - Munsyari (RH) - Lilam - martoli(Vill) - nasanpatti - Bhadeligwar BC - C - I,C - II,C - II and summit attempt (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;59', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;21')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trishul I and II (7120 m and 6690 m respectively) - Ghat(RH) - Sitel - Sutol - Lat Kopri - Chandniya Ghat - BC - C - I,C - II,C - III and summit attempt(Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;46', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;18'), (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;46', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;17'), (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;48', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;17')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nanda Kot (6861) - Son(RH) - Loharkhet - Dhakuri Pass - Khati(Vill) - Dwali - C - I,C_II and summit attempt (Long: 80&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;04', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;16')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gangotri I, II, III (6670 m, 6590 m and 6577 m respectively) - Gangotri(RH) - Ruduagira Nallah - BC - C - I,C - II and summit attempt (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;50', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;55'), (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;51', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;54'), (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;52', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;48')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thalaysagar (6904 m) : In terms of sheer technical difficulty, I would rate this tougher than Mt. Everest. Considered as One of the most notorious mountains in India overall. - Gangotri (RH) - Ruduagira nallah - BC - C - I - C - II and summit attempt (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;59', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;51')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Manda (6568 m) - Gangotri - Chirbas - BC - I,BC - II and summit attempt (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;00', Lat: 29&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;55')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kedarnath (6830 m) (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;04', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;47')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kedardome (6830 m) (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;04', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;48')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Meru East (6450 m): Does not qualify the criteria of 6.5K m by mere 50 m. But Meru is one heck of a climb. For more info browse: Meru, Conrad Anker. (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;02', Lat: 29&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;52')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bhagirathi I and II (6856 m and 6512 m) (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;59', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;21'), (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;09', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;51'), (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;09', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;51') : Yeah, close. Almost Twin peaks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vasuki Parbat (6792 m) : (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;10', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;52')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Satopanth (7075 m) (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;13', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;50')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Changabaang (6866 m) (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;55', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;29')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chaukhamba I, II, III and IV (7138 m, 7070 m, 6995 m and 6854 m respectively) - Joshimath - Mana Vill. - BC - IBC - II ,BC - III and summit attempt (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;15', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;43')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nilkanth, named after Lord Shiva. (6597 m) - Joshimath - Badrinath - BC - I and summit attempt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sudarshan Parbat (6507 m) - Gangtori - Gaumukh - BC - I,BC - II and summit attempt (Long: 79&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;05', Lat: 30&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;58')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Jammu and Kashimr state:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nun (7135 m) - Leh - Kargil - Panikhar - Gulmotongas(RH) - BC - C - I,C - II,C - III and summit attempt (Long: 76&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;01', Lat: 33&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;59'): Need Indian Army permission&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kun (7077 m) - Leh - Kargil - Panikhar - Gulmotongas(RH) - BC - C - I,C - II,C - III and summit attempt (Long: 76&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;03', Lat: 34&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;01'): Need Indian Army permission&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pinnacle (6955 m) - Leh - Kargil - Panikhar - Gulmotongas(RH) - BC - C - I,C - II,C - III and summit attempt (Long: 76&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;05', Lat: 34&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;01'): Need Indian Army permission&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hagshu I (6515 m) - Leh - Kargil - Ringdom - Chibra - Base Camp (Long: 76&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;27', Lat: 33&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;32')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lungser Kangri (6666 m) - Leh – Karzok - Peldo - Kyurchu - BC - ABC - Summit bid (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;27', Lat: 32&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;55')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chamsher Kangri (~6622 m) - Leh – Karzok - Peldo - Kyurchu - BC - ABC - Summit bid (Long: 78&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;26', Lat: 32&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;57')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more, take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indmount.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indian Mountaineering Foundation Website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easily accessible peak I would prefer would be Chamsher Kangri and/or Lungser Kangri.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Considering summit plan for both the peaks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Total number of days from Leh to Leh: 10 Days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nearest International Airport: New Delhi. There are regular flights for Leh from New Delhi. New Delhi to Leh flight duration is 1 hour 30 minutes, fare varying with airliners starting from 100 USD to 200 USD.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leh is a city that has all the &lt;em&gt;tourist&lt;/em&gt; facilities that one need. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leh to Korzok is roughly 215 km (133 Miles) by road. Tourist vehicle can be arranged for this distance from Leh. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: In &lt;em&gt;name&lt;/em&gt;(Vill), Vill stands for Village with no apparent modern facilities, just the food and a non-luxurious accommodation, mostly without any cellphone network or an internet connection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-08-09T12:41:21.967" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T12:41:21.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9580" CreationDate="2015-10-05T08:16:08.970" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/pik-lenin/150355&quot;&gt;Lenin Peak&lt;/a&gt; is another likely candidate.&#xA;Just quoting from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin_Peak&quot;&gt;wiki page&lt;/a&gt; (that looks heavily copied from summitpost).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is considered one of the easiest 7,000 m peaks in the world to&#xA;  climb and it has by far the most ascents of any 7,000 m or higher peak&#xA;  on Earth, with every year seeing hundreds of climbers make their way&#xA;  to the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The peak is quite popular with climbers due to its easy access and&#xA;  some uncomplicated routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastActivityDate="2015-10-05T08:16:08.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2015-10-05T09:08:43.613" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd rather not prefer inviting them for food at all. Usually for what I have seen around, crows scare the hell out of small birds like Bulbul, Robin and Sunbirds. &#xA;They feast on roadside kills, trashed food, whatever that feels eatable to them in a garbage dump, in short, whatever that appears pretty much unhygienic. Considering the hygiene I imagine having crows sharing the food with other birds is not a good idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-10-05T09:08:43.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9587" CreationDate="2015-10-05T15:58:30.353" Score="9" ViewCount="1151" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed a lot of bats around my house recently. I'd love to know what type of bat they are but all I see is a silhouetted glimpse as they dart past. Is there anyway to identify what types of bat(s) they are?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-08T01:38:43.890" LastActivityDate="2018-06-08T01:38:43.890" Title="Can you identify flying bats?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-05T16:34:49.543" Score="10" ViewCount="948" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I was out in the woods and had a runny nose.  When I wanted to blow my nose I looked for maple leaves, because I knew what they were.  Not sure if the list of bad choices is small enough for single answer, but if it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of leaf should I NOT use for tissue or toilet paper? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T10:55:08.313" Title="What kind of leaf should I NOT use for tissue or toilet paper?" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9585" CreationDate="2015-10-05T17:39:50.947" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I absolutely love bats and always have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK we have eighteen species of bat. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/uk_bats.html&quot;&gt;The Bat Conservation&lt;/a&gt; have a nice list for all the common UK species, including those which breed in the UK (which is 17 out of the 18 species, so we're doing quite well!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above link also has a recording of the noise each bat makes, which should help you work out the species you have near you as Wales is home to 15 out of the 18 bat species. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Pipistrelle is the most common UK bat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pipistrelles are the commonest British bats, weighing around 5 grams (less than a £1 coin). A single pipistrelle can eat 3,000 tiny insects in just one night!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also don't have any qualms about flying around your head for insects, which they used to do outside my old house. They have a wingspan of 190-235mm, which would fit a young pipistrelle having a 4inch wingspan. However this is only a most likely option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Natural History Museum provides a decent PDF of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhm.ac.uk/content/dam/nhmwww/take-part/identify-nature/bats-in-flight-id-guide.pdf&quot;&gt;British bats&lt;/a&gt; which has some details of each bat, again this should help with the distinction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-10-05T17:39:50.947" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-05T22:01:30.393" Score="5" ViewCount="248" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go fishing for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_drum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;red drum (reds)&lt;/a&gt; on the Texas Gulf Coast and I would like to use live bait. What types of live bait should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-21T09:27:32.963" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T12:38:12.023" Title="What types of live bait should I use to catch red drum?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9589" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11506" CreationDate="2015-10-05T22:11:21.333" Score="10" ViewCount="505" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to go fishing for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynoscion_nebulosus&quot;&gt;speckled trout&lt;/a&gt; (proper name spotted seatrout) along the US Gulf Coast, specifically near Galveston Bay and Trinity Bay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What months are the best times to catch speckled trout?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:42:58.563" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:42:58.563" Title="When are the best times/months to catch speckled trout on the US Gulf Coast?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;united-states-gulf-coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2015-10-06T00:58:00.420" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaves are only an option while they're in season. In winter, snowballs work great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xNDb0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xNDb0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-10-06T04:27:41.933" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T04:27:41.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7406" CreationDate="2015-10-06T07:06:37.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plantago major&lt;/a&gt; is not only a rough plant with strong leaves which grows technically everywhere, but also a useful herb. Try to find bigger leaves, perhaps not from the strict proximity of the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GDP0l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GDP0l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T07:06:37.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2015-10-06T08:23:48.293" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you have the right kind of a backpack according to your requirements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you need to separate things that you need frequently and things you'll need less often. The way I camp/trek and plan things, I am okay to pack everything all over again in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, it is best suited to pack lighter items in the bottom of the pack and heavier stuff toward the top, the idea is to keep heavier stuff closer to your back and not on bum. This keeps your center of gravity relatively high. Center of gravity plays a very important role in balancing your body when in motion. Higher Center of gravity tends to make it easy to haul the backpack easily while your performance with balance is hampered. Women naturally have a lower center of gravity, so the women I know and trek with, they pack heavier stuff at the bottom, that further increases their stability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, The lower your center of gravity is , the easier it is to keep yourself balanced, pack feels heavier. The higher your center of gravity is, the easier it is to haul the pack but chances are more to dwell/tip off or go off-balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your pack doesn't have a separate space for sleeping bag, keep it at the bottom, usually you'll only need it after you are done for the day. So extra Clothing and your sleeping bag can go lower sections of the backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier items like water bottles, tins, food and fuel up against the pack’s back panel, and not in the front. If you place the heavy items on the outer sections of the backpack, you will experience that the pack constantly putting you off-balance, leaning back. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Importantly, keep the Headlamp, Flashlight, Medical Kit (Um, wait, you &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; carry these, right?) always handy, i.e. upper most sections of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unimportant things like Jellys, Bars you can keep in the top outer section of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A well-folded Garbage pack can find its place in the side-pouches if there are any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, order of packing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra Clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food (Heavy meal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go Food for next day (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liquid items (Water, juices, fuel bottles/can)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration pack (closer to the back)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go food for today (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electronic equipment like portable chargers, camera lenses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical Kit, Headlamp, Flashlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain Cover (If it is not in a small pouch compartment at the bottom on the backpack)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T08:23:48.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7018" CreationDate="2015-10-06T10:39:09.950" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will not address the issue of whether the helmet in question is still usable or should be retired but instead answer the main question: How to wash a foam helmet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally water must not damage any kind of helmet you want to use for climbing, as it has to be usable in long constant rain. So rinsing with water without additives is certainly save. The manufacturer of my helmet (Kong Scarab) advices to use warm (&amp;lt;40degC) water with a mild detergent to clean the helmet and even describe a procedure to disinfect it: Put the helmet for an hour in a water bath with sal ammoniac in it. Not that I can ever imagine me having the need to disinfect my helmet, but it clearly states that it does not hurt the helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: In general a wet cloth should be enough, but you can rinse with or even submerge in water if it is very dirty. If this screws up the foam, it had to be replaced anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T10:39:09.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2015-10-06T12:24:45.967" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contrary to what a lot of people are saying, the wash-in treatment won't block pores of multi-layer fabrics (unless it's &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; dirty).&#xA;The chemicals used are designed to break down particulates as small as possible. The 'wash-in' also doesn't do a whole lot of actual waterproofing on the fabric, since it's soaked in water itself. It simply removes dirt and helps the fabric to do its job better. Your jacket will even look like it's been soaked through (because it has!) after being washed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tumble drying on a low heat will re-activate the garment by expanding the fabric, and making the pores 'smaller' and more one way. Obviously if the fabric isn't clean, it's not going to do as much, since the pores are blocked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spray on is a totally different bunch of chemicals, and would block pores! It is essentially a water repellent.&#xA;This is best applied to a dry jacket and spread around with a small cloth or sponge (note that this material will also become water repellent), and left to dry or tumble dried on low heat. Extra should be applied to high wear-and-tear areas, such as the shoulders, neck and cuffs.&#xA;This lay will be rubbed off over time, and should be applied about 3-5 times in between washes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Source: Worked at a company making such stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7903" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T20:30:48.973" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T20:30:48.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9595" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-06T19:44:10.937" Score="10" ViewCount="650" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a winter jacket that is waterproof and breathable. The main use is as a main jacket during the winter for going around so needs to be warm and as a waterproof shield for short cycling (&amp;lt; 5km) possibly under the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hardshell are waterproof but likely not warm for walking around. What about 3in1 jacket like Northface Triclimate? Or some paramo jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had such a jacket before so I need some advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7905" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T00:00:41.953" Title="Advice for waterproof winter jacket for city and cycling" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5190" CreationDate="2015-10-06T20:56:16.537" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First-in = Last-out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Those three more or less together, the heavier pieces closer to the back&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping pad (if fits in the backpack)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp stuff, mostly:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food (Except for day food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kitchen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Book&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the weather&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra day clothes if any&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain shell if any&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stuff that need to be accessible in top/side pockets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamp, knife, sunglasses, water purification system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I waterproof each element that needs it instead of the whole thing: the sleeping bag is in one, the clothes in another, the day clothes possibly in a small pouch. Food is usually wrapped on its own (otherwise, ziplocks), books go in ziplocks, map is either plastified or in a flat transparent thing, the rest does not need water proofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-10-06T20:56:16.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2015-10-07T03:33:00.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are okay with taking a more &quot;hands on&quot; approach, then it works to put the water in and then when the top layer is frozen over, then you poke a hole in the layer so that the rest of the expanding ice is not stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastActivityDate="2015-10-07T03:33:00.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9595" CreationDate="2015-10-07T04:00:50.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a true waterproofness and breathability, while being active, you want to get a triple-ply Goretex hardshell, or a Goretex alternative like HyVent, Dry.Q, NeoShell, etc. Lots of the big brands have their own alternatives to Goretex, that Northface Triclimate jacket for example has a HyVent Shell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you really want to do however is learn how to layer your jackets. That 3 in 1 is nothing more than fancy branding to sell people multiple jackets in one package. Sure you get some extra zippers for the convenience of taking your two jackets on and off as though they are one, but in my experience you're always left with a cold spot right down the front where where your insulating layer is zipped to the outer layer instead of to itself. It's warmer to put on the insulating layer, zip it up, then pull on the outer layer and zip it separately. Two times zipped (or three or four, I wear about seven layers when it gets really cold out). This is layering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layering gives you the freedom you need to customize your insulation and breathability depending on the temperature and your level of activity. Since you mentioned that you want to use this jacket for cycling, you're really going to want to have more options than just, HyVent shell, or PrimaLoft jacket, or both. There will be cold dry days where you're going to be like, &quot;I really wish I had a nice soft shell layer in my system so I could have some extra breathability but still stop the wind...&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Examples of Layering:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When hanging out in the cold:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(like at basecamp in winter, -20°C or colder)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TOPS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Base layer &lt;em&gt;(polyester/wool long underwear)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long sleeve Shirt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 or 2 Fleece Jackets &lt;em&gt;(or combo of sweater/jacket)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Softshell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3Ply Goretex Hardshell &lt;em&gt;(depending on conditions or what I'm doing I may wear this over or under my down jacket. Over if it's snowing, under if I want my jacket to loft a bit more.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BOTTOMS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Base Layer &lt;em&gt;(Long Underwear)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 or 2 Mid Layers &lt;em&gt;(Fleece/wool pants, varying thicknesses)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Softshell pants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof pants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When Cycling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TOPS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long sleeved cycling jersey, or warm short sleeve jersey with arm warmers. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulated cycling shirt &lt;em&gt;(I'll often wear nothing more than this much after I'm warmed up on not-so cold days like -5°C, or -15°C on calm sunny days)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece Jacket &lt;em&gt;(to start off with or when it's really cold, usually comes off as soon as I warm up)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycling vest &lt;em&gt;(cuts the wind to your core)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Softshell or long sleeve windstopper &lt;em&gt;(to cut the breeze completely)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3Ply Goretex Hardshell &lt;em&gt;(for when it's precipitating)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BOTTOMS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycling shorts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leg Warmers or Insulated Cycling pants &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece pants &lt;em&gt;(for when it's -30°C or colder)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goretex pants &lt;em&gt;(for when it's precipitating)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-07T04:00:50.250" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9586" CreationDate="2015-10-07T10:23:36.077" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I watched a program about this the other day. My vote for by far the worst is the Australian &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Gympie Gympie plant&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One of the world’s most venomous plants, the Gympie-Gympie stinging&#xA;  tree can cause months of excruciating pain.... Even protective particle masks and welding gloves could not spare her several subsequent stings – one requiring hospitalisation – but that was nothing compared with the severe allergy she developed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Writing to Marina in 1994, Australian ex-serviceman Cyril Bromley&#xA;  described falling into a stinging tree during mili­tary training on&#xA;  the tableland in World War II. Strapped to a hospital bed for three&#xA;  weeks and administered all manner of unsuccessful treatments, he was&#xA;  sent “as mad as a cut snake” by the pain. Cyril also told of an&#xA;  officer &lt;strong&gt;shooting himself after using a stinging-tree leaf for “toilet&#xA;  purposes”&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2009/06/gympie-gympie-once-stung,-never-forgotten/&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;describes the sting as &quot;Initially like being attacked by wasps, then&#xA;  you get whitening and swelling at the site, and then if it's really&#xA;  bad you get sweating - liquid just drips out of your skin.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/02/factsheet-gympie-gympie/&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67zWb.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67zWb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;all in all, one to avoid....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-07T10:34:38.310" LastActivityDate="2015-10-07T10:34:38.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9600" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-07T22:56:37.350" Score="6" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every winter in -30C my fingers freeze. My warmest military grade gloves don't solve the problem. I wonder if electrically heated gloves will do a better job of keeping my hands warm, but haven't found any. Do they exist? If so, what qualities should I look for when choosing a type?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:27:10.543" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:27:10.543" Title="Are there any electrically heated winter gloves?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2015-10-12T07:48:42.370" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9600" CreationDate="2015-10-07T23:28:31.323" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're not cheap, but they exist:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/871649/outdoor-research-stormtracker-heated-gloves&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/product/871649/outdoor-research-stormtracker-heated-gloves&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/stormtracker-heated-gloves.html&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/stormtracker-heated-gloves.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2015-10-07T23:28:31.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9595" CreationDate="2015-10-09T00:00:41.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend an outer shell plus a fleece jacket - two items. The advantage here is that if the fleece is too warm (or too cold), you can replace it with another fleece that's more appropriate. Which means you can use a lighter, thinner fleece for spring and Fall, and a thicker fleece for winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just about any brand of shell and fleece will work. If you're gung-ho on quality, then I'd recommend the Marmot or Cloudveil brands. I own a Cloudveil shell which I've had for years, I've used it backpacking and hiking all over the Western U.S.. Very good quality. Marmot is also very impressive. I don't think there's anything softer than a Marmot fleece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T00:00:41.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9226" CreationDate="2015-10-09T13:57:46.203" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow Crash's and WedaPashi's answers explain well, how water leaks through the fabric by capillary action and how touching the inside increases water flow through the fabric. I will try to answer the first part about why this effect is apparent in some fabrics and not so much in others. I base this on two excellent but sadly deleted answers by Dynadin and Aravona. While naturally by rewriting my own interpretation will impact the result, it is still their work who made it possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question of whether it leaks on contact is mostly related around the difference between modern and older tents. This has to do with the hydrostatic head (HH) of the material. So the higher this rating on a material, the more water it can withstand before becoming permeable. Older tents usually have lower hydrostatic head and in addition, they were often untreated materials. Newer tents have materials whose outer surface is treated. This coating prevents water from getting through by capillary action when touched from inside. Without this coating, the only thing resisting the water going through is a higher HH.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example a recent tent (Dynadin's): It has three sections: Outer, inner and ground sheet, which are all made from polyester. The inner has no HH, any water will pass straight through. So if you touch it it, you will get wet quickly. The outer has a 5000 HH. Even when you touch it on the inside while it is completely wet on the outside no water gets through. The ground sheet has a 8000 HH. So even with constant pressure on it there will not pass any water through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern tents made of polyester or nylon are most often treated and have a high HH, so you usually do not need to worry about touching the inside - they still wont leak. Cotton and canvas tents (older) are usually untreated and have a lower HH, so they will leak via capillary action when touched from the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-24T23:44:44.733" LastActivityDate="2015-12-24T23:44:44.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9607" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9608" CreationDate="2015-10-09T18:06:40.287" Score="9" ViewCount="817" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a Kelty Typhoon 2 tent, from the mid-1990s but still in good shape. I haven't noticed any leaking from the fly, but I'm thinking it might be time to re-seal the seams on the fly before I take it out in a Vancouver Island winter storm where there's sure to be lots of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that the tape covering the fly seams is coming off. If I'm going do  any work on the fly, should I be making sure to re-stick the tape, can I get replacement tape, or will seam sealant provide enough protection?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4156" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T20:32:35.107" Title="Seam tape on tent fly" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9607" CreationDate="2015-10-09T20:32:35.107" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seam sealant should do just fine.  I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/603034/gear-aid-seam-grip-seam-sealer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this particular one&lt;/a&gt; which has worked well for a number of patch jobs.  If the exist tape is dirty or damaged then you will want to trip it off and put on new tape.  It will interfere with getting good seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T20:32:35.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9585" CreationDate="2015-10-09T23:56:10.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to identify bats in flight is to use a &lt;strong&gt;bat detector&lt;/strong&gt;. This is a device with a microphone that listens to the bats high frequency calls, and plays them back at a lower frequency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bats use echolocation calls to find out what is around them. For most UK bats, these are typically between 30KHz and 80KHz. So they are not audible to humans. Different species of bats call at different frequencies, and they sound different, often 'clicking' or 'flapping' noises. Using a bat detector, you can hear what frequencies they are calling at, and figure out what species it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pipistrelle bats are the most common in the UK, though note there are actually several different species of pipistrelle. Common pipistrelle and Soprano pipistrelle are very similar, the easiest way to distinguish them is the Soprano has a higher frequency call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy a bat detector for about £50 or so. A popular model is the Magenta Bat 4 or Bat 5, these are simple to use and reliable. Or there are cheaper options using electronic kits, though they may require some work to solder and put it together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2442" LastActivityDate="2015-10-09T23:56:10.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2015-10-10T04:43:23.970" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both .308 and 30-06 can chamber from 125 to 180 grains. That is where the .308 stops. The 30-06 can go up to 220 grains. Therefore, with the 220 grain 30-06 you can take heavier and larger game such as elk, moose, black bear and though considered minimum at 220 a brown bear. The benefit to you is one rifle is more versatile with 30-06.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7921" LastActivityDate="2015-10-10T04:43:23.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9611" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-11T10:19:08.947" Score="9" ViewCount="810" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would someone grade a bouldering problem they've created? What would one have to look out for when grading? When bouldering, does a highball mean a more difficult grading?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6730" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-10-11T20:42:22.003" LastActivityDate="2015-10-11T20:42:22.003" Title="How do you grade a bouldering problem?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-09-18T07:06:41.737" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9611" CreationDate="2015-10-11T12:50:33.307" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: &lt;strong&gt;Climb lots of other routes in many different areas and have lots of other people climb your routes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me get into why you opened a can of worms with your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ratings for routes are almost always in a greater context both historically and in respect to their location. The people who created the Yosemite Decimal System for example had anticipated a ceiling of what is humanly doable, and when climbing rubber got better and better, harder and harder routes received the same rating (5.9) since that had been deemed the upper limit. This kept happening until the system was turned into an open ended one. Therefore, if you climb in the US and see a 5.9 that was established half a century ago, you are looking at a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/news/semi-rad-everywhere-i-climb-is-sandbagged/&quot;&gt;broad spectrum of difficulty&lt;/a&gt;. Some of those routes have received a grade-upgrade in the past decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another phenomenon that occurs quite commonly is that locals perfect a certain technique, and to them a certain type of climb becomes much easier. This results in what is called &quot;sand bag ratings,&quot; which means that outsiders might be in for a surprise if they only look at the rating in the guidebook. Yosemite national park can be an example for this, since the slick granite can be very different from what people are used to, and because slabs without much protection are quite common, especially in Tuolumne Meadows. Outsiders often need a couple of days to adjust before they climb at their grade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings us to routes that require one very specific technique. If you don't know how to do a knee bar, a 5.11 climb might be 5.14 for you. Sometimes even years after a route was established someone finds a sequence that &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=0naTtcNdPSMC&amp;amp;pg=PA250&amp;amp;lpg=PA250&amp;amp;dq=%22soon%20to%20be%20downgraded%20with%20the%20advent%20of%20the%20knee-bar%20technique%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=_5iabe2X2t&amp;amp;sig=OiHJAwITEEVXPKaVss31F51pcqQ&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIg6C_y7a6yAIVwtGACh2O5gr-#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22soon%20to%20be%20downgraded%20with%20the%20advent%20of%20the%20knee-bar%20technique%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;can downgrade a climb&lt;/a&gt; even by several grades. Technique (or lack thereof) also is a major reason why rating a climb is much more variable when done by beginning climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.8a.nu/?IncPage=http%3A//www.8a.nu/forum/ViewForumThread.aspx%3FObjectId%3D29082%26ObjectClass%3DCLS_UserEditorialComment%26CountryCode%3DGLOBAL&quot;&gt;ethics play a role in the difficulty of a climb&lt;/a&gt;. Some routes are much easier if climbed with a knee pad, or with tape gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now enter the difference between gym and outdoor ratings. In my local gym I can climb one full number grade higher (YDS) than what I would be able to climb outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the concept of rating even more confusing, add different rating systems between climbing communities. The English for example take into consideration the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/a-brief-explanation-of-uk-traditional-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;difficulty of protection and the amount of exposure&lt;/a&gt; when they rate a route. Under the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)&quot;&gt;Yosemite Decimal System&lt;/a&gt;, a route has the difficulty of the hardest individual move, no matter what the rest of the climbing is like. The V-grades for bouldering is an even stranger animal, since the routes are so short. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rating climbs occurs through a &lt;a href=&quot;http://eveningsends.com/climbing/the-problem-with-personal-grades/&quot;&gt;highly subjective consensus process&lt;/a&gt;, influenced by a multitude of factors, many of which I probably forgot to mention here. I hope I confused you enough that you forget all about it and instead just go out and climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2015-10-11T13:02:02.423" LastActivityDate="2015-10-11T13:02:02.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9613" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9614" CreationDate="2015-10-13T20:32:43.067" Score="8" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the experience of users of this site, does intense stress hamper acclimatization?  I recently experienced much more difficulty in acclimatizing in an area where I frequently visit.  The only difference is that I recently have come under a great deal of stress.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Please note that I am not asking for opinions, but first-hand experience or close observation; I also know that what is true for A may not be true for B.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T06:24:51.310" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T09:40:00.783" Title="Is there a connection between stress and difficulty in acclimatizing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9613" CreationDate="2015-10-14T09:01:49.330" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there a connection between stress and difficulty in acclimatizing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, no &lt;strong&gt;known&lt;/strong&gt; connection has been made between stress and acclimatizing at altitude. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this mean that stress couldn't make acclimatizing worse? Probably not. It's simply not known what affect this has (It would also be difficult to test)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acclimatization is an extremely complicated process and is still not well understood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My 2 pence worth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many factors influence how your body acclimatizes. When under stress many things are working extra hard (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.aspx&quot;&gt;your bodies immune system is weaker&lt;/a&gt;, etc.). High altitude acclimatization is reliant on pushing your body beyond it's typical operating parameters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body needs to do what it normally does &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; adjust to the lack of oxygen, etc. So I would &lt;strong&gt;guess&lt;/strong&gt; that stress will make it harder to acclimatize. It's simply adding an addition burden onto your bodies resources that it could do without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How big an affect, will vary considerably on the person and about 100 other things :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T09:40:00.783" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T09:40:00.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9615" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9625" CreationDate="2015-10-14T09:04:13.023" Score="6" ViewCount="436" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are knots that have similar sort of a structure or a look-alike looping which can easily confuse someone who is not seasoned in knots and safety associated with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a thumb rule, beginners are always advised to get their knots inspected by a veteran before they bank their safety upon it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, yet, Can we list out knots that stand a chance to jeopardize the safety due to a minor mistake? Well, a minor mistake in any knot puts the safety into a jeopardy, but still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are similar-looking knots which are not an alternative to each-other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, a Butterfly knot and a False butterfly. Or a Reef knot and a Granny knot or a Grief knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-10-15T06:12:47.100" Title="Similar knots to be avoided" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9586" CreationDate="2015-10-14T10:55:08.313" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Urtica dioica  (Stinging Nettle) while it grows over much of the world, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica#Distribution&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;It grows in abundance in the Pacific Northwest, especially in places where annual rainfall is high.&lt;/a&gt; Found in large patches where much of the vegetation is evergreen and resembling a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentha&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mint plant.&lt;/a&gt; A couple of hand fulls may easily be harvested and may appear to be the best choice in the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The leaves and stems are very hairy with nonstinging hairs, and in most subspecies, also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that can inject several chemicals: acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT (serotonin), moroidin, leukotrienes, and possibly formic acid. This mixture of chemical compounds causes a painful sting or paresthesia from which the species derives one of its common names, stinging nettle, as well as the colloquial names burn nettle, burn weed, and burn hazel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica#Description&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Source&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While not as devastating as some other plants it will be unpleasant for several hours&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Their leaves and stems are covered with long, fine to bristly hairs that can irritate and blister skin when handled. When human skin comes into contact with a leaf or stem, it often rapidly develops reddish patches accompanied by itching and burning. Frequently, a prolonged tingling sensation may persist on the affected skin for more than 12 hours, even after visible symptoms have faded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74146.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Source&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hRyP0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hRyP0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T10:55:08.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9618" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-10-14T11:39:31.647" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about the season Autumn (also know as Fall). Autumn's start is defined by the Autumn Equinox, which changes depending on which hemisphere you are in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically Autumn starts around the 22nd September in the Northern Hemisphere and the 20th of March in the Southern Hemisphere based on the astronomical seasons. Autumn will then end on the Winter Solstice, which is 22nd of December in the Northern Hemisphere or June 21st in the Southern Hemisphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Autumn's start and end can also be defined by meteorological definitions which is to do with the average temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Autumn is the time of year when trees begin to lose their leaves and many seasonal fruits come into season - such as berries, apples etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T11:57:14.480" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T11:57:14.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9619" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-10-14T11:39:31.647" Score="0" Body="Questions about the season Autumn (also know as Fall)." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T11:57:18.050" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T11:57:18.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9621" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-10-14T12:26:39.643" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing the feeding of birds. This may be questions which are concerned with what to feed birds, when to feed birds, how to feed birds (such as making custom bird feeders) and what not to feed birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be used in conjunction with seasonal tags such as &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/winter&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;winter&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;winter&lt;/a&gt;, or with activities such as &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/bird-watching&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;bird-watching&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;bird-watching&lt;/a&gt; to help give a greater definition to the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T22:11:17.237" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T22:11:17.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9622" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-10-14T12:26:39.643" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing the feeding of birds." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T12:53:04.477" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T12:53:04.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2015-10-14T16:08:49.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Swedish tent company Hilleberg has packing lists with masses on their website.  Their itemized list includes a lower and upper range for a list of items, leading to a very large range of masses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;http://gb.hilleberg.com/EN/tent-usage/equipment-summer.php&quot;&gt;summer list&lt;/a&gt; has:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personal items (backpack, sleeping mat+bag, clothes, map, etc.): 4.0 kg-19.1 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food per week, including water: 3.3 kg-14 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shared equipment for two (tent, kitchen etc.): 1.2 kg-5.5 kg per person&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Possibly optional items (camp shoes, binoculars, rope, camera, etc.): 3 kg-16.3 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In total, this leads to a range of 11.5 kg – 51.4 kg.  I suppose not many people carry 51.4 kg around, but I do know people with backpacks close to 40 kg (including things like a tarp for swimming across a lake with a backpack).  For a 2-week hike my own backpack usually starts in the 20–30 kg range (on the heavier end in bear country — those Garcia Machine bear containers add up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://gb.hilleberg.com/EN/tent-usage/equipment-winter.php&quot;&gt;winter list&lt;/a&gt; which is somewhat heavier, but depending on the terrain you might be able to carry it on a sledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-14T16:24:44.233" LastActivityDate="2015-10-14T16:24:44.233" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9624" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9629" CreationDate="2015-10-14T22:56:34.197" Score="6" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hope the bear experts on the site can shed light on several aspects of a black bear encounter my husband and I had some years ago in the Sierra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was mid-May, about 9500 feet, well above timber line, and the ground was almost completely covered with snow, except for a few bare patches.  I concluded: &quot;No bear in his right mind would be here.&quot;  So we did not bury our food in a snowbank.  &lt;strong&gt;Mistake.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Big Mistake.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shortly after we fell asleep, we were wakened by banging pots.  A bear walked across the campsite, grabbed my pack, which contained all our freeze-dried food, in &lt;strong&gt;her&lt;/strong&gt; teeth and disappeared into the darkness.  My husband tracked her by flashlight and moonlight -- the dragging pack left a clear path.  Soon I heard snarls and growls, and went off to rescue my husband.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came upon my husband, a bear and her yearling cub.  Here is where I would like your input.  It seemed to us both, and I can't tell you why, body language, I suppose, plus something in the snarling, that the cub was saying &quot;Let me at him!&quot; and the mother was saying &quot;Be quiet! I'll handle this!&quot;  We froze.  After what seemed like a long time, the mother and cub turned and went off.  &lt;strong&gt;Q1:  Is this interpretation plausible, or are we just anthropomorphizing?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two bears had ripped open my pack, pulled out stuff, zeroed in on the freeze-dried food, eviscerated five packages of freeze-dried food and had eaten it all.  &lt;strong&gt;Q2: When the food reconstituted in their stomachs, did they get stomach aches, or are their stomachs large enough so the expanding food was no problem?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bears stopped at a layer of very dirty clothes near the bottom of my pack, and so missed the last package of freeze-dried food, which was a reserve.  &lt;strong&gt;Q3: Is it plausible that dirty, smelly clothes repelled the bears?&lt;/strong&gt;  It could have been that my husband interrupted them, but I'd like to think the smelly clothes stopped them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We hiked out for two days on one pkg of FD food and tea.  The sugar and all the fresh food were gone. A great experience!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clarification:&lt;/strong&gt;  There were no established bear boxes -- we were far off trail.  This was before the era of portable bear canisters -- or at least before it was common to use them; in any case, they aren't practical for a 14 day trip, which this was.  We &lt;strong&gt;should&lt;/strong&gt; have buried our food in a snow-bank; it was a big mistake not to. We have used the snow bank strategy successfully many times; once we saw bear paw-prints going right over our snow-covered cache. For Sierra black bears, the snow bank trick works.  We have no experience with brown bears.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:01.130" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:01.130" Title="Questions about specifics of black bear encounter with mother and yearling cub" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9615" CreationDate="2015-10-15T06:12:47.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the better way is a list of easy to tie, easy to inspect, reliable must know knots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advise to beginners is master just one way to tie each knot, and only a few knots (3 or 4 is all you need to climb safely). Ignore alternate ways to tie the same knot and ignore people who tell you there is a better knot for that job till you have mastered each of those knots&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing I teach a figure of eight to students, mention the bowline as &quot;An alternate that suits some situations, you should learn it when you can tie a figure of 8 in 5 seconds, into a frozen rope, blindfolded, hanging from a cliff by one hand with a frost bitten fingers&quot;.  Often other knots are bought up - Alpine butterfly - use a Fig8, when I have seen you tie it blindfolded....., I will teach you the AB. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My starting list of knots that must be mastered by a beginner (for Climbing)  is Fig8 (on a bite and follow through), Clove Hitch, Munter Hitch, Prussik. With only those four, you can get yourself out of 99.999% of the trouble a climber can get into. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-10-15T06:12:47.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2015-10-15T06:45:22.777" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.discovery.com/adventure/survival/top-ways-to-purify-water-in-the-wilderness.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Discovery News article&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A simple and inexpensive — but not necessarily the best tasting — method of purifying wild water is by dropping in a couple of purification tablets or drops. The most common chemical used is iodine, but chlorine or potassium permanganate are also effective. Let the chemicals treat the water for at least 20 minutes before consuming, and mix it with powdered mixes to mask any of its taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-03-11T14:07:21.890" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T14:07:21.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9627" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-15T11:51:06.143" Score="8" ViewCount="1373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't figure out how to put the kelty pdsi back in its stuff sack as small as it did before and can't figure out an easy way to get all the air out&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7936" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-15T12:15:20.850" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T18:17:43.800" Title="How to re-store an inflatable sleeping pad?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9627" CreationDate="2015-10-15T12:24:02.313" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically...when putting an inflatable matt back into it's packaging I: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure all the vents are fully open&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold it (width wise) to the size of the bag you want to put it into&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly roll the matt towards the vents, squeezing as much air as you can out. I'll normally roll it one roll then put my knees/weight onto it to squeeze the air out, continue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should end up barrel shape and it should just slide into it's container easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-15T12:31:48.810" LastActivityDate="2015-10-15T12:31:48.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9624" CreationDate="2015-10-15T12:44:34.030" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this interpretation plausible, or are we just anthropomorphizing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bear cub was likely scared and its reaction was to put on an aggressive act. TBH I think you were lucky as a threatened mother bear corned with its cub in the dark like that could have easily charged you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mother was likely trying to decide if it could get away without getting into a fight or whether it needed to attack you. You're likely anthropomorphizing its body language as passive, but I would imagine it was very tense and wanting to protect its cub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the food reconstituted in their stomachs, did they get stomach&#xA;  aches, or are their stomachs large enough so the expanding food was no&#xA;  problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are omnivores and can eat pretty much anything that a human can (and plenty of extras). So the food itself was likely not an issue. A nursing mother will have a huge appetite and will eat many times the amount that a human can in a day. So I doubt it was too much food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it plausible that dirty, smelly clothes repelled the bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depends. How used was the bear to humans? Bears who don't encounter humans often will actively avoid them (seeing them, correctly, as predators). Bears close to towns in busy areas, etc. see humans as walking food dispensers and lose their natural fear of humans. These are the ones that get killed or taken far away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's always best to not feed bears. They should have a healthy fear of humans. It prevents conflict at a later date.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You should have had your food in a bear locker.&lt;/strong&gt; Feeding bears is never a good thing even if done by accident. You're teaching the bear bad habits that may one day get it killed (or get it into a situation where it puts someone else in danger).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5426" LastEditDate="2017-05-29T06:58:19.683" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T06:58:19.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9627" CreationDate="2015-10-15T13:32:56.487" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to what Liam writes, since early childhood, I have found that a two-step approach gets out more air.  It starts the same as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9628/566&quot;&gt;Liams approach&lt;/a&gt;, but has some more steps.  The approach below works for Thermarest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open&lt;/strong&gt; the vents&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold it as Liam says&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From the far end that does not have a vent, roll it slowly, continuously having one knee on top to push the air out (when folded, there is no space for two knees).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you have it fully rolled, &lt;strong&gt;close&lt;/strong&gt; the vents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unroll.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once again, roll it up (still folded).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you approach the end, remaining air will start to accumulate near the vent.  When this becomes noticeable, &lt;strong&gt;open&lt;/strong&gt; the vents again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continue rolling until the end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my case, there's always some additional air that escapes in step 8, and I usually cannot put it in the container yet at the end of step 4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-10-15T16:54:55.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9627" CreationDate="2015-10-15T14:57:42.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I still use the old Thermarests, which are norotiously difficult to pack down small. What I do is slightly different than what has already been suggested:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start off by quickly getting the bulk of the air out however you wish, I over inflate my mattress, so often I only have to open the valve while I'm getting out of bed, and by the time I've gotten dressed and packed up my bag &lt;em&gt;(while kneeling on my bed)&lt;/em&gt; my mattress is mostly deflated. I'll then quickly fold the mattress over a couple times and just sit on it to get the the rest of the bulk out. When rolling my bag I follow these steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unroll mattress.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quickly roll up mattress again comfortably snug.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kneel on mattress with valve open until air stops coming out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close valve.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat if necessary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep doing this over and over until the mattress is small enough to fit nicely in my bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-15T14:57:42.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9624" CreationDate="2015-10-15T15:36:12.060" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from bear country. I've had multiple bear encounters this year and the bears have been really bad this season. We had &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/4-grizzly-bear-attacks-1.3227490&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4 maulings inside a month&lt;/a&gt; this summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A1:&lt;/strong&gt; The Mother bear is going to stay between you and her cub. This includes keeping her cub away from you as much as keeping you away from her cub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A2:&lt;/strong&gt; Freeze dried food doesn't expand. One of the qualities of freeze-drying food is that it maintains its size and shape, so it takes up roughly the same amount of volume even after it's re-hydrated. The bear would likely have gotten thirsty though, and drank more water to compensate for what's being absorbed by the food in order to maintain proper digestion, but I don't think the bear is going to suffer. Bears can eat a lot, especially when it's spring and they're hungry from sleeping all winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A3:&lt;/strong&gt; Dirty human smell is usually one of the top deterrents for bears. I guarantee they smelt your stinky clothes long before they smelt the freeze-dried food in your bag. These bears were hungry, and knew what they were looking for, and they knew you had it. You can't disguise smells from bears; their sense of smell is literally over 2000 times more sensitive than humans. The best you can do is to merely &lt;em&gt;reduce&lt;/em&gt; the amount of smell coming from your food bag by storing it in odour-proof bags. But these only decrease the distance from which the bear can smell your food; I doubt there's anything a bear can't smell through if you let it stick its nose up to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first mistake was assuming that bears wouldn't be in bear country. Bears are always in bear country; even in the very middle of winter bears will still get up and look for food if they're hungry, especially if they weren't able to pack on enough fat before winter. Contrary to popular belief, &lt;strong&gt;bears do not hybernate&lt;/strong&gt;, they go into a deep sleep called &lt;strong&gt;torpor&lt;/strong&gt;. One problem we're likely going to have this winter due to the droughts and poor berry crop is a lot of hungry bears up and about in the middle of winter looking for food because they weren't able to pack on enough fat to last them until spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your second mistake would have been assuming bears can't find buried food. It likely wouldn't have taken them any longer to find where you'd buried your cache as it did for them to find your camp. In the desert, if there's no where to hang a cache, then you need to carry &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5017-444/bearvault-bv500-bear-resistant-food-container/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bear-resistant canisters&lt;/a&gt; to store your food in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aW4gI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aW4gI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your third mistake was chasing the bear down! The bear had what it wanted; you should have just let it go and hiked off in the opposite direction! Chasing down a hungry bear with a cub is asking for trouble; you are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; lucky that you didn't get mauled and stranded a two days walk out in the wilderness with no food &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; life threatening injuries. Your husband took and &lt;em&gt;extreme&lt;/em&gt; risk going after that bear &lt;strong&gt;alone in the dark!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5426" LastEditDate="2017-05-29T05:00:47.080" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T05:00:47.080" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9634" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9635" CreationDate="2015-10-15T20:45:34.770" Score="11" ViewCount="779" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by the replies to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9624/questions-about-specifics-of-black-bear-encounter-with-mother-and-yearling-cub&quot;&gt;Questions about specifics of black bear encounter with mother and yearling cub&lt;/a&gt;.  That question was about an encounter over 30 years ago, before the era of portable bear canisters, or at least before they were routinely used.  And it was a 14 day trip, and there is no way &lt;strong&gt;we&lt;/strong&gt; could have carried enough canisters for a 14 day trip. Maybe some of you supermen could have!  So...the current question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my point of view, &lt;strong&gt;this&lt;/strong&gt; question is theoretical, because we aren't going on any more 14 day backpacking trips without assistance from a packer.  But I am curious.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can food be properly stored against black bears on a &lt;strong&gt;long&lt;/strong&gt; (say 14 day) backpacking trip at least partly in black bear country? Assume &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; campsites with established bear boxes beyond the first and last days.  Assume no brown bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you really carry enough bear canisters?  If so, tell me how!  Do you rely on trees (bear-bagging)? Or what? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Sierra, with black bears, we have dug into snow banks to store food where there were no good bear-bagging trees available. This has never failed, and in several cases we &lt;strong&gt;know&lt;/strong&gt; there were bears around (pawprints, neighboring campsite being ripped off, notorious bear traffic.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:13:33.400" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:13:33.400" Title="Proper food storage against black bears on a LONG (e.g., 14 days) trip, partly in black bear country? (enough bear canisters not practical)" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9634" CreationDate="2015-10-15T22:59:01.357" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;An online poll showed that almost everyone on a backpacking trip eats about 15-20 kcal (63-84 kJ) per day per pound of body weight: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=35516&quot;&gt;http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=35516&lt;/a&gt; . So let's take 17.5 cal/day/lb (161 kJ/kg) as a typical value. This is in line with my actual experience from trips where I made a spreadsheet of all my food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Energy densities of foods vary a lot, but a pretty conservative figure is about 2.5 kcal (10.5 kJ) per milliliter. You can easily go higher than that. You can even get much higher than that, but only by depending heavily on fats, which isn't realistic. But let's use that figure as a conservative estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My body weight is 140 lb (63½ kg). Crunching the numbers for a 14-day trip, I find that I would need 34,000 kcal (142 MJ), which would be 840 cubic inches (13.8 litre) of food. There are certainly bear canisters that big, e.g., the Bearikade Expedition, which is 900 in³ (14.7 litre).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a practical matter, I would look for alternatives to shlepping that much food through the mountains. Maybe there is an opportunity to resupply, perhaps by making a side trip. Another possibility is to put some food in a hard-sided bear canister and some in something more lightweight, such as an Ursack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of weight, I usually eat 1.1-1.4 lb (0.5–0.6 kg) of food per day, and in an online discussion with a professional guide, he told me that a group of clients would almost always average exactly 1.4 lb (0.6 kg) per person per day. For a two-week trip, that comes out to about 20 lb (9 kg) of food, which is a lot, but not insane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people vastly overestimate how much food they need to bring. Another common phenomenon is that people practice a heavyweight style of backpacking, which makes them reduce the number of miles they do per day. This makes their trip take a long time, causing them to carry more food. More food is more weight, which slows them down some more, etc. A different approach would be to reduce your base weight and plan on doing more miles per day. But this gets down to a matter of style and preference. Some people enjoy doing 20-22 miles/day (32–35 km), but others prefer to do other activities and not try to make so many miles. It's a question of what you're going to enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T09:27:33.733" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T09:27:33.733" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9636" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-16T03:07:07.050" Score="2" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know its rather ironic but I'm a big guy that enjoys open water swimming. I'd like to do more of it in order to help myself with my waistline. I swim in the Pacific so I need a wetsuit. I'm looking for specific manufacturer and model recommendations for the largest wetsuit out there. What is the absolute, hands-down largest wetsuit made? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T08:05:27.597" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T08:05:27.597" Title="Plus size wet suits?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9634" CreationDate="2015-10-16T05:46:52.467" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Realistically, if you can manage to carry the food, then you can manage the canisters also. They have been proven to decrease bear encounters and are actually now required in parts of Sierra National Forests, as well as in parts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Inyo National Forests and in all of Yosemite National Park &lt;a href=&quot;http://sierrawild.gov/bears/food-storage-map&quot;&gt;[see map]&lt;/a&gt;. This means you have to carry them whether or not you think they may be impractical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other options are to hang a proper food cache or lock your food in a bear proof locker. Burying your food is not a recommended caching technique. I think you may have just gotten lucky with your previous experiences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you could try if there aren't any trees or bear poles around, is to hang your cache over a cliff or a tall rock. I've done this on several occasions while camping above the tree line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T05:46:52.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9638" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9639" CreationDate="2015-10-16T07:06:00.683" Score="17" ViewCount="39404" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winter is coming!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very quickly in Belgium actually, much faster than I'm used to. It's also the first year where I spend a lot of time outside. Soon, that could be a lot of time outside... freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have plenty of layers to keep my upper body toasty. But I'm still shivering because my legs are way too cold in that jeans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan is to spend the full day outside, or an evening after work, far from any building where I could re-heat myself. Most probably in the forest, and likely to be in a cold/dry or cold/snowy weather. I'd avoid rain, although it can still happen above zero degrees. I'd be partly on the move, partly static to look at stuff and smile, or cook food with my gas burner. I might even spend a night out, at some point, but that's not my priority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realise that's a lot of options. Let's make this the priority:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cold and snowy (between 5 and -10 degrees celsius)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full day outside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;move half the time, stand the other half, with the occasional cooking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I could wear (which hopefully looks OK to be in a city with it) that will prevent my legs from freezing me to death?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6389" LastEditorUserId="6389" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T08:16:12.983" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T08:26:25.033" Title="How to keep my legs warm in winter?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-16T08:33:16.027" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing you can look into are long-legged thermal underwear - this wouldn't effect how you look on the outside as they go under your clothes and create an insulating layer to help keep you warm. Women can get away with this in everyday life with a nice pair of tights. So for city life, as you stated, this should mean no difference in your every day appearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have mentioned keeping your core warm, and that's great - as your core is warmer the blood that flows from your torso will be warmer, helping to warm your legs, arms and extremities. This is relative but I often find I feel better in general with a nice toasty torso, even if it's just a placebo effect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option that's useful for women (sorry guys, you might not be able to pull this off!) is knee length fur / wool lined boots - this is something I tend to do all winter, when not actually hiking. When hiking and wearing my ankle length hiking boots I'll often wear a long pair of socks under my trousers, and my thick walking socks over these (with my trousers sexily tucked in!) - but again this is mimicking the effect of thermal undies, just up to my calf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt; because Ara is waffling...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermal long legged underwear would do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T07:31:39.077" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T07:31:39.077" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-16T09:43:20.870" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long thick socks will help in 2 ways -- they'll reduce heat loss through your feet/lower calves and reduce draughts up your legs.  Even 2 pairs of normal socks would be better than nothing. There are special thermal socks (sold as heat-holders for example) but they may not fit in your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This could be regarded as in addition to thermal underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's actually snowing, you're walking through snow on the ground, or there's spray from the road, your jeans (not ideal in the first place) will get wet and hold on to the cold water.  Consider waterproof overtrousers in that case.  They actually (like any layer) add a fair bit of warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T09:48:06.277" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T09:48:06.277" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-16T10:29:35.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try wearing a pair of sweats under your pants. I've done that before, and was quite warm, and comfortable. Pajamas are also an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4058" LastEditorUserId="4058" LastEditDate="2015-10-17T06:29:42.227" LastActivityDate="2015-10-17T06:29:42.227" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9643" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9665" CreationDate="2015-10-16T14:43:32.690" Score="9" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;When people discuss Acclimatization, it is generally observed that they refer to higher altitudes, or colder weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While, acclimatization is not only applicable to higher altitudes and/or cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in India, I am used to at living at atmospheric temperature of close to 40 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C. So, assuming that I have a good health, I am a seasoned hiker, its not much of a &lt;em&gt;survival&lt;/em&gt; task for me if I am to walk in Gobi Desert for a couple of days. Difficult, Hell yes, Survival, No, absolutely not that serious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was a Norwegian, it would take me extra efforts and preparation to something like that. Reason, Hot weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting used to with Hot weather is also an acclimatization process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I acclimatize to hot weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T06:05:03.173" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T06:29:31.377" Title="Acclimatizing to Hot weather" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9627" CreationDate="2015-10-16T14:50:58.120" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually take a container for the pad that is large enough so I can store it easily. When hiking, I don't exactly want to spend 15 minutes crushing my pad into its pack in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So measure your current smallish container (height and circumference (flat width)), and find something slightly larger (a few cm are enough). A lot of outdoor brands have stuff sacks that would be suitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-10-16T18:17:43.800" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T18:17:43.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-16T19:23:19.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option is flannel-lined jeans. I find them more comfortable and simple than thermal underwear, and they are very warm in the winter. You also have the option of adding the thermal underwear if you are still too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind to get is a matter of personal preference, and what kind of jeans you would typically wear. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;field-keywords=flannel%20jeans&amp;amp;index=blended&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt; lists a selection of many different types available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3082" LastEditorUserId="3082" LastEditDate="2015-10-17T17:57:13.987" LastActivityDate="2015-10-17T17:57:13.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9647" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13094" CreationDate="2015-10-16T19:31:17.740" Score="11" ViewCount="506" Body="&lt;p&gt;My last trip was just a hiking trip, so I stayed at a hotel.  For $35, the hotel offered 20 min at their &quot;oxygen bar&quot;.  I was tempted, but did not succumb.  I didn't have a headache, or feel nauseated, just low in energy.  Thus I don't know exactly what was on offer -- I am guessing it was a mixture with the partial pressure of oxygen similar to that at sea level.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:  For a healthy person, roughly how long a benefit would a 20 minute &quot;return to sea level&quot; confer?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(i.e., minutes, hours, a day, a speedup to acclimatization?)  The hotel also had ($19) what looked like 1 or 1.5 liter can of pressurized O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;. (portable, essentially weightless.)  The can said it delivered &quot;up to 150&quot; squirts or hits or inhalations -- I don't remember the word -- of pure O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; .  Would this do anything more for a healthy person than a fleeting boost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T09:01:52.293" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T13:39:15.950" Title="Acclimitization: Would 20 min at an &quot;oxygen bar&quot; deliver more than an ephermal boost to a healthy person?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9647" CreationDate="2015-10-16T20:51:54.983" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oxygen bars aid in recovery, they don't speed up acclimatization, but they do help you recover after a long day of exercise at high elevation and give you more energy. Just as a fire can’t burn without oxygen our cells can’t produce heat and energy without oxygen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When acclimatizing, climbers spend the day climbing high, but then sleep at lower elevations to regain their strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On Everest for example, this is a typical schedule for acclimatizing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; Trek to Base Camp (BC) from Katmandu - 10 days&#xA; Arrival BC April 1&#xA;&#xA; Climbing Camp 1 (C1) April 7&#xA; Back to BC April 8&#xA; Climbing C2 April 11&#xA; Back to BC April 13&#xA; Climbing C2 April 17&#xA; Climbing C3 April 19&#xA; Back to BC April 20&#xA;&#xA; Trekking down to Katmandu April 21&#xA; Back to BC April 26&#xA;&#xA; 1st summit attempt May 1-7&#xA; Trekking down May 7-12&#xA; Back in BC May 13&#xA; Last summit attempts May 16-30  &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll notice that they don't just progress slowly from camp to camp up to the top, and they don't spend a lot of time up high, they take their time over a period of almost 2 months climbing higher and higher, but always retreating to lower elevations to recover. Before they make their summit attempt they actually leave the mountain and spend about a week at really low elevation regaining strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your level of health does not decrease your body's dependancy on oxygen,&#xA;oxygen always has something to offer your body, it's necessary for every body function and is literally the most important substance your body consumes. If you think hydration is important, Oxygen is infinitely more valuable, just as your body will operate better while super hydrated, you'll perform infinitely better if your cells have more oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottles will benefit an healthy person just as much as they will an unhealthy person, they give you more energy. Call it a fleeting boost if you will, but it's better than any boost energy drinks or electrolyte gels can offer. All the snacks and drinks you bring for energy on a hike aren't any good for you anyways unless you have a healthy amount of oxygen in your blood to extract the energy from them, this is exactly why people at high elevation experience a lack of appetite. More Oxygen = Better, always. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-16T20:51:54.983" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-17T06:06:37.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your criteria: a full day with a decent chunk of inactivity, cold but not frigid, with some precipitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally when active outdoors in such weather I wear softshell pants (schoeller-type fabrics, such as Arc'teryx Gamma LT or Marmot Scree pants) and a lightweight or silkweight baselayer.  This provides wind and water resistance, won't make me overheat, and will still breathe far better than &quot;breathable&quot; shell materials such as GoreTex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large amounts of inactivity will call for more insulation, which can easily be increased by using a thicker baselayer (e.g. Patagonia's Cap3 or Cap4 materials), eventually moving up to fleece (e.g. Patagonia's R1 bottoms).  If switching between intense activity and rest, I would use a lighter baselayer and bring insulated pants that I can throw on over everything else (or wrap up in a light down quilt).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature range of -10° to 5°C allows for melting snow and liquid water; thus water-absorbing fabrics such as cotton (e.g. jeans) become a particularly bad idea.  If there's significant rain coming down I'd wear a waterproof shell, but once water stays in solid form such shells are much less useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding style, if you cannot find softshell pants in a style you'd be comfortable wearing around town, wool or waxed cotton (such as Fjällräven sells) are other alternatives to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-10-17T06:06:37.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-18T02:19:04.853" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in an area where temperatures of -20C or colder is a normal winter day, and can go down to -40C at times. A good pair of long underwear and a pair of flannel lines jeans sounds like it would be perfect for you. I'm not sure if Cabelas delivers to Europe, but they have a great online selection of these and other cold weather items, and are a big &quot;go to&quot; place for good, effective outdoor gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7957" LastActivityDate="2015-10-18T02:19:04.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9652" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-18T03:49:42.823" Score="9" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone is feeling bad at high altitude, how do you tell if their condition is so severe that it threatens their life unless they descend immediately?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:01:59.560" LastActivityDate="2020-12-10T20:31:27.720" Title="How do you diagnose severe altitude illness?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9652" CreationDate="2015-10-18T03:49:42.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many people at moderate altitudes (about 10,000-13,000', 3000-4000 m) experience mild AMS (acute mountain sickness). The most common symptom is a headache. Mild AMS is not life-threatening, and people may experience similar symptoms due to other factors that are common in a mountain environment, such as lack of sleep, caffeine withdrawal, sunburn, or unaccustomed exertion. One study (Dallimore) of people who hiked at elevations below 1500' (500 m) showed that about 7-11% of them had &quot;symptoms that at high altitude would lead to a diagnosis of AMS,&quot; defined by scores of 3 or higher on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/AMS-worksheet.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Louise questionnaire&lt;/a&gt;. Because of the high rate of false positives and the possibility of lumping together disparate conditions and symptoms, questions have been raised about whether the Lake Louise questionnaire is a good method for diagnosing AMS (ISMM, Hall, MacInnis).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two non-symptoms are fainting and difficulty sleeping. Although poor sleep has in the past been used as a factor in diagnosing AMS, recent work (MacInnis) shows that taking it into account makes for a &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; accurate diagnosis. Of course, poor sleep will &lt;em&gt;cause&lt;/em&gt; you to feel lousy, and mild AMS is basically a condition in which you feel lousy. Sometimes people will faint at high altitude when they try to stand up suddenly; this is fairly common, and is not a sign of anything serious if there are no other symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Severe altitude illness is another matter. There are three common forms of severe altitude illness. All of these can be life-threatening and require immediate descent. They occur most commonly above about 15,000' (4600 m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Severe AMS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common sign that distinguishes severe AMS from a mild case is ataxia, which means general problems with coordination and balance. A good test for ataxia is to have the person walk heel-to-toe in a straight line, as in a drunk-driving test. Ataxia is a sign that something is wrong with the person's brain. Other signs of an altered mental state (irrationality, changed behavior, lethargy, babbling) may also be signs of severe AMS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to these mental symptoms, people with severe AMS will often have some of the other symptoms of AMS in such severe form that they become incapacitating. These include headache, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and dizziness. If any one of these symptoms becomes incapacitating, then severe AMS is likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HACE is a condition in which fluid leaks into the brain, causing it to swell and become compressed within the skull. It is similar to severe AMS and probably overlaps with it. The effects can progress until the person becomes incapacitated or goes into a coma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and keeps the person from breathing normally. They are unable to catch their breath, even when resting, and can't complete a sentence because they run out of breath. They may have rales, meaning a crackling sound when they breathe. To check for this symptom, have the person take several deep breaths first, and then press your ear tightly underneath their right arm at nipple level and listen as they keep breathing. Rales do not indicate HAPE if they occur without other symptoms or during the first few deep breaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bezruchka, Altitude illness: prevention and treatment, 2005&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dallimore, Foley, and Valentine, &quot;Background rates of acute mountain sickness-like symptoms at low altitude in adolescents using Lake Louise score,&quot; Wilderness Environ Med. 2012 Mar;23(1), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22441083&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22441083&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ISMM World Congress in Bolzano online discussion session, 2014, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitude.org/ams.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.altitude.org/ams.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hall et al., &quot;Network Analysis Reveals Distinct Clinical Syndromes Underlying Acute Mountain Sickness,&quot; PLOS One January 2014, &lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081229&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081229&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MacInnis et al., &quot;Is Poor Sleep Quality at High Altitude Separate from Acute Mountain Sickness? Factor Structure and Internal Consistency of the Lake Louise Score Questionnaire,&quot; High Altitude Medicine and Biology, December 2013, 14(4): 334&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-10-18T18:21:43.227" LastActivityDate="2015-10-18T18:21:43.227" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-18T05:56:35.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could wear clothes that cover up your chest portion and if you cover up chest portion then it will be warm.Chest is the most sensitive part to sense cold.So cover up your chest as much as possible.Apart from this you can wear socks that are not made up of cotton but maybe wool or any other.Then for body warner or sweater or thick jacket and thermal inner wear and a cap to cover up your head and scarf and last a jeans on top of legging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7958" LastActivityDate="2015-10-18T05:56:35.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2015-10-18T15:10:29.340" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen tuna cat food used successfully as bait. Placed in the toe end of a womens white nylon stocking and tied to the crab net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7960" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-10-18T15:20:57.457" LastActivityDate="2015-10-18T15:20:57.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9652" CreationDate="2015-10-18T15:14:56.253" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule: Assume acute mountain sickness (AMS) unless proven otherwise. AMS is potentially life threatening, so if you have symptoms related to AMS, do not ascend any further. If they do not get better, descend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low altitude is not an indication against AMS which can occur above 2000m already. So the assessment should rely on your symptoms. Early symptoms  of AMS are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Difficulty sleeping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dizziness or light-headedness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fatigue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headache&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of appetite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nausea or vomiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rapid pulse (heart rate)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath with exertion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the last two occur anyway at high altitudes, so you have to judge whether it is pathological. To help asses how bad the condition is one can use the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.treksafe.com.au/medical/documents/LakeLouisescore_000.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Louise Score&lt;/a&gt;. This is not a definitive diagnosis, but a way to objectively judge your condition. This is fairly conservative, so if you follow this advice you should never get into a situation where you develop more advanced symptoms, High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) or High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). The latter two are actually symptoms of AMS which are directly live threating and therefore often referenced as conditions of their own. Advanced symptoms include: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blue color to the skin (cyanosis)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chest tightness or congestion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cough&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coughing up blood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decreased consciousness or withdrawal from social interaction&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gray or pale complexion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cannot walk in a straight line, or walk at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shortness of breath at rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you experience these, the condition is already life threatening and you need to descend asap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual case is, that you have a mild form of AMS not including any advanced symptoms and you need to make a decision on how to proceed. This depends a lot on logistical factors: Where are you, where do you want to go and how easy can you descend. If your plans allow it, the best option is always to stay and see how the symptoms progress. If you need to go on, you have to factor in escape plans. Assuming you can easily descend, going on is save, just keep track of the symptoms and react accordingly. If going on means committing for a push into an area where the only way out is walking, the save way to go is aborting. The symptoms can get worse fast and impact your ability to walk out severely. This means you will stay longer at high altitude which again makes the AMS worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] J. Heller, &lt;em&gt;Acute Mountain Sickness&lt;/em&gt;, 18.10.2015, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Mainly used for the symptom lists, as pointed out in the comments some parts of the article are not very realistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SGGM, &lt;em&gt;Akute Höhenkrankheit, syn. AMS, (Acute Mountain Sickness)&lt;/em&gt;, 18.10.2015, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainmedicine.ch/index.php/de/medizinisches/ams&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountainmedicine.ch/index.php/de/medizinisches/ams&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-10-18T18:57:38.590" LastActivityDate="2015-10-18T18:57:38.590" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9660" CreationDate="2015-10-18T18:32:27.057" Score="8" ViewCount="767" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are going to Sankri-Har-ki-doon trek. So, from various sources in internet we found a that a forest permit is necessary for the trek. &#xA;From where should we obtain this ? And is it mandatory to hire a guide ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7962" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:29:26.443" LastActivityDate="2020-07-08T10:28:49.803" Title="Trekking Har ki doon (India): Permits and Guides" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;permits&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9659" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11112" CreationDate="2015-10-18T21:20:23.673" Score="11" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;Within the U.S. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grandcircle.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grand Circle region&lt;/a&gt; (very roughly Las Vegas NV /Provo UT/Aspen CO/Santa Fe NM/Phoenix AZ), for what trails are the number of permits issued limited considering day use only?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/arolrsmain/paria/coyote_buttes/permits.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coyote Buttes area&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion_Cliffs_National_Monument&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vermillion Cliffs National Monument&lt;/a&gt; near Page, Arizona (lottery-based for Coyote Buttes North including The Wave, and based on who applies first for Coyote Buttes South, but the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/arolrsmain/paria/permits.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paria Canyon&lt;/a&gt; in the same area has no daytime limit).  Are there other areas where the number of daytime permits is limited for day-time use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the scope of this question, I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; considering trails with a limited number of &lt;em&gt;overnight use&lt;/em&gt; permits, nor am I considering trails that require a permit, but do not limit the total number issued.  I am also not considering trails where access is only permitted with a guide, such as Antelope Canyon or areas in Canyon de Chelly National Monument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-24T22:48:16.170" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T14:11:44.553" Title="Within the U.S. Grand Circle area, where is the number of daytime trail permits limited?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9658" CreationDate="2015-10-19T05:27:47.017" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, for Har-ki-doon trek you need a local forest permit. &#xA;Hiring a guide is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a mandatory thing, but recommended. The guide will take care of campsites and arranging food at a fair bargain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First things first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can book a cab from Dehradun to Sankri villege. On the way you would pass through a place called Naitwar (Tagged Netwar on google maps). The permits to enter the &quot;Govind Ghat wildlife Sanctuary and National Park&quot; are supposed to be obtained here. Cab should cost you something around 3000 INR (approx 48-50 USD).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is an administrative office of Uttarakhand Tourism where you can get the permits for the trek. While, I have no idea about how much they cost you, I'd recommend getting a medical fitness certificate with you. You can get it from your place, if you haven't for some reason, you can easily get yourself checked and get a basic medical fitness certificate from a local dispensary in Dehradun, So that there are no 11th-hour hiccups in formalities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sankri is a place where the cab will drop you. From here the trek to Taluka begins. I'd recommend hiring a SUV like Bolero or Scorpio should be sensible instead of hiring a Sedan.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you know the schedule and the trail, there is no need to take the guide. Should you hire a guide from Sankri or Naiwar itself, He will manage all the local requirements without you need to be bothering much about anything at all. For Non-Indian people the guide definitely charge a bit more, so you should be paying a maximum (Sad, but true) of somewhere around 1500 INR a day, which is like 24 USD approx.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-23T12:41:54.463" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T12:41:54.463" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9638" CreationDate="2015-10-19T08:26:25.033" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get thermal reflective liners for your boots - I find that keeping my feet warm usually helps with keeping my legs warm as heat tends to be lost through extremities (Feet, Hands, Head so socks, gloves and hats are always the best available).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermal tights work wonders as well under trousers - they may not look brilliant but they do the job. You may also look at getting a pair of waterproof/windproof trousers as these will help in case you do get damp when moving around - nothing chills like being damp in a cold wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7963" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T08:26:25.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9662" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9664" CreationDate="2015-10-19T11:05:29.967" Score="16" ViewCount="2444" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was browsing through the wikipedia page of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Denali mountain&lt;/a&gt;, I came across some piece of information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Refer the screenshot below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Dnm3.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Dnm3.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does the term Prominence and Isolation mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-04T09:14:50.377" LastActivityDate="2017-05-28T00:33:05.040" Title="What is &quot;Isolation&quot; and &quot;Prominence&quot; in mountain terms?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9662" CreationDate="2015-10-19T11:27:46.233" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Prominence&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it's height above the surrounding ground (so the ground level is &lt;code&gt;x&lt;/code&gt; height above sea level, the mounting is &lt;code&gt;y&lt;/code&gt; height above sea level, it's &lt;code&gt;Prominence = y -x&lt;/code&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Isolation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the distance between it and the nearest point at the same height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is all based on the &quot;footprint&quot; on a map of a peak. This can be straight forward, or it can be very complicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T08:32:39.663" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T08:32:39.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9662" CreationDate="2015-10-19T12:34:21.460" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Isolation and prominence are the two key criteria to classify a peak as an independent mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To understand the meaning I like the visualization from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominanz_%28Geographie%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;German Wiki&lt;/a&gt; where &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Dominanz&quot; means &lt;strong&gt;isolation&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Schartenhöhe&quot; means &lt;strong&gt;prominence&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krWur.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krWur.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Isolation is the distance to the next point with the same height (radius) of a higher mountain. So the nearest higher mountain seen from B is A, see the distance marked as &quot;Dominanz&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prominence is the difference from the peak to the next key col to which you have to descend &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; to be able to reach a higher peak. So from summit B you have to descend at least to the col between B-C, therefore the marked &quot;Schartenhöhe&quot;. The col between B-B' is not relevant because B is the higher peak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T12:42:57.623" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T12:42:57.623" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9643" CreationDate="2015-10-19T14:56:08.020" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd typically go about it in two scenarios, not just the heat alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hot + Humid, Typical Example: Coastal regions of India, Sri Lanka, Caribbean Islands. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hot + Dry, Examples, Deserts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both the cases, the thing to keep an eye on is Sweating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If weather is dry, hot and low humidity, you will stop sweating after a certain point, the core temperature is increases, and you might sustain a heat stroke if continued without necessary hydration.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If the weather is hot and humid, you will sweat a lot, loose body fluids and start dehydrating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key to avoid both of them is Hydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People who spend a great deal of time outdoors become &quot;outdoor acclimatized.&quot; These persons are affected less by heat or cold extremes because their bodies have adjusted to the outdoor environments, says Dr. G. Edgar Folk, physiology professor in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrating at regular shorter and regular intervals. Hydrating at regular intervals &lt;strong&gt;is not&lt;/strong&gt; the actual Acclimatization. But, Hydrating at shorter and regular is necessary in order to sustain Acclimatization Routine. You don't sit in a tent the whole day to Acclimatize. You have to work out, might have to modify diet and the hydrating habit that suits the altitude/weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Working out outdoors regularly during the Acclimatization Period.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before getting out there, before the acclimatization period begins, There’s also the option of creating an artificial hot and/or humid environment by wearing extra clothing during exercise, training in a hot room or without the Air Conditioners, using a humidifier, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plasma plays a role in Thermoregulation and Osmoregulation. Add protein supplements and protein drinks to your diet, A protein-heavy diet will help to build more plasma in your blood. Also, consume fruits rich with Vitamin C regularly to increase the Ascorbic Acid that is a vital part of blood plasma.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you are out &lt;em&gt;there&lt;/em&gt;, wear looser clothes, light-colored cloths. Again, this isn't Acclimatization, but it is necessary to be able to perform in that kind of a weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A proper Acclimatization routine should last ranging from for a week to about 10-12 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-27T06:29:31.377" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T06:29:31.377" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9666" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9669" CreationDate="2015-10-19T15:06:47.627" Score="12" ViewCount="482" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know the theory behind effects of high altitudes on the human body is not entirely understood and because of cross-influence it is a difficult topic. It's not an exact science.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that I will give an example case which happened to myself this year. I try to give all relevant information. And I am asking myself for quite a while (and therefore I am asking you now) what exactly occurred in my body in high altitude and how I could react better the next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My background is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;quite a few alpine tours under 4000m (13.000')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;good fitness level but no fitness enthusiast (I am able to do tours with 10 hour walking and/or 2000m elevation gain without big problems in a proper speed)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mild lung problems (no 100% capacity, maybe 80-90%)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we did a trip to South-America, started doing proper acclimatization tours where we always slept around 3000m (10.000') and climbed 4 mountains with increasing height between 4200m (13.800') and 5100m (16.700'). On that tours I had no problems at all and seemed to be very fit. We also had days to rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then we tried to climb a mountain of 5900m (19.300') height. We were supposed to sleep from 5pm to 10pm which I wasn't really able to. I slept maybe 15 minutes which of course is not the best preparation for a long day. Still I was motivated, ate and drunk as much as possible before we start. We were driving by car until 4800m (15.700') I think. There we start climbing. From 5000m (16.400') on I got problems with the stomach. I felt bad and this got worse. As a consequence I wasn't able to eat and I even stopped drinking properly. Later on I was starting to feel weaker and weaker. I had no lung problems or problems breathing but I felt so extremely exhausted. I had &lt;strong&gt;no headache&lt;/strong&gt; at all. Finally at 5500m (18.000') I made the decision to turn around. Even descending I had to stop and even sit down each few minutes because of the exhaustion. I never felt like this before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it's normal to fatigue when you are not sleeping/eating/drinking enough. But the body has reserves. Because I had no headache I asked myself over and over again if I got AMS (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt;) and how serious my situation is and when I have to stop ascending. This is the main question here, &lt;strong&gt;how to decide and react properly&lt;/strong&gt; in such a borderline situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a lot written about AMS and I knew the symptoms before my trip. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9652/how-do-you-diagnose-severe-altitude-illness&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; covers the general ideas of diagnosing severe altitude illness. I doubt my question is a duplicate, it is just a very special case (a case example) which shows how difficult correct judging about the necessity to turn around is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like the linked &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.treksafe.com.au/medical/documents/LakeLouisescore_000.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Louise Score&lt;/a&gt; states, it is always headache plus symptom X and maybe others. Because of the missing headache I was really unsure of my situation and how far to proceed. The mountain guides climbing with me are not able to assume the responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While descending under 5000m (16.400') I started feeling stronger. That's the main reason I assume afterwards that I got altitude sickness. But I (and also the mountain guides) was not able to judge correctly on the way up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would you judge? How would you react? What to do better next time preparing a high altitude climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:59:48.770" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:59:48.770" Title="Case example on Altitude Mountain Sickness: How to detect and react properly?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9667" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9682" CreationDate="2015-10-19T17:56:14.320" Score="10" ViewCount="1291" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read tobacco leaves can be used to prevent leech bites. I'm unable to find tobacco leaves so can I use cigarettes instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7967" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T04:04:00.410" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T15:51:46.763" Title="Can I mix the contents of a cigarette with Odomos to prevent leech bites?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9666" CreationDate="2015-10-19T21:13:18.570" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a speculation, you may have a ceiling of about 16,500 feet.  This speculation is reinforced by your starting to feel stronger as you passed 16,500 on the way down. Was this the first time you climbed above 16,500?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband had an office mate -- very tough, fit guy -- who puked regularly at 13,000 feet, and felt awful.  Finally he accepted his ceiling.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You had AMS; you were very wise to go down when you did. (Better had you gone down earlier.) Whether you have a ceiling or whether you will be able to exceed the apparent ceiling of 16,500, no one can say, at this point -- unless you have a past history of climbing successfully above 16.5 that you did not include in your Q.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose to try again (in your position, I would not push it again) don't get overtired beforehand (a day off can't hurt), sleep well the night before, warn your companions, be hyper-vigilant and be prepared to turn around when your body tells you to. If the symptoms of this trip recur, don't push it; get down. Get down before you feel &quot;extremely exhausted&quot;.  You could pass the point of collapse quickly if you continue. if you collapse, you are putting other people at risk. Don't wait until your brain does not work before making a decision to go down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is telling that you felt exhausted going &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt; and that you &quot;never felt like this before&quot;.  &lt;strong&gt;If you ever feel like that again, go down!&lt;/strong&gt;  It's OK to feel exhausted moving up, but you should feel OK when you stop and rest, and you should feel much better as soon as you are on a downslope -- unless you have AMS.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The absence of a headache, considering your other symptoms, means nothing.  Different people react differently.  A headache is not &lt;strong&gt;obligatory&lt;/strong&gt; to have AMS.  The more I think about this, the more I think you had a close call. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-10-19T22:24:34.687" LastActivityDate="2015-10-19T22:24:34.687" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9666" CreationDate="2015-10-20T02:15:46.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My guess - you were not suffering  AMS symptom, but you were in potentially big trouble. Normally AMS symptoms take time - up to 24 or even 48 hours to develop. When I was climbing Alpamayo (6000m), a guy got carried off after he came up from sea level and attempted the peak in a day. His aim was bag the peak (6000m) and get down to 3000 within 24hours and he would be 'safe' from AMS. Unfortunately for him he only made it down to 5000m that night. We never found out if he lived.... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping at 3000 meters had acclimatised you to 3000 meters. You were 2500 meters above the highest level you had been sleeping at before you turned around.  You were well acclimatised for the altitudes the previous trips got you to, BUT you had you climbed to those altitudes slowly? (indicated by &quot;days of rest&quot;) . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, on this trip you drove to 4800m and climbed above 5000m immediately - no indications of time taken, my guess is a couple of hours after leaving 3000m you were at 5000m  - not enough time for your body to develop normal symptoms of AMS.  Without AMS symptoms to slow you down, and feeling bullet proof from you earlier trips, you would have climbed at or above your O2 uptake maximums, you body responded to this sudden lack of available oxygen and increase exertion as a need for &quot;fight or flight&quot; for survival - it shut down you digestive system. After that, it was all down hill (pun intended).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you just got a normal stomach complaint from dodgy food or water.....   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: In response to the last line: What to do better next time preparing a high altitude climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the main problem you had was sleeping at 3000 meters for a week then attempting 5900meters - The normal guidelines are around sleeping height gain of 300meters per day above 3000 meters, rest day after 1000meters, and climb high/sleep low typically refers to 'more than 300 meters' for the day climb, not the 3000 meters you attempted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So next time plan to sleep higher and take more time. A week to get to 5900 is pushing it. Do overnight trips and stay at progressively higher altitudes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T05:02:09.977" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T05:02:09.977" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2015-10-20T07:01:00.940" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is best for you to visit a physiotherapist and ask for proper shoes for running. In most cases, (I’ve read from other running communities) your running shoes are a big factor if you are experiencing knee pain while running. If the pain persists, seek for other options like knee surgery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7971" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2015-10-25T15:08:11.120" LastActivityDate="2015-10-25T15:08:11.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9672" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9673" CreationDate="2015-10-20T21:51:40.693" Score="7" ViewCount="325" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally use a very long stretch of twine to transport light gear (&amp;lt;1lb) between my partner and I when we're camping out ~30m from each other.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unreeling and reeling this twine is extremely cumbersome - it's often tangled and I have to buy a new batch.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be handy is a cheap, retractable reel that I can use to unload and reload (think vacuum cleaner cord).  Does anything small, cheap, automated (press a button to retract), and portable exist for extremely thin twine (not electrical cord)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7978" LastEditorUserId="7978" LastEditDate="2015-10-20T23:01:04.990" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T09:33:01.243" Title="Retractable reel for twine - does it exist?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9672" CreationDate="2015-10-20T22:34:39.647" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A wreck reel sold for scuba divers might give you what you want. They vary from simple line holders up through heavy duty reels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7979" LastActivityDate="2015-10-20T22:34:39.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9674" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9675" CreationDate="2015-10-21T05:10:19.150" Score="81" ViewCount="34398" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feral dogs appear to be dangerous. Should I be running if I come across one, or should I stand fast and defend myself? They are a social animal, so they will be in a pack almost all the times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2378" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2020-07-08T15:23:31.517" LastActivityDate="2020-07-09T18:58:17.927" Title="Should I run if I see wild dogs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-21T07:59:49.467" Score="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild dogs can indeed be dangerous, and packs can be extremely dangerous.  You do not want to take on a pack of dogs if you can at all avoid it, and running is often a particularly bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest starting with the basics: try to keep the dog calm and don't try to intimidate it.  This means:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't make direct eye contact, and remember that sunglasses look like large unblinking eyes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't smile (it bares your teeth, which can be similarly threatening).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't approach it, and don't make sudden moves or shout at them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do keep an eye on it, and you can try calmly talking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all, don't &quot;act like food&quot;.  Turning your back, acting afraid, or trying to run away will show weakness and probably trigger their prey drive.  Your job is to act bored until they aren't interested in you, then to slowly back away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are still acting aggressive and you have the time, prepare for an attack.  Quickly see if there's anything you can use as a weapon.  If you have a jacket, wrap it around your weaker forearm.  If you have a pack, ready it to fend them off.  Yelling for help may be a good idea, in case others are nearby.  In an attack, two things are very important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protect your face and neck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not let yourself be taken to the ground*.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dog can move quickly, and trying to hit the dog will likely be counterproductive (unless you happen to have a bat or stick).  Instead, try to keep something between you and it, even if it's just your forearm.  Here is where things start to get ugly.  If it latches onto your arm, remember that you still have your other arm and both legs.  Be careful to keep your balance, and don't worry about trying to free your arm immediately; the one bright spot is that its mouth is otherwise occupied.  Instead, focus on attacking the dog.  This is an excellent time to deploy pepper spray or a knife.  Absent that, shoving a stick or even your arm down its throat may be appropriate, or strikes to its throat and eyes.  (At this point, you are way beyond a newspaper swat to the nose, and there's a good chance you may need to kill it.  Hopefully there's a good chance you outweigh it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*If you do get taken to the ground, protect your neck and roll around quickly.  Letting the dog get a solid bite on your arm (see above) will be better than letting it get hold of your throat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When dealing with a pack you're in significant danger.  A defensible location and weapons will be very helpful.  I suggest a fighting retreat; turn your back and they'll take you down, and they'll probably try to flank you as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you survive an attack there's a good chance rabies may be in play, so get yourself to a hospital immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T07:59:49.467" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9672" CreationDate="2015-10-21T09:33:01.243" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thing that immediately jumps to mind for this is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metaltex-Double-Outdoor-Retractable-Washing/dp/B00J8I1GWQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;retractable washing line&lt;/a&gt;, which should have enough length for what you want. However, they are relatively heavy and aren't exactly thin twine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option may be a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omegasurvivalsupply.com/products/mechanical-auto-fishing-fish-reel-spring-loaded&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;automatic fishing real&lt;/a&gt;. However, its probably not long enough for what you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T09:33:01.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-21T10:33:42.883" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say the only circumstances where you could try to run is when a safe place is near (your car, some kind of shelter, a tree you can climb etc.), the dogs are already alert and running to you (otherwise you could just walk to the shelter without them noticing), and you can realistically make it to the shelter before the dogs do. Remember that dogs car run 2-3 times as fast as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running away from the dogs into nowhere is a stupid idea:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you're provoking them to chase you by running&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you cannot outrun them in the long run&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you're turning your back to them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running towards the shelter when dogs are already near is also not advisable, you'll have better chances walking towards the shelter while still facing the dogs. Facing is very important, as the dogs will see that you're taller than them and ready to fight back, which will intimidate them to some degree and give you more time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7982" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T10:33:42.883" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9449" CreationDate="2015-10-21T11:27:05.183" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no idea what &quot;sounded like wind chimes&quot; is supposed to mean.  No animal that I know of makes a metallic clinking sound.  The closest would be several frogs, but that doesn't fit at all with everything else you said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ignoring the useless description of the sound, everything else points to coyotes.  It would be helpful to be more specific than &quot;not far north of Boston&quot; so we can at least know the nature of the general surroundings (houses and pavement, open field, a large wooded area, etc), but coyotes are now all over New England, even in some urban areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes don't exactly congregate in &quot;packs&quot; like wolves do, more like family groups.  Several of them together is not unusual at all.  The screaming animal you mention was probably a neighborhood cat.  Cats usually scream loudly as a last resort, and coyotes are known to prey on house cats sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also consistant with coyotes that they stayed around for a month or so, then moved on, particularly if this was not late winter when they have pups in a den.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Groton MA with woods all around the house.  We have a group of coyotes in the general area, and twice now their den has been on our property.  Mostly we hear them, especially when they howl back at trains honking at a nearby crossing.  I only see a coyote on our property maybe 2-4 times a year, but pick them up routinely on a trail camera in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T11:27:05.183" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9636" CreationDate="2015-10-21T15:02:28.693" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot say this for all brands - as with any clothing item brands have different versions of sizing. I can be an 8 in one store but a 12 in another, go figure. I'm looking at Rip Curl as they had a great size chart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll have a few factors here as having the incorrect wetsuit size can lead to a few issues like chaffing, too much gap means the wetsuit won't perform as it should do etc etc. Take measurements of your Height, Weight, Neck, Chest, Waist etc - as if you're doing a good tailored suit. Obviously it's better to find somewhere you can try one on too, as ordering online with the wrong size means returns etc, and some places may not allow returns on a wetsuit in the same way you cannot return underwear or swimming costumes (in case you wore them naked at any point).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Rip Curl they go up to what they class as an XXL size: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight: 95-105kg (209-231lbs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Neck: 43cm (17&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chest: 110cm (43.5&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waist: 96cm (43&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However even they state that this is a general guideline and should not be taken as anything more than approximate!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westcoastsurf.co.uk/shop/articles/sizing%20chart&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;West Coast Surf - Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T15:02:28.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9667" CreationDate="2015-10-21T15:18:51.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/231/how-do-i-avoid-leeches&quot;&gt;How do I avoid leeches?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's plenty of anecdotal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mysabah.com/wordpress/how-to-prevent-leech-bite/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;evidence&lt;/a&gt; that suggests &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traveldudes.org/travel-tips/5-simple-steps-how-avoid-leeches/10036&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tobacco&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.organic-kahang.com/misc/leech.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;toxic&lt;/a&gt; for leeches. However, I couldn't find any sources that mention why (thought I found a promising paper &lt;a href=&quot;http://journal.skums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=385&amp;amp;sid=1&amp;amp;slc_lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in Arabic&lt;/a&gt;, which I can't read, and the English summary was insufficient).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'm risking a bit of a wild guess here and assume that the compound that makes it toxic to leeches is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nicotine&lt;/a&gt;, which is known to be an insecticide (and was widely used in the past as such, according to Wikipedia).&#xA;And as far as I know, processed tobacco (used in cigarettes) has pretty much the same nicotine as the natural tobacco leaves. If anything, a lot of other chemicals are added.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing as you're unable to find tobacco leaves anyway, I'd suggest you go for it and try using cigarettes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T15:18:51.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9667" CreationDate="2015-10-21T15:51:46.763" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Q: Would it work?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br&gt;A: Probably, tobacco is toxic to Leeches, but the problem with rubbing cigarette tobacco all over your legs is you will also absorb all of the manufactured additives and toxins put into the cigarette tobacco. &lt;strong&gt;You'd be better off using chewing tobacco.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tobacco accelerates coagulation and was used for its medicinal properties in the past. The leaves are still used today by some cattle ranchers to heal bruises on cows and stop bleeds. If you want to order just the leaves you can do so online: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.leafonly.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.leafonly.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leeches inject an anticoagulant when they bite in order to prevent the blood from clotting so they can get a steady stream while they suck, and easily detach. It's for this reason that leech bites tend to bleed for a long time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect it's the hypercoagulation provided by tobacco that makes it toxic to leeches, but before you start rubbing the stuff all over your body, I recommend you check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mosquitohammock.com/AntiLeechSocks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leech socks&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kbm3e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kbm3e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are much more effective than repellant, and won't introduce anything into your blood stream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T15:51:46.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-21T16:09:30.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly wild dogs are not harmful if you are not doing any foolish in front of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SERIOUS BITES ARE RELATIVELY RARE, AND NO PARTICULAR BREED&#xA;  is more likely to be responsible for serious bites &lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This maybe bit scary, but sometimes doing nothing and just standing still can save your life. Animals focus on you more when you running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most importantly, the person should never run. A human cannot outrun a dog and, as already noted, many dogs respond to people, animals, and objects that are running or moving quickly by chasing, catching, and even biting. This is play for the dog, not fear or hostility, but serious injury can result. This impulse explains why bicyclists, joggers, skateboarders, and skaters are often involved in problematic encounters with dogs, whether as a result of bites or, more commonly, falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/publications/ncrc-publications/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters - from the National Canine Research Council&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7991" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-10-28T11:22:46.607" LastActivityDate="2015-10-28T11:22:46.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-21T18:55:44.970" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;So far all of the answers are assuming the wild dogs are actively hunting you or at least seriously considering attacking you. This might be due to the part of your question where you say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... or should I stand fast and defend myself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the dogs appear to be actively hunting you then a controlled exit to a safe area as suggested by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9677/7995&quot;&gt;Dmitry Grigoryev&lt;/a&gt; is a good plan. If an attack is truly imminent, and you can't get to safety, then the advice offered by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9675/7995&quot;&gt;requiem&lt;/a&gt; is great for trying to deescalate the situation and survive the attack if deescalating the dogs doesn't work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However I interpreted this question more as saying:&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;I see a wild/feral dog. Should I be nervous?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is a totally reasonable question. &lt;em&gt;If that is what you're asking&lt;/em&gt; then I would say, generally you should be cautious and aware of the dog(s) but not &lt;em&gt;nervous&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;You probably aren't going to be harassed by wild/feral dogs unless something else is going on.&lt;/strong&gt; Personally I've seen wild dogs numerous times while out hiking and/or hunting&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;. Most of the time we just look at each other and go our separate ways. I've also encountered feral dogs while traveling in third world countries. These feral dogs caused my wife to get nervous at times, but we were never in any real danger of the dogs attacking us IMO. Honestly fleas were more of a concern with feral/street dogs that I've encountered than the dog attacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such the appropriate response to the feral dogs and the wild dogs that I've encountered has always been to watch for signs that they are acting unusually aggressive, while carrying on business as normal. If the wild/feral dog is acting markedly aggressive then I would highly recommend requiem's answer for defense, if Dmitry's option of avoiding the fight via a safe shelter isn't viable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;: &lt;sup&gt;This has been in the United States where coyotes/wolves have been hunted historically so it might not translate perfectly to regions of the world where wild dogs haven't learned to fear humans, if such a place exists.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T21:14:40.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9425" CreationDate="2015-10-21T21:51:44.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find an authoritative reference to state that a snake wouldn't do that. The main climbing snake in Texas is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.austinreptileservice.net/txrat.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rat Snake&lt;/a&gt;. While one of those &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; climb into your hammock to cuddle, &lt;em&gt;I doubt&lt;/em&gt; they would. At the end of the day it is &lt;strong&gt;much easier&lt;/strong&gt; for a snake to slither into a sleeping bag/tent/boot/etc. than a hammock. Those items are all on the ground, and therefore easily encounter-able. It would have to be a pretty smart and determined snake to slither along the ground, sense your body heat above them, climb the tree, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacklining&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;slackline&lt;/a&gt; the hammock's webbing just to cuddle. Given that and what &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/4148/shemseger&quot;&gt;ShemSeger&lt;/a&gt; said in the comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hammocks are typically what you sleep in to avoid snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overall I think you're safe in your hammock&lt;/strong&gt;, but if your buddies see this post expect to have a rubber snake slipped into your hammock next camping trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T21:51:44.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9456" CreationDate="2015-10-21T22:25:33.673" Score="5" Body="&lt;h3&gt;A knife is just a tool, and will generally reflect the owner's practical needs, and/or aesthetic tastes. Plus there are those who have been carrying the same knife for X years, and don't care to reevaluate their choice. As such &lt;em&gt;the best&lt;/em&gt; is a personal choice that doesn't really have a clear-cut answer.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on your stated use cases a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penknife&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;penknife&lt;/a&gt; seems more than adequate functionally. People might prefer something like that for its classic looks, and smaller size. This would also be more socially appropriate in at certain occasions. I can easily imagine a small decorative penknife being used by a guy in tuxedo, and have a hard time visualizing the same guy whipping out a 4 inch tactical folder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've stated the reasons why you like your knife. Those are valid reasons. I tend to carry a similar knife daily for many of the same reasons. One thing that I like about the tactical folders in general is they can reasonably be used as a weapon if needed. I'm sure I'll never need to use my knife in self-defense, but I would rather carry it vs a smaller &lt;em&gt;Old Timer&lt;/em&gt; knife just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think we can generally agree that there is very little call for us to follow &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl8EbNN8NM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crocodile Dundee's example&lt;/a&gt; in most circumstances. Any small to moderate folder should be good for your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-10-21T22:25:33.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-22T06:32:39.627" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Mexico, I learned that the best way to deal with wild dogs was to squat down very briefly and pick up a small stone.  I never had to actually chuck it at a dog.  They skulked off quite quickly when they saw the movement that looked like the human was picking up a small rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8000" LastActivityDate="2015-10-22T06:32:39.627" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9456" CreationDate="2015-10-22T16:08:38.080" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.opinel.com/couteaux-et-outils-de-poche/tradition/carbone/n8-carbone&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Opinel #8 carbon&lt;/a&gt; (that's 8.5cm, ~3.34 inches for you) when hiking, and sometimes also when not hiking. Here is why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is a good quality knife. The design hasn't changed in decades, it just works&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It locks open and closed, which is nice to carry in your pocket (this is actually quite recent). The lock mechanism is simple and efficient. It is not a spring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is cheap (~10$) enough so I am not too afraid to loose it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It never broke or failed in any way in several years (I have had the same one for quite some time)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry it in my pocket or in the belt of my pack. I never felt the need to have a dedicated holder for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now regarding your arguments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't like pocket clips. I find it cumbersome and that it gets in the way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With a little use, the opinel can be opened with one hand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleaning is easy enough, although it cannot be disassembled. I probably couldn't be bothered to disassemble it anyway&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Closing with one hand, check.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The blade simply getting loose does not matter, since it is locked both when open and close&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is my opinion and my reflection on why I use that knife rather than another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-10-22T16:08:38.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-22T21:59:14.450" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;To the question of whether you should run from a pack of dogs that may be aggressive, the answer is an unqualified &lt;strong&gt;NO!&lt;/strong&gt;.  As to what you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; do, the answer is a bit more complicated.  In the vast majority of cases, dogs won't attack you without provocation.  As always, assume the best but prepare for the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The basics:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Be Prepared:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Prevention is better than having to deal with an attack.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a sturdy hiking stick.  A good, thick wooden staff is better than trekking poles, but poles are better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider carrying pepper spray/mace/bear spray.  Very few healthy dogs will pursue a confrontation after being pepper sprayed. Another option, although they are less common and a bit harder to find, are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8261/how-effective-are-pen-launcher-bear-bangers-compared-to-bearspray&quot;&gt;Bear Bangers&lt;/a&gt;.  Bear bangers are basically just fireworks that can be launched from a handheld, pen-like launcher.  They make a loud screeching sound, then a loud bang, and they emit a bright flash, smoke, and sparks.  The idea is to bewilder and frighten wild animals before they get close enough to hurt you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have a good, sturdy knife handy.  If it folds, make sure it has a sturdy locking mechanism so it doesn't close on your fingers when you try to use it.  A 3-4 inch blade is sufficient, but of course, a machete is even better.  However, very few people are in the habit of carrying machetes on pleasure hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know the area.  Are there wild dogs here?  (As a follow up, if there are wild dogs, why haven't you called animal control?)  Are there safe places to get away from a potential confrontation?  Many things will fit this purpose - an easy-to-climb tree, rock, antenna, lookout tower, etc, that dogs can't climb;  an unlocked car;  an unlocked business, home, or cabin;  even the back of a pickup truck will do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Silly as it might sound, it isn't necessarily a bad idea to carry dog treats, if you are sure that wild dogs are present in the are where you will be hiking.  The best way to turn a threatening dog into a non-threat is to give him something to eat while you make yourself scarce.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a means of communication that will definitely work - once you get up a tree, the dogs can't get you, but what if they decide to wait you out?  It's not likely to happen, but it is possible.  In most places, a charged cell phone will suffice.  If you're hiking in an area with poor reception, a satellite phone or emergency radio (know the local emergency channels/frequencies), or, as a last resort, a signal whistle or distress beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you bring dog treats, they can go in your backpack, but the phone, mace, and knife should be on your person at all times - on your belt or in your pockets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As always, let other people - people who aren't in your hiking party - know where you're going, when you will get there, and when you expect to get back home.  If no one knows you're missing, no one will look for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Know the warning signs:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Don't confuse a curious or playful dog with a dangerous one.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most dogs are not aggressive, but, rather, just curious or defending what they perceive as their territory. Thus, to avoid unnecessary conflict, it is important to be able to tell if a dog is just playing or is being truly aggressive. While some breeds have been singled out as being particularly vicious, any mid-size and large dog breed can be dangerous, so do not ignore warning signs because you think a certain breed is harmless or friendly. Watch for common signs of aggression (and non-aggression):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Growling, snarling, and baring teeth are obvious displays of aggression and should be treated as such.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;An angry dog may show the whites of his eyes, especially if these aren't normally visible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pulled-back ears laying flat against the head are a telltale sign of aggression, whereas normal floppy or elevated ears usually signal a dog's nonchalance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the dog approaches you with its body relaxed and with a sloping curve in its midsection, the dog is probably not going to attack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A dog whose body is tense, straight and stiff (head, shoulders and hips aligned) could mean business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A loping gait means the dog is playful and checking you out. An even, steady run means the dog may be dangerous.    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://m.wikihow.com/Handle-a-Dog-Attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Once a confrontation begins:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might say that the best approach consists of the following steps:  &lt;strong&gt;Stay Calm, Ignore, Placate, Intimidate, Repel, Fight Back, and Last Resort&lt;/strong&gt; (for this section, I am borrowing much from &lt;a href=&quot;http://m.wikihow.com/Handle-a-Dog-Attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; two &lt;a href=&quot;http://walking.about.com/cs/safety/ht/htdogattack.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;articles&lt;/a&gt;.  Use each step in turn if possible, and if any step works, that's the time to back away (see &quot;exit strategies&quot;, below).  If any step fails to have the desired effect, move on to the next one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay Calm&lt;/strong&gt;.  Don't panic.  There is some truth to the old adage that dogs can smell fear.  Unless you are a few feet from a safe haven (e.g., an unlocked car, house, business, easy-to-climb tree), don't try to get away, and above all else, &lt;strong&gt;don't run&lt;/strong&gt;.  Running will trigger the predatory instinct in the dogs, and virtually guarantee an attack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ignore&lt;/strong&gt;.  Put your hands at your sides.   Extending your arms could be perceived as threatening, and it opens them up to a bite.  Roll your hands into fists to protect your fingers. Put your side to the dogs, not your face or back, but keep the dogs in your peripheral vision.  It should be seen by the animals as an &quot;I'm neither scared of you nor hostile to you;  you just don't matter to me&quot; signal.  They may approach you, even sniffing you.  Let them.  Don't react.  The best case scenario is that they'll turn out to be friendly and seek positive attention, or at least decide you're neither a meal nor a threat and simply walk away.  If this doesn't have the desired effect, move onto placation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Placate&lt;/strong&gt;.  Don't immediately engage the dogs with hostility.  Try to distract them first.  Offer them something else to focus on.  If you have treats, use them now.  If you don't, try, almost anything else - a water bottle, backpack, whatever.  Pick up a small stick, if you have nothing better - if the dogs know people, they might take this as an invitation to play.  If so, you just found yourself a pack of friends.  If not, throwing  stick might stil distract them.  If you lose your backpack to the dogs, remember - however much it sucks to have your possessions torn up by dogs, it's still better than having them tear &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; up.  If it doesn't work, intimidate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Intimidate&lt;/strong&gt;.   Keep in mind, although this is now your best option, it could very easily escalate the problem.  Things are getting serious.  Face the dogs, but avoid eye contact.  Say something like &quot;BACK OFF!&quot; in a firm, deep, confident voice.  If this fails, try to repel them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Repel&lt;/strong&gt;.  If the dogs persist in signs of overt aggression - growling, snarling, baring teeth, etc - now is the time to deploy the &quot;ranged weapons&quot; - mace/pepper spray/bear spray.  This is probably going to end the confrontation in a hurry.  If it doesn't immediately set the dogs to flight, spray again.  Target all the dogs that are showing aggressive behavior, but pay special attention to the boldest, most active animal(s).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fight Back&lt;/strong&gt;.  If they attack, fight back.   &lt;strong&gt;Do not instigate the fight.  Only resort to violence if &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; do so first.&lt;/strong&gt;  Now you can - and should - start to yell, hopefully in a loud, deep, commanding voice.  This might intimidate the dogs, and if it doesn't, it will hopefully attract the attention of anyone in the area.  Don't scream or shriek, as this will probably just make things worse.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abandon any sense of mercy or compassion, because your life is on the line.  They're trying to KILL YOU, so you have to kill them first, or hurt them bad enough to make them retreat.  Feel bad about it later.&lt;/strong&gt;  It might be unpleasant, and as a dog lover myself, it pains me to write this as my sweet yellow lab lays sleeping beside me on the couch.  But you are fighting for your life, and a dead dog is better than a dead you.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/aggression/when-several-dogs-attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Try to spot the most active, dominant animal, and focus on it&lt;/a&gt;.  It might be the literal &quot;leader of the pack&quot;, and if you hurt it enough to scare it, the effect should spread through the entire pack pretty quickly.   Convince the alpha to retreat, and - at least in theory - the rest of the dogs will follow their leader.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weapons. You're a homo Sapien.  You evolved to use tools and weapons, and this ability is the main reason your species is so dominant.  Use it to your advantage.  Try to fight by hitting the dogs with your weapons.  Start with the stick.  Swing for the back of the head.  It should stun the dogs.  If you lose the stick (or didn't bring one), use the knife.  Stab, stab, stab.  If you lose the knife, or didn't bring one, grab a good sized rock or stick and start smacking skulls.  If no rocks or sticks are available, you're stuck with close quarters, unarmed fighting.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hand to paw.  You still have some advantages.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A.  You can kick and punch.  Kick throats, punch the backs of heads.  Do both to sensitive noses.  This is your method of choice with a large number of dogs, because it keeps the greatest possible distance between them and your vitals.  Against a large pack, stay on your feet as long as possible,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;B.  You can't bite as well as they can, but you're bigger and stronger, and you have all the leverage and flexibility.  &lt;strong&gt;Dogs suck at wrestling&lt;/strong&gt;.  If you can do so relatively safely, use your weight to your advantage by crushing the dog with your bulk.  Come down on their chests with both knees, as hard as you can.  Do it hard enough and you'll kill the dog, or at least wound it so badly that it is no longer a threat.  Obviously, the fewer dogs you started out against, the safer this technique will be.  With a large pack engaged in a fight, it might put you in greater danger by making your vitals more accessible. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Last Resort&lt;/strong&gt;.  If you are overwhelmed and unable to stay on your feet, do what your instincts should be telling you to do:  duck and cover.  On the ground, pull your knees tight to your chest.  Tuck your head down, chin to chest.  Lock your elbows outside your knees, with your fingers interlaced behind your neck.  Now roll onto your knees, so your face iand stomach are both protected by your limbs and facing the ground.  Stay quiet.  Don't move or scream.  You're trying to keep teeth away from your soft spots - face, throat, neck, belly, and groin.  Your back, arms, and legs are there to take the brunt of the damage.  You are hoping that the dogs will quickly lose interest, and/or that help will arrive before it's too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Exit Strategies:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If and when you see an opportunity to get away - the dogs are calming down, losing interest, or being scared off - follow these steps (obviously, if you're already being attacked and get an opening to climb a nearby tree or something - without having to run more than a few steps - you should take it):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Back away slowly for as long as possible.  No eye contact or sudden movements.  Stay calm and try to appear confident.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once you are a safe distance away, turn around and walk slowly towards the nearest safe area that doesn't require you to pass by the dogs.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're hurt, get to the doctor.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Call animal control or law enforcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Further reading:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20151025123823/https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/predatory-behavior-dogs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ASPCA -  Predatory Behavior In Dogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20151016092135/http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/aggression.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humane Society - Dog Aggression&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://walking.about.com/cs/safety/ht/htdogattack.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Walking.com - How to Avoid a Dog Attack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://martialarts.stackexchange.com/questions/2334/how-to-defend-against-dog-attacks&quot;&gt;Martial Arts.SE Question on this subject&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personal Observations On Dealing With Dog Attacks - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=336&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prevention&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=337&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;If Attacked&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6227497.stm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BBC - How Do You Fend Off A Dangerous Dog?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cesar Milan, &quot;The Dog Whisperer&quot;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/aggression/when-several-dogs-attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;has some tips as well&lt;/a&gt;.  Some of them are very reasonable, but others strike me as potentially exacerbating the situation.  He seems to assume that you will have your own dog with you, and he furthermore appears to believe that this is usually a good thing, but I see a lot of room for it to cause much more serious problems - your dog may provoke a fight out of  a desire to protect you, and once the fight begins, you're basically stuck there, unable to get away - unless you're willing to abandon your own dog to be torn to pieces by the wild dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forcenecessary.com/force-necessary-combatives/articles/article-how-to-survive-a-dog-attack/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fighting aggressive dogs&lt;/a&gt;:  This article takes a slightly over-aggressive approach, but has some interesting pointers for the worst case scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6453" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T07:59:40.210" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T07:59:40.210" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9691" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9692" CreationDate="2015-10-23T10:44:23.677" Score="17" ViewCount="40299" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy some comfortable shoes to wear while going to work. I have to walk 4 km every day. I want to use these shoes on rainy (not too heavy) days too. I am looking for shoes for all weather conditions (except heavy rain and snow) that are comfortable for walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found some shoes but they say &quot;WaterProof Hiking Shoes&quot; and I am curious about whether it is OK to wear these kinds of shoes in an office environment or asphalt streets. Do they have any disadvantages on clear surfaces?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8015" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:37:33.623" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:37:33.623" Title="Is it ok to wear hiking shoes on street conditions?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9691" CreationDate="2015-10-23T11:11:06.683" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Concerning using hiking shoes on asphalt: it certainly can be done and is a much better option than the other way around (i.e. taking a business shoe on a mountain hike). Hiking shoes are a bit stiffer in their construction and might have a little less damping in their sole which &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; make them a bit uncomfortable to walk on longer asphalt stretches but this shouldn't be a problem for such short pieces that you intend to do. However, if you decide to stick to a hiking boot, I would try to stay with rather light ones as you won't necessarily need features like ankle support and stuff like that. You could also have a look into the category of so-called &quot;approach shoes&quot; which are a bit lighter but may also be more or less waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning the question about wearing them in an office environment, that depends on the office environment and the dress code there. A professor at my university is often seen wearing his cycling shoes that he uses for cycling to work and nobody cares. Other environments might have more restrictive guidelines concerning clothes and shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-10-23T20:38:30.357" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T20:38:30.357" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9691" CreationDate="2015-10-23T11:38:21.283" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Benedikt already gave a good answer and he is right that a hiking &lt;strong&gt;boot&lt;/strong&gt; would be a massive overflow. It just looks ridiculous because it is simply not designed to be used on flat terrain. What you need is a comfy and weather resistant shoe. Therefore you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; go for a light hiking shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wearing my approach shoes in daily use from time to time. But just two points regarding this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most noticeably the sole wears off pretty fast on asphalt and therefore you have to replace the shoes quite early. Because outdoor equipment is a growing and somehow &lt;em&gt;trendy&lt;/em&gt; business the shoes are expensive too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even now (with decreasing temperatures) I am sometimes feeling too warm on the feet. You can adjust with lighter socks but still you could think in bringing other shoes for the office. Also to have an adequate more stylish looking office shoe or to simply have a very comfy slipper if your boss allows that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general lighter style hiking shoes have no disadvantages because they are made for walking even with difficult conditions/terrain. If you can live with the higher prices it's very fine in my opinion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longer the distance and the worse the terrain you are walking in daily, the more sense makes a proper hiking shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T11:38:21.283" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9691" CreationDate="2015-10-23T12:00:09.553" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of hiking shoes that are waterproof so they appear to have been dipped in rubber for about an inch and a half up the shoe. They work with our dress code but I find that when I leave the carpeted area into the hardwood lobby where as everyone else's shoes go &quot;click clack&quot; mine go &quot;squish squish&quot;! Every time that happens I consider wearing my Rockports instead!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8018" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T12:00:09.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9691" CreationDate="2015-10-23T12:24:08.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep a pair of loafers or Rockports at the office. That way I can wear whatever shoes are appropriate/comfortable for traveling to/from the office and switch once I get there. For me, hiking boots are what I wear in sloppy weather and running shoes are for when I run into work. A plastic trash bag is nice to have to put under the sloppy boots to keep from soaking the carpet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7979" LastActivityDate="2015-10-23T12:24:08.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9698" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-23T18:40:07.157" Score="6" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone knows that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=paper+clip+fatigue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bending a paperclip back and forth&lt;/a&gt; will eventually cause it to break. This is due to a process called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_%28material%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fatigue&lt;/a&gt;. And while &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5857/3066&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; discusses the elastic limits for fatigue, I don't know if that directly applies to the &lt;em&gt;bending&lt;/em&gt; of the rope/cord through knots and movement over parts, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So can nylon ropes fail from being bent like metals, or do they only fail from repeated/excessive forces? In other words, if I bend a rope back and forth a bunch am I increasing its risk of failure?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T17:39:23.790" Title="Can nylon ropes fail from bend fatigue?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9698" CreationDate="2015-10-23T20:53:04.277" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In theory maybe, in practice no. UV damage is a bigger threat to ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbers repeatedly tie knots (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/climber/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-knots/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;which temporarily reduce the strength of a rope&lt;/a&gt;) into the ends of a rope. Then they proceed to fall on that rope with often high amounts of force repeatedly. Their ropes don't break due to the strain and repeated knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sailors will sail with nylon ropes in their rigging, at times these ropes might flog in the wind. The flogging ends don't break off because of repeated bending/flogging. Similarly loads secured to a trailer or vehicle will flog in the wind. The ends of these ropes don't snap off either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day a rope is like a woven product in that many smaller fibers work together to become a whole that is stronger than the parts. This lets individual fibers fail due to fatigue, excess load, abrasion, UV rays, etc. without really affecting the whole until a critical mass has been reached. In general I would expect a rope to withstand at least as many bends as your shirt, aka lots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something else to consider, in general the fibers in a rope won't be bent like the metal in a paper clip. The woven nature of the rope will allow the fibers to pull slightly in the weave so the pressure is exerted over a larger area than a similar bend in a paper clip. Also nylon fibers, I believe, have some elasticity. This allows them to stretch. Metals or rigid plastics are typically what you think of &quot;fatiguing.&quot; That is because they don't have the same amount of elasticity. I believe this elasticity is what allows a rubber band to bend without fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T17:39:23.790" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T17:39:23.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9700" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-24T10:21:52.837" Score="7" ViewCount="71" Body="&lt;p&gt;The book &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sierra-Grazalema-Complete-Guidebook-Natural/dp/8493565385&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra de Grazalema: Complete Guidebook to the Natural Park&lt;/a&gt; includes a chapter on canyons, describing two routes: one Garganta Verde and one through the Garganta de las Buitreras.  Both require rope, karabiner, helmet, harness, etc.  Are there any canyons in or near the Natural Park where one can access using only normal hiking gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-09-26T18:12:39.733" Title="Are any canyons in the Sierra de Grazalema accessible without special canyoneering gear?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9702" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-24T18:11:55.123" Score="10" ViewCount="884" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that most maple trees flower in the spring and produce seeds in the fall. However, it seems to be the reverse for the maples near me. I see seeds fall off in the spring which makes me think that the maples flower in the fall, and the seeds develop in the winter. The species I have is sugar maple. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would it be the reverse for the sugar maples in Columbus, Ohio?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T20:46:21.103" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T20:46:21.103" Title="Do sugar maple trees ever flower in the fall in Ohio?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8219" CreationDate="2015-10-24T21:46:57.470" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The accepted answer is an excellent summary, but I'd like to add my personal observations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do most of my walking in Scotland in &quot;dreich&quot;, cold conditions. Paramo is the &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; thing that keeps me dry. Having gone through a series of GoreTex/Event/Triplepoint jackets beforehand, my experience was of being drenched in my own sweat even if they kept the rain out. The Analogy's water-movement mechanism away from the skin means that I have actually washed my baselayers, then put the jacket/trousers on over the top and they dry out while I'm walking! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, a word about durability. I am still using a Paramo Alta winter jacket that I bought 14 years ago. I don't think any Goretex/Event jacket I've had has remained serviceable more than 3 years. They seem to de-laminate and the taped seams come loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lighter Paramo options. I got hold of one of their lighter-weight jackets and trousers a couple of years ago for warmer weather use. They are of course ultrabreathable, but I think the thinner Nikwax analogy layer means that it is easier for water to penetrate (certainly true in the trousers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8036" LastActivityDate="2015-10-24T21:46:57.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9704" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11238" CreationDate="2015-10-24T22:47:33.213" Score="6" ViewCount="555" Body="&lt;p&gt;Within &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/servtc5/ventana/mostrarFicha.do&quot;&gt;Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema&lt;/a&gt;, is the &lt;em&gt;Zona de Reserva&lt;/em&gt;, for which special permits are required: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Spanish fir forest and other areas in the Reserve can only be visited at certain times of the year, and visitor numbers are limited, so you are advised to get information in advance.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parque_natural_de_la_Sierra_de_Grazalema&quot;&gt;Spanish Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;, the Centro de Visitantes (visitor centre) in El Bosque serves for obtaining authorisation to access de &lt;em&gt;Zona de Reserva&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Centro de Visitantes de El Bosque. C/Fco. García Lorca s/n. 11670, El Bosque. Tfno.: 956709733. Este centro realiza las funciones de central para la obtención de autorización de acceso a la Zona de Reserva.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sierra-Grazalema-Complete-Guidebook-Natural/dp/8493565385&quot;&gt;Sierra de Grazalema: Complete Guidebook to the Natural Park&lt;/a&gt;, reservations must be made between 1 and 30 days in advance and are limited to 20 people per day.  The guidebook lists a telephone number (which is different from the one on Wikipedia or the park website) that I have not tried to phone yet, but in my experience the English language knowledge of visitor centre employees can be very limited (and my Spanish is poor).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I apply for a permit to visit the Zona de Reserva in the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T08:49:44.157" Title="How do I apply for a permit for the Zona de Reserva in Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema? Can it be done online?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;spain&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2015-10-24T23:16:31.347" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;We love crows! I live in America, where there are three main breeds of crow, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/news/birdist-rule-65-how-tell-difference-between-crows&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Crows, Fish Crows, and Northwestern Crows&lt;/a&gt;. They're a bit different from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common ravens&lt;/a&gt;, and other ravens, found in some other parts of the world. Although there are many varieties of each, their diets are fairly similar, so to make it easy for me, I'll call them all crows from here on! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crows are omnivores, and variety is important for their health. Their staple diet, however, is meat in many forms. Since other answers and comments have thoroughly covered that, I'll add a few other things that may work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seeds and nuts:&lt;/strong&gt; In my experience, like yours, crows don't really like bird seed, especially the small seeds we feed the songbirds. They will eat larger seeds, though, like sunflower, (which are plentiful in my yard as that's what we feed our birds year-round) and pumpkin. Crows love nuts! We feed whole, unsalted peanuts in the shell. They take one, crack it on a nearby rock, and pick out the nuts. If we try to make it easier by putting out individual nuts, they will eat them, but if we feed both, they always choose the whole. The same is true of walnuts and almonds, so there must be a desire to work for their food, which probably stems from the same instinct as pulling apart road kill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Berries and fruit:&lt;/strong&gt; For much of the year, crows easily find berries and fruit on their own. They'll eat almost any wild food growing on trees in the woods, or on bushes or vines around your yard. Even things that are poisonous to people are fine food for crows. Some examples are poison oak, sumac, dogwood, and pokeberry. If you've invited crows into your yard, make sure to provide fruit year-round. Grapes, cherries, apples, cranberries, blueberries and figs are all good choices. Our crows won't eat anything in the citrus family, but your birds might.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Grains:&lt;/strong&gt; Our crows love dehydrated corn. We sprinkle &lt;a href=&quot;http://kaytee.com/products/cracked-corn.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;loose kernels&lt;/a&gt; from a bag around the yard, and they're gone in a flash! The same corn is available &lt;a href=&quot;http://kaytee.com/products/corn-on-a-cob.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on the cob&lt;/a&gt;. These are multi-purpose. Many of our larger birds like them, and they're a huge favorite of other backyard visitors, especially squirrels and chipmunks. I've read that crows like other grains like barley and wheat, but I haven't tried those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Miscellaneous:&lt;/strong&gt; Our crows like whole hard-boiled eggs. We take the shells off, but it's probably not necessary. Crows also eat a variety of things that wash up on the beach. I wonder what the fish-equivalent name is to road kill. Maybe ocean kill?! You could try putting out dishes of fish carcass and leftover raw shellfish, but I haven't done it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backyard:&lt;/strong&gt; Lots of living things in the yard appeal to crows, including insects, worms, spiders and small animals like frogs. Contrary to what some people say, crows can benefit the yard, as they eat the types of grubs and insects that endanger plants and food crops. They do eat some rodents, small birds, and nest eggs, but if we keep the crows well-fed, our other creatures are safer than we think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @michael mentioned, crows are very intelligent, and ravens even moreso. They're also quite sociable, and are content to let you sit nearby while they wander around the yard. A friend of mine in Florida has a crow that will take a nut or hunk of meat right out of her hand. Establishing a relationship like that takes time, but is well worth it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for being noisy while they eat, I haven't found that to be true. They may squawk when they're hungry, but they seem to make more noise in the trees than on the lawn, or at the feeding areas in our yard. I happen to love the sound, but I love all animal sounds, so I might not be the right one to give you an opinion! Ravens seem to have a wider variety of calls than crows, some being less ear-piercing and more tolerable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The diet we use was chosen from a number of sources, and customized by trial and error. The sources include, but are not limited to:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://birdeden.com/how-to-attract-crows-to-your-backyard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Attract Crows to Your Backyard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crows.net/food.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Language of Crows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-crow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon Bird Guide&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope things that have worked for us will help you. Please let us know! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-17T22:51:57.760" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T22:51:57.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9706" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9708" CreationDate="2015-10-25T00:27:01.810" Score="17" ViewCount="2600" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many bicycle panniers are made of waterproof material.  Backpacks are not, necessitating built-in or separate raincovers.  Why don't backpacks use the material that waterproof panniers do?  Unlike gear to be worn on the body, there's no need for backpacks to breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:58:30.540" Title="Why are backpacks mostly not made of waterproof material?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9702" CreationDate="2015-10-25T01:19:26.427" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sugar maples, like other maples, flower in early spring. The flowers aren't very impressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The leaves of sugar maple are usually fully expanded three to four weeks after the leaf buds begin to swell in the spring. The flowers emerge soon after the leaves and are in full bloom within a week. ...Fruits that result from flower pollination usually mature in about 10 to 12 weeks and become ripe in September or October. The double samara fruit is characteristic of sugar maple, but usually only one seed is viable. The samaras fall about two weeks after ripening, which is approximately the same time the tree suspends its annual height growth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red Maple flower earlier, before leaves appear. Again, the flowers are not really conspicuous but look rather like fuzzy things on the branches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/USkjCm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/USkjCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is one of the earliest trees to flower in the spring, generally several weeks before vegetative bud break. It produces it's fruit very early. Seeds fall for a 1- to 2-week period during April through July.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in mixed deciduous woods, and the flowers of the red maples are some of the earliest color we have in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps this is what you're seeing, the early fruits of the Red Maple. In any case, there are no maples that flower in the fall and overwinter their seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/trees.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The life of a sugar maple tree.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/rubrum.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Red Maple&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5866" LastActivityDate="2015-10-25T01:19:26.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9706" CreationDate="2015-10-25T01:25:18.827" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few backpacks made of waterproof materials, especially among cottage manufacturers. ZPacks, Hyperlight Mountain Gear, Zimmerbuilt, Gossamer Gear, and many others manufacture packs out of Hybrid Cuben Fiber, Dimension Polyant X-Pac fabrics, or other waterproof materials. Even more mainstream manufacturers use a good deal of waterproof fabrics. Speaking anecdotally, my REI Flash 45 uses waterproof fabric for most of the pack body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is more to waterproofing a pack than the fabrics. Even packs that use waterproof textiles are not sufficiently waterproof unless the seams are sealed. Moreover, water can enter through zippers or drawcord openings. There are some packs on the market designed not to need a liner or cover (the ZPacks Arc Blast, for example), but achieving this requires a number of design considerations. They must simplify construction to minimize the number and complexity of seams to seal, they must eliminate features that create entry points for water (like hydration hose ports and zippers), and they must use a rolltop closure to seal out water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a simple ultralight pack, this isn't much of a compromise. But as complexity increases, rainproofing becomes more and more difficult to achieve, to the point where it is simply easier (and lighter) to add a pack liner or cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5594" LastActivityDate="2015-10-25T01:25:18.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9709" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9718" CreationDate="2015-10-25T01:42:55.880" Score="7" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be car camping in Western Europe (Portugal &amp;amp; Spain) from Nov. 14-Dec. 22nd this year. I will be camping in a wide range of environments, ranging from the mountainous Asturias Province of Northern Spain to coastal Mediterranean areas like Cadiz. I am looking for a new sleeping bag that will suit this type of excursion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have recommendations on what temperature rating of sleeping bag would be good for this area at this time of year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8039" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T12:20:04.440" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T12:20:04.440" Title="Winter camping in Western Europe sleeping bag question" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;spain&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9706" CreationDate="2015-10-25T03:50:45.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The complexity of backpacks, as well as the typical use case scenario has a lot to do with why the backpacks themselves aren't waterproofed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the typical day in the life of a bicycle pannier involves relatively little exposure to water. You take it out in the rain for an hour or two, and then usually you take it inside with you wherever you go. This makes waterproofing the pannier itself logical, because the waterproof layer can sustain those two hours. But waterproof layers typically have an unspoken time limit. If you've ever exposed a 'waterproof' pannier or 'waterproof' boots to water for more than a few hours, you start to realize the limits of waterproof layers. They're usually, not truly waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Add to this the fact that waterproof fabrics are typically heavy and they don't breathe very well, and you've got a recipe for inefficiency. If you've ever worn a waterproof backpack, you know how heavy they can be and how poorly they breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this to say, it's more efficient, lighter, and cheaper to place individual items in dry sacks. The lightweight dry sacks. They keep your stuff organized, and they keep things dry no matter how soaked your backpack is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2015-10-26T00:24:57.710" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T00:24:57.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-26T02:22:49.917" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't run from them, but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can't climb to a tree. You can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can't jump over a fence. You can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can't even break a single glass window.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many of them fears if they see anything in your hands. They don't have any idea if this object is really dangerous or painful, or not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A dog see a human as a leader and a source of very happy things (warm, food, etc). It is imprinted into them since around 8000 years. It is a very-very last resort if a dog see a human as food. (Which is exactly opposite, as the bears do - for them, we are just moving food, just as a deer.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between stray dog and stray dog there is a large difference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of them born in a human family, and learned as a small puppy, that humans are very, very important to get food, and they are also very strong leaders. After that, on a point of his life, he was thrown out, and although he survived it, he won't ever forget the &quot;golden era&quot; of his life. Such dogs won't ever attack you. They eat cats, mouse, shit, deers, and similar things.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A little bit of them didn't ever see a human. These dogs are practically unsocializable and need to be shot (or euthanized), because you are really food for them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move your hands and legs, and show them, how will you kick them, or beat them, if they come near. Imitate that you kick them, beat them, throw painful things to them. They understand the human body language very well (often better as we understand eachothers), but don't have any idea if you can realize the threat or not. It is much more efficient if they really see something in your hand, best if it is long, as a staff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most dog doesn't live too long free, because hunters have free license to kill any dog without an owner. Thus, the really stray dog, which hasn't ever seen human, is rare. There is another reason: even for completely feral dogs, knowing the human behavior is an important thing for the survival, but these knowledge can be get only with humans. Stray mother dogs can't explain this to their pups - the capability to transfer complex thoughts between eachother was one of the reasons of the human civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why most stray dogs are from the zeroth generation, and you can use it against them (and this is why they aren't really dangerous, except if they are in a flock and have hunger).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7786" LastEditorUserId="7786" LastEditDate="2016-04-20T09:59:44.773" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T09:59:44.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9713" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9717" CreationDate="2015-10-26T08:56:27.833" Score="11" ViewCount="1186" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm after a new pair of gloves for the winter. I've found plenty of gloves online but I'm wary of buying them as I want some really warm winter gloves (for use in -10C or less). In a shop I can try them on, etc. but online I can't. this is particularly difficult for some place like Sportspursuit where I can get them dirt cheap but  it could take a couple of weeks of them to arrive,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anyway to tell how warm a pair of gloves are? Like some kind of rating system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T07:48:25.230" Title="Is there a practical &quot;Measurement of warmth&quot;?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9719" CreationDate="2015-10-26T09:05:50.020" Score="14" ViewCount="2987" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to read for a couple of hours after getting into my sleeping bag, and I don't like to use the tent unless the weather is bad.  So usually I am lying propped up against my pack (food removed) attended by a circle of no-see-ums or mosquitoes trying to dive-bomb under my hat, the brim of which is sprayed with deet. Tolerable, but not ideal.  A head and shoulders mesh mini-tent would protect me when reading and allow me to commune with the stars. Does such a product exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T13:01:01.797" Title="Is there a mesh mini-tent on the market that covers head, shoulders and arms, allowing you read comfortably in buggy terrain?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9706" CreationDate="2015-10-26T09:07:37.627" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like a lot of decision made by a manufacturer it's a case of profit! At some level they've made a commercial decision. Waterproof fabrics are expensive, so if you make a bag using them then you have pass this onto the customer or take a hit on your profits. I would imagine that they've researched this and decided the demand for this doesn't match the outlay they'd need to invest in such a product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T09:07:37.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9714" CreationDate="2015-10-26T09:09:20.003" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, your talking about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergfreunde.co.uk/outdoor-research-bug-bivy-bivy-sack-mosquito-net/?pid=10004&amp;amp;cpkey=dyV6pIGXnHbr2qzMtqhYdNq6anW9TX4Im_QNrmjpK4o&amp;amp;_$ja=tsid:60797|cid:254044867|agid:15740387587|tid:kwd-32181381980|crid:67862768227|nw:g|rnd:3869962410033276981|dvc:c|adp:1o3&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjwnrexBRDNmZzNkf7c4c4BEiQALnlxhULxvxQtIcrL5K2nuii3aIhNca30Tc_5m2cV-nlnDrwaAh9b8P8HAQ&quot;&gt;bivvy bag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/It3sT.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/It3sT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T09:09:20.003" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9713" CreationDate="2015-10-26T09:27:58.210" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The physicists answer: there could be such a measure (it exists for example for the insulation of buildings), but it would in the case of clothing depend on so many factors that it would be close to useless. Factors that have an influence here are things like physical activity, wind, humidity or personal disposition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To begin with the last one: There are people who get cold hands even if they just go out to collect their letters and newspaper from the letterbox and such that can engage in a two hour snowball fight without wearing gloves. &lt;em&gt;And&lt;/em&gt;, this can change to some extent on a day to day basis. That already sets quite a wide base for a temperature range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's physical activity. Let's compare it with other pieces of clothing: While a good base layer shirt and a wind breaker jacket may be a combination totally suitable for an hour run in the winter, the same setup in the same weather would let you freeze within minutes while standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus. With gloves its not different. Need an example? You can see many soccer players play without gloves even in deepest winter with temperatures well below freezing – that's only possible since they are physically active and the blood flow heats their hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With wind and water you have another two factors that can change a lot. I have a pair of thin fleece gloves that are really really nice and moderately warm in normal weather. However, once it gets a bit windy or they get wet, they seem to loose all their insulation. Now you might argue that your gloves won't get wet in sub-freezing temperatures. However, consider some light climbing or scrambling over rocky terrain in the mountains, where the sun has molten some snow or ice to slush. Sooner or later you will touch such a chunk of slush and bang!, your gloves are wet and possibly your insulation is gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To conclude, there are too many factors that influence the insulation itself as well as the perception of cold that it is quite impossible to deduce a measure of insulation that is valid for more than a dozen of people and being misleading for a wide majority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you might argue why then there is such a temperature rating for sleeping bags or the unit &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tog_(unit)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tog&lt;/a&gt; for duvets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, things are a bit easier here, since some of the aspects above are not present with sleeping bags or less pronounced. First of all, you normally do everything to keep your sleeping bag away from water and build your camp site in a way to keep wind away – hence those external influences are normally eliminated to some extent. Then, people are (usually) not physically active in a sleeping bag, so you can assume less variation in internal heating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What stays is the cold vs. warm people problem. This is addressed in nearly every text about sleeping bag temperature ratings by saying that these ratings are generated using a (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/posts/7156/edit&quot;&gt;more or less&lt;/a&gt;) standardized test procedure and telling everyone that their actual comfort perception may be shifted with respect to that rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-10-27T07:48:25.230" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T07:48:25.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9709" CreationDate="2015-10-26T10:00:44.863" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you are camping I would recommend a three or four season synthetic sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetic bags are generally cheaper and bulkier than down bags for an equivalent warmth. As you are car camping the additional bulk isn't that important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of Spain has night temperatures between 5-0 C this time of year so a three season bag should be fine. Sleeping bags generally have a comfort temperature rating (and sometimes an extreme temperature rating too). I would look for a bag with a comfort temp of about 0 C or a bit lower. Depending on your preference you may even get away with a two season bag if you don't mind wearing extra clothes/being cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the mountains the temperature will be somewhat colder and you may need a four season bag. Have a look at the expected night temperatures for the places you are going to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T10:00:44.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9714" CreationDate="2015-10-26T10:02:52.723" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There exit various kinds of head or even upper body mosquito nets. You can put one over your head and the sleeping bag opening to hold them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are anyway carrying a tent, I think this is optimal as it is very lightweight. As you seem to enjoy sleeping in the open, an alternative would be to ditch your tent entirely and go for a bivy bag, with possible additional bug protection as shown in Liam's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iaBLlm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iaBLlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Sea To Summit Mosquito Head Net by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/sea-to-summit-mosquito-head-net&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;backcountry.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T10:02:52.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9714" CreationDate="2015-10-26T10:04:14.357" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you want one of those hats with an extra long mosquito net around it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MfbX8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MfbX8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mosquito net&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5010-073/outdoor-research-bug-bucket-hat-unisex/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MEC&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Larger ones than the one in the photo exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In places like northern Finland in summer, you pretty much never see anyone fishing without one.  I've seen people with such nets hanging from their hat, while the net reached down to their knees.  Fishing is a worst-case-scenario because people stand still by often standing water.  Hikers move and those mosquitoes are very slow, so it's less urgent for them.  In Sweden and Finland at least, the most advanced mosquito nets will therefore be found in shops selling fishing gear rather than regular outdoor stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-26T10:09:52.040" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T10:09:52.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4673" CreationDate="2015-10-26T10:33:23.610" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking assocations in Spain use a system called &lt;em&gt;Método de Información De Excursiones&lt;/em&gt; (MIDE), or Method of Information on Excursions.  Most information is in Spanish, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rutasnavarra.com/asp/asp_mide/mide1-en.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;an English language manual is available here&lt;/a&gt;.  Each hike receives four grades on a scale 1–5 according to four categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Environment.  Is there a high risk of landslides?  Are there many places where falling off the trail may be lethal?  Does it reach areas that are far away from rescue?  MIDE lists 17 risk factors.  A trek with at most one risk factor is rated 1/5, and a trek with 11 or more is rated 5/5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Orientation.  Is the trail easy to find, large and sign-posted, or does the hiker need to be proficient with map, compass, GPS in order to find the route?  A route that needs no map, such as a major trail following a lakeshore, is 1/5.  Dead reckoning full of impassable obstacles is 5/5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Terrain.  Is it a large track where one could walk with city shoes, or are there many rocks on the trail, perhaps some minor scrambling is required?  City path or road would be 1/5.  Seriously difficult scrambling bordering on climbing would be 5/5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Exertion.  Basically the length of the trail.  Is it steep?  Is it long?  Less than an hour would be 1/5.  Ten hours or more would be 5/5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked guide contains detailed instructions in how to specifically grade a route for each of those.  There is also &lt;a href=&quot;http://mide.montanasegura.com/mide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;an online application&lt;/a&gt; (in Spanish) to calculate MIDE scores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the system is Spanish, it would appear that, perhaps with some adaptations, it should be possible to adapt the system world-wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2015-10-26T10:48:32.703" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T10:48:32.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2015-10-26T11:40:11.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have couple tips for such situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to stand sideways to the dog if it is possible - I've heard about that in some National Geographic program - it's pretty neutral stand for dogs. In the same time try retreat very slowly&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to climb somewhere dog can't reach You (if it is possible)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't be afraid; in most cases You're bigger and stronger and the dog is the one who's afraid in such situation and they can feel that You're scared&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If any of those tips fail, then:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to pretend be bigger than You're actually are - take Your arms up, try growling and shouting to scare opponents&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use tools - backpack, pipe, trash anything that can be a separator between You and a dog; anything that You can use as a weapon or a shield&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If confrontation will be inevitable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;don't be afraid to kick and punch - You're fighting with wild animal who probably want to kill You - You have to be faster,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;target into sensitive points: nose, eyes (if dog will bite You and don't want to let go - put fingers into its eyes), reproductive organs, try to break its leg bones&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8049" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T11:40:11.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9724" CreationDate="2015-10-26T18:41:17.317" Score="2" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cottage%20industry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cottage industry&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;an industry whose labor force consists of family units or individuals working at home with their own equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;a small and often informally organized industry &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within the outdoor industry, wherever I search, be it on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/articles/the-cottage-industry/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wild Backpacker&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://popupbackpacker.com/open-letter-to-the-backpacking-cottage-industry/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this blog post&lt;/a&gt;, etc., it seems a lot of it is focussed on ultralight backpacking.  Perhaps that works in sunny Arizona but I tend to hike in bad weather and ultralight is not for me (I want weather protection, I tried ultralight and I have no intention to try again, thank you very much).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want ultralight.  Is there anything for me in the &quot;cottage industry&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T17:01:45.103" Title="Is the outdoor ”cottage industry” only about ultralight?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2015-11-04T07:34:05.247" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9723" CreationDate="2015-10-26T19:18:27.537" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To be honest, the two terms, &quot;Ultralight&quot; and &quot;Cottage Industry&quot; are orthogonal - there are cottage industries producing many items. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are probably seeing more Ultralight items in this space because cottage industries are more likely to succeed where big business doesn't have the volume to play properly. So this usually means &quot;normal&quot; kit that is suitable for the majority of potential customers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultralight items have a very small market so can be profitable for cottage industries, while being less profitable for big business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-10-26T19:18:27.537" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9448" CreationDate="2015-10-27T10:47:02.723" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to give a definitive answer, but based on your description one possibility could be a &lt;strong&gt;badger&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make some really astonishing noises ranging from grunts to screams to barks. Maybe head over to Youtube and listen to some badger videos and see if that sounds similar?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T10:47:02.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9666" CreationDate="2015-10-27T12:15:04.320" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess one of the central concerns with AMS is that &lt;em&gt;you can never know when it hits you&lt;/em&gt;. You can prepare, acclimatize and try to avoid all the stupid mistakes - but even under perfect conditions, and even if you have a successful history of climbing at altitude it can hit you any time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what you described I don't see any obvious mistakes. It sound like you prepared diligently and did your high altitude ascends slowly and carefully. It's unlucky, you still got symptoms which forced you to turn around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On whether it actually &lt;em&gt;was&lt;/em&gt; AMS or not: nobody can say for sure. As others mentioned, it could be AMS, or just some stomach bug, a common cold or similar. But I'd argue that it is not entirely relevant, as the symptoms can well be very dangerous either way, so it's better to err on the side of caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the point to take away here is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With the symptoms you described you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; turn around - no matter what the cause is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on how easy the descend is you probably should have turned around sooner: always keep in mind where you are and what kind of exit strategies you can fall back on. While this doesn't &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to be the case, I'd wager that in a situation where you would have been unable to walk off the mountain a rescue operation might have taken a long time to put together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-10-28T06:48:44.710" LastActivityDate="2015-10-28T06:48:44.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9723" CreationDate="2015-10-27T17:01:45.103" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer anecdotally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started lowering the weight of my pack by&#xA;- weighting stuff I put in,&#xA;- considering whether I need each item or if it could be replaced,&#xA;- considering that some cottage or myog could be as or more efficient for less weight&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first home-made gear I used was a sleeping quilt. It is good to ~0C comfortably, is synthetic (2 layers of primaloft 133g/m^2 - that's 4oz/sqyd) (because around those temperature you get a lot of cold humidity), weights ~850g, and fits in a 13L bag without effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, for UL, that's still heavy and big. But that's still much better than what I had before, a 1.3kg 5C bulky bag. Also, it is a quilt, which I find way more comfortable (for those temperatures. Below, I would still use a sleeping bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several cottages have quilts that, beside being lighter, would be more comfortable that traditional sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for shelters, I find that I prefer tents that use straight poles vs domes (e.g. the MSR twin sisters). I find them easier and quicker to set up, simpler and more reliable. (and also lighter, but that's just a bonus)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are cottages that offer that kind of shelters using various fabrics, in various sizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing is more tricky, because you want to test them before wearing them. (And making jackets yourself is extremely long, I find.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packs, finally, come last. I find it a much more complex piece of equipment, and I find anyway that comfort comes first (once the volume is decided, based on the rest of the stuff). Comfort is obviously hard to test without trying the gear. I would probably not consider a cottage pack, unless I could try it from someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, I would recommend considering cottage gear not solely in a weight reduction perspective, but also because they offer different shape and type of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T17:01:45.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5966" CreationDate="2015-10-27T18:23:26.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;An ultralight tent makes me feel unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried the ultralight Big Agnes Slater UL1+, and I was not happy with it.  The fabric seems really fragile.  In a small space, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/969/566&quot;&gt;condensation&lt;/a&gt; is worse than in a slightly larger space.  The weekend I tried it out the weather was quite bad (rain in the Adirondack Mountains) and the tent failed to keep me dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following September I took my Hilleberg Akto for two weeks on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Divide Trail&lt;/a&gt; south of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Jasper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasper, AB, Canada&lt;/a&gt;.  Just when the land started to be wild (leaving &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Jasper_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasper NP&lt;/a&gt;), descending from Cataract Pass through the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albertaparks.ca/white-goat.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;White Goat Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/overnight-storm-dumps-10-cm-of-snow-on-calgary-leaving-30000-without-power&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;it started snowing heavily&lt;/a&gt;.  It took me three days to find the way out through Sunset Pass in increasingly cold and windy weather.  I was extremely happy with my Hilleberg Akto (and with my sleeping bag that is comfortable down to -15°C, survivable down to -35°C; windchills were well below -10°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maybe&lt;/em&gt; I would have been OK with lighter gear, but I just prefer the peace of mind that if trouble strikes, I have good material.  That means a tent with fabric solid enough to keep the weather out, a sleeping bag with enough insulation to keep the cold out, gear I can trust in general.  Ultralight comes at a price; maybe you get regular quality for lower mass and higher price, but I prefer to spend my money on higher quality for equal mass and higher price.  I feel more at peace that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T18:23:26.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9448" CreationDate="2015-10-27T19:40:03.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possible culprits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Opossums:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-iFOsRhJ4&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-iFOsRhJ4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Raccoons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAG0V1AauJs&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAG0V1AauJs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Badgers:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrG_HdH2oY&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrG_HdH2oY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPLJ0Gbu5D8&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPLJ0Gbu5D8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Porcupines:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yoCesDLhg&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_yoCesDLhg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skunks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrXnBMnNvg&quot;&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrXnBMnNvg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other, less likely possibilities -  deer grunt, but they are obviously much larger than what you are describing.  Martens and Fishers also make odd noises, and both are known to live in Massachusetts, but they are less common and they tend to scream/shriek rather than grunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6453" LastEditorUserId="6453" LastEditDate="2015-10-27T19:56:21.340" LastActivityDate="2015-10-27T19:56:21.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9634" CreationDate="2015-10-28T10:12:54.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2013 I did an long trip (12 days) in the Rockies (near Banff/Lake Louise National Parks). We were entirely back country, except for the very first camp site. In this area brown bears are the biggest worry, so we used a &lt;strong&gt;bear hang&lt;/strong&gt;. Arguably this can also work against black bears (at least in areas where the buggers haven't become so clever that they figure out how to get to your bear hang).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the amount/weight of food:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I think Ben Cromwells answer is on the very light end of the spectrum. Unless you do absolutely professional (and expensive) food planning/preparation, and forgo some diversity/tastiness I'd rather calculate around 900g per person per day. The volume will also be &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; bigger than the theoretical values, I'd say 1-2 liters per person per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for a 14 day trip (including reserves!) you'll end up with 16kg of food (+toiletries etc which you must also store bear-safe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For our bear hang we used big roll-top dry bags normally used for water sports. We also used an improvised pulley system to get the bear hang (40ish kg for 3 people) 4-5m up into the air. Getting to that height means your suspending rope must be anchored some 7 meters above ground (to account for the length of the bag, elasticity of the rope, ...). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, doing this every night is quite a task. Picking a decent camping spot and setting up the bear hang takes an hour at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand the rope/carabiner/dry bag equipment is not too heavy, and is easily stored in your backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-12-25T02:50:36.740" LastActivityDate="2015-12-25T02:50:36.740" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3909" CreationDate="2015-10-29T00:28:05.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been considering just the same. I have come up with two kayacks that I like. The first is a fishing kayak by kudo. It tracks well and speed is good. I have a strong upper body so it makes it easier for me but its all in the core. Try different techniques as you will get tired just doing one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other kayak is a 14 foot looksha by Necky. I have been eyeing that one for 3 years now. It is a sit in oh the kudo is a sit on top which I stood up in and tried paddle boarding on it. Great stability. The looksha tracks and maneuvers great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not stable enough for fishing, what are you going to do when you land the mother of all fishes? How you bring that into the boat? Consider what you do more spending time with the wife or fishing in a kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8064" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-10-29T06:41:32.137" LastActivityDate="2015-10-29T06:41:32.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8283" CreationDate="2015-10-29T06:56:09.013" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a comment in &lt;a href=&quot;https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130301105552AAPCEis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this Yahoo Answers thread&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you don't typically breath in campfire smoke in concentrations as high as cigarette smoke, and it doesn't have the addictive chemicals in it either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campfire smoke is not an issue for most people because they are not exposed to it very often. However in parts of the world where people cook over a fire all the time, or where they light their homes with oil lamps or other open flames, they often have severe respiratory illnesses by a young age and have significantly shorter life expediencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly, most through hikers do not cook over fires when on the AT. Most will use a liquid fuel stove like an MSR Whisperlight, or a canister stove like a Jetboil. Some will even make a DIY alcohol stove. Although the weight saving of that kind of stove are lost because of the decreased energy capacity of the alcohol means you need to burn more fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern stoves are going to be lighter than trying to cook over a campfire if for no other reason then the fact that you can use titanium cookware as opposed to stainless steel. They are also a lot more convenient, especially when it rains and wood is wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T16:05:43.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9735" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9743" CreationDate="2015-10-29T15:12:14.457" Score="13" ViewCount="4662" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a long trail in the mountains near where I live. It requires one to walk through a Railway tunnel which is roughly 1.2 miles long and is not straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, there is a margin between the train and the walls of the tunnel. The worst margin I have seen is of 4 ft., but that was with two lines (2 tracks), I can simply go to the other track if the train comes on the track where I am walking. If two trains come, one from each direction, Trouble, I'll have to make sure that I stand still between the two tracks (fundamentally wrong and a bad bad idea) or safer lay down between the two tracks, or at the corner of the tunnel wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bast case margin that I have seen in the same section is of 6-8 ft.&#xA;And there are safety alcoves where the maintenance guys stand while the train passes. I am not sure if they are equidistant for all the tunnels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Cn8H.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Cn8H.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Picture courtesy: Ecotrails, Karnataka.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the precautions that one should be taking while using such a tunnel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obvious thing: A headlamp and/or a Flashlight is being carried along. Using the tunnel is not entirely legal, but that is not much of an issue either. Railway authorities know that people use the tunnels, but they have never taken an action since the terrain only allows that as a shortest possible way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-04T15:26:57.427" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T04:44:39.253" Title="Walking through an active railway tunnel during a long distance walk" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;railways&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9742" CreationDate="2015-10-29T16:43:22.370" Score="10" ViewCount="2075" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have started to debarb all my flies a while ago (it is much better for the fish if you are doing catch and release), but have been loosing some hooked fish that I was otherwise able to net when I had barbed hooks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard that it is most likely due to mistakes in fighting the fish, so I wonder if there are any good techniques for landing fish with these hooks. Are there any differences in the way you fight a fish when your hook has no barb? Any tips to improve my landing rates? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please bear in mind that I fish barbless to avoid unnecessary damage to the fish, so tactics that incur more harm to the catch (e.g. beaching the fish) would defeat my purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2021-04-21T15:57:45.213" Title="Any tips for landing fish on barbless hooks?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4460" CreationDate="2015-10-29T16:53:47.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the great answer by user737012:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How strong should the tippet and leader lines be?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tippet size also affects how natural your fly looks in the water. Bigger tippets are stiffer and make the movement of small flies seem unnatural. On the other hand, it is very hard to cast big flies on thin tippet because a smaller tippet will not be able to turn the fly at the end of the cast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a rule of thumb for deciding tippet size that stipulates that tippet size should be close to hook size divided by three. So, if you fish a fly tied on a hook size 12, the most appropriate tippet size would be 4X. Then you can go one size larger (3X) if you expect to fight bigger fish or if the water is turbulent/murky. You can also go one size smaller (5X) if the water is clear and still, or if the fish are wary. Bear in mind that this rule will not work for very big hook sizes (1/0 or above).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-10-29T16:53:47.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9735" CreationDate="2015-10-29T17:21:15.317" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's quite simple really. If the railway is abandoned, bring an LED headlamp and a set of backup batteries. Edit: Use the buddy system if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the railway is not abandoned, don't step foot into that tunnel. That's a sure way to risk being killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastEditorUserId="1975" LastEditDate="2015-11-02T18:58:32.047" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T18:58:32.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9735" CreationDate="2015-10-29T17:31:45.467" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most parts of the world going through a working train tunnel on foot is illegal, in all parts of the world it verges on suicidal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can imagine there are places in the world where, there are no other reasonable options.  In this case, in addition to common sense items required for walking in a dark tunnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a rail schedule, and do research to determine if it is reliable.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a tunnel map, there are likely safety areas where a person can get out of the trains path.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn the speed the train will be travelling when it goes through the tunnel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would expect there is an inverse relationship between the train schedules reliability and alternative options for through the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to be able to get to a point of safety, between your first awareness of the train and it reaching your position in the tunnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, get a guide.  Someone who is familiar with the tunnel will know where the safety points are.  In the event of train entering the tunnel, they will know which one is the best option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2015-10-29T17:37:30.780" LastActivityDate="2015-10-29T17:37:30.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9740" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9741" CreationDate="2015-10-29T18:41:42.320" Score="12" ViewCount="776" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently switched from using a tent to using a tarp, and on the whole I'm really enjoying it, however there is one thing I haven't solved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do people deal with situations where the wind switches ninety degrees in the night and suddenly starts howling through your tarp, making it a wind tunnel? Obviously being aware of dominant winds / likely localised-weather-effects helps in deciding which direction to pitch in, and finding a sheltered spot is a no brainer, but what about when pragmatism fails? Bear in mind I'm pitching using the classic A-frame setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has happened to me on a number of occasions and my solutions have included moving my pack to block it (only viable in low wind), dropping the windward side of the tarp to the ground(cramped) and re-pitching in the middle of the night (naked, cold wind, unpleasant).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read Jardine's tarp book and he suggests tarp doors, but this starts to over-complicate what is a wonderfully simple bit of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are my options for handing switches in wind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: I'm not asking how to pitch in very high winds. I would take a tent if I was camping above the tree-line. I'm talking about general pitching where there is enough wind to strip the heat from you but not enough to blow you off a cliff.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7961" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-11-22T21:53:59.147" LastActivityDate="2015-11-22T21:53:59.147" Title="Dealing With Wind Direction Changes When Sleeping In A Tarp" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;wind&gt;&lt;pitching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9740" CreationDate="2015-10-29T23:05:37.740" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;With luck and planning I would assume in mountainous/timbered areas you would be able to setup your tarp so one of the open sides of your tent were mostly/partially blocked by a tree/rock/bush/etc. which would solve roughly half of your problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that it is about accepting the limitations of your tarp tent, or deciding that you want more reliable comfort and are willing to convert your tarp into a tent by adding doors etc. Keep in mind, when you decide to camp with just a tarp for shelter &lt;strong&gt;you are consciously choosing less protection from the elements&lt;/strong&gt;. Either accept that you will have to re-pitch your tent periodically at night, or choose a different portable shelter IMO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2015-10-29T23:05:37.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9736" CreationDate="2015-10-30T02:50:00.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fishing in the rivers around here is catch and release only on barbless hooks. The trick is to not get over excited when you get a bite, let the fish take the lure, when he runs it'll set it itself, so don't tug on the rod. While he's on the hook you want to bring him in gently, don't tug on the rod, let go and let him run with the line if he starts to fight, if you fight back you'll lose him. Keep in mind also that it's not the hook that's going to hurt him, it's how you handle him on the shore, net him in the water, don't lift him out with your rod, if you drop him on the the shore he could give himself life threatening injuries by flopping around and bashing on the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qwvwx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qwvwx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Fly fishing on the Old Man River with barbless hooks.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2020-01-25T23:20:21.890" LastActivityDate="2020-01-25T23:20:21.890" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9735" CreationDate="2015-10-30T03:01:43.267" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, next time I'm in India I'm gunna give you a call so you can show me where that tunnel is. Second, the only real precaution you need to take is to ensure that in the event of a train encounter, that there is room for the train to pass by safely with you in the tunnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've actually been caught in train tunnel with a train coming the other way. We just laid down beside the tracks against the tunnel wall and waited for the train to pass, then continued on without any problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A light would be a luxury, but it's unlikely you can get lost in a train tunnel, and it's not like you're going to be encountering any obstacles that you have to worry about tripping over, or large hole you can fall in. Even with a light I'd probably turn it off and see how far I could go just following the tracks in the dark. You certainly don't have to worry about light when  train comes, those tunnels get &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; bright when a train rolls through. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration you should probably make, is what side of the tunnel would be best to stand on if you encounter a train at a turn. You said the tunnel wasn't straight, train cars don't stay over the tracks when they round a corner, the ends hang over the outside of the turn, and the middles hang over the inside. On a sharp turn, you may want to retreat to where the tunnel straightens out again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-10-30T19:38:22.843" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T19:38:22.843" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2015-10-30T05:01:13.230" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stretcher.com/tips/dishwashing_tricks.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this page on DollarStretcher&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simply apply ketchup (any cheap brand) to the pan and scrub with a steel wool pad. Sometimes it takes a little elbow grease, but it works great! The acidity of the ketchup works wonders and steel wool is a great shiner. I've also used this technique on brass and chrome with great results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(However, this is just a general dishwashing tip, rather than a specific technique for creosote.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-03-11T15:56:29.547" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T15:56:29.547" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9745" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9747" CreationDate="2015-10-30T06:27:17.610" Score="22" ViewCount="3409" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have discussed a lot and at length about how to climb and other climbing techniques. I haven't come across a single post that talks about Spotting techniques. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the duties of a Spotter? What is the best a spotter can do to ensure that the fall of a climber results in minimum or no injury?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-02T12:17:52.403" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T15:27:14.750" Title="How to &quot;spot&quot; someone who is bouldering?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9745" CreationDate="2015-10-30T08:58:37.383" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The job of a spotter is to prevent the climber from landing on their head and (if possible) ensure they land on their feet and on the crashpad. This may involve moving the crashpad (which should coincide with the climber having a secure hold or position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The job of a spotter is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to &quot;catch&quot; the climber! That's something they're simply not going to be able to do and attempting so can only lead to injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consequently, the spotter should not be standing directly below the climber. They should stand so that they can push/guide the climber towards the crashpad and keep them upright / keep their head away from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is usually best achieved by keeping their arms mostly extended, the heel of the hands towards the climber, fingers slightly bent backwards &lt;em&gt;and the thumbs lying against the palm, not extended&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T08:58:37.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9745" CreationDate="2015-10-30T09:37:41.907" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, &quot;spotting&quot; someone means making sure that they safely land on the pad with their feet first to prevent injuries in case of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means several distinct tasks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving a falling climber to the pad: try to guide them towards the pad, ideally by pushing at the hips or shoulders. Don't try to catch them (which includes not standing directly beneath them)! You won't be able to do that, and might hurt yourself. However, you can try to slow the fall a bit. While doing that, keep your fingers together, and your thumb next to the index finger (not opposed). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping them upright: Especially in very overhanging routes, prefer to keep your hands under their shoulders so that they land on their feet. Landing on your back really hurts, but is easily prevented that way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevent them from falling over while landing: make sure that they don't tumble backwards and off the pad. That can still hurt quite a bit, especially after long falls!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving the pad (not applicable in most indoor gyms): if necessary, adjust the position of the pad if the climber moves to a position where they would not hit it when falling. This is easier with multiple spotters; otherwise, you should only do that when the climber is in a somewhat safe position. Smaller pushes with your feet are preferable to picking up the pad with your hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in many other climbing situations, communication is key; e.g. most of the climbers that I know really appreciate it if you tell them before you move the pad (so they can take a safe position), or assure them that you are really paying attention while they are at a hard move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T15:27:14.750" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T15:27:14.750" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2015-10-30T15:54:00.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not actually had a sailing canoe in the water, but I have looked at a bunch of pictures and videos. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost every leeboard you see on a canoe is hinged so it will raise up when there is an obstruction.  When the canoe gets up any speed then the water becomes an obstruction, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbYkm4eIoDc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; is for an add on sail kit maker for canoes.  Notice that when the canoe gets any kind of speed the leeboard tilts up and is barely below the hull of the craft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes being relatively narrow tend to get tilty/tippy when any side force is present.   As seen in the captured image of the example video the outrigger is just barely touching the water and the leeboard is within a few degrees of being horizontal. At this point neither is really adding any value. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9NBxv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9NBxv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit more side pressure and a bit more speed the leeboard will be above the bottom of the hull and the outrigger will be in the water. At that point the outrigger as doing all the work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this we can assume that a hinged leeboard used with an outrigger provides little if any advantage. In fact I can't find any advantage to a hinged leeboard over no leeboard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best documented low budget sailing canoe I have found online is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suduva.com/q_canoe/the_Q_canoe.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Q Canoe&lt;/a&gt; it has been used with both an 8 x 6 and 8 x 10 (foot) sail made from a tarp.  It appears to have been used more than casually on the Mississippi River. It is using a single hinged leeboard, starboard side, that appears can be locked (with rope) in the up or down position. The excerpt below the image provides more information about sailing with only a leeboard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tevks.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tevks.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;August UPDATE - after some river testing - the lower spar is just not needed. &#xA;  Live &amp;amp; Learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The lower spar is quite effective for sailing in very faint wind, &#xA;  but does not allow for a quick release of the sail - to avoid tilting from strong gusting winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Keep it fun - keep it Safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our old lower spar has been &quot;recycled&quot; as the top spar for our bigger, faster 8x10 &quot;Q-v2&quot; sail. The larger 8x10 tarp, the &quot;Q-v2&quot; sail, cost about $6.99. Ouch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For gusting winds over 10 mph, the smaller 8 x 6 sail is much easier to handle, especially if positioned lower on the mast. Less risk of tilting ... &amp;amp; still very FAST.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;More research pending for outrigger only and sailing with neither.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T15:54:00.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9749" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-30T15:56:33.180" Score="15" ViewCount="1479" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if anyone else has experienced fear/panic that gets in the way of bouldering, and what their tips are for dealing with this. (There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7003/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-falling-in-lead-climbing?rq=1&quot;&gt;prior question on fear in lead climbing&lt;/a&gt;, but my issue is specific to bouldering. I climb indoors.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, I am a relatively new (1.5yrs) climber with a mental hang-up about bouldering. I am specifically scared of taking a fall off a boulder problem and hurting my foot. The essence of the problem is the fear of an uncontrolled fall. When a move at any height feels anything less than 100% sure to stick, I panic. The higher I am, the more certain I have to be the next move is completely safe. The top two moves or so of &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; problem are always really challenging because I panic even if they are straight up jugs. When this happens I get tunnel vision, rapid breathing, intense feelings of fear etc, and have to downclimb and/or take a controlled jump. The problem has just been getting worse and worse lately. Because of this issue, I have not just stopped advancing, I have actually regressed in bouldering ability. It has become bad enough that I just don't want to boulder anymore - I get anxiety just thinking about going on the wall, and would much rather spend all my time top roping (I don't lead climb yet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know where this originates: just a few months into climbing, I hurt my ankle when taking a fall off a simple boulder problem at an unfortunate angle. It didn't completely heal on its own, so after a few months I saw a physical therapist, with whom I worked for another few months. Now it has been over a year since the fall, and the ankle is finally getting up above 90% of what it used to be (though I still can't go running). I am completely mentally hung up on this happening again. I love going on top-rope walls, because even if I fall, I am not worried about landing wrong. I can top-rope 5.9s but the same moves feel impossible on a boulder wall. Lately, I have been unable to even top out v0 (on good days, when the panic doesn't visit, I can top v2). Even on good days, this issue prevents me from actually improving as a climber on the boulder wall. It's not clear to me why the fear is getting more intense as more time passes from the injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things that don't work (for me): pushing through the panic (trying to defy it just seems like adding fuel to the fire). And taking more controlled falls has not been super helpful: the real issue is getting myself to take a risk at an uncontrolled fall, and it's like my body refuses to even attempt those moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone had similar issues? What did you do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:&lt;/em&gt; Also, any general ideas on what I could try to overcome this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8069" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T20:02:36.883" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T20:02:36.883" Title="Climbing: fear/panic on boulder wall" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9749" CreationDate="2015-10-30T17:14:41.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Anyone had similar issues? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several years ago I sprained my ankle. I was lead-climbing a route that was a bit over my technical skills. I was in an overhanging segment above and sideways to my last bolt. I fell, swung, got tangled with the belay rope, started spinning, and hit my foot against the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stopped climbing and started recovery. At this point I became careful about all my physical activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A month later I embarrassingly fell on even floor in a supermarket and hurt my ankle further. At this point I became a bit fearful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Six months later while trekking I stepped on a loose rock, fell, and hurt myself even further. At this point I became panicked and maybe close to depressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What did you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I relied on being well informed to overcome my fear. Specifically, I did my best to understand what &lt;strong&gt;physical therapy&lt;/strong&gt; could do for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good therapy will:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heal the damaged tissue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strengthen the muscles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gain back flexibility.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first one is pretty obvious, but the other two deserve a few words.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the first healing phase is over, what you're trying to accomplish with therapy is to avoid the injury if you happen to have another accident. Strength and flexibility play a huge role in being able to sustain another fall without injuring yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here's the rub: Your ankle may be stronger and more flexible than before you had your accident. You may be less susceptible to injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have since had a couple of episodes where the stress to my ankle have been bigger than the time I got sprained. I'm not a therapist, so I can only assume that YMMV. But for me, knowing that my ankles are more resilient than before helped me overcome my fear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T17:14:41.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9735" CreationDate="2015-10-30T17:52:20.470" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the beginning of what &lt;strong&gt;WE&lt;/strong&gt; in the rail industry call a &#xA;&quot;Trespasser Strike&quot;. It is their property and if they catch you in a tunnel they may be arrested and turn you over to the local authorities. Or perhaps you can be run down by a train, if they can't stop from getting you off the tracks. Stay off the tracks, stay out of the tunnels and stay off the bridges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-04T15:18:34.620" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T15:18:34.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9753" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-10-30T18:40:40.733" Score="14" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9735&quot;&gt;Walking through an active railway tunnel during a long distance walk&lt;/a&gt; brought up the topic of pedestrian access on train-track right of ways.  In many areas of the world train tracks are private property (belonging to the railroad) and traveling on the tracks without being on a train, is a criminal offense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where it is legal to travel on train right of ways, without being a passenger on the train? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases, working railways are a dangerous place to be. This question is only about the legality of the act, not the safety issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T15:25:44.813" Title="Where in the world are train-track right of ways, also public right of ways?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;&lt;railways&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9749" CreationDate="2015-10-30T19:16:40.583" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking fear is an appropriate and healthy response to many of the situations you will find yourself in while rock climbing. &lt;strong&gt;Learning how to control, overcome, and even benefit from that fear is a key mental skill in life and climbing.&lt;/strong&gt; Furthermore, learning to be comfortable on the rock will improve your climbing by allowing you to figure out sequences easier, give you increased endurance because you aren't wasting energy over-gripping, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best antidote, in my opinion, to paralyzing fear is confidence in your ability to handle the situation. So I believe your question boils down to: &lt;em&gt;&quot;How can I increase my confidence.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some ways you can increase your confidence on rock:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Improve your strength.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A less physically taxing problem is a less intimidating problem. When you're stronger all problems are less physically taxing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can stop below the crux to throughly analyze it, and more comfortably.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have the physical reserves retreat/reset when you recognize your approach to the problem is flawed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can compensate (partially) for poor technique. While not ideal I've seen this happen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can reach further to bypass marginal intermediate holds and/or be more selective in the holds you use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Improve your technique.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improving your technique means that you don't have to rely on strength. That means you gain all or most of the benefits of strength without becoming stronger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better technique offers new ways to approach a problem that you hadn't considered before. In ice climbing they use a technique called a figure-4. I've never used it on rock but it demonstrates a novel solution to a problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improved ability to position your body intentionally so you can be efficient on the rock, and mitigate hazards (like making sure you won't fall on the spiky rock).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rehearse the climb.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have the climb &quot;wired&quot; on top rope then you will be more confident on that route on lead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Often you can practice sections of a climb independently. That will build your confidence in those individual sections so you only need to be concerned about linking up the climb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climb similar routes.&lt;/strong&gt; This is really just a mashup of points 2 and 3.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you know climb X involves lots of off-width crack climbing you can gain confidence on shorter/easier climbs with off-width crack climbing before you try climb X.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climb with people of better and worse skill/ability than yourself.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being mentored by a better climber allows you to feed off of their confidence, and learn new approaches to a problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mentoring junior climbers allows you to feed off the confidence that the junior climbers have in you. It also forces you to analyze why you do X when you're in situation Y when the junior climbers ask for tips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You clearly see the mistakes the climbers you're mentoring and/or your peers are making. This allows you to reflect on whether you're making the same mistakes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spend time climbing.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The more time you're exposed to something the more natural it feels. I remember when I first drove a car over 50 mph I was very nervous. Now I regularly drive 70+ without any major concerns.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being a Yank and a childhood fan of Louis L'amour I feel a cowboy reference is appropriate here. There is an old adage that if you're bucked out of the saddle the best thing to do is climb back on as soon as possible. The idea is that fear grows when you feed it. By facing your fears you often learn that the thing you feared isn't as bad as you imagined.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T19:16:40.583" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9753" CreationDate="2015-10-30T19:46:20.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was searching in relation to this question and found the following which I thought was interesting.  It seems to be common to walk along these tracks, but I don't know what the legality of it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dudhsagar+Falls/@15.3129236,74.309941,1098m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xfd9448e7283b0225!6m1!1e1&quot;&gt;Dudhsagar Falls&lt;/a&gt; (switch between &quot;Map&quot; and &quot;Earth&quot; views to see where the tracks are if you need help)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an article about an adventure a group of people had:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-01/news/41642693_1_railway-track-third-tunnel-rain-drain&quot;&gt;Goa beyond beaches&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just found another site (again, not a legal resource) that actually has a section devoted to walking on bridges and through tunnels: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://irfca.org/docs/railfan-safety.html#bridge&quot;&gt;Indian Railways Fan Club&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Times of India&lt;/em&gt; even has an article tag for it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Trekking-on-rail-tracks&quot;&gt;Trekking-on-rail-tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4041" LastEditorUserId="4041" LastEditDate="2015-10-30T20:02:46.173" LastActivityDate="2015-10-30T20:02:46.173" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9714" CreationDate="2015-10-30T21:38:44.423" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In country plagued by mosquitoes, no-see-ums, black-flies, and other blood-sucking bugs, people MUST live within &quot;bubbles&quot; of fine-mesh net. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bloodsucking insects are so annoying that they regularly drive stalwart indigenous animals such as moose and bears MAD with pain, leading the animals to charge bellowing madly through the bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only ways indigenous peoples were able to cope with the vermin was to liberally coat exposed skin with animal or vegetable greases which were sometimes mixed with animal musks or herb decoctions unpleasant to insects. The effectiveness of these treatments comes from the insects' dislike to land on grease, because they may be unable to fly away.&#xA;The mosquito-mesh coverings are effective only because they keep bugs away from the wearer. &#xA;The insects will still be attracted to the carbon-dioxide people exhale, and the warmth of human skin.&#xA;If we sleep under a mosquito net, we must always make sure that the netting is tucked under the mattress, that the entry-way is securely tied, and that we don't allow our limbs to contact the netting while we sleep.&#xA;If an arm or leg touches the netting, the insects will simply suck blood through the openings in the mesh. They may not be able to get into the net-enclosure with you, but if &quot;you go to them,&quot; they'll waste no time in drinking your blood!&#xA;This is why any portable enclosure has to have some kind of frame. Whether the frame is made of wire, bamboo, wicker, or some other material doesn't matter: The frame is there to hold the net away from the wearer's body, all around.&#xA;And since a mosquito can drink your blood even through a light &quot;summer-weight fabric&quot; shirt, that means the net covering will have to go around the outside of whatever you sit or lean upon!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means it's virtually impossible, in all practical terms, to devise a portable mosquito-proof net.&#xA;There are fanciful sketches of mosquito-bars imagined for 1890s woods-wear, with large numbers of hoops holding the net away from the tender flesh of the vacationers. The factors shared by these schemes is that they are all hopelessly complicated.&#xA;Wearing a mosquito net over the crown of a boonie-hat, with all extra netting tucked under the collar of a bush-jacket, by itself, is plenty annoying!&#xA;After a couple weeks of wearing head-nets (when repellent supplies had been exhausted) I was ready to try an old &quot;Jack-Pine Savage's&quot;  home-made &quot;receipt&quot; for bug-repellent; or as they called it then: &quot;Punkie Dope!&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If memory serves, the &quot;lotion&quot; took three ounces of pine tar, combined with two ounces of castor oil and one ounce of pennyroyal oil, simmered together until thoroughly blended. This was applied to the skin, liberally and often. Pennyroyal oil is the active ingredient.&#xA;How often was the stuff reapplied? &quot;As often as the punkies became pressing with their attentions,&quot; said one set of directions! &#xA;Men were to apply this concoction thickly, often, and to never wash it off until all danger was past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there it is. It's grossly impractical to always wear a &quot;net-bubble,&quot; let alone rely on such to remain bite-free. Anyone terrified of &quot;wearing chemicals&quot; is therefore out of luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for chemical &quot;banes,&quot; many people reject them out of hand; even though many will wear cosmetics with similar plant or chemical origins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After &quot;painting one-self into a corner, in this manner,&quot; The only option remaining is to avoid areas where biting insects live. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8071" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-02T13:01:01.797" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T13:01:01.797" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9758" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9759" CreationDate="2015-10-31T11:29:31.897" Score="3" ViewCount="442" Body="&lt;p&gt;I work in the outdoor industry and I had never had any issues with blisters whilst hiking for years. &#xA;Then one weekend I wore a pair of high heels out for a wedding and got blisters on my heels. Now I find I just cant stop getting blisters there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ive tried all different type of socks, I take many pairs on my hikes, I let my feet dry as soon as i get to camp, i use moleskin and similar substances as soon as i get a hot spot, i walk around barefoot as much as i can. Its just really starting to annoy me now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions to harden up my heels would be fantactic, cheers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8076" LastActivityDate="2015-10-31T20:07:05.020" Title="Blister Prevention/ Heel hardening" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-10-31T17:17:02.500" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9758" CreationDate="2015-10-31T15:05:09.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that if your feet are going to harden, then they're going to harden. Chances are you just don't get out as often as you used to. I used to have massive calluses on my heels, but I simply don't put the same milage on my feet as I used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I use hikers wool, it's amazing. I have massive heel spurs so heel lift has always been a problem for me. But since being introduced to hikers wool I haven't had a single blister. My wife and I call it sheep fluff, all you do is put a pinch of fluff into your sock wherever you tend to get blisters and the fibers work into the material and somehow create a frictionless layer. It's better than moleskin, easier to use, unoticeable while you hike, and you can reuse it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-10-31T20:07:05.020" LastActivityDate="2015-10-31T20:07:05.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9760" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9762" CreationDate="2015-10-31T21:25:41.553" Score="11" ViewCount="502" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing topos have various standardized symbols, such as xx for a bolt anchor, or a dashed line for face climbing. In keys of symbols, I've sometimes seen SB defined as a &quot;sling belay.&quot; What does this mean? Does it mean that there is a natural feature that you can throw a cordelette around and use as an anchor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-11-01T20:04:45.313" Title="What is a &quot;sling belay?&quot;" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9760" CreationDate="2015-11-01T19:41:57.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A sling belay is typically used to connect 2 points at an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AGEFS.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AGEFS.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoor-climbing.de/Edelrid-Belay-Station-Sling-Deluxe_1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An example belay sling from Edelrid&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-11-01T19:41:57.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9760" CreationDate="2015-11-01T20:04:45.313" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The glossary section of &lt;em&gt;Big Walls&lt;/em&gt; by John Long and John Middendorf defines a sling belay as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A hanging belay with no stance; listed as SB on topos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From perusing forums, I suspect this term arose during the golden age of Yosemite climbing, but was soon subsumed by the term &quot;hanging belay&quot;.  A Google Ngrams comparison gives a good visual of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJiaP.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJiaP.png&quot; alt=&quot;Google Ngrams chart showing &amp;quot;sling belay&amp;quot; being replaced by &amp;quot;hanging belay&amp;quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems to matter more for big wall climbs, as using a sling belay is considered to be &quot;aid&quot;.  To climb such a route &quot;free&quot; requires a longer rope or adjusting the pitches to end at hands-free stances from which to belay.  (This is from a US perspective, those in Europe may take a more relaxed approach to what is allowed for a free ascent.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2015-11-01T20:04:45.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9763" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-01T21:26:01.417" Score="11" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;How free climbing compares to other styles of climbing is well explained in the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8126/bouldering-vs-aid-climbing-vs-free-climbing-vs-free-solo-climbing&quot;&gt;Bouldering vs aid climbing vs free climbing vs free solo climbing&lt;/a&gt; and more specifics are given in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6657/what-does-it-mean-to-free-a-climbing-route&quot;&gt;What does it mean to free a climbing route?&lt;/a&gt;. A recent answer to the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9760/what-is-a-sling-belay&quot;&gt;What is a “sling belay?”&lt;/a&gt; mentioned that such belays are considered &quot;aid&quot; in big-walling and makes an ascent non-free. First, I do not yet get the reasoning on how this is aid, for me it is just belaying which is fine. In general:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What specific rules like the one mentioned are there, that make an ascent non-free?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As this is often not uniform in area and time, any elaboration on where and when certain rules apply are appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not really relevant to a casual climber (as long as I do not put any force on the belay chain, for me I am free), but records and first ascent play an important role in professional climbing. Especially nowadays with more and more sponsorship involved, &quot;regulation&quot; and comparability are needed and I would like to understand the current &quot;state of the art&quot; of free climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T01:21:34.923" Title="Criterions in multi-pitch climbing to be considered a free ascent" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;free-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9763" CreationDate="2015-11-02T01:13:44.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not the sling that is the issue, its using the sling to form a hanging belay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a hanging belay allows the climber to sit down and have a rest at any location on the wall (i.e. its no different to loading a piece of Pro to take a rest when on the climb), as opposed to having to position the belay where the belay is purely providing protection. At the extreme, this rest allows a climber to complete a climb they might otherwise be incapable of without it - and therefore considered aid by some people. Others argue that as you are not advancing, it is not assisting you in making the climb, it should not be considered aid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the debate as to is it Aid or Free and what the answer is- the SE format does not suit the kind of discussions needed to resolve it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2015-11-02T01:21:34.923" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T01:21:34.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9768" CreationDate="2015-11-02T09:35:25.610" Score="15" ViewCount="12288" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climber's life rely heavily on equipment. Having &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; the necessary equipment for simplest of climbs is a must. But, if at all I forget to bring the chalk powder along, what other alternatives I have for that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used dry leaves by crushing them and rubbing them on fingers, that worked good enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are other things that I can try?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:30:42.260" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:30:42.260" Title="What are other possible make-shift alternatives for chalk powder?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9765" CreationDate="2015-11-02T11:55:41.097" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some parts of France (Particularly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=1567&quot;&gt;the Fontainebleau forest&lt;/a&gt;) they use a substance called POF. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;POF is basically tree sap, they harvest it and carry it around in bags, dabbing it onto holds, etc. to make them sticky. Any tree that produces a lot of sap can be used. Though be careful not to overly damage the tree in the process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not without it's detractors though, many people consider using POF cheating, if not vandalism as it tends to coat holds. It's use is not recommended outside of Fontainebleau.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2015-11-02T14:45:07.280" LastActivityDate="2015-11-02T14:45:07.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9765" CreationDate="2015-11-02T21:46:39.717" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years back at my University climbing gym, someone posted a study performed on chalking your hands while climbing. Basically, it was discovered that there was actually a measurable decrease in the coefficient of friction when you used chalk. As in, chalk made climbing holds harder to hang onto.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This of course made all the climbers who read the abstract laugh, because every climber knows that chalk helps you hang on to slippery holds. But after reading the study I was actually convinced. Chalk will soak up all your sweat and grime and dry your hands, but clean dry hands are actually gripper than chalked hands. In fact, according to this study, even &lt;em&gt;wet&lt;/em&gt; clean hands have a stronger coefficient of friction than chalked hands. &lt;em&gt;The conclusion of the study was that climbers would be better off using &lt;strong&gt;plain water&lt;/strong&gt; instead of chalk.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the oils produced by your skin that makes rock holds slippery, and water naturally displaces oil, whereas chalking you hands puts a fine powder between you and the hold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not you have chalk, the science says you're better off washing your hand in water. I've yet to try it (mostly because the rock I climb is so dirty I don't even need chalk) but you could try climbing with a wet sponge in your chalk bag and a golf towel hanging off your harness to wash and dry your hands with when they get grimy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-27T02:29:59.590" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T02:29:59.590" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9769" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9770" CreationDate="2015-11-03T01:00:47.740" Score="3" ViewCount="904" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently made a toprope anchor extending from a tree about 15' over the edge of the cliff using 1&amp;quot; webbing. The webbing was looped around the tree using a figure 8 follow-through, with sufficient tail and a simple stopper knot as well. A figure-8 on a bight was tied at the master point (opp opposed lockers), where the anchor joined a sling from the single good bolt (the other was loose), the rest of the webbing simply coiled up at the top of the cliff. See the fantastic attached image.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6yLWG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6yLWG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sketch of anchor&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: People seem to think poorly of figure-eights with flat webbing, but in this setup they seemed perfectly fine and I don't see why one wouldn't use them (other than, perhaps, simplicity in using other knots). Is this anchor safe with the figure-8s? Should they be tied differently?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8081" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T04:00:07.543" Title="Toprope webbing anchor with figure 8 knots" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2015-11-05T19:41:14.567" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9769" CreationDate="2015-11-03T04:00:07.543" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A Knot is a knot and its usually not something to get tied up in knots about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An simple overhand is a better knot in tape, purely because a Fig8 is impossible to lie neatly. As far as the question goes, Fig 8 is good. With any knot if its the only one you know, its far safer than any other knot you could use. Fig 8 might be a bit hard to undo at the end of the climb, especially if you loaded it, but the overhand can be a b!tch anyway.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often others are are showing you other knots, or telling you you are using the wrong one, to prove how smarty-pants they are, not because they care for your safety.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one piece of webbing giving single point failure - that is a far more serious concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T04:00:07.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9753" CreationDate="2015-11-03T05:09:55.130" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer about India, and Indian Railways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While in India, you can't call it &lt;em&gt;legally&lt;/em&gt; approved to be okay to walk on railway tracks. I'd say the way things are taken is depending upon where you are. Officially, trespassing any of the Railway property without being a passenger on a train or an authorized person to be there is illegal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its quite unfortunate to say, but with Indian Railways the things aren't so straight, There are Gray shades between how Law and Order are maintained in Indian Railways. For example, a plastic garbage collecting guy who is not an employee of Indian Railways is allowed to walk through and along the tracks to pick up plastic waste, mostly water bottle which are recycled. (Why such a job is needed is a question worth not wasting any time here), Whereas a Railway Gang-man, an employee of the Indian Railway is supposed to be walking on railway tracks to ensure the track are intact and safe. Its his job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have walked on tracks over longer distances because there isn't any alternative to it unless I was ready to walk twice the distance. During that walk I came across a couple of Railway sub-section offices, traction centers and a few Railways officials too. They looked perfectly okay with me walking along the track, but it doesn't mean it is legal to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-03T05:17:49.647" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T05:17:49.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9772" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9773" CreationDate="2015-11-03T05:42:35.130" Score="10" ViewCount="252" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have gone through the answers of question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7898/when-is-it-not-ok-to-leave-feces-behind&quot;&gt;When is it not OK to leave feces behind?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;It did answer a part of my question &quot;I would really like to know how and where exactly do I select this area?&quot;&#xA;It also put an insight on &quot;How far away from trail in wilderness should it be?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am new to hiking. So far I have been on about 15 different day hikes. I am planning to go on a multi-day hike soon. I would need to set up a toilet area in this case. I have read in posts and books that &quot;toilet area&quot; must be away from a water source, that &quot;toilet area&quot; must be lower than cooking area, etc. &#xA;I am not exactly able to picture it as I haven't done it before. Which raised more questions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I would really like to know how and where exactly do I select this area?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What its size should be with respect to number of people who are going to use it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How far should two toilet holes should be from each other?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How approximately far away from trail and the campsite should it be?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-04T18:14:40.600" Title="Selection of toilet area, its distance from the trail, its size with respect to number of people in group, placement of holes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9772" CreationDate="2015-11-03T08:34:08.683" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two thoughts are correct.&#xA;The other considerations should be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The layout should ought to be like Trail - Campsite and Kitchen area - Thickets (if there are any) - Toilet area. Preferably it can be a triangle. So that one doesn't have to pass through kitchen area to go to toilet area. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;It should be lower than the Kitchen area, water source and campsite&quot; - Correct.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;It should be away from water source&quot; - Correct.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the lower and higher plane topography is not available, then you can see for wind direction for the most of the time of the day. At least in the early hours of day Wind Direction should be towards toilet area and hence away from kitchen/campsite. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never set up a toilet area in thickets, and or tree cover. If the soil is damp, it takes a little more time to decompose the waste naturally. There should be proper sunlight over the toilet area, it helps decomposition faster and keeps the flies away. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The distance between campsite and toilet area should rather depend upon terrain and the site. If we are dealing with a flat plane without much variation in topography, I would prefer it to be at least a 5-6 minute walk from the campsite, which should roughly be 300 meters?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The area shouldn't matter much if you follow the next step I suggest. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additionally, I hope you have been trained to dig a small hole, do your work in. I have known people who usually fill the hole with the soil and put a stone over it, which I really don't quite comprehend why. May be thats their way of letting the other camp member know that he/she shouldn't dig there. As long as everyone is filling the hole, and marking it, that should never be an issue. Comfortable distance should be roughly a couple of feet from an existing mark. How to mark depends on where you are. Pile 2 stones one over another, if there are dry leave, you can put them over the hole as an intentional bunch of leaves. The region I trek in is mostly Dry deciduous forest for most of the times, and I usually do not trek with a large number of people with me, so I just get away digging a whole, doing my stuff, filling it up again and put some leave over it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-03T11:44:24.187" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T11:44:24.187" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9774" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9776" CreationDate="2015-11-03T13:12:47.947" Score="8" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me and a friend are thinking about trying two handed fly fishing for salmon and sea-run browns in northern Sweden. We both have been fishing for these same species with single-handed rods, but have decided to give two handers a try after a few tough days at large and deep rivers this autumn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our goal is to be able to fish starting from next spring &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.se/maps/place/63%C2%B049&amp;#39;41.8%22N+20%C2%B010&amp;#39;14.7%22E/@63.828276,20.1685633,403m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0&quot;&gt;in a section of our river&lt;/a&gt; that is about 100 m wide and between 5 to 6 meters deep. There is not much room to wade there, as the depth drops suddenly beyond our chests a few meters from the bank. The fish hold in the main current and my friend succeeded (after a hard day of long casts) to land a nice sea-run brown from there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We obviously don't need to cast to the opposite bank, but we need to constantly make 30+ meters casts towards were the fish hold. Additionally, there are many spots where we have very tight room for backcasting with our one-handers. Lastly, we will probably be fishing with sink-tips and large streamers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are so many casting stiles (spey, skagit, scandi), each with its own gear requirements, so I need suggestions regarding which two handed casting style we should learn for our particular application (and what gear we should buy as well). We prefer something that is versatile and would work also during summer when water levels are lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T20:02:21.613" Title="Which two handed fly casting style should I learn?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;casting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9774" CreationDate="2015-11-03T20:02:21.613" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your question, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Which two handed fly casting style should I learn?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; the answer is &lt;strong&gt;all of them&lt;/strong&gt;. After you've learned every style then you'll &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; which one suits your needs best in any situation, but whenever you have something behind you I always recommend the &lt;strong&gt;roll cast&lt;/strong&gt;, which is very effective with a double handed rod especially.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for what gear you should buy, this is never a question that you should ask an enthusiast, because it's a never ending list. But if you want my recommendation on what you should do in your big river, it's to quit throwing your arm out trying to cast 30m+ every time from the shore and get out in the water in a float:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wsTIn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wsTIn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can either get a tube float and kick around with flippers, or you can get a pontoon float with oars. You will likely want to get a nice warm insulated drysuit if your river is as cold as I imagine it is (You're further North than I am, and the rivers are plenty cold enough where I live in Canada). Then you can just paddle or kick your way out into middle of the river where all the fish are and float down the current with your lure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-03T20:02:21.613" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9765" CreationDate="2015-11-04T14:42:59.660" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There really is no good replacement for chalk but natural conditions and some tricks can help to make it easier to climb without chalk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some areas in Germany have very strict (Elbsandstein - no chalk) or strict (Pfalz - chalk starting around 5.12) ethics concerning chalk and it might be a good idea to look at how climbers there deal with sweaty hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rock in those areas is almost exclusively soft or very soft sandstone which helps a lot because it takes up moisture while climbing and friction is usually very good. Often there is also fine sand at the base of cliffs which can be used to dry your hands between climbs without getting them too dirty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So much for what the rock can do for you. What about yourself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have a small towel on your harness to dry your hands (or use your shirt, pants etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avoid south faces in summer, prefer north facing crags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stay calm and focus on your calmness while climbing (easier said than done)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;climb routes below your limit (and climb more of them)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5409" LastActivityDate="2015-11-04T14:42:59.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9772" CreationDate="2015-11-04T18:14:40.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What its size should be with respect to number of people who are going to use it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found that you can dig one cathole and use it multiple times,(by the same person or multiple people), just dig a deeper hole (deeper but not wider). After each use, toss down a thin layer of dirt to &quot;hide&quot; the waste from other creatures. If it is attracting flies, then you should use more dirt. Caution: Cordon the immediate area with a rope or tarp to prevent people or animals from stepping in the open hole. Be sure to completely fill in the hole before moving your campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How far should two toilet holes should be from each other?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doesn't matter. When one hole is nearly full, finish filling it with dirt, put a rock or boulder on it to mark the spot so you don't dig there again, and dig another hole 4 or 5 feet away to start over. If you want multiple holes at one time, then your biggest concern will probably be privacy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-11-04T18:14:40.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9779" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9781" CreationDate="2015-11-04T23:46:55.877" Score="11" ViewCount="871" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a good and easy way to fold a (50-100') rope for storage so that it resembles a caterpillar and has no loose ends getting undone? Close to the way it comes folded in a store like this at the Home Depot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sAmlyl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:31:07.303" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:31:07.303" Title="How to fold rope for storage?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9780" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-05T04:06:41.493" Score="4" ViewCount="992" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to camp for the whole winter but mostly in a wooded area. Is it reasonable to assume that I will not encounter terribly heavy winds? I want to purchase a 1 man tent but can't decide if getting the 4-season extended tent upgrade is worth it. I want something cost effective but able to withstand winter weather minus the intense winds and conditions that an actual mountaineer would face. Could you guys make some suggestions? I'm hoping to not have to go to official mountaineering brands that cost 400+&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would something like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Ultra-Light-Back-Packing-4-x-7-x-6-5-Tent-with-Full-Fly-Sleeps-1/40147305&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ozark Trail Tent&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/CampingMaxx-Hiker-Biker-1-Person-3-Season-Backpacking-Motorcycle-Tent/42300075&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CampingMaxx&lt;/a&gt; pull it off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or should I start researching 4-season tents to be sure snow doesn't ruin my tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8087" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T04:19:45.833" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:11:48.523" Title="What tent should I use for extended winter camping in the midwest US?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9779" CreationDate="2015-11-05T07:21:28.817" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in comments, this option to coil a rope will get you some twists in it. So I do not recommend it for longer ropes (i.e. your climbing ropes), as twists are very inconvenient when belaying. This mode is mainly suited for cordelettes that you want to attach to your harness and therefore should be compact. To create such a coil follow these steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start with the two ends together in your hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q9CrIm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q9CrIm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on length and diameter wrap your cord neatly around a hand or around an elbow and the crest between the index and thumb until only a small amount is left.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4TiOIm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4TiOIm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wrap the rest tightly starting at one end making your way towards the other. I usually do not do this over the whole length, I just start in the middle as for my taste it still gets compact enough (I am lazy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To secure the ending there are two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) Leave only very little space at the end and then simply pull the cord through and clip this loop to a biner - fast and does not get loose as long as it is on the biner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYvQOm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYvQOm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) Use just enough rope to pull it through the end and then fold it back over the whole coil. This is neat even without a biner, but is somewhat more tedious to do and has no obvious attachment loop, so it is more suited for storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6T1bSm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6T1bSm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long and/or big diameter ropes I recommend to use some variant of the butterfly coil (just google it, there are lots of instructions available). This is much faster to do and does give no twists, does not get loose and is great for transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T07:30:21.973" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2015-11-05T09:07:06.037" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of answers on this page that wrong and could lead to life threatening anaphylaxis. Given the risks involved here, I'll be providing quotes from physicians throughout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Don't pull it off - not with your fingers and not with tweezers!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Now this is what most of us will do - we'll either scratch it off or reach for the household tweezers. Now this is precisely the worst thing you can do. As you remove the tick, you squeeze it and all its contents go straight into your bloodstream.&quot;&#xA;  Dr Jonica Newby&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She continues&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;You should go to the chemist and buy a spray containing ether. So something like Wart Off, or Medi Freeze Skin Tag Remover. Place the nozzle conveniently over the tick and spray. Feels cold - freeze the tick, and wait about ten minutes for the tick to die. Once it's dead, you can just brush it off.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GMF07.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GMF07.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Medi Freeze Skin Tag / Tick remover&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Freeze it, Don't Squeeze it&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tick bites pose a serious health risk with Lyme disease, anaphylaxis and &lt;a href=&quot;http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bugbitten/2014/04/28/mammalian-meat-allergy-caused-by-tick-bites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MMA&lt;/a&gt;. But Dr Andrew Ratchford had this to say &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;If you squeeze the tick, that causes the allergen to enter the bloodstream, which causes the anaphylactic reaction. If you remove the tick correctly without squeezing it then you don't have those problems.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did this research after being bitten by a tick and finding this page. I used tweezers to remove the tick and now months later it's still red, swollen and itchy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These quotes are taken from a TV Program on aired on the ABC. Video and transcript are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4177191.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;available here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6484" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T13:59:39.787" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T13:59:39.787" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9783" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9794" CreationDate="2015-11-05T09:45:40.523" Score="7" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every time I use something like a partridge feather for a hackle, I have to remove part of the feather fibres (the fluffy soft part) and that usually goes to waste. I wonder if that can be used for something like dubbing, for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that most materials are not that expensive, but I hate to waste stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there uses for those soft fibres? In general, what by-products of tying a fly can be reused on other flies? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T18:51:47.673" Title="Can I reuse the soft fibres from hackle feathers in some other fly tying application?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9785" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-05T09:50:27.590" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fly tying is the craft of fly fishing flies from raw materials such as feathers, furs, synthetics, and etc. While the name 'fly' evokes the image of insects, flies can be tied to imitate fish, small mammals, birds, fish eggs, and many other sources of food for fish. Some flies do not imitate anything at all, but rely on fish curiosity and territorial instinct to draw a strike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T23:15:56.513" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T23:15:56.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9786" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-05T09:50:27.590" Score="0" Body="Questions about making flies for fly fishing." OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T23:15:56.513" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T23:15:56.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9787" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9788" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" Score="0" Body="A camming device is a form or protection used in rock climbing. They are sometimes called SLCD, cam or friend. Camming devices were first invented by Vitaly Abalakov and work on the principle of a Logarithmic spiral. When a camming device is placed any force to remove it (without pulling the trigger) will force the lobes to open, thus resisting the removal force.&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;Use this tage for questions regarding the uses of camming devices" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T10:18:34.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6704" CreationDate="2015-11-05T16:09:17.157" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another good cast for small streams with lots of bushes is the water haul, described in this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing/the-water-haul-cast-slow-your-roll/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; at Gink and Gasoline. It basically uses the water tension to load the rod, like the roll cast, but you cast towards the opposite direction from where your line is lying (no d-loops). You start with your line straight downstreams, which creates the tension, and flex your rod towards your target (upstreams or across the stream) allowing your rod to bend and unload propelling the line. I suggest you watch the video in the post linked above, as a (moving) picture says much more than words.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2016-04-06T09:41:54.090" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T09:41:54.090" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9783" CreationDate="2015-11-05T16:27:59.750" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use that dubbing to make flies used in tiny hook sabiki rigs. Just something that will wiggle around the hook to attract plankton feeders. I use these to catch sardines, alewives, menhaden, herrings and also sometimes perch catch well on sabiki rigs. Check your local regs, because some places don't allow sabiki rigs and or limit how many hooks you may have or what fish are allowed to be caught with sabiki rigs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T16:27:59.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9780" CreationDate="2015-11-05T16:47:18.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers is to simply get a proper 4 season tent designed for camping in the winter. There's a reason why 4 season tents are different than 3 season tents, and that reason is because the weather and temperature of that fourth season (winter) is much harsher than the other three. You are not going to find a 3 season tent that performs as well as a 4 season. 4 seasons have a much more durable fly to protect them from the elements, and are devoid of screen vents which let in drafts and let warm air out. Many are constructed with a double wall to help insulate the tent. In general, 4 season tents are significantly warmer than 3 season tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't have to break the bank buying a 4 season tent, take the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5027-668/mec-tgv-2-tent/?h=10%2050055%2052299%2050130%2050858%2052302&amp;amp;f=10%2050818%2050858%2052302&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MEC TVG&lt;/a&gt; for example, It's a professional quality 2 person mountain expedition tent that goes for $339 &lt;em&gt;Canadian&lt;/em&gt; dollars, which comes out to only $257 USD at current market prices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQwHb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KQwHb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want a one person tent for winter camping if you ask me, in fact not many manufacturers even make 1 person 4 season tents. I've gone winter camping in 1 person pup stents in the past, it wasn't fun, now if possible I always make a snow shelter, which are far warmer and offer superior protection from the elements than any tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T16:47:18.017" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9783" CreationDate="2015-11-05T18:51:47.673" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use it, but it probably wouldn't be very convenient. That fluffy stuff is basically Marabou, which is one of the most popular fly tying materials, the difference between the soft hookless barbs found on your hackles, and the barbs found on semiplumes like Marabou, is the rachis, the shaft of the feather the barbs attach to. You could make use of it, but you'd exert a lot of extra effort compared to making a fly with a new semiplume. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're conscious about &lt;em&gt;wasting&lt;/em&gt; materials, just remember that the feathers you're using are already a byproduct to begin with. They don't harvest birds for feathers, they harvest them for meat, the feathers just happen to be usable in some other markets as well, but would be garbage otherwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that still doesn't satisfy your conscience, then start saving just the hookless barbs until you have enough to re-stuff a pair of mittens. You could turn a pair of cheap synthetic mitts into a nice light pair of down-ish mitts, then brag about how you made them out of all the scraps from the hundreds of flies you've tied.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-05T18:51:47.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9795" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9797" CreationDate="2015-11-06T11:58:32.843" Score="11" ViewCount="1014" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just looking at an article about an expedition on Eiger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came across this picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FxuHC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FxuHC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this setup right? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info on the expedition: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.markseaton.com/stories/eiger.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.markseaton.com/stories/eiger.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Kudos to the team :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:33.990" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:33.990" Title="Is this anchor set up right?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9795" CreationDate="2015-11-06T12:18:20.520" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is load bearing, then hell no. This is a mess of cross- and ring-loading, which will break the biners.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If it is just a material storage placement, then it is simply confusing. And of what I know about the Eiger, when you find a good placement, you will never ever only use it for hanging up your gear, always for protection.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So all in all more information about the context would be needed to make a definitive answer, but I cannot imagine why this should be legit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Unfortunately the pictures in the link given in the question are probably not in chronological order, so there is no information extractable about when or where this photo was taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-11-06T13:25:03.487" LastActivityDate="2015-11-06T13:25:03.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9795" CreationDate="2015-11-06T14:02:56.577" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I couldn't have come up with a better example of &quot;how carabiners should &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; be used&quot; if I tried! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, the most likely explanation for that picture is either such a deliberate bad example, or a joke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quite likely incomplete list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use of non-locking carabiners in an anchor - rightmost arrow shows a nut wire just waiting to slip through a wire gate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cross-loading, so much cross-loading! The middle arrow shows the most egregious instance - crossloading straight across a wire gate. That drastically reduces the strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;metal on metal in a veritable daisy chain pattern (at the bottom there is a carabiner clipped into a carabiner, which itself is clipped into two other carabiners. This stuff can too easily lever itself open (or broken).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The whole thing is a complete mess, visually as well as technically, increasing the chance for anyone who adds or removes equipment to do make dangerous mistakes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sling going to the left (left arrow) indicates that the thing is loaded sideways as well as downwards - paving the way for those nuts to wiggle themselves loose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One of the screwgate carabiners isn't locked. From the picture it can't be seen whether it actually serves any (critical) purpose, but if in doubt it should be closed properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2015-11-11T10:31:29.493" LastActivityDate="2015-11-11T10:31:29.493" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-06T16:30:40.667" Score="8" ViewCount="616" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am seam-sealing a tent made from silpoly with silicone sealant (generic 100% silicone, couln't find any silnet around me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fabric is very slippery, much more than regular polyester fabric or nylon fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The parts covered in silicone sealant are the opposite of slippery (missing a word here, help?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason for that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:33:20.297" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:33:20.297" Title="Why is silnylon/silpoly slippery, but silicone sealant is not?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1395" CreationDate="2015-11-06T19:16:52.590" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't much difference in the two &quot;acclimatization&quot; options.  In neither option do you get more than a start on acclimatization. In both options, you serve notice on your body to get ready.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Option 2 might be &quot;safer&quot; in that your chances for a good night's sleep and a good dinner are better at the hotel than the hut.  Thus, you might start the climb more rested. But Option 1 might be &quot;safer&quot; in that whatever problems you might have, might manifest themselves at the level of the hut, or soon thereafter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my answer is go with what you want to get out of the total experience.  Is the camaraderie at the hut important?  Is spending a night at 11,800 feet, far from the tourist crowd at the base of the mountain important?  (Is sleeping outside the hut under the stars possible?)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are in good shape, and knowing that you have had no trouble at 10,800, and knowing that you will be with a (presumably) reputable guide, and assuming that if you feel awful you will be sensible, then flip a coin or go with your gut.  Nothing is certain; you could get run over tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had a similar experience 10 years ago in Chile.  We were staying at San Pedro de Atacama (about 8,500 feet) and went to the Tatio geysers (about 13,000 feet) in the morning.  Then we walked up Cerro Tocco (about 18,400 feet) in the afternoon and had no problems, not even mild headaches.  (But what was OK for us might not be OK for someone else, and vice versa.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-12-30T05:47:51.200" LastActivityDate="2017-12-30T05:47:51.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9800" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9801" CreationDate="2015-11-06T23:49:42.783" Score="12" ViewCount="3179" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband's brother came upon this tree while hiking up &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks/monadnock-state-park.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Monadnock&lt;/a&gt; in New Hampshire, USA. This was his first time seeing bulges, for lack of a better word, like these. Knowing that I'm intrigued by such things, he sent me two pictures. He didn't photograph any other part of the tree, so I don't know its species or what the upper branches look like. The leaves on the ground look like maple, so perhaps it's in that family.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't tell if something inside the trunk is pushing these out or if they're structures that attached themselves to the tree, and now have a bark-like substance growing on them. They almost look like old bee-hives. I suppose they could be something growing on stubs from branches which used to be there, but I doubt that. My brother-in-law didn't touch the tree, so I don't know if they're hard or soft, and I can't describe the texture of the pink and white substance growing on them and down the tree. Although the trunk looks strong, it has a green tinge in some areas which might be moss, or a disease process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've learned the hard way that not every interesting thing in the woods is healthy, and I'm afraid that's the case here, although I'm hoping otherwise! Has anyone seen these before? I'd love to know what they are, and whether or not they're harming the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for full-screen view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KYh0D.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KYh0Dm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rc3Lc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rc3Lcm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2015-11-15T03:17:43.487" Title="What are these bulges? Are they harming the tree?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9800" CreationDate="2015-11-07T00:20:55.487" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burl&quot;&gt;Burl&lt;/a&gt;. They are natural non-harmful (think of them like scar tissue maybe, resulting from injury or infection) deformities in the grain of trees. Both hardwood &amp;amp; softwood trees can develop burls. (FWIW, I'd guess based on the bark &amp;amp; needles laying in the folds of the bark in the first picture that this tree is some sort of conifer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-11-07T00:20:55.487" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9780" CreationDate="2015-11-07T06:23:07.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are going to live in the tent, get a canvas wall tent and a stove. It will be much more livable over the long term even if it costs a bit more up front. I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://wintertrekking.com/equipment/hot-tenting/&quot;&gt;a lot of information about and pictures of &quot;hot tenting&quot; here&lt;/a&gt;. I've always wanted to try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to camp every weekend, get a good 4-season tent like those recommended in other posts. It will make a difference. I use a cheap 4-ish season Columbia tent because I only go winter camping once or twice a year, I've got a –30F sleeping bag, and I know how to sleep warm. But over time, your sleeping bag loses loft due to moisture accumulating inside it. You'd be much better off with a tent you can heat up so your gear can dry out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastActivityDate="2015-11-07T06:23:07.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9808" CreationDate="2015-11-07T09:58:53.120" Score="18" ViewCount="11111" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am going for four day hike in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ghats&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Ghats&lt;/a&gt;. The terrain is&#xA;  rocky humid and It is one of the eight &quot;hottest hotspots&quot; of&#xA;  biological diversity in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am trying to pack my rucksack as per the terrain and found that sleeping mattress is a most important thing while hiking in this type of terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.decathlon.co.uk/m200-camping-sleeping-mat-id_5587547.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;QUECHUA M200 CAMPING SLEEPING MAT&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B0VVD.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is my first time using sleeping mattress in a hike. I am confused how to carry a mattress with rucksack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some possible ways of carrying sleeping mattresses with rucksack.&#xA;like following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oXmn3.jpg&quot; height=&quot;200&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YyEOF.jpg&quot; height=&quot;200&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrCND.jpg&quot; height=&quot;200&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is best to avoid attaching anything to the outside of a rucksack; items attached to the outside are more likely to get wet, damaged or lost.  You must also be careful not to overbalance your bag as this will cause unnecessary back strain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the best effective way to carry a sleeping mattress?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="5411" LastEditDate="2017-04-11T13:55:12.583" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T19:43:50.673" Title="Effective way to carry a sleeping mattress with rucksack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;western-ghats&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9804" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-07T15:42:27.430" Score="4" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to find websites providing GPS tracks for southeast Asia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm mostly interested in hiking but other activities would also be interesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I only bumped into 2 interesting websites: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikiloc.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wikiloc.com&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://bikemap.net&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bikemap.net&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the map feature in wikiloc is pretty cool to find nearby GPS traces &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8093" LastEditorUserId="8093" LastEditDate="2015-11-10T03:31:35.033" LastActivityDate="2015-12-30T11:14:06.903" Title="Where do you get GPS tracks (hikes) for southeast Asia?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2015-11-07T16:43:41.113" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rolled up sleeping pad is generally pretty lightweight, meaning the &quot;you could misbalance your pack and strain your back&quot; concern is probably one you can ignore. People try not put them inside because they may not fit, or they may get squashed. If the pads are waterproof, which is common, you really don't need to worry about the pad getting wet from carrying it outside the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end you need to balance your desire to have everything inside the pack with the size of pack you're willing to carry and what else you're going to bring. When I canoe camp, I take large bags called Duluth packs, and putting my mattress in there vertically is simple enough. People who are hiking, carrying everything all the time, generally carry smaller more structured packs and put mattresses outside on the top, as in your first picture, or the bottom, as in your third picture, centred so as not to throw off your balance. (The choice often depends on the availability of straps on your pack, or whether you can still get into at least one pocket with the mattress attached.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you going to be walking through dense foliage? If so, there is a chance a mattress attached like that would catch on branches and be damaged or pulled off. This would tip the balance more to the &quot;inside the pack&quot; decision. If not, then outside can be a perfectly sensible choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-11-07T16:43:41.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2015-11-07T21:36:54.500" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I switched to using a self inflating mattress years ago, mostly because of the problem of the bulk of foam mats, and having them outside the pack while working though dense bush.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside as shown is really not useful. The mat does not conform to the contours of the pack pack, leaving very little space for your gear. If you have space inside your pack, role the mat normally and pack around it (I have done this for short trips, but prefer a smaller pack with the role outside over a larger pack). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I found is the mounting low down and across (as in your third picture) works very well most of the time, and was my usual carry position. When in very dense bush it can get caught up easily. In many cases it prevented me getting between trees and often caught on vines. In these cases I would switch the mounting to having it vertical up the center line of the pack, then it would get caught at the top.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One trick is to ask if you need it full width - I had mates who had trimmed their mats down so it was no wider than the pack. Also, shortening it to a three quarter length will mean it has less volume, but provide nearly as much warmth as a full length mat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Another condition to be wary off is (very) high wind. A Vertical and to some extent top mount acts as a sail and you are more likely to be blown off balance - switching to bottom horizontal mount is definitely worth while. switching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T22:14:26.540" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T22:14:26.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7347" CreationDate="2015-11-08T03:49:21.817" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Northern Maine, there's a stretch of the Appalachian Trail nicknamed the hundred mile wilderness, I don't believe I seen a soul for at least 3 days&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8097" LastActivityDate="2015-11-08T03:49:21.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2015-11-08T22:57:12.737" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think having it vertically using side compression straps or bungees on the rear of the bag effects movement the least (ie not getting caught on stuff). As Kate Gregory mentions the pads are really light and don't affect the balance of the bag too much so I wouldn't worry about that. foam pads like the one you have are also really tough! Unlike an inflatable it doesn't really matter if it gets a hole or tear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eljBg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eljBg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ice&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogs.dw.com/abenteuersport/files/Hagshu-Nordwand.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blogs.dw.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://cdn.ukc2.com/i/245410.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;frendo spur&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;image chosen mostly for dramatic clouds&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is to chop your sleeping-mat up into panels that fit against the back of your bag and create hinges using gaffer tape. many people use this to replace existing back supports in bags so the pad will serve two purposes. The down side is you are unlikely to get the whole mat in and retain a usable volume for your other gear so will have to decide between a long very thin mat that covers the whole body or a shorter wider mat that just covers the torso (put your legs on your bag)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cache.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1149212277_00025.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;folded mat http://cache.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1149212277_00025.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The decision is normally determined by the trip you are making. How much extra stuff do you need to put in the bag? How likely will a mat on the outside of your bag get caught on things. What do you consider to be uncomfortable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A slight aside is that its worth having one back panel of foam in your bag at all times even if you have no intention of camping out. Its great for sitting on when you stop to rest or eat and can prove extremely important for insulation if someone is injured and may need to remain immobile for a long period of time while you sort-out help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2020-12-27T19:43:50.673" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T19:43:50.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1087" CreationDate="2015-11-08T23:07:31.437" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have been unable to retrieve the cam using the other methods described another climber will almost certainly abseil in or climb up to it and claim it as &lt;em&gt;Crag  Swag&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-11-08T23:07:31.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9105" CreationDate="2015-11-08T23:21:25.123" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The information you need is on the manufacturers &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/about/servicing-repairs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We offer servicing for DMM Cams (trigger wires and slings), and Torque Nuts (slings) if they pass a quality inspection. Prior to sending them to us, we ask you to inspect and assess your gear in accordance to the supplied user instructions and inspection criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for others considering replacing their own slings &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-labthe-dangers-of-modifying-your-gear.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black diamond&lt;/a&gt; has compiled some of the common problems people encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-11-27T21:03:02.827" LastActivityDate="2015-11-27T21:03:02.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2015-11-09T11:28:00.457" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you have the right kind of a backpack according to your requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you need to separate things that you need frequently and things you'll need less often. The way I camp/trek and plan things, I am okay to pack everything all over again in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, it is best suited to pack lighter items in the bottom of the pack and heavier stuff toward the top, the idea is to keep heavier stuff closer to your back and not on bum. This keeps your center of gravity relatively high. Center of gravity plays a very important role in balancing your body when in motion. Higher Center of gravity tends to make it easy to haul the backpack easily while your performance with balance is hampered. Women naturally have a lower center of gravity, so the women I know and trek with, they pack heavier stuff at the bottom, that further increases their stability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, The lower your center of gravity is , the easier it is to keep yourself balanced, pack feels heavier. The higher your center of gravity is, the easier it is to haul the pack but chances are more to dwell/tip off or go off-balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your pack doesn't have a separate space for sleeping bag, keep it at the bottom, usually you'll only need it after you are done for the day. So extra Clothing and your sleeping bag can go lower sections of the backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier items like water bottles, tins, food and fuel up against the pack’s back panel, and not in the front. If you place the heavy items on the outer sections of the backpack, you will experience that the pack constantly putting you off-balance, leaning back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Importantly, keep the Headlamp, Flashlight, Medical Kit (Um, wait, you do carry these, right?) always handy, i.e. upper most sections of the pack.&#xA;Unimportant things like Jelly, Bars you can keep in the top outer section of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A well-folded Garbage pack can find its place in the side-pouches if there are any.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, order of packing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra Clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food (Heavy meal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go Food for next day (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liquid items (Water, juices, fuel bottles/can)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration pack (closer to the back)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat-on-the-go food for today (Lighter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electronic equipment like portable chargers, camera lenses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical Kit, Headlamp, Flashlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain Cover (If it is not in a small pouch compartment at the bottom on the backpack)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-11-09T11:28:00.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="79" CreationDate="2015-11-09T21:28:47.763" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, always use poles with baskets.  Trekking poles allow adjustability which I find useful in changing snow conditions.  ...but to snowshoe without poles?  You can do it but it's so much more work and I cover much more distance with. JIMO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8104" LastActivityDate="2015-11-09T21:28:47.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="79" CreationDate="2015-11-10T01:24:29.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, you really don't need either trekking poles or ski poles when snowshoeing. On flat ground or at low angles, I don't find them necessary or useful at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On very steep stuff, I find that an ice ax is more helpful (along with those mini-crampon things built into some snowshoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time when I've felt like poles would have been at all helpful was in certain very rare situations such as struggling up a steep gully into deep powder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that you can get attachments to put on an ice ax that lengthen it somewhat and add a basket. This seems like it would be very handy, but I haven't been able to find anything like that for sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-11-10T01:24:29.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8854" CreationDate="2015-11-10T17:32:16.823" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of medication being transported can impact the answer to this question.  But for Insulin a really good choice is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FRIO cooling case&lt;/a&gt; it use evaporation to keep the contents cool. It needs to be someplace it can breath so in the center of your back pack is not a good choice, but an outside pocket might be a good choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be used over and over again and can be recharged on the trail.  We have used it extensively for day and week trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not the solution for all meds, so as suggested in the FAQ check with a medical professional about the requirements of your specific medication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can a FRIO® be used for other medication?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, FRIO® wallets can be used for other medications that can be stored at room temperature. We strongly recommend that users of medication other than insulin ask their GP, pharmacist or the medication's manufacturer for the safe travel data/safe travel allowance of their medication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: the wallet does not keep medication as cold as a 'fridge' would (2-8°C (35.6-46.4°F)), but it does keep medication cool within safe temperatures of 18-26°C (64.4-78.8°F) for 45 hours minimum, even in a constant environmental temperature of 37.8°C (100°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-11-10T17:32:16.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9817" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9975" CreationDate="2015-11-11T10:04:07.230" Score="7" ViewCount="2153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going snowboarding in a couple of months and I'm hideously out of practice/not very good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember when I last had lesson the instructor talked about how I should twist the board with my feet as I turn but TBH I never really got what he was trying to explain. Can anyone explain this? It'd be nice to understand the theory before I start practising again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T16:04:00.337" Title="Twisting board technique when turning a snowboard?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9818" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-11T15:25:44.633" Score="10" ViewCount="1396" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an older shotgun designed for lead shot, by law I can only fire steel shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I fire steel shot, or do I need get a new shotgun?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I can use steel shot, what additional maintenance is required?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:29:39.330" Title="I have an older shotgun designed for lead shot, can I use steel shot?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9820" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-12T11:29:00.597" Score="8" ViewCount="397" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realize that recurve bows are the &quot;next generation&quot; after the long bow, delivering more power for length, is there an inherent accuracy improvement with the recurve or is it just power to length? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-12T12:04:21.990" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T16:24:49.773" Title="Is a recurve bow more accurate than a long bow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;&lt;long-bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5406" CreationDate="2015-11-12T11:47:53.043" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton canvas tents with a durable water repellent finish works the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;one of our most popular items is a sunforger canvas (cotton) with a water repellent, mildew resistant finish and it's pre-shrunk.  Depending on the size of the tent this 10 oz fabric is pretty lightweight but strong.  We sell these to hunters in the mid-west that load these on their horses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8114" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-11-12T12:38:58.737" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T12:38:58.737" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9820" CreationDate="2015-11-12T16:24:49.773" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recurve could be considered more accurate than a longbow due to the simple fact that longbows traditionally do not have sights, whereas a recurve does. It is however down to skill.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note I will mention arrows as well. For a recurve I had carbon fiber arrows with a spiraled aluminum core, curved fletchings, and interchangeable weighed heads. For a longbow I used wooden arrows with feather fletchings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is much easier to be accurate with a recurve, solely down to better technology. Adjustable sights, engineered and adaptable arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started off using a recurve and later moved onto a longbow as a change. After a while I was just as accurate with the longbow as I was the recurve. It is all down to practice, a longbow just requires a little more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T16:24:49.773" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1298" CreationDate="2015-11-12T21:11:42.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tents, as far as replacement goes, are usually made of 3 parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Poles can usually be repaired (to a point), or replaced with equivalent or with similar models with a little work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Better yet is to use a tent that fits on straight poles, which can be replaced with trekking poles, or with standard straight poles. (MSR has some, for example).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for fly and inner, the simpler the easier to mend, and the easier to replace one without the other. Typically, BD sells the Beta Light as 2 separated parts, and several cottages can make custom inner or fly that would fit with those. (And you can even make your own!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T21:11:42.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9818" CreationDate="2015-11-12T23:00:50.277" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't shoot steel shot through a shotgun barrel that isn't designed for it. Steel shot builds higher pressure than lead and could seriously damage both your gun and your face if the manufacturer didn't design for it. This kind of warning will be written on any box of steel shot ammunition you buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say &quot;by law I can only fire steel shot&quot;, but is steel specifically mentioned or does the law require &quot;non-toxic&quot;? If non-toxic you have other non-steel options but I don't know if other shot types carry the same risk as steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best option by far is to ask in a gun store, preferably one with an in-house gunsmith. They'll likely want to sell you a new shotgun regardless but should still give solid and safe advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2015-11-12T23:00:50.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9826" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9829" CreationDate="2015-11-13T04:27:50.693" Score="8" ViewCount="4748" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are alternate options that one can use as a sleeping pad if he/she doesn't have one along?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: Lets assume that he/she has a tent. And we are not talking about any sorts of extreme weather and altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T11:00:11.277" Title="What are other alternatives to Sleeping pads?" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9827" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9831" CreationDate="2015-11-13T08:29:28.413" Score="12" ViewCount="7921" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is this pigeon that I found the other day, it couldn't fly, had a chewing-gum attached to its wing, and probably a hurt neck, it would just sit and weep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fed the bird with water using a cotton ball. I dipped the cotton ball in water and press it gently near its beak to feed water, and the bird did actually drink the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought using a dropper tube would be a better choice?&#xA;What would you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Info: I took the bird to a vet doctor and its absolutely fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:08:12.327" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T11:23:30.597" Title="What is the best way to give an injured bird water?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9826" CreationDate="2015-11-13T08:57:43.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Piles of clothes (though not that comfortable) they do help insulate you when it's cold (one of the main things a sleeping mat does is insulate you from the ground to keep you warm, not just make it more comfortable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-13T09:30:02.613" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T09:30:02.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9826" CreationDate="2015-11-13T11:00:11.277" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on the situation and therefore the gear you have along and the environment you are in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example if you are on an alpine tour, you can do similar as we did this year in a bivouac:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;try to get in wind protected area (not so important in your case but even with a tent it changes your comfort)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;get a flat surface (heads up)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lay your ropes directly above the ground/snow so that they make the first layer of insulation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use the removable insulation mat which is in the back of most quality backpacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use the backpack itself to get the feet in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use the bivuouc sack to protect against cold from the surface&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if possible use plants/wood/...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T11:00:11.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3180" CreationDate="2015-11-13T12:08:37.953" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure that anyone can give you a specific number that will suit your needs. Its worth bearing in mind that the temperature ratings on sleeping bags are created using a somewhat arbitrary test involving a dummy with sensors &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good thing about this test is that it creates an objective position from which to judge a sleeping bags insulation value. The down side is that human experience of warmth is massively variable. Are you the type of person who puts a jumper on while your friends are still happy in shorts and t-shirts or visa-versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would start by borrowing a couple of sleeping bags and trying to sleep in them at a range of temperatures you expect to face. Failing that simply using them and seeing if you find the ratings to be conservative or generous. This would then give you a suitable reference point when deciding what you need for a sleeping bag for your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many other factors apart from the sleeping bag will affect your temperature, fitness, body fat, calorie intake, fatigue, exposure to wind or rain, insulation from the ground, adding additional insulation while sleeping e.g. cloths. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T12:08:37.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9827" CreationDate="2015-11-13T14:21:01.907" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to give birds a drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if it is calm just dip the beak in water and let it drink naturally. Your method of dropping water of cotton wool is fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dropper, syringe or drop-wise from a teaspoon is fine. Just a drop or two at a time. Don't force water into the bird, just allow a drop at a time to fall into the beak, let it swallow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It probably only needs a few drops at a time, a pigeon will probably only need 50 to 80ml a day&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a racing pigeon it probably needs several days rest and some wholegrain / split maize. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8115" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-04-10T15:40:14.900" LastActivityDate="2019-04-10T15:40:14.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1576" CreationDate="2015-11-13T17:23:03.717" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern foam climbing helmets like a Petzl Meteor and bike helmets are very similar. They are not tested identically so can't be compared apples to apples. A foam climbing climbing helmet will NOT stop multiple impacts. Sport specific helmets are to sell more helmets and make more money for the makers, period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8122" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T17:23:03.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9833" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9846" CreationDate="2015-11-13T17:26:33.637" Score="6" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;Years ago, after a storm, I found a dead bird with an id ring on its leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wanted to find out where to report it, but before I returned with a camera to take a photo, a neighbor decided to dispose the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case I ever find another one, I'd like to know how to find out what I can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above incident happened in Mexico, but I'd like to have answers that aren't country specific, if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T21:42:44.243" Title="Where to report bird with leg ring id?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9833" CreationDate="2015-11-13T18:49:40.990" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often times you can take a photo of the bird and the ID tag if you are able. With fishery tags anyway you can usually search the tag number and you'll get a list of potentials to contact. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T18:49:40.990" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="929" CreationDate="2015-11-13T19:28:20.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/07/24/time-start-charging-search-rescue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;article by Iceland Review&lt;/a&gt; (mentioned in a comment to Simon Hodgson by Paul Lydon), presently (summer 2015) there is no regular charge for search and rescue in Iceland. In exceptional cases, where people have to be rescued from closed roades or were not in real danger, they are charged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to a huge increase of S&amp;amp;R calls the teams mostly made up of local volunteers are overloaded and cost increases. This lead to a discussion to generally charge for S&amp;amp;R deployments. It is unclear whether and if so when this change will come into effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-11-13T19:28:20.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1833" CreationDate="2015-11-14T08:00:34.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Four season tents should be good for 4 seasons. Winter tents are good for winter. I don't think a tent that is a winter tent can accurately be called a 4 season tent because it's not. Not expert analysis just common sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes a good 4 season tent is the ability to withstand cold and heat. Huge mesh panels on the inner tent for when it's hot that have solid panels to completely cover them when it's extremely cold. Breathable fabric on the inner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Completely enclosed to the ground by waterproof material on the outer tent. Good ventilation system for the outer tent structure. Strong poles and guy line attachments. Ventilation is more important when it's cold outside. It is absolutely imperative that there is good ventilation or it will be raining or snowing inside the tent. Other special clothing and bedding is necessary unless you have a heater which of course you still need special clothing to go outside or when the heater breaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most 4 season tents are two tents in one that can be pitched separately if needed. May need some extra accessories for that on some. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it's the best tent in the world it's extremely heavy which makes it useless for some people that can't handle carrying it to the camp site.  In this case compromises need to be made and people will need many kinds and sizes of different tents. That's why they make 3 season tents and such. There are also some light weight 4 season tents but they are not ultralight. Unless of course you get a very small tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A three season tent will have exposed breathable material but mesh panels should have panels that close when it's cold. The outer rain fly will shed rain but not fully cover the tent. Like the one I have been using for several years. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coleman.com/product/9820-615#.VkXE3fmrSUk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.coleman.com/product/9820-615#.VkXE3fmrSUk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A four season tent would be something like this one.. &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.hilleberg.com/EN/products/black-label/staika/staika.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://us.hilleberg.com/EN/products/black-label/staika/staika.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need a four season tent it could be a matter of life or death so you don't mess around. Otherwise a $14 tent might do fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8126" LastEditorUserId="8126" LastEditDate="2015-11-14T08:30:47.167" LastActivityDate="2015-11-14T08:30:47.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2015-11-15T01:50:24.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you are hunting I would recommend the .625 caliber cold steel blowgun with the mini broadheads, I have seen people take rabbits an larger with these, although the range is limited to about 15-20 yards, its still a fun and easy way of taking down small game and you may be able to reuse the darts as they are also very affordable, about $8.00 per 100, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8128" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-26T23:15:25.143" LastActivityDate="2020-04-26T23:15:25.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9800" CreationDate="2015-11-15T03:17:43.487" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was pleased to see the photos of the burls; it's been some time since I had thought of all of the splendid uses Native Americans and others had found for burls, so I hope no-one minds my digression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burls are caused by wounds to trees, as has been mentioned. But far from making the tree unattractive, burls had been valued!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They had been sought out by Native Americans as the basis for bowls and drinking vessels often called &quot;noggins.&quot; My family had always been delighted to find a good hardwood burl because the grain of the wood in these &quot;wound-scars&quot; was twisted and convoluted. If the usual &quot;wood-grain&quot; resembled layer after layer of straight fibers, a burl could be a hopeless tangle of strands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because chisels and adzes are virtually useless in working the wood in burls,&#xA;Native Americans would &quot;burn&quot; the burl into the shape they desired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has no relationship to burning as in the sense of a wood hearth-fire! Instead, smooth stones would be thrust deeply into a bed of brilliantly-burning embers until virtually red-hot, then moved with green-stick tongs until it was possible to use the stone to begin to burn a pocket in the burl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slowly a cavity would be made, with smooth stones being switched out and reapplied as necessary, and the ash and carbonized wood would be chipped away, using stone or metal tools This would depend on the era, and the degree to which the worker wanted to remain true to the traditional ways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small drinking cup might take a couple days to &quot;burn out.&quot; A larger vessel would take longer, depending on the overall size desired, the depth of he bowl being made, the skill(s) of the artisan(s) and so forth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have made various &quot;belt-noggins,&quot; with short projections serving the purpose of handles, holes &quot;reamed&quot; therein, and short wood- or antler-toggles attached to a double-strand thong. The toggle could be thrust into a loop of the thong where the thong had been passed behind the belt, allowing it to be carried dangling from the belt. Capacities had varied, but as a rule had been in the 8-ounce to 14-ounce ranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Virtually every Native American who had business outside of the community had carried a drinking noggin. Until mining and the keeping of herds of livestock by Colonists led to water-pollution, the majority of &quot;wild water&quot; was relatively clean and safe. (Estimates say at least as safe as most municipal water systems.) People carried noggins so they could dip out a drink without having to crouch or virtually lie down, almost putting their faces into the water as they drank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People in villages were able to use gourd dippers and cups, and most did so. The fire-carved wooden noggins were heavier-duty and less likely to break miles--and days--from home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those I've made were done with smooth, rounded stones a bit smaller than a tennis ball. Prior to use, these stones had been repeatedly fired until I was sure they would not explosively shatter while in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd heat them until a small stick, touched against the stone, would immediately burst in flames. I'd keep burning the hollow, and outside shape, scraping out the ash and charcoal as necessary (it was necessary when the hollow no longer gushed smoke when the burning-rock was pressed to it) and continuing with this, hour after hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as not to be choked by the smoke, I'd select a site where there was a fairly strong wind always at my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes me a good two days to burn in the hollow for a noggin, and most of a third day to &quot;stone,&quot; or really, to sand, the noggin to shape, removing char-marks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between the grain of the burl being so tightly knotted and convoluted, and the fire-hardening effect of burning the noggin to shape, my vessels have never leaked nor cracked, after being packed away or hung on a wall or in a museum case for months or years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the two I'd made of straight-grained wood have stood the test of time and not cracked--so far. Those, I'd sawn to rough shape, then worked down with a reproduction Canadian-made Native American &quot;hook-knife,&quot; and a couple Scandinavian &quot;curved knives.&quot; Those knives are especially constructed so as to make intricate carving much easier than by relying on chisels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will note, however, that after I'd finished, I'd submerged the noggins in molten bees' wax, tempered with nut-oil, for about half an hour, for each one. The noggins had &quot;wept&quot; wax for a little bit, but that eventually stopped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My noggins are nothing special, but that is because I chose to stop my hand-work once they were suitable for catching a drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I must confess, however, that I've often had one with me while I was &quot;playing tourist!&quot; There are public water fountains almost everywhere, but very few have much water pressure. It actually seems deliberate! So, sliding a shallow wooden noggin under the fountain's spout often meant the difference between a decent drink, and either going thirsty or having to buy an over-priced coffee or a bottle of recycled municipal drinking water!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, I also own some &quot;also-rans;&quot; replica noggins or wooden drinking cups made of close-grained ash or maple, or perhaps hickory. If I'll be traveling and might lose my bag of have it stolen, I'll take something less precious to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although &quot;modern animal husbandry&quot; has long since made swine liver flukes endemic throughout the nation, and various &quot;progressive technological advances&quot; has spread &quot;junk&quot; such as transformers containing PCB-laden oil being lost and various old mining sites having abandoned toxic chemicals  where they might get into watersheds, I still carry a good noggin while &quot;out and about.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For one thing, it'as a piece of nostalgia that represents a much less complicated period of time; plus, it lets me take a short breather along the trail in a &quot;much more relaxed&quot; fashion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although this is a great departure from the original question about burls, I felt that a digression into the old-time practical uses of harvested burls as something besides a wood-worker's flat &quot;board-slab&quot; harvested exclusively for the ornate grain might be of interest to some readers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Members of my family had enjoyed the beauty of woods and wood-working, and as a result of this I'd taken up many of the old ways, and I've even combined them with modern techniques, on many occasions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8071" LastActivityDate="2015-11-15T03:17:43.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9256" CreationDate="2015-11-15T22:26:07.763" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;As requested, I'll give a run-down of why I am so happy with and constantly recommend the WIKE company's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wicycle.com/index.php/products/boat-trailers/wike-woody-wagon-canoe-bicycle-trailer#accessories-tab&quot;&gt;Woody Wagon Canoe Bicycle Trailer&lt;/a&gt;. I really like the DIY approach as well, but if you are going to buy something I think this is the one. I have owned one for three years now and in the summers use it several times a week. It was the only system I could find that was clearly made to carry a full-size canoe, not a kayak. Canoes have much deeper and wider hulls than kayaks and the WIKE system accounts for this. For reference, I own an outfitted 17' ABS whitewater canoe that weighs at least 80 pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the main things that I believe make WIKE's product stand out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The hitch attaches to the seat post, not the rear hub.&lt;/strong&gt; This keeps the bow of the canoe at a more sensible level. It is also less invasive to install on the bike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The hitch has a rubbery piece which allows the tow bar to move in any direction.&lt;/strong&gt; This makes riding the bike feel natural, even when pedalling out of the saddle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The unique T-bar piece that attaches the hitch to the canoe.&lt;/strong&gt; You can tell it was made for a canoe.  It features foam paddling that hugs the bow deck and 2 straps: one that wraps underneath and one that wraps around the yoke.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is quick to set up.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wicycle.com/index.php/products/boat-trailers/wike-woody-wagon-canoe-bicycle-trailer#accessories-tab&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGx6KDKrrKk&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; are videos of two children setting up the cart and the towing bar in a minute apiece. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is lightweight.&lt;/strong&gt; The tow bar and cart together weigh 13 lbs. It is easy for one person to carry the entire disassembled cart &amp;amp; tow bar. I have even carried the whole thing under one arm while riding my bike, but I do not reccomend this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It can handle a boat of any length.&lt;/strong&gt; You are only limited by practicality in terms of actually biking around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The cart disassembles quickly. The wheels come off via a push button axle.&lt;/strong&gt; So it is totally feasible to disassemble and reassemble the cart every time I use the canoe. Also, this makes it very convenient to store the entire system in the canoe while paddling, without taking up very much cargo space. (Along with a bike with quick release wheels this allows you to put in and take out at different places.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The cart is clearly designed for canoes of a variety of widths.&lt;/strong&gt; The cart has a metal frame covered in foam that hugs the canoe on either side and prevent it from touching the wheels. The width of the frame is widely adjustable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It stores well.&lt;/strong&gt; I live in a small apartment. When the cart is disassembled the whole system can be stored in a small closet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All of the straps needed are permanently attached to the cart and tow bar.&lt;/strong&gt; This makes it easy to keep track of it all and eases set up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WIKE provides good customer service&lt;/strong&gt;. My bike was stolen and I lost my hitch. It was easy to get the replacement part.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I swear I don't work for WIKE I am just a satisfied customer! Here is a picture of my set up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iKJf5.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iKJf5.png&quot; alt=&quot;WIKE Canoe Trailer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is a detail of the cart, from the WIKE website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1oMxp.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1oMxp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3400" LastEditorUserId="3400" LastEditDate="2015-11-16T18:23:27.040" LastActivityDate="2015-11-16T18:23:27.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9840" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9842" CreationDate="2015-11-17T01:35:46.080" Score="11" ViewCount="1055" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a rip in my down jacket. I assume the fabric is nylon. What is the best way to repair a rip in a down sleeping bag or jacket? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T16:06:01.867" Title="Repairing down stuff?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9841" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-17T01:36:18.880" Score="5" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it may be a salmon but the green colour is throwing me off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hHAFO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hHAFO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tL36u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tL36u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8132" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-17T07:42:35.127" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T07:42:35.127" Title="Can you help identify this fish i caught?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9840" CreationDate="2015-11-17T01:39:20.710" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a product called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mcnett.com/gearaid/repair&quot;&gt;&quot;Tenacious Tape&quot;&lt;/a&gt; which is used for fabric repair. You should be able to find it at your local outdoor store, or search for it online. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T01:39:20.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9843" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-17T01:39:51.713" Score="3" ViewCount="3074" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard good things about fishing the Texas gulf coast with &lt;a href=&quot;https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/croaker/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;live croaker bait&lt;/a&gt;. What is the technique for fishing with this bait? Specifically, where should one hook the bait and what technique is used for fishing with it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T19:12:45.603" Title="What is the technique for fishing with live croaker bait?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;&lt;united-states-gulf-coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-17T03:03:51.737" Score="7" ViewCount="2960" Body="&lt;p&gt;When is it necessary to clean a rimfire firearm?  Only after exposure to excessive moisture?  Only when it begins to malfunction (for autoloaders)?  With some frequency of shooting, or time, or before extended storage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: Since I'm lazy, I want to know what the &lt;em&gt;minimum&lt;/em&gt; reasonable cleaning frequency would be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2015-11-17T16:21:32.597" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T15:00:34.077" Title="How often do I need to clean my rimfires?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9841" CreationDate="2015-11-17T04:36:59.500" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks kind of like a &lt;strong&gt;walleye&lt;/strong&gt; to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't think there was anything else worth catching in Ontario, in NW Ontario at least this is what everyone goes fishing for, they're one of the tastier fishes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hgegH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hgegH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're fighters too, you always expect them to big bigger than they are when you reel them in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T04:36:59.500" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9833" CreationDate="2015-11-17T08:40:15.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends what kind of ring it was. If the bird was part of a scientific study then often it will have a phone number/web address to contact (depending on size of the bird). If it is a racing bird (like a racing  pigeon) then it will be a club specific ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of ring alters depending on what country/geographic region it was ringing also. For example in the EU there is a coordinated database (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.euring.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.euring.org/&lt;/a&gt;) to report rings. So it's hard to give general advice. Contacting your local bird conservation program will likely be able to give more specific advice for your region (a quick Google by me brought up a few potential organisations in Mexico but I don't speak Spanish very well so you're likely going to get better results)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without wanting to repeat @Escoce's answer I think simply googling the number is a good idea. Take a note of the colour and any other makings also as these are often relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T08:40:15.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9840" CreationDate="2015-11-17T09:58:19.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would probably use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spinnaker-Repair-Ripstop-Nylon-Black/dp/B004CRCHU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1447753925&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=sail+repair+tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sail repair tape&lt;/a&gt;, which you should be able to get from most chandlers. You can get a range of colours to try and match your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as rolls of tape you can also get patches which are slightly easier to use and are often slightly cheaper, but give you a lot less tape. If you are only repairing a single patch these may be better value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To improve the lifetime of your repair cut your tape/patch into a circle or lozenge as the corners peeling up if generally what causes the repair to fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For large rips it may be worth sowing the hole shut first, as this will improve the strength of the repair and stop the hole growing. For sleeping bags and jackets this is probably not necessary in most cases as they do not often undergo high forces and it makes the repair significantly more difficult. If you do so use a reasonably strong thread and as thin a needle as possible to minimize further damage to the fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="3234" LastEditDate="2015-11-17T10:10:09.460" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T10:10:09.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9858" CreationDate="2015-11-17T11:06:42.323" Score="10" ViewCount="3466" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Distel Hitch and Prussik both appear to be slide and grip knots, used for ascending a climbing rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of people using Prussik many times more often than Distel Hitch. &#xA;Which is a better knot in terms of safety while ascending a rope, Which one to be used under what conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-17T13:48:47.450" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T11:58:32.190" Title="Distel Hitch vs Prussik" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9849" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9851" CreationDate="2015-11-17T13:36:54.330" Score="44" ViewCount="44520" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cattle may get aggressive when threatened, or they might just imitate to be aggressive. I have seen cattle charging towards a person when irritated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should one react if a cow or bull comes charging towards him/her?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I think the word 'cattle' can have lots of possibilities. So I think its better that I narrow down the scope a bit. Lets just stick to the domestic cows and bulls, and strictly not the wild cattle. I am extremely sorry if this edit affects any of the answer significantly. Nonetheless, you all have my upvote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-18T05:18:31.480" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T20:10:42.333" Title="How to react to cattle charging towards you?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9840" CreationDate="2015-11-17T13:37:08.040" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergfreunde.de/basislager/pflegetipp-daunenjacke-flicken/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this German blog post&lt;/a&gt; either duct tape, the &lt;em&gt;Tenacious Tape&lt;/em&gt; mentioned by Greg Hewgill in his answer or – and I was a bit surprised about that – also bicycle tube patches should be OK for an on-trail repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the post also argues that normally these do neither look very nice nor are they very durable. Instead, they suggest to get the hole fixed either by the manufacturer of the respective gear or some professional repair service for down gear as soon as you get home again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-11-17T15:49:16.920" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T15:49:16.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-17T14:20:38.473" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK (we don't have many dangerous animals) cows are the most dangerous animals you're likely to come across. They kill about a dozen people every year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically most deaths are caused by herds trampling people/farmers. A lot of people are wary of bulls. In my experience a herd of mother cows is more dangerous, especially if the cows think you are a threat (i.e. have a barking dog snapping at their heels). The single most dangerous situation is a spooked herd running at you in a confined space. So don't put your self in that situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, like many things, prevention is better than reaction. So always be aware of cows in a field. Couple of things to be wary of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do the cow(s) have calves? This is typically how most people get into trouble, a mother cow will protect her calf.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have a dog with you? Keep dogs on leads in fields with cows. If your dog is attacked by a cow, &lt;strong&gt;don't try and save it&lt;/strong&gt;, a dog will outrun a cow, you won't!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it a single cow approaching or is the herd stampeding? A single cow is likely more scared of you than you are of it. Just stand your ground, make a lot of noise, it will likely just run away. &lt;strong&gt;If the herd is stampeding or a bull is running at then you're in trouble&lt;/strong&gt;, get to the edge of the field ASAP, try and get something between you and the cow(s).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay visible, and make a noise&lt;/strong&gt;. Cows are not predators (Taken from&#xA;Tim B's answer), they're not out to get you. But a startled cow will run and this may be towards&#xA;other people or yourself, if it feels threatened. So make your presence known. Making a noise may attract some careful attention, the cows may think they're getting fed. Don't be too alarmed by this, it's normal and they just think you're the farmer. Typically (I find) cows with calves or bulls will stay out of your way rather than approach you like this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a bull in the field? If yes, is it alone or with other cows? A bull with cows is likely to be more territorial than a lone bull off season.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it breeding season? Bulls will be more aggressive when rutting, hence a bull with cows is more aggressive than on its own.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If in doubt (regardless of where the footpath may go) walk around the edge of the field, avoid the cows as best as you can. Farmers are typically happier for you to do this than stamp though their fields anyway. Try not to antagonise the cows (especially if they have calves). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK fields with bulls in must be marked. It is illegal to put bulls in fields with a footpath though it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11485" LastEditDate="2016-10-13T07:47:31.673" LastActivityDate="2016-10-13T07:47:31.673" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-17T14:21:35.713" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlike with most predators, running away works if you can get far enough fast enough.  The bull chasing you can run faster than you, but the reason he's chasing you in the first place is only because he wants you out of his territory.  By running away you show the bull that you're not a threat, not asserting dominance, and are also giving him the desired result.  If you're lucky, after a short distance the bull will feel like he achieved his aim and stop persuing you.  After all, you're not dinner to him, like you are to a predator.  Once you're far enough away, you aren't worth expending energy on anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It helps to run towards the nearest fence that you can hop, or some other obstacle that the bull can't as easily cross as you can.  Make sure not to run towards any of the other cattle.  If no fence is nearby, head towards a rocky outcrop.  Cattle can walk on rocks, but see little value in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T14:21:35.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9844" CreationDate="2015-11-17T14:35:54.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should clean all guns at the end of every session of use for a few reasons. I am assuming .22 or .17 cal since you said rimfire. These are the most common rimfire calibers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;to prevent residue buildup which can be dangerous if a bullet gets&#xA;lodged in the barrel, and even more dangerous if you somehow don't&#xA;notice and shoot another round which I suppose is possible to miss&#xA;with these small caliber rifles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cleaning is followed by oiling the barrel inside and out which&#xA;provides a protective coating to prevent/limit oxidation/rust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;oxidation/rust not only damages the barrel, but it can cause the&#xA;bullet to get lodged in the gun. The less you maintain your guns,&#xA;the shorter a lifespan they will have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always keep your guns in a well maintained condition. They are precision tools (yes even your junkier models), and they include exploding gases and extremely high speeds. You want your equipment to work right, because a failure doesn't always just mean it doesn't work, it can be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-18T11:14:27.713" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T11:14:27.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-17T16:09:38.083" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a child (probably about 10) I had a small herd of cows all run down the hill towards me as I was crossing the field. They didn't look aggressive and there was no bull so I just stood still and waited since I was in the middle of the field so unlikely to be able to outrun them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They stopped and milled around me for a bit, while I spoke in a calm voice and then without moving quickly stroked one of them. Then they all moved on. Maybe they thought I might be carrying food but they seemed curious more than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend it in all cases but it certainly worked in this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T16:09:38.083" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9844" CreationDate="2015-11-17T16:15:31.673" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I clean all of my firearms, including rimfires, on about the same schedule:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A light cleaning/oiling.&lt;/strong&gt; I swab the inside of the barrel with an oil-dampened (just oil) cloth AND very lightly coat all easily-accessible metal surfaces:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After each use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After exposure to the elements. (I was on a backcountry hunting trip in central Idaho once where the fog, rain and damp were so bad that I discovered rust on my first morning. I was very careful to keep ALL surfaces coated with oil for the rest of the trip and had no more problems.) Be sure to wipe off any visible moisture first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After a thorough cleaning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When removing it from extended storage (3 months or longer).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After a malfunction on an autoloader (I have owned only three or four autoloaders, one of which was a rimfire, and cleaning always corrected a malfunction. I'm sure there may be other causes for a malfunction, but I haven't experienced anything other than dust and light residue buildup.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This light cleaning/oiling removes loose residues, replaces moisture, and takes about 3 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A thorough cleaning.&lt;/strong&gt; This includes the use of solvent inside the barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After a lot of use (a few hundred shots from a rimfire (my rimfires are all .22 caliber) and a few dozen shots from larger firearms), and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before placing in extended storage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long ago, I once skipped cleaning a rifle for several years (I did oil it, so rust wasn't a factor). It took several hours of applying solvent, let soak, run a bristle brush through the barrel, swab clean, repeat, until the bore was nice and shiny clean. It became very obvious why my accuracy had been suffering!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastEditorUserId="6406" LastEditDate="2015-11-18T15:00:34.077" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T15:00:34.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-17T17:11:52.457" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often encounter semi-wild cattle on the &quot;range&quot; here in Idaho. Much of our land is public, primarily mountainous, and has seasonal cattle grazing (spring to fall). Cows with calves and range bulls are a definite danger if you don't pay attention. The range bulls are a bit like moose: occasionally scared of people, but usually a bit irritated by your presence. They will usually move out of your path if you are quiet and confident, but once in a while, I meet one that is belligerent or on the &quot;warpath&quot; (usually a range bull). I treat them the same way I treat a moose:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I use the terrain: get near a tree to use as a defense (this has always worked when one was available), or get on higher ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No aggression&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No sudden movements&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are not close, I make sure I'm visible and I stand my ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are close and approaching, I back off and give them the ground they want&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've found that holding up a stick (walking stick size or longer) makes them a lot more cautious (works on most wild animals in Idaho), and they nearly always stop sooner and stay further away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The range bulls are extremely intimidating up close, but they've never approached me closer than about 10 feet. If one were to approach closer, my plan has always been to break the stick across their face with all I've got and run in a zig-zag pattern. I grew up with Holsteins and these sometimes aggressive bulls (but not quite as scary as an Angus range bull) have never caught me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a final precaution, I'm usually carrying bear spray or a pistol in the outdoors, and would use either (preferably the bear spray since I don't want to hurt an animal or pay for an expensive bull). I would use the pistol as a final defensive measure after having already been tromped a bit but, having grown up with cattle, I know the likelihood of actual, physical conflict is very minimal, so I doubt it will EVER come to that here in Idaho.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope that helps!&#xA; -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2015-11-17T17:11:52.457" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9857" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-18T02:31:25.997" Score="7" ViewCount="711" Body="&lt;p&gt;While rare, I assume that compound bows with metal limbs do occasionally suffer limb failures.  Is that correct, and if so What is the effect of a cocked metal bow limb fracturing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to picture the dissipation of stresses and one scenario I envision is the fractured limb getting whipped around the shooter by the other limb, causing severe string burns and lacerations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-11-18T10:14:20.997" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T23:25:00.483" Title="What happens when compound bow limbs fail?" Tags="&lt;bows&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9848" CreationDate="2015-11-18T04:11:47.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are essentially the same knot on the rope, they're both friction hitches. The difference is how they connect to your harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distel hitches are used mostly by arborists, one advantage a distel hitch has over a prussik is how well it works in combination with a pulley system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6C4f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6C4f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right that they both ultimately do the same job, so do the klemheist, bachmann and autoblock hitches, there are just some situations where using one is more convenient or more efficient than using the other.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T04:11:47.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9833" CreationDate="2015-11-18T04:15:25.363" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is a great question! Many people dedicate tremendous amounts of time to the study of bird and animal behavior. Banding is a large part of that, and people like you who make an effort to report sightings, especially of deceased animals, contribute to important research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've already gotten great advice, so I don't need to repeat it. I know you asked for help that's not country specific, and my only experience has been in the United States, but maybe some of it is applicable to other parts of the world as well! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have a large network of government owned parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They're at different levels, including city, state and federal. If you find the bird on such a property, contact the managing organization. They're frequently aware of ongoing studies. Even if they don't have specifics, they have long lists of contacts that may point you in the right direction. We had the great pleasure of watching banded osprey nesting in a state park in New Hampshire. The lead person on the study was there with his telescope and binoculars, educating passers-by. It was so much fun! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check your local wildlife rehabilitation center. We live near a large veterinary school, which has a hospital with a section dedicated to rescue and rehabilitation of all manner of wildlife. They keep a registry of studies being conducted by organizations, groups and individual rescuers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to have a photograph of the tag, or even know for sure what type of bird it is. As Liam said, take note of band color and markings you see. Position on the bird makes a difference too. I found a site from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Canadian Wildlife Service&lt;/a&gt;, which is written in English, French and Spanish. It features a step-by-step process by which to identify the type of tag and file the report. If you don't have a photo, or didn't get close enough to read the tag, you can still file a report based on the color of the tag and its position on the animal. There are even instructions for matching the characteristics of the bird to the most common choices in case you don't know what it was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks for caring about the birds. I hope something from our experience might have been helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T04:15:25.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-18T14:20:40.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm late to the party but one time my dad was trying to get a calf into a corral and its mom charged my dad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My dad stood his ground. Didn't move a muscle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was pretty little and I thought I was about to watch my dad get killed by a charging cow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just feet before hitting my dad the cow planted its feet and kind of slid to a stop. Its face was inches from my dads face. They stared into each others eyes for what seemed like an eternity to me—although it was probably only a few seconds. Eventually the cow backed down and guided its calf into the corral. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My dad shut the fence and that was it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was only a single cow. Do not do this if a bull or more than one animal is charging you. Do this at your own risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6512" LastEditorUserId="6512" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T13:01:45.747" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T13:01:45.747" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9844" CreationDate="2015-11-18T14:27:50.510" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In school I shot competitive rimfire with valuable Anschutz .22LR rifles.  Our team didn't clean our rifles until the end of the season, even though we fired thousands of rounds through them during practice and competition.  The problem with cleaning is that it takes barrels some number of &quot;fouling&quot; shots before they reach some equilibrium where peak shot-to-shot accuracy is attained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, this practice of not cleaning during the season may have been facilitated by the following features that won't be present in field use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rifles were always stored in-doors and never exposed to excessive moisture.  During the season they were shot regularly, so any moisture that might have condensed in storage would not have sat long before getting worked or cooked off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rifles were bolt action. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We only shot high-grade target/match ammunition (usually Eley).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subsonic rimfires shot with properly lubricated bullets are unique in that their barrels don't accumulate copper or lead fouling like barrels that shoot higher-velocity bullets under higher pressures.  Therefore I am only aware of four reasons to clean them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Their actions get so gummed up that they experience feeding malfunctions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have been or might be exposed to moisture for an extended period, in which case all steel needs its protective coating of oil refreshed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have been in storage and their condition is unknown.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have been fired with questionable ammunition that might have left lead fouling in the bore, or a squib has to be knocked out of the barrel with a cleaning rod.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T14:27:50.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9863" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9864" CreationDate="2015-11-18T16:14:33.847" Score="16" ViewCount="2015" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why is a coconut palm so valuable for a person in a survival situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2378" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T23:50:09.387" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T08:55:26.257" Title="In a survival situation, what can I use from a green coconut palm?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;coconut-palms&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9863" CreationDate="2015-11-18T16:27:29.583" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ah, why wasn't this question already asked here!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As Food and Hydration:&lt;/strong&gt; If you are trapped on an Island (Refer: Castaway) probably Coconut Water can be only major source of potable water for you. As a bonus though, it contains a lot of nutrients, a great source of glucose and Potassium. Coconut meat, the white substance is totally edible, it contains Vitamin A and E.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazing Tinder:&lt;/strong&gt; Coconut tree petioles and leaves are fibrous, so they burn very well and produce a lot of charcoal which you can use as a fire-started. Also, the dry coconut shell will burn well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skin Care:&lt;/strong&gt; Coconut meat and Coconut Oil can also be used as a Sunscreen and/or as a Moisturizer. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Medical Usage:&lt;/strong&gt; One can squish coconut meat to get Coconut oil from it which has anti-fugal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral contents. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hard shell:&lt;/strong&gt; A coconut shell cut into half can be used as a bowl, and the fresh green coconut can be used to carry nearly 500 ml water, depending upon size of the coconut.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Floats for emergency rafts:&lt;/strong&gt; Coconuts float very well,so if you at all you want to make a raft, you can pad coconuts below the logs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;String and rope:&lt;/strong&gt; The fiber threads extracted from a petiole of coconut tree can help you tie and lash many things, right from a hunting trap (wait, if needed) to as a shoelace. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mats, clothes, and shelter:&lt;/strong&gt; The petioles of a coconut tree are perfect to make a shelter out of them. Weaving and braiding a mat, a wall, a hat, a plate, a bowl, or a carrying bag can be learned in a matter of minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T08:55:26.257" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T08:55:26.257" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9865" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9867" CreationDate="2015-11-18T17:23:49.187" Score="10" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired from this question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/9863/2303&quot;&gt;In a survival situation, what can I use from a green coconut palm?&lt;/a&gt;, I wonder how can one possibly pluck a coconut from a coconut tree in safest possible ways.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We can also consider safer options like not having needed to climb the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T22:18:28.387" Title="How can I get a coconut from a tree?" Tags="&lt;coconut-palms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9857" CreationDate="2015-11-18T17:27:43.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The forces are really trying to pull the ends of the bow forward. The bow string is not elastic and so does not store energy. The end of the bow may snap back and hit you uncomfortably, but it's not going to whip back at amazing speeds. The arm will basically just let go, and the stem and other arm will get flung by the stores energy. However. You should have a good grip on the stem of the bow, so although it may be surprising, it shouldn't go too far as the bow isn't very heavy and thus you don't have a lot of inertia to overcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think a bowstring snapping would be more dangerous because it would be like a whip, and may hit you in a very inconvenient place such as your face and eye, and may try to rip skin of your fingers as it's ripped through them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-11-18T23:25:00.483" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T23:25:00.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9865" CreationDate="2015-11-18T17:35:52.827" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing a coconut palm is actually pretty easy, though you do need to be fit in order to do it. You grab Around the trunk with you hands, and push off wish your feet and walk up the trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easier if you can find a live Palm tree that has fallen over some but in this case you want to have good balance because it will be more like a balance beam then a trunk. If you can find a stick or hook like a boat hook that can reach the coconuts, you can hook the stem of the nut and give a good yank, but be prepared to jump back so it or they don't land on your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T17:35:52.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9868" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9873" CreationDate="2015-11-18T19:11:17.837" Score="8" ViewCount="1132" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about getting into bow hunting, and I'm wondering about the mechanics of crossbows.  I assume that I wouldn't cock the crossbow at the time I see a target, and I also assume that I wouldn't cock the crossbow and then leave it like that from one hunting season to the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how long is it safe to keep a crossbow cocked?  Can it stay cocked for a full day in the woods?  I'm concerned both about my personal safety as well as keeping my equipment in good shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6287" LastActivityDate="2021-04-07T15:18:24.573" Title="Does keeping the crossbow cocked for long periods of time, (i.e. while hunting), harm the crossbow in any way?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1617" CreationDate="2015-11-18T20:38:28.053" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on my experience in the Mojave desert, where open running water is very rare, especially in the summer, and springs have a moderate chance of being poisonous due to chemicals in local soils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The easiest thing way to find water is to have the water come to you. Make sure people know where you are going in&#xA;advance, and when to expect you back. That way, you can expect a&#xA;rescue, and the rescuers will know where to look for you. Stay in the shade as much as possible, doze&#xA;during daylight when it's hottest, and limit activity at night.&#xA;Depending on how hot it is, you can survive one or two days like&#xA;this without drinking anything. If finding shade means leaving the trail, mark where you leave&#xA;the trail, and mark a trail to where you find the shade to make it&#xA;easy for your rescuers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you've planned well, you will have a map with springs and manmade&#xA;ponds for livestock marked on it. These are not perfectly reliable;&#xA;springs dry up, ponds get abandoned, and especially in remote places&#xA;this may not be reflected in the maps for years. It's also entirely&#xA;possible that you are 20 miles or more from the closest water source.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now here's the answer that assumes you went on a hike without telling anyone, got lost without a map, and now need to survive an indefinite period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The best place to find water is in the mountains. Solid rock has&#xA;   nooks and crannies that will hold water after it rains. If it rains&#xA;   on a flat, the water runs off or is absorbed in minutes in most&#xA;   cases. If you can get to north facing slopes where there's been a&#xA;   thunderstorm in the last week or two, you have a very good chance of&#xA;   finding enough water to not die. The longer the time since the last&#xA;   rain, the fewer water sources, but there are (rare) natural holding&#xA;   tanks that can hold water for years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you remain in the desert flats with no expectation of rescue, you will almost certainly die unless you happen to be close to a safe spring. You can't cut open a cactus and drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Mojave, if you see dense greenery, it means there's water nearby, but it may be underground or poisonous. If you know your plants, you can recognize the ones that can't tolerate high mineral contents. Easier would be to watch for wildlife. Insects and other animals using the water is a good sign, as is green algae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T20:38:28.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1617" CreationDate="2015-11-18T21:32:02.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look at the surrounding terrain and think what water would do when it rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No place is perfectly flat for very long, so suface water will flow away from some place and gather in others.  Someplace dry with little vegetation will usually have obvious channels that water made when it did rain.  Whether you can see these channels directly or have to imagine them, follow them downstream to where more of them meet.  After you've gotten to what would be a stream bed with sufficient rain, look for dips where water would pool for a while after it stopped flowing.  Now dig there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another hint is the vegetation, although that can be misleading too.  If there are mostly suguaro and cholla around, then you come to a clump of willow trees, you know that water pools there underground.  However, that could be deeper than you can realistically dig, and the trees are actively pumping what is there into the atmosphere.  These kind of vegetation clues are better after a recent rain, and become less useful after the trees have had a few weeks to pump down the reservoir.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water can be surprisingly close to the surface, even in a desert, if you look in the right places.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T21:32:02.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9833" CreationDate="2015-11-18T21:42:44.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bunch of years ago I got a good enough look at a Canada Goose on Plum Island in Massachusetts to read the tag number.  Unfortunately I don't remember exactly where I eventually found to report it, but it was a central clearinghouse for such things, in Washington DC if I remember right.  They even sent me a postcard later telling me that this particular bird was banded near where I saw it two years earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I found another bird tag today, I'd probably start by reporting it to the state Fish and Wildlife office.  They may not be the right ones to eventually get the information, but I'm sure they would either take the information directly or tell me where the right place to report it is.  Another possibility is to contact someone at a local Audubon Society office.  Again, they may not be who ultimately needs to know, but they really should be able to refer you to the right place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T21:42:44.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9868" CreationDate="2015-11-18T22:30:16.780" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Refer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieldandstream.com/node/1005010622&quot;&gt;A Beginner's Guide to Hunting with a Crossbow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You cock before you load an arrow....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can leave your bow cocked all day (provided that you remove the&#xA;  arrow before walking or exiting a tree stand, of course), but you&#xA;  should uncock the bow at the end of the hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, you should not be walking around all day with an arrow in a cocked cross bow, that would be incredibly dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-11-18T22:30:16.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9877" CreationDate="2015-11-19T00:13:32.860" Score="7" ViewCount="1374" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Belay-devices--descenders/REVERSO-4&quot;&gt;Reverso 4&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-belay-rappel/atc-guide-belay-rappel-device-BD620055DKDMALL1.html&quot;&gt;ATC Guide&lt;/a&gt;, and others all have a keeper wire loop for carrying. However, the wire seems unnecessary -- one could simply cut it off and carry the device using the large hanging eye or rope eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the keeper wire necessary or is this a bad idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T11:55:03.400" Title="Is the keeper wire loop on a tubular belay device necessary?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9874" CreationDate="2015-11-19T00:42:44.100" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm setting up for a belay, I first clip the belay device to my belay loop using the keeper wire, then feed the rope through, then open the carabiner and put it through the rope. This is a pretty dependable way of doing the process without dropping the belay device, which could be a bad thing. If you removed the keeper wire, you'd have to keep one hand gripping the belay device at all times while fumbling with the other hand to complete the setup. I think you'd be much more likely to drop your belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T00:42:44.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-19T02:20:49.557" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife grew up on a farm and every year they'd raise a steer for meat. My father-in-law, being very...um...frugal, would never buy a real &lt;em&gt;beef&lt;/em&gt; animal to feed up. Instead, he'd find a male calf of whatever variety turned up that was...inexpensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One year he found what he considered a really great animal to raise - a cross between a Charolais (beef animal) and a Holstein (big dairy animal). He was duly fixed and turned out in the pasture with the dairy cows to fatten up until his appointment with the butcher came around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was soon as big as the smaller dairy cows - and not long after he was as big as the medium sized dairy cows - and eventually he was bigger than the biggest of the ladies - which, given that they were Holsteins and Brown Swiss, means he was a BIG DANG ANIMAL. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soon he was too big to have around the cows so he was put into his own pasture every morning. And that's where he learned to...play. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His idea of &quot;play&quot; was to come up snorting and pawing to anything and everything that ventured, however briefly, into his pasture. He never actually &lt;em&gt;hurt&lt;/em&gt; anybody - but he sure promised to do so, and nobody stuck around long enough to find out if he meant business or was just kidding around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, one day my wife, who was then about 12 years old, had to get from here to there on the farm and, not seeing him in his pasture, decided to cut across it. Bad idea - because pretty soon she heard the sound of hooves thudding across the pasture behind her, getting closer and closer. She said to herself, &lt;em&gt;&quot;I am &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; going to run from this thing!&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, and reached down into the grass and picked something up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, up came this steer, until he was right behind her where he stopped and let out a loud warning &lt;em&gt;&quot;SNOORRRT!&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. My wife whipped around, reached back, swung - and cracked that steer right across the nose with the 2x4 she'd picked up from the grass. The steer dropped to his knees, crossed his eyes, and let out a loud and rather pained bellow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bleeding badly from the nose he got back to his feet, staggered a bit, and then decided that there was something very interesting elsewhere in the pasture, and he was going to go investigate it &lt;em&gt;very gingerly&lt;/em&gt;. My wife continued across the pasture - and from that day on, right up until that steer became freezer beef, he would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; mess with her. She'd step into his pasture and he'd find reasons to be elsewhere. Anywhere. Just not around that little one. She &lt;em&gt;bites&lt;/em&gt;! :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tl;Dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point of the story - a 2x4, applied properly, works wonders on the most recalcitrant bovine. Only use in times of dire necessity, because an animal that's mistreated will soon become dangerous - but if you need to, make it count. (I'll point out that we raise goats, and I've never felt need to raise a hand to them. Grabbing them by the horns and holding their head steady right next to my leg is all the discipline they need. But they only weigh 100 - 150 pounds instead of the 1000+ pounds of a bovine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3500" LastEditorUserId="3500" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T12:34:59.083" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T12:34:59.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9874" CreationDate="2015-11-19T03:41:36.563" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take off the wire cable and you're pretty much left with an old school belay plate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lOWyR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lOWyR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The original belay device was simply a munter hitch on a &quot;Karabiner&quot;, or &lt;em&gt;&quot;Halbmastwurfsicherung&quot;&lt;/em&gt; (often abbreviated HMS) as it was originally called, but munter hitches are hard on ropes, which was the reason belay plates (&quot;Sticht plates&quot; after their inventor Fritz Sticht) were eventually developed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the plates had issues with binding and jamming up, which is why the tube style belay device became so popular when it first hit the climbing scene, it worked like a belay plate, but with a much smoother action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vm9LK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vm9LK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The devices we have now are the product of years of trial and error trying to develop the best system possible. The cable wire is not necessary, but you'll notice right away how useful it is once you do take it off, all of a sudden you're going to find yourself fumbling around with your ATC as you try to feed the rope through it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can still buy belay plates by the way, they work great for guide belaying from above, but if you're going to belay from your belt, you're going to want the cable wire there to keep the device in place, especially if that's what you learned with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1ebH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1ebH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're a widgeteer and simply want to explore other types of belay devices, there are plenty out there to sample: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KziNM.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KziNM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bg584.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bg584.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTj79.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTj79.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PsuBa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PsuBa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkuXy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkuXy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWIXE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWIXE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RoMlI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RoMlI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xP56f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xP56f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IamvF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IamvF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LuOn2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LuOn2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fTWzF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fTWzF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H3DGU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H3DGU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2z4Qc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2z4Qc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ilGF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ilGF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XnDrt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XnDrt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnnfY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnnfY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b7ogE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b7ogE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A46oO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A46oO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0siCI.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0siCI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5409" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T17:58:02.017" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T17:58:02.017" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2015-11-19T05:05:28.493" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's some advice from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/loading-backpack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI's page &amp;quot;Tips for How to Pack a Backpack&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packing a backpack is pretty simple, but there are some tips to make the process easier and to get you better results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, a well-loaded pack will feel balanced when resting on your hips and nothing should be shifting or swaying inside. As you walk, the pack should feel stable and predictable, one with your upper body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, first pack your backpack at home. You can spread out your gear on a clean floor, visually confirm you've got everything, and feel less rushed as you load up. Use a checklist to ensure you've got everything you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jweFH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jweFH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Backpacking Tips&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T14:09:51.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9874" CreationDate="2015-11-19T08:53:37.717" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;So what does the keeper wire do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makes it easier to attach the device to your harness when not using.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevents the belay device working its way up the rope when giving slack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeps the delay device in the optimal position for use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;one could simply cut it off and carry the device using the large&#xA;  hanging eye or rope eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why?! What does this gain you apart form making the thing harder to use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is the keeper wire necessary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no safety reason for the wire retainer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is this a bad idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes: what do you gain? (practically zero). What do you lose? (see above).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T11:55:03.400" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T11:55:03.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9881" CreationDate="2015-11-19T10:05:51.120" Score="13" ViewCount="1758" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, continuing the coconut series, How can I break a fresh green coconut without wasting much of it, &lt;em&gt;without using a knife&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T14:35:22.583" Title="Breaking a fresh green coconut" Tags="&lt;coconut-palms&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9880" CreationDate="2015-11-19T12:24:55.457" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coconut opening comes in two parts, neither of which needs a knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the husk. Get a reasonably sturdy pointed stick and put it in the ground, point up, between your feet. Jam the coconut down onto the stick, hitting off centre. This should wedge off bits of husk. Repeat until the husk is all off. A very green coconut is harder to &quot;peel&quot; this way, but without a knife, this is basically the option you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If getting all the liquid out is important, and you have no bowl or bucket, pause here, find a stick or stone, and poke at the eyes until you break through one or two of them, and drink the liquid through the hole. A hollow piece of grass or reed might make a useful straw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have exposed the inner coconut, find the three &quot;eyes&quot; on it. Hold the coconut so that it vaguely looks like a face - the three circles on a side of it, two above one. Hit it &lt;strong&gt;hard&lt;/strong&gt; with a stick or a rock on the &quot;top of its head&quot; and it should break in half. You can now continue to break it up to separate shell from meat, or you can scrape out juicy meat with your same pointed stick and eat it as you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T12:24:55.457" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9882" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-19T12:34:52.083" Score="2" ViewCount="157" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine a place with no defined path/trail to run for example in a jungle. Only the source and destination are given. The runners/participants should reach the destination from the source. Time is not a metric to select the winner, instead there are some pre-defined intermediary points in the jungle where the participant should compulsorily visit and get a stamp or some mark on a piece of the paper as a proof that he visited it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The participant who visits all the pre-defined points in the jungle and reaches the destination with all the proofs only wins! The participants are only told about the count of pre-defined intermediary points so that they know they have enough to reach the destination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a word or expression for this type of run/race?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="sashank" LastEditorUserId="2795" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T14:54:25.577" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T15:21:23.857" Title="What is the English word for this type of run/race?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9882" CreationDate="2015-11-19T12:42:17.307" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Orienteering&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - A competitive sport in which runners have to find their way across rough country with the aid of a map and compass. Also (occas.) with competitors using skis, riding on horseback, etc. (OED)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1948   Amer. Ski Ann. 1949 146/1   Senior Scouts representing 15 Boy Scout Councils from New York and New Jersey met at Snow Ridge Ski Center last winter to compete in the first official Ski Orienteering race to be held in America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1954   Time 1 Nov. 58   Known officially as ‘orienteering’, the sport dates back to 1918 when the first Swedish club was formed to hold formal competitions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1973   Whole Earth Catal. 23/1   Within recent years, Orienteering as a sport, in the form of ‘Orienteering Races’ has swept Europe... Orienteering events have become regular features in many athletic and outdoor clubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1999   Scouting Mag. Nov. 40/1 (advt.)    The National Trust Campsites have special facilities for Youth Groups including the use of Pioneering poles, ropes &amp;amp; orienteering equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8163" OwnerDisplayName="Dan" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T12:42:17.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9882" CreationDate="2015-11-19T15:21:23.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a combination, Scouting, Orienteering and Reconoiter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scouting, because you have to find evidence of previous recent passage to find stamp stations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Orienteering, so you know which direction you are going and where on the map you are and have been and where you haven't yet been.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reconoiter, in general because you are exploring with a mission in mind looking for likely places a stamp station might be and ways in and out of various hiding spots and paths of ingress and egress into those spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T15:21:23.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9840" CreationDate="2015-11-19T15:31:55.530" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;So far I've far avoided needing to make such a repair but most of the repairs I've seen in the wild have either been gaffer tape or a patch of fabric stuck on with seam sealant. Sometimes if its a small hole just pinching it together and covering with seam sealant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/faq/seam-sealing.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Six Moon Designs&lt;/a&gt; has a useful guide for which sealants are best for which materials and a recipe to make your own. I'll summarize below encase the link becomes dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;silnylon &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; McNett's SilNet&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester Fabric &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; McNett's Seam Grip or McNett's Seam Sure&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cuben Fiber &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; McNett's SilNet or McNett's Seam Grip&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;DIY seam sealant&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you wish, you can save some money when seam sealing SilNylon shelters. You can easily make your own sealer that'll work as well as the commercial stuff. It'll also give you a better looking seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Purchase the following items. They should be are available from most local hardware stores.&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;GE Silicone II clear tub and sink caulk - The small tube will make enough to seal several tents. The large tube will make enough to seal everything you own and then some.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Mineral Spirits - Commonly used for cleaning paint brushes. Preferably the odorless kind. Your nose will be thankful. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Small brush to apply the sealer - A 3/4&quot; foam brush works well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Paint stirrer attachment for an electric drill. &#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dilute Silicone In a glass jar, mix one part mineral spirits with one part silicone caulk (1 ounce of mineral spirits and 1 ounce of silicone should be enough). When mixture is the right consistency, it will be smooth and milky, and flow evenly when applied. If it's too thick or lumpy, the waterproofing won't flow well into the seams, or be absorbed by the exposed threads. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hint #1: You can mix by hand with a regular paint stirrer, but caulk is stiff, so will take much longer to mix. Using an paint stirrer in an electric drill will give your sealer a smooth silky appearance. It will dry faster and clearer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="4305" LastEditDate="2015-11-19T16:06:01.867" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T16:06:01.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9840" CreationDate="2015-11-19T15:42:09.753" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The old school way to repair it was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sew the hole closed with long stitches -- this keeps the feathers in place&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use nylon patch material coated with adhesive and apply over the hole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sew a fabric patch over and around the hole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took a 45 year old nylon/down sleeping bag that had been patched this way on a 9 day trip, and had no issues whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T15:42:09.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1479" CreationDate="2015-11-19T15:53:53.283" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The theory behind a number of the specialized heads is that a shot to the core of the body will not kill the turkey quickly enough to recover it, and, because the target is so small, leads to lots of shots that merely injure the turkey.&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&#xA;Several of the larger heads you see are designed to be shot at shorter distances at the turkey's neck, often from a ground blind.  These allow the center point of the arrow to be off  by 2&quot;, and, in theory, should either cut the turkey's head off, or miss entirely; a decapitated turkey will not go very far.&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&#xA;Potentially, aiming at the neck is easier than aiming at the core, as necks tend to be vertical, and arrows drop in the vertical plane; this allows the archer to be slightly off on elevation and still produce a deadly shot.&#xA;&lt;p&gt; &#xA;The downside is that they are extremely susceptible to deflections from branches and brush, and they rarely fit in normal quivers.&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2015-11-19T15:53:53.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9848" CreationDate="2015-11-19T16:03:46.980" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that the Klemheist knot is the best option for ascending a rope or providing a safe attachment when moving horizontally along a fixed rope near the top of a crag or crevasse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will tighten if loaded in either direction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is less likely to become 'undressed' than a prussik when being moved.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It requires 'thumbing open' to progress it along the rope so reduces chances of accidental release.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It works well with slings/tape unlike a prussik.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8zVqM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8zVqM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;klemheist&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.imga.org.il/images/thumb/0/08/Klemheist.jpg/300px-Klemheist.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;imga.org.il&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note it is not suitable for backing up an abseil as it is difficult to release under load. Use a french prussik for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://climber.co.uk/images/Prusik/k10%20French%20Prusik-3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;french prussik&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T11:58:32.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2015-11-19T18:47:48.053" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our horses would gallop to us and skid at the last moment but they were expecting a treat. On the other hand, cows are intelligent creatures also and there are only two things influencing them. Feed and Sex. Sans protection of babies outlined above. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throw up dirt/dust, appear bigger and step out of the way much like bull fighters and be moving toward higher, safer ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try throwing a rock but it needs to be a big enough one to take stomping you off the cow's mind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back to the basics? Always be with a companion. Know what is all around you . . be aware of your surroundings. Above and below such as ground hog holes (ankle twisters), rocks and trees. In the West, mountain lion hide in trees, up on rocks and rattle snakes are in the old, abandoned gopher holes. Much of nature will avoid you. Stop and smell the roses unless a dog just marked it and marvel at what nature is really all about. Keep smilin' someone will wonder what you are up to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8167" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-20T14:19:39.550" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T14:19:39.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9880" CreationDate="2015-11-19T19:52:50.403" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a slightly different approach than Kate's but this is how we used to do it when I was a kid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Requirements: 1 coconut, 2 heavy objects (large rocks work well but you have to be able to pick them up. A cinder block probably works but I've never tried with one), one with a flat side to it (not necessary if you're not doing this in sand/dirt - if there's a concrete pad or something nearby just use that)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balance the coconut on the flat surface with the stem side facing downward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick up heavy object, raise it over your head, drop it on the pointy side of the coconut&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat. After three or four times the husk should have split down the ridges of the coconut. This also has the added benefit of loosening the husk to make it easier to remove.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the husk, you should be able to just rip it off with just a little effort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want the liquid you can use Kate's method (bore through one of the &quot;face&quot; holes. Kate suggests the eyes but we always went through the &quot;mouth&quot;. I suspect it makes little difference).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To crack the inside open and get at the meat of the coconut, simply rap the coconut against one of the objects from earlier, while continually rotating the coconut. The shell should crack after about 30 seconds of this. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8170" LastEditorUserId="8170" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T14:35:22.583" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T14:35:22.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9893" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-20T00:38:35.003" Score="3" ViewCount="3853" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you boil dirty water, how clean would it be? Is it drinkable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8172" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:46.177" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:46.177" Title="What percentage of bacteria in water dies if it is boiled? How clean is it after boiling?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9894" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-20T01:48:57.153" Score="12" ViewCount="378" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8855/how-can-i-safely-practice-trad-climbing&quot;&gt;practicing trad climbing&lt;/a&gt; and I've run into some difficulty managing and handling the gear. Specifically, I'm awkwardly taking cams off my gear loops, fiddling with them, and finally placing them in the crack. To summarize my basic technique:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grab the carabiner of the cam with my hand and unclip from my harness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bite the stem of the cam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slide my hand to the cam trigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place cam and clip rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The #2 and #3 bullets seems awkward to me. I've found plenty of articles online about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/video/rock-climbing-basics-intro-to-cams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cam placement&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skill/efficient-racking/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;harness configurations&lt;/a&gt; but can't find any about handling/managing techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What technique am I missing here? Would a gear sling help? I referenced cams but I'm also having similar issues with nuts, so any and all advice is appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T05:53:15.830" Title="Efficient technique for handling trad gear?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9893" CreationDate="2015-11-20T03:57:24.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How many percentage does the bacteria in the water die if it is boiled?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100%. More info here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1117/how-long-does-water-need-to-be-boiled-for-to-kill-all-bacteria-viruses&quot;&gt;How long does water need to be boiled for to kill all bacteria / viruses?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How clean is it after boiling? Is it drinkable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will still have any dirt, etc., but that isn't necessarily bad for you. Boiling will not get rid of chemical contaminants such as selenium or toxins that can be produced by algae. If the water is really nasty and murky, then if only for the sake of taste and aesthetics, you may want to filter it through a bandana or a shirt first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T03:57:24.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9899" CreationDate="2015-11-20T04:50:16.820" Score="7" ViewCount="926" Body="&lt;p&gt;While trekking, I prefer having fruits in the &lt;em&gt;real&lt;/em&gt; form, not dried ones and no pulp or juices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When carried without being squished fruits like apple, litchi and strawberries don't rot in a couple of days. But thats not the case for say citrus fruits like Orange, Sweet Lemon, Lemon or others like Grapes, Sapodilla, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How would you carry these fruits that can rot over a period of two days?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One can ask a question &lt;em&gt;why carry them?&lt;/em&gt; I do understand that you don't want to carry something that can rot. I am more keen about specifically Citrus fruits if not all of them are suitable, since the region I trek in, Oranges and Sweet Lemon are best suited fruits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question would typically limit to weather which isn't too extreme. (I agree, &lt;em&gt;extremity&lt;/em&gt; differ heavily as we speak about various parts of the world, so I've simply added an ambient temperature range)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperature ranges: Maximum of 35 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C (95 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;F) during the daylight, Minimum of 20 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C (68 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;F) during early hours of the day and an hour before sunset.&#xA;7 to 10 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C (45 to 50 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;F) during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:15:14.077" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:15:14.077" Title="Best method of carrying fruits over a period of 3 days while on a trek" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9894" CreationDate="2015-11-20T05:53:15.830" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't grab the biner first, I grab the cam first, pretty much as I would if I were placing it, I then unclip the biner from my gear loop with the cam in hand. There's no fumbling with it during or after, the more steps you put into placing gear, the more likely you are to drop it. I watched a video of this one girl climbing a 5.14 on trad, she had her gear duck-taped to her belt so she could grab it off her belt and place it all in one quick, smooth motion. So that's my advice, grab your gear off your rack as you intend to hold it when you place it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T05:53:15.830" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9898" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-20T09:33:32.350" Score="9" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1117&quot;&gt;How long does water need to be boiled for to kill all bacteria / viruses?&lt;/a&gt; indicates that boiling water kills bacteria &amp;amp; viruses.  But boiling does not remove any chemical contaminates that might be present. Neurotoxins are not &quot;alive&quot; so they can't be killed, though some like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulinum_toxin#Organism_and_toxin_susceptibilities&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;botulinum toxin are denatured by heat.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Historically the practice of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotoxin#Background&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;boiling vinegared wine in lead pans to sweeten it&lt;/a&gt; was problematic.  This was not due to a change, but rather leaching from the container (lead pan) to the fluid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are their any contaminates that might be present in water, that would become more toxic when boiled in modern containers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T21:35:49.860" Title="Are there any contaminates that become more toxic when boiled?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9896" CreationDate="2015-11-20T13:18:54.137" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I &lt;strong&gt;love&lt;/strong&gt; bananas and can eat a half-dozen to a dozen a day while at home. While out on the trail I try to have one or two a day. I also enjoy taking with me peaches, grapes, prunes (very good for you on-trail) and such, like yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have always done is keep them in the middle part of my backpack. Above anything heavy that can squish them (food bag) and below things that compress well (thermals,quilt). Tend to keep them in a different food bag than my primary food bag, which just gets thrown all around and beat up a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For peaches, because they are so easily damaged, I will often take sliced peaches and store them in a plastic container (ziplock type). Some may complain about the extra few grams for the plastic container, but we all make conscious decisions on what is worth what. To me, fresh fruit is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not heard of any long distance hikers (PCT/AT/CDT,etc) that have been fruitarian, but that would be interesting to see happen some day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am (as of time of posting) close to 600 days without meat consumption and it has been an interesting change while out on the trail. Leaving behind all of the meat based dehydrated meals and soups I use to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I think the vast majority of fruit is not going to have issues &quot;&lt;em&gt;over a period of two days&lt;/em&gt;&quot; as your question is posed. Most fruit, even in warmer conditions can be stored in the middle of your pack and not have any issues. Same method has storing hard cheese for the long haul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T13:18:54.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9907" CreationDate="2015-11-20T13:36:11.750" Score="5" ViewCount="305" Body="&lt;p&gt;When reading or watching videos on about reading water for fishing in English, I often come across terms like riffle, run, pool, seam, among others. However, when I get o the river ready to float that dry dropper over the riffle, I'm not so sure if I'm targeting the right area. I'm not even sure I perfectly understand what these terms mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone help me to make sense of these terms and of which cues should I look for when reading the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I often read that seams are where two currents meet each other, but what should I look for? Pictures from the internet don't always look like what I see at the river. I can see that there are different currents when I have my line across more than one, but is that the only way to find seams? What are the general visual cues?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pool and run (also beat) are somewhat confusing for me. They seem to refer to the same thing: a stretch of fishable river water. Yet, how do I know where the pool/run/beat starts or ends? I know that this should be at the head/tail of the pool, but what should I look for to find these?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I learn that riffles are faster shallow parts of the river, and I usually look for white foamy water. What is the difference between that and a rapid? Is it just a matter of semantics?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T00:08:32.377" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T00:08:32.377" Title="Terminology and cues for reading river water when fly fishing" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9447" CreationDate="2015-11-20T15:00:35.690" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without further information on the actual fabric makeup of the nyloprene being used by &lt;a href=&quot;http://stohlquist.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;stohlquist&lt;/a&gt; it is going to be extremely difficult to properly answer this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This reason for this is because different companies are making &lt;code&gt;nyloprene&lt;/code&gt; in different manners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I am sure you know &lt;code&gt;nyloprene&lt;/code&gt; is a multi-layer fabric of &lt;code&gt;neoprene&lt;/code&gt; and other fabrics, including but not limited to spandex, nylon, and even leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You state you &lt;em&gt;can't find any claims that they are less smelly&lt;/em&gt; and it is highly unlikely that you will unless stohlquist is willing to disclose the fabric makeup they are using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T15:00:35.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9902" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-20T15:01:03.230" Score="9" ViewCount="2288" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go hiking nearly every weekend, and usually (almost always) bring my rain jacket and pants. I store them in a stuff-sack in my backpack. I air them out after hikes if they are used. I was thinking about getting a compression sack to store them in, to take up even less space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read that it's normal for Goretex (or equivalent) to wear out over time, as well as the waterproof impregnation of the nylon exterior. Does it wear out more quickly if rain gear is stored in a stuff sack i.e. squished up into the smallest possible space? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6236" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T16:26:46.083" Title="Will it damage my rain gear to store it in a compression sack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9902" CreationDate="2015-11-20T15:21:53.737" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The creases that develop can theoretically compromise rain proofing treatment, especially if those creases cycle (bend and straighten repeatedly) however you can always retreat your gear to get more life out of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything in camping is a compromise between what you can carry and what you need. If you need the stuff you've chosen, and in order to bring it you need to add extra wear and tear to it, then that's one of your compromises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T15:21:53.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9898" CreationDate="2015-11-20T15:30:22.483" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is yes, potentially some contaminants could become more toxic compounds when subjected to heat. However the chances of you camping in such a location is rather remote, because places that get contaminated thusly are usually off limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T15:30:22.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9902" CreationDate="2015-11-20T15:46:48.823" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does it wear out more quickly if rain gear is stored in a stuff sack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty much everything wears out more quickly in a stuff sack. They put additional pressures onto the fibres, etc. So yes it will. How much quicker is open to debate and will vary considerably depending on how compressed, for how long and what fibres, treating you have on the item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T15:46:48.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9902" CreationDate="2015-11-20T16:26:46.083" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer to your question is 'no'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more complicated answer would have to involve issues such as how many layers does the rain shell have, what are the fabrics involved, and is it being stored soaked for long periods of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of current high end WP fabrics are on the fragile side, so putting the WP layer in between two other layers (be it a 2.5 or 3-layer garment) is how companies protect these sensitive fabrics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will compression alone - and nothing else - cause these fabrics to be damaged? Again, highly unlikely even after hundreds or thousands of cycles of being compressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T16:26:46.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9900" CreationDate="2015-11-20T17:17:13.117" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Riffle vs rapid: a riffle is slow moving over a generally shallow wide flat spot, but has significant turbulence (water moving in all sorts of directions) because of rocks and such. A rapid is fast moving, often deeper section of the river moving faster because it's flowing down a slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pool is a place where the water is deeper than the rest of the river, it's generally very slow in the middle but has movement at the head and the water starts pulling faster at the tail ( which is where the water starts to run, hence the name)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding how to recognize these. That is really tough to explain which is why there are so many books and videos about it. It takes time and experience to learn how to read these features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spend some time fishing without your fly rod, walking along the river you want to fish, and study it. A little foam can help, but if there isn't any foam, sometimes you can grab a handful of dry leaves and toss them in the river to see what happens. After the leaves point out to you where a feature is, learn to see it without the help of the leaves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polarized sunglasses can help you see into the water (if it is clear) after you have studied the top, and may help you learn what below is causing what happens on top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's probably the best way for you to learn. Don't bring your fishing rod with you though, or you will stop paying attention to the finer details because you will be focused on your line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a time or two without the rod, you could try bringing your rod but no flies with you so you can reach out and see what the water does farther off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T17:17:13.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9908" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9944" CreationDate="2015-11-20T17:49:04.597" Score="8" ViewCount="755" Body="&lt;p&gt;What materials can be used to make a hunting bow in the wilderness? Not just for the main structure but also the materials that would be suitable for the string.  All of the materials should be from nature and not require any man-made tools besides a knife. I would prefer something more specific than just &quot;wood&quot; or &quot;string&quot;. If applicable, please explain the technique in creating/assembling the materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9141/what-trees-bushes-are-best-suited-for-a-simple-bow&quot;&gt;There seems to be a similar question to this.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I feel as though that question does not quite cover the criteria of this one. That question does not seem to be focused on creating something that would be suitable for hunting to the level I am looking for (&quot;made by child&quot; was the part that stuck out to me). I would also like to gain knowledge on not just the main &quot;bow&quot; structure but also the materials that would be used for the string or any other parts necessary to make a successful hunting bow&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T12:15:01.280" Title="What materials from nature can I use to make a hunting bow in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9908" CreationDate="2015-11-20T18:03:12.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two different kinds of wood, fiber from bark (to make the string and to hold the wood together while gluing), a knife or hatchet, pitch from a pine tree, fire to temper the wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stiff wood needs to be on the front of the bow, the less stiff on the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: if making a recurve, you need to soak the wood, and bend it opposite the direction you will string it (and hold it there. Perhaps with more bark rope and THEN temper it with the fire. Then when you string it the right way, it will be recurred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should also point out, this isn't going to last very long. You want to update your techniques and materials as you build your toolset up. I.e. Kill your first deer and make tools from the bones and antlers...you need tools to make tools and they lead one to the other until you can start smelting or re-smelting and making tools from metal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have your immediate survival sorted out, you want to build a forge and find a source of metal. You can make a crude hammer head by pouring molten metal into a hole carved out of wood. The wood may catch fire, but the metal should set before the wood is gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 2: to be honest, you are better off making a long bow at first. It's less complicated, and has less chance of breaking right away (suffers less amount of stresses during use)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-11-20T18:26:24.640" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T18:26:24.640" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9910" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9912" CreationDate="2015-11-20T18:38:35.700" Score="5" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let’s make this a two-part question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best way to rewaterproof a rain jacket?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best way to rewaterproof a rain jacket using only products available in a small town in remote Colombia?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'd guess the answer to #1 is “buy such-and-such product and use it” I’m currently living in Colombia and will not have access to any special treating products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a rain jacket with an Event® membrane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8179" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T22:16:49.830" Title="How does one rewaterproof a rain jacket?" Tags="&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9910" CreationDate="2015-11-20T18:57:02.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Primative waterproofing is accomplished by impregnating s material with an oil or wax or blend of each. Rubber also works well and since you are in Columbia, you can probably make your own from a rubber tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T18:57:02.433" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9910" CreationDate="2015-11-20T19:23:33.940" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You indicate your rain jacket is made with eVENT fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is the case there are NO nature-gatherable substance that could be applied to your shell that would NOT result in &lt;strong&gt;losing&lt;/strong&gt; breathability and probably permanently destroying water resistance characteristics of the eVENT garment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;eVENT membrane is highly sensitive to dirt, oils and other substances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, chemical cleaners such as Granger, Nikwax, McNett, Penguin, are the method for resolving DWR issues with an eVENT garment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best recommendations if you cannot acquire those is to use warm soapless water and lightly scrub the garment and air dry it. This will not resolve DWR loss, but it will help improve the eVENT membrane at what level of water resistance it can still perform. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T22:16:49.830" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T22:16:49.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9898" CreationDate="2015-11-20T21:35:49.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are essentially three categories here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) water contaminates made safer by boiling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) water contaminates&#xA;    unchanged by boiling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) water contaminates made more dangerous by&#xA;    boiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case one, boiling works by killing biological organisms, rendering them unable to infect you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case two, there are toxins that won't be affected by the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy metals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;toxins already secreted by organisms (like botulism)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gas/oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case three, it would be elements made worse by the heating or, in some cases concentration of the water if left to boil too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Certain plastics break down under heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salt (as pointed out by Abela)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are SOME cases, but it is likely not a major problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6282" LastActivityDate="2015-11-20T21:35:49.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9923" CreationDate="2015-11-21T03:26:18.937" Score="9" ViewCount="3611" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking/ trekking might possibly make you feel anxious especially while hiking solo. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Music can soothe your mind and motivate you a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I would like to know the possible dangers/loss due to listening to music while on trail could lead to. ( I am not talking about playing music loudly. Just plugging in headphones/ earphones and listening.)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T21:42:43.667" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T21:42:43.667" Title="Is listening to music on earphones while hiking solo safe enough?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2015-11-21T05:14:32.363" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing hanging any decent dessicant in the tent would help some. Perhaps charcoal, or maybe even the rice you're going to cook tomorrow. Or try Silica gel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8183" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-11-21T07:44:32.210" LastActivityDate="2015-11-21T07:44:32.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9916" CreationDate="2015-11-21T06:41:44.183" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Safety is not absolute and there is no such thing as &quot;safe&quot;, there is only safer or less safe. There is no doubt wearing head phones is less safe than not wearing them. The question you are really asking is &quot;Is wearing headphone safe enough&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its a long time since humans had to worry about saber tooth tigers jumping out of the bush, so some of the primal instincts that we have inherited can lead to unwarranted anxiety in a modern society. As such, people often resort to things like head phones or back ground music as a way to create a &quot;calm&quot; feeling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending where you are hiking will depend if those saber tooth tigers still exist and are a threat. Do you really want to be ignorant of foot steps approaching you if its a hungry bear or man with a knife? The barking of stray dogs in the distance may be important information for you in the near future. The sound of a water fall may indicate you are not where you thought you were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blocking out, or otherwise ignoring information about whats going on around you is less safe, as you are less aware of your environment. In some palces, on some trails, it would not be considered a problem, in other cases, it would be considered significantly less safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few people these days know the 'sound of silence' and the sound of nature, and it makes them uneasy when they hear it. Out lives are dominated by noise - traffic, airplanes, music. We can rarely get away from it. Music is putting you back into your comfort zone, like a warm duvet on a cold night. But like the warm duvet, you are missing out when you drown out the silence &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-11-21T06:41:44.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9920" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9924" CreationDate="2015-11-21T13:15:11.003" Score="40" ViewCount="43395" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone who has played in the ocean knows getting a little sea water in your mouth and swallowing it will not kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seawater contains salt. When humans drink seawater, their cells are thus taking in water and salt. While humans can safely ingest small amounts of salt, the salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body. Additionally, when we consume salt as part of our daily diets, we also drink liquids, which help to dilute the salt and keep it at a healthy level. Living cells do depend on sodium chloride (salt) to maintain the body’s chemical balances and reactions; however, too much sodium can be deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Human kidneys can only make urine that is less salty than salt water. Therefore, to get rid of all the excess salt taken in by drinking seawater, you have to urinate more water than you drank. Eventually, you die of dehydration even as you become thirstier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/drinksw.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source NOAA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am thirsty and I drink sea water, it will make things worse. During normal activities if you have taken in some sea water, you will naturally consume enough fresh water (or fluids) to flush excessive salt out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe the real question is; if you drink sea water, how much fresh water do you need to drink to off set the sea water you drank?  For every 1 unit of sea water, how many units of fresh water do I need to act as an antidote?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in answers to the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4929&quot;&gt;How safe is drinking distilled water?&lt;/a&gt; it takes a lot of energy to make fresh water from sea water. Assume you are in a survival situation, with only sea water available, one of your companions has consumed a quantity (1 unit) of sea water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-12T21:41:46.457" Title="How much sea water can I safely drink?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9916" CreationDate="2015-11-21T14:11:29.417" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to your question is &quot;&lt;em&gt;in some situations, Yes&lt;/em&gt;&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many PCT hikers in SoCal learn this the hard way. They are out there wearing their headphones and fail to hear the sound of that rattlesnake on or near the trail. Thankfully very few get nailed, I think there was only one guy that got nailed by a snake on the 2015 seasons (he was transported to hospital and was given several vials of antivenom, saw the photos he posted, it was not pretty).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elsewhere, it can be bears and moose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically the solution to this is going with a single earbud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastActivityDate="2015-11-21T14:11:29.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9922" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-21T14:24:15.570" Score="8" ViewCount="856" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the United States' most famous &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scenic_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;National Scenic Trails&lt;/a&gt; are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt; (AT), &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt; (PCT), and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Continental Divide Trail&lt;/a&gt; (CDT), and when you have hiked all three you can earn the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Hiking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Triple Crown of Hiking&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some who have done a triple-triple, meaning they have hiked all three trails three times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always wondered how many people have accomplished this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know of a list of triple-triples?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastEditorUserId="5387" LastEditDate="2015-11-23T10:20:07.143" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T01:16:30.623" Title="How many people have done a triple triple?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;&lt;continental-divide-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9916" CreationDate="2015-11-21T15:00:21.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If hiking makes you feel anxious, then don't go hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do go hiking, as with most activities, you should pay attention to what your are doing.  That includes listening to what is around you.  Part of the enjoyment for most hikers is experiencing the outdoors.  You can't do that as fully when you disable one of your senses.  Leave the music player and headphones home, and instead listen to the birds, the insects, the water running nearby, the sound of your feet on different surfaces, or that unexpected rustle off to the side.  If these are really not as interesting, fun, soothing, and stimulating to you as music, then I don't understand why you go hiking in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a safety issue.  To be fair, the things I'm about to describe are unlikely occurances, so most of the time you can be oblivious to them and get away with it.  However, these things do occasionally happen, so having your ears open can be the difference between having a hike and being a statistic.  For example, hearing a hissing sound 10 feet in front of you by the side of the trail can prevent a rattlesnake bite.  Hearing little rattling sounds or even rumbling on the slope above you can alert you to falling rocks.  Unstable snow sometimes makes a sound, which can warn of avalanche risk.  A swooshing sound can help you prepare to not get sand blown in your eyes from a dust devil.  Bears sometimes make huffing sounds as a last warning.  A gurgling sound under the ice signals obvious danger, as does a cracking sound.  Keeping track of the direction of gunshot sounds is a really good idea.  Hearing the whistling of a bullet means you almost got hit, and it's time to do something about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think that last one is far fetched, it has actually happened to me.  I got down on the ground and yelled as loud as I could.  The yahoos around the hill a bit packed up their rifles and beer coolers and skedaddled out of there.  They may have thought they hit me, and didn't want to be identified.  At least it was a peaceful night after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-11-21T15:00:21.387" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9920" CreationDate="2015-11-22T11:25:12.323" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;How much sea water can I safely drink? = &lt;strong&gt;None&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drink sea water, how much fresh water do you need to drink to off set the sea water you drank? = &lt;strong&gt;2.8 units of distilled water per 1 unit of sea water&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;to neutralize without adding hydration&lt;/em&gt;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;scientific&quot; answer to this question involves a lot of complex math, human physiology and significant variables.  In its simplest form the question has one concept and two factors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Concept&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonicity&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tonicity:&lt;/a&gt; in the same way that water in a container always wants to be at the same level (flat) it also wants to contain the same amount of salt. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paH97dYR6Lg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humans are &quot;Bags of Mostly Water&quot;&lt;/a&gt; that need to keep a specific ratio of salt to water, when the ratio of salt to water becomes too great the body dies of dehydration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Factors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_(medicine)#Normal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Normal Saline&lt;/a&gt; is a medical grade mixture of salt and water.  It contains essentially the same amount of salt and water as a normally hydrated human. If you drink this it will not increase or decrease your hydration (&lt;em&gt;you won't get more or less thirsty&lt;/em&gt;). It contains 9 grams  of salt (NaCl) per liter of water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater#Salinity&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salinity of seawater:&lt;/a&gt;, there are a lot of variables, but on average seawater has a salinity of about 35 grams per liter of water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the balance of added salt and added water to a human body.  You need to add them in the in the ratios as they are present, 9 grams per liter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seawater has 35 grams per liter of salt, if we mix one liter of distilled (no salt) water with one liter of seawater, we have 17.5 grams of salt for each liter of water present. When you do the math (3.5 / 0.9 = 3.8) it turns out you need a total 3.8 liters of water to get the same ratio of salt to water.  So you need to add 2.8 litters of distilled water to your 1 liter of seawater to be neutral (isotonic).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It ain't simple&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of variables, and even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/24750.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some controversy&lt;/a&gt;.  In the end it is undeniable that if obtaining fresh water is difficult, drinking some seawater is not going to make things better. If you are in survival situation, there is no &quot;safe amount&quot; of seawater you can drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sweat&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920/how-much-sea-water-can-i-safely-drink/9924#comment53201_9924&quot;&gt;comment&lt;/a&gt; about salt loss with sweating, I did some research. You lose about 900mg of salt per liter of sweat. Gatorade restores about 450mg of salt per liter. Sea water has 35 &lt;strong&gt;GRAMS&lt;/strong&gt; of salt per liter that is 35,000mg.  Drinking sea water, because you are sweating while lost at sea, is not a good idea.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on compiled research, most of the sources listed are Wikipedia.  I did not find a reputable single source that provided a direct answer.  While I believe the conclusions are accurate, there is room for error. &lt;strong&gt;Don't do any stupid experiments based solely on this answer!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-25T12:54:47.397" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T12:54:47.397" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9927" CreationDate="2015-11-22T12:16:06.170" Score="4" ViewCount="1473" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has a list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_trails_in_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Long-distance trails in the United States&lt;/a&gt; I exported the table to excel and found there more than 150 trails listed, totaling more than 74,000 miles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another resource with a list of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americantrails.org/resources/statetrails/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;State by State Trails&lt;/a&gt; claims more than 1,100 trails in its system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many miles of trails (hiking/walking/biking) are there in the United States?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-04-13T17:54:57.913" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T11:51:20.183" Title="How many miles of hiking trails are there in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9926" CreationDate="2015-11-22T14:30:38.563" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is impossible to answer unless you are willing to do an enormous amount of research.  There is no single, or even just a few, databases of trails in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The national trail lists generally only contain the larger multi-state trails (like the AT, PCT, etc) and some of the larger regional trails, but these are the tip of the iceberg.  I'm guessing, but the total length of trails is likely 100s if not over 1000 times more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here in Massachusetts, we have the AT running thru the western end of the state, and some locally well-known regional trails, like the Bay Circuit, Midstate, and M&amp;amp;M trails.  Look around on some national lists and see how many of the regional ones are listed at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then consider that the bulk of trails in MA are actually much shorter trails in individual towns.  The Midstate Trail runs north/south thru MA, connecting NH and RI, and is 95 miles long.  Here in Groton alone, we have over 115 miles of trails, and that's just one town.  Groton may have a larger trail system than most, but even if the average is only 25 miles per town, that still dwarfs the lengths of the national and regional trails in MA.  However, you're very unlikely to find more than a tiny fraction of these local trails listed anywhere nationally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This state of affairs is slowly changing, but even that is happening piecemeal at the local, regional, and state levels.  A comprehensive national database is decades away at best.  Even an MA state-wide database is years away.  There have been individual efforts, but none comprehensive yet, although there is at least some talk about that.  DCR (the MA Dept of Conservation and Recreation, owners of the state parks and forests) has now just within the last couple of years compiled a list of trails on their properties.  Some of the regional planning agencies have tried to compile lists of trails within their regions.  For example, the Montechusett region (roughly north central MA) has a region-wide trails map, but that doesn't contain every last trail in all the towns.  It's also too low resolution to make that practical anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Groton does have a comprehensive &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grotontrails.org/Interactive_Maps.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; of all trails in town, but no really definitive measure of all their lengths.  Our claim of 115 miles is an estimate based on reasonable assumptions, but not on comprehensive accurate measurements.  I'm on the town Trails Committee and am actually working on that.  I'm going around measuring all our trails with a measuring wheel, and taking GPS tracks at the same time.  I'll eventually get to all of them, but that will probably be another 2-3 years out.  And, even if I say so myself, we're well ahead of most towns in the state.  Most don't have Trails Committees, so local land trusts and other private organizations and &quot;friends of ...&quot; groups maintain their specific trails, with not even a town-wide website, master list, or any one group responsible for such things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I'm telling you all this detail is to put the problem in perspective.  To get a complete list of trails in MA, you'd have to gather information from several federal and state agencies, dozens of local land trusts, and various other official, private, and volunteer groups in each of the 351 towns and cities.  After you're done with that, you only have the remaining 99.72% of the US land area left to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-04-14T11:51:20.183" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T11:51:20.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9928" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9929" CreationDate="2015-11-23T03:32:30.413" Score="5" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I stumbled onto this GIF: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bdG8o.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bdG8o.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears that this avalanche was caused by the deep trail cut into the snow. You can see ski tracks on the slope, it looks like it's been climbed and skied a number of times, so it appears the slope was initially stable, but then this long deep trail gets cut into the side of it and all of a sudden the slab lets loose and slides. You can see in the video that the trail acts as a transform fault.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know slopes can become more unstable later in the day after they've been in the sun for a while, so that may have also contributed to this slide, but I still think it's the deep cut trail that caused this slope to fail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes me wonder if the avalanche would have triggered had they gone up a different way (switch backs, not following the same trail, etc.), or while wearing snowshoes/skins. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the safety way to climb up a steep slope in deep snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-11-23T06:08:55.593" Title="What's the safest way to hike up a steep slope in deep snow?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9928" CreationDate="2015-11-23T06:08:55.593" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: stay near the edges of a big concave slope, near trees or rocks that could stabilized the snow pack, or at least on a convex ridge where the snow should be less deep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long answer: the trail that fractured is probably incidental. The sunlight was probably compacting &amp;amp; lubricating the snow  all day, and if that guy hadn't triggered the avalanche, the next skier would have or it would have gone later by itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the guy in is hanging out in a bad place, as avalanches from above are more likely to funnel into his location. He's not there intentionally, he's trying to recover his ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll say that going straight up the middle of slope is bad for these reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a path through a concave area is more likely to be hit&#xA;by avalanches triggered elsewhere&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;skiing across the trail may have contributed to his fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walking up a nice slope like that wastes good powder, angering the&#xA;snow gods&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-11-23T06:08:55.593" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9930" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10028" CreationDate="2015-11-23T07:51:25.323" Score="10" ViewCount="1418" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go on a trip to Sweden next summer. However, the plan was to do a little &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stickbow.com/FEATURES/HISTORY/roving.CFM&quot;&gt;roving&lt;/a&gt; in the untouched nature. &lt;em&gt;Note: I'll bring my own &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.flibo-bogensport.eu/media/image/thumbnail/rinehart-field-target-ball_720x600.jpg&quot;&gt;field target with me&lt;/a&gt; to not harm any nature.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Roving can be described in the most casual form as wandering across&#xA;  the countryside shooting at targets picked from random at various&#xA;  ranges and attitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the fact that the bow is a &quot;sporting equipment&quot; in my country, it's fully okay to go roving as long as you have field tips attached (what I have of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if that is the case in Sweden, too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T05:27:41.367" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T05:27:41.367" Title="Legal situation for roving in Sweden" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;roving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9931" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-23T08:55:05.257" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Officially called the Kingdom of Sweden, a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It shared the borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Geographical area: 450,295 square kilometers (173,860 sq mi), third-largest country in the European Union by area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-23T08:55:05.257" LastActivityDate="2015-11-23T08:55:05.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9932" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-23T08:55:05.257" Score="0" Body="This location-specific tag is to be used on questions about outdoor activities in, or relevant to, the country of Sweden. This includes all activities and topics within the scope of The Great Outdoors. Location-specific tags, including this, should always be used in conjunction with tags related to the specific activities, not as the only tag on the question. " OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-29T01:23:52.003" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T01:23:52.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9817" CreationDate="2015-11-23T09:05:41.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think he meant the thing what I always call &quot;let the board do the work&quot;. It's hard to explain theoretical, but I'll give it a try :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Introduction&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, as a beginner you really try to push your board in the direction you want to drive. You push your feed forwards/backwards to get your board where you want to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's really more about to try to lean your body in the curve and push your board to the ground accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Dry run&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To understand the concept it might help to follow this dry run. Just grab a board and place it on your favorite ground (no need to strap yourself onto the board, however).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice, that your board is wider at the tail and nose. To get what I try to explain, place it on one edge. You'll notice that it's a little bit off the ground in the middle. So, if you press the middle backwards and tilt the board a little bit, you can reach a point, where the edge of your board is fully connected to the ground. You'll see that your board is then curved in the direction you would normally want to drive. The board is &quot;twisted&quot; :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you practice this you'll get to a &quot;wtf this isn't as exhausting as it used to be anymore&quot;-point. That's the point where you've learned the concept.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A picture&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rFqeP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rFqeP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A guy/girl leaning into the curve&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's a random picture from Google. However, it's nice to see what the person does. He leans into the curve and let his body push the board into the ground. The board is fully connected to the snow and does the turn automatically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iwviO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iwviO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Twisted board&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another random picture, but you might be able to mention the board's &quot;twisting&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-23T09:05:41.913" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9934" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-23T10:00:19.677" Score="14" ViewCount="30860" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I swim in the sea around Singapore, I get stinging/prickling/electric sensations on my skin in certain areas of the water sometimes. There aren't any visible creatures nearby. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't remember having any itching or symptoms on my skin after that, although I could try it again and observe for any itching or red patches a few days after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8192" LastEditorUserId="8192" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T07:46:02.200" LastActivityDate="2018-01-14T22:27:27.717" Title="What's that stinging feeling when I swim in the sea?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9935" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-23T10:22:44.130" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:01:55.840" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:01:55.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9936" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-23T10:22:44.130" Score="0" Body="Questions about the Continental Divide Trail" OwnerUserId="5387" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:01:55.840" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:01:55.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9938" CreationDate="2015-11-23T12:13:44.127" Score="4" ViewCount="2983" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've the annoying problem that I slip and fall very often on the trail of my local 3D field archery parcours recently. That mostly comes from the trail's surface: a muddy, loamy layer above the forest floor. I wear a pair of hiking boots, which grip very well normally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any piece of equipment or a special walking technique to deal with such undergrounds? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just two additional facts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a pretty thin layer of mud above the &quot;common&quot; ground (what makes it so surprisingly slippery in the first place)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The trail is oblique - you've to walk alongside the slope (slippery slope =))  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-11-23T14:10:00.540" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T11:54:01.690" Title="Walking technique to deal with muddy, slippery underground?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9937" CreationDate="2015-11-23T13:01:16.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest walking with flat feet rather than the usual rolling foot technique most people walk with.  This means that rather than landing with your heel 1st and rolling onto the ball of your foot, you should walk in such a way that your whole foot contacts the ground at the same time.  This should keep you upright on flat ground.  You will also notice that walking this way you will start to use your hamstrings and glutes to walk rather than your calves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're walking uphill, I would suggest step kicking, like that used by mountaineers walking uphill in snow or ice.  From your description I get the impression that the ground has thick mud rather than a thin layer of mud / moss over slippery rocks.  To walk with step kicks, on every step you should kick the ground with the toecap on your boots.  This will push your foot through the soft mud and essentially create a small flat 'step' which you can then use to walk on rather than walking on an  incline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking poles might also help you with stability as you can drive these into the ground and use these to take some of your weight, so you put less weight through your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Amalgamating the alast 3 paragraphs from the answer from @JamesJenkins into this as per the request of the OP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You need to increase your traction, and you probably want to do it&#xA;  without changing your boots. &gt; Strap on traction devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There is a huge selection of Ice Cleats these tend to be very short to&#xA;  about a half inch. Longer spikes are available in Lawn Aerator&#xA;  Sandals. The longer the cleats/spikes and the further they are spread&#xA;  apart the more difficult it will be for them to fill with mud.&#xA;  Allowing you to get consistent traction. But at the same time the&#xA;  harder it will be to balance on them while walking. Which is the&#xA;  lessor of two evils, the mud or the spikes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In reality you should probably just spread crushed gravel (like 3/4&#xA;  minus) along the path. Have a load of gravel delivered at the start of&#xA;  the trail, take a wheelbarrow and shovel, spread gravel ahead of you&#xA;  along the path as you walk up it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5424" LastEditorUserId="5424" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T11:54:01.690" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T11:54:01.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9939" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9947" CreationDate="2015-11-23T18:02:56.167" Score="9" ViewCount="1408" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does rain (or moisture in general) harm a modern (hunting) recurvebow (including the string)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's talk about a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beararchery.com/bows/traditional/grizzly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Archery Grizzly&lt;/a&gt;&quot; for example. A glass laminated, wooden recurve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Crowned, cut-on center arrow shelf with Bear Hair Rest and leather side plate &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dacron Flemish string &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;58&quot; AMO length &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beararchery.com/bows/traditional/futurewood&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FutureWood&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Fred Bear introduced FutureWood in the 1970's and was re-introduced in&#xA;    the Bear line in 2013 due to request from customers wanting natural&#xA;    hardwoods reminiscent of the early 1970 era bows. This manufacturing&#xA;    process gives completely new physical properties to the wood in the&#xA;    handle section. A pressurized vacuum fills all the natural pores in&#xA;    the wood, increasing its weight and greatly strengthening it. After&#xA;    baking, the handle is no longer natural wood, but Futurewood: It is&#xA;    virtually impossible to warp, check, or crack. Yet, all the grain and&#xA;    original beauty of the natural wood are intact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A picture may help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o5Ppe.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o5Ppe.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bear Archery Grizzly as an exmaple&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:17:42.823" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:17:42.823" Title="Does rain harm a bow" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9937" CreationDate="2015-11-23T19:36:23.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an existing answer about walking technique, this answer focuses on a &quot;piece of equipment&quot; to do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless your mud is different than the mud I am used to walking in, the reason your boots slip is the traction surfaces fill with mud, and thin layer builds up across the bottom of the boot.  Traction is similar to rubbing two ice cubes together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to increase your traction, and you probably want to do it without changing your boots. &gt; Strap on traction devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a huge selection of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thewarmingstore.com/snow-and-ice-traction-cleats.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAj8uyBRDawI3XhYqOy4gBEiQAl8BJbb_TfcKbKiuZiV86eZzEWAVgmaV_FoH0-nvnLrmfeZQaAqIB8P8HAQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ice Cleats&lt;/a&gt; these tend to be very short to about a half inch.  Longer spikes are available in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gardeners.com/buy/Lawn-Aerator-Sandals/37-934.html?start=8&amp;amp;cgid=Landscaping_Lawns&amp;amp;SC=XNET9378&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQiAj8uyBRDawI3XhYqOy4gBEiQAl8BJbXswBbqsZUcZPeDwlgLzokubyukMhM6hcf6Hmt0RypgaAl418P8HAQ&amp;amp;kwid=5757063391x6901667245x92073205&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lawn Aerator Sandals&lt;/a&gt;.  The longer the cleats/spikes and the further they are spread apart the more difficult it will be for them to fill with mud.  Allowing you to get consistent traction.  But at the same time the harder it will be to balance on them while walking.  Which is the lessor of two evils, the mud or the spikes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality you should probably just spread crushed gravel (like 3/4 minus) along the path.  Have a load of gravel delivered at the start of the trail, take a wheelbarrow and shovel, spread gravel ahead of you along the path as you walk up it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-11-23T19:36:23.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9896" CreationDate="2015-11-24T01:25:55.957" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have never hiked in temperatures that went up to 95 F, but we have taken oranges on much longer trips than 2-3 days, with no problem, with day-time temperatures in the low 80s, and very sunny skies.   As others have said, put the fruit in a plastic bag in the middle of your pack; it will be protected from being squashed, and insulated to some degree from the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a long trip, the last can of concentrated OJ that we opened had fermented.  OJ wine is pretty bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T01:25:55.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9943" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9952" CreationDate="2015-11-24T11:08:57.807" Score="4" ViewCount="3551" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: &lt;em&gt;This question is asked in an absolutely theoretical manner.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;NEVER hunt without proper equipment!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often ask myself what probably would happen if I shoot small game with a field tip attached. I often feel like it would kill it just like a hunting tip (not talking about blunts etc.) would do, wouldn't it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if yes, which would be the size too big to kill with a field tip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T09:02:58.130" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T07:09:12.233" Title="Is a field tip as effective as a hunting tip for small game" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9908" CreationDate="2015-11-24T12:15:01.280" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the already given answers, I've found a in-depth guide on how to build a bow (full credit goes to Jason Knight). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildernesscollege.com/bow-making-instructions.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to Make a Quickie Bow from a Sapling&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;1. Choosing wood&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The first step is to select the proper materials. Some of the best&#xA;  woods for making bows include osage orange, yew, ash, black locust,&#xA;  and hickory, though most hardwoods can work (other examples of&#xA;  hardwoods include oak, maple, and beech).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For a quickie bow, you want to start with a relatively straight&#xA;  section of sapling or branch that is free of knots, side branches, and&#xA;  twists. You want this straight section to be about 5 feet long and&#xA;  about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. Cut the sapling or branch carefully&#xA;  so not to create cracks or splits in the wood. This is your bow stave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;2. Finding the belly, back, handhold, and limbs&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stand the bow stave upright on the ground, hold the top loosely with&#xA;  one hand, and push outward lightly on the middle of the bow. The stave&#xA;  will swivel to show you which way it is slightly curved. The outside&#xA;  bend of the curve is called the &quot;back&quot; and the inside bend of the&#xA;  curve is the &quot;belly&quot;. Leave the &quot;back&quot; of the bow untouched. The back&#xA;  receives the most tension and any damage to it can cause the bow to&#xA;  break. This is one of the most important bow making instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now find the middle point of the stave and mark out your handhold area&#xA;  by measuring and marking 3 inches out from the center in both&#xA;  directions. The handhold area will also be left relatively untouched.&#xA;  The area above the handhold is the upper limb and the area below is&#xA;  the lower limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;3. Shaping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now put the bottom tip of the bow on top of your foot and hold the top&#xA;  tip while pushing outward from the belly side of the handhold. Only&#xA;  push outward a few inches. Look at how the limbs bend. Observe which&#xA;  areas bend and which areas do not. Begin removing wood with a knife&#xA;  from the belly of the limbs where they do not bend while leaving&#xA;  material in the areas of the limbs that bend a lot. Remember: only&#xA;  remove wood from the belly side of the limbs, leave the back&#xA;  untouched. The goal at this step in the process is to get the limbs to&#xA;  bend evenly in the shape of a parabolic curve (like a satellite dish)&#xA;  throughout their entire length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take off material slowly and re-check the bend of the limbs&#xA;  frequently. The handhold and tips should stay straight or have very&#xA;  little bend. You are ready for the next step of bow making&#xA;  instructions once both limbs are no longer stiff and are able to flex&#xA;  evenly throughout their length – thick staves will take lots of&#xA;  carving, while narrow diameter staves may only need very little&#xA;  shaping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;4. Notches for the bow string&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can now carve small notches on the both sides of each tip, being&#xA;  careful not to carve into the back of the bow. They only need to be&#xA;  deep enough to keep a bow string in place. Tie loops into both ends of&#xA;  a nylon, sinew, or plant fiber string, using a length that will allow&#xA;  there to be 5 to 6 inches between the string and the handhold when the&#xA;  bow is strung. String the bow; though be careful not to pull back on&#xA;  the string yet (doing so can break the bow). Now you're ready for the&#xA;  next bow making instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;5. Tillering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hang the bow up horizontally on a branch or piece of scrap wood by the&#xA;  handhold. Now pull down a few inches on the string while observing how&#xA;  the limbs bend. Now, not only do you want each limb to bend evenly&#xA;  throughout its length, you also want each limb to bend exactly the&#xA;  same amount (a mirror image of each other). Tillering is also one of&#xA;  the most important bow making instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Observe which limb bends less and carefully remove more materials from&#xA;  the belly of that limb until both limbs bend equally and evenly.&#xA;  Re-check frequently, pulling down on the string a little bit further&#xA;  each time until you are able to pull it to your draw length (Your draw&#xA;  length can be measured by imagining to hold a bow and pull the string&#xA;  back to your upper jaw to a shooting position – the distance between&#xA;  the handhold and your upper jaw is your draw length).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tillering process is complete once both limbs flex equally and&#xA;  evenly and the draw weight (pounds of pressure required to pull the&#xA;  string back to a full draw) is at your desired poundage. A 25 to 35&#xA;  pound draw is sufficient enough for hunting small game while 40 to 60&#xA;  pounds is needed for larger animals like deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The poundage can be tested by placing a five foot 2x4 piece of lumber&#xA;  vertically on a bathroom scale, then balancing the bow horizontally by&#xA;  the handhold on top of the piece of lumber and pulling down on the&#xA;  string to a full draw length. The scale will register the draw weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;6. Finishing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For wilderness survival situations the bow can now be used as is. Be&#xA;  sure to never &quot;dry&quot; fire the bow (dry firing is when the string is&#xA;  pulled back and let go without an arrow). This can break a bow. To&#xA;  finish it off you can sand the belly smooth and oil it with a light&#xA;  oil to prevent it from drying out too quickly. Many bowyers prefer&#xA;  linseed or tung oil. To care for your bow, shoot it and oil it&#xA;  frequently and adjust the tiller as needed. We hope you've found these&#xA;  bow making instructions helpful. Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildernesscollege.com/bow-making-instructions.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;By Jason Knight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildernesscollege.com/contact-alderleaf-wilderness-college.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alderleaf Wilderness College&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T12:15:01.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9945" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-24T12:55:14.493" Score="5" ViewCount="2634" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought about trying unconventional breeds for hunting. I stumbled across the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_%28dog%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Akita&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, which was initially cultured to hunt. However, it seems that it's pretty much a common house/pet dog nowadays (nothing wrong with this of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does an Akita do as a hunting buddy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Japanese &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_%28dog%29#Working_life&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Akita&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Working life&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Predecessors of the modern Akita were used for hunting bear, wild boar&#xA;  and deer in Japan as late as 1957.[67] They would be used to flush out&#xA;  the bear and keep it at bay until the hunter could come and kill it.&#xA;  Today, the breed is used primarily as a companion dog. However, the&#xA;  breed is currently also known to be used as therapy dogs,[68] and&#xA;  compete in all dog competitions including: conformation showing,&#xA;  obedience trials, canine good citizen program, tracking trials and&#xA;  agility competition,[69] as well as weight pulling, hunting and&#xA;  schutzhund (i.e., personal protection dogs).[70]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T13:09:05.180" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T13:09:05.180" Title="Akita as my hunting buddy" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9946" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-24T12:56:29.723" Score="5" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hi I have been a keen cyclist and walker for many many years, but this year I have taken more to hiking, 2-6 miles walk which I really enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this last 4 months I have started developing a persistent ache in my left knee especially at the back of the knee, it seems to be sore to the touch at the lower part of my left ham string and the upper part of my left calf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;when this happens I seem to be dragging my left leg for about 5-7 days then it seems to be ok for a while then after a week or so it starts again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;does any one experience this type of issue as I really miss getting out and about over the moors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8196" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T13:45:14.603" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T13:45:14.603" Title="Sore left knee when hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2016-02-18T21:37:55.050" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9939" CreationDate="2015-11-24T13:16:56.580" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In simple terms. Yes. But it is easily avoided. When not in use dry off the bow and keep it in a waterproof case. Like anything, prolonged moisture is damaging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using it in the rain is no problem, I'm talking about days or weeks without being dryed. Same goes with the string. They are usually coated in beeswax but moisture will eventually take effect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's nothing to be overly concerned about. Just make sure when you are done for the day give it some TLC. Dry off the string and give it another coat of beeswax before you unstring. Once unstrung dry the bow and put it in a protective case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to take it out for a few days hunting there are plenty of lightweight leather cases that can be slung over the shoulder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T13:16:56.580" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9948" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9949" CreationDate="2015-11-24T15:03:44.497" Score="6" ViewCount="531" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long time ago I saw a jaguar (I believe it was one). The strange thing was, that it was extremely dark. I wouldn't refer to it as &quot;black&quot; but actually pretty dark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does such a color signal? Was it sick, young or just an optical illusion? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:15:06.217" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:15:06.217" Title="What does a dark colored fur mean regarding a jaguar" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9948" CreationDate="2015-11-24T15:16:17.130" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's possible that what you saw was normal for a jaguar. The Panthera species (leopards [Panthera pardus] in Asia and Africa, and jaguars [Panthera onca] in the Americas) can have melanistic colours like many species. They're commonly known as Black Panthers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you can still see a leopard / jaguars spots through the black fur, but it's still melanistic as it's had a development of the coloured pigment melanin, other times it's a complete covering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T15:23:31.707" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T15:23:31.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9951" CreationDate="2015-11-24T16:03:41.063" Score="3" ViewCount="509" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a camera that has detachable batteries. I also carry an extra spare battery for my cellphone and a power bank.&#xA;Batteries discharge at colder temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I keep batteries warm so that they do not discharge due to extreme weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T16:24:30.913" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T16:55:28.723" Title="Keeping the Batteries warm" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2015-11-24T16:32:49.770" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9950" CreationDate="2015-11-24T16:23:04.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most simple solution is keeping them close to your body somewhere within your clothing. This shouldn't be a problem with small items like phone batteries or small power banks. However, to make sure that they don't get damaged as your clothing gets damp from sweating, I would advise to pack them into some lightly waterproof container. An old plastic bag or a freezer bag will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camera batteries (depends on the camera type) can be a different issue since they can be quite bulky, so carrying them in the pockets of your jacket might be a bit umcomfortable. Unfortunately they don't produce heat by themselves (if they do, get rid of them as soon as possible ;-) ), so just putting them somewhere into your backpack between your spare clothes to provide some insulation won't be enough and they would get cold rather quickly. However, if you pack some heat source with them, this might help. Consider for example one of those gel filled hand warmers that reversibly transform the gel into a solid while producing heat. That should be enough for several hours of cold exposure, especially, if the whole thing is surrounded by some insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-11-24T16:55:28.723" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T16:55:28.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9943" CreationDate="2015-11-24T17:58:45.193" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chances are you'll be doing a lot more tracking. Blunt tips are for very small game, intended to knock they prey out cold or cause death by blunt trauma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting tips are intended to increase depth of penetration as well as doing continuous damage to the vital organs once full penetration has occurred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting tips will almost always penetrate deeper than field tips in flesh, because the razor cut a cross around the puncture, this reduces the tension of the wound around the shaft. In other words, A field tip will stop faster because the flesh will be grabbing it better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you use field tips to hunt? Sure, but you will likely be forced to track for longer, the arrow may fall out of the wound when the animal is running through brush, and may be able to find a spot to hide and die (or heal) and you may never find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T17:58:45.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9954" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9961" CreationDate="2015-11-24T18:28:53.900" Score="4" ViewCount="400" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, besides the emotional preferences, like &quot;in close touch with nature&quot;, fun or personal preferences (and so on), is there any rational reason to pick a bow over rifle? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean things like &quot;it's quieter and that's good for xy&quot; for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T02:24:14.213" Title="Rational reason to pick a bow over a gun?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9955" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9963" CreationDate="2015-11-24T18:31:31.197" Score="4" ViewCount="248" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to pick bow-fishing over rod-fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know it's extremely difficult to aim for fishes beneath the water surface. This makes me wonder if there is any rational reason to prefer bow-fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T23:42:42.907" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T23:42:42.907" Title="Any reason to prefer bow-fishing over rod-fishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;bow-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="9956" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9958" CreationDate="2015-11-24T18:35:24.463" Score="5" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of (traditional) archers shooting 3D with stringdampers attached. As far as I know they slow your bow down. Okay, okay, it's minimal, but still... Also, as far as I know, the 3D targets don't hear anything ;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is there any reason - besides the style - to have them attached? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T08:05:13.103" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T08:05:13.103" Title="What's the point of stringdampers in 3D shooting" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9957" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9959" CreationDate="2015-11-24T18:41:26.117" Score="2" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a lot of broken arrows a week ago. I decided to salvage them and carefully removed the fletches along with the other reusable things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, now that I have the fletches, I asked myself if it's even a good idea to reuse them!? Are there any disadvantages regarding the arrow behavior (like the second twisting may have influences)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T13:00:50.957" Title="Any disadvantages if I reuse fletches?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9956" CreationDate="2015-11-24T18:58:12.230" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It comes down to a few things. Some people like adding things to their bows. If it can fit on it they will have it. I once saw someone using a recurve with 9 stabilisers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others like to pretend they are hunting without the actual death bit. Quite a few 3D target shooters follow a course which simulates a hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They could also be hunters and just leave it on their bow regardless if they are hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last most common category is the person has no idea what it is. Some poor soul I knew once brought one because the seller convinced him it would 'make his arrows go faster. '&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T18:58:12.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9957" CreationDate="2015-11-24T19:01:27.800" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh the amount of arrows I have had to repair. If the fletching is undamaged and you can fully remove the fixing agent, yes, you can reuse them. However, fletchings are rather cheap to buy so for the sake of a possible missed shot due to some damage you might have missed, it is usually advised to buy new ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T13:00:50.957" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T13:00:50.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9955" CreationDate="2015-11-24T19:10:37.987" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a form of hunting. Shoot a rabbit or snare it? Rod fishing you are luring a fish into a trap, bow fishing you are actively hunting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some say you need an entire new kit but all you really need is a specialised type of arrow. It is all down to preference really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T19:10:37.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9954" CreationDate="2015-11-24T19:16:13.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other than the stated back to nature (if you can count it as that as most hunters use compounds) it is generally considered both quiter and cheaper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a lot cheaper to buy a bow and arrows than a silenced rifle. Especially as, if you are lucky, you can reuse arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is down to preference however, as to what a person wishes to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T19:16:13.147" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9943" CreationDate="2015-11-24T20:26:04.460" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The outcome in the use of the set up you speak of, will also greatly depend on the size of the game you are considering hunting. On small game a field tip will penetrate, and in most instances, pin the game to the ground unless shooting at extreme angles. While this would work to harvest a smaller animal, I would definitely not recommend it on any size game. With smaller game, a harvest would be an almost given however, the results may be a lengthy death for the game animal which wouldn't be the most ethical hunting practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8199" LastActivityDate="2015-11-24T20:26:04.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9955" CreationDate="2015-11-24T22:15:18.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that your question is about efficacy of the method. I'm not a bow fishermen, but I know that some plankton feeders, such as the asian carp and the silver carp will not easily take a lure or a fly. In fact, carp is one of the most challenging fish to catch on an artificial lure (although they do take bait). In that case, bow fishing seems to be the way to go. In the case of the silver carp, it jumps often and can be shot mid air. See this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/2015/07/bowfishing-the-apocalypse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; for examples of how these species are hunted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both fish are invasive species in many waters, so bow fishing (being a lethal method) may actually be the preferred option. I'd think that people bow fishing for other species of gamefish (trout, salmon, for example) would be frowned upon in certain communities, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: not being a bow fisherman myself, I totally missed the issue of visibility that Escoce pointed out in his answer. That means that bow fishing is favoured over rod fishing in instances where fish are plankton feeders, sabiki rigs are not legal (some jurisdiction limit the number of flies in a rig), they are visible in the water, and the target species is one that can be harvested without problems.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T11:35:30.817" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T11:35:30.817" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9955" CreationDate="2015-11-24T23:22:43.183" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bow fishing is a sportsmanship hobby like any other. If you like the idea of bow fishing, then try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like the idea of rod and reel fishing, then try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is better? Well, you can only shoot a fish you can see with the bow, and rod fishing lets you hunt for fish in places you couldn't possibly think to use a bow, such as deep water, thick weeds, water so brown you can't see this fish unless it's jumped into the air. The biggest fish get big because they know how to hide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T15:52:31.823" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T15:52:31.823" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9965" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-25T04:42:15.530" Score="10" ViewCount="2609" Body="&lt;p&gt;My dad, brothers and I grew up fishing. However, the vast majority of our fishing has been &lt;code&gt;set it and forget it&lt;/code&gt; fishing for catfish, mostly at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My dad and father-in-law are in town for Thanksgiving, and so today I decided to take them on a fishing trip. We rented a pontoon, and drove up and down a nearby river fishing for the better part of 7 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We caught one fish.&#xA;We had &lt;em&gt;maybe&lt;/em&gt; three bites total.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this normal? Here are the specifics of what we tried:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We're located in central Florida&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mostly trying to not just &quot;set it and forget it&quot; but rather attempt to catch something more active (e.g., bass)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We used live minnows, night crawlers, synthetic grubs, and a couple spinner lures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The majority of the fishing was with live minnows (my dad) and a spinner lure (me)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We would drift along the bank, which would transition from trees to lillypads, and back. Large sections of lillys at a time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My dad would cast near as he could to the bank, and start a slow draw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would cast my spinner about 20 ft. into the lillys, and &quot;hop&quot; it over them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We would try each spot for about 30-60 minutes before moving on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how to fish with a spinner lure. Maybe that was my problem? I would &quot;hop&quot; it over the lillys, and then I guess just maintain a steady 'not slow but slow enough' draw until it was back to the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We caught one fish all day. On a rod that we'd cast and set aside while working on something else. A catfish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep doing what you're good at I guess?  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice? Any more details I can provide to help with giving me advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main thing I guess is, we did have fun. And we plan on doing it again, soon. But, I'd rather actually catch some fish next time, if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8203" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T00:11:16.390" Title="Went fishing on the river for full day, caught one fish; normal?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9965" CreationDate="2015-11-25T05:01:58.330" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds fairly normal for a not so great day.  That's why it's called 'Fishing' and not 'Catching'!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size and color choice for lures has a lot to do with success as well.  The traditional wisdom is that you must choose a color based on the stain of the water.  If the water is very clear then the lure should be very close to the natural prey/food choices (shad or minnow colors) for that body of water, and of average size.  If the water has a heavy stain then you must choose a brighter color (chartreuse/yellow/orange) and/or a bigger lure.  If the water is really heavily stain you may want to consider something with additional sound or scent attractants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As expected YMMV.  The important thing is that you had a good time with friends and family!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2639" LastEditorUserId="2639" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T05:12:12.827" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T05:12:12.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9967" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10307" CreationDate="2015-11-25T06:09:12.177" Score="12" ViewCount="530" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently inherited a small sailing boat similar to a Sunfish (roughly 12'x5'). However, I'm pretty sure it's &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a sunfish, and I'm trying to identify it by the insignia on the sail. Does anyone recognize this symbol and/or what company it belongs to?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/783i2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/783i2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Insignia on sail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d1V4V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d1V4V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hull&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8204" LastEditorUserId="8204" LastEditDate="2015-11-28T15:28:34.557" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T09:31:43.780" Title="Identify this sailing insigina" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9965" CreationDate="2015-11-25T11:52:37.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Catching fish depends on so many variables that it is hard to pinpoint what went wrong. Depending on weather, time of the day, and season, fish are located at different parts of the water body and at different depths. Changes in water temperature and atmospheric pressure affect how fish and other aquatic life forms behave, and it all connects: aquatic insect activity attracts minnows and insectivore fish, which in turns attracts fish which prey on minnows, and so on. likewise, current strength and water volume also determines if fish hold near the banks or close to the main current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that, apart from advice on lure patterns and bait (which you got from the other answers), you may also want to think about location. By that I mean the part of the water body and of the water column that you fish. This all depends on the water conditions and weather. For example, fast runoff water in spring makes fish gather at banks and slower parts of the river where they don't need to fight the current. Likewise, colder weather makes them hold close to the bottom, almost immobile. You should be able to adjust this by using heavier lures or waiting for them to sink before retrieving them, and also by selecting where to cast. It can be quite complicated because you need to learn to read the current and identify features at the bottom, something that I am still learning myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off course, this all depends on the species, and I can't help you with exact advice if the quarry is bass (there are no bass where I fish).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T11:52:37.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9969" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9971" CreationDate="2015-11-25T12:10:12.187" Score="3" ViewCount="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once we were out hiking, we saw a goat-like animal in the hills around Tàrbena (Alicante, Spain). I wasn't sure what it was, cause it didn't have any horn but my mate insisted on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mouflon&lt;/a&gt;. I didn't know that there were mouflons without any. Indeed, it completely looked like one except of that missing detail on its head. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was it a mouflon and if yes, in which cases do they not have horn?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:15:00.983" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:15:00.983" Title="Are there mouflons without horns?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;spain&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9974" CreationDate="2015-11-25T12:15:16.163" Score="6" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in doubt if I should attach tracers to my arrows. Of course, they make them better visible but I've heard rumors that they &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; influence the arrow (other than stated by the manufacturer). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do they influence the arrow? And if yes, in which way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tracer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ap3gT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ap3gT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tracers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Arrow tracers are meant to give you increased downrange visibility.&#xA;  They also double as an effective wind check! (We include this added&#xA;  benefit free of charge) With today's high speed bows and faster arrows&#xA;  seeing where your arrows go is an advantage. These bright colors will&#xA;  help you track your arrows in flight and if you ever miss your target&#xA;  will aid you in finding your lost arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;By &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/gateway-feather-tracer.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merlin Archery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T14:59:53.257" Title="Does a tracer influence the arrow in any way" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9969" CreationDate="2015-11-25T13:17:47.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The horns of mature rams are curved in almost one full revolution (up to 85 cm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could have seen a young one or a female. Females can be horned or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polled_livestock&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;polled&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T13:17:47.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9972" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9973" CreationDate="2015-11-25T13:56:19.347" Score="5" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hear people often talk about the &quot;Trail User’s Code&quot; or read about it and ever wondered what it might be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it some kind of official act?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T13:56:19.347" Title="What is the “Trail User’s Code”?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-11-27T19:56:57.833" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9972" CreationDate="2015-11-25T13:56:19.347" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's basically a unwritten law which can be used to give beginners an overview about the &quot;core rules&quot; while hiking. Due to the fact that it isn't something official, there are many different versions out there. However, it basically always contains this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is important to leave the trail in the same shape you find it. The&#xA;  following Trail User’s Code is a useful guide of conduct on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hike only along the marked routes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use the stiles; do not climb fences &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Leave flowers, plants and wildlife for others to enjoy &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Leave the trail clean; carry out all litter &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Walk around a farmer's cultivated field, not across it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid potential fire hazards by not building fires&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T13:56:19.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9970" CreationDate="2015-11-25T14:59:53.257" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tricky one this. Some people swear they do, others swear they don't. Personally I have never used them as I always feared they might throw off my shot. There is no definitive evidence that they will have an impact however. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell you that, even with a tracer, it's damned hard to find an arrow in grass. We used to use a metal detector to find them. Even the wooden arrows have a metal head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: as for tracking in flight, even a spotter would have a hard task seeing an arrow mid flight before it hit the target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T14:59:53.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9817" CreationDate="2015-11-25T16:04:00.337" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I first learnt snowboarding twenty years ago, when boards and bindings were rigid, the boards were long and asymmetrical, and back then carving was the way to turn. You'd lean right over (sometimes 75-80 degrees over) and the board would carve itself round a turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern boards are much more flexible, and what your instructor means by twisting is that you actually do twist the board. You turn your front foot into the turn before your back foot. Look at this picture of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcnabsnowboarding.com/snowboarding/finish-off-your-toeside-turns-and-ride-like-a-god/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;heelside turn&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hm1yC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hm1yC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The front foot is leant back, twisting the front of the board. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you turn back and forth across the slope, that twist should flow with each turn - you effectively lead your turn with the front foot twisting the board. It doesn't have to be a dramatic twist, but it starts the turn and puts the pressure in the correct part of the board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T16:04:00.337" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9976" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9977" CreationDate="2015-11-25T16:05:52.180" Score="6" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed a few archers who have a different kind of quiver (different from a back-, bow- or side-quiver). It's kind of a pocket where the arrows are literally &quot;plugged in&quot;. Just like in a bow-quiver for example. Yeah..., it's kind of a bow-quiver brought in the form of a pocket to wear on the belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a name for this kind of quiver?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NOdYV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NOdYV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-10T21:04:57.690" LastActivityDate="2018-05-10T21:04:57.690" Title="Name of this quiver type" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9976" CreationDate="2015-11-25T16:28:17.447" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That would, quite simply, be a pocket quiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T16:28:17.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11227" CreationDate="2015-11-25T18:49:57.693" Score="8" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, from a non-hunting archer's point of view, the arrow length is &lt;code&gt;drawLength + 2&quot; - fineTuning&lt;/code&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any difference for a hunter or is calculated just the same way? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T22:40:52.223" Title="Arrow length for hunting" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9979" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9980" CreationDate="2015-11-25T19:19:40.580" Score="5" ViewCount="1172" Body="&lt;p&gt;A local archery dealer measured my draw length to 29&quot;. He told me that this is not the same as the length of my arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder how long an arrow has to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T19:26:42.650" Title="How long should an arrow be?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9979" CreationDate="2015-11-25T19:19:40.580" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;31&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR answer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is pretty simple for the general rule: take your draw length and add one to two inches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do that because you might draw a little bit further than your actual draw length. This is pretty dangerous cause the arrow might penetrate the hand which holds the bow!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend to generally add 2 inches for an absolute beginner. This would be 31&quot; in your case. Why?:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might have a bad form yet and thus your draw length might extend a little bit as soon as you get better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's safe (in terms of &quot;slip off and hit the bow hand&quot; at least)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll need a lot of arrows in the first few months (especially if you are a 3D shooter). In case your arrow breaks, you have a chance that there'll be only 1&quot; missing: you still have a 30&quot; arrow :) (&lt;em&gt;Note: Only reuse the arrow if the other rest of the shaft &lt;strong&gt;is still absolutely perfect&lt;/strong&gt; and you use carbon arrows&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might want to use another anchor in the future which could result in an extended draw length&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lly98.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lly98.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From learn-archery.com&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Credits: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.learn-archery.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.learn-archery.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later on you want to &quot;tune&quot; your arrows. It's a process of &quot;taking a little bit off the shaft&quot; and &quot;shoot the shaft&quot;. In that case you have a very individual arrow length for a particular setup (setup = bow + arrow + shooter). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is how you do it: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiSoF8grd3w&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiSoF8grd3w&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's not worth worrying about this topic as long as you don't group safely in the size of tennis ball. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-11-25T19:26:42.650" LastActivityDate="2015-11-25T19:26:42.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9981" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11772" CreationDate="2015-11-25T21:08:32.023" Score="3" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do we know which is the world's largest 3D archery course and its stats? Depending on the trail length and the count of targets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T08:32:58.577" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T18:05:30.023" Title="World's largest 3D archery course?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9965" CreationDate="2015-11-26T00:06:14.630" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: yes, unfortunately very normal. I've been fishing all over the western U.S. since I was a kid, lakes, rivers, streams and even the occasional surf fishing on the ocean. Some days are good, other days not, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Here's an example. Some years back, I took my boat for the first time to the Flaming Gorge in Utah. I took the boat out from the boat dock, went around a bend in the shore to a small cover, and parked there. I was still very close to the dock and hadn't ventured out to the open water of the lake. I proceeded to fish and within four hours had landed dozens of beautiful sized trout and smallmouth bass. I thought, oh my god I have found the best fishing spot ever! I went home after only four hours because I already had my limit. Well, I returned two weeks later, went to the same spot, but this time I only caught a couple trout and a couple smallmouths. So I ventured out into the lakes, tried different spots, but had only marginal success. I went back again a month later, went back to the same cove: nothing. Not even a bite. I went around to different spots in the lake: nothing. I spent all day and didn't have a single bite. Why? I don't know. That's just how fish are. Who knows why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastEditorUserId="3538" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T00:11:16.390" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T00:11:16.390" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9983" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-26T06:54:54.473" Score="6" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've a rattan recurve bow here which needs to be tuned. However, I'm not sure which oil to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which oil should I use to &quot;burn&quot; (with a hot air gun) a rattan recurve?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-10T23:58:38.803" LastActivityDate="2017-06-10T23:58:38.803" Title="Which oil to &quot;burn&quot; (with a hot air gun) a rattan recurve" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9984" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-26T06:57:12.177" Score="11" ViewCount="510" Body="&lt;p&gt;A triple broadhead has three edges equally attached around the shaft while a double broadhead has only two blades. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Triple broadhead:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OqH2w.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OqH2w.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Triple broadhead&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, which one should one use to hunt boars? A double- or triple-edged arrowhead? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I want to shoot a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10008/whats-meant-by-poundage-or-weight-of-a-bow&quot;&gt;60#@29&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (draw weight of 60 pounds at a draw length of 29 inches) recurve bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Draw weight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The force required to hold the string stationary at full draw is often&#xA;  used to express the power of a bow, and is known as its draw weight,&#xA;  or weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Draw length:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The maximum distance the string could be displaced and thus the&#xA;  longest arrow that could be loosed from it, a bow’s draw length, is&#xA;  determined by the size of the archer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_and_arrow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_and_arrow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowhead&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowhead&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:09:19.730" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:09:19.730" Title="Should I use a double or triple broadhead for boars?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9986" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9995" CreationDate="2015-11-26T09:55:18.203" Score="6" ViewCount="575" Body="&lt;p&gt;When camping in summer rain overnight or dew in the morning is fine as it'll likely all evaporate off in the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When camping in winter dew, rain, or sleet could lead to frost and ice on the tent overnight. Ice tends to make things brittle. My line of thought is along the lines of having to pack up the tent on a frosty / icy morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would you prevent frost or ice from damaging camping equipment, like guy ropes for example? Hot on cold generally causes things to shatter as well (I've done this with a hot meal on a cold plate before) so what is the best way to help the melting process along? Is this necessary, or will ice not cause gear to become brittle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify: I'm not talking necessarily talking about going up mountains and being in the snow here, snow in that sense can be warm, and easy to brush off. I'm talking about camping out in the open, it's wet from rain or sleet or dew and that water has then turned to frost or ice overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T15:39:58.497" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T18:13:14.830" Title="How to prevent frost / ice damage camping equipment?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9988" CreationDate="2015-11-26T10:28:42.260" Score="8" ViewCount="429" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best time of year and conditions required to pick &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_spinosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sloes&lt;/a&gt;, in the UK, for gin and jellies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T01:25:41.680" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T01:25:41.680" Title="What time of year is best to forage sloes in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9987" CreationDate="2015-11-26T10:34:53.450" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best time of year in the UK to go foraging for sloes is from mid-October to early-November, with the best time being after the first frost in this time frame. Allowing a frost will help the berries be less tough - their skins should burst slightly. Some people say don't worry about the frost and just stick them in the fridge or freezer - but from experience they're always tastiest the natural way. Some people say they're less bitter after a frost as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's year on year specific and some years the birds will get to them before the frost, sometimes you'll be hunting for them through leaves, sometimes the leaves will all be gone and it's easy picking. Sometimes the summers weather will mean a good / bad year for sloes as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For jellies it's often best to use the gin soaked berries from the year before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T10:34:53.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9989" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="9990" CreationDate="2015-11-26T11:01:10.097" Score="6" ViewCount="3579" Body="&lt;p&gt;After reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/9987/66&quot;&gt;@Aravona's question&lt;/a&gt; on the best time to pick sloe berries, I was wondering where I should actually go to find sloe bushes. I think I can recognise them from pictures online, but are there locations that these bushes are most likely to grow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T20:31:15.397" Title="What locations am I likely to find sloe bushes?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9989" CreationDate="2015-11-26T11:17:15.780" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes loads! They're currently a very popular hedge bush. You'll likely find them along all new housing developments. Especially speaking for in the South of the UK, my development is only 4 years old and we have them there - much to my pleasure! My old development is now around 15-20 years old and has them as well. It's also quite common to find it in towns and cities in public spaces like parks. They're also common along scrub land, as they're quite hardy, where they grow naturally. They're a native species to the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many farmers use them in hedgerows as well, and you can find them along many - if not most - footpaths. I'm not 100% sure why farmers pick them but they are a thorny bush that is quite bulky and therefore not only builds a good hedge but helps endorse the farmers requirements to maintain a hedgerow that is a good, safe habitat for animals (hedge rows make good wildlife corridors).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bush itself, &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prunus spinosa&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, is also one you can purchase and plant in your own garden if you do not want to go out foraging, but that does cut some of the fun! It has a common name of &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blackthorn&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;For recognizing them&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;: The berries themselves are quite easy to mix up with juniper but the leaf shape distinguishes them, which is oval shaped and lighter green than those of the juniper bush, but a point to make is also the bushes are not small. They're very tall when left alone - on an untrimmed hedgerow they're up to 5 meters. The berry should also have a coating, that makes them seem paler, that should wipe off with the thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a note - you may find the bush but not the berries if you go foraging in a popular spot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add a photo of some near my house when I next go out in daylight...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-25T20:31:15.397" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T20:31:15.397" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9991" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions which are referencing recurve bow. Recurve bows (or simply recurves) are bows which curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tag would more often than not be used in conjunction with other tags such as: &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/archery&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;archery&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;archery&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/hunting&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;hunting&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;hunting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9992" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" Score="0" Body="Questions which are referencing recurve bow." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T13:49:11.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9993" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-11-26T13:55:44.517" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing the practice of observing birds in their natural habitat as a hobby. When referencing bird-watching it is useful to provide a location tag to help correctly localize the bird - especially when used in conjunction with the &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/animal-identification&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;animal-identification&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;animal-identification&lt;/a&gt; tag. Questions can also reference &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/equipment&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;equipment&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;equipment&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird-watching for a hobby is similar to ornithology which is the study of birds for scientific purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T13:55:44.517" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T13:55:44.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9994" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-11-26T13:55:44.517" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing the practice of observing birds in their natural habitat as a hobby. Use this tag for questions asking for help on the practice of bird watching." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-03-18T23:13:19.990" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T23:13:19.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9986" CreationDate="2015-11-26T15:29:44.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have experience with ice accumulating on our tent, but we just bang it off manually.  We've never had to deal with a tent encased in strong ice.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually we'll reposition the pegs and ties because the tent has slumped from the moisture and then ice, but we just manually knock any of that ice off too.  We haven't had to deal with more than a day or two of below freezing temperatures, so your conditions may be more extreme than ours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our main experience has been with snow, which is easy to knock off even from the inside -- but that is not pertinent to your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have not noticed any degradation in our tent because it was subjected to frozen precipitation and below freezing temperatures for a couple of days.  We have a three season tent. If you have a four season tent, resistence to very cold conditions should be part of the design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion -- it is just an opinion -- the UV of strong high altitude sun and leaving the tent tightly packed in its stuff sack for long periods between trips shorten the life of a tent more than cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, my advice is to manually bang off as much ice as you can, then swab the tent off with a towel or sweatshirt, then pack the tent loosely, if this is practical, and spread it out at the first opportunity.  If you have to stuff the tent tightly in its stuff sack while it is still icy cold....well, that is a problem for which I do not have an answer. Except...carrying it even slightly loose will help.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-11-26T18:13:14.830" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T18:13:14.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11464" CreationDate="2015-11-26T17:45:20.973" Score="6" ViewCount="370" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm ordering beadheads for fly tying, and am thinking about getting slotted beadheads to use on jig hooks. The main application will be nymphs to be used as the point fly in a two or three nymph setup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the producer I'm buying from offers those wholesale, I wonder if I can just buy a big pack of each size and colour that I need, and use them on other hook types as well. Has anyone tried it? Would it work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T17:29:58.597" Title="Slotted bead head on non-jig hook" Tags="&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9998" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10360" CreationDate="2015-11-26T19:36:34.180" Score="6" ViewCount="1048" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go on a hunt in Australia. I'm normally quite close to the minimum poundage limit (around 52 pound). This makes me ask if there is a minimum poundage in Australia and - of course - if yes, what the minimum is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-11-27T10:47:10.880" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T07:34:42.650" Title="Is there a minimum poundage required for bow hunting?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="9999" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10012" CreationDate="2015-11-26T19:49:11.527" Score="19" ViewCount="19288" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, boars are pretty aggressive when they have piglets. In the appropriate season, one might happen to hike into the path of an overprotective mother and get attacked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I react to an aggressive boar? Are there any warnings or do they just instantly rush towards you? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loosely related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4203/2303&quot;&gt;What are the odds that I stand a chance against Wild Boars?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:09:38.303" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T12:40:52.803" Title="How to react to an aggressive boar" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10000" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10007" CreationDate="2015-11-26T19:58:54.350" Score="11" ViewCount="4614" Body="&lt;p&gt;While we are out in the wild it's good practice to keep a fire up to hold back several kinds of dangerous animals, isn't it? I wonder if there are any (for humans dangerous) creatures out there which are attracted to fire/light?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One might want to know in which regions he should avoid setting up a hell of a campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:22:20.260" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:22:20.260" Title="Any dangerous animals attracted to fire?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10003" CreationDate="2015-11-26T20:08:17.580" Score="8" ViewCount="2697" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, it's generally a good idea to pee a fence around your camp. Don't know if it makes any major differences but ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true urinating around your tent will keep some critters away and&#xA;a smoky fire helps also (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- From &lt;a href=&quot;https://answers.yahoo.com/activity/questions?show=AIMXHPNE52YRQV77JLXIXTNZ6A&amp;amp;t=g&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Crap&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100908152413AAm26vA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yahoo Answers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if there are any disadvantages doing so? For example, are any wildlife attracted to it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:27:10.630" Title="Can urinating around camp attract wildlife?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10037" CreationDate="2015-11-26T21:59:58.700" Score="9" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got given a free can of Volvo Life Paint, the idea being you can spray any material and it'll become reflective under a light source. On the can it simply says it's less effective on shiny materials and that it'll wash off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if this will have any negative effects on the waterproofing of a material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-11-27T08:53:36.720" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T08:46:11.130" Title="Does Life Paint effect waterproofing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10001" CreationDate="2015-11-26T23:03:28.083" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/experts/ask-buck/pee-perimiter/&quot;&gt;Backpacker&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/noca/learn/nature/bear-safety.htm&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, peeing attracts some large predators because animals like the salty taste:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...urinate well away from camp on rock, sandy areas, or duff. Animals are attracted to salts in urine...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would argue, therefore, that &lt;strong&gt;urinating around your campsite is not a good idea when near large predatory animals.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I do it sometimes when car camping away from large predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-11-27T04:27:13.613" LastActivityDate="2015-11-27T04:27:13.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10000" CreationDate="2015-11-26T23:15:09.990" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though not necessarily attracted to fire, I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=46114&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;several anecdotal references&lt;/a&gt; to bears simply ignoring camp fires and wandering into camps. &lt;a href=&quot;https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071208211410AAoKLad&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Other accounts differ on the effectiveness&lt;/a&gt;. It sounds like animals are more scared by smoke than just fire, but I can't really find a consensus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears the only animals attracted by fire are insects that are attracted to light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-11-26T23:15:09.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10046" CreationDate="2015-11-26T23:16:35.643" Score="9" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've snorkeled only in Hawaii, the Seychelles, Palau and Yap and never seen anything but healthy sites with no bleached coral -- maybe because I was with guides who knew the area.  Thus, I am spoiled.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like recommendations for good sites within a few hours flying time of Dulles (Washington DC airport).  By &quot;good&quot; I mean healthy coral, diversity of species, warm water in February, and where I won't bump into more snorkelers than fish.  Because I plan to snorkel alone, not with a group, sites should be accessible from shore and without dangerous currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't believe anything I read from resorts advertising themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T22:46:18.757" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T22:46:18.757" Title="Looking for snorkeling sites with healthy coral" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10006" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10135" CreationDate="2015-11-26T23:45:53.180" Score="10" ViewCount="733" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to buy a new pair of fins.  There are many choices, so I would like some technical guidance.  I am savvy in the water, but not as strong as I was, so I would like fins that give me the most help for their inertia.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, a very long fin does not seem good for me.  I've looked at a split-fin, but don't understand the benefit -- the person showing it to me said it would increase maneuverability.  I don't think this is my main concern. My main concern is conserving energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T10:58:34.537" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T10:58:34.537" Title="Pros and cons of different types of snorkeling fins" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10000" CreationDate="2015-11-27T00:18:01.577" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two parts to this answer: First, I am playing around with some statistics on assaults and murders in the US National Parks, and I am coming to the conclusion that the most dangerous animal in the outdoors is homo sapiens, who will be attracted by your fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, maybe 20 years ago I read a speculation by a respected anthropologist, the gist of which was that fire was a necessary precursor to whatever the precursor of speech was.  (Fire appeared maybe 700,000 years ago, and speech in the modern sense maybe 50,000 years ago, with large error bars on both.)  His point -- it may have been Leakey, but I can't remember -- was that if you are sitting in the dark, you are quiet, because you are &lt;strong&gt;listening&lt;/strong&gt; -- listening for the approach of something that will eat you, literally.   Fire kept these animals away and enabled communal jabber.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On this second point, remember the scene in &lt;em&gt;2001, A Space Odyssey&lt;/em&gt;, where the anthropoids are sitting huddled together at night, scared, and listening, with their eyes darting in all directions. That scene would have been very different if they had had a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two parts of this answer may seem contradictory.  If animals are plentiful and enemy homo scarce, then the fire is a deterrent.  If animals are scarce and enemy homo plentiful, then the fire is not wise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-11-27T00:48:03.370" LastActivityDate="2015-11-27T00:48:03.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10008" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10009" CreationDate="2015-11-27T07:27:58.387" Score="9" ViewCount="10143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of posts in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/archery&quot;&gt;archery&lt;/a&gt; which contains topics about the &quot;draw weight&quot; or &quot;poundage&quot;. I assume that it doesn't have to do anything with the actual weight of the bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what does it mean (in depth)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially interesting if you consider that there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9998/is-there-a-minimum-poundage-required-for-bow-hunting&quot;&gt;minimum limits for hunting&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T16:58:11.400" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T16:58:11.400" Title="What's meant by poundage or weight of a bow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10008" CreationDate="2015-11-27T07:27:58.387" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Short answer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The draw weight of a bow is the pull weight which applies to your fingers on the string while the bow is fully stretched. This weight changes with the length you stretch the bow. So, to compare different bows, the bowyers often refer to 28 inches. This indication often looks like this &lt;code&gt;50#@28&quot;&lt;/code&gt;. This basically means that you have to hold 55 pounds (#) if you pull the string 28 inches (&quot;) back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR answer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've already talked about the draw weight a little bit in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9984/should-i-use-a-double-or-triple-broadhead-for-boars&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Draw weight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The force required to hold the string stationary at full draw is often&#xA;  used to express the power of a bow, and is known as its draw weight,&#xA;  or weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easy as that, really. It's just the force one needs to apply to pull the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you have to hold in mind that this indication doesn't really say something about the bow. It's like someone is saying: &quot;My (not further defined) vehicle has 120 HP.&quot; What do you know? Nothing, to be honest. You'll ask the person about the kind of his car and motor. You may also want to know the weight of it and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same thing applies to bows. First of all the poundage is mostly given for 28&quot; draw length*. This is just a standardization cause every archer has its own draw length depending on his anchor and body size. Refer to it as the 3000 rounds per minute which are used to measure the horse power of a car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, let's say an archer is shooting a 35#@28&quot; bow but has a draw length of 26&quot;. He is effectively shooting about a little bit over 30 pounds. Just like a 100 HP car driven at 2000 rpm has only about 80 HP or something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to hold in mind is that it doesn't have to do anything with the speed of the bow (how fast the arrows fly). This depends on your bowtype (e.g. recurve-bow, longbow, compound-bow), your bow material, your string, your arrows and so on. Just like you don't know anything about the vehicle in the first place. Things just get clearer the more details you get (it's a sports-car, it weights x kg ...). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Draw length:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The maximum distance the string could be displaced and thus the&#xA;  longest arrow that could be loosed from it, a bow’s draw length, is&#xA;  determined by the size of the archer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-11-27T10:48:30.327" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2015-11-28T04:40:09.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm Swiss and I've been drinking water from mountain streams all my life, without any altitude restriction, while observing three basic rules. You can drink the water if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the river is small enough to jump across it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there is no cattle (alpage) above, where cows, goats and sheep may poo into the water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there is no human settlement above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drinking this water is one of my favourite things when hiking and I mostly go hiking carrying only a minimal amount of water to drink on the peaks where there are no rivers or sources. I hike often (in Ticino) and managed to survive for 44 years :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8213" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-11-28T07:58:48.127" LastActivityDate="2015-11-28T07:58:48.127" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9999" CreationDate="2015-11-28T08:58:06.317" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Possible threats&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all we should consider what threats may apply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Threats to Hikers from Wild Pigs wild boar with sharp tusks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feral pigs can exhibit aggressive territorial behaviors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hogs may weigh up to 300 pounds or more, can charge at least 11 mph    and can quickly attack hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boars have four extremely sharp tusks up to five inches long that can    severely injure or kill a hiker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hikers can contract disease (undulant fever, etc) from any contact    with an infected hog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pigs can contaminate water sources with their feces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it's especially interesting that a boar can harm you &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar#Diseases_and_parasites&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;more&lt;/a&gt; than just with its direct physical charges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xd3vN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xd3vN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sharp tusks&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How an attack looks like&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://friendsoftheboar.blogspot.de/2011/10/what-to-do-in-encounter-with-wild-boar.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Friends of the boar&lt;/a&gt; have summarized how an encounter might look like from the beginning. I want to show of the warn signs which should ring your bells to prevent an actual charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If you see a group of boars,) at least one of the boars will become&#xA;more active now, usually a juvenile, and will walk towards you, maybe&#xA;a little nervous, sometimes turning round to return to the others. The&#xA;move towards you is for a better look, for they have very poor&#xA;eyesight.  Others may soon join in.  It may take just a few seconds&#xA;for this to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, this is not aggression. They are not ganging up on you, but are&#xA;being brave and facing their potential threat. They are like children&#xA;now, excited and about to be proud of warning mum that they have&#xA;spotted you. Mum may now join in, sniffing you and deciding whether to&#xA;walk or run away. If she decides to run, she will belt out a loud&#xA;grunt or snort, and turn tail. At this moment, all the younger boar&#xA;will also flee at high speed away from you.  It's all rush and noise,&#xA;and you hear feet stampeding away. That's usually it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mum may stop shortly afterwards and take another look at you, maybe&#xA;even walk back towards you. Again, this is not aggression. She is&#xA;saying to you, &amp;quot;You saw how fast we are so don't bother following.&amp;quot;&#xA;She will either stay and start feeding again, or if you move towards&#xA;her in the hope of a photo, she will grunt again and run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does a boar behave if push comes to shove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://friendsoftheboar.blogspot.de/2011/10/what-to-do-in-encounter-with-wild-boar.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Friends of the boar&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in these terrible circumstances for the boar, the boar attack is&#xA;very fast and is not a charge made from many meters away. The boar are&#xA;close to the aggressor, maybe just a second or two away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actual attacks on humans are rare, but can be serious, resulting in&#xA;multiple penetrating injuries to the lower part of the body. They&#xA;generally occur during the boars' rutting season from&#xA;November–January, in agricultural areas bordering forests or on paths&#xA;leading through forests. The animal typically attacks by charging and&#xA;pointing its tusks towards the intended victim, with most injuries&#xA;occurring on the thigh region. Once the initial attack is over, the&#xA;boar steps back, takes position and attacks again if the victim is&#xA;still moving, only ending once the victim is completely incapacitated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be aware that there might be a different &amp;quot;charge style&amp;quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A female bites you.  Her head doesn't lower. Instead, look for her&#xA;shackles on the shoulders to rise and maybe her tail stand erect.  She&#xA;will also growl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to react&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A boar doesn't charge instantly. It gives you warnings (a lot of them actually - see the previous section). I know, the question is more about the point where it's already too late, but it's worth to mention how you can prevent a charge in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If a) boar may walk straight at you (...), stand tall and shout at&#xA;(it). Move towards (it) confidently but not aggressively, and (it) will&#xA;probably move out of your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If (it) follows you don't panic but&#xA;keep walking away - (it) will soon get fed up. Just be confident, if&#xA;(it) is tame she will not hurt you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nearly the same thing applies to react to a the described &amp;quot;bite attack&amp;quot;. If ever you see these signs, move away confidently, reassuring her with soft words rather than screams or shouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may sometimes hear a growl from scrub where she is hiding with her&#xA;piglets. If you ever hear growling in the scrub, don't wait to see her, go back immediately from where you came.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should take these actions to defend yourself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to Survive if Threatened:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you ever have a faceoff with a hostile pig your best option to defend yourself may be to climb the nearest tree, boulder, car, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You want to get at least 6 feet off of the ground because large pigs can somewhat &amp;quot;walk&amp;quot; up a tree trunk with their front legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If a pig charges and you can't escape you can try to sidestep very quickly to avoid the potential swing of its tusks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your last resort may be to physically fight back with whatever means possible until the mauling ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While fighting back try to remain standing. People who fall or are knocked to the ground can sustain more serious injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most assaults on humans are over in under one minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/wild-pigs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/wild-pigs.html&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/6411/ab2&quot;&gt;ab2&lt;/a&gt; found this nice resource:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See backcountryattitude.com/wild-pigs.html for wild pig attack and&#xA;what to do. It's too long for me to summarize -- as a hunter, you&#xA;would find it easier to summarize it as an Answer than I would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Death%20By%20Wild%20Boar.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Case report: Death by attack from a wild boar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the victims of boar attack are usually recovered from dense forest&#xA;areas, the investigating officers could be misled as to the nature of&#xA;infliction of these multiple, fatal penetrating injuries to a possible&#xA;homicide. Unlike the injuries inflicted by wild cats, canines and&#xA;bulls, the hallmark of boar attack is the infliction of multiple&#xA;penetrating injuries to the lower part of the body. This case is&#xA;reported for its rarity, for the awareness of the possible injuries in&#xA;such unnatural deaths, and for the factors predisposing to a boar&#xA;attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phossil.com/thom/4th%20July%20Hog/Wild%20Boar%20Attacks/Wild%20Boar%20Attack%20III.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Case report: Wild Boar Attacks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lower extremity lacerations of up to 10 cm in length and 4 cm deep&#xA;were seen in the 3 cases reviewed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia of course&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://friendsoftheboar.blogspot.de/2011/10/what-to-do-in-encounter-with-wild-boar.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Friends of the boar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/wild-pigs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Back-country attitude&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T06:08:19.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7289" CreationDate="2015-11-28T09:17:24.690" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cramp in feet/legs is usually pretty easy to fix by stretching. You can do this by pulling up your toes with your hands. This is a technique I was taught during my PADI scuba diving course and is a standard part of the course. It's easier when wearing fins of course, because then you can just pull the fin tip upwards :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to link to any specific site but googling 'scuba diving cramp removal' would do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastActivityDate="2015-11-28T09:17:24.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10014" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10015" CreationDate="2015-11-28T09:58:11.390" Score="6" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've successfully rescued the last few inches of my carbon shaft. What I have is a piece of shaft containing the insert an the tip (the tip can be screwed out of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The insert is fixed with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://eshop.wuerth.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/1401-B1-Site/en_US/-/EUR/ViewModelDetail-ShowRecommendedModel;pgid=hpYggLKEB.wx_AKcRChw0ktH0000jkOE1z1-;sid=NwQyPcapUHU5PZDwTtAs4MmjzDCgpiaK568W2Q1B?CatalogCategoryID=MgoKD92eIAAAAAFBM60Z8IdN&amp;amp;CampaignName=CS005&amp;amp;RecoId=box1@productdetailpageA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;superglue gel from &quot;Würth&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Properties:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Chemical basis: Ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate monomer&#xA;Colour: Transparent&#xA;Density: 1.05 g/cm³&#xA;Min. tensile strength: 20 N/mm²&#xA;Max. tensile strength: 30 N/mm²&#xA;Conditions for tensile strength: in accordance with DIN 53288&#xA;Min. combined tension and shear resistance: 25.5 N/mm²&#xA;Max. gluing gap size: 0.25 mm&#xA;Min. hardening time: 20 s&#xA;Max. hardening time: 100 s&#xA;Min./max. temperature conditions: -30 bis 80 °C&#xA;Shelf life from production: 12 Month&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that it doesn't make any differences, but it's a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eastonhunting.com/products/arrows/axis-traditional&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Easton Axis Traditional&quot; carbon shaft&lt;/a&gt; with a x-hit insert. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I get the insert out of the shaft again without damaging it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-11-30T08:24:54.043" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T08:24:54.043" Title="How to get an insert out of the shaft again?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10014" CreationDate="2015-11-29T15:04:49.150" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume by &quot;damaging it&quot; you refer to the insert. To remove it you have to heat the glue to a temperature where it melts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a part of the insert is visible, fixate it in a bar clamp. If not, put something in it like an old metal tip or anything metal that fits into the insert and fixate this in the bar clamp. Then you use what you have at your disposal to heat the part of the shaft, where the insert is inserted, e.g. a hot air gun, a burner, a lighter, .... While heating you continuously pull or twist (depending on whether there is a thread) the shaft and as soon as the glue melts, it will come off. An alternative way to heat it up is to use a soldering iron to transfer heat to the insert be directly pushing onto it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the insert is made of metal the heat is no problem at all, if it is made of some kind of synthetic it can obviously get damaged in this process. You can still try the same (apart of the soldering iron) very cautiously, but it may get damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-11-29T15:04:49.150" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10017" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10025" CreationDate="2015-11-29T23:54:39.143" Score="9" ViewCount="1330" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not an opinion-based question.  For example, if someone were shown doing a quintuple axel on figure skates, anyone who knew anything about skating would point out that a &quot;mere&quot; quadruple axel has never been done, at least not in competition.  (The &quot;quad&quot; is a quadruple toe loop.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The link provided by Zack L in his comment, below, has a lot of pertinent information.  But I still want to know:  &lt;em&gt;could an archer shoot down a low-flying jet plane, even with an arrow with an advanced high-explosive tip?&lt;/em&gt;  Or is this an HE question?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T02:55:05.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T16:49:22.350" Title="In real life, could the best possible archer pull off the shots that Katniss Everdeen routinely performs?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10017" CreationDate="2015-11-30T03:19:40.140" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yes!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But don't take my word for it, see for yourself: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.history.co.uk/shows/stan-lees-superhumans/videos/stan-lees-superhumans-deadly-shot&quot;&gt;Stan Lee's Superhumans: Deadly Shot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This guy is a real-life Hawkeye, he very matter-of-factly states that if he can see it, he can hit it with his bow and an arrow. And if you watch the video, you'll see that it's true, he hits &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;, including a tiny pill flicked up into the air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk&quot;&gt;Lars Anderson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, if you think Katniss is dangerous, this guy is &lt;em&gt;real&lt;/em&gt;, he can shoot 3 arrows in 0.6 seconds, he can shoot incoming arrows out of the air, &lt;em&gt;or&lt;/em&gt; he can catch incoming arrows and shoot them back. I'm waiting for the next cinema archery hero to emulate the styles of archery Lars has resurrected. It won't be Lars though, he's kinda goofy looking... Legolas woulda been 1000 times more intense if he shot arrows the way Lars does. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-11-30T05:31:25.120" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T05:31:25.120" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10019" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10040" CreationDate="2015-11-30T08:17:54.217" Score="9" ViewCount="10603" Body="&lt;p&gt;Question prompted by: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/9674/2303&quot;&gt;Should I run if I see wild dogs?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since Hyenas physically resemble Wild Dogs, more or less, is the advice in that discussion applicable for encounters with Hyenas too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any additional points?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:27:01.253" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T09:35:56.640" Title="Should I run if I come across Hyena?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10020" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10021" CreationDate="2015-11-30T14:25:31.690" Score="7" ViewCount="2528" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fred Bear was right-handed and, as far as I know, his dominant eye was also the right one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ssTTL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ssTTL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Left-handed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pxUEW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pxUEW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Left-handed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RnrHR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RnrHR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Left-handed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1LK7m.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1LK7m.png&quot; alt=&quot;Left-handed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless he shot left-handed - why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T17:07:56.317" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T17:07:56.317" Title="Why was Fred Bear shooting left-handed?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10020" CreationDate="2015-11-30T15:33:14.127" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having done a bit of googling it appears he appears he shot left-handed due to an accident where he had part of one of his fingers amputated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...Fred Bear shot the bow left handed, but he was right eye dominant.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;He had a partial amputation of one of the fingers on his right hand&lt;/strong&gt;, so it was either draw left handed or only draw with two&#xA;  fingers of his right hand. Everything else he did right handed,&#xA;  including shotgun shooting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tradbow.com/public/Dominant-Eye-Follow-Up.cfm&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;this also appears to explain why in earlier photos he shoots right-handed. He switched after losing his finger (&lt;em&gt;I'm reading between the lines here a little&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T01:22:03.613" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T01:22:03.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10022" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10024" CreationDate="2015-11-30T15:51:44.150" Score="5" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out on the rock and I come across a pair of hangers, how can I tell the difference between &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/bolt_hangers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rap hangers&lt;/a&gt; (the kind you can directly thread rope through to rappel) and regular hangers (the kind that you must clip a carabiner or quick link into)? I would be specifically looking for the rap hangers since without identification they could both be used like regular hangers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZolaT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZolaT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T16:15:03.857" Title="How to visually identify a rap hanger?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10023" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10032" CreationDate="2015-11-30T16:09:20.920" Score="20" ViewCount="20618" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend was asking about grappling hooks the other day, apparently they'd seen a mountaineering program where the guy carried a grappling hook. We couldn't quite figure out why, I've never seen anyone use one (outside of a comic book).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are they mountaineering equipment?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When (if ever) would you use one?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If so how?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T16:20:20.420" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T15:16:35.563" Title="Is there any practical use for a grappling hook?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10022" CreationDate="2015-11-30T16:15:03.857" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't rappel directly off a hanger if any of these is true:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope does not easily fit through the hole (with room to spare)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The hole's edges are not smoothly rounded&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The material that forms the hole is much thinner than a carabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because all of these increase the change the rope will get stuck or damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T16:15:03.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10017" CreationDate="2015-11-30T16:25:21.940" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically I agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10018/8060&quot;&gt;ShemSeger's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h1&gt;Yes!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But don't take my word for it, see for yourself: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h1&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.history.co.uk/shows/stan-lees-superhumans/videos/stan-lees-superhumans-deadly-shot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stan Lee's Superhumans: Deadly Shot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This guy is a real-life Hawkeye, he very matter-of-factly states that&#xA;  if he can see it, he can hit it with his bow and an arrow. And if you&#xA;  watch the video, you'll see that it's true, he hits &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;,&#xA;  including a tiny pill flicked up into the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I want to add a few things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shooting style&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the film(s) we see that she uses the bow to hunt. Therefore, she has learned a &quot;hunting style&quot; to shoot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, here comes the part where I disagree with ShemSeger. I don't think that Lars Anderson is a good analogy. I want to reference some great shooters which shoot to kill (so, to hunt). It's the style of shooting which would fit best in the film's framework. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Bear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fred Bear&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/user/jeff2008lucywill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jeff Kavanagh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=7&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiD3YiixrjJAhWBrRQKHel7DcAQFgg4MAY&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Ffredeichler&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNHoXprNWIvuFWH2eKUy-814h07Bpw&amp;amp;sig2=gsyitqiXyC7HvVi-NTyXCQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fred Eichler&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=5&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwik4fa0xrjJAhXGbhQKHUgaDP0QFggvMAQ&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.byronferguson.com%2F&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGWHXSJ4--KwwLk8YHmnCKMPhNQDA&amp;amp;sig2=6whJWhtFtF830vgJjHMsJA&amp;amp;bvm=bv.108194040,d.d24&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Byron Ferguson&lt;/a&gt; (was also mentioned by ShemSeger)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just comment if I've forgotten someone :)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the answer to your question is: &quot;Yes, it's absolutely possible (even to top that).&quot; Just look at a few of their videos. The accuracy is absolutely fascinating. Also, for example Jeff hunts with a 65 pound bow which is pretty much. A bow like this would be absolutely able to shoot an explosive arrowhead towards a plane (if it would really go down etc. is another question :)). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Trivia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The funny thing is that the actor was trained an Olympic shooting style which differs from the hunting one. I don't want to go to deep into these differences, because it would be a topic for another question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This video sums it up pretty well:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/nKS5dDQxp3M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/nKS5dDQxp3M&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/108633/does-katniss-depict-proper-handling-of-a-bow&quot;&gt;https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/108633/does-katniss-depict-proper-handling-of-a-bow&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Jennifer Lawrence was trained by Olympic archer Khatuna Lorig.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;From this article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;To prepare for her role as &quot;Hunger Games&quot; heroine Katniss Everdeen,&#xA;    Lawrence trained with professional archer and Olympian Khatuna Lorig&#xA;    to learn how to properly shoot with a bow and arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Edit: The thing with the plane&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it was mentioned in the comments, I'm going to say something about the plane. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all a woman is absolutely able to draw a 65 pound due that the power to draw such comes out of the back muscles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How far can one shoot with a 65 pound bow? That is of course dependent on the arrow, the bow and the draw length of the individual shooter. All these factors are included in the final value: the arrow's speed. So, to shorten this, we assume a speed of &lt;code&gt;210 fps&lt;/code&gt; (feets per second) or &lt;code&gt;~64 m/s&lt;/code&gt;. She has the longest range when she holds the bow to 45°:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;R = (v²/g)*sin(2*a)&#xA;&#xA;R = ((64 m/s)² / (9,81 m/s²)) * sin(90°)&#xA;R = 417,53 m&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, air resistance apply and so we have about 400m: if the plane was flying beneath 400m it would have been possible for her to shoot it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the speed of the plane shouldn't be that big problem if you consider videos like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CyB_L7OoVI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CyB_L7OoVI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is able to hit exactly the point where two pendulums overlap. It's common sense that it's also possible then to find the right moment to hit something big like an airplane. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T16:49:22.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2015-11-30T16:27:28.670" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;You wouldn't want to use one to climb. My favourite quote I &lt;a href=&quot;https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110312210841AAKRTr8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;found on the Internet&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Here's my advice on climbing with grappling hooks: don't climb with grappling hooks. Real climbers never use them, and for good reason. You have no idea what they hook onto, so you are trusting your life with something completely unknown. Those things are just for the movies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But they can be a good tool for pulling things, grabbing branches, shifting logs etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T09:18:07.400" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T09:18:07.400" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10027" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-11-30T16:39:53.953" Score="13" ViewCount="374" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thinking about going ice fishing this winter but I am worried about falling through thin ice.  I know that ice should be at least 4 inches (10 cm) if clear and 8 inches (20 cm) if cloudy, but how can I actually tell the thickness of the ice?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that I can use my auger to drill through it and see the thickness that way, but that requires me to get on the ice to drill, which is exactly what I don't want to do unless I already know the thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is there any other way to measure the thickness of ice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6050" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T11:45:44.043" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T11:45:44.043" Title="How to determine the thickness of ice?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9930" CreationDate="2015-11-30T17:47:07.287" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hunting with bow is not allowed in Sweden, but a bow does not require a license, and the Swedish law for the nature (&quot;allemandsretten&quot;) is very liberal, so I guess it is ok shoot at targets, when not near any people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Swedish weapons guide (in Swedish, sorry)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://polisen.se/Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/FAP/FAP551_3_RPSFS2009_13.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://polisen.se/Global/www%20och%20Intrapolis/FAP/FAP551_3_RPSFS2009_13.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Bows&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A bow is not regarded as a weapon according to the Weapons Act. This&#xA;  is because it is not possible to store energy in a bow in the same&#xA;  manner as a crossbow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tullverket.se/en/travellers/travellingtosweden/armsandotherdangerousarticles/harpoonsandweaponsusingarrows.4.335e16821392faa28dd7d9.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tullverket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the bow is not a weapon it's from a legal point of view pretty much the same as playing with a ball. It's just okay to go roving with field tips attached. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8224" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T12:06:03.377" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T12:06:03.377" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10027" CreationDate="2015-11-30T18:00:14.497" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start at the edge and work your way out. The ice will usually be thinnest where the water flows INTO to pond or lake, and will be thickest close to the tail. That's because the ice is being pushed that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take samples as you work your way out onto the ice to continue to measure the thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T18:00:14.497" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2015-11-30T19:39:32.590" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In climbing, there isn't a good use. However, in canyoneering a variant of the grappling hook is occasionally used to escape from potholes. It is called an octopus. You make one by attaching several aid climbing hooks like the BD talon to a potshot (a little cloth bag usually filled with sand). &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=6TPyAAAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA154&amp;amp;lpg=PA154&amp;amp;dq=canyoneering%20hook%20octopus&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=tB5Rz1MEic&amp;amp;sig=Y5lTAj73APqOM1Cv-ifjtPTTp1Y&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiqv_mP0rjJAhWNpYgKHchrA7YQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=canyoneering%20hook%20octopus&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;See this book for a picture.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have personally used them and I can attest to the terror associated with pulling on an unknown hook placement on soft sandstone. Thankfully you are usually over water...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5485" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T19:39:32.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2015-11-30T19:43:03.893" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure grappling hooks were originally used in naval combat to allow for boarding other ships, but some googling found that some combat engineers use them to clear trip wires.  Other than that I think they're mostly just useful for pulling on things you don't mind stabbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8226" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T19:43:03.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2015-11-30T21:14:57.250" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Grappling hooks are sometimes used in the arborist (tree climbing) world. Rather than being thrown upwards, they are attached to a line in order to retrieve the other end of the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/naturejournal/3391768573/in/album-72157616026109442/lightbox/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a picture&lt;/a&gt; of the relevant maneuver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hooks on the end are often curved and rotated so that they will not catch on branches (or castle walls, like a movie grapnel), but will instead slip through the tree and entangle a vertical rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say google &lt;em&gt;'grapnel traversal'&lt;/em&gt;, but the search is polluted by a bunch of video games that use the term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are very interested, here is some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.humboldt.edu/redwoods/sillett/publications/dialEtAl2004.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;academic work&lt;/a&gt; on the subject. &#xA;&lt;sup&gt;(&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: it opens a .PDF)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6282" LastEditorUserId="13089" LastEditDate="2017-05-10T14:45:08.760" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T14:45:08.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5879" CreationDate="2015-11-30T22:28:19.353" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I appreciate everyone's help and opinions here, and want to report what we ended up doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We (the Town of Groton Massachusetts Trails Committee) looked at a variety of options.  At first the plan was just to do what everyone else was doing in the backcountry (where you can't drive a motorized vehicle to), which is overwhelmingly plain routed wood.  After becoming aware of the two-colored plastic material and getting the responses here, that's what I thought we'd end up doing, and the Trails Committee was generally accepting of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting such signs made for a affordable price turned out to be the difficult part.  I contacted a bunch of local sign companies.  There are a surprisingly large number of them, at least here in north-central MA.  Of the 10 I contacted, 4 never returned my call, and 4 more turned out to be just design services that get their signs made elsehwere.  That left two places that I talked to that actually did the sign fabrication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with commercial companies like this is that they have a significant setup charge, which is a problem since each sign at each intersection is unique.  Skipping over some details, it would cost around $120 per sign, plus material, for getting signs made this way.  The plastic material is expensive (but worth it in longevity), but only available in 8x4 foot sheets, else the price goes up fast.  That means you have to have a place to store it and deliver blanks to the sign shop yourself when you want signs made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At $120 per sign, even just 10 intersections would cost $1,200, and that would be a tiny fraction of our trail system.  We have about 115 miles of trails, and probably a few 100 intersections.  All of them don't need signs, but this was still too expensive to deploy this system broadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I looked around for who might have a suitable router we could use for free or low cost.  My first call was to our local high school.  They were quite happy to support the Trails Committee and would have let us use the equipment when not otherwise in use.  However, it was only meant to fabricate small things, had only 6 inch travel, and was enclosed to that larger things couldn't stick out and be done piecemeal:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H7LTN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H7LTN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I contacted our local vocational or &quot;trades&quot; high school.  They had the appropriate equipment.  I had a meeting with the guy in charge of such things, and he was quite willing to route signs for us for a nominal fee as long as he didn't have to store any material for us.  It was near the end of the school year, which is a busy time for them, so he asked me to contact him again in 2 months.  I did and left several messages and emails over a few months without ever getting a single reply.  Eventually I gave up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A guy I knew with his own machine shop was willing to route signs for cheap on the side as long as I could just give him the program for his numerically controlled machine.  I was going to generate the graphics with my slide making program anyway, which is based on vector fonts.  I figured it wouldn't be that difficult to have it output control commands for the machine, and was willing to write the software.  I took pictures of the control head of his machine to track down the manufacturer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zW6ZV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zW6ZV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did finally talk to the manufacturer's technical support, but they refused to give me the required documentation.  This machine was manufactured in the 1980s, and I think they just didn't have the documentation anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About this time I found out that the Massashusetts prison system has a formal program where inmates manufacture things, which are then sold at very low cost.  You pay for the materials, and the labor is practically free.  There are 9 prisons, and each one has a particular type of shop.  It turns out that one of them has a sign-making shop.  This is apparently how road signs all around the state are made.  The organization is called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.masscor.us&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MassCor&lt;/a&gt;, and they even have a formal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.masscor.us/Catalogs/Product_Catalog2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;catalog&lt;/a&gt;.  The only real limitations are that they won't sell outside of MA, and you aren't allowed to resell their stuff outside of MA either, neither of which were a problem for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 12x6 inch aluminum sign with retroreflective white background and one color paint anywhere you want over that background costs about $7.50 plus a $10 silkscreen charge per unique artwork.  Since each trail sign is generally unique, that comes out to $17.50 per sign.  If you have them sent to a official government address, then shipping is free.  Now that's a price we can afford, even for 100-200 intersections!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Signs are available in a variety of sizes, from 6x12 inches up to 4x4 feet.  The latter costs $130, plus silkscreen charge.  They also have triangular and circular shapes available.  The foreground colors are those you find on highway signs, which are white, yellow, red, blue, green, and brown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to make it clear that these are decent quality signs on 80 mil (2 mm) aluminum with paint intended for outdoor use.  The 6x12 inch signs are quite stiff, and should last a lot longer outside than routed wood signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a example of one 6x12 inch sign MassCor made for us:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RJUcD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RJUcD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are very pleased with the quality.  We initially did a test of three signs, each 6x12 inches.  One had 4 lines of text, one 5 lines of text, and the third was a resolution test.  I wanted to know what I could rely on their process doing, keeping in mind that some day I may want to make a large sign with a map or other graphics on it, and I wanted to know what size line/space their process could reproduce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After deploying both the text signs at real intersections in the woods, we decided that the 5 line format was plenty readable from a reasonable distance.  This is what we are going forwards with now.  The sign above is from the second batch of 9 signs.  We tweaked the arrows to make them a little fatter than the first batch, and added our URL to the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the resolution test sign, I made 7 patterns with line/space widths from 25 mil to 100 mil.  I chose 25 mil as the smallest because I was expecting their process to be unable to reproduce that, and it's finer than we needed anyway.  To my surprise, even the 25 mil (0.64 mm) line/space details were cleanly reproduced, better than you can see in the resolution picture allowed on this web site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HEHgH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HEHgH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this is a good answer for us, and is what we are going forward with, it's not without issues and may not be for everyone.  Getting technical specs was a tedious process.  They are used to getting PDF files or Word files, but I wanted to have full control over where every bit of paint goes, and be able to squash and stretch fonts and spacings to make everything fit just right.  I could have done these text signs more simply, but I wanted to pave the way for possibly doing arbitrary graphics with maps and the like.  After some wrangling, I was put in direct contact with the person running the sign shop instead of having to go thru the sales people at MassCor headquarters.  Eventually I got necessary specs, like the sizes and locations of the mounting holes, the radius of curvature of the corners, and the minimum required paint-free margin around the edges.  Now I have templates for all that in my slide making program, and laying out new signs is fairly simple.  We worked out a process where I send them a 400 DPI bitmap with white for the background and black to indicate where paint should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far each order has taken much longer than originally stated.  That's not a problem for us since the woods will still be there 6 months later too.  Keep in mind that the people doing the work have a lot of time on their hands, like 20 to life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no idea what is available outside of Massachusetts, but every state has to make road signs somehow and have felons that need to be kept busy.  I'm guessing that something like MassCor is common, but I haven't looked around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our Conservation Commission has now formally endorsed these signs for use on their properties.  We are starting there, then will approach some of the private land owners about using the same system on their lands too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-11-30T22:28:19.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10019" CreationDate="2015-11-30T23:06:30.400" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hyenas aren't closely related to wild dogs (1), but a predator is a predator is a predator, and running from a predator says &quot;I am prey.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How worried should you be if you come upon hyenas?  The first thing to note is: are they striped or spotted?  If they are striped, they may be more interested in your oranges (2) than you.  If they are spotted, be worried.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The striped hyena is primarily a scavenger, though it will occasionally attack and kill any defenseless animal it can overcome, and will supplement its diet with fruits. The spotted hyena, though it also scavenges occasionally, is an active pack hunter of medium to large sized ungulates, which it catches by wearing them down in long chases and dismembering them in a canid-like manner.&quot; &#xA;(&lt;em&gt;Wikipedia, Hyena,&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, unless you can run faster than a deer, don't run.  My gut feel is that the advice for wild dogs (3) would apply, but leave out the &quot;you're a nice doggy, let's be friends&quot; steps; they don't have nice doggy genes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Someone who has experience in Africa needs to weigh in.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Hyenas are genetically closer to cats than dogs, but look like and behave like dogs in several respects.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Oranges, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9896/best-method-of-carrying-fruits-over-a-period-of-3-days-while-on-a-trek/9941#9941&quot;&gt;Best method of carrying fruits over a period of 3 days while on a trek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) Advice on wild dogs &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9674/should-i-run-if-i-see-wild-dogs&quot;&gt;Should I run if I see wild dogs?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  I think I have been too flip in this answer.  Hyenas are noted for the enormous crushing power of their jaws.  If you are attacked, you are in more trouble than if you were attacked by dogs.  You should not be strolling around in hyena country without a gun that you are expert at using and/or a guide with a gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T04:42:39.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10035" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10036" CreationDate="2015-12-01T00:33:09.020" Score="14" ViewCount="580" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone knows &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/331/3066&quot;&gt;redundancy is chief&lt;/a&gt; when building climbing anchors. However, I have seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fixehardware.com/shop/anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;several types of anchors&lt;/a&gt; that don't appear to be fully redundant due to a single ring providing the master point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why are these acceptable and safe anchors?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnpDq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnpDq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;fixe anchor1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/45XbQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/45XbQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;fixe anchor2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:32:55.093" Title="Why are these acceptable and safe anchors?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10035" CreationDate="2015-12-01T03:26:04.940" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I happen to know for a fact that the steel ring in those anchor set ups is rated to &lt;strong&gt;50kN&lt;/strong&gt;. That's as much as both hangers combined, they're only rated to 25kN each, which is still &lt;strong&gt;double&lt;/strong&gt; the force any human body will ever be able to produce. The human body is rated to fail somewhere around 12kN which is the amount of force a 1,200kg (2645.5lbs) object would exert on you pelvis if it were resting on your hips. Getting run over by a Honda Civic will do just a little bit &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; damage to your body than 12kN will. This figure is why most climbing gear is rated to 24kN or 25kN, so they can meet that minimum safety standard of double the force they will ever have to withstand under normal use. Before that ring ever comes close to failing, both bolts will literally shear out the rock, which will most likely never happen. Those rings are the most bomb proof part of either of those anchors, they are the very last thing you need to be worried about.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T04:18:38.467" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T04:18:38.467" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10002" CreationDate="2015-12-01T08:43:54.883" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this will depend on the material your applying it to. Waterproofs typically fall into one of three categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Physical waterproof barriers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the old style &quot;boil in the bag&quot; type systems where your coated in plastic. This plastic will neither let water in or out. These are rarely used these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;VLP will have zero affect on these as the barrier is physical and applying things to it makes little difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chemical barrier systems&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By this I mean things like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paramo-clothing.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paramo jackets&lt;/a&gt;. The waterproofing of these jackets is based on a water repleant chemical coating on the outside of the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding the VLP to this I would suggest will reduce the water proofing of the the jacket. The whole concept of these jackets is to allow water to run off befoire it becomes a problem. Adding the VLP will prevent this from happening effectivly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Breathable physical barrier with a chemical coating&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;by this I mean Goretex, eVent, etc. The water proofing of these jackets is actually provided by the material in the jacket (the GoteText/eVent itself). So adding the vLP to this will have limted effect to the water proofing, it should still keep you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5010/2766&quot;&gt;breahtability of these jackets is based on the outer chemical coating&lt;/a&gt; and again the VLP is only going to interfere with this. So it will likely prevent the material from working at 100% efficency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TBH, if you want to be seen, buy a 50p high visibility vest, it will be more effective and won't affect the waterproofness of your clothing in any way shape or form!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/60nXN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/60nXN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T08:46:11.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10038" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10406" CreationDate="2015-12-01T10:52:22.013" Score="6" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never heard of a bird besides the Albatross which is able to use &quot;Dynamic Soaring&quot;. Am I able to draw any conclusions out of this behavior? Like, can I say &quot;it's definitely an Albatross&quot; or &quot;it's definitely a sea-bird&quot; if I watch a bird dynamically soaring? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_soaring#Bird&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dynamic Soaring:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dynamic soaring is a flying technique used to gain energy by&#xA;  repeatedly crossing the boundary between air masses of significantly&#xA;  different velocity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross#Morphology_and_flight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Albatross:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These tubes allow the albatrosses to measure the exact airspeed in&#xA;  flight; the nostrils are analogous to the pitot tubes in modern&#xA;  aircraft. The albatross needs accurate airspeed measurement in order&#xA;  to perform dynamic soaring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:06:59.423" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:06:59.423" Title="Is &quot;dynamically soaring&quot; suitable as a bird identification feature?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10019" CreationDate="2015-12-01T11:44:27.407" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;stop&lt;/strong&gt;, don't run away. As a predator, the hyena will instinctively chase animals which run away, even out of curiosity, so don't run away from it. Don't lie down or pretend to be dead - this will increase its curiosity. Try not to show your fear. Keep yourself calm by talking to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think hyenas only hunt live prey when they are in packs, unless the prey is small. In the city they are probably scavenging for easy meals, not hunting in packs. If you are carrying any food, the hyena can probably smell it. Throw the food away and when the hyena shows interest in it move away slowly. The hyena is very lazy and prefers scavenging easy meals (eg dead meat) rather than chasing prey or fighting. But don't carry food as a precaution - this is asking for trouble! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check to see if you are standing near rubbish bins or a tip or a dead animal. The hyena is probably more interested in these. Slowly move away to one side, keep facing the hyena. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the hyena is showing interest in you personally and moves towards you, suddenly move a few steps towards it, to surprise it and make it think you are a predator. Spread out your arms, wave them about, make yourself as big as possible, make a loud noise, shout or scream threateningly, look aggressive and frightening, as if you are going to attack the hyena. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely the hyena will run away. If not, vary your tactics - be still for a moment then make a sudden threatening movement or noise. If it growls or giggles, this is a sign that it is challenging your attack. In this case, stand your ground - never run away - but don't move any closer. If you are carrying a bag, swing it around your head. Or if you are carrying anything which will make a noise, use it to do so. Carrying a torch and/or a whistle or pepper spray is a good precaution - flash the torch in the animal's eyes, use spray when the animal is very close. If it moves closer, stamp your feet loudly at it, or throw something at it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't move away until after the hyena does. When you do move, do it slowly, continuing to face the direction of the hyena. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the hyena actually attacks you, stand your ground and fight back by poking with a stick or kicking and punching its head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Source - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2013/11/06/what_should_you_do_if_you_encounter_a_dangerous_wild_animal.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Should You React When Encountering a Dangerous Wild&#xA;  Animal?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T11:44:27.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10041" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10043" CreationDate="2015-12-01T11:59:41.140" Score="12" ViewCount="1506" Body="&lt;p&gt;It accompanies me for quite a while. I see a lot of outdoor-people wearing braces (&quot;suspenders&quot; in USA/Canada) instead of belts. Also, a lot of outdoor brands have braces in their range, such as these examples: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://images.ldmountaincentre.com/images/products/1429718393-67407900.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LD Mountain Centre&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zJjG8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zJjG8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fjallraven.com/gulu-braces&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FjällRäven&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZH5Ce.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZH5Ce.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gulu Braces&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to prefer braces over belts? Or is it just a &quot;fashion&quot; thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-02-05T22:10:02.270" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T22:10:02.270" Title="Any reasons to prefer braces over belts?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10042" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10050" CreationDate="2015-12-01T12:04:17.677" Score="21" ViewCount="5417" Body="&lt;p&gt;A month ago while hiking my 60 liter bag packs main Shoulder strap got broken at the very first hour of 4 day high altitude trek in a dense forest. I have tied a knot in that area and because of that tight fixed knot I was having very heavy pain in one shoulders because no more I can adjust it to distribute the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;here is the image of that buckle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fAinK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fAinK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8vB1C.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8vB1C.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also remember in early hiking days one of my bagpacks hip buckle also got broken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any particular way we can tie that part so that the weight is not focused on one particular part of our body or we can tighten or loosen it depending on the situation during the hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T17:12:27.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T17:12:27.223" Title="Repair broken plastic buckle in the middle of hiking or alternative way to fix it" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10041" CreationDate="2015-12-01T12:05:17.110" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Braces have a couple of advantages I can think of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the weight of the trousers is taken on your shoulders, not your waist&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they can come up higher than your waist&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are important for snow sports, eg snowboarding in Scotland, where trousers can end up both soaking wet and covered in snow, so the weight of them is quite high. A belt lets them pull down to the hips unless pulled really tight, and the low top allows snow to go up your back. Never a good thing. With braces the top can be well above waist height, and you don't notice the weight carried on your shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T13:43:45.467" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T13:43:45.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-01T13:42:40.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only knot that's I'm aware of that's any good at securing straps like that is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/waterknot/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot;&gt;water knot&lt;/a&gt;. though I'm not convinced it's going to work in your case. You don't have a lot of slack, it tends to slip and it's not very adjustable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better solution to your problem I think might be to change how your backpack works. Remove the strap that works from the bag and re-attach it to the other buckle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;|\        |&#xA;| \       |&#xA;|  \      |&#xA;|   \     |&#xA;|    \    |&#xA;|     \   |&#xA;|      \  |&#xA;|       \ |&amp;lt; buckle&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;this should now more evenly distribute the weight on your shoulders and allow you to continue, in relative comfort&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T13:51:47.507" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T13:51:47.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10061" CreationDate="2015-12-01T14:33:18.993" Score="7" ViewCount="380" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=2&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiYl8Oa8LrJAhVm8HIKHdB5ANcQtwIIJjAB&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuwVhXIc9SeY&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGz-F2F7vBvhqanJP4rDQ6rLGSt2Q&amp;amp;sig2=2-bNWeuon34eRVmb7rGdRw&amp;amp;bvm=bv.108194040,d.bGQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;plastic cup training&lt;/a&gt; is quite popular among different archers. It's a training where you pin a cup on your target and try to insert three arrows into it. You do this repeatedly from different, unknown distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RmfLW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RmfLW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Paper cup training&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, why do we need this plastic cup? Why can't we just say: &quot;Okay, I have this point at my target and try to group three arrows around it.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T08:04:13.600" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T08:04:13.600" Title="Why's the plastic/paper cup training so popular?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10005" CreationDate="2015-12-01T15:00:00.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't been diving/snorkeling in 10 years. But, back then I was looking at the U.S. Virgin Islands because the dive/travel websites and travel books I read told of nice snorkeling beaches on those Islands that were easily accessible and not crowded at all. Back then those islands were overlooked and not crowded. I never made it there. I'm not sure about the flight time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for something a little bit different: Some of my friends snorkeled with the manatees in the rivers in Florida. I don't remember which ones they visited. But, they really enjoyed it. They did not do a tour; but, they asked some locals about how to do it. The local divers told them to bring heavy scrub brushes to scrub the manatees backs. The big beasts really enjoyed that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah - I remember snorkeling in Hawaii a lot by myself. It was wonderful to just walk off the beach and see some cool stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3028" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T15:00:00.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10041" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:12:43.227" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're carrying a large rucksack the hip belt can cause a trouser belt to rub, or even to pinch skin. I no longer go trekking but my baby-carrying rucksack certainly does this. Braces may or may not have the same problem depending on how/where they attach, leading to a personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Braces are also good for keeping up waterproof overtrousers which don't have belt loops, as these may work their way down quite easily if scrambling or bending, especially as they may be chosen to be large for winter use, then worn over less clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:12:43.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10048" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10049" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:15:41.407" Score="11" ViewCount="263" Body="&lt;p&gt;On an easy but long scramble, 30 to 45&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; incline, un-anchored, what should be the safe distance between two people?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should the better person be ahead, or be behind supporting the other just in case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T16:26:39.767" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:39:00.297" Title="Keeping safe distance while scrambling" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10048" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:28:12.200" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main issue you're going to encounter in this situation is rockfall. You don't want a situation where the person in front inadvertently kicks a rock loose, and the rock then hits the person behind. There are a bunch of possible techniques for dealing with this. You can limit the number of people climbing at one time, either by keeping the whole group small or by doing dangerous or loose sections in subgroups while others wait in a safe location. You can keep climbers close together so that if a rock does fall, it doesn't have time to accelerate before hitting the follower. You can traverse or switchback rather than climbing straight up. You can fan out and take different routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it is possible to stay far apart vertically and therefore give plenty of time for the follower to get out of the way of rockfall, this risks letting the rock accelerate to a more dangerous speed, and you also want to make sure that the follower isn't in a terrain trap where the rocks are funneled through and they have no way to move laterally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously you want everyone wearing helmets, and if someone kicks rocks down or sees rocks coming down, they should keep shouting &quot;rock! rock! rock!&quot; until the rock is no longer falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should the better person be ahead, or be behind supporting the other just in case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it's nice to have a more experienced person climb immediately behind someone who's sketched out, so that they can spot for them. &quot;Put your left foot there,&quot; etc. But if you're unroped and don't have harnesses or a cordelette, I don't think it's that practical for one person to belay the other; the belayer would just get pulled down. With a cordelette, it might be more possible for the belayer to assume a safe stance or find natural pro, and then give a short-rope belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T16:39:00.297" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:39:00.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:30:39.907" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you have 2 split rings (keyrings) with you? If so, here's how to make a buckle like that (or rather its D-ring predecessor):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attach both split rings to the upper strap, where the old buckle is/was.  Pass the lower strap up through both split rings and back through the first.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an ASCII-art sketch before you pull it tight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;    -----&#xA;    | //|&#xA;    |//  -//------- Lower strap, free end&#xA;    //---//-------------------- Lower strap, weight-bearing part&#xA;---//---//-&#xA;  //   // |&#xA;-----------   Upper strap (stitched loop)&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;// represents split rings&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It won't hold &lt;em&gt;as well as&lt;/em&gt; the original buckle, you'll need to adjust it more often, but I've used this for medium-term repairs quite successfully.  Normal keyring size split rings work well for the 20-25mm webbing tapes used on backpacks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;proper&quot; way of doing this would be to sew in 2 D-rings, but this way you don't have to break or stitch anything (you might need to remove the remains of the old buckle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus: I've found a video of how to fasten them: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8G2VpI_SHk&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8G2VpI_SHk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:30:39.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10051" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10072" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:32:49.203" Score="3" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually I've placed my knife besides my quiver. It's in a leather scabbard and a dry room at common room temperature (17°C - 23°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything else to consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My intention aren't any safety reasons (feel free to mention related facts anyway). Just how to store it to keep it sharp and not to harm the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T16:57:58.807" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T21:04:40.190" Title="How to store a knife" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:35:59.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the webbing for the sternum strap is similar size to the webbing for the shoulder strap. In this pack you could unthread the left side of the sternum strap buckle (keeping the snap buckle), then thread in webbing that was attached to the broken buckle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a quick, easy repair that won't require any extra parts. As a bonus you can use the sternum strap buckle as a quick release for the strap like you see in an old US military ALICE rucksack. It is also very adjustable because you can use the same adjustments that were present for the sternum strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively you can remove one of the cam buckles from the sternum strap and use that alone because it appears as if there is enough space to thread the webbing through the loop that attached the broken buckle to the upper shoulder strap. This would be a stronger solution and could even be a permanent fix. Plus you have two cam buckles in the sternum strap so you still have another spare incase your other shoulder strap breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how your buckle is broken you might be able to rethread it in a way that allows it to still function. More details on how it is broken might be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2015-12-01T16:51:34.527" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:51:34.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10053" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10054" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:37:55.520" Score="7" ViewCount="385" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that I've to wax my bowstring. I'm a little bit lost on how to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've a Dacron Flemish string on a hunting recurve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KuTHY.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KuTHY.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone lead the way? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T18:57:30.867" Title="How to wax a bow string" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10053" CreationDate="2015-12-01T16:50:15.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, yes, you should absolutely wax your bow string. Especially if you've this kind of setup. &#xA;The good news is, that it's extremely easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Get a bow wax&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purchase an appropriated wax from your local bow-dealer. Just buy a &quot;real&quot; bow-wax. There are a lot of resources on the www which suggest different kinds of other waxes. However, this is often a compromise somehow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what I want to say is that a bow wax isn't really expensive and therefore no need to compromise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WrvHD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WrvHD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Put the wax on the string&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A wax is often kind of like a glue stick. Take off the cap and circle the stick on your string (your bow has to be strung). Do this four times: the upper side, the lower side, the right side and of course the left side. Leave out the &quot;middle&quot; around your nock point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rub the string with your fingers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now put the string between your thumb and your index finger. Start to rub really, really intensively. You'll recognize that the string gets hot. That's good, cause the wax has to get fluid and so into your string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Clean the string with a cloth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a cloth and rub it gently around your string so that the excessed wax is rubbed away. You shouldn't see any surplussed material at the end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further information&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dQt-w2zkAw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dQt-w2zkAw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T16:50:15.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-01T17:31:35.057" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feed the strap through the remains of the buckle, or the fabric loop it was formerly attached to. Then tie the strap to itself using a rolling hitch. By sliding the rolling hitch up and down the strap, you will be able to alter its effective length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8233" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T17:31:35.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10053" CreationDate="2015-12-01T18:57:30.867" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just another option to OddDeer. I was taught to use a block of beeswax. Make sure the string is dry and rub the block up and down the string while the bow is strung. Very cost effective, one block lasted me years, and works as well as bow wax. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note always wax around the nock point otherwise you will have a weak point over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T18:57:30.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10045" CreationDate="2015-12-01T19:36:58.983" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bow-international.com/features/traditional/ask-the-experts-starting-instinctive/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bow-international.com/features/traditional/ask-the-experts-starting-instinctive/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cup gives you a 3D target to help you focus during instinct training. A flat piece of paper just doesn't excite the subconscious as much as a physical object does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T19:36:58.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-01T19:45:22.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Carry a spare&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things break. If you're expecting to be far enough for long enough, it helps to be able to repair your gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to needle and thread, I have in my rucksack a half-meter of webbing with two different spare buckles on it, it takes very little space, weight and money but has saved me a lot of pain a few times already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3667" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T19:45:22.097" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8867" CreationDate="2015-12-01T21:01:50.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was climbing around Ailefroide in the Barre des Écrins quite some time ago and my climbing level at the time was in the 5th French grade. Unfortunately I do not have a guidebook of the area and do not remember specific routes, but they were all medium long multi-pitch routes that are excellently bolted. So I guess they are well suited to your stated requirements. A guidebook to the area is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kletterfuehrer.net/climbing-guides/France/Escalades-autour-dZAilefroide::1189.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Escalades autour d´Ailefroide&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T21:01:50.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8867" CreationDate="2015-12-01T21:22:08.540" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camptocamp.org/routes/56132/fr/eperon-du-chemin-du-roy-che-guevaroux&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this route&lt;/a&gt; that fitted perfectly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above link leads to the best topo I could find online (it's in French, unfortunately).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a picture from that page:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yr75Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yr75Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a one-hour drive from the Ailefroide camping, according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.it/maps/dir/Le+Mon%C3%AAtier-les-Bains,+France/D204T,+05340+Pelvoux,+France/@44.8945734,6.385022,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x4789f743a4794da3:0xc6c4e2e2fe9efe9a!2m2!1d6.507839!2d44.976254!1m5!1m1!1s0x478a027274d9004b:0xfbbe0535ac6ef63c!2m2!1d6.4187508!2d44.9166683?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;google maps&lt;/a&gt;. &#xA;The Alps are really outstanding for the variety of rock you can find in such a short range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T21:22:08.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10045" CreationDate="2015-12-01T22:07:18.787" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's all about &lt;strong&gt;grouping&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're setting the sights on your bow, where you hit a target is less important than what the size of your grouping is while you're practice shooting. If you're missing the centre, but your grouping is tight, then you at least know that your shot is consistent, and that it's your sights which need to be adjusted, and not the way you shoot. Shooting at cups is a way to practice tight groupings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a paper cup is an easy way to prolong the life of your targets too. Some archery targets come with a replaceable centre piece, which tends to get shot up more because everyone aims for the bulls-eye. Modern archery practice targets now have multiple bulls-eyes on them, so you don't shoot up only one part of your target. Cups are an easy way to change the location of your bulls-eye. You could just draw a circle on your target, but with a cup there's no arguing whether or not you hit inside the circle. It adds another layer of enjoyment to target shooting as well, like shooting at a different kind of target, which happens to be on a target. It can be compared to silhouette shooting, it's something different to try and hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-01T22:07:18.787" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10164" CreationDate="2015-12-02T02:26:30.477" Score="6" ViewCount="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;What type of seabed should I be fishing on when trying to catch &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynoscion_nebulosus&quot;&gt;speckled trout&lt;/a&gt; along the Texas Gulf Coast?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-12-05T01:43:16.450" Title="What type of seabed attracts speckled trout?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;united-states-gulf-coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10064" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10096" CreationDate="2015-12-02T02:34:09.103" Score="6" ViewCount="1947" Body="&lt;p&gt;When bay/inshore fishing from a boat, one can drift fish (where you let the tide carry your boat) and anchor fish (where you anchor your boat to one spot). Besides the obvious, what are the differences between the two? Or put differently, when would you choose one method over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T05:23:18.320" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T09:22:45.260" Title="Drift fishing vs anchor fishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;boating-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10065" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-02T02:42:36.027" Score="7" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;While out fishing on a popular gulf coast pier, I've seen some people pull in fish left and right using only a crumpled soda can as a lure tied to a hook and line. Meanwhile, I was using normal bait and tackle and left empty-handed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this soda can technique actually effective or is it just luck (combined with good fishing technique)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T12:33:01.480" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:57:18.593" Title="Is soda can fishing actually effective?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10066" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-02T04:07:30.623" Score="8" ViewCount="9473" Body="&lt;p&gt;While viruses are not commonly encountered in the great outdoors there is no doubt that many areas of the world that we travel, or live within, that are contaminated with viruses &lt;em&gt;(hepatitis A, norovirus, rotavirus, enterovirus, etc.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the world of water filtration, there is the need for ever smaller micron levels of filtration in order to prevent viruses from passing through the filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the required micron level in order to filter out all viruses from contaminated water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And because there are multiple standards out there, please reference which standard you are basing your data/answer on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, because it is a rather important part of micron filtering, be sure to include if the micron level must be absolute or nominal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5387" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:17.737" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:17.737" Title="What micron level is needed to properly filter viruses from water?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10067" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10074" CreationDate="2015-12-02T05:10:45.887" Score="6" ViewCount="1151" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say you are out for a walk with your little daughter. Strolling around you suddenly hear sounds of joy from her. As you turn around she's happily petting a (roe deer) fawn laying in the grass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What to do (not from the pedagogy point of view ;) )? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to neutralize the &quot;human smell&quot; somehow? If not, who would be the right person to contact? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is really not about &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; one shouldn't touch a fawn. Let's just agree that we shouldn't do it for whatever reason. The question is about the actions to take to revoke such a possible &quot;accident&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a few references to prove that you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; shouldn't touch a fawn:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeincrisis.com/guidelines/fawns.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wildlife in Crisis&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do not touch the fawn! This could cause the mother to reject it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nativeanimalrescue.org/understanding-deer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Native Animal Rescue&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fawns are born scent-free and have white camouflage spots which&#xA;  protect them from predators. The doe continues to keep her babies&#xA;  scent free by consuming her fawns urine and droppings. This is yet&#xA;  another reason why humans should never touch a fawn. Leaving human&#xA;  scent on their body will attract predators to the fawn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a German reference which I want to share: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Typisch für junge Kitze ist ein Geruch nach saurer Milch und Harn. Die&#xA;  Milch gelangt auf das Fell der Kitze, wenn sie sich nach dem Saugen&#xA;  belecken, da sie meist im Liegen harnen, ist ihr Fell außerdem mit&#xA;  Harn benetzt.[134] Zwischen der dritten und fünften Woche endet die&#xA;  Prägungsphase zwischen Kitz und Muttertier, die nicht mehr rückgängig&#xA;  zu machen ist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reh#Pr.C3.A4gungsphase&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freely interpreted it says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical for a young fawn is a smell of sour milk and urine. The milk get onto fawns' fur when they lick themselves after sucking. As they usually urinate while lying down, their fur is also wetted. Between the third and fifth week, the embossing phase (imprint phase/conditioning phase) between fawn and mother ends and cannot be undone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:08:20.743" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:08:20.743" Title="How do I neutralise the smell of a human on a fawn/roe deer?" Tags="&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10068" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10133" CreationDate="2015-12-02T05:52:44.563" Score="5" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should one consider while storing a snowboard? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mine is in the same position for about 7 months of the year. In case it makes any differences, here are the specs: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Directional shape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sidecut: Progressive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camber: ROOF CHOP&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Core type: PowerLite Core&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Core profile: STD&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Laminates: Bi-Lite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-13T22:59:02.817" LastActivityDate="2015-12-13T22:59:02.817" Title="How to store a snowboard?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10067" CreationDate="2015-12-02T06:02:59.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I have read that a Mother will not abandon the fawn&lt;/strong&gt; even if it is touched by a human.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fawns are odorless for first few weeks, that way they cannot be smelled by predators. &#xA;But if touched by a human, when the mother gets to it, it will smell the human odor, sense danger and will change the fawn's hiding location, if it is still caring for the fawn along with licking the human smell off its body to keep it away from predators&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the fawn is abandoned it won't be accepted by its mother anyways. Fawns are occasionally abandoned for many reasons.&#xA;Its mother might have been killed, or she might have had more than one offspring. In this case she will not bond with the weakest of the fawns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on where you are, you may contact Animal Rescue or Rehabilitation Center, if you find an abandoned Fawn in critical condition&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="7964" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T11:56:48.693" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T11:56:48.693" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10070" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10071" CreationDate="2015-12-02T07:49:58.127" Score="8" ViewCount="1209" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I'm quite into foraging, and seaweed (the real thing not chinese take away stuff...) is supposedly very nutritious for you and very easy to forage up, but are there any seaweeds which are not edible, or possibly not worth eating, on UK shorelines?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T19:13:50.910" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T19:13:50.910" Title="Are there any inedible seaweeds on the UK coastline?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10070" CreationDate="2015-12-02T08:06:12.770" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one poisonous: the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmarestia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Desmarestia&lt;/a&gt;. The other species should be okay. However, I can't say anything about if they are &quot;worth eating&quot; :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Desmarestia is a genus of brown algae found worldwide. Members of this&#xA;  genus can be either annual or perennial. Annual members of this&#xA;  genus can produce and store sulfuric acid in intracellular vacuoles.&#xA;  When exposed to air they release the acid, thereby destroying&#xA;  themselves and nearby seaweeds in the process. They are found in&#xA;  shallow intertidal areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h8o5b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h8o5b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Avoid this&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So I went and asked Professor Michael Guiry, Director of AlgaeBase and&#xA;  world authority on seaweed. Here’s his reply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“As far as I know, there are no really poisonous seaweed in this part&#xA;  of the world. “Our” Desmarestia species (4 of them and as you said&#xA;  mostly in deep water) produce sulphuric acid and can have a cellular&#xA;  pH of 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Anything else you might want to eat is free of poisons in the&#xA;  conventional sense as far as I am aware. However, care should be&#xA;  exercised when collecting in areas with high coliform counts and other&#xA;  bacteria, particularly in estuaries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/are-there-any-poisonous-seaweeds-in-britain&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/are-there-any-poisonous-seaweeds-in-britain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.fooducate.com/2014/03/21/edible-seaweed-nutritious-or-poisonous/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog post by Ginger Hultin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T08:38:23.900" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T08:38:23.900" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10051" CreationDate="2015-12-02T09:33:00.553" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your putting it away for a long period of time I like to coat the blade in oil. The oil will repel any moisture and stop it rusting. Overtime the oil will evaporate, if you use quite a thick oil (or grease) it will last longer. You'll still likely want to give it a quick sharpen (as well as a polish and clean) when you first use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T09:33:00.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8042" CreationDate="2015-12-02T10:34:37.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Worry about the hip belt first, make sure she can carry the load on the hips (sitting above/on the hips, not around/below).&#xA;Shoulder straps should prevent the pack from falling backwards too far, but should not carry load vertically. For 6kg (or to be honest, even twice that) the shoulder straps should be doing very little work.&#xA;I find chest straps to be more trouble than use, especially if they are in the wrong place. Leave it undone or remove permanently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T10:34:37.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10067" CreationDate="2015-12-02T11:35:34.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please also note &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10069/8060&quot;&gt;Captain's answer&lt;/a&gt;. First of all he's describing how to avoid touching deer in the first place (what should be of course the way to go), second he came up with some nice references (which pointed me in the right direction here). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is always to call the responsible authority. These authorities, however, differ from region to region. Think about it as &quot;What's your local native animal rescue?&quot; and call them for advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually you can react surprisingly well to such a case. These are the recommended steps to take: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Put on rubber gloves and get a towel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Rub the towel in the grass then wipe the fawnʼs body with that towel    to remove human scent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Leaving the gloves on, return the fawn to the place where found. Now    the fawn is once again scent-free and waiting for mom to&#xA;  return&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nativeanimalrescue.org/understanding-deer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Understanding Deer&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeincrisis.com/guidelines/fawns.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildlife in Crisis approves:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the fawn has already been &quot;handled&quot;, wipe the fawn off with a clean&#xA;  towel rubbed with dirt, put on a clean pair of gloves, and return the&#xA;  fawn to the site of origin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure that you don't carry the fawn to the tools but the tools to the fawn. The doe might come back and should definitely still find her child. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T12:07:34.757" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10075" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10080" CreationDate="2015-12-02T12:42:02.123" Score="4" ViewCount="71" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course it's theoretically a difference if I've a 4&quot; or 5&quot; fetching. I wonder if it's really practically noticeable? I'm asking from a bow-hunter's point of view (strong bow/powerful arrow). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:47:49.683" Title="Does the fletching length practically influence the arrow?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10076" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10079" CreationDate="2015-12-02T12:58:27.467" Score="6" ViewCount="2369" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently noticed that some archers wear two gloves and some only one. Latter always have them on the hand which pulls the string. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two gloves:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LOgaZl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LOgaZl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Two gloves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One glove:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ROxvu.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ROxvu.png&quot; alt=&quot;One glove&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the difference? Is it up to their personal preferences? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-10-17T09:59:33.913" LastActivityDate="2016-10-17T09:59:33.913" Title="Why do some archers wear two gloves?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10077" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10078" CreationDate="2015-12-02T13:10:39.323" Score="7" ViewCount="725" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if one has to be careful while hiking through historical significant areas. Let's say there is a Celtic grave which is pretty good excavated. Am I allowed to walk over it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking for the UK (other regions would be interesting, too of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T15:26:18.180" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T12:58:01.657" Title="Prohibited to walk through/over historical significant areas?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10077" CreationDate="2015-12-02T13:16:51.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question. In the UK a lot of historical sites are not only accessible but encouraged to explore! You can hike around and in many hill forts, for example, many of which are on National Trust property so they often signpost how to get to them. You can (and I have!) hike over the Nine Barrow Downs, which is a very interesting site. It's a chalk hill formation down near Swanage. You can even find the odd Roman excavation to explore, but a lot of areas like this, and Corfe Castle (which is ultimately a ruin) do require paid for access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many however that gain a lot of traffic and therefore have had restrictions put in place, these include the world famous Stonehenge and Hadrians Wall. This is to preserve the architecture for future visitors. However you can gain access to certain parts of the wall, and Stonehenge I believe still has yearly access for druids. By this I mean they get full access and can go right up to the stones, which otherwise is prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK has a very rich and varied history and as such we've plenty of historical sites, an abundance of which are free to hike in and around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T15:35:35.730" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T15:35:35.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10076" CreationDate="2015-12-02T14:12:49.577" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a longbow you rest the arrow on your hand. If you do it for many hours it can cause irritation so some wear a glove to avoid this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the hand pulling the string it is another form of a finger tab. I have a three fingered glove. It's a matter of preference for this. I found a glove more comfortable than a finger tab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:12:49.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10075" CreationDate="2015-12-02T14:47:49.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fletching is used to stabilize an arrow, stopping it from tumbling. A heavier arrow needs more fletching to help stabilize the arrow. This is usually accomplished by lengthening the fletching rather than broadening it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However more fletching adds drag, and it also has the potential to add more error into the mix, as a beginner you should use arrows that are recommended by your outfitter. As you gain more experience, you can start to tune your outfit to better suit you, your styles and skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The questions you have been asking here are all well and good, but they and their answers are all theory until you have some good practical experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's smart to get as much info as possible, but in the beginning you really need to trust your outfitter. What you learn here can get in your way as a beginner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:47:49.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10064" CreationDate="2015-12-02T14:53:49.380" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are bottom fishing with a bait that needs to stay on the bottom you want to anchor. If you drift while dragging the bait. You are likely to hook up to something on the bottom like rocks or weeds and your hook is going to get fouled from lighter weeds anyway. In this circumstance you want to anchor and let the bait be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drifting is good for jigging the bottom or anywhere in the water column really so you can cover more real estate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are casting and retrieve fishing, then either is fine really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:53:49.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10065" CreationDate="2015-12-02T14:57:18.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure you can use anything as a bait really. Think of a crushed up can as a funky spinner (it's going to spin no matter what you do to it). It's shiny, flashy and moves erratically like an injured fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also seen lures made by folding bottle caps around a hook shank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T14:57:18.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10084" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10087" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:17:53.560" Score="13" ViewCount="23206" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone told me that one can kill a fish by putting it in iced water. He stated that it'll kill the animal extremely fast and without any pain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've my doubts... Can anyone explain why this should work? Or is it nonsense? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T15:33:20.423" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T22:23:03.440" Title="Is killing fish with iced water really humane?" Tags="&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10077" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:21:31.860" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This pretty much boils down to access. If you have the right to access the area, the fact that it is a historical site means little. So if there is a footpath you can walk along the footpath. If it's open access area, common land or right to roam then again no issues. If it's owned then you must obey the laws of the land/owner for example many historical sites in the UK are owned by the National Trust, etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One major exception to this rule (in regards to historical areas) is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Protection of military war graves&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (1986 c. 35) is an Act of&#xA;  Parliament in the United Kingdom which provides protection for the&#xA;  wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and&#xA;  controlled sites.[11] The primary reason for designation is to protect&#xA;  the last resting place of UK servicemen (or other nationals).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;though access itself is typically accepted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Act makes it an offence to interfere with a protected place, to&#xA;  disturb the site or to remove anything from the site&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Military_Remains_Act_1986&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI: this is only UK, I don't believe such a law exists outside of the UK&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T15:21:31.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10086" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:31:05.557" Score="7" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say you want to establish a 3D archery tournament. You want to create a small 3D course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are at the stage where you want to make a concept for the trail. How do you create a map to ensure safety (shooting direction, terrain), to ensure that no one can get lost, and to gather some stats such as trail length and height?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-18T18:50:41.883" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T20:06:33.803" Title="What's the best way to plan a 3D archery course?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10084" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:37:00.350" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can kill tropical fish by freezing them, or even just letting them cool down.  From the outdoors perspective, most game and eatable fish are not tropical.  There is a post on a sister site &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/1661/fish-coming-back-to-life-after-being-frozen&quot;&gt;Fish “coming back to life” after being frozen&lt;/a&gt; and there are many google finds about frozen fish coming back to life.  From personal experience I recall my grandfather putting a fresh salmon in the freezer and when days later we put it in the sink to defrost, it started flopping around still alive.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, putting most fish in cold water or freezing them is not going to reliably kill them. Some die, some don't.  If it is humane remains questionable, not sure there is enough evidence to support a conclusion on the fish's experience of being frozen. Many game fish (and pond goldfish) are frozen during winter as part of the natural life cycle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:13.777" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T22:23:03.440" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10084" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:40:14.063" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ice water will not kill any fish quickly. Some fish even live in ice or icy water. A tropical fish may go into shock, but it won't die right for a long time. I think people may believe the fish is dead because the body has stiffened, but that's just a function of the cold and doesn't indicate a dead fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fastest way to kill a fish would really be to behead it, but that assumes you are cleaning it immediately, but it can also make filleting a little more difficult. An alternative is to pour distilled grain alcohol over the fish's gills. That will also kill it quickly as well. The best way my opinion is to cut the gills out at the bottom of the gill covers. This bleeds the fish out, helping it to die and also has the benefit of improving the fish for eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because they are cold blooded a fish will live a long time, even if it can't be resuscitated. So all you can do is the best you can. Place a folded wet towel over the fish's head so it's in the darkness and it will calm down significantly. Anecdotally, it may help the fish as much as it helps you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T15:45:56.797" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T15:45:56.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10089" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10092" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:57:24.120" Score="10" ViewCount="28355" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are in the wild and need to know how cold/hot it is. How can we measure the temperature if we don't have any thermometers? Can we build something similar, etc.?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't have to be necessarily built from &quot;natural materials&quot;. Maybe we've a small camp with common camping equipment (except a thermometer of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T16:31:52.493" LastActivityDate="2020-05-25T19:20:09.037" Title="How to measure the temperature without a thermometer?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10051" CreationDate="2015-12-02T15:58:29.397" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oil the knife, then leave it alone until you are prepping your outing. Oil doesn't evaporate, it dries. When it's dried, it has the same and perhaps even better protective properties than fresh oil. It just makes you feel better to see the shiny fresh oil, but unless you wiped it away, it's still there and has dried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are prepping for your outing, you want to hone your knife with a honing steel. Knife sharpening is for knives that are too dull to be honed (which means the edge is damaged), a knife that can be honed sharp should not be sharpened because sharpening reduces the life of the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T15:58:29.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10089" CreationDate="2015-12-02T16:10:00.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can build something that tells you when it's colder or warmer than something else, but without a gauge to help you create your graduations, you won't know what the actual temp is. I am not sure this is a necessary tool however. The body tells you by its comfort level whether you need more or less heat, or more or less water when it's hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also simply take signs from the environment, does your breath mist up, does throwing a cupful of water in the air freeze before it hits the ground (it happens in subzero weather) right around -25°F (-32°C) water thrown into the air will start to freeze before it hits the ground for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-24T00:22:37.027" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T00:22:37.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10089" CreationDate="2015-12-02T16:18:58.537" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you are not going to use if for checking fever. There are other ways to check fever.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no mechanism, or a piece of equipment (other than dedicated thermal transducers) I have heard of that can measure the temperature precisely.&#xA;If you are just curious about how hot/cold the ambiance is, you can pull out your cellphone and get that data anytime you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want to know if it is getting colder with the time, look for a cat, the more it curls, the colder it is getting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-02T16:28:38.533" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T16:28:38.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10084" CreationDate="2015-12-02T16:57:24.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is absolutely not humane - in fact it is by FAR one of the most CRUEL methods to euthanize a fish. Regardless of them being tropical or not, before they are sufficiently cold enough to die, their blood crystallizes and they basically end up with ice shards shooting through them. Ouch. This is a very common question on aquarium forums and message boards though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better method to euthanize a pet fish is to overdose it with clove oil in a bowl of its tank water (clove oil is ordinarily an anesthetic is smaller quantities).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better way to kill a fish you want to consume (or pet fish if you have the knife and fortitude to do it) is to simply chop its head off in one blow. Or to sever the spinal column (I think that would do it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8251" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T16:57:24.907" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10042" CreationDate="2015-12-02T17:01:04.463" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tie it together with two (2) bits of 5mm accessory cord (right size for general camp use, bear bags, BDSM games at home, etc.) or light weight climbing nylon tubing..  Light weight tubular webbing (like you would use for climbing, esp. winter climbing, maybe 5/8&quot;) can also be sewn to anything/anyone with dental floss and the awl of a Swiss Army knife, and backed up with an attractive wrap of duct tape. You can also just poke holes w/ awl and use cable ties to attach straps.  I used to carry some seam seal in my repair kit (haven't looked in their for a while).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will always find a need for both the light webbing (although I do have friends who hate me tying off ice screws with it) and 5mm accessory cord (not the 550 cord, not the 5.5 mm kevlar/spectra cord designed for string hexes) all the time, so throw out the boot laces (either will work just fine).  While the webbing will hold leader falls (I tend to reserve it for snow), don't use the 5 mm for climbing, other than Prusiks (both the webbing and cord will work for this, although you should use a KKlemheist knot, Prusiks are for chumps).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the split ring idea a lot, but would use a pair of aluminum rappel rings (which I likely have anyway) or some steel D rings w/ sufficient strength to double as rap ring.  These should not be confused with split peas, which are for eating  Plastic abseiling rings*, while light, should be avoided at all costs.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like Peteris' idea of carrying webbing and buckles, but I would sew these to the outside of the pack and use it to carry my rope, shovel, jacket (always nice to have handy), camera, or other things where you can easily stuff them in the pack/under the lid of the pack if needed, and are light weight so they don't rip things out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use mono-filament fishing line (but be careful with knots--a dab of seam sealer or blue on the end of the not is not a bad idea) at home in a running slip stitch.  Cut the knot and pull the thread and the whole thing just pulls apart.  Dental floss is essential to getting still-wooden freeze-dried beef out of your teeth (your mates will thank you), and is a very strong.  Waxed is harder to pull through multiple layers, but sort of water resistant.  The Goretex stuff I use at home seems strong, but is slippery as an eel, so use fisherman knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a lot of duct tape just tape a little bit around the broken strap area, and have a friend wind a half-dozen turns of it around you and your back.  Not comfortable, not Eco-friendly, not attractive, but if you go w/o a shirt you can probably aim the tape to skip some body waxing/shaving you have been putting off for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Page 1, rule 6:  &quot;Scramble, be flexible&quot;. (Philmont Ranger's Handbook)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having shit go wrong is how you get experience, so if you want to get more experience try to carry a bit more repair stuff, first aid stuff, fire making stuff,  etc. when starting out so you can try different things out.  Then if things are not breaking down enough to give you experience as fast as you want, start drinking.  Nothing makes catastrophe occur quicker in the outdoors than a few too many.  So if you are just starting out, go out of your way to make a lot of (safely protected and/or minor) mistakes just to get experience fixing/recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*There is no such product and I suggest never making one.  While there are polymers which can probably handle the load, who wants some punter putting a polystyrene loop of plastic chain up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only exception is for the Australians who jumped in front of me on a climb at Red Rocks in NV only to get stuck w/ loudmouth leader who couldn't lead a 5.7 without bolts, didn't know how to self-rescue, and who took a dump on the climb and didn't clean up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8252" LastActivityDate="2015-12-02T17:01:04.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10064" CreationDate="2015-12-02T19:44:57.407" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To supplement the points in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10081/2303&quot;&gt;Escoce's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: The following is salt-water-centric. It may or may not apply to fresh water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anchor when:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stripers247.com/bait-chunking-stripers.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chunking&lt;/a&gt; or chumming - the fish will follow the scent trail to the source.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind or currents would move the boat into an undesirable or dangerous position.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drift when:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is a hot area to fish over - say structure or a hole. You can cover more of the area by drifting. Drifting also allows more boats to fish the area than would be possible if everyone tried to anchor in location (a pile of rocks is a good example).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Working along a shore line - wind/current permitting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your anchor line isn't long enough to hold bottom safely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The target species often has less to do with the decision to anchor vs. drift than with the location, conditions, and just what you feel like doing. There are times when people drift for stripers and times when they anchor. The same goes for most other species I've fished for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T17:25:19.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2015-12-02T22:27:10.377" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pistol crossbow they're light weight, accurate, up to 90 pound pull, quick reload,  and reusable cheep ammo. Get a good one, not a toy ($30+).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have taken out squirrels, crows, coons, hares, rats, ducks, and frogs on my property.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8260" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T08:22:20.703" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T08:22:20.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10105" CreationDate="2015-12-03T01:52:18.550" Score="27" ViewCount="5744" Body="&lt;p&gt;The newsletter from the Virginia Wildlife Rescue League reported the following incident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A man, his partner and her 4 year old daughter were walking in Farquier County (a rural county), when they saw a snake, about three feet long, thin and striped, on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man told his partner and her daughter to go back to the cabin -- and this seemed (not clear) to involve passing the snake.  So the man picked up the snake close to its head to get it out of the way.  The snake bit the man twice on the hand, and, it turned out, that it was a rattlesnake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man lost consciousness within a very few minutes.  He survived, but was in very bad shape for several days, with a great deal of internal bleeding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is clear that he did the worst thing he could have done, but, what would have been the best thing to do?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, does this sound like a case of an adolescent rattlesnake not being able to control its venom output?  There was a question about this point a few months earlier.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9319/at-what-point-is-a-rattlesnake-mature-enough-to-control-its-venom/9325#comment23406_9325&quot;&gt;At what point is a rattlesnake mature enough to control its venom?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This particular snake was in Virginia, USA.  From The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Rattlesnakes+in+Virginia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Rattlesnakes in Virginia)&lt;/a&gt;, it was probably a timber rattlesnake, which grows to 36 to 60 inches (90 to 152 cm).  Also known as the velvet tail or banded rattler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:06:54.773" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:06:54.773" Title="Meeting an unknown snake on the trail; what is the best thing to do?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10099" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-03T02:12:14.530" Score="6" ViewCount="5703" Body="&lt;p&gt;I picked up a pair of these Danner DFAs (normally I wear a 9D) in 9EE. I went a little wide to prevent cramping I occasionally felt. Now my other shoes, including other pairs of Danners are all snug as 9D, width and length. This pair seems longer oddly enough. To the point of it. Are my toe's too far back? The line is where my big toe hits approximately. My heel does not lift when walking and they are snug everywhere except the toes (though if I try, I can push my foot forward), just to add.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fEjRH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fEjRH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Just to add. I wanted to try the normal width shoe as well. I put them side by side. The normal one is definitely more snug, but it's a very hard call. More pressure on the center of my foot. I want to clearly state these will be worn daily as well as some light day hikes (4-10 miles)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6zRmW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6zRmW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Left is D, Right is EE&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8265" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:39:40.180" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T22:07:42.583" Title="Does it look like these boots are too long for my foot?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10099" CreationDate="2015-12-03T02:56:03.983" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your verbal description, it sounds like a perfect fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T02:56:03.983" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2015-12-03T03:29:32.410" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is just avoid it completely. If you can't go around because the bush is too thick, find a plenty long enough stick and get it off the path. The snake won't chase you, it's just defending itself. Do NOT pick the snake up with the stick, just get a hook on it as best you can and fling it gently off the path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T08:27:36.463" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T08:27:36.463" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2015-12-03T05:20:20.620" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I basically agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10101/8060&quot;&gt;Escoce's answer&lt;/a&gt; but you should give the snake a little more time. In the most cases it tries to avoid you and will flee as soon as you come too near. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10101/8060&quot;&gt;Escoce&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is just avoid it completely. If you can't go&#xA;  around because the brush is too thick. Then find a plenty long enough&#xA;  stick and get it off the path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it really doesn't want to move the really long stick is a good option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reference: From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.com/trail-running-training/how-to-deal-with-snakes-on-trail-runs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Runner's World&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, they're out there, but it's fairly uncommon to come across a&#xA;  snake while on a trail run—and even less common to have a problem with&#xA;  one if you do. But, if you're wondering how to best handle an&#xA;  encounter with a slithery friend, read on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We consulted with Alan Williams, ecologist at Shenandoah National&#xA;  Park, where 10 or so common species—including the venomous northern&#xA;  copperhead and timber rattlesnakes—roam in the wild. This is his sage&#xA;  advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Q: Most people want to know, first and foremost, what they should do&#xA;  if they encounter a snake on a trail. A: &quot;Giving it a wide berth is&#xA;  the best thing to do. Let it be. Don't provoke it. It'll likely try to&#xA;  get away from you as quickly as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We tell visitors: If you're in a busy place where you're trying to&#xA;  help the snake from getting run over, use something really long to&#xA;  shoo it off the trail—a long stick. Don't pick it up, even if you&#xA;  think it's not poisonous. They will try to get away. Don't corner&#xA;  them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Snakes likely try to defend themselves if they're cornered or&#xA;  harassed. Bites are mostly reported by people who've been playing with&#xA;  snakes. But for a hiker or runner, the chances are very slim.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rattlesnakes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Truthfully, it’s best to give any snake a wide berth. Rattlesnakes, of course, are venomous and generally easy to identify (more on this below), but to be safe you should always assume a snake in the wild is venomous. And anyway, the bite of a nonvenomous snake can still be extremely painful and may cause infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, quickly observe the snake’s posture. A coiled rattler that is audibly shaking its tail (rattle) is probably preparing to strike. Or, at the very least, none too pleased.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is the case, back away quickly but carefully — you don’t want to trip and fall in your haste to get away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, while a snake may strike across a greater distance if coiled, snakes can attack from any posture. Further, don’t assume the lack of an audible rattle indicates the snake is sleeping, ignoring you, blind and deaf, or full. A rattlesnake may rattle only a bit—or not at all—before striking. Also, a young rattlesnake may have an undeveloped rattle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not attempt to poke or prod the snake with a stick or other object in an attempt to get it to move out of your way. This will only annoy the snake and make it more likely to strike. The best solution is to wait until it clears the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once it starts to leave, visually follow its progress to make sure it’s far from the trail before you continue on your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most snakes can strike a distance of half their body length. This means if you encounter a six-foot snake, it can easily attack any object within a three-foot radius, with zero warning. For this reason, it’s best to wear thick hiking boots, which may prevent fangs from piercing your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yEvfJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yEvfJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-a-Rattlesnake-Attack&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The snake rules for the hiker&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware of when and where you are most likely to encounter a rattlesnake. You are most likely to encounter rattlesnakes when you are hiking, climbing, camping, or even walking to see a tourist monument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rattlesnakes prefer hot environments, with some preferring desert climates but others, such as the Eastern Diamondback, prefer a moist climate. The majority live in the southern United States and Mexico, although some are found in Canada's Badlands desert region in Alberta and in British Columbia around Hedley, Keremeos, and Osoyoos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes like summer evenings the best, just as the sun is going down and when it has gone — they are most active nocturnally in summertime. This just happens to coincide with the frailty of human eyesight kicking in as the sun goes down, so take care. Use a flashlight when walking about and wear good footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes like warm days, period. Be it any season of the year, even winter, a rattlesnake can venture out in search of the warmth — suitable air temperature for rattlesnakes is around 70° and 90°F (21° to 32°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rattlesnakes are not generally sitting about in the open — if they are in the open, they are moving through it much of the time. Rattlesnakes want to avoid contact with predators who can easily spot them in the open, including humans and large animals. As such, you will most likely encounter rattlesnakes around rocks, shrub and brush, or wherever there are nooks for them to hide among. However, on sunny days, you might find rattlesnakes warming themselves on warm rocks or asphalt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dress appropriately. When in rattlesnake country, do not be blasé about clothing — the majority of bites occur on the hands, feet and ankles. So, apart from not sticking your hands where they shouldn't be, clothing becomes an important protection ally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toss the sandals — this is time for good quality, thick hiking boots, and decent socks. Over the ankle boots are best, as ankle bites are common. Do not wear sandals, open-toed shoes or bare feet when walking in the desert. There are more things than rattlesnakes awaiting your foolhardiness if you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wear long, loose-fitting pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use gaiters if possible, especially if you choose not to wear long pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Behave appropriately when hiking, climbing, walking. When in rattlesnake territory, think like a rattlesnake to keep your mind on how they might behave so that you can behave accordingly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always hike with at least one buddy. If you are alone and bitten, you will be in dire trouble. Carry a cell phone that works and alert family or friends of your intended hiking course and duration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay out of the way. The easiest way to avoid rattlesnakes is to keep out of their way. Keep alert as you hike, walk, and climb. Stick to well-used trails and do not wander off into tall grass, underbrush and weeds where rattlesnakes may be hiding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not stick your hands in the wrong places. Don't stick your hands down holes, under rocks and ledges or even into brush when you are walking around. These are key hiding places for rattlesnakes. When hiking, it is best to carry a sturdy staff, or at least a long, sturdy and light stick, to help prevent using your hands in areas where snakes may hide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't sit down on tree stumps or logs without first checking inside. You might just be sitting on a rattlesnake....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step on and not over. When you need to cross logs and rocks, it is sensible to step on the objects rather than straight over them. This way, you can spot a rattlesnake that may be sheltering under it and can take evasive action quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look before you leap. Take care where you land your feet. A foot coming straight down next to, or on top of a snake is asking for a bite. Snakes rely on vibration to hear and while they can sense you coming if you have stomped about loudly enough, they cannot deal with removing themselves fast enough if you blaze up a trail quickly and provide little warning of your approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When walking, carry a stick, and whack bushes and undergrowth a bit before you walk on/near them, and snakes will get away. They'll go under bushes or thick grass immediately, so don't put your feet in/on those places! If you must step on those hiding places, probe them a bit first with your stick, so the snake has a chance to get away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Move out of the way. If you do walk into the range of a rattlesnake, calmly back off as quickly and quietly as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take care around water. Rattlesnakes can swim. Anything resembling a long stick might be a rattlesnake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not provoke a rattlesnake. Angering a snake will result in one response — you become its target. Remember — a snake is defending itself from attack in such a case and if you poke it with sticks, throw stones at it, kick at it or do silly little jigs around it, you are asking for trouble. And worse still, there may well be a difference in the venom between an angered rattlesnake and one reacting quickly in self-defence — the toxicity may be increased, whereas a surprised rattlesnake may only bite without injecting venom (possible, not certain). Whatever the strength of the venom, an angered rattlesnake will be more likely to keep striking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leave the snake alone. Many people are bitten in the process of trying to heroically rid the world of one more bothersome snake. Apart from the snake not being bothersome, the snake is going to bite you to try to defend itself. Live and let live — back off and let it have its space to slither away. And be warned — there is a reason for the saying &quot;as mad as a cut snake&quot; — an injured snake is a very, very dangerous foe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further watching:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Former Marine and current ready hiker, Chris shares comments on how to properly prepare for encounters with Snakes On A Trail. We show you what we have to help you in your hiking adventures. Remember, don’t be that guy. Be a ready hiker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;amp;v=Dqw6ekuftCs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;amp;v=Dqw6ekuftCs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-a-Rattlesnake-Attack&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-a-Rattlesnake-Attack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runnersworld.co.za/injury-prevention/snakes-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.runnersworld.co.za/injury-prevention/snakes-trail/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wta.org/signpost/how-to-hike-in-rattlesnake-country&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wta.org/signpost/how-to-hike-in-rattlesnake-country&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T06:34:45.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10104" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10122" CreationDate="2015-12-03T07:45:24.133" Score="3" ViewCount="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;I shoot Easton arrows. These arrows are normally labeled with &quot;500&quot; or &quot;300&quot; etc. to tell you the spine of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I've recognized a few brands which label their arrows like &quot;3545&quot; (or something). Note: I can't really tell if this is an accurate number but the formatting is always like this (4 digits which seem to be completely random in my eyes :) ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what does the second annotation mean? What's the difference to the &quot;common&quot; declaration of the spine value? (And why on earth do we need both of them?) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T16:13:20.417" Title="Differences between two spine declarations?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2015-12-03T08:26:45.007" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Already some great answers here. TBH, haven't been able to go through all of them, so adding in a short summary as what I do and ask people to follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Answer to question 1:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rule of thumb: Never ever ever &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; try to handle a snake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't know what snake it is, whether venomous or not, or a semi-venomous, refer rule #1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't know a snake well enough, you obviously don't know how far it can strike. Then, should you go near it? No. Refer rule #1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you know what snake it is, beware, refer rule #1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't know a snake well, you can never be sure whether it's a juvenile or grown adult; in that case refer rule #1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't know a snake well enough, you don't know if it is haemotoxic, chemotoxic or neurotoxic, refer rule #1; but WHY do I need to know that? Because if somebody is bitten, the medics will ask you what snake it was, and how it looked, so that they can start treatment with the appropriate anti-venom. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's not passing, and just laying on the path, ask someone to keep an eye on it and the other should see if you all can try to take a longer turn and bypass it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is no way to bypass it and it doesn't move, wait, keep an eye on it, keep a very safe distance, bang your feet, in most of the cases it would just mind its own business and disappear. No snake &lt;em&gt;likes&lt;/em&gt; to be poked with a stick. I believe poking a snake with a stick is part of &lt;em&gt;don'ts&lt;/em&gt;, like don't provoke them, don't irritate them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the time, snakes happily avoid a face-off with any threat whatsoever, not only typically human. They know you are closer, than it being the other way round. So most of the times you would come across one, it's because you entered its hiding place, or habitat. So, even if you don't know what snakes there are in a particular area, it's okay, but you would want know where they usually are so that you can avoid those places. Example: An abandoned mine. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am glad that you are willing to know more and asked the question #2: +1 for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless it is not specified that &lt;em&gt;which&lt;/em&gt; rattlesnake it was, you can't tell.&#xA;As we all know, rattlesnakes are of different types.&#xA;They are further classified into &lt;em&gt;Crotalus&lt;/em&gt; (the larger ones) and &lt;em&gt;Sistrurus&lt;/em&gt; (smaller ones). Please note that this classification is not based on its physical size. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 30 &lt;em&gt;Crotalus&lt;/em&gt; species identified, 2 or 3 debated about.&#xA;And there are 3 &lt;em&gt;Sistrurus&lt;/em&gt; species identified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Western diamondback rattlesnake, South American rattlesnake, Timber rattlesnake, Red diamond rattlesnake, Mojave rattlesnake are the common &lt;em&gt;Crotalus&lt;/em&gt; ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The largest of them are usually Eastern or Western Diamond Back ones. Eastern Diamond Back rattlesnakes can grow up to 150 cm (approx 5 ft). Though &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Monroe_Klauber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Laurence Klauber&lt;/a&gt; have documented 7 ft long Eastern Diamond Back rattlesnake. Western Diamond Back rattlesnakes are typically 4-4½ feet long. So that quite normal if you come across a rattlesnake and it is 3½ to 4 feet long, it dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an exceptional case that I would love to tell you about.&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Crotalus&lt;/em&gt; ones are larger ones, right. Exception: Side Winder. The average adult is 2-2½ ft long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Massasauga&lt;/em&gt;, commonly known as Black to Grey Rattlesnake, is a Sistrurus one and can grow up to 2½-2¾ ft. This fellow further has 3 subspecies that I am not going to talk about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whole point is, it doesn't matter if a snake is juvenile or grown, a rattlesnake or some other Pit Viper or some Adder which also is a Viper but not a Pit Viper. Gobbledegook?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay safe, stay away, Since you can't be assured that a smaller snake is more dangerous or less dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this particular case you have talked about, unless I don't know what rattlesnake it was, I can't really say if it was a juvenile or an adult one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE: After your edit, you answered it yourself. Grows up to 3 and a half feet. The poor fellow was bitten by an adult Timber Rattlesnake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T15:16:10.630" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T15:16:10.630" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10099" CreationDate="2015-12-03T08:53:02.857" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main issue with boot fit around the toe area is your toes pressing against the ends or the top. Typically you want the &quot;toe box&quot; to be quite roomy to allow free movement of your toes when your foot lifts and you apply pressure though your toes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the main problem most people have is their toes being too near the end. You're obviously not having that issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main issues with having too much room in the toes is that you lose &quot;feel&quot;. This is particularly an issue on more technical terrain. If you're climbing/scrambling on small holds then you're going to struggle a little the way they are. If you're not moving on technical ground and simply walking, and providing you're not tripping over the length, I don't think it's an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-20T21:55:15.943" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T21:55:15.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2015-12-03T09:08:47.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Already some very good answers above. Just share my real experience here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I met a rattlesnake once when I was hiking in Arizona at a late afternoon. Lucky that I was able to spot it on trail from some 4~5 feet away, rather than stepped on it (otherwise I might not be able to write this answer). While I stopped and backed off for more safe distance and watching, the resting snake also saw me and then just slowly (should I say &quot;confidently&quot;?) moved out of trail and slid into the bush at the roadside and disappeared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I waited some half minute and my teammate threw a rock randomly into that bush to make some noise in order to further scare it away. Not sure whether it is a best approach though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then I quickly ran through that spot, and looked back from safe distance. From that angle, I could see the snake actually slid away from the scene for 10 feet already. So I signaled my teammates to quickly pass. We even took a picture of that snake too. :)  You can see its tail on the following picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T4maL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T4maL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;It is quite big&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8269" LastEditorUserId="8269" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T08:01:44.603" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T08:01:44.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10108" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10220" CreationDate="2015-12-03T09:36:20.240" Score="3" ViewCount="714" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normally you measure the arrow from the nock (so, where the string is placed) to the end of the shaft. If you want to have a 29&quot; arrow, the shaft itself has only about 28,5&quot; cause the distance between the shaft and the nock has to be added. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1hCPW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1hCPW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Measurement&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what if you order a bare shaft (which comes without a nock) at full length. If they say 31&quot; does it mean that this shaft would be ca. 30,5&quot; or do they actually have 31&quot;, so that my arrow would be 31&quot; + ~0,5&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens if a shaft has a nock attached from scratch? Are they measured from the bottom of the groove to the end of the shaft? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:29:40.120" Title="Arrows in full length measured without the nock?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10109" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10121" CreationDate="2015-12-03T10:03:09.627" Score="4" ViewCount="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often read about the &quot;spine&quot; if it comes to archery and arrows in particular. What's meant by &quot;the spine&quot; and why is it so important? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T17:47:03.337" Title="What's the spine of an arrow" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10099" CreationDate="2015-12-03T10:26:54.153" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking boots definitely must be bought a size larger than your everyday shoes.  The space in front of the toe is essentially a requirement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your feet swells considerably during a strenuous hike.  Do not underestimate this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On a steep downhill you don't want your toes to push against the front of the boot, and essentially carrying your weight.  (Even so ensure that you trim your toenails before hiking)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are techniques for dealing with your feet &quot;sliding around&quot; inside the boots.  Having the boot be a &quot;perfect fit&quot; is not the answer.  Use proper lacing technique, which differs for uphill and downhill treks, and which will go a long way to prevent blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use different boots for day hikes vs multi-day treks where I carry a heavy backpack, but even on day hikes you want space in front of your toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So the short answer is:  That looks like a good fit.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T10:26:54.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10118" CreationDate="2015-12-03T12:03:51.717" Score="5" ViewCount="772" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know there is a danger of swimming into &quot;climbing plants/creebers&quot; in lakes. This can bring you in an extremely dangerous situation where you tangle up more and more cause you panic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I able to avoid swimming into these? How should I react if I get stuck?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's quite tough for me to give an exact reference to a particular plant. They mostly grow on the ground of lakes and have kind of tentacles. They might tangle around your knuckles and if you react jerkily you'll be tangled up more an more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a picture like a locale newspaper (a report where a 26 year old man was &quot;tangled to death&quot;) has illustrated it: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://idata.over-blog.com/2/32/10/78/Bilder-X/Bilder-XI/Bilder-XII/Bilder-XIII/Bilder-XIV/Bilder-V/P7130073.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://idata.over-blog.com/2/32/10/78/Bilder-X/Bilder-XI/Bilder-XII/Bilder-XIII/Bilder-XIV/Bilder-V/P7130073.JPG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZSBwc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZSBwc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Some other&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly I don't know if they're accurate or random stock-photos. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T13:15:01.610" LastActivityDate="2019-04-19T15:12:26.613" Title="Avoid swimming into climbing plants/creepers" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10077" CreationDate="2015-12-03T12:58:01.657" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in the US, it depends on whether it's just a historical &lt;i&gt;site&lt;/i&gt;, or if there are artifacts.  Disturbing or defacing historical or archeological artifacts on public lands is a felony, and is taken quite seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course signs trump everything.  If a sign says, &quot;keep out&quot; and there is a fence or even just a ribbon denoting the area to stay out of, stay out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T12:58:01.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10137" CreationDate="2015-12-03T13:33:20.127" Score="6" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do we have to be additional carefully in areas where a Geyser is quite common? &#xA;Can their water reach dangerous temperatures? Is it possible that one just &quot;randomly&quot; pops out of the ground? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other threads to consider? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T02:20:55.110" Title="What to consider while walking around a Geyser" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10117" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10126" CreationDate="2015-12-03T13:39:14.683" Score="7" ViewCount="1777" Body="&lt;p&gt;When out in the wild and a companion falls into the fire and gets injured very badly. How can I aid his wounds? Would be great to hear from some possible herbs (natural materials in general) but common camping equipment is also &quot;allowed&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T22:53:53.323" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T18:37:15.533" Title="Heal burn wounds in the wild" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10113" CreationDate="2015-12-03T14:46:27.073" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's hornwort. It grows around here too. Wonder to fish around as well as lily pads are great to fish around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, those plants grow at a depth where strong sunlight can get to it. In all natural settings where I have seen this grow it has been less than 6 ft of depth. So I guess it's possible to get tangled and drown, but a few things come to mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people are averse to swimming where things are touching them. You don't suddenly find your self in the middle of a patch of this, you'll start getting touched by the weeds within a few moments of reaching the &quot;border&quot; and would likely start trying to swim in the air while turning around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This plant is also relatively weak and also slippery while under water, so unless somehow you get bound by a bunch at once, I &lt;em&gt;personally&lt;/em&gt; don't see this plant as a danger, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't cause harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wade out into this stuff and lily pads all the time when fishing for bass, pike and pickerel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T14:46:27.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2015-12-03T14:56:31.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your concern for keeping the fish alive longer than necessary is valid. I used to like to club fish to kill them immediately. However I now typically bleed by cutting the gills as you describe. This kills the fish rather quickly if done properly. It also offers other benefits which may or may not be important in any given situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, it helps diminish the amount of blood getting on the flesh when fileting. Despite years of semi-regular practice, I still often nick an artery along the spine when fileting larger fish (like Striped Bass or Bluefish). This invariably bleeds all over that filet, and can be difficult to rinse off. Bleeding first vastly reduces the amount of blood that is released when this happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, for some species it really does mean the difference between a nice palatable dinner and a super-fishy tasting/smelling meal. The difference is most pronounced in oily fish like mackerel and bluefish. There is also a long tradition around here of bleeding sharks that are headed to the dinner table to help remove uric acid (I believe) and other substances that would foul the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T14:56:31.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10109" CreationDate="2015-12-03T16:03:13.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The spine of an arrow is a measurement of its stiffness. It's is a number given in 1000ths of an inch of deflection given a certain amount of pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a great article detailing the specifics here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_3.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Arrow spine refers to the arrow's degree of stiffness - how much the&#xA;  arrow resists being bent. Some arrows are very stiff, others are very&#xA;  limber. And if you ever intend to achieve serious accuracy with your&#xA;  (...) bow, you'll need to choose an arrow that's just stiff enough&#xA;  - but not too stiff for your particular bow setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most people think an arrow flies just like it looks when at rest -&#xA;  perfectly straight. But nothing could be further from the truth. Once&#xA;  fired from a bow, an arrow immediately begins flexing and oscillating.&#xA;  That's not a defect. Each arrow bends and flexes in a particular cycle&#xA;  as it leaves the bow (archer's paradox). If the timing of the cycle is&#xA;  correct, the tail of the arrow clears the bow without making contact&#xA;  with the arrow rest, riser, or cables. If the timing of the cycle is&#xA;  not correct due to improper arrow spine, the over- or&#xA;  under-oscillation of the arrow results in serious fletching contact&#xA;  and/or paper-tune tears which cannot be corrected. So we have to get&#xA;  this one right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are three main ingredients which determine an an arrow&#xA;  shaft's general spine characteristics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;the stiffness of the actual shaft material &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;the length of the shaft&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;the tip weight that will be used&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T17:47:03.337" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T17:47:03.337" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10104" CreationDate="2015-12-03T16:13:20.417" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's a different measurement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 4 digit number the first 2 digits specify the diameter of the shaft in 64ths inch. And the second number specifies the wall thickness of the shaft in 1000ths of an inch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So 3545 would be an arrow that is 35/64ths inches thick and the wall of the arrow is .045 inches thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is described at the bottom of this article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_3.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T16:13:20.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10123" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10134" CreationDate="2015-12-03T17:32:42.103" Score="9" ViewCount="14380" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from Florida and I've only ever hiked in the Southeast US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if I'm blind, but I can't find a listing of dangerous animals and their profiles. I tried &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ndow.org/Nevada_Wildlife/Animals/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nevada Dept of Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/Nevada/las_vegas/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Southern Nevada Field Office - Dept of Fish &amp;amp; Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on hiking Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire later this month and I'm &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; planning on &lt;em&gt;seeking out&lt;/em&gt; snakes, spiders or scorpions, but I would like to be able to identify them &lt;em&gt;just in case&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/226/as-an-experienced-backpacker-in-the-eastern-us-what-should-i-know-before-hiking&quot;&gt;As an experienced backpacker in the Eastern US, what should I know before hiking in the Western US?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as well as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3914/dealing-with-wildlife-in-the-desert-of-california-nevada-in-general-and-in-the-w&quot;&gt;Dealing with wildlife in the desert of California/Nevada in general and in the White Mountains in particular&lt;/a&gt;, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also checked out &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6026/what-wild-animals-are-there-in-california-that-can-be-dangerous-or-create-hassle&quot;&gt;What wild animals are there in California that can be dangerous or create hassles, and how do I avoid problems with them?&lt;/a&gt;, but I'm more concerned about the little guys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; information on snakes in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6671/snake-dangers-while-hunting-in-the-desert]&quot;&gt;Snake dangers while hunting in the desert?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3267" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:26:54.170" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:26:54.170" Title="What are the dangerous animals in Southern Nevada" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10125" CreationDate="2015-12-03T18:55:03.803" Score="4" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hear people talking about archery or I read something about it, there is often a &quot;recurve bow&quot; mentioned. Altough I know how it's shaped etc. I wanted to know what exactly makes a bow to a recurved one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T16:15:32.493" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T16:15:32.493" Title="What is a recurve bow?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10124" CreationDate="2015-12-03T18:55:03.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;h2&gt;A bow whose string touches a section of the limb ...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, all these different bows may confuse a beginner. However, it's generally really easy like in this case. A recurve is simply defined as &quot;a bow of which the string touches a section of the limb when it is strung&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To further explain this definition refer to this image: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jXd4e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jXd4e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Recurve bow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The string: as you might have guessed it's the straight, drilled cord &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The limb: the bent wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see the string &quot;touches&quot; the wooden limb for about 3&quot; on the top. As soon as this happens, the bow is a recurve bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;But what about the shape?!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ah, a nice topic. One might guess that a recurve is shaped in a particular way and that's why it's a recurve. That's (surprisingly) wrong!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: Before you read further. There are a few more details which make a &quot;horseman bow&quot; different from a &quot;recurve&quot; but that's another topic.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's examine a so called &quot;horseman bow&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJ20N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJ20N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Horseman bow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And now a recurve bow: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjfwZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjfwZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Recurve bow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, besides the &quot;waves&quot; in the limbs pretty much the same, eh? But have you mentioned the tips? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horseman bow string doesn't touch the limb: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L3gbk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L3gbk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;No touch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas a recurve's cuddles: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mQWPR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mQWPR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Recurve bow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is&#xA;  unstrung. By definition, the difference between recurve and other bows&#xA;  is that the string touches a section of the limb when the bow is&#xA;  strung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more&#xA;  efficiently than an equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a greater&#xA;  amount of energy and speed to the arrow. A recurve will permit a&#xA;  shorter bow than the simple straight limb bow for a given arrow energy&#xA;  and this form was often preferred by archers in environments where&#xA;  long weapons could be cumbersome, such as in brush and forest terrain,&#xA;  or while on horseback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_shape#Recurve_bows&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Bow shapes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T18:55:03.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10117" CreationDate="2015-12-03T19:12:19.717" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been out in the woods with companions who have suffered severe burns. You first priority is to relieve the pain, you accomplish this by removing the heat from the burn. Cool clean water is your best friend for the first few hours at least, have the victim stick his hand in a cool clean lake or stream. I say cool water, not &lt;em&gt;cold&lt;/em&gt; water. If the water is too cold then your companion will not benefit from it as much, because the cold will also cause pain, and they will not be able keep the burn under water. Depending on where the burn is, and what time of year it is, hypothermia may be a concern while trying to cool a burn if you have to remove clothing, in which case you may need to consider using a cool wet cloth and apply it to the wound,continuously re-soaking it as frequently as necessary. Keep the burn cool, but keep the victim warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your primary concern with burns is infection, if you are only a few hours or a single days journey away from help, then this is less of a worry, but if you are deep in the back country, then you need to be careful to keep the burn area clean. Hopefully you have some sterile bandages in your first-aid kit, and shame on you for going on an expedition unprepared if you don't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some natural remedies for treating burns, you want to find plants that have antibiotic properties such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yarrow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cedar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raspberry leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oak bark&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whatever is indigenous to your area (some research required on your part).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have lots of yarrow where I'm from, so it's always the go-to plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to learn how to prepare them too, so that you can take advantage of their useful properties. Yarrow is easy, you just crush it up with a little bit of water and apply the paste, with stings and bug bites you can just chew it to make a paste, but with burns, saliva is one of the quickest ways to introduce bacteria into a wound. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Teas are good as well, they aren't as effective as placing an ointment directly to the wound, but drinking teas made from plants with antibiotic properties is kinda like taking penicillin, it puts those antibiotics into your bloodstream. Making tea is also a lot easier than preparing a salve or ointment, less risky too, an inexperienced medicine man could do more damage than good playing witch-doctor in the woods with rudimentary tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best piece of advice I can offer you is to BE PREPARED &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; going out into the woods, and bring what you would need in your first-aid kit to treat a bad burn should anything happen to one of your company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit from Comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently there are some people under the impression that yarrow looks similar to poison hemlock. The reality is that their leaves look absolutely nothing alike. Yarrow is a very easy herb to identify. See the images below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yarrow:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M5ueh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M5ueh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Poison Hemlock:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TyCxg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TyCxg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T18:37:15.533" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T18:37:15.533" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9843" CreationDate="2015-12-03T19:12:45.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with all of fishing, there are many different ways to present the same bait.  For live bait fishing, specifically I would suggest one of the following three techniques and subsequent presentations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hooking the fish up through the bottom of the mouth and out through the roof of the mouth&lt;/strong&gt; - For this technique, I would suggest either jigging or trolling on a weighted hook.  If you are not in a boat a simple cast-and-slow-retrieve should work fine.  This is an active presentation so if you find the fish are sluggish and not really going after your jigging/trolling, I would ditch the weighted hook for a circle or J hook and set up a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VXdceohkI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;slip sinker rig&lt;/a&gt; to fish the bottom.  The fish should live long enough to swim around on the bottom for awhile, attracting larger fish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hooking the fish through the back&lt;/strong&gt; - If you find that you are getting hits but no hook-ups or your bait is coming back torn up, I would suggest this presentation.  It is more secure than through the mouth and allows you to use jigging/trolling/bottom fishing mentioned above.  Two downsides to this is that, in my experience, the bait fish have died faster this way than through the mouth and it can make jigging/trolling a bit awkward depending on the size of the bait.  While jigging/trolling is possible, I would say hooking through the back is best for bottom fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cut off the fins and chunk of the fish to use it as cut bait&lt;/strong&gt; - While this will obviously kill your live bait, it does not make it any less enticing to potential predators! Cutting your bait releases strong scents that indicate to larger fish that there is food in the area.  Make sure that you cut off the fins so that they don't foul up hook sets.  Again, you can use this for jigging/trolling/bottom fishing.  I find it works best for bottom fishing but have also had great results jigging and trolling with cut bait.  Honestly, this is my go-to technique anytime I am not getting many bites.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am sure there are other options but these are the three that I use 99% of the time with live bait and have had great success.  I know that some people will hook bait through the tail but I do not prefer this because I find that the tail fin messes up hook sets.  Sure you can cut off the fin, but then you might as well just properly prepare some cut bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6050" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T19:12:45.603" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9588" CreationDate="2015-12-03T19:43:47.690" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the time of the year, the water temperature, the mood of the fish, and the available food for them, fish (esp. salt water) will feed on any number of different bait fish.  Rather than recommend a specific bait fish, as this can change depending on the above conditions here is what I suggest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go to a local tackle shop and ask.  Tackle shops are cornucopias of information, especially for localized fishing like you are describing.  They will likely already have live bait fish such as keelies, minnows, or shiners for sale for you to try out and if not they should definitely have bloodworms and squid strips, which brings me to...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use live bait, like worms/squid/shrimp, to catch bait fish to use for the drum.  Even though it is listed as 2) here, this is by far my recommended method.  There is nothing better than finding a school of bait fish in the same spot of ocean that you are fishing for drum in.  The bait fish are fresh and more importantly they are already what the drum is used to eating.  For this, I suggest a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thefisherman.com/images/knots/highlow.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;high-low rig&lt;/a&gt; that sits on the bottom, keep the line taught, and use small hooks with a small piece of worm/squid/shrimp on each.  Alternatively, if you find that a school of bait fish is at the surface and they are big enough (larger than 6 inches) you can snag them with a weighted treble hook. Basically, cast the weighted treble past the school of bait and then reel, reel, reel as fast as possible and rip the hook through the school.  This should foul hook the bait which you can then immediately cut up or use as live bait.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If neither of these previous two options are possible, I would suggest trying artificial baits.  I know that was not your question but it is hard for many salt water fish to resist a nice fat Gulp on a brightly colored bucktail.  Jigging works best with this presentation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6050" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T19:43:47.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10130" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-03T21:00:38.347" Score="5" ViewCount="2351" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got some 1/4 inch Manila rope that's really, really curly. It ends up very tangled and difficult to manage. Is there a way to straighten or relax it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xGUOK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xGUOK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;curly Manila rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T15:03:13.067" Title="Can Manila rope be straightened/relaxed?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10006" CreationDate="2015-12-03T22:12:18.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm sure someone will give you a nice answer to the general pros and cons to different fins/recommendations, but I just wanted to make a few comments: (1) what are you snorkeling around primarily? You may want a short stubby fin if you are going around corals (to avoid damage) or if you are moving around/through tight rocks crevices (to be more maneuverable. (2) a fin that looks good on paper may not be a good fit for you personally (comfort, fit, and even your 'kick' style...though this can be adapted). If you have the option to try a few types definitely take up the opportunity!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know much about the different fin types so I can't really give a thorough answer. I tried split fin on one dive and I got cramp (probably down to my kick technique more than the fin).... I generally use a more rigid fin. The ones I ended up buying are the Cressi Reaction. I typically scuba in waters with strong currents, surprise eddies underwater, etc. I use these fins for snorkeling as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2971" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T22:12:18.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10132" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10163" CreationDate="2015-12-03T23:18:16.853" Score="-3" ViewCount="268" Body="&lt;p&gt;In decades of hiking and backpacking in the Sierra and Colorado Rockies, I have seen only six species of large mammals:  black bear, coyote, moose, big horn sheep, elk and deer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I had been hiking a century ago in the Sierra and Colorado Rockies, what other large mammals would I have been likely to see?  Even then, the grizzly would have been rare in those two areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen a cougar, although I have been in areas where hikers were alerted to cougars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-12-05T23:46:12.170" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T13:58:20.207" Title="What large mammals have become extinct or rare in the Colorado Rockies and Sierra in the past 100 years?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2015-12-07T08:56:38.490" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10068" CreationDate="2015-12-03T23:20:23.670" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever you store your snowboard and do not intend to use it the next day again (unless you really like your board), then do the following&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clean it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dry it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer storage, usually summer storage, do the same as above and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wax the base, but do not scrape off excess wax. It adds some protection while storing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Store in dry and cool place (with higher importance on dry).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Loosen the screws of the bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Storage position is somewhat debatable. If you have the space, horizontally is certainly a good idea, but I always store them upright. Just take care that it wont get knocked over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The loosening of the binding is kind of optional, I never do it but my board is second hand, so I do not care too much. The waxing on the other hand is absolutely essential for the base and it is fast and easy to do at home, the necessary materials are not expensive either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same (except loosing of binding screws) applies to skis as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T23:20:23.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10123" CreationDate="2015-12-03T23:26:08.103" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quick List:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain Lions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bobcats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coyotes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rattle Snakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scorpions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feral Burros&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feral Horses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Desert Bighorn Sheep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Widow Spiders&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red Rock Canyon &amp;amp; Valley of Fire have very heavy human visitation, so any large predators are likely to be scarce (&lt;strong&gt;Mountain Lions&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;strong&gt;Bobcats&lt;/strong&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyotes are present, but unless cornered will not give you any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mostly likely encounter with 'dangerous' wildlife you might have would be with &lt;strong&gt;Rattle Snakes&lt;/strong&gt;. There are several species, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_cerastes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_mitchellii_stephensi&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;more&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_scutulatus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aggressive&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_oreganus_lutosus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;than others&lt;/a&gt;, found in the Mojave &amp;amp; Great Basin regions, although &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;they are not very active during the colder winter months&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; during which you are planning on visiting, however may seek out warm areas near humans. I have spent several years hiking &amp;amp; camping in the Mojave &amp;amp; have only ever come across exactly 3 rattlesnakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also remember that rattle snakes will not always rattle, especially if cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several species of scorpions as well, however the stings of most are really no worse than a wasp sting, unless you have immune system issues or a particular sensitivity. (There are wasps too). The scorpion present in southern Nevada with the most potential for a deadly sting is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_bark_scorpion&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Arizona Bark Scorpion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, it is to my knowledge not native, but I have found them in Las Vegas, most likely an introduced population or a lone hitchhiker. Note the wide body &amp;amp; coloring for identification. Scorpions are also not very active in colder months, however may seek out warm areas near humans as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BQueP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BQueP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Arizona Bark Scorpion&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One animal with which people may get into trouble when they do not expect it, are the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/red_rock_nca/red_rock_s_unique/burros_at_red_rock.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;feral Burros&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;strong&gt;feral Horses&lt;/strong&gt; found in the Red Rock Canyon area. These animals are very accustomed to people &amp;amp; may approach hoping for food (don't feed them, it is against regulations), so they are generally not a threat, however, I have seen mother Burros react quite defensively when approached &amp;amp; their offspring are nearby. Aside from that, they may be prone to bite or kick if startled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4UtnI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4UtnI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar caution should be taken with &lt;strong&gt;Desert Bighorn Sheep&lt;/strong&gt;. Although you are unlikely to get near them, males will act aggressively if they feel they need to defend their herd. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Black Widow spiders&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;strong&gt;Tarantulas&lt;/strong&gt; are also present. Though neither are actively aggressive towards humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing to watch out for; the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_bigelovii&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Teddy Bear Cholla&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. If you have an unexpected encounter with one of these, you will not soon forget it! Bits of them will, shall we say &lt;em&gt;stick with you&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T23:26:08.103" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10006" CreationDate="2015-12-03T23:32:04.113" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The prime benefit with a more &lt;strong&gt;flexible fin is you get greater efficiency vs a bare foot for a  minimal cost&lt;/strong&gt; in increased resistance when kicking. I've found that to be generally true with split-fins as well because the split makes the &quot;scoop&quot; of the fin more flexible. I've never swam with the really long free-diving and/or monofins but their length/size means they can't be very stiff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stiff fins really shine when you care more about power/speed&lt;/strong&gt; than reduced resistance. The fins that I typically use are stiffer fins, and I like them because I can kick softly to go slow, and I can kick hard/quickly to go fast. With more flexible fins I almost always reach a point where kicking harder doesn't actually make me go faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really short fins are nice when you just want a boost when kicking, but don't want to deal with the pain of walking with duck feet. A good use case for this is boogie/body boarding because you spend a decent amount of time in shallower water where it is more comfortable to walk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice (my experience so YMMV) this means that &lt;strong&gt;my split-fins/flexible fins let me go slow to medium speed with less energy, and my stiff fins let me go slow to fast speeds&lt;/strong&gt; albeit with a bit more effort on the low end. Personally I like having the ability to push hard/fast if I need to so I always end up using my stiff fins and keep my split/long fins for loaners/backups. The design that I prefer is similar to the one below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QkRTs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QkRTs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;whale fins&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IMO you should probably go with a split-fin&lt;/strong&gt; since your main concern is saving energy. They offer the least amount of resistance and let you go slow to medium speeds pretty easily. They are also more pleasant to kick IMO than a more traditional long rectangle flexible fin. The split-fins I have look similar to these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JqqYa.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JqqYa.png&quot; alt=&quot;split fins&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2015-12-03T23:54:18.943" LastActivityDate="2015-12-03T23:54:18.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10066" CreationDate="2015-12-04T02:01:58.503" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's look at the absolute here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hepatitis B virus is 0.042 microns in length; this is about as small as viruses get (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsrlyo20022/en/index2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsrlyo20022/en/index2.html&lt;/a&gt;). This is the standard for &quot;small&quot;. The smallest virus known to cause disease in humans is Parvovirus B19, which is 20 nm in diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best water filters you can get are rated at around 0.001 microns (NF membranes). According to the CDC, they have very high effectiveness against viruses (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/household_water_treatment.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/household_water_treatment.html&lt;/a&gt;). Some &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; get though because of a bad pore or mechanical weakness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But a perfect NF system will block all viruses (that aren't floating strands of DNA/RNA); imagine trying to push yourself through a hole 400x smaller than you. It's not going to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8291" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T02:01:58.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10116" CreationDate="2015-12-04T02:20:55.110" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big risk in geyser basins is that you can't see what's going on underground.  There are often latent hot springs or fumaroles: areas where hot water or steam has eroded the ground almost all the way to the surface.  If you step on one of these areas, you may break through the crust and find yourself immersed in boiling water or high-temperature steam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safest option when traveling in a geyser basin is to stay on the established trail or boardwalk.  Geothermal features do occasionally form under a trail, but it's not common, and trails are generally monitored for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to go off-trail and you're not familiar with the basin in question, the safest option is to only step where there are plants growing.  The presence of live plants is a sign that the ground is cool.  It doesn't mean you won't break through the crust, but it does mean that if you do, you'll only need to be rescued from a pit, rather than having your body recovered from a newly-formed hot spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T02:20:55.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2015-12-04T03:05:47.800" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid and needed to cross rivers or streams in cold weather with absolutely no preparation materials I found that going barefoot with trousers rolled up or off worked best. As soon as I crossed the river I'd use outer layered clothing to lightly dry off fast. I'd use the top part of my socks to thoroughly dry my feet (in between toes esp.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found that after a few minutes walking fast my feet would be glowing red with warmth and they stayed warm and completely dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8292" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T03:05:47.800" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2015-12-04T06:11:55.290" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I backpacked around Europe for 3 months, sleeping in a hammock almost the entire time. At first we slept side by side with our heads on the same end. It was horrible. So we switched to having our heads on opposite ends, with each person slanted, forming a tight X. It was comfortable, and we are planning on exchanging our bed for a hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8296" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T06:11:55.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5648" CreationDate="2015-12-04T06:37:06.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found wearing them to be very effective. Just put them on in the morning and do whatever you were going to do. I've put on hiking boots that were soaked from wet grass, or soaked &amp;amp; frozen from building &amp;amp; using an igloo. After you start walking your body heat will dry them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as others have mentioned: wool socks! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T06:37:06.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10141" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10142" CreationDate="2015-12-04T08:47:58.130" Score="5" ViewCount="187" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend and I want to go out for roving. However, this is our first time and we wonder if there's a list what we should consider before moving out? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Roving can be described in the most casual form as wandering across&#xA;  the countryside shooting at targets picked from random at various&#xA;  ranges and attitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T09:26:29.197" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:20:28.547" Title="What to consider before roving?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;roving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10141" CreationDate="2015-12-04T08:47:58.130" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are a few facts to hold in mind. Roving is much fun but you really have to take care about a few points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't shoot where other people enjoy their free-time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never shoot towards trails, lanes, paths, tracks and so on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never shoot without a proper backstop&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always use field tips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always bring your on roving target&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never shoot without a spacious sight around the target&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take this list just as an overview. I'll go on and describe every point a little further. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Don't shoot where other people enjoy their free-time&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid places where people frequently do free-time activities. This includes barbecue areas, swimming spots, popular stroll trails, crowded hiking trails and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course it's because of the safety. Even when you shoot from the crowd away, there is a chance that your arrow might hit something and goes uncontrollable crazy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second thing to consider is the reputation of the sport itself. There might be people who think it's a little bit weird to stroll around with a bow and arrows. They might be worried about their children and so on. You can do two things: give them a long explanation what archery is all about or you avoid encountering them. :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Never shoot towards trails&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be people on these trails. They maybe out for a walk etc. Okay, a walking person might be slow an therefore you've time to recognize them and interrupt your shot but think about mountain-bikers. They don't see you hidden in the bushes and race straight through your &quot;line&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Never shoot without a proper backstop&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't shoot if nothing is behind your target. Your arrow might just fly into other people in the forest/area. You don't have enough sight to check the whole area behind the target if it's completely open. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fEwxd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fEwxd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Guy shoots right&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above pictures shows a good spot. The arrows fly straight into the ground. It's extremely unlikely that they are going to be ricochets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Always use field tips&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course don't use any broadheads. You might injure wildlife if a arrow gets off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you damage them and your target for absolutely no reason. Spend this money on something useful like a field target :).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Always bring your own roving target&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a something I see way too often (even from experienced archers). Somebody goes out in the wood and shoots on dead stumps. Nothing to worry about, right? I mean they're dead?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they are dead, but you still should be worried. Such stumps provide habitat for an enormous amount of animals, mushrooms and plants. You are decreasing this living space just because you didn't want to spend 30 bucks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A field target looks more or less like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tSWIY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tSWIY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Field target&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's made from the same material as &quot;3D targets&quot; but can be carried around. You can hang in on a tree or place it on the floor. It's heavier and straightened on the bottom so that it doesn't roll away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also create your own DIY field target. Just wrap a lot of packaging tape around an old sleeping back or a crumpled bubble wrap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wQs0d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wQs0d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;DIY fiel target&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Never shoot without a spacious sight around the target&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A person collecting mushrooms, the biker, a hiker all of them can be in the forest and surprisingly well camouflaged. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to have a proper sight around the target so that you can't be surprised by a wild person. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:20:28.547" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:20:28.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10143" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-12-04T10:33:53.273" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T10:33:53.273" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T10:33:53.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10144" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-12-04T10:33:53.273" Score="0" Body="Roving can be described in the most casual form as wandering across the countryside shooting with a bow and arrows at targets picked from random at various ranges and attitudes. This type of practice has been around as long as bows, has enjoyed much popularity at times and spawned many Rover's Clubs." OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T13:18:10.310" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T13:18:10.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10172" CreationDate="2015-12-04T14:04:24.910" Score="8" ViewCount="4949" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you or one of your party has broken his leg (or something). How can you create a provisional splint or cast to bring you/him/her back to the next hospital etc.?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would be cool if it's made out of natural materials but common camping equipment is also suitable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-12-06T14:43:01.433" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T19:51:35.743" Title="How to create a cast or splint to aid a broken bone?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9943" CreationDate="2015-12-04T14:17:33.453" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to add something to the very good existing answers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While this would work to harvest a smaller animal, I would definitely&#xA;  not recommend it on any size game. With smaller game, a harvest would&#xA;  be an almost given however, the results may be a lengthy death for the&#xA;  game animal which wouldn't be the most ethical hunting practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/8199/user8199&quot;&gt;user8199&lt;/a&gt;'s &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9962/8060&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found a awesome resource which handles this topic pretty nicely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BIqze.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BIqze.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Slice&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Broadhead Vs Field Tip Arrows&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A common misconception amongst non bow hunters is that the arrow has a&#xA;  thin pointy tip, also known as a &quot;field tip&quot;. These are used for&#xA;  target shooting and NOTHING else regardless of what you might have&#xA;  seen or read in the news or on TV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A field tip is from a hunting point of view useless, it only inflicts&#xA;  pain but does not really kill any animals. The broad heads used for&#xA;  hunting on the other hand uses 2-4 razor sharp blades that slices&#xA;  artery's and vain's like a surgeons scalpel, which in turn renders a&#xA;  massive hemmorhage and the blood loss kills the animal within minutes&#xA;  after impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.europeanbowhunting.org/index.php/studies/broadhead-vs-feild-tip&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Europeanbowhunting.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060914132541AAafdSE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060914132541AAafdSE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://de.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100818110020AAOJj3M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://de.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100818110020AAOJj3M&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T07:09:12.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10147" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10148" CreationDate="2015-12-04T14:27:51.690" Score="5" ViewCount="881" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course I know that it's an arrowhead to shoot on targets with. However, I wonder how it's exactly defined. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what (exactly) is a field tip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T14:58:40.300" Title="What's a field tip?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10147" CreationDate="2015-12-04T14:27:51.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be surprising that this question is not as &quot;simple&quot; as it seems. As already stated a field tip is of course there to do target shooting. The crux is that not every &quot;target arrowhead&quot; is automatically a field tip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this kind of tip is defined through it's form. It has a pretty pointy conical shape:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xzxdj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xzxdj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Field tip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's often preferred to practice for the hunt. The reasons for this are pretty subjective in my opinion (and I doubt them) and that's why I don't cover them here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Overview&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVFT9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVFT9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Some tips&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Field points are similar to target points and have a distinct&#xA;  shoulder, so that missed outdoor shots do not become as stuck in&#xA;  obstacles such as tree stumps. They are also used for shooting&#xA;  practice by hunters, by offering similar flight characteristics and&#xA;  weights as broadheads, without getting lodged in target materials and&#xA;  causing excessive damage upon removal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T14:58:40.300" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T14:58:40.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10145" CreationDate="2015-12-04T14:28:11.017" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most effective splinting materials is &lt;strong&gt;birch bark&lt;/strong&gt;. Peel it off the tree just as you would if you were going to use it to make a canoe. It's very stiff, and it has some natural curl to it. Wrap it around the broken limb and you can use anything from triangular bandages to strips of torn clothing, duck tape, or even a sock to keep it in place. Wilderness first aid is all about improvising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5vUOp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5vUOp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other items you could use for a splint include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sticks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent Poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frame from internally framed back packs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Currogated sign board (You know those signs everyone puts up &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt; during an election? they make great splinting material, it's free, and it doesn't take up any room in your pack, and it folds easy to make a nice stiff channel. I know a few mountain guides who make it a standard item in their first aid kit.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T14:28:11.017" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10130" CreationDate="2015-12-04T15:03:13.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes there is. Soak the rope, then hang one end of the rope from a high point, and put a plumb bob on the other end. A plumb bob is just a fancy weight, you can use anything with some weight to pull the rope straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let the rope hang until it's dry. It will be mostly straight at that point, but it will never be perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T15:03:13.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10151" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10152" CreationDate="2015-12-04T15:28:41.670" Score="8" ViewCount="472" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would you tell, either from dismounting or from horseback if it's safe to jump an obstacle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you always assume a cross country obstacle will be safe to jump as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-12-06T04:38:10.067" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T04:38:10.067" Title="How to tell if it's safe to jump an obstacle on horseback?" Tags="&lt;horses&gt;&lt;hacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10151" CreationDate="2015-12-04T15:28:41.670" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, the best way to test if an obstacle (commonly called a jump) is safe to jump is to walk around it and give it a once over. This can be mounted or dismounted leading the horse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you want to look for is holes or unevenness in the ground - usually caused from jumping in the wet and the ground drying with deep horse prints in. You also want to look at the quality of the jump, is the wood (log, or telegraph pole etc) splintered badly? If so a miscalculation in the horses jump could lead to a cut. Rotten jumps can also be an issue, but usually they should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also worth bearing in mind is if the jump has a clear line between height and floor, but this I referring to the fact that a single bar floating in the air is hard for a horse to gauge height and distance on. This is because horses do not calculate depth perception as a human does, so if the jump has no height reference for the horse they may catch and trip. Most cross country jumps or fences have a diagonal bar, or are completely solid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the jump is excessively overgrown it is definitely worth checking by walking around it first as there can be hidden dangers in the over growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For ditches and the like it is worth checking, one how deep any water maybe, especially if it is dirty as you cannot tell how deep it is, and two how degraded the far side is. Horses can panic in a situation like this if they slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time a drop jump will be fine (imagine flat vertical drops cut into a small hill and jumping down them) but it's worth checking if the ground is slippery or waterlogged before descending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take into account the surroundings and anything that may cause your horse to be skittish or refuse the jump, you don't want to get thrown off into anything unpleasant or dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for cross country jumping, this will depend. It is safe to assume if you're on a regularly maintained course then the jumps will have been maintained. If you're out on a hack and simply happen across one, I would follow the above and look for signs of degradation in the jump, and check the terrain before jumping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bear in mind...&lt;/strong&gt; many jumps, fallen logs, fences etc that are not held in place by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jumps4yourhorse.co.uk/images/user/93-301013112811.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wings&lt;/a&gt; are often very solid! I once had a refusal at a telegraph pole jump and was dragged backwards over it smacking my jaw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T15:42:15.777" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T15:42:15.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10153" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10167" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:01:00.693" Score="3" ViewCount="10741" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know these scary stories where people had to eat their fellow sufferers after a plane crash or something. I don't know if there is even one of them true. I feel like it might result into more deficiencies than it would help your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes me wonder if it's &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; worth to eat human bodies if you are in such a situation? Is it better to stay hungry as long as possible? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like this needs a little more input. I really don't want to discuss any moral questions here. I just want to know if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The answer just might be: &quot;Yes, it's (&lt;em&gt;from an absolutely scientific point of view&lt;/em&gt;) recommended to eat human flesh.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To quote a user's comment: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... could it give you any diseases or make you vomit to the&#xA;  point of dehydration, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T19:41:48.790" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T13:09:35.100" Title="In an emergency situation, is it healthy to eat human flesh?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10155" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10156" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:09:39.083" Score="5" ViewCount="2508" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are in a Robinson Crusoe situation where we're stranded on a tropical island (lonely or not). We've to setup our camp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to determine the right piece of land? For example you might wanna have a hill covering the &quot;weather side&quot; and a water source nearby. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T17:12:37.510" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T22:05:34.250" Title="When stranded, how do I choose a place to camp on an island?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10155" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:29:36.863" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This depends greatly on the situation at hand&lt;/strong&gt; and there are enormous amounts of factors that will effect your decision to build in a specific location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you are in an extremely remote location and are more likely to be stranded for a long period of time, it may be more beneficial for you to seek shelter as a means of survival rather than focusing on gaining attention from rescuers. This may affect your decision on the &quot;right piece of land&quot; as much as weather can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you would want to construct your shelter in an area that can withstand mother nature but this depends on many factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Few Factors to consider&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather - Direction of incoming weather. Tropical storms? Hurricanes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Terrain - Is the island flat? Can you take shelter in a cave (beware of animals, thanks @njzk2)? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climate Zone - are you located in a temperate climate? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Resources - can you build a strong structure that can withstand the weather? If so, you may want to build in an area that can also help with visual distress signaling. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance to food sources - If the food is located on the other side of a 5 mile wide island, I would try to relocate to that vicinity. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distress Signals - As mentioned above, you may want to consider how you plan on creating distress signals. If the high point of the island where you set up your signal fire is on the other side of the island. Getting there in a hurry from your structure may not be fun. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastEditorUserId="8178" LastEditDate="2016-01-12T19:37:37.117" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T19:37:37.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10157" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10158" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:30:57.797" Score="4" ViewCount="1185" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to archery and bought a book. However, the author is often using the term &quot;bow shelf&quot; and I can't really imagine what this might be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what is a &quot;bow shelf&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T20:06:42.477" Title="What is a bow shelf?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;&lt;long-bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10157" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:30:57.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The Shelf&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is really simple. It's the little &quot;cut out&quot; just above the grip. This edge where you can &quot;lay down&quot; your arrow while you shoot. A picture might help: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gxqbx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gxqbx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bow shelf&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nKcNE.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nKcNE.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Shelf illustration&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: An &quot;arrow rest&quot; is something different!&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Design patterns&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some notes on the different designs which may occur: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are 3 basic types of shelf designs; flat, radiused and ridged.&#xA;  The diagrams below picture these 3 variations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvdPv.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvdPv.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Design patterns&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The radiused shelf is the most common on both longbows and recurves.&#xA;  As illustrated in the picture, the radius reduces the amount of&#xA;  arrow-to-bow contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The flat shelf is also relatively common, especially on some older&#xA;  styled recurves. When a bow has this style of shelf it is necessary to&#xA;  use an elevated rest to get the fletching clearance necessary for good&#xA;  arrow flight. One trick that has been used in this situation is to&#xA;  place a thin narrow strip of leather under a rug rest and continue it&#xA;  up the sightwindow under the strike plate. This will allow more&#xA;  clearance and therefore help with flight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ridged shape, I believe, is the design that offers the best&#xA;  clearance, since the arrow-to-bow contact is at its absolute minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stickbow.com/FEATURES/BOWBUILDING/shelf.CFM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stickbow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-04T20:06:42.477" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T20:06:42.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10155" CreationDate="2015-12-04T17:37:28.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shelter is by far the most important &lt;em&gt;initial&lt;/em&gt; consideration. Since you are stranded there anyway, you will have the opportunity to move your camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you specify a tropical island, you want shelter from the sun more than anything else. You won't freeze to death in the tropics if you aren't on a mountain top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in order of importance based on time before it becomes critical:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) find shelter from the sun (that's going to be your strongest and most consistent element you need to get out of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) find a place to shelter you from wind and rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) figure out clothing (remember the sun?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) find a source of fresh water (rain ketching is good but inconsistent out of the rainy seasons)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5) food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6) nutrients - you won't starve from lack of proper nutrition, but you will weaken over longer periods of time (measured in months and years) This is not an emergency survival need, this is a long term health need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;7) medicine - I am placing this dead last because you either have your meds or you do not and there is nothing you can do about this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T17:37:28.943" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10153" CreationDate="2015-12-04T19:08:28.130" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Humans actually have a gene which protects them from cannibalism, according to some scientists, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;prion disease&lt;/a&gt; acquired in prehistoric populations through cannibalism represents a likely explanation of the high prevalence of people with one mutated and one regular prion protein gene, which makes it possible for them to eat their own species without getting sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question really comes down to morals and ethics. There are numerous documented incidents where people in desperate situations have resorted to cannibalism, a famous example was a rugby team whose plane crashed while flying over the Andes, they were stranded at an elevation of 3,600m (11,800ft) for months, and resorted to eating the dead in order to stay alive. They actually made a movie about it in 1993 called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106246/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alive&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Photo of the survivors of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Andes_flight_disaster&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1972 Andes flight disaster&lt;/a&gt; when they were finally found 72 days after the crash.&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XnCz1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XnCz1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You wanna talk about survivors guilt, many of these guys have been haunted for over 40years for eating pieces of their friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Human meat is meat, sickness caused by cannibalism today is actually rare and known as Kuru, which is usually contracted from eating human brains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been many cultures which have been known to eat human flesh, some still do. In recent times, aside from the tribes in Papua New Guinea, you also have the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuSS0iiFyo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cannibal War Lords of Liberia&lt;/a&gt;. Cannibalism is apparently still a problem in Liberia.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're eating cooked meat, then cannibalism is pretty safe, and will keep you alive and fed. The real question is, could you live with yourself afterwards?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-05T16:43:31.630" LastActivityDate="2015-12-05T16:43:31.630" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9922" CreationDate="2015-12-04T23:29:46.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;As far as anyone knows&lt;/em&gt;, no one has done a triple hike of each of the Triple Crown of Hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the three trail conservatories keep very rigorous records; instead they make estimates of trail usage based on trail registers and permit applications. Someone can do the full PCT and the PCTA would never know that they reached the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Triple Crown is more of a popularly conceived achievement than a recognized sporting feat; it was popularized in the early 90s. Only ALDHA-WEST keeps records as to who has completed it, and that pretty much its claim to fame. As far I know, they don't have any records of triples, just doubles. But again, there are Triple Crowners who don't know about or bother with ALDHA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's entirely possible an out-of-the-loop hiker has down three Triple Crowns. But there's no good evidence of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyways...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The evidence for anyone completing 3 Triple Crowns is scant. If someone has done 3 Triple Crowns, and people know about him or her, that hiker would be famous like Andrew Skurka or Scott Williamson. The fact that this question is being asked just shows that the answer is probably &quot;0&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8291" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T23:29:46.380" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10132" CreationDate="2015-12-04T23:34:00.510" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've spent many years hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains and California, and animals I have seen more than once or regularly include black bears, deer, elk, moose, wild turkey, beaver, mountain goats and longhorn sheep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen mountain lions, although they are plentiful, but they keep themselves hidden. My aunt's husband says he wanted to photograph one once, so he hiked up into the mountains of Colorado and camped out at a place where he knew he had the best chance. He camped out there for a few days. On the third day, he was sitting outside reading a book when he saw a movement. He looked up, saw a cougar looking at him, he reached over for his camera and had just enough time to take a photo of its hind legs as it ran away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2015-12-04T23:34:00.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10063" CreationDate="2015-12-05T01:43:16.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the location and temperature of the water. &lt;strong&gt;Generally, speckled trout can be found in shallow bays and estuaries near grass flats and oyster beds.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/strout/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Texas Parks and Wildlife Department suggests:&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;shallower bays and estuaries with oyster beds and seagrass beds that attract prey species&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oldschoolfishingsecrets.com/saltwater/speckledtroutfishing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;other sources&lt;/a&gt; have more specific suggestions depending on the style of fishing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Drift your boat over sandy flats, oyster beds, rocky bottoms, and wrecks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speckled trout are attracted to bait fish which typically steer clear of wide open sandy bottems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-12-05T01:43:16.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10165" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10186" CreationDate="2015-12-05T03:16:22.000" Score="15" ViewCount="907" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by two comments on this site: Sue, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9800/what-are-these-bulges-are-they-harming-the-tree&quot;&gt;What are these bulges? Are they harming the tree?&lt;/a&gt; and Erik, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10123/what-are-the-dangerous-animals-in-southern-nevada&quot;&gt;What are the dangerous animals in Southern Nevada&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Sue: &quot;Have you been to the Blue Hills, south of Boston? ..... They have a wildlife museum with an exhibit called 'most dangerous creature on the mountain.' It's a mirror!...&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Erik: &quot;You left out the most dangerous animal of them all.... People&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've thought about how to get a handle, quantitatively, on how dangerous people are in the Great Outdoors.  My first idea was to use the U.S. National Park System as a proxy for the great outdoors -- to paraphrase Willie Sutton, it's where the data is.  But that leaves out Canada, Great Britain and the rest of the world. Also, I think before I go much further, I should ask for answers on frequencies of various crimes in the outdoors, &lt;em&gt;ideally&lt;/em&gt; from whatever &lt;em&gt;data sets&lt;/em&gt; people are familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Correction:&lt;/strong&gt;  Oops! @Sue informs me that: &quot;The Blue Hills museum exhibit was about the most dangerous predators to the animals in the area, not the most dangerous to humans.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-31T18:51:00.457" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T18:51:00.457" Title="What are the most frequent crimes perpetrated by people against people in the Great Outdoors?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10153" CreationDate="2015-12-05T15:22:02.643" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a good question, and there are actually some scientific issues to consider.  I think morally we can all agree that it would be wrong to kill someone to eat them.  But let's consider the situation where you're starving, and someone has just died in front of you due to no fault of your own.  Is it &quot;safe&quot; to eat them?  Will it benefit you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first issue to consider is that most disease organisms are specific to the species they infect, or at least have a high affinity to a small number of species.  Therefore the more related you are to the dead animal, the more likely you are to pick up a disease from it.  Of course there are general pathogens too, so cooking the meat is always a good idea.  However, with something that can host the same diseases and parasites you can, like another human, the danger is even higher.  You really really want to cook the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another less obvious issue is what parts to eat.  Some organs contain high concentrations of hormones that can disrupt our normal processes if taken into the body as a whole.  The exact composition of most hormones is species-specific, although they will still have similar broad affects across species.  For example, insulin for use by human diabetics used to be harvested from pigs.  On the large tree of life here on earth, humans and pigs are quite close, so it worked, although probably not quite as well as true human insulin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular, avoid glands like the pituitary and thyroid.  Such parts are even carefully not included in beef for human consumption, for example.  Eating human thyroids would likely be even worse than eating cow thyroids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would definitely avoid central nervous system parts, like the brain and spine.  The chances are rare of the dead human in front of you carrying a prion disease, but this is where the prions we know about apparently concentrate.  Note that prions are not destroyed by cooking, so you can't make prion-infested tissue safe for consumption in the back country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may sound far fetched, and it is, but it has happened.  Look up a disease called &lt;i&gt;kuru&lt;/i&gt;.  Some time apparently in the 1800s at least on person in Papua New Guinea got infected by a particular prion.  Due to the cannibalistic customs in that area, his flesh was eaten, more people were infected, their flesh eaten, etc, until kuru was a serious problem by the min 1900s.  Once cannibalism in that area stopped, no new cases of kuru occurred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if you're starving, you're facing death by other means too, so it's a tradeoff of probabilities.  What I'd probably do is eat the obvious muscle tissue, after proper cooking of course.  Most of the edible flesh on the legs and arms is muscle.  Unless death by starvation is imminent, I'd stay away from other parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-12-05T15:22:02.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10165" CreationDate="2015-12-06T04:17:00.353" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common crimes committed in the great outdoors are vandalism and littering. Nature is the number one victim, but when it's &lt;em&gt;your&lt;/em&gt; backcountry it tends to feel like a personal attack. There are some crimes committed specifically against people. Petty theft does happen, but you're just as likely to have your stuff trashed as you are to lose it by theft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part people get along in the backcountry, when you hear about confrontations it's usually between hunters; either disputes about who shot an animal, who has the 'rights' to shoot a particular animal several people have been tracking, or people getting upset because someone scared of their prey or they're in someone else's hunting grounds. They don't typically escalate too far, mostly because everyone is carrying a gun, but fist fights aren't unheard of. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other disputes as well, in my home town, in the winter, you've got two groups of people: the skiers, and the sledders (snowmobilers). They have a mutual agreement over who gets which valleys to play in, really the skiers only have one valley that they restrict to skiing only, they groom and maintain a double track nordic ski trail that goes back to a couple cabins deep in the woods. The sledders have their own valley that they play in, and groom for snowmobiles, and the two clubs respect each other's terrain and stick to their own trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, a number of years back there was a new guy in town who went exploring and tore up the ski trail on his sled. He go caught by one of the prominent ski club members, who happens to be closer to 7ft tall than he is to 6ft. There are a couple versions of the story, but my favourite is the one where the large viking of a man clothes-lines the sledder right of his sled, words are exchanged, and the sledder ends of getting decked in the face and laid out in the snow. Shortly after that, the ski cabin got torched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the kind of vandalism people are most worried about, people breaking into other peoples trapping, sledding or ski cabins deep in the backcountry, vandalized them, or making a mess and leaving garbage all over the place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will offer a word of caution to tourists who venture into the backcountry outside of parks or publicly maintained trails: The locals take great offence to outsiders helping themselves to their trails and 'facilities'. If you aren't in a park, then all the trail improvements, maintenance, and structures built in the back country are done by the locals, which takes a lot of time, effort, and money. They aren't intended for public use, or abuse, and you risk a good thrashing for 'trespassing' (even though legally it isn't, but there isn't any law enforcement out there, so...). Show respect, and you will receive respect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-06T23:41:14.790" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T23:41:14.790" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10145" CreationDate="2015-12-06T06:21:05.853" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having had to splint my own broken wrist in the wild, I do not suggest wasting time going for &quot;natural&quot; solutions to the problem.  Sure, if something natural is there and better than what you have, go for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending how far way, and how mobile the patient needs to be, will depend how much time you spend improvising. In my case a 30 minute walk through tracked bush (or 3 hours on the MTB track), pain relief in the car and 45minute drive to a medical centre I made getting mobile my priority at the expense of comfort,  If I had been days from help, getting the splint comfortable would have been more important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things you have that make good splints &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In my case - bike pump. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Notebook/Magazine that is incredibly strong&#xA;when rolled around the arm/leg.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping Mat - also very easy to cut&#xA;to size and shape needed  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frame pieces from internal frame backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Parts of a 4 piece fishing rod. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Side wall of a bucket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tent poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrap the limb in plenty of padding, then bandage the splint firmly, but make sure there are no pressure points, as these will become painful very quickly. Swelling is a real risk, set a timer on your watch/phone etc, for 20-30 minutes, and check the extremities for circulation and tightness of bandage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are dealing with a break that needs reducing, take you time and get it right first time. The patient will not thank you for doing it, they will never forgive you for needing to do it twice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T06:21:05.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10145" CreationDate="2015-12-06T08:56:49.633" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A cast is meant to promote long-term healing of a broken bone, and getting a cast typically requires a doctor in a definitive care environment. A splint is the preferred treatment for fractures and sprains in the field. The purpose of a splint is to immobilize the limb around the injury. A good splint should be well padded, comfortable for the patient, and sufficiently tight to immobilize the joint without cutting off circulation distal to the splint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you should apply the splint depends on where the injury is. If the injury is on the bone, you should immobilize the joints distal (further from the core of the body) and proximal (closer to the core of the body) to the injury. If the injury is on the joint, you should immobilize the bones distal and proximal to the injury. The idea is to prevent movement at the site of the injury by immobilizing the limb around it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Before splinting&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fracture types&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is a fracture, determine if the fracture is closed or compound, and check for angulation. A closed fracture is one where the bone does not break the skin; a compound fracture is when the bone has broken the skin. An angulated fracture is one where the bone is no longer straight. A compound fracture will almost always be the result of an angulated fracture, but a closed fracture can also be angulated and is at risk of becoming open. An angulated fracture can pinch nerves or blood vessels, resulting in intense pain at the fracture, reduced sensation distal to the injury, and loss of circulation. Therefore, it is recommended to apply traction in line (TIL) if possible. TIL involves pulling slowly but firmly to separate the bones at the point of the fracture, then returning the limb to its anatomical position. If you meet resistance, do not force it. It can sometimes take a couple minutes of gentle traction. TIL should not be applied to a severely angulated or shattered bone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TIL can be used with arms and lower legs. A femur fracture is much more serious due to the potential for blood loss from the femoral artery. Once traction is applied to a fractured femur it must not be removed until the patient reaches definitive care, and therefore requires a traction splint. Traction splints are difficult to improvise in the field, and there is some disagreement among wilderness medicine educators on whether traction splints should be applied as first aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wound treatment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once traction has been applied if necessary/possible, treat any cuts or bleeding around the injury as you would for any other soft tissue injury. If there is an open fracture, it's imperative to thoroughly clean the wound to avoid infection, especially if your evacuation is likely to take a long time. Infection management is often overlooked in first aid, and a little time taken to thoroughly clean and dress a wound up front will pay dividends later. If any portion of bone is still exposed, cover it with a sterile dressing, ideally moistened with iodine solution, and take extra care to thoroughly pad around the bone when building the splint later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Patient assessment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is somewhat beyond the scope of this question, but patient care extends far beyond just fixing the most obvious problem. Make sure to check the patient for any other injuries &amp;ndash; an obvious and painful injury like a broken bone can distract the patient from less obvious but potentially threatening injuries. Learn the patient assessment system, monitor your patient's vital signs, and make sure you aren't overlooking any other problems. You also need to make sure to manage your patient's environment while treating their injuries. Don't get so focused on building a splint that you don't notice that your patient is shivering and rapidly progressing towards hypothermia. Getting on a pad, and under a tarp or in a tent before progressing to splinting is always a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Splinting&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Arm splint&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Preparing materials&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After treating any wounds, you can now start building a splint. Remember that the splint should be comfortable, but also needs to completely immobilize above and below the point of injury. Make sure the patient's fingers remain accessible so that you can check their circulation and sensation after applying the splint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need a semi-solid structure to form the splint, as well as a lot of padding and wrapping materials. Arm splints and leg splints are generally approached differently, and you always have to improvise for the specific situation. I'll start by describing a standard arm splint. For almost any outing where I know I'll be more than an hour or two from definitive care I carry a SAM splint, which is a thin piece of aluminum covered by foam. The splint becomes very rigid when bent along the long axis to form a V, but is pliable enough when flat to conform to the shape of an arm and wrap around elbows. You can improvise with other materials &amp;ndash; try to find wide flat objects rather than small narrow objects like tent poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5YRej.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5YRej.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;SAM splint&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For padding you can typically use extra clothes. Use the patient's clothes if they're available, because you probably won't get yours back! Fluffy items like fleece or down jackets are good &amp;ndash; they're comfortable, can conform to unusual shapes, and will also prevent the limb from getting cold (since it won't fit in a jacket very well once it's all splinted up!). For wrapping materials I usually carry a couple of ACE bandages in my first aid kit, but in a pinch you could tear up any stretchy fabric like a T-shirt. The wrapping material should be stretchy and wide, to distribute pressure evenly. Don't use cord, as it will apply pressure in a very narrow line, causing discomfort and possible reduction of circulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mc9ns.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mc9ns.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ACE wrap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also need to fashion a sling. Triangle bandages (a.k.a. cravats) are commonly used for this, or can be improvised from a T-shirt or other materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Building the splint&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have your supplies ready, you can start building the splint. Size the SAM splint or other rigid material to the person's arm. You want the rigid material to cover the section you're immobilizing. For the forearm, you would put the splint up to the person's fingers and just below the elbow. For the elbow, you would place the elbow at a comfortable angle, then go from part way down the forearm to part way up the upper arm. You can use the patient's good arm to size the splint, assuming they're roughly symmetrical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now get your padding prepared and fold it such that the SAM splint or other rigid material is covered and the excess padding is hanging off the long side. Gently place the splint on the bottom side of the arm, then wrap the excess padding around the top. If it doesn't go all the way around, or the padding seems too thin, add more. Make sure to use the padding to fill any gaps between the arm and the rigid material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the padding is in place, wrap the wrapping material around the entire splint bundle, proximal to distal (from near the body towards the fingers). Check with your patient as you go to ensure that the pressure feels comfortable. You don't want the limb to be to flex within the splint, but you also don't want to cut off circulation. You can check capillary refill in their fingernails by pressing on the whites and seeing how long it takes to recolorize in order to monitor circulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The splint should now have that section secured. You next need to create a sling to fix the arm in place so it won't droop or swing around. Tie a knot at the tip of a triangular bandage. The knotted end should wrap around the elbow, and the long ends of the triangle should be drawn up around the shoulders and tied off behind the neck. For your patient's comfort, place some padding on their neck under the knot &amp;ndash; a spare hat or glove works well here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KYo6H.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KYo6H.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sling with cravat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, wrap a second sling around the person's torso (under the working armpit and around the disabled arm) to prevent the arm from swinging forward. Your patient should be able to stand up, lean forward, and rotate their torso without any movement of the disabled arm. Check again to ensure good circulation at the finger tips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example of a well-built full splint:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/osuadventureeducation/9309885639/in/album-72157634682819673/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMtDk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Arm splint&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lower leg splint&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Splinting a lower leg fracture requires very similar supplies to an arm splint, with slight variations. The same principles of applying TIL and treating any soft tissue injuries apply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than a smaller rigid material like a SAM splint, you can use a standard sleeping pad. In my opinion, the leg splint is a bit easier than the arm splint, but it's harder to explain with words &amp;ndash; see the photo below for step-by-step pictures, from this nice &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildernessmedicinenewsletter.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/lower-leg-splint/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article from the wilderness medicine newsletter&lt;/a&gt;. You will need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A foam sleeping pad&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At least three (and preferably 5) pieces of webbing, cravats, or other wide material to wrap around the splint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A longer piece of webbing, accessory cord, rope, or cravat to secure the bottom of the splint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of padding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with the arm splint, the padding should be used to fill any gaps between the pad and the leg. You should also remove the patient's shoes and socks to allow easy access to check circulation in their feet, but keep the socks handy so you can cover the tip of the toe when you don't need direct access &amp;ndash; don't want them to get hypothermia!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is to use the pad to form the rigid exterior of the splint, folding the end of the pad over the foot to form a secure bottom section:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m93SN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m93SN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Leg splint directions&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A patient with a leg fracture will typically be unable to walk without assistance. In the case of a closed inline fracture they may be able to walk, but this increases the risk of completely breaking the bone and causing a much worse angulated fracture. Litter evacuation is preferred for a fractured leg. I've written an answer about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5924/makeshift-stretchers/5928#5928&quot;&gt;makeshift stretchers&lt;/a&gt; (which is really about why you should just wait for somebody with a real litter to arrive, but I digress). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;A word on equipment&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilderness medicine is all about being creative, and being selective in the tools you bring with you. It's possible to build a splint using bark from a tree, or your hiking poles, or any other of a number of objects. It's possible to make a wrap by cutting up a shirt. However, every minute you spend hunting around the forest for the right stick to make a crappy splint out of is another minute of daylight lost in what just became a much longer day for you. In more austere environments there may be no natural materials to use at all, and you may need every piece of gear you have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked for natural materials or common equipment, but I would implore you to make a few simple pieces of first aid equipment part of your common equipment. Especially when car camping, there is no excuse not to carry them. There are a number of relatively light-weight pieces of first aid equipment you can carry which can be used for many applications and will save you a lot of trouble if you need them. A sleeping pad, a SAM splint, a couple ACE wraps, a couple cravats, some coflex tape, and some gauze rolls are easy to carry and can be used to address almost any injury that you have a hope of addressing in the field. The further you are from definitive care and the less you can afford to tie up critical equipment in treating injuries, the more sense it makes to carry these simple pieces of equipment. All of these supplies can be purchased by anybody for very little cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Final thoughts&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Splinting is a relatively simple yet effective way to improve patient outcomes in common wilderness injuries. However, it does take practice to build good splints &amp;ndash; you don't want to be learning for the first time when you or your buddy breaks an arm. At the &lt;em&gt;very least&lt;/em&gt; you should practice these skills yourself, either at home or when you have some downtime around camp. You'll get a much better sense for what works well when you've both built and been in an improvised splint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're interested in becoming more prepared to deal with wilderness emergencies, take a wilderness medicine course. Wilderness First Aid is a 20ish hour course offered all over the US and other countries. You can take it over a weekend, often for under $200, and learn in detail how to build a splint and so much more. The 80ish hour Wilderness First Responder course is also offered in many places, can be taken over one week, and further expands your scope of care and confidence in responding to wilderness injuries. There's a lot which doesn't fit into the scope of this question which I would do if I were helping somebody with a fracture or sprain, starting with the patient assessment through all the steps of treating the injury and monitoring them during evacuation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Note: This information is based on my training as a wilderness first responder and the accompanying textbooks and hands-on practice. I did double-check my statements here against my textbook before posting, but reading medical advice on the internet is no substitute for proper medical training. This information is provided as-is, with no guarantee of correctness or effectiveness. You alone are responsible for ensuring an appropriate level of training for the activities you engage in, including administering first aid to yourself and others. Neither Stack Exchange, the author, nor any other party shall be responsible for any harm that comes to you or others by actions related to any content in this post.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2015-12-06T19:51:35.743" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T19:51:35.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10173" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10175" CreationDate="2015-12-06T10:38:27.620" Score="3" ViewCount="618" Body="&lt;p&gt;In movies and other resource there are often &quot;long bows&quot; mentioned. It has become pretty &quot;legendary&quot; imho. Although I know how it's shaped etc. I wanted to know what exactly makes a bow a longbow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T11:33:26.100" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T11:33:26.100" Title="What is a longbow?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;long-bows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10173" CreationDate="2015-12-06T10:38:27.620" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Introduction&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question is a surprisingly complicated topic due to the fact that longbows have such a great history and different styles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longbow#Legacy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The longbow and its historical significance, arising from its&#xA;  effective use by the English and Welsh during the Hundred Years' War,&#xA;  have created a lasting legacy for the longbow, which has given its&#xA;  name to modern military equipment(.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll cover the current situation around modern longbows in this question. I feel like that any other topic should be part of a more detailed question (for example &quot;What is a self-bow?&quot; etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VFCv6l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VFCv6l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Longbow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Basic definition&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;em&gt;A design that when strung the bowstring doesn't touch any other part of the bow but the string nocks.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll show the definition of the World Archery Federation here. It has to be clear that this doesn't fully cover the whole &quot;longbow topic&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bow shall correspond to the traditional form (shape) of a longbow&#xA;  (or American Flat Bow) conforming to a &lt;strong&gt;limb design that when strung&#xA;  the bowstring shall not touch any other part of the bow but the string&#xA;  nocks.&lt;/strong&gt; The bow may be a two piece take-down, having two sections of&#xA;  similar length (take-down within the grip/arrow rest area), and may be&#xA;  made from any material or combination of materials. The shape of the&#xA;  grip (grip area only) is not restricted and centershot is allowed. The&#xA;  bow shall be free from protrusions, sights or sight marks, marks or&#xA;  blemishes or laminated pieces (within the bow window area) which could&#xA;  be of use in aiming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://worldarchery.org/Rules&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WA rules&lt;/a&gt; Book 4 - 22.5.1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please be aware that this definition is used for the modern, competitive longbow discipline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the one thing every different longbow has in common is, that the string doesn't touch the limb in any way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQTfU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQTfU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Longbow tip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Example of a modern longbow&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/goqEb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/goqEb.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bear Montana&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The modern longbow is pretty well used in todays competitive archery or even to hunt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's investigate the &quot;Bear Archery Montana&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The black Hard-Rock Maple riser features limbs overlaid with clear&#xA;  white maple, and backed and faced with high strength black fiberglass.&#xA;  The tips are handcrafted and layered with black and white fiberglass.&#xA;  The leather “shoot off the shelf” arrow rest allows for clean arrow&#xA;  flight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can state that the longbow is glass laminated and has a shelf. It's not shot over the back of the hand. Also, the &quot;laminated design&quot; itself is also something to hold in mind. More traditional definitions of the longbow (like the selfbow) discipline prohibit this kind of concept!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGpYMQ4MuE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The bow in action&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mds9r.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mds9r.png&quot; alt=&quot;Montana&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize it we've learned that the longbow is a really big topic. However, when it comes down to the modern definition of this bow type, we can see that it's not the &quot;traditional medieval&quot; thing one might assume. It's a fully classified, serious discipline!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longbow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia of course&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rulebook.worldarchery.org/index2.php?sez=1759&amp;amp;up=4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WAF Rules&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_bow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Selfbow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_longbow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;English longbow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-06T20:56:46.873" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T20:56:46.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10173" CreationDate="2015-12-06T17:11:12.697" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with the longbow discussion is that it changes from country to country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example in the UK the longbow and american flatbow are two separate categories. In the UK a longbow is described as such:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bow shall be the traditional longbow made from wood, either &quot;self&quot;, &quot;backed&quot;, or &quot;laminated&quot; with cambered (stacked) belly and horn nocks. It shall be not less than five feet in length for an arrow of less than 27 inches and; not less than five feet six inches in length for a 27 inch or longer arrow, this being measured along the back between the string nocks. At no point shall the depth of the bow, measured from back to belly, be less than 5/8 (five eights) of the width of the bow at the same section. The bow may carry no support for the arrow. Bows of bamboo, constructed in conformity with the above, shall be permitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gnasfield.co.uk/fieldrules2002.htm&quot;&gt;GNAS Field Rules&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-12-06T17:11:12.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10180" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15846" CreationDate="2015-12-07T11:20:25.737" Score="12" ViewCount="6919" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can one cross a barbed wire fence safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assumptions: Height of the person: 5.8 (172cm) Distance between barb wires is roughly 9 inches (20-22 cm), Fence is 4 to 4.5 (120-140cm) feet tall, not electrified. The guy is alone, hauling a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets not start getting into should one cross a barbed wire fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-08T16:17:06.740" LastActivityDate="2020-08-15T16:01:20.847" Title="How can a barbed wire fence be crossed safely?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10181" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10182" CreationDate="2015-12-07T11:29:12.887" Score="12" ViewCount="1150" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walk a lot in Germany and I found many stones much like this on my route this weekend:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L4zCN.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L4zCN.png&quot; alt=&quot;Strange stone&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pLY43.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pLY43.png&quot; alt=&quot;Strange stone 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/maps/dir/50.473537,7.5960769/50.4692985,7.6025537/@50.4714785,7.5983186,16.5z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e2?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this particular section of the walk&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the stones have two digit numbers. The one shown has 3. The top letters are &quot;BP&quot; and the bottom letters are &quot;POST&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought that they might be mile/kilo-stones. However, they appeared regularly within 50 meters of each other with different numbers. The numbers written were also not consecutive. It can also not refer to altitude, because the numbers do not correlate. Perhaps it is a proprietary system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8307" LastEditorUserId="8307" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T11:59:09.813" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T13:07:52.440" Title="What is this marker stone" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10181" CreationDate="2015-12-07T13:02:14.840" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are markers of the former &quot;Deutsche Bundespost&quot;. They show where to find cable trays. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Manchmal stehen sie unscheinbar am Wegesrand: Markierungssteine aus&#xA;  Beton mit einem eingegossenen BP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diese Markierungssteine markieren eine Kabeltrasse der Deutschen&#xA;  Bundespost, der Vorgängerbehörde der heutigen AGs Deutsche Post,&#xA;  Deutsche Telekom und Deutsche Postbank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freely interpreted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes standing inconspicuous on the wayside: concreted marking stones with a moulded &quot;BP&quot; inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These stones mark cable trays of the &quot;Deutschen Bundespost&quot;, the predecessor of todays &quot;Deutsche Post AG&quot;, &quot;Deutsche Telekom&quot; and &quot;Deutsche Postbank&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heimatarchiv-worringen.de/index.php/alle-artikel/denkmal-des-monats/56-2014-03-26&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heimatarchiv&lt;/a&gt;&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Das BP steht für die Bundespost, genauer die Deutsche Bundespost. Der&#xA;  Stein markiert den Verlauf der Telefonleitung von Köln nach Dormagen.&#xA;  Diese wurde vor Jahren vom damaligen Fernmeldeamt der Deutschen&#xA;  Bundespost verlegt und der Verlauf mit diesem Stein markiert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freely interpreted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;BP&quot; stand for &quot;Bundespost&quot;, the &quot;Deutsche Bundespost&quot; to be specific. The stone marks the way of the telephone cable from Cologne to &quot;Dormagen&quot;. It was laid from the telecommunication center of the &quot;Deutschen Bundespost&quot; and its course marked with these stones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Ew6d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Ew6d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Marker stone&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geschichtsspuren.de/forum/markierungen-steine-der-bundespost-t14523-10.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.geschichtsspuren.de/forum/markierungen-steine-der-bundespost-t14523-10.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.opencaching.de/viewcache.php?cacheid=176262&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.opencaching.de/viewcache.php?cacheid=176262&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T13:07:52.440" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T13:07:52.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13238" CreationDate="2015-12-07T13:35:03.367" Score="2" ViewCount="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll travel to the Planneralm next summer to shoot a little 3D. However, we've a person in the group which is a little bit concerned about the height (she has a shortness of breath if she goes too fast too high). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How high is the top-most point of the (3D-course-)trail? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T13:05:35.903" Title="Highest point of the Planneralm 3D course (Robin Hood land)" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2015-12-07T15:08:21.373" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The implications of trespassing and or damaging another's property not withstanding. One can spread the wires by placing a long enough stick between the top two wires and twist, this will pull the top and bottom wire toward one another increasing the gap to the wires below this pair. If there are four wires, you can repeat with the bottom pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stick needs to be long enough to get &quot;stuck&quot; behind the other wires when you push it to perpendicular to the wires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T15:08:21.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2015-12-07T17:01:21.903" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd climb the fence at a post. First, place /throw you backpack over the fence as climbing with it on is significantly more difficult, especially if heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climb the fence, with at least one hand on the fence post and your feet one the wires, in between the barbs, as close to the post as reasonable. Being close to the fencepost minimizes the chance of you breaking the fence and is more stable. With your other hand either hold the wire, being careful not to grab a barb, or put both hands on the fencepost. When you are sufficiently high swing one leg over being careful not to catch yourself on the top barbs and place your foot in the fence on the other side. Either twist your foot around or put your heel in on the wire if you are less flexible. Carefully get your other leg over and climb or jump down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method is easiest for lowish fences where you can just take one step on the fence and get your leg over. I wouldn't do it for anything over about 4 1/2 ft as the top of the fence may get quite unstable when you put your weight on it at that height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disadvantages of this approach is that it is quite easy to catch your leg/crotch on the top wire and rip your trousers as you don't want to climb higher than necessary (climbing higher is less stable). Also if you feel you are losing balance don't grab the barbed wire, jump off. It may sound obvious but your natural reaction is to steady yourself and the wire is generally the most obvious thing to grab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T17:01:21.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10165" CreationDate="2015-12-07T17:10:01.960" Score="10" Body="&lt;h3&gt;tl;dr&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be smart, be aware, and you don't need to worry very much about people, but they can be a risk factor depending on where you go and what you're doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10170/7995&quot;&gt;ShemSeger's answer&lt;/a&gt; sums up my general impression of the types of crimes/interactions that I would be most concerned about, ie vandalism and/or &amp;quot;territorial&amp;quot; disputes. My comment that you referenced was mostly to stress:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;That animal encounters where the animal is likely to attack you are rare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is often the things we don't worry about&lt;/strong&gt;, other people being one of them, &lt;strong&gt;that can get us into trouble.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;People go into the wilderness for all kinds of reasons, so I think it stands to reason that all kinds of people will go into the wilderness.&lt;/strong&gt; In general the proportion of honest citizens to criminals you meet on any given day, in the city, heavily balances toward the honest citizens (unless you're some kind of criminal ring leader). That means that &lt;strong&gt;I would expect that the vast majority of people you meet in the wilderness are good, honest people, but there will invariably be some criminals&lt;/strong&gt;. Also, the wilderness offers reduced oversight by law enforcement so it will attract a certain kind of criminal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To a certain degree criminality in the wilderness will be affected by what type of crimes you're talking about. Does underage drinking count? Does negligence leading to a major wildfire count? Does intentional arson count? etc... There are some crimes like attempted/successful homicide and/or sexual assault that clearly count so I'll highlight some of those statistics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rural Northern California I know Mexican Cartels, some Native Americans, and some locals have been known to grow marijuana illegally on Forest Service land. My brother-in-law has been shot at multiple times while performing drug interdiction duties. My father has been warned off land by people in no uncertain terms while hunting. Furthermore he has seen bowls of anti-freeze scattered about the woods to kill any animals that might be inclined to forage on the illegal crops. This is a danger, but mostly to hunters because recreational hikers will rarely venture far enough off the beaten path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full disclosure I'm not a woman, nor a particularly attractive man. I don't worry about sexual assault but according &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/CA/Yosemite-National-Park-Demographics.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;to this website&lt;/a&gt; there is an above average risk of sexual assault in Yosemite National Park (159 vs national average of 100). They also give a risk of 294 vs the national average of 100 for physical assault in YNP. I don't know if those numbers are accurate, but if they are then people are clearly a threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prm.nau.edu/prm346/wsj_park_danger_article.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; that may or may not be accurate states this about YNP (danger rating&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; 10.3):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the three women hikers murdered outside park boundaries last year made headlines, theft from park hotel rooms is more common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what they say about Everglades (danger rating 10.8):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not the notorious gators that pose the biggest hazards here -- there has been only one unprovoked attack in the last 53 years -- it's car break-ins. Indeed, the park has an unusually high number of larcenies per visitor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to that website Lake Mead, NV&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; has the &amp;quot;highest rate of serious crime of the parks we looked at&amp;quot; and has a danger rating of 13.6.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In closing here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123679&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report from ABC News&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Just about any type of crime that goes on in any urban environment happens out here,&amp;quot; said Dale Antonich, chief ranger at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, located in Nevada and Arizona.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We've had rapes, we've had murders in the park, we've had bodies dumped in the park,&amp;quot; Antonich said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yet, as troubling as urban crime may be, it is nothing compared to the lawlessness we found in parks along the nation's borders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rangers at Organ Pipe wear camouflage and bulletproof vests, and carry assault rifles. They look like special forces soldiers on patrol in Iraq, but they are park rangers on duty in what rangers believe is the most dangerous park in America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;1: This data/page appears to be ~20 years old.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;2: Incidents per 100k visitors including crime and accidents.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;3: Note this is relevant to the area that my comment was placed.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T23:19:00.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10188" CreationDate="2015-12-07T18:03:58.603" Score="1" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone has recently mentioned a &quot;bullet tip&quot;. I assume he meant something for target shooting but it sounds like some hunting equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what exactly did he refer to? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T07:07:33.640" Title="What's a bullet tip/point?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10187" CreationDate="2015-12-07T18:03:58.603" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are right, a &quot;bullet tip&quot; or &quot;point&quot; is something used for target shooting. In fact, it's THE arrowhead used for target shooting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term &quot;bullet&quot; refers to its shape:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CiRcy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CiRcy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bullet point&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the bullet point and the field tip are the most used arrowheads for target shooting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a listing of the most common points (classical broadhead is missing): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVFT9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVFT9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;List&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I wanted to make clear that you never ever should use a bullet point to hunt!&lt;/em&gt; As you've already assumed the point is only used for sports. Read more about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9943/is-a-field-tip-as-effective-as-a-hunting-tip-for-small-game&quot;&gt;this topic here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T07:07:33.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10191" CreationDate="2015-12-07T19:06:26.250" Score="10" ViewCount="949" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Descending-on-one-strand-of-rope?ProductName=GRIGRI-2#.VmXXjr9B-x0&quot;&gt;descending with a GriGri&lt;/a&gt;, I get the urge to pull hard and zip down the line. Safe reasoning returns and I continue descending with a safe, steady pace. &lt;strong&gt;However, I would like to know what sort of dangers exist from descending very quickly,&lt;/strong&gt; whether using a GriGri or any other descender.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can the device become hot enough to melt the rope? Not enough time to react to a mis-tied stopper knot? Or is it actually relatively safe, assuming one has taken all the standard precautions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T21:31:00.367" Title="What are the dangers of descending/rappeling very quickly?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10189" CreationDate="2015-12-07T20:26:04.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is basically a supplemental to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10191/7995&quot;&gt;imsodin's answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Marine Corps boot camp about 15 years ago I remember one of the instructors demonstrated in dramatic fashion how safe rappelling on the tower was due to the presence of a belayer below. The instructor took a flying leap off the tower and the belayer was able to stop his fall. Given that free fall is about as fast as you're going to fall, the rappel was on a single rope, we used the same rope that the instructor used, and no one died, this is reasonably safe (given a strong anchor).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problems I see are more related to less than ideal anchors and rope wear. Zipping down the rope is going to produce more friction and wear out your rope faster. Do it enough and fast enough your rope might even get a &quot;glazed&quot; look to it as the nylon fuzz on the sheath has been melted off. Secondly if you come to an abrupt stop on a fast decent you will shock load the anchor. This is especially true if you use static ropes. That shock load isn't friendly to your rope, the anchor, or your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, yes I think you can zip down ropes if you want, but please don't do it on my rope. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure we were using carabiner wraps to rappel in boot camp, but it might have been figure 8's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T21:31:00.367" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10189" CreationDate="2015-12-07T20:33:19.780" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;First some general dangers not related to melting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Burning your hands braking on the rope (can also happen with semiautomatic descenders like a grigri due to reflex)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Uncontrolled impact on the rock&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Without a backup knot (e.g. prusik) and with a passive descender (e.g. tuber, eight) you may let go of the rope due to the heat induced pain or when impacting on some unexpected obstacle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grigris do not have a panic function, meaning when you pull the lever all the way there is no more resistance. This has lead to incidences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with heat is mostly discussed in caving and canoing communities, as there are commonly huge distances to descend. Still the best source I found was &lt;a href=&quot;http://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/de/qc-lab-can-a-hot-belay-device-melt-my-rappel-slings.html&quot;&gt;Black Diamond, whose engineers have done some tests&lt;/a&gt; on this. They looked at damage to the sling holding the descender device, but the results are still relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some introductory information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For argument's sake, Dyneema, Spectra and Dynex are all the same thing. Basically different brand names for UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene), which has a melting temperature of around 145 °C (293 °F).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Nylon has a melting temperature of around 245 °C (473 °F)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  If something is in the neighborhood of 70 °C (158 °F), it's basically too hot to touch&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  A typical &quot;hot knife&quot; used at climbing shops to cut accessory cord usually tops out at over 650 °C (1202 °F).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Skin burns at 100 °C (212 °F)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  An old assumption in climbing is to spit on your belay device. If it sizzles, the assumption goes, then it's hot enough to melt your rope, slings, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In simulated situation with ATCs and 181kg weight they reached a temperature of 256degC, with 114kg and a thin rope (8mm) 170degC. To see whether this is reproducible in a real situation they did a field test. They measured at the bottom of a 150foot (45m) rappel and 10mm rope. When descending at what they describe &quot;kamikaze speed&quot; the 100kg test person reached temperature of 130degC. To test longer distances they used a fishing rod to get the device up again fast. They did six runs with the following temperatures: 111, 110, 131, 120, 125, 135 degC. I do not agree that this means they really peaked at 135degC (i.e. it would not heat any further), but the device could cool off significantly between runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next they tested at what temperatures a belay device actually damages material. On Nylon (polyamid) marks on the fabric are seen at 300degC and it has been cut at 325degC. As heat radiation increases with the 4th power of the temperature and real testing only reached temperatures of 135degC max, I do not expect that you really reach such temperatures. The real danger is that you burn yourself when handling the device after descending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T21:00:09.250" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T21:00:09.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2015-12-07T20:46:14.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let me qualify myself, first, for any reader interested: I'm a former Marine and avid hiker, and I consider myself fairly well educated on firearms, their use, and more importantly what it feels like to be afraid for your very life.&#xA;The above is important when addressing an issue that most people here only have a philosophical understanding of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To begin, you don't need a firearm. That's a personal choice, much like the choice to carry bear spray, a dedicated axe, or a folding shovel. This choice differs from the aforementioned in that it may carry legal consequence, so do your homework.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, a firearm could save your life from both two and four legged animals, provided you pack smart. A pocket .25, a .38 special, or a 9mm are not really that effective. Better than nothing in the last two cases, but worse than useless in the first. If you want a pistol, pack a big round with decent penetrating to get through fat layers.  Hollow point is not your friend with big game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to the issues others have brought up, if a criminal armed with a rifle is going to shoot you, a pistol is not going to make it worse.  It can only make it better, and I really strongly advise you to ignore anyone who believes that. As a man trained and experienced in that very issue, they're full of it if they're spouting such nonsense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you are more likely to die in a car accident than to need a gun. Funny, I was more likely to die in a car accident than to need one in Iraq, but I still had one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to the likelihood of you shooting your buddy instead of a bear at a few feet, that's Hollywood bs. And NEVER knife fight a bear. Hacking a slashing is not enough. You have to penetrate his hide. Rawhide has been an effective defense against slashing since time immemorial. As for stabbing, you need about a foot and a half penetrating to do much to a bear. Have fun with an 8 inch knife. Also, if you'd like to know how easy it is to ram a knife through a 2 legged predator, go stab a tire. That's kind of what ramming a blase through cartilage and bone is going to feel like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point is, you have to weigh the pros and cons yourself. If you have enough gun and there's even a mildly reasonable chance you'll need it, consult the local laws and carry away. If not, or if it's illegal, don't carry. This isn't rocket science. I will say the following, though. One alternative might make people insult you, look down upon you, or avoid your company, but it could save your life. The other will result in those same people most likely not noticing you, and it will make it less uncomfortable for others to talk to you on the trail, but you might end up dead. Take your pick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8311" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2015-12-07T21:25:23.250" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T21:25:23.250" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6845" CreationDate="2015-12-07T22:12:08.420" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To say that there is nothing that would provide a reason for carrying a firearm while hiking is completely false. There are numerous accounts where people have been killed by wildlife and hostile people. &lt;strong&gt;However,&lt;/strong&gt; this doesn't just mean that anyone should just carry a firearm with them because they are scared. The likelihood of these situations happening is extremely low. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purpose of having a firearm is to provide an absolute last method of protection from something/someone that is trying to kill you (unless you are hunting). Using a firearm as a means of protection should not be taken lightly. Without the proper training you could be more harmful to yourself than your fear of being attacked.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for if you should take a firearm with you or not...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consider the following&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can you logistically afford to carry a weapon with ammunition?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any historical cases of animal/human attacks in the area you are hiking in?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have the proper training to use a firearm against an attacking force?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have the proper type/size of firearm for the threats you may face?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you willing to kill another animal, or worse, a human if necessary? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastActivityDate="2015-12-07T22:12:08.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10195" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-08T01:53:52.840" Score="8" ViewCount="1539" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have lots of tent pole segments and I'd like to repair one of our poles but the cord is stuck on the inside of the tip. I had to just cut the cord just so I can work with the tip alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tips on how to remove the cord from the tip? The tip is something like this: &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aPNTq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tips&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knot of the cord passes through the thing and you can see the bulb from the outside of the narrow end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe there is an easier and more elegant solution than simply hammering a nail through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6261" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-12-30T21:10:35.893" LastActivityDate="2018-12-30T21:10:35.893" Title="How to remove a tent pole cord from a pole tip?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10196" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10199" CreationDate="2015-12-08T07:28:41.177" Score="2" ViewCount="222" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had an archer in my group who used a laser-tool to measure the distance between the stake and the target in my last 3D-archery tournament.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He used it at the first target but understood the group's &quot;body reaction&quot; that it was an absolutely outrageous and unruly behavior.  Therefore he didn't do it again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tournament of course had covered the rule: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tournament consist of 29 regular targets with unknown distances&#xA;  and 3 &quot;special targets&quot; also with unknown distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not allowed equipment: (...), distance measurement tools, (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wonder how to deal which such a person if he wouldn't have stopped? What should I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: One of the key facts that make 3D archery unique is that you don't know the distances which you shoot. This is an absolute core rule to establish an &quot;hunt like&quot; environment.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_competitive_archery&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is most common to see unmarked distances in 3D archery, as the goal&#xA;  is to accurately recreate a hunting environment for competition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-08T13:36:28.747" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T13:39:08.437" Title="How to react to someone measuring distances?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ClosedDate="2015-12-09T14:28:18.300" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10183" CreationDate="2015-12-08T08:20:55.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the information on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bogenschiessen.at/der-3d-parcours/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/maps/place/Planneralm/@47.4029557,14.2028556,15.98z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x47710ed26ef37dcf:0xe5c7eca8413a7063!5m1!1e4!6m1!1e1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;g00gle maps&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;I think the whole parcour should be between 1500m and max. 1600m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T08:20:55.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10196" CreationDate="2015-12-08T09:12:07.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This answer is not exclusive to archery but concerns basically any activity where there are certain implicit rules that are widely agreed on in the community and are written down explicitly for competitions.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you say that it was during a tournament and covered by the rules, then it's easy. You can refer to the rules which should also state what is the penalty in such a case. If it seems to be someone who is new to the sport, it might be fair to tell them that measuring distances is not allowed by the rules and if they should repeat that behaviour – now that they know about it – you would have to raise this violation to the tournament organizers, referees or whatever entity is taking care of the rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a context where there are no written rules, there can't be a rule violation, only things that &quot;you don't do as a (&lt;em&gt;insert performer of random activity here&lt;/em&gt;)&quot;. So, if the behaviour in question occurs in a random occasion it depends on how much this influences your own performance and how well-meaning you are towards that person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If their behaviour doesn't directly influence you and you don't really care about that person and their reputation, you could just let it go. If there are no written rules, there is no real cheating, only bad style. If you don't care about the style and reputation of this other person, ignore it and make a note to yourself that you don't take their results too serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case that you either care about that person's reputation and/or it influences your own performance (you get distracted by their laser spot on a target, by seeing them point with a strangely looking device at something or whatever), then take them aside and inform them that the way they are doing this is not the way it is normally thought to be done and that it disturbs the people around them and/or might be bad for their reputation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-12-08T13:39:08.437" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T13:39:08.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10201" CreationDate="2015-12-08T10:54:41.407" Score="11" ViewCount="941" Body="&lt;p&gt;For someone who has never done it before, what is the best way to start learning how to forage in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you require anything specific to start doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T10:54:41.407" Title="How to start foraging in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10200" CreationDate="2015-12-08T10:54:41.407" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Foraging is actually really easy in the UK, there are plenty of easy start plants and berries you can look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do you require anything specific to start doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, no not at all, as some plants you can forage in your own back garden. However, it's a good idea to get yourself a decent reference book - we brought the Collins pocket guide called 'Food For Free', which has plenty of information in... but with the internet and good signal you can reference a lot of plants on your phone. The biggest requirement is usually land-owners permission, you don't want to go &lt;strong&gt;scrumping&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;To steal fruit from another persons property)&lt;/em&gt; on someone's property if you do not have their OK to do so - but often fruit goes to waste so it might be easier to get permission than you think. Regardless of permission, we still call it scrumping! Equipment wise, a basket or bag and a pair of gloves should do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What is the best way to start learning how to forage in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply put: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nettles,  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dandelions,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blackberries,  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elderflower&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the most easily recognisable plants in the UK - you might need gloves to get the blackberries and nettles - but you can also make some decent dishes with these ingredients too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nettles leaves can be blanched and eaten, or used in a soup. Dandelions can also be cleaned and blanched, they're a pretty good filler in a salad, tasting akin to rocket leaves (sharp, with a bit of a peppery taste) however it can be bitter if picked at the wrong time of year, the younger the plant the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dandelion root can also be cleaned, baked and crumbled into a sort of coffee/tea - I have tried this but, honestly, it's an acquired taste. It's used in 'detoxes' but also it was used during both World Wars as a tea substitute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone loves a Blackberry! Easy to recognise and doesn't take much imagination to come up with something to eat them with... like ice cream... The only real factor here is to try and find some off the main roads, so they're not covered in pollutants from vehicles. And wash them carefully, checking for bugs - you're not the only person to like them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elderflower flowers make a great wine / champagne, if you've the time to make them, but you can also fry them in flour to make elderflower fritters. The berries are also edible, making this plant a good forage twice in the same year!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea here is to get familiar with a FEW plants and regularly take an interest in them, even if you're not foraging. We grew from the above list into a multitude of interesting plants we can recognise, and pick, on our regular walks. One such being &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9987/what-time-of-year-to-forage-sloes&quot;&gt;Sloes&lt;/a&gt;. If you're not comfortable picking it, don't pick it, but take a photo and research it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AVOID&lt;/strong&gt;: Mushrooms, if you're going to pick them to reference later, handle them little and don't eat them - it's best to get a guide for these if you really want to pick them to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T10:54:41.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10202" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10233" CreationDate="2015-12-08T15:07:57.160" Score="20" ViewCount="5031" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's assume there's a reason to stay dry from rain. You've a form of a basecamp which can keep you dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it better to walk or to run back through the rain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The crux (imho!): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running reduces the time spent in rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking reduces the amount of drops you &quot;run against&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may apply other reasons, too! Just share them. I just wanted to give an idea what the question is all about naming these two points. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional considerations may be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) what we care about is not the number of drops that hit us, it's our&#xA;  ability to maintain our body temperature (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have seen (and had) many 'accidents' from running in the rain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running may attract wildlife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T07:06:12.647" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T13:23:37.313" Title="Protection from rain - running vs. walking" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-08T15:17:58.557" Score="24" Body="&lt;h2&gt;You should run&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a good video from MinutePhysics that explains it all:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqYE2UuN24&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqYE2UuN24&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short(er) version is that the amount of water you &quot;run into&quot; depends only on the distance, which is equal whether you run or walk. But the water falling on top of your head depends on how long you stay in the rain, and you can minimize it by running faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, like Ben Crowell said, the usual motivation for staying dry is to maintain our body temperature. In which case, running is also a better choice since we generate more body heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2015-12-08T19:41:59.690" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T19:41:59.690" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-08T15:25:41.973" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Theoretically, run. Practically, slowly jog or briskly walk so that you don't slip and fall.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The TV series MythBusters initially tested this with artificial rain and found that walking was better due to less surface area in the rain. However, after revisiting in actual rain, they found &lt;a href=&quot;http://mythbustersresults.com/episode38&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;that running was better&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lifehacker.com/5970476/why-you-should-run-not-walk-in-the-rain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Also, Lifehacker summed it up nicely&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the less time you spend in the rain, the better&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And for complete nerdiness, they have a formula:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Total wetness = (wetness per second X time spent in rain) + (wetness per meter X meters traveled)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Updated to include more practical advice, as many have pointed out that running in wet terrain can be dangerous. However, I don't think anyone will interpret this advice as &quot;run as fast as you can&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T00:32:00.827" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T00:32:00.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10211" CreationDate="2015-12-08T17:38:19.910" Score="6" ViewCount="111" Body="&lt;p&gt;We found ourselves in a pretty dangerous situation once. We were snowboarding in the backcountry and came to a spot where a rock on the left side and a slope on the right side built a path (about 3 meters wide).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We took this path and suddenly realized that it wasn't the nice, deep powder anymore. We were on a ice (frozen snow) plate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything remarkable to distinguish such ice plates from deep snow? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that the rock on the left side held the snow back (it kind of &quot;blocked&quot; the wind).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T07:42:26.997" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T08:37:19.200" Title="Distinguish iced snow from powder" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10206" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-08T19:03:45.950" Score="9" ViewCount="333" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be visiting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Wichita_Mountains/&quot;&gt;Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge&lt;/a&gt; in Oklahoma which is known, among other things, for having &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Wichita_Mountains/American_bison.html&quot;&gt;free-roaming American Bison&lt;/a&gt;. I've never seen any in the 'wild'. Is there a specific time of day they are most active, and if so, when is that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8L5oS.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8L5oS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:21:36.530" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:21:36.530" Title="What is the best time of day to view Bison in Oklahoma?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bison&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-08T20:42:57.823" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should walk. I have seen (and had) many 'accidents' from running in the rain - who hasn't?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although in theory running will keep you drier, there are more important things that staying dry. Running for the sake of staying drier is often done with little thought to the surroundings and potential consequences. You become goal focused - telling you subconscious &quot;Stay dry&quot;. Things like paths, rocks and stairs that are likely slippery just don't get noticed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T20:42:57.823" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-08T21:32:11.177" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It also depends on your type of clothes.&#xA;Wearing &quot;non breathable&quot; clothes will get you more sweaty than the rain  will get you wet sometimes. Also if you wear a coat but no rainproof trousers, than running will probably get your trousers more wet, because of surface area increase. &#xA;I think the best tactic can be seen by observing people in rain: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Those travelling a short distance in very heavy rain with few clothes run.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Those travelling long  distance with waterproof equipment in mild rain walk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8323" LastActivityDate="2015-12-08T21:32:11.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10206" CreationDate="2015-12-09T02:21:28.170" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with the Wichita refuge; my bison experience comes from the Yellowstone area.  That said, I would never describe bison as being particularly &quot;active&quot;: they spend most of their time either resting or grazing, with the herd slowly moving on to uneaten patches of grass.  If you want to see bison running around, mating season (on the Wichita refuge, June and July) will see bulls competing for mates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best time of day to look for bison is whenever you feel like it.  Bison don't make any effort to hide, so you shouldn't have any difficulty spotting them if they're in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T02:21:28.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10210" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-09T02:58:30.697" Score="9" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;When visiting areas with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Wichita_Mountains/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;free-roaming wildlife&lt;/a&gt; such as American Bison and Texas Longhorns, there are numerous signs warning about keeping a safe distance. They don't, however, actually specify the safe distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I would normally steer clear (pun intended) of predatory animals such as wolves, bears, etc, I would love to photograph some of these large herbivores. However, they can be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/species/americanbison.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;very protective when threatened&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Though they can appear peaceful and unconcerned, their temperament is unpredictable, and can respond quickly when disturbed. &#xA;  ...&#xA;  Females are very protective of their young, and can become aggressive if threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a general rule or recommended safe distance for non-predatory animals, such that they don't feel threatened?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:17:14.030" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:17:14.030" Title="What is a safe distance for large, non-predatory wildlife?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10205" CreationDate="2015-12-09T07:27:50.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am unfortunate in that our weather is warm and wet with a lot of melt/freeze cycles, and have lots of experience dealing with skiing on sheets of ice.  here I am using &quot;Ice&quot; loosely to mean anything from true ice to hard packed snow you need razor sharp edges to stay upright and in control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice and snowboards don't make for a great day out, so avoiding it is important, however any back country boarder or skier needs the skills to handle this kind of unexpected variation. No matter how experienced you are, you can always be caught out and suddenly find yourself on a sheet of ice. Often all you can really do is ride it out till you get back onto snow - depends how skilled you are and how hard the ice is as to what you can do. Don't enter terrain traps such as you described unless you are sure you can safely board/ski them. Presume they are icy till proven otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice, especially if sunny, will have a polished look or a shine to it. Normally there is a transition line where the powder disappears and the ice becomes exposed. The powder can be a very thin layer on top of the ice, in which case you cannot see the difference, and need to read the terrain. If you don't have enough depth of powder to maintain control, but can't see that, life can become very interesting very quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for a transition that changes texture and colour, sometime though its very subtle. Often ice tends to have a blueish hue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check the depth of the powder at various locations based on the terrain, get a feel for how deep the top powder layer is. If its shallow in one place, it will be shallow (or none) in others. Look for terrain where the wind is funneled - this is where snow will have been blown away. Pick a rounte that puts you on the lee slopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The transition from ice to powder can also be challenging, but its usually in an embarrassing face plant into soft snow kind of way rather than a dangerous disappear down the mountain at high speed way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only other thing to be very aware of, an ice layer with snow on top is a prime condition for avalanche - if you are dealing with a lot of fresh wind blown powder and coming across ice be very careful of the lee slopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T08:37:19.200" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T08:37:19.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10212" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-09T07:31:57.780" Score="7" ViewCount="454" Body="&lt;p&gt;In European 3D archery we've (besides a few &quot;uncommon&quot; ratings) two basic rating systems: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HyuGH.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HyuGH.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Rating EU&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;One kill&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The yellow, red and blue area is &quot;the kill&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First arrow - Kill: 20&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First arrow - Body: 16&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second arrow - Kill: 14&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second arrow - Body: 10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Third arrow - Kill: 8&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Third arrow - Body: 4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Split kill&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The yellow and red area is the center kill. The blue area is the kill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First arrow - Centerkill: 20&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First arrow - Kill: 18&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First arrow - Body: 16&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second arrow - Centerkill: 14&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second arrow - Kill: 12&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second arrow- Body: 10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Third arrow - Centerkill: 8&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Third arrow - Kill: 6&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Third arrow - Body: 4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ratings follow the concept that you score more points if you hit the lethal point of the target to maintain a &quot;hunt like&quot; environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cCWvB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cCWvB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;How the kill looks like&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Split kill: Green Arrow 20, Red Arrow 18, White Arrow 16&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This makes sense imho due to the fact that you hit the heart in the &quot;Centerkill&quot; or the lungs in the &quot;Kill&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utyzh.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utyzh.png&quot; alt=&quot;Kill&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I noticed (at least) in the US the 3D rating is by far more complex: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7lTTj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7lTTj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;US rating&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't get a few things about this system. For example I feel like that you have to explicitly aim for the &quot;non-scoring&quot; point to hit it, what makes it a little bit useless. How did this system evolve and how does it make sense? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-19T11:51:36.630" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:10:34.430" Title="Why is the US kill rating so different?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10210" CreationDate="2015-12-09T07:38:57.727" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each species and possibly even each individual animal will behave very differently. A good rule of thumb is: &lt;strong&gt;if wildlife reacts to you,&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=FPzvAwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA9&amp;amp;lpg=PA9&amp;amp;dq=if%20wildlife%20reacts%20to%20you%20you%20are%20too%20close&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=cae7yYz0JB&amp;amp;sig=yMPg7V-2ffkZooFrKgdHEN8ZNH4&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiTvrWQoM7JAhVMzmMKHRMTC28Q6AEIUTAJ#v=snippet&amp;amp;q=%22you%20are%20too%20close.%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot;&gt;you are too close&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. I think this is the most general way to answer you question and has the benefit of giving you instantaneous feedback. If the animal looks straight at you, back off until it resumes what it was doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The motivation behind this is the following: If an animal reacts to a human, it is likely to be stressed. A common reaction to stress is to flee. Either the animal is unable to flee, which will increase the stress which can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fawnrescue.org/stress.html&quot;&gt;make the animal sick&lt;/a&gt; if it happens frequently, or it takes off and wastes precious energy in the process, possibly leaving a juvenile behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T12:02:56.700" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T12:02:56.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10195" CreationDate="2015-12-09T08:51:13.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically these are not meant to be messed with. Even if you could get to the knot I'd imagine you would struggle to get it un-done. Basically, in my experience, cutting it is often the best/only solution. Just try and save as much cord as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI tent pole repair companies will often sell extra cord should you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T08:51:13.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10216" CreationDate="2015-12-09T09:40:33.500" Score="11" ViewCount="937" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are in the great outdoors and a massive thunderstorm will be over us soon. What steps should we take to be safe from a lightning strike? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is not &quot;am I safe in my tent&quot; etc. You are in a situation where it's you and your backpack and the great outdoors. You don't have a base camp or something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's even not about &quot;is it safe/dangerous to be there while a thunderstorm is present&quot;. It's absolutely about how to react (what to do). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should one react to a thunderstorm then? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T00:29:55.263" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T00:29:55.263" Title="How should we protect ourselves from a lightning strike?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10215" CreationDate="2015-12-09T14:41:05.403" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all: try to think and plan ahead. Don't get caught on a mountain top during a thunder storm... Keep an eye on the weather and change your route accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Location:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Make sure you're not exposed and not the highest point in the immediate vicinity. So stay off of summits, hills, and don't stand upright in the middle of a vast field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideal: (obviously) cars or shelters which have lightning rods. (Other stationary shelter will do okay too I guess.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good: Forests (unless in an actual storm with very high wind speeds), valley ground (keep away from streams and rivers, they might suddenly swell!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Passable: near cliff bottoms (make sure you're not endangered by rocks coming loose above you during the rain), taking shelter next to boulders, in trenches or other depressions in the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't stand near solitary trees. Such trees are rather likely to get hit, and standing beneath one can be very dangerous for several reasons (electric current of the lightning will spread through the ground; wood can explode when hit by lightning, resulting in shrapnel; deafening noise)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Position:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Priority one really should be to get to a safe location. If this is not possible, or you have reached the safest (but still potentially unsafe) location nearby, keeping correct body position can help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't stand upright, especially not if this makes you higher than other points of impact (shrubs and alike...).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't lie flat on the ground. If lightning strikes nearby the current which dissipates through the ground is more likely to hurt you if you cover a larger area of the ground. The same goes for your feet: keep them together, not apart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crouch or sit on the ground: keep as small an area of contact with the ground, while at the same time trying to minimize your height.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Thanks @Benedikt Bauer) If possible try to sit on some insulating material, like your backpack or sleeping pad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T07:48:02.343" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T07:48:02.343" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10218" CreationDate="2015-12-09T14:42:05.603" Score="13" ViewCount="5930" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a bright red berry the old saying about avoiding red berries sticks to mind but I do remember reading that Hawthorn berries, or Haws, are edible...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true? Is there a seed to watch out for in the Haw, or are they like a raspberry / blackberry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="126" LastEditDate="2016-05-04T21:57:58.030" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T00:44:52.603" Title="Are Hawthorn berries edible?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10217" CreationDate="2015-12-09T14:49:06.633" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are referring to Crataegus, then yes Hawthorne is edible, the pomes are like tiny apples with two flower spots on the bottom. It is commonly made into jelly, syrups and country wine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the seed, you want to pull this out after cooking the pome just like you would the heavy solids of any other fruit. I know you mention raspberry and black berry as examples of some where you don't have to, but it my opinion the seeds ruin the jelly, and I buy and make seedless jellies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the toxicity of the seeds, they are roughly as toxic due to cyanide and arsenic as Apple seeds are. You should avoid swallowing too many seeds, but the occasionally missed and swallowed seed is as likely to be as harmful as swallowing the accidental apple seed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T15:54:29.520" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:54:29.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-12-09T14:51:37.043" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My family took my Dad camping for his 80th birthday.  We grew up camping with my Mom and Dad but it had been 20-30 years since my Dad had been camping.  We brought all of our usual car camping gear for ourselves but we did bring a cot for him.  I hate sleeping bags...too confining, so as usual we brought blankets and our own pillows.  For his cot, I put several blankets on top of the cot for him to sleep on and then some to put over him. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always bring more blankets than we think we will need.  You can always take some off if you are hot but you can't add more if you're cold if you don't have them with you.  We also went &quot;all out&quot; on the food!  We had filet mignon one night and lobster tails the next night.  I cook all of the food over the fire.  We took him to a campground that I frequent often and the owner was 85 years old and a charming man. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made arrangements for him to come and join us for our fire each night.  My main goal was to cater to my Dad's comfort.  We even went canoeing but we did bring a pillow for him to &quot;buffer&quot; his bottom against the hard seat in the canoe.  He loved the whole experience!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8332" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:07:22.067" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:07:22.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10108" CreationDate="2015-12-09T15:06:09.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience the arrow shafts will be exactly the length as specified, at least with all the vendors I dealt with so far. (It might be safest to just ask them however!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're putting together your own arrows from scratch, you're sort of expected to tinker around to a certain degree, and this might include shortening the shafts to your optimal length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is easy for wooden/aluminium shafts, and a bit trickier for carbon shafts. In the latter case however, it is likely that you'll be shooting recurve or compound bows anyway. On these bows the last bit of arrow length fine-tuning is generally done adjusting your &lt;em&gt;clicker&lt;/em&gt; * rather than having millimeter-precise arrow lengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Just as a side note:&lt;/strong&gt; If you're actually a good enough shot that these&#xA;  couple of mm in length really matter to you then hats off.&#xA;  Generally I'd say that there are plenty of more important factors when&#xA;  buying arrows, like correct weight, stiffness, balance, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*) Example of a clicker on a recurve bow:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K8t7x.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K8t7x.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;https://jordansequillion.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/clicker.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T15:29:40.120" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:29:40.120" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1588" CreationDate="2015-12-09T15:09:45.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I car camp 30-40 nights a year.  I use a twin air mattress if camping by myself or a queen air mattress if I'm sharing.  I used to think that a queen for just myself would be best but found myself sinking in the middle. One tip that I always use is to give the air mattress a little extra air right before going to bed.  Hot air expands during the day and &quot;stretches&quot; the air mattress.  At night the cool air causes the air inside the air mattress to condense so therefore I give it a boost of additional air to provide the comfort it should provide.  I also let a little air out in the morning so as it gets hot during the day it doesn't stress the mattress and cause possible leaks.  A battery operated pump is much more convenient than one you have to hook up to your car.  I always keep extra batteries...just in case. I also bring an extra air mattress...just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8332" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:09:45.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-09T15:57:17.080" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having spent a lot of time running and walking in the rain I can say from experience that it's very much an individual specific choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I like to keep my body temperature up as I find it difficult to do so whilst walking; so I have to run. I'm reasonably fit so can run for an hour if need be, but others might not be, and for them it could be dangerous to run for 20 minutes and be very hot and then suffer from the cold for 40 minutes. There are also those people who don't feel the cold and can maintain a high body temperature without doing much movement (think about those with high metabolic rate), for those people walking would be best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to summarise you would need to assess your own physical body and make a judgement call based on that and your best estimate as to how long it would take you to get back to base camp. Also, clothing is critical (are u wearing breathable waterproofs with insulated layers, or a t-shirt)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other environmental factors (high wind, extremes of temp, fog etc) should be considered but I'm not sure if that helps answer your question!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8334" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T15:57:17.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10223" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10234" CreationDate="2015-12-09T17:41:15.777" Score="11" ViewCount="304" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've often read and been told that with foraging less is often more. Whilst you may need X kilograms of a berry or flowers (like elderflowers) you should never pick a bush clean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you estimate when to move on to the next bush, or not pick at all, would it be like leave at least half?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the reason to leave an amount on the bush?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T17:54:17.270" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T23:36:49.793" Title="Why / when to limit how much you gather?" Tags="&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10223" CreationDate="2015-12-09T18:06:05.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is a question of sustainability. If you strip a bush of its flowers and/or fruit, then it loses the opportunity to reproduce this year, or ever in the case of annuals and/or patches of wild veg in which you harvest the whole plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you want to leave some behind to continue the species where you found it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In desert cultures this is even taken one step further. If you see a lone flower in the desert, carefully dig it up and relocate it to a place with others of its kind, this allows that lone flower a greater chance to reproduce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T18:06:05.970" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9780" CreationDate="2015-12-09T18:55:58.680" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tent looks a lot like the design above.  My only advice is purchase a 2 person tent v for 1.  You'll find you can force fit 2 people but you'll be comfortable by yourself with a little room to spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8336" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T19:11:48.523" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:11:48.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10229" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:05:42.480" Score="7" ViewCount="1048" Body="&lt;p&gt;It feels like methane is growing popularity to cook food while camping. I've only used the &quot;classics&quot; like methanol, propane and butane. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would I prefer methane gas as my camp stove fuel? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:42:24.290" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T17:42:24.290" Title="Why do some prefer methane to cook food" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10227" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10237" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:17:05.807" Score="12" ViewCount="2301" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've a map and a functional compass. A compass shows of course the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Magnetic_Pole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic north&lt;/a&gt; and the map provides us with the correct and current declination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The North Magnetic Pole is the point on the surface of Earth's&#xA;  Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points&#xA;  vertically downwards (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is&#xA;  allowed to rotate about a horizontal axis, it will point straight&#xA;  down).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I determine the more useful &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_north&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;true north&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;True north (geodetic north) is the direction along the earth's surface&#xA;  towards the geographic North Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T14:23:07.467" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T14:23:07.467" Title="Calculate true north with a compass and map" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10226" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:27:26.700" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Methane is a biogas, so you get it from biological processes that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you burn methane, you are converting the methane into water and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, but methane is a more destructive greenhouse gas, so it makes sense to capture and use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Propane, butane and others also convert to carbon dioxide and water, but these gases are&#xA;mined. So where as methane is already in the biosphere, using petrol based gases is adding carbon to the biosphere from naturally sequestered sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only real thing you need to know is that you need a different regulator for your gas burning equipment. Methane is a lighter density gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should add that methanol is a perfectly good and sustainable fuel, it is the liquid alcohol form of methane. Methanol although coming from other processes rather than gas capture at least still comes from the biosphere in the form of wood as the usual source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:27:26.700" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10226" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:29:04.287" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may be a contrary position, but I think methane has actually gone out of favour in many parts of the world (definitely in Europe) as propane and butane have become popular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact propane or butane have greater energy by volume and are available at every camping supplies shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T23:10:41.157" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T23:10:41.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10227" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:33:31.397" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;At night it is very easy to find true north using the stars (true south doesn't quite have an equivalent.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First identify Ursa Major, the Great Bear or Big Dipper. Then take the two stars at the end of it away from the handle, and follow the line they make for 5 times its length. The star you hit is Polaris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Head towards it and you are heading towards true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day you will need a compass and the value of your local declination angle (the difference between true north and magnetic north.) Unfortunately you do need local values of this as it varies over the whole globe. And you just subtract this value from your navigation plans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This compass (image from geographyfieldwork.com) is a typical example with a bezel you can use to set in the declination value so you can automatically work to the correct direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ZzIc.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ZzIc.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:33:31.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10217" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:34:16.760" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Crataegus is definitely eatable, and has medicinal qualities. But remove the seeds before preparing any significant quantity. You also might wish to know that mature hawthorn fruit is often loaded with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codling_moth&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Codling moth&lt;/a&gt; larvae. And read &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdalin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; about seed toxicity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8337" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:34:16.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10227" CreationDate="2015-12-09T19:55:35.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;We could get really complicated with this. But basically, magnetic north is a mostly fixed place on the surface of the earth. It's actually moving, but very slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the map you have may have two compass circles on it. One inside the other. The inner circle identifies magnetic north, and the outer circle identified true north. In addition, the map may also note the mean magnetic declination for the map. That being, for this drawn map you can consider magnetic north to deviate from true north by X number of degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your map does not have this, then you can do something else at night. Hang a piece of string with a weight at the end, and find the North Star. I will go ahead and assume everyone here knows how to use the big and little dippers to find Polaris (aka the North Star). Site the North Star through this string. Draw a line (or use a straight edge if you have one) from the plumb string on the ground so that it points to the star. Now put your compass down on this line so that N lines up with the North Star. Mark your compass on the spot where the needle is pointing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now so long as you don't travel very far if you use your compass to find north, you can look for either one. If the needle is pointing at the N symbol on your compass then your compass is pointing to mag north. If you make the needle point at the mark you made, then N is pointing to true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T19:55:35.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-09T21:04:51.363" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the amount of rain and on the surface you are running/walking on. Now, there is unquestionably a threshold where the amount of rain makes the time exposure factor so significant that running wins without any doubt.&#xA;However for lighter rain there might be another factor that turns the result. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading a news paper article about running versus walking in the rain with text from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_News_Agency&quot;&gt;NTB&lt;/a&gt; (and as far as I remember the experiment was conducted by NTB itself as well) maybe 10-20 years ago, where the conclusion was that walking made you least wet, based on weighing the clothes before and after the experiment. Unfortunately I am unable to find any references to it now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching for it, I found many references to mathematical calculations like for instance &lt;a href=&quot;http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/63759.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, which presents the assumptions for the calculations&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are, as you pointed out, two  sources of wetness - the rain&#xA;  that runs into you (on your head and  shoulders), and the rain that&#xA;  you run into (on your front).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and this is not correct, there is also a third source of wetness - water thrown from the ground with you shoes. And for this factor running is much worse than walking, which also was the conclusion from the NTB experiment.&#xA;Of course running in urban areas where the rain does not penetrate the ground is much worse than running on grass for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for heavy rain running is best (ignoring the risk of falling), for lighter rain it depends and walking might be the best option. The fourth source of wetness, sweat, I do not think is very significant compared to the other three.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="233" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T21:04:51.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10223" CreationDate="2015-12-09T21:11:20.130" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;(TL:DR -- The &quot;safe&quot; amount to harvest varies enormously with plant species and context. When in doubt, take 5% or less. 1/3 is probably safe for common, prolific species.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This rule is given out because if you harvest every fruit on a plant, you've stopped it from reproducing this year. You don't necessarily even have to harvest &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; the fruit, if the plant has a generally low seed-germination rate. It gets a little more complicated if you're harvesting things other than fruit, too: taking a wild carrot kills it outright, meaning that unless its seeds have already ripened and been dispersed, that's 100% of its reproductive capacity gone. Same, and even worse, for annual species harvested that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In scientific collections, the general rule I was taught is to leave at least 95% of a population -- that is, to kill no more than 1 in 20 plants, or to strip no more than 5% of the population's reproductive capacity. This is a good solid rule, especially when you're dealing with relatively uncommon wild species or species that are slow to recover from harvest. Frankly, though, foragers shouldn't take &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; of those unless it's literally a matter of starvation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elderberry* is neither rare nor slow to recover; it flowers and fruits prolifically, year after year. You could likely harvest a third of its fruit, or even more, without damaging the population's long-term reproductive capacity. Be careful to leave enough for the animals that depend on the fruits, though! Personally, I definitely won't take more than 1/3 of a native species population.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, there are some edible plants whose extirpation would be a public service. Look up your local noxious weeds, and harvest those to your heart's content. Take more than you need! Take all you can carry! Kill them off, &lt;em&gt;please!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did you have any specific plants in mind, other than elderberry? I could do some research and get you firmer numbers for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* Assuming you mean one of the more common &lt;em&gt;Sambucus&lt;/em&gt; species -- &lt;em&gt;S. nigra&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;S. racemosa&lt;/em&gt; or something -- in North America or Europe. I'm not well-up on the &lt;em&gt;whole&lt;/em&gt; genus.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8339" LastEditorUserId="8339" LastEditDate="2015-12-09T23:36:49.793" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T23:36:49.793" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10227" CreationDate="2015-12-09T22:13:02.613" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to determine true north, especially when you have a map and compass:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Competent maps, like most intended for backcountry hiking, will have the magnetic declination marked.  This is usually in one of the corners.  Take a look at any USGS topo map, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The compass will tell you the direction to magnetic north, and the map tells you what angle to add to that to get the direction to true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;The magnetic declination is really something you should know anyway.  It's not going to change much over the range of a day hike or even a few nights backpacking.  1&amp;deg;, for example, is still plenty close enough for trail navigation, and probably less than your error reading and aligning a compass anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, where I am in north central Massachusetts, true north is about 14&amp;frac12;&amp;deg; right of magnetic.  In the white mountains of NH, it's about another degree more.  Even if it's two degrees more and I don't account for that, it's really not going to matter in a practical sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use the map at a known point and line it up with another known point in the distance.  If you are where you can see a decent distance, you almost certainly can see some landmarks you can also find on the map.  Or you just recognize them because you know something about the area or were paying attention as you got to wherever you are.  You always known &lt;i&gt;something&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have the map oriented, you look at the compass and find the magnetic declination.  Now you remember that for future reference anywhere in that general area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use the usual ways to find a bearing without a map or compass.  This includes looking at the sun angle at a known time of day, or the north star at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;General rule for the contiguous 48 US states: Keep in mind that the magnetic north pole is usually off the coast of Baffin island in the Canadian arctic.  In the middle of the country, it lines up nicely with true north.  In the east (like NH), true north will be about 15&amp;deg; right of magnetic, and in the west (like Yosemite) about 15&amp;deg; left of magnetic.  In the middle, like St Louis, it's close to 0.  Mentally interpolate in between.  Maybe use 17&amp;deg; left in WA, 7&amp;deg; right in FL, etc.  You may be off by 5&amp;deg;, but again, that's close enough for practical purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And keep in mind that North America is the toughest because that's where the magnetic pole is.  The variation across Siberia will be less than the variation across the northern US over the same distance.  Again, don't worry about every last degree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the need for accuracy in mind.  &amp;plusmn;5&amp;deg; (or even more) is good enough for wilderness navigation.  If you know there is a river to the east, it's not really going to matter whether you set off on a heading of 85&amp;deg; or 95&amp;deg;.  It's much more important to keep watching distant landmarks to avoid going in circles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2015-12-09T22:13:02.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10238" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-09T22:47:00.360" Score="7" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our town (Groton Massachusetts) formed a town committee a few months ago to concentrate on invasive species issues.  Since we are new, we are trying to find our way and decide what exactly we should be doing.  Obvious activities include public education, monitoring infestations, cataloging problem areas, and actually doing control operations in some cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to hear what other similar committees are doing, especially&#xA;other formal municipal committees.  It's different when you're part of town&#xA;government as apposed to a private group.  We have several of those&#xA;already, but being part of the town makes some things possible, others&#xA;more difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, we're considering proposing that the town pay for the&#xA;processes of one or two of us getting pesticide applicator licenses.  In&#xA;return, we'd do any pesticide applications as volunteers, with only the&#xA;materials needing to be paid for.  But what about insurance?  Any&#xA;experiences/advice out there about trying to get covered by the&#xA;municiple insurance plan?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other advice from those that have been at this longer than we have?&#xA;What worked?  What didn't?  What other municipalities have invasive species&#xA;committees or similar that you know of?  (I tried, but haven't found any)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T22:00:03.817" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T22:00:03.817" Title="Municipal invasive species committee experiences?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10253" CreationDate="2015-12-09T23:51:47.667" Score="8" ViewCount="1004" Body="&lt;p&gt;A group of four family and friends including two senior adults is contemplating about camping at Zion National Park in mid-December. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How cold (in terms of real feel -- sometimes past average temperature&#xA;range is not sufficient as a reference for this sort of planning) it&#xA;would be? Is camping really a good idea for that time?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What additional items should I prepare or be prepared for compared to&#xA;times at milder temperature?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do a dozen camping trips during later spring through early fall in midwest most years and are familiar with that type of camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T10:17:50.727" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T01:47:24.893" Title="Is camping at Zion National Park in mid-December feasible?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10241" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17922" CreationDate="2015-12-10T01:52:48.547" Score="8" ViewCount="416" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/10/30/aggressive-owl-again-on-the-attack-along-bethesda-trail/&quot;&gt;Washington Post&lt;/a&gt; recently reported that a juvenile owl was attacking early morning joggers on a trail near Bethesda, MD. Signs have been put up on a section of the trail reminding users that the trail is open from sunrise to sunset only.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Officials said they believe the attacker is a juvenile owl that will&#xA;  eventually outgrow its habit of attacking runners if it is left alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was also a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2015/01/16/salem-man-attacked-great-horned-owl-bushs-pasture-park/21888487/&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; from Salem, Oregon, of an owl attack on a very early morning jogger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My third reference is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/14/eagle-owl-caught-dutch-town-attacks-purmerend-netherlands&quot;&gt;Holland&lt;/a&gt;. A Eurasian Eagle Owl was attacking residents of a town north of Amsterdam in the night.  Town officials recommended that people go out at night under the shelter of an umbrella.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Owl experts have said the bird’s behaviour was unusual, meaning it was&#xA;  either raised in captivity and associated humans with food, or had&#xA;  heightened hormone levels because of the start of the breeding season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Owls hunt at night, and an argument can be made that the people were intruding on the owls' time and space.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question:&lt;/strong&gt;  Have attacks on humans by other raptors been documented, excluding cases where the raptors were defending their nests?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:06:46.900" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:06:46.900" Title="Have attacks on humans by raptors other than owls been documented, excluding cases where they were defending their nests?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10238" CreationDate="2015-12-10T05:37:06.310" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The people to talk to are in your municipal office. Administration are the ones who deal with all that stuff. If you were to take your proposal to a Town Council meeting as a delegation and ask these questions there, I can pretty much guarantee that Council would differ to Administration for the answers, who in turn would likely tell Council that they will look into it and get back to them. After Administration provides Council with all the necessary details (budget, legality, liability, policy, bylaw), they would then take the matter to resolution and vote on whether or not to grant you the funds and or enact a new policy which would cover you under their insurance. Ultimately the decision is made by Council, if they decide they want to accommodate you, then they can likely make it happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smartest thing to do would be to go to your Town office, and ask about your local bylaws and policies, Administration will be able to tell you what your best course of action would be. They could help you first of all by letting you know if it's at all a possibility, and if it is they'll help you write out a request for action which can be added to the agenda for the next regular meeting of Council. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should have a member of Council who is assigned to your committee and attends your regular meetings. They're the ones that are supposed to be reporting back to Council and making requests such as this on behalf of your committee. Just last night we had a Councillor request an additional $10,000 for one of the Committees he's on, and they're gunna get it.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually just started a new job this year in government administration in a town in Alberta, everything we do in administration is dictated by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/m26.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Municipal Government Act&lt;/a&gt; of the Province of Alberta (MGA), your local government is likely also regulated by such an act, so the process may be a bit different down there, but your town office is still the place to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few recommendations for your committee: if you don't have one already you should try get a botanist on the committee, as well as someone who works for Parks, either with the Town, County or even the State. At the very least you should have a liaison who works for the State or National Parks. These people would be valuable assets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just talked to one of my co-workers who is on the Communities in Bloom committee here. She said for the most part what they do in regards to invasive species is education, they have representatives from weed control companies contracted by the Province do information sessions and distribute booklets on invasive plants to the community, she showed us the ones we have for distribution in the office (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://goo.gl/Ek4D0A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Invasive Plants of the Crown of the Continent&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.edmonton.ca/bylaws_licences/PDF/Weed_Identification_Book.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alberta Invasive Plants Identification Guide&lt;/a&gt;). There's also the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.abinvasives.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alberta Invasive Species Council&lt;/a&gt;, who are undoubtedly an invaluable resource. If you haven't already you should contact the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massnrc.org/mipag/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Massachusetts Invasive Plant Advisory Group&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as using commercial chemicals, only Town employees are permitted to spray here, residents are encouraged to use retail products to control weeds. But the biggest piece is education so residents can identify invasive plants, as many people can't distinguish between a pretty flower and a noxious weed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T17:43:09.423" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T17:43:09.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10243" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10250" CreationDate="2015-12-10T06:45:03.950" Score="6" ViewCount="562" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok so we've a Shetland Sheepdog, roughly 6kg for his max weight, and he has a pretty decent harness (as in you can pick him up from it and it doesn't hurt him, choke him etc) but he only has a decent short lead. It's thick, ropey like climbing rope, and has a massive clasp that can support his weight easily... but it's about 1m long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His long line is a thin extender lead, like 5mm diameter max, but 5m in length and out in more adventurous areas, walking along cliff edges etc (which we do rather often) it just looks feeble... It's not uncommon for the fenced off paths to collapse underfoot whilst walking in Weymouth for example... We once saw the 'stay left of this sign' sign 6ft below the current path... I'm wondering if it would be possible make him a thicker long line with a decent clasp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to want to attach a clasp to a climbing rope for example what knot would work? Or would something like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longeing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;lunge line&lt;/a&gt; work, could a lunge line withstand friction against rocks like a climbing rope (to some degree)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T07:14:33.030" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T07:14:33.030" Title="What are some heavy-duty alternatives to a long line for walking a dog on rugged terrain?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10241" CreationDate="2015-12-10T07:05:16.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;New Zealand falcon - Wikipedia claims they have attacked people, and I have  been fortunate enough to have been 'challenged' by one in the wild. I changed my planned route preference to finding out if this one was bluffing. Its well known to be an aggressive bird but one you are so privileged if you see it you forgive the odd 'indiscretion'.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/73108561/Council-warning-threatened-falcon-species-launch-fists-of-fury-against-walkers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Council warning: threatened falcon species launch fists of fury against walkers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/new-zealand-falcon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NZ Birds Online&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:43:58.467" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:43:58.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10245" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10247" CreationDate="2015-12-10T07:25:16.497" Score="15" ViewCount="1148" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know when we get dehydrated. And hence we make sure it doesn't get worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was on a trek this weekend. A strong stray dog from a village chose to accompany me and being alone, I was happy with it. I couldn't take a detour off the trail to find water for it, so I made him drink water when I took regular breaks during the climb. It would drink a lot of water every-time I offered. (I just poured water into my palm and it would drink)&#xA;Since I knew I have a water source where I was planning to camp, I could let him drink as much as it wanted to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I know that the dog is perfectly hydrated? How much water is enough?&#xA;How can I know that it needs water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:39:29.160" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:39:29.160" Title="Hydration for pets" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10245" CreationDate="2015-12-10T07:45:24.950" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydration in dogs is very similar to dehydration in humans. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesocietyhbg.org/media/pdfs/signs_of_dehydration_in_your_dog.pdf&quot;&gt;This link&lt;/a&gt; should give you an in depth answer.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My main points are these:&#xA;If the dog has a dry nose, dry gums and/or dry mouth it most likely needs water. Excessive panting is another big sign to look for seeing as that's how dogs regulate their body temperature.&#xA;You should treat their dehydration like you would for a human and give them small amounts of water frequently. This way their body will absorb it in these small portions rather than run the risk of causing the dog to throw up - thus causing further dehydration. I would continue to give the dog small portions of water until they are showing fewer symptoms and/or are disinterested in the water. Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8349" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T08:11:47.010" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T08:11:47.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10245" CreationDate="2015-12-10T07:45:26.063" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually answered a similar question over on Pets not long ago... &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/a/9803/5149&quot; title=&quot;Warm weather walkies&quot;&gt;Warm weather walkies and water&lt;/a&gt;... however you've asked in a bit more detail so here goes...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I know that the dog is perfectly hydrated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dog will refuse water given to them if they feel like they've had enough to drink - this is a slim balance especially in male dogs, as it's a fine line between him wanting to mark (lots of short pees) and therefore needing more to drink. But if your dog refuses water on a hike, they're probably not thirsty yet... but keep offering them water, especially when they start to pant more (this isn't a clear definitive reason to give water as they pant from excitement too!). Also if it's your own dog and they have wet food they can be less likely to actually drink due to the high percentage of water in their daily meals. Male dogs are not like humans in regards to peeing and hydration because of marking, they will force a pee at any point, and try and retain water for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How much water is enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until they stop drinking. Big dogs will drink more water, small dogs less - but different breeds will deal with heat better than others... huskies probably want more water in the heat than say a short haired tan Labrador. I always take my Shetland Sheepdog his own flask of water - either he drinks from a bowl or the cup from the flask, and it's HIS flask, so I can pour the water back in if he doesn't drink it all, and if there's mud and bits in it's fine (dogs prefer bits in their water to the stuff straight out of the tap!) - That said, if you know you're going to be by say a river or stream that's got a good flow - don't take anything, just let them drink as they go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I know that it needs water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a little more tricky as dogs pant for several reasons, but if it's really &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; hot, and they're panting, offer them water. They may also whine but not all dogs will do this for water. If they nuzzle empty bowls and try and lick slightly damp surfaces then offer them a drink! I think as well here it's better to let them have a settle in some shade too where possible. Offering the dog you were with water with every break is really the right way to go. A dog can't really say 'Yes please I'd like some water' but if they see you drinking, and they pant and whine they're probably thirsty! They can get dry noses if they're really thirsty but they can get this from any number of other reasons - like if they've wiped their face, or there is a high wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It would drink a lot of water every-time I offered. (I just poured water into my palm and it would drink)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This actually may not have been 100% thirst - you may have had deliciously sweaty palms. Every time I work out or go for a run my dog loves to lick my palms as they're sweaty, and the salty taste is just irresistible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T07:52:39.203" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10248" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10252" CreationDate="2015-12-10T08:47:08.270" Score="9" ViewCount="1261" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a ski-novice I want to start doing alpine ski tours, that means mountaineering with ski. I &lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt; want the ski to be mainly used in 'downhill powdering'. Because of long uphill sections, weight matters. But comfort/safety is important too because I don't wanna crush my knees on the way down hill. I also want to use the ski to approach climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;That being said, which type of bindings are available? What are pros/cons?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would be nice to have some examples too. I am not looking for buying recommendations but being new to ski some examples would help a lot. For example, is the &quot;Dynafit TLT Speed Turn&quot; a good way to go?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T10:01:31.323" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T23:01:38.420" Title="Which ski binding for alpine touring?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10249" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10260" CreationDate="2015-12-10T08:54:07.430" Score="15" ViewCount="734" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course we agree on the fact, that cellphones aren't that good in the great outdoors cause they just don't work if you are too far from civilization. That's why we use devices like Walkie-Talkies etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, since everyone of us has a smartphone already, is there any hard- or software to transform these into outdoor-prove devices? So that I can stay in contact with my group even if there isn't any connection to the mobile network (and wifi of course)?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aravona added a good point. It's eventually even cheaper to buy a common walkie-talkie than a phone-addon (especially if it's something like iWlkieTalkie ;P). However, just share your thoughts nevertheless if it would be more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is about connecting smartphones together not about interconnecting walkie-talkies and smartphones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation is like this: me and my buddy do any kind of outdoor activity where we neither have wifi nor mobile network. Nevertheless we want to stay connected. Since we &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; already have a smartphone I wondered if we can connect these two smartphones, so that we can use them to speak/text to each other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T09:31:09.910" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T10:46:31.150" Title="Possible to transform (at least two) smartphones into walkie-talkie like devices?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10243" CreationDate="2015-12-10T09:02:53.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I &lt;strong&gt;wouldn't&lt;/strong&gt; use climbing rope, anyone that's ever caught a climbing rope that's running out will tell you it's not pleasant. &lt;strong&gt;It burns&lt;/strong&gt;! Very painful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lunge line would be much better. It should easily cope with the demands of rocks, etc. Climbing ropes are engineered to catch a falling human. Dogs are obviously much lighter and will typically not be having dynamic falls. So though I wouldn't climb on a lunge line it should be more than strong enough for a dog lead, even over rough terrain with potential falls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were nervous you could always attach two leads. So that you have a back up should one fail. Or even two attachments. Lots of leads actually come with two ends so that you can have a backup should the clip fail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anything is going to fail it's the clip. So get a lead with a good clip robust clip and/or back it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get specific dog long leads. We're actually considering getting one for our dogs in the same situation. this also means you don't need any fancy knots, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you did want to learn a knot for this, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/index.php?Categ=climbing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;figure of eight&lt;/a&gt; is the one you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T15:52:30.243" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T15:52:30.243" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10248" CreationDate="2015-12-10T09:38:41.113" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two basic designs for bindings for ski-touring: tech/Pin bindings and frame bindings. All examples given are not a generally representative sample as they base on my experience here in Switzerland, where Diamir and Dynafit dominate the market with a recent increase in marker bindings (but mostly in freeriding).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ooCQ.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ooCQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Frame Bindings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are similar to standard alpine ski bindings. The toe and heel pieces are connected by some kind of frame. The toe piece differs from an alpine one that its height can be adjusted to touring ski boots, which have a thicker sole. On the back there is a ascension aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Very stable design&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good force transfer to the ski&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The front piece has a safety release (though not normed together with touring boots due to non standardized sole)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;work with both alpine and backcountry boots&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;somewhat cheaper (though it depends a lot on the model)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;heavier&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most of the bindings weight is lifted in every step&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rotation point is in front of toes (in most cases, some niche products like Naxo and Silvretta bindings do mitigate this)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Options&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All models do not differ drastically from each other. They basically do a tradeoff between weight and walking comfort to downhill stability. Diamir covers the whole range, but is traditionally strong in backcountry segment (e.g. Eagle model). Marker started the opposite way as a pure freeride (i.e. descent centered) supplier and recently went more into backcountry. Their Marker Baron is the standard for descent oriented skier doing occasional ascents. Personally I used and still use on my &quot;stone skis&quot; an old Diamir Freeride binding, it never failed me ones (but its heavy, but hey: training!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tech/Pin Bindings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This type is uniquely designed for ski-touring originally by the company Dynafit. Luckily since quite some years their patent has expired so they are no longer overpriced and there are various companies producing such bindings. Toe and heel piece are fixed on the ski and there is (with exceptions) no connection in between. The toe part has spring loaded pins that insert into inserts in the boots on its side. Thus the boot alone can rotate around that point. For descending the heel can be fixed via another pair of bins to the heel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FoEW.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FoEW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;lightweight&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;ergonomic rotation point&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In ascent the front piece is locked, so the skis will not come off at all (e.g. when getting into an avalanche). In descent it can open, but in most models the force when this should happen is not adjustable. There are some models that allow for purposeful ejection on the front.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hardcore descent can result in unwanted release in the front piece, so not really useful for people intending to do huge cliff dives and stuff like this. This is sometimes mitigate by locking the front piece but that is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; advisable as it can easily result in bad knee injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;need boots with inserts (though most backcountry boots nowadays are equipped with such)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Options&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated for a very long time, there was only one choice here: Dynafit. As I only know their bindings from my own experience, I will explain based on their models, but it is applicable generally. Here the tradeoff is in between weight and safety. The lightest models have barely any material on the skis and are mainly intended for races, they are not recommendable for backcountry skiing. The two kinds are the standard and the &quot;Speed&quot; versions. The main difference is, that in standard version there are stoppers, in &quot;Speed&quot; versions the ski is secured by a small leash at the toe piece. So in case of ejection, the ski will stay around you with the &quot;Speed&quot; binding. This can cause serious injuries. In my opinion, I would always got with stoppers, there weight is really not that bad. There are also &quot;FT&quot; vs &quot;ST&quot; versions, where &quot;FT&quot; have a plate in between the two binding pieces, supposedly increasing stiffness. No idea whether there is a notable difference.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Since two seasons there is a pin binding from Diamir (Vipec) that has controlled ejection in the front piece in both up- and downhill mode. There were serious problems with unwanted ejection in ascent on hard snow and some problems with the step in. From what I heard this were resolved in last seasons model and I know several content users. Still this remains a niche product.&#xA;When I switched to Dynafit Radical ST binding, it felt like the skis were missing. Admittedly the new skis were lighter too, but the rotation point really makes a huge difference. After some habituation to having &quot;almost nothing&quot; holding your boots to the skis this are now my goto bindings, I wouldn't switch for anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Picture Sources&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frame Binding:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://backcountryskiingcanada.com/images/reviews/Fritschi/Fritschi-Diamir-Eagle-Bindings-7.jpg&quot;&gt;http://backcountryskiingcanada.com/images/reviews/Fritschi/Fritschi-Diamir-Eagle-Bindings-7.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pin/Tech Binding:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://amountainjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DSC05034.jpg&quot;&gt;http://amountainjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DSC05034.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T09:45:35.930" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T09:45:35.930" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10239" CreationDate="2015-12-10T10:15:43.823" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a weather forecast for Zion &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/UTNPZION:13:US&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. As you can see, daytime temps are about freezing or slightly above by night temps can drop pretty low. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion camping in -10 to -15 C is pretty cold and you need to have the right gear, although its definitely possible. Obviously make sure you have suitably warm clothes, a decent tent and you'll probably want a good 4 season sleeping bag. If you have not camped in these kinds of conditions before I'd recommend planning so you can easily escape to somewhere warm e.g. your car if you need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T10:15:43.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1885" CreationDate="2015-12-10T12:27:15.890" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;tl;dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What you describe is absolutely allowed (using a bivouac to spend one night).&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you set up a small camp (described as a &quot;planned bivouac&quot; further in this text), you shouldn't be in a protected area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bivouac&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivouac_shelter&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sleeping one night without a tent or a small igloo.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An emergency bivouac is basically allowed everywhere. A planned bivouac is normally tolerated as long as it isn't set up in a protected area (official German term is &quot;Schutzgebiet&quot;). It's explicitly prohibited in such regions (ask the administration of these areas for further information).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spending one or more nights in a small tent apart from official camping sites.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Protected areas&lt;/strong&gt; (official German term &quot;Schutzgebiete&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In protected areas camping is generally prohibited. You may ask the&#xA;administration of the area or of the local commune for an exception.&#xA;This works surprisingly often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To check the protected areas of the alps, you can go to&#xA;www.alparc.org.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the woods&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping in the forest is generally prohibited in Germany, Austria,&#xA;Italy and Switzerland. You've to be permitted by the particular&#xA;landowner (ask the commune administration).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The detailed regulations differ from state to state in Austria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cooking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should use a safe camping stove to cook. Open fire is prohibited in protected areas (official German term &quot;Schutzgebiete&quot;) and in the forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Detailed regulations are very different from region to region.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;References&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/1677/zelten_und_biwakieren_in_den_bergen_16779.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/1677/zelten_und_biwakieren_in_den_bergen_16779.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oeav.at/portal/Service/Downloads/Rechtsfragen/Zelten_und_Biwakieren_in_Oesterreichs_Bergen_HP_2010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.oeav.at/portal/Service/Downloads/Rechtsfragen/Zelten_und_Biwakieren_in_Oesterreichs_Bergen_HP_2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/Service/Downloads/Rechtsfragen/Zelten_und_Biwakieren_in_Oesterreichs_Bergen_HP_2010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/Service/Downloads/Rechtsfragen/Zelten_und_Biwakieren_in_Oesterreichs_Bergen_HP_2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alparc.org&quot;&gt;www.alparc.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T12:27:15.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10202" CreationDate="2015-12-10T13:23:37.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you assume that both methods are about as effective, Then another parameter comes into place: If it rains very little it might be worth running, before it starts to rain more. If it rains alot, then you might want to maximize the possibility of if clearing up, i.e. walk slowly. (Or just wait in cover)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3528" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T13:23:37.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10257" CreationDate="2015-12-10T13:59:06.363" Score="11" ViewCount="729" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has really come about since doing some night caches and the issues that arise from doing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What precautions should you take before under-going a night cache?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T14:03:45.557" Title="What precautions need to be taken when night-caching?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10256" CreationDate="2015-12-10T13:59:06.363" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few, many of which are in common with simply hiking at night, but some are specific to geocaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, the old scouts saying of be prepared! Make sure your torches, whether hand held or head, are properly charged (or you have spare batteries for them) as you don't want to get caught out in the dark without a light source. This also goes for your GPS, spare batteries or keep it charged (and a good old fashioned map doesn't hurt either!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, take good note of &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; warnings on the cache information page - for example the night caches near Coombe Hill in Buckinghamshire have a person limit on them due to the proximity of the location to Chequers (Prime Ministers's home) too many people can lead to men in suits with guns coming up and asking what you're doing (though the Chequers staff seem to check the event page now and then as they don't bother us for the Midnight events!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thirdly, consider your terrain, a &lt;strong&gt;LOT&lt;/strong&gt; of night caches are trails... meaning you'll only get the start coordinates. Take care to waypoint the main caches or markers on route so that you can get yourself back to the start without incident... we took a 'short-cut' once and ended up scrambling up and down a 20ft gully in the middle of the forest, we really should have followed our waypoints back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourthly, the weather... recently a friend of mine did a seriously cool sounding Zombie night cache... but due to the horrific rain, and getting lost, the cache lost a lot of it's appeal!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fifthly? Take a compass! &lt;strong&gt;Seriously&lt;/strong&gt;... heavy tree cover or proximity to a pylon has on more than one occasion skewed our GPS positioning, and when you need to find 'the north east track after 50 paces' you may struggle when the GPS leads you astray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When night caching and looking for tack markers on trees, this can seriously seem weird when they blink at you (it was a deer in our case!) - you're not the only one out and about a night so simple common sense of respecting your surroundings is pretty important too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T14:03:45.557" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T14:03:45.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10243" CreationDate="2015-12-10T14:16:03.683" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if it would be possible make him a thicker long line&#xA;  with a decent clasp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the clasp, any &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.needlesports.com/2592/karabiners.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;climbing karabiner&lt;/a&gt; will be strong enough to hang a car off; I'd suggest a screwgate to avoid accidental un-clipping. Other clips and clasps may be perfectly fine too, these are just the ones I'm familiar with and have around the house!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I were to want to attach a clasp to a climbing rope for example&#xA;  what knot would work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the knot, the figure of eight on a bight (as linked in Liam's answer) is perfect for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Or would something like a lunge line work&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longeing#Longe_line&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;longe lines&lt;/a&gt; are static, which it sounds like they are, then arresting your dog from free fall could be dangerous. This is only an issue if there's slack line out when the dog falls: the change from falling to hanging stationary, when caught by a line with no stretch, is a huge deceleration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the reason climbing ropes are stretchy, so that the deceleration when arresting a fall is spread out, rather than creating a sudden shock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;could a lunge line withstand friction against rocks like a climbing rope (to&#xA;  some degree)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing ropes have a woven outer sheath designed to protect the core fibres from abrasion. Single-layer ropes and webbing are probably more vulnerable to cutting on sharp rocks, especially under load. Honestly sudden shock loading over a sharp edge is problematic for any rope, but I'd be surprised if a 6Kg dog could cut a climbing rope over anything but a very sharp knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find any suggestion that dynamic rope or cord suitable for arresting a fall is made to non-human specs, and a human-weight-rated one will be overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could possibly buy a single half-rope (these are usually used in pairs, and each half of the pair is relatively thin &amp;amp; light although still &#xA;full strength).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only alternative is to use a static cord (such as abseiling or rigging cord, or a longe line if you're happy with the abrasion and cutting resistance) with some kind of shock absorber. This seems like a lot of work for a dog lead, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4299" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-10T15:13:27.320" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T15:13:27.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10249" CreationDate="2015-12-10T15:00:30.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not really. The only long-distance communication method phones have is GSM/CDMA-based, and requires a tower (at which point, just call each other).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other signals they carry are usually Bluetooth and WiFi, with an effective range of respectively 10 and maybe 30 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T15:00:30.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10249" CreationDate="2015-12-10T15:19:23.653" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is, you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; do this, but I don't recommend it at all. Wallow talkie apps for the iPhone and android phones should be considered nothing except toys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firstly, the range of wifi and Bluetooth is abysmal and the use of&#xA;the cellular system does increase that range, but that defeats the&#xA;why try in a remote location with poor or nom-existent coverage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the apps do no run in the background, that means everyone would need&#xA;to run their phone ON at all times and would therefore burn the&#xA;battery charge very quickly. This also would defeat any use for this&#xA;as an emergency situation, because unless everyone is poised to&#xA;listen to you, you will not be heard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are very inexpensive 2 way radios suitable for camping in even wet conditions, and they don't sit in a full on state to work. While the radio is listening and the squelch tuned properly, most of the radio isn't even powered on, and the battery will last much much longer than your iphone will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The frequencies used by many 2 way radios have a much greater range than any of the frequencies used by cell phone. A walkie talkie using CB bands (11meter wavelengths), can send and receive signals up to 10 miles away under most conditions, and when using special features such as single sideband modulation, can reach 100s of miles at the right times of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't try to use your cell phone for this, this is like the difference between using designer sneakers for ice climbing when you should be using yak tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T10:46:31.150" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T10:46:31.150" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10243" CreationDate="2015-12-10T15:29:57.987" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a sailor rather than a rock climber, my familiarity is more with nylon 3 strand twisted ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With nylon twisted ropes, you can make ropes of any length without needing special splicing tools like you need for cored ropes like those used in climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would buy 3/8 inch deck and anchor line, cut your favorite clasp off your preferred leash, and eye-splice the clasp into the new rope using a thimble (metal insert that protects the eye from wearing). Cut the length of the rope to about 3 ft longer than you wish. And tie a larger eye splice into the other end for your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To learn how to tie various knots visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://animatedknots.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T15:29:57.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10245" CreationDate="2015-12-10T15:38:10.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add a little to the excellent answers already present: another way to tell dehydration in a dog is to (gently!) grab the scruff of its neck, raise the skin a bit and let go. If it returns back to its normal position and smooth shape quickly, it's fine. If it stays wrinkled/deformed or only resumes its original shape slowly, the dog is likely dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8273" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T15:38:10.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10263" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-10T17:54:41.400" Score="2" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ask this question because I met them often in the forest. In the most cases they only run away but in one case the boar blocked our way through a valley. It only looked at us. It did not attack but we could not chase it away with yelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps yelling was the wrong idea? But how should you behave? And how can you prevent to be attacked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8354" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:10:28.743" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:10:28.743" Title="How to behave when there is a wild boar in your way" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2015-12-10T18:44:53.627" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10249" CreationDate="2015-12-10T18:58:43.017" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other answers point out, their are issues with using your cell phone as a walkie-talkie. The answer as they point out is you, can but it really does not meet the need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your need/desire is to communicate with cell phones when &lt;em&gt;&quot;you are too far from civilization&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.  Depending on what country you are in and/or your desire to communicate lawfully, the solution is to build and bring your own cellular network with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build yourself a mobile cell tower/network, install it/them on a vehicle(s) parked strategically, or a single vehicle and a balloon. Call others in your private network, and everything works just like being in civilization, except no roaming fees, and no minutes deducted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ciena.com/connect/blog/How-I-built-my-own-mobile-cell-tower.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How I built my own mobile cell tower&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wired.com/2015/01/diy-cellular-phone-networks-mexico/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Where Cellular Networks Don’t Exist, People Are Building Their Own&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technologyreview.com/hack/418552/build-your-own-cellular-network/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Build Your Own Cellular Network&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phonearena.com/news/DIY-enthusiasts-make-their-own-cell-phone-tower-using-a-Raspberry-Pi_id37976&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;DIY enthusiasts make their own cell phone tower using a Raspberry Pi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBTS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;OpenBTS (Open Base Transceiver Station)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/03/google-balloons-cell-towers-in-the-sky-can-serve-4g-to-a-whole-state/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Google balloons, “cell towers in the sky,” can serve 4G to a whole state&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-12-10T18:58:43.017" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10265" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10292" CreationDate="2015-12-10T22:06:25.203" Score="11" ViewCount="4578" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going skiing shortly after Christmas and I have a thick canvas (65% polyester, 35% cotton, brushed) coat that I need to waterproof.  Is a wax more efficient for waterproofing than a spray for this situation?  I'd like to avoid wash-in waterproofing as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8243" LastEditorUserId="8243" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T15:22:50.493" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T20:23:04.657" Title="Is wax waterproofing more effective than spray for fabric coat?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10165" CreationDate="2015-12-11T01:13:36.443" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For lone backcountry or wilderness where you can count on there are no others, 'usually'. Have a plan to respond to 'life altering' threat of injury or attack.  Your gut will tell you a person is creepy, but intent is not always obvious.  Let your sighting of others cause you to avoid them and if you are sought out be prepared to respond with overwhelming cunning and force. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a SPOT, my wife knows relatively where I'm going and will track the device on the Internet and talk with me if there is coverage.  If I stop I use the SPOT to message her I'm ok which she will see updated on the SPOT Internet sight/map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People of 'good will' know your concerns being alone and will not intentionally cause you greater concern by seeking you out or approaching you.  If they can't help but travel your route then change your route or activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not prepared for the worst scenario, i.e. bear spray and large caliber handgun in grissley country you're not prepared for 'life altering' threats of 'any type'.  It's against the law to carry concealed in a National Forest, check the state for concealed carry license and 'open carry' where allowed, i.e. 'open' in lieu of license.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some 'utes' have a high threshold for risk perpetrated on themselves so they purchase a tracking device.  You can't know others intentions, lower your personal safety threshold for risk.  The best response is 'overwhelming and unexpected' for any nature of the attack.  Don't wait until you are under attack and 'react'... this is 'life altering' be prepared. Give yourself the advantage by: 1) surprise you 'responded' 2) with overwhelming force just sufficient to 'stop' the threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this doesn't sound like you would enjoy it: 1) go with someone you have trust and confidence in can and will respond to any threat.  My wife is a good sport car camping but far exceeded her comfort this summer hiking into the Wind River Range, WY and off-trail under heightened grissley alert.  She learned a little about herself, a plus, but it's just not her interest nor will it ever be.  2) I thought wrong trying to fit her into the wilderness.  I'll go alone and be delighted for her to enjoy resort. maybe that's for you too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8336" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T01:13:36.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2015-12-11T02:27:11.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What sorts of considerations, gear, practices, should I/we/they&#xA;  acquire to help them get back into car camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have covered the questions of comfort well, and I have nothing to add to what has been said about comfort.  (I still need only an ensolite pad.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I can say something about warmth and the need for leisure occupation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Layers&lt;/em&gt; become more important as one gets older, because not only is the cold felt more, but the ability to regulate becomes less.  Take more varied layers than before, including a light fleece jacket that can either go under a down jacket or substitute for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As one gets older, one loses stamina and endurance.  Whatever your parents could do 10 years ago in terms of hiking, they probably can do less now. So there will be more time in that comfy chair that was pictured above.  Maybe they need only the hypnotic sound and sight of a burbling stream to be content, but take along a Kindle (or variant) or enough books, if they are readers, or Scrabble or whatever games they like.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally -- and it should have been first -- ask your mother.  She probably knows exactly what she and your Dad need.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T02:27:11.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10249" CreationDate="2015-12-11T07:34:14.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a little bit surprised about these answers. There are devices out there doing &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; what you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope it's okay to name actual product names here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Me and my wife are using something called &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gotenna.com/index&quot;&gt;GoTenna&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. It's like an antenna which is connected via bluetooth to your smartphone. It connects with other &quot;GoTennas&quot; in the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few key facts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can achieve mid-ranged distances (from my experience about 3 miles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can connect (and broadcast) to any other goTenna device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It comes always in pairs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gotenna.com/pages/faqs&quot;&gt;FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially interesting in this context for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why is goTenna better than a walkie-talkie?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Integrates with the smartphone you already have on you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Texts allow for less miscommunication (and poor timing) than real-time voice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Delivery confirmation &amp;amp; automatic message retry for one-to-one messaging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Chat with specific individuals or groups, or anyone within range of you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't worry about being on the same channel or having your conversation interrupted by others&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Share your location and points of interest on detailed offline maps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;End-to-end encryption for total privacy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Small and light form factor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Upgradeable to include new features via firmware &amp;amp; software updates&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8359" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T07:34:14.303" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10273" CreationDate="2015-12-11T10:52:34.923" Score="28" ViewCount="5208" Body="&lt;p&gt;This happened on one of my hikes. &#xA;It was a hike with two villages en route. Somehow a dog from the first village decided to stick with us. We were OK with it. Then he was followed by a small Puppy. Now we tried to shoo them away but they still decided to tag along. When we reached the second village, the dogs from that village joined us too. So now there were 5 dogs with us. They were with us for the whole hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was raining so water wasn't an issue for them, but we couldn't feed them, this was a few hours of hike so that wasn't an issue either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the implications (If there are any) when a few dogs/puppies decide to stick with you on a hike?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you shoo away a stubborn dog/dogs/pup/puppies, for their own safety? (I think it't not safe say for a stray pup to join you on a hike, considering that it might get displaced/lost/hunted).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-03-01T08:46:20.623" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T16:58:00.517" Title="How to Shoo away a stubborn Stray Dog/Dogs who decides to tag along with you on a hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10272" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10278" CreationDate="2015-12-11T11:00:37.953" Score="9" ViewCount="762" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one doesn't have much opportunity to go shoot over the winter, how can they maintain their muscles? Which exercises are suitable? What equipment might be handy? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-09-05T07:53:00.810" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T07:53:00.810" Title="What are suitable strength exercise for archers?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10271" CreationDate="2015-12-11T11:39:11.540" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the biggest issue here is that you're likely to find strays won't respond to commands that, for a normal dog, would work at keeping them from following (stay or wait).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've actually had this experience as well when walking along a canal with my husband, a narrow boat owners dog followed us for a good 200 yards before we walked him back and got them to take him inside. Unfortunately with a stray, or dogs that are allowed to freely wander, there's usually no one to give them back to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are the implications(If there are any) when a few dogs/puppies decide to stick with you on a hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the dogs point of view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a &lt;strong&gt;stray dog&lt;/strong&gt; probably very little, most dogs have a good directional sense and can probably make it back to wherever they call home without an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an &lt;strong&gt;owned dog walking free&lt;/strong&gt; probably again little - however, if the dog has tags, try and return it to its owner as it may have actually wandered off without them wanting it to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;any puppy&lt;/strong&gt; depending on age, probably this is the least favourable walking companion as for one, puppies don't have fully developed bones until approximately a year old, their bones are soft, and long hikes are never advised by vets until about 6 months old. They can damage their bones when they're still soft from walking too much. Also, puppies are much more susceptible to diseases like parvovirus, and other viruses which are spread by rats urine (commonly found along rivers and water sources).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a hikers point of view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Irritation is probably the biggest factor. You may find issues if the dogs are aggressive or there are a large number of them in a pack. If this is the case, try avoiding going near the dogs in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9675/3313&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; gives great information about dealing with wild dogs, especially if they are aggressive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How do you shoo away a stubborn dog/dogs/pup/puppies, for their own safety?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;usual&lt;/em&gt; way to get a dog to stop unwanted behaviour is to ignore them - this is a very powerful tool for a human as dogs want eye contact. Don't look at the dog and don't speak to it. Any form of attention to attention deprived dogs (so positive OR negative) will fulfil the need, common in owned dogs in the form of separation anxiety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also &lt;strong&gt;do not&lt;/strong&gt; run from the dog! This is a game, you are prey, you're invoking the dogs natural want to chase. And stay calm, if you calmly walk away from the dogs they'll likely get bored. If there are locals around you can ask them to help you out, especially if the dog is known to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thewayofslowtravel.com/2013/12/28/5-non-violent-tricks-to-deal-with-stray-dogs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5 non violent ways to deal with stray dogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T15:59:41.867" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10272" CreationDate="2015-12-11T14:41:56.980" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Push-ups, sit-ups, dry aiming you bow (do not do this with compound bow, you can derail your strings), one of those stretchy surgical tubing pull exercise gizmos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yoga is good exercise for all muscle groups and keeps you limber and supple, not bunched up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T16:23:36.083" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T16:23:36.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10275" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to hacking, or going out on a hack. This is a common term used for riding a horse on a road or trail rather than in a manège, or in a yard-owned field. It is also known as 'pleasure riding'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10276" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to hacking, or going out on a hack." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T15:01:37.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10271" CreationDate="2015-12-11T15:38:23.620" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What always worked for me, when I used to live in a place where stray dogs were common, was to slow down, crouch, and reach down, pretending to pick up a rock to throw at them.  Stray dogs are usually dumb enough to fall for this, even on a blacktop road with no rocks in sight!  They'll go running.  Immediately stand up and keep walking. (Walk, don't run.)  They might come back.  If so, repeat this trick.  It shouldn't take more than two or three times before they give up and leave you alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Just so no one misunderstands, &lt;em&gt;actually&lt;/em&gt; picking up rocks and throwing them at stray dogs is not recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6444" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T15:38:23.620" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10272" CreationDate="2015-12-11T15:39:32.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sit-ups won't work, archery is all about the shoulders, not abs. Also it's a bad idea to dry aim a bow, it is generally frowned upon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are exercise tools you can buy such as a bow training exerciser:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OhzyKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OhzyKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is a training band, such as this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/89XAPm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/89XAPm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that you can get yourself a press exerciser, I have one and it is very useful:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fq3KCm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fq3KCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally another option is to find a club with a hall. The ones that I belonged to had a hall for bad weather and the field for when it cleared up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T15:52:01.477" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T15:52:01.477" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10279" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-11T18:15:56.793" Score="8" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a standard measure for textile properties such as windproof, waterproof, breathability, elasticity, drying time, comfort?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a website that has a list of different textiles in the industry with these measures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8365" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-12-15T18:40:01.890" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T20:17:20.247" Title="How are textile properties, such as elasticity, wind and water resistance, drying time, measured?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10280" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10285" CreationDate="2015-12-11T18:44:57.127" Score="7" ViewCount="1061" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flannel&lt;/a&gt; shirt is extremely popular when it comes to outdoor activities since ever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xHljom.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xHljom.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flannel shirt&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was&#xA;originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often&#xA;made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which characteristics made (and make) flannel such an excellent choice for outdoor activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is clearly not opinion-based. One shouldn't answer with things like &amp;quot;Because it looks cool&amp;quot; or something but with rational facts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:27:00.240" Title="What makes flannel so popular?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10272" CreationDate="2015-12-11T19:31:25.017" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Dumbbells&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How about weight training such as bent-over dumbbell rows and similar exercises? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video examples - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYcpY20QaE8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYcpY20QaE8&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LktGPg-AkvY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LktGPg-AkvY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3667" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T19:31:25.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10282" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10283" CreationDate="2015-12-11T21:19:58.433" Score="12" ViewCount="644" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM3xLshmNnk&amp;amp;t=58s&quot;&gt;common advice&lt;/a&gt; to handle your ice axe with the pick facing to the rear. Furthermore, having a single technique of self-arrest aids in training and being prepared for an emergency situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the instructions on the newly purchased Grivel hiking ice axe of a friend advise the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ice axe must be held with the blade facing the slope, so it can be plunged into the snow without having to turn it round. In other words the ice axe has to be held in the traditional way, blade facing forward during the ascent. But on the way down the grip must be changed so that the blade is again facing the slope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already explained my skepticism of this claim. Please advise what is the best practice for an occasional hiker around 2300m european winters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-11T21:44:50.390" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T21:44:50.390" Title="What is the correct ice axe grip when descending?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10282" CreationDate="2015-12-11T21:44:18.507" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you can walk normally (using the whole foot not just the toe area) always hold your axe at its head with the blade pointing backwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More information&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends on the situation you are in. The text from Grivel seems to be a oversimplification. There is not just one technique for ascending and one for descending. There are two basic methods which are applicable for both ascent and descent (regarding how you hold the axe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moderate terrain / Walking on snow&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is likely the situation in question here, as in the question hiking and not mountaineering is mentioned. This includes both flat and steep terrain. The latter as long as you can walk with all points of the crampons in the snow (i.e. &quot;normal&quot; walking). Here you hold the axe at the head with the hand closer to the slope with the blade facing backwards. Here the axe is used to hold your balance and self arrest in case of a fall. The blade is facing backwards exactly for that: self arrest (the video in the question and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3761/proper-technique-for-self-arrest-with-an-ice-axe-when-wearing-crampons&quot;&gt;this TGO question&lt;/a&gt; explain this well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Steep terrain / Ascending on toe points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the terrain gets too steep for the above technique one turns to face the snow and ascends plunging the toe pieces of the crampons into the snow. The axe is held at the shaft and arrested with the blade in the snow, so you can support your weight on it and use it to pull yourself upwards. Here a slip simply must not happen, the chances of being able to self arrest would anyway be slim. This is why you kind of &quot;continuously&quot; arrest with the blade facing forward. I guess this is what Grivel is talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T21:44:18.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10280" CreationDate="2015-12-11T21:45:21.753" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Man, that's easy. It's soft, warm and durable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T21:45:21.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10280" CreationDate="2015-12-11T22:04:11.197" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides being the manliest thing you could ever wear outdoors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Durability&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you ever had a flannel shirt, or pair of pants? If you have, then odds are you &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; have them. They are extremely abrasion resistant, and won't melt or burst into flames if a hot coal from the fire lands on them. There's a reason why lumberjacks favoured flannel shirts, and it's because they could hack away at trees all day, carry logs around, get covered in dirt, bark, and wood chips, then at the end of the day just brush it off and go woo the ladies in the tavern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Warmth&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flannel is traditionally made out of wool, which is extremely warm and has a lot of merits when it comes to moisture control. You can sweat in a flannel shirt out in the cold without the shirt losing much of its insulating properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-11T22:04:11.197" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6841" CreationDate="2015-12-12T15:41:58.847" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just face the pointy bits towards each other and wrap the webbing around the bundle to keep them together. I then just chuck them in the bottom of my bag if I know I don't need them or in the top if I know I will. You could pad them with a hat, spare socks or what ever if you were worried about other more delicate items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also even if they start out sharp once they've encountered a small amount of scrambling or walking up some moraine they're unlikely to be sharp enough to damage something unless you're being very forceful in your packing / unpacking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3zKKj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;packed crampons&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2015-12-12T15:41:58.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10215" CreationDate="2015-12-12T16:15:33.690" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;(NB: I would have added this as a comment to @fgysin's answer, but I don't have enough rep. to comment yet.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@fgysin's answer (and the associated comments) is very thorough, and covers most points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there's one other thing worth considering (unless you're alone). If you haven't been able to get to a safe location, and are sitting out the storm as advised (crouching or sitting on the ground, keeping a small contact area and minimizing you height), you should -- if the terrain allows it -- &lt;em&gt;maintain some separation between members of your party&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is because, if the worst happens, and there's a ground strike close enough to incapacitate someone in the group, you really want there to be somebody else available to start administering first aid if required. If you're all sat huddled together (not unreasonable if it's cold, wet and windy), the current could affect everybody simultaneously, resulting in multiple injuries, and making the situation that much more serious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How far apart you should sit (again, assuming the terrain allows it), isn't so clear. A quick Google shows respected authorities recommending a minimum separation of 20 feet, 50 feet, and 100 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was in this very situation (caught out during a storm in the high mountains, with no safe place to retreat to) in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa some years ago. Fortunately, there were no ground strikes close enough to cause any injuries, but the group of 15 or so did spend a good 20 minutes knelt on the ground, spaced well apart, as the storm passed overhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8369" LastActivityDate="2015-12-12T16:15:33.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10290" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-12T21:58:47.187" Score="10" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;This year in October I saw a lot of robins, male and female, finches and chickadees, and geese flying south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surprisingly I didn't see many juveniles from previous broods. My guess is that juveniles are harder to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the robins were flying above me, looking for worms below me, and most ended up in tall shrubs. The finches stayed in place longer than the robins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why this big congregation of birds when it is still going to be relatively warm for most of the fall(which it ended up being)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:53:45.727" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:53:45.727" Title="Lots of birds together at the same time" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4778" CreationDate="2015-12-13T04:48:18.757" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes we did this when I was in the army, you need to replace the newspaper once it has soaked up some of the water. Another trick is to place a tea light candle inside your boot at the part where your ankle would sit so it doesnt burn anything (not at the same time as the newspaper).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8371" LastActivityDate="2015-12-13T04:48:18.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10265" CreationDate="2015-12-14T08:38:40.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to tell without all the details. As a rule of thumb I'd apply whatever was applied to the coat originally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it didn't have a coating at all then the waterproof spray is likely the best option. The spray is likely going to produce the best result. Wax can discolour and make a jacket stiff. These day's wax is only used on &quot;wax jacket&quot; type coats. Whatever you do don't apply wax to any breathable jackets, it will likely ruin them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note you said the spray was a &lt;em&gt;&quot;fluropolymer compound&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Just as an FYI these compounds are frowned upon these days, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;PFOA type&lt;/a&gt; compounds (which this almost definitely is) produce significant environmental and health concerns. Most manufacturers have moved to biodegrable, more environmentally friendly compounds these days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e.g. see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/remote/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&amp;amp;blobheader=application%2Fpdf&amp;amp;blobkey=id&amp;amp;blobtable=MungoBlobs&amp;amp;blobwhere=1289379069326&amp;amp;ssbinary=true&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Goretex statement&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T09:15:46.493" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T09:15:46.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10293" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10294" CreationDate="2015-12-14T09:16:47.177" Score="20" ViewCount="46568" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an area that I would like to explore at daytime and at night time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen only two foxes in that area during the day time. One of the locals told me not to go out at night because foxes hunt as pack and they might attack even a human.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It almost sounds to me like the foxes live close to the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do foxes care day/night when they decide to attack human? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What triggers them to attack a human?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update 1: To everyone who took time to write answers &amp;amp; comments, I'm really sorry. I somehow thought it was foxes..I should have asked &quot;When/Where do coyotes attack human?&quot;. However, I think it's nice to know..foxes do not attack human..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8376" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:56:43.337" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T12:31:25.463" Title="When/Where do foxes attack humans?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;foxes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10293" CreationDate="2015-12-14T09:35:13.217" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;:  Foxes do not attack humans. So you can go there day and night. To me this sounds more like a spooking story than reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes hunt very small animals, humans are way too big for them. Anyway, in their natural habitat they are extremely shy and will run away from you most likely before you are even aware of its presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes with rabies can lose their natural fear of humans. I know that Switzerland and UK are considered rabies free and I believe this is true for many European countries. So this is no concern in these areas, in other parts of the world it is a valid concern. Not specific to foxes but in many species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another problem is that foxes penetrate urban areas scavenging for food. There they get somewhat accustomed to people. While this mean that the chances of coming across a fox is higher, they are still shy and will never be the aggressor. Of course the usual applies: If you corner the animal or if you threaten pups, they will attack - but only as the very last measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To specifically answer the question about whether they attack at day or night: Neither, as explained above. But as they are mainly night active, you are more likely to encounter one at night so the extremely unlikely event of an attack would be more likely at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One personal experience: We once grilled chicken in the forest close to a city. There was one fox who tried over and over to get close so it can steal some chicken. Whenever we saw it and made any motion towards it, it ran away. However it was extremely cunning at moving in the shades of the trees, so with time it got quite close, but never reached its goal. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-15T15:22:44.703" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T15:22:44.703" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10293" CreationDate="2015-12-14T09:40:47.050" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Urban red foxes&lt;/strong&gt; have been known to be a tad vicious or territorial and attack people... but it is not a common occurrence by any means, usually it's due to the fox having gotten itself into a &lt;strong&gt;cornered situation&lt;/strong&gt;, they then act as any wild animal will and &lt;em&gt;potentially&lt;/em&gt; strike. There is always the odd news story of a fox getting into a house, and attacking people... but it's uncommon, and for the majority of interactions, the fox only strikes as it cannot escape. The majority of them are simply made up by people who have had vague experiences... &lt;em&gt;Not all pet dogs attack, but once bitten twice shy&lt;/em&gt;. Rabid foxes are also, like urban foxes, less wary of humans than their rural counterparts. Also an injured fox may attempt to bite you if you get too close, but this is common of any wild animal that has an injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I've never had a bad experience with either an urban or rural red fox. Usually they just run away from you. I've seen some beautiful red foxes in my town, and out in the woods, they look at you, they may watch a while, but they don't come close, or let you get close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red foxes are not massive pack animals, but they will hunt with their cubs, to teach them until they move on on their own. They for the most part hunt small rodents, nothing bigger than a rabbit. Foxes are known to scavenge in bins, eat nuts and berries... they're opportunistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will more likely see a fox at dusk, or at night, but they do not attack people so there is no worry about exploring an area either at day or night. &lt;strong&gt;That said&lt;/strong&gt; you should always be respectful of whenever you are exploring, and be aware that your torchlight could easily disturb, or spook, a number of nocturnal animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just a note&lt;/em&gt; when we have our dog around we actually have noticed the red foxes will linger longer... we recently had a fox run right into a field maybe 5 meters from us, stop dead and stare at the dog, then run off after a few seconds. Taking a dog exploring with you at night in a foxes habitat is something I would say you need to be aware of - but again the fox will likely just run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T09:40:47.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="200" CreationDate="2015-12-14T10:27:45.573" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Compatibility&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not familiar with the rating system (B0-3, C0-2) mentioned in other answer, but the compatibility of boots and crampons boils down to two questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do the boots have a welt/lip in the front and/or back?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This defines the choice of attachment system that is suitable.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most hiking boots do not have any welts, so you need a crampon with basket type attachment in the front and back, that is secured mainly by straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HjCChm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HjCChm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your boot has a welt in the back, you can choose crampons with a lever in the back. This is easier to attach and is more stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ieUDTm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ieUDTm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technical mountaineering boots have welts both in front and in the back. In addition to the lever, the have a metal bracket in the front. This is very similar to hardboot snowboard/raceboard bindings. This is fastest to step in and most rigid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XoPMWm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XoPMWm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is the sole stiff enough?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your sole has welts it is designed for use with crampons, so no problem here. Hiking shoes with very soft sole (trekking shoes) can be problematic. There is unfortunately no clear criterion when a sole is too soft. So in this case I highly recommend to test at a specialized dealer whether it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Features&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Material&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard are steel crampons as they are stable and durable. So if you do anything technical or will have sections on rock to cross with crampons on, this is the way to go. For use only on glaciers/snow aluminum crampons are a valid alternative, as they are quite a bit lighter. They just wear out quickly on rock, but for snow/ice only use they are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Front Points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard front points are horizontal. If you do not know what to choose, go with these. Vertical front points are for ice climbing, dry tooling and mixed/technical mountaineering. These are mostly also more rigid and heavy, so not a good choice for snow hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Antibott!!!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very import is that your crampons have some kind of antibott feature. This is usually a plastic piece on the bottom of the crampons. It reduces the chance of snow getting stuck under your crampons. Especially in warmer/humid conditions, without antibott your crampons become useless quickly (i.e. even more slippery than without) due to the accumulated snow underneath (plus it is a lot of weight to lift).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total amount of points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is really no big concern unless you go technical, so look at weight and price instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Picture References&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order of appearance:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://content.backcountry.com/images/items/900/GRV/GRV0048/ATNC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://content.backcountry.com/images/items/900/GRV/GRV0048/ATNC.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/upload/548670/images/img_5409.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/upload/548670/images/img_5409.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://weighmyrack.com/sites/weighmyrack.com/files/images/crampon/Grivel_Air_Tech_Cramp_O_Matic.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://weighmyrack.com/sites/weighmyrack.com/files/images/crampon/Grivel_Air_Tech_Cramp_O_Matic.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T16:04:39.663" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T16:04:39.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10290" CreationDate="2015-12-14T11:19:52.443" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I could extract it, the general question contained in your text is something like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This year in October I saw a lot of robins, male and female, finches and chickadees, and geese flying south. [...] So why this big congregation of birds when it is still going to be relatively warm for most of the fall(which it ended up being)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is, that birds are not looking into the weather forecast thinking things like &quot;Well, looks like it's gonna stay quite pleasant here for another two weeks, so let's take things easy and stay a bit longer here in this neat little forest.&quot; Instead, the timing of each species on when to migrate has been calibrated over generations of birds. It is the time slot which &lt;em&gt;on average&lt;/em&gt; over the years produces the least mortality on the journey, i.e. the &lt;em&gt;least damage to the whole population&lt;/em&gt;, which is of course not necessarily the least hazardous option for the single individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you have to consider, that the fact that the weather is still fine at where the birds are right now, that might not be true for the rest of their journey. For example, a migrating bird with its summer habit somewhere in central or northern Europe will have to cross the Alps and/or the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Africa. While the weather might still be fine for some time in their summer habit, the chance of finding the Alps covered in snow and hitting a fall storm over the Mediterranean increases if they wait for too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning the question, how they know, Wikipedia provides some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_migration#Timing&quot;&gt;insight&lt;/a&gt; into that topic. According to that, the primary trigger for when it is time to go is the change of day length. So basically, if day length reaches a certain point, they go, even if look out of the window and are more in the T-shirt than in the winter coat mood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T11:19:52.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10298" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10300" CreationDate="2015-12-14T14:48:10.690" Score="4" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've white &lt;a href=&quot;http://gatewayfeathers.shptron.com/p/4-r-w-parabolic-flo-white?pp=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;turkey feathers&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ijarc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ijarc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Feather&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to dye them like my nocks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4SWlC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4SWlC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;X-Nock bone&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, they're &quot;bone&quot; colored (a slightly dirty white). Am I able to make my white feathers a little bit more &quot;creamy&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feather image for bad displays (;P): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8srVJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8srVJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Contrast&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-14T16:19:21.210" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T16:58:19.943" Title="Creating a bone colored feather dye" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10293" CreationDate="2015-12-14T15:51:39.493" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like they were telling tales, possibly for your own good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exploring by night can be extremely dangerous, for reasons that have nothing to do with foxes. Tripping, falling, or just plain walking into a tree are very real dangers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes, however, are not[1].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do hunt in small family groups (a &lt;em&gt;skulk&lt;/em&gt;, not a pack), but target prey like mice. They might attack a small child, but only in times of great hunger, as prey that size is a huge gamble. For comparison, a dog the size of a small child would do significant damage to a skulk, and would probably kill a lone fox. Granted, this is because that size of dog is often of a breed developed for dog fights, but it's still bad news for the foxes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking on an adult human would be akin to you deciding the Bengal Tiger at the zoo needs to be put in it's place, and it's your job to do it, - with your bare hands. It's not going to end well for one of you, and my money is on the tiger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unless you do something &lt;em&gt;stupid&lt;/em&gt;, like picking up one of those adorable little kits. Of course, humans have been known to take out cougars bare handed when children are in danger, so I guess it all comes down to motivation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8380" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T15:51:39.493" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10298" CreationDate="2015-12-14T16:58:19.943" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feathers take dye well.  Some references suggest that kool-aid can be used. You can use an off the shelf fabric dye. If you want to go natural you could use turkey droppings, and thin to get a consistency that gives the desired color.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of which type of dye you use it will take trial and error to get the correct mix to give the desired color.  You need not test a whole, feather cut it in to sections and possibly get 5 or 10 trials out of one flight feather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix the dye&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Submerge the feather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse the feather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let it dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-12-14T16:58:19.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9412" CreationDate="2015-12-15T00:20:40.187" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a youngster I roamed a lot of times in nature in the former Yugoslavia, and I have seen a scorpion only once when I turned a heavy stone. It looks to me that scorpions there appreciate places where it's pretty cold in the warm South European summer. I've never heard any local people complaining about scorpions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8382" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-12-15T03:26:22.383" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T03:26:22.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10304" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10308" CreationDate="2015-12-15T07:36:59.923" Score="14" ViewCount="14494" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 3D archery and while hunting we're aiming for the lungs and the heart most of the time. At least this is true for bobcats, lynxes, deer and other similar animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this target for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3ojAL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3ojAL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Deer practice&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to films and stuff, the best way to kill a human is to shoot in the head. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true? An if yes, why doesn't this also apply to animals? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-28T00:39:00.150" LastActivityDate="2019-04-28T00:39:00.150" Title="Why do you not aim for the head while archery hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10304" CreationDate="2015-12-15T07:53:51.540" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The head tends to be a harder target to hit than the vital organs in the center of the body, but a penetrating hit there is more likely to take a human or animal to unconsciousness and inability &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's more important to do to a human who may have a weapon that can hit you back quickly, than it is to a nearly-defenseless animal you are hunting from a distance. However, in general police and military also train to target the &quot;center of mass&quot; of humans, too, as the most likely way in general to incapacitate a target, given that in fighting situations (as opposed to shooting an unmoving animal), misses are very common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some large animals and even humans also have skulls that may deflect or effectively stop or reduce the impact of an arrow (or bullet). Combined with the harder target and the chance the animal may suddenly move its head out of the line of fine being greater than them moving their entire body suddenly, the odds of getting a hit that results in an eventual dead animal are greater if you aim for the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5426" LastEditorUserId="5426" LastEditDate="2015-12-15T08:08:45.283" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T08:08:45.283" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10304" CreationDate="2015-12-15T07:55:28.447" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does apply, in some cases - it's actually a preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small game such as rabbits a neat little shot to the head with a high powered air rifle will kill the rabbit and save you from having to get the shot out afterwards. This is also most likely with small game that it's going to be much harder to pick out heart or lungs to aim to, the head is a clearer shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For larger game there is the choice, deer, as in your example, stand high in the grass and it's much easier to pick out where the heart or lung shots would be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason people often pick heart or lung shots, especially with deer, is that a single shot kill is much more humane, and responsible, than having to shoot twice. The pro to shooting for the brain is the death should be instantaneous, the con is the target size... if you miss you'll spook the deer and it'll flee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The choice of shot will also depend on distance, bullet, your shooting ability, weather conditions... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for humans, well, a good shot anywhere can cause us to bleed out and die. It's almost the same preference - a head or chest shot can kill a person, but you're more likely to survive the latter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article is quite interesting: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2012/09/where-aim-kill-deer-one-shot&quot;&gt;outdoor life - where to shoot a deer for one shot kills&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-15T08:14:20.793" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T08:14:20.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9967" CreationDate="2015-12-15T09:31:43.780" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reddit helped me out! It's a Sears Jet wind!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8204" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T09:31:43.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10304" CreationDate="2015-12-15T12:13:15.647" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compare a human skull to that of a deer. The human skull is dominated by the brain, so a shot to the head is likely to penetrate the cranium and brain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, a deer brain is very small compared to the skull and presents a very small target. Furthermore there are bony stuctures which might deflect away a bullet or arrow. See this picture of a fallow deer skull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m2xyk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m2xyk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, large muscles need large anchor points, so an animal with strong neck muscles or strong jaw muscles will often have bony lumps and flanges on its skull (e.g. the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittal_crest&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sagital crest&lt;/a&gt; on a gorilla skull).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the&#xA;  midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many&#xA;  mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, a deflected shot off a rib is still likely to go on and penetrate heart or lungs. And a big animal like a deer is going to need a big heart and big lungs to oxygenate such a large body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8385" LastEditorUserId="8385" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T09:09:43.000" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T09:09:43.000" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10304" CreationDate="2015-12-15T17:11:44.393" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A headshot is a high percentage HIT if done perfectly, but it is not a high percentage SHOT to do perfectly.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The brain (which is the actual intended target) is a small target, a miss of the exact target leads to a very ineffective alternate hit, it moves more, and it is more armored (which on glancing shots can increase the chance of ricochet, this is especially true for archery).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By contrast the &quot;boiler room&quot; heart/lung shot is larger, in significantly less motion at any given moment, and an imperfect shot still has a fairly large buffer of &quot;still decent&quot; hits around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a skilled enough shooter with a fairly close range and a very fortuitous few moments of extremely limited head movement may come across a situation where some of those factors are negated enough where a head shot becomes viable...with a &lt;strong&gt;rifle&lt;/strong&gt;. Even that is a fairly rare set of circumstances, &lt;em&gt;but for archery this is practically never true&lt;/em&gt;. Even on the much less moving boiler room area the deer still often jumps/moves between the release of the shot and the impact of the arrow, the standard of accuracy is not as high (it's not common to put 1&quot; groups at 100 yards with arrows...it is with rifles), and the armor of the skull is a significantly bigger problem for arrows (they'll go through on a straight hit, sure, but they are much more susceptible to glancing if they hit angled to the area they impact, which is easy to have happen on such a non-flat surface as a deer skull).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For deer it is basically rarely a viable shot with a rifle, and never a viable shot with an arrow.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8388" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T17:11:44.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10312" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-15T21:45:49.437" Score="12" ViewCount="8220" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually go out running with many, many layers on. Even though I may sweat more, I feel more comfortable and wrapped up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any dangers, other than hypothermia, of wearing too many layers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8392" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T02:28:28.313" Title="Does wearing too many layers have any negative impacts other than sweating?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10304" CreationDate="2015-12-15T22:04:35.043" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question arises basically for one reason. &lt;strong&gt;Movies are wrong&lt;/strong&gt;. Any cop or soldier (even snipers) are trained to shoot center of mass. This is because it's far easier to hit, and still highly lethal. The head is a relatively fast moving, and smaller target. The skull also provides much more armour than the ribcage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well demonstrated by @mikeagg the brain is a &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; small target on a deer, and all the reasons that apply to humans apply even moreso to deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8393" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T22:04:35.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10312" CreationDate="2015-12-15T23:31:04.803" Score="6" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too many layers =&gt; Sweating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweating =&gt; Wet clothing (and plenty of it, here)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet Clothing + Wind =&gt; Evaporative Cooling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Evaporative Cooling =&gt; Cold Body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cold Body (and no dry layers left) =&gt; Hypothermia&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hypothermia =&gt; Death&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that's all bit of a leap, but if you had a problem our running in remote country and had to wait for rescue, having all your layers soaked with sweat is giong to be pretty uncomfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2015-12-15T23:31:04.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10312" CreationDate="2015-12-16T01:29:46.217" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In cold weather, I'm the guy that always has way more layers on than everyone else. I don't let myself sweat though, I just suck at retaining body heat. Sweating is the primary reason for not over-layering, but aside from hypothermia the only real danger presented from excessive sweating is &lt;strong&gt;dehydration&lt;/strong&gt;. Sweating uses up fluids, and if you're not replenishing them as fast as you're losing them, then you can end up in real trouble real fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, there are a couple less serious drawbacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; - clothes account for a significant portion of your gear, when winter camping especially; the more you pack - the heavier your bag is. If you get wet, extra clothes means you can soak up &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; water, which can really weigh you down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mobility&lt;/strong&gt; - Not always a big issue, but if you're climbing it could cause an accident. If you're wearing so many layers that you lose some flexibility or range of motion, it could seriously hinder you if you're doing any technical climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could come up with other reasons not to wear so many clothes that it makes you sweat; like body odour, excessive laundry, pit-stains, swass... There's also the hassle of trying to go to the bathroom when you're seven layers thick (especially if one of the layers is a pair of bib pants).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're out running for exercise, there's nothing wrong with sweating, as long as you have a warm place to rehydrate after your run, but if you sweat while you're exposed to the great outdoors, then you're asking for trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T15:48:02.787" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T15:48:02.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10316" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10318" CreationDate="2015-12-16T07:18:36.587" Score="12" ViewCount="1702" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4778/does-packing-boots-with-newspaper-make-them-dry-faster&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, another one came to my mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last summer on a mountain hut some guy told my packing newspaper in Gore-Tex (or any similar) shoes wouldn't be good for their breathability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The explanation seemed to be plausible:&#xA;Because Gore-Tex is working like a funnel (cone) letting steam out, but no water in, there is a 'working direction'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you put newspaper in your shoes, the newspaper would suck the moisture. BUT from outside to inside. So obviously the opposite direction of the Gore-Tex 'working direction'. This guy said it's like pressing water from the wrong side through a funnel and this could (or would) harm the effect of the Gore-Tex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But everywhere you go, people plug newspaper in there shoes to dry them faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So was this guy right or wrong? Does plugging boots with newspaper kill their Gore-Tex effect?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first thougt was, maybe the newspaper is only sucking the moisture from inside the Gore-Tex layer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:52.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:02:52.223" Title="Does newspaper (in shoes) kill Gore-Tex (breathability)?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10316" CreationDate="2015-12-16T08:15:42.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your final sentence is correct. The newspaper will wick water from internal fabric, but it will not pull water back through the Gore-Tex layer. It only allows water vapour to pass through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You actually need quite a head of pressure to force water through Gore-Tex, otherwise it would leak when you walk through a river, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hiking boots my family has are all Gore-Tex, and we use newspaper after any wet hikes, and it works perfectly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T09:44:02.340" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T09:44:02.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10316" CreationDate="2015-12-16T08:32:52.287" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that this guy at the hut was plain wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I'm concerned, the working principle of the Gore-Tex membrane is gradient-driven. That means, the membrane itself (if you consider only the membrane and ignore the layers it is sandwitched in) does not have any physical or chemical preference to transport moisture into a certain direction. Instead it is built in a way, that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water cannot pass it while vapour can and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the vapour is pushed through the membrane by a difference in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapour_pressure&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;vapour pressure&lt;/a&gt; between its in- and outside, i.e. a combination of temperature and moisture difference.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore what is &quot;inside&quot; and &quot;outside&quot; to the membrane is basically defined by the local conditions on both its sides. That does also mean, that reversing the conditions – i.e. drying the inside of the boot while the leather or fabric on its outside is still wet – could make the membrane work in the opposite direction and dry the outside through the membrane and the inner fabric. That would in the worst case increase the time needed to dry your shoes but not damage the membrane. Even if you consider other breathable fabrics, where the fabric itself contains a physical-chemical preference to transport water vapour into a certain direction (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SympaTex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sympatex&lt;/a&gt; for example), those will not get physically damaged when moisture is driven through in the &quot;wrong&quot; direction, it just takes more &quot;force&quot;, i.e. a higher gradient to do so. For both membrane types, to really harm their function, you have to physically work them by repeated mechanical strain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, I doubt that a newspaper is able to create a strong enough vapour pressure gradient to &quot;suck&quot; the moisture from the boot's outside through the membrane to the inside. So I'm quite sure that your idea of the newspaper only drying the inside is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you should of course after some time remove or replace the wet newspaper from the inside. Otherwise you won't have won anything since the paper sucked the moisture from the boot but then kept a neat little atmosphere of dampness in the shoes which is the best way to make all kinds of bacteria feel well in there and make it a place of permanent bad smell...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T08:37:22.133" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T08:37:22.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10319" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10321" CreationDate="2015-12-16T08:48:08.733" Score="18" ViewCount="1885" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not actually asking about the fashion items, the kind celebrities buy for their dogs... but actual outdoor designed dog boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the purpose of dog boots? Why / when would you use them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T15:05:04.873" Title="What's the purpose of dog boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10319" CreationDate="2015-12-16T08:55:12.697" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;These boots are designed for a few purposes actually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, dogs paws can be affected by snow and ice - especially in breeds or dogs unused to colder climates. The boots help protect their paws from the colder temperatures, and also help prevent the build up of snow on their paw hair - which can then clump and freeze and cause irritation for the dog. They also help prevent damage to the foot if walking on terrain that is rather sharp. Some sled team dogs use boots, but not all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, these boots can be used if the dog gets injured, the foot for most animals (and people, it's not always easy to keep a plaster on your foot) is hard to keep a bandage on neatly, especially when already out on a hike, and the boot can act as a way to prevent dirt and grit from getting into a cut and help the dog from over licking the area as well. In addition, in the similar way to a horse with a poultice, you can use the boot to actually keep the bandage in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not the kind of item every dog would want to wear, as many dogs don't like having something on their feet - but a friend of mine actually has a set in her dog first aid kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T07:36:49.400" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T07:36:49.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10319" CreationDate="2015-12-16T08:56:34.283" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;They protect the paws from injury or already injured paws from getting worse (and having bandages ripped off). Things they protect from include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rough terrain - sharp rocks, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chemicals like salt used for de-icing roads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extreme cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice balls forming between the dog's toes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T13:35:43.410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T13:35:43.410" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10322" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-16T09:14:41.823" Score="0" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that one can create a (actually a pretty decent) fridge with quite common materials a few years ago. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you do that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T09:14:41.823" Title="Building a fridge in the wild" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2015-12-16T09:50:14.050" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10323" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10325" CreationDate="2015-12-16T13:34:46.470" Score="18" ViewCount="3713" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the technique involved in crevasse rescues? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presuming a group are all moving together on a glacier and the leader of the party has fallen into a crevasse (collapsed snow bridge, etc.). The fall was held so all other members of the party are secure. How do the other members of the team go about retrieving their colleague? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the main techniques etc. that need to be learned to perform this activity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-07T04:33:43.127" LastActivityDate="2018-01-07T04:33:43.127" Title="How do I rescue someone out of a crevasse?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10323" CreationDate="2015-12-16T13:34:46.470" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a varied and complex subject. As a good thorough example of a crevasse rescue done well check out &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6gz6WaO1_0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with this thorough example, there are things that could be improved or argued that &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; should be done differently. As with many mountaineering techniques, practice and experience are the key.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a &lt;strong&gt;summary&lt;/strong&gt;, typically there are 3 steps to a crevasse rescue attempt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The first stage is secure the person in the crevasse&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically in this scenario, all members of the party will be lying down holding the falling person using self-arrest technique (ice axe pushed into the snow, etc.). To start the self rescue one person needs to be removed from this brace position. This needs to be done carefully, ensuring that the other member of the party are not pulled into the crevasse themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the party needs to slowly release themselves from the tension in the rope and stand up. This needs to be done &lt;strong&gt;carefully&lt;/strong&gt;, ensuring that the other members of the party remain secure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once a person is released they must build a good snow anchor. You need to weigh up time vs security here. A dead man is very secure but can take time to build, whereas an ice axe plunged deep into solid snow is less secure but is faster. The technique will depend on the circumstances so a degree of experience in building such anchors is essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the anchor is built, the person in the crevasse is secured to this anchor. This is done be attaching a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;prusik&lt;/a&gt; to the rope and securing onto the anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that the person is secure all other members of the party should be able to join the rescue. One person must remain to ensure the anchor/potentially take the weight should the anchor unexpectedly fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Build a Z pulley&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the person is reasonably secure, we need to add redundancy into the system and build a system to hoist the casualty out of the crevasse. This is where a Z pulley comes in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first stage is to build a second, &quot;bomber&quot; (very secure), anchor further back from the temporary one built above. You should be able to put a bit of time into this building a good solid &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-wire#Dead_man_anchors&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dead man&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7716/reliability-of-snow-bollards&quot;&gt;snow bollard&lt;/a&gt;. Whatever you choose it needs be very secure, since this will take the majority of the strain when hoisting the person out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope is then tied to this anchor. You should now have at least two anchors (the initial, temporary one) one and the bomber one above. If anyone fails you now have a back up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hoisting a dead weight of a person and all their equipment vertically is very heavy. 2 people will struggle to lift a person on a dynamic rope. This is where the Z pulley comes in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Z pulley adds a ratio into the rope reducing the weight of the person being pulled out. To build a Z pulley you take the dead end of the rope attached to your snow anchor and re-attach it to the end of the rope connected to the person (again using a prusik). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f6itd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f6itd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbcs.org/crevasse.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Pull the person out&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that the person in the crevasse is secure and you've built your Z pulley, you can begin hoisting them out. You'll want to keep the prusik on the line as a backup and to allow you to release the rope, but basically you now pull the end of the Z pulley (possibly using multiple people) until the victim is free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are several variations on this technique and this is designed as a rough guide&lt;/strong&gt; but hopefully I've highlighted the main features. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T12:21:34.613" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10323" CreationDate="2015-12-16T14:18:48.280" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a very complicated topic, and you can take an entire course where you learn and practice the techniques. Reading an answer on SE is not going to be enough. You need to practice. The following is just an outline. There is an entire chapter in Freedom of the Hills on glacier travel and crevasse rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first step is always going to be to construct an anchor so that the team can get out of arrest position. If the leader is the one who's fallen in, then the person at the opposite end of the rope would normally be the one who gets up and builds an anchor, while other team member(s) stay in arrest position. You build the anchor between the lip of the crevasse and the nearest person, so that everyone has tension released from the rope and can stand up. While doing this, you want to make sure not to create more victims, so e.g., the person building the anchor needs to be on a Prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now talk to the climber and discuss the situation. You want to know if they're hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, you can try to prepare the lip of the crevasse so that the rope doesn't become entrenched. For example you can see if you can get an ice ax or a pack under it. This will be easier if the victim is able to get to a stance and unweight the rope. In most cases, it is not possible to keep the climbing rope from becoming completely entrenched. If you have enough extra line, you may want to prepare a separate portion of the lip and throw down a separate rescue line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After this, you do not immediately start hauling the victim out. That's a last resort, and often it doesn't work. The following are various options to consider, roughly in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;See if the victim can climb out under their own power, while belayed from above.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There may be an easy way to walk out of the crevasse at the bottom. If so, then you could lower the victim.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the victim isn't hurt, he should be able to Prusik up the rope. Getting over the lip may be physically difficult, especially if the rope is entrenched. It may be helpful if there are two ice tools that the victim can use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As a last resort, such as in situations where the victim is unconscious or so badly injured that he can't Prusik up, consider trying to set up a pulley system and hauling him out. This may or may not work. If the rope is entrenched, you can't just haul the victim over the lip -- people have been killed that way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T14:18:48.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10326" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11461" CreationDate="2015-12-16T18:36:49.467" Score="5" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty new to skateboarding and I've ordered my first &quot;real&quot; deck. The shop mailed me which &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABEC_scale&quot;&gt;ABEC&lt;/a&gt; I want to have for my ball bearings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ABEC scale is an industry accepted standard for the tolerances of&#xA;  a ball bearing. It was developed by the Annular Bearing Engineering&#xA;  Committee (ABEC) of the American Bearing Manufacturers Association&#xA;  (ABMA).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've half of a year experience and skating mainly in parks. They let me choose between 3, 5 (their recommendation) and 7. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What to choose? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T15:38:13.883" Title="Which ABEC to use for park skating?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skateboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10327" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10330" CreationDate="2015-12-16T19:34:27.017" Score="11" ViewCount="1202" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm relatively new to Colorado, but would love to get into winter sports more. My question is, I enjoy hiking both flat and relatively steep trails in the snow. Which option would be a better fit: cross country skis or snowshoes? &#xA;I am willing to take the time to learn what I need to, so I don't want to go with the &quot;easier to use at first&quot; option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I often hike trails with little snow at first (0-3 inches) but then end up in places that can be 3-4 ft deep in some areas. Right now I am just walking through it as much as possible. But obviously I would like a better &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;faster&lt;/strong&gt; way to trivial even with a 10-12 lbs pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would you all recommend? (I have had no experience with either)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6081" LastEditorUserId="6081" LastEditDate="2015-12-16T19:40:28.003" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T19:15:28.220" Title="Skis or Snowshoes for Colorado" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10327" CreationDate="2015-12-16T20:05:36.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snowshoeing is ridiculously easy, will get you everywhere, and is quite cheap. Where I live you can rent them for the entire season for, IIRC, 60$.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross-country skiiing (off trail, that is) require knowing how to actually ski, and also specific material, like cross-country bindings, possibly shoes (with insert).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know much about cross country skiing, but this question might help: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1179/starting-cross-country-skiing-off-trails?rq=1&quot;&gt;Starting cross-country skiing off trails&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T20:05:36.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10327" CreationDate="2015-12-16T22:36:28.170" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have no experience with either, then I recommend getting some snowshoes &lt;em&gt;first&lt;/em&gt; (I'm not recommending you don't eventually get into everything else as well). There are many different styles of snowshoes out there, the most popular types on the market are the hiking snowshoes with the crampons, but if you're going cross country on flat terrain, then you want to get a nice pair of traditional gut knit Alaskan snowshoes, as they really float you a lot higher, especially in fluffy snow, and help you cover long distances in a short amount of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up with Huron style snowshoes, they were terrible at climbing hills or on narrow trails, but whenever I'm in deep deep snow on flat terrain I always wish I had them on my feet instead of my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/snowshoes/ascent-snowshoes/lightning-ascent-snowshoes/product&quot;&gt;MSR lightning Accents&lt;/a&gt;. On hill climbs though it's the other way around, the ascents are hands down the best snowshoe for climbing up steep or icy slopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xdaG.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xdaG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do a little bit of everything, I have multiple pairs of snowshoes, Nordic skis, Alpine touring skis, and just plain crampons for when I'm hiking on hard pack. They're all fun, but show shoeing in mountain snowshoes is undeniably the easiest and cheapest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxXVw.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxXVw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T19:15:28.220" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T19:15:28.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10327" CreationDate="2015-12-16T23:53:19.537" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am willing to take the time to learn what I need to, so I don't want&#xA;  to go with the &quot;easier to use at first&quot; option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really mean that, then you can't not &lt;em&gt;try&lt;/em&gt; skiing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many trails in Colorado where it is no easier to go uphill on snowshoes than to go uphill on skis, given even modest technique on skis  -- but with even the smallest downward gradient, it's no contest, skis win! Simple physics.  Ditto for travelling in the back-country.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with njzk2: &quot;Snowshoeing is ridiculously easy [to learn], inexpensive and will take you everywhere.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd add: it's much easier to sprain or break something on skis than it is on snowshoes.  If you want to &lt;em&gt;travel alone&lt;/em&gt; in the backcountry or on unfrequented trails, snowshoes are a better choice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But...to live in Colorado and not &lt;em&gt;try&lt;/em&gt; skiing? Unthinkable!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to consider telemark skiing. Telemark skis have a binding which leaves the heel free. For an unabashedly pro view, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://blistergearreview.com/recommended/telemark-skiing-101&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;  Also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemark_skiing&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But telemark vs alpine skis vs plain old X-country skis should be the subject of another question, if you opt for skiing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2015-12-16T23:53:19.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10331" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10335" CreationDate="2015-12-17T07:20:08.807" Score="12" ViewCount="2670" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both effectively do the same job, grip a rope as an auto bloc or an ascender. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons of each? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why/when would I choose one over the other? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-12-19T23:26:40.773" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T08:41:13.690" Title="How do I know when to choose between a Klemheist or prussik knot?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10333" CreationDate="2015-12-17T07:49:20.667" Score="13" ViewCount="712" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can go into almost any pet store in the UK, especially the big chains, and see first aid kits for your dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything specifically required for a dog first aid kit, or will a human first aid kit cover what is needed for a dog as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T15:02:12.073" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T04:49:40.187" Title="Is there anything specific required for a dog first aid kit?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10332" CreationDate="2015-12-17T08:58:47.217" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are often basically the same but there are often three additional items listed: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tick tweezers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;louse-comb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;foldable cone (to be preferred), muzzle or strips of cloth to prevent biting (its wounds etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially the tick tweezers seems to be pretty useful of course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/pet_first_aid_kit.html&quot;&gt;pet-specific supplies&lt;/a&gt; to assume&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pet first-aid book&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Phone numbers: your veterinarian, the nearest emergency-veterinary clinic (along with directions!) and a poison-control center or hotline&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Paperwork for your pet (in a waterproof container or bag): proof of rabies-vaccination status, copies of other important medical records&#xA;  and a current photo of your pet (in case he gets lost)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Nylon leash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Self-cling bandage (bandage that stretches and sticks to itself but not to fur—available at pet stores and from pet-supply catalogs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Muzzle or strips of cloth to prevent biting (don't use this if your pet is vomiting, choking, coughing or otherwise having difficulty&#xA;  breathing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T09:23:51.300" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T09:23:51.300" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10334" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10343" CreationDate="2015-12-17T09:23:45.787" Score="51" ViewCount="8473" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10227/calculate-true-north-with-a-compass-and-map&quot;&gt;Calculate true north with a compass and map&lt;/a&gt;) got me thinking. I rarely bother adjusting compass bearings for magnetic north. Is this bad? I understand the theory but I just rarely bother. It's never seemed to have caused me any problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mostly navigate in mountainous areas, I wonder if this is more relevant in flat featureless areas? Typically the terrain is just as big a navigational aid as the compass (even in low visibility) and the compass points me at the correct ridge, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T12:54:53.370" Title="I never adjust for true north. Is this bad practice?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10331" CreationDate="2015-12-17T09:44:48.040" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already stated, these are very similar knots regarding their use. So there is not much that differentiates them from each other, or to other friction hitches. The advantage of the prusik is the &quot;clean&quot; design: All strands are neatly position parallel to themselves, so it is easily inspected for correctness. For the Klemheist this is not the main criterion; there the loop must be on top and short, so that the wrappings below get squeezed tightly when loaded. This is not harder to tie, but certainly harder to inspect. This is mainly an issue in education; for self-checking, simulating a load situation while still secured is anyway the best option. One advantage of the Klemheist is that it can be used with both cords and slings, Prusik only with cords.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both knots excel at simplicity in design, but have some drawbacks compared to more sophisticated friction hitches. They block very well, but are hard to loosen after load. So they are good for backups, while for ascending a dedicated ascender device or more elaborate knots (the Fritz Bachmann variants of the discussed knots, the Prohaska, ...) are better suited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So with cords you can choose either depending on personal preference; for slings you use the Klemheist due to necessity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-03T08:41:13.690" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T08:41:13.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T10:04:35.707" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends highly on your location. Contrary to popular belief, the difference between the magnetic pole and the geographic pole is not the only reason for declination. As a matter of fact, the magnetic poles are simply defined as the points where the magnetic field points vertically. This is not the same as the pole of a anyway non-existing earth-magnet. Local variation in the magnetic field results in strongly varying declination all over the globe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, we are not talking kilometers here (at least not in general), but on global scales. So whether you have to care or not depends on whether you travel long distances and if not, where you are. The reason why you do not have to care in the UK and most of Europe is, that the current declination is very close to real north. So for visual navigation with lots of terrain features this is negligible. Other areas (northern part of North America) the declination is much higher and adjustment is really necessary. Some compasses come fixly preadjusted for a certain area (bad idea), some can be adjusted by a screw and some are not adjusted at all. So make sure you know which one you use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other matter is, that this is subject to change over time. What is written here for different regions might not be true in some years. So if you pick up your navigation gear after a really long pause, you might have to reconsider you declination settings :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-20T22:38:03.320" LastActivityDate="2015-12-20T22:38:03.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10332" CreationDate="2015-12-17T10:14:13.113" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the size of your dog you should also consider getting some larger bandages - A Labrador is very large around compared to a human leg. &#xA;Also I would suggest some plastic bags - They can be used in conjunction with the self cling bandages over a leg, foot or tail wound. Also, as in a human, for penetrating or sucking wounds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something for stings as well such as piriton liquid (Dogs are great at biting wasps) and the liquid is easier to get down them if the sting is in the mouth or throat. Make sure you know the dose for your particular dog though (your vet should be able to advise) - This is only for an emergency where you cannot get to a vet in time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For ticks and other such nasties I keep tea-tree oil which I put on before removal as well as after - ticks are not keen on it and some will withdraw into themselves which helps with removal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have scissors in your pack - make sure they are of the rounded end type = not just the tops rounded but both parts. A dog will not always hold still and it is so easy to jab by accident. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really hope you never have to try any of these items out! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7963" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T10:14:13.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T10:35:00.870" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10237/2410&quot;&gt;Olin Lathrop's very good answer&lt;/a&gt; to the question you reference basically already contains most of the information needed also your gut feeling about the topic is quite right. So let's look at it in a bit more general way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping your compass declination in mind gets the more important, the&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;closer you are to one of the magnetic poles,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the more you travel sideways with respect to the magnetic poles,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the less landmarks you have on your route of travel to check and adjust your course, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the longer the distance you travel mainly based on compass bearing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To take a quite extreme example, we consider the following situation: you want to travel by ship from the southernmost tip of South America (Tierra del Fuego) to New Zealand. For whatever reason, you don't intend to approach New Zealand in a direct course but plan to keep basically parallel to the Antarctic coast line (i.e. on an east-west course following a certain latitude) and do a sharp rectangular turn towards the north once you're in the gap between Antarctica and New Zealand. Your only measure of direction is your compass and since you are on the ocean, there are no land marks to correct your course on the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Magnetic_Pole&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; the magnetic south pole (which is of course also off from the geographic one) is currently somewhere at the Antarctic coast right opposite of Australia, i.e. shifted towards Australia with respect to the geographic south pole. So if you start in Tierra del Fuego at the southern end of South America and head straight east according to your uncorrected compass, you will in fact travel slightly northwards on the globe. This northwards tendency will increase the closer you get towards New Zealand (and hence the magnetic pole) and – it's just en estimate here, I would have to run the numbers for the exact outcome – in best case you would just hit New Zealand without the intended northward turn in the end while in the worst case, you could miss New Zealand by its northern side and end up in Australia or South East Asia instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T10:35:00.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T11:41:30.373" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have said the importance depends on your location. In the UK &amp;amp; Europe the correction is quite small, approx 2-3 degrees and can therefore mostly be ignored. Compared to parts of the US where the correction can be at least 15 degrees. This is because the magnetic north pole lies somewhere in northern Canada, so the UK is relatively far away for its inclination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given this unless you are traveling long distances over distances in featureless terrain (which is pretty much only going to be at sea), the difference becomes negligible. If you walk 10km in a straight line a 2 degree error only gives about 300m of lateral distance so you don't really need to worry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T11:41:30.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T12:04:51.183" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not discounting the existing answers which provide great perspectives.  You don't really care where the North Pole is. It is not like there is only one or two, nor is like anything is stable.  There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole_(disambiguation)&quot;&gt;half a dozen north poles&lt;/a&gt; and most of them move around regularly and they move a lot (&lt;em&gt;10s and 100s even 1,000s of miles/kilometers&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/GeomagneticPoles.shtml&quot;&gt;Wandering of the Geomagnetic poles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html&quot;&gt;Magnetic Pole Reversal Happens All The (Geologic) Time&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question782.htm&quot;&gt;Why does the North Pole move?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what do you care about?  You care about where you are, where you want to be, and what you will need to overcome between the two. A compass is one of your tools, and is subject to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_deviation&quot;&gt;local variations&lt;/a&gt; which also must be accounted for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your primary tools is the map, your primary goal is to define your current locations, secondary is to define your desired direction of travel.  Putting it all together you orient yourself and the map.  Depending on where you are on the globe, a compass may be of no added value (i.e. near either pole). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So not is not bad, to never adjust for true north, just be aware of the limitations of all your tools, and make good judgement on based on realistic expectations of the available information. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T12:04:51.183" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10341" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10344" CreationDate="2015-12-17T12:19:32.083" Score="3" ViewCount="73" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know a lot of archers who emotionally prefer wooden shafts: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More &quot;traditional&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Environmental-friendly if lost&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just general personal preferences&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, do they (the arrows) have any rational characteristics which can make them superior over carbon ones? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Besides that they are generally cheaper :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T12:21:36.970" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T13:31:24.410" Title="Are wooden shafts competitive to carbon ones?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10342" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10347" CreationDate="2015-12-17T12:34:06.527" Score="4" ViewCount="615" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skaters commonly wearing special kind of shoes. However, from my point of view they just look like a pair of sneakers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhZNF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhZNF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skateshoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases these are very expensive and I asked myself if they're really necessary equipment? Or is it just for &quot;identification&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:37:25.117" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:37:25.117" Title="Are &quot;skateshoes&quot; really necessary?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;skateboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T13:18:32.077" Score="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;This map (and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;) will explain why you don't have a problem (in the UK, I'm guessing), but others do, elsewhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, you can ignore it at the moment, but you need to understand WHY you're ignoring it :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uugm9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uugm9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, compare this with the declination in 1872... Then, the declination error in the UK would have been between 20 and 30 degrees west!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FxW4d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FxW4d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically when walking on a bearing you need to allow a margin of error of about 5°. (ie, when 'aiming off', allow at least 5° of error). So the sub-one degree at present in (most of) the UK isn't a big issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing other haven't mentioned is the precise impact of ignoring the declination. Let's imagine we need to pace 500 metres on a bearing in thick Welsh fog across typical Welsh moorland to reach a bridge on a stream. We know we can't possibly hit the bridge directly, so we need to 'aim off' to a point upstream, and then walk downstream to find the bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can only follow a compass bearing accurately to within +/-5° (errors both in working the bearing out on the map, and actually following it on the ground. A 5° error over 500 metres would mean we miss our target by about &lt;strong&gt;44 metres&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=500%20*%20tan%20of%205%20degrees&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(500 * tan(5 degrees))&lt;/a&gt;, so we'd want to 'aim off' by that amount as a minimum. Let say we aim off by 50m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if the declination is 1° and we ignore it, our worst case error angle changes to 6°, meaning we could end up 52m from our aim point - very slightly downstream of the bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if we ignored a declination of 10°, we'd be up to 134m from our aiming point, and so far from the bridge we'd miss it completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there's one thing worse than ignoring declination: That's adding it when you should be subtracting, or vice-versa. The potential 25° error (10° declination, wrongly applied, plus 5° general error) would put you almost 250m from you intended destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-07-10T18:51:57.807" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T18:51:57.807" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10341" CreationDate="2015-12-17T13:21:19.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Certain styles of archery, like some traditional longbow styles, will actually prescribe that you must use wooden arrows. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clout_archery#BLBS_clout&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;British Clout Archery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from this and the couple of side effects you mentioned (cheaper, more traditional, ...) I don't think there are any benefits in using wooden shafts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I dare say that you could find any wished for ballistic or other relevant attributes in carbon and/or aluminium arrows. Or at the very least you could manufacture such shafts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T13:31:24.410" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T13:31:24.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10345" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10356" CreationDate="2015-12-17T13:34:21.433" Score="27" ViewCount="8518" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is not as simple as it seems, and a few minutes of googling did not drop the answer in my lap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A comment at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10334&quot;&gt;I never adjust for true north. Is this bad practice?&lt;/a&gt; suggesting that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;True north and magnetic north are basically the same thing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;started me on a search for a quality answer I could use in a response. I believe the distance between them is larger than size of many small countries, so not sure I would call them basically the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much distance (miles/kilometers) is there between &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;True North(Geographic)&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Magnetic_Pole&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnetic North&lt;/a&gt; Poles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:46:26.533" Title="How much distance is there between True North and Magnetic North Poles?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10345" CreationDate="2015-12-17T14:00:57.350" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're absolutely NOT the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distance varies. But it's about 500 miles. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/41955-north-pole.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The North Pole: Location, Weather, Exploration … and Santa&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since its discovery in 1831, the magnetic North Pole has been around&#xA;  Canada’s Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the&#xA;  geographic North Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_north&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;True north (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T04:46:26.533" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T04:46:26.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10342" CreationDate="2015-12-17T14:55:49.747" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only skateboarded much when I was younger, and have only about an hour of practice total this past year, but here is what I know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things that make a skate shoe good for skateboarding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sole is very flat, and typically grippy, so it adheres well to the skateboard. The shoe's body is typically cushy, to protect your foot if you land awkwardly or hit the side or top of your food with the board while flipping it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A (good) skateboarding shoe also needs to be reinforced, because skateboarding will destroy the shoe pretty quickly otherwise. The top part of the skateboard is covered in grip tape, which is not unlike shingles, so you can imagine it's very gritty. To do one of the most basic tricks, the kickflip, you have to slide the side of your shoe up the skateboard, on the grip tape. If the side of the shoe is not reinforced, it's going to get destroyed fast. I personally had some very nice &quot;slip ons&quot; canvas shoes, and they got pretty badly torn up right above the pinky toe from about 15 minutes of kickflip practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, they are not required, and if your regular sneaker has the characteristics above, it should be fine to skate in. The rest is personnal preference; color, style, weight, balance, signature shoe, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further reading:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://skateboard.about.com/od/gear/f/Good_Skate_Shoe.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Skateboard.about.com&lt;/a&gt; on what is a good skate shoe.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://theridechannel.com/features/2015/03/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-skate-shoes/skate-shoe-rubber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Ride Channel&lt;/a&gt; things you didn't know about skate shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5504" LastEditorUserId="5504" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T15:42:53.437" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T15:42:53.437" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10332" CreationDate="2015-12-17T15:11:27.680" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just looked at a typical UK &quot;Pet First Aid Kit&quot; here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog/dog-healthcare/dog-first-aid/first-aid-box-for-pets&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog/dog-healthcare/dog-first-aid/first-aid-box-for-pets&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contents are...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Each pack contains 24 pieces all designed with the care of your pet in&#xA;  mind, including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;2 x 20ml Pods of Saline - to wash away dirt and debris from your    pet's eyes and other areas;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;2 x Medium Dressing Bandages with Ties -    to cover an injury;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 x Foil Blanket - to retain body warmth and help    combat shock;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;5 x Gauze Swabs - for cleaning up fluid or after saline    use; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 x Microporous Tape - to help hold dressings in place;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 x Conforming Bandage - for use with suspected sprained joints;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;2 x Pairs of Latex Gloves; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4 x Plastic Pouches - to cover foot injuries    and help keep them clean;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;4 x Alcohol Free Cleansing Wipes - to clean    wounds; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 x Scissors;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;1 x Tweezers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, remarkably similar to a standard human kit. The pouches for foot injuries are the only interesting addition - Your dog doesn't wear boots, so a foot injury is going to get filthy without something like this - although you could reasonably improvise something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd just double check my 'human' kit, and make sure I have enough to cope with both a dog and a human injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: &lt;em&gt;LATEX&lt;/em&gt; gloves? No, get nitrile ones instead. I don't think dogs can be allergic to latex, but who knows who you're going to treat...?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T04:49:40.187" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T04:49:40.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10349" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-17T15:41:58.923" Score="11" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were several attempts to reach the North pole prior to the 1940's.  A review of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole#Exploration&quot;&gt;Wikipedia's article on Exploration of the North_Pole&lt;/a&gt; indicate some of the difficulties in definitively identifying the location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine the best time is either near summer when the sun can be your best resource or the winter when the stars can be your best resource.  But I have no idea which of either of these times would be best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excluding the use of GPS, and just using tools available to earlier explores what time of year is best to find the North Pole.  Ignoring all the difficulties of travel at that time of year, just identifying the location with pre-GPS technology. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T21:23:04.683" Title="When is the best time of year to find the North Pole?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10349" CreationDate="2015-12-17T18:23:12.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't ignore the difficulties. Those difficulties are precisely what dictated when you could attempt the trip. For the most part, those limitations still exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However for the actual calculation and finding of the North Pole, that would be night time, when you could calculate how far away from the pole you actually were, and also whether you are standing right on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During approach, at night take a compass bearing on the North Star. Using an Equatorial Finder Scope you can calculate how much farther you have to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use that compass bearing while traveling during the day, and renew your compass bearing each night since it's likely to shift a lot while proximate to the north poles. One reading per day is likely to be enough since you aren't going to travel very far in a single day. Use your Finder Scope to find the declination to the North Star to update how close you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually the North Star will be at azimuth (have zero declination), it is then that you are standing on the North Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5565" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T18:37:00.693" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T18:37:00.693" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10345" CreationDate="2015-12-17T19:52:43.827" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The distance between the magnetic north and geographic north poles is not important for navigation purposes.  What matters is the angle between them, which is called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;magnetic variation&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;magnetic declination&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The magnetic variation varies &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.magnetic-declination.com/&quot;&gt;depending on where you are on earth&lt;/a&gt;, and also changes slightly from year to year.  In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it's approximately 9° west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places, if you are standing at a point that is collinear with the two poles, the magnetic variation is 0°.  On the other hand, very close to the magnetic pole, it could be anything: compasses are nearly useless there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For aviation and navigation, correcting for the magnetic variation is crucial.  For hiking, probably not so much (in most places on earth), since you're not going to be following a constant bearing for miles and miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3886" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T19:52:43.827" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10279" CreationDate="2015-12-17T20:17:20.247" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, there is an international standard for waterproof-ness of textiles, but it's only used in factories for QA. ISO 15496:2004 involves  measuring the &quot;water vapour permeability of textiles&quot;. IIRC, there's no number for classification that you can use to compare and contrast products, but some factories might release data sheets showing various measurements of diffusion &quot;through the textile per square metre, per hour and per unit difference of water vapour pressure across the textile&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There aren't really any widely recognized standards for drying time or breathability or comfort etc, and there probably won't/shouldn't be. These are far more qualitative than you think. For example, &quot;breathability&quot; is far more than letting air and water vapor in and out. You'd have to standardize what &quot;breathability&quot; means first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same deal with &quot;drying time&quot;. What does it mean for a clothing item to be &quot;dry&quot;? You'd have to standardize what &quot;dry clothing&quot; means first. etc etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8291" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T20:17:20.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10349" CreationDate="2015-12-17T21:17:03.793" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignoring the difficulties of travel (in summer you may need a boat, in winter, skis), then the current weather will make more difference then the season. Given the correct time and standard navigation tables,  you can get the latitude by measuring the angle from the horizon to the limb of the sun, the limb of the moon, or to a bright star. Winter might allow for a somewhat more accurate fix, since you could take measurements to multiple stars, and average the results. The Wiki link you provided notes that this was the technique used by Cook, Peary, and Byrd, but Cook and Peary simply weren't very good at it, and Byrd may have concealed his actual measurements, in order to claim he'd reached the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2015-12-17T21:23:04.683" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T21:23:04.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2015-12-17T22:31:48.987" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK the prevailing wind blows from the south west and trees/ bushes grow away from the wind so assuming one can see a tree it should be easy to  determine the other points of the compass. Elsewhere in the world it would be sensible to determine the direction of the prevailing wind prior to setting out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8413" LastActivityDate="2015-12-17T22:31:48.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10345" CreationDate="2015-12-17T22:53:01.373" Score="21" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Magnetic pole&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distance from the rotational north pole varies over time&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u6BGp.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u6BGp.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-&lt;a href=&quot;http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/poles/polesexp.html&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time you read this, the north magnetic pole could be half the circumference of the planet away from the true (i.e. rotational) north pole. Thats over 20,000 km apart. It has been in the past. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/48333-magnetic-field-flip-within-100-years.html&quot;&gt;magnetic pole reversal&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal#Character_of_transitions&quot;&gt;rate of transition&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Declination&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More important than the actual position of the magnetic north pole is the direction your magnetic compass points at various places on Earth - they don't all point towards the magnetic north pole - magnetic north is a local attribute which varies from place to place (and from year to year)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Earth_Magnetic_Field_Declination_from_1590_to_1990.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Declination map&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many parts of the world, magnetic declination is more than 10 degrees, in some places much more - this is sufficient to cause hikers difficulties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4266" LastEditorUserId="4266" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T11:19:53.963" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T11:19:53.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10334" CreationDate="2015-12-17T23:18:47.337" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where your magnetic compass points can be quite far away from the north shown on your map&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Earth_Magnetic_Field_Declination_from_1590_to_1990.gif&quot; alt=&quot;map](![map gif&quot;&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, on the line marked 30, your compass would point 30 degrees away from true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4266" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-07-07T16:19:47.837" LastActivityDate="2017-07-07T16:19:47.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10359" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10382" CreationDate="2015-12-18T07:28:38.663" Score="21" ViewCount="978" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/340/2303&quot;&gt;This post here&lt;/a&gt; mainly talks about Ice slopes I reckon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The region where I live, we don't have Ice slopes, but we have lots of grass slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usual threat is a slope, probably a good 100 m, no bolt to an anchor on, no trees, no hurdles. 'A slip and you are rolling' sort of slopes with 60&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; incline. I can post pics once I get them on my computer from the card.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should be the strategy for descending one such slope under unavoidable circumstances? Can glissading be an option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assumption: Have a rope along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2019-06-06T05:44:10.617" LastActivityDate="2019-06-06T05:44:10.617" Title="Descending a dry grass slope with serious inclination and exposure" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9998" CreationDate="2015-12-18T07:34:42.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bowhunters.org.au/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Australian Bowhunters Association&lt;/a&gt;&quot; there is no minimum requirement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Q: What the minimum bow poundage required to hunt in Australia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Answer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ABA has no minimum recommendation on poundage for hunting. There&#xA;  are State regulations that require minimum standards of poundage and&#xA;  arrow weight. In Victoria these are specifically for deer. 50 and 45&#xA;  pound depending on the species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ABA recommends that you hunt at distances which will enable the&#xA;  hunter to have, as far as practicable, quick clean kills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This obviously has to have some regard to the maximum poundage you can&#xA;  shoot effectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bowhunters.org.au/index.php/50-bowhunting/58-bowhunting-faq-s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ABA - Bowhunting FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T07:34:42.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10361" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10362" CreationDate="2015-12-18T10:34:58.183" Score="13" ViewCount="1758" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine disturbed a bird of prey (I think it was a kestrel or sparrow hawk) that had just killed a pigeon in her back garden. The pigeon was still alive when she found it but died soon after. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If she leaves the pigeon out will the bird of prey return or is it too late now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T10:42:48.247" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T05:38:57.163" Title="What should I do if I disturb a bird of prey with a kill?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10361" CreationDate="2015-12-18T10:57:17.217" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do would have been not disturb them in the first place, but I do understand the need of this question. So I wouldn't add any advice like &quot;Do not disturb them in the first place&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I have seen, Buzzards and other raptors (not specifically the ones you mentioned) would return to kill if left alone. But, provided that it is done quite early before they choose to go away. Many other domesticated birds would join in too, mainly ravens and crows. Raptors usually take care of the uninvited ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my city, Raptors have a typical hunting region where ravens won't happily go to the party. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If its already too late, the poor fellow is anyway going to die in most of the cases. If it is so, &lt;strong&gt;You shouldn't&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to feed the prey if it is not dead yet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to shelter the prey if it is not dead yet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to shoo away raptors and ravens. Some things are supposed to happen, lets not disturb the balance of the nature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feel bad that you couldn't help either of them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I don't know if you should kill it to relieve it off it's pain. There are too many points to consider, example being, is it a rare bird and hence a punishable crime to kill it. I am not really good at things like killing an animal or a bird, I personally would never be able to something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T05:38:57.163" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T05:38:57.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10421" CreationDate="2015-12-18T11:35:33.700" Score="11" ViewCount="2080" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to use a pot which is 8.9 cm wide (3.5 inches) - because anything bigger would be a waste of space and weight for my needs. It's identical to a Toaks 750ml titanium pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the stove systems I tried, are inefficient with that pot since they produce a flame that is too wide, goes over the border of the pot, and wastes fuel by heating the sky rather than my water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am experimenting with some DIY alcohol designs to find which is more efficient with that pot, but I wanted to know if someone already made some tests and came to a conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am quite skilled with DIY so a complex design wouldn't be a problem. Living in Europe, availability of some source materials, could (like, aluminium red bull bottles are almost impossible to find here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T14:16:35.133" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T09:50:31.467" Title="What is the most efficient DIY alcohol stove for narrow pots?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10363" CreationDate="2015-12-18T16:27:15.287" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are not specifically looking for a liquid fuel thing:&#xA;I always fantasized about making one such thing. But I have never tried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a tin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make something that looks like below.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dQjEJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dQjEJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tins are easy to find and so are those solid fuel tablets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you break it, worst case you will be at loss of money worth a burger and time worth an afternoon nap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T16:27:15.287" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2015-12-18T18:05:35.540" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I strike my fire steel with a piece of hacksaw blade. I have the added ability to either just strike/scrape the ferro rod, shave shavings off it into a tinder bundle to get more intense fire lighting sparks. I can use the striker to shave fat wood, or normal wood, which will in turn take less of a spark to ignite. I can attach a piece of paracord through the blades fixing hole so I can attach it to either the ferro rod, or keyring of some kind, or just to place as lanyard around the wrist for extra security so you don't use the striker when using. Also the teeth of the blade bite into the rod really well and will give you a lot of sparks with less effort, even when using cheaper harder material ferro rods that don't throw many sparks normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8429" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T00:31:42.050" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T00:31:42.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2015-12-18T19:19:10.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two main skiing traditions are nordic &amp;amp; alpine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we now term alpine skiing was refined in europe, even though there is concrete evidence that it may have originated in asia. Alpine skiing has gone through many changes in technique, but generally speaking: the boot is fixed to the ski at the heel and toe, and turns are performed with the legs parallel which is why they are called &quot;parallel turns&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Telemark was originated much later in Norway, and is basically a turn that exists as an adjunct to the &quot;classical&quot;, or &quot;diagonal stride&quot; cross country technique, also known as &quot;kick and glide&quot;. ALL TELEMARK IS NORDIC- and the defining factor is that the heel is ALWAYS FREE. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people differentiate two types of nordic skiing: &quot;cross country&quot; and &quot;telemark&quot;. Cross country is ideal for covering all grades of terrain in a straight line, and telemark is itself a turn used to gracefully arc down a mountain. And just as a light cross country set up with either wax or scales can get you UP a mountain, so can a modern telemark set up with either wax, skins, or scales. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether someone is a &quot;cross country&quot; or &quot;telemark&quot; skier is primarily based on the personal choices of what type of terrain a person wants to ski (mountains, rolling, or flat), and whether they want to focus on covering distance in a straight line or making turns. The new &quot;adventure&quot; or &quot;backcountry&quot; skier inhabits the demarcation zone between &quot;classical nordic&quot;, and &quot;telemark&quot;, and many spend as much time climbing up the mountain as they do shredding it on the way down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8432" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T20:25:39.680" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T20:25:39.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10369" CreationDate="2015-12-18T20:23:30.617" Score="11" ViewCount="12049" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a large number of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+chipmunks&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi2uduqiL7TAhWn44MKHb9RAnAQ_AUICCgB&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=636&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chipmunks&lt;/a&gt;, probably mostly &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_chipmunk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus&lt;/a&gt;, in our yard in Massachusetts. There are different sizes and a large variation in markings. The behavior appears similar, so the gender isn't obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They all have names, including Long-tail Chip; Short-tail Chip; Chubby Chip; Skinny Chip; Dark-striped Chip; Light-striped Chip; Pointy-head Chip; Speedy Chip; Lazy Chip; Silly Chip; Brave Chip; Shy Chip. They're all Smart Chip, because they're brilliantly adept at getting into bird feeders and tall pots. They can also reach, and eat their way though, plastic bags of food and nuts which are 6 feet up on shelves in the garage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without picking them up, is there a way to tell a male from a female? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update as of April, 2017:&#xA;Four weeks ago a very pregnant chipmunk popped up out of a hole in the snow. We memorized her markings to the best of our ability. We saw her again a few days later. Since then, we've been feeding her near that hole every day. She dutifully gathers up the seeds and corn and pops back down. Since the babies stay in the nesting burrow for six to eight weeks, she'll probably keep feeding them until then. In the meantime, many other chipmunks are now very active in the yard. There's a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors, and there are holes everywhere. The only way we know about the female is that we saw her when she was pregnant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T20:38:28.940" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T20:38:28.940" Title="Can you tell the gender of a chipmunk from a distance?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2015-12-18T21:31:04.473" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most uses, a Storm Lighter is going to be more practical, but if something were to happen to the lighter (runs out of fuel, crack in the reservoir, etc) it would be very nice to have something that is going to work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest benefit to using the fire stick is the simplicity.  You'll have to have something that will catch a spark, but once you have that there is almost no learning curve to producing sparks with the fire stick.  I've used mine many times to light small bundles of dryer lint to start fires and it only takes a few strikes before I have a small fire going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8243" LastEditorUserId="8243" LastEditDate="2015-12-18T22:07:02.530" LastActivityDate="2015-12-18T22:07:02.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10367" CreationDate="2015-12-19T01:17:26.687" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As to the OP's question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;em&gt;Most Probably Not.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&amp;amp;q=345000&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&amp;amp;q=345000&lt;/a&gt;, a State of Connecticut publication on the Eastern Chipmunk:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There is no difference in appearance between males and females.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehow.com/how_5750910_tell-chipmunk-male-female.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to tell if the Chipmunk is male or female&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Pick your chipmunk up with your hands and place him on his back, with&#xA;  his rear closest to you. Your chipmunk will probably wiggle and&#xA;  protest, therefore, it may take a few times to successfully keep the&#xA;  rodent on its back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Locate the genitals and anus. These features can be found towards the&#xA;  end of the chipmunk and will appear as two distinct bumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Look at the genital area, which is located above the anus. In the&#xA;  genital area, males will have two bumps that are about one centimeter&#xA;  apart from each other. In females, the bumps are touching each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a pet site. The site did not mention any characteristics as a clue to the gender; it went straight to this procedure. This is not definitive, but if you could tell just by looking at the whole chipmunk, they would most likely have give you some clues before describing this procedure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible that by close observation of behavior in the spring, you could tell which was male.  From &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.mom.me/mating-habits-chipmunks-10739.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mating Habits of Chipmunks&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In April, mature male chipmunks are ready to mate two weeks before&#xA;  females and sometimes compete with each other for females&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addressing Ben Crowell's comment (you may be seeing two species):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_chipmunk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, Eastern Chipmunk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The eastern chipmunk (Tamias (Tamias) striatus) is a chipmunk species&#xA;  found in eastern North America. It is the sole living member of the&#xA;  chipmunk subgenus Tamias, sometimes recognised as a separate genus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, Chipmunk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chipmunks may be classified either as a single genus, Tamias (Greek:&#xA;  ταμίας), or as three genera: Tamias, which includes the eastern&#xA;  chipmunk; Eutamias, which includes the Siberian chipmunk; and&#xA;  Neotamias, which includes the 23 remaining, mostly western, species&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't flat-out say so, but I interpret this as the Eastern chipmunk lives in eastern NA and the other species live in western NA (23 of them) or Siberia.&#xA;It's that word &quot;mostly&quot; which means we can't be 100% sure that you don't have more than one species. (But we know Ben has a lot.)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-19T16:04:12.090" LastActivityDate="2015-12-19T16:04:12.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10370" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-19T02:04:12.473" Score="3" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am riding on Horseback from Southern Denmark via Germany and France to Southern Spain.&#xA;I hope to rely on the goodwill of farmers for an overnight camp spot and grazing for my two horses. But what about forest and wilderness areas?&#xA;I am an experienced wilderness traveller and believe in the adage &quot;Take nothing but your photos and memories and leave nothing but your footprints (HOOF prints)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8433" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-19T08:11:43.513" LastActivityDate="2015-12-24T06:28:56.993" Title="Long Ride on Horseback through Europe" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2016-04-08T00:47:22.117" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10371" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-19T10:53:21.570" Score="4" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should I be concerned if my skateboard somehow got wet? Let's say I didn't know it better and rode it in rain for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:33:56.460" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T07:48:42.563" Title="Does moisture harm a skateboard?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;skateboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10372" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-19T11:08:50.377" Score="0" ViewCount="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that if &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;all things being equal (fabrics, thickness, and insulation), mittens&#xA;  are warmer than gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7116/are-mittens-warmer-than-gloves&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I feel like there's was a trend to &quot;mittens&quot; the last years. It's unlikely that this only comes from the fact that &quot;mittens are warmer&quot; cause it's not &lt;em&gt;that of a&lt;/em&gt; problem (in common) while snowboarding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2RVN5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2RVN5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mittens&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In which circumstances are they preferable over common gloves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BbMCn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BbMCn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Common gloves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or is it just a matter of personal style preference? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ask from a snowboarding point of view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Park/Freestyle&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gBRF9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gBRF9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry/Powder&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9VCAP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9VCAP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;???&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2RVN5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2RVN5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mittens&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-19T22:11:53.460" Title="Circumstances to prefer mittens over common snowboarding gloves?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2015-12-20T00:47:49.983" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10373" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10380" CreationDate="2015-12-19T17:08:32.560" Score="4" ViewCount="323" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was &lt;a href=&quot;http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/19/world/shark-attack-wsl-mick-fanning-feat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this story&lt;/a&gt; around &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Fanning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mick Fanning&lt;/a&gt; this year. He was attacked by a shark in a surfing tournament. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In 2015, Fanning survived an encounter with what is suspected to be a&#xA;  great white shark during the J-Bay Open finals in Jeffreys Bay, South&#xA;  Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's unlikely to happen but theoretical you may find yourself in such a situation not only while surfing. This made me wonder how one should react to such?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mick reacted like this (according to the Wikipedia article):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fanning punched the shark and tried to wedge his board between the&#xA;  shark and his body.[8] The shark eventually bit off Fanning's leash&#xA;  and Fanning started his attempt to flee back to shore.[8]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:21:05.837" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:21:05.837" Title="How to react to a shark attack" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;sharks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10374" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10378" CreationDate="2015-12-19T17:46:52.140" Score="7" ViewCount="2417" Body="&lt;p&gt;Caries and other similar disease can be a painful threat. It even can be a danger to life if not threatened over several months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An abscess may result from a trapped piece of food, uncontrolled&#xA;  periodontal (gum) disease, or even an infection deep inside a tooth&#xA;  that has spread to adjacent periodontal tissues. In any case, the&#xA;  condition can cause intense pain due to the pressure that builds up in&#xA;  the pus-filled sac. Prompt treatment is required to relieve the pain,&#xA;  keep the infection from spreading to other areas of the face (or even&#xA;  elsewhere in the body), and prevent tooth loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dentistryonu.com/blog/post/tom-hanks-abscessed-tooth-gets-cast-away.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tom Hanks Abscessed Tooth Gets Cast Away&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one is somewhere in the wild (in a survival situation over a long period of time) far away from medical help and gets an infection, how should he react? For example in the movie &quot;Cast away&quot; the stranded person (Robinson Crusoe like situation) uses a skid to pull his tooth out: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyWxs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyWxs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tooth removal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: Only watch the scene on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O5e6vIlrIs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youtube&lt;/a&gt; if you've the stomach for it!&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it even a good idea to remove an infected tooth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If yes, what is the recommended way to do this? Would be awesome to use natural material only but common camping equipment is also okay. So, an ice skate as mentioned above isn't acceptable :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If no, what else should one do (treatment with herbs etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:12:38.407" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:12:38.407" Title="How to deal with a tooth infection?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10375" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10379" CreationDate="2015-12-20T09:16:49.787" Score="2" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;aim small, miss small&quot; principal for instinctive archery states that you should aim for the smallest possible point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CdfeI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CdfeI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;used 3d target&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this picture you can see that there are a lot of &quot;bullet holes&quot; (more like arrow holes =) ) in the kill. You can choose one and absolutely concentrate on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what to do if you've a pretty new target? One with no bullet holes? Also, you are too far away to see differences in the fur etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you concentrate on the smallest possible point on a solid surface? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example imagine this target: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GjZbF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GjZbF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;New target&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say we are about 40 meters away. You'll only see a solid brown surface from the shooting point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-20T09:23:13.067" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T03:39:28.537" Title="How to concentrate on a minimal point on a solid surface?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10381" CreationDate="2015-12-20T09:30:57.877" Score="3" ViewCount="5474" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: This question might be a little offtopic. Kill it if necessary.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always had &quot;THC&quot; outdoor jackets which are knitted sheep wool jackets. However, they stink like a stable. Normally I put them outside for a week and the smell is gone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This time the smell refuses to leave the jacket. It's been outside for two weeks now and still stinks a little bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something to speed up the process of removing the smell? Or something to get rid of the smell immediately? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3673" LastEditDate="2015-12-20T15:16:32.463" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T09:59:56.757" Title="Get the bad smell out of sheep wool" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10375" CreationDate="2015-12-20T15:13:12.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll have to use a spotter. Either a separate person or yourself. Basically a person with a telescope to see where you hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a separate person fire one arrow and they will inform you where you hit and you can adjust your sights accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are spotting for yourself it is the same, just more time consuming. You'll have to remember &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; where you stood and adjust after each shot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a while it won't be an issue. Keep a log book with the specific calibration for each distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you know the distance and the general area for where you are aiming it shouldn't take more than three arrows to hit the mark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2015-12-20T15:13:12.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10374" CreationDate="2015-12-20T16:42:52.503" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildmed.com/&quot;&gt;WMA&lt;/a&gt; emergency medical protocol (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildmed.com/wilderness-medical-courses/first-response/wilderness-first-responder/&quot;&gt;WFR&lt;/a&gt;'s and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildmed.com/wilderness-medical-courses/medical-professionals/wilderness-emt-upgrade/&quot;&gt;WEMT&lt;/a&gt;'s):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Urgent evacuation to higher level care is required if fever, swelling, or severe pain is present. Although the pain of dental infection can be extreme, the more critical issues are related to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_abscess#Untreated_consequences&quot;&gt;spread of infection&lt;/a&gt;. Patients with more serious infections will show facial swelling and fever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the field, temporary pain relief can be obtained with topical pain relievers like Orabase or oil of cloves, and with oral or injectable pain medication. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If immediate evacuation is not possible, high dose antibiotics and warm compresses should be initiated. In extreme circumstances, the tooth can be pulled, and it should be remembered that until quite recently in dental history pulling the tooth was the definitive treatment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your specific questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I wonder if it's even a good idea to remove the tooth?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated above, it can be, although I would advise that it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly which tooth is infected and it's entirely possible you'll pull the wrong one out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If yes, what is the recommended way to do this? Would be awesome to&#xA;  use natural material only but common camping equipment is also okay.&#xA;  So, an ice skate as mentioned above isn't acceptable :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a proper tool to do it, or the incredibly painful version where you use your fingers to work the tooth loose (not that using pliers would be pleasant).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If no, what else should one do (treatment with herbs etc.)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should get professional medical care to treat the issue. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/tragic-results-when-dental-care-is-out-of-reach/&quot;&gt;Death from dental infection is real&lt;/a&gt;, and if treatment is delayed you might skip death but getting treated for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septic_shock&quot;&gt;septic shock&lt;/a&gt; would be no fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm the responsible medical authority for a wilderness group, I'll typically carry several days worth of antibiotics that I get from a physician who authorizes me to use it for specific protocols.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most emergency wilderness medicine is about stabilizing the problem, stopping it from interfering with a critical system (brain function and perfusion), figuring out how much time you need to get the person out, and getting them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2015-12-20T16:42:52.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10375" CreationDate="2015-12-20T22:02:45.340" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Use your imagination.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't see a small point, imagine one. When I'm sighting up a target, I don't aim for the bulls-eye, I aim for the &lt;em&gt;centre&lt;/em&gt; of the bulls-eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's your solid surface:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZ7bD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZ7bD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you put your sights on an animal at a significant distance, you want to aim just behind their leg, mid way through their body-this is where their lungs are. Real animals don't have targets drawn on them, so you have to know their anatomy and where their vital organs sit in their chest cavity. Here's where you have to use your imagination, because in reality &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; animals are just brown blobs, and you're lucky if you can get within 40 yards of them most of the time.&#xA;When you sight up on your animal, this is what should be picturing in your head:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oJHbb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oJHbb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not trying to just hit the animal, you're trying for a kill shot. A shot to the lungs is a guaranteed kill (though not necessarily instantaneous), but a shot to the heart &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; drop an animal instantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From 40 yards, the heart is a small target, so imagine the heart, where it sits in the chest cavity, then imagine where the right ventricle is, and then the tricuspid valve, now try to shoot your arrow through the middle of that valve: kill shot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T03:39:28.537" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T03:39:28.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10373" CreationDate="2015-12-20T23:34:00.760" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Common advise is to punch the shark in the nose and/or eyes with your closed fist or a weapon (surf board).  These are sensitive areas, and a shark that has mistaken you for a seal, or is just investigating, will usually be frightened away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reading reviews of people who have been attacked (and survived), almost all people do exactly this - although I think is instinctual rather than learned behavior.  I have serious doubts that anyone being attacked by a shark stops to think &quot;What was it I read on the internet...&quot; before reacting.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once (if) the shark backs off, you have to consider what the next thing to do it. Swimming for it at full speed won't really help - you will never our run a shark, In Fanning's case, he had swam to the jet ski and was able to get up out of the water, then taken out of the area, very quickly. Fanning was probably on the beach before the shark had time to think about round two :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2015-12-20T23:34:00.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10376" CreationDate="2015-12-20T23:49:18.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you think of the amount of wool we normally wear and use - and how it behaves - the only reason a wool garment would stink is that the wool hasn't been properly processed. This document is bit of an eye-opener.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/what-does-organic-wool-mean/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/what-does-organic-wool-mean/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On average, each ton of greasy wool contains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;150 KG woolgrease (when refined this is known as lanolin) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;40 KG &lt;strong&gt;suint&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;150 KG dirt &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;20 KG vegetable matter &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;640 KG wool fiber&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Suint&lt;/em&gt;?, I hear you ask...  &lt;strong&gt;dried perspiration of sheep deposited in the wool and rich in potassium salts&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suint&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd return it for a refund if it's just weeks old. Wool clothes shouldn't stink - in fact, the anti-bacterial properties of lanolin are one of the main benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T09:59:56.757" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T09:59:56.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10359" CreationDate="2015-12-21T09:02:12.047" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EgZDq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EgZDq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dry grass slope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ice axe&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question is quite surprising: use an ice axe. The self arrest works nearly just like in a icy situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I taught myself this technique, behind Bill's Barn under Tryfan in&#xA;  early 1963, with a gang of mates, all of us having recently acquired&#xA;  ice axes, by repeatedly throwing ourselves down a slope of pure water&#xA;  ice. By the end of the afternoon we could break ourselves within a few&#xA;  feet of crashing into the dry stone wall at the back of the farm from&#xA;  a totally uncontrolled free fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A fall on frozen earth with stones embedded would be uncomfortable but&#xA;  I believe that an &lt;strong&gt;ice axe arrest would work in non snow and ice&#xA;  conditions&lt;/strong&gt;, my axe was longer than the current axes, but not as long&#xA;  as those of a generation before (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20632.0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Walking forum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When traveling through steep terrain, soldiers should be trained in&#xA;  the use of the ice axe for self-arrest. The axe can be used to arrest a&#xA;  fall &lt;strong&gt;on solid ground, grass and scree as well as snow&lt;/strong&gt;. It may also be&#xA;  used as a third point of contact on difficult terrain. If not in use&#xA;  the ice axe is carried in or on the rucksack with its head down and&#xA;  secured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness-survival.net/mountain-walking-techniques/techniques/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, why the heck would you carry an ice axe while walking besides a grass slope? An ice axe could be used as a walking stick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In its simplest role, the ice axe is used like a walking stick in the&#xA;  uphill hand, the mountaineer holding the head in the center, with the&#xA;  pick pointing to the rear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_axe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Ice axe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9yQp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9yQp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ice axe walking stick&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;No tools attached&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have any tools, you should use this technique: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If (one) slips or stumbles on sloping terrain (hard ground, grass,&#xA;  snow, or scree) he must immediately self-arrest, digging into the&#xA;  slope with hands, elbows, knees and toes. If he falls backwards and&#xA;  rolls over he must immediately try to turn over onto his stomach with&#xA;  his legs downhill and self-arrest with hands and toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness-survival.net/mountain-walking-techniques/techniques/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The hop-skip step&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or how to descending grassy slopes to avoid falling in the first place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) When descending a grassy slope, the traverse technique should be&#xA;  used because of the uneven nature of the ground. A climber can easily&#xA;  build up too much speed and fall if a direct descent is tried. The&#xA;  hop-skip step can be useful on this type of slope. In this technique,&#xA;  the lower leg takes all of the weight, and the upper leg is used only&#xA;  for balance. When traversing, the climber’s uphill foot points in the&#xA;  direction of travel. The downhill foot points about 45 degrees off the&#xA;  direction of travel (downhill). This maintains maximum sole contact&#xA;  and prevents possible downhill ankle roll-out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fKka3.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fKka3.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.de/books?id=AbxTl7BNmpwC&amp;amp;lpg=PA57&amp;amp;ots=vtT1BGjH8X&amp;amp;dq=how%20to%20walk%20on%20grassy%20slope&amp;amp;hl=de&amp;amp;pg=PA57#v=snippet&amp;amp;q=%22grassy%20slope%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;P. 57 Wilderness Camping &amp;amp; Hiking - Paul Tawrell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-06-02T21:13:39.953" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T21:13:39.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10359" CreationDate="2015-12-21T10:06:40.970" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In southern Germany there are a lot of steep hills which don't have too much rock but mainly grass. Therefore people are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;grass climbing&quot;&lt;/a&gt; mountains, there is even a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.festivaltour.de/forum/thema/schwierigkeitsbewertung-beim-grasklettern.1532/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;grass climbing grade&lt;/a&gt; for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CKUz4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CKUz4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You use an ice axe and crampons just as you do on ice. The colder it gets, the more rigid the solid is. Best is ice (frozen ground) because it gives you more security and the ground won't break off so easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's warm and wet I personally wouldn't go on such steep grassy hills. Even if conditions are good (=cold) you have to be mentally strong because there is not much to secure you on that 60°+ slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T09:15:21.250" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T09:15:21.250" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14395" CreationDate="2015-12-21T10:14:07.617" Score="15" ViewCount="1186" Body="&lt;p&gt;Might not be a real question for The Great Outdoors.SE, but definitely a real question in our lives, at least mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand, agree and believe in Leave No Trace philosophy. &#xA;But, when we take countless memories and pride in climbing mountains, what can we give back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example, Tree plantation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I am referring to a global scope, I do understand that legalities and procedures won't be the same. People can possibly suggest what is doable and legal in their places, I'll see if they are legal and doable in my country (India).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-27T05:03:03.377" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T05:03:03.377" Title="As Mountaineers what can we give back to Mountains?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2015-12-21T11:04:31.957" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing we &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; give back is &lt;strong&gt;protection&lt;/strong&gt; against destructive or disruptive actions of our fellow humans &lt;em&gt;(but that is not always realistic)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lobby in your local, regional, national, supernational legislations for the highest level of protection possible for your mountains.  Make sure they will not be subject to mining, logging, large-scale infrastructural projects.  Get them protected as a strict¹ wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Note: this answer is not an endorsement for or against vastly extended strict wilderness protection or for or against mining.  It is currently not realistic (politically, economically, technically) to strictly protect everything on Earth that anybody may find worth protecting.  Sustainability must also take into account short- and long-term human interests.  This answer merely points out what any individual can do if he or she wishes to protect the mountains that he or she loves.  Of course there are other interests.  It is up to the political process to balance those interests and come up with a solution.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;With some areas still permitting some leave-no-trace mountaineering, it would be sad if we couldn't enter any mountain ever anymore.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-11-21T18:09:50.963" LastActivityDate="2016-11-21T18:09:50.963" CommentCount="20" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10386" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10410" CreationDate="2015-12-21T12:21:31.970" Score="4" ViewCount="904" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had serious problems walking on such wet, slightly rotten(*) wood this weekend. It was extremely slippery even though I was wearing my hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u3mY9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u3mY9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wet rotten wood&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon I applied pressure onto the food standing on these battens, it slipped away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something one can do about it? Maybe a special tread on the shoes or walking technique? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*) As Aravona pointed out in the comments, this surface might not be rotten but &lt;em&gt;&quot;have a mildew, moss, type organism growing on top of it (common on&#xA;decking in your garden too, it comes off with a pressure wash).&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T12:37:30.990" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:09:06.990" Title="How to walk on wet, slightly rotten wood?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10386" CreationDate="2015-12-21T13:03:19.253" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would treat this exactly like walking on ice: use the penguin technique, i.e. always keep your center of mass above your feet and take small slow steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8974/whats-the-best-way-to-avoid-slipping-on-ice&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the best way to avoid slipping on ice?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T13:03:19.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10388" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10395" CreationDate="2015-12-21T15:22:54.217" Score="1" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often print some custom targets on common copy paper. However, as you might already guessed, the paper gets tattered very fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any printable (common inkjet) material which is more durable (some foil etc.)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Printer stats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Color&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inkjet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;HP Officejet 8600 Pro&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T16:16:15.533" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T22:00:39.687" Title="Material to use for home printed target faces?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10386" CreationDate="2015-12-21T15:28:35.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The special tread for walking on slippery wood is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caulk_boots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;caulk boots or cork boots.&lt;/a&gt; They have spikes that give good traction on wet wood.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RNnek.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RNnek.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T15:28:35.630" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2015-12-21T17:59:27.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you're &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvon_Chouinard&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yvon Chouinard&lt;/a&gt;, you're unlikely to achieve very much on your own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the best thing is to support those organizations whose primary aim is to protect the mountain environment. In the UK, that could be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Muir Trust&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fixthefells.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fix the Fells&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://snowdonia-society.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowdonia Society&lt;/a&gt;, for example. In the US, The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierraclub.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Club&lt;/a&gt; is one choice, although there are others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a local organization whose aims tie in with yours, and join. Volunteer, evangelize, or simply donate money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T20:55:41.923" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T20:55:41.923" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10391" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10394" CreationDate="2015-12-21T18:08:29.633" Score="7" ViewCount="1098" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rabies has a phase called &quot;furious phase&quot;. The infected animal has symptoms which can directly affect humans. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An infected dog may viciously attack any moving object, person, or&#xA;  animal; a caged rabid dog will chew the wire, break their teeth, and&#xA;  try to bite a hand moving in front of the cage. Rabid cats will attack&#xA;  suddenly, biting and scratching. Foxes will invade yards and attack&#xA;  dogs, cows, and porcupines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See more at: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthcommunities.com/rabies/symptoms.shtml#sthash.oU2BnSzb.dpuf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Health Communities - Rabies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you encounter a fox with rabies on the trail. Are we able to help it (even if it means &quot;kill it&quot;)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jMVum.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jMVum.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:56:09.883" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:56:09.883" Title="How to help a fox with rabies?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;&lt;foxes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9451" CreationDate="2015-12-21T21:41:58.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One 'pro' of certain digital altimeters: Even without GPS they can do a surprisingly good job of distinguishing between changes of elevation and changes of 'atmospheric pressure'. This means that you don't need to reset the altimeter to known elevations so frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Suunto Core has this feature. It works by looking at the rate of change of pressure. If the rate is slow, it assumes it's just changes in the weather, and that the wearer isn't going anywhere - Barometer mode. If the rate of change is higher, it switches into Altimeter mode, and assumes that atmospheric pressure isn't changing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not perfect. If you're trekking over very gently-angled paths all day it would stay in barometer mode unless manually switched - and once in Altimeter mode, any weather changes will still affect the altitude reading (like a conventional altimeter). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T21:41:58.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9910" CreationDate="2015-12-21T21:59:02.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When jackets get dirty and tired, they no longer 'bead' rainwater and will 'wet out' easier - This is when the outer layer becomes saturated with water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They should still be waterproof, because the inner membrane isn't affected by this. It's 100% waterproof, regardless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they won't &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; waterproof, because the breathability relies on the water-prepellent properties of the outer layer, which is now saturated and so won't pass as much air. So, any perspiration or moisture from your body has nowhere to go, and you'll feel wet - even though the water's not getting in from the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyhow, have you read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eventfabrics.com/fabric-care&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;eVent's care instructions&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Always follow the garment manufacturer’s care and use instructions.&#xA;  Below are general considerations for maintaining garments with eVent&#xA;  fabrics. Avoid heavy soiling, which could affect membrane performance&#xA;  temporarily. Thorough washing will generally maintain and restore&#xA;  product performance. Regular washing of your eVent garment will&#xA;  enhance product performance. Your garment may be machine washed in&#xA;  warm water (110F / 40C) with liquid detergent, and we recommend a&#xA;  second rinse to remove all traces of detergent from the fabric. We&#xA;  recommend you drip-dry your garment. Remember also to refer to the&#xA;  garment manufacturer’s guidelines. Do not use fabric softeners or&#xA;  bleach. Never dry-clean your garment. We also recommend that you avoid&#xA;  ironing the garment, but if you do, use the steam setting on no higher&#xA;  temperature than “warm”. &lt;strong&gt;At some temperatures, the heat from the iron&#xA;  can have a rejuvenating effect on the DWR finish&lt;/strong&gt; but there is a&#xA;  greater potential for fabric damage if the iron is too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, summary: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm wash with liquid detergent. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second rinse to remove any lingering detergent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm Iron (under a tea-towel?) to rejuvenate the DWR&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that leaving the jacket in a car on a hot day, or carefully using a hairdryer on it will improve the DWR without the risks involved in ironing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2015-12-21T22:12:38.513" LastActivityDate="2015-12-21T22:12:38.513" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10391" CreationDate="2015-12-22T02:02:38.587" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Question: Are we even perhaps able to help it (even if it means &quot;kill it&quot;)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way to help a rabid fox, or any rabid animal, is to kill it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a gun -- and know how to use it -- kill the rabid fox.  It is the humane thing to do for the fox, and protects other people whom the fox might harm if you just got yourself away or drove it away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But be sure the fox is rabid.  Just because you see it in the daylight does not mean it is rabid. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/foxes/tips/solving_problems_with_foxes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humane Society of the United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Foxes aren't dangerous to humans, except when they are rabid....Luckily, post-exposure treatment is 100% effective if promptly administered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to what to do if you encounter a rabid fox and are unarmed, I don't have an answer-worthy answer.  A good answer would be very useful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-01-08T10:46:17.183" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T10:46:17.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10388" CreationDate="2015-12-22T03:42:04.847" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried this personally but I would imagine that waterproof/resistant paper used for printing out maps would work well due the slightly plastic feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick search using your favorite search engine with the terms 'waterproof inkjet paper' ought to give you lots of options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2015-12-22T03:42:04.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10396" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10407" CreationDate="2015-12-22T13:06:37.023" Score="8" ViewCount="598" Body="&lt;p&gt;Monkeys are funny, as well as dangerous sometimes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;What precautions do I need to take when I am camping (under unavoidable circumstances) in a region where there are monkeys?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Referring to Monkeys in India. Rhesus Macaques, Bonnet Macaques, Gray Langur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:29:40.013" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:29:40.013" Title="Camping and Monkeys" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;monkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10397" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-22T14:12:57.387" Score="8" ViewCount="2929" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a camper (tow behind RV) with an awning.  Every time I unroll the awning/canopy it stinks.  I have scrubbed it with soapy water, and left it open to air dry several time.  But it always get wet and smelly again (presumably related). The material looks like a vinyl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping it dry and/or open for long periods is not an option. I suspect I need to apply something to the awning that will kill what ever makes the smell without destroying the awning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picture of the awning style.  We upgraded to a slightly larger camper after this trip, so while basically the same they are not identical.  The camper/awning pictured here did not have the issue in the few years that we owned it.  The replacement is similar (different brand) and nearly the same age. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bK41z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bK41z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Notice that the rabbits in the photo, are in exercise pens (x-pens), have been treated for &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/925/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-on-my-rabbit&quot;&gt;parasites/fleas&lt;/a&gt; and stay &lt;strong&gt;in the camper&lt;/strong&gt; when not being &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/8126/will-owls-attack-small-dogs&quot;&gt;directly supervised&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T12:19:47.427" Title="How to get rid of RV awning/canopy stink?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10398" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2015-12-22T14:18:59.237" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;RV or Recreational vehicles are wheeled vehicles designed to for traveling and providing some or all of the amenities found in a traditional home.  Sleeping, cooking, and bathroom faculties are often included. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2015-12-22T16:15:41.287" LastActivityDate="2015-12-22T16:15:41.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10399" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2015-12-22T14:18:59.237" Score="0" Body="Mobile camping/sleeping places with wheels, with or without an engine.  " OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-10-13T03:33:18.007" LastActivityDate="2018-10-13T03:33:18.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7230" CreationDate="2015-12-22T19:40:22.483" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was an old Reader's Digest story, apparently true, where a camper woke up with a very big rattler (as he saw later) coiled on his chest &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the sleeping bag.  He had trouble communicating to his friends what was happening and the things they tried (I can't remember what, maybe messing with the zipper) just seemed to agitate the snake. They ended up overheating it somehow, maybe with sun and mirrors, until it got uncomfortable and slithered out past the man's face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8448" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2015-12-23T11:13:21.137" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T11:13:21.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10404" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-23T09:10:31.173" Score="9" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/392/what-type-of-mosquito-repellent-is-most-effective/&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; asks &lt;em&gt;&quot;What type of mosquito repellent is the most effective?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.  It's a great question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that we may have an idea about what is best to use, I want to know how effective are even the best repellents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a mosquito magnet.  I don't know what it is, but I know it goes back generations.  If I go outdoors &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; repellent or full coverage where there are mosquitoes, I will &lt;strong&gt;literally&lt;/strong&gt; (no exaggeration) get 30-60 bites per hour.  It's dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a result, I tend to cover as much as my body as possible when mosquitoes are present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to make some plans that involve areas that are known to be inhabited by many of our needle-nosed friends.  Due to interesting (but off-topic) reasons, I will not be able to cover much of my body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be relying solely on repellents and dietary choices to keep the mosquitoes from doing their thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that something about me attracts mosquitoes, how effective can I expect modern mosquito repellents to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to stay away from opinion-based answers, and instead hear from people with relevant experiences.  Specifically, other people who are mosquito magnets who have relied solely on repellents (and optionally dietary measures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:04:29.973" Title="How effective are mosquito repellents for people who are mosquito magnets?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10397" CreationDate="2015-12-23T09:24:02.950" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's mold based, then my understanding is that borax or hydrogen peroxide are effective remedies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soap is not very effective against mold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't think it will damage the awning, I recommend scrubbing it with a borax-based solution.  When in doubt, test it on a small less-visible section first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastEditorUserId="8028" LastEditDate="2016-06-17T20:05:38.170" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T20:05:38.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10038" CreationDate="2015-12-23T11:07:31.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can use dynamically soaring as &lt;strong&gt;one&lt;/strong&gt; variable in attempting identification, in addition to size, wing, body, beak, feet, etc. (all the usual ways of narrowing down your bird). But you can't just say &quot;that's an albatross&quot;: the 4 families of order &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procellariiformes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Procellariiformes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; consist of  albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They vary significantly in size, color pattern and shape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T11:07:31.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10396" CreationDate="2015-12-23T12:23:40.220" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love this question and thus I've researched a little bit. Just as you've wished I don't talk about the encounter with a monkey or something. I just show off the different races and their ability to adapt to humans in their territory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What I wanted to make clear: I absolutely assume that the reader doesn't provoke the animals in any way!&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Introduction&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DiLzc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DiLzc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Monkey&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping with monkeys is generally an easy thing. They don't assume you as danger or something. They might get a little curious but that's it. That does however not mean to underestimate them. Monkeys can be dangerous if provoked somehow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This applies generally to all monkeys in disagreement with the comments beneath the question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scientific definition of monkey: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Monkeys are haplorhine (&quot;dry-nosed&quot;) primates, a paraphyletic group&#xA;  generally possessing tails and consisting of approximately 260 known&#xA;  living species. Many monkey species are tree-dwelling (arboreal),&#xA;  although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as&#xA;  baboons. Most species are also active during the day (diurnal).&#xA;  Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent, particularly Old&#xA;  World monkeys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lemurs, lorises, and galagos are not monkeys; instead they are&#xA;  strepsirrhine (&quot;wet-nosed&quot;) primates. Like monkeys, tarsiers are&#xA;  haplorhine primates; however, they are also not monkeys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are even several &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1553443-d1553442-r186967413-Kibale_Forest_Camp-Kibale_National_Park_Western_Region.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;camping tours&lt;/a&gt; which let you camp in such territories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of course you absolutely (!) should avoid camping in &lt;strong&gt;ape's&lt;/strong&gt; territory.&lt;/em&gt; They are up to no good :) Luckily they're not subject of this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just wanted to make clear that apes, strepsirrhine etc. are another topic and that this answer thus doesn't apply to them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rating system&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Social ties&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How they are attached to their peers. The lower their ties, the harder to get in an encounter. For example &quot;high rated&quot; species often have several leaders which are - of course - provoked more easily then loners which aren't responsible for a whole group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low: kind of loners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medium: small groups with flat hierarchy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High: groups with strict hierarchy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping behaviour&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are they awake during the night or day? The most species are active during the day (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diurnality&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;diurnal&lt;/a&gt;). This is important if you want to sleep. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Territoriality&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do they have a fixed territory and thus defend it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No territory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nomads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Territory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Living together&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ranges from bad over medium to perfect. It's an overall rating how they do with humans. Are they able to adapt to them? In which relationship do they live with them? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Gray Langur&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is absolutely nice to camp with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kQ0rp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kQ0rp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gray Langur&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Social ties: medium &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping behaviour: diurnal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Territoriality: no territory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Living together: perfect&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They can adapt well to human settlements, and are found in villages,&#xA;  towns and areas with housing or agriculture. They live in densely&#xA;  populated cities like Jodhpur, which has a population numbering up to&#xA;  a million.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This section might make the Langur seem to be a little bit like a pet but it isn't! When provoked or threatened in any way it can be absolutely dangerous! As I already stated this answer only refers to the basic &quot;I camp and monkey does monkey things.&quot;-situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;OWRAH: A langur went berserk and attacked passengers at Howrah Station&#xA;  in the wee hours of Thursday. The incident left at least five people&#xA;  severely injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bonnet Macaque&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is okay to camp with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YC415.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YC415.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bonnet Macaque&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Social ties: high &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping behaviour: diurnal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Territoriality: no territory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Living together: medium&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus they are well adapted to humans you should hold in mind that they've a strict hierarchy. An alpha, beta and gamma male will try to protect their group! Respect this and you'll be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rhesus Macaque&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is perfect to camp with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EExNX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EExNX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Macaque&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Social ties: high&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping behaviour: diurnal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Territoriality: no territory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Living together: perfect&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rhesus macaques are noted for their tendency to move from rural to&#xA;  urban areas, coming to rely on handouts or refuse from humans. They&#xA;  adapt well to human presence and form larger troops in human-dominated&#xA;  landscapes than in forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T18:53:10.617" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T18:53:10.617" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10408" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-23T15:05:10.403" Score="16" ViewCount="1354" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is specific to France, as different countries have different hunting cultures and regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been a number of highly publicized accidents in France this year (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thelocal.fr/20150914/first-injury-marks-start-of-french-hunting-season&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thelocal.fr/20151012/hiker-accidentally-shot-dead-by-hunter-in-france&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thelocal.fr/20151221/grieving-wife-slams-hunters&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;).  While recognizing that the number of accidents is actually fairly low, it makes me wonder what I should do to minimize risk while out bird-watching in France.  (I am not French and not yet familiar with the local situation.)  I like to take photos of wildlife (mostly birds), sometimes while hiding in the bush, but I am not an experienced outdoorsman; I believe this puts me at higher risk than usual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what should I do to stay safe from hunters while out in nature in France?  &lt;em&gt;When&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; am I most likely to encounter hunters?  When are the hunting seasons and what type of hunting has the highest risk of accident (I naively assume that I might be safer from bird hunters than deer hunters).  There are of course obvious common sense approaches, but the things I am most interested in deal with: 1. what is specific to France; 2. what someone completely unfamiliar with hunting might not find obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8453" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:26:34.633" LastActivityDate="2019-05-26T22:15:33.530" Title="Staying safe from hunters while hiking in France" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10404" CreationDate="2015-12-23T20:04:29.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Depends on how much you put on.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be helpful to first identify &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; you are a mosquito magnet. Mosquitos are attracted to primarily two things that you can control: odour and heat. Unfortunately, about 85% of what makes people mosquito magnets is suspected to be genetics, so there's not much you can do about that, except to try and mask the scent of whatever it is in your genetics that makes you so irresistible and delicious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your diet is a huge factor when it comes to body odour, mosquitos for example will be more attracted to people who have high amounts of salt and potassium in their system, which increases the amount of lactic acid that you off-gas. Sweet smelling deodorants, or fabric softeners will also attract insects, as will excessive sweating (especially if you're already releasing mosquito attracting chemicals).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fruits are typically high in potassium, bananas particularly. Perfume or cologne are pretty much the opposite of DEET, so don't wear any of that stuff when you're trying not to get bit. They say that garlic and spicy foods repel bugs too, so eat lots of that stinky stuff, and don't clean the garlic breath out of your mouth. Mosquitos are attracted to C0&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, which you exhale a lot of, so if you lace it with garlic they may not be as attracted to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of other suggestions available online, so just google what foods you can eat to avoid bug bites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:04:29.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10386" CreationDate="2015-12-23T20:09:06.990" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fishermen use felt soled wading boots for wading through creeks and rivers on the slippery rocks, they give you the friction you need without damaging the surface you're walking on. They would work just as well on a slippery dock. You can buy them at any fishing store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1bFwA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1bFwA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:09:06.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5935" CreationDate="2015-12-23T20:49:56.207" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tie your canoe off to a tree or big rock and sink it in a shallow area (chest deep) it will be safe till you need to retrieve it same with equipment that dosent matter if it gets soaked through (pots and pans water proof items) modern tent are normaly synthetic material polyester you could even pack it up sink it too to dry out later and use. a wet tent is better than no tent. My best opinion for keeping your gear &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8454" LastActivityDate="2015-12-23T20:49:56.207" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9334" CreationDate="2015-12-24T03:58:10.773" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stefansson proved once and for all that &lt;strong&gt;diet affects teeth more than brushing&lt;/strong&gt;. His experiences with the Arctic Inuit were &lt;a href=&quot;http://harpers.org/archive/1935/11/adventures-in-diet-part-i/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;published&lt;/a&gt; in Harper's Magazine in 1935, but are also available here in three parts: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson1.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;II&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biblelife.org/stefansson3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;III&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's arguably the upside-down food pyramid that is responsible for lining dentists' pockets today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Starch&lt;/em&gt; gunks up one's teeth and gets fermented to acid. If you're eating mostly meat and vegetables, brush with a little water and you should have no issues. It's the grains that bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20160612182828/http://www.examiner.com/article/many-indigenous-people-who-never-brush-their-teeth-also-never-get-tooth-decay&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Many indigenous people who never brush their teeth also never get tooth decay&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8455" LastEditorDisplayName="user8455" LastEditDate="2017-07-30T13:35:32.037" LastActivityDate="2017-07-30T13:35:32.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8990" CreationDate="2015-12-24T05:18:17.137" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://sectionhiker.com/why-you-should-hike-in-the-rain/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article on SectionHiker&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only hike on days when there’s zero percent chance of rain, you aren’t going to do much hiking. Sooner or later, you are going to get soaked through-and-through on a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forget all of your fancy gear: it won’t be worth a hill of beans when you have to walk in pouring rain for a few hours on a day hike, or several days on a backpacking trip. Your waterproof, breathable rain jacket and pants won’t keep you dry, nor will your waterproof hiking boots/trail shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best defense isn’t expensive gear, but learning how to stay healthy and safe when you get wet. You can only gain this experience by hiking in the rain, which is why you want to practice it close to home before you need to rely on it in more challenging or dangerous conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T15:51:49.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10408" CreationDate="2015-12-24T07:12:03.237" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know the season&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know when and where hunting is allowed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know the time hunters are most active&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make some noise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most important: wear the right colours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Answer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good question! Staying safe from hunters is rather the same thing in every country and doesn't apply to hiking or bird-watching only. However, I've added France related information whenever possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically the answer is mostly: inform yourself before going into the outdoors. You may contact this office for every information you need: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At: 85 bis avenue de Wagram, BP 236, 75822 Paris Cedex 17&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tel: 01 44 15 17 17 Fax: 01 47 63 79 13&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://riviera.angloinfo.com/redirect/url/www.oncfs.gouv.fr/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Website&lt;/a&gt; (in French)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But let's get it a little bit more detailed: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OxExx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OxExx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Season&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;1. Know the season&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get the running seasons and other appropriated dates you've to contact the préfecture because the seasons are managed at a regional level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The white-tail season is the most dangerous one for hikers and so on since the most hunts are going on. So check especially these dates! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hunting Seasons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Seasons are managed at a regional level to complement the ecological&#xA;  needs of the area and its animal and bird life: the dates of the&#xA;  opening and closing of hunting seasons depend on the département and&#xA;  the animal species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While the season generally opens in September and runs until the end&#xA;  of February the opening is decided by the regional préfet (contact the&#xA;  local préfecture for dates).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://riviera.angloinfo.com/information/lifestyle/sports-and-leisure/hunting/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Angloinfo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7ROmt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7ROmt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wild&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;2. Know when and where hunting is allowed&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's possible to avoid hunters altogether by choosing your hike&#xA;  wisely. Many parks, including most national park units, forbid&#xA;  hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The national parks in France are &quot;non hunting&quot; areas but it can also be difficult to just got out there. It's often &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.burgundytoday.com/grapevine/whats-on-france/national-parks-france.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;prohibited to take expanded hikes&lt;/a&gt; and so on. Check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_France&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this list&lt;/a&gt; of the national parks and get in touch with the appropriated administration of each for further information. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s9x2k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s9x2k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sunset&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;3. Know what time hunters are most active&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many factors, such as the lunar calendar, affect peak times of day for&#xA;  animal activity, and hence hunting. However, as a rule of thumb, these&#xA;  usually coincide with sunrise and sunset. It's best to avoid being in&#xA;  hunting areas during those times since you'll be less visible in the&#xA;  dim light. But if you must be out at those times, use a headlamp or&#xA;  flashlight and wear reflective material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;4. Make some noise&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This section doesn't apply to every outdoor activity. It would be a little bit stupid to be loud as hell if you're fishing or bird-watching, wouldn't it? :) However, if you can do it, make some noise! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Talk with your companions, whistle, do your best Freddie Mercury&#xA;  impression. And if you hear shooting, the Washington Trails Association &#xA;  ((US)) advises shouting to notify hunters of your presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kLmLh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kLmLh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Colour&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;5. Most important: Wear the right colours&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blaze-orange-colored clothing is of course awesome to make you visible in the woods etc. But the most important thing about this topic is that hunters use these for safety reasons themselves and thus are generally really sensible for these kinds of colours! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that this kind of clothing is also available for your dog!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uGF4o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uGF4o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hunter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Kilw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Kilw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hunter2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmFtF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmFtF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;dog&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wearing a blaze-orange-colored vest, hat, or pack cover is one of the&#xA;  most important things you can do to stay visible to hunters. It's what&#xA;  hunters themselves wear for safety. If you don't have any of these&#xA;  (although you should if you're doing fall/winter hiking) make sure you&#xA;  wear bright colors and steer clear of earth tones. Avoid wearing&#xA;  white, though, because it resembles the rear of a white-tailed deer.&#xA;  The Appalachian Trail Conservancy ((US)) also advises not wearing red or blue&#xA;  during turkey season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reference: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2013/09/24/hiking-hunting-season-safety-tips/2854437/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USA today - hiking during hunting season&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/772/backpacking-or-hiking-in-areas-open-to-hunting?rq=1&quot;&gt;TGO question - Hiking in areas open for hunting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The most important thing is to know what is being hunted so you can&#xA;  know how the hunters should be approaching their prey. (...) The vast&#xA;  majority of hunters are extremely safety conscious and will go out of&#xA;  their way to educate anyone who is curious about safety and sharing&#xA;  the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In your case, you probably don't really care if you are scaring off&#xA;  the game so wear vibrant colors, make a lot of noise and avoid heavy&#xA;  brush and areas with limited sight lines. Wide open areas with a clear&#xA;  view are safest. Noise is really your best tool since you also should&#xA;  be concerned about ricochet, misfires and target practice as well as&#xA;  intentionally placed shots where you happen to be directly behind the&#xA;  target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Subjective conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also wanted to add my personal subjective opinion. We often think that hunters are kind of trigger-happy. However, they mostly know that they have a great (!) responsibility and normally only shoot if they are sure that they can provide the highest possible safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more about this topic in the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gma.vic.gov.au/hunting/deer/ethical-hunting&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Principals of ethical hunting&lt;/a&gt;&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Respect the opinions of non-hunters&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People who are unfamiliar with hunting practices may be intimidated by&#xA;  the presence of firearms, so be sympathetic to their concerns and, as&#xA;  much as possible, keep firearms out of sight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Be considerate, be courteous and show the public that deer hunters are&#xA;  responsible and ethical recreationalists. Good hunting behaviour will&#xA;  reflect on people's opinions of all hunters. Rude, illegal and&#xA;  irresponsible actions can prejudice the community against all hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Be aware of personal safety&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many hunters today wear camouflaged clothes, which makes them&#xA;  difficult to see. While concentrating on the hunt, there is a&#xA;  possibility that you could become lost or be mistaken for game by&#xA;  another hunter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To ensure your safety and the safety of other hunters in the field, it&#xA;  is recommended that all deer hunters wear some form of bright coloured&#xA;  clothing or hat when hunting. Overseas studies have shown that deer&#xA;  cannot see colours such as blaze orange and the wearing of these&#xA;  colours will not affect your hunting success. Many hunters have taken&#xA;  deer in Victoria while wearing blaze orange clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The wearing of some form of bright coloured clothing is also&#xA;  recommended when you are carrying a carcass out of the bush. This will&#xA;  ensure that other hunters do not mistake you for a deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk.  Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By Fred Bear&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUpn4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUpn4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;End&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-05-26T22:15:33.530" LastActivityDate="2019-05-26T22:15:33.530" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10416" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-24T10:12:49.720" Score="12" ViewCount="457" Body="&lt;p&gt;Monkeys are funny, as well as dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have already asked a question about how one should go about camping where there are monkeys around: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/10396/2303&quot;&gt;Camping and Monkeys&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best advice would be to avoid them if you are unsure about your own safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of Rock Climbing places in India are habitats for these monkeys, living in the natural caves, playing all day on the edges and cliffs. As a climber, I have always seen that when I am at the base of one such climb, as I approach they panic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have other people in the rest of the world had a similar issue?&#xA;What would you do if you have climbed up a good way and then you find a gang of monkeys up over the wall? Is it wiser to call it a day and retreat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-04-13T10:32:53.510" Title="Monkeys and Rock Climbing" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;monkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10418" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10419" CreationDate="2015-12-24T16:55:40.493" Score="10" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to plan a five-day camping trip in Joshua Tree NP. We already have a campsite booked, so that's taken care of. The catch is that we're coming from the East Coast. What makes the most sense in terms of effort, cost, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Box up our own camping gear and ship it ahead of time, to be picked up at a Mail Boxes USA location or something&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Box up our own camping gear and check it on the plane with us&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rent the stuff we need (tent, sleeping bags, camp stove, etc., etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Tangentially, is that last option even possible? I assume so since you can rent every other thing on earth, but maybe I'm wrong.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8459" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T09:51:26.443" Title="Camping 3000 miles from home: how best to get our gear to the campsite?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10418" CreationDate="2015-12-24T19:02:50.750" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What makes the most sense in terms of effort, cost, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(1) Assuming you don't have small children&lt;/em&gt;:  It is no more &lt;strong&gt;effort&lt;/strong&gt; -- actually, it is easier -- to pick up your luggage at the carousel than to make a separate trip to Mail Boxes to get your gear or to go to a camping store for rental.  My husband and I have, for decades, checked two backpacks for 10 to 12 day backpacking trips, with no problems.  (We have a two person tent and a tiny stove.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On cost:&lt;/strong&gt; the benchmark is how much the airline will charge you for each checked bag times how many bags you will need to check, and whether there are size/price categories on checked bags. Only your airline can tell you this; this info may be on your e-confirmation.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would help to do a &quot;trial packing&quot; to figure out how many checked bags you need for your gear.  The trial may also help you to discard unnecessary items, and to remember items that you have forgotten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(2) If you have small children:&lt;/em&gt;  I'm not qualified to answer with this complication thrown in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;:  Whatsisname is right!  Do not pack fuel. It is illegal and dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2015-12-24T23:05:23.663" LastActivityDate="2015-12-24T23:05:23.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6820" CreationDate="2015-12-25T05:55:07.957" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I had to bring one thing for acid reflux, it'd be a bottle of citric acid powder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this doesn't come off as crackpot-ish, but it's solved the bulk of my acid reflux problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any evening I ate pizza or legumes, like clockwork I'd be lying awake half the night from extreme acid reflux, the kind you have to swallow. If I wanted to get up early, then I couldn't eat my favorite meals. It was terrible. Antacids seemed to do nothing (i.e. stomach seemed to compensate with &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; acid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dad always drank soda (carbonic acid) with his meat to help digestion, and I wondered if there was anything to this. Some websites say &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/221-why-you-should-use-apple-cider-vinegar-instead-of-antacids-and-baking-soda-for-indigestion.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;there is&lt;/a&gt;. The theory is that acid reflux is &lt;strong&gt;a result of excessive stomach churning from indigestion&lt;/strong&gt;, and that supplementing your HCl with some extra acid can actually &lt;em&gt;aid&lt;/em&gt; digestion and calm the stomach contractions that are pushing acid up your throat. So I started drinking dilute lemon juice with the acid-causing meals. &lt;em&gt;It turns out I can actually sleep at night after a problem-meal.&lt;/em&gt; So I drink lemon juice with almost all my meals now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could the effect be psychological/placebic? Could be.&#xA;Will it work for everyone? &lt;strong&gt;Maybe not.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;But the acid I still get with any meal now is manageable/ignorable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, &lt;em&gt;PERSONALLY&lt;/em&gt;, on a trek I'd bring a bottle of citric acid powder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8455" LastActivityDate="2015-12-25T05:55:07.957" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10363" CreationDate="2015-12-25T06:50:30.963" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The original &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Penny Stove&lt;/a&gt; has been popular for over a decade as a DIY alcohol stove designed for ultralight backpackers. Its trademark is the use of a penny as a fuel regulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/#2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Independent tests&lt;/a&gt; document that it heats faster, uses less fuel,&#xA;  simmers longer, and packs lighter than any commercial alcohol stove.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/penny2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2.0 version&lt;/a&gt; achieves the same performance as the original but uses &lt;strong&gt;regular beer or soda cans&lt;/strong&gt; instead of the now-discontinued Heineken kegs (which were more indestructible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gvutd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gvutd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penny Stove (closed)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With simmer ring:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/51d7X.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/51d7X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penny Stove (with simmer ring)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4jZLx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4jZLx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penny Stove (cooking)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See some reviews on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/index.html#3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;main page&lt;/a&gt;. It's touted as a great base camp, boat, camper, or winter stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The quality/comprehensiveness of the documentation is also excellent in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This may or may not fit your needs&lt;/em&gt;, but I felt it worth a mention. &lt;strong&gt;Notably, there is also a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/stoveinstruct.html#anchor2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;version for smaller pots&lt;/a&gt; that keeps the burners focused in a narrow radius:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xg0UZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xg0UZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penny Stove (small pot version)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8455" LastEditorDisplayName="user8455" LastEditDate="2015-12-28T10:45:36.173" LastActivityDate="2015-12-28T10:45:36.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10424" CreationDate="2015-12-25T17:32:54.797" Score="8" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I plan to go on a road trip, to tap and harvest some birch Tree sap/syrup, from a property up in Quesnel, BC. How do I know when is the right time to harvest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also; does the time to harvest birch syrup in Quesnel correspond to the time to harvest maple syrup?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3603" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2015-12-25T20:57:48.670" LastActivityDate="2015-12-27T02:08:59.523" Title="How can I ascertain the proper harvesting/extraction period for birch syrup for a particular region?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10485" CreationDate="2015-12-25T18:21:55.730" Score="7" ViewCount="1650" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a Fjällräven Barents Trousers for Christmas! Hell yeah! It's made of the &quot;G-1000&quot; material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;65% polyester, 35% cotton. G-1000 Original is the original fabric in&#xA;  Fjällräven’s comfortable outdoor clothing. It started as a tent fabric&#xA;  that proved to be too heavy for lightweight tents. Tested under&#xA;  conditions including everything from Arctic and sub-Arctic expeditions&#xA;  to coffee breaks on sharp stones in forest glades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should take care of this kind of material with the Greenland Wax. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Greenland Wax is the impregnation that is used for all of Fjällräven’s&#xA;  G-1000 products. The wax has been produced since the late 1960s by the&#xA;  same Swedish family business. The recipe is secret but the ingredients&#xA;  are simple: pure paraffin and high-quality beeswax. This makes&#xA;  Greenland Wax a more environmentally friendly alternative than&#xA;  chemical-based impregnation products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wondered if I should apply the wax continuously? Like &quot;Wax it at least once per month.&quot; or something. Or is it more like &quot;on the fly&quot;: &quot;Okay, I'm going to wear it tomorrow and it may get wet. Let's apply some wax.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T11:05:14.313" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T06:36:50.287" Title="Should wax for G-1000 be continuously applied?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10422" CreationDate="2015-12-26T23:41:44.963" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sap flow in trees is a result of sap pressure accumulated in the roots during a frost, which is then released when the temperature thaws during the day. Many tree species cannot be harvested because they do not develop high enough sap pressure to bleed (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.venerabletrees.org/sap-flow-in-spring/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;according to Venerable Trees, Inc.&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One &lt;a href=&quot;http://joybileefarm.com/birch-syrup/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;farm in BC reports&lt;/a&gt; that birch sap is harvested just after maple:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Birch trees begin to run sap about the time the maple trees are&#xA;  finished. Before the buds swell up and burst into leaves – usually&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;when the nights are still below freezing but the daytime temperatures&#xA;  are above freezing&lt;/strong&gt; – end of February to the middle of March in BC or&#xA;  even into the first part of April, depending on the year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is consistent with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/Canada/British-Columbia/Quesnel/climate-profile.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;average min/max monthly temperatures for Quesnel, BC:&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wZMAO.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wZMAO.png&quot; alt=&quot;Temperature graph for Quesnel, BC&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, &lt;a href=&quot;http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell University gives&lt;/a&gt; the same temperature conditions for maple trees as described above for birch, i.e. &lt;strong&gt;when day/night temperatures swing across the freezing point&lt;/strong&gt;. I'd suppose birch trees just prefer a bit more warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uaf.edu/files/ces/publications-db/catalog/hec/FNH-00150.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;University of Alaska Fairbanks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; says birch prefers a daytime temperature consistently above 50 °F. This occurs about mid-April in that region, but earlier for Quesnel as per the graph above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8455" LastEditorDisplayName="user8455" LastEditDate="2015-12-27T02:08:59.523" LastActivityDate="2015-12-27T02:08:59.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4442" CreationDate="2015-12-27T00:56:48.767" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have both a 12&quot; original Pyromid and the new Ecoque grill in 12&quot;. The pieces are all quite similar and interchangeable. The new model works as well as the original. both are fantastic little grills capable of high heat output.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8464" LastActivityDate="2015-12-27T00:56:48.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10426" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10430" CreationDate="2015-12-27T08:33:23.330" Score="6" ViewCount="891" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like many campers, I bought a portable jump starter, which contains liquids and gases. In what situation does it get dangerous? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I simply carry this portable charger along with all my camping gear such as butane gases and stove? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can it be stored under hot/cold weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8376" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2015-12-28T19:16:57.960" LastActivityDate="2015-12-28T19:19:35.143" Title="Is a portable jump starter dangerous?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10427" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10428" CreationDate="2015-12-28T17:00:22.613" Score="11" ViewCount="483" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of bouldering, sport climbing and some aiding.  Awhile back I went &lt;strong&gt;ice climbing&lt;/strong&gt; with some guys for about a week.  I didn't participate much simply because I didn't &lt;strong&gt;feel&lt;/strong&gt; the confidence I normally do in the equipment.  Particularly ice screws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I asked the question, &quot;Under what circumstances would you abandon a screw you just placed?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  I did not get total consensus on the circumstances that would need to be present in order for a screw to be abandoned for use.  The discussion became so heated I abandoned it completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answered I received:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When there is a long vertical crack that is formed when placing it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When a short horizontal crack is formed during placement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When a star crack created when placing it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will say that a star fracture did receive some consensus among the crew.  A few of these guys have been climbing for a long time and their practices seemed safe but none of them had any physics degrees either, not that I do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question, as above is, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;under what circumstances would you abandon a recently placed ice screw?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;how far away from the crack would you have to go to place the next one safely?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:19.150" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:15:19.150" Title="Under what circumstances would you not use a recently planted ice screw?" Tags="&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;ice-screws&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10427" CreationDate="2015-12-28T18:28:39.107" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will only focus on signs to assess the quality of a placed ice screw. There are many factors that influence the outcome like the location, temperature, ... but they deserve an answer of their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is, that the screw is placed all the way in solid ice. On the surface you can judge this easily. The deeper parts are assessed by what comes out of the hollow inside of the screw while &quot;drilling&quot;. Ideally this is a compact column of ice that breaks off in one ore several big pieces. Usually though the ice will break off quickly after leaving the screw. This is still ok. The NoGos are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No ice comes out of the screw will drilling.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This means that you drilled into air. This can occur during formation of the ice or due to melting processes which can produce completely hollow ice columns (though you should not climb on such in the first place).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ice (more like snow) &quot;trickles&quot; out of the screw.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In this case you drilled into snow or ice with lots of tiny air bubbles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases the screw placement will be severely weakend and you need to replace it. How far away you try again depends entirely on the situation. Try the closest place that is in some way distinct from the orginal one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the above is fine the screw is most likely fine. Unless you placed your screw on top of a bulge, which is anyway a bad idea, small cracks at the entrance point are no big issue. I only ever saw such in really deep temperatures (below -5degC). Of course if you have multiple or very long cracks, thats not good. However that should not happen as drilling an ice screw does not displace lots of ice, it cuts, so there is no reason for cracks to form. This is much more likely when hitting your axes into the ice, so you will notice it there first. It can happen in cold temperatures after a big temperature rise or fall that the ice is both very hard and has tension on it. In this case you should not be climbing at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-28T23:01:18.423" LastActivityDate="2015-12-28T23:01:18.423" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10429" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10437" CreationDate="2015-12-28T18:33:48.787" Score="9" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10427/under-what-circumstances-would-you-not-use-a-recently-planted-ice-screw&quot;&gt;question about when a placed ice screw is not reliable&lt;/a&gt;. Now I want to know where to best place an ice screw in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are features of the ice I should look for or avoid when choosing an ice screw placement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:29.087" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:15:29.087" Title="Where do you place ice screws?" Tags="&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;ice-screws&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10426" CreationDate="2015-12-28T19:19:35.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is safe as long as you store and transport sensibly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@jrodatus listed a few points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep it charged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't get it wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't drop it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;only charge within the correct temperature range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But additionally, especially if it is in with metal objects, you must make sure it does not get shorted out when switched on. If you accidentally allow a screwdriver or ice-axe or anything metal to short the terminals, you could suddenly discover a very effective fire starter in your kit bag!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-12-28T19:19:35.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10435" CreationDate="2015-12-29T06:51:15.520" Score="5" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went hiking with a friend a few years ago who had adjusted his new 90 liter pack to sit pretty high up on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a result he managed to create two very large blisters right above his buttocks.  They popped and looked extra-ordinarily painful.  He really suffered that weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what can I do to ensure I never have that happen to me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AND&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it did happen to me, what would my treatment plan be?  Abandonment of the trip would not be an option...I just like saying that.  I can't really think of anything I could do to create a situation where I continued to push forward but if there was something, especially with zombies chasing you, that could be done, I'd like to here thoughts on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2015-12-29T12:47:47.260" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T18:30:03.747" Title="Blisters on small of back" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10433" CreationDate="2015-12-29T07:02:34.097" Score="14" ViewCount="3527" Body="&lt;p&gt;In kayaking I've heard a term called the 'washing machine'.  Apparently as a river is flowing over terrain it can create whirlpools and currents that swirl in all manner.  Occasionally a condition can arise where you can drop into one and get trapped in revolving current that's difficult to escape from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently people have been killed when they have become caught in one these anomalies of current.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some sort of strategy that can be employed to escape the current when you are being spun about and become more and more disoriented?  What are your first actions when you realize this has happened?  Does anyone take precautions and carry something with them that would assist in such an event?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-28T00:50:17.013" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T00:53:31.003" Title="In kayaking how would you escape an underwater whirlpool current if you were trapped in one?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10432" CreationDate="2015-12-29T15:28:48.397" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this is going to be counter intuitive. Firstly, the most important thing to do is to avoid these dangers altogether. Firstly (yes another first) wear a good life jacket. I can't say how important both of those points are. If you get caught and especially without a life jacket, you will be very lucky if you get out on your own. You may not be able to control your actions while underwater being tossed around. You won't be able to set up from down, and the water may keep you from being able to control your body parts. If you get stuck on top of one, stay calm and focus on your balance and paddle out of it if able. Otherwise prepare to get tired as you wait for your friends to figure out how to help you and I can't say what help that will be because each situation is different. If you get caught and are underwater then read on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The types of objects that get caught are lighter than water, I.e under normal circumstances they float. The lightest materials get stuck in the center, heavier objects move outward as they get heavier/denser unless they exceed the density of water at which point they get tossed out of the eddy. If you are already underwater, to get out of a washing machine eddy such as from a low head damn, you need to get out of your kayak. That's obviously much easier with a sit-on-top kayak. This reduces your drag. Second is the counter intuitive part. IF and ONLY IF your life jacket is not holding you above water, get out off your life jacket and exhale as much air as you can and pull all your body parts together, and hug your legs. This part is going to be hard, but you need to hold your breath while its exhaled until the eddy drops you since you now are denser than water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-28T00:53:31.003" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T00:53:31.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10431" CreationDate="2015-12-29T16:00:04.787" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prevention is easy, wear your pack on your hips where it's supposed to be, and &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; let anything rub. Friction is bad, all hot spots need to be taken care of &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt; before they are allowed to develop into a blister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treatment for such blisters may involve draining them so they don't cause pain from pressure, and then wrapping them with a thick bandage. Use antiseptic if you have it, infection is a concern with all burns, and lancing a blister in order to drain it opens it up for infection. It would be better to leave the skin intact if you can, chances are adjusting your bag and wearing it properly will be sufficient to remedy the situation, but if not then you may just have to suck it up and suffer for your mistake until you get home. If it's the zombie apocalypse, then nature has just selected you for a darwin award and it's better that you get eaten so the rest of your group can get away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T16:00:04.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10431" CreationDate="2015-12-29T16:03:09.760" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ah, that sounds really painful and disturbing.&#xA;Your description is more like its a Boil than a Blister.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Medically, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A boil is a localized infection in the skin that begins as a reddened, tender area. Over time, the area becomes firm, hard, and increasingly tender. Eventually, the center of the boil softens and becomes filled with infection-fighting white blood cells from the bloodstream to eradicate the infection. If not treated you'll see them turning white, the white substance is known as Pus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Causes of Boils: Again, keeping the scope to typical outdoor activity stuff, I can guess that either he lodged the heavier stuff on the &lt;em&gt;bare&lt;/em&gt; skin, and/or a body-hair was pulled due to friction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;I don't want no boils:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I will,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack a Backpack that I can carry &lt;em&gt;comfortably&lt;/em&gt;. No other backpack is comfortable than the one that suits my body posture. Just because Thor can haul a 90 ltr pack, doesn't mean that Tyrion Lannister should do the same. Pack should rest on my hips than on my waist or back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that if I am hauling a heavy pack which is way bigger than what my posture permits, there is no way I let the bag fabric brush against my bare skin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Getting rid of a boil:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something from Medical Kit: If you are an ointment guy then Ichthammol Ointment, else if you are a Powder guy, Neosporin powder (I didn't like the Neosporin Gel. And, doesn't mean I am a Powder guy).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Onion&lt;/em&gt; way: Onion has antiseptic properties. Place a thick slice of onion directly on the boil and wrap the onion with a cloth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Marshmallow leaf: Place a Marshmallow leaf directly on the boil and wrap the it with a cloth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Milky&lt;/em&gt; way: Mix warm milk and any flour with pinch of salt (The more salty it is, the more stronger it gets, beware of how much you can take), flour will make it thick and easy to apply.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Castor Oil: It is good Antiseptic. Drops of Castor Oil on a cotton ball makes a good bandage. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turmeric and Ginger: Apply directly on the boil a paste of Turmeric added with fresh ginger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T16:03:09.760" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10436" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-29T16:22:13.913" Score="10" ViewCount="538" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently, my family hiked in to a back country camp in a national park. We had an assigned space within the campground but when we arrived our space had been occupied by a camper registered in another site. They had set up their camp and were out hiking so we could not discuss the issue. Not wanting to hang out and wait with full packs, (they finally returned several hours later) we looked at other unoccupied sites and decided to take one of those. The site we chose had apparently not had anyone reserve it as no one approached us with their permit but there was another party who also had the same issue and ended up taking another empty site. I am wondering what the proper etiquette for this situation might be. I hate to push someone out of a site if another will work as well. We ended up with a far better site that we had reserved but had we reserved the better site I would be upset.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8474" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T21:13:43.603" Title="What is the proper etiquette for back country camps with assigned spaces when people take a different site?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10429" CreationDate="2015-12-29T16:34:43.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Good Ice&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sounds obvious, but that's the answer, you need to learn how to identify good solid ice for all your screw placements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best ice is the thickest ice you can find, so you can place your longest screws; clear and blue will be the most solid, while the worst ice is cloudy or brown, full of bubbles (aerated) and 'crunches' when you poke it, or has water flowing through or under it. You can test ice by &lt;em&gt;gently&lt;/em&gt; tapping it and listening to the sound, but don't hit it hard enough to weaken it. The temperature plays a huge part in the quality of ice as well; -10°C (±5°C) is the best temperature for ice climbing, warmer temperatures mean softer ice, and colder temperatures mean harder, more brittle ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What features should you look for? Thick slabs of solid ice stuck to rock. Don't place ice screws on curtains or pillars, this can be to your detriment, if you're climbing some hanging ice that happens to cleave from the wall while you're still on it, then being bolted to that falling ice could kill you, It's best to wait until you climb up to where the ice is secured to the rock above to place your first screw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://yatesgear.com/climbing/ice/index.htm#9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;screamer&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.e-climb.com/en/12-schock-absorbers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reusable shock absorber&lt;/a&gt; for your first screw, as well as over any over-hangs, and angle your screws about 10° &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; into the ice, tests have shown that screws have better holding power when angled up a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doesn't matter how good the ice is, you &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; want to take a fall while ice climbing, depending on who you ask, there's no such thing as &lt;em&gt;good ice&lt;/em&gt; just varying degrees of &lt;em&gt;bad ice&lt;/em&gt;. Rule number one when ice climbing: &lt;strong&gt;DON'T FALL&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T16:34:43.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10431" CreationDate="2015-12-29T18:30:03.747" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Shem pointed out, wear the pack where it was designed to ride on you. Making sure the pack is tightened snug so it's not rubbing is just as important. Loose straps cause added motion which cause friction and irritation/blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T18:30:03.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10436" CreationDate="2015-12-29T18:33:02.410" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you did was probably the most peaceful course of action, but ultimately, the best people to direct this question to would be the people who issue the permits, the proper etiquette will likely differ from place to place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, there really isn't a pleasant global solution to this. By all rights you could have moved their stuff to the side and set up your camp in the spot, but people get touchy when you mess with their things, and you could be setting yourself up for a confrontation by doing so. What you chose to do was probably wisest in order to avoid an awkward or heated encounter. Even waiting around until they showed up and explaining to them, &quot;Hey, we reserved this spot, here's our permit saying so.&quot; could have created an unpleasant atmosphere, despite how pleasant both parties may have reacted, I imagine their first response would have been along the lines, &quot;Is it really that big of a deal? Can't you just pick another spot? There are plenty around...&quot; The &lt;em&gt;best&lt;/em&gt; thing to do, would have been to notify the campground custodian, if there was one available, which is not very often at backcountry campgrounds. Otherwise, use your own discretion, perhaps they are simply unaware that the sites are assigned, I think every backcountry campground I've ever been to have all been first come first served, even with a permit, most of the time the permits are just so they can keep a count of how many sites are being used, so they don't over crowd the area, they're also used in the event of an emergency (forest fire), so they can know how many people they may potentially need to evacuate, or search for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="3673" LastEditDate="2015-12-29T21:13:43.603" LastActivityDate="2015-12-29T21:13:43.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10440" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10443" CreationDate="2015-12-29T21:11:16.887" Score="8" ViewCount="4633" Body="&lt;p&gt;Title says it all really. I am looking to buy a diving torch as I am taking up diving next year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What am I looking for? They seem to range from 100lm to 2500lm. Realistically &lt;strong&gt;how many lumens are actually needed to effectively see in murky water?&lt;/strong&gt; (I live in the UK so the water will be equivalent to soup.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an additional, &lt;strong&gt;what is a required battery life for a diving torch?&lt;/strong&gt; Some only last 30 minutes which, to me, seems too low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T14:26:52.867" Title="How many lumens for a diving torch?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10441" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-30T04:02:59.307" Score="1" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a book that teaches serious mountain skills like &lt;strong&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/strong&gt; minus the snow but all that I could find in the internet so far are in the context of North America and/or is all about backpacking/thru hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6261" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T15:00:12.603" Title="Books for the outdoors" Tags="&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2016-01-04T16:54:11.013" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10429" CreationDate="2015-12-30T07:42:16.053" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Addition to ShemSeger's answer, from way back in my mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A concave spot in the ice is stronger than a convex spot, given equal ice quality.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ice should be deeper than the screw is long, so the screw doesn't push the ice away from the rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2015-12-30T07:42:16.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10440" CreationDate="2015-12-30T10:03:58.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not an easy question to answer. More lumens means better light, normally also further range. But if you dive in areas with lots of suspended particles in the water you will get a lot of back scatter which in effect impacts on visibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then the next question is do you need it for night dives or just to help see more colours on deeper dives where your colours have become dull and especially red has disappeared?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best option for a dive light is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Batteries lasts at least 25% - 50% longer than your average dive time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It uses standard batteries (AA, C or D) and rechargeable versions of standard batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It uses LED lights (less power usage for more lumen and light tends to be white rather than yellow)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjustable Strength - some dive lights have 2 or 3 settings so you can increase/decrease power as you need it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Narrow beam, better to focus on what you are looking at&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say you would be good with about 200 - 500 lumens. Also you will go for a very strong light as primary and then a smaller light for backup in case of major issues on a night dive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2015-12-31T08:52:41.183" LastActivityDate="2015-12-31T08:52:41.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9804" CreationDate="2015-12-30T11:14:06.903" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Garmin Basecamp is a free application that allows people to share tracks for various activities. I have found a ton of trails this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventures.garmin.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://adventures.garmin.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6054" LastActivityDate="2015-12-30T11:14:06.903" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2015-12-30T18:07:31.487" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been climbing on a yosemite bowline for a long time, and never had any problems. I don't see it as any harder to check than a figure 8 once you are used to it. It's easy to tie, secure, faster than the figure 8, requires less rope, and never gets difficult to untie after falls. It's a great knot, and there seems to be a lot of superstitious aversion to it out there. I have been accosted by teenage gym workers on a couple of occasions who have almost no climbing experience about how &quot;dangerous&quot; the bowline is to climb on. At best it's nonsense, at worst it's insulting. Nothing wrong with the figure 8, but the yosemite bowline is a fine knot for climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8477" LastActivityDate="2015-12-30T18:07:31.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10448" CreationDate="2015-12-31T18:14:31.607" Score="6" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often when I go camping, insects like flies fly into my glass. Are there any good ways to stop this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, recently someone told me that I could put a pencil on the glass to stop insects. Does it really work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8478" LastActivityDate="2015-12-31T18:19:04.003" Title="Stop insects from flying into my cooldrink?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10447" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2015-12-31T18:17:51.277" Score="6" ViewCount="711" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the performance and behavior differences between a full keel and a fin keel on a sailboat, and when would I want to choose one over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T23:52:53.187" Title="Difference between full keel and fin keel?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10446" CreationDate="2015-12-31T18:19:04.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never heard of the pencil trick and I'd be wary. But using a cup with a lid is probably the most obvious choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2015-12-31T18:19:04.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10447" CreationDate="2015-12-31T22:07:13.127" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A full keel is very stable and gives you better tracking through seas - you don't need to adjust your helm much as you crest waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fin keel loses some of this stability, but you gain manoeuvrability - the shorter keel lets you turn much more sharply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2015-12-31T22:07:13.127" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10450" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-01T00:01:13.677" Score="11" ViewCount="1786" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard of aspects of sails and keels, and it seems that taller skinnier sails and keels have this &lt;em&gt;higher aspect ratio&lt;/em&gt;. What is it and what does it do for your sailing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T18:53:21.737" Title="What is the aspect ratio of a keel and how does it affect your how your boat sails?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10451" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10457" CreationDate="2016-01-01T20:54:12.100" Score="7" ViewCount="575" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walk on Del Monte beach in Monterey, California quite often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see LOTS of Sandpipers there; and always with them are Plovers (which remind me of little frenetic Killdeer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sandpipers dig into the sand when the tide rolls back, seeking, I am told, sandfleas and perhaps tiny crustaceans. The Plovers are there &quot;picking up the slack&quot; or &quot;eating the crumbs that fall from the tables&quot; of the Sandpipers, it would seem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I right - are they simply after the same sort of food? If so, why do the Sandpipers (larger and more numerous) tolerate the Plovers? Or is there some sort of symbiotic interchange occurring here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T00:20:37.893" Title="Why do Sandpipers and Plovers &quot;hang out&quot; together?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10452" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10459" CreationDate="2016-01-01T22:48:56.293" Score="18" ViewCount="2044" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother and I were out backcountry sled-skiing yesterday, and my brother froze his feet in his new ski-boots. We were sitting at just above 2000m, my brother had his boots off and was trying to warm them up with hot packs, sticking them inside his mitts, and even resorting to putting his foot right on the can of his sled while it was running. After failing to get his feet to warm up, we tried going for a run up the mountain with our alpine touring skis on to get his circulation going, but didn't get far before deciding it would probably be wise to get back to civilization before things got worse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;View from Grizzly basin near Elkford, British Columbia.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SZ3Dn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SZ3Dn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we got indoors and warmed his feet back up, they were white, hard, and swollen; some research determined he had &lt;strong&gt;second stage frostbite&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the different stages of frostbite, and what is the best way to treat each stage when you're on top of a mountain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:49:15.480" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:49:15.480" Title="What are the different stages of frostbite?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;frostbite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10453" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-01-02T05:50:27.863" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-01-02T05:50:27.863" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T05:50:27.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10454" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-01-02T05:50:27.863" Score="0" Body="Questions about scaling ice with crampons and ice tools: Technique, material involved, ice characteristics and whatever else one needs to know to climb ice." OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-02T21:16:00.973" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T21:16:00.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2016-01-02T06:04:41.247" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent every night in my tent with temperatures between -15 °C to -35 °C. However, I only have a sleeping bag for +3 °C. This is how I keep myself warm anyway: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have a crappy foamy which I put inside my bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I put a huge pile of pine branches and ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... a blanket on top of that underneath me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have 2 1-quart paint cans which I fill with tea light candles &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I wear 2 pairs of socks, shoes, long john's shorts, t-shirt, sweater, regular coat, a cotton vest, a downfill coat, 2 tooks and 1 pair of gloves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8481" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T09:26:00.027" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T09:26:00.027" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10452" CreationDate="2016-01-02T12:28:35.000" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically people look at the frostbites in 4 principle stages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Degree Frostbite - Frostnip:&lt;/strong&gt; Fingers/toes/nose feel very cold, prolonged exposure would numb them. This isn't deep in your body, it's just the skin. Medically, its just the Stratum Corneum and Stratum Lucidum being affected and not the whole Epidermis. Rubbing hands, fingers, rapid movement of fingers and toes makes the person feel better since the blood flow is triggered. This stage of Frostbite is quite easy to treat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second Degree Frostbite:&lt;/strong&gt; Beyond the Frostnip, if the exposure to freezing is continued the skin may completely freeze and get hard since this degree may affect the epidermis and part of the dermis. Deeper tissues are not affected but Stratum Granulosum is. Hence the binding between top layer of skin (Stratum Corneum) and the Stratum Spinosum is gone. Result is white color, blisters. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third and Fourth Degree Frostbite:&lt;/strong&gt; It gets worst when deeper tissues  begin to freeze. Nerve ends gets damaged, resulting in lack of sensation. And tissue may die resulting in a permanent loss of feeling and possible amputation to keep infection away. This is the stage when skin turns the well-known plumish-black color.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, There is also a thing called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/basics/definition/con-20022916&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raynaud's Phenomenon&lt;/a&gt; which has similar sort of symptoms as a Frostbite, but it's not the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T21:12:36.433" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T21:12:36.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10451" CreationDate="2016-01-02T15:27:52.557" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really just a hypothesis, but here in the UK we also get mixed wader flocks. A significant reason for large/mixed flocks to occur is predation. Watch out for what happens when a large flock of waders (almost by definition very exposed on the ground) spots a falcon. They scatter in every direction, not maintaining a straight line for any time at all. This makes it hard for the falcon to pick a target and strike. Add more birds (of any species) to the mix and it increases the confusion. It also increases the number of targets, reducing the chances of any individual bring picked off, and even the number of eyes to spot a predator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, any costs of competition must be taken into account, and if the sandpipers' and plovers' food sources overlap this will be real. But there's also a cost (energy, feeding time, not looking out for predators) to chasing other birds away. This must be weighed up against the potential loss of food, especially if the smaller species may be quite persistent due to a lack of anywhere else to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T15:27:52.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10458" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10460" CreationDate="2016-01-02T18:15:01.507" Score="5" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that little attention is paid to lower body backpacking clothing. What type of pants would be a appropriate for a multi day excursion with 6'' to 1' (15 to 30 cm) of snowfall and 10 to 32 °F (-12 to 0 °C) weather?  I understand the basic layering scheme applied to upper body apparel, does the same apply to the lower body?  Could I get away with a base layer and water resistant soft shell pants, or would a third waterproof layer be a must? Likewise, could I do a base layer with my summer rain pants, or will this option be too cold? Am I over thinking this? Should I just wear my ski pants?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8482" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:45:44.727" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:45:44.727" Title="Winter backpacking pants" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10452" CreationDate="2016-01-02T20:33:00.597" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;First I will describe the stages of frostbite focusing on how to detect them and what are the implications of each. Secondly I will address handling frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Classification&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stages of frostbite are divided into two classes: Damage to the skin (first and second stage) and damage including deeper tissue (nerves, muscles, tendons) (third and fourth stage).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Stage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The skins gets white-marbled and becomes increasingly numb. Used areas like feet often hurt before getting numb, while e.g. the face can get numb without initial pain.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;After complete (!) recovery there is no lasting damage apart from an increased susceptibility of the tissue to frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second Stage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the field this is very often indistinguishable from first stage frostbite. The skin is certainly white and numb, but blisters do not necessarily appear quickly. They often develop after rewarming the tissue. The liquid in the blisters is clear.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This can lead to permanently altered sensation in the affected tissue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third Stage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The liquid in the blisters contains blood and the surrounding tissue is reddened. Now deep tissue is involved and there will be permanent damage. Its extent can only be judged after days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fourth Stage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the stadium in which cell death and thus necrosis occurs. Tissue will be lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Frostbite First-Aid&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the field&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important is early detection of frostbite. Be vigilant for signs and most importantly, do not ignore them. As there is no or decreasing pain involved it is easy to just go on for the summit. When frostbite is detected, a judgment call has to be maid: In the current location and considering the way ahead, is it realistically possible to rewarm the affected area without danger hypothermia and can repeated frostbite be averted. Only if both is given you should try to rewarm in the field. Repeated frostbite will damage tissue for sure, &lt;em&gt;never rewarm unless repeated frostbite can be surely prohibited&lt;/em&gt;. The affected area can be considered successfully rewarmed if within 10 minutes the tissue is well perfused and the numbness has completely disappeared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If these conditions are not given or the attempt to rewarm failed you need to get to the closest shelter. Ideally the affected area should be immobilized, so if it is a foot the patient should not go on its own but be transported. Often this is not possible or much slower so that further frostbite or hypothermia would occur, so the patient goes on its own anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rewarming After Reaching Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never rub  the area in snow, this does more damage than help. Anyway the area has to be protected from mechanical injuries. To rewarm a water bath with a temperature of just slightly above body temperature (40degC) should be used. Ideally with some drops of iodine in it. This bath should not last longer than 30 minutes, otherwise the skin will be weakened and germs can enter. Give the patient enough to drink. While the pain during rewarming is a good sign (nerves still intact), it is very intense. Pain medication should be given, often strong ones are needed. While acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) should in general not be used as pain medication in outdoor activities, in this case its inhibition of platelets can increase blood flow and thus help diffusing the affected area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After rewarming the tissue the stage becomes clear. First stage frostbite will present without visible change in the area. It may still be second stage frostbite and blisters will develop later, so further observation is needed. All higher stages need to be treated similarly to wounds, as the primary concern is infection. So wrap it in sterile dressing. For second stage it depends on the progression whether a doctor should be seen. If pain raises, the area shows signs of infections or the blisters do not heal well, you should see a doctor. Higher stages have to be presented to a doctor at the earliest stage possible. In these cases gangrene can form (the tissue becomes black and completely numb) which will result in tissue loss, but nowadays is not amputated immediately unless there is infection of the surrounding tissue (the body separates the dead tissue by itself).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is taken from a standard for mountain and outdoor medicine by the swiss association for mountain medicine and the swiss alpine club:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A.G. Brunello, M. Walliser, U. Hefti, &lt;em&gt;Gebirgs- und Outdoormedizin&lt;/em&gt; (SAC Verlag, Bern, 2011), p.227.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T20:33:00.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10458" CreationDate="2016-01-02T23:27:31.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Layers are useful, but I've found upper body layering more critical (and easier to alter- you don't need to take your boots off). For me, the question is how much wind will there be, and how active are you? typically for back country cross-country skiing, I'll wear light base layer, loose fitting wind &amp;amp; water resistant hiking pants. Once in camp &amp;amp; out of the wind, I might remove the hiking pants &amp;amp; wear either fleece &quot;camp pants&quot; or wool trousers. When ice fishing in the back country after getting in, I may wear the base layer AND fleece pants under the above hiking pants- it's too bulky for active work, but fine in the wind and standing around. All the above combinations have worked well in Northern Minnesota in temps ranging from +20 to 0F with wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-21T20:24:59.243" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T20:24:59.243" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10451" CreationDate="2016-01-02T23:35:26.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;hanging out&quot; together happens because different species eat the same food, require the same nesting areas, migrate in the same flyways, etc. Many species compete/become territorial for nesting areas, but less so for food sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T23:35:26.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10447" CreationDate="2016-01-02T23:52:53.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keels on boats are designed to offset the push of the wind on the sails by transferring the lateral force into a forward motion. The boat can't go sideways because of the keel, so it goes forward. In addition, the wind will push the boat hull over- rotating it to leeward, and the keel will balance that force to keep the boat upright. Full keel boats &quot;track&quot; better- they sideslip less- you'll be able to steer in a straighter line and your autopilot will work less, but give up speed and ability to &quot;point&quot; high due to drag. Fin keel boats were designed to reduce drag, and while they are faster &amp;amp; point higher, the keels are deeper in the water, and less able to operate (and anchor) in shallow water.  Full keel boats tend to be slower, behave better in bad weather, are heavier. Fin keel boats tend to be faster, lighter, and more &quot;active&quot; in weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2016-01-02T23:52:53.187" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10458" CreationDate="2016-01-03T23:02:20.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally use a base layer (which also retains heat even when wet) with the same quick-dry pants that I use for my summer hiking. I treat these pants occasionally with a water-repellant spray and this has served me well for years. I find that anything thicker, like ski pants, are overkill - just to bulky and hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2016-01-03T23:02:20.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6898" CreationDate="2016-01-04T01:16:54.090" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest that this is because you climb in gyms more than you do outside.  Back when gyms were rare, when I went to the gym, it felt way harder for the grade than outside routes.  That was because I climbed outside way more than inside.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any new area seems harder because different types of rock, holds, conditions, styles, setting, etc require substantially different technique and fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8490" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T01:16:54.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10476" CreationDate="2016-01-04T05:10:00.307" Score="10" ViewCount="5725" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a big guy, but I can sit in a cold pool of still water for a long time if I stay still and control my breathing, my skin gets cold, but after you get past the cold shock I can sit there rather comfortably without any signs of my core temperature dropping (shivering, etc.). One of my favourite things to do is sit up to my neck in the cold spring pool (4°C) at Ainsworth Hot Springs for about a half hour at a time and watch the shocked expressions on peoples faces as they dip their toes in the water, or try to take a quick dip, then look at me in bewilderment as I sit there seemingly unfazed by the temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we were kids we used to tube down the Elk River in BC, which is fed by a glacier lake. I have one sibling who was quite a bit thicker than the rest, and while the rest of us tried our best to stay on top of our tubes and out of the cold water, they would just float in a life jacket with the current, without any signs of really getting cold aside from hands and feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been pondering this lately, wondering how much having a good layer of fat on you can help insulate against the cold. There are a plethora of animals in nature who rely on a thick layer of blubber for insulation; narwhals, beluga whales, walruses and many others for example who don't also have fur. Fat obviously won't protect you from frostbite, your skin can still freeze, but I wonder if it might help prevent advanced stages of frostbite (freezing down to the deep tissues like muscles, tendons and bone). Or how about hypothermia? Are obese people less likely to become hypothermic? One thing I was considering was in the case of severe exposure, where frostbite and freezing are a serious danger. Would a large person have better chances of survival if they were to submerge themselves in water? Liquid fresh water is typically always warmer than than zero in nature, if it was 20 or 30 degrees below zero, could a person with a thick adipose layer survive the cold and protect themselves against frostbite by sitting up to their neck in a pool of still water? Would their fatty layer help insulate their core like a layer of blubber? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T14:17:49.087" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T08:53:04.947" Title="How much does body fat actually insulate you against the cold?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2016-01-04T06:13:17.983" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The benefit to telemark sking is being able to go anywhere you want easy and skiing down sick lines. You can tele turn or alpine turn on tele's. You can fly off back country cliffs then hike back up and do it again. Plus all the gear is lighter. Then after you ski, whether it's the back country or the ski area, you can go après ski in your boots then drive home in them. I put my boots on at home in the morning ski sick lines all day then drive home or go out without changing anything. Why would anyone want their heel tied down in the mountains? Especially when you can ski it all with a free heel. Bumps steeps powder groomers it's all easy on tele's. Free the heel free the mind!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8492" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T06:13:17.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10469" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10478" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:03:59.403" Score="7" ViewCount="218" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately none of my friends seem to be very interested in trekking through Sweden. However, you can't just pick a random person and say: &quot;Let's go!&quot;, can you? I mean it's the only contact person for a week or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a website or something where people may get in touch? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T09:14:59.917" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T23:26:22.523" Title="How to find a trekking buddy" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10470" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:06:59.280" Score="9" ViewCount="610" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often wonder if it's even legal to practice &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour&quot;&gt;Parkour&lt;/a&gt; in the cities of the EU? The runner is kind of trespassing the plots, isn't he? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T21:24:14.903" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T21:24:14.903" Title="Legal situation for Parkour in the EU" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;parkour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10471" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:07:38.940" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T09:07:38.940" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T09:07:38.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10472" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:07:38.940" Score="0" Body="Parkour  is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation." OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T12:40:44.153" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T12:40:44.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10473" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10477" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:41:08.727" Score="7" ViewCount="1217" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a trip climbing in the Tatras this summer. I was planning on basing myself at Zakopane (seem's the be a good availability of accommodation, etc.). I mentioned this on a climbing forum I participate on and I was told:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are lot's of good climbing huts in the area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which got me thinking. Do I need to use a climbing hut (near the mountains) as a base to access these mountains? Is it feasible to get out of Zakopane to the base of a mountain, climb it and get back in a day or will I be asking too much? Or should we be looking to use the mountain hut's?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty fit and used to long days (12 hours, etc) though the highest peak I've climbed is about 3500 feet (1000m). I'm hoping to do a peak in the region of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rysy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rysy&lt;/a&gt; though I've not worked out my goals yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:31:49.360" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:31:49.360" Title="Is it feasible to use Zakopane as a base to climb the Tatra mountains?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;huts&gt;&lt;poland&gt;&lt;tatra-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10450" CreationDate="2016-01-04T09:59:44.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aspect ratio describes the ratio between sail/keel height divided by (average) width. So a high aspect ratio is tall and skinny and a low aspect ratio is short and fat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sails one of the main affects of aspect ratio is on drag. High aspect ratio tend to produce &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_on_sails#Aspect_ratio&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lower drag&lt;/a&gt; (i.e. more powerful) sails for the same area. Therefore, modern racing boats tend to have fairly square sail designs (higher aspect ratio) see picture. Another minor advantage of high aspect ratio sails is for inland sailing where wind is often obscured. In this case higher aspect ratios are more likely to get clean air than a shorter sail, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_A-class_rater&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thames A raters&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;On the other hand higher aspect ratio gives greater truning motion and so requires a bigger keel/is more likely to capsize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For keels the greater righting motion of high aspect ratios is one of the main advantages. Additionally, high aspect ratio keels are easier to turn although there will be some loss of sideways resistance from the decreased width.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UaZDv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UaZDv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T09:59:44.823" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2016-01-04T10:06:12.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering is one of them terms that means different things to different people. To me mountaineering is &lt;strong&gt;spending time ascending mountains&lt;/strong&gt;, simples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would argue that rock climbing is a &lt;strong&gt;skill&lt;/strong&gt; you may or may not use &lt;strong&gt;in the process of mountaineering&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example ascending the north face of the eiger (one of the most classic and famous lines in &lt;em&gt;mountaineering&lt;/em&gt;) requires lot's of rock climbing. So this to me proves that rock climbing is part of mountaineering as a general activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering is broader though and also includes activities such as skiing (see ski touring, etc), hiking, scrambling, via ferrata, etc. etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T10:06:12.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10467" CreationDate="2016-01-04T10:28:18.973" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In humans not a lot. There are significant differences between blubber and fat. Though blubber is mostly made of fat it has very different composition to human fat. An animal with blubber also uses it in very different ways to the way a human uses fat. Fat in a human is an energy source, not insulation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(blubber)... can comprise up to 50% of the body mass of some marine&#xA;  mammals during some points in their lives, and can range from 2 inches&#xA;  (5 cm) thick in dolphins and smaller whales, to more than 12 inches&#xA;  (30 cm) thick in some bigger whales, such as right and bowhead whales.&#xA;  However, this is not indicative of larger whales' ability to retain&#xA;  heat better, as the thickness of a whale's blubber does not&#xA;  significantly affect heat loss. &lt;strong&gt;More indicative of a whale's ability&#xA;  to retain heat is the water and lipid concentration in blubber&lt;/strong&gt;, as&#xA;  water reduces heat-retaining capacities, and lipid increases them.[2]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blubber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blubber is also rich in blood vessels (which the fat of a human isn't), these blood vessels adapt to temperature, this allows the animal(s) that have it to react to changes in temperature. So a whale, for example, can &quot;re-route&quot; blood to underneath the blubber when cold. In humans the blood is outside of the fat layer (on the skin). A constant supply of blood is required prevent frost bite (the skin dying).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Marine mammals have other adaptations too, the have a relatively low surface area to mass (when compared to say a human). So they can retain their heat more efficiently in their large bodies. Humans have a large surface area to body mass. We're adapted to life in much warmer climates, having evolved originally in Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's really cold they also migrate into warmer waters, nursing mother wales do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bigger factor in influencing humans in extreme cold is how their body reacts when it drops below the ideal 37.5C temperature. Below this temperature human organs begin to shut down, vital ones like the brain, heart, liver, etc. When this happens it's called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hypothermia/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hypothermia&lt;/a&gt;. A body temperature between 32C and 35C is mild hyperthermia. Below this is life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An interesting case study is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE%C3%B3rsson&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guðlaugur Friðþórsson&lt;/a&gt; (an Icelandic fisherman involved in a ship wreck in the arctic ocean). He survived 6 hours in 5C water. When he got to land his core body temperature was 34C yet he showed limited signs of hypothermia. No one really understands how this process works as it's very rare but it appears some people have an ability to protect their vital organs even when their core body temperature drops below what would kill 99% of humans. Though overweight it was decided that this had a limited impact on his survival and it was his natural (unexplained) adaptations that saved him. They made a film about it &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_(2012_film)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Deep/Djúpið&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T08:53:04.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T08:53:04.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10473" CreationDate="2016-01-04T11:10:42.063" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went to this area about 6 years ago. We started in Zakopane and did a couple of loops staying at the mountain huts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While its probably possible to stay in Zakopane I think it would restrict you a lot in what you can do. For example Rysy itself is about 20km from Zakopane would be a big round trip in a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some buses which I seem to remember went to better starting points to get into the mountains but if you rely on buses you will be restricted on return time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would stay at the huts, they were quite good. From what I remember they were similar in quality to places I've stayed in Italy/France but significantly cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;js=y&amp;amp;prev=_t&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schroniskomorskieoko.pl%2F&amp;amp;edit-text=&amp;amp;act=url&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; the website for the hut at the base of Rysy on google translate. It was very large and commercial and not my favorite hut (but has a website I could easily find). The accommodation is about 50 zl per night (~£10).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T11:10:42.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10469" CreationDate="2016-01-04T13:28:31.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try starting a discussion on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://couchsurfing.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;couchsurfing page&lt;/a&gt; of the given Swedish region saying that you would like to do this or that type of trekking, for given period and difficulty, preferably include what gear would be needed; this way locals and nearby travelers may contact and join you, but beware: there is no warranty that the potential trekking partners would match your experience or expectations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, check out the local scout troops: if they have the rover/adult age category, you would most probably find people interested in trekking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2016-01-06T07:35:15.480" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T07:35:15.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10473" CreationDate="2016-01-04T14:01:01.033" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may also want to consider the Slovak side of the Tatra Mountains.  Liptovský Mikuláš is a good base to do hiking in all three parts of the resort (Western, High, and Low Tatras), which can be combined with swimming in the termal waters (Bešeňová, Tatralandia).  Several smaller peaks with excellent views are located around (Poludnica, 1548; Siná, 1560; Veľký Choč, 1610; Baníkov, 2178; Baranec, 2185) to start with, so that you could continue either with Kriváň (2494), or &quot;your&quot; Rysy (2503).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8495" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-04T14:37:17.927" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T14:37:17.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10441" CreationDate="2016-01-04T15:00:12.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from the UK and our Mountain Leader Training association has a series of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountain-training.org/publications&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;5 books&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hillwalking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rock Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winter Skills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation in the Mountains&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;International Mountain Trekking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I own #1 and #4 and can recommend them (you can leave out #3). They are quite a bit geared towards the UK (e.g. detailed discussion of our OS maps) but the principles in them should be applicable anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other ones maybe worth a look are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/index.cfm/menu/50/cid/74/catalogue/techniques&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cicerone&lt;/a&gt; series.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T15:00:12.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10481" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12978" CreationDate="2016-01-04T17:16:30.860" Score="6" ViewCount="1317" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best / easiest method for removing multiple layers of ablative bottom paint from a sailboat hull?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have acquired a sailboat which has 3-5 layers of different bottom paints. I want to get back down to the base layer and put a fresh coat of paint on the hull. I have used a pressure washer to knock off loose chips, used an angle grinder for some, but it's really too labor intense and it cuts into the original gelcoat (which isn't too big of a deal), and it creates more dust then I really want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a tool or stripper that makes removing this material faster?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hull is fiber glass, and based on the age of the hull, I'm forced to assume it is setup with polyester resin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-01-05T19:29:52.077" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T13:53:26.000" Title="What's the best way to remove layers of bottom paint from a sailboat hull?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10481" CreationDate="2016-01-04T19:31:01.993" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a Youtube link for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYbEhytnceM&quot;&gt;&quot;Fast bottom Paint Removal using Walnut Blasting&quot;.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You could also try the following steps:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to take off many paint layers, and what you ultimately decide on will depend on your budget, the boatyard’s rules and your boat’s current condition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method 1:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sanding the boat’s bottom is the dreaded chore that most boat owners&#xA;  will face at some point. This is definitely a case in which having the&#xA;  right tools will really make your job easier. Using a &lt;strong&gt;vacuum&#xA;  sander&lt;/strong&gt; helps keep most of the dust out of the air, producing a much&#xA;  cleaner work environment. Many boatyards also require them. Prices for&#xA;  a random orbital sander with a vacuum port range from about $60 for a&#xA;  Ridgid brand to about $450 for a top-of-the-line Festool. You’ll also&#xA;  need to buy a Shop-Vac-style vacuum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You’ll want to sand down the bottom with 60- or 80-grit paper until&#xA;  the excess paint is removed and the bottom isn’t overly textured. Be&#xA;  careful not to damage the gelcoat. Most boatyards in the United States&#xA;  have strict rules about how bottom jobs are done and may require a&#xA;  ground cover or a tent around the boat from the waterline down to&#xA;  capture the dust and debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method 2:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A quicker way to remove many layers of paint is through&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;high-pressure blasting with either soda, sand, or a special glass material&lt;/strong&gt; shot at the hull. It’s effective and faster than sanding,&#xA;  but it’s also not typically a do-it-yourself project. If having your&#xA;  hull blasted is something that you’re considering, do your homework&#xA;  and find a reputable blaster. Also check to see if your boatyard&#xA;  allows it. Expect to pay about $35 to $45 per foot for professional&#xA;  blasting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Soda blasting is what many boat owners choose for bottom-coating&#xA;  removal on fiberglass boats because it’s less abrasive than other&#xA;  materials, though if you have a steel or aluminum hull, you can&#xA;  probably go with sand blasting. If the project is done by a skilled&#xA;  blaster, the soda will take off coatings down to the gelcoat or&#xA;  barrier coat—if it’s in good condition—without damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After soda blasting, the surface is typically too smooth for bottom&#xA;  paint and must then be sanded with 60- or 80-grit sandpaper. Before&#xA;  covering with new antifouling paint, wash the bottom with water and&#xA;  let it thoroughly dry. According to Mike Morgan from Chesapeake&#xA;  Blasting Service, “Most boats can be blasted unless they have serious&#xA;  issues with the gelcoat or fiberglass. If this is the case, they&#xA;  should be peeled and a whole new bottom applied.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method 3:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;chemical paint stripper&lt;/strong&gt; is another way to remove paint buildup&#xA;  and is the method of choice for some boatyards since there’s no dust&#xA;  or noise and the residue can easily be contained. Paint stripper is&#xA;  relatively easy to use—you brush it on with a paintbrush, wait the&#xA;  recommended time, then remove the resulting goo with a scraper—but it&#xA;  can be a time-consuming process, not to mention a messy one. A ground&#xA;  cover is essential, and you’ll need to discuss the debris disposal&#xA;  with your boatyard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When choosing a chemical paint stripper, be sure to check that it can&#xA;  be used on your particular hull material, and expect to use 5 to 6&#xA;  gallons for a 45-foot sailboat. Paint strippers work best when not&#xA;  used under direct sunlight, as the chemicals need to stay moist to&#xA;  work. After the old antifouling paint is removed, you’ll still need to&#xA;  sand the bottom with 60- or 80-grit sandpaper to rough up the bottom&#xA;  for paint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/how-strip-your-bottom-paint&quot;&gt;(Source of above points)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3944" LastEditorDisplayName="user3944" LastEditDate="2016-01-05T00:31:53.117" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T00:31:53.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10458" CreationDate="2016-01-04T21:58:08.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does apply, but as others have pointed out, changing pants layers isn't as easy as changing out top layers unless you have full-zip, or at least 3/4 zip pants. There are also boot zip pants, which zip up to your calf, but I'm not a huge fan of pulling my dirty or wet boots though my nice warm fleece pants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So instead of removing pants mid layers, I typically choose my pants layers to suit the temperature and activity of the day. For alpine touring at -12°C (10°F) I would dress accordingly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Base layer:&lt;/strong&gt; Polyester or Marino Wool long johns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mid layer:&lt;/strong&gt; Fleece pants&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outer layers:&lt;/strong&gt; Schoeller soft shell pants and full-zip Gore-tex Paclite shells. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only layer I change is the Gore-Tex shells; the Polyester pants are very breathable, and Schoeller is just magic, I can literally watch my perspiration freezing on top of the fabric after it breathes through. When I'm going up hill, I don't wear the Gore-Tex pants, but as soon as I get to the top, or if I get to a really windy spot, then I'll zip them on and I don't even have to take my skis off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At warmer temperatures closer to zero, or during activities where I'm working a lot–like nordic skiing–I won't always wear the fleece pants, as my long johns generally keep me warm enough under the Schoeller pants. If I'm concerned about cold toes, then I'll always dress warmer on the bottom, like when I'm snowshoeing in my light hikers and have my toes strapped down, the extra warmth on my legs means more warm blood pumping through my feet, which amounts to cozy toes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-04T21:58:08.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10484" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10492" CreationDate="2016-01-05T08:04:13.703" Score="10" ViewCount="3344" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I've read many of the posts that are related to this and believe it to be a be a snowflake of a question on the site.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have fallen into icy water and the temperature is very challenging, what are the immediate steps to take to assist the victim?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1221/falling-into-an-ice-cold-body-of-water&quot;&gt;this post&lt;/a&gt; and it's more driven by how to rescue someone who has fallen in icy waters.  The obvious statements are made.  Get the person warm, etc.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4314/recovering-from-hypothermia&quot;&gt;This post&lt;/a&gt; seems to address the situation once the victim/patient is hypothermic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is more driven by prevention.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general framework is get the wet off, get them warm...but how?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A fire in short order seems like a good idea.  If you have a group, a person can be assigned the task.  RIGHT NOW.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As in other posts, discarding wet clothes immediately doesn't seem to be a bad idea at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I have been in the situation of assisting I stripped the person, pulled my sleeping bag, opened my jacket, pulled up my clothes and went skin on skin with the victim and had someone assist with getting us both into a sleeping bag ASAP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been chided for this, not for the skin on skin, just the whole process.  Honestly, I had never considered an action plan before the moment it happened and I simply reacted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to have a better action plan, especially if it were colder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there something light that can be added to the plethora of gear we all might be lugging around out there?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better methodology than the example provided?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the most immediate/primary concern?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told to focus on torso and head.  Get ANYTHING on the head to retain heat.  A baseball cap?  Use dirt, if available, to rub into hair and quickly dry the head?  Strip the victim naked and focus on torso due to capillaries constricting to force blood in the torso the torso should be the focus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any medical references and/or response frameworks are what I'm really looking for.  The victim is wet, it's very cold.  Now what?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, what if there's a base camp, everyone goes on a day hike with limited gear in smaller hydro packs and the incident occurs.  That would be an interesting problem to solve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apologies in advance for the rant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TIA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T08:45:52.477" Title="Hypothermia Prevention - Post Ice Water Fall" Tags="&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10423" CreationDate="2016-01-05T08:19:23.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a couple of different Fjällräven items (trousers, jacket, hat, duffel) and a number of my friends do as well. While my personal experience with the Greenland wax is limited, it is my understanding, that you can basically personalize your items to your specific need using more or less wax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More wax means more water repellent, stiffer material (less wear &amp;amp; tear).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Less wax means more breathability, and lighter &amp;amp; more flexible fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Fjällräven you can also easily wash out any applied wax by washing your G-1000 piece at 40°C. This means you could basically decide before every use which properties you want from your G-1000 fabric, and then apply wax accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples of what I did:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fjällräven hat: applied a lot of wax to make it somewhat waterproof and usable in the rain. The hat got a bit stiffer also, which was a good thing to prevent the brim from flopping about.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fjällräven winter coat: I did not apply any wax, as I mostly wear this coat when it's too cold for rain and snow can just be brushed off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-02-11T06:36:50.287" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T06:36:50.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10484" CreationDate="2016-01-05T12:11:13.477" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia is likely the least of your problems after an involuntary dip into icy water. Drowning and cardiac arrest are the killers here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read these, and maybe watch the videos. It's all good stuff, and difficult to summarise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com/4-phases-of-cold-water-immersion&quot;&gt;http://beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com/4-phases-of-cold-water-immersion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com/en/rescue-a-treatment&quot;&gt;http://beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com/en/rescue-a-treatment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, adults need over 30 mins in icy water before you get even mildly hypothermic. From beyondcoldwaterbootcamp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While it varies with water temperature and body mass, &lt;strong&gt;it can take 30&#xA;  minutes or more&lt;/strong&gt; for most adults to become even mildly hypothermic in&#xA;  ice water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportsscientists.com/2008/01/exercise-in-the-cold-part-ii/&quot;&gt;http://sportsscientists.com/2008/01/exercise-in-the-cold-part-ii/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Perhaps the first, and maybe the most surprising fact about cold water&#xA;  physiology, is that &lt;strong&gt;your body has too much heat to become hypothermic&#xA;  within about 30 minutes&lt;/strong&gt;, no matter how cold the water is!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... and from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shipwrite.bc.ca/Chilling_truth.htm&quot;&gt;@imsodin's link&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even in ice water &lt;strong&gt;hypothermia does not set in until after 20 to 30&#xA;  minutes&lt;/strong&gt;, depending on the amount and type of clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're out of the water and wet, you will lose heat by evaporation (as well conduction and convection), so dry clothing and dry body are important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2016-01-05T19:55:37.827" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T19:55:37.827" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10487" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10489" CreationDate="2016-01-05T14:57:19.197" Score="12" ViewCount="718" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my first winter in a really cold place. By cold I mean temperatures varying from -10 to -30 Celcius (yes, all temperatures I mention in this post are in metric). I come from a place which never usually goes below zero, so this is a significantly new and challenging experience for me. I have read and heard about getting accustomed to the cold rather than protecting from it, which has been argued as a better choice to beat the cold. That is the reason I normally decide to walk about a mile to my workplace even though the temperature is -13. However, there are a few things that I would like to ask / reconfirm / seek suggestion to have a better winter lifestyle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mittens are argued as more heat preserving than gloves. I felt my fingers were very cold today while walking, and I was wearing gloves - I had to keep my hand out of my pocket since I was carrying a thing. I reached my destination quickly and then heated the fingers, but it will not be possible to walk that way longer. Any suggestions? Should I look for something specific while getting a new pair of gloves / mittens?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The weather here is very dry. So dry that even after using a thick moisturizer my skin looks chapped often. I have a humidifier at home, and I switch it on during sleep, but still the dryness reappears. It's more prominent while walking in the cold. Any remedies?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reducing the heating, taking a cold(er) shower, eating more carbs / calories are certain things that has been suggested, and I'll be trying out soon. Are they really effective methods to beat the cold?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally, a little funny and amusing thing for me, and don't laugh - I see people on the street wearing much less winterwear and no cover for the head and seem to be absolutely fine even at temperatures 10 deg below zero and windy! How do they manage to do that?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt; after a week (and a couple of medium to heavy snow showers) of following and improvising over the ideas suggested:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Putting my thinner woollen gloves within a larger, waterproof glove really kept my hand warm. Now I completely realize the layering idea :-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I tried all sorts of moisturizers and finally coconut oil as well. Coconut oil is good for half the day, since near the end of the day my skin becomes dry again. Then I improvised on it using a more viscous oil - and this is mustard oil - just before the shower applying on the skin and then take the shower - it was amazing till the end of the day. You can try and let me know how it went - don't put it too much since it may stick to clothes, and not after shower, you may put a light film of moisturizer if needed afterwards. It works!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Colder shower and trying to adjust to the cold helped me a lot. Now I feel much more comfortable walking in the -20 C (-4 F) than I was a week back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8500" LastEditorUserId="8500" LastEditDate="2016-01-13T14:52:25.303" LastActivityDate="2017-05-26T00:53:47.770" Title="Suggestions for a winter lifestyle" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-01-05T15:13:49.223" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't answer the rest, but for here's my 2c worth for gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layering : As with other clothes, layering gloves is worth doing. I'd try fairly thin liner gloves inside either mitts or a larger glove than you'd normally wear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This gives an extra layer of insulation, but also means you can just take the outer layer off when you need more dexterity than mitts allow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mitts have an advantage that there's less 'surface area' around each finger so they can stay warmer. Also they allow warmer parts of the hand (palms) to conduct heat to colder parts (fingers) if you make a fist inside the them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T15:13:49.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-01-05T17:22:54.050" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also can't offer answers to all your problems but on a couple of points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Coconut oil is very good at restoring moisture to your skin. It's quite 'light' in that it won't leave a greasy film on your skin and given how little you need to use it's very cheap. I've also been told that a thin layer of Vaseline on your skin will help prevent it from getting so ravaged by the cold but haven't tried this myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) I've seen people out in -10 wearing shorts. It's difficult to know how far that person is travelling, how recently they left their home / car, and how much they regret their choices at that moment. I wouldn't worry too much about other people's approaches until you get your own figured out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to northern British Columbia from a warmer climate and am struggling to solve the same problems :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T17:22:54.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-01-05T17:41:29.930" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related (4) there you see that (3) is working. There are definitively ways to get used to a colder environment. Of course it's also a matter of faculty/predisposition but still you can train it e.g. with increasing your willpower. Check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wim Hof&lt;/a&gt; who is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Cgaa8U4eY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;expert in surviving cold situations&lt;/a&gt;. He can stay in ice water for nearly 2 hours straight. Everybody can improve the ability to withstand the cold better. You just have to leave your comfort zone more often in regular life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your question (1) and your problems in cold environments in general there has already been written a lot here. Check out e.g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7144/how-to-prevent-fingers-from-freezing/7146#7146&quot;&gt;How to prevent fingers from freezing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7116/are-mittens-warmer-than-gloves/7121#7121&quot;&gt;Are mittens warmer than gloves&lt;/a&gt; =&gt; You can use e.g. thin wool liners, windresistant finger gloves and mittens over that. There are even thin and very robust wind-stopper mittens to be used as an outer shell. It's comparable to a plastic bag ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Search for the proper clothing, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7588/numbers-on-down-jackets&quot;&gt;down&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5717/advantages-of-wool-felt-jackets/5719#5719&quot;&gt;merino wool&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;always use the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4999/can-primaloft-one-be-layered&quot;&gt;layering principle&lt;/a&gt;, not only for jackets and gloves!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;eat and drink a lot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stay active&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;always avoid to get affected by wind-chill!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T17:41:29.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10491" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-05T21:08:22.380" Score="10" ViewCount="1652" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question was prompted by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10484/hypothermia-prevention-post-ice-water-fall&quot;&gt;PaulD's question about hypothermia prevention after a falling into icy water&lt;/a&gt;. A subsequent answer by Roddy stated that the immediate danger of cold water immersion is not hypothermia, as it takes quite long to lower the central body temperature. This statement caused some controversy on how fast this really happens and I feel like it is not what was asked by the OP. So here it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long does it take after immersion into cold water to develop hypothermia?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in different water temperatures and without or with some kind of heat loss protection (relevant for diving/sailing?), just state for what conditions your information hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is generally considered that the first stage of &lt;strong&gt;hypothermia begins below 35degC core temperature&lt;/strong&gt;. Please reference studies, first hand experience or give any other sort of explanation, why your source is viable. I found many articles via google that claimed different things, mostly not well based (at least not declared).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:54:50.860" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:54:50.860" Title="How fast do you lose heat in cold water immersion?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10484" CreationDate="2016-01-05T21:57:12.433" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I try to address the situation you are asking about, even though I think you already did a good job so this may not be overly helpful/new. Additionally in one of your referenced answers that is actually about rescuing someone out of the water, there is already a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1225/3602&quot;&gt;great answer by D.Lambert on what to do after rescuing&lt;/a&gt;, so my answer will overlap greatly (I still do not think the question is a duplicate, more like this answers belonged here). As you are asking for references, I take this information from my favorite outdoor medical guide by the Swiss association for mountain medicine and the Swiss Alpine Club. So the situation as I understand it is, that we have a wet patient which was immersed shortly in icy water. I assume we now are out of danger of falling into water again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This person will most likely not yet suffering from hypothermia or if so from first stage hypothermia, meaning he will shiver and be apart from psychological shock be of clear consciousness.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are very exposed to wind/rain/snow and have the possibility of getting to a somewhat shelter spot in the immediate vicinity - get there immediately. Is such a place further away try to provide some protection by other people, backpacks, ... while stripping the patient and getting him into dry clothes. Ideally these are spare clothes (in cold weather you should have at least some anyway) and what other can spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No there are two scenarios: The patient might feel up to moving by himself. In this stage this is optimal, as a lot of heat can be produced by activity. Just start easy and immediately abort if the patient feels dizzy. Otherwise you try to isolate the patient as good as possible. If you have some kind of heating device (like those little chemical bags) put them onto the first layer on the torso, never directly onto the skin. If you have a sleeping bag, get the person in it, then use rescue blankets, bivy bags, etc. as an outer protection. Of course if two people fit into the sleeping bag, all the better, that's just another heating device inside. However as mentioned in the comments, this may be of limited help. It is likely the person can do more good on the outside (transport, shelter, fire, ...) than he helps inside the bag (thanks Roddy). Unless psychological issues are included, then the cuddling can be highly effective :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A person in this stage should be given hot liquids to drink, preferably sugary, and motivated to move, even in the sleeping bag. After these initial steps you want to get to a sheltered area. Without such a place you need to improvise: Create some shelter against wind (e.g. snow cave, beside a rock, under tree using branches) and start a fire. This is a whole topic on its own. Thus further cooling should be preventable and if there are not further injuries the patient should recover and immediate evacuation to a hospital is not necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However if you cannot accurately protect the patient it can get life threatening fast. Its out of scope, but just as a warning: When the patient consciousness gets clouded and/or stops shivering this may already be stage two hypothermia. You cannot do much more than prevent further heat loss, but now the patient should not be actively moved and not given anything to drink, unless he is on clear conscious (danger of aspiration). In this case organize evacuation asap and be on alert to perform CPR and remember: A patient with hypothermia is never dead unless he is &lt;em&gt;warm and dead&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addressing your specific questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Useful gear:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag, bivy bag, chemical heating thingy, rescue blanket and thermos flask (with hot liquid) (I know, kinda obvious and not very light-weight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Correctness of stated example:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well as far as it was described, sounds good to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most immediate/primary concern:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevent further heat loss (again, obvious) - the rest follows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day hike with limited gear:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Improvise the heck out of the situation. In this situation the chance is big, that you cannot provide ample protection from the cold, but on a day hike external help should be fairly quickly available - do not lose time, organize help immediately if in doubt about whether you can handle it on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference:&#xA;A.G. Brunello, M. Walliser, U. Hefti, &lt;em&gt;Gebirgs- und Outdoormedizin&lt;/em&gt; (SAC Verlag, Bern, 2011), p.232.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T08:45:52.477" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10491" CreationDate="2016-01-05T22:01:21.017" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's one study: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eisberg.narod.ru/Ch17-ColdWaterImmersion.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.eisberg.narod.ru/Ch17-ColdWaterImmersion.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a couple of snippets, the first showing how water cools faster than air. &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;In this test with 10degC water, subject's core temperature was still over 36degC after approx 40 minutes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/83aWj.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/83aWj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...and the second showing effect of different clothing. &lt;strong&gt;In this test with 10degC water, subject (wearing 'street' clothes) had core temperature of 35.6degC after 30 minutes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPAB7.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPAB7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastEditorUserId="492" LastEditDate="2016-01-05T22:23:53.907" LastActivityDate="2016-01-05T22:23:53.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10484" CreationDate="2016-01-06T02:04:58.437" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My copy of Buck Tilton's &lt;em&gt;Wilderness First Responder&lt;/em&gt; notes that for cold water immersion, aside from providing standard treatment for hypothermia, the patient should be &quot;handled gently, lifted from the water, and kept in a horizontal position&quot;.  Dry them off, and insulate them from further cold before you think about building a fire.  (The reason behind keeping the patient flat is to avoid stressing their heart.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fall in yourself, use the first minute to get control of your breathing, then assume you only have about 10 minutes of useful muscle activity.  Use that time to pull yourself out or swim to safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of re-warming, the vast majority of the work will be done by the patient's own body: your role is to support that by minimizing their external heat loss and topping up their fuel supply (calories) if they are conscious.  Adding external heat sources may help a small amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, there is some contradiction between the need to get someone into dry clothes and the need to keep them insulated from the environment; obviously if they are in the open with howling winds and rain it's probably a bad idea to pull off their clothes.  So, let's look at some other protocols that may be better suited for the solo traveler or those who were only briefly immersed (e.g. fell in and climbed straight out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this I'll reference a &quot;re-warming drill&quot;, which you can read an example of at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sitkagear.com/insight/a-navy-seal-rewarming-drill&quot;&gt;https://www.sitkagear.com/insight/a-navy-seal-rewarming-drill&lt;/a&gt;.  This method relies on both body heat (as previously mentioned) and also proper gear selection: wicking fabrics and synthetic insulation.  If you don't have the proper clothing, it's not likely to work very well.  The type of clothing system mentioned in this article may be referred to by many different acronyms; searching for ECWCS or PCU should give good results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first form of the drill, the troops pair off and immediately add synthetic insulation layers.  One person sets up the tent, the other sets up a stove and gets snow melting or water heating.  With that done, both burrow into their (synthetic) sleeping bags.  As soon as they can, they then get some hot drinks and calories into them and lie back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second form of the drill addresses the case of what to do without tent, sleeping bag, or stove.  In that case, the troops simply put on their synthetic insulation layers and their packs, and then marched for a few hours at a slow, easy pace (enough to generate heat, but not to sweat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having described a pair of options, you can also look at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2814%2900326-3/fulltext#s0220&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for the Out-of-Hospital Evaluation and Treatment of Accidental Hypothermia&lt;/a&gt; section on field re-warming.  It suggests that patients not be immediately allowed to stand or walk, and that delaying exercise for about 30 minutes will help reduce the risk of &lt;a href=&quot;http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/afterdrop&quot;&gt;afterdrop&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;On a personal note, I haven't yet decided to jump in an icy lake, but I can attest to the drying abilities of modern synthetics.  This past summer, after getting my hiking pants largely soaked in a thunderstorm, I added GoreTex pants over them and after a moderate amount of walking had completely dried them out.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T02:04:58.437" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10491" CreationDate="2016-01-06T04:32:58.490" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roddy's answer is great for study details, but in the nautical realms of boating safety and courses that include boat safety (safe boater, boatUS, USCG, ASA, USSailing,etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are taught in New England that if you fall in the water in winter, you have to get yourself out as fast as you can.  Any longer than 10 minutes in the water and you will no longer have the strength nor ability to hoist yourself out of the water, and may begin to loose awareness of the fact that your in trouble at all. After 45 minutes floating in winter seawater and the chances of survival are near to zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is always the freak incident of someone's body shutting down allowing survival past all comprehension, but that's a very rare exception to the general rule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T04:32:58.490" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-01-06T15:30:52.290" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are correct:  Mittens work better than gloves, but are usually harder to find.  The best mittens come as separate outers and inners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They dry much faster at the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If they soak through, you can change inners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outers are snow proof.  In really cold weather I prefer nylon outers.  Close to freezing, leather will keep your hands dryer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For inners you can use either wool or fleece. On moderate days you can use knit or fleece gloves as inners.  If you are working hard, often wearing outers with no inners works well.  Flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layering in general:  Good idea.  The layers depend on how cold it is, and how active you are.  Warm still day (-5 to -10) snowshowing, I'll wear running shorts over polypro bottoms, and a windbreaker over polypro top. Take the sun away, or add any wind, and I'll add a light fleece between polypro top and that wind layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunshine makes an effective difference in the way you dress by about 10 C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wind chill charts are made by some obscure process that is more or less meaningless.  The first 5-10 km of wind make the most difference.  My rule of thumb is that for the first 10 kph, take off 1 C for each k.  After that take off 1 k for each 5k.  At one point Canada reported windchills in watts/square meter -- how much power did it take to keep a can of water at body heat.  This correlated very well with how to dress.  1200 W/m2 meant jacket and toque and something on your hands unless you were splitting wood or running.  2000 W/m2 meant parka, fleece, poly and wind pants, balaclava.  2700 W/m2 (coldest I've been) required parka, light and heavy fleece, fleece pants between the poly pro and wind pants, double toque, scarf over the face unless the wind was behind you, your best fleece mitts inside nylon outers, with careful attention to overlaps.  If you had to do anything with bare fingers you had about 10 seconds before they were too numb to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Layers&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you want a wicking layer (polypro) and most of the time a wind layer (nylon)  as it gets colder you add layers between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acrylic (fleece) and wool are best.  Acrylic doesn't hold much water.  Wool stays reasonably warm even wet.  Cotton is terrible wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Layers should be loose.  Trap an extra air layer between them. Layers with separate functions are more versatile, generally easier to dry, and to clean.  Buy a wind parka, not a winter parka.  You can use a wind parka with different insulation all year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found that a wind layer is more important than an insulation layer.  A simple nylon shell zipped close will keep you warm when a loosely knit fleece will not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Waterproof breathable fabrics&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid waterproof outer mitts, unless you are working with wet.  They have serious condensation issues.  This is where you will really want multiple sets of inners.  Waterproof breathable doesn't seem to work at very cold temperatures.  But at very cold temperatures water is not a liquid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproof breathable is an acceptable compromise in a wind parka -- you can open it up when you are warm, and it will vent fast enough to keep you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If used for pants, you want good vent zippers to keep from soaking up.  Your leg muscles generate a lot of heat.  I don't use WB pants unless I'm working with wet snow, or rain or sleet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do NOT use for footwear, unless you are going through puddles.  Duck shoes (bottom 1-2 inches rubber) work in spring or fall, but in full winter you get major condensation then cold toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Overlaps&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pants:  Wear tops outside your foot wear.  Don't tuck in.  Snow will find it's way inside.  This also allows you to tie the tops of boots loosely.  This will pump some air in and out with every step, and slow down moisture collection in your socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mitts:  When not working (just walking, or using a ski pole) you want the back end of the mitt to allow some air exchange.  This reduces condensation in your mitts.  (Your hands sweat all the time.  That water has to go somewhere.)  Good outers have a velcro closer to secure them more tightly when the weather warrants.  Again:  Adjustable venting gives you more control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your hands are cold, put on your toque (watch cap, stocking cap, brain blanket...)  Ditto feet. I buy cheap acrylic ones at the dollar store, because I lose them.  Having a balaclava, (ski mask) for really cold days is good.  Your body will reduce circulation to peripheral bits (fingers, toes) to keep the core warm.  Putting a toque on reduces heat loss through your heat, so your body opens up blood vessels to the hands and feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For really cold weather, a parka is a good investment.  Try to find one that the hood is sewn, not zipped.  A:  You can't lose it.  B: no air leaks.  Hood up, but partially unzipped allows slow flow through ventilation that keeps you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adjust to the circumstances:&#xA;Very cold:  Add a layer underneath.  Put your hood up.&#xA;Warm:  throw your hood back.&#xA;Warm:  Take off you toque.&#xA;Warm:  Remove mitts.&#xA;Cool:  Put your wind layer back on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On an outing it's common for me to add or remove a layer, unzip or zip up, every few minutes.  At one extreme, at -45 C with a 20 kph wind, I had my parka over sweater over fleece over polypro, double toque, hood up.  Windpants over fleece over polypro, and was still cold.  At the other extreme I've had moccasins polypro bottoms, running shorts, and no shirt mushing a dog team over hummocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Footwear:  Don't stuff more socks than will easily fit.  Most cold climate people have winter boots and the rest of the year.  Winter footwear should have room for 2 pair of thick socks, or should come with felt liners.  The felt liners become mandatory below -30.  Purpose built winter boots are already sized larger to account for this.  If you want to use regular boots or shoes for winter, be ready to buy them two sizes larger.  But try them out with extra socks, and ask for wide sizing if they have it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Runners can be used in winter if you can get enough socks in them. New Balance has runnings in double E and quad E widths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are out of sight of your car, carry extra stuff.  I carry 1 layer more than the worst I expect to wear.  I also take a change of socks (in case I break through the ice on a creek or beaver pond)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are cold.  Eat.  Drink (not booze).  Fuel up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T15:33:18.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-01-06T16:00:38.213" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few things most of which I don't think have been mentioned already:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk faster: exert the sort of effort you'd exert hiking with a day pack and it will keep you much warmer than strolling. Don't stop unnecessarily (you'd get colder waiting for a bus).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put what you're carrying in a backpack.  This has several advantages:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your hands are free if it gets slippery...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... or you can put them in your pockets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The backpack itself insulates your core.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For winter hiking I preferred fleece &lt;em&gt;gloves&lt;/em&gt; under waterproof shell &lt;em&gt;mittens&lt;/em&gt;.  The mittens themselves had no insulation value as such but kept my whole hands in a cold-wind-free bubble.  If I was hanging around in very cold conditions, silk gloves under the fleece ones were a further help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get good at getting going quickly -- put on the warm layers just before you open the door (so you don't sweat), then take the minimum amount of time to lock up and gettup to full moving pace. I really feel this cycle commuting even above freezing as there's more fiddling around with a bike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Urban conditions for a short walk are fairly benign.  You don't need the best gear, just good enough.  High-street brands from the shops in a cold place should be more than adequate, especially in layers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If snow melts from your body heat, you're doing something wrong, like letting it get too far in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's been said elsewhere but &lt;em&gt;feet&lt;/em&gt; -- keep them warm and dry (boots + double socks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T16:00:38.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1221" CreationDate="2016-01-06T16:34:34.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of additional points which I think have not yet got the attention they deserve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time is of the essence.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I've once seen a report that stated that the average swimmer can make it about 50 meters max in 4°C water before drowning. That is not a lot! Meaning, that if the person in distress cannot hold on to something which helps them stay afloat you have &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; little time at your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ice is incredibly dangerous.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If the person in distress just broke through a layer of ice it will be almost impossible for them to rescue themselves, unless they have the right tools and experience (or the water is very shallow). It should also be obvious that it is very dangerous for yourself to go anywhere near the place where the ice was broken. If you cannot avoid this, try to spread out your weight, i.e. lie on your  belly and spread all fours. Use whatever you can to extend your reach, such as a belt/jacket/backpack strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-01-06T16:34:34.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10501" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10503" CreationDate="2016-01-06T21:38:19.533" Score="15" ViewCount="5603" Body="&lt;p&gt;You know that bleeding lung feeling you get after going out for a long run on a freezing cold night? The one where you can taste blood in the back of your jaw, and begin to wheeze and cough as fluids start forming in your lungs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever the circumstances may be, if you end up &quot;freezing&quot; your lungs from too much activity and breathing too hard in the frozen air, what's the best way to treat them and aid recovery?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T17:34:18.053" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T17:34:18.053" Title="How do you treat frozen lungs?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10501" CreationDate="2016-01-07T00:05:14.233" Score="11" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First of all, stop strenuous activity. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, get back into a warmer environment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If not, breathe through your nose as much as possible. This can also be used as a preventative measure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrate properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T00:05:14.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10501" CreationDate="2016-01-07T06:41:25.673" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically runners exert their lungs the most if compared to Mountaineers. I am strictly not comparing with Swimmers of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, why would it happen, how do you know whats happening: &#xA;Do we normally catch cold, runny nose when its cold outside? Normally we do. &quot;How much cold&quot; can vary from person to person though. Getting runny nose is one of the body's defense mechanisms. Phlegm is the substance that contains mucus (a protective substance) and other bacteria, bluntly saying which is produced by Respiratory System, to be precise by Mucus Membranes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Respiratory Mucus protects the whole Respiratory tract and the lungs by trapping foreign particles that are inhaled through the nose when we breathe. It also helps to heat-up the inhaled air before it reaches the lungs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a runny nose, its okay. Still try and breathe through Nose and not through mouth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously, it is going to be difficult to breathe through nose and so doing a strenuous tasks with same efficiency as normal is a difficult task to pull off. You are not supposed to exert.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Important: Don't choose to clean up your nose by means of Otrivin or similar products and continue getting into colder regions. This would make you feel better, but only for a while. Should you continue with your task, getting into colder regions thinking that you have now knocked the running nose issue off and are now good to get colder, Beware, it may result in constricting bronchial tubes which would exert lungs &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; and would definitely make breathing a lot difficult. Common symptoms of such a situation is coughing up blood. Taa-dan, you need help now. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(May be not entirely needed for this answer, but interesting: Why would lungs exert, its because you don't warm your lungs enough, Mucus around the Lung Fibers and tissues isn't enough, the bronchial muscles get dry, resulting in constriction.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get into warmer conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continue to breathe through nose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take cloth, breath-out/exhale through mouth on it, and put it on your nose, feels warm and better. (I am not thinking of Bad-breath here)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on an additional layer of clothing on your upper body half, like an additional jacket or something.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T07:16:22.873" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T07:16:22.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10504" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10505" CreationDate="2016-01-07T14:06:31.290" Score="13" ViewCount="8420" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it snows, is it safe to drink the water when it melts? What sickness can I get from snow? I am in Europe and would like to know for here, but other places would be interesting too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8508" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:19:40.057" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:19:40.057" Title="Is it safe to drink snow?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10504" CreationDate="2016-01-07T14:16:51.717" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is clean, fresh snow, it is safe to drink. This is basically drinking rain water. It hasn't had time to pick up pollutants when it is newly fallen. I live in New England, and kids do this all the time. You get taught early to only do this with white snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure that the snow is actually clean: the longer it sits, and the more urbanized an area is, the more likely it is to be dirty and to have picked up pollutants. If it's brown or gray snow beside a road or path, or yellow snow where an animal urinated, it's no longer drinkable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as what sickness you can get, it will depend on what's in the snow. With yellow snow, I'd assume you could get the diseases you'd usually get from drinking water with animal waste. If it's beside a road, you'd be ingesting heavy metals and chemicals found in car exhaust. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;In response to the comments as to the general safety of drinking rainwater, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.harvesth2o.com/rainwater_safe.shtml#.Vo7e0pXluAY&quot;&gt;http://www.harvesth2o.com/rainwater_safe.shtml#.Vo7e0pXluAY&lt;/a&gt; - This is from a person who tested their own cistern (a holder for rainwater), and includes no information on the cistern's cleanliness, or whether it is open to the air and debris. Even so, the water was purer than well water or tap water the tester checked in New Mexico. The only significant pollutant was bacteria, which tend to grow when you store water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/gdwqrevision/rainwater.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/gdwqrevision/rainwater.pdf&lt;/a&gt; - In the first sentence WHO simply assumes rainwater is drinkable straight from the sky, and the rest of the article is about storing and purifying after storage. If contamination directly from the sky was a major concern, it is reasonable to expect WHO to mention it when discussing rainwater harvesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And anecdotally, when I've lived places where drinking rainwater was the norm, the only concern was bacteria from the cistern, not airborn pollutants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-01-07T22:15:34.380" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T22:15:34.380" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10504" CreationDate="2016-01-07T15:21:00.120" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a water purity point of view the same rules &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5106/do-you-need-to-purify-all-mountain-water-sources&quot;&gt;apply for drinking water&lt;/a&gt;. What is important though is the temperature. If you drink &lt;strong&gt;large&lt;/strong&gt; amounts of snow at a low temperature (i.e. you don't heat it adequately and just drink it as it melts in your hand) then you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; need to be careful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically if the temperature is &lt;em&gt;low enough&lt;/em&gt; and you're ingesting large quantities of really cold material, it &lt;strong&gt;may&lt;/strong&gt; be enough to tip your metabolism into hypothermia. Typically you should melt the snow (using a stove or fire) before drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related posts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7764/is-it-safe-to-put-snow-in-water-filtration&quot;&gt;Is it safe to put snow in water filtration?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/488/does-eating-snow-help-dehydration&quot;&gt;Does eating snow help dehydration?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5106/do-you-need-to-purify-all-mountain-water-sources&quot;&gt;Do you need to purify all mountain water sources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T09:08:31.030" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10507" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10512" CreationDate="2016-01-07T16:51:25.397" Score="11" ViewCount="3122" Body="&lt;p&gt;The related question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10504/&quot;&gt;Is it safe to drink snow?&lt;/a&gt; tells us that in addtion to then normal considerations for any wild water source, you also need to consider how the snow may &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10504/is-it-safe-to-drink-snow/10506#10506&quot;&gt;tip your metabolism into hypothermia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is cold and you are traveling and/or without a heat source, what is the best way to melt snow with your body heat to have the least chance of causing hypothermia?  I think there are really two choices, put in your mouth and eat/drink it; or put in a container and hold it near your body to melt, then drink it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:36:10.190" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T16:33:32.080" Title="What is the most effective means of melting snow with body heat for drinking?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10507" CreationDate="2016-01-07T17:28:49.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Physically there are two ways for you to heat up the snow: by heat conduction and by heat radiation. Conduction means you place it somewhere close to your body. It does not matter whether this is directly in your mouth or on your belly, you will lose the same amount of energy. The only option to heat it up without losing additional energy is by radiation, i.e. placing the snow next to you outside your insulation layers. Unfortunately that will never be enough energy to melt a substantial (if even noticeable) amount of snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You do not want to waste body heat (energy) to melt snow when almost in hypothermia in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are short of dying of dehydration and almost in hypothermia, choose the option that needs least movement and removed insulation, e.g. once getting some snow into a bottle. Get this bottle into the sleeping bag and occasionally put some of it into your mouth. Anyway, in this situation, if you are still functioning, you will probably not function rationally but on instincts...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-01-08T07:08:34.637" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T07:08:34.637" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10504" CreationDate="2016-01-07T17:47:09.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already explained in the other questions, the primary concern is possible contamination. For fresh snow and far from civilization this is very easy to identify: White is good: yellow, brown, ... not so :)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Close to roads/industry there might be a non-visible contamination but unlikely to be harmful for occasional consumption (at least in countries with enforces environmental standards). And usually this is not the place where you need to get water from snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A widespread argument is, that you should not drink demineralized water. Snow is very low in minerals, so this would apply. But is is not true. Minerals can be obtained with the food too. So unless you plan to drink only snow water for days without eating, you are fine. Often a WHO recommendation for adding minerals to demineralized drinking water is quoted as proof for this claim. Apparently this recommendation is to prohibit water contamination from corroded parts of the water conduit system, as demineralized water is quite corrosive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another argument is that it will cool you down. This is most certainly true for the mouth, the oesophagus and the stomach, which will be unpleasant and if this is badly ignored, can even cause frostbite in your face...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1281/3602&quot;&gt;Russell Steen calculated the energy needed to heat 1 liter of water to body temperature as 67 dietary calories&lt;/a&gt; (@ab2 and wikipedia with some calculation suggest 80kCal for melting and kCal for heating, in total 117kCal - does not change the argument though). We ingest and &quot;burn&quot; about 2000 calories a day, so quite a bit more. So you needed to eat more than 1 liter of water worth of snow an our to match this. Of course this is no measure for whether it cools you or not, but it shows the proportions. So unless you are already almost in hypothermia this does not need to concern you too much (the coldness in your mouth and stomach will bother you first anyway).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T22:00:55.473" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="848" CreationDate="2016-01-07T19:08:46.063" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes &amp;amp; no.  The U.S. Navy land survival training in Pensacola, Florida teaches students to chew on pine needles to obtain vitamin C.  But you don't actually chew and swallow them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8512" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T19:08:46.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10507" CreationDate="2016-01-07T19:56:51.063" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to melt snow is to put it in a bottle inside your jacket under your mid layers &lt;strong&gt;while you're on the move&lt;/strong&gt; and let your body heat melt it. Do not place it against the skin, leave a layer or two between you and the bottle. It's advisable to always leave your bottle in your jacket in subzero temperatures, it can freeze if left in your bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Melting snow by body heat is not a fast process, so some foresight is required on your part, if your bottle is getting empty, and you don't know when you're going to find running water next, then put some snow in your bottle to replace what you're drinking. Dropping snow in liquid water will help melt it faster than trying to melt a bottle of dry snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting snow in your mouth is fine as long as you're warm, I do it all the time, but you are right that putting snow in your mouth will cool you down, so don't do it if you're already cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are borderline hypothermic, then it would be unwise to try and expend additional body heat in order to melt snow, you need to get up, get moving, and get warm before you can even try it. This will be more difficult when you are dehydrated, as hydration has a huge role in hypothermia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other option for melting snow is using solar radiation. Again, it's not a quick process, and you can only do it on a bright sunny day when the temperature is right. This is exactly how the survivors of the 1972 Andes flight disaster got water while they were stranded at the top of the snowy Andes mountains. They used reflective pieces of wreckage from the plane to catch the suns rays, and put small amounts of ice and snow on them then collected the drips in bottles to drink. They also ate each other... but that's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10153/in-an-emergency-situation-is-it-healthy-to-eat-human-flesh/10160#10160&quot;&gt;another story&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T20:21:11.013" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10507" CreationDate="2016-01-07T22:29:29.907" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pee on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the water drinkable, you'd want to have the liquids separated but still have good thermal transfer between them. A well equipped traveller will pick his/her thermos bottle and a condom, pee in the condom (ladies would probably do it the other way around), tie the condom and put in the bottle, fill the rest with snow, cap, wait and drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll curse your choice of [condom] flavour but might live another moment. If getting hypothermic, you might want to hold the filled condom inside gloves/jacket for some time before sticking in the bottle, doesn't need to be steaming hot to melt some water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Too bad you'd probably have nothing to pee left at this situation, could try anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8518" LastActivityDate="2016-01-07T22:29:29.907" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10507" CreationDate="2016-01-07T22:31:06.210" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very simply: if you eat snow, all the energy that would be melt the snow is energy currently in your body.  Lots of heat loss direct from your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you put snow in an outer layer of your clothes, then much of the energy that would melt the snow is energy that was in the process of escaping to the outside air.  Effectively the snow is capturing some of the heat that left your body already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To help understand this more clearly, imagine we were to wrap a person in one more very thin layer of clothing which doesn't actually trap heat, but rather measures how much thermal energy is crossing through it at every point.  If the person puts the snow in a layer of clothing close to the outer layer, then it will absorb some of the energy in those outer layers.  We'll see that the clothing in that area gets colder.  This means that our special layer is measuring less heat crossing it near where the ice has been put because the heat flux across is proportional to the temperature difference, which is now smaller.  What that means is that less heat is escaping into the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an extreme example to consider: The person is wearing just the right number of jackets - one more and he'd overheat.  Then he puts on yet another thick jacket and waits.  Eventually that outer layer is above freezing and he's overheating.  He wants to stop overheating, so he puts lots of snow just inside his outer jacket.  That's approximately like taking his outer jacket off, so it gets him back to normal (at least until the snow melts).  If he takes that same amount of snow and puts it directly inside his inner layer, he'll end up very cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6613" LastEditorUserId="6613" LastEditDate="2016-01-08T12:52:07.413" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T12:52:07.413" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10518" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-08T00:59:09.263" Score="12" ViewCount="481" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many areas of the U.S. it is very difficult to get any weather forecast:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radio broadcasts generally don't have useful weather reports&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NOAA weather radio is very useful, but large areas are not covered.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NWS radiofax surface and upper air charts only go to 115W. Potentially very useful for long term West Coast forecast, not sure how far transmission reaches inland.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the moment, I can only think of receiving NOAA weather satellite images directly, but that gets me only raw image data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any other weather product available in the backcountry via satellite or HF? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for something like the NWS Zone Forecast and Area Forecast Discussion. Maps would be nice, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8521" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-08T12:31:06.407" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T12:31:06.407" Title="How to get weather information in the backcountry" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10518" CreationDate="2016-01-08T02:51:27.373" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used HF/SSB radio aboard a sailboat in remote locations to receive weather GRIB (gridded binary) files of forecasts according to a model. You would subscribe to a service: Airmail or Sailmail (on a boat).  The whole equipment set-up is complicated, heavy, needing a computer, 12v battery, antenna, radio, cables, etc.  and wouldn't be sufficient for back&lt;strong&gt;packing&lt;/strong&gt;, but doable in the backcountry, given sufficient installation infrastructure. This is probably not the answer you had in mind..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T02:51:27.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10518" CreationDate="2016-01-08T04:14:12.193" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The National Weather Service offers a &lt;a href=&quot;http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/rest.php&quot;&gt;REST Web Service&lt;/a&gt; to provide forecast data in XML format.  You can request forecast data using latitude and longitude, start and end dates, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/docs/elementInputNames.php&quot;&gt;forecast data element&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an DeLorme inReach satellite communicator, you're in luck as someone has already set up an &lt;a href=&quot;http://wx2inreach.weebly.com/&quot;&gt;experimental service&lt;/a&gt; to parse messages from it and reply with a forecast for your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, setting up your own server to handle requests from your satellite communicator of choice shouldn't be particularly difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T04:14:12.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10521" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10533" CreationDate="2016-01-08T07:46:31.033" Score="8" ViewCount="1776" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, I had &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10391/how-to-help-a-fox-with-rabies&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question. The answer was that we should kill a fox with rabies to help it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rabies has a phase called &quot;furious phase&quot;. The infected animal has&#xA;  symptoms which can directly affect humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;An infected dog may viciously attack any moving object, person, or&#xA;    animal; a caged rabid dog will chew the wire, break their teeth, and&#xA;    try to bite a hand moving in front of the cage. Rabid cats will attack&#xA;    suddenly, biting and scratching. Foxes will invade yards and attack&#xA;    dogs, cows, and porcupines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you are only able to kill such an animal if you have a ranged tool to do so (bow, rifle etc.). So, how should an unarmed react if he encounters with a fox in the furious phase? How to avoid a charge and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:56:01.957" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:56:01.957" Title="How to react to a fox in furious phase (rabies)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;&lt;foxes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10518" CreationDate="2016-01-08T08:19:06.740" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some areas of the world have a radio service (usually HF) that broadcasts weather on a schedule and allows you to check in daily. If close proximity to a marine area you may be able to pick up a scheduled marine VHF forecast (although it will be marine so the focus is different), Alternately, you could get a Ham license and schedule a hookup with an operator to sent you a forecast.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Radios are small enough to justify carrying them - although HF still requires a long antenna to be set up before they can be used.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T08:19:06.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10473" CreationDate="2016-01-08T15:24:34.257" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, absolutely, that's how the majority of the tourists do it. The huts wouldn't have had enough space to accommodate even a fraction of the hikers if all of them wanted to sleep there. Personally, I live in Cracow (2 hours drive from Zakopane) and I have no problems with going for one-day hiking trips in Tatras with riding from Cracow in the morning and returning to Cracow the same day, if you're staying in Zakopane you can start the trip much earlier, so it's even easier. I'm reasonably fit but by and large my condition is not exceptional and even not what one would probably call &quot;really good&quot;. We even climbed Rysy this way, and Rysy is the mountain which takes the longer to reach in Polish Tatras (it's 12-13km in distance - times two of course, 25km - and 1,5 km of height difference). If took us around 12 hours, if you're accustomed to 12 hours mountain trips and if you can start earlier than us because of staying in Zakopane, you shouldn't have problems, too.&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, notice than starting from the city you can take much smaller backpack with you, if you go from hut to hut you need all the cloths for several days and the other stuff, and since there are many hikers in Tatras, if you don't book a place in the hut in advance, you have to sleep on the floor, meaning you need the sleeping pad and sleeping bag in your baggage too. I guess it would probably be more demanding for me to hike Tatras from hut to hut with full baggage than it is from Zakopane to the peak to Zakopane with a lighter backpack, though it all depends on the specific person I reckon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other idea can be to go from the city to one hut, stay there several days (while going on the trips &quot;light&quot;) and then move to another and so on. Staying in the huts is significantly more expensive than in the towns (especially if you arrive by car so you can find an accommodation not near the city center of Zakopane), but even if (I'm sure) you're able to reach every place from Zakopane or other towns, starting from the hut you can maybe do two peaks, two parts of the rigde etc. in one day. You may (or may not) need less refreshment days, too. So the &quot;cost per day&quot; will surely be higher, but the &quot;cost per number of places seen&quot; may or may not be higher, you have to figure out for yourself. It all depends on how many days you intend to spend here I believe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two closing points which may be useful:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Murowaniec hut doesn't admit hikers to sleep on the floor. You have booked a bed in advance (I'm not really accustomed to what the word &quot;advance&quot; would mean here, e.g. if I'll succeed trying to book a bed the same day in the morning or not), or there is one available when you arrive (I wouldn't count on that in Jul-Aug) or they won't invite you.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Hiking the Tatras is a popular activity in Poland so during summer especially the most famous places like Rysy or Giewont are crowded. Hence, thinking if you can manage a trip in one day (e.g. from Zakopane to Zakopane) you have to take into consideration that the crowd may slow you down compared to how fast you'd walk alone. (It's also a good idea to avoid crowded peaks on weekends, for Giewont likely it's a good enough reason to avoid it at all ;) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8524" LastEditorUserId="8524" LastEditDate="2016-01-08T17:00:18.960" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T17:00:18.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1322" CreationDate="2016-01-08T19:16:29.430" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You really should not leave anything.  I disagree that the fire ring with logs around it is OK.  That is only OK if it is in a designated camp site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilderness is just that, and should be left the way you found it to the reasonable extent you can.  Obviously you being there is going to have &lt;i&gt;some&lt;/i&gt; impact, so it's a matter of degree and what you can reasonably do anything about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Building a fire is legal in many national forest at certain times, so doing that is not wrong.  However, you have the obligation to put things back they way they were within reason.  That definitely means not leaving a fire ring of stones, or logs for benches around the fire.  You can't obliterate every trace of you being there, but you an spread the ashes a little, after making sure they are really out, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just leaving your ashes where they burned may be OK in some circumstances, although I wouldn't be happy about it, but anything beyond that is definitely not OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T19:16:29.430" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10469" CreationDate="2016-01-08T23:26:22.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are websites you can use to find others with a similar interest in expeditions - for example, have you tried &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.explorersconnect.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.explorersconnect.com/&lt;/a&gt; ? It is specifically for people looking for advice and companions for longer trips and expeditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8530" LastActivityDate="2016-01-08T23:26:22.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10391" CreationDate="2016-01-09T00:01:33.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once rabies symptoms appear it is generally considered beyond the window for treatment, at least in humans (see: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/symptoms/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/symptoms/index.html&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As ab2 said in their answer, if you have a gun and know how to use it you could kill the animal, putting it out of its misery. For humans who are 'past the point of no return' the treatment is more about minimizing the agony, and for animals in the wild maybe this is the best we can do for them and other creatures who may suffer from their madness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are immediately threatened however, I think the answer is to let them be and increase cautiousness. Progress with heightened awareness and warn others as the animal will wander mindlessly and may have infected other creatures in the area as well. This answer is supported by the following link &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/32131.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/32131.html&lt;/a&gt; which states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should I do if I see an animal that appears to be rabid?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay away from any animal that's acting strangely, and let your neighbors know about its presence in the area. We do not recommend approaching it with a baseball bat or other club because that would require close contact. Sometimes your local police can come out and shoot it; however, even a sick animal will often wander off by the time outside help can get there. If it does have rabies and has wandered off, it will probably die within seven days, but it might have bitten other animals in the area, so it's a good idea to stay on guard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line is: avoid rather than engage unless engaging has adds very little risk, and proceed with caution in any case. Notify others for their safety. If you &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; have encountered infection, seriously consider seeking treatment, as waiting for symptoms to show up is waiting too long and may be past the point of no return.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-09T00:01:33.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10521" CreationDate="2016-01-09T07:22:53.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a Rabies expert - but I have very slightly more 1st hand experience than most people.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Some years ago I was bitten by a guard dog in China (we were playing).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My hosts were aghast, for reasons that made no sense to me. They took me to hospital. It was only when I saw the Rabies medication that I understood. &#xA;The dog was never likely to have Rabies (and it didn't) but in China Rabies outbreaks are common enough to treat all unknown dogs with extra care. &#xA;Several months and 4 injections in 3 countries later I was &quot;Rabies immune&quot;- maybe. So ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is based on my reading then and since and my thoughts about how I would hope to act if ever placed in a situation where my &quot;special experience&quot; meant I may be safer than most people around me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid the animal if at all possible.&lt;/strong&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is an immediate danger to others who cannot avoid it you need to decide whether you are prepared to risk a nasty death on their behalf.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Deciding this either way &lt;strong&gt;in advance&lt;/strong&gt; is a very good idea.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Dithering about whether to be a hero may lead instead to you being one more dead non-hero. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best &quot;protection&quot; you can have if you feel you absolutely must deal with an infected animal, is a Rabies injection course in advance. These are not cheap and even having had one there are no guarantees that you would survive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If bitten mildly in remote body areas Rabies travels through the lymphatic system and CAN take years to have an effect (and has killed years after a small wound in some cases.)  Innoculation in the case of relatively minor wounds at limb extremeities can save lives, and has.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If bitten badly about eg face and head infection is nearly certain and death in days to maybe weeks is likely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you MUST risk being bitten then a bite at a limb end is better than a bite to head or body. Neither is a very attractive choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you must confront such an animal then the Terry Roosevelt solution is liable to be best - that is &quot;speak (or here, walk) softly and carry a big stick&quot;. Find something which has enough energy to physically stop the animal in its tracks immediately, and fast enough to allow use against a rapidly moving target. ie a heavy stick or pick handle etc. An axe is probably too heavy to move quickly enough. A light stick which may cause much pain but not cripple the creature will not work - deterrence does not work with an animal in this phase and is not worth trying.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be prepared to act violently and viciously and without mercy. A Rabies infected animal will die in about 99.9999%+ cases. The death is an extremely unpleasant one and death by almost any other means is preferable. A brutal maximum effort attack that disable the animal instantly will hurt it little more than a response which allows it to bite you a few times before it is killed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lovely stuff :-(.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Best of all, perhaps. Move to New Zealand! (Look it up).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The only place in the world of significant size that is essentially Rabies free. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6686" LastActivityDate="2016-01-09T07:22:53.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="388" CreationDate="2016-01-09T08:50:21.270" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-fishing-equipment-is-best-used-when-backpacking/answer/Matthew-Berry-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Matthew Perry on Quora writes:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are many four piece rods that will work. I even have a five piece by TFO that works good too. I usually use it as a backup rod. You want to have two rods in case you break one. Nothing worse than hiking in a good distance only to break a rod. Been there done that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-04-03T16:58:34.117" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T16:58:34.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10521" CreationDate="2016-01-09T11:51:32.257" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because of the extremely high &quot;Fear Factor&quot; this subject engenders, I want to carefully examine the threat of contracting rabies from a different but still extremely vital angle: The engendered rabies threat from a fox bite is admittedly over-rated; as it now stands, it can be construed to be more of a &quot;psychological,&quot; rather than &quot;physical,&quot; danger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am approaching this in what is, I sincerely hope, a less inflammatory or sensationalist fashion--- more of a: &lt;strong&gt;&quot;Yes, there is a definite risk. However, I have faced this risk, myself, and lived through it; not only once, but three times. So please do not allow your fear to control you.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far, the most probable animal &quot;carriers&quot; of rabies (as seen from reports of suspicious bites, and animal cadavers which were lab-tested and later proven to have rabies) are small bats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are attacked or bitten by ANY creature (even chipmunks have been found to have rabies) without any evident warning, &lt;em&gt;PROMPTLY NOTIFY PUBLIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES!&lt;/em&gt; Do this A.S.A.P! You will have a few weeks' of &quot;grace period;&quot; &lt;em&gt;BUT DO NOT WASTE TIME!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't be afraid of the &quot;Pasteur Treatment&quot; that will be used on you to prevent the disease. Many &quot;horror stories&quot; have been irresponsibly tossed around, dwelling on the injections supposedly having to be given in one's side, but during the THREE TIMES I had gone through these injections, they had been administered in my buttocks, or hips!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;THREE TIMES? Yes! When younger, I had various jobs that required going &quot;Out Past the Back of Beyond,&quot; in wild or &quot;untamed&quot; areas, for very long periods of time. It had been impossible to determine, after-the-fact, that an animal killed while &quot;sampling my taste&quot; had been rabies-infected, hostile, or just hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To be fair, there had been a number of proven rabid-animal attacks in that particular area, prior to our having been sent in; so we knew the danger.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of the inherent risks I had always kept a medium- to large-caliber handgun close to hand; as well as a utility knife and a machete, as well. A jaguar had once tried to hitch a ride in my canoe, and was dissuaded only by vigorous applications of a Collins machete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I recall, looking back decades &quot;after-the-fact,&quot; the number of injections, and their intervals, had been different, country-by-country and jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction; but IT HAD NOT BEEN EXTREMELY PAINFUL, NOR HAD THEY BEEN VERY DEBILITATING. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It had been painful on the day the shot was given, and my hip or &quot;cheek&quot; was sore for a few days. I remember feeling a general malaise; a feeling of &quot;not being comfortable,&quot; but it had not been severe. I was still up to riding horses, Vespas, Jeeps and other vehicles; and while I was &quot;off my feed&quot; on the days of the shots, that didn't last. I was actually somewhat glad! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't permit the &quot;boogie-man&quot; of the (very far-fetched) risk of a rabid fox attack keep you from enjoying the out-of-doors! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are FAR, FAR MORE LIKELY to be struck by lightning, step on a venomous snake, or be involved in a bush-plane crash. If you want to worry about an animal-threat, worry about a bear picking you for &quot;not-fast-enough food!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is necessary to note I had shot other &quot;possibly rabid&quot; animals before they had the opportunity to get close enough to bite me. In all cases the creatures were behaving very suspiciously--- snapping their jaws at &quot;nothing;&quot; sitting statue-like while panting very hard and fast; growling or snarling &quot;for no reason&quot; and at irregular intervals; plus staring fixedly at people while constantly growling or snarling. All of them had also, I want to stress, looked very ill; they had dirty fur, streaks of fur stuck down by what were evident saliva-streaks, and the like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as the threat was evident, I had aimed very carefully, and shot the poor creatures in their heads. [And as is Native American custom, I always said a prayer for the soul of the animal.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;WHAT CANNOT BE STRESSED TOO STRONGLY IS TO NOT HANDLE OR EVEN GO NEAR THE BODY OF A POTENTIALLY RABID ANIMAL!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fleas will start to leave the body ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. If a flea from a rabid animal bites you, in turn; you will get rabies as certainly as if the host-animal had bitten you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8071" LastActivityDate="2016-01-09T11:51:32.257" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10534" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-09T13:23:40.797" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a trouble with my membrane jacket. When I am crouching or moving around, my jacket rises up in the back and doesn't go down when I stand up straight again. How can I prevent the jacket from doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8532" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:25:11.383" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:25:11.383" Title="Membrane jacket rises up when crouching" Tags="&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10535" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-10T06:36:22.657" Score="9" ViewCount="500" Body="&lt;p&gt;When researching for my field journal, I found this mushroom but I can't identify it. I was in Northeastern MA. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2A3D4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2A3D4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mushrooms&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8536" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:39:39.643" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:39:39.643" Title="Small mushroom in Massachusetts Identification?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;&lt;fungi&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10535" CreationDate="2016-01-10T12:58:12.557" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that it is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepiota&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lepiota&lt;/a&gt;, a genus of gilled mushrooms in the family Agaricaceae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mJDkA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mJDkA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inocybe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inocybe&lt;/a&gt;, a genus of mushroom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gcqWR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gcqWR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jyVdM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jyVdM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3944" LastEditorDisplayName="user3944" LastEditDate="2016-01-10T13:37:07.210" LastActivityDate="2016-01-10T13:37:07.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10537" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10547" CreationDate="2016-01-10T16:28:09.260" Score="7" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok so I'm getting a pull buoy to help with my pull exercises when swimming (and a kickboard for the same with kick exercises) and I want to know if I were to go to a lake or the sea and swim, is it advisable to use a pull buoy in tidal water / open water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it easy to use one out on big open water, or are there any techniques that differ to using one in the pool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those unsure a pull buoy is a leg float that you hold between your thighs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-11T05:49:55.280" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T14:16:24.447" Title="Can you use a pull buoy in tidal water easily?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10538" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-10T17:09:51.267" Score="22" ViewCount="8580" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got athlete's foot after having my feet in the same boots for extended periods of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I disinfect my wool hiking socks to prevent this from spreading and reinfecting my feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:45:22.023" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T19:23:20.463" Title="How do I disinfect my wool hiking socks?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-01-10T17:26:58.390" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply throwing them in the wash should suffice, but if you want to be &lt;em&gt;extra&lt;/em&gt; sure the fungus dies, you could soak your socks in a 1 part bleach to 10 parts water mixture for ten minutes. Keep in mind that it's not your socks you need to worry about so much as your shoes, they're a little more difficult to clean. Try changing your insoles out, they make special ones which help prevent athletes foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T03:35:11.523" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T03:35:11.523" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10541" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11024" CreationDate="2016-01-10T21:24:42.333" Score="10" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I have just spent 3 person-hours picking up litter along a one mile plus stretch of quasi-rural road, both sides.  We have been doing this twice a year for a long, long time, but things have gotten worse since the county repaved the road. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the 2 larger roads that it connects -- ugh!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there &lt;em&gt;evidence&lt;/em&gt; that &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; programs reduce litter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can see it going either way: (1) the sign that the next mile is adopted by Group X makes some people think and not throw out that empty plastic water bottle; or (2) they think &quot;someone's going to pick this up so why not toss it?&quot;  And then there is (3) litterers don't think at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may be off topic, but there is lot of beautiful outdoors marred by roadside litter.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-01-11T01:04:50.733" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:24:10.463" Title="Is there any evidence, one way or the other, that &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; programs reduce littering?" Tags="&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10537" CreationDate="2016-01-11T00:02:10.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disregarding floating devices altogether (because they can easily be abandoned if needed), where and when you decide to swim in tidal waters should entirely depend on expertise of those waters. Currents are local phenomenon which do not necessarily replicate themselves from one place to another because the number of variables that lead to a predictable current are manifold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However there are some precautions that one can take while learning the local waters. If you find yourself in a current that is pulling you out to sea, you should not try to fight the current. You want to get out of the current by swimming perpendicular to the current until you find yourself in water that is no longer pulling you away from shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some tidal currents are created by a supply of inland water such as a river or bay, and you will not have the strength nor stamina to fight this current as it is likely to last for up to 6 hours without any hint of letting up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry whether it's the shore you started with, your goal in this case is to get to ANY shore. You are much safer walking a few miles than you are trying to swim a few miles. Swim along the shoreline until you are no longer moving away from the shore, then turn shoreward and get yourself to dry land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T00:02:10.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10534" CreationDate="2016-01-11T01:10:19.600" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sew a crotch strap: one end on the back, one on the front with quick release fittings, and length adjustable allowance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T01:10:19.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10544" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10549" CreationDate="2016-01-11T08:46:12.797" Score="5" ViewCount="1391" Body="&lt;p&gt;I feel like hats are quite popular among hunters and other outdoor-people which are mainly active in the woods. Also, a lot of outdoor brands have hats in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fjallraven.de/sormland-felt-hat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;their range&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which &lt;em&gt;rational&lt;/em&gt; characteristics makes it preferable over &quot;bare-headed&quot; for some?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RbPeK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RbPeK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Traveler hat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side-note: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;One shouldn't answer with things like &quot;Because it looks cool&quot; or something but with rational facts. &#xA;Just like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10280/what-makes-flannel-so-popular&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T01:25:52.140" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T02:19:23.877" Title="Advantages of a (hunting) hat in the woods?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10548" CreationDate="2016-01-11T14:04:10.513" Score="0" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The practice of mindfulness involves being aware moment-to-moment, of&#xA;  one’s subjective conscious experience from a first-person perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often have the problem that I can't bring myself down &quot;to the hike&quot; when on a short Saturday trip etc. This problem doesn't apply (at least for me) if I'm on vacation. After the second day I'm absolutely in the &quot;here and now&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, how can I improve my mindfulness or bring myself into a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefulness#Mindfulness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;mindful&lt;/a&gt; state to experience the hike also on short trips? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further explanation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you didn't get what I wanted to explain, here is a paragraph which describes the problem pretty well: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The problem is that you are often stressed from work and other things&#xA;  and therefore you think about these things. However, as you hike and&#xA;  think you forget to experience the hike itself. You are just wandering&#xA;  around and forget to focus on the landscape, nature and so on. And&#xA;  often you find yourself in the car again and think: &quot;Damnit, what have&#xA;  I even done in the last couple of hours?&quot; This feeling goes away if&#xA;  you are away from stressful things a few days. After you've hiked&#xA;  (without smartphone etc.) for a day already, you are finally in the&#xA;  &quot;here and now&quot; experiencing the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T15:50:02.443" Title="Excercises to get in a mindful state" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-01-12T02:25:33.600" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10546" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10550" CreationDate="2016-01-11T14:15:52.563" Score="6" ViewCount="8978" Body="&lt;p&gt;My trusty North Face Goretex failed yesterday. The coat itself is in fine working order but the zip is totally broken. Just came apart. I'm loathed to trash a £200 jacket simply because the zip has failed but I'm not sure what other option I have. I checked the north face web site and this kind of thing is deemed &quot;ware and tear&quot; so the warranty does not apply (not worth the paper they're written on most of the time in my opinion but hey).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make matters worse the zip was one of the fancy waterproof one's with a plastic coating built into the zip, so it's heavily integrated with the jacket. Is there anyway or any body who would be able to repair the zip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My mother in law is handy with a needle and thread but I'm thinking puttin holes in it isn't going to make it very waterproof?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-01-11T14:58:10.013" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T16:41:39.193" Title="Repair a GoreTex jacket's zip?" Tags="&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10537" CreationDate="2016-01-11T14:16:24.447" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After having a look on Google I found that &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;yes you can use a pull buoy out in open water&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, and that they are often used in Triathlons to help the swimmer as they will often be very tired at this point and can allow their legs to rest between the bicycle stint and the running stint. This is as they are designed to improve your pull, leaving your legs to 'drag' through the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There does not seem to be any specific technique to using a pull buoy in the open water either, only the recommendation to not use one too often as you can become more reliant on them as they change how you swim (you can be less horizontal in the water), and not to use one if you have current lower back pain - but this applies to both pool swimming and open water swimming. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pull buoy is also used to learn Bilateral Breathing – breathing on both sides - which is where you breathe on both sides during a freestyle / front-crawl swim. This can be done out at sea as well as in a pool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T14:16:24.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10545" CreationDate="2016-01-11T15:50:02.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though this may be related to the outdoors because of its inherent outdoor nature and its relevance to enjoying the Great Outdoors, I think radpin's comment may be right that this is about meditation and mindfulness. I say that because the main exercise that would help with this is: mindfulness and meditation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can practice shaking distractions directly in the outdoors however. Plenty of people seek the Great Outdoors for mindfulness and meditation (e.g. the practice of &lt;a href=&quot;http://primitivepursuits.peaksmaker.com/2011/09/27/whats-a-sit-spot/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sit-spots&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for specific exercises here are two that work for me which you can try outdoors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go out there on a mission. Have a bushcraft goal in mind that will keep you on the lookout for certain materials or terrain. Whether you want to find a certain tree species for its twig or bark, or you want to find the perfect location to build a debris hut (or simply sit and observe!) I find this a lot more immersive and engaging than just walking around the woods, even if at the end of the day I physically just walked around the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Practice simple, 'portable' mindfulness exercises. Breathing exercises are great especially as when you hike you need air and blood to be flowing well, and when you're in the Great Outdoors it's a great opportunity to soak up some fresh air. One I like is 4-fold breathing: exhale completely, then inhale naturally while timing it in 4-parts (doesn't need to be 4 seconds, just 4 'beats' to set your comfortable rhythm for that instance). After you've inhaled and set your beat, hold the air in for four counts, then exhale fully over those four counts, hold the air out for four counts, inhale again. Repeat this sequence four times and you may feel refreshed and more focused. For me it helps build concentration, shake distractions, and get me well aerated. On that note, maintaining good hydration also helps mental clarity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I started by saying however, it's making a routine of these things that will help them be effective. To develop ease in a routine, a little every day can be better than a lot one in a blue moon. Doing a breathing exercise for the first-time when outdoors may just be another distraction rather than a clarifying routine (or it may be an eye opening experience!) The answer and question are somewhat subjective but I think these exercises are generally applicable and helpful things for all people in the Great Outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T15:50:02.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10544" CreationDate="2016-01-11T17:27:22.437" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the woods, there are many small items that can fall from above that are more or less awkward to have on your head. This goes from leaves and needles on the &quot;not very harmful&quot; side over water droplets (during or after the rain) to ugly things like bird poop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One characteristic that makes a hat as depicted in your question preferable over other headdresses like a bandana is its brim. It does not only prevent things from falling directly onto your head but also that it falls onto your face – people who have to wear glasses know the awkward moment when a water droplet falls between their forehead and glasses, wetting the glass from the inside and splashing into your eyes – or into the collar of your jacket. Additional pro's are sun protection and shading of the eyes against low sun and in some communities they are just part to the style one wears when going into the woods...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T19:05:44.943" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T19:05:44.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10546" CreationDate="2016-01-11T18:57:07.640" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given the description of the problem, it seems you have to replace the zip entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can bring it to a tailor, they should be able to do most of it. They may not have the waterproof zipper, though, but you can find it online. Measure it first. It is probably a #5 size, though you don't have to use the exact same model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you can do it yourself if you have a sewing machine. (If you have never done this, exercise first!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, there should be a waterproofing mechanism behind the zipper. Often it is a tape:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fb4ti.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fb4ti.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Seam tape&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but it can also be a coating applied on the seam. In the easier case where it is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockywoods.com/Hardware-Zippers/Seam-Sealers-Seam-Tapes/MELCO-Seam-sealing-tape-for-3-layer-waterproof-breathable-fabrics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tape&lt;/a&gt;, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockywoods.com/Hardware-Zippers/Seam-Sealers-Seam-Tapes/Using-Seam-Tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rockywoods instructions&lt;/a&gt; on applying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll have to remove the tape, un-sew the existing zipper (be careful not to rip other seams), put the new zipper in place, sew it carefully, tape the seam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you live there might be an outdoor gear repair specialist near you who could do that for you. For example, those guys: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk/outdoor_clothing_repairs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk/outdoor_clothing_repairs.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T18:57:07.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10544" CreationDate="2016-01-11T19:54:57.393" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hats are great for many reasons. They keep sun off your head, they retain heat when it's cold. They help keep small stuff from hitting your head and sometimes your face. A branch may knock your hat askance rather than scratch your face up or even poke you in the eye. It can keep that same branch from getting tangled in your hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hat is just another layer of protection from the elements on a spot that is often left unprotected except by your hair if you are lucky enough have your hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-11T19:54:57.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10552" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-11T20:07:21.287" Score="10" ViewCount="1551" Body="&lt;p&gt;I  &quot;inherited&quot; a two-burner Propane lantern for which I need a globe. Besides a warning label on the section just above the brass cylinder attaching body, it only has a small number (0597) stamped to one side of the single oval match hole in the lower chromed ventilating plate. Three tapered, formed, sheet metal posts attach to that plate and in turn have a formed, sheet metal ring attached near their top, the top flat protruding part of the post splaying outward and fitting into the curved outer rim of the green enameled steel top. The top pulls off to get to the globe or mantles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lantern has a push-button piezoelectric ignition button positioned 90* counterclockwise while looking from the base upwards wrt the control knob, and the knob has &quot;Off&quot; and &quot;On&quot;, with a thinning red curved band pointing towards the &quot;Off&quot; side.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;By my measurements, the globe I need has parallel sides, is ~ 4 3/8&quot;  by about 4 3/4&quot; tall. I found one globe of that diameter and with 4 1/2&quot; height at the Bass Pro site, but that height would only set the top of the glass just above the bottom of the upper ring. The B. Pro lantern that their globe is recommended for has a Coleman lantern type brass nut to hold the top on, so isn't a similar model to mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have an idea who might have sold this lantern and thus stock the proper globe for it? Searching for globes is difficult as usually just their part number, not dimensions, are listed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8548" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:07:47.167" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:07:47.167" Title="Need help Identifying the proper globe for an unknown propane lantern" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10553" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10558" CreationDate="2016-01-11T21:00:50.487" Score="24" ViewCount="1846" Body="&lt;p&gt;While this has happened about 22 years ago, I never really stopped thinking about it and still regard it as unsolved mystery. While I asked plenty outdoormen, nobody had this experience. Having recently discovered this site, I'm hoping to get at least some answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I apologize for the long description, but I believe it is necessary to ascertain all the facts first, as any small detail may be important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Middle of January, around 1am at night (gets dark around 3.30pm over there, so it was as dark as it gets)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quite warm temperature for the night (only around -20 Celsius, e.g. -5 Fahrenheit)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather was good, initially the wind wasn't very strong, but then started gradually picking up such that walking became much harder and problematic by the time I got back home (e.g. you have to focus and exert quite some energy so the wind does not actually bring you down)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Region has some steep hills, deep woods (and as an aside anecdote: a cold-war russian bunker) and small villages (think : couple hundred people, occasionally up to 800 - 1,000) scattered along the main road&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Region is known to have few wolf packs. Attacks on humans are rare, but not out of question (around 1 each 10 years). You know those 'scary cry-wolf' kids stories ? Well, in our village, that story gets attached to concrete people and names.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I walked a short distance - maybe about 4-5 kms, mostly in total darkness (no headlamp or anything), directly over the main road, when I felt something was watching me, and indeed, at a place where road gets quite close to the woods (about 100 meters), I could see quite a few pairs of eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It was at that time that I realized the howling (it's a common sound in winter, so we get used to it fast) I was hearing before, was of those wolves (obviously)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The alpha male then started running against me, but just him alone - the pack stayed at the boundary between woods and snowy field by the road&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He however stopped quite far - about 5-7 meters from me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Over the course of next 30-40 minutes, he was gradually coming closer to me, step by step, but the closest he got was about 3 meters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He was growling, teeth out, he definitely looked ready to take a bite, had that pose where whole body is lowered (as a cat), getting ready to jump&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;But he didn't. Despite the pack very loudly provoking him and aggressively howling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This encounter lasted about 30-40 minutes, at which point I reached the top of the hill (with my village), where there were finally some first houses and street lamps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;He had me, for over half an hour, in total darkness, at a distance of 3-5 meters. Backed up with about 6 wolves (never exactly counted all those eyes, as I was busy with the alpha male, but know for sure there were more than 5)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At one point, I could clearly see the pack was very thin, mustn't have eaten for quite some time, so I would provide a welcome and nutritious fresh meal&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, why on earth did they not attack ?!?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional facts about me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height : 190 cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight : ~100 kg (but my 'build' is wider, so I was very far from being fat at that weight)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand how they tracked me. Having just undergone a very strong argue with my brother, I was full of adrenaline, so I must have been reeking it for kilometers (especially in the wind) in that temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is this adrenaline that has kept me calm all the time, while I was walking with wolf for those 30-40 minutes. &#xA;I was looking into his eyes all this time (walking straight up the steep hill, yet head turned right so I could see what he was doing), and could 'see' the hesitation to attack, yet there was clearly a very strong hunger (he was very, very thin, poor thing) and instinct to just jump and take a bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only read it recently you are not supposed to engage the wolf like that (as it is regarded as provocation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that level of adrenalin is also why I did not get scared (as those pheromones, which I already knew at that time from painful experience when one dog bit me to my back couple years back, can enrage even a small dog, let alone a proper wolf).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only semi-rational explanation is that the wolf must have been waiting for the fear pheromone signal, which didn't came. And my height/weight must have become obvious only from those 5 meters (not sure about their physiology of vision - how it works in wolves (perspective and such)), so he became hesitant whether to attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other ideas ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8537" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T03:42:57.403" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T03:42:57.403" Title="Why did the wolf-pack withdraw from attacking me?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10554" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11226" CreationDate="2016-01-11T22:26:37.757" Score="4" ViewCount="222" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.byronferguson.com/Bear_Paw_Fletching_Jig/p2045234_9415137.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bearpaw deluxe fletching jig&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simple and easy to use, the jig is made of a high-quality combination&#xA;  of metal and space-age plastic. Change from 3 to 4 or even 6 fletch&#xA;  settings with the flip of a switch. No more set screws, allen&#xA;  wrenches, or cumbersome knobs to turn!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUZdTm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUZdTm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;jig&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've bought it with a right wing clamp. However, I want to switch back to &quot;straight&quot; again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I able to just buy a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/spare-clamp-for-bearpaw-deluxe-fletching-jig-straight-clamp.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;straight spare clamp&lt;/a&gt; and use it on the jig?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T11:55:22.363" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T22:14:39.623" Title="Bearpaw fletching jig deluxe - am I able to just change the clamps from right winged to straight?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10553" CreationDate="2016-01-12T09:06:56.110" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, first of all there is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;no alpha male&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;! An alpha male only exists in captive wolf packs but never ever in the wild. Further reading about this topic &lt;a href=&quot;http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-everything-you-know-about-wolf-packs-is-wrong-502754629&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for example. The pack you've encountered was a family of three (more likely in January) or two generations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The average pack consists of a family of 5–11 animals (1–2 adults, 3–6&#xA;  juveniles and 1–3 yearlings)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_wolf&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you've experienced is pretty normal for &lt;em&gt;hungry&lt;/em&gt; wolves. It's categorized as a &lt;em&gt;&quot;Non-rabid unprovoked predatory attack&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Predatory attacks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unprovoked wolf attacks motivated by hunger are categorized as&#xA;  &quot;predatory&quot;. In some such cases, a cautious wolf may launch&#xA;  &quot;investigative&quot; or &quot;exploratory&quot; attacks to test the victim for&#xA;  suitability as prey. As with defensive attacks, such attacks are not&#xA;  always pressed, as the animal may break off the attack or be convinced&#xA;  to look elsewhere for its next meal. In contrast, during&#xA;  &quot;determined&quot; predatory attacks, the victims may be repeatedly bitten&#xA;  on the head and face and dragged off and consumed, sometimes as far&#xA;  away as 1-2.5 km from the attack site, unless the wolf or wolves are&#xA;  driven off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/2002.Review.wolf.attacks.pdf&quot;&gt;This publication&lt;/a&gt; contains everything you need to know. Page 16 is the part we are talking about here :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In some cases it has been suspected that the wolves are &quot;testing&quot; or&#xA;  investigating the person as potential prey, which can result in close&#xA;  approach, being knocked over, or bites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to answer the question &quot;Why did the wolf-pack withdraw from attacking me?&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;the wolves decided that you were not suitable as prey (luckily).&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was somewhat the easy part. I feel like you want to know why the wolves decided that you are not suitable, won't you? The problem is that we can't look in their heads and have no video etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, these are the key facts which make you suitable as a victim:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Panicking (loosing the control over your emotions/fear)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Appearing weak and small&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you've instinctively made everything right. As you've already guessed, you saved your life cause you've controlled your emotion (fear, panic etc.) but the most important thing is that &lt;strong&gt;you didn't run&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A few additional points&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While I asked plenty outdoormen, nobody had this experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's because attacks like these are extremely rare: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the half-century up to 2002, there were eight fatal attacks in&#xA;  Europe and Russia, three in North America&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Over the course of next 30-40 minutes, he was gradually coming closer&#xA;  to me, step by step, but the closest he got was about 3 meters. &#xA;  He was growling, teeth out, he definitely looked ready to take a bite, had&#xA;  that pose where whole body is lowered (as a cat), getting ready to&#xA;  jump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was trying to provoke you. It wanted to make you start to run what would've been your end :$. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Height: 190 cm &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Weight: ~100 kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is by far nothing which is considered as &quot;weak and easy to hunt&quot; by a wolf. Remember the &quot;Appearing weak and small&quot;-part from above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A worldwide 2002 study by the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research&#xA;  showed that 90% of victims of predatory attacks were children under&#xA;  the age of 18, especially under the age of 10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I only read it recently you are not supposed to (stare at) the wolf like that (as it is regarded as provocation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right but often it's a little bit misunderstood. You don't provoke the animal with a short staring - you've to actively &lt;em&gt;stare the animal down&lt;/em&gt;. So, I don't believe that your staring was recognized as a provocation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you've described, your region is quite used to the wolves around. Therefore habituation might apply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Habituation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wolf attacks are more likely to happen when preceded by a long period&#xA;  of habituation, during which wolves gradually lose their fear of&#xA;  humans. This was apparent in cases involving habituated North American&#xA;  wolves in Algonquin Provincial Park, Vargas Island Provincial Park and&#xA;  Ice Bay, as well as 19th century cases involving escaped captive&#xA;  wolves in Sweden and Estonia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-12T13:01:46.380" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T13:01:46.380" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-01-12T09:09:47.990" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hot Water - needs to be very hot - 140 F (60C) - reported to kill all, but is not good for wool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UV Light - hang out to dry in direct sunshine.  Products exist that claim to sterilize shoes using UV light and can be used for socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chemicals - Anti fungal Laundry rinse (e.g. Canestan) is effective, Borax etc. Bleach alone does not kill fungus spores.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your shoes and feet need treatment as much as your socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T09:09:47.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10553" CreationDate="2016-01-12T13:18:10.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you're told (i.e. we're taught) not to run from wolves (they can out-run you).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I take my dog for a walk and we see a cat, then the dog's behaviour depends on the cat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the cat stays where it is (watching the dog) then the dog walks past it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the cat runs away then the dog will chase it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that the wolf will use your behaviour to decide whether or not you're  prey animal; for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some prey animals (e.g. deer) are bigger than a wolf but run away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some non-prey animals (e.g. wolverines) are smaller than a wolf but don't run away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastActivityDate="2016-01-12T13:18:10.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10562" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-12T21:26:44.740" Score="13" ViewCount="997" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need a tent that will work in snow, sand storms, lots of wind, rain and sun(UV). Temperatures I'm expecting are -2C at night to 15C during the day. I will be backpacking, so the tent's weight should be sufficiently small for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do I cut down on weight without giving up what's needed?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've been told to avoid fiberglass tent poles as they have shattered on others out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there key attributes mountaineering tents have over other tents that I need in the described situations?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2432" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-13T17:23:45.460" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T10:12:47.753" Title="Is a mountaineering tent necessary for backpacking Iceland?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10563" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10564" CreationDate="2016-01-13T02:39:03.310" Score="10" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;As my other litter question stated, I live on a semi-rural road, and about twice a year pick up litter from the verge.  Others pick up litter too, but there are swathes of floodplain land, conservation land, as yet undeveloped land, two houses owned by very old people....The result is that I do most of the litter pick-up, both sides, for about 1.5 miles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a lot.  So far, I don't have to be selective about what I pick up, but if I do, what should my priorities be, from the point of view of the wildlife in the area?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number one priority in terms of wildlife is six-pack plastic webbing. After that, plastic bags which are number one in terms of unsightliness. And after these two items -- plastic bottles, glass bottles, broken glass, foam cups, some old styrofoam (it's being phased out in our area), plastic food containers, metal cans, occasional auto parts, cardboard, paper and occasional unidentified stuff.  That's it. Is there anything it would be better to leave?  For example, is the one old tire in the middle of brambles useful habitat for some critter? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit in Response to Comments: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Restricting the list of litter:  I've given a complete list above. Aside from the one old tire I mentioned, there is nothing I cannot pick up easily with one hand.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Wildlife:  Deer, foxes, (and reputedly coyotes), and all the small furry animals from raccoons down to voles.  A variety of snakes and amphibians. Also birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:24:35.743" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:24:35.743" Title="From the point of view of wildlife, what is the most dangerous component of roadside litter?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10563" CreationDate="2016-01-13T08:02:36.043" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thing here to consider most is the biodegradability of what is littered along a roadside. There are items which you can leave and will breakdown pretty quickly - like tissues, papers, and thinner cardboards - though 'quickly' is relative, they will degrade faster than plastics. And most food waste, though things like apple cores are acidic, it's not a high volume and nature can take its course with this kind of waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tin cans, drinks cans and plastic bottles take a long time to break down and are much better off being picked up and put in a recycling bin. In the UK to prevent littering of plastic bags there's been a two fold attempt to fix the issue - one, the bags are now much more biodegradable than they were and break down in UV, and two, they are no longer free! If bags are a big issue for you collect them up - give them a rinse, dry them out and reuse them (carrier bags make great small bin bags etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many plastics and rubbers, such as tyres (though these are often synthetic), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/tires-and-the-environment.html&quot;&gt;release toxins as they degrade or if they're set fire to&lt;/a&gt; and are not healthy for the environment at all - a habitat is only as good as it's soil, if the soil is unhealthy then the habitat will suffer. Plus they're breeding grounds for a couple of nasty flying insects. Better off taking a tyre to a decent recycling centre that won't burn it - or find a charity that will reuse them, they can be turned into pretty decently insulating walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more you can take, really the better. Unfortunately litter is a battle that's going on world wide, and there are plenty of people who are fighting the battle with you - so don't feel disheartened! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you want to know more about some inspiring people, let me know in chat - I won't plug them here ;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-01-13T08:02:36.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10565" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10568" CreationDate="2016-01-13T08:23:21.323" Score="9" ViewCount="2191" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning a 4 day hike in a few months. I would like to take my bow with me to do a little roving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I attach my bow to my backpack (back)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We are talking about an unstrung one-piece traditional hunting recurve.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-31T16:42:58.733" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T17:53:10.427" Title="How to carry a traditional bow while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;roving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10565" CreationDate="2016-01-13T18:20:27.273" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would lash it to the side of the pack, vertically, with nylon straps that you can purchase at any outdoor sporting store. You may have a little bit of trouble walking beneath branches or fallen trees if it extends too high above you. You should also remember that a bow is considered hunting equipment and, depending on the state you are in, you can be in legal trouble if you do not have a hunting license or if you are not in season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8558" LastEditorUserId="8558" LastEditDate="2016-01-13T20:45:23.947" LastActivityDate="2016-01-13T20:45:23.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10546" CreationDate="2016-01-13T22:39:32.430" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a local outdoor shop, take it in to see what they recommend. If it needs repairing, they might be able to do it if they are licensed by TNF, or they might be able to send it in on your behalf. And don't assume it isn't under warranty. This could be a known problem, and TNF is, like most outdoor gear companies, good about standing behind its products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or as @njzk2 mentioned, try a gear repair shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case, it probably won't be very expensive to repair. Even if the entire zipper needs to be replaced, I bet it's under $50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="3346" LastEditDate="2016-01-14T16:41:39.193" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T16:41:39.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10565" CreationDate="2016-01-14T02:41:30.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a pack similar to this one... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AREod.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AREod.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://m.basspro.com/RedHead-Primal-Bow/Rifle-Pack/product/13030307014435/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RedHead Primal Bow/Rifle Pack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pack is designed to carry your recurve bow (or other bow or rifle). From the item description:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Carries rifle, crossbow, compound bow, or recurve/longbow&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8563" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-09-03T17:53:10.427" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T17:53:10.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10577" CreationDate="2016-01-14T04:35:17.213" Score="7" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern racing Maxi Yachts are shaped like a wedge of cheese. The keel is aligned axially with the centerline of the boat. When the boat heels over in the wind, the outer edge of the hull is the only part of the boat in contact with the water. In effect, the outer edge of the hull becomes the new hull in water (HIW).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The keel is aligned with the center of the hull, not the HIW. The keel and the HIW form a vertex somewhere ahead of the bow. It seems like this arrangement pushes the HIW somewhat laterally through the water, creating extra drag. In fact, I've observed water spraying up from the waterline near the &lt;strong&gt;rear&lt;/strong&gt; of a boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is, can a keel in a Maxi Yacht rotate around its vertical axis (yaw) to re-align with the HIW?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8479" LastEditorUserId="8479" LastEditDate="2016-01-14T22:52:27.107" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T02:48:36.953" Title="Maxi Yacht: How do the keel and the hull align when heeled over?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10570" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10571" CreationDate="2016-01-14T09:28:31.717" Score="47" ViewCount="8346" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure if 'pre-hydrating' is a valid term to use for this, please correct me if you know the term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While walking down a tiring route, I was so tired and low on water. All I could think of was, &quot;ahh, I wish I had more water with me&quot;. I was carrying enough (for me), but a girl whom I met on the way wasn't, so I shared. When I reached a village after slogging for hours, sipping some after a typical interval and distance, I rested for a few minutes and drank a lot of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I know that I am going to be trekking over the weekend, does it help if say from Thursday, I start drinking more water than I usually do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This clicks my mind because I spend the whole day in air-conditioned office, so, naturally and unfortunately I drink less water than I am supposed to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-01-14T13:07:55.377" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T08:11:47.423" Title="Will drinking lots of water in the day(s) prior to a long trek mean I will need less water on the trek?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10570" CreationDate="2016-01-14T09:37:10.953" Score="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your body does not store significant amounts of water (most of the, usable, water in our body is in blood plasma). Unlike energy which can be stored as fat or carbohydrates, water has no real storage mechanism. This is why you will die of thirst long before you die of hunger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such, once your body reaches its optimal hydration point it will expel excess water (you go to the loo). Your kidneys control this process. If you ingest large quantities of water your kidneys will react to expel the excess. No storage will happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can also put extra strain on your kidneys and lower your blood salts level. So even if this was practical it'd be ill advised. Drinking far too much water in a &lt;strong&gt;short period of time&lt;/strong&gt; (remember it's not stored, your kidneys will eject the extra water as fast as they can) can lead to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt; or (&lt;strong&gt;in extreme cases!&lt;/strong&gt;) &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;water intoxication&lt;/a&gt; and even (eventually!) death! Though you would have to this to an incredibly extreme level to get anywhere near the Water Intoxication level. Hyponatremia can be nasty though and is reasonably easy to trigger:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;13% of the athletes who finished the 2002 Boston Marathon were in a&#xA;  hyponatremic state&#xA;  ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Signs and symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting,&#xA;  headache, short-term memory loss, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, loss&#xA;  of appetite, irritability, muscle weakness, spasms or cramps,&#xA;  seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You lose water naturally though sweating, urine, moisture evaporated from your lungs, etc. (you also produce water when you convert glucose to energy but this will be outstripped by your loss of water, typically).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to replace lost water constantly. The key to optimal hydration is little and often, because too much and your body will expel it, but too little and you become dehydrated. There's no way to avoid this mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6319/how-can-i-tell-if-i-am-dehydrated-or-have-low-electrolytes-need-salt-etc?rq=1&quot;&gt;How can I tell if I am dehydrated or have low electrolytes (need salt, etc.)?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9402/optimal-hydration?rq=1&quot;&gt;How do I achieve/maintain optimal hydration?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6875/ration-or-consume-water&quot;&gt;Ration or consume water?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T08:11:47.423" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T08:11:47.423" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10562" CreationDate="2016-01-14T09:58:01.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I think that most decent backpacking tents will be fine for Iceland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature is not extremely cold and you should be fine as long as you have a semi-decent sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I would recommend is getting a tent that can be self supporting (i.e. doesn't need pegging out to stand up) this can be very useful if you have to camp on rocky ground, they also tend to be a bit more secure in the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not too experienced with sand storms, but as njzk2 says try and get a tent with a non-mesh inner as this will give you an extra layer of protection. Also have a look at your route to for the risk of sandstorms. A quick search indicates that sandstorms are mainly an issue in spring/autumn and primarily in certain areas to the south of the island so they may be not too much of a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tents it is generally a balance between weight and sturdiness/protection/warmth. You can get some very light tents but they won't offer you the same protection as a slightly heavier one (at least not without being very expensive). Personally the tent is not the first place I look to make weight savings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I wouldn't worry about fibreglass poles. I don't think I've broken any that weren't over 5 years old. Even if you do they generally just snap or splinter more than shatter, and can generally be fixed with some Duct tape and maybe a stick (Duct tape is always essential kit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T09:58:01.737" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10562" CreationDate="2016-01-14T10:03:49.590" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skirt. If you care a lot about wind and sand, then you should look for a tent with a skirt - many moutaneering-specific tents do have one. But skirt does increase the weight, so there's no right decision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suppose a tent, that has a very small gap between a... uh, upper part, and a ground. Then you can just put some snow or sand there, to close the gap and have a nice sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for wind... well, half-barrel-like tents are bad against the wind, so you might want something with crossing poles construction, like half-sphere - but that's not mountaneering-specific, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorUserId="3207" LastEditDate="2016-01-14T10:12:47.753" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T10:12:47.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10570" CreationDate="2016-01-14T11:21:23.410" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Liam's right that you can't/shouldn't overhydrate, but based on my experience it's easily possible to start the day &lt;em&gt;under-hydrated&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe you're office-bound and don't drink enough water, or you've had a spot more alcohol the evening before than you should, or too much coffee... Either way, you start walking under-hydrated, and end up drinking more water than expected early in the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm doing a day hike, I tend to take a 1 or 2 litre water bottle in the car (in addition to what I'm walking with...), and use this to improve hydration as I drive/before I start walking. Whatever's left in the bottle is great to rehydrate with when you return to the car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="492" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T11:21:23.410" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7845" CreationDate="2016-01-14T13:58:45.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A simple solution is to hold the trekking vertically and repeatedly knock the pole with a piece of wood or rubber holder of a screwdriver. Knock the entire pole from up to down. Make sure the tip is pointing downward so when you knock the pole and if there is any movement on the inner pole..you will notice the inner pole start to move a bit and come loose. When you see the inner pole is moving down a bit then you can pull it out by hand. Never use any oil or wd40 or use any heat treatment. Just simple repeated knocking on the pole to loosen the oxidation will do. I solved my stucked BD trail poles with this method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T13:58:45.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10570" CreationDate="2016-01-14T14:39:14.503" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not at all.  It only takes a few hours for water to work its way from your gut into your system, after which any extra simply goes through your kidneys and out the other end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you can definitely drink extra water before you start and need less during the day.  The water you lose in sweat will then be directly replaced by the water you've drunk in the morning.  It doesn't completely remove your need for water during the day, but it certainly helps.  I believe American trail hikers call this &quot;camelling up&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you do need to think about electrolytes.  A reasonable breakfast will mostly take care of that though, as well as providing you with energy through the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T14:39:14.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10569" CreationDate="2016-01-14T16:17:48.957" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No the keel doesn't move. You can find the class rules for the Maxi 72 class &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maxi72.com/maxi72/about/Rule.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. The relevant rule is D.2.4 which specifies&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One fixed centreline keel, solid in profile. No part shall be&#xA;  adjustable when racing and there shall be no movement beyond the&#xA;  normal elasticity of the materials used. No wings or winglets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I short they have a fixed keel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect what you are seeing is probably just due to the shape of the hull. I couldn't see anything that unusual in the video you linked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other possible cause could be the boat &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planing_%28boat%29&quot;&gt;planing&lt;/a&gt; which will mean the boat mounts its own bow wave, causing it to appear further back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T16:17:48.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10579" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-14T17:02:32.153" Score="13" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to walk the 87 mile length of the Ridgeway National Trail (South England) in two days at the end of April.  I shall be walking about 47 miles one day, from approx 6am to 9pm.  I'll be starting again the next morning at 6am again.  So that gives me around 8 hours to rest (plus 1 hour in a car to get to the start point of the 2nd walk).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bonus is that I will be at home during these 8 hours, with access to bath, shower, comfortable warm bed etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any tips on how to make sure I'm able to move at 5am on the 2nd morning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8569" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:51.553" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:02:51.553" Title="How can I recuperate between two long walks" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10579" CreationDate="2016-01-14T17:52:36.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your goals should be to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recuperate as fast as possible and prevent injury&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Replenish your energy reserves as best you can&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So stretch and stretch well (even if your exhausted). I recently did a long distance walk and I was too tired to stretch in the evening. Worst decision I've ever made. I woke up after about an hour of sleep, I thought I'd torn my hamstring. I actually asked my girlfriend to take me to A&amp;amp;E. Turns out it was just severe cramp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully before you get to to this point you should of carb loaded. If you've got a break you likely need to do this again. It's tricky one TBH. You need to get some more energy on-board but you want this to be something that your body can quickly transfer to energy. To raise your reserves back up. If you haven't done enough prep getting energy into your system don't expect to make up for it now. It's too late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rest, &lt;strong&gt;lot's&lt;/strong&gt;. Try and get a good nights sleep for as long as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T17:52:36.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10570" CreationDate="2016-01-14T21:53:22.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water intake before the trek is just one of the factors that allow one drink a little bit less during the first day; more importantly, the same factors let you start the trek with much more energy and tolerance to discomfort.  That will eventually help you combat thirst as well, provided that you still don't expect miracles from your preparation and still carry enough water with you - basically as usual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat foods rich in polysaccharides (pasta, bread, vegetables,...) for the last 1-2 meals the day before the trek.&lt;/strong&gt;  Glucose is stored in your body in the form of glycogen, and glycogen binds a lot of water. One to four, or you could say that 80% of what's labelled glycogen in your muscles and in your liver is actually water, invisible to your hydration control mechanisms.  However, it takes time to accummulate glycogen and throughout that time the supply of glucose needs to stay away from both extremes; polysaccharides make that easier because they are digested slowly (compared to sugar) and they release glucose into your bloodstream gradually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While you are doing so, follow the usual hydration advice as well&lt;/strong&gt;; without sufficient (slow, gradual) water intake you will just not be able to build your glycogen reserves either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get enough sleep.&lt;/strong&gt;  I'm getting boring, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, we are not talking about huge quantities of glycogen and water accummulated.  But any form of physical exercise is just plain more enjoyable and healthier if you start it hydrated and full of energy.  And learning to eat and drink properly is a life skill that only gets more and more useful as you will age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8576" LastActivityDate="2016-01-14T21:53:22.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10579" CreationDate="2016-01-14T23:47:12.043" Score="10" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay hydrated.&lt;/strong&gt; Dehydration prolongs the time it takes to recover from exertion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat.&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure you bring enough and the right kind of food for the trip to adequately fuel your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleep.&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure you didn't skimp on sleep, just to get that extra early start.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prepare your body.&lt;/strong&gt; Go on long hikes or runs back to back in the weeks/months leading up to your trip. If you begin an activity with your muscles already being tired from a previous day's activity, you can simulate and train for longer periods of exertion. Marathon runners take advantage of this effect.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be rested.&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure you leave yourself a couple of days before your trip to regenerate from your training. In the days leading up to your trip, don't do much more that short, slow runs and/or short hikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Go light.&lt;/strong&gt; Try to bring as little stuff as possible. Make sure you don't bring any gear you don't know how to use/have never used, and think about leaving stuff at home that sole serve the purpose of &quot;creature comfort.&quot; If you are not an expert in multi-day backpacking ventures yet, make sure to take all the gear you plan on taking on your trip on some practice hikes. This way you have a chance to think twice about really needing that heavy DSLR and those 10 lenses you just can't leave the house without.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay dry.&lt;/strong&gt; (And warm.) If you are wet for prolonged periods of time your body looses heat energy, which will get replaced with energy you were planing on using to propel yourself forward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know thyself.&lt;/strong&gt; Be sure you have done enough activities that are of a much lesser scope to give you an idea when you are overexerted, and when you should give up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Play it safe.&lt;/strong&gt; This one heavily depends on your experience. If you are not an expert in the back-country, and if the trip is of an &quot;all or nothing&quot; nature like the summit of a peek, in that once you are half way along, it will take an equal amount of time to get back to civilization, it is a good idea to set yourself a hard time limit by when you should have completed the half way mark of your first day. If it looks like you will not be able to make that deadline, you either need to be prepared to spend extra days in the wilderness, or you turn around. It is not likely that you will make up time if you are lagging behind your daily goal that early on.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final note on stretching: If stretching is your thing (I personally haven't really stretched much in the past 10 years), make sure you do it right. Stretching can lead to little tears that don't hurt but prolong the time to recover. Stretching should be done as statically as possible. &quot;Bouncing&quot; can lead to injuries. Also, make sure you actually stretch you muscles instead of mostly compressing your disks. On your trip don't do any stretching you haven't done hundreds of times before without injuring yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T00:12:17.300" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T00:12:17.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10569" CreationDate="2016-01-15T02:41:42.443" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across this reference on a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seahorsemagazine.com/24-content/august-2013/134-leading-edge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Seahorse Magazine article&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Negative sideforce is undesirable because it pushes the yacht to&#xA;  leeward thereby increasing leeway angles. Negative keel fin sideforce&#xA;  also comes with an induced drag penalty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also discusses inclining the keel pin approximately 5 degrees to reduce these problems. About half of the article focuses on keel designs. The remainder discusses the bulb, canting keel system, daggerboards, and rudder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it seems like the answer to the question is that some designs have rules that allow designers to incline the keel pin and cant the keel, effectively allowing the keel to yaw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8479" LastEditorUserId="8479" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T02:48:36.953" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T02:48:36.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10640" CreationDate="2016-01-15T06:37:00.367" Score="10" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been scuba diving for several years, but it's been a little while now since the last time. I last dove in the summer of 2014, and I'm traveling to Chile next month and am hoping to go diving there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have my PADI Open Water and Adventures in Diving books I can reference, but I'd rather not re-read them in their entirety :) While I &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; capable of just jumping back into diving, I'd prefer to be confident I'm not forgetting anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the key points I should make sure I'm comfortable with before getting back in the water? What should I practice? What should I do when I arrive (I'll be renting most of my gear rather than bring it with me, if that matters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8580" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T18:30:02.883" Title="I've been out of the water for a little over a year; what should I focus on refreshing before I dive again?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10586" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10587" CreationDate="2016-01-15T07:47:10.673" Score="4" ViewCount="4903" Body="&lt;p&gt;For snowboarding reasons I need to know which country has the most &quot;snow days&quot; (is it even called like that?). I don't mean the highest snow height or something. Just the time when it's white outside. :) A snow-fall analogy to the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_duration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sunshine hours&lt;/a&gt;&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess it's a battle between Scandinavian countries, Austria and Switzerland, isn't it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T09:34:01.980" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T16:14:06.217" Title="Which country has the most snow days in Europe?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10586" CreationDate="2016-01-15T09:34:43.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scandinavia is a good option, the more north you go the better. For me the nature there is more remote, more 'raw' compared to the Alps. So I would think it's comparable with Canada (although I've never been to those regions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can choose when to go, why not go during winter time. You can add late autumn and early spring too. In this timespan you could have a great time in the Alps. Either Austria or going 'deeper' that means moving more into the Western Alps. In Switzerland, France and Italy you can find the high mountains of Europe where you can hike a lot. During winter you can do really a lot of snowboarding. You find a lot of prepared tracks too. You need to know that the Alps are touristic developed pretty much that means you find a lot to do and especially lot of easy accessible activities to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't choose just by the days with snow. There is more than that. Think of culture, cities you wanna visit or in general what you are planning to see besides mountains (although I understand your point of view -_-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some examples where to go if you are searching snow:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geo.de/GEO/reisen/reiseideen/wintersport-die-top-ten-der-schneesicheren-reiseziele-76861.html&quot;&gt;http://www.geo.de/GEO/reisen/reiseideen/wintersport-die-top-ten-der-schneesicheren-reiseziele-76861.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even without translating it you can get an impression where they have a lot of snow. They give more ideas, like Kuusamo und Ruka in Finnland. It has a lot of snow but it's not very steep there. So more a cross-country skying paradise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T09:34:43.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-15T11:04:11.700" Score="12" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am 43 years of age and recently took up high altitude trekking in the Himalayas. I have observed that on my descent (with practically no ascents) my calf muscles start paining immensely. If I turn around and start trekking upward I wouldn't feel any pain at all. Typically this pain comes after about two hours of continuous (with short breaks though) descent. Over time the pain spreads across to the thighs as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would request the experienced trekkers to provide some guidance on how I should be stepping while descending such that the pain is minimized? Any advice on the proper stepping / gait while descending?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8582" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T11:08:37.917" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:42:57.033" Title="How can I prevent calf muscle pain while descending?" Tags="&lt;muscle-cramps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2016-01-15T11:22:38.103" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Woman here. No, I do not believe it's safe for women to hike alone. While most men in the western world would never harm a woman, women are magnets for the minority who would, and there are enough opportunistic predators out there that women find themselves being assaulted at the most random times while trying to perform the most mundane tasks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think the good guys out there really are able to understand what women actually face with regards to their safety, unless they have daughters, but I don't fault these men for their lack of insight and understanding. In most instances, as they are good guys who are down right disgusted by the thought of a man hurting a woman, they just really have a hard time fathoming that there are any non-negligible quantity of guys out there that would hurt a woman at all. And they don't have the life experiences of a woman to show them otherwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spend 95% of my time surrounded by men, often in primarily male environments, and with that in mind, the number of times I've been threatened or harassed in some way by a man, for the fact that I am a woman, is small. However &quot;small&quot; is not &quot;zero&quot;, and it only takes one instance of violence to harm or kill or victimize you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my life, I've had random, often much older men try to coax me into their car on more than one occasion, and men online send me unsolicited photos of their genitals on countless occasions. I've been harassed on public transportation by men who have approached me to say sexually explicit things, and have then proceeded to follow me and would not leave me alone until crowds scared them away. I've had men become hostile because I've told them politely that I wasn't interested (one told me to &quot;f#ck off and die&quot;), and one acquaintance, who thought I had rejected when i informed him that I was busy on the day he had asked me to go out with him on, responded by tossing a full cup of ice out the window at me from a speeding car. I've had guys say &quot;Hello&quot; to me on the street as if they were nice, respectable people, only to start harassing me with sexual suggestions when I was kind enough to say &quot;Hello&quot; back. And this was in a city where, sure, you run into more people, and thus more bad people, but a lot of them are inhibited by the crowds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what if I were to run into one of these guys alone in the middle of nowhere? What is to stop them from going as far as they want?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will level with you all. I'm 5'2, 127lbs and have trouble benching the bar, which is 40lbs. At my strongest, with serious training, I could never bench more than 65lbs. Do you think I could easily subdue the average sized man? Women do not fight men off with their strength. When you hear on the news that a woman managed to fight off her attacker, what actually happened was the woman made a commotion and scared the attacker off because he was afraid other people would come see what all the commotion was about and find out what he was trying to do to her. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd love to live in a world where I did not have to deal with these issues and had the same freedom to explore on my own without the added liability that being a woman presents. Heck, I'd even settle for a world where taking the trash out at 2am wasn't something that forced me to ask myself &quot;Do I take the trash out and risk getting raped? Or do I put up with the smell until morning?&quot; but that's just not my lot in life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8583" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T11:22:38.103" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10590" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10596" CreationDate="2016-01-15T14:39:55.283" Score="9" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scenic_Trail&quot;&gt;National Scenic Trails&lt;/a&gt; span many different land types (state/federal parks, forests, etc). While these all have different rules on pets, I was wondering if the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Trails_System&quot;&gt;National Trail System designation&lt;/a&gt; has special rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are pets (particularly dogs, in my case) allowed to thru-hike US National Scenic Trails such as the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T21:24:23.917" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T21:24:23.917" Title="Are pets allowed to thru-hike US National Scenic Trails?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10591" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-15T14:49:04.367" Score="10" ViewCount="5556" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/2999/how-to-properly-lace-hiking-boots&quot;&gt;another post&lt;/a&gt; about properly lacing hiking boots, and while it talks about methods for tying the laces, it doesn't address &lt;em&gt;how tight&lt;/em&gt; the laces should be on properly tied hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do I know when the laces are tightened properly? How tight is too tight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:40:23.263" Title="How tight should I tie hiking boot laces?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoelaces&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10591" CreationDate="2016-01-15T15:45:41.380" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Again, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;how tight is too tight? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably something that doesn't come off while walking in tall grass, but does come off quick when you want it to, also fast to tie up again is the knot you are looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually prefer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ian's Secure knot&lt;/a&gt;. Such a brilliant link!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a pair of shoes which have a slightly longer laces which I deliberately didnt change, with them I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/megaianknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mega Ian's knot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if anybody has tried the method below or not, but this worked for me:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have shoes with ankle support (whether they are good or bad is different question), When I am done tieing the shoelace, I do a bit of stretching and see if it restricts my ankle movement by any means. If it does, I loosen it up a bit and then I am good to go. For what I have observed, if you tie up too tight, with usual hiking shoes you won't feel much of a difference in the tarsal region and overall foot, but you will where the neck of the shoe comes in contact, either near the ankle (if they are not ankle-high) or above the ankle where the shin begins (if they have ankle support).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A side-note: Elasticity of the shoelace also comes in picture when its about how secure a knot is!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T15:55:20.240" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T15:55:20.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10588" CreationDate="2016-01-15T16:46:11.793" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ah, the Biomechanics of Locomotion!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is how I think of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Muscles play an important role. They contract, expand when you need them too.&#xA;Have you ever worked out? In early days of work-outs when you worked heavily on biceps, you may have felt pain in the triceps. Why? Thats because of muscle contraction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, two types: Eccentric Contraction and Concentric Contraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When someone pose for Biceps (like, a 90&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; angle between shoulder and the biceps, and the same between the biceps and the rest of the arm), what contraction he/she had? Both! Concentric Contraction at the Bicep and Eccentric Contraction at the Triceps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why Triceps pained more? If you can imagine, Concentric Contraction contracts you muscle and Eccentric Contraction expands your muscles (in length mostly). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am more concerned about center of gravity (balance, speaking vaguely), When I am descending than when I am ascending. The center of gravity shifts on foot when I am descending since I don't want to let my body tip-off due to pace. Internally, muscles of the shin contracts eccentrically to control the descent of the toes after I place my heel down. If that doesn't happen, I will no longer have control on how fast my leg goes down and I would hurt myself awfully with every step downwards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its all gravity, when I walk downwards, descending a step, my knees are always always always straight. Thats because of the gravity. But as I step on surface, because the quadriceps contract eccentrically to control my knees from bending too much, there a spring action at the knees.. That helps to deal with impact. Quadriceps Muscles are group of 4 muscles around thigh. The reason I mentioned about Quadriceps is to hint you that its not just the Calf you are worried about. Its the whole mechanism!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think, its just the calf, try heavy running on a flat hard surface for a long time. You'd complain more about Shins than Calf and Knees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it goes beyond what you can and should deal with, you might want to consult your physiotherapist. And, you might want to read about DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice on how to walk on descents:&#xA;Well, consider taking a less sharper route way down the mountain, specifically if you are hauling a heavy backpack.&#xA;The other option can be effective use of walking sticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people do prefer one-step-down, then the other exactly besides it, one-step-down and so on...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I never paid too much attention to that ever, so.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to avoid it and/or partially live with it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stretching exercises should be a routine before you start the day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Muscle strengthening &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-01-15T17:42:57.033" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:42:57.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10591" CreationDate="2016-01-15T17:40:23.263" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When they are tight enough to prevent movement within the shoe/boot but not so tight that it causes discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little too loose is actually worse than a lot too loose. A little too loose will guarantee a blister, while a lot too loose will reduce your ankle support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:40:23.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10585" CreationDate="2016-01-15T17:45:18.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Breathing technique is bar far the most important. Remember to keep your airways open at all times during descent and ascent, but most importantly during ascent. During normal dives you want to keep you ascent slower than the rising bubbles, while in a near continuous exhale, in deep dives you slow the ascent to half the speed of the air bubbles while exhaling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An air embolism is a SCUBA divers worst nightmare come true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:45:18.833" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10590" CreationDate="2016-01-15T17:51:13.210" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. They can be on the vast majority of each trail, but in most cases the land agencies along the way still have their own rules, and many National Parks (and some state parks) forbid pets on trails. You would have to either bypass those areas or arrange for your pet to be transported to the other end of each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T17:51:13.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4769" CreationDate="2016-01-15T18:39:29.913" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;While on a month long canoe trip we were using well-used tents, a tarp under the tent was usually all that was needed. But we did have a few nights where adding an extra tarp to the inside to keep sleeping bags dry was a great quick fix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people on the trip had their own tarps, though we were sharing the camp's tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2432" LastActivityDate="2016-01-15T18:39:29.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10598" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10601" CreationDate="2016-01-16T03:22:47.987" Score="14" ViewCount="1130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hammock camped twice in below freezing weather, between 10 F and 25 F (-12C and -4C). The first time using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trial-Camping-Pad-Blue/16783660&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;closed-cell foam (CCF)&lt;/a&gt; pad and the second time using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hammockgear.com/incubator-20/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;full size underquilt&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm headed out for a third time in about a month and want to continue to add to my ability to sleep in cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My feet are probably the hardest to keep warm, from there the quilt does help a lot, much more so than the pad. But still not quite as warm as I'd like it to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know my sleeping bag needs to be upgraded, but it compresses. Thus doing so may not be the most effective overall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be most effective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is my current setup when sleeping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fresh/Dry &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004KWEYLK&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Smartwool Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt; socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy Poly Base Layer (pants and long sleeve upper).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medium weight (200) fleece pants (&lt;a href=&quot;http://outaware.com/Soft%20Shell%20Fleece%20Clothing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Original Madison Pants&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medium weight (200) fleece jacket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down jacket (probably medium as well).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balaclava (200 fleece).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fairly cheap down sleeping bag (one of my weakspots).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece blanket (I alternate using it beneath me or layering on top of my sleeping bag).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hammockgear.com/incubator-20/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Incubator 20&lt;/a&gt; Underquilt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain fly to keep the wind (and sometimes rain) off my face.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ENO Double Nest Hammock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boiled water in a 1L Nalgene bottle for my feet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down pillow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8589" LastEditorUserId="305" LastEditDate="2016-10-18T20:16:22.227" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T22:31:15.460" Title="What is the most effective way to keep warm in a Hammock in below freezing weather?" Tags="&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10451" CreationDate="2016-01-17T00:20:37.893" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're right that the various species of shorebirds, including in your area,  like most of the same types of foods. The diet is primarily comprised of invertebrates such as crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and insects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although some species are indeed bigger, they tend to co-exist peacefully. One reason is that they have different types of bodies and  bills, and are designed to eat at different depths, areas and locations. There's plenty of food to go around, and the birds know how to find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpiper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sandpipers&lt;/a&gt; have long thin bills, which have what are called &quot;tactile receptors&quot; in the tip. This means that they feel their prey before seeing it. They open their bill a little before poking the water, effectively turning it into a forceps, which they use for pulling up food that's below the surface. Less frequently, they open their bill and run in shallow water, catching little fish along the way. Many shorebirds, including some sandpipers, have an ability to curl up only the front section of the top bill. This fascinating feature called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranial_kinesis#Rhynchokinesis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rhynchokinesis&lt;/a&gt; enables them to open wider to catch larger prey. Birds with varying degrees of it dig at deeper depths, which is one reason why there's no need to fight for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plover&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Plovers&lt;/a&gt; have shorter bills and better vision, so they use a run-stop-hunt feeding method similar to that seen in robins and other land birds. Plovers prefer to eat higher up on the beach. They enjoy finding small crustaceans tucked into pockets of seaweed which wash up with the tide, and are built to easily maneuver their way in and out of that. They also feed at the edge of dunes, tide pools, other sandy areas ignored by other shore birds, and even at the base of low-growing plants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although considered a shorebird, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer/id&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;killdeer&lt;/a&gt; are the least frequent bird found at the water's edge, and don't get in the way of others who are eating. In fact, if you think you see a shore bird on the golf course or in an open field, it's likely to be a killdeer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source materials and further research:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prbo.org/cms/docs/edu/BeachGuidePDF4webreduced.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Beach Birds of California&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernsnowyplover.org/pdfs/plover_natural_history.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Western Snowy Plover Natural History&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/sandpipers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sandpipers in Monterey California&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prbo.org/cms/docs/wetlands/Shorebirdidflyer.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Shorebirds in Northern California&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://northernrustic.blogspot.com/2012/08/distal-rhynchokinesis-in-purple.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Distal rhynchokinesis in Purple Sandpipers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T00:20:37.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10563" CreationDate="2016-01-17T01:35:57.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an addition to Aravona's excellent answer.  Plastic litter poses especial dangers to wildlife.  See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.defendersblog.org/2016/01/plastic-threats-to-wildlife/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, posted by &lt;em&gt;Defenders of Wildlife&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the Ocala National Forest of Florida, a black bear cub digs through&#xA;  trash, only to have its head become encased entirely in a plastic jar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Winter 2016 issue of &lt;em&gt;Defenders&lt;/em&gt; quoted a &quot;recent study&quot; published in the &lt;em&gt;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences&lt;/em&gt;, which found that 90% of seabirds have plastic in their guts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Birds mistake plastic pieces for food....Sharp edges can fatally&#xA;  puncture internal organs, and an accumulation of plastic in the gut&#xA;  leaves little room for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does the plight of seabirds have to do with roadsite litter?  Not much, if you are in the middle of, say, the Mojave Desert.  But heavy rainfall in my area can carry litter into Difficult Run, which flows into the Potomac, which flows into Chesapeake Bay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-01-17T01:50:21.673" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T01:50:21.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10598" CreationDate="2016-01-17T03:36:47.740" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might try stretching out your hammock tighter between trees and sleeping  slightly diagonally to keep the hammock from compressing the sides of your sleeping bag as much.  If you're able to sleep on your side it should reduce the amount of insulation being compressed as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8243" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T03:36:47.740" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10602" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-17T14:41:27.730" Score="2" ViewCount="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anyone recognize the bird call in the first 20 secs of this recording:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sb5jjx3maeuk4o/Birdcall_Sept_Bethesda.m4a?dl=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sb5jjx3maeuk4o/Birdcall_Sept_Bethesda.m4a?dl=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recorded in Bethesda, Maryland in September of 2015.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8600" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T23:14:22.430" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T23:14:22.430" Title="What species of bird is in this recording?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-01-17T17:27:48.413" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10603" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10745" CreationDate="2016-01-17T15:12:48.403" Score="5" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recorded in September 2015 in Bethesda, MD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sb5jjx3maeuk4o/Birdcall_Sept_Bethesda.m4a?dl=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sb5jjx3maeuk4o/Birdcall_Sept_Bethesda.m4a?dl=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The recording was created at 1:00 PM on Sept 24th. I didn't see the bird, but I think it was in my Mulberry tree. The closest body of water would be the Potomac, but that's at least two miles from here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry I can't provide more hints. I don't know a lot about birds, I just found the song quite striking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8601" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:47:37.510" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:47:37.510" Title="What species of bird is in this recording from Bethesda MD?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10570" CreationDate="2016-01-17T17:50:26.493" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I know that I am going to be trekking over the weekend, does it help if say from Thursday, I start drinking more water than I usually do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This clicks my mind because I spend the whole day in air-conditioned office, so, naturally and unfortunately I drink less water than I am supposed to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have already (correctly) told you that we cannot store much water (for later use).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as you mention that you generally drink too few water, I think that making a point of drinking much water starting a day or two before the tour is actually a good idea. (Even better would be to drink enough water in general, though.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While that does not build up a reserve of water for the tour, it allows you to start without a water deficit. Your kidneys do not just produce pee to keep the correct water level of the body, they also regulate pH (acid-base homeostasis) and electrolytes and expel different kinds of water-soluble waste (see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renal_physiology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renal_physiology&lt;/a&gt;).&#xA;To do that, first so-called primary urine is produced which contains lots of water (ca. 180 l/day is healthy) which is then concentrated about 100x to keep the water in the body. This concentration step is why drinking and peeing more water is easier for the kidneys. A rule of thumb is that your kidneys are happy if you pee ca. 2 l/day (this looks clear unless you ate something that has/creates colored urine and is really a lot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The often-cited problems with hyponatremia are typically in situations where people sweat in the liter/hour range and replace only pats of the water, but no electrolytes and/or are in somehow restricted situations (like the cited marathon race or in the (in)famous water-drinking competitions) in which it seems good to ignore all kinds of signals of the body.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;The thing is, these situations are quite opposite to drinking more water during a day or two in preparation of a tour: that gives you time enough to act on all kinds of signal of what the body needs: Thirst is our signal for the need of water. But need for Na&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; can be perceived as well, it leads to an appetite for salty food (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_appetite&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_appetite&lt;/a&gt;). There's also a sensation that prevents overhydration, e.g. I then dislike the thought of drinking more water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO there is no need at all to run into low Na&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; trouble on tours: Just take some salt with you, and act on whether feel an appetite for saltor not: if it feels like a good idea to have salt on your cucumber or egg, that's what you should do. If the idea of cucumber without salt seems better, you're in need of water, but not of Na&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T20:51:34.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2016-01-17T23:58:25.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to use a pencil, as apparently many others do. The eraser deteriorates and the graphite in time too.  I would be reluctant to use a trekking pole as I suspect UV would deteriorate the tape. I hit this site for a better idea than the pencil and while not finding one here, I just hit on the idea of using a plastic card (like a free and non-identifiable gasoline card from places like C. Farms). They have no identifiable data and are unusable if you do not activate them. The weight is negligible and kept inside the pack, handled only when necessary, it will not significantly deteriorate (as might be the case with water bottles too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8605" LastActivityDate="2016-01-17T23:58:25.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10606" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-18T02:50:12.643" Score="6" ViewCount="1722" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm shopping for some 1&quot; tubular webbing. There is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/737298/bluewater-1-climb-spec-tubular-webbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climb-spec webbing&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/783605/tapecraft-1-military-spec-tubular-webbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;military-spec webbing&lt;/a&gt;. The military-spec description says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Meets industry-standard military specs for breaking strength and resistance to abrasion&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the difference, if any, between these two? When should each be used, and what are the specification differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T11:47:18.027" Title="What is the different between climb-spec and military-spec webbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10606" CreationDate="2016-01-18T03:31:32.037" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the most part they are identical, the only identifiable difference is that &lt;strong&gt;military spec tube webbing has a &lt;em&gt;ribbed weave&lt;/em&gt;, while climbing spec has a &lt;em&gt;smooth weave&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Having a smooth weave obviously makes tube webbing better for tying and most importantly, &lt;em&gt;untying&lt;/em&gt; knots; it also makes it a lot easier to pull through your carabiners, especially when stacked. Climbing spec is also slightly stronger – ~19kN vs 17.6kN. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, there's no real difference, the primary reason why you would use one over the other would be availability. Military spec webbing is more common in stores in some regions, and comes in a larger variety of colours (like digital camo).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Military Spec: (Ribbed)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RHSHB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RHSHB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Climbing Spec: (Smooth)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SJdMe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SJdMe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-18T05:15:29.843" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T05:15:29.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2016-01-18T05:10:34.863" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are such things as compact, or &lt;em&gt;mini&lt;/em&gt; rolls of duct tape, I've got a couple that came with my small, one or two person survival first aid kits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dfU4V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dfU4V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could make a small roll yourself, just fold the end of a regular roll of tape over itself by a couple inches, then start rolling it up as you take it off the big roll. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OC91X.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OC91X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T05:10:34.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10613" CreationDate="2016-01-18T05:23:48.610" Score="4" ViewCount="900" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I put on my trekking-socks last weekend, I wondered what might be the differences between the left and the right sock (besides the &quot;mirrored&quot; design)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:45:42.553" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:45:42.553" Title="Differences between the right and the left trekking sock" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10611" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10612" CreationDate="2016-01-18T05:38:31.973" Score="11" ViewCount="3820" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were in a central European forest last weekend and discovered a few places where a bunch of sticks were leaned against a tree. They build kind of a circle so that it looked like a small hut. However, this can't be the purpose of them, cause they weren't pretty close to each other (so they are holey and thus wouldn't serve as a roof). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've made a little sketch (wasn't able to take a photo :/): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fk1yY.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fk1yY.png&quot; alt=&quot;tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were quite a few of them. We've discovered at least three. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the purpose of such &quot;buildings&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The room &quot;covered&quot; in those sticks was pretty small. So the shelter theory would only work for kids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can remember they were leaned against a pine. At least not against a fruit tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-19T10:51:39.167" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T07:25:33.453" Title="Sticks leaning on a tree building a hut-like formation - what's the purpose of that?" Tags="&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10611" CreationDate="2016-01-18T06:48:54.990" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;These dot the woods near my house (Eastern United States), where children construct them as play forts. I suspect this activity has worldwide appeal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8607" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T06:48:54.990" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10610" CreationDate="2016-01-18T10:54:33.427" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, basically the difference is just that their design is mirrored. However, I have the feeling that your real question behind the actual one is &quot;Why do they have to be mirrored?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to &quot;normal&quot; socks, which are basically just a symmetrically knitted tube that is closed at one end and has a kink somewhere in the middle and can be worn on either left or right foot, more specialized socks such as trekking or running socks feature a more sophisticated design. This can include patches of stronger padding at spots of higher load or friction, areas where the fabric should only stretch into a certain direction, an asymmetric toe box, and similar stuff that are thought to make them as comfortable as possible, prevent blisters and/or help with the wearer's performance.* Typical patterns are things like a more padded heel and toe area (these could be also symmetric) and also more padding of the sole along the outside edge of the foot but less under the arch of the foot – and here the trouble begins, since our feet are not symmetric in themselves but are mirrored towards each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, once you want to design socks (and also shoes and gloves where this is much more obvious) that take into account this asymmetry, you have to design pairs with an explicit right and left item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Some of those measures may be not of relevance for you or just some kind of voodoo that has no real justification but gives you a good feel and the manufacturer a higher price, but that's not the point here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-01-18T11:12:43.210" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T11:12:43.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10606" CreationDate="2016-01-18T11:47:18.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @ShemSeger's answer, there exists another minor difference that is also visible in his images: On the red webbing, there are three white threads. Each of these threads stands for 5kN of strength. &#xA;All climbing webbing that I know has this kind of marking, though often in a different color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first glance, this might seen to conflict with the requirement that UIAA-certified sewn slings have a strength of at least 22kN, but that is for the &lt;em&gt;loop&lt;/em&gt;, i.e. both strands and the sewn connection are tested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T11:47:18.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10611" CreationDate="2016-01-18T11:53:20.753" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;While that construction has no shelter currently, Scouts and other outdoors groups will often make a frame like you describe, and then cover those branches with leaves, moss or even a tarp in order to provide a shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the tree trunk gives a solid support for this sort of thing, and often the tree itself provides some shelter from its own branches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T11:53:20.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10611" CreationDate="2016-01-18T12:28:43.870" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Were there fruit trees nearby? I ask because here (South Germany) the old-style apple trees grow really big, and in autumn they have such masses of fruit that the branches can break off under the weight. So they keep those sticks leaning on the trees, and in autumn they get wedged under the long branches so they don't break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The modern apple plantations for the mass market have short trees which don't have this problem. The really big trees are for cider apples - the older breeds are supposed to have more taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5740" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T12:28:43.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10951" CreationDate="2016-01-18T12:33:14.117" Score="9" ViewCount="453" Body="&lt;p&gt;The winter suddenly set in here and it was pretty warm before. We walked through the snow in a central European forest and I realized a lot of &quot;black dots&quot; (dozens of them) as a contrast to the white. It turned out that these were little spiders - dead little spiders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw one rappel down from a branch (quite slow; like exhausted). It died as soon as it reached the floor (so, the snow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happened there? Were they just hatched little spiders frozen to death cause of the sudden cold? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJftU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJftU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spider in the snow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-26T10:41:01.257" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T20:29:48.210" Title="Dozens of dead little spiders in the snow" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2016-01-18T13:11:16.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to wrap it around an existing object you're carrying, you could also make a mini-roll by wrapping tape around a small plastic tube, such as the shell of an old ballpoint pen - this can be cut down to the right length for the tape, or simply wrap two strips next to each other to take twice as much tape (or the same amount in a smaller diameter)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3645" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T13:11:16.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10619" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10630" CreationDate="2016-01-18T15:37:29.203" Score="11" ViewCount="1070" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMOCA_60&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open 60 sailboats&lt;/a&gt; have a pedal-looking control in the middle of the cockpit. Does anyone know what it does and how it works?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mk1Wz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mk1Wz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Open 60 Sailboat Cockpit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://feelinknotty.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dsc_0721.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://feelinknotty.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dsc_0721.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8610" LastEditorUserId="8610" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T02:57:33.680" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T18:01:04.017" Title="What is the hand-pedal device called on an Open 60 sailboat?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10619" CreationDate="2016-01-18T16:59:06.640" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;winch&lt;/a&gt;. Which is used to generate a larger force needed for bigger boats. What it actually controls is not entirely clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best guess would be it's for the main halyard (to raise the sail) or at least something to do with the sail. Looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://feelinknotty.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/onboard-le-pingouin-with-brad-van-liew-winner-of-the-2010-11-velux-5-oceans-race/dsc_0711/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this picture&lt;/a&gt; the man is looking up at the sail in harbour while using the winch in question. So I would guess he is looking how high he raised it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8gzlL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8gzlL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Man operating a winch on a sailboat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="8610" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T02:52:34.420" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T02:52:34.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10628" CreationDate="2016-01-18T17:24:36.603" Score="6" ViewCount="1700" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a scenario I was faced with recently. We do a climb that involves going up to a mountain hut and sleeping there the night before summit day. There is no snow at the hut to melt for drinking water, so we have to carry up all our drinking water. This is in Mexico (on Iztaccihuatl), so we're buying water in bottles. Temperatures at the hut are forecast to be below freezing. On the night before summit day, we can sleep with water bottles inside our sleeping bags to keep them from freezing. But on summit day, we need to leave most of our water at the hut, to which we'll return. Although we can leave these bottles inside sleeping bags and hope they won't freeze, we can't count on that, so the expectation is that when we get back to the hut, all of our water is frozen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this type of situation, what good techniques are there for getting the water unfrozen?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best plan I was able to come up with was the following. Bring up a plastic bucket. Before heading up on summit day, remember to pour out some water into a pan, and more into the bucket. When we get back to the hut, melt the frozen water in the pan, then use an ice ax to chop more ice out of the bucket and melt that as well. (A variation on this plan would have been to not use a bucket, but use hot water in the pan to thaw out the frozen water bottles, by dunking the water bottles in the hot water. I think this might have been much too slow, however.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't actually get a chance to try this plan, because conditions changed. (A big storm came in, and dropped a lot of snow at the hut, but the storm also prevented us from doing the climb.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[EDIT] Some of the answers and comments have talked about using big pots, building campfires, and hanging things from above. My question is about mountaineering, so none of that is applicable. We're above tree line, and the heat source is a stove. Although in this particular situation we might have been able to hang things from above (because we were going to be in a mountain hut), that would not be possible in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:59.697" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:35:59.697" Title="Unfreezing cached water bottles" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10623" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10625" CreationDate="2016-01-18T18:56:35.040" Score="9" ViewCount="5496" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sea water does not freeze until &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;about −2 °C (28 °F)&lt;/a&gt; if you add more salt you can lower the  &lt;a href=&quot;https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1598&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;freeze point to -21°C.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We know from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920&quot;&gt;How much sea water can I safely drink?&lt;/a&gt; that drinking salt water is not good.  But adding any substance to water that will form a solute will lower the freezing temp. You can drink as much sugar water as you want, the only risk is added calories which you likely need anyhow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The higher the concentration of salt, the lower the freezing point drops. Any foreign substance, such as sugar, alcohol, or any chemical salt, added to the water, forms a solute, which will lower the freezing point and melt ice. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://aquarius.umaine.edu/activities/can_sw_freeze.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if I want to add sugar to my water to keep it from freezing how do I calculate how much sugar per unit of water I need to add, to keep it liquid at a given temperature? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:49.393" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:35:49.393" Title="How to calculate how much sugar to use as antifreeze in drinking water?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10622" CreationDate="2016-01-18T19:31:07.123" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm winter camping I always leave my water in my pot over night, so all I have to do in the morning is turn the stove on and let the ice melt. If I want water for later, I'll typically boil it, then leave it in a good thermos, which will keep it liquid at -15°C for a good 24hrs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though not very practical, your idea with the bucket will work, just keep in mind that chopping away at ice in a frozen plastic bucket is an easy way to crack open the bucket. Alternatives to your plastic bucket idea would be to bring freezer bags, they'd be lighter to carry, and easier to retrieve your ice from. If you want to get fancy, you could bring a silicone container, like a silicone pot that you could easily peel off you brick of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If desperate, you may be interested to know that it is impossible to burn a container filled with water. You can literally place a paper cup in a roaring fire, and the water will all boil out before the cup will burn: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DS8G.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DS8G.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do the same with your bottles of water, just hold them over your stove stove and they will thaw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-19T04:10:21.067" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T04:10:21.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10623" CreationDate="2016-01-18T19:44:40.363" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This can be calculated using a property called cryoscopic constant &lt;em&gt;K&lt;sub&gt;f&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; which links the concentration of a solved substance to the freezing point depression &lt;em&gt;T&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;T&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt; = m * K&lt;sub&gt;f&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where m is the molality which is the amount of mols of solved substance per kg of solvent (here water). For water &lt;em&gt;K&lt;sub&gt;f&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is 1.86K*kg/mol and the molar mass of sugar (sucrose) is 342g/mol. So to calculate the freezing point depression do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;T&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/em&gt; = 1.86 / 342 * mass of sugar in g / mass of water in kg&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples for grams of sugar added to 1 liter water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&#xA;g/l     &lt;i&gt;T&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; &#xA;10      0.054  &#xA;50      0.27  &#xA;500     2.7&#xA;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/print_project_1151_38&quot;&gt;science-fair-project&lt;/a&gt; that measured this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you need a huge amount of sugar for a small effect, not very practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-18T19:50:13.870" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T19:50:13.870" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9212" CreationDate="2016-01-18T20:00:38.167" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mink oil or Sno seal are two brands I've had good results with. Preheating the boots with a hair dryer to open the pores is essential for either product.Hit the seams and inside bends first then just rub in a good coating all over and wait for it to soak in. Repeat if required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8612" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T20:00:38.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10686" CreationDate="2016-01-18T20:01:54.273" Score="14" ViewCount="13262" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that the antifreeze used in fresh water RV tanks is non-toxic and can protect to -50F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thinking Sugar might be a good choice I posted the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10623&quot;&gt;How to calculate how much sugar to use as antifreeze in drinking water?&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10623/how-to-calculate-how-much-sugar-to-use-as-antifreeze-in-drinking-water/10625#10625&quot;&gt;the answer&lt;/a&gt; it looks like you don't get much real benefit for reasonable amounts of sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what potable/drinkable additive can I use to keep my drinking water from freezing?  How much of it do I need to use to get to protect at different temperatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optimally the answer includes a chart that shows the volume to add per unit of water, for an anticipated temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:41.350" LastActivityDate="2019-11-26T20:14:08.063" Title="What is the safest and most effective additive to keep drinking water from freezing?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10622" CreationDate="2016-01-18T20:06:52.383" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I have frozen water bottles (usually plastic Nalgene bottles), I melt them by putting them in a pot of hot water. It doesn't take too long to melt the ice to the point you can get it out of the wide-mouth bottle. Then you can just dump the ice into the hot water. (As you get more water in the pot, make sure to ladle it back into bottles so the pot doesn't overflow.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, that means you need some water to start with. I like your idea of leaving some water in your pot to freeze. You could also bring along a flexible cup or three to use as ice-cube molds overnight, then use those as your starter water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T20:06:52.383" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10627" CreationDate="2016-01-18T20:25:57.690" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's pretty easy to keep your water from freezing without adding anything to it, actually. If you keep it under your shell, your body heat will keep it from freezing. If you bury it under a foot or so of snow, it will stay liquid overnight (although you may get a little ice around the edges). If you boil it and put your hot water bottle in your sleeping bag, it won't freeze &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; you'll have toasty-warm feet. Insulated bottle jackets and vacuum-sealed thermoses are also awesome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you need water in larger amounts, just melt snow or ice (haul a block with you, if you won't have snow), or bring an ice axe to get through the ice covering a nearby body of water. (A small hole is all you need; the water pressure will fill the &quot;bowl&quot; you chipped away to get down to the bottom of the ice.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be chemicals that will get the job done, but it seems to me you will almost always be better off with good old water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T20:25:57.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10619" CreationDate="2016-01-18T20:57:35.073" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a 'on-station grinder', a centralized station for turning the winches of the sheets (lines) attached to the clew of a sail. They are multi-speed, meaning you can have a serious mechanical advantage (5, 10, 15, 30:1) under dire conditions that a 2-speed winch with a handle simply can not work unless you have Arnold on board. And even then...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally used on 9-meter, 10-meter, and larger racing sailing vessels. Generally now they are hydraulic.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S9IDz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S9IDz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;here is a web pic of a lab setup to measure the crews effort under race conditions ... or for a starwars shoot. &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T18:01:04.017" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T18:01:04.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1894" CreationDate="2016-01-18T22:06:32.240" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yikes. hope you like 'glass. a mizzen really is not as useful as a forward spar. a bow sprint would allow you to make a schooner out of that boat and would be a better performer. had both. mizzories make great work bench legs and yard sculpture. a forespar makes for a faster boat. also try never-wet as a bottom paint and she will go 30% fast .. I promise. my cal 28 was limited to 4.5 kts, now with both I am at a scary 8.3 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-01-18T22:06:32.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10635" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10638" CreationDate="2016-01-19T00:41:47.983" Score="17" ViewCount="4100" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gone sub-freezing camping a few times and each time I've had an ember (without noticing) melt/burn through an outer layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first time was through a synthetic down type jacket (fairly thin), left maybe two or three small holes. The second was a fleece (200) and it melted/burnt straight through the pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What top layer can I wear in the cold that won't get holes in it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Restrictions&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can't avoid the fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I won't wear cotton.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'd love some practical advice, i.e. brands/specific types of coats etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Also note that this isn't about the material catching fire, rather just being damaged through melting.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8589" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:39:49.717" Title="What coat should I wear when camping that won't be damaged through melting by embers from a fire?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="18" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10636" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10643" CreationDate="2016-01-19T08:55:44.447" Score="3" ViewCount="2690" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10568/8060&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10565/how-to-carry-a-bow-while-hiking&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; states that one may want to use a backpack with the possibility to attach a bow or a rifle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I use a pack similar to this one... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://m.basspro.com/RedHead-Primal-Bow/Rifle-Pack/product/13030307014435/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RedHead Primal Bow/Rifle Pack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utPcd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utPcd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I don't want to have camouflaged equipment to hike. Is there something similar without camo? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T18:03:32.917" Title="Backpack with rifle/bow holder without camo?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10636" CreationDate="2016-01-19T10:00:24.803" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your reason for not wanting camo is that you want to be obvious (maybe to other hunters so you don't get shot) then you can always flash a backpack with reflective material, or use a hi vis pack cover such as those recommended for cyclists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Home-modding a rucksack to incorporate the barrel ties and stock pocket probably wouldn't take you too long if you wanted to turn your favourite pack into one able to carry a gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is purely for fashion reasons, then you are at the mercy of the manufacturers, who will make those they think will sell - and if camo packs are the big sellers then that is what you will find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T10:00:24.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10635" CreationDate="2016-01-19T13:01:27.453" Score="27" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Wool does not melt or drip&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer might surprise you: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wool&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wool (...) does not melt or drip(.)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wool ignites at a higher temperature than cotton and some synthetic&#xA;fibers. It has a lower rate of flame spread, a lower rate of heat&#xA;release, a lower heat of combustion, and does not melt or drip; it&#xA;forms a char which is insulating and self-extinguishing, and it&#xA;contributes less to toxic gases and smoke than other flooring products&#xA;when used in carpets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From section &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool#Characteristics&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;characteristics&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's even quite commonly used a so called &amp;quot;fire-retardant material&amp;quot; in many end consumer textile products. Check out a list &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fire-retardant_materials#Fire-retardant_materials_used_in_textiles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's another interesting &lt;a href=&quot;http://thenaturalsleepstore.com/blog/post/flame-resistant-wool.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; regarding this topic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Wool Gatherer, one thing that makes carded wool flame&#xA;resistant is the fact that the fibers are so close together that they&#xA;create an environment that is fairly devoid of oxygen thus resisting&#xA;flame. An example of this idea, although one I have not personally&#xA;tried and would not recommend, would be attempting to light a&#xA;phonebook on fire. Apparently, it is not easy to light a phonebook on&#xA;fire, as the pages are so tightly held together there is not enough&#xA;oxygen present to support the flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least you may want to watch a comparison between synthetic products and wool here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKuAl_HzCjs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKuAl_HzCjs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Product recommendation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a product recommendation I can refer to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.woolrich.com/woolrich/details/men-s-classic-wool-hunt-coat/_/R-503&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; (however, it has some cotton &lt;em&gt;on the inside&lt;/em&gt;, the shell/outside is completely made out of wool):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DojRK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DojRK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This coat originated in the 1800s and is still as popular today. The&#xA;rugged wool-blend shell wards off the fiercest weather. It's not only&#xA;warm, but it sheds water, and the tight weave keeps out bone-chilling&#xA;wind. Two-piece sleeve for a roomier fit; knit storm cuffs in sleeves.&#xA;Four outer snap pockets, plus hand-warmer pockets and internal&#xA;security pocket. Back stowage pocket originally designed to put game&#xA;in. Under-collar tab keeps collar up to hold out cold and breezes.&#xA;Fully lined body and sleeves. Button front covered by storm flap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SuIs2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SuIs2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might have already seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8258/is-it-safe-to-wear-a-down-jacket-while-building-a-fire&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. Please check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/4148/shemseger&quot;&gt;ShemSeger&lt;/a&gt;'s &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8262/8060&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campfire clothes are the heavy wool jackets, and flannel shirts worn&#xA;by mountain men, hunters and lumberjacks. I have a wool jacket from&#xA;nepal that I use as my sit around the fire jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First-aid responders will tell you that synthetic materials are&#xA;actually one of the worst things to have on when working with a fire,&#xA;because they will melt to your skin if they do catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fire-retardant_materials#Fire-retardant_materials_used_in_textiles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; from Wikipedia (already linked above) contains every material which come into question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire-retardant materials used in textiles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;PBI&#xA;Burnstop&#xA;Twaron&#xA;Noflan[2]&#xA;Nomex (a DuPont trademark)&#xA;Indura FR Cotton (a WESTEX Tradmark)&#xA;Arselon (Khimvolokno trademark)&#xA;coated nylon&#xA;CXP(a WESTEX Tradmark)&#xA;Carbon Foam&#xA;M5 fiber&#xA;Kevlar&#xA;Ultrasoft FR Cotton(a WESTEX Tradmark)&#xA;Melamine&#xA;Pyrovatex fr cotton&#xA;TrueComfort(a WESTEX Tradmark)&#xA;Technora&#xA;Modacrylic&#xA;Wool&#xA;Ultrasoft AC FR Cotton (a WESTEX Tradmark)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T13:34:36.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10635" CreationDate="2016-01-19T13:04:06.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already was pointed out in the comments: leave synthetics. Some time ago (can't find the source any more, unfortunately) I read about a guy who planed on a very minimalistic outdoor trip basically for the rest of his life, i.e. basically wander the woods of Europe and staying wherever he likes to stay. In his plans this required mostly to build your camp from what you can find where you are and rely as least as possible on (close to not) on having to get stuff from other people. The article stated that one of the main differences compared to the average outdoor camper is &quot;no synthetics&quot;, since he would have to deal with campfires all the time and could not need clothes that get destroyed by sparks or getting too close to the fire. Hence, all he was planning to wear was from natural fibres, e.g. wool, felt, stuff like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So basically, if you want to go that way, take a look at what people have worn in the winter and in the arctic regions some 50+ years ago before synthetic clothing got available. However, if you think this in full consequence, it won't be done with just another coat, since your whole clothing system worn below this coat might no longer work if the coat does not provide a breathable membrane – so you might have to adapt your other layers as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of this might be quite surely that you get much less insulation for the same weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-19T19:42:09.593" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T19:42:09.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10585" CreationDate="2016-01-19T14:33:48.963" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Diving is first and foremost a PRACTICAL skill so the best way to practise is to do it.  Yes you can read through the books to refresh your theory, but this will not refresh your ability to dive.  But it can be helpful in reminding you about small things you may have forgotten. Practising hand signals can be good, but these we always confirm before dives as different divers from different places and different organizations might do dive signs a bit different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion is that you go for your first dive with a Divemaster/Instructor or very experienced diver on a nice easy shallow dive so you can just work through setting up gear, getting used to the feel of the gear as you swim (achieving Neutral buoyancy), breathing slowly and deeply in and out without holding your breath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also remember to practise things like mask clearing, regulator recovery and clearing as these are things that happen more often and should be easy and effortless to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you been out of diving for a long time with very few dives it is worthwhile to do a whole refresher course with a qualified instructor to refresh all the skills you learned. This should be done in a pool (or very clear, calm, shallow ocean) followed up by a nice easy ocean dive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the theory side I would recommend going through those adventure dives that you might be interested in doing and that have a bit more to them to think about: DEEP, NIGHT, WRECK, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2016-01-26T10:30:39.097" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T10:30:39.097" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10635" CreationDate="2016-01-19T15:38:06.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A purely synthetic outer layer of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomex&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nomex&lt;/a&gt; is a good choice.  People &lt;a href=&quot;http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/wildfire/rxfire/protective_equip.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fighting wild-land fires generally wear Nomex&lt;/a&gt; It it works in the middle of a forest fire, you will probably be happy with it at the campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T15:38:06.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10636" CreationDate="2016-01-19T19:14:08.323" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found some! I've searched a little bit and stumbled over a few. For example the &quot;Halti Kauris&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GKjqC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GKjqC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is even able to remove the &quot;rifle holder&quot; and use it as a completely common backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or the &quot;Wisport Forester&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FkDne.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FkDne.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I came across &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeOfLeather&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these beauties&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z09kJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z09kJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sdG9p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sdG9p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mno3P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mno3P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D4zFe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D4zFe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as wonderful as they are, they are expensive and the backpacks quite small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T19:14:08.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10635" CreationDate="2016-01-19T19:14:50.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;TLDR: military grade tech fabrics designed for air and tank crew uniforms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out you might reconsider cotton as an outer layer only.&#xA;Be careful with waxed cotton as some have suggested, occasionally the wax is flammable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wool is a good choice given your criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If however money is no object and/or you don't mind surfing ebay till you get lucky:&#xA;The DOD and various of its suppliers have also noted that various outdoor fabrics have very poor flame retardance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To that end they have designed (very expensive ) uniforms to combat this.&#xA;As long as you don't mind buying and wearing a uniform you weren't issued (ie: earned) then this would certainly make the grade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;keywords: massif, crye, cvc, nomex, aramid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is probably overkill, but it's proven handy for friends of mine who do circus crap: fire blowing ,juggling or spinning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8624" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T19:14:50.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9212" CreationDate="2016-01-19T19:58:59.937" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Greetings fellow Canadian.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I too have had to ensure my toes stay dry while snowshoeing to work or hunting polar bears in the hinterlands of Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned goretex liners. If that is the case, and you bought them through a real outlet, not a vintage store/ebay/whatever, contact goretex directly and they'll set it right. Seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise there are two seperate things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;INSIDE: Goretex boots rely on the membrane to keep water out more than the exterior. If it is throughly soiled, it is compromised. Use dish soap and a toilet brush and warm to hot water to thoroughly wash out the insides then dry in front of a fan, 24 hours, NO HEAT.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;OUTSIDE: Some use waxes of various kinds and various animal byproducts, mink oil, dubbin etc. I used to as well, tradition. Then a tanner I met pointed out the obvious &quot;we spend so much trouble removing all natural oils from the leather to preserve and stabilize it. why do you people keep insisting on reintroducing it?&quot;&#xA;Since then I have had much better luck with liquid silicon. To do this you need to strip off all the waxes you have already applied. Leather stripping products are actually just kerosene, so use that, then let them dry. Apply waxes over this if you like to prevent drying out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8624" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T16:08:02.863" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T16:08:02.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-01-19T20:08:38.020" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have dealt with this myself.&#xA;I use wool socks almost exclusively and sometimes a tech liner underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheap White Vinegar. Buy by the gallon and keep on hand and foot. Use undiluted or 50/50 lowest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10% bleach solution is what I use INSIDE my shoes and fan dry thoroughly at least once a season for any shoes I sweat in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck. Foot AIDS sucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8624" LastActivityDate="2016-01-19T20:08:38.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10648" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-20T06:16:52.173" Score="6" ViewCount="831" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've often thought about if there is a thumb rule how to wear a backpack comfy and safe. Where should it sit on the back to be ergonomic etc.? How do I adjust the shoulder, hip and chest straps to achieve this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:21.163" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:41:21.163" Title="How to correctly wear a backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-02-20T00:06:17.873" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10649" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11259" CreationDate="2016-01-20T12:28:19.813" Score="3" ViewCount="1124" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've a Bear Archery Grizzly recurve bow. Bows from this manufacturer are commonly equipped with two threads to attach a Bear Archery bow quiver. You can see them in this image: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxATv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxATv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I attach an original Bear Archery bow quiver to my Grizzly, does this anyhow influence my bow? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QeiAAl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QeiAAl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T12:29:33.083" LastActivityDate="2016-03-20T16:14:30.193" Title="Does a Bear Archery bow quiver influence my Grizzly?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9916" CreationDate="2016-01-20T13:35:33.267" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides the already given answers there is another pretty simple solution to your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when I'm 3D shooting in the forest I - of course - want to hear the sound of nature. Also, I want to be able to hear other archers for safety reasons. That, however, doesn't prevent me from listening to silent background music! How, you ask? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bone conduction headphones!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear through&#xA;  the bones of the skull. Bone conduction transmission can be used with&#xA;  individuals with normal or impaired hearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NexzC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NexzC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a random &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/AfterShokz-Sportz-Open-Sport-Headphones/dp/B00JO9XTSI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1453296702&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=bone%20conduction%20headphones&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;product description example&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tune in without tuning out, it's time to think outside the ear with&#xA;  AfterShokz Sportz 3 Bone Conductor Headphones. Safe, comfortable and&#xA;  convenient, these are the only sports stereo headphones which allow&#xA;  you to tune into mobile devices but without switching off from the&#xA;  world around you. Safe your ears are never blocked, providing maximum&#xA;  situational awareness through music play and calls. Running, cycling,&#xA;  gym training, you can safely focus on your performance while&#xA;  motivating yourself with inspiring music or taking that important&#xA;  call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to address your question. I don't think that it's safe enough to listen music through common headphones cause you might just miss something important (like somebody is screaming for help, ice cracking noise etc.). However, you can still listen to music (on low volume) through bone conduction earphones (like described above).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make sure that you see them as a &quot;background music&quot; device. You can even get a more intensive experience than without any music. Just imagine someone hiking in a movie. You still here the birds, wind and so on but there is also some silent background music. This adds a little bit extra epicness imho.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T16:47:43.827" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T16:47:43.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10610" CreationDate="2016-01-20T14:43:48.040" Score="-1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Main difference:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The right one goes on the right foot, the left one goes on the left foot. :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But seriously, there should be no difference at all apart from the &lt;code&gt;mirrored design&lt;/code&gt;. After all you don't want your left foot, for example, to be padded more strongly or lightly than your right foot. Or for your right heel to have more/less grip than your left heel...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T14:43:48.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10652" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to litter. Litter is the illegal disposal of everyday waste such as paper, tins, and bottles leaving them lying in an open or public place. For most countries this results in a fine if caught. Similar to littering is fly-tipping (the dumping of large household objects like a fridge).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10653" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to litter." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:25:52.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10654" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to Forests (also, woods). Forests are large areas of land, usually measured in acres, hectares or square miles / km, which have a primary flora of trees. Forests can be deciduous or coniferous, with differing tree types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10655" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to Forests (also, woods)" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:28:32.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10635" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:39:49.717" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leather is awesome for standing up to sparks. Just ask a welder. And some people think it's good for going outdoors too.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*But not me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:39:49.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10627" CreationDate="2016-01-20T15:56:56.237" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Propylene glycol is allowed in alcoholic beverages &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1666&amp;amp;SearchTerm=propylene%20glycol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;up to 5%&lt;/a&gt;, and this would get you to about &lt;a href=&quot;http://windborneinpugetsound.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-much-is-enough.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;29°F&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could probably throw in a little sugar, salt and good old ethanol to kick it down further. Really, nearly any solute will push down the freezing point. Maybe some salty chicken bullion, plus alcohol just to keep it from rotting. This is starting to sound like a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T15:56:56.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9916" CreationDate="2016-01-20T16:39:24.057" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would you recommend that deaf people never venture into the outdoors without an escort who can hear?&lt;/strong&gt; I hope not. Listening to music while hiking isn't inherently dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking listening to music while hiking is no more dangerous in my opinion than listening to music while walking down a city street. In both environments there are warning noises that the music might mask. Also in both environments if you maintain decent general awareness while listening to music you should be fine in all but extraordinary situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inattention is a bigger risk factor&lt;/strong&gt; than reduced hearing whether you are in the wilderness or the city.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T16:39:24.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10649" CreationDate="2016-01-20T16:41:49.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding a quiver to the bow will increase the amount of noise, and also increase the amount of interference of the flight of the arrow as it leaves the bow. It also makes your bow heavier increasing the amount of effort to aim and hold the aim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-20T16:41:49.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10661" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-21T04:51:09.517" Score="6" ViewCount="1011" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 10 weeks ago, I did a 16-hour snow hike in Newfoundland (off-topic: insanely gorgeous country!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outside temperature was still very warm for November, with highs of -5ºC / 23ºF and lows of -10ºC / 14ºF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wore multiple layers, as I was prepared for remote possibility to stay the night on the mountain, should I become too tired. For great majority of the hike (10-12 hours) I had all 3 layers open, as it was simply too hot (just -5ºC / 23ºF) and I was sweating like a pig, especially the middle part of the ascent, before I reached the steep gully, where the wind picked up and I eventually zipped  all 3 layers (though only for the rest breaks). My best estimate is that the wind-chill before summit was around -13ºC / 8.5ºF, still far from cold, but at least more comfortable for hiking than the &quot;hot&quot; -5ºC / 23ºF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem now is that my internal thermostat / cold resistance got somehow readjusted during the hike, by roughly 4-5 degrees Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, the default in-room 20ºC / 68ºF now feels hot. Not for 5 minutes; all the time. It's more than 20ºC / 68ºF everywhere I go indoors — office or home.&#xA;I've found out that the comfortable room temperature wearing T-shirt and shorts is now around 18.5ºC / 65ºF, which is insane for everybody else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best guess at this point is that my body 'thermostat' returned back to the winter values I was used to 20 years ago back in Europe, with highs of -15ºC / 5ºF and lows of -25ºC / -13ºF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But, it's been over 10 weeks since the hike. There must be a switch I can flip back!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any ideas how to readjust it back? Or at least do things differently for next snow hike?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the water intake is to blame? I underestimated the hike (and I quite honestly did not expect excessive sweating at -5ºC / 23ºF) by ±6 hours, so those 6 litres of water (I need 1 litre per 2 hours in winter, much much more in summer — hence the preference for winter hikes) I was carrying up (though I left few additional bottles in car, and I drank half litre right before start of the hike), got consumed very fast (and I basically ended with 1 last litre for last 6 hours — though that was descent, so much less water was physically needed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T19:31:45.870" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T19:31:45.870" Title="How do you reset your body 'thermostat' after hiking in snow?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10664" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-21T07:04:22.317" Score="6" ViewCount="197" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a)some good resources for 1-2 day hikes in southern France, between Lyon and Nice? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b)some good 1-2 day hikes between Lyon and Nice? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for something with scenery (e.g. lakes, mountain pass, above tree line). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found the area around the town of Gap (Southeast of Grenoble) in the Parc National des Ecrins appears very nice. Can anyone suggest a particular entry point and hike, as well as logistics (best place to park a car overnight or arrive by bus/train? best places to sleep - any huts or villages)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm using this site to figure out some of the hikes:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sentiers-en-france.eu/sentiers-hautes-alpes-05/gap/sentiers-gap.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sentiers en France (Sentiers proches de Gap)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am open to considering other options nearby that may be more accessible from Nice and Lyon (different people are coming from different parts); Corsica is a little far given the time frame we have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8634" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T05:37:39.943" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T05:37:39.943" Title="Hiking in SE France" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5027" CreationDate="2016-01-21T07:06:52.097" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have low blood pressure, 90/60 read to me just one week prior to going mountain hiking in Palm Springs California (8,500 ft. elevation).  I did not experience the tiredness or lack of oxygen I thought that I would.  I seemed to have the same energy as I usually have without any adverse symptoms associated to what many would complain as thinner air at that height.  My thinking was that it was due to my lower blood pressure since it was explained to me that since my blood was able to efficiently carry more oxygen with less pumping from my heart, the result lower pressure was needed to supply oxygen to my cells. If the air is thinner, then my heart already pumping oxygen efficiently, would only have to pump a little harder to increase the oxygen level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8635" LastActivityDate="2016-01-21T07:06:52.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10664" CreationDate="2016-01-21T09:13:34.280" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that the sources on the internet for the GRs (grandes randonnées, the main long-distance trails in France) are a bit old-fashioned, and not ideal for finding routes.  However here are some pointers to get you started -- I've linked to pages that might help you but the parent websites are worth a browse. In general French websites assume some familiarity with a map of France -- regions are often shown out of context -- as well as the names of the various organisational areas. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.france-randos.com/?q=les-randonnees&amp;amp;field_pays_tid=4&amp;amp;field_r_gion_tid=52&amp;amp;field_d_partement_tid=129&amp;amp;field_type_tid=All&amp;amp;field_geofield_distance[distance]=10&amp;amp;field_geofield_distance[unit]=6371&amp;amp;field_geofield_distance[origin]=&amp;amp;rayon=5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;france-randos.com&lt;/a&gt; has search facilities and the ability to browse by region and département (I started with Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence; Alpes-Maritime is another good option).  In the resulting list I found the GR4.  Descriptions of the GRs can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gr-infos.com/en/gr4l.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;gr-infos.com&lt;/a&gt;, here I've linked to a section of the GR4.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://about-france.com/photos/maps/hiking-paths-france.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This map (link rather than inline image&#xA; as no rights information given)&lt;/a&gt; has a nice overview of the GR network, suggesting that the GR5 might be worth a look for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources on the regional GRP (grandes randonnées de pays) routes are almost by definition regional, and again hard to find online. Some regions have paper guides available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;French Hiking maps of any decent scale tend to cover a fairly small area, but the 1:100 000 maps are fine for the GRs which are all waymarked on the ground as well as shown on the maps.  I suggest getting hold of a few maps once you've narrowed down you search a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're prepared to take a ferry from Nice, the GR20 (I mentioned in my comment) in Corsica has some excellent hiking and scenery, and you're up in the mountains within a few km of the port (as I remember from 20 years ago!).  Corsica is very different from mainland France (culture and geology) and well worth a visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-01-21T09:13:34.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10667" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-21T11:55:40.970" Score="9" ViewCount="1617" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a Whillans Harness for Christmas.  As it does not have a belay loop (see picture), how do I connect it to the Autobelay's carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NF6cT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NF6cT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8637" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T23:37:03.057" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T15:26:07.643" Title="How do I connect to an Autobelay with a Whillan's harness?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10668" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-21T12:57:03.103" Score="10" ViewCount="378" Body="&lt;p&gt;Really hoping someone else may be able to help me. I am very allergic to neoprene and am looking for some shoes to wear in water and in the pool. Almost all the shoes have neoprene in them -- so frustrating! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8639" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:47:32.440" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:47:32.440" Title="Allergic to Neoprene and need water shoes" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;water-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10667" CreationDate="2016-01-21T14:02:17.783" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only thing this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smhc.co.uk/objects_item.asp?item_id=32897&quot;&gt;30+ years old piece of climbing history&lt;/a&gt; should be connected to is a fixture to mount it in a frame or display case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-01-21T14:02:17.783" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10668" CreationDate="2016-01-21T16:47:38.853" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy canvas sneakers or tennis shoes, or even those flat soled kungfu shoe style slippers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leather boat shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-21T16:47:38.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10648" CreationDate="2016-01-22T01:54:44.553" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The details of how best to achieve it depend on the design of the pack, the characteristics of the individual, and the weather  (which determines the clothing he'll need to be wearing), but the overriding principle behind being able to carry a significant load for a long distance without getting overly tired is for it to be supported by the hips, not the shoulders and back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8548" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T01:54:44.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10673" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-22T03:27:56.780" Score="5" ViewCount="549" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done some miner kayaking and can barely roll but want to get into kayaking. I would mainly use it at the lake but I want a kayak I can also take down a river. I knew I didn't want a sit on top kayak, so I did some research and narrowed down my choices to the Jackson Fun Runners and the Wave Sport Fuse. I've used a Fuse on flat water before, but don't want to drop 1000 dollars on a kayak that I cant function with. Can someone who knows kayaks please advise me?         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S I am beginner kayaker, and want a kayak that will work for me as I progress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8642" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2016-11-23T02:56:47.487" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T02:56:47.487" Title="Would a Jackson Fun or Wave Sport Fuse kayak work for a beginner on low category rivers, but mostly flat water?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10674" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10690" CreationDate="2016-01-22T03:39:48.977" Score="10" ViewCount="1506" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thank you for taking the time to read through this !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just noticed there is a chance of Blizzard (Winter Storm Jonas) in our region (NY/NJ) and I would like to take this unique opportunity and go for a short (5 hours) fun winter hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While current predictions (as of Thursday night) only hint at a so-called Hot Blizzard (e.g. temperatures around -5 Celsius), the windchill has a way of sucking out the warmth, so I'd like to run the plan by the local experts here and get some critique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the &lt;strong&gt;plan&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bottom Layers: Based on experience with the Chicago blizzard, I will now take second pants (I only had one pants on me and after 2.5 hrs my legs were quite cold)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots: My new boots were proven in my 16-hour snow hike few months ago, so I take it they should be more than adequate for just 5 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Top Layers: Two regular T-shirts + long-sleeve thin shirt + long-sleeve thick shirt + wool sleeve-less vest (very warm with inner warm layer) + waterproof windbreaker jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 Gloves + Scarf + Skiing Cap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glasses (eyes tend to water a lot, the older I get)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I want to &lt;strong&gt;have on me&lt;/strong&gt; (in case I loose the backpack to wind):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 small vodka shots for the instant energy boost (practically zero weight, yet pack an incredible punch, proven to override fatigue and give you the 'kick' - even when you run out of adrenaline)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 pairs of reserve gloves (it's very easy to loose them in the wind)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 reserve cap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cell phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I want to &lt;strong&gt;put into backpack&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6-8 liters of water : I love to walk against the blizzard, which takes a huge amount of energy, especially a lot of water - I'm pretty sure I'll have to consume over 1 liter per hour&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reserve gloves/cap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;survival kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've hauled an enormous amount of food with me up the snowy mountain 10 weeks ago, but did not consume anything during the 16 hour hike. Not even the Snickers bar, let alone bananas or the sandwiches I had. So, I'm thinking I probably should not carry any food for 5 hours (as the hunger would be the least of my worries, should I get stranded), correct ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'm not a complete beginner, there is always room to improve - here are &lt;strong&gt;my prior experiences with blizzards&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;few years ago I did a 2.5 hour hike in what was deemed 3rd worst blizzard in Chicago history, but it wasn't really that bad. I'd like to double that to 5 hours now.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my whole childhood, we never had a 'snow day' just because of blizzard, so we got used to walking to school in blizzard conditions since early age&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I believe the coldest blizzard for me was -27 Celsius (only god knows the windchill), and I had to wait 1.5 hr for the bus (at that time I did not know I was actually slowly freezing on that bus stop :-) ) and then walk to school another hour against the wind (actually, it was painful, legs refusing to move).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would you recommend adjusting the layers or taking additional items with me ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8537" LastActivityDate="2016-01-24T10:28:27.527" Title="Blizzard Chaser: What to take on a 5-hour Blizzard Hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10678" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-22T14:41:53.170" Score="20" ViewCount="14130" Body="&lt;p&gt;So that's the case - I have a camp stove and a bottle of liquid fuel for it (gas? benzine? petrol? ah, whatever). Hike is over and I have to get on a plane - thus I have to get rid of this fuel. How do I do it? Or maybe there's no way to do it right and I've got myself a problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T23:20:52.040" Title="Is there any way to dispose of liquid fuel?" Tags="&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10678" CreationDate="2016-01-22T14:41:53.170" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;While writing the question, I've figured out an answer. I just &lt;strong&gt;burn the fuel in the stove&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe this little knowledge would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T14:41:53.170" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10673" CreationDate="2016-01-22T14:48:16.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Background: I paddled whitewater in southern Virginia and for a few years in Minnesota. I still paddle canoes, but I'm a wimp about cold water and the rivers in Minnesota mostly only run in the Spring when they are freezing, so I don't paddle whitewater any more. Now I canoe and occasionally paddle flatwater kayaks, but I like canoes better on flatwater. I sold canoes and kayaks at Midwest Mountaineering for five years, which also involved a lot of boat demos.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are planning on doing a lot of flat water, you don't want a whitewater kayak like the Fun or Fuse. If you are planning on doing a lot of white water, you don't want a flatwater kayak. There really isn't a great crossover option because the qualities that make a good whitewater kayak are precisely the opposite qualities of a good flatwater kayak. Any crossover is necessarily a study in compromises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, many kayak manufacturers do make crossover kayaks that are basically flatwater kayaks with a bit less of a keel than a true touring kayak. Those with more rounded hulls often have drop skegs so you can track straight on flat water but still turn (enough) in moving water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you intend to limit yourself to fairly light Class I and II rapids, you will probably be happy enough with a crossover like the Dagger Axis or Katana. I was fan of the old Dagger Blackwater, and these might have inherited some of its flexibility (or you could look for a Blackwater at garage sales or on Craigslist).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, whitewater kayaks don't really progress with you. When you start, buy a cheap used kayak. It will take a season or two for you to understand what you really want. And you'll probably only own that kayak for another year or two before you want something else. Plus, most whitewater kayakers own at least two or three kayaks because they don't all work for all rivers. Like I said above, kayaks are very purpose-built.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you want to play in a hole or on a wave, so you want something short and stubby that surfs well. Sometimes you want to run big water and stop for lunch in the middle. So you need a longer boat with some volume in it. When the water is up, you want to bash down a creek, so you need a creek boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's an expensive hobby, but fun as hell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="3346" LastEditDate="2016-01-22T16:55:04.120" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T16:55:04.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10674" CreationDate="2016-01-22T16:21:49.237" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drinking alcohol in a blizzard with potential for whiteout conditions is reckless, irresponsible, and possibly dangerous. Alcohol causes your blood vessels to dilate, which leads to an increased rate of heat loss. A much better source of quick energy would be a food with simple carbohydrates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8649" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T16:21:49.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10678" CreationDate="2016-01-22T16:35:56.710" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently in Mexico and bought some unleaded gas at a gas station as stove fuel. I gave the unused fuel away to a taxi driver to put in his car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the same thing would work fine with the fuels sold as &quot;white gas&quot; or &quot;camp fuel.&quot; I've heard conflicting information about exactly how this stuff is formulated, and for all I know it depends on the manufacturer. But what everyone seems to agree on is that it's extremely similar  to unleaded gas. Given the similarity, if a car owner has 20 or 30 liters of gasoline in their tank, I don't think it will hurt anything to add a half liter of white gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-01-23T01:34:51.437" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T01:34:51.437" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4764" CreationDate="2016-01-22T17:11:30.600" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;John Muir traveled much, but it would be foolhardy to follow his pattern of starving while tramping unless there was a bigger reason for it. He would go days without any food, or possibly on a handful of crackers. Minimalism is what he lived, but there are healthier ways to do it now that didn't exist for him. Based off his writings, he would likely carry some food and more cover while limiting his fire if he were hiking now. A different reality brings a new praxis to the same values.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8648" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T17:11:30.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10678" CreationDate="2016-01-22T17:16:22.420" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here are a few methods&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have a lawnmower or weed eater you can dilute your gas by about 5% to 10% with it and burn it off that way, even if the fuel is 'bad'.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, many fire departments will accept all manner of fuel, good or bad, and use it for backburning areas preparing for the summer fire season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some auto parts stores will accept fuel for disposal.  Almost all will accept old engine oil.  I suggest you call an auto parts store in your area as the acceptance of fuel is regional depending on what government services there are to pick up the fuel.  Oil is recycled and all auto stores accept to the best of my knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="5540" LastEditDate="2016-01-22T19:07:55.523" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T19:07:55.523" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10627" CreationDate="2016-01-22T17:37:25.297" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two natural options; none of them is quite pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Alcohol&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_%28data_page%29#Properties_of_aqueous_ethanol_solutions&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, 8.5 vol% of ethanol make the freezing point drop to -3C (26.6F) (more values at at Wikipedia, also a diagram is available below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4FzqL.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4FzqL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the ethanol will be evaporized during cooking, so it's not that much an issue; also 14 vol% is only 6.8 wt%, so the added weight is 6.8%, which sounds like a lot, but still it's 1/15 only. The good thing is that you can get cheap and quite strong alcohol almost anywhere around the world. Of course, this has some issues, such as where to get spare alcohol for a longer journey; also, some alcohol will be always left in the solution, no matter how hard you try, which is not good at winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you can get a 90% alcohol at special shops, but it can get quite expensive because of the excise tax. &lt;strong&gt;Don't buy technical alcohol, it's denaturated, i.e. very disguisting and possibly not really safe to drink&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Salts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you can't really do much with salts. The most efficient salt is NaF (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_fluoride&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sodium fluoride&lt;/a&gt;). However, it is poisonous, lethal dose is around 8g/100kg weight. &lt;a href=&quot;https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=18705&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;We can compute&lt;/a&gt; that even a huge amount such as 34 grams of NaF in 1 litre of water reduce the freezing point to -3C. However, that's 3.4 wt%, which is freakingly lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For NaCl (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kitchen salt&lt;/a&gt;), the amount to get to -3C is 47 grams, so almost 5%. Since the relationship is linear, any reasonable amount of salt has close to zero effect on the freezing point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not do this. Find other methods how to supply yourself drinking water in extreme conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2343" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T11:08:06.860" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10627" CreationDate="2016-01-22T19:29:08.393" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Electrolytes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;electrolyte solution&lt;/a&gt; in your water.  Many do this for obvious other reasons but it will reduce the freezing point in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure you've seen the various powders at health food or supplement stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish I had a good citation but &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), chloride (Cl−), hydrogen phosphate (HPO42−), and hydrogen carbonate (HCO3−)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; all reduce the freezing point of water a bit and if your working hard are essential to body chemistry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good for you and reduces the freezing point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastEditorUserId="5540" LastEditDate="2016-01-22T19:36:29.123" LastActivityDate="2016-01-22T19:36:29.123" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10598" CreationDate="2016-01-22T22:29:09.780" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may want to try an under quilt. There are multiple cottage industries that produce under quilts. The great thing is the loft doesn't get compressed because it hangs under the hammock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&#xA;Try adding an emergency blanket lining the underquilt. It's super light weight and reflects the warmth and radiates back into the hammock. It works super great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2063" LastEditorUserId="2063" LastEditDate="2016-01-25T05:29:55.953" LastActivityDate="2016-01-25T05:29:55.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10674" CreationDate="2016-01-23T00:28:42.027" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Caveat:  Heading out into a blizzard seems an easy way to get killed.  Personally I'd only do it in dire situations.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regarding your layers:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Cotton stores about 27x it's weight in water.  This makes it comfortable indoors or in hot weather, but it also means it will act like a swamp cooler once you're no longer throwing off enough heat to keep it warm.  Materials like polyester absorb very little water, and technical garments are designed to efficiently wick away moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-4°C isn't that cold, but the windchill and how fast you move also matters.  If it's cold enough I'll use 100-weight fleece baselayers (similar to Patagonia's R1 or MEC's T3 grid fleece).  Thin wool sweaters would probably also substitute well, or polyester long underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check army surplus sites for Gen III ECWCS or PCU layers (level 1 silkweight or level 2 gridfleece) at good prices and large sizes.  The current systems were designed with input from alpinists like Mark Twight and are reasonably well thought out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When moving hard I prefer a softshell over hardshells for breathability.  Only if moving slow in the cold or facing heavy precipitation then the rainshell comes on.  Your windbreaker probably would work for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally don't need any more insulation when on the move, but if you do a high-pile fleece insulating layer is good in wet conditions and also very breathable.  The warmth greatly increases when worn under a rain or wind shell.  Alternatives include layers like Patagonia's Nanopuff, or a thicker sweater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally in my pack would be a down parka in case I was stranded.  The WinterTrekking site has some &lt;a href=&quot;http://wintertrekking.com/clothing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;good information on clothing strategies&lt;/a&gt; including old-school materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food:&lt;/strong&gt; Unless meals are intended, I'd likely bring a pair of energy bars and some energy gel packets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alcohol:&lt;/strong&gt; I was amused to find sources claiming alcohol is a vasodilator (and thus would lower your core temperature) and others claiming it's a vasoconstrictor (and thus make you more vulnerable to frostbite).  An &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-are-the-effects-of-a/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article in Scientific American&lt;/a&gt; provides some resolution, saying &quot;&lt;em&gt;At intoxicating levels, alcohol is a vasodilator (it causes blood vessels to relax and widen), but at even higher levels, it becomes a vasoconstrictor, shrinking the vessels and increasing blood pressure, exacerbating such conditions as migraine headaches and frostbite.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;  Of course, if I say on a public site like this that a few sips are unlikely to cause much problem, I'll probably get called out when some reader wanders into the snow, downs a six-pack, and turns himself into a corpsicle.  That said, I don't consider alcohol to be emergency gear: if something has gone wrong I'm likely already operating at lower mental capacity, and adding vodka probably isn't going to help matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water:&lt;/strong&gt; This will vary per person; for myself I'd take two liters at most.  With the amount of water you're drinking, I'd be worried about electrolyte imbalances, so carrying some packets of electrolyte replacement powder might be wise.  Your body can only process about a liter per hour in the best case, and that capacity drops when exercising as blood is redirected to working muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other gear:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Fire: I suggest a small cookset of canister stove, fuel, and a pot.  A jetboil system would be a larger example of this; a smaller kit might include something like an Optimus Crux or Snow Peak GigaPower paired with a 600mL &quot;pot&quot;.  I wouldn't give good odds to getting a fire started inside a blizzard, but using a stove to light branches is much easier than starting with tinder.  Keep a pair of Bic lights in a warm and dry place in your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vision: Ski goggles with a clear or high-contrast yellow lens will keep your face a bit more comfortable.  Also, a quality headlamp is good to have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shelter: An emergency bivvy that I can crawl into.  For example, a Blizzard Bag or SOL Emergency Bivvy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigation: It sounds like you're familiar with being inside a ping pong ball. I also like having a GPS as if you lose your position the compass becomes less useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Most of this should fit into a small pack, say about 25L.  Below is a pic of some of the items.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sgDRo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sgDRo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Some hiking items&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stove and fuel can should both fit in the pot (be careful of getting the can stuck).  The larger sack is an extremely bulky down puffy that's more appropriate for arctic temperatures.  The blue and black rolls are rain gear, the orange pouch is a 2-person emergency bivy, and the green fleece is, well, a fleece.  Add a quart-sized ziplock containing a first aid kit, and a Nalgene bottle, and it should all fit.  I'm leaving some items out (compass), but I think that accounts for all the large items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2016-01-23T05:49:49.423" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T05:49:49.423" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10678" CreationDate="2016-01-23T03:52:35.070" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the problem? The guy at the airport will take it from you. Proper legal disposal is now &lt;em&gt;his&lt;/em&gt; business. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be a kiosk for dropping items you forgot to leave at home,  before dealing with people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8651" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T03:52:35.070" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10674" CreationDate="2016-01-23T11:12:56.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many good answers here, there are also several warnings about the advisability of your journey.  One of the more important things to take (that seems to have been overlooked) is your ID, drivers license, dog tags (if you were in the military).  As a consideration for others it is important to make it easier for them to identify your body if/when it is found.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the summer I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256&quot;&gt;canoe alone on local rivers&lt;/a&gt; there is always the possibility something will happen.  I wear a life jacket, and keep my ID in my wallet, in a waterproof bag in my pants pocket.  Death during misadventure in the outdoors means it may be days (or longer) before your body is found, it is likely to at least partially decomposed and eaten. Enough time may have passed that no one is actively looking for your remains any longer when they do find your body. The easier it is to identify your remains the likelier and sooner your family and friends will get closure.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every morning you wake it is potentially the last time.  Some activities modify the potential that you will be alive tomorrow. Doing these things is part of life, these things make the memories you take with you into your old age or your next existence (depending on how things workout and your belief system). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I find that when things get really interesting, knowing that I have made reasonable attempts to address my responsibilities should I not survive, gives me one less thing to worry about and lets me concentrate on the current issues and activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T11:12:56.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10674" CreationDate="2016-01-23T14:39:37.143" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;tl;dr: concrete advice under the horizontal line&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Agreeing with the other answers, alcohol is best left for later because it can disorientate you. And among strength, endurance, body type, environment awareness, wisdom - the last is by far the most important when surviving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A month ago I was the closest in my life to calling Mountain Rescue (thanks god, that there was mobile coverage). A heavy fog, combined with gale and snowfall. Using a compass, a map and very tiring and slow process of digging snow pits, so that I don't get lost, I made it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From one steel pole to the other it was, on average, less than 5 minutes (20 meters). But then there was 1 (only only only 1) pole broken off. Even though it's concrete base was not covered by the snow, it took me &lt;strong&gt;short of 3 hours&lt;/strong&gt; to discover it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you wear prescription glasses, don't. Get lenses or some kind of ski mask over the glasses. It's no fun hiking with 4mm of snow/ice in front of your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The water you listed seems excessive to me, but this is personal. Be mindful (as I am sure you are) that (1) water will freeze if exposed to low temperatures and (2) keeping water isolated from the elements, deep in your backpack, keeps it away from you as well. Drinking a sip of water involves: taking off your backpack, taking off your gloves, securing the gloves so they don't fly away, acheaving stable position, so the wind does not tip your off, operating the backpack straps and whatnot with freezing fingers, all this in reverse. &lt;strong&gt;Keep most water on your body, and not in the backpack.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can't use a map. It's the wind. Either get a plastic &quot;waterproof&quot; cover for your map or use some other method. In the above story, I was struck in the face multiple times by the plastic map cover because of the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You must get a compass. It is probably better to have a GPS device. If nice weather can turn life-threatening, imagine what can life-threatening weather (basically where you are going) can turn into.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It might be beneficial to get a Mountain Rescue Insurance and observe your mobile coverage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Easy food. Similar to the problem with access to water. Have 200g nuts and a wafer in your pockets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be afraid. Snowfall OR wind can obscure your footsteps in half an hour. Use your best wisdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I envy you for the opportunity!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastEditorUserId="537" LastEditDate="2016-01-24T10:28:27.527" LastActivityDate="2016-01-24T10:28:27.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10694" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-23T15:29:20.003" Score="16" ViewCount="716" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend would like to start climbing but he can only use one arm. I've read about a few people climbing with one arm, but I haven't found advice on which gear to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are only at the beginning of researching options, any tips and experiences would be super helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, does someone have tips on safe belay systems that would work with one hand? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8652" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-16T01:13:06.197" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T01:13:06.197" Title="What belay systems would work for beginning climbers who can only use one arm?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10694" CreationDate="2016-01-23T17:07:21.387" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a friend with cerebral palsy who likes to climb, and can only use one arm, he did fairly well belaying with a Petzl GRIGRI:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9COGx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9COGx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a self locking belay device, and can be used easily and rather safely with only one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though not as safe, you can belay one handed with and ATC easily enough, the trick is to &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; let go of the rope while belaying, only slacken your grip and slide your hand up the rope again. Your climber has to help you out by climbing a little slower, or stopping occasionally to let you take up the slack, and they shouldn't climb anything too near or beyond their ability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would not be advisable to for your one handed belayer to &lt;em&gt;lower&lt;/em&gt; you with only one hand. Although possible–you could wrap the rope once around your leg or your body for more friction–it would be better for the climber to anchor themselves at the top, and rappel the route.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T17:07:21.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10694" CreationDate="2016-01-23T18:48:05.010" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it has been done!  You can try contacting the people at &lt;a href=&quot;http://paradoxsports.org/&quot;&gt;Paradox Sports&lt;/a&gt;; this sort of adaptive climbing is exactly what they do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of personal experiences, there are a couple of threads on Mountain Project covering this issue.  (By coincidence, at least two or three of the climbers on those threads work/worked for Paradox.)  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/1-arm-belay/108180547__1&quot;&gt;first thread&lt;/a&gt; has a good post by &quot;gimpmoney&quot;.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/one-hand-amputated--which-belay-device-to-use/107210776__1&quot;&gt;second thread&lt;/a&gt; gets a bit off course, but also has some good info from &quot;momoface&quot; and a couple others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your friend has partial use of his other arm (e.g. a stump), he may find he's able to incorporate it into his technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top-rope belaying:&lt;/strong&gt; Either a GriGri or ATC should work.  My instinct would be to redirect the brake strand through a second carabiner (e.g. off a leg loop) to make it safer when lowering.  One of the climbers in the above threads is able to use his stump to operate the lever, but I think with a redirected brake line it should be possible to use the brake hand to operate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When taking in slack, locking off the rope and squatting should be sufficient to pull in slack if there's too much friction in the system.  The slack can then be pulled through the device as the belayer stands back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lead belaying:&lt;/strong&gt; I would expect a GriGri to be rather difficult to use, as paying out slack one-handed would be rather finicky.  A traditional device like an ATC would be quite straightforward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other issues:&lt;/strong&gt; You may find difficulties with climbing gyms as they will have standardized belay techniques they expect you to use, and those may require both hands.  Your friend would essentially be using a lead-style technique when taking in slack for top-roping, rather than the near-universal &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2013/10/toprope-climbing-belay-technique.html&quot;&gt;PBUS&lt;/a&gt; style of using the other hand to lock off the rope.  Often gyms require additional training or testing for lead climbing, but that might be one way to work within their existing framework.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US you may be able to use the ADA as leverage, particularly if your friend has been well-trained and you get supporting documentation from a place with expertise in this area (e.g. Paradox).  (Please make sure your friend understands that if he does drop you, he'll probably also make it difficult for other disabled climbers in your area.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-01-23T18:48:05.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10697" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-23T20:01:42.000" Score="9" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the recent snow, I ran across some odd tracks that go under my guest house. I got closer to the area where the tracks ended and was surprised to hear odd squeaking noises from whatever made the tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what the tracks belong to? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on the pictures to see close-up view.&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rWoHV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rWoHV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;a pic with front and back&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lQnrj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lQnrj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;another front and back&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zNYy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zNYy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;and another&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8656" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T18:42:41.133" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:42:41.133" Title="What animal is making odd footprints and squeaking sounds under my guest house?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10698" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-24T08:59:15.867" Score="6" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a cartographer specialized in trekking/hiking maps in scale from 1:75.000 to 1:25.000 for regions without any accessible base maps. &#xA;Now, I'm looking for new work for the next projects :) Perhaps anyone here is missing a map for a certain hiking trail? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8655" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T20:42:38.647" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T20:42:38.647" Title="Is there a (long-distance-) trail without any available maps?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="14" ClosedDate="2016-01-27T16:32:29.077" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10698" CreationDate="2016-01-25T11:30:41.027" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course, there are &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; long-distance hiking trails without any available maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I'm aware, &lt;strong&gt;none&lt;/strong&gt; of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;European long-distance trails&lt;/a&gt; have dedicated end-to-end maps, unless you count Openstreetmap or a collection of several hundred topographic maps.  In some places they're well-mapped, e.g. when passing through Switzerland, Germany, or France, but in other countries they aren't, such as through Italy or Greece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there's plenty of traditional long-distance trails in Africa or Latin America that don't have accessible maps either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if North America is any better.  Are there dedicated maps for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_MacKenzie_Heritage_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail&lt;/a&gt;?  I've found that in North America, topographic maps often don't show the trails at all.  So there's certainly a market niche right there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except that almost nobody goes hiking there, so it certainly isn't profitable.  Which may just be why there aren't any maps available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; One &lt;em&gt;popular&lt;/em&gt; trail that appears to not have any maps available (at least not in English) is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_Olle_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Jeju Olle&lt;/a&gt;.  It's very scenic, not very remote, and attracts lots of hikers.  It appears that all hikers simply use a leaflet along with signposts.  Other trails in Korea might have the same pattern.  Topographic maps exist, but are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; hard to obtain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-01-26T10:50:17.953" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T10:50:17.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10700" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-25T14:55:35.020" Score="3" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any good places to rent kayaks/canoes in Korea? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last time I rented canoes here, there was a group of 30 people and a guy in a motor boat driving around telling people how to paddle. After about 20 minutes we had to make our way back in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping for something that offers more freedom and quiet, not white water kayaking but a lazy float trip down the river. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8632" LastActivityDate="2016-01-25T14:55:35.020" Title="Kayaking/canoeing in Korea" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2016-01-26T10:35:53.173" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10701" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-25T19:37:14.897" Score="6" ViewCount="4378" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any features to regular trekking poles that adjustable cross-country ski poles do not have? I know that many people use trekking poles for snowshoeing but are there any reason adjustable cross-country ski poles won't suffice for either snowshoeing or trekking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RELATED:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/79/should-i-get-trekking-poles-for-snowshoeing-or-stick-with-ski-poles&quot;&gt;Should I get trekking poles for snowshoeing, or stick with ski poles?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Note: The above question doesn't mention adjustable poles&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T01:50:46.640" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T12:04:52.540" Title="Adjustable cross-country-skiing poles vs trekking poles" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10701" CreationDate="2016-01-25T23:28:28.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, trekking poles will change the way you hike forever. They are a luxury that saves your legs a lot of exertion, sparing you a lot of energy, allowing you to enjoy yourself that much more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking Poles have a lot of features that XC pole lack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many Trekking Poles have shock absorbers in them which dampen the load to your wrists when they impact the ground:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqYk7.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqYk7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More ergonomic grips, which are often extended:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SfytS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SfytS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And come with replaceable baskets:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BlbHp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BlbHp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By comparison, XC poles are nothing more than a lightweight stick. Personally, I would never ski with a pair or extendable XC poles, I can;t see the benefit of having a pair unless you intended to share them with a number of people who were all different heights. I imagine they're designed primarily for rentals, or inexperienced skiers who don't know what length of pole to use, or people who want them just because their fancier? Anyways, they're pretty much pointless, you don't need to change the length of your poles while XC skiing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-25T23:28:28.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10704" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10706" CreationDate="2016-01-26T02:20:53.837" Score="11" ViewCount="1418" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love downhill and cross country skiing and am getting into back country skiing. Cross country boots are great for comfort because they're soft. Downhill boots are great for turning in part because the heel attaches to the ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: can you get the best of both worlds. Can you get soft or semi-soft boots which attach to the ski on the heel when going downhill, but allow the heel to float when going on the flat or up hill? This is how Alpine Touring bindings work, but I've only ever seen those with hard plastic boots. Is there a way to make Alpine Touring bindings work with softer boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8668" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-01-28T17:04:09.470" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T20:17:52.943" Title="Backcountry Skiing Bindings compatible with soft boots" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10704" CreationDate="2016-01-26T05:14:03.987" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you might want to look at getting are some randonee boots and some Dynafit bindings. They're designed more for racing &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; ski hills than they are coming down, but still do a good job on the quick descent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Randonee Boots:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z0Igm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z0Igm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSUUl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSUUl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They aren't super soft, you're never going to get the control you want on the down hill with super soft boots alpine boots, you'd be better off learning how to telemark if that's what you want, some styles of modern telemark backcountry boots are essentially hiking boots that you can clip into your 75mm telemark ski bindings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Light Telemark Boots:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IjB5a.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IjB5a.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5pQEb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5pQEb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T05:14:03.987" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10704" CreationDate="2016-01-26T05:30:24.353" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the answer to your specific question is no; the only boots I know of with tech fittings are hard boots made of plastic or carbon fiber.  However, I think you may be underestimating those boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AT boots are hard plastic but can still offer a soft feel.  Transitioning to skinning uphill consists of not just unlocking the heels but also switching the boots to a walking mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In walking mode, many feature a wide range of cuff rotation.  For example, the Dynafit TLT6 boot offers a cuff rotation of 60°, and the recently released Atomic Backland offers an impressive 74° rotation.  This means you can actually walk reasonably comfortably in them as opposed to being forced to clunk around as you've likely seen people do in alpine ski boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the boot you may have additional options.  The older TLT5 model offered about 5mm of flex at the toe, and many boots feature removable plastic tongues that you can take out if you want even more softness.  AT soles are usually rockered (curved, like hiking boots) to improve walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weights for the lighter weight models range from around 0.8kg to 1.3kg per boot (or as little as 0.56kg if you have the cash).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you may also wish to consider telemark (aka 3-pin) boots and bindings.  You won't be able to lock the heel but the telemark turn offers an alternate way to tackle steeper downhills.  (And with good technique you can still pull off parallel turns.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T05:30:24.353" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10598" CreationDate="2016-01-26T06:43:38.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There a few possible remedies to your cold sleeping woes. You already have most of the appropriate equipment so these are some of my suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For general coolness, first I'd recommend some type of vapor barrier/shield on the outside of your underquilt to block the air movement in your insulation, which is the single biggest cooling factor. This could be something as simple as a piece of plastic, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3236/1908&quot;&gt;tyvek&lt;/a&gt;, or maybe even an emergency blanket. I've used one of the more durable tarp/e-blanket combos under my hammock before to great effect in staying warm. The foil reflects your heat back and it blocks air movement as well. Search around as there are several brands.&#xA;If that isn't enough to stop the air movement then upgrading to a tarp with walls that extend all the way around and to the ground is another good bet. Again, multiple companies make these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally, if it is simply your feet that stay cold, then I would recommend some &lt;a href=&quot;http://theultimatehang.com/2014/09/down-synthetic-bootie-comparison-chart/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;down booties&lt;/a&gt;, also sold by several outdoor brands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final bit of advice: make sure you urinate before you get in the hammock. Holding your pee makes you cold because blood that could otherwise be used elsewhere in your body is tied up making sure you don't wet yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Example of an emergency tarp/blanket:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jvV53.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jvV53.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of an emergency tarp/blanket&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Example of enclosed tarp:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zg2Z1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zg2Z1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fully Enclosed Tarp&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Example of down/synthetic booties:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v4dhE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v4dhE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;booties&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the good ol' Mylar Emergency Blanket&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/56BnU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/56BnU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mylar Emergency Blanket&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T06:43:38.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8045" CreationDate="2016-01-26T07:11:59.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Red River Gorge is one of my favorite places I've climbed and I've &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; been in the summer months. Yes it is more humid, but it's not unbearable, though I'm from the Southeast so I'm a bit used to that. I found that I still enjoyed the climbing enough that I don't remember being bothered by the weather conditions. In fact I think the evenings were a bit cool in August. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, it's humid and somewhat buggy, but still very much worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T07:11:59.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9012" CreationDate="2016-01-26T10:48:51.473" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good estimation is to deduct 5 degrees Celsius from surface temperature to get temperature at 20m - 30m depth. (This is based on my experience over thousands of dives, but most of the diving is in temperate and colder waters) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several factors that can influence the difference between the temperature at surface and at depth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say contact a few dive shops in the area you wish to dive and ask them from their practical experience what temperatures you can expect at depth. Then choose good thermal protection that will work on shallow and deep dives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-01-29T12:05:10.583" LastActivityDate="2016-01-29T12:05:10.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9798" CreationDate="2016-01-26T13:32:20.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Silpoly is based on polyester, which means it's hydrophobic (doesn't absorb water). Not all slippery materials are hydrophobic, but this definitely factors in. Silicone sealant also repels water, but through different properties. Those different properties are also the ones that let it adhere to many different surfaces. Silicone has a high coefficient of friction but a low resistance to shear, which is why it works as a lubricant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8648" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T13:32:20.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9311" CreationDate="2016-01-26T14:20:20.800" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many homegrown solutions to this, such as latex glue or even duct tape. If you want to be extra cautious though, approach it like you were patching it. Find the recommended patch kit for that tent, sew the netting to the patches, then attach the patches as if it was a tear. I couldn't find an exact patch kit recommended by Quechua, but you can probably find a variety of colors at any store carrying tents. I would also highly recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/783045/gear-aid-tenacious-tape-repair-tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;Gear Aid Repair Tape at REI&quot;&gt;Gear Aid Tenacious Tape Repair Tape&lt;/a&gt;. It sticks well and comes in a variety of colors or even transparent. Either method would hold up better than duct tape!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8648" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T14:20:20.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10698" CreationDate="2016-01-26T15:26:52.193" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungsleden&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Kungsleden&lt;/a&gt; (lit. &lt;em&gt;kings way&lt;/em&gt; in Swedish) is a 440 km long trail in northern Sweden/Scandinavia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Wiki:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The trail is separated in four portions which each represent&#xA;  approximately one week of hiking. The most practiced part is by far&#xA;  the northernmost, between Abisko and Kebnekaise. The season, when the&#xA;  huts are open usually runs between mid-June and the end of September,&#xA;  rowing boats are usually at place in the end of June or beginning of&#xA;  July.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Huts have been constructed along the trail, separated by a distance&#xA;  that a walker could expect to cover during the day, about 9-22&#xA;  kilometres (6-14 mi). The huts are primarily operated by STF. For a&#xA;  small fee, it is possible to pitch a tent outside and use the&#xA;  facilities. Supplies can be bought in some of them (Alesjaure and&#xA;  Kebnekaise Fjällstation for example). Some emergency shelters can also&#xA;  be found on the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are the official Swedish maps, the only available scale I know of is 1:100'000 - quite large for hiking maps. On the other hand this also prevents the avid trekker to carry an entire backpack full of 1:25'000 maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially the northernmost section (1-2 weeks) is fairly popular, and there might be a fair demand for dedicated trail maps for this section. The guides that I own/saw personally only include very crude and essentially useless maps for tiny sections of the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that it is also a wonderful trail. Highly recomend it. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-01-27T07:08:58.253" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T07:08:58.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10713" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10787" CreationDate="2016-01-26T17:04:13.850" Score="4" ViewCount="520" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been using a pair of lightweight desert combat boots for hiking for the past couple of years, but they are finally falling apart and the brand/model has been discontinued. I am a large guy with size 15 feet, typically requiring an EE pair of boots. Very few of the boots I've found are available in my size (Amazon's sizing tool helps a ton), affordable, or known to be good boots (too few reviews). They need to be fairly waterproof, good for standard eastern woodlands terrain, and not be too heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What qualities/materials would be best in a pair of boots for someone with large, wide, and flat feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: In choosing between breathability and waterproofness, I'd prefer waterproofness. For example, I've heard things like heel cup construction is important with wider boots so if true a reference example of that quality would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8648" LastEditorUserId="8648" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T03:19:14.160" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T23:07:18.333" Title="Affordable Hiking/Trekking boots for flat feet" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10715" CreationDate="2016-01-26T17:49:21.480" Score="13" ViewCount="1531" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought about this question a while ago and have yet to find an answer. We have a small two person tent, just enough for my wife and I, and our dog. The issue is drying said dog when it is raining. Even with a towel his fur is too long to properly dry, here is the little demon:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b8DYl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b8DYl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He is only 14 inches (35 cm) to the shoulder but the amount of fur is ridiculous. Even with a coat it seeps through. In about two years this won't be an issue as he will grow a waterproof overcoat, but until then he is equivalent to a sponge. I am sure some of you go camping with dogs so the question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you dry a dog when they are soaking wet?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2016-01-26T18:58:52.260" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T06:43:51.430" Title="What to do with a wet dog while camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10714" CreationDate="2016-01-26T20:07:44.037" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One very helpful thing is to brush him while you're towel drying.  The brushing will help separate the hair to keep it from matting and will allow more air drying to occur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you use chamois leather to dry him off initially it will keep you from soaking a towel right away.  The chamois will absorb a lot of water, but is easily wrung out to absorb more.  This trick will get him mostly dry, and then you can finish drying him with a towel if you'd like.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing I'd suggest is a small bottle of deodorizing spray.  I have a St. Bernard and the wet dog smell can be overpowering in a small area, but the spray will help mask some of the lingering smell.  This of course is optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8243" LastActivityDate="2016-01-26T20:07:44.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10716" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10721" CreationDate="2016-01-26T21:54:49.827" Score="20" ViewCount="2273" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had now a couple of days when going rock climbing while the temperatures are below the general comfort zone (meaning below 6 °C/ 43 °F). &#xA;When starting to climb, my fingers got cold rather fast until the point when I only felt pain and lost the feeling completly. So I fell off the wall. Luckyly after that, warm blood came back to my fingers and they were warm enough to climb on for a long time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But here comes the next problem: my climbing shoes are really tight and on my 2nd go with warm fingers I eventually start losing the feeling in my toes, because they are so cold until I eventually slid off. So I put off the shoes and warmed up my feet a little (with the hands) until also here the feeling returned (warm blood came back) and I could finally climb properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has someone got any tips on how to get the warm blood in my fingers and toes before going in the 1st route? I hope there is a method of minimal pain ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I tried, was to circle my arm pretty fast so that blood is forced by centrifugal force in the fingers, but that didn't really do the job (worked only for a moment). A friend of mine told me this method is not useful since the body has to give the signal of sending warm blood itself, otherwise the effect won't last long enough, as I also experienced.&#xA;So should I do a warm-up exercises like sprinting around, doing push-ups etc.?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know how the pros are doing it? When I see Adam Ondra or so on Youtube bouldering or climbing hard routes near or below zero degrees (0 °C), I always wonder how they warm up and avoid the mentioned problems?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8672" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:43:50.183" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T02:47:14.373" Title="How do I get my fingers and toes warm before rock climbing at cold temperatures?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1339" CreationDate="2016-01-27T05:21:31.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Context&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountaineers sooner or later must climb ice and snow and camp for days at a time in high altitude. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rock climbers climb rock and in winter the rock that forms on climbs that are quite small in relation to that of what a mountaineer will climb. Rock climbers focus on climbing rocks and ice covered rocks and  then going down. The face they are on may take days but it will not generally be above 18k feet. Climbers will seek to be on YDC 5.0 and above and need a rope.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Terrain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineers may be in terrain 5.0 and under and above. They are the&#xA;ones that go to the top of the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rock climbers don't seek the top they seek to climb and their aim is&#xA;improve at the context strength game. The more sheer the face , the&#xA;more impossible to find a hold yet manage to, that is the rock&#xA;climber. They may even do seemingly impossible holds all day lone 100&#xA;feet off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Goals&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Mountaineer wants to go up, up, up and climb mountain tops and&#xA;use as much gear as they need to get there. They typically make base&#xA;camps along the way for support and to retreat to for 2nd attempts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climbers have rope and chalk or ice axes. Hope this helps. A good&#xA;climber may not make a good mountaineer and a great mountaineer may&#xA;not make an incredible rock climber.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mindset&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The mind of the mountaineer  is that of a survivalist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The mind of a rock climber is that of a sportsman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pain tolerance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Both are game to suffering, only the mountaineer is game to suffer&#xA;the most. To loose body parts, team mates, they are game to face&#xA;mother nature at the hardest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many a great Mountaineer has never done super hard free solos taking&#xA;only 2 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many a great rock climber has never been to the top of Everest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8674" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2018-12-29T00:30:47.057" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T00:30:47.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10716" CreationDate="2016-01-27T06:07:17.903" Score="10" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Warm Your Core!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpfdt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpfdt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;One thing all climbers have in common, is a big poofy down jacket. Your fingers are only going to be as warm as your core is, so keep your core warm, and that nice warm blood will circulate to your fingers. Only take your jacket off when it's your turn to climb. For extra warmth, drink hot chocolate while you're wearing your poofy jacket and you're fingers will be nice and toasty when you want them to be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though I'm in Canada, there's rock climbing here all year. People go bouldering out in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bouldering%20frank%20slide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Frank Slide&lt;/a&gt; all through the winter, so cold climbing fingers is something I'm very familiar with. Poofy jacket, and mitts while you wait your turn are how you stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ErYgG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ErYgG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBvdJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBvdJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krIG6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krIG6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lk4ps.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lk4ps.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T06:07:17.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10719" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10720" CreationDate="2016-01-27T07:43:01.627" Score="5" ViewCount="377" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine has made himself a small hook. He can thread one end between his bow and its string. The other end is a hook. This thing let him hook up his bow just nearly anywhere (basically it's for branches on trees). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As he made it from a white-tail antler, I tried to create on for myself. However, the antler I had didn't had this sharp angle needed to have a proper hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eSxuKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eSxuKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hook&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something similar - kind of an outdoor universal hook - to buy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: This hook has to comfortably fit in your trouser pockets, so that it can be taken out easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-27T08:13:01.630" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T03:40:47.827" Title="Is there a device to hook anything on a branch?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10719" CreationDate="2016-01-27T08:32:16.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could look at bungee cord hooks. They're pretty cheap and come in a bunch of sizes, plus you can bend and adjust them to suit your purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get them attached to bungee cord, as a length of cord or as a loop, or you can purchase them individually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option if you do want to use an antler is to check out pet shops, they tend to have loads of varying shapes and sizes (hollowed out or not as well) but I'm not sure how well one of these would suit your desired purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T08:32:16.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10716" CreationDate="2016-01-27T10:54:30.247" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Before the climb&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @ShemSeger suggests, most of the work is to be done before the climb itself. You need to stay warm belaying your partner and waiting to climb yourself - if your hands and feet are cold beforehand, it will be hard to warm them up when they are in contact with cold stone. What you can do is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep your core warm&lt;/strong&gt; by wearing warm clothes - down jacket is great. Don't forget a hat and a buff!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gloves&lt;/strong&gt; are essential - keep your hands warm by wearing belaying gloves. If it gets really cold, skiing gloves are great! Just make sure they have enough grip to safely handle the rope while belaying. You can also consider putting hand warmers in your gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And so are &lt;strong&gt;warm socks&lt;/strong&gt;. I usually take a pair of skiing socks with me if it's approaching 0°C. Make sure you have &lt;strong&gt;comfortable and warm shoes&lt;/strong&gt; on belay to allow blood blow in your feet. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep moving&lt;/strong&gt; to get the blood flowing – run around, do jumping jacks – whatever works! Move your fingers in the gloves and repeatedly open and close your hand to make sure a lot of warm blood is pumped through your forearms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm drinks&lt;/strong&gt; also help, especially if you get cold already.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't forget to eat&lt;/strong&gt; if you stay outside longer – you need a lot of energy to keep you warm and going! Chocolate helps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While climbing&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try to move fast to the hard stuff&lt;/strong&gt; - once you are really engaged in a challenging climb, it's really hard to get cold! While I'm a fan of warm-up routes in normal conditions, I found that they really do not help if it is really cold. On the contrary, they only make my hands and feet freeze off and the warming up effect is gone well before I am able to start the next climb. Try warming up on the ground wearing gloves all the time. If you really want to climb some easier stuff, try climbing in gloves. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you get a good rest position or a no-hand, &lt;strong&gt;warm your hands by touching the back of your neck&lt;/strong&gt;. It is a really warm and easily accessible spot even if one hand needs to hold the rock. Other good spots are between tights and under armpits, but those require standing on a ledge or hanging into the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Try climbing with sock in your shoes.&lt;/strong&gt; It might be uncomfortable, but I find a discomfort of a too small shoe much preferable to that of freezing-off toes. Climb in an older pair shoes or your alpine/multi-pitch shoes if you have some. I managed to fit skiing socks inside mine older shoes this autumn and it was really great!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Attach gloves to your harness and take them with you&lt;/strong&gt; - if your hands are approaching a state when you do not feel the holds anymore, hang on a rope and warm them up. You can also use them after falling off. I found that if you do that once, it almost always suffices for the reminder of a climb. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put a &lt;strong&gt;hand warmer in your chalk bag&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;After climbing&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get dressed immediately!&lt;/strong&gt; Even if you are warm right now, you'll get cold pretty soon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Employ the same techniques as before climbing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your climbing shoes warm between the climbs by putting them inside your jacket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you feel this characteristic pain of blood flowing again into really cold fingers and toes... some swearing helps, usually ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorUserId="3784" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T17:28:03.160" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T17:28:03.160" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10729" CreationDate="2016-01-27T15:09:32.487" Score="23" ViewCount="2446" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been out hiking in wilderness areas when I came across an unmarked trail. It wasn't on a map but it appeared to lead in the direction I wanted to go. I decided not to take it in case it was a game trail leading in the wrong direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the future, how can I tell if this is just a game trail or if this is an unmarked trail used by locals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:26:23.033" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:26:23.033" Title="How can I recognize a game trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;game-trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10724" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-27T15:16:28.560" Score="21" ViewCount="14214" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am fascinated and afraid (at the same time) of whirlpools and water currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if a average human could survive water currents or whirlpools or maybe even the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltstraumen&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Saltstraumen&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PYB7k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PYB7k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8676" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:31.493" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T16:59:10.473" Title="Can a human survive in Saltstraumen or other whirlpool?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10716" CreationDate="2016-01-27T15:36:11.037" Score="7" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5038-968/heat-factory-hand-warmer-24-pack/?q=heat%2Bpack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heat Warmers&lt;/a&gt; in your climbing shoes and in your gloves, put a big puffy on. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jumping jacks, lots of jumping jacks, get your heart rate up and get your blood flowing and warmed up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climb, the first climb is always the worst! Keep a heat pack in your chalk bag.  You'll freeze on the wall but when you get down you'll be hot!  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Immediately throw on your puffy and keep warm.  Climb two will feel like it's 30C out :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2518" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T15:36:11.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10724" CreationDate="2016-01-27T16:12:24.190" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say no, because according to records, the strait is not even considered navigable except during short periods of slack tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that mean a person &lt;em&gt;couldn't&lt;/em&gt; survive? No certainly not, but I wouldn't bet my own life to try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T16:12:24.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10719" CreationDate="2016-01-27T16:24:11.730" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could make your own with a smaller piece of hardwood 1x4. With a jig or bandsaw, cut a notch out for the hook, then remove material along the outside to make it narrow. Guaranteed to be comfortable and sit flat in your pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just draw the hook shape first so you know what it will look like and where to cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can even smooth it out with a rasp or file to make it more round rather than squarish. You could even carve or burn or stain/paint designs on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T16:24:11.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10724" CreationDate="2016-01-27T16:57:47.900" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends very much on the specific geography. But the idea of &quot;whirlpools&quot; that suck down people or entire ships, never to be seen again (which I suspect is what fascinates you) is largely a myth. The dangers aren't any different (and typically much smaller) than those posed by whitewater rapids in rivers. Specific dangers are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being knocked against rocks and getting injured or unconscious. This is the biggest danger in rivers but probably much less so in tide whirlpools.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exhaustion from trying to swim against currents, eventually leading to drowning. This could definitely happen to an inexperienced swimmer (or an experienced one with no hope of outside rescue), the same as with rip tides.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting trapped underwater, which can happen in various ways but usually involves rocks. There are some features in rivers (especially man-made weirs) that create permanent horizontal whirls which can trap people. I guess this is the closest thing to the &quot;sucked down&quot; scenario. But the tide whirlpools are vertical and not permanent - they move and dissolve, and new ones appear. I strongly doubt they have the power to keep a person underwater for long - but if that person is already exhausted, it could be a different story.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2016-01-28T12:43:04.753" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T12:43:04.753" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10723" CreationDate="2016-01-27T17:57:12.650" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to give some things to look for, but none of these are definite giveaways. It is very unlikely you will be able to tell a barely used human made trail from a game trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hikers like to be very obvious about the trails they make, and established trails are well worn. If a trail is very narrow, has undisturbed or barely disturbed ground cover, and is a bit overgrown, it's likely to be a game trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at the ground cover.  If it looks identical to the surrounding ground, it's more likely a game trail. Look for upturned or heavily compressed leaves (relative to the surrounding ground cover) and footprints. These are signs of human use, although the leaf disturbances might also come from animal use. Animals will use human made trails, so hoofprints don't tell you much either way. If you are somewhere without leaves, just compare the ground surface to the surrounding area. The bigger the differences, the more likely it is to be a human trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at the vegetation up top. If you see broken branches, especially from waist to eye height, it might be human activity. If you don't see broken branches, but there are none to snag your clothes or poke you in the eye, it usually means a person removed them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for litter. This is a sure sign of human use. Keep in mind that the trail might just lead to a party spot for locals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, game trails that do look like human trails usually revert to typical game trails in a hundred feet or so at most. So if you start following it, then realize it's getting harder to follow, it's probably a game trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-01-27T17:57:12.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10714" CreationDate="2016-01-27T18:26:58.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are backpacking or trying to travel light, bring a separate tent for the dog. There are lots of small tents built with this in mind. Even a small tarp will do the trick, if you aren't worried about bugs. A patch of grass under the tarp will make him perfectly happy. (You'll need to use a tie-out if you go with a tarp, of course.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For car camping, we have a ridiculously large Coleman tent that has a screened-in porch on one end. That's where the inevitably wet and muddy (and covered in deer poop if she can find any) dog sleeps. My dog is a husky who can take a full day or more to dry, depending on the weather, so separate sleeping arrangements are essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="3346" LastEditDate="2016-01-28T06:43:51.430" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T06:43:51.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10716" CreationDate="2016-01-28T02:29:08.480" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put a hand warmer in your chalk bag- it's great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8640" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T02:29:08.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10723" CreationDate="2016-01-28T03:34:10.460" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest giveaway is that you can't follow them for very long before you encounter an obstacle. Usually it's branches hanging over the trail that you have to duck very low to get under. The trails will also often mysteriously disappear, and then miraculously reappear later on. Animal droppings and hoof/paw prints are also a dead giveaway. There isn't really any rhyme or reason to a game trail most of the time, they're usually just the path of least resistance through the woods that many animals end up on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you find the trail is also often an indicator. Large mammals, in the Rockies at least, will often leave a trail traversing a mountain a third of the way up, and about two thirds of the way up the mountain, as well as on ridge lines. You'll also find trails traversing around the bottom of a scree slope, because many hoofed animals don't like to walk over scree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-29T03:33:52.663" LastActivityDate="2016-01-29T03:33:52.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10719" CreationDate="2016-01-28T03:40:47.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just buy these things in bulk at the dollar store:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/41k4v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/41k4v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I call them my, &quot;hang anything from anywhere&quot; hooks. Not really though, they're just a double hook, and I find them really handy. Almost as handy as my &quot;S&quot; caribiners:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P10zs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P10zs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4j9iZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4j9iZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T03:40:47.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10724" CreationDate="2016-01-28T03:47:42.613" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can survive it... if you've got the skills. Not many years ago I watched a film at a mountain film festival, and it was about the first guys to ever kayak the Congo River. They weren't only the first people to kayak the river, they were also the first people to navigate it-and survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QnMMB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QnMMB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a clip from National Geographic: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeZjJk2lTHs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeZjJk2lTHs&lt;/a&gt; You basically just do your best to stay upright, point your nose out, lean forward, and paddle like crazy to either try to escape it, or ride it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-01-29T03:34:55.403" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10704" CreationDate="2016-01-28T20:09:28.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think you can find them anymore, but ~10 years ago Scarpa was selling a light and pretty soft plastic AT boot with toe bellows (like modern telemark boots). They were great for my Dad to transition to AT gear from 3-pin telemarking on leather boots. On &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildsnow.com/15159/scarpa-f1-ski-touring-boot-review-2004/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wildsnow.com&lt;/a&gt; they have a pretty good write up about them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CqOFV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CqOFV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scarpa F1 ski boots&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavier version (F3) might be easier to find:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LZ2bv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LZ2bv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scarpa F3 ski boot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I got serious about AT again I would probably try to find a boot like the F3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you're wondering you will probably need to mount a shim to the ski to support the toe bellows. Depending on your ski bindings this may or may not be possible. This won't prevent you from being able to use ski crampons if needed. My dad's company makes &lt;a href=&quot;http://bndskigear.com/dynafitcrampons.html#F1-F3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;crampons/shims&lt;/a&gt; specifically for tech bindings and F1/F3 boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-01-28T20:17:52.943" LastActivityDate="2016-01-28T20:17:52.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10737" CreationDate="2016-01-29T06:07:03.033" Score="9" ViewCount="1312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was thinking about heading to a place where there is a chance to confront a coyote. It worried me a lot then..this question popped up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I have big enough speaker that can play sound of coyote's predator, does it help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8376" LastEditorUserId="16063" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T23:55:37.020" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T23:55:37.020" Title="Does it help to play a fake sound when confronted with a wild animal?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10736" CreationDate="2016-01-29T06:41:00.093" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Yes!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not a silly question at all and surprisingly easy to answer: &lt;em&gt;yes&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are even sound-systems exactly for that use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Try sound. Sound can have an excellent impact on a coyote that has&#xA;  wandered into your yard or campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try banging trash can lids or anything else that is noisy to scare    the coyote off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yell and make a lot of noise in any way possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Motion activated alarms can be useful. An even more tech-savvy option    is the new Anti-Coyote sound system. This system relies on&#xA;  the fact    that cougars occasionally kill coyotes. The systems emit&#xA;  replicated    cougar sounds, and may keep coyotes away.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Propane exploders can be used to deter coyotes on farms and ranches.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Coyotes-Away-from-Campsites-or-Homesteads&quot;&gt;Wikihow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The USDA’s Denver Wildlife Research Center developed a frightening&#xA;  device called the Electronic Guard&#xA;  (EG). The EG consists of a strobe light and siren controlled by a&#xA;  variable interval timer that is activated at night with a&#xA;  photoelectric cell. In tests conducted in fenced pastures, predation&#xA;  was reduced by about 89%. The device is used in Kansas and other&#xA;  states to protect cows/calves from coyote predation. Most research on&#xA;  the effectiveness of this device, however, has been done on sheep&#xA;  operations. Suggestions for using the unit differ for pastured sheep&#xA;  and range operations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/coyotes.asp&quot;&gt;icwdm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it's more important that you even make sound in the first place than what sound it is. But as you've the choice with your speaker setup, you should either use Wolf, Mountain Lion, Bear or Cougar sounds as they are the most dangerous predators (in this order) for coyotes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to checkout &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&amp;amp;context=icwdm_usdanwrc&quot;&gt;this pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Coyote-Activated Frightening Devices For Reducing Sheep Predation On Open Range&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summarized list of additional steps to take according to Wikihow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use fencing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try sound&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use negative reinforcement or the element of surprise if you happen across a coyote in your yard or campsite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eliminate food sources liked by coyotes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep pets away from coyotes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove junk piles from your property&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try wolf urine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If these humane solutions don't help, consider calling in a professional&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Coyote Shaker&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good method to get rid of coyotes is to use a coyote shaker — a soda can filled with pennies or pebbles and sealed with duct tape. This device scares the approaching coyote in three ways. Through:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aggressive hand motion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loud noise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reflective light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shake or throw this “coyote shaker”.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-01-29T07:27:17.447" LastActivityDate="2016-01-29T07:27:17.447" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10738" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-29T12:59:50.980" Score="10" ViewCount="3472" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took a surf lesson and got the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Splash/ sand in the eye in an abrasive way that put me out for 20 minutes and was bothering me for few more days&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bright tropical sun &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pros / cons of having them on for water protection vs visibility? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maybe ones with larger/ wider &quot;rim&quot; that don't decrease field of vision? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Redness, burning &amp;amp; eyes watering for next few days&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Surfers getting eye damage: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110801194540AAhB1l4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110801194540AAhB1l4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mellow-waves.com/should-you-surf-with-contact-lenses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://mellow-waves.com/should-you-surf-with-contact-lenses/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Surf Goggles being recommended: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.surferdad.co.uk/surf-goggles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.surferdad.co.uk/surf-goggles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.maximumeyewear.com/productfolder/water-glasses/water-glasses.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.maximumeyewear.com/productfolder/water-glasses/water-glasses.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://oceanfit.com.au/6-ocean-swimming-products-i-couldnt-do-without/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://oceanfit.com.au/6-ocean-swimming-products-i-couldnt-do-without/&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vorgee.com/node/145&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.vorgee.com/node/145&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Especially, for people with prescriptions: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/Aquaviz/photos_stream&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.facebook.com/Aquaviz/photos_stream&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;US sources of similar goggles: Now I'm leaning towards these as its US/ Amazon and easier to order compared to UK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00HQL9AEI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Sphere-Kaiman-Swimming-Goggles/dp/B00HQL9AEI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00V6T3FKQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Sphere-Kayenne-Goggle/dp/B00V6T3FKQ&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gogglesandglasses.com/Surf-Sunglasses_c_2286.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.gogglesandglasses.com/Surf-Sunglasses_c_2286.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a beginning learner spends more time splashing in Water, than surfing/ standing on the board. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure, if there's benefit to any of them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they do not have any pros for a newbie/ beginner, would there be any benefit once you've picked up a bit of surfing foundation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6659" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T08:57:59.283" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T08:57:59.283" Title="Any swim goggles that may be beneficial for a surfer?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;swim-goggles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10738" CreationDate="2016-01-29T13:52:47.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For years I used to wear Oakley Razor Blades when surfing (yes, I am that old...) but once I started to manage slightly bigger waves, even wearing a strap to hold them on wasn't enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, unless you are on small surf, you will have them ripped off when you wipe out, so your best bet is to learn to surf without them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will very quickly avoid spray and sand in them. Not sure what to do about the sun, though. Typically at noon it is at its highest, so it shouldn't be an issue. I have only ever had problems with morning or evening surfing where you end up facing the sun when it is low on the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-01-29T13:52:47.930" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10740" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-29T18:59:59.093" Score="11" ViewCount="744" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in England and I like forests.  Where do I find the largest protected forest in England?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By protected I mean: no commercial logging (management logging is OK considering no forests without it exist in England), mining, or agriculture.  I can tolerate that hunting and fishing are still permitted.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand the English define ancient woodland as being &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_woodland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;continuous since before 1600&lt;/a&gt;, but for the sake of this question, I do not necessarily insist on it being ancient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-02-01T10:28:09.073" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T14:29:01.707" Title="Largest protected forest (ancient woodland) in England?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10741" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-30T18:33:20.967" Score="5" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm getting ready to make a pretty big move west and I'll basically be driving across the whole US. One state I'll pass through is New Mexico, and I'm looking at heading through the mountains there. What are some hikes I could potentially do while driving through the state?&#xA;Here are some criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;within an hour or two of main interstates or other highways&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;relatively short (less than 3-4 miles one way)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preferably with scenic views&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;still accessible in February&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;possibility (not a requirement) of reaching a mountain peak over 10,000 ft&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;possibility (not a requirement) to tent camp along the trail, near the trailhead, or possibly even just on the way to/from the trailhead...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, it's a tall order I know, so the answers don't have to meet &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; those criteria, but it would be cool if they did!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T17:41:13.807" LastActivityDate="2018-03-31T17:41:13.807" Title="Easily accessible, short hikes in New Mexico?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;all-season&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10742" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-01-30T18:35:44.950" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Referring to outdoor activities that can generally be enjoyed any time of the year in most climates and most locations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="1908" LastEditDate="2016-01-31T00:25:21.187" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T00:25:21.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10743" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-01-30T18:35:44.950" Score="0" Body="Can be applied to any outdoor sports and the relating gear which can be used during the whole year." OwnerUserId="1908" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-01-31T07:37:18.410" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T07:37:18.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10603" CreationDate="2016-01-30T23:14:38.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is asdanrnr from Uclue, I posted on your topic but after 14 days it is expiring and I am afraid my answer came too late, so here is my take :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went through this list of birds in Maryland:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://davenation.com/birds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://davenation.com/birds/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your bird may be a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, you can here its song here :&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NixrHvecZ8c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NixrHvecZ8c&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8692" LastActivityDate="2016-01-30T23:14:38.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10746" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-30T23:33:52.793" Score="6" ViewCount="2840" Body="&lt;p&gt;So you know how when you're belaying you clip in to the belaying loop, and when your climbing you tie in to the two loops the belay loop is stiched through... When you're climbing, what part would you attach the rope to if it has a carabiner clipped to a pre-tied 8 in the rope ? (I know they usually do this when lots of people are in and they just want stuff to be faster)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8693" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T03:23:41.310" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T09:20:41.533" Title="What is the correct way to attach a rope to a harness with carabiners?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-02-10T09:42:12.913" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10746" CreationDate="2016-01-31T00:10:58.063" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carabiners always attach to the belay loop. Attaching carabiners to the tie-in-points causes them to get loaded incorrectly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carabiners are designed to load the spine, which is the side opposite the gate. Attaching a carabiner to the tie-in-points causes the gate to be loaded, since three strands get loaded (the tie-in loops and the rope end). An incorrectly loaded carabiner fails at much lower forces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A quick safety notice:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;When tying in this way, it is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prcainfo.org/advisories/PRCA%20Tech%20Adv-Petzl%20Carabiner-Harness%20Connection%202007.pdf/at_download/file&quot;&gt;standard&lt;/a&gt; to use two locking carabiners. &lt;strong&gt;Never use just one non-locking carabiner!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-01-31T05:55:47.747" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T05:55:47.747" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10748" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10753" CreationDate="2016-01-31T01:36:05.890" Score="4" ViewCount="1537" Body="&lt;p&gt;While walking on the beach in Monterey, I have noticed several Sandpipers that I at first thought had lost a leg; they hop along on the one, eliciting pity from naive onlookers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, though, they stretch their other leg back down and begin walking as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do they do this? Are they resting the leg they retracted? Are they playing a joke on us gullible humans? Are they feigning being one-legged for some other reason?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T17:56:24.477" Title="Why do Sandpipers sometimes hop on one leg?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10749" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-01-31T01:41:38.487" Score="10" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed a couple of Sandpipers today who, after extracting a larger-than-normal morsel from the sand under the receding waves, &quot;strutted their stuff&quot; and dropped the morsel they had discovered for all surrounding Sandpipers to see, and then immediately snatched it up again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dropping of the catch did not seem an act of clumsiness, but a very deliberate &quot;Look what I got!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My impression was that they were proud of themselves and showing their flockmates what good hunter-gatherers they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I right? Is this a way for a male to show off what a good provider he would be? Or is it just the equivalent of a baboon beating his breast or a football player spiking the ball after scoring a touchdown, or is there some other reason for this behavior?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:00:23.933" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:00:23.933" Title="Why do Sandpipers show off their catch?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10750" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10755" CreationDate="2016-01-31T04:27:51.307" Score="12" ViewCount="3587" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see people doing this a lot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uz1Rf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uz1Rf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: Why? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When is it &lt;strong&gt;necessary&lt;/strong&gt; to double up locking carabiners? Ever? Doubling up non-locking carabiners with opposite and opposing gates was, and still is a safe practice, but locking carabiners were an innovation invented to provide the same security, but eliminate the necessity of using &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; carabiners. Yet, there are people doubling up locking carabiners, as if they didn't have locks on them at all, and recommending it as best-practice. I support the notion that there is no such thing as overkill, but, if you're using a 25kN biner with a triple action gate, you are going to be plenty safe top-roping or using the biner to tie-in to your harness. So why are so many people strict on the practice of doubling up on lockers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-01-31T04:51:00.560" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T10:11:48.990" Title="Is it ever necessary to double up locking carabiners?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10750" CreationDate="2016-01-31T15:11:02.040" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not necessary, but neither is using two non-lockers really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People usually use two carabiners because they will bend the rope less sharply, reducing friction when loaded (also reducing wear on the biners). This is very common in top roping, when the climber is expecting to be lowered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the person that setup the anchor in the picture wanted more smoothness, and left one of the carabiners unlocked just to be cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T15:11:02.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10748" CreationDate="2016-01-31T17:56:24.477" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;By lifting one leg into their down, they are conserving heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T17:56:24.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10754" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10758" CreationDate="2016-01-31T22:14:41.437" Score="8" ViewCount="508" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took my usual weekend stroll along the strand (Del Monte Beach in Monterey, California) today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was different today than ever before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For one thing, there were no Sandpipers or Plovers or Gulls on the beach. Perhaps that was because it was pretty windy. There were gulls and pelicans flying overhead, but none landed on the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there was something else stranger and possibly disturbing: the surf was very sudsy; it was as if somebody had dumped tons of Mr. Bubble into the Bay. The edges of the surf (left behind after the waves) looked just like a bubble bath. The wind was blowing pieces off the sudsurf that looked like what you get when you blow the sudsy bubble bath foam off your hand, and the pieces went blowing along the beach like coastal tumbleweeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a known phenomenom? I've never seen it before...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T10:45:08.703" Title="What would cause sudsy surf?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10750" CreationDate="2016-01-31T22:40:09.950" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A number of prominent climbing organizations (e.g. International Federation of Sport Climbing) either recommend or require two locking carabiners for clip-in attachment to a harness, e.g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/images/World_competitions/Event_regulations/IFSC-Rules_2015_V1.1.doc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;IFSC Rules 2015&lt;/a&gt; [1MB DOC]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8.3.5&lt;/strong&gt; The climbing rope shall be connected to the competitor's harness by two Screwgate or Self-Locking Karabiners arranged in opposition&#xA;  (i.e. with the gates in opposition) and the climbing rope must also be&#xA;  attached to the Karabiners using a “figure of eight” knot, secured&#xA;  with a “stopper” knot or tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://usaclimbing.net/rockcomps/resources/USA%20Climbing%20Rulebook.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USA Climbing Rulebook&lt;/a&gt; [1MB PDF]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.1.11&lt;/strong&gt; USAC recognizes that some host facilities utilize a pre-tied rope as a method to tying-in.  In this case, it is recommended that&#xA;  two opposite facing auto-locking carabiners, at the tie-in point, be&#xA;  used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some organizations feel that even two opposite-and-opposed screw-gate carabiners are insufficient, such as the Australian Professional Association of Climbing Instructors (PACI), who released a detailed paper on their recommended protocol:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/downloads_public/risk/14_Protocols_rope-attach-methods.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PACI Protocols for Attaching Climbing Rope to Participants Harness (artificial climbing surfaces)&lt;/a&gt; [1MB PDF]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENT METHODS ARE UNACCEPTABLE AND FORBIDDEN UNDER&#xA;  PACI PROTOCOLS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some facilities attempt to use two standard screw-gate carabiners to&#xA;  achieve connective security. The carabiners are still susceptible to&#xA;  cross-loading caused by cyclical loading. Using two carabiners&#xA;  provides false security (ie 2 ‘wrongs’ don’t make a right!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their protocol requires additional measures such as captive-eye carabiners, the reasons for which are detailed within that paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For other uses I found a couple of relevant statements:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2011/07/non-lockers-vs-lockers-at-power-point.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Alpine Institute blog&lt;/a&gt; with regard to the &quot;power point&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the guiding world, two opposite and opposed lockers are considered&#xA;  to be industry standard. The liklihood of a single locking carabiner&#xA;  becoming unlocked and opening is incredibly low. However, this is one&#xA;  of the rules that you learn when you start to climb and it has become&#xA;  so integral to outdoor groups throughout the world in toproping that&#xA;  it has become the industry standard across the board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We do teach to use two lockers on a belay loop for tying in for glacier travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=VQx_AwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA61&amp;amp;dq=%22two%20locking%20carabiners%22&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the professional realm, the industry standard for attaching the&#xA;  climbing rope to the toprope anchor master point is either two locking&#xA;  carabiners or three oval carabiners with the gates opposed and&#xA;  reversed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T09:21:31.317" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T09:21:31.317" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10746" CreationDate="2016-01-31T22:47:51.170" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing toprope, then you connect the rope via locking carabiner to your belay loop. You do not have to expect high forces.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are leading you should tie the rope directly to the tie in loops. When falling in a lead you have to expect much higher forces than when toproping. They can relatively easily exceed the crossloading breaking force, and crossloading can easily happen as the rope is not under tension. If you absolutely want to use carabiners in this scenario, use two locking carabiners with opposing gates (even if both are crossloaded, they still share some load) or a carabiner that avoids crossloading with a bar, like this one:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gv3DY.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should not connect the carabiner to the tie in loops, as carabiners are usually &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; rated for ring loading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-07-07T09:20:41.533" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T09:20:41.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10754" CreationDate="2016-01-31T23:29:46.043" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The suds are caused by protein. Protein is usually consumed by the nitrogen cycle and finally plant life, but if there is enough water churning by wind and white caps and breaking waves it can froth up and dry out and get blown away and get trapped a gyre where is eventually melts back down into the water. Sometimes it gets blown into a beach as you've seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh and by the way, it's completely natural, not something to be concerned about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-01-31T23:29:46.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10759" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10763" CreationDate="2016-02-01T05:06:31.963" Score="14" ViewCount="2503" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that the majority of professional arborists favor friction hitches that are tied with a free cord rather than a loop:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blake's Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/schwabisch-hitch/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schwabisch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/distel/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Distel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/valdotain-tresse/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Valdotain Tresse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is often tied using an eye to eye hitch cord like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBrLW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBrLW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a Blake's hitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QfMYM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QfMYM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blake&amp;#39;s hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One can also tie an asymmetrical Prusik without access to the end of the rope using one of these cords.  As far as I know none of these are popular among rock climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people do not carry any dedicated Prusik loops, relying only on runners, but I have seen enough climbers that do.  For those that &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; carrying Prusik loops why not a single or double eye hitch cord?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find ascending a rope with a Purcell and a waist Prusik challenging enough.  If one of these arborist's hitches works just a bit better why not consider it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is valuable to know that one can tie a friction hitch using the end of the rope itself (Blake's) even if this wouldn't be a typical application; it's another tool in the toolbox.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I forgetting other critical uses for a Prusik loop that an eyed hitch cord cannot perform?  Are there other practical reasons to choose a closed Prusik loop over these hitches, or is just a matter of different culture and experience?  (Splicing eyes is not a typical climber skill from what I gather.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T14:28:08.903" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T14:28:08.903" Title="Why are eye friction hitches not commonly used in rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10754" CreationDate="2016-02-01T12:51:12.090" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sea foam, ocean foam, beach foam, or spume is a type of foam created&#xA;  by the agitation of seawater, particularly when it contains higher&#xA;  concentrations of dissolved organic matter (including proteins,&#xA;  lignins, and lipids) derived from sources such as the offshore&#xA;  breakdown of algal blooms.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  -- Wikipedia (2016-07-25): &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_foam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sea foam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Human waste can be a source as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lack of wildlife could be explained by their food sources being covered in possibly irritating or infectious foam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8700" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-07-25T10:45:08.703" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T10:45:08.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10741" CreationDate="2016-02-01T13:01:21.583" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how well this meets all your somewhat conflicting criteria, but take a look at Mt Taylor northeast of Grants.  Grants is right on the interstate, and its not that far into the national forest to get to a trailhead.  The top is about 11,300 feet.  While there are some trees right at the top, there are also good open vistas.  I'm not so sure about only 3 miles one way.  I did this from the forest road starting southwest of the peak, and I think it was probably more like 5 miles.  If I remember right, there is a trailhead north or northwest that is closer to the peak.  The great views are largely south of the peak though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only been there in summer, so don't know how different things are in winter.  Some of the roads may be closed.  Check with the ranger station just at the edge of Grants on the way towards the forest from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a view along the trail coming down on the southwest flank, Aug 2009:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DBONN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DBONN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-02-01T21:34:18.447" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T21:34:18.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10759" CreationDate="2016-02-01T13:03:13.750" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main reasons is simplicity and habituation:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A prusik made from a loop is easily taught and controlled. This is a point that many experienced climber forget about often: When people start they may struggle on the basic knots. So for the first thing to learn a simplicity is more important than functionality. And the prusik is a long established and reliable knot. Safety is good too: Just check the knot before use and add a turn if more friction required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do many people stick with it?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The simplicity is reason again, but the other is simply habituation: It is much easier to simply stick with what you learned, it feels &quot;comfortable&quot;. Another important aspect is interoperability: You (almost always) climb with a partner and should control each other, so all the knots must be known to both climbers. So you have to employ the smallest common denominator of knots, which is usually the more basic knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other uses are in mountaineering when on glaciers you use a prusik on the cord and hold the sling with your hand. This can then immediately be used for a preliminary anchor. For climbing I do not see any other uses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why not the arbory knots you showed above?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I think this is only for historical reasons: Different knots evolved in these two areas that had probably not significant enough overlap to merge. I can do a prusik without a pretied loop (you just need to secure the free end with e.g. a double fishermans). I learned this for a variation of a pulley in crevasse rescue, but it is simply more complicated: You have to do knots on both ends of the cord while in a loop you can just clip into. Here your point of cords with eyes in them comes into play: I simply never saw such a thing in climbing and as you stated I have no idea about splicing. So I guess definitely a culture thing (a friend of mine is arborist and avid climber, never saw one on him either).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still many people I climb with do use other friction knots. Some do not carry a pre-tied loop for prusiks with the argument that it can only be used for this single purpose and is thus ineffective. They use slings instead. I often use a longer pretied loop to do a knot we call &quot;Englaender-Prusik&quot; (literally: Englishman's Prusik, heard of it as French Prusik too :P, correctly: autoblock, thanks Mr.Wizard) for which you simply wind the cord some times around the rope and attach both ends to a locking biner: Easier and you cannot drop the cord as one end can always stay in the biner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T08:49:54.533" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T08:49:54.533" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8474" CreationDate="2016-02-01T13:17:18.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question has already been well answered but I would like to address a slightly different point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;What's the problem with a wet rope anyway?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dynamic climbing ropes are, to the best of my knowledge, universally manufactured from Nylon 6 or Nylon 6,6.  Nylon is a somewhat unusual polymer in that it readily absorbs water, and its properties change significantly when it does.  The material is hydrophilic enough that even atmospheric humidity causes significant water absorption.  The issue is not simply water between the fibers of the rope, making it heavy, or stiff when frozen, but a fundamental change in the material of the rope itself.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_transition&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;glass transition&lt;/a&gt; point drops considerably, causing tensile strength to fall and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creep_%28deformation%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;creep&lt;/a&gt; to rise.  A wet nylon rope is weaker and less able to recover from stretching in just the same way it would be if heated excessively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In applications involving water nylon should be avoided when possible and that is exactly what one sees in caving and canyoneering ropes: the use of polyester, which is not significantly affected in this manner.  Unfortunately polyester does not have the elongation and energy absorption needed for a dynamic climbing rope so rope manufacturers are left trying to patch an inherent problem, and that patch is hydrophobic treatment as described in the other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T22:24:39.910" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T22:24:39.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10740" CreationDate="2016-02-01T14:23:23.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_woods_in_England&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, the largest ancient woodland is the &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Great_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Windsor Great Park&lt;/a&gt;&quot; (1777 Ha) :) However, this one doesn't really fit into your description, does it? The next biggest woodland is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King&amp;#39;s_Wood,_Heath_and_Reach&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;King's and Baker's Wood&lt;/a&gt; (212 Ha). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further information: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.protectedplanet.net/136567&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.protectedplanet.net/136567&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yj5Jb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yj5Jb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-02-01T14:29:01.707" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T14:29:01.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10636" CreationDate="2016-02-01T15:56:52.163" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use this bow pack when I want a lightweight solution. Here is a link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/hunting/archery/archery-cases-holders/bow-slings-holsters%7C/pc/104791680/c/104693580/sc/104256180/i/103987080/cabela-s-bow-carrier-sling/1587543.uts?destination=%2Fcategory%2FBow-Slings-Holsters%2F103987080.uts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cabelas.com/product/hunting/archery/archery-cases-holders/bow-slings-holsters%7C/pc/104791680/c/104693580/sc/104256180/i/103987080/cabela-s-bow-carrier-sling/1587543.uts?destination=%2Fcategory%2FBow-Slings-Holsters%2F103987080.uts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i4WMI.png&quot; alt=&quot;bow pack&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8702" LastEditorUserId="8702" LastEditDate="2016-02-01T18:03:32.917" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T18:03:32.917" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10767" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-01T20:07:15.200" Score="11" ViewCount="2515" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have worn these twice and the second time I noticed the stitching in the left inside was ripping. It has been a hassle trying to take them back to the store because I live 2 hours away. So I am hoping that I may be able to just fix it myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xKkTvl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xKkTvl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8703" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T06:09:21.870" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T00:06:46.670" Title="How to repair the ripped seam in my leather cowboy boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10769" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10771" CreationDate="2016-02-01T22:45:10.663" Score="9" ViewCount="3489" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went to get almonds at Walgreens and my friend said he would get me a bunch from the beach.  And he proceeded to give me 4 &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;almond fruits&lt;/a&gt;.  I had seen these many times on the trees (here in San Juan Puerto Rico) but I wasn't sure they were edible.  They smell like peaches and they do not taste bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8704" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:15:06.483" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:15:06.483" Title="Are almond fruits edible?" Tags="&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10759" CreationDate="2016-02-01T23:34:08.760" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A climber and aborist should be superbly proficient in a knot or technique before relying on it. An Arborist will spend 100's of hours a year climbing - much more than average climbers, and has more time to become proficient in complex techniques, and uses them enough the advantages are worth the effort. &#xA;Most climbers on the other hand will climb a few hours a week at most and will rarely use, and therefore loose proficiency in many knots and techniques that in theory are better if done well. i.e. Doing the 'second (or third) best' way well trumps doing the best way poorly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, climbers should initially learn and use one way, ideally that can be used in many situations before thinking about alternates. Once experienced is gained, some look for better ways to do things they do often, but rarely worry about optimising things the don't do much - the reward for the effort (initial and ongoing) is not worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-02-01T23:34:08.760" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10769" CreationDate="2016-02-02T02:51:04.097" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are eating fruits like these, you aren't eating true almonds.  These are tropical almonds, &lt;a href=&quot;http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2012/02/wild-edibles-in-hawaii-tropical-almonds.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Terminalia catappa&lt;/a&gt;, and the entire fruit and nut are edible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8243" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T21:54:34.907" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T21:54:34.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10773" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-02T06:42:57.183" Score="19" ViewCount="1525" Body="&lt;p&gt;In light of the recent forest-fire qualms that have arisen all over the globe (not to imply that any of y'all are irresponsible enough to have the capacity to start any, and hopefully that same would apply to all campers), and also given the other benefits of doing away with carrying food-cooking equipment about, going stove/fireless may be an attractive approach to eating on the track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far, the suggestions I've heard involve trail mix &amp;amp; dried fruit (not mutually exclusive, of course :p ) as an integral factor, along with some more complex suggestions, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://outdoorherbivore.com/trail-sprouts/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;growing your own sprouts on the go&lt;/a&gt;. I'm intruiged as to other's suggestions as to what's worked well for you (personally I enjoy taking along a jar (plastic, for heaviness concerns) of peanut butter, and mixing in toasted muesli). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that I'm not discriminating between short- and long-distance hiking in this question - anything that applies to one likely applies to the other - but it should be apparent that it's more directed towards long-distance hiking. Also, note that this isn't a question regarding the validity of using a stove/fire or not, there's already &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9028/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-no-cook-backpacking&quot;&gt;another question&lt;/a&gt; centred about that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8707" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T12:22:51.330" Title="Stoveless/fireless hiking food suggestions" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10773" CreationDate="2016-02-02T08:03:01.297" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option, if you still want hot food with no real possibility for starting a fire, would be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat#MRE_contents&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MREs&lt;/a&gt; (Meals Ready to Eat). These include a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flameless Ration Heater&lt;/a&gt; that rely on a contained chemical reaction to warm food. They are a bit on the bulky side though.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wBmP0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wBmP0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, for my lunches while backpacking I like &lt;a href=&quot;http://starkist.com/products/ready-to-eat-tuna-salad-original-deli-style&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ready to Eat Tuna Salad Pouches&lt;/a&gt; along with some flour tortillas to make a sort of burrito.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EhVddm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EhVddm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually supplemented with &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81jepiU7iHL._SX425SX425_SY200_CR,0,0,425,200_PIbundle-6,TopRight,0,0_SX425_SY200_CR,0,0,425,200_SH20_.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cheese or peanut butter crackers&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; maybe some &lt;a href=&quot;http://mini-babybel.com/wp-content/themes/bootstrap-basic-child-mbb/img/home-hero.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mini cheese wheels&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vbz5Hm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vbz5Hm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-02T15:33:38.093" LastActivityDate="2016-02-02T15:33:38.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10775" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10779" CreationDate="2016-02-02T13:27:22.440" Score="14" ViewCount="2011" Body="&lt;p&gt;Am I allowed to bivouac in the German Elbsandsteingebirge (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Sandstone_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Elbe Sandstone Mountains&lt;/a&gt;)? If no, is it considered as a peccadillo/unenforced law (Kavaliersdelikt)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In both countries ((Czech and Germany)), the mountain range has been declared a national&#xA;  park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T05:27:57.640" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T05:27:57.640" Title="Legal situation for camping in the German Elbsandsteingebirge" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10775" CreationDate="2016-02-02T14:04:27.640" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to German law, bivouacking (defined as sleeping outside for one night without a tent) is generally allowed in Germany, but only outside from nature protection areas. Camping is generally forbidden outside of designated campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mention, large parts of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains are under statutory protection within Saxon Switzerland National Park and protected area surrounding it. There is also Bohemian Switzerland National Park on the Czech side. So, in short, &lt;strong&gt;it is not allowed to bivouac in Elbsandsteingebirge&lt;/strong&gt;. You should look for available campsites or bivouac outside of the protected areas. As @null pointed out in his excellent answer, there exists an exception to that rule in Saxon Switzerland National Park - there are designated bivouacking places for climbers one can use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/16779/zelten_und_biwakieren_in_den_bergen_16779.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Deutscher Alpenverien&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T14:16:38.697" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T14:16:38.697" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10773" CreationDate="2016-02-02T15:09:25.670" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is the list of stuff I would consider taking on longer hikes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trail mix&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chocolate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;muesli bars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more expensive energy bars are great for really demanding stuff, where energy to weight ratio really counts (e.g. multi pitch climbing). They are also more filling than muesli bars.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;beef jerky &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dried sausage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vacuum-packed hard cheese&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;peanut butter or nutella&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;canned tuna or tuna salad&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bread (or alternatives such as crackers, pita, tortillas)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;powdered milk &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;olive oil (high calorie content, can be eaten with bread italian-style)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;all kinds of sweets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those items also do a good job, but only work for short (one-two day) hikes because of spoiling or weight concerns:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bananas, grapes and other fruits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sandwiches - old school, tasty solution&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hummus&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avocado&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cream cheese&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a comment, I would not consider going for a longer hike (more than 2-3 days) without an option of making hot food. In my experience having something warm to eat or drink restores a lot of energy, is nice on stomach after eating a lot of energy-dense foods during the day, and works wonders for morale. All of that is well worth an effort of bringing a cooker and a small pot along. Additionally, having a method of boiling water allows one to use freeze dried meals which have a great weight to energy ratio. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3784" LastEditorUserId="3784" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T10:16:37.067" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T10:16:37.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10775" CreationDate="2016-02-02T18:18:36.253" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are special places where you are allowed to sleep outside if you are climbing there.&#xA;And by &amp;quot;outside&amp;quot; I mean without a tent, because these locations are (more or less) weatherproof by having roofs of rock. They usually have a a lot of sand on the ground which makes them quite comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The local term of such a place is &amp;quot;boofe&amp;quot;. They are a bit hard to find, even if you know the location on the map. To be sure, each location should have this sign somewhere: It's usually attached to the rock and very small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Boofe_hinweis.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Boofe_hinweis.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;official sign&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example picture of such a place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RwSPC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RwSPC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bivouac&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de/besucherinformation/sonstiges/freiuebernachten/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;website of the national park&lt;/a&gt; covers this in more detail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the National Park it is &lt;strong&gt;forbidden to sleep outdoors in the open&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an exception, and in respect of the tradition of Saxon climbing, it is possible &lt;strong&gt;to spend the night outdoors in 58 marked bivouacs only&lt;/strong&gt;, if this is done in &lt;strong&gt;connection with rock climbing activites&lt;/strong&gt;. All official bivouacs are marked as such. They are located &lt;strong&gt;outside the core zone.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always been there when climbing or together with people who climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a (very rough) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BS-Konz-Boofen-_Karte_.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; of where the locations are on the website and also a German &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BS-Konz-Boofen-_Bekanntmachung_.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pdf file&lt;/a&gt; about what you are allowed to do and what not. As a member of &lt;a href=&quot;http://german.stackexchange.com&quot;&gt;http://german.stackexchange.com&lt;/a&gt; I guess that you have the Sauerkraut to understand German. If you need a translation, please leave a comment and I'll add it to my post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also a German &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandern-saechsische-schweiz.de/Liste_Boofen.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;website that lists all &amp;quot;boofen&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; with GPS coordinates. But even with those it can be a bit of a challenge to find them, because the paths leading to them are often not labelled, blocked or marked to be for climbers. Try to acquire a map made by Dr.-Ing. Rolf Böhm which is a beautiful map of the Elbsandsteingebirge that shows many of the paths and rock formations in great detail, which is helpful because a GPS distance only a few meters away might mean that it's actually 30m higher and getting to this location might only be possible with a long detour around the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should go without saying but &lt;strong&gt;don't make a fire&lt;/strong&gt;. Leave the place tidy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done it several times, also in winter. It's a great experience, especially when your boofe is higher up, so you have a great view on sunrise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-02T22:10:06.337" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10738" CreationDate="2016-02-03T00:02:32.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might want to try a baseball cap that you're not really that fond of. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've safety pinned mine onto my wetsuit leash and it was okay-ish. A lot depends on where you are, and the differences between the tropics and higher latitudes can be really extreme. It also depends on how long you're going to be out for. Again, big differences between an hour surf session in the morning vs all day at 15 degrees lat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hat will most definitely go off your head when you hit the water, and when you put it on it will feel like a wet sandwich, but there's a lot to be said for cutting down the rays a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the light still bounces off the water so it's not 100%, but it does cut things down a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in a sunny place and do the baseball hat thing for a while, you'll eventually see your hat getting completely sun bleached and fried out. That's enough to motivate me to wear one, to keep that damage off my head/skin/face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T00:02:32.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1733" CreationDate="2016-02-03T05:01:41.423" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, im rather fond of literal paper with wax. Common paper towel really, but covered in candle wax. Why candle wax? Fond of candles and that little bit left over ended up useful. Stays dry...but smudges everything else. Kept in a pocket I care nothing for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8711" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T05:01:41.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10775" CreationDate="2016-02-03T07:39:49.420" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is forbidden make a fire, build a tent or sleep outsite also in the national park Bohemian Switzerland. Offical website: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.npcs.cz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.npcs.cz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8712" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-03T14:15:38.393" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T14:15:38.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10759" CreationDate="2016-02-03T07:44:33.347" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something that occurred to me after asking is that a Prusik is &lt;em&gt;bidirectional&lt;/em&gt;, whereas generally the arborist's knots are &lt;em&gt;unidirectional&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the unidirectional knots are easier to both slide up and release, making them superior in a dedicated climbing rig, but their application is limited as well.  Following both existing answers emphasizing simplicity and the value of learning one good knot and knowing it on sight it would be poor to teach a unidirectional friction hitch as foundational.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a unidirectional hitch there is also the small but significant risk of tying it backward and having the knot fail to hold.  While this should not happen in a simple ascension system, and it should be apparent soon enough if the knot is not holding, if the hitch is part of a safety system it could potentially be a big problem.  Consider for example using the setup in the following diagram taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9396/what-to-do-when-you-run-out-of-rope-on-a-sports-climb/9401#9401&quot;&gt;What to do when you run out of rope on a sports climb?&lt;/a&gt;  Is it &lt;em&gt;immediately and unambiguously apparent&lt;/em&gt; which way to attach a unidirectional hitch in this application?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gsKwe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if it were will one be practiced in tying it in that orientation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T07:44:33.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2016-02-03T13:10:46.997" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from Switzerland and must have used a dozen or so different types of sleds over the years. By far the fastest types I have ever ridden (and still do so ever winter) are 'Rodel' type sleds which are common in Switzerland/Austria/Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/emlsG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/emlsG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The steel runners have relatively sharp edges, making it possible to even steer them on frozen snow/ice (to some degree obviously).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fabric seat makes for a nice padding, absorbing some of the shocks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fronts of the runners are flexible and will react to pulling on the rope and shifting your weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think new ones go for something like 50-100€. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; This comes as a surprise to some people, but sledding is actually one of the most dangerous winter sports, more so than skiing or snowboarding. The reason being that you are generally close to the ground, less in control of your speed and also often near trees (as in routes going through foresty areas). I heavily recommend wearing at least a helmet; also a spinal protector and decent gloves if you have them.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-03-24T13:19:31.460" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T13:19:31.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10741" CreationDate="2016-02-03T15:15:26.723" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in New Mexico, and have done lots of hiking all over the state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several things first. (1) In the northern part of New Mexico (anything north or, say, Socorro, the Forest Service campgrounds will be closed November 1st until April 1st. (2) If not closed, you will generally have to supply your own water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OK - options for you. &#xA;First, instead of the Sandias, I might suggest the Manzanos, the range to the south. Get off at the Tijeras exit of I40, go south, and there are a series of Forest Service campgrounds along the east side of the Manzanos. The first is Fourth of July campground, with some nice hikes right there. Further south is Red Canyon campground, with a nice loop including a side trail to Manzano Peak (over 10000 feet). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides @OlinLathrop's suggestion of Mt Taylor (great views, lots of snow right now), there are a variety of campgrounds on the south side of I40 along the Zuni mountains. I've done less out that way, but there is plenty of hiking there as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somewhat off the beaten path, but El Morro National Monument is less than an hour south of Grants NM. They have a campground (although it does not seem to be mentioned on their web site anymore - you should call first) and some day hikes there. Along the road are various turn offs in to the El Malpais (mostly BLM land), with hikes and caving in the lava tubes (great fun).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, for the true New Mexico experience, I would direct you to Chaco Canyon. It will be about 2.5 hours from Albuquerque, with the last 30 minutes on a pretty good dirt road. The camp ground is open year round, and water is available. There are 4 back country trails in addition to the great house ruins in the canyon. The loop (3-4 miles) up the north side of the canyon to the Pueblo Alto complex has fabulous views of ruins in the canyon, as well as to the north into Colorado. The longer (7 miles) hike to Penasco Blanco at the end of Chaco Wash takes you by many petroglyphs. Both can be done in one day, if starting early. And, providing you have talked to the rangers before hand about the road conditions, you can exit the park to the south, meeting up with I40 near Gallup (the north entrance dirt road is pretty good, the south may require real four wheel drive).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My two cents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T15:15:26.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10786" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10788" CreationDate="2016-02-03T22:22:58.243" Score="8" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having lived in the UK for 4 years, I have only done a big hike + wild camping in the lake district and in Snowdonia, where I have read, the rules about wild camping are more relaxed and tolerated then in the rest of the country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have a free weekend coming, and would love to have a nice break from the London's life, and go hiking from I guess saturday morning to Sunday evening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to walk in a nice natural environment in a part of England that I have not visited yet, I want to test my new poncho / half tent, see if that is any good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I am a bit worried about finding a nice place to spend the night :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From everything I read, it is quite hard to find a place where wild camping is tolerated in England, and I guess specially &quot;around&quot; London ( I am looking at max 2h train)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So would any of you know a nice forest to visit, and a quite place around where I could as well set up for the night, leaving in the morning 5 tiny holes in the ground, the only thing I need to pin my pncho/half tent to the ground :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess for those who know him, I am looking to do something like Alastair Humphreys &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alastairhumphreys.com&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;, and his microadventures as he calls it !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8716" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T19:26:22.460" Title="Nice forest 'around' London for a 2 days hike" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;england&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10713" CreationDate="2016-02-03T22:56:41.480" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference. There are &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; people with &quot;large, wide, and flat feet&quot;, and every one of them has a different idea of what &quot;comfortable&quot; means to them. For example, some people like heavily insulated shoes, while others hate it. Thus, while materials and construction can change the level of insulation (or other physical quality) in a shoe, there is no way of creating a &quot;universal&quot; hiking boot for size 15 people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this isn't a question that can be answered definitively. Everyone has a different preferred fit, weight, cushioning level, and motion profile. The best advice then, is to go into a store and try out some shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you don't want to go into a store, we can isolate what &lt;em&gt;most&lt;/em&gt; people will want in a hiking boot. It comes down to three things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproofness/breathability&lt;/strong&gt; - I really doubt anyone wants wet socks. They make your feet uncomfortable and can be a health risk. Big, wide shoes mean more room for water to get through. So you want a material that is really good at waterproofing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, big shoes are inherently less breathable (low surface area to volume ratio), and most waterproof materials will make it even worse. If you don't care about breathability (and many don't), then I would go for something with full-grained leather or a good trademarked waterproof synthetic; this should really keep water out. If breathability is a concern, then I would find a boot made with a high-quality quick-drying synthetic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability&lt;/strong&gt; - This applies to shoes in general, not just big ones. No one wants a shoe that rips or wears out quickly. You can't really tell how good a shoe is just by looking at it (unless you're an expert in shoemaking), or reading online reviews (which are invariably written by marketers or new owners). There are obvious clues though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it made by a reputable company? A company with a brand to protect is less likely to churn out bad shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price. With shoes, you get what you pay for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Materials. Boots made with crappy plastics are invariably bad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Traction&lt;/strong&gt; - No one wants to slip in mud/sand or down a slope. You want something with big lugs and a heel with a high-friction plate. Having these qualities also means having a heavier shoe, so decide accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8291" LastActivityDate="2016-02-03T22:56:41.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10786" CreationDate="2016-02-04T08:05:42.617" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;illegal&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to wild camp in England outside of Dartmoor. A lot of our woodlands are privately owned. It maybe relaxed in places, as in, people get away with it, but you might find that harder down near London. You may need permission to wild camp some areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However... &lt;strong&gt;for forests near London to visit&lt;/strong&gt; you could have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epping_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Epping Forest&lt;/a&gt;, it sits between London and Essex and is about 2500 hectares of forest, heath, bog, rivers and grassland. It should be within your distance to travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a number of forests in the south east and east of England to consider too, 2 hours by train however does not get you that far from London (which in itself can take a good hour to cross so depends where you are?). You can find more forests in the UK from this &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forests_in_the_United_Kingdom&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt;. You need to look at Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Berkshire, as these are the closest counties to London. They're also called the Home Counties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have Heartwood Forest in Hertfordshire, Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire, Bedgebury Forest in Kent, Winterfold Forest in Surrey... and loads more. There are also plenty of unnamed or small woodlands in most counties to help extend your search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side take a look at: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8676/wild-camping-in-the-brecon-beacons&quot;&gt;Wild Camping in the Brecon Beacons&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/96/where-in-europe-is-wild-camping-permitted&quot;&gt;Where in Europe is Wild Camping Permitted.&lt;/a&gt; Both make good reading on wild camping in the UK :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T08:05:42.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10791" CreationDate="2016-02-04T08:47:21.307" Score="11" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was riding late in the night and weather was colder than what we normally have.&#xA;(May not be cold for others, but it was cold for us, people used to with typical subcontinental weather. Temperature had dropped to 5 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C, which is wayyy cold for us)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;While riding my way back home which takes hours, I kept on getting tempted to stand nearby a bonfire set up in villages on the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wasn't having enough clothing to keep me warm, which I agree is a stupid thing to go with. Though, despite of being tempted to stand by a bonfire, I refrained from doing so, because I thought I would have felt a bit warm and better, but would have to start riding again which would make me cold and may be I'd end up feeling colder than before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was it the right thing to do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T08:58:02.613" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T17:13:05.660" Title="Does it feel colder than before if you warm yourselves up and go out in the cold again?" Tags="&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10790" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-04T09:09:07.887" Score="3" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two shafts from Easton. The &quot;Axis&quot; and its younger brother the &quot;Axis Traditional&quot;. Both of them are full featured carbon arrows but the latter one has a wooden design. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uKMffm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uKMffm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Axis Traditional&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that these two shafts are basically completely similar except for this wood/non-wood design. Is this right? This concerns me because the traditional shaft is more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:21:53.913" Title="Easton Axis and Axis Traditional - are they basically the same?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10789" CreationDate="2016-02-04T12:46:55.217" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; Please also read the other answer, which tells you why wrong (well perhaps not for 100% of the cases=)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just &lt;em&gt;my&lt;/em&gt; experience: I would warm up if I felt cold and had the opportunity to do so. Sure, slowly getting cold again is not comfortable, but staying cold for an even longer time is worse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another effect that I noticed is that warming up really brightens the mood (especially if you are with other people), which obviously again helps bearing the cold. E.g. in outdoor camps we used to say that the &lt;em&gt;moodkillers&lt;/em&gt; were &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;being cold/soaken&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;being hungry (or only having bad food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;being tired&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And any combination of those makes the others worse. And sums it up pretty well in my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-02-05T17:13:05.660" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T17:13:05.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10792" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referring to the country of England. England is a small country situated next to Wales and Scotland, together making up an island between the North Sea and the Atlantic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can also be used alongside UK and Great Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10793" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" Score="0" Body="Questions referring to the country of England." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T14:33:28.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10794" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions referencing the legality, laws, by-laws, of an outdoor pursuit. This may be used in connection with a country tag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10795" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" Score="0" Body="Questions referencing the legality, laws, by-laws, of an outdoor pursuit. " OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T14:34:45.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10796" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:35:29.260" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions specific to the country of France. France is a large European country in the North of Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:16:39.263" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:16:39.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10797" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-04T14:35:29.260" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of France." OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:16:39.263" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:16:39.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-04T15:51:40.540" Score="4" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;Headed to Denver,CO (mid-february) for a couple of weeks and looking to shed some fat through a weekend trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. I am looking for a hike with an elevation gain of 4000-5000ft ranging from 8-12 miles. The important part is that it can be hiked with some microspikes/crampons given some snow and does not require any technical climbing. I understand that a couple of feet would be unavoidable at higher altitudes.~7000-13000ft mountains that I can start hiking from a lower elevation to maximize every foot of elevation gain will be ideal.Well maintained trails preferred. However, I always carry a GPS, so its not a deal breaker. &#xA;Ideas!?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="495" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T08:52:19.947" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T08:52:19.947" Title="What are some of the winter hiking trails rated difficult in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park that don't require technical climbing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10789" CreationDate="2016-02-04T15:55:32.520" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think part of what is missing in your question and the answer by flawr is core body temperature.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you first get cold your body automatically shunts blood away from the surface of your skin to decrease heat loss. As you get colder your core body temperature falls (you could think of it like the cold sinking in, but that is not literally true).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you stand next to the fire, your outer skin starts to warm, but your core temperature does not respond as quickly. Most of your nerves for temperature are in your skin, not in your muscles and insides.  When your skin gets to a certain temperature, your body responds by pushing more blood to the surface, trying to keep you from overheating.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You step away from the fire and your skin is still warm and flushed with blood, you will likely have increased heat loss until your blood vessels in your skin shunt the blood back to your core.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In much the same way that a fire in a fireplace (as opposed to an airtight stove) can result in a net heat loss to the house, a short heating next to a hot fire on a cold day can result in a net heat loss to your body.  There are of course many variables, but if you are feeling colder, you probably are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Per request in comments I looked for research specific to the scenario I described.  I have included several references to the basic principals of heat exchange related to blood at the skin level.  I did not find anything specific to net heat loss &lt;strong&gt;OR&lt;/strong&gt; gain from a short warming near the fire.  I have experienced this perceived colder after a brief warming, and while I believe my hypothesis above is realistic, it seems to be untested under scientific conditions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dwb.unl.edu/teacher/nsf/c01/c01links/www.science.mcmaster.ca/biology/4s03/thermoregulation.html&quot;&gt;NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF THERMOREGULATION&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ilocis.org/documents/chpt42e.htm&quot;&gt;PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO THE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/hypocold.shtml&quot;&gt;Outdoor Action Guide to&#xA;Hypothermia And Cold Weather Injuries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-02-05T15:14:39.360" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T15:14:39.360" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3453" CreationDate="2016-02-04T20:48:17.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can have the fastest Rodel (see fgysin's answer), when you come to a bend you'll have to steer and that means braking with one foot, slowing you down overall. So I give you ... the ghosky:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VxTcg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VxTcg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can steer it by leaning to one side making it &quot;carve&quot; like a pair of skis. Youtube video of it in action: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiUeuGuFgAo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ghosky video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately it costs more than it would take to kit out an entire class of schoolkids with basic sledges, so I won't be getting one any time soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T20:48:17.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10786" CreationDate="2016-02-04T21:02:09.147" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you really want to camp I would recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenewforest.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;New Forest&lt;/a&gt; as there are lots of campsites there and plenty of walking for at least a weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is most of Southern England is pretty much all residential or farmland so there are few good places where you can wild camp reliably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are probably also plenty of camping locations along the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/north-downs-way&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North downs way&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/south-downs-way&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;South downs way&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;other long distance walks&lt;/a&gt; nearby. But I've never tried camping at any of them as if its just an hour train it seems better to me to just do a day walk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-02-04T21:02:09.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2016-02-04T22:35:53.737" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Response for the question #1:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in an area filled with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_viridis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prairie Rattlesnakes&lt;/a&gt; and in grade school we were taught the following.  It always worked for me and during summer vacation it was common to come across a rattler every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before reading the steps please be warned that the Prairie Rattlesnake is known to be less aggressive and wants to flee people so these steps might not apply in areas with the more aggressive rattlesnakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not kill it&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In many jurisdictions its illegal to kill rattlesnakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many species are endangered&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Give it space and go around if possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you see the snake or hear it?&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you only hear it – Stop moving immediately and try to quickly locate it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now that you see it, is it coiled up or stretched out?&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is coiled up, it is agitated and/or scared.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is stretched out, you haven’t scared it, but they can still strike a good distance from that position, so the same steps apply.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Back away from it slowly with a steady pace. This is important as moving fast or jerky  might scare it further and make it defend itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay facing it and be ready to react in case it comes towards you or strikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep backing up. A snake can strike a pretty good distance, farther than most people realize.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once at a safe distance make some sort of vibration noise that the snake can feel.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We were taught to stomp our feet or loudly clap our hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Typically this will make the snake continue on its way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once the snake starts moving pay attention to where it goes, it doesn’t do you much good if it just moves a foot off the path.  You might have to continue making the vibration type noises.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once the snake has moved, you can happily go on your way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it doesn’t move, or stays coiled up, then best is to go around or leave the area. I’m not a fan of the fling with a stick method as you typically have to be within striking distance to make this work, and how often do you have a good snake flinging stick with you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience using these steps the rattler has almost always moved out of my way.  Personally I would never mess with a rattlesnake so the idea of using a stick to fling the snake seems crazy to me.  I remember my dad using a shovel to fling rattlesnakes off the path all the time until the one day the rattler started to climb up the shovel handle, that put an end to that technique in our household.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2019" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-12-23T05:56:02.267" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T05:56:02.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2016-02-05T00:53:42.840" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are experiencing a strain of the LCL, the Lateral Collateral Ligament that connects your femur to your fibula with IT Band syndrome. The mechanics of going downhill when hiking are significantly different than up.  When taking a step down from a height of more than 6 inches, the femur tends to stay perpendicular to the ground, under the hip joint while the knee flexes and the ankle(point of contact) is well behind the bending knee joint, putting strain on the knee ligaments and the IT band to assist. If you notice when this happens, the affected knee, let's say the left knee, may be unable to support your weight- but twisting your body to the left as you step down, keeping your ankle directly under your knee joint and lowering your body to contact the ground will not be painful. It's due to the mechanics of the downhill hiking- sending the point of contact(ankle) behind the knee. Twist and keep your ankle under your knee- no strain/pain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same thing can happen while squatting during weight training.  During a weightlifting squat movement, your knee joint should never drift in front of your ankle joint. The hips should always flex during the squat, which  keeps your knee directly over your ankle.  If you squat down and your knees are shooting in front of your ankles, not only are you reproducing this downhill hiking mechanic you are risking injury to the knee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Icing after a long hike can only help you the next time you go out. Also be certain you aren't battling other imbalances of the hips and legs.  When you lay down, do your toes turn way out to the side or point straight up? If they turn to the side(supination/external rotation of the knee), your hip abductors are too tight while your adductors are too weak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8729" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-02-05T03:08:06.473" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T03:08:06.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10809" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10811" CreationDate="2016-02-05T10:30:56.780" Score="56" ViewCount="14477" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many European countries like Germany, it's prohibited to sleep in the great outdoors with a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I understand that downright camps are a problem due to littering, fire etc., I don't get why a tent is a problem. Like what's the difference anyway if one is sleeping in the open air and in the tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:40:42.193" LastActivityDate="2020-06-20T18:33:52.053" Title="Why is it prohibited to sleep in a tent?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-05T10:57:13.770" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not really about the tent, it is about planned &quot;bivouacs&quot; (that means you plan to sleep outdoors) and emergency bivouacs where the latter of course aren't forbidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means if you carry a tent and sleep in it, it was obviously planned to sleep outdoors where people possibly do harm to the nature because they generally don't follow the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_No_Trace&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; principles. Still if you don't carry a tent (but e.g. a sleeping pad and bag) this is somehow a gray area in the law of most European countries. See other threads like e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1885/am-i-allowed-to-sleep-in-the-wild-in-the-austrian-alps&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T11:04:55.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-05T11:07:24.843" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tent just makes your intent obvious: You planned to sleep there from the beginning. And this is what the authorities want to prevent: Camping in the wild. On the other hand many legislations allow for emergency and high altitude bivouacs, which are inevitable. So the gray area developed where people sleep without a tent in order to escape punishment, as they are just bivouacking. In popular climbing areas in Switzerland they also fine you for bivouacking, as an emergency is clearly not the case (usually people carry stoves and more food/drink than you would &quot;expedition style&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So usually the distinction is planned/unplanned sleeping out in the wild, and often this has been adopted to sleeping with/without a tent, even though the two are certainly not equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reason why bivouac is favored over tent: Bivouacking is associated with trekking lightweight, in which case you do not take stuff to throw away (that would be useless weight). So the potential for littering is generally smaller in bivouacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the interest this question has spawned and some comments, I informed myself about the laws here in &lt;em&gt;Switzerland&lt;/em&gt; regarding this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somewhat surprisingly on a national level Switzerland knows a &quot;Jedermannsrecht&quot;: Article 699 of the ZGB (civil law) states that access to forest and meadow within the locally common extent is allowed to everyone. Fishing and hunting is excluded from this and regulated on the level of &quot;Kantone&quot;. This is even more explicit in article 14 of WaG (laws concerning forest): &quot;Kantone&quot; have to make sure that the public can access forests. Again restricted locally to preserve nature and events need approval from authorities. Of course this is restricted by further laws about conservation areas, but it should be common place that in any kind of conservation area (there are lots of different kinds around here...), you have to inform yourself whether its allowed or not and in doubt, you don't.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So one might think &quot;Why all this fuss about whether you can camp or not in the wild, this says you can...&quot;. The problem lies in the details, which in this case is the access up to &quot;locally common extent&quot;. As Switzerland is based on federality, meaning very strong independence of the &quot;Kantone&quot; and of municipalities, they can basically all choose what they consider &quot;common extent&quot;. So basically in Switzerland you either ask in every municipality whether you are allowed to or not or you adhere to commonplace rules and the so called eleventh law: Don't get caught. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still I was not aware about the extent of legal backing for free access to woods around here: Basically you cannot fence any forest area even if you own it privately, as access to the public is granted (and walking through it is the basic kind of access, so you can't exclude it as &quot;locally uncommon&quot;). I don't know whether this will help anyone, I just felt like writing it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T22:10:18.740" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T22:10:18.740" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-02-05T11:46:58.507" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Potassium Sorbate. You may be able to find it at a homebrewing (beer/wine) supply store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will work. You'll need to do your research and be careful, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8736" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T11:46:58.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10773" CreationDate="2016-02-05T15:15:22.553" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that Klara pretty much nailed it. I've been stoveless for a bit now, and I haven't found any hidden gems that people aren't aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I do find is that on longer treks where the food becomes monotonous it pays to buy the best artisan products available, as they are usually a lot tastier than the mass produced stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On longer trips a lot depends on where you are, and whether you are re-supplying in supermarkets or in remote village shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treks in the UK&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK I'd carry porridge oats, which are widely available. Soaked overnight they are quite pleasant cold, with powdered milk, nuts, dried fruit, salt and honey. You can do something similar with bulgur wheat, if you can find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might also carry oatcakes instead of bread as they are denser and pretty tasty - especially the flavoured ones like cheese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treks in the Western Alps&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Western Alps resupply can be limited in small villages. But you can always find wonderful local cheeses, salamis and bread. You can often buy these direct from the farmhouse. I stomp on the bread to save volume. In the Germanic areas pumpernickel is dense and easy to carry, if you like the taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can always buy chocolate - and in Switzerland it's an art-form. But compared to the UK there's little choice of sweets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After resupply I carry a day's worth of fruit to stave off scurvy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I start to get too thin I carry olive oil to put on the bread. The problem is that it's sold in large quantities, but people are often kind enough to fill up my little container. Ask in farm shops, cafes, small hotels etc. Be sure to use a bottle with a good seal!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-02-05T19:13:07.453" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T19:13:07.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10798" CreationDate="2016-02-05T23:04:13.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never been to RMNP in the winter, so this is a wild guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming the higher elevation roads will all be closed.  Look into how far you can drive up Fall River Road.  If I remember right, it's about 10 miles long.  The eastern 3/4 or so goes up a valley.  While there is certainly elevation gain, it doesn't sound like what you are looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the western end ascends steeply sortof up the Fall River Valley headwall.  It meets Trail Ridge Road at the top by the Alpine Visitor Center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can drive to the bottom of the steep section, this may be what you are looking for.  It's not going to be maintained, but &quot;maintained&quot; has little meaning under 5 feet of snow anyway.  A road under all that snow will be easier to follow than a narrower trail. While this road is steep for a road, the grading required for cars makes for easier hiking, although you'll still be gaining significant elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T23:04:13.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-05T23:19:08.563" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Central Europe there is a much higher population density as e.g. in many parts of the USA, Canada or Scandinavia. There is almost no valley without a  village. So private property is rather rare and the land owner want to protect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Austria there had even been a law from 1852 (Reichsforstgesetz), which prohibited entering the forest completely. Not even hiking was allowed. The forest was mainly owned by a few great land owners (nobility). It was used for hunting and forestry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It took until 1975 when the law was renewed (Forstgesetz). Now everyone was allowed to enter the woods for recreational purpose. But only what was considered as &quot;walking&quot;. That includes ski touring, but not mountain biking (that was not known back then). As the forest roads are considered as part of the forest mountain biking is not even allowed on these roads. Exceptions are regions where mountain biking is of importance for tourism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grasslands usually belong to farmers. Usually they also don't want you to camp on their land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Land owners have quite a strong lobby here and they want to protect their property and the law. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently there is a discussion about legalizing mountain biking. But I think there are not so many people here who want to camp in the great outdoors that there will be some movement in this direction. Even tourism prefers to fill hotels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read that there are exceptions in the alpine wasteland above timberline. But it depends on local laws of the federal states. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8745" LastActivityDate="2016-02-05T23:19:08.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-06T01:50:00.987" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be a translation issue:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping means 'zelten' in German, 'Zelt' means tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Zelten verboten!&quot; means no camping, even without a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8746" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T01:50:00.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-06T08:44:12.333" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Population density Germany: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density&quot;&gt;228 pop/km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;; US: 33.&lt;/a&gt; Much of the land is simply privately owned. Most surface area (public or private) is used one way or another (residential, forestry, agriculture): There is no &quot;wild&quot; or &quot;great outdoors&quot; in Germany with the exception of a few National Parks (Alps, Oder, Bavarian Forest, among others) which are regulated just like in the States. The primary focus there is on preservation (from use and degradation through human activities, to be blunt), not on recreation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5503" LastEditorUserId="5503" LastEditDate="2016-02-06T17:13:32.300" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T17:13:32.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10750" CreationDate="2016-02-06T10:11:48.990" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my uses {natural fibers, normally) , having a wider contact surface, a gentler angle of ascent and descent as the rope slides is a factor. As stated above{ &quot; bendng the rope less sharply &quot;} A specialized aspect but important to my segment of the community.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8753" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T10:11:48.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10773" CreationDate="2016-02-06T11:12:10.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This topic&lt;/em&gt; is very near &amp;amp; dear to me, as I've made a &quot;Life-Science&quot; out of getting along in the &quot;Out-Of-Doors&quot; without having to carry along a ton of &quot;victuals &amp;amp; viands;&quot; tuck, or tucker; or good old &quot;Food!&quot; Every culture has a different name for trail-grub (and some eat real &quot;grubs&quot; on the trail---the First Australians!) and it's gone through a huge metamorphosis since the Second World's War. In fact, out-doors camping, as a whole, had begun a rapid &quot;devolution&quot; into equipment (and camping practices) very like the stuff that has been used by Native Americans for time out of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd personally started with US-issue &quot;ultra-light&quot; foods issued on the coattails of Space Program foods: The main differences were that the freeze-dried stuff didn't have water-valves, like the Apollo and Gemini food-packs! I remember the harmonica-sized pink and yellow blocks of compressed, vitamin-enriched, and artificially-flavored strawberry- and lemon-flavored &quot;corn flakes with a slight fondness. The rest of the stuff was a blur of similar finely-powdered KNORR seasonings, shrapnel-hard peas, corn, carrots, and other veggies, and shards of what vaguely resembled ancient dried mummy-meat with a few shattered bits of noodles. In order to tell what you were eating, you had to look at the names on the packets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real problem with these things was getting rid of the waste! Plus, packing it out was a chore, ans the waste bulked up greater than the original packets. The plastic was many times too thick; and if burnt, it sent up thick, black, smoke. I'm sure that our 1968 waste-pits could be dug up in the year 2525, and the contents identified from the deeply-stamped printing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then we got &quot;LURP&quot; rations: These were (at first, anyway) mostly repackaged ultra-light California-made mountaineer meals, with the exception of packets of coffee (there was a period where opposition to coffee led the Army to issue SANKA!) although there were many, many horrible &quot;mistakes,&quot; like the &quot;Sweet Tea With Lemon&quot; thirst-quencher &quot;candies,&quot; too! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days, coffee loving hikers can get &quot;ground-coffee-bags&quot; made like tea-bags, use &quot;tea-balls&quot; with fine-ground coffee instead of tea inside, or buy individual-serving instant coffee packets. I rather like putting ultra-fine-grind espresso coffee in a &quot;tea-infuser&quot; spoon, idly brewing up the &quot;perfect cup of coffee&quot; while waiting for my ZIP stove to totally cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chocolate had disappeared from the rations, and savvy men who bought their own food items were stymied by Hersheys' decision to discontinue &quot;tropical chocolate bars.&quot; No chocolate melting in your hands, there--- they wouldn't melt in your shirt-pocket in the middle of July! They were &quot;grim,&quot; but at least they'd been made with real chocolate; wax had supposedly been added to raise the melting point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of guys bought &quot;Hershey's Tropical Chocolate Bars&quot; to augment the issued stuff. Other &quot;private-purchase&quot;additions have been tried out by men I've known; some had worked out, and some had not. Some were minor disasters, too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One man concentrating on making an &quot;ultra-light food-supply&quot; used coarsely milled wheat--- bulgur. His plan entailed using two quart-sized stainless-steel Stanley thermos bottles: He would use a small smokeless twig-fire to boil water in a canteen cup, portion it out into the wide-mouth bottles, cap them, and go on. In 6-8 hours, he said, the wheat was ready to eat, and after lunch he did it all again. The problem was, a diet exclusively of bulgur gruel went through his bowels very quickly! There may have been major benefits to carrying food &amp;amp; all cooking equipment for two weeks in a 35-pound pack-load; but these were overshadowed by toilet paper requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've made up my &quot;cheap-eats&quot; shopping list as a counterpart to dropping a few hundred at the &quot;Expedition Store&quot; for a week's grub. (I want to buy mostly from Native American-owned stores.) Take a look at what I had along when prowling the Northern California coast: OIL is always handy, and I use olive oil since it has a record of problem-free human use, going back three or four thousand years. &lt;strong&gt;I repack light, low-taste, olive oil in metal or food-grade plastic flasks for the trip!&lt;/strong&gt; Even if you do not fry, adding a few tablespoons to a &quot;packet-meal&quot; will add to the richness and food-value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Seasonings&lt;/em&gt; are very important-- that's how to vary &quot;sameo-sameo stuff&quot; so you don't get so sick of your slop you sling your dinner around the woods. I use a grater, with 3-4 cinnamon sticks, and 6-7 nutmegs. I jazz up my herbal teas, boiled greens, and such-like, with those! Also handy are packets of chili-powder; I have transferred Sirachia sauce into small squeeze-bottles, in the past---but this one needs to be double-bagged! (I'd heard of a guy in Humbolt County, up in Northern California, using a big squeeze-bottle of this Thai chili-sauce to drive away a menacing grizzly bear; squirting it into the bear's mouth and muzzle!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mixing &quot;real tea&quot; with stuff like spruce-tip tea (which has lots of Vitamin C) or rose-hip tea (ditto on having lotsa Vitamin C) keeps you healthy, hydrated, and ready to go. For that matter, &quot;grazing&quot; on spruce-tips as you walk along is easy, healthy, and fun! &quot;Grazing&quot; on rose hips is also fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love having cheese, but I'll never worry about hunting up tiny snack-size items; I'll get a couple pounds of a good, solid cheddar, and cut it up into &quot;granola-bar-sized&quot; chunks before repacking into several half-pound or quarter-pound zippy-bags. It it's fall, winter, or spring; I'll repack the chunks in smaller cloth sacks, and divide those two ways into plastic, for the pack. Plastic tends to stiffen, and break or crack, in the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because I feel lots warmer for an upcoming night when I have meat and meat-grease in my stomach from the evening meal, I'll carry several foil-like packets of SPAM LITE slices. At least once a week I have a &quot;big&quot; meal, and for that I'll use a whole can of corned beef; those cans imported from Argentina, with the twist-off metal strips holding the tapered rectangular tins together. I'll also make a meal of that, mixed with rice and reconstituted veggies, right before a &quot;challenge&quot; part of the hike: I have found that a big meal containing lots of fatty protein helps me over a hard part of the trail better than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm really cutting corners---money &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; bulk---I'll carry several plastic jars of peanut butter. I like smooth &quot;Honey&quot; peanut butter. This can be eaten out of the jar, as you go. (Yes, that can get old, &lt;em&gt;fast&lt;/em&gt;, but it's a &quot;basic-basic&quot; kind of food-product.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chocolate is something I want on hand, for trail-snacking and also, heating into &quot;chocolate milk,&quot; when I introduce a bar of chocolate into a canteen-cup of reconstituted powdered milk and stirring 'till mixed. Buying powdered milk in cartons of packets is often convenient. For that reason, I'll get a box of &quot;Mexican Chocolate&quot; disks for chocolate milk (it's spiced!) along with a dozen or so big bars of dark semi-sweet chocolate. Buy the good stuff; it has more actual nutrition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other stuff is a mix of KNORR packet-entrees. I occasionally adulterate those KNORR packets with small packets or tins of mixed veggies. I carry bulk rice and lentils in plastic baggies; that goes with a large sack of &quot;Minute-Oats&quot; for hot oatmeal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will start out with a couple ounces of black, and green, teas; double-sacked for safety (these will be mixed with whatever good &quot;wild teas&quot; I find on the way) and I might also carry a quarter-pound to half a pound of granulated sugar; triple-bagged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never worry about fire--- and I almost always make one or more, every day:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been using the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Sierra ZIP&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; turbocharged-burner stove since the mid- to late-1990s, and have a couple intact spare stoves, plus two of that company's titanium ultra-light variations, all to make sure I never run out of spare parts for this great stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a multi-jacketed burner, atop a small all-metal fan-housing and battery-motor. The single &quot;AA&quot; battery that powers it is kept in an aluminum case to one side---one &quot;AA&quot; will boil water for me for a week. A &quot;D&quot;-cell adaptation is available that'll power the fan even longer. I also have a compact solar charger for &quot;AA&quot; cells in my kit, and of course, spare &quot;AA&quot; batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Sierra ZIP&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; burns everything under forced-draft, getting BTU outputs similar to those of pump-up liquid-fuel stoves. It doesn't make smoke except at the start-up stage, which is about 30 seconds long, and everything gets burnt to fine white ashes. With the fan housing underneath, I've never seen it scorch the shingle I'd stood it on, along the coast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Sierra ZIP&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; boils water as fast as most of the ultra-light pump-up &quot;gas-fuel&quot; stoves; and there's no danger of spilling volatile liquid fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried lots of the other ideas; these are what had appealed to me. If available, dried salmon would be a major part, along with venison jerky and masa-harena-style coarse corn meal. I have lived for months at a time on a diet of mainly lye-slaked corn, dried and ground into cornmeal; plus the sun-dried meats of game animals, and augmented by sun-dried salmon . . . plus the large amount of food I have picked up, along the trail and sea-shore. (By the way, I was never a fan or GORP---just give me the raisins, please--- the peanuts they put in GORP are cheap &quot;commercial culls,&quot; with &lt;em&gt;zero&lt;/em&gt; taste!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the walking &amp;amp; Hiking I have done. But I am now old.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8071" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-06T12:03:06.260" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T12:03:06.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10767" CreationDate="2016-02-06T14:16:36.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What has probably happened is that the thread used on the boots has deteriorated. I would hand sew it, but only after studying the best knots to employ in the repair. Be sure to use the same holes made by the machine in order to avoid weakening the leather. Once finished, spray with a water repellent compound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done this on my own shoes and have had  some success at it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: Chose your thread and needles carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-02-07T01:48:44.900" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T01:48:44.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10786" CreationDate="2016-02-06T20:18:38.207" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;re Epping Forest: Epping Forest is quite thin... plus it's near enough urban areas (Essex, eek!) that I'd be slightly concerned about being beaten up by urban Yoof, and/or laughed at, as I approached my chosen place.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind too that in South-East England at the moment there are in fact some illegal immigrants who live out in the wild... probably nobody knows how many.  Even in the eventuality that you meet them they'll probably be fine... but it just might happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus I bet there are wardens there ... in short, I would recommend some special forces-style stealth techniques: get there around 4 pm and lurk in some bushes; show no light; play no music; leave early in the morning... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I hate to pour water on your enthusiasm, but ... it's, um, February... possibly the coldest month of the year!  It'll be something to tell your grandkids, assuming you survive the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8757" LastActivityDate="2016-02-06T20:18:38.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10822" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10823" CreationDate="2016-02-06T20:50:39.833" Score="8" ViewCount="602" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in a survival situation and need to make a supply of fish hooks.  What are my best options.  I have a knife and in my travels I have noticed much native vegetation as well as a couple of animal skeletons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T00:01:40.993" Title="How to make a fish hook?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10822" CreationDate="2016-02-07T00:01:40.993" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have two basic options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can carve a hook with or without a barb from wood or bone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples of the finished product are here&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b2qnz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b2qnz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fish hooks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can splice two pieces of material together for an improvised hook. This is probably the easiest way to make a treble hook and/or a hook for snagging fish. I personally think this is the way to go because it feels like it will allow me to make mistakes without having to trash everything. Plus it is more repairable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pCApn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pCApn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;spliced hooks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use your favorite search engine to find more resources using the key words &lt;kbd&gt;native fish hook&lt;/kbd&gt;. Below are two YouTube videos I found that might be interesting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4mgiVF4jH8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bone hook/carving video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSdJeLwyDp0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spliced wood hook video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1: Image from here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.honolulumagazine.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=7161&amp;amp;url=%2FHonolulu-Magazine%2FMarch-2004%2FMakau-Hawaiian-Fishhooks%2F&amp;amp;mode=print&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.honolulumagazine.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=7161&amp;amp;url=%2FHonolulu-Magazine%2FMarch-2004%2FMakau-Hawaiian-Fishhooks%2F&amp;amp;mode=print&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2: Image from here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/nat/mod/sub.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/nat/mod/sub.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T00:01:40.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10586" CreationDate="2016-02-07T16:14:06.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on what is meant by &quot;snow days&quot;, the correct response to the question would have to be the Scandinavian countries in general. Within the Scandinavian region, Finland has the greatest number of snow days in Europe. Austria and Switzerland have half the number of snow days that Finland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ultimate area of recommendation to the question would have to be Finland!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/annual-number-of-days-with-snow-cover-over-european-land-areas-1961-1990-and-projected-change-for-2071-2100/map-5-16-climate-change-2008-annual-numbers-of-days.eps/image_large&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/annual-number-of-days-with-snow-cover-over-european-land-areas-1961-1990-and-projected-change-for-2071-2100/map-5-16-climate-change-2008-annual-numbers-of-days.eps/image_large&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/european.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/european.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/europe_map.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/europe_map.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T16:14:06.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10825" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-07T18:25:20.807" Score="1" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;How much energy does your body give off on a normal basis? Which part of your body gives off the most heat? What is this amount&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8762" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T02:02:13.170" Title="How much energy does your body give off on a normal basis? Which part of your body gives off the most heat? What is this amount" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-02-08T15:21:58.510" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10786" CreationDate="2016-02-07T19:26:22.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You won't find enough continuous forest for what you want in southern England. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But (about 20 years ago) I walked and wild camped (actually bright orange bivvy bags) a fair stretch of the south downs way.  It was late December but colder than the weather we've been having recently. I got there by regional train from London. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also wild camped in the Ashdown forest, but that was a matter of hiking through it with an overnight there - it's not big enough for a 2-day hike. Again it's easy from London. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to wild camp you're much less likely to get caught at this time of year as you'll almost certainly stop hiking after dark and people will be indoors. But it's basically not allowed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-02-07T19:26:22.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10825" CreationDate="2016-02-08T02:02:13.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basal metabolic rate is about 75 watts. That is, this is the price of keeping a normal body temperature.  Can drop some during sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light exercise -- you can talk, but not sing without excessive pauses -- raises this to 200-300 watts.  A trained athlete can generate 500-1000 watts for extended periods of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A person has about 2 square meters of skin.  Under comfortable conditions, the skin is at a fairly constant temperature.  As you bundle up for colder weather, more heat is lost on the exposed bits, and less on the covered bits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exceptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  When under cold stress, the body shuts down surface circulation to the extremities. (Cold fingers, toes) then arms and legs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Blood circulation to the head is not restricted during cold stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The combination of these two factors and given environments is the source of such sayings as &quot;You lose X% of your heat through your head&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &quot;if you hands are cold, put on your hat&quot; remains good advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T02:02:13.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10767" CreationDate="2016-02-08T02:08:35.290" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do a lot of my own repair.  However, this is one where I instead work on the idea of 'consumer relations'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My attack:  Phone the company that made them.  Explain the problem, and ask how to get them replaced.  (You can email them but this will add 3 days to the exchange)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rationale:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this to show up this soon, either the sewing machine is out of kilter, and the stitches aren't locked -- and ALL the stitching made on that machine is faulty.  Or the thread is faulty, and the whole boot will be parts soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many companies will respond to a well written complaint like this:  They can't afford bad reviews.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T02:08:35.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-08T02:23:01.813" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fascinating&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is NOT an answer, but just a perspective from another  place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am in western Canada, in the province of Alberta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not presume to cross fenced land without asking.  But unfenced land is considered open.  Much of the land near streams is crown land -- and that is open for reasonable use either walking or camping.  Many provincial parks are open year round and allow either car camping or tenting with minimal fees.  I often camped at Two O'Clock Creek campground on the shores of Abraham Lake on my way from Edmonton to Lake Louise ski resort.  In winter I was the sole occupant to the camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have large parks, both national and provincial, that is open for camping or hiking.  Heavily used areas have permits and quotas to prevent overcrowding. In addition all of the provincial forest lands are open for camping and hunting without permit.  (Some common sense applies:  Don't camp in active forestry sites.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Navigation Act allows camping within 12 meters of mean high water on all navigable streams for any party that is traveling along the stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some years ago I did a 3 week canoe trip from Forrest Lake on the upper reaches of the Clearwater River in Saskatchewan, down the Clearwater, up the Mirror, then down the MacFarlane finishing at Fort Smith.  During that time we saw 1 other party, a motor boat across about 3 miles of water on Lake Athabasca.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On other trips, not only were we the only people present, but despite diligent research we were unable to locate records of &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; having done the route since the Canadian Geological Survey traveled them 50 to 100 years before.  In a few cases, I have made a plausible case that no one had gazed on a particular vista since the ice left 10,000 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Population densities in Canada are low:  We have 35 million people on 10 million square km.  Most of the people live within 150 km of the US border.  Compared to Europe, I think that a greater fraction of people live in cities rather than villages and smaller towns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at a map of Canada you will see a chain of large lakes running from the Great Lakes to the northwest to Great Bear Lake. North of this line is the Precambrian Shield -- a mass of ancient granite.  This entire area, some 2/3 of the country, is unsuited for agriculture or forestry, and makes for difficult road building. (Rocks and swamp)  Mining is significant, as is tourism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, we have very large quantities of not very much, and (so far) don't need these rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T13:51:06.783" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T13:51:06.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-02-08T02:29:20.373" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rubbing alchohol is also an effective disinfectant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the problem is more general:  Wearing socks inside foot boxes on a day in, day out basis is the root.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recommendations to prevent a recurrence:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go barefoot more of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you do get an infection, rub your feet with rubbing alcohol at the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not sleep in socks.  If the weather is cold enough, keep separate day socks and sleeping socks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On canoe trips I wear 'reef boots' (footwear with rubber soles and neoprene sides) on several week trips.  During the day my feet were constantly wet.  Once in camp, I changed to dry socks and lightweight runners or sandals.  No problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T02:29:20.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10552" CreationDate="2016-02-08T02:41:18.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Edit:  My bad.  Poster is asking for globe -- the glass enclosure on the outside, not the fine thorium oxide ash mantle that breaks so easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  The lantern can be operated without a globe.  I would hesitate to use it in adverse weather.  The mantles are fragile and a strong wind or a raindrop can do them in, but for inside or on calm evenings, they are quite usable.  I have used one for a week on a winter dogsled trip this way.  (Coleman lantern with metal box for it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in Canada, Tom Moody seems to have repair part for nearly everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take your lantern to a local store, and find one with roughly the same size glass as the one you have, with the same number of mantles.  Look it up and buy a set of mantles for it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the recommended installation procedure for the mantles.  (Usually tie on, touch a flame to the bottom corner, wait, then light.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Light the lantern.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If only the top part of the mantle glows, you can use a smaller mantle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get a consistent bright flame, then you are producing gas too fast for that mantle.  You will need a larger one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Mantles are very fragile.  On dog sled trips we would bring a spare set per day, and count ourselves lucky if we didn't use half of them.  In a fixed base they will last for years -- or until the lantern is bumped the wrong way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternative.  Take the lantern to various outdoor stores and see if you can identify the maker by similarities in details.  Ask the oldest looking floor help (more likely to have seen it...) for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternative.  Here the various scout and cadet groups do a course in repairing naphtha powered devices.  They may be able to give you a lead either on the make or the appropriate replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;WARNING&#xA;There are pressure lanterns designed to run on kerosene.  Operating these on naptha is a potential bomb.  These can usually be identified by a ring shaped depression around the generator designed to allow the use of alcohol to heat the generator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2016-02-14T20:26:07.803" LastActivityDate="2016-02-14T20:26:07.803" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10835" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11432" CreationDate="2016-02-08T09:04:24.423" Score="7" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to heavy rain, the water level raised drastically in the last days and arose a few small &quot;ponds&quot; besides our local river. Also the main stream is accordingly extremely wild these days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I've discovered a really strange behavior of our local swans. They live as a couple in our river normally. They started to collectively move to one particular shore pond a few days ago. They got started with two couples at first. Meanwhile there are swimming 20-30 swans in this small little lake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there are also other similar ponds and even bigger ones but they are grouping in one single spot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;this was discovered in Central Europe&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the swans were &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan&quot;&gt;Mute Swans&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I understand that they don't want to swim in this crazy river, I don't get why they jam together in such a small spot (it looks a little bit silly, cause they can barely move :D). What is the reason for this behavior? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:53:37.350" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:53:37.350" Title="Swans jammed together in a small pond" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10836" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-08T13:21:47.347" Score="12" ViewCount="1031" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's generally prohibited to camp in the great outdoors in a few European countries like Germany (check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10809/why-is-it-prohibited-to-sleep-in-a-tent&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; related question). Speaking for latter, it's allowed to sleep in your car however. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, let's say I &lt;strong&gt;drive&lt;/strong&gt; my Lada &lt;strong&gt;up a &lt;em&gt;German&lt;/em&gt; mountain and sleep&lt;/strong&gt; in it. Am I allowed to do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I mean to sleep in the bare car. Like laying on the back seats or even in the common driver's seat if that's comfortable enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Aravona added a good point. Of course we can consider that we are generally allowed to drive there (not a privately owned land etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus question: If yes, am I still if I transform it to a camping-device?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Transformed Taiga (for example):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s0epD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s0epD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T21:24:32.200" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T21:24:32.200" Title="Am I allowed to &quot;wild-camp&quot; in my car?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10837" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10853" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:04:04.817" Score="10" ViewCount="2553" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pretty common trick when winter camping is to dry anything that gets damp/wet (e.g., base layers and socks) in your sleeping bag (cf. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4708/how-do-you-dry-wet-socks-when-camping-backpacking-if-its-raining-and-the-socks&quot;&gt;How do you dry wet socks when camping/backpacking if it&amp;#39;s raining and the socks cannot be hung to dry outside&lt;/a&gt;). Similarly, people will also sleep with their boots to keep them from freezing and try and dry the liners out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where does the water go when sleeping with wet/damp clothes? Aren't you just transferring the moisture into your sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:39:50.487" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T01:39:50.487" Title="How does drying stuff in your sleeping bag work?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;wet-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10852" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:21:00.693" Score="16" ViewCount="1784" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have noticed a slow but steady rise in the number of campers using roof-top tents like &lt;a href=&quot;http://treelineoutdoors.com/collections/roof-top-tents&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadiatents.com/Roof-Top-Tents.htm?m=87&amp;amp;s=615&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;those&lt;/a&gt;, among many others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8mpH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8mpH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tree tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages and disadvantages of these over conventional ground tents? In what circumstances would someone prefer one versus the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Assume this type of setup is permissible, I'm strictly asking about the gear usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:44:59.983" LastActivityDate="2018-04-28T14:35:43.877" Title="Roof-top tents vs conventional tents?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10839" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10840" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions regarding the dealing with of wet clothes. This could be in a hiking or camping sense, i.e. &quot;how do I x wet clothes&quot; or &quot;if my clothes are wet what...&quot; type questions." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T15:37:22.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10841" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10842" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions regarding the dealing with of wet equipment, such as clothing or boots, etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T15:39:39.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10843" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-08T19:37:32.340" Score="11" ViewCount="22693" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hi I'm going on my first backpacking trip in April on the Appalachian Trail. I can't seem to find a bear bag. I see bear canisters but they're far too big and bulky and the other bear bags I found are way too expensive. I saw some other backpackers that seemed to use water resistant bags for the food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is what qualifies as a bear bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8778" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-02-08T20:04:06.233" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:48:21.073" Title="What qualifies as a bear bag?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10837" CreationDate="2016-02-08T19:48:27.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, the moisture is transferred to your sleeping bag. But unless you are sleeping in a plastic bag, it keeps going and makes its way out of the sleeping bag into the air because sleeping bag shells are porous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, there is no reason not to do this inside a down bag. Even if you sleep naked, your breath and body produce plenty of moisture. Your socks and gloves aren't going to make a huge difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether you use a down or synthetic bag, the moisture accumulation makes your bag less efficient every night you use it. This is probably more pronounced with a down bag, but probably not by much. My solution is to let my bag air out during the day (or for as long as possible between the time I wake up and break camp). It won't make your bag 100% dry, but it will do a pretty good job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter air is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; dry, after all, so it sucks moisture out of your bag pretty quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: There seems to be some misconception about how warm you will be with synthetic materials versus down. First, I know you can do this with down because I dry my gloves and socks inside my down bag every night when I am winter camping. I've been doing it for years in temperatures as low as -30ºF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, while synthetic materials do retain some insulation value when wet, a 0F bag doesn't stay a 0F bag when it's damp. Try soaking a Thinsulate jacket, wringing it out, and then walking outside with it. Not warm, is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is, you want to avoid getting your sleeping bag soaked no matter what it is made of. But a little extra moisture from your gloves and socks isn't going to make any significant difference, especially since airing out your bag during the day is a pretty effective way to dry it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3346" LastEditorUserId="3346" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T19:13:02.517" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T19:13:02.517" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10846" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22934" CreationDate="2016-02-08T21:23:56.083" Score="12" ViewCount="2372" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard a number of people say that a pound on your foot equals 5 pounds on your back. Is there any hard evidence to support this claim and how does the terrain affect it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T13:14:03.063" Title="Does a pound on your foot equal 5 pounds on your back?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10838" CreationDate="2016-02-08T21:44:25.167" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The obvious disadvantages for these types of tents are that they occupy valuable roof space making mounting racks (e.g., bike, kayak, or gear) more difficult and that you must pack up your tent every time you want to drive someplace. As for advantages, they allow for a smaller footprint then having a car and a separate tent and can be pitched on uneven, rocky and wet ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some models are more like campers/recreational vehicles and provide electricity, running water, and heat. They tend to be lighter and more aerodynamic than corresponding RVs/trailers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T21:44:25.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10843" CreationDate="2016-02-08T21:58:23.140" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traditionally a bear bag was simply something to hold your food out of reach of bears.  This usually meant finding a way to suspend it from a high branch, and in this instance it's usually sufficient for the bag to be waterproof.  (With this in mind, some people like to hang the bags &quot;upside down&quot; to prevent rain getting in through the top.  Be sure to tie them securely closed if you do this!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are different methods for hanging, but a common one is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://theultimatehang.com/2013/03/hanging-a-bear-bag-the-pct-method/&quot;&gt;PCT method&lt;/a&gt;.  To briefly summarize the method:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a branch about 6 meters (20 feet) above the ground.  When finally hung the bag should be about 2 meters (~6 feet) away from the trunk, 2 meters below the branch, and about 4 meters (12 feet) above the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a small throw bag (e.g. pouch with rocks) to toss your line over the branch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a carabiner to attach the line to your food bag, then clip the other side of the line into the carabiner.  Hoist the bag until it touches the branch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reaching as high as you can, tie a clove hitch around a small stick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allow the bag to come back down.  The stick should be blocked at the carabiner (about halfway between the branch and &quot;as high as you can reach&quot;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an alternative to this, and that is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/&quot;&gt;Ursack&lt;/a&gt;.  A kevlar sack designed to resist tooth and claw, you need only leave it on the ground and loosely tethered to a tree (to prevent the bear wandering off with it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you should also consider whether rodents will be a risk.  They are quite acrobatic and can chew through many materials.  Odor-resistant bags or rodent-proof mesh bags may also be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T21:58:23.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10843" CreationDate="2016-02-08T21:59:29.423" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two types of bear bags. The first is similar to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-resistant_food_storage_container&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bear canister&lt;/a&gt; but made out of strong cloth (often kevlar) and wire mesh with a metal insert to prevent crushing. The brand I am most familiar with is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;URSack&lt;/a&gt;, although there are probably others of equal quality. These bear bags are slightly lighter than bear canisters (and easier to pack), and pass the same Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee test as bear canisters. These types of bear bags can often be used in lieu of bear canisters on many, but not all trails. Before setting out, you should check with the relevant park authority as to what is approved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from a few sections on the AT, bear canisters are not required nor even recommended. That said many people still hang a &quot;bear bag&quot;. The most common method is called the PCT method and despite its name is used on the AT. It involves throwing a rope over a 20+ foot high sturdy tree branch (about 6-10 feet from the trunk) and hoisting the &quot;bear bag&quot; up about halfway. Then with a little trickery with a carabiner and a stick you tie the bear bag off. For this type of bear bag any stuff sack big enough to hold your food (and other smelly items) will do. A slight more tear resistant bag is nice as is water resistance since it will be out in the rain and possibly rubbed against branches as you haul it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-02-10T01:21:35.850" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T01:21:35.850" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10846" CreationDate="2016-02-08T22:12:21.703" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The factor of 5 maybe an exaggeration, but the physics is certainly worth examining. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider what is happening as you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Backpack&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take easy ground to begin with - your pack moves at a fairly constant speed and velocity - essentially the only energy needed from you is holding the weight in the air. On rough ground, experienced backpackers will keep this motion of the backpack (and their torso) smooth and consistent. Even on very rough ground it's surprising how little a backpack moves with little bobbing up and down and starting and stopping. The smoother the pack is moving, the less energy is used changing its velocity. (Novices often have very inefficient carrying technique, stopping and staring each step, bobbing up and down like a yoyo, especially on rough ground.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Feet&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The very nature of your feet is your boots/shoes stop and accelerate to twice your walking speed each step. They also have to be lifted and placed down on the ground. None of the energy from one step is retained for the next. Any extra weight on your feet needs to follow the same actions, hence it's very inefficient. The only benefit is half the time the weight of boots is supported by the ground, not you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On easy ground, the difference is more significant as the backpack motion is hardly changing. Over rough ground, as the backpack needs to accelerate slow down more, and bob up and down (e.g. boulder hopping, climbing over trees etc), the penalty of weight on feet diminishes significantly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &#xA;One thing that must be considered is the nature of the ground and support you need for your feet. At one extreme, a few people can carry heavy weights over very rough ground easily in bare feet. At the other, as I drive a desk for 50 weeks a year, my feet are not strong enough to carry heavy weight over rough ground without support. Therefore although lighter weight shoes/boots are less tiring, the support and protection provided by the shoe becomes more important than weight. It's one thing to walk a few hours in Crocs along a benched track, another to spend 14 days crossing mountain passes and river beds with no formed tracks carrying 20kg back pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="3516" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T19:19:14.857" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T19:19:14.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2016-02-08T22:42:29.073" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rattlesnakes will generally only strike when provoked. That is the very reason we hear them rattle. Keep in mind a rattler cannot produce more venom quickly, so they too prefer to flee rather than bite. Young snake tend to be more aggressive and do not know how to control their venom. If you hear one close to you, back away slowly. Once far enough away they will go their own way. It that simple. Not every bite is envenomed and keep in mind that their teeth are somewhat fragile. Stepping on a snake will get you bitten for sure. Here are a few tips I use in areas where rattlesnakes are present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk in the middle of a path.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear high leather boots as most bites are just above the ankle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid walking in tall grasses. Not all rattlers will make a noise before striking. If you step on one, you cannot see, you will be bitten for sure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be extra careful in hot evening if you are near water. They are more likely to be out and about as the heat of the day dissipates in order to cool down in the water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One can read more on avoiding rattlesnake bites from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-05-07T13:45:15.273" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T13:45:15.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10838" CreationDate="2016-02-08T22:44:34.480" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are common in Australia, where snakes (9 out of the 10 most poisonous in the world) and spiders (another insane number of highly poisonous variety) along with other wild life (Crocodiles?, Bullsharks :) ) make tenting on the ground something for the more adventurous or short term residents of the world. They also have the advantage over RV's in that they can be attached to real 4x4's and taken places that most people would be incapable of getting an RV into - a common past time in Australia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are also becoming common in New Zealand with the low cost backpacking market. They turn a small cheap banger car into an RV for a very low cost, yet provide a larger and more weather proof tent than could be carried in a small cheap banger (with all the other gear needed for multi week road trips, a decent tent will fill the boot.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also take much less time to setup than a tent - 5 minutes and the bed is ready, vs 30 or more for a normal tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-02-08T22:44:34.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10837" CreationDate="2016-02-09T07:05:40.667" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The water will either absorb into the sleeping bag materials, and or evaporate, or absorb then evaporate. The rate of evaporation is determined by the humidity inside the sleeping bag, and this is determined by the rate water vapor escapes into the outside air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latent heat of evaporation of water is around 2264 kilo Joule/Kilogram (629 WH/Kilogram.) - a sleeping person generates about 60-80W, so if you add damp cloths containing 100ml of water (1/2 a cup) to your sleeping bag, it will take all the heat you produce in 1 hour, while asleep, to evaporate it. It won't normally evaporate at this rate, as the humidity will quickly raise to 100%, however, in the first tens of minutes, the moisture will be sucking the heat out of you body at the same rate you produce it - you will become colder. In many cases, you will spend the rest of the night shivering, struggling to recover the lost heat.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So effectively the water is lost by turning the water + body heat into water vapor which then escapes though the sleeping bag into the atmosphere, and some will still absorbed in the sleep bag materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T07:05:40.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10371" CreationDate="2016-02-09T07:48:42.563" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the board is new then the main thing to worry about is the bearings. Riding through puddles increases your chance of picking up grit and other abrasives that can ruin bearings, and although many modern bearings are rust resistant, not all are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Older boards, especially those with some damage can also allow water to soak in between the layers. This will lead to delamination, weakening the board, ruining it's springiness and eventually speeding up its demise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T07:48:42.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10857" CreationDate="2016-02-09T10:41:46.570" Score="6" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to fishing and I'm going to try to visit a lake in an hour or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are rumored to be pike, brasen, crucian carps and more types of carp too, eels and tench.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heard there are plenty of tench. I'm hoping to catch pike, carps or tench. This is my selection of lures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FMXXQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FMXXQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which one would be best to start out with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the water is murky, so the silvers are probably off the menu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8786" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-09T11:05:49.447" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T17:50:14.553" Title="Newbie going fishing in a lake. Which of these lures would be best?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10856" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10877" CreationDate="2016-02-09T16:02:09.630" Score="13" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year, I learned that you could thread the wire of stoppers/rocks/hexentrics through tunnels in the rock if threading cord or a sling through them would be too difficult. As a reference, see the following image (left: sling/cord, right: stopper):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DvWf5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DvWf5.png&quot; alt=&quot;webbing vs stopper&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used that method a few times for rather non-critical pieces or where the tunnel was too narrow to fit a sling through it. However, I am wondering: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How does that method change the usual safety considerations when using tunnels for protection (thickness of the rock bridge etc)?&lt;/strong&gt; For example, would additional forces be exerted on the bridge? Or would the forces even be smaller since the stopper distributes them around the hole? (All of this assuming that the stopper is large enough to never slip through the hole.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T09:27:45.903" Title="How safe are stoppers/rocks when threaded through rock tunnels?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10855" CreationDate="2016-02-09T17:50:14.553" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd go with the 3 Mepps style lures, and the two spoons at the bottom left of the pic. They'll make more noise and vibrations than the others. The others looks to me to be fast retrieve lures which may certainly attract fish, but if the water is murky may be too fast for the fish to reliably catch up to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T17:50:14.553" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10858" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10861" CreationDate="2016-02-09T19:13:48.990" Score="30" ViewCount="6918" Body="&lt;p&gt;While rock climbing, when crimping a hold, I always use my index finger (and whatever other fingers fit) since I can stack my thumb on top. For two finger pockets is it better to use your index and middle finger or your middle and ring finger (assuming either pair fit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T07:20:41.493" Title="Which fingers to use in a 2 finger pocket when rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10859" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-09T22:15:21.837" Score="6" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my assortment of lures/bait:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KNQt3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KNQt3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BwFau.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BwFau.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dv8t9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dv8t9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E2jdB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E2jdB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QL7oV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QL7oV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The can is Gulp! Earthworms)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went fishing and caught my first fish today with the golden spoon in the red box to the 2nd far right (below the daredevil-looking spoon).&#xA;It was too small so I let it go again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'm interested in the following fish:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pike&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crucian carps&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trout&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Brasen&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tench&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you name me in what kind of scenario I'd use each of my lures and for what type of fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8786" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T02:48:20.170" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T02:48:20.170" Title="Where and when do I use these lures [new fisher]" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10858" CreationDate="2016-02-09T22:32:52.183" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess there is no definite answer, but will vary from climber to climber, as I saw both methods applied. I use both depending of the angle of the pocket: I use the two finger so that the middle finger is up top. So in a pocket &quot;descending&quot; towards the right I use the middle and ring finger of the right hand or the index and middle finger of the left hand.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Again: This is far from generally true, even as advice I would rather say just try it and go with what feels more solid to you. One great thing about climbing is that every move is unique, both for different climbers and rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T22:32:52.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10858" CreationDate="2016-02-09T23:00:00.367" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the sake of your tendons, it is better to use your &lt;strong&gt;ring and middle finger&lt;/strong&gt; in two finger pockets, because of how your muscles in your forearm insert on your fingers, and how they're wired to your nervous system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You essentially only have one muscle which acts on &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; of your fingers, called &lt;em&gt;flexor digitorum profundus&lt;/em&gt;. This muscle fans out into four tendons which insert on the distal phalanx (finger-tip bone) of each finger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flexor digitorum profundous, shown in blue:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lIgIY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lIgIY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have many other muscles in your hand as well, which also act on your fingers in multiple different ways, but when you're pulling hard on your finger tips, it's &lt;em&gt;flexor digitorum profundous&lt;/em&gt; which is getting pumped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's interesting is that this muscle is innervated by more than one nerve; the medial aspect is innervated by your ulnar nerve, but your lateral aspect is innervated by your median nerve. You can isolate the intervention of these nerves in your middle and pinky fingers, but your ring finger kinda gets caught in between, It's literally impossible to flex either your middle or pinky fingers at the tips without the ring finger at least partially flexing as well, so it's better to pair your ring finger with your middle and flex them together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your ring and middle fingers are typically closer to the same length as well, which tends to make it more comfortable to hold in a pocket, you're also more secure in the hold when you can use your forefinger and small finger to stabilize your hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your angle on the pocket while moving past the hold, as well as its size and shape, may make using your forefinger more appropriate, but for the most part, it's better to grab two finger pockets with your middle and ring fingers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Party trick:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Demonstrate to people that is it &lt;strong&gt;impossible&lt;/strong&gt; to curl any of the fingers on your hand independently other than you forefinger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First establish that there is a difference between &lt;em&gt;bending&lt;/em&gt; a finger and &lt;em&gt;curling&lt;/em&gt; a finger. Bending means you're just bending the finger at the first joint past the knuckle, you aren't engaging the fingertip, curling means you are using both the first and second joints, and engaging the fingertip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your ring finger is half innervated by the ulnar nerve, and half innervated by other nerves, so if you curl either finger beside your ring finger, your ring finger will curl at least half-curl, if you curl your ring finger, the fingers on either side of it will half curl, if you curl both your middle and small fingers, your ring finger will curl with them, and there is nothing you can do to stop it &lt;em&gt;(except cheat and only bend your finger instead of curling it)&lt;/em&gt;. The more force you use, the more your other fingers are going to curl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T04:33:42.977" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T04:33:42.977" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10858" CreationDate="2016-02-09T23:01:21.173" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;While not supported by any hard evidence, in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.falcon.com/books/how-rock-climb&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;How to Rock Climb&lt;/em&gt; by John Long&lt;/a&gt; he says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because it is rate that a pocket will accommodate all of your fingers, the first choice is the strong middle finger, next the ring finger, then the index finger, and so on. Using the middle and ring fingers in a two-finger pocket better balances the load on your hand. The initial tendency is to use the index and middle finger for two-finger pockets. With practice, the middle and ring finger combo is almost always a better option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-02-09T23:01:21.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10843" CreationDate="2016-02-10T00:30:40.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bear bag is a bag (in my case a stuff sack) that is &amp;quot;bear proof&amp;quot; (aka the bear can't get to it).  On the AT you will only run into black bears, and they are little tree climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically speaking this should be &lt;strong&gt;10 ft&lt;/strong&gt; off the ground and &lt;strong&gt;4 ft&lt;/strong&gt; from the trunk of a tree.  I've definitely gotten lazy and not followed these directions - but thats the official National Park Service recommendations (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/bear_safety.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/bear_safety.htm&lt;/a&gt;) for Shenandoah National Park&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bear Bag&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvyzn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvyzn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8793" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T13:13:58.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10590" CreationDate="2016-02-10T00:31:44.410" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;NSTs do not have a uniform set of rules. That said for the major trails, there are good websites that can answer many of your questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/hiking-basics/groups-families-and-pets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ATC website&lt;/a&gt; says that dogs are NOT allowed in 3 areas: Baxter State Park in Maine, Great Smoky mountains National Park in Tennessee, and Bear Mountain State Park in New York. There is an alternate road walk for the Bear Mountain section. The BSP section can be done in a single day and it is the first or last day which can make logistics easier. That said, the remoteness of BSP makes logistics more difficult. For GSMNP you will need to find someone to take care of your dog for the 4 or so days it takes to hike through the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcta.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCTA&lt;/a&gt; provides information on the PCT. While I cannot find anything that says dogs are allowed, they are (along with horses). That said, hiking the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.postholer.com/faq.php#dogs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT with a dog&lt;/a&gt; is a bad idea because of the long distances between resupplies, water shortages, weather, terrain, bears, and snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-05-04T12:41:01.700" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T12:41:01.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1097" CreationDate="2016-02-10T00:33:27.027" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;GASOLINE!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back &quot;in the day&quot; we would always look for birch bark (as it burns when wet) and/or toss a little white gas from the stove onto the fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8793" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T00:33:27.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9271" CreationDate="2016-02-10T00:57:00.697" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To set an equalized 3 point anchor, at a minimum you need 3 single length sling (2 ft) lops (6 feet total), a 1-foot, 3-strand, clip in loop (3 feet total), and a couple feet for the knot. With such a minimum length cordelette, the anchor in the photo, would need an extra quick draw (or possibly even a single length sling) for the piece on the left and maybe a quick draw on the middle piece. You would have to be careful with the length of the sling for the piece on the left so that the extra carabiner is not right on the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of the photo, a 15 ft cordelette would probably be perfect. I like to be able to monitor the pieces in my anchor and it looks like a 20 ft cordelette would put you so far away that it would be difficult to see the pieces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T00:57:00.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10871" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-10T11:50:21.813" Score="11" ViewCount="2034" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was spurred to post this after reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10858/which-fingers-to-use-in-a-2-finger-pocket-when-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;Which fingers to use in a 2 finger pocket when rock climbing?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last year I injured myself training on a shallow three finger pocket with an open hand grip and my pinky dropped.  While hanging with maximum effort I felt a popping sensation in the palm of my hand and heard a brief but audible ripping-paper sound.  Pain and swelling followed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never received a professional diagnosis, but seeing as I would not be climbing for a while I had time to read fairly extensively on the subject, and I concluded that in all likelihood I had suffered a partial tear of the fourth palmar lumbrical.  This is a small muscle that runs &lt;em&gt;between&lt;/em&gt; the flexor tendons of the fourth and fifth digits, seen below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lhNrJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lhNrJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;palmar lumbricals&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When some of the digits are nearly fully extended and others maximally flexed a shearing force is created in the lumbricals, which can lead to a tear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference this illustration from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.klatring.no/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=LG2ASlI1haM=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lumbrical Tears in Rock Climbers&lt;/em&gt; – A. SCHWEIZER [PDF]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZXoFi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZXoFi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lumbrical shear&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this injury I am shy to commit to any pockets.  I can baby the &lt;em&gt;fourth&lt;/em&gt; lumbrical by avoiding splitting the fourth and fifth (ring and pinky) fingers, but that does not protect the &lt;em&gt;third&lt;/em&gt; lumbrical from shear as shown in the illustration above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I have become more aware of the interconnection between digits I have noted that none of them are independent, not even the index and middle fingers which do not share a lumbrical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example if I:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;with my wrist extended or at least straight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hold the 3rd, 4th, &amp;amp; 5th digits straight (in line with the palm) &lt;em&gt;using the other hand&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and flex my index finger down toward my wrist as far as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel a sharp and almost painful tension in my forearm.  I did not feel even this much discomfort in my palm before the tear so it seems probable that this is another source of potential injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems that not flexing the dropped fingers from the lowest joint (MCP) greatly reduces shearing stresses.  This works OK when I can prop the fingers against the face of the rock, e.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/madZB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/madZB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However on protruding plastic gym holds or overhanging routes when I cannot prop my fingers I don't seem to be able to hold them back like that and still truly exert.  &lt;em&gt;Is this something I just need to practice?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contrarily I see plenty of strong climbers bending the dropped fingers at the palm like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1CCl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J1CCl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did I injure myself only because I was trying too hard?  It happened at near 100% exertion, and afterward someone told me to train at no more than 60-70% intensity.  If that is true (is it?) an injury could still happen on a hard route unless I intentionally limit myself, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I minimize the possibility of (re)injury while training for and climbing hard on pockets?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T17:26:16.000" Title="How to safely train for and grip pockets?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;injury&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10871" CreationDate="2016-02-10T13:30:56.347" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can offer some basic advice on two of your points but I've never experienced the injury nor do I know a great deal about it unfortunately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do most good climbers hold back the dropped fingers as in the&#xA;  penultimate image, or do they flex them down as in the last one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should attempt to keep the fingers not being trained, loose (not crimped and not clenched). As you suggest you want to put as little undue strain on the ligaments. This isn't going to improve your strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is hangboarding at near 100% foolish? etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not that clear what you mean by 100%, but in general you should be looking to perform 10-15sec dead hangs (4 sets with 5 minutes rest in between). You want to hold on until failure. If you hold for longer than 10 seconds then use a smaller hold, less than 10seconds find a bigger hold, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want a position similar to the right on this image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UUDao.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UUDao.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Always use an open-handed&#xA;  grip—no crimping. Hang with a slight bend in your elbows, and pull&#xA;  your shoulder blades down and back, keeping body tension high.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/copy-of-tech-tips-contact-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always &lt;strong&gt;Warm up&lt;/strong&gt; first and stretch after. Resistance bands are good for both of these activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also Work the opposing muscles as well as the grip muscles. you can get rubber resistance disks that you push open that work well. If you build one set of muscles without building the resistors to these muscles then you become dangerously unbalanced and this can lead to injury. E.g. you stomach is only as strong as your back, your hands need the same treatment, your grip is only as strong as the muscles that open your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some good general fingerboard advice here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=8023&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Neil Gresham and Hangboard Guru's Fingerboarding&#xA;Tips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/copy-of-tech-tips-contact-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hangboarding&#xA;101&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-10T15:10:58.470" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T15:10:58.470" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10873" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-10T13:56:36.800" Score="1" ViewCount="95" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a small programmable gps unit with a simple LCD display.&#xA;I want the gps to work in two modes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Display geographic (degrees north and east) position coordinates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Display position on a paper map e.g A3 that I have georeferenced before hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance if I were going to Barcelona I would print out:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://techpicturess.com/2016/02/barcelona-map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Barcelona map&lt;/a&gt;. Next I would read the position of the corners of the map in Google Earth and I would program the device. Next I would be in Barcelona wondering where I was. I would read F6 off the device, look it up on the map and find that I was near Porto Olimpico.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The device should preferably be small, have an accurate and fast gps, waterproof, have long battery life and be readable in bright sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8798" LastEditorUserId="8798" LastEditDate="2016-02-10T14:06:51.023" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T14:06:51.023" Title="Programmable handheld/wristworn gps" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2016-02-11T05:41:14.453" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10859" CreationDate="2016-02-10T15:05:20.617" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do need to rephrase the question better, but I can still provide this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pike will go after anything that bass will. Spinners, plugs, jerk baits, Texas rigged worms, etc etc. just about anything so long as it within reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trout need a more gentle approach, the Mepps style lures and perhaps the gulp worms are your best bet for trout. Real worms too left to rest on the bottom behind a big rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T15:05:20.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10875" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10878" CreationDate="2016-02-10T15:18:17.417" Score="9" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rock climbing cams often have integrated slings. Like all webbing, these slings can be degraded by UV and wear out much sooner than the cam themselves. There are numerous companies that will &quot;professionally&quot; resling cams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the advantages of reslinging a cam professionally is the loop of the sling will closed with a bartack (as opposed to knotted). While sewing machines capable of bartacking are not cheap, anyone can buy one. Is there some sort of accreditation that one should look for in a cam reslinger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:16:39.637" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:16:39.637" Title="What accreditations should a professional rock climbing cams reslinger have?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;camming-devices&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10859" CreationDate="2016-02-10T15:24:36.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first picture is of &lt;strong&gt;spinners&lt;/strong&gt;. you tow them though the water and they spin and sparkle, attracting the attention of predatory fish. Use these where you have good visibility in the water. The different sizes colours will depend on what fish you want to catch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second set are &lt;strong&gt;lures&lt;/strong&gt;. Again designed to be pulled though the water but slower. these are designed to look like fish swiming. Again good visibility needed for these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above will only catch fish that are predatory. e.g. Pike&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third picture are &lt;strong&gt;floats&lt;/strong&gt;. This is for a different type of fishing altogether. I.e. baited line fishing. The float is designed to sit in the water with a hook attached underneath with some bait on it. Best in calm water. Visibility less of an issue, the fish are attracted to the bait by smell mostly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with the &lt;strong&gt;Gulp worms&lt;/strong&gt;. They appears to be some kind of artificial bait. You will likely want to use these with the floats, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above target fish that scavenge mostly rather than hunt actively. Though a degree of cross over is expected. i.e. trout&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A degree of trail and error will likely be needed when you start out. It very much depends on local conditions, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-10T16:29:37.983" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T16:29:37.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10856" CreationDate="2016-02-10T16:25:08.050" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your main concern here is going to be &lt;strong&gt;shock loading&lt;/strong&gt;. Nuts are typically tested to resist static compression load. Any shock is typically adsorbed by the rope and other equipment, so they get the mimimum shock load when/if you fall. If they don't fit well and are loose (or are just passed though a hole and are therefore moving around all over the place) then when/if you fall they will hit the rock and shock load. There is no give in the wire or metal so the full fall factor is concentrated in a very small area. This has the potential to take the equipment past it's limits and therefore break it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even ignoring the shock loading on the equipment your also going to shock load the rock, this can make it break. Think pulling on a hold vs hitting it with a hammer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's your slings, etc. Depending on the material you are again potentially shock loading them due to the movement in the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, this is likely less secure/safe than a well placed secure nut in a crack and should be avoided. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd be better off attaching a nylon sling around the &quot;tunnel&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/slings-at-anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Here's some work DMM did on the effect of shock loading on slings&lt;/a&gt; to give you an idea of how it can affect a system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Or would the forces even be smaller since the stopper distributes them&#xA;  around the hole&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anything you're distributing the load &lt;strong&gt;less&lt;/strong&gt; evenly. A well placed nut should have the maximum surface area in contact with the rock. The more surface area the more the load is distributed. Only the top of your knut is in contact with the rock and if it's loose then not even that initially. So your actually &lt;strong&gt;concentrating&lt;/strong&gt; the load!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm trying to say is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rope tight (looks ok?)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;rock-&amp;gt;|    |&amp;lt;-rope&#xA;nut-&amp;gt;C|----|&#xA;      |    |&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eveything seems ok in the above scenario&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rope loose (not so good now)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;   rock-&amp;gt;| /&amp;lt;-rope&#xA;nut-&amp;gt;C---||&#xA;         | \ &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nut no longer in contact with the rock&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Leader falls&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;          | /&#xA;      C---|| -----&amp;gt;rope goes taught (moves right)&#xA;       -&amp;gt; | \ &#xA;&#xA;&#xA;       |    |&#xA;      C|----|&#xA;      ^|    |&#xA;     /&#xA;    *Impact*&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nut impacts with rock!! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T09:27:45.903" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T09:27:45.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10875" CreationDate="2016-02-10T16:40:14.603" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a UIAA certification for slings just as is there are for (nearly?) all critical recreational climbing gear.  You should only have reslinging done by a company that produces UIAA certified climbing softgoods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certification logo: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zq6kp.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zq6kp.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sU8xC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sU8xC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_104_Slings_March_2013.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_104_Slings_March_2013.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T16:40:14.603" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4588" CreationDate="2016-02-10T18:05:52.280" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I try to make my wife as comfortable as possible so she will continue to go with me on these backpack trips. Our last weekend backpack trip was in the Big South Fork in Tennessee in January. The low temperatures were 22 degrees. We had a total of 39 pounds. My pack weighed 22 pounds 56% and Alice's pack weighed 17 pounds 44%. She stated at 17 pounds it felt like her pack was empty. With this weekend's low temperatures expected to reach 9 degrees our gear will probably weigh about 50 pounds. I can see my pack weighing 27-28 pounds and my wife's about 22-23 pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8803" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T18:05:52.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10858" CreationDate="2016-02-10T19:08:22.267" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A practical answer is &quot;whatever works&quot;. I've done both (and seen other people do either), and both work fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attempting an &quot;arguably correct&quot; answer from an anatomical point of view is hard. From the point of view of applicable force, it is better to use the index and the middle finger. The reason for that is that each finger has its own superficial flexor, and if you don't consider the rather useless pinkie, they all are not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; much different in strength. The flexor digitorum profundus, on the other hand, has two bellies and two tendons. One for the index finger, and one for all other fingers together (which is the reason why ShemSeger's party trick works, has nothing to do with the ulnar nerve).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Thus, not using the index finger means not using half of the available force of the strongest flexor in your hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand side, there is tactile sense which may also be important for climbing. The median nerve lies below the retinaculum whereas the ulnar nerve lies above it. That would consequently mean that the ulnar nerve is arguably compressed less when holding with great force (if you climb &quot;properly&quot; you should not usually hang with your entire body weight on two fingers, though). Less compression means it takes a longer time before you lose the tactile sense.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This would suggest that it may be better to use middle and ring finger together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So... either way has advantages and disadvantages, use what works best. Both alternatingly if you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8804" LastActivityDate="2016-02-10T19:08:22.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10883" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10887" CreationDate="2016-02-11T05:46:55.743" Score="7" ViewCount="1632" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like the back quiver has only disadvantages compared to a bow or side quiver. Yet many archers - including Byron Ferguson - choose to go with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What advantages (besides looking awesome) does a back quiver have? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T12:11:35.263" Title="Advantages of a back quiver" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10858" CreationDate="2016-02-11T06:45:58.983" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally think it depends on the move and the hold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ring and middle finger is preferable for deep monos which is straightforward and downward loaded. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the hold is somewhat an uneven pocket, tilts to an angle or is a mono-gaston move on incline, sometimes its better to use your index and middle finger instead. This is especially true if the mono has a side edge which can be used to press your thumb against. Also note that your are generally much stronger in your index than in your ring finger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8809" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T07:20:41.493" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T07:20:41.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10886" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-11T07:07:18.003" Score="5" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Green Trails map at the scale 1:18,000 and a National Geographic map at the scale 1:35,000 and I can't find UTM corner rulers for either of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shouldn't maps from such popular map makers have more common scales? Is there a trick that allows me to use a more common scale and easily convert?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8810" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:04:03.173" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:04:03.173" Title="UTM Rulers for Odd Scales?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10883" CreationDate="2016-02-11T16:25:38.243" Score="6" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Bow Quiver vs. Back Quiver&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A bag with a shoulder strap is super simple to dream up and create whereas a workable bow quiver is much harder to build. Of course this only matters if you are making it or don't have access to modern building methods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can store more arrows in a back quiver than a bow quiver. This is a matter of simple real estate. You have more space on your back to store arrows than on the side of your bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Side/Hip Quiver vs. Back Quiver&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;IMO it is &lt;strong&gt;a more natural and fluid motion&lt;/strong&gt; to reach over your shoulder to grab the arrow, nock the arrow, and place it on arrow rest. My artistic skills are limited but you can picture in your mind &lt;strong&gt;a fluid single arc of motion&lt;/strong&gt;. In contrast with &lt;strong&gt;a hip quiver where the arrows point back&lt;/strong&gt; you need to pull back, point the arrow forward, nock the arrow, and then place it on the arrow rest. In your mind you can see that is &lt;strong&gt;more of an open-V motion or a big arm circle&lt;/strong&gt;. When the &lt;strong&gt;hip quiver is pointing forward you need to spin the arrow (palm towards body) in your fingers or a big diagonal up and back (palm away from body)&lt;/strong&gt; like a sword salute at a wedding after the draw before nocking the arrow. The spin can be fancy/pretty but it is easier to drop the arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that a hip quiver with the arrows pointing forward would be inconvenient because the arrows would be hitting things and generally getting in the way. Unless you're wearing a backpack arrows in a back quiver are out of the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bow quiver: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fohw6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fohw6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bow quiver&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side/hip quiver pointing back: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XCBZt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XCBZt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hip quiver pointing back&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side/hip quiver pointing forward: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BleM6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BleM6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hip quiver pointing forward&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back quiver:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gZHte.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gZHte.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Back quiver&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-02-11T18:42:02.790" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T18:42:02.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10871" CreationDate="2016-02-11T17:26:16.000" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Important disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, all of the following is based on knowledge acquired from climbing courses and experience. Therefore I will keep it general, but take anything with a grain of salt (as you should with anything considering your health from unknown sources).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hangboarding and campusing are extremely dangerous to your fingers. As a beginner I would not recommend using them. When you want to start using them, get advice from someone experienced. There are some general points you should follow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Obvious but still the most neglected point: &lt;strong&gt;Warm up thoroughly&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This includes a general full body warm up (jumping jacks, light core strength exercise, whatever you like) but most importantly you need to warm up you fingers/forearms. A general rule is not to hold anything strenuous before you did at least a 100 easy moves. In a gym this can be easily done.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Only do &lt;strong&gt;static training&lt;/strong&gt;. Doing dynamic movements on small holds like campus boards increases the load extremely. These movements must be very precise and with fatigue you loose control, that is when injuries happen. Jumping up and down on campus boards sure looks great when the pros do it, but don't try to imitate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never crimp while training&lt;/strong&gt;. This increases your maximum holding strength, but is bad for your joints and tendons. For training only use your fingers in a hanging position. In training it is not about getting the maximum out of you, but to strengthen the muscles so you get the maximum out when you do actual climbing. Same goes for curling your fingers. As to &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first use all your fingers while hangboarding. Only when you feel very comfortable with all fingers start training with just two fingers. Even then try to keep the unused fingers &quot;relaxed&quot;, do not curl them all the way. This does not mean that you have to keep them straight, that will be hardly possible, but bending them will increase the shear force as explained in the question itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once had a minor finger injury that I did not get checked out, but reading this question makes it obvious that it was the same that has happened to me. Taping middle and ring finger together, I was able to climb on, just using either middle or ring finger hurt like hell. This happened on moderately steep limestone with shallow pockets on my first climb of the day - without proper warmup. The move during which the injury happened was far from my limit - but it was too much due to lacking warm up.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So again: &lt;strong&gt;Warming up is key!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A note about stretching: This is one of the most controversial topics, not only for laymen, this is an ongoing debate in science. The advice that is most reasonable to me is to do only very short stretching (or none) before and light stretching after training. The point was, that in high intensity training normal stretching afterwards increases the chance of microruptures in the muscle. Extensive stretching should be considered as an own training unit and not be done in conjunction with max-strength exercises. This are mostly the views of a friend, which is a doctor but admitted himself, that this may not be the full truth and you will fiend people out there who will refute this clames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-02-11T17:26:16.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10889" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10890" CreationDate="2016-02-12T14:02:29.577" Score="8" ViewCount="1154" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there kind of a checklist what to consider before going on a day hike? Like which preparation should one take, things to pack (not detailed, like &quot;food&quot;), useful information (weather forecast e.g.) and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T00:56:24.633" Title="How to plan a day hike" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10889" CreationDate="2016-02-12T14:31:29.847" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on your destination. In general I would think of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Preparation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;organise one or more detailed map(s) of the area to go to&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;check the weather forecast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;organise your way to your destination &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; back home (in case you do not start walking at your door). This could include:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;check public transport and buy tickets &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;check fuel of your car; rent a car; check parking options; etc. (inspired by mattnz's comment) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make sure, you have appropriate clothes, shoes and backpack (and everything else, you want to take with you)&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clothes and shoes should be hiking or trail shoes and non-cotton exercise clothing (comment from Radar)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pack  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;charge your cell phone and check, whether it will have reception at your destination (comments from jamesqf and Peter Green)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;depending on your destination: plan sight seeing stops (&lt;em&gt;e.g.&lt;/em&gt; check opening hours of the castle you want to go in or anything)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thinks to pack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;money, ID card, emergency information &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a hiking map &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;medication etc. (if you need any)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a fully charged cell phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;additional rain/sun/wind/cold protection (depending on the weather forecast and the area you want to go to) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;maybe a pencil and a small notebook&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;maybe stuff to take pictures (make sure the battery is charged, the memory card empty) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the above mentioned tickets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edited&lt;/strong&gt; to incorporate comments&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8817" LastEditorUserId="8817" LastEditDate="2016-03-23T21:29:05.630" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T21:29:05.630" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10891" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10944" CreationDate="2016-02-12T15:26:55.530" Score="9" ViewCount="6345" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes while hiking/trekking/whatever I practice &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;urbex&lt;/a&gt; (in random buildings, factories, farms, tunnels, the usual), and I'm aware of the risks to my health caused by toxic gas, asbestos, lead and other substances. To protect my lungs, what kind of respirator should I get? Should a surgical mask be enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DZY0J.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DZY0J.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;respirator&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jgleD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jgleD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;surgical mask&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are so many different variables, I don't even know where to start. Because I usually explore spontaneously while I'm out, I need something that is at least a bit practical, that I can bring in my backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, something as discreet as possible would also be great. I don't want to be caught in the woods after exiting a tunnel looking like a wasteland warrior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3drMx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3drMx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wasteland Warrior with gasmask&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &amp;lt;-- Looks cool, but no thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any info that helps me understand how all this works and what I should look for is much appreciated. Cheers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1842" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T20:27:06.440" Title="What respirator should I get for urbex?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;urbex&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10889" CreationDate="2016-02-12T17:31:35.337" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As well as checking the weather forecast you should research the general weather conditions for the area you will be visiting, often conditions in hilly or mountainous areas can change quickly and without warning so you should be prepared for the worst possible conditions you might encounter. This also includes checking sunset times for the time of year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also important to consider your route carefully, looking at gradients and terrain as well as distance. Satisfy yourself that all of your party can manage it in the time available. Ideally you should have an alternative or exit route in case you are delayed for any reason. Even on well marked paths a map and compass and at least a basic understanding of how to use them are essential, GPS etc should be considered useful additions not the sole means of navigation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider any potential hazards on or near the route such as cliffs or rivers which could be danger if you get lost and/or visibility deteriorates. Some areas may have particular hazards in the form of wildlife or be prone flooding etc etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inform somebody reliable of your route and the time you expect to be back and check in with them when you return. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many areas it is wise to take at least some preparations for an emergency overnight stay. In most cases this will not be full camping kit but might include extra food and water, some sort of emergency shelter and torches. The simple fact of being prepared can do a lot to prevent panic if you do get lost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have an emergency plan in case you get lost or separated. In most cases this means deciding in advance whether people will stay put once they realise they are lost or head to a prearranged meeting point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as the obvious safety implications this sort of thinking ahead will tend to make a trip more relaxed and enjoyable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-02-12T19:07:22.837" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T19:07:22.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10846" CreationDate="2016-02-12T20:02:29.937" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes - it's true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The source is a 1984 study by the U.S. Army Research Institute, which found that it takes up to 6.4 times as much energy to move at a given pace when weight is carried in the footwear as against the torso. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid we all walked in monsters like this, at almost 4 lbs a pair (and that's &lt;strong&gt;before&lt;/strong&gt; they get wet!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KFrra.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KFrra.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the equivalent of around 20 lbs in your pack. I still see a lot of people shod like this, particularly continentals in the Western Alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now (unless it's icy) I walk the hills in minimalist shoes like these, at around 1lb per pair. This is the equivalent of dropping over 15lbs from my pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wVfSz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wVfSz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been a total liberation. My feet, knees and hips function as they evolved to function, and I'm experiencing far less fatigue, wear and tear. And I've never had so much as a hot-spot, never mind a blister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy boots are supposed to provide ankle protection, but because they don't allow your power train to function properly I used to experience regular injuries - sometimes quite serious. Walking thousands of miles in more natural shoes, I've never had a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And being able to actually feel the ground beneath your feed adds a great deal of enjoyment to walking, at least for me. I wouldn't want to isolate myself from the ground again any more than I'd want to wear chain-mail to make love.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course wearing light footwear does involve some commitment and a change of attitude. You have to transition carefully and rebuild the natural strength in your feet. You have to step lightly and accurately on difficult ground. You have to lighten your pack. You have to pick the right shoes for the job, or adapt them to the terrain with removable rock-plates. It's all part of a more lightweight approach to moving and living in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me there's no turning back. I've walked long distances over tough terrain, and as I've built my strength and skills it's become an integral part of my enjoyment of the hills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-02-12T20:08:21.230" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T20:08:21.230" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10909" CreationDate="2016-02-12T20:19:57.800" Score="9" ViewCount="1005" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hello I have a question that I ask myself every morning when I commute to work. I live New England and I take the I-95 south from New Hampshire to Massachusetts every weekday. During my commute I drive across faces of rock besides the highway. I have only climbed outdoors once and I am itching to get outside this spring. (I started climbing a few months ago but it is 99% indoor because winter in New England stinks.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've lived in New England my entire life but I have never seen people attempt to climb the rock faces besides the highway. I was wondering, is it legal to climb these rock faces at all? And if it is, why don't many people do it (I haven't seen anyone do it.) Are there just better places to climb at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8821" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-14T19:36:25.320" LastActivityDate="2016-02-14T19:36:25.320" Title="Bouldering beside the freeway" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10891" CreationDate="2016-02-12T20:54:46.407" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend a common particulate respirator, you can buy them in bulk from pretty much any hardware store or drug store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kch3A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kch3A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It'll protect you from dust and asbestos, but if you're venturing into any buildings that are fuming toxic or sour gases, then you need to exit and report that right away! No building should &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; be venting poisonous gases, abandoned or not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-02-17T20:27:06.440" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T20:27:06.440" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10889" CreationDate="2016-02-12T20:54:55.447" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some good answers here, but so far no-one has mentioned perhaps the single most important safety-factor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Understand the reality of the hazards you are facing, and be sure you have the skills to cope with them&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the area and the season, the risk factors you should be considering might include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather&lt;/strong&gt;: How challenging can it get? Do you really have the equipment and experience to cope? If need be, can you handle extreme heat, wet or cold?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Navigation&lt;/strong&gt;: How hard is it to find the route? This can vary hugely. Even on marked trails you'll sometimes come across a baffling&#xA;junction. If need be, can you navigate the route in cloud, dark and&#xA;storm?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Emergency&lt;/strong&gt;: If you get into trouble, how hard would it be to get help? Does your party have the experience to extract yourselves in case of illness or accident?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;River Crossings&lt;/strong&gt;: These can be lethal. Do you have the skill and judgement to keep safe?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow and Ice&lt;/strong&gt;: What can you expect to encounter? You can't always see this from the valley. If you have any doubt about your ability to cope, ask locally about current conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bears and other wild animals&lt;/strong&gt;: Do you know the local regulations? Do you know what precautions to take?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the years, most of the issues I've seen in the hills have stemmed from a party underestimating the route or overestimating their skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes this can be quite extreme: I once had to help rescue a lady who was attempting Ben Nevis in full winter conditions and a gathering blizzard while shod in high-heel shoes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do your homework, get a realistic idea of what you're up against, and make a realistic assessment of whether it's the right route for you and your party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-02-14T13:22:56.213" LastActivityDate="2016-02-14T13:22:56.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3080" CreationDate="2016-02-12T21:21:28.800" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was once the rather unhappy participant in a study on ankle injury treatment at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came in with a serious injury and was told that with conventional treatment I would have been immobilised for weeks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What they did was plunge my ankle in ice for as long as it was bearable, and once the swelling had reduced, they manipulated my foot in all directions to drive bloodflow into the injury. Then they moved me onto a wobble-board, and finally had me jumping over a bench! I walked out of there with only a slight limp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They said that this rather basic treatment was hugely out-performing any other approach they had studied, including bleeding edge high-tech techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course before they did this they had taken an X-Ray to check for a break. In the back-country you'd have to proceed with caution. Although the treatment was uncomfortable, it was pretty clear that I didn't have any kind of serious break. Just use common-sense and stop if the movement causes significant pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some time after this experience I came across a guy in trouble high in the Alps. His ankle was so swollen that he couldn't get his boot back on, and he was a long way from safety. I got him to plunge his foot into a handy glacial stream, and the swelling was much reduced. I gingerly manipulated his foot, and he was pretty confident there wasn't a break. After 20 or 30 minutes of working through the protocol he was quite mobile again. He was able to get back into his boot, and he and his party set off for the valley in good spirits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worth a try, I think, in extremis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-06T11:21:16.420" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T11:21:16.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10886" CreationDate="2016-02-12T23:22:37.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Map scales are decided by the cartographer based on what they think is the the best scale for the map they're producing. This is naturally a judgment call sort of like the projection of the map. If you feel like the cartographer's choice is unbearable then I'd suggest you find a different map that covers the same territory. I believe you can find complete topo maps for all or virtually all of the lower 48 United States offered by the Bureau of Land Management offices. These maps are more general purpose maps so their scales and projections are going to be fairly standard. Also this is a big source of maps so the scales and projections they support will be broadly supported by tooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a little bit of web searching I wasn't able to locate a 1:18,000 UTM corner rule. I did find a company that offers a broad variety of UTM corner rules &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.maptools.com/product/Mini35&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;including one at 1:35,000&lt;/a&gt;. This is a kilometer scale, but you should be able to easily convert that to miles if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-12T23:22:37.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10895" CreationDate="2016-02-13T01:05:39.710" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing next to a road is, in general, not a pleasant experience. Any roadside rock face is artificially shaped by the excavation that created it. The rock can be more likely to crumble under you as you climb than naturally exposed rock, and it is likely to be dirty from dust kicked up by passing traffic. You may think that dirt is a silly complaint, but it can greatly reduce the friction between rock and your hands. Passing traffic is distracting, to say the least. And all of this ignores the legal issues involved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in southern New Hampshire, you are within 45 minutes of fantastic bouldering at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks/pawtuckaway-state-park.aspx&quot;&gt;Pawtuckaway State Park&lt;/a&gt;. The climbing there is well documented on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/pawtuckaway/105929413&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt; and there is an excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pawtuckawayclimbing.us/&quot;&gt;guidebook&lt;/a&gt;. If you have questions, the staff at the closest climbing gym should be familiar with Pawtuckaway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also great bouldering at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/rumney/105867829&quot;&gt;Rumney&lt;/a&gt; and around North Conway, although it is not the dominant style of climbing in those areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8649" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T01:05:39.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10886" CreationDate="2016-02-13T03:15:56.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can make your own easy enough. &#xA;Just print onto a clear transparency (used primarily in overhead projectors). Tape that onto some clear plastic (can purchase at Home Depot and maybe art store).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T03:15:56.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="969" CreationDate="2016-02-13T03:23:47.987" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an answer I read somewhere else, but haven't tried it myself yet. Take this answer for what it's worth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was stated that cat litter crystals‎ do a good job of absorbing moisture. They are also available unscented. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously too heavy for backpacking, but should work fine for car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T03:23:47.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10895" CreationDate="2016-02-13T08:07:32.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no special knowledge of this subject but it is my understanding that rock cut by blasting fractures deeply, beyond the part that is removed, and that as a result climbing on such rock is typically not safe as entire blocks are liable to come loose.  A bolt is worse than no good if it pulls a boulder down on top of you, and trad pro, especially cams, create outward pressure on cracks and may force apart the fractured blocks even faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some climbing does take place on blasted faces but I believe a lot of work goes into preparation, and it still may be rather chossy so care is advised.  Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/riverside-rock-quarry/491337&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.summitpost.org/riverside-rock-quarry/491337&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because the wall has been subjected to blasting, development for sport climbing has necessitated a substantial amount of cleaning dangerous, loose blocks, and reinforcing some loose holds with glue. Stay off red-tagged routes, as these are in the process of being cleaned, and are not yet safe to climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T08:07:32.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10891" CreationDate="2016-02-13T10:32:19.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not an &quot;urban explorer&quot; but in other uses I have never found the simple fiber masks like ShemSeger pictures to seal well enough to be much good.  It doesn't matter how good the filter material is if air leaks around the sides.  I would only trust something with an actual gasket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much airborne mouse dung possibly transmitting hantavirus would &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; feel comfortable with seeping around the edges of your mask?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further the eyes are an easy entryway for pathogens and vulnerable to abrasive particles, irritants, etc.  There is a reason that full-face respirators exist.  In my opinion it is not possible to have both good protection and discreetness.  I know which one I would choose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T10:32:19.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10895" CreationDate="2016-02-13T15:37:22.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not &lt;em&gt;illegal&lt;/em&gt; in Montana, in fact the road side crags at Stonehill near Rexford Bench are some of the best, and most popular sport climbs in NW Montana (for Canadians at least):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ua5l8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ua5l8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roadside crags are what sport climbers live for, as long as there's enough room in the ditch to belay safely off of the road, then you're good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eSch0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eSch0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-13T19:32:26.070" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T19:32:26.070" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10889" CreationDate="2016-02-13T21:31:34.617" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll second the earlier nomination of the &quot;ten essentials&quot; list (@Nate Eldredge).  There are two versions of this list, with the classic version of the list tracing its roots back to the 1930's.  These lists are presented convenently on REI's web site (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html&lt;/a&gt;), but I will reproduce them below for posterity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One bit of wisdom often not given in association with these lists is &quot;...and the knowledge to use them properly&quot;.  Without knowledge, these items are little more than additional pack weight.  If you are going into any sort of a remote area, get proper training in navigation, first aid, and basic survival skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anything much more than a short outing at a local park, I will pack enough for an overnight including all of the items on the modern version of the list.  Understand that this would NOT be a comfortable overnight, but I would be protected from the forecast weather conditions and have sufficient food and water.  This typically weighs in at 12-14 lbs (and this is where the ultralight backpackers get to chuckle...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Updated Ten Essential &quot;Systems&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation (map and compass) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulation (extra clothing) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Illumination (headlamp/flashlight) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First-aid supplies &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repair kit and tools &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nutrition (extra food)   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration (extra water) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emergency shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Classic Ten Essentials&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunglasses and sunscreen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamp/flashlight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First-aid supplies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firestarter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Matches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="5341" LastEditDate="2016-02-13T21:38:06.963" LastActivityDate="2016-02-13T21:38:06.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10895" CreationDate="2016-02-14T12:43:56.617" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is specific to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US interstate highway system&lt;/a&gt; The vast majority of this system is closed to pedestrian (and bicycle) traffic.  These are dangerous roads to be on; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/fatalped.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;on average 600+ pedestrians die each year on them&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are many place (namely the state of Oregon) where walking on the Interstates is not illegal, it is in most areas of the US.  Nearly every on ramp will have a sign stating the legal requirements for access. For a specific section check for signage at the on ramp just prior to the location in question. If it says pedestrians are prohibited, there is your answer.  If it does not, you will need to do more research with local agencies. Self propelled traffic may be allowed, but stopping may be limited to emergency use only. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CZhVz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CZhVz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-02-14T12:43:56.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10891" CreationDate="2016-02-15T05:26:09.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use pesticides occasionally at work and use a particulate mask when treating flower beds. They work quite well. But if you are more worried about gases, you might check what they wear at your local dump sites. The ones up here use filters in their masks  that are so fine they can keep out bad odors. It all depends on what you want and need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T05:26:09.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10912" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11114" CreationDate="2016-02-15T08:14:26.370" Score="10" ViewCount="658" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I are learning to Scuba dive this year with a friend. We're doing the SSI courses, which require a large number of dives to progress through each qualification. Open Water through to Advanced Open Water requires a minimum of 24 total non-pool dives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We will be doing our open water dives at Vobster Quay and I know that you can dive inland at Stoney Cove, but it gets really busy. It would be nice to gain experience in more than just two inland locations. Are there any other common inland locations for Scuba diving in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also know Vobster goes down to roughly 36m, so that would cover Advanced specialisations, knowing other depths would be great too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2018-07-14T18:42:00.320" Title="What locations to scuba dive inland in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10913" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10915" CreationDate="2016-02-15T10:46:00.853" Score="29" ViewCount="6615" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know this typical Hollywood hiking backpack with an attached sleeping bag and a dangling camping mug. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/baDgsm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/baDgsm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hiking&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I currently build a custom backpack, I wondered if there is any good reason to leave the mug outside of your backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:41:12.850" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T08:44:10.033" Title="Any reason to carry a mug outside of the backpack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2016-02-15T10:52:57.063" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mug outside the backpack is far &lt;strong&gt;easier to reach&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some areas, you will pass streams very often.  During my first ever backpacking trip, with a group of Swedish people hiking Kaisepakte – Pessiskåtan – Lapporten – Tältlägret – Abisko in September 2005, most people had a mug hanging outside so that they could reach it immediately.  Every 5 minutes or so, we would cross a stream and people would drink a few draughts.  I believe some of them did not bother to carry a water bottle at all, as we were probably never more than 500 metre from a stream during this hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, Swedish mugs often have a hole specifically for attaching the mug outside the backpack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EQjoU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EQjoU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Laplandmok&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Typical mug as used in Sápmi/Lapland.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.preppersworld.net/product-tag/zweden/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine it's considerably less useful in desert areas or in areas where it is essential to filter water before drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't think of any good reason to leave the sleeping bag outside though, unless there is no space inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Incidentally, when I for the first time saw the advice that one is not supposed to camp near water sources, I was somewhat confused, for taking this rule literally would render large areas of the Scandinavian mountains off-limits for camping)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-02-16T14:28:43.697" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T14:28:43.697" CommentCount="18" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2016-02-15T11:21:10.327" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your mug is wet, why would you put it inside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like a hot drink while packing up, you might have a wet (or even dirty) mug after you've packed anything on which you might dry it.  If you do dry it, you might have a damp towel to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people don't carry anything to dry mugs/cooking equipment anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T13:10:35.350" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T13:10:35.350" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10922" CreationDate="2016-02-15T11:31:22.753" Score="8" ViewCount="1604" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often see Kestrel's in the countryside around my house (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/h/hobby/&quot;&gt;Hobby&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/k/kestrel/index.aspx&quot;&gt;Kestrel&lt;/a&gt;). I live outside of the range of hobby's so I don't really see them. But if I did, how do you differentiate between them? They seem very similar birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're both small raptors with similar colouring and both &quot;hover&quot;. Often I don't carry binoculars (or have my glasses on).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any one glaring difference between these two birds that will help me identify one from the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T15:50:36.013" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T21:45:30.573" Title="How to differentiate between a Hobby and a Kestrel?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;raptor&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10917" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10918" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" Score="0" Body="A raptor is a Carnivorous bird. Often referred to as a &quot;bird of prey&quot;. They are characterised by keen vision and sharp talons and beaks. Use this tag for questions regarding raptor type birds such as eagles, owls, hawks , etc." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T13:30:57.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2016-02-15T13:43:18.467" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I don't do that, because having something clanging against my pack (or my back) all day is guaranteed to drive me insane.  Eating equipment goes inside my pack, along with stoves.  If I need a drink during the day, I have a water bottle.  If I run out of water and find a stream, I fill the water bottle.  No need for a mug during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hollywood (and others) may make the superficial assumption that a mug is bulky, and having it outside the rucksack saves space.  Not so; a mug is hollow, and is a perfect place to put stuff which needs a little extra protection inside your rucksack.  All those things would need space anyway, so the only extra space is the thickness of the mug wall, which is negligible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the &quot;sleeping bag&quot; on top will usually be a roll-mat to insulate you from the ground during the night.  You lose heat an order of magnitude faster from conduction with the ground than from radiation through the sleeping bag, so every competent camper has something to keep them from direct contact with the ground during the night, and these days it will be a foam mat which can easily be strapped to the outside of your pack.  Your sleeping bag stays inside the pack where it will be protected and dry.  Historically that &quot;roll&quot; on top would probably have been a bundle of blankets with a tarpaulin cover, where the blankets would have been used both as a basic mattress and as a covering depending on need (old-time camping skills also included improvising mattresses from brush/grass/ferns/whatever), but those days are long gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastEditorUserId="6481" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T16:03:48.453" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T16:03:48.453" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10920" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10934" CreationDate="2016-02-15T13:51:08.213" Score="9" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on tying some stimulators and I have a ton of deer hair in the colours that I want my flies to be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The recipes that I have read so far ask for yearling elk hair. I wonder if I can replace that with deer hair and still get the same flotation and similar looks. Also, would there be any reason to favour elk hair over deer hair in dry flies like the stimulator or the streaking caddis? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2016-02-15T14:45:59.310" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T12:28:34.067" Title="Can elk hair be replaced by deer hair when tying a dry fly?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10921" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10924" CreationDate="2016-02-15T17:26:27.747" Score="8" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;During my usual weekend morning jaunt along Del Monte Beach in Monterey (California), I noticed for the first time the Plovers, who normally seem to forage nonstop, actually taking a communal break. About a dozen or so gathered together in a circle, and all but one or two bent their heads backwards and buried their faces in their &quot;shoulder feathers.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seemed to be just catnapping (the eyes slits, but not completely closed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one or two &quot;sentinels&quot; seemed to keep on eye on other critters getting too close (humans and dogs) and also on the surf. If something got too close, these sentinels somehow indicated this to their brethren. But how? If it was a sound, it may have been subsonic (at least, I didn't hear anything).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do they say, &quot;Wake up, peeps, and move over a bit!&quot; And all moving together in the same direction at that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is their communication &quot;secret&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T10:41:02.197" Title="How do Plover sentinels give the &quot;move out&quot; signal?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10916" CreationDate="2016-02-15T21:45:30.573" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_%28bird%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hobby&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kestrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;kestrel&lt;/a&gt; are among the 60 varieties of birds of prey in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falconidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;falcon&lt;/a&gt; family. Similarities in their body shape and color make it hard to tell them apart, especially without binoculars. I tend to leave mine at home, or lock them in the car, where they do me no good at all once I'm off wandering through the woods!! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is one glaring difference you'd find if you were to travel to an area where both birds were common, which is their eating behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kestrels spend most of their time hovering or resting at roadsides. They generally spot their prey on the ground and stop to eat. Most of the similar looking birds you see hovering are either kestrels or something in the same family. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hobbies, on the other hand, are mostly unable to hover. Constantly on the move, they grab smaller prey, such as dragonflies and other insects, with their open beak. Larger meals, including small birds, are caught in their talons and transferred to their mouth as they fly. Pairs of hobbies can even be seen feeding each other at great heights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hobbies are found primarily in Europe, Asia and Africa. Unfortunately for people in the United States, including me, they don't tend to live or visit here. However, a small falcon called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;American Kestrel&lt;/a&gt; is extremely common throughout the North America and parts of South America. It lives year round in many states, and spends warm months in the Northeast, where I live, so I'm putting it on my list for next summer's viewing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-02-15T21:45:30.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10921" CreationDate="2016-02-16T08:45:11.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What your describing is &lt;strong&gt;flocking&lt;/strong&gt;. It's an extremely complex behaviour where individuals react to their immediate neighbours giving the sense that the whole flock moves as a whole. Birds naturally flock (in the air or &lt;strong&gt;on the ground&lt;/strong&gt;) as a defensive mechanism against predators, etc. Though complex there appears to be some basic rules to the mechanism as a whole:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Basic models of flocking behavior are controlled by three simple&#xA;  rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Separation - avoid crowding neighbors (short range repulsion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Alignment - steer towards average heading of neighbors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cohesion - steer towards average position of neighbors (long range    attraction)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With these three simple rules, the flock moves in an extremely&#xA;  realistic way, creating complex motion and interaction that would be&#xA;  extremely hard to create otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flocking_(behavior)&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How flocking works isn't 100% understood yet, though computer simulations have been generated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in your example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;sentinals&quot; would react to the perceived threat and move/react, their neighbours would react to this movement and then the following neighbours would then react, etc, etc until the whole flock reacted as a whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-16T10:41:02.197" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T10:41:02.197" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10925" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10932" CreationDate="2016-02-16T14:24:32.513" Score="15" ViewCount="11573" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question might be flanked by The Great Outdoors and Bicycles, yet I'll ask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am off for a mountain-biking thing, I usually have a backpack with me which contains clothing, medical kit, basic toolkit for repair, tarp, sleeping bag, food and water, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the ideal method to carry it?&#xA;Should I haul the pack on back or should I attach it to the carrier that my bicycle has?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets consider a 35-Lt backpack and an offroad rough terrain with lots of ups-and-downs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2221" LastEditDate="2016-02-18T05:49:28.977" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T05:49:28.977" Title="What are the easiest methods to carry a backpack when cycling?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-16T15:12:03.207" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want to keep your centre of gravity quite low, so it depends on how heavy the stuff your carrying is. If it's light wear it on your back, if it's heavy put it on the carrier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T15:12:03.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10927" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10929" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:00:55.083" Score="12" ViewCount="4839" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently come into possession of many thousands of feet of paracord, more than any practical use would dictate. So this started me down the addictive path that is weaving and forming it into various more practical or at least decorative uses. One of the extremely easy knitting styles using a spool loom allows for some pretty elaborate rope design, and also allows for compact bundling of cordage into ropes that unspool into much longer cord lengths. Since this is ultimately still one strand just doubled back x times per pin in the loom, I would assume it gains no strength in this process, and by nature of all the additional bend radii I would further assume that it actually looses some strength in this process...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what I would like to know is there any definable equation / references by which one can calculate the relative strength of a rope constructed of single cords in relation to the knit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not looking to make climbing rope or push its limits, I never really see this being used as anything more than novelty items like leashes, gear holding, bracelets, and gun slings. I am just curious what the deduction is from the 550# relative strength of the cord to start with and how much it decreases with a 2 pin knit vs a 3 pin, 5, etc... Just so I would have some frame of reference if any of it ever had to be load bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Errata:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;An example of the rope in question, this is a three plat knit using single cord over three pins in a spool loom. It produces a rope diameter of about 1&quot; and compacts the cord about 4.5&quot;(ish) per link, so 50' of &lt;em&gt;rope&lt;/em&gt; is actually a manageable 200+ length of cord. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20Qst.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20Qst.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xRr4i.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xRr4i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Original milspec 550 cord, I looped some over a limb, supported my body weight (190#) and only a few inches off the ground, bounced as hard as I could in effort to test its breaking strength, it held with no obvious signs of damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So though I would never climb on a homemade rope as a first choice, it seems it would not be an issue if I &lt;em&gt;did&lt;/em&gt; need to, it is somewhat stretchy, I got about a 2' stretch out of about 20 feet of rope before it seemed to hold me in a solid position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using that homemade loom and a Philips head screwdriver as a tool, I made about 25' in an evening, so practical way to store a decent length of cord...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8844" LastEditorUserId="8844" LastEditDate="2016-02-16T18:16:03.923" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T21:02:50.940" Title="Paracord rope strength" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:16:17.140" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general I'd agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10926/7995&quot;&gt;Liam's answer&lt;/a&gt; that you should strap your gear onto the bike using a rack and/or panniers. On &lt;em&gt;smooth terrain&lt;/em&gt; I'd take this route every time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one time I'd disagree is if you're mountain biking over rough terrain. Adding weight to the bike is going to make your bike less nimble. Also if you're strapping a backpack on a bike rack you're really going to have to crank down those straps otherwise every couple of miles the pack is going to get loose. All that being said I'd seriously consider just wearing the pack on your back if/when you're riding over really rough terrain. It will be uncomfortable but I think it is more practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T16:16:17.140" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10927" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:28:24.880" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll need to test to be sure, but it will lose quite a bit of strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I sailed, I was taught that you lose as much as 80% strength by tying a knot. So if you have 500 lb paracord, by this estimate it could support about 100 pounds reliably when knotted. The weakening is at the point of the knot, so multiple knots doesn't further decrease the strength, it just gives you more probable failure points, all at 20% of the original strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem here is that the 80% loss is a conservative rule of thumb. That's good if you need to plan for something where your life depends on the line NOT breaking, but your knotted rope can probably hold more than 20% of it's rated strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a rope maker who &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neropes.com/Resources/sail_reprint.pdf&quot;&gt;tested some of their own ropes&lt;/a&gt;, and described both the testing protocol and the results. The result was that you lost between 35% and 68% of a rope's strength, depending on the type of line and the knot. Splices lost significantly less strength, but since you aren't splicing that's not really relevant. There are probably other lines and knots that lose even greater strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is about an unbroken cord with a knot in it. Rope is designed to be strongest when all fibers in it are straight, so the bent fibers, while bent, are significantly weaker than the surrounding straight fibers. The more severe the bend, the greater the weakening. If you untie the knot, the rope goes back to being straight and regains its strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture looks like any weight on the braided cord would be supported by the equivalent of multiple strands, and the braid might not compromise the rope's strength as severely as a true knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Braiding a single cord as you did functions kind of like wrapping a line between two anchor points several times. Any force placed on the ends will pull on all the bends, so the full force won't be on any single bend. In your picture, the force would probably be distributed between several bent strands, so it could support several times what a single knotted cord would support. But all this means is that if you really want to know, you need to test it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-02-17T13:56:10.590" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T13:56:10.590" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10927" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:31:44.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A single strand of 550 paracord will hold body weight, so when you say, &quot;load bearing&quot; are you implying more than body weight? If not, then I think it's a non-issue, especially if you're weaving or knitting verses knotting; knots significantly decrease the breaking strength of ropes and cord, bending: not as much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paracord will be more than suitable for any application that you would use any other type of cord for. I'd argue that it'd be more durable than anything else you knit together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could make some pretty heavy duty hammocks out of paracord, and they would hold the weight of more people than you could ever fit in them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T16:31:44.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10931" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10947" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:42:09.427" Score="10" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering hiking 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine with my son. He would be 7 at the time. My biggest concern as we are thinking about this are the river fords since some of them can come up to the waist of adults. I think some of the fords would be swims for him (which I am not comfortable with). Can the fords in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred-Mile_Wilderness&quot;&gt;100 Mile Wilderness&lt;/a&gt; be bypassed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-02-16T16:52:15.073" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T19:02:49.650" Title="Bypassing river fords in Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-16T16:46:52.713" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to carry a &lt;strong&gt;back&lt;/strong&gt;pack is on your back. If you're looking for a bag for cycling, then you either need to invest in some pannier bags, or some &lt;strong&gt;bike&lt;/strong&gt;packs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cdy0T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cdy0T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 20L &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.revelatedesigns.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Revelate&lt;/a&gt; seat bag on my bike and I love it, I still carry a small backpack, but I try to put all the bulky items in my seat bag. Heavy stuff should go inside a frame bag, but those are harder to come by because they need to be custom fit, but if you have a mainstream mountain touring bike like a Salsa or Surly, etc., then you can get one stock that fits your frame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When riding long distances, you want a &lt;em&gt;little&lt;/em&gt; weight in your seat as possible, more weight on your back means more weight on your prostate or other tender bits. I'm still in the process of building a &lt;a href=&quot;http://tourdivide.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tour divide&lt;/a&gt; bike like the one pictured above, after all is said and done I plan on having mostly nothing on my back except a 3L water bladder and some empty space in a backpack that I only plan on using during those long stretches during the tour divide where you're without water and services for several days in a row.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Bikepacks on a full suspension bike:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DV1Of.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DV1Of.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-17T05:03:27.680" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T05:03:27.680" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-16T18:03:23.360" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, as a mountain biker of 20-years, you want to seek weight minimization and distribution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A heavy pack (assuming a non-trivial ride length) is going to cause your lower back to hurt, make you hotter (back can't breathe), and put additional stress on the palms of your hands - all of which become more problematic the longer you ride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A heavy load on the back of your bike (rack or carrier) will interfere with your front-tires ability to remain in contact with the ground - making climbing and steering more difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A heavy load on the center of your bike and lower down will cause your bike to feel more sluggish - harder to turn and make for a less enjoyable ride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost, ask yourself what you can get rid of. Consider carrying patches + 1 - tube instead of 2 tubes. If you know you will have streams in the area, get a good filtration bottle to lighten the H20 load. Can you learn anything about the vegetation that will allow you to eat local plant-life to reduce the food you carry? Do you have high-end clothing that is both light and protective? You weren't really specific so these may be off base. The point is to be really creative on how you can carry less. No matter where you store it, less weight will always feel better as the ride gets longer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you might consider a bike trailer. There are some really nice ones &lt;a href=&quot;https://jet.com/product/detail/cd7fdac930854c5a8296c963671910c0?jcmp=pla:ggl:sporting_goods_a1:outdoor_recreation_cycling_bicycle_accessories_a1_other:na:na:na:na:na:2&amp;amp;code=PLA15&amp;amp;k_clickid=b5a99967-4184-439e-ad32-b9b521c85af3&amp;amp;abkId=403-182817&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQiArou2BRDcoN_c6NDI3oMBEiQANeix5u9Nm0vNQSqyGmTngdmWPaPWpJd_YO-pN-rgr6-dzdIaAnsM8P8HAQ&quot;&gt;(example)&lt;/a&gt; that minimally interfere with your ride and will do a much better of carrying your gear comfortably than trying to put it all on you or your bike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SteveJ&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8845" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T18:03:23.360" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10920" CreationDate="2016-02-16T19:42:29.340" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I understand, the floatation characteristics should be relatively similar since both types of hair contain &quot;chambers&quot; that keep in air and provide floatation. An important difference is how they behave when tied. Deer hair will flare more when wrapped, while the elk hair will tend to remain straighter under the same wrapping conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://midcurrent.com/flies/fly-tying-hair-selection/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; from MidCurrent to be pretty informative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T19:42:29.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-16T23:18:45.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tow it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you might want to pick a different trailer than I use, you can tow a lot of stuff behind a bicycle.  I usually carry;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A gallon of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooler with drinks and lunch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Life jacket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two oars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10 pound anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change of clothes (and towel in drybag)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Laptop and MiFi if I am on call&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain Coat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Padded seat, with backrest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spare straps and such.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of room left over for a tent, and some firewood (though I have only been going on day trips so have not carried these)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256/how-to-tow-a-canoe-with-a-bicycle/9257#9257&quot;&gt;How to tow a canoe with a bicycle?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2cz4m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2cz4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-16T23:18:45.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10983" CreationDate="2016-02-16T23:50:34.390" Score="9" ViewCount="20363" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of ways to die in the great outdoors.  Prevailing answers at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3083&quot;&gt;What are some mortal dangers in temperate woods?&lt;/a&gt; suggest that Hypothermia is near the top of the list. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been really cold a few times. It seems to me that getting warm again was more painful then the getting cold.  Hypothermia has nothing on the ordeal of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aron Ralston,&lt;/a&gt; and wandering around in the dark or a blizzard seems like a good way to find a very painful end.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if I am hunkered down, waiting for the Sun to come out, what should I expect to feel if I won't be seeing the Sun again? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T21:23:21.650" Title="How unpleasant is Hypothermia?" Tags="&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10925" CreationDate="2016-02-17T08:05:10.297" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Trail running backpack&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I think for touring bike bags are the way to go they are horrible for mountain biking in serious terrain. What I personally do on longer bike tours is to wear a &lt;strong&gt;trail running backpack&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are ultra-light backpacks that sit very high on your back and generally have a sophisticated system of straps to be very secure even while running long distances. In my experience this makes them uniquely suited also for mountain biking, as they will &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;be comfortable and securely fastened to your back, while&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;still not being heavy or bulky, and thus don't restrict your movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many examples for trail running backpacks can be found on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?q=trail%20runner%20backpack&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;hs=XDz&amp;amp;channel=suggest&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjKqOD2qf7KAhXJfRoKHXYyC04Q_AUIBygB&amp;amp;biw=1581&amp;amp;bih=1307&amp;amp;dpr=0.9#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google&lt;/a&gt;. The one I personally use for moutain biking is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mammut.ch/INT/en/B2C-Category/Men/Equipment/Backpacks-and-Bags/MTR-201/p/2510-02770-1174&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MTR 201&lt;/a&gt; from Mammut:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CnGyW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CnGyW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T08:05:10.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10939" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10945" CreationDate="2016-02-17T08:57:51.813" Score="4" ViewCount="2636" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've a target face with an image of a squirrel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/azBmc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/azBmc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Squirrel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I'm not sure where the the kill exactly would be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I assume that it's the little brown spot beneath the arm, on the edge to the white stomach-fur?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:58:26.333" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:58:26.333" Title="Where exactly would be the kill of this squirrel?" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10937" CreationDate="2016-02-17T09:00:27.243" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had mild hypothermia (on a mountain bike race when I was a teenager) During this I'd describe the symptoms as flu like. I was quickly whisked down the mountain by mountain rescue to warm up and suffered no long/medium term ill affects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had &quot;proper&quot; hypothermia though (thank god) but I've read several books where the writer has suffered this, one of the best accounts I can think of is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.co.uk/K2-Death-Worlds-Dangerous-Mountain/dp/0767932609&quot;&gt;K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain&lt;/a&gt;. The books an account of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_K2_disaster&quot;&gt;2008 K2 disaster&lt;/a&gt; of which the writer was a survivor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia itself means that your core body temperature drops below the standard 35C. Hypothermia itself is a scale not an illness, so obviously there is a degree of scale between a 0.5 degree and a 2 degree drop of temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mild hypothermia is typically not overly dangerous in a healthy subject. The symptoms are vague and vary person to person. Most people who are described as hypothermic have mild hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Past this point and into moderate hypothermia the bodies first reaction is to try and heat the core. So you shiver uncontrollably as your body attempts to produce heat though muscle usage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the hypothermia becomes more severe though your bodies nervous system starts to become affected. Once you stop shivering you're in this phase. Typically this means the hypothermic person(s) become increasingly groggy, confused and irrational. There's even a condition called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#Paradoxical_undressing&quot;&gt;paradoxical undressing&lt;/a&gt; where the hypothermic person thinks they're hot and removes all their clothes. Your heart rate, breathing rate and subsequently the amount of oxygen in your blood will decrease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At some point past this your blood pressure will drop to the point where you become unconscious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia#Severe&quot;&gt;Below 30C your bodies cell's essentially cease to function&lt;/a&gt;, metabolic rate stops, and the cells begin to die. If this happens in your core your essential organs (heart, liver, lungs, etc) begin to shut down. By this point you will likely be unconscious and unaware of what's going on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Death is typically caused by cardiac arrest. The heart (for multiple reasons) simply stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How unpleasant is it&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is very unpleasant&lt;/strong&gt;. It (depending on circumstances) takes a long time with increasingly severe pain/symptoms until eventually you become delirious. You could argue that you probably don't care at that point, but you will have been in pain for a long time before you pass out, and then you will have a heart attack...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-02-17T19:14:46.437" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T19:14:46.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10943" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-17T09:10:00.047" Score="2" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm searching for a 3D archery course in Croatia. It has to fulfill following requirements: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has to be open for public&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should be located in range of the ocean&#xA;approx. 30 minutes to walk to the beach&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus requirement:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a few people will join my vacation, it may come in handy if you can rent equipment there&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T09:10:00.047" Title="3D archery course in croatia with ocean view" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10891" CreationDate="2016-02-17T17:30:16.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I searched deep into the &amp;quot;interwebs&amp;quot; and this is the best answer I could get. It's from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=1&amp;amp;threadid=5175&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UER&lt;/a&gt;, one of the biggest online urbex communities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Differences between respirators&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Respirators are masks that use filters to clean the air before it is breathed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't confuse respirators with standard dust masks, the kind that looks like bra cups. True respirators have a rubber boot to form a good seal with your face and check valves to positively isolate exhale and inhale path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Respirators with P100 rated particulate filters are recommended if you're going to a location that contains a significant amount of nuisance dust, rat urine laced dust, aerosols or asbestos. P100 filters hold indefinitely and you can use them until they get dirty, wet, or becomes noticeably harder to breath in. Since N95 is ineffective against asbestos, you should insist on P100.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your location contains organic vapors,acid gases, mercury vapor among other things, you need some activated carbon cartridges designed for the type of contaminant. Since it's uneconomical to stock on each type, I would get a set of Multi-vapor/Multi gas type. THESE HAVE A VERY LIMITED LIFE ONCE OPENED. They have expiration dates and once opened, they should be stored in sealed bags, like ZipLoc. After a few months, they should be considered ineffective. Higher the contaminant exposure, the sooner the cartridges will saturate. Read the enclosed manual. If you think you spent the useful life, throw them out and consider these one or two time use items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;NIOSH rating&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information was what I was looking for and helps me understand what mask to use in each situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Filters are given a NIOSH rating based on two factors: their effectiveness against oil-based hazards, and their efficiency. The rating consists of a letter followed by a number. These break down as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;N-&amp;quot; - Not resistant to oils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;R-&amp;quot; - Resistant to oils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;P-&amp;quot; - oil-Proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;-95&amp;quot; - Able to filter out 95% of dangerous substances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;-99&amp;quot; - Able to filter out 99% of dangerous substances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;-100&amp;quot; - Able to filter out 99.97% of dangerous substances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, N95 filters provide the least protection among the NIOSH-approved respirators, and P100 filters provide the greatest protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is of paramount importance that you know the capabilities and limitations of your respirator. No respirator creates oxygen; even the best filter will not cut it if there is less than 19.6% oxygen in the environment. No respirator will protect you against hydrogen sulfide - though the better ones will give you a longer &amp;quot;grace period&amp;quot; in which to escape. A filter which has been used against mercury loses its effectiveness against chlorine, and vice versa. For most situations, it is recommended that you carry a P100 with cartridges that are effective against, at the very least, organic vapors, aerosols, asbestos, and oils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sizing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also (in the same article) a good point about sizing. It says basically the same thing as @Mr.Wizard in his answer, that if the mask doesn't form a good seal, it's worthless. Actually:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...) According to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Adm.) standards workers need to be fit tested for these before they actually use them. (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Buying respirators&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a final note, after reading this it was easy to find websites selling P100 masks. Well, some of them looked like regular &amp;quot;surgical masks&amp;quot; with a filter on the front, but it was pretty obvious you wouldn't get a good seal. I will go for a &amp;quot;real&amp;quot; P100 respirator, which always have pink-colored filters. There's a lot of different brands, sizes, prices and formats available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UvFoe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UvFoe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;P100 respirator&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks guys for the answers you provided. I found this info based on what you told me. Cheers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;EDIT&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a good table with information on respirator ratings and substances to consider (sorry this is a table and I can't format, but here's the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-choose-a-respirator-or-dust-mask/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Substance&lt;/strong&gt; / &lt;strong&gt;Type of Respirator&lt;/strong&gt; / &lt;strong&gt;Rating&lt;/strong&gt; (if applicable)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acid Gases  Chemical cartridge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allergens   Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ammonia     Chemical cartridge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Asbestos    Particulate filter  N100 or HE&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bacteria and Viruses    Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bleach  Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dust    Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fibers (not asbestos)   Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation  Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lead    Particulate filter  N100 or HE&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mold    Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Organic vapor   Chemical cartridge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paint   Particulate filter  R95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pesticides, Sprays  Particulate filter  R95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pollen  Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sanding     Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Welding     Particulate filter  N95 or higher&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1842" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T17:42:59.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10939" CreationDate="2016-02-17T18:34:31.157" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the picture given:  The brown spot beneath the arm is a gut shot.  If sitting just like this you'd have to shoot through the arm for a chest shot (and waste most of that meat).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Rifle hunting (.22) just shoot for the head.  The head is just as big as the chest target area and damages the meat less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally though squirrels are not very tough, unlike deer and larger herbivores  If you hit them anywhere, they won't make it far and will slow down so much you can probably shoot again if you were off a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hunting with a shotgun, it doesn't matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T14:20:18.150" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T14:20:18.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10946" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10956" CreationDate="2016-02-17T19:00:02.997" Score="12" ViewCount="328" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/702/time-for-a-survival-exercise/709#709&quot;&gt;recent discussion&lt;/a&gt; about navigating from a deserted island, it was suggested that if I have a knife and natural resources I could create my own navigation aids. In this instance I was planning to sail from the island with a compass that I happened to have been stranded with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I didn't have any navigation aids (no compass), I have only a knife and natural resources what navigation aids could I make? How would I make them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-16T15:50:05.987" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T20:39:50.410" Title="What Navigation Aids can I make on an island with only a knife?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10931" CreationDate="2016-02-17T19:02:49.650" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think you need to bypass them at all.  You didn't say what time of year you'd be going, but in the later summer/fall, they are not nearly that deep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, at any time of year you could easily carry your pack(s) across, then go back and piggy-back your son with a 2nd trip.  The first trip would also give you a feel for how rough the crossing would be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In June 2015 I did the 100 Mile Wilderness (along with the whole AT south bound).  Even at that time, with the rivers running hard and sometimes waist deep, it would be quite reasonable to cross in the manner I described.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T19:02:49.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10939" CreationDate="2016-02-17T20:15:12.607" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having actually hunted and killed squirrels for food before, if you're planning on keeping the meat, then you don't want to shoot it in the body, shoot it in the head. A squirrels head is just as big as it's kill zone, if you shoot for the body you'll likely damage the precious meager morsels. One squirrel isn't enough food for one person to begin with, so you really have to make the best use out of it as you can. Some people go to the extremes of crunching up all the bones and eating literally &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;. If you only quarter the critter, then all you've got is 4 small chunks of meat to stick in your stew. Aim for the eye, but you don't have to hit their brain to kill them, I've taken squirrels out of trees with rocks by knocking them in the side of the head with a well aimed throw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-02-17T20:15:12.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10949" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10950" CreationDate="2016-02-18T09:03:55.807" Score="15" ViewCount="1367" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over the years, when out walking and on my commute through the countryside I've noticed that, when it's intensely pouring with rain, Roe deer seems to come out of the forests into open fields to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would have thought being out in the rain would reduce their ability to hear predators sneak up on them. However that said, in the UK there are no natural predators for Roe deer and they are only culled by the forestry commission and other governing bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do they come out to eat like this in the rain? And can you use it to your advantage when hunting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:07:12.973" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:07:12.973" Title="Deer activity in the wet" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10949" CreationDate="2016-02-18T09:21:39.273" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;This behavior is well-known to be honest. There's this myth that white-tail activity increases if it rains (the deer seeks shelter). However, the truth is that this doesn't really affect the daily routine. The animal just takes it as something what happens from time to time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you may already know the two main sense of a deer is its ability to smell and to hear. Both of these senses are nearly blocked while it rains. This is just getting worse if the rain intensifies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reaction of the deer is easy: compensate this loss with another sense. This, in fact, means, that they want &lt;em&gt;to see&lt;/em&gt;. Where do they see? Not in the dark forest but rather in the open fields. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/hunting-whitetails-in-the-rain/&quot;&gt;a good article&lt;/a&gt; regarding this topic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s no secret deer rely on their senses of smell and hearing as top&#xA;  lines of defense. Rain can influence both. Swirling clouds of&#xA;  molecules, scent, both good and bad, can be rain-washed from the air,&#xA;  making it difficult for deer to smell that which the nose would have&#xA;  otherwise known. Too, the steady pitter-patter of rain on the leaves&#xA;  fills a deer’s ears with aural clutter — potentially&#xA;  predator-disguising clutter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deer recognize these situations, and will often attempt to compensate&#xA;  by increasing the emphasis placed upon the third sense, sight. How?&#xA;  Heightened visual awareness, something the animal can accomplish&#xA;  easily by frequenting areas which offer extended fields of vision.&#xA;  Hidden meadows, field edges, or powerline right-of-ways are three&#xA;  examples. Simply put, go to where deer can see, and you’ll see deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes of course, you can use this as an advantage to hunt. If you are willing to go out in the rain, it's even a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.de/search?q=white%20tail%20coming%20out%20in%20the%20rain&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8&amp;amp;gws_rd=cr&amp;amp;ei=lYrFVvjNHomfU8WEutAO#q=white%20tail%20hunting%20in%20the%20rain&quot;&gt;commonly used practice&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice the last sentence in the quote above: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Simply put, go to where deer can see, and you’ll see deer.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T09:21:39.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10617" CreationDate="2016-02-18T10:52:18.300" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;These look like common garden spiders, which range from tiny to about the size of a 50 pence piece, and come in colours from yellow through to green. They're common to see between &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/wildlifegarden/atoz/g/gardenspider.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;May and November&lt;/a&gt; but you can see them later in the year, potentially. However this maybe another species, but these ones are really common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now usually these spiders will find somewhere nice and cosy for winter and stay there, it's not easy to find out too much which species do this but there is something called &lt;a href=&quot;http://10e.devbio.com/article.php?ch=22&amp;amp;id=211&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Diapause&lt;/a&gt; which can affect most spiders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diapause is a suspension of development that can occur at the embryonic, larval, pupal, or adult stage, depending on the species. In some species, diapause is facultative and occurs only when induced by environmental conditions; in other species the diapause period has become an obligatory part of the life cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for spiders, this can brought on by the onset of &lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3032.1991.tb00564.x/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley%20Online%20Library%20will%20be%20unavailable%20on%20Saturday%2027th%20February%20from%2009%3A00-14%3A00%20GMT%20%2F%2004%3A00-09%3A00%20EST%20%2F%2017%3A00-22%3A00%20SGT%20for%20essential%20maintenance.%20%20Apologies%20for%20the%20inconvenience.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cold weather&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The combined action of low temperature, poor food supply and short daylength induced diapause at an earlier developmental stage than short days alone. Thus, photoperiod is a primary factor inducing nymphal diapause, but the diapausing instar is influenced by both temperature and food supply. Hibernating nymphs became unresponsive to photoperiod in late December. After hibernation, however, sensitivity was restored and the nymphs remained sensitive to photoperiod throughout their life. This spider could also enter an imaginal or reproductive diapause. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now supposing as you say that the weather here was sudden, that could easily explain why the spiders were dead, or appearing dead, in the middle of nowhere. What may have occurred was the natural triggering of Diapause in a location which left the spiders vulnerable to the cold itself, instead of cosying up somewhere warmer, like a garden shed or nice hole in a tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-18T20:29:48.210" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T20:29:48.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10952" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-18T13:17:01.607" Score="4" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mioglobal.com/en-uk/Mio-Link-heart-rate-monitor-wristband/Product.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mio Link&lt;/a&gt; – a sports wristband that can measure heart rate at the wrist and transfer it to a mobile phone or sports watch – and I got a heart rate monitor (HRM) belt that came with my Ambit3R watch. I would like to know if it is possible to use both heart rate sensors at the same time to record them with the Ambit3R watch and verify that they measure similar heart rates? I did a test run with the watch, and according to the results I viewed in the movescount app it appears to measure only with a single HRM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8827" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-02-18T15:53:30.333" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T11:31:21.050" Title="Is it possible to use Suunto Ambit3 R with multiple heart rate monitors?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10946" CreationDate="2016-02-18T14:04:02.050" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first. You need a sailboat in order to sail. A raft isn't navigated. It drifts and is blown around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a sailboat you already have the navigation tools you need or at least most of them. Any tools that you can make on an island with a pocket knife will be no better than just looking up and recognizing the stars. The level of accuracy you would get from knife crafted tools would probably be less accurate that naked eye rough reckoning of the sun, moon and stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next comes knowing your latitudes and what weather to expect at those latitudes such as the doldrums and horse latitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Longitude is out of the question for this. You can't know your longitude without an accurate clock. So the best thing to do is follow the prevailing winds. And avoid going north or south too much. There generally speaking is no land to the north or to the south if you are in the Atlantic or pacific. If you are in the Indian Ocean then you pretty much in that case want to travel more northerly if you can manage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T14:04:02.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10954" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10959" CreationDate="2016-02-18T14:13:16.767" Score="17" ViewCount="3156" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm learning to dive and the first purchase is a mask and snorkel. The issue I have is discerning what mask to get colour-wise. There seem to be two main types for the silicon, clear and black. The lens can then have different coloured frames. My question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the difference between clear and black masks, and do the colours impair your vision in any way?&lt;/strong&gt; (Such as a red frame making things seem more red.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3673" LastEditDate="2016-02-18T14:50:26.590" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T02:47:55.050" Title="Diving mask colouring" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10952" CreationDate="2016-02-18T15:24:48.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it surely is possible to pair the watch with several HR monitoring devices, I don't think it's possible to use more than one at the same time. I cannot tell for sure since I don't have an Ambit3 (which uses the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol to connect external sensors, as far as I remember) but only an Ambit2 (which communicates via ANT+) but in the case of my watch it stops searching for a certain type of external sensor as soon as it has detected one it was paired with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically, it would surely be possible to use more than one sensor of the same type at a time, however that imposes a lot of extra stuff to handle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The watch needs a logic to handle two data sources of the same type that quite surely will deliver slightly different signals. That means, if you ask it to show &quot;heart rate&quot;, what should it display? The signal from source 1 or source 2? The average of both? Should all the measurements that are derived from the heart rate (average heart rate, times in certain zones etc.) also be handled for both sources? Should both of them be recorded in full? All this on a device that has limited battery and storage capacity and computation power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These thoughts make it quite improbable that such a functionality has been (or will be) implemented by Suunto, since its use case is very limited and the possible issues coming with it are rather significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T11:31:21.050" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T11:31:21.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10946" CreationDate="2016-02-18T17:34:24.827" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first you aren't going to be able to get longitude without an accurate clock and/or a tome of &lt;a href=&quot;http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal?_nfpb=true&amp;amp;_pageLabel=msi_portal_page_62&amp;amp;pubCode=0013&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sight reduction tables&lt;/a&gt;. Without those aids which you'd be hard pressed to create while marooned on an island your navigational options are limited. The best you can really hope for is to follow a latitude line/plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think a cross staff would be an effective celestial navigational aid that could be improvised and allow you to follow a latitude line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9goxu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9goxu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cross staff&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally the shorter cross piece would slide up and down the length of the staff to allow you to measure angles. That is going to be too hard to calibrate, unless you know the angles between enough stars to calibrate it yourself. If you can calibrate the cross staff then you can pick the latitude you want, sail to that plane and turn east or west to follow it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't calibrate it you need to sit on your boat at night and adjust (whittle) the length of the shorter cross piece so it lines up with the North star or the Southern Cross and the horizon. Once this is accomplished then you can maintain your current latitude by repeating the sighting and correcting as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option for latitude based navigation would be a Sun Compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MK8bO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MK8bO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sun Compass&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the Achilles heel of this device is the sun's height varies increasingly as you move away from the equator. The proper name for this pattern is an analemma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7WOuX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7WOuX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Analemma&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to this variance you need to be lucky and be close to the equator and make corrections with your cross staff as needed. As such this should be considered a supplementary aid, not a primary aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T17:34:24.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10954" CreationDate="2016-02-18T18:23:34.100" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, a black silicon mask will block out a little more light from close to your face. But for me, the effect is unnoticed unless I specifically look for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frame colors have never made any noticeable changes to the colors I'm seeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a &quot;low volume&quot; mask that was to close to my face that pressed against my forehead and gave me a headache diving. I don't have that mask any more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally like the 3 window masks. They are higher volume, but the side windows allow me to pick up motion in my peripheral vision more easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my advice to look for a mask that fits your face first and is comfortable. Colors are mostly useful for differentiating your mask from other people's on the boat and for displaying your fashion sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8867" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T18:23:34.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10954" CreationDate="2016-02-18T19:25:20.183" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found the differences are mostly subconscious, and a matter of personal preference.  Black blocks your widest of peripheral visions.   You almost never look out that far, but your brain does process it.  Clear silicone masks instead blur that part of your vision, permitting you to see rough outlines and colors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people find the black masks constricting, others (like myself) find it improves their focus.  Some people find the clear masks increases their feelings of immersion, others (like myself) find they're distracting.  Definitely try both styles at the store, and try to &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; which one is best for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8208" LastActivityDate="2016-02-18T19:25:20.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10954" CreationDate="2016-02-18T21:56:30.450" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience fitting people with Dive masks frame colours almost entirely come down to personal preference. As others have noted the actual silicone skirt of the masks, as well as the shape of the frame, will have a greater effect on what you can actually see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing to consider when getting a mask is the fit of the mask, even if you look as bad-ass and stylish as James Bond, you are not going to enjoy your dive if your mask is leaking or pressing against your brow/forehead. Go to your local dive shop and try on the masks that they have on display. The staff there will be more than happy to talk about the fit and features with you (I certainly was whenever an interested student diver came in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems from your question that you want to maximize visibility, so I can share a couple of tips on things to look for. First try on a handful of masks and narrow them down to ones that fit comfortably, once you have done that you can narrow them down further. Your field of view in mask is mostly determined by two things, size of the lenses and distance between the glass and your eyes. Masks with great big glass lenses to them will allow you to see a whole lot, but are also a bit bulkier and more difficult to clear/equalize (not usually a huge deal when diving, but can be annoying if you plan to snorkel with the mask as well). Likewise masks with the glass close to your eyes will allow you good field of view without the bulkiness, but can be very difficult to fit properly (people with even a bit of a brow my find they push into there forehead causing discomfort). Try and find a balance between small mask and big glass that works for you, personally I prefer smaller masks as they are easier for me to clear/equalize when snorkeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time colour really makes a difference is when you drop the mask or it falls off your head. Clear masks with clear silicone are really hard to find when you drop them or they fall off the boat. Other than that we would recommend the neon yellow masks and snorkels for parents of children or other snorkelers that wanted to be more visible on the surface (either to people on shore or boating).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could go on all day about mask fittings (black silicone vs clear, single window vs. two , teardrop glass vs square, etc. etc.) so let me know if you have any other questions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8871" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T07:14:22.123" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T07:14:22.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4159" CreationDate="2016-02-19T06:11:23.770" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is some useful advice from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.startbackpacking.com/travel/keep-backpack-safe/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;How to keep your backpack safe&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;, an article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.startbackpacking.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;StartBackpacking.com&lt;/a&gt;. It's aimed at backpacking travellers rather than hikers, but some of the advice is still relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some easy tips for not becoming one of the unlucky people who lose bags:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don’t Be Too Patriotic&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider your home country’s political relations and history with the country you are traveling before sewing your flag patch on the outside of your bag. When a thief has to choose between dozens of bags, it may make you stand out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use a Bicycle Lock&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry a small bicycle combination chain lock in the top of your backpack. Attach it to support bars when it is stored on an overnight train, or to the bed frame when it is in your hotel. You can also team up with others and lock several backpacks together, making a bundle too heavy for someone to grab and run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secure Outside Pockets&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put small combination locks on outside pockets or don’t pack important things in the small pockets. In a crowded area it may be impossible to feel a deft hand unzipping and reaching inside while it is on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack Important Items Deep&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consciously pack bulk items toward the back of your backpack rather than valuables. Not only will it protect stuff from abuse, if your pack is slashed by someone with a razor while you wear it, all they will get is a handful of dirty underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don’t Be a Fat Target&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry less! It’s true: a fat rucksack is a fat target. Also, you will not be tempted to leave your bag behind so much if it is less of a burden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don’t Draw Attention&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don’t look like a target. Leave the Rolex, Raybans, and expensive clothes behind. If you present an image of wealth, someone could become very interested in your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep Your Backpack Close&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treat your travel backpack like your best mate. While you travel, it is your home and your life. I personally get the best night’s sleep when I have my bag under me as a pillow. If a thief can manage to get it then, he or she is welcome to everything inside!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T16:20:44.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10648" CreationDate="2016-02-19T06:28:20.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://walking.about.com/od/backtoschool/ss/wearbackpack.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The About Health page &amp;quot;Right and Wrong Ways to Wear a Backpack&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing a backpack wrong can lead to more pressure on the neck, shoulders and back, according to researchers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always wear both shoulder straps rather than slinging it with one strap on one shoulder. It takes a moment longer but can help prevent problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adjust the shoulder straps so the backpack is high on the back and the shoulder straps are comfortable on the shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The backpack should not sway from side to side as you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-21T18:14:15.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10962" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10967" CreationDate="2016-02-19T08:14:27.293" Score="9" ViewCount="1203" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a similar manner to this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5077/3313&quot;&gt;When describing my PADI qualifications with a CMAS diver, is there a well know equivalence table?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;How do the PADI qualifications match up to the SSI ones? Is there an equivalence table for these two as well?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friend is PADI Advanced Open Water (AOW), however there seems to be a SSI qualification between PADI AOW and SSI AOW. Ideally this will be for when we get to the point of booking diving holidays we want to make sure everyone can do everything planned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The SSI qualifications (excluding free-diving and snorkelling) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scuba Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open Water Scuba Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Specialist Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Advanced Open Water Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Master Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T13:04:40.657" Title="How do PADI and SSI qualifications match up?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9012" CreationDate="2016-02-19T08:58:57.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently dived at Dahab for the fourth time, just along the coast from Sharm, in October 2015 at depths of 20-30m. I don't tend to feel cold when diving at that depth any time of year in the Red Sea. I was completely fine with my usual 2.5mm shorty and if I remember correctly the water temperature was around 25 degrees at that depth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8873" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T08:58:57.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4156" CreationDate="2016-02-19T11:59:24.900" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are labeled &lt;em&gt;eye gnats&lt;/em&gt; that fly on and around your face I have been dealing with this problem inside especially during sleep. The vinegar trap does not work. I have finally come across another trap/attractant to try - egg and water mix in trap. Look at this article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74164.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eye Gnats&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8874" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T23:06:40.203" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T23:06:40.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10954" CreationDate="2016-02-19T14:38:56.000" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm only a beginner, but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found in my very first pool dive that losing my peripheral vision with a black silicone skirt on the mask gave me immediate and profound claustrophobia.  I spent the whole dive stressed about what was around me.  I went out and bought my own mask with a clear silicone skirt.  Problem solved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a practical PoV I'm well aware that I can't see &lt;em&gt;clearly&lt;/em&gt; through the skirt, but then that's not the point of peripheral vision.  Peripheral vision is designed to let you know that there's &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt; to the sides.  For me personally, I can't deal with not having that awareness.  For other people (Cort Ammon above, for instance) it may be a distraction they actively don't want.  For you it may be a no-big-deal either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T14:38:56.000" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10962" CreationDate="2016-02-19T15:22:16.220" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Im certified SSI and my gf is certified PADI, from what i understood in term of qualifications the SSI AOWD differs from PADI AOWD in the experience needed to access them. While PADI lets you go on to AOWD from OWD without other experience SSI requires that you gained a few specialties and a certain number of dives first (if memory serves me well its 4 and 24). I know people that at a certain qualification level and up would prefer SSI just citing more experience (which is not necessarily true). This could make the organization of courses/qualifications so different to not allow a straight conversion table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T16:40:04.333" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T16:40:04.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10962" CreationDate="2016-02-19T15:45:55.773" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;So researching on the net a little bit shows some slightly different certifications than I had thought, however the specialist diver is something you get every 2 specialisations with SSI and the course material tells you you get it before Advanced Open Water, so there may not be a PADI equivalent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot either find an equivalent PADI certification to the SSI Scuba Diver. Probably as this is a 12m limit only with a dive professional. They're not on the IDC list, but are in the SSI course materials so I've added them to the lists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order the SSI - PADI certifications are as follows according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.idc-guide.com/diving-agency-crossovers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;idc-guide.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SSI&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Scuba Diver - 12m with a dive professional&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Open Water - 18m limit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Specalist Diver (2 specialities and 12 dives)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Advanced Open Water - 30m limit 40m with Enriched Air Nitrox specialisation (4 specialities and 24 dives)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Stress &amp;amp; Rescue Techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Master Diver (4 specialty courses, Diver Stress &amp;amp; Rescue, 50 dives)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Divemaster&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SSI Open Water / Dive Con Instructor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PADI Equivalent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Scuba Diver - 12m with a dive professional&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Open Water Diver - 18m limit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Speciality Diver - many many many specialities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Advanced Open Water - 30m limit (40m with experience)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Rescue Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Master Scuba Diver  (5 Speciality courses, Rescue Diver, 50 dives)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Divemaster&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PADI Open Water Scuba Diver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T13:04:40.657" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T13:04:40.657" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2016-02-19T16:14:27.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was taught since I was a kid to make noise while hiking, tends to keep animals away from you, snakes were I was and bears where I live now. Later I learned that whistling or a bear bell are also useful to warn hunters you're around. Whenever I saw people with the mug hanging outside their pack I always heard the &quot;cling-clang&quot; noise so that could be one of the reasons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T21:12:16.473" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T21:12:16.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10648" CreationDate="2016-02-19T21:47:56.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As bryophyte4 already said: The weight should be on your hips. Here's how I do it (for big backpacks):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loosen all the straps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the backpack on, buckle and tighten the hip strap such that all the weight sits on your hips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then adjust the shoulder straps along with the breast strap, they basically should just prevent the backpack from falling over.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last, there are usually some adjustable straps connectining the shoulder straps back to the upper part of the backpack. I usually have them loose when just causally hiking (comfort), but I going to tighten them up when I have to climb or just need more control.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T21:47:56.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4159" CreationDate="2016-02-19T22:54:51.650" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in a wooded area you can always hang your pack in a tree like you would to avoid bears eating your food at night. There are two advantages to this approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The pack won't be messed with by animals (bears, mice, racoons, etc.) who want to eat your tasty food.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It will be a minor deterrent to two-legged predators if your rope is thin and an inconspicuous color like olive drab 550 cord because it is harder to see a thin rope than a pack on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T22:54:51.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10939" CreationDate="2016-02-19T23:02:23.040" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well if you're Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett you'd aim for the little stump the squirrel is sitting on and bark the squirrel&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=9-NEAQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA90&amp;amp;dq=barking+a+squirrel+daniel+boone&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiB6bqA-YTLAhVI-GMKHRyMDhAQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=barking%20a%20squirrel%20daniel%20boone&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As the reader may imagine a squirrel hit by a rifle ball would be torn to pieces, so that neither its flesh nor its fur could be of any service. In order to secure the animals intact, the backwoodsmen resorted to a skilful expedient which was called &quot;barking.&quot; The marksman aimed, not at the squirrel, but at the bark of the tree immediately below its feet. If he hit the exact place at which he fired, the animal flew into the air and came down, killed by the concussion, but whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1: &lt;em&gt;Boone: the backwoodsman&lt;/em&gt; pg. 90&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-02-19T23:09:53.730" LastActivityDate="2016-02-19T23:09:53.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10954" CreationDate="2016-02-20T02:47:55.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black silicon blocks out all light except that which comes in through the lenses of the mask, leading to less light from peripheral. Spear fishermen, technical divers, free divers tend to prefer this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clear silicon tends to discolour especially when stored with black rubber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as far as true visibility goes the black or clear silicon does not make a difference.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visibility can be improved by getting as low profile mask as can comfortably fit you. This will mean less air space in mask that needs to be equalized and greater visibility arc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T02:47:55.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3389" CreationDate="2016-02-20T04:42:56.240" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A small candle burns about 1/8 ounce (3.5 g) per hour.&#xA;paraffin has 19,900 btu/pound (46 MJ/kg). So a small candle releases about 19900/(8*16)=155 btu/hour (45 W).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 5 foot (1.5 metre) diameter hemispherical igloo (including the floor) has a surface area of about 235 square feet (21.8 m²).&#xA;The change in temperature was 8 degrees F (5°C).&#xA;A proper igloo is about a foot (0.3 m) thick. A foot of dry snow has an R value of 12 ft²·°F·h/BTU (2.1 m²·K/W).&#xA;The standard heat loss calculation is:&#xA;SF * dT / R = btu/hr.  In this case: &#xA;235 * 8 / 12 = 156.67 btu/hour (46 W)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a small candle can indeed maintain the temperature of this igloo &#xA;at 40F (4°C) when it's 32F (0°C) outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans at rest release about 300 btu/hour (88 W) ... much of that by breathing. This could keep the igloo at 40F (4°C) when it is significantly colder outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A winter tent the same size insulated with Thinsulate G600 (about 28 pounds, 12.7 kg), has an R value of 5.29 ft²·°F·h/BTU (0.93 m²·K/W).  To heat it by 8 °F (5°C) you would need 235*8/5.29=355 btu/hr (100 W). That's a little less than 3 candles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A single layer nylon tent (R=.027 ft²·°F·h/BTU, 0.004752 m²·K/W) is the same size would need 69,630 btu/hr (20.4 kW). That's 450 candles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steven&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8883" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T18:51:47.660" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T18:51:47.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="10975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2016-02-20T06:16:35.770" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A comment by Joearizona on this &lt;a href=&quot;http://solofriendly.com/10-tips-for-hiking-alone-safely/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;solofriendly&lt;/a&gt; article might be relevant:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I always take a GPS since the phone using GPS will drain the battery&#xA;  quick when there is little to no signal. I shut the phone off and in&#xA;  an emergency I can use Google Maps to send a map location as a text&#xA;  message to several friends who are either employed as law enforcement&#xA;  or EMS so they know who to call. Its easier to send a text message&#xA;  than keep fighting the phone for signal to make a phone call, text&#xA;  messages usually go through when a phone call will not. I also carry a&#xA;  two way radio that I can use on ham frequencies or to contact local&#xA;  NPS, USFS, BLM etc depending where I am, and a firearm with extra&#xA;  ammo. Also a good sized first aid kit in my backpack. When I go for a&#xA;  couple hour hike I carry food &amp;amp; water for a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bottom line, always listen to your gut!! It will save your life! If&#xA;  its late, your in an area you are not familiar with and you have no&#xA;  supplies, turn around. If you do not have a GPS mark the trail somehow&#xA;  so you can find your way back. The article is correct, if you have a&#xA;  bad feeling about an area or person, dont keep wondering why you have&#xA;  it.Just get the hell out of there. If you have to start a signal fire,&#xA;  please clear the area first so it does not catch the forest on fire.&#xA;  Know that not everyone hiking or camping may not be there for the&#xA;  scenery and bad things can happen in such a peaceful area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pepper spray is a good idea as well as a flahslight or two. Costco had&#xA;  2 solar lights for 20.00, they last about an hour or so on a charge.&#xA;  Also a good idea to bring a 2nd LED low lumen so the battery will last&#xA;  a while. Most of these items are light. There are several great&#xA;  Youtube videos on survival kits, most are small and also do not weigh&#xA;  much. An EPIRB or a personal locater is not a bad idea, also light and&#xA;  work anywhere they can see the sky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-03-16T00:19:03.410" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T00:19:03.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2016-02-20T07:23:24.670" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;First things first: Please hang a metal or plastic &quot;mug&quot; (although don't be so literal you think a glass or ceramic &quot;coffee mug&quot; is what's meant by a &quot;hiking drinking vessel&quot;) on your belt or pack! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like &quot;getting presents&quot; when I hike! Not kidding: I have picked  up everything from a hand-carved wooden &quot;drinking noggen&quot; made by a well-known Native American artist, along the Appalachian Trail; through metal &quot;carabiner mugs;&quot; four or five hook-handled mugs; maybe eight plain &quot;tin-cups;&quot; many plastic or silicone cups; a few telescoping metal (or plastic) cups; and (at different times &amp;amp; locations) two full USGI canteen/cup/cover combo sets that had metal belt-clips that'd not been properly fastened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I've found a several more than two dozen &quot;drinking vessels,&quot; not counting a literal stuffed-trash-bag-load of crushed disposable drinking-water bottles that &quot;Chechako Wachicu&quot; (Native American descriptive terms) hikers tossed along trails. Plus several fixed and folding knives; many packets of food; camping stoves; a down sleeping bag; and several wallets (which had been mailed back, cash &amp;amp; credit cards intact---although none of them had the courtesy to return a reward!!!)  People are certainly careless!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I must also say, many people are no fan of noisy hikers, or campers. There have been times when other campers said they wanted to go into a stranger's camp and drive an axe through the boom-box, after too many straight hours of being forced to hear the same CD, combined with the stink from the exhausted batteries they were burning in the firepit!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(In fact, several California campers reportedly think Tanya Tucker CDs attract &quot;Bigfoot!&quot; It was said to me by a forester that a group of campers had been afraid of bear invasion of their camp, and had left a &quot;boomer&quot; on all night, endlessly repeating a Tanya Tucker CD. Around zero-dark-thirty, one or more &quot;Bigfoot&quot; allegedly showed up, roaring and beating big sticks on trees, as well as throwing sticks at the tents, and pinecones at any campers bold enough to show face, until the inconsiderate louts broke camp in the dark and ran for the trailhead.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most Native Americans and &quot;hillbillies&quot; contend government claims about unsafe water are vastly exaggerated. An overwhelming number drink from any source of &quot;mountain wild-water&quot; they encounter without filtering or chemical purification, without getting ill. Most Scandinavians, as well, believe that cold, moving, water sources cannot support the Giardiasis protozoa, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In truth, I've never met anyone who's been able to describe having had a genuine case of Giardiasis to me, that was provably contracted in this country. In the USA. This protozoan disease causes extreme stomach and bowel-pains, sulphurous belching, and projective elimination lasting many hours. Those who'd alleged having caught &quot;Gardia&quot; described a couple bouts of mildly upset stomach and loose bowels, and other symptoms of food poisoning. Many also noted eating mayo sandwiches and/or &quot;white&quot; salads that had been out of refrigeration for the better part of a day!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've met other travelers, who've remarked encountering the authentic Giardiasis in Mexico and Latin America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and across Asia. (Conversations with them are like &quot;You think YOU'VE had it bad? Lemme tell you about MY case!&quot;) But not so in the continental USA. I'm not saying the disease doesn't occur here; but that I've not met any former victims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something else worth considering: Some outdoor writers, a few of whom who have even published books on the subject, claim that Giardiasis symptoms don't appear in either &quot;30 percent&quot; or &quot;over a third&quot; of those who contract it. They didn't show their proofs, although this is common among writers, any more. [Thomas Elpel, in &quot;Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, &amp;amp; Survival Skills,&quot; espouses the &quot;30 percent immunity&quot; theory, for example.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a holy mess! Whom does one believe? The government? Scandinavians? Native Americans and traditional woodsmen? Published authors? The clerk at the mountaineering shop? Momma?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to round things out, here's my stance: I never treat cold, moving, wild-sourced water. I never get sick. I will, however, always treat warm, still or standing, wild-sourced water-- especially in farming country. I carry a carved wooden &quot;noggin&quot; in an over-shoulder &quot;Possibles bag,&quot; along with trail-snacks and what I might need to get to in a hurry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8071" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T07:23:24.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-20T11:27:40.033" Score="3" ViewCount="479" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nemo has some tents that don't use any poles. Instead they let you inflate some air chambers that hold up the tent with their pressure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other manufacturers doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="155" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T14:13:41.963" Title="Inflatable pole less tents" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-02-21T16:02:37.040" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10977" CreationDate="2016-02-20T13:03:04.297" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this isn't an uncommon practice for tent manufacturers nowadays. They're normally family tents, big 6-8 man, but you can get some smaller 2 mans which are inflatable. It's generally for the ease of people car camping with kids, the quicker the tent goes up the better, or car camping in general as you need a pump usually. Some are in combination with the odd pole still, but there are plenty of manufacturers who do this such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vango  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Airgo &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freedom&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outwell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;QUECHUA&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-02-20T14:13:41.963" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T14:13:41.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2016-02-20T20:27:33.113" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the risk of being politically incorrect, how pretty are you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see a petite, pretty woman as being far more at risk than a bigger less vogue-looing woman.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being pretty makes Black Hats consider it.&#xA;Being petite makes them think you will be easy to overpower. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are fearful of attack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry a sheath knife obviously.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry a second knife less obviously.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first gives a disincentive for a stranger to attack.  The second gives you hope if the first is taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a staff.  See if there is a local club where you can learn quarterstaff.  A staff keeps them at a much safer distance.  Even if you only have the stance and a few basic moves down, you are going to cause a Black Hat to pause and reconsider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take a women's self defense course.  A good one will teach not only the physical aspects, but reading intent, and also techniques to defuse before it gets physical.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a cell phone.  Pull it out whenever you see someone, and snap a pic that auto feeds to your photo stream  (Do non-iphones have this capability?)  If something happens to you, then your friends have a pic of the person who probably got you.  More to the point, telling the attacker that his pic is on your photostream at worst buys you time while he checks, and at best makes him run off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I met a gal who was doing the Fond du Lac river solo.  I was in awe of her.  She was good enough that she shot Thompson Falls.  I met her portaging back to shoot it a second time.  Thompson is a ledge about 12 feet high.  I gave it a miss with a group.  Mess with her?  I figured anyone who attempted any incivility at all would be lucky if they weren't stuffed with their own paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T20:27:33.113" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4156" CreationDate="2016-02-20T20:34:59.337" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black flies (habitat:  near fast flowing water) sand flies (obvious) and noseeums also fly into eyes.  They aren't seeking your eyes, they just bumble into them.  I've also had them get out of reach in my ears, fly up my nose, have inhaled them by mistake, and found them crawling into the crease between clothing and skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Noseeums are basically punctuation with wings.  The other two are 1/8 to 3/16&quot; long (2-4 mm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;West and Rugge in the &quot;Complete Wilderness Paddler&quot; have a chapter on bugs in the bush.  A lighter hearted look at blackflies is here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjLBXb1kgMo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Blackfly Song -- Wade Hemsworth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquito hats work, but make you look like an alien from another planet.  In most areas blackfly season is fairly short -- bad only for 2-3 weeks. Northerners usually have a few such hats that come out as needed during the rather intense bug seasons. Sandflies seem to have a longer season. If you are traveling in bug country a full suite of armour:&#xA;* Mosquito hat.  The ones with wire hoops help keep the netting away from your face, or the hoopless ones can be worn over a hat.&#xA;* Modified light weight long sleeve shirt in a medium earth tone. (Mosquitoes are somewhat attracted to blue and white)  Modify the cuffs with velcro closures and gussets so that you can make a bugproof seal around your wrist.  Replace/augment the button up front with velcro too. Move the collar button as needed to get a proper fit at the neck.  When using bug gunk, apply to collar and cuffs.&#xA;* Nylon wind pants with elastic cuffs, and calf length zippers so you can take them on and off without removing shoes.  Windpants will stop the flies, but mosquitoes will bite thorugh the fabric where it is tight against skin. Medium beige is best combination of cool and unattractive to mossies.&#xA;* two pairs of socks, one inside and one overlapping the cuffs of the wind pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all mosquito netting is noseeum proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Noseeums in particular are repelled by DEET, and in general DEET seems to work well on smaller flies, but as the size get larger, the effect gets smaller, and hardly works at all on horse flies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While DEET is effective, keep it out of your eyes.  Don't apply to forehead either as it runs with sweat into your eyes and stings.  Applying to hair (if you still have it...) works, as does applying it to the edges of your hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deer flies and horseflies however do not like a greasy surface.  I knew of a crew setting hydro pylons on the east side of Lake Winnipeg (Lines from Limestone Point/Kettle Falls dams) who wanted to work without shirts due to heat and humidity.  They found that slathering themselves with motor oil was effective.  On hearing this tale, I experimented with lard.  It works.  They still do touch and go landings, but do not bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2017-07-22T12:16:34.087" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T12:16:34.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10946" CreationDate="2016-02-20T20:39:50.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you aren't drifting, then one item that would be useful is a log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is as simple as a chunk of wood and a line.  Time how long it takes for the log to reach the end of the line.  This gives you a consistent idea of your speed at least relative to the parcel of water you are in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A stone on a string acts as a pendulum.  This gives you a pretty consistent way to measure short periods of time.  E.g. the amount of time for your log to to reach it's cord end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T20:39:50.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10927" CreationDate="2016-02-20T21:02:50.940" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I slice across your knit rope, in a flat cut, how many strands would I cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looks like 8.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now use the best lies you can find about the strength reduction in a bend in kernmantle rope.  My recollection is that it is about 80% of the original strength.  (60% in a stranded rope)  (The core fibers in a kernmantle rope have room to slip, so all the strain isn't concentrated on a few of the fibers.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your new root = 8 * 0.8 * original rating.  or 6.4 * 550&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think like block and tackle:  How many strands support the load?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T21:02:50.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10937" CreationDate="2016-02-20T21:23:21.650" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not that bad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, distinguish between hypothermia and frostbite.  The latter is when your flesh actually freezes.  Water crystals do a lot of damage.  It is extremely painful when thawing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get cold enough for numbness to set in, that too will be painful on warming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia, not so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First symptoms:  The 'umbles:  Stumble, Fumble, Mumble.  Your fine motor coordination goes.  Note:  Mumbling may be just caused by cold cheeks and lips.  Mumbling in this case is much more like someone who has had too much booze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Involuntary shivering.  If you can force yourself to stop with an act of will, you are still ok.  In danger, but ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometime in here you stop being rational.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you stop shivering you are in big trouble.  Muscles are too cold to work, which means they have stopped generating much heat.  Your body temp drops really fast now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consciousness fades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As your core cools, heartbeat gets irregular, your lungs start filling (pulmonary edema) and death results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shivering phase is unpleasant, but not painful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that in my outdoor experience I've seen mild to moderate (uncontrolable shivering) on several occasions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The symptoms do not always show up in the same order.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes this may be that no one (including the victim) noticed.  Sometimes they just don't happen that way.  Some may be the complications of low blood sugar, dehydration, exhaustion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) will also show the 'umbles and the irrationality.  Dehydration also has similar onset.  Both make hypothermia more likely, the first because there is less fuel to create heat, the second because the circulation system is sluggish and can't move glucose, O2, and heat around as effectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all three cases treatment for early stages:  sugar and hot drinks, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hypothermia: dry/more clothing, shelter from wind, more movement if conscious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does NOT have to be below freezing to die from hypothermia.  You can die of hypothermia in 70 degree water.  Takes hours.  In 50 degree water far less.  In 35 degree water you aren't able to do much for yourself after about 20 minutes.  Unconsciousness is another 20 minutes or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For non-water sports, the dangerous temps are around freezing.  It's hard to stay dry at those temps.  But being immobile on mountain ridge at 50 F in a storm can kill you with hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind makes it worse.  It keeps moving the warm air next to your skin away.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Wet makes it worse.  Water evaporates and cools.  It also reduces the effectiveness of insulation.  The combination is deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small people (children, women) are more susceptible than larger.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Skinny people are more susceptible than fat people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, the core is closer to the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get to the cesation of shivering, you have a life threatening situation.  If you are far from help the victim is very likely to die.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't let it get that far.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Training:  Know the symptoms.  Teach the symptoms.  Teach the responses.  There is merit in going out on a cold windy day, having people peal down then put on a soaking wet t-shirt.  Do this near a heated building obviously.  Talk about the symptoms as they occur.  When someone can't stop shivering, go inside.  Have hot drinks and a roaring fire handy.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buddy system.  Pair everyone up.  Practice calling out &quot;Buddy Check&quot; and have people talk to their buddy.  Since 'umbles are usually first this is a quick check.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More experienced personelle double check.  If hiking, the easy way to do this, is to step off the trail and look at faces as they go by.  Fall in and chat to any zombies.  Do this from the start of the trip to recognize the differences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep people hydrated.  Lots of people won't drink enough if it's just water with no flavour.  Make sure they drink.  Train them to notice their pea color.  Colourless to light yellow.  No problem. Dark yellow to orange.  Get them to drink.  (Some foods and vitamins will darken your urine.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep people fed.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every case of hypothermia I've seen has been near the end of the day when people were running on empty.  As  leader on day hikes, I always carried a couple of bread and honey sandwiches (easy fuel) If I didn't use them, I took them for lunch the next day.  Candy bars work well too.  Eatmores and snickers are hard to eat when cold.  The mini bars available at Halloween are easier to eat, and easy to share.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-02-20T21:23:21.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10984" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-21T09:59:27.230" Score="6" ViewCount="273" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today is / was one of the few days (vacations aside) when I’m completely free, so I really wanted to go out somewhere. Nothing serious – one day of walking in the European woods, with many villages around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I reluctantly resigned having been warned against vipers. The argument was, we’ve been having showers since like three weeks, there’s going to be lots and lots and lots of mud. First, in a dry weather, I may see a viper and walk around it, but I may be completely unable to notice it in the mud. Even more importantly, in a dry weather my ankle boots may protect me from a bite, should I nevertheless happen to annoy the snake – but in the mud, my foot is likely to plunge pretty deep, allowing the venomous snake to reach above my boots, biting me through my trousers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are such worries reasonable? If so, how to protect oneself from these dangers (because I find it hard to believe that mud itself would be enough to force someone to stay at home)? Would similar problems occur, for example, in the snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8886" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T19:48:26.233" Title="Is it more likely for a viper to bite in a muddy weather?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10984" CreationDate="2016-02-21T11:22:45.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Poland, the only viper (and in fact the only venomous snake of any kind) is the common European viper, &lt;em&gt;Vipera berus&lt;/em&gt; (Bateman et al., 2014, p. 332; Cox and Temple, 2009, p. 9), so I am concentrating my answer on this species. For brevity I'll refer to it as the &quot;common viper&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To protect yourself from common viper bites, the most obvious solution would be a sturdy pair of gaiters:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I6eyR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I6eyR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gaiters&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gaiters designed for walking through brush tend to be made of thick canvas which I doubt a common viper could bite through (&lt;a href=&quot;http://snakedatabase.org/species/Vipera/berus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt; gives a maximum fang length of 5mm, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bvo.zadweb.biz.hr/pages/gmazovi/zmije/gmazovi%20-%20ridjovka_eng.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; states 4mm for adult snakes). Such gaiters also tend to fit quite loosely around the ankle, so even if the fangs penetrate the canvas there will probably be an air gap between the gaiter and your skin. Leather gaiters would offer even better protection. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://snakeprotex.com.au/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gaiters specifically designed to protect against snakebite&lt;/a&gt;, though I'd personally consider these overkill for protection against common vipers. As an added bonus in muddy weather, gaiters will help to keep mud off your trousers and out of your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As regards the actual plausibility of the &quot;more mud, more snakebite&quot; hypothesis: I've never come across it and don't find it very convincing, but I have no hard data either way. In the case of snow, I'd consider it incredibly unlikely, since common vipers &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_berus#Behaviour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hibernate throughout the winter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that common viper bites &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_berus#Venom&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;are practically never fatal&lt;/a&gt; for healthy adult humans, although they do require medical attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bateman, N., Jefferson, R., Thomas, S., Thompson, J., &amp;amp; Vale, A. (Eds.). (2014). Oxford desk reference: Toxicology. OUP Oxford.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cox, N.A. and Temple, H.J. 2009. European Red List of Reptiles. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities ISBN 978-92-79-11357-4&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-02-22T11:38:04.060" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T11:38:04.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10099" CreationDate="2016-02-21T19:06:52.407" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the same issue with the boots being a little long. I wear a size 4-4 1/2 shoe normally but my boots -Mammut- are a 6, as the 5 nipped a little across the width. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've surmised from information gathered from the internet and in the store that there are two important criteria. The foot should not slide forward during a downhill descent, as this would result in toe issues like losing toenails. This happened to me on a previous climb in my old boots, as my feet swelled too much. Also, the ankle should stay nicely in the heel bed, which can be achieved by lacing techniques. If you meet both of those, then they will be suitable. If you try these techniques at home and they fail then the boot will be too big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm doing a trial on some longer boots right now at home for the same reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8890" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-20T22:07:42.583" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T22:07:42.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10988" CreationDate="2016-02-22T06:15:35.177" Score="1" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never used a snow chain with my vehicle, or even saw the process of someone putting a snow chain onto a vehicle.  I plan to drive to western Cascades Mountain area in my small front-drive hatchback with snow chain in the trunk for any possibility to actually use it on the road.  What is a good first stop to start to learn about the proper usage of snow chains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T11:43:02.137" Title="Where is a good introduction to snow chain usage?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-02-22T20:33:08.423" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10987" CreationDate="2016-02-22T08:55:47.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best thing you can do is find a video on the internet of someone putting them on – same make and model of chains as yours if possible, then practice several times, ideally when it's warm an sunny or in your garage.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its OK to go for a short drive (100meter or so) up and down a quiet street to get the feel of them, but don't go fast – max speed with chains should be about 20mph/30kmph, especially if it's above freezing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do this several times to get the hang off it, if you are really keen, put on some thin gloves after putting your hands in a bucket of ice for 10 minutes then spread the ice on the ground around the wheel and get a helper to squirt you with the hose while you do it :) (I once watched a demo of some chains being installed, and though to myself, 'That is so unrealistic, the makeup on those pretty, thin, bikini clad girls would smudge in real snow'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as driving, snow is slippery, but ice is your real problem. Downhill is much much harder than uphill and the most likely place you will get into trouble. I regularly give the brakes or throttle a tweak to get a feel for how much traction I have – if it's running out, it's good to know sooner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Uphill:&lt;/strong&gt; Accelerate gently – if you have a manual gearbox, start in 2nd or 3rd gear, if auto, switch on &quot;Winter&quot; mode if you have it. If the wheels spin, ease off till they stop. A little bit of controlled spin is OK as long as you are moving forward, but as soon as you stop moving forward, its time to back off and try another way. Often the other way is faster and more momentum, other times its choosing a better line. If you are on a steep section of road it can make a big difference to point the car diagonally across the slope to get moving. Traction control and those aids will make a big difference if you have them, but ultimately you need to be softly in your approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down hill:&lt;/strong&gt; The trick when braking is keep the front wheels turning. I have seen many people lock the wheels and try to turn – nothing happens. But its unnerving coming off the brakes as you are sliding, since your natural reaction is &quot;To stop, I need more brakes&quot;. Often you end up in situations where you will be able to steer or slow down, not both. Alternate between them: steer till you are lined up right, then pump the brakes to slow down without trying to steer, then steer. ABS will probably be going nuts – don't worry – let it do its thing, but do not rely on it, sometimes there is so little friction you will still have steering problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all that – most times with chains you just point and drive (slowly and more carefully) like you do on the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-02-22T11:43:02.137" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T11:43:02.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10989" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10999" CreationDate="2016-02-22T16:03:30.627" Score="16" ViewCount="1599" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm soon to embark on a chilly scuba dive around 5-7C at 18m, of which we'll be wearing 7mm semi-drys with shorties. The next thickest I think is actually a &lt;em&gt;drysuit&lt;/em&gt; for really cold waters, but not sure if there is a thicker &lt;em&gt;wetsuit&lt;/em&gt;. However this got me thinking then about diving in warmer temperatures as well as colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what temperatures would you wear different thicknesses of wetsuit, including none, and shorties?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: We did drysuit in the end for these temps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T08:20:31.113" LastActivityDate="2019-10-08T15:12:17.027" Title="What wetsuit thickness is recommended in which temperatures for diving?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10990" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10991" CreationDate="2016-02-22T16:12:29.873" Score="6" ViewCount="1152" Body="&lt;p&gt;To tune arrows, one should shoot bare shafts (so called &quot;bare shaft test&quot;) onto a target. If it's left or right of your &quot;aiming-point&quot;, you should adjust the dynamic spine accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid that my subconscious will mess up the bare shafts. How can I distinguish &quot;wrong spinned shafts&quot; from just badly shot arrows?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-02-23T11:03:07.917" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T06:39:44.817" Title="How to distinguish &quot;bad shooting&quot; from &quot;bad spine&quot;?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10990" CreationDate="2016-02-22T16:42:14.467" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bestrecurvebowguide.com/tuning-your-recurve-bow-part-3/&quot;&gt;guide&lt;/a&gt;, it is recommended when testing to first shoot with fletched arrows before shooting with the unfletched ones, always aiming at the same point. It gives you a control group to compare with the bare ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Defects in the spine or nocking point position should affect the flight significantly enough to be able to distinguish it from bad aim. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When there can be errors, statistics are your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6533" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T16:42:14.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10992" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10994" CreationDate="2016-02-22T19:27:19.990" Score="14" ViewCount="1327" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I am abseiling, the rope is initially hard to feed through my braking device - if I take my hands away from the rope, I get stuck in mid-air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as I am getting lower, it gradually gets easier, until at some point the rope starts running by itself. Now, if I took my hands away from the rope (thought experiment - imagine I have no backup braking device), I would accelerate down and hit the ground very hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is this so? The rope is vertical, and I don't touch any wall, and yet it somehow matters whether I am situated high or low on the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am abseiling on a static rope, the height is 60 meters. Just to make it clear - the wall is absolutely vertical, and then somewhat overhanging, so the wall doesn't hinder my progress in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T03:40:36.467" Title="Why does abseiling become easier gradually?" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10984" CreationDate="2016-02-22T19:48:26.233" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is unlikely that you will encounter a viper out in the mud, considering its habitat: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is found in a variety of habitats, including: chalky downs, rocky&#xA;  hillsides, moors, sandy heaths, meadows, rough commons, edges of&#xA;  woods, sunny glades and clearings, bushy slopes and hedgerows, dumps,&#xA;  coastal dunes, and stone quarries. It will venture into wetlands if&#xA;  dry ground is available nearby and thus may be found on the banks of&#xA;  streams, lakes, and ponds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vipers like dry ground, which means they are likely in hiding when its starts to rain and get muddy, making muddy conditions safer for mucking in the woods and avoiding adders.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I regards to bite protection, a sizeable snake (2-3ft in length) can bite clear through normal boots, so don't bet on your clothing stopping a larger snakes needle-sharp fangs unless you are wearing boots, gaiters, or chaps that are &lt;em&gt;specifically&lt;/em&gt; snake-proof. Smaller snakes are less of a threat because their fangs aren't as long, and if they bite you in the pants there's a chance they'll only get a mouth full of material if your pants are baggy enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dZDiX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dZDiX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i6Eyv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i6Eyv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T19:48:26.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10992" CreationDate="2016-02-22T20:20:36.533" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is &lt;strong&gt;the weight of your rope&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're at the top of a pitch, you will have the full weight of 60m of static line below you, braking on your device. As you move down the rope, there is less and less rope below you, ergo less weight and friction on the braking end of your device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid this, as well as any possible rope entanglements from throwing your rope over the side of a cliff, you can rappel with your rope flaked out nicely in a sling clipped to the side of your harness, and let it out as you descend, this eliminates the extra weight on the device:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-this-alpine-rope-management/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn This: Alpine Rope Management&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B2jwV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B2jwV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-02-24T03:40:36.467" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T03:40:36.467" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10995" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="10998" CreationDate="2016-02-22T20:51:04.437" Score="6" ViewCount="638" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today's &lt;em&gt;Washington Post&lt;/em&gt; reported that the state of Massachusetts plans to establish a sanctuary for timber rattlesnakes on an off-limits 1,400 acre island in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quabbin_Reservoir&quot;&gt;Quabbin Resevoir&lt;/a&gt;, 65 miles west of Boston.  The reservoir is the largest body of water in Massachusetts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are only 200 timber rattlesnakes left in Massachusetts &quot;in five scattered pockets from Greater Boston to the Berkshires&quot;.  The fear is that they could disappear from the state because of loss of habitat and being killed by humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How well do these snakes swim?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:21:30.153" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:21:30.153" Title="How well do timber rattlers swim?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10990" CreationDate="2016-02-22T21:48:15.987" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are table widely available to figure out the ideal spine for the archer/bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't quite believe in the &quot;bare shaft shooting&quot; because as M'vy said, there are defects in shafts, vanes, nocks, points and even weight difference would affect the grouping. The best thing I find is to fetch them and shoot. Number your arrows and check which ones are off the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe spines above or below the ideal wouldn't make much difference, at least for barebows or olympic recurves unless you're shooting in the olympics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I shoot barebow for Field and compound for target and, as a comparison, I don't spend nearly as much time working on my field arrows then I do for my target arrows (specially the indoors).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also little tricks you can apply to your arrow tuning like heavier points with smaller vanes, shorter or longer arrows (always leaving some safety clearance) and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T21:48:15.987" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10388" CreationDate="2016-02-22T22:00:39.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Print your faces and stick on cardboard. They last a lot longer. Waterproof paper might help if you're planning to shoot in not so fair weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-02-22T22:00:39.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10995" CreationDate="2016-02-23T05:39:58.377" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For what I have known, Crotalus horridus, The Timber Rattlesnake does not swim well. Its not a water snake, though its appearance may resemble other water snakes found in its habitat. An inexperienced person may easily confuse between them.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The only reason I think the authorities have preferred that particular area as a potential habitat for a sanctuary of Timber Rattlesnake is that they prefer exactly that sort of a habitat: moist, lowland forests or hilly woodlands or thickets near permanent water sources such as rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and swamps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.timberrattlesnake.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This particular website&lt;/a&gt; has good piece of information if you care about them and want to know more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-02-23T08:09:46.273" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T08:09:46.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="10999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10989" CreationDate="2016-02-23T08:18:56.520" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wet suit thickness is a very personal thing. I for instance dive in a 3mm shorty in 15C and higher and 3mm one piece for temperatures under 15C and above 6C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that you can also layer. So I would say a Dry Suit with thick under garment or a 7mm wet suit with a 3mm chicken vest underneath. Some nice thick gloves and hood and if you really cold then wear a 2nd layer of 5mm over the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some good guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Shorty wetsuits and dive skins are generally used in warm tropical waters with temperatures of 75°F- 85°F (24°C- 30°C) and above, depending on personal preference.  Dive skins do not provide thermal protection, but do provide protection from accidental stinging by sea lice, fire coral and other small marine hazards.  Shorty wetsuits provide a modest amount of thermal protection for core body areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2mm - 3mm (1/8 in.) wetsuits are generally used in warmer waters with temperatures of 70°F- 80°F (21°C- 27°C) and above, depending on personal preference.   During cooler weather, additional warmth can be achieved through the use of a 3mm hood, addition of a 3mm hooded vest under the wetsuit and/or use of a 2-piece 3mm wetsuit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4mm - 5mm (3/16 in.) wetsuits are generally used in cool waters with temperatures of 60°F- 70°F (16°C- 21°C) and above, depending on personal preference.  During cooler weather, additional warmth can be achieved through the use of a 3mm-5mm hood and gloves, addition of a 3mm-5mm hooded vest under the wetsuit and/or use of a 2-piece 5mm wetsuit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6mm - 7mm (1/4 in.) wetsuits are generally used in cooler waters with temperatures of 50°F- 60°F (10°C- 16°C) and above, depending on personal preference.  During cooler weather, additional warmth can be achieved through the use of a 5mm-7mm hood and gloves, addition of a 5mm-7mm hooded vest under the wetsuit and/or use of a 2-piece 7mm wetsuit or semi-dry 7mm wetsuit.  Semi-dry wetsuits have Neck seals, wrist seals and ankle seals that adhere to your skin to minimize water entry.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportdiver.com/gear/wetsuits/wetsuit-thickness-every-water-temp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wet Suits for Temperatures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2019-10-07T12:26:51.917" LastActivityDate="2019-10-07T12:26:51.917" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11000" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11019" CreationDate="2016-02-23T10:39:07.397" Score="4" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;For some reason or the other, when I wear one of my shoes, my sole itches a lot. I know I can always get rid of the insole of the shoe, but I am yet to find a way to stop the itching in my sole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I sometimes have to get my shoes off, find dry leaves and rub them against my sole and that feels better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you so that if needs be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I am sensitive to Tickling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T14:58:34.337" Title="How do you get rid of Itching sole?" Tags="&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11004" CreationDate="2016-02-23T12:34:54.813" Score="33" ViewCount="11829" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few countries where you aren't allowed to make open fires in the great outdoors (I'm sure for at least Austria and Germany). I wondered why nobody has yet thought about electric stoves? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can't use common gas stoves (cause open fire/flame), you could use battery powered stoves without a flame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:15:30.870" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:15:30.870" Title="Why aren't there any electric stoves that can be used for cooking where you can't build a fire?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11001" CreationDate="2016-02-23T13:11:58.903" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no electric backcountry stoves because there aren't long enough extension cords.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously, where do you propose to get the energy from?  Batteries of current technology don't have the same energy density by weight or volume as chemical fuel does.  Battery technology is advancing rapidly, so some day this may no longer be the case, but today it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put another way, you wouldn't want to lug the batteries around it would take to power your electric stove, so we're back to long extension cords.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Energy density&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't have time yesterday when I wrote this answer, but here is a more detailed analysis of batteries versus chemical fuel for a backcountry stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find exact energy density values for &quot;Coleman fuel&quot; as I had intended, but gasoline should be close enough.  &lt;b&gt;1 liter of gasoline&lt;/b&gt; contains about 32 MJ of energy, has a mass of about &lt;b&gt;730 g&lt;/b&gt;, and weighs about 1.6 pounds.  It requires a container, so lets say overall it weighs &lt;b&gt;2 pounds&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were serious about using batteries to run a backcountry stove, you'd want to use rechargeable batteries.  I think few here with a decent environmental ethic would want to use up and then throw out a bunch of single-use batteries each trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today (Feb 2016), probably the most available and accessible rechargeable battery with decent energy density is some type of lithium in 18650 form factor.  These have a service voltage of around 3.5 - 4.3 V over a discharge cycle.  You can today get various cells rated for 5 Ah from no-name companies.  Reputable companies promise about half that, so the 5 Ah figure is rather suspect.  Still, lets go with that to be as optimistic as possible.  Let's also say the average discharge voltage will be 4.0, which is again optimistic.  That results in 20 Wh, or 72 kJ per fully charged battery.  It would therefore take &lt;b&gt;444 batteries&lt;/b&gt; to deliver the same energy as the liter of gasoline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These batteries have a mass of about 50 g, so that's 22 kg of batteries for the 730 g of gasoline.  That's &lt;b&gt;49 pounds&lt;/b&gt; weight compared to 2 pounds for the gasoline in a container, or about &lt;b&gt;24 times heavier&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Volume is another issue.  These batteries are cylindrical, 65 mm long by 18 mm diameter, for a total of 16.5 ml each.  They can't be packed without some space between them, but even if they could, the 444 batteries would take up 7.3 liters of space, probably more like &lt;b&gt;10 liters&lt;/b&gt; in reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say the minimum fuel you'd ever want to take with you would be &lt;b&gt;100 ml gasoline&lt;/b&gt;.  That's barely enough to boil one pot of water with most stoves, and in reality I think nobody would take that little.  However, let's compare that to the batteries anyway.  That would be &lt;b&gt;44 cells&lt;/b&gt; with a mass of &lt;b&gt;2.2 kg&lt;/b&gt;, weighing &lt;b&gt;4.8 pounds&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this is a personal judgement, but for me that would be &quot;too heavy and too large&quot; to be worth it.  I'd either carry the gasoline or do without a stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-02-24T13:52:18.403" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T13:52:18.403" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11001" CreationDate="2016-02-23T14:19:42.627" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Battery powered &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0002D6K86&quot;&gt;stoves&lt;/a&gt; and ovens are available, but they don't get as hot as a regular oven. They are designed to plug into a car's 12V outlet, so they need a car battery, which is impractical for someone on foot. As a result, they are not designed to be light weight. They work for car camping, though. In the US, they are often used by truckers living out of their vehicles for days at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might be able to rig up a way to power one of these appliances from a lithium ion battery, which might make the weight acceptable to a hiker willing to carry significant extra weight. But for that, you'd need to talk to an electrician, not me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T14:19:42.627" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11001" CreationDate="2016-02-23T14:24:01.830" Score="65" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Comparing hydrocarbons with batteries&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Olin Lathrop wrote, the big problem is energy density: hydrocarbon fuels simply offer a huge amount of energy per unit mass, compared to any current battery technology. To put some numbers on this, we can look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia's page on energy density&lt;/a&gt;. Let's compare ethanol (probably the least energy-dense of the commonly used camping stove fuels) with non-rechargeable lithium batteries (the most energy-dense of current battery technologies).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ethanol fuel provides 26.4 MJ/kg; lithium batteries provide 1.8 MJ/kg -- less than one-fourteenth as much per unit mass. So if you had &lt;strong&gt;100 g of ethanol (about 127 ml)&lt;/strong&gt; for cooking purposes and wanted to substitute it with electrical power, you'd need about &lt;strong&gt;1.4 kg of disposable lithium batteries&lt;/strong&gt;. If you want rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, you'll need about 2.8 kg of them (the energy density is about half that of disposables). As gerrit pointed out in the comments, you also need to think about &lt;em&gt;power density:&lt;/em&gt; even if your battery contains enough energy to cook, it might not be able to output that energy fast enough for practical cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Battery technology is improving all the time, but there are no technologies currently in development which would give anything like the order-of-magnitude improvement needed to make them competitive with hydrocarbons for energy density.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So it's not ideal, but is it feasible?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's clear that batteries are far less energy-dense than hydrocarbon fuels, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a lost cause -- perhaps the extra weight would be small enough to be manageable, especially if you're hiking in a German forest where the only alternatives to flameless heating are breaking the law and eating cold food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll start by picking a battery pack, then look at how much cooking we could get out of it. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B009880J6A&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;E-bike battery pack&lt;/a&gt; is currently retailing on Amazon for around 277 USD. Its vital statistics are: 24 V, 11 Ah, 262 Watt-hours or 943 kJ of energy capacity. It weighs about 2.3 kg and can output 15 Amps of continuous power, which gives a maximum of 360 Watts. (I specifically looked for an e-bike battery pack, since they tend to be designed for relatively high power output.) For cooking, let's keep it simple and decide that we just want to boil water, which we can then use for beverages, instant soups, noodles, dehydrated meals, and so on. So we can attach the battery pack to a 24-volt electric immersion heater &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hot-Water-24v-volt-heater-kettle-element-tea-coffee-NEW-/130462659545?hash=item1e602e33d9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this one&lt;/a&gt;. It's rated at 200 Watts, well within the capacity of the battery. I don't see a weight specified on this one, but other similar heating elements I've seen online weigh under 100 g, so our whole electric heating set-up is under 2.4 kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many hot meals can we make with this set-up? Water has a specific heat capacity of about 4.18 J⋅g&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;⋅K&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;. Let's say that for each meal we want to heat 500 ml of water from 15°C to 100°C. That's going to require 4.18 × 500 × 85 = 177650 J of energy. Let's round up and call it 200 kJ since the water might be colder and we'll be losing some heat to the pot. As a double-check on this calculation, I just timed my 1 kW kettle bringing 500 ml of 11°C tap water to a rolling boil; it took 210 seconds, so (assuming the power rating is correct) used 210 kJ of energy. Remembering that the battery pack holds 943 kJ and using this higher figure for the water boil, we get 943 / 210 =~ &lt;strong&gt;4.5 half-litre boils from a 2.4 kg electric heating system.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether this is practical or not depends on the circumstances and personal judgement. On a two-day hike, this set-up would give you at minimum a hot drink every morning, and a hot drink and hot meal every evening. If you can manage on 560 ml of boiling water per day, you could even stretch as far as four days. The 2.4 kg would probably be unthinkable for a hard-core ultralighter, but it's clearly not an impossible weight to carry. For longer hikes, of course, it swiftly becomes impractical. At this point you probably have to start thinking about solar panels for recharging in the wilderness :-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Things are getting better (but very slowly)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lithium-ion technology has been on the market since 1991, with variable but fairly continuous improvements from one year to the next. Energy density tends to increase, on average, by a few percent per year. This makes for significant improvements in the long term: as the graph below from Masias et al. (2013) shows, energy density of the common 18650 battery cell improved by a factor of more than 2.5 between 1991 and 2013:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T5fCb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T5fCb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Figure: Energy density trends&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar trends can be seen in the data of Jeong et al. (2011) and Pistoia (2014).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can probably expect these marginal improvements to continue at least for a few years more (Tesla seem &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecomento.com/2015/12/16/elon-musk-speaks-about-batteries-and-emissions-at-agu/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fairly confident&lt;/a&gt; about it, for instance). So our 2.4 kg weekend water-boiler will probably come down below 2 kg in the foreseeable future, but beyond that it's hard to say. Even if lithium-ion energy density could continue to improve indefinitely at 10% per year, it would take over two decades to catch up with ethanol. Would-be electric hikers might do better to pin their hopes on the development of some entirely new battery design. There are plenty of research groups working on potentially revolutionary new battery technologies, but &lt;strong&gt;potentially&lt;/strong&gt; is the key word here: very few bright ideas survive the long journey from notebook to laboratory to factory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jeong, G., Kim, Y. U., Kim, H., Kim, Y. J., &amp;amp; Sohn, H. J. (2011). Prospective materials and applications for Li secondary batteries. &lt;em&gt;Energy &amp;amp; Environmental Science&lt;/em&gt;, 4(6), 1986-2002.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Masias, A., Snyder, K., &amp;amp; Miller, T. (2013). Automaker Energy Storage Needs for Electric Vehicles. In &lt;em&gt;Proceedings of the FISITA 2012 World Automotive Congress&lt;/em&gt; (pp. 729-741). Berlin: Springer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pistoia, G. (Ed.). (2014). &lt;em&gt;Lithium-ion batteries: advances and applications&lt;/em&gt;. Amsterdam: Elsevier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-02-26T13:10:38.373" LastActivityDate="2016-02-26T13:10:38.373" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2016-02-23T17:09:48.683" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very easy, get a pair of headphones and put them on your ears, then holding only the rubber part touch the fence with that headphone jack. You should hear a click if an electric current is in the fence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8905" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T17:09:48.683" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11006" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11009" CreationDate="2016-02-23T18:10:56.233" Score="12" ViewCount="1137" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend keeps hanging my compass on the wall. Is this doing it any harm? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T14:04:12.647" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:04:12.647" Title="Should you store a compass flat?" Tags="&lt;storage&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10051" CreationDate="2016-02-23T21:04:40.190" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An excellent  thing to use to protect a knife blade for storage is microcrystalline wax ( a common brand name is Renaissance Wax). This is a refined petroleum wax which is less prone to oxidation than plant based oils or waxes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue with oils drying is that they oxidise as they dry which can make them acidic. potentially hastening corrosion and can form a sticky film which can attract dirt and bacteria. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that for short term storage one oil or wax is as good as any other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If nothing else is to hand then rubbing the blade with a candle will protect it well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T21:04:40.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11006" CreationDate="2016-02-23T21:14:31.073" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/maintenance/how-care-your-compass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; there are only a few things that can go wrong with your compass:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mechanically, it can become hard to read because of a cracked dome or contaminated fluid; it can leak, causing a bubble in the fluid which, if allowed to grow, will interfere with damping of the dial; or it can become “sticky,” a condition that prevents the card from rotating smoothly. “This last problem can be caused by a worn pivot bearing,” says Kaufmann, “or the card can ‘run aground’ for some other reason.” And even a mechanically perfect compass can exhibit deviation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real problem is &lt;strong&gt;where&lt;/strong&gt; your girlfriend is putting the compass &lt;strong&gt;not the orientation&lt;/strong&gt; of the compass. Unless of course hanging the compass somehow causes the card to become irrecoverably stuck against the glass/lens/dome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any magnetic force close to the compass—even the energy around 12-volt wiring—can induce deviation, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if she is hanging the compass right next to an inductive charger, in a welding shop, against your cellphones every night, on your fridge next to handy fridge magnets, etc. I might be worried... Otherwise you're probably safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you swing/tune your compass yearly anyway right? In all seriousness I've never met anyone that did this for land navigation, but it is a best practice. It becomes more common for compasses used in ocean navigation, but even there it is declining due to the dominance and ease of GPS based navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In parting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don’t confuse deviation with variation, the difference between true and magnetic directions caused by the separation between the magnetic and terrestrial poles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Notes on tuning/swinging compasses:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the literature is for fixed boat/ship navigational compasses because ships/boats travel longer distances than hikers without landmarks, have systems on board that might disrupt the compass, it is harder to lose a fixed compass, and your hands don't need to hold a fixed compass. Most handheld compasses aren't built to be tuned but tunable compasses will have some way to add little corrective magnets. Those magnets compensate for the deviation. If that isn't an option for your compass then you just have to build a deviation card and carry it with you. Depending on your compass you can use the declination adjustment to adjust for declination and deviation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thecompassadjuster.com/services/compass/adjustment.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; gives a good basic overview of the procedure. It was written for small boat fixed compass tuning but the principles are the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compass adjusting is as much art as science.  To adjust the compass on your boat, we must take the boat out on the river to swing around in circles.   I will give you a heading to put the vessel on. Then I'll shoot a relative bearing on a distant object, using my polaris, and then compare the result to what the bearing should be.  The difference is compass deviation.  We will repeat this process for all four cardinal points of the compass.  From that point I will begin to add equal and opposite magnetism around your compass, continuing to take bearings, until I am able to remove as much of the error as possible.  Large ships require the use of two tug boats and a River Pilot to do the swinging around in circles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I need to mount small magnets to the deck near the compass but in other compasses there are built in magnets that are adjustable to &amp;quot;compensate&amp;quot; for the offending magnetism on your vessel.  After the cardinal points are as &amp;quot;clean&amp;quot; as possible, we will then read the inter-cardinal error and record it.  Only on a steel vessel with inter-cardinal balls is this error adjustable.  So for most vessels I will only record this error, which should be minor, if the cardinal error is mostly eliminated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will provide you with a deviation card laminated in plastic for you to keep at your navigation station to use to correct your course headings to allow for the remaining compass error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most handheld compasses won't give you an option to adjust built in magnets so the best you'll be able to do is use the deviation card you create to adjust your course/bearings. On compasses with a declination adjustment you can use that, in combination with your declination adjustment, to simplify the corrections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-02-25T17:25:35.710" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2016-02-23T21:36:15.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is generally a good idea to carry some sort of emergency signaling equipment if you go into the wilderness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whistle : has limited range but is especially useful if you get separated from your party in fog or snow or if it is likely the peopel will be searching for you on foot. Internationally recognised distress signals are SOS in morse code (... --- ...) or six long blasts every minute. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mirror : also known as a heliograph. A heliograph mirror is a good candidate for inclusion in a survival kit, these can have very long range in sunlight and are especially useful for signaling aircraft or ships. Mirrors can also be improvised from broken glass or by polishing the bottom of a cooking pot, knife bade etc. Also leaving out any reflective material such as glass from a vehicle or aluminium form an aircraft fuselage can make a survival camp easier to spot from the air. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Signal panels : you can get high visibility panels for signalling aircraft but a lightweight high vis vest is also worth having. In dense forest or broken rocky or icy terrain stringing up brightly coloured cord or tape may also help rescuers to find your location, especially if you are in a snow cave etc which may be hard to see from any distance. A large square panel of fabric with contrasting colours on opposite sides is the most versatile. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Radio beacon/sat phone : worth considering if you are going somewhere really remote but maybe a bit expensive for the casual user. These either work or they don't. Obviously you need to know how to use and maintain them and select a type suitable for your application. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Improvised methods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fire : the light of a fire will be visible at night and smoke will be visible by day. The most effective practice is to keep a small fire going at all times and have 3 large signal fires ready to  be lit if you notice signs of search nearby. 3 fires make it much more clear that you are making an emergency signal. These should be prepared such that they can be lit and get established quickly and kept dry.  During daylight add green wood, grass, leaves, oil or tyres to and established fire create smoke. It may also be worth considering carrying a very reliable fire lighting kit for one or two uses in an emergency in addition to your normal kit. Smoke from fires can also assist aircraft in assessing wind conditions for landing, winching etc but obviously once you've been spotted don't over do it to the extent that the smoke becomes a hazard to rescuers. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Torch : flashing a torch can be a effective signal at night. If you have limited batteries flashing at regular intervals will give you more life out of it than just leaving it on and will be more noticeable as a signal. As soon as you find yourself in trouble you should reserve your torch for signalling or other dire need. Also a strobe light (especially coloured) is a clearer signal and will last longer than a conventional torch. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Writing : you can write a message in snow or sand simply by kicking up a path alternatively use any material you can find (eg grass, branches, wreckage) to write with. There are a variety of internationally recognised ground to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cap-es.net/zips/gnd2airsignals.PDF&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;air signals&lt;/a&gt;. If you only remember one a large &lt;strong&gt;X&lt;/strong&gt; means '&lt;em&gt;I need (medical) assistance'&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-08-13T13:46:48.273" LastActivityDate="2016-08-13T13:46:48.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2016-02-23T22:40:13.870" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;See the question and answers in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9195/what-order-of-response-time-can-i-expect-if-i-hit-the-911-button-on-my-spot-sa&quot;&gt;What order of response time can I expect if I hit the &amp;quot;911&amp;quot; button on my SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've scorned such wimpy behavior (carrying a satellite personal tracker) for years, until a good friend gave us one, and insisted that we carry it.  We've never had to use the emergency feature, but after each trip, we enjoy looking at the messages we've sent home tracking our route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't weigh much.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, having people leap into a helicopter to look for you isn't enough. &lt;em&gt;You must stand out from the background.&lt;/em&gt;  The answers above cover that, except for one thing, which is mentioned in my question in the link above.  If you have deliberately camped to maximize your privacy  (as the people did in the anecdote cited in the link), a helicopter can spend several hours looking for you.  There is a lot of ground down there, from a helicopter's point of view, even when it is narrowed down by the tracker's coordinates.  If you are injured, and in pain, you may be delerious (sp ??) or unconscious by the time the 'copter or search party arrives.  &lt;em&gt;Set up something artificial-looking while you still can.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-02-23T22:40:13.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8340" CreationDate="2016-02-23T22:52:06.963" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;All are perfectly valid, which works best depends on the circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience a log cabin stack is good when you have short square  sticks, for example what you would get from splitting sawn logs and a teepee tends to be easier to build when you have more irregular branches and twigs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lean to is useful if there is a strong wind coming from one direction and you want to use a log, rock or earth bank as a windbreak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really this only matters when you are laying the fire ready to light as you are trying to protect your kindling from wind and rain and make sure that the updraft is carrying the heat into the rest of the fuel. This really comes from having a sense of how a fire in general and the specific fuel you are using works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, in anything less that ideal conditions you need to pay close attention to how the fire is developing and add or remove fuel and adjust the structure accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the fire is properly going it just becomes a case of laying on the fuel to get the sort of heat you want. In a wild camp you want to just use what you can find as it is rather than spending time and effort processing it to conform to some arbitrary design of what a fire should look like so it is often a case of fitting in the odd shapes and sizes of fuel that you have to hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T21:29:19.090" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T21:29:19.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="265" CreationDate="2016-02-24T01:33:19.500" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have three main choices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A dedicated PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A satellite messenger with added rescue facilities (DeLorme or Spot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conventional measures such as a whistle, strobe light, mirror or flare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any non-trivial situation, I believe the PLB is unambiguously your best option if rescue is your top priority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THE UNIQUE BENEFITS OF A PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PLBs are dedicated rescue devices that hook directly into the military COSPAS/SARSAT satellite rescue system - the same system that would be used by a commercial airliner or ship. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This system was designed specifically for rescue, with global coverage, high reliability, rapid transmission of your message to the base station, and robust response procedures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most recent PLB devices transmit your GPS coordinates, which in most conditions will guide rescuers to within 60 yards of your location. The device also emits a local homing signal to guide rescuers directly to you over those last few yards. With a GPS PLB, rescue should be triggered within 5 minutes of activation in North America or Europe.  The satellite signal is extremely powerful and should punch through a tree canopy with ease. There are even stories of PLBs working for people buried in earthquake rubble. On activation a PLB should continue to transmit for at least 24 hours, even in severe cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PLBs are quality devices that have to meet strict international standards.&#xA;They use reliable batteries that retain their power for around 7 years as they are not used unless the device is activated. They are pretty compact and weigh around 5oz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h8j6o.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h8j6o.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one disadvantage is that PLBs don't offer messaging so you can't inform the rescue services of your specific situation. So they should only be activated in genuinely life-threatening emergencies when all other options have been exhausted, as a call will trigger a full-scale rescue response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You register your PLB with the designated authority in your country so rescuers will know about you, your normal activities, and any health issues. There are no ongoing fees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THE LIMITATIONS OF SATELLITE MESSENGERS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By contrast, satellite messengers such as the Spot and the DeLorme are essentially tracking and texting devices with rescue added as an afterthought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They hook into the commercial satellite networks Iridium or Globalstar, and use a commercial rescue response centre. These satellite networks are far less robust - just read reviews for satellite phones to understand the issues. And transmission power is around one tenth that of a dedicated PLB so they generally won't work unless you have an unrestricted view of the sky. Because these devices have other draws on the battery such as GPS and messaging their power supply will be much less reliable. And if you do reach a satellite, response may be markedly slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Satellite messengers require ongoing contracts which can be expensive and complex to administer. If your account is out of order when you get into trouble you may not be able to use your device. Over their lifetime, they will work out much more costly than a PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These multi-purpose messengers are more suited to casual use and were never meant to be a replacement for a dedicated PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THE LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL SIGNALLING METHODS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditional solutions such as whistles, lights, mirrors or flares offer none of the advantages of either of the satellite-based options. They don't work in storm conditions or if you are remote from other parties, and they offer little help to search and rescue until they are very close to your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I always carry a whistle, mirror and strobe, and would use them in frequented areas where there was a good chance of a response before I would resort to triggering the PLB. But they are a very inferior option when things get really nasty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SEARCH AND RESCUE WILL THANK YOU FOR CARRYING A PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can imagine, PLBs are very popular with rescuers, who are guided straight to the casualty. Contrast this with resource intensive and often dangerous searches should a rescue be triggered when you fail to reach your destination and your location is unknown. With a PLB, rescue will reach you hours or even days more quickly. Searching large areas for a casualty is a massive exercise, and some people are never found at all... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do please think of these selfless rescuers (very often volunteers) and make their lives easier by carrying a PLB. In some jurisdictions a PLB may also save you a fortune in rescue charges as there will be no need for extensive search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IN WILDERNESS COUNTRY, A PLB IS THE WAY TO GO&lt;/strong&gt;                                            &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As someone who does a lot of solo walking in remote locations, a PLB offers considerable peace of mind. My finances are tight, but I regard it as a very worthwhile investment and so does my family.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over its lifetime a PLB will only cost you around $40 a year. If you go into wilderness country, you owe it to yourself, to your loved ones and to the rescue services to carry one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-02-24T22:48:37.707" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T22:48:37.707" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11014" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-24T03:04:46.050" Score="11" ViewCount="2176" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like I may be able to spend couple months from March in Newfoundland. During my last trip I noticed a great number of hauntingly beautiful bogs, right by the road - thus one could effortlessly explore them. Aside from one Bear Grylls episode, I have not seen the swamps being navigated through. The ones with dead trees are the most charming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a known and proven safe way to walk through them without risking you won't get out? What gear is used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, March probably wouldn't be a best month, as hypothermia would be quite possible, but do they really get warm sooner than in June?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there really any other risk involved other than drowning? Perhaps I missed that but the official classification did not specify any animals living there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8537" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:32:25.780" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T17:25:38.287" Title="How can I safely wade through swamps/bogs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;swamps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11001" CreationDate="2016-02-24T11:07:14.007" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out, the major problem with electrical heating methods is that they require a lot of energy, and current battery technology is a long way off being able to hold that energy in a comfortably portable unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since your main objective seems to be to get hot food / water while camping where fire/flames are not permitted I'd suggest you look into non-combustive chemical heating pouches.  These &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater&quot;&gt;flameless ration heaters&lt;/a&gt; release enough heat over several minutes to heat up a pouch of food or water - it's a far cry from a freshly prepared fry-up, but it might be the best you can get!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5913" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T11:07:14.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11016" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12939" CreationDate="2016-02-24T12:10:57.337" Score="9" ViewCount="8257" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often approach deer to see how near I can get and to watch them (just for fun - not to hunt). I take care for the wind and of course to be silent enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What else should one consider stalking/approaching deer? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:07:20.657" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T23:17:03.250" Title="Things to consider when approaching deer" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11014" CreationDate="2016-02-24T13:51:32.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A big risk is falling into a stump hole. They can be hard to get out of on dry land, much less while submerged.  Carry a stout stick and feel the ground ahead very forcefully.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waders should protect you from hypothermia just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After those risks, I would consider critters.  Mosquitos love bogs and carry all sorts of nasty illnesses.  Water snakes will bite if surprised or cornered.  Depending on the location you may also have to worry about snapping turtles, alligators, crocodiles, or caiman.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have the good old fashioned risk of getting lost.  Bogs can have wide tracts of land that all look pretty much the same.  It is very easy to get turned around and no longer know which way is &quot;home&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T13:51:32.983" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10541" CreationDate="2016-02-24T14:37:37.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have landscaped for a city in BC for several years and have notice that the &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; only works on very short streets and only then if the those picking up the litter are doing so at least monthly. Generally speaking, it does not seem to make any difference. I can clean a bed along a busy road, go for lunch, and after break, find garbage on the very spot we were cleaning up!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cities simply need more by-law officers to fine people for littering and that is simply not going to happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Germany on the other hand is so clean that is really amazing. Over there the fines are stiffer and are handed out on the spot! That's the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T14:37:37.613" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11000" CreationDate="2016-02-24T14:58:34.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try benadryl cream.  If it stops the itch then you know it's a reaction with the shoe insole and you'll just need to replace the insole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't work, try soaking your feet in a hot salt bath and then scrubbing the sole of your foot with a pumice stone.  This will remove any skin that is contributing (by being rough, or dead, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If none of that works, and replacing the insole doesn't work... good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-02-24T14:58:34.337" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11020" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-25T14:32:23.127" Score="11" ViewCount="755" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/#weavers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/#weavers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sheet Bend would replace the Square (Reef) knot except that it is not a binding knot – both ends must be loose in your hands with no load on the ropes. (The Square Knot - with all its faults - can be tied tight against a sail, or parcel, and usually stays tight while the second Half Hitch is tied).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/reef/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/reef/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAIj8.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAIj8.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caution:&lt;/strong&gt; This picture demonstrates how even a &amp;quot;Stack&amp;quot; of Square Knots can capsize and pull undone. These photographs were created by pulling on the ends of the red rope. &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There have probably been more lives lost as a result of using a Square Knot as a bend (to tie two ropes together) than from the failure of any other half dozen knots combined.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot; (ABOK page 258). &lt;strong&gt;Never&lt;/strong&gt; use it for critical loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So which knots are alternatives to the reef knot when there is load on the ropes that solves this insecurity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8925" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-06T12:02:40.833" Title="Which bends are binding knots?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11001" CreationDate="2016-02-25T16:23:35.267" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As we saw in other answers, current battery technology would require about 1-2 lb of battery per half-liter of boiled water (or simply, more battery than water).  The only practical way we have today of getting enough electricity for a reasonable weight would be to use a hydrogen fuel cell.  They are gradually getting smaller and less expensive, so you might be able to use one, someday, if you're young enough (today), or wealthy enough to push the R&amp;amp;D yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8926" LastActivityDate="2016-02-25T16:23:35.267" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11014" CreationDate="2016-02-25T21:52:06.323" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't really a &lt;em&gt;safe&lt;/em&gt; way to do this. The problem is that you have no way to tell how deep the water/mud ahead of you is and there is always the risk of getting entangled in submerged holes, branches or other obstructions, plus marshes tend to have viscous mud or silt at the bottom whcih can suck at your feet making walking tiring and greatly increases the risk of stumbles and slips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Quicksand' is a familiar cliche but it is a real risk and even apparently firm ground in tidal or swampy areas can be a dangerous trap for the unwary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the very real risk that you could twist an ankle or break your leg, quite apart from the fact that it is easy to underestimate the physical demands of walking through this sort of terrain and you could become exhausted some distance from a safe place at which hypothermia and exhaustion become very real dangers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want to explore this sort of terrain the best advice is to seek a local guide who knows the area very well and travels through it regularly. In general shallow draft boats are the only really safe means of transport in swamps and marshes, unless there are prepared paths established. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an emergency when you have no other choice you should proceed with great caution. Use a long stick to probe the ground ahead of you, feeling for depth and any submerged hazards. Also make sure that your pack is held over one shoulder only so you can quickly discard it if you fall and if at all possible line it with a large plastic bag or similar so that it can act as a flotation aid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:42:37.670" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:42:37.670" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10541" CreationDate="2016-02-26T00:18:26.697" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question spawned a lot of comments, there are some interesting thoughts there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The premise of the question &quot;Is there evidence that &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; programs reduce litter?&quot; caught my attention. So I went looking for the answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three things impact littering&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personal choice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Education &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lack of existing litter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Littering is a habit and prevention starts with you. Research and experience have shown that litter is the result of individual behavior—choosing to litter or being careless in the handling of waste. Once litter is on the ground, it attracts more litter. A clean community, by contrast, can discourage littering and improve community appearance and quality of life. &lt;a href=&quot;http://keepcincinnatibeautiful.org/resources/litter-prevention/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personal choice is not really impacted by the &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot;.  Education and enforcement are primary modifiers here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Education is the key to changing behavior and preventing litter. I did not find any reference suggesting the presence of an &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; was sufficient to &quot;educate&quot; anyone.  You may recall the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Suu84khNGY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Keep America Beautiful - (Crying-Indian) Commercial from the 70's&lt;/a&gt; it was part of an education program. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; programs do reduce the presence of litter, and this has been shown to decrease new litter.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Adopt-A-Highway concept began in Texas in 1985, volunteers pick up the trash the two primary goals are to keep the roads clean and decrease the amount of money required to accomplish the task. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Is there evidence that &quot;Adopt a Highway&quot; programs reduce litter?&quot; They do reduce the cost of litter removal, and if the volunteers remove litter more frequently (&lt;em&gt;&amp;amp; effectively&lt;/em&gt;) than paid personal would, the cleaner road will be less likely to attract new litter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.cfm#question32&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interstate Frequently Asked Questions, Why don't you pick up the litter?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/volunteer/adopt-a-highway.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Texas Adopt-a-Highway&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.penndot.gov/about-us/RoadsideBeautification/Pages/Adopt-A-Highway.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pennsylvania, Adopt a Highway&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://site.idrivearkansas.com/index.php/contact/adopt-a-highway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arkansas, Adopt a Highway&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="284" LastEditDate="2017-07-27T20:24:10.463" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:24:10.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11014" CreationDate="2016-02-27T02:47:28.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5y4N7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5y4N7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;canoe in a swamp&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that &lt;strong&gt;a canoe would be the most pleasant way&lt;/strong&gt; to navigate/explore a swampy/boggy area. Canoes typically have a shallow draft allowing you to explore areas with minimal water depth. They will also help you avoid inadvertently falling into a hole and getting a foot/ankle/leg trapped. You will have extra space to carry more supplies, and in a pinch you could sleep in the canoe. You also have a little wall to keep swamp critters from getting too up close and personal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if the area is open enough, and you have the means, you can ride in style with a fan boat....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wEXEF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wEXEF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;silly swamp fan boat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T02:47:28.587" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11027" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11029" CreationDate="2016-02-27T07:35:05.597" Score="9" ViewCount="353" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not only, but mainly while bouldering you are likely to push hard moves and strain your body onesided. As a consequence you can pain your muscles, ribbons or tendons. But...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do I know if the ache in muscles is stiffness and therefore nothing to worry about?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do I notice that I train very onesided and need compensation training?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which training methods do you prefer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's most important here is to notice and decide, &lt;strong&gt;when you need compensation training for bouldering?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T11:31:19.903" Title="When do you need compensation training for bouldering?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11028" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-27T10:58:27.540" Score="7" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we are snowboarding / skiing snow gathers on our goggles. What do you do to deal with this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can use special liquids like 'fog block' - but are they effective in the terms of snow and rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or maybe wipers would solve the problem? :D&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXK1PKL3n20&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXK1PKL3n20&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8937" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:05:38.800" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T03:14:45.750" Title="Snowboarding / Skiing - snow gathers on our goggles - what do you do to deal with this problem?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;snow-goggles&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11027" CreationDate="2016-02-27T11:31:19.903" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main problems caused by onesided training are reduced movement range, bad posture and lack of stability (which increases the risk of acute injuries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anyone who has done any kind of intense sport knows how regular, harmless muscle soreness feels. You should worry when it doesn't go away or gets worse rather than better after more training, or when it feels different (e.g. is not located in the muscles, or feels more stinging than sore).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bouldering is inherently onesided for the fingers, arms, shoulders (and somewhat less the core). You need compensation/antagonist training if bouldering is the only nonaerobic sport you do, and you do it a lot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look into bodyweight or resistance band exercises that strengthen the core and back muscles, the shoulder's rotator cuff, and pushup variations. For the finger extensors, you can do rice bucket exercises, or use rubber bands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T11:31:19.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11030" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-27T13:28:08.800" Score="13" ViewCount="1605" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually when I climb I take plenty of rest between attempts however, yesterday I decided that I wanted to test myself and climb 25 problems at my local gym. I chose problems that were below my level but by the 7th problem my forearms just swelled up so much I hadn't experienced this type of stiffness since my first day climbing. (I've climbed consistently for 4 months now) As a result of becoming pumped so quickly I only managed 17/25 problems that night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my knowledge, which isn't much, common sense tells me to warm up before climbing and to rest between attempts however, when I watch pros climb competitively, they hardly get any rest between attempts (e.g USA Bouldering Nationals). Therefore there must be some tips/tricks that they use to maximize their performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What actions should I perform before climbing to decrease my chances of getting pumped?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What actions should I focus on while climbing to prevent my arms from getting pumped?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8821" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T16:09:47.127" Title="How do I prevent myself from getting pumped when climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11030" CreationDate="2016-02-27T13:55:50.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having your muscles &quot;pumped&quot; is not a problem in itself. If you have problems with movement because of it, it is most likely down to muscle type, muscle mass, and cardiovascular effectiveness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because I used to do a lot of weight lifting, my muscle mass is pretty high (which actually gives me a poor power to weight ratio for climbing) but as I do a lot of cardio training, having my muscles pumped up doesn't impact my climbing much at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It usually only causes major problems if you are building up lactic acid in the muscles, which can happen because climbing can by quite anaerobic. The temporary fix is to stop, breathe and shake out your muscles, but the real way to combat this is to train your body to get better at flushing lactic acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which requires aerobic, cardiovascular exercise. So try running and cycling as well as your climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T13:55:50.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11028" CreationDate="2016-02-27T13:57:59.520" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is why most snowboarding and skiing gloves these days have a wiper built in. Rain-X and other coatings can help a little, but there appears to be no all purpose solution, so just get a pair of gloves with a wiper, and get used to using it frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T13:57:59.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11028" CreationDate="2016-02-27T16:38:32.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ride a lot and have never seen any gadgets for fixing this. It depends on the snow as well, since the bigger wetter stuff (so cal / washington mountains) tends to be much more of a problem than the bone dry stuff (co / slc mountains).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worse is that in conditions with lots of snow coming down you may want to wear goretex shell mitts, and regardless you'll have snow all over your hands since.... well... it's snowing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wipe my goggles off when I start going down a run with the sleeves of my jacket, and then I stop as often as I need to and rewipe, or do it during a non-technical stuff where I can move my upper body about. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's really dumping clumpy snow, it's going to get on your goggles and it's going to limit your visibility, there's not really anyway around that. But hey, it's powder. Keep the nose up, weight the back, and shred. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you start losing visibility to the point that you're unable to see contours and terrain angles, it might be time to hit the lodge and grab a beer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2016-02-27T16:38:32.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11034" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11043" CreationDate="2016-02-27T21:50:21.443" Score="12" ViewCount="7866" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read that Rob Hall's body (who died very near the summit in 1996) was discovered. However I have not seen any validation of that. I just watched the movie Everest and I'm curious. Has it been confirmed that his body has been found?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When someone dies on Mount Everest, are there attempts made to recover, or track location of bodies? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8940" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-02-28T14:35:57.497" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T20:42:39.863" Title="What happens when someone dies on Mount Everest?" Tags="&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11030" CreationDate="2016-02-27T23:50:17.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't do any climbing but, as therapist, one suggestion I would give to you is cold rinses, (edit: cold if you do things yourself, to be conservative, a therapist would use ice, unless you know how to use it properly limit things to cool or cold) between if possible and after. A rinse wont cool your muscles down, after the exercise you could go on even with ice massage. It will help blood flow, flushing the muscles. Its not the pumping.&#xA;People that start at the gym are in a similar situation, proper training in how to exercise and in maintenance before and after usually helps. &#xA;Edit: Here I'm not talking about an ice bath, if you don’t have a certified therapist following you an ice bath can be dangerous, ice massages too should be performed by a therapist but cool to cold rinses are safe enough to be used by anyone)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-02-29T14:16:11.933" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T14:16:11.933" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11037" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-02-28T05:49:24.670" Score="8" ViewCount="1173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that there are exceptions to every rule. Like for example not all plants with leaves in groups of 3 are poisonous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also there is mimicry in some plants to deter animals from eating it even though it isn't poisonous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is there a way to tell without having to do this sequence of steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Separate the parts of the plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Check for worms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Put parts of the plant on your skin making sure to wait 8 hours before testing the next part. If it is contact poisonous discontinue the testing of that part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) Put the part of the plant that isn't contact poisonous on your lip and wait 8 hours. If there are any side effects discontinue the testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5) Put the part of the plant that isn't contact poisonous on your tongue without chewing and wait 8 hours. If there are any side effects discontinue the testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6) Chew the part of the plant that isn't contact poisonous and wait 8 hours. If there are any side effects discontinue the testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;7) Swallow the part of the plant that isn't contact poisonous and wait 8 hours. If there are any side effects discontinue the testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8) Optional: Cook the plant and test the same way you did the raw plant. Sometimes poison in raw plants isn't there in cooked plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T01:06:41.420" Title="How can I tell if a plant is poisonous?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11037" CreationDate="2016-02-28T11:00:58.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes and No...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The no is addressed in the answers at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/266/&quot;&gt;How can I identify edible berries/fruit from poisonous?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, two options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Modern Science method; Take the suspect plant to a lab for testing.  Wait for the results, pay the bill, knowledge acquired in 3 easy steps. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Redneck method; Eat a large portion, if you survive without ill effects it is probably not poisonous.  Care should be taken with this approach, as an example the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amanita muscaria&lt;/a&gt; is classified as poisonous but is harvested and consumed by some populations. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-02-28T11:00:58.047" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11039" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11334" CreationDate="2016-02-28T18:41:21.967" Score="5" ViewCount="1035" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using a topo app on the PC for years that lets you, among other things, trace a route on the map with the mouse, then it gives you the distance and height profile for that route (even turns it into GPS waypoints for you). It's a little heavy, though, lugging a PC in my backpack :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I've tried several mapping apps on IOS, but have yet to find one that will let me trace an intended route in this way. They all seem to do a great job of tracking how far you've gone, how many steps you've taken, how many calories you've burned, etc. However, I'm really not that interested in what I've already done... I was there, I know where I've been. :) I'm more interested in, &quot;if I scramble up this canyon along this stream, how far is it to the end and back?&quot; or &quot;my planned path was blocked, how far would this alternate path be?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the apps I have tried will let you create waypoints by touching, then build a route out of the waypoints. That works, but it can be kind of tedious. I also find that I wind up spamming an area with so many waypoints to make reasonably accurate routes that I can no longer read the map on the small screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is anyone familiar with any IOS topo map / GPS apps that allow the user to trace a path with a finger, and then reports distance (and preferably elevation profile) info?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8760" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T13:51:45.680" Title="IOS Map App that creates routes by tracing a path?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11037" CreationDate="2016-02-28T21:24:26.780" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no foolproof ways to tell if something you picked in the woods is edible.  Figure out what species it is and  look it up.  If you've got time to wait 8 hours for a reaction you've got time to check a couple books.  When it comes to mushrooms join your local mycological society.  IDing mushrooms from a picture is far from foolproof and there are some pretty common ones out there that will kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not that hard to learn the common plants in an area;  and there are websites you can submit photos to if you're really stuck.  (including a couple forums on this one).  If it's a garden plant take it to your local nursery and ask them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8944" LastActivityDate="2016-02-28T21:24:26.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11037" CreationDate="2016-02-29T00:24:40.533" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;*I would think the best way to be safe would to know the plants of the area you plan to explore. Being dumped in an unknown wilderness like a plane crash or something catastrophic then I would still be very cautious of the environment I am in, local libraries and searching online for your area of exploration would certainly help/&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8943" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T00:24:40.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11034" CreationDate="2016-02-29T04:29:00.373" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Above about 7500-8000meters, currently they are left there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One opinion based answer is because Everest climbers are selfish. Given many people who climb Everest won't abandon a summit attempt to save a life, do you really think they care enough to risk their life to bring a body off the mountain?  (Current rates are 4% fatality of all summit attempts, presume body retrieval would be similar.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more charitable answer is because above about 8000 meters you are in the death zone. You are slowly dying. You have very limited strength, and no reserves. It is impossible to do much more than put one foot in front of the other. You have very limited reserves (weather, food, water, warmth and blood oxygen level) and &quot;going to plan&quot; can become life threatening if just a couple of minor issues come up. As such, body retrieval, even if possible, is very dangerous, and more than likely, will just create more bodies. Who would risk their life to retrieve a body - would you? Give the presumed answer, the next moral question is is it right for you to ask someone else to retrieve a body and risk their life?  Given the problem of the difficulty of moving a body, you could perhaps make it possible by bringing the bodies down in pieces small enough for one man to carry, there are a significant number of cultural and moral barriers to this approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you decide morally of all that is is OK, you then need to establish a price. There is a minimum cost of probably 1 million dollars (based on 10 men, Everest summit a costs of $100K each). Is it worth spending 1 Million dollars to retrieve a body?  If its not 1 Million dollars, why not - why can you retrieve a body for less than that of when a summit attempt costs over $100K? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, so now we have got past the morals and established the cost, you hire someone, and go up there and they die in the attempt. What are the laws in your country around paying someone to do a job when you knew the job carried very high risk of death?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the real question should be &quot;Given what happens to a body and the fatality rate, why are so many allowed to climb it?&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully in time technology will make it practical and safe at a reasonable cost to remove these bodies, till then, its just an accepted fact of the Everest gravy train. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2016-03-01T20:42:39.863" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T20:42:39.863" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2016-02-29T08:55:32.243" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;These laws are often to stop homeless people hanging around. In England the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagrancy_Act_1824&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;vagrancy act&lt;/a&gt; has not been repealed and the police still arbitrarily arrest people for being vagrant. So even sleeping rough without a tent is illegal. In other places they just want to extract as much money from tourists as possible and to make them use official facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Scotland wild camping is allowed. Pedestrians can also camp near roads. Car drivers have to walk away. There are limits around Loch Lomond due to tourists leaving rubbish.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wnygm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wnygm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summit of Beinn Eighe with wild camping tent (green).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In England it is not allowed anywhere apart from a small patch of Dartmoor. Anywhere there is too much population and people would jump on the tent. A couple of weeks ago a homeless man in Manchester was murdered in his tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In England you can camp in the Lake District out of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In France wild camping is not allowed officially but I often camp in the Pyrenees. In the National Parks there are &quot;Aire de Bivouac&quot; where you can camp with the tent up from evening to morning. Many of the refuges allow camping nearby too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Spain wild camping is not allowed but the Spanish are very relaxed about their laws. I did the GR11 across the Pyrenees and had no trouble camping all the way but a few times I chose to stay in an official campsite or refuge to get food and a shower. One day I asked someone for water and they invited me in and gave me wine and food and let me camp in their field outside. There are areas where camping is allowed above a certain height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZPpjG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZPpjG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spain viewed from France with wild camping.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;GR11: Spain viewed from France with wild camping tent (red).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="2082" LastEditDate="2016-03-02T00:11:23.033" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T00:11:23.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11049" CreationDate="2016-02-29T09:13:21.410" Score="7" ViewCount="1222" Body="&lt;p&gt;As we wandered through a valley in a South-German forest, we stumbled across this skeleton:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXTLy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXTLy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skeleton&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few key-facts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Big eyes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It had two sharp &quot;ear like&quot; bones coming out of its skull&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pictured remains were about 30-40cm long&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Please mention the foot in the upper part of the image, which is ...&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EU 45&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GB 10,5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;US 11,5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have an idea what this might have been. Can anyone help out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in the comments, the structure that is closer to the bottom end of the image could &lt;em&gt;also be the pelvis bone and not the skull.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:14:50.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:14:50.337" Title="A skeleton with elfish ears - which animal was that?" Tags="&lt;forests&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2016-02-29T09:19:16.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did it in 11 hours last year and had a great time doing it. Will always remember this hike! I see there is some discussion about how fit you need to be to do this - I can run a half marathon in just below 2 hours. And I weigh 90kgs, so I have some weight to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started from Playa del Socorro early in the morning, it's a few kilometers west of Puerto de la Cruz. It is not clear what the perfect path is, but I used a very good map from the (free) app 'CityMaps2Go'. So I just used my smartphone to navigate all the way up, it covers everything from driveable roads to barely visible paths. The first part of the hike for me was to walk up to the small town called 'Icod el Alto'. Then I think (it was foggy...) I walked on the road near the cliff, looking down towards the east - check out the area on Google Earth and you'll understand. Use the app and plan the next few km's ahead whenever you sit down for a drink and a snack, and you'll be set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I entered the national park at app. 2000 meters, it was easy to just follow the signs from there. You need to approach the mountain from the east (unless there is some path I haven't noticed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did not encounter any stores/restaurants along the way, and don't know how to find one without a big detour. I brought 8 liters of water and drank most of it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8946" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T09:19:16.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11047" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11057" CreationDate="2016-02-29T09:24:03.210" Score="11" ViewCount="1192" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend I forgot my expanded-foam sleeping mat and was cold during the night. The environment was an autumn forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There were plenty of dry fallen branches. However, I couldn't work out a way to make a soft bed of them. Instead, I imagine they would have pierced my sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was not a protected area, so I could have lit a fire with the wood and heat some stones, which then to berry in the ground and sleep over them. I estimated this procedure would take up around an hour - much more than I was willing to spend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I proceeded in the obvious way - began gathering leaves. It turned out that dry leaves are exceptionally good at trapping moisture. Only the very thin top layer of leaves was dry. I gathered for 5-10 minutes, but the result was unsatisfactory. In the morning, the leaves that I had gathered, were less than 1cm thick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another motivation for this question is that if a good enough answer is recovered, I would be able to ditch the bulky sleeping mat when mountain biking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a spring, summer or autumn temperate forest, using a knife, rope, sheet of plastic and the surrounding natural materials, how can one quickly construct a replacement sleeping mat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T08:42:42.133" Title="What materials are suitable for constructing a sleeping mat?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11045" CreationDate="2016-02-29T13:59:46.690" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like the spine and pelvis of a raccoon: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LDPck.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LDPck.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;raccoon&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the raccoon is not native to Germany, they were introduced there in the 1930s and can be found in the wild. The map below shows raccoons killed or found dead 2001-2003. So while it's highly unlikely that you stumbled across the remains of a raccoon, it is possible. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon#Distribution_in_Germany&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; for more information about the raccoon in Germany. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N9mql.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N9mql.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8649" LastEditorUserId="8649" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T14:46:06.030" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T14:46:06.030" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11030" CreationDate="2016-02-29T14:26:13.087" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ah the Endurance problem.&#xA;Well this can either boil down to Power Endurance or just normal Endurance.&#xA;Power Endurance is where you can retain a high level of power through a pump. This exceeds your endurance by seconds.&#xA;Normal Endurance is the ability to climb at a lower level for longer. This exceeds your endurance by minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your case, it sounds like you need to work on your normal endurance rather than power endurance.&#xA;For this, the main exercises seems to be Intervals. This involves climbing for say 5 minutes and resting for 5 minutes. This can also be done with pull-ups but restricted to a minute session and minute rest.&#xA;Another effective exercise is ARC training. This trains more stamina rather than endurance but depending on your level it maybe beneficial. This involves climbing continuously either roped or by traversing for 20-40 minutes with only on the wall rests. Doing this exercise, you need to ensure you don't find a lovely feet only rest spot as it eliminates the benefits of the exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8947" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T14:26:13.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11051" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11054" CreationDate="2016-02-29T15:51:11.137" Score="14" ViewCount="3527" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a trekking in Torres del Paine (Chile) and El Chaten (Argentina) and my actual backpack has 50l and I'm afraid 50l isn't enough for a 20 day trip with 10 days trekking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine is selling a women's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deuter.com/CH/fr/trekking/aircontact-pro-55-plus-15-sl-33813-1435.html&quot;&gt;Aircontact PRO 55 + 15 SL&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I use a backpack designed for women? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am about 170cm and 86kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8948" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-02-29T21:23:59.327" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T21:23:59.327" Title="Men using a women's trekking backpack" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;women&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11030" CreationDate="2016-02-29T16:09:47.127" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others have discussed strength training/conditioning/physiology, and remediation techniques like cool water baths. There are two aggrevating factors that haven't been addressed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bad Technique&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use good technique then you will support the maximum amount of your weight with your leg muscles. The obvious benefit of supporting more weight with your legs is your arm muscles don't have to work so hard.  As we all know the less work you do the more you can do it. Another technique to give you more stamina is to favor positions where your bone structure is supporting your weight instead of your muscles. Finally avoid odd angles when gripping holds. An odd angle with your elbow pointing up at the sky will require more muscle tension in order to sustain, and require more energy/effort. Other technical mistakes also come into play here but these are the ones I've fallen victim to most often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Over-gripping&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people are nervous they then to grip holds like their life depends on it. Consequently they'll apply 2x the force needed to maintain their grip on the hold. To put it another way when you're talking on your cellphone I can sneak up behind you and easily snatch it out of your hand because you're only using the amount of force required to prevent the phone from falling out of your hands. You aren't using the amount of force required to prevent me from snatching it out of your hands. Imaging how tiring it would be to maintain a death grip on your cellphone for a 20 minute conversation. Now apply that to climbing. I'm willing to bet that most climbers can afford to &quot;loosen up a bit&quot; when they're out on the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are (not so) positive psychological feedback loops at play here which reduce your effectiveness. People are nervous about their ability to do XYZ on the rock so they grip the holds a little harder, which makes them feel more tired, which makes them want to hurry to complete the moves, which makes them lose focus on their technique, which makes them try to power through moves, which makes them more tired, which makes them nervous, and the cycle repeats. That is why the mental aspect of climbing is crucial, especially at the higher levels where there is less margin for error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T16:09:47.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11051" CreationDate="2016-02-29T16:18:57.460" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all comes down to fit.  Try it on as you would any pack.  If it spreads weight the way it should... go for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T16:18:57.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11051" CreationDate="2016-02-29T16:55:16.380" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is, &quot;it depends&quot;.  Packs sold to women may have only superficial changes compared to the men's version (i.e. the color is different), but there are usually a few common differences:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shorter torso length (distance from shoulder to hip, often shorter in women).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Narrower shoulder straps (men tend to have broader shoulders).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shape of shoulder straps (sometimes you'll see S-curved straps to fit better around breasts).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size and shape of the hip belt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except for item 3, which is less common, these differences aren't inherently female-specific.  It's not uncommon for women to use men's packs and &lt;em&gt;vice versa&lt;/em&gt;.  The best recommendation is to try the pack on and see how it fits.  An incorrect torso length will probably stand out the most, but be cautious of how well the hip and shoulder straps fit.  For extended trekking purposes, it's worth loading your pack with its expected weight and spending a good amount of time (at least 15-30 minutes) walking around with it on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if the larger pack doesn't end up fitting, all is not lost; there are ways to do longer treks with smaller packs if you have the time to make some changes to your packing list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T16:55:16.380" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11055" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11060" CreationDate="2016-02-29T17:32:14.427" Score="11" ViewCount="1101" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been hearing that a lot of people are recommending &lt;strong&gt;wasp spray&lt;/strong&gt; as a bear repellant. Proponents argue it has a longer range, and is more accurate to aim. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How effective is wasp spray as a bear repellant? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:25.130" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T03:38:16.393" Title="How effective is wasp spray on bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11047" CreationDate="2016-02-29T21:18:05.977" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's traditional to construct a bed of evergreen tree boughs in survival situations (fir or cedar are the best kind), I've done it a number of times on private land, and deep in the wilderness on crown land, but it is &lt;em&gt;far&lt;/em&gt; from the best solution and not very ethical if you're trying to leave no trace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On other occasions I've slept on a bed of moss, or else just on a soft patch of dry ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountain biking, I sleep on an X-frame air mattress. I packs down to the size of a pop can, and is surprisingly comfortable, even for side sleeping. The size makes it easy to stuff it into the stuff sack with my sleeping bag, and the weight is pretty much negligible. It's somewhat warmer than sleeping on other mattresses as well, because you but it &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; your sleeping bag, and the bag below you can loft in the gaps, better insulating you against the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1HOxd.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1HOxd.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fppHR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fppHR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NkMlE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NkMlE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T21:18:05.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11047" CreationDate="2016-02-29T21:25:32.523" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You already identified some key points in your question. Speaking from study, mentoring and experience, here's my answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plenty of fallen branches. Not the softest to sleep directly on however, and these have potential to rip your sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could use hot rocks to make a warm mattress. This isn't a bad idea but is a lot of work as you noted. Hot rocks are definitely relevant for the question of 'how to sleep comfortably on a cold night in the forest with few materials', but might not be much better than sticks for a sleeping mat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leafs are an obvious answer, &lt;em&gt;and a good one!&lt;/em&gt; Some ground rules I was told for &lt;strong&gt;leaf insulation: 2in+ for roof, 2ft+ for bedding, no holes gaps or thin spots&lt;/strong&gt;. That might seem like overkill but as you learned from experience, you did need a lot of leafs to make this work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The leaf solution makes the other options more viable too. If you have the time, pack sticks (~1-2in diameter) side-by-side to make a bed, then cover that with leafs to soften it up. This adds extra insulation from the ground. Sometimes it feels nice too, sometimes it doesn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the materials you listed, I recommend using the sheet of plastic to gather leafs faster, and make a mattress with more than 2ft of leafs. Lay the sheet on the ground, weigh it down with rocks if needed, then rake leafs onto it with your arms and feet. You can then use the plastic sheet to help separate you from the wet, cold ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that not all leafs are made equal: some evergreen needles would be miserable to sleep on, but &lt;strong&gt;the most comfortable bedding I've found in forests happens to be evergreen: &lt;em&gt;white pine needles&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; If you can gather a bunch of small white-pine branches and stack/weave them to be a mattress (more emphasis on getting 2ft worth than how well put together it is), you will have a very soft bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can add some gear, a wool blanket will go a long way as a mattress or extra insulation in any way whether wet or dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An option to separate yourself from the ground:&lt;/strong&gt; you could use vines, or some other means of cordage, along with some tree poles (lengths of wood ~2in diameter) to setup a bed-frame and a cordage-mattress. This will probably take a lot of time and cordage. I've never tried it, but have seen examples of it. Bushcraft-hammock-esque.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T21:25:32.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11034" CreationDate="2016-02-29T22:34:27.620" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;. But not for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first two people on record to die on Everest were George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. There's speculation that they may have even summited the Mountain, making them the first team ever to conquer the tallest mountain in the world, and almost 30 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay made their successful summit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were last seen only a couple hundred metres form the summit, but never made it back down to the bottom. For decades people wondered if they may have made it to the top, but the only way to confirm that would be to find the camera they took up the mountain with them, and develop the film to see if they had taken a summit picture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 1999 an expedition was led to search for their bodies, and against all odds, they were able to find, and positively identify the body of George Mallory, who appeared to have suffered a fall and broken his leg. His body was found almost perfectly preserved (aside from being bleached white by the sun).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NewdL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NewdL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Andrew Irvine's body was not found unfortunately, and he was the one who was carrying the camera. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been other expeditions to retrieve bodies off of the mountain, there is a foundation in Nepal dedicated to cleaning up Mt. Everest, and to date have retrieved &lt;em&gt;tonnes&lt;/em&gt; of garbage off of the mountain, and they collect some bodies as well, but most people request that the bodies of their fallen loved ones be left on the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/62I99.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/62I99.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the Most part, extractions are &lt;em&gt;impossible&lt;/em&gt; due to the extremes of being at such high elevation, and bodies are left exactly where they fell if they died in the death zone, except for bodies which lay right on the trail, those ones tend to get pushed over the side of the mountain, or they're left on the side of the trail and the 200km/h winter winds will blow them off the edge in the off season, the rest just stay where they are, and will likely remain there, preserved for years to come (just like George). There are over 200 bodies on everest, and that number keeps climbing every year as people line up to go die on the highest summit on Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-02-29T22:34:27.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11055" CreationDate="2016-02-29T22:40:35.153" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The suggestion to use wasp spray for defense seems to be common enough that there’s a Snopes page &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;on the topic&lt;/a&gt;.  This particular urban legend is more often brought up in the context of defense against people, but it seems now to have been extended to bears.  I would &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&amp;amp;articles_id=480&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;stick with the bear spray&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, the phrase “It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling” will be found on pesticide containers.  This is a hint that this may be a bad idea.  Wasp spray usually contains poisons rather than irritants, which creates additional legal problems if you use it on people or bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the claims around range, a can of UDAP bear spray has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.udap.com/mm5/category/specifications&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a range of 30-35’&lt;/a&gt; (9-11 meters).  Wasp sprays tend to be effective out to 15-22’ (6-7 meters).  This oversight may be due to the origin of the myth in an anti-human context: keychain style pepper sprays have a shorter range, although even the anti-human sprays are available in longer-range versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding precision, bear spray presents in a conical cloud.  Beyond close range that cloud will be about 100” (2.5 meters) in diameter.  In contrast, wasp spray presents as a narrow stream, the better to soak a small nest rather than contaminate a larger area.  This is a negative for the wasp spray, for the same reason that firearms are considered less effective than bear spray: most people’s ability to effectively aim goes away when under extreme stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit to add:&#xA;The neurotoxins in wasp spray (usually pyrethins) &lt;a href=&quot;http://rd.springer.com/article/10.2165%2F00139709-200524020-00003&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;have a far greater impact on insects&lt;/a&gt; compared to mammals.  This comes from differences in body size, absorption, capacity to metabolize, and sodium channel sensitivity.  For example, in cases where people have been sprayed, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grantcunningham.com/2014/09/wasp-spray-for-self-defense-this-myth-just-wont-die/EGdvL83P5Mwi_ocOrfv9K8nuQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;no incapaciting effects were seen&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize, the claims of the proponents appear to be incorrect regarding range, misapplied regarding accuracy, and baseless regarding actual efficacy.  As there doesn't appear to be a mechanism by which wasp spray would deter a bear, actual testing is unlikely to be performed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2016-03-01T19:35:39.063" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T19:35:39.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11047" CreationDate="2016-02-29T23:55:05.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally the sleeping mat is one of the last things I would leave out of my pack. Inflatable mats with internal baffles like the top-of-the-range Thermarests and Expeds are much less bulky than closed-cell foam mats, and much warmer and more comfortable too. Perhaps I'm getting soft in my old age, but for me a good night's sleep is worth a lot on a long trip and a good sleeping pad more than earns its weight and volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in many situations there are clear environmental issues with improvising your own mattress. In emergencies, yes. But doing this routinely is hardly &quot;leave-no-trace&quot; unless you are in a very remote and lightly used area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As kids in the Scottish hills before the days of mats we generally relied on a good pile of heather. The springy structure seems to trap air well and retain some loft, yet it's flexible enough to remain quite soft. I remember being pretty comfortable even in snow and frost. If there's heather around where you are it should be the first thing you try, always provided it's legal and responsible to cut it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-01T08:42:42.133" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T08:42:42.133" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11045" CreationDate="2016-03-01T09:25:18.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First: it is very difficult to exactly determine the species of a skeleton, much more so a partial one (at least if you can not do DNA analysis). I have worked on archaeological digs where we consulted experts for this, and even they were clueless in many cases when it came down to identifying the origin of small sets of bones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;An educated guess:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the size this cannot be a racoon. If the pictured remains are 30-40cm long that will put the whole spine at some 80+cm easily - waay bigger than a racoon. Actually, there are not many animals this big in German forests, which makes this somewhat easier.&#xA;Guessing by the size, the form of the pelvic bone and also how common they are I would guess these remains could belong to a &lt;strong&gt;roe deer&lt;/strong&gt;, potentially a young one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some possible alternatives (just judging by size):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;deer, boar (possibly younger ones)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;domesticated animal that got away and died (sheep/goat/pig/dog)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T09:25:18.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2016-03-01T14:39:55.060" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A simple fact: You conduct HEAT.  You do not conduct COLD.  Wrap your head around that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2nd Simple Fact:  Water conducts HEAT more efficiently than air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you're trying to chill warm items, then use water to conduct the heat out of them and transfer it to the frozen water (ice).  That will chill them quicker than just air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you're trying to keep chilled items cold, you want to prevent the transfer of heat from the environment (via the outside skin of the cooler, across the insulation or air gap, through the interior skin) to the items.  In this case, air is the best choice; drain the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you catch a fish.  Quench it quickly in one ice chest with ice and water to get it chilled, then put it into an ice chest with the ice kept separate from the contents and with the water drained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8957" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T14:39:55.060" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3959" CreationDate="2016-03-01T23:53:07.823" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There can be a slight weight savings for a double bag over two single bags. This is difficult to fully calculate, especially if one person sleeps warmer than the other or if there is a height difference (e.g., one person needs a long bag and the other a short bag). There can also be a comfort advantage, but it really depends on how narrow the double bag is. I have a wide single bag for car camping which probably qualifies as the &quot;spooner's only fit&quot; in your link which is no where near as comfortable as mated single bags, but definitely the lightest option. My real dislike of mated single bags are the middle zippers and separate foot boxes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long hikes there are a couple of serious disadvantages. First, a double bag means you must camp together every night. It also means you need to stay in closer contact on the trail as one person is not carrying, what is in my opinion, the proper emergency gear. Further, if the bag gets wet, there is no backup (and probably a lot of blame). I would also be worried about drying the bag out in town since getting a double bag in a dryer might be problematic. There is also the issue of weight/volume distribution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-03-01T23:53:07.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4975" CreationDate="2016-03-02T00:08:22.043" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of clothing insulation there is the concept of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_insulation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CLO&lt;/a&gt;. The key equation is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;T = (31 − 0.155·P·R)°C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where P is 48 W/m² while sleeping, R is the number of CLOs, and T is the temperature in Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To stay warm while sleeping at 20F you need 5 CLOs (yes there is huge variation between people). If you double the bags and ignore the air gap between the bags (which will add insulation) and any compression of the insulation (which will reduce insulation), then you can just add the CLOs (just like you do with clothing). A bag with 10 CLOs will keep you &quot;warm&quot; while sleeping to -46.12 F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One should obviously be careful before heading off into -46F sleeping conditions. There can be big variations depending on how warm you sleep (i.e., the P value in the equation) and if you are using a tent or snow cave. There is also the concern of the bags compressing each other and reducing the insulation properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While -46F seems crazy, if we compare weights, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/equipment-sleeping-bags/inferno-15f-9c-cwu8?variationId=E8Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North Face Inferno 15F&lt;/a&gt; weighs 1049 g with 550 g of fill while the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/equipment-sleeping-bags/inferno-40f-40c-2?variationId=7S1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;-40F Inferno&lt;/a&gt; weighs 1758 g with 1249 g of identical fill. In other words a -40 degree bag has similar amounts of fill as two 15 degree bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-03-02T22:41:24.367" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T22:41:24.367" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11070" CreationDate="2016-03-02T01:38:17.337" Score="15" ViewCount="3293" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be conflicting information on the web about how to use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munter_hitch&quot;&gt;Munter hitch&lt;/a&gt; for belaying and rappelling while rock climbing. The way I learned decades ago is consistent with &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.nols.edu/Store/pc/NOLS-Wilderness-Mountaineering-3rd-Edition-p99.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nols Wilderness Mountaineering&lt;/em&gt; by Phil Powers&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Munter hitch differs from a belay device in that the braking position is forward, toward the anchor, rather than back toward the hip. If you rappel using this hitch, be careful to use the Munter with the load strand close to the spine of the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of videos and blogs suggest that the Munter should be tied with the load strand close to the gate and the break position down towards the hip. They even use an autoblock to back it up and force the downwards break position. (I am not providing links on the off chance I am correct and the information is bad). Have there been new developments regarding the use of a Munter hitch for belaying and rappelling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:15:37.417" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:15:37.417" Title="How to use a Munter hitch to belay and rappel?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11067" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11068" CreationDate="2016-03-02T02:06:39.257" Score="18" ViewCount="341" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cairns&lt;/a&gt; are small stacks of rocks used to mark trails. These can be especially useful above the tree line where other trail blazes would be inappropriate or unsightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3596&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; discourages their use in some circumstances as their use creates paths where there previously were none.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In which situations/circumstances/settings is making a cairn, or multiple cairns, appropriate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T09:08:04.440" Title="When is it appropriate to make a cairn?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11067" CreationDate="2016-03-02T05:04:54.610" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;On designated trails that are infrequently traveled and maintained, using them to mark a faint or overgrown section of trail, the point a trail passes under a large downed tree, a switchback, a trail junction, or a creek crossing, where the tread of the trail itself is not visually clear ahead, is generally acceptable and helps keep people on the actual trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T05:04:54.610" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11093" CreationDate="2016-03-02T06:48:59.900" Score="13" ViewCount="7659" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in a country where hail can strike suddenly and unexpected at any time of the year. I am trying to figure out if in COMMON weather data available to me, I could find patterns that may indicate a potential hail storm or if I have to rely on weather forecast services that analyse more complex data input.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can easily acquire temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed, dew point and rain probabilities, but what I would like to generate from this is a hail probability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if those are just common sense ideas, if you are aware of any correlation between these data samples and the possibility of a hail storm, please share.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8960" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T23:14:34.543" Title="What are good indicators of hail approaching?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11066" CreationDate="2016-03-02T07:38:36.883" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your question as to the ideal break position when using the munter: &lt;strong&gt;It depends&lt;/strong&gt;. It depends on your comfort and experience with the knot, its application and the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have rappeled and belayed with munter-hitches on numeral occasions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A double stranded munter-hitch rappel provides a significant amount of friction and unless you want to come to a complete stop you will probably be breaking by your hips.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For single stranded rappels, especially on thin ropes breaking at the hip instead of towards the anchor can be disconcerting. It is doable though, and it is nice to at least know that lifting your arm will stop you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are rappeling with a load, either in a rescue situation or with a haul-bag, I would highly recommend breaking towards the anchor, at least until you have gotten used to the situation. If you want extra safety in situations like those, check out the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntersuper/index.php?Categ=typeslidegrip&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double Munter&lt;/a&gt;, which lets you manage heavier loads and has the added benefit of not twisting your rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I would say top-rope belaying, mentioned here for completeness, is the most awkward of applications, since you have to &lt;em&gt;pull&lt;/em&gt; rather than &lt;em&gt;release&lt;/em&gt; the rope through a shifting knot. I would say it is pretty unlikely you will be doing that for long by pulling towards the anchor, since that is super tiering. Belaying a leader from the ground is slightly less awkward, but still not as nice as belaying from the top, where the munter shines at its best.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following illustration is from the climbing and mountaineering bible &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt;, which by the way every aspiring climber should have in his or her bookshelf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sb8F7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sb8F7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;illustration of a Munter hitch taken from Freedom of the Hills&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning the munter is absolutely not optional. It has saved my behind a couple of times when I have cast off without a belay device. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend using the munter though unless for practice or in situations when absolutely necessary, since it turns the rope into a twisted mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T23:59:19.877" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T23:59:19.877" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11071" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11072" CreationDate="2016-03-02T13:46:13.197" Score="7" ViewCount="1509" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the first few arrows I often have the problem, that the string rubs over my lips. I need to concentrate on turning the face more to the target. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, these few arrows are sometimes that harsh, that they leave me with a bloody lip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to remember to turn my head at the first go-off? Something less painful than a bloody lip please =) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trivia: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Best thing would be to break the habit completely of course&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A reminder (like a note or something) wouldn't work, cause I forget about it while I actively shoot (even if I walk to the court with a &quot;turn your head&quot;-consideration)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-02T16:57:41.633" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T06:35:54.287" Title="How can I avoid shooting my lips?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11071" CreationDate="2016-03-02T14:35:47.867" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://archerycoach.wordpress.com/tag/kisser-buttons/&quot;&gt;kisser button&lt;/a&gt;, perhaps? They are a button on your string designed specifically to help orient your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8867" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T14:35:47.867" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11069" CreationDate="2016-03-02T14:46:02.660" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hail is a result of the same type of instability that causes thunderstorms.  Not all thunderstorms have hail, but most hail is part of a thunderstorm.  Therefore, all the same warnings for thunderstorms apply.  You generally assume these kinds of storms can cause hail, even if many don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual warnings of thunderstorms are distant rumble, obvious building tall clouds upwind, crackle from AM radios, and or course weather reports.  Previous history in a particular area is also a good indicator.  For example in Flagstaff Arizona in August, there's probably a 70% chance of a thunderstorm by 13:00 even if the sky is perfectly clear in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These types of storms are usually relatively short-lived in any one particular place.  Typically, all the nasty weather is within a 30 minute window or so.  Heavy rain without the lightning and hail can persist longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T14:46:02.660" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6289" CreationDate="2016-03-02T16:19:16.710" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When free climbing with a partner the first time, I explain that he/she owes me a beer for every nut that I need the nut tool for. This drastically improves efficiency since it makes the leader realize that you do not need to over set a nut for it to be secure. For the few nuts I need a tool for, a slight tap is usually all it takes. Every once in a while (e.g., after a fall) I might need to bang on the nut to get it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for what I do with the tool, for free climbing, I tie the nut tool to a full strength carabiner (specifically an appropriately marked &quot;bail biner&quot;) with about 18 inches of cord/webbing. I then clip the nut tool directly to the carabiner and the climbing rope directly above my tie in knot. While putting it in this position gets in the way a little and cuts down on the efficiency of using the tool, it is not too bad. I think it is offset by the fact that I do not need to do anything to use the tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For difficult import beer style stuck nuts (i.e., ones that a light tap does not get it out), I curse out my partner so it does not happen again. Then I unclip the nut tool from the climbing rope and clip it directly to the nut while leaving the nut attached to the climbing rope though the draw/sling. I let the nut tool hang from the short piece of cord so it has full mobility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T16:19:16.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11075" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11088" CreationDate="2016-03-02T16:48:45.627" Score="17" ViewCount="10664" Body="&lt;p&gt;One complaint about using the Munter hitch for belaying is that it twists and kinks the rope. After doing a full rope length rappel with a Munter hitch down a slightly overhanging face to the base of the climb, what is the best way for a pair of climber to get the twists and kinks out of the climbing rope (you can assume the rope is still hanging from the anchors and the climbers are standing on a wide open and secure area).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T04:37:49.227" Title="How to get kinks and twists out of a climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11075" CreationDate="2016-03-02T16:55:23.730" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The one way I know to remove the twists from a climbing rope, requires for the rope &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to be hanging &lt;em&gt;nor&lt;/em&gt; in use in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The procedure is quite simple but may require help from your partner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have your parter attach an ATC with a carabiner to the belay loop in her harness (if your partner is otherwise engaged, you can tie the ATC and carabiner to a rock or tree with some webbing).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Push one end of the rope through the ATC in the way you'd use it to belay (through the top of the ATC, around the carabiner, and back out through the ATC).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the full rope length through the system.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's it. For &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; twisted ropes you might have to do it more than once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T16:55:23.730" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11066" CreationDate="2016-03-02T17:35:35.857" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A Munter hitch can brake regardless of the orientation of the brake strand.  It provides the greatest braking force in the &quot;closed&quot; position (the brake strand running alongside the load strand), and a lesser force in the open position.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ropelab.com.au/munter-hitch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;first site I found with testing&lt;/a&gt; found the following brake force values (tested with 11mm rope):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy one-handed braking: 0.9kN open, 1.2kN closed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Both hands, solid stance: 1.9kN open, 3.4kN closed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reviewing to Table 3 from a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/10564/panorama_0204_sich_10564.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;DAV Panorama article&lt;/a&gt; testing belay device loads, this is comparable to other belay devices and inline with numbers reported elsewhere around the internet (~2.5kN in the closed position).  Unfortunately I was unable to locate previous test reports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The positioning of the load strand relative to the spine tends to vary across the literature, in some cases both forms may be depicted in the same book.  There are potential arguments for either position; the strongest in my opinion being that having the brake strand closest to the spine keeps it from inadvertently rolling over and unscrewing the gate of the carabiner.  (Or the gate may have edges that could damage the running rope.)  Testing done on the clove hitch (a structurally similar knot) &lt;a href=&quot;http://mikemclean.ca/ocd/wp-content/uploads/observations-of-the-clove-hitch.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;show no strength benefit&lt;/a&gt; to placing the load strand closest to the spine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using the recommended pear-shaped (or HMS) carabiner for the munter, the positioning of the load strand will tend to end up in the &quot;belly&quot; of the carabiner regardless of the brake strand orientation.  Refer to some of the pictures here in the &quot;Carabiner shape&quot; section:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ropelab.com.au/munter-hitch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ropelab.com.au/munter-hitch/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: &lt;em&gt;The Outdoor Knots Book&lt;/em&gt; by Clyde Soles mentions that the twists a Munter is often accused of creating comes from a case of &quot;pilot error&quot; -- when the brake strand is held out to the side.  Keeping the rope parallel is said to reduce or prevent this.  Ironically enough, other sources have listed contradictory advice.  (I have no data as to which is correct.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2016-03-03T00:06:38.553" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T00:06:38.553" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11067" CreationDate="2016-03-02T20:34:15.573" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the issues?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two issues here: the siting of official navigation cairns by whoever is responsible for maintaining the trail, and the building of unofficial cairns by visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Official cairns&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For official cairns, attitudes to waymarking vary widely in different countries based on local traditions and conditions. The locals will build and maintain any cairns that are required, and their decisions should be respected. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK we are broadly influenced by &quot;Unna's Rules&quot;, which emphasise that land should be left in its natural state so far as possible and that walkers should rely on their navigation skills. Even official cairns are kept to a minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unofficial cairns&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For unofficial cairns, it's not the role of visitors to alter the landscape. In the context of Europe, or of highly trafficked trails anywhere, I can't think of any valid reason for a visitor to build a cairn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These unofficial cairns are becoming a genuine menace here in the UK. In heavily used areas like Ben Nevis and the Lakes, local rangers and volunteers have to remove literally hundreds of cairns a year. They damage the landscape and can be misleading if not well sited. The new fad for stone-balancing isn't helping either - it's important that people dismantle their creations after they've been photographed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please leave no trace!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to summarise, if you're part of a ranger service or club maintaining a trail, it's more than likely that you will be following well established local guidelines honed through generations of experience. If you are just visiting, please leave well alone and enjoy the landscape as it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T20:34:15.573" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11075" CreationDate="2016-03-02T21:05:56.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Halbmastwurfsicherung (half clove hitch) or &quot;Munter Hitch&quot; was one of those accidental discoveries. Someone back in the day tied a clove hitch &lt;em&gt;wrong&lt;/em&gt; and discovered that the resulting knot had some potential application in belaying and descending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Munters are however, the WORST discovery ever made for your ropes, and should only be used in emergency situations, or as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only use munter hitches as a backup belay when I'm teaching kids how to rappel, and I never let the knot get tight unless I need to stop a fall. &lt;strong&gt;Never&lt;/strong&gt; use a munter hitch for rappelling if you have some other descending device to use instead. The only time I let people rappel on munters is from a rappel tower, when I'm teaching them knots and letting them gain some experience, I've never used one outside a controlled environment, and never plan to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best way to get the twist out of your rope&lt;/strong&gt; after rappelling on a munter, is to let the rope hang free. I never let my rope touch the ground when rappelling off my platform, that way the rope can twist in open air while you descend, and doesn't get all knotted up at the bottom, then when you get to the ground and untie from the rope, it mostly twists back. I try to alternate my descents on the rope by tying the munter both left and right handed, so it isn't twisting the rope the same way every time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have two people descending on a rope, you could have one go down on a right-handed munter, and the second on a left-handed munter, this may leave you with less of a knot at the bottom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tip:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If you're using a munter hitch as a result of failing to pack necessary gear, or dropping your device, then you can make an old school &lt;strong&gt;carabiner braking device&lt;/strong&gt;, which is what they used to do before dedicated descending devices were developed. You can build a minimalist carabiner braking device with only two carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oz2OE.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oz2OE.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image Source: Freedom of the Hills.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-02T21:42:32.600" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T21:42:32.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11080" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-02T21:18:05.750" Score="4" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lets assume I am abseiling multiple pitches with some tuber device and at some point at a belay I dropped the device. How do I improvise something that does the braking while descending? I still have standard climbing equipment like biners/slings just no braking device. The less equipment needed the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One obvious way is to use a Munter hitch, but as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11075/how-to-get-kinks-and-twists-out-of-a-climbing-rope&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; shows this results in serious twisting of the rope. So I am mostly interested in alternatives and if still is to be the Munter hitch, is there a convenient way to get both strands (loaded towards the top and unloaded towards the bottom) to be parallel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T22:16:51.750" Title="How to abseil without a descender device?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-03-03T10:23:05.853" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2016-03-02T21:51:10.303" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Carabiner Braking Device&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a braking device using only carabiners, which is how things were done before tubular devices, or braking plates:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Imvq.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Imvq.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: Freedom of the Hills&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T21:51:10.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2016-03-02T21:52:29.367" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing Magazine has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/rappel-without-a-belay-device/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an article&lt;/a&gt; about this situation. The basic game plan is to build an improvised tube device with four carabiners. The picture from the article is pretty clear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SUBFm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SUBFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;carabiner rappel device&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also do a carabiner wrap. It really is as simple as it seems you just wrap the rope around the spine of a carabiner until you get the friction you need/want. &lt;strong&gt;This will twist your rope&lt;/strong&gt; though which is something you wanted to avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tL04J.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tL04J.gif&quot; alt=&quot;carabiner wrap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are those that want to complicate things and make them fancier...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGLPR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGLPR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;three biner wrap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the three carabiner wrap you might be able to decrease friction as you go down the rope like a rack device. I've never used this technique so I can't say for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course depending on the angle of the rock or your level of daring you can do it with the rope alone as has been discussed &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/437/7995&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Z2AJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Z2AJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Dulfersitz method&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l4pCV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l4pCV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;natural/south african method&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T22:08:39.240" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2016-03-02T22:16:51.750" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have an ice axe, you can make a setup similar to the standard &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11081/3020&quot;&gt;&quot;carabiner braking device&quot;&lt;/a&gt; - use the ice-axe instead of the additional carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this setup, you can get away with using just one carabiner. Also, (not directly related to the question) it helps if you cannot use your braking device because your rope got soaked with water and froze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A disadvantage of this system is, it's less safe - the ice-axe may slip off because it's not secured in any way - so you should constantly check that it's not sliding out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T22:16:51.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11075" CreationDate="2016-03-02T22:27:30.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main trick for getting the kinks out of a rope after using a Munter is not getting them in in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Munter hitch differs from almost all other belay systems in the respect that the rope going in and the rope going out are to be kept &lt;em&gt;side-by-side&lt;/em&gt;.  With basically all other belay devices, the rope leaves the belay hand towards the belay device at the thumb.  With the Munter hitch, both rope going in and out being side-by-side, it's the pinky side instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blocking position for a Munter is with the belay rope pointing &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt;.  It still has enough friction when the belay rope points down (which is why some consider it &quot;good enough&quot; to use a Munter like any other belay device), but it moves uncontrollably about when switching rope direction and may position itself such that the rope unscrews the biner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old hands who position and use the Munter &lt;em&gt;correctly&lt;/em&gt; are not particularly well-received in climbing gyms since stupid newcomers tend to mimic their rope-handling, and while a Munter handled like any other device becomes quirky and rope-kinking but at least retains enough friction (unless it unscrews itself in the process), most other belay devices handled in the manner of a Munter do not provide sufficient friction for catching a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various special belay biners that try fixing and securing a biner where a wrong-sided Munter hitch will not move it about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this is where we are getting back to the kinked ropes: if you feed the rope in and out at the same side, the Munter bends the rope similarly in each direction.  Consequently, it will not kink.  Also more of the friction will be rope-around-biner friction rather than rope-to-rope friction, so the rope will also fray/fuzz less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for rappelling, feeding from the top is actually rather awkward.  So particularly the hardcore alpine Munter lovers will carry an eight for rappelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you rappelled using a Munter, particularly as a bottomfeeder (make very very sure that it does not run over the screw), the rope will look exceptionally bad: this is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a regular technique but emergency only.  Have someone with a good rappelling device and a good mood rappel right behind you (and he can forget about using an autobloc or similar friction knot).  That will help the rope.  Passing it from one side to the other will also help, but that's not really doable when you still need to pull it.  At least try disentangling the end going up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days, new ropes have a core-mantle-displacement of 0 anyway.  Old ropes may not have been fixed similarly: those kink the worst.  If your rope is older than 15 years, you should have changed it long ago anyway.  Even if much of that has been shelf life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8965" LastActivityDate="2016-03-02T22:27:30.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11085" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11091" CreationDate="2016-03-02T23:16:49.800" Score="12" ViewCount="979" Body="&lt;p&gt;A kiteboat is essentially a boat that uses a kite instead of a sail for propulsion. This seems like an intriguing concept, and an interesting alternative to the traditional sailboat designs. As advocates of the sport the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://project.kiteboat.com/design/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Kiteboat Project&lt;/a&gt; has a big article on the advantages of a kiteboat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of a kiteboat over a traditional sailboat are manifold. As a kite pulls a boat, it does not also heel the boat over or pitch it forward as a sail does. This fact means that a kiteboat does not require large counterbalancing forces which, in opposing the heeling and pitching forces of a sail, create drag and present practical problems. The absence of this behavior means that the only limit on kite size is kite control, since increasing the power made by the kite does not require increasing ballast or beam, for example, which are limiting factors on a sailboat. Kites can fly higher than sails, too, which grants them access to stronger, steadier, higher-altitude winds, and kites can be maneuvered through the air to create more apparent wind. This maneuvering generates extra power, which is not possible with a fixed sail on a mast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, a kite lifts the boat out of the water as it propels it forward, which effectively reduces the displacement and decreases drag. While any boat would benefit from this boost, a hydrofoil benefits especially, because the kite reduces the amount of lift required from (and drag created by) the foils, and the lack of heeling and pitching forces makes reliably maintaining trim and ride height much more practicable. It is not necessary for a kiteboat to be a hydrofoil boat, but for us, this configuration represents a perfect marriage of technology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this is rather new technology and it would be hard to find support in the form of replacement parts on in an isolated island port. Apart from the maintenance burden that would impose what are the primary drawbacks to adopting this style of boat for long-term bluewater cruising?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T02:17:33.287" Title="What are the main disadvantages to a kiteboat in terms of long distance bluewater sailing?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5118" CreationDate="2016-03-03T00:29:51.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My philosophy when bailing from routes is to first try and escape to an easier route. If that fails try and down climb/down lead. If all else fails, rappel off a single bomber piece. Ideally the single piece is a bolt or natural feature, but if not a nut. I have never left a cam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My basic setup is as follows. Identify both a bomber placement and a second 2 or 3 piece anchor. All, but the lightest climber (possibly most experienced climber) rappel directly off the single piece, but backed up by the remaining anchor. The lightest climber cleans the backup anchor and then rappels gently on the single piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can argue that a life is worth more than a pair of cams, a bomber placement is designed to hold may times more force than body weight. By testing the piece while backed up, the risk of poor rock or misjudging the placement is drastically reduced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T00:29:51.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2016-03-03T00:49:40.247" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, what are your priorities?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one end of the scale you have fastpackers who aim to cover as much ground as possible and damn the discomfort. At the other end, you have people who want to hike a few miles and sit around a fire in their camp chairs cracking open ice-cold beers. These two groups have very different priorities. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, and that's what I'll discuss here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What's a realistic base-weight to go light but comfortable?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's take a long Alpine trip where I might encounter -5c and 70mph winds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I can be safe and comfortable with a 6kilo/13lb base weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit - these days I've refined my gear a bit and would have a 10-11 lb baseweight for cold alpine trekking. In more clement weather I could drop that by a pound or two. This is still for a pretty comfortable setup - hardcore minimalists could shave a little more off their weight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This includes a specialist bivy tent or shaped tarp with nest (around 750 grams), a winter-grade sleeping mat, inflatable pillow, autumn-weight quilt with sleeping clothing, ice cleats, water purifier, a Kindle, MP3 player, smartphone, PLB, camera, and battery pack or solar charger. So I'm hardly slumming it. This requires 15-20 liters of pack room depending on how much I compress my down. Modern equipment really does make a huge difference!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Achieving these weights just takes a bit of experience and a reasonable budget to buy the best specialist equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What about food and water?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're a medium sized guy on a tough walk you'll be burning 5000-6000 calories a day. On short trips you can undereat, but on longer trips you should be budgeting around 1 kilo per day for food. This assumes that you're selecting foods with a high calorie to weight ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days I mostly go stoveless. This would be a step too far for most but I like the simplicity, and it saves on weight and the hassle of finding fuel on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where are the areas you shouldn't be cutting corners?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a very strong recommendation here. If your pack weight is going to exceed 10 kilos or so, don't go for an unstructured pack to save weight. Over a long day, a good carrying lightweight pack beats a super-minimal pack every time despite a couple of ounces of additional weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I use Aarn packs, a little known New Zealand company that have re-thought pack ergonomics from the ground up. It's the best balanced and most stable pack I've used, and only weighs 1.5 kilos for 50 litres. You wouldn't believe how much difference this pack makes as the miles rack up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4eU6j.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4eU6j.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also counsel you not to skimp on warm sleeping gear. On long trips, cold and discomfort at night can become exhausting and demoralising. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where are the key savings that many people miss?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everyone understands that what you put on your feet is just as important as what you put on your back. On difficult ground, a lb on your feet is equivalent to around 6 lbs on your back. Transitioning from heavy leather boots to lightweight trail shoes can save the equivalent of 15 lbs from you pack. These days all the long-distance walkers are using lightweight footwear. The idea that heavy boots are safer for mountain walking is a myth, but that's another discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The take-home message&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Provided you can afford a bit of a premium for the best kit you can venture out in tough 3-4 season conditions with a base weight of under 6 kilos and a food allowance of 1 kilo per day. The days of huge packs are over - if you're prepared to go simply but comfortably you really shouldn't need more than this outside of very cold conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shorter trips and clement conditions, you can go even lighter. Experience will show what you can leave behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2019-01-09T13:27:02.753" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T13:27:02.753" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11075" CreationDate="2016-03-03T02:58:34.270" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good grief.  The question was about getting the kinks out, not the merits of the Munter (which is invaluable, see  David Fasulo's &lt;em&gt;Self Rescue&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;best&lt;/strong&gt; option, while on the rock, esp. if it is a nice day, is to hang your rope from one end, and slightly weight the other (to keep it from blowing around, tangling in trees, whatever).  If you have a swivel (e.g. like you would use on a haul bag), you can use that to connect the rope to any anchor and tension the rope (this can be in a parking lot, just be sure that the car you tie it to is your own).  Both of these will gently uncoil the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to do an old-fashioned mountaineers coil and just make sure you are twisting the rope in the correct direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8967" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T02:58:34.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11075" CreationDate="2016-03-03T04:25:32.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Avoid the problem with a better solution&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoiding the twisting in the first place surely is best, and there is a simple way to do that:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/svEXO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the Super Munter, Monster Munter, or Double Munter.  It is essentially a second Munter tied over the first in the opposite direction, and this symmetry means that &lt;em&gt;it does not twist the rope&lt;/em&gt;.  It provides tremendous braking power but it also works with lighter weight as well.  References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntersuper/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntersuper/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages:&lt;/strong&gt; The Super Munter overcomes one of the problems with the plain Munter. The extra turn stops the knot introducing kinks and twists in the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ulTTrhfCvs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ulTTrhfCvs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It has the advantages of adding friction to a lower and most important does NOT TWIST THE ROPE! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2010/06/super-munter.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2010/06/super-munter.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It creates a tremendous amount of friction and doesn't have one of the main problems of the munter-hitch, it doesn't tangle the rope. Indeed, the action of the rope as it goes through the super-munter twists the rope and then twists it back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Attempting to answer the question as asked&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the separate parts of a standard kernmantle rope twists can happen differentially between the core and sheath (kern and mantle) which can make completely straitening a badly kinked rope quite difficult compared to single-braid ropes.  From my experience with shorter pieces of kernmantle cord I think tensioning the entire length of rope at once and untwisting that is a helpful complement to the pull-through method Roflo described.  Since you described an overhanging rappel I would therefore bundle up all the rope that is on the ground and tie it to the hanging rope so that it is off the ground, and add any practical weight that is small enough to turn freely.  The greatest twisting should be in the part that is not in the bundle as that part did not pass through the Munter.  When you pull the rope what twisting remains will hopefully come out well enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I have never done a full-length rappel on a (single) Munter so this is speculation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2016-03-03T04:37:49.227" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T04:37:49.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11071" CreationDate="2016-03-03T06:35:54.287" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a possibility that your lips are catching on your knock points. It can take a few arrows to get your form at the start of a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to have brass knock points as well. After a while I replaced them with string floss (the one used for teeth) sealed with glue. It eliminated the problem for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T06:35:54.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11085" CreationDate="2016-03-03T12:57:58.977" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The examples on the site only show inshore sports sailing with a hydrofoil. This does look like fun, and downwind performance can be exceptional. Though I doubt that inshore fleet racing would be possible as the kites would surely get tangled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for bluewater sailing, it seems that no-one is arguing that it is practical with current technology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Masts hold sails up in light air, but a kite is going to fall at times. Even with adequate wind speed they need careful nursing to prevent stalling. Fallen rigs are hard to handle and relaunch can be impossible in difficult conditions. Do you fancy having the kite and rigging under your hull in the Southern Ocean? Or tangled under another boat in congested waters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With current designs the minimum practical wind-speed is around 10k per hour. At present lighter-than-air kites that would stay aloft in light winds (using helium, for example) aren't seen as workable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In tight situations such as busy ports or estuaries the kite would also be impractical and probably dangerous. In the demo films they are sometimes flying over other people's masts which seems pretty questionable. And they only just made it under the Golden Gate, so most bridges would be too low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another major issue is upwind performance. Current kite designs have a lift-to-drag ratio of around half that of a conventional rig, meaning that they can make less than half the speed upwind. Tacking is tricky, so you are generally restricted to gybing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are also restricted to sailing light hulls, as the largest workable kites are still quite small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the question of handling gusts and squalls. With current kite designs control is cumbersome and there is a real possibility of structural failure, or of the hull being lifted out of the water with catastrophic results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are potential technical solutions to these issues it seems that they are still some way off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So at first sight this looks like a cool idea with a somewhat limited range of application - at least for the time being.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peterlynnhimself.com/Kites_For_Yachts.php#top&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.peterlynnhimself.com/Kites_For_Yachts.php#top&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcss.org/speedsl/Whykites.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dcss.org/speedsl/Whykites.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T10:31:57.743" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T10:31:57.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11069" CreationDate="2016-03-03T15:16:37.810" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to distinguish hail from a thunderstorm you should know how the temperature is decreasing with altitude. Generally if it decreases really fast you have formation of hail. &lt;em&gt;(Edit: you mentioned dew point, this is where condensation of warm hair happens, freezing level is not the same thing and it will be located somewhere higher than the dew point. Knowing the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate and the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate is necessary to find cloudbase and freezing level. Im not sure how much in depth you want to go with these things so I will let you do the research on it. A pilot course booklet will have a simple explanation of the whole thing)&lt;/em&gt; Where I'm from this happens and hail is fairly common in certain periods of the year, so &lt;strong&gt;season&lt;/strong&gt; becomes one of the indications in those cases. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dry air&lt;/strong&gt; at a certain altitude will lower the freezing level in the atmosphere, a lower freezing level means that eventual hail wont have the time to melt into drops like it would if it had to fall longer through a warmer air layer. For the same reason places at higher altitudes would be closer to the normal freezing level. I don't think you can know how dry is the air at a certain altitude with a simple weather station that gets datas only from ground level. What you know, though, is that certain places tend to often have this dry middle layer and so &lt;strong&gt;location&lt;/strong&gt; becomes an indicator for you as those are informations you can find. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wind&lt;/strong&gt;, higher up, that you can more or less tell from looking at the clouds before the event and around (movement and plumes). In a thunderstorm you have strong updrafts and downdrafts, if vertical and in all directions (that, I guess, you would know collecting live datas from various weather stations in the region if you want to use want to use only simple datas) you tend to have a short or failed thunderstorm but if there is high wind higher up (speed wind shear where higher altitude winds are much faster than ground levels) you find that it can push the updraft sideways (updraft and downdraft will form a sort of Λ ) so that the feed of warmer hair is maintained and the updraft speed (Upward Vertical Velocity, if you want to look it up on your own) will be high and hail and violent thunderstorms (or worse) can result between updraft and downdraft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, where I'm from, farmers look at storm clouds approaching and if these present lighter streaks they know hail is coming (and you used to start hearing hail cannons). For this reasons &lt;strong&gt;clouds&lt;/strong&gt; become another indication, with short notice though. Once I started paragliding, skydiving and kayaking weather forecast and satellite datas became much more important and reliable than anything else to figure out possibilities of hail storms much earlier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if where you live the weather is so unpredictable to not match anything above there wont be much simple datas you can collect yourself at ground level that will give much notice. If you want to collect weather informations available on the net to make your own forecasts you obviously can, learning a bit of meteorology, but at that point you find the forecasts already prepared for you and probably more reliable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: with the data you listed alone, no you can't tell what’s gonna come down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2016-03-04T23:14:34.543" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T23:14:34.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5118" CreationDate="2016-03-03T21:04:17.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer in my mind is simple and straight forward. &lt;strong&gt;Leave the minimum amount of gear required to make a good/acceptable anchor everytime.&lt;/strong&gt;  What that looks like will depend on the situation at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases this will be two carabiners and a sling, in others it will be three big cams and a cordelette. If you're lucky then it might be nothing due to a convenient string of rappel stations. If you're &lt;strong&gt;really unlucky&lt;/strong&gt; you have to improvise an anchor out of materials on hand, and pray like hell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really worried about losing a couple of cams because they're expensive to replace, remember that &lt;strong&gt;just because you retreat today it doesn't mean you can't come back&lt;/strong&gt;. I've had to retreat off of a route before due to poor planning, inexperience, youthful arrogance, and a rapidly descending sun. We left a few cams and a fixed rope on the route. I couldn't afford to lose that gear so you bet your butt we were at the base of the route at the crack of dawn the next day. It took us most of the day but we recovered all the gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moral of the story is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use what you have to in order to retreat safely. Then come back and recover your gear as soon as possible.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-03T21:09:53.343" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11096" CreationDate="2016-03-03T21:04:22.810" Score="6" ViewCount="311" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have many trees on my land that need to be cut down. I would like to know what suitable workflows there are for the whole process. Should I cut a tree down, cut it up into small pieces, and split the pieces to make firewood all in one step? Or should I cut many trees down and move them to a separate area to process the wood? I would like efficiency to be a high priority. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: Assume the following equipment - 5x8 trailer with winch, 18&quot; chainsaw, sledge hammer, splitting axe. 10-15 trees. All are 50' or taller. They range from 10&quot;-18&quot; in diameter. I have all summer to do this. There will be at most 2-3 people working at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:04:08.873" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:04:08.873" Title="What is a suitable workflow for cutting down trees?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-03-04T16:50:59.717" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11095" CreationDate="2016-03-03T21:27:06.923" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the purpose of my answer I'm going to assume there aren't any special considerations like a tall tree on a small lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I think this is the best procedure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut down one tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trim off all the branches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Build a big pile of small branches that aren't useful for firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. Load this stuff into a trailer and dispose of it as appropriate when you have a full trailer worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b. Alternatively you can run this stuff through a wood chipper and sell/use the chips. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cut the bigger branches into a length that will fit in your and/or your customer's fireplace comfortably.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut the trunk into rounds the same length as the branches in step 4.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load the rounds/branches into the trailer once you have a trailer full.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stack the rounds at your house.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat the steps 1 through 7 until you've cut the amount of wood you need and/or you need to use some firewood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Split the rounds and put them into a different stack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat the cycle as needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main benefits of this plan are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't risk leaving wood to rot on the ground because something comes up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can split wood in the evenings at home on days when you couldn't go out and cut down trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have some shade while you're chopping up the tree into manageable bits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't risk having too much wood at once.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The animals can still use the trees until you need them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't overuse the same group of muscles. (Thanks &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/6411/ab2&quot;&gt;ab2&lt;/a&gt;!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T17:16:30.483" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11016" CreationDate="2016-03-03T23:47:02.690" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The animal may startle causing harm to itself or others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example  &lt;a href=&quot;http://natureworkshops.com/stress-on-animals/#Go&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nature Workshops&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild animals that have been approached too closely, have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Been startled and run into traffic where they have been hit by vehicles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lost footing on cliffs and fallen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fled suddenly and suffered injury or death while trying to escape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Been separated from their young or abandoned their nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Been distracted from watching for predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Acquired a human scent track that can lure predators to nests or young.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Abandoned an important food source, reducing their chances for survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Responded aggressively without warning, posing a danger to those watching them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only aggression poses a direct threat to you, but all of them are bad for the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T14:47:51.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11016" CreationDate="2016-03-04T00:46:59.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should consider that an angry or surprised deer can decide to attack.  Deer kill people, excluding the 120 to 200 or so by auto accident in the US, deer also kill by attacking. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/16/chart-the-animals-that-are-most-likely-to-kill-you-this-summer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;reference1&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/5883606/fear-the-deernatures-unstoppable-killing-machines&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;reference2&lt;/a&gt; I was not able to find accurate numbers but in the US count seems to be less then 52 per year, probably in the 1 to 5 range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-03-04T17:28:52.570" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T17:28:52.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11016" CreationDate="2016-03-04T16:59:22.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three things deer will pick up on&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sound -  Especially sharp sounds like leaves crunching and twigs snapping are the worst.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Movement - Deer see movement pretty well and will alert on it.  Move really slowly.  Also be aware of your stance and your heartbeat.  For instance, once when sitting my pulse was causing my foot to jump in time.  The deer noticed that and alerted to me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smell - As you mention, you will need to approach such that the wind will not blow your smell to them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another item to be aware of is that they will also react to a sudden change of behavior.  I've been walking noisily in the woods with friends and passed within 20' of deer that didn't care at all until we changed behavior (stopped talked, stopped walking, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are approaching, try to only move when their heads are down.  Watch for tail swishing as they do this more when agitated.  If they are agitated, just chill and be still for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out by James, large herbivores are not harmless.  They may run away when you surprise them (which you eventually will) or they may decide to trample and gore you.  The average person is no match for even a smallish buck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-04T19:42:49.333" LastActivityDate="2016-03-04T19:42:49.333" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11102" CreationDate="2016-03-04T23:19:10.510" Score="27" ViewCount="3134" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone I have ever been camping with seems to have an unwritten rule never to drink from streams no matter how clear they might seem, for fear of Giardia. I have also heard people telling about having to go to the doctor for a pill and &quot;living&quot; on the toilet for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even as recent as the 1900s, people have been out exploring and drank from streams with no hesitation, but I don't hear stories about people dying (or suffering greatly) from Giardia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, my real question is: Have our bodies become weaker somehow? Or why is everyone so scared of it now, when no one seemed to care before?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:58.443" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:58.443" Title="Why are people so worried about Giardia?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11100" CreationDate="2016-03-05T02:38:09.667" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question doesn't state what geographical area it's about, and it really isn't possible to give an answer that covers everything. In this answer, I'm only going to deal with pristine backcountry areas in North America, such as the Sierra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to interpret the scientific evidence properly, it's necessary to understand some scientific background about Giardia and giardiasis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The human gut is naturally teeming with microorganisms. These are known as your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;gut flora&lt;/a&gt; or gut microbiome. Most of these are bacteria, but quite a few are other organisms, including protozoans such as Giardia. Some of these critters in your intestines are beneficial or even necessary for your metabolism, while others may be neutral or harmful. People tend to develop tolerance for their own gut flora, but can get sick from other people's. The gut microbiome tends to be more diverse among people in the developing world, less so in the developed world, and this decreased diversity may actually be a bad thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Giardia is present in about 3-7% of adults in the US, about 30% in the developing world.[Auerbach 2012] Among toddlers in the US, roughly a third have it.[Ish-Horowicz 1989] Most people who have Giardia as part of their gut flora have no symptoms at all, which is why you don't see a third of toddlers with miserable cases of diarrhea at any given time. Among people who do have symptoms, the condition is normally mild and self-limiting. For unknown reasons, there is a small portion of the population that tolerates Giardia badly if newly introduced to it, and these people have unpleasant diarrhea for some period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Giardia is present in surface water in the form of dormant cysts. These cysts tend to resist being killed by chlorine. You can pick up Giardia by drinking water that contains cysts, but what was not realized in the 1970s, during the initial Giardia public-health panic, was that Giardia is also transmissible through hand-to-mouth contamination. In the context of backpacking, this would something like the following. A and B go backpacking together. A has Giardia in her gut microbiome, and she tolerates it and has never had any symptoms. B doesn't have it. A poops and doesn't wash her hands, and then A and B have dinner together and share pots and pans. B eats food that is contaminated with A's Giardia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people use Giardia as a sort of generic term, like &quot;xerox&quot; or &quot;kleenex.&quot; For this reason, it is common to hear backpackers claim that they &quot;got Giardia,&quot; when all they really know is that they got sick. They could have had some other condition, they could have had giardiasis but contracted it somewhere else, or they could have gotten a bug through hand-to-mouth contamination from their hiking partners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often people will make this claim when they got sick during the hike. This is unlikely. When an animal is infected by a parasite, there's a prepatent period, which is the time from infection with a parasite to when the bugs reach a life stage where they can be detected by a lab test. There's also an incubation period, which is the time from infection to symptoms. For most parasites, the prepatent period is shorter than the incubation period, but for Giardia it's often longer. A 1954 study on prison volunteers showed an average prepatent period of 9 days, but there's a wide range of variation, and the incubation period can be as long as months. In a study of travelers to the Soviet Union, the typical time until acute symptoms occurred was found to be a couple of weeks. In about two thirds of patients, the prepatency period was longer than the incubation period by a week or more. In summary, if someone gets backpacker's diarrhea while on a weekend backpacking trip, it's very unlikely that it was caused by giardiasis that they acquired during the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated above, my answer only deals with pristine backcountry areas in North America. Some studies have surveyed water in these areas for Giardia.[Suk 1986],[Jaret 2003] The water was extremely clean, and huge volumes of it had to be filtered in order to pick up any detectable number of Giardia cysts. For example, there were sites in the Sierra where they filtered 100 gallons of water and didn't detect a single Giardia cyst left over in the filter. In most of the locations where cysts were detected, the concentrations were so low that they have to be expressed in scientific notation. In low-use areas, they ranged from zero to about 5x10^-3 per liter, while one high-use area had about 0.1 per liter. Elsewhere in the U.S., similar testing also found extremely low concentrations all of the backcountry locations tested: West Beaver Creek, AZ; Merced River, CA; Chattooga River, NC;&#xA;Neversink River, NY; White Pine Lake, UT; Greenwater River, WA; and Renard Lake, WI.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From these studies, it appears that if you spend a weekend drinking untreated water in pristine backcountry areas in the US, you will typically not ingest a single Giardia cyst. We then need to do a risk-benefit analysis. This raises the question of how many cysts you need to swallow in order to have a certain chance of getting infected, as well as the chance that this will cause symptoms. The best single source of information on the first question is a 1954 study by Rendtorff that used prison volunteers; the data are summarized and analyzed further by [Cox 2002] and [Rose 1991]. Roughly speaking, you have to ingest about 20-30 cysts to be likely to get an infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be interesting to know whether there is a threshold effect, i.e., whether or not there is some chance, however small, of getting sick by swallowing a single cyst. The data are not sufficient to determine this. Rose introduces a mathematical model in which it is &lt;em&gt;assumed&lt;/em&gt; that each cyst has some probability p of setting up shop in your gut, but this is an assumption of the model, and is not testable based on the data, which used higher doses. Rose's model is also not consistent with data showing that even when people drink very highly contaminated water, there is still only about a 50% chance of contracting giardiasis.[Wilkerson 1992] In this type of study, one of the confounding factors is that the minimum infectious dose can vary depending on the strain of the microorganism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do pick up a giardia infection, and if you weren't already an asymptomatic carrier, then it appears that your chance of developing symptoms is about one in 10.[Wilkerson 1992]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on these numbers, we can make at least a rough order-of-magnitude estimate of the risk associated with drinking backcountry water. Suppose you go on a weekend hiking trip in the Sierra and drink 6 liters of untreated water. In low-use areas, the concentration of Giardia cysts in your water appears to average about 3x10^-3 per liter. Based on Rose's model, take the probability of infection to be about p=.02 per cyst. If infection occurs, the chance of getting symptoms (which are in most cases mild) is on the order of 0.1. Multiplying these factors, we arrive at a probability of about 4x10^-5 that you will get Giardia symptoms. That is, under these assumptions, out of a million people who do this, about 40 are expected to get diarrhea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This estimate appears to conflict with a study by Zell,[Zell 1993] which states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The incidence of Giardia cyst acquisition in backcountry travelers was&#xA;  only 5.7% (95% CI 0.17–20.2%). Mild, self-limiting gastrointestinal&#xA;  illness occurred in 16.7% of subjects (95% CI 4.9%–34.50%), none of&#xA;  whom demonstrated G. lamblia infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although none of the people in the study who had Giardia got symptoms, this rate of infection is many orders of magnitude higher than would have been expected from water contamination based on the Rendroff-Rose data and modeling. Unfortunately the Zell article is paywalled, so I can only see the abstract, but it appears that he would have had no way to tell whether the people who acquired infections got them from contaminated water or from hand-to-mouth contamination. In any case, Zell's conclusion is that water treatment is of marginal cost-effectiveness, given the low risk and the fact that the infection is self-limiting and usually asymptomatic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reality check we can do is to compare the concentrations of Giardia in backcountry water with the concentrations in city tap water. This is complicated by the fact that Giardia cysts, whether found in backcountry water or tap water, may be nonviable, and surveys cannot usually determine their viability. Historically, city tap water has been getting cleaner and cleaner, especially in the developed world. However, it appears to have been normal in 20th-century America for city tap water to contain concentrations of Giardia cysts that are similar to or greater than the concentrations found in backcountry areas of the US.[Rockwell 2002] It would be interesting to get more detailed information on this from someone who has professional-level knowledge of US water supplies and their history.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A meta-analysis of the literature in 2000 concluded that &quot;the evidence for an association between drinking backcountry water and acquiring giardiasis is minimal.&quot;[Welch 2000] When people do actually contract backpacker's diarrhea from exposure during a hiking trip, by far the most common reason is hand-to-mouth contamination.[Welch 1995]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Auerbach 2012 - Paul S. Auerbach, Wilderness Medicine (6th ed., 2012), ch. 68&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cox 2002 - Cox, F.E.G. (2002). History of Human Parasitology. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 15(4): 595&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Erlandsen 1984 - Erlandsen, Giardia and giardiasis: biology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology, 1984.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ish-Horowicz 1989 - Ish-Horowicz et al., &quot;Asymptomatic giardiasis in children,&quot; Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1989 Nov;8(11):773-9. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jaret 2003 - Peter Jaret, &quot;What's In the Water?,&quot; Backpacker, Dec. 2003, p. 45.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jokipii, The Lancet, Volume 309:1095. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rockwell 2002 - Robert L. Rockwell, Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 2, January 2002, &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rose 1991 - Rose, Haas, and Regli, &quot;Risk assessment and control of waterborne Giardiasis,&quot; Am J Public Health 81 (1991) 709, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1405147/pdf/amjph00206-0039.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1405147/pdf/amjph00206-0039.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suk 1986 - Map cited as reference 17 in S.C. Zell, &quot;Epidemiology of wilderness-acquired diarrhea: implications for prevention and treatment,&quot; Wilderness and Environmental Medicine 3 (1992) 241, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S0953-9859(92)71235-2/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S0953-9859(92)71235-2/abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Welch 1995 - Thomas R. Welch and Timothy P. Welch, &quot;Giardiasis as a threat to backpackers in the United States: a survey of state health departments,&quot; Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 6 (1995) 162, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2895%2971046-8/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2895%2971046-8/abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Welch 2000 - Welch, T.P. &quot;Risk of giardiasis from consumption of wilderness water in North America: a systematic review of epidemiologic data,&quot; Int J Infect Dis. 2000;4:103100, &lt;a href=&quot;http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/1201-9712/PIIS1201971200901024.pdf?refuid=S1080-6032(04)70498-6&amp;amp;refissn=1080-6032&amp;amp;mis=.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/1201-9712/PIIS1201971200901024.pdf?refuid=S1080-6032(04)70498-6&amp;amp;refissn=1080-6032&amp;amp;mis=.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilkerson 1992 - Wilkerson, James A., MD:  Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities. The Mountaineers, 4th edition, 1992 (referenced in Rockwell, &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://web.archive.org/web/20051026030831/www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zell 1993 - Zell and Sorenson, &quot;Cyst acquisition rate for Giardia lamblia in backcountry travelers to Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe,&quot; Journal of Wilderness Medicine 4 (1993) 147.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-03-14T05:00:10.743" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T05:00:10.743" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11100" CreationDate="2016-03-05T05:28:13.343" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why are People so Worried About Giardia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because giardia is commonly found in backcountry water and it is known to make some people very sick. The EPA says [giardia] &quot;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-10/documents/giardia-report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cysts have been found all months of the year in surface waters from the Arctic to the tropics in even the most pristine of surface waters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&quot; [a]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Or why is everyone so scared of it now, when no one seemed to care before?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/176718-overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Its role as a pathogenic organism was not recognized until the 1970s&lt;/a&gt; Additionally, while most wilderness-acquired diarrhea normally resolves itself in a day or two, symptomatic giardiasis is often much more serious. One study of verified cases found that the average victim of giardiasis was sick 3.8 weeks and lost 12 pounds. [d] In rarer cases giardiasis may lead to more serious &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v19/i47/8974.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;complications&lt;/a&gt;. [L]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paper &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1405147/pdf/amjph00206-0039.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Risk assessment and control of waterborne giardiasis&lt;/a&gt;&quot; found that the minimum infective dose is ONE giardia cyst with one cyst estimated to be a 2% risk. [b] [i] It is a fallacy that it takes a minimum of 10 cysts for a giardiasis infection to occur. That is based on a misrepresentation of the famous &lt;a href=&quot;http://bucktrack.com/water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rendtorff study&lt;/a&gt;. [h] &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been documented outbreaks among backpackers from drinking water, as reported in &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cste.confex.com/cste/2015/webprogram/Paper4528.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outbreak of Giardiasis Associated with Drinking Surface Water Along a Hiking Trail&lt;/a&gt;&quot; (2015) and &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/937629&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;An outbreak of giardiasis in a group of campers&lt;/a&gt;&quot; and others.[c] [f] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1404799/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Less than 1% of giardiasis cases are part of outbreaks&lt;/a&gt;.[g]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paper &quot;Giardiasis in Colorado: an epidemiologic study&quot; which looked at only lab-verified giardiasis cases concluded: &lt;em&gt;an increased incidence of giardiasis [was shown for those who] camped out overnight (38% vs. 18%), and drank untreated mountain water (50% vs. 17%), p less than .001. Also identified was a correlation between the seasonal distribution of cases and degree of fecal contamination of mountain streams….&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/848482&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;drinking untreated mountain water is an important cause of endemic infection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; [my bold] [d]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of 2016, there is a broad consensus by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6403a2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.%20cfsan.%20fda.%20gov/~%20mow/intro.%20html&quot;&gt;FDA&lt;/a&gt;, EPA, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giardia-infection/basics/risk-factors/con-20024686&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mayo Clinic&lt;/a&gt; and state health departments that giardiasis is common [with an estimated 1.2 million cases annually, with about half or less symptomatic] and that campers and hikers drinking untreated surface water are among those at greatest risk [a] [e] [i] [j]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the CDC summarized the issue well: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5709.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Although the advice to universally filter and disinfect backcountry drinking water to prevent disease has been debated, the health consequences of ignoring that standard water treatment advice have been documented…&lt;/a&gt; [k]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wrote this article about &lt;a href=&quot;http://appalachiantrials.com/should-you-treat-water-in-the-backcountry-what-science-says/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;what science says&lt;/a&gt; about treating backcountry water. It contains numerous citations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put together this &lt;a href=&quot;http://bucktrack.com/water.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;long list of scientific papers related to backcountry water pathogens&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't worry about treating water, I just do it. It's easy, a lot easier than dealing with three bad cases of giardiasis, I can tell you that from  personal experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a: Environmental Protection Agency “Giardia: Drinking Water Health Advisory” &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b: Rose, Joan B., Charles N. Haas, and Stig Regli. “Risk assessment and control of waterborne giardiasis.” American journal of public health 81.6 (1991): 709-713. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c: Gretsch, Stephanie. “&lt;a href=&quot;https://cste.confex.com/cste/2015/webprogram/Paper4528.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outbreak of Giardiasis Associated with Drinking Surface Water Along a Hiking Trail&lt;/a&gt;.” 2015 CSTE Annual Conference. Cste, 2015.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;d: WRIGHT, RICHARD A., et al. “Giardiasis in Colorado: an epidemiologic study.” American journal of epidemiology 105.4 (1977): 330-336. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e: Painter, Julia E., et al. “Giardiasis Surveillance—United States, 2011–2012.” Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, DC: 2002) 64 (2015): 15-25. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;f: Barbour, Alan G., Craig R. Nichols, and Taira Fukushima. “An outbreak of giardiasis in a group of campers.” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 25.3 (1976): 384-389. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;g: Petersen, Lyle R., Matthew L. Cartter, and James L. Hadler. “A food-borne outbreak of Giardia lamblia.” The Journal of infectious diseases (1988): 846-848. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;h: RENDTORFF, ROBERT C. &quot;The experimental transmission of human intestinal protozoan parasites. II. Giardia lamblia cysts given in capsules.&quot; American Journal of Hygiene 59.2 (1954): 209-20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;i: Microorganisms, Foodborne Pathogenic, and Natural Toxins Handbook. &quot;Bad Bug Book.&quot; Center for Food Safety &amp;amp; Applied Nutrition. Accessed October 24 (2005).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;j: Mayo Clinic, Diseases and Conditions Giardia infection (giardiasis) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;k: Yoder, Jonathan, et al. “Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with drinking water and water not intended for drinking–United States, 2005-2006.” Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, DC: 2002) 57.9 (2008): 39-62. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;l: Halliez, M. C., and André G. Buret. &quot;Extra-intestinal and long term consequences of Giardia duodenalis infections.&quot; World J Gastroenterol 19.47 (2013): 8974-8985.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastEditorUserId="8973" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T01:13:53.787" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T01:13:53.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11104" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-05T18:32:25.923" Score="7" ViewCount="443" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kiva.org/lend/1031462&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;loan on Kiva and found this loan in Lesotho (Africa)&lt;/a&gt; The product people are borrowing money for is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.africancleanenergy.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ACE 1 Ultra-Clean Biomass Cookstove&lt;/a&gt; which sounds fantastic. It is designed for use in very rural areas, it is a high efficiency stove that burns any biomass (wood, dung, corncobs, etc) produces low to no smoke.  AND it includes a solar charger, light and USB port for charging your phone. It weighs 4.6 Kg (10 pounds) so it would not be a great backpacking choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it sounds like a great addition to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256/&quot;&gt;bike/canoe&lt;/a&gt; adventure. It has been out for a couple of years.  I looked around for user reviews and didn't find anything.  It is principally designed for rural home use, and I am considering hauling it around in my canoe behind my bicycle.  So a couple of related questions. I don't have any question about it's efficiency, the claims made and the supporting documentation seem reasonable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there anything comparable to this by other manufactures?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What kind of durability is it reasonable to expect?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As single summary question, is this a product I can expect to holdup to the hazards of bike trails and rivers? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Given considerations, it weights a lot and it is not water proof. I can accept these limitations&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T17:21:14.023" Title="Is the ACE 1 Ultra-Clean Biomass Cookstove too good to be true?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11105" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11108" CreationDate="2016-03-05T22:11:46.493" Score="3" ViewCount="1247" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to buy an axe for processing firewood. I don't require a head larger than a hatchet but, for safety, I would rather have a handle long enough to comfortably grip with both hands -- as this would make it impossible for me to accidentally hit my own hand and remove the urge to steady the wood with my free hand. It would be very helpful if this type of axe had a name. Trying to find such an axe online is made difficult by not knowing what to call it. Does this type of axe have a name? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can easily buy a longer axe but every axe I have found seems to have a head in proportion to the length, and I would also like to minimise weight if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8977" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:01:16.380" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:01:16.380" Title="What do you call a long-handled hatchet?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2016-03-06T13:47:09.290" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlikely to help unless a tea bag is handy but the tannins in black tea bags contain tranexamic acid which helps clot blood. Just had 5 hours of bleeding from a leech which didn't stop with heavy bandaging and elevation of my leg. I applied a tea bag I had wet in tap water for 5 mins and it hasn't bled since. Old medical trick. Its like an antidote to the chemical in the leech's saliva which actually stops you from clotting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8978" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T13:47:09.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9934" CreationDate="2016-03-06T17:01:20.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a reasonable guess would be jellyfish larvae, also known as &quot;sea lice.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sea lice are actually the microscopic larvae of jellyfish and other&#xA;  ocean stingers which contain the same nematocysts (stinging cells) as&#xA;  mommy and daddy.&#xA;  (They) are probably the most commonly encountered stinging threat to divers and swimmers at the beach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a wide range of symptoms: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Common symptoms of sea lice stings include an intensely itchy red rash&#xA;  with small blisters and elevated areas of skin.  These painful and&#xA;  unsightly lesions may appear anywhere on the body but are often&#xA;  concentrated in areas covered by swimwear as large numbers of larvae&#xA;  often become trapped in these regions.  Severe reactions to sea lice&#xA;  exposure may include fever, chills, headaches, nausea and vomiting,&#xA;  especially in children.  Extreme allergic reactions may require&#xA;  hospitalization in rare cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buysafesea.com/sea_lice.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these resources&lt;/a&gt; from &quot;Buy Safe Sea&quot; but googling &quot;Singapore sea lice&quot; will bring up many references to a stinging sensation from these tiny creatures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure to read &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabather&amp;#39;s_eruption&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; about Seabather's eruption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T12:35:57.463" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T12:35:57.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11105" CreationDate="2016-03-06T17:03:39.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;try to look for a &lt;strong&gt;&quot;hunter's hatchet/axe&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; or a &lt;strong&gt;&quot;forest hatchet/axe&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. Its easier if you can just look at catalogs of manufacturers like Gransfors and get an idea of what you want as often you can find the name hatchet and axe used interchangeably in some sale catalogs, manufacturers are more precise. Generally though an hatchet is a small axe, so shorter in lenght and lighter head. To confuse matters a bit more there is the hand axe which is small like an hatchet but the head is shaped differently but people still call it an hatchet. There also are &lt;strong&gt;&quot;boys axes&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; which are lighter axes, lets say something sometimes less than 2lbs head on a 28inch handle. You can make one yourself buying the head you need and fitting an handle of the desired length that you bought separately or making the handle from scratch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you would want to dig a little deeper you could look for a &lt;strong&gt;tomahawk&lt;/strong&gt;. Let all the movie ideas about a tomahawk aside. Tomahawk is nothing else than an Algonquin word that means &quot;hatchet&quot; and if you get a colonial era french axe and the tomahawks traded at the time they are the same animal. Overtime they took two different paths differentiated in shape of the eye etc and now we have a very different image in our head of what a tomahawk is while in origin was just an axe with a light head or an hatchet with a longer handle, same result. A search for tomahawks online will pull up a lot of garbage too but some companies still make &quot;colonial style&quot; heads for tomahawks that are still great for bushcrafting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't just use the longer handle idea just to go around a lack of skills as that might catch up with you, if you think you're gonna put the other hand in the way then you need to review your technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-06T17:22:28.770" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T17:22:28.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11104" CreationDate="2016-03-06T17:21:14.023" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_stove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rocket stove&lt;/a&gt;&quot; on a &lt;a href=&quot;http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Survival_Journal.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;long wilderness survival trip&lt;/a&gt;. That stove was also heavy and very efficient in burning &quot;found wood.&quot; It made good sense for a fixed camp. In my opinion it would be far too bulky and heavy for either biking or canoeing and certainly backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On that trip, and others, I used solar chargers for electronics. I think solar chargers make a lot more sense than biomass chargers for most backpacking/canoeing/biking situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Biolite campstove, at 2 lbs, would probably be closer to what you are looking for. It also has a charging device and burns &quot;found fuel.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T17:21:14.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11105" CreationDate="2016-03-06T17:38:25.123" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I think of a long handled hatchet I'm thinking of something like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=hudson%27s%20bay%20axe&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Hudson's Bay Axe&lt;/a&gt;. With a longer handle, even with a smaller axe head, there is a lot more power in each swing. I have a similar one for a camp axe. I think it's a nearly perfect compromise of weight and function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T17:38:25.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11111" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11113" CreationDate="2016-03-06T18:09:46.527" Score="13" ViewCount="5827" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a snowboarder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In preparation for a skitour trip, I was on the lookout for splitboards. But it turns out that even renting them can be a bit of a hassle and/or is quite expensive.&#xA;As availability for a splitboard is questionable, I'd like to take my regular board with me on a backpack and do the ascent with snow shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply attaching the board to the back of the backpack does not look like the best option. I heard from people that this causes the board to swing around and to be a pain for the shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people seem to have the boards horizontal, which allows them to have them closer to their back (good), but if walking through a forest or narrow passage this can be a problem. I don't know if that would be possible with my standard hiking backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What's the best way to attach a snowboard during a skitour?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The board should not move around, it should not be (too) painful and it should still allow me to move around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T14:56:55.113" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T14:56:55.113" Title="How to attach snowboard to backpack during skitour?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9659" CreationDate="2016-03-06T19:03:37.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The Subway, Zion National Park&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within Zion National Park, for most of the year, day-use permits are required for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_%28canyoneering%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Subway&lt;/a&gt; and Mystery Canyon.  They are awarded &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/subwaypermits.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;by advance lottery&lt;/a&gt;, or by last-minute drawing 7–2 days in advance.  The lottery is not required during the low season (roughly November through March).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This applies either for the full canyoneering route, &lt;em&gt;or&lt;/em&gt; for non-technical hiking up to the point where canyoneering skills and equipment are required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5qsnt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5qsnt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The Subway, Zion National Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Subway_P1010240_wiki.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;, CC-BY-SA user “True God of War”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Moon House, Bears Ears National Monument&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within Bears Ears National Monument, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_House&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moon House&lt;/a&gt; ruins are limited for day visits, with apparently up to 36 permits per day issued.  Permits are available &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/permits-and-passes/lotteries-and-permit-systems/utah/cedarmesa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;through BLM&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moon_House_masonry_and_jacal,_Utah.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Moon_House_masonry_and_jacal%2C_Utah.jpg/640px-Moon_House_masonry_and_jacal%2C_Utah.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Moon House&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Source: Matt Peeples via &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moon_House_masonry_and_jacal,_Utah.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt; (originally on Flickr), CC BY-NC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T14:11:44.553" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T14:11:44.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11111" CreationDate="2016-03-06T19:33:27.413" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three important aspects: Maneuverability, exposure to wind and firm attachment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The optimal orientation for all of those is vertical. Most of the board is then covered by the body so there is minimal added wind resistance compared with horizontal mounting, were most of the board sticks out on the side and act as a huge sail. With horizontal mounting you have a much higher moment of inertia. So turning is awkward and you will much easier catch branches and the like (even though that can happen with vertical mounting too above the head, but much less). Firm attachment is also better, as you can fixate it farther apart, as backpacks are usually longer in height than they are in width.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So ideally you have a backpack designed to do tours with a snowboard. They have dedicated attachment straps on the back and are opened by zips along the backpack brim or even on back. This allows you to reach your stuff even with mounted board, which is very awkward with they usual closing with a top pocket and a strap on the outside towards the bottom. If you do not have such a dedicated backpack you need some kind of attachment points on the top and bottom of the pack. Many backpacks have straps on the side on the top and the bottom to mount skis or to compress them. You can use two additional straps (not part of the backpack itself) that you feed through those straps on the side so that they run twice from side to side over the backpack. Then you insert your board such that the lower binding is just above the lower strap, which keeps it from sliding down. Then you also attach the upper strap and tighten both. If your backpack is not filled up quite will, you will also have to tighten the straps on the side to make it stable. This is my usual setup as skier when I carry a board of a participant and it gives a very secure fix, but the problem with opening the backpack remains. So this is fine for occasional use, but if you like doing snowboard tours it is well worth to invest in a dedicated backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T19:33:27.413" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10912" CreationDate="2016-03-06T21:13:38.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using Google, I found several lists of inland dive sites in the UK. Here are a few of the more extensive ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/places/inland/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UK Diving&lt;/a&gt; (over 50 current and former sites, listed by region)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/uk_england_inland.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dive Site Directory&lt;/a&gt; (14 sites, clickable map)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukdiveguide.com/uk-inland-dive-sites.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UK Dive Guide&lt;/a&gt; (35 sites, listed by region)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scuba-diving-adviser.co.uk/DiveSites/UKInlandDiveSites.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;SCUBA Diving Adviser&lt;/a&gt; (17 sites, interactive map)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These websites provide varying amount of information about the dive sites, but all seem to have at least enough detail for you to feed into further web searches, and many have quite extensive descriptions. Since the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/places/inland/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UK Diving&lt;/a&gt; list is the most extensive, I've reproduced it below (without the links to the individual pages and discussion threads).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;East Anglia: Horstead Mill, Gildenburgh, Alton Water, Hellesdon Mill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Midlands: The Rez, Stoney Cove, Dosthill, Swithland Wood Quary, Charnwood Forest, Hill-Hole / Marshfield.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;North England: Holme Bank Chert Mine, Eccleston Delph, Hodge Close, Astbury Water Park, Devils Bridge, Capernwray Quarry, Wast Water, Coniston Water, Armstrong Quarry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;North Scotland: Etive River.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Northern Ireland: Belfast / Strangford Lough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South East: Lakeside, Horsea Island, Northam Pit, Bewl Water, Crystal Waters, Leybourne lake, Dinton Pastures, Littleton Lane Pit, Blue Lagoon, Bletchley, Wraysbury, Blue Lagoon, Arlesey.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South Scotland: St Abbs, Kelso River.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South West: Vobster Quay Somerset, Barrow Tanks, National Diving &amp;amp; Activity Centre Chepstow, Waterlip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wales: Fron, Llyn Cwm Llwch, Dorothea Quarry, Bala Lake, Llyn y Fan Fach, Brin Hall, Llyn y Fan Fawr, Vivian Quarry, Upper Lilw Reservoir, Deiniolen Quarry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the UK Diving list includes some sites (e.g. Astbury Water Park, Armstrong Quarry) which are no longer diveable, but in this case the description and/or comments for the site should make it clear that it's defunct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T21:13:38.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8887" CreationDate="2016-03-06T21:54:57.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a little digging, I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/19980625095004/http://www.downco.demon.co.uk/dtrak.zip&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link on the Internet Archive&lt;/a&gt;, which seems to be what you've looking for. The zip file unpacks successfully and I had no trouble installing DataTrak and DataTalk (version 1.6) under the DOSBox emulator. They both seem to run fine under emulation as well, though I don't have the requisite hardware to test the functionality. Here's a screenshot of DataTalk running under DOSBox:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W65g0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W65g0.png&quot; alt=&quot;DataTalk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a still from DataTrak's magnificent animated start-up screen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tppnl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tppnl.png&quot; alt=&quot;DataTrak&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T21:54:57.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2016-03-06T22:18:39.103" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living on the Florida coastline all my life and being an avid fisherman, I can testify that with well sharpened points, they were extremely handy for pulling up LARGE fish onto a pier or bridge. We called them &quot;flying gaffs&quot; and only used them on fish destined for the table. Places like the Skyway bridge and the piers at Ft Desoto often yielded grouper and kingfish far in excess of the # test of our line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8980" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T22:18:39.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="866" CreationDate="2016-03-06T22:53:24.733" Score="10" Body="&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;*Are wolves a legitimate worry-worthy threat to back-country travelers?*&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is no. I can honestly say I have a lot of experience around wolves. I live in Alaska and have encountered wolves here many times, as well as in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada. Wolf attacks are extremely rare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What are my odds of encountering a wolf in the wild?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most places you are very unlikely to see one because they are so wary. Your best odds in the U.S. are probably in open tundra of Alaska, or in Yellowstone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What are my odds of being attacked by a wolf?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The odds are far less than one in a million. Not enough to be worried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Are there special precautions that one should take in wolf country that are different from standard bear precautions (which are often found in the same area)?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, attacks are so rare about the only precaution I would take is staying clear of a wolf (or any wild animal) that doesn't show fear of people. The danger there would be rabies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Are some wolf-inhabited regions known to be more dangerous than others?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With wolf attacks so rare, I doubt there are enough stats to draw any rational conclusions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SruNtT7Rec8&quot;&gt;This might ease your concerns.&lt;/a&gt; It is video of several wolf encounters I had on a long Alaska wilderness trip a few years back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastActivityDate="2016-03-06T22:53:24.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11111" CreationDate="2016-03-07T00:00:24.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that horizontal is often not convenient. It will get caught in narrow paths, it will get in the way of your arms if you use poles to go up, and it can easily get unbalanced, pulling strongly on one side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, most dedicated packs allow you to secure the board vertically, which works very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to secure it very tight to prevent it from swing from side to side, and also you need to adjust the height to make sure it does not get in the way of your legs while walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only moment when it can be bothering is when you are facing the wind, because then it pulls from above your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the choice of snowshoes, beware that you will be &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; slower than people with split or skis with you (talking about ~50% faster on skis), and that you would tend to take different (more direct) approaches in steep slopes. (rather than zigzaging a lot like skis do)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T00:00:24.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2016-03-07T01:08:49.377" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using a pee bottle is very common among climbers and backpackers, especially in winter and bad weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I make sure I drink what I need to during the day but nothing excessive near evening. At night or during storms I will have something like a Gatorade bottle to pee in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/68077/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Here is discussion&lt;/a&gt; by experienced backpackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8973" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T01:08:49.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11122" CreationDate="2016-03-07T15:07:48.823" Score="32" ViewCount="21244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm shopping for a new tent and considering a model that comes in two different colors-- bright orange and dark green.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purely-aesthetic preferences aside (ie, like orange more than green), are there any functional or practical differences between a brightly-colored tent and a natural-colored tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kv7g1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kv7g1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D5yqP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D5yqP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:53:05.327" Title="Do tent colors have functional purposes?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-03-07T15:09:16.320" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are stealth camping, it helps to have a tent that blends in.  If you are camping where there is hunting, it helps to have a tent with bright, high contrast so that you can be sure you are seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also (thanks to Ben Crowell for the comment) you may want tents that blend in for high traffic areas to disturb the scenery less.  High contrast tents can be useful in the backcountry to make it easier to spot your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I've never considered color in tent purchases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T15:30:03.357" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T15:30:03.357" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-03-07T16:40:43.167" Score="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to reduce your visual impact on the other people in the area, choose a tent with colors that match the landscape you're going to camp in.  Green in forest or other vegetated areas, brown for the desert, white for winter camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you are in trouble and want to be found, it helps to have a very bright tent that stands out.  A tent you can see from kilometers away.  A tent that is going to annoy that other backpacker who was just having the illusion to be alone in the world, and now he or she isn't.  Such a tent might save your life if rescue agencies are looking for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to reduce visual impact: choose camouflage. To quicken rescue in emergency: choose anything BUT camouflage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T16:49:43.283" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T16:49:43.283" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11127" CreationDate="2016-03-07T17:00:13.903" Score="1" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say I'm camping and I slept close to a river (50ft) and when I woke up a bear was searching through my stuff, what should I do to avoid him? What to do if it notices me? And last but not least, What should I have brought on me? (guns, pepper spray, not big guns and bows though, pistols, revolvers and any thing that can be used with one hand(kind of, 500S&amp;amp;W might not be appropriate))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume I'm inside my tent, and I need to either escape or kill the bear, the bear is at 10 feet away or within from my tent, pretty close, no &quot;acting big&quot; to scare him, because it might result into sushi me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8559" LastEditorUserId="8559" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T17:56:35.833" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T18:19:49.550" Title="What should I do when in an unintentional contact with a bear?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-03-07T17:58:59.100" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11125" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11140" CreationDate="2016-03-07T17:56:52.037" Score="8" ViewCount="671" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to bow hunting and I am getting my stuff set up and I was wondering what inserts to use for the following Easton shafts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;9.5 gpi 400 axis third generation N-fused carbon arrow shaft, nocks and fletchings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;9.5 gpi 340 axis high strength carbon arrow shaft, nocks and fletchings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8.1 gpi 500 axis third generation N-fused carbon arrow shaft, nock and fletching&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help would greatly be appreciated!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8986" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T08:53:55.517" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T09:08:12.610" Title="Which arrow inserts to use?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11126" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11128" CreationDate="2016-03-07T17:58:47.147" Score="27" ViewCount="7063" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always see it pointed out, when discussing how to handle/avoid bear encounters, that black bears can climb trees.  Granted, but does that matter?  Has there ever been a case of a black bear pursuing someone up a tree in order to attack them?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems logical to me that bears wouldn't fight in a tree like that unless forced to as they are busy using claws for climbing, but I'm not exactly an expert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:13:51.470" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:13:51.470" Title="Will Black Bears actually follow you up a tree" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11124" CreationDate="2016-03-07T18:08:24.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It kind of depends on which bear, black bears are one thing and brown bears another.&#xA;And lets say that you have actually taken all the precautions to not attract a bear in your camp in first place, a bear wont be going through your pack in search of your iPod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First be aware of your surroundings when you set up camp, so you know where to move. Give a look around as there might be cubs, you don’t want to move towards those. If you can walk away do so, slowly, walking not running and always face the animal, be careful where you put your feet, you don’t want to trip and fall. Keep your deterrent ready for use. Do not move in a direction that would make the animal think you are gonna take/protect a source of food. When you first see the animal don’t make sudden movements or noises, if surprised it will go on the defensive.&#xA;If its a black bear he might already decide to move out seeing you, if you want to try to make him move out then the idea is to make yourself look bigger and make a lot of noise. Keep deterrent ready.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before deciding to move any bear out of camp make really sure it has an escape route, if the animal feels trapped things wont go well. Usually black bears wont test you unless its a female that is trying to defend their cubs.&#xA;They normally don’t see people as food.&#xA;Brown bears instead are a whole different story, the theory goes as above but forget making them move out of camp and to that you add the probable play dead emergency thing, it seems the problem with that is that people don’t wait long enough before restarting moving and the animal comes back but I’m not sure how much one can actually play dead waiting for their soiled pants to hit the fan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the best thing is to not have the bear in camp, no food should stay in the camp, same goes for soap, toothpaste, toiletries etc. For the same reason, food that cant be prepared in a &quot;clean&quot; way shouldn’t be prepared at or near the camp (fish cleaning for example), don’t smear food on you (your clothes aren’t a napkin for cleaning bacon grease from your fingers) etc etc. &#xA;Give a look around the camp area for what people camping there might have left/buried, clean that up if you can. (lots of people think that since they are leaving they can be sloppy)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit of reading:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/education/bear-awareness-hiking-camping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/education/bear-awareness-hiking-camping/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearsmart.com/play/bear-encounters/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.bearsmart.com/play/bear-encounters/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;A video:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000000812441/stephen-herrero-on-black-bear-attacks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000000812441/stephen-herrero-on-black-bear-attacks.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for deterrents: bear spray!!!&#xA;Guns yes, they are guns etc etc but: unless you shoot and kill things can go downhill fast. Plenty of guns enthusiasts handle guns and know how to shoot at a target, hunters are used to the gun etc. All more or less controlled situations, a bear coming at you is way different matter, not easy to keep calm. Not all guns would be effective on a bear so you have to consider that too. If you camp with family and friends or all have a gun and know how to use it under pressure or its pointless, many times one has a gun the rest nothing, he cant be guarding both camp and somebody that is taking a bathroom break and if something happens to that person its done. Bear spray is inexpensive enough that everyone in the group can have a can, even a kid can carry it and learn to use it properly. It doesn’t kill the animal either (and if a nervous trigger happy element accidentally sprays another member of the group is not a disaster like if they had a gun)&#xA;If you read the accident reports there have been people defending themselves with guns and it worked, but usually they had time to do so and they were experienced. In many cases people don’t have the time to get the gun, and if they did they didn’t have the time or capacity to aim it properly. With the spray there have been also accidents were they had it and didn’t have the time to get at it, but in the cases they got it ready it worked because it was just point towards the animal -&gt; shoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way is to bring camping someone you don’t like and slower than you ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T18:19:49.550" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T18:19:49.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11126" CreationDate="2016-03-07T18:38:15.040" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question asks for an instance where a bear climbing a tree attacks a human. I found a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/09/06/wash-hunter-chased-up-tree-bitten-by-black-bear.html&quot;&gt;news article&lt;/a&gt; of a hunter being attacked by a black bear in a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think this is a completely satisfying answer since the question implies the question: Why would a bear expend the effort to climb up a tree to attack a human? I am not a bear expert but I read this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearsmart.com/about-bears/dispelling-myths/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; which states that bears are known to kill one another by throwing each other off the tree they're fighting on. So your assumption that the bears are &lt;em&gt;busy using claws for climbing&lt;/em&gt; might not be true. In fact, bears are quite capable climbers as shown in this insanely cute &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAB9-VGIkzM&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I didn't explicitly answer the first part of the OP: &lt;em&gt;Does it matter?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Given the fact that bears are capable climbers, and given that they have inflicted damage while climbing, would lead me to assume that their ability to climb trees does matter when one is trying to avoid being harmed by a bear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8821" LastEditorUserId="8821" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T19:18:26.287" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T19:18:26.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11085" CreationDate="2016-03-07T18:43:59.270" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many disadvantages. &#xA;The most important of which disqualifies this technology from any serious Blue Water sailing ... &lt;strong&gt;you can't tack&lt;/strong&gt;. because of that you are at the mercy of the wind and that is a cruel teacher.&#xA;The artificial center of gravity issues are for people that want to minimize heeling which a catamaran or trimaran accomplish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T18:43:59.270" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10450" CreationDate="2016-03-07T18:53:21.737" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The keel does two 'things' ... 'slice' ...it keeps the boat from turning when on a tack, in fact it is the reason you can tack at all. The other purpose is to offset the forces applied on the boat by the sails by leveraging the ballast against them. a skinny keel with a huge mass at the end will provide a better mechanical advantage. a long and deep keel will give you the best forward 'slice'.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T18:53:21.737" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5" CreationDate="2016-03-07T19:06:35.180" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You obviously have underestimated the potential for danger, due to self admitted  lack of experience on the water. As a blue water sailor for 50 years I strongly suggest you rent a car or take a cruise line as you will either end up in jail or swimming for your life to avoid being pulled under and chopped into chum by a prop. &#xA;...This come from a federally certified transportation manager as well as a sea captain with a perfect safety record. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T19:06:35.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11126" CreationDate="2016-03-07T19:28:03.350" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that if you cross the Bering Strait to Northern Asia (Siberia, etc.) you'll find that bears hibernate in huge nests in the tops of trees. So climbing trees is not a problem for bears. They must do it in that region because there are tigers about. The real question has to do with the nature of the bear in question. I've turned about in the woods to find a brown bear lumbering by me with his shoulder at the level of mine and behaving as if I had the culinary interest of a rock. To my knowledge only Polar Bears actively hunt humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8988" LastEditorUserId="3519" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T12:12:11.493" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T12:12:11.493" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11126" CreationDate="2016-03-07T19:28:09.333" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are faster and can climb better than you, so if they want you they can get you. They rarely see you as real prey so they might not climb a tree to get at you, still... its a risk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XbyAcE11f8&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; you can see a bear climbing a tree where two hunters are. At first it looks like it could be the same bear you saw on the ground, but it's not, it's one bear running away from another, and at the end it climbs another tree to escape, so you can say they do it too. On the other hand I wouldn’t be able to climb as fast as this bear does and I'd be caught on the ground while hugging the tree swearing :(&#xA;But just look at how fast the whole chasing and climbing is, can you do better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T20:11:05.610" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T20:11:05.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11134" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11147" CreationDate="2016-03-07T20:23:07.103" Score="5" ViewCount="16794" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know which kind of arrow would slow down or kill a bear, which vital spots should I aim at, which kind of bow should do the job, more specifically, against black and grizzly bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;What is the lethal zone of a bear?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;What is the minimum weight of a bow to bring down a bear.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Which diameter and broadheads to use for bears?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Set aside legal issues and concerns for the purposes of the question and assume it's legal where I am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8559" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T13:39:40.050" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T07:07:53.063" Title="How to kill a bear with a bow?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5" CreationDate="2016-03-07T20:25:46.673" Score="16" Body="&lt;h2&gt;The good news&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigating the Danube with a raft is certainly possible, and has been done: for instance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flossbusters.de&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flossbusters&lt;/a&gt; are a group of Dresdners who went all the way from Bertoldsheim to the Black Sea on a home-built raft over the course of five summers. Their craft, the good ship &lt;em&gt;Dresden&lt;/em&gt;, looks quite similar to what you envisage:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/it8If.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/it8If.png&quot; alt=&quot;the Dresden raft&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flossbusters.de/de/donau_2006_DE.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;flossbusters.de&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling in German for &quot;Donau Floß&quot; turns up several other tales of successful rafting on the Danube. In particular, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorseiten.net/forum/showthread.php/25650-Donau-mit-Flo%C3%9F&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this discussion thread&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of useful information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The bad news&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The worrying aspects of your plan are (to me) that you want to travel &lt;strong&gt;alone&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;unpowered&lt;/strong&gt;. All the accounts I've come across involve more than one person and some kind of engine. I'd personally regard an engine as &lt;em&gt;essential&lt;/em&gt; if travelling alone on a raft on the Danube: a single person paddling will have a lot of trouble manoeuvring a raft effectively. Of course this doesn't mean that you have to use the engine for any longer than necessary, but you need the capability. (In addition to being a practical requirement, an engine will be a legal requirement at least on some parts of the Danube.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Legal aspects&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Danube passes through 10 countries, so I think the legal aspects are best considered once you've decided which countries you're aiming for. Registering the 1.3-ton Flossbusters raft apparently required submission of CAD drawings, fitting a 10 horsepower engine, and demonstrating provision of fire extinguishers, first-aid box, horn and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorseiten.net/forum/showthread.php/25650-Donau-mit-Flo%C3%9F?s=33e50269e5850dd7fc4c1240a172e88d&amp;amp;p=371714&amp;amp;viewfull=1#post371714&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;various other things&lt;/a&gt;. In general, the smaller and lighter the craft, the less paperwork there will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A possible alternative&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your place I would give serious consideration to a &lt;strong&gt;canoe&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;kayak&lt;/strong&gt; rather than a raft. You'll have to travel a little lighter, but the logistics will be greatly simplified. You might even be able to satisfy your bike requirement if you bring a lightweight folding model. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoeingthecontinent.com/about/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canoeing the Continent&lt;/a&gt; is a very informative account of a canoe trip from the Atlantic to the Black Sea (going along the Danube for the eastern part) and has a lot of information which will probably be useful even if you decide to go by raft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2016-03-07T21:28:10.207" LastActivityDate="2016-03-07T21:28:10.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11100" CreationDate="2016-03-07T23:15:58.223" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to chime in on a more practical answer.  The question is not &quot;What is the scientific case for Giardia&quot;.  The question is &quot;Why are people so scared of it?&quot; &quot;Or why is everyone so scared of it now, when no one seemed to care before?&quot;  Or in other words, we're not talking about how dangerous Giardia is, but rather why people are worried; specifically in relation to the &quot;unwritten rule to never drink from streams&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a fact that biologically contaminated water exists and can make you sick.  And to the &quot;the water is safe&quot; crowd - I'm sorry you are just wrong.  Surface water is quite often biologically contaminated.  There are millions of people in the world who would love to have one of the filters us hikers carry all the time.  Yes you can get sick via the fecal oral route.  That does not mean water is safe.  Don't believe me?  Take a trip to a random country and drink out of every stream you find... you'll change your mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why Giardia specifically?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Giardia has become, in hiker parlance, a rather generic term.  People use it to cover pretty much any sort of illness-due-to-bad-water (Gastrointestinal infection).  Even doctors.  In my own case I had Amoebic Dysentery but I would not have known that had I not read my lab reports.  My doctor just called it &quot;Giardia&quot; (they did prescribe the right medicine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why be scared of diarrhea caused by bad water?  Unless, like Ben Crowell, you have steel bowels then it just sucks.  Imagine having uncontrollably explosive diarrhea for weeks to the point that you can't even drive to work because there aren't enough bathrooms along the way.  Then imagine having intestinal problems for months after that due to how much it's screwed with your system.  (And then imagine people assuring you on forums that back country water is safe and you're just over-reacting)  That's what Amoebic Dysentery is like, at least for some.  I know.  I had it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Giardia, in common usage, is just a synonym for what non-hikers call travelers diarrhea.  And that is why people are scared of it.  When they hear &quot;Giardia&quot; they are not thinking of one illness, but all the possible illnesses in an entire category called &quot;Gastrointestinal infections&quot;.  Historically these all fell under a malady call the &quot;bloody flux.&quot;  If you want to find historical cases of death, look there.  Remember that it is only very recently that we could test to distinguish between the causes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But no one is going to say &quot;Gastrointestinal infection&quot; and we don't call it &quot;the bloody flux&quot; anymore.  Lay people are just not all going to use (or care about) that level of diagnostic detail.  They're going to call it Giardia in the same way we call a copy machine a Xerox machine and there's absolutely zero point (from a practical standpoint) in arguing over the difference when the prevention is the same:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Filter/Boil your friggin water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T22:58:20.363" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T22:58:20.363" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8286" CreationDate="2016-03-08T04:20:29.333" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A grill is only needed when you want to grill. Otherwise there are lots of ways to cook food over an open fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use the classic spit over a fire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hTUmY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hTUmY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cooking with a spit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use rocks to elevate a container over the coals:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1mI8v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1mI8v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cooking over rocks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can boil water over an open flame in just about anything:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ud1Lc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ud1Lc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;plastic bottle over fire&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can even just &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1300572-Dog-s-Head-Utility-The-First-Thirty-Days&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;throw meat in the coals&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NAZOP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NAZOP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;meat in the coals&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The list goes on and on. People have been cooking all kinds of food over an open fire without a grill for centuries upon centuries. You can too with a bit of creativity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T04:20:29.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11138" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11139" CreationDate="2016-03-08T06:48:13.397" Score="1" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just going on a trip through the nature of Ireland soon. Was curious as to what there is to eat in the nature?  Any good fish in the river or some greens in the woods?  I heared there is some nice seaweed at the atlantic coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8998" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T04:59:37.440" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T04:59:37.440" Title="What to eat if survivaling in Ireland?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2016-03-08T15:06:14.037" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11138" CreationDate="2016-03-08T08:44:35.123" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A full discussion of forageable foods in Ireland would be a book, not a stackexchange answer. Fortunately, such books already exist. For foraging in the British Isles, one classic work (and a personal favourite of mine) is Richard Mabey's &lt;em&gt;Food for Free&lt;/em&gt; (originally published 1972 and never out of print since). The introduction explains the book's remit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This book covers the majority of wild plant food products which can be obtained in the British Isles. But there are some categories which I have deliberately omitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is nothing on grasses and cereals. This is intended to be a &lt;em&gt;practical&lt;/em&gt; book, and no one is going to spend their time hand-gathering enough wild seeds to make ﬂour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have touched brieﬂy on the traditional herbal uses of many plants where this is relevant or interesting. But I have included no plants purely on the grounds of their presumed therapeutic value. This is a book about food, not medicine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also a book about wild &lt;em&gt;plant&lt;/em&gt; foods, which is the simple reason (apart from personal qualms) why there is nothing about ﬁsh and wildfowl. But I have included shellﬁsh because from a picker’s eye view, they are more like plants than animals. They stay more or less in one place, and are gathered, not caught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from the omissions listed above, the book covers edible plants and fungi pretty comprehensively, including seaweed. It's available in a portable Collins Gem edition in case you want to take it with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly there are fish in the rivers too, and other edible animals on land -- that would be another book-length answer. In this case I don't have a specific book to recommend, but the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fishinginireland.info/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fishing in Ireland&lt;/a&gt; website seems like a good place to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T08:44:35.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11125" CreationDate="2016-03-08T08:49:23.800" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each Axis shaft has the &quot;Hidden Insert Technology&quot; (short HIT) and therefore you need a HIT-insert. Normally these shafts are already delivered with such! So be aware that you don't buy additional ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;X HIT conventional inserts included&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancasterarchery.com/easton-axis-n-fused-carbon-arrow-shaft.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lancasterarchery&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get them for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.3riversarchery.com/easton-axis-hit-insert-kit.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Deep Six RPS Steel insert is also compatible but I would absolutely recommend the HIT inserts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;X HIT conventional thread inserts - compatible &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Deep Six RPS steel inserts - compatible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the official &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eastonhunting.com/products/arrows/axis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Axis product site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S.: Axis absolutely rock! =)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;I shoot Axis because they're tough shafts, but more importantly, I shoot them for the increased penetration I get on big game.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; - Fred Eichler&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T09:08:12.610" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T09:08:12.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11141" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11145" CreationDate="2016-03-08T10:45:11.143" Score="4" ViewCount="994" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need points with a diameter of 17/64. I assume that it means 0.265625&quot; (6,746875 mm). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But which diameter is meant by this number? The thread or the point's &quot;head&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUu0t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUu0t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Point&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T15:20:40.973" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T17:45:02.407" Title="What exactly is meant by the diameter of an arrowhead point?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11100" CreationDate="2016-03-08T12:45:57.080" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some excellent research-based answers here, so I'll focus on the practical implications. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, and most importantly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most intestinal infections in the backcountry aren't caused by&#xA;  bad water - the main danger is poor personal hygiene in a setting&#xA;  where many allow standards to slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So be scrupulous yourself, and be wary of sharing food that has been&#xA;  handled by others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for waterborne giardia (and other infectants that are generically bundled under this name) I just don't see the point in taking any risks - I always carry a lightweight filter. It weighs 100 grams and works down to the viral level. If there's the slightest doubt I use it. It's very quick and low hassle, while the infections it prevents are very nasty. So the cost/benefit calculation is a no-brainer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZVFkM.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZVFkM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everywhere is as pristine as the High Sierra. In the montane zone where you are mixing with livestock a filter is pretty much essential as fecal contamination is a real risk. And even higher up many wild animals carry giardia and other infections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bought my filter after a traverse of the Spanish Sierra Nevada in an unseasonal autumn heatwave. There was water all over the map so I didn't anticipate any issues. But there were herds of Ibex peeing and pooing into every source as they stood in the water to cool down. I had a real struggle finding anything safe. Dehydration in a heatwave is no joke...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I also carry my filter in towns - I can drink from any source and it saves me a fortune in ecologically damaging bottled water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is that if you are careful about hygiene and carry a good filter there is no reason to be concerned about giardia. Without these precautions, in many situations there is reason to worry as others have shown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T10:55:29.193" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T10:55:29.193" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16" CreationDate="2016-03-08T13:21:02.830" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;OK, so here's a completely different take on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm an enthusiastic customer of Aarn Packs - a specialist New Zealand company. They are one of the few manufacturers to explore load carrying from the ground up, in conjunction with a university department of ergonomics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The radical answer to improving weight distribution in a pack is to move some of the load to the front with a &lt;strong&gt;bodypack&lt;/strong&gt; rather than a &lt;strong&gt;backpack&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that, depending on strap settings, up to 100% of the weight can be channelled vertically to the hips. The centre of gravity moves forwards so the wearer can maintain a fully upright posture, spinal load is reduced, balance is better, shoulder and back pain are virtually eliminated, and you have easy access to the front pockets on the move. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7y9X.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7y9X.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You pack your heavy items and water in the front pockets, so they counterbalance your clothing, sleeping back etc in the main pack. When you get it right, your centre of gravity (green spot) stays central:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VvMiL.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VvMiL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combined with additional innovations in the harness system that add stability and freedom of movement, this is a strikingly effective alternative to conventional packs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does get a little getting used to, and putting the pack on is slightly more hassle. But you have a surprising unobstructed view of your feet, and the payoff in terms of comfort and energy saved is well worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what it looks like in practice. Notice the more natural posture of the Aarn wearer compared to the guy with the external frame:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8kNad.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8kNad.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No commercial interest here - just a happy user. Small companies with the courage to innovate deserve support, I feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T18:49:11.180" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T18:49:11.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-03-08T13:23:40.543" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Marmot tent and those were my color choices. I chose the brighter one as I thought it would be useful &lt;strong&gt;if I were lost and needed visibility&lt;/strong&gt;, either lost from my own campsite or in need of rescue, and because orange seemed more cheerful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I discovered that the light gray and orange fabrics &lt;strong&gt;let through more morning light&lt;/strong&gt; than olive drab tents I have seen to compare to (not exactly the same tent however).  This may be useful in waking up early and/or seeing to get dressed, but it can also cut short my sleep as with a more opaque fly I could sleep until the tent started warming up.  Now I know I need to bring a sleep blindfold if I intend to sleep in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T13:23:40.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11141" CreationDate="2016-03-08T15:18:02.847" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's the big part of the point. You match it to the diameter of the shaft (or widest part of the insert or shaft reinforcement). If you get a diameter much larger than the shaft it can bug you when you go pulling the arrows from the target (depending on the type of target you use). With my crossbow bolts, sometimes had to unscrew the shaft to recuperate it losing the tip (and you don't want to leave a tip in a club target).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To go more in depth, you match:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your shaft, it has its own diameters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then you could put an outside reinforcement for the shaft, looks like&#xA;a collar towards the tip, this basically increases your outside&#xA;diameter and that's what you measure in that case.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then you have the insert for the screw on point. Some of these can be&#xA;flush to the shaft diameter with just a small lip visible others will&#xA;protrude and be tapered to a bigger diameter than the shaft itself like the&#xA;Firenock Aeroinsert for example. You can even find whats called&#xA;an &quot;outsert&quot; which to simplify the concept is reinforcement and&#xA;insert all in one&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then you have the point &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this manufacturer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.firenock.com/main.php?page=AeroSys&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; for some examples and tables&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-08T17:00:12.727" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T17:00:12.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11141" CreationDate="2016-03-08T15:20:06.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt; I'm not an archer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following seems to be only half the story:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I need points with a diameter of 17/64&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eastonarchery.com/faq&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;easton archery's frequently asked question page&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;What does the numbering system on aluminum arrows mean? (ex. 2213)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The four-digit number refers to the &lt;strong&gt;outside diameter&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;wall thickness&lt;/strong&gt; of the shaft. The first two numbers are the outside diameter in 64ths of an inch. The second two numbers are the wall thickness in thousands of an inch. For example, a &lt;strong&gt;2514 shaft&lt;/strong&gt; would be &lt;strong&gt;25/64th of an inch in diameter&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;.014 of an inch wall thickness&lt;/strong&gt;. OD and wall thickness are the two variables in controlling spine for aluminum arrows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess that the point should never have a smaller outer diameter than the shaft, because that would be bad on impact and I further assume that the point shouldn't have a bigger outer diameter either, because that would be bad aerodynamically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that point and shaft should have the same outer diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But which diameter is meant by this number? The thread or the point's &quot;head&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that the diameter number X/64 of the shaft numbering system is its &lt;strong&gt;outer&lt;/strong&gt; diameter in addition to the above assumptions, I'd say that the diameter you are looking for is the one of the &quot;head&quot; or in other words: the biggest diameter (red in the image)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the faq also mentions shaft wall thickness. I guess that if your shaft has the correct outer diameter, it does not necessarily fit the tip, because the wall might be too thick. (green in the image) This is pure speculation on my part though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8kZlQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8kZlQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T15:20:06.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11134" CreationDate="2016-03-08T15:30:43.377" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer this I need to split up your question a little bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;I'd like to know which kind of arrow would slow down or kill a bear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every arrow with a broad-head (= hunting point) attached. It doesn't matter whether it's made out of wood, aluminium or carbon, if the arrow fits you and your bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Which vital spots should I aim at&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lethal zone which is in that case the heart and the lungs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DyaHr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DyaHr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mtRq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mtRq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kpg1k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kpg1k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As there was the request for a more scientific anatomic picture, I've added one here. However, it's a little bit gross and that's why I put it behind a spoiler &quot;carpet&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; This image is a little bit gross &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Silgn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Silgn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scientific example&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; You hopefully can identify the heart which is the thing to aim for. The lungs are kind of around but more above it.&#xA; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tN9sq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tN9sq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZQyC1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZQyC1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BdQ6v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BdQ6v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see here where the arrows should &quot;sit&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uw813.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uw813.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Arrow hit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Which kind of bow should do the job&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like the arrow section: every bow on earth can do the job if it's strong enough. Nowadays you would choose a compound or recurve bow. If you like to shoot a long-bow it doesn't matter either. &#xA;The problem is that it has to be incredibly strong. Too strong for most untrained shooters. That leads us to the next point...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What is the minimum weight of a bow to bring down a bear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, let's start off with the kinetic energy you need to &quot;put in the bear&quot; in the worst case (full featured grizzly bear). It's 70 ft. lb. or 95 Joule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out this chart for example from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.biggamelogic.com/ArticlesNews/tabid/136/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/288/Calculating-Kinetic-Energy-For-Archers.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Game Logic&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hAjj1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hAjj1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chart&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's take an arrow which weights 500 grains. It's something one would use to stand against something like a grizzly. To get the energy of 70 ft. lb. it needs to travel with at least 250 fps (feet per second). We need to find a bow which can accelerate a 500 gr arrow to 250 fps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;Bear Archery Grizzly&lt;/em&gt; with 48 pounds manages to accelerate a 503 gr arrow to 140 fps. So approximately you'll need at least 65 pounds. A &lt;em&gt;Bear Archery Grizzly&lt;/em&gt; isn't even build with this poundage :) However, back in the days Grizzlies were shot with a 55-60 pound Grizzly-bow (that's why the name). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a well trained archer (about every second day) and would overestimate myself even with a 50 pound bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Which diameter and broad-heads to use for bears&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small diameter since you need penetration. Shafts like the Axis should do the job. I would recommend three-bladed broad-heads cause bears have quite thick skin and you want them to bleed, don't you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: &lt;em&gt;Just a safety advice: a bear isn't something to f%!§ with even with a gun =) An untrained (in terms of archery) person is never ever able to bring one down even with a perfectly set up compound bow.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T07:07:53.063" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T07:07:53.063" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11141" CreationDate="2016-03-08T17:45:02.407" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The size most buyers would be interested in matching is the outer diameter of the tip, the insert, and the shaft.  From a casual search, the thread size of the insert is standardized at 8/32 (8 gauge thickness, 32 threads per inch).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does not always appear to be possible, particularly with carbon shafts that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1900098&amp;amp;p=1065872933#post1065872933&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;may have a diameter of 0.295&quot; (which is close to 19/64&quot;)&lt;/a&gt;.  Some companies may manufacture inserts with a reverse taper; the preceding link mentions Gold Tip as an example where they sell an insert with a 5/16&quot; (20/64&quot;) outer diameter that tapers to 0.295&quot; where it meets the shaft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best example I can find is from Three Rivers Archery as they sell a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.3riversarchery.com/steel-screw-in-field-points---heavyweight.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;similarly tapered tip&lt;/a&gt; and this is called out in the product image.  The outer diameter is given as 11/32&quot; (22/64&quot;) and it tapers to 5/16&quot; (20/64&quot;) where it meets the insert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Apologies for mixing fractions and decimals; I have done it here because the manufacturers started it, I think most of you can figure it out, and I didn't want to lose some of the subtleties by rounding.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T17:45:02.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11126" CreationDate="2016-03-08T18:32:29.360" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chances are any black bear you encounter will be more frightened of you than you are of it, and it is unlikely they will chase you up a tree unless they are provoked. They definitely can climb trees, but they most likely will not chase a human up a tree nor attack unless provoked or protecting their cubs. They're primarily interested in your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgzLn4R4fn4&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; (which is required viewing for anyone going into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness), they discuss how to handle an encounter with a black bear at around minute 8. This should reassure and also inform you what to do if you encounter a black bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brown bears and grizzlies? That's a different story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9007" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T18:32:29.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11150" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11215" CreationDate="2016-03-08T18:34:25.760" Score="7" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to bow hunting and I am getting my stuff set up and I was wondering what factors are important to consider when purchasing a bow trigger release system?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8986" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T21:27:58.137" LastActivityDate="2016-04-02T07:13:35.523" Title="What factors are important to consider when purchasing a bow trigger release system?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-03-08T18:38:22.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, other than emergency situations and getting lost, there are three differences the colour of your tent can make:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A darker colour will get hotter in the sun than a lighter one (usually)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're at a busy campsite, many people will have a green tent, but grey and orange are less common colour choices. This will make it easier to spot your tent from across the campsite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brighter colours will attract more insects, which is slightly annoying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you camp most often you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; want a different colour&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7783" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T16:52:32.180" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T16:52:32.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11157" CreationDate="2016-03-08T19:02:31.010" Score="12" ViewCount="17189" Body="&lt;p&gt;I continue year of the bear with more trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can grizzly bears climb trees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:18:13.307" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:18:13.307" Title="Can Grizzlies climb trees?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9984" CreationDate="2016-03-08T19:05:47.950" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Three blade broadheads will leave a wider wound channel and thus a better chance for a kill as bow kills are usually blood loss.  It can be argued that two blade gets better penetration but, in my opinion, that is just a factor of putting your shot in the right place.  Failure to hit the target isn't an arrow problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Edit:  Okay yes, failure to hit could be an arrow problem, but it's not a function of double vs. triple)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T13:07:21.767" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T13:07:21.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-03-08T20:23:45.020" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The hue of the tent colour can also affect whether insects and flies are attracted to the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases certain flies like certain gaudy colours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However more commonly it will be flies that shelter in darker hollows and under grass and leaves that will like the dark tent, while a lighter shade may make those flies swarm above their normal dark foliage (this is with a 'green' tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Scotland this can be the case for midges which can ruin an otherwise wonderful campsite when the air is still and the sky is overcast. The (biting female who desire a blood meal for mating) midges will congregate in the lee of the tent, and if it's quite dark may even crawl over the tent outer. This can be bad when entering and exiting the tent as they brush onto you, the victim...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T20:23:45.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11152" CreationDate="2016-03-08T21:45:10.037" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why yes they can climb trees, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/misunderstood_bear.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A common misconception is that grizzly bears, unlike black bears, cannot climb trees. While its long claws make climbing more difficult for a grizzly than for a black bear, &lt;strong&gt;a grizzly can get to you in a tree&lt;/strong&gt; – it will more&#xA;  likely, however, be able to reach you before you reach the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T12:37:10.460" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T12:37:10.460" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4053" CreationDate="2016-03-08T23:42:37.217" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The issue with the French Prusik being attached to the leg loop is less that the leg loop fails but more that of the distance between the prusik and the ATC. Obviously if they meet the French will be &quot;bumped&quot; as if when taking in through a progress capture/autobloc set up in a crevasse rescue haul system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been shown that an unconscious person hanging on a rope with a leg loop back up will hang in an arced position and the side that has the prusik on will roll up towards the belay device usually coming into contact with the device. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9017" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T23:42:37.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11126" CreationDate="2016-03-08T23:59:57.527" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I was walking in the woods in western Washington state (USA) the forest was Douglas fir, with undergrowth ranging between 2 and 10 feet high (1 - 3 meters). There was no trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was trying to be quite as I was hunting squirrels with a 22 rifle. The area I was in had brush about knee high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suddenly a short distance in front of me I heard a lot of noise in tall bushy area. Three black bears came storming out of the brush, running in different directions.  I was standing about 2 feet from a tree, and I side stepped to get behind it.  All three where different sizes, I don't know but I think it was a mother and two grown cubs of maybe 2 and 3 years old.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One went well away from me and the other two came in my general direction.  One bolted between me and a nearby tree.  The last was running nearly directly toward the tree I was hiding behind. At the last moment it choose a tree just to one side.  It went up that tree at the just about the same speed it was running through brush.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one in the tree only went about 20 feet up and stopped, I could still hear the other two running through the brush.  A few moments, it was quite, my heart was racing and I was scared.  I moved away from the area, in a direction that bears did not go, slowly until I had some distance between the area of excitement and myself.  At which point, I ran.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The choices I made may or may not have been the right ones, but I gained two sure points of knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A black bear can climb a tree, faster than I can.  In fact from the time we became aware of each other, I could not have climbed 20 feet up the tree nearest me. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I had stepped in front of the tree, and that bear had decided to climb my tree he would have gone right up me and then the trunk of the tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point 2 is important, because the first two things that went through my mind were; I have a 22, this not a viable weapon for a bear, followed by, I should stand in front of the tree to hide my silhouette, so I can keep a better eye on what is going on. All of this happened FAST, I didn't actually decide to step behind the tree it just happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer to your question &quot;Will Black Bears actually follow you up a tree?&quot; is 100% yes, they will climb right over the top of you to get as far up a tree as they can so you can't get them.  When you and a black bear become aware of each other, do your very best to stay out of his escape route.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-03-08T23:59:57.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11176" CreationDate="2016-03-09T01:56:06.820" Score="10" ViewCount="459" Body="&lt;p&gt;A traveller to a country with different customs is well advised to read up on the customs of the people of that country, and to learn how the residents expect polite people to behave.  Everywhere, guests try not to offend their hosts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, if a person is travelling in bear country, it makes sense for him/her to learn about the behaviour of the bears of the region and behave like a guest in their country.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet many of the bear questions on this site assume that bears are trespassing on the hiker or camper's turf, when arguably it is the person who is trespassing on ursus's turf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now to the question:&lt;/strong&gt;  What are the three to five most important do's and dont's -- in simple bullet form -- for a guest in black bear country?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(A previous question focused on protecting one's camp. This question goes beyond camp precautions.)    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:16.970" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:16.970" Title="How can the attitude that one is a guest in black bear country prevent hassles with bears?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11152" CreationDate="2016-03-09T04:15:52.960" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A grizzly bear can climb a tree with relative ease if it has branches large enough for it to grab onto, but they can't climb trees like a black bear can, especially a larger grizzly, they're much more able in trees when they're younger and smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing a tree is in fact an effective method of avoiding a Grizzly bear that may be following you, but it is not an effective way of escaping a bear, not unless you can climb fast and jump from tree to tree. If a bear is on the trail behind you, drop something on the trail to distract it &lt;em&gt;(NOT FOOD!)&lt;/em&gt; leave you hiking poles, a back pack, hat, anything that might peak a bears interest or curiousity and potentially stall them on the trail while they stop to investigate. You will need the extra time to get out of the bears sight and find a tall tree to climb up and hide in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must select your tree wisely when trying to avoid a bear. The tree has to be tall enough that you can get up well above the bear's reach, preferably high enough that you could hide up in it, and the branches need to be small enough that the bear couldn't easily climb up after you if it were to try. You also need to be careful that the tree is &lt;em&gt;strong&lt;/em&gt; enough that a big bear can't push it over, there have been documented cases of big bears pushing trees down to get hikers out of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-09T04:22:53.340" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T04:22:53.340" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11067" CreationDate="2016-03-09T09:08:04.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would generally agree with the &quot;as few as possible approach&quot;, but would add that if it is a question of safety or avoiding lots of time wasted (which in turn may morph into a safety issue), then I think markers can be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I don't think it should be exaggerated - markers can be used instead of cairns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example in Vistasvaggi (Vistas Valley) in North Sweden, there are fairly inconspicuous markers in the form of two half buried brick-sized red-brown rocks close to each other. I didn't understand they were markers until I had seen a few.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you can argue it is hard to get lost even in a wide valley and it certainly is at large scale, but I found it helpful to get the detail right when going over soggy ground, tired and damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T09:08:04.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11162" CreationDate="2016-03-09T13:47:04.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learn &lt;strong&gt;their behaviors&lt;/strong&gt;: many encounters become accidents because &#xA;they    escalate to that level in a way or the other. Learn that not &#xA;all the bears are the same, different kind will act differently. As    general rule they    don't want trouble as much as you don't. Knowing&#xA;how they act, what    they protect and fight for, where they tend to &#xA;be/go would help    maintaining an encounter as just such.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learn &lt;strong&gt;avoidance&lt;/strong&gt;: the absolute best way to avoid trouble is to avoid having&#xA;an encounter with them. A bearbell, singing, general noise, just&#xA;alerts them of your presence and gives them time to move away from&#xA;you. A big group is better than a solo camper. Be aware of your surroundings. Use the camp in the proper way, don't leave&#xA;garbage there, hang your food and toiletries in the prescribed manner (4 metres off ground and 2 metres away from the trunk usually)&#xA;and proper containers, a lot of campsites in bear country have a&#xA;cable set up just from that at a certain distance from camp, some&#xA;have bearproof bins so use them. Your car is not a bearproof bin, dont give them reasons to try to get into it. If they have no reason to be curious&#xA;about your camp they wont bug you. If you have a pet and don't have the absolute best control on it don't bring them with you. If guests before you left the campsite a mess it might have been visited already, theres the chance the animal will do a second round, maybe its best to opt for another campsite if possible. Don't do the whole feeding from the car thing (or worse: the baiting to get a stupid picture) that just teaches the animal to get close to humans, when you put us and them together we are the dangerous ones that they need to learn to avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be &lt;strong&gt;prepared&lt;/strong&gt;: in case you end facing the animal and its getting too&#xA;much of a close encounter you need to be prepared. Have a deterrent&#xA;ready, bearspray its the main choice (Canada). Whatever deterrent you prefer&#xA;be sure to know how to use it (found out that some people thought&#xA;that they had to spray the pepper spray around camp to keep the&#xA;animal away). If you can, have also something that can make noise like&#xA;a foghorn, there are some that can be recharged with a simple hand&#xA;pump. Stay calm, if you start revving up they will respond in the&#xA;same manner as much as a dog does. Don't show aggressive&#xA;behavior or they will mirror it. Don't underrate the animal, ever, and dont overrate yourself,&#xA;when one takes risks because they got too confident or arrogant before or later&#xA;things go wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are precautions, you always need to keep in mind that there is the abnormal rare case, unfortunately. More or less, these principles are also valid for a lot of the other animals you will find around, from coyotes to moose and others, each region has their own wildlife, predators or simply dangerous&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit, concerning bearspray: I just finished a chat with some friends from CA and I mentioned to them Ben Cromwell comment about it since its their area. The opinions they gave me was mixed but was also raised the issue of legal/illegal including that a Park Superintendent could have the power to allow it. Not having any reliable source one way or the other I would like to suggest to keep the issue of legality in mind and check with park authorities about that. Here in Canada its legal only as bear deterrent (and suggested by park authorities). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T20:00:17.590" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T20:00:17.590" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11166" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11167" CreationDate="2016-03-09T18:30:31.593" Score="16" ViewCount="1346" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my garden pond I saw a bundle of frogs seemingly smothering one reddish coloured frog. Being British and always favouring the underfrog I sprayed the &quot;attackers&quot; with the hose until they all went. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The victim frog was indeed reddish in colour and seemingly very weak. What is going on? Is the red frog not well? Why are the other frogs attacking it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9028" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T04:29:06.903" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T04:29:06.903" Title="Frogs in pond attacking one reddish coloured frog?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;frogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11166" CreationDate="2016-03-09T19:28:09.047" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you witnessed was almost certainly mating. As &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/35675/title/Croakus-Interruptus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article from TheScientist explains&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Explosive breeding” is a common reproductive strategy among frog species. Males congregate near sources of fresh water and scramble frantically for any females passing by. Only about 5 to 10 percent of males will mate successfully, estimates conservation biologist Marc Sztatecsny, a lecturer at the University of Vienna. “There’s so much competition it makes sense to try to hold what you have,” says Sztatecsny. “The males will clasp anything. They won’t let go.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drawback is that females often die in the mating melee, apparently losing their chances to reproduce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's likely that the frogs in question were &lt;em&gt;Rana temporaria&lt;/em&gt;, the European common frog. This would fit with the colouration you observed. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_frog#Description&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia notes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the mating season males' throats often turn white, and their overall colour is generally light and greyish, whereas the female is browner, or even red.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's some &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/vqlIQc2C5CQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;great footage on YouTube&lt;/a&gt; of common frogs mass breeding in the Val d'Aveto, Italy. And here's a photo (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rana_temporaria.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source: Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) showing the striking colour difference between males and females during breeding season:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p2etb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p2etb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-09T19:55:36.303" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2016-03-10T06:10:23.203" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/experts/ask-kristin/what-s-in-your-pack/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kristin Hostetter on backpacker.com writes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never pack a clothing item that doesn’t work within my layering system. Always bring long john bottoms for chilly nights, a pair of waterproof/breathable rain-pants...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for food, the best thing to do is keep notes on how much you packed and how much you ate versus threw away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These all care and things will help you to pack less and feel more comfortable.&#xA;The one Simple equation of backpacking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Less weight = More Fun!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6387" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T19:08:11.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11170" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11173" CreationDate="2016-03-10T07:29:53.453" Score="13" ViewCount="2406" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/deadman/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Deadman&lt;/a&gt; called so? Where does the name come from?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T23:32:02.307" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T23:32:02.307" Title="Where does the name Deadman come from in mountaineering gear?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11170" CreationDate="2016-03-10T07:47:17.783" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The DMM device you linked to is as far as I know the only product that has this name officially, but a dead man anchor is a general term for what is in mountaineering also called a t-slot anchor. In that case you simply dig a trench at right angle to the direction of pull, bury an object and attach a rope that holds the weight. I presume that as the DMM device is applied in similar circumstances (it is more dependent on very compact snow but faster) it has the same name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an explanation for the name itself, but beware of obvious morbidity:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You dig a hole and bury an object in it, which is quite similar to a burial (while you do not usually attach a rope to a coffin). Moreover dead man anchors are often used as anchors to fixate a free standing object (like a mast). The line between the anchor and the object is called a guy-line, sometimes simply called guy. I do not know which was first (guy or dead man), but I can see how the idea of &quot;attaching a guy to a dead man&quot; can come up...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T18:06:12.253" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T18:06:12.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2016-03-10T09:11:51.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers, I'd like to recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdforum.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;BirdForum&lt;/a&gt;, a large online birding community. It's free to sign up, and they have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=114&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a specific forum devoted to answering bird identification questions&lt;/a&gt;. I've used it myself for help with unidentified birds, and got very quick, useful responses. If you upload the recording somewhere and post a message there with a link to it, I think you'll have an excellent chance of getting someone to identify it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T09:11:51.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11170" CreationDate="2016-03-10T09:26:54.877" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;imsodin's explanation (it's a heavy object you bury in the ground, like a dead body) seems very plausible. Just to add some history to it, here's the earliest use of the term listed in the &lt;em&gt;Oxford English Dictionary:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a1852 W. T. Spurdens &lt;em&gt;Forby's Vocab. E. Anglia&lt;/em&gt; (1858) III. 12 &lt;em&gt;Deadman&lt;/em&gt;, a piece of timber buried in the earth, to secure posts, or other timbers by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next recorded usage is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1901 &lt;em&gt;Daily Colonist&lt;/em&gt; (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 15 Oct. 5/4 A deck hand..was killed by being struck on the head by a ‘dead man’, which is a post imbedded on a [river gravel] bar to haul the steamer over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the term has existed in agricultural and nautical contexts for some time (and when you're burying something in earth rather than snow, the connection with burying a body is a little more obvious).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T09:26:54.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11174" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nomenclature is the devising or choosing of names for things, especially in a science or other discipline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11175" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" Score="0" Body="This tag can be used with questions that talk about process, evidences, causes or need of applying a term/name to  someone or something." OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T09:48:17.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11162" CreationDate="2016-03-10T16:46:55.580" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming that you are not hunting as that would require behaving in different ways.  I'm also not discussing camping/camp which is covered very well by this question:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225/what-precautions-should-i-take-to-protect-myself-and-my-camp-from-bears&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In black bear territory, but prior to seeing a bear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make noise.&lt;/strong&gt;  The bear will generally move away from you.  Just talking and not being stealthy is usually enough.  I've seen information for and against the effectiveness of bear bells.  They can't hurt but they may not provide anymore protection than just being generally loud.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watch your back.&lt;/strong&gt;  Bears will tail people.  I'm aware of multiple cases of people looking behind them only realizing there's a black bear that is following.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't drop food and don't wipe your hands on your clothes.&lt;/strong&gt;  Do what you can to avoid smelling like a meal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Watch your surroundings.&lt;/strong&gt;  Bears are more likely to be encountered near streams.  Also look for trees they have clawed as that means you're in their territory.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have a dog in black bear country &lt;em&gt;keep it on a leash.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  There have been cases of dogs aggravating bears then running for their owner/protector... bringing the bear with them.  Or my least favorite hiking encounter when a couple said as they passed &quot;Bears ahead, our dog treed a cub...&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face the fact that you are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a guest.  It is entirely possible that, if hungry enough, even a black bear will decide you are food.  If that is the case then no amount of being polite will help you.  The vast majority of the time this will not be the case, but that will be of no comfort if you are attacked by a hungry bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do see a black bear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most times, if you run into a black bear it will just take off.  There is really no &quot;encounter.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveat what follows with the fact that I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a bear expert (as in a biologist who studies and works with bears for living), and this is second hand advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you actually encounter a bear checking you out, it is hard to say the correct behavior because that will depend on &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; the bear is checking you out.  Unless you are a bear expert then it's unlikely that you will be able to tell the difference between curiosity, hunger, or other bear reactions/moods.  Unfortunately they require different behavior on your part to avoid any unpleasantness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a 'go to' default:  Back away slowly.  If it persists and follows you then go with the make noise and look bigger approach (bang hiking sticks, yell, etc).  If it charges, stand your ground as it can outrun you anyways and you don't want to look like prey.  If it attacks then fight and pray.  You'll probably lose, but once it attacks you are out of options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T13:00:25.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11177" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11178" CreationDate="2016-03-10T21:32:02.033" Score="27" ViewCount="5831" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am in a survival situation, is there any reason I &lt;strong&gt;shouldn't&lt;/strong&gt; drink the available water? I am aware of &lt;em&gt;Giardia&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;cholera&lt;/em&gt;. Are these worthy concerns, or are there good enough cures available that they can be outruled?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that giardiasis and many other diseases take a week or two to develop by which time I will have either died in the wild, or have been rescued. Are there quick-acting ones that will debilitate me faster than dehydration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To drink, or not to drink?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:25.657" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:25.657" Title="In a survival situation, should I drink unpurified water?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11177" CreationDate="2016-03-10T21:42:27.003" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydration will very quickly reduce your ability to undertake the activities required to survive and so finding and conserving water should be a very high priority in any survival situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly there are potential dangers associated with drinking contaminated water but these need to be weighed against the dangers of dehydration. As with most survival decisions this is based on a balance of risks to the best of your knowledge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If at all possible you should find the safest possible source of water and your basic outdoor kit should include several methods for treating drinking water but if it comes down to a choice between drinking iffy water and dying of thirst then the answer is obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only exception to this is when you suspect that the only water available would do you more harm than good. Salt water or anything which is obviously grossly contaminated may just speed up dehydration, many water borne diseases cause diarrhea and vomiting which will just dehydrate you faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately this comes down to your preparation, both in terms of the equipment you have with you and your knowledge of the environment you are in and planning for finding water in an emergency should be part of your preparation for any expedition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly if you are unsure about the water you have available it is sensible to hold off drinking it until you do actually need to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-10T21:54:06.340" LastActivityDate="2016-03-10T21:54:06.340" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11179" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11212" CreationDate="2016-03-10T22:31:47.540" Score="7" ViewCount="1623" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a bike accident, I managed to damage a softshell jacket. The damage consists of some smaller holes, and the manufacturer provided me with a patch kit that is basically a piece of the material that is large enough be cut into patches for all the individual holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best (i.e. most waterproof) way to sew/apply these patches without too much rain getting in through the seams?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit: I know that the question is really similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/951/how-should-i-patch-holes-in-a-waterproof-breathable-jacket?rq=1&quot;&gt;How should I patch holes in a waterproof/breathable jacket?&lt;/a&gt;, but my situation is slightly different: I already have the material and am just wondering how to best use it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit 2: I just noticed that some confusion might come from the fact that my softshell jacket actually has/is made of some membrane material and promoted as somewhat waterproof (5000mm hydrostatic head). (See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5518/hardshell-vs-softshell-jackets/5519#5519&quot;&gt;Hardshell vs. Softshell jackets&lt;/a&gt; .) That's why I am worried about losing some of the waterproofness.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T09:15:54.410" Title="What's the best way to apply patches to partially waterproof softshell jackets?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11180" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-10T22:34:04.673" Score="14" ViewCount="308" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother once told a concerned parent (whose son he was taking hiking in the &quot;wilderness&quot; (John Muir trail) for a few days) that the most dangerous part of the trip would be the drive there and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All joking aside about a person's driving skill, I believe my brother was almost certainly correct in that statement. Of course, to get real precise you'd have to compare the exact area/type of driving vs. the exact area/type of wilderness exploration. In general though, I'm sure my brother's thoughts are valid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: does statistical evidence exist to back it up? I'm sure there are statistics for how many hours, on average, a person will be a driver or passenger in a car before they are maimed or killed. But are there the same statistics, for comparison purposes, for wilderness trekking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IOW: which activity would more likely be life-threatening: walking the Pacific Crest Trail, or driving across the country for the same period of time (same hours per day, same months)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="2573" LastEditDate="2016-03-12T03:59:43.627" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T01:43:03.810" Title="Is there statistical backing for asserting the wilderness is safer than the highway?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11177" CreationDate="2016-03-11T08:13:40.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydration will kill you before Giardia or cholera does. So, I'd first take a measure of where I am, do I absolutely need to drink the water is question, or is there any other better (safer, need not be testier) alternative to eat/drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am in a desert-like situation, and I've found this water after a long long time, and I am sure its not potable, I'd gauge how much miles I can go before I collapse. If I know that I can get out of this place, I'll leave the thought of drinking it as is, might want to get it filled in a bottle or whatever I have, so that if at all I can boil it, I can use it. Till then I'll walk, take off my shirt, drink the sweat out of it, until I sweat. The moment I stop sweating, I'll drink the water.&#xA;This all, if I can only manage to stop myself from drinking it at first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-06-10T10:28:54.857" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T10:28:54.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2016-03-11T16:02:55.390" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried this on woodsmoke creosote, but in general I've found that &lt;strong&gt;dishwasher powder&lt;/strong&gt; or tablets do a much better job on organic gunk than standard dish soap. I would try dissolving a hefty amount (maybe half a cup) of dishwasher detergent in a sinkful of hot water and leaving the pots in it overnight before scrubbing. You'll probably still need the steel wool but you might cut down the scrubbing time a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety note: dishwasher detergent is pretty caustic stuff. Make sure to wear thick rubber gloves when working with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T16:02:55.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2016-03-11T18:48:26.407" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest sticking with a spinning reel with the caveat that if you're fishing for a bigger fish (&gt;10 lbs) use a baitcasting reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benefits of spinning reel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;simple to use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can easily swap spools/lines if needed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;doesn't get easily tangled, which a baitcaster will&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benefits of baitcast reel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more accurate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can handle heavy fish (&gt;10 lbs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this link: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foundry35.com/blogs/blog/132873735-baitcast-vs-spincast-vs-spinning-reels-which-is-better-and-which-should-you-be-using&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.foundry35.com/blogs/blog/132873735-baitcast-vs-spincast-vs-spinning-reels-which-is-better-and-which-should-you-be-using&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9052" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T18:48:26.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4896" CreationDate="2016-03-11T20:11:02.867" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off I had this same question Michael, How can a belay device used in &quot;direct&quot; or &quot;Guide&quot; mode not have a load rating. After all would you rappel from a figure 8 with out a load rating on it, I would not? As this situation creates a single point of failure in the climbing system I started to research this..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a web site to calculate fall ratings and load. &lt;a href=&quot;http://ferforge.tripod.com/Srt002.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://ferforge.tripod.com/Srt002.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So with my scenario and weight and a five foot fall while seconding a climb, I can generate 5kn load on the direct belay device, If I'm doing the math correctly. Seems like a bad idea to have a possible 5kn load on a single point of failure. This is calculated in a five foot fall also so your belay would not be having the attention to the rope handling they should. Also what about two climber simultaneously being belayed in &quot;direct&quot; belay mode, double the load?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sending some emails and some research on the web, this is what I got back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Thank you for your email. The UIAA/CE does not necessitate a strength requirement for manual belay devices quite like you’re thinking, hence no strength is advertised or stated. We do know how strong our belay devices are but this information is proprietary and kept internal. I can tell you it somewhat approximates a carabiner in strength.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UIAA testing requirements for braking devices can be found here.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_129_Braking_Device_March2013.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_129_Braking_Device_March2013.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a post on a UK forum about DMM Pivot belay device made in Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The DMM &quot;Pivot&quot; guide mode anchor connection point is rated to a minimum of 16kN. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps.&#xA;Regards&#xA;Simon Marsh&#xA;DMM International&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I for one will always have a backup to my &quot;direct&quot; belays to an anchor system now. For standard &quot;indirect&quot; or from the harness belays I know the carabiner is load tested and I'm very comfortable with this setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regards Chris&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9053" LastActivityDate="2016-03-11T20:11:02.867" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11180" CreationDate="2016-03-12T03:45:44.353" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Relevant Highway Data&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812234&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Quick Facts 2014&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;(VMT is vehicle miles travelled)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining the data for 2014 for passenger cars and light trucks, we get 20,936 occupant fatalities in 2.71 trillion VMT (rounded). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We now have to convert fatalities per VMT to fatalities per vehicle-hours travelled in order to compare time spent driving to time spent hiking.  We assume an average driving speed of 50 mph, which means 20,936 occupant fatalities in 5.4 x 10-to-the-10th-power vehicle-hours, or &lt;em&gt;39 occupant fatalities per 100 million vehicle-hours travelled.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am leaving out deaths of pedestrians, motorcyclists, pedacyclists, and occupants of large trucks and school buses.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For injuries, multiply deaths by roughly 70. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hiking&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the hiking part, the best (and perhaps only) data might come from statistics on the Appalachian Trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2012, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/compass/2012/01/24/how-many-people-hike-the-at-every-year/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Southern Research Station (SRS)&lt;/a&gt; estimated that 1.9 million people use the Appalachian Trail per year, and an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/How-many-fatalities-occur-on-the-Appalachian-trail-on-a-yearly-basis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;unofficial source on Quora&lt;/a&gt; said there were four hiking related deaths in 2013.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is 2 deaths per million people. The SRS did not estimate the average length of hike, but let's assume it was 5 hours. That's 2 deaths per 5 million hiking-hours, or 40 deaths per 100 million hiking hours.  The error bars on this estimate are very large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is hiking is more fun than driving, so hike.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-08-05T01:43:03.810" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T01:43:03.810" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11188" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11192" CreationDate="2016-03-12T05:53:03.920" Score="11" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, I saw a snake smoothly glide over about 30 feet of rough gravel in our parking area to get to the woods.  It showed no sign of discomfort -- but I am not sure I would know what an uncomfortable snake looked like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose part of the answer is that the area of the snake's underside that is in contact with the ground is large enough so that the pressure is low; but that gravel is very pointy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question:  Is the skin on a snake's underside tougher than on its topside? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(It was about 18 inches long, thin, a pretty brown with yellow spots.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-03-12T22:34:36.260" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T06:09:34.357" Title="A snake glides over a very rough, hard surface with no signs of discomfort...how?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11189" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-12T07:36:07.807" Score="11" ViewCount="3221" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this is one of those things that I've grown so accustomed to that I've not really put any effort or thought into looking for a solution. I've just &quot;dealt with it&quot; to the point of ignoring it for so long now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost all rain jackets provide an adjustable cuff via velcro or other means to cinch up around the wrist, but this barely impedes the invasion of moisture at that point. &lt;strong&gt;What is a method or piece of gear that will prevent water from dripping down the hands and wrist into the cuffs of a rain jacket when hands are horizontal or reaching above?&lt;/strong&gt; Gloves are a quick thought but they will capture water when your hands are down and are unlikely to be worn in warm weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just to head this one off: please no &quot;buy a new rain jacket&quot; answers. Even the best rain jackets will have this problem.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T15:46:32.053" Title="How to stop rain from entering at the cuffs of my rain jacket?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11189" CreationDate="2016-03-12T11:48:41.713" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never had too much trouble with a double cuff - a velcro or (better) elastic inner cuff and a loose outer. In the worst conditions, an elasticated inner cuff under a goretex glove with long elasticated wrist seals was good for anything short of immersion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the worst case a watersports dry cag would solve this. They have latex or neoprene wrist seals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're also rather impractical as rain jackets. Using them for inspiration instead might be better. My dry suit had slightly slack wrist seals for me. By cutting rings of spare latex wrist seals (like fat stiff rubber bands) and putting them over the top, the problem was solved. In fact just rubber bands would help and is an old-fashioned solution. If you have thin wrists or a bike with fat tyres, some bands of old inner tubes would do the trick. They could overlap the end of the sleeve and any glove as a sort of wrist gaiter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tight wrist seal will make you hot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-03-12T11:48:41.713" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11189" CreationDate="2016-03-12T22:50:18.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;While working outside in the rain and when wearing a rain jacket, I have two simple solutions for keeping as dry as possible when the weather is miserable. I do not wear wrist bands because I like to have some ventilation. You cannot stop water from creeping inside, so I use latex gloves inside my regular gloves, this way my hands are reasonably dry. The second thing I do (only if the temperature is warm enough) is that I roll up my shirt sleeves to just past my elbows. At least this way I am able to stay dry. This little trick I've used for several years now and it works quite nicely. When I take my rain jacket off at least I am dry, although I will be a little humid. Rain gear in general is not breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: If one is really desperate, there is the possibility of putting on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/long-veterinary-glove.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;long veterinary gloves&lt;/a&gt; under your rain jacket!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-03-13T17:08:17.553" LastActivityDate="2016-03-13T17:08:17.553" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11188" CreationDate="2016-03-14T00:10:19.050" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The skin of snakes is covered with tough scales, similar to fingernails. On the upper surfaces of their bodies these tend to be approximately round or diamond shaped and on the underside are usually longer bands running across. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These scales both provide protection from abrasion and can also help it to grip surfaces it is moving over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On some species the texture of the scales is very obvious eg the &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Cerastes-cerastes_head.jpg&quot;&gt;horned viper&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general both top and bottom sides of a snake are well protected by scales but the bottom scales tend to be smoother and specifically adapted to give it traction for movement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This image of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Indiancobra.jpg&quot;&gt;cobra&lt;/a&gt; gives a good view of the belly scales and this one of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/yb08_1_hale2.jpg&quot;&gt;python&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T00:10:19.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2016-03-14T01:01:26.713" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To put the upper limits into context 25kg comes up a lot in a military context and is often quoted as a standard combat load. For example 25kg is the load for the hill phase of British special forces selection, albeit  held over very severe terrain distance and time constraints and for the infantry annual fitness test. Both tests require a pace a bit above normal walking pace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;25kg is also often quoted for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455089/20150820-FOI06779_The_Soldiers_Load.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;historical examples&lt;/a&gt; from roman legionaries to medieval knights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also certainly possible to carry much greater loads over moderate distances and it is entirely possible to hike with a pack that you can struggle to pick up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However what is actually sensible and practical very much comes down to personal preference in the context of your general level of fitness and conditioning as well as the terrain you are moving over. A load which is comfortable on a proper trail can be crippling on hilly or broken ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with al things it comes down to finding the compromise which works for you, lighter kit makes for easier and more comfortable walking but you might find that a little extra weight in terms of a bigger tent or nicer food is well worth it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that you have an upper limit of what is reasonably comfortable and you tailor that to get the balance of comfort, speed and range that you want for your trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T01:01:26.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11195" CreationDate="2016-03-14T01:47:11.353" Score="7" ViewCount="1482" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I have never been to Yosemite. We will have some time off in a couple of weeks (end of March) and we're considering planning a trip to Yosemite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of rain and snow in recent weeks is making me have some doubts though.&#xA;Would you advise us to go to Yosemite at this time, given that we've never been there before and will really have no idea what we're doing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5777" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:47:59.197" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:47:59.197" Title="Yosemite in late March a good idea?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11194" CreationDate="2016-03-14T02:48:37.690" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildcond.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildcond.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of March 3, 2016, the website said this about &lt;em&gt;General Conditions&lt;/em&gt; under the heading &lt;em&gt;Wilderness Conditions&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Be prepared for winter conditions throughout the park. The current&#xA;  snowpack is about 85 - 100% of average for this time of year,&#xA;  depending on location, a significant contrast to the last 4 winters of&#xA;  50% or below snowpack. With spring around the corner, lower&#xA;  elevations, such as Yosemite Valley and Hetch Hetchy, are mostly snow&#xA;  free. However, there is still significant snow at higher elevations.&#xA;  The snow line is highly variable due to aspect, vegetation and&#xA;  exposure to the sun, but expect significant snow above 6,000 ft. In&#xA;  shaded north facing areas, expect snow at lower elevations. There are&#xA;  multiple feet of snow at elevations of 7,000 ft and above&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on long experience with Yosemite, a snowpack of 85 to 100 percent of average means that Tioga Pass Road will not be open before May 15, and Glacier Point Road probably not before May 1.  Even that is optimistic. The website used to have a list of the dates these two roads opened, but I have not located it in my brief search for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get to the snow-gate at Crane Flat (which is roughly 6,500 feet) on Tioga Pass Road; there are trails off Tioga Pass Road before the snow-gate which are fun to x-country ski or snow-shoe.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The section on &lt;em&gt;Trails and Wilderness&lt;/em&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Mist Trail from its junction with the John Muir Trail above Vernal&#xA;  Fall footbridge to the top of Vernal Fall is open; the John Muir Trail&#xA;  from Clark Point to near the top of Nevada Fall is closed for the&#xA;  winter. It is possible to hike to the top of Vernal and Nevada Falls&#xA;  using still-open sections of trail, however, conditions may be snowy&#xA;  and/or icy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've hiked from the Valley to the Rim on the Snow Creek Trail in late April, but late March.....  &lt;strong&gt;Much depends on your level of ability.&lt;/strong&gt;  There are people who would think nothing of getting to the High Country from the Valley in January.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't count on the weather.  How long would you be there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My bottom line is that, in late March, you may be confined to the Valley plus maybe the first 1,500 feet above the Valley plus the open part of Tioga Pass Road.  And there may be weather for a day or three.  On the other hand, the Valley will be spectacular and uncrowded and the waterfalls should be awesome.  There is nothing like Yosemite.  Note: Many, maybe most, visitors never go beyond the Valley.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-03-14T03:02:21.757" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T03:02:21.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11199" CreationDate="2016-03-14T12:51:01.687" Score="23" ViewCount="4709" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm absolutely harsh when it comes to littering in the woods. After a break I take an extra turn to check if everything was picked up. Someone accidentally left a tissue on the last tour and I put it in my pocket. As we randomly chatted about this &quot;incident&quot;, he told me not to care so much about handkerchiefs cause they are perfectly biodegradable. Is this true? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Extra kudos: What about cotton handkerchiefs?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-14T13:22:04.437" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T16:15:25.350" Title="Leave-no-trace-exception for tissues?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11198" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-14T13:39:13.643" Score="9" ViewCount="1977" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/videos/triple-barrel-knot/&quot;&gt;Climbing.com &lt;/a&gt; has a video showing how to tie a &lt;strong&gt;barrel knot&lt;/strong&gt; in the end of a rope. To me (and many of you, I suspect) this knot is the very commonly-used  &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doubleoverhand/#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;double overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Confused, I looked for other uses of the term barrel knot and found this snippet on the Animated Knots page for a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/barrel/#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;barrel hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Barrel&quot; Confusion: Unfortunately, the name Barrel has been applied to various other knots. Ashley himself used it as an alternative name (ABOK # 1413, p 259) for the Blood Knot. Some have applied it to the Poacher's Knot, e.g., descriptions by IRATA and Access Techniques, and others to the &lt;strong&gt;Double Fisherman's&lt;/strong&gt;, e.g., Cave Now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_knots&quot;&gt;Wikipedia's list of knots&lt;/a&gt; says a barrel knot's alternative name is the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bloodknot#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;blood knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Barrel knot (blood knot) - joins sections of monofilament nylon line while maintaining much of the line's inherent strength&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the blood knot and double fishermans/double overhand are definitely different knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what's happening here? Is this just another name for the same knot, or is this a clear misuse of the name by a well-established climbing website?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T19:09:31.877" Title="Is a barrel knot the same as a double/triple overhand knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11197" CreationDate="2016-03-14T13:44:08.890" Score="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's true that paper tissues biodegrade relatively quickly: this &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20070814105440/http://www.blm.gov/education/lnt/background/packing.htm&quot;&gt;U.S. Bureau of Land Management&lt;/a&gt; page estimates 2-4 weeks. However, as the same page notes,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Though most trash and litter in the backcountry is not significant in terms of the long term ecological health of an area, it does rank high as a problem in the minds of many backcountry visitors. Trash and litter are primarily social impacts which can greatly detract from the naturalness of an area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words: the &quot;Leave No Trace&quot; philosophy is not just about ecosystem impacts. It's about, well, leaving no trace :).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if someone doesn't subscribe to the tenets of &quot;Leave No Trace&quot;, taking the tissue can be motivated by a more fundamental principle, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule&quot;&gt;the Golden Rule&lt;/a&gt;: I prefer not to see used tissues when walking in the woods, and I assume that most other people feel the same way, so I myself will not leave used tissues behind in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T13:44:08.890" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11203" CreationDate="2016-03-14T13:52:23.627" Score="14" ViewCount="2050" Body="&lt;p&gt;While browsing the DumbAnchors blog, &lt;a href=&quot;http://dumbanchors.blogspot.com/2016/02/must-be-spring.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;I came across a post&lt;/a&gt; which points out the poor use of a single strand (not a loop) of webbing for building top rope anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blogger doesn't say why these are unacceptable to use, he only points out the mistakes people make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the other components of the anchor are correct, &lt;strong&gt;is/why is a single strand of webbing unacceptable to use for a climbing anchor?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: To clarify, assume the webbing is redundant above the master point, just not used in a loop above the master point. For example, it may have a figure eight clipped to a bolt with one single strand coming down to the master point. Also, &lt;a href=&quot;http://dumbanchors.blogspot.com/2014/10/two-anchors-today-both-stupid.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here's another post with some commentary&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:27:30.290" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:27:30.290" Title="Is a single strand of webbing unacceptable for climbing anchors?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11201" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11208" CreationDate="2016-03-14T14:04:11.667" Score="25" ViewCount="15099" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the backcountry, we should bury solid human waste (i.e. poop), and we are told to carry out toilet paper.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11199/566&quot;&gt;this answer on tissues&lt;/a&gt;, for some kinds of waste the ecological impact is small, but we should still leave no trace for social reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I bury my poop and bury (biodegradable) toilet paper along with it, what is the harm done?  The ecological impact should be small, and it is unlikely another hiker will see my toilet paper.  Then why do we need to pack it out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: I am assuming areas where burying human waste is considered good practice in the first place, thus excluding areas where visitors are required to carry out solid human waste.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:30:16.560" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T17:40:49.727" Title="What's the problem with burying toilet paper?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;litter&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11200" CreationDate="2016-03-14T14:33:46.917" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with most things in climbing, I myself would not go as far as saying this is generally unacceptable. In multipoint anchors there are often single strand connections between one point and the central point when building a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6854/when-to-set-up-a-cordelette-and-an-equalette&quot;&gt;cordelette or equalette&lt;/a&gt;. So the question reduces to whether it is (un-)acceptable when using a single point (like a tree) as an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical climbing webbing has a strength of 10kN or more and a general rule of thumb is that knots reduce the strength by 50%. This is an extremely conservative estimate derived from sewn slings, which have a strength of 22kN as a loop, neglecting the sewing, dividing by two and rounding down this results in this very conservative estimate. So using a single strand you obviously need a knot, resulting in a minimal strength of 5kN. While this is enough for top-roping with belaying correctly, it does not have much safety margin. The fact that there is only one anchor and thus no redundancy makes this very conservative (maybe overly) approach sensible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When setting up an anchor on a single point you have no redundancy, so you want to be very sure that the point itself (tree, rock, ...) is actually stable and your extension is safe. Focusing on the webbing this means abrasion and cutting on anything along its way. It needs to be either not touching anything at all or be protected by laying something between the rock and the webbing. In both cases you need to consider that the rope with the climber may shift around. But all of this is true for a double strand of webbing as well. If you have a setup which leads to one strand getting cut there is a very high probability that the second one (being parallel) will be severed as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end the problem is the borderlineish strength: It is a good idea to be on the safe side and use two strands. The much bigger problem with single point anchors is the reliability of the point itself and abrasion/cutting of the webbing on rock. So you gain more using more than one point, where a single strand is certainly ok. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T18:34:10.433" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11200" CreationDate="2016-03-14T14:37:14.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The blog post shows an anchor in which some kind of hitch is tied around a tree, and a single strand of webbing leads away from the tree horizontally to, presumably, the top of the climb, which is out of frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blogger seems to be criticizing this setup because there is only a single strand. I suppose this is somewhat valid because if you load this anchor, all of the load is taken by a single strand of webbing. If they instead tied a big, long loop of webbing around the tree, then each strand would only take half the load. But this aspect of this anchor actually doesn't seem like a huge problem to me, since it's being used as top-rope anchor, and doesn't need to catch a dynamic fall. You can't break a piece of nylon webbing with a top-rope fall, unless there's something else going on (e.g., the webbing was damaged by rubbing against a sharp edge).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that the knot is a good knot, it's dressed nicely, and there are long tails, I would not have a problem trusting my life to this anchor. The tree looks gigantic, and it looks like its roots are solid. (I can't see in the picture whether the tree is alive.) It's true that the anchor is not redundant. However, redundancy is just a rule of thumb -- people often use a single non-redundant anchor when it's as huge and obviously bomber as this seems to be based on the photo. If I had a way to back it up, I certainly would, but using it as is is not stupid, IMO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that tying a big long loop of webbing would not make this anchor redundant in terms of failure of the webbing, because if either strand broke, the loop would come apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely the reason they used a single strand is simply that they didn't have enough webbing to reach with two strands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T14:37:14.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11198" CreationDate="2016-03-14T14:56:26.037" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, the knot in the video by climbing.com is not a double overhand knot. They do one additional turn, so I would call it a &quot;triple overhand knot&quot;. Now if you google this term you get hits, but only videos/discussions, no entry in animatedknots.com or wikis. So I guess at climbing.com they just made up an in my opinion poor name instead of just calling it a variant of the double overhand knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The barrel hitch is not something commonly used in climbing. Therefore the use of barrel knot by climbing.com is not a misuse (it is not a trademarked anyway), just an arguably bad use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blood knot again is very different from all other here mentioned knots and used in fishing, so irrelevant too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T14:56:26.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11198" CreationDate="2016-03-14T15:14:23.427" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knot shown on Climbing.com is indeed a barrel knot, and yes the barrel knot they're showing you to tie is essentially a triple overhand, but the difference is &lt;em&gt;a barrel knot isn't defined by the number of overhand loops you put in it&lt;/em&gt;. A barrel knot can have three, four, five, or more loops tied into it, a double overhand in the end of a rope can also be called a barrel knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The barrel knot doesn't have it's origins in climbing, it's a macrame knot &lt;em&gt;(technically called a 'barrel bead')&lt;/em&gt; that has proven useful as a stopper in climbing rope. Catholic rosaries are tied using barrel knots, and it's used for finishing ends in macrame.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ztrnb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ztrnb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-14T19:09:31.877" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T19:09:31.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11200" CreationDate="2016-03-14T15:45:40.697" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A single strand of 1&quot; tube webbing has a breaking strength of almost 18kN. which is 50% more than the total amount of force &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; climber will &lt;em&gt;ever&lt;/em&gt; be able to generate (12kN), &lt;em&gt;but&lt;/em&gt; the safety standard is a breaking strength of at least 100% more than what a human body could generate (24kN).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means a single strand of tube webbing &lt;em&gt;may not be acceptable&lt;/em&gt; as an anchor for climbing because it does not meet the minimum breaking strength requirement for a top anchor. But more importantly, it's &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; redundant. It would be suitable as a rappel anchor, it &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; hold a fall, but it is not bombproof. A loop of webbing, or two strands sould be the minimum requirement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-15T19:51:55.287" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T19:51:55.287" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11201" CreationDate="2016-03-14T16:53:59.690" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is the same for burying toilet paper as it is for burying poop: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;see: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7898/when-is-it-not-ok-to-leave-feces-behind/7899#7899&quot;&gt;When is it not OK to leave feces behind?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burying toilet paper with your poop is acceptable in areas &lt;strong&gt;where it can break down and decompose&lt;/strong&gt;. If you are in arid dirt that doesn't get much moisture, or in rocks or sand, then it is not acceptable to bury toilet paper. Paper is considered compost, but just make sure it's properly buried with your stool, and that your stool is in itself properly buried in accordance with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leavenotrace.ca/principle-dispose-waste-properly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;leave no trace ethics&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Toilet Paper:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Use toilet paper sparingly and use only plain, white, non-perfumed brands. Toilet paper must be disposed of properly!&#xA;  It should either be thoroughly buried in a cathole or placed in&#xA;  plastic bags and packed out. Natural toilet paper has been used by&#xA;  many campers for years. When done correctly, this method is as&#xA;  sanitary as regular toilet paper, but without the impact problems.&#xA;  Popular types of natural toilet paper include stones, vegetation and&#xA;  snow. Obviously, some experimentation is necessary to make this&#xA;  practice work for you, but it is worth a try! Burning toilet paper in&#xA;  a cathole is not generally recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-03-14T16:53:59.690" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11197" CreationDate="2016-03-14T17:08:02.143" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no exceptions to leave no trace. Either you leave a trace, or you do not, the whole point of leave no trace ethics is to make as small an impact on the environment as possible, this means &lt;em&gt;visually&lt;/em&gt; as well as ecologically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tissues break down, but the proper method of disposing them would be to bury them in a fox hole. however, if you're digging a fox hole &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; to bury a tissue, then you're unnecessarily disrupting the outdoor landscape. It would be best for you to at least keep your tissues until you &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; to dig a foxhole, and bury it beneath your stool. Otherwise, carry it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only lazy or inconsiderate people would drop a tissue on the trail and justify themselves by saying it's acceptable because it's decomposable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-15T16:15:25.350" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T16:15:25.350" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7664" CreationDate="2016-03-15T08:22:52.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton retains moisture. It is not a good choice for underwear, and you have been bothered by it's major flaw. Merino wool, mentioned here, is a better choice. It is superior to cotton in every way but price. It is more comfortable over a wider variety of temperatures. I own several pairs of merino boxers and briefs. However, it is warmer and when the weather is not cold it may be too warm. It also retains noticeably more moisture than high-performance synthetics, linen, or hemp, but cutting-edge fabric blends and technologies are improving merino in this respect, like Nuyarn (offered by KUIU) and Icebreaker's Cool-Lite. The superior new merino blend technologies are new and not yet available in underwear, though. I recommend merino from KUIU, Icebreaker, Smartwool, and Minus33. However, I too have a sweaty groin and I recommend you avoid merino underwear. It's ideal for long johns, shirts, and union suits, but not underwear. It also won't last as long as the alternatives, but that also depends a great deal on your body's sweat and how you wash the garment. I mostly wear UnderArmour boxerjocks. Well made and very long lasting. Get the smooth &quot;original&quot; fabric rather than being tempted by the mesh if you're mostly sitting down, sitting down on a patternless smooth fabric is more comfortable. However, I prefer natural fabrics next to my skin and no longer buy synthetics like polyester and nylon for this purpose. Synthetics worn on the skin immediately begin to smell upon wearing and are very &quot;unfresh&quot; by the end of the day. The best choice is linen or hemp, which both perform very similarly. They're what I'm starting to move to, but I don't have much experience yet. They retain less heat than polyester and release moisture on par, while feeling and smelling much fresher. Rawganique seems to be a good company offering many styles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton may be less expensive, but it holds sweat more than any other common fabric. Go ahead and pay the $15-30 for a higher-end pair of underwear that will last for years and be significantly more comfortable. You wear underwear every day. You'll be more comfortable every day. You'll notice it and won't regret it, it's a good investment. Underwear will cling to your skin far less often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9074" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T08:22:52.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11179" CreationDate="2016-03-15T11:42:42.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stitch and seam seal.  As Liam noted, softshells aren't really waterproof.  There are plenty of products you could use to glue the patch and it would be more waterproof than the rest of your jacket.  Unfortunately it would also be stiffer.  When you apply a stiff material to a flexible one it will wear at the edges and make new holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you stitch, use a sewing machine unless you are extremely good with hand stitching.  Be careful with the tension because softshells won't take much abuse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T11:42:42.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11201" CreationDate="2016-03-15T16:07:59.040" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Marine grade TP is a good choice for hiking. It is made to dissolve in water rapidly and contains little or no chemicals. Bury in soil and water if possible with stream water... this will also help keep from being tracked by predatory animals.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-03-15T16:07:59.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11214" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11217" CreationDate="2016-03-15T20:11:36.063" Score="23" ViewCount="6100" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that a pocket of still air is an excellent insulator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would placing a tent inside of another tent provide any substantive benefits to warmth? For a concrete example, consider placing a small two person dome tent inside of a much larger 6 or 8 person family tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in comparing tent alone / tent with fly / tent in tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6282" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T07:24:09.780" LastActivityDate="2020-10-18T18:29:15.097" Title="Tent inside of a tent - any improvement in warmth?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11150" CreationDate="2016-03-16T00:22:49.143" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other aspects of Archery, there is no rule of the thumb to choose release aids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't use trigger release but a back tension one. If we compare all types of release aids, you would have a few different options to try and choose from but narrowing down to thumb/trigger releases, I'd say the best you can do is to try a few different ones from friends that use them. Archery shops could also have a few to try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd go for the cheapest to start. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T00:22:49.143" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2016-03-16T00:49:28.670" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know what your situation is exactly, but my advice would be to instead invest in a good &lt;strong&gt;down sleeping-bag&lt;/strong&gt;. Or bring someone to cuddle with. A good sleeping bag will provide that pocket of still air you are looking for and is going to be much more compact and lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For about a year and a half while at college I lived in a three-season two-person tent which was inside a cloth-teepee. I only had a 20 degree (Fahrenheit) sleeping bag and it got pretty cold (I slept in my boots some winter nights). I perceived the main benefit to be peace of mind that my stuff was protected a little more in case the elements misbehaved while I was gone. It worked for me in my situation, and, without having collected any data to quantify, felt more comfortable than just the two-person tent, but I am not sure you would want to do this where you have to carry both tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T00:49:28.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2016-03-16T01:24:03.670" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's essentially how 4 season tents work, the tent is full nylon (no mesh) and the fly is full and basically acts as a second tent, creating that air gap. some 4 season tents even have little foamies on them that help keep the gap, preventing snow from squishing the fly against the tent and eliminating that insulating volume:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1pEY6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1pEY6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting a tent inside another tent would work, but it would work better if the tents were closer in size, then you wouldn't have a large of a volume of air to try and warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to insulate your tent, try putting a blanket or old sleeping bag in between the tent and the fly. In a pinch you can use dry grass or leaves, that's what Siberians do, they make a shelter inside of a shelter and fill the gap in-between with grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T01:24:03.670" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2016-03-16T09:01:59.237" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll chime in from a fairly unique position with anecdotal evidence only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like most of the advice you'll get is from experts that talk down to you condescendingly if you even mention the b-word.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll describe my scenario and you can interpret it however you wish. I have been wearing minimalist 'barefoot' type shoes casually since probably earlier than 2005 and as time went on I did more and more barefoot, though I am careful not to do damage to my feet (e.g. running barefoot shoed on pavement etc or on sharp rocks/tarmac where glass may be present, running barefooted on grass/sand/dirt only etc.). On top of this, I trained barefoot doing Kung-Fu for a few years. So, needless to say, barefootedness resulted in some strength being developed in my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of this, my feet became extremely sensitive (in a good way) to the ground beneath them; I could balance my body using individual muscles in my feet. So when I first tried indoor rock climbing, sure, I tried their shoes, and hated them. Put on my barefoot shoes (0mm cushion 0mm drop, Merrell 'Vapor Glove' FYI) and I just felt better. I then did an outdoor climb on sharp limestone in Greece. Same thing: tried their pro shoes, took them off after one climb because I hated them. Put on my barefoots (this time they were by a brand called 'Cushie', VERY soft!), and loved the feel of them against the rock. Went indoor after that, same story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My most incredible experience was literally last Saturday. I went climbing at Mt Piddington near Sydney. Again, I had hired a pair of pro shoes. One climb, hated them, had to take them off. Then I did the unspeakable: I actually climbed everything else &lt;em&gt;barefooted&lt;/em&gt;. No, actually no shoes at all. You can check out photos of the barefooted climbing &lt;a href=&quot;https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=339F47F0E79D469F!123665&amp;amp;authkey=!AO5U2CH1Kw-ZltE&amp;amp;ithint=folder%2CJPG&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Why &quot;incredible&quot;? I felt so connected to the rock, I had the most intense exhilaration and adrenaline through my body. I had so much feel and control through my toes and feet. The two downsides is that there are some places you can't place your bare feet (e.g. wedged tight between cracks) and after a few climbs you'll experience a fair bit of pain. But I didn't get any cuts or bruising, and the pain subsided after a couple of days anyhow. Also it's true that 'edging' is a fair bit harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll confess that as a n00b, I was only able to complete one climb, rated at around an 8-9, whatever that means. I've been told that the only reason I was able to do it barefoot was because it was easy, and that harder climbs would be impossible barefooted. Well, I say: &quot;challenge accepted&quot;, why not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a wall that I couldn't conquer due to it's technicality. I attempted it first in the day, with the shoes. I'll just say that at the end of the day, with throbbing feet and fatigue setting in, I re-attempted the wall, and doubled my climb height barefooted. Take from that what you will, but it's enough evidence for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It wasn't until today that I realised what it was about the &quot;pro&quot; climbing shoes that I hated so much, but now it's clear: aside from the discomfort of having the foot squashed/arched in the shoe (which, by the way, I can sort of do naturally because I needed to do things like this in Kung-Fu), the shoes are just so rigid. My feet are used to being free and wearing flexible soles, not rigid soles (with a few exceptions like cycling shoes or going out shoes etc.). In essence, the rigidity in the climbing shoes didn't allow me to use the muscles in my feet or to feel the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am excited to continue training my feet to endure pure barefooted rock climbing whenever climbing outdoors. Though, to satisfy the requirements of gyms, I'll be purchasing a pair of Vibram Fivefingers because that's the closest thing I can get to being barefoot (socks only are counter-productive because soft fabric has less grip than human skin). I haven't decided which pair yet; I came here from a Google search trying to find the answer. You can't wear rock climbing shoes casually, but you can with the Fivefingers so it's a solid investment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll finish by saying this: the pros all say wear shoes. On paper, the physics says wear shoes. Logic says wear shoes. But emotion defies logic. And even if it may be harder on my feet, I enjoy barefooted (with barefoot shoes or naked feet) climbing, and ultimately, I do the climbing for enjoyment, not to follow the textbook rules. Each to their own, your mileage may vary, I won't be held responsible, the usual disclaimers etc. I am a complete amateur: I've only climbed four times (twice indoors, twice outdoors), so I am no expert whatsoever. But this is my story, perhaps you may find the information you need from the scenarios I've described.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take care, good luck, and happy climbing! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;George&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9084" LastEditorUserId="9084" LastEditDate="2016-03-16T09:19:07.287" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T09:19:07.287" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11237" CreationDate="2016-03-16T10:15:19.993" Score="13" ViewCount="409" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am required to transport my diving equipment (in the UK and Abroad) what are the best practices of transporting my diving knife / shears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If on a plane this can just go in the hold luggage same as transporting any knife, but the UK seems to allow knives and other weapons which are part of sport equipment to be transported &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;so long as it is with the equipment&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; however, it can still be taken off you if you're under the influence, acting aggressively etc. I'd assume this is not the same everywhere and I'd have to take some precautions / research other countries. So some idea of how other people transport their knives would be good to know, or even if they don't and hire them instead as part of equipment hire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:32.233" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T14:19:58.817" Title="How to transport diving knives / shears?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11223" CreationDate="2016-03-16T13:29:37.813" Score="10" ViewCount="569" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a good rule of thumb for tent floor length relative to height? I'm tall and looking for a backpacking tent. How many inches more than my height should I look for in the floor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9088" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T15:30:33.953" Title="Tent floor length relative to height" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11221" CreationDate="2016-03-16T13:50:18.137" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the assumption that you are backpacking, I would recommend height plus six inches, with the caveat to make sure there is some room to the sides.  If you are car camping, then just get a tent palace and enjoy it ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T13:50:18.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11221" CreationDate="2016-03-16T15:22:20.603" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's really no simple answer to this. Here are some variables that people sometimes overlook...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are the walls sloping or vertical?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first factor to consider is the slope of the inner at your head and feet. In some designs the walls are vertical. But in others the the space can narrow quite sharply with height - add a thick sleeping mattress and suddenly you have much less room than you would expect from the floor plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On some tents with sloping walls the inner can sag quite badly, especially in damp conditions, so you might need more space to keep if off your face. Some people hate having the inner close to their face, while others don't seem to mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The thickness and type of your sleeping bag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A big winter bag can have considerable loft in the foot-box and the hood, so allow for this in addition to your height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're camping in high condensation conditions and you have a down bag, you might want a good margin of safety to prevent the bag from soaking up condensation from the tent outer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ideally, get advice or try it out&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're buying from a specialist cottage maker, have a chat with them and they will advise you - they may even have larger models for taller customers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're buying something mass market try to find a store that will put up a demo for you and try it with the gear you'll be using, bearing in mind that things will often sag more in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth going on the backpacking forums and simply asking people how they are getting on with the tent you're considering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Better safe than sorry...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in general, go for something with a good margin of safety - a tent purchase is an expensive mistake if it doesn't work for you. Don't fret over the odd extra ounce if you have to get something bigger - a tent you don't fit into is a false economy, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-03-16T15:30:33.953" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T15:30:33.953" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11189" CreationDate="2016-03-16T15:46:32.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a Scot I did a lot of wet climbing, so am pretty familiar with the issue you've asked about!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was careful to buy jackets with a good cuff, and I'd use absorbent sweat-bands on my wrists just inside the cuff to mop up any leakage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also roll or ruck up the arms of my inner layers so they were above the sweat bands and stayed pretty dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In torrential conditions, you might have to wring out the sweatbands every now and again on the belays!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your jacket has a poor cuff, Chris H's idea of a rubber seal might be your best option - on its own or in combination with wrist bands. Though it will cut out all ventilation which causes its own issues with damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T15:46:32.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5743" CreationDate="2016-03-16T21:11:38.473" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lightweight shelter selection is all about tradeoffs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general terms, for wind-worthiness you're looking for strong poles, small panels, a low profile, plentiful peg-out points and flies that pitch close to the ground. But this is only a starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choosing lightweight shelters is tough, even for the experienced, and it's all about making the right tradeoffs for your particular requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Space and liveability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Storm-worthiness and durability&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Light weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can have any two of three.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how much storm-worthiness do you really need? Because if you want something genuinely bombproof you're going to have to pay in terms of weight or liveability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much wind-worthiness do you really need?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you camp in sheltered spots below the treeline you probably don't need to worry too much about wind. Most of the higher-end manufacturers will ensure that a 3 season tent can survive up to 30 mph (Force 6: Strong Breeze). So focus on weight and liveability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you camp above the treeline in exposed spots it's another game entirely - you want something that can survive upwards of 50 mph in case you get caught out, and most shelters simply won't deliver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to choose a tent for exposed camping?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two issues here - design and construction quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For design, there are two broad categories - peg-supported and self-supported.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peg supported designs include the Pyramid, A-Frame, Single Hoop and Tunnel. They can all work well, but rely entirely on finding enough good peg placements. Pitching can be finicky as you have to achieve a good stretch on the panels, and the pegs have to do double duty holding up the tent structure and bracing against the wind. Many designs have a big footprint, and if a peg pops in a storm you have a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking poles are stronger than any lightweight tent pole, so if you carry them you could save weight with a shelter designed to use walking poles for support. There's quite a choice these days, from mainstream brands such as MSR and Black Diamond to cottage manufacturers like TarpTent, TrekkerTent, MLD, Six Moons and Yama.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For difficult pitches on sandy or rocky soil &quot;freestanding&quot; designs using flexible poles can be more robust. (They're not really freestanding - they still require a few pegs, but that's how the marketing departments describe them). The poles hold up the tent and stretch most of the panels, leaving the pegs with the single duty of bracing against wind. But poles are heavy so these benefits come at a cost. A true geometric is impractical in a solo lightweight tent, so you are restricted to a two-pole crossover design or to something using connection clips like the Big Agnes range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I'm wary of the clip designs in a serious bad-weather tent as they look vulnerable to failure. Makers like Hilleberg who design for serious bad weather don't use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But with the classic crossover, design restraints mean that you are either looking at something quite heavy like the Hilleberg Suolo at 2.2 kilos, or something tiny like the TrekkerTent Bivy at 1 kilo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second issue is build-quality. I've always thought of the single-hoop design as quite limited, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iJvk6tKs4&amp;amp;ebc=ANyPxKovY_fGZhdBgnyHB7yd_BxIXwB52ey1bBfx8_FCgfDcpNh-HUWexvxwCQI819P-e7r_kzC-nvGi5JiiBRcCzGmnXEe_Sg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;but here's a video&lt;/a&gt; of a Hilleberg Akto doing fine in a measured 85mph (Hurricane Force 12) wind! Quite a testament to good materials and construction. So if you're looking for serious storm-worthiness, focus on companies like Hilleberg, Trekkertent, Tarptent (their Scarp 1 and StratoSpire 1 in particular are good in wind) and Mountain Laurel who have a reputation for bombproof build quality. Some manufacturers cut corners with flimsy materials and poles to achieve lightness at the cost of durability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So to sum up...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, it's all about making the right tradeoffs for the conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sheltered camping you can prioritise weight and livability. Don't push your luck with the weather and pick your campsites with care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For above the treeline, you have to trade off the costs and benefits of freestanding and peg-supported designs. And you should focus on manufacturers with a proven reputation for building storm-worthy shelters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the Big Agnes designs, I personally wouldn't fancy taking them anywhere exposed - too complex and failure-prone for my tastes. And they pitch inner-first, which can be a nightmare in heavy rain...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-09-24T08:32:49.740" LastActivityDate="2017-09-24T08:32:49.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10554" CreationDate="2016-03-16T22:14:39.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen the Bearpaw one but I own a couple of jigs and on both, the clamp is attached by a magnetic bit and I can swap clamps without problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition of changing clamps, both jigs have a couple of screws/bolts where the clamp is attached so you can adjust the offset.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen same features in all other similar jigs I've come across so I truly believe you should be able to just change the clamp with no problems specially with the &quot;deluxe&quot; bit in the name. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, I shoot compound for target and barebow recurve for field and hunting so I fletch my arrows straight for target and right helical for field/hunting. I only have a right helical clamp and use it to get my fletching straight for target adjust the offset on the jig to compensate the helical. You should also be able to do it too. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T22:14:39.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9978" CreationDate="2016-03-16T22:40:52.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hunting arrows fly differently due to the broadheads so the &quot;fineTuning&quot; variable would be slightly different.&#xA;I shoot the same bow and arrows (points and broadheads weight the same) for field and hunting but I have a set of arrows for field and a set for hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, as I shoot a recurve barebow style, I wouldn't notice much difference between my two sets. I only have two sets to so it makes easier to pack when I'm going to the field or hunting. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T22:40:52.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11247" CreationDate="2016-03-16T22:56:21.957" Score="12" ViewCount="3327" Body="&lt;p&gt;In boating, I know that having the right of way is much different than driving, what are the rules and how does this work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8533" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T14:34:17.937" Title="When do boats have the right of way?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11228" CreationDate="2016-03-16T23:33:36.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/#q=BOAT+RIGHT+OF+WAy&quot;&gt;quick google search&lt;/a&gt; turned up a reasonable answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following looks like good general set of rules, but it may vary depending on where you are, which you didn't say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/following-rightofway-boating-rules.html&quot;&gt;Source for the following&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sailboats under sail power only are always the stand-on vessels in&#xA;  crossing and meeting situations, so look out for them when you’re&#xA;  under power. Also, commercial vessels restricted by their draft or by&#xA;  fishing gear, such as nets or trawls, hold privilege over all&#xA;  recreational vessels, including sailboats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Passing a boat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your vessel: If you’re following another vessel in a river, narrow canal, or marked channel, you’re the give-way vessel, meaning you have&#xA;  the greater burden of responsibility should anything go wrong when you&#xA;  try to pass. Your vessel, in this case, is also called the burdened&#xA;  vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other vessel: The vessel you want to pass is the stand-on vessel. It’s privileged and the skipper can deny you passage if she&#xA;  thinks it’s unsafe (or doesn’t like the color of your paint).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asking permission to pass: You sound two short blasts from your horn, signifying you’d like to pass the skipper on his port (left)&#xA;  side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Receiving permission to pass: He signals back with two short blasts to say “Okay!”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Permission denied: She blasts the horn five times, signifying there’s danger involved in such a maneuver. If she doesn’t respond at&#xA;  all, consider it five short blasts and don’t attempt to pass.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crossing paths&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your vessel: You’re on a crossing course with another vessel that could result in a collision if neither boat changes course or speed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other vessel’s on the right: It’s the privileged or stand-on vessel and you must let it pass in front of you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other vessel is on the left: You’re the privileged or stand-on vessel and you must pass in front of the other vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Meeting a boat head-on&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your vessel: You’re meeting another vessel head-on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Both vessels: You should both steer to the right to such a degree that each can see the other’s intentions to pass safely portside to&#xA;  portside (left to left, for the landlubber).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When all else fails When it seems like no one but you knows or follows&#xA;  the rules, the rules say you must give way to avoid a collision. If&#xA;  you exercise stand-on privilege and an accident results, you’ll be&#xA;  held at least partially responsible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2016-03-16T23:33:36.720" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11231" CreationDate="2016-03-16T23:57:15.343" Score="27" ViewCount="3427" Body="&lt;p&gt;I should say I haven't ever done anything very outdoorsy, but I would like to make sleeping outdoors a part of the bicycle touring which I hope to do. But a worry for me is that I have always had problems getting proper sleep even indoors, and I want to make sure that I maintain a healthy lifestyle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I am very easily distracted by the breeze and by outdoor noise or the general openness (whenever I try to read a book in the park). What is your experience? Would a tent or tarp be better for being closed vs open? Earbuds? Would animal noises be able to wake you up in the night? Is it possible to sleep properly in heavy rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9092" LastActivityDate="2016-03-27T21:06:25.990" Title="What sleep quality do you get in the outdoors?" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-17T00:25:55.740" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quality of sleep can depend on a multitude of factors. These are some of my experiences:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quality and appropriateness of gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people sleep poorly if they get too cold or too hot. Having a quality sleeping bag that is appropriate for your climate and time of year will definitely increase the likelihood that you will get quality sleep. Material matters when it comes to sleeping bags. Down will regulate temperature better, but is useless when it gets wet. Synthetic materials are poor at regulating temperature, but keep you warm even when they get wet. Don't buy cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a sleeping pad will contribute to a good night's rest. The ground acts as a heat sink, especially when your sleeping spot is on sand or rock. Forrest duff will act as an insulator, and I will go lighter on the sleeping pad if I know in advance that I will be staying below the timber line. When it comes to sleeping pads, you have a choice between air mattresses and foam pads. The former can be a bit noisier and obviously can be susceptible to leaks, but, in general, is lighter and more comfortable. The latter is cheaper, and can withstand a beating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people sleep best in a tent. Some people sleep best under the open sky, or as close to it as possible. In the summer, I often just bring a tarp in case it rains, since I have a hard time getting up in time if I sleep inside a tent. Tents (or insect nets) are a major plus when setting up camp next to mosquito-infested waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Maintenance of gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get wet you will sleep poorly. Make sure you keep your sleeping gear dry. I keep my sleeping bag in a dry-bag to prevent it from getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Experience&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a couple of years, I have led wilderness trips for children. I have observed a correlation between children who spend time outdoors on a regular basis and getting better night's rest. I suspect this might have to do with being in an unfamiliar environment. On longer trips, most children were sleeping well at the end, probably due to exhaustion and a new-found familiarity with the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The human factor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that the single most annoying thing for myself when trying to fall asleep in the outdoors are inconsiderate individuals in close proximity. European campgrounds can be very dense, especially during the peak season, and often, at least, one group of individuals does not respect the quiet hours. For that reason, I avoid proximity to others whenever possible. I have a pair of noise-cancelling headphones that I use (they don't have to be plugged into anything) when I find myself in a situation like that. For me, it also helps if I can be next to a source of white-noise, like a creek. When going backpacking, especially in areas where you have some choice when it comes to campsite selection, the &quot;human factor&quot; can often be completely avoided. I have been on many trips in the mountains of California's Sierra Nevada where I had the nights completely to myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Environmental factors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people sleep poorly at elevation. What the elevation is that makes people sleep poorly varies heavily from person to person. In my experience, the slower you gain elevation, the better you will acclimatized, and your sleep quality improves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that heavy rain does not distract me unless I am worried that my stuff could get wet. It helps with &quot;the human factor&quot; as well since people generally won't stay up as late in poor weather. It also provides white noise, which helps me sleep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The elements pretty much tie back to the appropriateness and quality of gear. If I trust that my gear will withstand the situation, I normally sleep soundly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sun can be a factor as well. If you would like to sleep in during the summer months, make sure that you set up in a shady spot. There is nothing worse that waking up in your sleeping bag inside a tent that has been baking for 30 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The unavoidable&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have observed (on myself and others) that often the first night can be rough, even with good gear and a lot of experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your general disposition. If you have trouble sleeping at home, you will probably find the same to be true in the outdoors. If your sleeplessness is due to stress, though, a couple of nights in the outdoors may help wonders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-03-18T19:58:06.153" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T19:58:06.153" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11232" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11234" CreationDate="2016-03-17T00:41:13.987" Score="14" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the process for boats becoming &quot;winterized&quot;? Do all boats need to become winterized and is this a one-time process?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8533" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T15:04:44.290" Title="What is the process of winterizing a boat?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-17T13:57:19.540" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ask experts&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equipement recommendations for sleeping bag and underwear will be available in your outdoor store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sustain positive aptitude  / attitude&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mental process is very important. Unfamilar noises and a freezing breeze ... embrace nature and do a &lt;em&gt;psychological trick&lt;/em&gt;: Let the first night outdoor be one great night for a start. Really look forward to share a beer/whiskey with other bikers. Respect animal live! As pointed out in comments music should be adapted to animal life. Singing together also can be substituted by a nice talk in low voices. As well turn down music and listen to the rattling of the leaves - sound of nature is will become familar - a great night, the begnning of many calm nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answer provides a perfect overall recommendation and covers all areas of this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9096" LastEditorUserId="9096" LastEditDate="2016-03-27T21:06:25.990" LastActivityDate="2016-03-27T21:06:25.990" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11232" CreationDate="2016-03-17T14:54:58.820" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winterizing a boat. The issues are 2 fold at a minimum. 1 freeze protection. 2 element protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Freeze protection - two basic areas engine and water tanks. &#xA;Water tanks hoses, and fixtures can be protected two ways, evacuation of all water &lt;strong&gt;or&lt;/strong&gt; mixing the existing water with polypropylene glycol or vodka. ONLY. It is EPA FDA safe...anything else is poisonous. Clear the bilge of water with a wet/dry shop vac. or add vodka.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Engine. Clear water cooling apparatus from stem to stern of water or mix with polypropylene glycol or vodka only. Remove all water pump covers and let lines air breath if possible Automotive ethylene and di ethylene glycol is ILLEGAL. Antifreeze is ILLEGAL as it will be pushed into the water on startup in the spring and subjecting the operator AND owner to a $500,000.00US fine. Clearing water from fuel/water separators and adding fuel stabilizers is recommended. Change the oil in the spring. &#xA;Using an unattended heater is NOT recommended to keep components from freezing. FIRES are very common  with this approach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Element protection - depends on if you are hauling out the boat or leaving it at dock in the water. If hauling out then protecting the decks and scuppers from ice and snow fall as well as freezing drains in the cockpit or like areas is important.  Some shrinkwrap the entire boat. A waste of money and material. &#xA;if you keep the boat in the water you have to check on the boat periodically, and if there is potential for freezing a hull heater or an air bubbler or ice prop, to keep the ice from forming at the waterline and crushing the hull is necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing things like sails and lines is a good idea to protect from ice and freeze shredding. &#xA;Do not use home depot tarps as the wind will shred them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastEditorUserId="6134" LastEditDate="2016-03-17T15:04:44.290" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T15:04:44.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-17T17:02:05.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, it depends on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: When I was 16 years old, my parents moved into a small bedroom, and I got the &quot;master bedroom&quot; (the biggest bedroom of the house!).  Why?  Because in this 2 story house, the master bedroom was above the garage, towards the front of the house, and my father had troubles sleeping due to the sound of the occasional car driving by.  I hardly ever noticed it (when awake).  I am also quite capable of sleeping in many environments, having been known to sleep in airports and airplanes.  Televisions aren't loud enough to keep me awake.  I've also been known to wake up, and then fall right back to sleep easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the question is: are you like me, or like my dad?  The core of my answer is that &lt;strong&gt;it depends on you&lt;/strong&gt;; some people will be able to cope without much or any difficulty.  For others, the identical night could result in the horrible experience of failing attempts to just get a little bit more sleep.  It might be that you need to figure this out by just trying and seeing what the results are.  Unfortunately, this &quot;&lt;em&gt;it depends on you&lt;/em&gt;&quot; doesn't mean that it depends on decision that you can simply make; it may depend on factors that, as an adult, you're not going to be able to just easily change quickly just because you want it to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Would animal noises be able to wake you up in the night?&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You know, you may be able to figure this out at home.  Try just leaving your windows open.  Where I live, there are trees and I do occasionally hear the chirps coming out of the beaks of those small feathered flying things (though not most days).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9100" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T17:02:05.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11220" CreationDate="2016-03-17T17:03:19.417" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really depends on locations so if you are traveling make a point to check. Your local club should be able to give you all the info for your area and abroad if they organize group dives in other countries, otherwise just contact the destination dive club (and keep in mind that in some places the situation might change from one year to the other).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a general rule most countries tend to have a maximum length for a blade above which you could face charges if carrying it on the person in any circumstance, or in the car.&#xA;If your gear is packed up in your car and the knife is in there with the kit generally it is not a problem since very often, carrying a blade longer than what is allowed can pass if there is a valid (and legal) reason for it. For example in Canada or parts of Europe a cop stopping me won't give much trouble if he sees the axe, camp knife etc all packed up with camping gear and a canoe/kayak on the roof of the car, or if the dive knife is in the trunk with all my diving equipment. I can see somebody having a problem if it's just a pool session, debatable if you are up to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It always helps, if stopped, to tell right away things like &quot;I'm a diver, all my diving gear is in the trunk&quot;. It goes a long way in reducing the chances of the person stopping you, or if you are passing a border with the car, becoming picky and giving trouble (this goes even if you are on foot and the knife is in the bag with all the gear). The fact that the knife is in a bag way out of your reach helps too; don't keep it in your glovebox or under the seat. &#xA;It also helps if the knife is one of those with the blunted tip and not the ones looking like they just came off a gladiator of ancient Rome. A line cutter/emergency tool is even more discreet as it's so different looking and less menacing than a knife that it is often not even given a second look.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cruises or airplanes can make the situation a PITA; personally I find that in that case getting one at the destination is easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T14:19:58.817" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T14:19:58.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9704" CreationDate="2016-03-17T17:34:51.830" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The phone number is right: + 34 956 70 97 33 (Grazalema's park visitors centre, El Bosque)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can send an email to this address:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;cv_elbosque@agenciamedioambienteyagua.es&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this mail, you must provide:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Passport number.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Number of persons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Date of the visit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trail to follow (read below, the restricted area you want to visit).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Restricted areas are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pinsapar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Llanos de Ravel: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buscamapas.com/maps/hiking-trails/Llanos-del-Rabel&quot;&gt;http://www.buscamapas.com/maps/hiking-trails/Llanos-del-Rabel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Torreón (highest Cadiz county peak): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buscamapas.com/maps/hiking-trails/Ascension-al-Torreon-Techo-prov-Cadiz&quot;&gt;http://www.buscamapas.com/maps/hiking-trails/Ascension-al-Torreon-Techo-prov-Cadiz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Garganta Verde.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9090" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T17:34:51.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11201" CreationDate="2016-03-17T18:21:25.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can leave your crap there, you can leave the toilet paper too.  Both will degrade fairly rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of this is aesthetics rather than impact.  No one wants to find tufts of toilet paper scattered about a portage landing, but the presence of the paper will have minimal impact on the local life forms.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crap:  Depending on where you are, there are several ways that I consider acceptable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A:  Buried in the active top soil, 50 meters away from nearest water.&#xA;This can be as simple, as lifting a slab of moss, doing your&#xA;business, and replacing the moss.  Going a couple inches deeper is&#xA;better form.  Try to avoid making your personal pit in a runoff&#xA;channel or hollow.  More likely to have seepage into nearby water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B:  Move a log or rock.  Do your business.  Put uhe rock back. &#xA;Talked to one ecologist who was working in a subalpine meadow.  He&#xA;advocated leaving a corner of your toilet paper to poke out from&#xA;under the rock.  By the time the paper disintegrates, the rock is&#xA;ready for reuse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C:  Smear your crap thinly on a large rock.  This exposes it to&#xA;bright sun which will destroy most of the microbial life.  The sun&#xA;rapidly dries the crap, and it gets redistributed by the wind.  This&#xA;method requires separate disposal of TP.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Methods for getting rid of TP:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A:  Dispose of it with the crap.  (All but C above)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;B:  Carry a lighter.  Burn the toilet paper, waiting until it is out&#xA;completely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C:  Bring back to the fire for disposal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see this as mostly a non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only places I've heard of that this is such a major problem that the above strategies are unworkable is on river rafting trips where there is repeated camp use, and very little room to go elsewhere, and on very heavily used trails that have designated camp spots and toilet facilities, and on that oddball combination of a major trailhead that doesn't have installed latrines.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a region is sufficiently crowded that I have to take more than the above precautions for crap, or cannot build a fire, then my inclination is to go elsewhere.  (Ok:  If I meet someone else on a trip it's too crowded..)(Those of you looking for such places, I suggest Willmore wilderness in Alberta; and for paddlers, the MacFarlane river in Saskatchewan.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Alpine environments are very slow, and very fragile.  The rush of nutrients from your crap will have an effect on the local environment.  But:  Use your head:  The local wildlife is also producing crap, about the same amount as you on a pound for pound basis.  If the people density (tons per square mile) is larger than the animal density, then you are a major factor in the local environment.  A case can be made for either camping below tree line (better shelter from weather, more active local ecology) or above grass line. (rocks don't really care about crap.) (But moss is much better on your bum than scree)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jasper Park's Skyline trail is a good case in point:  This is a beautiful trail ranging between treeline and alpine levels.  Camping is at designated spots only.  Each has primitive toilet facilities and they helicopter the residue out each fall.  But this trail has an average of 1 hiking group every 15 minutes for two months every summer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare to Willmore Wilderness, a provincial park just to the north.  This park allows hunting in fall, and is open to horse packing but not motor vehicles.  My usual experience there:  On normal weekends you will find groups up to 5 miles from the trailhead on Saturday Night.  On long weekends increase that to 8 miles.  Most years when I've done a 1 week trip in there, I saw no one at all once away from the trailhead, and often didn't see anyone at the trailhead if I arrived on a weekday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-03-29T17:40:49.727" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T17:40:49.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11240" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11242" CreationDate="2016-03-17T19:31:32.730" Score="10" ViewCount="1206" Body="&lt;p&gt;At sea level, pure water boils at 100°C. In my hometown, water boils at 97°C, and being at a higher elevation we always had to boil or cook our food longer than the recommended times given in recipes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently learned that it was impossible to cook a hardboiled egg on Everest, because water boils at only ~70°C at the higher camps, so the egg whites can't get hot enough to cook and get solid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My initial research seems to indicate that at 70°C, you could hold your hand in a pot of water for almost half a second before getting burned, so if you were to spill boiling water over yourself high on Everest, with the combination of elevation and cold air, would you still burn yourself?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Side Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Water boils at higher temperatures if it is &lt;em&gt;impure&lt;/em&gt; or has minerals in it. Supposing you wanted to boil an egg on Everest (in the name of science) how much salt/what would you need to put in the water in order to bring the boiling point back up to 100°C or a temperature high enough to cook the egg solid? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-18T17:22:05.747" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T21:32:41.330" Title="Can you get burned by boiling water on everest?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-17T20:07:17.973" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I borrowed a friend's tent/hammock. It is more of a bivy sack with ropes to hang it from two trees or anything else you happen to have lying around. You might also be able to get one that has a collapsible stand. It was comfortable once I got in, but it took a little doing to get in. You enter from the bottom on the one that I used. You might want to borrow or rent one to test it out. In fact whatever you do, thorough testing is a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My feeling though is that if you ride far enough, being able to sleep should not be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8850" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T20:07:17.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11240" CreationDate="2016-03-17T20:33:21.220" Score="17" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Yes boiling water at 70&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;C will burn you.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r4xpx.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r4xpx.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Burn chart from accuratebuilding.com&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above chart is for hot water heater settings and burn/scalding. As you can see from the graph being exposed to 70&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; C water for about half a second is enough to burn your skin. That isn't a long exposure time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the cold and other factors well that just depends on too many variables. The answer is different if you pour a quart of water down your chest under your base layer or if you stand naked in the wind at night spraying your self with 70&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; C droplets....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I'd advise you to just be careful...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point to consider is this chart was generated for the pressure at sea level. I'm not an expert in cellular biology, but I don't think your skin cells are designed to withstand water within the cell transitioning from liquid to gas. This makes me think you will get burned, or at least severely damaged skin, quicker at altitude because that transition point is lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has really drifted from a true outdoors.SE question but the most popular portion of the question appears to be about the egg. I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.khymos.org/2009/04/09/towards-the-perfect-soft-boiled-egg/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a web site&lt;/a&gt; that gives more information about boiling eggs than any but the most hardened boiled egg enthusiasts would need. Below are some tasty morsels from the site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the ideal hard boiled egg you shouldn't boil it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;we want to heat the yolk to somewhere above 65° C, but we do not want to heat the white above 80 °C. The solution to this problem is to “boil” the egg at a temperature lower than 100° C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jules Verne was a man ahead of his time (emphasis mine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In his book “Off on a comet”, science fiction author Jules Verne shows that he was actually aware of the possibility of “boiling” eggs at a temperature lower than 100 °C. He has correctly observed that water boils at lower temperature in high altitudes, and that on a fictional comet of appropriate mass, water will boil at 66 °C. The temperature is wisely chosen, because &lt;strong&gt;by keeping eggs at 66° C, you really can’t do anything wrong&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Japanese are fond of low temperature boiled eggs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is in fact no need to head off to other planets to find examples of low temperature prepared eggs. If you go to Japan you’ll find onsen tamago which literally translates to “hot spring eggs”. Originally baskets of eggs were lowered into hot springs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you want to add stuff to the water salt and vinegar offer a couple of advantages for the high altitude egg adventurer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;it is possible to reduce the potential damage from cracking by addition of salt or vinegar to the water. This will help the egg white coagulate faster and thus plug any crack formed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your egg will boil quite nicely on Everest. This is especially true if you use fresh eggs with a dash of salt and vinegar since you will avoid an inverted boiled egg, slightly boost the boiling point without entering the Goldilocks zone of egg boiling, and avoid cracking if your summit bid is delayed for a while due to a storm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T21:32:41.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4320" CreationDate="2016-03-17T21:04:05.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried it yet, but I hear that if you rub hard with coarse sea salt over the skin on the desired area that it should toughen it up. The coarse salt will cut into the skin, damaging and scaring the tissue. You will bleed but the salt should act as a coagulant. I don't see the salt cutting too deep for anyone to worry much, keep it away from your eyes is a thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9103" LastActivityDate="2016-03-17T21:04:05.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-18T04:58:09.213" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't much to be said about the preparation that hasn't been said by DudeOnRock, but making sure that you are dry, have a comfortable sleeping pad, and are warm are definitely key.  One thing to note is that you are going to be biking a lot, which will tire you out.  I can tell you that some of my best sleep has been while camping, even when it was less comfortable sleeping arrangements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Definitely sleep in a tent if you are worried about waking up and it's your first time outdoors, and make sure that you set it up properly.  If not, water could get in when it rains (staking the tent out is key).  If you want, feel free to bring earbuds if you like to listen to music when you fall asleep, or earplugs if that's what you prefer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When setting up a tent, I would recommend putting a groundcloth/tarp on the ground, then your tent with a rainfly, then a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/media/product/407106&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;space blanket&lt;/a&gt;, then your sleeping pad and finally your sleeping bag.  The series of layers helps keep you dry if it rains, even if some part of your sleep system fails, or if there is a large amount of water.   You would be more likely to wake up because you get wet than due to the sound of rain, which is why I think that setting up a tent well is very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing is if you do intend to sleep outdoors, practice setting up and taking down your tent and sleeping arrangements at home first, that way you aren't trying to do it for the first time when it really matters.  Tents are not necessarily intuitive,  and experience with your equipment can help a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T04:58:09.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2016-03-18T08:56:53.817" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are probably finished with this project by now, but I'll weigh in with our experience for others searching for this answer down the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were wondering the same thing about how to attach horticultural signs to trees a couple of years ago. We manufacture interactive plant tags for trees and other plants and many of our users attach our larger signs to mature trees instead of mounting on plant stakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We interviewed a lot of people and ended up visiting Bartlett Tree Experts at their arboretum near Charlotte, NC. It turns out they study this. After our meeting, our solution ended up with using a 3&quot; stainless deck screw with a star head, two stainless washers and a stainless spring. Every couple of years you back the screw out to relieve the compressed spring due to the tree growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9107" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-14T22:55:32.583" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T22:55:32.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11228" CreationDate="2016-03-18T15:23:15.683" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To get the complete answer, you would need to study up on your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/safety/navigation/pages/preventing-collisions.aspx&quot;&gt;Navigation Rules, International and Inland&lt;/a&gt;, also known as NAVRULES and as the 1972 COLREGS (Collision Regulations).  This book is the size of a small novel, and has the force of a treaty within those nations that have agreed to it.  NAVRULES describes things beyond just giving way, like maintaining safe speed and lookouts, lighting and sounds, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer already given by @renesis covers Rules 13, 14, and 15, regarding overtaking, meeting, and crossing situations respectively, and the actions which shall be taken by the Give-Way (Rule 16) and Stand-On (Rule 17) vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish to add Rule 18, regarding responsibility between vessels, often called the order of precedence, and given the mnemonic &quot;New Reels Catch Fish So Purchase Some&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;N: Not Under Command- a vessel which due to circumstances beyond its control cannot maneuver (i.e. mechanical issues)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;R: Restricted Ability To Maneuver - a vessel which due to its work (i.e. dredging or scuba support) cannot maneuver easily&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C: Constrained by Draft - a vessel which must remain in the deeper part of a channel and cannot maneuver into shallower areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;F: Fishing - a vessel engaged in commercial fishing or trawling operations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;S: Sailing - a vessel propelled solely by the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;P: Power Driven - a vessel propelled by a mechanical device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;S: Sea Plane - an aircraft in the act of landing on or taking off from water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, vessels lower on the list give way to vessels higher on the list.  Note that most &quot;boats&quot; in the sense of typical pleasure craft would be defined as power driven for purposes of Rule 18.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T15:23:15.683" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11230" CreationDate="2016-03-18T15:53:13.313" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thing this is too broad and too personal to get a definitive answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mine is: &lt;em&gt;go try out for yourself as much as you can&lt;/em&gt; in a safe environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experiment with different setups as much as you can: tarp vs tent, foam mat vs inflatable, try several sleeping bags if you can borrow them, or just buy and eventually resell them as I did. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a garden, go sleep in it. I don't, so I spent several nights on my balcony in town, by using a thermometer to measure the temperature outside and record my feelings in the morning. My purpose was to test in practice what setups could keep me warm at what temperatures [this also includes going to bed properly feed and hydrated].&#xA;Also, I experimented peeing in a pee bottle (that is, a bottle with a wide opening) so not to need to leave the sleeping bag during the night to pee. That helped a lot. &#xA;I also tried a bivy bag when it was raining, although not much rain was entering the balcony, I had quite a feel of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By sleeping on a garden (or, if you can't, on a balcony) you have a safe way to see in practice what you are going to feel later on and to get back in, onto your bed if anything goes wrong - like, you are too cold, you are too unconfortable, you installed your tarp poorly and it falls over your head, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastEditorUserId="2301" LastEditDate="2016-03-21T11:33:22.123" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T11:33:22.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1751" CreationDate="2016-03-18T18:25:08.673" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The manufacture's user manual will specify the SAFE number of occupants. If the actual number is not available the rule of overall maximum weight capacity / 200lbs yields the maximum number of people. Failing that information a cross comparison of an equivalent sized boat with the same layout/ features will be a good estimate. Canoes 2-3 max row boats 2-3. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... and Never more that the number of life preservers on board.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6134" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T18:25:08.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11250" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11261" CreationDate="2016-03-18T18:31:03.273" Score="14" ViewCount="4199" Body="&lt;p&gt;A noted authority (Ben Crowell) stated in a comment on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11230/what-sleep-quality-do-you-get-in-the-outdoors&quot;&gt;What sleep quality do you get in the outdoors?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A properly pitched tarp works fine in a heavy rain. It just requires&#xA;  practice to set it up properly. I've sat out a very intense storm&#xA;  under a tarp without getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question:  How?  For example: How big does it have to be?  Does the tarp serve as its own ground cloth, or do you have a separate ground cloth?  Will this work for a prolonged rainstorm?  Will it work above timberline?        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T18:30:24.807" Title="How do you pitch a tarp so that you will not get wet in a heavy rain?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11251" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11268" CreationDate="2016-03-18T19:42:37.780" Score="8" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to increase the hummingbird population in my yard in Northeastern United States. I grow certain types of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html&quot;&gt;flowers&lt;/a&gt; specifically designed to keep them happy, and have often found them drinking from flowers people say they'll completely ignore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have one plastic feeder which I keep filled with nectar. I make that at home, or buy a bottled product made only of sugar and water, because &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/humm/food_red_dye.html&quot;&gt;red dye&lt;/a&gt; and other additives generally found in commercially prepared nectars are dangerous, and sometimes fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan is to increase the number of feeders, but I'm not sure about the best way to position them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is proximity to other types of bird and squirrel feeders a consideration?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a sun or shade preference?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does the height from the ground matter?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should they be near trees and bushes, or is it okay to put them in an open field? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can they be close, or attached, to a window?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can they be near each other, or should there be a distance between them? (I ask this because I was told that hummingbirds are territorial, and a male can guard a perimeter of up to 3 feet, making it important to keep their feeders at least that far apart.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should they be among the flowers they like, or is the feeder a good way to attract them to different parts of the yard?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know of anything I haven't mentioned, I'd appreciate all suggestions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T02:20:18.493" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T02:20:18.493" Title="How should I position my hummingbird feeders to attract the most birds?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11252" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-03-18T20:31:18.753" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-03-18T20:31:18.753" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T20:31:18.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11253" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-03-18T20:31:18.753" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to specific or unusual behaviour shown in birds. " OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-03-18T23:13:29.943" LastActivityDate="2016-03-18T23:13:29.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11254" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11255" CreationDate="2016-03-19T00:52:58.123" Score="10" ViewCount="1703" Body="&lt;p&gt;We recently had the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11240&quot;&gt;Can you get burned by boiling water on everest?&lt;/a&gt; and not to long ago the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11001/&quot;&gt;Why aren&amp;#39;t there any electric stoves that can be used for cooking where you can&amp;#39;t build a fire?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first teaches us, the higher you go the lower the temperature at which water boils. The second teaches us, by weight battery operated stoves are highly inefficient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you packed a small gas stove to the top &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Everest 8,848 m (29,029 ft)&lt;/a&gt; would the gas burn?  It is cold, the air pressure is low, the oxygen content is low, it is windy, there are several challenges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would a propane stove, wood fire, or other fuel source burn at elevations and conditions at the top of Everest? Is it even possible to light a fire to boil the water that won't get hot enough to cook an egg? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-19T20:40:50.717" Title="Can you boil water on top of Everest?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11254" CreationDate="2016-03-19T04:27:36.677" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer to your question is yes you can get a stove to light and cook your egg on the top of Everest if you really wanted to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpacking stoves are pressurized&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the backpacking stoves I've used use some sort of pressurized fuel system. This means that the ambient air pressure isn't going to affect the flow of the fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fuel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling an egg on the top of Everest is a logical endeavor to persue. Carrying enough wood to the top of Everest to light a camp fire so you can make s'mores while the egg is boiling is pushing the bounds of reason. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kerosene is a pretty common heating oil, and it used to be a pretty common cooking fuel so let's use that instead. Keep in mind you probably want to buy your kerosene at home. Kerosene at the best of times is pretty dirty. Since kerosene has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.britannica.com/science/kerosene&quot;&gt;boiling point between 150&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; and 300&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; C&lt;/a&gt; I'm going to assume it will remain liquid on Everest. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene&quot;&gt;Kerosene's pour point&lt;/a&gt; is between -40&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; and  -47&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; C depending on grade so you'll need to make sure the fuel bottle is kept above that temperature which isn't unreasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Propane or natural gas should work as well. It might even be helpful that they are gases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The wind&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be blocked/mitigated by huddling around the stove with your fellow climbers, and strategically placing your packs. Alternatively you can bring up a specially fabricated aluminum enclosure for your stove/fuel/pot system. If you're determined enough to boil your egg then the extra weight shouldn't be a problem&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The oxygen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have number handy but I'm pretty sure you can get an anemic flame going on the top of Everest. If that isn't enough to boil the water fast enough you can always co-opt your friend's oxygen tank to enrich the oxygen concentration. This will be easy to do if you bring the aluminum enclosure I mentioned above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The egg&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This baby is going to be delicious. As &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.khymos.org/2009/04/09/towards-the-perfect-soft-boiled-egg/&quot;&gt;Jules Verne well knew&lt;/a&gt; 70&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt; C is plenty to cook an ideal boiled egg. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In his book “Off on a comet”, science fiction author Jules Verne shows that he was actually aware of the possibility of “boiling” eggs at a temperature lower than 100 °C. He has correctly observed that water boils at lower temperature in high altitudes, and that on a fictional comet of appropriate mass, water will boil at 66 °C. The temperature is wisely chosen, because by keeping eggs at 66° C, you really can’t do anything wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-03-19T04:33:12.927" LastActivityDate="2016-03-19T04:33:12.927" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11260" CreationDate="2016-03-19T15:37:06.413" Score="15" ViewCount="513" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might be off-topic so I understand if this gets closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to set up a kind of treasure hunt (perhaps geocaching) for my friends. I was thinking that I could take pictures of places (signs, doors, corners of buildings, stuff like that) but from quite close so that you won't see the surroundings to make it a bit harder, and hide something (text, a hint) to where the picture was taken. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example:&#xA;A picture of a graffiti from under a bridge (the picture shows only the graffiti). My friends, once they find out where the graffiti is, go to the bridge and find the next hint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is how to place the hint (probably text) to the place I want so that it stays there. If I'd leave a post-it note, there's a chance someone will take it if they see it. If I write with a marker on a wall, it'd probably stay there, but I'd rather not do any &quot;permanent&quot; damage to buildings and structures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas how to accomplish this? How to hide text on public so that it stays there and without damaging property?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9111" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T13:15:45.537" Title="How to &quot;hide&quot; text so that it can't be vandalized but without damaging any public property?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11254" CreationDate="2016-03-19T20:40:50.717" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For butane/isobutane/propane canisters, the stove design, affecting the temperature in the canister or liquid feed pipe, and the boiling point of the gas mixture would matter. At very low temperatures even the O ring rubber type would matter as some types go less rubbery and do not seal properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, if the temperature of an upright butane canister drops below -0.5C/43F at sea level and one bar pressure, then the butane no longer boils/evaporates in the canister and the gas flow stops. There needs to be enough heat from a warmer place (air outside, ground or stove flame radiation) to supply energy to drive enough evaporation for cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Isopropane has a lower boiling point and propane a lower one yet; the temperature where a particular canister becomes impractical under normal use depends on the gas mixture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Lower outside pressure will help a bit as the boiling point would be lower, but typically at such altitude the temperature is also lower!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more robust winter gas canister stove solution would be one where&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) The canister is turned upside down so the existing gas in the canister drives liquid fuel out of it, ie. you need very little heat directed to the canister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) There is a heated supply pipe or heat shunt from the flame to where the fuel enters the burner, which ensures enough energy is supplied to evaporate the fuel before it reaches the burner head once the stove is started. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter is an important safety consideration as liquid butane etc. reaching the burner would mean a lot of gas suddenly supplied to the burner as the flame evaporates it, ie. a flare-up. So upside down canisters are best used with stoves designed for that!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those features (which are unusual) should allow you to use a gas canister stove with a good mixture at -25C or a bit lower at sea level according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/caffin-evolution-of-winter-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backpacking Light&lt;/a&gt; (note only first page is subscription free).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it may be colder on the top of Everest, depending on the time, but would you be there in that case? :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2016-03-19T20:40:50.717" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11256" CreationDate="2016-03-20T14:57:54.597" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't, or at least shouldn't.  As you say, it's &lt;i&gt;public&lt;/i&gt; property, not yours.  What you are asking is no different from how to leave garbage around your campsite so that casual observers won't see it.  It's just plain irresponsible, and probably illegal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good test is what would happen if lots of people did the same thing you are considering.  Picking one flower or making one chalk mark isn't a big deal.  But we can't have 100s of people doing that, so the only way to be fair is to say nobody gets to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you own the land or have explicit permission from the land owner, don't do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do trail maintenance work around town regularly (with permission of the land owners, which includes the public authority on public lands).  I sometimes see little markers and the like on trees, and always make a point in removing them.  They don't belong there.  People do not have the right to put up their own markers and otherwise deface public property.  Public property doesn't mean you get to do what you want.  It's basically shared ownership with lots of other people, many of whom might object to what you are trying to do.  That's why we create authorities to manage and make rules about what is allowed on public property.  You can't set up your lawn chair and have a beer in the middle of a public road intersection either, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-03-20T14:57:54.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10649" CreationDate="2016-03-20T16:14:30.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The earlier answers were &quot;Technically&quot; correct, but how many bows are in use today with a quiver attached?  Again, strictly scientifically speaking, yes it adds weight to one side, however in real world use it will not likely affect your bow in any negative way.  Millions of people shoot bows with quivers attached every day.  I think you can adjust to it just fine with practice/time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hunt I'd use the bow quiver, if you just target shoot maybe forego the bow quiver and use a hip/back/side quiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9114" LastActivityDate="2016-03-20T16:14:30.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11256" CreationDate="2016-03-20T20:17:47.837" Score="15" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Augmented Reality...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... is what you are looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I basically agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11258/8060&quot;&gt;Olin Lathrop's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You don't, or at least shouldn't. As you say, it's public property,&#xA;  not yours. What you are asking is no different from how to leave&#xA;  garbage around your campsite so that casual observers won't see it.&#xA;  It's just plain irresponsible, and probably illegal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But&lt;/strong&gt; there &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; something you can do about it. You may want to use &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Augmented Reality&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. It's really easy: just download an app like for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wallame&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WallaMe&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.augment.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Augment&lt;/a&gt; and set up your hints. Share them with your friends and thus make them visible when they (your friends) hover over the places with their phone's cam.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The description from Google Play:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hide messages in the real world using augmented reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leave a message on the wall, or somewhere in a real place, that can be&#xA;  seen only by those you want. It's a funny way to hide private messages&#xA;  in public places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take a picture of a wall near you, add pictures or freehand sketches&#xA;  and share your creation with your friends.  Your augmented reality&#xA;  wall can then be viewed by your friends when they are in the location&#xA;  where you created it. You can also make your wall public, so everyone&#xA;  passing by the physical location can use the WallaMe unique viewer to&#xA;  see your augmented reality Wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;WallaMe makes creating your own virtual reality easy - be creative&#xA;  with beautiful stencils, freehand drawing tools, geolocation and image&#xA;  sharing features. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Enjoy the live image stream of public walls being created worldwide&#xA;  within the WallaMe app.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thoKXl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thoKXl.png&quot; alt=&quot;WallaMe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are even a few geocaches (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC47HMJ_augmented-reality?guid=4b0117bf-ffeb-4524-8470-062b9c738270&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;quoted example&lt;/a&gt;) which use this technology:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Augmented reality (AR) is not all that new but it has become more&#xA;  popular with the proliferation of mobile devices such as phones and&#xA;  tablet/pads. I was first exposed to it by my son who was playing a&#xA;  game on his Gameboy. The game came with marker cards that made 3D&#xA;  characters from the game appear in the air hovering over the card.&#xA;  Now, AR lets you use your mobile device to see things that are not&#xA;  really there. There are apps that let you use your smart phone or&#xA;  tablet to scan your surroundings and show photo links, advertisements,&#xA;  directions, etc. It is like a cool, secret world that only folks &quot;in&#xA;  the know&quot; can discover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;AR works by using some kind of tag or marker. That marker tells your&#xA;  mobile device to display the predetermined image or information at&#xA;  that spot. Markers can be something like the printed card in this&#xA;  geocache listing, a logo or photograph, or they can even be a physical&#xA;  GPS coordinate- meaning that if you stand in a certain spot and use&#xA;  some AR apps you will see the hidden information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you want more information about AR look up Wikitude or Google&#xA;  Project Glasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Click the following link and print the special marker page image. This&#xA;  sheet is the key to it all and makes the magic happen. It is the same&#xA;  jpg included in the gallery of this cache listing. Place it on a&#xA;  horizontal, well lit surface in front of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now all you need to do is to obtain a free AR app called Augment. It&#xA;  is available for Android and iPhone users. The first time you run the&#xA;  app it takes you directly to the camera. Please hit your BACK button&#xA;  or navigate to the home screen of the app. Then touch the logo in the&#xA;  top left corner of your screen in order to expand a menu from the left&#xA;  side. (That is how it works on my Droid. iPhone users may have to do&#xA;  something different). Choose SCAN. This will active your device's&#xA;  camera so you can point it at the USCGA logo shown below. You don't&#xA;  have to print the logo. You can just use the camera pointed at the&#xA;  screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is quite important for &quot;Augment&quot; because it works you around printing the &quot;data cards&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;NOTE-- Some cachers have figured out how to do the AR portion of this&#xA;  cache puzzle using two phones instead of printing the marker sheet.&#xA;  They use one device to display the marker and the other device to do&#xA;  the scanning. (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Voilà an easy, beautiful and leave-no-trace solution - have fun :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T13:58:25.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11250" CreationDate="2016-03-20T23:02:42.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few different ways to pitch a tarp. In all cases the challenge, compared to a tent which is full self supporting, is that you need to find enough anchor points to be able to pitch it with adequate tension. In fact often the exact configuration you use will be determined by what points you can find to string it up from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common method is to string a cord between two trees. This requires one of the knots to allow you  to adjust the tension in the cord after it is tied as in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_-N4NiSlo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This line form the ridge of the tarp which is slung over it and then itself tensioned with short cords fixed to the ridge line with a prusik hitch or similar. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then the four corners are tensioned with guy lines to ground level fixed to pegs, rocks or other trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing about setting it up properly is to be able to tie the proper knots easily, which comes with practice. This is what allows you to tension it properly so that it sheds water effectively and is able to resist the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarps are most useful in forested or jungle areas where you can be sure that there will be plenty of trees to tie all the lines to and they are often used in conjunction with hammocks as in this type of terrain it is often difficult to find smooth level ground to pitch  tent on and it is possible to set up a hammock and tarp camp on extremely rough and sloping ground where a tent would be impractical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On particular advantage compared to a tent is that it is quite versatile for example it can be set up quite high and wide to provide a shelter for cooking, drying clothes or other admin during the day and then lowered to give a more enclosed space at night. Similarly, with practice and in the right terrain they can be set up and taken down quickly enough to be used for rest break in bad weather.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible to use a tarp as the basis of an improvised tent using poles carried with you or found locally. This can be a useful stop gap if there are no trees etc around but can be an awkward compromise between a proper tent and the bets use of a tarp and if you want an ultralight system you may be better off with a bivi bag, but this very much depends on the precise circumstances you are expecting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-24T23:51:16.610" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T23:51:16.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11250" CreationDate="2016-03-20T23:12:51.510" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a lot of ways you pitch a tarp similarly to a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running ground water is an issue for both types of shelters. Many tarp users use bathtub type ground cloths which are essentially the same as tent floors. In heavy rain you want to pitch your shelter in an area with good drainage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarps come in all shapes and sizes. The simplest shape is a rectangular tarp. Even the most advanced shapes do not shed wind as well as computer aided designed tents. This means it is more desirable to pitch a tarp in an area protected from the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A basic flat tarp has big opening on both ends and smaller openings on the sides. For rainy conditions, you want to pitch the tarp with the sides close to the ground (especially the windward side). You also want to pitch the tarp low to minimize the openings on the ends. Ideally you want to position the tarp so the wind is not blowing through it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can then further protect yourself by propping your pack on the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage of a tarp over a tent is it can made of much more waterproof material (e.g., cuben fiber) than typically used in a double walled tent. Further, condensation is less of a problem in a tarp. Finally, with a tarp you do not need to worry about the rain fly sagging and touching the tent and making it less waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-03-21T12:07:41.127" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T12:07:41.127" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11228" CreationDate="2016-03-21T14:26:45.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short version is that whoever can most easily get out of the way, does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have answered with the legal, official rules, and if you are at all serious about boating, you need to learn these. But if you are out boating and need to figure out what to do quickly, this rule of thumb usually works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to remember is that if you are a driver of a small recreational boat, you are always going to be able to get out of the way more easily than a working boat, a bigger vessel or a sailboat, so don't get in their way in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-03-21T14:34:17.937" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T14:34:17.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3012" CreationDate="2016-03-21T15:12:26.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your tent is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/15252517-98/new-orleans-transplant-killed-by-lightning-strike-she-just-dove-into-the-culture-of-new-orleans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;absolutely not a good lightning rod&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. You want the electricity to be conducted to earth &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;away&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; from where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9119" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T15:12:26.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11256" CreationDate="2016-03-21T15:13:58.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had permission to a bunch of adjacent farm/pasture/bush land near a school I worked at.  I think this would be reasonable also in utility type public land:  community pasture, national forest, wilderness areas, but not in lands whose function is beauty such as parks, or sites that get large traffic flows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had an orienteering game that ran in winter.  Because it was in winter, I had to have all the controls set up before snow fall.  Because I had to adjust the spread of the game depending on how deep the snow was, I needed 3 times as many controls as I expected to use.  Because kids were in the school for 3-5 years I had to be able to go that long without reusing a control point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I did was to make controls out of 4&quot; squares of UV resistant coreplast.  These were affixed to a tree or fence post with a roofing nail, on the north side.  I wrote on the squares with an artline 400 paint pen, AND a laser printed Avery weatherproof label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each square had an ID and a codeword.  E.g. ID A21  Codeword Rambunctious Rhino.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Directions as to how to get there referred only to the ID.  Return with the codeword proved that they had been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clues generally had two components:  Part one got you to the general vicinity.  Part two told you what to look for.   So a simple one would be 721 654  using the standard UTM grid.  That is accurate to 100 meters.  Part 2 would be something like:  &quot;Double trunk birch near hill top&quot;  More complex ones could depend on plotting bearings from landmarks,  figuring out how to do some form of search, doing research on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were making a game for one use, you could skip the nails, and use baling twine.  Or you could just write on flagging tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of 5 years I had over a thousand controls, spread out over 200 km2 of territory, all with gps coordinates to within 5 meters.  In the fall I would take a map of a zone, usually a square mile, and would spend the day checking previous controls and adding new ones if I was inspired to some clever new clue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The school is not open any more.  But a description of the game, and how it works is here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rogaine.sherwoods-forests.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://rogaine.sherwoods-forests.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T15:13:58.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2016-03-21T16:51:01.067" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would highly recommend that you use challenge coins as they are customizable and can feature unique and amazing images. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.embleholics.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Embleholics&lt;/a&gt; makes some pretty amazing challenge coins and they have great customer service. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5uXvL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5uXvL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Custom Challenge Coin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9121" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T01:15:44.643" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T01:15:44.643" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-03-21T16:51:01.067" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3012" CreationDate="2016-03-21T17:55:31.587" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Listen. When it comes to lightening, pretty much all bets are off. There is very little you can do that will have any appreciate or measurable affect on the path that lightening chooses to take except one and that one thing is insurmountable from a camping/outdoorsman point of view. That thing is called a faraday cage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who think a 1/4 inch of rubber will help insulate you or anything from a bolt of lightening that has traveled a 1/4 mile through air (that's a lot of insulator) are only helping their state of mind and are doing absolutely nothing in the true and practical sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T17:55:31.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11251" CreationDate="2016-03-21T18:01:04.830" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother and her husband feed hummingbirds rather religiously. They have feeders all over and in every conceivable condition you could possibly imagine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My mother refills all of her feeders on a daily basis, and the birds have learned it is her providing the food. When one of the feeders has gone empty and the others are too crowded, the hummingbirds will hover outside her kitchen window to get her attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a joke, nor an exaggeration. The birds will hover around her while she's refilling the feeders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In one case, a hummingbird failed to fly south for the winter, and they kept one feeder filled and warm to prevent freezing and they successfully helped that hummingbird overwinter in the mountain tops of North Carolina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-03-21T18:01:04.830" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11269" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11270" CreationDate="2016-03-21T23:09:00.293" Score="25" ViewCount="3930" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other night I went to the climbing gym, intending to look for a climbing partner once I got there. (My usual gym climbing partner isn't available to climb as often as I want to.) The gym provides a whiteboard where you can write your name if you're looking for a partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A woman came up to me and offered to climb. She said she was there with a friend, but the friend didn't know how to belay. This was my only real clue that she herself might be inexperienced as a belayer -- probably the two of them were mainly there to boulder. I checked that she had the card tied to her harness that the gym gives you if you've passed their belay test. I belayed her on a climb, and then she belayed me. The belay device was a grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was ready to be lowered after finishing the climb, she initially dropped me about half-way down the wall at very high speed, then suddenly stopped me and lowered me much more slowly the rest of the way. When I got to the bottom, she was very embarrassed and apologetic. She apparently hadn't understood how to control the speed when lowering with the grigri, and had probably just pulled the lever back all the way and let go with her hand on the brake strand. She left immediately after this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have suggestions on how to screen potential belayers in a situation like this, and what to do if they seem inexperienced? The best thing I'm coming up with so far, other than checking for the belay card, is to ask explicitly how experienced they are. (A lot of people seem to ask, &quot;How long have you been climbing?,&quot; which is probably a nice neutral way of getting this kind of information.) Then if they say they're inexperienced, I can give them a quick mini-review.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-04T14:55:33.953" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T08:43:40.390" Title="How should I vet belayers? What should I look for?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11269" CreationDate="2016-03-21T23:29:29.683" Score="26" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Be observant&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to the gym often take note of who the regulars are and their general abilities. You aren't going to know everyone's name but you might get a rough idea of their capabilities. This will give you introduction lines like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen you around here very much. Are you new?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed you mostly stick to bouldering. Last week this lady almost dropped me. Do you mind if we run through a quick refresher together?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed you have been working XYZ route with your partner. Just incase you haven't seen me belaying people do you want me to demonstrate my belay technique?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Experienced doesn't mean experienced with a GriGri&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I climbed for quite a while before I handled a GriGri. Instead of asking if they're experienced, &lt;strong&gt;ask if they're experienced with a GriGri&lt;/strong&gt;. In the comments &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3277/david-richerby&quot;&gt;David Richerby&lt;/a&gt; nicely expanded this idea:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Asking &amp;quot;Are you experienced in [this specific skill]?&amp;quot; rather than &amp;quot;Are you experienced in [this general area]?&amp;quot; is excellent advice for almost any situation. Don't assume that somebody who is generally experienced necessarily has experience with the specific thing you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ask to join a group instead&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scout a few pairs and notice how comfortable they are on belay. When you're comfortable with their abilities explain your situation and ask if you could join their group. This strategy admittedly works better if you're moderately social so you aren't walking up to them completely cold. I know I'd help out a friend in that situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hi Erik and Ben, my partner couldn't make it tonight do you mind if work this route with you guys for a little bit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Look at their gear&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can tell a lot about a climber based on the gear that they wear. Does the person have really worn shoes, and a brand new harness? Either the person just got a new harness or they've been mostly bouldering. Does the person have a harness with nut tool dangling on the back? Odds are the person is doing some trad climbing outside of the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2199/roflo&quot;&gt;Roflo&lt;/a&gt; also added a comment about weight disparities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to add that I've seen long-time belayers struggle when faced with a climber that's considerably heavier than they're used to. I even recall one guy saying something like &amp;quot;be careful, I'm heavier than I look&amp;quot; to every new belayer he met.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think you're a deceptively heftier person than the average you might want to consider mentioning it.  Ideally the belayer would be extra vigilant for those kinds of things with a new partner, but that obviously isn't always the case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T18:29:39.163" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11274" CreationDate="2016-03-22T02:00:01.323" Score="12" ViewCount="4918" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen different types of hummingbird nectar, some red and some clear. My question is, will the red be able to attract more hummingbirds, vice-versa, or will they both attract the same amount? Note: both types say that they are more attractive to hummingbirds then the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red Nectar: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F95sum.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F95sum.png&quot; alt=&quot;Red Nectar&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Clear Nectar:&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UNnCtm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UNnCtm.png&quot; alt=&quot;Clear Nectar&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8533" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T02:20:00.180" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T21:09:52.093" Title="Does the color of hummingbird nectar make a difference?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="756" CreationDate="2016-03-22T02:10:16.093" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A blister can be drained with just a small pinprick using a sterilized device.  However, do not remove the overlying skin. As it remains natures best Band-Aid to cover the wound. One exception would be is if develops red streaks and the pus  has a foul odor. In that case you might require antibiotic ointment and medication.ALSO,KEEP IT DRY AS POSSIBLE!.This is what leads to many foot problems in military service referred to as “trench foot“. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9064" LastActivityDate="2016-03-22T02:10:16.093" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11269" CreationDate="2016-03-22T07:06:01.957" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it is about new climbing partners you need to be very careful. This is not paranoia, simply necessity as you will be trusting them with your life. In any other situation, you wouldn't take that lightly either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found none of the options like asking them how often or since when they climb, looking at their gear, etc. conclusive, as many will overstate their abilities to not scare you away as potential climbing partner and anybody can and does buy great gear. So what to do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Explain politely that you just want to observe her/him belay once first and of course offer the same for you. It usually is not that hard to find some additional person to climb a route while you two belay them. Then observe how the belaying goes. If you know the belay device your potential partner is using, this is extremely telling. You see clearly whether he/she is comfortable with it and whether he/she has dangerous habits. If you point out an error factually and nicely he/she might correct it promptly and you both gain something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do not climb with anyone you do not know or that is not vouched for by somebody you know to be absolutely trustworthy unless you have seen them climb. And I would recommend not to count some &quot;certificate&quot; from a course, that may be a one hour of instruction, which is not sufficient to make a proficient belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T08:43:40.390" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T08:43:40.390" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11271" CreationDate="2016-03-22T11:35:15.557" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers in the wild.  Therefore, a hummingbird feeder should mimic red flowers for best results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The color of the &quot;nectar&quot; itself doesn't matter.  After all, hummingbirds don't see the nectar in flowers.  They see the petals, which guide them to where the nectar is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, some hummingbird feeders rely on the color of the nectar to provide the color queues to the bird, unlike real flowers.  In those cases, you need red liquid.  Sometimes you will see hummingbirds hover around the nectar reservoir instead of the opening in such feeders, although they usually figure it out and find how to sip the nectar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be no surprise the mimicking nature as best as possible yields the best results.  This means having the right parts of the feeder look like a flower, with the nectar sippable thru the center of the flower.  The picture of the hummingbird hovering by the trumpet-shaped flower on the picture of the right bottle in your question is a good example.  The bird sees and homes in on the petals, and can't see the nectar at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flowers that have co-evolved with hummingbirds as pollinators tend to be trumpet-shaped, red, and just deep enough so that the hummingbird can reach the nectar in the bottom with its long and thin beak.  This &quot;locks out&quot; some of the other nectar-seekers that don't have the right shape to get pollen stuck on them and then deliver it to the next flower of the same species.  Therefore, make your hummingbird feeder with red trumpet-shaped flowers.  The nectar then doesn't need to be a particular color since it shouldn't be visible directly anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a interesting aside, some insects have evolved to work like hummingbirds and be able to sip nectar from deep trumpet-shaped flowers too, and pollinate the flowers in return like hummingbirds do.  Some good examples are found in the sphinx moths, sometimes even called &quot;hummingbird moths&quot;.  I'm at the wrong computer right now, but maybe later I'll remember to upload a picture of a white lined sphinx moth sipping from a scarlet gillia flower.  Both hummingbirds and these sphinx moths feed from and pollinate these flowers.  I've even seen hummingbirds chasing away sphinx moths in the same patch of scarlet gillia.  After being subjected to the same evolutionary pressure as the hummingbirds, the sphinx moth actually resembles a hummingbird in shape and behavior.  It's really cool how nature works sometimes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture of a white lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) sipping nectar from a scarlet gillia flower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qFbN0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qFbN0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is a picture showing the long tongue the moth has evolved to reach the nectar.  Hummingbirds do it with a long beak, and then a tongue that extends even further, but these moths do strictly with a very long tongue that is curled up in the mouth when not feeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BT9vP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BT9vP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a impressive case of convergent evolution.  Moths and birds are very different animals, but here competing for the same resource has led both to strikingly similar body layouts and abilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-03-22T21:25:38.693" LastActivityDate="2016-03-22T21:25:38.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11275" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11300" CreationDate="2016-03-22T16:36:31.423" Score="12" ViewCount="439" Body="&lt;p&gt;India is known for its historical monuments and Caves are essential part of them. While among them, almost all major tourist attractions are very well conserved and looked after, unfortunately some of them are yet to be admired at that level.   I don't want to get into why the &lt;a href=&quot;http://asi.nic.in/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Archaeological Survey of India&lt;/a&gt; is so ignorant and careless about the majority of the historical places and overall conservation activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a watchful tourist, I have seen plenty of places that are easily reachable and (hence?) spoiled by careless, ignorant people painting their names on the walls of the caves and forts and what not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good part is that &lt;strong&gt;the authorities are trying to reach out&lt;/strong&gt; to frequent travelers, experienced mountaineers and archaeological experts to identify ways to prevent the damage, set new rules and encourage new ideas as to how to get the paint removed without damaging the structure and the rock.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the authority and opportunity, many of us are looking forward to contributing towards the initiative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you known of trusted/proven ways to remove paint from a historically important surface without damaging it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Majority of the monuments I am referring to are about 400 to 1000 years old. I do understand that it is really not a span to sum up in two lines of course. But you know, that's the whole point about conserving them. If people and authorities do not care, its a huge asset to be ruined. &#xA;Secondly, and more importantly the rock/stone surfaces I am referring to are Basalt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:29:58.170" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T15:29:30.777" Title="How to get rid of illegal artificial paints on historical monuments?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11276" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11285" CreationDate="2016-03-22T17:11:22.833" Score="11" ViewCount="2974" Body="&lt;p&gt;For those unaware, the US army has been using canvas tarps to float jeeps across water for decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IpWMz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IpWMz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yCpC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yCpC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675028751_US-4th-Engineers-troops-with-Bantam-Jeep_tarpaulin_river&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675028751_US-4th-Engineers-troops-with-Bantam-Jeep_tarpaulin_river&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canvas tarps are stronger than the blue plastic tarps you purchase for most uses today. Can I use a the standard blue plastic tarp to float my vehicle across water?  Are there any limits or considerations? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T18:40:19.077" Title="Can I use a blue plastic tarp to float my vehicle across water?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11276" CreationDate="2016-03-22T20:00:58.463" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based solely on the video you provided the link to, and my experience with blue thick tarp, I have a few things to address. I don't know what kind of tarpaulin you have, how heavy your vehicle is, and how deep is the river/pond/lake you're trying to cross through. Despite that, there are a few things you should keep in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You should make sure that your vehicle's density is always equals to or less than: &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 g/cm3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; so if you have an object that weighs &lt;strong&gt;1000g&lt;/strong&gt; it needs to have at least a volume of &lt;strong&gt;1000cm3&lt;/strong&gt; to &amp;quot;Float&amp;quot; (1 to 1 means that the object will not stick out because it'll be as dense as water)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;density = mass / volume&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Example&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let's say you have a Hybrid Prius&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt;: 1325 kg or 2921 lb or 1325000 g&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Volume&lt;/strong&gt;: 12.68 M³ or 774317 inches³ or 12688798 cm³&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thus: 1325000g / 12688798cm³ ~= 0.10g/cm³&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Will it float?: Yes, and 90% to 80% of your car will stick out of the water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So grab your measuring tape, get your vehicle's sizes, and get ready for some simple math&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Calculator: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.calculator.net/volume-calculator.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.calculator.net/volume-calculator.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;it helps you with the conversion&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buoyancy: &lt;a href=&quot;http://scienceprimer.com/buoyancy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://scienceprimer.com/buoyancy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I still think you shouldn't risk sinking thousands of dollars because you didn't want to spend some hundreds of dollars on a canvas tarp, but it's just my two cents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8559" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T12:37:51.093" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11276" CreationDate="2016-03-22T20:10:05.967" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The whole thing comes down to weight, if your setup can displace more than its weight then it will float, those jeeps were made to be very light. You could be in the situation where your &quot;wrapped car&quot; could float but its so deep in the water you wont be able to move it anywhere (or you would need an huge canvas and a mean to hold it in deep water as much as the soldier standing in the river is doing in the video). As for the durability of those blue tarps you can never tell, i have polytarps that are extremely sturdy and some that will rip apart very easily. I wouldn't trust them for these kind of things. I would probably end using a double or triple layer of polytarps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, that said, if you have a car from a scrapyard, a body of water to try and a mean to pull the car out if it sinks it can be a fun idea to try. (Often boatramps have a decently steep entry, so chances are that something like that will start floating one end of the completely wrapped car while the other end is still resting at the edge of the water on the ramp. That could give you a safety margin to still be able to drive out of the water in case things don't go the way you want. If it works that way then you can be more tranquil when you will try driving on the tarp further in the water like in the video)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you calculate the volume of a box that has the dimensions of the car, then see how much water it displaces and compare that with the curb weight of the car you can have a very very rough idea on how high it will float. Then, obviously, you have to take in account that the cube doesn't have the tires sticking out etc but as I said its just to give yourself an idea. (a rough calculation using dimension and weight of an accent hatchback gives an immersion of about 8inch for the cube example) Or you could go high tech and use Delftship and a model built on the profile of the car you want to use to see its displacement ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-23T13:35:50.233" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T13:35:50.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11276" CreationDate="2016-03-22T21:06:48.287" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok to address your question: &lt;code&gt;Can I use a plastic blue tarp to float my vehicle over water?&lt;/code&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Limits and Considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WILL YOU FLOAT?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off I will describe the physics of the floating car. The force of buoyancy acting on your car must be greater than the force of gravity pulling it down. The equation for buoyancy is this &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L6J6U.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L6J6U.png&quot; alt=&quot;Newton&amp;#39;s equation for Force due to buoyancy&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Where Fb is the force in the upwards direction, Vs is the volume submerged in meters cubed and rhoL is the density of the liquid/gas the object is in. g is the gravitational constant (9.8 m/s^2). This is my &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.ubc.ca/Buoyancy,_Pressure,_Bernoulli&amp;#39;s_Equation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in order for this to work you'll need to know the mass of your vehicle plus tarp entity to calculate the force due to gravity acting on this entity. Next, determine how much volume your entity will take up in the water (so consider taking 75% of the total volume of your entity as you'll need part of the car above water). Also know the density of the fluid you are traversing. Only after knowing this will you be certain your car will or will not float.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should your tarp break and water starts engulfing the space that was filled with air, recognize that the volume of your entity will decrease (thus decreasing the buoyant force). So make sure your tarp doesn't let water in!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If someone that's actually good at physics could review this answer that would be tremendous.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Traversing bodies of water can be DANGEROUS!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bodies of water can contain foreign, sharp objects that could jeopardize the ability of your car to float. For example, what if a stick tears a hole in your tarp? If we're assuming your traversing a pool, then the STRENGTH of your tarp shouldn't worry you. But if you do think the strength of your tarp is a consideration, look up the numbers for your particular tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8821" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-22T23:34:48.153" LastActivityDate="2016-03-22T23:34:48.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9704" CreationDate="2016-03-23T08:49:44.157" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just found out that you can book visits online (only spanish language):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reservatuvisita.es/reservas/1248/el-bosque.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.reservatuvisita.es/reservas/1248/el-bosque.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In main page (www.reservatuvisita.es) you can find visitor centers in natural areas of Andalusia (spanish southern region)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best regards!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9090" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T08:49:44.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4852" CreationDate="2016-03-23T10:36:49.060" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climb the easy route repeatedly. By this I mean, see how many ascents of &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; route you can do in &lt;em&gt;y&lt;/em&gt; time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;So climb the route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop off&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Immediately climb it again&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat until out of time or exhausted (whichever happens first!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep notes and try and beat your number of ascents (next time or after a rest)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This keeps things more interesting and has the added bonus of being good training. If you do this enough you should find the easy routes too easy and can move onto the harder routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T16:30:23.767" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T16:30:23.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11282" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-23T12:31:47.017" Score="6" ViewCount="297" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm riding a pretty standard &quot;binding setting&quot; since ever. Just didn't bother me yet because I always was extremely fit. Lately I recognized that it's not &lt;em&gt;that easy&lt;/em&gt; anymore since I got older ;P and I wanted to try to adjust my gear so that it suits me perfectly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wonder which settings I should use for the backcountry? Please provide the most regular case from which one can start to setup his individual configurations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few key-facts: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backcountry-snowboarding is riding in deep, unprepared snow (off-piste)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've Forum Factions soft bindings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Installed on +21°/+9° and highbacks are default (lowest)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oyBwY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oyBwY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Highbacks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Centered on both mounting points&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-23T15:38:47.690" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T17:50:50.563" Title="How to set up my snowboard binding for the backcountry" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11276" CreationDate="2016-03-23T13:05:56.287" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to previous answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the center of mass. The &quot;modern&quot; car usually are quite front heavy (quite often the engine, gearbox, clutch etc. are all in the front) in contrary to the depicted jeeps. That means a &quot;modern&quot; car will by no means float as level as the depicted one, even if you have enough lift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T18:40:19.077" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T18:40:19.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11256" CreationDate="2016-03-23T13:15:45.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use something that is already there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I competed on a similar event recently - a set of clues were given out that each led to a location, and at each location the clue gave a number (for example, &quot;how many bolts on the gate&quot;, or &quot;What's the third digit of the sign-makers phone number&quot;) - these numbers together gave a map reference to the next control location, where another set of clues were handed out for the next part of the event. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way you don't deface anything, and you can be sure that the clue you find when you're setting the event will still be there when your friends go looking (as long as you use something permanent, like my above examples of gates and signs - graffiti would be a bad idea as it might get cleaned up in the mean time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3645" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T13:15:45.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11276" CreationDate="2016-03-23T17:39:44.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your tarp is heavy duty enough, I'd expect it to work. Most blue plastic tarps are fairly thin and weak, so while it might work, it would be risky. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty is that you will be abrading the tarp by driving onto it, probably subjecting it to abrasion from rubbing against the jeep's body, and risking the tarp catching on underwater debris. The thinner your tarp, the higher your risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even a pinprick leak could be a problem, depending on how long you are in the water. A flimsy tarp of any material will develop leaks or rip relatively easily, maybe even while loading for your first test. A sturdy one would probably hold up to a few trips, although I've got no idea how many. The toughest waterproof fabrics are used for whitewater rafting vessels, which gives an idea of how sturdy a tarp (not polypropylene) can be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure before you start that you don't have any leaks in the tarp. I've never had to do this, but a possible setup that comes to mind is hanging the tarp in a cup shape and dumping in 10 gallons of water or more, then swishing it all over the tarp surface to make sure it doesn't leak. At the minimum, I'd spray one side with a hose, but that has a few problems: 1) it's hard to be sure no spray is reaching the far side, which makes leaks harder to spot, and 2) if the material is only somewhat waterproof, it might still seem impermeable when sprayed, while holding several gallons would show that it can't stand up to long, heavy exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T17:39:44.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11282" CreationDate="2016-03-23T17:50:50.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like a lot it comes down to preference. Assuming from your current setting you do not ride fakie/switch a lot. (Then something like +12°/-12° would more appropriate, and the following paragraph would be less helpful.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something that is preferable in deep powdery snow is to have a long nose and a short tail (which is something you can observe also in the design of specific freeride snowboards) which allows for an more relaxed &quot;surfing&quot;, because it does not force you to put so much weight on the rear foot. So I recommend trying to shift both bindings somewaht back to the tail if possible. &#xA;Also I like having the highbacks alot looser than for tight carving on well made hard pists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that I really recommend just trying out different settings and see what you are comfortable with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-23T17:50:50.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11271" CreationDate="2016-03-24T01:08:49.267" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The nectar color doesn't make a difference and red nectar should be completely avoided. &lt;strong&gt;There is never a time you'll need red nectar&lt;/strong&gt;. It does not attract more birds, and is likely very dangerous. That includes nectar labeled as &quot;100% natural.&quot; In fact, there are a lot of &quot;natural&quot; ingredients in commercial nectar of both types which are either unnecessary or directly harmful to hummingbirds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not add red food coloring or dye to the hummingbird food.&lt;/strong&gt; It has no nutritional value and can cause damage to their kidneys. If you have a good hummingbird feeder, there is no need to have red hummingbird food to attract hummingbirds. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/nectar.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because all flowers and natural nectar sources have color, colorless hummingbird feeders have proven to be ineffective, and are often ignored, so some type of color on the feeder is pretty much mandatory for success. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you feel that you want to add more red to attract your birds, make sure it's a part of the feeder, never the nectar.&lt;/strong&gt; There are a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/shopfeeders.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wide variety&lt;/a&gt; of types of feeders, many of which have some red component. If not, you can add it by tying a piece of red material on the holder somewhere.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/nectar.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/feeding-hummingbirds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another source.&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note: There’s no need to add red food color to sugar water, or to use red-colored commercial mixes.&lt;/strong&gt; Nectar in flowers is clear, after all, and red food coloring may be harmful for hummingbirds. &lt;strong&gt;It’s the flowers themselves that are brightly colored, not the nectar&lt;/strong&gt;—and that’s why hummingbird feeders typically are designed with red parts to attract the notice of hummingbirds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flowers are often the best way to attract hummingbirds, with feeders as supplements, but aren't mandatory. You didn't mention having or wanting a garden, but in case you do, there are a few suggestions. As Olin Lathrop told you, the trumpet shape is as important as the color, because they need that to fit their beak in for sipping! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/news/hummingbirds-see-red&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anatomy of their eyes&lt;/a&gt;, hummingbirds have heightened ability to see colors in the orange and red family, but because they have a good memory for where the nectar is, they can to a wider range of flowers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/hummingbird-flowers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; lists a number of effective flowers, including some that are blue or purple. I have a garden of mostly pink, red and yellow flowers which attracts hummingbirds, but I find just as many in my purple petunias, which is where I took the picture below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hummingbirds can't live without animal protein. Moreso than nutrition, nectar is what gives them the energy to fly and hunt. Once they know where your feeders are, they'll keep coming back! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hummingbird in my purple petunia, July of 2015.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nKDyG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nKDyG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hummingbird in petunia, 7/15&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-27T21:09:52.093" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T21:09:52.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11289" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11295" CreationDate="2016-03-24T03:32:30.317" Score="11" ViewCount="390" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to hunting and am looking at various options. I am considering doing some hunting for mule deer in Montana. But I am unsure of an appropriate caliber for them. To increase my shooting skills, I practice with an AR-15 in 223 but I have a feeling that this caliber is not good for mule deer. What calibers should I be looking at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:07:28.650" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T02:13:57.893" Title="What is an appropriate caliber for hunting mule deer?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11290" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11292" CreationDate="2016-03-24T08:21:23.623" Score="20" ViewCount="9969" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am doing little kayaking and just a bit more skiing (the seasons for both are very short where I live). Both of these need helmets, but I feel reluctant to buy 2 items, each of which will see little use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wonder whether I can buy 1 helmet that will be sufficiently safe (but not necessarily convenient) for both activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thoughts so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A kayaking helmet must be sturdy enough and protect the ears and the back of the head. I see no contradiction with skiing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A kayaking helmet must have holes. No problem for skiing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A skiing helmet should protect from cold. However, I don't really need this - it's never too cold where I am skiing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am not proficient enough in all the details, so I am afraid to miss some important considerations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how can I choose a kayaking helmet that is also suitable for skiing? Or vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:59:46.443" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T02:18:01.880" Title="Can I use one helmet for both kayaking and skiing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11290" CreationDate="2016-03-24T09:20:18.253" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not recommended to use a kayak or &quot;CE/EN 1385&quot; helmet for skiing. However, you can use a skiing or &quot;CE/EN 1077&quot; helmet for kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The helmets are manufactured and tested for specific conditions. A skiing helmet is for &quot;faster speed&quot; impacts and colder conditions. In contrast a kayak helmet is of course created for &quot;slower speed&quot; impacts and warmer conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example from &lt;a href=&quot;https://4-paddlers.com/foren/Paddeln/p/Sweet_rooster-1011885.html#23108173-0976-8ac9-b710-65b8685dc799&quot;&gt;4-paddlers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To put it simple, the Rocker is made to behave better in “lower speed”&#xA;  impacts in “warm” conditions (CE/EN 1385), meaning it will behave well&#xA;  in kayak related impacts, in temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Trooper is built to handle “high velocity” impacts in temperatures&#xA;  ranging from +25/-30 degrees Celsius (CE/EN 1077). Meaning you have a&#xA;  completely different set up on the interior crash zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The comfort liner on the inside of the helmets are more or less the&#xA;  same Coolmax liner, so you will not experienced to much of a&#xA;  difference when using the snow helmets in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We cannot recommend you to use a kayaking helmet for&#xA;  skiing/snowboarding, but it should be no problem taking using a&#xA;  ski/snb helmet for kayaking (we know a lot of people who does that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Personally&lt;/em&gt; I wouldn't use a skiing helmet for kayaking nor vice versa. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skibanter.com/showpost.php?s=fdd87086caf446c3eae83e1690580f91&amp;amp;p=85327&amp;amp;postcount=9&quot;&gt;This post&lt;/a&gt; pretty much sums up my personal opinion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There's a reason why they make kayak helmets, and why people don't&#xA;  just wear bike or ski helmets kayaking (although a few (...) always do&#xA;  it). It's because they're designed to protect your head from different&#xA;  things. A kayak helmet is designed to protect you from multiple&#xA;  low-speed impacts: you go paddling, smack some rocks, get up the next&#xA;  day and do it again with the same rock-tattooed helmet. Bike helmets&#xA;  and ski helmets, OTOH, are designed to protect against a single,&#xA;  bigger, higher-speed hit: it has an inner layer that's supposed to&#xA;  crush and stay crushed when it takes a hit, after which you throw it&#xA;  away and get a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-24T09:25:34.503" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T09:25:34.503" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11290" CreationDate="2016-03-24T09:37:26.010" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the protection required in these activities differ, there are different standards for helmets: EN 1385 for kayaking and EN 1077 for skiing. There are of course even more norms for other helmets. So technically, you need a helmet that fulfils both these norms. I am not aware of a helmet that has both norms. I do however use a Kong Scarab, which fulfils the norms for kayaking, cycling, horse riding and climbing and I do use it for spring ski touring (due to lots of ventilation). I am confident that a helmet that can protect me in a cycling crash can handle a skiing crash too. So in the end it is also a personal assessment whether a certain helmet is actually appropriate, where the norms it fulfils are good indicators of its capabilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rapidkayaks.co.uk/helmets-c17.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rapid Kayaks&lt;/a&gt;, white water kayaking of class 4 and 5 are outside of the scope of EN 1385, so if you are into such serious activities you probably need a dedicated helmet for kayaking which you should get from a specialised shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T17:10:54.437" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T17:10:54.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11293" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11294" CreationDate="2016-03-24T12:28:27.693" Score="17" ViewCount="1646" Body="&lt;p&gt;I quite often go hiking in the evening after work and I have a good head torch but sometimes I wish I had some night vision goggles because often a headtorch will scare wildlife and cause farm animals to go crazy (not so good if you are on a footpath going through a field). Ideally I would like some that were not heavy and don't move around a lot when I walk. This may not exist (From google searches I've seen there are cheap ones from china that look like they don't work, ones for hunting that you cant really walk in and very expensive military grade ones).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-24T22:36:01.863" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T19:39:02.843" Title="Are there any affordable night vision goggles that are good and available to civilians?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11293" CreationDate="2016-03-24T13:43:23.453" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 3 main types of night vision equipment;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image intensification &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the type most commonly used by the military. It works by effectively amplifying the available light and may work in visible or IR spectrum or both and works in a similar way to a TV camera. These systems rely on some light e.g. from stars or moon being available and won't work in total darkness. In a military context they have the advantage that they are passive and as such difficult to detect with similar equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Active Night Vision &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works by using a source of infra red illumination which is close to but outside the range of human vision which can be detected by a sensor similar to a digital video camera this has the advantage of providing better resolution than passive systems but is detectable to other nigh vision users. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermal imaging &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This detects the longer wavelength IR emitted by warm or hot objects such as people, animals and vehicles, it is however much less useful for general navigation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All night vision equipment is by its nature somewhat heavy and bulky, although each generation has seen smaller and lighter units even the most sophisticated ones are somewhat cumbersome and the latest technology will, of course be the most expensive. Similarly military units are usually worn with helmets which offsets their awkwardness somewhat as they have a stable mounting platform which can counterbalance them to some extent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another disadvantage is that, like all optical devices, they can narrow your field of vision and distort depth perception which somewhat offsets their benefits in navigating at night, especially over uneven ground. For example try walking around just looking through the viewfinder of a camera, it is not easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in  military context NV would not necessarily be used for just covering ground at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative is to use a torch with a red filter or red LEDs this reduces the overall brightness and tends to be much less noticeable at a distance and is less disruptive to your own night vision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible that wildlife is more bothered by the erratic movement of the light source than the light itself so you might be better off with something which produces a diffuse omnidirectional glow than a tight beam headtorch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you give your night vision time to adapt it is rare that it is too dark to navigate at all and even when it is all you need is a bit of a diffuse glow to help you see where you are putting your feet and any obstacles coming up. In fact a very gentle light source is often more useful than something very bright which ruins your night vision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it may in fact be the case that what you really need is less light not more. From a more philosophical perspective you may find that walking in darkness brings your other sense more into play and you get a different perspective on your environment and forces you to be more aware or your surroundings rather than being constrained to a narrow field of artificial illumination.  This will also make you more aware of the noise that you are making and in turn reduce the disturbance you cause to wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-24T23:19:40.493" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T23:19:40.493" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11289" CreationDate="2016-03-24T14:24:34.023" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In theory you could hunt Mule Deer with .223.  I had friends who hunt boar with .223 and mule dear aren't really any tougher than a boar.  That being said, smaller caliber equals less expansion and kinetic force.  That means you have to be more precise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are new to hunting, I would go with the classic .30-06.  Good range, good ballistics, great range of available rounds/loads.  You can hunt just about any large game in North America with one.  It's a great first rifle for someone getting into large game hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-25T12:58:31.700" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T12:58:31.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11289" CreationDate="2016-03-24T14:25:42.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;.30 cal is about where big game hunting starts. You could get away with .223 with smaller white tail deer, but you'll increase how often you need to track your deer and that's less humane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mule deer, I would stick to .30 or higher. I prefer Springfield 30-06, but that's just my preference. You could really use any .30 or higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T14:25:42.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="437" CreationDate="2016-03-24T23:27:38.907" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending what you are abseiling of you can tie yourself into the rope emergency harness style tied off with a bowline with your rope running up to a mule over a railing or such. Which also makes the rig retrivable. Unfortunately if there isn't a low friction point for the mule you would also need at least a krab as well, which you would have to leave behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be uncomfortable. And dubiously &quot;safe&quot; but it would work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emergency harness:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/index.php?Categ=rescue&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/index.php?Categ=rescue&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9149" LastEditorUserId="9149" LastEditDate="2016-03-24T23:33:54.940" LastActivityDate="2016-03-24T23:33:54.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11269" CreationDate="2016-03-25T00:04:21.680" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;A Pragmatic way to approach this is to suggest a 'warm up' where you both have a couple of goes at deliberately dropping off the wall just above the ground and then go to a few metres. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will give you some sense that your partner knows what they are doing and is in any case a perfectly sensible way for both of you to get your eye on the ball and gain a sense of each other's weight which not a bad idea no matter how experienced you are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have certainly had problems belaying a random climber who just shot up off the wall simply because I had no feel for how much they weighed and they decide to fall off 3m into the route I was perfectly able to catch them but its was a bit abrupt because it was a reaction to the fall rather than a premeditated assist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;similarly you want to tell people that you want to communicate when you are attempting something difficult and  might fall as opposed to cruising up an easy bit where you want plenty of slack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other side of this is new partners who magically expect you to know both when they want slack and also be able to catch them instantly if they fall off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also fair to say that partners who don't know each other well won't have the same sense of when the climber is likely to get into trouble and need more or less slack quite apart for actually falling off so a controlled practice before any serious climbing makes perfect sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-25T00:30:54.130" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T00:30:54.130" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11289" CreationDate="2016-03-25T02:46:52.677" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My deer rifle is a .270. That is a smaller caliber than what either of the two current answers recommend. My father frequently carries only his .44 magnum bear pistol when hunting bear and/or deer. With my .270 I don't consider shooting bears, and he only considers relatively close shots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion there are many firearms that can do the job effectively and humanely (ever wonder why &quot;buck shot&quot; is called &quot;buck shot&quot;). What it really boils down to is what firearms you have, your skill level with those firearms, and the type of hunting you want to do. Obviously these aren't factors that we can evaluate for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with both current answers that &lt;strong&gt;the 30-06 is a solid firearm for your stated needs&lt;/strong&gt;. If you don't have one, and you're looking to buy a hunting rifle, that is a great general purpose setup that I would certainly be comfortable recommending. Keep in mind that the real limiting factor is your ability, your comfort, and your understanding of your weapon's limitations. That is always true, and doubly so when engaging a target with deadly intent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-03-25T02:52:23.557" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T02:52:23.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11275" CreationDate="2016-03-25T13:57:49.550" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I've had to clean spray paint from remote destinations, we've used chemical paint removers in spray bottles and scrub brushes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not do this on a historic site without permission from whoever manages it.&lt;/strong&gt;  There is a very good chance you will cause at least slight damage while removing the spray paint, and if you are careless, you can make the situation worse than it was when you started. The manager is the one who needs to decide whether the risk is worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Materials and setup&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Solvent&lt;/em&gt;:  First, find out what type of surface you will be working on. Then find a paint removal chemical that is safe to use on that surface. Paint remover is a solvent, so you want to be sure it will only dissolve the paint, not a wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Brushes&lt;/em&gt;:  Once you've got the solvent, get a few brushes and spray bottles. Make sure the bristles won't be dissolved by the solvent. Depending on the solvent, you'll probably need natural bristles. Metal might work, but it will cause much more wear on the historic site's structure. Brushes of different sizes and shapes are convenient if you've got an irregular surface, like natural rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spray bottles and water&lt;/em&gt;:  Fill half your spray bottles with solvent, and half with water. Then take extra water with you because you need enough to really rinse the solvent off the site when you are done. Figure on 2-3 times as much water as solvent, maybe more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;On site removal&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Test Patch&lt;/em&gt;:&#xA;Now it's time to take the materials to the site. Test the chemical on a tiny, hidden patch first. Spray the spot, let it sit for 15-20 minutes (or longer if the chemical's instructions say to), then wash it off with water. If the chemical hasn't damaged or discolored anything, you can use it (cleaning dirt is OK). Make sure you read the label of the chemical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you are ready to start removing graffiti.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do No Harm&lt;/em&gt;:  First (and MOST important), think about the spot where you are working. What is the graffiti covering? If it is near or on top of an older painting, leave it alone. Same goes for if it is near writing, fabric, or anything else other than the material you've tested. You will do too much damage removing the graffiti. An expert can clean a single layer of paint off another painting, but you don't have the tools or the knowledge to do so. Do not even try. If you've got any question about whether you can safely remove the paint, leave it. Even if it takes another 50 years, someone with the proper skills can deal with it later, but if you cause extra damage, you make their job much harder, or impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scrub&lt;/em&gt;:  If the paint is on a plain wall or surface, you can start removing it.  Follow the instructions on the solvent. It will probably say to apply it, then leave it for about 10 minutes before removing it. The longer it sits, the better it dissolves the paint, and the less work you need to do. Scrub until the paint is gone. Rinse with the water as you go. Remove as much as is practical. There may still be flecks left, but they will be relatively faint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck and happy depainting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T15:29:30.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11162" CreationDate="2016-03-25T21:48:22.093" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question asks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are the three to five most important do's and dont's -- in simple bullet form -- for a guest in black bear country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there is really only one item on the list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Store your food properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it. Black bears can become dependent on human food and habituated to humans. This is a bad outcome for the bear, because it often leads to the bear being killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The definition of storing food properly can vary from place to place. Bears are smart, and bears in some areas know how to defeat certain methods of food storage. The gold standard is to use a bear box (permanent steel box that exists at some campsites) or a bear canister that you carry in your pack. Hanging your food up high may be OK in some areas, but there are a lot of areas where this is inadequate. Don't leave food in your car, because bears can smell it and will break windows, etc., to get it. If you're using a bear canister, put it far away from where you'll be sleeping, maybe 30 meters. That way if a bear fiddles with your canister in the middle of the night, you won't be kept awake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need pepper spray, an air horn, or a gun. These are all things that are not appropriate or useful gear unless you're in an area where there are grizzly or polar bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need to be fearful about getting attacked or eaten by a black bear. They are not very aggressive with humans, and physical attacks that result in injury are extremely rare. Statistically, the risk of being attacked by a bear is negligible compared to other risks, such as the risk of getting killed in a car accident on the way to or from the trailhead. Proper food storage will further reduce this already very small risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-03-25T23:35:43.667" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T23:35:43.667" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7371" CreationDate="2016-03-25T22:52:17.413" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for the exact same thing.  I'm using Guthook's AT Guide for Android to figure out bite size pieces of the trail and if it let you mark sections as complete,  it'd be absolutely perfect.   I'll prolly stick with that and then a printed map with highlighter for that pretty and satisfying map view... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9157" LastActivityDate="2016-03-25T22:52:17.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11304" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-26T03:29:42.737" Score="17" ViewCount="941" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was backpacking in Coyote Gulch, Utah this past week and ran into an issue with my 70 liter backpack. The entrance to the gulch through &quot;Crack in the Wall&quot; was a narrow &quot;slot&quot; entry, so the backpacks could not fit through. Hence we had to lower our packs down the canyon wall with rope while we climbed down separately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that abrasion against the canyon wall caused a small rip in the front pocket. So that was annoying because now my bag has a tear in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering what the right way to lower a pack over a canyon wall is--or perhaps more generally, how to deal with reducing abrasion damage to a pack? Is there some sort of covering I should have used for the pack, or is there a certain way to thread the rope through the pack so that it goes down a certain way, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9158" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-28T19:00:36.267" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T20:04:24.937" Title="How do you lower a backpack over a cliff without damaging it?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11304" CreationDate="2016-03-26T12:44:40.327" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're going to lower your backpack that way I think you will have to expect it to get some bruises. However there is gear especially designed for situations like yours:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In bigwall climbing (that means spending a lot of time in a wall, usually with a lot of gear) so called &lt;em&gt;haul bags&lt;/em&gt; are used exactly for the purpose of hauling gear up and down the wall. These are cyclindrical bags usually made from relatively thick and strong canvas usually without any outside bags or belts that could catch on something when lowering /rising. Sometimes they even have removable straps that allow you to carry them like a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Haul_bag.jpg&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; alt=&quot;haul bag&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-15T19:28:14.043" LastActivityDate="2017-05-15T19:28:14.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11306" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11307" CreationDate="2016-03-26T15:39:38.783" Score="10" ViewCount="231" Body="&lt;p&gt;I run often at night in the mountain. For that I use a headlamp that works very well, allowing me to keep my path illuminated and my arms free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when it is cold my breath creates some steam that goes up into the direction of the light, diminishing the overall amount of light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this, I wonder: is there any way to get a good shaft of light without the steam decreasing its power?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5981" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T13:27:58.253" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T13:27:58.253" Title="How to prevent breath steam diminishing light power when using a headlamp?" Tags="&lt;running&gt;&lt;night&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11306" CreationDate="2016-03-26T17:06:36.970" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh goodness, this is a terrible struggle in caves especially, because there is no air current and the breath just lingers forever in front of your face. It's especially bad when I'm trying to film the cave with my GoPro, and have a persistent cloud looming in front of my head cam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three things you can do while wearing a headlamp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consciously blow your breathe &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt; each time you exhale&lt;/strong&gt;. Merely &lt;em&gt;blowing&lt;/em&gt; your breath out instead of normally exhaling it will often work well enough at times.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breath through your nose&lt;/strong&gt; (also directs your exhaled breath down).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover your mouth with a scarf/mask of some kind&lt;/strong&gt; (bandana, buff,&#xA;surgical mask). This catches the breath and causes it to condense on&#xA;the material instead of fogging the air.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can get a sternum lamp, or light belt, they're popular for trail running, and have several benefits over headlamps, I for one don't like having &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; weight on my head when I'm on the trail watching the ground, especially while running:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gomotiongear.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://gomotiongear.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2KWtZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2KWtZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ph4Hl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ph4Hlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJEhh.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJEhhm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-01-29T15:33:22.913" LastActivityDate="2018-01-29T15:33:22.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11304" CreationDate="2016-03-26T17:18:30.157" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canyoneering is its own sport and comes with its own kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way you're going to lower your backpacking bag without damaging it is to lower it off a hanging wall so that it doesn't rub on the rocks, or put it inside of an abrasion resistant bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you're going to consider investing in tough cover or a second bag, then you may as well invest in a true canyoning bag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3lwl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3lwl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're a lot like haul bag in that they are designed to be durable and abrasion resistant, but Canyoneering bags are made for going &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt; canyons and being worn on your back, instead of going &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; cliff faces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have handles on them which makes it easy to feed them through tight spots, or pull them along behind you, and are very minimalist so they don't get snagged:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9mRqa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9mRqa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.accessgear.net/products-page/bags-and-extras/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.accessgear.net&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you ever get into a wet canyon, they are waterproof, and float, but I don't suppose there are many of those in Utah.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-05-16T20:04:24.937" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T20:04:24.937" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11304" CreationDate="2016-03-26T22:40:40.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could always improvise a simple sled from branches to protect the side which is sliding over the rocks. It might also be worth repacking it so that any external pockets are empty and can be taped flat to the main pack so they are less vulnerable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another approach is to pack your kit in individual lightweight nylon bags which are light enough to be lowered more easily and lower your pack empty so there is less weight forcing it against the rocks. Eg food in one bag, spare clothes in another etc etc. There are also some other good reasons for doing this in general.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is something you do regularly it might also be worth identifying which parts are likely to rub and giving them a bit of extra protection, perhaps with a section of plastic cut from a plastic bottle etc or leather if you want something a bit more fancy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most sophisticated version of this would be to use the kevlar self adhesive tape used for emergency repairs to sails, in fact as you already have a rip this is a logical way to repair it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be reluctant to carry a large, heavy duty bag just for this one part of the trip and if this is a situation which only occurs every so often I would look for a quick and dirty (and above all lightweight) solution.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-26T22:54:44.193" LastActivityDate="2016-03-26T22:54:44.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11290" CreationDate="2016-03-27T00:34:06.740" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seem to be many widespread assumptions about helmet design, particularly regarding how well they handle multiple impacts.  The poor availability of the relevant standards documents[0] does not do much to help this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned, relevant helmet standards include EN 1385 (for kayaks and whitewater sports) and EN 1077 (alpine skiers and snowboarders).  There is some overlap between the standards, and it seems likely that the paucity of multi-rated helmets is more likely due to the expense of testing than significant design differences.  Here is a rough comparison of the major requirements for these standards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Field of vision:&lt;/em&gt; (Both standards)&#xA;Making sure the helmet design does not interfere with the user’s field of vision.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Extent of coverage:&lt;/em&gt; (Both standards)&#xA;Making sure the helmet covers all necessary parts of the head. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Shock Absorbing Capacity:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;The most important is the shock absorbing capacity of the helmet. This is tested in a specialized instrument where the helmet is dropped:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1077: &lt;strong&gt;from 1.5m&lt;/strong&gt; onto a solid metal anvil with a 4 kg metal head inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1385: &lt;strong&gt;with the speed of 2.5m/s&lt;/strong&gt; onto a solid metal anvil with a 4 kg metal head inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside the metal head there’s an accelerometer that measures the forces within the impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1077: The helmets are tested in three conditions: &lt;strong&gt;Room temperature&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;-25°C&lt;/strong&gt;, and after artificial aging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1385: The helmets are tested in four conditions: &lt;strong&gt;High&#xA;temperatures (+35°C)&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;low temperature (0°C)&lt;/strong&gt;, after artificial aging, and &lt;strong&gt;after the helmet has been submerged for 4 hours.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each helmet is tested on several areas (crown, side, rear &amp;amp; front). The peak acceleration must not exceed 250G for any of the impacts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Resistance to penetration:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;(EN 1077 only)&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;While skiing or snowboarding there’s a risk of poles, skis or branches penetrating the helmet. The resistance to penetration is tested by dropping a hammer with the mass of 3 kg from 75cm onto a sharp cone shaped metal punch placed against the helmet. The point of the metal punch must not reach the head inside the helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bouyancy:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;(EN 1385 only)&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;After being submerged for at least 4 hours, the helmet must float to the surface. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Retention system performance:&lt;/em&gt; (Both standards)&#xA;This test covers the strength of the retention system (webbing), as well as its effectiveness, i.e. the webbing's ability to keep the helmet securely positioned on the head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Durability:&lt;/em&gt; (Both standards)&#xA;After all these tests the helmet should not show any damage that would cause any additional damage to the wearer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A helmet tested to the EN 1385 standard is not intended for use in white water class V and VI.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those who haven't done the math, a 2.5m/s speed corresponds to only about a 0.3m drop, or about half the speed most helmets would be tested for.  The reasoning is apparently due to the expectation that someone floating in water will have difficult reaching high speeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond applying impacts to different parts of the helmets there is no multiple-impact testing included in the standards.  Low-speed impacts to a helmet that meets either standard will simply fail to crush the foam and the force (though distributed by the helmet rather than focused) will be passed along to the head.  (Some types of multi-impact helmets might make use of materials like EPP foam instead of EPS, but the rebound behavior of EEP is still, I believe, not yet well-characterized.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1077 info taken from p94 of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scribd.com/doc/67746017/Sweet-Catalog-Snow-0809&quot;&gt;http://www.scribd.com/doc/67746017/Sweet-Catalog-Snow-0809&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 1385 info taken from p38 of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sweetprotection.com/sitefiles/1/design/corporate/downloads/sweet-catalog-whitewater-10.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sweetprotection.com/sitefiles/1/design/corporate/downloads/sweet-catalog-whitewater-10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[0] While the documents can be located, it is often required that they be purchased for prices far in excess of what the general public would be willing to pay.  E.g. BSI sells a copy of the EN 1385:2012 standard for about $223 USD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-03-27T00:34:06.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11311" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11312" CreationDate="2016-03-27T12:31:41.293" Score="18" ViewCount="635" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm after a pair of binoculars for visiting Nature Reserves to get a better view of colonies of birds on the water (at some distance) etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Separately I'm interested in aviation and being able to view airplanes that fly overhead (about 15,000-30,000 feet) - not necessarily to absolute detail (registration number etc.) but to be able to see more than I can with the naked eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a strength/specification of binoculars I could buy that would be optimal for both of these? Or should I look at 2 separate pairs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm just a &quot;hobbyist&quot; and don't have a lot of money to spend, I'm just looking for a &quot;consumer&quot; spec item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9164" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T05:28:16.853" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T10:54:24.737" Title="Is there a type of binoculars to view both nature reserves (birds, etc.) at a distance, and airplanes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2016-03-27T14:08:02.063" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can definitely go for one pair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've actually been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the optics at almost the bottom end of the market, if you go for something common like 8x20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've got 8x, 10x and 12x for wildlife (mainly). None were expensive. The 12x50s are great at dusk but lack the close focus for garden birds or some hides. The 8x20s are a little weak for nature reserves with open water or mud flats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I suggest 10x25 to 10x40. Water resistance is a good thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I used binoculars for looking at aircraft on approach (a job years ago) I preferred my 8x to the rather rubbish 10x that were available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find you need more for colonies on water, a scope would be worth it later on. In that case the bottom of the market, especially with a zoom eyepiece, can be poor quality and give a lot of aberrations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-03-27T14:08:02.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2016-03-27T18:25:06.203" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Ah, I meant this as a comment to Chris' post.  Oh well, I guess I need to try making it a real answer.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For tracking moving objects, a wide field of view (FOV) may also be helpful.  (Apparent FOV will be larger than actual FOV, e.g. a pair with a 7° real FOV may have a 52° AFOV: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikon.com/products/sportoptics/how_to/guide/binoculars/basic/basic_08.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sport Optics&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wear glasses, look for a pair with long eye relief (e.g. 15mm or more) as this will allow you to comfortably use them without removing your glasses.  Unfortunately eye relief is usually inversely related to field of view, so you have a trade-off there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may seem as though field of view is tied to the size of the objective lens (e.g. the &quot;32&quot; in an &quot;8x32&quot; spec'd pair), but it actually has to do with eyepiece design and magnification. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/myths2006-4.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bigger binoculars have a wider field of view.&lt;/a&gt;)  So, you'll want to look at the actual FOV specification to know the FOV.  The objective lens diameter does have an impact on how much light is collected, but the quality of lens coatings will also affect this.  For a good quality lens, daytime use is unlikely to be helped much by going larger than 32mm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-20T03:11:21.450" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T03:11:21.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2016-03-27T21:14:07.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;(As addition to the other answers)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also depends on whether you're going to use a tripod or not. If you're not planning to use a tripod, I recommend getting maximum a 10x magnification, which is about the limit of what you can hold without shaking too much. Then you should consider the field of view as well as the lens diameter. A bigger diameter obviously allows for more light to travel through and therefore give you a clearer image especially in dusk dawn. (As a guideline: &lt;code&gt;(diameter in mm) = 5 * (magnification factor)&lt;/code&gt; are quite good in that regard, e.g. 10x50 or 7x35) But bigger lenses also means more weight to carry around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I recommend staying away from the zoom binoculars. In the lower price range they are usually so bad that they break esily and just take away too much light. And again  if you are not using a tripod, maginifcatiosn above about 10x are quite useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastActivityDate="2016-03-27T21:14:07.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2016-03-28T12:32:11.310" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't concentrate on the magnification (strength) for your first binoculars for airplane viewing, especially if you'll be using them for an additional activity as well (bird watching). &lt;strong&gt;Concentrate on getting a binocular with a wide field of view.&lt;/strong&gt; You'll learn enough from these binoculars to decide which magnification you really want when you buy your &lt;em&gt;next&lt;/em&gt; binoculars, which probably won't be fit for both airplanes (far, large, fast) and sitting birds (relatively close, small, and not moving).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in astronomy as well, make sure to have a large objective lens. This will allow the binocs to collect as much light as possible in low-light conditions, which is important for making the subject bright enough to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3414" LastEditorUserId="3414" LastEditDate="2016-03-28T14:43:27.813" LastActivityDate="2016-03-28T14:43:27.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10697" CreationDate="2016-03-28T17:19:36.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those look like fox tracks.  We do have foxes in the Southeastern US.  They are characterized by having the two middle toes noticeably (almost a full toe) forward of the outer two toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've ruled out squirrel, opossum, rabbit, mouse, rat, raccoon, cat, and weasel in the process of my research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an example, look near the bottom of this page:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drgreenway.org/DiscoveryTrailAnimals.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.drgreenway.org/DiscoveryTrailAnimals.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-28T18:02:04.373" LastActivityDate="2016-03-28T18:02:04.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11348" CreationDate="2016-03-28T18:09:55.580" Score="13" ViewCount="5879" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently packing my own dehydrated meals for hiking using mylar bags and oxygen absorper packs.  The oxygen absorbers come in packs of 10.  Generally the process is to prep all your bags and move quickly once the absorbers are opened, but I want details on &quot;how quick&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long do you have between exposing the oxygen absorper packs to air and sealing them in the mylar?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T18:32:38.537" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T20:06:48.347" Title="How quickly do Oxygen Absorbers &quot;spoil&quot;?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11320" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-29T02:16:59.163" Score="9" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best technique for self-arrest on a sandy slope? I was canyoneering last week and the sand in the canyon was very soft and powdery--with a steep drop off at the bottom of the slope. Luckily I did not have any issues, but I was trying to figure out the best technique for self-arrest on a sandy slope--similar to self-arrest with an ice axe on a snowy slope. Any suggestions? I thought that plunging a longer backpacking knife, like a 7 inch blade, into the sand with your body weight over it might work--but this is just an idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9158" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-19T19:38:13.277" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T19:38:31.287" Title="What's the best way to self-arrest on a sandy slope?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11320" CreationDate="2016-03-29T04:29:25.293" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A walking stick might help, but I think your best bet is going to be to sprawl out flat and dig your hands as deep into the sand as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sand is not like ice. You can self arrest on ice because it's a medium that you can create friction on (scratching your pick into the ice), but sand isn't solid, it moves; flows. Getting caught in a sluff of sand would be a lot like getting caught in a stuff of snow, or an avalanche. Your only chance of not going down with it is to dig deep and try to find something to anchor onto. Your knife may work, but only if you have it out while you're walking, so it's in your hand the moment you slip. I wouldn't recommend this however, because there's a chance you could fall onto your blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T04:29:25.293" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11322" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11323" CreationDate="2016-03-29T06:21:33.203" Score="20" ViewCount="4498" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's assume I hike in a region with a lot of streams, rivers and lakes (South-Germany etc.) not longer than for two days. Am I supposed to use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeStraw&quot;&gt;life-straw&lt;/a&gt; as my primary water-source or should it be considered just as an emergency tool? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:33.300" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:33.300" Title="Does a life-straw replace my water while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11322" CreationDate="2016-03-29T07:53:24.413" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arguably you should never go for out for any kind of extended exhausting activity without ensuring proper hydration, i.e. packing enough fluids at least for your immediate needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The life straw will allow you to purify water sources you find up to a certain degree, but some concerns remain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You first need to actually &lt;em&gt;find&lt;/em&gt; water sources. Depending on where &amp;amp; when in Europe you're hiking this will not at all be guaranteed (think southern France/Italy/Spain in summer).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chemical pollution will not be cleared by the life straw. So you don't have a 100% guarantee that you'll be able to drink from every single water source.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While drinking with the straw directly might be entirely feasible, it will be impossible/very hard to get water for cooking, doing dishes, etc. using the life straw.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T07:53:24.413" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11304" CreationDate="2016-03-29T11:25:58.277" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm gonna offer a super-cheap and quick workaround for the problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bring along an &lt;strong&gt;IKEA bag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(assuming there are IKEAs where you live).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BnJw3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BnJw3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are basically very large shopping bags made out of very sturdy nylon fabric. And they're extremely durable. On occasion I have used these to carry loads of 30 kilograms of &lt;em&gt;rocks&lt;/em&gt; for a gardening project, and never had any tears/abrasions to speak of. (Officially the peak load is 25 kg.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They come in different versions/sizes. The biggest ones I know also have a handy zipper and some backpack-like straps (the one which is on the cart in the picture above) and will easily hold 70 liters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bags are fairly light with the bigger version at 120g.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, these bags are super cheap. In the IKEA near my home town one of these bags costs about 1$/1€ - it really doesn't get much cheaper than that. So even if your bag is scratched/damaged after some heavy use you can very cheaply replace it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bonus:&lt;/strong&gt; The fabric of the bags is also quite waterproof. When I took these on treks we also used them as a dry spot to sit on, or as a way of keeping things dry outside of the inner tent (or in beneath a tarp).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Btw. here the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/17228340/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; for the exact specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-05-15T08:40:48.220" LastActivityDate="2017-05-15T08:40:48.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11320" CreationDate="2016-03-29T14:30:35.793" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use a snow self arrest technique (one that you use if you don't have an axe). Basically you want to dig your hands and feet into the &quot;surface&quot; as much as possible, thus concentrating your body weight into as small an area as possible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YPj4O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YPj4O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineeringmethodology.com/self-arrest-in-snow/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-19T19:38:31.287" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T19:38:31.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11322" CreationDate="2016-03-29T14:53:49.190" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lets say you planned well all your hikes and you know you will have constant availability of water all along the route then you could rely only on the Lifestraw. That said even for the best planned hike you can find that a seasonal source is not available in that particular moment or that some sources you counted on might have been contaminated by chemicals and end with a long stretch without any water...  So particular attention will have to be put in planning and researching. If you plan on sleeping in a refuge then those will have water, if its just one of the rest huts or bivuac then some might have water closeby but not all do. Local clubs can be a great source of info but you will still remain uncertain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is the Lifestraw Go (like other similar products on the market) that is basically a lifestraw integrated in a water bottle, that might give you a bit more freedom, it holds a bit more than half liter.&#xA;Given how you use the regular one, you might want to still carry a bottle because you might not be able to suck directly from the river or lake, so you collect with that and stick the straw in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly I don't see the pros of not carrying absolutely any water outweighing the cons and I would consider sensible to carry 1 liter of water with me, clean or dirty. You can use a rigid bottle, its useful for other stuff too, or can rig a flexible bottle or bladder with the Lifestraw so to make a sort of inline filter, refill at regular intervals so to always have water and if its just for one or two nights not carry meals that require a lot of water for preparation and dishes washed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T14:53:49.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11320" CreationDate="2016-03-29T14:53:49.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a hiking pole you can use it for self arrest. Keep the strap around your wrist. When you fall, hold that hand away from the ground. With your other hand, grab the pole a few inches from the point and jam it into the ground. It's a little like using a cumbersome ice axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="61" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T14:53:49.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11328" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-03-29T15:04:58.413" Score="15" ViewCount="1487" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing route grades in Yosemite Decimal System can be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28climbing%29#Protection_rating&quot;&gt;suffixed with an &quot;R&quot;&lt;/a&gt; to notify a runout. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climbing_terms&quot;&gt;Wikipedia entry&lt;/a&gt; for a runout is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A lengthy distance between two points of protection which in some, but not all, cases might be perceived as frightening or dangerous. May also be used as an adjective to describe a route, or a section of a route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, your frightening and my frightening are completely different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If I see &quot;R&quot; on a route grading, how far of a runout should I expect?&lt;/strong&gt; Is there a general rule or consensus for runout distances?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-29T15:30:00.623" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T13:03:31.760" Title="Is there a general rule for climbing runout grading?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11322" CreationDate="2016-03-29T15:06:27.303" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with fgysin's answer (no - water is very important - even with that equipment, you still need to find water, avoid chemical pollution, and access larger quantities of water for camp chores). I also want to add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Redundancy.&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;Two is one and one is none&quot; sounds silly until something breaks or is lost, and then you realize where that phrase comes from. If you only have one means of water purification and something goes wrong with it, you'll be very thirsty or drinking straight out of streams or bush-crafting some sort of container/filter (which isn't practical for a weekend hike, but you do &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; water on a weekend hike).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Versatility:&lt;/strong&gt; An easy way to secure redundancy while also covering more necessary bases at once. You ask if a filtration device can replace water you'd normally carry, assuming there will be water 'stored' in nature and available for you to filter &amp;amp; enjoy. Having water storage is highly practical if not outright necessary. A canteen with a steel cup provides 2 water storage options, and at least one water purification option (boiling in steel cup).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Staying hydrated has a cascade of positive effects, and the opposite is true too (dehydration leads downhill fast). Having that convenient filtration device is good, but you shouldn't risk hydration by relying solely on that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See for yourself:&lt;/strong&gt; I recommend taking the lifestraw while also bringing a canteen you could fill, and try using the lifestraw as your primary/only water device to see how it works for you. It's worth challenging yourself as a learning experience - just be careful as water is key!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T15:06:27.303" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11328" CreationDate="2016-03-29T15:27:47.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, your frightening and my frightening are completely different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO this is less subjective than you're thinking, and the WP definition is not very good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue is not the spacing of the protection per se. The issue is whether or not you really have a meaningful belay, which can depend on the spacing of the pro. Here's an example of a 5.8R slab climb that I've followed on: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com/v/surprise/105788042&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt;. I'm going to guess some distances from memory. The start of the first pitch was a broad ledge. From there I belayed the leader up the slab maybe 10 meters to where he clipped a bolt, and then another 20 meters to the end of the pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with any lead where you start on the ground, he had no effective belay until he reached his first pro. Because this height was large, the consequences of a fall would have been bad. Basically a fall would not have been acceptable here, and he had to be really sure that he could climb 5.8 slab with no significant chance of falling. This is different from a climb where you can get your first pro in very early -- on that type of climb, it can be acceptable to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once he reached the bolt, 10 meters up, he had to continue up another 20 meters without further pro (assuming for the sake of argument that my memory is right). For the first 7 or 8 meters above the bolt, I was able to give him an effective belay. Past that point, there was enough rope out so that if he had fallen, he would have hit the ground. Once he was 10 meters above the bolt, he would have hit the ground without even stretching the rope. So again, this was a situation where it was not acceptable to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to me, this is the relatively objective definition of an R-rated climb. You have at least some points in the climb where you effectively don't have a belay. During those portions of the climb, it's not OK to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T13:03:31.760" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T13:03:31.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11328" CreationDate="2016-03-29T15:28:25.937" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all: Even if in a region/guide the Yosemite Decimal System is used, you cannot be sure that ratings are comparable to other regions/guides using the same system. This varies a lot depending on the local culture and history of climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general the protection rating is not primarily based on the length of a runout, but on its severity. This means that a runout above a ledge can be very serious at comparatively low distances like 5m, as you will almost certainly injure yourself gravely, while on a clean piece of slightly overhanging wall a 10m fall does not mean certain injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The naming (nomenclature @Liam :D ) alludes to the content rating of movies: G and PG (good and pretty good) are normally left out, as these are just &quot;normal&quot; protection. PG13 means that there can be already quite long and nasty falls (corners, ledges, ...) resulting in minor injuries. Already the mentioning of a protection grade should make it clear, that this climb is serious. The mentioned R rating means that there is a really dangerous part, in which you cannot fall. There is a/are several place(s) where a fall will most likely result in an injury like broken bones. This is always in the situation, where you places your protection gear perfectly - there is just no way to protect it better. So with anything rated R, you really only want to climb it if you have additional detailed knowledge on the exact danger involved. For X, don't even bother with this climb if you need to read this in order to know what it means. This is like free soloing with a rope, just that you need to be less lucky to survive a fall...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl:dr:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;One cannot give a distance to R. On a smooth face it might be 20m, above a ledge in a corner it might 4m. It is all about the severity of the fall, in case of R it means that you will probably seriously injure yourself in a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-03-29T15:57:41.113" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T15:57:41.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11328" CreationDate="2016-03-29T18:00:46.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I can piece together, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2464640W/Gunks_Guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Gunks Guide&lt;/em&gt; by Swain&lt;/a&gt; the protection rating system was proposed in &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0006E2LAC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rocky Heights, A Guide to Boulder Free Climbs&lt;/em&gt; by Erickson&lt;/a&gt;. According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=9-npVkicu9wC&amp;amp;pg=PA10&amp;amp;lpg=PA10&amp;amp;dq=todd+swain+gunks+guide+protect+rating&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=bXN-VIhaUJ&amp;amp;sig=gDIUr6R_a3cp_uVyQFgt4CJJMBM&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjy-caguebLAhXM6iYKHbxZChcQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=todd%20swain%20gunks%20guide%20protect%20rating&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swain the ratings are&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;G Protection is commonly considered excellent. A falling leader probably will suffer no injuries in a fall, assuming he/she is competent in the grade and at placing protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PG Protection is commonly considered adequate. A falling leader may fall up to 15 feet, but probably will suffer no injuries, assuming he/she is competent in the grade and at placing protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PG13 A sporty PG. Formerly PG/R.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;R Protection is commonly considered inadequate. A falling leader will probably fall in excess of 15 feet and/or suffer injuries&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;X Protection is commonly considered extremely poor (you're soloing). A falling leader will probably suffer major injuries or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to note that within the G and PG ratings the assumption is competent at the grade and at placing protection. This means that a 5.9 route with a huge run out on 5.7 terrain above a ledge with a horrendously tricky and strenuous, but bomber, placement to protect the crux would get a G rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T18:00:46.230" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11039" CreationDate="2016-03-29T18:04:52.180" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the $0.99 app, &quot;Footpath Route Planner - Running / Cycling / Hiking Maps&quot;. ref: &lt;a href=&quot;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/footpath-route-planner-running/id634845718?mt=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/footpath-route-planner-running/id634845718?mt=8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I end up using RideWithGPS on the desktop to map all my bike, run, hike routes but if you're looking for just an iOS version, this is certainly the nicest UI and UX that I've found. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both images from their iTunes page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdlxO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdlxO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Footpath&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OTsdA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OTsdA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Footpath&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastEditorUserId="4135" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T13:51:45.680" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T13:51:45.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11336" CreationDate="2016-03-29T18:07:24.183" Score="6" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;For any Dr. Doolittles out there, when a seagull makes a &quot;cooing&quot; sound, is it more like the &quot;miaow&quot; of a cat, or the purring of a cat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, when the seagulls &quot;talk&quot; to each other, it is oftentimes in barks or croaks; whether they mean by these sounds &quot;watch out!&quot; or &quot;look at that!&quot; or &quot;get out of my way!&quot; I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when I feed them bread by flinging it heavenward along the strand, whilst they swoop down and snap it with their beaks, those anticipating a tasty morsel are making sounds, not like the cawing of a crow (Monterey, where I live, should be renamed &quot;Crow City&quot;), but more like a dove, or the whining of a puppy. Is this sound akin to a contented sigh (&quot;isn't this great!&quot;) or is it more of a begging sound (&quot;Gimme summa dat bread!&quot;)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:00:17.277" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:00:17.277" Title="Are the seagulls begging or contentedly sighing?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11335" CreationDate="2016-03-29T18:26:13.233" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sound you are referring to is probably a &lt;em&gt;plaintive call&lt;/em&gt; used to attract attention (of a mate or from the little ones to the parents for feeding) it might just be them wanting to be fed.&#xA;You can find a better explanation with sound samples here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Herring_Gull/sounds&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Herring_Gull/sounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-03-29T18:41:39.147" LastActivityDate="2016-03-29T18:41:39.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11338" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11341" CreationDate="2016-03-30T08:58:12.550" Score="0" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a fracture in my left leg about twelve years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if I do a lot of stuff, like let's say Mo: 3D-archery, Tu: jogging, Wed: hiking, Th: jogging, this old fracture hurts a lot. Especially when my body starts to come down again. While I run (etc.) I don't feel anything but when my body starts to relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to get rid of this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T13:10:02.787" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T14:05:38.687" Title="Old fracture starts to hurt" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2016-03-30T14:10:31.220" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2016-03-30T13:00:25.207" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tent in a tent will not really work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly the chance of getting two tents that are designed to work this way is essentially nil.  You will end up having to find two tents that are compatible - one larger than the other.  The smaller tent must still be usable, and the larger one so large that it will not touch the smaller one anywhere.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly you're going to have issues with condensation.  If you are looking to create an air-pocket, you will have to zip or close up all the ventilation holes.  This will create an environment in which you will have a lot of condensation on the inside tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like others suggested:  Use a decent sleeping bag (and liner) to get the warmth you need, and a good-enough tent to keep you dry and out of the wind and free of bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastEditorUserId="8248" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T12:44:01.293" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T12:44:01.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11350" CreationDate="2016-03-30T13:44:57.560" Score="12" ViewCount="4656" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many pre-packaged meals are designed to cook in the pouch by adding boiling water.  If I am making my own meals with mylar pouches, would it be safe too cook them by adding boiling water to the pouch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear, I'm not concerned about it thoroughly cooking the food.  I am concerned about chemicals from the heated mylar leaching into my meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T14:24:36.913" Title="Is it safe to add boiling water to Mylar?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11338" CreationDate="2016-03-30T14:05:38.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a doctor (just a runner) but there are too many scenarios that could be factoring in. My top three guesses, would be the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) Get a lot of rest.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;It's surprising how long some seemingly basic injuries take. I'm still working through an ankle roll from two years ago, a tailbone injury took years... it's tough and often very frustrating but you need to be patient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2) Proper Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If you're flat footed you may need more supportive shoes. Hit a well-respected running store to have your foot and gate reviewed. Something like flat feet could lead to over pronate causing your leg to twist which may be impacting the injury. It may not show up during your run due to adrenaline covering any potential pain signals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3) It may not be fully healed&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Seriously. A close running buddy of mine is currently recovering from surgery from an injury ~15 years ago. He has been effectively running on a broken foot the entire time but it took a while to really impact him painfully. &quot;Funny&quot; part is that he eventually went to a doctor not for foot pain but because he was experiencing so much knee and hip pain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: It may be an easy fix but hard to diagnose online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T14:05:38.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11220" CreationDate="2016-03-30T15:30:33.110" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;very simple answer: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On a plane, always check them into the hold; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everywhere else, keep&#xA;them in your dive bag until you need to strap it on before diving,&#xA;after the dive take it off and place back in your dive bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T15:30:33.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11343" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11402" CreationDate="2016-03-30T17:09:42.633" Score="14" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlike other places, in India, the region where I stay and trek, we don't have warning boards stating the crocodile threats/warnings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been wandering in the region for almost a decade now and after such a long I have just come across there once, very recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What precautions I should take if don't want to come across one again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am referring to fresh water crocodile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:16:43.397" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:16:43.397" Title="Precautions when walking through area of crocodiles" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2016-03-30T20:40:05.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In bushcraft and survival there are a range of tasks which a bladed tool can be used for.  In the context of woodcraft and survival you are likely to be a lot more interested in making tools and implements, preparing wild food and game and generally extracting resources from your environment than in normal camping or trekking so basic and general purpose  tools become more important in comparison to specialist equipment that you carry with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The context of survival as opposed to woodcraft usually implies an unexpected emergency situation so it is often a case of using whatever you have available. Similarly a survival kit may is likely to be tight on space and weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point it is well worth saying that there is no advantage at all in buying an expensive knife untill you have the experience to make an informed decision for yourself about what makes a good knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly the ability to sharpen a knife properly will give you vastly more practical benefit than one made from some exotic super steel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For actual survival a large chopping knife like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Golok_2.jpg/1024px-Golok_2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;golok&lt;/a&gt; is likely to be of the most immediate use as it will make easier work of jobs like building a shelter and splitting kindling as well as being versatile enough for a range of scraping, carving and digging jobs and is adequate for carving tools and preparing game. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally this would be supplemented by a smaller knife better suited to fine tasks and it is also worth noting that large knives like this do need some care, forethought and practice to use safely (not that small knives don't) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience mid sized (5&quot; - 14&quot;) knives tend to be a poor compromise being unwieldy for fine tasks and lacking the right balance to be useful for chopping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A viable alternative is a small &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wetterlings.com/outdoor-axe/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;woodsman's axe&lt;/a&gt; although here a bit more care is needed in selection as most common small axes and hatchets are intended only for splitting firewood and not that well adapted to a more general purpose role. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As already mentioned it is better to invest time in learning to sharpen your tools properly than spend a fortune on expensive blades and similarly make sure that you keep a basic field sharpening kit with the tool, ceramic or diamond stones are a good lightweight solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For relatively inexperienced users there is also a lot to be said for lightweight &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bahco.com/en/s/pruning-saws/90-a7-b9-45-56-4b-94-82-4f-f8-40-a1-b7-74-64-5b/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;folding saws&lt;/a&gt; as they are intuitive  and reasonably safe to use although they do need to be backed up by at least a small knife as they are useless for slicing type jobs (food prep, carving etc) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are in a saltwater environment I would tend to recommend plain carbon steel over stainless for fixed blade knives as it is easier to sharpen and keep sharp and generally performs better. In most circumstances corrosion will not be anything other than a cosmetic issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All else being equal a fixed blade knife will generally be cheaper and more reliable than a folding knife, having said that a knife which you have in your pocket because it is convenient to carry will be infinitely more useful than one which is in your drawer at home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For well stocked survival kit I would personally recommend a combination of &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heinnie.com/martindale-golok&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Martindale Golok&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moraofsweden.se/adventure/companion-heavy-duty-orange?group=prod_prod_grp-s1%2F60&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mora Companion&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heinnie.com/fallkniven-df24&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coarse diamond file&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton wool soaked in mineral oil for cleaning (and firelighting) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ferrocerium firesteel &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-03-30T22:01:30.130" LastActivityDate="2016-03-30T22:01:30.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2016-03-30T21:26:12.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to treat emergency first aid and everyday 'maintenance' as separate requirements and I think that this helps to keep things rationalised and logical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The everyday kit is aimed at treating the normal problems you might get over a few days: this fits in a small wallet for short trips. A lot of these things are personal preference and what you find works for you, plus of course any regular or emergency medication you may need for known medical conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases it may be sensible to break this down further into quick access stuff for cuts etc eg in a small wallet and more everyday items packed elsewhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;painkillers : aspirin and ibuprofen &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sticking plasters: for nuisance cuts &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;local anaesthetic cream&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;indigestion tablets &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anti-diarrhoea tablets &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;individual sachets of electrolytes for re-hydration &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small non adherent dressings: for moderate cuts &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small sachets of burn gel &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 or 2 plastic ampoules of saline solution: for cleaning wounds or as eye wash &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small tin of vaseline for chapped or sore skin &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tea tree oil in small plastic bottle : general mild antiseptic &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;surgical tape &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;strapping tape &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adhesive sutures &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;moleskin &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high factor sunscreen &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tweezers &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;scalpel blades &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;blister kit (if not covered by above items) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emergency kit : kept in a military type rip-off  trauma pouch this is for major injuries which I think I have some chance of treating. Obviously this is more for longer trips in more isolated areas. If you're within sensible range of normal emergency medical cover this can be stripped back a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 or 3 large gel burn dressings &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 military type hemorrhage dressing + 1 in another pocket &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3 ampoules of saline (for irrigating wounds) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 vial of alcohol &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;surgical tape &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;paramedic shears &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;assorted gauze dressings &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;large and medium non adherent dressing pads &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;roll of surgical tape on a cord &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vinyl gloves pack &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;micro torch on zipper &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;glow sticks for both lighting and  signalling, you can leave one lit with an immobile casualty if you need to leave them to go for help. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;foil blanket &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T20:18:50.783" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T20:18:50.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="656" CreationDate="2016-03-30T22:14:29.320" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that good quality para cord (look for 550 cord from a reputable supplier) is the best general purpose solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is strong enough that you could just about abseil off it with nothing else than a couple of carabiners in an absolute life or death situation or use it as a safety line for crossing a river or lowering your pack over a steep incline or canyon wall etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also has a multitude of other uses from bootlaces to cordage for shelter building and you can separate the inner threads to use as fishing line or sewing thread for repairs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also twist or braid it together to make a stronger rope or straps for an improvised pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is light enough that you can stuff a few hundred feet of it into a pocket and forget about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For survival use it is probably best to go for high visibility orange, yellow  or red that way if you are waiting for rescue in dense terrain you can string it across trails or open spaces to guide rescuers to your location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should go without saying that if you are doing any sort of climbing, abseiling etc in anything other than a dire emergency you really do need to right tools and knowledge for the situation in hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth adding that a knowledge of the fundamental principals of cordage, ropes and knots is one of the most basis survival skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T22:25:31.260" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T22:25:31.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11318" CreationDate="2016-03-30T22:57:49.803" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may not be an exact answer but I figured I would share it just in case you hadn't seen it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They say 10 to 15 minutes is the window you have to get them in the Mylar and seal it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Backdoorsurvival.com :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important precaution is to limit the exposure of unused packets to air. Take out only what you are going to use in the next 15 minutes or so and seal the rest up in a jar with a screw top lid. Don’t put them in a zip lock bag because they will immediately suck up the residual oxygen and become useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good rule of thumb is to use one 300cc oxygen absorber for each gallon of product. For larger containers, you can purchase larger, 2000cc oxygen absorbers which are ideal for 5 or 6 gallon buckets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be mindful of the little pink pill. Most reputable vendors will include a little pink pill with their package of absorbers. If the pill is blue, the absorbers are toast so don’t use them. However, if they are just starting to turn – not quite pink and not quite blue – they are probably okay since the change of color can happen in as little as 10 or 15 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good test of their viability is to pick one up an hold it. It may feel warm. It will also feel soft and powdery, like a little pillow. If it gets real hot and uncomfortable, it is in full out working mode and has probably been exposed to the air for too long to be usable. In this case it may also start to feel hard and brick like. Toss it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oxygen absorbers themselves have a limited shelf life, even when sealed. Only purchase an amount that you will use within a year.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full article can be read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/survival-basics-oxygen-absorbers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every other thing I've seen, read, or been informed of says 1-4 hours but I don't believe that, I wouldn't want to use one that had been out for over an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T06:30:11.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11318" CreationDate="2016-03-31T03:41:38.627" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends somewhat on what type of absorber you're using, but they're most commonly made from iron powder, which are good for hours between first opening and sealing in your bags, but that time can be extended to days, weeks or longer if you keep the unused ones in an airtight container like a jar, or some other container with a rubber seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oxygen absorbers remove oxygen from their surrounding atmosphere by chemical reaction. Simply explained, most are filled with an iron and salt compound that &lt;em&gt;rusts&lt;/em&gt; when it's exposed to oxygen and humidity, and the oxidization eats up all the O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are pretty much miniature hand warmer heat packs, and will actually become warm to the touch when they are working. This isn't a fast process, it takes about 4 hours for the packets to reach their maximum absorption rate, and they will absorb oxygen until all the iron in them has oxidized. Once all the oxygen is gone, the reaction stops, but it can reactivate once introduced into the air again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An absorber is considered spoiled or &quot;loaded&quot; when all the iron in them has oxidized. Complete oxidation of 1 g of iron can remove 300cm&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; of oxygen in standard conditions, which amounts to a volume of air of almost 1,500cm&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; or 1.5L (~50oz) since oxygen only makes up about 20% of the composition of air. If you have a larger container you want to absorb all of the oxygen out of, you could save some money by using a hand warmer in place of several smaller packets in a larger bucket, but the hand warmers aren't exactly &lt;em&gt;food grade&lt;/em&gt;, even though I'm sure they won't hurt anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New oxygen absorbers are good and usable for about a year as long as they are sealed, so it's recommended to only stock up on what you plan on using in a year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information-center/packing-your-own-food-storage/oxygen-absorbers-and-long-term-food-storage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.usaemergencysupply.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nitro-pak.com/oxygen-absorbers-pak-of-50&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.nitro-pak.com&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-03-31T17:22:18.243" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T17:22:18.243" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11340" CreationDate="2016-03-31T13:20:31.777" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apparently there are various grades of Mylar pouches (one of the companies I work with switched from bags from some Asian seller to a marginally more expensive North-American company because the first one did not have any explicit certification as food grade, even if they don't pack food in them).&#xA;The difference apparently is in the composition of the inner layer when the pouches are the usual laminated ones that can be heat sealed at home. (apparently some are laminated with LLDPE others with VDC and others with some non-described materials. Since coated bags are normally used at home, I didn't bother too much with handling temperatures for the uncoated Mylar)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is from a Mylar booklet by DuPont Teijin Films:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Properties&lt;/strong&gt; To impart heat sealability and improve barrier&#xA;properties, certain types of Mylar  are coated on one or both sides&#xA;with copolymers of which vinylidene chloride is the predominant&#xA;monomer.  Vinylidene chloride copolymers are highly resistant to&#xA;oxidation and biodegradation, which make them extremely durable under&#xA;ambient conditions (Ref. 16). When heated above 120°C (248°F), the&#xA;copolymers may decompose and evolve hydrogen chloride only up to 190°C&#xA;(375°F) (Ref. 17). Other films are coated with acrylic copolymers or&#xA;aluminum metallization (with or without vinylidine chloride copolymer&#xA;overcoats).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Toxicity&lt;/strong&gt; Vinylidene chloride copolymers of the type used on coated&#xA;Mylar  have been used as food packaging components for many years.&#xA;Cellophane coated with these same copolymers has been fed to rats and&#xA;dogs for two years at a dietary level of 5% without any ill effects&#xA;attributable to the coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thermal Stability&lt;/strong&gt; A volatile product of  vinylidene chloride&#xA;copolymer thermal degradation is hydrogen chloride (Refs. 17–19).&#xA;Hydrogen chloride is an irritant for which OSHA has set&#xA;a maximum permissible exposure of 5 ppm (OSHA Title 29, Code of&#xA;Federal Regulations, 1910.1000). One of the functions of the&#xA;vinylidene chloride coating is as a heat sealant when the coated film&#xA;is used as an overwrapping material. Overheating may lead to&#xA;generation of hydrogen chloride. (Refer to the “Handling Practices”&#xA;section.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And further down in the booklet under FDA Status:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All Mylar  made and sold for food packaging complies with&#xA;FDA Regulation 21CFR177.1630— Polyethylene Phthalate Polymers. This&#xA;regulation describes polyester films that may be used safely in&#xA;contact with all types of food. Polymer coated films are restricted to&#xA;use below 120°C (250°F), but uncoated PET films are specifically&#xA;cleared for use in oven cooking or baking at temperatures above 120°C&#xA;(250°F). (DuPont recommends a maximum oven temperature of 204°C&#xA;[400°F].) The US Dep't of Agriculture has accepted Mylar® for&#xA;packaging meat and poultry products prepared under their inspection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One company (sorbentsystems) includes this line in some product description (but not on every mylar product):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These bags are designed to withstand high temperatures (up to 250° F&#xA;for 55 minutes) for hot fill. Food Grade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would presume that any bag specifically made to be hotfilled would be able to resist having hot water poured in and that just filling with hot water would also not be able to maintain an elevated temperature for too long to worry about it. But, as these things go, not all the pouches are equal to eachother and there could be a lot of variation from brand to brand, or different products of the same brand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it seems there is only a general answer and it would be wise to make a bit of research, or contact the manufacturer directly, to know the specific materials of the bags one is using and purchase from a known and reputable manufacturer that publish all the needed materials specification and certifications when in doubt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: when the above quoted text says to see the handling practices section its referring to a paragraph concerning fumes coming from outer coating buildup on the heated elements of sealing machines in commercial operations, conductivity of the film and scrap disposal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T14:24:36.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4852" CreationDate="2016-03-31T15:10:36.550" Score="9" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Climb easy routes very slowly&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try climbing the easy routes slowly to focus on technique. Climbers will often blow through a route by relying on strength and dynamic moves, but moving slowly and deliberately while focusing on foot placement, posture, and balance, will help you find improvements. Moving slowly also helps &lt;a href=&quot;http://drsunderman.com/stabilizer-muscles/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;build important stabilizer muscles&lt;/a&gt; (think yoga).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pause mid-route and hang by one hand&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can simulate clipping a quickdraw for sport climbing and trains your body to find comfortable stances. It also helps train your grip for resting stances which may be needed when you're on longer routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Down climb the easy routes&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in @AM_Hawk's comment, this focuses on footwork and helps strengthen using &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eccentric_training&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eccentric training&lt;/a&gt; (ie, holding yourself on the wall while extending your arms/back/legs/etc). This type of muscle training &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18981046&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;may be more effective&lt;/a&gt; than concentric training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Repeatedly speed climb the easy routes&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somewhat mentioned in @Liam's answer. As you get tired, you will have to change your technique to accommodate your fatigue, which in theory, should help you find more efficient movements.  Or it just gets you really tired. Either will be good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-03-31T15:10:36.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11352" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11354" CreationDate="2016-03-31T16:19:44.547" Score="10" ViewCount="1787" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a pink slab of stone with a nice dip in the middle and thought of using it as a mortar for grinding spices.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any stones whose makeup could potentially leach toxins?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9182" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T04:57:50.953" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T13:21:05.860" Title="What kind of stones should not be used to grind food?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11363" CreationDate="2016-03-31T22:49:18.963" Score="19" ViewCount="2165" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is understandable why it is tiring to walk faster than one's normal pace in order to keep up with someone younger and/or fitter than oneself.  Simple physics: one is exerting more energy per unit time than one can sustain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But walking at a slower pace than is natural is also tiring.  And resting doesn't help  -- to the contrary.  Does anyone have an explanation for why this is so?       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T13:52:07.570" Title="Why is it tiring to &quot;keep down&quot; with a slower person on a walk or hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11352" CreationDate="2016-03-31T23:01:40.323" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Granite, marble and jade are all common stones used for mortar/pestle combinations. There are probably many other stones that are safe, but you want to avoid the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything that is porous such as sandstone or dolomite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything that will break apart easily, mainly sedimentary stone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything that might expose you to metal toxicity such lead or cadmium &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything with organic matter attached&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything that reacts chemically to whatever it is you're grinding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T04:22:19.523" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T04:22:19.523" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11356" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11358" CreationDate="2016-04-01T09:33:37.820" Score="11" ViewCount="2418" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a one week trip in a dry region I need to conserve water and weight. My idea is to bring precooked &quot;instant rice&quot; and pulverulent mashed potatoes. I´d warm a bit of water to about 40 - 50° C and mix it with the rice or mash. Would that resemble anything edible? (I'll try at home and post the results, but hope for some thoughts and input.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefits:&#xA;I don´t need the power to cook a liter, warming a quarter will do. That`s 1/10 of enery and 1/4 of water for every meal. Instead of using a full fledged gas cooking device, I can bring some Esbit. For each 3 day-intervall of water self-suffiency, that saves 5 kg. &lt;strong&gt;What are possible downsides?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I have been unclear about the pre-cooked rice. I mean the vacuum-packed, non-dehydrated rice they sell it in grocery stores. Usualy you´d just warm it up for 2 minutes in a microwave oven, and that´s it. But I am not sure if the warming up is for safety or taste reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9185" LastEditorUserId="9185" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T10:19:02.120" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T23:04:36.473" Title="Preparing rice and mashed potatoes with warm instead of cooking water" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11356" CreationDate="2016-04-01T09:40:10.210" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your main problem I'd say is that keeping cooked rice unrefrigerated and then not heating rice adequately can potentially cause you to become very unwell! There is even specific guidance about the reheating of rice on the NHS web site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Can reheating rice cause food poisoning?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes. You can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. However,&#xA;  it's not the reheating that causes the problem but the way the rice&#xA;  has been stored before it was reheated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;How does reheated rice cause food poisoning?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that&#xA;  can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can&#xA;  survive. If the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores&#xA;  can grow into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce&#xA;  toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. The longer cooked&#xA;  rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the&#xA;  bacteria or toxins could make the rice unsafe to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Tips on serving rice safely&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked if that isn't    possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;when you reheat any rice, always check that the dish is steaming hot    all the way through&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;do not reheat rice more than once&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning.aspx?CategoryID=51&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source NHS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wouldn't say this is a good idea. This is why pre cooked rice you buy from the shops is vacuum packed and refrigerated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T07:14:55.647" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T07:14:55.647" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11356" CreationDate="2016-04-01T15:27:51.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that any water you are cooking with is still liquids you are intaking. A pantry full of dehydrated food is an awesome weightsaver in places were you always have water available but in a dry place you need to carry it with you.&#xA;Efficiency-wise, I personally found the scout kelly-kettle type stoves ( kelly kettle + pot on top) great for boiling water while cooking another at the same time in the pot on top of the kettle, not much fuel needed. And one way to conserve the water is to rinse the cup you ate in and drink it before washing it &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were to use the precooked rice with warm water it takes about half hour to bring it back and you still should bring it to a boil after. I know of people that just soak it for a long time and eat it as it is but I think they must be crazy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since from your question it seems you think you cook rice boiling, draining and throwing the water out, be aware that many kinds of rice don't work that way.&#xA;If you take uncooked Jasmine rice, for example, the ratio is 1 part rice and 1 1/2 part water and all the water is absorbed by the rice (so way less than a liter, 250 ml of water will be even too much for one person). Forget Arborio or similar as they take long time to cook. Precooked rice works the same as it will absorb the water and at 1 to 1 ratio usually and faster cooking. You might want to redo your calculations then and probably find out you can expend the fuel to bring the water to a boil ;). Also Dhara gave you an excellent suggestion in the comments as there are recipes for eating the flakes raw it seems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, if what you mean is the ready to eat kind that comes in a bowl or similar to cook in a microwave or stovetop, that usually involves boiling the unopened container in water for more than just a few minutes. I suppose you could reuse the same water over and over as Aravona mentioned in the comments but then that stuff needs to be in the water at high temperature and for a certain amount of time to heat up or it's like you didn't heat it at all. It's not the best option as weight saver, or the cheapest IMHO and with those you better stick to the cooking instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider couscous, it cooks really fast, or thin rice noodles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the instant mash potatoes in powder those can be made with cold water, you have to get the worst kind that have only powder with no flakes. The powdered stuff is not that great so you might want to give it a try at home (on a trail all the food is ok even if disappointing at home) and maybe add some milk powder, gravy powder and butter powder (if you can find it) and some spices to turn them from barely edible to barely passable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know your tastes in food but going with all the normal grocery store instant foods the more spices you have at hand the better because they tend to be very bland.&#xA;Also remember to keep an eye on proteins, as you will have to add those too and keep in mind that instant food has less nutrition than what you would have cooking it yourself from raw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you can go the MRE way, those with the self heating chemical pack, the only water needed in those is the one for the chemical reaction, you don't drink it, don't keep it and it's not in direct contact with food so can be any water you find. They are not cheap if you don't have a &quot;direct source&quot; and for a whole week it will be sad but covering 2 or 3 days with those might mean the weight savings you want. Or FSR for extremes, but only if you plan to be too tired to be thinking about how sad is the meal you are eating ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a diet of instant rice and instant potatoes (and the military stuff) for a week you better bring some form of fiber supplements or you will cut down on bathroom breaks quite a bit ;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T23:04:36.473" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T23:04:36.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11356" CreationDate="2016-04-01T16:07:46.627" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly you are better off bringing some other form of starch, such as hard tack or saltines or something similar. Take a bite of cracker, and take a sip of water and chew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rice and rice water, when kept at unsafe temperature develops a toxin that is used by doctors and pharmacists to induce vommitting such as when someone eats something they shouldn't have. This isn't classical food poisoning, but in the wilderness this can be a cause of serious dehydration and I don't recommend it, ESPECIALLY, since your goal is to reduce the amount of water you need to bring with you. You will be putting yourself in a very dangerous position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T16:07:46.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="656" CreationDate="2016-04-01T16:19:30.867" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I may be biased as a mariner, but I am partial to three stranded twisted rope. It may not be as strong as braided-cored ropes per thickness, but I can do &lt;strong&gt;more&lt;/strong&gt; with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With three stranded twisted rope, I can indefinately join pieces together permanently without any special tools. So I can make a continuous and very long rope if necessary that can still run through makeshift pulleys, sheaves and and blocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can if necessary divide the rope up into its individual yarns if I need something smaller, and I can retwist them back together if necessary (admittedly a pain in the arse, but still doable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can put a permanent eye at the end of the rope without using a bowline or needing special tools to do so, for in those cases when a knot isn't right for the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my rope starts to fray, I can cut it and rejoin it permanently without special tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some specially knots, such as those to make animal traps from bent over trees take advantage of the &lt;em&gt;knuckles&lt;/em&gt; caused by being twisted stands of rope, creating a knot that pulls free, but resists it until the knuckle gets pulled through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T22:21:54.613" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T22:21:54.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11356" CreationDate="2016-04-01T18:40:50.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have to carry all your water with you then you might as well use 'wet' food rather than dehydrated as it works out at the same weight in the end anyway. Pouch type meals are becoming increasingly mainstream and have the advantage of being perfectly palatable cold and straight from the packet. In cold weather you can carry them in an inside pocket of your clothing during the day so they aren't stone cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I often like to use food which doesn't actually require any cooking at all and just use a metal mug and very simple solid fuel or alcohol stove for hot drinks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For low fuel cooking cous-cous and noodles work much better than rice as they will rehydrate eventually even in cold water and are quick and easy enough for lunch also both seem to soak up flavours better than rice and, for my taste at least, end up giving you more palatable meals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth considering things like unleavened bread (chapattis, roti etc), rice cake or crackers, which keep well, are light and robust enough to survive a week in a pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also useful are flavoured oils, things like chilli and garlic infused oil or toasted sesame oil. These pack a lot of calories for their weight, keep well and vastly improve the flavour of hiking food. Decant them into small plastic squeezy bottles of an appropriate size for your tip and add a dash to your food. Things like chorizo and sardines or tuna in oil achieve much the same thing and add some texture and protein. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T18:40:50.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11362" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-01T18:57:29.113" Score="12" ViewCount="4028" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm signed up for an AMGA single-pitch instructor course (to learn how to teach other people single-pitch climbing). One of the pieces of gear we're supposed to bring is a 30 meter static rope &quot;for setting up big 'v' anchors.&quot; I don't own one, and the instructor says I can borrow one, so it's not a problem for me, but it makes me wonder why this would be considered such a fundamental piece of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm understanding the application correctly, the idea would be to extend the anchor so that a toprope doesn't have to go over the lip of a cliff, or allow the construction of anchors in which the pro is widely spaced. I would normally have used 1-inch webbing for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why would one prefer a static rope rather than webbing for this purpose?&lt;/strong&gt; It's more expensive, and a 30 m length would not be useful for other applications such as canyoneering. What are the pros and cons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:31.587" LastActivityDate="2016-12-17T03:39:39.717" Title="Why static rope rather than webbing for toprope anchors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11353" CreationDate="2016-04-01T19:05:58.663" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general every individual has a natural walking cadence (steps per minute) and they vary their actual speed by increasing or decreasing stride length. Even amongst a very fit group the most comfortable natural pace will vary and some people will be built for speed on the flat while some stroll up brutal  hills others will happily carry their own bodyweight in kit at a steady pace over any terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the degree to which you can vary pace is limited and there is a point where your strides are uncomfortably long or (as in this case) short to maintain an efficient gait. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason for this is that natural walking is effectively a whole series of fallings forward ie you aren't pulling yourself forward with your feet you are swinging your centre of mass forward and moving your feet to maintain balance. So your natural gait is a lot like a pendulum and like a pendulum it has a natural frequency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As this happens you are transferring energy around a bit like a slinky falling down some steps, although some energy is lost each step a natural walking pace will conserve quite a lot from one to the next. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have to move too slowly the your gait becomes a sequence of individual steps rather than a smooth flow from one stance to another and rather than a recycling the energy of each step you end up using energy to hold yourself back and check your stride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is exacerbated if you are carrying a pack as you end up accelerating and decelerating it with every step rather than keeping your centre of mass moving at a fairly constant velocity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice if you are walking with someone who is struggling it is best for everybody for you to take some of their gear and/or for you to continue at your own pace for a while and then stop and wait for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if someone is having trouble have a group rest and find out if there is any underlying reason why they are struggling, if they are carrying too much weight, are dehydrated, hungry ete etc it is better for the group as a whole to solve that issue than let them struggle even if you have to push them to admit it. Most people will need to have  this explained to them and will not admit  a problem unless pressed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-03T19:56:19.257" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T19:56:19.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11362" CreationDate="2016-04-01T20:55:12.857" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Static rope may not be that much more expensive than equivalent tape and is certainly a lot more versatile. In particular rope gives you a lot more options for reliable knots which are also be familiar from climbing rope use. Many people consider any knot in tape to be a bit suspect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The range of knots may come into play when rigging more complex anchors or when you want to back up the main anchor. In the context of the this specific question it may be that there are some specific techniques that the course is demonstrating. It's worth bearing in mind that single pitch anchors can end up being more complex than just joining two pieces of protection and specific knots may be important for equalisation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long lengths of tape can also get in a horrible tangle especially in terms of keeping it flat whereas rope is a bit better at untwisting itself, being round rather than flat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also for a very long anchor chain webbing may  have more stretch than a static rope and while this is not automatically bad it can add an extra element of unpredictability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is also a lot of weight behind what people know to work, especially in terms of safety,  so it may be that this course specifies rope because it is tried and tested for they way they do things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-01T21:36:28.480" LastActivityDate="2016-04-01T21:36:28.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="657" CreationDate="2016-04-01T22:05:36.067" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing is to think very hard about whether you really need to cross it, in most circumstances the answer will be NO so there needs to be a strong reason to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DO NOT cross a river just because you are travelling in a straight line and the river is in the way. A river is a good source of water and, food and materials and they are an excellent guide to navigation  as there is a good chance they will eventually lead you somewhere useful. They are also an obvious marker for anybody looking for you. There is also a good chance that if you follow a river you will eventually find a road or path crossing it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a tarp, bivi bag or heavy duty bin bag with you then use that to wrap your pack as well as you can this will both keep your kit dry and help your pack to float. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have water bottles empty and re close them, they will be useful flotation devices also inflate any plastic bags you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IF you have rope or cord attach it you an anchor on the 'home' side of the river and your pack this gives you an anchor if you slip and and you can retrieve your pack if you fall and need to drop it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may also be useful to cut a staff to help you. This should be a reasonably straight and sturdy piece of wood. This will both help you to support your weight as you cross and can also be used to probe the river bed ahead of you for any unseen obstructions such as rocks, sunken logs or holes, all of which are major potential hazards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you want to use the staff as a third leg, plant it somewhat downstream of your steps to support yourself against the current. Similarly walk with great care, keeping two firmly planted points of contact (feet of staff) at all times, only transferring your weight forward once you are sure you have a firm footing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing requires some care. Here the compromise is between protecting yourself while you cross and getting your only insulating clothes wet. As a rough guide keep your boots on but remove your socks and keep on any wicking base layers and water proof shells which will dry fast and provide meaningful warmth during the crossing. However in cold conditions you should try to provide yourself with warm, dry clothing to change into as soon as you have completed the crossing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if at all possible be prepared light a fire as soon as you have finished the crossing ie find and dry-pack tinder kindling and fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-09-19T21:10:05.403" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T21:10:05.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11150" CreationDate="2016-04-02T07:13:35.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you are interested in bowhunting, I would recommend a thumb or a trigger release. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people acquire an index trigger release when they are just starting out because they can be had for as little as $25. Archery shops sell tons of these. They allow you to find a good form, rhythm, and release cadence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I have had good experiences from index trigger releases from the couple of manufacturers I have tried (Tru-fire, Easton), I saw the following problems: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While hunting  you may find that the index finger release feels awkward attached to your hand. It might make you itch and scratch, or simply a clumsiness factor you don't need in the tree stand. On the positive note however, there's little way it can break or fail, and it's strapped onto your arm so you won't drop it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enter the thumb release. The thumb release, counter to the finger release,  is not strapped to your hand. You hold it in your hand or you can hang it from a D-Loop knock in your bow. I prefer to let it hang from my string where it will be ready to go, and my hands are unobstructed for grabbing a snack or reading a book. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I definitely find the thumb release to be more accurate since moving the thumb contributes to less of a steadier shot than the index finger. Try both a finger and thumb release, and see if you notice a difference in your follow-through after loosing the arrow.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decided to bowhunt with a traditional or recurve bow (which some might not recommend due to the lack of poundage and let off of a compound bow)&#xA;You might research some kind of a leather arrangement, but I wouldn't know much  about these within the sport of hunting that you would consider. You may want to consult a community of traditional/recurve bow hunters who can share their experiences, or find out for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind you will want to consult a bowtech to establish that you have a fitting and safe bow and arrow combination before establishing your preference for release. Some people shoot compounds with no release at all, but this is less common in bowhunting, generally speaking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: I'm sure there are some purists that believe that shooting with a release is an unnecessary addition, further mechanizing the compound bow. If it has a trigger, does it become a gun? I think the answer is obviously not, and many would agree. The use of a release, glove, or guard is a prevailing choice in archery now and I would assume throughout most of history. Have fun trying out different releases. I'm sure you will find what feels and shoots the best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9189" LastActivityDate="2016-04-02T07:13:35.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11369" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11439" CreationDate="2016-04-02T22:40:08.190" Score="8" ViewCount="625" Body="&lt;p&gt;While trying to answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11362/why-static-rope-rather-than-webbing-for-toprope-anchors&quot;&gt;Why static rope rather than webbing for toprope anchors?&lt;/a&gt; I immediately thought about splices in long pieces of webbing. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/737298/bluewater-1-climb-spec-tubular-webbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt; says that spools of Blue Water webbing may not be continuous, although I cannot find a reference on Blue Water's site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't worked with spools of webbing in a long time. My recollection is that a spool typically had 3 or so splices that were marked with tape an a pin. We use to cut around them, when making shorter slings. I do not remember how much space we left. My recollection was that apart from the pin/tape, there was no visual indication of the splice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot find any information about splices. I guess I have 4 related questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do spools of webbing still have splices?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How weak is the splice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How big is the section of weakness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do splices look like?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T06:30:24.340" Title="What is a splice in spools of tubular webbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11370" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11371" CreationDate="2016-04-02T23:22:14.153" Score="5" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;For technical face climbing, there are some really good online instructional &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/user/Cruxfilmsclimbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;videos&lt;/a&gt; (on youtube) by Neil Gresham. Can anyone recommend similar instructional videos for crack technique?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T18:49:15.027" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T18:49:15.027" Title="Online instructional videos for crack climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;crack-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2016-04-04T13:45:49.503" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11370" CreationDate="2016-04-03T01:08:17.400" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild country crack school is a great resource for learning how to climb cracks.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/40346006&quot;&gt;Wild Country Crack School&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user9194" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T01:08:17.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11372" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-03T04:06:44.987" Score="8" ViewCount="616" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to the crag with some friends in a few days and I plan to lead the first route, clip into a quickdraw on one of the anchor bolts and build a top rope anchor on the bolts. I've been practising the anchor styles that I could use and I am in the situation below. I know that I could simply unclip the quickdraw and slowly lower myself onto the anchor but I don't want to fall onto the anchor, even though it would certainly handle the fall. How can I slowly and properly transfer the load from the quickdraw to the top rop anchor? Are there any interesting ways to do this or should i just unclip the draw and get the belayer to take and lower?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4bku.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4bku.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Top rope anchor&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user9194" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:41.510" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:41.510" Title="How can I transfer my weight to a toprope anchor at the bolts?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11372" CreationDate="2016-04-03T05:46:26.800" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are clearly overthinking this. Even if your are hanging freely, you should be able to take away your weight from the rope by pulling on gear and unclip the quickdraw (there is nothing that can go wrong, you are on belay). Still there are different ways to do this in a controlled fashion, in practice I only use the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is one solid piece of protection (a functional bolt certainly qualifies and anything that you trust with your weight, so anything that you intend for a belay, should qualify) is to use a sling (or something equivalent) to attach yourself to it right at the beginning (instead of your quickdraw). Be aware that at this moment you do not call out &quot;belay&quot; or whatever other command you use to signify that you are safe! You are hanging on a single piece of pro, so your belayer should continue to have you on belay. After that just build the anchor, tell the belayer to tighten after you finished and you unclip your sling. This of course works also at the end of the scenario you described with using a quickdraw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also just use a sling to step into to help you with getting the load off the rope. I am sure one can come up with more ways (you could even build an improvised pulley), but that would be a real overkill. Keep it simply, keep it save.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T05:46:26.800" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11362" CreationDate="2016-04-03T09:08:15.737" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answer I'd like to add that ropes are &lt;em&gt;way safer&lt;/em&gt; than webbing in a scenarion where it actually comes in contact with rock. This is the case in top rope anchors when you have to tie the rope back over the edge of a cliff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes are designed with a protective layer (mantle) and a load bearing inner part, also when moving, they only touch the rock with s amall part and they can 'roll' over the rock while webbing under tension gets severed easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding knotting webbing: For nylon webbing this is ok and accepted quite everywhere, but dyneema is too slippery to be safely knoted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: These do not answer your question but provide intersting insights into using knots with webbing /slings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/knotting-dyneema-vid/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/knotting-dyneema-vid/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/slings-at-anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/slings-at-anchors/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-04-03T13:27:56.597" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T13:27:56.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8962" CreationDate="2016-04-03T12:09:20.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A ridgeline defines the amount of sag a gathered-end hammock has.  If there is no ridgeline, the fabric carries all the tension from the anchor points and is more taut. With a ridgeline, the fabric is much looser, facilitating a diagonal lay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also keeps an integrated mosquito net away from your body. Plus it's a handy place to hang stuff like your glasses and a ridgeline organizer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't normally support a tarp-- Tarps have their own ridgeline or use some other method of attachment (like to the suspension lines on a Hennessy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9196" LastEditorUserId="9196" LastEditDate="2016-04-03T12:14:38.277" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T12:14:38.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5611" CreationDate="2016-04-03T12:40:10.377" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A solution that meets all of your criteria (with the possible exception of being robust) is a DIY cat food alcohol stove used with a DIY Bushbuddy-style gasifier stove.  Both are easily and cheaply made, and very lightweight. Hundreds of people use one or the other, or both,  in all seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in alcohol mode, put the stove inside the bushbuddy; the bushbuddy acts as a pot support and wind screen. When in wood mode, just use the bushbuddy by itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of different designs for DIY alcohol burners that you could try.  Pretty much anything will work except for the ones like the Fancee Feest which depend upon a good seal with the pot. A side burning, pressurized stove would probably work the best.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9196" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T12:40:10.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11378" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-03T13:36:11.260" Score="13" ViewCount="9365" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I saw an arborist climbing up a single rope with an unbelievable speed, as if it was just a ladder.&#xA;Of course he was using all kinds of specialized gear including foot/chest ascenders and I think one of the usual arborist friction devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This got me thinking: What would be the most efficient method to ascend a rope with just rock climbing gear (including hand ascenders)?  (But without specialized gear as e.g. foot ascenders that isn't usually used in climbing.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; You can use two generic hand ascenders (with handle or without, your choice), one pulley, cordelettes, any loops (thin/thick), carabiners, pieces of rope, any (popular) belaying device as in tubers, grigri, figure of 8.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not necessarily looking at an emergency situation but just a situtation (where you know in advance) you have to ascend a freely hanging rope but with only the &quot;usual&quot; climbing equipment that you might already have. (In contrary to specialized tree climbing / rope access devices.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-01T22:32:08.143" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T09:28:08.943" Title="Quickest / most efficient way to ascend a hanging rope with rock climbing gear?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11379" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-03T13:48:18.860" Score="10" ViewCount="1371" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been climbing (lead-climbing/top-roping/bouldering) for less than a year now but after quickly improving for the first couple of months I have now reached a &quot;plateau&quot; as they say and I don't know what to do to improve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aiming to improve especially my bouldering skills where I am still stuck doing V0-V1-V2 (UK grading).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you for your help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9197" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-03T17:18:08.760" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T15:12:52.657" Title="Bouldering, improving and getting up grades" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11380" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16401" CreationDate="2016-04-03T14:41:40.957" Score="8" ViewCount="2753" Body="&lt;p&gt;While taking my usual stroll along Del Monte beach in Monterey yesterday, I found this sand dollar with a clump of barnacles attached:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nmY1X.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nmY1X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this rare at all? Any observations on why it would wash up onto the beach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T22:33:02.003" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T17:28:26.613" Title="Is this sand dollar with barnacles attached to it at all rare?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11362" CreationDate="2016-04-03T17:19:56.130" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a complete answer to my own question, but the following may be relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The book by Long and Gaines on climbing anchors says this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For toprope setups, most professional guides use static rope when&#xA;  tying off huge boulders and blocks, since it is more abrasion&#xA;  resistant and less likely to jam in pinches than webbing. Static rope&#xA;  is also somewhat handier to work with and easier to knot, and it&#xA;  allows you to use a wider range of knots than would work with webbing&#xA;  or sling material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recently took the AMGA single-pitch instructor course, and we used static ropes extensively for anchors. The big advantage I can see of using a static rope for this purpose is that you can use one end of it as an instructor's tether when you're managing things from the top. The basic idea is that you make an anchor in the shape of an &quot;N.&quot; That is, you have a &quot;V&quot; going to two sides of the anchor (either of which could itself be a multi-point anchor constructed with a separate cordelette), and then you also dangle an instructor's tether from one side. Then as you're coaching or helping your student, you can securely operate near the edge. You tie a knot in the end of the tether, and you clip in to it with a grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-12-17T03:39:39.717" LastActivityDate="2016-12-17T03:39:39.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11379" CreationDate="2016-04-03T19:14:07.420" Score="11" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Fall More.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not falling &lt;strong&gt;a lot&lt;/strong&gt;, then you're not pushing yourself enough, ergo you won't see much improvement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grasping a basic understanding of proper climbing technique is what enables most new climbers to quickly advance in their climbing abilities, but once you have that understanding of climbing principles, then your limitations are mostly physical; you need stronger fingers and core. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're topping out at V2, then chances are you're still not very fond of holding onto anything that you can't fit all four pads on and sink up to your second knuckle, you need to get familiar with hanging onto holds that you think are just terrible, namely: small crimps, pinches, and slippery slopers. Most new climbers hate these types of holds, but that's because it takes training and experience in order to know how to approach them, how to hold them without injuring yourself, and what angle you need to hang onto them without popping off, this is where core strength is key, you need a strong core to keep you balance and hold everything together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although this is question is rather broad, the general answer would be to spend more time at the climbing gym in the bouldering cave. You can climb a lot harder in the gym than you can outside, because it's a much more controlled environment, and you don't have to worry as much about hurting yourself when you fall. When I went outdoors I was more interested in toping out than I was projecting something hard, and spent more time finishing problems. If I couldn't get it in a few tries, I'd move on, but in the gym I'd project the same problem for &lt;em&gt;months&lt;/em&gt; and some I'd only ever top out on once. Some I'd be able to piece together, but never be able to get all the way through them, and they'd eventually get taken down when the holds were cleaned and the cave re-set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see quick improvement, you need to be constantly challenging yourself, and trying problems that are way above your grade, dedicated boulderers will spend absurd amounts of time trying to master a single move in a problem, they will train like crazy, with that one single move in mind. Case and point: anyone who has ever tried to climb &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUP2QksCtAY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Lucid Dreaming&quot;&lt;/a&gt; out in Bishop California, it only has &lt;em&gt;two or three&lt;/em&gt; moves, but it's a V15 (downgraded from a V16, but the topout is &quot;only&quot; a V7).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-06T15:12:52.657" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T15:12:52.657" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11372" CreationDate="2016-04-03T19:58:04.167" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't do this the way you propose. If I understand you correctly, you want to clip the top bolt, then have your belayer hold your weight while you set up a top anchor, and you want to know how to unclip your quickdraw after and load the top anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first question would be, why aren't you using a personal anchor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/umjKf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/umjKf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second question would be, why wouldn't you just clip both bolts with draws and use that as your top anchor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k8D5x.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k8D5x.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, to answer your question, the best way to do this would be to use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/purcell/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Purcell Prusik&lt;/a&gt; in place of the quickdraw:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eKSxu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eKSxu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the purcell prusik as a personal anchor, clip the top bolt with the prussic fully or mostly collapsed, set up your top anchor, have your belayer take up the slack in the rope, then slowly &lt;em&gt;extend&lt;/em&gt; the Purcell Prusik to load the anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-04-03T19:58:04.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11386" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11387" CreationDate="2016-04-03T21:15:23.897" Score="9" ViewCount="1736" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I am trying to teach a class of 12 children how to build campfires. I would like each pupil to have a flint and steel for the lesson. As it turns out ferrocerium rods can be acquired cheaply for about a dollar each if I bulk-buy them. That leaves loads of leeway for rods getting lost. The problem is no striker is provided. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any common household item I can have the children bring in to use as a striker? My first idea was a butter knife, but after trying this to no avail I realised the knife reads STAINLESS STEEL on the side. I am aware that a carbon-steel knife works as a striker; indeed some paring knives work. But I cannot get such a knife for less than 5 dollars, and I need a dozen plus spares. Moreover if I instruct the children to bring in a knife each, then chances are half will be stainless steel anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8977" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:27:47.520" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:27:47.520" Title="Does any Household Object Function as a Passable Fire Steel?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11386" CreationDate="2016-04-03T21:36:08.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing for a firesteel striker is that it is hard and has a 'crisp', although not necessarily sharp edge. Stainless steel knives tend not to work quite so well as plain carbon steel ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general when you use the back of a knife as a firesteel it needs to be ground with a well defined square edge to the spine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon steel files work extremely well and emery paper is pretty good (although a bit less durable than other alternatives) so the emery boards sold for filing nails should be a good option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short lengths of hacksaw blades can be effective as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using an abrasive rather than a blade also has the advantage of being a bit safer for teaching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emery paper or boards, tend to produce more sparks and are, in some ways, easier to use than a scraper type striker (eg the back of a knife). The difference is that emery does not 'throw' big fat sparks in the same way as a scraper so a slightly different technique is required. One good method is to wrap a strip of tinder around the tip if the rod and hold it in place by gripping it near the end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-06T21:39:23.350" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T21:39:23.350" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11388" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-03T21:39:34.310" Score="6" ViewCount="3643" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to find some binoculars for hunting. I generally zero my rifle to fire at 100 yards. I really can't imagine shooting animals much further than this distance, although for scouting and getting a larger field of view, I might want to go out to 150 yards. What is an appropriate magnification for something like this? Largest field of view possible, for 100-150 yards&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T01:25:40.467" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T01:58:51.780" Title="Selecting magnification for binoculars for hunting at 100 yards?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11388" CreationDate="2016-04-04T01:25:42.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To choose a good set, you first need to understand the behind the specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, binos are referred by two numbers, A x B&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number (&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;) before the x is the magnification factor, i.e how many times closer (larger) you see the object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number after the x (&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;) is the diameter of the lenses in millimeters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, there is a third number that's the result dividing &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt; by &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt; with results the pupil exit in millimeters. That is the &quot;amount&quot; of light that comes in to your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, putting those number in place we have...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;higher the magnification, narrower is the field of view. If you need to see more, choose a lower magnification.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hunting, I'd say that 7x to 10x should be what you're looking for. 12x to 16x if you're going for long range shooting like pest control (varmint hunting) but you might better go for a spotting scope instead of binos as you will be able to stabilize and have better view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a higher &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt; will allow more light to come in which helps during hunting at dawn or dusk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could suggest you to try and 8x42 and 10x42. Those should work as an &quot;all around&quot; binos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT---&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I have two optics. A bushnell legend HD 10x42 and a rangefinder sport 850 4x20. The legend is great for open fields but I need to rest it somewhere otherwise just the shaking of the hand interferes. The sport 850 is great in the bush and short distances as the movement does not interfere in the image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T02:35:29.460" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T02:35:29.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11391" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11395" CreationDate="2016-04-04T07:07:10.343" Score="6" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last weekend I've shot with a backpack for the very first time. I ordered one which is able to hold my quiver and my bow to hike'n'archer :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I suddenly shot like 250 points were I normally would do about 390. I thought I just had a bad day and so I didn't really care. The next day we went out shooting again and my unstable form continued. I told my mates about this and one said that I should get rid of the backpack. I did so and guess what, my shooting improved/was normal again!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is, is it really a general thing that you can't shoot (or let's say &quot;shoot worse&quot;) with a backpack? Or do I just have to get used to it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I'm shooting a traditional hunting-recurve instinctively. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:25:29.617" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:25:29.617" Title="Does a backpack negatively influence my archery shooting?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11393" CreationDate="2016-04-04T08:46:40.357" Score="9" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in western ghats of Maharashtra India, where temperature in the afternoon varies from &lt;strong&gt;35 degree Celsius to 40 degree Celsius with high humidity (more than 50%)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my last hike I perspired a lot, even though my ascending speed was very slow during a steep ascend. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much water should I carry on such hikes&lt;/strong&gt;, if I know I am not going to get near any source of water till evening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How should I regulate hydrating myself?&lt;/strong&gt; I can just keep drinking water until I run out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there  a way to control perspiration&lt;/strong&gt;, so that I lose less water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T12:01:06.010" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T21:24:05.427" Title="How should I regulate hydration on long hikes in hot temprature?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11392" CreationDate="2016-04-04T11:22:55.883" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The amount of water you require can vary a lot depending on the conditions and your level of exertion and conditioning. Dehydration can affect your physical and mental performance quite quickly so it should be a high priority. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, if you are hiking between water sources you need to make a careful judgement on how reliable those sources are. Can you be sure that you will find water where you expect to and will you have enough water to reach an alternative source if the intended one fails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perspiration is an important way of regulating your body temperature so you want to look at ways to keep cool rather than directly stopping perspiration. Heat injuries are potentially fatal so you need to be especially careful when  the ambient temperature feel hot even when resting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two litres per day (including the water content of food) is often cited as the minimum required for survival but with heat and exertion this can go up a lot. Certainly two or three times this amount might not be unreasonable in some circumstances, also allowing some margin for safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making sure you have plenty to drink when you do have ready access to water, e.g. in the mornings and evenings. This will help a lot as you will be fully hydrated when you set out and should need less during the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you are walking it is best to drink when you are thirsty and as much as you feel you need, this is easier to achieve if you drink little and often. There isn't much point rationing water during a day as it will give you more benefit in your body than in a water bottle. You might want to save a small amount until you reach your next water source for morale reasons but there is no point setting yourself an arbitrary limit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, if water sources are uncertain it is best to err on the side of caution. In the conditions you describe I would carry as much as I could manage, bearing in mind that the weight will go down throughout the day as you drink and sweat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best guide to how much you need will be experience. For example go on a walk in similar conditions, staying close to water sources or go for one day and take a full load made up with water and make a note of how much you use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately you need to balance the extra effort of carrying the water with the benefits of staying well hydrated in terms of comfort and performance as well as the risk of getting into more serious trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider the temperature when you plan your route. What route will offer the most shade? How long will it take you to reach the next water source and can you comfortably make it in a single day? What if you get delayed or injured or the route is blocked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may also be helpful to plan to rest during the hottest part of the day, even if that means starting a bit earlier or finishing a bit later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T21:24:05.427" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T21:24:05.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11353" CreationDate="2016-04-04T13:52:07.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply - it's not.  Rather it is not universal.  I have hiked for years with my wife who has much shorter legs and a much shorter pace.  I have never experienced greater exhaustion due to hiking her pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible that you are getting more tired because you are taking very slow and deliberate steps.  The extra focus on your step may mean you are tensing your muscles more in order to walk a pace you are not used to.  If that is the case try shortening your stride instead of walking slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T13:52:07.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11391" CreationDate="2016-04-04T15:17:10.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not an archer, however, I would be surprised if you would not notice any difference with your backpack as compared to no backpack – at least in the beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically with every skill that requires precise and coordinated movement of your body the precision is more or less strongly susceptible to changes of the situation in which it is performed. This is due to the fact that our body is storing movements that it has learned and performed on a regular basis as so-called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engram_%28neuropsychology%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;engram&lt;/a&gt;s, which can be compared to the code of a computer program that performs a certain task. Those engrams have a self-reinforcing character: every time you perform a movement that is stored in an engram, it gets refined and allows you to do a movement more precisely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is that changing an engram is harder than establishing one. This is the reason why it is rather time-consuming to practice and change a technique that you have learned and got used to in a different way. If you ever have learned any sports skill &quot;wrongly&quot; – by just doing it as you thought it should be done until it sort of worked – and later on tried to learn it &quot;correctly&quot;, i.e. in the way it is typically done, you will know that this can be rather frustrating. In the beginning of such a change, it does not work at all and it can take a long time until you get the same results with the new, &quot;correct&quot; technique and you have to really take care to not fall back into old habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what does that have to do with your backpack? Well, you have learned shooting without a backpack and suddenly wearing a backpack can change some key aspects of your shooting. For example, your posture might have slightly changed due to the weight or maybe because you feel a bit impeded by the shoulder straps (this can even be unknowingly) or whatever. Basically it's just that the engrams that ensured before that you shoot precisely do no longer work as they were, since the parameters have changed and it might take some time and sessions to get used to this new situation. The good news is, I would expect way less time to adapt to the new backpack situation than what is needed to change a long established &quot;wrong&quot; habit, since in your case your engrams only need some slighter readjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, yes, I'm quite sure, you will get used to it. As a benefit, practising to reach a comparable level with the backpack might also help you to better adapt to varying conditions in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T10:46:04.743" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T10:46:04.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3480" CreationDate="2016-04-04T16:14:02.750" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One case of taping I personally know to be effective has not yet been addressed. A typical &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.klatring.no/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=LG2ASlI1haM=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;injury in climbing is a lumbrical tear&lt;/a&gt; in the most severe case. More likely than a full tear is a strain, which does not even have to involve holding a one finger pocket. A typical symptom is a pronounced pain when load is only applied to some fingers (e.g. only index and middle finger) and much less pronounced when applied to all fingers. In this case it is very effective to tape those fingers together (usually middle and ring finger). The effect of the tape is not so much to stabilize tendons, but to make sure that you cannot use one of these fingers individually. Until I realized that this was my problem the pain came back repeatedly due to holding something the wrong way, after taping this way it (obviously) did not happen anymore and the pain receded permanently (give it time!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bhQSK.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bhQSK.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;image-source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://tapeyourfingers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/finger-tape-buddy.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tape Your Fingers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T00:24:01.987" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T00:24:01.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11388" CreationDate="2016-04-04T17:44:00.287" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hunted deer within 150 yards using 10x magnification and for the most part that was fine. However I encountered problems when trying to determine if a buck was a 2 point or a 4 point, which meant waiting / hoping for the animal to come closer or spending a lot longer studying the picture. Details like that can be critical when hunting and can make the difference between a legal and an illegal shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I upgraded to a spotting scope that has adjustable magnification up to 45x and a tripod. A steady hold or a stable surface become really important when dealing with higher magnifications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether you choose binoculars, a spotting scope, or both will depend on several factors including how far you're travelling, how much weight you're comfortable packing, the style of hunting (e.g. spot and stalk vs still), and the type of environment you're in. Personally I would say go with 10x binoculars if you're hiking a good distance or through bush, but if you'll be mostly stationary try to get something more powerful - just because you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: you mention you'll be hunting in the open. In my experience magnification isn't usually required for spotting game out in the open or at the edge of a field, but it is essential for confirming the specifics. Because of this I wouldn't be too concerned about getting the widest field of view - the naked eye is very good at picking out movement at long ranges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastEditorUserId="6606" LastEditDate="2016-04-04T17:49:14.020" LastActivityDate="2016-04-04T17:49:14.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11398" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-04T18:59:55.187" Score="5" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's currently April and I know that's considered late in the season for hunting coyote. Given that I live in a desert climate, how late can you hunt coyote? Is there a reason why I couldn't hunt them into the summer and other parts of the year? I have already checked with my local/state laws and there are no time limitations on coyotes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:31:17.350" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:31:17.350" Title="How late in the season can you hunt coyote?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;coyotes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11401" CreationDate="2016-04-04T21:59:45.037" Score="8" ViewCount="426" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Crow City, USA (AKA Monterey, California).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't tell one crow from another without their perching right next to me on a bust of Portola. They seem to all be clones of each other, as far as I can tell (and I'm sure that's true of most non-ornithologist humans). Yet crows can differentiate humans one from another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This (presumably) does not prove that crows, clever as they are, are more intelligent than humans, but does it indicate that they are more interested in us than we are of them? If so, why? Or what is the reason for this gap in observation skills?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some humans are birdwatchers, but it seems all crows are people watchers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;UPDATE&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This corroborating link&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems&lt;/em&gt; from &lt;em&gt;The New York Times&lt;/em&gt;, Aug 25, 2008) was provided by a cat who had a hard time adding it for some reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An article published by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-wildlife/birds/archives/2013/crows-recognizing-faces.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;National Wildlife Society&lt;/a&gt; on November 7, 2012 describes that study, as well as results from other research. It goes into more details explaining that crows and other birds do recognize us, and potential reasons why. It also has links to more information about crows and other birds in general. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:28:50.423" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:28:50.423" Title="Are crows more interested in identifying individual humans than vice versa, and if so, why?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;crows&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11400" CreationDate="2016-04-05T00:22:50.373" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect this mostly is a result of need, and antipathy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all I think your premise that humans can't identify individual animals within a breed or species is false. People who spend significant time with animals like pet owners, farmers, and naturalists can differentiate between &quot;their&quot; animals and new animals much easier than people who aren't familiar with these animals. People can not only recognize &quot;their&quot; animals but can tell when &quot;their&quot; animals' behavior changes. This goes to show that when people spend time with an animal they have the same ability that you feel the crows demonstrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to realize that crows spend inordinate amounts of time watching people. Since they spend so much more time watching us then we do watching them it is only natural that they recognize us better than we recognize them. Furthermore, it is an essential survival trait for a crow to recognize which humans are dangerous and which humans are benevolent. Humans have this ability too. With the proper training people can tell the difference between a gopher snake, a rattlesnake, and a king snake. The researchers trained the crows that one mask was dangerous, and the crows reaction demonstrated that they can be trained. Also notice in the study it was the mask the birds keyed on not the secondary traits like gait, size, clothing, etc. This means that the birds keyed in on the important difference, the mask, and not the individual in this case. This is like the ability for humans to distinguish a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-the-Difference-Between-a-King-Snake-and-a-Coral-Snake&quot;&gt;king snake from a coral snake&lt;/a&gt;. In our case it isn't all snakes that are dangerous, just the coral snake. In the crows' case it isn't all humans just the humans wearing a specific mask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, crows have a tactical advantage over us because they have the high ground. It is much easier to observe individuals and figure out patterns when you're looking down on your subject compared to when you are observing from down below. This is doubly true when you can observe your subject from behind foliage in a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T00:22:50.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11343" CreationDate="2016-04-05T11:46:00.163" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Crocodiles like water so if you stay away from water you will avoid them entirely.  However that also rules out many wonderful destinations to hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are around waters with crocs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid backwaters and inlets as they like to hang out in those.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't go swimming in waters unless you know they are safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay at least 16ft(5m) from the waters edge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't habitually follow the same path.  If you walk past the same spot at 5am every day, the crocs can learn to just wait there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't lean out over the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't camp near water.  Maintain at least 154ft (50m) from the bank.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crocs are generally more active at night and typically go for smaller prey.  So as long as you do not make yourself too tempting, they are not likely to waste time on you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T11:46:00.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11398" CreationDate="2016-04-05T12:29:24.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you have observed, you can legally hunt them year round; You just will not be as successful.  Some times of the year are better than others.  The best season for coyotes is late fall / early winter.  During the warmer months when prey is plentiful they are going to be harder to call.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It all comes down to how successful (or not) you want your hunt to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T12:29:24.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11404" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11414" CreationDate="2016-04-05T12:45:28.753" Score="8" ViewCount="591" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went for a walk last night in my local woods. I took a pair of binoculars with me. It was quite a cool evening (not that cold). Every time I put the binoculars to my face though to look at something they started to steam up! When I removed them they'd clear only to fog up again after a few seconds of looking though them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had the binoculars slung around my neck for convenience. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T07:22:57.017" Title="How can I prevent my binoculars from steaming up?" Tags="&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11405" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11416" CreationDate="2016-04-05T13:24:39.073" Score="17" ViewCount="5365" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a beginner climber.  There are many climbers all over my area (doing cliffs).  Would it be polite, impolite, or neutral, to approach groups and ask them if I could join them?  Maybe this is 'obviously' impolite, but I've had a group offer before, so I wonder if this is just part of climbing etiquette.  FYI - the climbers are from all different countries (lots of Germans, Australians, and others.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9206" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-28T04:44:22.177" LastActivityDate="2017-10-28T04:44:22.177" Title="Is it polite to ask other climbers to belay for you?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11409" CreationDate="2016-04-05T13:54:34.390" Score="8" ViewCount="1107" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://theultimatehang.com/2013/03/hanging-a-bear-bag-the-pct-method/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt; has a good explanation for how to hang a bag PCT style.  This may seem obvious but, once the bag is suspended with this method, how do you get it down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short description of the PCT method&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw rope over limb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a carabiner, clip one end to the bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the bag up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a stick in the line with a clove hitch, and the bag will only lower to that point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="4041" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T17:26:29.363" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:38:47.387" Title="How to retrieve a bear bag when hung with Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) method" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11405" CreationDate="2016-04-05T14:08:20.630" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, the simple act of asking won't be perceived as impolite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a good chance that people will let you join them, but be prepared to accept &quot;no&quot; as an answer just in case. It would be impolite to press on and try to get them to change their minds, but if you politely accept the &quot;no&quot;, you should be fine. &lt;em&gt;(I assume that you actually want to join the group and belay them, too. If you just ask for a belay and don't offer anything in return, that might probably be seen as rude.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this highly depends on the people and on the circumstances; for example, on routes that are well equipped with bolts, I would be more willing to accept new partners than on challenging multi-pitch trad climbs. The same goes for the perceived experience of the potential partner: People that seen experienced and want to try a hard route that I'm also interested in will more likely get a positive response than obviously inexperienced people that beg me to put up a top rope on a UIAA 5 for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this also applies the other way: Make sure that you are comfortable with the people in the group belaying you. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11269/vetting-belayers-at-the-gym/11270#11270&quot;&gt;Vetting belayers at the gym?&lt;/a&gt;; most things also apply outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: Asking won't hurt, and trying to make sure that you would fit into the group will maximize your chances of joining them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T06:17:00.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11407" CreationDate="2016-04-05T14:14:33.697" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like you simply need to reverse the procedure you give.  Since you initially had to pull the rope up far enough to tie the stick in to it, you can still pull it back up to the same point in order to untie the stick.  Then let the bag lower down again, stick free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is my hastily doodled interpretation of the process.  The stick is represented by the red mark in each drawing.  There is at each step, more rope than is required.  At step 4, the cueball figure reaches up to tie the stick into the rope, but still leaves an ample amount of rope hanging at his feet.  In step five he lowers the bag to this stick, then in step 6 he secures the loose rope around the tree trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2krG.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w2krG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To lower the bag, reverse the steps.  Take the loose rope off the trunk, raise the bag until you can again reach the stick.  Remove stick, lower bag, undo everything, make breakfast, resume hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T15:02:48.043" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T15:02:48.043" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11379" CreationDate="2016-04-05T14:28:20.080" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are in the V0-V2 range, the sure-fire way to get better is to climb with more volume and intensity. Here are some practical things you can do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work your way up to be able to climb 3x a week (a day rest in-between). When first starting out, you may need 2 or 3 days to recover.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to climb enough in a session so that your forearms are pumped and you know your muscles will be sore the next day. You need to push your body to get stronger. However, if you feel some non-muscular pain (e.g. finger tendons, shoulders, wrists), stop climbing and recover.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;During a climbing session, work on a few climbs that you can't finish (say V3 or V4) to increase strength. Doing a ton of V0-V2 climbs isn't going to improve strength or power that much (although it helps with endurance). Make sure to warm up fully on V0-V2 before attempting harder climbs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would suggest ignoring all the other climbing cross-training activities for now (yoga, running, slackline, etc.) if you are time-limited. 1 hour of climbing is so much more beneficial than 1 hour of those activities with regards to improving climbing ability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take carbs/protein in a 4:1 ratio (4 carbs: 1 protein) within ~1 hour of your workout, which is found to be optimal for your body to recover and get stronger. &lt;a href=&quot;http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-5-17&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(research article)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improve your technique. This will probably come naturally as you climb more. Focused practice also helps--study how others climb and re-climb a difficult problem multiple times, optimizing your hand/foot placements each time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T14:28:20.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11412" CreationDate="2016-04-05T14:29:25.127" Score="6" ViewCount="412" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be hiking for the first time, and it's going to be in a woody mountain in the backcountry, and I'd like to have some to-dos, not-to-dos, must-carries, and what precautions I should take while hiking in forests like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Info that may be useful&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm a couch potato, I'm not fat but I'm not that dude who exercises a lot&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I walk 3 to 4 miles a day (I walk to work, it's not so far away and I get to enjoy some fresh air)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I plan on hiking for a day, maybe two&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I bought some gear, like a backpack for campers, some knives, survival matches, some canned food (my favorite), a tarp, an iron pot for cooking, I'm not really sure of what kind of shoes I should wear, and I'm thinking about bringing a first aid kit on me as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8559" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-16T15:33:40.980" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T21:27:19.973" Title="Tips for first-time hikers" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11411" CreationDate="2016-04-05T14:51:24.833" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If this is really your first time hiking, ever... then don't start out in the back country.  That's like doing your first climb ever on a Grade V, or your first trip skiing on a black diamond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would advise the following for &quot;first hikes&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike no more than five miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Test a mile walk with your planned shoe/sock combo ahead of time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat more than you think you need.  Hiking can burn a lot of calories&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a written checklist for gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike a well traveled and populated area so that you can get help if needed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid extremes of cold/heat/weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are going with an experienced partner, then a long/backcountry hike your first time out is a serious mistake.  You have to ramp up not just your body, but your experience.  You have to make sure your gear works.  Start with short 2-3 mile hikes and increase distance/remoteness as you gain experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adapted from:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3720/how-far-is-a-reasonable-distance-for-someone-to-hike-on-their-first-trip/3721#3721&quot;&gt;How far is a reasonable distance for someone to hike on their first trip?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see this related community wiki: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/854/first-time-camping-need-advice&quot;&gt;First time camping, need advice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T13:03:16.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2016-04-05T15:26:15.550" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what exactly you're talking about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Searching, not tracking, you will probably want the brightest thing you can get. Of course, there are still factors that go into this (are you on foot having to carry the weight, can you run it off a vehicle power supply, etc). That being said, I've been on a search at night in the Mt. Whitney region (off trail, very rough class 3/4 brush choked terrain) where my Fenix PD35 UE (1800 lumens) was adequate, but it was also nice that another teammate had a Fenix TK75 (4000 lumens), but that one is also much heavier and bulkier. The PD35 is also my favorite for bouldering past sunset - you can really see the details on the rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tracking, you might not want the brightest, or at least you want to be able to turn down the intensity. Again, it depends on more factors (night versus day tracking). I recently upgraded from a Fenix P1D (180 lumens) to a PD35 TAC (1000 lumens) for two reasons: use during daytime tracking, and it's much easier to click a button than twist the head when it's attached to the bottom of my trekking pole. The medium level (200 lumens) is still good for night time tracking, but on overcast days you want all the power you can get to really bring out the edges in tracks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5514" LastEditorUserId="5514" LastEditDate="2016-04-05T23:08:09.703" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T23:08:09.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11404" CreationDate="2016-04-05T15:53:42.373" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00MCMCBJM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;any&lt;/a&gt; of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rainx.com/product/glass-water-repellents-cleaners/rainx-anti-fog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;number&lt;/a&gt; of anti fog &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000GFZZOU&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;gels&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0048H2ICO&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;materials&lt;/a&gt; that are made for scuba gear, but also work great for binoculars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, we always just solved this problem by spitting on the lenses and wiping.  It's gross, but it worked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T15:53:42.373" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4580" CreationDate="2016-04-05T16:43:29.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For serious organised search and rescue there is an argument that you want as much light over as wide an area as you can possibly get as this maximises your field of vision and reduces the area of ground you need to cover on foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;there is also the consideration that a bright light is more likely to pick up a flash of reflective tape etc on a casualty's gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However there is a counter argument that unidirectional artificial light will never realistically give you the same visual acuity as daylight and at night a bright torch can produce tunnel vision where you only concentrate on the illuminated cone and can ignore more subtle clues from your peripheral vision or other senses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly if you are searching for a casualty who is using a small torch or chemical light to signal then a very bright light may actually impede your ability to spot them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly there are different situations, for example between a small group searching a hillside for a lost hiker vs a long line of people combing a wood for a lost child. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the consideration that for a serious search at night on open ground an aircraft with thermal imaging equipment will have the large area/long range aspect  covered far better than any search on foot so a foot search may be more concerned with short range vision in dense cover (woods, buildings etc) where light output is less important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T16:43:29.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11405" CreationDate="2016-04-05T18:23:07.600" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer is &quot;don't ask&quot;. It's not so much that it's &quot;impolite&quot;, but it's an imposition to them and potentially dangerous for you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belaying can take quite some time, so you're asking the person to give up a chunk of their recreation time to a total stranger. It's not like you're asking someone to help for 30 seconds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're putting your life in their hands, literally. That's a big decision. What if they're also a complete novice but feel embarrassed to admit it. I wouldn't let anyone belay me unless I was confident they knew what they were doing and trusted them to do it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't go to a two-person sport venue by yourself. What if you get to the cliff and no one else is there?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a climbing partner(s). Learn together. It can be rewarding and build a great relationship as you both improve. You'll have someone to share your climbing highs and lows with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9209" LastEditorUserId="9209" LastEditDate="2016-04-06T17:46:02.527" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T17:46:02.527" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11442" CreationDate="2016-04-05T20:07:16.213" Score="6" ViewCount="2196" Body="&lt;p&gt;Textbook advice for hiking footwear seems to be:  wear cushioned socks!!! And make sure your boots fit!!!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, it seems that wearing a cushioned sock ensures that a boot simply will not fit comfortably.  Ever. But many arguments I hear in favor of wearing thicker socks suggest they make the boot fit better, so now I am wondering how important sock weight really is, provided the boots fit in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have wide feet but they're &quot;shapely&quot; rather than boxy.  So my foot is wide where the toes start, but it tapers significantly towards the heel.  I also have a high instep and arch. I'm not convinced that my foot is particularly high volume, I think it just has funny proportions.  Usually when I find a boot that is not crushing my instep or forefoot, the rest of the boot feels very sloppy and too loose.  Heel slippage is consistently a problem.  I've tried various tying techniques to no avail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I throw cushioned socks into the mix, say smartwool midweight hikers, it seems to exacerbate these problems even more.  Thicker socks don't seem to solve the heel slippage problem at all, and while they make the overall fit more snug and a bit less sloppy side to side, very often they make a potentially comfy forefoot or instep area painfully, unworkably tight.  I currently wear thicker socks with boots that are the least painful I've found, but I can't say the fit is &quot;good&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SO. Searching for new boots, I found a pair of keens (Wander WP model) that seem to fit very well, with thin wool running socks (smartwool phd ultralights, to be exact).  Unfortunately they fit so well in combination, that's the ONLY sock weight that I'm ever going to be able to get into these boots comfortably. But there is extraordinarily little heel slippage, the instep is reassuringly snug without being tight, there's no side to side slop, yet my forefoot/toes are free and easy.  Note I did try the boots on at the end of the day, when my feet are at their worst.  They might be a bit more swollen in the heat, but I can't really simulate that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preferred hikes are in the baby Alps, but these are all well traveled and maintained trails with stable surfaces, albeit rocky in places.  The most challenging aspects are they can be steep, and one can be walking with significant cant/camber for long stretches, which I have found very difficult in lighter weight shoes as they just don't offer enough support on these tilted surfaces.  Otherwise, loose stone, rain, mud, cowpies and occasional snow are the worst of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is:  what pitfalls could I face out on the trail if my boots actually fit, with the tradeoff that I am limited to only wearing non-cushioned, relatively thin socks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9211" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T13:46:00.430" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T13:46:00.430" Title="Are cushioned socks necessary for hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11417" CreationDate="2016-04-05T20:24:38.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Advise such as this is aim at the less informed and suits the majority of people most of the time. You have a solution that works for you, don't feel compelled to change it because someone who you never met, who has never put your feet into your boots tells you its better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you boot are too small and wrong shape for you to wear thick socks, so thick socks means a new set of boots. If you are otherwise happy, its a waste of money buying new ones. Your next set of boots might (or might not be) be better with thick socks, so when fitting, try a different sizes with thin and thick socks. You will tend towards what you know works -thin socks, but be aware you may miss an opportunity to do better. (For this reason I do not the process of buying new boots as its expensive to go for something that does not work....) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T20:24:38.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11405" CreationDate="2016-04-05T22:36:33.527" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think even asking sometimes can be impolite. Some people just have a hard time saying 'no', even if they don't want you there. If there's a good chance they wouldn't want you in the group, don't put them in a difficult situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Probably Don't Ask:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A group of 2 climbers obviously on a climbing date&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An even-number group of climbers who look experienced and setup quickly. They don't need a third/odd person to slow them down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any group of climbers that are having a great time catching up, haven't seen each other in awhile, or sharing inside jokes. You'd be disrupting the social experience for them as they try to accommodate you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are inexperienced enough, such that you would need them to coach you through different tasks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are missing equipment that you would need to borrow from them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you sense a great skill imbalance (you are much less experienced than they are), you probably aren't welcome. If you are much more experienced, you might be welcome if they need a lot of help. But you could also be unwelcome if your presence makes them feel intimidated or feel rushed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you wouldn't feel safe on their anchors or being belayed by them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Okay To Ask (assuming situation doesn't fall into previous list):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An odd-number group of climbers that seem impatient about waiting around. They would probably benefit from your belaying presence.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A group of climbers that are around your same skill level (so you guys can climb the same routes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have a necessary piece of equipment that they are missing, so no one can climb unless you all do it together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T22:36:33.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11405" CreationDate="2016-04-05T23:03:13.677" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I climb (New Mexico, USA), I think it would be impolite to walk up to a stranger outside and ask them out of the blue to belay you. I have been awkward position of being asked to belay someone I don't know / don't want to, and it is certainly uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's certainly not impolite to go to a cliff looking to find new climbing partners or join a group of climbers. Approach them, start a friendly conversation, and explain that you're looking for climbing partners but having trouble finding them, or whatever the case is. You might say you enjoy the area and like to come out even when you don't have someone to go with. This gives them the opportunity to offer to belay you without putting them in the awkward position of having to refuse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you might offer to belay before requesting a belay. Find an odd-numbered group that seems to be about at your skill level and offer to belay whoever is waiting around. They may be very happy for that and then they'll belay you after that, and you may have made a new friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9213" LastActivityDate="2016-04-05T23:03:13.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11417" CreationDate="2016-04-06T02:33:44.273" Score="1" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try thick socks and 1 to 1.5 boot sizes larger.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  I used to take a 9 or 9.5 Now I take 11.  Feet keep growing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lookup custom boots.  For decades the White Boot Company in Spokane WA made custom logging/forestry boots.  They were expensive, about 2.5 times the price of reasonable store bought boots, but I've had professional foresters tell me that they last several times as long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've found that work boots generally are more generously sized than hiking boots.  My present fav are 10&quot; CAT steel toed boots.  I can put on two pair of work socks in them and my feet and happy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For actual hiking, I prefer runners.  I get EEEE shoes 1 full size over my everyday size, and wear a pair of polypropylene socks under a pair of medium weight work socks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;for winter use, I use a pair of nylon shell with felt liner boots &lt;strong&gt;3&lt;/strong&gt; sizes larger so that I can wear 3 pairs of work socks inside them.  This combo has kept my toes happy at -55.  (Toes were about the only happy part of me...)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T02:33:44.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11570" CreationDate="2016-04-06T06:39:47.323" Score="4" ViewCount="691" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm tying buzzer/chironomid flies to use when fishing under a slow retrieve in lakes. I thought that by chironomid we meant midges, and expected flies in sizes 18 to 26, but a lot of the patterns that I find out there in the internet use much bigger hooks. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.badger.rchomepage.com/chironomid_patterns.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; lists flies all the way up to size 12, for example. Moreover, some patterns like &lt;a href=&quot;http://intheriffle.com/fishing-videos/fly-tying/taks-crystal-chironomid/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tak's Crystal Chironomid&lt;/a&gt; (here tied in sizes 10 to 16) turn out to be very hard to tie in the midge sizes above 18. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there buzzers that get that big? What size should I tie my chironomids / buzzers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T18:08:44.150" LastActivityDate="2017-04-01T16:52:05.673" Title="Buzzer / chironomid hook size for still water fly fishing" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8353" CreationDate="2016-04-06T06:57:52.187" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use two short lengths of rope, each with loops tied at both end. Put a rope around the tree and pass one end through the loop (so you have a slip knot on the tree, one end of the rope with a loop will be free). Repeat on other tree. This is very adjustable to any size of tree that is sturdy enough to support you, and you can wrap it around more than once if you want it to be more taught. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To attach the loop of the hammock to the loop on the end of the rope, I use a S shaped metal hook on each end. The slip-knot rope tightens around the tree (even more so from your weight in the hammock) and the tension holds the S hook tight. It is very easy to take down whenever you need to (like if it's going to rain). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I leave the ropes up for the most part, but they would be easy to take down and move to a new tree. I've never had this system come lose and dump me, even with lots of roughhousing in the hammock that you might think would loosen the S hooks. Another thing I am planning to use this year is a metal part I purchased which I am not sure of the name of that fits inside the loop on the end of the hammock (it looks like this, but I just got mine at the hardware store, it wasn't labeled for hammocks: &lt;a href=&quot;https://hammockleisure.com/hammock-accessories/34-metal-loop-protectors-2-pieces.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://hammockleisure.com/hammock-accessories/34-metal-loop-protectors-2-pieces.html&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purpose is to prevent the S hook from rubbing through the hammock fibers over time (I know from past experience that hammock fibers can eventually wear this way if you swing in the hammock a lot). However, for short term use this wouldn't be a requirement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9215" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-04-06T07:47:12.070" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T07:47:12.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11417" CreationDate="2016-04-06T07:17:05.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important things are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do what works for you. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try boots with the type of socks you intend to wear them with. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sock weight can be used for fine tuning even once you've bought the boots but these two points are critical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may find that the &quot;better&quot; socks (with padded weight-bearing sections) are worse &lt;em&gt;for you&lt;/em&gt; than cheaper hiking socks with a uniform weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the distances I do these days it doesn't matter very much but on multi-day trips (assuming it wasn't too hot) I always chose to go for two pairs: one thin &quot;normal&quot; pair and one thinnish hiking pair with padded sections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good fit is by far the best way to avoid blisters, and ankle protection comes from the boot not the sock - again a good fit will optimise this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only note of caution I'll sound is don't overcommit if you make significant changes. Just like you wouldn't set off on a long day's hike in new boots, either carry the socks to go back to your old system at the first sign of discomfort, or break your feet in gradually. This is expecially true if switching to something that's more likely to rub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also find changing your laces/lacing pattern helps by allowing you to lace the boot tighter in some places than others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T07:17:05.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11404" CreationDate="2016-04-06T07:22:57.017" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to tuck mine inside my outer layer of clothing if it's cold but dry. This keeps the lenses warm so avoids condensation. It helps with camera battery life too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T07:22:57.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11427" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11429" CreationDate="2016-04-06T08:45:36.740" Score="6" ViewCount="442" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought a merino undershirt (first layer on the skin) made by icebreaker, and realized that it is somewhat oversized. I enjoy that it´s long enough to be tucked into the shorts, but it does not really stick to the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beeing quite expensive, I´ll probably use it in all seasons. Should I return it and replace it by a smaller one? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9185" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T12:22:01.700" Title="Oversized Merino undershirt?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11427" CreationDate="2016-04-06T11:27:29.980" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Finally, you will have to decide yourself if you want to keep it or not and it depends a bit on your preferences and on how much oversized the shirt is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I for myself prefer my base layer shirts to be skin tight since in colder weather I often wear two similar shirts on top of each other where every one qualifies as a base layer for warmer conditions. If they were sitting loosely, chances are high that you get some pleats on spots where you don't want ones, since they might cause chafing. Other people, especially such who think they have the one or other problem area or fat pad, might prefer their clothes sitting a bit more loosely to make those problem spots not point out too much. Again other people feel constricted by clothes sitting too tightly and prefer that even their base layer shirts to be some baggy style. Well, as I wrote in the beginning, it depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends also on the type of activity you plan to use it for. If you want it for example for running or stuff like that where you don't wear too much other clothes on top and typically no backpack, it's not too critical if the base layer is a bit crammed under the other layers. With a heavy backpack and some more layers of clothes this can be more of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are some rational thoughts. However, finally it boils to feeling. In my own experience, if some piece of gear does not feel quite right, i.e. it is &quot;OK-ish&quot; but a bit flawed in a way that I feel slightly uncomfortable about it, I tend to not use it if I have alternatives where I feel better. Such pieces have the tendency to diffuse deep down into the back of my wardrobe and get forgotten there over time – and this would be sad for a brand new shirt that cost some good money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore my final advice: if you feel not quite sure about it and have the possibility to exchange it for an equivalent but better fitting one at low or no additional costs, then get the better fitting one. You will be much more happy about it than about one where you think &quot;I should have exchanged it&quot; every time you wear it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T11:27:29.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11427" CreationDate="2016-04-06T12:22:01.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A base layer is one part of a layering system. A base layers job (and merino does an excellent job of this FYI) is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wick sweat away from your skin and transport it to the layer above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add a layer of insulation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the questions you need to ask yourself are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does this effectively move the sweat from my body?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does it help insulate me?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it doesn't fit well I'd say the first of these questions is lacking. Still working to a degree but because the fit isn't ideal there are likely areas of your body where the sweat could be wicked away faster. Base layers are tight to ensure they remain in contact with your skin at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is likely unaffected by the size issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why you need this wicking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When exercising you tend to sweat but you don't really want this sweat to condense on your skin (especially when you stop moving, etc) as it will cool you too fast. In a typical layering system a base layers job is to move this sweat away form your skin as fast as possible, to prevent it condensing on your skin. Thus keeping you warm and comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important that the other layers in your system are breathable to allow the wicked sweat to escape from your layering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T12:22:01.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11437" CreationDate="2016-04-06T13:27:09.200" Score="30" ViewCount="3563" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you find large trash items left by others in less accessible places, what should be done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The exact scenario:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We were hiking a ten mile trail on US Forestry Service land with river crossings and came upon an abandoned tent.  It was one of those larger four man, twenty pound tents and damaged beyond use.  We do carry bags that we use to ferry out other trash we find but there was no room in our packs for an extra tent.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edits for clarity:  Things that are very clearly trash &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; fairly large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T12:36:57.280" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T10:03:31.010" Title="What should I do about large trash left by others on USFS land?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-06T14:02:34.517" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what I do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always have extra carry-bags to keep the trash in.&#xA;Depending upon what my plan is, if I am coming around the same way back home, I usually pickup everything which shouldn't be out there and place the bag at location where it will not be easily found by people or by animals.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my way back home, when I know I don't have an extra bag to carry, I can pickup small non-biodegradable things like, very commonly: plastic wrappers, tetra-packs and similar stuff that I can carry without a trouble, and stuff it somewhere in the side of the haversack. So I can carry everything I brought with me, and that I collected as garbage during the trek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, I insist on suggesting other fellows to do the same if they can and care about environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this is specific to my place. In India, carrying liquor in any form during a trek/hike or in a National Park is a serious trouble if caught by authorities.&#xA;So, I would never want to be getting in trouble if I am carrying an empty Beer can or a vodka bottle some stupid fellow didn't bother to bring back and trash where it is supposed to be trashed. In such a case, when I notice that a particular route needs cleaning, I take pictures, reach out to people, friends and we together plan a clean-up activity with permission and support from villagers, That goes onto a different level altogether when it really matters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T10:03:31.010" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T10:03:31.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10835" CreationDate="2016-04-06T14:59:09.117" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the swans are forced to &lt;strong&gt;stay&lt;/strong&gt; next to shore (as opposed to casually being there), they flock together to avoid predation. In addition to flock safety by numbers, Swans are very tough, and very aggressive. Several swans are a lot more dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've ever been attacked by a swan, you will know exactly what I mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T14:59:09.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-04-06T14:59:36.370" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may not be the most efficient, but is something I have done with the gear I am always carrying - which to me is more important.  On any route where I will be abseiling (or may need to ascend) I always carry my Reverso, as well as a Shunt (or smaller / lighter equivalent device). I use the shunt while abseiling in place of a prusik.  I generally have a prusik as well, but never use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect this isn't recommended by manufacturers, but in a pinch I can turn my belay device into second mode, and connect my shunt above it.  I use the biner on the shunt as a hand ascender, and attach a sling as a foot loop.  Ensuring to tie back up knots off as I go, I can then ascend a rope with only that which I am usually carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as this if my second is having issues on a pitch, with my belay device in self locking mode I can connect my shunt to the climbers ropes, clip the dead end of the rope through the shunt biner, and have created a 3 way pulley and can haul a climber through a crux in seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is unclear and you are interested, I can attach diagrams later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T14:59:36.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2016-04-06T15:15:37.340" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am really surprised I haven't seen this answer yet, so I'll go ahead and toss this one in the mix. Cow lips are a very common and durable crab bait...especially if you do a lot of crabbing. If you keep them in brine, you can use them for a whole season and will continuously attract the crabs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially attractive to crabbers who use trot lines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T15:15:37.340" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-04-06T15:51:14.253" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't count ascenders as common climbing gear, so I'm answering for gear that almost every climber has available: An ATC Guide (or Reverso, or similar device with a guide mode) and some cord or webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You fix the ATC guide to your harness in guide mode, so that you can easily pull in the rope, but it blocks when you load it (i.e. sit in your harness hands-free). Then, you add a long loop of cord or webbing above the device with a friction knot such as a klemheist (probably preferred to a prusik since this knot is easier to slide up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You then repeat two steps until you reach your destination:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In one motion, you pull yourself up on the rope above the friction knot with one hand, push yourself up with your foot in the loop and pull the slack through the device with the other hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit in your harness (possible because the device auto-blocks) and slide the friction knot upwards. Repeat until you reach the top of the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important trick is to do the first step in one single motion. Otherwise, you'll waste quite a bit of energy trying to pull the rope through the device while standing still in the loop of cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the following image, I drew the setup and marked where to push/pull/slide in which step:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sruP5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sruP5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a situation where the rope is not fixed on top of the climb and two strands go down, you obviously have to feed both strands through the device and the prusik. Conversely, if the rope is fixed , you could also use a GriGri instead of the ATC Guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As usual, a prusik backup below the device is recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;An additional note from recent experience:&lt;/em&gt; Don't do this with thick(ish) ropes. While it works really well with newer single ropes (9.x mm)  or half ropes, older/thicker/&amp;quot;plushy&amp;quot; single single ropes make this technique really hard or impossible. With these ropes, you would have to actively push the rope into the device while holding the latter. But this makes it impossible to pull yourself up on the rope while simultaneously pulling the rope through the device with the other hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T12:13:02.467" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-06T16:53:41.293" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the item is small enough to move, but too large to easily carry out. Organize the junk so that it is stacked as inoffensively as practical, but remains easily accessible. Don't hide it or drop it into a ravine, you want to make it easier to remove not harder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contact the landowner or manager.  This might be a park ranger, corporation or private land owner.  Presumably, someone built and maintains the trail, after getting permission from the landowner or manager. This should put you in contact with the team who maintains the trail, you can inform them of the issue and schedule a time to work with them in the removal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, for objects that can be moved, but are too difficult to extract in a single event, move them closer to the entrance/exit. If you move it partway, and the next person moves it part way, it should find its way out fairly quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="9223" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T15:41:00.517" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T15:41:00.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-06T17:31:00.403" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it's unsuitable for removal by your group, contact the relevant authority for that land and let them know the type of litter and its location (pictures and GPS coordinates are helpful). For example, in cases of extreme littering, U.S. federal land management agencies will sometimes organize major cleanup efforts to pack out trash with mules or even a helicopter if there is enough litter in a remote area to justify it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T17:31:00.403" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11438" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11446" CreationDate="2016-04-06T17:45:01.667" Score="10" ViewCount="2319" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a previous question, I had asked for help in finding a GPS app with certain features. That led me to find Gaia GPS and it has been great, no complaints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I had a situation recently. I found a hike through an online guidebook and it was listed as 3.1 miles. I went out and did a track on it (with Gaia) and it came up as being close to 5 miles. I wrote to the author of the guidebook, thinking that he might want an update. He checked through his notes and also asked for my tracks from Gaia and showed me how Gaia can be inaccurate and my actual track was a really squiggly line adding all kinds of crazy distance. He said he also used Gaia and would get the same weird results. I dont know what he used to create the actual distances in the guide. He stood by his statement of the hike being about 3.1 miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I'm still uncomfortable with this conclusion. The hike just &quot;felt&quot; longer than 3.1 miles. Also, there's the factor of time. I'm not a fast hiker at all but the loop took me 3.5 hours to do. For a 5 miler, that puts me at 45 minutes/mile - totally reasonable - but a 3 miler would be 1 hour+ per mile - no one is &lt;strong&gt;that&lt;/strong&gt; slow! Time is the only &quot;fixed&quot; factor in this and that would indicate that its more than 3.1 miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is Gaia really that inaccurate? Or is there something else at work here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:02:56.297" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:02:56.297" Title="Is Gaia GPS inaccurate for distances?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11369" CreationDate="2016-04-06T18:13:03.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do spools of webbing still have splices?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes.&lt;/strong&gt; As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6437/3066&quot;&gt;Paul's answer&lt;/a&gt; pointed out, there was &lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13200106101/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a well-known accident&lt;/a&gt; caused by a climber purchasing webbing with a tape splice in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, multiple retailers have various warnings that spools may contain up to three sections (ie, two splices) per 300ft spool of 1in webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cmcrescue.com/equipment/tubular-webbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cmcrescue.com/equipment/tubular-webbing/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Note: Military standards allow for up to three sections per spool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.strapworks.com/Flat_Nylon_Webbing_p/fnw1.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.strapworks.com/Flat_Nylon_Webbing_p/fnw1.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For most webbing the maximum continuous length is 150ft, after which a new roll is started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;How weak is the splice?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's just two pieces of webbing taped together. The tape's stickiness is unknown, so it should be considered to have an effective breaking strength of &lt;strong&gt;0lbs (0kN)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &lt;a href=&quot;https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552e8f43e4b07f0b3920027b/t/566b4fd7841abafcc8ddb684/1449873367506/AnalysisHappyHour1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in actual tests&lt;/a&gt; (slide 13) by Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, tape splices break &lt;strong&gt;around 25lbs (0.11kN)&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Result 1&#xA;  : Adhesive failure, tape intact, webbing pulled out, 20-25lbs (0.08-0.11kN).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Result 2&#xA;  :  Tape tore (see photograph), adhesive held, 24-28lbs (0.10-0.12kN).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;How big is the section of weakness?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably only the &lt;strong&gt;tape-covered portion&lt;/strong&gt; of the splice is effected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;What do splices look like?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8Mwz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W8Mwz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;picture of spliced webbing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T06:30:24.340" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-04-06T20:03:17.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a reference handy but in conversations I've had in the past (several years ago) with people who compete/vie for speed records ascending ropes they exclusively use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;prusiks&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If memory serves they preferred the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadeadventures.net/images/climb_school/texas_prusik.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Texas Prusik&lt;/a&gt; system. Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=i6H0ESHr3n8C&amp;amp;pg=PA298&amp;amp;lpg=PA298&amp;amp;dq=prusik%20texas%20inch%20worm&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=GTSDwdtCxI&amp;amp;sig=bMDdCxv_RWTGuzBBHXU3N5gj21M&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjYzaLo5frLAhVOxmMKHeQqBfQQ6AEILTAD#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=prusik%20texas%20inch%20worm&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;another resource&lt;/a&gt; on the technique. The key benefits of using this system is it is efficient, light weight, and effectively fail-safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TtPf7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TtPf7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Setup image from second link&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-04-06T20:52:42.527" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T20:52:42.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-04-06T20:19:50.953" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now after I got some answers I'd like to post my own observations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most 'efficient' method I found so far with out using foot ascenders is using &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; conventional ascenders/(or prussiks/tibloc etc) with each a footloop. (And both obviously also connected to your harness for safety.) That way you can use your leggs to push yourself up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it still can be relatively tiring compare to using foot ascenders as you have balance your body such that you keep the feet directly under your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;So I think the crucial thing is keeping the rope close to your body.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Comparision to rope access techs/ arborists&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arborists who are using foot ascenders do this by having their friction device permanently on the rope. The special thing about their devices is that they can be used for ascending or decending on a tensioned rope, unlike the grigri/tubers/other belaying devices in climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here images of foot ascenders and a typical &quot;rope wrench system&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4MyDX.jpg&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://honeybros.com/Item/The_HAAS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/StAQ7.png&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frjonesandson.co.uk/products-page/stein/climbing-aids1/srt-rope-wrench-climbers-kit-isa-approved/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also observe this idea in rope access. Rope access technicians do have full body harnesses that quite often a built in chest ascender, that is that way kept close to the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vgE5l.jpg&quot; width=&quot;150&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.angloaccess.co.uk/rope-access.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T11:52:36.630" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T11:52:36.630" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11417" CreationDate="2016-04-06T23:54:37.857" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Cushioning&quot; can be better achieved with an insole designed for that specific purpose.  Since almost all hiking boots allow you to swap insoles, there is no reason to get socks for &quot;cushion&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cushioning also doesn't really help with blisters (though this is hotly debated as you can see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/767/how-to-harden-feet-to-avoid-blisters-on-long-hikes&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thicker socks will help with warmth but there are also other solutions for that, including buying the sturdier boots you already want, using gators, and/or using higher tech materials&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all that being said, just buy thin socks (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/881305/injinji-liner-crew-socks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I use these&lt;/a&gt;) and boots that fit well with those socks, and don't worry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-04-06T23:54:37.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11405" CreationDate="2016-04-07T06:43:38.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For all the reasons in the other answers, one probably should not ask to be belayed by another group of climbers.  There's just a lot of awkwardness involved, and a lot of strange risk in trusting someone with your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you do want to try to get belayed by others, don't be afraid to use a social approach.  Go up to groups and chat with them a bit, show your interest both in the climb and in them.  There's a reasonable chance they will &lt;em&gt;offer&lt;/em&gt; to let you join, if you play it right.  And if they don't, you still spent your time networking with the climbing community.  Who knows what you might learn!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8208" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T06:43:38.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11438" CreationDate="2016-04-07T07:02:24.940" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two main things that can go wrong with gps accuracy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first is the quality of the signal, which can be less than for a dedicated gps unit (less space for an antenna and other design compromises). Of course the question of how you carry it comes into play here (a low pocket isn't very good and this may be worse than with a dedicated unit because of the smaller size and antenna. Similarly the effect of being below cliffs/buildings or under (especially wet) trees is well known but may be worse in a phone. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once a signal is obtained, it has to be processed. This happens at the device/OS level (grouped because you have little influence here) and at the app level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The OS may give a reading before it's got a &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; fix. This can be interpreted as a point or several well off your real track which can easily add to your route. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In an attempt to save power the effect above may be increased (as the gps receiver gets turned off). You may have some control over this on a phone, most handheld gps units make this quite a clear option. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A degree of averaging to reduce error can be applied in any gps unit. This can reduce the rate of points but gives a smoother track. Again if this is done in the app you may be able to configure it. Insufficient averaging on a poor signal can look like a route that zigzags across the path while over-averaging cuts corners. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These last two points can explain some of the difference between apps. You can try running two apps at once - you'll get a idea of the difference that way. I used to get around 10% between &lt;em&gt;my tracks&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;cardiotrainer&lt;/em&gt; running simultaneously (off network) because cardiotrainer didn't work with cached maps. However if one app applies power saving and the other doesn't, the one which does will be overruled and its signal can improve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly in your case I suspect you're both wrong (sorry). Your GPS is probably overreading in the circumstances but you probably put in a little more distance and time walking a route the first time than someone who does it regularly. The chances are they underestimated it anyway, perhaps by an over-averaging gps, perhaps with a map (especially on a winding route). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T07:02:24.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-07T09:28:50.380" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is a more polluted area, try the method suggested by WedaPashi (cleanup activity with friends), or take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://letsdoitworld.org/&quot;&gt;Let's Do It&lt;/a&gt; - a worldwide trash-collecting/volunteering action; find your country and contact the local organization. This also puts the issue in an other light (and on the world map), and it might get bigger media attention too, spread the awareness etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T09:46:42.017" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T09:46:42.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11438" CreationDate="2016-04-07T11:57:30.850" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;GPS is simply not a good way to measure trail distance.  This is because the raw GPS fixes have a lot of noise on them.  If you take them literally, then you get a much longer distance than you actually moved.  If you low pass filter them too much, you cut off corners and get a shorter distance.  The usual algorithm is to apply some low pass filtering, but also not create a new point until it is some minimum distance from the previous point, after filtering.  That distance is often a few meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How you hold the GPS and what kind of vegetation cover is between you and the sky also matter a lot.  For best tracks, put the GPS unit or its antenna on your hat.  That way your body doesn't get in the way of the very weak signals from the satellites.  If you're really serious about this, get a GPS unit with optional antenna input.  Mount the antenna on the top of your hat, then run the wire to where the GPS unit is in your pocket or pack wherever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A leafy canopy is definitely worse than a nice open sky.  I try to do most of my trail mapping from fall to spring when the leaves are down.  That helps, but I can still see noticeable difference between the noise on a trail in the woods and walking along a road thru corn fields.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always take at least two tracks for mapping, one in each direction.  That gives me some idea of the error level.  In the woods, I can see differences of up to 50 feet (15 meters) sometimes.  In one case I walked along a small dirt road thru wide open fields, and I could tell which side of the road I walked on each direction.  The maximum error between the two tracks was more like 10 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use BackCountry Navigator for capturing GPS tracks with a Android tablet.  This works surprisingly well.  This app allows some tweaking of the GPS filtering.  I set it to the minimum distance for a new point that it allows.  The GPS distance are usually close enough for casual use, but certainly not as good as real physical measurements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After capturing GPS tracks with BackCountry Navigator, I import them into the OpenStreeMap editor.  There I eyeball-filter them and draw plausible tracks to put the trails on the map.  This is where having at least two tracks, one in each direction, helps a lot.  After this process, the track lengths as reported by OpenStreetMap are usually not too bad, typically around &amp;plusmn;10% from hard-measured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To really get good trail length measurements, use a measuring wheel.  I have a 19 inch wheel that I've added a holder for the GPS to.  That helps keep the GPS away from my body, resulting in better tracks than if it were in my pocket or pack.  The wheel is consistant to within less than a percent.  It's not unusual to have a difference of maybe 4 feet between out and back along 1000 foot trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is me demonstrating the measuring wheel and tablet capturing a GPS track:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w3IDX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w3IDX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wooden holder near the top of the handle is something I added.  My Android tablet slides into the holder, as can be seen in the picture.  This keeps it away from my body while measuring a track.  The data is substantially less noisy that way than with the same tablet in a pocket or in my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wheel has a mechanical counter on it marked in feet and inches.  When I get to a trail intersection, I record a waypoint in the BackCountryNavigator software that is taking the GPS track.  I use the value on the counter rounded to the nearest foot as the name of the waypoint.  That then allows calculating distances later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-04-09T15:46:25.813" LastActivityDate="2016-04-09T15:46:25.813" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-07T11:57:50.397" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is country specific - but yours may have some automated way of reporting this. My own little homeland made me proud when they rolled out a smartphone app for hikers that allows to report any kind of environmental damage (along with GPS data and possibly pictures) directly to the authorities. They are usually pretty quick to investigate such things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8410" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T11:57:50.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11380" CreationDate="2016-04-07T12:49:00.770" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For practical purposes, rarity is beyond difficult to answer.  Sure there may be a biological survey buried somewhere in some journal, but specific topics like that don't get much traction outside of small specialized communities of biologists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a heuristic, I have used a combination of google images and pricing.  For google images there are certainly many, many of these images.  Many of these are by amateurs.  This indicates that it is common enough for the average joe to stumble upon them with semi-regularity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly we can look at prices.  These appear to sell on crafting sites for under $3 each.  Sand dollars without barnacles sell for under $2 each.  This could either mean that they are not terribly rare, or that there is little demand for sand dollars with barnacles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on this, I would say that no, these are not rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, there is the definition of the world &quot;rare&quot; itself.  Failing any qualifiers, it's rather subjective -- further complicating the task of created an authoritative answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T13:19:39.333" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T13:19:39.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11449" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-07T13:09:34.980" Score="8" ViewCount="1777" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been &quot;swimming&quot; once in a while for years, while on vacation for example, and never had a problem.  Recently I've been learning the crawl (freestyle).  I've finally got myself up to 20 meters or so without running out of breath.  But now, after swimming the crawl for a while, I feel sick.  I come out of the water and lie down, and things spin (as if I've drunk too much), and I feel a little like throwing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty active.  I run and things like that.  Is the nausea a sign that I'm doing something wrong, or is it just part of getting acclimated to this stroke?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9206" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-04-07T15:12:07.117" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T21:12:12.620" Title="Feeling sick after doing the crawl" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11449" CreationDate="2016-04-07T13:34:36.120" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is most likely either a breathing problem, or a fatigue problem.  If your muscles aren't tired at all then it's probably breathing.  Given your description it sounds like you are hyperventilating.  If your muscles feel like jelly then it means that you're pushing too hard.  I've seen plenty of people puke (and have done so myself) after going harder than they were ready for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either of these is rather dangerous as breathing can make you pass out, and pushing too hard can make you cramp.  Both lead to drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T13:34:36.120" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11451" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-07T18:53:58.460" Score="7" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;I might be in the market for a new Benelli R1. But I can't seem to get a straight answer on where it is made. Obviously, I know that Benelli is a Beretta company and the Benelli address is listed in MD (not far from Accokeek). But is the Benelli R1 made in the US or is it made in Italy, or somewhere else? To be clear, I am &lt;strong&gt;specifically&lt;/strong&gt; interested in the R1 - I know that manufacturers sometimes make different arms in different parts of the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="3624" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T00:37:11.580" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T08:16:20.663" Title="Where is the Benelli R1 made?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11449" CreationDate="2016-04-07T21:12:12.620" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can't do more than 20 meters your stroke is really bad and/or your breathing technique is bad.  Bad swimming technique is incredibly exhausting, about the same a drowning.  As a beginner you will need to breath on every stroke in order to get enough air.  And as people have said here, you need to get all the CO2 out before the next breath, not easy to do at first.  Try swimming with fins until you get the hang of the stroke.  You won't struggle to stay afloat and the additional speed will make it easier to breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9229" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T21:12:12.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-07T22:31:54.150" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you cut it up, then many hikers could each take out a piece and eventually the job would be done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just leave it &lt;em&gt;better&lt;/em&gt; than you found it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9230" LastEditorUserId="3347" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T04:08:46.830" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T04:08:46.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-07T23:50:06.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contact USFS via their website and let them know the location and description of the item. They have a 'Contact Us' link in the About the Agency drop-down menu.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9232" LastActivityDate="2016-04-07T23:50:06.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11430" CreationDate="2016-04-08T00:56:14.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the answers that recommend notifying the managers of the land. In addition, if the area is served by a packer, I would notify the packer.  The packer might be able to take the trash out in a return trip when his mules were lightly loaded.  As James Jenkins said in his answer, organize the junk and put it in an easily accessible place.  Packers often do clean-ups, both because they love the area they are working in, and because a clean area is good for business.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T00:56:14.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11451" CreationDate="2016-04-08T08:09:10.833" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Benelli's plant is in Urbino (Italy). It's the only manufacturing site where the final products (so, of course also the R1) are assembled and the final QA takes place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/LvToPLAcnzJ2&quot;&gt;https://goo.gl/maps/LvToPLAcnzJ2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;So, you don't have to be afraid that it's manufactured in the US or something ;P&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T08:16:20.663" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T08:16:20.663" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6046" CreationDate="2016-04-08T12:11:03.740" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a lean-to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag - And other sleeping items for warmth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ground pad - The floor of the lean-to will chill you almost as quickly as the ground.  Also it protects your sleeping bag from dirt, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tarp - This is for hanging across the door if needed to block wind and/or precipitation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T12:11:03.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4647" CreationDate="2016-04-08T13:56:53.580" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Avoid foods that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are sticky or that leave a residue on fingers.  It's hard enough to&#xA;keep hygiene when backpacking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Require refrigeration.  Maybe if you know it will be cold enough the whole time... but why &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Require being cooked through prior to eating (raw meats, etc).  Cooking on long hikes is tricky enough and checking meat temp is difficult.  Also likely to overlap with #2.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are not easily divided.  We used to carry a small block of cheese.  Now we carry it cut into chunks.  Less handling means less risk of contamination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are shared communally.  That bag of trail mix everyone has put their hand in?  Stay away unless you like Noro/Ecoli/etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are low salt.  Unless you have a medical reason from a doctor to avoid salt, you need it when hiking.  Even in cold you are going to sweat out a lot of electrolytes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also avoid a food mix that is too off balance.  You don't want all protein, all carb, 0 fat, etc.  You need all three to survive, all the more so when hiking for multiple days with a pack.  Generally I go with a ratio of 1/3/1 - protein/carb/fat but that is just what works for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T14:21:55.710" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T14:21:55.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11459" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11462" CreationDate="2016-04-08T14:04:27.247" Score="13" ViewCount="1948" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every year on the AT (Appalachian trail) Norovirus sweeps through like wildfire and the problem only increases as trail density increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the best methods for minimizing risk of contracting Norovirus on the AT?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T19:25:40.130" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:11:14.110" Title="How do you avoid Norovirus on the AT?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11459" CreationDate="2016-04-08T14:17:26.263" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the civilized world you wash your hands regularly, and food handlers should so and additionally wear gloves so if they carry any pathogen, it's not transmitted to the food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't have that luxury during outdoorsman activities such as hiking, but we do have two tools we can use to limit exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry and use hand sanitizer. Use it before and after greeting someone, and before and after touching anything along the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not let anyone else handle your food. If you are camping or hiking in a group, and you have an assigned cook (whether permanent or a different cook each meal) that person should if able wash their hands thoroughly, if not they should use hand sanitizer and wear gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you touch ANYTHING other than food with the gloves, you discard them and put on a new pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the meal, everyone should thoroughly wash their own dishes before packing them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you don all your gear to begin hiking again, sanitize your hands so you don't wipe your eyes with contaminated hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T14:17:26.263" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10326" CreationDate="2016-04-08T14:30:26.517" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Until you are an amazingly skilled skater, just go with a 5. They are cheap, and to be honest, you won't be able to notice the difference. I've skated for years and I can't really tell when I'm on a board whether it's a 5 or a 7 or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Higher tolerance bearings will last longer, theoretically, and pick up less grit, but I treat bearings and wheels as consumables at a price point they just get replaced when too worn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T15:38:13.883" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T15:38:13.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11459" CreationDate="2016-04-08T15:04:52.777" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very difficult if not impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Norovirus is very, very contagious. It can be spread:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;close contact with someone with norovirus – they may breathe out    small particles containing the virus that you could inhale&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;touching contaminated surfaces or objects – the virus can survive    outside the body for several days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;eating contaminated food – this can happen if an infected person    doesn't wash their hands before handling food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Norovirus/Pages/Introduction.aspx#transmission&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your in very close proximity with people and there is an outbreak of norovirus you will likely get it. This is even more true outdoors as the main way to contain it is to separate infected people. Below is a list of the recommended practices for how to prevent catching it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Preventing norovirus&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's not always possible to avoid getting norovirus, but following the&#xA;  advice below can help stop the virus spreading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Stay off work or school until at least 48 hours after the symptoms    have passed. You should also avoid visiting anyone in hospital during &#xA;  this time.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water,    particularly after using the toilet and before preparing food. Don't rely on alcohol hand gels, as they do not kill the virus.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disinfect any surfaces or objects that could be contaminated. It's    best to use a bleach-based household cleaner.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wash any items of clothing or bedding that could have become    contaminated separately on a hot wash to ensure the virus is killed.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't share towels and flannels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flush away any infected poo or vomit in the toilet and clean the    surrounding area.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid eating raw, unwashed produce and only eat oysters from a    reliable source, as oysters can carry norovirus.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Norovirus/Pages/Introduction.aspx#prevention&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The items highlighted in &lt;em&gt;italics&lt;/em&gt; are likely impractical on the trail.... this doesn't leave you many choices... If one of your party contracts this virus. Expect to be visiting your local convenience a lot in the near future...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T15:19:09.080" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T15:19:09.080" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11459" CreationDate="2016-04-08T15:37:33.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acquire it 6 months or less before your trip on the AT.  There is some controversy but it seems you can probably count on &lt;a href=&quot;http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/8/13-0472_article&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;immunity from an exposure to last 6+ months&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the best places to acquirer Norovirus (that are easily accessible) are daycare centers and nursing homes.  Volunteering at one or more of these institutions, is win/win you get to help others, and you get exposure to the nasties before you hit the trail.   If you see a cruise ship on the news, you might be able to get to the dock for unloading and acquire it there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy working through the bout of Norovirus at home, before your trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T15:37:33.250" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9996" CreationDate="2016-04-08T17:29:58.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answering my own question, it seems to work. The trick is to use the lead/lead-free wire wraps to hold the bead in place. You can stick a few of the wraps inside the bead and turn the slot downwards. A drop of zap-a-gap on the shank, just behind the eye of the hook helps to hold it all in place.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PF1qu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PF1qu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T17:29:58.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-04-08T19:28:07.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Jumars&quot; are the quickest method to ascend a fixed rope. They are mechanical devices that lock and each attach to your harness and to leg straps of specified lengths so you can step on one then the other like a ladder and rest on your waist rather than your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing with these devices is referred to as &quot;Jugging&quot; and is commonly done by speed climbers. Hans Florine mentions these in his speed climbing book, and he holds the Nose speed record.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more detail please see here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://climbing.about.com/od/climbinggear/a/Ascenders-Essential-Climbing-Equipment.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://climbing.about.com/od/climbinggear/a/Ascenders-Essential-Climbing-Equipment.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7898" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T19:28:07.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11459" CreationDate="2016-04-08T20:13:14.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best strategy is to probably hike an alternate hike. Instead of the traditional NOBO GAME route with a start date at the end of March, you could go SOBO, or do a flip flop, or start early or late. By avoiding the crowds, you reduce your risks. You can also avoid shelters and hostels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good hygiene, plenty of rest, and a proper diet are also useful for fighting viruses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T20:13:14.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11467" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-08T21:13:26.977" Score="3" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;People traveling in the wilderness can acquire infectious diseases. These can be caused by organisms such bacteria, viruses, protozoans, or fungi. They can be transmitted through drinking contaminated water, or by transmission from one person to another. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does anyone know of any reliable, quantitative data comparing the probabilities of getting different infectious diseases while hiking in the wilderness?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quantitative doesn't mean it has to be high precision -- even order of magnitude numbers would help in sorting out what are the more important risks. It would be good to differentiate symptomatic infections from asymptomatic ones, and to avoid data that are confounded by a normal background rate of infection. (E.g., giardia has a 3-7% prevalence in the US, and is almost always asymptomatic.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related questions on diseases acquired in the wilderness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11100/why-are-people-so-worried-about-giardia&quot;&gt;Why are people so worried about Giardia?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11459/how-do-you-avoid-norovirus-on-the-at&quot;&gt;How do you avoid Norovirus on the AT?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:15:21.833" Title="Most common infectious diseases acquired in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6046" CreationDate="2016-04-08T21:37:57.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A hut like this should at least be dry and reasonably sheltered so you might get draughts but not direct driving winds. This means that you can afford to focus on warmth rather than more general shelter if you are confident that you can reach a hut every night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this sort of context down sleeping bags are attractive as they offer excellent warmth and comfort for low weight. Their downside is that performance drops off sharply when they get damp but if you pack it in a drybag or heavy duty plastic bag during the day and have a soft screen for any wind driven rain  you should be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are sleeping in even the most basic huts you can certainly do away with a tent and, if you want, put some of that saved weight and bulk into a warmer sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are worried about wind driven rain getting into the hut the best option is to baffle the door with something like a panel of parachute silk, eve with only 3 sides to your shelter you won't need a fully waterproof tarp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can use an open fire outside the hut then you have the option of either heating some rocks or sand and bringing them into the hut as central heating or putting the embers from your fire in a cooking pot to do the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly leaving a candle to burn overnight can take the edge off the cold if there aren't too many draughts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the absence of anything else placing your pack across the threshold of the door will cut out low level draughts a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is permissible to use open fires a slow burning fire with a reflector can be very effective in heating an open shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately comfortable sleep is a lot to do with personal preference and it is worth getting a sense of how warm you feel in a given sleeping bag before you go on  a long trek. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-08T22:51:40.833" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T22:51:40.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11438" CreationDate="2016-04-08T22:01:56.457" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have an article about this topic, since Gaia GPS users frequently ask - &lt;a href=&quot;https://help.gaiagps.com/hc/en-us/articles/216162057-Why-GPS-Track-Recording-Can-Be-Inaccurate&quot;&gt;why GPS recording can be inaccurate&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is, as others have said, GPS isn't perfectly accurate. If you compare a GPS measurement to a measurement from a measuring wheel, there will be a discrepancy in stat calculations, regardless of GPS chip or post-processing algorithms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, we have a project underway to improve the stat measurements in Gaia GPS. The algorithms for how Gaia GPS estimates stats vary from iOS to Android to web, and iOS are probably the best. We'll do a release in the next couple of months that makes the stats/code universal across platforms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can also imagine improved ways to estimate distance, ascent, and other stats, that we might poke at a little bit on top of the platform consolidation. This isn't really solved science either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9236" LastActivityDate="2016-04-08T22:01:56.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11470" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11472" CreationDate="2016-04-09T22:54:28.960" Score="8" ViewCount="475" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a new Hults Bruk's Kisa axe, the cheek isn't entirely smooth and has shallow indentations in it. The blade is nice and sharp, whole thing feels sturdy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where do these indentations in the cheek come from? Are they a sign of issues with quality, or is it normal to see imperfections in the cheek in hand forged axe heads?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/woMBi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/woMBi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture 1 of fissures and shallow indentations in axe head&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pKfXL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pKfXL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture 2 of fissures and shallow indentations in axe head&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T19:58:51.550" Title="What causes these shallow indentations in cheek of axe head?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11470" CreationDate="2016-04-10T16:42:28.813" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That just looks like forge scale. Those axes are hand forged and during the process oxides build up on the surface of the metal and if flakes of scale get picked up on the head of the hammer (probably a power hammer in this case) they can get driven into the surface of the steel making a shallow indent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get texture where the scale falls off in some places but not others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Axes are pretty overbuilt in terms of material thickness so shallow indents like this on the surface won't make any difference to its performance, strength or durability, especially considering that the stamping is a lot deeper than those pits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the steel in an axe head is there to make up weight and provide the correct  geometry, in fact in many traditional styles use a 3 layer laminated construction with the bulk of the head made up by wrought iron or mild steel to economise on tools steel which was, historically, very expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T19:58:51.550" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T19:58:51.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11470" CreationDate="2016-04-10T16:42:58.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like scaling to me, the way scaling is dealt with when forging depends a bit on the composition of the metal and the heat that is used (lots of heat=lots of scaling, you can eat away a lot of the material just in scaling if you work too hot). Normally after you acquire practice working scaling wont be a problem. These days &quot;hand made&quot; forging doesn't necessarily mean a guy hammering away on the piece over an anvil. Its usually open die forging: the guy moves the piece from one hydraulic hammer to the other, as each has a different shaped head and the metal can spread at the sides,  until the final shape is obtained. That's opposed to the close die forging where there is a die with the final product shape and the metal is formed into it by one single hammer and this one can be all automated. They both are forms of drop forging but the first one often falls into the &quot;hand forged&quot; just because there's a worker moving the piece to shape it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While scaling can be just a surface thing, so it wont matter much and can still be removed by you (and btw, some can be left on purpose as hand made sort of aesthetic reason), what would worry me is what is visible in your first picture, right at the back of the ground edge, forming a sort of C, it seems like the edge of a rather big chip (unless its just the picture that fools the eye). Can be that is somehow fused or a proper crack, its hard to say on the ground side because grinding moves the metal over a bit but it shows the depth of it.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Qp8s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Qp8s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the darker corner (up and left) on the edge would make me think that they started grinding there and it got too hot while doing the rest. Others might have different opinions on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-04-10T17:09:18.897" LastActivityDate="2016-04-10T17:09:18.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11474" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11475" CreationDate="2016-04-10T19:14:08.723" Score="4" ViewCount="1344" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was an invention that allowed you to boil water by putting a bag of chemicals in a bowl with some water and/or food. I don't remember its name and I would like to use it while hiking. (other hikers may know)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9241" LastActivityDate="2016-04-10T20:18:36.087" Title="What is the name of the water-boiling chemical bag?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11474" CreationDate="2016-04-10T20:18:36.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Such packets are included in MREs (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) and are referred to as &quot;flameless ration heaters&quot;.  The packets contain finely powdered magnesium metal, alloyed with a small amount of iron, and table salt.  Adding a small amount of water results in a salt-water electrolyte fluid that allows the magnesium and iron to rapidly react and generate heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mreinfo.com/mres/flameless-ration-heater/&quot;&gt;standard use&lt;/a&gt; is to place the food packet inside a bag along with the heater packet, then add a small amount of water.  The top of the bag is folded over, the bag is held level to allow the heater to soak up water, and finally the bag is placed back in the carton and left at a slight incline while the food warms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: Per the instructions, you should not drink the water or use it in food items.  Also, the reaction produces hydrogen gas, so be cautious of breathing the fumes or using it in a confined space or near open flames.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The packets weigh about 1.5oz each and are single-use, so it's usually more efficient to use traditional cooking methods (alcohol, isobutane canisters, etc.) for trips that will require more than one hot meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ref: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-04-10T20:18:36.087" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11478" CreationDate="2016-04-11T06:16:46.173" Score="28" ViewCount="9517" Body="&lt;p&gt;We plan to go on a three day hike (two nights). The &lt;em&gt;amount&lt;/em&gt; of food is no problem of course, but we want to avoid defecation while on the trail. Which kind of food comes into question?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit: It's really not a &quot;health issue&quot; or something to &quot;hold it back&quot; for about 50 hours. That's even quite normal (for me at least).&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:32:03.177" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T11:40:51.350" Title="Possible diet to avoid/delay defecation" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="20" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11477" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-11T08:13:50.677" Score="3" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a 1960's flask. Can it still be used safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's in very good condition with no rust or flaking at all. I've cleaned it well and it seems to be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9243" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T08:19:13.823" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T15:43:59.260" Title="Is a 1960's flask safe to use every day?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11476" CreationDate="2016-04-11T08:49:18.847" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;The term you're looking for is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;low-residue diet&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; or &quot;&lt;strong&gt;low-residue meal&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; (for some reason, the medical community tends to avoid the term &quot;poop&quot; in their technical terminology). Simply googling on those terms will get you a lot of good advice; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/low-residue-diet-foods&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WebMD&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_residue_diet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; are good starting points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A low residue diet is a diet designed to reduce the frequency and&#xA;  volume of stools while prolonging intestinal transit time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, you'll want to avoid dietary fibre. Minimize wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, and seeds. Tender meat, eggs, and dairy are good choices. Carbs should be of the heavily refined variety -- for example, white bread and white pasta. Pilots on long missions traditionally go for steak and eggs as their pre-flight meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that full digestion (from eating to defecation) can take &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/digestive-system/expert-answers/faq-20058340&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;well over 24 hours&lt;/a&gt;, so start your low-residue diet a day or two in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I would &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; strongly advise to have a plan B! No matter how carefully you plan your diet, you can't 100% guarantee sealed bowels for your entire hike, and in that case it's much better to be prepared. If you're in a no-poop zone, carry &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4196/8887&quot;&gt;a WAG bag, poop tube, or similar&lt;/a&gt;. A minimal poop pack-out kit doesn't weigh much, and everyone will feel happier knowing it's there even if nobody expects to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T06:19:18.673" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11479" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11482" CreationDate="2016-04-11T13:27:27.710" Score="15" ViewCount="5742" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at flotation devices (life jackets) they are rated Type I, Type II, etc.  What do these rankings mean and what type should I by?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T12:05:36.060" Title="What do life jacket ratings mean (Type I, Type II, etc)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11479" CreationDate="2016-04-11T13:35:09.763" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given you mention &quot;type x&quot; I guess you are referring yourself to the US classification. In other countries (like Canada or Europe) classification, requirement and approval is different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, for The USA, they vary in terms of application and buoyancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Type 1 has about 22lbs (~100N) of buoyancy and it should right you face up. Rescue wont be immediate and its effective in rough water (so if you know that you usually are in remote or rough areas you would get these rather than a type 2). Consider it offshore and its a lifejacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Type 2 would be about 15 and half lbs (~70N) of buoyancy, can turn you face up and think more about the short time rescue of inland water as its less buoyant than type 1. Its still a lifejacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Type 3 wont turn you face up in most cases, buoyancy is as the type 2 but they are more of a flotation aid than a lifejacket. Think whats used on kayaks and canoes: simple vest, no collar kind of PFD (In Canada they make a difference between a lifejacket and a PFD, as per buoyancy and turning ability differences. AFAIK the USA distinguish too in between a lifejacket proper and a flotation aid kind of vest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Type 4 is  for the throwable devices, Buoyancy here varies with the kind of device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Type 5 is for the devices that have special uses, like for example collars, or suits with flotation. Buoyancy varies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when buying depends on your activity and the regulations (and these are a PITA when you got a boat from the US to stay north of the border and you have to buy all new lifejackets of the same model and brand just because they need the approval label for the specific country stamped inside).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-12T12:04:09.700" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T12:04:09.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11479" CreationDate="2016-04-11T14:42:24.023" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is already &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11480&quot;&gt;an answer that gives the basics&lt;/a&gt;, and this official page from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg5214/pfdselection.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coast Guard&lt;/a&gt; adds several details, so here is my summary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The system of ratings for Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) was developed jointly by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and has been in use for many decades. USCG had announced they were going to revise this system a couple years ago based on feedback from the public that they found the old system not understandable or useful.  There has been no update about when a new system will be released.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Type I PFD is also called an off-shore life jacket.  It must provide at least 22 pounds (~100N) of buoyancy, must be able to keep an unconscious wearer face-up while in the water, must be reversible, and must be International Orange in color.  They are intended for use where rescue is likely to be delayed.  You will generally find them only on Naval and cruise ships, and are difficult to find in recreational boating stores.  When you do find them, they are a bit more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Type II PFD is also call a near-shore buoyant vest.  It must provide at least 15.5 pounds (~70N) of buoyancy, and must be able to keep a conscious wearer in a vertical or face-up position in the water.  These are intended when rescue is likely to be quick.  They typically have a &quot;horse collar&quot; like appearance.  They may be any color but are most often made in orange.  These are very common and inexpensive, however most wearers find them uncomfortable for long-term use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Type III PFD is called a flotation aid.  Like a Type II, it must also provide 15.5 pounds (~70N) of buoyancy; however, there is no restriction on how this must be positioned (in other words, it might not help the wearer remain face-up.)  It is intended for use when rescue is likely to be almost immediate.  These come in many designs and colors- often specially made for the activity such as paddling, fishing, water skiing, etc.  They are the most comfortable to wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Type IV PFD is a throwable device.  Ring buoys, seat cushions, and the collar buoys usually carried by sailboats are all Type IV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Type V PFD is a special-use device.  Typically, a Type V qualifies that same as one of the other wearable types but &lt;em&gt;only when worn.&lt;/em&gt;  The full-body suits worn by the crews of fishing vessels are a good example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the buoyancy and turning requirements for inflatable types are more strict than for traditional (kapok or foam) types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, your vessel must carry one wearable (Type I, II, III, or V) for each person on board, that is properly fitted for that person.  You must also carry one Type IV for the entire vessel.  Each item must be in good condition and &quot;readily accessible&quot; (meaning not in a locker/ bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T12:05:36.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11483" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11486" CreationDate="2016-04-11T15:02:05.523" Score="2" ViewCount="883" Body="&lt;p&gt;It appears that you can accidentally &amp;amp; unsafely have an unsafe occurrence with a 'Flameless ration heater'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted testing and released a report which in summary states &quot;... the release of hydrogen gas from these flameless ration heaters is of a sufficient quantity to pose a potential hazard on board a passenger aircraft.&quot;[3] This testing was performed on commercial grade 'heater meals' which consisted of an unenclosed flameless heat pouch, a bag of salt water, a styrofoam saucer/tray and a meal in a sealed, microwavable/boilable bowl. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flameless_ration_heater#Confined_space_hazard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming a quantity of dry fuel exist to build a fire, could I use a 'Flameless ration heater' to &lt;strong&gt;safely&lt;/strong&gt; ignite a fire for cooking and heating?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:23:49.290" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:23:49.290" Title="Can a 'Flameless ration heater' be used to safely start a fire?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11483" CreationDate="2016-04-11T15:13:11.447" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can. Well... sort of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can open the bag and use the magnesium powder (its a mixture really) inside as fire starter (think the classic old photography flash kind of effect but much much less violent and spectacular as that mixture would be a slow burning one) or you can light the hydrogen mixed with steam that comes off the bag when the reaction starts, although not all kinds are exactly the same in the kind of gas mixture given off. (dont heat up your MRE right beside the campfire ;) )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In itself the heat given off by reaction of one bag is not hot enough to light a fire and cant ignite the hydrogen produced (the hottest one will be a bit above 100C) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T16:16:19.270" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T16:16:19.270" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11483" CreationDate="2016-04-11T15:39:45.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hydrogen gas doesn't spontaneously ignite, but does burn in air over a wide range of concentrations. It's also ready to ignite with a spark. So although you may be able to start a fire with one, the source you quote is almost irrelevant on that fact. Hydrogen can also be given off when charging lead acid batteries - not a hot process indicating that has generation is independent of temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you did want to start a fire using one, the most effective way would probably be to use as designed, redirecting the gas towards your tinder, and try to ignite it with a spark. Any air caught in the heater could allow for a possible explosion so it may not be a good idea. Flashback may also be a worry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T15:39:45.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11483" CreationDate="2016-04-11T16:33:58.033" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is - no.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Safely&lt;/em&gt; igniting a fire relies on controlled combustion.  Improvising ignition out of a device like this is not going to create the sort of controlled combustion I associate with safety. If you can ignite the hydrogen byproduct you are more likely to get an explosive reaction that is both unsafe and unlikely to light your tinder (more likely to just blow it around).  Salvaging the magnesium is safer, but you are unlikely to be able to salvage enough to start a fire (it takes more than you'd think).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T16:33:58.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11487" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-11T16:44:11.843" Score="11" ViewCount="4449" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading the BBC news today and there was an ad for an inexpensive &quot;5 in 1 Outdoor Survival Gear Escape Paracord Bracelet Flint / Whistle / Compass / Scraper&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I clicked on the link and saw this photo, four compasses sitting side by side.  Two of them agree, the other two disagree &lt;strong&gt;significantly&lt;/strong&gt; about the direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How accurate/dependable should you expect an inexpensive compass to be? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ANIvv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ANIvv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T17:14:03.823" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T23:27:31.453" Title="How dependable is a cheap compass?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11489" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11521" CreationDate="2016-04-11T19:13:54.947" Score="9" ViewCount="574" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked this question in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?126815-Snowshoe-hare-movements-through-the-seasons&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the Hunting BC forum&lt;/a&gt; but so far it hasn't received much attention. I'm very interested in the answer(s) and will cross-post any useful information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the last three weeks in northern BC (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/@55.2044433,-126.2710319,7.25z&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;google.ca/maps/@55.2044433,-126.2710319,7.25z&lt;/a&gt;) the temperature has been rising and a lot of snow is melting. The hare hunting spot that was quite productive for me through January and February (at around 900 metres elevation) now appears to be biologically dead. I'm pretty sure I didn't kill all the hares, so where did they go?? The area has a mix of spruce, pine, and alder and I was finding all my hares in, under, or around the alder. The vegetation hasn't changed but the ground cover has - less snow, more bare ground, and a developing swamp thanks to the snow melt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm aware that the hares are currently changing colour, and it's possible that they're just much better camouflaged than before, but I'm also not seeing any fresh droppings or footprints in what remains of the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't found anything online that describes hare migration through the changing seasons, but in other threads I've seen people suggesting this is the case. I'm hoping someone can tell me...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do hares migrate to different kinds of habitat as the seasons change, and if so can anyone describe the kind of habitat they're most likely to inhabit in each of the seasons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T17:39:09.663" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T13:48:06.183" Title="Snowshoe hare migration patterns through changing seasons" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;&lt;migration&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2016-04-11T20:19:55.410" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For ease of access a knife with a pocket clip can be a convenient solution. This can either go in your pocket or clip through a convenient loop or strap on your pack or belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small, easy to lose items like knives, compasses and torches it is not a bad idea to fit them with a loop of cord or good quality split ring which can be clipped into a lanyard so it is at least still attached to you if you drop it. If you use a small karibiner you can unclip it to use if the lanyard is inconvenient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an argument that small items which are particularly vital in an emergency situation, of which a knife would be high on the list. Are best kept separate from your pack so you still have them if you get separated from it due to a fall or river crossing etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most larger civilian packs don't really allow for wearing separate belt pouches but alternative options include a bandolier type arrangement worn under your pack straps or finding a pouch which will hang below your waist belt or a wallet in a trouser pocket, this is at least more comfortable than having lots of loose items in your pockets and reduces the chance of losing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The neck wallets used for holding ID cards etc can also be useful for small items. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T20:19:55.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1124" CreationDate="2016-04-11T20:28:14.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are only carrying a knife for emergencies it is unlikely that you are going to need to sharpen it over the course of a few days, assuming of course that it is properly sharp to begin with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However as studiohack rightly points out a diamond file is so lightweight and a sharp knife is so important that it does make a certain amount of sense and you can buy unbranded ones very cheaply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going on any kind of expedition where a knife is an everyday tool then it is a different story and a basic sharpening kit is essential. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this of course assumes that you know how to sharpen  knife effectively.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T20:28:14.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11487" CreationDate="2016-04-11T20:41:48.310" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inexpensive compasses in general are fine. Even from a good brand the base models are not much more than the price of a few beers. Indeed in most cases these are all you ever need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However cheap button compasses are a bit suspect. To be fair it looks like that picture is 4 separate images photoshopped over a background so the fact that the indicated direction differs may not actually prove anything but my experience is that it is pretty rare that they are particularly accurate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is of course an argument that as long as they point in a consistent direction that's better than nothing but in this case there is a chance that they will just point in the direction of the 'scraper' if it gets magnetised. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are decent button compasses but they tend to be a fair bit more expensive than an equivalent baseplate compass. And even a good one will only ever give you a general indication of direction rather than an accurate bearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-11T22:33:09.370" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T22:33:09.370" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="100" CreationDate="2016-04-11T21:00:32.150" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In poor visibility you need to fall back on the basic navigational techniques of dead reckoning and any terrain features that you can still positively identify and follow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead reckoning involved keeping close track of the direction you are walking in and how far you walk. With practice this can be reasonably accurate, especially if you can augment is with hints from the terrain eg whether you are going uphill or downhill. However the problem is that even with great care it is easy for errors to accumulate and difficult terrain can make distance estimation very difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can compensate for this to some extent be being conservative in your navigation eg by taking a route which is easy to follow rather than the quickest or most direct. For example by following a ridge, stream  or treeline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly if you are aiming at a point on a linear feature for example a bridge over a river it is safer to 'aim off'. For example if you know there is a bridge due north of you crossing a river which runs east-west, then rather than taking a bearing due north aim off to the east by a good margin so that you know for sure that when you strike the river you need to head west to find the bridge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another key point is that if it looks like the weather might be closing in, that is the point to stop and make absolutely sure that you know where you are and double and triple check it. At this point make a decision about whether to continue on your planned route, stop, turn back, find an alternate route or head for an achievable place to wait out the bad weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know your exact location when visibility gets bad (which you should) then think carefully about the worst case scenario of getting badly lost falling off a cliff or stumbling into a bog is going to be worse than an unplanned night on a hill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T21:00:32.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11379" CreationDate="2016-04-11T21:04:22.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To complement the other answers, I'd recommend drills and climbing with handicaps.  If you're climbing a route that's normally very doable, try it with a few variations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;quiet feet (using footholds shouldn't make any sounds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hovering hands (before putting your hand on a hold, you have to keep it there without touching it for 3 seconds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;skipped moves (don't allow yourself to use one or more of the holds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;downclimbing boulder routes (finish a route, and then climb back down instead of jumping)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing these taught me better technique, strengthened my core, and broadened my skill set.  Skipping holds adds a lot of variety to a route, and forces you to not rely on the same technique all the time; for me it meant not relying on brute upper body strength, but developing better grip and legwork.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, be more observant of climbers around the gym.  You'll notice people of different skill levels and body types that you can learn from.  The biggest disclaimer is that not everyone has the same reach/strength/flexibility/explosiveness as you, but with those limitations in mind, your ability level will grow just from watching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, going from V2 to V3 was the hardest improvement to make in my 3 years of climbing.  It wasn't until this point that I started to identify my weaknesses and took active steps to fix them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2016-04-11T21:04:22.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11497" CreationDate="2016-04-12T06:33:20.257" Score="4" ViewCount="5686" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to clean my arrow-shafts with acetone before I applied glue. However, I was told that I should be more careful with it, because of its toxic vapors and stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which breathing mask is recommended? Should I wear glasses and/or gloves? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="7854" LastEditDate="2016-04-12T12:36:54.373" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T01:20:11.797" Title="Protection while working with acetone" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11496" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-12T06:35:27.367" Score="4" ViewCount="571" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the minimum arrow weight in grains per pound (GPP) of a Bear Archery Grizzly? It's a 2015 model with 35# if that matters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-06-04T15:42:31.743" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T20:01:55.377" Title="Minimum arrow weight of a Bear Archery Grizzly bow" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11495" CreationDate="2016-04-12T07:35:16.743" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acetone is often used in nail polish removers, if it's at this strength no you would not need a mask, just make sure you're in a well ventilated room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For high percentage acetone cleaners used to remove resins and such, you should think about wearing a ventilation mask, gloves, and also possibly goggles to protect your eyes - in addition to being in a well ventilated area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msdsonline.com/blog/msds-chemical-management/2013/06/18/acetone-the-hidden-hazard&quot;&gt;Acetone Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T07:35:16.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11495" CreationDate="2016-04-12T08:02:37.227" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it stings your eyes you're probably working too close, but glasses wouldn't help (goggles might). If you're using it a lot you may find it dries your skin so you could choose to wear gloves (or avoid getting so much on your hands). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From using acetone a lot in industry and academia I can tell you that people use it freely without ill effects all the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're soaking stuff in it, use a lid as it evaporates fast. It's also flammable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T08:02:37.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11499" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-12T10:29:10.320" Score="9" ViewCount="1789" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm putting together a kit list for hiking and the last time I went on a big hike I wore a breathable t-shirt, but I didn't find it that comfy and it also tended to start to smell quickly. Any tips on fabrics / garments for upper body when hiking long distance and multiple days? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2882" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-13T09:03:58.943" LastActivityDate="2016-04-13T19:58:28.997" Title="Synthetic breathable fabrics vs natural fabrics for 'live-in' hiking clothing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11476" CreationDate="2016-04-12T13:40:49.313" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MRE&lt;/a&gt;s. Not poop free, but if you start eating it a couple of days before the trek, you'll be amazed of how constipated you'll become.&#xA;Sometimes I think this is by design, as a soldier doing his business on a bush with his pants down is an almost comical definition of a highly vulnerable target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9265" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2020-08-17T11:40:51.350" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T11:40:51.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11499" CreationDate="2016-04-12T14:19:33.853" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on the climate, on your budget, and on how much you sweat on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros and cons of merino&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Merino is the king if you want to prevent odour and most people find that it's the most pleasant against the skin. It wicks quite well but holds around 25% more water than synthetics and takes around 50% longer to dry. Another issue is abrasion - if you wear a high wool content shirt directly under a pack you will quickly get holes in the shoulders and upper back. Finally, good wool garments can be expensive - keep an eye out for sales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of the advantages of wool, researchers have been working hard to offset the disadvantages through blending with synthetics and through structural innovations such as grid weaves. Two of the more interesting developments are &lt;a href=&quot;http://polartec.com/product/polartec-power-wool&quot;&gt;Power Wool&lt;/a&gt; from Maldon Mills, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://rab.equipment/us/shop/men/meco/show/all&quot;&gt;Rab's MeCo fabric&lt;/a&gt; from the oddly named 37.5. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros and cons of synthetics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetics are cheaper and more durable, and wick even better - though if you sweat up in the cold (always a bad idea), there's a danger of flash chilling as moisture is drawn off your skin. Warmth for weight it is lighter than wool, and it dries a bit more quickly. But even with modern treatments most people find that it builds up a formidable whiff after a few days of wear, and it can be difficult to wash out the smell in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the best of the synthetics is a good &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.subzerostore.co.uk/outdoor-clothing/baselayer-thermal-underwear-1/baselayer-thermal-underwear/&quot;&gt;polyamide&lt;/a&gt;, which out-performs the more common polyester and polypropylene on odour, durability and weight. If you don't sweat too much you should be able to wear it for quite a few days without becoming too antisocial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A little known alternative - and my personal favourite&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little known option is to wear a technical mesh such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.journeymantraveller.com/2013/03/on-brynje.html&quot;&gt;Brynje&lt;/a&gt; next to the skin capped by a lightweight wool or synthetic layer. This is essentially a sophisticated string vest and gives the best of all worlds. Although it's polypropylene it doesn't build up odour, at least in my experience, presumably because it's so well vented. In the cold, it traps a layer of warm air against your skin. When it's wet or sweaty it keeps the damp capping layer off your skin. And when it's hot, you can unzip the capping layer and dump heat instantly. It's widely used in Scandinavia, but has only recently been spreading to the UK and the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T14:19:33.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11495" CreationDate="2016-04-12T15:28:57.657" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acetone smells scary but is really one of the less dangerous chemicals used for dissolving stuff. Main nasty effects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drying skin almost instantly, not damaging it if cleaned quickly though&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temporary damage to CNS, can cause dizziness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I advise to do your job in &lt;strong&gt;outside or in ventilated area&lt;/strong&gt; and wear &lt;strong&gt;gloves&lt;/strong&gt; if you don't want to have &lt;strong&gt;dry skin&lt;/strong&gt;. If you feel dry skin just use hand cream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should work in place with &lt;strong&gt;good lighting&lt;/strong&gt; so that you don't watch your work closely - that would cause you to inhale more and generally increase exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't smoke, don't apply on hot surfaces or on-line electrical devices (eg. in effort to clean connectors).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel dizzy or tired cease your work and go for some fresh air. Seal the container properly before doing so though!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927062&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;material data sheet on Acetone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9005" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T15:28:57.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11487" CreationDate="2016-04-12T16:58:42.137" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's cheap and there's too cheap! Remember - this is a tool you may be trusting with your life...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any kind of serious navigation you need a baseplate compass rather than the button type in your image. This is so you can take reliable bearings from your map to the land and back-bearings from the land to your map. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the entry-level baseplate models of a decent brand like Silva or Suunto will be fine for most recreational purposes, and start at around $20. An own-brand baseplate compass from a trustworthy outdoor chain should be a little cheaper still. Compasses last for decades with proper care, so are a good investment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can spend 3-4 times more on the top models, and for this you get faster needle orientation, better damping, better handling of magnetic variation, and a compass that will work in both the northern and southern hemispheres (the base models will be balanced for the hemisphere where it is purchased). All these features are convenient, but in practice a top-end model won't be significantly more accurate than an inexpensive model used with care. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is, you can expect a cheap baseplate compass from any reputable brand to be 100% reliable provided you understand its limitations and use it with care. Please don't trust your life to other types of compass that aren't designed for serious wild-country navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T16:58:42.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11499" CreationDate="2016-04-12T18:30:20.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The odors probable came from your shirt clinging on to all the perspiration, and not having a chance to dry out.  If you can afford the weight of a spare (or sleeping) shirt, spring for it so your wet clothes can dry overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also helps to coordinate the rest of your clothing.  If you're sweating, make sure anything you're wearing over your baselayer will not impede the evaporation.  For windy ascents, a breathable windbreaker is ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend cotton only as the &lt;em&gt;outermost&lt;/em&gt; layer if you plan to be near a campfire.  Synthetic materials do melt, even from stray embers.  Even then, it wouldn't be of much use since you would only wear it at camp or while sleeping.  Spring for wool if it's in your price range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastEditorUserId="9260" LastEditDate="2016-04-13T19:58:28.997" LastActivityDate="2016-04-13T19:58:28.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9589" CreationDate="2016-04-12T19:48:44.623" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Texas has a coast-wide, year-round speckled trout fishery. But Speckled trout fishing is hot in May and June and from October through January.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2016-04-12T19:48:44.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10416" CreationDate="2016-04-13T10:32:53.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure there are many places where monkeys would be an issue, but I suppose the issue is the same with other animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe where climbing ethics are often related to environmental ethics and respect of wildlife and nature, it is usual to leave any nesting animal alone and avoid disturbing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the BMC advice for British climbers and birds: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/nesting-birds-advice-for-climbers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/nesting-birds-advice-for-climbers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such advice concerns usually birds (because there are little chances to find any other animals there) but the common wisdom would extend that behaviour to other (large) animals. And wasp nests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with any ethical issue the limit is not so white and black though, and on long sea cliff climbs it is not rare to encounter a fulmar vomiting on you. The brave climber will usually continue climbing despite the disturbance caused and the stench of the vomit, because his sandwich is up there beyond the bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5678" LastActivityDate="2016-04-13T10:32:53.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11508" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11509" CreationDate="2016-04-13T16:26:55.613" Score="42" ViewCount="6211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose you are out hiking, many hours from the trail head and someone has a severe allergic reaction (ie, anaphylactic shock or Anaphylaxis).  In this case, what is the best course of treatment to maximize their chance of survival until they can reach a hospital?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:23:52.093" Title="How to treat a severe allergic reaction while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11508" CreationDate="2016-04-13T16:47:19.367" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anybody who has severe allergies which could lead to anaphylaxic shock should carry appropriate medication with them. Typically, that would consist of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An antihistamine (e.g. benadryll)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An epinephrine auto-injector (aka &quot;Epi-Pen&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benadryll is available over the counter and you should have it in your first aid kit. Epi is by prescription only (at least in the US), so the individual who has allergies should carry their own. If you're leading a large group, you may be able to get a prescription and standing orders for trained staff to carry and administer epinephrine to group members. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people think that just injecting epi when somebody has an anaphylactic attack is the entire treatment. It's important to know that &lt;em&gt;epinephrine does not fix the underlying issue!&lt;/em&gt; It only helps to reduce swelling, helping to re-open the airway. You &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; fix the cause of the reaction! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as an exposure to a known allergen occures &amp;ndash; even if the person isn't having a visible reaction &amp;ndash; you need to &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt; have the person take an antihistamine. Antihistamines are drugs that suppress the histamine response, i.e. the body's overreaction to an antigen. This is what actually reduces the severity of the allergic reaction itself. Correct dosage depends on the person; consult the instructions on the antihistamines or talk to a doctor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important consideration with an allergic reaction is maintaining a clear airway. If you get the antihistamines into the patient immediately, it's possible that the reaction will be contained and the patient will not develop anaphylaxis. In the event that they do develop anaphylaxis, that's where you need to monitor their airway and administer epi if necessary. If the patient is having difficulty breathing, encourage them to take deep, calm breaths, and to pace their breathing off yours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the patient is unable to maintain a clear airway, be prepared to administer epinephrine. Epi-pen trainer kits are widely available through first aid training programs, so if you expect to be traveling in the wilderness with people who may require epi, you should do the training. The auto-injectors have clear instructions on them; typically you just remove the blue cap, place the orange end of the auto-injector on their thigh, push down hard on the epi-pen to trigger the injector, and hold it in place for at least 30 seconds. The epi is administered automatically at the correct dosage. Make sure to carefully follow the directions as individual auto-injectors may vary in how exactly they are administered. Epi wears off after 10-15 minutes, so most people will carry either a dual-injector or two injectors, so that a second dose can be administered if necessary. When injecting, always hold the injector gripped in your fist, do not place anything over either end of the pen to ensure you don't accidentally inject it into yourself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z8GHp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z8GHp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;epi pen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure to monitor the patient's vital signs throughout, and continue to monitor their condition after the initial treatment. Ensure that any secondary issues such as bleeding from a bite, etc. are taken care of as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've stabilized the patient, you need to start planning for an evacuation. Anaphylactic reactions are life threatening. If you are in a very remote area and have access to an emergency locator beacon or other outside communication, it's appropriate to request emergency assistance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always, the most important thing is to be adequately prepared. Understanding the allergies (and other medical concerns) your group members have, what treatment options they have, and how to use them is critical. You should know all of this information for every member of your party &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; heading into the wilderness, so that if an emergency situation does arise you're already prepared. Most people with medical concerns which could require your immediate intervention will be happy to show you how to handle it should they need your help. In this particular example, epi injectors differ in appearance and operation, and knowing exactly how to use the injectors belonging to members of your party will save you precious time should you actually need to use them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;Note: This information is based on my training as a wilderness first responder and the accompanying textbooks and practice. Reading medical advice on the internet is no substitute for proper medical training. This information is provided as-is, with no guarantee of correctness or effectiveness. You alone are responsible for ensuring an appropriate level of training for the activities you engage in, including administering first aid to yourself and others. Neither Stack Exchange, the author, nor any other party shall be responsible for any harm that comes to you or others by following any advice in this post.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2016-04-20T07:05:03.573" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T07:05:03.573" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11510" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11520" CreationDate="2016-04-13T20:18:49.403" Score="9" ViewCount="3385" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been crafting a longbow from ash and am about ready for tillering. By tillering I mean: stringing the bow loosely and drawing the bowstring back little by little to give the bow some flex, making finer adjustments and removing a little bit of wood on the bow to get a desirable flex of bow limbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that folks tend to use some kind of tillering device to do this. Here's an example of a tillering tree (or a tillering stick with a base):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1o20B.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1o20B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of a tillering tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a tillering tree (a simple wooden device to hold the bow and hook the drawn bowstring into notches at different levels of draw-back) and am wondering &lt;strong&gt;if &amp;amp; how I can tiller the bow without the use of a tillering tree, or nails and pullies in an actually tree?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for instructions and/or diagrams detailing how one can tiller a bow themselves, without much but the woodworking tools for crafting the bow. For example, making a survival bow in the wild, how would one tiller it? Maybe the answer is 'bushcraft a one-time-use tillering stick' - I'm wondering if there's an alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I probably will try to get a hold of a tillering tree or will make something as it's useful to have, but I'm wondering how this could be done without an additional wooden tool.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-14T03:28:52.820" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T14:45:55.650" Title="How can one tiller a bow without a tillering tree or similar wooden device?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;bows&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11510" CreationDate="2016-04-13T20:56:26.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;(First of all: I'm not used to the english words here.) I think &lt;em&gt;tillering trees&lt;/em&gt; refere to the contraptiosn you do mount on walls / something standing upright, using a string and a pulley. But you can easily do the same with just a tillering stick which is quite easy to fabricate, I think following images say more than I can say in words. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you need is a little piece of lumber, at preferably longer than your draw length, and cut some notches in it. That way you can put the bow into the top notch and continuously pull the string back step by step, lean in on a wall, take some steps back in order to observe the shape. This is important as you usually cannot observe it that well when you're still having it in you hands. The procedure is exactly the same as when using a tillering tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I'm aware this is &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; standard tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GnwmH.jpg&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2j0BU.jpg&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://crystalfacet.wordpress.com/category/stuff-i-made/page/9/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can obviously improve this tool according to your needs/capabilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-04-13T21:04:28.010" LastActivityDate="2016-04-13T21:04:28.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11512" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-13T21:57:07.450" Score="8" ViewCount="3864" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a little confused by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7576/5836&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; about whether or not cotton &quot;kills&quot;.  Cotton is clearly a poor choice for an insulating layer in wet environments since its insulating properties are heavily dependent on its moisture content. The point of a base layer, however, is not to provide insulation but rather to wick the moisture away from your body. What people seem to leave out is that the moisture potentially ends up in your insulating layer (depending on the dew point and other factors) and I think takes energy to evaporate this moisture. This then leads to the argument of replacing the base layer with a vapor barrier. As I generally have no desire to hike in a plastic bag, would a cotton &quot;base layer&quot; serve as a reasonable middle ground between a wicking base layer and a vapor barrier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T19:49:57.280" Title="Why not use a cotton base layer?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cotton&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-14T00:24:57.700" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The point of a vapor barrier is that it doesn't allow &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; moisture to escape.  A middle ground role would mean that it's not good at doing either job: cotton would soak through, and the moisture would spread to the rest of your layers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T00:24:57.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-14T06:48:07.990" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you carry the right layers and adjust them well, you can often get away with cotton with no discomfort let alone danger in benign conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But we shouldn't plan for only benign conditions and nothing going wrong. An example: If you're delayed and the weather changes for the worse, you could end up with cotton under waterproof layers just as the temperature drops. You're likely to get cold. If the delay means you're static outside you could get very cold. So what should have been an uncomfortable few hours caused by a fairly minor injury or a trail blockage gets dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You generally have to draw a line between a hike and a casual stroll where you would be very rare to have any difficulty in jeans, trainers and a cotton t-shirt + fleece/waterproof.  This line isn't always obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand your desire not to wear a plastic bag - I used to share some of your scepticism about synthetic base layers. But only the very worst feel like plastic against your skin - and arguably those aren't fit for use as they feel like that because they don't wick. There's always merino, but my base layers need too much washing for it to be a good option so I haven't tried it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T19:49:57.280" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T19:49:57.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11510" CreationDate="2016-04-14T08:48:15.803" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your question, I can refer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9944/8060&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9908/what-materials-from-nature-can-i-use-to-make-a-hunting-bow-in-the-wilderness?lq=1&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. Check out point 5: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;5. Tillering&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hang the bow up horizontally on a branch or piece of scrap wood by the&#xA;  handhold. Now pull down a few inches on the string while observing how&#xA;  the limbs bend. Now, not only do you want each limb to bend evenly&#xA;  throughout its length, you also want each limb to bend exactly the&#xA;  same amount (a mirror image of each other). Tillering is also one of&#xA;  the most important bow making instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Observe which limb bends less and carefully remove more materials from&#xA;  the belly of that limb until both limbs bend equally and evenly.&#xA;  Re-check frequently, pulling down on the string a little bit further&#xA;  each time until you are able to pull it to your draw length (Your draw&#xA;  length can be measured by imagining to hold a bow and pull the string&#xA;  back to your upper jaw to a shooting position – the distance between&#xA;  the handhold and your upper jaw is your draw length).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vqmYc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vqmYc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Checking the tiller&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tillering process is complete once both limbs flex equally and&#xA;  evenly and the draw weight (pounds of pressure required to pull the&#xA;  string back to a full draw) is at your desired poundage. A 25 to 35&#xA;  pound draw is sufficient enough for hunting small game while 40 to 60&#xA;  pounds is needed for larger animals like deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The poundage can be tested by placing a five foot 2x4 piece of lumber&#xA;  vertically on a bathroom scale, then balancing the bow horizontally by&#xA;  the handhold on top of the piece of lumber and pulling down on the&#xA;  string to a full draw length. The scale will register the draw weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fUrNW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fUrNW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Testing the draw weight&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this isn't an accurate method and should only be done if you are in a survival situation or want to simulate such. If you craft your bow at home for yourself, I really recommend to get the right gear to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T08:48:15.803" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11508" CreationDate="2016-04-14T09:11:35.623" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although an epi-pen-like device is the correct treatment for anaphylaxis, if the patient's airway is becoming obstructed, and adrenaline is not available (or has already been expended), several puffs (some sources say 8-10) from an asthma inhaler intended for treating an acute asthma attack, particularly one containing salbutamol (also known as albuterol), can provide some relief. Ideally, it should be delivered through a spacer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, more people carry asthma inhalers than epi-pens. However, this should only be done when the patient's airway is swelling and potentially becoming obstructed (they will have a wheeze or difficulty moving air). In this case, the consequences of doing nothing may include the patient dying. Giving a drug to a patient who doesn't usually take it is not a good idea, as there's a risk of adverse reaction from the drug itself. Salbutamol also increases the heart rate. You should still seek emergency help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Salbutamol is a bronchodilator, and will dilate the airways in the lungs, but will not help to relieve an upper airway obstruction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7974" LastEditorUserId="7974" LastEditDate="2016-04-18T08:17:58.310" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T08:17:58.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-14T13:49:26.053" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton doesn't wick away any moisture, it will soak and capture it.  Furthermore cotton is heavy (compared to other materials), doesn't insulate, becomes wet very quickly, and stays wet for a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-04-15T20:43:48.093" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T20:43:48.093" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-14T14:25:59.903" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a difference between just soaking up water and &quot;wicking&quot;.  Cotton is hydrophilic, which means it likes to attract and hang on to water molecules.  Unlike a good wicking fabric (which relies on capillary action), cotton will not transfer that water up through your layers to the air as quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some reasons why a wet base layer is bad:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cold - If you are wearing layers at all, you're probably not in &quot;benign&quot; conditions.  I typically don't wear more than one layer if it's not cold.  If it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; cold, then you don't want water directly on your skin.  It transfers heat very rapidly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chaffing - Wet cotton chaffes.  I don't typically want my base layer chaffing me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Microbes - Bacteria, fungi... microbes tend to like wet conditions.  Spending long periods of time wet in the wilderness is a good way to get a skin infection/condition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moisture ending up in your insulating layer is not necessarily a bad thing.  That layer is not touching your skin, and you have an air buffer between it and your skin.  That is definitely better than keeping that water against your body and since perspiration is not optional.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the risk of moisture ruining down insulation:  If you're in a region where the humidity is such that your sweat will not readily evaporate through your down layer... then you  probably shouldn't be using down.  Down is a less ideal choice for humid/wet environments.  But that's not a base layer problem and has nothing to do with why using cotton as a baselayer is generally a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point about the insulation layer getting wet.  If you are sweating so much that you're soaking your insulation layer faster than it can evaporate then you're not managing the layers properly.  One of the key points of layering is to manage temperature and avoid sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-04-14T20:43:11.973" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T20:43:11.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11510" CreationDate="2016-04-14T14:44:04.960" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back when I learned to build my own bows a guy in the club I belonged to used just a ledge and a baggie of lead weights (tire balancing stuff). I suppose you could reproduce it &quot;in the wild&quot; hanging from a branch and a bag of stones. However that guy was an expert that forgot more than I'll ever know about bow building and didn't need to fiddle much with it to get things right. If you can build a bow I'm sure you can build a tillering stick and if it was so bad that you can't afford building a tillering stick you probably wouldn't be in position to bother about tiller too much anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, at gathering you see some great builders that at first judge the bending against the ground, floor tillering, once happy with that they brace the bow and won't use anything else than pulling on the string and eyeballing down the limb. If you search for Richard Saffold that's an example of someone that does it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was hoping for a video showing the whole process but the only video I was able to find its this, it's not that clear and he is centering the string but it gives the idea &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duCCTZz-G78&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Richard Saffold: Tips for Tillering a Character Self Bow&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really doubt that primitive tribes used any tillering thingamajig or that the ones that still hunt with a bow for a living would find a tillering stick useful even to this day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I casually stumbled across this video on YouTube &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDSjYvFkbbg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Batak Tribesman Shows How To Make A Quick Survival Bow And Arrow&quot;&lt;/a&gt; and you can see how he just flexes the stave. The bow is very light but they would likely do the same with heavier bows (a bit more effort and attention probably).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T14:45:55.650" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T14:45:55.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11489" CreationDate="2016-04-14T16:04:14.830" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/range556/appl_behave/projects/hare_forage.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; page makes it seem like they do not migrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most other plant eaters, like deer and elk, vacate deep snowy areas and migrate to the lowlands, river bottoms, or south-facing slopes that are relatively snow free. Movement through snow, of course, is not nearly so energetically costly to hares as it is to large ungulates, and hares are able to remain in snow-covered woodlands year-round. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoe hares primarily eat new growth, woody fibers, and small diameter twigs and buds. Check the new foliage growth in your hunting area, if the tree and other plant life are all abundantly budding with new life and none have been nibbled on then your hare's have more than likely moved on to snowier pastures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They thrive in snow unlike other larger animals, is there an area near by your hunting grounds with slightly higher elevation, or hidden from the elements where the snow may stay deeper for longer perhaps? Such as the north face of the mountain etc. If there is it may be that they move to this location as the weather starts to warm up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a side note about the lack of droppings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hares also pass food quickly through their digestive system, void fibrous fecal pellets, and eat soft cecal pellets that never hit the ground as hares consume them straight from their anus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yum!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are also nocturnal, and with the snow melting away where they won't have as much cover they tend to become more cautious during day light hours. I assume your hunting them at dusk/dawn?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T16:04:14.830" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11487" CreationDate="2016-04-14T18:34:29.350" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider the question in the terms of basic physics. Essentially, the magnetic pull of the earth and needle's magnet creates a torque on the compass (wheel / disk / needle etc. ) causing it to rotate. In an ideal compass, the torque meets only dampening resistance - you don't want the needle to move too quickly or you will get an oscillation while hunting for steady state. Thus, the needle will move until it has zero torque placed on it (pointing north)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a non-ideal compass (a real one), there is some amount of force that counters the rotation of the compass (generally friction). The greater that force, the more potential error that a compass may have. This is true because the force of the earths magnetic pull produced the greatest torque when the needle is at 90 degrees to it. As the needle gets close to pointing north, the exerted torque from the earth reduces. Eventually, the torque exerted by the earth is not enough to overcome the frictional force (s) and the needle no longer moves (even though it is not pointing north). Thus, your reading will be in error. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheaper compasses will have a greater frictional component. Often, this component is a function of the angle at which it is held - making the inaccuracies harder to predict. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good compass will be manufactured with emphasis on reducing frictional forces and will often have a level to help you keep the compass flat while performing readings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't speak to what the price point difference is between good and bad. I can say, though, that a compass has a very specific purpose - to help keep you from getting lost. Do you really want your survival to depend on the lowest bidder?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8845" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T18:34:29.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11400" CreationDate="2016-04-14T19:46:11.657" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I support the accepted answer but wanted to add an potentially helpful anecdote. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I joined the Marine Corps as a young man some 20 years ago - the first thing they did was give us a uniform and shave our heads. For the first several weeks after that, I struggled to identify one individual from another - as hair is a key element that we as humans use in recognition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my brain appeared to adopt other ways of identifying individuals and I soon had little difficulty (though our heads were still shorn). I suspect crows just look for different things than feather color (beaks, size, sound, feet, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likely if we were put in a building full of crows and identification of them held significant importance to us, we would soon find ways to distinguish one from another as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8845" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T19:46:11.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11400" CreationDate="2016-04-14T20:40:35.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good answers/anecdotes thus far. I find this interesting and asked an avian specialist about this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to most of what has already been said (that crows have more time, necessity, and better vantage points to observe us), they emphasized a point Erik briefly touched on - their sneakiness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crows are not easy to differentiate, even if we do watch them. If you spend time watching pidgins like crows do watching us, you as a human will become very good at differentiating between the pidgins. Crows however will be more difficult to differentiate between, especially if they aren't trying to become known to you. This has to do with their physique, cleverness at being covert, and of course their flight makes it easier for them to both &lt;em&gt;watch&lt;/em&gt; as well as &lt;em&gt;evade&lt;/em&gt; us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T20:40:35.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11525" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11527" CreationDate="2016-04-14T21:21:34.253" Score="8" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I learned to ice-skate on a lake in Connecticut.  My father built a warming fire in an old barrel (oil barrel?) and a group of us would skate, warm up, skate, warm up and repeat, for hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does one build a warming fire in an old (oil??) barrel?  What are the caveats?  For how many fires will the barrel last before losing its integrity?  Do people still do this, or does every skateable lake have a warming hut with all the conveniences?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T02:04:16.337" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T02:04:16.337" Title="How do you build a warming fire in an old barrel?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11487" CreationDate="2016-04-14T23:27:31.453" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How accurate/dependable should you expect an inexpensive compass to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would expect it to be as accurate &amp;amp; dependable as any &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boyscoutstore.com/outdoor/compasses-and-instruments/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Boy Scout compass&lt;/a&gt; would be. They are pretty cheap, even at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scoutstuff.org/catalogsearch/result/?q=compass&amp;amp;as_fid=SJrYO7PbOCIWtb4VUAma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Scout Store&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; they are reliable for 6th - 12th graders to use. If a cheap compass isn't as dependable as one of the compasses which are safe for kids, then don't buy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9282" LastActivityDate="2016-04-14T23:27:31.453" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11525" CreationDate="2016-04-15T01:01:25.260" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good burning barrel needs holes near the bottom to supply air.  A pick axe or a geology hammer works well for putting in the holes.  Put most of them between 6 and 12 inches from the base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used for burning trash on a weekly basis a barrel lasts for years.  If you store it where it is dry, it will last longer, as the alternation of heat and wet causes it to rust faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave a few inches of ashes in it when emptying.  This protects the bottom from the heat of the coals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you store it out of the weather during the off season it will last longer.  failing that, store it upside down. This will slow down the bottom rusting out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2017-03-04T21:23:18.810" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T21:23:18.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11508" CreationDate="2016-04-15T01:14:54.640" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;An epi-pen buys you 15 to 30 minutes.  You can follow up with &lt;em&gt;benadryl&lt;/em&gt; for other antihistamine.  But the patient needs to understand what to do. For a back country activity the patient needs sufficient antihistamine to get over the incident or back to medical facility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a serious incident.  I have worked with people who were seriously allergic to bee stings.  When they got stung, it was, &quot;epi-pen NOW.  Drive me to a hospital. Watch me for relapse, here's the second epi-pen if I stop breathing&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other person I knew was so allergic she had a pen in each car, bathroom, and in her purse.  That way she had 2 to get her to the hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the backcountry the extreme problem is one where you have a previously unknown severe reaction.  With bee/wasp stings it is common for someone to have mild to moderate reactions the first few times, that become more severe with later sting events.  (Beekeepers wives are much more likely to be alergic than beekeepers or the general population.  Beekeepers get stung enough that their body has a very mild reaction.  Wives get stung consistently a few times a year, usually doing laundry.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had a boy who disturbed a ground wasp nest and got 17 stings before he could get out of the area. He was not allergic.  Someone who had a previous case that was at the 'chew 6 benadryl&quot; level could be pushed into the &quot;use an epipen&quot; level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  I've done 33 years of tripping an average of 5-6 weeks a year with groups of 20-40 people.  I've yet to get above the 'take two benadryl&quot; level.  I've known two people who had severe alergies, one to bees, one to peanut oil.  They knew their vulnerability and prepared accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-04-07T15:23:52.093" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:23:52.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11495" CreationDate="2016-04-15T01:20:11.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you are exposed constantly, you can probably deal with this by setting up reasonable ventilation.  Either work outside, and stand crossways to the wind, or set up an exhaust hood or fan to pull air from where you work to the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T01:20:11.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11489" CreationDate="2016-04-15T01:29:15.337" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think rabbits migrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Disease cycles&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabbit and hare populations can crash by as much as 90% just from disease.  If the disease crash is coupled with a high predator population, the remaining 10% is under severe hunting pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is an alternate prey species for the predator, pressure can keep the rabbit population at very low levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Locally I see a rabbit, possibly every 2-3 years, but we have a high coyote population, which is maintained by high field mouse and pocket gopher populations due to large areas of pasture and woodland.  In the city of Edmonton, some mornings every third lawn has a rabbit on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hares &amp;amp; rabbits are subject to tularemia.  Population rises for several years (5 to 9 typically) then crashes when the population gets high enough for the disease to be transmitted from rabbit to rabbit.  Population then drops until rabbits are far enough apart so that the infected rabbit fails to pass the disease on before dying.  This cycle has been documented through the harvest records of the Hudson Bay company's fur buying records.  (Rabbit fur was used mostly for lining other garments, but lynx predominantly preys on rabbit, and the rabbit population has a big impact on the lynx population.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be exacerbated by predators, along with other cycles.  E.g.  Recent fire pushes mouse population up (from lodgepole pine seed drop)  but food runs out for the mice.  The owls have been eating mice.  Now owls are putting on greater pressure on the hares.  Lot of hares go to the Easter Bunny in the Sky.  The ones that remain are more wary and stay out of open areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Habitat change.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do some research on rabbit habitat.  Try looking for articles that talk about improving rabbit habitat.  That may give you insight into what is going on.  E.g. a decrease in brush may make it easier for owls and hawks to feast on bunny.  Changes can be fairly small and have a big impact.  4 bounds to the nearest bush is a lot more dangerous than 3 bounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Predator change&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be obvious like more lynx, fox, coyote, or less obvious like weasel, mink, martin, snakes.  Predators have much smaller populations than prey.  Consider:  If a coyote needs 3 rabbits a week to make a good living, that 150 rabbits a year.  One breeding pair of coyotes puts a lot of pressure on the rabbit population.  Google rabbit predator models.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T13:48:06.183" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T13:48:06.183" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11467" CreationDate="2016-04-15T01:43:34.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Numbers:  You are asking the right questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From 30 years of running about 4 weeks of trips annually:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About 1 trip in 5 we would have an 'epidemic' of upset stomach and loose bowels.  Usually this was attributed to poor dish washing.  Adding a hotwater/bleach cycle to the daily routine eliminated the problem within 2-3 days.  &quot;Cup borrowing&quot; was a significant factor in the spread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that same period, we have had occasional problems with what we later suspected was giardia.  I figured this on any case of loose bowels that lasted longer than 5 days.  Incidence -- Once every few years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notes;  Group size was typically about 30 individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expeditions were evenly split between 3 week and 1 week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 week expeditions took place in the Canadian Rockies in Willmore Wilderness, or in Bigrock Clearwater Recreational Area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 week trips were by canoe in the Churchill River Watershed, but usually not on the main river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No water purification was used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T01:43:34.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2016-04-15T03:05:31.217" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chlorine Bleach is not good for wool. Found a solution that worked for me - phenolic disinfectant (Lysol) the web site also suggested Pine Oil (Pine Sol or Lysol Pine Action)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://laundry.about.com/od/handwashing/fl/How-to-Wash-Wool-Socks.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://laundry.about.com/od/handwashing/fl/How-to-Wash-Wool-Socks.htm&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Remember to also disinfect towels, shower shoes/sandals, etc as the athlete's foot fungus can spread via laundry basket contact (or gym bag / backpack)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://laundry.about.com/od/laundrybasics/a/athletesfootlaundry.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://laundry.about.com/od/laundrybasics/a/athletesfootlaundry.htm&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; also (same address as prior ending with) /disinfectlaundr.htm&#xA;Best of luck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9285" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T03:05:31.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11459" CreationDate="2016-04-15T14:11:14.110" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the following won't absolutely prevent it, it will help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set up a hand washing station in camp. The easiest one of these is a perforated ladle made from a pop bottle.  Size the holes so that it runs water for 10-15 seconds.  Provide a foam soap dispenser that has an anti-viral in it. Have a dedicated bucket.  The station is set up on a tree near the centre of camp.  In use the person come up to the station, puts a squirt of foam on his hands, rubs thoroughly, then dips a ladle of water, hooks the ladle to it's loop on the tree, and rinses his hands under it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleep alone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Camp at non-designated spots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go at a different time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No one touches your water bottle but you.  No one fills it for you, reaches it out of your pack for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ditto your eating utensils.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Everyone who handles group food does so with clean hands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  Why is the AT notorious for this, but the pacific crest trail is not?  The implication is that there is a local carrier present, so you are getting it through mouse droppings, or bird droppings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:11:14.110" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11438" CreationDate="2016-04-15T14:25:38.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;GPS's are subject to 'jitter' The GPS signal has several sources of error.  Jitter, under good conditions is fairly constant around 2 meters. There is a longer term error of about 7 meters that is more broad scale. WAIS will counteract this one.  It has a much slower time fluctuation so it will not affect your distance much&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The slower you go, the greater the error will be.  Consider:  If your GPS does a position every 2 seconds, and in that 2 seconds you move 2 meters (about 6 feet, or 3 ft/sec or 2 mph) and that error is 2 meters in an arbitrary direction, then in those 2 seconds it can record a change anywhere from 0 to 4 meters, with an average of 2.8 meters.  As you drive away at 30 m/sec the error is a much smaller component of your velocity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to get decent numbers off of your tracks, use a map application such as OziExplorer, and plot your route.  Now smooth out your breadcrumbs.  With reasonable care you can get accuracy to within a few percent.  You can practice this by doing routes with known distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:25:38.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10843" CreationDate="2016-04-15T14:48:21.073" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fully domesticated black bears are all over the East Coast national parks and forests these days. To fully defeat tree climbing black Bears, the best bear bag for me has been a dry sack, one that is truly waterproof. Instead of tying it between trees, I weigh it down with big rocks underwater in the nearest water source. I tie the bag at ground level to a waterside tree. On the Appalachian Trail I have had bears steal my well suspended food between trees two different times. in the last 25 years of hiking, I have used the dry bag under water method and it has never failed me. Bears cannot apparently steal what they cannot see or smell.  Use para cord and good stout knots on the bag loop and on the tree, so that a wayward stream current does not wash your bag away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9288" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T14:48:21.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="86" CreationDate="2016-04-15T15:02:51.957" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the East Coast at least, many bears are very savvy about finding ways to get your smelly yummy bear bag out of the trees.  Even if a persistent bear fails to secure your food from the trees,  his efforts to do so can cost you loss of sleep. I have personally had bears find shrewd ways of getting to my food bags twice on the  Appalachian Trail.  But that was a long time ago.  For more than 25 years I have used a completely different technique. I put all food and smelly items inside a truly waterproof dry sack, and weigh it down  with heavy rocks underwater in the nearest water source, secured by paracord to the nearest waterside tree. Apparently bears cannot learn about, much less get to, food bags that they cannot smell or see.  The bag must be a truly waterproof dry sack, the kind used for kayaking.  The paracord must be stout and securely tied, so you do not lose your food bag to a stream current.  Dry sacs are heavier than regular nylon bear bags, but much lighter than a bear proof canister, which is truly a bear-proof plaything designed once again to deprive us of much-needed hiker sleep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9288" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T15:02:51.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11477" CreationDate="2016-04-15T15:43:59.260" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My parents have routinely used old flasks for many years with no ill effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the flask is metal / glass both of which can be sterilised I expect it would be fine to use. I recommend you check the seal in the lid which keeps it watertight. If this is rubber it is likely to be degraded and could leak and, as rubber is porous, is a potential hiding place for bacteria etc. There is less risk if the seal is plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before the first use I would fully immerse the whole flask in a mild bleach solution to sterilise it. Use a baby bottle solution, not household bleach. Follow the instructions on the baby solution and you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After every use make sure you wash the flask and dry it out completely before using again the next day. Periodically sterilise it as above to keep any lingering bugs at bay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6499" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T15:43:59.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11539" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-15T19:34:53.903" Score="6" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;My dad and I are planning to hike the Lapland UKK from Aittajarvi to Kiilopää &#xA;in late-May (22-30).We are planning to drive from Helsinki to Saariselkä, about 12 hours drive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to drive the route from Helsinki at this time of the year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How about getting from Saariselkä to the parking lot in Aittajarvi, is it &#xA;accessible by a car in late-May?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you think the UKK hike is suitable at this time of the season (if not, does anyone have any other suggestion for a multi-day hike in the Finnish Lapland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, what about the weather and what should we expect? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any additional info will be greatly appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9289" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-04-16T13:51:33.030" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T07:18:10.457" Title="Lapland UKK hike in late-May" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-15T21:05:41.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another disadvantage of cotton is that, because it holds on to moisture and gets saturated quickly it can get very uncomfortable where it is between your skin and your pack, especially around the straps and back. Over a long day this can get quite unpleasant and over a few days you can get serious skin problems from salty sweat being rubbed against your skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T21:05:41.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3357" CreationDate="2016-04-15T21:20:47.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The advantage of layering is that it is versatile so for example if you have a base layer an insulating layer and a shell layer you can wear only the base layer in hot weather, base layer plus shell layer in mild but wet weather, base layer plus mid layer in cold dry weather or all of the above in extreme weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soft shell jackets and lofted down or synthetics add even more permutations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you know that the conditions will be consistent then more specialist garments may be more appropriate for example in the arctic in winter the temperatures are predictably chilly and you aren't going to get rained on so a full body down and pertex suit may be the most efficient option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly in equatorial jungle insulation is entirely redundant and the humidity may make waterproofing a moot point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a number of alternatives to the layering system for mixed conditions for example the Buffalo Clothing  System is based on one layer of pile and pertex worn without a base or shell and relies on a combination of wicking and ventilation to keep cool and dispenses with complete waterproofing in favour of good wet insulation performance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is the vapour barrier system which is based on caving gear and dispenses with breathability in favour of a completely waterproof shell which maintains a layer of damp but warm air around your body a bit like a wetsuit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice it comes down to what works for you and allowing some margin for unexpected conditions a big part of the equation is what is comfortable in the range of conditions that you are likely to encounter some people hate getting wet and others hate feeling sweaty. Personally I go for a system which breathes well in most conditions  and still insulates well when it's sopping wet this consists of : merino wool base layer (doubled up if it's very  cold, pertex/pile jacket, cotton gaberdine or gore-tex shell depending on season) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-15T21:38:53.190" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T21:38:53.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11542" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11543" CreationDate="2016-04-15T22:09:53.090" Score="8" ViewCount="1077" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scouts, messengers, pioneers exploring the frontiers of civilization - images of these sorts of characters paints an ancient archetype, one that I think could be useful to understand in present times. There may even be similar characters today. I'm hard pressed to find good information about these types of characters who scout out terrain, more specifically: &lt;strong&gt;what did their equipment and habits look like in their adventures?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify my search: I'm trying to figure out the general pattern of equipment and habits (ways of life) among the characters I listed above. Who are those characters specifically: could be American frontier explorers (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beckwourth&quot;&gt;James Beckwourth&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass&quot;&gt;Hugh Glass&lt;/a&gt;) or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_man&quot;&gt;mountain men&lt;/a&gt;, a per-Columbian Mesoamerican scout, perhaps even &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courier#Before_the_industrial_era&quot;&gt;a messenger&lt;/a&gt; of civilizations past (I am especially interested in those traveling in uncharted terrain, so the messenger archetype may be less relevant given the use of roads, maps, and potentially backup and support en route). Military examples which focus on more than just an individual or small group aren't relevant to this question in that they apply much less to civilian interactions with the Great Outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize this varies by place &amp;amp; time, and that this may be better fit for history. To clear that up: I am interested in overall patterns, so specifics of a certain time/place are helpful but specifics from multiple times/places and comparisons thereof are even better. Since I am trying to &lt;em&gt;extrapolate this to the present&lt;/em&gt;, to learn lessons about how I can prepare for and interact with the Great Outdoors today and in the future, I see this as relevant to TGO.SE. A comparison of past examples of gear/practices to modern equivalents is very welcome. There may be modern examples that could help answer my question too (e.g. if we look into the lives of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swagman&quot;&gt;relatively modern vagabonds&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacking_%28wilderness%29&quot;&gt;wilderness backpackers&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case this is too broad, as if a book could be written about it: answers of books or resources already written about this are much help! So far, a lot of looking yields only small tidbits of info here and there, so I could use a well-marked trail to clarity by someone who has tried to answer this before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To reiterate: &lt;strong&gt;what equipments and habits are common through times and places among scouts and people exploring frontiers, journeying through the Great Outdoors?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-04-15T22:17:37.763" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T19:24:15.743" Title="How did/do scouts venture into the wild?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11542" CreationDate="2016-04-15T22:09:53.090" Score="12" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Modern Day Adventurers&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/32/8443&quot;&gt;What are essential items in an emergency kit?&lt;/a&gt; identify patterns/guidelines about what equipment and skills to have in backcountry. This is relevant as it covers the most basic necessities for survival and rescue in case of emergency. However, I imagine those intentionally venturing and living out in the wild with purpose would prepare a little differently (time and place differences aside). The overall pattern of these basic survival necessities is phrased more or less by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Canterbury&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;survival instructor Dave Canterbury&lt;/a&gt; as &quot;5 Cs of Survivability: a cutting tool, a combustion device, cover, a container, and cordage.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example may be found in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_reconnaissance_patrol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long Range Recon Patrols&lt;/a&gt; which appears to be an extensive modern take/application related to this question. It is military in context but can apply to individuals or small groups, and civilian activities of scouting and recon of the Great Outdoors. For one look at it: &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.thesurvivaloutpost.com/long-range-patrol-kit/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This Survival Outpost web page&lt;/a&gt; outlines some military history &amp;amp; civilian context, mindset, and gear for this sort of thing, along with a story of testing it out. Boiled down: the context is gathering info on an environment while leaving minimal trace; the mindset is patient and focused tuning into the environment; and the equipment covers the categories of survival (fire, water, shelter, food), self-protection, observation kit, and health (sanitation kit, medical kit, and trauma kit), with more specific gear included in the lengthy article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, general backpacking and trekking information may offer a lot of insight to answer this question in a modern context. Will have to sum some of that up later but there is lots of info on it. The difference with this might be that treks and backpacking trips tend to be a brief, occasional adventure rather than a regular occupation such as it might have been for a pre-Columbian scout going out weeks at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;American Frontiersmen of 1600-1800s&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Wikipedia article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_man#Mode_of_living&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Men Mode of Living&lt;/a&gt; is very relevant, generalizing gear and lifestyle of early-mid 19th century explorers of the American frontier: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most trappers traveled and worked in companies. Their typical dress combined woolen hats and cloaks with serviceable Native American-style leather breeches and shirts. Mountain men often wore moccasins, but generally carried a pair of heavy boots for rough terrain. Each mountain man also carried basic gear,[7] which could include arms, powder horns and a shot pouch, knives and hatchets, canteens, cooking utensils, and supplies of tobacco, coffee, salt, and pemmican. Items (other than shooting supplies) that needed to be &quot;at hand&quot; were carried in a &quot;possibles&quot; bag. Horses or mules were essential, in sufficient number for a riding horse for each man and at least one for carrying supplies and furs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reference in that passage is to the following book which may be worth checking out, I'm not familiar with it yet: &lt;code&gt;Firearms, Traps, and Tools of the Mountain Men: A Guide to the Equipment of the Trappers and Fur Traders Who Opened the Old West. Skyhorse Publishing. 2010. p. 480. ISBN 1602399697.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar account is given of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coureur_des_bois#Life_as_a_Coureur_des_Bois&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;life as a &quot;woods runner&quot;&lt;/a&gt;: skilled rugged outdoorsmen, &quot;competent in a range of activities including fishing, snowshoeing and hunting.&quot; &lt;em&gt;&quot;To one Jesuit, venturing into the wilderness suited &quot;the sort of person who thought nothing of covering five to six hundred leagues by canoe, paddle in hand, or of living off corn and bear fat for twelve to eighteen months, or of sleeping in bark or branch cabins.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; In terms of gear, the article only mentions trade goods, not necessarily personal equipment. A potentially useful (also personally unfamiliar) reference from that article: &lt;code&gt;Volo, James M.; Volo, Dorothy Denneen (2002). Daily Life on the Old Colonial Frontier. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 176–177. Retrieved October 5, 2015.&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not finding a lot of info on pre-Columbian or primitive examples, which would be a good thing to compare to as a foundation for our modern context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T22:09:53.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11542" CreationDate="2016-04-15T22:28:37.730" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of self sufficiency in the wild there are two main approaches, the first is to take everything you need with you in as lightweight as form as possible the second is to avoid carrying consumables (food fuel etc) and focus more on the tools and knowledge required to obtain what you need from your environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly there is some crossover between these approaches and much will depend on the environment and your attitude to risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly there is a big difference between putting up with a degree of hardship to achieve a goal and long term comfortable and sustainable living. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we can perhaps break the problem into 3 stages&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Basic survival for a few days or weeks &#xA;2) Living and working in an area for a season &#xA;3) Long term settling in an area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you look more towards a long term view the emphasis shifts more towards tools and durable equipment rather than ultralight and minimal gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to lightweight hiking you might also find that you are relying much more one fire rather than tents or clothing for your basic shelter needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An excellent book on this subject is '&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Survival_Handbook&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The  Survival Handbook&lt;/a&gt;' by Ray Mears which is a really in depth manual covering the absolute fundamentals like tanning hides and bow making, not to be confused with his more commercial later works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of basic equipment there are a few key things : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;knife&lt;/strong&gt;: a small handy cutting tool which is easy to keep sharp and use for domestic tasks such as dressing game, making tools, wood carving etc etc &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;hatchet&lt;/strong&gt;: or billhook, kukri, machete depending on the local environment and personal preference, used for cutting and splitting timber for firewood, building shelters and jointing large game. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tinderbox&lt;/strong&gt;: permanent means of making sparks plus constantly replenished supply of dry tinder &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'possibles pouch'&lt;/strong&gt; sundry useful items such as needle and thread. fish hooks, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;medical supplies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;cooking equipment&lt;/strong&gt;: in the long term this is more likely to be a fairly  substantial cooking pot for boiling water and stewing than a stove, for solo trips this might just be a metal mug or billy can to use over an open fire. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also at the longer term end of the spectrum you may also be looking at carrying more specialist hand tools which you wouldn't remotely consider for hiking for more advanced woodworking, food preparation, digging etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the consideration that specialist skills and local knowledge allowing you to exploit local plants and animals for food, shelter etc can have a huge bearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing would emphasize durability rather than light weight and if you are using an open fire natural fibres are less melty. Similarly wool and cotton work better in the long term than synthetics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-09-19T19:24:15.743" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T19:24:15.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8038" CreationDate="2016-04-15T23:47:21.853" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to answer this question now, even though its been a long time since this question has been posted. Where I come from (Germany) we eat precooked Easter Eggs that have a (non-refridgerated!) shelf life of 6 weeks and more. These eggs are coated with a kind of finish that won't let bacteria etc through and keeps them fresh. &#xA;But you can preserve them by yourself as well and here is how:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;- Use eggs that are between 7-14 days old.&lt;/strong&gt; (Fresh does not mean better in this case. It has something to do with the air that is inside the egg and the pressure exchange during the cooking process.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;-Fully cook them, at least 10 minutes!&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Do not shock-cool them, but let them cool slowly. Otherwise you might cause damage in the egg sack, which in turn causes the egg to spoil quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without any cracks, they should last you for about 3 weeks now. Eggs with a smooth surface last longer than those with a coarse shell. Rubbing the cool eggs with a bacon rind adds another protective layer and keeps in the moisture longer. (Dry eggs can still be eaten, though they are not as delicious!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is how your great-grandparents used to eat them, probably. Please don't be discouraged to bring eggs on your hike, as they are an excellent source of protein and oh, so delicious! :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those of you who can read german and would like an official study and assurance of safety, here is a link to a publication of the food safety board of Switzerland: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bag.admin.ch/dokumentation/publikationen/01435/01800/index.html?lang=de&amp;amp;download=NHzLpZig7t,lnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCEdX1_fWym162dpYbUzd,Gpd6emK2Oz9aGodetmqaN19XI2IdvoaCUZ,s-&quot;&gt;http://www.bag.admin.ch/dokumentation/publikationen/01435/01800/index.html?lang=de&amp;amp;download=NHzLpZig7t,lnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCEdX1_fWym162dpYbUzd,Gpd6emK2Oz9aGodetmqaN19XI2IdvoaCUZ,s-&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9291" LastActivityDate="2016-04-15T23:47:21.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11562" CreationDate="2016-04-16T22:06:08.383" Score="8" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if whippet could be used as a trekking pole? Question arises from hiking on steep hills (no snow, dry grass), where any additional grip would be really helpful. I've read that most people offer to use ice axes in this kind of situation, but I was thinking, if I already use trekking poles, wouldn't I be able to accomplish two things (stability while walking and self-arrest/assist) if I'd substitute trekking poles for a whippet? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K5x8Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K5x8Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9294" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:33:20.423" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:33:20.423" Title="Whippet as trekking pole?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11698" CreationDate="2016-04-17T17:35:06.477" Score="9" ViewCount="3541" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Michael Strogoff&lt;/em&gt; by Jules Verne (1876) describes how Siberian hunters used to hunt bears with nothing but a knife. This was ideally done with a single lethal blow, to damage the fur as little as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[Michael Strogoff] was between the bear and the girl. His arm made one movement upwards, and the enormous beast, ripped up by that terrible knife, fell to the ground as a lifeless mass. He had executed in splendid style the famous blow of the Siberian hunters, who endeavor not to damage the precious fur of the bear, which fetches a high price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/2/From-Surviving-the-Streets-of-Russia-to-MMA-The-Story-of-Aleksander-Emelianenko-Part-2-13709&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A modern source from 2008&lt;/a&gt; describes that the bear can be first trapped with a wooden pole, and stabbed afterwards. That could indicate that the Verne passage is an over-simplification of the actual technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On whether people really hunt bears with knives:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Emelianenko: Yes, they do. A few years ago there was an unfortunate incident. One sportsman, a world champion in wrestling ... what was he doing? Yes, he was putting a fork under the bear’s neck. [The practice of hunting bears with a knife involves, once the bear is in front of you, placing a long stick with a letter U-shaped end under the bear’s muzzle as it rears up to fight. Once the stick is in place, the bear isn’t able to bring its body down and the hunter stabs it a number of times, ideally killing it instantly.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;And then the bear couldn’t attack him, and he was stabbing it under the ribs in the heart. And as he was stabbing it, that bear swung with its paw. It was dead already -- the paw was its last gasp with all its strength and basically took half of the wrestler’s head off. And of course the other hunters opened fire on the bear, but it was too late. He went to try his luck with a bear, and it didn’t come off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For me everything is still fine. I’m OK. I’ve done it and it was OK. About half a year ago, it was in Russia, in Siberia. Everything was fine. I put the fork underneath him and stabbed him in the heart. And that was it. The other hunters dismembered, prepared the bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How exactly are bears hunted with knives? I am specifically looking for the technique used by Siberian hunters in the past, but other examples could also be applicable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do these techniques still have practical usage nowadays? I would assume that bullets damage the fur more than a single knife wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user9296" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T00:47:20.257" Title="Hunting bears with a knife?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9329" CreationDate="2016-04-17T18:26:35.817" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my answer to your question, I am new here but I really enjoy this type of thing. In 2011, we had a very bad tornado come through our property. After that I have heard 4-5 new bird calls, which I have never before around here (Tennessee), and 2 at night. If you think back to when you first heard this bird, had there been any bad storms where you live? I hope this helps, I've been an outdoorsman all my life and know how frustrating it can be to know how things are usually, and all of a sudden something new comes along and no-one else has noticed.                      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9295" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-04-17T20:54:53.450" LastActivityDate="2016-04-17T20:54:53.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11550" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14772" CreationDate="2016-04-18T00:20:48.250" Score="13" ViewCount="512" Body="&lt;p&gt;Or may be it is an ascending device...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two movable part, both on one axis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6PvAUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6PvAUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;opened&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FJrnjm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FJrnjm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;closed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried searching about various descending devices, but I find mostly descriptions of Petzl things. This may be some old thing from USSR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9298" LastEditorUserId="9298" LastEditDate="2016-04-18T00:38:37.507" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T14:47:53.247" Title="What is this belay/descender device called and how is it used?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10667" CreationDate="2016-04-18T00:53:46.583" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;That brings back memories - the Troll Whillans was the first modern harness on the UK market and I bought one when they came out around 1970. I think I still have it in the shed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before that, we improvised a harness by wrapping tape around our waist and thighs. As befits the hippy '60s, this was called a Swami Belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Whillans was tied on by passing the rope through two upper loops, tying it off with a bowline, and passing the active end of the rope through a crab clipped into the loop on the crotch strap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJeBq.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJeBq.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: if anyone is rash enough to actually use this harness, please note that in the illustration the knot is on the wrong side of the crab - it should be on the live side, not the body side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note how the weight bearing crotch strap passes rather close to a delicate area of the male anatomy. This was in the era before sports climbing where leaders simply didn't fall, so I never tried it out in anger. But stories of dire consequences soon circulated and we quickly moved on to other designs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out, quite apart from the terrible design webbing of this age will be lethally weakened, so for goodness sake don't use the thing. It quite literally &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smhc.co.uk/objects_item.asp?item_id=32897&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;belongs in a museum&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-03T13:59:36.747" LastActivityDate="2017-07-03T13:59:36.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2016-04-18T07:42:34.830" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 2 types of dog aggression you are concerned about here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Territorial agression:&#xA;Most common situation, you are coming through a place they consider their turf. You ignored the &quot;obvious&quot; piss smell and are trespassing. They are not attacking you so much as defending and they are somewhat afraid but there is strength in numbers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not run, that makes you a prey and they will come after you. The easiest way to deal with it is to back off slowly and they will let you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, sometimes going around isn't an option. An advice I was given by a good dog trainer was to ignore them and just keep walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been in that exact situation with 1-2 dogs many times and on 3 occasions with semi-wild dogs packs. With a few dogs, I have tried to just keep walking and it seemed to work reasonably except a few times where my nerves go the better of me and I started charging on them, causing them to back off a bit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the dog packs (10-30 dogs), I didn't want to end up having to start fighting with several dogs already close, so I opted for a more aggressive approach. Can't say that my approach is the right one but it worked for me and I didn't get bitten - I was pretty scared though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I kept walking forward giving them as much space as possible. They came snarling and started surrounding me. I quickly found who the pack's alpha was. I made myself as threatening as possible, raised my arms and marched on the alpha as if I was the one attacking. The alpha backed off and started circling, giving himself some space and all the other dogs held off to see how it was going to play out. I held my spot a few seconds and walked away. Of course the alpha was circling back and coming closer along with the rest, so I turned around and threatened the alpha again moving towards him a couple meters. He held his ground a bit longer then ran in a circle and I resumed my walk, slowly but surely getting through the area. Each confrontation getting a bit harder, but after several such confrontations, I ended up through on the other edge of their turf and going away, which is what they wanted in the first place: no intruder. Every one of my movement was slow as I didn't want to actually start a fight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main point here to keep in mind is that there is a very clear territory they are protecting and your goal is to get out of it without triggering predatory response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases, &lt;strong&gt;do not&lt;/strong&gt; run away, and if you chose to walk down a dog, do NOT corner him. You want him to be able to create distance, or he will end up having to fight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a stressful situation and it helps to remember that you are 2-3 times as big as they are. Sure, they have teeth and are a lot more athletic than most humans, but &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; don't know how weak you really are and they are scared, so you can effectively threaten them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Predatory aggression:&#xA;They are hunting for a meal and you look like one. That's very unlikely unless you are running and show you are afraid. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never been in that situation and I think you are up *** creek if a pack of wild dogs decides you look tasty. That said, I think your best course of action is to identify the alpha and attack. Don't behave like a prey and they might turn tail if they feel they are hunted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously having weapons will help (spray, sticks, etc.) because you are in a fight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2927" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T07:42:34.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11550" CreationDate="2016-04-18T09:50:47.643" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks very much like a homemade Grigri replication (or a predecessor). I assume from your description that the moving parts both rotate around the visible upper axis (red circle): One is the cover and the upper the block with the hole on the left. The position of the block in the lower part is assumed to be fix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You insert the rope as in a Grigri, so the rope going to the climber is in the middle and the rope to the belayer's hand on the outside (here: left). If the climber falls, the element in the middle is turned counterclockwise, so the gap on the belayer's side (red circle) narrows and squeezes the rope. Thus it brakes the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I do not advise to use this device. The same is true for any device of unknown origin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W0fGil.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W0fGil.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to what its called: No idea, but as already stated: It is very similar to a Grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-04-18T13:58:13.213" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T13:58:13.213" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11550" CreationDate="2016-04-18T11:33:25.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the others have said, this appears to be a &lt;strong&gt;homemade assisted-braking belay device or homemade descender&lt;/strong&gt;, similar to a GriGri. The moving lobe inside is meant to grab the rope under upward pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More importantly,&lt;/strong&gt; does the item have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/gear-guide-tips/making-sense-of-the-uiaa-ce-and-3-sigma-ratings?A=WebApp&amp;amp;CCID=14153&amp;amp;Page=9&amp;amp;Items=10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UIAA or EN or CE markings&lt;/a&gt;, or any markings at all? I'm guessing not since it appears homemade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Regardless of whether you understand how equipment is tested and what the litany of hodge-podge of hangtag numbers mean, you know that if that gear bears the UIAA seal, it conforms to the most stringent international standards available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always look for certifications on climbing equipment. Usually the problem is identifying fake markings, but this one is easy, there are none. &lt;strong&gt;Understand the risks before using it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2016-04-18T15:21:41.927" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T15:21:41.927" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11556" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11568" CreationDate="2016-04-18T12:37:01.547" Score="4" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say I shoot 180 fps with a 400 grain arrow. I choose a new shaft and tune it, so that I get a 350 grain arrow. Is there a rule of thumb how many fps adds to the 180?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm searching for something like the draw weight rule, which says: &quot;Add 5% of the poundage given at 28&quot; per inch draw length.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T19:05:20.667" Title="Is there a rule of thumb, how many fps is added per missing grain of the arrow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11557" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-18T15:41:40.623" Score="30" ViewCount="8753" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because they rely on radio signals, GPS units generally do not work underground or underwater, but what about a plain ol' magnetic compass?  Are the magnetic fields of earth present at all depths?  Does water do anything to attenuate them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I go spelunking with a compass to help me keep my bearings or even go through a train tunnel in a mountain (contrived example)?  Do divers use compasses regularly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4041" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T02:02:23.743" Title="Will a compass work underground or underwater?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11557" CreationDate="2016-04-18T16:55:52.003" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compasses are good equipment both spelunking and diving. Even the deepest cave you could go to is still near the earth's surface, geologically speaking. The earth's magnetic field is also essentially the same under water as above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using a compass, what you need to be aware of is nearby magnets and large sources of iron. So if you were exploring an underwater metal shipwreck, it could throw off a compass, the same as if you are testing a compass in your house standing next to a metal stove or refrigerator. The same is probably true if you explored a cave with a very concentrated source of iron ore. If you store your compass with  a strong magnet, you risk demagnetizing it so it won't work at all. But if you treat it properly, a good magnetic compass is going to be more reliable than any electronic ones I've tried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T16:55:52.003" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2016-04-18T17:57:09.033" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is also worth mentioning that there are other ways to obtain absolute position references by using astronomical observations. Most of these are centuries old and of course, are not anywhere near as convenient and in most cases not as accurate a GPS however they do have the advantage that they don't depend on electronics or batteries to work. The modern traveller also has the advantage that watches are now very cheap and reliable as accurate time measurement was a major obstacle to astronomical navigation for a long time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases these methods are, in practice, rendered obsolete by GPS but at least trying the out might add an extra element of interest to a desert trip especially with some historical research beforehand to put them into context. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly it is always worth doing at least a bit of research into alternative methods of navigation in a new environment as, again, they add an extra layer of interest an immersion to a journey and could make all the difference in an emergency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T17:57:09.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1649" CreationDate="2016-04-18T18:09:04.000" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of the cooling effect of sweat comes from evaporation so it is debatable whether wicking vs non wicking is better in hot dry conditions. Having said that in very hot and low humidity environments it may be a moot point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One area where it may make a difference is if you are wearing a large pack, in this case sweat can build up under the straps and back and the constant moisture and salt can cause skin abrasion. In this case a fast wicking fabric can be an advantage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that polycotton works well in these circumstances as it gives a good balance between comfort, breathability and wicking. Also don't discount wool, very lightweight merino fabrics can work very well in hot conditions as they have both absorbent and wicking properties. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another aspect to this is that in a desert environment direct sun is at least as much of a problem as ambient temperature so loose fitting very lightweight clothing may be the best option as the insulation provided by a large air space between your clothing and skin is most effective. Note that this is a different situation from cold weather insulation where you want to retain warm air in the space. So in some conditions it may be that a lightweight polycotton smock/shirt is better than a tight fitting wicking T shirt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-20T18:30:11.570" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T18:30:11.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="368" CreationDate="2016-04-18T18:31:41.127" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The big difference is that you will be able to get a good quality fixed blade knife for much less money than a folding equivalent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are in the mid-market the practical differences are really more about personal preference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ease of access is a bit of  a moot point, a fixed blade knife doesn't need to be opened they take up more space when sheathed so you need to find a convenient place to carry them and unless you are going for an out and out emergency rescue knife with a dedicated quick release sheath this is a debatable advantage. There is also the converse argument that if you are upside down underwater a folding knife is less likely to accidentally stab you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of durability and reliability there is less to go wrong with a decent fixed blade knife as it has no moving parts. There is also the consideration that virtually all folding knife locks can potentially fail if they get excessively dirty which is potentially dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of utility folding knives are a bit compromised by the need to fold which places limits on handle and blade shape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration is that most folding knives are made from stainless steel as he folding mechanism is inherently more vulnerable to corrosion. The choice between stainless and plain carbon steels is largely one of personal preference but in general stainless blades are harder to sharpen and so carbon steel is often preferred by people who use their knives often, although stainless has obvious advantages if you are operating around water, especially salt water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T18:31:41.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11547" CreationDate="2016-04-18T18:32:49.987" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't see why you couldn't. One key difference between ski poles and trekking poles is trekking poles often have a little shock absorber in them and ski poles never do. If you don't care about the shock absorber then you can use a whippet as is. If you want the shock absorbing properties of a trekking pole and the pick of a whippet then you might need to modify your trekking poles/whippet pole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest solution is to unscrew the handles and swap them out if that is even possible. I have a very early model whippet, and the pick is actually a metal insert that can be removed and replaced with a spacer when I don't need/want to risk falling on the pick. It would be fairly easy to modify a trekking pole to accept the metal whippet insert. The whippet in the picture you provided looks much more polished than mine so it might not be removable without destroying the pole. If you're willing to destroy the pole then I'm sure you can affix the whippet to a trekking pole even if it is no longer designed to be removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On TetonAT.com I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tetonat.com/2007/04/24/whippet-modifications/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a 9 year old post&lt;/a&gt; that shows modifications being done to the old style whippet I have. I don't know how much of it is applicable to your needs with the current generation whippet so I won't pull any of the pictures in. In the comments though they mentioned that a future whippet will be affixed to the grip with rivets. If that is still true then you could drill out the rivets and use screws to attach it to your trekking pole like Steve did in his article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-04-18T18:48:07.260" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T18:48:07.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10836" CreationDate="2016-04-18T21:03:58.437" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are allowed to drive there, and the land is not privately owned, you are allowed to sleep there, although different state have their own law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone may enter public forests and you may sleep there too, as long as you don't leave any trash or harm the environment. Sleeping under a tarp is okay, but you may not use a tent with ground sheet. - some states even allow camping if you get a permission beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Germany has different laws for forests and not-forests, so you might ask about that beforehand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But since there are no laws against sleeping in your car, and if you and your car are allowed to be in that place, I would say go ahead. Ask for specific information beforehand. But the worst thing that could happen would be that they send you away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum it up: different laws for different stats (in Germany), usually you can sleep in a public forest (under a tarp, or a biwak), but may not use a tent/make a fire. You are allowed to sleep if your car. Thus, you should be allowed to sleep in your car if your car is allowed to stand there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2016-04-18T21:03:58.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10836" CreationDate="2016-04-18T22:05:18.920" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In practice what is permitted will depend very much on the attitude of local law enforcement and your perceived intention. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly camping without permission is not the crime of the century but if you do it as way to get around a bylaw where camping is posing a persistent nuisance then expect trouble on the other hand if you sleep in your car because you are stuck overnight you would be very unlucky to get more than a warning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general where camping is prohibited you should just accept that regardless of your personal feeling on the matter. If you feel the law is unreasonable then write a letter to your democratic representative. If you are in a foreign country then, tough you're a guest there and should respect their laws. In fact the best advice is to be conservative in complying with local laws as pushing them to their limits may land you in trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in your own country and want to challenge the local laws then that is up to you however I would suspect that while a blind eye may be turned to sleeping under a tarp in many cases, rolling up in a 4x4 might well be considered to be taking the mickey. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel that you are sufficiently stealthy not to get caught then that is your decision to make &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-19T11:56:36.403" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T11:56:36.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11512" CreationDate="2016-04-19T06:01:46.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You must consider here why you would be sweating in the first place. So, you must take into account that the body may produce a bit more heat from time to time and it will want to dump that excess heat into the environment using evaporative cooling. E.g.in Northern Norway I had to travel a bit to get to a place where I could take pictures, when I arrived I was a little sweaty. I opened by jacked pulled my sweater up a bit for a few seconds and closed everything, the ice cold air was then trapped inside my clothing, as this heats up it becomes bone dry. The evaporation plus the ice cold air provided me with the cooling I could still use at that moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Had I worn cotton clothing instead of the wool + polyamide stuff, then what would have happened is that during the time I was feeling a bit too warm, I would have produced more sweat because the cotton fabric will hold on to fair fraction of the sweat. So, the evaporative cooling would have been less with the same amount of sweat produced per until time, therefore I would have produced more sweat. All that extra sweat would have ended up in the cotton fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when I reached my destination, I needed less cooling. I would still be a little warm, but all that saved water in the cotton fabric would keep on evaporating for quite a long time. If during the walk 50% of the sweat was captured, then this means that the same amount of sweat that I lost via evaporation during the walk, would still have to be lost. This means that the energy dumped in the environment during my walk will be radiated away again, but now I'm standing still and I'm producing far less heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4206" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T06:01:46.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11567" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11572" CreationDate="2016-04-19T09:25:01.833" Score="7" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since May 2015, the German Elbsandsteingebirge (Elbe Sandstone Mountains) has so called &quot;Trekkinghütten&quot; (trekking cabins). However, due to the fact that they're pretty new, there aren't really any longer tracks to find. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's a possible tour for two days (4-8 hour hike, sleep and 4-8 hour hike back)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T05:30:35.293" Title="Good two-day tour for the &quot;Trekkinghütten&quot; in the saxon switzerland" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11556" CreationDate="2016-04-19T18:20:31.403" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not know any rule of thumbs but I do have some knowledge in physics and math, so lets see what we can do with that=)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume the energy that is put into an arrow is independent of the weight of the arrow. If we would want to model this too, it would be highly dependent of construction of the bow, and not useful for any &lt;em&gt;rule of thumb.&lt;/em&gt; And as long as the weight of the two arrows we want to consider is sufficiently similar, this assumption will still provide good enough results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's call the mass of the first arrow &lt;code&gt;m1&lt;/code&gt; and the mass of the second one &lt;code&gt;m2&lt;/code&gt;, similarly &lt;code&gt;v1&lt;/code&gt; denotes the velocity of the first arrow, &lt;code&gt;v2&lt;/code&gt; the velocity of the second one. As the kinetic energy stays constant we have the equation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;0.5 * m1 * v1^2 = Ekin = 0.5 * m2 * v2^2&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we solve this for &lt;code&gt;v2&lt;/code&gt; we get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = sqrt( m1 / m2) * v1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where &lt;code&gt;sqrt&lt;/code&gt; denotes the square root. If this formula is not simple enough we can approximate further:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &lt;code&gt;x&lt;/code&gt; is close to &lt;code&gt;1&lt;/code&gt; then &lt;code&gt;sqrt(x)&lt;/code&gt; is close to &lt;code&gt;1+x/2&lt;/code&gt; (second order taylor approximation*), so we can simplify the formula to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = (1+0.5 * m1/m2) * v1  = (m2 + 0.5 * m1)/m2 * v1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even this approximation of the coefficient is quite nonlinear so it is not possible to make a statement &lt;em&gt;x grains equal y fps&lt;/em&gt;. In the following graph you can see the relationship between the ratio of the two velocities &lt;code&gt;v2/v1&lt;/code&gt; and the ratio &lt;code&gt;m1/m2&lt;/code&gt; of the masses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pAfgL.png&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see my &lt;em&gt;rule of thumb&lt;/em&gt; is less than 10% off the &quot;exact&quot; formula if the new arrow is at least half as heavy and at most twice as heavy as the old one. But if you consider arrows with a weight difference of a factor two, then the initial assumption is probably get us a way bigger error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Example&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your example we have &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;m1 = 400 (units do not matter, as they'd cancel out)&#xA;m2 = 350&#xA;(v1 = 180fps)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using the rule of thumb:&lt;/strong&gt; In this case &lt;code&gt;m1&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;m2&lt;/code&gt; are not really &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; close, so this result might be a bit off compared to the other one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the above values we have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = (1 + 0.5*(400-350)/350) * v1 = 1.071 * v1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means the (muzzle-) speed of the new arrow will be about 7% greater than the one of the old arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using the &quot;correct&quot; formula&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case we get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = sqrt(400/350) * v1 = 1.069 * v1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That would again mean the new arrow is about 7% faster than the old one. By the numbers you could guess that the approximation is about 3% off the &quot;exact&quot; value, as predicted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Bottom line&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again looking at the graph above, we can conclude that if the weights are close enough, I suggest the rule of thumb &lt;strong&gt;the relative difference in velocity is going to be about half the relative difference in mass.&lt;/strong&gt; What do I mean by that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a weight difference of 10% (as long as the weights are close enough, it does not matter which one you consider as 100%) then the difference in velocity is going to be about 5%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again checking with the &quot;exact&quot; formula (considering &lt;code&gt;m1 = 100%&lt;/code&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = sqrt(m1/m2) * v1 = sqrt(1.1) * v2 = 1.048 * v1 so that is about 5%&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively if we consider &lt;code&gt;m2 = 100%&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;v2 = sqrt(m1/m2) * v1 = sqrt(0.9) * v2 = 0.948 * v1 so that is about 5% too.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-04-19T19:05:20.667" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T19:05:20.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11547" CreationDate="2016-04-19T19:07:40.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/ski-poles/whippet-ski-pole-BD1115420000ALL1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Whippet is marketed as&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... the ultimate ski mountaineering tool ... that can help keep minor slips from turning into slides for life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For ski mountaineering, it is not feasible to carry an ice axe in your hands so the Whippet is better than nothing. Performing a self arrest with an ice axe is difficult and I would have serious doubts about the ability to effectively use the Whippet for self arrest. The four issues I see are (1) the blade appears to be shorter than on a typical ice axe, (2) the strength of the shaft of most trekking/ski poles is substantially less than that of an ice axe, (3) the position and length of the leash may interfere with maintaining control of the &quot;axe&quot; and getting proper hand position for arresting, (4) and the quality of the spike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think overall a mountaineering ice axe is better suit for self arresting than a trekking pole with a pick. That said, self arresting on grass may be sufficiently different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-04-19T19:07:40.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11423" CreationDate="2016-04-20T00:49:41.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had the most success with the 12 to 16 range.  A white or gold bead head chironomid with a red/gold body is my go to for the lake trout in the Pacific Northwest.  It's also picked up some smallmouth bass that get curious.  Sometimes green/brown patterns work well, too.  These are for imitating midge larva and pupa - the largest portion of a lake trout's diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple ideas on the &quot;retrieve&quot; (depending on the lake &amp;amp; conditions):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let them hang out under a little indicator.  The ripples on the lake give it a tiny bit of action and you have excellent control over the depth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A slow retrieve that mimics the pupas' rising action is a &quot;tug-tug-tug-paaaause&quot; - very effective if you do this across a long feature like a sunken log&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drift downwind with the fly trailing behind you, assuming you're on a tube or a boat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also want as light a leader as you can handle and in a generous length (think 10ft+) because stillwater is usually quite clear and gives the fish a long time to investigate.  You're not as concerned with a perfect taper that will give you that beautiful cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you're going to get a fair amount of grief from the purist fly fishermen telling you that it's not &quot;real&quot; fly fishing.  The truth is that fish do most of their feeding under the surface so why focus on the top?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other killer pattern for lakes and ponds: leech patterns (wooly buggers, etc), minnow patterns (if you have aggressive brown trout), and mice/frog patterns for big aggressive freshwater species that like to ambush from grasses, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1949" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T00:49:41.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8170" CreationDate="2016-04-20T01:03:19.980" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tons of rod and reel packages out there to get you started.  I've had plenty of success with the basic Shimano rod/reel combos that are under $50.  For bait and lures you have a some choices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spinners simulate wounded prey (minnows, etc) - the wobble action attracts fish through their lateral line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weighted flies - wooly buggers, bead-head nymphs, etc. simulate natural bugs in various states&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jigs under a float - your weighted jig floats down river under the float&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bait - I'd recommend bait behind a back-bouncing rig (a weight that sits on the bottom)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that your success has the most to do with reading the river and understanding where fish like to hang out.  There have been countless pages devoted to this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Local knowledge will be a huge advantage and the guys at the shop where you buy will be able to tell you a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1949" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T01:03:19.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11567" CreationDate="2016-04-20T05:30:35.293" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I've never been to these cabins, I've been climbing and hiking in this area. In the map below I've outlined two route suggestions in purple, which you can vary as you please (and as you go). There's a rather dense network of trails, all marked trails are easy to follow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd start on the western side at point &quot;1&quot; at a public parking lot. You follow the street to the last few houses in this area. When you arrive at a junction with a kiosk and an inn (&quot;Ottomühle&quot;) vis-a-vis, you've to decide whether to take the longer route (go right) or not (straight on). &#xA;Following both ways you reach the border to Czech Republic in less than 1 hour total, the long route needing about a further hour to the point where both trails join. From there it's about another solid hour to the junction where I suspect you'd turn to point &quot;3&quot;, leaving half an hour to an hour for the rest of the way to point &quot;2&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cabins should be around points &quot;2&quot; (Trekkinghütte Grenzbaude) and &quot;3&quot; (Trekkinghütte Willys Ruh). For the way back you could use the green marked trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking time should be anything between 3 and 5 hours for roughly 15 kilometers. If you're a fast hiker, you can really expand on that and e.g. add a bit in the west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've never walked this particular combination of trails &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;having a better map for orientation is always advisable, although most sections of the trail should be well navigable with just a smartphone and openstreetmap (there's an android app named &quot;osmand&quot; which works very well offline)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there's almost no network coverage (phone and 3G) with the exception of the summits of the plenty crags there (so you'd need to climb to phone for help - but there's a mountain rescue service (&quot;Bergwacht&quot;) station right at the end of the road on which you'd start out.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let me know how I should improve this answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map is from here (Copyright Openstreetmap contributors): &lt;a href=&quot;http://hikebikemap.org/?zoom=14&amp;amp;lat=50.83852&amp;amp;lon=14.08962&amp;amp;layer=HikeBikeMap&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://hikebikemap.org/?zoom=14&amp;amp;lat=50.83852&amp;amp;lon=14.08962&amp;amp;layer=HikeBikeMap&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdae9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdae9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T05:30:35.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11573" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11848" CreationDate="2016-04-20T11:00:20.407" Score="13" ViewCount="712" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a keen hiker with some time off I am considering a self-supported walk across Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which route/locations would encompass the most self-sufficiency (wild camping/hammock locations) whilst bagging a considerable number of Munros and scenic beauty spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not looking for someone to plan my route; just wondering if any little-known routes have been established or used by the SE community.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt; (before anyone offers hiking advice): I am skilled in the outdoors, a medic, born in Scotland and comfortable with my perceived level of risk. I am specifically looking for itinerary suggestions off-the-beaten-path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Add 1&lt;/strong&gt;:  As CMaster posted on another thread - &quot;looking for an established route that avoids civilisation while passing as many noted scenic landmarks and Munros as possible.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Add 2&lt;/strong&gt;:  Thank you to Gerrit and CmMaster for repoiniting me from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/66926/on-a-coast-to-coast-walk-across-scotland-which-route-would-require-the-most-sel&quot;&gt;Travel SE.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:52:12.723" LastActivityDate="2016-05-26T09:17:01.543" Title="On a coast to coast walk across Scotland, which areas would require the most self-sufficiency?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8297" CreationDate="2016-04-20T15:14:41.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Caveat:  I don't drink while hiking)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A group I hiked with once locally used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/898745/mountainsmith-cooler-tube&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;cooler tube&lt;/a&gt;.  It appeared to keep everything chilled on a warm-ish day in the Southeastern U.S.  There are quite a view vendors of similar products and it appeared to work well with a hiking setup for carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-04-20T15:14:41.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2016-04-20T16:57:44.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of specific areas to look at : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Knowledge : you should make yourself aware of the basic skills that you need to travel safely in the wilderness. This includes things like basic survival skills and an understanding of the weather conditions and terrain that you will be travelling in. Before trips to an unfamiliar area you should also take the time to research and particular hazards or problems associated with that area and season. If nothing else really key skills are how to find safe water, how to camp safely with both a tent and improvised shelter and the basics of lighting and maintaining a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Experience :  don't bite off more than you can chew for your first trip. In particular it is wise to try out any new kit or techniques in a safe environment before you rely on them to survive. For important kit like boots, pack or tents give them a shakedown trip in circumstances where you can bail out if you discover a problem. Even a short afternoon walk can show up a lot of problems which are much easier to fix before you set out on a proper trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Navigation : regardless of whether you have the latest GPS kit or are walking on well marked trails you absolutely need to be confident and competent in navigating with a map and compass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) Selecting equipment : It is not necessary or even desirable to buy the most expensive kit you can find. Start with cheap but well recommended kit and use that as a starting point to experience for yourself what will be an advantage for you personally. Don't accept sales hype at face value. In fact there is a lot to be said for starting out with minimal, cheap kit as this will help you focus on what you really need. The one exception to this is that it is always worth spending what you need to on boots (and socks) which fit well and are comfortable, but again don't assume that the most expensive ones are the best.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-22T20:48:03.617" LastActivityDate="2016-04-22T20:48:03.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11573" CreationDate="2016-04-20T17:24:09.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possibility is that Kielder Forest  Park covers quite a lot of the Scotland England border. This should provide enough wilderness for wild camping and exploration off the beaten track but is also close enough to the well established Berwick to Gretna trail that you have the option of a more 'civilised' route for some sections if you want. A more convoluted route could also take in sections of the Hadrian's Wall trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with much of scotland Kielder is horrific for midges at certain times of the year but its is very pleasant walking territory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of it is forestry so tarps and hammocks should be viable although it does tend to be fairly dry conifer plantations so there may not be as much forage as in other parts of the country and, in my experience there water sources can be a bit sparse in some parts, especially in summer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of self sufficiency there is also a difference between just challenging and remote  terrain where you need to carry everything you need to live on your back and areas where you can take more of a bushcraft type approach and make use of natural resources. Clearly the caveat with the latter approach  is that you need either adopt a zero impact approach or get the landowner's permission if you are going to do any harvesting, foraging, hunting or fishing (or have an established legal and ethical right to do so). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-22T20:57:54.580" LastActivityDate="2016-04-22T20:57:54.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11578" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-20T23:06:01.617" Score="8" ViewCount="4123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for buying a new recurve bow for field archery.&#xA;I currently shoot a Hoyt dorado and I love it. I have two sets of limbs for it. One #35 set that I use for field and another #50 that I use for hunting. I love shooting it specially because of its length (60&quot; tip to tip) but I'm also aware the bow is too short for my draw length of 29.5 inches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that bow length needs to match the draw length mostly because you lose precision when overdrawing it as soon as the string stops touching the limbs and just hold on the tips, string can swing sideways and affect arrow travel. (Unless you're natural for the sport. :) ). Similar thing happens to long bowers as the string doesn't actually rest on the limbs and instead it just held on the tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I've been thinking of buying a new bow, target type to use for field and I also know the minimum length would be something around 68&quot; (longer than that, the bow would become more forgiving).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything in my understand that is actually wrong?&#xA;Also, what else could be affected with a shorter bow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-04-22T05:23:53.407" LastActivityDate="2016-04-22T05:23:53.407" Title="The bow's length and its influence" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11578" CreationDate="2016-04-21T06:20:15.183" Score="10" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I know that bow length needs to match the draw length mostly because&#xA;  you lose precision if overdrawing it as soon as the string stop&#xA;  touching the limbs and just hold on the tips, string can swing&#xA;  sideways and affect arrow travel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Holy... - no! Just no! No, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;, no, no, &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; :) There are even 44&quot; (38&quot; string) which are able to shoot accurate 'till 32&quot; and beyond. I've a draw length of 29,5&quot; and was shooting Jan Ift's Wren (it's such a 38&quot;-string-thing) a few weeks ago. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A recurve-bow's string doesn't touch the limbs at full draw whatsoever. Check out these pictures: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Target-recurve:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l0WGBm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l0WGBm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horsebow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o73EXm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o73EXm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditional recurve:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgHZZm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgHZZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunnish composite bow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Xh2t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Xh2t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And another one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yrMQcm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yrMQcm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The string only &quot;touches&quot; the limbs (while undrawn) because of the &quot;reflex&quot; design which is used to increase the efficiency of the bow. The pieces which point away from you (when unstrung) make a recurve-bow more efficient than a longbow etc. That has nothing directly to do with accuracy! That just means that a recurve bow has the following advantages above a non-reflexive designed equivalent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More efficient (the limbs save more energy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smoother draw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less handshock (the string touches the limbs when &lt;em&gt;not drawn&lt;/em&gt; and so the bow absorbs a part of the vibrations)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just forget this quoted &quot;overdraw&quot; statement. It's just not true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what's &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; the problem with short bows? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shooting with them results in a more nervous (the bow, not you) shooting process. The little weight and stability in your hand makes them - of course - wiggle. Also the handshock (or &quot;vibration&quot; generally) is bigger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second problem is that a bow starts to stack at a specific draw length. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stacking: Disproportionate increase in bow weight during the last few&#xA;  inches of the draw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's probably what you meant. Every bow starts to stack somewhere. You've to find one which doesn't stack for you. But that's more a design question rather than a length question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example the Bear Archery Super Kodiak is available in two sizes. The 60&quot; bow doesn't stack for draw lengths up to 30&quot;. The 64&quot; bow doesn't stack for draw lengths up to 32&quot;. On the other hand we have the 58&quot; Bear Archery Grizzly which is okay with draw lengths up to 31&quot;. You see?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shorter bows are generally not so smooth to draw as an equivalent longer bow. That's the counterforce to the &quot;they are faster&quot;-thing (more about it in the next paragraph). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why don't we just have generally a hell of a 80&quot; bow then?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of a short bow include that they are faster (of course assume that we've the exact same bow in terms of material, design etc.). For example the already mentioned 60&quot; Super Kodiak will be faster (with the same arrow-weight, string etc. of course) than his 64&quot; brother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is that they don't cuddle with bushes, trees etc. that much. That's why hunting/field bows are commonly shorter than target-bows. You just don't hit the nature with your limbs that much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) but I'm also aware the bow is too short for my draw length of&#xA;  29.5 inches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That should not be true. A Dorado commonly starts to stack at 31&quot;. You are absolutely okay with it as long as you personally don't have the feeling that he starts to stack at full draw. What you obviously don't have since you love your bow :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) target type to use for field&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't shoot field with a target-bow. A target-bow is made for target-shooting (badumts :)). What's the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The target is always circa the same height as your arrow while leaving the bow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; know the distances (that's not generally true for field archery)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; stand well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are always far away from any nature (bushes, trees etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A target bow is made to have a smooth, steady shot. It's absolutely more accurate if you don't have to adapt to other circumstances from shot to shot (like you have to in field archery). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But yeah, you are right. If you want to buy a target-bow, you should go for a 68&quot; bow. The target-bows have an industry standard for that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My advice&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm looking for buying a new recurve bow for field archery. I currently shoot a Hoyt dorado and I love it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shoot what you love, man! :) You'll never gain that much accuracy as when you love your bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't buy a target-bow. It's just not made for field-archery and it doesn't fit your shooting style. If you've a hunting-instinctive-style (like Fred Bear taught us), you will have to create a whole new target-shooting-shot-sequence. Do you really want that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take your Dorado, go out and don't bother with its length. It's absolutely okay for you and a great bow. Whoever put this bee in your bonnet should be slapped for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should rather tune your arrows to the maximum than considering to buy a new bow. A tuned arrow makes an incredible difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-04-22T05:13:05.383" LastActivityDate="2016-04-22T05:13:05.383" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11573" CreationDate="2016-04-21T11:15:34.797" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a large range nice routes you could do. Generally, I would say the further North you go the wilder/more remote it will be. Although if you go really far North, the options for Munros does decrease somewhat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For specific routes, the &quot;official&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Coast+to+Coast+-+Scotland&quot;&gt;Scottish coast to coast&lt;/a&gt; goes from Oban to St. Andrews, and has some options for remote bits and Munros going through the Trossachs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't looked at it in detail but you could definitely do quite a nice route from Fort William to Aberdeen, taking in Ben Nevis, Glen Coe and the Cairgorms. This probably has the best options for Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also do a nice route to Inverness, either starting at Fort William and up the Great Glen. Or Start by doing Skye. You could even go from Ullapool to Inverness, which would be remote but doesn't have that many Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless, you particularly want to go coast to coast, there are many other nice &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/long-distance-routes.shtml&quot;&gt;long distance walks in Scotland&lt;/a&gt;. Lots of which are fairly remote or can easily be made so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-04-21T11:15:34.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11581" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-21T18:30:26.823" Score="2" ViewCount="1543" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Oklahoma where a relative and I were fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are new to fishing and didn't know you needed a license. We got stopped and the game warden gave us two options: buy a temp license or get a ticket. &#xA;We didn't have the $90 bucks so we got the ticket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then he said if we come back later that week and give him $50 for a temp license he will drop the ticket and we won't have to go to court.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We later got our license  from a store and when we contacted him he said it doesn't matter: we either get the temp license &lt;em&gt;from him&lt;/em&gt; or the ticket will process through the court.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He also said that the difference is that we didn't have the license beforehand. So we still got the citation but we're not sure how buying a temp license from him isn't the same?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should we fight this in court?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9324" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T06:12:08.120" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T06:12:08.120" Title="If I get a ticket for fishing without license, will buying a licence make my ticket go away?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-11-30T04:42:50.557" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11583" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11596" CreationDate="2016-04-22T22:49:14.190" Score="13" ViewCount="2455" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if standard climbing harnesses (not chest harnesses) are actually rated (e.g. tested and certified) for use in upside down falls?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously falling upside down is a bad idea, and we should avoid it for many good reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I sometimes playfully flip upside down while being lowered on toprope. I was recently queried about the safety of such antics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing a long time, and never had any reason to think that I could slip out of the harness from hanging (or falling) upside down. But a question of safety always bears analyzing. And I couldn't immediately reference anything authoritative on the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extra points for any references to published tests of harnesses in upside down fall conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3296" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-04-23T00:12:03.440" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T16:03:09.650" Title="Are climbing harnesses tested for upside down falls?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6078" CreationDate="2016-04-22T23:56:37.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to personal equipment appropriate to the terrain and conditions there are some rescue specific basics which should be easy to provide, this is more geared to providing support to the main search and rescue effort than actually going out at the sharp end yourself. Obviously a lot of search and rescue kit and training is quite specific but the support logistics are more generic and can be just as important : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter : this should be easy to erect around a casualty in any terrain so things like tarps and blankets are preferable to tents. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical : even if you don't have proper medics,  basics like field dressings could make all the difference. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Communications : the ability to communicate the location of casualties quickly is very important in getting them treated and evacuated. This requires good communications both inside the rescue team and with the outside world. This need not be hugely sophisticated but things like procedures for RV points and packs of flares and chemical lights can greatly help air and vehicle rescue. Communications can also include keeping up to date with weather forecasts and keeping track of who is doing what in the overall operation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Evacuation gear : here it is important to say that the decision to evacuate on  foot vs waiting for better equipped help is a critical one, especially where the casualty has traumatic injures  but there will be circumstances where it has to be done. Here a proper collapsible splint stretcher is idea but the knowledge to&lt;br&gt;&#xA;improvise something from a tarp cut poles and rope is a lot better than nothing. Also if you are evacuating a casualty on foot every extra person who can help will significantly contribute to the rescue as carrying a casualty over rough terrain for any distance is exhausting and the original search team may already be tired by this point in the operation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Organisation : in all emergencies command and control is always a big problem as you often have several different groups or organisations trying to cooperate and confusion can be as big an enemy as weather or terrain. even so taking on simple organisational jobs like keeping a list of names of who is involved an logging them in and out of base camp can make a big difference. Equally setting up an HQ with a table and some maps of the area. Often bad situations are made worse by skilled and well intentioned people acting at crossed-purposes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another very important consideration is that an ad-hoc rescue team don't become casualties themselves. While passers by may be keen to help the rescue leaders need to take responsibility for their safety as well and at the very least they should be competent, fit and equipped to carry out any tasks assigned to them. Similarly  individually going off on their own may do more harm than good and a rescue organiser should establish proper channels of control and communication from the start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an extension of this lightweight high visibility vests, torches and chemical lights and IR markers are a very useful (and inexpensive) part of centralised rescue kit as well as the more obvious portable radios etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly setting up a temporary base with shelter and hot food and drink for rescue workers is a big asset and this can be a very useful role for volunteers of uncertain experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T00:37:49.280" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T00:37:49.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11581" CreationDate="2016-04-23T01:18:21.137" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;He's on the take.  Contact the main office, explain the whole thing.  They may wish your help to nab him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I don't know &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; jurisdiction where getting the permit after getting caught absolves you of the penalty.  If this were the case, then no one would buy the permit first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T01:18:21.137" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10836" CreationDate="2016-04-23T01:35:44.033" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other jurisdictions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was younger I would drive part way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to Lake Louise.  I'd go to 2 o'clock Creek which was on Abraham Lake.  There I would pull off the road, throw a sleeping bag on the ground.  Next morning I'd drive the final hour to the ski hill, have breakfast on the hill...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Travelling across Canada I was near Regina in mid winter.   Pulled off into a campground closed for the winter, and made my camp under a picnic table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another trip from New Mexico to Alberta, I would drive my truck, which had a camper with everything I owned in it. (Cramped...) My dog and I would drive through the day, then near sunset, move off the highway, park on a a field access road and make supper and crash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throughout the U.S. and Canada, major highways have pullouts and rest stops.  A pullout is just a very large shoulder.  Rest stops have washrooms too.  Both allow stopping and sleeping in your car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a scout group as a lad, we drove from Idaho to Miami, Fl. and back camping using these methods -- campgrounds, wide spots, side roads in National Forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T01:35:44.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11587" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11595" CreationDate="2016-04-23T03:44:07.037" Score="3" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an area near where I work in Monterey, I often walk during the noon hour and end up in a meadow that is much-beloved to red-winged blackbirds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other day I saw something unusual, though - as I walked into the meadow, I noticed a large bird - some sort of crane, I reckon - with a large black snake half-swallowed. When it (the bird) noticed me, it flew off several dozen yards, and then landed again at the far end of the meadow, standing there again, with the snake dangling. The snake must have been already dead, because it wasn't flopping around. I walked toward it/them to get a better look. The bird then lifted its head skyward, gulped down the snake, and flew off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't know cranes or crane-like birds ate snakes, and I'd never seen a big black (or dark brown) snake around here before. Is this normal behavior? What type of bird was it, probably? What type of snake was it, probably?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully not a rattlesnake, because they give me the fantods, even though I've only gotten close enough to to hear one rattle once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:51:56.343" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:51:56.343" Title="What sort of crane, and what sort of snake?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-23T11:59:44.277" Score="17" ViewCount="8556" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm heading up for some walking to Scotland soon. I will need to cross multiple rivers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no interest in crossing wearing my walking boots as so many people like to do as wet feet are the worst of all options. Yes I could remove my socks and cross, but the water in the boot will just wick into my socks as soon as I put the socks back on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also don't want to be crossing in bare feet for obvious reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leaves me with buying some alternative footwear just for crossing rivers (I'll wear my boots the rest of the time). Other than Crocs, what would people recommend? I've been making a big effort to reduce my pack weight recently, so the lighter the better. A rigid sole would be nice, but I'm not too bothered about the cold as I'll only be wearing them for crossings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7961" LastEditorUserId="7961" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T21:43:05.253" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T07:42:22.310" Title="What is the best type of shoe to wear for crossing deep rivers?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-04-23T12:30:53.970" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've owned pairs of both &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.keenfootwear.com/en-ca/sandals&quot;&gt;Keen&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.shop.ecco.com/mens-sandals/&quot;&gt;Ecco&lt;/a&gt; sandals, and have been quite happy with both.  They each have solid leather construction with comfortable padding on the inside, and they tend to hold up well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sandals are cut so that water flows out of them quickly.  The down side is that this allows gravel and sand into the sandals as well.  If you're in the water enough, though, it rinses through and does not accumulate.  If you're going to be more dry than wet, you may want to consider these or other brands which fill the holes in the shoes with a nylon mesh.  This will help to keep the gravel out while still allowing the shoe to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many sandals of this sort are held on your foot using elastic cords.  I don't like this feel (too loose around the ankle), so I look for models which can be easily modified to take a boot lace or paracord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some models even include Vibram soles, which offer excellent traction and can allow the shoe to be re-soled for a reasonable price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-04-24T06:47:03.387" LastActivityDate="2016-04-24T06:47:03.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-04-23T13:46:48.073" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any kayaking shop will have a selection of both shoes and boots designed for this. While you can get them with thin soles, I recommend thicker soles if you're mainly wearing them on rocky river beds and banks. You'll get a range of weights and prices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neoprene dive boots are also an option though they tend to be heavier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a (possibly) cheap option, sports sandals work well, but check out the soles first - some of the very cheapest use foam soles that will fall to bits in any decent use on rocks. If you go down this route, I suggest getting ones that protect your toes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T13:46:48.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="312" CreationDate="2016-04-23T16:40:57.767" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few points that haven't been added here yet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A common cause of rope failure that I've read about has come from accidental chemical contamination. For example one unlucky climber left their rope in their car trunk and small amounts of battery acid got on the rope and damaged it. Check the sheath for any evidence of chemical contamination (corrosion, oil, etc). Water is ok, but nothing else is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ropes are worn more heavily near the ends where the knots are tied. Check these areas particularly carefully. Some climbers have been known to shorten their rope as they use it to eliminate the more heavily worn ends. You can cut a rope and melt the end on a hot plate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The last point about cutting a rope isn't a bad idea in general. As time progresses with a rope you may very well want to cut the end of it and inspect the inner strands. The inner strands are the load bearing part of the rope and most need inspection. The sheath can take moderate wear over the life of the rope, but the inner strands should be flawless. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most basic check is to pinch and wiggle the rope along the length of it to verify you don't feel any variation in the inner strands. I would do this &lt;em&gt;at the crag&lt;/em&gt;, and sure, before too. But since I have heard of cases of rope failure due to transportation in the trunk of a car, at the crag covers the time you haven't been paying attention to it more thoroughly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The last point I've seen mentioned in books is to try and keep small particle dust out of your rope, as the rope stretches tiny lodged rocks/particles could cut away at it. I'd raise an eyebrow at a particularly dirty rope. Especially if there's any reason to worry that particles have worked their way under the sheath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lastly, and probably obvious enough, tears in the sheath are a red flag. The sheath is there to protect the core, mild, even fraying with use is ok, but never climb on a rope where the core is anywhere near exposed (and definitely not fully exposed).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, I'd also suggest reading &quot;Accidents in North American Mountaineering&quot; as a great way to keep on top of what actually goes wrong in climbing. It's illuminating to see what mistakes really are causing deaths in climbing. The book summarizes and analyzes climbing accidents each year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3296" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T16:40:57.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11587" CreationDate="2016-04-23T23:19:04.407" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many different cranes, so more details about the color and size would be helpful. It is normal behavior, so I'm not surprised you encountered it.  My first thought is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/sandhill-crane/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sandhill crane&lt;/a&gt;.  They're found in California, and have snakes as a regular part of their diet. I'm not sure about the snake part of your question, but will do some research and see if I can come up with anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-04-23T23:19:04.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7606" CreationDate="2016-04-24T01:59:39.527" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: Learn to tie knots, then decide how you can help yourself with the cordage. Otherwise, it'll be useless to you. I don't mean to sound brash but that's the reality of things. &#xA;Side-note: It's good to know that paracord can be cut and then stripped into smaller strips of cordage to maximize its overall length and/or usability. Just cut the paracord and then pull on the inner-threads. Make sure to use a lighter to melt the ends to insure that they don't unravel once used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9334" LastActivityDate="2016-04-24T01:59:39.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11587" CreationDate="2016-04-24T09:12:01.987" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the snake part of it, looking at some information on different websites and your vague description about color (dark brown to all shade till black),&#xA;I can take a few guesses. It can be either of the list below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Northern or Southern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae or Charina umbratica)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor mormon)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One of the many species of Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus amabilis)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Baja California Ratsnake (Bogertophis rosaliae)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sierra Gartersnake (Thamnophis couchii)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are not my favorites, I have listed them because there are usually found on meadows. We can narrow down the scope by studying when they are active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rubber boa (Charina bottae) - Typically Nocturnal, very very rarely seen to be active in daylight. - Less likely to be the snake you saw.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor mormon) - Active during daylight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One of the many species of Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus amabilis) - Very secretive behavior, active during night and about at dusk. - Less likely to be your snake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Baja California Ratsnake (Bogertophis rosaliae) - Nocturnal or crepuscular, unlikely to be the snake you saw.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sierra Gartersnake (Thamnophis couchii) - Active during daylight, Yes. But a known aquatic snake. So unlikely to be the one you saw.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do we have an answer? Some might say, Yes. I'd strongly say No.&#xA;It can be a Western Yellow-bellied Racer, but I can't be sure unless we discuss about size of the snake. The main beauty and science of identifying a snake or a bird is the detailing. The more you read, the more interesting it gets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References: Majorly taken from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.californiaherps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.californiaherps.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2016-04-24T09:12:01.987" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11583" CreationDate="2016-04-24T12:09:57.910" Score="11" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Are climbing harnesses tested for upside down falls? ... &lt;em&gt;No.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harnesses have forces gradually applied to them of up to 15kN while attached to a dummy; the dummy is oriented in the head-up position and the force is applied as if a person was hanging from the belay loop. Alternatively, the harness belt is placed around a cylinder and forces are gradually applied directly to the belt up to 10kN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key measurements are slippage through the buckles; if your waist belt is above your hips and the diameter smaller than your pelvis, you should not be able to escape the harness unless loosening of the buckles occurs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/UIAA-105-Harnesses_May-2014.doc2_.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA 105 Harnesses standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.singingrock.com/en-12277-type-c-sit-harness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EN 12277 Type C - Sit harness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second link has a video of the test being performed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T16:03:09.650" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T16:03:09.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-04-24T21:44:51.163" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Merrell make several excellent shoes which are designed to be lightweight running shoes and I believe they would fit your use case neatly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike sandals they offer a fully enclosed toe for greater protection, with synthetic and mesh upper and drainage ports in the sole. They're often designed to be worn sockless and so fit the foot closely to minimise gravel ingress. The sole is pretty thin and unstructured, but has the advantage of offering good feel of what is underfoot and I've found their rubber grippy on both wet and dry surfaces (within reason, nothing grips on slime except carbide studs). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have owned several variants over the years (currently on a pair of Trail Glove) and used them as travel shoes in wet environments or as camp shoes to give the feet a nice airy alternative to boots as the end of a days hiking. They dry quickly, pack small and my current ones have hanging loops on the heels so you can easily stow them on the outside of your bag to dry following a crossing or for easy access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones I have don't seem in the catalogue any more, but something like the Vapour Glove 2 is a starting point for an equivalent design (though without the vented sole, I've never found that important). Anything with &quot;glove&quot; in the name will be a similar low profile, lightweight, well vented design. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9258" LastActivityDate="2016-04-24T21:44:51.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-04-24T22:08:38.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the UK in spring where you expect river crossings there is an argument for just using boots which dry fast eg unlined fabric and leather  construction as these also have the advantage of being more breathable in general.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is not to your taste then the traditional canvas and rubber plimsoles are as good as anything for river crossings as the pack up small and light &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-04-24T22:08:38.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="312" CreationDate="2016-04-25T06:12:03.427" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ideally, Inspect it indoors, before you leave for Outdoors. :) Look out for tangible signs like wear n tear on outer layer of rope, cuts, brazes etc. For the inner layer, it should be intact as with outer layer. If its moving on its own, should ring bells to your head!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9328" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T06:12:03.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-04-25T09:56:19.527" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess the answer really is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It depends&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a &lt;strong&gt;general purpose solution&lt;/strong&gt; I normally bring sturdy &lt;em&gt;trekking/hiking sandals&lt;/em&gt; on my trips. Something like the models from &lt;em&gt;Teva&lt;/em&gt; for example (many pictures on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?q=gb%20teva%20sandals&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;hs=q7J&amp;amp;channel=suggest&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwimiMjbuKnMAhXnCcAKHZDbCpQQ_AUIBygB&amp;amp;biw=1777&amp;amp;bih=923&amp;amp;dpr=0.9&quot;&gt;Google&lt;/a&gt;). I specifically look for models with have sturdy rubber soles with good profiles, and which come with velcro straps that I can fasten/adjust quickly and safely. Note that I'd forgo the models made from leather - while comfy for walking these mostly don't handle getting wet very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sandals double as light footwear during the mornings/evenings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are fairly light and dry quickly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be painfully cold, depending on the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While grip is normally sufficient, you don't have any ankle support. As you mostly can't see where you are placing your feet (and depending on the cold you might not feel the ground anymore either) this can be quite dangerous.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking to cross &lt;strong&gt;more dangerous waters&lt;/strong&gt;, for example rather high, fast-flowing and cold, it can be &lt;em&gt;necessary&lt;/em&gt; to wear your regular hiking boots. This is not something I would normally suggest, but I have been doing it on occasion when the crossing is really tricky. I realize that OP specifically asked for other solutions, but I think sometimes this is the only reasonable option: I suggest rather risking some blisters and discomfort than a broken or twisted ankle 5 days from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Best possible grip and support for your ankles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sort of isolates your feet, thus a lot less cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on circumstances drying your boots can take a long time, leading to less than comfortable walking or even blisters and worse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a &lt;strong&gt;middle ground&lt;/strong&gt; between the two I have seen people use fast-drying trekking shoes which are maybe ankle-high max and mostly made from purely synthetic materials to allow for quick drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better grip and ankle support than sandals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can weigh a good bit more than sandals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't dry as fast as sandals, so your comfy evening footwear might be wet still&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T06:46:48.987" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T06:46:48.987" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11601" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11618" CreationDate="2016-04-25T13:52:46.040" Score="42" ViewCount="20345" Body="&lt;p&gt;More and more, I see people hiking with very light-weight shoes.  To me, they look like regular sport shoes and they look to be lacking thick soles, waterproofness, or ankle support.  I thought this was a US phenomenon, but I saw that in two UK outdoor stores I visited, most shoes sold are such.  For example, a recent trip to Southern Utah, I partly hiked on popular trails in Zion National Park, such as the trail to Scout Lookout/Angels Landing and the trail to Observation Point.  Both trails include serious slopes where classical hiking boots (see picture below) would appear essential to me, yet I saw hundreds of people who hiked in lightweight shoes that looked unsuitable to me.  I observed the same in Bryce Canyon National Park, where a park newspaper lists improper footwear in a top-10 of injury causes as cause #3, #2 and #1. I did not notice this phenomenon on more remote trails or in other countries such as Norway, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, where outdoor stores sell hiking boots rather than city shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do so many people hike in serious mountains with light-weight footwear?  Is it an active choice?  I've tried sport shoesonce or twice for a short distance, and it was painful — I can't understand that someone would hike anything that isn't flat tarmac in such shoes.  They wouldn't keep my feet dry beyond the first stream crossing, either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By a proper hiking boot, I mean something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AQgag.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AQgag.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hiking boot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By lightweight sport shoes, I mean something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVRlV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVRlV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;light sport shoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Scandinavia, many people I meet hike in even higher boots, arguing they are more suitable to keep the feet dry.  I imagine that to be true, but I've never tried hiking in them and I don't think I've seen people using them outside Scandinavia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uqV50.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uqV50.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swedish boot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do people actively choose hiking in lighter shoes (perhaps part of the American &lt;em&gt;ultralight&lt;/em&gt; fashion?), or is it simply a matter of unpreparedness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(See also: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5695/566&quot;&gt;What is the point of hiking boots, versus any comfortable walking shoes?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T15:02:24.307" Title="Why do so many people hike with such light footwear?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-25T14:55:25.867" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be a general trend for people abandoning traditional hiking boots for lighter approach shoes. As I see it there's two driving factors here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Approach shoes have gotten better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No need to have a choice between trainers and boots any more. You can get good solid approach shoes that are both light and sturdy enough for use in the outdoors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People are hiking more and more technical terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scrambling is becoming a bigger and bigger pursuit in the mountains. The lines between hiking and rock climbing are blurring. So, so is the footwear. People want a pair of shoes that they can smear on rock/squeeze into tight jams, etc now. Boots are often just too clunky for this type of mountaineering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me it's horses for courses and a lot down to personal preference. Providing it's working for the person I don't think I'd insist that they wear x type of boot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Winter mountaineering/high altitude&lt;/strong&gt; is a little different. You need good insulation and the ability to add crampons, etc. here. So it's just stupid to not wear boots in these circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have 4 pairs of mountaineering footwear for different occasions. I have&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scarpa B2 winter boots and crampons for winter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Asolo medium weight (B0) boots for spring/summer/autmn hiking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salewa approach shoes for scrambling, approach to climbs and walking the dogs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Red Chilli rock boots for climbing/high grade scrambling on occasion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no one boot for all occasions. Different footwear has different advantages and is disadvantages and I don't feel it's correct to criticise x type of boot/shoe. It depends on the circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-27T07:44:55.053" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T07:44:55.053" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-25T14:58:35.177" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;For certain types of hiking, lightness is key. I can't talk for everyone doing that (some may just be unaware of the consequences of their kit choices) but I really like speed hiking / fell running, and for that I use very lightweight Salomon boots that are almost trainers/sneakers. My wife briefly tried the Vibram Five Fingers and really liked them for hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm quite happy with these on a 20 mile a day trek with minimal pack as long as it is reasonably dry and I'm not on actual mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm trekking in the Highlands, across bogland or if the weather is looking to be really wet, proper boots will win, but they are heavy. Much heavier than fell-runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T14:58:35.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-25T15:50:55.350" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The hiking shoe/waterproof trainer style is comfortable for casual strolls on easy trails, &lt;em&gt;in good weather&lt;/em&gt;.  This &quot;light outdoors&quot; (or fair-weather hiking) market is huge in comparison to serious hiking.  The shoes can be made quite cheaply and don't last all that long.  That's not a big deal - either you take to it and replace them with something better, you buy a new pair quite frequently or you only wear them occasionally and they last.  I normally have 1-2 pairs on the go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more heavy-duty market expects something tougher and therefore more expensive.  This won't be an impulse buy in most cases, so the high street shopd won't stock so many (except possibly in the winter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have a selection - from approach shoes to &quot;soft boots&quot; (synthetic+suede, breathable) to some seriously heavy leather scarpas that have lasted 20 years and will probably do the same again if I'm generous with the nikwax.  The last pair are great if I know I'm going to be wading up to ~8&quot; (2 dm) deep (and really comfy when I'm upright), but they're heavy and too solid around the ankle to drive in.  If I'm going to be in deeper water than that, I'd actually prefer my running shoes that are free draining (or my kayaking gear).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Years ago I had a week's desert walking coming up, and bought some non-waterproof ankle boots (but otherwise very similar to the approach shoes sold now, in quality as well as style).  In the hot conditions they were perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same logic can be applied to a lot of other outdoor kit - waterproofs, rucksacks etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-04-26T10:41:10.640" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T10:41:10.640" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10846" CreationDate="2016-04-25T16:46:37.240" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This saying appears to be mostly common sense or &quot;homespun&quot; wisdom, but there are some studies that have tried to dig into it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hiking/one-pound-off-feet-five-pounds-off-back.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;HowStuffWorks Adventure article&lt;/a&gt; mentions Hillary's ascent of Everest, as well as the Army study mentioned in another answer here. The general consensus is that yes, mass on the feet incurs more cost in energy to move than mass on the back (between 4.7 and 6.4 times as much).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that while it may be true that weight on the foot will take more energy to move than some multiple of weight on the back, there are more factors to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) First and foremost is ankle support and foot protection. If you are overweight, your pack is heavy, or the terrain you are travelling on is very rough, you may want more support and protection for your feet and ankles. This naturally leads to wearing heavier footwear. Your level of training, both in technique and in strength of your ankles and feet, will make a difference in how light of footwear you can get away with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) The three heaviest items for backpacking &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; include footwear. Look first to reducing the weight of your pack, shelter and sleeping bag plus pad. Even shaving off a pound in footwear won't get you anywhere near the savings of going lighter in the big three. And doing this first may allow you to go with lighter footwear as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Your bodyweight may also be a factor, and not just for what footwear you choose. I wasn't even very heavy, but dropping 35lbs of fat was the equivalent of halving my week long backpack weight! And it pays off every day on being easier on my joints &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; I'm in much better health overall. Plus, being at a lighter weight and having strengthened my ankles and honed my hiking technique, I can choose lighter footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Footwear manufacturers are trying all the time to reduce weight, so just looking at a big bulky boot and saying there is no place for it is unwise; how do you even know how much it weighs? How are you looking to put the footwear to use? Even many safety boots these days are being fitted with carbon fiber instead of steel for toe protection and shanks (which can be useful on certain mountainous terrain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally try to go as light as I can to the point of using approach shoes or trail runners for 20+ mile day hikes. I've seen guys do highly technical rugged day hikes in Five Fingers (the old ones, not the newer thicker ones) and other guys hike week long back pack trips in Tevas. That being said I still keep my heavy high top boots for things like snowshoeing, and for serious winter mountaineering, I have double-walled plastic boots. Having a shank and steel toe is not necessarily a bad thing; in particular, stiffer soled boots will edge better. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=GwyXx4DzDjwC&amp;amp;pg=PA28&amp;amp;lpg=PA28&amp;amp;dq=%22Freedom+of+the+Hills%22+boot+shank&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=lDvveGjR5y&amp;amp;sig=JqrmgiEW6jHDI4TQYyf2xElE2Ag&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjRleOFoKrMAhWCHB4KHdmLCnkQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22Freedom%20of%20the%20Hills%22%20boot%20shank&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Freedom of the Hills&quot; section on boots&lt;/a&gt; for more details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5514" LastEditorUserId="5514" LastEditDate="2016-04-28T15:23:19.200" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T15:23:19.200" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11607" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11608" CreationDate="2016-04-25T18:23:23.243" Score="10" ViewCount="5089" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a large, cubic object and I wish to tie a rope around it so that the rope is very snug and tight around said object. In a picture, my question is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t1lrJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t1lrJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Problem description&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, the path of the rope should &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; be as shown; it cannot go a number of times around the box, or do anything fancy: the whole magic should be in the knot. A square knot is hard to tighten around the object, and one always obtains a sloppy fit. What kind of knot can I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9340" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-04-26T09:50:17.983" LastActivityDate="2018-04-01T11:29:45.053" Title="Which knot to use to hold a rope in a loop, tight, around a large object?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11607" CreationDate="2016-04-25T20:08:42.513" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would go with either a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_hitch&quot;&gt;barrel hitch&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bale_sling_hitch&quot;&gt;barrel sling&lt;/a&gt; depending on the exact purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the added constraint that the rope can only go around the object once the the &quot;magic&quot; needs to be in the knot/hitch, I think a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker&amp;#39;s_hitch&quot;&gt;trucker's hitch&lt;/a&gt; is probably best (but not very good). It will let you get a tight fit. The holding power will depend on the  stiffness and material of the box. I would expect the trucker hitch to fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-04-25T22:22:01.777" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T22:22:01.777" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-25T20:19:06.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a major advantage to lighter footwear when hiking. Here is a great example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10846/does-a-pound-on-your-foot-equal-5-pounds-on-your-back&quot;&gt;Does a pound on your foot equal 5 pounds on your back?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newer, light weight footwear can be targeted for hiking more then just a regular cross training or basketball shoe. A good example is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merrell.com/US/en/moab-ventilator-wide-width/018469008796.html?CID=MAR-Merrell-G-Shopping-Moab-Ventilator-Wide-Width&amp;amp;CAWELAID=120144300000097308&amp;amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;amp;CAAGID=21158942165&amp;amp;CATCI=pla-169179303365&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moab&lt;/a&gt;. Much more hardcore hikers than I use Merrell's on the PCT, JMT, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy hiking boots aren't usually needed unless in very rocky terrain, imo. It is all based on the person and situation (ex: easy rescue?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9267" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T16:12:57.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9489" CreationDate="2016-04-25T20:19:29.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This knot is actually what our trip guides use to set up our high ropes course, each loop goes to a carabiner on their full body harness (which is a great way for both loops to be equalized) and they climb up the course with this knot.  I'm not sure why you're saying it's not to be used, but our research and years of using this knot have been conducive to a safe environment.  Just be sure to grab the correct loop to pull over, or else it will feed from the main rope they are climbing up, decreasing the integrity of the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9343" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T20:19:29.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11613" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11658" CreationDate="2016-04-25T21:46:53.753" Score="21" ViewCount="867" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend, I was hiking in the Spanish Sierra de Guadarrama.&#xA;On a small trail north of Navacerrada (used by only a handful of people each day at the moment), at 1905m height, I encountered the pawprint you can see below. It was set in a patch of old snow directly on edge of the path. I actually recorded the precise location on my GPS, you can see it &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B046&amp;#39;22.0%22N+3%C2%B059&amp;#39;59.4%22W/@40.7711193,-3.9998688,1645m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WJyXU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WJyXU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The print&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ryhVs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another picture with more context&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After measuring my hand at home, I calculated the the pawprint to be about 16cm in length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, according to my research so far, this can either be a wolf or a very large dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes me believe it's a wolf is that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dogs of that size are pretty rare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is actually a wolf pack in these mountains (&lt;a href=&quot;http://spanishnewstoday.com/wolf-population-increasing-in-madrid-national-park-_46778-a.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perhaps most importantly: There were a few more prints on the same patch of snow but nowhere else. The trail was mostly snow-free, but there were a few more snow patches in both directions. Some of them covered the whole path and I could not see any more pawprints on them. They may have been covered by the human footsteps, but I looked pretty closely and could not see any trace of paws, so it appears whoever caused these prints went off the trail. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, I'm not sure, so if you see any further indicators pro or versus wolf, please help me out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T03:27:28.970" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T03:27:28.970" Title="Did I see a wolf's pawprint?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;spain&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11607" CreationDate="2016-04-25T22:19:21.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;EDIT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;:  With your edits to the question it would appear this won't work for you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/constrictorend/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&amp;amp;Categ=boating#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;constrictor knot&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  If you work the knot such that the contact point where the line cross is on one of the corners of the object, you can get it very tight indeed.  Tied properly, a constrictor knot can be very-very difficult to untie, and may need to be cut off instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;But this still might.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to have the whole line back in one piece, you may be better off with something along the lines of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;trucker's hitch&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  I use a variant of this nearly every time I tie something down in the bed of my truck.  It only takes moments to put together and seconds to take apart.  Judicious placement of the loop can get you the maximum amount of pull to tighten the knot around your object.  Basically, you want the loop the furthest away from you that it can be while still being reachable with the end of the line.  This way you get the longest pull (and most tension).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2016-04-25T22:19:21.527" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8623" CreationDate="2016-04-26T00:35:22.900" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this was most likely at least a two-creature job. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That same sedum has been dug up, broken into pieces and strewn around my yard a number of times. (Pictures of some of the pieces were used in my &lt;a href=&quot;https://gardening.stackexchange.com/a/24157/7305&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/24152/saving-sun-scorched-succulents/24157#24157&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; at Gardening and Landscaping, in case you want to see them.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After posting this question, we put up a motion light. The largest animals we've seen have been skunks, raccoons, and opossums. In fact, just a few weeks ago, we saw a large mother opossum with three young ones. They ate leftover bird food, then used their noses to root around under leaves and yard debris, most likely in search of living things, like insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just found footprints in the two places where the sedum has been planted, and some other parts of the yard. I didn't get a clear enough picture to post here, but using an online site for comparison, I was able to closely identify raccoons and opossums, while ruling out badgers, groundhogs, and bears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Opossums have noses which are strong enough to loosen, push up and tip plants over. Raccoons use their front feet to dig things up and tear them apart. They also carry their young in their mouth, so they would have the strength and ability to move even the more weighty sedum sections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, my closest guess is that an opossum started the job, and a raccoon finished it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I still have no idea why the plant would have been moved in and out of the exact same spot, so for that part I'll just embrace the mystery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for larger size.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HOBBX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HOBBXm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wonder what&amp;#39;s under here!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zWjdP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zWjdPm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;All these pink toenails take forever to polish!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:42:28.657" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T21:06:08.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T00:55:43.773" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't meant for general advice but for hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing I prefer light, really light -- I use my running shoes...much lighter than what you have pictured as &lt;em&gt;light&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm reasonably fit and active -- I'm a former competitive endurance athlete. My running shoes provide adequate support for me and I'm much more agile in them than my &lt;em&gt;hiking boots&lt;/em&gt;...and my snowshoeing is generally high intensity so dryness and warmth is no problem (they get soaked but my feet are &lt;strong&gt;hot&lt;/strong&gt;) in the low-humidity high mountains of Utah, USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9344" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T00:55:43.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T01:30:57.600" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a long time, there was a trend towards heavier shoes with more support.  The logic was that it provided protection for your joints, and your anecdotal evidence suggests that it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear with me for a moment, and permit me to take the argument to an unreasonable extreme.  Encase you entire foot in a solid steel block, well up into the calf.  Now you can prove without a question that you're protecting your ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously that extreme example is unrealistic, but it does demonstrate that the &quot;best&quot; answer has to be a balancing act.  Clearly there are advantages to support, and disadvantages to support.  Otherwise we would all be either barefoot or wearing steel boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the issues with the heavy boots I have identified is that they encourage dependence on them.  There is a set of skills your body needs to practice to keep itself stable without relying on ankle support.  If you always have heavy boots on, that skill (and its associated muscles) atrophies.  As you mentioned, you found it horrible to try to go even a short distance with lightweight shoes.  On the other hand, if you have light shoes, you are &lt;em&gt;obliged&lt;/em&gt; to maintain stability, and will damage your body if you don't.  If you're the kind of person that likes to get distracted and let their body do all the walking, you'll likely put yourself in a bad position with a high likelihood of ankle damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue is shock.  If you have intentionally restricted motion of the ankle joint, you lose the ability to cushion blows using those tendons.  The force is naturally taken up by the ankles and hips.  Do you naturally walk on your heels?  Then you probably will find that that ankle restriction really doesn't impact you all that much.  If you naturally walk closer to the balls of your feet, losing that mobility has a much larger impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, the best answer is to do what is comfortable for you, but don't be afraid to explore outside of the box a bit.  Your definition of comfortable may move.  Personally, I like hiking with lightweight shoes.  However, if you look at the military, who have to make tremendous slogs with heavy packs without twisting an ankle, they're all in high-support shoes for good reason.  I don't think we'll see our armed forces deploying in Vibram toe shoes any time soon!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8208" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T01:30:57.600" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T01:32:57.337" Score="68" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hmm - more of a tirade than a question, but let's assume you sincerely want to learn. There's a good deal of ground to cover, so please bear with me here...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, technical trail shoes are not &quot;city shoes&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we're going to have an intelligent conversation we need to clear this up from the outset. You describe all types of lightweight footwear as &quot;city shoes&quot;. This is an unhelpful caricature. While street shoes are obviously inappropriate for tough walking, technical trail and approach shoes are designed specifically to provide the grip and robustness required for this type of terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second - lightweight walkers are not simply unprepared fashion victims&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have to put this in proper context. You imply that anyone using lightweight footwear on difficult ground is simply unprepared or following a mindless trend. In fact, you'll find that the more experienced the walker, the more likely that they will be choosing to use lightweight footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been walking the hills for half a century. I've used every kind of footwear, and in almost all conditions I now have a strong preference for trail shoes. And I'm far from alone. Pretty much every experienced through-hiker is now using lightweight footwear, even on quite technical off-trail work like the Sierra High Route. In fact, I challenge you to find a single well-known long-distance walker using the kind of boot you are advocating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are two possibilities. Either the entire community of long-distance walkers is experiencing some kind of collective delusion, or they know something that you are missing...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third - the traditional case for heavy walking boots doesn't stand up to scrutiny&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific claims you make for heavy footwear are that it protects the ankles and keeps the feet dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But where is your evidence that heavy boots protect the ankles? I can't find any actual research that's remotely convincing. To provide meaningful ankle support, a boot has to be so rigid that it's virtually impossible to walk in the thing. In reality, a walking boot, as against a technical ice boot, provides insignificant ankle support when laced for comfort. On the other hand the high stack height, stiff sole and poor ground feel disrupt natural walking mechanics and leave you clumsy and unstable. I experienced a number of serious ankle injuries in conventional boots. Since I switched to lightweight trail shoes I've never had a problem, and I do a lot of rough off-trail walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the idea that big boots keep the feet dry, I don't know many real walkers who'd agree. Your feet sweat, and heavy boots don't breathe. But the membranes in so-called breathable waterproof boots quickly break down and leak. And with any practical summer gaiter, water is going to penetrate through the gap at the ankle. Once they are wet, the type of boot you are advocating becomes even heavier and takes an age to dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The great majority of long-distance walkers simply accept that their feet will get wet at times. They chose shoes that drain well and dry quickly, and wear merino socks that are warm when wet. On balance, this is much the most successful approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most long-distance walkers agree that the benefits of lightweight footwear greatly outweigh the disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real disadvantage of lightweight trail shoes is economic - you're going to be replacing them after every 500 miles or so of heavy use. On every other dimension, they are a much better choice than the old leather monsters that you are advocating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trail shoes are far more energy efficient&lt;/strong&gt;: research shows that a pound on the feet is equivalent to at least 5 lbs on the back. And on steep rough ground, that's probably an underestimate (the research was done on treadmills). Lightweight shoes are far less tiring to walk in, and you'll be significantly less prone to lower-body strain injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trail shoes are far kinder on the feet&lt;/strong&gt;: I've walked thousands of miles in trail shoes and never had a hot spot, never mind a blister. When I walked in big boots I had endless problems with blisters and bruising. Search Google Images for &quot;hiking blisters&quot; and you'll see &lt;em&gt;graphic evidence of the misery big boots can cause:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rXFRT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rXFRT.png&quot; alt=&quot;blistered bleeding feet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trail shoes are far more nimble&lt;/strong&gt;: you'll be significantly more balanced and less liable to fall. Falls in remote country can be serious, so this is a big deal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trail shoes are far better for stream crossings&lt;/strong&gt;. Stream crossings with big boots are a major faff. With trails shoes you just walk straight across. Your feet are grippy and protected during the crossing, and the shoes soon drain on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I say, the more experienced the walker, the more likely that they will chose lightweight shoes. And this will be a considered choice based on many thousands of miles of practical experience. You're welcome to choose the footwear you prefer - that's the freedom of the hills. But please keep an open mind and don't denigrate those who make other choices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-04-27T19:43:23.437" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T19:43:23.437" CommentCount="32" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11619" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-26T10:01:21.783" Score="14" ViewCount="1933" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a day-to-day basis, I wear regular light-weight sport shoes, such as these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vRF7n.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vRF7n.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sport shoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The footwear I saw people using in serious terrain in the USA looked similar, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11618/566&quot;&gt;this answer to my related question&lt;/a&gt; points out those are trail shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The concept of &lt;em&gt;trail shoes&lt;/em&gt; is new to me, and I have not seen people hiking in those prior to my recent US trip, or I mistook them for sport shoes.  How can I tell apart a &lt;em&gt;trail shoe&lt;/em&gt; from a regular light sport shoe?  Searching Google for &lt;em&gt;trail shoes&lt;/em&gt; links either to running shoes or to shoes no different from the ones above.  Presumably, they are different from the ones above, that I wouldn't want to wear even for a 2-hour hike in the English countryside, let alone for a mountain trail (I tried exactly once and I've rarely had such painful feet, so either my shoes are different, or I am different).  Do people get &lt;em&gt;trail shoes&lt;/em&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/articles/the-cottage-industry/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cottage industry&lt;/a&gt; manufacturers or are they sold in regular stores (just hard to distinguish from sport shoes)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose it depends on aspects like Gore-Tex™, Vibram™ soles, protection against rocks, etc., but perhaps there is more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-05-16T02:00:43.543" Title="How can I tell a “trail shoe” from a regular sport shoe?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11619" CreationDate="2016-04-26T10:24:08.230" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To some extent, it's a question of marketing etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are clear design diferences between &quot;trainers/sneakers&quot; and &quot;trail/approach shoes&quot;. I think you may find that while &quot;trail shoe&quot; is a commonly used term by people, &quot;approach shoe&quot; is preferred by manufacturers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice most trail/approach shoes are effectivley the same as lighter weight fabric hiking boots (as opposed to &quot;clompy&quot; leather hiking boots, or ice boots), but without the high ankle. Most importantly the soles are much the same as hiking boots&amp;nbsp;&amp;ndash; lots of chunky tread, with a  fairly &quot;flat&quot; profile for walking, as opposed to the more curved for running nature and softer material of trainers. I've been wearing a pair that looks much like this for years now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2AJ3V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2AJ3V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trail shoes are made by all the major maufacturers of outdoor shoes as far as I am aware (in the UK, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merrell.com/UK/en_GB/mens-walking-shoes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merrell&lt;/a&gt; seem to be the dominant player in the market). Again, walking in to any outdoor shop in the UK, the shoe display is likely to be a mixture of hiking boots, trail shoes, and possibly serious glacier boots and rock climbing shoes, depending on the store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I climbed Scafell Pike in this sort of shoe. They're not the same as boots, but they are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; suitable for walking long distances in&amp;nbsp;&amp;ndash; I use trail shoes as &quot;every day&quot; shoes because I walk places a lot, and using trainers/smart shoes/skate shoes makes my feet hurt. This sort of thing doesn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6341" LastEditorUserId="3277" LastEditDate="2016-04-26T21:38:53.923" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T21:38:53.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T10:33:26.473" Score="22" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why do so many people hike with such light footwear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can give you a personal perspective: I have hiked in the 2000-3000m altitude (alps) for a long time, using quite tough semi-alpine boots (like the one in your first image, even the same brand). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I still do that today if there is snow or ice, especially since I am also snow-shoeing and using crampons with them. Some light glacier crossings as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently, I've changed to some extremely light and absolutely non-supporting shoes (Roclite 295). They are not water-tight (water can flow through them) nor airtight (if a cold wind is blowing, you really notice); they are like running shoes for rougher terrain. The point is - it is just a different approach to hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to be much more alert all the time, in difficult terrain. I have to look where I step, I can not have my attention all over the place and chat all the time. I absolutely cannot let my body weight just hit the floor wherever it so happens. I consider that a bonus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is now the mode of travel that I much prefer. My personal benefits are...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No trouble with sweat, heat etc.; no buildup of moisture on the inside. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No trouble with getting wet from the outside. If they come in contact with water, they are instantly soaked through. But afterwards, they become dry equally quickly (while walking). Of course, getting them wet is not advisable in rain or cold weather and they are utterly useless on snow or ice since you cannot &quot;dig in&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I wish to, I can move fast, running up- or downhill. This is also possible with the boots, at least downhill, but much less fun for me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No problems with blisters, at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The soles are, while being flexible instead of stiff, very sticky in most conditions, that is, they are not slippery at all. No problem to walk over inclined stone surfaces and such. (This is the same for the heavier boots.) More like climbing shoes. Much different than, say, generic sports shoes/sneakers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Similar to barefoot running (i.e., Vibram Five Fingers or whatever), I believe my bones/ligaments/ankles/toes/soles will become stronger and more adapted (or at least used) to the load, and I am generally more aware of what I'm doing. My soles give me a lot of feedback about what's happening down there. I step lighter (good for the knees...) and I find that my feet often &quot;auto-correct&quot; a bad step before worse things happen. Of course, hard to tell scientifically, from a personal point of observation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least, I can wear them all day, everywhere, when not hiking. They are a bit colorful and do not go well with a business suit (well, depending on the kind of business - might be OK in a &quot;hip&quot; company). They have actually become my everyday shoes, as they are very, very comfortable for me (mainly due to the breathability).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I admit that I have not researched what the prominent modes of ankle injury actually are for hikers. I would assume that most of those are from people who are not used to hiking/cross-country/climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="9349" LastEditDate="2016-09-09T06:52:54.770" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T06:52:54.770" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11619" CreationDate="2016-04-26T10:37:21.457" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is, that these are a (comparatively) new type of shoes and a hybrid of other types. Therefore there is no clear definition, not even consistent naming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trail running shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the closest to &quot;normal&quot; sports shoes. They are however very light. The competition shoes have hardly any fabric on it, but there are of course also more robust version. In any case as they are designed to run up and down weight matters a lot. Secondly their soles are specially designed to give maximum grip on rock/mud/grass/... (or a subset of these) and are very soft. Usually these shoes do not have any waterproofness (even though as everywhere you will find GoreTex models, but thats IMO just marketing), but they usually dry very fast.&#xA;You find such shoes in every bigger sports store or a dedicated running store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These come out of the climbing scene. They usually have no ankle support and are more durable and thus heavier than the trail running shoes. Their sole is somewhat stiffer and design for use on rock. Often on the tip the sole is smooth rubber as on climbing shoes.&#xA;These boots you will find mostly in climbing shops, as the manufacturers are most prevalently climbing shoe manufacturers like La Sportiva, Evolv, Scarpa, Five Ten, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&quot;Trail&quot; shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put those in parentheses, as this paragraph is about all those not clearly defined shoes. Under this (or a similar name) you will find a broad range of shoes. The ones that I think fall into the category of &quot;trail shoes&quot; you are asking about have the following characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most importantly: The sole.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good trail shoes give lots of traction. So the rubber and the pattern are designed for trails and not the hard and rather smooth kind as in city shoes. As compared to the heavy boots, the sole is similar in its surface but much more flexible to allow for a more natural walking style.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lacing:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trail shoes can be laced such that the feet do not slip around in the shoes. While this is obvious, it still sets them apart from the &quot;unsuited city shoes&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Material:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The material used is durable and designed to withstand abrasion, dirt, water immersion, ... . Sometimes it is waterproofed, sometimes it is designed to dry quickly. Which is more suited depends on the usecase and personal preference, both fall into this category.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ankle support:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They do not have a shaft covering the ankles as opposed to boots. There are of course many trekking shoes that have some ankle support, but that helps very little. While really high and stiff boots (e.g. mountaineering boots, but also many older hiking boots) clearly provide external ankle stiffness, such that reach just over the ankle really don't do much. Try it out yourself bending left and right.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This kind of shoe you should find in any bigger shop as well. If you search for trekking shoes in google, about halve the picture hits fall into these category (at least superficially).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the key feature that differentiates a trail shoe from a regular sports shoe is the sole (see above for details). Also important but less so, as there are very minimalist trail shoes as well, is more durability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T10:37:21.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11619" CreationDate="2016-04-26T10:38:16.707" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I tell a “trail shoe” from a regular sport shoe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subjective things like fit and comfort aside, I would look at the sole first and foremost. Does it slip on rock, gravel, wood, leaves? If not, then it'd make a pretty good trail shoe, I'd guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T10:38:16.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11619" CreationDate="2016-04-26T11:38:08.250" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trail shoes should be waterproof and the sole should be prepared for mud, remember that you will run on the mountain trails that can be wet, they should also be wider for more stability.&#xA;Regular sport shoes are mostly made to run on tarmac, where the soil is usually dry and with no mud with less need for stability since tarmac is usually flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking shoes are made to be used in the nature, they protect your feet better, they are even more waterproof than the trail shoes, but they are not made to run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I read in your post I think you want Hiking shoes (or boots), but I can be mistaken :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a great article about this matter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/whats-better-for-hiking-boots-vs-trail-runners-vs-appr-1682825752&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://gizmodo.com/whats-better-for-hiking-boots-vs-trail-runners-vs-appr-1682825752&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9351" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T11:38:08.250" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5120" CreationDate="2016-04-26T13:25:36.743" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would truly give the &quot;meta-answer&quot; to find out for yourself, by doing regular 1-day trips at the start. You will very quickly find out what works for you and what does not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take whatever equipment you have and go on your merry way. Don't make the route very long, steep, technical or exposed at the beginning, stay on populated routes, and the worst thing that will happen is a few blisters. Be sure to have water and at least energy food, and a first aid kit, but frankly I would not worry too much about other stuff, yet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll know what works and what doesn't (for YOU) in no time and have loads of fun in the meantime. Then go and look for answers to the actual problems/questions that arise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T13:25:36.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11630" CreationDate="2016-04-26T15:15:45.020" Score="1" ViewCount="225" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a Brit I've very little knowledge of American-style summer camps (none, in fact, beyond Addam's Family Values) however I'm attempting to help organise such an event this Summer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told that the only way to end a summer camp is with an award ceremony. Is this correct? Should parents/families be invited?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9353" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T00:13:54.947" Title="Do all American Summer Camps end with an award ceremony?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T17:25:26.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I continue to use Gortex lined boots because I hate wet feet. I use a light boot with serious socks for comfort and dryness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last hike on the AT in the Smokies, all the serious through-hikers were using very lightweight shoes or boots. Discussing it with them, they focused on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speed over support because they are typically young and healthy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dryness in hot weather. Running shoes provide more ventilation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comfort over very long distances. Boots tend to have pressure points. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9356" LastActivityDate="2016-04-26T17:25:26.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-26T19:10:36.117" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me with my almost 130kg (280 lbs) weight the best choice turned out to go &quot;barefoot&quot; ... Five years ago, I walked with my friend across entire Poland (over 850 km) in a month and after the first week my feet were wasted.  Had to take a two day break, treat all the bruises and calluses which were caused by the heavier trekking shoes.  Some might say as above that they were not fitted well.  They were - they were well broken in from all the winter trekking in the mountains, but totally unsuited for hot summer weather.  If you are keeping the shoes on your feet for 8-10 hours day after day, no magical membrane etc. will help you to get rid of all that perspiration which leaves through your feet.  Fortunatelly I also had a pair of lightweight mesh shoes and finished the rest of our trip wearing those.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since then I have been a big fan of the mininalist/barefoot approach which came to me intuitivelly.  Then a year or so ago I have read a book &quot;Born to run&quot; about ultramarathons and the Tarahumara tribe etc.  It turns out that those guys in their &quot;sandals&quot; (sometimes even just a piece of rubber tire just to protect the sole of their feet) often outperform sportsman with the newest high-tech gear.  My preffered shoes nowadays are Inov-8 bare-grip 200 for summer hiking and for winter salomon speedcross 3 Gtx with a pair of well fitted snow gaiters.  The bare grip have excellent holding tread whilst a very thin sole, so that you can and will (you will need a while to get used to it and sometimes at first it can be fainfull if you step on protruding rocks etc.) get an excellent feel the surface, plus the shoe is really soft and will not constrain all those bones in your feet, which were &quot;designed&quot; by evolution to ideally absorb all the shock, vibration etc. which you are subjecting your body to when walking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it's not only about your feet - wear a pair of &quot;bouncy-sole&quot; shoes and it might feel really comfortable on your feet, but then you might be subjecting your knees to much higher shock when the forces of the bounce add up to your body falling down.  here's a good article here explaining better the idea than I did ... &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?&lt;/a&gt; Ps. Our fanpage about our last trip and the upcomming one this summer ... Poland again, this time West to East ... &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/zpoludnianapolnoc/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Podróże po Polsce&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9358" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T14:59:07.523" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T14:59:07.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11627" CreationDate="2016-04-26T19:54:07.020" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is one of those &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;it depends&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; answers. Based on my experience growing up in-part in America, with other Americans, going to camp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size matters. Very big camps end up breaking people out in small groups, and the small groups (and entire large group) may not have award ceremonies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Setting matters. Is this a day camp or a sleep-away camp? How long have campers attended? What age are campers? What activities do they do? How diverse are camper demographics? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sorts of things shape the ceremony, including whether or not parents attend. In my experiences, parents are not invited during the ceremony - aside from maybe one specified visiting day and drop-off/pick-up day, and phone or mail contact as needed, parents let kids stay at camp on their own to gain some sense of independence there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately I think we can make an educated guess that &lt;em&gt;all summer camps end with &lt;strong&gt;a ceremony&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. The ritual or wrapping things up, providing closure with some reflection on past and a look to the future, is common for these sorts of things. It defines an ending point which is logistically and emotionally important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these ceremonies all award ceremonies? To answer that question - definitely not. Award ceremonies can facilitate a closure ceremony, and add a fun dynamic to the reflection. Awards also give something for campers incentive to strive toward during their time at camp if they know it is coming. There are other ceremonies camps use to wrap things up however, and those as well as award ceremonies all differ from place to place (each camp developing its own unique style and subculture). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-04-27T00:13:54.947" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T00:13:54.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11632" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11633" CreationDate="2016-04-27T07:51:28.530" Score="30" ViewCount="6533" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question got my thinking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11613/did-i-see-a-wolfs-pawprint&quot;&gt;Did I see a wolf's paw print?&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a bit of Googling and it appeared that wolf paw prints and dog paw prints are very very similar. Is there any good way (given that the size of a dog and wolf can be very similar) to differentiate between them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T08:07:40.533" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T21:59:44.153" Title="Is it possible to differentiate between a dog print and wolf print?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11632" CreationDate="2016-04-27T08:31:02.197" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there's no chance to distinguish the print of a large dog from one of a wolf. However, you can still differentiate between them, if you have a whole track. Dogs walk remarkable different than their ancestors. Compared to a wolf, a dog draws a sinuous line like it was drunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to determine if wolves are present is to find their&#xA;tracks. Wolf tracks are fairly easy to pick out, as they can be more&#xA;than twice as big as a coyote’s. They can sometimes be confused with&#xA;the tracks of large dogs, but the key is in how they walk. Whether&#xA;it’s on a packed trail, or through deep snow, a wolf wastes very&#xA;little energy while traveling. Their tracks are nearly always in a&#xA;straight line, with the left and right paws only slightly offset&#xA;(usually 6 inches or less). Compared to wolves, dogs walk like they’re&#xA;drunk. Their tracks are distinctly scattered, and often appear more&#xA;“wandering.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, even on hard trails, dogs tend to drag their toes&#xA;when they walk, whereas wolves generally leave a cleaner stride. In&#xA;deep snow, distinct tracks are rarely visible. Look for a narrow trail&#xA;with in-line footprints. When a pack runs through deep snow, they&#xA;usually step in the same tracks as the wolf in front of them, which&#xA;leaves even more pronounced prints. Also, you can usually see where&#xA;their bodies have pushed a trail through the snow. The way they travel&#xA;often makes it tough to determine how many are in a pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/live-hunt/2013/02/wolf-tracks-how-tell-if-there-are-wolves-your-woods&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor-Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dog:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NZeUi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NZeUi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dog pattern&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wolf:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H003E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H003E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wolf pattern&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The diagrams above are exaggerated but clearly show, what one should have an eye on. Thanks to David Richerby for pointing this out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be impossible to distinguish a large dog from a wolf from a&#xA;single track. Instead, if possible look for the pattern of the trail&#xA;left by the animal. Dogs’ pattern of walking reflects their domestic&#xA;lifestyle. They do not rely on stealth, and tend to walk erratically.&#xA;Their hind foot tracks seldom register within their forefoot tracks.&#xA;They may also approach strange objects directly. Wolves on the other&#xA;hand, tend to walk more directly when travelling. Their trails reflect&#xA;this, as the track of the hind foot is placed within or directly in&#xA;front of the forefoot. Wolves will also approach strange objects&#xA;cautiously, often circling widely to investigate rather than&#xA;approaching directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Identification&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wildlife.ca.gov&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T05:24:54.490" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="181" CreationDate="2016-04-27T13:29:32.180" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When talking about &lt;em&gt;boots&lt;/em&gt;, what you absolutely have to be careful about are those that have too much room on the &quot;backside&quot; (i.e., heel, ankle, midfoot). That leads to your feet slipping around each step and can give you very bad blisters plus blue toenails when you hit the front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, it can be worthwhile to try shoes that seem small(ish) for your size (around the ankle area); they should really keep your feet in place (without hurting, of course).. Then your foot won't move around and you don't need that much extra (empty) space for your toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if in doubt I'd chose rather more space for the toes, for additional &quot;wiggle room&quot;, I hate it when my toes are confined too much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, be sure to draw your laces tighter when going downhill than when going uphill to prevent nicking your toes against the front which each step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T13:29:32.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2016-04-27T13:36:52.257" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love my Vibrams, and have been walking, hiking, swimming, climbing and running with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; use them for multi-day hikes, though. Stepping on the wrong things (sharp/pointy) can give bruises. On a one-day outing I those were in my experience harmless; no problem there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in a multi-day hike, it would really not be any fun if you step on something bad the first day (don't need to draw blood, just something that gives you a sore spot) and then have to live with that pain for the rest of the time. I'm not talking about stepping on a rusty nail, that will go through any hiking sole, just your average bad luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are things inbetween Vibrams and boots - look for &quot;trail runners&quot;, &quot;offroad runners&quot;, Roclite or something like that... Very very comfortable but a lot more material between you and the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T13:36:52.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-27T14:03:25.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To a large extent, it depends on the climate, terrain, and trail conditions of the part of the US that you are hiking in; your observations are limited to one section of the US. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, prior answers have not mentioned the advantage of a stiffer sole with a shank for rock and root hopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to the Eastern or Midwestern sections of the US, the western US (which contains the PCT and the CDT) has a much drier climate, fewer rivers, less mud, more dust, fewer rocks and roots, and smoother and better graded trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early conventional wisdom was to use heavier boots.  This was because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many of the early writers hiked on East coast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eastern trails were constructed earlier, mostly as foot trails, and tend to go straight up and down the slopes to minimize erosion. This puts a premium on traction, wetness prevention, and foot protection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 80s and 90s, Ray Jardine popularized using sneakers on the PCT, which is very smooth and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, hikers in the Adirondacks have to deal with rain nearly every day, deep mud, large numbers of rock crossings, and poorly maintained trails; a much larger proportion of them choose ankle-high boots.  Most streams have bridges there, so one doesn't have to swap footwear very often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, Scandanavia features a lot of bogs and swamps and is generally quite wet; relatively few streams have bridges.  Knee-high rubber Wellington-style boots allow you to walk cross-country through mud and streams without changing footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T14:03:25.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11637" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-04-27T17:17:19.827" Score="14" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a whitewater kayaker and I often show people down rivers I'm familiar with on their first time down. I take special joy in doing so and consider it community service. The only compensation is maybe a few cold ones at the end of the day, of course optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, is there any legal liability to me as a non-profit guide in case of injury or worse? How about if the person is a minor? Should I always refuse a minor without an explicit parental permission? Doesn't happen very often but every once in a while a high school looking kid in the parking lot is asking for someone to paddle with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2016-04-27T18:39:07.723" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T03:51:19.020" Title="Legal liabilities of non-profit guiding in adventure sports" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="181" CreationDate="2016-04-27T21:43:33.650" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had this issue too - my feet are small but wide and I often have too much length in order to get the width.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main downside I've found is that I initially tend to trip or stub my toes on difficult ground, because I'm used to something shorter I guess. After an hour or two the mind seems to adjust, but just be alert at the start in case you end up falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-04-27T21:43:33.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11637" CreationDate="2016-04-28T08:36:02.553" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this question is hard if not impossible to answer on this SE format; after all we're outdoors men and women and not lawyers. I'd still like to offer some points, (though IANAL and don't even live in the US) as there are certainly several aspects to consider here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Legality&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure what you're doing is perfectly legal, unless kayaking on the river was illegal in the first place (which I don't assume).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Liability&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope it will never come to that, but: from the limited knowledge I have on the US law system I think it is sadly not impossible that somebody would try to sue you &lt;em&gt;were anything to happen to them while accompanied by you&lt;/em&gt;. There is always a chance that someone will try to use such a situation to their (financial) advantage.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making your community service 100% &quot;liability-waterproof&quot; might be infeasible (e.g. involve the people you're accompanying signing lots of forms etc.).&#xA;But, if your really wan't to be as sure as possible, you'd need proper legal counsel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ethics&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite apart from this I think what you're doing is generous and a very nice service to your outdoor community. If someone were to make you liable for such a service I'd personally consider &lt;em&gt;them&lt;/em&gt; to be in the wrong. Keep up the good work. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-11T03:51:19.020" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T03:51:19.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11642" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11643" CreationDate="2016-04-28T08:59:09.650" Score="20" ViewCount="6468" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I browse knife shops or online stores I see many fixed-blade knives whose handles are essentially just a piece of paracord wrapped around the tang. From my anecdotal experience this also seems to be a fairly popular choice - I'd guess that easily 25% of fixed bladed knives in local shops/stores have such a handle (I live in Switzerland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I always disliked these kind of handles: if I spend some 100-300+ $ for a good knife I'd like to get a quality product, and for me this includes the handle. Why would I want a handle consisting of just a piece of string?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A nice wooden or synthetic/carbon/etc. handle provides way better grip in my opinion, also it can't soak up water, and it's just over all a lot sturdier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why are paracord handles so popular? What is the idea behind it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get that you could unravel the paracord in an emergency, but let's be honest: a couple of foot length of paracord are not gonna decide over whether you live or die. And would it really be worth making your knife awkward and uncomfortable to handle just to get a piece of string?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-02-17T12:00:23.207" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T07:57:39.753" Title="What are the advantages and disadvantages of a paracord knife handle?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11642" CreationDate="2016-04-28T12:40:53.060" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Upsides &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It &quot;looks cool&quot; (to some)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cordage (but arguably useless as you have noted)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poor grip (compared to leather and manufactured alternatives)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More likely to cause blisters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less durable, requires more maintenance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PITA to clean if it gets messy/dirty/sweaty&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you unwrap the cord to use it, your knife has even worse grip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO - It's a marketing gimmick and nothing more.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2016-05-03T11:27:49.743" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T11:27:49.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11642" CreationDate="2016-04-28T12:42:50.443" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it can be a matter of personal taste, however:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people craft their own knifes, and using a paracord wrap as handle is easy to do, and easy to redo. There are some more and some less good looking wrap styles - again, personal taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also applies when it comes to knifes you buy in a store. Some may like the paracord wrap just as you like something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And while 10' of paracord wrapped around your knifes handle probably won't save your life anytime soon, in a real emergency you can separate its inner yarn and strands (for example 7 inner yarns with 3 strands each, you get 21 x 10' of strands) which makes a big difference when it comes to building a shelter, traps, or using it as fishing line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you never use it, and your 300$ blade gets older, replacing a paracord wrap handle is a lot easier and cheaper than other fixed/glued/welded alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-04-28T14:15:32.577" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T14:15:32.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2016-04-28T13:04:13.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of UK upland walking in minimal shoes, plus long Alpine treks with packs up to 30 lbs or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on the ground you are going to cover. If it's stony, I find that your soles can get a bit tender after a few days of bashing. You might prefer something with a minimalist rock-plate, or buy/make a removable rock-plate (my own solution). On grass or dirt this is a non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're heading anywhere wild, my main concern would be toe protection. I've seen more than one report of broken toes in FiveFingers, which could be very unpleasant in a remote spot. I'm also not convinced that they are ideal for long, steep descents on rough ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the other issues mentioned in the accepted answer will be a problem in Scottish summer walking: cold, plants, snakes and so on...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For UK conditions my own strong preference is for minimalist conventionally shaped trail shoes like the VivoBarefoot Trail Freak or the New Balance Minimus. These give good ground feel and drainage, and provide good protection for the toes. The Vivo also has protection against anything penetrating the sole - I've had a couple of thorns penetrate the NBs, though without causing any injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, there is a price to pay for the lightness and pleasures of wearing minimal footwear in wild country. Every two or three days you are going to get an eye-watering moment of pain when you do something clumsy. But I've never had anything approaching an actual injury, and a couple of minutes later all is well. You probably understand that already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my advice would be to compromise and go for a minimal trail shoe - in my experience if you're fully transitioned you'll be fine. Boots are overkill and will probably cause you trouble now you have adapted to minimal shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't just my opinion, by the way. Chris Townsend and many others have done long upland walks in Scotland in lightweight trail shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T18:50:49.210" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T18:50:49.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11573" CreationDate="2016-04-28T17:05:13.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to cross from west to east you could research the venerable &lt;a href=&quot;http://challenge.tgomagazine.co.uk/challenge/about/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;TGO Challenge&lt;/a&gt; walk, where hundreds each May walk their own coast-to-coast route. If you Google &quot;TGO Challenge&quot; you'll find a large number of blogs discussing routes in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have said, for maximum Munro bagging, you'd probably want to cross the Nevis range and the Cairngorms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But don't discount the possibility of going south to north. Set off from around Fort William and you can cross Knoydart, Shiel, Affric, Torridon, Fisherfield, the Fannaichs and Assynt on your way to the north coast. You could use the Cape Wrath Trail as a starting point, and work out something higher-level on the ridges and tops around that. I'm hoping to do this myself next spring, and it would pass through some wild and wonderful country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GYxaB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GYxaB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So many choices - and most of them great! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T17:05:13.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="289" CreationDate="2016-04-28T18:31:29.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live on the edge of Dartmoor and have some hands-on experience of letterboxing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is letterboxing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was reportedly started by James Perrott, a Dartmoor guide who placed a bottle for visitors' cards on a cairn at Cranmere Pool in 1854. Before the modern military tracks this was the most remote point of the moor and a fashionable spot to visit. (The current remote point is Fur Tor - a much more prepossessing spot!). Gradually more boxes appeared at other sites, and as others have said, the hobby has now spread around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boxes are usually hidden under overhangs around the tops of the Dartmoor tors, or in well-known woods and historic sites. They should contain a book for visitor comments, contact details for the maintainer and a stamp (with ink-pad) for your own log book to prove that you've been there. Dedicated letterboxers carry their own stamps for the visitors book along with an ink-pad as a backup. Sometimes people will leave stamped and addressed postcards - the idea is that the next visitor posts it back to them when they get home along with a message. Locals tend to leave them for visitors from farther afield, and I've heard reports of cards being posted back from all around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g2ikn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g2ikn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two approaches to Dartmoor letterboxing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Letterboxing as a hobby&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small number of people take it rather seriously. They have a club and produce catalogues of grid-references and guides to the hobby. Some of the boxes are &quot;secret&quot; and can only be found by deciphering cryptic clues. Club members log the stamps of the boxes they've visited, work towards achievement badges and attend meets. If this attracts you, you'll find resources &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/visiting/vi-enjoyingdartmoor/vi-letterboxing/starting-letterboxing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4wvC.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4wvC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Casual letterboxing with kids&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much more commonly, people just look for the boxes ad-hoc as they walk. There are thousands of them out there (no-one knows how many) so in most areas they're not hard to find. You soon get a feel for the kind of places they are cached. Like most locals I only letterbox when I'm with kids, and they love to poke around the nooks and crannies till they find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ppJn.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ppJn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Letterboxing code of practice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather sadly it's quite common to find boxes which haven't been re-sealed properly and replaced back in their sheltered cache - so the visitors book is destroyed by damp. Or boxes where someone has stolen the stamp. Please don't spoil other people's enjoyment: it will most likely be a kid that you disappoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as others have said, be sensible on the ranges and don't handle anything suspicious. Your chances of encountering dangerous ordinance are very low but there's no need to take risks. Most modern boxes are plastic containers but there a still a few in metal boxes. It's usually pretty obvious what they are from the way they've been hidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T18:31:29.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-28T19:06:50.297" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you've noted, the purpose of heavy boots is to reduce the likelihood and severity of foot and ankle injuries.  I would argue that lighter equipment in general also accomplishes the same thing, reducing the need for heavy boots.  You're less likely to place your foot badly, and less likely to be injured if you do, if you're not carrying 100 pounds of gear on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3623" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T19:06:50.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11650" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11653" CreationDate="2016-04-28T19:37:14.303" Score="8" ViewCount="308" Body="&lt;p&gt;Remote, private land with no 'improvements'. Dirt road access up to a small field with a campfire, stream down a hill nearby, surrounded by vast woodland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A group of ~20 people gathering on site from different directions will have 3 to 5 meals together. Individuals or smaller groups will bring their own food. A single person or group is responsible for the kitchen supplies, in terms of cooking and cleanup equipment. This includes hand washing needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the necessary kitchen supplies to accommodate a group (essentially car camping) in the woods?&lt;/strong&gt; If this answer can be general enough to apply to group camping in a variety of settings that would be nice. I'm not looking for a specific camp-kitchen item to buy online, I'm looking for general items needed like &quot;2 bins for stream water, 1 water container with spout for hand washing, biodegradable soap...&quot; &lt;em&gt;Emphasis on hygiene and safety.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T22:42:31.833" Title="What are important components of a camp kitchen?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11651" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11679" CreationDate="2016-04-28T19:54:32.067" Score="8" ViewCount="1893" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to setup dish and hand washing stations for a group of folks in a fairly-wild woodland, in a car-camping summertime setting, for 2-5 days (depending on the occasion). &lt;strong&gt;Is stream water fit for cleaning hands, dishes, waste bins/buckets?&lt;/strong&gt; Water used for cooking or drinking will be well-boiled or from a known-potable source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping the answer to the overarching question will satisfy these sub-questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can stream water be used for washing dishes, cups, and hands, or does it need to first be filtered/purified? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What if that stream water is used in combination with biodegradable plant-based camp soap?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does vinegar or bleach need to be added to the container full of washing water to make it safe?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does temperature matter? If so, how much and what is preferable?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Emphasis on avoiding illness for a group of people with diverse outdoor experience/background.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might be a tricky question because it probably depends so much on the river/water source. In this particular case, the stream I'm considering is one that flows well and pretty cold year-round, located in the Adirondack Park of New York. It's not in total wilderness but in a pretty remote area anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I and others don't consider it potable without treatment, but I wouldn't expect to die from drinking it and wouldn't be surprised if I was perfectly unharmed by drinking from it for a weekend...though for that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if I was pretty harmed by doing so - yet to do any water quality test on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-04-28T20:42:36.943" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T02:11:27.707" Title="What water is fit for cleaning hands &amp; gear during a visit to the Great Outdoors?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11651" CreationDate="2016-04-28T21:27:23.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this post: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8502/how-to-clean-cookware?rq=1&quot;&gt;How to clean cookware?&lt;/a&gt; which focuses more on equipment for cleaning (soap, sponge, sand, that sort of thing), one answer is directly related to this question (&lt;em&gt;emphasis added&lt;/em&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Regardless of your cleaning procedures, &lt;strong&gt;you definitely should use purified drinking-quality water for at least the final rinse of your dishes.&lt;/strong&gt; I always play it safe and use purified water for all dish washing, unless I specifically intend to boil water again in the same pot later for purification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That author didn't provide any citation or reason however, aside from their own tendency to play it safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the above question, with a group of people washing dishes and hands, purifying all water used for (final) cleaning could be a big task. I'm not sure if simply adding vinegar, baking soda, or bleach in some ratio is adequate to purify the stream water for cleaning things, or if it truly needs to be purified as if becoming potable (which those chemical treatments could do somewhat, but potable to me means filtering and a more careful chemical treatment OR boiling, both of which could be challenging on a group dish-washing scale).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I ended up doing recently is hauling water containers (7gls) full of tap water just to have some easy dish cleaning / hand-washing water, and drinking water (this tap ain't great but it won't make you [immediately] sick).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used tub w/ stream water for first rinse + rubbing grease out, tub w/ tap water and soap for sudsing, then tap from a spout for final rinse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty easy, just weight to bring in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-05-01T22:52:28.020" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11650" CreationDate="2016-04-28T22:42:31.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good car camping kitchen, in my mind, mimics a home kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Propane stove(s) with a total of 2-4 burners (maybe 6 if it is a big group)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Propane oven or grill (either propane or charcoal) depending on your menu&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multiple lighters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pots, pans, and utensils suitable for the menu(s) and group size&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like a large pot (for pasta), medium pot (vegetables), small pot (sauces), large fry pan, small fry pan, colander, and pot holders&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the menu and group size you might need larger pots and more fry pans. Make sure you check how they fit on the stove burners. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knives and cutting boards&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coffee pot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food cooler(s) (possibly propane, solar, or electric)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink cooler(s) (possibly propane, solar, or electric)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food storage container (durable and animal/rodent proof)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean water tank(s) with an adjustable spigot minimum of 5 gallons, but at least 1 gallon of capacity per person&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I suggest bringing water from home and not trying to filter/purify stream water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soapy water basin(s) (2 gallon size)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse water basin(s) (2 gallon size)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dish towels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Propane lantern(s): one for each working area (e.g., stove, grill, dishes, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Emergency 5-gallon water bucket &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter (if rain and/or bugs are a potential problem)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All propane appliances should run off of 5 gallon central propane tank(s). This requires adapters, hoses, and T fittings. You will also want table(s) to set up on. Make sure the table fits in your car and get enough that there is space for everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your plans seem a little problematic in that a group of 20 people bringing food individually or in small groups means you need a kitchen for each cooking group. That is a lot of kitchens. Ideally, you would plan a menu and have everyone contribute. Cooking for 20 is difficult, but not impossible. Two groups of 10 would be ideal in my mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need lots of little groups, you probably want a simpler kitchen and limit what people can bring. Easiest would be for everyone to eat only dehydrated bagged meals. With only 3-5 meals (presumably only 2 dinners) you can just grill the whole time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-04-28T22:42:31.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7606" CreationDate="2016-04-29T02:14:47.023" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beyond the obvious &quot;having cordage with you at all times&quot; I have found they are good conversation starters. I see somebody wearing one, I can make some assumptions about their interests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9389" LastActivityDate="2016-04-29T02:14:47.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-29T06:15:06.403" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider is the height of the heel. I personally think it is actually much easier to roll your ankle whilst wearing the 'proper hike boots' with the higher heels (and I have unfortunately done so quite often especially when carrying a heavy pack) than it is with the (usually) lower heel of the 'lightweight sports shoes'. The amount of ankle support the 'hike boots' give you can be easily measured for yourself. Put them on and lace them up then deliberately stand on the outside edge of the boot and try to start to roll your ankle. I've tried this with a number of these styles of boot and they didn't give much if any support, even when laced up tightly. They will NOT stop you rolling your ankle. I find the lower shoes do not roll so easily and when they do (and they will) it doesn't hurt so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9391" LastActivityDate="2016-04-29T06:15:06.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7242" CreationDate="2016-04-29T06:23:12.713" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds like exercise induced Vasculitis.  This is tiny blood vessels which break due to heat &amp;amp; restriction due to socks &amp;amp; friction.  Also known as a golfers rash.  It tends to happen more in people over 50.  It has nothing to do with being overweight either as someone commented on the web.  Mine was as a result of hiking a minimum of 25km per day in heat on a walking holiday.  Creams do not help.  Antihistamine tablets could help but also removing socks and shoes when resting and elevating your feet.  I saw a consultant for this diagnosis.  In my case I've been left with some scaring but other people on my walk recovered completely when they returned home.  It is not well documented as a condition so I hope this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9393" LastActivityDate="2016-04-29T06:23:12.713" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-04-29T20:58:11.747" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Twenty years ago I hiked the Bandiagara Falaise in a pair of trail running shoes. A couple in our party actually wore Tevas. The choice wasn't made out of fashion or ignorance (6 year 82nd Airborne veteran here) but out of what would work best in 121°F (49°C) heat traversing steep canyon hikes and with in the same day long stretches of walking on sandy flats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was in the service the most popular boot was the Jungle Boot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VBzMY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VBzMY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Jungle Boot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.askahain.de/vietnam/vn-database-mirror/USarmy/Jungleboots.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jungle boot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were a cloth upper with leather lowers. People loved them because they were light and breathable and as you can see from the image, there wasn't a whole lot of ankle support. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9399" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T15:02:24.307" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T15:02:24.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11613" CreationDate="2016-04-30T00:33:57.600" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;That snow clearly isn't fresh and has been slowly melting and refreezing for a few days. The thing is, prints get larger as the snow melts. I own retrievers that weight about 34 kg (75 lb) and I've seen their prints appear that large after a few days of mild temps even though they're significantly smaller than the average North American wolf. So whatever made that print isn't necessarily very large. In fact, if that were a print of the animal's actual paw size, that would be a &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; wolf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to determine what made that print, you're first going to need to find fresh prints in new snow to get an accurate idea of size. That print could have been made by an average sized dog, a large wolf, or anything in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5795" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T00:33:57.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11548" CreationDate="2016-04-30T19:34:04.550" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read how Eskimos would approach a polar bear and while the team of sled dogs kept it a bit distracted he would circle the bear until the sun is just at the right place so it shines in the bears eyes, you have to strike right at that exact moment and get past bruins paws. I would not stake my life on it if I were you just from what I've said though. And the weather and terrain of course have to be right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9404" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T19:34:04.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1393" CreationDate="2016-04-30T19:50:40.730" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for liquid/squeezable food you have quite a lot of options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baby food in pre-made pouches. Surprisingly tasty, balanced meals and there's usually a range of texture options. Not cheap long term, but for a single dive each diver could easily carry enough to keep them well fuelled even if working hard. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy a DIY pouch prep machine. [a Infantino Squeeze Station](Infantino Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009IWNPXK/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_UJqjxbPENBCM2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009IWNPXK/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_UJqjxbPENBCM2&lt;/a&gt;) Designed for people who want to package their own baby food. You can make your own meals to taste, blend and package into squeeze pouches. You can buy disposable or reusable pouches.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A meal replacement powdered food such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://huel.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a Huel&lt;/a&gt;  or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.soylent.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a Soylent&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a diver myself I'm curious about how you're planning to ingest liquid/gel/soft food underwater. Do you have full face masks with a drinking function or are you just going to take a regulator out, swig from the pouch/bottle and then put the regulator back in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the latter then you should practice the procedure in shallow water and make sure you monitor the additional gas use from repeated purging as you drink a full bottle so you can factor it into your gas consumption calculations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9258" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T19:50:40.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11637" CreationDate="2016-04-30T20:22:29.007" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a big difference between a 'non-profit' organisation and just doing something on a casual basis without asking for payment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if you are advertising your services in any way then there is a good chance that you would be considered to be a business regardless of whether you ask for payment. Note that in most jurisdictions charitable and non-profit organisations  need similar public liability insurance to businesses, although they may be able to get it cheaper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They key legal difference is that if you are acting in what might be construed as a professional capacity then you will have a clear duty of care to anybody that you are instructing and as such would have a clear cut liability for anything going wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case where you are very clearly just offering advice and company to a casual acquaintance there is still no guarantee that you won't face any legal liability but it will be much less well defined and the chances are that consumer protection law won't apply and it will just be a case of having to prove personal negligence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of minors there are a whole other set of issues to do with child protection which go beyond the specific safety aspects of the activity and here is it probably best not to undertake any kind of instruction of a minor unless it is a properly organised activity and you have consulted their parents or guardian. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-04-30T22:19:10.170" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T22:19:10.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3411" CreationDate="2016-04-30T23:10:04.890" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a &lt;strong&gt;common expectation&lt;/strong&gt; that, like in your daily routine, you can expect to keep your feet nice and dry for an entire multi-day hike. Gear manufacturers contribute to this perception by promoting equipment as &lt;em&gt;waterproof&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;breathable&lt;/em&gt;, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact is, if it rains, you can't. There are a number of reasons why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your shoe requires a big hole in it to put your foot in. There is a sock boundary layer that will absorb water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Over the course of walking in a rainy day, rain lands on the upper side of the shoe/boot and it will be absorbed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking paths on a rainy day, there will be water flow from rivulets to streams, or at worst, rivers you will have to ford. You mention the Kepler Track which is in Fiordland. As Fiordland has glacier-cut valleys, water quickly runs off the peaks and so water levels rise quickly. With a lot of rain overnight, you can expect to have to submerge your feet in streams if there has been heavy or lengthy rain periods prior. All rivers on the Kepler Track have bridges though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Andrew Skurka says it &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQTcQhL08A&amp;amp;t=29m30s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When it's wet outside, there's nothing I can do about keeping anything about me dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen walkers (trampers in NZ) often ask rangers how to keep their feet dry in the rain. Every ranger I have seen answer that has responded with &quot;Unfortunately, you can't&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, there is &lt;strong&gt;good news&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walking with wet feet is not so bad. Your feet warm any water and so you get kind of a squishy, wetsuit effect. I have walked whole days with wet shoes, which is fine as long as I have a plan to dry my feet at day end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walking the Kepler track (and most other trails in the region), there will almost certainly be a warm, dry hut at the end of the day. Plan on getting footwear that you can dry quickly i.e. a removable sole.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take plenty of dry socks. Dry feet in nice clean dry socks at the end of a long rainy day are wonderful!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB. I am presuming that you walk the Kepler Track in the summer open season, not the winter season. Winter season is a different story and not for inexperienced trampers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9405" LastEditorUserId="9405" LastEditDate="2016-04-30T23:16:49.433" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T23:16:49.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2016-04-30T23:40:55.357" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As of November 2015, Google Maps now has &lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.googleblog.com/2015/11/take-walk-on-wild-side-with-street-view.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;StreetView for the following tracks&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Milford Track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kepler Track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Abel Tasman Coast Track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lake Waikaremoana&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heaphy Track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Routeburn Track&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rakiura Track (Stewart Island)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the purists may bemoan this, they can be a good resource for identifying challenging parts, highlights or becoming familiar with a route. As always, StreetView is never as good as actually being there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9405" LastActivityDate="2016-04-30T23:40:55.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11670" CreationDate="2016-05-01T23:56:29.613" Score="18" ViewCount="1962" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is not a duplicate of either (1)  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7602/ice-skating-on-a-frozen-lake-how-thick-should-the-ice-be&quot;&gt;Ice skating on a frozen lake -- how thick should the ice be?&lt;/a&gt;, which only asks how thick the ice should be; or (2) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10027/how-to-determine-the-thickness-of-ice&quot;&gt;How to determine the thickness of ice?&lt;/a&gt;, which only asks how to determine how thick the ice is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a child, we skated on a couple of lakes in Connecticut.  One day my father would declare that &quot;It's safe now&quot; and off we would go.  No one ever fell through.  He did not drill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: &lt;strong&gt;short of drilling&lt;/strong&gt;, how do locals decide the ice on their lakes is safe for winter sports?  I don't remember the criteria my father used, except on the larger lake the ice had to extend very close to the spill-way, which was in essence an artificial outlet stream.  (We stayed away from that area.)  If it was safe on the larger lake, it would be safe on the smaller lake.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live (Northern VA), the only safe assumption is that the ice is never safe.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification:  If you think drilling is the only way to declare ice safe, in your area for your lakes, that would be a valid answer.  But I am still more interested in how people can make the judgement without drilling.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2019-03-26T20:47:13.217" Title="How do locals (short of drilling) determine that lake ice is safe for skating, ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11651" CreationDate="2016-05-02T04:48:56.867" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question is essentially &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is stream water fit for cleaning hands, dishes, waste bins/buckets? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and then it becomes really an issue of volume as you have a party of people who you need to cater for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;it can be be, but likely not&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People take different perspectives on the risk of contaminated water. Compared to others I have met who have sourced at the same water sources as me, I tend to be overly cautious. But I have drunk water directly from running streams and it was likely the purest water I have ever had - icy cold and amazingly fresh. But I was very confident about the watershed that fed the stream, being fairly certain that there were no humans upstream and few, if any, animals. Given that you are going to an area that is reachable by car, I would suggest the answer is &lt;strong&gt;probably not&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So unless you are remote enough that no humans or few animals will be upstream, I would &lt;strong&gt;filter&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;bring water in&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a myriad of filter techniques/products around. For higher than one person volume, &lt;a href=&quot;http://lifestraw.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lifestraw&lt;/a&gt; makes a Mission Pack and Family Pack. Both of these feed into the same straw-type device and are gravity fed, so with enough source water, you can fill it and then you essentially have a &lt;strong&gt;dangling tap of filtered water&lt;/strong&gt; that anyone in the group can access. The last person to empty it does the refills :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These aren't cheap options but they are very practical. I personally use a Lifestraw Mission for my hikes (it is packable and lightweight) and when I need to filter from a water source, I scoop about 3 liters, rehydrate as much as I need, refill personal water storage and then dump whatever is extra. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are car camping, I would suggest the cheapest option is just to tank up as much as possible. But water is heavy and you will have a fixed amount without adding any filtering capability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also be able to &lt;strong&gt;boil&lt;/strong&gt; water. But it requires at least a minute of boiling to sterilize it adequately and water volumes for a group of people would require a lot of gas supply. Plus, it's a hassle process to do whenever someone decides that they need some water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9405" LastActivityDate="2016-05-02T04:48:56.867" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10846" CreationDate="2016-05-02T12:50:41.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding energy expense, there is already a good answer.  However, I want to add that when considering &quot;Does a pound on your foot equal 5 pounds on your back?&quot; there are more factors at play than just energy expense.  You should also consider the effect on knees and joints.  As an example - If I put 5 lb weights on both my feet and went up and down stairs for a while... though tired, my knees would be fine.  However if I put 50 lbs. on my back and did that, my knees would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; be okay (I have done this test). Weight on your feet does not impact your knees the same way as weight on your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to wear and tear on the joints and ligaments that support your body, a simple rule like this is not sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-05-02T12:50:41.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11665" CreationDate="2016-05-02T13:46:18.953" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick online search shares a few tips which echo what I've heard from ice fishermen and experienced myself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice freezes first and thaws first at the edges, and these areas tend to be weaker. Knowing the terrain and where the shallows and weak spots are is important.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Larger and more turbulent bodies of water take longer to freeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're going to test the ice, use sticks and rocks to simulate concentrated weight and impacts - not yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some visual cues you can look for - the color of the ice, signs of cracking or slush (or lack-thereof):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Clear, blue or green ice might be thick enough to skate on. White ice typ­i­cally has air or snow trapped inside, weak­en­ing it. Dark ice might be an indi­ca­tion that the ice is quite thin—probably too thin for skating.[1]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case I think local knowledge, or Traditional Ecological Knowledge, gained over time through the science of experience, is very valuable in your search. Your father had a way which worked to tell if the ice is safe, where did he learn that from? Do others in your area have similar methods which could be passed unto you? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, it sounds like using a weak point on a larger lake as a reference could indicate if the smaller lakes are safe. That could be sensible if the reference point was an over-cautious indicator of the conditions needed for the smaller lakes to be safe. Others may use other indicators - X amount of days below 0 degrees, some combination of temperature and precipitation, etc. but it depends on the location and environmental features. Thus, &lt;strong&gt;I'd say your best bet is to refer to local knowledge on what indicators are reliable for your area.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.theclymb.com/tips/8-safety-tips-for-playing-on-frozen-lakes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://blog.theclymb.com/tips/8-safety-tips-for-playing-on-frozen-lakes/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-05-03T12:38:32.993" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T12:38:32.993" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11669" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-02T16:13:26.287" Score="5" ViewCount="596" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was in Japan I bought this miniature backpack, about the size of a wallet.  The sporting good store was in Ochanomizu (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochanomizu&quot;&gt;御茶ノ水&lt;/a&gt;).  It lasted me about 5 years.  Now I am back in the United States and I have trouble finding a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/mqrUouU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell the brand is EIGER, but I can't tell what this model is called or if it has been discontinued.  Normal sized backpacks are easy to find, but not this miniature size which fits in your wallet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, I stuck a chain and a carob-beaner to attach it to my pants.  That's just using stuff I found at the house and hardware store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8704" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:26:10.733" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:26:10.733" Title="What is this miniature backpack called?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11665" CreationDate="2016-05-02T19:03:39.763" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need between 3 and 4&quot; of clear ice to be safe, but, with practice, you can visually determine if there is this amount or more.  The key is that ice can support your weight in boots and not yet be safe for dynamic or concentrated loads (i.e. jumping or ice skating).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic technique is that you first bash the edge of the ice (it is always thinnest at the edge), and look at the thickness underwater.  If your bashing put a lot of cracks in the ice or the ice moved on the water, it isn't safe enough to step on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you step on the ice -- if it cracks and seems springy, you jump off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you jump up and down -- if  that's ok, you go out a few feet and look at the ice at slanted angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because clear ice refracts light differently depending on its thickness, with a little bit of practice, you can see if the ice is 4&quot;+ thick.  In general, if it is 2&quot; or less, a well-driven ski pole will go through it, and if you jump, it it will crack and water will come up through the cracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, this is something of an experience-based process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2016-05-02T19:03:39.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11671" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11697" CreationDate="2016-05-02T19:51:05.600" Score="16" ViewCount="9840" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bottles of olive oil often have special caps that help prevent drips/etc. when pouring the oil, but an entire bottle of olive oil is far to heavy to carry for a hike.  What's the best method for carrying olive oil to avoid getting oil all over the container and everything else after a few uses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To expand upon this:  The problem with putting the oil is just any old container is that the oil tends to cling and drip or run down the sides.  Over time you end up with a very oily/sticky container.  Olive oil comes in containers with special caps to prevent this but a standard container can weigh pounds.  Pounds matter a lot to lightweight hikers who are counting ounces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-05T13:07:57.583" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T23:20:41.500" Title="What's the best way to store/carry olive oil for hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-05-02T21:51:36.633" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on how much you need you can get a variety of food grade plastic bottles for carrying liquids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid drips probably the best option is a squeeze type bottle with both a nozzle and a screw top lid. The combination of a screw top and insert squirt nozzle gives a good combination of ease of refilling, seal security and ease of use with minimal dripping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get these in multiples of 10 or 15ml so they are good for small quantities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-06-02T13:21:38.413" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T13:21:38.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-05-03T00:49:28.783" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go to my local pharmacy and ask for medicine-grade screw-top bottles. These have good seals and only cost pennies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be doubly sure I place the bottle in a plastic bag and carry it in an outside pocket of my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this may seem a bit paranoid, but I once had a nasty experience with butter on my sleeping bag...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-05-03T21:04:23.580" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T21:04:23.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11665" CreationDate="2016-05-03T08:58:40.137" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In sweden, where skate touring is a popular winter sport, skaters bring a device called &quot;ispik&quot;. (Ice pike). They come in two varieties. Either double pike, that looks like a sturdier version of a ski pole or a single pike that looks more like a broomstick with a tapered metal point. Generally speaking a single pike is easier to use but a double pike can also be used in the same manner as a cross country skier uses poles, which is useful if the ice surface is uneven and hard to skate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skaters judge the thickness and quality of the ice by one or more stabs with the pike. With a bit of practice it is quite easy to tell safe ice from questionable ice. Experienced skaters can also tell &quot;thin but it will hold&quot; from &quot;time to turn around&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While skating, the sound is also a useful clue. As the ice gets thinner, the pitch will rise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T08:58:40.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11669" CreationDate="2016-05-03T09:17:07.430" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The closest thing to what you look for are &quot;cpr keychains&quot;. You might also search for &quot;mini backpack keychains&quot; to find similar results near you. Here some some stores that offer similar products:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.werbegeschenk.de/schluesselanhaenger/mit-geldboerse/schluesselanhaenger-mini-rucksack-104124&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Schlüsselanhänger mini Rucksack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000G7P0LG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CPR keychain kit (gloves included)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.surfdome.ie/sprayground_chains_-_sprayground_multi_cam_camo_key_chain_-_multi-164354&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sprayground Multi Cam Camo Key Chain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rcworldmalta.com/ourshop/prod_3061742-Eastpak-POD-Small-Wallet-Key-Chain-Belt-Bag-Mini-Backpack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Eastpak POD Small Wallet Key Chain Belt Bag Mini Backpack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wholesale-direct-first-aid.com/5057-cpr-keychains&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CPR Keychains &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to link diverse offers to not advertise any shop. Delete or modify this answer if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OP might want to look for shops in his own country anyway. Maybe you might even find one made by eiger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-29T12:02:02.463" LastActivityDate="2016-09-29T12:02:02.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11669" CreationDate="2016-05-03T13:05:57.820" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;These aren't exactly the style of backpack you asked for, but I knew I'd seen something visually similar.  There are some outdoors camera cases that are basically mini-backpacks with carabiners.  They've even got places on the outside of the packs for attaching more carabiners or other items.  The two best examples I could find are here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B007P0FZNA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ricoh Adventure Case with Carabiner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nikon-Coolpix-All-Weather-Sport-Digital-Camera-Case-with-EN-EL12-Battery-Charger-Kit-for-AW100-AW110-AW120-P340-S800c-S9500-S9700/39612857&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nikon Coolpix All-Weather Case&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for naming your backpack, I found the most luck when searching for &quot;nylon case with carabiner.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="126" LastEditorUserId="126" LastEditDate="2016-05-03T13:12:20.477" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T13:12:20.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-05-03T19:00:14.843" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first option that comes to mind is a 20 ounce plastic soda bottle or something similar. Lightweight and well sealed, if you fill it only half full it's relatively easy to pour without spilling down the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also a product called the flexible flask that comes with a measuring spout that should prevent any spills, and then you could throw the measuring spout into a ziploc bag when you're not using it to further contain liquids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vapur.us/shop/incognito-flexible-flask/incognito-flexible-flask&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://vapur.us/shop/incognito-flexible-flask/incognito-flexible-flask&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D6s50.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D6s50.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1975" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T19:00:14.843" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2016-05-03T19:42:12.663" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Working in a very tick infested woods for a summer, I accumulated many tick-bites (before learning the wonders of vinegar solutions for repelling ticks). Most of the tick removals were done at the end of the day in my cabin, where I did my thorough tick-checks. This was recommended to me and worked very well in my experience of over 1 month with 5+ ticks a day: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Apply a little liquid soap to a paper towel or cotton swab (white&#xA;  makes it easier to see the tick after it comes off generally). Gently&#xA;  rub the liquid soap-soaked swab on the tick &lt;em&gt;counter-clockwise&lt;/em&gt; and&#xA;  the tick will come right out as if you unscrewed it. Then save it in a sealed container for ID or testing (Lyme disease tests are controversial and unreliable), or destroy it (by fire, flushing, alcohol...not by crushing with your fingers as you don't want to touch it again and they don't crush easily).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The person who told me about this claimed the tick's mouthpart is a corkscrew and this method literally unscrews them, with the soap lubricating, cleaning, and motivating them to release their hold on you. As I said, this worked for me. This person also recommended using a home-made vinegar-based repellent which worked wonders for me, far better than DEET or Permithrin products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, you want to get the tick off ASAP - no need to panic and rush, but do prioritize it so to avoid extra unnecessary hours of risking disease transfer. Doing &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; daily checks on yourself when in areas where you may get tick-bites, and removing them promptly, is important to avoid tick-borne illnesses. If out in the field with no swab or liquid soap, you could try similar alternatives (I had mixed success using hand sanitizer and my finger in the field) or go with the more conventional tweezers or tick-key removal methods, taking care to pinch the tick as close to the mouth as possible and remove the entire tick. If bitten, make note of it and keep a careful watch for symptoms - if infected, the sooner you begin treatment the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-05-03T19:42:12.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11651" CreationDate="2016-05-04T02:11:27.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a far higher risk of disease from poor hygiene by those in the outdoors than the consuming stream water, let alone using it for hand and dish washing. By not using stream water directly, you introduce a level of rationing of water. This rationing is likely to encourage poor hygiene habits, and increase the risk of disease.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For washing hands, if washing in clean water and soap after toileting is deemed to make you hands safe, stream water and soap will make them just as safe unless the water has exceptionally high concentrations of harmful organisms (think why do you wash you hands after toileting). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember &quot;Not clean till dry and clean&quot;, so hand washing facilities must be provided with hand drying (paper towels are best fro a large group). this applies to dishes as well. Have ample tea towels so you can always use clean dry ones (For a large group, each person should supply two - one for their personal dishes, and one to be used for cooking dishes).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cart water in in cars, you will need 4 litres of water per person per day provided you are careful and do not waste it. You will need closer to 10 litres per person per day if you want to be certain of good hygiene practice unless the group is used to strictly rationed water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want to play it safe, and do not want to cart portable water, for hand cleaning and dish washing chemical treatment is the most practical option. Filtering is effective but slow and expensive, boiling, also effective, is expensive in fuel and slow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preferred chemical treatment is sodium hypochlorite - active ingredient in many baby bottle sterilisers. Its safe to take a bottle out the liquid, fill it with milk and stick in in a babies mouth, its safe (as in a safe chemical and the biocide action is effective). Its also environmentally friendly (unlike chlorine based bleach), cheap and readily available. It is also on the WHO list of chemicals suitable for making water potable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easiest source to obtain and use is in tablet form (Milton is one common brand, one table sterilises 30 litres of drinking water in 15 minutes. For hand and dish washing, 1 tablet per 10 litres would not be too much). but its available powered and liquid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T02:11:27.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11680" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11688" CreationDate="2016-05-04T02:51:43.637" Score="9" ViewCount="2368" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are numerous videos online demonstrating that its possible to start a fire using a battery. &lt;a href=&quot;http://lifehacker.com/5288263/start-a-fire-with-a-cellphone-battery&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-fire-using-only-a-battery/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;are&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-63ZsOEzsVg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;four&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6s5pTsuwnw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;examples&lt;/a&gt; using different starting materials. But I have not found any tutorials that address the concept in any kind of comprehensive way. For this technique to be useful in an emergency situation or improvisational challenge, its critical to understand the fundamentals well enough to assess the starting materials you actually have on hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can tell, the fundamental necessary ingredients are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a source of electricity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a flexible, conductive material to connect a circuit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;kindling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it seems to me that there is a tremendous amount of variety in those ingredients. Its not clear to me how to compare different conductive materials for the circuit. I know from this &lt;a href=&quot;https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/16106/why-does-steel-wool-catch-fire-when-rubbed-with-a-battery&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; that thin pieces of metal are easier to heat but I don't know how to choose between different types of metal - something that I expect would be important if you have relatively weak source of electricity. &#xA;Choosing a battery (or other electrical source) seems to be a matter of balancing risk against likelihood of success. If I was using a AA battery, I would not be particularly worried about shocking myself but would wonder if there was enough electrical power to actually ignite something; with a car battery those concerns would be reversed. But I have no idea what the danger of being shocked by something intermediate, like a D battery or a laptop battery, would be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think my question boils down to two main parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How can common batteries and flexible, conductive materials be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assess&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;assessed&lt;/a&gt; for suitability to starting a fire with electricity in a camping/survival setting?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What precautions are appropriate with respect to the materials used?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TO BE CLEAR:&lt;/strong&gt; I am not asking about burning batteries. I am asking about using batteries to produce sufficient heat to be able to ignite kindling AND I am asking about doing so &lt;strong&gt;SAFELY.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9423" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:22:38.730" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:22:38.730" Title="Starting a Fire with a Battery - what are the fundamental guidelines for safety and efficacy?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11681" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11683" CreationDate="2016-05-04T05:39:53.917" Score="29" ViewCount="5142" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering taking a pilgrim's path - Olaf's Trail - in Norway (about 3 weeks). However, I don't want to do it for any religious reasons. I just saw this trail in pictures and thought: &quot;What a great hike!&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would it be offensive towards the pilgrims or the Catholic religion in general to &quot;just hike&quot; on this trail without religious motives? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:27:02.953" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T11:56:22.237" Title="Is it offensive to &quot;just hike&quot; on a pilgrim's path?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11682" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11686" CreationDate="2016-05-04T08:19:29.120" Score="7" ViewCount="1219" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say we have a liter of coke and liter of water. Both of them weight nearly the same. However, the coke contains a lot of calories whereas the water contains none. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite other health-related topics (teeth etc.) and personal taste, would it make sense to carry soda instead of water in respect to save weight (you can carry less food because you have energy in your &quot;water&quot;)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-04T08:32:21.217" LastActivityDate="2016-05-06T07:09:04.403" Title="Carrying soda instead of water due to nutritional energy?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11681" CreationDate="2016-05-04T10:46:01.553" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it would not be offensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A survey of 200 pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago found that motivations were as follows, in order of importance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exercise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adventure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peace, solitude, relaxation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spiritual (but not explicitly religious)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lifetime experience&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A religious pilgrimage (9.6%)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To meet people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://caminoways.com/camino-stats-top-reasons-people-walk-the-camino&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Top reasons why people walk the Camino&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, under 10% viewed their walk as a religious pilgrimage, and this is on a route between two Catholic countries. In a country like Norway with only 5% of Catholics I would imagine that the percentage of religious pilgrims would be smaller still. So as a non-religious walker you would be very much in the majority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this use of these old pilgrimage routes offensive to the minority who still use them for religious reasons? I know people who have completed the Camino and have read many accounts - I've never seen it even hinted that this was an issue. Provided you are sensitive to the feelings of the pilgrims you can be comfortable that no-one will object. And as Ken Graham has pointed out in his comment, pilgrimages are not a sacrament of the Catholic Church and are open to all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it would be perfectly appropriate to walk the route to simply enjoy the country and the experience. I hope you have a great time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Historical note&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've ever read Chaucer's &lt;em&gt;Canterbury Tales&lt;/em&gt; you'll know that motivations for pilgrimage have always been varied. In the regimented medieval world, this might be your only opportunity for a holiday and an adventure. As with the modern holiday industry there were package tours, guidebooks and accommodation touts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found the following account of the atmosphere around shrines like St Olav's and Santiago de Compostella:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the sanctuary itself, particularly the famous ones, pilgrims would be met by a large noisy crowd. In a city like Trondheim, where many pilgrims wandered to visit the grave of St. Olav, there were many people making money from the pilgrims.  Amongst the fellow pilgrims, there would be buskers and entertainers, market stalls and pickpockets, beggars and prostitutes. There were primitive postcards and souvenir pilgrim-badges to buy from licensed traders. Pilgrims showed particular interest in the exotic products, spices, wines and silks, not available at home. Many pilgrims also indulged in a little bit of 'duty free', hiding their purchases from the customs men or bribing the appropriate officials to turn a blind eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside the sanctuary, things were little quieter. As the day progressed, crowds grew and the wine flowed freely. At Santiago de Compostella, the priests despaired that 'all sorts of noises and languages can be heard together, discordant shouts, barbarous singing in German, English, Greek and every other language under the sun'. (Sumption: 213) The behaviour was such that many sanctuaries, such as Durham in England, employed the equivalent of 'bouncers' to keep order and eject those who behaviour was considered too 'rude'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anything, the non-religious hikers of today are more respectful than the religious pilgrims of the past!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.internationalschooltoulouse.net/vs/pilgrims/motive.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why did people go on pilgrimages?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T01:42:03.657" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11682" CreationDate="2016-05-04T14:17:44.237" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Would it make sense to carry soda instead of water in respect to save weight (you can carry less food because you have energy in your &quot;water&quot;)?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, for a variety of reasons (leaving out, as you say &quot;other health related topics&quot;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sugar, powdered Gatorade, and many other water additives all weigh less than soda.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soda comes in cans/bottles which you'll have to pack out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll generally filter/purify at least some of your water anyways, so you're rarely carrying all the water you'll use.  In this case to replace soda with water you'd have to carry more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In warmer weather, soda cans and bottles will start to smell pretty quickly unless washed out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T14:17:44.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11682" CreationDate="2016-05-04T14:53:52.083" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a day hike, yes, it could make sense, if it's the type of day hike where you need to carry water rather than drinking from sources along the way. It's really just a matter of what you enjoy. If you enjoy drinking soda, bring soda.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Let's say we have a liter of coke and liter of water. Both of them weight nearly the same. However, the coke contains a lot of calories whereas the water contains none.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not quite right. The coke contains some carbs, which are part of its weight and volume. If you aren't a person who enjoys drinking coke, then you'd be better off carrying those carbs in some other form that you'd enjoy more. It doesn't give you an advantage in terms of weight carried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T14:53:52.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11680" CreationDate="2016-05-04T15:13:46.167" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As principle behind this think about your old light bulb. One emergency method of lighting a fire used to be to break the glass of the light bulb in your flashlight and burn the filament, no more no less than the way its done with a strand of steel wool for example.&#xA;Now, when you put the filament between positive and negative there will be some resistance in the filament. This &quot;friction&quot; is what heats it up to incandescence and proceeds to burning it out.&#xA;Obviously the energy dumped by the battery is wasted in heat by the filament and the circuit is left open once the filament burned. This is very different than shorting an AA battery using something rather thick, like a paperclip for example. Simplifying: the paperclip, being relatively thick, will not offer enough resistance to dissipate that energy in heat and the battery will be the one suffering for it. For a wire of an X material, the thinner the more resistivity it gets, steel wool is very thin in the finest grades, a light bulb filament is really long and really really thin. When you talk about materials the principle is the same: electrical resistance of one material will be different than the resistivity of another (less resistance = less energy dissipated in heat to turn in incandescence useful for us and more energy the battery has to suffer) Copper has a very low resistivity and high conductivity, that's why we make electrical wires out of it, and we don't want those to heat up too much, steel on the other hand is obviously conductive but offers quite some resistivity, and when the filament is thin will just burn and melt off ( thats what we are looking for). Carbon and graphite are even worse than steel in fact, one of the first light bulbs demonstrated, used carbon filaments&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n1pEM.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n1pEM.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, lets take one of the videos you linked as example: it uses a piece of pencil lead being burned by jumper cables connected to a car battery. In principle no different than a car cigarette lighter but with one big difference in practice: in your car the circuit and your battery are protected by fuses, these, as much as your steel wool filament, are set to &quot;burn out&quot; when there's the chance that the circuit will end shorting out your battery. In the video you are just assuming that the pencil lead will burn out opening the circuit before shorting the battery and that's not always true, the smoke might end coming out from the wrong place. You want to use your car battery? Pull the wires you need from the lighter plug or pull a signal light and break that, at least there will be some fuses in the circuit. With a car battery you wont get shocked, its just about 13V delivered, but the amperage that the battery is capable of delivering is very high, while you need to dissipate all that energy or protect the battery in some way when in a circuit, &lt;strong&gt;dry&lt;/strong&gt; skin offers too much resistance for the amount of volts to push all the amperes the battery is capable through an healty body. If you touch the wires to create sparks instead, both the wires and the sparks can leave burns (and that's also not good for the battery).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cellphone battery example: these days many have short circuit protection ( IEC62133, since 2012, is one of the normative used as a standard for these things, it does vary from country to country though). If you go buy generic lithium batteries you find that they are not all created equal, some are protected, others are not, some are suitable for one thing while some are suitable for something else. When it comes to protection circuit of a cellphone battery the threshold can be set so low that some steel wool will trip it, no juice delivered anymore, depending on the protection system used this can be a temporary switching off or permanent (you might lso find interesting reading about Intrinsic Safety and battery design). A generic, unprotected, el-chapo offbrand lithium battery bought on Ebay can mean trouble in any application. Think that when it comes to these batteries even making your own flashlight requires that you pair a lamp compatible with the cells you will be using so you cant just say that a lithium battery will explode if you use that way, but at the same time just mind that &lt;strong&gt;unprotected&lt;/strong&gt; lithium batteries are not that safe if used outside their specs, so when it comes to lighting a fire (in the fire pit and not on the battery) these might not be the best tool for the job. They are also not cheap so I wouldn't use them just for experimenting, they are more useful in the phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In one of your examples is mentioned a &quot;brillo-pad&quot;: given this is basically the common name used for whatever steel pad used to clean a pot be aware that some are way too thick to give the results you want. Stick with steel wool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;jail&quot; method that uses gum wrapper or a thin piece of the foil in cigarette boxes works because the material is very thin. If you were to use the tinfoil used in kitchens chances are its too thick (tinfoil thicknesses vary)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end, the finest steel wool is a material that you know works with everything, its so thin and its resistance so high that there's no particular risk involved and an AA battery can light it just fine, a 9v is just much easier to use since the terminals are one near the other. Just don't store the two together or you will light a fire in your pocket.&#xA;And talking about storage, many kept spare batteries in the junk drawer without worrying about possibility of shorts and cabinets on fire, and that is more hazardous than lighting a camping fire with steel wool and a 9V battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You were asking about which materials can be safe with which battery. That can go a bit on experience, experimentation or crunching numbers (a resistance formula &lt;em&gt;R = ρL/A&lt;/em&gt; where &lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt; is the total resistance, &lt;em&gt;ρ&lt;/em&gt; is the specific resistance of the stuff the wire is made of, &lt;em&gt;L&lt;/em&gt; is the wire's length, and &lt;em&gt;A&lt;/em&gt; is the thickness of the wire, will tell you what to compare to the battery specs, however noone will bother calculating this ;) ) You don't need to risk anything, once you know the principle you will have a clear idea of what works or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of your links (lifehacker) mentions getting sparks from shorting the terminals... that's &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; what the steel wool+battery does, you dont try to create sparks to light stuff up, you are literally heating and burning up the steel wool itself, it catches fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be really safe you can always make your battery from a lemon and use that to light your steel wool, it wont explode and it will be still fit for eating afterwards. Add a small ball of lint with vaseline if you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-05-04T18:31:29.543" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T18:31:29.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11682" CreationDate="2016-05-04T18:13:57.517" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Let's say we have a liter of coke and liter of water. Both of them weight nearly the same. However, the coke contains a lot of calories whereas the water contains none.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_mass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;law of conservation of mass&lt;/a&gt;, tells us that the total mass/weight of a solution is equal to the sum of the masses of the solute and solvent. So if you add 100 g of sugar (the solute) to 1000 g of water (the solvent), which is roughly the ratio of sugar to water in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coca-colaproductfacts.com/en/coca-cola-products/coca-cola/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;soda&lt;/a&gt;, the sugar water solution would weight 1100 g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no such law for conservation of volume. Sugar has a density of about 1.59 g/ml and water has a density of 1 g/ml. When you add 62.90 ml of sugar (which will weigh 100 g) to 1000 ml of water (which will weigh 1000 g) the sugar will dissolve into the water and the total volume will change. I am not sure how to calculate the exact volume (or density) of the solution but it will be more than 100 ml and less than 162.9 ml. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means is that there is no weight benefit of premixing the sugar and the water, but there is a volume benefit and possibly a taste benefit. Since sugar has a relatively low &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;caloric density&lt;/a&gt; (2.4 cal/g) compared to fat (9 cal/g) you would be better off carrying fatty foods to eat with pure water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2016-05-05T14:15:11.460" LastActivityDate="2016-05-05T14:15:11.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11669" CreationDate="2016-05-04T21:39:59.840" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something like this is probably more likely to be marketed as a 'pouch' than a 'mini-backpack'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A search for 'belt pouch' or 'utility pouch' on ebay will get you what you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T21:39:59.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11681" CreationDate="2016-05-04T21:55:12.597" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a fair argument that the general experience of hiking is part of the religious experience of a pilgrimage , for example, solitude, relaxtion , physical exercise and exploring the natural world. So it would seem unreasonable for anybody to take offense that you want to experience those things from a secular rather than religious perspective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only possible exception is if a particular route is so congested that you are competing with people who have a specific religious reason to do it although in his case it probable isn't that attractive to you anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may also be certain religious sites or calendar festivals which are restricted to adherents of a particular religion more or less formally. The Haag pilgrimage to Mecca is an obvious example but most religions are fairly welcoming to other denominations or non religions people who are generally respectful (as any hiker should be anyway). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you are travelling in a strongly religious area is is basic politeness to pay at least basic respect to the local customs within the scope of your own conscience. So you may want to research exactly what that might entail and whether it would involve condoning practices that you are uncomfortable with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly  some religiously conservative communities may not be tolerant of certain races, religions, nationalities or sexualities etc so do your research and make your own decision there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said all of that Norway is one of the most secular and liberal countries on earth so as long as you observe basic courtesy to others and respect the local laws there is no way you will encounter any problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-05-04T22:44:12.240" LastActivityDate="2016-05-04T22:44:12.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2016-05-05T02:18:05.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can browse the 1:50,000 Topographic Map of New Zealand here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/767-nz-topo50-maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/767-nz-topo50-maps/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can download it too but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a) you need to register with a valid email address and create a password&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b) the whole thing is about 10GB and you can only download 2GB at at time &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just set a crop around the area you're interested in and you can download the maps for that area.  Depending on where the boundaries of the crop are you will get some entire sheets and some portions of others (see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mapworld.co.nz/southtopo50.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;index&lt;/a&gt;).  The images are georeferenced and you can chose which projection/datum when you download.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Definitely get paper copies before you hit the trail but it doesn't hurt to study the digital versions beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9431" LastActivityDate="2016-05-05T02:18:05.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9489" CreationDate="2016-05-05T06:14:12.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may be referring to a bunny ears figure eight - it's an versatile knot used to construct rock climbing anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountry.com/explore/bunny-ears-the-best-multi-pitch-climbing-knot-youve-never-heard-of&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backcountry.com/explore/bunny-ears-the-best-multi-pitch-climbing-knot-youve-never-heard-of&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has the benefit of having redundancy in the main loop (two loops in bunny ears compared to one in a typical figure eight). It's also possible to create 'ears' of different lengths - which is helpful if you need to equalize different gear placements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9429" LastActivityDate="2016-05-05T06:14:12.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11682" CreationDate="2016-05-05T22:57:46.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a fluid perspective - &#xA;The energy density of most soda (non-diet types) is high enough to kick off a digestive system response for processing food, which requires fluids and oxygen. In the case of dehydration or high levels of exertion, where fluid replacement is the aim this is undesirable. Coke and energy drinks that contain Caffeine add a diuretic, meaning they are even less effective for hydration. In these situations Soda is a bad choice (although infinity better than nothing) for fluid replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you are on a gentle hike with moderate temperatures, you will be able to maintain hydration with Soda. If there is any chance of becoming dehydrated or needing to maintain high fluid intake to maintain hydration, Water is by far the most preferable option.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better option than Soda is isotonic sports drinks, however, be aware that most items sold as sports drinks are not much better than soda. Most of the modern ones contain way too much sugar and not enough salts and minerals, because true isotonic sports drinks taste a lot like watered down sweat and don't sell well at the convince stores. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said - (nearly) anything you drink is infinity better than something you don't like the taste of and won't drink. If you would drink 2 litres of Coke over a days hiking vs sip only 200ml or water, take the Coke. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a food/energy source perspective: &#xA;Sugar is bad for hiking. It gives you a short high then a massive crash. Without careful management, this cycle can make an otherwise pleasant day one from hell, especially if you are not used to doing it. Solid food is a better way to get energy has you have a more accurate idea of what is going into your system, and you tend to take foods that provide better slow release, longer lasting energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each person is different, so what does not work me may be perfect for you. All I suggest is try it on a shorter easy trip and see if it works for you. For me, first and last time I tried energy drinks on a trail, I spend the next miserable hour with stomach cramps and no energy - I'm sticking to water and isotonic drinks for my fluids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-05-05T22:57:46.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11682" CreationDate="2016-05-06T07:09:04.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be brief. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100 grams of sugar and 900g of water when mixed still 100g of sugar plus 900g of water, not a miracle of 100g sugar and 1000g water concoction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mass preserving law, considering almost no nuclear or chemical reaction inside your Cola (I'm not so sure about this hell mixture). So, if you want fast calories at hike, take carbohydrates as the maltodextrins. If you want the most light-weight calories, grab a pure fat.&lt;/em&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9403" LastActivityDate="2016-05-06T07:09:04.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-05-06T12:49:24.773" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some years ago I had the same problem. But, while shopping at my grocery store I looked at the olive oil options. Several came in small plastic bottles (maybe 3 oz), and since they were 'real' olive oil bottles had the funky no-drip top. After using up the original oil I've just refilled as necessary. Look around at your local supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2016-05-06T12:49:24.773" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11548" CreationDate="2016-05-06T17:36:30.213" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you sever the spinal column near the top of the body there is no body injury that can be done with a knife that is going to result in instant death/disablement of any animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any injury that does not completely disable the animals neurological system is going to be dependent on the animal bleeding to the point that they become unconscious. Even if your head is completely removed from your body &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/12/its-possible-to-briefly-remain-conscious-after-being-beheaded/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;your brain can function for up to 15 seconds.&lt;/a&gt; Best case scenario of a human with a knife is to stop the heart or completely sever the carotid arteries supplying blood to the brain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;15 seconds in close proximity to an injured bear is likely to be an experience that last the rest of your life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find occasional reference of 'Bear against Man with Knife' where the Man lives and the Bear does not. But this is a scenario of last resort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-05-07T09:42:56.777" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T09:42:56.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9798" CreationDate="2016-05-07T10:23:41.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a materials scientist, so can't give you a definitive answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I do know that if you make your own silnylon or silpoly by soaking the base fabric in a solution of silicone and mineral spirit and air-drying, the final material is far less slippery than commercial silnylon/silpoly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it seems that the slippery finish of the commercial materials is an artifact of the manufacturing process used, rather than anything inherent in the silicon itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T10:23:41.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11700" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11706" CreationDate="2016-05-07T17:11:14.970" Score="10" ViewCount="955" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to get a new Day/Weekend Pack. I have been looking at few in the 32-35L range but I a noticed that at least with Osprey packs I am right in between their S/M  and their M/L. I have a 19in torso. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;S/M is for torso's 16-20 and the M/L is for 19-23in. The waist sizes are irrelevant as I will never be under 29in or over 50in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been looking around and cannot find any comments regarding which size to go with I am in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if you go up you get a little more capacity. If you go down it is lighter...slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious if there is a standard out there regarding if you should go up if you can or down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9442" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:40:59.650" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:40:59.650" Title="Which size back pack if between sizes" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11701" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11703" CreationDate="2016-05-07T19:02:20.957" Score="9" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the consequences of firing a gun in a US national park due to distress? (for instance, shooting at an attacking animal, or firing in the air to attract attention when stranded)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a notorious controversy regarding the use of firearms for self defense, but let's set that aside and consider the following situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiker in a national park got stranded, became scared for his life and fired in the air to attract attention.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiker was attacked by an animal, feared for his life, shot at the animal, missed and the animal ran away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Same as 2 except the animal was hit, injured, and ran away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Same as 2 except the animal was killed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's also set aside the complicated legal situation with regards to firearms in the US, and assume the hiker in question was carrying his weapon in a manner fully compliant with the applicable law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since gunfire is loud and considered suspicious, I imagine all 4 of these scenarios would attract attention from park rangers, rescue personnel, and possibly other emergency services. I imagine they would start searching for the source immediately, and probably arrive near where the shot was fired in a matter of hours at most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose also the hiker makes no attempt to flee or hide from anyone who does arrive. When someone arrives on the scene, and the situation is explained (ie. fired a gun because believed to have no other option), what happens next?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would the hiker get a long lecture from the rangers and a fine? Would they get arrested? Would this be considered an irresponsible/unwarranted discharge of a firearm? Would shooting the animal be treated as poaching (even though clearly the intent was not to hunt)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6126" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T21:16:51.673" Title="Gunfire in US national parks" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11701" CreationDate="2016-05-07T21:16:51.673" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In your first example (a lost hiker firing shots into the air) at minimum a citation should be issued, firing into the air is a violation of basic gun safety; you don't know where that bullet is going to come back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider also that most visitors to National Parks are unfamiliar with the area and the wildlife; there will be little sympathy for someone shooting an animal that experienced outdoorsmen would not consider a danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general it's illegal to discharge a firearm in a national park, although there are some units of the National Park Service that do allow hunting.  (Perhaps more likely in units like &quot;National Recreation Areas&quot;, as most Parks are quite restrictive in what you can do and where you can go.)  If you do find a need to discharge a firearm in self-defense or distress, the legal situation will still end up very complicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The possible responses range from a lecture or written warning to a citation or prosecution.  For example, a Wyoming man was &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/trial-sets-precedent/article_cbfb731d-9953-57af-beb0-c1df95350953.html&quot;&gt;successfully prosecuted&lt;/a&gt; (by a jury that included hunters) for killing a Grizzly although he claimed self-defense, while a woman in Glacier National Park was &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/hungryhorsenews/news/aggressive-deer-sparks-first-glacier-gun-incident/article_cf98a292-c07c-5b34-98a2-b88679f3d5bf.html&quot;&gt;given a written warning&lt;/a&gt; after firing shots to scare away an aggressive deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factors determining the response will include how far way the animal was, whether the person had other options for escaping the situation, the behavior of the animal, and probably the demeanor of the shooter and mood of the ranger.  These are very situational and are not set out in statutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a final note, &quot;in a matter of hours at most&quot; likely depends on the park and terrain; particularly out West the parks are not small.  In the more remote areas it's quite possible a gunshot might not be heard at all, and the response time may take many hours even if it could be located.  Yellowstone, for example, is 2.2 million acres and as the crow flies, 100km north to south and 87km east to west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T21:16:51.673" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11704" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-07T22:53:25.620" Score="0" ViewCount="1183" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a portable water filter product (for backpacking), like the following two...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00RU3RBNE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MSR AutoFlow Gravity Filter by MSR&lt;/a&gt;, which seems to filter relatively large volumes of water (~4 Liters) quickly (~1.75 Liters/Minute) and is portable (299 Grams), but does not seem to filter fluoride and chlorine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00B48XM2K&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Seychelle 28 Ounce Flip Top Water Bottle with Advanced Filter&lt;/a&gt;, which seems to filter fluoride and chlorine and is very portable, but does not seem to filter large volumes of water at a time, it requires sucking with one's mouth through a straw, and it is energy-consuming, it is time-consuming.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...but a product that is a blend between the two and/or shares its good features?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filters fluoride and chlorine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filters quickly (~1.75 Liters/Minute)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filters easily (does not require sucking with one's mouth) - a pump is acceptable, gravity is better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filters relatively large volumes of water (~4 Liters)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is portable (&amp;lt; 1 pound)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a clean water solution for when backpacking through city and nature for varying lengths of time.  I've read mixed reports about the purpose/effect of fluoridated water for/on human health, and I want to be able to filter out the fluoride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6591" LastEditorUserId="6591" LastEditDate="2016-05-08T17:51:31.353" LastActivityDate="2019-09-21T15:34:55.537" Title="Is there a portable fluoride water filter?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2016-05-07T22:56:23.980" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there really such a clear dichotomy between open tarps and enclosed tents?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP implies that open tarps offer a qualitatively different and superior experience to enclosed tents. My response would be: not for everyone, and not in all conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality there's a continuum from cowboy-camping through many types of tarp, to tarps combined with a bivy or nest, through many types of tarp tent and on to conventional tents. As soon as a tarper adds a groundsheet and insect protection they're carrying the same components as a tarp-tent, so the whole distinction becomes pretty moot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example I now use a tarp-tent that weighs less than my old tarp/nest setup. Are you really more &quot;at one with nature&quot; when imprisoned in a tiny bivy under a flat tarp in storm-pitch? And even with a conventional tent many people sleep with the doors open when conditions permit. The whole issue is quite ambiguous and nuanced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In practice the best choice is a balance between personal preference and local conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know people who flat-out hate the idea of tarping. They walk all day in nature but find that they sleep better with the psychological protection of an enclosed tent. And this is surely a perfectly valid choice? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even for minimalists the sensible choice will vary with conditions. In the New England woods tarping could be great for some. In an Icelandic dust-storm, not so much. Some ultralight tarpers will put up with almost any level of discomfort or inconvenience in pursuit of their ideal, but most of us are more pragmatic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where tarping breaks down: a summer trek in the Scottish hills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the right conditions I love to cowboy-camp or tarp. But not on a multi-day in the Highlands...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I camp in a sheltered site I might be dealing with hellacious swarms of biting midges. If I choose a high and exposed site to avoid the beasties I may be hit by sudden 70mph winds and driving rain from unpredictable directions. I may have to camp on very boggy ground. And the ticks can carry Lyme's. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could cobble something together with a flat tarp and bivy. But it will be less practical, less safe and likely no lighter than a storm-worthy tarp tent with integrated insect net and bathtub groundsheet. The tent wins - I'm there to have fun, not to meet a Platonic ideal of purity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in Scotland it's vanishingly rare to see a tarp in the hills (the exception is the TrailStar with nest, but that's a special case). You'll find the same in Scandinavia. In northern Europe tarping is generally restricted to the woodcraft crowd, and for good reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are many other scenarios where tarping is a step too far for most. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pragmatism trumps dogmatism&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With ultralight tarpers you often find there's a whiff of &quot;holier than thou&quot; as though their experience is somehow more pure and more valid than everyone else's. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But we all go to the hills for our own motives and enjoy wild land in different ways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So find the balance that works for you and your local conditions, and hike your own hike!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-05-10T09:38:17.120" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T09:38:17.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11700" CreationDate="2016-05-07T23:09:26.763" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only answer is to go to a store and try on the sack for real. Take your actual gear to try with it, and use your normal packing technique. Try to choose a store with a trained fitter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take it home on appro and try it around the house for a few hours so you can return it if it doesn't carry well for you. It's worth the effort - a badly fitting pack is an ongoing misery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rucksack design and fitting is a very imprecise art - there's no way to tell what will work for you without simply trying it on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-05-07T23:09:26.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11707" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-09T15:23:07.383" Score="3" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;A crossbow I purchased (a Stryker 380) came with a drawing apparatus made of cord and a couple plastic parts. I haven't been using it since drawing with fingers works just fine. But now I'm wondering if the apparatus is not just for ease of drawing, but is also for safety. Are there safety considerations, or is it just for convenience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-16T05:24:17.983" LastActivityDate="2017-09-16T05:24:17.983" Title="Drawing a crossbow with or without drawing apparatus" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11707" CreationDate="2016-05-09T20:45:53.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I had done a little more homework, I would have found a manual online for this closely related bow. It describes drawing the bow either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.strykerxbow.com/downloads/OMDesertStryker07.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.strykerxbow.com/downloads/OMDesertStryker07.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;MANUAL DRAW&#xA;Place the arch of foot in bow stirrup. Using both hands firmly grasp&#xA;close to the center of the string and draw the string back until you&#xA;hear it click firmly in place.&#xA;&#xA;OPTIONAL EZ2DRAW COCKING AID&#xA;(Description of how to use that.)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2016-05-09T20:45:53.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11709" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11711" CreationDate="2016-05-10T06:14:50.860" Score="16" ViewCount="23569" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nearly every outdoor shoe has this sling on its heel. No matter whether it's a hiking-boot, snowboard-boot or something else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the left-hand side of this picture for example:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjyj6.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjyj6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the purpose of it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T14:49:23.970" Title="What's the purpose of the sling on the heel of boots?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11709" CreationDate="2016-05-10T06:25:26.900" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carrying.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sling makes it easy to attach the shoe/boot to a backpack or something else. (For me, this is the main point.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, you can clip your approach shoes to your climbing harness (or your pack, if you carry one) if you plan to descend after a multi-pitch route instead of abseiling. Or you might want to take off your shoes and switch to a pair of sandals when crossing a stream. Basically anything that involves the need to carry your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point is that sometimes these slings can also make it easier to put on the shoes. That highly depends on the shoe and situation, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-05-10T12:08:59.233" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T12:08:59.233" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11709" CreationDate="2016-05-10T10:33:29.253" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main use is pulling your shoes on, this is particularly obvious in rock climbing shoes that will often have multiple loops so you can really yank on them.  Alternatively this can be used as an attachment point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From James Jenkins in the comments below - &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping&lt;/a&gt; &quot;Tall boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a boot hook tool to help pulling the boots on&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastEditorUserId="3559" LastEditDate="2016-05-12T10:03:28.870" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T10:03:28.870" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11709" CreationDate="2016-05-10T17:30:05.907" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They can also be held as a stabilizer while you put the shoes on, but without tugging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My podiatrist and orthopedist recommend not using it as a tool to pull on the footwear, even if it's high quality. After a year or two, especially if used frequently, that's enough to alter the shape. That causes breakdown of the inner structure so you lose proper support of the feet, heels and ankles. Eventually the legs and back can be affected, as they're relying on your feet for strength and proper posture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, shoes with a compromised shape may have a shorter life, which we all like to avoid, especially since they're so expensive! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been instructed to unlace enough of whatever type of shoe I use so my foot can slip in easily. Holding that tag is a great way to keep it in place during that process.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T17:30:05.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4942" CreationDate="2016-05-10T18:27:42.197" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned there is a whole spectrum of fabric shelters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few decades ago the difference was much more pronounced between a tent and a tarp. My first tent was a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blacksofgreenock.co.uk/27-force-ten-classics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Vango Force 10&lt;/a&gt; which my Dad had used before me and is built something along the lines of an air raid shelter in cotton canvas, rubber and aluminium. It is extremely rugged and still widely used for mountain base camps but is not by any means light and putting it up properly is a fairly serious exercise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My next tent was a Force 10 Featherweight which is astonishingly robust for very light weight but tiny inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I needed to camp for fairly extended periods in one spot (for static workshops rather than hiking)  for extended periods or in the car I got a generic 3 man nylon tent with a big porch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also own various tarps and bivi bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the big advantages of a tent are twofold, firstly you can pitch a tent absolutely anywhere as modern tents especially are self supporting structures so you don't rely on trees etc to pitch them. Secondly a tent provides a reasonably large and comfortable space in anything but the most extreme weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly modern materials like composite poles and nylon skins hugely reduce the weight and assembly effort of a small tent, especially if it doesn't have to deal with extreme conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand a tarp still has some significant advantages. They are good as a lightweight backup if you don't intend to camp but might have to. They are also very versatile as they can easily convert from a small closed in shelter for sleeping to a more open awning for working under in bad weather as well as being pressed into service as a groundsheet, poncho or sack, rain collector or stretcher. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also specific environments (i.e. jungle or deep forest) where a tarp and hammock is clearly the best option either because there just isn't room to pitch a tent or the ground is too sloping, rocky or wet. Also in hot climate a hammock tarp and misquote net may provide the best compromise between protection from insects/snakes and ventilation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T18:27:42.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="865" CreationDate="2016-05-10T18:44:45.580" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would highly recommend a menstrual cup. That's what I use while camping and hiking as they're light easy to carry and generate little-to-no trash. You can simply pour out and bury the blood rather than packing out a load of dirty tampons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However keep in mind that there is a learning curve associated with each type of cup, and there are a LOT of different cups. Some may not work for you at all depending upon your shape. While a lot of women swear by the divacup, it doesn't work for me at all, but I've had amazingly good luck with the instead softcup (they sadly discontinued their reusable cup though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend trying as many cups as you can out in the months leading up to your trip so you can make sure you have some thing reliable when the time comes. Don't leave it to the last minute! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The silicone ones (like divacup) are easy to clean, especially if you're packing a small propane stove or you're planning to build fires along the way. Give it a rinse in water to get the blood off and then boil it for a few minutes to sterilize it daily and you should be fine. Be careful to rinse it a lot if you decide to clean it with soaps, as soaps can be very irritating to your privates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option to consider in conjunction with the cups is using hormonal birth control -- not to stop periods, but to reduce them. I know this wouldn't work for me as it gives me nasty side effects, but when I was on it my flow was significantly reduced and much more manageable in conjunction with the cups (I'd only have to empty them the minimum recommended amount which was once every 12 hours), vs now when I have to empty them every 6 hours or so, depending on the cup. Each woman is different and this won't work for everyone, but it might help if you have a heavy flow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit: I'd highly recommend buying a second cup once you find the type that works for you -- that way you don't have to free bleed while you're washing the other one, and have a backup in case one breaks/tears/gets dropped into a river&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9463" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T18:44:45.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11715" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-10T19:03:47.530" Score="5" ViewCount="386" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to figure out how many cannisters of isobutane to bring on a 5 day family backpacking trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figure we'll boil about 1.5 gallons of water per day (use this as a unit of measurement: gallon of water to boil).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to simplify: Let's assume 8 oz of isobutane (or whatever unite you want to use)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T19:05:53.603" Title="How many gallons of water can you boil with one isobutane cannister?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11715" CreationDate="2016-05-10T19:05:53.603" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;1 oz of isobutane will boil about 1.8 L (about .475 gallons) of water, for a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/blog/stoves-101-how-much-fuel-should-i-carry/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whisperliite Universal Stove&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TxtvQ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TxtvQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T19:05:53.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1187" CreationDate="2016-05-10T19:51:08.067" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any system which relies on preventing kids form exploring while outdoors seems to be both self-defeating and unlikely to work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice is to talk to them about what they should do if they do get lost so they can help in their own rescue. Similarity putting too strong a prohibition on wandering off is only likely to make them more prone to panic and forget safety instructions if they do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simple things can make the campsite easier for anybody to find if they do get lost at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;set up a perimeter line  with high visibility (even glow in the dark cord) this gives a bigger target to find in the dark &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put out a safe light overnight in a visible spot, a chemical or solar powered lantern is ideal &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;have an agreed system for signalling, for example if you notice somebody is missing blow a whistle 3 times every minute and set up extra lights ideally a strobe. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally 'home'  lights should be coloured eg blue or green to make them more obvious and avoid any confusion with lights from roads towns etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Give everybody a whistle and key-chain light on a string if you put it in a bracelet then kids are more likely to keep it on. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also a good idea to conduct a 'lost' drill early in the trip, it should be easy enough to make this a game. For anybody getting lost the biggest danger is panic so going through the emergency procedure in a fun way will greatly improve their confidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Teach kids that if they realise they are lost they should stay put and shout out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also endorse the 'buddy' system from a previous answer, pair kids off and encourage them to look out for each other, emphasise that if they are worried about their buddy they should ask an adult for help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own feeling is that giving kids a bit of agency in looking after themselves and each other is by far the best way both for them to get the most out of the experience and keep them safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-05-10T19:51:08.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="913" CreationDate="2016-05-11T02:04:48.557" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Buffs a lot. If you are out on the water fishing, a buff worn like a bandit mask combined with a big hat will save you a sunburn. I wear a one as a headscarf during long hikes. It keeps the sweat out of my eyes and I soak it in organic bug repellent to keep the gnats away. For winter hikes, I again use as a bandit mask to keep my face warm and prevent windburn. The advantage is you can easily pull it up/down. To be honest, I never travel without it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9468" LastActivityDate="2016-05-11T02:04:48.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="913" CreationDate="2016-05-11T11:48:26.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a couple of buffs - one is made of polartec with a piece of thin fabric attached, and another one is just the same thin fabric. I've found the first one to be very useful in winter because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is very easy to put on and off; on a hike you can put it off for while you're moving and take on for a stop; this also comes very handy on climbing routes where I don't like to mess with a traditional scarf - having a thing that could be applied/removed with one hand only is nice;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;this piece of thin fabric doesn't look serious, but it helps me a lot when my chin and nose become too frozen - I just pull this part of a buff on my face and it gets warm pretty fast;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is not as bulky as a scarf and if I want to put one more layer of clothing, I still be able to zip a collar;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for that small thin buff, it is just nice to have it for chilly days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2016-05-11T11:48:26.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11720" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-11T12:26:09.920" Score="7" ViewCount="1208" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a coleman Peak 2 stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dk2go.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dk2go.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried pure gasoline (which is supports) and a lot of gas spilled out onto the stove and burned black, leaving soot all over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the stove won't light. I'm not getting any fuel to the burner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm considering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soaking in alcohol&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soaking in pure gasoline (no additives. It's from walmart and designed for stoves)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(hardest option) Soaking in carburetor cleaner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T21:45:22.003" Title="How to clean a potentially clogged coleman multifuel stove?" Tags="&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11721" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11733" CreationDate="2016-05-11T13:13:59.950" Score="2" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to do paper tuning in a few days. Is there any recommendation on how to quickly setup a paper tuning jig?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in a shooting range, so I basically need the jig (frame holding the paper) only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T16:35:37.040" Title="Good and easy way to create a paper tuning jig" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11720" CreationDate="2016-05-11T19:14:40.000" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alcohol can (and does) eat certain types of seals.  Do not use alcohol to clean the stove unless you are certain it is safe for alcohol fuel.  Similarly, carb cleaner is extremely corrosive and will eat many different types of seals/gaskets.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing to try is to disassemble and scrub with baking soda, dish soap, and a toothbrush.  If that does not work, then move on to harsher cleansers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the coleman website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If there has been a boil-over, remove the screw from the center of each burner and lift off the burner rings and bowl to check the manifold for fluid or food debris. If there is a build-up, clean it with dishwashing soap and warm water before rinsing with clean water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If the stove has a massive amount of grease and dirt build-up inside the case, on the grill or burners, you can take the stove to a car wash and use a high-pressure hose on it. Don't use any type of tire, oven or engine cleaner because it can damage the paint on the inside of the case and the metal of the grate and manifold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If a stove has been cleaned with any type of water hose, turn the stove upside down to ensure all the water is removed from inside the manifold. Any water left inside the manifold can cause it to rust and disturb the flow of fuel to the burner, preventing the stove from burning properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also have a clogged hose or some other problem.  If you were using it according to the manual and fuel spilled everywhere that would indicate a big issue with your fuel delivery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-05-13T15:33:46.900" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T15:33:46.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7418" CreationDate="2016-05-12T02:38:37.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 1/25000 map gives you roughly 5 km by 7,5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With 4cm overlap between maps, you have 1km overlap, that should be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I did last time was to scan all the maps for the whole trip, join them in one big image, then cut 1-page-sized images from the map, with clear overlap from one to the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing exactly what path I would follow allowed me to adjust the pages to get the overlap in better places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T02:38:37.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11724" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11727" CreationDate="2016-05-12T07:38:06.497" Score="7" ViewCount="363" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought my first compass, a SUUNTO Spiegel- und Peilkompass MC-2/360/D CM/IN NH, black.&#xA;I observed that the red orienting arrow and meridian lines are not parallel. They are forming an angle about ~20 degrees. Doing a quick search I see pictures where these lines are parallel. Is my compass faulty and should I send it back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9478" LastEditorUserId="9478" LastEditDate="2016-05-12T07:49:53.527" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T11:46:19.023" Title="Should orienting arrow and meridian lines be parallel on a compass?" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11709" CreationDate="2016-05-12T08:49:07.583" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Already some great answers here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along with the purpose of tieing them to a sling, and mainly for pulling the shoes while putting on or taking them off, I use them as an additional loop to pass the excess shoelace. This only makes sense with a shoe with high anklets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mbpb8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mbpb8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shoe like the one shown above, usually come with a longer shoelace.&#xA;I usually, leave alone the upper two Eyelets and instead encircle the laces around the shoe, passing them through the sling you are referring to and tie a knot in front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This ensures that my leg/shin don't rub strongly against the hard topline of the shoe, specially when I am descending. By passing the through the sling makes sure that the laces don't shift up and get loosen up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I agree, the most useful feature of those slings is for pulling the shoes and tieing them up when needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-05-12T14:49:23.970" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T14:49:23.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11726" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-12T10:51:44.560" Score="15" ViewCount="3520" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the exact equipment I need for walking safely on glaciers? The route I will be taking is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hvannadalshnukur&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hvannadalshnukur&lt;/a&gt; ascend from the ring road and same path descend. From what I could find out the path is not challenging gradient is constant and small, and the crevasses are either non-existent or more like small holes. The roping is just precaution. We all have mountaineering experience, but no previous glacier experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I gathered from this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7020/how-to-walk-as-a-roped-party-on-a-glacier&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; and this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3701/best-type-of-rope-for-glacier-travel?rq=1&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;. I also read the safety research short rope PDF by Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, although I guess we will be long roping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At least 10m distance between members (3 going total)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thickness of the rope depends on how many times I expect to fall which is likely no more than 1&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Straight hilt pick axe used for walking rather than vertical climbing&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Harness each &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Around 3 carbineers each&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crampons &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other non-climbing related items such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;GPS with lots of spare batteries&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Polarised sunglasses&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sun cream&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gloves/Hat/Waterproof clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food/water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mountain boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle/ Torch /Rear bicycle flashing light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sheathed knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things which are unclear to me are about inventory:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much excess rope should there be and should it be at the end or evenly divided between people. What is total recommended rope length for party of 3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would spare rope be necessary or useful&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do I need any other items such as quickdraws, belaying devices or figure eight&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any other equipment I may not realise is necessary &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other things you believe I ought to know, manuals should read or any wrong assumptions I make please let me know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9368" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T08:01:38.497" Title="What equipment is needed for glacier hiking?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11724" CreationDate="2016-05-12T11:46:19.023" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I picture would greatly help.  However, I suspect you are looking at the lines on the part you manually rotate relative to the fixed base part.  Good compasses have something you can rotate to set the offset for the local magnetic declination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here in north-central Massachusetts, magnetic north is about 14&amp;frac12;&amp;deg; left of true geodedic north.  Before heading out around here, you'd set the dial 14&amp;frac12;&amp;deg; left from fully aligned.  The rotating part has a outline of the compass needle on it.  To point the compass to true north, you align the needle with the outline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This magnetic declination setting is usually stiff enough to not rotate too easily.  It's meant to be a &quot;fixed&quot; setting during a hike.  You're not going to move far enough on a day hike, or even a few nights backpack, so that the magnetic declination changes appreciably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T11:46:19.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11726" CreationDate="2016-05-12T12:01:05.417" Score="11" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;about excess rope, rope length and how to split rope please see: &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7025/2653&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7025/2653&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you see on the picture, the two ends of the rope is devided evenly between the first and the last rope team member. If you don't know this, I guess you don't know how to rescue someone in case of crevasse fall. You should really learn it by professionals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;about spare rope (second rope):&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not needed at all. Why should you carry a second one? You are not going to destroy your rope and if you will, you are most likely in a really bad situation whatsoever. You also don't need two half ropes which is done for climbing e.g. to be able to abseil longer distances and to have backup in case of cutting a rope over sharp rock edges. You have to know why you take a rope. And that is solely (if you are only hiking) to be able to survive and rescue in case of crevasse fall. Therefore you need &lt;strong&gt;one&lt;/strong&gt; rope. Length depends on count of rope team. Impregnation is nice to have because you are in wet conditions on a glacier. Thicker rope means most likely to have a thicker rope coat only. To sum it up, that means it's more robust. You have to decide if you need that. Normally it's nice to have a more robust rope for rock climbing because of sharp edges too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;in your list you forgot to take: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one ice screw per person so everyone is able to build an anchor and in case of crevasse fall, rescue the person&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a helmet to be unlikely to get knocked out in case of falls/crevasse falls or if you traverse in regions where rock/ice-fall is likely&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;accessory cord, slings and maybe a rope clamp in case of crevasse rescue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bivy equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first aid stuff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;quickdraws, belaying devices:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't rock and/or ice climbing and just &quot;glacier hiking&quot;, you don't need it. You need belaying devices to secure a climber in case he falls or to abseil. If you have to rescue yourself or your friends in case someone falls into a cravasse, you need accessory cord and the knowledge to get him out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said &lt;strong&gt;you really need&lt;/strong&gt; the knowledge to do so! So read properly (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10323/how-do-i-rescue-someone-out-of-a-crevasse&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;) but what's more important, train with experts and practice with your friends. If it's just very unlikely to fall into a crevasse then it might not be that bad to have mediocre knowledge. But in that case, why would you mind to carry all the heavy stuff like ropes and ice screws, if you don't know how to use it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T14:36:35.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2016-05-12T13:48:07.117" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Occasionally our cat brings in a half-dead (instead of completely dead) kitten rabbit. I could leave the cat to maul or eat the rabbit to death (the natural way), but instead I speed up the process by flattening its head with a brick. I feel cruel and awful, but then sometimes nature seems crueler still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9482" LastActivityDate="2016-05-12T13:48:07.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11726" CreationDate="2016-05-12T15:49:37.277" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already stated several times: If you know what you need to do on a glacier, you know what material to take. The other way round does not work: Just having the necessary gear will not insure proper crevasse rescue. So your first step is to take a course or find someone experienced to show you. This is the only recommended way to do it, but that is of course meager for Q&amp;amp;A, so I will try to give some information, but they should only be supplemental.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The questions &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7020/how-to-walk-as-a-roped-party-on-a-glacier&quot;&gt;How to walk as a roped party on a glacier?&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10323/how-do-i-rescue-someone-out-of-a-crevasse&quot;&gt;How do I rescue someone out of a crevasse?&lt;/a&gt; have already much information in them.&#xA;E.g. rope length is explained in the first question. For three persons it is 12m in between, excess ropes equally distributed to the two persons at the ends. Now how much rope you need is determined by your worst case scenario. If you just want to hold a fall, build an anchor and rely on the fallen member to self rescue (which is always the fastest and easiest way if this member is not injured) 24m of rope is just fine. If you need to pull the fallen member out, it gets much more complicated and there are several systems with their benefits and drawbacks. The maximum rope required in all the pulley systems known to me (for crevasse rescue) is three times the distance between the final anchor and the member in the crevasse: One third the initial rope to the fallen member (obviously), two thirds for the pulley (as the first section will have cut deeply into the snow). So assuming you can build the anchor at the position of the member in the middle, you would need an extra 12m, so realistically 40m (36m rounded up). What kind of rope is really not important for glaciers, as there is no rock and thus sharp edges. A very good and tested but somewhat advanced option is using aramid/dyneema ropes. These are suited for glaciers, light and do not take up much water. But you need to know how to handle them, some knots do not work the same as with traditional ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your list there is nothing about materials to self rescue and/or build a pulley. For self rescue one safety biner and two slings are the minimum required. For a pulley it again depends on the system, but one progress capture/one way blocking device (I do not know the English word, Ruecklaufbremse in German) e.g. a Petzl Micro Traxion, a Garda know with two biners, usw., two slings and three biners are again the minimal equipment that work in all known systems. I repeat myself: Know your method and you will know what gear to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anchoring it depends on the conditions: If there is blank ice, you need one long ice screw at least for the members at the ends. In case of a totally (and deeply) snow covered glacier your ice axes will be sufficient for T-anchors (make sure the shafts are T-rate, not just B-rated). Here you do not only need to know the method, but also the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional gear: Emergency bivy material (also covered in questions on TGO), first aid material, some kind of rescue beacon (assuming there is no cell phone coverage). As for helmets: Traditional mountaineering/climbing helmets (hard shell) are of little use if there is no danger of rock or ice fall. A foam helmet will offer some protection against bumping your head while falling into crevasses, but usually it is not your head that is mostly endangered in glaciers, as you fall with feet down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T08:01:38.497" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="913" CreationDate="2016-05-13T09:52:34.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary advantage of the buff (an continuous loop of fabric) is the versatility (and fashion ability) of the item over a standard scarf or hat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Features&lt;/strong&gt; In addition to the wearable methods it can also be used as  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eye Mask&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Facecloth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Microtowel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Face mask when travelling, snowboarding, desert etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self-securing bandage/pressure pad&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of which can be achieved without the need of a sling, complex knot or additional tying aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Benefits&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less likely to be lost / stolen / dropped since fabric is physically around your body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No need for knots causing discomfort/hot spots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One item rather than two (scarf and hat/cap)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Far thinner material than a standard scarf or hat (particularly for males)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-activity use &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reversible &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5vmI2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5vmI2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T09:52:34.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11721" CreationDate="2016-05-13T16:35:37.040" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cardboard box with a hole in it. Tape the paper over the hole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your range has a place to mount the cardboard, you only need a single side of the box. If not take the whole box and cut entrance AND exit holes in it.  Optimally the arrow should pass all the way through the paper without touching anything but the paper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to elevate the box, just bring more boxes, you can stack them.  New moving/storage boxes are available for less than a dollar. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T16:35:37.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7958" CreationDate="2016-05-13T21:56:37.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Automotive gasoline has a very strong smell which is almost impossible to eliminate entirely, even it it doesn't actually leak as the persistent smell comes from heavier hydrocarbons and other additives which don't evaporate quickly. Many fuels also contain chemicals specifically intended to give an unpleasant taste and smell for safety reasons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One alternative is panel wipe which is fairly pure naphtha so chemically close to gasoline. Adding ethanol may also help it burn more cleanly by reducing the average molecular weight of the mixture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T21:56:37.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11735" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-13T22:30:04.167" Score="19" ViewCount="1174" Body="&lt;p&gt;When sailing, can the passengers of the yacht safely go swimming while in the open seas? That is, when some miles away from the coast-line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9486" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-14T10:54:17.040" LastActivityDate="2020-04-14T10:54:17.040" Title="Swimming while in the high seas" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11735" CreationDate="2016-05-13T23:04:48.117" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. My wife is a geologist and has been on a couple of research cruises in the south Pacific and Indian oceans. It used to be quite common to have a &quot;swim call&quot; when the seas were calm. The vessel would stop, and the crew and scientific staff would go for a swim. In one case &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOAAS_Discoverer_(R_102)&quot;&gt;a student lost her leg to a shark during a swim call&lt;/a&gt; on a NOAA ship. I believe that US Naval and Coast Guard ships will also hold &quot;swim calls&quot;, and if you have a private ship, there is nobody to stop you. You can, after all, drown as easily in 10 feet of water as you can in 1 mile of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2016-05-13T23:09:25.857" LastActivityDate="2016-05-13T23:09:25.857" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11619" CreationDate="2016-05-14T10:09:15.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you can see from the existing answers there is no consensus on this.  Something may be &quot;a trail shoe&quot; simply because marketing says so.  More pragmatically if someone successfully wears a shoe on a trail it is by definition a trail shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Presumably, they are different from the ones above, that I wouldn't want to wear even for a 2-hour hike in the English countryside, let alone for a mountain trail (I tried exactly once and I've rarely had such painful feet, so either my shoes are different, or I am different).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You, or at least your feet, &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; different and having &quot;tried exactly once&quot; was certainly part of the problem.  It takes quite a while for one's feet and lower legs to adapt to a different kind of footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my own reasons I went from daily wearing high-top basketball shoes with arch supports to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5287/133&quot;&gt;Vibram FiveFingers&lt;/a&gt;.  This transition was not without discomfort but I found that I could build up the muscles in my feet and not rely on arch and ankle support and now I am more comfortable than I was before.  However in the middle of this transition when I tried to wear boots (with arch supports) for hiking my feet hurt like crazy.  &lt;strong&gt;What once was comfortable now hurt and vice versa.&lt;/strong&gt;  I now typically hike also in FiveFingers even on very rocky trails though again adapting to that took time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of this is &lt;strong&gt;not to try to convince you to change to minimalist footwear&lt;/strong&gt; but rather to make you aware that transition is possible but it takes time.  It is possible that &lt;em&gt;in time&lt;/em&gt; you would actually find your &quot;sport shoes&quot; became comfortable to hike in and that wearing your boots would cause &quot;such painful feet.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11618/133&quot;&gt;As previously related&lt;/a&gt; many hikers are choosing lighter weight footwear.  Some hike in simple running shoes or &quot;sport shoes&quot; just like the ones you pictures.  Others hike in shoes that are very similar except for a more heavily lugged sole.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inov-8.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inov-8&lt;/a&gt; sells (among other products) shoes that are basically track flats with mud lugs and they apparently are popular hiking options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People choose all sorts of different hiking footwear for different reasons.  On the same trail I will see people wearing leather boots and thick wool socks, sandals without socks, sport shoes, gaiters over fabric boots, Inov-8 mud-runners, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=guide%20tennies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5.10 Guide Tennies&lt;/a&gt;, and occasionally someone without any shoes at all.  (And then me in my FiveFingers.)  &lt;strong&gt;All of these are trail shoes,&lt;/strong&gt; except I guess no-shoes. ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(By the way I do not completely &quot;drink the Kool-Aid&quot; regarding minimalist footwear.  I know that there is a lot of marketing behind it and I keep a healthy sense of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPdb7ZDJKS4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;humor&lt;/a&gt; about every trend and fashion including this one.  This is simply what works for me, at this time.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-05-16T02:00:43.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11738" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-14T23:01:11.917" Score="7" ViewCount="1296" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an older tent, and it has some zip-down windows that can be completely closed, or opened for ventilation, with a rainfly that covers more or less just the top of the tent and leaves the windows open. It seems like many of the newer tents I've been looking at have a completely mesh top, with a rain fly that covers the entire tent, so you have to choose between being completely open (with no real privacy) and completely covered. Instead of windows that open, they have ventilation tabs in the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primarily - do the vents on these tents provide adequate airflow? They seem pretty small in comparison to having a few large windows that can be zipped open for cross-breezes. Do these tents get very hot and stuffy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-05-16T19:06:52.417" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T19:25:18.430" Title="Can windowless tents be adjusted for adequate ventilation?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11738" CreationDate="2016-05-15T00:09:18.713" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DNR:&lt;/strong&gt; It depends if you are backpacking or car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have owned several mesh tents with windowless rainflies. I have not owned any tents with a &quot;window&quot; (an opening to the tent not meant for ingress and egress), though I remember them from my youth. The tents I have owned would all qualify as backpacking tents, meaning they where constructed with a focus on saving weight and withstanding wind and rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see me lugging a tent around, chances are that I brought it to facilitate an extended stay in nature and I try to spend the least amount of time as possible locked away in anything with walls. If I expect a lot of rain I often bring a tarp in addition to a tent. Under the tarp I can cook and hang out. If I want fresh air during the night, I leave the rainfly-zipper of my tent open but close the mesh.  I normally don't leave the rainfly off. If I don't expect rain, there is little dew and I am somewhere in the wilderness I normally don't even set up the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could imagine use-cases for tents where having a window could be nice. If you bring a tent to a picnic to provide shelter from the sun or from rain, a window might be nice to keep an eye on the little ones. &#xA;If you are planning an extended road trip and want an experience more similar to traveling by RV, a tent with windows might be nicer than a backpacking tent with a windowless rainfly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents like the previous two are probably not very useful for backpacking though, since they are likely large and heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-05-16T01:15:33.230" LastActivityDate="2016-05-16T01:15:33.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2016-05-15T14:17:00.127" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your tent may not provide any physical protection, but your sleeping bag will provide some.  Sleeping bags cover the vast majority of your body, and &lt;strong&gt;the thick material of a sleeping bag will initially provide minor protection from claws and teeth&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common strategy for dealing with bear attacks is to employ counter measures.  Obviously countermeasures are difficult to employ during sleep though.  Having a sleeping bag protect you for 10 or 20 seconds prior to becoming shredded may be enough time to wake and employ countermeasures against the animal.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Obviously countermeasures need to be the end game in such a strategy though&lt;/strong&gt;, because a sleeping bag will not protect against claws and teeth for long.  Bear spray and firearms are both effective countermeasures, and several studies assert bear spray is much more effective than firearms - especially at close range and when employed as an area weapon in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tools might be a camp warning system to give an audible alarm after a trip wire is disturbed.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mec.ca/product/5043-128/brite-strike-camp-alert-perimeter-security-system/?Ntk=productsearch_en_q32008&amp;amp;h=10&amp;amp;q=bear&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This device pulls a pin out of a siren device, which activates and audible alarm&lt;/a&gt;.  The pin is attached to fishing line which you can wrap around trees or stakes in the ground.  You might scare yourself in the middle of the night if a raccoon trips it though!.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B006OW5MI8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This camp light&lt;/a&gt; activates on motion.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following articles assert bearspray is the most effective direct countermeasure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear/files/JWM_BearSprayAlaska.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear/files/JWM_BearSprayAlaska.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adn.com/article/are-guns-more-effective-pepper-spray-alaska-bear-attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.adn.com/article/are-guns-more-effective-pepper-spray-alaska-bear-attack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-study-using-gun-bear-encounters-doesn%E2%80%99t-make-you-safer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-study-using-gun-bear-encounters-doesn%E2%80%99t-make-you-safer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.342/full&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.342/full&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In my opinion, one of the best strategies for employing bear spray after being attacked during sleep is to have a tent mate spray the bear&lt;/strong&gt;.  Bears are solitary and don't attack in groups.  A single bear is likely only able to attack a single person at a time.  When camping in groups, the person or people not being attacked are in an excellent position to employ bear spray against the attacking animal.  Line-of-fire issues score another point for bear spray over firearms in such a case, because your buddy might shoot you accidentally while targeting the bear.  It's much easier to recover from pepper spray than a bullet wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the year 2016 there is quite a bit of technology you can use for countermeasures against attacking bears.  If you practice preventative techniques, such as storing odorous materials out of a bear's reach and away from the campsite, then the technology available combined with friends to employ the technology should be more than enough to stay safe in bear country at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Long after answering this question, I came across a bear expert's answer to this tent question in a book titled Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance.  His exact words are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have mentioned that another technique for minimizing risk while&#xA;  backcountry camping around bears is to sleep in a tent rather than&#xA;  without shelter.  Sleeping under the stars is one of my favorite&#xA;  things to do while camping, but I choose areas in which to do this&#xA;  carefully.  My data strongly suggest that people sleeping without&#xA;  tents were more likely to be injured, even killed, than were people&#xA;  who slept in tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This guy is a bear behavioral scientist and biologist who's life's work is studying bear behavior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/158574557X&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qyXFr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qyXFr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GaakO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GaakO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8875" LastEditorUserId="8875" LastEditDate="2016-06-28T12:18:39.107" LastActivityDate="2016-06-28T12:18:39.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11741" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-15T17:39:23.527" Score="6" ViewCount="420" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a isobutane canister says 4 oz, does that mean it has 4oz of fuel or is that fuel+canister weight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I assume that is 4oz of wheight, not volume, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T15:56:50.103" Title="How do you know how much isobutane is in a full canister (i.e., how much if fuel wht and not cannister)?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2016-05-18T22:27:05.007" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11742" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13023" CreationDate="2016-05-15T19:04:14.973" Score="7" ViewCount="427" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is somewhat related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5996/looking-for-secluded-camping-land-in-california-near-the-bay-area&quot;&gt;this previous question&lt;/a&gt;, however we are specifically looking for an area that allows gathered-wood fires. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yosemite is a first choice, but other than there, where within a 5 hour drive of downtown San Francisco allows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dispersed tent camping, aka hike in and pitch a tent off a trail. No amenities necessary. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gathered-wood fires, aka collecting fallen wood to burn. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9493" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:00:13.353" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T17:33:05.440" Title="Dispersed camping allowing gathered wood fires within 5 hours of San Francisco?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11743" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11745" CreationDate="2016-05-16T15:36:17.377" Score="9" ViewCount="328" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I was backpacking up in Sequoia national park this past weekend and there is still a lot of snow. I following some ultralight gear lists, which were good, but I ran into problems with gear getting wet because of the snow. Specifically, my boots got pretty wet--even thought they are waterproof--and of course pants and socks, etc. Did not have snowshoes since we did not expect snow in mid-May. But even with snowshoes our boots would have become wet most likely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On most ultralight gear lists--even for winter camping, I don't see mention for extra shoes or additonal clothes to wear while your gear is drying. So either people's stuff is not really getting wet when they camp in the snow, or the gear lists seem to be incomplete. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions on augmentation to your ultralight gear list when you plan to be in snow or areas where your gear is going to get wet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9158" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T10:43:24.047" Title="ultralight backpacking in snow and preparing for wet gear" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11743" CreationDate="2016-05-17T02:00:42.447" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you start packing lighter, usually it comes with smaller margins of error. It seems that it is typically your case here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, the first thing is to be more careful. It is a habit to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, when you couldn't find information about whether there was deep wet snow or not, the decision of not taking the snowshoes was maybe arguable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, when you got to the wet part of your walk, you could have used your gaiters and your over-pants, which would have protected your pants, and a little your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for which shoes work best, it is a complicated question. Winter shoes are too hot for that weather, and you'll sweat in them. Hiking boots could be too light for the constant contact of frozen water, and possibly not waterproof enough. I don't have a definite answer on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in many places where it snows a lot in winter, the melting period is not a period when you hike much. For one, because the conditions are unstable (it can be very nice, or freezing with snow), and also because the large amount of snow melting all at once creates a very muddy, unstable and fragile ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Quebec, most parcs are closed for a few weeks during that period, to protect the trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T02:00:42.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11738" CreationDate="2016-05-17T04:00:14.400" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have never had a tent with windows, only 2-person backpacking tents.  I agree with DudeOnRock's answer, and will add only one point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The door, when unzipped, on a small backpacking tent is equivalent to a very large open window. The door can be zipped partially closed to any degree. Even in the worst weather, the door can be periodically partially unzipped to fend off claustrophobia or increase ventilation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the OP's question &lt;strong&gt;about hot and stuffy&lt;/strong&gt;: We do all our backpacking in the Sierra or the Rockies, most of it above timberline.  The only time the tent can get hot there is in midday in full sun.  As for stuffy, we find the vents plus fiddling with the door gives us as much or as little ventilation as we want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We regard a tent as emergency equipment only, and if it is not actually raining or snowing, prefer to sleep outside, where we can see the stars. A ground squirrel running over the sleeping bag is something to enjoy, not avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T04:00:14.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8654" CreationDate="2016-05-17T17:04:50.430" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would you be amenable to using webbing? Webbing either in triple girth hitch, wrap 3 pull 2 or tensionless hitch works well. If the poles are sharply cornered, wrap an old foam thin piece over the sharp edges. Then make a simple &quot;masterpoint&quot; from the web and carabiner to hammock end - works great.  For very slippery wooden square poles, simply use a small knife to slightly notch the wood before setting up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9503" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-17T18:08:57.733" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:08:57.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7242" CreationDate="2016-05-17T17:35:34.620" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was told to keep dry, take as cool of showers as you can stand and use dial non scented soap. Also bring a change of socks. In the military I  changed socks about 3 times a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9504" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-17T18:03:51.967" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T18:03:51.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1086" CreationDate="2016-05-17T19:18:04.603" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;How you can tell time without a watch is to calculate the sun's positions. If you kind of remember the time last time use that data in your head and try to inference how much timed passed, but if you don't know you can tell by positions, brightness or inference. The positions is like how the sun is raised or dropped. I hope this is useful, also you have to calculate the radius of the sun by using a metal object or wooden object and try blocking most of the sun so it would not effect your eyes and see the radius by adjusting the object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9505" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T19:18:04.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11756" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11758" CreationDate="2016-05-17T20:58:14.747" Score="17" ViewCount="1631" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three types of ropes according to the UIAA/EN norm for climbing ropes: Single, half and twin. While the distinction between single ropes and the other two is rather obvious (one strand versus two parallel strands) it is not so clear for half and twin ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the differences between half and twin ropes, i.e. what can I do with one that the other cannot and/or how do they behave differently?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T19:51:50.437" Title="Difference when using twin or half ropes" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3701" CreationDate="2016-05-17T20:58:43.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3706/3602&quot;&gt;Mr. Wizards answer&lt;/a&gt; provides nice pictures supplied by Beal about what type of ropes can be used on ice/snow and rock. Quick recap: On ice/snow you can use every rope type (single, half and twin) with a single strand. If there is rock involved the single rope can still be used with one strand, while twin ropes have to be used as two strands immediately parallel to each other at all times. For half ropes there is more to it, but it is not relevant to glaciers, so I do not want to get into it here. The full difference between half and twin ropes is in my opinion not clear from just the second picture and is generally complicated enough for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/11756/3602&quot;&gt;its own question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This addresses what is ok to use, but not what is optimal. And in recent times static ropes made from dyneema/kevlar have come into use for mountaineering on glaciers as well. I will first shortly introduce the latter and then evaluate the benefits of the options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditionally one uses the same dynamic kernmantle rope made of Nylon (name of various polyamide fibers) for mountaineering in pure snow/ice or on rock/mixed. For bigwalling so called trail/haul lines which are static are often used for rappelling or hauling material up. Recently I have seen such/similar ropes used for ski mountaineering (e.g. the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammut.ch/CH/de_CH/B2C-Kategorie/Ausr%C3%BCstung/Seile/Statikseile-und-Reepschn%C3%BCre/Rappel-Cord-6-0/p/2020-00700-1037&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut Rappel Cord 6.0&lt;/a&gt;, no affiliation). The line being static is not a problem when holding a fall into a crevasse. While the initial pull is more abrupt (it is already quite abrupt with dynamic ropes anyway), braking is smoother. In tests by the Petzl team they did hold 60% of the falls with the dynamic rope and 80% with the static rope (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2014/3/60-65%28statisches%20dyneema%20vs%20dynamisches%20seil%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bergundsteigen article in German&lt;/a&gt;). Together with personal tests this seems to indicate that it is just as possible to hold a fall with such a static rope as with a dynamic one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As dyneema ropes are about half the weight and much less volume than a typical half rope and as an extra do not hold water, this is in my opinion the ideal rope for glacier mountaineering. If you will only use the rope on glaciers and for rappelling, it is perfectly suited. If you need to belay  even the shortest of climbs on rock or steep ice, you need a dynamic rope. So if this is the case or you do not feel comfortable for whatever reasons with a static rope, any light and impregnated rope will do, no matter the type. Impregnation of either just the sheet or all involved fibers helps to keep water out of the rope. Water is an obvious issue on glaciers and will make the rope heavier and less dynamic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T08:17:40.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11756" CreationDate="2016-05-17T22:35:35.747" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twin ropes&lt;/strong&gt; can be as small as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/ropes/flycatcher-pro-dry-6-9mm-assorted-colours.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6.9mm (35g/m)&lt;/a&gt;, and are only used in pairs; you tie into two ropes, and clip both as though they were a single rope. This provides you with the redundancy of having more than one rope, but without the weight of carrying two single ropes.  Twin ropes also allow a full-rope-length rappel which often strongly factors in the choice to use them over single ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Half ropes&lt;/strong&gt;, or double ropes, are larger (8 or 9mm), but not as big as single ropes. Again, you tie into two ropes, but clip them into separate lines of protection. This method is used when your protection points don't follow a nice line. Instead of zig-zagging your rope between points, you run two ropes to reduce friction and the potential of popping your pro out in the event of a fall. As with twin roping, you also have the benefit of full-rope-length rappel with the two ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pictured Below, in order from left to right: Single roping, Half/Double Roping, Twin Roping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Rifm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Rifm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Image Source: Me.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T16:03:10.547" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T16:03:10.547" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11759" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-05-17T23:49:10.793" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:38:39.950" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:38:39.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11760" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-05-17T23:49:10.793" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of Iceland" OwnerUserId="2920" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:38:39.950" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:38:39.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11761" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-05-17T23:49:53.247" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-05-17T23:49:53.247" LastActivityDate="2016-05-17T23:49:53.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11762" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-05-17T23:49:53.247" Score="0" Body="This tag is for questions specific to the country of Australia, including laws and legalities, weather, seasons, activities and locations as they relate to the outdoors." OwnerUserId="2920" LastEditorUserId="2920" LastEditDate="2016-05-18T07:00:35.220" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T07:00:35.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11763" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-18T09:04:33.173" Score="3" ViewCount="886" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, there is no limit when you talk about climbing or using alpine equipment, but what about maintaining a constant speed while walking, without crampons, and staying on feet, no scrambling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to estimate the maximum slope angle walkable in hiking or tracking boots on various terrain types?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9508" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:25:03.303" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:25:03.303" Title="Maximum slope angle for boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-05-19T19:38:47.700" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11763" CreationDate="2016-05-18T09:22:27.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the limitation here? Back in the old days there were no climbing boots available so rock climbers used boots (maybe enhanced with metal plates). Also in icy terrain this was the case. Even when Eiger Northface was climbed first not all party members had crampons. (people also climbed barefoot very steep and tough rock routes, even today some are doing this)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is possible to climb steep without the high-tech equipment we are blessed to be able to play around with today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a maximum slope angle where typical hiking is &lt;em&gt;healthy&lt;/em&gt; this depends highly on your physique. So I would say there is no formula or something like that to answer your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T09:22:27.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11765" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11767" CreationDate="2016-05-18T10:28:31.993" Score="11" ViewCount="9533" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard the phrase &quot;Dry Camping&quot; while watching an American RV show.  What does it mean? Are there similar but different terms for the same thing in other parts of the world? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T07:59:34.880" Title="What is &quot;Dry Camping&quot;?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11765" CreationDate="2016-05-18T11:08:32.213" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;This term is pretty vague. This paragraph describes it pretty well however:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dry camping means different things to many people.  The common&#xA;  definition I hear from people is camping in a location where&#xA;  electric/water/sewer connections are not available at each site.  This&#xA;  definition is very broad and includes everything from camping at a&#xA;  commercial campground with centralized facilities to driving out into&#xA;  the woods and pulling off into the trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.title-3.com/DryCamping.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.title-3.com/DryCamping.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may have more luck &lt;a href=&quot;https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;amp;q=dispersed%20camping&quot;&gt;looking up dispersed camping&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the&#xA;  National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Dispersed camping&#xA;  means no services; such as trash removal, and little or no facilities;&#xA;  such as tables and fire pits, are provided. Some popular dispersed&#xA;  camping areas may have toilets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T11:08:32.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4203" CreationDate="2016-05-18T12:06:34.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all wild boars have a bad sight, they just smell well and hear. Though personally I would say that to minor noise they don't react much. Therefore there is a need of &lt;strong&gt;decent noise if you do not want to meet them.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once you met - do not show aggression ever&lt;/strong&gt;. &#xA;Stay calm and walk noisily away. Or just start making noise. But don't go towards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you would just &quot;pretend to be aggressive&quot;, if they feel the threat they might get aggressive too and that is very bad. They are told to be the most dangerous and aggressive wild animals, but just for hunters(!) so don't pretend to hunt them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you meet like injured, being hunted or aggressive wild boar - get into a tree&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a male boar  - laying down is an option as the wild boars hit with their tusks just upwards, so once you lay down they would just hit you with their nose and so will leave you alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a female - a mum  - do not lie. She might bite you and trample you down if you are laying as a way to defend her kids. She will first start growling to scare, so get scared and fast go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally we got away from them at night by playing some music :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have been camping in the forest in Czech Rep. and at night while we had a fire we heard them like 30-50 m. away walking around. We checked with a flashlight but they didn't react to that. My bf saw them well while flashing. They did not approach closer so after the closing the fire we went to sleep. In the middle of the night we heard breaking branches really near and boars jumping-running around, sort of like towards us downhill and not knowing what is going on (as we though they should have smelled us for sure) I just took a blues harp and started playing. In a minute or two they have disappeared. &#xA;Probably the windless night did not spread our smell much over the smell of a burnt wood and so they did not really realize we were there while approaching..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8858" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T12:06:34.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11742" CreationDate="2016-05-18T12:18:23.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Five hours from San Francisco is enough to reach a good chunk of the Sierras and even further north in the area of Lassen and Shasta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are large areas of national forest within this range.  Generally the national forests will have less restrictions than national parks, particularly popular ones like Yosemite.  Each national forest will have its own rules.  Most will allow gathering small amounts of dead and down wood for a fire, but fires will be restricted by location, time of year, and may require a permit.  Forest fires are a serious issue in this area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check whether Yosemite allows dispersed camping.  Probably not, but maybe in some of the more remote areas.  Even if they do, whether you're allowed to have a open fire is a completely separate issue.  Yosemite used to allow gathering dead and down wood within some distance of certain roads for use in fires in designated camping spots.  That was a long time ago, so the policy may well have changed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T12:18:23.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11743" CreationDate="2016-05-18T12:44:28.633" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, this is just an all-around difficult situation. Your clothes/boots getting soaked is inevitable. Even with gaiters and the most advanced moisture wicking technology, hike a day in the snow and you'll be really wet. Here's why: even if you're avoiding post-holing with snow shoes, the act of hiking in snow will raise your heart rate and get you sweating. Aside from the effect of sweat, your body heat will (slowly) melt the snow/ice that gathers around your feet/snowshoe bindings. For me, 6 hours of strenuous snowshoe hiking in snow leaves me soaked from knees down and very wet beneath my vapor trap (e.g. Rain jacket).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my answer? Keep your heart rate up and body warm (more or less) all day, and bring a change of bone dry clothes &amp;amp; socks you ONLY use when you stop at the end of the day. Hang up your wet clothes or put them in a double lines freezer bag to sleep with if it's freezing at night, and then put them back on in the morning (which is like the worst wake up ever ;)). I used to sleep with all my stuff, including boots, to keep them from freezing at night. After like 3 days, you're skin will get all shriveled and after 5 days I would usually find a shelter to dry my stuff, including my sleeping bag which would inevitably get soaked too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that I'm writing this down, I'm wondering: Jesus, is there a better way to do this? This worked for me, but I wonder how this method would hold up without weekly shelter breaks. Anyone got a better technique?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6683" LastEditorUserId="6683" LastEditDate="2016-05-18T14:57:42.647" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T14:57:42.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11741" CreationDate="2016-05-18T15:56:50.103" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Isobutate/Propane fuel amounts are usually presented in terms of net weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The small canisters are usually 3.5oz ~ 4oz (100g ~ 110g).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The medium canisters are usually 7.75oz ~ 8oz (220g ~ 230g).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The large canisters are usually around the 16oz range (~450g).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of fuel depends on the brand, but that's a general guideline. Most of the &quot;big name brands&quot; will list both the net weight of the fuel and the gross weight of the canister and the fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9511" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T15:56:50.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9981" CreationDate="2016-05-18T18:05:30.023" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is/was probably at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kentuckytourism.com/articles/kentucky-competitions-right-on-target-for-archers/2099/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2014 National NASP Tournament – a certified Guinness World Book record – for the world’s largest archery tournament. Held in Louisville’s Exposition Center, 10,800 student-archers from grades 4 through 12 representing 39 states, including Alaska, competed.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google offers some other suggestions, but this looks like the best candidate. Other then the &quot;Guinness World Book record&quot; I am not finding details on size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T18:05:30.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11773" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-18T19:40:21.843" Score="9" ViewCount="962" Body="&lt;p&gt;Odd Deer's latest archery question brought to mind a historical novel I read some time ago which featured a mounted archery contest. (The novel was otherwise forgettable.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounted_archery&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, mounted archery&lt;/a&gt;  summarizes the history and also the status of present-day mounted archery. It is an active sport in Mongolia, Korea, Australia, Hungary and the United States. (There is a group called The Mounted Archery Association of the Americas.)  One sentence is particularly intriguing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Surprisingly, as challenging as the sport appears to be, many who have&#xA;  never picked up a bow can achieve great success with some courage and&#xA;  a little practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question: other than the obvious skill of horsemanship, how do the skills required for mounted archery differ from being stationary and shooting at a target?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-05-19T08:10:49.203" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T18:02:53.387" Title="How do the skills required for mounted archery (archery from horseback) differ from those required for other forms of archery?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11774" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11775" CreationDate="2016-05-18T19:46:24.627" Score="12" ViewCount="1096" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is almost summer here and me and my wife would like to get back to hiking after recently having a kid in September. He is almost 9 months old now and we would like to take him with us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.manduca-baby-carrier.eu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Manduca&lt;/a&gt; to carry him, but it is not very comfortable after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if you guys have any gear and packing tips for weekend hikes of this sort. We will be camping in huts and he sleeps well and quiet from 22 to 8 in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it too soon for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="1860" LastEditDate="2016-05-19T14:28:46.477" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T14:28:46.477" Title="Is it too soon to go family hiking with an infant? Packing tips?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11774" CreationDate="2016-05-18T22:22:14.370" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not strictly too soon.  I have known plenty of people who camped with a nine month old in rougher conditions than you describe.  It's too early if you are not in condition to carry a baby in addition to all of your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/102102/osprey-poco-child-carrier&quot;&gt;packs&lt;/a&gt; specifically for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountryedge.com/deuter-kid-comfort-3-2014.html&quot;&gt;carrying&lt;/a&gt; wee ones.  That's really the best way to go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-05-18T22:22:14.370" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11776" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11794" CreationDate="2016-05-19T03:31:18.190" Score="8" ViewCount="1689" Body="&lt;p&gt;We went away for five days and came home to find a robin building a nest in the crook of the downspout of our gutter. I live in Massachusetts, in Northeast United States, so she's probably an American Robin, although they don't vary greatly from the European varieties. I've never seen a nest this close, and am thrilled! Although it's too high to see inside, it's still really exciting watching the robin come and go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if this is her first nest ever, but it certainly is in that spot.  Right now it looks like a lot of dried straw-like material hanging down, with a small solid section at the top. From pictures I've seen online, the top part should be more round and deep, so I don't think it is finished. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are many factors involved in making a &quot;successful&quot; nest, and she won't lay eggs unless they're met. I've read &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Robins.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/facts_nests.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; that mud is an essential component, and is used as a middle layer to hold the nest together. The sources instruct that if there's no wet dirt available nearby, a container of mud should be left near the nest. Is there anything else I can provide to assist her in the building process? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please excuse the lack of clarity in these pictures. I took them quickly while she was away, and I wanted to get them posted. Click on them for a larger view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jLNCd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jLNCdm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From underneath&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NbqR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NbqRm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From the left&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:45:03.427" LastActivityDate="2019-05-12T10:10:55.083" Title="What can I provide to help a robin build her nest?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11774" CreationDate="2016-05-19T06:47:28.063" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carrying all the gear won't be easy. Whoever has the baby will probably only be able to carry one day's worth of baby stuff and nothing else. Either you get a rucksack carrier as Russell suggested (I recommend this as well, a Deuter kid comfort fitted me and was still usable over age 2), or you wear a daypack as well as a front carrier and have 2 sets of straps. In neither case is the weight distribution very good. Babies aren't amenable to being packed in an ergonomic (for you) way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the other person will be carrying a lot - even if the adults travel ultra light, babies don't. So try it for day hikes first. This will also help with the weight distribution - you'll need to work out what works for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, don't forget protection from the elements for your baby - the sun shades on many baby carriers are no more than a good start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T06:47:28.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11773" CreationDate="2016-05-19T07:20:06.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;how do the skills required for mounted archery differ from being&#xA;  stationary and shooting at a target?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well quite a lot really. For a start you need to be able to ride a horse very well! Number of points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your moving&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The horses gait is not linear (it goes up and down as well as moving)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Controlling a horse normally involves using reins and your hands. If your shooting a bow you need to learn to steer a horse using your legs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The masters of this are obviously the Mongols. In the 13th Century their mounted cavalry were the most feared warriors in the world. They began training for this, pretty much, as soon as they could mount a horse. They would often time the release of the bow to the exact moment that all 4 of the horses legs would leave the ground therefore giving them the most stable platform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/in1Hv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/in1Hv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pinterest.com/pin/516928863449336395/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-05-19T09:39:03.427" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T09:39:03.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11773" CreationDate="2016-05-19T08:03:04.327" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll focus on the directly archery related things. I think it's quite obvious that the horse is heavily moving and thus you've to learn to absorb this movement in your hips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main difference is, that you need to be fast. You don't have time to sit in your anchor and focus. You've to look, draw, anchor, release in just a second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horsebows are also commonly shot over the outer side (the opposing side of your bow-arm) of the bow. The arrow lays on your thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The release technique for a horsebow is also different. They use the thumb technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dLidgm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dLidgm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Right side of the bow and thumb technique&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the popular, so-called “Mediterranean” technique for&#xA;drawing the string using the index, middle and ring finger, there is&#xA;also a method for drawing the bow that involves the thumb, which is&#xA;still used in Asia today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was the technique employed by many&#xA;traditional riding people such as the Mongols, Tartars and Huns. Even&#xA;in Turkey and Hungary the thumb technique is still widespread today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the thumb technique the arrow is usually placed on the right side&#xA;of the bow (whereas for the Mediterranean technique it is on the&#xA;left), so the arrow doesn’t fall off the arrow rest while the archer&#xA;or his horse is moving. [If you are a left-handed archer, it's the other way around of course.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reason is that when using a short bow&#xA;with a large draw the angle of the string when fully drawn can be very&#xA;acute. Finding room for two or even three fingers can be difficult,&#xA;causing a lot of pressure on the fingers or even on the delicate arrow&#xA;shaft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thumb technique makes it easier to reload the bow and there&#xA;is a smaller risk of injury as the arrow does not need to be inserted&#xA;between the string and the bow arm. This means the tip of the arrow&#xA;won’t poke you in the hand or in the bow, as often happens with the&#xA;Mediterranean technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the same amount of effort the thumb&#xA;technique gives you 1-2 inches more draw compared to the Mediterranean&#xA;technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spine value of the arrow does not have to be perfectly&#xA;matched to the bow with the thumb technique. This was a big advantage&#xA;for antique archers in battle, as they could simply pick arrows off&#xA;the ground and shoot them again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you don’t need a horse to&#xA;use the thumb draw. These days the technique has many supporters who&#xA;enjoy this form of shooting – or rather releasing. However you still&#xA;get quizzical stares when you arrive at archery practice with a ring&#xA;on your thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://bogen-daumenring.de/en/thumb-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bogen-Daumenring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YA0C6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YA0C6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Technique&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mention three things in this picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The far-behind-anchor (nearly behind the neck)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The thumb-technique&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The arrow lays on the outer side&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T18:02:53.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11780" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11783" CreationDate="2016-05-19T09:12:14.407" Score="11" ViewCount="4449" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends think that I'm mad, but I'm pretty sure I saw an Osprey the other day. Could anyone confirm that what I observed is an Osprey (&lt;em&gt;Pandion haliaetus&lt;/em&gt;) or, at least, Osprey-ish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw the bird &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bing.com/mapspreview/?&amp;amp;ty=18&amp;amp;q=53.05654984897492,-3.143569659571661&amp;amp;mb=53.066144~-3.181764~53.045148~-3.123743&amp;amp;tt=Denbighshire,%20United%20Kingdom&amp;amp;tsts0=%2526ty%253d18%2526q%253d53.05654984897492%25252c-3.143569659571661%2526mb%253d53.066144~-3.181764~53.045148~-3.123743&amp;amp;tstt0=Denbighshire,%20United%20Kingdom&amp;amp;cp=53.056163~-3.151252&amp;amp;lvl=15&amp;amp;style=s&amp;amp;ftst=0&amp;amp;ftics=False&amp;amp;v=2&amp;amp;sV=1&amp;amp;form=S00027&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; -&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Llandegla Forest, North Wales.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was early evening and I was walking our dogs near &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/FbkP6jnUJ6w&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Pendinas reservoir&lt;/a&gt; in north Wales, UK. I saw a couple of buzzards (common buzzards, &lt;em&gt;Buteo buteo&lt;/em&gt;) hovering on the horizon above some trees. I was watching the buzzards when I noticed a third larger bird. Wing span easily half the width of the buzzards again, so roughly 1 1/2 times larger than the buzzards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I observed all three birds for some time through binoculars. They were quite some distance away though, so I couldn't quite get a really clear view. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first I thought it was simply another (larger) buzzard but its wings seemed different; rather then the splayed finger wing tips of the other two birds, its wings seemed much longer and distinctly more pointed and downwards pointing at the tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It roosted in a tree on the other side of the lake. It was very distinctively a Raptor (which ruled out my other thought of some kind of sea bird). Again, I viewed it through my binoculars. It appeared dark brown and had a distinctive white patch on its chest. Again, quite some distance so hard to get a really clear view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went home and checked my bird book. The only bird I could find that matched the description of the size and the distinctive wing pattern was an Osprey. There are half a dozen nesting pairs further up the coast from me but they are not common by any stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on my description do you think I could I have confused this bird with another? Or does the Osprey seem the most likely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:48:06.360" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:48:06.360" Title="Did I see an Osprey?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;raptor&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11774" CreationDate="2016-05-19T10:59:36.697" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last month I camped with my then-nine-month-old son. This was his second time sleeping in a tent with us, the first time he was four months old.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It helps that my family, including our 7- and 9-year old daughters, have been camping in tents since &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; were infants. I'm not sure what the conditions in a hut are, so I'll give advise for tents which I should imagine are as rough or rougher than huts. Just pack for the baby like you would pack for any over-night stay, and ensure that the baby has a safe, &lt;strong&gt;fenced-in&lt;/strong&gt; place to sleep in the tent. In our case, we put one large sack on the extreme side of the tent, the baby's crib's mattress up against it, and another large sack to the other side of that. Myself and the wife slept squished over to the side, and the 7- and 9- year olds slept in their own tent next to ours. The baby was well-dressed and additionally had a light blanket covering him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3414" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T10:59:36.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11776" CreationDate="2016-05-19T11:57:42.447" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The robin should be quite capable of building the nest on her own.  Almost anywhere there should be enough dried grass and small twigs around.  It is unlikely your robin is having trouble finding building material.  The best thing you can do for the robin family is to give them space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your own enjoyment and perhaps that of others, you might install a small web cam a couple of feet from the nest.  That way you can watch what develops without bothering the birds further after installing the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T11:57:42.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11780" CreationDate="2016-05-19T12:03:36.897" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The osprey does seem the most likely option. There are only a handful of breeding pairs in North Wales, but they are in your area so it's credible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wingspan of a small common buzzard starts at around 110cm and a large osprey can reach 170cm, so although they are normally of similar size the wingspan differential is possible. And the osprey has the white chest and narrower wing tip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are comparisons in flight and in silhouette:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PgzOj.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PgzOj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUtb9.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mUtb9.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's nothing else in your area of the right size and shape. So it does sound as though the osprey is your best bet. For more confidence, you could contact local bird watchers or conservationists/rangers. In my experience, they know pretty much everything that moves on their patch...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-05-19T12:47:57.850" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T12:47:57.850" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11774" CreationDate="2016-05-19T12:37:34.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others suggest, it's almost certainly best to go with a backpack style kid-carrier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option you might not know about is the Aarn Universal Balance Bag which attaches to your pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aarnpacks.com/#!balance-bags/c1paj&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.aarnpacks.com/#!balance-bags/c1paj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The balance bag counterbalances the awkward weight of a kid on your back, and gives you easy access to water, maps, hats etc etc without having to go through the difficult process of taking off your pack. I use their backpacks, and you'd be surprised by the difference the counterbalance can make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No affiliation - just a fan of their products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThoFU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThoFU.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T12:37:34.597" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11785" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-19T14:05:10.890" Score="10" ViewCount="6228" Body="&lt;p&gt;I witnessed a bizarre scene on the James River in Richmond, VA, USA (1000 yards west of Mayo Bridge if you want to examine Google Maps). It was on a large rock in the middle of the river, where nearly 2 dozen vultures had congregated. There were so many I couldn't tell if they were atop some carcas, but I couldn't see one from 75 yards away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now here's the weird part. There was a large bald eagle that seemed to be vying for the rock. Eagle would swoop in onto the rock, look around like &quot;Oh, s*** this is more vultures than I thought!&quot;. The vultures (at least those closest to the Eagle) would beat their wings and eventually the eagle would change position or retreat to prepare for another dive bomb. Eventually, the eagle flew away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some important details:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There was a treeline about 300 yards from the rock, and there &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have been a nest there. Not likely, but possible. Assuming this was a mother w/ chicks, maybe a chick tried flying and ended up dying on a nearby rock?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lady walking passed said that vultures were &quot;all over the place&quot; this time of year on the river. Not sure how credible of a claim this was.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No recent flooding, and the shad (fish) are still running in this area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The vultures didn't seem &quot;busy&quot;; they looked like they were just hanging out waiting for something to happen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any hypotheses on what was going on here? In my vast 26 years of life, I've never seen anything like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6683" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T14:45:37.530" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T02:30:27.997" Title="Bald eagle vs. vultures?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bald-eagles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11780" CreationDate="2016-05-19T15:07:44.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's certainly possible in North Wales, one was reported near Mold a couple of weeks ago and they're quite mobile at this time of year. I don't think you can rule out common buzzard for several reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The colouring of buzzards (buteo buteo) is highly variable. They can easily look as black-and-white as an osprey. One living near me was entirely white underneath except the wing tips. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Size is very hard to judge unless birds are right next to each other. Even then, large raptors take time to reach full size, so an adult would look larger than sub adults. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shape is the best clue you have. Buzzards' wing shape does depend on what they're doing, but if you saw a consistent difference between the known buzzards and the other birds, it's likely to be meaningful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T15:07:44.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11763" CreationDate="2016-05-19T17:27:16.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maximum angle depends on the type of rock and on the type of your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are too many factors to think about, so maybe the question about maximal angle is not useful. Consider the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the rock wet or iced? If yes, this may severely limit your walking abilities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the rock covered with a thin layer of sand or gravel? (you will slip all the time)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the rock crumbling, with a potentially dangerous fall?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the rock a monolithic limestone with small sharp ridges caused by rain, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schoensleben.ch/sur/content/journeys/oceania/australia/2009/trip_09/images/AUS_090914_002.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just found an example GPS log of a hike, where I went up and down such slopes with average angle of 15-40° (average 30°). I had light flexible boots, which, I imagine, improved traction - so this may be close to the most favorable combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T17:27:16.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11785" CreationDate="2016-05-19T17:45:06.323" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As bon says in the comments, the most likely explanation is that the vultures and eagle were fighting over a carcass. The answer to your question &quot;do eagles eat carrion?&quot; is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_eagle#Diet_and_feeding&quot;&gt;an emphatic yes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unlike some other eagle species, bald eagles rarely take on evasive or dangerous prey on their own... They obtain much of their food as carrion or via a practice known as kleptoparasitism, by which they steal prey away from other predators... adults are generally more likely to hunt live prey than immature eagles, which often obtain their food from scavenging. They are not very selective about the condition or origin, whether provided by humans, other animals, auto accidents or natural causes, of a carcass's presence, but will avoid eating carrion where disturbances from humans are a regular occurrence. They will scavenge carcasses up to the size of whales, though carcasses of ungulates and large fish are seemingly preferred. Bald eagles also may sometimes feed on material scavenged or stolen from campsites and picnics, as well as garbage dumps (dump usage is habitual mainly in Alaska).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T17:45:06.323" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11780" CreationDate="2016-05-19T19:47:03.017" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In that area, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/h/henharrier/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hen Harriers&lt;/a&gt; are reasonably common. They feed on the grouse on the moorland to the south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTZWs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTZWs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hen Harrier&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;By Andreas Trepte (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (&lt;a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)]&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)]&lt;/a&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's distinctivley a Raptor, with a noticable larger wingspan than the buzzard. They circle at times, much like Buzzards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've personally seen them flying over the cliffs of Worlds End (2-3 miles south of your position) and flying through the trees, even perching, in Llandegla forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6341" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T19:47:03.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11400" CreationDate="2016-05-19T20:59:43.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another two reasons&#xA;The first is that humans vary much more than crows do - in behavior and in color (clothing) so they are easier to tell apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is that crows (and birds generally) have much more to gain from distinguishing between different humans than humans have from distinguishing crows.  Humans are both a source of resources/benefits for many animals and a source of danger or disadvantage and our varying behavior means that some are of more benefit or disadvantage than others, for instance some people might regard them as pests and try to do away with them, while others might like them and want to feed them, yet others could be indifferent but carelessly leaving food in their wake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Australia the Australian Magpie (not to be confused with other types of Magpie) are, like crows intelligent birds.  They are aggressive nest guards - in spring (swooping season) they attack people violently and many Australians have been injured by them.  I have seen that at my brothers house they will not 'swoop' him or his wife, while any unrecognized person may be attacked in the street and the postman definitely will be attacked.  I would say the difference in those behaviors is  because my brother feeds them, the postie rides a noisy motorbike and strangers are to be treated with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9522" LastActivityDate="2016-05-19T20:59:43.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7658" CreationDate="2016-05-19T21:55:38.623" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Iceland has some of the remotest landscapes in Europe and its not difficult to find solitude and choose a hiking route where there are neither vehicles nor people if you so wish. With a population of only 300'000 in a country the same size as Ireland, it is 80% uninhabited and very easy to enter a completely remote and untouched hiking destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an Icelandic resident in the northeast, the best advice I think to anyone wishing to be away from tourists is to come off season. In season there is 1 million and counting visitors and it is a completely different place to hike. &#xA;The best time to hike for me is late September and early October - before the snow but after the tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even in season, it just depends on what you want to see on the hike - if you specifically want to visit Jokulsarlon for instance then of course you will see more people than in other areas. But Vatnajökull is huge - this is 8% of the entire country. These 4 x4 track are a long distance apart with very little traffic for the most part. The greater worry should be safety when entering these incredibly remote, glacial and to the north of Vatnajokull, recently volcanic areas.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, the photos you link to seem a little strange! I don´t think you will happen across many 4x4s in the middle of a river crossing for example! :D ...The other two links do not have cars in. (Have these images changed?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other responders sound like they haven´t visited Iceland. &#xA;Snæfellsjokull is great - but it doesn't make sense to visit the main attraction if you want to avoid tourists! That said - I wouldn't say Snæfellsjokull is anywhere close to the main attraction here. That would be the Golden Circle for most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It´s very unlikely you will see a helicopter. It's a rare event to see any air traffic where I live in the northeast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9523" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-20T07:08:43.483" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T07:08:43.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11785" CreationDate="2016-05-19T23:56:00.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The vultures had likely found something that the eagle also wanted in on. I come from a part of the world where Bald Eagles are &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt;, and yes, they are carrion birds that eat roadkill and found kill all the time. I actually have a picture I shot not long ago of a bald eagle picking meat off of a deer carcass. This was shot just after he chased away a bunch of ravens that had been feasting on it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JBwlk.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JBwlk.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vultures however are rather big, bigger than eagles are. One eagle would be rather intimidated by a large gathering of vultures, it was looking for a safe opening for it to swoop in and get a bite to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-05-20T03:33:58.410" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T03:33:58.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11776" CreationDate="2016-05-20T05:07:37.063" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have one spot under our back deck where Robin's make a nest every year, last year we had a nest with five eggs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h6lkw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h6lkw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every year, we did absolutely nothing to help them out, and they always did just fine. I did think that I could have helped a bit by giving them a couple worms when I poked my head in to take a look. Every time they'd hear something near by the nest, they'd pop they're heads up with their mouths open, which appeared to take a lot of exertion when they were small. I tried finding caterpillars and soft bugs for them to eat a couple of times, but while I was looking, Mom would always show up with a mouth full of grubs and sit on the fence waiting for me to leave so she could fly in and feed her chicks, so I just let them be after that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hzc89.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hzc89.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the exception that not all of the eggs hatched last year, the chicks grew fast and promptly flew the coup. Don't expect your birds to be around for long, they'll likely only be there a couple weeks after they hatch, then they'll be big enough to fly. Believe it or not, the picture of them above was taken on June 18th, and the picture below was taken on June 25th, that's how much they grew in only a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HQMOX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HQMOX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that you can do to help your birds out, is after the babies fly away, or at the end of the season, is take down the nest. Birds don't typically reuse nests because old ones can be full of pests and parasites. Knock that old nest down once they're done with it, and they'll be able to build a nice clean new one in the same spot next year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation, I'd also try to avoid my downspout, knocking that thing around could disturb the birds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T05:07:37.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11795" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11796" CreationDate="2016-05-20T07:54:17.017" Score="8" ViewCount="1641" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently work on a diy-target. I wan to fill a big cardboard box with stuff, that stops an arrow. However, I'm not able to get my hands on foil rests or textile waste. I just have a full paper bin :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this paper-waste, when compressed (pressed in the box and held together with duct-tape), (cardboard, common paper) suitable to stop an arrow? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T14:37:03.930" Title="Paper bin waste suitable to stop an arrow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11795" CreationDate="2016-05-20T10:04:43.920" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is yes, you can definitely use waste paper or cardboard to stop an arrow. Various folks have used cardboard boxes, flattened, and piled up to anywhere between 6 and 12 inches thick, held together with straps or duct tape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd need to use trial and error to find out what thickness works for you - if you compress the cardboard tighter you don't need as great a thickness - but if it is standard paper waste, rather than cardboard boxes, you'll possibly need double the thickness to start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T10:04:43.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11797" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11802" CreationDate="2016-05-20T10:16:01.193" Score="6" ViewCount="3842" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a box of shotgun shells in the United States. On the box it says they are for pheasant. But it does not say if the shot is lead, steel or some other nontoxic material. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9818/&quot;&gt;We know from the question I have an older shotgun designed for lead shot, can I use steel shot?&lt;/a&gt; that the type of shot is important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't think about this when I grabbed the box. Now that I have sat down and read the box, I am not sure. There is a very small bit of print that says &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This item may include the following SVHC:&lt;/strong&gt; lead styphinate; 2.4 Dinitrotoluene; Dibutyl phthalate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As written there may or may not be lead as part of any component of the shell (or box).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the material the shot is made of is not clearly identified, what is it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T16:07:45.577" Title="What material are the shells I just purchased made of?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11795" CreationDate="2016-05-20T13:25:28.787" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A paper bin is going to make a fairly small stopping area.  Hopefully there is something more substantial (like a wall) behind the target that will stop the arrow if you happen to miss the target entirely.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of bales of hay make a larger area, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay#Small_bales&quot;&gt;small bales&lt;/a&gt; are relatively inexpensive and reliably stop arrows without damaging them.  The best quality, recently cut hay runs under $5.  Straw is usually $1-2, and often, last years hay can be had for at or nearly free.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cover the bales you should be able to get multiple years of use out of them.  When your done, give them to a friend to compost for the garden. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T13:25:28.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11799" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19711" CreationDate="2016-05-20T13:50:30.530" Score="5" ViewCount="2083" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of deer hunters put a rifled barrels on their shotgun and shoot sabot slugs.  I know that without rifling a sabot slug has no stability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are two common types of slugs designed for smooth bores:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brenneke (a.k.a. European) slugs are cast with spiral grooves that supposedly impart some spin from aerodynamic forces once the slug is out of the barrel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foster (a.k.a. American) slugs are cast with hollow and/or finned bases to maintain stability in flight (due to the center of mass being in the front to prevent upset).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've shot both kinds out of an unchoked barrel and been less than impressed with their precision: From a bench rest I don't think I've seen extreme spread less than a foot at 100 yards.  But I have no idea whether this is actually bad or if that is the limit of precision on a smoothbore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what is the &lt;em&gt;best&lt;/em&gt; accuracy I should expect from shotgun slugs in a smooth barrel, shooting from a bench?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T20:35:00.427" LastActivityDate="2019-07-29T14:07:00.667" Title="What sort of accuracy should I expect at 100 yards from slugs fired from a smoothbore shotgun?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11795" CreationDate="2016-05-20T14:37:03.930" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes.  There are two common approaches to this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Press moistened paper into the target container, which can be a box of any sort.  The paper should be wet enough and pressed hard enough that at least a little bit of water is squeezed out upon pressing.  You don't have to wait for it to dry to shoot it.  The advantage of pressing wet paper &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt; is that you can eliminate density variations and pockets.  E.g., you won't find the arrow penetrating 2&quot; in one spot but 6&quot; (or worse) in another.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Create a laminate target by stacking the paper/cardboard and then compressing and strapping/taping the &lt;em&gt;back&lt;/em&gt; of the stack.  By shooting into the ends a target like this can last a long time because, ideally, the arrows are stopped primarily by friction as they slide between two sheets and get squeezed to a stop.  This is the concept behind the popular &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blocktarget.com/&quot;&gt;Block&lt;/a&gt;&quot; targets, which use layered foam.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T14:37:03.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11797" CreationDate="2016-05-20T16:12:42.823" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put a strong magnet on top of a shell and turn it upside down.  If the magnet sticks then you know it contains steel shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it doesn't, then you could have either lead or &quot;non-toxic&quot; shot.  If you paid less than $10 for the box, and/or the box doesn't make a big deal of stating that it's non-toxic, then the shells almost certainly contain lead shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need to know what it is then you have to open a shell.  It is perfectly safe to cut into the hull anywhere in the shot column.  If in doubt just cut off the top, or cut and pry open the crimp.  Now dump some shot out.  If you can't tell by looking at it whether it's lead then put it on an anvil and hit it with a hard hammer.  If it flattens easily it's lead.  If it doesn't flatten before shattering, or if it begins to powder as you hit it, then it's &quot;non-toxic&quot; and contains primarily tungsten or bismuth (and you really should have been charged more than $10/box!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Amendment:&lt;/em&gt; The lead warning on the box is referring to the primer compound (lead styphnate).  Dinitrotoluene could be used in either the primer or powder.  Dibutyl phthalate is probably used in the hull, assuming it's plastic, but could also be a binder if the shot is &quot;non-toxic.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-05-21T16:07:45.577" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T16:07:45.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11806" CreationDate="2016-05-20T16:48:12.233" Score="15" ViewCount="6975" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is one of those things, that seems like it has just always been in my knowledge. A recent comment &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11797/what-kind-of-shot-is-in-the-shells-i-just-purchased#comment29109_11797&quot;&gt;about rifles on a question about shotguns&lt;/a&gt; got me thinking, it really is not all that simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make slugs that you can fire in a shotgun, and they make shot you can fire in a rifle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they can both shoot either slugs or shot, is there a difference? Are the names rifle and shotgun interchangeable? If there is a difference what are key points that distinguish them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T20:36:08.273" LastActivityDate="2019-05-05T16:32:13.690" Title="What is the difference between a rifle and a shotgun?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5838" CreationDate="2016-05-20T17:32:18.280" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Interactions with other boaters&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is probably the top thing that I would consider when anchoring.  Key questions include: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Am I allowed to anchor here?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I am using a single anchor, and the winds or currents change where will my boat swing? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are other boats using a single anchor or multiple?  You should do the same thing, so that your craft moves constantly with other crafts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;How many anchors?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend a single anchor.  This allows you to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid tangling multiple anchors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dedicate the proper amount of rope or chain to the single anchor.  This will be much more productive that multiple anchors with insufficient scope.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be much easier to manage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be clearer for your fellow boaters where your anchor lines are running.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only times I would consider using multiple anchors is when:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wind, waves or current are running in different directions and you have a very good reason to point into one of them.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boats around you are using 2+ anchors and you need to as well to avoid swinging into one another.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;What anchor?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have personally had good experiences with both personally Bruce Claw Anchors and Danforth anchors.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.anchoring.com/blog/anchor-selection-guide-choosing-an-anchor-type/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;More info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hx2Bz.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hx2Bz.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fsR3X.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fsR3X.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Claw works great in mud and sand, although on harder surfaces, I sometimes had trouble getting it to grab.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;How much scope?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much rope or chain do I need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, if you are using chain, you need to use 3 feet of chain for every foot of depth.  In your case this would mean 30 feet, if the water is 10 feet deep, and 60 feet, if the water is 20 feet deep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using rope, you need to us a 7 to 1 ratio.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is that you don't want to pull up on the anchor, you want to pull it a long the bottom.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Setting your anchor&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drop it in the water where you want it to catch.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly backup your boat, spooling out line/chain.  Don't drop lots of rope or chain at once, because you risk tangling it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you have reached a reasonable scope, stop letting out rope/chain and use your engine to reverse on your anchor.  Your anchor should be as strong as your engine.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enjoy Fireworks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T17:32:18.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11803" CreationDate="2016-05-20T17:55:35.487" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the U.S. there are legal definitions provided by code (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionUScode.action?collectionCode=USCODE&amp;amp;searchPath=Title+18%2FPart+I%2FCHAPTER+44&amp;amp;oldPath=Title+18%2FPART+I&amp;amp;isCollapsed=true&amp;amp;selectedYearFrom=2012&amp;amp;ycord=1738&quot;&gt;18 USC 921&lt;/a&gt;) and regulation (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;amp;SID=d81236b8e3a4138ecb971a41fa7769bb&amp;amp;rgn=div5&amp;amp;view=text&amp;amp;node=27:3.0.1.2.3&amp;amp;idno=27#se27.3.478_111&quot;&gt;27 CFR 478.11&lt;/a&gt;), which are somewhat derived from the customary definitions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shotgun is designed to shoot shot (i.e., multiple ball projectiles) through a smooth bore.  Yes, you can buy rifled shotguns designed to fire a single projectile, but they still shoot &lt;em&gt;shotgun shells&lt;/em&gt;, which are large caliber and produce low maximum chamber pressures.  I believe the SAAMI MAP (Maximum Average Pressure) for shotshells is always under 12kpsi.  And the &lt;em&gt;smallest&lt;/em&gt; standard shotshell I'm aware of is .410.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rifle is designed to shoot a single projectile at high pressures through a rifled barrel.  It is common to see MAP for rifle cartridges over 60kpsi.  And it is extremely uncommon to see a man-portable rifle with a bore larger than .50 caliber*.  (And perhaps even less common to find shooters willing to get behind one's trigger ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;strong&gt;a decent definition could distinguish these firearms primarily by design pressure&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true that you can find rifle ammunition &lt;em&gt;loaded&lt;/em&gt; to lower pressures.  You can even find some corner cases where a rifle is loaded to fire more than one projectile &amp;ndash; e.g., the M198 &quot;duplex.&quot;  You managed to find a .22LR &quot;shot shell.&quot;  That's just a weird product: It's a low pressure round, and its effective range is measured in feet because rifling throws shot into a ridiculously wide &quot;pattern.&quot;  I.e., you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; fire shot through a rifle, but other than as a point-blank &quot;snake&quot; load, or just out of curiosity, you wouldn't want to.  It really fouls the rifling, and it doesn't let you hit anything at a distance with any reasonable probability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;*ATF exemptions exist, so that's not just because &lt;em&gt;in general&lt;/em&gt; rifles over .50 are classified as Destructive Devices.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-05-20T18:21:46.007" LastActivityDate="2016-05-20T18:21:46.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11803" CreationDate="2016-05-20T18:14:35.597" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;The  term 'rifle' comes from the fact that the barrel of a rifle has spiral grooves (called rifling) cut into the inside. When the bullet is fired  it is forced into these grooves which in turn cause it to spin as it travels down the barrel. This spin around its long axis creates a gyroscopic effect which stabilises it in flight dramatically improving its accuracy and the consistency of its trajectory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This axial stabilization also means that the bullet can be made with a more aerodynamically efficient shape (typically a cone or cylinder) as it is much less prone to tumbling end over end in flight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A consequence of this is that a rifle bullet is a tight fit in the barrel and so very little of the gas pressure generated by the propellant can get past it compared to a shotgun and so typically a rifle requires a rather heavier barrel than a shotgun as it must contain greater gas pressures even though a shotgun shell may have a greater mass of propellant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shotgun is designed to produce a spread of shot over short to moderate ranges which  makes it easier to hit small fast moving targets, such as small game and especially birds in flight. the limitation is that its stopping power and accuracy decrease quickly with range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a military context shotguns have the advantage that they have high stopping power at very short ranges, can hit a target without careful aim* and have a very versatile  selection of rounds for different purposes. They are also particular useful for breeching unarmored doors either with buckshot, solid slugs or specialist breeching rounds there are also specialist rounds for firing gas and pyrotechnic munitions through light doors and walls as well as for shattering windows (relatively) safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*In response to comments I will clarify this point by adding that shotguns are well suited to quickly acquiring and hitting fast moving targets of opportunity both because of their spread pattern and general handling characteristics. Here 'careful aim'  was perhaps the wrong choice of words but the point is that they work well for reflexive type shooting styles both in the context of game shooting (eg birds flying from cover) and certain military contexts. This is especially the case over moderate ranges in close terrain (eg dense forest or outdoor urban terrain) shotguns may be a very effective weapon as an initial counter to ambushes or unexpected contact with the enemy at short range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solid slugs in shotguns are normally primarily  intended as anti-material  rounds for use against light vehicles etc at fairly close range but they can also be used to improve effective range and accuracy against personnel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solid slugs are also commonly the only allowed munition for hunting large game on public land. Rifle rounds travel very far before hitting the ground due to their high muzzle velocity relative to shotgun slugs, so they are more dangerous in the case of a miss. Buckshot is typically banned on public land as it doesn't group reliably and stray pellets can go on long and magical journeys into the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pump action shotguns also have the advantage that a single round can be loaded and fired very quickly from an unloaded weapon. For all of these reasons shotguns are often used as primary or additional weapons by at least one member of units specializing in close quarters, urban or hostage rescue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast rifles are accurate and effective at much greater ranges. Although shot rounds for rifles do exist they are pretty rare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-05-05T16:32:13.690" LastActivityDate="2019-05-05T16:32:13.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11807" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18293" CreationDate="2016-05-20T18:29:31.040" Score="4" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used to have lots of crows in our area -- Northern Virginia, outside DC.  Then West Nile virus struck roughly 15 years ago, and crows disappeared from our area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/faq/deadbirds.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since West Nile virus was discovered in the United States in 1999,&#xA;  the virus has been detected in over 300 species of dead birds.&#xA;  Although some infected birds, especially crows and jays, frequently&#xA;  die of infection, most birds survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several years ago, the crows started to come back, and for the past two years, there has been a large flock at the local shopping center and we again routinely see crows on the trees adjacent to our patio.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has this pattern been observed elsewhere -- disappearance of crows, and then resurgence?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification:  While anecdotal information from other geographical areas would be very welcome, I'm hoping someone has an answer based on a scientific survey or on information on whether the virus has mutated and/or whether resistant crow populations have emerged. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:29:21.497" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T03:28:12.210" Title="Is the reappearance of large crow populations 15 years after the West Nile dieback a widespread occurence?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;crows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4647" CreationDate="2016-05-20T19:34:07.243" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of this is going to be subjective, but here is what I avoid:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anything with sugar alcohols. The only exception being stevia/erythritol. Everything else causes gastric distress, at least for me. So watch out for sports bars and powders that contain things like sorbitol, xylitol, or malitol.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dried fruits with too much fiber. Usually prunes or dried apricots. Again, gastric distress unless you only eat a little. But why bother bringing them at that point? Yes, I have experienced backpacking while constantly having to empty my bowels, and it's no fun. It also dehydrates you. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Store bought jerky. This might seem like an obvious choice for camping or backpacking, but I have always regretted it since store bought jerky always used low grade meat that is too tough and gets stuck in your teeth, and it's super salty which will make you drink more water. If you really want to bring meat, either freeze some meat before you leave or make your own jerky with a dehydrater.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meat that goes bad easily, like chicken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Food that is too low in fat. While your body can use sugar and carbs for quick energy, it needs fat to function properly. Nuts are good for this, of course. Just don't think you can go strictly on rice, beans, and pasta the whole time. Don't feel bad about eating a lot of fat because you're supposed to be burning it off by being in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6618" LastEditorUserId="6618" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T16:19:02.013" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T16:19:02.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11809" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11811" CreationDate="2016-05-20T21:46:48.810" Score="4" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have an REI half dome 2 plus tent, but during our last trip it rained quite a bit. While this tent has two vestibules, they are low and were mostly filled with gear, so that when we unzipped to get out, our stuff got wet. It would have been nice to have an area where you could take a minute to get it together before/after going out in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem is, there is no porch or gear shed attachment for this model. I've seen ones for Nemo, MSR, Marmot, etc. but am unsure how specific the designs are for those models. Has anyone had any luck with this? I've considered using a tarp, too, but when the rain is blowing sideways this isn't a great solution. Suggestions appreciated, thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9533" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:30:25.383" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:30:25.383" Title="Any luck mixing gear sheds/porches/garages with different brands of tents?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11809" CreationDate="2016-05-21T12:52:57.263" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the situation you describe, mismatched gear is not going to provide what you want.  If the rain is blowing sideways and/or hard enough to get past your tarp then it will most likely also blow in the gaps inevitably left by the mismatched gear.  Unfortunately the answer is the news most people least want:  You have the wrong tent for what you are looking to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T12:52:57.263" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11735" CreationDate="2016-05-21T13:16:23.220" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't perfectly safe to swim in open-sea and should be organized. Some dangers - currents, stiffed legs, sea creatures, almost as on the beach and a wild beach could be really unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The main countermeasures are -&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still water and weather forecast, off course. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shark or other problems proof nets in the water, also keep people inside in most cases. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crew on board to organize rescue and deal with the vessel. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boats on water, not oared or unstable themselves for get in the same  trouble as rescued. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Medic, always a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9403" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T13:16:23.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11803" CreationDate="2016-05-21T13:21:10.890" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The distinction between rifle and shotgun can get convoluted if only considering shot vs single projectile.  Shotguns can be loaded with rifled slugs, rifles can fire shot shells.  CCI has marketed shot shells for the 22LR, 22Mag, 9mm Luger, 40S&amp;amp;W, 44 Mag, and probably others (those are just the ones I've bought).  Yes, I've seen and/or owned rifles in those calibers, but depending on the definition, a pistol is also a rifle. I also have a smoothbore 22 Short &quot;rifle&quot;, similar, I am to understand, to the ones my father used to shoot skeet as a Boy Scout many years ago; it is marked 22 Shotshell Only. In modernity, the Taurus Judge pistol can be loaded with both/either 44 Long Colt or .410 shot/slug shells.  Other such examples exist.&#xA;I would make the distinction based on pressure and velocity rather than projectile type.  Shotguns are designed only to handle low pressure and low (generally &amp;lt; 1600fps) velocities, while rifles (and pistols) are designed to handle high pressures to generate high velocities (up to 4400+ fps).  Many pistol rounds fall into the velocity range of shotguns, but do so using much less powder by generating high pressure.&#xA;Rifling is a distinguish characteristic of rifles, smooth bores of shotguns, but there are exceptions. Seems such exceptions would have to be taken on a case by case basis.&#xA;One of my favorite guns is both; over/under with 22 mag on top, 20 gauge on bottom.  Great for turkey hunting, where allowed.&#xA;BTW, agreed, shot shells, especially those with free floating shot (CCI encapsulates the shot in a plastic casing) can deposit lead in a barrel quite quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9539" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T13:21:10.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11814" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-05-21T17:06:14.073" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-05-21T17:06:14.073" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T17:06:14.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11815" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-05-21T17:06:14.073" Score="0" Body="Questions about the material expended in projectile weapons (typically guns)." OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-05-21T21:58:58.850" LastActivityDate="2016-05-21T21:58:58.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11816" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-21T17:14:02.017" Score="12" ViewCount="1298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on taking a trip across the US and was planning on doing as much dispersed camping (a.k.a.backcountry camping) as possible. I wanted to educate myself on where it is legal to go off trail trekking and camping. I am unsure about the logistics for preparing for this trip. To begin with I am wondering...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What permits may be necessary?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What agencies may need to be contacted?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What areas are likely to allow this type of trip?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have some insights regarding what is required to legally and properly go into the woods to camp for 3+ days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T21:24:40.327" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T21:42:27.957" Title="What are the laws for backcountry (&quot;dispersed&quot;) camping in the US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11818" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11825" CreationDate="2016-05-22T01:18:00.753" Score="7" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am unfamiliar with saltwater shore fishing rigs I have seen some premade, but I am looking to make my own.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the most common ones I have seen online seem to have a large weight on the bottom and one or more hooks coming off the main line.  Some rigs have hooks that are positioned stationary via 3 way swivels other rigs have a sliding weight and hook at the bottom. (Reminds me somewhat of a Carolina rig)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the ideal rig setup for saltwater shore fishing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9544" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T07:02:32.647" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T12:30:35.853" Title="Best saltwater fishing rigs" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11820" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11836" CreationDate="2016-05-22T09:26:40.853" Score="12" ViewCount="92548" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a .357 revolver.  The rounds have a significant amount of kick.  When I go out target shooting the kick makes it unpleasant to shoot before I have gone through a full box of ammunition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone told me you can fire 38 caliber rounds in a 357, but I am not sure that is a good idea. Is it safe to fire 38 caliber rounds in a 357 magnum pistol?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-08-07T23:28:42.107" Title="Is it safe to fire 38 caliber rounds in a 357 magnum pistol?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11816" CreationDate="2016-05-22T13:11:39.223" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no universal answer.  Each property is managed separately, so the only real answer is you have to ask the management of each property that you intend to camp in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By separate property, I mean individual National Forests, for example, not the whole National Forest system.  Within any one forest, there will likely be restrictions by location, time of year, and possibly fluent conditions like fire danger.  At least there is one place to ask for each forest.  Often such rules are posted on the web site for each forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, camping rules are totally different in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire than the Tonto National Forest of Arizona.  Every National Forest, National Park, National Monument, BLM land, National Wildlife Sanctuary, State Park, State Forest, etc, etc, has its own rules.  In general, National Forests are more lax than National Parks and Monuments, but that's at best only a guide to decide where it might be better to spend time drilling down to the details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always get a definitive answer by asking or checking the web site.  Don't assume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-05-26T15:03:04.527" LastActivityDate="2016-05-26T15:03:04.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11816" CreationDate="2016-05-22T15:56:48.463" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Throughout the entire US the law boils down to this:  Whether government or citizen owned, you cannot travel on land without the landowners permission.  Doing can result in charges from criminal trespass to much, much worse (in the case of some private government lands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you'll need permission.  In short, for each part of your journey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find who owns the land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Contact them to find out what their rules are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in the case of state and national land this isn't necessarily trivial, but you can find most of what you need on the web.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With private land you'll need to first check with the local courthouse.  If you're not lucky, this can mean going in person to look at plats.  If you are very lucky, the plats will be web accessible.  Next, you'll need to get contact information for the owner.  This can be tricky as the courthouse may have only an address.  Once you've done that you will need to contact the owner and get permission.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases (government and citizen owned) get permission in writing.  &quot;He said I could&quot; will not hold up in court.  (edit) As Olin notes in his comments, an official policy that allows use is good enough and can be considered &quot;permission in writing&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-05-29T22:01:37.480" LastActivityDate="2016-05-29T22:01:37.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11823" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-22T22:35:59.277" Score="1" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an all natural bug spray that uses distilled water and a combination of four essential oils, and NOT containing DEET. If I spray it on my body and clothing before climbing will these essential oils weaken the fibers of the climbing ropes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9549" LastEditorUserId="9549" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T16:28:27.003" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T16:28:27.003" Title="Do essential oils damage climbing ropes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2016-05-23T12:43:16.503" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11824" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-23T07:28:28.513" Score="2" ViewCount="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;After my first wild camping experience, I found that my hand torch was really inefficient in the evening compared to other people's head torches - what are the features that make a good head torch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T07:46:54.513" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T08:02:35.827" Title="What should I look for in a head torch?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-05-23T08:04:23.203" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11818" CreationDate="2016-05-23T07:41:19.423" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This really depends on what your situation is. &#xA;You want to fish from the shore, so how bad is the surf? The bigger the waves, the larger the weight. Also, you could use lead like &lt;a href=&quot;https://fishing-adventure.com/shop/media/images/530001-100-med.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. The &quot;arms&quot; help the lead to dig into the sand, and then turn over once you put some pressure on them and reel it in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way, since fish hook themself once they take the bait and swim away, the hooks are stationary. This helps especially when fish start swimming towards the shore, and you could easily miss whatever signal you use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number of hooks usually depends of how many hooks are legal, and are comfortable for you to fish with - you don't want to use more hooks than allowed, and you also don't want 20 hooks on a 10ft rig that entangles immediately. You don't what to use giant hooks on fish with a small mouth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other situations you might want your rig to travel, so you use smaller, round leads (for fish that take a bait, go for a swim, and only then start swallowing the bait). This kind of fishing also uses the sliding lead with hook at the bottom. The fish can take the bait and swim away (usually smaller flatfish, at least where i'm from).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But finally, it's not rocket science! :) Use as many hooks as you want and are allowed to, use a weight that seems appropriate (nothing that will be swept back to shore in a few minutes, and allows you to hold you line somewhat tight to detect bites), and use a rig that you like (just keep in mind the difference between free and stationary hooks, both will work, you just have to adjust the way you handle bites). There is no ideal setup, it's all situational.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to know a preferred setup for a specific situation, just ask away :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T07:41:19.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2016-05-23T07:43:11.607" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;for me I look at&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Amount of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;lumens&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;produced&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Several modes (battery saving to full on light everything up)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery life&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulkyness (or lack of!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get good LED torches that have all of the above these days. Small, good output and good battery life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T07:43:11.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2016-05-23T07:54:21.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several features you could want or ignore in a head torch. So this answer is subjective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; head torch should be bright of course with a good distance to it, you don't just want to be able to see a few feet in front of you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In other situations, you want a wide illuminated angle, so it would be nice to be able to toggle between this mode, and a powerful spotlight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, you might want to be able to use red light to maintain your night vision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you could adjust the brightness for each of this operation modes, very good! You don't need to be able to light up a landing strip, when you just look for some socks in your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You want your head torch to be somewhat water resistant or water proof, to be able to wear it in wet conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good battery life can be really important when it comes to extended use! Same goes for a comfortable, adjustable head band, and your torch should be lightweight, and snug to your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these things are important, however there are some nice quality-of-life features, or gimmicks you could look into:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My head torch allows me to &lt;em&gt;lock&lt;/em&gt; it by holding the power button for some seconds. To unlock it, I have to press it for some seconds again. No more empty batteries after your torch lit up the inside of your backpack for 20 hours straight! It even has a battery life indicator - very useful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the angle of the lamp is adjustable, you can more easily do stuff in front of your face, or the normal height, when you are tying knots, or do anything that requires your light to &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; shine at something at 90 degrees of your forehead. I never realized how much I love this feature, until I didn't have to temporarily move my crappy old head torch down to my neck to do something in arms reach &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; nose level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a more &quot;serious&quot; use, you might want to have a strobe function to defend yourself, or signal SOS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2016-05-23T08:07:51.493" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T08:07:51.493" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11828" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11856" CreationDate="2016-05-23T08:32:59.913" Score="11" ViewCount="2354" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most torches have their brightness specified in lumen, sometimes one also sees a lux number, at times both. While the technical meaning of these units are clear (lumen is luminous intensity per steradian, lux luminous intens. per area, see wikipedia for more details), it is unclear how these numbers are measured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Torches usually have one or several light sources plus reflectors and lenses, resulting in a light beam that differs from model to model and is spatially inhomogeneous. Thus the lamp as a whole is not really a point light source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does the lumen number refer to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lux number is conceptually easier, as it does not require a point source and could be measured at any point of the light beam. However it probably is along the central beam axis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an agreed upon position/method to measure these values (in between manufacturers)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T13:45:29.443" Title="What does lumen and lux for flashlights/torches actually mean?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11829" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11831" CreationDate="2016-05-23T10:21:01.037" Score="12" ViewCount="1798" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wonder why fly fishing leaders have to be tapered? Is the most important reason to preserve flight dynamics when casting? Would a simple untapered leader not present a dry fly, for example, in the same way as a tapered leader? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I otherwise do not see a reason why it has to be tapered as the weakest chain determines break-ability anyway (in this case tippet), so why not using a leader size that is untapered and lies in between the width of the end part and the tippet connecting part? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9554" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T00:56:20.517" Title="Why does a leader have to be tapered in fly fishing?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11830" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11832" CreationDate="2016-05-23T13:24:38.287" Score="11" ViewCount="271" Body="&lt;p&gt;This BBC news article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36355920&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mount Everest: Altitude sickness claims third death in four days&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; caught my attention. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I understand the best cure for Altitude sickness is to get lower, fast.  This is not always possible.  Is there some kind of test you can do before going up a mountain to asses your risk of having a fatal case of Altitude sickness? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related Questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13&quot;&gt;What can I do to prevent altitude sickness?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1254&quot;&gt;Training to prepare for oxygen deficiency in the high mountains&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9666&quot;&gt;Case example on Altitude Mountain Sickness: How to detect and react properly?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7089&quot;&gt;What are the real dangers of climbing at high altitude?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:00:46.397" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:00:46.397" Title="Can you pre-identify the risk of severe Altitude sickness?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11829" CreationDate="2016-05-23T13:52:32.863" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will try to answer this, however i don't know the correct english terminology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason for a tapered leader is the control you get over your fly. With a thick line, you flick (or roll, here comes the terminology issue) the tip of your rod, and you can see the &quot;wave&quot; travel forward through your line, until it &quot;whips&quot; at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you try this with a very fine line, you won't see the wave travel at all, you will likely just pull your line sideways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try create a whipping sound with a shoelace, then try to create a whipping sound with thin yarn. The energy can't travel through almost weightless material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now back to the leaders. You want a (relatively) heavy line as far as possible towards the fly, to have maximum control. A quick circular flick in the tip of your rod will let your fly &quot;jump&quot; 10cm left or right if you are skilled enough, which can be the final necessary step to get a fish to bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you also want to have a very fine, almost invisible line near your hook, to not scare fish away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you attach a short, fine line directly to your main line, and whip your rod, the fly on the thin leader might jump uncontrollably. If you attack a long fine leader to your main line and whip, the thin line will just not transfer the energy, and your fly will do nothing (maybe be pulled through the water a little bit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also don't want to have 5 lines of different thickness knotted together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution: a tapered leader, which will transfer the energy to your fly smoothly, with no big steps between two lines of different thickness. The energy can travel undisturbed and the line close to the hook is thin and invisible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want or have to control the fly in a distance, you probably could just use a longer thin leader directly attached to your main line, for example when you use large streamers for northern pike (don't forget your steel leader ;)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But by controlling the smaller dry fly you make it jump small distances, just like a fly would after falling in the water. After all, these movements are what makes shy trouts take the bait after all, not just a small something that is motionless floating by&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T13:52:32.863" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11830" CreationDate="2016-05-23T14:59:27.007" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I could not find evidence of an existing test and there is no widely accepting known cause. The only risk factor commonly noted is having been previously affected by AMS. Other mentioned risk factors include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anemia&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preexisting heart or lung disease&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Last-5-years/First-test-to-predict-acute-mountain-sickness&quot;&gt;one article about a study done by a subgroup of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). in 2013&lt;/a&gt; where they studied a group of 34 volunteers at sea level and at 3842m after passive ascent. They measured O2 saturation and a parameter they denote TAPSE (systolic function of the right ventricle evaluated by cardiac ultrasound) and observed whether symptoms of AMS occur after 24h. Combining the results of both O2 and TAPSE after 4h at high altitude, they predicted 92% of the AMS cases and 94% of the non-affected cases. Both measurements are non-invasive and cheap, so they remaining problem is that you have to pass 4h at high altitude.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They mention ongoing research and a quick search revealed quite a few recent papers on the topic, but I did not yet have time to look at them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-05-23T14:59:27.007" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11834" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11840" CreationDate="2016-05-23T17:33:44.370" Score="9" ViewCount="50564" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, my two kids are old enough to go fishing and have fun, but they get bored after an hour or so.  I purchased some worms from a local shop, and at our rate of fishing, it's going to take a while to use them up. I was told they were pretty fresh, and they apparently came from Canada (and boy are their arms tired...). The worms are packed in a small (6&quot;x6&quot;x2&quot;) Styrofoam box that seems to seal itself pretty well.  They are packed in dirt, and they seem pretty happy when I open the container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long can I expect them to last in the fridge?  Is a typical home refrigerator (33-35 degrees) too cold?  They were in a cooler at the bait shop, but I have no idea how cold it was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to make the little guys more comfortable?  How do I know when they are &quot;expiring&quot;?  I guess they just quit moving, but are there other signs that it's probably time to git rid of them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4041" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:54:54.250" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:54:54.250" Title="How long will worms last in the refrigerator?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;&lt;worms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11828" CreationDate="2016-05-23T19:40:06.130" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply put, lumens is the total amount of light coming out of the flashlight, and lux is the measure of how much of that light is focused in one area. One lux equals one lumen per square metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If light were paint, lumens would be equal to litres, and lux would be how thickly you apply the paint. If you're only covering a small area, then you can make your paint pretty thick, but if you try to spread it to cover a larger area, then it's going to get thin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With your flashlight, the lumens don't change, but you can focus the lumens into a smaller area and up the lux in that area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-05-24T01:19:31.067" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T01:19:31.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11820" CreationDate="2016-05-23T20:56:21.163" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absolutely safe.  The .357 Magnum cartridge was literally designed as a high-pressure .38 Special:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Max pressure on a .38 Special is 17kpsi (with the +P specification allowing for 18.5kpsi).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Max pressure on a .357 Magnum is basically double: 35kpsi.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to prevent people from putting the high-pressure rounds in a gun not designed for them, the cartridge case was lengthened just enough (0.135&quot;) that, properly loaded, it would not fit in the cylinder or chamber of a gun designed only for .38 Special.  But take a .357 Magnum round, dump a bit of powder* (or use the same charge as you load in .38 Special), and you're essentially back to a .38 Special in a slightly longer case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shooting .38 Specials in a .357 Magnum can lead to one small problem: Because the .38 case is slightly shorter, you'll get chamber or cylinder fouling a little further back.  If you shoot a lot of dirty ammo and then, without cleaning, try to feed .357 Magnum back into the same gun, you might find rounds getting stuck on that ring of fouling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tiny caveat: There are some .357 Magnum autoloaders out there.  If they're tuned for the recoil impulse of the magnum they may fail to cycle on the lower recoil of the .38 Special.  Of course, as with any gun you intend to use for hunting or defense, you should test fire the gun with the ammo you intend to carry to ensure they work together without malfunctions before taking them into the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* Don't &lt;em&gt;literally&lt;/em&gt; &quot;dump a bit of powder.&quot;  Significantly downloading rounds can cause very serious &amp;ndash; even catastrophic &amp;ndash; problems!  Only mess with loads if you are a competent reloader.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-05-24T01:31:19.497" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T01:31:19.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11816" CreationDate="2016-05-24T02:48:54.880" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As to answer what areas may be more likely to allow backcountry camping, I usually look at the two following things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are unsure where to start, I would consider any &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-distance_trails_in_the_United_States&quot;&gt;long trails&lt;/a&gt; in the vicinity of where you want to backpack. Popular long trails, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&quot;&gt;AT&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; etc. allow you to camp mostly anywhere around the trail. There are some exceptions but these are fairly well documented on their respective websites (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/&quot;&gt;AT&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcta.org/&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt;). You should be able to figure out the details for each individual trail and their specific areas. Typically, you can avoid the more restrictive areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some long trails, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_Trail&quot;&gt;JMT&lt;/a&gt;, have more restrictions and may not be a good option. Looking at a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jan/19/top-10-long-distance-hiking-trails-us-california-oregon-texas&quot;&gt;top 10 list&lt;/a&gt; may provide you with some inspiration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, I like to look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/map/state_list.shtml&quot;&gt;National Forests&lt;/a&gt; because they usually have less restrictions if any at all (e.g. don't stay at the same spot for &gt; 2 weeks). In many cases, you can camp just about anywhere in national forests. In some places, e.g. in California, they may still require a permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T02:48:54.880" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11845" CreationDate="2016-05-24T14:21:36.297" Score="18" ViewCount="7855" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm contemplating using a hammock for my next trip, usually I'd keep my backpack and boots with me inside when I sleep to keep them dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there room in a hammock for a backpack and boots? Or is it uncomfortable being pulled into them all night? Can I instead hang them beneath a hammock, and is access an issue in that case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't need to worry about predators where I'm camping so there's no problem with keeping the pack (and food) with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:25:38.697" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:25:38.697" Title="How to stow backpack and boots whilst in a hammock?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2016-05-24T14:22:00.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've wild camped in Italy around Lake Como, Sardinia, Norway, all over the UK and all over France including bang outside Nice airport in the central reservation of the dual carriageway. Never had one problem in 15 years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like everyone has said be discreet. Camp late, leave early, noise to a minimum, no fires. Basically tuck yourself away out of site and you'll be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After all, if someone is wandering around in a remote spot, in the middle of the night they are either lost or a nutter! And they'll think the same of you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9564" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T14:22:00.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11834" CreationDate="2016-05-24T14:26:58.060" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The worms that you more than likely have are what most people know as &quot;nightcrawlers&quot;.  They should be larger than regular earthworms, lively when touched, and &quot;juicy&quot; (lots of crud comes out when you cut them up).  In my experience, nightcrawlers are VERY resilient, given that you always do the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anytime they are not being used for fishing they should be stored in the refrigerator.  I always put them on the top shelf to make sure that they don't accidentally freeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They should always be in a slightly moist environment.  When storing, the fridge should be totally fine.  When transporting, I usually just make sure there is ample dirt in the container which helps to hold the moisture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you do these two things I have found that most brands of nightcrawlers will last MONTHS.  You may notice that after a few hours of fishing, your worms will begin to get floppy and less active.  This is not a big deal as long as you can get the worms immediately back into the fridge after fishing (max of about 6 hours out of the fridge at a time), I have found they will rebound and be totally fishable after a few hours in the coolbox.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I usually do is only take the amount of worms that I think I'll need for my fishing session out of the container and leave the rest in the fridge. (old Chinese food takeout containers work very well, provided you wash them out) making sure to add some dirt into my travel container as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not clear from your question, but if there are no holes in the container I would poke a few to help the worms breathe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as knowing when they have died, it should be pretty obvious.  They will stop moving and start to dry up and shrink.  Depending on the conditions, white fungus might start to form as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6050" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T14:26:58.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2016-05-24T16:06:34.860" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to eat Knorr Spaghetteria.  I don't know if it's the most efficient energy-wise, but it's vastly more efficient than outdoor store dehydrated meals price-wise!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At Amazon they sell at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00623OQ2W/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=556245207&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=B00623OY1K&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=0DK5DY9RXVEQV05QQRF8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;€1.45 per package&lt;/a&gt;.  A package is advertised to be a meal for two, but it isn't — it is a meal for one.  But €1.45 per meal is not bad at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to bring peanut butter, but I don't bother any more.  I just bring peanuts.  Lots and lots of them.  Easier to carry, easier to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, I eat hardkeks, dried fruits (mango, papaya, strawberry, and pineapple), chocolate, oatmeal with raisins ad sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T16:06:34.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11838" CreationDate="2016-05-24T16:27:52.237" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends largely on the hammock size and personal preference.  My friend's hammock has mesh gear pockets on the underside for storage, but he doesn't mind sleeping with the boots on or inside the hammock.  The backpack can pose a bigger issue, because there usually isn't enough room with it filled up.  If you empty it out and it compresses easily, give that a shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely you'll use an overhead tarp for protection from rain.  The easiest way (and the way we've been doing it for years) would be to leave it protected underneath the hammock as well (perhaps with a rain cover for redundancy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your rain tarp setup allows for it, you might also consider setting up a line to hang gear from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2016-05-24T16:27:52.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11838" CreationDate="2016-05-25T12:21:20.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about if you hang the hammock so that there is 3' of space below it, then run a &quot;clothesline&quot; below it? then hang the boots and pack of the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as they are below the hammock they shouldn't get wet. And I'd think it's fine to have the outside touching the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-05-25T12:21:20.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-25T12:25:51.647" Score="7" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to use a butane &quot;canister stove&quot;. The only canisters I can find locally are Butane/&lt;strong&gt;Propane&lt;/strong&gt; mixes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that Propane canisters are extra heavy b/c Propane is under higher pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are Butane /Propane canisters heavier then other Butane mixes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T12:23:11.350" Title="Are the canisters for isoButane (empty weight) heavier than other Butane mixes?" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11838" CreationDate="2016-05-25T17:58:26.827" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having been in the same situation and tried various scenarios, I've found the best way for hanging my boots is to keep a carabiner with me. I hook it on the loops on the back of my boots and hang that from the straps that I'm using to suspend my hammock. Depending on the weather I also do the same thing with my pack. The straps I use have loops in them. If they don't, you can just tie a loop in and use another carabiner to hang your pack from the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is inclement whether, I have tried cuddling with my pack in a double hammock. That's unbearably uncomfortable. In fact, that time I ended up hooking my pack with a carabiner to the end of my hammock and just propped my feet up. In future hikes, I ended up draping my tarp over me under my hammock on the uphill and setting my pack on top of that which kept it off the ground and kept it dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2872" LastActivityDate="2016-05-25T17:58:26.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11828" CreationDate="2016-05-25T18:32:14.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lumen:&lt;/strong&gt; The lumen is essentially the amount of light emitted from the point source. A candela is roughly the amount of light emitted from one lit candlestick in any direction over an angular span. A lumen is considered the luminous flux of that light source and can be found by multiplying the intensity (the candela) by the angular span over which the light is emitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lux:&lt;/strong&gt; As you pointed out, lux refers to the intensity of the light which can be intensified by mirrors and direction or shortened by the lack thereof. For instance, you can concentrate the light and create a high lux output with a smaller footprint (like a spotlight) or not concentrate the light and create a lower lux output with a larger footprint (like a floodlight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a good visual reference:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x1BF1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x1BF1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a good source for more information on it: &lt;a href=&quot;http://gemini-lights.com/explore/lux-and-lumens&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://gemini-lights.com/explore/lux-and-lumens&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2872" LastEditorUserId="2872" LastEditDate="2016-05-27T13:45:29.443" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T13:45:29.443" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11573" CreationDate="2016-05-25T20:55:20.117" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fairly traditional and challenging route might start on the west coast at Inverie (shop, bunkhouse, remote pub!), which you must reach by sea on a passenger ferry from Mallaig.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Head into Knoydart, tackling Munros Meall Buidhe, Sgurr na Ciche (bothy at Sourlies), the head over the Glen Dessary Munros and Sgurr Mor (bothy at Kinbreak), then on to Tomdoun (hotel). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then head to Clunes, and over the Loch Lochy Munros and maybe Ben Tee to Kilfinnan and along the Great Glen way to Fort Augustus (shop). Take the old military road (the Corrieairack) over to Melgarve (bothy) and then to Laggan and Newtonmore (shop).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then all that remains(!) is to go east taking whatever route you fancy through or over the Cairngorms and as many Munros as you like (Glen Feshie [bothy] up onto the plateau for Sgor Gaoith, across to Braeriach, drop into the Lairig Ghru, Ben Macdui, Loch Avon [shelter stone] and then a long walk out towards Inchrory [bothy at Faindouran] and Cockbridge along Glen Avon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there you have a choice of flattish or hilly routes towards the coast at Stonehaven.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd prefer this east to west though. Nothing beats getting into Inverie for a pint at the Forge after slogging across Knoydart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2veDR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2veDR.png&quot; alt=&quot;Route Map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are any number of variants - e.g. start at Shiel bridge or Glenelg, through to Kinlochourn (or along the south Glenshiel ridge) and then rejoin the route at Tomdoun. After you go down to Clunes you could then deviate entirely by heading to Glen Roy (bothy at Luib Chonnal) and then to Melgarve. Or you could head to Spean bridge, through the Lairig Leacach (bothy) to Corrour and then east to Ben Alder and then Dalwhinnie (shop), then over the east Drumochter Munros to Gaick and then Glen Feshie. This latter is longer, but perhaps better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think all of these variants will require you to be ~5 days away from food supplies. You also don't &lt;em&gt;have to&lt;/em&gt; traverse high ground (the exception perhaps being getting across the Cairngorms from Glen Feshie, you would have to go a long way around, but lots of coast-to-coast folk do just that) - it is important to be realistic in Scotland and have a low-level backup plan; when the weather is grim you won't want to be hauling a big backpack over the Munros.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8036" LastEditorUserId="8036" LastEditDate="2016-05-26T09:17:01.543" LastActivityDate="2016-05-26T09:17:01.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2016-05-26T08:49:52.777" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's quite a good guide I've found on wild camping in the UK here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campsites.co.uk/guides/wild-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Camping.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, there's more acceptance than you'd expect from simply reading the laws, if you show respect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Scotland, the law is different to the rest of the UK. Generally you're allowed to camp on the majority of unenclosed land if you follow a (sensible) code of conduct. There are some exceptions around Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In England and Wales, with the exception of Dartmoor, the law says there's no right without the owner's permission.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In practise, so long as you follow the wild camping code and behave, you will often be OK. But you do need to move on if asked.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High up in the Lakes and Snowdonia, you should be fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Peak District and Yorkshire Dales and Moors are not so easy, because of the fire risk on dry moorland.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bivvying is tolerated on Exmoor, for single night stops.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two locations are officially allowed in the Brecon Beacons - Mellte and Llech Llia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9577" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T15:23:58.660" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T15:23:58.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11851" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-26T15:50:45.937" Score="0" ViewCount="73" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just moved into a travel trailer with my pets (two cats and a bunny). I have a built-in garage and there is no place to run to if there is a tornado. I was wanting to know if it would be safe to go into the garage and lay under the trailer with my pets? I am new at travel trailer living.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9579" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-05-26T17:15:10.453" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T13:41:17.513" Title="Travel trailer with pets during a tornado" Tags="&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2016-05-27T19:25:50.117" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11851" CreationDate="2016-05-26T16:29:30.217" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a shelter, then you want to find somewhere as safe as possible with solid walls surrounding you, at the core of your building.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garages don't usually fulfil this role, as while you may have solid walls, the door is easily ripped off by high winds combined with the pressure differential in a tornado.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, if you are under a vehicle when this happens, especially a high sided vehicle, you are in a very dangerous place - it will move, and you could easily be crushed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a cupboard/closet under the stairs, or a small shower or bathroom with no windows in the centre of your house, that is your best plan. If not, get as close to that as possible - getting into the bath with some heavy rugs or blankets over the top is recommended as well, to protect from flying debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-05-26T16:29:30.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2016-05-26T18:49:17.780" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have owned, reloaded, and hunted with both 30 caliber rounds and have to say that they are both very effective and  capable for almost all hunting applications. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;first&lt;/strong&gt; comparison I can offer is felt recoil, the 30-06 is a little bit more than 308 in this area. So For new shooters still getting use to shooting with a scoped rifle 308 will probably be the best option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secondly&lt;/strong&gt; I have to mention the cost factor. In today's market 30-06 is primarily sold  for hunting purposes only, this is not the case with 308 win,there is a large variety of military surplus ammo cheep and plentiful. This cost advantage gives you the benifits of being able to shoot more ammo, so more practice is being done at the range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 308 cartridge operates at a lower barrel pressure so a typical barrel 308 can last 5000 rounds before accuracy decline is noticeable, where as a 30-06 is typically half that ammount. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;308 win has a good balistic coefficient so it is accurate and stable bullet. If you reload for 308 or 30-06 the options of bullet types and powders avaliable are rediculous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either round is very good and will serve you well but I think 308 is the best option for almost any thing you can use it for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9581" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-22T08:09:08.173" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T08:09:08.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13221" CreationDate="2016-05-26T22:36:12.917" Score="16" ViewCount="485" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using a sextant to get accurate angle measurements is tough on moving vessel.  It's even harder when the waters are rough.  Is there a technique that is most useful in stabilizing the device and/or the body holding it to keep the sextant focused on its target?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9528" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T21:41:11.220" Title="How do you stabilize a sextant for use on a boat in rough water?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11828" CreationDate="2016-05-27T05:52:01.763" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8274/why-might-one-need-a-2000-lumen-headlamp/8278#8278&quot;&gt;a related post&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lumens&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; is the SI unit for luminous flux, which is essentially the total amount of light in the visible spectrum emitted by a source in all directions. Lumens does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; depend on distance from the light source, because it must be measured in all directions. A related unit, lux, measures the amount of light hitting a certain surface area, and &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; dependent on distance. 1&amp;nbsp;lux = 1&amp;nbsp;lm/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. If you were to measure the lux on every surface of an imaginary sphere around a light source and add it up, you would get the total lumens output of the device. No matter what the diameter of the sphere, you would get the same number of lumens. As you increase the diameter, the brightness on any given surface is lower, but the surface area you must measure increases. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It turns out this is almost exactly how you measure lumens in real life - with a scientific instrument called an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrating_sphere&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;integrating sphere&lt;/a&gt;. An integrating sphere uses a highly diffuse coating to evenly disperse light inside a sphere. All light entering through the sample port bounces around so many times that the brightness is nearly even at any point on the surface of the sphere. A photodetector, typically a radiometer, measures the intensity of the light received at the exit port across all visible wavelengths, then sums the intensities to determine the total luminous flux. Below is a photo of the integrating sphere I used to conduct testing of bike lights: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJqAP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Integrating sphere&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lux&lt;/strong&gt; can be measured with a low-cost hand-held light meter. Of course, an accurate and calibrated meter costs more. Lux is lm/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;; in other words, how much light hits a particular area. Lux meters collect light from an aperture of a known size, typically about 1&amp;nbsp;in&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I4RoEm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I4RoEm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lux meter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You state that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The lux number is conceptually easier, as it does not require a point source and could be measured at any point of the light beam. However it probably is along the central beam axis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lux &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; depend on position, because it's light &lt;em&gt;per area&lt;/em&gt;. The further you get from the light source the more the light beam has diffused, so the less light hits a particular area, as illustrated by this drawing from Wikipedia: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a0wDr.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a0wDr.png&quot; alt=&quot;Inverse square law applied to lux&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Candela&lt;/strong&gt; is the unit for a point measurement which doesn't depend on the distance. Candelas are inversely proportional to the square of lux. You can convert lux to candela using the inverse square law: &lt;code&gt;candela = lux * (d)^2&lt;/code&gt; where &lt;em&gt;d&lt;/em&gt; is the distance in meters from the light source. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there an agreed upon position/method to measure these values (in between manufacturers)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, there is. The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI%2FNEMA%20FL%201-2009&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ANSI FL1 Standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; was developed by the flashlight industry in 2009 and specifies particular measurement techniques and testing conditions. The standard includes test methods for beam distance (derived from lux), peak beam intensity (candelas at the center/brightest spot of the beam), battery run time, light output, and other features like impact resistance and water resistance. It also specifies standard icons and marketing guidelines to ensure consistent information is available to consumers. Here is a summary of the markings and their associated meanings, from Streamlight: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RgtQx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RgtQx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;FL1 Standard markings&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all manufacturers follow the FL1 standard, although most reputable ones do. Some have their own testing process which is similar, while others simply make up numbers to sound good so they can sell lots of crappy products to poorly informed consumers. Certainly be skeptical of outrageous claims, especially if the product doesn't have FL1 Standard markings on the packaging or website. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, note that device characteristics can significantly affect actual output compared to specifications. In particular: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Losses from internal reflection, passing through lenses, and other factors of the optical design can significantly reduce the useful light output compared to the raw output from the LED emitter. Higher quality lights typically use more expensive optical glass and carefully design their reflectors to minimize these losses. Cheap products use simple plastic. The FL1 Standard requires testing the fully assembled light, but some less honest manufacturers will publish the emitter lumens rating rather than the actual useful light levels. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;LEDs get less efficient as they get warm. Lights with poor thermal management will get dimmer as you use them. This is typically not reflected in the specifications, but is sometimes brought up in independent reviews. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Batteries and circuitry within the light play a big role too. As a battery drains down, its voltage drops. At lower voltages, LEDs put out less light. Good lights have voltage regulators to keep the brightness up even when the battery gets low, and to step the brightness down only once the battery can no longer supply enough voltage even with the regulator. Other lights will just get dimmer through the runtime. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are also an increasing number of counterfeit LEDs now. Cree is the most well-known LED manufacturer and has the highest performing LEDs. A lot of very cheap generic lights advertised as containing Cree LEDs actually have knock-offs which don't work as well. Worse yet, rechargeable lithium batteries included in many cheap lights are often unsafe and rarely have the capacity advertised. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T05:52:01.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1298" CreationDate="2016-05-27T06:34:40.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem you've got is that most of the larger brands are batch manufacturing in China or Vietnam. They bring the product over complete and don't hold spares of items such as flys and inners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for something lightweight, I think your best bet would be to use one of the established cottage manufacturers like Tarptent, Mountain Laurel Designs, Stephensons or Z-Packs. Smaller players include Trekkertent, Six Moon Designs and Bearpaw Wilderness Designs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These companies make to order in their own workshops, so are much more flexible and service oriented. They offer a repair service, and if you need a replacement they will simply make something up for you.The downside is that they usually cost a bit more and can have waiting lists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also look at companies that supply schools, Scouts etc. For example in the UK, Blacks of Greenock have classic models such as the Force Tens where they have supplied a full set of spares for literally half a century. They update the materials but the designs remain the same. Obviously, these tend to be heavier and less cutting-edge, but very robust and reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T06:34:40.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11851" CreationDate="2016-05-27T13:41:17.513" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trailers can be literally thrown around by a tornado, even high straight winds can be a concern, under it is not a safe place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually the idea is to know when they come and move out well before they hit: you, family, pets... these are the important things, the rest is replaceable so don't waste time in trying to save objects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping a bag ready with whats necessary for you+pets in an emergency (a &quot;bug out bag&quot;) so that you can just &quot;grab and go&quot; can be a good idea. That bag would also be the place where you would normally store things like personal documents and important medications, so even if you use something everyday you know its either in your hand or in there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many RV guys consider a weather radio an essential item (in addition to that there are all the various websites and mobile apps that can help in keeping an eye on weather conditions at all times, and I'm talking about things in-depth like NOAA).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In risky areas where travel trailers are common there might be some sort of community shelters (or buildings that offer shelter to the community, heard of schools doing that for example), also look for any nearby suitable buildings where find refuge in the area (like parking garages) etc. The responsible for any organized area for trailers should be able to give you the right informations on what are your options, otherwise you could try asking the local police or fire dept.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping I heard plenty of people that say to keep an eye on the landscape that surrounds you, to use a ditch or similar. Id say that it cant hurt to be aware of the possibility but consider it a last resort thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-05-27T13:41:17.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11859" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-27T16:08:08.947" Score="8" ViewCount="964" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you notice a loss of pressure in an inflatable boat/dinghy while underway, how can you prevent or slow the loss?  This is most important in full inflatables.  Even if you are in shallow enough water to stand, and have your required personal flotation devices to keep the souls on board safe, you still want to save your engine (if you have one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9528" LastActivityDate="2020-04-12T01:04:26.693" Title="How do you patch/repair an inflatable dinghy while still underway?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2016-05-28T03:35:54.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am using a wire brush, and putting a wood block inside the bag in order to provide a flat surface to brush against. It's not amazing, but it's working fairly well. Seems better than the other answers here.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nNv1f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nNv1f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;wire brushing in progress&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1846" LastActivityDate="2016-05-28T03:35:54.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11859" CreationDate="2016-05-28T05:51:03.370" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends where the hole is and how big it is, but: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, determine if it's necessary to try and patch the hole in open water.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you're close to shore, then go ashore and patch it there. If you're losing air faster than you could get back to shore, then you need to act quick. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Locate the the hole.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you can't find the hole, then you can't stop the leak. A hole below the waterline will be given away by bubbles, a hole above the waterline should be audible. If you kill your engine you should be able to hear a large hole, a small one can be heard by sticking your ear against the hull. If you can't find the hole, then your only option is to replenish the air in the craft. Hopefully you have a pump on board and the inflation valve is one-way. If so, then you could try and pump air back into the craft as fast as it's leaking out. At the very least you could buy yourself some time to get closer to shore.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stop the hole.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you do locate the hole, you need to put something over it to stop the air loss. A small hole above the water can be plugged with a finger or patched with duck tape or a proper patch if you have one. A hole &lt;em&gt;through&lt;/em&gt; the bottom could similarly be plugged or stopped from above, but if you have a hole below the waterline then you're going to have problems. A hole in a the bottom of a dingy isn't going to be so easily stopped. In a rigid boat you can push something under the hull and use water pressure to stop the leak (typically a sail/collision mat/tarp; in a smaller craft you could use a Gore-Tex jacket), but in an inflatable craft you have the issue of air escaping under pressure. Your best bet is going to be plugging it with something, &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; you can reach it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In desperation, you may consider flipping the craft over so you can dress and patch the hole. After a patch is in place and cured, then you could put the craft right side up again, and replenish the lost air. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-22T13:01:31.933" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T13:01:31.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11864" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-05-29T11:06:55.573" Score="1" ViewCount="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to visualise how to setup my first hammock and what kit I will need (excluding tarp and underlay) can you check my sketch below (excuse the simplistic style) and confirm that I have covered all the basics&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x28XA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x28XA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2016-05-29T11:06:55.573" Title="Review of Hammock setup sketch" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2016-05-29T22:03:59.010" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8873" CreationDate="2016-05-29T15:14:11.327" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you want more open rocky areas at lower elevation than above treeline in the middle latitudes of the country, you have two choices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As gerrit so aptly pointed out, one choice is to go north.  The treeline gets lower as you go north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second option is to find dryer areas.  Fortunately for you, these are abundant in the US southwest.  There are large dry areas in southern CA, pretty much all of NV, much of AZ and UT, and parts of NM, CO, and TX.  Not only is much of this public land with lax rules and cross-country hiking quite possible, but few people are out there.  It's always surprised me how few people I run into less than one hour drive from large cities like Phoenix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is looking east down into the Bloody Basin not far north of Phoenix:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8CWCN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8CWCN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see a few miles of the main road into the area, but not a single car on it.  This is normal.  There are quite a few side roads or old paths that probably see less than one vehicle a month on average.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vegetation is sparse and generally low enough so that you can see over it to get panoramic views.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;slickrock&quot; areas of southern UT are a different experience, with lots of open rock:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x8yhS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x8yhS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QN5eO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QN5eO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these areas, the relatively hard sandstone doesn't erode much so the occasional downpour washes away what little soil forms over time.  That together with the dry conditions leaves large areas of mostly beadrock with wide open vistas.  This open bedrock is locally called &lt;i&gt;slickrock&lt;/i&gt;, although it's actually not slick at all, even when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These pictures are from Grand Staircase - Escalante in southern UT.  There are also slot canyons in this area that aren't what you asked for, but worth exploring (in my opinion) if you're there anyway:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cNjwz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cNjwz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, there are many areas of the US southwest that fit your requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-05-29T15:14:11.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11866" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11867" CreationDate="2016-05-29T20:04:34.707" Score="21" ViewCount="4906" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year we visited some friends at their summer home in Lamoine, Maine, in Northeast United States. They took us to a place called Somes Sound, on Mount Desert Island. It's either in or near Acadia National Park, I can't remember which. In the ocean running under a bridge at the base of some large rocks, we saw a powerful and fascinating swirl of water which we were told was the only true fjord on the East Coast.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My friends have recently returned for this summer, and I just received an email saying that, although it looks the same to them, the fjord had been &quot;downgraded&quot; to a fjard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the difference between the two, and why would the fjard be considered a &quot;downgrade&quot; in status?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: We just returned from another visit to the area in October of 2016. We learned that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acadiamagic.com/SomesSound.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Somes Sound&lt;/a&gt; is a large and deep body of water located in the lower mid-section of Mount Desert Island, Maine, whose cavity was formed from past glacier activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the same site, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Somes Sound was described as a “fjord” and the only one of its kind on the East Coast. In recent years, this description has been somewhat downgraded to the “fjard” because it lacks the extreme vertical topography and the oxygen deprived sediments as the Norwegian fjords. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tide was out so the pictures we took weren't as dramatic as what we actually saw last year. Hopefully they're good enough to give you an idea. (Click on them for larger view.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mtHg0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mtHg0l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bbjNi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bbjNim.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/331r4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/331r4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-28T23:19:43.847" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T09:06:07.680" Title="What's the difference between a fjord and a fjard?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11866" CreationDate="2016-05-29T20:27:27.310" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think Wikipedia article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjard&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fjard&lt;/a&gt; has a very good explanation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although fjards and fjords are similar in that they are a glacially-formed topography, they still differ in some key ways. Fjords are characterized by steep high relief cliffs carved by glacial activity and often have split or branching channels. Fjards are a glacial depression or valley that has much lower relief than a fjord. Fjards fill with eroded local materials which assists &amp;quot;filling&amp;quot; along with rising sea level since the last ice age contributing as well. Other low relief landforms that are only associated with fjards such as mud flats, salt marshes, and flood plains further characterize the difference between fjords and fjards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;Förden&amp;quot; of the German coast and the fjords of Danish eastern Jutland together form a third type of glacial inlets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9569" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-05-29T20:27:27.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11868" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11869" CreationDate="2016-05-30T06:04:14.023" Score="16" ViewCount="1942" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an English climbing guidebook about a French region, I read the term &lt;em&gt;spit anchor&lt;/em&gt; in the general description of the equipment of the (multi-pitch) routes  of some crags. I never heard that term before; what is a &lt;em&gt;spit anchor&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T14:21:28.743" Title="What is a &quot;spit anchor&quot;?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11868" CreationDate="2016-05-30T07:30:01.380" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Searching the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www-dft.ts.infn.it/~esmargia/mountain/climbing_dict.html&quot;&gt;climbing dictionary&lt;/a&gt; for &quot;spit&quot; shows that this is the french term for a &quot;bolt&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is simple: The translation of the guidebook isn't perfect. &quot;Spit anchors&quot; are bolted anchors (or rappels) on these routes. (Which actually matches my observation there.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T07:30:01.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11870" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11871" CreationDate="2016-05-30T12:53:03.803" Score="11" ViewCount="1143" Body="&lt;p&gt;When do I know that I need to sharpen my crampons?&#xA;In documentaries, I have seen people &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.technologystudent.com/equip1/hfile2.htm&quot;&gt;filing&lt;/a&gt; their crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-05-31T05:26:59.050" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T15:50:48.387" Title="When to sharpen crampons?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11870" CreationDate="2016-05-30T13:52:25.423" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually sharp my crampons when I am expecting icy conditions, that means &lt;strong&gt;glare ice&lt;/strong&gt;. Especially when you go &lt;strong&gt;steep&lt;/strong&gt; and need front point technique, you need to rely on those points - all your bodys weight. If your front spikes are too coarse, you need much &lt;strong&gt;more energy&lt;/strong&gt; to bring them secure and stable into the ice. Besides that, the ice will splinter and &lt;strong&gt;break&lt;/strong&gt; which is possibly dangerous (especially on thin ice).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in general the same for your other ice climbing gear, namely ice axes and ice screws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just &quot;glacier hiking&quot; and maybe (indeed this is very likely on most alpine tours) also having rock contact with your crampons, I won't sharp them at all. The more frequently you sharp the gear, the faster you need to &lt;strong&gt;replace&lt;/strong&gt; the front points/spikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, filing is the common way to sharp your gear, there are instructions online, like e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/how-to-sharpen-crampons&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or with video &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2012/03/how-to-sharpen-your-crampons.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T13:52:25.423" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11870" CreationDate="2016-05-30T15:44:06.507" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redbull.com/ca/en/athletes/1331580717350/will-gadd?gclid=CPLzhIOCgs0CFZA2aQodzwINNg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Will Gadd&lt;/a&gt;, you should sharpen your crampons and ice tools after every use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you spend just a minute or two after each trip–sometimes you won't even need a minute, just give them a look over and a couple passes with the file to take off a couple burrs–then you're never going to have to worry about dull points. Regular maintenance also ensures that your gear wears evenly, if you wait too long between sharpening, then you're going to be dealing with really dull points and spend a lot of time trying to fix them back up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's better to give them a couple strokes with a file after each use when you're putting them away, rather than spend an hour trying to restore them. You'll spend less time sharpening in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-05-31T15:50:48.387" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T15:50:48.387" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13334" CreationDate="2016-05-30T16:04:53.280" Score="6" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live within walking distance of Del Monte beach in Crow City, USA (Also known as Monterey, California).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I enjoy scouring the beach for interesting-looking stones, seashells, and bits of seaworn colored glass fragments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that &quot;my&quot; beach is more fruitful than other beaches / your typical, run-of-the-mill beach. Every time I go, it's different, depending on the wave action from the previous night, but there are usually at least a couple of good &quot;rock fields&quot; as I call them through which to sift for sightly souvenirs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On some occasions there are several sand dollars, but usually none; one some occasions, there are several beaches dead animals (birds, seals) but usually none; sometimes quite a bit of &quot;sea glass&quot; but usually very little if any. Oftentimes there are a lot of pieces of &quot;holey&quot; rocks (light in weight, either light or dark grey rocks with perforations in them, but their relative abundance differs from visit to visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe Monterey Bay is quite deep and that the dropoff is pretty dramatic - does this have anything to do with the generosity of the Pacific in this particular spot? It seems that the opposite would take place - since the material to be deposited comes from quite a depth (assumedly) it would take a lot to belch it forth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the variability of material depend on which spot, or which depth of the ocean floor is being scoured with a particular storm / series of waves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: after an unusually heavy amount of erosion of sand (when the sea &quot;takes more than it gives&quot; such as Saturday night, which I noticed Sunday morning) there are also more &quot;treasure hunters&quot; (cats with geiger counters) out on the beach. What are they seeking - lost rings and such, which are closer to the surface after the waves strip away some of the topsand?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-05-31T22:31:14.763" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T01:24:45.093" Title="What makes some beaches better spots for beachcombers than others?" Tags="&lt;california&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11875" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11877" CreationDate="2016-05-30T16:24:15.450" Score="10" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often take a slice of bread to the beach when I go on my beachcombing ramblings, and throw pieces of it to the shore birds that are, like me, combing the beach but, unlike my search for &quot;jewels&quot; are on the scavenge for grub.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part, these avians are seagulls of one stripe or another. However, I notice a striking difference in their behavior: some will hover overhead and snatch the pieces of bread out of the air as I chuck them skyward, but most of them look at the bread to see where it's going to fall and then swoop down and sweep it up; or they just land on the beach in front of me and wait for a treat to come their way (I broadcast the morsels pretty equally, trying to give each bird a piece).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are the air-grabbers hungrier than the more sedate ones? Or are they just more accustomed to humans heaving them their dinner and are thus &quot;old wings&quot; at plucking the tidbits out of the stratosphere before one of their mates gets an opportunity to intercept their meal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="2573" LastEditDate="2016-05-30T16:53:43.870" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T19:51:17.303" Title="Are the birds that snatch bread out of the air &quot;more citified&quot; (tamer) than those who let it drop?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2016-05-30T17:51:18.437" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found this on an amazon review:&#xA;&quot;I bought a flat, low-profile cap for an interim solution as well as to have a more durable closure for storage and transportation. A cap which fits perfectly is the wide-mouth cap for the smaller (16oz) sized Nalgene bottle. This is not the commonly found wide-mouth size, and it's not a narrow-mouth cap. The complete 16oz bottle costs around $9, but I was able to buy a replacement lid from REI for about $3. The blue color that it came in is a nice match for the Coleman blue. (See pic.)&quot;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/review/RLJ1CDEDXD5AO/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;ASIN=B00168PI4S&amp;amp;channel=detail-glance&amp;amp;nodeID=3375251&amp;amp;store=sporting-goods&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Full link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:///&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;for sale at Amazon&lt;/a&gt; (you want the 53 mm replacement cap)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9593" LastEditorUserId="9593" LastEditDate="2016-05-30T18:00:42.390" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T18:00:42.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11875" CreationDate="2016-05-30T19:51:17.303" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, gulls (of some species at least) steal food from other birds by moving them until they drop it. They must then be adept at snatching the falling food in mid air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's material of interest in the Wikipedia article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabird&quot;&gt;seabirds&lt;/a&gt; - search for kleptoparasitism, reference 23 looks particularly interesting. The article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobbing_(animal_behavior)&quot;&gt;mobbing&lt;/a&gt; also hints in this direction, more as an assumption than discussing it directly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mdx.ac.uk/events/2015/10/kleptoparasitism-in-gulls&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; the abstract of a talk last year on kleptoparasitism in gulls, the subject of a PhD thesis. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gull behaviour varies significantly between species. Black-headed gulls in particular are agile and tend to snatch food as soon as possible, before larger species can get there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-05-30T19:51:17.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11866" CreationDate="2016-05-30T21:40:39.920" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Description of &quot;Fjord&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A fjord, also spelled fiord is a long narrow arm of the sea, commonly extending far inland, that results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley. The great depth of these submerged valleys, extending thousands of feet below sea level, is compatible only with a glacial origin. It is assumed that the enormous, thick glaciers that formed in these valleys were so heavy that they could erode the bottom of the valley far below sea level before they floated in the ocean water. After the glaciers melted, the waters of the sea invaded the valleys. Fjords commonly are deeper in their middle and upper reaches than at the seaward end. This results from the greater erosive power of the glaciers closer to their source, where they are moving most actively and vigorously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/fjord/323343&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kids Britannica&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Description of &quot;Fjard&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A fjard is a rocky inlet of the sea, usually found along relatively low-lying coasts. Formed by the submergence of a glacial valley, fjärds are characteristically more irregularly shaped than the fjords. Like fjords, they may be quite deep and may have thresholds at their mouths. Fjärds are often connected by mazes of channels but are not typically river-fed estuaries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britannica.com/science/fjard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Britannica&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9595" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2018-06-10T09:06:07.680" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T09:06:07.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="11879" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11883" CreationDate="2016-05-31T09:15:30.050" Score="6" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if there is a best time to buy used surfing equipment. Is there any time when the offered variety will be greatest or when the prices will be lowest? Would that be just after season or at the start?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will this differ for windsurfing, kitesurfing and waveriding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T19:42:35.070" Title="Best time to buy used (wind-)surfing equipment" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8873" CreationDate="2016-05-31T17:02:51.800" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend Logan Canyon in Northern Utah -- There are numerous short hikes that are gorgeous, and a few longer hikes suitable for several days of backpacking. &lt;a href=&quot;http://logancanyonhiking.com/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a website with some basic information. &lt;/a&gt;The highest point is around 9900 ft, but pretty much anything you'd be hiking would be below 8,000. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g0Wd9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g0Wd9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzGDU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzGDU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there isn't exposed granite, there's exposed dolomite from the Ordovician era, meaning that you can find some cool (small) fossils if you look carefully. I grew up in the rockies and now live and work in the mouth of this canyon, and it feels like home to me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The canyon is pretty close to the city of Logan, and some trails get much more use than others. You'll see a lot of people on the Wind Caves Trail, or any other trail in the &quot;canyon mouth&quot; area. The &quot;temple forks&quot; area tends to get the least use, though you'll probably bump into a few rock climbers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus, there's an amazing breakfast place in the mouth of the canyon called Herm's that makes an amazing post camping/hiking treat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9463" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T17:02:51.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6941" CreationDate="2016-05-31T17:37:09.383" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, reversed polarity in compass needles is becoming a significant source of navigation error. The reason is the increasing range of magnetic fields in our transport, clothing and equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Polarity Issues: the Symptoms&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With partial polarity reversal the needle becomes sluggish and skittish. With full reversal, the red end will point in the wrong direction!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Cause&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compass polarity can be impacted by any strong magnetic field. There are many traps for the unwary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Car sound systems&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mobile phones, tablets and laptops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Magnets in seat belt buckles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PLBs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche transceivers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radios&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Magnets in clothing fasteners and watch straps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Car keys...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Cure&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reversed needle may not be exactly 180 degrees out so you'll need to fix the needle instead. According to respected manufacturer Silva:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Quickly flick the 'South' pole of a strong magnet outwards along the&#xA;  'North' end of the needle. Repeat vice-versa. Compare with a compass&#xA;  that is known to be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other sources of inaccuracy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using the compass too close to a ferrous source, such as walking poles, ice axes, cameras, watch, GPS, metal framed glasses, stove, even a wallet (some coins are ferrous). Everyone knows this but it's an easy mistake to make if you are tired or stressed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not making proper allowance for magnetic variation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In some areas such as the Cuillin and Mull in Scotland magnetic rock can deflect the compass needle. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using a compass in the wrong hemisphere. High end Suuntos have a global balance system. Other compasses are balanced for the hemisphere they were sold in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take-home points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Treat your compass as a precision instrument and store it well away from your other electronic devices. Consider purchasing a compass cover that will offer some protection&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't trust your compass blindly. Develop the habit of checking your needle at the start of every trip and also checking that your bearings are consistent with what you're seeing on the ground while you're on the move. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T17:37:09.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11882" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11884" CreationDate="2016-05-31T18:33:24.180" Score="6" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that a swan can break your arms with a flap of its wings, etc., but am not sure if that's true. There's a nature reserve - local to me - where the swans come up on foot out of the water and approach humans voluntarily, obviously looking for food. I've been feeding them (with appropriate things, not white bread) including holding out food in my hand for them to take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this safe or have I just been lucky so far? - I was a bit intimidated as they seemed quite pushy asking for food once they knew I had it (I'm 5'5 and they come up to chest height to me!) and I didn't know how to respond!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JJU2G.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JJU2G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swan and me interacting&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9164" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:53:28.833" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:53:28.833" Title="Is it safe to feed swans in the United Kingdom?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11879" CreationDate="2016-05-31T19:42:35.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pretty much all my wind surfing equipment is used (I'm still just getting into it) and I've discovered that the best time to buy windsurfing equipment is at the beginning of summer, for a a couple of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;People who buy &lt;em&gt;new&lt;/em&gt; are getting their new stuff for the year and&#xA;want to sell off their old stuff to make room in their garage, or&#xA;they need the extra money to afford the newer stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The kids have gone to University/moved out on their own, and their&#xA;parents want to get rid of all the junk they left behind (This is exactly how I scored 4 boards, 5 sails, 2 masts and 5 booms, plus all the mast bases, etc. all for $200).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-05-31T19:42:35.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11882" CreationDate="2016-05-31T21:02:12.273" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;swans can break your arm&quot; concept is rather lacking in evidence, though &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17736292&quot;&gt;one once caused a kayaker to drown&lt;/a&gt;. They are a nuisance on the water, especially if you get between adults and their cygnets. Most of what they do, even when they're agitated, is an attempt to drive away a perceived threat, rather than a real act of aggression. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, when they're used to people to the extent that they approach you, and you don't get between them and any young, there's no evidence that you'll come to any harm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-06-01T00:19:48.387" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T00:19:48.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11885" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-01T08:29:28.413" Score="9" ViewCount="883" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to use a piece of paracord as a ridge/sag line in my hammock setup, to do this I want to be able to tie the two ends together in a fashion that will allow me to alter the length of the loop easily but to lock in place - this knot will be taking my weight and my gears overnight so it needs to be solid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T18:30:00.510" Title="How to join two pieces of rope in an adjustable tight loop?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11885" CreationDate="2016-06-01T11:29:36.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how your setup is, but I'd try a Purcell prussik or something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/purcell/#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;Animated example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must test its holding Power on paracord yourself, but on climbing cord it's solid enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T11:29:36.657" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11888" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11894" CreationDate="2016-06-01T15:07:04.737" Score="7" ViewCount="4102" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some background:  I go fishing 3-4 times a week at a local river for catfish, carp, perch, bass, and sunfish.  My favorite bait for catfish (and the one that I find most consistent) is fresh cut perch/sunfish.  I will usually jig a small nightcrawler in the shallows to catch a perch/sunfish and then chop it up and use the fresh cut pieces to catch larger flathead and channel catfish.  This technique has which consistently produced bites and fish (regardless of where I'm at).  Recently, the perch bite has been super hot so I will end up catching three or four perch and only end up using maybe one and a half during that fishing session.  I have been taking the remaining bait home and freezing it and then bringing it out the next day.  The problem I have been finding is that the frozen cut bait gets &lt;strong&gt;significantly&lt;/strong&gt; less bites than the fresh cut bait, somedays the frozen bait will literally get no bites in a 2-3 hour period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: does freezing cut bait really make it less attractive to fish?  The bait shops that I go to all sell their cut bait frozen so I figured that was standard practice.  But given the last month or so, I am really questioning if frozen cut bait is even worth using.  I guess additionally, I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any ways to make frozen cut bait more attractive to fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6050" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T22:24:30.210" Title="Does freezing cut bait affect its attractiveness to fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-06-01T16:14:53.253" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lanyard + 2 ascenders + cordelette. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you have lanyard attached to your harness, and ascenders attached to both arms of the lanyard. You fix ascenders on the rope - one will be above the other. Then you attach cordelette to lower ascender and make a loop on its end. So what do we have - you can put all your weight on a lower ascender, then you stand down (use cordelette loop as a support), move top ascender as high as you can, now if you relax all your weight should be on a top ascender and you can move bottom ascender up. Repeat. It takes like 7-8 minutes to make 50 meter rope using this technique with almost no special training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T16:14:53.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11890" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11891" CreationDate="2016-06-01T18:48:58.803" Score="20" ViewCount="4703" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the risks of climbing a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;via ferrata&lt;/a&gt; alone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would going through very easy via ferratas still pose high risks?&#xA;Are well visited and easy climbing via ferratas necessarily a great danger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I intend to do it frequently on the same route, regularly, as an exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9486" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-06-03T16:26:53.307" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T16:26:53.307" Title="How dangerous is it to climb a via ferrata alone?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11890" CreationDate="2016-06-01T19:42:51.783" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quantifying the total risk of an activity is hard and to an extent opinion based. The increased risk of being solo, is more quantifable and that is what my answer focuses on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major increase in risk of doing a via ferrata alone (as opposed to in a group or with a partner) is that if you get injured (e.g., from a fall, rock fall, or a bee sting), you will be alone. This is not that different from any other outdoor activity in remote, or semi-remote, areas. In general, there are more chances to become injured on a via ferrata than say walking on flat well maintained trails but less than more difficult &quot;class 5&quot; rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being alone on a via ferrata, similar to walking, does not dramatically increase your chance of being initially injured. This is unlike, for example, class 5 rock climbing where rope soloing is more dangerous than climbing in roped pairs due to the technical limitations of self belay. There are some safety advantages of having a partner to double check your system in a via ferrata and for unknown routes (or unknown weather) for providing a sanity check. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-06-01T19:42:51.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11890" CreationDate="2016-06-01T22:00:22.797" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The overall risk comparison between being alone or in a group can be split into parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;falling&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;no increased risk&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is obviously independent of being in a group or soloing as climbing on a via ferrata is a solo activity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;severity of fall&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;hardly any increased risk&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The safety device used on via ferratas is a single user device. So the only factor contributing to a more severe fall would be a handling fault. The risk of this could be decreased by partner check in a group. However the initial setup is so easy that there is hardly room for mistake. And while climbing the major misuse is being completely detached while changing from one section of steel rope to another. This error is very unlikely to not be spotted by yourself (after all one arm will hang down).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;rescue&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;potential for much more risk when alone&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is the main benefit of being a group. A via ferrata is a no fall zone, as a fall will most likely have big consequences. You are stopped rather harshly (even with modern dampers this is far from smooth) and there are lots of metal rods, wires, ... sticking out of the rock to injure you. So it is very likely that you will not be able to get off the via ferrata on your own. In this case it depends a lot on whether there is a rescue service i.e. how fast it can be on place and whether you have means to contact it. However there is also a chance that you hit your head and lose consciousness. In this case you are in high risk of suspension trauma which is potentially deadly (all depends on how fast you regain consciousness).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in the end it is the usual case where our ability to asses risk is not very good: You have an event that is highly unlikely (you don't fall on via ferratas, slipping with both hands and feet is highly unlikely and you can always rest) on the other hand the outcome of this event is potentially disastrous. It is a personal choice and there are these mentioned factors that make it somewhat less risky:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;access to rescue (both being able to call rescue and rescue reaction time)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;having previously climbed the via ferrata&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your last question: Well frequented is nice and it helps somewhat if there are other climbers on the via ferrata, but you cannot know in advance whether there are actually people there when you want to go. And even if there are people: If they are far away they might not notice you falling or they might take too long to reach you (suspension trauma), in which case they could at least get rescue (if contactable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A colleague of mine does this for training as you intend, but he does not take a via ferrata set, so he is actually soloing. While I obviously cannot encourage anybody to do this, it is consequent. In my opinion (so this is by no means objective!) if you aren't able to accept that a fall is fatal and still go, your (perceived) risk of falling is too high to go on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Falling on via ferratas (properly secured) is dangerous and it happens, even if seldom. So &lt;em&gt;I cannot recommend going alone, certainly not if you have to ask online&lt;/em&gt; whether you should go or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;One very important thing that I completely missed: Ascent to and descent from the route. These may just be perfectly safe paths or might as well be steep, exposed trails and thus even more dangerous than the via ferrata itself. So take that into account as well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-03T12:58:46.513" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T12:58:46.513" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11893" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11895" CreationDate="2016-06-01T23:31:29.037" Score="10" ViewCount="3744" Body="&lt;p&gt;When &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American robin&lt;/a&gt; chicks fledge, meaning leave the nest, it is pretty much empty. It's also fairly clean, as the parents have been &lt;a href=&quot;http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/american_robin/nest.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;removing the waste&lt;/a&gt; from the babies after each feeding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from the infrequent finding of a piece of blue shell, the eggs are notably absent once the birds have fledged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens to the eggs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:43:59.230" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:43:59.230" Title="What happens to the eggs after American robins are born?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11888" CreationDate="2016-06-02T02:14:34.553" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;YES&lt;/strong&gt;.  Freezing &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; type of bait definitely makes it less attractive to fish.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freezing depletes the bait of it's scent and essential oils that attract fish.  The scent and oils are still there, but they are dilluted during the thawing process.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There should really be no reason to freeze the perch that you use for bait if you are going to use it the next day.  As long as the bait is kept cool, you can keep it in a bait cooler for 2-3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you have a significant amount of bait and you're unable to use it within 2-3 days, the best thing to do would be to cure the bait in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.georgepoveromo.com/content.php?pid=23&quot;&gt;brine&lt;/a&gt; rather than freeze it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9597" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T02:14:34.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11893" CreationDate="2016-06-02T03:09:53.667" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;They eat them.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's true, egg shells are edible, and birds will eat them. Mommy robin probably snacked on the shells while she was sitting on her babies keeping them warm. After laying their eggs, birds are rather depleted of calcium, and eagerly eat the shells up to replenish those minerals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eggs shells are actually a recommended food for bird feeders. Bird watchers will lightly bake chicken egg shells to make them brittle, then put them in their bird feeder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T03:09:53.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11838" CreationDate="2016-06-02T05:54:58.727" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know it's fashionable to store as much stuff as you can in your hammock and hang it underneath, but there are plenty of good reasons not to, most of which depend on your environment and sleeping preferences. In swamps and jungles, for instance, there are a lot of creeping and crawling things that like to attach themselves to spaces that...I don't know, seem interesting. If sleeping in an open hammock or with just a tarp/rain fly over it, I tend to store boots and packs away from the hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a screened/enclosed type hammock, you might skirt that issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, for a few reasons, my preferred method of pack stowage is just dropping a short line from one of the trees you're tied into, or an overhanging branch, and hooking a Bachmann knot/carabiner on and to the pack. Everything in a pack should be in dry sacks anyway, and if you have a rain cover for it, you're mostly good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you sleep with your boots in the hammock with you, stuff socks in them to keep things out. I've built platforms to store gear on under my hammock, it works too, but has its own issues. Woke up in a rain storm once and leaned out of my hammock to shine the light down and check on my boots, on a platform about 6-9 inches above the standing water...they were covered with a couple dozen baby scorpions trying to evade the rising water. There was already about about a foot of water in that part of the Mojinga Swamp (Panama), so I don't know, they were either driven off leaning and rotting wood or came floating by. I just went back to sleep (I had sprayed the suspension lines on my hammock with enough DEET to choke Godzilla) and they were gone in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration is having to bail out of your hammock. Easier to do without stuff hanging underneath you sometimes (especially if you're in an elevated hammock many feet off the ground). Lastly, should your hammock become detached for any reason at one end or the other, and this chance goes up the more weight you have on your hammock, you really don't want to land on the ground or slap against a tree with a pack to bend your spine backwards against. Better in either case to take it flat. It's usually more handy to have your pack at or above hammock level anyway, if you plan on taking stuff out or putting stuff in while in your hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's any gear that gets kept in a hammock I'm sleeping in, it's going to be something that goes bang, anyway. I know, most hammock hangers aren't worrying about how and how fast they can bring a weapon to bear from a sound sleep, but then, Jaguars aren't the only apex predators that sleep among the trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T05:54:58.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-06-02T06:38:28.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try olive oil capsules. You can find them in many health food stores and sometimes even supermarkets that stock vitamins or have a pharmacy. If no one carries them where you are, you can order them online easy enough. Get the 1000 mg capsules. Depending on the length of your hike, fill up a waterproof match container or two with them (plastic or aluminum type with an o-ring seal). You can find those just about anywhere camping gear is sold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kinda slow if you're wanting to whip up pesto, poking each one with a knife, but if you're just flavoring something a bit or needing some on a skillet, it works. Better is just to carry bacon. Bacon doesn't leak. And bacon grease makes everything taste great. On the other hand, I use olive oil on my knife blades, instead of petroleum based oils. And bacon grease on your blade...that's like crack for ants or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T06:38:28.960" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11890" CreationDate="2016-06-02T08:52:51.573" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Previous summer I spent a week in Switzerland and did four via ferrata's on my own. The risk varies greatly depending on the weather and the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One day there was mist and snow, and I went up a mountain anyway. The climb went well, but when I got to the top you couldn't see the very much and it was hard to find the way back. Luckily someone else did the same route before me and I could follow his footsteps in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another day it was sunny and I went to climb in the neighbourhood of the Engelalp. There were many tourists and other climbers there, and if you would need some help somebody would surely pass by within a short time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually there is some information point or mountain hut. I made sure to show my face there and ask about the via ferrata.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One disadvantage when you are alone is that you have nobody to discuss decisions with, and nobody to share the joy. That said, when you accomplish something you know it is entirely your own doing. Also, other people will start a conversation much easier when you are alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9608" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T08:52:51.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11890" CreationDate="2016-06-02T12:34:13.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could take steps to evaluate and mitigate your specific risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e.g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check whether the entire route is under cellphone network coverage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Analyse how popular is the route? Should you have a disabling fall how long will it be before another person comes across you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check on response times for rescue services to reach the route. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Investigate the possibility of buying some sort of panic alarm device to notify friends / family in case of danger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A flare or powerful spotlight might allow you to signal your position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How could invest in an EPIRB after checking legality for personal use in your locale&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In industrial plant contexts when working alone we are now using man-down alarm devices. You could investigate one of those. That will take care of the eventuality in which a fall knocks you out unconscious. Most have an audible local alarm plus remote notification. All devices I've seen are essentially line of sight though for industrial complex use. You'd need something that runs off the GSM network probably.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9609" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T12:34:13.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11912" CreationDate="2016-06-02T01:13:26.237" Score="7" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been watching this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phl82D57P58&quot;&gt;climbing video of Alex Honnold&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this video his friend goes ahead of him and cleans the wall of any debris or slippery rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are these people who clean the walls for the climbers called?&lt;/strong&gt;  Or is it just the only one instance where a person actually cleaned a wall for the climber?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the equipment used by these people?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9610" OwnerDisplayName="Dawny33" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-02T13:56:11.630" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T06:48:55.227" Title="What are the wall-cleaners in climbing called? What equipment/gear do they use?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11900" CreationDate="2016-06-02T11:00:48.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thanks to the help from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/4m5ko9/who_were_the_climbers_who_have_successfully/d3swqnt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this amazing guy at Reddit&lt;/a&gt;, I have got an answer for the question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Usually when you prepare a route for a first ascent you clean it, if&#xA;  it gets a decent amount of traffic then no further cleaning should be&#xA;  needed later on. But on alpine routes, long multi-pitches or big walls&#xA;  you should always be careful of loose rock: too many meters to clean&#xA;  for a first ascent party, and weathering produces new loose rock every&#xA;  season. Water gets into cracks, freezes in winter and expands, and&#xA;  boom, another piece of rock that just waits for you to rip it out or&#xA;  fall on your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;So, who are these people who clean the walls for the climbers called?&#xA;    Or is it just the only one instance where a person actually cleaned a&#xA;    wall for the climber?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is probably a rare occurrence where &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cedarwright.com/#intro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cedar Wright&lt;/a&gt; put more&#xA;  attention into it because Alex Honnold was about to free solo the&#xA;  route. If you're on a rope then loose rock sucks and you might fall&#xA;  because of it, but then the rope catches you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When you're free soloing you really dont want to grab any loose rock&#xA;  because falling means you'll very likely die or be physically&#xA;  disabled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;What are the equipment used by these people?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's been a while since i watched that video, but generally to get&#xA;  around big walls you use fixed static lines and ascenders to get&#xA;  up/down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9610" OwnerDisplayName="Dawny33" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T12:51:19.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11902" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11906" CreationDate="2016-06-02T13:56:34.747" Score="5" ViewCount="50" Body="&lt;p&gt;In windsurfing there exist many different moves. Apart from the very basic techniques (like uphauling the sail), which moves are considered essential for windsurfing? Which order is good for learning them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T21:58:23.660" Title="Essential windsurfing moves" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11885" CreationDate="2016-06-02T14:43:42.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of knot you are looking for a called a &lt;strong&gt;friction hitch&lt;/strong&gt;, or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/indextypeslidegrip.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;slide and grip knot&lt;/a&gt; which is a kind of knot used to attach one rope to another in a way that is easily adjusted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many different ways to tie a friction hitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Klemheist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Blake's Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/distel/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Distel Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/rollinghitch/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Rolling Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Prussic&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dyeclan.com/outdoors101/canyoneering101/?page=bachmann-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bachmann Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4umuoQeggo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Autoblock Hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course the Purcell Prusik, but the Purcell Prusik was developed for ascending ropes and doing rescue work, it may be a bit complicated to your purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-02T14:49:28.460" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T14:49:28.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11188" CreationDate="2016-06-02T14:53:00.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a good answer already. But I have some deeper thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes are possibilities. They are diversified, and classified over a huge range.&#xA;Just as per their physical parameters, there are other aspects to differentiate.. like habits, habitat, and another aspect that catches lesser thoughts is Locomotion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all know some snakes move fast (although a very relative term with no reference), some don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I ask a person how did it go? He/She would most likely reply bluntly that &quot;It glided!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barring the locomotion of aquatic snakes (Hydrophiinae) and sticking strictly to the terrestrial locomotion, we can say that they have different locomotion types. Usually the type of locomotion depends on the species and what is it doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Side winding&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very common. Almost every other snake we snake, does a Side-winding locomotion. Do not compare extremities by getting confused with the term Side-Winder. Have you seen a snake moving in mud or sand which disables a snake  push against an irregular surface, like stones, sticks, etc?&#xA;In side-winding, head and tail are the supports for the snakes movement to push against. Its body is lifted off the ground to move sideways. It keeps on head and tail into the same cross direction of its body.&#xA;Observing carefully, you'll see that parts of its body positioned in one direction are never lifted off the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a equidistant pattern drawn on the sand/mud. So, its almost half the friction of its body against the surface, lesser work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Concertina&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are also plenty around. Have you seen a snake climbing a tree or moving on a slippery surface? In this method the snake winds up itself and then it uses the energy to thrust forward. Then the front part of the body stays on the surface and the back part of the body is pulled up to be coiled again.&#xA;To notice, this method is a lot of friction with the surface, using a lot of its energy. So, do these snake move fast? No, but can they strike fast, Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Serpentine&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you seen a Rat snake move, or a Cobra? In this method there is movement that is from side to side. Head is lifted up, move its upper body to 10 o'clock, pull the body, oh, gotta go 2 o'clock, move its upper body that way, and repeat, the poor tail is just dragged on straight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rectilinear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you seen a large viper move? Or a Boa, or a Python. Thats rectilinear movement. Just straight drag of the whole body. Its usually in large snakes. They just move straight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the real question: &lt;em&gt;Is the skin on a snake's underside tougher than on its topside?&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;I think the whole answer above makes it pretty clear its less about the scales and its toughness, but more about how the snake moves.&#xA;Yet to literally answer the questions, I am really bumped up, can't really tell if there is one theory that can be applied to all the snakes. The underside scales (Subcaudal, Ventral and less significantly the paraventral scales) are more flexible, agile than the upperside scales, thats for sure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good reads:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~brm2286/locomotn.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~brm2286/locomotn.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Locomotion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Locomotion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T06:09:34.357" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T06:09:34.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8301" CreationDate="2016-06-02T16:09:16.113" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a piece of nylon screen and cut a 2&quot;X1&quot; piece. Wash thoroughly. Use this like an athletic mouth piece. Slide between the front of your teeth and back of your upper and lower lips.  It sounds crazy but works great. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9611" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T16:09:16.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11902" CreationDate="2016-06-02T16:54:25.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once you are past uphauling, it is not a move you are likely to use again. It is a high effort move that in high winds is next to impossible. The moves you will need to learn are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;beach start&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tacking (where the nose of the board goes towards the wind - simple, but slow)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;correct foot and sail position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gybing/jibing (where the nose of the board goes downwind - fast, but much more difficult)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water start (where the wind lifts you onto the board)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;harness use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that you can start looking at jumps, or getting out into big surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the fun comes once you are comfortable with speed, understanding where the energy is in the plane, and knowing how to use the sail to your advantage - then you have a wide range of gybes you can use. Jumps also become fun at that point, as landing a big one requires fine balance between aerodynamic effects, kinetic energy, rotational energy and hydrodynamic effects on take-off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-06-02T21:58:23.660" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T21:58:23.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8441" CreationDate="2016-06-02T20:10:35.363" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In aid climbing the frequency of difficult placements and the length of potential falls essentially determines the grade. Basically anything A2/C2 and up is going to require you to use some combination of hooks, cam hooks, bashies, and pins. These skills generally do not translate to trad climbing. If you are planning on climbing in a remote area or doing a first ascent being able to hammer a pin might be a useful skill. Being able to climb A4 and above means you will have to deal with long run outs (often for hours at a time). This may be a good way to increase your lead head, but as I have never lead at this level, I do not really know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to climb A2 and hard routes, opens up the area of big wall climbing. While not all aid climbing is big wall climbing, almost all big wall climbing is aid climbing. The skills required to sleep on a ledge and haul loads do not generally translate to trad climbing. The gear and anchor management skills along with an increased tolerance for suffering do have some benefit for trad climbing. In my opinion, aid climbing is probably the best way to increase your tolerance for suffering. In terms of anchor management, there are enough differences between big wall anchors and trad anchors, that you are better off spending your time dealing with trad anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every trad climber should be comfortable with climbing A0. The ability to pull on a piece to skip the crux, or a move that is giving you problems, on a long route can be critical. The question, at least in my mind, then becomes does learning how to climb C1 help you to be a better trad climber. There is no question that on a pitch of C1 you place a lot more gear, and are forced to deal with more tricky placements, than on a pitch of trad. That said, most people aid climb much slower such that the difference in total number of placements in a day between aid and trad climbing is not that massive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-06-02T20:10:35.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11908" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11911" CreationDate="2016-06-02T21:49:49.747" Score="9" ViewCount="682" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is already the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4674/please-explain-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;Please Explain Rock Climbing Grades&lt;/a&gt; however I would like to know about aiding grades. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11907/3602&quot;&gt;StrongBad's answer to an aid/trad question&lt;/a&gt; mentions A0 and C1 grades. Are these two scales or are letters and numbers major and minor grades?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please explain this (these) aid related grading system(s) and any others that are more ore less commonly used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T12:17:07.080" Title="Explanation of aid climbing grades" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4197" CreationDate="2016-06-02T22:39:43.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the best things about hammocks is that you can elevate them as high as anchor points allow. That means you can sleep with the woodpeckers and squirrels up high. It's actually a lot of fun to do, but it isn't for the faint of heart, or those who sleepwalk. Getting up high among the branches lets you hang all sorts of stuff and have an arboreal campsite, it's especially good to use where you have concerns about the ground...swampy areas, gators, snakes, rabid coyotes, meth addicts stumbling around in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hang your gear away from your hammock and haven't cooked and eaten right underneath, you should be fine. And yes, bears can climb trees. They aren't ninjas though, and if you aren't awakened by the sound of them clawing their way up a tree a few feet away, you might as well sleep on the ground and not worry anyway. If one does go through the trouble of climbing a tree after you wake up and start yelling at it and shine a light on it, you still have recourse to a sidearm or using a pre-placed bailout rope to swing away like Tarzan. Makes for awesome selfies too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually prefer tarp/fly shelters and sleeping on the ground, and have done plenty of that while hunting in bear country. In bear country just try to give yourself a protected space...like setting up in blowdowns with trees/logs piled on three sides. And then you have built in alert/protection (noise to climb over, barrier) in three directions and one approach to worry about. Pile brush to narrow it, and build your fire there. People have used that technique for millennia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really, don't worry. Just sleep with your pistol and knife. All smart bear tacos are armed tacos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2016-06-04T21:21:38.633" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T21:21:38.633" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11908" CreationDate="2016-06-03T00:03:27.220" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;While most people think that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot;&gt;YDS&lt;/a&gt; system is easy compared to the British rating system, I am not sure that is the case. In the YDS system, there is a rating, a grade, and a class.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The grade indicates the length of time the route typically requires ranging from I (the route takes a few hours) to VII (route takes a week or longer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rating refers to the quality of the protection and follows a pattern based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system&quot;&gt;Motion Picture Association of America&lt;/a&gt;. Within the YDS system a rating of G means solid protection and X means no protection. The rating is typically only applied to 5th class climbing (see below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The class refers to technical difficulty and ranges from 1 (walking) to 6 (aid climbing). Fifth class, technical roped climbing, is the most commonly discussed and is subdivided from 5.0 (easy roped climbing) to 5.15 (really hard). Some of these subclasses are further subdivided into a, b, c, and d. Sixth class climbing is also subdivided. Historically, aid climbs were given a prefix of A and a numeric classifiers regarding difficulty with A0 being the easiest and A5 being the hardest. An A5 climb generally does not involve any &quot;free climbing&quot; (i.e., typical rock climbing where you are protected by a rope) and involves continuous stretches of aid climbing on body weight only placements (e.g., hooks, cam hooks, micro nuts, and bashies). An A1 climb involves continuous stretches of aid climbing but the placements can hold a fall (e.g., cams, nuts, and pitons). An A0 climb would involve continuous stretches of free climbing with the occasional aid climbing move. A classic A0 route is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Royal-Arches-Area-Royal-Arches&quot;&gt;Royal Arches route&lt;/a&gt; (5.6 PG A0 II). The majority of the route is moderately difficult free/rock climbing between adequate protection and takes 1/2 a day. It gets the A0 classification because there is a difficult (5.10b) traverse in the middle. This traverse can be bypassed by a pendulum off of fixed gear. Other A0 &quot;routes&quot; are free climbs that are too difficult for the climber and they pull on a piece of gear to bypass the crux.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the early days of aid climbing, difficult stretches where protected by pitons, rivets, and bolts and a hammer (and drill) where key pieces of equipment. There has been a movement to do routes &quot;clean&quot; such that no trace is left behind (including scares to the rock). This lead to an additional prefix of C to denote aid climbs that could be done without a hammer (the ethics are a little more complicated). So for aid climbing you can have A0-A5 or C0-C5 depending on the difficulty and if you need a hammer/drill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give an example, most people rate &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nose_%28El_Capitan%29&quot;&gt;The Nose&lt;/a&gt; as 5.8 C2 VI despite the fact that some people can climb it in a morning and others can free climb it (and Caldwell can do both). This rating means that it requires some moderate free climbing (5.8), can be climbed without a hammer but has some body weight only placements (C2) and takes multiple days (but less than a week) to complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T00:03:27.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11908" CreationDate="2016-06-03T02:20:11.357" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wont cover &lt;em&gt;what is&lt;/em&gt; aid climbing here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Original Aid Rating System:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A0:&lt;/strong&gt; Occasional aid moves often done without aiders (etriers) or climbed on fixed gear; sometimes called “French free”.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A1:&lt;/strong&gt; All placements are solid and easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A2:&lt;/strong&gt; Good placements, but sometimes tricky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A3:&lt;/strong&gt; Many difficult, insecure placements, but with little risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A4:&lt;/strong&gt; Many placements in a row that hold nothing more than body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A5:&lt;/strong&gt; Enough body-weight placements in a row that one failure results in a fall of at least 20 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New Wave Aid Ratings:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A1:&lt;/strong&gt; Easy aid. No risk of a piece pulling out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A2:&lt;/strong&gt; Moderate aid. Solid gear that is more difficult to place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A2+:&lt;/strong&gt; 10-meter fall potential from tenuous placements, but without danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A3:&lt;/strong&gt; Hard aid. Many tenuous placements in a row; 15-meter fall potential; could require several hours for a single pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A3+&lt;/strong&gt;: A3 with dangerous fall potential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A4:&lt;/strong&gt; Serious aid. 30-meter ledge-fall potential from continuously tenuous gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A4+:&lt;/strong&gt; Even more serious, with even greater fall potential, where each pitch could take many hours to lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A5:&lt;/strong&gt; Extreme aid. Nothing on the entire pitch can be trusted to hold a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A6:&lt;/strong&gt; A5 climbing with belay anchors that wont hold a fall either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;'s and &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;'s&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;'s and &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;'s are used to distinguish between &amp;quot;clean&amp;quot; aid where the climber does not place pitons or bolts which leave permanent&#xA;damage to the route. It emerged at a time when there was a large&#xA;debate about what constituted ethical [aid] climbing. The same rule as&#xA;above applies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinist.com/p/climbing_notes/grades&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source: Alpinist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T12:17:07.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11900" CreationDate="2016-06-03T06:48:55.227" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We used to call them 'wall sweepers'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a wall that isn't climbed much.  You can see in the video there are some fresh bolts that have been put in and few old ones.  They are just using '&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=carabiner%20slingshot&amp;amp;oq=carabiner%20sling&amp;amp;aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l3.9290j0j7&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=carabiner%20sling&quot;&gt;slings&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=carbeaner&amp;amp;oq=carbeaner&amp;amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1849j0j7&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=carabiner&quot;&gt;carabiners'&lt;/a&gt; on their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=climbing%20harness&amp;amp;oq=climbing%20harness&amp;amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2816j0j9&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&quot;&gt;harnesses&lt;/a&gt;.  They might have some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=climbing%20cams&amp;amp;oq=climbing%20cams&amp;amp;aqs=chrome..69i57.3341j0j9&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&quot;&gt;cams&lt;/a&gt; or some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=climbing%20harness&amp;amp;oq=climbing%20harness&amp;amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2816j0j9&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=climbing%20wired%20nuts&quot;&gt;nuts&lt;/a&gt;.  I did not see any on them though.  Only the slings and biners getting clipped into &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=climbing%20bolts&amp;amp;oq=climbing%20bolts&amp;amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2225j0j9&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&quot;&gt;pre-placed bolts&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T06:48:55.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2016-06-03T21:03:30.160" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is so not true that water mixed ice keeps food cold.  Try your own experiment and see that it is true.  This is exactly how you make ice cream, but just with some salt.  Here is how you do it:&#xA;1) Buy your cooler according to size.  Dont buy a cooler that it too big.&#xA;2) Fill the cooler with pre-chilled items.  Try and reduce the air space as much as possible. This will dramatically extend the 'cold'&#xA;3) Top off with ice.&#xA;4) The Ice Melts.&#xA;5) Melted Ice turns to water and carries off heat.&#xA;6) Drain the warmer melted water.  Heat goes right out the drain tube.  Ice remains colder for MUCH longer. Half a day over my 3 day weekends.&#xA;NOTE...This is a mostly closed system.  Neither 'Dried' (Not Dry Ice...but not wet ice) nor water/ice slurry works well when kids are always leaving the lid open and warm air blows in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9618" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T21:03:30.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11915" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11924" CreationDate="2016-06-03T21:59:17.733" Score="10" ViewCount="5348" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was in Boy Scouts every month we went camping places that seemed to be deep in the woods with no one else around within hiking distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I go to reserve a campsite as an adult they're all so densely packed that you're staring at a half dozen other campsites (most occupied with noisy families, minivans, etc) and cars are constantly driving by my tent on the trail loop. You can't walk 10 feet without running into a power outlet, which for me is the exact type of thing I'm trying to escape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have to be close personal friends with a land baron or is there some way a member of the public could get a &quot;real&quot; campsite (or just a forest where you can go and make your own campsite) without breaking the law? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am in Maryland in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9559" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:39:46.803" LastActivityDate="2019-04-01T22:39:46.803" Title="Legal deep-woods campsites or forests that allow off-trail hiking and ad hoc camping in Maryland?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11915" CreationDate="2016-06-03T23:17:39.470" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless otherwise indicated by specific restrictions that supercede the default, U.S. National Forests generally allow backcountry camping anywhere you choose. They also generally allow dispersed camping along roads anywhere you want unless otherwise noted. Contact the local U.S. Forest Service ranger district or other relevant land management agency for the area you're interested in to discuss the specifics for that area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2016-06-03T23:17:39.470" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11915" CreationDate="2016-06-04T01:54:21.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends where you go. If you're going to a campsite with easy access, and one that is regularly maintained, reservable, and has power... then of course you're going to run into people. You need to to pick spots to camp that aren't on the map, the user maintained sites that aren't easy to get to. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for the people who use them, those camp spots are usually secret, and local knowledge only. I have several favourite camp spots that are at the back end of a long unmaintained trail and at the top of a steep hike. What you are in need of is insider knowledge. Visit a small town out in the woods, meet some locals, make friendly with them, and then get them to spill the beans on all the local free camp spots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-04T13:45:05.880" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T13:45:05.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11918" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11919" CreationDate="2016-06-04T02:40:59.583" Score="8" ViewCount="4240" Body="&lt;p&gt;When searching for a light and low-cost backpacking tent dome tents accounted for about 90% of my search results and the rest were primarily pop-up, pup, or tiny one-man tube style tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was surprised that only 1 tent out of hundreds was an A-frame and that one was specifically marketed as a &quot;Scout Tent&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a scout our troop owned a lot of these A-frames and if my memory serves I believe they were military surplus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is basically -- why are A-frame tents (apparently) unpopular with the general public, popular with scouts (and perhaps military), and what are their merits?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SYnnw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SYnnw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9559" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T04:40:51.553" Title="Relative popularity and merits of A-frame tents" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11918" CreationDate="2016-06-04T04:40:51.553" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why the A-Frame fell out of fashion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until around 25 years ago, A-Frames dominated the 1-2 person market, both for car camping and in the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then we saw the emergence of lightweight flexible fibreglass and aluminium poles, which opened up all kinds of possibilities for tunnel, geo and semi-geo designs. In a very short period the A-Frame designs virtually disappeared from the catalogues. Some contributing factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight of poles&lt;/strong&gt;: a solid A-Frame needs heavy, rigid poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Entry and exit&lt;/strong&gt;: Unless you use an even heavier double-pole setup, the A-Frame pole obstructs access to the tent and vestibule. A-Frame designs are front-loaders, and many people prefer the convenience and views of side-loading designs made possible by flexible poles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Internal space&lt;/strong&gt;: a small A-Frame tapers rapidly with height and doesn't offer much shoulder room when sitting up. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I wouldn't underestimate the influence of fashion - the A-Frame quickly felt decidedly uncool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages and specialist applications&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But all tent designs are a balance of pros and cons. Some advantages of the A-Frame include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strength&lt;/strong&gt;: well executed, if offers great strength for weight. Chris Townsend, the well known gear reviewer has written: &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I reckon the strongest tent of the many I've used - several hundred at least! - is the Phoenix Phortress, a double A pole tent that pitches flysheet first and dates from the 80s. It's the only tent I've used where I've woken in the morning, thought it was a calm day and had my head practically blown off when I stuck it out of the door...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simplicity and ease of use&lt;/strong&gt;: there's nothing much to go wrong, and it pitches quickly and easily fly-first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Building on these strengths, there are two applications where the A-Frame still has a role.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Organised camping for youngsters&lt;/strong&gt;: classics like the Blacks Force 10 are still popular with schools, Scout groups, Outward Bound and the like. They are heavy but bomb-proof, with a reliable supply of spares. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lightweight tarp tents&lt;/strong&gt;. Using your walking-poles as tarp supports overcomes the disadvantage of having to carry heavy tent poles. There aren't many architectures that work with straight, rigid poles - you're basically limited to A-Frames and Mids. Small mids have their fans, but the A-Frame offers a vestibule with an entrance behind the drip-line and lots of space above your face and feet when you're lying down. It also plays better with inners and nests, in my experience, as the internal space is unobstructed. As a result, the cottage manufacturers are offering a good choice of A-Frames these days. For example:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Trekkertent Stealth (a relatively affordable option that weighs around 0.6kg including inner):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ljSZ6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ljSZ6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Yama Cirriform - a high-end option using exotic materials:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R8wQp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R8wQp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So of you're looking for something lightweight, storm-worthy and relatively liveable the A-Frame still has a lot to offer if you walk with poles. Personally I'm working on a Make-Your-Own-Gear design incorporating the best ideas from the '80s but using modern materials. I reckon I can bring in something almost as strong as the Phortress for around 800 grams all-in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T04:40:51.553" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11920" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="11921" CreationDate="2016-06-04T19:16:45.080" Score="25" ViewCount="11514" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have decided that I would like to hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read a bit on hiking, and bought some gear and a backpack to get started. I want to start with backpacking through mostly flat forests, and later advance to mountains in Poland, like Bieszczady, and Tatry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is, when I put on my backpack and put on the hip and chest belts, it felt heavy and cumbersome, making me lean forward. I was wondering — am I so out of shape, or did I pack so much unnecessary things?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My backpack weighs about 10.5 kilograms (or about 23 pounds) without the food and water with all the equipment I would like to take on a two to three day hike. Is this too much? For a two-day hike, I would like to add at least 3.5 liters of water, and around 1 kilogram of food, bringing the total weight to about 15 kilograms (or about 33 pounds). For a three-day hike, my backpack weighs about 16 to 18 kilograms (or about 32 to 40 pounds).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what's inside my backpack currently:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A sleeping bag&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A tent for two people&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A foam camping mat&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A fleece jacket&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A t-shirt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pants&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two pairs of underwear&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two pairs of socks&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A tarp (just in case of rain, used as a poncho)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;About ten meters of paracord&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hygiene items, including wet wipes, a small towel, biodegradable soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and toilet paper&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tools, including a small sewing/backpack fixing kit, knife, multi-tool, tape, a pen, and paper&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A headlamp&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A flashlight&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A power bank&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Batteries&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bug spray&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Suntan cream&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A mess kit that includes a pocket stove&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some fuel&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A steel mug&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A spork&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A lighter&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Matches&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flint&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A compass&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A map&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A whistle&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some zip bags&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some trash bags&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A first-aid kit&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9620" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:27:19.833" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T06:52:41.907" Title="Am I packing too much for a 2-3 day hike in the forests?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="14" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-04T19:57:31.283" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're bringing all the right things... (the only thing I would question is why a flashlight as well as a headlamp? - though if it's just a small flashlight, no big deal- I sometimes bring a spare headlamp).&#xA;20kg's is 44 pounds and 30-40lbs is about right for a 3 day trip alone.  The only way to get the weight down is by bringing lighter (i.e. more expensive) versions of what you've already listed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of the pack feeling awful, some of it is indeed getting used to carrying weight over many kilometers and many days, but one of the biggest factors to your comfort is a properly fitted pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing you can do is go to an outdoor shop and see if they can help you adjust the pack you already have... sometimes it just takes some adjustments of the pack to make it fit you better.  A properly fitted pack makes ALL the difference in the world to your comfort.  That being said, you are still carrying 20kg's, good fit or no, it's a bit of weight and so you will feel it to some degree regardless. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from pack fitting, the way you pack your pack also makes a difference.  The ideal scenario is: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mid-weight stuff on the bottom of the pack; heavy stuff in the middle of the pack- so that the weight can be distributed properly within the suspension system (i.e. shoulder straps and waist belt); lightest stuff on top.  That's the general rule.  Don't spend too much time on it, but keep it in mind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what you said though, I think there's likely some adjustments to the pack you could make, or, the pack just doesn't fit you.  And, yes, you do need to get used to hiking with weight again.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research pack-fitting online/on youtube.  Some key things are that you shouldn't have a giant space between your back and the pack - if there's a big gap, then you might want to gently bend the metal stays (depending on what kind of pack you have) so that it fits closer to your body.  Usually a big space will cause the pack to kind of pull you backwards, and so you will tend to lean forward to compensate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9616" LastEditorUserId="9616" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T15:09:49.567" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T15:09:49.567" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-04T20:32:07.387" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trying to cut pack weight is all about leaving &quot;extra&quot; things out and then replacing needed things with light versions. Some things that jump out at me as &quot;extra&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tent for 2 people&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is only one of you, why do you need a 2 person tent. For only 2 or 3 days, I would go with a tarp which will be lighter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2 pairs of underwear and socks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spare pair of socks is nice, but extra underwear is not really needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tarp for when it rains&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You definitely do not need both a tent and a tarp for a 3 day trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Around 10m of paracord&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are you planning on tying up? If this is for putting up the tent/tarp, it might not be enough. If it is extra in case of an emergency, you probably do not need it since you have some cord on your tent/tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hygiene items, including wet wipes, small towel, biodegradable soap,toothpaste/brush, toilet paper&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This list could weight anywhere from an 100 g to 1 kg. Make sure it is on the lighter side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tools, including a small sewing/backpack fixing kit, knife, multitool, tape, pen and paper&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A knife and a multitool seem like overkill. What are you going to use the pen and paper for? Can you use your phone instead? What are you going to sew? If you clothes rip, you can wear them for a few days with holes. If you backpack rips, you can make repairs with your foam pad, tape and knife/multitool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Headlamp, flashlight, phone charger, spare batteries&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure why you need both a headlamp and a flashlight especially since your phone can be a backup light source. If you put new batteries in before you leave, you will not need spares. Where do you plan on charging your phone? I would think your phone could last 3 days without a charge (use airplane mode and/or turn it off when not in use).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bug spray and suntan cream&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, you only need a little bit of both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mess kit with a pocket stove, some fuel, a steel mug and a spork, lighter, matches and flint&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighter, matches, and flint seems overkill. For 3 days you could go without a stove. Mess kits come in various sizes. A lot of people go with just a single pot and spork/spoon. You can either drink from you pot or get a lighter mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some zip bags and thrash bags&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you only bring what you need&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A med kit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, smaller is better. Ask yourself if you really need anything more than some aspirin, ibuprofen, and tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="109" LastEditDate="2016-06-06T17:35:10.593" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T17:35:10.593" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-04T20:32:16.750" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest you don't need a tent &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; a tarp, unless the latter is also to be worn as a poncho (unless I've missed them you don't mention waterproofs). Similarly you don't need a head torch and a torch, or a lighter and matches and a flint. But neither of these will make much difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That load is similar to what I carried years ago for a few days between food sources, though we had more access to water. It's not an unreasonable total, though there are plenty of people who successfully carry much less. If you're with others, some items can be shared, which makes a big difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's important with that sort of weight is that you pack correctly. This means packing first for balance with access to particular items of secondary importance. The heaviest items should be low and close to you. As much weight as possible should be carried on your hips, and the load shouldn't swing around as you walk. All this will avoid the need you feel to lean towards for balance. It will still feel odd at first if you're not used to carrying a pack, and even that assumes the pack fits properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're already used to day hikes, you could try some hut-to-hut trips or youth hostelling as an interim step. That way you won't need the tent or so much water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T20:32:16.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11915" CreationDate="2016-06-04T20:49:36.080" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most campground in Maryland State parks are not dispersed. The exception is &lt;a href=&quot;http://dnr2.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/publiclands/western_greenridgeforest.aspx&quot;&gt;Green Ridge State Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Primitive camping has become a rare opportunity as most Public and Private campgrounds have adopted a more improved and consolidated approach to managing camping facilities. Camping at Green Ridge is a primitive experience in that the sites have a picnic table and a fire ring and no other amenities or plumbing. We urge our visitors to practice the “leave no trace ethic” as they enjoy a primitive and remote camping experience. Back Country backpack camping is also permitted within the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://dnr2.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/publiclands/western_savageriverforest.aspx&quot;&gt;Savage River State Forest&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://dnr2.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/publiclands/western_garrettforest.aspx&quot;&gt;Garrett State Forest&lt;/a&gt; also allow backpack camping throughout the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-06-04T20:49:36.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="11925" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12925" CreationDate="2016-06-05T02:00:00.563" Score="9" ViewCount="496" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm just curious how feasible it is to install a rock climbing wall on the side of a regular, balloon framed house (modern standard in the U.S. and Canada). Would something like that require constructing a special support structure? Assuming you tear down whatever siding you may have where you want the wall to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-05T18:16:10.927" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T18:16:10.927" Title="Climbing wall on private home" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11925" CreationDate="2016-06-05T04:38:30.047" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very feasible, I know of a couple houses that have a climbing wall on one side, but you'd be better off leaving the siding up, your wall is going to have bolt holes in it which will let in water. You won't need a special support structure, your exterior walls should be framed with 2x6's if it's less than 30 years old, you just need to attach some boards flat against the side of your house to attach your plywood to. Paint it with an exterior paint mixed with a bit of sand, and you're pretty much good to go. Whatever you do, I would at least consult a contractor if not hire one to build it for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T04:38:30.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-05T07:01:32.783" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the most part, your list looks reasonable for traditional (ie. non-ultralight) backpacking.  The most important thing now is to get the pack fitted and balanced properly, and then get used to moving around while carrying the weight.  20kg hanging off your back &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; change your balance, so you need to get used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few things to look at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Car-camping and backpacking sleeping bags aren't the same thing.  A good backpacking bag weighs about a third of what a car-camping bag does (and costs three times as much), so if you just picked up a random bag from somewhere, you might have room for significant weight savings here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fleece jacket, t-shirt and pants&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2 pairs of underwear and socks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For overnight trips, I don't bother with a change of clothes, just a spare pair of socks.  For two nights, I add underwear and a shirt.  I'll only carry warm clothing if the forecast calls for cold nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tarp for when it rains&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless the weather forecast calls for significant rainfall, I carry two cheap plastic ponchos (one for me, one for my pack, total weight 80g) rather than my regular rain gear (600g).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Headlamp, flashlight, phone charger, spare batteries&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry two headlamps and no spare batteries.  The headlamps use the same type of batteries, so I can switch between them if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a steel mug&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the mug, you might save weight with a plastic one (and gain the ability to handle it while it's full of boiling water), but you'd lose the ability to cook directly in the mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;lighter, matches and flint&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is overkill.  You only need two separate ways of starting a fire, and two sets of matches stored in different parts of your pack is good enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T07:01:32.783" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2016-06-05T09:58:50.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good bait solution for crabbing is some scraps from the butcher, such as a liver or a heart of a cow. The crabs go crazy for them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9624" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T09:58:50.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-05T13:33:23.003" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to &quot;is it too much&quot; is extremely subjective.  Is this strictly too much?  No.  Are there some things you can trim back if you want?  Yes.  I like to hike light, but not ultralight and this would be far too much weight for me to consider now but is almost exactly where I started out.  Over time my base weight (without food and water) has drastically decreased.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two ways to reduce weight.  The first is to remove items you don't really need and the second is to get lighter weight items.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you start you will need two scales.  A fish scale for heavy items and a precise kitchen scale for light items.  Weigh everything you are currently taking and write those down (or make a spreadsheet).  These decisions come down to weight vs. comfort/experience vs. money.  For a given item you have to decide:  Is this item really worth carrying around ?kg for the next three days?  Once you get rid of the things you don't really want, you may still want some luxury items.  For me this is a .5kg tripod stool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My comments on your gear are in italics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;There's no doubt that you need a sleeping bag.  If you need/want to reduce weight here then you will have to spend $$$ or be very patient watching used&lt;/em&gt; gear sales.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent for 2 people&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;If there is only one person you could consider a lightweight one man tent and probably save kilos.  As someone suggested there are also tarps, but that's a personal preference thing.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foam camping mat&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;These are close to as light as it gets for ground pads.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fleece jacket, t-shirt and pants&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Clothes can weigh a lot.  If you are wearing regular everydays stuff, or god forbid jeans; strongly consider buying some lightweight gear.  I find that running shirts are often cheaper than hiking shirts and work the same.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 pairs of underwear and socks&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Probably not much to save here.  You can buy ExOfficios and just wash them but that's saving grams when you are still at the stage of cutting kilos.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tarp for when it rains&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;I would eliminate this.  When it rains at camp - get in your tent.  A tarp makes a really sucky and cumbersome pancho... just buy a cheap poncho&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Around 10m of paracord&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;If anything, I carry more cord&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hygine items, including wet wipes, small towel, biodegradable soap,toothpaste/brush, toilet paper&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;You'll find that most of this can go.  Soap?  I take smoke baths and/or use rubbing alcohol.  If you prefer not to skip this stuff, do make sure you are carrying travel sizes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tools, including a small sewing/backpack fixing kit, knife, multitool, tape, pen and paper&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Ditch everything but the knife, tape, and sewing kit.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headlamp, flashlight, phone charger, spare batteries&#xA;&lt;em&gt;You really only need one light source.  Decide if you prefer headlamp or flashlight and ditch the other.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bugspray and suntan cream&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Necessary in many locales, but get the smallest size needed.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mess kit with a pocket stove, some fuel, a steel mug and a spork, lighter, matches and flint&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Sounds like you are already pretty lightweight here.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass, map and a whistle&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Necessary safety stuff.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some zip bags and trash bags&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Not strictly necessary, but I like to have these as well.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A med kit&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;If you bought a prepacked med kit, consider packing your own.  It will generally save you weight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-05T15:00:22.473" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T15:00:22.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2016-06-05T14:39:21.490" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just get it mostly dry and then pop it in the freezer until the next use. This keeps anything from growing and takes 30 seconds and no cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9626" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T14:39:21.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12931" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-05T15:57:39.270" Score="8" ViewCount="145" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to recycle or refill small (disposable ) propane cannisters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T03:19:33.847" Title="Where can I recycle or refill small 16 oz propane cannisters?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12931" CreationDate="2016-06-05T17:47:22.603" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US you cannot refill the small tank at a propane distributor, at least not in any state that I am aware of. In general, the small tanks are classed as not refillable. There is small risk of fire and explosion refilling the tank on your own. If you chose to do it be careful and keep the refilled tanks outsidea in well ventilated area away from flames and heat sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partially refilling a small tank is quite easy. There are lots of how to videos on the web. With the proper adaptor, you can connect the small tank to a 20lb tank. These adaptors are readily available at propan shops, the Web and some big stores like Walmart. You simply connect the tanks and open the valve of the big tank. You will be able to hear the gas stops flowing. It is unlikely you will get it to be 100% full, but you can do a pretty good job. Once it stops, close the valve and disconnect the tanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T17:47:22.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12933" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12998" CreationDate="2016-06-05T19:27:46.060" Score="12" ViewCount="7493" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some newer tents have integrated pole systems where the poles collapse quickly but stay attached to the tent body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious pro of this design is that setup and takedown is faster and can be done by one person. The weight and size seems equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pole design actually seems less likely to break than shock cord fiberglass poles, but harder to fix if it does break. If you've used one of these tents and the poles have broken in the field, how hard was it to repair?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any hidden gotchas to the instant tent design? Any details I haven't covered above? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T23:08:02.970" Title="What are the non-obvious pros and cons of an &quot;Instant Tent&quot; vs. a tent with shock cord poles" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-05T22:03:02.800" Score="8" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a list (much more detailed) of your gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight everything&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For each item, consider whether or not you really need it. For example, the extra pants, the tarp, the extra batteries, the multitool, the paracord, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a new list with only the items you really need.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Profit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, you can consider getting lighter replacements for gears you already have, but that's for another time I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, even though it has already been mentioned, consider filtering and purifying water. This way, you can a/ carry less water and b/ stop worrying about not having enough water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-06-05T22:03:02.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12933" CreationDate="2016-06-06T06:37:28.153" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When these first came out, they had a tendency to fail at the hinges, especially in the wind. While the leading makes have probably dealt with this to some extent, not all makes will have. And this can mean more failures than you carry spare hinges, in one go. A permanent repair can be easy or hard depending on the hinge/clip design,and a field splint is likely be harder for a failure at a joint than in the middle of a section. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the smaller ones, not being able to split the weight between two people in a disadvantage. Even for tents that would only be used for car camping, having all the weight and bulk in one lump can be awkward especially in a small car. They also tend to be bulkier to pack than an equivalent conventional tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When pitching in even a light wind, putting in 2--3 pegs on the upwind side before the tent has any height can be a huge help, especially if you're on your own. If the poles automatically lock together when you spread the fabric, this will be harder. Against that you can offset the extra weight of the poles, so you should be able to find your own workaround. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The clips used to be annoying to find and undo when taking the tent down, so the total up+down time wasn't necessarily much shorter unless you were tall enough to reach the high clips first. Again this may have improved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said all that, it might sound like I'm against self-erecting tents. We plan to give them a good look when buying our next car-camping family tent, as being able to put the tent up single handed is a big deal, and we drive a windbreak and plan to camp in decent weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you arrive home with a wet tent, being able to hang it up without poles is useful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-06-06T06:42:35.807" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T06:42:35.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11820" CreationDate="2016-06-06T08:16:42.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A .357 Magnum can safely and readily shoot the following rounds: .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .38 Special, .357 Magnum. Your big problem in the short-near term is that shooting shorter cases will foul cylinders further back in the chamber and if not cleaned thoroughly after shooting, you may not be able to seat longer rounds from baked on carbon build up. Clean soon as possible and do a good job to prevent it. Additionally, in the long term, over years of shooting shorter cartridges in your .357, you will tend to get erosion further back in the cylinder, much like what happens to muzzle breaks/flash hiders on an AR platform, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some folks even stuff .38 S&amp;amp;W and .38 S&amp;amp;W Short in older models that will take them, but don't do this--they are a different case diameter and should only be shot in pistols designed for them. If you do, in any case, they usually expand and become a pain to reload. Just don't do this. If for no other reason than if you keep/shoot them in a pistol you're using for self defense, and need to reload, one or more stuck casings means that if you're using a speed loader, you just hit a stoppage point that if you haven't trained to deal with may cost you your life. And even if you have, it may still, because it will take additional time to deal with. Again, stay away from .38 S&amp;amp;W/S&amp;amp;W Short in a .38 SPL or .357 Magnum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, if you decide to buy a companion lever action rifle, keep in mind that if you wanted to shoot .38 Special out of them, you should buy one designed to shoot .38 SPL and .357 Mag--some that will chamber and shoot .357 Mag will also chamber and fire a .38 SPL, but will not extract or eject it, and/or they will be problematic cycling .38 SPL rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've dealt with both the shooting of the smaller rounds (very popular in SA/Cowboy shooting) in .357 Mag pistols, and the .38 SPL chambering, extracting, and ejecting issues in rifles while working in the firearms industry. One additional and nice reason to actually shoot .38 SPL loads in a .357 Mag is the lower recoil and pressures. In fact, it's a popular setup among those who like to carry a snub-nosed revolver, to buy a .357 Mag with the intention of shooting .38 SPL because the .357 Mag is typically made with thicker cylinder walls (and usually frames and barrels) to withstand higher pressures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means there's more metal/weight to most .357 Mag snubs than a .38 SPL of a similar barrel length and frame size--which helps offset muzzle rise due to recoil. Thus, time back on target for follow-up shots is quicker. Most recoil sensitive shooters are better off with a semi-auto than a revolver, but if a recoil sensitive shooter wants a snub nosed revolver which is much harder to shoot accurately than just about anything but a derringer, the smart move is to get a Magnum and shoot shorter rounds. You'll find people buy .44 Mag snubs and shoot .44 Special or .44 Russian in them, or they'll buy a .327 Federal Magnum and shoot .32 H&amp;amp;R Magnum or .32 Long Colt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More weight + less powder = lower felt recoil and faster follow up shots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, most often, the above scenario is due to a husband or boyfriend thinking the best handgun for a wife, girlfriend, mother, sister, daughter was a revolver, when it's usually the hardest for them to learn with, shoot accurately, and become comfortable and proficient with simply because the recoil is so unpleasant. Always did everything to steer them away from it when I could, and a great many snub nosed revolvers purchased usually came back within days to be traded on something else, even with reduced recoil loads. Occasionally, it is a guy or gal who knows how to shoot revolvers, and they're looking specifically for the added weight and controllability in a snub nosed pistol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final note, you can also shoot .38 SPL+P in your .357 Mag...but you might as well just shoot .357 Mag rounds if you're going to do that. You can even get low recoil/low flash .357 Mag rounds and avoid the chamber fouling/erosion issues that come from prolonged use of .38 SPL or .38 Long Colts. If you reload, just reload them light. The .357 Magnum is incredibly versatile. There are even high pressure .357 Magnum loads using heavier than normal bullets (180 grains as opposed to the more common 158 and 125 grain bullets) which make fantastic hunting rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out buffalobore.com for a great example of a variety of high performance and specialty .38 SPL/.357 Mag rounds. Check out buffaloarms.com for a variety of.38 LC, as well as .38 SPL/.357 Mag ammo, including blackpowder rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T08:16:42.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11378" CreationDate="2016-06-06T09:28:08.943" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're using snap link instead of a figure 8 or other such device and can rig a Bachmann/carabiner, just detach and climb as if you were just free climbing the rope with the foot scissor/stand technique, using one hand to slide a Bachmann/carabiner each time you stand/slide up. Useful if you don't have far to go, you can do more than a few pullups and you're confident in your gear and ability. It's efficient and requires little to no setup (especially if you're rigged up with a Bachmann/carabiner for a safety device), but it can be tiring for those who don't have good upper body strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure this violate all sorts of 'best practices' that are commonly taught, but I started/learned in the military where jumping slack off open walls/towers, doing Aussies, and out of helicopters were part of the job, so I tend to view some taboo techniques as suitable and not so crazy. But, it is more dangerous and you should only use it if you have practiced it and your mind is a tough as your body. You wouldn't want to use this for long ascents unless you had little or no choice or gear. But, in a pinch or emergency, you can give up your primary snap link/attachment point and use it for a Bachmann and conduct an emergency ascent/free climb with a better margin of safety than if you have no specialized or other gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T09:28:08.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-06-06T10:08:43.350" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use one of these &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.globetrotter.de/shop/nalgene-weithalsflasche-rund-255474-weiss?ref=lJteBbl3s&amp;amp;sku=255474003&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;250ml Nalgene wide mouth bottles&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are made out of a soft-ish material, perfectly durable, reusable and don’t drip. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find them on the Nalgene website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In colder climates (e.g. Scandinavia) I’ve used butter too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8328" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:08:20.440" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:08:20.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11016" CreationDate="2016-06-06T10:26:13.467" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest things are scent, movement and not seeing what the deer can see. Most people trying to approach a deer are not seeing the forest, field, meadow or whatever, as the deer sees it. Crouch down so your head is about 2-3 feet lower than normal, and the world looks different. You see different paths through the brush, and a lot of times you discover that you thought you were hidden, but you were exposed and there's almost a viewing portal between you and the deer. One of the most enlightening experiences I had was pushing into a thicket up in the mountains that was so many acres in size, so thickly overgrown, that I had to get on my hands and knees and crawl for an hour on game trails to get through it. The world looks different on deer level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other times, just movement and projecting a calmness. I've sat on a log after coming back from a run, in the snow, just sat down and stayed still, out in the open and had 7-8 deer come out and feed up right to within about 15 feet. They all saw me, knew I was there, but I just sat there smiling and still, and enjoying the moment. Was hard to do, I had decided I was going to run bare chested, so I sat there in the snow with no shirt on, freezing my rear off. Maybe they figured I was freezing to death and was no threat? But I believe animals can sense intentions as well as detect them (via pheromones as much as movement, speed, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice catching armadillos and sneaking up on squirrels, you'll learn a lot. As a teenager, my buddies and I would see who could snatch the most armadillos up by their tail in open fields at night. They have ridiculously good hearing, but poor eyesight. You learn how to sneak having to constantly reposition yourself to get in their path, as they rarely root around in a straight line. Then, you have to either at the last moment find a way to get behind them or let them walk almost right into your feet. When you or they get close enough, you reach down and grab them by the tail and snatch them up (be sure to hold them stiff armed, at arms length, away from your body...those claws allow them to burrow into the ground in seconds for a reason). And sneaking up on squirrels...hard to do, but it's entertaining to see their reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the movement, timing is important. Not just moving when something isn't looking your way, but your movement pattern. Don't take two steps or four. Take one or three, and then a pause. Four legged critters don't move in the same sequence as us bipedal types. Even if they can't see you, if you're close, they probably hear you. They can be looking away from you and know you're a threat because they heard a movement that isn't a norm in the woods. And off they go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of times, if you jump up a bedded buck he jumps up and looks around. If you had the wind in your favor, maybe he's heard your movement, but doesn't know where you are exactly. Even if he doesn't see you, instinct tells him to take off because he heard a wrongness in the movement he heard, so off he bounds. Then, sometimes, if you snapped a twig or made some obvious or even loud noise and jump one up, they might look around and then sort of quickly walk off as opposed to running/bounding. He's probably decided that the noise startled him, but he hasn't seen you, and the noise wasn't 'wrong' but it's best to go anyway, because you never know. That's how bucks grow to be big bucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T10:26:13.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2016-06-06T13:04:57.873" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additional for &lt;strong&gt;Greece&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a wild camper for many years in Greece. I have never any issue with locals or police.. Ok, I am careful in general but I guess also lucky. :) Yes, it is illegal and you must know where to go. The best is to ask the locals, or other campers that you will find there. As a general rule, after sunset you wont have any issue putting the tent. If you have are not sure about the place and have a relatively small tent then the safest is to just flatten it by day. Nobody is going to give you a fine for having a picnic.. Also is a little difficult to give you a fine if you are in the beach, or just somewhere away from the tent.. All these of course vary from place to place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will list a few places that come in mind bellow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samothraki: Extremely beautiful island. You can easily camp in the forest and near the natural bathtubs and waterfalls. Also there is a government &quot;wild living &quot;campsite&quot; that is nice and really cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other islands:&#xA;Skopelos, Limnos (unfortunately is not that green), Lesvos: highly recommended for camp in different place every night. There are so much to see in this pretty big island. Crete is also highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Halkidiki: Its mainland and its separated in 3 peninsulas. Forger about the southern (1st as we say) as is the most touristic and mainly full or hotels, clubs and nightlife.&#xA;The middle peninsula has places like, Kavourotrypes (too many people the last years unfortunately), Kriaritsi, Kalamitsi. If you are driving on this route you can also find countless quiet and nice places to camp.&#xA;The northern peninsula is more wild but not less beautiful. Around Olympiada and further towards the edge of the peninsula there are many beaches. I would also recommend to take the mountain road above Olympiada. The forest is vast, wildly beautiful and full or natural fountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that as long as you are away from villages and the road, respect the people around as well as the nature you'll be fine in many places and islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9634" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T13:04:57.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-06T16:59:41.460" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need waterproofs (top and bottom). A survival bag isn't a bad idea either in the mountains. They only weight 100g. And a hat and gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lithium batteries are lighter than alkali, and pack more charge, though you need to be careful as not all head torches are rated for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the power bank for??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I go camping for one night in mountain marathons with a pack of under 5kg (including food, drinking from streams), albeit with no luxuries. You may well find that your sleeping bag, tent and rucksack weigh a substantial amount combined - could be anything from 2kg to 6kg!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9639" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T16:59:41.460" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-06T18:05:40.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of the items on the list it all seems entirely reasonable and an overall pack weight is not by any means ridiculous, although it is in the regions where shaving a few kg is likely to make quite a big difference in overall comfort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is fairly likely that your tent is the heaviest single item, a two person tent intended for car camping can be pretty weighty but if that's what you've got you may not wan to buy a new one to save a few kg. However you can look at whether all of the bits of the tend are entirely necessary, for example carrying spare tent pegs for a 2 day trip is definitely wasted weight. Indeed if you are hiking in a forest you may not need any pegs at all as you can just use sticks. Similarly if you are camping in a forest just a tarp may be entirely adequate (certainly don't take both) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall a good approach is to to at least one trial run even if it is just a few hours walk followed by camping for a night in your garden this will give you a much better idea of what you really do need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth noting that this is &lt;strong&gt;your&lt;/strong&gt; decision some people will go to great lengths to shave every possible gram while others will carry a bit extra for the sake of a few luxuries to make the whole exercise more enjoyable. But still there is no point carrying things you absolutely don't need eg cut a small piece off a bar of soap rather than taking a whole bar and take a travel sized tube of toothpaste indeed but a few plastic tubes or jars for things like sunscreen and insect repellent that you will only use a tiny amount of. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider getting a cheap old style phone with a battery life which will last the entire trip rather than a smartphone which needs constant recharging. Similarity  one set of batteries will last in your torch for a 3 day hike, especially if you get an LED one with a low intensity setting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about whether you really need a stove and mess kit you could just have food t hat doesn't need cooking, bread, cheese, dried fruit, nuts  and preserved sausage (of which Poland has an amazing selection) should see you through a 3 day hike and will keep for that length of time (I would actually rather eat this sort of thing on a hike than rehydrated gunk). If you absolutely must have hot drinks then a tiny solid fuel or alcohol stove with the bare minimum of fuel should be adequate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect from your list that you could shave a couple of kg by taking smaller sizes or lighter versions of things and ditching a few unnecessary items. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-06-06T18:17:29.937" LastActivityDate="2016-06-06T18:17:29.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12931" CreationDate="2016-06-07T03:19:33.847" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You recycle them the same way you'd recycle an isobutane canister.  You puncture the sidewall (once empty) and then recycle anyplace that recycles the metal.  See&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1474/whats-the-best-way-to-use-up-and-dispose-of-almost-empty-butane-canisters&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the best way to use up (and dispose of) almost-empty butane canisters?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T03:19:33.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2016-06-07T03:29:55.977" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could always get a pour spout that you can use for any liquid. &lt;a href=&quot;https://m.bedbathandbeyond.com/m/product/tablecraft-vented-pourers-set-of-2/1012385870?skuId=12385870&amp;amp;mcid=PS_googlepla&amp;amp;gclid=CP7xrOT6lM0CFQ4zaQodXAkLeQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here's an example&lt;/a&gt; They sell them almost anywhere they sell kitchen utensils (even some hardware stores). Then you can use the coke bottle, the olive oil bottle, anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative, placing chopstick in the bottle so that it sticks out of the  mouth where your pouring will create a surface that the oil will follow along better, having the pour extend a bit past the mouth and stopping it from running down the bottle. The more viscous the better this works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T03:29:55.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11816" CreationDate="2016-06-07T04:15:01.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/fishlake/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5121831&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Department of Agriculture - Forestry Service (USDA-FS) regulations on dispersed camping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/fishlake/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5121831&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA-FS Permits overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Unless otherwise indicated by specific restrictions that supercede the default, U.S. National Forests generally allow backcountry camping anywhere you choose. They also generally allow dispersed camping along roads anywhere you want unless otherwise noted. Contact the local U.S. Forest Service ranger district or other relevant land management agency for the area you're interested in to discuss the specifics for that area. “&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~Jonathan Pratt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11915/legal-deep-woods-campsites-or-forests-that-allow-off-trail-hiking-and-ad-hoc-cam&quot;&gt;Taken from other Outdoors.SE thread&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T21:42:27.957" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T21:42:27.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="12947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6391" CreationDate="2016-06-07T04:55:47.207" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often use ropewiki.  I'm not sure what they have listed globally, but they have really great write ups on lots of canyons in the US.  Includes detailed information on the approaches (length, elevation, sometimes landmarks, different approaches/extensions), the rappels (how many and how long), and even the weather conditions year round to suggest things like when a wetsuit might be a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ropewiki.com/Main_Page&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://ropewiki.com/Main_Page&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope that helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9627" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T04:55:47.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13" CreationDate="2016-06-07T05:01:09.673" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a reliable medical source of the causes, symptoms and advised medical responses for altitude sickness of varying degrees. &lt;a href=&quot;http://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases_conditions/hic-altitude-sickness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cleveland Clinic - Altitude Sickness information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Altitude Sickness Explanation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altitude sickness can affect anyone who goes to high altitudes without giving the body time to adjust to the changes in air pressure and oxygen level. High altitude is defined as 8,000 - 12,000 feet above sea level. Very high altitude is 12,000 - 18,000 feet, and altitudes above 18,000 feet are considered extremely high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more rapidly a climb to high altitude, the more likely that altitude sickness will develop. Altitude sickness also is more likely to develop when climbs are more difficult and take more energy, compared with a slow and easy climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Guidelines For Proper Acclimatization&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If possible, start below 10,000 feet and walk to high altitude instead of driving or flying. If you must fly or drive to an altitude over 10,000 feet, stay at your first stop for 24 hours before going higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When hiking or climbing above 10,000 feet increase your altitude by no more than 1,000 feet a day and build a rest day into your schedule for every 3,000 feet gained. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remember, “Climb high and sleep low,” meaning if you climb more than 1,000 feet in a day, come down to sleep at a lower altitude.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always move to a lower altitude if symptoms of altitude sickness develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drink at least 3 to 4 quarts of water per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid tobacco, alcohol and other depressant drugs, including barbiturates, tranquilizers and sleeping pills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While at a high altitude, eat a diet that includes more than 70% carbohydrates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climbing experts recommend taking along enough tanks of oxygen to last for several days when traveling above 10,000 feet. Individuals at risk for developing low levels of oxygen in the blood (anemia) should ask their doctor about taking an iron supplement to help maintain blood oxygen levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is very important to know the symptoms of altitude sickness so that treatment can be started early while the illness is still mild.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to prevent altitude sickness is by acclimatization. This is a process that allows your body time to adapt to the change in oxygen concentration at a higher altitude. In general, this means climbing to a higher level at a slow pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Changes that occur in the body that help it acclimate to a higher elevation include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deeper breathing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Higher pressure in the lung arteries so more lung space is used to help breathe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Making more red blood cells to carry more oxygen to the body&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Increasing the amount of oxygen released from the blood to the body tissues&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treatment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all stages of altitude sickness, the main treatment is to go down to a lower altitude as quickly and safely as possible. For mild altitude sickness, over-the-counter medicines should relieve headache. Other symptoms will go away quickly at a lower altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Symptoms of moderate altitude sickness usually improve in 24 hours at an elevation that is at least 1,000 to 2,000 feet lower. Symptoms should go away completely within 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who have severe altitude sickness must be taken to a lower elevation (no higher than 4,000 feet) immediately. They must be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. Hospital care may be needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some highly skilled climbers and hikers may carry a portable oxygen chamber, also called a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, with them as part of their standard high-altitude gear. The “chamber” is a body bag that is pumped full of air. Inflating the bag increases the oxygen concentration allowing the person in the bag with altitude sickness to breathe in more oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Medicines&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acetazolamide is a prescription drug that increases a person’s breathing rate so that more oxygen is taken in. It helps the body adjust to higher altitudes more quickly and reduces minor symptoms of altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dexamethasone is also a prescription drug that is sometimes used to prevent altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T05:40:02.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-06-07T09:11:55.630" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are only going to use them to cross rivers and you are wanting to save on weight / space, I would suggest some neoprene booties.  Surf or diving booties will do just fine.  Some are like a neoprene sock, you will get a hole in these fairly quickly.  Some are more substantial and are like a neoprene sock with a rubber sole.  I would suggest you get a pair of these.  They weigh very little and will easily survive walking over slippery wet rocks.  You can also pick them up for well under £20 from any surf shop or online retailer.  Try somewhere like decathlon or go outdoors or just do a goole search for surf booties.  There are plently of online retailers selling them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5424" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T09:11:55.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2016-06-07T09:23:30.323" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leeches found in tropical climates were found to drop off from the bite site if some salts are sprinkled over it. This is a very effective way to remove them. I had experienced this myself when I was in the southern state of Kerala, India for trekking. Unfortunately, it took over an hour to stop the bleeding from my finger. I noticed leech's reaction from salt poured over it was spontaneous and it seemed to die later from the salt. However, there is a possibility of its tooth getting stuck in the process and  remain attached to the abrasion and this can cause itching/swelling and subsequently infection if not treated immediately. You should never attempt to pull it from the skin as this will cause bleeding and its residue to remain attached to our body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9648" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T09:23:30.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12951" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-07T11:27:29.977" Score="2" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am currently endeavoring on an Antarctic expedition and wanted to know more about different repair options for our tents in down to -80 temperatures and in extreme high winds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9650" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T19:41:56.243" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T19:41:56.243" Title="Tent repair on Antarctic expedition" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-06-07T18:43:54.640" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12952" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12953" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" Score="0" Body="A type of firearm that can fire &quot;shot&quot;, shot typically being small ball bearings. Shotguns can also fire &quot;solid slugs&quot;, where the &quot;shot&quot; is replaced with a solid projectile. Shot guns typically accept cartridges where the contents of the cartridge (not a part of the cartridge itself) are ejected upon firing. Use this tag for questions about the use of, etc. of shot guns." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T12:11:48.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12954" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12956" CreationDate="2016-06-07T14:33:05.603" Score="9" ViewCount="2279" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the identifying features that allow you to tell the difference between these 3 common UK summer visitors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swift/identification.aspx&quot;&gt;looking at the RSBP advice&lt;/a&gt; but it seems that a swift and a house martin are very similar if you only have a fleeting glimpse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:48:21.693" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:48:21.693" Title="Swift, Swallow or House Martin?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12951" CreationDate="2016-06-07T15:52:37.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best answer is to consult with the manufacturer, expedition grade tents are usually bomber proof but I respect that you always want to be prepared for the worst.  My strategy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Small punctures and tears:&lt;/strong&gt; use a cold weather tape such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://shop.echotape.com/shop-all/bu-r8510-all-weather-repair-tape-50mm-x-12m-2-in-x-40-ft/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Echo All Weather Repair tape&lt;/a&gt; which can still form an adhesive bond in -30°C.  Apply it to both sides of the tear.  Don't bring the whole role, instead bring several metres rolled onto itself or wrapped around something that can easily placed within your coat to warm up if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Larger tears:&lt;/strong&gt; Either bring a metre square piece of material set aside for repairs, probably the same material as the fly, or if weight is your primary concern have a strategy where you can repurpose something you've already got on hand such as the top portion of your bivvy sac, the cover of your sled, or a goretex shell.  Cold weather tape could again be used to seal the edges and the rip, but you'll want a more permanent bonding agent that adheres in cold temperatures and remains flexible.  Look for silicone glues which are rated to -30°C or lower. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Final thought: don't wait until a rip happens to discover whether your technique is viable, set aside some time at your staging camp to test out which techniques work best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T15:52:37.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12954" CreationDate="2016-06-07T15:58:36.120" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Swifts tend to fly higher than swallow and house martins, but the biggest giveaway is the noise they make.  From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swift/index.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;almost the same page you linked&lt;/a&gt; you can listen to the audio file.  A swift call is a screech, even a scream.  You can quite often hear them before you see them (they tend to occur in decent numbers when the noise is almost non-stop)  Swallows and house martins both make a softer, more twittering sound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visually the swift has much longer (and more curved) wings.  It also has a longer tail (excluding the swallow's very thin streamer feathers which often  can't been seen with the naked eye in high flight). The fork appears deeper too. To the naked eye, a swift is uniformly dark, while house martins and swallows both show significant pale areas on the underside (and may even come low enough for you to see this).  The flight is different too -- swifts arc through the sky rather than flapping as much as the others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The RSPB page sums up the difference in the nests.  Basically if you see a mud nest it's not a swift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: the British Trust for Ornithology has posted a &lt;a href=&quot;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=klya9oEK57M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video on YouTube&lt;/a&gt; addressing just this question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T09:49:25.357" LastActivityDate="2017-06-01T09:49:25.357" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12957" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-07T18:21:31.990" Score="9" ViewCount="236" Body="&lt;p&gt;My family is going to Innsbruck in August, and we want to do a 3-4 day mountain hut trek. This will be our first trek with our son, who will be 16 months old. I can see many, many huts and trails in the area, but I'm having a hard time ascertaining which ones are easier. For example, we don't want via ferrata, nor very steep climbs. Basically, we just want an easy trek - I'm sure that practically anywhere in the area will be lovely, we don't need somewhere &lt;a href=&quot;http://stubaier-hoehenweg.at/en/som/hoehenweg.1.htm/&quot;&gt;famous.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't mind arriving in Innsbruck and then consulting with locals, but I'm worried that things will be crazy in August, and if I don't reserve places in huts, they will fill up. Is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have a route or area they'd like to suggest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T07:15:45.897" Title="Baby-friendly trek near Innsbruck" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;austria&gt;&lt;huts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14360" CreationDate="2016-06-07T21:01:54.120" Score="7" ViewCount="100" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walk along Del Monte Beach in Crow City, USA (Monterey, California) quite often. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not too rare to see dolphins frolicking (so it seems to me, although they may just be going about their business, with no particular feeling of fancifulness or frivolity as they periodically arch their backs out of the water every several seconds/yards) about 60 feet (estimated) off shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it seems that either I have been very unlucky lately, or this may be a seasonal occurrence. What used to be common is now &quot;special&quot; - I saw one again last week for the first time in at least several weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this because they would tend to be in Monterey Bay only during a certain time of the year (and not in late spring)? Is it based on a prey/predator situation, the temperature of the water, or something like that? Or is it just sort of a &quot;random&quot; circumstance or &quot;happy accident&quot; that I might happen to see them quite a bit for a stretch of time, and then an &quot;unhappy accident&quot; that I miss them for quite awhile (they're there, but I just don't happen to look in the right place at the right time)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T15:40:53.613" Title="Are Dolphin sightings seasonal or serendipitous?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;migration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-06-07T21:05:46.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some good points how you could try to decrease the weight in the answers (didn't read all, but 16-18kg for 2-3 days seems very definitely too much), but I think the main point is - why do you want to hike carrying your tent and sleeping bag with yourself? Sure, that's one of the options how we can hike, but you can just as well have your tent on the camping and do one-day circles, much more people you'll meet on the trail will do it this way, so what's the reason to start with the harder option for the first time? Of course, there are mountains (nowhere in Poland or neighbourhood, though) where that's the only option, but while you have a choice... in Poland going with tent has really advantages in you being more flexible if you go for like 10 day hike and want to cover a lot of ground, if you want 2-3 days in each area I don't see any gain (and for 10 days you can also just stay 2-3 days somewhere and then move with a bus, really what someone prefers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Tatry, the communication allows you to easily go to every trail in the Polish part if you stay in Zakopane. Some of the places like Rysy demand good condition if one wants to do them in one day without sleeping in shelters - but you won't go to Rysy anyway for the first time as it's demanding from technical point of view. And you can easily spend like 10 days whole time having your tent in Zakopane, then move to a campsite in Slovakia close to railway and have several days more. Not speaking of 2-3. In Bieszczady if you go to the area of Ustrzyki Górne you &#xA;have like 2, maybe up to 3 days of walking returning to the base, then you can move to Wetlina or the area and have 1-2 days more. Absolutely no need to walk everyday with all you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And especially in Tatry and Bieszczady you're not even allowed to camp wild, so you'd need to go with your tent to the campsites on the valleys level anyway. In Tatry going with the sleeping bag (without tent) has advantages that you can stay in shelters (you can have a bed only booking much in advance, otherwise floor so sleeping bag/pad is necessary), but going form the city level every day is also a good option, it's the trade-off between having more height difference to cover vs covering it with a lighter baggage on your back, both have advantages and surely none is required. If you're going every day from the city level you really need (assuming it's summer) just like a T-shirt and a shirt, 2nd t-shirt to change, coat (if you have one good from both rain and cold wind, otherwise depending on the case add fleece jacket / cape). Plus water, food, and obviously the small things you mentioned like first aid, torch etc. etc. but they're all small. You can consider poles, they make walk significantly less tiring although not everyone likes them. And all the rest of the things you need for the campsite you leave in the campsite (or room/shelter if you rent one). Also if there's a shelter on your way, remember you can buy water there, prices obviously are hight but that's another of the trade-offs you can determine one way or another. I'm a bit less clear about how easy it'll be for you to stay at some place and return to it on the flat areas as there is less tourist infrastructure there, but I'd guess you can plan your trip to match it too. Maybe you could've got something 10% more interesting if you walked with the tent, but what's the point if you're going to like it 80% less due to carrying way more than you're used to, not speaking about seeing less due to being able to cover a slower distance in a day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9655" LastEditorUserId="9655" LastEditDate="2016-06-07T21:11:57.080" LastActivityDate="2016-06-07T21:11:57.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12960" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-08T00:51:57.877" Score="6" ViewCount="904" Body="&lt;p&gt;When resurfacing counter-tops, ceilings, etc. in marine vessels, what materials stand up the best to moisture, yet are manipulable enough without excessive tooling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be at many levels of difficulty.  I'm most concerned with the case of a sailboat at a mooring; which means you do not have access to AC power and the ability to place heavy items on solid ground.  Everything has to fit into a tender/dinghy.  So, the material has to be cuttable by battery-powered tools, or by hand.  It also has to be light and easy enough to move with a single-person in a small tender.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: Is linoleum counter top material good for galley counter tops?  Does the necessary adhesive stand up to marine conditions?  What might be better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some surfaces of concern:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Galley countertops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cabin walls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Table tops&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bathroom walls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9528" LastEditorUserId="9528" LastEditDate="2016-06-08T15:11:00.297" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T03:06:08.863" Title="What materials are most durable for marine vessel interior resurfacing?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7741" CreationDate="2016-06-08T06:21:40.267" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also agree that 8mm rope is pretty safe.  I've done pretty close to straight vertical rappels up to 160ft on it while canyoneering (8mm rope is very common in canyoneering).  I'm assuming you've gone on your trip by now, but for anyone else who might be curious, I'd like to address the idea of different descenders. The speed that you travel on the rope has to do with more than just the width of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Paul brought up, the figure 8, or rescue 8 as you've posted, tends to twist the rope pretty badly.  Another setback to it is that it doesn't allow you to easy adjust friction.  There are lots of rappelling devices that allow you to easily add friction as you rappel to help control your rappel better for various situations. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adventurepluslc.com/canyon/critr.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;CRITR 2&lt;/a&gt; is currently my personal favorite. However, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.store.canyoneeringusa.com/index.php?option=com_rokecwid&amp;amp;Itemid=108&amp;amp;view=ecwid&amp;amp;ecwid_product_id=50760886#!/BG-Gear-Sqwurel/p/50760886&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;SQWUREL&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/gearguide/sterling-ats-a-rappel-device-for-canyoneering-reviewed/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ATS&lt;/a&gt; are also great devices that serve the same purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are tons of other devices aside from these as well.  The ability to easily add friction really comes in handy if, for example, you didn't bring the rope and don't know the size, or the rope gets wet and slicker, or the rappels are varying lengths.  There's lots of factors that can determine your speed on rope, so it's nice to have some extra control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9627" LastActivityDate="2016-06-08T06:21:40.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3609" CreationDate="2016-06-08T07:18:17.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having rappelled in waterfalls while canyoneering I can honestly say it's not as scary as it sounds. The rope can get more slippery, but the key is keeping a firm grip. I canyoneer without sticky canyoneering shoes (because they're expensive and I'm cheap) and I slip and fall all the time while getting over the edge of a waterfall or while rappelling down a particularly slippery part. However, I never fall into an uncontrolled descent while doing this because my brake hand NEVER leaves the rope. If you fall, you grab the rope tight, stop your rappel, recompose yourself and start again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Mr. Wizard mentioned, adding friction will help you control your speed. You can do this simply by holding the rope around the side of your leg instead of off to the side of you. Any curves you can add to the rope will add friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also a good idea to invest in a device that allows you to add friction while you rappel specifically for situations like this where the base friction of your device may change based on other factors. The CRITR2, SQWUREL and ATS are all great devices to look into that allow you to add friction while rappelling. That way if you start off and feel like you're going to fast, you can always add more friction to slow yourself down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can check out the gear I mentioned here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.store.canyoneeringusa.com/component/rokecwid/?Itemid=108#!/Rappel-Devices/c/2490786/offset=0&amp;amp;sort=normal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.store.canyoneeringusa.com/component/rokecwid/?Itemid=108#!/Rappel-Devices/c/2490786/offset=0&amp;amp;sort=normal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind those are just a few well known canyoneering descenders, there's many more.  If you visit the shop you can see the difference in which ones allow you to easily add friction (CRITR2, SQWUREL, ATS) and which don't (ATC, Figure 8).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9627" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-08T11:06:35.107" LastActivityDate="2016-06-08T11:06:35.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1474" CreationDate="2016-06-08T13:14:28.597" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A third option to Russell Steen's excellent two is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To Refill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are adapters (from G-Works and Alva, amongst others) that will let you refill them using either other butane canisters, larger 16oz propane canisters, as well as the small aerosol-cans of butane that you can get at Asian markets. Adventures in Stoving has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.jp/2012/01/gas-canister-refilling.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nice article of refilling canisters&lt;/a&gt; using the adapter setup pictured below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2OCY3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2OCY3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Canister filling up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Fine print: There are of course many caveats to refilling canisters that weren't designed to be refilled. Your mileage may vary. Do not store refilled canisters in enclosed spaces with ignition sources. Do not smoke while refilling canisters. Do not allow moisture to get into your canister. Do not refill canisters that appear damaged. If it blows up or leaks, it's your fault. etc. etc.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3699" LastEditorUserId="3699" LastEditDate="2016-06-10T06:46:45.947" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T06:46:45.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12965" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12969" CreationDate="2016-06-08T13:51:07.137" Score="8" ViewCount="1329" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we rappel after a multi-pitch climb, we usually take up the rope (or both ropes when we use half ropes) so that we end up with one or two nicely lap-coiled ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throwing the coiled ropes quite often results in at least one of them becoming a tangled mess on the way down, even without getting stuck on trees, the rock or other things. The first climber to rappel then needs to spend quite a bit of time to untangle one or two of the strands/ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is very annoying, so: What are common mistakes that lead to this problem? Is there a special way of taking up the rope that helps here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T22:04:46.847" Title="How to avoid tangling up the rope when throwing it before rappelling?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12965" CreationDate="2016-06-08T15:52:44.510" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Toss the middle first.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throwing your rope isn't always the best solution. High winds, trees, and rocky slopes can make it easy for you to get your rope hung up. Throwing your rope is only really advisable if you're on a steep vertical cliff and there's little or no risk of getting your rope hung up on anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you do throw your rope though, &lt;strong&gt;it's best to flake it into at least &lt;em&gt;four&lt;/em&gt; separate coils; two coils for each strand.&lt;/strong&gt; Coil the middle, then coil the end of each strand. When you throw, throw one strand at a time. For each strand, throw out the middle coil first, then throw the end after, this way you can better direct where you want your rope to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where you don't expect you can throw the rope without making a mess, then it's best to let your rope out as you go down. Flake your rope out into a sling on your side as shown below: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-this-alpine-rope-management/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-this-alpine-rope-management/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wqOrv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wqOrv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can descend with a rope bucket dangling off the haul loop of your harness. Stuff the rope in the bucket starting from the ends, and descend as normal, taking the rope out of the bucket as you go. I'll sometimes descend this way using my rope bag as a rope bucket, you can also use a backpack suspended by it's haul loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-08T19:42:46.277" LastActivityDate="2016-06-08T19:42:46.277" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9939" CreationDate="2016-06-08T19:08:28.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the sales material you quote it sounds like the 'wood' in question has been vacuum stabilised. This involves completely saturating the wood with a polymer resin so it is in effect more like a plastic composite than natural wood but retains the grain and appearance of wood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as the process has bee carried out correctly this should make the material pretty much impervious to moisture and normal rain and weather shouldn't be a problem. Here it sounds like this material has been chosen for aesthetic reasons ie customers want a bow that looks like it is made from wood but for all practical purposes it is a polymer composite material.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-06-11T16:42:03.130" LastActivityDate="2016-06-11T16:42:03.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9256" CreationDate="2016-06-08T23:37:48.500" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;What if you want to tow your canoe with a recumbent tricycle?  Well I have worked out a solution for that.  After much thought and a posting the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/38720/towing-with-a-recumbent-trike-tadpole-or-delta&quot;&gt;Towing with a Recumbent Trike, Tadpole or Delta?&lt;/a&gt; I purchased a used Delta Trike (&lt;em&gt;Sun EZ-3 SX&lt;/em&gt;).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the same dolly as I used for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256/how-to-tow-a-canoe-with-a-bicycle/9257#9257&quot;&gt;bicycle solution&lt;/a&gt; as I wanted to have a bit of tongue weight in this configuration I moved the dolly back a bit behind center.  In this configuration I was able to have my wife ride in the canoe as I peddled around the neighborhood.  She sat on a pillow right over the dolly, no problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PkDVm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PkDVm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trike towing Canoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the trailer tongue, I used quick connect, rubber C click thing (&lt;em&gt;not sure of the name, found it in an Amish bike shop a while back&lt;/em&gt;) It slides inside of an 1 inch, square aluminium tube.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can just make out in the photo above the tube is only 4 feet long.  I made V shaped blocks of wood and bolted them to the bar, the keel of the canoe sits in the V, and ratchet straps hold the bar to the canoe. In keeping with my mantra of being able to make repairs with off the shelf parts from any nearby hardware shop.  Both the C thing, and the aluminium tube could be replaced with &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/27234/trailer-connection-off-the-shelf-parts-and-proven-performer&quot;&gt;PVC as in this solution&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give the aluminium tube more strength, I slid a piece of wood into it (&lt;em&gt;snug fit, cut with table saw&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfThE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfThE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;HitchImage1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4ffd3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4ffd3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;HitchImage2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest issue was the hitch (&lt;em&gt;the part on the bike&lt;/em&gt;), Because of the lower center of gravity on the trike, and the delta design. There was just no way to use the bicycle solution.  All the bike tube strong enough to connect the canoe to go side to side, rather than up and down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3/4 inch PVC tube has an outside diameter of about 1 inch, which is the size the C thing wants to be attached to.  To add strength I used a 3/4 inch oak dowel inside of the PVC.  Liberal use of silicon calking to bond the Oak to the PVC and keep out water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A short section of all thread, is used to make the lower connect (&lt;em&gt;bottom of upside down T&lt;/em&gt;).  Two U bolts are used to connect the long part of the tube above. The U bolts go Left to Right over the PVC tube.  The U Bolt Plates go Up and Down, connecting the top and bottom U bolts. I used a piece of inner tube rubber around the bike parts to protect them from wear by the U bolts and Plates. This made the top of section where the hitch would rest with lots of rough areas, so I made a wooden washer out of some scrap and placed it between the C thing and the bike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The PVC tube of the hitch actually only goes up about 12 inches from the bottom.  The Oak dowel is about 6 inches longer than PVC.  The top 3 feet of PVC is used as a flag pole and just slips down over the oak dowel that sticks up from the lower hitch section.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0DIkZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0DIkZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;CloseUpOfHitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update after first trip&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did an 8 mile trip and everything went well, my trike only delivers power to the right rear wheel.  The stock tires don't have much tread.  This was a bit of an issue when starting on gravel, particularly at road crossings, I was having some tire spin.  I have upgraded to a knobby tire for the drive wheel (&lt;em&gt;leaving the stock tire on the left rear&lt;/em&gt;).  I have not towed with the new tire yet, but it rides fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will update this answer if more miles lead to a modified solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-06-26T10:55:15.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12973" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12974" CreationDate="2016-06-09T00:59:32.613" Score="15" ViewCount="2409" Body="&lt;p&gt;People have put a lot of work into &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide-predicting_machine&quot;&gt;predicting tides&lt;/a&gt;.  To a local, who knows the conditions of a certain area, are tide tables really necessary?  How surprising are the tides ever going to be to someone who's been sailing the same bay for decades?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3175" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T21:34:35.587" Title="To locals without a tide chart, how surprising are tides?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12973" CreationDate="2016-06-09T01:52:28.490" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tides are generally not surprising - they do not change much in amplitude from one day to the next, and the peaks happen slightly less than an hour later each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amplitude of the tides mostly follows the phase of the moon. The highest tides happen on the full moon and the new moon, with slack tides in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tide tables are useful for predicting what the tides will be months or even years in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T01:52:28.490" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12973" CreationDate="2016-06-09T09:19:15.527" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone that lives, works, and plays in a coastal area in Florida, I can say that I qualify as a local. The answer is &lt;strong&gt;nearly never&lt;/strong&gt;. You would hardly ever be surprised by the tide. It becomes a lot like being surprised by the position of the sun. You may, on occasion notice it's later then you thought it was, but the &quot;fact&quot; that it's later isn't a big surprise. Tides are the same way. They don't shift around much day to day. So you may get taken off guard when you spend 8 hours doing a 2 hour task, but the fact that the tide has changed isn't really a surprise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I say nearly never because there are three important times that I can think of where the need to be precise is so important that the water height at a given time can actually be surprising. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Storm (hurricane) conditions. Knowing when high tide is in combination with the storm's route can help you choose a better place to harbor your boat. Of course it's all guess work, but if you have to harbor you boat in a storm, then being able to guess where can be important. The other side to this is that the answer is almost always &lt;strong&gt;Boat no go in storm, move boat out of storm path&lt;/strong&gt; and with a weeks worth or more of warning time, it's really not that hard to do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flood Conditions. After a storm, predicting flood conditions can be useful. Specially if you're in an area along an estuary. The height difference in water height could be &quot;a gap big enough to sandbag an area&quot;. Not specifically tied to boating but important none the less.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Areas that are impassable. There are a few areas that getting even a small boat in or out requires you do so at high tide. The small difference in draft can make the difference between bottoming out and a smooth trip. Usually if you use one of these places you know, (though I see a ton of people get stuck because they &quot;follow the guy on front of them&quot; without realizing his boat is sitting higher.) and it's not like the range is only a few moments. Usually it's a few hours on both sides of high tide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So essentially, a tide table is mostly useless in local waters (for locals). Having a general idea about when high or low tide is - is useful, but you can almost always get that off the radio/tv/internet/whatever. If your in local waters your not likely to be surprised by the tide because it either doesn't matter, or it matters so much that your entire trip is planned around it. It's more likely you loose track of time, and thus get surprised (or stuck) because of that, then because you didn't know about the tides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T21:34:35.587" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T21:34:35.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12976" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12977" CreationDate="2016-06-09T11:50:00.347" Score="10" ViewCount="447" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend and myself would like to do some gold panning this summer for the first time. We both live in southern British Columbia and have the intention of going into some known gold producing areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I would like to know if there are any telltale signs along the banks of streams, creeks or rivers that would increase the possibility of gold being found in a particular spot over another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are hoping to stay away from the 'tourist like gold panning places!&quot; Hiking and camping, with some added gold panning is our intention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T12:14:57.730" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T13:54:52.870" Title="Are there any possible telltale signs along a water's edge that it would be a good spot for gold panning?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;gold-panning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12976" CreationDate="2016-06-09T13:39:25.723" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk/eight-natural-geologic-signs-pointing-toward-gold&quot;&gt;Chris Ralph from mindlab&lt;/a&gt;, you should go for these signs: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Color Changes:&lt;/strong&gt; In many districts, acidic mineral solutions have bleached the area rocks to a lighter color. This can be an indicator&#xA;  of gold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iron Staining &amp;amp; Gossans:&lt;/strong&gt; Not all veins produce much quartz – gold bearing veins can consist of calcite or mostly sulfides – which often&#xA;  weather into iron stained spots when the pyrites convert to iron&#xA;  oxides. Large amounts of iron oxides like hematite, magnetite and&#xA;  ironstone can be favorable indicators.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quartz Vein Matter Accumulations:&lt;/strong&gt; At times, small accumulations of quartz vein material can indicate mineralization in the area. This is&#xA;  a very common indicator.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Productive Rock Types:&lt;/strong&gt; The concept of favorable host rocks is an important one, but the types of rock which constitute “favorable” can&#xA;  vary a lot from one location to another and can be significantly&#xA;  different.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rock Contact Zones and Faults:&lt;/strong&gt; Many quartz veins and other hard rock gold deposits occur in &quot;zones&quot; along faults or at the contact of&#xA;  two different types of rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Correct Topography:&lt;/strong&gt; As a general concept, the coarser gold does tend to hang up farther upstream. In the deserts, most of the best&#xA;  residual placers form in areas with moderate to flat slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extensions of Known Mineral or Placer Areas:&lt;/strong&gt; Other than pipe shaped bodies, most small scale gold deposits have a linear component. It is&#xA;  fairly common that new deposits can be found along this linear zone of&#xA;  deposition by looking for extensions along the line of deposition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Similar Geologic Areas Nearby:&lt;/strong&gt; If a certain rock type or geologic environment has been productive for gold in one area, and the same&#xA;  rock type or environment occurs a few miles away in the same mountain&#xA;  range, it may well be worthwhile to investigate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another interesting article regarding this topic is from &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/howtofigogop.html&quot;&gt;Gold Fever Prospecting&lt;/a&gt;&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While you can find small amounts of natural gold just about&#xA;  everywhere, finding concentrated gold deposits takes a little&#xA;  knowledge of just how gold gets around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gold is very heavy. Actually, gold is about 19 times as heavy as water&#xA;  - about 3 times as heavy as iron. Knowing this makes finding it much easier. Because of its weight, gold will always sink to the lowest&#xA;  level as possible. As rain, wind, freezing &amp;amp; thawing, and geologic&#xA;  disruptions move the earth around, gold is freed up and relocates to&#xA;  the lowest point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For example, take a rain storm on the side of a hill. As the rain&#xA;  falls, little rivulets form, flowing down the hill forming larger and&#xA;  larger streams. As the water moves, it erodes the earth and rock&#xA;  beneath it freeing the trapped gold. The gold, caught up in the fast&#xA;  moving water, will cascade down the hill looking for the first crack,&#xA;  undercut, or obstruction along the way to sink into. Over the years,&#xA;  more and more freed-up gold will collect in these cracks, making for&#xA;  some fine pickings if you are willing to look for them. Browse crevice&#xA;  tools&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Same thing goes in a stream bed. Look for where the water slows during&#xA;  a flood. If the gold has a chance, it will sink. Sample or test where&#xA;  the stream bends or widens, or where there are natural obstacles or&#xA;  falls. Even a rock or boulder in a stream will disrupt the flow of&#xA;  water, causing the gold to fall to the bottom and collect. Don't be&#xA;  afraid to 'turn over a few stones'!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where to look for gold&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gravel bars usually found on the inside of the river bends. Although the gold here is mostly small flakes to very fine, there&#xA;  sometimes is a lot of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Where the stream levels out after a steeper part such as downstream of rapids or waterfalls.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Newly formed gravel bars.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Small streaks of gravel laying on the bed rock but you will need some sort of sucker to retrieve it if it is underwater.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Down stream sides of large boulders and other obstacles which because of size or other factors appear to have been there for a long&#xA;  time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pot holes in the bed rock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cracks in the bed rock. In popular prospecting areas, the large, obvious cracks have most likely been cleaned out many times. Look for&#xA;  lines of moss running along the bed rock. There is almost always a&#xA;  small crack under the moss and these cracks can contain a surprising&#xA;  amount of gold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Moss and grass roots near the river.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The high benches. As a stream cuts deeper into a canyon, it can leave patches of gravel high on the canyon wall. These are called&#xA;  benches. Look for round or rounded rocks well above the present high&#xA;  water level. Round or rounded rocks have lived in a river at some time&#xA;  in their lives. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Always keep in mind that these are the most likely places to find&#xA;  gold. There is an old saying: &quot;Gold is where you find it.&quot; What this&#xA;  really means is, you may find a spot that looks perfect and not find&#xA;  any gold at all or you may find a spot that looks like it would be&#xA;  barren but you find a &quot;bonanza.&quot; Just try to keep your mind open to&#xA;  all possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T13:54:52.870" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T13:54:52.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10481" CreationDate="2016-06-09T13:53:26.000" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;So after all is said and done, I called a sand blaster, but they wanted too much money to blast my small hull. Like $1000. I could buy my own equipment to do the job for that price, but I didn't want to spend the money either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My neighbor told me he had a blaster I could use, and when I looked at it, it was just another pressure washer. Well he said this one is a lot stronger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I used his pressure washer and holy cow what a difference. His pressure washer blasted the paint right off. There are still some spots, but to be honest, it really did the job. What he leant me was a generac 3100 psi 3 GPM gas powered unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It worked great and only took a few hours to strip the paint off the whole hull. Now all I need is to let it dry out so I can shop vac up the debris from my driveway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just thought in case anyone wanted or needed to know that a powerful enough pressure washer does the trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that it can and will strip the barrier coat and dig into the fiberglass if the spot is weakened, but considering I am looking to repair and restore this hull, that's just fine by me, if it comes off then I want it to come off so I can lay new glass and epoxy up and make it stronger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T13:53:26.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12979" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12984" CreationDate="2016-06-09T14:12:49.220" Score="11" ViewCount="325" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the measures to take to ensure the safety of the person who is spotting a climber?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-09T21:29:46.687" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T14:57:05.527" Title="Safety precautions for a spotter for his/her own safety" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12973" CreationDate="2016-06-09T16:04:55.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other have said, tides should not be surprising to locals, which makes sense as tide tables are not designed to be used by locals. They are intended for people a) to whom tides are important, that b) are not familiar with the local tides, and that c) intended to visit at some point in the future. Unless all three conditions apply, tide tables will be of little or no interest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4010" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T16:04:55.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2016-06-09T19:23:41.523" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I were you I would just grab a plastic bag and slip it over your boot. It's small, lightweight, and won't break in a backpack. This way you won't need to take off your shoes and socks either, just slip on the covers, and you are done (especially nice if it's raining).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6004" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T19:23:41.523" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12979" CreationDate="2016-06-09T21:16:48.443" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a complete list per se. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If bouldering outdoors, particularly with an overhang, wear a helmet. This isn't to protect you from a fall, it's to protect your head for if rocks get knocked down onto you. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When spotting, maintain an athletic stance. If you just stand normally, you won't be able to absorb impact from a fall as well. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Spoons, not forks&quot; for your hands. When spotting, keep your fingers together, not spread out. Individual fingers sticking out are more likely to get caught on something or twisted weirdly. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the climber falls, do not try to &lt;em&gt;catch&lt;/em&gt; them. Guide them gently to the ground, ensuring they don't hit their head on anything. The purpose of a spotter is not to break a fall (which is likely to hurt both the climber and the spotter), it is to guide the fall to ensure the climber doesn't hit something dangerous on their way down. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be mindful of what's around you. Clear large debris if possible, like branches or movable rocks. If you get knocked down, you don't want to hit something and get injured. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I like to wear some kind of sunglasses or even cheapo safety glasses if it's not sunny. Dirt and small rocks often gets knocked off the rock, which is very annoying to get in your eyes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T21:16:48.443" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12965" CreationDate="2016-06-09T22:04:46.847" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, don't coil your rope in the &quot;usual&quot; U-shape, like climbers do! (&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ppYanQ5DDPM/maxresdefault.jpg&quot;&gt;example picture&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or in ASCII art&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;     ___&#xA;   -------&#xA; //// o \\\\&#xA; ||||   ||||&#xA; ||||   ||||&#xA; ||||   ||||&#xA; \\//   \\//&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This form is good for carrying, but not for tossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mention &quot;lap-coiled&quot;, so probably you already know that, but it's worth mentioning (for the likes of me who used it many times with consistently poor results).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better coiling form is &quot;O-shaped&quot;, or spiral:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;---------&#xA;  ///   \\\&#xA; ///     |||&#xA; |||     |||&#xA; |||     |||&#xA; |||     |||&#xA; |||     ///&#xA;  \\\   ///&#xA;    ------------&amp;amp; (one end terminated by a knot)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I coil my thin (8 mm) ropes, I place the coils in one hand, which is barely enough for 40 m of rope (I toss the rest separately) - any longer or thicker, and you would need to hold the coils in some other manner (on the arm or on the lap? Or maybe you have bigger hands than me? YMMV).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When making the individual coils, you should twist each one in such a way that it produces no kinks in the yet-uncoiled part of the rope. It's usually pretty easy - you do exactly the same 360° twist of the rope in each coil. All the coils should look as round and as identical as possible - it's fine if they  look more like &quot;D&quot; than &quot;O&quot;, but if they look like &quot;8&quot; - you are doing it wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition (also important), try to place the coils into your hand in a consistent manner, so they could separate easily when tossed. Like this (your hand viewed from the side; &quot;o&quot; is the rope in cross-section):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;|          |      |o         |      |o o       |      |o o o o   |      |o o o o o |  &#xA;|          |      | o        |      | o o      |      | o o o o o|      | o o o o o|  &#xA; \o       /        \o o     /        \o o o   /        \o o o o /        \o o o o /   &#xA;  \o     /          \o o   /          \o o o /          \o o o /          \o o o /    &#xA;    ----              ----              ----              ----              ----      &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final result is illustrated &lt;a href=&quot;http://cns-alumni.bu.edu/~slehar/Victoria/CrewManual.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, but please disregard the part about shaking off the kinks - if there are any kinks that you needed to shake off, the rope is unsuitable for tossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-06-09T22:04:46.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12979" CreationDate="2016-06-09T22:31:17.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have one principle risk of injury as a spotter, and that is from a climber falling on top of you or hitting you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a spotter, your job is simply to direct falls to the crash pad. You are not there to actually catch the person, you are not there to &lt;em&gt;be&lt;/em&gt; a crashpad, you are there to ensure that the pad stays under the climber, and that the climber lands safely on the pad. If you are standing underneath the climber, or standing on top of the crashpad, then you are potentially putting yourself at risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you spot, keep your hands up and behind the climbers centre of mass, this is above the waist in men, lower on women. Be alert when the climber is working through their beta, and be prepared for a fall during difficult or dynamic moves. If the problem they're on traverses a boulder, you may need to move the pad(s) to keep them under the climber at all times. It's important to do this while they're going through an easier section of the problem or resting on a hold, and not right when they're about to attempt a difficult move when they really need a spot. It's good to have more than one spotter for problems like this, one to move the pad, and the others to spot the climber. When the climber falls, don't try to stop their fall, just put your hands on them and &lt;em&gt;catch the fall&lt;/em&gt; by helping them land on their feet/butt first and directing them to the middle of the pad. You are there to direct their fall to the pad, and help them avoid injury. If a climber falls head first, &lt;strong&gt;do not try to catch their head!&lt;/strong&gt; Get your hands on their back and direct their feet to the pad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use your legs!&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;When going down with the climber, go &lt;em&gt;all the way&lt;/em&gt; down with them, get your hands behind their centre of mass and bend at the knees as you bring them down towards the mat. Even though you're not catching their full weight, taking a person to the chest can be jarring, and you can hurt your self or your back if you catch their fall wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mind your surroundings!&lt;/strong&gt; just because the climber is safe if they fall doesn't mean you will be. There are situations where a climber can swing out and knock you in the head or knock you into another rock/tree/person/off a cliff/whatever, make sure wherever you stand, you aren't going to get hit or hurt if the climber falls.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing you could do is make sure that your climbing partner doesn't try doing something stupid, like highballing some crumby climb without proper protection. I was out scrambling with a friend one time who wanted to impress his girlfriend by climbing up to a window he spotted up on a cliff face. I started to follow, but decided eight feet up that it would be too sketchy to down climb, so I waited at the bottom. On his way down my friend got ledged out and couldn't find any more feet holds despite me shouting some out to him. He eventually got pumped out and lost his grip on the rock. I had no choice but to full on try to catch him or else he was going to do damage to himself and tumble all the way down the big scree slope below us, likely ending up a big smear on a rock. I caught him around the middle, and dug me feet in to prevent him from taking us both down the mountain, we both got hurt to some degree, but I absorbed some of his fall and prevented us both from going down the slope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-10T14:57:05.527" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T14:57:05.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12987" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-10T07:59:38.573" Score="12" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an enthusiastic mountaineer and hiked up several 4000m - 6000m peaks till today. Now I'm faced to a problem I think many mountaineers are faced to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which type of cooker do I use above the 6000m?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally I use my oldest friend the propan-fired cooker. But the cold temperatures told me about the physics and around -30°C it won't fire at all.&#xA;That's why I thought about a gas-fired cooker, but it's also heavier and often bigger ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So does anybody have some experience in cooking above 6000m?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9678" OwnerDisplayName="Otterbein" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-13T14:24:13.660" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T16:28:50.800" Title="Which type of cooker to use above 6000m?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-06-23T17:29:49.970" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12988" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12990" CreationDate="2016-06-10T15:04:30.400" Score="10" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Wife and I are looking into getting into recreational kayaking, no rapids or anything. Trying to find a good reliable Kayak that we both can get. We are looking for a sit in and ideally with some storage space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should we look for? Is there anything we should avoid? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9319" LastEditorUserId="9319" LastEditDate="2016-06-13T13:41:47.623" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T14:20:38.060" Title="What attributes does a good reliable beginner kayak have?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12989" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12991" CreationDate="2016-06-10T16:43:31.330" Score="11" ViewCount="10368" Body="&lt;p&gt;We encountered these guys in a small inland (freshwater) creek in southern WA.  There were hundreds, covering low flat rocks in the water;  every one carrying a shell made out of either tiny rocks, or a piece of a twig.  They're probably 1/8&quot; in diameter, maybe 3/4&quot; long with the shell.  Some were moving at a slow crawl along the rocks (below and above the surface), others were burrowing in and out of the dirt on the creek bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone know what these might've been?  Are they native to the area or invasive?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dWrEG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dWrEG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Crab?&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SNJqm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SNJqm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Crab?&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2531" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:23:35.283" LastActivityDate="2021-02-09T01:20:27.880" Title="Tiny crab/bug in Pacific NW; makes shell out of rocks/sticks. What is it?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12988" CreationDate="2016-06-10T21:00:08.420" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you specify you don't look for a whitewater kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that the use you will do, and expect of doing in the future, of the kayak will be a big part of your choice: a little calm inland lake and sea will call for two different kayaks.&#xA;My suggestion to beginners is always to try as many as you can, through renting, dealers demo days, clubs and gatherings.&#xA;There should be a little bit of homework you need to do about kayak characteristics before going to buy something, learning about the meaning of terms like stability (primary and secondary), tracking, rocker, what is a skeg and what is a rudder and why they are there or not, etc etc. All together they will make you understand a bit how the kayak works and what you want to have or not. It will also help in understanding if a salesman is trying to find something that suits you or something that suits his commission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking you have a couple of extremes, on one side there's the performance boat, it's designed to respond readily to the paddler and a beginner will find it very nervous, impossible to have it do what they want. At the opposite side there are some models that are designed to take absolutely everybody in the water, they are not maneuverable at all, the bottom is very flat, difficult to capsize. They cost little but they also do very little for you, they will not improve your skills and they won't offer any room for you to grow. The problem with not improving your skills is that all is good in calm and flat days but sometimes being a better paddler helps in getting out of some uncomfortable situations.&#xA;It was mentioned that flat bottomed kayaks are more stable, that's true, that's because that shape will always try to follow the water surface. The problem with that is that when you are in waves that same extreme stability works against you as it will tend to follow the surface of the waves. A kayak &lt;strong&gt;a bit&lt;/strong&gt; more unstable, while might seem tippy at first, is less affected by the waves and you will get used to it quickly enough (sometimes you might find yourself in bad weather, even if you have been careful, other times other boats could put you in a difficult situation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't pay too much attention to things like speed, what you really want is to look for efficiency. For that same reason, unless you and your wife have the same size, she might like better a kayak slightly smaller than yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider used boats too, the prices are often low for kayaks that are in very good conditions, and at the beginning price is something to consider as there are a lot of other things you need to buy beside the kayak. Older models also have so many reviews online you can get a bit of an idea about them before even trying them (obviously every review is to be taken with a grain of salt).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for courses in your area, beside learning the basics in a proper &lt;strong&gt;and safe&lt;/strong&gt; way they will clear your ideas on the kind of kayaks around, make you connect with other fellow kayakers, point you towards some good used kayaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also take into account your space for storing the kayaks and how to transport them: sometimes one can't get what they want because they don't have enough room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about a kayak as a pair of shoes, you cant really have one shoe to do everything,this is the same, there are tons of different models out there, if you start building your own they get even more. As a beginner you might not have a clear idea of how you will use the kayak, a bit because you might expect something different from what you actually get to do, or because you end with friends that steer you towards one activity rather than the other. Give yourself some options, don’t spend thousands right of the bat, try try try&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: if you decide to just learn some things by yourself do it safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-06-13T14:20:38.060" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T14:20:38.060" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12989" CreationDate="2016-06-11T00:26:07.583" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most likely a Caddisfly.  They make homes of twigs and stones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/pdf/wwwc.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CADDISFLY&lt;/a&gt;: The caddisfly lives only a short time as&#xA;  an adult but may spend several years as a larva. Many&#xA;  larvae can do something few aquatic insects can –&#xA;  they build their own shelter. Different kinds of&#xA;  caddisflies build different types of homes.&#xA;  Some species build homes of leaves or twigs;&#xA;  others use tiny stones, while others are freeliving.&#xA;  A few types of caddisfies build a pebble&#xA;  house attached to a larger rock. Some caddisflies like&#xA;  to live in temporary stagnant ponds while other types&#xA;  will only live in swift streams. All caddisflies eat&#xA;  plants but some catch tiny bits of plants by building&#xA;  a net to trap food as it drifts past. The caddisflies are&#xA;  very important food for fish, especially trout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dk0Hb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dk0Hb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-06-12T12:51:03.890" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T12:51:03.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12992" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="12993" CreationDate="2016-06-11T08:37:42.293" Score="14" ViewCount="4515" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to spend this Summer near a lake and would like to start kayaking. &#xA;I have never kayaked before. I would like to get a second hand kayak, but the only one I can find nearby is a wild-water kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will the white-water kayak from the pictures work well in calm lake water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/13EwK.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/13EwK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntCnP.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntCnP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9683" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2016-06-13T21:01:16.640" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T12:41:54.803" Title="White-water (slalom) kayak in calm waters (lake)?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12992" CreationDate="2016-06-11T08:56:57.650" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compared to a 'lake' kayak, it will be hard for a novice to paddle in a straight line, and is not efficient (i.e. slower)) paddling in a straight line, so for day tours is less than ideal. You may have problems with it being too unstable and tipping you out.  If you want one for fun and playing close to the beach, they are good and you will quickly learn to paddle properly. If you want it for longer tours, best to look elsewhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as straight line paddling and control, I was taught to paddle in a white water boat similar to this (A Dancer, mid 1980's) with a skeg that slide over the rear. The skeg meant it would travel in a straight line easier, and would be a worth while addition until you learn to paddle well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once borrowed a Dancer and paddled out to an island (without a skeg), about 5 miles there and 5 back. I was much slower than mates in sea kayaks, and it was very hard work, but still more fun and a better day than staying on the shore.... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-06-11T08:56:57.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7757" CreationDate="2016-06-11T10:33:04.317" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For cooking at cold and altitude, the pressurised liquid fuel stove is your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're expensive and need some skill and care in use (practise before you take them into challenging situations), but they will perform much better than alcohol or canister stoves when the going gets tough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbjujlB8o-U&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a video&lt;/a&gt; that gives a good overview of how they are used. As you can see, it's quite a fiddly process. They require priming before use, and regular cleaning afterwards. &lt;strong&gt;The fuels are dangerous, so it's very important to read the instructions and apply good disciplines in use. If you get casual, bad things can happen!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using the stove in a first world country, you would want something like the MSR Whisperlite which is optimised for clean fuel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UIclk.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UIclk.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For expedition work in countries where fuel might be dirty or hard to find you'd be better with a stove like the MSR XGK EX Multi-Fuel. It's heavier and more expensive, but much more adaptable. In a country like Nepal where fuel is notoriously dirty, you would want to take spare fuel filters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ou1cu.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ou1cu.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also models designed to facilitate simmering, and Universal models that can use both canister and liquid fuel (though these tend to be less efficient). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These stoves are sophisticated pieces of engineering so stick to established suppliers like MSR or Optimus - this isn't an area where you'd want to be experimenting with cheap ripoff products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pressurised liquid fuel stoves should do the job down to around -20c. Below that you'll probably have to warm the stove and fuel inside your clothing before lighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more detail, here's &lt;a href=&quot;http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/cartridge_versus_liquid_fuel_stoves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick on mountaineering stoves&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For high altitude base camps you could consider pairing up the stove with a lightweight pressure cooker, if weight isn't too much of a constraint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-06-16T16:28:50.800" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T16:28:50.800" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7757" CreationDate="2016-06-12T14:33:25.057" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For cold and high altitude, you will want to use white gas.  White gas is superior to other liquid fuel options (kerosene, etc) and will be easier to get started in the cold.  Your lightest option for this is probably going to be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/830342/msr-whisperlite-universal-backpacking-stove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;MSR Whisperlite&lt;/a&gt;.  There are plenty of options though so just go with what suits your budget and weight constraints. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-06-12T14:33:25.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1404" CreationDate="2016-06-12T14:40:48.610" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ordinary vegetable oils of the type used for cooking will work but are not ideal. Over time they will gradually oxidise and may be colonised  by bacteria, both of which can cause them to become acidic which can itself cause corrosion of the metal. Also vegetable oils can become gummy and sticky in quite a short period of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oils help to prevent corrosion by excluding moisture and oxygen from the metal surface. All metals will form a thin layer of oxide on the surface and oil etc can penetrate into this, helping to stabilise it and prevent destructive corrosion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth adding that carbon steels will naturally form a blue/grey layer of oxide on the surface and this is not necessarily a bad thing as it can provide a porous surface which can be pretty durable when stabilised with oil or wax.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best protective oil for a given situation will depend exactly on what you want to achieve. A light oil like 3-in-1 or gun oil is easy to apply and remove and can also be useful as a cleaning agent to remove wood resin etc from a blade. The downside is that its relatively low viscosity means that the protective film formed isn't very durable and so may not be ideal for long term storage or protection during use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wax like renaissance wax or simply rubbing with a candle will give a more durable protective film but may need more care in applying to get a thorough coating. Wax can also help to lubricate saws. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is grease, this is easy, if potentially messy to apply but should give very good long term protection during storage as it can form a much thicker layer than oil. There are specialist greases for storing metal items which also contain active additional corrosion inhibiting ingredients, although these can be difficult to remove before use. Grease tends to be most useful if something needs to be stored for a significant time in bad conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the consideration that if a tool is to be used for food preparation any protective coating should be reasonably food-safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a range of other substances such as silicone or PTFE based greases which can provide some protection from rusting and are available in spray on form or as impregnated cloth wipes. Some of these are intended to leave a dry film which is less prone to attracting dirt and grit and may be an advantage for tools such as folding knives with exposed moving parts and bearings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall I would say :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Oil is good for routine maintenance of frequently used tools, eg wiping on a thin film after use or for tools with complex assemblies or moving parts where penetration into small spaces is required. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wax is good for storage of occasionally used tools in reasonably good conditions. Or if a tool is being used outdoors in wet weather. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grease is good for long term storage in poor conditions eg tools only used for part of the year and kept in a shed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tools with fine mechanisms may benefit from dry film lubricants to reduce the risk of attracting grit etc. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T18:16:50.050" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T18:16:50.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12997" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17236" CreationDate="2016-06-12T15:15:21.663" Score="12" ViewCount="756" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I buy used windsurfing equipment, what should I check it for? Obviously, visible damage would be bad, but what else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that one shouldn´t buy old boards from the 80's since they are very different from concept and technique than modern ones and can´t be paired with modern sails. Is that true, and how can I tell the old boards from the new ones apart?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T12:48:40.837" Title="What to look for when buying used windsurfing equipment?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12933" CreationDate="2016-06-13T00:56:04.670" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a test run with an Instant Tent this weekend, and discovered a major flaw in the design. Because the poles are not rigid all the way through and have a hinge in the middle, under any sort of stress (either leaning against the tent or a strong wind), the pole will flex at the hinge and partially collapse the tent (or fully if more than one pole flexes). This is a complete dealbreaker for me. (I wouldn't call this a &quot;failure&quot;, since the hinge didn't break, and didn't need to be repaired.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastEditorUserId="9492" LastEditDate="2016-06-13T19:31:40.663" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T19:31:40.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="12999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="749" CreationDate="2016-06-13T02:37:13.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being at fault has nothing to do with the decision. If you are in trouble and cannot extricate yourself without risk to life or making your injuries more serious, you push the button, cost be dammed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9692" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T02:37:13.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12992" CreationDate="2016-06-13T06:40:25.497" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't take the boat you've pictured out on a fast-flowing river. I would use it on flat water, &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; there's no damage to the hull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For moving water I'd expect a seat that you wouldn't slide around in with a back rest (ideally adjustable but not necessary on an entry-level boat). Does that boat even have foot pegs or an adjustable front bulkhead to brace your feet on? It's much longer than modern WW boats, and correspondingly harder to manoeuvre. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're trying to keep up with friends in tourers or sea kayaks, you'll have trouble. But if you're new to it all and they're not, you would anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flat water paddles in a long white-water boat are fine, I've done a few of over 10 miles in my Diablo. The shorter waterline of many modern WW boats makes them hard work on placid water. I had such a boat and switched to a bigger, longer boat partly because I was spending too long paddling flat stuff with novices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T06:40:25.497" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7757" CreationDate="2016-06-13T14:22:11.233" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the elevation increases, the boiling point of water drops.  This makes cooking times increase enormously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to essentially ignore cooking, and rely on cold food, and warm drinks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The whisper light is a good stove for such events.  I have also used regular gasoline at low temperatures, but due to the explosive nature of fumes, I would never do so in an enclosed space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use stoves where the bottle is not the fuel tank, be very careful filling the stove:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At cold temperatures liquid fuel is instant frostbite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is easy with cold fingers to get fuel on yourself or your clothing.  In good weather this evaporates and is gone very quickly.  In cold, not so much.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I ran winter trips (at much lower elevations) we had a rule that the person who fills the stove, doesn't light it.  And also that you filled the stove 40 feet away from camp, down wind if there was perceptible wind, or down hill if calm.  (Fuel vapor is heavier than air.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T14:22:11.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12992" CreationDate="2016-06-13T19:00:15.647" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Short answer:&lt;/strong&gt; it will work fine (if it's a suitable size) if you've no other options but there are other types of kayak which better suit your needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Specifically:&lt;/strong&gt; this is a slalom kayak, it's a racing boat that's designed to be fast and manoeuvrable on moving water. It's designed for performance, rather than being forgiving to a beginner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good points:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's very fast for a white-water boat and will be similar to a touring boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will be light.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will be possible to develop a greater range and depth of skills.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nice tight fit to allow good boat control. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to roll. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bad:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll have a much steeper learning curve and will find it difficult to stay upright or go in a straight line at first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Much less comfortable. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size may not be suitable - as a high-performance kayak it will have been designed for a very specific weight-range and ease of use will suffer greatly if OP isn't the correct size.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Little/no storage space&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; If it's your only option and you really want to kayak then go for it, but try and try it out first so you have an idea what you're getting yourself into. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your goal is to splash about and have fun without developing much in the sport then something like a SOT, touring kayak etc. will better suit your needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt;, once you've gone through the difficult first steps you'll be much better at kayaking than someone who's only learned to handle a touring kayak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fun fact&lt;/strong&gt;: this boat appears to have been used by one of the Macedonian team at the 1996 Olympics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T11:18:46.823" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T11:18:46.823" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13003" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13004" CreationDate="2016-06-10T09:49:47.067" Score="9" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a 'newbie' in hiking, and I will be doing this trail in July. Following more or less this plan: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Milngavie to Carbeth (8km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Carbeth - Drymen (11.2km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Drymen to Rowardennan (23km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Rowardennan to Ardlui and Inverarnan (22.4km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Ardlui and Inverarnan to Tyndrum (19.6km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy (11.2km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse (19.2km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Kingshouse to Kinlochleven (14.4km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-&gt; Kinlochleven to Fort William (24 km)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any tips? Do's and dont's? Any input is kindly appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9699" OwnerDisplayName="antao" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-20T14:29:25.123" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T14:29:25.123" Title="Hints for hiking the west highland way" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13003" CreationDate="2016-06-10T14:06:01.910" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did the same hiking trail as a noob:  here are some advices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;strong&gt;book a pitch on the Sallochy campsite&lt;/strong&gt;, a semi-formal campsite on the banks of Loch Lomond between Drymen and Rowardennan. Camping on the banks of Loch Lomond is forbidden elsewhere. Booking the pitch online ensures that you get a pitch and do it in advance, because this campsite is great, featuring a beautiful sight on the lake. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/visiting/sallochy-campsite/menu-id-335.html&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/forest-parks/queen-elizabeth-forest-park/sallochy&quot;&gt;there&lt;/a&gt;. The only trouble is that it adds a few kilometers to Inverarnan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stop at the tourism office at Milngavie&lt;/strong&gt;: they sell a &lt;strong&gt;waterproof footprint map&lt;/strong&gt; dedicated to the West HighLand Way, featuring the campsites and accomodations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stop at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.glencoemountain.co.uk/&quot;&gt;White Corrie Ski Area&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; on your way from Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse: the station is open in the summer (mountain bikes...) and they sell hot food (hamburgers). There is no campsite at Bridge of Orchy, the nearest campsite is 2 miles away, at Inveroran (just a grass field near a small river). It seems that a campsite opened at the Ski station.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You will find some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_midge&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;midges&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on your way ! See &lt;a href=&quot;http://must-see-scotland.com/midges-in-scotland/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for a few advices. On the firt day at Milngavie, i wondered why they were trying to sell stinky candles. I bought one a few days later and i did not find it so effective...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take &lt;strong&gt;2 1.5L water bottles&lt;/strong&gt; with you as you leave any campsite. Make sure that you only have useful stuffs in your backpack and make it as light as possible. For instance, you won't need a second pair of shoes to feel confortable at the campsite. But a firt-aid kit may be useful: make sure you know how to use it! You can enjoy granola bars and dehydrated soups during breaks. These are standard advices for any trips.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You won't find pure water neither at the Glengoyne Distillery near Carbeth, nor at the Ben Nevis Distillery at Fort William.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really enjoyed that trail and I hope you will!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="francis" LastActivityDate="2016-06-10T14:06:01.910" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13012" CreationDate="2016-06-13T19:39:34.873" Score="16" ViewCount="2419" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you bypass the overhang, mid-rappel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; --.  &amp;lt;-- Start of rappel&#xA;   |&#xA;   |&#xA; __|  &amp;lt;-- Overhang&#xA;|&#xA;|&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you go to your knees and then step one foot over at a time trying not to squash your hand?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you drop quickly, making sure to drop low so your face doesn't bash the rock?  What if it's not deep enough to swing into air?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd love some tips to bypass this sort of obstacle safely, especially on slippery rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9696" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T09:51:42.750" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T12:08:20.957" Title="Rapelling an overhang" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13006" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-13T21:54:40.653" Score="23" ViewCount="710" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard it referred to as a cross between running and hiking, but what does that end up looking like? What type of milage/hour are people doing, there chafing issues, and is this the type of activity that one trains for (as apposed to a more general 'hiking') by running at home with a 20lbs pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9698" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T13:51:51.973" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T20:10:29.387" Title="What is Fast Packing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13006" CreationDate="2016-06-13T22:48:08.863" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fastpacking is lightweight or ultralight mountain travel with the aim of covering big distances over extended trips. Base weights would typically range between 8lbs-15lbs (3.5-7kg) or even less, so packs should be light enough to enable at least some of the trail to be covered with a running gait. There's a lot of emphasis on using your skills and experience to simplify to the limit of safety but not beyond. Speed and distance are prioritised over comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 3 styles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Supported&lt;/strong&gt;: A support team brings supplies to the trail, sets up camp etc. This is normally used for speed-record attempts&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Self-supported&lt;/strong&gt;: This involves setting up caches of food and supplies in advance of the trip&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unsupported&lt;/strong&gt;: The most common and purest approach - the fastpacker carries everything required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Record breaking fastpackers achieve quite remarkable distances. For example the supported record for the PCT averages over 50 miles and 10,000 feet of ascent and descent per day for 2600 miles, and the unsupported record averages 43 miles per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the most astonishing feat was Australian fastpacker Cam &quot;Swami&quot; Honan's unsupported 12 Long Walks, where he completed 14,300 miles of the toughest trails in North America in just 545 consecutive days:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xPgR4.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xPgR4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4wFSp.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4wFSp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, this kind of travel requires a physique built for stamina, some serious training and a very particular mindset. Not for most of us, I think, but some people seem to enjoy it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T08:39:18.607" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T08:39:18.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12933" CreationDate="2016-06-13T23:08:02.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One disadvantage of the instant pop up tent is that it does not pack very small. Approximately a 1m disk. When backpacking carrying one of these on the back it has to be on the outside of the rucksack. It can easily catch the wind and it is difficult to walk in a strong wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are single skin tents. So suffer from condensation and quite cold in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another disadvantage not apparent at first blush is that they are not very waterproof and the reviews rate them very poorly. Even though they are 1/10 the price of a quality backpacking tent reviewers say they are a waste of money. Some are even sold as &quot;festival tents&quot; and are very cheaply made to the discarded after one use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2016-06-13T23:08:02.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13005" CreationDate="2016-06-13T23:09:23.923" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not aware of any special technique, as it mostly does depend on the actual situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you already rappelled quite a length, then the force pulling you to the rock might not be to great anymore, and if you feel confident you can certainly just take a big leap to cross the overhang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise I'd go slow. When rappelling you usually lean back and push yourself away from the rock with your legs. When you're just above the overhang it helps getting back close to the rock, which reduces the force with which you're pushed against the rock and you can actually use your hands to get over the overhang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this situation it is very helpful to have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/617/backup-prusik-for-abseiling-where-does-it-go&quot;&gt;backup prusik&lt;/a&gt; that allows you to go hands free if you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you can easily get over the overhang, basically similarly to climbing over an edge at the top of a cliff, just backwards=)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T15:34:13.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13003" CreationDate="2016-06-14T01:18:52.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild camping is allowed most places but due to car drivers leaving rubbish it's not allowed near the road at Loch Lomond in summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wishingwell Farmhouse campsite, Gartness and Drymen Farm campsite are both closed.(according to Google Maps)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shops at Balmaha, Loch Lomond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few campsites besides Loch Lomond. Salachy Campsite is £5 which is the cheapest. But the campsite just before it is £7 and has much better facilities, including showers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rowchoish Bothy - good bothy worth using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doune Bothy - very poor condition, full of trash, don't use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beinglas Farm is a good campsite with a restaurant with food and beer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At Tyndrum is a shop. Check the prices when buying, especially the fruit. Make sure you get a receipt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a small shop at the Strathfillan Wigwams Campsite. I bought a snack there (but didn't stay).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a permitted wild camping on the north side of the bridge at the Bridge of Orchy but being near the road had noisy people. The Hotel has a restaurant and bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route passes the Inveroran Hotel, food and beer. Wild camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Free camping at the Kingshouse Hotel. With beer and restaurant.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ccqqq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ccqqq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kingshouse Hotel and campsite&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kinlochleven - Has a good Coop Supermarket. I stayed at the Macdonald Hotel's camp site. Good and cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fort William - Has a large supermarket. Backstreet Hostel, good for town centre. Calluna Hostel - further away but a bit nicer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Midges - get a midge head net. Creams will keep away a few. The burning coils keep away a few. But when there are lots (as there will be in July at sunset and sunrise) you'll need a head net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastEditorUserId="2082" LastEditDate="2016-06-16T07:41:39.100" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T07:41:39.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13005" CreationDate="2016-06-14T01:41:43.663" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a direct answer but more of an extended comment about safety when rappelling on overhanging terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When rappelling over an overhang or an overhanging wall, make sure that you are certain that you will be able to reach the ground. Ideally you know that both ends of your rope are touching the ground. If your rope doesn't reach the ground you will have to down-aid by placing gear to stay close to the wall in order to set up for another rappel. If you rappel over an overhang and you end up at the end of your rope, you will have to ascend your rope. If you don't know how to do that, or you didn't bring prussics or ascenders, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Rappellers-Rescued-off-of-El-Capitan.htm&quot;&gt;you will be stuck&lt;/a&gt;. Sadly this happens more commonly than one would think... If you are not certain that your rope will reach the ground, triple check that you tied backup knots at the ends of your rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rappelling is dangerous. People get killed every year. Seek instructions from a trained professional and know your and your gear's limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T05:28:38.273" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T05:28:38.273" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13005" CreationDate="2016-06-14T04:17:40.210" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was thinking about this question while rappelling over an overhang this evening with my little girl and payed attention to exactly what I do: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plant your feet on the edge of the overhang, &lt;strong&gt;keep your legs straight&lt;/strong&gt;, and let the rope through your descender until your body has cleared the roof. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of the wall as flat ground, you want your body as perpendicular to the wall as you can, just make sure you don't lose control and go straight  upside-down. Lower yourself to a point where you feel you can easily plant your feet on the wall under the overhang, or let yourself free-hang with out kissing the rock. You should be able to let out enough rope with your feet still planted on the overhang so when you cut your feet and go under it, your head safely clears the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T05:16:10.627" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T05:16:10.627" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1900" CreationDate="2016-06-14T08:54:37.793" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In old routes in European (at least) mountains and in quarries used by cavers for training you can find small expansion bolts called spits or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/EN/Sport/Anchors/CHEVILLE-AUTOFOREUSE#.V1_L3LPNGV4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cheville  Autoforeuse&lt;/a&gt;. They use just 8 mm thick screws and are very short because they are often drilled by hand. You often need your own hangers but sometimes they could be pre-installed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These can fail. Cavers never use just one of them in single rope technique (SRT) and they were not designed for climbing. Climbers are not always aware of their limitations. They are not stainless and their strength depends on the details of the placement (exact depth of the hole).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never use just one of them for descent. There was an accident in High Tatra where mountaineers fell large distance but they luckilly survived in thick snow. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.horosvaz.cz/res/archive/024/006460.pdf?seek=1324314184&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;report about the failed bolt in Czech language&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least in Czechia you can find similar ones, often of unknown origin, sometimes thicker, but based on the same principle, in many old routes. It was impossible to import high quality bolts from the west before 1990. Often they look rusty on first sight but if the hanger is stainless steel or aluminium it may not be apparent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar case of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/bolt-failures-on-north-wales-limestone&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;suspicious bolt in Great Britain&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;em&gt;&quot;The manufacturers of &quot;Thunderbolt&quot; have categorically stated to the BMC that this product is not tested or recomended for the purposes of fixing climbing anchors.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; Instructions for identifying these bolts are in the link.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't descend of a single one and combine them with your own pieces when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3055" LastEditorUserId="3055" LastEditDate="2016-06-14T09:33:37.100" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T09:33:37.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11915" CreationDate="2016-06-14T09:16:33.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are describing is also known as &quot;primitive camping&quot; and searching for that in your state might lead to better results. Camping is allowed on all land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in your state. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look up your local MD BLM office, their web page might contain a list of primitive camping areas. I know that for my state of Nevada, they highlight 5 places as primitive campsites as well as the rules for picking your own campsite on any BLM land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T09:16:33.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11820" CreationDate="2016-06-14T09:24:06.387" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NEVER, EVER&lt;/strong&gt; fire a round in your pistol that it was not designed for! &lt;strong&gt;The only caliber that you should be using is the one that is written on the frame of the weapon.&lt;/strong&gt; If your issues are rooted in how the gun makes you feel, then the answer is to consider buying a firearm with a different caliber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T09:24:06.387" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11816" CreationDate="2016-06-14T09:28:16.447" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest landowner in the US, and that allows widespread camping, is the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM. They have offices on a state and regional level. If you visit the web pages of the BLM in the state(s) that you are going to visit, then I'm sure that you will find information on maps and areas. You can camp in ANY land that is owned by the BLM and most of them have very few rules and don't often require permits or fees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastActivityDate="2016-06-14T09:28:16.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13005" CreationDate="2016-06-14T09:34:44.340" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This reminds me of basic training when I was in the military.  We started with the basics and went backwards over a 30' rock wall then I think it was a 90-100' rock wall backwards.  When you do it the first time, the most unnatural thing was going from standing on the edge and letting the rope through your hands until you were still standing at the edge but now with your body horizontal to the ground and over the edge.  We had a safety person at the bottom that would apply tension to the pair of ropes and would prevent us from sliding down if we slipped.  I walked down the first wall.  I took the second wall in 3 bounces.  I got crapped on for being to cautious on wall 1 and then crapped on for taking wall 2 in too large of a bounce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few years later we were training again on a 50' rappel tower.  It had a solid wall on one side to go down, and a huge pipe with no wall to simulate going off a helicopter skid.  The first time I did it I went over backwards (back to the ground) and as per the instructors direction &quot;remember to drop far enough or when you swing back in you will lose your teeth when you kiss the rail!&quot;  I think he said to make sure you drop about 6-10 feet to make sure you clear the skid.  I did that and just clamped my hand to the rope and let it slam into the small of my back and I waited for me to stop swinging and then I lowered my self to the ground letting the rope slide through my hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second time off the helicopter skid was a little more scary.  Did it face first.  This was with the concept of allowing a free hand to hold a weapon.  I dropped straight to the ground.  By the time I clamped on to the rope with my hand to stop me, I was too close to the ground for the safety person to apply any tension to the rope.  I had too much speed, and my hand hitting me around my abdomen caused me to flip, which resulted in me standing on the ground.  I colleagues were really impressed and said that was amazing.  They did not realize how lucky I actually was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key to remember...Make sure you drop enough that you dont lose your teeth!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also look at DudeOnRocks answer about having enough rope to reach the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9700" LastEditorUserId="9700" LastEditDate="2016-06-15T00:21:01.727" LastActivityDate="2016-06-15T00:21:01.727" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1900" CreationDate="2016-06-14T09:38:23.953" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to a set of already great answers I would like to add two points: Glued bolts and weird old bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are generally two types of bolts used presently: Mechanical and glued bolts. Mechanical bolts are mostly sleeve anchors: When tightening the nut the first time a cone is driven under the sleeve which is thus forced against the wall of the borehole. This type of anchor is hard to test. In general it is very reliable but has one failure mode: If tightened too much, the holding strength decreases a lot, but usually not enough to just pull it out by hand when testing. So you just have to hope the route establisher did a good job (generally true, but accidents have happened).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glued bolts have a smaller diameter than the borehole and are held in place by glue. This should be more corrosion resistant as it is waterproof, still the glue and bolt need to be corrosion resistant. One prominent failure mode of glued bolts can be easily tested. If the borehole was not properly cleaned before gluing, you can turn the bolt. Just insert your quickdraw and use the biner to try to turn the bolt. Still in frequented areas, I hardly ever do this. For a toprope anchor it is certainly not a bad idea to check this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second point are exotic/antique anchors. There are norms today, but you will still find gear that is not normed. Especially on old or alpine routes. The oldest kind are &quot;Stift/Stich&quot;-anchors (in German, do not now whether there is an English equivalent). These are the earliest hand drilled anchors. They are rectangular and quite fin, usually not very deep. If you find one consider yourself lucky and you may use it for commemoration, but they probably wont hold a fall. Apparently &quot;Kronenbohrhaken&quot; are the socalled spits @VladimirF mentioned in his answer. These came up in the 70s and could hold a fall, thus permitting a huge increase in sport climbing level. However they were hand drilled and had the drilling bit at the top of the bolt itself, so it is hardened steel. This is bad for corrosion and stability, so today they should not be used anymore. You will know one when you see it (rusted, antique looking design).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the alps (I do not know about other regions) you can often find so called &quot;Muniring&quot;. These can be huge as on the photo below or any other size. However they are not normed and you have no idea what kind of bolt is in the rock. I was once shown a removed &quot;Muniring&quot; of about the size of the one below that had a 6mm diameter about 2-3cm long bolt attached to it. So these are not reliable.&#xA;There is a plethora of other sometimes homemade anchors. You should never use those as your main protection - well, if it is your only protection, which does happen, you might as well :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/am6ZK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/am6ZK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://alpen.sac-cas.ch/fileadmin/data/flippingbook/SAC_Jahrbuch_2010_de/2010_03_d/files/assets/seo/page45.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://alpen.sac-cas.ch/fileadmin/data/flippingbook/SAC_Jahrbuch_2010_de/2010_03_d/files/assets/seo/page45.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T15:51:15.297" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T15:51:15.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9432" CreationDate="2016-06-14T21:09:00.537" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a survival course recently I was told the correct way to despatch a rabbit (as determined to reduce suffering) is to place a blow three times to the base of the skull with a stick - not smashing it to pieces but to separate skull from spine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing this you should check for an autonomic response (touch the eye, a mammal will blink if still alive) if the animal is in shock then it may appear dead - if it responds repeat the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also in the UK, it is legal to carry a non-locking knife no greater than 3 inches unless you are under the age of 17.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-12-08T17:28:25.900" LastActivityDate="2020-12-08T17:28:25.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13005" CreationDate="2016-06-15T03:50:31.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the truly terrible technique of rappelling down to the point of the overhang, stopping, turning sideways so the rope is only half my hips width away from the cliff, then continuing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes me look like a rank amateur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-17T12:08:20.957" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T12:08:20.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3318" CreationDate="2016-06-15T08:13:29.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the given answer, I'd like to say that motorbike helmets that you fall with with the helmet actually hitting something should be replaced! The cushioning effect will not be the same on the spot that took an impact. Of course you can take the chances, but I wouldn't use it again when riding a motorbike, impact speed is generally a lot higher and I wouldn't take the risk. Combined with the fact that you might fall more easily while skiing, it seems a waste of money, especially since motorbike helmets can be quite expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastActivityDate="2016-06-15T08:13:29.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11742" CreationDate="2016-06-15T19:06:02.327" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Turns out options are limited to mostly &lt;strong&gt;Big Sur&lt;/strong&gt;. Luckily, there are a tremendous amount of trails and campgrounds in the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good place to start looking for camping in the Big Sur is their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/hiking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hiking page&lt;/a&gt;. This lists their backcountry trails, some of which allow dispersed camping. Big Sur wilderness falls into two categories: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Los Padres National Forest&lt;/a&gt;, and Ventana / Silverpeak Wilderness. The best information regarding camping sites, trail maps, and etc were on a privately run site tracking trail conditions for &lt;a href=&quot;http://bigsurtrailmap.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ventana / Silverpeak Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an &lt;strong&gt;approachable, oft-traveled, and well-documented&lt;/strong&gt; route, your best bet is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://bigsurtrailmap.net/CAMPS/SYKES/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sykes Hot Spring&lt;/a&gt; route on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.verber.com/mark/outdoors/destinations/sykes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pine Ridge Trail.&lt;/a&gt; This is not true dispersed camping, but there are several &lt;em&gt;large&lt;/em&gt; campgrounds on the way up that allow wood-gathered fires, and when we were there we were able to get far away from everyone else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than Pine Ridge Trail, there are many other trails and campgrounds dispersed throughout Big Sur, &lt;a href=&quot;http://bigsurtrailmap.net/route_metrics.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this map&lt;/a&gt; allows route planning in more detail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For our trip, the Big Sur fulfilled best my objectives for our vacation. While it wasn't truly dispersed camping, it was very close to the idea in that there were few people out there (and this on Memorial Weekend), we were able to hike for many miles into a beautiful wilderness, we were able to cook on a gathered-wood fire, and there was regular access to relatively clean water from the river cutting through the trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: (March 2017) Most of the Big Sur is closed due to wildfire. This information is out of date until those areas open. I am unaware of any places within the area now that fulfills the above objectives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: (Jun 2018) Some of Big Sur is opening again! Do plenty of research beforehand to double check: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ventanawild.org/trails/ventana-wilderness-trails/pine-ridge-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ventanawild.org/trails/ventana-wilderness-trails/pine-ridge-trail&lt;/a&gt; Lots of fire restrictions as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9493" LastEditorUserId="9493" LastEditDate="2018-06-15T17:33:05.440" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T17:33:05.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13024" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-15T19:13:18.447" Score="13" ViewCount="1366" Body="&lt;p&gt;While searching for a sleeping bag I was told that goose down is clearly superior to duck down in terms of quality. I guess that means e.g. the fill power (measured in cuin). What exactly are the differences, is goose down always preferable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I was also told is that duck down is more prone to smell bad when it was getting wet. Goose down isn't. Is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7935/down-feather-species-which-is-best&quot;&gt;This topic&lt;/a&gt; is related but gives just a kinda overview and it asks for all down species. Here I am solely interested in sleeping bags and in the comparison of duck vs. goose down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-07-09T00:38:03.767" Title="Quality of duck vs goose down" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13024" CreationDate="2016-06-15T23:32:59.020" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down is a natural product, so fill quality, odour and durability can vary quite markedly within a species depending on the breed, age and condition of the bird. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practical performance is also strongly dependent on the skill of the processor and the quality of any proofing applied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sources of variation are greater than any variation between duck and goose down, so in practical terms duck and goose down of equivalent fill-power should perform similarly, provided they both come from a reputable supplier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Philip Werner at SectionHiker.com reviews a lot of gear. Here's his take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The down fill power test doesn’t care if the down being measured is duck down or goose down and the manufacturers I talk to think that 800 duck down provides the same insulating power as 800 goose down. I agree based on my experience using the products. You can’t tell the difference. Even more so if they’ve been treated with a water-proofing technology. I think there’s a lot of emotional baggage that people carry when they insist there’s a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However high quality duck down is quite rare. The best quality down is harvested from mature birds, and ducks are normally slaughtered at too young an age. I think that the prevalence of goose down in the higher quality outdoor products is more a factor of its wider availability rather than any inherent technical superiority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have any doubts about the potential of duck down, just recall that the very best down of all is Eiderdown (though this is academic for most of us as the cost is eye-watering).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best source I have found is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nemoequipment.com/duck-duck-goose-a-comparison-of-insulations/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nemo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-07-09T00:38:03.767" LastActivityDate="2016-07-09T00:38:03.767" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13026" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-16T17:15:03.637" Score="3" ViewCount="141" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a marked trail off the &lt;a href=&quot;http://beartoothhighway.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Beartooth highway&lt;/a&gt; that leads to a peak with a nice overview about the region. I googled for the last couple of hours, but couldn't find a lot of information. Is there such a trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The highway winds its way through southwest Montana and northwest Wyoming and leads into Yellowstone National Park at its Northeast Entrance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="67" LastEditorUserId="67" LastEditDate="2016-06-16T17:46:05.683" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T20:44:17.217" Title="Marked trail off the Beartooth Highway to a peak" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13026" CreationDate="2016-06-16T18:23:14.827" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a trail.  At the top of the bear tooth hwy you are above the tree line.  You can stop along the hwy and see for miles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topoftheworldresort.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Top of the World&lt;/a&gt; there are some trees, but not far from there you can see forever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took this way into the park, the views are extraordinary.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T18:23:14.827" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13028" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13033" CreationDate="2016-06-16T18:48:04.247" Score="10" ViewCount="633" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am searching for a down sleeping bag and found two alternatives. They are from one manufacturer so data should be comparable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bag (&quot;A&quot;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;T_limit = -13°C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight = 1000g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filled with 600g of 850cuin goose down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bag (&quot;B&quot;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;T_limit = -17°C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight = 1170g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filled with 700g of 850cuin goose down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far, so good, numbers make sense in my opinion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what is very interesting now is the fact, that A is made in trapezoid construction and B is made in V-chamber construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this already considered in the temperature rating? And should I always prefer V-chamber over trapezoid? If so, why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T15:56:35.527" Title="V-chamber vs trapezoid construction" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2016-06-16T19:15:53.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been doing quite a bit a research on rope as I am nearing the completion of my magnificent 40 foot tree swing project.  in all that I have gathered from seemingly knowledgeable sources...braided polyester is what you want, for durability, and non-stretch.  After that it seems the fallback would be a natural rope fibre requiring replacement at least every 2 years, and inspection more frequently.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9707" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T19:15:53.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13006" CreationDate="2016-06-16T20:10:29.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For non FKT (Fastest Known Time) chasers fastpacking is aimed at keeping a 3-5 miles per hour pace with the goal of covering 25-40 miles per day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found that fastpacking can be very demanding and settled on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsfather.com/2016/04/ultrapacking/&quot;&gt;ultrapacking&lt;/a&gt; (my term...) that is more about slow endurance than speed, aiming for 2.5-3.5 mph over 10-12 hours with no breaks, using similar methods to ultrarunning. With ultrapacking I can usually cover 25-35 miles per day depending on conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both methods require light gear, great endurance and the right mindset. The biggest problem is not doing a day hike in fastpacking conditions but actually getting up and doing so over and over again so I focus on recovery in my training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good way to teach your body to recover well is increasing daily run distances without overdoing each run. The idea is to run a comfortable pre-injury distance (before muscles begin to break from anaerobic training), lets say 3 miles, over 6 days straight. The following week increasing the distance slightly (half or a quarter mile) per day, teaching the body to recover well without reaching a limiting injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good sleep habits outdoors are also vital for good recovery and the lack of them is a leading reason that people give up on long distance fast packing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2016-06-16T20:10:29.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13024" CreationDate="2016-06-17T08:14:28.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bit or preamble: Down is measured in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fill_power&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&quot;Fill Power&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fill power is a measure of the loft or &quot;fluffiness&quot; of a down product&#xA;  that is loosely related to the insulating value of the down. The&#xA;  higher the fill power the more air an ounce of the down can trap, and&#xA;  thus the more insulating ability an ounce of the down will have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately this is what you want to be looking for. The better it's fill power the better insulating it will be, regardless of species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said different species produce feather of consistently better loft. So back to the actual question... the main difference between a duck and a goose is it's size. This has an advantage in loft because the larger goose produces larger feathers with more clusters and downy fibres:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Goose clusters are generally larger than duck clusters and typically&#xA;  come from older, larger birds. As a result, their down tends to&#xA;  produce higher fill powers, be more resilient and durable than duck&#xA;  down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does not mean all Goose down is better than all Duck down it just means that the Goose down is gernally better lofting than duck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to IDFL, the world’s largest down and feather institute,&#xA;  goose generally tends to be a better product when compared to duck.&#xA;  However, in some situations, a high quality duck down can be better&#xA;  than a mediocre goose down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.standardfiber.com/materials/bedding-basics/duck-goose/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;source of quotes above&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fill power is the most important aspect, not whether it is a duck or a goose. Though geece produce (generally) a consistently better loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-17T10:47:58.683" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T10:47:58.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13028" CreationDate="2016-06-17T12:50:35.113" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to &quot;it is considered in the temperature rating&quot; can be yes, no and maybe... Really it depends on the manufacturer and how they test it. It also depends where the manufacturer market is: in some part of the world there are some standards and in others there aren't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the ways to find the rating is to test in a controlled environment with a mannequin wired with heat sensors and warmed with an electric current. They base the rating on the measure of electricity required to maintain the mannequin at a constant temperature. On top of that a manufacturer might conduct some field tests to end with a relatively realistic rating. If tested in that way the presence, or not, of cold spots would affect somewhat the results so you could say that the construction is taken into account in the rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other manner of testing could be, completely or in part, based on simple number crunching and in that case it would be difficult to really account for construction unless they do so presuming a &quot;fudge factor&quot; dependent on it (its up to you in this case to decide if this kind of testing is of any value in making a choice between models).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concerning construction in itself you have various configurations, even the same manufacturer will use different ones depending on the kind (simple and economical vs the more expensive and sophisticated) and usage (summer, winter, extreme etc).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;An evolution of the H chamber (the box construction) is the trapezoidal chamber, if you keep going on evolving the trapezoidal along the same line you end with the V. The intent is to reduce the possibility of cold spots along the stitching lines. Even more sophisticated is a brick construction where two layers of boxes alternate (like bricks) but that is complicated and cost more than increasing the fill in a V. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ORGiT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ORGiT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comparing ratings and construction of sleeping bags of different manufacturers for the same classes of product can become an useless exercise if the testing methods are not the same. It does, however, become more meaningful when you are comparing products of the same type and from the same manufacturer as it makes sense to presume that they used the same testing methods for both (although a manufacturer could conduct different or less testing for their economical line)&#xA;Usually one of the things a manufacturer would tell is that in rating their products they assume the use of sleeping pad and tent, obviously the influence of cold spots would be rather different if you were in the open with just the bag directly on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;PS&lt;/strong&gt;: to clarify V vs trapezoidal chambers after the comments&lt;/em&gt;. The baffles (those strips of material that form the chambers) have the function of helping maintaining loft and stopping the down to just pile up wherever it wants (but allowing moisture to move through). In the simplest construction you stop the fill from wandering sewing through (think a quilt) but where the stitches are there’s nothing, no fill and if some fill is there is pinched down by the stitching so no loft. That becomes a cold spot, simply there is no insulation. Now give some room and add a baffle completely vertical (the box construction), you have loft. the fill is kept in place but each baffle is stitched to the top and bottom faces and those stitching lines are vertically aligned. While insulation is much better than before that alignment still represents a cold spot.&#xA;The solution to this is offsetting the stitching: instead of being one right on top of the other you can build other shaped chambers slanting the baffles, now the stitches are offset which is good but the structure (since the baffles are slanted all in the same direction) doesn’t help the loft much. Now if you build a trapezoid the the baffles are still slanted but in alternate directions: that structure actually helps supporting the loft (think cards castle) and the top stitching is offset to the bottom one. &#xA;When you get to this trapezoid shape the element that still remains with room for improvement is the amount of offset of the stitching and that happens when you bring the baffles to form a VVVV. Now the bottom lines of stitching are right in between the lines of stitching of the top stitching and you have maximized everything you could in this kind of construction. &#xA;Obviously the V chambers bring the baffles to a certain degree of slant, while a trapezoid is a bit more vertical, if you have little fill by design then that slant can be so much to compromise the help that the baffle structure gives to maintain the loft unless you start making a lot of narrower chambers, which adds weight and complexity and a lot of stitches (stitches don’t keep you warm).  Everything depends on its use and there’s no point to make a sleeping bag structure very complicated when there are more cost effective solutions.&#xA;These are details that only the manufacturer can quantify and tell you about, you hope they did their R&amp;amp;D on that. At one point things become a compromise to stay viable products. Some manufacturers will go as far as using a mix of chambers in their bags where the more loft and V chambers are on the core and feet and a bit less loft and trapezoidal chambers are for the area in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all the manufactures build their product the same way, with the same size chambers, same materials etc etc. Even if they are all sleeping bags you end trying to compare apples and oranges if you are in front of two different products from two different manufactures. The variables to consider can become a lot and at a certain quality level its a lot of work for nothing. In that case the only hope becomes testing each product to compare results and if one is lucky somebody else has done all the work (in the proper way) and published the results. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You dont have this problem, you are considering two line of sleeping bags from the same manufacturer, and the products are rather similar. Once you understand the construction, and how you will use the product, the other things are money, remaining gear, quality and packability (compresses a lot when packed and returns to proper loft when you unpack it, doesn’t lose loft overtime), is the manufacturer conservative or not in its ratings,  and your personal preferences (you can be a &quot;hot person&quot; or a &quot;cold&quot; one, and what kind of sleeping system that bag is gonna be part of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly just to not make it easy: dawn is good, packs well, keeps you warm and cozy... while its dry! The whole thing changes if the sleeping bag gets wet, so the conditions you use it have their importance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-06-20T15:56:35.527" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T15:56:35.527" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13036" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13041" CreationDate="2016-06-17T16:48:05.853" Score="9" ViewCount="268" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently using a double fisherman's bend to tie my kit together but it's a bit fiddly to take apart. Is there a better knot for the task? &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hXxRb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hXxRb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;double fish bend&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-06-17T22:45:03.857" LastActivityDate="2016-06-18T23:55:39.367" Title="Quick release knot for attaching kit" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13036" CreationDate="2016-06-17T17:49:28.753" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;form a fixed loop at the end of a rope. It has the virtues of being both easy to tie and untie; most notably, it is easy to untie after being subjected to a load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/432/how-do-i-tie-a-bowline-knot&quot;&gt;How do I tie a bowline knot?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T17:49:28.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13026" CreationDate="2016-06-17T20:52:24.993" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of trails that are accessed from the Beartooth Highway.  What you need is a map of the Eastern Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZjFYf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZjFYf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Absaroka-Beartooth east&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1566955823&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amazon link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've poked around a few of them.  It's lovely country.  I especially enjoy all of the fantastic little lakes.  Although, the best views of the area do come from the top of the pass, as @James_Jenkins noted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9030" LastActivityDate="2016-06-17T20:52:24.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13036" CreationDate="2016-06-17T22:54:56.077" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer assumes that you're trying to attach something to a loop (the black and green band in your photo) that you can't open up. If you can open up the loop, then see ShemSeger's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends on how quickly you need it to release, and how important it is to you for it to stay secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A secure knot that is pretty easy to untie, even after it has been loaded, is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/flatoverhand/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;offset overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;. I have had my keys in a loop of cord tied with an offset overhand, and after a year or two, the knot is still there. For good security, make sure to leave long tails, and dress and tighten the knot carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's important to you to be able to release the knot very quickly, you could use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoelace_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;slipped square knot&lt;/a&gt;, i.e., the one you use to tie your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-06-18T23:55:39.367" LastActivityDate="2016-06-18T23:55:39.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13036" CreationDate="2016-06-18T20:09:21.937" Score="10" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Girth Hitch&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the knot you're using is appropriate if the idea is not to lose your kit, another knot may run you the risk of losing something because it came untied without your blessing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're using cheap cord, then don't bother with the knot if it's giving you grief, just cut it at the knot, your cord will get shorter each time,  but it still usable for a couple cuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to attach something to your bag or belt quickly without fiddling with your knots, then I recommend simply &lt;strong&gt;girth hitching&lt;/strong&gt; it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4Ci5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4Ci5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your loop tied to whatever with a double fishermans, then you can girth hitch it to practically anything as long as you can fit the loop around. In the image above I tied the cord around my strap, then passed a loop through the basket and folded it back around; only takes a second. You could even girth hitch both ends, then you don't have to tie cord around everything, just keep a bunch of tied loops, this makes it easy to use with a small carabiner too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-06-18T20:27:10.587" LastActivityDate="2016-06-18T20:27:10.587" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13042" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13043" CreationDate="2016-06-19T15:11:54.337" Score="9" ViewCount="520" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these structures while hiking in Wayne Township, Clermont County, Ohio, USA, on June 7, 2016, at approximately N 39° 12.5 W 084° 04.0.  I only had my phone, and not a real camera, so sorry for the poor focus.  Each mound is about 4 to 6 cm in diameter and no more than 20 cm tall.  Surroundings were a deciduous forest and the ground was quite moist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SCcqv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SCcqv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;mud structure top view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xOBSV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xOBSV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;mud structure side view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I initially assumed they were ordinary termites, but when I read up on it, I found that North American termites don't build mounds.  So then I thought possibly some form of wasp or bee, but again I could not find a photo whose appearance matches these.  So this has left me very curious, what built them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T18:42:37.833" Title="What built these mud structures (Ohio, USA)?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13042" CreationDate="2016-06-19T15:53:30.893" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibly crayfish burrows or &quot;chimneys&quot;.  Identifying by burrow holes can be tricky though.  Are they near any water?  That would increase the likelyhood that they are crayfish burrows.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar examples:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbase.com/red_slough_wma/image/142389118&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.pbase.com/red_slough_wma/image/142389118&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Crawfish chimneys are smokestack-looking stacks of mud that appear in fields and yards in the spring. Each one has a crawfish living in a burrow below. Water-filled tunnels can extend down three feet or more sometimes straight down, but usually with some side tunnels and a room at the end. Sometimes the color and texture of a chimney mud is different at different levels as the crawfish brings up soil from different layers to deposit the pellets on the surface.   They use their legs and mouth parts to dig up mud and make into a little ball or pellet. Pellets are built on the surface like a brick layers putting bricks on a wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read more here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://discoveringtheoutdoors.com/blog/crawfish-chimney/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://discoveringtheoutdoors.com/blog/crawfish-chimney/&lt;/a&gt;  (This link has gone dead over time, so here is a replacement: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americaswetlandresources.com/wildlife_ecology/plants_animals_ecology/animals/invertebrates/crawfish.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.americaswetlandresources.com/wildlife_ecology/plants_animals_ecology/animals/invertebrates/crawfish.html&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T18:42:37.833" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T18:42:37.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13044" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-19T16:32:25.870" Score="1" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I have to go through a herd of cows on a pasture when hiking in mountains. Cows are generally very peaceful creatures and there is no problem usually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I missed this &lt;code&gt;&quot;Danger! Bulls in herd!&quot;&lt;/code&gt; sign today. I walked quite swiftly, cows were going out of my way and then I met a bull. It was standing right in front of me, very angry, pawing the ground with hoof. &quot;Alright, let's go back&quot; I decided, but it was too late. Cows were all around, obviously nervous, because the bull was nervous. They were mooing, snorting, kicking each other, getting panicked and moving closer to me. It was pretty scary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should one do in such a situation? Run? Shout and wave his hands? Sit down and try to look small and friendly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9723" LastActivityDate="2016-06-19T16:32:25.870" Title="What to do in a herd of angry cows?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-06-19T23:44:09.517" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13045" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-19T19:45:18.250" Score="14" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States&quot;&gt;59 National parks&lt;/a&gt; in the US.  Of which 49 are in the Continental US (lower 48). There are 52 weeks in a year.  I would like to take a year and spend about a week camping and exploring each of the 49 National parks in the lower 48.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am camping with a travel trailer, It is important that camping be available in the area during the visit, preferably in the park.  Temperatures and weather should mild during my visit. An overnight frost is ok, but a week of below freezing weather is going to be a problem for the plumbing in my camper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route should be logistically appropriate, moving between relatively nearby parks, not jumping back and forth across the country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;49/12 = 4.08 Optimal I would visit about 4 parks per month. Each park would be about a day's drive, from the last. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-23T17:12:45.833" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T22:53:35.190" Title="Optimal timing/routing for a year visiting US national parks?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9183" CreationDate="2016-06-19T23:43:28.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was trained in SRT for vertical cave access before I began canyoneering.  I've gone out with many people who have made the transition from rock climbing and there's a few things that they typically struggle with that no one else has addressed that I would like to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ascending - You should ALWAYS have an emergency system in place for ascending.  I wear my full caving harness with a chest ascender (petzl kroll) and handled ascender.  Having a solid ascension system comes in handy for a variety of different emergency situations.  For example, if my rappel device gets jammed and I need to changeover my weight to unjam it.  Or if the rope gets stuck, sometimes it's possible to put a meat anchor on one side and ascend the other to unstick it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most rock climbers don't know how to ascend and rock climbing harnesses aren't built to ascend.  I would suggest purchasing a canyoneering harness so you can easily attach ascension equipment.  If you want to keep your rock climbing harness, you should consider modifying it by adding something like the Petzl Torse for a chest harness and a kroll.  Even if you decide against the chest harness, you should absolutely have some kind of safety tether system such as a cow's tail, speleogica, or sling coupled with carabiners or ascension systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If everything goes 100% right, you'll never need any of this stuff.  However, when it comes to personal safety, I wouldn't recommend banking on the idea that everything will always go right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Static Rope - Don't use dynamic... just don't do it.  Dynamic rope is bouncy when rappelling which means it's uncomfortable for the person rappelling, it dynamically loads the anchor, and it causes more abrasion on the rope.  Aside from that, dynamic rope also absorbs more water than static rope making it heavier to carry through the canyons.  Rope wiki has a great comparison chart for canyoneering ropes that might interest you: &lt;a href=&quot;http://ropewiki.com/Rope_comparison&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://ropewiki.com/Rope_comparison&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9627" LastEditorUserId="9627" LastEditDate="2016-06-19T23:58:25.660" LastActivityDate="2016-06-19T23:58:25.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10397" CreationDate="2016-06-20T12:19:47.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For marine covers there are some cleaning products made on purpose that you could use on the awning too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The DIY route consists in solutions of bleach+water or ammonia+water that tend to be nasty to deal with and dispose of (cant just let them on the ground), they do work. Peroxide is another solution, safer but a bit less effective. Beware that they can weaken the stitching. TSP also works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safest, but it involves some scrubbing is baking soda, scrub with a soft brush and then go over with vinegar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases rinse really well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can go to one of those self service carwashes (taking the awning off the RV the carwash bay should be big enough to let you open it fully) and wash it there, the water has good pressure and does a good job. Careful about the water pressure if you use a power washer, not all the fabrics can take it, but if it can be used it helps a lot.&#xA;Sun is also one of your best friend against mold and being able to take the awning off the RV allows you to keep it in the sun as much as possible even if you dont use the RV.&#xA;Sometimes though the smell is absorbed into the awning and never fully comes out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not use car products, they can have some additives that will actually help the mold. Remember that if you clean the awning you need to also clean completely its housing where it gets rolled in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T12:19:47.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13045" CreationDate="2016-06-20T12:57:20.107" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, you want to be in the south during winter.  Another problem is that parks are more dispersed in the east.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One strategy might be to start in the northeast (which basically means Acadia) as late in the season as you can handle, then move down the east coast as the weather gets cooler, getting to the Everglades in the depth of winter.  You then go north out of Florida and west along the gulf coast into Texas and the southwest, then zig-zag across the west going more north each time.  You end up in maybe Isle Royal, depending how your zigging and zagging goes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the basic plan, but there are some major wrinkles that effectively mean you don't end up following the nice and neat plan you laid out.  Some parks aren't really park-like at all without any camping and in the middle of cities.  If you're looking for a nature adventure, cross these off your list.  These include places like the customs house in Salem MA, the liberty bell in Philadelphia, various places in Washington DC, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even sticking to &quot;nature&quot; national parks, you have to consider elevation and general climate.  Roosevelt Elk on the California coast has a much milder climate than Lassen just a couple 100 miles inland at the same latitude.  The road thru Roosevelt Elk is probably open all year, but Lassen is probably snow-bound and closed until July.  Even within a park, there are differences due to altitude.  The valley in Yosemite has quite a different season than Tenya Road, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd start by getting a decent size map of the US, then sticking a pin at each park, color coded by how far into summer you need to visit.  You'll find it's not a simple problem to visit them all in a year and still enjoy the individual stays while minimizing driving between any two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also want to stay longer in some parks while you'll be fine with just a quick one-day visit at others.  Personally, I'd rather spend more time in Rocky Mountain, Glacier, and Yellowstone, than small single-attraction places like Fossil Fish Beds.  You may also be &quot;stuck&quot; in the south disproportionately longer during winter.  You might end up hanging out in Big Bend or Death Valley, for example, for a couple of weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-06-20T13:03:56.677" LastActivityDate="2016-06-20T13:03:56.677" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13049" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13052" CreationDate="2016-06-20T16:43:01.393" Score="11" ViewCount="254" Body="&lt;p&gt;We all know when people run out of O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; up there, trouble follows. &#xA;Is there a breathing technique to get more mileage out of bottled oxygen?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's stick to the basic scenario of the need of bottled oxygen: high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:47.447" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:02:47.447" Title="Is there a breathing technique to conserve bottled oxygen?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13050" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13055" CreationDate="2016-06-20T17:01:04.610" Score="13" ViewCount="36152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a opossum (the North American kind) on a golf course the other day. It looked pretty dead - there was foam coming out of its mouth and flies buzzing all around it. However, I know opossums can convincingly play dead by involuntarily entering a catatonic-like state. Are there any tell-tale signs indicating a opossum is really dead? Would the flies be buzzing around it if it was actually alive?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9729" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:12:57.293" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:12:57.293" Title="How can I tell if a opossum is truly dead?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;opossums&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13049" CreationDate="2016-06-20T21:23:50.367" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a bit on the system used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are being supplied with air or oxygen via  demand valve then your consumption will depend on your rate or breathing rather than the amount of oxygen biologically needed by your body. So clearly in this situation being able to control your breathing rate will help a lot. Humans, like most animals have a natural response to danger to breathe deeper and faster, this is based on the 'assumption' that there is plenty of air available and you want to suck as much through your lungs as possible to prepare for 'fight or flight'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is fine when you are on the surface of the earth where humans evolved but is not the best response when you have a finite supply of oxygen available. Clearly there is no simple answer to this but it certainly makes sense to keep your level of activity stable and as efficient as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a bit different though if you are breathing from a closed system eg a space station or re breather. In this case any exhaled oxygen is still available to be used as long as the carbon dioxide concentration can be kept within safe limits. In this case your oxygen usage is directly linked to your metabolism so anything you can do to conserve effort will help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third scenario is that oxygen is supplied to a semi-open mask at a constant rate in this case there is little or nothing you can do to conserve it so you are best off breathing as much of it as possible to store it in your blood (to the limited extent that this is possible) before it runs out. Clearly here understanding of your specific equipment and the way your own body responds is vital to getting the most out of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth adding that the human breathing reflex is based on Carbon dioxide concentration in the blood rather than oxygen and this can lead to counter intuitive problems in some situations. For example if you are exposed to high concentrations of inert gas like argon you can suffocate because you 'forget' to breath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-06-23T18:34:40.170" LastActivityDate="2016-06-23T18:34:40.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13050" CreationDate="2016-06-21T06:35:21.250" Score="17" Body="&lt;h2&gt;How to tell if an opossum is truly dead?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only safe thing you can do is wait. Commonly after an hour, the ears of the Opossum start to move slightly. This is your indicator to know that it's an actor :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After four hours of stiff ears, you can be pretty sure that you are looking down on a dead animal. Call the competent authority (local veterinarian, wildlife rehabilitator, animal control etc.) for assistance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildliferescuerehab.com/opossums.html&quot;&gt;Wildlife Rescue Rehab&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Give a &quot;dead&quot; opossum the benefit of the doubt before disposing of the&#xA;  body. It may be &quot;playing possum&quot; as an involuntary response to a&#xA;  threat, in which the opossum becomes comatose in the face of danger&#xA;  and appears dead. This may last from 40 minutes to 4 hours. During&#xA;  this time, the opossum lies on its side, becomes stiff, the eyes glaze&#xA;  over, the opossum drools, the tongue lolls out the side of the mouth,&#xA;  and green anal fluid may be seen. This fascinating defense mechanism&#xA;  helps the opossum survive an attack from a predator because many&#xA;  predators give up the attack if they believe the opossum is already&#xA;  dead. Leave the area and give the opossum a chance to recover and move&#xA;  on. The opossum will &lt;strong&gt;not respond to prodding or poking&lt;/strong&gt;. When the&#xA;  opossum is about to recover, the ears move very slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that this may not be the answer you were looking for, but it's the only way to be absolutely sure, without touching the animal. Interacting with wildlife (poking with a stick, touching it with the bare hand etc.), is no way to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;http://opossumsocietyus.org/how-to-help/orphaned-injured/&quot;&gt;Opossum Society US&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum#Behavior&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Behavior&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Are there any tell-tale signs indicating an opossum is really dead?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above, the only real sign is that it hasn't made a single movement (the ears ;)) within at least four hours. So, there aren't any real tell-tale signs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if the head is apart ... Well, I think you got the concept. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Would the flies be buzzing around it if it was actually alive?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The opossum releases a stinking fluid when in fear. So, yes, laying there releasing stinky fluid without any movement will result into buzzing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fear can cause release of a greenish-colored anal fluid. Opossums&#xA;  cannot “spray”, and the only way this unpleasant-smelling body fluid&#xA;  can come in contact with you is if your clothes brush the anal area.&#xA;  It washes off easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://opossumsocietyus.org/general-opossum-information/opossum-defense-mechanisms/&quot;&gt;OSUS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-06-21T20:11:49.777" LastActivityDate="2016-06-21T20:11:49.777" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2016-06-21T15:28:26.830" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Crab Bait:  Usually on the ocean, you will find a bait shop that has the remains of fish that have been fillet.  They will be frozen with a wire through them to hang from the cage.  Turkey legs are great also.  Finally, who ever said to put bacon in a crab cage should be very careful!  Bacon goes on everything and is very popular to the human race.  By putting bacon in to a crab cage, you will most likely find local fisherman trapped in your cage.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9736" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-06-27T21:21:18.610" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T21:21:18.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8470" CreationDate="2016-06-21T17:54:08.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always take a few moments when stringing to make sure the stringer and bow are as in line and level as possible before actually pulling up.&#xA;From the position I'm normally in while stringing it often looks misaligned, but it's almost always been because of the perspective and not that it actually is. Though taking a moment to make sure that's the case has been helpful and reassuring as someone new to the sport, and helped increase my confidence in my ability to do it properly.&#xA;I usually like to take good care of my stuff. I'm not being given equipment either so it only makes sense to take care of that investment. But I'm pretty sure I'd still do the same even if I was having it given to me. Both for peace of mind and that I do enjoy maintaing my tools and equipment with proper care in itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like string without stringer &lt;a href=&quot;http://hunthacks.com/string-recurve-bow-without-stringer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://hunthacks.com/string-recurve-bow-without-stringer/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks all&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9737" LastActivityDate="2016-06-21T17:54:08.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8470" CreationDate="2016-06-22T08:43:26.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This picture shows the proper technique for stringing a recurve bow without stringer. (In @Charlie Fishers link this is called the &lt;code&gt;Step-Through Method&lt;/code&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's what all the people in my archery club did when they didn't use the fixed stringer mounted on the club house wall. This included many different recurve archers, including people who shoot (quite successfully) in competitions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ho2L2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ho2L2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that stringing a bow this way can take a considerable amount of strength, especially if you're using a strong bow. As you said you're using a 30 lbs bow this should not be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In any case:&lt;/strong&gt; if you have to put too much effort into it chances are you're not keeping the correct form and &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; twist the bow. So if you're not confident you're strong enough to do it this way, use a stringer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-06-23T05:51:10.043" LastActivityDate="2016-06-23T05:51:10.043" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13060" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13062" CreationDate="2016-06-23T00:56:11.147" Score="9" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ever since I read a book called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_of_Chincoteague&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Misty of Chincoteague&lt;/a&gt; as a child, I've wanted to see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chincoteague.com/ponies.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Chincoteague Ponies&lt;/a&gt;, on the Eastern shore of the United States.  I believe there are two herds on Assateague Island, which includes land in both Maryland and Virginia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're finally planning a trip, and I'm very excited! We'll only have a few days, and are trying to pick the best time and place for viewing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once a year thousands of people come from all over the world to see something called the Pony Swim. We don't really like crowds, and tend to stay away from things like that, preferring to go to tourist areas during the off-season. If it interests that many people, though, it's definitely worth learning more about the event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the Pony Swim, and what will we see if we go during that time? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a March 2019 edit in response to Rory Alsop's answer about the Pony Swim being very crowded. We decided to forego the big event and instead went to the Chincoteague (Virginia) side in May of 2018. It was in the 70s F, very comfortable. There were other tourists, but very few, and very friendly. We saw some ponies from a distance, and some closer to the road. They were happily grazing out there, as they have for hundreds of years! It was magnificent!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For handicapped people, one of the main paths is wooden with benches to stop and sit. It's perfect for wheelchairs,  which is important to us. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ponies have regular vet-checks, and any that aren't fully thriving are brought to a safe area in town, where people can touch and feed them. That was a real highlight for us! I recommend it to anyone who wants a hug from an authentic Chincoteague pony! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-03T18:34:54.790" LastActivityDate="2019-03-03T18:34:54.790" Title="What is the Chincoteague Pony Swim on Assateague Island in Virginia and Maryland?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;horses&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13061" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-23T06:05:19.647" Score="5" ViewCount="1493" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of people swear on their shooting sacks as their training target. They take a potato bag or something else and put foil rests etc. in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qrauc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qrauc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Shooting sack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really want to try things out but I'm unable to get my hands (not too easy at least) on foil waste. What would be other suitable &quot;recycle-materials&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:04:17.570" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:04:17.570" Title="Fill material for shooting sack" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13060" CreationDate="2016-06-23T08:17:28.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Chincoteague Pony Swim is an annual event where around 150 adult ponies and their foals from the North and South parts of the island are rounded up and swim at slack tide from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.assateagueisland.com/ponyswim/ponyswim.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;assategueisland.com&lt;/a&gt; (highlights mine), &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Pony Swim is usually broadcast live by the &quot;Good Morning America&quot; show. The Wild Pony Swim is visited by over &lt;strong&gt;40,000&lt;/strong&gt; excited spectators. They watch approximately 150 Assateague Ponies make the historic swim. Since Marguerite Henry's famous children's novel &quot;Misty of Chincoteague,&quot; millions of visitors with an interest in wild ponies and other wildlife travel to Chincoteague and Assateague to see the islands that Misty and the other wild ponies have made famous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The South Herd is rounded up first on the Saturday, then on the following day the larger North Herd is rounded up. On the Monday they have the Beach Walk where both herds are joined. Tuesday is for veterinary checks, and the final Wednesday in July (this year Wednesday the 27th) is the actual swim. There is also the auction on the Thursday, and then the return swim on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.assateagueisland.com/ponyswim/ponyswim.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Assateague Island's website&lt;/a&gt;, they recommend if you don't like crowds and want to see the ponies, &quot;Go any other time during the summer...see them best on the nature tour.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to go to the Pony Swim, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chincoteague.com/pony_swim_guide.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;chincoteague.com&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The best way to see the pony swim up close is on a Charter Boat. However, spots on these boats for the pony swim are in very high demand, so be sure to reserve your spot at least several months in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for this year, your best bet if you go on the day is that you will be in the crowds on the shoreline, which sounds like you wouldn't enjoy it so much&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-06-23T08:17:28.380" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13064" CreationDate="2016-06-23T14:09:58.757" Score="12" ViewCount="849" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of people on social media posting their first ascents. These people are usually professional climbers climbing new super hard routes and as a result their first ascents blow up on social media. But what if, hypothetically, I find an untouched boulder at make the first ascent of a V0 boulder. Where would I document this? If there isn't some central database, how will people know if they actually made the first ascent of something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick google search for first ascent documentation turned up fruitless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8821" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-06-24T08:23:33.743" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:04:40.463" Title="Where do I document first ascents?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13063" CreationDate="2016-06-23T14:35:29.060" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the United States, a lot of climbers use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainproject.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.mountainproject.com&lt;/a&gt; (MP) to document outdoor climbs and first ascents. If you discover a new boulder problem or bolt a new route, you could submit it here and enter any first ascent (FA) information. See example below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kNm3K.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kNm3K.png&quot; alt=&quot;screenshot of mountainproject.com&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some climbs had first ascents way before MP came about, so there are discussion boards for each climb where people exchange information (either first-hand or second-hand) about who may have been the first person to climb or bolt a route. This information can then be added to this particular climbing route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:04:40.463" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:04:40.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13066" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-24T01:40:08.987" Score="10" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose an emergency landing  necessary for a commercial aircraft &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.askcaptainlim.com/-airways-flying-51/742-what-would-happen-after-an-emergency-landing-in-the-arctic-circle.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;on a polar route&lt;/a&gt; on water or in the unoccupied, secluded Arctic outback (e.g. Siberia, far northern Canada). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is the time interval for aid to arrive (I write 'interval' because I know that this question depends on the location)? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How likely would the passengers survive in the freezing cold  in their cabin clothes? Assume that they are not equipped with clothes or gear for frigidity. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-06-27T02:45:24.423" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T23:23:29.373" Title="How dangerous are polar routes, if an aircraft must land on water or wild land?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13067" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13068" CreationDate="2016-06-24T02:21:04.953" Score="11" ViewCount="445" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was having a nice evening walk near one of the nature reservations in Andover MA, close to Tewksbury, when I've found such a footprint. I'm really sorry for image quality, though. So it's a wet, bog-like, piece of ground, two lanes of deep small holes (probably the actual footprints) - the distance between them is like 25-30 centimeters (10-12 inches) - and the ground in the middle looks like something was dragged. In the top left corner of a picture the ground seems to be pushed below, and the hole is filled with water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not from US, and have almost no idea about Massachusetts fauna, but to me it looks like a tortoise. It was lying on the ground, thinking it's slow thoughts - that's how the hole filled with water appeared - then it decided to do some action, got up and moved, dragging it's plastron upon the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the best idea I have. But it should be pretty big tortoise, 10-12 inches wide. I wonder if there are any in MA. Does anyone recognize this footprint?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HtQgp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HtQgp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Some footprints&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T18:42:32.497" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:42:32.497" Title="Are these tracks in the mud tortoise/turtle tracks?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;&lt;tortoises&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13067" CreationDate="2016-06-24T12:39:13.983" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This does look like some sort of turtle.  Snapping turtles can easily get to the size you mention, and are fairly common.  The picture doesn't give the impression the tracks are really 10 inches apart.  They seem narrower than that, which would open the possibility for a number of other turtles.  Box turtles get to a reasonable size, and then there are a list of other more rare possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-06-24T12:39:13.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2016-06-24T18:06:18.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something that has always worked for me is wrapping it around an old plastic card.  Everybody seems to have an old library card, membership card, or something else resembling a credit card (would avoid anything with personal information on it though).  Since it's bigger than a pencil, you can fit more onto it and still slip it into your wallet or the top of your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9753" LastActivityDate="2016-06-24T18:06:18.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-06-26T14:36:18.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I want to be as unobtrusive in the wilderness as possible.  There seems to be a lot of focus on, even fanatical devotion to, &lt;i&gt;leave no trace&lt;/i&gt;.  While bright colors aren't technically &lt;i&gt;leaving&lt;/i&gt; a trace once you take the tent down, you are unnecessarily polluting the view of anyone else that happens to be there.  It's kindof like jumping up and down shouting &quot;Here I am, here I am.&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time, being unobtrusive is merely being polite to others, but there can be times it really matters.  One obvious case is stealth camping.  In places where the land is tightly controlled, like New England, it's not always easy to find a clearly legal place to camp.  Sometimes the best alternative is to go a few 100 feet into a patch of woods, be as unobtrusive as possible, and of course have as little impact as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Theft or other illegal activity is another, although admittedly minor, issue.  One time I was swimming with some friends in a lake by the side of the trail.  We put our packs down by the edge of the water.  When we got back, one of my friends' pack was gone, and another one had been rifled thru.  Mine was completely untouched only about 2 meters away.  The only difference appeared to be that mine was olive gray-green, and the others were bright colors.  It seems the thieves simply didn't notice my pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm currently looking to replace a small backpacking tent that got lost in airplane luggage last summer.  I'm very dismayed by the many options that only come in bright obtrusive colors.  Those are non-starters for me.  Fortunately some companies get it and either offer a color choice or a single more muted color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-06-26T14:36:18.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13072" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13073" CreationDate="2016-06-26T14:47:35.717" Score="13" ViewCount="977" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both male and female caribou have antlers. Last year we saw a large herd cross the road we were traveling on, but had no way of telling which ones were male and which ones were females. Unfortunately, I do not possess a scope or binoculars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to identify the sex of a caribou without a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:14:41.440" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T15:14:05.487" Title="Is it possible to identify the sex of a caribou without a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13072" CreationDate="2016-06-26T16:49:14.217" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to an article on caribou sex identification by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/hunting/caribouhunting/pdfs/caribou_gender_id.pdf&quot;&gt;Alaska Department of Fish and Game&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Only the white rump without a [black] vulva patch or the presence of a penis&#xA;  sheath should be used for positive identification [of a male caribou].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article says that both sexes have antlers, and there is significant overlap between young bulls and mature cows in antler characteristics. Antlers are not useful for identifying males.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nor can you use testicles as a mean of ID-ing a male.  Testicles on a bull look like the udder on a cow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The direction of the urine stream will help.  The urine stream from a cow goes backwards; from a bull, forwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether you need binoculars to spot the penis sheath or the absence of the black vulva spot on the white rump is not absolutely clear from this article.  The article advises you to stay 200 or 300 yards away so as not to spook the animals; at this distance, you will need binoculars.  But the article assumes that you are hunting.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-06-26T16:56:12.140" LastActivityDate="2016-06-26T16:56:12.140" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13074" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13090" CreationDate="2016-06-26T16:54:57.497" Score="10" ViewCount="1349" Body="&lt;p&gt;When an opossum is playing dead, will it keep up the act even if an animal decides to start eating it anyways? Or will it wake up once it's flesh starts getting ripped open and try to fight back or flee? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:32:17.373" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:32:17.373" Title="Will an opossum wake up from pain stimulus if playing dead?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;opossums&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13066" CreationDate="2016-06-27T01:18:17.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/05/world/after-a-plane-crash-30-deadly-hours-in-the-arctic.html&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The New York Times&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, Nov 5, 1991, &lt;em&gt;After a Plane Crash, 30 Deadly Hours in the Arctic&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The four-engine turbo-prop aircraft with a wingspan of nearly 150 feet&#xA;  -- a jack-of-all-trades plane widely used by the Canadian and United States military to haul cargo and troops -- was on its final approach&#xA;  to the Alert airstrip [400 miles from the North Pole] when it slammed&#xA;  into the eerie Arctic wasteland and broke up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were only 2 hours of pale light in the morning, and the weather was not good.   The crash was only 12 miles from the settlement of Alert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While most of the 18 aboard the plane suffered cuts and burns and&#xA;  broken bones, all were alive immediately after the crash. But in the&#xA;  30 hours that it took for the first squad of military paramedics to&#xA;  arrive, five people, including the pilot, Capt. John Couch, a&#xA;  32-year-old father of two, had frozen to death. The airlift of the&#xA;  survivors did not begin until 40 hours after the crash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plane carried extensive arctic survival gear, but much of it was lost in the crash and subsequent fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Eleven of the 13 survivors lay in sleeping bags inside the tail&#xA;  section, huddled together for warmth, eating candies from survival&#xA;  rations and answering periodic roll calls. Two were left outside,&#xA;  covered by makeshift pup tents, because it was thought they had spinal&#xA;  injuries and could not be moved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first rescue team had to parachute from only 700 feet into a driving wind to reach the survivors, because the overland team faced so many difficulties from the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article has much more detail, and possibly rescue techniques have improved in 25 years, but remember this was a fully equipped military aircraft that crashed only 12 miles from its destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Limitations of this answer:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) it is one anecdote&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) the crash happened in November.  The ending would probably have been happier for a June or July crash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) But not necessarily happier, if the crash was into the increasingly summer-ice-free sea&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) Although not explicitly stated, the passengers were likely young and fit and accustomed to discipline, not the profile of commercial passengers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(5) Where were the polar bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Bottom line: Pack fleece and power bars in your carryon.)      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-06-27T01:46:49.850" LastActivityDate="2016-06-27T01:46:49.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13076" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-27T15:45:06.040" Score="9" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm having what seems to be an unusual problem. After equalizing, it seems like my mask is filling with air and starts to pull away from my face and fill with water. I can press it back on my face and clear it, but this happens for about 5 breaths after equalizing. Eventually it normalizes and sticks again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had this problem with two different masks, so I think it's something about the way I'm breathing. I've tried to pay attention and I don't &lt;em&gt;seem&lt;/em&gt; to be breathing out through my nose, but it's possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone else have this problem, and do you know how to stop it from happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T02:34:34.553" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T02:34:34.553" Title="How can I stop my scuba mask from pulling away from my face after equalizing?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;scuba-mask&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13076" CreationDate="2016-06-27T18:46:52.257" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found that just pressing my mask at the bridge of my nose after clearing or otherwise fiddling with it helps push out excess air and reseat it. But I do it immediately, instead of after 5 breaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7979" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-06-27T21:59:38.850" LastActivityDate="2016-06-27T21:59:38.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13078" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18807" CreationDate="2016-06-27T22:41:00.827" Score="8" ViewCount="7661" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I have a fishing line that's secured at both ends, what knot would I use to tie a hook onto the line?&#xA; My situation is I'm making some rigs for fishing behind a boat, with 10 hooks spaced a foot apart. I don't want to use clip on hooks, or to pull ten feet of line through a knot ten times. Or I already have a rig that I want to add more lures to without cutting the line.&#xA; Perhaps it impossible to tie a circle onto a line with both ends fixed, using no extra pieces of line. If this is the case, then a topological explanation showing why will answer my question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9037" LastEditorUserId="9037" LastEditDate="2016-06-28T10:42:01.407" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T04:37:03.330" Title="Knot to tie a hook onto the middle of a line" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13078" CreationDate="2016-06-28T00:32:18.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how it would perform with a fishing line but maybe the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8directional/index.php?Categ=typemidloops&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Directional (Inline) Figure 8 Loop&lt;/a&gt; may do the trick. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pMylu.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pMylu.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Directional Inline Figure eight&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use it a lot to tie people half way the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:05:16.123" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:05:16.123" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2016-06-28T03:35:43.103" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, it won't get you nearly 3 yards, but I absolutely love this thing: &lt;a href=&quot;http://gearward.com/products/keychain-duct-tape&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Keychain Duct Tape (Gearward)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T12:22:39.990" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T12:22:39.990" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13078" CreationDate="2016-06-28T06:04:10.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/dropperloop/index.php?Categ=fishing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dropper Loop Knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie Dropper knots at the points where you want hooks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/dropperloop/index.php?Categ=fishing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c55DL.png&quot; alt=&quot;Dropper Loop Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie your hooks to a short length of line and put a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/perfection/index.php?Categ=fishing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;perfection loop&lt;/a&gt; in the other end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/perfection/index.php?Categ=fishing&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0OmrQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Perfection Loop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Connect the hooks to the short lines to the main line by first feeding the dropper loops through the perfection loops, then the hooks through the dropper loops, just like putting a new leader on your float line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tOHUy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tOHUy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T14:41:54.727" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T14:41:54.727" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13083" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13088" CreationDate="2016-06-28T15:36:46.820" Score="5" ViewCount="4152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to do some hiking and wild camping before the end of the British summer, I'm happy with the contents of my kit and the items I'm taking but I'm not sure how realistic it is to be carrying 14 kilos (33 lbs) for an extended period of time each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Item Name                   qty weight  unit&#xA;Under blanket               1   950     gram&#xA;Sleeping Bag                1   1250    gram&#xA;Tarpaulin                   1   789     gram&#xA;Tree straps                 1   680     gram&#xA;Mosquito net                1   550     gram&#xA;Hammock                     1   490     gram&#xA;Groundsheet                 1   431     gram&#xA;Insulation patch            1   10      gram&#xA;tent pegs                   6   25      gram&#xA;Rucksack (35-45l)           1   1080    gram&#xA;Trip Clothes                1   750     gram&#xA;Towel                       1   200     gram&#xA;Daily Clothes               2   150     gram&#xA;Ranger Swiss Army Knife     1   118     gram&#xA;First aid kit               1   100     gram&#xA;Headtorch                   1   75      gram&#xA;Notebook                    1   59      gram&#xA;Para cord                   1   50      gram&#xA;matches                     1   25      gram&#xA;Steel &amp;amp; magnesium           1   ?       gram&#xA;Toilet roll                 1   ?       gram&#xA;compass                     1   ?       gram&#xA;map                         1   ?       gram&#xA;Flask                       1   522     gram&#xA;Mess tins                   1   380     gram&#xA;Dinner                      7   200     gram&#xA;Lunch                       7   95      gram&#xA;Flapjacks                   7   65      gram&#xA;cutlery                     1   50      gram&#xA;Porridge                    7   30      gram&#xA;Camping chair               1   898     gram&#xA;Trekking poles              1   522     gram&#xA;Phone                       1   179     gram&#xA;Saw                         1   175     gram&#xA;Knife                       1   150     gram&#xA;Insect repellent            1   150     gram&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not including any cooking gear that I may need to bring along, am I being overly optimistic with this weight? How does it compare to others?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:40:54.453" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:40:54.453" Title="What is a realistic weight for a week long hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-06-28T21:10:34.447" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13084" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-28T16:14:15.630" Score="10" ViewCount="5640" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm taking a Go Pro to shoot some diving video, and I've never done this before. Assuming a mask mount is not an option, would you strap it to your wrist, attach it to your BC, or take it loose / on a lanyard with some sort of short pole? I've seen floatation mounts - are they recommended for diving?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9492" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T10:48:13.257" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T23:04:56.780" Title="When taking a Go Pro scuba diving, how would you mount it?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;go-pro&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13085" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13087" CreationDate="2016-06-28T16:46:16.380" Score="5" ViewCount="530" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did the Grouse Grind in Vancouver, B.C., this past weekend and there were two markings on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ones that went in 1/40ths (more or less): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1/40, 3/40, ... 39/40&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and larger signs every quarter &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figure one is elevation and one is distance along the trail, but which one is which?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9766" LastEditorUserId="190" LastEditDate="2017-07-12T22:34:49.393" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T22:34:49.393" Title="What are the markings on the Grouse Grind?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13086" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-28T17:03:18.780" Score="7" ViewCount="11335" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's please begin with the understanding that I have already sought and received professional medical advice.  Also, about two weeks have passed, my heart and lungs still work and nothing has turned black and fallen off, so I seem to be in the clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, I have encountered some critter, which had some venom. It seems this critter was in a particularly generous mood, as it decided to share some of its venom with me. It did so quite anonymously as I never felt a thing. In doing so, it left a gorgeous and intriguing example of abstract artwork. I have looked up and found photos of bite marks for a variety of spider types, and even some wasps and ants. None of them look even similar to my colorful example.  I am curious as to whom I should express my gratitude for this artwork, and wonder whether this community can assist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4XVWq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4XVWq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bite mark location&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Location: back of leg behind knee&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These photos were taken about two days after the mark was first discovered.  I would describe the mark as a yellow-green circle about 4 to 5 cm (1.5 to 2 in) in diameter, surrounded by a purple-black ring of 0.5 cm (0.2 in) width, and a further patch of less distinct yellowish coloration for another 3 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2 in).  The central yellow-green portion had a hard mass underneath the skin.  An additional small patch of yellowish appeared farther up the leg, about 15 cm (6 in) from the main mark.  There was never any pain associated, but there was intense itching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The date-time window for receiving this bite was the morning of June 4 until the evening of June 5 when the mark was discovered.  My location during the window for getting this bite was the general Dayton-Cincinnati area in southwest Ohio, USA.  My activities during the window included small boat sailing* at a nearby lake, and then housework** at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D8IUd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D8IUd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bite mark close-up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WpqnW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WpqnW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bite mark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Sailing includes: ready boat on trailer, pack Jeep, drive to lake, rig boat, launch boat at ramp, paddle out, try to find wind, drift, hey there's some wind, wheee! Where'd the wind go? drift, paddle back, recover boat at ramp, un-rig boat, drive home, unpack Jeep, sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** Housework includes: dusting, laundry, dishes, vacuum, scrub sinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:42:51.817" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T15:34:57.927" Title="Identify what bit me by the mark it left (note: potentially graphic, but also beautiful, photos)" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bites&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13085" CreationDate="2016-06-28T17:29:28.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trail is divided in quarters marked by signs (still more about elevation than actual distance) and the elevation is signed in 40s increments &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-06-28T17:43:45.577" LastActivityDate="2016-06-28T17:43:45.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13083" CreationDate="2016-06-28T18:01:11.823" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few points on your kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can get rid of the folding chair.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what is the use of the brewberry flask?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the underblanket seems overkill compared to the sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your towel is huge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your backpack is both heavy and very small, especially if you have to carry food for several days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is no stove in your kit, I suppose you forgot to add it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your tree straps look heavy, so does your backup groundsheet, consider a survival blanket instead for ~90g.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You probably don't need a saw, or a heavy knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(That's a minimum of 2kg that you can shave with no effort or extra stuff)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, 14kg is perfectly reasonable, but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is water. UK is wet, so you probably don't need to carry much, although you'll have to treat or filter it. Still, count 1-2 kg of it at all times&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food is in the region of 700-1000g per day (varies, obviously, but that's what I observe often), so depending on how  many days you hike without re-supply, that can add up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add stove and fuel to that. Tin can alcohol stove + fuel is the lightest option if you need a stove at all.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before going for a full week, try this: walk with your full kit for a full day, may be an overnight, see how you feel. Then, consider what you don't need and can leave at home, and what you can easily replace with lighter stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-06-28T18:01:11.823" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13084" CreationDate="2016-06-28T18:19:27.480" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally while scuba diving I have it on a monopod with a strap around my wrist. Not only does this prevent bubbles clouding your shot, it allows you to extend it beyond your normal reach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ever tried getting close to a shoal of fish? Near damm impossible. With an extended monopod, moved very slowly, you can get really nice shots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2016-06-28T18:19:27.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13074" CreationDate="2016-06-29T02:04:42.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Partial Answer: Needs Input from Others&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following the suggestion of @OddDeer that scavengers would eat a possum playing dead, I did a bit of searching.  The information in this source suggests that nobody will eat a live possum that is playing dead.  But this is not definitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://retrieverman.net/2009/09/23/what-will-eat-an-opossum/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;What will eat an opossum?&lt;/a&gt;, September 23, 2009 by retrieverman &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve seen opossum carcasses lie in open fields where foxes and coyotes&#xA;  frequent, and they don’t touch them.  I keep reading that foxes and&#xA;  coyotes eat them, but I’ve not seen it. Dogs will kill them, but&#xA;  that’s all they will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve heard of coyotes raiding opossums stealing opossums from leg hold&#xA;  traps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I’ve not seen it........&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When an opossum dies, it usually rots until the turkey vultures show&#xA;  up. And then they eat it. They aren’t as picky as dogs, foxes, and&#xA;  coyotes are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this raises the question:  If a turkey vulture will eat a thoroughly dead possum, why won't it try to eat a possum playing possum (which looks and smells dead), and if it does, what will the possum do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can only speculate that a scavenger can distinguish a truly rotten carcass from the simulated decay that the possum produces; the simulated decay fools non-scavengers but does not fool scavengers. This would be a survival trait for the possum.  This still doesn't answer the OP's question about pain stimulus.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-06-29T03:06:52.017" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T03:06:52.017" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-06-29T03:05:45.197" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13091" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-29T02:41:37.277" Score="3" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I find an elevation profile of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cohostrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cohos trail&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2016-06-29T12:44:35.447" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:24:46.667" Title="Where can I find an online elevation profile of the Cohos trail?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13091" CreationDate="2016-06-29T02:59:31.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My suggestion would be to create a path in Google Earth and then view the elevation profile of the path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example of what that would look like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x0rnT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x0rnT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Screenshot of Google Earth&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One caveat, Google Earth underestimates the steepness because instead of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14758/8794&quot;&gt;calculating slope as rise/run it uses rise/hypotenuse&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:24:46.667" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:24:46.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2016-06-29T10:33:53.513" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the advantages of being easily spotted or easily hidden, and to elaborate on previous answers - specific colours can attract specific insects which may be relevant to where you're camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the Tsetse fly is attracted to a mixture of black and dark blue colours. So if you're planning to camp where they are endemic then consider other choices - bearing in mind the other fauna that alternative colours may attract.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9770" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T10:33:53.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9647" CreationDate="2016-06-29T13:43:53.107" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Save your money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although oxygen can be used to provide temporary relief from the symptoms of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), it will not affect the process of acclimatization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you body adapts to the higher elevation gradual changes in your respiratory and cardiovascular systems, as well as you blood chemistry, occur. These can not be sped up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypoxia (the lack of oxygen available to your body tissue) stimulates the following (and more):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the release of erythropoietin -- a hormone that stimulates red blood cell production. Although this hormone is released within hours, it can take several days for the new red blood cells to appear in your body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;an increase in mitochondria, which are what facilitate the oxygen-fueled reactions in your cells&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;increase in myoglobin which which is the oxygen-binding equivalent of hemoglobin, but is found in your muscle tissue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these take time. And while sipping on O2 for a 20 minutes at your resort hotel may make you feel better, the effect is only temporary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(And it seems some argument could be made that by super-oxygenating your body, you temporary remove the hypoxic stimulation that causes those changes... But I have no proof of that.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The age old (and correct) advice is to &quot;climb high, sleep low&quot; which allows your body to gradually adjust as you ascend up a mountain. If you are on a weekend vacation to a ski hill, choose a condo down at the base, or in town, rather than slope-side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, avoiding excess alcohol, and getting plenty of rest are the best ways to smooth your acclimatization. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, while the science behind the effects of excessive hydration on AMS risk is still inconclusive[3], the typically dryer climate of higher elevations, and the importance of proper hydration to preventing AMS-like symptoms (headache) warrants maintaining healthy intake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923424/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923424/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/altitude.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/altitude.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073185&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073185&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many years as a mountain guide, EMT, and Professional Ski Patroller&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="1874" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T13:39:15.950" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T13:39:15.950" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13084" CreationDate="2016-06-29T14:37:32.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different ways depending on how you swim, take photo/film, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A head mounted approach is easiest and shows people your POV (point of view), bubbles can be an issue depending on your reg and swimming position. But greater risk in losing it of your head. Some people hard mount it on a plastic type helmet (cycle/caving/construction) and then attach the helmet over their hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people like chest mounted straps as this is more secure, but you need to swim less streamlined else you only see the ground below you, which can be great depending on where you diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other more versatile option is to place it on your wrist and then you swim with wrist pointing at what you want to film, also easy to remove and put on a stick if you want to get close-ups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each method will need some practice to aim correctly, but best is to try all three and find the method that gives you the best results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T14:37:32.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13096" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-29T15:00:39.270" Score="10" ViewCount="5463" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been learning to build basic TR anchors; a sling clipped to two bolts with a master point in the loop of a figure-eight on a bight.  While learning this I struggled to get a tidy figure-eight knot in the sling&amp;ndash;especially on a three-point anchor.  I asked my friends who overseeing me if I could use an overhand instead of an eight--and that started a debate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One friend is of the opinion that there isn't a relevant difference in terms of the strength of either knot, either in normal circumstances or in the event that one leg of the anchor were to blow out.  His opinion was that I could tie an overhand for the master point and be just as safe&amp;ndash;the only downside being that it would be more difficult to untie after being loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other friend is of the opinion that a figure-eight is stronger than an overhand, and that an overhand isn't suitable for the master point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is it unsafe to use an overhand knot for tying the legs of an anchor together to make it into a master point?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T15:16:53.093" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T15:16:53.093" Title="Top Rope Anchors - is a figure-8 on a bight stronger or just easier to untie than an overhand knot?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13101" CreationDate="2016-06-29T16:35:06.067" Score="9" ViewCount="1437" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13083/what-is-a-realistic-weight-for-a-week-long-hike/13088#13088&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; that was closed as a duplicate (correctly) one of the comments was to use a foil blanket as a ground sheet instead of a tarpaulin in a bid to reduce the overall pack weight. Is this an effective strategy? I have images of the foil tearing after being lain on and stretched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T13:54:19.397" Title="Is an emergency blanket effective as a ground sheet?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11362" CreationDate="2016-06-29T17:05:29.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not specifically answering your question (I don't use either rope or webbing in my anchors, yet) but I really wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of having a chunk of static rope near my anchors.  It's one of my most unexpectedly handy pieces of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason I got it was for rappelling to anchor stations to set top-ropes (I don't lead climb, so I have to get to the anchors from above).  I used to loop my climbing rope around a tree, rappel to the anchor, then pull the rope off the tree to set it for climbing.  It almost always was a mess&amp;ndash;dragging the rope through leaf litter, bushes, twigs, and almost always ending up in a snagged tangled mess which sucks to work on off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now I anchor the static rope back from the edge; rappel on the static line and leave it in-place to avoid the mess altogether.  The static line stays up while we climb, occasionally being used as a backup anchor or a directional, and then occasionally being used to clean the anchor and ascend back to the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There've been a few occasions that it's been used to rescue gear (tangled/stuck ropes, trad gear) and one climber (they slipped and got their foot super-stuck in a crack).  It's just one of those things where you look at a problem and say &quot;easy!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;fyi - I'm currently using a 20M length of 10mm rope.  So far that length has been great, although I regret not spending a little more for something a bit skinnier and lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T17:05:29.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13104" CreationDate="2016-06-29T17:18:39.643" Score="8" ViewCount="698" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard to never leave a knot in a climbing rope for an extended period of time as it can deform and weaken the core of the rope.  I'm unclear if the same is true for static cord and rope as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two prusik loops which have been tied continuously for years and used as auto blocks.  One of them is also part of my rescue kit, which means that on occasion it's used to anchor the rope and escape the belay.  In this setup it's holding 100% of the climber's weight, rather than just engaging my belay device as it does when it's used as an auto block.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'm curious, should I be untying the fisherman's knot between uses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T20:50:08.920" Title="Does leaving a knot in a static cord damage the cord as it does with dynamic rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13098" CreationDate="2016-06-29T17:28:15.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can use an emergency blanket as a substitute for most of a tarp's uses, but as you suspect it's not going to be as durable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Mylar that they're made of is surprisingly tough and I doubt that it would rip or tear, but I would expect it to develop plenty of very small punctures and begin to lose its aluminum coating (possibly making a glittery mess) within a few uses.  It would be worth picking a brand and testing them out before committing to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I like to carry a contractor's trash bag.  I hammock and use the trash bag to store my pack and boots to keep them dry while I sleep or as a pack-liner.  The bag can be cut open into a large makeshift tarp or poncho, they're tough.  They also begin to get small perforations and tears after a number of uses, but I'd suspect they'd be stronger than Mylar&amp;ndash;although they're also heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T17:28:15.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13096" CreationDate="2016-06-29T20:25:10.567" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;His opinion was that I could tie an overhand for the master point and&#xA;  be just as safe–the only downside being that it would be more&#xA;  difficult to untie after being loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, this is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people seem to think that commonly used climbing knots can slip if there's not enough friction to make them hold, and that we should choose a knot based on whether it's &quot;stronger&quot; against this type of failure. Actually, slipping is not a mode of failure for any of the types of hard knots customarily used in climbing (as opposed to something like a Munter, which is designed to slip, or a granny, which is not used in climbing because it's not secure).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only mode of failure for an overhand or a figure-eight is that you can put so much tension on it that the rope breaks. It simply doesn't happen in any realistic climbing situation that we put so much tension on a climbing rope or a cordelette that the cord breaks, and therefore this is not a realistic concern for these knots. (Tests do show that one type of knot may cause the rope to break under less tension than another. This is because the rope tends to break at a place where it's tightly curved. However, the amount of tension required is still just not something that happens in a climbing application.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Shem Seger pointed out in a comment, the application referred to in the question is also one in which we have multiple strands. For example, if the anchor being described in the question is being built with a cordelette made out of 6 mm nylon, then we have 6 strands coming down from the gear to the knot, and 3 independent loops forming the master point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's true that a figure 8 is easier to untie than an overhand, and that's why we use it to tie in on our harness. However, that's not a particularly realistic concern for the application described by the OP. The question describes a triply redundant anchor, which points down. The only direction of pull it is likely to experience is down, i.e., you're going to use it to support body weight and possibly catch a top-rope fall. Those aren't likely to produce enough tension to create any serious problems with untying the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lead fall (unless it's a factor-2 fall) is going to generate an upward force. It could be a much bigger force, but because it's upward it's actually not likely to stress this knot at all. The concern here is not that the cordelette will break, it's that the anchor probably isn't designed to hold against that direction of pull, so you may have pieces popping out. This is one of the reasons why it can be a good idea to supplement your anchor with a piece that is intended to hold against an upward pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of a factor-2 fall, the big concern is that this can be an extremely violent fall that can actually destroy your pro or break the rock. The cordelette is not the weak point in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more realistic consideration here is simply how much cord you have. A figure 8 uses up more of your cordelette. If you don't have enough length available in the cordelette to tie a figure 8, then that would be a good reason to use an overhand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-06-29T20:46:09.387" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T20:46:09.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13100" CreationDate="2016-06-29T20:50:08.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;should I be untying the fisherman's knot between uses?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically it's simply not possible to untie a fisherman's knot, especially after it's been loaded, so that wouldn't even be an option. This is actually a good reason to tie your Prusik cords with an offset overhand (EDK), because then if you ever need to untie the loop and use it for something else, you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In this setup it's holding 100% of the climber's weight, rather than just engaging my belay device as it does when it's used as an auto block.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we're talking about 6 mm nylon cord, not your spare shoelace, then this is a total non-issue. You can't break 6 mm cord with body weight. E.g., the 6 mm PMI cord I use is rated at 7.5 kN, which is equivalent to 760 kg or 1700 pounds. You have so much extra strength there that it's simply not an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in the self-rescue situation you describe, if you escape the belay correctly, the Prusik is never the only thing preventing the climber from falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-06-29T20:50:08.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4181" CreationDate="2016-06-29T21:51:23.863" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your needs will vary depending on expected temperature. Your provisions for a 35 C night and a -35 C will be drastically different. Ultralight gear will help, but can only go so far.  Whether or not you sleep warm or cold will determine how comfortable you are, as well as your age.  The older you are, the more warmth you'll need as your metabolism slows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An emergency bivy is fine if you expect warm weather.  For colder weather, you'll need a mat (usually 1 lb for winter) and an R value that matches the climate.  Winter mats need to an R value of 4 or 5, depending on your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you expect to happen?  In winds above 40 mph, you'll need a winter tent (ultralight winter tents start at 3 lbs). Summer tents are usually less than 1 lb.  If you expect persistent precipitation, you'll need synthetic insulation. A down sleeping bag rated for 10 C will be under 1 lb. A synthetic sleeping bag rated for -20 will be 2 lbs or more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9774" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T01:15:15.313" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T01:15:15.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13106" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13125" CreationDate="2016-06-30T01:47:21.297" Score="10" ViewCount="2016" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my dream climbs is to climb Snake Dike on Half Dome at night with a full moon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special considerations for rock climbing at night beyond bringing headlamps and extra batteries and dressing warmer than normal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-10-21T18:11:12.533" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T18:11:12.533" Title="What do I need to consider when rock climbing at night?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13107" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13128" CreationDate="2016-06-30T03:26:42.773" Score="4" ViewCount="2121" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a pond located at a restaurant near where we live in Massachusetts. It's always very busy because the restaurant gives out food for the ducks, geese and swans. We've been there often and recently saw some magnificent creatures for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although they resemble the other waterfowl, they're different in a number of ways. These guys are shiny, almost slick-looking. They're bigger than most of the ducks and geese. They have large chest and belly areas, and layers of wings, some very long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The larger one has a black and white spotted chest, almost like a dalmation dog, and the wings are also black and white. There's a small ring of red around the eyes, and the bill is mostly black with a red stripe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The white one is a little bit smaller, and has only a few black areas, primarily on the top of the head. It has red around the eyes, and also part of the face, and a pale pink bill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that it's a mated pair, and the more colorful one is the male, but I'm only assuming that because in many bird species the male is more colorful.  They appeared to be communicating, but with body position rather than sound. In the fifteen minutes we were there, we saw them walking together, both with chests puffed out; watching each other; and mimicking behaviors, such as preening and resting. At one point, the larger one lifted itself high and spread its wings to their fullest extent. It could have been stretching, but I suspect it was something else, again perhaps a form of communication. They were never more than a few inches apart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt they're native, though I can't say that for sure. It's a well-known stop along the migration route of the Canadian Snow Goose, so I imagine other things pass through which can be easily missed. We were blessed to have arrived at that auspicious moment so we could spend some time observing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd appreciate an identification, along with some general information about these unique and gorgeous beasts! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unfortunately, my cell phone camera didn't really do them justice, so the pictures aren't great. Click on each one to see a larger view.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uTN57.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uTN57m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Coming up out of the water.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1xMdg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1xMdgm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gorgeous display of something&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nCzjw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nCzjwm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black/White one&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RzC8X.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RzC8Xm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The white one&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AE6GH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AE6GHm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Looking at each other&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeofs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeofsm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Preening&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:48:31.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:48:31.053" Title="What are these large black and white waterfowl with red around the eyes?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13107" CreationDate="2016-06-30T03:36:50.157" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sorry to ruin your enchantment, but from the photos, it looks like a Muscovy duck: a species native to Central and South America and Mexico, but considered invasive in the United States.* &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are often acquired as pets, then released (or escape) and can quickly overrun an area. They are indicated in the transmission of disease, destruction of property, and competition with native species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is illegal to release them, and their possession and disposal are the subject of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://myfwc.com/media/3373085/Federal%20Control%20Order%20Muscovy%20Ducks.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Federal Control Order&lt;/a&gt; released in 2010 which states in part:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You may not retain for personal use or consumption, offer for sale, or sell a muscovy duck removed under authority of this section, nor may you release it in any other location&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Note: they are considered indigenous in 3 counties in Texas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="86" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T03:42:16.420" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T03:42:16.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13096" CreationDate="2016-06-30T06:44:06.003" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer does not provide much new information to Ben Crowell's and Charlie Brumbaugh's, but I am not entirely in agreement with all their different conclusions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In your use case and most use cases strength reduction by a knot is not an issue, so use whatever save knot you are comfortable with. In general consider the rule of 50% strength reduction by any knot. This is easy engough to remember and when you are building anchors for multi-pitch climbing and want to have some safety margin, this can become relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Explanations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My climbing reference just states that any knot reduces the breaking strength (force at which a rope/sling/cord breaks) by 50%. This is meant to be a safe rule of thumb, not an exact number.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also learned that one important factor that reduces the breaking strength how sharply a rope is bent in a knot. From this and tests I learned that an overhand on a bight is worse than a figure-8 on a bight, which is again worse than a double bowline. On the other hand you are talking about a cordelette setup, so you have 4 or 6 (or rather unlikely even more) strands in your knot. For the reason above this should reduce the breaking strength less, as the radii of the cord within the knot are bigger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far about principles. In your use case of a top rope anchor I totally agree with Ben Crowell: This is completely insignificant. As long as you do not use a really feeble and thin cord for your anchor, you will have enough strength left after deducting the generous 50% mentioned above. Also if you use so many strands the knot gets big and is thus much easier to untie. So this advantage of a figure-8 is less important as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general one cannot completely dismiss this mode of failure. A knot in a rope/sling/cord does reduce its breaking strength significantly. So if you use a rather thin cord (e.g. 5mm diameter: 5^2 * 20 = 500kN) for building an anchor (e.g. when you ran out of material on a longer route - should not, but can happen) and use a single strand between center point and a piece of protection, this strand has an effective strength of 250kN which can be easily reached in a factor-2 fall. Sure, one should not do such a thing (but you see many people who carry only such thin cords) and even then it is an unlikely scenario, but it is a scenario. And due to Murphy we know that what can go wrong will go wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T06:48:57.207" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T06:48:57.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13111" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13211" CreationDate="2016-06-30T12:29:51.667" Score="10" ViewCount="3019" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've picked up a hand chainsaw for the woods as it's cheap and an amazing bit of kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0AdJM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0AdJM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UK law states the legal carry for a knife is less than 3 inches and must be a non-locking folding blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will I be able to take my saw out on public land? I don't believe it meets the definitions of an illegal blade but would appreciate some advice from those who know more - I assume it would still be illegal on an everyday carry but if I have a valid reason (going into the woods to cut dead wood) I should be ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="9553" LastEditDate="2016-06-30T14:28:17.443" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T13:58:01.413" Title="Is a hand chainsaw legal to carry in the UK" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2016-06-30T13:00:29.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to have to disagree with others here about headlamps. Although they can come in handy in certain situations, I don't really like them for hiking. For me, a handheld flashlight is best for the following reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;GLARE! This is probably my least favorite thing about headlamps. When you have your light source so close to your eyes, any mist or dust that is in the air is going to cause rather intense glare. Especially if you use a brighter headlamp. With a flashlight, this isn't a problem since you move the beam away from your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Generally longer running. With a headlamp, you don't want heavy batteries. This is less of a problem with handheld flashlights. For instance, multiple AA batteries, multiple 18650 batteries, or even single 26650 batteries can considerably increase runtime. But they would likely be too heavy to comfortably strap to your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Higher output when you need it. Since headlamps use wimpier power sources (for reasons listed above), output generally can't be as high as flashlights. Also, because weight of the lamp itself can be an issue, brighter LED headlamps often need to quickly step down brightness in order to prevent overheating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Better tint choices. Let's face it. Some of us just HATE that 'angry blue' output typical of LED flashlights and headlamps. But the reality is that, although these nasty 'cool white' tints are extremely common, LEDs are available that can actually put out nicer, warmer tints with better color rendition. A warmer tint can make a night hike just THAT much more pleasant. But you are more likely to find these better LEDs used on flashlights than headlamps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Easier to change brightness modes. The controls are at your fingertips with flashlights. Not so with headlamps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can instantly be pointed where you want it. Once again. This is obvious. Simply point a flashlight where you want it to go. But a headlamp often requires fiddling around with it. This can be a particular problem when you look another person in the face and blind them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Better when you're hot and sweaty. Do you REALLY want something strapped to your forehead when it's warm out and your forehead is pouring sweat?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9779" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T13:00:29.620" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2016-06-30T13:09:20.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I faced the same and a waiter at a restaurant suggested me this. Just apply a pinch of turmeric at the spot a couple of times. I worked wonders for me instantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another report of this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gwens-nest.com/turmeric-a-spice-worth-knowing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://gwens-nest.com/turmeric-a-spice-worth-knowing/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cuts/Bleeding: Turmeric has styptic properties.  This is a common kitchen remedy in India for minor cuts.  We have also stopped bleeding from minor cuts and wounds quickly by dusting them with turmeric powder.  I was SO happy to learn this tip, because the only other styptic herb I had heard of was cayenne, and I am a big scardy-cat about hot things in my mouth or on my bleeding wounds.  Turmeric doesn’t hurt or sting, but it leaves a yellow tinge to your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9780" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-04-20T18:19:35.603" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T18:19:35.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13106" CreationDate="2016-06-30T14:29:21.557" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Route finding might be a problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the approach is not obvious (from what I read about Snake Dike, it isn't), you could waste much time blundering there, looking for cairns and what not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could miss an important belay point on the route.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could wander off to another (harder) route in the middle; it happens to me all the time during the day, so I figure it's all the more a possibility at night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a good map and possibly a GPS for backup. Actually, I'd probably never go climbing an unknown route at night (YMMV), but this is much less of a problem if you have already been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, make sure the weather is going to be good. Any clouds will ruin your full moon. Also (depending on the season) the wall may be icy at night if it was wet during the day!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For unforeseen circumstances (stuck on the wall? Stuck at the summit?), take an emergency blanket, extra food and adequate water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure everything you do is legal. Authorities don't like nonstandard hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T14:29:21.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13115" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-06-30T14:50:09.710" Score="8" ViewCount="562" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear bifocal, multi-focus prescription eye glasses.  The top is for long range, and the bottoms allow me to tilt my head a bit to bring nearby objects into focus.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding sunglasses that clip-on, or fit over my prescription glasses is difficult, there are usually no or only a limited selection.  There are also many trade offs with clip-on or fit over sunglasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am considering getting prescription sunglasses, but have no idea what to look for.  I know there are some that change automatically from sunglasses to plain vision, but that is about all I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My outdoor life is fairly active, often with many hours spent on the water and driving in all conditions. I drive through a tunnel almost everyday (&lt;em&gt;it is well lighted, with an average transit time of about 1 minute&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My indoor life, involves looking at a computer screen for 8 hours a weekday, a bit of TV watching and operating power tools indoors and outdoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have an existing question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1242&quot;&gt;Things to consider when buying sunglasses&lt;/a&gt; that has some good information but it is specific to non-prescription. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the idea of glasses that change from sunglasses to indoor.  Cost is not a significant consideration, performance and ease of use are the driving factors in my choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-08-13T09:44:18.717" Title="What to consider when shopping for prescription sunglasses?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13096" CreationDate="2016-06-30T15:12:08.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doesn't really matter for top roping, you've got so much rope out when you're top roping that when you take a fall pretty much all the force is absorbed by the rope, your anchor is holding only a little more than the body weight of you and your belayer most of the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain guides will tie an overhand knot, figure eight, or figure nine depending on how how high they want their master point to be. When top belaying, you want the master point as high as possible, so figure nines are good at taking up any extra sling, especially if you're anchoring in an inline crack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For top roping however, I wouldn't recommend tying a large master point, because as soon as you deviate from your line (which happens on a lot of top roping routes) then your anchor isn't going to be equalized. On a two bolt top roping anchor I would use a sliding-x with maybe a couple stopper knots tied into it if I was using a sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RHDoX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RHDoX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ptruchon.pagekite.me/wiki/climbing/topropeout&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I favour &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9005/what-is-an-equalette-anchor&quot;&gt;equalettes&lt;/a&gt; when I'm setting up top anchors myself, they're the most SRENE anchor in my opinion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T06:04:08.750" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13115" CreationDate="2016-06-30T15:23:19.797" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I like the idea of glasses that change from sunglasses to indoor&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochromic_lens&quot;&gt;Photochromic lenses&lt;/a&gt; are a lot less useful than most people think when they hear about the concept. The main problem is that the change takes time - about a minute to darken and nearly five minutes to un-darken. That makes them basically useless for things like tunnels. Another problem is that they don't darken as much in higher temperatures, and the range between the darkest and lightest state is limited anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ctrl-one-the-smartest-lcd-tint-changing-glasses#/&quot;&gt;high-tech variants&lt;/a&gt; that solve these problems by using LCD technology, but I don't think they're available with prescription lenses, except as clip-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply get regular prescription sunglasses. If they're from a reputable manufacturer they'll have UV protection. You'll also want antireflection coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T15:23:19.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13106" CreationDate="2016-06-30T15:42:17.017" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on your headlamp. I use a Petzl Ultra Vario headlamp for caving that can cast a beam 200m, so when I've got that on I can see pretty much the same as climbing during the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've climbed at night before, there wasn't any real significant difference. We happened to be climbing during a full moon as well, and as soon as that moon came out it was very bright on that rock face, much brighter than down on the ground in the trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing we noticed climbing with headlamps, is holds are sometimes &lt;em&gt;easier&lt;/em&gt; to find. Your lamp will cast a shadow behind the holds, making them stand out a lot more than during the day when the sun is beaming from above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing about climbing in the dark is you lose the sense of how high you are off the ground. Your belayer's light gets smaller and smaller, but you don't get the same sensation as you do during the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the greatest danger climbing at night, is falling rocks. You're not going to be able to see them coming, and if you do see them you aren't going to be able to react fast enough to get out of their way. I remember belaying at night and not knowing there was a rock falling until it hit the ground beside me, so keep your helmets on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-02T04:28:38.180" LastActivityDate="2016-07-02T04:28:38.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13115" CreationDate="2016-06-30T16:59:25.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an extremely nearsighted person who has trouble with contacts and spends a whole lot of time being active outdoors. As a result, I've done a lot of investigating into prescription sunglasses, and tested several pairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest difference between sunglasses and regular glasses is that sunglasses need to block out a larger area than a regular glasses to be effective. Otherwise too much sun comes around the edges and you are worse off than with no sunglasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most basic prescription sunglasses are a regular glasses frame with tinted lenses, and if you only need a low prescription, these are probably sufficient. The benefit to these is that you can get them at any optics shop. But if you have a high prescription and need a thick lens, these don't work well because the larger frame with really thick lenses is uncomfortable heavy. I had to return a pair of Ray Bans because of this: it felt like I couldn't even breath with them on my nose. I found that metal frames with an adjustable nose piece were most comfortable because I could adjust them to stay in place on my relatively narrow nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is wrap around lenses. These are what I'd get if money wasn't an object. If you have a high prescription, www.RudyProject.com and probably others have an option for a prescription insert that fits behind a pair of wrap around sunglasses so that you can have the prescription lens without needing the whole curved lens to be prescription, which would be a serious challenge to create and would drive the price up significantly if it were even possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've looked into the type that change between indoor and outdoor (transition lenses). I've known a number of people who are satisfied with them. They do take a few moments to adjust to a useful level between indoor and outdoor and longer to completely adjust. Ten years ago, the lightest indoor version was still slightly tinted, but it didn't bother any of the people I knew who wore them. The technology may have improved since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the biggest problem with prescription sunglasses is my tendency to lose them. I've got one pair that ended up at the bottom of a lake, and another pair that just plain disappeared. If you tend to misplace things, this probably needs to be a consideration. I'm much less upset when my $5 wear-over sunglasses disappear than my $300 dollar prescription pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T16:59:25.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13122" CreationDate="2016-06-30T17:58:23.750" Score="21" ViewCount="4129" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were hiking in Colorado a couple of weeks ago (i.e., mid-June).  One day, I took Trail A and my husband took Trail B.  As he rounded a bend, he saw a moose on the trail about 50 feet away.  He stopped.  The moose did nothing.  He continued walking towards the moose. When he got to about 30 feet from the moose, the moose ambled off the trail, and, partially screened by trees, started eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than neglecting to take a picture, did my husband do anything wrong in this encounter with a moose?  (That is, was he dumb?) Should he have waited at the 50 foot range (when he first saw the moose) for the moose to leave?  Waved his arm?  Spoken or shouted?  Or is a slow-ish, confident approach good?  (I would have stopped, taken a picture, and waited until the moose left.)    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:02:13.470" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:02:13.470" Title="What to do when a moose blocks the trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;moose&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13115" CreationDate="2016-06-30T18:22:45.240" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I won't discuss the aspects that the other two answers have covered well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am very near-sighted.  For my &lt;strong&gt;non&lt;/strong&gt;-sunglasses, I have what are called &quot;progressives&quot;.  I think this is what you are calling bi-focal, multi-focal. For my sunglasses, I skipped the progressive feature, which I don't find very useful anyway.  Outdoors, I am focused on distance almost all the time and the few times it might be nice to see something that is close a bit more clearly isn't worth almost an extra $500 or so for the progressive feature.  I have no problem seeing where my feet are going without the progressive feature, nor in following a tennis ball to my racquet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a price, even high-diopter lenses can be made of a material much thinner and lighter than the standard.  This is especially useful in sunglasses, because of their larger area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will echo Karen's comment about blocking sun from the edges; this is particularly important at high altitude.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-06-30T18:22:45.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13120" CreationDate="2016-06-30T19:19:32.243" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having been around moose before, I would say that is would have been better to either stop and wait for the moose to leave or swing in a wide loop around the moose. In some areas like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/wildview.htm&quot;&gt;Grand Teton National Park&lt;/a&gt;, it is illegal to approach closer than 25 yards and you can be given a ticket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen moose act aggressively towards a human, but I figure that anything that outweighs me by a factor of 5-10 times has the right of way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T01:16:24.133" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T01:16:24.133" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13123" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13136" CreationDate="2016-06-30T19:53:55.843" Score="7" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can someone help identify this fish? I was almost certain it was a smallmouth bass, which is what we were catching all day. But after looking back at the pictures this is the lightest one I've seen by far. The others had much darker scales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caught on an inland lake on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LyPsB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LyPsB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9781" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-21T02:42:13.780" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T02:42:13.780" Title="Bass identification" Tags="&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13106" CreationDate="2016-07-01T00:31:02.563" Score="12" Body="&lt;h1&gt;General advice for climbing at night:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't do it&lt;/strong&gt; if you are new to climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid it&lt;/strong&gt;, even if you are not new to climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be prepared for it&lt;/strong&gt; on long routes, even when you are not expecting to be climbing at night. Most of my night-climbing came about unplanned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure &lt;strong&gt;you can do everything involved in climbing with your eyes closed&lt;/strong&gt;. In the shower. (Setting up for rappel, tying in and untying, building rappel anchors... just to name a few things...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pay extra attention to &lt;strong&gt;communication&lt;/strong&gt; with your partner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If clouds begin to cover the moon, &lt;strong&gt;conserve batteries&lt;/strong&gt; and turn off your headlamp when belaying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your skill level is such that the idea of turning your lights off at a belay or loosing your light altogether doesn't frighten you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even if all is going fine, keep your eyes out for &lt;strong&gt;places you might be able to spend the night&lt;/strong&gt; if things go south later on. Don't dismiss small ledges, I have spent a night sitting upright. That was way better than sleeping at a hanging belay.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know how long your headlamp lasts and &lt;strong&gt;bring extra batteries&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure someone knows what you are up to and &lt;strong&gt;let people know when to expect you back&lt;/strong&gt;. This one is not just for your safety. If someone tries to find you at night and you are not in your tent, they might assume something has happened and contact YOSAR.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Figure out how to attach your headlamp to your helmet. Before you start climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan in &lt;strong&gt;extra time&lt;/strong&gt;. It will take longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be extra diligent about &lt;strong&gt;researching weather conditions&lt;/strong&gt;, since you won't be able to see weather approaching as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move efficiently but safely. Your belayer will thank you, since it can get cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't rely on technology to find your way&lt;/strong&gt;. (Applicable to life in general)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climb with someone you have climbed with before. This goes back to the communication issue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get some sleep&lt;/strong&gt; before you jump into your car and drive home.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have the &lt;strong&gt;&quot;cuddle talk&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; with your partner. Don't engage in any night-climbing with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haphephobia&quot;&gt;haphephobiac&lt;/a&gt; who would rather die of hypothermia than share some body-heat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Here is some advice for climbing Half Dome at night:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harness up for the decent on the cables. That section of the dome can have whet spots, and since you are at significantly higher elevation than the valley floor, you might encounter conditions where parts of the decent are frozen over. Temperatures can be more than 20 degrees F lower up there, which can mean below freezing, even in summer months.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are planning on descending the death-slabs, make sure you have taken them at least once during the day (either up or down). Route-finding for those unfamiliar with that decent can become a nightmare at night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get an overnight-wilderness permit for Little Yosemite from the ranger station near the post office in the Valley. That way, if you don't make it back and have to sleep somewhere on you way back down you won't get ticketed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since you are already at the ranger station, ask for the conditions up there at night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is a section where the dike splits off in two directions. Make sure you stay on route.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't sleep on top. It is illegal even with an overnight permit for Little Yosemite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't walk off the edge above the northwest face.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T01:29:37.757" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T01:29:37.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13127" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13137" CreationDate="2016-07-01T04:30:06.253" Score="6" ViewCount="697" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently talked with a young geologist, some of whose field work is in the Arctic. We mostly talked about the science, but the geologist mentioned being certified (not sure of this word) to act as a polar bear guard. This involves killing the bear, if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question: Does anyone know what training this certification (?) might require? Is any sort of simulation of actual conditions involved, and if so, what? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Sorry, I am not going to get specific about where in the arctic because that might identify who I talked to.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:15:42.080" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:15:42.080" Title="What might being certified as a polar bear guard involve?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13107" CreationDate="2016-07-01T04:32:12.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The birds in your photos are definitely &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_duck&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Muscovy ducks&lt;/a&gt; as already mentioned by Lost. I simply would like to add a little more information on these gorgeous birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They are large ducks, with the males about 76 cm (30 in) long, and weighing up to 7 kg (15 lb). Females are considerably smaller, and only grow to 3 kg (6.6 lb), roughly half the males' size. The bird is predominantly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. The amount of white on the neck and head is variable, as well as the bill, which can be yellow, pink, black, or any mixture of these. They may have white patches or bars on the wings, which become more noticeable during flight. Both sexes have pink or red wattles around the bill, those of the male being larger and more brightly colored. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_duck&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Buz9R.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Buz9R.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Muscovy ducks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The facial differences between the male and female Muscovy ducks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Muscovy ducks are brownish-black in coloration, with iridescent green and purple dorsal plumage and white wing patches. The legs and feet are grayish-black and the iris is yellowish-brown. Males and females are similar in appearance, but males are nearly twice as large as females. In addition, males have a patch of bare black skin surrounded by pinkish-red caruncles (fleshy outgrowths) which extends from the back of the eye to the bill. Although relatively silent, the male produces a low hissing sound and the female has a short, weak &quot;quack.&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/muscovy-duck#ad-image-0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ducks Unlimited.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gL5a9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gL5a9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mating Muscovies&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mating pair of Muscovies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T04:32:12.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13120" CreationDate="2016-07-01T04:53:35.660" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti...&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moose attacks are common in North America. This is largely due to population numbers (you'll see more moose than bear) as much as people's lack of understanding of the risk. People will approach them, attempt to pet them, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If left alone, moose will ordinarily leave you alone. However, they can be particularly aggressive if a mother is with her young, if provoked, surprised or threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you encounter a moose in the trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remain calm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't make loud noises, or throw things at the moose. Talk calmly to it as you back away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go around the moose if you can preferably uphill with lots of stuff (trees) and at least 50ft between you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get between mother and calf&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Identify handy trees to climb, or quick escape routes (uphill) — moose can run 30 mph (50 km/h), you can't&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Identify whether a moose is likely to charge — ears back, head down, fur on its back raised up, it urinates, or flips its head aggressively. If these happen, seriously start thinking about using what you found in the above step.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further bits of advice can be teased out of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3374/moose-how-to-decrease-the-risk-of-being-injured&quot;&gt;lengthy answers found to this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-07-03T13:27:12.227" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13120" CreationDate="2016-07-01T05:57:06.170" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've encountered moose on several occasions. The first was when I was a boy while walking through the woods on the way to school, I was on the trail through the woods that connected to the upper part of town when I came up behind a big moose. I stopped, backed away slow, then as nonchalantly as possible turned my back to the moose and walked away. When I got around the corner, I darted up the hill through the thickest trees I could find and took a really wide berth around where the moose was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second time I encountered a moose, also while a boy, it charged me and my friends. We didn't even know it was there until we heard it huffing and ploughing through the snow behind us (it had a calf, and we unwittingly disturbed it with our big inner tube we were rolling down the hill). The flight response was strong with us that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't mess around with moose. In fact, I fear them somewhat more than bears for one primary reason: they are dumb. The last thing you want is a crazy swamp donkey losing it's little mind and four-hoof river dancing all over your face. Moose won't maim you and kill you like a bear will, they'll stomp you into the ground and leave you horrifically beaten and broken. No one in my neck of the woods will approach a wild animal, especially not one that stands 7 feet at the shoulder and weighs as much as a car, that's something naive tourists do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;smart&lt;/em&gt; thing for your husband to do would have been to back away and observe from a distance if you wanted to take a look. The last time I had an uncomfortable encounter with a moose, I was urging my friend with the gun to fire a warning shot into its head... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What your husband did was dumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want more reasons for why it was dumb, spend some time on YouTube watching videos of aggressive moose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T21:04:30.110" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T21:04:30.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13086" CreationDate="2016-07-01T06:24:31.107" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your bite/sting mark is missing something very essential in order to qualify it as a bite or sting mark, and that is: a mark from a bite or a sting. Had something bit you or stung you, then you would be able to see a little hole or pincer mark in the middle of that very colourful bruise you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coincidence of all coincidences, I lived in Miamisburg for a summer, and got mysteriously bit by something venomous while knocking doors out there around Dayton. Only it didn't turn purple or green, it turned orange, puffed up and blistered, but still had a very obvious bite mark in the middle of it. I then started getting itchy orange puffy spots all over my body because the venom had poisoned my blood, a very disturbing experience all around, I suspect it was a spider, but got no confirmation on exactly what.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point is, venom doesn't turn your skin those colours. I've been stung by wasps and bitten by ants too, they don't look like a bruise, and they always puff up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T21:12:42.897" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T21:12:42.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13132" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-01T06:49:54.127" Score="9" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to make long foot trip from Salzburg via Innsbruck to Milan and from there to Venice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a tool that allows me create routes for pedestrian? I'm looking for things like walking on sidewalks, avoiding rush roads etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9789" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-08T03:38:57.460" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T03:38:57.460" Title="How to find route for pedestrian" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13132" CreationDate="2016-07-01T07:58:04.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bikemap.net/&quot;&gt;Bikemap.net&lt;/a&gt;, not only for bike trails, but also for hikes: has really good maps and also nice route planning functions; you can save your maps to be available offline, and then track them on your smartphone. Or you can print the detailed maps, frame by frame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Bikemap page took me to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wandermap.net/&quot;&gt;Wandermap.net&lt;/a&gt; which also seems to be useful, but I somehow got used to the first one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure if these cover what you mean by &quot;walking on sideways&quot;, but if uncertain about pavements on a route, you may always double check satellite recordings on google maps too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T08:05:04.277" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T08:05:04.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4120" CreationDate="2016-07-01T12:04:38.017" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once I was advised not to drink too much, but rather just sips, to get rid of the thirst: a &lt;a href=&quot;http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1R0nBHVXXXXb9XFXXq6xXFXXXt/TOPSKY-2l-TPU-hydration-backpacks-water-bag-high-quality-brand-font-b-hiking-b-font-font.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;camelback&lt;/a&gt; + a drinking tube in your backpack should be handy in this case. Of course, apply with reason: do not get yourself dehydrated! drink a lot before the trek (as advised in other answers), and not only: being well-hydrated in general is good for your health (not just drinking 2 liters of water before a hike). Also, experiment with this in advance on smaller few-hour-long hikes, to see how does it work for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed after several hikes that I tend to take back home 1/3-1/2 of my water. After trying this method I found it useful, but &lt;strong&gt;only for one-day trips&lt;/strong&gt;, and also if the weather is suitable for it - if I hike in 30+ degrees (Celsius) for a whole day then yes, I definitely need more water than that. And again, it is a great exercise of self-discipline: how to drink just a sip once you started drinking :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T12:04:38.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13132" CreationDate="2016-07-01T14:06:40.943" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Have you tried &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.google.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Maps&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the top-left corner there's a blue button to ask for directions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C3uZJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C3uZJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ask for directions&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com.mx/maps/dir/Salzburg,+Austria/Innsbruck+Hbf,+Austria/Milan,+Metropolitan+City+of+Milan,+Italy/Venice,+Italy/@46.5738116,9.9989107,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x47769adda908d4b1:0xc1e183a1412af73d!2m2!1d13.05501!2d47.80949!1m5!1m1!1s0x479d695813109cdb:0x4a56cb35e59c9811!2m2!1d11.4005366!2d47.2634797!1m5!1m1!1s0x4786c1493f1275e7:0x3cffcd13c6740e8d!2m2!1d9.1859243!2d45.4654219!1m5!1m1!1s0x477eaa16cb134829:0x307098715907f10!2m2!1d12.4177003!2d45.4930475!3e2?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tried to enter your route&lt;/a&gt; and it shows me a seemingly decent route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just be sure to indicate that you're walking (1), and add your source and destinations (2). You can use the &lt;em&gt;plus-sign&lt;/em&gt; (3) to add more waypoints:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aPgbW.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aPgbW.png&quot; alt=&quot;Google Maps controls&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that Google takes into account rush roads and stuff like that:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9bQAA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9bQAA.png&quot; alt=&quot;Avoid rush roads&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a final note, if you want to change the route, you can drag the white points elsewhere and it will calculate another route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3112/mark&quot;&gt;@Mark&lt;/a&gt; pointed out, you should expect for it to have a few flaws (as will any solution not based on first-hand experience from previous hikers).&#xA;If you have time to plan, you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; minimize this by using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com.mx/maps/dir/Salzburg,+Austria/Innsbruck+Hbf,+Austria/Milan,+Metropolitan+City+of+Milan,+Italy/Venice,+Italy/@45.4559826,12.2946399,3a,75y,127.93h,71.16t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sT2UNRTYBNli_D09eXO7fTA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DT2UNRTYBNli_D09eXO7fTA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D63.48679%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x47769adda908d4b1:0xc1e183a1412af73d!2m2!1d13.05501!2d47.80949!1m5!1m1!1s0x479d695813109cdb:0x4a56cb35e59c9811!2m2!1d11.4005366!2d47.2634797!1m5!1m1!1s0x4786c1493f1275e7:0x3cffcd13c6740e8d!2m2!1d9.1859243!2d45.4654219!1m5!1m1!1s0x477eaa16cb134829:0x307098715907f10!2m2!1d12.4177003!2d45.4930475!3e2?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;street view&lt;/a&gt; to see if there really is a sidewalk there.&#xA;Either way: be sure you're ready to improvise or even backtrack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T14:18:16.493" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13123" CreationDate="2016-07-01T14:21:27.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a very pale colored smallmouth bass. The eyes are red , the upper jaw of smallmouth bass extends to the middle of the eye like the picture shows, the body has brown vertical bands and is sandy yellow in color. This particular specimen is very pale in color!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) is a species of freshwater fish found within the sunfish family.  Smallmouth bass were first introduced to Nova Scotia in 1942 by the government for a source of sport fishing. It is known as an invasive species in most of Nova Scotia’s watersheds due to its habit of outcompeting native species. To this day, illegal introduction still occurs to induce sport fishing.  This fish can be known as a smallmouth, bronzeback, brown bass, brownie, smallie or bronze bass. The smallmouth bass is normally dark brown ranging to a shade of sandy yellow, depending on its habitat. Their eyes are red and there body has dark brown vertical bands, rather than a horizontal band going along its side. There are 13–15 soft rays in the dorsal fin. To distinctly distinguish a smallmouth bass from a largemouth, notice the upper jaw of a smallmouth bass extends to the middle of the eye rather than past it. The males are smaller than the females, obtaining a weight of about 2 pounds while the females can grow up to 6 pounds, averaging a length of 15-30 cm. &lt;strong&gt;The size, color and weight of the bass all depends on its habitat&lt;/strong&gt;. It’s surrounding habitat influences whether it’s got the proper amount of food supply and the appropriate climate to grow. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://coastalaction.org/Wordpress/projects/species-at-risk/atlantic-whitefish/smallmouth-bass-facts/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coastal Action.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallmouth_bass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; has this to add to to the description:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The smallmouth bass is generally brown, appearing sometimes as black or green (seldom yellow) with red eyes, and dark brown vertical bands, rather than a horizontal band along the side. There are 13–15 soft rays in the dorsal fin. The upper jaw of smallmouth bass extends to the middle of the eye. The smallmouth's coloration and hue may vary according to environmental variables such as water clarity or prey diet. Males are generally smaller than Females. The males tend to range around two pounds, while females can range from three to six pounds. Their average sizes can differ, depending on where they are found; those found in American waters tend to be larger due to the longer summers, which allow them to eat and grow for a longer period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Their habitat plays a significant role in their color, weight, and shape. River water smallmouth that live in dark water tend to be rather torpedo-shaped and very dark brown to be more efficient for feeding. Lakeside smallmouth bass, however, that live in sandy areas, tend to be a light yellow-brown to adapt to the environment in a defensive state and are more oval-shaped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T14:21:27.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13127" CreationDate="2016-07-01T16:18:51.410" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is not a huge amount of information on the subject of a &lt;strong&gt;Polar Bear Guard Training Course&lt;/strong&gt;. It seems to be a three day course that deals more on deterrent methods and polar bear protection, than on shooting these bears, although this too is included in the training. I am going to limit myself to Canada, although other counties do in fact have similar programs in place, I can not see a large amount of differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Government of Nunavut’s bear deterrence program works collaboratively with communities, WWF, industry, other government departments and individuals to significantly reduce the number of bear-human conflicts. The new training course, which builds on the Polar Bear Guard Training course developed by Parks Canada as part of the International Polar Year, is another example of how partnerships help communities, businesses, industry, researchers, and government agencies across the territory. The new training resources will focus on the protection of people, property and polar bears through the use of proven detection and deterrent methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Recognizing the need for a standard training for polar bear guards, WWF has worked with the Government of Nunavut and Parks Canada over the past year to develop the new training package. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gov.nu.ca/eia/news/first-polar-bear-guard-training-course-offered-iqaluit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs (Nunavut).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Polar Bear Guard Training Course Offered in Iqaluit through the &lt;a href=&quot;http://arcticcollege.ca/en/latest-news/item/5886-polar-bear-guard-training-wwf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nunavut Artic College&lt;/a&gt;, but I do not know how often the course is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In partnership with Parks Canada, the Nunavut Department of Environment, and BearWISE – WWF will roll out the new standard course for polar bear guard training in November 2013.  This course combines the expertise of all collaborators to establish standards of practice and training for polar bear guards in Nunavut.  The training will help communities across Nunavut deal with bear encounters – protecting people, property and polar bears. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2013/11/01/safety-first-people-polar-bears-arctic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WWF&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u9kej.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u9kej.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Iqaluit hosts polar bear guard training&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two polar bear guards-in-training practice their marksmanship over the weekend at the shooting range in Iqaluit as part of a new program meant to reduce the number of human-polar bear conflicts in Nunavut. The training package was developed by the Government of Nunavut, the World Wildlife Foundation and Parks Canada to help protect &quot;people, property and polar bears through the use of proven detection and deterrent methods,&quot; said a Nov. 27 joint press release. The training ran from Nov. 29 through to Dec. 1. (PHOTO BY VICKI SAHANATIEN/WWF CANADA) - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_iqaluit_hosts_polar_bear_guard_training/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nunatsia Online.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since deterrents sometimes fail, Polar Guards must be trained to bring down a polar bear if necessity requires it and it would seem to make sense that they must employ the prescribed requirements for ammunition and firearms as for hunting these bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/default/files/128-hunting_reg_2016-17_en_proof.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northwest Territories Summary of Hunting Regulations&lt;/a&gt; (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-01T17:50:44.627" LastActivityDate="2016-07-01T17:50:44.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13098" CreationDate="2016-07-01T19:26:56.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can in a pinch, but not what it is made for.  Won't last very long at all and will make a ton of noise.  Get a piece of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/view/photos/gear-photos/make-a-tyvek-groundcloth-for-your-tent/#bp=0/img1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tyvek&lt;/a&gt; and cut it to size. Cheap, light and durable.  Can't beat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4296" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T13:54:19.397" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T13:54:19.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13120" CreationDate="2016-07-01T22:01:06.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in Fairbanks, Alaska, moose encounters are pretty common. Your husband and the moose handled it the way most experienced people and moose around here would... cautiously but confidently. Sometimes they won't move off the trail unless you communicate your intention by getting closer. Moose will not usually become aggressive unless you do something to provoke them, especially by getting near a mother's calf. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did hear from a local wildlife official once that if you do encounter an aggressive moose, it can be effective to get behind trees because the moose will try to go around them rather than charge you directly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the trees have to be large. They will charge right through small ones! One time I saw a moose run full speed through through dense trees with 1-2 inch trunks and cross the trail a few yards in front of me. She wasn't aggressive, just running for some reason that had nothing to do with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9801" LastEditorUserId="9801" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T22:15:41.133" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T22:15:41.133" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13143" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-02T03:04:53.927" Score="7" ViewCount="386" Body="&lt;p&gt;By situational awareness I mean (but certainly don't limit it to): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Looking behind to familiarize yourself with the return journey.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Looking ahead to see what the best route will be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knowing the approximate time of day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knowing your approximate location. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping one eye on the sky for incoming weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being aware of how the group as a whole and each individual is doing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is one of those skills that I have more absorbed through experience then been taught by others, so what are some tips for teaching people these skills?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-27T18:26:35.367" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T18:26:35.367" Title="How to teach situational awareness for the outdoors?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13144" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-02T16:20:30.640" Score="5" ViewCount="303" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wish to circumambulate around Mount Kailash on foot. This is roughly 33 miles of mountaineous terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people do this for spiritual reasons, i.e circumambulate once to wash away your sins, circumambulate 108 times to attain nirvana.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just want to circumambulate around Mount Kailash because I want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of physical (and/or spiritual training) do I require? I understand this can take years, even decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some information about me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;lady in mid-30s (people swear I am in early 20s)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5'4&quot;, 140lbs (last time I weighed myself was Jan 2016)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;mostly eat fruits, veggies, fiber&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;exercise 4 to 5 days a week, perform Surya Namaskar (started with 3 reps in Summer 2015, I'm up to 69 reps now, goal to reach 108 reps by end of 2017), plus light weights&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9807" LastActivityDate="2016-07-03T02:35:07.083" Title="Training to Circumambulate Around Mount Kailash" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13143" CreationDate="2016-07-02T17:12:03.267" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One can always pass on the various techniques of &lt;strong&gt;situational awareness&lt;/strong&gt; to others while in the outdoors by simply sharing your knowledge while hiking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to be good teachers, we must be versed enough in this art in order to pass on the knowledge we have learned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some universities offer courses which include situational awareness within their particular course. An example would be &lt;a href=&quot;http://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/summer-workshop-outdoor-council-of-canada-occ-leadership-level-1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;2014 Outdoor Council of Canada (OCC) Leadership&lt;/a&gt; course offered by UBC which contains the following in its course content:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Understanding the role of the leader and leadership styles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Integrating ‘activity,’ ‘participant,’ and ‘venue’ characteristics&#xA;  to promote event quality and safety&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Constructing an activity plan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Identifying hazards and mitigation strategies&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Communication and team building between participants, co-leaders and&#xA;  other stakeholders&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Group management in the field&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Enhancing &lt;strong&gt;situational awareness&lt;/strong&gt; for quality and safety&#xA;  management&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Emergency response&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◾Post-trip debriefing and facilitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following course was designed and developed at the request the Discovery Channel: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.teamlinkinc.com/shenandoah/learn-a-skill.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;INTRODUCTION TO OUTDOOR SURVIVAL (IOS)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Focusing on the basic points of four-season survival, the course begins with the construction of a personal survival kit and the importance of &lt;strong&gt;situational awareness&lt;/strong&gt; and progresses through the skill sets of basic navigation, water acquisition, signaling, primitive fire building methods and shelter construction. THIS IS A FIELD COURSE. Students should dress and prepare for outdoor, mountainside conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for teaching others the need for situational awareness we could use games (as for children). For Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivopedia.com/teaching-children-survival/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Right Way to… Game&lt;/a&gt;: This game teaches your kids how to get home or to another destination. Have them pick out landmarks that identify the route. Also, have them give you directions to wherever it is that you’re going. Make it fun and offer a reward for getting it right. Do the same thing when you’re camping or hiking by picking out identifying landmarks such as trees or rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Teach kids the S.T.O.P. acronym: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop the minute that they realize that they’re lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;-Think about what’s happened. It’s easy for a kid to panic but if&#xA;  they know that they’re going to be scared, they may be more ready for&#xA;  it. They need to stop and think about the situation, which will help&#xA;  with the next step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;-Observe. Where are they? What’s around them? What’s in their pockets&#xA;  or backpack that they can use to help themselves? Finally,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;-Plan. Figure out what to do. Should they blow their whistle or hide?&#xA;  Are they close to your meet-up point? Is it safe for them to move?&#xA;  They need to build a solid plan based upon what you’ve taught them. SO&#xA;  TEACH THEM. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivopedia.com/teaching-children-survival/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Teaching Survival Skills to Children&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-02T22:37:37.597" LastActivityDate="2016-07-02T22:37:37.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13144" CreationDate="2016-07-02T18:06:40.333" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yowangdu.com/tibet-travel/mount-kailash.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;webpage&lt;/a&gt;, the trail starts at 15,000 feet and includes a 18,000 ft pass. My recommendation would be to do some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_exercise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;aerobic exercises&lt;/a&gt;, to prepare for the lower oxygen levels. I sure that any trip would include an acclimatization phase, but being prepared would certainly help. Also, if you have the opportunity to train at higher elevations in advance, that would give you an idea of what is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the bottom line is that you are not going to regret being in better shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-07-02T18:06:40.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13144" CreationDate="2016-07-03T00:35:07.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a wonderful goal!  It is good that you understand it can take time to work up to this trip.  I recommend that you think in terms of several years, not decades, because (a) after 50, most people don't get better physically, they just manage not to get worse and (b) unexpected things happen.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As for what kind of physical and spiritual training you require:&lt;/strong&gt; You don't say if you have any high altitude experience.  In his good answer, Charlie Brumbaugh says that the trail starts at 15,000 feet and includes an 18,000 foot pass.  Experience hiking and sleeping at altitudes of 10,000 to 13,000 feet is essential (and higher, if you can). You can easily find long hikes in this range in Colorado and California. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do I think this is essential?  Some people, even if they are very fit, are miserable at altitude and if you are one of them, you don't want to find it out in Tibet.  This is of those low probablility//unacceptable consequences cases.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for spiritual: this isn't exactly spiritual, but you should find out how much more you can do -- and &lt;strong&gt;how&lt;/strong&gt; to do it -- when you &lt;strong&gt;yearn&lt;/strong&gt; to just stop. You'll figure this out for yourself by carrying a modest pack at altitude.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going with a group, you need to understand what you can do.  Can you keep up with the group schedule?  Will you have fun?  If all your experience is at sea-level, you won't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I envy you having this in your future. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterthought: You don't mention your tolerance for hard beds or no beds, being dirty, peeing and pooping behind a rock, less than gourmet cuisine....you can figure this out at sea level, but you need to know.  And of course, you need to be aerobically fit at sea level.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-07-03T02:35:07.083" LastActivityDate="2016-07-03T02:35:07.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13149" CreationDate="2016-07-03T10:17:02.593" Score="7" ViewCount="1133" Body="&lt;p&gt;My outdoor gear has been relegated to the garage but I want to keep it off the ground, I have a beam and paracord and am using a double fisherman's bend and a midshipman knot to keep it elevated but it's really difficult to raise it and lower it as the weight tightens the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's a good knot that I can use to hang my gear, ideally I want to be able to raise and lower it from the ground?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:30:34.283" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:30:34.283" Title="Knot to attach gear to a beam" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13148" CreationDate="2016-07-03T18:36:39.163" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can think of multiple options for solving this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/tensionless/index.php?Categ=typehitches&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tensionless Hitch&lt;/a&gt; i.e. wrap the rope around the beam enough times that it doesn't slip and unwrap to lower.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loop a sling over the beam, connect the ends with a carabiner and then counterbalance the items.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie one strand of parachute cord to the beam, and then attach the items to that strand with short lengths secured to the main strand with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_friction_hitch_knots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;friction hitches&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-07-03T18:36:39.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13148" CreationDate="2016-07-03T18:42:32.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I come form a coal mining town, in the mines they call the change rooms the 'dry', because mines can be very wet places and the 'dry' is where you'd dry out your clothes. Before they started putting ventilated lockers in the drys, they used to hang their clothes on hooks under baskets that they'd raise up to the ceiling with a rope and pulley system&#xA;to where is was warm and all your things could dry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntdnB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntdnB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rf4oY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rf4oY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rebrn.com/re/washing-room-of-abandoned-zeche-hugo-coal-mine-clothing-and-valu-339268/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6FSvu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6FSvu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://booksbyreneschmidt.blogspot.ca/2010/06/touring-underground-at-t-1-mine.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I'd recommend for you. A cheap simple set up would be to use a couple of closed eye bolts in the ceiling in place of pulleys, one on the beam, and another in the ceiling over by the wall, then pound a nail into the wall down at a height that's easy to reach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thread your paracord through the eye-bolts, tie a hook, carabiner or even a basket to the end you're going to raise up, then tie the other end of your cord to the nail with your item at the height you want it while lowered. Pull your gear all the way up to the roof, and tie a loop on a bight or butterfly knot in the cord that you can hook onto the nail to keep everything up. When you want your stuff down, all you need to do is unhook the loop from the nail and lower it down. No more tying knots every time you want something up or down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-03T22:08:53.633" LastActivityDate="2016-07-03T22:08:53.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13151" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-03T21:19:30.393" Score="13" ViewCount="797" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some time back I was on a very narrow mountain trail with a cliff rising to my right and a steep gorge dropping to my left. The trail was blocked by by the viper below (with the gorge just out of shot). The weather was chilly and the viper was sluggish, but quite aggressive and hissy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stamped my feet and clapped which normally scares snakes off, but it wasn't going anywhere and we had a bit of a stand off. I could have swept it off the trail with my walking poles, but this would have sent it over the edge of the gorge and killed it. I was short of daylight so eventually decided to rock-climb around it on the cliff above, at some risk to life and limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is, when it's not practical to sweep a snake off the trail with a  pole or stick (as recommended in the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10098/meeting-an-unknown-snake-on-the-trail-what-is-the-best-thing-to-do&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;), is there anything else I could have done to persuade it to withdraw without endangering the snake or myself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume I'm carrying a sack with all the usual overnight trekking gear at my disposal. For example, could I have done something with fire or smoke?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gVO1K.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gVO1K.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS - the encounter happened in the Italian Grians in the gorge above this photo - a very lovely spot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i01Wq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i01Wq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T12:24:08.020" Title="What to do when a snake blocks a narrow trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13151" CreationDate="2016-07-03T22:05:57.480" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this situation, if you wanted to preserve the life of the snake, I would have recommended you used your poles to pick it up, swing it out over the gorge side of the trail and place it back on the ground behind you. You may have also had success using the basket of your pole to hold it's head down while you walked past. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Myself, I would have simply flicked it out into the gorge, there's no sense risking life and limb for the sake of a snake, the snake would probably land in some branches and survive the fall anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-04T02:05:24.630" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T02:05:24.630" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2016-07-04T00:24:00.683" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have routinely done week hikes with sufficient creek crossings that we didn't even try to keep dry feet.  (Coral Creek has 22 crossings in 3 miles.  Most of the trails in the area have at least a knee deep crossing every hour.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These trips would be the first intro to the school I worked at.  A 7 day trip would cover from 80 to 120 km and 15 to 30 thousand feet of elevation change.  Trails ranged from horse trail, seismic cutlines, to bushwhack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard operations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone wears a thin pair of poly propylene socks under a pair of wool socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first day we stop after 1.5 hours walk, and everyone removes shoes and socks for a foot inspection.  Hot spots are taped.  Kids are taught what to look for.  Adjustments are made in how they tie shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat again at lunch and mid afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second day we only do it at noon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third day we remind people to check their feet at noon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the top of a pass we remind people to pull their feet back in their shoes, and tighten up the forefoot lacing.  At the bottom we remind them to loosen up again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone brings two pairs of footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general we don't recommend boots, but rather high top runners unless the student has a rep for rolling ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In evening after set up chores are done, everyone changes into dry socks and their second pair of shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some students and staff have tried sandals.  Lot of problem with grit.  I have tried high top water booties.  This works well if you have tough arches.  Crocs or sandles are ok for camp shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we know that feet are going to be wet all day, a slather of vaseline before socks in the morning slows down the foot wrinkling and cracking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this protocol we usually got through a week long trip with 20 people with under a half dozen actual blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toughening feet.  These are things that can be done ahead of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Wear dirty socks.  Crusty salty socks essentially soak your feet in brine, which toughens skin.  If this is repugnant to you, dip socks in a 10% brine solution the night, and let dry. They won't stink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: Rub your feet with 99% isopropyl alcohol.  This will also toughen your hands.  The alcohol causes the proteins in your skin to cross link.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Wear the footwear including socks that you will be using for the trip for a week to a month ahead of time.  This gets your feet used to where the pressure points are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D: Walk barefoot both to callous your feet, and get your mind used to ignoring small levels of discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-12-29T19:10:04.523" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T19:10:04.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13156" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13159" CreationDate="2016-07-04T08:08:40.863" Score="7" ViewCount="4105" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few weeks ago I was hit by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_band_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;IT-Band syndrome&lt;/a&gt;. I know that rest is paramount in healing it but the problem is that you do not know if it has fully healed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a few days, I want to go on a 2 day hike. Right now, I am pretty confident that I can hike for 15-20 km without any pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any tips for when the IT band pain hits me right in the middle of the trip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Streches that help, walking methods to alleviate the pain or outright help prevent IT band syndrome?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9572" LastEditorUserId="9572" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T06:14:22.803" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T17:17:36.150" Title="Handling IT-Band Syndrome when hiking" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13156" CreationDate="2016-07-04T16:51:51.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I struggle with my IT bands, first time it hit me I was deep in the backcountry on the top of a saddle ridge, and it was a 14km agonizing hike down to the nearest cabin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't really stretch your IT band, it's not a muscle, it's connective tissue. It's connected to your tensor fasciae latae, but stretching that muscle doesn't help much either, the problem is partly that your stabilizer muscles in your butt are weak, and your IT band is compensating, and also that your IT band is &quot;stuck&quot;, and needs to be broken free. What you need to do is strengthen your stabilizer muscles, and loosen up the fascia in your leg. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, there's no way to know if you've fully healed without going out on a really long trek, it's the thousands of repetitions of your IT band twanging over the lateral epicondyle of you tibia that eventually irritates your tissues and causes you pain, but there are preventative measures you can take. Before every hike, I always spend time rolling out my IT bands, I get as deep as I can to break up the facia and loosen the tissue all the way up and down the lateral aspect of my thigh. On the trail, I carry a small foam roller with me and roll out as soon as I start feeling my IT bands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I've discovered that helps me avoid the pain is to take slower, and &lt;em&gt;longer&lt;/em&gt; strides. Short and quick strides are your enemy, the fewer times you twang that band over your knee the less tender it's going to get. Walking knees apart with your toes out to the sides takes some tension off of your knees as well, but don't over exaggerate it, or you're going to give yourself pain in other places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing to do it to stay active and exercise between expeditions. Sprints really loosen up your tissues, a combo of sprints and rolling out your IT bands will really loosen up that facia, deep massage works really well too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit of good news is that when you do start to hurt, you actually aren't doing any damage to your leg if you choose to hike through it. If you have the pain tolerance, you can apparently just grit your teeth and walk through the pain without having to worry about lasting damage. I for one do not have a high enough pain tolerance, as high as it is. My wife has literally carried me part way down a mountain before, people who haven't experienced IT band friction syndrome just can't sympathize with how agonizing it can be, like walking with knives stabbed into the sides of your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T16:51:51.353" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6698" CreationDate="2016-07-04T17:03:57.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gloves protect your hands from a couple of hazards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cold (cold air, cold metal, cold rock/ice).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain and snow, which make it even colder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunburns&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scratches and wounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter is a very serious reason. With gloves off, if you stumble and fall on rocks hands first, you can easily get massive scranches or wounds. It is worse with a heavy backpack. Chances are that you will require medical attendence or get hard/unable to handle ice axe, etc. And with gloves on your hands would receive minor damage or not at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also many technical activities, that are harsh to your hands, including rope work, self-arrest, ice-climbing, handling gas stoves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is why in the mountains I wear gloves all the time when moving in any weather - except when strolling though really easy terrain with a light backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1794" LastActivityDate="2016-07-04T17:03:57.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13156" CreationDate="2016-07-04T17:19:09.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As general rule a physical assessment is necessary as it can be the result of compensation for other problems (flat feet or hyperlordosis for example, just to name a couple). The treatment involves stretching the Iliotibial Band itself (eventual thickening cant be reduced that way but the ITB is attached to muscles so stretching that has a direct effect on those), taking care of the muscles and trigger points that refer to the area and a series of stretching and strengthening exercises, but they would do nothing if the causes aren't addressed properly.&#xA;Recent studies have changed a bit the traditional belief that ITB syndrome is due to friction. They have shown that it might be associated with the compression of an highly vascularized and innervated fat pad between knee and ITB or a damage to the Periosteum (the outer layer of tissue covering the bone) at the ITB attachment. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1pi1j.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1pi1j.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;This doesn't mean a complete treatment change but it can point the finger to other structures as the real source of pain. Knowing that helps developing treatment programs that can be much more effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Posture, gait, footwear etc need to be assessed, a full health history taken to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms and pinpoint the causes of the problem. General stretches are never a waste but they might do very little to help solving your problem if they don't address the real cause, which isnt the same for everyone, so in here you will get just a very general answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a suggestion yoga could be considered as a way to increase flexibility, the benefits of it are several and many find it a perfect complement to their main activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest ITB stretch is the lean with the help of a wall:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GGMTI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GGMTI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (the one you are stretching is the one facing the wall btw). Stretch both sides. Many pictures in internet show a lean that is way too exaggerated, that ends focusing on other structures rather than the ITB and the position is not stable enough to be a safe remedial exercise. Stretches are often improperly done missing their target structure, they need to be shown, then the patient would perform them and be corrected so that they can be useful, the picture above is an indication but you will have a better outcome working with a proper medical practitioner. This stretch is rarely prescribed alone, stretching all the other muscles of the leg/hips/back (and strengthening some) is needed, but these will have to be specific for your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manage inflammation, through cold rinses or ice after every activity while causes are getting addressed properly (that is just for the inflammation, it doesn't fix your ITB problem). Avoid repeated use of anti inflammatory drugs as they just mask the symptoms and lead to a chronic problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IF your work involves sitting a lot, that aggravates the situation, try to stretch regularly during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some suggest rolling the ITB (using various kind of rollers or even a tennis ball), that's hit and miss, the way a therapist would actively work on the ITB is a bit different and it needs to be done at an angle, with whats shown online (pressure square on the ITB) you are benefiting more the surrounding muscles, which can alleviate a bit the pain, but does little for the ITB itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following OP request I searched for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOLBRhrF4Kc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; showing the right way to use the roller, this one shows the main part of the whole exercise (it doesn't show rolling across the ITB). &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOLBRhrF4Kc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOLBRhrF4Kc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The study he is talking about is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16533314&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fairclough, et al. 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful when rolling, some rollers are aggressive, and a ball is even more aggressive (the smaller and harder the worse). Its best to start learning the exercise with something gentle and then progress to something more aggressive. Some people that did things wrong (too fast, too slow, for too long, too aggressive, wrong roller, wrong position...) ended with some bad bruising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your goal should be not only managing the problem but resolving it so that it doesn't become chronic. A chronic problem not only keeps recurring and aggravating but also starts to involve neighbouring structures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things you can do by yourself but you will obtain real results much faster if you see a therapist (a GOOD one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its also beneficial to use trekking poles, it helps to reduce the impact force going through the knee, even more if you tend to &quot;stomp&quot; on your heel while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &quot;ITB straps&quot;, you can quickly find them online, that helped some people with ITBS, the problem with these is that they can quickly become a crutch and they don't cure anything. &#xA;Remember that the longer the problem presents itself the longer it takes to recover, so plain symptoms management can be counterproductive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T16:01:31.313" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T16:01:31.313" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13161" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-04T21:52:52.207" Score="7" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;My family, including my 7 yo, are thinking about taking a week trip down the Alabama Scenic River Trail next year. What type of kayaking experience is needed for a trip like this? How can we benchmark if we are ready. We can take 1 day trip on local flat water rivers and lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-07-04T22:01:58.630" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T22:40:54.150" Title="How much kayaking experience is needed for a trip on the Alabama Scenic River Trail?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13162" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-04T23:10:58.320" Score="12" ViewCount="6250" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to hunt on foot, walking through the desert. I mostly shoot jackrabbits since those are plentiful in my area. However, I still haven't found a good system for carrying the animals back to the car once I am done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might walk up to 3 miles (5 km) and shoot jackrabbits along the way and I'm almost always carrying a backpack with me along with my rifle. Most of the field kit &quot;game bags&quot; I have come across are designed for large game like elk or deer and are much too big for my use. What is the best approach to carrying 2-3 rabbits back with me? Is there some method I can use that also straps to the back of my backpack? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:52:49.560" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T14:46:56.067" Title="Carrying small game while hunting on foot?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2016-07-05T00:57:29.893" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the days of my youth, when I was hunting cottontails, I just popped them into a plastic trash bag and tucked that into my day pack. Now a days, I would use a trash compactor bag instead of a wimpier trash bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7979" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T00:57:29.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7021" CreationDate="2016-07-05T04:06:13.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Variations in the appearance of the snow can help detect where crevasses may be. It often helps to get a low angled light perspective such as at dawn or sunset. Depressions in the snow cover may be revealed by a different appearance. Fresh, wind blown snow or dust particles may collect in depressions which could indicate a sagging snow bridge. Crevasses appear most often in patterns. Where there is one there are likely to be more. Often the same patterns persist over many years so previous observations and photographs can be helpful to determine the more likely locations. Ground penetrating radar can be used to detect crevasses though such equipment is traditionally quite heavy and impractical in backpacking. Drones may be of use to detect visible crevasse fields and could possibly be equipped to detect hidden ones as well with the right sensors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9821" LastEditorUserId="9821" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T23:18:24.153" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T23:18:24.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8570" CreationDate="2016-07-05T10:51:43.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you expect itchy insect bites, I can recommend a dedicated heat stick for treating the bites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00820TRBS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Therapik Mosquito Bite Reliever&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does work, at least temporarily. The mechanism is often said to be the denaturing of the proteins due to heat. However the heat is not sufficient for that. What apparently really happens is that the local &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101104154543.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;pain receptors are overloaded by the heat and shut down.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a study to show this actually works:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Locally administrated concentrated heat leads to fast amelioration of&#xA;  symptoms. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257884/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;PMC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9572" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T11:28:36.147" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T11:28:36.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11844" CreationDate="2016-07-05T11:12:23.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/propane-butane-mix-d_1043.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The vapor pressure will increase significantly the more propane is in the mix.&lt;/a&gt; More pressure means that a thicker/more resillient canister is needed to withstand it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see even with the most common 30/70 mix, the pressure is doubled or trippled depending on temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/blog/ins-outs-canister-fuels/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;IsoButane has a greater vapor pressure than butane&lt;/a&gt; (Although only slightly) - which will also translate to a slightly heavier canister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9572" LastEditorUserId="9572" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T12:23:11.350" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T12:23:11.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13167" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-05T13:57:09.197" Score="11" ViewCount="781" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoor instructions in Lapland often recommend to always use a wading staff for river crossings, and not a trekking pole.  Ever since I purchased my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fishersdirect.com/vision-folding-wading-staff-3086-p.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Folding Wading Staff&lt;/a&gt; in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vildmarkshornan.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swedish outdoor store&lt;/a&gt;, I don't understand how I ever did without.  Trekking poles are not designed to sustain the weight of hiker+backpack leaning on it in strong flow, and I wouldn't want a trekking pole to collapse under heavy weight in the middle of a fast-flowing river crossing.  Outside Scandinavia, I don't even see wading staffs for sale in outdoor stores.  Google Search in English yields returns for fishing stores, but not hiking, as if the only context to cross a river is when fishing.  How do people cross fast-flowing rivers without a dedicated wading staff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kR8k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kR8k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hnappadalsá in Lónsöræfi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hnappadalsá, Lónsöræfi, Iceland, 20 September 2015.  This river was difficult to cross, and would have been out of the question &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visionflyfishing.co.uk/access_v9909.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;without my wading staff&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="9572" LastEditDate="2016-07-06T10:06:41.710" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T10:06:41.710" Title="How do hikers cross fast-flowing rivers without wading staffs?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13169" CreationDate="2016-07-05T15:14:25.983" Score="9" ViewCount="5585" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use paracord for a lot of stuff but looking for something stronger, for holding up a hammock. I'm thinking it would need to be 1000lb strength or stronger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would type IV paracord (850lb strength ) be strong enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I do use wide webbing [protects the tree] for the tree part. The paracord/rope would be from the straps to the hammock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastEditorUserId="489" LastEditDate="2016-07-07T20:32:57.560" LastActivityDate="2020-09-08T16:52:15.860" Title="What ropes could I use to suspend a hammock?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13168" CreationDate="2016-07-05T18:50:16.093" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The strength is dependent mainly on the angle between the two ropes form, on which the hammock is hung, and the weight you want the hammock to support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a traditional hammock the angles of the ropes (measured to the horizontal) are about &lt;code&gt;A=30°&lt;/code&gt; (just an estimate). Lets assume we want to design the system for a person weighing &lt;code&gt;W=200lbs&lt;/code&gt;. Then we can derive a formula for the force ( acting on the ropes using trigonometry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NljUD.png&quot; width=&quot;350&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Force on each rope (in the same unit as the weight W):&#xA;F = 0.5 * W / sin(A)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note that the Force gets extremely high, the closer to horizontal the ropes are / the close &lt;code&gt;a&lt;/code&gt; is at &lt;code&gt;0°&lt;/code&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the assumptions from above we get &lt;code&gt;F = 200lbs&lt;/code&gt;, but this is just static loading, as soon as you &quot;dynamically&quot; sit down in it the forces can be higher. I'd go with a safety factor of about 5 to be on the absolute safe (that means 5 times the static weight it absolutely &lt;em&gt;needs&lt;/em&gt; to support, consider that any knots weaken the rope, a knot can reduce the strength by up to &lt;code&gt;50%&lt;/code&gt;), so that results in about &lt;code&gt;1000lbs&lt;/code&gt; strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no experience using parachord, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingSuspension.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; also suggests  to use rope of at least &lt;code&gt;700lbs - 1000lbs&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reference I just found is &lt;a href=&quot;http://theultimatehang.com/hammock-hang-calculator/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this online hammock anchor calculator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-07-07T22:58:07.340" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T22:58:07.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13170" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13691" CreationDate="2016-07-05T19:37:01.140" Score="9" ViewCount="453" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I'm not even sure if this is an appropriate question for this forum, but I lack the requisite reputation to ask for a judgement call on meta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in the very early stages of planning a journey through Peru. My thinking so far takes two assumptions. Firstly, I'll be alone. Secondly, I'll be on foot unless I absolutely need to get somewhere quickly. With that in mind, I'm running into the following questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where can I find good topographical maps of Peru, preferably an atlas that covers all of Peru's regions?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9825" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:04:56.950" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:04:56.950" Title="Where can I find good topographical maps of Peru?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;&lt;andes&gt;&lt;peru&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2018-05-03T12:08:18.713" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13171" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-05T19:38:13.387" Score="13" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;In late September 2015, I hiked part of the trail in the incredibly beautiful &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B3ns%C3%B6r%C3%A6fi&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lónsöræfi&lt;/a&gt; in southwestern Iceland, near Vatnajökull.  The easternmost segment of the trail  requires fording Hnappadalsá (&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/hgBe7iJgLYz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Satellite/aerial view&lt;/a&gt;).  Some people by-pass this section by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.isafold.de/lonsoraefi98/img_skyndidalsa.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;driving a nearby mountain road&lt;/a&gt; (which skips a very spectacular part of the trail, and doesn't look any less scary!).  Still, Hnappadalsá contained rather a lot of water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kR8k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kR8k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hnappadalsá in Lónsöræfi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hnappadalsá, Lónsöræfi, Iceland, 20 September 2015, afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One common advice is to wait for the morning, when the river might contain less water.  As far as I'm aware, this is based on the (reasonable) expectation nights are colder, there is less melting, and therefore less water.  However, this river is not glacier-fed: there are only tiny icefields upstream, there was hardly any snow left, and it was a cool autumn day.  I didn't have the patience to wait for 16 hours, I crossed and survived, but it was quite scary and it certainly wasn't wise of me to cross¹.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the water in the river was not meltwater.  Is it still useful to wait for the morning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹ I'd probably have flown to the lake soon enough, I did consider crossing by swimming through the lake across the river, but didn't have the right gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-07-05T19:46:29.343" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:01.270" Title="Can I expect a mountain stream to have less water in the morning, even when it is not primarily fed by meltwater?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13171" CreationDate="2016-07-05T19:51:13.130" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the best answer to this question is going to be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It Depends&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if it's not glacier fed, the melting snow of ice could have an impact and increase the water flow during the afternoon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The effect could be affected by the distance from the source, if any dams are upstream, and the time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some river flows are monitored with gauges and the current flow is displayed online, like this one of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?site_no=11266500&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merced River&lt;/a&gt; in Yosemite. That would probably be the best way of finding the optimal time to cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I found the &lt;a href=&quot;http://vmkerfi.vedur.is/vatn/vdv.php?p=0&amp;amp;station_id=234&amp;amp;page_id=373&amp;amp;direct=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flow data&lt;/a&gt; for some rivers in Iceland, and it looks like right now, they are fluctuating with the day-night circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jX6ms.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jX6ms.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:26:01.270" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:01.270" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6513" CreationDate="2016-07-05T20:31:47.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important advice is get a good quality 6-person tent.  You don't want to deal with leaks and broken poles with 2 young kids while camping.  Since your children are still napping, you want to make sure the tent has great ventilation and look at a tent fan as well. There are a ton of reviews to check out.  We are both car campers and backpackers, so we try and have as much gear as possible that is good for both.  My wife and I use a 2 person backpacking quilt with sleeping pad straps.  The kids both have good sleeping bags from REI. We treat our gear with  Permithrin and go with picardan for spray in the Northeast (especially for the ticks).  My kids sleep on my old Army Closed foam mats,  but your infant will need  pack and play or a portable crib.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4296" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T20:31:47.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13072" CreationDate="2016-07-05T22:28:54.493" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mature bull caribou generally are bigger than females, have much bigger antlers, and behave with a lot more confidence and machismo, especially during the rut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you watch a group of caribou for a while, even from a distance, it's pretty easy to pick out the mature males. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advice in the Alaska hunting regulations about determining sex is very conservative because in most cases Alaskan hunters face dire legal consequences for shooting a female. You can't just assume the first caribou you see is male. And caribou with smaller antlers might be legally harvestable immature males.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9801" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T22:28:54.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13167" CreationDate="2016-07-05T22:45:27.673" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've crossed a lot of fast flowing creeks and rivers in the Canadian Rockies, some deeper than my waist. The technique I use, and teach others to use, is to walk facing upstream, and walk sideways, leaning into the flow of water. It ultimately comes down to balance and how sure your footing is, I grew up crossing glacier fed rivers this way, so it was something learned as a child and practiced my whole life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the intensity of the flow, you may want to start upstream of where you want to be on the bank on the other side, and back step a little with each side step making your way to your landing at an angle, it's a lot easier to work with the current than it is to fight it. You can use the rocks in the water to help you with your footing, feel for them with your feet as you shuffle them to the side, and plant your foot in front of rocks that feel steady with you heel on the rock. Take small controlled steps so you don't lose your balance, and don't pick your feet up higher than you have to. Step too high or too far and the current is going to take your foot away. I always keep my arms out and in front of me and keep my knees bent for balance, the force of the water is strong, and it doesn't take much to get thrown off, so take your time and don't rush things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;Here's a video of the technique I describe, while crossing a river in Iceland no less: &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/29463-man-vs-wild-crossing-a-freezing-river-in-iceland-video.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Crossing a freezing river in Iceland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-06T02:19:27.953" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T02:19:27.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13167" CreationDate="2016-07-05T22:46:00.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do people cross fast flowing rivers without a dedicated wading staff?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can answer this only for Colorado and California.  You find a place where you can cross safely, given your strength and balance.   This may mean a significant detour.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, for below timberline:&lt;/strong&gt;  Scout upstream and downstream for a log that has fallen across the stream.  You will eventually find one that you are able to cross on.  You may have to walk on the &quot;wrong&quot; side of the stream longer than you really want to, but &lt;strong&gt;be patient&lt;/strong&gt;.  By wrong side of the stream, I mean the side where the trail isn't; it's probably overgrown and/or hilly and hard going.  But you will find a log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second, for above timberline:&lt;/strong&gt;  Walk upstream past several confluences of minor streams with the main stream and eventually the main stream will be crossable.  If this is a longer detour than you really want to make, &lt;strong&gt;be patient&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a day hike, never cross a barely crossable snow-melt stream in the morning unless you know of a much easier place to re-cross it in the afternoon.  Snow-melt streams can enlarge dramatically during a day of melting.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how to cross that stream in Iceland without a wading staff if one is alone, the OP did not ask that question and I don't know how to answer it.  If there are several people, see this question, especially the answer by Lagerbaer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/657/if-i-have-to-cross-an-icy-flowing-river-what-are-some-ways-i-can-cross-safely/974#974&quot;&gt;If I have to cross an icy, flowing river, what are some ways I can cross safely?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for swimming the lake, as the OP contemplated, unless you know the temperature of the lake and the temperature you can tolerate in a swim, it seems risky.  See &lt;em&gt;Swimming to Antarctica&lt;/em&gt; by Lynne Cox.  Lynne, a well insulated young woman specializing in long, cold swims, swam across Lake Myvatn in Iceland as part of her training to swim the Bering Strait from Little Diomede to Big Diomede.  Lake Myvatn was 45 degrees F, and she found it cold when she started her training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-07-05T23:25:30.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13177" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13245" CreationDate="2016-07-06T01:04:04.903" Score="9" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;Per the recommendation of ppl, I'm breaking &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13170/route-planning-for-the-peruvian-andes&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; out into separate posts, so here goes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it feasible for me to plot my own route through the Andes, as opposed to keeping to established trails? My thinking on this is that it will be doable as long as I take precautions such as carrying a satellite phone, keeping within a couple days' range of towns when possible, and avoiding river crossings. That said, I'd appreciate the input of somebody more acquainted with this particular mountain range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To provide some additional background, I will be alone and I intend to travel exclusively by foot. I won't be attempting any climbing. My main concern is about the traversability of the terrain between Lima and Cusco, especially at higher elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9825" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T20:57:37.887" Title="Is it feasible to plot my own trekking route from Lima to Cusco?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;peru&gt;&lt;andes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13167" CreationDate="2016-07-06T05:11:45.197" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In New Zealand most river crossings are not done solo. After being taught how important it is to choose a safe crossing point or choose not to cross, you are taught to link people in the group together and cross as a group (Up to four per group, although specifics of terrain may mean pairs are better).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The group is much stronger than the individual, you put the strongest person second closest to upstream, next strongest at the head to take the force of the water, weakest down stream. various technique exist for linking up which I won't go into with this answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes can be used by those with experience - they have a very dangerous downside if used incorrectly and not widely carried. For solo use ropes are not practical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, solo walking is widely discouraged, especially where river crossings are expected as its too dangerous. Staffs a not normally carried as many river crossings are in bush country where suitable branches can be found to use for the task and they are relatively heavy with limited other uses. Hunters will use their rifles in emergencies, but for obvious reason prefer not to. Fisherman sometimes carry staffs, but most avoid crossing the the big fast rivers and fishing is no good when the river is in flood anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that in New Zealand about half of Mountain deaths are river crossings and 80% of those are in flooded rivers, you are taught to think 'not crossing is the best option', then prove to yourself crossing is safe. You are taught how to back out, and backing out is preferable to going on unless you can show otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T05:11:45.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13171" CreationDate="2016-07-06T05:20:34.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ln20a.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ln20a.png&quot; alt=&quot;Waimakariri River&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although not the effect of mountains river, local conditions are important, sometimes in ways you may not have thought of. Here is an example of one that you may find interesting, taken 5 km inland.  However, rain higher up is not always obvious lower down stream and can lead to unexpected river levels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2016-07-06T05:26:59.073" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T05:26:59.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13171" CreationDate="2016-07-06T08:56:38.063" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, I once walked alone from Chandra Tal, in the Spiti valley in northern India, to Baralach La, where I took a bus to Leh. There was a trail that went along a large river, but there were fast-flowing mountain streams that fed into it. I was cautious because I was alone, and these streams distressed me greatly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each day I encountered a stream - sometimes as early as noon - and decided not to cross it. I waited all day, and the following morning, as soon as the sun was up, I forded the streams. &lt;strong&gt;They were always much lower and more calm in the mornings.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do want to point out that my original plan was to turn back, had the streams not been reasonably fordable in the morning. It seemed like too much of a risk to me when alone to try a crossing that didn't seem entirely doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T08:56:38.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13168" CreationDate="2016-07-06T16:44:05.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently got into hammock camping and roping it to a tree is a bit more complicated than it first sounds so please bear with me&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need something to wrap around the tree to protect it from holding your weight, these are unsurprisingly called tree straps - mine are made out of seat belt material.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need something adjustable from the tree straps to the hammock (if it's not adjustable, you're limited to the trees you can use). Most people use something called a whoopee sling which is made out of Amsteel and is an adjustable, non stretchy material&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, you need to connect your hammock, whoopee slings and tree straps - the best thing is some heavy duty karabiners. I try and keep everything rated at a 1000lbs which I think is overkill even if I can't get decent angles with everything else going on&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2016-07-06T16:44:05.127" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13161" CreationDate="2016-07-07T00:36:56.317" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the entire trail is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/WaterTrails/Trail/Info/30&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;631 miles long&lt;/a&gt;, so how much experience is needed will depend on where you go. The map does show some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Scale_of_River_Difficulty&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Class 3 rapids&lt;/a&gt; and portages (which are pretty miserable) but it does look like it would be possible to find an easy stretch of the river with no portages. The main resource that I  found for planning the trip is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com/trip-planner/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as testing your readiness, I would suggest gradually increasing the length of trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T22:40:54.150" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T22:40:54.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13186" CreationDate="2016-07-07T09:03:25.273" Score="10" ViewCount="3974" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will be my first tent camping trip in my life. And I don't know what to wear to the showers. I usually sleep naked in the summer so my preference is for just wrapping a towel around my waist and walking to the showers with toiletry bag in hand and flip flops on my feet. I will be camping in a caravan park between 2 towns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I will be camping along the coast between two suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. (I forgot about the location/culture aspect.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9833" LastEditorUserId="9833" LastEditDate="2016-07-07T22:50:37.433" LastActivityDate="2016-07-09T15:29:26.430" Title="What to wear to walk to showers: clothes or towel?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13183" CreationDate="2016-07-07T09:42:51.190" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been camping in the UK for many years and the generally people either get fully dressed before heading to the shower, or walk over in pajamas/ dressing gown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="33" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T09:42:51.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13183" CreationDate="2016-07-07T09:59:46.340" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will be very country and even camp ground specific. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Least likely to offend approach is to do what most of the others do. If just one person is doing what you want, don't presume its acceptable, wait till you have seen several people doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If everyone is getting dressed to go to showers (unlikely), get dressed. In the unlikely even most people walk naked to the showers, you are unlikely to offend with just your towel for modesty. Keep in mind what is acceptable in the early morning and/or dark may no longer be accepted once the sun comes up and kids come out to play. What people accept at 3AM may get you kicked out or arrested at 3PM. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T09:59:46.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13183" CreationDate="2016-07-07T13:39:28.463" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear my swimming trunks to the shower.  My wife wears a pull over sun dress (light weight, thigh length).  We wear our shower shoes, we carry our towels and shower supplies. We usually just take soap and shampoo. The soap is in a small plastic container.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We wear the same clothing both ways. Dressing and other hygiene activities are done when we get back to camp, from the shower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our dress is appropriate for the campground even if we are not on the way to/from the shower.  It is light enough to dry quickly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campgrounds very greatly, when it comes to the quality of the bath/shower/toilet facilities. We travel a lot and seldom stop at the same location.  We find this solution works anyplace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T13:39:28.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13188" CreationDate="2016-07-07T19:46:33.650" Score="4" ViewCount="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;Will the de-fogging agent for snorkeling/scuba goggles prevent or mitigate steaming up of safety glasses worn outside on a hot, humid day?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T20:26:20.160" Title="Efficacy of snorkel mask defogging agent on safety glasses" Tags="&lt;snorkeling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13187" CreationDate="2016-07-07T20:26:20.160" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Defogging a dive mask is usually done with a soap solution. You get two effects that help keep moisture from forming on the glass: cleaning and a soap residue. Baby shampoo works for me, is cheaper than specially branded mask defogger, and smells baby fresh to boot. I've used it on my prescription lenses and on sunglasses. I haven't actually used it on safety glasses. (I do my woodworking inside.) But I know of no reason why cleaning your safety glasses with mild soap like baby shampoo will harm them. So it should be really easy for you to test in your current, sweaty environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7979" LastActivityDate="2016-07-07T20:26:20.160" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13191" CreationDate="2016-07-07T21:07:45.070" Score="7" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a beginner hiker who is looking to spend a few days alone in the woods while not putting myself at risk before I am familiar yet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easily accessible by a normal car&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sufficiently remote so I do not see anyone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;availability of wildlife (fish, small animals) to hunt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;preferably near Portland or San Francisco bay area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be packing supplies in my car just in case I need them, but I am hoping to push myself to survive with as little equipment as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tips much appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9835" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:25:35.900" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:25:35.900" Title="What's a good place for a beginner to go backcountry camping in Oregon and California?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13190" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-07T21:29:00.730" Score="13" ViewCount="390" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my more memorable hiking experiences came on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wonderland Trail&lt;/a&gt; in the summer of 1994. The trail is about 93 miles (150 kilometers) long. It's in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Rainier State Park&lt;/a&gt; which is located in the State of Washington in western United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hike involved crossing Tahoma Creek on a completely decrepit foot bridge. At the time of my crossing, they were replacing the old bridge with this beautiful and structurally sound bridge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x5gJL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x5gJL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to know more about the history of the Tahoma Creek bridge (ideally with photos of the previous bridge).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:38:56.747" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T00:46:42.680" Title="Tahoma Creek suspension bridge history" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13189" CreationDate="2016-07-07T21:49:49.820" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer the slightly broader question &quot;How should I plan my first backpacking trip in Oregon or California?&quot; (with emphasis on California, since that is the area I know best)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are mentioning fishing and hunting, I am going to lead with permits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that fishing and hunting is permitted in the areas you are considering. Hunting is not permitted in any National Park I have been to. The park service and land management agencies for the Sierras are trying to get rid of non-native trout in the region because they &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/frog.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;threaten an endangered native frog species&lt;/a&gt;, so if you are looking to fish that is a good area, you need a license though. Keep in mind that the best lakes for fishing might not be appropriate locations for your fist trip, since they are more difficult to get to, so don't rely on fishing for sustenance. I know a ranger for the Inyo Mountains who tries to subsist mostly off of trout and brings rice and dried fruits to supplement. That seems to work pretty well if you are an expert fly-fisher.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;California's backcountry wilderness is suffering from heavy use. Many areas require overnight permits. You can apply for those online or you can gamble and show up in person. Some areas are notoriously difficult to get permits for, especially regions that include Mt Whitney, the John Muir Trail and the PCT.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To apply for permits you will have to find out what agency has jurisdiction. This might be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.fed.us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Forrest Service&lt;/a&gt; for National Forests, or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park System&lt;/a&gt;. As a general guide, the forrest service is more permissive when it comes to what kinds of use are allowed, but please inform yourself beforehand if in doubt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When acquiring an overnight permit, you will have to sign that you will adhere to the principles of &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/7-principles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt;, and rangers patrol the area for enforcement. Since this is your first trip to the backcountry, please make sure you familiarize yourself with those, to make sure that people who come after you find the place just like it was before. Depending on the agency in charge, additional restrictions or guidelines might be in place. Many of the highly traveled locations have restrictions on how to deal with humans waste that might be surprising to the uninitiated, so please make sure you are willing to follow those rules before you decide to backpack in an area. I think a good way to think about backpacking in our protected wilderness areas is to see it as a privilege that comes with responsibilities, not a right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider when choosing a good spot for your first backpacking trip is the availability of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When backpacking in mountainous regions, you can often plan you trip around water sources which is very convenient because you don't have to carry your entire supply with you. I would suggest you purchase a water filter if you are planning to drink water you find. Running water is best, lakes are fine, puddles are not (avoid stagnant water).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When backpacking in regions without readily available water sources, for example deserts, make sure you know how much water you will need for the entire trip. Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/180/how-much-water-should-be-carried-while-hiking-in-the-desert&quot;&gt;another question&lt;/a&gt; that might help with that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have a good map of the area, and make sure you know how to read it. Tom Harrison Maps are ubiquitous in outdoor stores and visitor centers in California. Those are great maps for beginners. They have the main trails marked, and unless I am going cross country, I find them more convenient than USGS Quadrangles. Purchasing a map might actually be a good first or second step in planning your trip. If you do this at a visitor center, they might be able to help you with great advice for where to set up camp along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distance and Elevation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a beginner I suggest daily goals of not much more than 5 miles, especially when in mountainous terrain. Carrying a heavy pack will be unfamiliar, and it is good to slowly gain elevation over a couple of days to avoid altitude sickness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Topographical maps are great for figuring out how much elevation a trail gains. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4725/1957&quot;&gt;Google Earth&lt;/a&gt; is also great.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of asides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your hope to avoid people altogether will be difficult in California, since especially during summertime people swarm to the nice backpacking locations. You can avoid people by planning cross-country trips, but that is not an ideal first trip. Make sure you have a couple of years of experience before planing anything like that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The area you are interested in is bear country. Don't leave any food in your car. Many trail heads have bear lockers where you can leave anything a bear could be interested in while you are on the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speaking of bear-country: Some areas require that you carry your food inside a bear can. You can rent those at the visitor centers where you will be picking up your permit, or you can &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B003ZZWBWC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;buy one&lt;/a&gt;. They are clunky and heavy, but make great chairs! Hanging food might still be allowed (depends on area) but I don't advise it in heavily traveled areas, because it damages trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't go alone, especially if this is your first trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you resist the temptation of bringing stuff you won't need or don't know how to use. I have lead several backpacking trips for beginners and every single time participants mentioned after the trip they wish they had brought less stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy or rent appropriate equipment (don't bring cotton, select appropriate sleeping bag...), know how to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16/what-are-some-good-tips-and-techniques-for-packing-a-backpack&quot;&gt;pack your pack&lt;/a&gt; properly and bring a stove for areas that don't allow collecting of firewood (many places in the Sierra Nevada).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you are appropriately protected against the sun. Hat and sunscreen are not optional.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T18:55:38.893" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13192" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13194" CreationDate="2016-07-08T02:41:05.563" Score="10" ViewCount="441" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I use a space tarp (basically a heavy-duty reusable space blanket) as a sunshade or as a ground tarp with the shiny side facing up, do I need to worry that someone might see it and think that I am in trouble?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People often suggest that a space blanket could be used to signal for help, would a 5ft x 7ft reflective surface be taken as a distress signal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-27T18:27:23.460" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T18:27:23.460" Title="Do I need to worry about inadvertently creating a distress signal while using a space tarp?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6114" CreationDate="2016-07-08T02:54:22.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a biochemist, and if there's 82 kilo calories (or &quot;calories&quot; as used by nutrition science and how I will use the unit term from now on - because in standard conversation no one uses kcals), per 100g of pine flour then there's slightly less (12%) than 82 calories per 100 g of pine bark. There's 12% moisture in pine bark solids to evaporate when drying to obtain the flour. So, simply add 12% back to the weight of the sample and you have 82 calories per 112g of solid pine bark which translates to 82÷112×454=332.39 calories per pound. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9837" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T03:38:22.437" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T03:38:22.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13192" CreationDate="2016-07-08T04:55:11.803" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems unlikely—simply facing something orange to the sky doesn't get automatically detected as a request for assistance. In general, if someone isn't searching for you, no one is going to be looking to see it in the first place. A space blanket might be useful in that sense if you've already called for help somehow, or been missing long enough someone else has done so, and you can then use it to get the attention of rescuers once they're actively looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T04:55:11.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13195" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-08T07:00:30.380" Score="13" ViewCount="2682" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really love wearing an altimeter watch while in the mountains. I know that it's affected by weather, but unfortunately I don't actually know &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; it is affected. This usually causes me to ignore the altitude readings entirely when the weather is unstable (and thus altimeter readings are inconsistent), rather than use what I have with some kind of mental/watch correction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what types of weather patterns impact the altimeter reading? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To still estimate the altitude, can I do a mental re-calibration and/or what features of the watch could I use to mitigate any changes due to weather patterns?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T19:20:49.887" Title="How does weather affect an altimeter watch?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11539" CreationDate="2016-07-08T07:18:10.457" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it possible to drive the route from Helsinki at this time of the year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, yes, you should have no problem driving from Helsinki to Saariselkä towards the end of May. Be cautious of moose and reindeer crossing the road in front of you (or lurking at the edges).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How about getting from Saariselkä to the parking lot in Aittajarvi, is it accessible by a car in late-May?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the specific roads into Aittajärvi itself, these are not maintained in winter. Chances are that in late May you'll be okay, but the best advice before arriving is to contact &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/saariselkacustomerservice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Saariselkä Customer Service&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/tankavaaravisitorcentre&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Tankavaara Visitor Center&lt;/a&gt; which can give you the most accurate state of the roads into the park area. Also see the links to historical weather in the middle of this post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I couldn't find any photographic evidence of the Aittajärvi parking place in May, but it's roughly comparable (weather-wise) to October, and I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://kiminblogi.blogspot.fi/2014/10/aittajarvi-sokosti-aittajarvi.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;a hiker's blog from October 2014&lt;/a&gt; showing the car park in good order.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what about the weather and what should we expect?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, you're better off checking the local weather forecast in some detail before you leave. The most reliable source is the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and although &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/weather/inari&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the closest town they forecast for is Inari&lt;/a&gt;, it's close enough and the weather patterns are generally stable, so it should be a good indicator. Foreca purports to have a forecast &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foreca.fi/Finland/Savukoski/Urho_Kekkosen_kansallispuisto&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;specifically for the UKK national park&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To review historical temperature data, you can look on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the historical data page of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/statistics-from-1961-onwards&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Finnish Meteorological Institute&lt;/a&gt; (filter for &lt;em&gt;Inari&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;May&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the historical and future projections of &lt;a href=&quot;http://ilmasto-opas.fi/en/datat/mennyt-ja-tuleva-ilmasto#DoubleMapTimelinePlace:vertailu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Climateguide.fi&lt;/a&gt; (again, filter for &lt;em&gt;Inari&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;May&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, you'll see that the average for this month has more recently been a few degrees above zero, and that the projected trend is for increasingly higher temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do you think the UKK hike is suitable at this time of the season (if not, does anyone have any other suggestion for a multi-day hike in the Finnish Lapland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the hardest question to answer. Suitability depends very much on your level of fitness, outdoor skills, and hiking experience, as well as the appropriateness of your gear. In general, if you are an experienced hiker and are prepared for bad weather and temperatures potentially around zero, then you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also recommend not just Lapland, but some of the other hiking areas around Finland. There are some great parks of various sizes, depending on what you are after. Generally, the more rough ground is found in the east of Finland (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/repovesinp/directionsandmaps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Repovesi&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/en/kolinp/directionsandmaps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Koli&lt;/a&gt;) but there is interesting nature and scenery to be found all over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can check the options for yourself at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/destinations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;NationalParks.fi&lt;/a&gt; (use the options on the left to filter for &lt;em&gt;national park&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;national hiking area&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;wilderness areas&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;hiking trail&lt;/em&gt;). Remember that there are restrictions on open fires outside of marked areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good luck, have fun, stay safe, and bring plenty of mosquito repellent!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T07:18:10.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-08T11:38:18.217" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In such cases I try to tie my shoelaces differently, to change the way my foot sits in the shoe - if my ankle is too loose (thus the blisters), I would try to change that in case I cannot get any help. This is not a long term solution, especially if you tie your shoelaces too tight they may affect the blood circulation in your foot a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T11:38:18.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13195" CreationDate="2016-07-08T16:26:39.897" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In simplest terms, as you climb, the air pressure around you decreases and your watch subsequently registers an increase in elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, thunderstorms are often associated with a low-pressure weather system moving in, which will also register on your barometer. This can erroneously be interpreted as an increase in elevation. Similarly, high pressure (clear weather) systems moving in can make your watch register a decrease in elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some modern watches have accelerometers in them that can sense when you are moving. Algorithms then determine whether a change in pressure is likely due to your climbing (moving, and in an upward trending motion) or due to weather (no movement). These calculations can increase accuracy significantly, but you'll still need to calibrate on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some GPS watches like Garmin's Fenix 3 (which has an acceleromter) also can auto-calibrate elevation based on GPS information -- though GPS elevation is notoriously bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More accurately, the Fenix 3 can also use your smartphone connection to look up your elevation based on USGS survey data of your current location (given by the GPS). This is not automated, but can allow you to more precisely calibrate the watch as often as you feel necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without super-sensitive tech to register these pressure changes, you'll be hard-pressed to track this on your own in any meaningful way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, temperature does have some (albeit slight) effect on mercury-based barometers as the the density of the liquid changes causing variation in the readings (low pressure = more volume). Modern non-mercury barometers are not influenced by this to any significant amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="86" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T16:26:39.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13195" CreationDate="2016-07-08T19:20:49.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a nutshell:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when the &lt;strong&gt;weather goes bad&lt;/strong&gt;, pressure drops, your perceived &lt;strong&gt;altitude increases&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when the &lt;strong&gt;weather clears&lt;/strong&gt;, pressure rises, your perceived &lt;strong&gt;altitude decreases&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a precise topographic map of your hike, re-calibrate your altitude watch whenever possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(At the start, at a summit, at a crossing,...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T19:20:49.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8038" CreationDate="2016-07-08T20:46:45.797" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As many people have pointed out here and in other online forums, the concern is of course bacteria. If you can keep the bacteria away from the eggs they will not spoil. Some countries prohibit washing and refrigerating prior to selling the eggs and they can sit on the counter at home uncooked for a few weeks. Washing, refrigerating, and cooking degrade the natural barrier of the shell and membrane and thus shorten storage time.Some cultures pickle hard boiled eggs, some people smoke them, you could salt pack them, rub them with oil, etc and probably achieve decent room temperature shelf life. I live in the US and have camped with unbroken hard boiled eggs and eaten them on the third day without any spoilage. I have had salmonella poisoning twice from raw home raised eggs in Maine (I was a kid and other people served them). I am cautious but not reactionary about food. I consider three things when bringing food: source, handling, storage conditions. With eggs, I want them to be locally raised, I boil them and then oil them, and only bring enough for the first few days if they will be subject to temperatures above 75 (F- I'm American ). You can't necessarily taste all bacterial spoilage so I like to be cautious. However there is scientific research about how well eggs keep cooked at room temperature.  Please read the post in this thread by Lisa from Germany. She cites a Swiss study showing that they store fairly well especially when commercially died for Easter - the dies help seal put bacteria. Here's the study &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bag.admin.ch/dokumentation/publikationen/01435/01800/index.html?lang=de&amp;amp;download=NHzLpZig7t,lnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCEdX1_fWym162dpYbUzd,Gpd6emK2Oz9aGodetmqaN19XI2IdvoaCUZ,s-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.bag.admin.ch/dokumentation/publikationen/01435/01800/index.html?lang=de&amp;amp;download=NHzLpZig7t,lnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCEdX1_fWym162dpYbUzd,Gpd6emK2Oz9aGodetmqaN19XI2IdvoaCUZ,s-&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9840" LastActivityDate="2016-07-08T20:46:45.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13183" CreationDate="2016-07-09T15:29:26.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would wear shorts to the shower. That way you don't accidentally lose your towel and end up flashing everyone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9842" LastActivityDate="2016-07-09T15:29:26.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13202" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13205" CreationDate="2016-07-10T01:41:36.373" Score="11" ViewCount="12158" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are your chances of getting struck by lightning in a canoe? I've done a lot of canoeing on stormy lakes before, but when the thunder comes what is the real risk of getting struck by lighting? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thinking is, if you're on a mountain lake surrounded by mountains, the lighting is much more likely to strike the mountainside than it is to strike the water; the size of the lake, and the elevation of the storm clouds would of course have to be factored into your risk assessment, but even if the lake was wide enough, and the storm low enough and out over the middle of the lake so the lightning would strike the water, is there a chance that the lightning will strike a person sitting in a kevlar canoe? Does the construction of the canoe make you more or less likely to be struck by lightning? Will striking the water be the path of least resistance? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How likely are you to be struck in a canoe and what should you do if caught in a thunderstorm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T13:04:38.947" Title="Canoeing in a thunderstorm" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13202" CreationDate="2016-07-10T05:17:11.693" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being struck directly is very unlikely though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes are often made from wood, aluminum or fiberglass, although some plastic is used as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning strikes insulating materials all the time, like wooden trees or wooden houses. This is why lightning rods are found on wood buildings, to stop any lightning bolt from setting the building on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning often strikes trees. There are plenty of pics and videos on line showing tall trees being blown to pieces by lightning. If a massive tree trunk cannot stop a lightning bolt, a half-inch plastic boat hull will not stop the bolt either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning can blow a hole in the bottom of the boat and cause it to sink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the hazard of being out on a lake in a lightning storm is the boater is the only object sticking up above the water for quite a distance. Lightning tends to strike prominent objects (trees, buildings etc) rather than flat ground. So in turn the boater is in serious risk if they are the only object sticking above the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9834" LastActivityDate="2016-07-10T05:17:11.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13204" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13207" CreationDate="2016-07-10T09:09:38.397" Score="5" ViewCount="243" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've Googled this a lot over the last couple of days, but it feels like most of the answers are aimed at target shooting. I live in South Africa, and we do allot of hunting in the bushveld as well as long distance shooting in the Karoo. I'm looking for a good all round scope that can accommodate short distances (80m) as well as long (300m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[Update]&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up buying a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-viper-pst-6-24x50-riflescope-with-ebr-1-moa-reticle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fortex PST Viper 6-24x50 ERB-1 MOA SFP&lt;/a&gt;, which is a true pleasure to use!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9834" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T19:02:38.530" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T19:02:38.530" Title="What features should I look for in a scope for a .308?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13202" CreationDate="2016-07-10T10:12:34.297" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your chances of getting hit by lightning while on the water are actually higher then if you are on the beach. (&lt;em&gt;unless you are fishing&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing contributed to almost half - 46% - of the water-related deaths involving lightning strikes; while boating (power boats, canoes, sailboats, tubes) added another 25%. About 20% of the victims were relaxing on a beach, while about 9% of the victims had been swimming. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/9196-surfers-are-an-easy-target-for-lightning-strikes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One boat insurance company reports the odds of your boat being hit is 1.2 in 1,000. It later goes on to say that a multi hull boat in Florida is the most likely to be struck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the most recent (2000-2005) BoatUS Marine Insurance claim files, the odds of your boat being struck by lightning in any year are about 1.2 in 1000. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/swlightning.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get out of the water, do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though the odds are in your favor that your boat may never be hit by lightning, if it happens it can have devastating effects. Don't take a chance, protect yourself. If you are in a small boat and close to shore when a thunderstorm approaches, get in and off the water immediately. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/lightning.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning safety tips&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AVOID: Avoid water. Avoid all metallic objects. Avoid the high ground. Avoid solitary tall trees. Avoid close contact with others - spread out 15-20 ft. apart. Avoid contact with dissimilar objects (water &amp;amp; land; boat &amp;amp; land; rock &amp;amp; ground; tree &amp;amp; ground). Avoid open spaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SEEK: Seek clumps of shrubs or trees of uniform height. Seek ditches, trenches or the low ground. Seek a low, crouching position with feet together with hands on ears to minimize acoujstic shock from thunder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;KEEP: Keep a high level of safety awareness for thirty minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder. &lt;a href=&quot;http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/ploutdoor.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get out of the water, stay 20 to 50 feet (6 to 15 meters) away from other boats and tall objects (like cliffs).  Get as low in the boat as you can, don't touch anything wet or metal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-10T17:35:08.197" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13202" CreationDate="2016-07-10T12:17:30.130" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how to compute the odds, but being out on a lake in a lightning storm is a &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;really bad idea&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountains around the lake aren't going to provide cover. There are several models about how nearby tall object protect you from getting directly hit by lightning.  None of these are accurate or guarantees, as there is still much chance associated with the path of any particular lightning strike.  Think of these models in terms of probability.  They are too far away and at a low angle.  If these mountains did provide protection, then lightning shouldn't ever strike the side of the mountain.  However, this happens frequently.  If a peak can't protect the side of the mountain, it certainly isn't going to protect a more distant lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The old model says that a tall object provides about a 45&amp;deg; cone of protection.  Newer models use something like a 30 m sphere.  Either way, mountains rising from the shore of a lake don't offer any practical protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're in a canoe on a lake, you're the tallest thing for quite a distance around.  That increases the chance of lightning hitting you relative to the same spot on the lake if you weren't there.  Put another way, think you your head sticking up as attracting lighting strikes that would have otherwise hit within a few 10s of meters at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, the fact that the canoe is made of a insulating material is irrelevant.  Since there is no current to define the static electric field, as long as there is &lt;i&gt;any&lt;/i&gt; connection between you and the water, regardless of how resistive, the static field will be the same.  It is this static field that in part determines the path of the lightning strike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-07-11T15:13:04.997" LastActivityDate="2016-07-11T15:13:04.997" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13204" CreationDate="2016-07-10T18:22:03.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some characteristics that I can give you for a good scope, selecting the individual one will be up to you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Variable Magnification for both short and long distances.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nitrogen filled to prevent fogging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has a sunshade to prevent glare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smaller MOA on the turrets for sighting it in. (1/8 &lt;a href=&quot;http://nssf.org/video/facts/MOA.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; increments)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Illuminated reticle for low light&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A larger main tube (30mm vs 1 inch) will be brighter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you get a mildot or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://nssf.org/video/facts/MOA.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; scope, make sure its a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20549/what-are-the-differences-between-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-first-vs-second-focal&quot;&gt;first-focal plane&lt;/a&gt; scope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fits in your budget.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-19T00:15:27.320" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T00:15:27.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13209" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-11T07:56:54.280" Score="8" ViewCount="1041" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer. I will be camping on my own at a coastal caravan park located between 2 towns. In terms of safety (theft) and other things, what do you advise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9833" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:27:53.110" LastActivityDate="2018-02-10T23:30:31.200" Title="Any tips to prevent theft while tent camping alone in a caravan park?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13209" CreationDate="2016-07-11T08:38:42.680" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Caravan parks often have safes for people to use (rent). That's likely your best bet. They're often a bit like the lockers you get in swiming baths. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baring that it's either hide things (Bottom of a sleeping bag works ok but obviously your taking a risk) or take anything valuable with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-07-11T08:38:42.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13111" CreationDate="2016-07-11T10:14:02.450" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a knife, it's a saw. So the knife laws don't apply. Anyone can carry a saw (Woodmen, carpenters, etc.). So yes, there should be no problem with carrying a saw in open land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;UK law states the legal carry for a knife is less than 3 inches and&#xA;  must be a non-locking folding blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;that's incorrect though, the UK law states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The laws about buying and carrying a knife depend on the type of&#xA;  knife, your age and your circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Basic laws on knives&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is illegal to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;sell a knife to anyone under 18 (16 to 18 year olds in Scotland can    buy cutlery and kitchen knives) unless it’s a knife with a folding&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less, eg a Swiss Army knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;carry a knife in public &lt;strong&gt;without good reason&lt;/strong&gt; - unless it’s a knife    with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;use any knife in a    threatening way (even a legal knife, such as a Swiss Army knife)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lock knives (knives with blades that can be locked when unfolded) are&#xA;  not folding knives, and are illegal to carry in public &lt;strong&gt;without good&#xA;  reason&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As stated, I don't believe this would be classed as a knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's certainly not on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;banned list&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have a &lt;em&gt;good reason&lt;/em&gt; (going into the woods to cut dead wood) so even if you were pulled over (and they decided your very unknife looking item) was a knife it shouldn't be a problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a chance that in the wrong context this could be classed as an offensive weapon (for example, if you're in an inner london housing estate hanging out with a gang with this concealed in a bag then the police may well think that you're up to no good). If you're in a rural area on your way to the woods carrying a saw then no police constable in his right mind would class this as an offensive weapon and even if they did I would like to see them make that stand up in court.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="16176" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-10-23T13:58:01.413" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T13:58:01.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13219" CreationDate="2016-07-11T17:59:12.153" Score="5" ViewCount="2575" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many questions (and answers) about &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/lightning&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;lightning&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;lightning&lt;/a&gt; seem to focus on avoiding being hit directly by lightning but don't consider being close to where it hits the ground. Granted, it may be intentional (ie: keeping a narrow scope) but it got me thinking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;What do I have to be aware of if lightning strikes close to me?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And just how close is too close?&#xA;Is there any real difference if it hits me or if it falls at an arm's length?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I once heard that if it falls &lt;em&gt;really close&lt;/em&gt; (but doesn't hit me directly) I'd be deafened. Temporarily, unless there's serious damage to my ear. And I'd probably be disoriented (which could be a risk in itself).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I read that electricity from lightning often travels through the ground's edges and bends (especially if wet); so one shouldn't be too close to a wall or cliff. Also, falling rocks could be an issue here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are lots of things I should be aware of and not only the ones I mention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:26.630" Title="What to be aware of if lightning strikes close to me?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13209" CreationDate="2016-07-11T18:34:23.860" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make it harder for them to steal anything, roll up your vehicle's windows and lock its doors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make your stuff less attractive to thieves, cover valuables with a blanket and don't flash expensive gear or jewelry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exude confidence, look people in the eye, walk with a confident stride, and make it clear that you are not someone to be messed with. Being able to back up that confidence with pepper spray (if legal for you to possess) will also help your confidence.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maintain situational awareness, are the other people families with children, fellow outdoors people, or do they give you a bad vibe?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Listen to your gut, if your hair is standing on end and your muscles are tense, leave the area immediately. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finally, remember that your life is more valuable than your stuff&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-07-15T01:34:44.180" LastActivityDate="2016-07-15T01:34:44.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13212" CreationDate="2016-07-11T19:46:45.460" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Close enough to shock i.e. an indirect strike&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lls/deaths_injuries01.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Lightning Safety Institute&lt;/a&gt; lightning has been observed to arc out 40 meters and how far it conducts varies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Possible outcomes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Death&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Concussive injury&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Burns&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lichtenberg figures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blunt force trauma&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cardiac Arrhythmias&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kidney damage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cataracts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eardrum damage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower extremity paralysis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Not shocked but within a mile&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Increased risk of wildfires.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the old days, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stampedes&lt;/a&gt; could be caused by lightning strikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thunder will make it hard to sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information, I would suggest the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_injuries&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; and this paper by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lls/deaths_injuries01.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Lightning Safety Institute&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://xkcd.com/795/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTadZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;XKCD: Conditional Risk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:26:26.630" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:26.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5991" CreationDate="2016-07-11T21:33:23.167" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Duct tape is not waterproof. If using tape use packing tape.   But better to repair with bondo fiberglass repair or kitty hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9847" LastActivityDate="2016-07-11T21:33:23.167" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4412" CreationDate="2016-07-11T23:58:36.413" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you checked with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://sierradesigns.com/parts-warranty-info/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;manufacturer&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They offer a lifetime warranty on many things, and if this isn't covered, they may still have your poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9848" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-07-12T02:06:32.573" LastActivityDate="2016-07-12T02:06:32.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13212" CreationDate="2016-07-12T13:20:54.703" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems you are asking about risks of lightning striking close by, but not directly on you.  In other words, the lightning current isn't passing thru you on its way between the ground and the sky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are certainly risks.  I think the two main ones are flying debris and ground currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The current in lightning is very high, can heat things above the boiling point of water during the short time of the lightning strike.  The steam pressure causes things to explode or to be ejected.  The bark of trees can be exploded outward, for example.  I know someone who saw lightning strike a stone wall by the side of a road, and some of the rocks get ejected onto the road.  You can certainly get hurt from flying debris within a few meters, probably up to 10 meters or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ground currents can cause electrocution, but not by getting directly hit by the lightning.  Again, the current in lighting is very high.  This current fans out when it enters the ground.  It doesn't just go to zero immediately.  There will still be substantial currents some distance from where the lightning hit the ground.  Also the ground is not uniform, so the current does not spread out uniformly and can be channeled by geographic features.  All this means the ground currents can still be substantial up to a few 10s of meters away from where the lighting hit the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason ground currents matter is because they cause a voltage drop across the ground.  This voltage drop is proportional to the current and inversely proportional to the resistivity of the ground.  You don't really care about the current going thru the ground beneath you, but you do care about the voltage difference this current causes along the ground.  For example, if the current causes 1000 volts/meter underneath you, and you are standing with your two feet &amp;frac12; meter apart oriented in line with that current, then your feet get exposed to 500 volts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This therefore indicate three things you can do to minimize shock from ground currents due to lighting that might strike nearby:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Present the smallest &quot;footprint&quot; across the ground as possible.  This minimizes the voltage across the ground that you are exposed to for the same ground current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Insulate yourself from the ground as much as possible.  If you have a foam pad with you, for example, sit on it on the ground instead of directly on the ground.  It won't be a perfect insulator, but this is all a probability game anyway.  More insulation gives you a higher chance of not getting hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Find a spot ground currents are less likely to travel over.  This can be tricky, so in some cases you skip this.  For example, sitting on a rock outcrop that itself has a small footprint can be helpful.  Of course if that puts you higher up on a flat plane, then that's a bad idea since it increases the chance of a direct hit.  A direct hit is always worse than shock due to ground currents.  If you're not sure about this, skip it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-07-12T13:20:54.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13076" CreationDate="2016-07-12T13:52:08.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its a bit hard to give a proper answer as you are at the beginning so the reasons it happens might be a few different ones&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since from other information in the comments you say that this happened during the pool sessions of your course and you are not certified yet, I don't think is ok giving you too many tips about what to do, or suggest you to use one technique instead of the other. Its your instructor the one that has the responsibility for you and (for the moment) you should follow their methods and refer to them for resolving those things. Other suggestions might conflict with what/how they are teaching and that would be annoying for them and for sure not good for you.&#xA;Masks problems are very annoying and frustrating, the instructors are there to help and will take the time to solve it for you, don't be afraid of asking them.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The important thing is that if the problem persists when the open water part of the course comes, you don't freak out, you will be fine. Ask your instructor if they can keep an eye on you and if they can stay right beside following you during the descent and correct you if necessary. (Don't feel weird about it, that's the reason you are required to take a course to get certified and they are there to fix these things).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:&#xA;from the comments you said you tried only the Valsalva. As it might be related to the way you perform the maneuver rather than the breathing in itself, be aware that there are other equalization techniques and you might prefer one of those. Given your situation I wont list them, they are described in scuba articles all over the net and you can discuss them with your instructors (don't use them without having talked with your instructors first). However don't be lazy and change technique just because one doesn't come out right, its a good thing to try to perfect all of them, even if one works better than the other now things might change in the future, and your instructor might want you to stick with the Valsalva.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also have learned to equalize the mask so, in itself, breathing through the nose into the mask shouldn't be a disaster like you describe. Strap and pressure should keep it in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings to the mask fitting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You said in the comments that you had the two masks you tried fitted at a &quot;reputable shop&quot;. Be aware that its not if the shop is reputable or not, the fact is that fitting dry just goes so far. Some masks simply don't fit well some faces (although a leak is different than a mask just leaving your face). Even the strap should be properly regulated and positioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like many divers I went through quite a few masks before finding the perfect one, they might feel and look all similar but a small detail can make a big difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest trying all the different models you can, and I mean different shapes, amount of coverage of the face, with and without purge valve, different volumes etc. (Lower profile masks have less volume, some like them some don't). Your dive shop could have some demos, tell your instructors you want to try all you can beforehand so they can bring the demos at the open water sessions (this means buying the good one from that diveshop too if they go to all the trouble to help you, some are very expensive but don't go look for the best price online).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-07-12T13:52:08.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11855" CreationDate="2016-07-12T18:06:34.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I have found for taking sights in rough seas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a feel for how the vessel is rolling so that sights can be timed to when the vessel is at its most stable which will most often be at the top of a wave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heaving-to can reduce the motion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take multiple good sightings and average the results.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knowing which sightings are good comes with practice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The information I found was from &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books/about/Reed_s_Sextant_Simplified.html?id=MLeprqN-YBwC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reed's Sextant Simplified&#xA;by Dag Pike&lt;/a&gt; on pages &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=MLeprqN-YBwC&amp;amp;pg=PA29&amp;amp;lpg=PA29&amp;amp;dq=sextant%20in%20rough%20seas&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=bVFOdnMtI9&amp;amp;sig=lqM03lGa8-TZxHsvY_EUx3r82I4&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiJ3dXLvu7NAhVV5GMKHYsJDTkQ6AEISDAK#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=sextant%20in%20rough%20seas&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;29,42,and 50&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T21:41:11.220" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T21:41:11.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13222" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13225" CreationDate="2016-07-12T18:11:57.920" Score="6" ViewCount="14091" Body="&lt;p&gt;If while hunting I come across a rabid animal and I kill it, both to end its suffering and to prevent it from spreading rabies, what should I do with the body?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't want another animal to eat the carcass and get infected, and I don't want to put myself at risk either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:21:55.083" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T21:13:07.290" Title="How should one properly dispose of a rabid animal carcass?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13223" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-12T18:52:09.860" Score="4" ViewCount="561" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going to Alaska to moose hunt with a compound bow set for 65 pounds.  Would it be better to use fixed blade or mechanical broadheads? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9851" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-07-13T07:54:49.173" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T03:56:29.613" Title="Are fixed or mechanical blades better for moose hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;moose&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13222" CreationDate="2016-07-12T22:39:27.680" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Investigations/Monitoring/Protocols&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;California Department of Fish and Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; has a series of protocols in place for this subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protocols for Safe Handling and Disposal of Carcasses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;All dead animals should be handled only while wearing gloves; this includes carrying of dead animals, during necropsy procedures, and the dressing out of carcasses. There are several types of gloves to choose from, including leather, rubber, and latex gloves. Rubber or latex gloves are preferred due to their low cost, wide availability, and ease of disinfecting (latex gloves are disposable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The carcass should be placed in a plastic body bag and sealed as soon as possible. If a zoonotic disease is suspected (i.e., rabies, tularemia), it is recommended to double bag the carcass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid direct contact with the dead animal's body fluids (i.e., blood, urine, feces). If contact does occur, wash the skin area contacted with soap and water as soon as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid contact with the dead animal's external parasites (i.e., fleas and ticks). If possible, spray the carcass with a flea &amp;amp; tick spray prior to handling it. If pesticide poisoning is suspected as the cause of death and laboratory testing is to be performed on the animal's tissues, avoid spraying the carcass as it will interfere with laboratory results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Proper disposal of the carcass (incineration, burying, etc.) is critical to prevent exposure of other wildlife and humans to disease. Three common effective methods of carcass disposal are: incineration, burying, and rendering. Incineration is the preferred method to use when the carcass is diseased; however, it can also be the most expensive. An acceptable alternative is to bury the carcass. The carcass should be buried at least 4 feet deep and covered with lime to discourage scavengers from uncovering and consuming it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Persons who have direct contact with wildlife, especially carnivorous animals, on a regular basis are highly recommended to receive the rabies pre-exposure vaccination series. The pre-exposure series consists of a total of three vaccinations (refer to Appendix E - California Compendium of Rabies Control and Prevention, 2004) and is highly efficacious in preventing rabies. It is also recommended to have a rabies antibody titer tested every two years to determine the level of protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whenever there is an unusual mortality or die-off of wildlife the Wildlife Investigations Lab should be contacted to determine if a necropsy and disease investigation is recommended. The carcass(s) should be refrigerated as soon as possible until a decision is made as to its disposition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burial is the usually the preferred method of disposal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a site acceptable to the local environmental protection agency is available, burial is usually the preferred method of disposal. In selecting a burial site, it is necessary to consider the adequacy of soil depth and to avoid underground electrical cables, water pipes, gas pipes, septic tanks, and water wells. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://Overview%20of%20Disposal%20of%20Carcasses%20and%20Disinfection%20of%20Premises&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Overview of Disposal of Carcasses and Disinfection of Premises.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for burning a carcass:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burning in an incinerator that is operated in compliance with local laws and ordinances is an excellent means to dispose of one or a few carcasses and is the preferred means for sheep with scrapie and cattle with BSE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burning carcasses in an open site should be done only when legally permitted. -  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/clinical_pathology_and_procedures/disposal_of_carcasses_and_disinfection_of_premises/overview_of_disposal_of_carcasses_and_disinfection_of_premises.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Overview of Disposal of Carcasses and Disinfection of Premises.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.extension.org/pages/13483/carcass-disposal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Points to Consider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Burial&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Secure the landowner's permission&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Pick a location that will protect both surface water and ground water from contamination. The grave should be at least 200 feet away from any wells used to supply drinking water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Ideally, the carcass should be covered with two feet of soil within a day of burial. (This can be extremely difficult during the winter, so you may need to switch to another method).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•If using a common grave, it should not be located within a 100-year floodplain zone or a wetland area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Incineration&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•The incinerator must have approval from both state and local authorities to burn pathological wastes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-12T22:39:27.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8053" CreationDate="2016-07-12T23:34:42.217" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In March Iceland would still be covered in snow and ice with daily highs of 3*c on the south coast and an average temperature of around 0*c. Most days it snows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://weatherspark.com/averages/27562/3/Reykjavik-Capital-Region-Iceland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Daily High and Low Temperature in March&lt;/a&gt; for Reykjavík, Iceland&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q6xGD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q6xGD.png&quot; alt=&quot;Daily High and Low Temperature in March&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might be able to ski tour if you have the skills to survive in arctic weather, but I highly doubt you'd be able to hike, even on the southern coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-13T08:16:14.987" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T08:16:14.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13222" CreationDate="2016-07-12T23:37:44.347" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ken Graham has a great deal of useful information in his answer, which I will not repeat.  But the OP has specifically asked how to deal with a rabid animal's carcass when he is out hunting. However, the OP has not specified how populated the area is, or whether the hunter is alone or with companions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important instructions are &lt;strong&gt;do&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;nots&lt;/strong&gt;: do not touch the carcass and do not let your dog(s) get at it.  The next most important: report it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going to try to simplify and shorten my answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The bottom line is that you, yourself, may not be able to do anything with the corpse.&lt;/strong&gt; You probably don't have the heavy plastic bags you need to double bag it and carry it out safely even a short distance, nor a shovel to bury it the recommended four feet deep, nor anything to safely manipulate it into a bag (e.g., a shovel).  You may not even have heavy duty work gloves with you.  As for burning it -- no. The policy quoted in Ken Graham's answer is overkill for a single carcass, but it should give you pause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You help nobody by exposing yourself to rabies.            &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your responsibility is to report it and, to the best of your ability, guard against others stumbling upon the carcass, for example domestic animals or children. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, after making sure your dogs will not get at it, report it.  Your first choice is Animal Control.  Other possibilities are the local game warden, the owner of the land or the agency managing the land or the police.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am now going to assume that you are not in the middle of nowhere, but in a rural area and not far from your car or from other people (e.g., a farmhouse).  If you can get through to none of the responsible agencies, and if you have a companion, one of you walks out to report in person, and the other stays to make sure no one stumbles upon the carcass.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are alone, and have gotten only recorded messages telling you to leave a message, then, after waiting a reasonable time for a call-back, as a last resort call 911. (The recorded message might well happen with Animal Control, owners and wardens, but I'd be unhappy if it happened with the police.)  It's better not to leave the carcass unattended if there is a significant chance that a domestic animal or a child will happen by. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the middle of nowhere, report the carcass when you get out.  Whatever burying you can do is likely to be ineffective.  If the vultures are gathering, let them have it.  They can eat rabid carcasses with no ill effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's tempting to think of hauling it out.  Think.  Can you securely double bag the carcass without touching it? Can you haul it out without touching it? If the answer is &quot;maybe not&quot;, don't try.  You also have to worry about fleas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Footnote:&lt;/strong&gt;  In a carcass, the virus can persist for days.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166093414002547&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Science Direct&lt;/a&gt;.  The isolated virus degrades more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These findings suggest the persistence of infectious rabies virus in&#xA;  carcasses left for 18 days at cold temperatures (4 °C) and up to 3&#xA;  days in temperatures reaching 35 °C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-07-16T21:03:39.693" LastActivityDate="2016-07-16T21:03:39.693" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13228" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-13T00:06:38.663" Score="10" ViewCount="4773" Body="&lt;p&gt;When going to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recreation.gov/camping/goose-lake/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=71573&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Goose Lake, WA&lt;/a&gt; is there any worsened chance that the car will not be able to &quot;take&quot; ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiEh4.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiEh4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9835" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-13T11:18:20.897" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T10:04:39.667" Title="Is 8 miles of unpaved gravel road a lot for a old-ish consumer road car to take in normal weather?" Tags="&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T00:44:51.003" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just about any car can handle a &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; gravel road, with the notable exception being low slung performance cars (cars with very little ground clearance).  That being said, &quot;gravel roads&quot; vary a LOT.  I have seen roads that were the next thing to pavement and gravel roads that had rock gullies which could and would take out your oil pan if you dropped a tire into them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at google maps, the approach appears to be a Forestry Road.  While google has streetview for some forestry roads (which we could use to assess the quality), they don't for this one.  In addition the condition of a gravel road can change rapidly due to bad weather.  A road that was fine last year may be washes and ruts this year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing you can do it to go out and see in person.  You should be fine, just use your best judgement on what YOU feel safe driving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-07-13T01:02:40.247" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T01:02:40.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T00:50:20.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A gravel road is not bad. We have a driveway that is gravel for half of its length, and I estimate we drove at least 275 miles on gravel during the last 5 years of our Volvo's life, when it was 12 to 17 years old. Our neighbors, who share the driveway, drove a similar distance in five years in an old, long, low Cadillac, and continue to do so&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T00:50:20.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13223" CreationDate="2016-07-13T08:03:37.530" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It doesn't really matter. The recovery rate of mechanical broadheads is a little bit higher but negligible since the rates are overall extremely good (82 % fixed vs 91 % mechanical). So, if you are used to mechanical broadheads and can afford them, I would recommend to go with them. If you aren't used to them (normally shooting with fixed broadheads), I would recommend to grab the fixed ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mechanical vs. Fixed-Blade: Stratified by broadhead type (including&#xA;both compound bows and crossbows), hunters using fixed-blade&#xA;broadheads recovered 82 percent of their deer (874 recovered out of&#xA;1,066 hit). Hunters using mechanical broadheads recovered 91 percent&#xA;of their deer (209 out of 230 hit). Note: Total numbers of deer are&#xA;lower for mechanicals because they have only been approved for use on&#xA;the base since 2007, although the majority of deer shot since then&#xA;were shot with mechanicals. More on that shortly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All types of bows and broadheads are capable of producing extremely&#xA;high recovery rates, but you cannot overlook the education and&#xA;proficiency requirements for these hunters, and that they reported an&#xA;average shot distance of less than 20 yards. The hunters on this base&#xA;are clearly selective and careful about their shots, which contributed&#xA;to the high recovery rates. Regardless of equipment, we all share a&#xA;responsibility to practice regularly and choose the right shots. The&#xA;choices you make before the arrow is released are just as important as&#xA;the clinical physics of broadhead performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.qdma.com/articles/high-deer-recovery-rates-for-fixed-blade-and-mechanical-broadheads&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;QDMA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make sure that your tips are more than two bladed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T08:24:41.723" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T08:19:34.253" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I drove around Namibia in 2011 in a 2000 Ford Focus, put nearly 8,000 miles on that car during that three-and-a-half week trip - and most of that trip was on sand or gravel roads.  The car was fine at the end of the trip - a bit dusty, but perfectly serviceable and ran just great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8 miles (16 in actuality if you ever intend to leave the campsite...) shouldn't pose any modern (post WW2) car any major difficulties it wasnt already going to have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9857" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T08:19:34.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13111" CreationDate="2016-07-13T10:58:49.360" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Completely depends on the situation. If you have a reason to be carrying it you won't have a problem. If you're going down to the local Co-op with it handing out your back pocket then you might be pulled up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9599" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T10:58:49.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13234" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13253" CreationDate="2016-07-13T11:04:18.977" Score="4" ViewCount="296" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a foreigner from the EU, what prerequisites do I have to fulfill to hunt with a bow in Hungary?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking for general rules like &quot;You need an accepted hunting licence. Most of the EU hunting licences - like the German 'Jagdschein' - are accepted.&quot; and so on. I &lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt; ask for specific hunting seasons like &quot;When and how am I able to go for deer?&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-07-13T13:24:18.990" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T17:59:18.870" Title="Legal situation to bowhunt in Hungary for foreigners" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13235" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-13T11:08:08.903" Score="9" ViewCount="806" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thinking about getting a small packaway rain jacket to keep in the car for emergencies like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trespass.com/qikpac-packable-rain-jacket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.decathlon.co.uk/raincut-mens-waterproof-jacket-blue-id_8300325.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I'm slightly worried at the amount of bad weather they could withstand going by how much material is on them. Or lack of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any experiences with these compared to a full on waterproof jackets?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9599" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T20:33:47.940" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T20:33:47.940" Title="How much rain (realistically) could a packaway rain jacket take?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13236" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-13T11:57:12.793" Score="3" ViewCount="765" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to have bullet points for 3D archery. I just think that they look better than combo/field tips. However, I was suggested that I shouldn't use them for 3D archery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the disadvantages of bullet points compared to combo/field points in 3D archery? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T12:55:51.273" Title="Downsides of a bullet point for 3D archery" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13236" CreationDate="2016-07-13T12:55:51.273" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;They didnt give you any reason for that suggestion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes depends on clubs, one club I was member of years ago was extremely fussy about which were allowed and which not.&#xA;There is a difference in aerodynamics but at the end it comes down to the target: the intent is to reduce damage to it. The field/combo that flare out to the wider shoulder limit penetration in an harder material so to make it easier to pull out the arrow, in some places the targets are foam and the club might want bullet points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T12:55:51.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10183" CreationDate="2016-07-13T13:05:35.903" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was there a few days ago. The highest point of the &lt;strong&gt;3D course&lt;/strong&gt; was 1800 m and starts at 1600 m. Most of the hiking trails however go up to nearly 1900 m and one is even close to 2100 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T13:05:35.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13235" CreationDate="2016-07-13T13:08:55.187" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both jackets are nylon shell with a waterproof coating. Which will keep the rain out but is reliant on the coating being intact (not worn out, etc.). By this I mean it has no physical barrier. Goretex (for example) is combination of a physicla waterproof barrier (the Goretex layer) and a chemical coating to prevent the moisture blocking the &quot;pores&quot;. Essentially this is what your paying for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will likely need to reproof it occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, it should be adequate for emergency use. The first coat states how waterproof it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Waterproof coating (2000mm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the second states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;waterproof to 5000mm material&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;code&gt;mm&lt;/code&gt; value is it's rating from a hydrostatic head test:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hydrostatic Head is the measure of how water resistant your&#xA;  &lt;strike&gt;tent&lt;/strike&gt;(Jacket) material is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s measures how tall a column of water the fabric can hold before&#xA;  water starts to seep through the weave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A Hydrostatic Head of 5000mm means that a tent fabric could hold&#xA;  column of water 5000mm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;5000mm of water exerts more pressure on the fabric than a 3000mm of&#xA;  water, so a more accurate description of Hydrostatic Head is the&#xA;  measure of water pressure equivalent to 5000mm of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The higher the Hydrostatic Head value, the more water resistant a&#xA;  fabric is, and the more water pressure it can withstand before it&#xA;  leaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qg4qu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qg4qu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.getoutwiththekids.co.uk/family-tents/hydrostatic-head/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;to give you an idea of the comparision GoreTex has a minimum hydorstatic head test rating of &lt;strong&gt;20,000mm&lt;/strong&gt; (when new). So that jacket is 10x less waterproof than GoreTex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this an issue? For occasional use in normal conditions, no. If your planing on hiking up a Scotish Munroe in autumn (literally the wettest place on earth from my experience), I would want something better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-14T08:00:44.080" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T08:00:44.080" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13240" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-13T17:07:15.583" Score="4" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;DEET seems to be the main insect repellent that works for pretty much all of the bug world.  I just don't care for it, it feels weird, smells weird, and likes to melt stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most the alternatives seems targeted for just mosquitos, not ticks.  IR3535 seems to have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ir3535.com/en_US/effectiveness_of_ir3535/against_ticks/against_ticks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;some data on ticks&lt;/a&gt; (10 people, really?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best alternative that works for both mosquitos and ticks?  Is there any data out there to compare all the repellents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9861" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T09:22:17.407" Title="Insect repellent alternative for mosquitos and ticks?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-07-14T19:47:34.280" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T17:29:24.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with all other kinds of roads, it depends on its condition.  The only universal concern with all gravel roads is the incidence of pieces of gravel getting thrown up by the tires and spoiling somebody's wind-shield or paint job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer, of course, is to slow down and maintain proper following distance.  10-15 seconds behind the car in front of you gives plenty of time for any gravel to fall out of the air, and as long as your car's ground clearance is greater than the depth of the pot-holes you should be able traverse the road without damage if you go slowly enough.  If it's a bad road, you might be limited to 5 MPH, in which case it would take you an hour and a half to get down the road, but it still beats the heck out of walking.  :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch out for mud, that can get nasty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take your winter chains and a bucket, shovel, and saw.  If you're on Forest Service land, you're required to have the shovel anyway. (And possibly a few other things, I forget the exact list.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4217" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T17:29:24.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T18:51:47.927" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can give you first hand experience with this.  I have visited Goose Lake (and the Mount St Helens museum separately) over 5 times in the last 2 years. We drive a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan with camping stuff and 3 kids in the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The road is very well maintained, with few potholes.  I'd rank it (on roughness) just below a newly tarred and rocked side street.  It IS narrow, and if trying to pass another car, you'll have to hug the side of the road.  Think single-lane side street with cars parked on both sides narrow, in some places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9864" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T18:51:47.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-13T19:01:38.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most likely, an average car will be able to handle this road without a problem. Growing up, I was on many forest roads throughout Washington, often in a little old Honda Civic. Access roads for campgrounds and trailheads are usually in decent condition. If you get off the &quot;main&quot; forest roads (logging access), all bets are off and road conditions can be much worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Judging from Google maps, it looks like the campground sits on a &quot;main&quot; forest road, as I would expect. The &quot;main&quot; forest roads are maintained relatively well, with the occasional pothole or washboard section. Speeds of 20-30 mph are typical, and speed is usually limited more by curves and grade than poor road surface. Of course, my observations are generalities, and the current condition of any specific road can vary considerably. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9863" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T19:01:38.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2016-07-13T19:33:35.370" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I have found from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/insect-repellents.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Picaridin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Permethrin &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oil of lemon eucalyptus&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Various Plant Oils&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to protect all exposed skin with a head net, long pants, long sleeved shirt, and gloves. For ticks wearing long pants and preventing things from crawling up them with duck tape or blousing straps can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, avoiding long grass will help with the ticks and staying in windy areas will keep the mosquitoes from landing on you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:26:54.280" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:26:54.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13177" CreationDate="2016-07-13T20:57:37.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To give a simple question, yes, you can, but it is very complicated.&#xA;About 10 years ago I've done a similar journey but I found that walking around Lima and west and south of the Andes very hard so I ended up using public transportation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking in the Andes is very challenging as weather conditions are rapidly changing and you will have cold temperatures every night, even in summer. Elevation is a nightmare for backpacking and I have yet to find any descent maps for the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best solution I found for route finding, resupply etc is to ask anyone I met on the way (locals) about those things. Pick a place that you aim for and have some 1:100k maps for general route setting (unless you find good topo maps) and plot+sketch anything you can based on those recommendations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The less you will be planning and the more you will be self sufficient and solo reliable with good and variable gear the easier it will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2016-07-13T20:57:37.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13246" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13248" CreationDate="2016-07-13T22:49:40.017" Score="7" ViewCount="2835" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am in the wild and encounter an animal that I think might be rabid, how can I tell if it has rabies?  An animal that has been running hard, or any number of other things could cause it to be foaming at the mouth, but not neccissarily have rabies. Foaming at the mouth is the symptom I most often consider to be a sign of rabies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The horse in this image, is foaming at the mouth a lot, but I seriously doubt it is rabid &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HsgDO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HsgDO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13222/&quot;&gt;How should one properly dispose of a rabid animal carcass?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:22:44.003" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T00:40:40.437" Title="How can I tell if a wild animal has rabies?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;horses&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13246" CreationDate="2016-07-13T23:11:20.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/facts/rabies.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humane Society&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nocturnal animals active in the daytime or vice versa.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Excessive drooling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lack of fear of humans&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aggressive behavior&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does note that there is both a &amp;quot;furious&amp;quot; form where they may act agitated and a &amp;quot;dumb&amp;quot; form where they may act drunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merckvetmanual.com/pethealth/horse_disorders_and_diseases/brain_spinal_cord_and_nerve_disorders_of_horses/rabies_in_horses.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merck Veterinary Manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Paralysis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seizures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inability to swallow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also the type of animal may be an indication, as in some areas, certain species are more likely to have it, with raccoons in the eastern US as an example.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Viewer Discretion is Advised&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some YouTube videos of rabid animals to more clearly show the symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8fbAFOMTp4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9-umU1C_QU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guYU1JDE_jM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raccoon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbShge695GI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another  Raccoon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-16T00:28:45.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13246" CreationDate="2016-07-14T00:33:53.670" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to understand the question of rabies and whether or not an animal is rabid, a little background information is necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once rabies infection occurs, the virus grows in muscle tissue and may go undetected for several days or months. During this incubation (or latent) period, the animal appears healthy and shows no sign of infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Usually within 1 to 3 months, the virus migrates to the nerves near the site of the infection and spreads to the spinal cord and brain (i.e., the central nervous system). It usually takes from 12 to 180 days to spread through the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system. At this point, the disease progresses rapidly, and the animal begins to show the classic behavioral signs of rabies. The virus spreads to the saliva, tears, breast milk and urine. The animal usually dies in 4 or 5 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rabies causes typical symptoms. The infection progresses in a predictable manner, from the initial prodormal phase to the excitative, or furious, phase to the final paralytic phase. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;first sign usually is a change in behavior&lt;/strong&gt;. Pet owners should be aware that behavioral changes can occur as a result of many conditions, from digestive disorders to poisoning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rabid animals usually stop eating and drinking, and may appear to want to be left alone.&lt;/strong&gt; After the initial onset of symptoms, the animal may become vicious or begin to show signs of paralysis. Some rabid animals bite at the slightest provocation and others may be somnolent and difficult to arouse. Once the animal shows signs of paralysis, the disease progresses very quickly and the animal dies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The early symptoms of rabies tend to be subtle, last 2 to 3 days, and include the following:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Change in tone of the dog's bark &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Chewing at the bite site&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Fever&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Loss of appetite&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Subtle changes in behavior&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The second phase of infection usually lasts 2 to 4 days and not all rabid animals experience it.&lt;/strong&gt; Animals that enter immediately into the final paralytic phase are sometimes said to have dumb or paralytic rabies. Animals that spend most of their diseased state in the furious phase are sometimes said to have furious rabies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An infected dog may viciously attack any moving object, person, or animal; a caged rabid dog will chew the wire, break their teeth, and try to bite a hand moving in front of the cage. Rabid cats will attack suddenly, biting and scratching. Foxes will invade yards and attack dogs, cows, and porcupines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They may show the following signs: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Craving to eat anything, including inedible objects &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Constant growling and barking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Dilated pupils&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Disorientation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Erratic behavior&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Episodes of aggression&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Facial expression showing anxiety and hyperalertness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Irritability&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•No fear of natural enemies (e.g., wild animals may not be afraid of people)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Restlessness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Roaming&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Seizures&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Trembling and muscle incoordination&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The third and final phase of infection usually lasts for 2 to 4 days. Initial symptoms include the following:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Appearance of choking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Dropping of the lower jaw (in dogs)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Inability to swallow, leading to drooling and foaming of saliva (i.e., &quot;foaming at the mouth&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Paralysis of jaw, throat, and chewing muscles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Paralysis then spreads to other parts of the body, the animal becomes depressed, rapidly enters a coma and dies. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthcommunities.com/rabies/symptoms.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Health Communities&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nota Bene&lt;/strong&gt;: This also depends on your area. For example the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_rabies#United_Kingdom&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;UK has been free of rabies since 1902.&lt;/a&gt; Much of Europe is now rabies free as is Australia. So if you do see an animal in these countries that exhibit some of these symptoms it is very unlikely to be rabies – Note added from the comment of Liam.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-16T00:00:26.063" LastActivityDate="2016-07-16T00:00:26.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2016-07-14T01:11:59.893" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in tick central, home of Lyme Disease, and do a lot of hiking in areas full of ticks. To give you an idea, I once plucked a dozen ticks off myself and 25+ off my dog after just an hour walking through some fields with tall grass. I also happen to hate DEET because I grew up in south Florida doing stuff like camping in the Everglades, so I spent my childhood drenched in the stuff and prefer to avoid it now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there's anything you can put on yourself that will deter ticks completely and isn't toxic to you, doesn't melt stuff, doesn't stain, etc. And they'll happily crawl right over DEET-covered skin and clothing anyway, so that's no help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found that there is simply no substitute for inspecting yourself and just removing the damn things ASAP. And no, you don't need tweezers or tools of any sort. You just need fingers and practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also dispute the usual wisdom of wearing long pants and taping the legs up and stuff like that. Besides being hot, uncomfortable, and making you look silly with duct tape on your ankles, the ticks will just crawl up the outside of your pants and find their way to your skin via your shirt, waistband, etc -- or they'll just go all the way to your head and attach to your scalp. So it's actually much better to wear shorts because you'll &lt;strong&gt;feel&lt;/strong&gt; them crawling up your leg and be able to see them and remove them on the spot. With long pants you won't feel a thing until you find it attached to your private parts the next day (don't ask).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5795" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T01:11:59.893" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2016-07-14T01:46:34.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The importance of good insect protection&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an important subject. The dangers of mosquitoes in many parts of the world are well known, and recent research suggests that Lyme disease from ticks is greatly under-reported and is many times more prevalent than previously thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Treating clothing so ticks are killed on contact before they can reach your skin, and biting insects are repelled so you can wear more breathable clothing rather than uncomfortable, tight-woven insect-proof fabrics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Preventing bites on your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoiding the little buggers in the first place&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treating clothing &amp;amp; insect netting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best (and only) choice here is the contact insecticide permethrin, which was developed by the US military. The EPA has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/repellent-treated-clothing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reviewed the evidence&lt;/a&gt; and regards it as safe and effective. It is known to work on ticks, mosquitoes and over 50 other types of insect. It is odourless once dry, and doesn't damage clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 4 ways to use it, in decreasing order of effectiveness and longevity:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Factory applied - which should last for the life of the garment and is offered by an increasing range of manufacturers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After-market application by a specialist service&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Washing it into your clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spraying it onto your clothing, which should last up to 6 weeks provided you hand wash or use a wool programme (it is damaged by vigorous washing).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The well known trekker Andrew Skurka has been testing factory-applied clothing with guided groups in tough conditions in Alaska and has found it very effective. Anecdotal evidence from blogs and forums also suggests that it works well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Protecting your skin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The options here are less clear. Permethrin isn't suitable, and while DEET is effective there are increasing &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-true-that-the-deet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;safety concerns&lt;/a&gt;, and bans are being introduced in many jurisdictions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own experience is that solutions that work for some don't work for others - the factors that attract biting insects are complex and seem to vary from person to person. So trial and error is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The failsafe approach is to use netting and clothing as a barrier. You can even buy or make netting mits. Nets treated with permethrin are more effective, as insects will be killed before they can find any gaps in your protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With DEET on the way out, the emerging alternative is &lt;strong&gt;Saltidin&lt;/strong&gt; (also known as Icaridin) which was released by Bayer in 2001. It is regarded as less toxic, is more pleasant on the skin and doesn't attack plastics, but it's not quite as effective as DEET in high intensity situations. It's pretty popular in Scotland for countering the dreaded midges, though as always some people find it doesn't work for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative popular in Europe is &lt;strong&gt;Wilmas Nordic Summer Insect Repellent&lt;/strong&gt; based on Scandinavian folk remedies - no research that I'm aware of, but lots of anecdotal evidence that it works for some. Has a strange odour like a wood fire which is not entirely unpleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final option popular in Scotland is, strangely, &lt;strong&gt;Avon's Skin So Soft&lt;/strong&gt; body spray (blue bottle). It became widely used by the Royal Marines after their wives reported that it worked. There are rumours that the SAS and the US Special Forces are using it for jungle warfare. Some swear by it, while others find it useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another popular remedy is &lt;strong&gt;B-vitamin supplementation or patches&lt;/strong&gt;, but this has been carefully studied and found to be ineffective. Taking &lt;strong&gt;garlic capsules&lt;/strong&gt; has not been researched, so far as I can determine, but researchers are open minded that it might be somewhat effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally you might want to keep an eye on the guys at &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kiteproducts.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kite Products&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; who raised over $500,000 through crowdfunding to develop what they claim, with some credibility, to be a breakthrough mosquito repellant. They should be launching their first products in 2016.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoidance is the best cure - if not always possible!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It hardly needs saying, but whenever possible try and avoid exposure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know the bug seasons and try to avoid them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Steer clear of dense vegetation, boggy ground and other breeding areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay high or in windy areas. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-07-14T09:22:17.407" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T09:22:17.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13228" CreationDate="2016-07-14T10:04:39.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The car could not care less what the material under its tires, as long as only the tires are touching the road. The main impact of driving on gravel is that the car will get dirtier than on a paved road. If you were accelerating fast enough, you would also notice that gravel is more slippery than a paved road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation is different if the base of the car or some engine parts mounted near the bottom of the car are touching the road. In that situation the car could break down. Sometimes gravel roads have potholes, vegetation and other irregularities that could scratch the car base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the old world driving on gravel roads is a everyday thing. The cars are also inspected regularly for problems, and driving on gravel roads seems not to cause any specific problems to be found on these inspections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9869" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T10:04:39.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13257" CreationDate="2016-07-14T11:37:56.930" Score="8" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm visiting Iceland this august, will be arriving in Reykjavik. Since it's not possible to bring gas cartridges with me, I'll need to buy them there. I'll be arriving on a sunday. Is it possible to buy gas cartridges like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buy-camping-gas.co.uk/coleman/coleman-100-gas-cartridge&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; somewhere in Reykjavik on a sunday, or are all stores closed on sundays?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9858" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T20:57:06.733" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T20:57:06.733" Title="Is it possible to buy gas cartridges on a Sunday in Reykjavik?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13234" CreationDate="2016-07-14T12:31:43.153" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I have found &lt;a href=&quot;http://vadasz.info.hu/omvk/balesetvedelem.doc&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; on page 2 is that you are allowed to hunt with gun permit + up-to-date &quot;hunting ticket&quot;, or with foreign hunting permit. On page 1 there is reference to a law saying that you may strike with your hunting gun or hunting bow if you clearly identified the game and the strike would not endanger the life of someone. The two may cover the case you are interested in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsz.bme.hu/mtsz/torveny/vad04.htm&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; are the laws summarized. It says you need a holding permit for a hunting bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nimrodhunting.com/hu/a-vadaszat-altalanos-szabalyai&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; it says that you can hunt with a bow in Hungary, but for big game (deer, wild boar etc.) the bow must be above 222,7 Newton pulling strength + appropriate arrows (whatever that means, I am not aware of the terms, sorry). Also says that crossbows are not allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omvk.hu/dokumentum/allami-vadaszvizsga.html&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; mentions that you need an extra permit for hunting with bow or with hunting birds, above the average hunting permit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;: I am not a hunter, I just speak Hungarian. I think the best would be to directly contact some hunting clubs or officials. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omvk.hu/dokumentum/elerhetosegek.html&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; are the addresses of the national + district level hunting administration organs. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.magyarvadasz.hu/index.php?p=vadasztarsasag&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a list of hunting clubs. If you write them, try several addresses and don't expect a quick answer :) Hungarians (and generally the older people) are not so good English speakers, so it might take a time for them to react or to find someone to help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2016-07-14T12:36:52.540" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T12:36:52.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13254" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-14T12:50:45.877" Score="18" ViewCount="2259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a 7 day trip in Scotland. I am considering some possible cheap options for accommodation, and I have read wild camping is permitted. Are there any rules that need to be respected? Does it mean I can camp anywhere?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9868" LastEditorUserId="9875" LastEditDate="2016-07-14T22:09:44.270" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T22:09:44.270" Title="Are there wild camping rules in Scotland?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13254" CreationDate="2016-07-14T13:34:58.780" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically it's an open access law, meaning you can camp in any **&quot;unenclosed space&quot;*. So you can't camp in fields, private land, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned you should follow the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/Practical-guide/public/camping&quot;&gt;Scottish Outdoor Access Code for camping&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Access rights extend to wild camping. This type of camping is&#xA;  lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in&#xA;  any one place. You can camp in this way wherever access rights apply,&#xA;  but help to avoid causing problems for local people and land managers&#xA;  by not camping in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals and by&#xA;  keeping well away from buildings, roads or historic structures. Take&#xA;  extra care to avoid disturbing deer stalking or grouse shooting. If&#xA;  you wish to camp close to a house or building, seek the owner's&#xA;  permission. Leave no trace by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;taking away all your litter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;removing all traces of your tent pitch and of any open fire (follow    the guidance for lighting fires)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;not causing any pollution&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a series of high profiles issues around anti social behaviour (particuarly around the Trossachs) there are plans to introduce &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scotsman.com/news/camping-at-loch-lomond-and-trossachs-to-be-restricted-1-4012016&quot;&gt;legislation in some areas&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The details of this have yet to be finalised but the basic idea appears to be some kind of permit system, to limit numbers and to ensure people follow the code corretly. There have been particular problems with people camping on the roadside and basically getting drunk and trashing the place. The new rules (if the come into force) are designed to try and curb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-14T14:10:32.820" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T14:10:32.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13254" CreationDate="2016-07-14T13:42:56.223" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds like a great idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild camping is permited under the &lt;em&gt;Land Reform Act&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com&quot;&gt;Outdooraccess-scotland&lt;/a&gt; have put together a useful summary of how it relates to your &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/sites/default/files//docs/Scottish_Outdoor_Access_Code_-_Part_2_Access_rights.pdf&quot;&gt;access rights&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key points from which are;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does it mean I can camp anywhere?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The main places where access rights do not apply are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;houses and gardens, and non-residential buildings and&#xA;  associated land;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;land in which crops are growing;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;land next to a school and used by the school;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;sports or playing fields when these are in use and where the&#xA;  exercise of access rights would interfere with such use;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;land developed and in use for recreation and where the&#xA;  exercise of access rights would interfere with such use; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;golf courses (but you can cross a golf course provided you&#xA;  don’t interfere with any games of golf);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;places like airfields, railways, telecommunication sites,&#xA;  military bases and installations, working quarries and&#xA;  construction sites; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;visitor attractions or other places which charge for entry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you know if there are any rules that need to be respected?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;you should also note that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Access rights do not extend to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;being on or crossing land for the purpose of doing anything&#xA;  which is an offence, such as theft, breach of the peace,&#xA;  nuisance, poaching, allowing a dog to worry livestock,&#xA;  dropping litter, polluting water or disturbing certain wild&#xA;  birds, animals and plants;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;hunting, shooting or fishing;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;anyone responsible for a dog which is not under proper&#xA;  control; or to&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;anyone taking away anything from the land for a commercial&#xA;  purpose. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you should respect &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code&quot;&gt;The Countryside Code&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastActivityDate="2016-07-14T13:42:56.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13252" CreationDate="2016-07-14T17:11:26.220" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I Googled and found there is a least one store (top return) that is open daily from 9AM to 5PM.  It also offers 24/7 pickup and drop off of rental supplies.  So yes you can get &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iceland-camping-equipment.com/collections/iceland-stove-gas-fuel-rental/products/gas-canister-fuel-iceland&quot;&gt;gas cartridges&lt;/a&gt; on a Sunday in Reykjavik.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their address is as follows: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barónsstígur 5&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;101 Reykjavik - Iceland&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tel. +354 647 0569&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-07-15T07:37:37.330" LastActivityDate="2016-07-15T07:37:37.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2016-07-15T03:52:41.133" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Important to note that specific state regulations could apply to your situation.  For instance, my state has a fishing regulation which states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;It is unlawful for any person to possess a fish in any form or condition other than whole while on or when unloading the fish from a boat, while wading, or while fishing from shore on any waters in this state where a fishing license is required.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could probably be argued by a warden that by bleeding/gutting the fish, it is no longer 'whole'.  While it might not be the prescribed method of anglers, I have seen many individuals bleed the fish (specifically catfish) by removing a section of the tail.  This would absolutely put you in violation of the above regulation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have thoroughly read and understand all of your states fishing regulations and there are not any rules similar to the one in my state (OH)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9876" LastActivityDate="2016-07-15T03:52:41.133" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13209" CreationDate="2016-07-16T09:20:14.753" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping is an outdoor sport, with many opportunities for unexpected events.  Don't bring anything that can't be exposed to the weather, and don't bring anything that will cause you emotional hardship if it does not return home with you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been camping for years, and have never lost anything to theft, nor has anyone I know lost  anything to theft.  I have had things destroyed by getting to close to the fire, ruined by water, worn out from over use, lost through misadventure, left behind accidentally, or otherwise made unavailable for future use by something stupid I have done.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apply some common sense and don't leave your wallet laying in the middle of the road. But you need not be overly concerned about theft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US there are two very general types of camping area, Private and Public. the private places are run for profit and almost always have people who rent (or lease) the same spot for years.  The public ones are government operated and usually have a two week stay limit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, there are people who spend their whole time in camp. At any one time it would be unusual for there to be more then 2 out of 3 campsites having their occupants gone. Everyone tends to keep an eye on what is going on around them.  Only a few bring a television and satellite dish. Everyone knows who belongs to what campground, all of this makes for an environment that is not good for thieves to operate in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, a common occurrence is for someone to be away from their site and have a wind come up that is greater then the wind resistance of their tent, canopy or other item.  The neighbors don't just watch your tent blow down the road, they go get it and take it back to your camp. They may or may not put it back up and secure it better, but they will at least make sure it stays in your site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-07-16T09:20:14.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2016-07-17T02:29:27.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike a lot in the Rocky Mountains. 2.5 mph up is a good number. Less coming down. Deduct about half an hour for a 4 mile 1 way hike coming down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9881" LastActivityDate="2016-07-17T02:29:27.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13261" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-17T18:12:29.410" Score="3" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am brand new to the activity tracker watch world and can't figure out for the life of me how to transfer an activity from the log on my watch to movescount. I have everything connected and my move is not showing on moves count. Sorry if this is a basic thing, but I can't find any info in the FAQ. Can anyone help a newbie out? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9886" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T12:59:26.653" Title="New Suunto Ambit3 and don't know how to move log data from watch to moves count" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13262" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-17T19:43:25.203" Score="9" ViewCount="2878" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not interested in camping on a campsite among lots of other people, I want to pitch-up a tent where there is just me and nature around. Are there any areas in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia or Philippines where it would be possible and safe to do so, in remote mountains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear I am mostly asking about safety from other humans which might be up to no good, and/or having more interest in me then I would like them too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not looking for places where it is de-jure legal to wild camp, as such places probably don't exist in SEA, but simply where its unlikely anybody will bother me, assaults/robberies have not happened to people who have tried this, and are reachable on foot from a parking place within a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9884" LastEditorUserId="9884" LastEditDate="2016-09-27T23:02:36.777" LastActivityDate="2019-10-29T17:06:59.060" Title="Are there any areas in Southeast Asia where it would be safe to wild-camp with a tent in the mountains?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13263" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-17T20:18:20.930" Score="5" ViewCount="920" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some questions about rope swings similar in size to the the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B36Lr0Unp4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;corona arch swing&lt;/a&gt; which has an accompanying &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm6pd-uvMeA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;setup video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assuming you can avoid rope abrasion, do swings like this damage&#xA;climbing ropes? Swing goes straight into a pendulum with no/limited free fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The figure eights get very tight at the anchor. I've&#xA;heard people say you should loosen them, retie them, or cut them away&#xA;after several jumps. Any truth to this?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We set up a prussic&#xA;chord at the anchor. It attached just below the figure eight&#xA;knot that secured the jump line. This kept the weight&#xA;of the jump partially off the knots. Are there risks associated with&#xA;this - eg. can prussics weaken a system like this, or cut the rope?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We also jumped onto a prussic (primary), with an atc below, with&#xA;overhand knot below that. We clipped the bite from the overhand knot&#xA;to our belay loop. We did this because we jumped with a backpack and&#xA;had to rapel to the ground after the swing completed. Slightly clustered, but we wanted to easily rapel after the jump was&#xA;completed. Any feedback on this setup?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[EDIT] Removed some slang&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9878" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T01:53:33.173" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T01:57:09.943" Title="Recommendations for anchoring long rope swings" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13264" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-17T21:21:02.637" Score="17" ViewCount="9017" Body="&lt;p&gt;My ice ax came with a leash already on it and I have never had any problems with it, but almost all of the other ice axes that I have seen in use lacked one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One obvious pro is in case of dropping the ice ax, a leash will prevent it from sliding down the mountain and a con is the constant switching back and forth from one hand to another to keep the ax on the uphill side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some other pros and cons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-12-27T19:11:25.783" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T19:11:25.783" Title="What are the pros and cons of ice axe leashes?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13265" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13270" CreationDate="2016-07-17T22:36:42.987" Score="2" ViewCount="4205" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an animal lover and would only shoot at a bear as an absolute last resort&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume I have done everything possible to avoid contact with a bear, and after encountering one have followed the best advice I can remember, I am faced with a choice of my family or an attacking bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bear spray doesn't stop it, and as it closes I draw a (legally owned and carried) handgun out and fire shots in the air, but this doesn't deter the bear either. At point blank, how big does the handgun need to be to stop the bear (ideally, not fatally)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess would be .50, say a desert eagle. But maybe even that would not enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9209" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:18:01.777" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:18:01.777" Title="What is the minimum caliber of handgun that would stop a grizzly bear?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="13" ClosedDate="2016-07-18T13:34:31.807" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13264" CreationDate="2016-07-18T00:25:48.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not dropping the ice axe is a pro in some circumstances and a con in others. If you drop into a crevasse it would be really nice to hang on to your ice axe to aid in your rescue and finishing or evacuating the climb. One the other hand, if you fall on a slope and lose control of your ice axe, then being tethered to a flailing rod with lots of sharp edges could be really bad news. If you have a taste for that sort of thing, google, &quot;impaled on ice axe&quot;. I just finished a glacier travel course, and the opinion of the guides was &quot;No leashes!&quot;. However, that was with absolute beginners on the easy and heavily traveled Easton glacier route on Mt. Baker in the NW USA. If you are on technical ice, or on a big Alaskan glacier, opinions may differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-23T11:45:05.850" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T11:45:05.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13267" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13300" CreationDate="2016-07-18T04:26:04.460" Score="8" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;(long time passing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I walk along Del Monte beach in Crow City, USA (Monterey, California) quite often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For quite awhile, sandpipers were there in abundance - more than any other bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen any in a couple of months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have they migrated away? Where?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/birds/spotted_sandpiper_migration.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, sandpipers are &quot;year-round&quot; residents in my area (well, &quot;spotted&quot; sandpipers, anyway, I don't know what subspecies these are that are common to my area).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="2573" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T22:20:01.470" LastActivityDate="2017-06-17T23:13:00.543" Title="Where have all the sandpipers gone?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;migration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13264" CreationDate="2016-07-18T10:12:38.910" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm talking about a single &quot;alpine walking axe&quot; here, not a pair of climbing axes. (I presume this is what you mean?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me it's pretty strightforward:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Pro&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It stops you dropping your axe (or more to the point if you do drop it you won't loose it)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cons&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a pain and gets in the way (just generally in my experience)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes swapping hands more difficult (you have to remove the leash put the leash on the other hand, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt; it's a matter of personal preference, some people use them others don't. The terrain is likely a factor. If your on resonably technical ground and need to keep swapping hands then it's more of an issue. If it's a slope and your not having to swap hands, then it's less&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-18T10:17:40.897" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T10:17:40.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13252" CreationDate="2016-07-18T12:36:02.090" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my last trip to Iceland I got the tip to look around at the air port for gas cartridges. Often people who are leaving drop their stuff there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also hostels might be a good place to search for.&#xA;The biggest selection I probably saw, was at the campsite in Reykjavik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2737" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T12:36:02.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13265" CreationDate="2016-07-18T13:12:27.480" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/8/13/packing-pistols-in-bear-country/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bryce Towsley&lt;/a&gt; has this story to tell us about a grizzly attack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shortly before I arrived in one northern Alaska camp, a couple of packers were rushing to beat the failing light. Covered with blood and loaded down with packs of caribou meat that doubled the weight pressing on their boots, they were tired and thinking mostly about a hot meal and a dry sleeping bag as they pressed toward camp. As the lead guy pushed through the thick brush along the river a very large grizzly bear stood up and took a swing at his head. Young reflexes saved him, as he ducked and the bear hit the pack, knocking him down. He rolled, drew the .44 Magnum pistol in his chest holster and emptied it into the bear, ending the encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bryce Towsley goes on to say this about handguns and bears in his article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/8/13/packing-pistols-in-bear-country/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Packing Pistols In Bear Country&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The .44 Magnum is probably the bottom limit. I know, some guys claim the .41 Magnum or even the .357 Magnum is fine, but I do not agree. I have watched them both work on black bears and I was never impressed. The point here is not to prove you can stop a charging bear with a smaller, inadequate cartridge. The point is to survive. So, I think a .44 Magnum is the starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is also important to use a heavy bullet. The key is to penetrate through bone and through a lot of critter, and for that you need bullet weight: at least 300 grains for a .44 Magnum and that much or more for any of the .454 Casull or heavy .45 Colt loads. I use 400-grain bullets in my .500 Wyoming Express; with some bigger cartridges like the .500 S&amp;amp;W Magnum you can go up as high as 500 grains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Part of the bullet-weight decision, though, should be based on your ability to shoot the cartridge. A 500-grain bullet at 1450 fps from a handgun is not a load most NPR listeners will want to shoot. I have passed my personal limits with some of the biggest cartridges when used in lightweight, carry-style handguns. For example, in my .500 Wyoming Express I had to back off from the full-power loads. A 400-grain bullet at 1600 fps proved too much for me (and everybody else who shot it) to handle well in a relatively light, 2-pound, 12-ounce Freedom Arms revolver. So I backed it down to about 1300 fps and found the load much more manageable, but still plenty bear-worthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cartridge selection? Well, I really believe any handgun you bring to any fight should have a name that starts with at least a 4. That’s really important if you are fighting a bear! I think the rule of “4-3-1” should apply: a bullet diameter that starts with at least a 4, a bullet weight that starts with at least a 3 and a muzzle velocity of at least 1000 fps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you prefer to look into your particular needs check out these sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cabela's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-best-bear-defense-guns-pics/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Best Bear Defense Guns&lt;/a&gt; by John McAdams&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chuckhawks.com/protection_field.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Handguns for Protection in the Field&lt;/a&gt; by Chuck Hawks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-07-18T13:12:27.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13264" CreationDate="2016-07-18T14:16:26.007" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Notice: I consider this a question about classical mountaineering. The question becomes very debatable if you include steep ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In short:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do not use hand leashes on mountaineering ice axes: you attach a sharp tool to yourself which has a high chance of serious injury in case of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;While there is a whole bunch of pros and cons, the one deciding factor that all mountain guides and instructors I met agreed on is the following: If you fall and let go of your ice axe, you will not get control of it again even with a leash. So the only thing it accomplishes, is that the ice axe remains close to you and will probably injure you. So no benefit but big security risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros/Cons:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are of course some situation where a hand leash will benefit you, coming into my mind are: Accidentally losing grip and falling into a crevasse (lower risk of injury due to short fall). An obvious handling disadvantage is: Loosing time when changing direction and thus the hand holding the axe. All these factors however are much less important than the security implication explained above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Self arrest / falling:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most importantly: Train self arrest with your ice axe (without crampons or leash). This will show you that it is very important to stop a fall quickly. All people that I have personally see slipping on a snow slope stopped quickly by self arrest after falling. People that fell for a longer time all stopped their slide only when the terrain got less steep. Two friends who slided/fell for a long distance both reported that there slide quickly became and uncontrolled tumble after building some speed. The essence: You should never become fast but break quickly - recatching a lost ice axe takes too long and will quickly be impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A personal note on steep ice:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I do not use leashes either. However I am no expert and this is purely on recommendation of an expert friend. His opinion is, that with hand leashes you will be more likely to drop one as you have to fiddle with the leash when placing an ice screw and leashes attached to the harness often get into the way. And anyway, you don't drop your axe as you depend so much on it. That is however certainly just a personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Another note on shops:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most ice axes are supplied with a hand leash. However the mountaineering shop I go to advises all its customers to remove them before use. I asked them why they do this. Their answer was the safety implications described above. The second question: Why then are leashes still supplied. The answer is marketing. Of old hand leashes are part of an ice axe and customers might consider another ice axe if this &quot;extra&quot; is missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-23T11:44:24.793" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T11:44:24.793" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13273" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13873" CreationDate="2016-07-18T16:10:18.070" Score="9" ViewCount="2598" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to drink water from streams in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dartmoor&lt;/a&gt; using simple purification methods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a trip and am looking to filter using a &lt;code&gt;Millbank&lt;/code&gt; bag and then boil for four minutes to kill off any nasties. This way I can reduce the weight and the cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm particularly interested in the water pollution in Dartmoor, as a national park I am assuming that there will be no run off from farms that is common in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:13.510" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:13.510" Title="Drinking water in Dartmoor" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13275" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13281" CreationDate="2016-07-18T22:34:42.593" Score="5" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I walk weekly (Del Monte Beach in Monterey, California), I beachcomb for shells, glass, and particularly stones. Most of what gets cast up is rather dull and uninteresting - gray and black rocks of no particular noteworthiness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are always at least some gemlike little rocks of various hues: yellow, green, white, orange, caramel and chocolate brown, reddish-brown, pale blue, etc. These are often well-worn and oval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every foray differs from the previous (quantity and &quot;quality&quot; of what gets thrown onto the strand by the relentless waves), yet certain stretches tend to have a consistent concentration of these gemlike stones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I reckon quantity is determined by the strength of the tide, so full moon and new moon can be expected to produce a good harvest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storms would be another factor, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume when certain deposits are washed up, it's because the waves are &quot;digging deep&quot; in certain locations on the ocean floor where these types of stones tend to be concentrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I can predict in a small way what portion of the beach will produce which type of stone; is it possible to predict with a greater certainty which area of the bay is going to get scooped out based on lunar phases and weather patterns?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically I'm wondering why certain spots on the ocean floor are &quot;reaped&quot; on one occasion but not on another. Is it such a complicated interplay that it can't possibly be predicted?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T08:50:53.647" Title="Can deep wave action be partially predicted by lunar phases?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13264" CreationDate="2016-07-18T23:21:47.723" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Short answer:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety &amp;gt; Convenience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Long answer:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering I'd suggest using a leash; I'm sure you're aware but if you were to lose it you would have a hard time performing all these tasks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self arresting a fall on a steep snow slope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extracting yourself from a crevasse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rescuing a partner from a crevasse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Building a bucket seat anchor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Building a buried ice anchor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Building a snow/ice bollard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Creating an emergency shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are very vulnerable without your tool. The idea of falling into a crevasse and dropping my axe is pretty frightening; I would never want to rely 100% on my partner's ability to construct and haul me out with no help on my part. Likewise, the idea of my partner falling into a crevasse (and maybe becoming injured) and causing me to drop my axe as I am pulled off my feet, leaving it out of reach would be equally scary, not being able to help them and knowing each movement could bring us both a little bit closer to falling to the bottom...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other main advantage a leash has is that it supports your weight when climbing steep stuff. This means you don't have to hold on as tight and can climb further before becoming too pumped to continue. All tools designed for use without leashes have extra support for the hand built in to compensate for this. Even then many people use elasticated umbilical-like cords to prevent the loss of tools, especially in mountain environments where it may leave them stranded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Possible compromise:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.needlesports.com/images/6e919384-eec3-4474-aacf-a2c800f47a41_720x720.jpg?width=644&amp;amp;height=644&amp;amp;format=jpg&amp;amp;quality=70&amp;amp;bgcolor=fff&quot; alt=&quot;how to attach an ice axe leash&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a regular mountaineering axe with no additional hand support but don't intend on climbing anything steep (unlikely if you're only using a single axe) then you could get an elasticated leash such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.needlesports.com/4050/products/blue-ice-boa-leashes-pair.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue Ice Boa&lt;/a&gt; or any other very similar product. Attach it to your harness and the head of the axe and not to the spike so that it does not interfere with plunging. You will then be attached to the tool at all times but your hands will be free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T11:43:11.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13263" CreationDate="2016-07-19T00:18:15.970" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Assuming you can avoid rope abrasion, do swings like this damage climbing ropes? Swing goes straight into a pendulum with no/limited&#xA;  free fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't see it doing any special damage to the rope that wouldn't occur through climbing. I would make regular inspections of the rope and retire/replace equipment when necessary. The fall factors involved are well within the 1.7 tested by the UIAA but it might be worth contacting the manufacturer of the rope to see if they have any information about how the ropes perform in the pendulum type fall rather than a straight one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The figure eights get very tight at the anchor. I've heard people say you should loosen them, retie them, or cut them away after several&#xA;  jumps. Any truth to this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't untie them then I guess you'll have to cut them. If this is happening regularly than maybe you can prevent it by undoing and retying so they aren't getting repeatedly tightened with each jump. I'd say if you can untie them then you don't need to redo them, your just adding more opportunities to make a mistake. If you find that the rope is becoming deformed or the sheaf is getting damaged then that part of the rope is no longer safe and should be cut out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We set up a prussic chord at the anchor. It attached just below the&#xA;  figure eight knot that secured the jump line. This kept the weight of&#xA;  the jump partially off the knots. Are there risks associated with&#xA;  this, eg. can prussics weaken a system like this, or cut the rope?**&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A figure of 8 is a very &lt;a href=&quot;http://caves.org/section/vertical/nh/59/Rescue%20Knot%20Efficiency%20Revisited.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;efficient&lt;/a&gt; knot, retaining about 80% of the ropes strength. I don't know of any figures that show the efficiency of a adding a prussic to a rope but I doubt it is making the system stronger. It is also just another way to add a point of wear to the rope. Lastly what are the prussics attached to? surely loading the weak prussics instead of the strong rope is not desirable. I would personally avoid doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We also jumped onto a prussic (primary), with an atc below, with overhand knot below that. We clipped the bite from the overhand knot&#xA;  to our belay loop. We did this because we jumped with a backpack and&#xA;  had to rapel to the ground after the swing completed. Slightly&#xA;  clustered, but we wanted to easily rapel after the jump was completed.&#xA;  Any feedback on this setup?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again is the prussic on your harness directly loaded in the fall? You want to give yourself the widest safety margin you can so that would look more like clipping into a figure of eight with a carabiner designed to avoid cross loading. Prussics and ATC on the harness ready to use once you come to a stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Caveat:&lt;/em&gt; This isn't &lt;strong&gt;the&lt;/strong&gt; way to swing on a rope more a critique of your current set-up from a climbing perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T01:57:09.943" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T01:57:09.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13209" CreationDate="2016-07-19T08:28:12.717" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just was told this last weekend: &lt;strong&gt;Lock your tent!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course thiefes can cut the tent and still steal your stuff but at least your insurance is going to pay if the tent was locked (check the conditions of your insurance and in doubt ask your insurer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides that you should not leave your valuable stuff in the tent alone, also if it's just valuable for you like the knife your grandfather gave you years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T08:28:12.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13275" CreationDate="2016-07-19T08:50:53.647" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ocean floor is almost entirely undisturbed by waves - What you are finding comes from the coastal littoral.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can gain some general estimates from direction and strength of storms, but the movement of the sea is chaotic overall. Oceanographers can make general statistical predictions, but there is just too much to track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-can-28000-rubber-duckies-lost-at-sea-teach-us-about&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; on the 28,000 ducks that were lost in the Pacific 24 years ago to gain some insight into just how variable movement of water is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T08:50:53.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13282" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-19T10:48:33.570" Score="12" ViewCount="2786" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen some posts that mention midges and midge spray. I am wild camping in Scotland in August. Should I be worried about them? Is there anything else a part from midge spray I can use to keep them away?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9868" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-07-20T20:40:55.903" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T10:09:46.617" Title="What is the best way to manage Scottish midges?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;midges&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13283" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13291" CreationDate="2016-07-19T11:24:17.843" Score="36" ViewCount="8248" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I've learnt that one can't vaccinate against Borreliose, also known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease&quot;&gt;Lyme Disease&lt;/a&gt;. I've thought that I can't get that (yeah, that was stupid) and so didn't really care about ticks. However, since one really has to care about them, what should one do to avoid a bite in the first place? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't ask for clothing only. I ask for tricks (like put your pants in your socks), chemical tools (creams etc.), natural tools (&quot;cover yourself in honey&quot; or something =)), landscapes/specific places to avoid, time periods to deny and maybe even special kinds of movements to make or to avoid (and so on). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:25:49.013" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:25:49.013" Title="What should I do to avoid ticks other than wear particular clothing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-19T11:36:00.350" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the single most important thing I do is to tuck the bottom of my pants into the socks.  Ticks like to crawl upwards.  If they drop onto your feet, they will crawls upwards on your leg looking for the first bit of soft skin with blood vessels close to the surface.  If they can get inside your pants, they will find such skin eventually.  Otherwise, they'll crawl harmlessly on the outside of your pants where they may drop off after a while and where you have a better chance of spotting them before they get to your neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this only works if you are hiking with shoes and long pants.  Hiking barefoot with long pants is the worst tick-wise, and not recommended for that reason.  Hiking in shorts works because you can sense the ticks crawling up your legs much better when pants aren't rubbing against them.  The hairs on your leg can do their job and act as a early warning system.  In that case, barefoot is actually a little better tick-wise, because you have more of a chance to feel ticks on their journey upwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had a tick attach anywhere on the feet or legs.  I think the skin isn't suitable for them there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-07-20T11:33:23.123" LastActivityDate="2016-07-20T11:33:23.123" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13273" CreationDate="2016-07-19T12:44:13.597" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it safe to drink water from streams in Dartmoor using simple&#xA;  purification methods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically it depends on the water source. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5109/2766&quot;&gt;Follow some general rules and you should be fine though&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;boil for four minutes to kill off any nasties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;bear in mind this won't remove all polutants, something like mercury will not be affected by boiling. A nano filter (like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;amp;ion=1&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=lifestraw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lifestraw&lt;/a&gt;) is actually better at removing contiminants than boiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm particularly interested in the water pollution in Dartmoor, as a&#xA;  national park I am assuming that there will be no run off from farms&#xA;  that is common in the UK&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dartmoor is (like almost everywhere in the UK) farmed. Actually quite intensivly in international standards. So it's not correct to assume that the water won't contain any run off in dartmoor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically always check the source of the water and what's upstream (physically if possible, using a map is a good backup) before using. You typically want water fed from springs directly (not lakes or ponds) without any hunman contaminants (farm land fertilizers or run off from other man made structures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T12:44:13.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13261" CreationDate="2016-07-19T12:59:26.653" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Section 6.1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://ns.suunto.com/Manuals/Ambit/Userguides/Suunto_Ambit_UserGuide_EN.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; shows what you should do. Once movescount is installed, it should just work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this doesn't work then you may have a technical issue which you will need to take up with Suunto. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T12:59:26.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13282" CreationDate="2016-07-19T13:02:20.583" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of your question is covered in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8427/when-is-the-midge-season-in-scotland&quot;&gt;When is the midge season in Scotland?&lt;/a&gt;. But I'll answer the non-duplicate question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there anything else a part from midge spray I can use to keep them&#xA;  away?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes quite a few alternatives, these are covered pretty well in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/978/what-proven-alternatives-are-there-to-deet&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. To name a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Lemon Eucalyptus oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avon Skin So Soft (I kid you not!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citronella_oil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Citronella oil&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said, literally THE best insepct repellant is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET&lt;/a&gt; it's nasty horrible stuff but nothing keeps bugs away better. If you want to avoid the midgies (and you will). This is your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also buy a mosquito net and take clothing that covers your arms and legs. Tuck everything in. Here is the result of me not tucking my top into my pants one evening:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZMlhM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZMlhM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-07-18T16:06:41.153" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T16:06:41.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13288" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13289" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" Score="0" Body="A  midge is a type of small fly. Typically the term midge refers to a biting fly found in many outdoor areas. Midges are a common pest when camping, etc. Use this tag for questions about midge related issues or questions." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T14:13:17.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-19T14:42:41.950" Score="9" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avoid grass and shrubs;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep your clothings shut tight, i.e. there should be as less places for the tick to get to your body as possible; wrap socks around pants, wear long-sleeved shirt, put something on your head;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;inspect yourself from time to time - especially after you've been to dense plants area;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very simple, but still effective (saved me a couple of times), stop for a couple of seconds and listen to your feelings - when tick is crawling through the hair on your leg it is very easy to feel, but you should stop moving, because otherwise this feeling would be overrided by one from pants rubbing against your body;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tick will try to get to some specific areas of your body - underarm and crotch are the most popular - it would take some time for the tick to get there and these areas must be checked when you're off the wild or before going to sleep in a camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2016-07-19T14:42:41.950" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-19T15:45:53.063" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will pick up ticks by spending a lot of time outdoors, but I routinely find them after walking across 10 ft of grass between my car and my front door. No matter how much prevention you practice, keep an eye out for Lyme symptoms, and go to the doctor for antibiotics if they show up. A vaccine would be much nicer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The socks-in-your pants method is very popular, but I've never been convinced it actually works: I usually find ticks around my head and neck, and deer ticks (the type that spread Lyme disease) are so tiny that it takes very little for them to hide. I feel like I'd need a skin tight light colored jumpsuit for this to be truly effective. Lighter colored clothing makes it easier to see ticks, but they still look like specks of dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEET is very effective against mosquitoes, but only slightly effective against ticks. Permethrin treated clothing is much, much more effective. You can buy treated clothing (such as InsectShield), or you can buy the chemical and do it yourself (Read all instructions carefully). I don't have the reference with me, but I read one study where ticks that walked on the clothing fell off and died within a foot of crawling. This is what I prefer to use when I'm hiking. Treated pants at the least, and a treated shirt if it's available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to do is check yourself often. Look at your legs and clothing every time you stop. When you stop for the day, look yourself over as much as possible. If you don't have a mirror, have someone else check your back, where you can't see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ticks prefer to hang out on the tips of plants, usually in the sun. They have an instinct to reach the highest places possible. This does not mean you won't find them in the shade, but if you walk through a sunny field during tick season, you've got a very good chance of picking one or more up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They prefer to bite you in the warmest places possible, ideally someplace with some cover. The head and groin area are most popular, but I've also had one on my hip and on my neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-07-21T13:24:08.020" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T13:24:08.020" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-19T18:52:21.237" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;/strong&gt; I have to deal with the possibility of 'mingling' with Ticks on an almost daily basis during the summer. And generally speaking am pretty up to date on 'tick stuff' however do not only take my word for it - Lyme Disease is serious - definitely look stuff up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First off, Lyme Disease is only transmitted by certain 'subspecies' of ticks. (If you're in Canada, those subspecies aren't as prominent so you're already in for some luck)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second off, when a tick feeds on you, they stay latched on to feed for up to 3 days, it is in the latter days that they begin secreting stuff (read up) and that's when the risk of contracting the disease increases (IF the tick is a carrier).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And third (edited: see comments) in my experience, ticks do - like other bugs - die in extreme heat and become comatose in cold, in my case I have never found any on me after a hot shower.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means is that regardless of precautions and prevention, if&#xA;you check yourself out quickly and take a nice (long) hot shower&#xA;everyday, you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get bitten and find it right away there are very little chances of contracting the disease, obviously you should play it safe and keep the tick by removing it with tweezers and having it checked out. If they find out it is carrying the disease you can get treatment before symptoms start showing - which normally guarantees you'll be fine. The disease is nasty when it develops unchecked with no prevention/intervention - once it's done its damage, it's mostly irreversible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Myself, I almost go and roll around in tall grass and stuff so I like taking a few extra precautions. &lt;strong&gt;Permethrin&lt;/strong&gt; on clothes &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; works like a charm, if you're lucky enough to spot one that lands on you, you'll see them making a run for it. It even tends to repel mosquitoes... Obviously wearing clothes that aren't loose and cover you, make it almost impossible for any to get to you. (Unless you go sleeping in a tick infested area)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ticks like letting themselves drop on heat sources below by climbing to the top of tall blades of grass, or branches etc... If there's nothing around from where stuff could drop on you, that's just again, less chances of getting in contact with the nasty bugs. It &lt;em&gt;isn't&lt;/em&gt; true that they'll jump from the ground into your face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9897" LastEditorUserId="9005" LastEditDate="2016-07-21T08:50:56.527" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T08:50:56.527" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-19T20:45:52.737" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Around where I live, there is a very small species of tick that does not carry the disease, but causes a very unpleasant itch. Seeing them (before or after the fact) is difficult (magnifying glass stuff). The one tip that seems to work is adding about a cup of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dettol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Dettol&lt;/a&gt; to your bath water (this product may not be available where you live). Also seems to work on other species, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have spent a lot of time outdoors when younger and still do occasionally now. Had tick bite fever too, many years ago - not pleasant. My experience is that you can not &lt;strong&gt;prevent&lt;/strong&gt; being bitten 100%, but you can do a lot to prevent getting the disease. It should be sufficient to check yourself every evening. Unfortunately they do tend to crawl up to body areas not always easy to check by yourself (back, arm pits, crotch, and between buttocks) so it is helpful if you have a non-squeamish partner that can go over such areas of naked skin very thoroughly - else a hand mirror is probably the best you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do note that the information below elicited contradictory comments, and in fact is contradicted by some &quot;official&quot; websites (while corroborated by others). As always, you yourself are ultimately responsible for your actions and choices. It would seem prudent to get professional advice from the appropriate healthcare professional.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you probably know, once you find a tick, &lt;strong&gt;do not pull it off&lt;/strong&gt;. Its mouth parts may break off and remain behind in your skin, which will still infect you with the disease. The easiest for me is to paint the critter with nail varnish, so it suffocates and falls off by itself (they have breathing openings somewhere in their body, not their face like humans). Other methods may be covering it in petroleum jelly (which sounds as if it can rub off), or press the red-hot tip of a twig from the camp fire (or a blown-out match) against its body to kill it (you need a &lt;em&gt;steady&lt;/em&gt; hand for that... not recommended).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8931" LastEditorUserId="8931" LastEditDate="2016-07-20T08:37:43.237" LastActivityDate="2016-07-20T08:37:43.237" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13296" CreationDate="2016-07-20T06:37:32.217" Score="15" ViewCount="1214" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone told me that you should treat a snake bite (in the wilderness) by cutting a X in the skin (with a knife) and sucking the stuff out of it. This sounds a little weird to me. Is this really a technique to go with in an emergency situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T08:00:20.980" Title="Am I able to &quot;open up&quot; a snake bite and suck the venom out of it?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13295" CreationDate="2016-07-20T08:15:03.120" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is simply a compendium of relevant answers already given. Hopefully someone will come up with an original more detailed answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is from an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4799/3602&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2303/wedapashi&quot;&gt;WedaPashi&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4798/3602&quot;&gt;What are the first aid precautions to be taken in case of a snake bite?&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not let anyone try to suck the venom out of the bite site. (I have heard cases of such a horrid thing done, and the one who sucked also got to be treated as the venom in victim's blood entered the sucker's blood through minute injuries in his gum/teeth).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over on &lt;a href=&quot;https://health.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;health.SE&lt;/a&gt; there was the similar question &lt;a href=&quot;https://health.stackexchange.com/q/545/257&quot;&gt;First aid measures for a snake bite&lt;/a&gt; with an excellent &lt;a href=&quot;https://health.stackexchange.com/a/550/257&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://health.stackexchange.com/users/64/johnp&quot;&gt;JohnP&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut and suck: You can introduce venom into yourself, the cutting can spread the venom further, and you risk damaging underlying muscle/organs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;[...]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-20T08:15:03.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-20T10:53:48.847" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(I'm adding this as an answer, because it addresses some points in the original question as well as supplementing the tips given by other answerers, but although it's kind of supplementary, it is &lt;a href=&quot;https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/260864/answer-too-commentarial-but-too-long-for-comment&quot;&gt;too long to be a comment&lt;/a&gt;. If that's not correct SE etiquette, please let me know, but I thought the guidance was important enough to be added here.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoidance through terrain choice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While a lot of good advice has been given here about dressing, self-inspections, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/avoid/on_people.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chemical repellents&lt;/a&gt;, I'll skip directly to your question about avoidance: while found everywhere, ticks prefer &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_and_climate_effects_on_Lyme_disease_exposure#Climate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;warm, damp climates&lt;/a&gt; and tend to be most populous on islands and coastal areas. Going inland and to higher ground (where there is less vegetation for them to hide in, and also fewer mammals to attract them) would help here. The CDC has an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interesting set of species distribution maps&lt;/a&gt; for ticks in the USA. In short, weather and location have a great effect on your likelihood of encountering ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoidance with darker-coloured clothing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16051573&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some studies have found&lt;/a&gt; that ticks are more likely to be attracted to you if you wear lighter-coloured clothing. Darker colours, on the other hand, seem to be less favourable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Removal tool&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One item which I would always carry in an outdoors first aid kit is the &lt;em&gt;tick removal tool&lt;/em&gt;. They greatly reduce the risk of squeezing the tick when attempting removal, as can happen with fingernails or tweezers, which can force it to vomit inside the bite. They do this by being specially-designed to grasp the tick firmly, while avoiding lateral pressure on the tick's body. There are two main styles of removal tool:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/Twister-Removal-Remover-Hunting-Fishing/dp/B0089BOK12/ref=pd_sim_200_1/163-1027747-4543831&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the fork type&lt;/a&gt;, where you slide a narrowing V just behind the tick's head&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001QC34GI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the pincer type&lt;/a&gt;, which has a spring-driven pair of pincers, and continues to hold the tick after removal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Removal technique&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With or without a specialised removal tool, tick removal technique is still a much debated issue: should you pull straight, or twist as you remove it? &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=3&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwijiOax6YHOAhVkM5oKHdAiCToQFggjMAI&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fticks%2Fremoving_a_tick.html&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNFFq5ShHzmVY_uwDwaVchZ-pL7mlw&amp;amp;sig2=SJQPYE_JgMfDuHfL3h44eg&amp;amp;bvm=bv.127521224,d.bGs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The current position of the CDC&lt;/a&gt; is to pull straight. This is because twisting can cause the head to break off (the exception here is removal tools which are specially designed to use a twisting motion), and thus presents a lower risk. The general guidelines are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the tick's body must not be compressed, as this can force out saliva and gut contents which may contain disease-causing organisms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the tick should not be irritated or injured, as this may result in it regurgitating (vomiting) saliva and gut contents along with any disease-causing organisms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the mouth parts of the tick should be cleanly removed along with the rest of its body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep the specimen in case of infection&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have any concerns about the nature of your tick bite (or especially if you see any redness around the bite area - &lt;a href=&quot;http://lymediseaseguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lyme-disease-rash.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;concentric red rings&lt;/a&gt; are a sign of Lyme's Disease), seal the tick in a Zip-Loc bag and freeze it. This is because in addition to Lyme's Disease, ticks can also carry and transmit &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/other-tick-borne-diseases&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dozens of other nasty things&lt;/a&gt; (also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;listed at CDC&lt;/a&gt;), including bartonellosis, ehrlichiosis, encephalitis, ricketts, and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bringing the source tick to your hospital if you find an infection can help the medical staff to quickly identify what the creature might have been carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T09:43:41.453" LastActivityDate="2016-07-20T14:25:09.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13295" CreationDate="2016-07-20T12:16:23.290" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically this is a bit of a myth, I think perpetuated by old cowboy films! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no way you could suck hard enough to remove the venom from out of your blood or lymphatic system. Most venoms are highly potent and only a very, very small amount is needed to cause damage. Most animals will produce a great deal more than is required to injure you so (for example a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/43520-cobra-facts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;king cobra produces enough venom to kill 20 people in a single bite&lt;/a&gt;) removing enough simply isnt practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to mention (as in @imsodin's answer) the chances of injuring yourself in the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only valid response to a snake bite is anti-venom and to get to it as fast as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-22T14:37:15.950" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T14:37:15.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-20T13:26:01.580" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coincidentally one of the physicians of Tropical Disease at a major Toronto Hospital has recently done a write up on ticks and how to deal with them. You can find the full article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uhn.ca/corporate/News/Pages/what_is_bugging_you_part_three_ticks.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the relevant part in case the link breaks in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What you can do:&lt;/strong&gt; Insect repellants are effective at keeping ticks away. Dr. Keystone also recommends wearing long sleeves and pants when visiting areas where you know there may be ticks, and tucking your pants into your socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dr. Keystone also stresses the importance of tick checks after leaving an area where ticks are common. He recommends checking your whole body, paying particular attention to the hairline, underarms, groin, ankles and behind the knees. He says the tick will look like a small mole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a tick, carefully remove it using tweezers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Do not use your fingers and do not apply anything to the area. You need to grasp the tick right up against the skin, and pull it off in a smooth motion, making sure to remove the tick and its mouth bars,” says Dr. Keystone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a tick on your skin 36 hours after being exposed, Dr. Keystone says not to panic, but to seek medical attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“What we now know is that if you receive a single dose of doxycycline within 72 hours after removal of a tick that has been attached for more than 36 hours, infection can be prevented,” he says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Public health experts recommend that if ticks are removed they should be placed in a Ziploc bag and sent to the lab for identification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing mentioned in the article is you needn't be too paranoid about catching Lyme disease from ticks as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...not all ticks carry Lyme disease, and Dr. Keystone says &lt;strong&gt;if a tick has been on the skin less than 36 hours, you aren’t at risk of contracting the disease.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So just keep vigilant and check yourself, or buddy up and have each person check the other, to make sure there aren't any ticks hitching a ride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8871" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T12:25:31.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13267" CreationDate="2016-07-20T18:38:06.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost all North American sandpipers nest far up north (from the northern Great Plains to the shores of the Arctic Ocean). They winter in moderate numbers along the coasts, and very large numbers of migrants come through in waves along the coasts in the spring (March-May, mostly). The numbers in southbound migration (August-October, mostly) are somewhat lower on the coast, because much of the southbound migration takes place inland. In most of the lower 48 U.S. states, June &amp;amp; July are almost completely without sandpipers. There are detailed discussions of migration (and much more useful information) in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.10000birds.com/theshorebirdguide.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;O'Brien and Crossley, The Shorebird Guide&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9909" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-17T23:13:00.543" LastActivityDate="2017-06-17T23:13:00.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13301" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13304" CreationDate="2016-07-20T19:47:42.820" Score="9" ViewCount="1385" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took some kids out climbing last night at a small crag popular for top roping, but I wasn't too impressed with their choice of anchor placements, or lack of additional hardware considering their placement. On one of the routes, if you were to clip into the bolt hangers, you'd be unavoidably crossroading your carabiners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a 120cm nylon sling on me, so my solution was to extend the anchor over the bulge of rock like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MNPRy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MNPRy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seemed pretty SRENE to me, the only flaw was the potential for extension, but using a bulky nylon sling seemed to make extension less of an issue, when I unclipped one of my biners to test how it would extend, it simply didn't. The amount of friction generated from the nylon made it very difficult to pull through, I actually turned one of the hangers a bit while trying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, is this an appropriate method of extending an anchor? What would be a better method of extending an anchor such as this one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;The Crag:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wbzZH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wbzZH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The Crag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:32:44.333" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:32:44.333" Title="Extending a two bolt anchor with one sling?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-20T20:58:27.690" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit surprised to see that nobody else as suggested this, but powder the top of your shoes/socks and bottom of your pants with sulfur.  Powdered sulfur is available at local feed/ranch stores, and maybe even Wal-Mart or Lowes, depending on where you are.  It's inexpensive and you can use an old sock as a very effective applicator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as the others have suggested, tuck your pants into your boots (or socks if you don't have boots), but then powder around the opening on both sides with sulfur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9911" LastEditorUserId="9911" LastEditDate="2016-09-01T17:04:57.857" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T17:04:57.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13303" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13580" CreationDate="2016-07-20T21:01:41.543" Score="9" ViewCount="1622" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's obvious by her belly that we have a nursing squirrel, probably an Eastern Gray, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sciurus carolinensis&lt;/a&gt;, in our yard in Massachusetts, USA. I assume her nest is in one of our large evergreens, not too far from the bird feeders, especially since she's now only eating at the feeders closest to those trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know she nurses the babies for at least a month before they're big enough to leave the nest, and that the dad (actually, it's usually more than one dad) takes off after birth, so I wouldn't think she leaves them unattended for long. &#xA;I don't intend to go searching through my trees, as I would never purposely bother the nest or whatever may be in it. We only go back there to fill the bird feeders and bird baths, and to water our little backyard forest. I'm just curious as to approximately how far we may be from the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if we, or something else, gets too close, will she sound an alarm? If so, what does it sound like? An explanation is fine, but a link to a recording would be even more help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:58:36.263" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:58:36.263" Title="How far does a nursing Eastern Gray squirrel travel from her nest?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13301" CreationDate="2016-07-21T00:18:13.657" Score="12" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Webbing/cord and bolts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always learned that &lt;em&gt;bolts and any kind of webbing or cord is a no-go&lt;/em&gt;. Even if the edges are not sharp the webbing/cord is bent around a very small radius which weakens it significantly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today there is one new option: &lt;em&gt;Kevlar&lt;/em&gt; cords. These &lt;em&gt;can be used directly in bolts&lt;/em&gt;, as they are very abrasion resistant. So if you have any with you, this would be the ideal solution.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your specific case with thick webbing twice through the bolt this problem is somewhat smaller, still I wouldn't do it. My goto mountaineering book has one solution to your problem, which is admittedly looking weird but it works.&#xA;You need a biner and a stopper. You pull back the &quot;nut&quot; of the stopper so that you can pull the protruding wire loop through the bolt. Behind the bolt you clip the biner into this wire loop and arrange it such that the long side (opposite of gate) lies flat on the bolt. Now you can use the other end of the stopper as your attachment point (as you normally would with a stopper). The biner is in a similar function as when using with an tuber in guide mode. A stopper is used for its steel cable which is not prone to abrasion/weakening over the edge of the bolt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1mc4p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1mc4p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bergsport Sommer. Technik, Taktik, Sicherheit. 2. Auflage&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;K. Winkler, H. P. Brehm, J. Haltmeier, *Bergsport Sommer. Technik, Taktik, Sicherheit (SAC-Verlag, 2. Auflage, 2008), p. 228.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Equalising anchor&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is again: This is a no-go. Always use a fixed central point or at least stopper knots. There may be a lot of friction in your particular setup, maybe even enough when fully loaded. Still this is a bad idea, as it removes the redundancy. If one of your two points breaks (unlikely but possible), then there will be a static fall into the second (in your case braked by friction, but still). Especially now as you also have webbing over a thin edge, this would be too much risk factors for my liking. If it is a anchor you walk to on top then you will probably never attach to it directly so there is always the rope between the climber/belayer and the relay which is an elastic element. So there wont be a static fall. Still you will have an unnecessarily bigger force.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A fixed central point does not have this fallacy and the potentially unequal load is really not an issue. One bolt is strong enough, the second one is just redundancy for the very seldom special case (badly placed anchor, ...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-03T19:59:52.937" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T19:59:52.937" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13301" CreationDate="2016-07-21T04:51:46.557" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because I trust my biners way more than I trust a sling threaded though bolts, I consider a relying on (my) single biner safer than the above set up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the hardware visible to me in that picture I would make a single point anchor using two biners, sling and one bolt, and back it up with the sling though the other bolt providing redundancy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Effectively close to what you did but one of the biners  moved off sling to the bolt hanger and add a stopper knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The system has no cross loaded biners, is redundant (except for the single screw gate biner  on the rope end ) and does not rely on slings threaded though bolts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ropewiki.com/Webbing_on_bolt_hangers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://ropewiki.com/Webbing_on_bolt_hangers&lt;/a&gt; and &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;blackdiamondequipment.com lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially it appears the sling though hanger has a breaking strain of about 10kn and is considered an acceptable setup, more widely used in some areas than others (This is very common and wonders how much science exists in climbing vs &quot;doing the way I was shown&quot; ). The only thing missing is the stopper knot.  Therefore if the biner could not be placed correctly in the hanger, sling though hanger (with stopper knot) is acceptable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2016-07-22T02:11:25.007" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T02:11:25.007" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13307" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13313" CreationDate="2016-07-21T08:56:32.043" Score="8" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know a wood (for the &quot;hearth board&quot;) has to full fill several characteristics (at least they've to be soft) to be suitable for a friction fire. When in a survival situation, how can I determine (quick'n'dirty) if a piece of wood fits the needs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:24:46.463" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:24:46.463" Title="Method to test if wood is suitable to start a friction fire" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2016-07-21T10:36:35.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience ticks hold on very strongly with their bite. I would not recommend any make-shift way of removing them.&#xA;When using tweezers for example you take the risk of clipping off the body from the head. Leaving that small part stuck might then lead to inflammation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For several years now I’ve been using special “tick pliers” (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.versandapo.de/en/10244/3741375/ZECKENZANGE.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;see also&lt;/a&gt;):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pb3hW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pb3hW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Zeckenzange&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a unique mechanic which makes it quite easy to remove ticks. Also you don’t have to worry about squeezing the tick by accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience this tool reliably removed any ticks, even small ones. You might have problems if the tick gets too big. But you &lt;em&gt;really, really&lt;/em&gt; shouldn’t let them feed that long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9914" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T10:36:35.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2016-07-21T17:00:21.937" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;take a fish tank pump or air mattress pump and run a plastic tube into the bladder.  It circulates air and takes about 30 minutes.  For the tube itself, I remove the bit valve off the end and swing it around to get the centrifugal force to get most of the water out--then I use the pump--takes about 5 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9916" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T17:00:21.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13282" CreationDate="2016-07-21T17:50:40.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy candles that contain citronella. I was pretty sceptical about their effectiveness, but last weekend, we lit two outside the tent and we were able to sit outside relatively unmolested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best advice - camp somewhere exposed - midgies can't cope with much more than a gentle breeze. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And for the love of God, take a midge net - they're hot and uncomfortable and you look stupid, but better that than be eaten alive by a swarm whilst you're packing up your tent each morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3755" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T17:50:40.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13301" CreationDate="2016-07-21T18:30:35.650" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is hard to tell from the photo exactly how the carabiner would be loaded if clipped directly to the bolts. I think of cross loading as when the carabiner is weighted along the minor (short) axis. I wouldn't use the term cross loading when a carabiner gets weighted over an edge or weird bump in the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, if you do not feel confident in the setup of the anchor, choose a different climb. Also sometimes belaying from the top can make difficult belays much easier. Top roping on a top belay has advantages (e.g., less rope stretch) and disadvantages (cannot see climber while tying in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your anchor. I don't like your setup at all. It is not clear to me why you used slings on the blots and then your Trango Alpine Anchor. Seems like you should have been able to simplify things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing I really do not like is that the webbing appears to be a single point of failure. Further, it is run directly through the bolts and is rubbing against the rock which increases the chance of it getting cut. There also appears to be a weird edge on the bottom left of the photo which might cut the webbing. There is also what looks like a rope pull grove on the bottom right that might have sharp edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an unattended top rope anchor I will trust metal over webbing every time. A carabiner should be able to hold all top rope falls no matter how weirdly it is weighted. I would have most likely clipped the Trango Alpine Anchor directly to the two bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T18:30:35.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13307" CreationDate="2016-07-21T22:02:23.703" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most critical consideration is that it is absolutely bone dry which can be a challenge in temperate climates. Usually the best bet is to look for dead wood which is standing or at least off the ground. Ideally you are looking for something which is obviously long dead but still sound i.e. not rotten. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly it is often best to split a moderately thick log  to get to the drier wood in the interior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation you may not have a huge amount of choice as to particular species which also meet the above criteria so dryness should be the main goal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get the setup to the stage where the friction point is starting to turn dark brown or black then you are probably on the right track and it's probably worth persisting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-07-21T22:04:12.130" LastActivityDate="2016-07-21T22:04:12.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13314" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-22T05:26:32.593" Score="1" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am visiting Nepal for the first time this year most probably in the month of September. I am planning to trek Everest base camp starting from namacha bazaar till khumbhu icefall. Please let me know if it is safe to trek Everest base camp in September. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9918" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T05:26:32.593" Title="Is it safe to climb everest base camp in the month of september?" Tags="&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-07-22T09:44:21.297" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13315" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13331" CreationDate="2016-07-22T05:56:28.483" Score="3" ViewCount="1108" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've glued in some inserts with the Nijora two component glue (hard to 200 °C). However, as they've a hole in the &quot;ceiling&quot;, some glue got into the insert. It sticks to the thread now. I'm not able to screw in my points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to get this glue out of my insert and thus from the thread? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I thought about was heating an old point and screwing it in, so that the glue loosens. However, I'm afraid that I'll also loosen the glue holding the insert in place in the shaft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As wished ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;... Explanation for lay people:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An insert is a thing you put in the arrow shaft. It is glued to the inner &quot;wall&quot;. The insert has a thread. This thread is used to screw in a point. There are several different points for different uses. In my case I need to screw in a field tip to practice shooting on common targets or a broadhead to hunt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I glued the insert in, some glue reached the thread. As you can imagine, it's kind of hard to screw in my point if the thread is covered by epoxy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are inserts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MDffh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MDffh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This is an insert&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inserts with screwed in points: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c37rv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c37rv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Inserts with points&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inserts are put in the shaft like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WwDrY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WwDrY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Insert with shaft&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally you can just heat up your shaft (if it's carbon) to loosen the insert and you can get it out. However, I just want to remove the glue inside the insert. I'm afraid that the whole insert will suffer if I heat the shaft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-07-24T18:03:24.087" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T18:03:24.087" Title="How should I clean epoxy out of the insert that goes in an arrow shaft?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-22T06:32:00.937" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ticks are arachnoids and have an interesting life-cycle that you must understand if you want to avoid them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vaPSv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vaPSv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this diagram doesn't explain is &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; the tick seeks a host. There may be as many as five blood meals in the life of a tick. Each is followed by moulting after which the tick climbs tall grass. It hangs from the end of a frond, waving barbed front legs in the air. When a potential host brushes the tick or bumps the plant ticks drop. If they land on the host they climb. When a suitable site is found, a barbed proboscis is inserted into the host and gorging begins. Those that miss the host must climb the grass for another try. Casualties to birds are tremendous; each tick lays about ten thousand eggs of which only two survive to lay more eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moulting requires moist conditions. As a result, ticks seeking a new host are most common two to three days after rain breaks a dry period. In dryer climates like Australia (where I live) you can avoid ticks altogether by staying away from long grass in the week after rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you own the property of interest then I suggest acquiring some guinea fowl. They are voracious bug hunters and will annihilate the local ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9919" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T06:32:00.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13328" CreationDate="2016-07-22T11:16:44.130" Score="7" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;As part of my everyday carry gear, I'm looking at including a &lt;code&gt;slingshot&lt;/code&gt; for taking game birds whilst hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I've never used one, what should I be looking for in a catapult when purchasing? What kind of ammo will I need? Where can I find good tutorials for beginners?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T16:27:52.920" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T16:27:52.920" Title="Slingshot resources" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;&lt;slingshots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13319" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-07-22T11:37:52.693" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;code&gt;slingshot&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;slingshut&lt;/code&gt; (claimed to be primarily American but not known to ever be used in any dialect), &lt;code&gt;catapult&lt;/code&gt; (primarily British English for a different device of a different design and purpose), &lt;code&gt;shanghai[a]&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;ging&lt;/code&gt; (primarily Australian and New Zealand), &lt;code&gt;kattie&lt;/code&gt; (in South Africa), &lt;code&gt;bean shooter&lt;/code&gt;, or &lt;code&gt;flip&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;tirador&lt;/code&gt;, is normally a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two natural-rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the projectile. The dominant hand grasps the pocket and draws it back to the desired extent to provide power for the projectile - up to a full span of the arm with sufficiently long bands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use this tag for questions relating to slingshot type weapons in a hunting of outdoors context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-22T12:20:40.180" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T12:20:40.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13320" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-07-22T11:37:52.693" Score="0" Body="Use this tage for questions relating to the use of slingshot(s) or catapult type weapons in an outdoor context (e.g. hunting, sport shooting, etc.)" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-22T12:21:39.743" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T12:21:39.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13315" CreationDate="2016-07-22T12:19:14.367" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the epoxy is &lt;em&gt;&quot;hard to 200 °C&quot;&lt;/em&gt; heating it isn't going to help. The only thing that removes epoxy is abrasion or chemical (resin stripper, acetone, etc.). So basically choose your weapon (excuse the pun). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not an archer so I don't follow some of the terms of where this is, etc. If neither of these options are useful then you're pretty much stuck I'm afraid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-07-22T12:49:01.663" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T12:49:01.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2016-07-22T13:19:18.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I drain mine thoroughly, hang/suspend it with the open end down, and stick an empty paper towel tube stuffed with paper towels into it to keep it open. I've found that if I only use water, and let them air dry promptly, I never have a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only use filtered water in my bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I feel I want to clean them, I use a warm white vinegar water solution and rinse and flush that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9928" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T13:19:18.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6628" CreationDate="2016-07-22T16:26:12.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I need to wash a drinking water bottle, canteen, bladder, etc.  I fill it part way with warm water, and add table salt.  This particularly effective for areas that have growth or contaminates and can not be effectively scrubbed.  Add lots of salt, to the point of saturation (when shaken salt still settles to the bottom), Shake well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most anything that grows well in drinking water gets killed by high levels of salt.  The additional salt works as an abrasive to remove build up.  You can let it sit for a couple of hours, or overnight.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rinse well and hang upside down to air dry.  For soft sided containers you may need to use a clean item to keep it from collapsing as mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6628/how-to-effectively-dry-clean-the-inside-of-water-bladders/13322#13322&quot;&gt;this answer by M Kenyon II&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T16:26:12.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11803" CreationDate="2016-07-22T19:08:20.017" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that the term presence of Rifleing in the bore defines the weapon as a rifle, even big caliber guns on Naval vessels are termed rifles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barrel length defines a pistol, it is really a short barreled rifle with &gt;16&quot; length barrel (by FFA 1934) in the USA and or designed to be fired easily with only one hand and easily concealed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The construction of the cartridge case is not really a defining factor as shotgun shells have been made in brass and aluminum and possibly other metals as well as paper or plastic and rifle cartridges have been made of plastic as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My comments are based on the physical characteristics of the barrel from a &quot;scientific/engineering&quot; view but not necessarily the State Criminal/Game codes.&#xA;KISS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9931" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T12:13:11.113" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T12:13:11.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="978" CreationDate="2016-07-22T20:42:45.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neem oil has fairly positive results, though it may have to be applied more often than DEET. &lt;a href=&quot;https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-015-0705-4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;malaria journal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A search on Amazon gives anecdotal evidence of the oil working and being less irritating.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B018277VCM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Neem oil reviews&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9933" LastActivityDate="2016-07-22T20:42:45.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13282" CreationDate="2016-07-23T03:37:34.017" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been battling the little buggers for half a century. Here's what I've learned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take them seriously!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time they're only a minor irritant, but at their worst they're very nasty. I've twice had to help people in toxic shock from midge attack. Make sure you're prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know your enemy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They don't like sunlight, so are are more active at dawn and dusk, in shade and on overcast days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The higher the humidity the more active they become, and they can fly in light rain. They become inactive when humidity falls below 60% or so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The population falls away rapidly above 700m (2300 ft)or so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They can't fly in wind speeds above 6mph (10kph), but can still get you on breezy days if you take shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They can't bite through clothing, but they will crawl through any gaps in your defences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take avoiding action&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid the crowds!&lt;/strong&gt;: intensity varies from place to place and from season to season. Use the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smidge Midge Forecast&lt;/a&gt; to avoid the worst areas - not 100% accurate but still pretty useful. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover up&lt;/strong&gt;: when things get bad, no repellent will keep them all off. Carry a broad-brimmed hat and headnet, some light liner gloves and full-coverage clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Defend your living space&lt;/strong&gt;: a tent with full insect netting is essential. They can get through mosquito netting - you need the finer midge/noseeum netting. In bad conditions it's impossible to avoid carrying dozens of midges into your tent on your clothing. The easiest way to deal with them is to burn mosquito coils for a few minutes - you can get holders that reduce the fire risk. Alternatively, if you keep covered up the midges will eventually settle in the seams of your tent. Running your fingers along the seams will eliminate most of the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use insect repellent&lt;/strong&gt;: DEET is the most effective for most, but quite unpleasant and toxic. So you might consider the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/978/what-proven-alternatives-are-there-to-deet&quot;&gt;alternatives&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camp on exposed sites&lt;/strong&gt;: midges can't fly in a breeze, so whenever safe and practical choose exposed sites for your camp.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, during midge season I like to head for the ridges and plateaus and camp high. Though provided you steer clear of the worst areas you shouldn't have too many problems, even in the valleys. But prepare for the worst or you could end up in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-19T10:09:46.617" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T10:09:46.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13318" CreationDate="2016-07-23T10:56:30.883" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the surface this seems like a rather simple question, But imagine if the question was &quot;What should I look for in hunting gun?&quot; Essentially the same question, just a different weapon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found an article &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMDAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Now: Super Accurate Slingshot(&lt;em&gt;Popular Mechanics Jan 1984&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; that talks about state of the art 30 years ago.  Much like for guns there are entire web sites dedicated to the weapon &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slingshotcommunity.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Slingshot Community&lt;/a&gt; as well as multitudes of articles.  Google finds more than 7,000 hits for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;amp;ion=1&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=slingshot+hunting&amp;amp;tbm=bks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;slingshot hunting&quot; in books&lt;/a&gt;.  They are made out every material imaginable; wood, metal, composite. There are as many designs as there are firearms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also several options for elastic/rubber bands used.  Much like firearms, there are lots of options. The big online (&lt;em&gt;non-hunting specific&lt;/em&gt;) have 100's of options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to the weapon of choice, just like with firearms, personal preference and budget dominate the decision making process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for ammunition, it can be anything from found objects like rocks, to factory made round object like ball bearings, or even arrows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, all that really maters is &lt;strong&gt;practice&lt;/strong&gt;.  Pick whatever you want for the weapon, and the ammunition, just practice a lot with whatever you choose.  You want your target to be dead on the first shot.  Allowing an animal to escape with a broken limb is wrong. No matter what weapon you choose, how fancy it is or how much you spend, if you don't practice, you will not have consistent kill shots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BWMci.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BWMci.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Arrows, ball bearings, and slingshot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-07-23T11:39:30.700" LastActivityDate="2016-07-23T11:39:30.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13330" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13333" CreationDate="2016-07-23T15:01:20.227" Score="7" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walking along the strand this morning in Monterey, I was confronted by hundreds (at least) of stranded (no pun intended) tuna crabs (I thought they were shrimp, but a visitor from San Diego told me they were tuna crabs, and had, as a result of El Nino, been washing ashore and dying down there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some were still &quot;alive and kicking&quot;, but on their back. I gently turned them back over with my shoe, and they poked forward their antennae (term.?) and looked at me as if to say, &quot;What? Are you going to squarsh me now?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They didn't immediately head back toward the ocean; was my turning them over as they were flailing about instrumental in saving some of their lives, or were they goners, and such efforts would ultimately end in futility?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T04:55:14.017" Title="Did I save, or prolong the death throes, of the tuna crabs?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13315" CreationDate="2016-07-23T15:01:48.777" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heating can help, but you have to be careful, infact an &quot;insert removal tool&quot; is basically a brass bolt as tip of a soldering iron. However if you have a soldering iron with bent needle tip for electronics &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L9cEz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L9cEz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; you will be able to work it only where you need running into the threads, you will clean it but its slow.&#xA;Dental picks (metal ones) work too if you have them and if you have the patience, it takes time, more than with the soldering iron.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the shafts made of? If they are carbon whatever chemical you use can also ruin the shaft if it goes on that.&#xA;BTW acetic acid works well for cleaning epoxy, plain vinegar is enough but best the pickling one that is a tad more concentrated. Use acetone, MEK, or all that stuff only if you are sure it will stay within the threaded part, its much more aggressive than vinegar and it will ruin any plastic or carbon it comes in contact with (some people use it to clean carbon shafts, but it ruins them).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are tools made for cleaning and re-tap the inserts threads, or you can just use a normal tap of the right size from an hardware store &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1o3qA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1o3qA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, works the same, lasts forever, and since its not &quot;for archery&quot; costs less and will take any tap you will need to retap other parts of your bow if compound etc (or make your own cutting 3 grooves along the side of a metal bolt since it would be just for cleaning out an existing thread and not cutting a new one. The grooves are necessary to collect the waste to be cleaned out or it just gets packed at the end of the thread, obviously clean the burrs off the tap once cut the grooves).&#xA;From the hardware store you will find 3 kind of taps, you want the &quot;bottoming&quot; ones, that will clean all the way down even on blind inserts &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oYc3f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oYc3f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some inserts are sold with burrs, other times some points wont fit properly, so having a tool like that at hand is always useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise just take everything apart, if necessary restore to length with a sleeve and rebuild compensating for the extra weight (but must be really messed up to do that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As prevention, beside immediately cleaning with vinegar where needed, you can protect the thread with a nylon bolt (hardware store) coated with vaseline before gluing, glue wont stick to it (you actually can &quot;cast&quot; inserts that way). Remove it when the glue is not fully cured (green) while holding the lip of the insert. If you dont find the nylon threaded bolt, or if you are worried it will get stuck and break inside the insert (in which case a drill bit held in the tap tool to practice a hole in the nylon will give room to the tap for cleaning the rest of the bolt off) just heavily coat the threads of the inserts with vaseline on qtip/toothpick (no vaseline? can use a crayon, grease pencil, lipstick, string wax, shoe polish... basically anything greasy that coats the threads wont let the epoxy stick to it, for the same reasons be careful to not smear it on parts that need to be glued, and that's also why its best to avoid oil)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: If you want to buy the tool specific for archery be aware that some sold online are pretty much worthless. If you want to be sure the tool works for you, go to your store with the shaft and tell the person at the counter what you want and that you want to be sure it works, they will probably demonstrate it right there and then. Costs more but you are sure to have something that works. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-07-24T15:03:43.690" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T15:03:43.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8261" CreationDate="2016-07-23T22:21:50.247" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The previous answer fits with the Alberta Parks advice regarding bears — they suggest carrying both noise makers and bear spray, with noise makers being used for bears still at distance. They include air-horns as options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears' response to any stimulus is dependent on many variables - not the least of which is the species of bear and its relative experience with humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Ontario I've treed a black bear by shining a flashlight into its eyes - but I wouldn't want to rely on that as a go-to deterrent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Northern Ontario cottage country, black bears prefer to avoid humans and will &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; make themselves scarce at any human noises. So noise makers are likely to be effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, of course, even with black bears, they're complex living creatures and their behaviour will change with experience. A sick or hungry bear can be unpredictable, as is one with cubs. And bears who have acclimatized to raiding human garbage dumps can become possessive and aggressive around the garbage site. Any of these cases could result in atypical behaviour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Alberta, the recent wild fires will have created significant ecological stress on all the wildlife, and so it wouldn't surprise me to see atypical behaviour from bears in the areas surrounding fire sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9937" LastActivityDate="2016-07-23T22:21:50.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13330" CreationDate="2016-07-23T23:59:22.217" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you're seeing  is a huge washing up of tuna crabs, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleuroncodes_planipes&quot;&gt;Pleuroncodes planipes&lt;/a&gt;, which has created &quot;red beach&quot; all up and down the California shoreline, as well as other states. It's not an uncommon occurrence farther South, and is quite frequent in Baja and along the Mexican coast. There are some interesting scientific theories as to the cause, the changing weather and tide patterns caused by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o&quot;&gt;El Nino&lt;/a&gt; being one of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the most recent large scale event in your area was the first since 1983, you'd be interested to know that the species itself was first discovered right there in Monterey Bay!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sanctuarysimon.org/monterey/sections/other/sporadic_crabs82.php&quot;&gt;Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pleuroncodes stranding events are rare occurrences in Monterey Bay and usually coincide with ENSO events. The species was first discovered in 1859 during a mass-stranding event in Monterey. Further stranding events in Monterey occurred later in 1959 and again in 1969. Dr. Steve Webster, senior marine biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, noted that when present, seagulls were feeding on so many crabs that they could not get airborne. Pleuroncodes are also a source of food for fishes, rays, and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the crabs are dead, and those that are alive will likely die naturally, get eaten by birds, or be stomped on by people. Apparently when dead they cause a terrible smell, and some people come through with &quot;raking equipment&quot; gathering up all of the crabs, both dead and alive. Where you live, though, that's illegal, as there's a delicately balanced eco-system, and all organisms are protected, so you may see more live ones than people in other areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also watch for sightings of blue whales. They feed on the tuna crabs, so when these things happen, they may come closer to the shore than usual. Scientists at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/&quot;&gt;Monterey Bay Aquarium&lt;/a&gt; reported sightings of 20 Blue whales within a week of the arrival of these crabs on May 26, 2016, more than the usual number. These are being closely monitored, and steps are being taken to protect them before they become stranded on the beaches.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your efforts, I don't think they were futile. Leaving them alone is a certain death knell, and some sources say that they're doomed either way, but I'd be tempted to turn a few over and at least give them a fighting chance. I did read that these crabs are ill equipped to function on the sand, and don't really know how to find the ocean. That may have been why they seemed confused, or perhaps it was the shock of what they'd been through! Some people are gently moving them back into the ocean. If you had time, in addition to turning some over, you might want to do that. They have a tendency to walk backward, so you may want to face them towards the sand rather than the water, though I don't know how important that really is.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, you can't save all of the living ones you find, so that's up to you. If you choose to flip or move them, know that they will pinch a bit, but don't bite or excrete any venom, so it's a safe, if time-consuming, task. People should never eat tuna crabs, whether living or dead, as they're generally full of toxins from what's in their diet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My feeling is that any effort you make is worth it. I have a personal bias in this area though, so you need to take that with a large grain of salt (very bad pun intended). My husband and I don't ever let anything die if we think it can be saved. When we come across flies, bees, beetles and other creatures lying upside down and flailing about, we always turn them right side up, which at least gives them a fighting chance. Many times we're pleasantly surprised to watch them take off. We also save baby birds that have fallen into the swimming pool, but that's a different topic!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't feel bad, though, if you decide to just let them be. I couldn't find evidence that they suffer more acutely on their back or their stomach, so do what seems best for you, and be gentle on yourself if your tender heart hurts for these beautiful little creatures. There are reasons for these things which we humans can't understand. For instance, this could have happened to feed some birds that are in the area at this particular time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best answer to your question is that while it's a stretch to think many can be saved, it's not a foregone conclusion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though you didn't specifically ask for more information, this question intrigued me so much that I did a lot of research and found an abundance of resources about both the crabs, and these incidents. In case you're interested, here are a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/tiny-tuna-crabs-invading-beaches-californias-monterey-bay&quot;&gt;Mother Nature Network&lt;/a&gt;, an article from May 26, 2016, reporting the incident on Del Monte Beach. This one has video of the invasion, including some dying crabs, but also includes a pretty video of the crabs alive and swimming at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ecowatch.com/thousands-of-tiny-red-crabs-wash-up-on-california-coastlines-1891136151.html&quot;&gt;Eco-Watch&lt;/a&gt;, an informative article from May 20, 2016 with pictures and videos.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/red-crabs-invade-san-diego-shores&quot;&gt;Scripps Oceanography Institute in San Diego&lt;/a&gt;, good article from a similar incident in San Diego in 2015, with links to more information. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oceanlight.com/tuna_crab_photo.html&quot;&gt;Oceanlight&lt;/a&gt;, pictures from the National History Photography blog. Most of these are on beaches in San Diego and Ocean City, some from Baja. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T04:55:14.017" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T04:55:14.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11874" CreationDate="2016-07-24T01:24:45.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, beaches that are less protected are the ones which have the most items washing up on them. For example, in Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island, many items arrive from Japan because there is no land in between those places, whereas on the east side of the island, there is almost nothing washing up from Japan because there is so much land in the way of the open ocean. It is also to do with the currents there, and where they are bringing stuff from. Also, bigger storms wash up stuff that was sitting, so if there is a big storm there is more on the beach, from what I have seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9938" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T01:24:45.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10754" CreationDate="2016-07-24T19:01:02.207" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sea foam is from diatoms breaking up (unless it is from pollution). Normally, it is from diatoms, which are a form of plankton that have a glass-like silica shell (also their broken shells make diatomaceous earth). When their shell breaks, it mixes with the water and makes sea foam!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9938" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T19:01:02.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13337" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13341" CreationDate="2016-07-24T20:45:55.310" Score="16" ViewCount="10696" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a party in the wilderness, where there is no firewood. I decided to carry some firewood there, to make it more fun. It's planned for a specific day in the winter (e.g. birthday party), so there are a few months of &quot;preparation&quot;, during which I'll visit that place a few times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I keep the stashed firewood dry? It's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_climate#Hot-summer_mediterranean_climate&quot;&gt;dry season&lt;/a&gt; now, but there will be many rainy days (however, I don't expect rain for several days in a row). There will be about 50 kg of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:47:49.117" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:47:49.117" Title="How to stash firewood without it getting wet?" Tags="&lt;rain&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10754" CreationDate="2016-07-24T23:54:49.310" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An interesting article from &lt;a href=&quot;http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seafoam.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Research&lt;/a&gt; lists causes of sea foam, most of which have been covered by all your other answers. It does say that the formation of sea foam varies by different coastal regions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While in general, sea foam is considered safe to humans and birds, and even beneficial, there have been instances where algal blooms can be harmful. This paragraph is relevant, especially since it mentions the California coast, but I'm not saying you are, or have ever, witnessed these potentially negative effects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most sea foam is not harmful to humans and is often an indication of a productive ocean ecosystem. But when large harmful algal blooms decay near shore, there are potential for impacts to human health and the environment. Along Gulf coast beaches during blooms of Karenia brevis, for example, popping sea foam bubbles are one way that algal toxins become airborne. The resulting aerosol can irritate the eyes of beach goers and poses a health risk for those with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Scientists studying the cause of a seabird die-offs off California in 2007 and in the Pacific Northwest in 2009 also found a soap-like foam from a decaying Akashiwo sanguinea algae bloom had removed the waterproofing on feathers, making it harder for birds to fly. This led to the onset of fatal hypothermia in many birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-07-24T23:54:49.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13337" CreationDate="2016-07-25T02:57:37.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the type of wood, 50 kg of wood will take up about 0.1 m^3 when stacked. Depending on local rules, I would simply bury it in a cheap plastic tarp. Just make sure you remember the location and bring a shovel. This would be best if you can bring it all in one trip, but if not, just dig the hole deep enough for all the wood on the first load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T02:57:37.593" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13337" CreationDate="2016-07-25T04:55:27.713" Score="14" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Don't chop it.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you haul in your wood unchopped with its bark still on, then it'll stay dry enough on the inside. We found a pile of wood buried in the snow at one winter camp, and had no troubles getting a fire going with it. Don't worry too much about it getting wet; just leave it stacked in a spot where water won't accumulate. It will burn without any issue when you go to use it in the middle of winter, so long as you chop it well enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make things easier, bring a bottle of lighter fluid: one hot flash dries even the wettest of wood (enough for the rest to catch). For more info read the answer to the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8204/how-to-light-a-fire-with-wet-firewood&quot;&gt;How to light a fire with wet firewood?&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-07-26T10:13:26.773" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T10:13:26.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13318" CreationDate="2016-07-25T05:16:54.030" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thepocketshot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Pocket Shot!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a slingshot for backpacking, then this is the one I'd recommend:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BzUEH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BzUEH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks unconventional, but I think it's genius, best part is you can store all your ammo in it and it packs away super small!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch this video: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kY5ku1kE_M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kY5ku1kE_M&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can even get a wisker cap for it and shoot arrows too:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MX1Rz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MX1Rz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T05:16:54.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13337" CreationDate="2016-07-25T06:44:03.367" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't really have to keep it dry at all. If it is proper firewood, it has already dried. A little rain won't change that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start a fire you can split the wood, which will be dry inside. Once the fire has gained a little strength, you can just put the wet logs on; they will dry in no time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can understand if you want to keep the wood from soaking through. Piling it up properly should be enough — if there is too much rain, you can just put a tarp on top of the pile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be on the safe side, and are not sure if the wood has dried properly, you could just bring some dry wood on the day of the party itself. Not much, just enough to get it started. It all could fit into one paper bag containing kindling, small branches, a few medium and one or two bigger pieces of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter how wet your stashed wood is, it will quickly dry on top of a healthy, burning fire — and again, if it is actual firewood, it should not be very wet at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck and have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="8651" LastEditDate="2016-07-26T10:13:44.023" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T10:13:44.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1839" CreationDate="2016-07-25T09:31:30.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also, pop-up tents seem to weight much less than regular tents. Good if you need to carry the tent with you for long distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And obviously you build pop-up tents much faster, which if you build and fold the tent every day is a good point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9945" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T09:31:30.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13337" CreationDate="2016-07-25T12:11:40.970" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;First realize that firewood has two qualities when it relates to moisture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Green/Seasoned &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet/Dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a tree is cut down the wood is green. Over time the wood seasons, natural moisture in it evaporates.  Depending on the type of wood, it takes 6 to 12 months to become seasoned.  Green wood will burn, but it spends most of its energy boiling off the moisture in it and does not provided as much heat (&lt;em&gt;chimney concerns are out of scope for this answer&lt;/em&gt;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seasoned wood that is sitting in water will get wet, and won't burn well.  Much like green wood, it can burn assuming it is not waterlogged. A passing rain is not going to have a significant impact on firewood that is not laying in a puddle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storing your fire wood for winter use.  Cut and split it to length, if the bark stays on the wood leave it on (best), if not set the bark to the side. Put something down to keep the wood off the ground (foundation), such as rocks, large branches, a pallet, or a couple of pieces of firewood (set at a right angle to the stack).  Stack the wood bark side up. Essentially you are building a bark roof.  If the bark came off you can use it to cover the pile and a use the same type of things used for the foundation to secure the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part the bark will shed the rain and the snow, the foundation will keep it from soaking up water, and the open ends, and splits will help it season faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvYhb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvYhb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;wood stacks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image shows a well built wood stack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8651" LastEditDate="2016-07-26T10:12:09.663" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T10:12:09.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13301" CreationDate="2016-07-25T13:04:01.470" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My suggestion would be to use your long sling and place three carabiners with clove hitches into it. &#xA;This offers the following advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With the clove hitches you could adjust the entire assembly to the ideal length.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sling is not in danger of getting damaged by the hangers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You minimize single points of failure (Apart from the third carabiner and the clove hitch it is attached to)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9948" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T13:04:01.470" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13337" CreationDate="2016-07-25T13:21:28.300" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stack the wood in a row, lying east to west (for equatorial exposure to the sun)&#xA;Split wood tends to burn better than whole round pieces of branches - as splitting exposes the inner layers of the tree to air movement that aids in drying.&#xA;Avoid ground contact as much as possible, as the frost may make it difficult to remove - as well the wood will absorb moisture from the ground.&#xA;If possible, overlap some boards on top of the woodpile in order to help the pile shed water. &#xA;If you can manage to bring an old pallet to the site - it would be ideal to stack the wood on. It would also be available for kindling when you start your fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9949" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T13:21:28.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13349" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13350" CreationDate="2016-07-25T14:23:58.853" Score="14" ViewCount="660" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the leader has had to resort to pulling on a piece of gear to make it through a crux on a pitch how can the second pass this point while also cleaning the piece that was used for aid. Assuming they are not a stronger climber than the leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;quick glossary. &quot;french free&quot; and A0 are the same thing, both referring to pulling on a piece of climbing equipment attached to the rock when a climber is unable to pass a difficulty. Cleaning is removing equipment that the first climber has placed to prevent themselves falling to the ground in case of a fall. A crux is just the hardest part of a climb, it could take many physical forms. hope that helps. If not here is a more extensive &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climbing_terms&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;glossary&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4305" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-09-24T13:46:35.353" LastActivityDate="2017-09-24T13:46:35.353" Title="How to second a &quot;french free&quot; / A0 move?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13349" CreationDate="2016-07-25T14:45:35.467" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming a vertical, as opposed to traversing, route that is not overhanging, you unclip the rope from the piece and then pull yourself up just like the leader did. Once you are high enough above the piece to account for rope stretch you have the leader take in the slack. The key is that after weighting the rope you want your hands to be at the same height they were after the french free move. You can then reach down to clean the piece. As all your weight is on the rope, getting back on should not be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On an overhanging route the leader hopefully thought about your protection. If not, prior to weighting the rope, you might need to place another piece to control the swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a traverse, the leader better have thought about your protection. If not, you need a new partner. There is little worse as a second than unclipping the last piece before the crux on a traverse with no other piece in sight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T14:45:35.467" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13283" CreationDate="2016-07-25T18:02:40.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stay inside.  Being outside is fraught with dangers.  There is good advice here.  I lean more to the &quot;inspection after the fact&quot; camp.  I don't think prevention is statistically better than inspection enough to warrant the expense and time required to do so.  I believe it would detract from the experience and start the excursion off with a mindset of fear instead of awe and wonder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nature is wild and wonderful.  Our interactions with it require us to be prepared.  Become educated in locating, killing, and removing ticks in the manner you can do so reliably.  The best method of preventing Lyme Disease is the action you will consistently perform.  Not some fancy tool or chemical you can't use effectively or regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9952" LastActivityDate="2016-07-25T18:02:40.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13354" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-26T00:26:19.837" Score="9" ViewCount="353" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am only considering those situations where human waste can be buried, since if that has to be carried out in a wag bag, then the food should be as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone burns the oatmeal to a crisp, or drops the flour into a muddy stream or otherwise completely ruins food, can it be buried in a cat hole just like human waste or does it need to be packed out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-07-26T00:44:07.107" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T22:11:19.383" Title="Is it an acceptable Leave no Trace practice to bury ruined food?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13354" CreationDate="2016-07-26T05:02:07.913" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Food waste does not impact the environment negatively (with perhaps meats being the exception). What's food for you is also food for all the little critters out in the woods. Rodents will eagerly clean up all the burnt oats, the flour will quickly turn to soil, and all other ruined food will attract the attention of one animal or another. Herein is where the real problem lies, feeding wild animals creates problems for humans down the road. When animals become accustomed to finding food near human recreation sites (backcountry campgrounds for example) then they eventually lose their natural fear of humans, and become more comfortable approaching these sites in search of something to eat. With small critters this isn't a big problem, more of an annoyance to future hikers really, getting your camp site raided by squirrels and packrats in the middle of the night. The problem is when you start attracting the larger animals, the ones who are looking for meat scraps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not you have to pack your food waste out will depend on what the local rules are. You &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; bury your food scraps, this leaves the area more sightly, but you aren't going to do any harm leaving little bits in the woods. As far as a whole ruined meal, as long as it's vegetable waste, I'd carry it a good distance away from the trail and fling it out, it'll disappear quickly enough. Burnt meat, I'd either toss into the fire and burn it to ash, or I'd stuff it down a hole. Most holes around here are gopher holes, and gophers are cannibalistic, so they will drag the meat down deeper in their holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-26T22:11:19.383" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T22:11:19.383" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13356" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13357" CreationDate="2016-07-26T07:59:19.613" Score="10" ViewCount="5851" Body="&lt;p&gt;When in an emergency survival situation were you don't have access to clean or at least &quot;okay&quot; water but to wildlife (or it is at least easier to grab a snake for example than to gather water), is it a good idea to drink blood to avoid dehydration?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T03:34:29.233" Title="Is it a good idea to drink blood to avoid dehydration?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13356" CreationDate="2016-07-26T08:24:02.573" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;While various sources suggest drinking &lt;strong&gt;some&lt;/strong&gt; blood in emergency will help, the risks outweigh the benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-5-myths-dehydration&quot;&gt;5 Myths of Dehydration&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sure, there’s water in blood. But whose or what’s blood are you planning to drink? Some of the traditional cattle cultures of Africa still consume cattle blood, often blended with milk. But this is done for protein and minerals, rather than hydration... While the consumption of turtle blood and other animal blood has helped to keep oceanic castaways alive, the risk doesn’t usually justify the gain. Drinking the raw blood of any creature could result in the contraction of a pathogen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most animals that you are likely to catch need water, use this as a brief stopgap (a few days) while you find their water source, which is hopefully not too far away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T08:24:02.573" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13358" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13359" CreationDate="2016-07-26T12:50:41.447" Score="6" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do people use to carry tinder whilst hiking? I was thinking of using a tobacco tin but on a multiday hike I'm not sure it will fit enough or if it will keep dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tinder I would be using would be natural, things like silver birch bark and thistle seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:27:37.483" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T05:25:30.707" Title="How to store tinder on a hike?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13358" CreationDate="2016-07-26T13:01:36.750" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a bigger tin box (it is left from an old &lt;a href=&quot;http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjY1WDg5NA==/z/3aIAAOSwpDdVDoS8/$_35.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Str8 perfume&lt;/a&gt;), and within that I put the things in ziplock bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-07-26T13:01:36.750" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2016-07-27T10:26:45.373" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you do not like handling meat, bread works for me. It works successfully and is not disgusting to handle. I have used bread for bait many times and caught many crabs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9962" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-06-27T21:21:47.160" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T21:21:47.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13362" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13365" CreationDate="2016-07-27T11:14:59.837" Score="-3" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always wanted to have an M1A1 carbine. However, I don't want an &quot;original&quot; one because I think that this would be too valuable in my hands. I don't want to take one away from a real collector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's why I need to know if there are still any replicas in production?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T21:17:02.790" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T21:17:02.790" Title="Is there a M1A1 carbine replica production?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-07-27T17:59:08.483" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22184" CreationDate="2016-07-27T11:23:56.057" Score="31" ViewCount="5367" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a pretty interesting discussion beneath &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13356/is-it-a-good-idea-to-drink-blood-to-avoid-dehydration&quot;&gt;this survival question&lt;/a&gt;. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-5-myths-dehydration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source given in the answer&lt;/a&gt; to this question states that you shouldn't eat when dehydration can become or is a problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) (A) simple rule(:) If you have nothing to drink, then do not eat.&#xA;  Eating anything, even watery foods, takes water from your system to&#xA;  create the slurry that will be able to move through your GI tract.&#xA;  Eating without drinking can lead to constipation, or worse, an&#xA;  intestinal blockage. If you are suffering from dehydration, and have&#xA;  watery foods available try squeezing out the liquid through a cloth.&#xA;  I’ll often do this with summer berries to create a drink. Blueberries,&#xA;  raspberries, blackberries, and other watery wild edibles can be mashed&#xA;  and squeezed to make a juice that offers hydration and even a few&#xA;  calories and vitamins, without wasting the water it would take to pass&#xA;  all those skins and seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I'm a little bit skeptical if this rule of thumb really applies. Also my discussion partner disagreed with this statement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don't believe that's true. (...) So any water your body happens to&#xA;  add plus any water contained in the food will be reabsorbed in your&#xA;  large intestine, the net result being a water gain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is it true to say: &quot;If you have nothing to drink, then do not eat.&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T10:08:50.087" Title="Should I eat when I don't have anything to drink in a survival situations?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13363" CreationDate="2016-07-27T14:02:39.430" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the problem is the generalization. It depends on the food. Watermelon is surely not comparable to trail mix. Also I have my doubts about the idea that berries are a problem and a mash to squeeze out the water is better than eating them because of the skins and seeds... that makes no sense. The way your intestine absorbs water is different through its length, the first part of the small intestine is what needs dilution of food with juices from liver, intestines and pancreas, to bring it to the same osmolarity of blood, that to allow absorption from that part of the gut, the food will already have an high percentage of fluids when it arrives there due to saliva during mastication and stomach juices. (BTW some sport drinks talk about osmolarity etc saying that an highly concentrated juice will sit in your stomach until diluted and that's not true, the stomach doesn't take care of that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final part of the small intestine and the colon work a bit differently as they can absorb fluids against osmotic gradient so they don't need that dilution, by design when the food gets to the large intestines will have lost the majority of the fluids, something like 80/90% and the large intestine will absorb more if necessary (it usually does as there's very little fluid in normal feces... obviously diarrhea is a complete different situation). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeds and skins that are not digested don't need liquids, you can't dilute something that has not been destroyed by digestion, and you don't need to, they get pushed along and eliminated. I find odd that with the reason of pushing out a few seeds someone would skip the chance to add whatever nutrition could get from the fruit. The way I see it is that mashing and squeezing is done way more efficiently already by our body and the precious fluids I would waste squeezing a bit of berries by hand would be more important than the bit of fluids temporarily added to it by the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the constipation thing... well the more the feces stand in the colon the more water is absorbed from them, it's not that one gets constipated because the colon can't push the waste along because is too dry, it's perfectly able to push that food out, it's not sand. It takes a long time for an otherwise healthy but constipated person to develop the kind of fecal impaction that would lead to a blockage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the idea is that the water is not wasted as it gets absorbed anyways but the process is a problem while the food passes through the first portion of the small intestines where it could be diluted then one needs to figure out the advantage of paying the price for that short time, and in that case quantities of food ingested have their importance as extra dilution of an handful is different than dilution of a full pot of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A huge portion of our daily fluid intake comes from food, you can't just cut that out because &quot;it's gonna need dilution&quot; without taking in account the types of food available to you, the total quantity you eat and how you spread that food intake through the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2018-11-22T06:28:57.363" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T06:28:57.363" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13362" CreationDate="2016-07-27T15:46:24.230" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are 3 different manufacturers currently making these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.auto-ordnance.com/auto-ordnance-m1-carbine/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Auto Ordance&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inland-mfg.com/Inland-Carbines/M1-1945.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inland Manufacturing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fulton-armory.com/M1-Carbine.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fulton Armory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eabco.net/M1-Carbine-Replica-Ruger-1022-Stock-and-Tribute-Version-20--Includes-TWO-Handguards_p_13774.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a stock&lt;/a&gt; for 10-22 rifles that make it look like an m1 carbine but still fires 22 ammo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you can also still buy the originals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T20:47:06.673" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T20:47:06.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13363" CreationDate="2016-07-27T17:50:55.207" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation without water you will die in days and without food you will die in weeks. So in general, there is no need to eat in a survival situation. That said, the quick burst of energy you can gain from eating a sugary snack could make all the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is probably little harm eating a little after one day without water. Your body will still have enough &quot;water&quot; to be able to digest food. Your body will also be in the process of conserving water so the amount of water lost in your stool will be limited. If you manage to live for 4 days without water, you probably should avoid eating as your body may not have enough water to digest the food. Again, a sugary snack might still be helpful in a sharknado.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the harm in eating&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chemical reactions for breaking down carbohydrate and fat are different. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hydrolysis&lt;/a&gt; is the process by which the chemical bonds in the carbohydrate are broken with the addition of water. The water is &quot;destroyed&quot; in hydrolysis. Dehydration synthesis (a type of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation_reaction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;condensation reaction&lt;/a&gt; is used to breakdown fat. This process &quot;creates&quot; water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that in extreme situations you want to be using fat for energy. Since our body does not store much carbohydrate, in survival situations your body will rely on fat (and to a limited extent on protein). If you are going to eat and you have a bag of sugar and a stick of butter, go with the butter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T00:59:50.333" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T00:59:50.333" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13363" CreationDate="2016-07-27T21:12:31.240" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eat.  Because metabolic water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metabolic water refers to water created inside a living organism through their metabolism, by oxidizing energy-containing substances in their food. Animal metabolism produces about 110 grams of water per 100 grams of fat, 41.3 grams of water per 100g of protein and 55 grams of water per 100g of starch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_water&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metabolic water (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9966" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T03:38:55.447" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T03:38:55.447" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13368" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13374" CreationDate="2016-07-27T21:22:42.673" Score="8" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might seem like a silly question but this is a constant issue for me when hiking or even in general. I have &quot;double&quot; looped my laces but I actually really hate it because it's a pain to untie. Is there a way I can tie my laces so they don't come undone AND so they can be undone by pulling the two laces like normal? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T13:20:16.793" Title="How can I tie my laces so they don't come undone?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13368" CreationDate="2016-07-27T21:52:27.670" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of a knot, how about a shoelace buckle? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply pull the laces through with the button pushed in, and then release and let it hold them. To take the shoes off, push the button and pull the laces through to create enough slack to remove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-07-27T21:52:27.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13370" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13373" CreationDate="2016-07-28T07:09:20.043" Score="3" ViewCount="1324" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday we were sitting on a porch and suddenly a wild bug appeared. It was completely black&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; and had no horn etc. It just looked like a common bug without any special features. Okay, nothing special so far, but it was huge! The insect was about 5 cm long. I've never seen such an animal before. Also, the guy was able to fly. After taking a nap on our table he flew away. The flight was a little bit turbulent. It hit every wall, lamp etc. it could find :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is one able to identify it without any picture and this vague information? This happened in South Germany (Central Europe) around 10:00 P.M..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Footnotes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It was completely matt black. Not a single different color or a slightly shining green etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:05:06.037" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:05:06.037" Title="Big black bug in Southern Germany" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13371" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-28T08:20:56.277" Score="3" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;A shooting glove seems to be quite important for archery. I'm a bit lost when it comes to characteristics of a good shooting glove. What makes a 40 $ glove superior to a 15 $ one? What should one look for? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T19:39:02.173" Title="What to look for in a quality shooting glove?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13381" CreationDate="2016-07-28T08:31:22.830" Score="5" ViewCount="1111" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been reading about dryer lint as an effective kindling material, but I keep having the feeling that in some way it implies burning &quot;plastic&quot;: all the artificial materials, coloring (although it might have been well washed out by then), detergents, chemically treated threads etc. Can it be considered as a polluting material, even just in such a small amount? (Wiki points it out as &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lint_(material)#Biological_problems&quot;&gt;one of the primary polluters in cave exploration&lt;/a&gt;&quot;) Can/should this amount of pollution be ignored because of the benefits of this kindling material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:33:51.670" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:33:51.670" Title="Is dryer lint worth using as a fire starter even if it's also a pollutant?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13370" CreationDate="2016-07-28T09:36:51.717" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Female&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stag_beetle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stag beetle?&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They don't have horns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller&#xA;  mandibles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and seem about the right size:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some species grow up to over 12 cm (4.7 in), but most are about 5 cm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxonomy_of_Lucanidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;several species&lt;/a&gt; and they vary in size too. Pretty much all beetles can, and do, fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be the &lt;strong&gt;Blaps lethifera&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Ojas.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Ojas.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blaps lethifera&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T05:28:19.913" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T05:28:19.913" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13368" CreationDate="2016-07-28T11:12:16.323" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all if you are really interested in tying your shoes, check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ian's Shoelace Site&lt;/a&gt;. All credit for the imagery used here and most of the information given goes to the author Ian Fieggen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me the requirements to my shoelace knot are the same as yours (and probably most of everyone's): Secure but still quick to tie and untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/doubleknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double Shoelace Knot&lt;/a&gt; you mentioned is very common but in my opinion completely useless. It is not more secure than a simple knot. It is just a simple knot done twice, so it has the get undone twice. Plus it is cumbersome to open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one knot I use is a slight variation from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/betterbowknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Better Bow Shoelace Knot&lt;/a&gt;. Until the following step you do it the same way:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uT3fs.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uT3fs.gif&quot; alt=&quot;same Steps&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Instead of going through the first yellow loop as originally shown in the picture below you bypass the yellow loop and go directly through the middle (shown in red, added by myself). So this variation is essentially a standard knot with an extra loop.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kU6o2.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kU6o2.png&quot; alt=&quot;variaton&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is much less fiddly than the original version and is still secure enough (at least I never noticed one getting loose). Untying is very simple, just poll on a loose end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-07-28T13:20:16.793" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T13:20:16.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13375" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13376" CreationDate="2016-07-28T11:14:10.627" Score="7" ViewCount="1393" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm having some trouble with my Gri-gri. It seems to keep &quot;jamming&quot; when feeding out rope. It's causing me so much trouble I've basically stopped using it and gone back to a good old fashined belay plate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm totally unsure what I'm doing wrong, any thoughts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do wonder if it's my rope, it's relatively thick 10.5mm. Could this be the problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T11:38:41.327" Title="Difficulty belaying with a Gri Gri" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13375" CreationDate="2016-07-28T11:38:41.327" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a know problem for the GriGri, especially the newer version GriGri2. The GriGri2 is compatible with rope diameters of 8.9-11mm. The old one officially supports 10-11mm diameter, however is often used with thinner ropes as well (on your own risk). So the tendency for the rope to get stuck while feeding it out is certainly bigger with the new GriGri. However I manage to constantly jam the rope with an old GriGri and a 9.5mm rope as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This problem is one of the two major points for mishandling GriGris leading to dangerous situations (the other one is the lever not having a panic function). To give out quick slack you can often see people holding down the area where the lever is fixed (called cam). This &lt;em&gt;disengages the blocking mechanism&lt;/em&gt; and is thus &lt;em&gt;very dangerous&lt;/em&gt;. The official method for giving slack quickly is called &quot;Gaswerk&quot; method (after a climbing gym in Switzerland :) ). It is described &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Belaying-with-the-GRIGRI?ProductName=GRIGRI-2&quot;&gt;here on the official Petzl site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The single most important point is the same as always: You &lt;em&gt;always keep hold of the breaking strand&lt;/em&gt;. So the rope goes over your palm and all your fingers except your thumb go over it (tunnel). Then you use your thumb to to press down the cam to disengage the blocking mechanism while paying slack and immediately remove the thumb when finished. You do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; put any force onto the device with any other part of your hand/body. Especially you do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; counteract pressing with the thumb on the top of the GriGri by pressing with another finger on the bottom. By following this advice you are save at all times: If the leader falls while you pay out slack you only have the thumb on the knock which will slip away or at least not be able to exert enough force to keep the blocking mechanism disengaged (remember: there is nothing else on the device to counteract the thumb).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should find someone experienced who can show you how to do this in real live. Then you need to practice, as it is not a completely intuitive thing to do. Some people pick it up near instantly, others struggle.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I myself keep using tubers most of the time for belaying a leader. Only for top-roping or checking out a project (hanging for long times) I use the Grigri, as it fully blocks the rope without you exerting any force. Of course you still keep the breaking strand in your hand, but it need not be tensioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-07-28T11:38:41.327" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="430" CreationDate="2016-07-28T14:36:54.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is covered extremly well on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Animated knots by grog&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overlap the two ends. Wrap one end around both ropes two full turns.&#xA;  Then pass this end back through these turns and pull tight. Next pass&#xA;  the other end two full turns around both ropes. Pass this end back&#xA;  through and pull tight. Pull on both ropes to tighten the two knots&#xA;  against each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T12:09:31.033" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T12:09:31.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13378" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13391" CreationDate="2016-07-28T15:00:06.823" Score="11" ViewCount="2947" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you make an effective water filter using the natural elements of the great outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose your only source of water was dirty and questionable at best. How could you make it potable without having to boil it and using only what mother nature has to provide? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never made one before, but I imagine it involves sand to filter out the grits, and probably charcoal to absorb the nastiness, as well as a couple other layers for reasons; like herbs that may be effective in killing microbials or some other form of alchemy that will make it safer to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you make your own water filter when you're in a desperate situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-28T17:39:04.883" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T02:59:48.633" Title="How do you make an emergency water filter and purifier?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13379" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18700" CreationDate="2016-07-28T18:24:38.607" Score="10" ViewCount="536" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm particularly curious about their footwear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9969" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2018-03-10T10:10:52.847" LastActivityDate="2018-03-10T10:10:52.847" Title="What footwear did mountaineers wear in the 19th century?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2016-07-28T18:44:37.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you mentioned pre-cut firewood, I'm assuming you're car camping or at some other location where you can easily bring some store-bought materials (not backpacking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far the easiest way I've found is to use a synthetic log such as Duraflame for  about $2. Place that at the bottom of the wood pyre, arrange the wet logs on top, then light the synthetic log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The synthetic log will burn on its own for 2-4 hours (depending on brand and cost), well more than enough to turn a stack of wet wood into a roaring fire. No need to find or create kindling. You can use full size wood logs, sit back and relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if there is a very strong wind or it's actively raining, you will need to partially block those elements to get the synthetic log started. If the paper shroud of the synthetic log has burned up but the fire went out, use a stick or a knife to chip off and crumble about a 1&quot; cube chunk of the synthetic log. That material will light easily and can be used to get the solid part of the synthetic log lit. Or carefully use an accelerant such as lighter fluid or gasoline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5850" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2018-01-29T01:50:14.920" LastActivityDate="2018-01-29T01:50:14.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13372" CreationDate="2016-07-29T02:01:41.847" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that this is one of those things that has to be left to an individual's judgment. Some people would consider just starting the fire to be polluting even if it was done in accordance with Leave no Trace principles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is something that bothers you, why not simply err on the conservative side and either use naturally occurring tinder or choose not to have a campfire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-09-03T23:33:40.943" LastActivityDate="2016-09-03T23:33:40.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13378" CreationDate="2016-07-29T02:14:47.960" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I have found for a very basic set up with a cheap water bottle. The water will be pored through the top through gravel, sand, charcoal and finally either a screen or another mechanism like a hankerchief to prevent the filtering substances from getting into the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;|    |&#xA;|GGGG|&#xA;|SSSS|&#xA;|CCCC|&#xA; |00|&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;| = Water bottle edge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;G = Gravel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;S = Sand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C = Charcoal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0 = Screen or cloth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information I would suggest this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Water-Filter-out-of-a-Waterbottle/?ALLSTEPS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;instructable&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:22:31.543" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:22:31.543" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13383" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-29T05:50:51.433" Score="4" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to create a 3D archery course in Germany on public land, which authorities do I have to contact? First of all I need to know which authority administrates the land but also if I have to talk to the ranger, game tenant etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="14067" LastEditDate="2017-09-22T13:42:26.057" LastActivityDate="2017-09-22T13:42:26.057" Title="Which authorities to consider in Germany when planning an archery course?" Tags="&lt;3d-archery&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13399" CreationDate="2016-07-29T05:56:53.877" Score="6" ViewCount="1160" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally don't know any traditional archer wearing a chest protector. I noticed however that Olympic archers (and similar disciplines) nearly always wear one. Which circumstances should make me think about wearing such? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XiNPo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XiNPo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T06:53:53.963" Title="When to wear a chest protector?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13385" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13387" CreationDate="2016-07-29T06:49:04.393" Score="10" ViewCount="312" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on survival series, films etc. most of the people stranded on a lonely island (not necessarily restricted to this situation of course) over a long period start with agriculture at some point. While I understand that it gives you great benefits, it also consumes resources (water, energy etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When do I know that the benefits outweigh the &quot;waste&quot; of resource (my daily routine is that stable, that it can handle the additional expense), so that I should start with agriculture? Which precedence does it have (like &quot;Don't start with agriculture before you haven't ...&quot;)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T06:56:13.990" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T14:27:43.313" Title="When to know it's worth to start with agriculture?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13384" CreationDate="2016-07-29T08:42:37.077" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There doesn't seem to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theukrules.co.uk/rules/sport/archery/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anything in the (UK) rules saying this is required&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6171/what-is-a-shooting-jacket&quot;&gt;unlike shooting jackets&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Protective accessories &lt;strong&gt;may&lt;/strong&gt; be used such as finger-protective tape&#xA;  or gloves, chest protectors, and arm guards&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I understand it the chest protector is simply to allow you to pull the draw very close to your chest without it rubbing and hurting (and to prevent it getting caught on something)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my guess is simply for protection. If you shoot enough arrows in a day (Olympic standard achers are going to practice a lot!) then I guess it's easy for your chest to get sore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T08:42:37.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13385" CreationDate="2016-07-29T13:44:16.263" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming it is not an end of the world scenario, the answer is &lt;strong&gt;never start agriculture&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not on an island; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A traveling hunter/gather in a location that will support agriculture is going to be able to travel to civilization faster then any crop would come in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the location will not support agriculture, you need to move to someplace that will, which puts you in the scenario above.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on an island;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ecosystems are delicate, clearing land is going to disrupt the native ground cover, likely ending in the destruction of existing food sources.  I doubt there is an island on earth that has an area suitable for farming, that would go longer without visitors then it would take for a crop to come to harvest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Farming takes tools, you have to make those tools. If you can make the tools to farm, you might as well make navigation implements and a boat. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10946&quot;&gt;What Navigation Aids can I make on an island with only a knife?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When harvesting hunter/gather don't kill off the food supply. You or another being is going to want it later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave a couple of those wild onions. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't strip all the leaves off of the only edible plant.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't kill nursing mothers, or any female animals at all if you can tell the gender.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you eat something with seeds, bury the seeds in a similar location, either  after consuming them or instead of eating them ;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most plants have developed so that being consumed leads to their improved survival, i.e. Fruit has seeds so that animals will carry those seeds to new locations after eating them. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T14:27:43.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13388" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-29T14:18:37.360" Score="1" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wonder how long it takes plastic to biodegrade and if there is anything a person can or should do to facilitate the process for plastics in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that optimally &quot;Carry in, Carry Out&quot; and &quot;Leave no trace&quot; mean you should not see any plastic in the outdoors that gets left behind. Things don't always go perfectly and, so if there is a plastic item that is not going to be leaving the area with you what should you know and do?. Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11430&quot;&gt;What should I do about large trash left by others on USFS land?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a little research and found&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plastic can be biodegradable and &lt;strong&gt;that is good&lt;/strong&gt;. For more on this please read: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/about-plastics/types-of-plastics/is-plastic-biodegradable/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Are Plastics Biodegradable?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plastics can take hundreds or 1,000+ years to biodegrade and &lt;strong&gt;that is bad&lt;/strong&gt;. For more information read the following: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.postconsumers.com/education/how-long-does-it-take-a-plastic-bottle-to-biodegrade/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Long Does It Take a Plastic Bottle to Biodegrade?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plastics can biodegrade fast and &lt;strong&gt;that may be worse&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All -- And Fast)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So me and a piece of plastic are alone in the great outdoors, and we are not leaving together. There is no chance we will see each other again, and very little that a new human will bond with the plastic in next year or even for decades.  What do I need to know to limit the environmental impact of plastic in the outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:03:27.720" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:03:27.720" Title="What should an outdoors traveler know about the biodegradability of plastic?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13389" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13490" CreationDate="2016-07-29T15:03:24.850" Score="6" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before going to the expedition lately, I did have a very odd schedule with eating and sleeping habits. I would have dinner at about 11 pm and sleep at about 1 am, which is very bad for a mountaineer. Through the expedition I struggled immensely due to these habits. But, we did have a strict eating and sleeping schedule when we were through the expedition, and that was for more than 15 days. For certain obvious reasons I didn't eat much in quantity being at higher grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I am back to routine, office and late working nights, I can hardly digest anything that I eat through the day. I would wake up at about 3 am for no reason and stay up. That makes me go crazy as the day progresses, and yet I (have to) work late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have anybody ever had such an issue after an expedition?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T13:51:56.787" Title="How to deal with change in diet and schedule after returning from a long expedition?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13390" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-07-29T15:30:32.150" Score="2" ViewCount="710" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the movie &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cast Away&lt;/a&gt; with Tom Hanks the character survives 4 years on a small island. But that was a movie.  It is a common cartoon image to see a single person on small island with one coconut tree, this seems unlikely to be survivable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In real life &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Salvador_Alvarenga&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;José Salvador Alvarenga&lt;/a&gt; survived 14 months adrift in the Pacific Ocean.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question &lt;a href=&quot;https://sustainability.stackexchange.com/questions/2432&quot;&gt;What area is needed to grow enough food to sustain a person for a year?&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Sister site,&#xA;Sustainable Living&lt;/em&gt;) has answers suggesting that as little as  4,000 sf (372 m²) will support one person, but that is best case, with tools, seed and other supplies available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, is there minimum size/configuration of an island that it is likely you could survive indefinitely?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:49:28.303" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T05:20:10.910" Title="What is the smallest island that will support one person indefinitely?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2016-07-30T16:46:26.857" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13378" CreationDate="2016-07-29T17:37:52.973" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Gravity Filters&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cone Filter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much like Charlie's gravity filter in a bottle, this filter is essentially the same, only using a cone of tree bark in place of the bottle, and using extra filtration layers instead of a coffee filter or bit of cloth:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sFtHn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sFtHn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vMwyp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vMwyp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tripod Filter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a shirt, or bag with a hole in the bottom, or whatever bits of material you can spare, you can set up a tripod filter as shown below: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QxZaC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QxZaC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZCAJl.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZCAJl.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Images: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pinterest.com/pin/258253359854893556/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinterest&lt;/a&gt;, of all places...&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These filters appear to only be effective at cleaning the water of dirt and debris, boiling the water is still recommended for purifying the water and killing anything that might make it through your filter, though any poisons should be mostly absorbed by the charcoal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What remains to be discovered is what could potentially be used in either of these systems to purify the water as much as possible without boiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Filtration Layers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following are layers you can include in your filter, and what they accomplish:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Grass:&lt;/strong&gt; Filters out floaties, larger debris, and works as a permeable layer to support sand and charcoal. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pebbles:&lt;/strong&gt; Remove larger grits like sticks, leaves, gravel, small stones, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gravel:&lt;/strong&gt; Permeable layer that packs well, good base layer for sand and charcoal, also filter larger particles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sand:&lt;/strong&gt; Filter out smaller grits, sand, etc. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ground Charcoal:&lt;/strong&gt; Filter out finest particles, as well as some toxins/poisons (absorbed by carbon), will lose it's ability to absorb toxins with use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twigs:&lt;/strong&gt; Plug bottom of cone filter so other layers don't pour out bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-29T19:59:43.797" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T19:59:43.797" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-07-29T17:37:52.973" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13388" CreationDate="2016-07-29T19:07:06.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;strong&gt;avoid&lt;/strong&gt; doing it! Carry other hiker's trash when possible to minimize the impact. As an owner of a plastic industry, I can affirm that the decomposition time depends of the type of plastic we are speaking of and many ambient conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For plastics that are not naturally UV resistant, like Polystyrene and PETE (water bottles), they get brittle and will slowly become dust in a few years after heavy exposure to UVA and UVB sunlight. PS, PETE, PLA (biodegradable!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For plastic bags, shampoo bottles, made of Polyethylene for example, they last awfully long, usually more than 50 years in direct sunlight, maybe even more. HDPE, LDPE, ABS and PC also falls into this category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As rule-of-thumb, leaving most plastics under heavy sunlight will degraded them to a point where it can be further broken into smaller parts by environmental factors and bacterias, integrating back those broken monomers to the natural cycle. &lt;strong&gt;But if the environmental factors are not optimal&lt;/strong&gt; (a PETE bottle in the woods) they will be there for hundreds of years, maybe more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you &lt;strong&gt;MUST&lt;/strong&gt; leave plastic, do it where it will have strong-steady sunlight and far from rivers, streams and lakes. If that's not an option, I would bury it in a 50cm (1.5 feet) depth hole, so animals would not interact with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope it clarifies your doubt!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9973" LastActivityDate="2016-07-29T19:07:06.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2016-07-30T03:54:03.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dog food soaked in fish oil is a very economical yet effective way to bait crab traps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9878" LastActivityDate="2016-07-30T03:54:03.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13388" CreationDate="2016-07-30T14:19:11.433" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Things don't always go perfectly&quot; - what does that mean? There is no reason at all you should ever leave plastic behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring in as little plastic as you can. Pack your stuff in reusable containers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If something is plastic-wrapped or in a plastic bag, be a person who cares and don't let that plastic blow away or drop from your hand. Stick it in a pocket right away, and have a place to keep it so you can take it back out with you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you come across someone else's garbage, whether plastic, glass, tin or whatnot, take it out. Put it in the &quot;place to keep it&quot; - I use the garbage bag that backcountry parks issue you with your permit number written on it. (Usually I find nothing and I have no garbage of my own so the bag comes out empty. I keep it in my glove compartment and take it in on trips where one wasn't issued to me. It serves as a good visual reminder that it contains garbage, something that is highly unusual on my trips.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you spot someone else's plastic from a distance, and can't safely get to it to clean it up, you also don't know anything about its chemistry, so there's nothing you can do. Console yourself with the fact you did numbers 1-3.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you come across a piece of plastic waste so large it's impossible for you to remove it, take a picture, ideally geotagged, and report it to the park people or landowner when you leave. If the land is entirely public, investigate to see if there's someone you can report to. For example a 1000L tank of dubious liquid is something you have to leave behind, but should still act on in some way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it matters to you that plastic isn't left behind, plastic won't be left behind. And that's the only reasonable approach, really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2016-07-30T20:00:38.633" LastActivityDate="2016-07-30T20:00:38.633" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13390" CreationDate="2016-07-30T17:26:57.143" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...is there minimum size/configuration of an island that it is likely&#xA;  you could survive indefinitely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, at least not if you're in a location where you're not at risk of dying from exposure to the elements, but considering most uninhabited island are in the South Pacific, I think exposure is less of a worry if you're ever caught in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The determining factor is going to be the availability of fresh water (next to your abilities as a survivalist). The size of the island is irrelevant if you don't have a supply of water to drink, you'll quickly die of dehydration. You could be on a +4,000ft&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; sandbar in the middle of the pacific with absolutely no water to drink, but even if water is not available on the island however, it could still potentially be collected as rain water, or distilled from seawater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as island size, as long as it is an island at both low tide &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; high tide, then you will be safe from drowning, then the ocean can provide you with whatever else you need to stay alive. You will have access to materials to make tools and a rudimentary shelter from the sun out of shells, coral, rocks and the bones of sea creatures, and you will have a steady supply of food from all the little fish, urchins and shellfish that thrive in the reefs around small islands. It wouldn't be easy, but you could stay alive for as long as the ocean provides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, being on an island that merely spares you from death with no small measure of skill, work, and determination is hardly considered &quot;supporting life&quot;. There's a difference between being alive and truly living. When I think of supporting life, I think of a location where life can thrive comfortably, grow and be happy, not merely surviving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-07-31T05:20:10.910" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T05:20:10.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13384" CreationDate="2016-07-31T06:53:53.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chest guards works as the same of arm guards. It protects the archer from get the sting from the string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although, when an archer shoots his/her arm, it's more likely it's related to his/her form while shooting his/her chest is a natural body shape fact. (not an actual problem, just as it is.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also very commonly used by girls for obvious reason but some guys with a slightly longer draw length might use it as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T06:53:53.963" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13418" CreationDate="2016-07-31T09:30:00.787" Score="8" ViewCount="3561" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a relative scale to which one can estimate the size of a shark by looking at its dorsal fin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it will differ from species to species, but is there a general guideline maybe for each? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say a Great White shark with a dorsal fin of 40 cm (1.3 ft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9982" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:59:34.913" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T23:17:07.337" Title="Can I guess the size of a shark by the size of its dorsal fin?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;sharks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13401" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13406" CreationDate="2016-07-31T13:19:19.697" Score="9" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got back from a guided walking trip to high mountains. There was one day when we encountered a thunderstorm - and the guide advised we are OK to proceed with the day's walking, instead of turning round. He gave an explanation, and I wonder if you think it is reasonable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation was as follows: the forecast said 'possibility of thunderstorms', for just-about all the foreseeable future. We set off from our overnight stay up the valley, heading for a high mountain pass. We then heard the thunderstorm coming, staying about 1.5-3 km (1-2 miles) away from us, as deduced from timing between lightning and thunder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the guide said he is happy to proceed up the valley and up to the col, because &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;he was monitoring the pressure (with a gauge in his GPS), and it was stable - indicating that the storm was going remain where it was, and not migrate / descend towards us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that make sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More generally, the advice I have been given was that if you hear a thunderstorm, you unconditionally turn around and seek solid shelter (mountain hut etc.). Is that too conservative, and if so, what are the mitigating circumstances? I understand you are never 100% safe from lightning outside solid buildings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9983" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T19:14:03.967" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T19:14:03.967" Title="Mountain guide leading towards a thunderstorm - does his explanation make sense?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13402" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13763" CreationDate="2016-07-31T14:17:54.953" Score="11" ViewCount="309" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am concerned about these things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The health impact to my dog.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My dog's sleep and my sleep:  my dog snaps at the mosquitos all night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:09:43.127" LastActivityDate="2019-04-14T11:03:42.290" Title="How can I protect my dog from mosquitos?" Tags="&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13402" CreationDate="2016-07-31T15:15:38.853" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many of the medicines which work for ticks also work well against mosquitoes.  Since you are taking your dog outdoors and will thus need flea and tick protection anyways, consider that as an option&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004QRJJ0K&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.amazon.com/Advantix-Large-Dogs-55-Pound-6-Month&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many brands, no preference shown other than being the easiest to find a link for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-08-01T22:12:49.530" LastActivityDate="2016-08-01T22:12:49.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13401" CreationDate="2016-07-31T20:07:44.407" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The guide's argument seems to be reasonable. However, I would not recommend to simply copy that behaviour but try to go with the more conservative advice you were given.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guide has one big advantage compared to you: He is roaming this area all the time – if he is a local guide, if not he has at least lots of experience with mountainous areas in general – so he knows very well about local weather phenomena (see also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5316/do-mountains-really-make-their-own-weather-and-if-so-why&quot;&gt;Do Mountains really make their own weather and if so why?&lt;/a&gt;). With this knowledge monitoring the air pressure can be a good means to see whether it is still safe to go or if turning back is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as already said, I would not recommend to do so yourself and stick to a more conservative approach instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T20:07:44.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13401" CreationDate="2016-07-31T20:26:33.807" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general the idea (#1) of the guide is not a bad one but it is way simplifying weather forecast. It is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; as easy to predict even short-time. Of course it could be a local guide with lots of experience (we don't know that by your question and maybe you also didn't know while on tour) and he will be right most of the times because he knows his mountains well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, high intensity weather conditions like arising storm aren't stable and easy to forecast. Things like moving direction and intensity can change quite rapidly. So this conservative idea #2 to search shelter in possible danger of lightning strike is a better idea than #1 in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's most important here and missing in the question: What type of tour was it and on what kind of mountain? E.g if you are happily scrambling a via ferrata on an exposed mountain, I - without thinking a second - search ways to get shelter or off the route &lt;strong&gt;IMMEDIATELY&lt;/strong&gt; when the first signs of lightning storm show up. Other extreme, walking through dense forest on the way to the approach hut while lightning might not be that bad (depends on winds but you are more secured to lightning strike). I guess you get the idea, conditions also count a lot for this kind of question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-07-31T20:26:33.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13447" CreationDate="2016-07-31T21:45:02.213" Score="15" ViewCount="5422" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a lightning storm is coming, and you had a tent and a hammock/tarp with you, which would you choose, based only on relative safety from lightning? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T19:32:24.743" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T19:32:24.743" Title="Tent or hammock safer from lightning?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13388" CreationDate="2016-08-01T04:24:13.423" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answering the title question - What should you know or what do you need to know - the answer is nearly nothing or nearly everything.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know nearly nothing, you should know at least know that a vast majority of plastics take a very long time to biodegrade and can be harmful to flora and fauna.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide you want to know more,  its presumably so you can make an informed decision if its OK to leave a piece of plastic behind. In that case, you will need to know everything about the plastic, how it breaks down under varying conditions (Exposed, buried etc), its chemical toxicity, its strength under various conditions (will break if wrapped around an animals leg), its digestibility in various local animal species, its attractiveness in new and aged forms to various animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have spent a life time studying biology and material engineering, you would then know enough to make an informed decision what to do with that piece of plastic and would carry out with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-08-01T04:24:13.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13559" CreationDate="2016-08-01T06:58:30.327" Score="5" ViewCount="269" Body="&lt;p&gt;Commonly I shoot about a 13 to 14 average and 12 is my absolute lower limit. However, at tournaments I struggle even to get a 10 average (shot 192 out of 19 targets :'( ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the problem is that I set myself under pressure too much. I have the feeling that the people in my group constantly judge my shooting. Also I really can't get that score out of my head. I always have to tell myself &quot;You have to shoot at least 16 to stay above your limit.&quot; etc. The result is that I'm really unfocused. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example: as I started with archery I unintentionally trained an anchor-release target panic. So I started to release as soon as I was in the anchor. This resulted in a bad anchor cause I was basically afraid to anchor (I held my hand about 10 cm in front of my actual anchor). I needed months to get rid of this and it's not a problem anymore &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; I just shoot with friends etc. Put me in a tournament and I'm afraid to anchor again (yay -.-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I've also recognized was that I start to shoot straight as soon as I realize that it's senseless (my score is not competitive anymore) from this point on. It's often like: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bad shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bad shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bad shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Okay, screw it.&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Hey, I'm on it again!&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bad shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bad shot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I able to train the &quot;tournament situation&quot; somehow and get used to it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-08-15T12:20:03.000" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T14:41:59.100" Title="I shoot horribly at archery tournaments - what can I do about it?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;3d-archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13412" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13419" CreationDate="2016-08-01T12:39:53.083" Score="6" ViewCount="159" Body="&lt;p&gt;I visited the woods with my nieces a few weeks ago. They enjoyed the nature pretty much of course and were happily hiking until we decided to take a break. We (the adults) began to fall in this comatose state of drinking, eating and talking :D However, the break took a little too long for our youngsters and so they began to get bored. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any games I could have given them which can be played with what the nature provides (common hiking equipment etc. is ok, too :) ), doesn't leave a trace (or at least not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; much) and is safe for the kids (in terms of &quot;lost on their own in the wild&quot; etc. - negative example in some circumstances: hide and seek)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-01T13:09:46.373" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T10:09:42.257" Title="Games for kids in the great outdoors" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2016-08-01T14:01:23.133" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Surely the Hammock. Since you're off the ground, and your String and the trees are no conductors, you won't get hit by lightning, since you're not grounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a tent the lighning will burn through your tent and melt the material of your tent. Also since your tent touches the ground and most likely has lots of rainwater on it, it will attract the ligning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you are in a forest, the lightning would hit a tree before you anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion is to look for a spot with not so tall trees. This way it's more likely, the lightning will hit somewhere else, and if it hits close to you and a tree falls, it's also more likely the tree won't hit you. Maybe look for a dense forest, so the trees and branches can catch the falling tree and it wont fall all the way to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on a plainland or a area with no trees, maybe think about not building up anything at all. Just wrap your gear and yourself in the tarp to make it mostly waterproof. look for a area close to something tall, but not so close that if it falls it will hit you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps a little bit.&#xA;Good luck and come home Safe!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-08-01T22:38:31.893" LastActivityDate="2016-08-01T22:38:31.893" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13411" CreationDate="2016-08-01T14:35:53.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you ever looked into &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Mindfulness&lt;/a&gt; I've used it with resonable success to improve my climbing and particuarly to cope with fear, etc. It's a very good way to help you &quot;be in the moment&quot; and to remove external influences, such as performing infront of a crowd, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one's attention&#xA;  to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present&#xA;  moment,[1][2][3] which can be developed through the practice of&#xA;  meditation and other training.[2][4][5] The term &quot;mindfulness&quot; is a&#xA;  translation of the Pali-term sati,[6] which is a significant element&#xA;  of some Buddhist traditions. The recent popularity of mindfulness in&#xA;  the West is generally considered to have been initiated by Jon&#xA;  Kabat-Zinn.[7][8]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's quite popular in the UK these days with classes etc being run in lots of places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T14:41:59.100" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T14:41:59.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2016-08-01T15:53:48.567" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can concur with 1 mph for first-time backpackers carrying an overnight pack on strenuous terrain. This is without stopping for more than short water/snack breaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source:&#xA;I just took my wife on her first backpacking trip and it took us almost 8 hours to travel 8 miles with ~2000 feet elevation gain. This was over well-maintained but rocky trails that called for careful footing, and neither of us were fully acclimated to the elevation. Not the best introduction to backpacking (!)...we ended up changing the itinerary on subsequent days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going back down(hill) the same trails, we kept up about a 1.5 mph pace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9994" LastActivityDate="2016-08-01T15:53:48.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2016-08-01T16:43:09.693" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camp Selection&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The location of your camp will likely be a much bigger factor than what style of bedding you use. Find a low point away from any large trees and away from anywhere that may accumulate water as it lighting typically accompanies rain would be priorities. Mountain tops are great for view but are scary as hell during electrical storms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tents vs. Hammock&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;In a lying sleeping position you are exposing a lot of surface area to the ground (or nearly to the ground including sleeping pad, tent, sleeping bag etc.). Anecdotally there seems to be a lesser chance of injury during a nearby strike if you have minimal contact with the ground and have any form of insulation even sandals. So in the tent on a pad, on a bag is better than lying directly on the ground but better to be a squat than lying down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a hammock you aren't on the ground but you are directly attached to a tree which is tall and has lots of &quot;sharp&quot; leaves and branches which is great for attracting lighting strikes. If the lighting hits the tree you are in you will be hit. I think if there is a nearby strike you will be better off than on the ground though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After optimizing campsite selection I think the best you can do is be in a tent with as much under you as possible and in a squat until the storm passes. It's rare to get lighting for hours on end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="8922" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T17:18:58.557" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T17:18:58.557" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13400" CreationDate="2016-08-02T01:50:05.250" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is a general guideline, however I did find a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5445e.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;guide&lt;/a&gt; by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that has the calculations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The calculations for a Great White are on page 38, and the directions for the calculations start at page 13. I wish I could find a simple rule of thumb, but it looks like there is a good bit of math involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-08-02T01:50:05.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13412" CreationDate="2016-08-02T02:44:16.340" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Things we have enjoyed in the past as a family.  These are not all &quot;games&quot;, but I think they will help address the larger part of boredom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Teach the kiddos all the things are you doing and let them do them to the extent possible.  You can seriously eat the whole day this way. Examples:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Teach them knife handling/wood carving (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8700/what-are-some-simple-tasks-to-teach-knife-safety&quot;&gt;related question&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let them help with maing fire, preparing food, cooking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take along a field guide for identifying trees, plants, bug, etc..  Have a game out of whomever can identify the most plants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A deck of cards.  Make sure you know several games to teach them.  My favorite was the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/687139/knot-playing-cards&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deck of cards that also had how to tie knots&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Marbles is actually a decent game when you have nothing else, and it is fairly light.  Same with jacks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike more (no, really)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We had our youngest spot blazes.  +1 marshmallow at dinner for every blaze spotted, -2 for every one missed.  Adjust numbers as appropriate for your kids.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frisbees are light and easy to carry/pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should seriously be a community wiki.  Making it so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T10:09:42.257" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-02T02:44:27.077" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13412" CreationDate="2016-08-02T11:49:05.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some things I would do: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;teach 1 type of medicinal herb, something easily detectable (peppermint, for example), and then let them collect some amount (50, for example); set some boundary so they would not wander away too far. When at home, dry the leaves and make a tea from what they've picked&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make them pick colorful objects, plants, leaves, flowers; press them down in a book at home, and then use them to create some colorful handmade things (cards, for example, which they can give as a gift to grandma or someone who appreciates such things :) ). Pros: creative, nice. Cons: extra work for you, stuff to carry home, making extra mess etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make them a swing from a branch and a stronger rope you brought from home&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These can be done with what nature provides, but might not be so much up to the Leave No Trace policy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-08-02T11:49:05.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13421" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13424" CreationDate="2016-08-02T11:56:03.057" Score="5" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it comes to arrows, a term which is often mentioned is &quot;F.O.C.&quot;. What does it mean? Why is it so important? How can I measure/calculate it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T16:59:08.860" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T15:53:43.463" Title="What's meant by F.O.C.in archery?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13434" CreationDate="2016-08-02T13:40:58.897" Score="2" ViewCount="563" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fjallraven.com/explore-fjallraven/fjallraven-classic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Fjällräven Classic&lt;/a&gt; is a hiking tour with 110 km. How do I need to train to be able to carry around 20 kg over a distance of 110 km in varying terrain? I have around a year to get prepared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm able to hike 25 km with minor breaks while carrying about 10 kg. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-08-02T14:03:01.077" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T11:22:00.120" Title="How to get prepared for Fjällräven Classic hiking tour?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13422" CreationDate="2016-08-02T14:59:33.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend starting by &lt;em&gt;making a list&lt;/em&gt; of the gear you'll need, not forgetting anything. (Note separately fuel, water and food as the amount will change, consider if you'll be carrying water or purifying/filtering as you go)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That will tell you how much you'll have to carry, what pack you need, what equipment you may not have. If that is significantly more than what you are used to carry, either reduce the weight by changing equipment, or by training beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, do other hikes with the same kind of stuff, on the same kind of terrain. You'll see if some stuff you carry are not needed, if you are missing something...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with shorter distances (e.g. 30-40km over a week end), carrying the same gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-08-02T14:59:33.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13421" CreationDate="2016-08-02T17:22:49.703" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;FOC is &amp;quot;front of center&amp;quot;, which is a term for how far the center of mass is relatively from the midpoint of the arrow.  There doesn't seem to be a consensus on what an &amp;quot;ideal&amp;quot; FOC is, but I hear anything in the 7-15% range will provide a good balance of distance versus stability (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goldtip.com/calculatorcontent.aspx?coid=2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).  It can still be used as a way to measure the weighting/balancing/feel of an arrow (e.g. how front-heavy it is).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To calculate it, install the tip and find the center of mass by sliding the arrow along a narrow edge until it balances.  Find the distance from here to the halfway point, and divide by the total length to find the FOC.  In the image below, the FOC would be 10% because 3 / 30 = 0.1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6j5bi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6j5bi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;FOC example&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goldtip.com/images//calnew-img1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;goldtip.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T15:53:43.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13425" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15473" CreationDate="2016-08-02T22:35:11.587" Score="12" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Watching this &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/5jLCeSSIF-k?t=98&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube-video&lt;/a&gt; I asked myself if Ueli Steck is using some kind of regeneration creme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most likely nobody will know for sure from the footage but I would be really interested what tricks the experts like Steck have for enhancing the regeneration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10579/how-can-i-recuperate-between-two-long-walks/10583#10583&quot;&gt;How can I recuperate between two long walks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-02T08:30:26.033" Title="What kind of creme could Ueli Steck be possibly using and why?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13426" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-02T23:45:31.857" Score="5" ViewCount="4183" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tent appears to need just 2 diagonal poles. &#xA;How do I figure out what length diagonal poles I need for an 8 foot x 10 foot (footprint) tent, taking into account the radius of curvature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnsWv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnsWv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tent image one&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgiE6l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgiE6l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tent image two&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9996" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-03T14:42:16.770" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T23:52:13.130" Title="How to determine the length of poles for a tent" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13427" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-03T00:53:17.947" Score="8" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is something I have been thinking about since answering this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13400/can-i-guess-the-size-of-a-shark-by-the-size-of-its-dorsal-fin&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; about guessing the size of a shark. What precautions would a scuba diver take or is this something that is simply avoided?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:59:25.803" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:59:25.803" Title="How to scuba dive safely in waters that have Great White Sharks?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;sharks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13483" CreationDate="2016-08-03T05:32:20.427" Score="8" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my last tour I've found a lot of litter in the woods again. While I do my best to get things out, I was not able to take an old oil barrel and a care tire with me =). However, these two items made me think about how they even come here? Maybe I can do something about the originating source or the way the things get there rather than carrying them out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that these items come from a car or something but I can't believe that someone takes a car tire, hikes the hell out of the forest and throws his stuff in there just to hike back again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T12:56:48.987" Title="Where does uncommon litter come from?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13428" CreationDate="2016-08-03T06:43:27.837" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two ways stuff can get into the wilds. People and nature. Nature is simpler so I'll get that out of the way first. Once heavy debris ends up in the woods it's likely to stay there if it doesn't degrade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only natural processes that can shift big things are wind and water. Your examples are too heavy to blow (though this explains things like fertiliser sacks). &lt;em&gt;Flooding&lt;/em&gt; can carry things that float quite a long way from water sources if the land is flat. Empty barrels really fall into this category. Wheels might but probably not tyres on their own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People do strange things. Some people's idea of enjoying the outdoors is noisy and petrol-powered, even if the trail isn't really wide enough and even if it's illegal. Sometimes they crash or get stuck, and if the car is stolen they'll flee. I've seen whole cars abandoned in or near footpaths. The spare wheel could also come off if the car hits the ground in the right place. Oil barrels are unlikely to be carried in by joyriders but forestry contractors refill their vehicles' tanks from them and I've never seen a major contractor be diligent about clearing up unless they were forced. After a few years of rust it would be hard to tell unless you could see an end cut off, but old metal oil drums are used as fire containers. If someone had lived rough in the woods they could have brought it in. Other signs of their presence could be more subtle - they'd degrade, get overgrown, or be more portable. I've certainly seen signs of people living rough on public land in the UK, US, France and Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T06:43:27.837" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13432" CreationDate="2016-08-03T08:13:27.323" Score="4" ViewCount="222" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother asked me lately if I wanted to join a fishing license class with him later this year. I would absolutely like that but I'm afraid that I can't handle the additional time consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much time do I have to calculate with? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit, since flagged:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ask for the time a license consumes in Baden-Württemberg. I mean the actual time of the whole course. So, how many hours of fishing training (is there such a thing?), how many hours of theoretical classes and how many hours of exams. This sum is the time a course consumes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: a driving license in Germany needs at least (made up numbers) 7 hours of night-driving, 5 hours of rural driving, 5 hours in the city, 12 theoretical classes with an hour each and finally the exams consuming 2 hours. That makes a consumption of 31 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-18T06:24:37.047" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T06:24:37.047" Title="How much time does qualifying for a fishing license in Germany take?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13427" CreationDate="2016-08-03T08:28:57.553" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is easy! Just dive as you would. If you see a shark, don't dive towards it, because it could think you want to attack. Just stay in one spot, watch the shark, and enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sharks are very curious animals, which just want to have a look, and then swim away. The is no need to worry the shark would attack you. Sharks are friendly and don't eat humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I dove a bunch of times with different sharks. I even spend 2 Years living on the fidschi islands and doing research about sharks. I saw many sharks of  different kinds. Be ready to be mind-blown by these amazing creatures!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun and a great dive!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastEditorUserId="9992" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T11:13:42.907" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T11:13:42.907" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13430" CreationDate="2016-08-03T09:04:02.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends on the state, and the kind of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some states you don't need a license any more, or could even purchase a tourist-license valid for few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The course can take just a few days, with a final test at the end, but sometimes it is difficult to find a course in a certain time frame. It can happen that you will have to wait a month, or even more, to be able to take a course at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your brother actually has a course with a fitting time frame, he should be able to tell you how long the course is, ask him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise you should check out which laws apply the the state, when courses are offered, and how long they take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T09:04:02.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13084" CreationDate="2016-08-03T09:13:21.133" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always use &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00K7SZN1Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a Hand grip, which is inexpensive and easy to use. you can attach it with the band to your wrist. That means you can just let it float if you don't use it at the moment. Then when you want to use it, just grap it again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I would recommend to buy a red filter. The Light and the colors look much better and more natural. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh and btw. your remote for your camera wont work underwater. I made that experience by myself! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T03:43:41.653" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T03:43:41.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13422" CreationDate="2016-08-03T10:59:56.320" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Body&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're already moderately in shape (i.e. able to do some proper hikes of 20km with 10kg weight as you say) I don't think you'll &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to to any specific training per se... But of course training always helps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For my first longer treks (200-300km, 2-3 weeks) I did some three to four 20km training hikes with a 15-20 kg pack each.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For someone unaccustomed to hiking (not in your case), I'd suggest starting with 15-20km hikes without weight, then gradually increase it until max pack weight is achieved (maybe over a total of 10 hikes).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This really mostly serves to make sure your joints and sinews are used to &lt;em&gt;being used&lt;/em&gt; and can bear the load - you'll likely not build up muscles this way unless you do a lot more training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; Carrying 20kg for hours is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; pleasant at first: expect some pain, some soreness, etc. Over the first couple of days the unpleasantness normally recedes (also your pack'll get lighter as you consume food and fuel). Until then I suggest playing around with all the fitting options of your pack: tightening/loosening some straps, moving the weight closer/further away from your back, changing distribution of weight between shoulders and hip, etc.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Gear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as important as training your body is making sure that you have the right gear, which fits you properly and is comfortable on long 20kg-pack treks. Most important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Make sure you have proper hiking boots, which fit you well, and &lt;strong&gt;which are well worn in&lt;/strong&gt;. If you expect to carry a load of 20kg I'd also suggest using higher/heavier boots which also support your ankles, and which often have a stiffer, sturdier sole. (Some people trek with super light footwear, but unless you're quite experienced doing so I'd suggest wearing 'old-school' proper hiking boots.)&#xA;If you get blisters, deal with the issue before your trek: changing footwear, hardening your feet by doing more training hikes, or bringing blister patches  can all work - this depends on your preference, your means, your resources, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The backpack needs to fit well and needs to be properly fitted to your body. I suggest doing some training hikes with full weight (just pack in 20kgs of weigt, e.g. water bottles) to see if the backpack works for you with heavier loads. If your new backpack gets damaged at all during those hikes bring it back to the store and demand a refund for the crappy gear they sold you (happened to a friend twice). On a 100km+ hike you &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; be able to depend on you pack: failure is not an option, so it must be able to take some punishment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I suggest to take advantage of your training hikes to familiarize yourself with all of your important gear and to make sure everything works the way you planned it to. E.g. cooking on your stove, putting up/taking down your tent, organizing your pack, etc.&#xA;Also the training hikes will let you get a first experience on how much food, fuel, water and other necessities (toilet paper, soap, sun blocker, ...) you'll need - allowing you to only bring to your final trek what you'll actually need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fun fact: the route you linkd in the question above was actually part of my first proper trek. In 2006 I trekked the Kungsleden from north to south (Abisko to Ammernäs).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-08-03T11:22:00.120" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T11:22:00.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13430" CreationDate="2016-08-03T12:42:05.963" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no rules or laws, as far as I know, on how much needs to be done for the fishing license. It always depends on the School you are doing it in. I did mine on a weekend in Mecklenburg Vorpommern. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was 2,5h of theoretical lessons and 2 evenings of fishing, but mostly without a instructor, since I was fishing in denmark a bunch of times before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you can fish and know most of the basics I wouldn't say it's very complicated. Just find a nice place with a good offer and friendly instructors and it will be a lot of fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T12:42:05.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13426" CreationDate="2016-08-03T14:33:07.927" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, it is a bit hard to tell the model, so here is the process you'll need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stake the tent out.  Any old stakes will do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With a semi-rigid pole (see below) push this pole through the loops/guides until it is taut.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mark and measure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you measure you can order poles from any of a number of sites that sell custom poles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Semi-rigid poles that can work (depends on tent and diameter of pole)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ratan/Bamboo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fiberglass - You can buy very inexpensive fiberglass rods, just google around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T14:33:07.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13437" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13438" CreationDate="2016-08-03T16:05:45.733" Score="6" ViewCount="311" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I am descending the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Matterhorn&lt;/a&gt; along the Hörnli ridge, and night falls when I am near the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvay_Hut&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solvay&lt;/a&gt; emergency hut (4003 m; safe bivouac is several hours of descent away). In this case, I believe I should not try descending further, but spend the night there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll need drinking water in this case, but I am not sure where I can get some snow to melt. Can I expect to find snow anywhere along the Hörnli route? What should I do if I find myself running low on water, while starting to descend from the summit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am talking about high season here (August).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-15T00:53:12.703" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T00:53:12.703" Title="How to get drinking water if I am stuck below Matterhorn summit?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;huts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13437" CreationDate="2016-08-03T19:09:19.390" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solvay biwak is solely an emergency shelter. There is an emergency radio available. So if you sleep there without declaring an emergency (even if just to inform the authorities) you have to expect to be fined (the locals are very strict and fines not negligible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In August you cannot expect snow around the hut (though you might get lucky and it can snow at these altitudes even in summer). The first place you are guaranteed to find snow/ice is the shoulder above the Svolvay bivouac. This takes about 3/4h on the way up. As with anything on the Hoernli route: Finding your way and rockfall are the main problems. Even if you have done the way already, if you are exhausted and it is dark, it might a better idea to stay and not have anything to drink for one night. If you are too late you should already know ahead, so you could take snow on your way to the Svolvay bivouac.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T19:09:19.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13301" CreationDate="2016-08-03T19:31:47.100" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that you have the Trango Alpine anchor I would use that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mrV9P.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mrV9P.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trango.com/images/tabs/user%20guides/AE%20final-2-12-16-web.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://trango.com/images/tabs/user%20guides/AE%20final-2-12-16-web.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put the two biners directly in the bolt, attach them to the anchor points of the Trango. You must have a biner at the master point of the Trango anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using only the sling, biners + the one you must have for the rope (possibly backed up by a non-locking if you don't have locking biner), something like this would be better:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wiotS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wiotS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/bolted-toprope-anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbing.com/skills/bolted-toprope-anchors/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right to extend the anchor point to below the edge, make sure there are no sharp edges that could damage the sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6511" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T19:31:47.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11756" CreationDate="2016-08-03T19:51:50.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11758/3602&quot;&gt;ShemSeger's answer&lt;/a&gt; already contains good information and a great self-made illustration. So please read it, I will merely expand on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Three man parties&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With single and twin ropes, you need to belay the two seconds separately after each other or attach one in the middle of the rope. With half ropes you can belay two seconds at the same time each on one strand of the rope. For details see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8413/3602&quot;&gt;Belaying two seconds?&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Impact force (norm)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One requirement for ropes defined by the EN/UIAA norm is the impact force (&quot;Fangstoss&quot; in German). This is the maximal force during a standard UIAA fall (quite complicated, simply: almost a factor 2 fall). The requirements differ for the three types:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Single: Falling mass: 80kg. Max. force: 12kN&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Half: Falling mass: 55kg. Single (!) strand. Max. force: 8kN&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Twin: Falling mass: 80kg. Two strands. Max. force 12kN.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does that mean: You should not use single ropes like twins, the forces on you and the protection will be quite a bit higher. If you use half ropes like twins, the forces are higher too. For half ropes if rope management (and thus drag) is not the issue, it is a judgment call whether to clip both strands or just a single one: If falling down on a ledge is an issue, clip both, otherwise just one (lower forces on the protection and you when falling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: The following is my own reasoning and neither standard practice nor endorsed by manufacturers/organisations/norms:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is also of concern when climbing with children. As half ropes are tested on a single strand and children are in general quite a bit lighter than 55kg (otherwise they do not fall into the category children for the purposes of this answer), using a single half rope for them while leading can be a good choice. With a single rope children are stopped very abruptly. Due to the smaller impact force on half ropes, this is less of an issue. Of course you need to look out for rock edges along the route (so only do this on single pitches). This is however &lt;em&gt;not standard&lt;/em&gt; use and should &lt;em&gt;never be done unless you know yourself why you want and can do it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-08-03T19:51:50.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13441" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13442" CreationDate="2016-08-04T02:31:47.897" Score="8" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are few feelings worse than hiking deep into an area that should be pristine and finding garbage. What are some steps that I could take to help prevent or lessen this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T18:03:28.810" Title="What can I do to discourage people from littering in the back country?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13441" CreationDate="2016-08-04T02:31:47.897" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make certain that you are part of the solution and not the problem, never leave any of your own garbage behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As people are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/littering-and-following-the-crowd/374913/&quot;&gt;less likely&lt;/a&gt; to litter a clean area, remove as much of other people's trash as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Document and report violators to the authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T02:31:47.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13443" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13449" CreationDate="2016-08-04T05:56:51.920" Score="3" ViewCount="639" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately I've recognized the huge amount of fisherman's hats on a 3D archery tournament. Also, I see them a lot while hiking.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mOC7gs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mOC7gs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fisherman&amp;#39;s hat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't really figure out what makes them superior above a common hat&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RYP7Os.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RYP7Os.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Common hat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;or cap&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sUtuHs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sUtuHs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cap with neck protection&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Has somebody an explanation why it is not just popular among fishermen (why it is popular among fishermen is also interesting of course), but all kinds of outdoor activity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:26:49.033" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T05:52:56.627" Title="What makes a fisherman's hat so popular among outdoorsmen?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13444" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13445" CreationDate="2016-08-04T06:02:56.847" Score="11" ViewCount="2326" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last time we visited Austria for holidays we've recognized devices called &quot;Weiderost&quot; (literally translates into pasture grate). It's a coarse meshed grate laying in the street. It can be found where a fence is crossing a street. The grate kind of connects the two ends of the fence (the fence can't just pass it of course because driving and stuff). We know that it's called &quot;Weiderost&quot; because there were signs telling us so - &quot;Caution! Weiderost!&quot; - every time we came across one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YkIxl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YkIxl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Weiderost&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this used for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T17:21:31.203" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T19:32:34.510" Title="What is a so called &quot;Weiderost&quot; (cattle guards)?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13444" CreationDate="2016-08-04T06:20:24.003" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different kind of obstacles so that farm animals like cows on alpine pastures stay in the related territory. If you hike, you often pass little doors or Z-shaped wooden obstacles or have to lift gates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dirt roads this is similar, the cattle needs to be restricted so e.g. with a &quot;Weiderost&quot;. In comparison to a gate you can always overcome the bars by car, but cattle and sheep aren't likely to overcome. So they are often build on roads for agricultural use or the kind, where they have to drive by regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T06:20:24.003" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13443" CreationDate="2016-08-04T06:20:28.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fisherman hats are good at shading the face and neck.  They typically have a downward sloping 360 degree brim.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1UktK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1UktK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt you are seeing open water strap it down type hats on the archery range.  It is more a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_hat&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bucket hat&lt;/a&gt;.  It is used for a variety of  activities.  Nike &lt;a href=&quot;http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pd/bucket-golf-hat/pid-10990886/pgid-11161208&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nike sells one as a golf cap&lt;/a&gt;.  Here is one sold as an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancasterarchery.com/lancaster-archery-supply-flex-fit-bucket-hat.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;archery hat&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/mens-ua-airvent-bucket-hat/pid1273240-001&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Under armor&lt;/a&gt; specifically mentions skin protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T09:15:43.963" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T09:15:43.963" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2016-08-04T07:29:14.023" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say the tent if the hammock is tied to a tall tree.  If you can tie the hammock to some shorter trees surrounded by taller then the hammock might be better.  But any lying position is not optimal.   Lightning storms don't last long I would squat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AyubO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AyubO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Survive lightning&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T07:29:14.023" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2016-08-04T09:53:11.980" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some extra info about &lt;strong&gt;France&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, wild camping is forbidden in France, &lt;em&gt;except when stated otherwise&lt;/em&gt;. As any other country, France has a number of regional and national natural parks, where &quot;bivouac&quot; (setting up your tent after 7pm and packing it back before 8am) might be allowed. Regulations are specific to each park, and you should get to know it before you enter it and plan to camp there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A park's regulation can also depend on factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;time of the year. eg., some parks only allow it during the summer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;location &lt;em&gt;within the park&lt;/em&gt;. Some parks allow wild camping in general, but not in certain locations due to specific reasons (high natural hazards, water contamination risks, etc.). The areas where wild camping is specifically forbidden are marked by signs on the side of paths accessing said areas. Those signs most likely will only be written in French. In a way, these are &quot;exceptions within exceptions&quot;, since camping in natural parks are already an exception within the French law.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;temporary risk (eg, if a huge wildfire is going on).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen natural parks allowing campfires, or leaving your tent up at the same location at daytime. Might exist but I seriously doubt it. Don't be an idiot and light campfires in the wilderness; bring a stove and a gas can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you scroll down a bit on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lecampingsauvage.fr/legislation-et-reglementation/camping-sauvage-bivouac&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this web page&lt;/a&gt;, you will find &lt;strong&gt;a map of France with all said parks and their current regulation&lt;/strong&gt;. I am sorry, everything is in French. If some things are still cryptic through Google translate, feel free to ask me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worth noting that like other European countries, France also has a number of &lt;strong&gt;free, non-guarded shelters&lt;/strong&gt;, mostly in mountainous areas. Most of these shelters consist of a small room with a stove for heating, and a second &quot;floor&quot; right below the roof where you can sleep. These shelters are quite rustic, and are mostly maintained on a volunteer basis, by local people, or alpine clubs, for example. You can expect to find wood there for using with the stove. Common practice is bringing back into the shelter as much wood as you have used, obviously. Such shelters are marked with a &quot;empty red house&quot; pictograph on IGN maps (those are the reference maps in France). On &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.refuges.info/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt;, you can find more or less updated infos about most shelters, like, if it has been vandalized, water access, a stove, wood, etc. Once again, it's all in French.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most people already have said, if you are discrete enough, you probably will not get caught even when camping in illegal areas. However, the author's question specifically asked about where it was legal. Obviously, camping on private land is OK if you have the owner's approval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last anecdote: during my teenage years, I went hiking for several days in Corsica, where wild camping is strictly forbidden. Putting up your tent close to guarded shelters was allowed, as long as you paid something like 5€/night/person. At the end of the trip, we were all lacking money, and could not pay this fee (yes, we were pretty stupid back then). We ended up playing it fair and going to the guards saying we could not afford it. All of them were OK with that, as long as we stayed close to the shelters. They insisted on warning us that if we were to be found wild camping in forbidden areas, they would fine us hard. They actually did that to another group of people. Moral of the story: just &lt;strong&gt;play it fair&lt;/strong&gt; and remember that the guards' main concern is the protection of the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9161" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T09:53:11.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13443" CreationDate="2016-08-04T11:10:41.110" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few benefits why this has evolved as a good choice for fishermen. These benefits apply to other outdoor activities also! That's why the hat is popular among all kinds of outdoorsmen. However, I'll explain the advantages based on fishing but it's mostly common sense to figure out similar circumstances for other activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, fishing often means to be a lot in the bright sun (on a boat, near the river with no trees etc.). That's why a good fisherman hat provides a UV protection of 40+. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Product features&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Material: 100% organic cotton&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Brim: approx. 5.3 cm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Height of crown: approx. 8.5 cm &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UV protection 40+&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hatshopping.com/s01.php?shopid=s01&amp;amp;cur=eur&amp;amp;sp=en&amp;amp;ag=1&amp;amp;pp=suche&amp;amp;suchstr=70850&amp;amp;I1=%A0%A0SEARCH&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From random example product&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are also waterproof for nearly the same reason. If it starts to rain, everything is fine (at least around your head) :). Also they can be used to scoop and hold water (practical things like bucket-replacement but also to cool yourself down or drink) then. Additionally they are of course breathable and stay on your head while it's windy (they sit tighter than a hunting hat for example). This is important since you often investigate strong winds while fishing (open water). For colder temperatures, there are even ones with fleece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Die meisten dieser Hüte sind ein guter Schutz vor Regen, da sie nahezu&#xA;  wasserdicht sind. Es gibt auch Anglerhüte, die einen sehr hohen&#xA;  Lichtschutzfaktor und vor Sonnenbrand und Sonnenstich schützen. Für&#xA;  sehr kalte Regionen oder Winterangler kann man auch sehr warme&#xA;  Anglerhüte bekommen, die beispielsweise aus Fleece hergestellt werden.&#xA;  Die Materialien für Anglerhüte sind generell atmungsaktiv.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.anglerhut.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anglerhut von www.anglerhut.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google Translate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of these hats are a good protection against rain, because they are virtually waterproof. There are also fishing hats that protect a very high sun protection factor and against sunburn and sunstroke. For very cold regions or winter anglers can also get very warm Angler hats, which are made for example of fleece. The materials for fishermen hats are generally breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-05-06T23:23:39.613" LastActivityDate="2019-05-06T23:23:39.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13444" CreationDate="2016-08-04T17:10:55.167" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;In North America they're called &lt;strong&gt;cattle guards&lt;/strong&gt;, or &lt;strong&gt;Texas gates&lt;/strong&gt;, and they are &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt; (where I'm from at least). They're intended to replace a conventional gate by discouraging livestock from crossing, while also accommodating vehicles by not making them stop to open and close a gate door.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are treacherous for cattle, who have to learn not to attempt to cross them. A cow or other large animal can easily get stuck or hurt in a cattle guard, and if left unaided, they can prove fatal:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Cattle Guard for cyclists to cross (Explicit content, mouse over to view):&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qfv7Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qfv7Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Bull that attempted to jump a gate (Explicit content, mouse over to view):&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lOue0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lOue0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cattle guards are used to keep cattle &lt;em&gt;out&lt;/em&gt; of fields as much as they are to prevent them from escaping. Aside from destroying the planted fields, cows can also die if they eat certain crops. Wheat for example is something that cows can't digest properly, if a cow gets out into a wheat field and fills up on grain, they'll bloat up and die a horrible painful death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly enough, cattle guards are so common out here that some people can even get away with simply painting them on the roads:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gT5vU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gT5vU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cows that are familiar with cattle guards are easily fooled by the faux gate. They won't even attempt crossing the painted lines. The painted gates are also used for speed control on paved roads. All the drivers out here are familiar with cattle guards and know to slow down to cross them (they can be pretty rough on your vehicle, like multiple speed bumps in a row). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll never forget the first time I encountered a painted gate, we rounded a corner going faster than we should have been going and hammered on the brakes in a panic when we saw it. We were confused for a moment after we rolled smoothly over the lines without the jarring rapid fire hits to our suspension, it's hard to tell a painted gate from a real one when you're going fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-08-04T19:32:34.510" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T19:32:34.510" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13441" CreationDate="2016-08-04T18:03:28.810" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly, the best way to discourage people from littering is to be vocal about it. People are less comfortable leaving their trash lying around if someone voices their disapproval. And less likely to do it again in the future if they've been chastised once in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rhetorical questions like, &quot;Hey, what are you doing? Show show some respect would ya?&quot; tend to make people rethink their careless behaviour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm one of those types who'll shout out at people I catch dropping trash on the ground, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Oh come on! Pick that back up!&quot;&lt;/em&gt; they usually apologize awkwardly and quickly pick their stuff up off the ground, shove it in their pocket and shuffle off doing their best to avoid eye contact. I also take the time to clean up other peoples trash that I find on the trail, mumbling and grumbling about how inconsiderate people are while I do it, making sure people can hear me. These things tend to stick in people's mind I've discovered, they're way more conscious of their actions if they've had at least one experience with someone who's ornery about litter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-04T18:03:28.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13452" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13454" CreationDate="2016-08-04T20:30:42.823" Score="7" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;After 27 years of having indoor-outdoor cats, the last one died in May 2015.  (We now have only an indoor cat.)  During those 27 years, we never had a problem with mice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During Snowzilla (Jan 2016), the storm that dropped over 29 inches on our area, we sprinkled bird seed under the eaves of our house, in addition to shoveling a space on our patio and stomping snow-shoe trails to the bird-feeders.  At least two mice came in through a space created by the installation of a new heat pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sixteen trapped (and released) mice later, and with the entry space stopped up, we thought the problem solved.  A few months later -- more mice -- twelve trapped, plus one eaten by the indoor cat.  Now, another two months later, more mice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Short of getting another indoor-outdoor cat, what do you recommend?&lt;/strong&gt;  What would be ideal would be a spray for the outside that would smell like a cat, and would fool the mice.  We leave no food outdoors, except for in the bird feeders, which are 100 and more feet away from the house.  (We live in a semirural area.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, why do you suppose we were free of mice for 8 months until the aftermath of the big snowstorm? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-15T23:50:58.430" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T23:50:58.430" Title="How can I keep outdoor critters outdoors?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13455" CreationDate="2016-08-04T20:41:35.147" Score="14" ViewCount="5286" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any recommended methods for disposing of ash from fire pits while primitive camping? I have run into several fire pits in National and State forest camping areas where the fire pit or fire ring is already filled with ash to a point that seems excessive and unsafe. What are the recommended methods for clearing the pits to maintain a minimal impact?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've seen piles of ash just collected near the site. It doesn't seem right to just pile it up though.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it better to disperse it around the impacted grounds? Would it be better to disperse it deeper away from the actual camping site?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Should I pack it out and dump it in the municipal trash?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is specifically referring to cool, completely extinguished ash. Please be sure to properly put out your fires and allow all ash/coals to sit for an extend amount of time (several days if possible).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2017-03-19T00:26:02.190" LastActivityDate="2017-03-19T11:01:41.553" Title="What are the best methods to clean out a fire pits and dispose of the ash?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13452" CreationDate="2016-08-04T20:53:39.137" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rodents are tenacious beasts.  We've seen river rats in our area dig through concrete footings to get into storage areas.  As long as it's &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; mice they can't usually get through concrete or stone.  However rebuilding your dwelling with new materials may not be an option.  Failing that, doing everything you can to seal gaps with the toughest material possible will help.  Unfortunately mice can get through incredibly small gaps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rodents are most likely coming in for one of two reasons:  Shelter or Food.  You can minimize food any of a number of ways but with it being cold outside and warm inside, your house will always be shelter.  It may be unpopular with some but the best way to deal with rodents is to kill them.  They know where you live and if you release them anywhere nearby they will just keep coming back.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding them coming in the aftermath:  The snow melt quite possibly flooded their burrows and they were all flushed out to seek new homes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-08-31T00:05:52.303" LastActivityDate="2016-08-31T00:05:52.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13453" CreationDate="2016-08-05T01:26:53.457" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The practice recommended by the Forest Service &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTSw8jAwgAykeaxcN4jhYG_h4eYX5hPgYwefy6w0H24dcPNgEHcDTQ9_PIz03VL8iNMMgycVQEAIzTHkw!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=&amp;amp;cid=stelprdb5291492&amp;amp;navid=110130000000000&amp;amp;pnavid=110000000000000&amp;amp;ss=110601&amp;amp;position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&amp;amp;ttype=detail&amp;amp;pname=Deschutes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72DTUE8TAwjQL8h2VAQAMtzFUw!!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&amp;amp;cid=stelprdb5137037&amp;amp;navid=110130000000000&amp;amp;pnavid=110000000000000&amp;amp;ss=110407&amp;amp;position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&amp;amp;ttype=detailfull&amp;amp;pname=Dixie%20National%20Forest%20-%20Dispersed%20Camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the ashes are COLD and DEAD OUT, the ashes can simply be scattered outside of the campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that the more widely spread the better, as that decreases the visual impact. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would certainly commend you if you chose to pack the ashes out, but I don't think that it's strictly necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:26:25.827" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:26:25.827" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13456" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-05T04:28:42.043" Score="6" ViewCount="2163" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently learned that linen underwear is great against fungal infections that can be contracted in hot sweaty conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But elsewhere I had read that the best fabrics against sweaty or tropical conditions were synthetic fabrics that provide wicking thus preventing excess moisture build up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just arrived in Taiwan where it's 34°C/93°F and plan to hitchhike around Asia for a year, as I've done before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previously my biggest problem had been chafing. I've managed to find some synthetic short and trousers, so it should be better this year. But I'm also concerned about fungal infection. I get &lt;em&gt;tinea pedis&lt;/em&gt; frequently when wearing shoes and I've had &lt;em&gt;tinea cruris&lt;/em&gt; before and think that could be a showstopper for long distance walking in hot/tropical climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But so far I still only have cotton underwear. Is synthetic preferable? I think I read somewhere that polyester is the worst in regard to jock itch!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or what about going with linen when not actively hiking and something else while out on the road?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastEditorUserId="451" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T05:43:45.043" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T23:19:11.360" Title="Is linen a good or bad choice for underwear when (hitch)hiking in hot and/or tropical weather?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;&lt;tropic&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13457" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13643" CreationDate="2016-08-05T05:54:21.787" Score="6" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm (trail-)running quite often and I'm used to wear lightweight standard running sneakers. However, I feel like they are made for the gym or flawless asphalt. The pitty is that I like to run on various surfaces. I run next to the woods, on field tracks (loose rough gravel or just &quot;earth&quot;) and old roads (rough surface with potholes). So, in short, on a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recognized that some surfaces (especially the gravel) trouble the mentioned shoes pretty much. I feel like the sole is too thin. So, what do I have to look for in &quot;all terrain&quot; running shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T06:24:47.667" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T22:59:22.007" Title="What to look for in (trail-)running shoes for various terrain?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13458" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Trail running is a sport which consists of running and hiking over&#xA;  trails. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it is called mountain or&#xA;  fell running. It differs from road running and track running in that&#xA;  it generally takes place on hiking trails, often in mountainous&#xA;  terrain, where there can be much larger ascents and descents. It is&#xA;  difficult to definitively distinguish trail running from cross country&#xA;  running. In general, however, cross country is an IAAF governed&#xA;  discipline that is typically raced over shorter distances (rarely over&#xA;  12 kilometers), whereas trail running is loosely governed, and run&#xA;  over longer routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_running&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Trail Running&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13459" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" Score="0" Body="Use this tag to refer to a sport which consists of running and hiking over trails. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it is called mountain or fell running. It differs from road running and track running in that it generally takes place on hiking trails, often in mountainous terrain, where there can be much larger ascents and descents." OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T06:26:56.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13460" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-05T07:46:41.027" Score="6" ViewCount="222" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use ropes to paint Silos. We use epoxy paint which invariably contaminates the ropes. Has there been any tests on these ropes for paint contamination&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11012" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T13:27:33.930" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T02:50:18.133" Title="What harm, if any, does epoxy paint do to rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13461" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13463" CreationDate="2016-08-05T11:14:32.727" Score="3" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often here hunters talk about &quot;bad genes&quot; when it comes to bucks with a small antler. Is this kind of a running gag for trophy hunters or is this actually true? So, does the size of the antler tell anything about the &quot;evolutionary health&quot; (I really don't know how this is called :) ) of deer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T13:42:47.317" Title="Does a small antler really mean &quot;bad genes&quot;?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13464" CreationDate="2016-08-05T12:02:54.027" Score="9" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've often walked on deer trails already. The last time I've done this I suddenly realized that it might not be the best practice. I was (and I am) concerned that the &quot;human smell&quot; might stop the deer from using it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it somehow harmful for the deer if I use its trail? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:27:46.927" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:27:46.927" Title="Does it harm deer when I walk on their trails?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;deer&gt;&lt;game-trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13461" CreationDate="2016-08-05T13:42:47.317" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Genetics is one factor contributing to a deer's antler size, but certainly not the only factor. In many cases, maybe most, it isn't even the most important factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Age&lt;/strong&gt;: Young bucks that aren't fully mature will always have smaller antlers. A deer whose health is declining due to old age may also have smaller antlers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diet&lt;/strong&gt;: Antlers are regrown every year, and this takes a lot of nutrients and energy. A deer that can't get enough minerals and protein will not be growing large antlers. So a deer could easily have impressive antlers one year, then due to a hard winter and a drought ridden spring and summer, have much smaller antlers the next year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overall health&lt;/strong&gt;: Injury, malnourishment and disease will all mean that a buck's body devotes resources to more important functions that antler growth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T13:42:47.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13462" CreationDate="2016-08-05T14:28:28.997" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, human smell is only potentially harmful to small fawns, a doe may abandon her infant fawn if it smells of human. At least this is what we're told as kids when we're hiking a trail and encounter a baby fawn. Their defence mechanism is to lay perfectly still, and they will, even if you were to sit down and pet them, they won't twitch. When the mother returns, she may not recognize her fawn if it smells different, and the fawn will be in trouble if mommy takes off and they're too small to keep up, in more trouble still if the mother full out rejects the fawn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You aren't doing any harm by walking on game trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10723/how-can-i-recognize-a-game-trail&quot;&gt;How can I recognize a game trail?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-08-05T14:28:28.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13466" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-05T19:59:25.983" Score="12" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been doing whitewater kayaking for some time now, and still have a great deal to learn. For difficult places, it is normal for me to stand outside and talk about which lines are good and which places to avoid. More experienced people can simply point out salient features to each other, &quot;Go right after you have boofed over that ridge, with enough time to steer clear of the undercut rock&quot;. I am still at the stage where I have to learn how to recognize a barely visible ridge, to know where I will need to boof, to spot which one of the dozens of rocks is undercut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointing with a finger only gets us so far, I thought of using a laser pointer. I even found a model which is waterproof (meant for divers). But I am reluctant to try it, as it is expensive enough to hurt if it turns out to be useless. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if I get a laser pointer, will I be able to see the dot on the water surface? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;assuming that it works, what would be the minimal strength required to see the dot in direct sunlight? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Again assuming that it works, which colors will work? I was surprised to read some diver mentioning that underwater, green is better than red, but have no idea if this will hold for the surface. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The water surface reflects more like a mirror than like a random solid surface - will this be as damaging for the eyesight as having the pointer itself pointed directly at the eyes? Yes, the water is probably somewhat foamy, but it tends to have still places too. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;are there other potential problems with my idea? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;are there easier solutions to the same problem? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update&lt;/em&gt; I am specifically asking about good methods for pointing, not for finding the line in other ways. I am more concerned with learning to read the water than with finding the perfect line. To those who don't know what it looks like, the following picture is a good example. The important thing in the picture are not the stones, but the shape and behavior of the water in the different (small) places between them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://m.stack.imgur.com/9MME4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://m.stack.imgur.com/9MME4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T04:58:24.797" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T10:42:54.030" Title="Will a laser pointer work for pointing at whitewater?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13466" CreationDate="2016-08-05T21:07:56.420" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Laser Pointers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've spent years in whitewater and can somewhat appreciate your struggle with pointing and vague references to features. I've played with inexpensive laser pointers at night in camps next to whitewater. From what I've seen they wouldn't really work at all in the day time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as other suggestions there are a few ways to handle beta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Better Pointing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One method for better pointing is getting next to a the feature of note. Often I've had more novice paddlers catch an eddy close to a feature so point with my hand is not ambiguous. This allows me to talk about specifics a feature. I've done this to show new paddlers what undercuts, sieves, curling waves, eddy lines, holes, splat rocks etc etc etc look like. Likewise, simple hand signals like a paddle up when moving past a feature of note can be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would caution though, standard whitewater protocol is to &amp;quot;point-to-positive&amp;quot;. In other words when we can't communicate clearly I will point where you should be and NEVER point at hazardous features. When you can have a conversation obviously it's a little different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Better descriptions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key to good beta is know how much to give. I'm a big fan of short and sweet with a little bit of color if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start Right Move left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enter Left and drive right to miss an undercut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down the middle. Keep your bow up on the boofs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are in the rapid this stuff is a lot easier to remember and will generally result in better lines. If the simple beta isn't enough beta then you probably should take a step back in difficulty. Likewise for many scouts. If you can't see the lines yourself you should probably take a step back, unless you are looking at CL III water as a new boater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blue Angel Boating&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method to fix the problem of beta is to provide brief descriptions but run rapids in a close group one after another. It's one thing to say there is a ridge to boof but it's difficult to identify from shore. It's another to be 6 feet behind the boater who knows where they are going and following their exact line. This is one of the best methods for quickly descending rivers as it does not require a bank scout. Obviously it has it's drawbacks in lack of shore safety and if the guide blows the line both of you might be in trouble. I think the fact that the boats are tightly grouped improves safety as in boats rescues are fast effective, and in many cases much safer for the rescuer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I've added a little bit on better pointing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T13:40:19.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13469" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13472" CreationDate="2016-08-06T01:53:31.683" Score="5" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got an etrex 10, and I am using it mostly for geocaching. When you are navigating to a geocache is there a way to see your distance from the cache? I know the geocaching app has this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11019" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-06T08:34:25.387" LastActivityDate="2016-08-06T19:02:00.107" Title="Garmin Etrex 10" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13470" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-06T05:35:50.040" Score="5" ViewCount="421" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been on-and-off planning a (reasonably) short bike tour from the Kitchener area (about 100km west of Toronto, in Canada) to Ottawa/Montreal, followed by a train ride home. I know most of what I need, but the one thing I haven't got figured out is where to stay. I don't have a ton of money and am an experienced camper, which means I'll lean very heavily towards a tent over a motel/hotel where possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know, however, that my route of choice (east along Lake Ontario from Toronto to Kingston, then northwards to Ottawa, and paralleling the Ottawa River to Montreal) is heavily developed and urbanized with nothing but farmland between the cities, which makes camping (even stealth camping) problematic at best. Canada, rather unfortunately, don't have anything like the freedom to roam, which means that, unless I secure specific permission from a landowner, I'm trespassing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning about 2 weeks end-to-end, with a couple of days' stop in both Ottawa and Montreal for sightseeing. That works out to about 100km/day, which is achievable for me (especially given the prevailing winds). The general plan is to go a little further on the first day, to get me past Toronto, and to find myself in Belleville by day 3. Day 4 would put me in Kingston, day 5 in Smiths Falls, and day 6 in Ottawa itself. Another day's ride would put me halfway to Montreal, hugging the north side of the river, and the final day would leave me at the journey's end. In both Ottawa and Montreal I'd be staying in hotels, because I don't want to have to worry about my gear while I'm out seeing the sights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone here been touring in similar circumstances? What are my best options for a (mostly) stress-free night's sleep in areas like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an addendum, what advice is there for staying in decent (i.e. non-fleabag) hotels with a bike? Is it generally permitted in a room, or do I have to to have it valet-parked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11020" LastEditorUserId="11020" LastEditDate="2016-08-06T22:55:17.360" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T01:25:35.937" Title="Where to sleep while bike-touring southern Ontario? [x-post from bicycling]" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13466" CreationDate="2016-08-06T18:14:49.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;An alternative you might want to consider is taking a model/diorama  making kit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a technique widely used by the military, especially for infantry and SF platoon and section commanders. Although it is a bit of extra faff it makes explaining complex plans on real geography much much easier and is definitely worth the effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplest method is just using improvised materials but a small kit can make the job much easier. In this particular case I would suggest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lightweight blue scarf to represent the river. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use found pebbles to represent rocks etc &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a set of laminated numbers and letters (like scrabble tiles) to indicate specific reference points you could also make up other symbols for specific hazards or blank tiles to mark as you need&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;coloured string to indicate routes or other linear features &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to get really fancy you could use cotton wool or sprinkle powdered milk or talc  to indicate white water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A decent model kt can fit in a large tobacco tin and allows you to create a usable model in minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-08-06T18:14:49.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13469" CreationDate="2016-08-06T19:02:00.107" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, your GPS device can tell you the distance to a location.  You will first need to load the cache locations onto it.  Both the manual and the quickstart guide that came with it have information on how to go about this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also manually enter cache coordinates as a new waypoint.  When doing so, be careful that the coordinate formats match, e.g. if your cache is located at &lt;code&gt;N 33° 20.134' W 86° 47.037'&lt;/code&gt; do not enter it as &lt;code&gt;33.20134 86.47037&lt;/code&gt;.  Check your manual if you're unsure how to change the format your device is currently using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once stored as waypoints you can then select one to navigate to.  Your device should then tell you the approximate direction to head and the distance, as well as any other details depending on how you've customized the display.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Side note:  You can also get a rough estimate by comparing your current coordinates to the cache coordinates, but this is particularly tedious when coordinates are in degree-based formats.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-08-06T19:02:00.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13473" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13745" CreationDate="2016-08-06T20:35:52.567" Score="4" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;The snow pack of 2014 - 2015 in the Sierra was an unprecedented low of 5% of normal.  Thankfully, the snow pack of 2015-2016 was close to normal.  We will be in the western Sierra in two weeks, and I wonder what effects of the very low snow pack of 2014/15 remain, especially at 8,000 feet and above.  Moreover, are there any extra precautions we should take to minimize our impact on this stressed area? (Although we never make campfires, feel free to include information on campfires in the context of this question.)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T21:49:41.587" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T21:49:41.587" Title="Remaining impacts from the very low snow pack of 2014-2015 in the Western Sierra and extra precautions we should take to minimize our impact" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13470" CreationDate="2016-08-06T22:43:24.960" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you could do OK with Provincial Parks in Ontario, especially if you were planning to swoop south of the 401 to see Prince Edward County. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1bJr8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1bJr8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park-locator/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ontarioparks.com/park-locator/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree near Oshawa is Darlington PP. The 401 is pretty bleak after that but if you can make it to Presquile (just below Brighton on the map), you'll be fine. Alternatively, head north around the 115 and take advantage of more lakes and more parks Peterborough-wards. The side roads are quite griddy and there are some official bike routes so it's not like you have to take the 115 the whole way. The TransCanada trail covers some of the Lindsay-to-Peterborough part which might be interesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I discussed this with my bike-riding partner and he says forget Lake Ontario entirely and head northeast from KW - West Montrose sort of thing, head just under Lake Simcoe. Nicer roads and more camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T00:49:56.627" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T00:49:56.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13466" CreationDate="2016-08-07T10:14:33.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; get away with highlighting white water itself and rocks. Clear water wouldn't reflect the light in the right direction. But you'd need a very bright, possibly illegal and/or dangerous laser pointer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My waterproof video camera has a 1mW approx red laser as an aiming guide. Even in a river valley on a dull day, it's useless for indicating rocks. Green is much more visible for the same power, but the cheap green laser pointers I've had are dangerous junk (can massively exceed the rated power without warning when the rated power was already at the top end of what's sensible/allowed; sometimes don't turn on). This is in the UK where the whitewater season is winter and the rivers narrow. In somewhere like the Alps with sunny paddling you'd have no hope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps more telling is that I've been on courses led by coaches who love having the latest gadgets and they've never used laser pointers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T10:42:54.030" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T10:42:54.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13476" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-07T13:33:01.547" Score="8" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to put some electronics inside of a surfboard. What would be the best way of doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just cutting a hole, put electronics in and then cover with like foam, epoxy and glass fibre?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11024" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T07:41:28.817" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T19:29:19.977" Title="Putting electronics inside a surfboard?" Tags="&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13456" CreationDate="2016-08-07T22:26:26.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have tailored on and off for many years and am somewhat familiar with the differences in various fabrics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all I read on the internet am I inclined to believe about various fabrics, but I would say that linen is a good choice for underwear garments. However, linen does tend to wrinkle easy so I would recommend a linen blend. When traveling, I would suggest washing them daily, even if that means with hand soap and left over night to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For the gym, Maurice Voce, the co-founder and chief marketing officer of skin care line skin Authority, says that the newest synthetic blends are the way to go to prevent chaffing. &quot;You definitely need to wear underwear that provides the proper level  of support and utilizes a moisture-wicking fabric,&quot; he says. &quot;Never wear boxers, cotton or go commando while working out.&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.everydayhealth.com/mens-health/what-men-should-know-about-underwear.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;What Men Should Know About Underwear.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another website has this to say about linen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Linen - One of the best suited fabrics for summer, a sturdy and resilient fabric, that although stiff does not cling to the body, linen absorbs perspiration and does dries quickly, again wrinkles easy so go for a blend. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://travelfashiongirl.com/how-to-choose-the-best-fabrics-for-travel/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to Choose the Best Fabrics for Travel.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All said and done, I would not hesitate to recommend the use of a linen-blend underwear for very hot weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-08-07T22:26:26.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13470" CreationDate="2016-08-08T01:25:35.937" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't disagree with Kate, but let me add some alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, let me make sure you are aware of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waterfronttrail.org/#_&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Waterfront Trail&lt;/a&gt;, which should cover a lot of your route. I would absolutely recommend the detour into Prince Edward County, which is excellent biking territory as well as being worth a visit on its own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping works where there are provincial parks, but you should book in advance. Popular ones can fill up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would always take a B&amp;amp;B over a hotel, although they are usually at least as expensive as a hotel. I've never found one that wasn't willing to accommodate a bike if asked in advance. Most have a shed or garage they will store them in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T01:25:35.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13480" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-08T02:52:14.527" Score="9" ViewCount="481" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are held back a few days by bad weather or some other unforeseen natural circumstance and you know emergency services are looking for you because you can hear the helicopters but you know you can saftely walk out on your own - would it be reasonable to activate your PLB to save them time and money looking for you even though you are safe and there is no emergency?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8212" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T11:52:43.103" Title="To activate PLB if you know search and rescure are looking for you but there is no emergency?" Tags="&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13480" CreationDate="2016-08-08T09:23:25.423" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The PLB is very much for highlighting to the emergency services that you are in an emergency situation and need a rescue. It can incur significant costs as the services are called out but gives a fairly accurate location so the search is short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of your challenges here is that you may not know it is you they are looking for. Potentially the helicopters you hear could be working on something entirely unrelated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you feel it is a reasonable likelihood that they are searching for you, perhaps because you had a checkpoint you failed to call in and you know your contact will have raised the alarm, then not activating the PLB &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; incur costs as they continue to search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So activating the PLB will, in this scenario, reduce the cost and effort the emergency services need to expend - and I'd suggest that it makes sense to do this. It will also significantly improve their safety as they will not need to continue exploring - they will know where you are and can work out the most effective way to reach you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T21:53:07.850" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T21:53:07.850" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13482" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13519" CreationDate="2016-08-08T11:00:55.740" Score="12" ViewCount="632" Body="&lt;p&gt;For diving in the UK in colder weather the water temperature can easily be below 10C. Warm water regulators seem to be 10C +, and then cold water regulators for below that as they need to be able to limit or prevent free flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible (and / or acceptable) to use a set of cold water regs in warm water, or is it better to just get two sets of regs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt; We got mares abyss 52 regs (second + octo) with a DIN first stage. Worked fine in 8C water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:55:09.097" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:55:09.097" Title="Cold water regulators and warm waters" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13428" CreationDate="2016-08-08T12:56:48.987" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live an area where a lot of the woods was farms a hundred years ago. 50 years ago it was bushy fields, now it's heavily wooded with increasingly narrow cart paths running through it. A lot of the stuff I run into was probably dumped by someone creating a dump site a few decades ago, when you could drive to it with no problem, but if you see it today, it's pretty obvious the path wouldn't allow a car to pass.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T12:56:48.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13484" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13546" CreationDate="2016-08-08T14:42:39.283" Score="9" ViewCount="1304" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking in the rain often left me with thoughts about acid rain. I wonder if I'm able to recognize it and if yes, how strong the recognizable symptoms are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any direct (forest dieback etc. is indirect) harms for humans and animals (like burning skin etc.)? If yes, how should I react when &quot;stuck&quot; in acid rain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T15:05:39.023" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T10:29:25.427" Title="Does acid rain somehow directly harm human beings?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13476" CreationDate="2016-08-08T16:45:23.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'd install it basically the same way you'd install fin boxes and foot strap inserts (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMcfSlqrHYo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube example&lt;/a&gt;), surfboards aren't much more than a big block of styrofoam wrapped in fibreglass and resin. Simply put, you need to cut through the fibreglass, and hollow out a spot to put your electronics, and seal it back over with fibreglass and epoxy, then do whatever finishing work is required. How or where you install your electronics however may depend on what it's being used for, and whether it needs to be wired so it can be recharged, or accessible so it can be retrieved. There are shark repellant devices that install on the base of your board behind the fins that interfere with a sharks senses for example that need to be charged before each use, and have a transmitter wire that runs the length of the base of the board:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VJpAJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VJpAJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything you install on your board will follow the same basic steps as installing any other insert, but there may be special considerations depending on what you're installing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For installing batteries to power an electric motor, weight may be an issue, you're going to need to install the batteries in such a way that they are distributed through the board while keeping it balanced. If they are a couple of large batteries that you're putting on a wave board, then I'd install them towards the rear directly under the centre line of the board where you will be standing so the board will still be maneuverable. If you're using multiple smaller batteries on a paddle board, then I'd wire them in a series and probably do two lines, one down either side, this would potentially make the board more stable. Your board size and use will have some influence over where and how you modify it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-08-08T19:07:09.703" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T19:07:09.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10432" CreationDate="2016-08-08T16:57:45.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Safety Assumputions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD) aka Life Jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't give up. Like much of whitewater never give up. Keep fighting. Keep trying new things. If you have air great, breathe it. If you are in a stable spot great, use it to figure out your next move but never give up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eddy&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;These are whirlpools which form along the vertical axis. The form as water passes around the sides of a rock or other obstruction. Most paddlers identify eddies as islands of safety since it is one method to make river running easier and safer. In powerful enough water these &quot;whirl pools&quot; or more typically &quot;eddy lines&quot; can pull down swimmers and even boats, but they weaken as they move down stream. Waiting out the down time and moving for shore or into the main current is typically all that is needed to handle these. Starting small and experimenting with these features will give you a good idea when to play with these features and when to avoid them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hole&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;These are whirlpools which form on the horizontal axis as water moves over a rock or other obstruction. The current in a hole is surface water moving upstream and deep water moving downstream. At the upstream side of the hole water is plunging deep and at the downstream end water is percolating upwards. The real trick is how big are you or your boat compared to the hole. If you are very big you will stay on the surface and will likely not be stopped in the first place. If you are very small you will likely go underwater with but resurface well down stream. If you are in that magic size in the middle you will get stuck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In Boat Hole Exits&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;In a boat there are a few strategies for exiting the feature. The first most are likely to try is reaching downstream and grabbing downstream moving water. This rarely works and most that try put their shoulders at risk. This will only work on the weakest of features. The next step is to work towards the corners of the hole. Most holes are not perpendicular to the current and &quot;kick&quot; either left or right. Don't fight the kick. Sometimes this means backing out of the hole if your boat is facing the wrong way. If one side doesn't seem to work try the other. If the hole pushes you back to the middle (frown shaped looking downstream) then you will need to try something different. Purposely flipping the boat might present enough surface area from your body to push you downstream. It's amazing the number of features that will hold an upright boat all day but immediately flush an upside down boat. If that doesn't work try throwing ends. You don't need to a be a freestyle expert to try this. Just plug your bow or stern in the upstream current and the boat will go deep and vertical. The goal is to go as deep as you can to catch more of the downstream water and sometimes even jump over some recirculating water. If none of this works and help isn't available an out of boat rescue may be the next move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Out of Boat Hole Exits&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Much like flipping seems to turn many would be keepers into a flushing hole, it's amazing how many features will flush a swimmer immediately after a long a violent ride in the boat. Of coarse swimming offers it's own hazards and should be avoided whenever possible. Most river fatalities occur when swimming not inside boats. If you do not flush immediately you are dealing with a very dangerous feature and not a lot of time. There is basically 3 things you can do, swim (on your belly freestyle strokes) at the edges of the holes and into upstream current, cannonball and starfish. My immediate move would be to swim aggressively into the upstream current When I hit it starfish to maximize surface area and cannonball when the jet of current pushes less to reduce surface area and go deep. If that doesn't work try again and if that doesn't work try a different combination of the above. Basically swim, cannonball, starfish offer 3 different moves that will work most of the time. That said not always. Some features you can't get out of without help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rescue Exits&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;There are a number of rescue techniques for getting someone else out of a bad feature. They simplest and most common is a throw rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boat based rescues can also be good but can easily turn one victim into two. Use with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoidance&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The really good news about all this is avoidance is fairly easy. Most bad features occur at man made dams. Whenever you see one, your first instinct should be to look for a place to get out and look at the feature to see what you are dealing with. If you can't read water, portage around even if it looks like a small easy drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally occurring features like this typically only happen on advanced rivers where water reading skills and setting safety are ubiquitous. The rare feature the occurs on an easier river will be well known to locals and as always they should be tapped for run information whenever possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2016-08-08T16:57:45.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5224" CreationDate="2016-08-08T20:26:03.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: This is purely supposition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All things being equal in terms of fabric color and thermoregulation, it might be important to consider visibility in the desert. I would imagine in light flushed areas with limited vegetation, lighter colors are more difficult to spot in the distance. Perhaps darker colors are preferable in terms of contrast in the environment? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T21:40:59.953" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T21:40:59.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13489" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13491" CreationDate="2016-08-08T22:13:21.957" Score="16" ViewCount="2071" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can you verify that a water filter still works?  I've had one for several years and I suspect it may not be working.  Is there a way to test and make sure that it still filters to the factory specified microns?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My particular filter is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0009RP8T2&quot;&gt;First Need&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:03.483" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:35:03.483" Title="How do I test my water filter?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13389" CreationDate="2016-08-09T00:57:42.707" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; to consider. I go on long canoe sailing trips and eating is basically when we can on the go and one solid meal at the camp. Yours is more lifestyle  changes. Some of us are up and down with the sun others with the moon. When you find out what you are naturally then it will come together. Here's a simple plan: eat when you're hungry and stop when you're not. And at some point you will fast when you sleep.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yes I have had similar problems. Hope this helps buddy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11025" LastEditorUserId="9637" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T13:51:56.787" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T13:51:56.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13489" CreationDate="2016-08-09T06:13:14.707" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;General information&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the only real way to get your water filter checked is to send a water sample to a lab. You may only want to check whether water is still flowing through, but that's quite obvious, isn't it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/gear/experts/ask-kristin/water-filter-working/#sthash.UFodWRs2.dpuf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backpacker Magazine&lt;/a&gt; sums it up: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A tricky question. Is water still flowing through? Then it’s working,&#xA;  at least on some level. Is it removing all the microscopic bugs that&#xA;  you want it to? Can’t answer that one. And the only folks who can are&#xA;  the lab rats who run the tests and analyze them. (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you still want it to be checked, send a sample to a state certified lab (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/dwlabcert&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;e.g. for the US&lt;/a&gt;). You may also want to information about your device on &lt;a href=&quot;http://info.nsf.org/Certified/dwtu/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NSF Int. - The Public Health and Safety Organization&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full credit and further reading to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/05/how-do-i-know-if-my-water-filter-is-working/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Consumer Reports&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you want to have your purified water checked, send a sample to a&#xA;  state certified lab. Also check with NSF International, a public&#xA;  health and safety certification group, to find out if your filtering&#xA;  devices were properly vetted. (...) &#xA;  Keep in mind that you should keep your carafe water filter in the&#xA;  refrigerator. A water-filled carafe can become a breeding ground for&#xA;  microorganisms when left at room temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you hand in a sample you have to know what your water filter actually does. Use these characteristics to generate &quot;bad&quot; water and put it in the filter to collect the &lt;em&gt;potential&lt;/em&gt; &quot;good&quot; water as your sample.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Different purifiers may target specific contaminants, so check your&#xA;  device or contact the manufacturer to see what yours are designed to&#xA;  remove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Example: your mentioned filter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example your water filter was tested with water from irrigation canal from Takanokura dam, Minami-Souma-shi, Fukushima Prefecture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0sIIp.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0sIIp.png&quot; alt=&quot;All the infos needed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt; This was the test environment for your filter. These are all the information you need to contaminate your water with everything &quot;filterable&quot;. &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the information from the factory test can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.purewateronline.co.uk/files/Radiation%20Test%20Results%20-%20FN-XL-1L.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Blue Dye Integrity Test&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that your specific manufacturer provides a test you can do (they even recommend to do it before each trip): Blue Dye Integrity Test - Testingprocedure to ensure the First Need XL Elite water purifier is in perfect working order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HELPFUL TIPS FOR OPTIMUM USE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remember to perform &quot;Blue Dye&quot; Integrity Test before each trip and check that pump is in working order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the cleanest water available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If pumping becomes extra difficult, clean out or replace canister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remember &quot;Matrix Pumping&quot; works (slowly) even with a partially clogged canister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid freezing or high shock loads - perform integrity test procedure if canister freezes or receives a shock. If canister freezes it should be thoroughly defrosted before use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Store in a clean, dry area away from fumes. Keep Sanitary Cover in place at all times when not purifying water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Questions or replacements contact us at 800-441-8166 or www.generalecology.com&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt; From product's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.purewateronline.co.uk/files/First%20Need%20XL%20Elite%20Installation%20and%20Technical%20Guide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;technical data sheet (PDF)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find instructions here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WIKzivCEg0&amp;amp;noredirect=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; and written &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.crystalclearwater.com.au/campingwaterpurifiers/portablewaterpurifiers/firstneedxlintegritytest/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The &quot;Blue Dye&quot; Test&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pump coloured water through the canister as shown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XQDmq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XQDmq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue Dye&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the purified water is still coloured - even faintly - the internal&#xA;  canister matrix has most likely been damaged and the canister cannot&#xA;  be relied upon under this condition and must be replaced.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Note: Because the initial flow from a new purification canister may contain black &quot;fines&quot; from the manufacturing process, it is best to&#xA;  pump at least a litre of water before doing an integrity test to avoid&#xA;  posible confusion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: This test is only suitable for this specific product and not a general procedure for water purifiers! Use at your own risk for other models (and imho don't rely on it even for the example purifier First Need XL).&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T08:27:19.883" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T08:27:19.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13492" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13494" CreationDate="2016-08-09T06:46:59.727" Score="7" ViewCount="1162" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides a few exceptions (Finland, France, Hungary etc.), it's generally prohibited to hunt with a bow in Europe. At least I'm sure for Germany, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland :). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What were the rational reasons to pass laws to prohibit the bow as a hunting tool? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: I presuppose that a bow-hunter has to do a proper test/license (he needs to prove that he shoots straight etc.) and that we only talk about ethical (so, legal) hunt (this implies &lt;em&gt;for example&lt;/em&gt; that the bow-hunter only shoots from distances he can precisely handle). Just presume that rifle and bow hunters are equally responsible. So please no emotional discussion :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T17:52:40.743" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T12:07:17.677" Title="What are the reasons for prohibiting bow hunting in many countries?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13492" CreationDate="2016-08-09T08:34:38.530" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For two (percieved or real) reasons, I believe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A greater risk of wounding the animal. (Even a skilled hunter misses from time to time and a hunter with a rifle has a bigger chance of getting off a second, killing shot)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Poaching. You are generally not permitted to use a silencer on a hunting rifle for the same reason.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus the fact that &quot;regular&quot; hunters are a large and influential group. (Prospective) bow hunters are few.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T09:00:21.740" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T09:00:21.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13496" CreationDate="2016-08-09T08:43:25.727" Score="32" ViewCount="10008" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fred Bear’s 10 Commandments of hunting state as the first principle: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't step on anything you can step over&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does he mean with this statement? I don't really get what's the problem with &quot;stepping on something&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T07:59:09.007" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T07:20:46.430" Title="&quot;Don’t step on anything you can step over.&quot; - What does this mean?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-09T09:16:56.950" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stepping or leaning on a rotten log is not fun if you end up going through it (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3673/dynadin&quot;&gt;Dynadin&lt;/a&gt; did it when Geocaching and ended up with a large number of scratches down one arm, and it could have been worse!) - there could be a big hole underneath you can't see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also logs which are wet or covered in moss or mildew can be slippery, which may cause you to fall. This also prevents damage to the ecosystem (lots of animals make homes in rotten logs).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, noise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breaking through bracken or sticks etc when you can step over them could cause your prey when hunting to flee, if you can prevent this by simply stepping over said stick, log, etc, then you may as well do so and save yourself some aggravation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T11:12:41.063" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13497" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13501" CreationDate="2016-08-09T11:12:38.600" Score="7" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;I swam in Mediterranean in Italy quite often. There often were white (not spectacular looking) jellyfish around - and quite a lot of them. I tried not to touch them because I was afraid to get burned (even though I don't think that this species stings) and that I'll harm these animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I am a little surprised that I've managed to never get in contact with one. You can't see them quite good and there a really a lot of them sometimes. Do they actively try to avoid contact?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T11:18:07.063" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T14:24:22.977" Title="Do jellyfish actively avoid swimmers in Mediterranean?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13504" CreationDate="2016-08-09T11:41:09.940" Score="12" ViewCount="8941" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany fishermen greet each other with &quot;Petri Heil&quot;. I asked myself if this is only a German thing or is it kind of universal (at least in developed countries like EU countries, US etc.) for fishermen?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:40:28.457" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T00:27:30.317" Title="Is the fishermen's greeting &quot;Petri Heil&quot; accepted all around the world?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13476" CreationDate="2016-08-09T12:06:08.093" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite what others have said, your not going to want to 'seal' electronics into the board with fiberglass and resin. How would you access it if it breaks down? What you need is to encase the device with a means of access. For instance, a screw in cap with O-ring. The encasement gets glassed into the board with the cap exposed. Think leash cup with a waterproof cap. Any shape would work, but your going to want to make it as shallow as possible or you risk compromising the structural integrity of the board. I highly suggest you contact a local board builder to work with early on in the process. They'll have invaluable suggestions on how to design the enclosure and distribute weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3791" LastEditorUserId="3791" LastEditDate="2016-08-09T19:29:19.977" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T19:29:19.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2016-08-09T13:37:11.173" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on the meaning of &quot;Petri Heil&quot;, I have hardly any first hand knowledge of the use of this phrase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters it is certainly restricted to countries where the majority religion is christianity, as &quot;Petri&quot; is a reference to the biblical fisherman Petrus (Luke 5.1-11 and John 21.1-14).[1]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then &quot;Heil&quot; is a somewhat outdated German noun used as a greeting. In general it is positive expression, meaning a broad range of things like good fortune, health, success, ... It is derived from &quot;heilig&quot; which is &quot;holy&quot;.[2] So the German origin makes it likely that this is only used in German speaking parts of the world. However there are German expressions in English and probably other languages. Generally in technical language you can often find terms from foreign languages. So this is not conclusive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining the two &quot;Petri Heil&quot; means something like &quot;I wish you just as much success as fishing as the biblical Petrus had&quot;. At least technically, I guess hardly any fisherman will actually know this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_Heil&quot;&gt;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_Heil&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil&quot;&gt;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-10T07:36:07.833" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T07:36:07.833" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13497" CreationDate="2016-08-09T14:24:22.977" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jellyfish, while mobile, are not capable of much evasion. They can steer their bodies, but they are limited in their ability to get out of the way of a faster organism - which is why the majority rely on their stinging tentacles, and migration up to the surface and back down to follow food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing many jellyfish can do to avoid damage to themselves when they encounter a large animal (I.e. Too big to be prey) is to retract their tentacles and avoid stinging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is possible that you just weren't stung - or in fact that they weren't stinging jellyfish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As kids, we used to sail through vast shoals of jellyfish, and most of the ones around my home do not sting, so we used to catch them by hand and release them with no worry of getting hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T14:24:22.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2016-08-09T14:25:57.200" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in a fishing community on islands north of Scotland, and never once heard this. The folks up there used English and Norse greetings, but not a German one, so I would imagine it is German-specific.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So Universal? No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T14:25:57.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-09T14:58:32.117" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It means to be mindful of what you do, how and where you move, what you do to your environment and so on. Aside &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13496/2303&quot;&gt;the topics mentioned by @Aravona&lt;/a&gt; (security, noise), it may mean to avoid unintended killing of small animals or plants, or to generally avoid leaving any marks in nature, or actually wherever you move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sound advice not only for hunting, I'd suggest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T06:15:37.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2016-08-09T16:10:56.387" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in Italy, in a fishermen's village on the Adriatic Sea. I never heard this expression, and I am pretty sure I've never heard it anywhere in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, I think that a &quot;HEIL&quot; in the southern European seas is one of the most non-local and foreign-sounding expressions that I can imagine. So please don't even try it :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11037" LastEditorUserId="11037" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T12:48:17.220" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T12:48:17.220" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2016-08-09T17:31:07.947" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In case you do not mind a regional-based mutation, among Czech fishermen a very similar greeting can be heard: &quot;Petru zdar!&quot; or &quot;Petrův zdar&quot;, which has the same meaning as &quot;Petri Heil&quot;. However, I suppose the Czech analogue actually comes from German as the Czech language used to be influenced by German in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X0usM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X0usM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cloth badge with the greeting &amp;quot;Petrův zdar&amp;quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11038" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T17:31:07.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2016-08-09T22:01:47.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In English, a common greeting used would be &quot;Tight Lines&quot;, more on exiting the area than entering, to wish others luck.  Although not a literal translation, it is considered equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11042" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T22:01:47.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-09T22:04:39.577" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Equal expressions would be &quot;Leave no trace.&quot; and the sentiment of &quot;pack it in, pack it out.&quot;  Do not be needlessly invasive on the environment.  If the place is pristine when you get there, it should be when you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11042" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T22:04:39.577" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-09T23:19:23.400" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The canonical reason for this (in a hiking context, where noise is not an issue but fatigue can be) is that it saves effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about the physics -- when you step up on to a log, you are doing some work to lift your body and gear up there. Unless you then jump off the log (which could be dangerous), you are also doing some work to slowly lower yourself to the ground level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, when you step over the obstacle and put your foot back down on the other side at the same level, you aren't really expending any more effort than normal walking. (setting aside that you may have to lift your foot a little higher so you don't trip!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard this explaination multiple times from various weathered hikers, but the first was probably something to do with Cub Scouts -- I was able to locate a reference in the Scout handbook, and find it highly likely that this is the reasoning behind Mr. Bear's (good) advice; possibly also the source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America, 1911 edition, pg. 145, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29558/pg29558.txt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29558/pg29558.txt&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Third, observe these two rules given by an old woodsman: (1) Never&#xA;  walk over anything you can walk around; (2) never step on anything&#xA;  that you can step over. Every time you step on anything you lift the&#xA;  weight of your body. Why lift extra weight when tramping?&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11044" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-14T07:20:46.430" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T07:20:46.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-09T23:48:04.307" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This statement is one of those pieces of wisdom that sounds profound, but isn't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following this advice can lead you into trouble as easily as it can help you avoid trouble.  The other answers have illustrated the latter.  However, before you step over something, you better know what is on the other side.  Stepping on a flattish rock is better than stepping over it into a mud puddle or onto a clump of flowers or that snake.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-08-09T23:48:04.307" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13495" CreationDate="2016-08-10T01:31:07.587" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always heard this in a hiking context, where it is fatigue and safety related.  There is also a 'second verse' in the version I was taught:  dont step on something you can step around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is basic common sense, but combined into a mantra since after a day (or multiple) on the trail with a pack, fatigue does set in.  Its easy to justify in your mind the short cut to step on the rock instead of stepping over because its a small rock, or over instead of around the fallen tree to save 4-5 steps.  Too often these sorts of short cuts lead to injury or worse, and they usually occur when tired, or in a rush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11045" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T01:31:07.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13511" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13513" CreationDate="2016-08-10T02:55:34.027" Score="8" ViewCount="13340" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife &amp;amp; I are just getting into (non-sea/ocean) kayaking and biking, and we're thinking about ways to transport our equipment on our car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that once a pair of cross-bars are set up on a car roof, it would be possible to use it to handle both 2 bikes and 2 kayaks (although obviously, not at the same time -- either 2 bikes or 2 kayaks at one time).  We will be bicycling more often than kayaking, and will be doing this for recreation..., so we're not looking for a serious (expensive or complicated) solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this accurate?  What do I need to take into consideration?  How difficult is it to swap out mounting hardware for roof racks?  What are better alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11047" LastActivityDate="2021-01-01T21:03:44.800" Title="Roof rack system suitable for both bicycle and kayak?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13557" CreationDate="2016-08-10T05:31:20.897" Score="12" ViewCount="4981" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last time I was on vacation in Italy, I decided to go barefooted for a run on the beach in the evening. Lovely idea, wasn't it? It was not! The beach felt like a volcano! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which gear or techniques are recommended to walk/run on hot sand? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T09:21:44.943" Title="How to walk on the hot beach or rather hot sand?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13511" CreationDate="2016-08-10T07:19:00.313" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kayaks can easily be strapped down to cross bars. Sometimes J bars or uprights are used to put the boats on their sides allowing more to fit without stacking them. Bike racks for roof bars are quite quick to fit/remove but you shouldn't need to if you get them right and you car is wide enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might even be able to strap the boats on their sides to the bike racks. I've seen racks that would do that (they were the sort with a front skewer so you take the wheel off ) and racks that wouldn't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A reasonably wide car could take two bikes (perhaps one facing forwards and one backwards) and two kayaks either on their side with uprights or one on top of the other,  all at the same time. If you do stack the boats be extra careful about securing them and checking that straps don't loosen - I suggest an extra strap/rope/cable lock attaching the end loops of the boats to the roof rack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T07:19:00.313" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-08-10T08:12:10.080" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sandals with straps like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chacos.com/US/en/sandals-best-sellers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Chaco&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or run barefoot first thing in the morning &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or run down in the surf &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T08:12:10.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13443" CreationDate="2016-08-10T10:07:27.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think one of the reasons for the popularity of fishermen hat types is that they are easily r&lt;strong&gt;olled up/folded&lt;/strong&gt; and put away in a pocket. The same is not possible with most traditional (felt) hats, and even if you get a folding/rolling felt that they'll still be a lot heavier and bulkier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fisherman hats are also &lt;strong&gt;fairly light&lt;/strong&gt;, made from cotton (or nowadays synthetics) - an other advantage over heavier traditional felt hats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T10:07:27.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13511" CreationDate="2016-08-10T11:43:26.150" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend to put the kayak on the roof, and put the bicycles on a rear bicycle rack.  It should work if you have at most two bicycles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qorLB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qorLB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bike carrier&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atera_Strada_DL2_Fahrradtr%C3%A4ger.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hadhuey, Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-08-10T12:01:56.757" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T12:01:56.757" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13518" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-10T12:56:42.217" Score="7" ViewCount="1824" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I slept outside in central Europe, I often recognized extremely loud snoring noises. It's not really rattling but more like rhythmical breathing. I heard it as a kid for the first time and I remember that it scared the hell out of me :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What animal can cause such noises? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worth to mention: a mate once told me that hedgehogs can sleep very loudly. However, as I've researched a little bit, it doesn't seem to be true (but can't really figure out a definite answer). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:16:14.343" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:16:14.343" Title="Snoring noises at night in the summer?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13482" CreationDate="2016-08-10T14:00:08.610" Score="12" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is likely your cold water reg has diaphragam-like first stage which makes it particularly suited for cold water as well as contaminated water (which is not necessary the case for piston first stage). Usually, first stage designed for cold water have more surface area and mass in order to allow for heat absorption from water (insulation is NOT a good idea!) In other words, first stage for cold waters will do just fine under warm conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second stage icing -- which is the most common problem -- may lead to blocking of inlet valve from closing, and therefore leading to free flowing air. Chances of freezing can be reduced by better isolation of divers exhaled breath and the area where cold inlet gas comes in. This also depends on thermal properties of components from which the second stage is build of. Just keep in mind that simple metal/plastic design does not tell which is better. Metal freezes faster but also heats up faster by taking heat from water, in the end everything depend on the overall design. All this does not influence warm water operation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is more to this though; Sometimes free ice formation can take place, when ice builds up in the second stage but does not lead to free flow. The diver may be not aware of this and can accidentally inhale chunks of ice which can be very dangerous. In order to avoid this, some manufacturers use Teflon coating in order to prevent ice formation (which obviously still can happen). Clearly, this modification does not concern usage in warm waters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summarizing, I can't think of any theoretical issues with cold water regs operating in warm conditions. Form my practical point of view, I use my cold water rig regularly in lakes in the northern Europe and it works flawlessly e.g. in the Red See. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just keep in mind that even the best regs may freeze and this can be a stressful situation (I can tel from my own experience). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11059" LastEditorUserId="11059" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T09:37:42.873" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T09:37:42.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-08-10T17:06:22.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you're at high tide, walk just below the high tide line. The damp sand is firmer and easier to walk on as well as cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get there, in sandals you can step vertically onto the sand and reduce contact with your toes. With bars feet, move quickly. Even if you don't have both feet off the ground by running, minimising the time they're both on the ground reduces the heat. With shoes /boots walk normally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T17:06:22.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11601" CreationDate="2016-08-10T17:51:41.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ankle support of hiking boots is a myth.  Being heavy and more cumbersome, you are more like to turn an ankle wearing them across some rocky paths than being more nimble in a trail runner or hiking shoe.  If your ankles are weak, you should do exercises to strengthen them.  Wearing an ankle brace with trail runners would be better than wearing the big boots.  Much lighter and far more ankle support.  Wearing heavy boots makes a person tired and a tired hiker is one more prone to missteps. And if it's really raining, I don't care what shoes you have, you will get wet. Trail runners with mesh will dry far quicker than boots with leather or nubuck.  It can take days for leather/nubuck boots to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11063" LastActivityDate="2016-08-10T17:51:41.260" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-08-10T20:13:01.447" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One approach I learned when playing beach volleyball in Egypt are a pair of thicker socks. With these you still get the barefoot feeling but have a layer of insulation under your soles. For me my old socks from my military service do the trick, but a pair of old tennis socks should also work fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T17:55:56.227" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T17:55:56.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13511" CreationDate="2016-08-11T02:49:52.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yakima Rack&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could easily do 2 kayaks and 2 bikes at the same time on your car, like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pepRL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pepRL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  ...with room to spare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can fit a 17.5 ft canoe, two mountain bikes, &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; a tandem mountain bike on the top of my car with 66&quot; crossbars, I'm confident you could tighten the setup shown above and fit two kayaks and two bikes on 66&quot; bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm extremely satisfied with my Yakima racks. I may be slightly bias because I'm an independent dealer of Yakima racks, but truth be told I don't sell any Yakima products, I just became a dealer so I could get all my stuff at wholesale cost. Find a supplier that sells Yakima racks then open up a cash sales account with them. You'll instantly save 50% on everything you buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the minimalist budget rack I'd recommend for you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yakima.com/ca/crossbars&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Round Bar (66&quot; min)&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6UWkp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6UWkp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yakima.com/ca/hullraiser&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hullraiser J-racks (2 sets)&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8zTHv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8zTHv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yakima.com/ca/boa&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boa Bike Rack (2 boas)&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OPWNl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OPWNl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T02:49:52.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3150" CreationDate="2016-08-11T03:10:34.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Dan explained, you need to heat the liquid above the flash point. He suggested ether, which has a flash point below -40C.&#xA;Buy a bottle of automobile &lt;strong&gt;starter fluid&lt;/strong&gt;, it contains a large fraction of ether and is very cheap, around $3 for a bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just be aware that this is dangerous thing to do, the fumes are easily ignited, even by a hot surface. &#xA;If you have a leak in the car, the fumes might find an ignition source, they can travel long distances like a liquid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep it in the bottle and only spray it into the fuel before you start your hike. Also, some brands contain oils, which might smoke and gum up your stove.&#xA;I haven't checked if the brand below is ok, pic is just to show what kind of bottle to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, improperly stored ether will form a highly explosive residue, so keep the stuff in the bottle and don't store your fuel mix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jBYcG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jBYcG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of bottle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11070" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T03:10:34.097" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13527" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13528" CreationDate="2016-08-11T07:09:48.960" Score="4" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few camping mugs with a carabiner handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VsdlUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VsdlUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Carbine handle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder how it makes sense? I mean wouldn't it be more flexible to just take a separate carabiner with you? You would be able to use it for other things as well as for attaching your mug. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:25:49.990" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:25:49.990" Title="How does a carabiner handle make sense?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13527" CreationDate="2016-08-11T07:35:46.397" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me it seems to be more a fashion thing than extremely useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you can clip the mug to the outside of your backpack or anywhere on the campside but I doubt you really need this. Nevertheless, you can upgrade nearly anything in outdoor business with a biner - it's just cool and you look like a real outdoorsman with all the handy carabiners ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your idea of being able to re-use the biner isn't bad. But than you still need a good way to attach it to the mug. Those &quot;material carabiners&quot; (don't know if this is the proper translation, I mean carabiners which aren't designed to climb on!) are very light, but still it would be cool to be removable in terms of pack size of the whole mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T07:35:46.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13529" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13548" CreationDate="2016-08-11T07:53:05.930" Score="3" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6034/what-are-creative-uses-for-retired-carabiners&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; about retired carbines made me think about my retired arrows. I've a lot of them which can't be shot anymore. Either they've a slight crack anywhere or they're just completely broken. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2tNYKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2tNYKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E26OCm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E26OCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some creative uses for retired arrows? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-08-15T00:51:31.143" Title="What are creative uses for retired arrows?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13537" CreationDate="2016-08-11T08:53:48.977" Score="5" ViewCount="301" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in Germany (and I think I can even speak for the majority of the EU) it's indeed quite common to bait game. I've recognized that this technique generally encounters critic on US media (blogs, magazines, youtube etc.). A few hunters even tried to hide that they've baited in their youtube-videos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the arguments against baiting game? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T11:56:40.347" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T14:51:45.523" Title="What are the downsides of baiting game while hunting?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13533" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-11T12:27:20.760" Score="6" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Main specification&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need a knot to attach the self blocking non-releasable part of the pulley used to my slackline setup with a small piece of cord. Therefore the knot should be secure for high loads and against accidental releasing. On the other hand it needs to be releasable safely (without fingers getting crushed) while the slackline is still under tension. The release does not have to be controlled however, it is allowed to release fully immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use Case&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try to find a suitable minimal slackline setup and the method &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3190/3602&quot;&gt;explained here&lt;/a&gt; has too much friction for my use case. So I went for a slightly less minimal variant where I use a cord (static 6mm) to setup a pulley. So I needed a one-directional blocking knot/device for this cord instead of the flat webbing. All methods I know from climbing are not releasable under tension (except Grigri which does not block with the 6mm at all and is not really minimal).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alternative&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you happen to know a knot that blocks in one direction, is releasable under tension and is &quot;minimal&quot; (i.e. using two general purpose climbing carabiners would be fine, using a dedicated device not), that would also solve my problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Illustration&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always when I try to explain something, it gets messy and hard to understand. I hope the following schematic drawing can shed some light. Please excuse my poor writing and drawing skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3M1CV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3M1CV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T18:49:12.370" Title="Releasable knot to attach blocking device in slackline setup" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13534" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-08-11T12:32:55.073" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T12:32:55.073" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T12:32:55.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13535" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-08-11T12:32:55.073" Score="0" Body="Questions that are related to slacklining, which is the activity of balancing on a tautly suspended flat webbing. This can include (but is not restricted to) questions about setting up a slackline, gear, technique and finding a usable location." OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:55:27.880" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T23:55:27.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13530" CreationDate="2016-08-11T14:23:58.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dependency&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feeding wild animals creates a system of dependency and socialization with humans. In general this is looked down on whether or not hunting is the end goal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sport&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baiting is considered less sporting since the tracking element of the hunt is significantly reduced or eliminated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I am not a hunter nor a policy maker. I am an American.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T14:23:58.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13530" CreationDate="2016-08-11T14:30:43.730" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in Washington State (Western US) where baiting was not only unpopular it &lt;a href=&quot;http://wdfw.wa.gov/help/questions/331/Can+I+use+bait+when+I+go+out+hunting%3F+&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;is illegal.&lt;/a&gt;  Depending on the animal and the area baiting may or may not be illegal to some extent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/le/waterfowl-hunting-and-baiting.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Example; Waterfowl Hunting and Baiting, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I currently live in a part of the US where it is not unpopular and mostly legal. The following is my perception on why both cases are the &lt;strong&gt;right&lt;/strong&gt; choice, with deer as the example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Western US there are large tracks of land mostly un-populated by people.  The majority of the deer population are in these underpopulated areas.  Hunting is a sport, we go out and hunt (search for, kill and consume wild animals in their native habitat).  Baiting, is considered in the same category as: Shooting Fish in a barrel, using enhancement drugs in sports, cheating on exams, non-consensual intercourse.  Sure it brings results but if your going to go to that point there are many ways to get the same results without making immoral choices, like go to the store and buy beef.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Eastern US there are very few tracks of un-populated lands.  Deer live in the suburbs, in some cases &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;they are considered to problematic&lt;/a&gt;.  You can't go into the woods and walk for miles looking for deer, without finding way more houses then you do deer, even with an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_009335.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;average of 30 deer to the square mile&lt;/a&gt;.  In many cases significant planning needs to go into finding a shooting (fire arms) position that is safe.  Hunting deer is closer to chore that happens to fill the freezer than a sport.  Many hunters will hunt with arrows out of necessity as the deer are in area where there is no safe fire arm discharge area.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In summary&lt;/strong&gt; it depends; are you and the animal being baited interacting as a challenge in the animals native environment (&lt;em&gt;forest&lt;/em&gt;), or if you are interacting in the peoples environment (&lt;em&gt;suburb&lt;/em&gt;). Are you hunting a majestic beast, or exterminating a tasty vermin? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the end:&lt;/strong&gt; ultimately baiting increase the harvesting rates for the animal. If the population being harvested (hunted) is higher than the ecosystem will tolerate, than baiting is ultimately a good thing.  If the population is low or at risk and there is high volume of hunters baiting is a bad thing.  Humans are part of the ecosystem, they have powers of reason and can understand cause and effect.  If humans want to maintain a stable or alter the ecosystem they make choices that influence the population, baiting is one of many tools that can be used to impact the population in an area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T15:21:10.807" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T15:21:10.807" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13533" CreationDate="2016-08-11T14:55:26.333" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a community wiki to add appropriate knots that will work since there will be several. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntermule/#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;Munter Mule&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/tensionless/#ScrollPoint&quot;&gt;Tensionless Hitch&lt;/a&gt; - Assuming you have a long tail after tensioning your line this &quot;no knot&quot; method may work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/radium/&quot;&gt;Radium Release Hitch&lt;/a&gt; - This incorporates a munter but also builds in a 3:1 load-lifting system, so unlike a munter it's suitable for &quot;rescue loads&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/Mariners.htm&quot;&gt;Mariner's Hitch&lt;/a&gt; is releasable under load, but may slip a bit when weighted.  This might not be what you want if maintaining tension is desired.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ropelab.com.au/munter-hitch/&quot;&gt;Super Munter tie-off&lt;/a&gt; - Builds on the munter to provide increased friction for heavier loads.  (Scroll further down the linked page for information.)  &lt;em&gt;Alternatively, a mule knot with a Super Munter may work.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="8922" LastEditDate="2016-08-11T16:55:44.820" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T16:55:44.820" CommentCount="3" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-11T14:55:26.333" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13527" CreationDate="2016-08-11T16:36:33.260" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One real advantage is that a metal carabiner will rattle against a metal mug. Build the carabiner into the handle and that can't happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This rattling may be simply annoying most of the time, but if you're looking for wildlife (whether to watch it or shoot it) is going to disturb your quarry. If you just move around while others are asleep, or trying to concentrate on other things, it spoils the situation for others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T16:36:33.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-08-11T18:13:33.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Barefoot Shoes&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also known as minimalist shoes, the theory behind them is to give you as close to a barefoot feel without actually putting the soft, soft flesh of your terribly urbanized and unadapted soles of your feet at risk of damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favourite barefoot shoes are &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.vibram.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vibram Five-Fingers&lt;/a&gt;, I wear either my Mouri's or my KSO's at the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/men/watersports/signa---mens/M02.html?dwvar_M02_color=Black%20%2F%20Yellow#start=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vibram Five-Fingers 'Signa' watersport shoes:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ICATz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ICATz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thin sole will be enough to protect your feet from the lava sand, and it will still feel like running on the beach barefoot, with the exception of your feet getting exfoliated by the sand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also have running specific five fingers if you're interested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-11T18:13:33.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13541" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13558" CreationDate="2016-08-11T19:48:19.640" Score="12" ViewCount="563" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the last few months, we've experienced long spells of drought and heat in Massachusetts, on the East Coast of the United States. At least thirty birds and three generations of squirrels and chipmunks are drinking and bathing here at any given time, and they're not alone. At night, we've seen raccoons climb clumsily up the birdbaths and knock them over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a number of different water vessels. Keeping them filled is very important to us, but we don't always have time to thoroughly clean out the dirt, old food, and bird droppings. Not surprisingly, algae is more prevalent this year than usual, especially in the cement baths, where it hides in crevices. We really don't like that slime, and generally scrape it off with a wire brush, but it is time-consuming and we're probably not doing it as frequently as we should. We could stop using the cement and stone vessels, but many of those we're feeding prefer them over all others, so that's not our first choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depriving the animals of water seems dangerous, even for a few hours on an intermittent basis. However, we're concerned that after having what looks like a refreshing drink and bath, they go off and become ill or die due to negligence on our part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is anyone aware of a consensus as to whether or not dirty birdbath water is worse than none at all? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T04:41:13.160" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T17:57:19.533" Title="Is dirty birdbath water worse than none at all?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;birdbaths&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13542" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13543" CreationDate="2016-08-11T23:45:48.420" Score="9" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a technical term that refers to a knot untying under load because the tail was too short?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11080" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T00:00:24.017" Title="When a knot unties because the tail is too short" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13542" CreationDate="2016-08-11T23:50:38.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is called rolling, inverting, or capsizing. What happens is that the knot turns inside out, and part of the tail is consumed. If this happens repeatedly, or the tail is short, you can use up the whole tail, and the knot fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, an offset figure-eight is not a safe bend for use in tying two climbing ropes together for a rappel, because it can roll if you don't dress it carefully. There have been &lt;a href=&quot;http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/testing/EDK.html&quot;&gt;several deaths&lt;/a&gt; caused by people using this knot for this purpose. An offset overhand does not roll, so it's the preferred knot for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T00:00:24.017" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T00:00:24.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2016-08-12T01:44:11.440" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sail about everyday. In bay water.&#xA;Outrigger is nice to keep from tipping. But sailing up wind and to stop the sideways slippage you need a leeboard. And fill your pvc out rigger with foam you will just make it heavy. If you must do that use empty soda bottles.  I sail with out Lee board when conditions are right. But in order to tack I have to shift my weight forward to the mast. Just gotta learn your boats balance. P.s. with all that rigging use a telescopic fishing rod.save space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11025" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T01:44:11.440" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13547" CreationDate="2016-08-12T01:57:15.030" Score="13" ViewCount="467" Body="&lt;p&gt;Twice this summer, I've found some little brown domes / nodules attached to the window sills or the porch railing. They seem to be made by some sort of insect and I think when I removed them, there were some sort of larvae inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in North Carolina, in the United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone know what these are?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTNl7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTNl7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image of odd nodules&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11081" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:44:52.227" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T19:44:52.227" Title="What are these strange insect nodules on my front porch?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13484" CreationDate="2016-08-12T06:11:47.967" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acid rain usually has a pH of around 4-5, while normal rain is around 5.6, and pure water is 7, or neutral &lt;a href=&quot;http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/2.html&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/190acidrain.html&quot;&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;.  To give that in perspective, acid rain is less acidic than orange juice or soda, while normal rain is closer to bananas &lt;a href=&quot;https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/phscale.html&quot;&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't be in danger from the acid rain itself any more so than normal rain.  However, you are more in danger from the pollutants which cause acid rain, such as  sulfur dioxide and the various nitrogen oxides &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain&quot;&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acid rain has more of an effect on wildlife, where it can interfere with the hatching of fish eggs (most of which cant hatch below a pH of 5), as well as leaching aluminum from the soil into lakes and streams.  Additionally, it can remove nutrients from the soil, as well as damage stone and metal sculptures &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects-acid-rain&quot;&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion, you should not be directly effected by acid rain, though the pollutants which cause it can harm you, and it will harm the environment in a bunch of different ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T06:11:47.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13545" CreationDate="2016-08-12T06:20:47.757" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would vote for the Potter wasp. The nests of it look like a jug made out of mud. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u6HtCm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u6HtCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nest&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKsnFm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKsnFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nest-2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The potter wasps have at least two generations each season. That might explain why you've had this nest twice. Of course I can't say that for certain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what really brought me to conclusion was your &quot;some sort of larvae inside&quot;. The female potter wasp lays one egg in the nest. So, you actually have on larvae and it looks quite strange :): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xKrT3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xKrT3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Larvae&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After the female wasp shapes the mud nest, she places some paralyzed&#xA;  caterpillars and an egg inside the jug and then seals the opening. &#xA;  When the egg hatches, the wasp larva consumes the caterpillars. Then&#xA;  it spins a cocoon within the mud cell. In the photo (above), I&#xA;  have split open the jug to reveal the wasp larva.  The larva is&#xA;  protruding slightly from its cocoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources and further reading on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abundantnature.com/2011/10/potter-wasp-and-its-jug-shaped-mud-nest.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nature Posts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T06:20:47.757" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13529" CreationDate="2016-08-12T07:02:23.973" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm creating this &lt;a href=&quot;https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11740/what-are-community-wiki-posts&quot;&gt;answer as a community wiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;, since everyone comes to the question and posts a single idea beneath it as a comment :) Instead of doing so, we might want to add the ideas to this list: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Create an arrow-shaft-pen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If damaged at the ends they can be cut, sleeved and reused sometimes. Bow arrows can be shortened as bolts for crossbows.       Depends on materials. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &quot;RobinHood thing&quot; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Halloween stuff &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;demos (either if a club has an open day and the arrows have been rebuilt but they dont fly that well, or to show people how arrows are    with cutouts and description tags, or when teaching how to build arrows)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;part of target stands... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use them for plants, bird perches... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some aluminum ones can make sleeves to repair tent poles or stakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;minimal backpack frame&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;parts of rc models &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;couch blowgun dart shooting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I found that 22 shells fit nicely in my old crossbow bolts, i cut them off just long enough for 15 rounds. makes reloading my 22 real fast and easy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Old arrows also make great pepper plant stakes for the garden.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut off the tip and hot-glue a large treble hook in it...makes a great ice fishing gaff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Couple guys at work put them on their antenna of their truck, with some tape or heat shrink at the bottom to hold it on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weld or solder them into large abstract sculptures.  You may even be able to sell the sculptures. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a kite - putt a nock on each end of two arrows, making a cross, tie the junction, run string around the outside of the frame to make the kite edges.  Use a plastic sack or garbage bag as the face of the kite and an iron to melt the edges over the string around the end.  Add string and tail.  I loved these when my dad made them for me as a kid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;1)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Community wiki posts work by partly transferring ownership of the post&#xA;  from the original author to the community. They make the post easier&#xA;  to edit and maintain by a wider group of users, but they do not&#xA;  contribute to any user's reputation. &#xA;  &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T10:32:31.017" LastActivityDate="2016-08-15T00:51:31.143" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-12T07:02:23.973" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13549" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13550" CreationDate="2016-08-11T18:20:27.503" Score="6" ViewCount="928" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fictional Scenario - Suppose you are out camping and are stuck somewhere. You want to create a signal of white smoke to attract help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are the naturally occurring substance which when burnt would produce dense white smoke ? e.g. leaves or fruits or some extracted sap from some tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wet wood does not count.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11090" OwnerDisplayName="user96551" LastEditorUserId="11090" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T18:00:33.803" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T16:22:52.787" Title="How to generate white smoke in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;sos&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13549" CreationDate="2016-08-11T20:43:46.790" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In hindu festivals especially during Durga Puja dried coconut fibres (the exocarp of coconut fruit) are lit and then crystals of Dammar gum are sprinkled over it which produce dense white smoke with a characteristic smell. The smell is due to Dammar gum powder which is colloquially called dhuno. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By exocarp or dried coconut fibre I mean the brown portion of this cut coconut.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZyAqQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZyAqQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: Dammar gum is the resin of Dipterocarpaceae trees found in India and East Asia.The gum varies in colour from clear to pale yellow, while the fossilised form is grey-brown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Sanjukta Ghosh" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T16:22:52.787" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T16:22:52.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13551" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-12T07:46:53.930" Score="2" ViewCount="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;I may want to get a Yate ATS target. However, I'm a little bit concerned that they don't last very long. Do we know approximately how many arrows the material stops before they fly through? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T07:46:53.930" Title="Durability of a Yate ATS targets" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13552" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13603" CreationDate="2016-08-12T07:51:18.293" Score="3" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I've read through &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.yate.cz/arni-target-system-20-30-detail-TLT4000101.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;, I stumbled across this quote: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Notice: This type of target is intended for so called qualitative shooting, it is not intended for shooting with composite bows and crossbows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it really true that we call these kinds of archery &quot;quality shooting&quot; or did they want to make a joke (mock compound and crossbow people)? So, is &quot;quality shooting&quot; an official term to describe a bunch of disciplines (like traditional archery etc.)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T13:16:23.740" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T07:42:43.637" Title="Is a compound and cross bow really not &quot;qualitative&quot; shooting?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2016-08-19T20:00:04.237" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13549" CreationDate="2016-08-12T08:15:23.037" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can build a so called &quot;smoke generator&quot; and feed it with certain material to specifically generate &lt;em&gt;white&lt;/em&gt; smoke. It's basically a survival technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o4I1w.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o4I1w.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Smoke generator&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First, make a platform from dead wood, and stack it as shown in the illustration.&#xA;  Stack the wood 4 or 5 high, and make it fairly large, perhaps 4 feet&#xA;  in length. Then cover it with evergreen boughs, either pine or cedar,&#xA;  and have an opening below where you can insert a burning brand, limb,&#xA;  or other source of fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When ignited, use caution and move away instantly because it will&#xA;  flare up suddenly. The smoke produced will be a dense white smoke and&#xA;  the flames will be high. You could easily be burned, so ignite the&#xA;  boughs and quickly move away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.simplesurvival.net/illustrations/smoke_generator.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Simple Survival - How to use a smoke generator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To generate white smoke, feed it with: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grean leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moss&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A little (!) water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After you have a good fire going, add grass and green sticks and&#xA;  branches to your fire. This will smother the flames and create a&#xA;  dense, white smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-send-smoke-signal1.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;How to send a smoke signal&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Try to create a color of smoke that contrasts with&#xA;  the background; dark smoke against a light background and vice versa.&#xA;  If you practically smother a large fire with green leaves, moss, or a&#xA;  little water, the fire will produce white smoke. If you add rubber or&#xA;  oil-soaked rags to a fire, you will get black smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness-survival.net/chp19.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival - Signaling Techniques&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comprehensive article from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wilderness-survival.net/chp19.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During daylight, build a smoke generator and use smoke to gain&#xA;  attention (Figure 19-2). The international distress signal is three&#xA;  columns of smoke. Try to create a color of smoke that contrasts with&#xA;  the background; dark smoke against a light background and vice versa.&#xA;  If you practically smother a large fire with green leaves, moss, or a&#xA;  little water, the fire will produce white smoke. If you add rubber or&#xA;  oil-soaked rags to a fire, you will get black smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In a desert environment, smoke hangs close to the ground, but a pilot&#xA;  can spot it in open desert terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Smoke signals are effective only on comparatively calm, clear days.&#xA;  High winds, rain, or snow disperse smoke, lessening its chances of&#xA;  being seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T08:15:23.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13554" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13555" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" Score="0" Body="SOS is the morse code distress signal (...---...). Now typically short hand for an emergency signal sent to attract help. SOS stands for &quot;Save Our Souls&quot;. Use this tag for questions relating to SOS signals or how to attracting emergency help in the outdoors." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T08:52:31.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13530" CreationDate="2016-08-12T10:34:43.647" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live it South Africa and to be very honest, baiting game doesn't really fly here. It's all about being on a level playing field as the animal your hunting. I mean, your using a high powered rifle as well as a modern scope, what more do you need? Even shooting from a vehicle is considered to be unsportsman like. Over here we hunt on foot / walk and stalk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess the same question can be asked with regards to canned lion hunting, which is a huge problem is South Africa. Where do you draw the line? When is the sport of hunting, turning into the sport of just shooting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO if you require bait to hunt, rather try your hand at fishing...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9834" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T10:34:43.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-08-12T13:58:50.140" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, it seems that everyone goes with either walk on the wet sand or protect your feet...&#xA;However, I've done this in the past since I was a kid (overtime you get used to the hot sand): the really hot sand is just the thin top layer, just underneath is warm, so one way is to dig your foot, a little like kicking the sand at each step, this is generally not appreciated if there is other people on the beach. The other way, that wont get you yelled at but its slower, is to quickly move aside that thin hot superficial layer with your foot and take your step.&#xA;Next time you are at the beach give a look at the way the old lifeguards or the guys that set umbrellas and chairs walk on the hot sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are ok for walking, you cant really do that for running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the years I just got used to the heat, now its not a big deal anymore. I would prefer that than running with sand and sweat in my fivefingers (whenever I have wet sand they rub too much on the back and around the ankle) or sandals, its like sandpaper... and sand in socks just drives me nuts... take it as a push to run a bit faster ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T14:09:30.287" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T14:09:30.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13541" CreationDate="2016-08-12T15:12:39.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess dirty water is better than no water.  I don't think algae will kill them.  The primary danger is parasites.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Concrete cleaner is the easiest way to remove algae but be sure to rinse thoroughly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get animal safe algaecide.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a 5 gallon paint bucket for my dogs.  In the summer by the time they finish it will have a little bit of algae.  I clean with a bottle brush and dish washing liquid.  Then a splash of bleach.  It cleans really fast. Not pretty but maybe put one out of view for the raccoons.  In the shade - algae and other plants need sun light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-12T15:53:01.063" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T15:53:01.063" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13411" CreationDate="2016-08-12T19:15:29.083" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its something that happens in every sport. Generally target shooting the mantra is: bad day, drop everything for awhile, go get a beer, chitchat, help others in the club or simply call it the day. The worst thing one can do is fussing on a bad shot, and after that it becomes fussing about fussing on the bad shot and it never ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can train yourself in many ways, meditation etc, and at the end clearing your mind is an exercise you would have to do whenever something is required from you, that is a deadline, a job interview, school tests etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to tournaments though, you don't have the luxury of dropping the whole thing and you must enter &quot;the zone&quot; from the beginning. &#xA;Eventually after a certain number of tournaments you will get the whole situation as an habit but you need to recognize the signs of things going the wrong direction and correct them before they precipitate into a point of no return state of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can try Kyudo, the shooting there is really structured and the mental aspect of it is taken care of as part of the training as much as the technique as its considered part of it (shooting technique is much different but movements aside the philosophy behind it is transferable). What can happen messing up the concentration is that you have a lack of focus, you worry about your equipment, feel uneasy about the competition and are agitated in a general sense, at the opposite there is such a thing as being too focused, the score becomes the all important thing, you almost want to drive the arrow to the target by pure mind power, your shooting will suffer because to mental tension follows body tension, your movement will be less fluid and your technique less clean, your result poor. Then there are the others, your team, your club, your buddies, a bunch of strangers, people taking videos of the shot maybe and if you screw up there will be forever a record of it. Yet, you probably dont practice alone, your friends, team, club are always around you, videos should exist because they are a good way to review the shots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your equipment always top notch, be anal about it, even if they will be Sunday shots for the rest of your life your equipment should always be perfect and ready, all in a proper carrying bag, in order, no chance to forget at home or misplace anything ever. At competition time you wont have to worry about it, you wont have to fuss around your gear and that will keep you less agitated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you practice often you are in a certain state of mind, just peaceful and having fun, you can recognize the feeling and bring your mind on that, every time it happens during practice, and tie that condition to certain things to act as trigger, it can be some sequence of things you do to prepare the bow, something in your equipment, a smell... pick something constant that you wont have to prepare and fuss about before a competition, that will simply be always there and close to you (don't pick the target as those change from place to place and time). In competition you will use that trigger to ground yourself. You also might find helpful to find a calm corner to take position and draw your bow a few times without arrow (don't dry fire it obviously), if you do that do it at every practice session also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Work out a simple routine and stick with that, practice or competition, same routine... routine is good, its muscle memory for your mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breathing: that is important, your movements, since you move into position to the follow-trough, and your breathing must be coordinated with eachother, keep a slow steady rhythm, deep breaths, breathe with your belly and fill up all your lungs (in our daily life we tend to breathe faster and shallower breaths, it becomes an habit and breathing rhythm is linked to our fight/flight reflex) keep the pace the competition calls for but maintain the coordination and the depth. Deep rhythmical breathing is also a good technique to use while getting grounded (do it as an habit during practice also so its part of your routine). Some will simplify the issue just saying to hold your breath here etc but there is a significant reflex system that is worth leveraging.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If ultimately you consider the reasons that brought you to sign up for the tournament you might find things to work on: was it for fun? buddies pushed you to it? was it to show off? bragging rights? prize? Remember that in a competition you can only do your best, at that point what is there is there, the drive to improve yourself is only for practice. There should be more pressure on yourself during practice because you should try to get better and better results session after session. But it ends there, you don't get better than what you are in a tournament, the competition is just for doing what you do, it just happens that people attach points to things but really, how does it change your life? Its not a million dollars prize isn't it... just do your thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That others will be looking and judging your shooting its a fact, but others look at you and judge you everyday of your life and its not that big of a deal, for sure you did plenty of things way more important than shooting at a target while people judged you and didn't even think about it for a moment. Once the time comes its you and you alone taking the shot, noone else has any importance when it comes to that arrow (unless they are standing in the way ;) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beside all the mental practice that should go on side by side your technique practice there are also little workarounds that are different from person to person, you will have to work them out on your own.&#xA;If you are in a team you can remove the tournament atmosphere just turning it into a bit of a game with eachother: best score pays dinner (or beer, depending on finances)... dont do worst score or you just swapped one competition for another. That way its your game that you are playing and the competition just happens to fall around it.&#xA;Back in the day one of my buddies used absurd hats while shooting, his cure for being in the centre of the attention was just to attract more attention on something that wasn't his arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day shooting is an art, its like painting on the target, and there is a certain harmony in all the little things that come together in the perfect shot, once you see it its instinct to tune into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-08-12T19:15:29.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13115" CreationDate="2016-08-13T09:44:18.717" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some great answers here that helped me make my decision.  Making the final decision becomes personal choice. There are several options, with some more heavily weighted to certain needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can or do you wear contacts lenses?&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider using non-prescription sunglasses with your prescription contacts. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the cost of new prescription lenses is a factor?&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider clip/slip on sunglass covers for your existing prescription lenses. There are multiple choices, harder to find then non-prescription sunglasses.  Look at eyeglass stores and drug stores. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you wear one pair of glasses all the time? &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you change glasses for different tasks, consider full time prescription sunglasses they offer the most (strongest/best?) options for sun protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you put your glasses on in the morning and leave them on until bed time, consider transition lenses, they react to changing light levels to modify the amount of tint. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If considering transition lenses, there are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.transitions.com/en-us/browse/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;currently 3 choices&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;not all vendors sell all 3 types&lt;/em&gt;) &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Option 1: fully clear inside but does offer polarization nor do they change in the car (glass blocks the type of light that makes them change)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Option 2: darkens in the car, has a slight tint all of the time, has most darkening, but does not offer polarization&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Option 3: has polarization, but does not darken in the car, has a slight tint all of the time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Polarization:&lt;/strong&gt; reduces glare, but can also negatively impact the views of computer screens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally: It was time for new glasses (new prescription), contacts are not for me, I wear one pair of glasses (progressives) all day, I spend a lot of the day looking at display screens (including car dashboard), polarization is desired but reading computer screens is more important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my final decision I went with the transitions lenses that darken in the car, on my progressive prescription. I got fairly large lenses (&lt;em&gt;more sun protection as well as a larger area for the progressive change&lt;/em&gt;), I have a set of clip on sunglass with polarization that I can use when glare is an issue. I have only had the transitions a week, I wanted to write this all down while it was fresh, so far I am very happy with my choice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-08-13T09:44:18.717" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13561" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13563" CreationDate="2016-08-13T18:25:48.027" Score="6" ViewCount="252" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always wanted to try &quot;axe throwing&quot;. I decided to go with a tomahawk. What are the basic steps and techniques to throw a tomahawk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T03:06:35.347" Title="How to throw a tomahawk" Tags="&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13561" CreationDate="2016-08-14T03:06:35.347" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to throw a tomahawk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all get a  traditional throwing tomahawk made for this purpose. Never try throwing an axe, a camping hatchet or a non-throwing tomahawk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tomahawk Throwing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;People familiar with tomahawks and their use often refer to them as &quot;hawks&quot;. Similarly, terms like pipe-tomahawk have been shortened to pipe-hawk. Tomahawk targets frames are usually called hawk-boards or hawk-blocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BGQqx.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BGQqx.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Tomahawk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The average tomahawk has a blade up to 4 inches wide at the cutting edge and a handle from 14 to 20 inches long. (See Fig. 1) Weights run from half a pound to three pounds. The average throwing hawk weighs a little less than two pounds. A forged blade is preferred as it can be readily sharpened with a file and will take considerable abuse without breaking. Handles, however, are not as forgiving and should be considered, at least to some extent, expendable items. This is especially true during the learning period. The sides of the handle should be thinner. This helps in holding the hawk straight and in grasping it the same way every time. The handles on most good quality hawks are a drive fit down through the eye of the blade. The handle, therefore, should also be tapered to some degree. Some hawks are drilled and a pin is driven through the eye of the blade and the handle. This often tends to weaken the handle and encourage splitting. The best way to install a handle to a blade is to make sure the wood of the handle is as dry as possible when they are driven together. Normal moisture will cause the wood to swell slightly to make the fit all the more snug. The blade does tend to slide down the handle from time to time through usage. This usually occurs when the handle end of the hawk strikes the target first. When this happens, merely drive the blade back on the handle until it is snug again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since most hawk throwing is done at a minimum distance of 12 feet, measure off that distance from a suitable target and then take one full step back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The suggested stance is feet comfortable side by side. The weight should be shifted to the right foot, assuming you're right handed, just before throwing. At the same time as the swing of the throwing arm, step forward with the left leg. The action of the feet is not unfamiliar to that of a man throwing a ball. Some people find it more natural to reverse the footwork and step forward with the right leg. Choose whichever is more comfortable and natural to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d144L.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d144L.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Grip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Grip and Release&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take hold of your tomahawk as you would hold a tack hammer. The thumb should be at the side of the handle while the fingers are wrapped around the handle. (See Fig. 2) Point the hawk, cutting edge down, and the throwing arm fully extended towards the target. The throwing arm is then raised over the shoulder without fully bending the elbow. When the arm is brought down to a near horizontal position, (see Fig. 3) the fingers are opened for the release. At the moment of release, when the fingers are opened, the position of the hand is similar to the appearance of a hand being offered in a handshake. Be careful not to twist the wrist as this will make the hawk go somewhat sideways. Use mostly arm motion and a minimum of wrist action. Don't try to throw too hard. The average hawk, if sharp, will almost stick of it's own weight. Power, speed and more important, accuracy will come with time and practice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yjzhv.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yjzhv.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Throwing a tomahawk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/amm/skills/hawkman&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Basic Manual on Tomahawk Throwing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information on tomahawk throwing can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Throw-a-Tomahawk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those who prefer learning through a video, this YouTube video may fit the bill: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8ADMTfSFWs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Throw a Tomahawk | The Art of Manliness&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-08-14T03:06:35.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13564" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-14T10:31:18.143" Score="9" ViewCount="403" Body="&lt;p&gt;What &lt;code&gt;Z x W&lt;/code&gt; would you recommend for spotting a rock climbing route (up to about 30,40 meters high - standing in front of it)? Checking for cracks f.x., to estimate what cams you need to take with you and if bolts look safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Z&lt;/code&gt; in &lt;code&gt;{8,10}&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;W&lt;/code&gt; in &lt;code&gt;[25mm,50mm]&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8x25 would be more stable, little less zoom, less bright and less weight&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;while&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10x50 would be less stable, little more zoom, brighter and more weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11031" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-14T15:00:10.713" LastActivityDate="2016-08-15T00:12:00.753" Title="What specs for binoculars to spot climbing routes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13564" CreationDate="2016-08-14T13:10:28.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In binocular I would say 8x25 for size and weight.  I don't think you want weight or bulk of a 10x but if you are driving to the face then weight is not an issue.  You can find some light 10x but for me at a 10x I like a longer binocular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Field of view is not important in spotting a route.  For weight (and volume) I would go with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocular&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;monocular&lt;/a&gt; but then ironically would go 10x.  You don't have the weight issue.  A longer 10x is physically easier to handle.  You get higher quality lenses for the same money.  For me a monocular is easier to stabilize as it is lighter and you can use two hands - I also shoot pistol.  Take it up the route with you for site seeing at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nDn06.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nDn06.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-15T00:12:00.753" LastActivityDate="2016-08-15T00:12:00.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2016-08-15T00:14:21.413" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like using a sling.  You can make it out of paracord or similar like this video:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLtPdy4YxL4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLtPdy4YxL4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The steps for a making a sling are pretty easy - Cut about 4-6 strands of paracord to about 7' in length.  Make a braid from the strands using any braiding pattern you like, but leaving about 4&quot; on either side unbraided.  Knot the braid so it doesn't come unbraided.  Tie a loop in the end of each cord.  When you have game to haul, slip a loop of line through one of the knotted loops and let the weight of the game keep it tight.  Put the next one on the other end so the weight balances.  You can carry a number of animals equal to double the number of cords you used.  For large game like geese, carrying more than four gets to be pretty heavy, so scale the number of cords based on your animal expectations and weight of the animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have hiked miles with ducks or geese hanging around my neck.  The meat has a bit more of a chance to cool as they hang from you rather than stuffing them in a sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T22:47:03.170" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T22:47:03.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2016-08-15T17:01:42.927" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The right way to view the pros and cons is to understand the basic mechanics of how a sailboat works, so you can decide what's appropriate for your situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing to be aware of is that unless you only ever sail straight downwind, then sails don't work like parachutes, they work like airplane wings. The motion of the air over the shape of the sail generates a force which can be used to propel the boat. In addition to that force generated, the air generates two forces that must be resisted: the force of the wind trying to blow the sail over and heel or capsize the boat, and the force to push the boat sideways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Resisting the sidways force is addressed in most boats with a hydrodynamic element called a keel, which shares the same name as the structural element of the boat, and includes weighted keels, centerboards, daggarboards, leeboards, and others. Leeboards are popular with sailing canoes, because they don't requite much if any special built provisions in the canoe, and they don't increase the draft of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Resisting the heeling force is usually handled by ballasting the boat, either lead in a fin keel, water ballast in trailerable weekender type sailboats, or the body mass of the crew on smaller boats. On many small racing sailboats, the crew of the boat hangs out off the edge of the windward side to balance the powerful force of the air on the sails. As canoes are not really meant to handle sideways loads and can easily tip, this makes an outrigger of some sort usually necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, you could make an outrigger to address both those forces, by designing one with a shape to resist the lateral motion. This can work, and there are boats that have that, such as a Hobie 16 which has no daggerboards and instead has asymmetric hulls, but there are some trade-offs. The shape has a less than ideal cross section for buoyancy, so it will have greater drag than a 'plain' outrigger and a centerboard. Additionally, they will be much more difficult to turn than the alternative. The Hobie 16 example, turns very poorly compared to other sailboats. However, in the case of the Hobie 16, both of those trade-offs are worth it because the lack of centerboards means you can ride right up onto the beach without risking damage to your boat if you don't pull up the boards in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this image of a racing Hobie 16, you can see the crew trapezed out to control the heel of the boat, and you can see the shape of the hull, it's nearly flat facing the water, to resist the sideways force of the wind. The other hull in the water is a mirror image of the starboard hull.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oPnl4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oPnl4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hobie 16&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, every element of boat design is a trade-off of some sort. As you make adjustments for better and better sailing performance, your result will start looking less and less like a canoe and more like a traditional sailing boat. Only you can decide where there right balance is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2016-08-15T17:01:42.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13572" CreationDate="2016-08-16T02:24:00.113" Score="4" ViewCount="1212" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are beginner kayakers. We are planning to buy a tandem kayak and go to a nearby reservoir and take our 2 year old along. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've just started looking at car racks and realized that it is a confusing world. I drive a 2010 Honda Accord 4 door (standard size sedan) with no side rails. So my requirements for the car rack are something that would fit a car without side rails and hold a tandem kayak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've looked at a few different brands of racks, with towers and foot, and base clips that will work on my type of car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, should I transport the kayak using EVA foam pads?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11102" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T00:54:12.190" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:17:53.993" Title="Which type of car rack will transport a tandem kayak on a car with no side rails?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13570" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13571" CreationDate="2016-08-16T06:08:14.147" Score="5" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've fun creating archery targets. I experiment with different materials and building styles. However, I wonder what would be the characteristics to measure the quality of the tries. So, what to look for in a quality archery target? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Obvious example: It should stop the arrow&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T09:17:00.197" Title="What to look for in a quality archery target?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13570" CreationDate="2016-08-16T08:58:20.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stopping power&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The target should be strong enough to &lt;em&gt;stop arrows reliably&lt;/em&gt;. It's better to work with a good margin here, especially if the target is used with different arrows (carbon tend to have a lot more piercing power) or stronger bows. &#xA;Arrows should always be stopped well before the fletching reaches the target, otherwise you'll run into the danger of the fletching being damaged (oftentimes it is just shaved off cleanly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't damage arrows&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Obviously the &lt;em&gt;arrows shouldn't be damaged&lt;/em&gt;, even after repeated use. This also holds for whatever construct you use to hang/install/put-up your target. E.g. using a heavy metal frame to hold up your target will mean that any arrow which accidentally hits the frame will be toast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ease of arrow removal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The target should be soft/flexible enough to &lt;em&gt;allow easy arrow removal&lt;/em&gt; (if you have to put too much force into it there is always the danger of damaging the arrow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Durability&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The target should &lt;em&gt;hold up for a good long while&lt;/em&gt; without falling apart. Styrofoam is an excellent example which fulfils most of the other requirements, but fails spectacularly on the durability (it'll dissolve into nasty tiny bits after very short use).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stable build&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This concerns more how you put up your target and less how you build the actual target. The entire construct should be quite stable, so as not to be moved/thrown over while shooting at it, removing arrows or because of wind (the latter can destroy a whole bunch of expensive arrows at once).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Price&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This one is kind of obvious, but came up frequently back when I was trying to create archery targets. The proper archery foam target blocks can be amazingly expensive, not to speak of actual 3D foam targets which cost even more. Straw can be a decent and cheap alternative here, but has its own drawbacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather resistance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Optimally a good target would resist wind and weather, which is the case for many synthetic foams.&#xA;Straw bales or designated straw targets, while cheap, don't like getting wet/moist. Meaning you'll have to manage weather exposure (e.g. cover it with a tarp, make sure it stays dry, ...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-08-16T09:17:00.197" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T09:17:00.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13569" CreationDate="2016-08-16T09:19:03.550" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I swear by Thule for transporting anything on the roof. Over the years I have had various vehicles, and various transport requirements, and this type of bar has:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;replaceable mounts, so for the cars with side rails I can connect to them, and for those without I have been able to clip on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;standard size fitting, so I can carry bikes, kayaks, surfboards, a roof box, etc by simply replacing the mounts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;strength and rigidity, letting me carry 4 bikes, or 2 kayaks, or many surfboards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kayak mounts I like are J-shaped, with foam, allowing the kayaks to be securely mounted on their sides, with decent padding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T09:19:03.550" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13569" CreationDate="2016-08-16T11:37:48.787" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inflatable racks are becoming quite popular for situations like yours. Everyone I've spoken to who's used them likes them. You'll only be able to carry 1-2 boasts on an inflatable rack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless I'm expecting to carry a lot of boats I don't bother fitting my uprights, instead putting the boat upside down. On a light, and lightly-loaded, car boats on their sides can get interesting in crosswinds &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not obvious which country you're in but Halfords' own roof racks aren't bad if you're in the UK (though the screws they come with are a bit rubbish). I've had them for a few cars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T16:17:53.993" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:17:53.993" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13574" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13581" CreationDate="2016-08-16T18:50:57.353" Score="3" ViewCount="2500" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently watched a commercial videos for a broadhead model. A guy brought down a massive moose bull with a compound bow. Despite going down really fast, the bull does something which I've never seen or experienced before. It starts to gag a lot of blood! The arrow hits the animal and a few seconds later a massive blood stream comes out of the game's mouth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The link below is a still from the video (&lt;em&gt;be careful - explicit&lt;/em&gt;):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lbCPk.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://i.stack.imgur.com/lbCPk.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find the video here starting at second 78 (&lt;em&gt;caution&lt;/em&gt;, hunting footage with explicit content): &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/PzRTb5WwfaA?t=78&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube - (...) (B)ull moose gets (shot) at 12 yards (...)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes this massive bloodstream? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-20T12:34:24.107" LastActivityDate="2016-08-20T12:34:24.107" Title="What might cause a massive blood stream from a lethally hit moose's mouth?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8489" CreationDate="2016-08-16T18:58:20.710" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few distinct methods which require few or no tools. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Skewers : good for fish and small pieces of meat, especially more tender cuts which don;t require long cooking. simply thread the meat onto a sharpened green stick and  support over the fire. Here a fire of hot embers with little or no flame works best. The larger scale version of this is spit roasting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Cauldron : if you need to boil water or make soup or stew but don't have a metal cooking pot there are two techniques. Firstly A shallow bag made from leather or tightly woven canvas can, with care be used to boil water over a fire without burning as the water seeping through the material keeps it cool. The second method is to use any container which will hold water, even a natural hollow in a rock, fill it with water and place into it rocks heated in a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Pit roasting/BBQ  : this technique is still fairly widely used. You basically dig a pit, line it with rocks, light a fire, let it burn down to embers. Place your wrapped meat in the hole and bury. This can be an efficient way to cook large joints of meat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) Wrapping/steaming : wrap the meat well in leaves, seaweed and or/clay and place on hot embers, this will steam the food and works well with fish. Directly wrapping in clay can also peel off feathers, scales or spines and so save on some preparation time (results may vary) . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5) Ovens : if you have a bit more time you could make a simple oven from clay or stones. This is essentially a hollow which you light a fire inside alloy it to burn down and then rake or sweep out the ashes and place your food inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6) Hot rocks : you can fry food which only needs quick cooking such simply by laying it on reasonably flat smooth rocks heated in a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;7) Direct cooking : some things like shellfish, thick skinned roots and tubers and even some cuts of meat can be cooked by placing directly onto embers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8) Hot smoking : still widely practiced, involves cooking food in the hot gasses from a low fire&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;9) Air drying : in some environments food can be cured simply by cutting into thin strips and letting it dry in the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Points to note. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most circumstances the best way to cook it with a fire which is burned down to a good bed of embers with little or no flame or by indirect heat such as heated rocks. This provides a much more controlled and consistent heat than an open flame. In some cases this may require having separate fires for cooking and heat light, or you can always transfer embers from your main fire to a separate cooking area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take care when cooking that the fuel and any plant material used for wrapping, skewering food etc is not poisonous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some types of rocks can explode when heated, this is a whole separate subject but in general avoid flints or stones taken from a river bed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-08-16T18:58:20.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13577" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-16T23:46:19.493" Score="9" ViewCount="8585" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I get a handle for my Ugly Stik GX2. My handle fell off into the lake. I found the screw on the other side but the handle is gone. I couldn't find a single replacement parts dealer so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11109" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-04-25T22:14:03.350" LastActivityDate="2021-04-25T22:14:03.350" Title="Where to get replacement parts for a Ugly Stik GX2 fishing rod" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2021-04-27T08:34:31.320" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13578" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13589" CreationDate="2016-08-17T00:12:04.963" Score="6" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been to several locations where I have seen clearing similar to the one I am in currently? This was a clear cut logging area. There are what look like small trees that we cut down, though this was identified in the answer below as the branches removed from the trunks, and left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: Southern Pennsylvania - Fort Loudon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photos are from August 16th, 2016&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are my personal photos and require no licensing. Feel free to use and share.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtkaC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtkaC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Clearing - view 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qHN16.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qHN16.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Clearing - view 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZTJvY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZTJvY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trimmed branches - trunk had been removed in clear cutting process&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:11:20.253" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:11:20.253" Title="PICTURED - What causes this sort of clearing?" Tags="&lt;forests&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13303" CreationDate="2016-08-17T02:08:35.477" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you suspect, that squirrel in your yard is most likely an Eastern Gray squirrel, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sciurus carolinensis&lt;/a&gt;. Although they used to be primarily considered an American species, they're naturalized in many countries, and are commonly seen in Europe, especially Great Britain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since she nests primarily in large trees, it makes sense that you've been seeing the mother feeding near your biggest trees. As to how far she travels from the nest, I can't say exactly. However, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sciurus_carolinensis/#geographic_range&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Animal Diversity Organization&lt;/a&gt; at the University of Michigan, she has something called a Home Range, (described by some sources as approximately 2.5 acres), which she decreases while she's caring for her babies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Home ranges are generally larger in the summer. Home range sizes are negatively correlated with squirrel density. Lactating females may decrease their home ranges by as much as 50%. Home ranges are used in the same sequence each day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mama squirrel is very resourceful. As you said, the litter may have multiple fathers, none of whom stay once the babies are born. Since her young are in the nest for an average of seven weeks, frequently up to ten, before they're weaned and able to venture out on their own, she's a hard-working single parent!  She nurses her babies for long periods of time, keeps them warm, and grooms them. To keep the nest clean she changes their bedding, and even ingests their excrement to prevent poisoning by parasites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to all that, she has to protect the litter from a variety of predators waiting to raid the nest, some from above, others from below, and she has developed sophisticated tools for doing that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two main behaviors are most frequently observed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When she leaves the nest for any period of time, she covers the babies over with grass, to make them less visible, and therefore less vulnerable. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;She frequently builds two nests at the same time, and, if under imminent danger, will move her young. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.newyorkwild.org/squirrels/graysquirrel.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;New York Wild&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If a mother squirrel perceives a threat to her babies in a nest, she will grab them one by one by the scruff of the neck, and trundle them to a new nest location which may be some distance away. A mother carrying her baby as she scurries along a telephone wire is a memorable sight!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research studies into squirrel sounds and their meanings are extensive and ongoing, so even though she absolutely has alarm calls, they're not always easy to understand. They depend on many factors, partly including the type and vicinity of the predator. Also, for the first several months after her youngsters are weaned, mom continues to do some surveillance, so her calls might be for protection of those that are independent but still in a maturation process. Some alert calls are used to warn other adult squirrels of the presence of danger, in case they'd prefer to stay away. Those are usually used in her territory but not near the nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There appear to be three most frequently used alarm calls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kuks are sharp dog-like barks, usually issued in a series&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quaas are similar to kuks, but longer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moans are lower pitched, and resemble a whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other sounds are called chatter, rattle, muk muk, to name only a few, though they're not specifically indicative of danger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tail movements are equally as important when communicating in general, and research shows that certain tail movement/vocalization combinations are likely to indicate danger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes she sounds an alarm from the nest. Other times, she purposely separates herself first, so it's hard to know whether or not she'd speak up if you got close. Squirrels are very smart, and also have a keen sense of smell, so if you seem like a curious passerby that doesn't smell like an animal, she's more likely to just sit on or at the nest. If you reach out to touch it, that would be a different story, but since that's not your intention, time spent watering or walking around your trees is probably not enough to cause her to make much noise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Links to further information, many of which have recordings of squirrel sounds:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://macaulaylibrary.org/search?media_collection=1&amp;amp;taxon_id=11052840&amp;amp;taxon_rank_id=67&amp;amp;q=eastern+gray+squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wired.com/2014/06/squirrel-alarm-calls-are-surprisingly-complex/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Squirrel Alarm Calls are Surprisingly Complex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://theairspace.net/commentary/squirrels/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;How to Talk Squirrel&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Squirrel_Sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Soundboard Squirrel Sounds&lt;/a&gt; (Only some of these are free, but those are worth a listen.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/understand-grey-squirrels&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Discover British Wildlife Magazine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.newyorkwild.org/squirrels/graysquirrel.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;New York Wild Organization&lt;/a&gt; (This site also has live webcams.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://naturalhistory.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=298&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Smithsonian Museum of Natural History&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really interested and want some &quot;light reading&quot; check out this 194 page &lt;a href=&quot;http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&amp;amp;context=oa_dissertations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;dissertation of squirrel calls&lt;/a&gt;, published in 2012 by the University of Miami, Florida. I haven't read it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of live webcams online. Look around and you'll see some fascinating things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T02:08:35.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13574" CreationDate="2016-08-17T03:41:42.940" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A normally lethal shot with a bow hits both lungs and possibly the heart.  This shot was interesting because the arrow didn't go very far in and probably only hit one lung.  I haven't hunted moose, but have shot elk, and most of my shots go completely through the animal.  Sometimes a bone gets in the way and if you watch the arrow in the video right after it impacts, there is still a good deal of shaft left exposed and the nock end seems to immediately get levered to the front of the moose.  This is probably because the shot entered just behind the leg/shoulder structure.  As the leg levered the arrow around, the broadhead that is inside the animal should cut a huge swath of tissue causing a good amount of bleeding inside the lung.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shallow hit on an animal that size probably means a bone strike and it didn't get both lungs, but the one lung that is hit was cut open internally.  Lung shots do two things to the animal, the first is that the blood loss from the wound can be significant because of the amount of blood that flows through the lungs.  The other effect is immobilizing the lungs and making them stop oxygenating the blood by filling the lung cavity with blood or with air that leaks out of the lung hole (called a tension pnuemothorax).  The elk I have seen that have been lung shot wind-down just like this one did in the video.  If you are tracking a wounded deer/elk/moose and suspect this type of wound and dying pattern, you can get tricked by the track they make because as they die, they get weaker and possibly dizzy.  If you start to track them up a hill and the track suddenly dies, backtrack downhill or through the path of least resistance and you will often find your animal.  You will often see pinkish tissue in the blood trail at some point where bits of the shredded lung are blown out through the mouth, and this lets you know you probably had a good lung shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, a heart shot will stop the blood pumping fairly quickly and there will be less blood to track, but shorter trail to follow.  The first elk I ever shot I punched right through the shoulder blade and had a somewhat shallow strike.  I watched the elk run off with the arrow flagging just like the one in the video here.  The elk ran up a hill a few yards and just fell down stone dead.  When I opened the chest cavity, the moving broadhead had severed the aorta right off the heart and made for a very quick death and no tracking required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2016-08-17T21:31:38.253" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T21:31:38.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13223" CreationDate="2016-08-17T03:56:29.613" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mechanical broadheads can be nice in windier conditions because they have less profile in flight to catch the cross breeze and destroy the arrow alignment.  Fixed, machined, broadheads like a G5 Montec, maintain more structural integrity as they bounce off bone and rip through an animal.  I can control for decreased accuracy by passing up a shot or moving closer, but I can't control too much for hitting bone, so I opt for the most stable construction possible, the one-piece machined broadhead.  On bigger game, I would opt for a heavier, beefier broadhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T03:56:29.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13583" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13588" CreationDate="2016-08-17T08:03:56.323" Score="6" ViewCount="2387" Body="&lt;p&gt;I slowly want to get prepared for my trip to the USA. I think about going for an elk. So I asked myself what may be the best way to quarter an elk in the field. What are the basic steps and techniques to do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:05:02.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:05:02.893" Title="How to quarter an elk in the field" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13584" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13585" CreationDate="2016-08-17T08:17:43.127" Score="29" ViewCount="5013" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know the grey squirrel introduced in Germany by humans. It starts to slowly oust the common brown squirrel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course I feel bad for the brown squirrel but people around here act like it's the end of the world. They say that it somehow matters for the overall habitat/natural environment. Does the growing number of grey squirrels and the according shrinking number of brown squirrels really effect the complete natural balance? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:57:50.820" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:57:50.820" Title="Are grey squirrels really bad for the overall habitat in Germany?" Tags="&lt;germany&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13584" CreationDate="2016-08-17T08:58:10.290" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they do damage habitats, namely from bark stripping, and disease. This is why the UK class them as a pest. However it is not limited to grey squirrels as red squirrels also strip bark, but they have much smaller numbers proportionally so their damage is proportional. Lack of grey squirrels therefore does not wholly prevent this damage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In addition to displacing this native species they&#xA;  frequently cause damage to woodlands by stripping bark&#xA;  from the main stem and branches of trees&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has an effect commercially and natively. This can lead to a loss in food for red squirrels, birds, dormice etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Such damage acts as a major disincentive to the planting of&#xA;  broadleaved and coniferous trees for timber as it reduces&#xA;  the value of the final crop. Increasingly wider impacts are&#xA;  being recognised as potentially of major significance to&#xA;  woodland conservation, biodiversity and sustainability. In&#xA;  time damage may lead to a loss of particularly vulnerable&#xA;  species (e.g. beech) within the mature canopy of woodlands&#xA;  and this may be accompanied by loss of associated fungal&#xA;  and invertebrate fauna and their predators. In addition,&#xA;  there may be indirect competition, e.g. for food, between&#xA;  grey squirrels and native fauna such as the red squirrel&#xA;  and common dormouse; or predation by grey squirrels,&#xA;  e.g. on woodland bird populations. Grey squirrels also carry&#xA;  squirrelpox virus, an infection fatal to red squirrels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK has been controlling the population of grey squirrels for many years, and we have some grey free areas, such as Brownsea Island.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcpn004.pdf/$FILE/fcpn004.pdf&quot;&gt;The Forestry commissions 2007's grey squirrel PDF&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-18T10:04:45.223" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T10:04:45.223" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13584" CreationDate="2016-08-17T10:42:53.947" Score="20" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They say that it somehow matters for the overall habitat/natural&#xA;environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just to tack onto Aravona's excellent answer:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;isn't losing a rare species to a very common species a bad thing in its own right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Un-natural tampering in the diversity in an ecosystem has always been proven to be a bad thing (see examples below from Australia). Greys will effect the ecosystem in many different ways when compared to the smaller Red. Any (unnatural/man made) change in an ecosystem should be resisted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a wider context (i.e. not just squirrels). Introduction of foreign species to an ecosystem can be totally devastating, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rabbits&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cane toads in Australia&lt;/a&gt;. The introduction of grays has had relatively minor consequences when compared to these issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So again, history teaches us that introduction of foreign species can have wide ranging and unforseen problems, so all introductions by man should be prevented. whether they have minor consequences or wide ranging and dangerous ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW this isn't natural selection, man has taken a species with natural checks and measures in it's natural habitat and transplanted it thousands of miles away into an environment without these checks. Likely (eventually) nature will catch up but humans influence these processes far too fast and it takes time for nature to re-balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note to this, humans now influence their envrionment so much that it's thought we may &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/evolution/10297124/Sir-David-Attenborough-Humans-have-stopped-evolving.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;now no longer be continuing to evolve&lt;/a&gt;! So humans and human consequences are well outside of natural processes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why are Grey squirels bad for the red?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main issues with Grey Squirrels when introduced into a Red Squirrel population are twofold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Squirrel pox&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Grey carries a disease (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_parapoxvirus#Symptoms&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Squirrel pox&lt;/a&gt;) that the Greys have a genetic immunity to but the Reds don't. So if a population of Greys comes into contact with a population of Reds the pox is often spread killing the Reds but leaving the Greys unaffected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Competition&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basic natural selection, the Greys are bigger, stronger, reproduce faster and eat more than the Reds. So the Reds lose out here, lowering their numbers even further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK is an excellent case study in this. Reds used to be the only squirrel in the UK prior to the introduction of the Grey. They are now critically endangered with a population of only &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/redsquirrel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;140,000 (compared to 2,500,000 Greys) left&lt;/a&gt;. The future is increasingly bleak for the Reds in the UK with some major holdouts losing large numbers of individuals despite fierce protection and a shoot on sight policy for Greys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example the small population on the Sefton coast near me, lost nearly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancswt.org.uk/redsquirrels&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;85% of its population recently due to an outbreak of Squirrel pox&lt;/a&gt;. This is starting to bounce back but it's tough to bounce back from losing that number of individuals in short period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T07:54:00.303" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13584" CreationDate="2016-08-17T11:35:41.960" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Excellent answers already; one point no-one has covered is that greys will occasionally eat eggs / chicks of small birds. Wikipedia says there is a lack of evidence on the actual impact of that, but it is something that does have a wider effect and that reds very, very rarely do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is, in the UK at least, also a reverse viewpoint. The introduced grey squirrels are greater generalists than the reds. Red squirrels thus suffer far more from habitat destruction and climate change than greys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You often see greys bouncing along the pavements in my town, a city of 250,000 - they can live in parks or gardens and will coexist with humans and eat a wide range of foods; whereas reds are limited to conifer woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So another way of looking at it is that humans have depleted the red squirrel population by destruction of their specific habitat requirements, and the greys have filled the gap. The greys get a bad rap as invasive vermin, but we should really be looking at what we did that allowed them to become so dominant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12416892-200-science-britains-surviving-red-squirrels-feel-the-pressure/&quot;&gt;Britain’s surviving red squirrels feel the pressure (New Scientist)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, reds do have some natural advantages; they have greater agility, enabling them to avoid pine martens, a major predator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In neighbouring Ireland, the population of the less nimble greys&#xA;  crashed when pine martens became more abundant, while the reds were&#xA;  unaffected&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newscientist.com/article/2080673-pine-marten-in-search-of-a-snack-takes-a-selfie/&quot;&gt;Pine marten in search of a snack takes a selfie (New Scientist)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your actual question, in my view there is no straightforward answer. Liam's statement of &quot;any (unnatural/man made) change in an ecosystem should be resisted&quot; is a classic conservation viewpoint, but there are other ones, and once a change such as an introduction of an non-native species has occurred then any attempt to resist risks being an even more dramatic man-made intervention. Also, a species as successful as the greys will spread widely itself - at what point does their population growth into other areas become natural rather than introduced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, reintroduction attempts such as the UK beaver reintroduction blur the line - a reintroduction is clearly an unnatural change. Should we accept that a snapshot in time when beavers were a native species has gone, and conserve the current moment, or should we try to return to and conserve the past?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grey squirrels have been in Britain since 1876; when do we start considering them just a highly successful endemic species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DISCLAIMER: I am not an ecologist; I just have a fascination with ecology and have developed a recent interest in grey/red squirrels in the UK :o)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9895" LastEditorUserId="9895" LastEditDate="2016-08-17T13:28:37.923" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T13:28:37.923" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13583" CreationDate="2016-08-17T12:39:48.660" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.havalon.com/elk-hunting-in-idaho-by-bob-robb/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is how Bob Robb field dresses his elks. Warning: There are images of actual elks being quartered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Secure the Elk&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before any cutting begins, you have to secure the elk, which often has expired on a steep sidehill. That’s where the cord or rope comes in, used to tie antlers or legs to a tree or bush to hold the animal in place as you work. Point the butt downhill if you can. It should be said that butchering an elk is much easier with two people, so if you can get some help, you’re advised to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Field Dress or Quarter Your Elk?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are two ways to clean any big game animal, including elk. You can do the basic field-dressing routine, which means first gutting the animal. Or you can take the quarters, backstrap, and neck off without gutting. I do both, depending on circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The basic field dressing procedure is the same as it is with deer and other big game, so we won’t detail it here. You remove the innards, including the anus, taking care not to puncture the bladder or stomach and spilling their contents onto the meat. Suffice it to say, this is not a good idea. Make sure you remove the heart, lungs, and esophagus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I field dress an elk when I am not going to be able to finish the job right away, as when I might have to leave the carcass to cool overnight before packing it out. When I do this I lay the animal on its back, then cut the front shoulders so they lay out away from the carcass, and cut the hams to the ball joint so they too, are opened up enough to cool down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, these days I prefer to simply quarter the animal without exposing his guts. It’s less messy and smelly, and you don’t lose any meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To do that, roll the elk on one side and use your knife to remove the hind quarter through the ball joint, and front shoulder by cutting behind the scapula, leaving the hide on until the quarter is either hung or ready for boning and insertion into the meat sacks. That helps keep dirt and crud off the meat itself. Next remove the backstrap, half the neck meat, and the meat off the outside of the rib cage or, if you like, use your saw to cut the ribs completely off. I rarely do this, though. You then roll the elk over and repeat. To get the tenderloins out — they’re located inside the carcass, on each side of the backbone — use the lightweight saw to cut through the tops of the rib cage and remove them this way. When ready for bagging, skin the quarters out. Voila! One butchered elk, without the big mess of field dressing it first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I virtually always bone my elk meat out, for two reasons. One, it gets rid of excess weight that I don’t have to pack down the mountain. And two, removing the bone opens the meat up and facilitates cooling. Thick chunks of elk meat, like those found on the hams and neck, will spoil quickly near the bone unless they are cooled properly. Boning helps this process. Hunters with the luxury of pack horses often like to keep the bone in, as it can make loading quarters into pack boxes easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some hunters like to take the liver, heart, and tongue, all of which make some fine eatin’. An elk liver is about the size of a football, the heart like an elongated softball, so you’ll have plenty of extra packing if you want them. I often do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I hunt for large game, I go with some buddies of mine and we split up while hunting. We only take one kill at a time and everyone helps in the field dressing and quartering. The meat is divided up evenly. It is a lot of weight to carry out of the bush by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elk&lt;/a&gt; is now quartered and ready to be tied onto your framepack. I would use a cotton rope as a nylon rope will stretch and become loose during the trip out. Tie it on securely and have fun. If the Elk weighed 600 pounds live, you are looking at nearly 100 lbs. on your back to pack out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You will have to make 4 trips, and each trip gets harder and harder. That is why you may want to hang the remaining quarters (with block and tackle) if you are near trees with branches to support them, to allow them to cool off. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://elkhunter2.tripod.com/quartering.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quartering an Elk&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T12:39:48.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13578" CreationDate="2016-08-17T12:57:21.333" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is cause by clearcut timber harvesting. Timber harvesters will remove branches from trees that they fell and leave them on site. They will also sometimes leave specimen trees to help repopulate the area - or leave undesirable individual trees or species. The standing trees might also be the result of a weak implementation of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/stems/clearcut.htm&quot;&gt;clearcut with reserve&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T12:57:21.333" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2016-08-17T14:09:53.197" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is old fashioned method of carrying game birds, it may not work for rabbits as they have small feet. Take a piece of wood perhaps 2 x 12 x 0.25 inches. The exact dimensions are not important but will depend on the type and size of the birds. Cut a slit through the middle of the 2x12 face, about 0.25 inch wide, stopping about 1in from the ends. Enlarge one end of the slit to have a circular hole big enough for the bird's feet to pass. Affix a 15 inch strap, as a handle, to the ends. Add some way of blocking the hole to stop the feet sliding along the slit an out through the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wood should match this crude diagram:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXXXX    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXX        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXX                                                            XXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXX        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXXXX    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pewsey-heritage-centre.org.uk/album/gamebirdcarrier.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This picture&lt;/a&gt; shows a version with two slits, each has a hinged metal plate to block the hole:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/06hQ6m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/06hQ6m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11099" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-17T14:28:47.287" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T14:28:47.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1155" CreationDate="2016-08-17T21:55:11.680" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You field dress the deer as soon as possible while maintaining your own safety.  That really means that as soon as the deer is down, I go take care of it, except if I have shot it during the last few minutes of shooting light and I can't safely track the deer and do the work in the dark.  Often I can do it in the dark if I have tracked it with enough light, but I once pushed this a little too far and had a really bad night and an extra 20 mile hike to get out.  I won't do that again.&#xA;Outside of your personal safety, you should get the chest cavity cleaned out and the animal started cooling as soon as possible.  If you do shoot it in the evening and are going to let it cool overnight, try to prop it up on some logs so air can get underneath especially at the hind quarters, and tie the legs out so it is on its back with the chest cavity wide-open for good air circulation.  Hope that a bear or coyote doesn't discover your deer in the night.  Fur is a great insulator, so you need to maximize the air getting to the un-furred places on the deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hunting in warmer weather, you may have to work quickly to get the animal to ice, but since the answer is &quot;as quick as possible&quot;, that means you are just going to have to do what you can as quickly as possible.  You can't convince a deer that bolted and fell down a cliff that he should really have died in a better location for the haul out so you just do the best you can to be as quick as possible. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the night time temps are 40 deg F, you can let it cool at night and haul it out during the day.  One trick is to take an old sleeping bag and let the deer cool overnight, then wrap in the sleeping bag to keep it cool for the drive home, or if your buddies are still hunting, using the bag to keep it cool during the day can let you hang it for three or four days while they finish up.  Make sure you have a thermometer to monitor the meat temp.  It should be less than 45 deg F all day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hang mine in the shed with a remote thermometer I can watch from the house.  If the temp gets up too high because of the weather, I go take the skin off and hang it in game bags in the fridge, rotating and moving it around 2-3 times a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-08-17T21:55:11.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13598" CreationDate="2016-08-18T00:54:55.527" Score="5" ViewCount="309" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have what I think is a well-tuned 70# compound bow.  I use a release and carbon fiber arrows.  IBO is 313 fps.  Real-world chrony is around 250 fps.  Arrows are GT XT 5575 with QuickFletch vanes.  I get good groups with my 125 grain field points at all ranges and I don't see much difference in the arrow strikes at different ranges.  When I switch to using 125 grain broadheads, my group still stays relatively good, but it moves considerably up a bit and too the right.  I can move my sights to accommodate the broadheads, but I want to know what is going on.  I am shooting outdoors, but in completely windless conditions.  Is the change in group location indicative of a problem in my overall tuning?  I see lots of opinions about tuning for your broadheads on the interwebs, but I am just not sure how to make peace with the fact that my broadheads hit a different place than my fieldpoints.  I would appreciate any insights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-18T09:33:47.173" LastActivityDate="2019-04-18T09:27:45.190" Title="Broadhead tuning" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1144" CreationDate="2016-08-18T01:40:23.390" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many paths to duck hunting, but here are a few tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get a shotgun and just go somewhere.  Look on forums or on maps for public hunting areas in your neck of the woods and just get out there with a legal setup.  All you need is some open water that ducks like and a shotgun and you can probably eek out some shots.  Camo is much less important than not moving at all while ducks are in the air.  Bring a fishing pole with a treble hook for retrieves if the water is too deep (buy a Pocket Fisherman if you can).  If you see another newbie walking around, invite them to join you.  Two is always better, safer, and more fun than one.  But don't tolerate unethical or unsafe behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go trap/skeet shooting during the off season.  This will make you a better shot, but also guess where all us experienced duck hunters go during the off season?  To the trap range!  While you are doing this, make friends, don't be a jerk, and don't ask to go hunting.  Just demonstrate safe behavior and a pleasant manner, plus your interest in starting to hunt this fall, and you might get an invite.  I have invited many people to my place for their first duck hunt this way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Join Ducks Unlimited or other conservation organization.  You will meet people there too.  Don't go looking for an invite or you won't get one, but be available and grateful if people invite you.  Bring coffee/snacks/other tokens of appreciation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Watch duck hunting videos on Youtube.  It can get you a little more dialed in on what to expect when the ducks come in.  But know that you are watching the 3 minutes paired down from days of freezing and being bored.  Don't get discouraged when you don't have the epic hunts that end up on youtube.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go with a guide.  This can be expensive, but usually you don't need any gear and you can decide how much you like it.  It can also teach you a lot about what gear works.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy good ammo when you are starting out.  If you aren't seeing huge flocks coming in all day, you want to make those few shots you get count.  So assuming you have been to the trap range to make sure you can hit what comes in, buy top-shelf ammo.  It will be insanely expensive per round ($3/shot), but if you aren't shooting a lot, it won't change the overall cost of your trip that much.  When I can't take my dog, I shoot Kent Tungsten Matrix because I get many fewer wounded birds that I have to chase down or lose.  It also makes me really sure I am not shooting birds that are too high or too far, because if every time you pull the trigger, you are sending a Happy Meal's worth of dollars after the duck, you get judicious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy an experienced duck hunter coffee, offer to help paint dekes or set up blinds, or do other off-season maintenance, and ask for a bit of mentoring.  I did this when I was starting out and got a few choice hints about public land to hunt.  If you get these tips, don't share them with others.  They are a gift for you and you don't want to repay the kindness by overrunning the location with other hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get out there.  You don't need a lot of gear, and you will see your needs more clearly in the field than when you are sitting around pontificating about it.  I have seen guys absolutely rule the ducks with a mutt of a dog missing a few limbs, one gnarly duck decoy that the dog already chewed up, and one RichNTone call from the 1950s.  Mindset and tactics always overrule gear.  Work on your mindset and tactics first, and then get the gear that supports how you want to hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T01:40:23.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13596" CreationDate="2016-08-18T06:14:56.997" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;No offence, but if your bow is properly tuned you'll literally feel no difference from field tips to broadheads :) Broadheads intensify any tuning issues. That's why you may experience a supposedly well-tuned field tip and a bad flying broadhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On a properly tuned bow, a Wasp Broadhead will hit the same marks as&#xA;  your field points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Broadheads have a way of maginifying tuning problems. (...) (L)et’s say your broadhead hit 3 inches higher and 5 inches left of the field point. It is time to tinker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wasparchery.com/blog/tuning-your-bow-for-broadheads&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wasp Archery - Broadhead Tuning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this is not really a problem at all. You just have to do that tuning process (so, tinker ;) ). Do it like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First, make sure your knock, fletchings and broadhead are inline.&#xA;  Stand 20 yards from a target and shoot a field point tipped arrow. As&#xA;  long as your sights are set, it should be close to the bull’s-eye.&#xA;  Leave the arrow in the target as a point of reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Next, aim in the exact same spot as you did on the previous shot and&#xA;  shoot again, but this time with a broadhead tipped arrow. How close is&#xA;  it to the field point arrow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) For demonstration purposes, let’s say your broadhead hit 3 inches higher and 5 inches left of the field point. It is time to tinker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Start by moving your rest one hash mark, usually 1/16-inch on most&#xA;  rests, to the right (always make rest movement opposite of where your&#xA;  broadhead arrow is hitting, both horizontally and vertically). Do not&#xA;  move the rest vertically yet. Make one adjustment at a time, because&#xA;  in many cases, one small fix will cure the issue.  Shoot the field&#xA;  point and broadhead tipped arrow again and analyze the results. If it&#xA;  is still shooting left, you need to move the rest further to right. If&#xA;  it is now shooting right, you moved it too far. If it is shooting dead&#xA;  center but still high, you need to move it down.  If you hit the same&#xA;  spot as the arrow you first shot with the field tip, you are good to&#xA;  go, but it usually takes a few rounds of adjustments to get it right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once your broadhead and your field point arrows are grouping tight,&#xA;  you may have to make an adjustment to the sight so both types of heads&#xA;  will hit the bullseye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now, some may ask, why not just adjust my sights to accommodate my&#xA;  broadheads since I will be hunting with those? Well, you are not&#xA;  fixing the tuning issues, you are compensating for them and you will&#xA;  lose energy and the efficiency of your bow if you let a tuning issue&#xA;  fester. Fix the problem at the cause and both your field tips and Wasp&#xA;  broadheads will hit the target in same spot. Below is a video that&#xA;  illustrates the basic idea of this method of tuning your bow for&#xA;  broadheads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/Dm_mBH9lhRw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube - Bow Tuning Tips / Broadhead Tuning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wasparchery.com/blog/tuning-your-bow-for-broadheads&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wasp Archery - Broadhead Tuning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-04-18T09:27:45.190" LastActivityDate="2019-04-18T09:27:45.190" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4598" CreationDate="2016-08-18T13:39:35.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know very well the Polish LPG small butane/propane cylinders that Polish use for their camping stoves and gas lanterns. They are unique because they are small and they are legally refillable by individuals in an LPG car pump. The Polish cylinder comes with an Italian/French/Polish adapter for refilling at the LPG car pump and the cylinder has a special security valve to avoid over-filling (fantastic idea!). I have seen them in Lithuania where they have been very popular for decades for outdoors. They are also unique because they have a thread that is unique to them and you can only use Polish and Russian camping appliances (lanterns, stoves, heaters, etc.) made specifically for the typical Polish cylinders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, in the UK and in all Western Europe it is illegal for individuals to refill an LPG cylinder in an LPG car pump, because car gas, heating gas and camping gas are taxed differently. HMCR prosecutes people who sell or buy LPG in a car pump and use it for other purposes than transport. The same happens in the other countries in Western Europe. That makes the Polish gas cylinder concept very attractive, but very difficult to apply in Western Europe. This is the reason I did not buy one myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Western Europe, we have the equivalent small camping cylinders, but they are not refillable by individuals at the LPG car pump as they are in Poland. They are exchanged by the distributors when they are empty, by a new one full of gas that is taxed appropiately (expensive). The most popular and similar cylinder to the Polish refillable LPG cylinder are the blue French butane refillable cylinders of the brand Campingaz (only available filled with butane, not propane). They are availabe in all the tool shops and camping shops of Western Europe in the same sizes as the Polish refillable cylinders. There are plenty of camping appliances to specific for them (they have a specific thread to them). Bear in mind that refillable Campingaz cylinders have no security valve to avoid overfilling, because they are not designed for refilling at the LPG car pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campingaz also makes diposable blue combined propane/butane canisters that are littered when emptied and there are also many camping appliances for them. They also have their own different special thread for Campingaz camping appliances, but they are available in all Western Europe too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campingaz, although originally a French company, is now the property of Coleman, the US company. Coleman has it own disposable camping propane/butane canister with their own type of thread too and they plenty of camping equipment available for them. The Coleman thread of disposable propane/butane canister is used by other outdoors brands like Primus, Optimus, etc too. The Coleman propane/butane canister type of thread is the most popular thread in the United Kingdom! In the UK it is the one you find everywhere and it has plenty of applainces of plenty brands available. They are also available in all Western Europe and in the USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campingaz, both the disposable propane/butane canisters and the blue refillable butane cylinders are the most popular threads and gas in France and in the countries the South of Europe, but Campingaz is not available in the USA. The truth is that any good outdoors shop in Western Europe will have the three systems I have described: Coleman thread disposable canisters, Campingas thead disposable canisters and Campingas refillable cylinders. But in a supermarket you will only find the dominant model depending of the country where you are. If you plan going camping to a beach in the South of Europe do get Campingaz refillable cylinders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the USA has the Coleman popane only disposable cylinders with American thread. They are the only propane only cylinders in the market. They have now started to sell in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, but even in those countries its distribution is still scarse. They are the best option for Winter camping. They are not available in other Western European countries yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The national petrol company makes its own cylidners too (Calor in the UK, Primagaz in France, Repsol in Spain, etc). This is only available in those countries and they are not popular among outdoor people because they are still too big and heavy comapred to a Campingaz blue refillable cylinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11122" LastActivityDate="2016-08-18T13:39:35.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13601" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-19T05:59:31.377" Score="4" ViewCount="837" Body="&lt;p&gt;So my friend convinced me to buy a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sonofhibachi.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Son Of Hibachi&lt;/a&gt; :) I've set it up and want to give it a try in the evening. Of course there are several sources for a &quot;how to&quot; and even videos but I wanted instructions from &quot;in the field&quot; experiences. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are the basic steps to light a Son Of Hibatchi and are there any practical tips and tricks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quick overview of the grill&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yQWF2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yQWF2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Son Of Hibachi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-08-19T07:48:46.140" LastActivityDate="2020-01-31T16:01:20.167" Title="How to properly light a Son Of Hibachi" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;grilling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13602" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-19T06:02:58.210" Score="3" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13601/how-to-properly-enlighten-a-son-of-hibatchi&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; about how to light a Son of Hibachi portable grill, I want to know which charcoals I should get. Which characteristics should I have an eye on? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T22:05:35.420" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T21:46:23.280" Title="Which characteristics to look for in charcoal for a Son Of Hibachi portable grill?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;grilling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13552" CreationDate="2016-08-19T07:42:43.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is &amp;quot;quality shooting&amp;quot; an official term to describe a bunch of&#xA;disciplines (like traditional archery etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, de facto, I'd never met such interpretation even unofficially.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it really true that we call these kinds of archery &amp;quot;quality&#xA;shooting&amp;quot; or did they want to make a joke (mock compound and crossbow&#xA;people)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like a strange phrase, yes. What are their reasons to mock customers with undecipherable bad jokes? They also have &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.yate.cz/outdoor-45-xl-detail-TSA3000101.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;targets&lt;/a&gt; labeled for composite bows. So, the &amp;quot;so called&amp;quot; mockery is an assumption. So, here is my assumption, there is a comma instead of a dot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice:&#xA;This type of target is intended for qualitative&#xA;shooting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not intended for shooting with composite bows and crossbows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the video, they're using light bows with training arrows. Perhaps, most of the crossbows shred the target or displace it even with special bolts. Those who have written this, possibly, had a practice with them and just trying to help. Ask them for some clarifications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9403" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T07:42:43.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13604" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13605" CreationDate="2016-08-19T13:27:49.453" Score="31" ViewCount="4811" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine loves to brag about his Mount Everest experiences. He's a great climber and adventurer but sometimes I think he might exaggerate his stories a little ;). However, lately he came up with the fact that there are a bunch of corpses up there and that they are used as way-points. Is this true? How does this work? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T16:53:52.137" Title="Are corpses on Mount Everest used as way-points?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13604" CreationDate="2016-08-19T14:33:33.570" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of corpses on Everest, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-are-over-200-bodies-on-mount-everest-and-theyre-used-as-landmarks-146904416/&quot;&gt;200+ according to the Smithsonian&lt;/a&gt;, and yes many are used as markers. They tend to be wearing bright clothes and are often on the main routes so it kinda makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few bodies are actually retrieved from Everest above a certain height. Even with oxygen, Everest is on the edge of what humans can endure. It's simply not practical to try and carry a body out in these circumstances. It'd simply be too much effort and/or too dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most famous one is Tsewang Paljor (or Green Boots as he's often called). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-tragic-story-of-mt-everests-most-famous-dead-body&quot;&gt;The BBC have an extensive story about him&lt;/a&gt; and the circumstances of how he ended up where he did. He's a prime example of a corpse, too high to retrieve in a well travelled position and wearing bright clothing (green boots) that make him a good marker in the otherwise white and black expanse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="4247" LastEditDate="2016-08-19T16:53:52.137" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T16:53:52.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13606" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-19T14:40:19.220" Score="3" ViewCount="67" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a GPS device for road cycling (road navigation and gpx tracking) and mountaineering (topo maps, compass, barometric elevation / pressure). I am finding no products explicitly marketed for both, I am wondering if anyone has recommendations or hints?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, more specifically, I would be looking for the following features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation of a pre-programmed route on a bike, like in a car SatNav, ideally also showing speed / other stats in real-time as well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good topo map capability for the mountains&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Built-in barometer and digital compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reasonable weather-proofing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;[optional] possibility to connect a heart-rate monitor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;[welcome] good battery life&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;[budget] less is better, but no set figure - though if it is more than the cost of a hiking GPS and separate bike one, it seems preferable to buy two units?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions? Garmin eTrex 30x seems to tick the boxes: &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/handheld/etrex-30x/prod518048.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/handheld/etrex-30x/prod518048.html&lt;/a&gt; though I could not find any reviews about using it as a cycling computer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks for any help&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T14:40:19.220" Title="GPS unit for road cycling and mountaineering" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-08-19T20:32:00.393" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13607" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-19T14:41:43.073" Score="3" ViewCount="837" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am pretty sure that from a bear's point of view a llama counts as food, but as its not possible to put a llama into a bear can or suspend it from a tree branch, how would I keep it from being eaten on a backpacking trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2016-12-08T14:49:53.720" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T00:53:40.787" Title="How to keep a llama from being eaten by a bear?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13607" CreationDate="2016-08-19T15:52:21.797" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not limited to bear.  A mountain lion, wolf, or coyote may attack you or domestic animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even on your property with a fence bear may attack domestic animals including llama.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not practical to take a bear proof fence backpacking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear repellent but if you defend the llama you introduce yourself as a possible target.  A gun but be aware it takes a big gun to drop a bear.  And a bear attack is more likely at night so have a light on the gun.  But you have a llama to carry the big gun. The llama will most likely sense danger and give you warning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where are you going?  If guides are using llama in the area then ask them.  If guides are using llama in the area period it is probably safe.  In aggressive bear county I would look for country where bears are not aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In high country like above tree line bear attack is not common.  That is the natural habitat of llama and clearly they have survived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A llama is pretty fast and very agile. Without a pack it can probably elude a bear. Just release the llama.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question was edited to pack animal after I answered.  My answer would be different for a horse.  A bear is less likely to attack prey as big as a horse.  A horse is better at defending itself.  And a horse can out run a bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-19T17:56:04.063" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T17:56:04.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13626" CreationDate="2016-08-19T22:37:29.270" Score="4" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are these bugs on my porch and how can I get rid of them? They latch onto the siding upside-down or sideways and stay there for weeks. I've never seen them move. I noticed they had moved position after it rained heavily. Can I just brush them off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09VlA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09VlA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/00H9O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/00H9O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11133" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:39:06.313" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:39:06.313" Title="Identification of bugs on porch" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13607" CreationDate="2016-08-19T23:35:15.733" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why bring only one llama? If one is fun two are twice as nice!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all seriousness llamas are herd animals so they would probably be better protected as a group since this is their standard defensive tactic in the wild. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively/additionally you can bring a dog with you too. The dog will help prevent predators from attacking the llama(s) which is one of the reasons why shepherds had dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-08-19T23:35:15.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="363" CreationDate="2016-08-20T01:10:45.380" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fish usualy look for a combination of food and refuge . You must look for fish natural food in that habitat and region. Some fish feed of small seeds and fruits and you can look for trees near the water for them. Some fish feed from worms and insects and you can search them in the ground or trees. Some other fish feed of smaller fish and you can actualy use them as bait. Hope it helped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11135" LastActivityDate="2016-08-20T01:10:45.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13612" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13614" CreationDate="2016-08-20T05:18:50.813" Score="10" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recognized this a few times in Texas. Trees were more or less &quot;professionally&quot; painted purple. It appeared totally random to me but was too frequent to just take it as a plain tag from the owner (like, &quot;I especially like this tree, I'll make it purple&quot;). Does anybody know what the paint signals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CMgYn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CMgYn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-13T17:17:01.577" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T17:17:01.577" Title="Why are trees marked purple in the state of Texas?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;texas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13612" CreationDate="2016-08-20T07:53:26.760" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Purple paint is a common means of indicating private property boundaries in a number of US states.  Some states use alternate colors such as orange or blue.  The paint may be considered the equivalent of a &quot;no trespassing&quot; sign, but is considered more practical for marking property lines that may extend for miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are usually requirements associated with the markings.  For example, Texas law (Penal Code §30.05) requires:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than one inch in width;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (ii)  placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (iii)  placed at locations that are readily visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (a)  100 feet apart on forest land;  or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (b)  1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ref: &lt;strong&gt;Purple Paint - Texas No Trespassing Marking&lt;/strong&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geocachingaustin.com/reference/purplepaint-texasnotrespassingmarking&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;geocachingaustin.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-20T16:39:51.150" LastActivityDate="2016-08-20T16:39:51.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13615" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13737" CreationDate="2016-08-20T12:33:45.610" Score="10" ViewCount="720" Body="&lt;p&gt;I accidentally filled my Primus Powerlighter with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=274057144&quot;&gt;liquid lighter fuel&lt;/a&gt; rather than &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=274057323&quot;&gt;gas lighter fuel&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(How) can I correct this mistake, or is my lighter now ruined?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was about 30–40% full and I did have some leakage as I tried to fill it.  It appears I can make most of it evaporate by simultaneously pushing the valve open and pushing the ignition.  It is now some 10% full.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-08-31T15:51:35.523" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T10:34:18.897" Title="I filled my Primus Powerlighter with the wrong kind of fuel. How to correct?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13633" CreationDate="2016-08-20T21:55:48.333" Score="10" ViewCount="843" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you smoke salmon in the wild without a smoker? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going camping with a few friends and we would like to try smoking any salmon we catch during our time in the wild. How do we safely smoke salmon in the wild without a smoker, yet being in possession of some basic camping supplies: knives, hatchets, matches, etc.? We would  like to be able to smoke our salmon in such a way that is food safe, in order to avoid getting food poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-20T20:22:28.830" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T20:22:28.830" Title="How do you smoke salmon in the wild without a smoker?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13623" CreationDate="2016-08-21T01:46:46.410" Score="18" ViewCount="1850" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone explain the basic process of identifying plants. To assist I also am posting an unidentified plant photo. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify it and explain the method and resources used? Thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: Southern Pennsylvania - Gettysburg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photos are from August 17th, 2016&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are my personal photos and require no licensing. Feel free to use and share.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/64IRn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/64IRn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3BcPP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3BcPP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQDW0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQDW0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo 3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:39:15.497" LastActivityDate="2020-11-22T20:59:47.787" Title="Plant identification methods" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13619" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13646" CreationDate="2016-08-21T07:15:06.127" Score="3" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading the instructions &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Lightweight-Down-Camping-Quilt/?ALLSTEPS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; about making my own sleeping bag/top quilt and it got me thinking, if I can make a temporary seal on one end (Velcro, buttons, zips, etc) I could vary the amount of stuffing, removing excess in summer and overstuffing in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason that this wouldn't work? Some links to maker sites would be much appreciated as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T10:16:40.557" Title="Homemade top quilt with variable stuffing" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13378" CreationDate="2016-08-21T16:13:09.327" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Define dirty. The question says potable. The stuff that will hurt you requires very fine filtration that I don't think is feasible using natural elements.  Filters for protozoan cysts and bacteria typically filter to 0.2 microns&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes you can filter larger particulate matter (e.g. dirt) but that is not (typically) the dangerous stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is Water Treatment Even Necessary?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Q: Why do I need to treat water in wilderness areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Regardless of how pure water may look, any water source on the planet could be tainted with microscopic waterborne pathogens—disease-causing pests that, if ingested, could cause severe diarrhea, cramps, vomiting and fever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recent research, though, suggests that wilderness water at higher elevations is much cleaner than previously believed. Some experts argue that the blame for intestinal infections is more often traceable to preexisting conditions and lax sanitation, particularly unwashed hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Q: What's in wilderness water that can affect me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Three groups of waterborne critters are most commonly linked to water-related illness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protozoan cysts (Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia). Tiny (1 to&#xA;300 microns; 1 micron = one-millionth of a meter).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bacteria (Escherichia coli, or E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter&#xA;jejuni, Yersinia entercolitica, Leptospira interrogans and many&#xA;others). Very tiny (0.1 to 10 microns).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Viruses (hepatitis A, rotavirus, enterovirus, norovirus, Norwalk&#xA;virus). Exceptionally tiny (0.005 to 0.1 micron). Viruses are rarely&#xA;found in North American wilderness waters. Only purifiers (not&#xA;filters) eliminate viruses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-21T18:16:32.493" LastActivityDate="2016-08-21T18:16:32.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13618" CreationDate="2016-08-21T17:12:24.607" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're identifying a totally unfamiliar plant in the field, then typically you &lt;strong&gt;consult a field guide or botany textbook that has a key&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These books can be broad or specific. For instance, I have one that's a pocket guide to conifers, and another that's a guide to Sierra wildflowers. They can also be designed for a technical audience or for laypeople.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, I have a bunch of these growing around my house: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/66jBm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/66jBm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;[Source of photo: Agave attenuata, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_attenuata#/media/File:Agave_attenuata_flowering.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; , CC-BY-SA license.]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without consulting a book, I can pretty quickly tell that it's a flowering plant, and it's what's known as a monocot, meaning plants like grasses and onions that have parallel-veined leaves. I have a book called &lt;em&gt;Plant Classification&lt;/em&gt;, by Lyman Benson, and in ch. XI it has a &lt;strong&gt;key to the monocots&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Item 1&lt;/strong&gt; in the key is basically whether it's an aquatic plant (plus a bunch of other criteria). My plant isn't, so I skip down to where the text sends me for plants that don't have this trait.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Item 2&lt;/strong&gt; is technical stuff about the flowers: &quot;Pistils commonly 10 to numerous, rarely 6-9, separate, each formed from a single carpel; stamens usually 7-many or rarely 6 in pairs, i.e., 2 opposite each petal.&quot; This is pretty common for flowering plants -- the classification system is all about the flowers. If the plant isn't in bloom, or you don't have access to a flower, you're often out of luck. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So at this point I go out in my back yard, where I do currently happen to have a plant with one of the big, spectacular flowers stalks like in the WP picture. Unfortunately this one has gone to seed, and all I have left are the dried , hardened sepals. The pistils are gone, dried up and blown away, so I can't apply the criterion in the book. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So at this point I cheat because I know it's an agave, and I look in the index of the book and find that it's part of the lily family, reorganized these days to be part of the Asparagaceae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I think you can see from this example that in most cases, if you're a layperson like me, it's going to be very hard to key out a plant from a general, technical book. Your best bet is to find a very specific, localized field guide, like &lt;em&gt;Guide to the Native Cacti of San Diego County&lt;/em&gt;, and one that has a &lt;strong&gt;key designed to be used by laypeople&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation, your best bet is probably to wait until next year when these plants are in flower (they look like they've fruited in your photos), and take home a leaf and flower sample. It's kind of hard to tell from your photo, but it looks to me like your plant's most distinctive feature is that it has a magenta stem and a magenta raceme with dark black berries. You might be able to google on terms like that and come up with something. As search terms, you could also include the geographical area and stuff about leaf structure (pinnate?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T17:43:27.013" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T17:43:27.013" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13618" CreationDate="2016-08-21T19:53:40.263" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your plant is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/single_weed.php?id=112&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;pokeweed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Phytolacca americana&lt;/em&gt;. I have a lot in my yard in Massachusetts. Our sister site, &lt;a href=&quot;https://gardening.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;Gardening and Landscaping&lt;/a&gt; has a number of questions about pokeweed. I think &lt;a href=&quot;https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/2609/what-is-this-fast-growing-plant-with-blue-black-berries/2610#2610&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; has the best pictures and identification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question though, the simplest thing for me is to &lt;strong&gt;do an internet search&lt;/strong&gt;.  Choose words that characterize the plant, and see if it comes up. Even if you know only a little, it's possible to stumble on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your case was relatively easy, especially if I'm correct! I don't have a description of the whole plant, but the most prominent features, including the stem and berries, are clear. I Googled &quot;&lt;strong&gt;plant with long purple stems and purple berries.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; The first thing that came up was a list including &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjduZuPitPOAhVG7yYKHVnTCfMQ_AUIBygA&amp;amp;dpr=1.09&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;some websites&lt;/a&gt; with descriptions and care information. That's often enough, depending on the plant and how much you want to learn about it. There are closely related plants, though, so you do need to be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Many gardeners choose Wikipedia as their primary information source. It's in many languages, and has a lot of links to other Wikipedia pages. It's not my favorite, though. It's harder to navigate, doesn't always have the best pictures, especially on its home page, and their sources aren't always reliable.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want an easy way to confirm the identification, choose the &quot;images&quot; tab at the top of the search results, or press on the list of images Google search page, and you'll get a page with many pictures of &quot;plant with long purple stems and purple berries.&quot; In this case, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj9pLK0jdPOAhUCNSYKHaPRCTsQ_AUICSgC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&quot; is that page. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The plants that most closely match your description generally appear first. As you look farther down, there are more plants with the same general characteristics but don't look quite like your plant. If you want to go farther, click on one of the pictures that most closely matches our pylant. A smaller group of pictures will come up, with links to websites. By using this method, I chose the very first picture and was led to the &quot;Illinois Wildflowers&quot; site, which opened the page clearly identifying it. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/pokeweed.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/pokeweed.htm&lt;/a&gt;. (Again, search engines differ, so just pick one that most closely resembles your plant.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make sure the information is most accurate, I recommend choosing a picture that is identified as coming from a gardening or plant identification website. Blogs often change or get deleted. Other sites have good pictures but not much more than that. An example is Pinterest, which is member-based, and ever changing. If you just want to see more pictures of your plant though, that's a fine choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of Google searches got me to your pokeweed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The simplest was &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plants+with+purple+stems&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;tbo=u&amp;amp;source=univ&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjyyMmOndPOAhUDJiYKHX6uB6cQsAQIJA&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576#newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=purple+stems+berries&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;purple stems berries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Actually, the very simplest was &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;tbo=u&amp;amp;source=univ&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi2g6O8ntPOAhXEOiYKHc4PDZIQ7AkIKg&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576#imgrc=ymK67RJqYCQDwM%3A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;purple berries&lt;/a&gt;, but you have to look a bit farther down the page to find the pokeweed.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjtzeqmjtPOAhWBTCYKHWuyAaMQ_AUIBygA&amp;amp;dpr=1.09#newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;q=plant+with+dark+purple+berries&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plant with dark purple berries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjtzeqmjtPOAhWBTCYKHWuyAaMQ_AUIBygA&amp;amp;dpr=1.09#newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;q=dark+purple+berries+on+purple+stem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dark purple berries on purple stem&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1252&amp;amp;bih=576&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjtzeqmjtPOAhWBTCYKHWuyAaMQ_AUIBygA&amp;amp;dpr=1.09#newwindow=1&amp;amp;safe=active&amp;amp;q=plant+with+long+purple+stems+and+purple+berries+in+Pennsylvania&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plant with purple stems and purple berries in Pennsylvania&lt;/a&gt; (You might not always want to use that, because if your plant's not native to Pennsylvania, it may not come up.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found an app called &lt;a href=&quot;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garden-answers-plant-identification/id605855033?mt=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garden Answers Plant App&lt;/a&gt; which works by taking pictures and comparing them to a database they claim includes over 20,000 plants. This one is made by Apple, so it only works on Apple products, but I think there are others for different operating systems. You might want to look those up. I haven't used them so I can't vouch for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T00:18:16.297" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T00:18:16.297" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13609" CreationDate="2016-08-21T23:15:23.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your pictures, those look like discarded cicada husks.  They're not &quot;alive&quot;.  You can just knock them off with whatever tool you prefer for such things (broom, paint scraper, etc.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no real need to prevent them.  The cicadas molt and move on, leaving the husks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-08-21T23:15:23.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13656" CreationDate="2016-08-22T03:31:12.300" Score="10" ViewCount="1424" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BWP4E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BWP4E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We went to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p85Wwc0J_s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gargantua&lt;/a&gt; this weekend, I've been going at least once a year for the past few years, and it's not uncommon to see rocky mountain goats up at that elevation, but this time around we ran into a family of nine, some of which were hanging out right in the cave entrance.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gvb1R.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gvb1R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Just inside the cave entrance, I'd live here if I was a Mountain goat:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQqVe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQqVe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not really fond of mountain goats... They're big &lt;em&gt;(up to +300lbs/140kg!)&lt;/em&gt;, they're muscular, they can scramble up cliff faces faster than I can fall down them, and they have sharp pointy horns that hook just enough to rip your bowels out after they gore you. Also, in my experience, despite what I'm told about goats, they aren't really afraid of humans. I'm not very fond of any animal in the woods that isn't afraid of humans. Last time we came out of these caves there was a goat just around the arrete from the exit &lt;em&gt;(image at bottom)&lt;/em&gt;. He seemed to challenge us, and kept moving closer instead of bolting like most hoofed animals do in the rockies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are eight goats in the picture, we came up behind some of them on our final approach to the cave, and they scrambled back over to the entrance to meet up with the others as the five of us approached (with me shouting at them to move along). The ninth goat was a big billy that had the high ground directly above us before we even knew he was there (no picture). I've had this happen a couple times; where we've run into a goat high up above the treeline, and it doesn't run away, instead it gets the high ground directly above you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I want to know is what that billy was planning on doing. There were a fews kids in the herd, no doubt his offspring, and I've seen videos of ibex and rams diving off rocks horns-first at each other. Would a mountain goat attack a human? Was his grab at the high ground defensive, or offensive? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/egr5S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/egr5S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;We popped out from underground then discovered this guy up around the corner just before heading out. He kept approaching us as if he were intent on standing his ground and driving us off.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T13:48:19.347" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T13:48:19.347" Title="Will a Rocky Mountain Goat attack a person?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rocky-mountain-goats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2016-08-22T06:54:12.277" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;So the question remains.......what is the difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well in my experience there is very little difference when we are talking about bullet weights up to 180gr. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine has a 30-06 and I use a .308 Win. We put our money together to purchase heads (Nosler custom competition 155gr HPBT) to reload ourselves and we noticed something very interesting. Our first loads, we were both achieving MVs of 2550fps. Both 26&quot; barrels with 1:12 twists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However my friend could not achieve good groups at those speeds. He has had to go down to 2300fps to achieve acceptable groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So essentially what we have here is a .308 Win that is out performing a 30-06 LOL.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is only because, I presume his rifle does not like that bullet when it is travelling faster than 2300fps...... but there you go. A lot of the difference will also be dictated by the rifle being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11144" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T06:54:12.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2016-08-22T07:26:18.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Save your knees! How ever heavy or light you must train to carry the load. Prepare your body, especially your knees. As a 145 lb 20 something year old I hiked with a 35 lb pack in NM going up and down Canyons for a two day trip and on the way back my knees became so painful I had to hand over much of my load and barely made it back to base. I'd put too much pressure on my knees and did some permanent damage. Also remember, coming downhill is much more wearing than going up. Train by building up your load slowly and make sure your leg muscles are strong enough that your knee joints aren't grinding cartilage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11145" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T07:26:18.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13295" CreationDate="2016-08-22T14:25:52.237" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Already a couple of nice answers by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13296/2303&quot;&gt;imsodin&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13298/2303&quot;&gt;Liam&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add 2 cents to it. Might appear a bit lengthy, but for me its essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep on telling people that they should never try to suck the venom out of a snake bite or why are venom extractors useless, it is not just for the safety of the one who is sucking, but also to educate why that is of absolutely no value.&#xA;It has been a stupid myth among people, visualizing that the snake bites a person and the venom gets mixed in blood like you dip a color paint brush into the water bowl and water turns into a different color. This is not how it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the snake bits are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcutaneous_injection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Subcutaneous&lt;/a&gt;, sometimes Intramuscular (Think of the injections that you might have taken on your hips when you were kid) and very very rarely Intradermal (Just a scratch along the layers of the skin, similar to the one Austin Stevens had from a Snouted Cobra during his show) rather than being Intravenous (Injecting liquid substances directly into a vein), unless the snake fangs are so big and you are utterly unlucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now how does it correlate to sucking venom out of a snake bite?&#xA;Taking a deeper dive, you'd need to know how the venom gets into the victim's blood, what People usually call as Envenomation which means absorption of the venom into the bloodstream. The venom is absorbed firstly into Lymphatic System, which is a part of the Circulatory system. Again, Lymphatic system does not carry bloodstream, it carries Lymph. Lymph gets mixed with Blood at left or right Subclavian vein. But before that, the Lymph is passed through Lymph Nodes. Lymph nodes act like a filter for something that doesn't belong to the body, something which is foreign. But, these are not meant to deal with any kind of Toxins. So they get exhausted and that results in swollen or tender lymph nodes. Thats exactly why the ones who survive a snake bite sustain significant damage to Lymphatic system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask anyone who has had a serious scorpion bite, or tell your doctor that you have been bitten by something you don't know about. The doctor might check your body for swelling around groin or armpits. Thats where the Lymph nodes are. Later the toxins reaching Kidneys do their damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is, does the venom directly gets transported through bloodstream, no, it doesn't!&#xA;So sucking the wound, or making cuts around the bite to make the blood come out of the wound, or using a tourniquet to stop the blood flow are useless things to do. The aim should be to prevent lymphatic spread rather than restricting the blood supply altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason behind roughly explaining how it takes place, is to clarify why we shouldn't do certain things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T08:00:20.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13631" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13648" CreationDate="2016-08-22T14:29:03.393" Score="18" ViewCount="22488" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why are tying the tourniquets or restricting bandages not recommended or in fact to be avoided to treat a snakebite before getting the proper medical attention?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Closely related questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/13295/2303&quot;&gt;Am I able to &amp;quot;open up&amp;quot; a snake bite and suck the venom out of it?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4798/2303&quot;&gt;What are the first aid precautions to be taken in case of a snake bite?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-03-14T08:51:08.613" Title="Why are tourniquets not recommended as a first aid for a snakebite?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13631" CreationDate="2016-08-22T14:31:08.800" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep on telling people that they should never try to restrict the blood flow by using a tourniquet or a tight restricting bandage.&#xA;It has been a stupid myth among people, visualizing that the snake bites a person and the venom gets mixed in blood like you dip a color paint brush into the water bowl and water turns into a different color. This is not how it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the snake bits are Subcutaneous, sometimes Intramuscular (Ones that you might have taken on your hips when you were kid) and very very rarely Intradermal (Just a scratch along the layers of the skin) rather than being Intravenous (Injecting liquid substances directly into a vein), unless the snake fangs are so big and you are utterly unlucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now how does it correlate to sucking venom out of a snake bite? Taking a deeper dive, you'd need to know how the venom gets into the victim's blood, what People usually call as Envenomation which means absorption of the venom into the bloodstream. The venom is absorbed firstly into Lymphatic System, which is a part of the Circulatory system. Again, Lymphatic system does not carry bloodstream, it carries Lymph. Lymph gets mixed with Blood at left or right Subclavian vein. But before that, the Lymph is passed through Lymph Nodes. Lymph nodes act like a filter for something that doesn't belong to the body, something which is foreign. But, these are not meant to deal with any kind of Toxins. So they get exhausted and that results in swollen or tender lymph nodes. That exactly why the ones who survive a snake bite sustain significant damage to Lymphatic system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask anyone who has had a serious scorpion bite, or tell your doctor that you have been bitten by something you don't know about. The doctor might check your body for swelling around groin or armpits. That's where the Lymph nodes are. Later the toxins reaching Kidneys do their damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is, does the venom directly gets transported through bloodstream, no, it doesn't! using a tourniquet to stop the blood flow is a useless thing to do. The aim should be to prevent lymphatic spread rather than restricting the blood supply altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason behind roughly explaining how it takes place, is to clarify why do should do certain things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-03-14T08:51:08.613" LastActivityDate="2018-03-14T08:51:08.613" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13617" CreationDate="2016-08-22T15:08:32.553" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You make a smoker, all you need to carry with you is some tinfoil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best tasting fish I ever had was cooked in a tinfoil smoker out in the woods on a winter camp, we lashed together a simple rack like shown below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/smBoB.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/smBoB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our fish fillets went on the rack, then we wrapped the whole thing with tinfoil (tinfoil underneath too), shiny side in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used maple boughs for our smoker wood by sticking the ends into our camp fire to get them hot and burning, and after they had some nice hot cherries glowing on the end of them we blew the flames out and stuck them in the bottom of our smoker, right under the rack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was a process of constantly replenishing the smoking boughs, we'd have a bunch in the fire, and swap them out for the old ones in the smoker every couple minutes. The result was amazing. The fish had that maple smoked flavour, but was also cooked from the heat of the boughs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T15:08:32.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13609" CreationDate="2016-08-22T15:21:02.713" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those are Cicadas, they live in the ground for years and crawl out only to moult their skins as adults and mate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q0izj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q0izj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have an obnoxiously &lt;em&gt;loud&lt;/em&gt; mating call, I'm sure you've heard it, they'll often emerge from the ground all at once, there are some places where they come out like clockwork every five years, thousands of them all in the same night, those skins can be found in piles around the base of trees, and stuck all the way up and along every branch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you're looking at is the empty shell, the bug has since flown away and crashed into a wall somewhere and most likely been eaten by a rodent or bird. Cicadas are dumb, they will pretty much walk inside the mouth of a predator. It's a feast for many creatures when they come out, because they are the easiest prey in the world, and they're big and juicy. There are even some cultures that cook them up for dinner. Or just pick them off the trees and munch on them for a snack. I myself have never been brave enough... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TJoti.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TJoti.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T19:39:27.687" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T19:39:27.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13636" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13637" CreationDate="2016-08-22T16:05:15.853" Score="13" ViewCount="6247" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose you don't have a pot or any other fire proof container to boil water in, but you need to boil it for safe drinking water. How else can you boil the water? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-08-22T16:54:18.830" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T16:47:15.977" Title="How do you boil water without a proper container?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13636" CreationDate="2016-08-22T16:19:00.080" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;A watertight container is what is required here. The best thing is metal but if we're without this you can use &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=3&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;sqi=2&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjFu4q2h9fOAhWnKMAKHdzDAMYQtwIIJTAC&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvLa9mxrrrsc&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNFHn3TvAIoktnUfHbV4ZamWyupFOQ&amp;amp;sig2=f_a3CsrQyK-kOHy_45rY9A&amp;amp;bvm=bv.129759880,d.ZGg&quot;&gt;plastic bottles on the shoreline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scouthelp.co.uk/Boil_water_in_paper_bag&quot;&gt;folded paper&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a hollowed out and charred piece of wood*&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bamboo*&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;broad leaves shaped using twigs*&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;birch bark*&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dig up some clay, create a bowl and throw it in the fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;carve a wooden bowl&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use strips of wood, bound together with cordage and plugged with clay*&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eattheweeds.com/mesolithic-cooking-it%E2%80%99s-the-pits-2/&quot;&gt;Here's a link to a few more methods as well&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to heat up your water, if your container is fireproof (metal, clay) throw it in the flames and away you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about your container, an efficient way of heating water is to heat up rocks in the fire and then put them in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*One note on heating rocks, if they contain sand or water, they may explode from heating, so be careful with your choices!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Don't have a link but was on a survival course and the instructor advised that seaweed* can be used as well to boil water it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*edit 2&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I'm sure it goes without saying but when hollowing out wood, using leaves or seaweed to boil water it is essential that the materials used are non-toxic! Do not use leaves/wood in your cooking from plants that you are not 100% positive on the ID&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="9553" LastEditDate="2016-08-31T08:37:29.847" LastActivityDate="2016-08-31T08:37:29.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13457" CreationDate="2016-08-22T17:16:56.707" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I run long distance runs on trails with all types of obstacles, and for me the most comfortable shoes are ones that have a bottom similar to Nike Free RN Distance. These shoes are designed with flexible soles so that roots and rocks on the trail would not cause so much disruption when running on trails. The shoe bottom is also pretty durable, being not so thick (so it gives a natural feel to the foot) but thick enough so that it can last a hard beating. I had worn the shoes for about 3/4 of a year now, and the soles only have a little wear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T17:16:56.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13639" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-22T17:18:45.503" Score="1" ViewCount="1171" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been looking around and I see some claims of 15 to 30 minutes.  Googling 'snake bite fastest time to death' brings back many different answers.  In one place I see Black Mamba with 30 minutes and in another it takes hours.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the sake of this question, assume time to death is when antidote will no longer help.  Person might still be breathing, but are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;those who are unlikely to live, regardless of what care they receive(Triage)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T11:16:17.067" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T11:16:17.067" Title="How fast can a snakebite kill?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2016-08-23T00:26:07.000" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13639" CreationDate="2016-08-22T21:37:22.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dying in minutes, barring smashing your head on a rock as you fall from the snake bite, won't happen. I know a toxicologist and asking him he agreed that a few hours is the rule-of-thumb for someone who receives no treatment. Even a Black Mamba would take say 6-7 hours at the fastest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a caveat, however, a snake bite could bring about complications from pre-existing conditions, such as heart or circulation issues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like more clarification on what exactly you're looking for. Also note this is a topic of much exaggeration. Most anecdotal accounts I read say in the range of 15-30 minutes but any scientifically backed reports I find say hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11119" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T21:37:22.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13641" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13642" CreationDate="2016-08-22T22:11:42.527" Score="8" ViewCount="304" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am starting geocaching and have a few finds already, but there is one cache near my residence that I could not find. I checked the logs and pictures, but I found no sign of a cache at ground zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I am a beginner, I would want to know some tips and tricks to find a possible hiding space and what I should be aware of during geocaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T21:05:08.900" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T11:11:24.597" Title="What to look for on the site of a geocache?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13641" CreationDate="2016-08-22T23:03:32.630" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been geocaching for 12 or 13 years.  I'm no power cacher, but I do have a few hundred finds.  But you know what?  I also have a couple hundred no finds.  Some may have been missing at the time, while others were found the very next day by someone else.  A few I managed after a subsequent visit, but there are a small number that elude me to this day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the Force is not with you.  Sometimes your Cache-Fu doesn't bring you answers.  Sometimes the hide is just that tricky.  What you have experienced is, in a word, &lt;strong&gt;normal&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, the answer to your underlying question is hard to pin-point, but in general, look for something out of place, and remember that GPS accuracy can be as bad as 20 to 30 ft (6 to 10m).  Here are a few examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most obvious one: a too-perfect-grouping of sticks.  A single stick on the ground in the woods is just a stick.  Even a pile of sticks can happen at times.  But a gathering of sticks, all aligned in the same direction, leaned against a stump?  That probably hides a geocache.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rocks.  Rocks do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; naturally pile together.  A pile of rocks has a geocache underneath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A pine cone in a maple tree.  It might have fallen off a nearby pine tree.  But then again, if there are no nearby pine trees, it might be a fake!  Perhaps a cap screws off or something, and there's your geocache.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bird house without an opening for a bird to go into.  Look for a hinged side or something, and the geocache within.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more I could list, but at some point I would cross the line into spoilers, and ruin the game for you.  Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T23:03:32.630" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13457" CreationDate="2016-08-22T23:31:53.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;People can say anything they want about running shoes, and manufacturers too. It's 99% nonsense, not based on any evidence (&lt;a href=&quot;http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/the-myth-of-pronation-and-running-injuries/?smid=pl-share&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;). There are basically only two conclusions I know of that are supported by evidence:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) If you're interested in reducing your chances of getting an injury such as a repetitive stress injury, the evidence shows that your likelihood of injury is very insensitive to what kind of shoe you use. The evidence only really shows that &lt;em&gt;changing&lt;/em&gt; what you do (changing your shoes, changing your running style, ...) temporarily leads to a higher probability of injury. The interpretation is that your brain-body system adapts in very sophisticated ways. It can adapt to almost anything, but it can't do it suddenly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Having less weight on your foot increases performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I recognized that some surfaces (especially the gravel) trouble the mentioned shoes pretty much. I feel like the sole is too thin. So, what do I have to look for in &quot;all terrain&quot; running shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The evidence (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runresearchjunkie.com/just-how-significant-are-heel-impacts-at-causing-injury-when-running/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18801775&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;) does not support the idea that a thicker, more cushioned sole reduces injury. It appears that your body adapts to whatever amount of cushioning you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way you pose the question is interesting, because it implies that you believe trail running to be more stressful than running on streets, so that more cushioning would be needed. Among many runners, the conventional wisdom is the opposite: they believe that hard pavement is harder on the body, and that they're less likely to be injured if they run on nice soft dirt and turf. Anyway, neither view is supported by the evidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a runner, I always try to focus on the happy part of this message. The happy message is that no evidence forces you to do anything in particular in order to avoid injury. Therefore you can do whatever feels good and enjoyable, and not worry that you're going to get hurt because you're doing it wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What to look for in (trail-)running shoes for various terrain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because there is zero evidence for essentially any of the manufacturers' claims, it's not a good idea to pay more than you have to. Buy cheap running shoes. If you're trying to run fast and competitively, buy lighter shoes. But do not suddenly switch from very heavily cushioned shoes to minimalist shoes, because the sudden switch may not allow your body to adapt quickly enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-08-22T23:46:13.590" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T23:46:13.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13641" CreationDate="2016-08-22T23:56:33.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you describe it as &quot;near your residence&quot;, it's probably what is known as an &quot;urban micro&quot;: a small, camouflaged container attached to something like a street sign or a lamp post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2016-08-22T23:56:33.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13645" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13649" CreationDate="2016-08-23T01:07:06.857" Score="11" ViewCount="515" Body="&lt;p&gt;While backpacking in the Wind River Range in Wyoming, I had to cross this bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZlLDI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZlLDI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Down&amp;#39;s fork bridge&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The piece of paper on the left support said,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Due to recent high water events, this bridge may be damaged. Assess and cross at your own risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the warning was aimed more at people who were using horses and mules for transportation as an animal is much heavier than a backpacker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I crossed the bridge with no problems, but if I was using stock, how would I assess the safety of the bridge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:31:12.060" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:31:12.060" Title="How would one assess the safety of a wooden bridge?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13619" CreationDate="2016-08-23T01:32:08.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before I answer your question about variable stuffing, I think you could do better for your basic sources on MYOG quilt design and construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some good info on quilt design&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5gPKrAE6Bk&amp;amp;index=6&amp;amp;list=PLtqBRLEg3GBeoc0sCJ2O87Htkr9e6JR8o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The benefits of Karo Step baffles, plus design tips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTYqTRkRuRk&amp;amp;index=52&amp;amp;list=PLtqBRLEg3GBeoc0sCJ2O87Htkr9e6JR8o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Calculating down fill requirements&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tramplite.com/2013/02/myog-quilt.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Some innovative ideas from Colin Ibbotson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Useful videos on construction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGaHsvtfbFg&amp;amp;index=50&amp;amp;list=PLtqBRLEg3GBeoc0sCJ2O87Htkr9e6JR8o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;A comprehensive walk-through of a Karo project&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSkZdxJx4uo&amp;amp;index=51&amp;amp;list=PLtqBRLEg3GBeoc0sCJ2O87Htkr9e6JR8o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Time-saving tips for sewing Karo baffles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A good source of down&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the down itself, I'd recommend DownLinens Premium Washed Down with the Water Resistant (WR) finish. This is the down used by many of the top manufacturers, directly from the source. The WR finish is the best on the market, according to many industry insiders. Not cheap, but very high quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A variable stuffing quilt?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think many people do this, and there is a pretty good reason. Quality down is difficult stuff to handle, so adding and subtracting it from your quilt would be a pretty major faff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Colin Ibbotson is known for his innovative gear designs, but even he couldn't think of a way to make it practical. He considered &quot;pods&quot; of down contained in gauze, but rejected this on weight grounds. I also can't see how pods would allow you to distribute and loft the down properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main benefit of a sealable opening might be to overfill the quilt gradually as the down deteriorates. This could extend the life of the quilt over the years at the cost of a little extra weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comfort, a Karo Step design allows you to move down around the quilt very easily to add or reduce insulation as the temperature changes - just work some down to the edges if you want to cool down. Plus a quilt is inherently quite flexible as you can fully or partially cover your body at will. So the only real penalty for carrying an over-specced quilt is weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal approach is to build a quilt that will deal with the lowest temperature I'm likely to encounter, as I hate sleeping cold. The difference between a 2 season quilt and a 3 season quilt is only around 200 grams. The places I walk can always have a sudden cold snap so personally I'm not that fussed about the extra weight in warmer weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If 200g is a big deal for you, you could make a 2 season quilt for summer and a 3 season quilt for the elbow seasons. Then layer them in the winter for very cold conditions, with 2 quilts covering all your needs short of arctic or high altitude work. Just make one of the quilts large enough to drape over the other without draughts. For hard-core winter camping two quilts will be slightly heavier than a dedicated winter quilt, but they will be quicker to dry when you're dealing with condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll find a lot more on YouTube and BackpackingLight.com if you search for &quot;MYOG quilt&quot;. There are also kits on offer from a number of suppliers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this is of some use!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T10:16:40.557" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T10:16:40.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2016-08-23T02:14:31.113" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bit late to the party, but there are some basics that need emphasising. This is all common-sense, but it's surprising how often these points are neglected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CHOOSE A SUITABLE ROUTE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, ensure that your route is within your experience, technical ability and fitness-level. Being scared, exhausted, lost, over-heated or cold is deadly for morale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR REST AND SUSTENANCE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters, make sure you have a warm and comfortable sleeping setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, take food that is tasty, filling and easy to prepare. Understand your calorie requirements and make sure you carry enough - this may be more than you expect if you are not experienced. Understand how to select foods with good calorie to weight properties to keep your pack-size reasonable, and be sure you'll have access to water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, understand how to keep pack-weights as low as practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're unrested, underfed, thirsty and aching under a huge pack morale is going to slide whatever else you do! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR ENTERTAINMENT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, understand how much entertainment you need to carry with you to keep you happy in camp. Some prefer to be at one with nature. Others might need a music player and/or a Kindle, especially on a long thru-hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have said, a fire is always comforting (though only where leave-no-trace rules aren't being violated!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CHOOSE COMPANIONS WITH CARE!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for company, that is a very personal matter. The right companion can make a trip, the wrong person can be a nightmare. If you do go with company, be very sure you have the same expectations of pace, distance, talking vs silence, rest days and the like. When you're tired and stressed, small differences can quickly build into burning resentments. If you're happy with your own company, life can be a lot simpler on the trail!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T19:06:31.290" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T19:06:31.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13631" CreationDate="2016-08-23T08:08:42.287" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several issues with tourniquets for snake bite:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It's likely too late anyway&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The venom will spread rapidly though your system (as Weda says, the lymphatic system is the main carrier, not blood). The chances of you getting a tourniquet on before this has happened is minuscule. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It keeps all the venom in one place&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you do somehow manage to contain the venom, it's all in one place now! This means that a single area gets an incredibly high dose of venom. Bear in mind many snakes deliver a bite strong enough to kill several adult humans, now concentrate all that venom into a single limb. The damage caused is massive. The tissue dies and infection gets in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The tourniquet is likely going to damage the limb as much as the bite&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stopping the blood is going to (obviously) starve the limb of blood.  This is going to cause necrosis (dying off of tissue) which causes infection. Tourniquets are not to be used lightly. They should only ever be used as a last resort to prevent someone bleeding out. A limb that has had a tourniquet applied for a long period of time is a dead limb and will likely need to be amputated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Eventually the tourniquet needs to be removed&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now you have large amounts of damaged tissue, etc in this single limb; eventually someone has to remove this tourniquet or else you're going to lose that limb anyway. Doing so releases all the venom and damaged tissue, necrosis, infection, etc. into your blood stream. Rather than containing the venom, you've concentrated it and released it anyway along with lots of other nasties...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do if you get bitten, is to get antivenom FAST! Your priority should be this; don't waste your time or effort trying to suck the venom out or contain it. Simply get to the nearest antivenom ASAP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T10:57:43.180" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T10:57:43.180" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13645" CreationDate="2016-08-23T11:25:52.017" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bridge in your photo looks very safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel unsure about crossing a bridge, you can try to ford next to it, if the river is not too large.  Make a few steps onto the bridge, remaining to a place where falling into the water would not be disastrous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oUMkK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oUMkK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Damaged bridge&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Damaged bridge, OK for careful crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it looks like you won't survive if the bridge won't survive, don't cross when in doubt.  But for most bridges, you will survive a damaged bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bZvSE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bZvSE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Very damaged bridge&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Very damaged bridge.  Not OK for crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both photos from Sunnmøre, Norway, summer 2007.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T17:26:04.293" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T17:26:04.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13645" CreationDate="2016-08-23T13:53:29.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspect the bridge and footings.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is soil eroded behind the footing.  Has the bridge shifted on the footing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the bridge cracked or is anything missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With livestock cross one at a time with livestock trailing to distribute the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They probably just have a proper protocol that an engineer must inspect the bridge after a certain water level.  That suspension design is a professionally designed bridge.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The age of that bridge would make me more confident.  It has likely survived high water before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-23T14:22:27.387" LastActivityDate="2016-08-23T14:22:27.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13651" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13652" CreationDate="2016-08-23T14:34:16.277" Score="12" ViewCount="1911" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13637/2199&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; I ended up watching a couple of youtube videos and heard &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dioShcC5zeA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this guy&lt;/a&gt; mentioning a &quot;Dakota fire pit&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hadn't heard about it before, but could easily find a few images by searching the web:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w4J2I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Dakota fire pit - Wikimedia commons&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w4J2I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dakota fire pit&quot; title=&quot;Dakota fire pit - Wikimedia commons&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems pretty straighforward, but the question remains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why would I build a fire pit like this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the advantages?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T14:03:13.683" Title="Why use a Dakota fire pit?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13651" CreationDate="2016-08-23T14:34:16.277" Score="14" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Efficiency, mostly&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fire should be able to burn very hot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less fuel is needed (faster cooking).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Produces less smoke.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less susceptible to wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light is shielded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to cover up to extinguish.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Covering it to remove evidence is easier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Support for cookware is easily added (something like green sticks across the top is possible).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should produce less sparks and floating cinders (than a surface fire), which would make it safer in dry conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;There's always a downside&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The biggest downside is that you still have to dig in the ground &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4553/how-to-make-a-fire-without-burning-the-ground&quot;&gt;and most likely damage it&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a leave no trace fire).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should be pretty useful if you've got a permanent camp. But it could be a lot of effort for a one-nighter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: &lt;a href=&quot;http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-skills/advantages-of-the-dakota-fire-hole/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Modern Survival Blog&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivaltopics.com/the-dakota-fire-hole/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survival Topics&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/11157/dcshannon&quot;&gt;@DCShannon&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/2766/liam&quot;&gt;@Liam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T14:03:13.683" CommentCount="4" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-23T22:45:44.100" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13645" CreationDate="2016-08-24T00:35:27.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look under the bridge for cracked or rotted beams -- in particular, cracking in the middle of the bridge, or rotten wood at the ends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the bridge is more sophisticated than a deck nailed on top of a couple of logs, look at the joints for obvious damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stand on one end of the bridge and shift your weight from side to side.  The bridge should not move -- any motion is likely the result of damage to the foundations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a few steps out onto the bridge and bounce up and down.  The bridge may bounce with you, but shouldn't make any abrupt movements or alarming sounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, a human weighs much less than a bridge.  If the bridge looks like it's capable of supporting its own weight, it's probably capable of supporting its weight plus you.  Any damage that brings the bridge to the verge of collapsing is likely to be quite visible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T00:35:27.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13735" CreationDate="2016-08-24T02:08:43.453" Score="9" ViewCount="187" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of mountaineering routes that go up the downwind side of a mountain. Like the CMC route on Mt. Moran in the Tetons or the Gooseneck Glacier route on Gannet Peak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The added danger of a route like this is that weather could build up on the upwind side, out of sight and then roll in with very little warning. While camped on the CMC route, halfway up the mountain, a thunderstorm rolled in with maybe ten minutes of warning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there good ways to predict incoming weather without the ability to see the clouds coming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-28T19:15:41.060" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T19:15:41.060" Title="What are good ways of predicting incoming weather from the downwind side of a mountain?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13627" CreationDate="2016-08-24T02:34:46.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only case I kind find of a human being killed by a mountain goat happened in Olympic National Park in 2010. It seems that attacks extremely rare but have happened. It that particular case the mountain goat was &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/trail-news/mountain-goat-kills-hiker-in-olympic-np/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;known to harass hikers&lt;/a&gt; and had been around humans before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as why a mountain goat would take the high ground, its probably just seeking the most advantages position that it can get. I don't know if it is a sign that it is about to attack, or preparing for defense, but in either case, being higher than you or a predator or a rival male would give it an advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:28:24.793" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:28:24.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2016-08-24T05:41:01.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very Hydrated (0 hours without drinking): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No obvious signs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transparent Pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal (3 to 4 hours):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moderate Thirst&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Normal Saliva&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Normal Mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light Yellow Pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moderate Dehydration (1 to 1 1/2 days):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orange Pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fatigue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confusion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Muscle Cramps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All Of The Above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Severe Dehydration (2 1/2 to 3 3/4 days):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black Pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low Blood Pressure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fever&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rapid Heart Rate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry Skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unconsciousness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Permanent Kidney Failure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Critical Dehydration (4 3/4 to 6 days):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No Pee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dangerously Low Blood Pressure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heat Stroke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very Rapid Heart Rate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Death&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11163" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T07:34:44.623" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T07:34:44.623" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13664" CreationDate="2016-08-24T13:43:41.390" Score="13" ViewCount="1495" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are planning a camping and climbing trip and we would likely need to rappel with our medium-sized (45lbs/20kg) dog. Holding the dog is obviously unacceptable, and using the dog's backpack is also unacceptable due to the flimsiness of the straps and buckles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply from a technical perspective, and assuming the dog is capable and isn't traumatically afraid of heights (she's basically a mountain goat in a dog disguise), what equipment would I use to rappel with a dog? Would it be similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7982/how-to-tandem-rappel-abseil-with-a-child&quot;&gt;rappelling with a child&lt;/a&gt; (except with a dog-specific harness, of course)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T16:34:39.067" Title="How to rappel with a dog?" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13659" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-24T13:48:50.200" Score="11" ViewCount="2633" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently visited a new climbing gym and was instructed to belay directly off a ground anchor without any attachment to my harness. I've been to other gyms that belay with ground anchors but with instruction to also attach the carabiner to the climbing harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the benefit of belaying directly off a ground anchor, and when is it advisable to do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: this was for top rope&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2016-08-24T15:19:47.083" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T21:54:25.450" Title="Belaying directly off a ground anchor?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13659" CreationDate="2016-08-24T14:08:54.593" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weight difference&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is reduced to whether the belayer has enough strength to control the brake strand (which is almost always the case, only extreme examples like small children are an issue). Belaying traditionally the belayer can be pulled against the wall and/or towards the first express. This can also result in a collision with the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prohibiting bad belaying position&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Belaying too far from the wall can lead to ground falls. With a fixed anchor, this is no longer possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dynamic fall catching&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are several methods to break a fall dynamically. One is to actively move your body into the direction of pull. This is especially useful when belaying with a semi-automatic belaying device and in general when belaying a much lighter climber. With a fixed anchor and a semi-automatic belaying device there is only the dynamics of the rope, no intentional slip when breaking possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paying out slack quickly&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You cannot give out rope quickly by making a step forward. This is the smoothest and fastest way to initialise paying out slack before pulling rope through the belaying device.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Non-universal approach&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This method only works with fixed infrastructure. Learning it this way means that if you go to a place without ground anchors, you need to learn a new belaying technique.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not consider ground anchors a useful measure. All the advantages it provides can also be gained by proper rules/instructions when belaying &quot;normally&quot;. And most importantly I believe it is the best way to learn one method, and learn it properly - belaying decides over life and death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2016-08-24T14:55:38.167" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T14:55:38.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13659" CreationDate="2016-08-24T14:09:52.473" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few reasons you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; use a ground anchor, although none of them are optimal solutions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The climber is significantly heavier than you (though in reality you should &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8927/2199&quot;&gt;anchor the belayer to the ground&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you might need to lock the belaying device and take a few steps for a moment (of course: &lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt; just leave the climber there, and you should still be paying attention).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you'll be switching belayers (but really, why would you do this?).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you decide this is more comfortable (or safer) for you or the climber.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T21:54:25.450" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13662" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-24T15:20:02.350" Score="4" ViewCount="61" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am heading to Acadia, Maine this week for a one week camping, fishing, kayaking and hiking. I've been there once but just for couple hours.&#xA;Any recommendations for fishing spots in the island?&#xA;I reserved a spot in the Sealwall camp , so I will be doing saltwater fishing/kayaking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3563" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T15:20:02.350" Title="Fishing/ Kayaking/ hiking in Acadia Maine" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13627" CreationDate="2016-08-24T15:58:07.827" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I have not interacted with mountain goats, I used to have a farm with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saanen_goat&quot;&gt;Saanen goats&lt;/a&gt;.  Goats declare dominance by having the highest position.  If they pick high ground and you picker higher ground there will be a problem.  A goat will ram you with it's head, or push against you, they are strong and have four feet designed for high traction.  You will probably lose if you get into a shoving match with a goat on a cliff.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been several years, but I as I recall if you just let them have the high ground, and move on no problem.  When they come at you, their horns look like a good handle, and they are.  But you will increase the goats aggression if you grab the horn. You can use the horn to redirect the goat, and the two of you kind of dance, like that but now you have an angry goat by the horn. Before he was just playing king of the mountain, know he is not playing, and he is mad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T15:58:07.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13658" CreationDate="2016-08-24T16:34:39.067" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your dog needs a climbing harness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TQzbL.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TQzbL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a friend who goes &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt; with their dog, and they have a pro-rated harness for them. You need to get your dog a harness, and tandem rappel with them just like you would another person, or with a heavy gear bag, by clipping them into the same point on your harness as your device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/796351/ruffwear-doubleback-dog-harness&quot;&gt;REI sells dog climbing harnesses:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bc1eM.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bc1eM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T16:34:39.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13675" CreationDate="2016-08-24T18:31:58.820" Score="3" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are making our own dehydrated meals with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.  This is very cost effective, but less so if you need to spend lots of money for one of the specialty tools for sealing these bags.  What cost effective alternatives are there to buying a sealer just for this purpose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T02:35:41.917" Title="Alternatives for sealing Mylar food packs?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13659" CreationDate="2016-08-24T20:13:42.350" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers seem to address the use of ground anchors, but I think you're asking specifically about having a ground anchor with the belay device attached to it, and not attaching the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've worked at gyms with this system, and the main argument is that the belayer doesn't need a harness. It's common in gyms that draw most of their revenue from children's events that the chaperones/parents won't climb at all. If you can get away without renting them harnesses, it saves time and reduces the amount of rental gear you need to dedicate to the group. This setup also allows the gym to have the belay devices (usually Grigris) semi-permanently attached to the anchor with a maillion so that inexperienced belayers can't set up the device improperly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many counter-arguments can be made, but the primary issue that arises is that the system breeds complacency. Since the belayer isn't directly attached to the system, they can be less engaged, and stop paying attention (or wander off..)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11165" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T20:13:42.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13667" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-24T20:32:07.610" Score="5" ViewCount="330" Body="&lt;p&gt;After finding out that Rocky Mountain Goats have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/trail-news/mountain-goat-kills-hiker-in-olympic-np/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;killed one person&lt;/a&gt; and have been known to harass hikers, how would you protect yourself from an aggressive goat? In most cases I would guess that simply staying a good distance away would be enough, but what if the goat decides to try and gore you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T13:47:56.133" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T13:47:56.133" Title="How would you protect yourself from Rocky Mountain Goats?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rocky-mountain-goats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13667" CreationDate="2016-08-24T21:27:59.303" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The article you linked to seems to indicate that this is not something you need to worry about very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rare and tragic events...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...potentially the first fatal attack by a mountain goat ever recorded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...officials had known about this aggressive goat from previous reports...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...tissue sample testing might reveal disease or another reason why this goat was so uncharacteristically aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain goats are not typically aggressive towards humans...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this seems to have been a one-time tragic event involving an individual animal known to have caused problems before. To inform yourself, talk to the rangers in the area where you are going, and find out if they know of any aggressive individual animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, they tell you one way to reduce the risk to yourself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...they’re warning visitors to keep at least 100 feet away from all mountain goats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a goat still decides to be aggressive, then try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...distracting it with an emergency blanket and tossing rocks at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you do encounter an animal that seems aggressive towards humans, report it to the authorities (park rangers or others) where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T21:27:59.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2016-08-24T21:41:02.077" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the idea for using Challenge Coins for geocaching. We do this with our website, our sailing community does geocaching games all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://cloviscoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2847be3c-0786-4454-ae06-cceb3b74f8b4-300x134.png&quot; alt=&quot;custom challenge coin&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11168" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-08-24T22:42:57.103" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T22:42:57.103" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2016-08-24T21:41:02.077" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13670" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13671" CreationDate="2016-08-24T21:55:52.747" Score="18" ViewCount="2360" Body="&lt;p&gt;How safe is it to use a chest harness without a sit harness? I ask this question because of an experience I had while on holiday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of years ago I was in China and hiked/climbed HuaShan (see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chinanomads.com/deadly-hike-huashan/&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; for some info/pictures). This is basically a hike but with some very steep sections protected by chains. The most dangerous (but optional) sections are cordoned off and, to access them, you are provided with what seemed like a chest harness by staff - I found a photo of one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tripchinaguide.com/public/upload/photo/mount-hua/img_707_d20140521102200.jpg&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Would a harness of this kind be effective in the event of a slip/fall? I'm not sure; naively I'd have thought that a fall could leave you in an awkward position from which self-rescue would be impossible, or you could even slip out of the harness??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: thanks for the responses. Some more info about the specific situation at Hua Shan...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Until a few years ago there was no safety equipment whatsoever, despite the fact that this is an extremely busy route with access seemingly regulated by the authorities. I guess that China is not well known for its high standards of health and safety. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The harness photo doesn't tell the whole story; there are also some very steep (almost vertical) sections - the first link contains some photos which hint at these sections.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's not 'real' climbing - it is, however, a spectacular example of a situation where the use of wooden planks and pieces of iron has allowed access to terrain which would otherwise be considered a very highly graded and exposed rock climb.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some people would probably be happy to follow this route without any protection. However, I think that many people would prefer to have some level of protection on the route. I'm just concerned that the protection provided may offer only a false sense of security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11166" LastEditorUserId="11166" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T13:21:19.250" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T08:28:55.913" Title="How safe is a chest harness when used without a sit harness?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13670" CreationDate="2016-08-24T22:21:33.117" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Never ever use a chest harness alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends on what you mean by effective: It can stop a fall, there was a time (before the seventies) when chest harnesses (alone) were used in mountaineering. The big problem comes after: suspension trauma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not limited to breast harnesses at all. This is the main life-threatening problem apart from direct mechanical injuries after a fall in climbing. Without movement the blood will get stuck in the lower extremities leading to orthostatic shock, leading to a circulatory collapse. According to Pit Schubert[1]: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;after only 2min hanging in a chest harness the arms are paralysed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means you cannot rescue yourself anymore. According to Schubert hanging freely (in any kind of harness) is deadly after a maximum of 2h, potentially much earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So assuming on this trail you may be alone a chest harness can prove fatal in case of fall. Even if somebody arrives in time to save you (i.e. bring you into lying position before you are in shock) you will likely sustain damage to your arms/chest.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In addition an operator using chest harnesses does not show off competence. You have to wonder whether safety is precarious in other regards as well. I would immediately stop using their services.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] Pit Schubert, Sicherheit und Risiko in Fels und Eis (Band III), pp. 45.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T08:28:55.913" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T08:28:55.913" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9315" CreationDate="2016-08-24T22:21:48.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that you can use Wax to at least &quot;fill&quot; the gouges. Won't be as good as new, but will be a bit better.&#xA;Remember, Nordic folks did just fine with no fishscales for, what? 100+ years?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T22:21:48.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13670" CreationDate="2016-08-24T22:51:49.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this sort of situation a chest harness is reasonable because its main purpose is to keep you attached to the route via a short sling as protection against slips as opposed to actual climbing where long, high energy falls might be expected. So it should not be loaded with much more than you body weight and it it more about stopping a fall than arresting one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also for a harness issued to the general public a chest harness is likely to fit better, be more comfortable and be harder to fall out of than a sit harness, which generally needs to be well flitted and adjusted to work and may fail if you fall inverted (more likely for an inexperienced climber on a 'walking' but exposed route). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also in this situation you are less likely to be actually injured by falling and you aren't going to fall far  there is a good chance that you could self rescue by pulling yourself back onto the ledge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is an entirely different situation from climbing on a long rope while belayed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T22:51:49.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13670" CreationDate="2016-08-24T23:41:31.737" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is basically a hike but with some very steep sections protected by chains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm interpreting the photo correctly, this is a sort of horizontal &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;via ferrata&lt;/a&gt;, and the protection is the steel cables, not the chains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does not seem like a setup that would have been designed by anyone whose background was in mountaineering. A more normal setup based on standard mountaineering practices would use a seat harness, and in addition the would be some provision for allowing the climbers to pass the bolts while staying protected. As far as I can tell from the photo, the guy in the red shirt is going to have to unclip his (non-locking?) carabiner, then clip it onto the next section of cable. While it's unclipped, he has no protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I don't know if any of this matters, because they're walking on horizontal wooden boardwalks, and they have the cables or chains to hold onto with their hands. I wouldn't really feel any need for a belay in this situation, so it might not matter much if the protection is not reliable or mainly psychological.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How safe is a chest harness when used without a sit harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is really a whole separate issue that doesn't apply to the situation being described, where the belay is unnecessary. For real climbing, you use a seat harness because you need more than a psychological belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-08-24T23:41:31.737" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13665" CreationDate="2016-08-25T02:35:41.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like what you need is something hot enough to melt the sides of the  Mylar bag together to seal it. Two DIY options are a clothing iron or a hair straightening iron. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If using the clothing iron, a flat reflective metal surface underneath would probably help. In either case it would probably take some experimentation to get the settings just right. For more information I would suggest these two links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://36readyblog.com/2013/03/15/mylar-bags-inexpensive-do-it-yourself-long-term-food-storage-solution/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://36readyblog.com/2013/03/15/mylar-bags-inexpensive-do-it-yourself-long-term-food-storage-solution/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/how-to-seal-food-in-mylar-bags/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/how-to-seal-food-in-mylar-bags/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T02:35:41.917" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13677" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-08-25T15:30:06.590" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In climbing sports an anchor is a device comprised of several pieces of equipment which can safely and securely hold a climber to the wall in the event of a fall, during a rappel, or if they need to stop at a particular location to belay another climber from above or to make a camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An anchor often consists of various pieces of webbing, static rope, climbing slings, carabiners, fixed bolts, trad climbing gear, and natural features such as rocks, trees, or cracks.  At many climbing locations permanent bolts are located at the top of routes in order to facilitate construction of anchors with minimal gear; in other locations the climber must be able to construct an anchor with only the gear they have brought with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anchors must be carefully designed and built in order to function properly; their construction needs to consider the direction and force of a potential fall, as well as the possibility of one or more of there components failing.  Various mnemonics have been created to help climbers understand whether an anchor is trustworthy, such as SERENE and ERNEST.  These acryonyms focus on reminding the climber than an anchor should ideally be very strong, have built-in redundancies, anticipate potential failures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:33:55.800" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:33:55.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13678" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-08-25T15:30:06.590" Score="0" Body="Questions related to anchors used for climbing sports, such as rock climbing" OwnerUserId="2040" LastEditorUserId="2040" LastEditDate="2016-08-25T17:34:13.013" LastActivityDate="2016-08-25T17:34:13.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13679" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13697" CreationDate="2016-08-26T01:49:18.730" Score="4" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to US regional parks a few times and managed to get a grill and picnic table for free, without reservation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, when I look up park websites, for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montgomeryparks.org/services/permits-rentals/fees/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cabin John Regional Park&lt;/a&gt;, picnic shelters cost substantially:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Per 1/2 day morning (9am-2pm), residents  $80&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So do I have to pay and/or reserve for picnic tables and grills or not? If not, is there a way to look up the availability of these free tables and grills?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11174" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T12:57:12.480" Title="What's the policy and cost regarding picnic area in US regional parks?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13680" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13682" CreationDate="2016-08-26T02:50:16.577" Score="8" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently told that there are organizations, at least in the United States, that study migration of monarch butterflies by tagging them. The purpose, as in most animal migration monitoring, is to learn as much as possible about the animal, keep that animal population safe, and enable researchers to educate people regarding various species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While banding and tagging of larger animals doesn't seem so difficult to me, I'm wondering some specific things about tagging a butterfly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What does the tag look like? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What information does it contain? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How and where on the butterfly is it applied in such a way that the animal isn't damaged, either at the time or later, and so that it doesn't fall off? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T04:09:23.523" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T04:09:23.523" Title="What is a butterfly tag, and what's the procedure for applying it?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;migration&gt;&lt;butterflies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13681" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13690" CreationDate="2016-08-26T03:02:46.240" Score="8" ViewCount="33622" Body="&lt;p&gt;The canisters that I have purchased so far have included a warning not to let the canister get above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It looks like the inside of car can get well above that, hot enough to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/for-science-baking-cookies-in-a-sweltering-hot-car/55534&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bake cookies&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would prefer not to leave on a backpacking trip with an extra canister left in my vehicle and come back to find that it had exploded. What are some things that I can do to prevent that from happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T04:52:03.193" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T04:52:03.193" Title="How to safely store a propane/butane/isobutane canister in a vehicle?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13680" CreationDate="2016-08-26T07:44:50.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/tag.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This web site&lt;/a&gt; seems to cover the details quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does the tag look like?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WvpLl.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WvpLl.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Each tagged butterfly must have a tag code (three letters and three&#xA;  numbers) for this system to work. To insure that they do, we create a&#xA;  series of tag numbers using numbers and the alphabet. Each year&#xA;  receives its own unique series.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What information does it contain?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the web site doesn't go into a lot of details but basically a unique number to identify the butterfly and some contact details and the name of the organisation doing the tagging. I guess the idea is that people need to report them in if they're found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How and where on the butterfly is it applied in such a way that the&#xA;animal isn't damaged, either at the time or later, and so that it&#xA;doesn't fall off?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We have adopted a tagging system in which the tag is placed over the&#xA;  large, mitten shaped cell (discal cell) on the underside of the&#xA;  hindwing of the monarch.&#xA;  ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This method has proven to be very effective - the rate of tag recovery&#xA;  seems to be higher than for monarchs tagged on the wing margins (an&#xA;  older method). The discal cell position is closer to the center of&#xA;  lift and gravity for the butterfly and will not impede flight. More&#xA;  importantly, this tagging method appears to be less harmful to the&#xA;  butterflies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KuTgL.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KuTgL.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1hK24.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1hK24.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T07:44:50.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13683" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-26T07:52:12.947" Score="6" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other day the strap on my helmet snapped. It's not the main strap but the one that sits across the back of you head and has a tightening dial. So the helmet doesn't fall off but it also doesn't stay still anymore when moving my head around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's now effectivly useless as it rattles around on my head getting in the way and obstructing my view, etc. I'm considering fixing using gaffer tape (the old mountaineering adage that if you can't fix somehting using gaffer tape, you likely need to use more gaffer tape)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a good idea or should I discard it an get a new one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the model, it's a DMM brand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DAgw9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DAgw9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The broken strap isn't quite visible on that photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a similar helmet, see the plastic strap with the dial on it. That's what's broken. Notice it doesn't actually anchor anything in place, the main straps attach to the helmet itself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQkMm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQkMm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:46:45.510" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:46:45.510" Title="Can I repair my climbing helmet strap?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13683" CreationDate="2016-08-26T07:56:41.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The concern here would be if the helmet could move far enough that it doesn't protect your skull adequately. If you can move it significantly I'd want to sort it - remember in an emergency it could take a good hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd replace the entire strap set at this point, as I'd not be convinced any repairs would be strong enough at strap ends etc. I definitely wouldn't rely on gaffer tape...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T07:56:41.547" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13681" CreationDate="2016-08-26T08:12:18.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping it low down against the bottom of the car and insulated is best. The spare wheel well is ideal (and used when you get a can of tyre foam instead of a wheel; they have similar limits) or those compartments you sometimes get under the boot floor. These places are much cooler than the rest of the car, especially with the parcel shelf closed. If they aren't an option, under the front seats with insulating material on top is probably your best bet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also do what you can to keep the car cooler - reflective windscreen covers etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T08:12:18.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13681" CreationDate="2016-08-26T10:37:52.473" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't store them in the car.  Hide them in the engine compartment or under the car.  I don't even store butane in my house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully they have a pressure relief valve that they don't actually explode but I still would not store them in the vehicle. Combined with an ignition source you have a very nasty if not fatal fire. It is technically not an explosion but it goes boom and is very hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think how many meals you can cook and getting that much heat once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need to store fuel in the car then consider liquid fuel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A leak and ignition would be very bad if not fatal.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/10289286.Nelson_man_died_after_gas_from_leaking_butane_cylinder_exploded_in_his_home/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nelson man died after gas from leaking butane cylinder exploded in his home&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Butane is odorless so unless they mark it with a scent you would no even know it leaked.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see this got a down vote and don't want to argue with you but leaving a butane cylinder in the car is a bad idea.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T21:59:37.397" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T21:59:37.397" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12957" CreationDate="2016-08-26T11:51:32.140" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why not try the Wilder Kaiser, it's not in Innsbruck, only some 55mins drive, but it's pretty dame awesome and very kid friendly! More than 400km of walking paths make the Wilder Kaiser mountains an absolute gem for hiking holidays. Trails include accurate directions and approximate walk times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hiking from hut to hut&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a remarkably diverse paradise just waiting to be discovered when hiking in the Wilder Kaiser region. The variety of tours is huge and the combination of mild climate, fresh mountain air and steady physical activity has a wonderfully revitalising effect on the body. Why not prolong the experience and enjoy some traditional Austrian hospitality along the way with a 3 days' hut-to-hut hike. This tour takes you to the prettiest spots on the south side of the range where, thanks to the moderate altitude, the tour can be enjoyed from as early as June until mid October.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.austria.info/uk/things-to-do/walking-and-hiking/hiking-wilder-kaiser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.austria.info/uk/things-to-do/walking-and-hiking/hiking-wilder-kaiser&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9834" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T11:51:32.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7442" CreationDate="2016-08-26T12:07:08.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to heat and humidity, my shed exposes my possessions to cold and damp, and worst of all to outdoor animals such as squirrels, which like to nest in large hollow things (filling them with dead grass and other organics) or use them as food caches (pine cones primarily.) Anything with a fabric or stuffing component may be chewed by mice, squirrels etc if it doesn't get mouldy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what can safely be stored outside under a not-entirely-waterproof roof, such as in a shed, and exposed to the full range of temperature variations and possible critter predations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything metal whose edges, sharpness, and rustlessness isn't critical, or that won't rust and you are storing with the edge protected. A garden hoe blade meets this rule; I would say a crampon doesn't&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything wood unless it has a thin edge that would be ruined by chewing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;anything of hard plastic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My sport is canoing, and I keep my tarps, canoes, and paddles outside but my backpacks, lifejackets, ropes, tents, sleeping bags and pads, stoves, pots, dishes, and so on all inside. If I was VERY low on space I might consider an airtight storage box within the shed for some metal things, but I would check it regularly to see if it was damp. You can get adsorbents to put in containers to help keep things dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case I would say the most important things to keep inside would be the boots, shoes, and anything with fabric. Your ice axe might be ok outside - I presume you can sharpen it yourself if it needs it, and a little surface rust won't hurt it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can get more storage containers for odd places inside you will probably save time and money compared to putting the majority of your expensive equipment outside. They make plastic tubs that just fit under a bed, for example. Or you could put storage tubs at the bottom of a cupboard in the space your clothes don't hang down to. Even just stack 5 or 6 boxes on each other in a corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T14:55:58.643" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T14:55:58.643" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13681" CreationDate="2016-08-26T14:50:57.447" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I kept a spare in my trunk for two years in the southeastern US and I never had a problem (YMMV).  This, like most things in life, is not perfectly safe.  So you should decide if you really &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to store this in your car.  If you do, things you should consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep it somewhere that minimizes the risk of puncture. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the cap on it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Store away from sources of ignition (engine, muffler, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far your largest risk is from puncture.  Rupture due to heat appears to be something that happens after &quot;prolonged exposure to &lt;em&gt;fire&lt;/em&gt; or intense heat&quot;. Even if the canister ruptures, it isn't at all likely to turn into a fireball without an ignition source.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/isobutane&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/isobutane&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;MSDS:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mesagas.com/images/Isobutane.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mesagas.com/images/Isobutane.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, most recommendations are to store at less than 125 degrees Fahrenheit.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://heatkills.org/how-hot/#How%20hot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;So don't go parking your car in directly sunlight in the summer.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lot's more interesting reading on canister failures &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chemaxx.com/butane_explosion.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T22:34:29.377" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T22:34:29.377" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13681" CreationDate="2016-08-26T17:24:11.620" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The background&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It took me a moment to find it, but an example of a car in which this happened can be seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&amp;amp;t=18061&amp;amp;start=30#p251344&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  If the fuel in the canister becomes sufficiently warm the pressure can rupture the canister.  Usually the bottom everts first, popping outwards, although I have heard of instances where this was immediately followed by it coming apart, so this should not be considered any form of early warning measure.  At this point you have a few ounces of liquid butane that's rather far above its boiling point and suddenly under very little pressure, so it almost instantaneously transitions to gas and vapor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such an event is called a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion).  Fire does not need be involved; in the referenced image above there are no signs of fire damage.  If you are particularly unlucky, friction or sparks can ignite the cloud of vapor, possibly resulting in a fuel-air explosion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to avoid it&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't park your car in the sun, or don't keep fuel canisters in it.  However, on some trips this might be unavoidable.  I suggest considering the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For vehicles with a separate trunk, store the canisters in the trunk and not in the passenger compartment, which will be heated more due to the greenhouse effect of the windows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a way to insulate the canisters, such as placing them in an ice chest or wrapping them inside a blanket or sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on your area, caching them outside the vehicle may be considered.  Of course, that also makes them more likely to grow legs and walk away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunshades, car covers, and cracked open windows may also help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="3200" LastEditDate="2016-08-26T17:55:41.187" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T17:55:41.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13170" CreationDate="2016-08-26T17:40:33.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The University of Texas Library has some decent 1:100,000 topo maps of Peru for free download:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/peru/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/peru/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/peru/santa_teresa-2344-100k.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sample (Machupicchu):&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Qm8P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Qm8P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-08-26T17:40:33.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13692" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13693" CreationDate="2016-08-26T22:15:22.980" Score="12" ViewCount="28879" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand that when you see animal droppings in the wilderness, it's referred to as &quot;scat.&quot;  I have heard scat referred to when referencing bear, coyote and mountain lion droppings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this the case for all animals?  For example, would you refer to pig or chicken droppings as &quot;scat&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9597" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:12:39.297" LastActivityDate="2019-10-28T18:43:35.317" Title="Is &quot;scat&quot; used to describe the droppings of any animal?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13692" CreationDate="2016-08-27T00:46:49.577" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Wikipedia article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feces&quot;&gt;feces&lt;/a&gt;, seems to indicate that scat is used in reference to wild animal droppings only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notwithstanding Wikipedia's article some dictionaries define &lt;strong&gt;scat&lt;/strong&gt; as simply as  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scat&quot;&gt;an animal fecal dropping.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The feces of animals often have special names, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Non-human animals&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As bulk material – dung&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Individually – droppings&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cattle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bulk material – cow dung&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Individual droppings – cow pats, meadow muffins, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deer&lt;/strong&gt; (and formerly other quarry animals) – fewmets&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wild carnivores&lt;/strong&gt; – scat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Otter&lt;/strong&gt; – spraint&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds&lt;/strong&gt; (individual) – droppings (also include urine as white crystals of uric acid)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seabirds or bats&lt;/strong&gt; (large accumulations) – guano&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Herbivorous insects&lt;/strong&gt;, such as caterpillars and leaf beetles – frass&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Earthworms, lugworms etc.&lt;/strong&gt; – worm castings (feces extruded at ground surface)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Feces when used as fertilizer&lt;/strong&gt; (usually mixed with animal bedding and urine) – manure&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Horses&lt;/strong&gt; – horse manure, roadapple (before motor vehicles became common, horse droppings were a big part of the rubbish communities needed to clean off roads)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animal scat in the wild is important in identifying and tracking particular wild animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using scats to identify animals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All animals leave scats, whether it's a native animal such as a possum, or a feral fox or cat. Snakes, birds, lizards, even insects - if you start looking for them you'll find scats everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Becoming familiar with animals scats is the only way to learn to distinguish them, according to National Parks and Wildlife NSW officer Dan Lunney.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;It's very hard to be a scat expert. The common thing is that you get very good at identifying the scats of one particular animal,&quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once you've gained a familiarity with them, scats are a valuable way of finding out what kind of animals are around you and where they live. Below are a few simple tips to get you started at looking at scats. It can be a tricky business, and a good guide is useful. It's important to find out what sort of animals are around in your area so you know what you are looking for. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/09/26/2044094.htm&quot;&gt;What scat is that?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animal scat is used in the identification and tracking of wild animals. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bear-tracker.com/animalscat.html&quot;&gt;Animal Scat&lt;/a&gt; has a number of animal scat photos that could be helpful in animal research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-08-27T05:04:11.900" LastActivityDate="2016-08-27T05:04:11.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13694" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13730" CreationDate="2016-08-27T02:31:32.893" Score="11" ViewCount="1173" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roughly 10 years ago I hiked up &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassen_Peak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lassen Peak&lt;/a&gt; in Northern California, and there was a huge (hundreds of thousands) butterfly migration going right over the top of the peak around this time of year. It was an amazing sight that I would love to share with my children but I don't know of any good resources that will let me know when the butterflies are passing over the peak. I was under the impression that this was part of an annual migration to Mexico. However, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/lavo/learn/nature/animals.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the park website&lt;/a&gt; states their migrations are human caused: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One of the most noticeable species is the California Tortoise Shell butterfly. These butterflies are orange-brown in color and can be seen by the thousands at times especially on the tops of peaks where wind currents have carried them. These population explosions are believed to be movements from areas that have been defoliated to new areas in search of a food source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the real scoop is this an annual migration or something else? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gratuitous picture below that I took and here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBm97Jx1xcM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a link to a YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; that someone else took.  Neither one really captures the scale of the event though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJQwb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pJQwb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Butterflies on the snow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T04:10:00.433" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T04:10:00.433" Title="Butterfly Migration over Lassen Peak" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;migration&gt;&lt;butterflies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13683" CreationDate="2016-08-27T04:38:25.037" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can probably fix it with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sugru.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sugru&lt;/a&gt;. If you're not familiar, it's a moldable silicone based clay like material that hardens to a hard rubber consistency with exposure to air over 24 hours.  It sticks very well to most materials and makes it relativity easy to make lasting repairs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2016-08-27T04:38:25.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3518" CreationDate="2016-08-27T14:30:59.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The original answer misses the mark for the jetboil flash.  Here is what is happening in a nutshell.  The white insulation on the piezo ignitor wire is of a poor quality and will not withstand the heat generated by the unit - so it melts. My new one worked 5 times and then stopped.  Upon examination at home I discovered that the spark was shorting out underneath the ceramic sleeve to the base of the burner.  Unless you have some high quality insulation that you can install yourself, you will be replacing this thing constantly. The original answer is right that you should bring a separate ignition source.  The Titanium Flint lighter is a good backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did try repairing the melted insulation with Permatex liquid electrical tape and the healthy spark is back - not shorting out anymore.  I will run the unit for 10 minutes to see if it holds up.  Jetboil does not offer a separate peizo unit for the flash as it seems to be an integral part of the burner.  So if you want a piezo, you have to buy the entire burner for $50.  Not really an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update - The Permatex repair seems to be holding up.  Unit works fine and time will tell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11180" LastEditorUserId="11180" LastEditDate="2016-08-27T21:48:33.170" LastActivityDate="2016-08-27T21:48:33.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13679" CreationDate="2016-08-28T05:57:25.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked over the website you provided. It appears that these permits are for large events. It reads like the park might have large picnic pavilions. I would guess that the permit and fee would be to reserve the entire pavilion for a large private gathering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though this may be a simple solution, call the park office to confirm availability and fee info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2016-08-30T03:24:48.870" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T03:24:48.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13692" CreationDate="2016-08-28T15:41:26.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is specifically used in the context of tracking and similar to when you are using it to identify and track the animal in question. As such it also comes under the general heading of 'spoor' which can include any signs left by an animal including hair, foot/paw/hoof prints, evidence of feeding and damage to vegetation etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other contexts, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoor_(animal)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;animal spoor (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt; works for the same material, and may be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Careful examination may tell you a lot about both the species which left it and their diet and habits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-10T04:03:57.800" LastActivityDate="2018-03-10T04:03:57.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2016-08-28T15:44:46.993" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for raw cardio stairs or stair trainer.  Or running, walking, bicycle.  Include some walking with a fully loaded pack to get you body used to bearing the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search on &quot;altitude training&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are altitude training masks but not everyone agrees they are effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are altitude training tents, rooms, and even sleep tents.  A gym near you may have an altitude training tents, rooms&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They reduce the oxygen to simulate altitude.  The idea is to get your body to produce more the oxygen carrying red blood cells. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are drugs to produce more red blood cells but not something I would advise.  Don't - it can kill you.  Before cyclist got good at it many died.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can spend just a one or two days at elevation with some light excise before going high your body will adjust. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look up signs and treatment of high altitude pulmonary edema before you go.  If you are crossing a pass maybe sleep in the valley rather than on top of the pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-08-28T15:44:46.993" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2016-08-28T16:36:03.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Altitude adjustment is primarily conditioned through acclimation. Remember to travel high, sleep low. If you can, go earlier and spend some time acclimating to the higher altitude by going up to a higher altitude and then descending after a period of time. Perhaps a couple hours at the higher altitude before descending to a somewhat lower altitude. From what I am familiar with, physical conditioning is not directly related to the sensitivity to altitude changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its also recommended to train your general hiking skills, get your backpack in order, work in your boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2016-09-01T15:57:43.730" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T15:57:43.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13701" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13726" CreationDate="2016-08-28T18:55:28.067" Score="11" ViewCount="528" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this dragonfly,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SrYMB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SrYMB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dragonfly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SlXHb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SlXHb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Google Earth picture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;at around 13,400 ft. The coordinates are  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/43%C2%B010&amp;#39;53.0%22N+109%C2%B039&amp;#39;17.7%22W/@43.1813778,-109.6549278,843m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d43.1813778!4d-109.6549278&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;43°10'52.96&quot;N, 109°39'17.74&quot;W&lt;/a&gt; if anyone would like to check the location themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It didn't look like it was moving and as it was probably around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4°C), I wouldn't have expected it to be. It is probably 2,000- 2,500 ft (600-750m) above any lakes and a couple of miles from vegetation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would the wind have picked it up and dropped it there or could it have flown there or is there another option that I haven't thought of yet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-28T19:14:44.530" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T19:14:44.530" Title="How would a dragonfly get to above 13,400 ft (4000m)?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13702" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-28T19:06:29.753" Score="6" ViewCount="373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've picked up a surplus used aircrew Beaufort Mk 10 Immersion Suit (for aviation use, but I think there's more likely knowledge among watersports enthusiasts). It needs latex socks adding to the bottom of the legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aU3hW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aU3hW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/401158274651_/Coverall-Aircrew-Immersion-Protection-Garment-MK10.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;picclick.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvQT5vTDc5Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube tutorials&lt;/a&gt;, showing the basic principles which seems to be fairly straightforward - stick the latex sock on the inside of the suit, cover the joint in and out with tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except, my suit has two layers of cloth at the end of the feet. They seem to have old glue inside, so I presume I should sandwich the latex feet between them when I glue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Wsxj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Wsxj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Double-layer fabric at base of leg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LoeE5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LoeE5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Double-layer fabric at base of leg - seperated&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11183" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-03-01T00:55:58.487" LastActivityDate="2019-03-01T00:55:58.487" Title="How should latex socks be fitted to a drysuit?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13705" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-29T00:44:33.833" Score="3" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;What species is the following cockroach?  Is it dangerous, that means is it likely to transport diseases? I live in South Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MiFsv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MiFsv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gkA8r.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gkA8r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:40:08.900" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T22:40:08.900" Title="What kind of cockroach is this?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13705" CreationDate="2016-08-29T09:06:15.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first one could be a German cockroach (Blattella germanica). The seconds one though… not sure if it is a cockroach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps you could catch sharper photos with a bit more lighting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9183" LastActivityDate="2016-08-29T09:06:15.433" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13709" CreationDate="2016-08-29T12:30:26.623" Score="4" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;What species is the following? I assume it is a cockroach, but I am not sure. What is it exactly? I live in South Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PnZPz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PnZPz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/93qna.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/93qna.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T22:39:57.693" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T22:39:57.693" Title="Is this a cockroach? If so, which one?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13708" CreationDate="2016-08-29T13:02:00.357" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like a Pedostrangalia revestita (i totally ripped this from the site below. I have no idea if this is correct, I am still looking for the English and German terms (in German it is a kind of Bockkäfer))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cerambyx.uochb.cz/pedostrangalia_revestita.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://cerambyx.uochb.cz/pedostrangalia_revestita.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am by no means an expert, but those look alike. The wing-covers have similar shapes, red legs, big eyes, the butt-brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some coleopterist might come to improve on this answer with proper terminology, please don't forget to laugh about the word butt-brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: on a German page i have found another similar one: Rhamnusium bicolor, the &quot;Beulenkopfbock&quot; (german) (but, similar to the other source, I found conflicting images on different sites)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.naturspaziergang.de/Kaefer/Cerambycidae/Rhamnusium_bicolor.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.naturspaziergang.de/Kaefer/Cerambycidae/Rhamnusium_bicolor.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2016-08-29T13:24:58.100" LastActivityDate="2016-08-29T13:24:58.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13710" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13711" CreationDate="2016-08-29T13:08:32.427" Score="12" ViewCount="2113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have read some posts here regarding the expiration dates of climbing material, especially trad gear. Friends and nuts (as all climbing equipment) have a lifespan of 10 years according to all manufacturers, but I believe the expiration dates of some pieces are longer than our own lives. This is the case with friends, nuts and hexes: there are no parts that should change a lot in time, and even less if you're climbing in mild environments (away from salt water, ice that has a very low pH, etc). Regarding friends, the only part that should be substituted is the sling, and many manufacturers ask you to send old equipment to them so that they can re-sling it for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point here is that climbing is a major (since last week, olympic) sport now, but 60 years ago it was an unorganised niche of potential suicides. There were no companies that would do that for you: people would build hexes and nuts out of old bathroom plumbing, and would sling them with chords and cordelettes. Modern climbing material still teaches how to re-sling old trad gear or build belay cordelettes, which means tying mainly the water knot or the double (ot triple, etc) fisherman's knot, presented below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xX203.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xX203.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The water knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ijXEv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ijXEv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The double, triple, ..., $n$-ple fisherman&amp;#39;s knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, keeping in mind people have used both of those knots in climbing for the last century, it's hard for me to believe they aren't safe. I've read that the impact of a hard fall would be enough to &quot;melt&quot; something and then bla bla, but I didn't find any evidence of that on the web. In fact, I think it might be possible to prove that this sentence cannot be true. I have some gear that I have re-slinged with the water knot and it has been catching me every day (this doesn't mean it works, I just might have been lucky 200 times in a row).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, does anyone have any evidence of re-slinged material or any of those knots failing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All those pictures of climbing heroes like Chouinard and Long climbing with dozens of cordelette-slinged hexes on their racks... Were they at risk? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-08-29T13:18:09.703" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T05:32:00.830" Title="Safety in re-slinging old trad gear" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13710" CreationDate="2016-08-29T13:46:53.727" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Testing by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s.html&quot;&gt;QC Lab at Black Diamond&lt;/a&gt; suggests there is a lot more design and consideration going into cam/friend sling design than just knot vs bar tack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because when the Camalot was loaded during testing, the cable pinches down, and ultimately cut the webbing at loads less than we were happy with (gunnin' for 14 kN but only getting about 10 kN)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So then, it may depend on the cam's thumb loop design. Do yours have a similar loop design? Have you loaded it to 10 kN, or have you had 200+ lower-force loads on it? There are many variables to consider that a home-slinger may or may not consider or test, leading to unsafe equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the old-school climbers, I don't think this can answer for them. I don't know their designs or how much tail they left on their water knots. Some may have properly tested their equipment, others probably not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until properly tested to failure, one should not assume a homemade re-sling is as strong or reliable as a manufacturer re-sling, regardless of knot vs bar tack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="3066" LastEditDate="2016-08-29T14:28:21.930" LastActivityDate="2016-08-29T14:28:21.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13710" CreationDate="2016-08-29T15:42:33.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing accidents very rarely are a result of mechanical failure, and almost always a result of human error. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traditionally, climbers built their own climbing gear as you've mentioned, I personally know a few old school climbers who years a go used to climb with machined nuts they found in their garage and slinged with cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference with climbers of old and climbers today, is the old-school climbers were boldly going where no man had gone before, whereas today there are a lot of weekend warriors timidly attempting to go mostly only where their topo guides say is safe to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a paranoia in today's climbing culture with safety (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7348/dropping-gear-where-did-the-hairline-micro-fracture-urban-legend-come-from&quot;&gt;Dropping gear: Where did the hairline/micro fracture urban legend come from?&lt;/a&gt; for one example). Unless a piece of gear has been extensively fail-tested, then most of the climbing community won't even touch it out of fear that it'll be the cause of their demise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Re-slinging your gear with tube webbing or cord is a perfectly acceptable practice:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9105/how-do-i-get-cam-slings-replaced&quot;&gt;How do I get cam slings replaced?&lt;/a&gt; And as I've already stated, there is little to no evidence of anyone's gear failing under proper use. Accidents may be on the rise in the climbing community, but so are the numbers of stupid people trying out the sport. The average person with an adequate amount of common sense has little to fear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm often annoyed by the young gym-climbers spewing about the latest blog they read and how you're not supposed to do things a certain way out on the crag. Like when I use a water bowline instead of a figure eight follow through, &lt;em&gt;&quot;You shouldn't use that knot, because it's easy to tie a water bowline wrong and have it fail...&quot;&lt;/em&gt; In my head I'm thinking, &lt;em&gt;&quot;I've been tying knots since before you were even a dirty thought in the back of your daddy's mind, go back to your computer blog you little punk.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of today's rock climbers want a sport that is 100% risk free, and shy away from anything that they feel might inject risk or doubt into the sport. Need I remind them that the majority of the mountains in the world were first climbed hundreds of years ago using sticks, chock stones, manilla ropes, and without a route guide. Were they at risk? ROCK CLIMBING IS A HIGH RISK SPORT, OF COURSE THEY WERE AT RISK! But they were smart, they had wits, and they had a hunger for danger and adventure. If you don't like taking risks, don't climb on rocks! If you're not comfortable with any aspect of climbing, then follow the golden rule of: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;When in doubt, don't do it/use it.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But bear in mind that just because you're unsure, doesn't mean it's universally unsafe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T20:38:03.033" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13636" CreationDate="2016-08-29T15:59:32.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can actually boil water in any material that has a higher ignition point than 220 degree F (100 degree C) because the water will hold the temperature at its maximum boiling temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastActivityDate="2016-08-29T15:59:32.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13710" CreationDate="2016-08-29T16:21:44.980" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not following your logic here.  You seem to assert if we don't have a record of the knot failing then safe to lash up old gear.  There are newer designs. Hardware fatigues.  The knot is not the only point of failure.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just because a water knot is still taught does not mean there is not something better for certain situations?   It is tool / knowledge any climber needs.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not just about the knot.  Designs have change to doubling up at highest points of failure.  You may have the same level of safety but at a lighter weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technology improves.  If you think safety of older technology is fine for your risk profile then that is your choice.   A 20 year old bike is good enough - the newer bikes are a lot better.  A car today is safer than a car 20 years ago.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For you to assert a friend should last a life time is silly.  Aluminum fatigues. Springs fatigue.   Modern design is far advanced over the original friends.  No way I would use some of my aluminum carabiner from the 70's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Webbing has not changed much and the water knot seems to be pretty solid.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes have changed.  There is some discussion and research on &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-what-is-the-best-rappel-knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WHAT IS THE STRONGEST RAPPEL KNOT&lt;/a&gt;.  But it is reported failure is way beyond a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early Friend. Not as versatile and would walk on you so sometimes you did not get them back.  I would not use any of my original friends even on a practice route.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QArk8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QArk8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Circa 1974 Friend&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern friend&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r6d8P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r6d8P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technology has a improved and so have materials.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes heroes like Chouinard and Long climbed with dozens of cordelette-slinged hexes on their racks were at risk.  With modern equipment they would be climbing with less risk, lighter racks, and more versatile equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-08-29T18:22:34.067" LastActivityDate="2016-08-29T18:22:34.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9548" CreationDate="2016-08-29T17:58:23.497" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most bird nests are protected under the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;This law says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“No person may take (kill), possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such bird except as may be permitted under the terms of a valid permit...”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under the MBTA it is illegal to destroy a nest that has eggs or chicks&#xA;in it or if there are young birds that are still dependent on the nest for&#xA;survival. It is also illegal for anyone to keep a nest they take out of a tree or find on the ground unless they have a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and&#xA;Wildlife Service (USFWS).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11190" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-08-30T06:41:11.213" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T06:41:11.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13717" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-30T03:23:12.470" Score="5" ViewCount="830" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the selling points of a synthetic sleeping bag is that it retains its thermal properties &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/470/synthetic-vs-down-sleeping-bags&quot;&gt;even when wet&lt;/a&gt;. However, one of the most miserable nights I have ever had was in a wet synthetic sleeping bag in a rainstorm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be a percentage reduction of the temperature rating or another way of predicting how much insulation it will provide?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-10-01T04:03:47.827" Title="How much insulation does a wet synthetic sleeping bag provide?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13719" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-30T12:22:24.197" Score="10" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tree kind of resembles an ash but has green buds, there are pinnate leaflets with rounded tips&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SjaZM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SjaZM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;close up of leaflets&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9b64y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9b64y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;leaflets&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;edit&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tree is located in Cambidgeshire in the United Kingdom&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:39:22.027" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:39:22.027" Title="Can anyone help with identifying this tree?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13720" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13750" CreationDate="2016-08-30T12:29:09.097" Score="7" ViewCount="368" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of manufacturer (and archers) state that feathers are better in all respects. For example a quote from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trueflightfeathers.com/facts.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trueflight&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using feathers results in higher arrow velocities, greater stability,&#xA;  better guidance, higher accuracy and more forgiving flight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do most olympic archers, compounders etc. still use plastic vanes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some clarification for laypersons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can either have natural feathers or artifical plastic feathers on your arrow. Latter are called &quot;vanes&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fiszyl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fiszyl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt; The first arrow has natural feathers while the lower arrow uses vanes. &lt;/sub&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-08-31T09:43:05.060" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T07:14:29.010" Title="Why are plastic vanes used instead of feathers?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13679" CreationDate="2016-08-30T12:57:12.480" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The vast majority of picnic sites are available on a first-come first-served basis.  This is true across the many local, state, and federal agencies that provide picnic sites.  These sites are for individuals or single families.  There is usually a single picnic table and sometimes a fire pit or grill per site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some picnic areas are part of official parks that require a entrance or day-use fee.  There is usually no additional fee for using the picnic area once you are already there.  This kind of arrangement is common for state parks where there is some attraction and reason for wanting to be there other than to just stop in and have a picnic.  Roadside picnic areas are far more common, and generally free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The page you link to seems to be for reserving a large picnic area for large groups.  Gathering groups takes planning, so officially reserving space makes sense.  Such things are likely to require a fee, in part because people have to get involved with the registering and reserving, and in part to limit the number of requests to a reasonable value.  Sometimes the same park will have a few free first-come first-serve sites, and larger pavilions or group sites that require advance reservations and a fee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T12:57:12.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13722" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-08-30T15:48:49.173" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;When asking an identification question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Write a detailed title:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Include the type of thing (tree, bug, plant, mushroom, animal, gear, etc.) that you want to identify.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Include where it was found -- both where in the world, and where in a more specific sense (&quot;under a rock&quot;, &quot;fungus growing on my tree trunk&quot;, &quot;in the woods&quot;, &quot;in the ocean&quot;, &quot;on the mountain&quot;, &quot;in my yard&quot;, etc).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Include at least one photo&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Include distinctive features.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat the descriptive features from the title in your question.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-30T16:45:00.917" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T16:45:00.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13723" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-08-30T15:48:49.173" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions that ask &quot;what is this thing?&quot; Pictures are very important, as are descriptive titles." OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-08-30T16:44:52.040" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T16:44:52.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13724" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-08-30T16:45:31.203" Score="4" ViewCount="269" Body="&lt;p&gt;The local climbing gym has several TRUBLUE auto belays but one can soon tire of the same routes. Will the auto belay work if one climbs a route next to it? At what angles does it still arrest a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://headrushtech.com/blogs/auto-belay-safety-best-practices.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this mention&lt;/a&gt; of belay lanes but it only cites swinging and webbing wear as factors, not potential arrest failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:28:07.053" Title="What is the working range of TRUBLUE auto belay?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13724" CreationDate="2016-08-30T17:15:30.583" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its not that it won't catch you, its that if you are outside of your lane it will cause a pendulum fall and you might swing into someone else or the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it is their gear and climbing outside your lane will cause extra wear and tear, in addition to causing risk to other people, the courteous thing to do is to respect the rules and stay inside your climbing lane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better solution to the boredom caused by repetitive climbing would be to ask the staff if they could change the holds on the routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:28:07.053" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:28:07.053" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13701" CreationDate="2016-08-30T17:39:11.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not an expert, but this caught my attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The image appears to be of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_darner&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;common green darner(Anax junius)&lt;/a&gt; which is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.migratorydragonflypartnership.org/index/about&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of 16 North American dragonflies known to migrate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dragon flies are known to migrate along mountain ridges, which &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/43%C2%B010%2753.0%22N+109%C2%B039%2717.7%22W/@43.1846853,-109.7788958,34028m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d43.1813778!4d-109.6549278&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Maps &lt;/a&gt; indicates the location is.  Being cold blooded &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly#Temperature_control&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;they warm themselves by basking in the sun&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In North America, migrations are seen annually in late summer and early fall, when thousands to millions of insects stream southward along coasts, lake shores, and mountain ridges from Canada down to Mexico and the West Indies, passing along both coasts of the United States and through the Midwest. Movement back north is less obvious, but we know it occurs because mature adult dragonflies appear early in spring at places where overwintering resident immatures (nymphs) have not yet emerged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only about 16 of our 326 dragonfly species in North America are regular migrants, with some making annual seasonal flights while others are more sporadic. The major migratory species in North America are common green darner (Anax junius, wandering glider (Pantala flavescens), spot-winged glider (Pantala hymenaea), black saddlebags (Tramea lacerata), and variegated meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum).&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.migratorydragonflypartnership.org/index/about&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer to your question, is that it probably flew there, as part of its normal migration. It was cold and it stopped to rest sunning on a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-08-31T14:27:41.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13720" CreationDate="2016-08-30T19:36:11.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Artificial vanes are heaps more durable than feathers and being artificial, they are weather resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the things I most see in the field on a wet day is long bowers covering arrows with a plastic bag because they won't fly well if feathers get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T19:36:11.033" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13717" CreationDate="2016-08-30T20:58:25.040" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is one of the biggest myths in outdoor gear. No insulation is &quot;warm even when wet&quot;, the real difference is whether it's life threatening or just really unpleasant when wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The useful difference is when the garment/bag is just slightly damp. (i.e. if you get somewhere dry, wring the water out of the garment and does it then provide any benefit?) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer for synthetics is mostly yes, but IMHO that's a long way from &#xA;'warm even when wet'. Your case is a something we all learn the hard way, being dry is warm, being wet is not. Doesn't matter what gear you have; you have to get in a dry environment to allow whatever insulation value remains in a damp garment to be useful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2016-08-30T22:57:17.933" LastActivityDate="2016-08-30T22:57:17.933" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13729" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13747" CreationDate="2016-08-30T21:43:28.053" Score="5" ViewCount="1407" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know approximately how long it takes to do the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telluridemountainclub.org/via-ferrata/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Telluride Via Ferrata&lt;/a&gt; route. I've seen estimates anywhere from 2 hours to 6+ hours which seems extremely wide to me. How long does the actual route take assuming / how long is it? Assume reasonable fitness and not scared of heights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to attempt it next week so if no one answers, I'll probably fill this in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9267" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T08:01:24.010" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T15:49:58.363" Title="Approximately how long does the Telluride Via Ferrata route take?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13694" CreationDate="2016-08-30T22:12:54.017" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just spoke with a park ranger at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lassen Volcanic National Park&lt;/a&gt;. I was told that the huge group of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_tortoiseshell&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;California Tortoiseshell&lt;/a&gt; butterflies, Nymphalis californica, spend time at the summit pretty much every year, including this one, so it is considered an annual occurrence, although the numbers vary. Unfortunately, you just missed them. They arrived in Mid-July and stayed approximately three weeks, which is common, and would definitely correspond to your sighting on August 5th. She said you can call the park beginning in July, and a ranger will tell you whether or not they've arrived, so maybe you can go next year. I don't know how quickly you can plan a trip, but it's nice to know that you have a window of a few weeks for a potential viewing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When asked about migration, she said that because some overwinter in California, (frequently Orange County) Oregon, Washington State and other locations, they don't know the pattern of the exact groups seen on Lassen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The migration origination and destination are unknown. The tour guides teach that the mystery is part of the fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do have working theories as to why they're at Lassen, based on years of observation and scientific research, although there is an element of speculation. The two most probable reasons are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's hatching season for that species and there are probably nesting spots high in the trees at the summit. That corresponds with information about their life-cycle, and the type of vegetation conducive to their needs. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They've been drawn up by the huge gusts of wind from the east, and leave when the winds settle down. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for sources to help plan other times and places to see them, I highly recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Nymphalis-californica&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Butterflies and Moths of North America&lt;/a&gt; website. In addition to detailed information about the species, it includes a sightings map and a sightings table. Sightings are individually listed, and are continuously updated, the most recent being on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tyndall&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Tyndall&lt;/a&gt; in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Nevadas&lt;/a&gt;. I'm on the East Coast, so I don't know the geography of your region. I may be pointing to things way out of your way! Those sightings are not always the great phenomenon of numbers, though, so you might want to read through them carefully, unless you just want to find a place to see the butterflies in person. Your kids might like to get a closer look either way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That site also states that some of the Tortoiseshells overwinter in parts of California. Of those that don't, the range is generally &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;British Columbia south along the Pacific Coast to Baja California Norte, east to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Rare migrants to Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont after periodic population explosions in Mexico.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked you about Crater Lake because the droves of tortoise shells at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crater Lake National Park&lt;/a&gt; have been recorded and studied since 1929. Mention is made of witnessing them by the thousands in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://npshistory.com/nature_notes/crla/vol3-3b.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;park publication&lt;/a&gt; from September of 1930.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, according to a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/nature-notes/vol17-butterflies-crater-lake.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nature Notes from Crater Lake&lt;/a&gt; publication from 1951, that was a very prolific year, although they got there a little bit later, at the beginning of August, and stay later into September. Of note, though, is that they're not mentioned as being there annually, so I'd check with that park specifically. I didn't call, but it's possible they could be there right now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-08-31T23:25:53.810" LastActivityDate="2016-08-31T23:25:53.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="464" CreationDate="2016-08-31T11:49:20.870" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;[&lt;em&gt;Edited after comments and additional research.&lt;/em&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aerobic training will not prepare you for altitude&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the answers here are misleading. According to the Altitude Research Centre:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being physically fit does not prevent you from experiencing AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness)&#xA;symptoms. There does not seem to be a link between fitness level and&#xA;susceptibility to altitude illness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Altitude sickness is a significant risk at 14,000 feet (4,200m)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 14,000' (4,200m) you're only getting 60% of the oxygen at sea level. Altitude medics classify 14k as &amp;quot;Very High Altitude&amp;quot; which is a strong hint that the dangers are significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Susceptibility to AMS appears to be genetic and varies widely between individuals. Estimates of incidence levels are all over the place in the literature, but we can safely say that a significant percentage will experience quite severe physical and cognitive issues if they ascend rapidly to 14k.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't underestimate the impact. Even mild AMS is extremely unpleasant and can affect your ability to move safely on technical ground. Severe symptoms can be pretty much paralysing. I'm very susceptible to AMS and know this from experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's important to follow the &lt;a href=&quot;https://basecamptraining.com.au/2017/06/15/3-golden-rules-of-altitude-sickness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Golden Rules&lt;/a&gt; and not push on if you experience symptoms. Rapid descent will always resolve early symptoms - the problem is that denial is extremely common as people are keen to reach their goal and not disrupt the rest of the party. This is how the serious issues occur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently, the only way to know your own response to altitude is to suck it and see. So it's important to be cautious on your first high ventures, and pick routes with an easy retreat. Even people with known low susceptibility can suddenly experience problems, so always be prepared to descend if you feel unwell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to acclimatise before ascending to 14,000 feet (4,200m)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very important to distinguish between two scenarios:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The typical alpine trip where you make day-climbs to the peak, but descend to sleep below 8000 feet (2400 meters). That is what we are discussing here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A trip where you will be progressively sleeping at higher altitudes. This is a whole different ballgame and life-threatening problems are&#xA;quite common. Do your research and understand the proper protocols&#xA;for gaining height.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Traditional acclimatisation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;only&lt;/strong&gt; proven way to acclimatise fully is a programme of training climbs at increasing altitudes. If you know you are one of the lucky ones, you can head straight off to your 14 thousander. For the rest of us, you'll need 1-4 days to acclimatise depending on your physiology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm prone to sickness, so personally I find it best to be conservative and climb up to around 9,000' (2,700m) on the first day while sleeping low. Even this can be quite uncomfortable. Then I'll add 1,000' (300m) or so a day if things go OK. If I'm relatively symptom-free on an 12,000' training climb, I'd feel ready for 14,000' (4,200m). If you're less susceptible, you can accelerate the process. Only experience will tell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Altitude tents and masks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is quite an expensive and disruptive process. The equipment can be hired or purchased if you don't have a suitable facility nearby. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/1784286/do-altitude-tents-work&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Army Research&lt;/a&gt; suggests that tents are better than nothing, but are far from a full substitute for traditional acclimatisation. For a 14 thousander, it's unlikely that this will be the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Medication&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only recognised medication is Diamox (Acetazolamide).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diamox is far from risk-free, with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.drugs.com/sfx/diamox-side-effects.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;many unpleasant but benign side-effects&lt;/a&gt; and occasional &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743627/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;life-threatening reactions&lt;/a&gt;. And recent research suggests that it is &lt;a href=&quot;http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ham.2010.1003?src=recsys&amp;amp;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;not measurably effective&lt;/a&gt; for countering the effects of strenuous exercise during rapid ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, the clinical authorities recommend against using Diamox prophylactically, so you won't get a prescription. It's available in the US, but the risk/reward ratio doesn't look good and you certainly shouldn't rely on it preventing AMS at 14k.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:  I've adjusted the broken Golden Rules link with some that I searched up.  I'm not the OP, who knows way more, but they look fairly in line with what previous casual research showed me.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take-home points&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The dangers of rapid ascent to 14k are significant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only experience will tell you how long you take to acclimatise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do need acclimatisation, the only proven approach is traditional training climbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tents and masks only provide modest benefits, while medication has significant side-effects and may well not work in this scenario.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-10-06T22:26:21.480" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T22:26:21.480" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13702" CreationDate="2016-08-31T14:17:38.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sock would have been glued in there, yes. In service the socks and the wrist seals would have been replaced often as they didn't last long. Now you can glue either booties, the latex socks or just an ankle seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-08-31T14:17:38.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13729" CreationDate="2016-08-31T14:59:25.583" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thing with Via Ferrata routes is how long you take often depends on the size of your group, their fitness, and how comfortable everyone is with heights and using their gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen people at a &lt;em&gt;crawl&lt;/em&gt; on some simple via ferrata lines that provide some assistance on high exposure parts of popular hikes. They have both hands on the cable, bodies as low as they can get them and close to the rock, terrified of the drop to their side, while others would comfortably walk past them without even touching the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everyone is going to do the route in the same amount of time, you need to take the average and apply that to your level of speed and fitness, but you also need to factor in the possibility of traffic jams, you could get stuck behind a slow group. If I were you, I'd give myself a lot of extra time, get an early start, plan on somewhere around 4 hours and see how you do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-09-02T02:06:22.043" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T02:06:22.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13655" CreationDate="2016-09-01T01:59:08.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is any pat answer to this - weather patterns can vary widely by region and by season. All I can suggest is some commonsense approaches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the weather forecast before your climb, and on your phone or pocket radio during the climb if you have reception. In the US, you could also use weather radio.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ask locals and rangers about local patterns and what signs to watch out for. For example in the Western Alps local guides have given me very specific advice about the warning signs of afternoon thunderstorms on a specific range at a specific time of year. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry an altimeter and watch for sudden drops in pressure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay alert to obvious signs such as the wind backing, a lowering cloud ceiling or fast developing cumulonimbus formations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-09-01T21:03:13.100" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T21:03:13.100" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13655" CreationDate="2016-09-01T08:42:52.480" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's true that it always depends on the area you are in. But something that always indicates that a thunderstorm is coming, is that the bird are flying very close to the ground. If there are Birds on the Mountain you want to climb, you should watch them. If they are less then 100m (I guess 300ft?) above the ground, you probably start heading downhill. In my experience this warns you up to two hours before the thunder starts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T08:42:52.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13615" CreationDate="2016-09-01T10:34:18.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's unlikely to have much fuel in it, so you've got a chance.  But you're going to have to be careful. The first step is to try to push the liquid out using the butane you would normally fill it with.  Holding the lighter with the nozzle downwards and the trigger depressed to open the valve, all while pushing the butane canister into place should do the trick (the lighter fills from the bottom).  You might need to put the lighter in a vice.  However in many lighters, the output is taken through a pipe leading to a position quite low in the reservoir.  You can't tell in this case because it's sealed and made of metal, but you might also have to try blowing butane in with the lighter the right way up (standing the filling canister on the bench).  A tiny bit of liquid lighter fuel may be left behind in either case, but hopefully not enough to prevent lighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then release the trigger, fill the lighter and make sure all traces of fuel are gone before trying to light it, which you should do cautiously.  I'd be consider wearing leather gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't trust it as my only source of fire until it's had a good workout, in case enough liquid is in there to re-block the outlet.  I'd also be wary of unexpected flames at first, and after it had been shaken about -- inspect for signs of liquid before lighting and watch out for flammables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing that might be worth a try, especially after blowing what liquid you can out of it, is leaving it in a warm place with the trigger pressed.  I'd again do this outside, avoiding direct heat.  The outlet nozzle is going to be really small, so very little evaporated liquid will escape, but it might be the only way to shift the dregs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warnings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful not to ignite anything -- you're likely to be pushing the trigger with spilt fuel around.&#xA;Work in a well-ventilated place away from anything flammable -- outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've assumed that like my cheap equivalent you can gently press the trigger without sparking.  If you can't you'll have to be even more careful.  I've also assumed that (again like my cheap one) you can lock the trigger.  If not a cable tie or small clamp shoudl do the trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T10:34:18.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13738" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13741" CreationDate="2016-09-01T10:46:57.333" Score="19" ViewCount="10164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep encountering this issue during summer, when wearing short trousers or a skirt while hiking: my boots get filled up with small rocks and stones, and I must stop from time to time to empty them. I guess this is a common issue, but I was wondering: is there some method to avoid, or at least lessen the little stones which get in my shoes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have tried so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wearing long trousers which cover the boots (too warm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tying shoelaces differently (not too effective)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walk on the grassy side of the road (not always comfortable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;change the way I walk (hard and demands constant attention)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trying to see whether it happens with other shoes/boots too (and it does... now I use a Lomer Pelmo)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T22:35:44.290" Title="How to keep small rocks and stones out of hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13738" CreationDate="2016-09-01T11:52:00.487" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightweight gaiters are your best option.  They do a very good job of keeping things out of your shoes.  If those are also too hot for you then you will have to reconsider the effort it takes to change your stride/walk so that you're not kicking up as much detritus.  It will come down to which is less inconvenient for you:  adding gaiters, changing your walk, or living with the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T11:52:00.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2016-09-01T13:43:36.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got these curad non stick pads  that protect the areas of friction. And if you do get a rash during a trip you can put one in between the skin where the rash is and you won't even feel the rash anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11207" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T13:43:36.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13738" CreationDate="2016-09-01T14:13:32.670" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like Russell said, gaiters are what you need, there are many varieties, most are meant to help keep your feet and pants dry while moving through the bush, but in your situation I'd probably recommend a pair of trail running gaiters:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uLBXq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uLBXq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're built exclusively for keeping sand, dirt, and rocks out of your shoes, and they're pretty stylish, which is apparently kinda important for some girls... Check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://dirtygirlgaiters.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt; Dirty Girl Gaiters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T22:35:44.290" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13738" CreationDate="2016-09-01T15:08:41.277" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two answers suggesting the purchase of gaiters seem like a great idea.  The same effect can be gained with socks.  Either cut the elastic off of a pair of socks that are worn out.  Or just roll down the tops of long socks over the cuff of you boot/shoe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't own or wear long socks, and you know someone who wears nylons, ask them to give you any old nylons with runs in them.  You can cut them into gaiters of you own.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T15:08:41.277" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13743" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13744" CreationDate="2016-09-01T15:38:40.867" Score="4" ViewCount="1667" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need bear bangers and launchers, but I live in the US. I've found a site that sells &lt;a href=&quot;https://kodiakcanada.com/collections/launchers-and-bangers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Launchers and Bear Bangers&lt;/a&gt; but they only ship to Canada, it seems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where or how can I obtain bear bangers and lauchers in the US?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:16:31.257" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:16:31.257" Title="Where can I buy bear banger launcher and ammunition and have them shipped to US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bear-bangers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13743" CreationDate="2016-09-01T16:51:22.630" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Previous FFL note was wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suttonag.com/epcd_license_help.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sutton&lt;/a&gt;, a special license is required to possess these. They require a Explosive Pest Control Device (EPCD) License which must be obtained from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atf.gov/explosives/apply-license&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Federal ATF&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a license &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.suttonag.com/shell_crackers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sutton&lt;/a&gt; will sell to US customers.  Read carefully when looking online.  Some vendors, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.margosupplies.com/usa/bangers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Margo&lt;/a&gt;, only sell the government agencies (fine print, bottom of page).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-09-02T00:07:27.500" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T00:07:27.500" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13473" CreationDate="2016-09-01T19:39:47.507" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Severe drought effects established plants more than the annuals, as seeds often have a very extended lifespan and will germinate when new moisture arrives. Appropriate practice whenever hiking in our State and National parks apply: Stay on trail, don't disturb vegetation, collect wood, or host fires. Stay aware of redds in rivers and creeks and do not disturb them. Pack out all waste, even human (fecal containment packs are available from some retailers and from some park stations). Set up camp on durable ground, not in meadows or grasses, and follow strict leave no trace guidelines. Generic rules are designed with severe conditions and persistent conservation in mind. Enjoy your park visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T19:39:47.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13738" CreationDate="2016-09-01T21:32:05.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;While gaiters might be useful for many hikers, for me that is too high maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, I choose where I hike to avoid the problem.  Steep hills &quot;encourage&quot; me to walk slowly and to carefully select where I place my feet on each step.  And staying on the main path (usually) has less loose debris to kick up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here was my choice two days ago in the Columbia River Gorge (Oneonta Gorge):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FKe5T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FKe5T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2016-09-01T21:32:05.850" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13729" CreationDate="2016-09-02T01:29:37.620" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I talked to a local guide and they said typically on a weekday it will take someone in reasonable shape who isn't afraid of heights 2 to 3 hours to complete Telluride's Via Ferrata route. I will update my answer after I complete the route for accuracy and conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I completed it in ~4 hours with 2 friends who are avid hikers but none of us had any experience on via ferrata. We took a 30 minute lunch break in the middle and went at a medium pace in my opinion. Most of it was just hiking on a cliff side trail. There we're ~3 parts that were more intense and required hanging from &quot;the iron road&quot;. Most of it was goat path hiking or narrow ledge hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9267" LastEditorUserId="9267" LastEditDate="2016-09-30T15:49:58.363" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T15:49:58.363" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13719" CreationDate="2016-09-02T05:38:38.527" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say it is a walnut tree. The bole is flat, and at first sight it seems that someone cut the lower branches of it (at some point when the tree was younger). The leaves also look like the ones of walnut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it has no fruits on the branches then it might be a bad year, or some hail destroyed the harvest, or the tree might have some illness (see points on the lower leaves). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I am not a botanist, we just have a lot of walnut trees in our orchard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T05:38:38.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13702" CreationDate="2016-09-02T06:27:14.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I scuba dive with dozens of divers who exclusively used Viking drysuits.  The photo you have shows a similar drysuit, though not as heavy duty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After about a dozen or two dives, each one of the drysuit &lt;s&gt;wusses&lt;/s&gt;divers would be cutting and pulling out a glove or boot and installing a new one.  The seals around the wrists and ankles are their worst aspect and soon leak&amp;mdash;at first a little, but then very soon quite a lot.  A drysuit diver leaking is way more uncomfortable than a wetsuit diver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No one uses tape!  Rubber cement generously (but thinly) directly between the inner smooth surfaces and the boot or glove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T06:27:14.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13720" CreationDate="2016-09-02T07:14:29.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;An arrow's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletching&quot;&gt;fletching&lt;/a&gt; should balance between providing good spin and minimizing drag.  See the video &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancasterarchery.com/blog/video/explained-fletchings/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feathers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Superior in-flight characteristics: recede well at high airspeed (decreases drag) while springing back exponentially as airspeed decreases (increases stability)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Higher arrow speed &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trueflightfeathers.com/facts.htm&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More forgivingly slides past risers and rests&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to tune&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When wet, provide less to no spin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vanes (plastic)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not affected by water or most weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More durable than feathers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less expensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rigidity of vanes causes launch variances brushing past rests&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to tune, but less variance between similar vanes than between similar feathers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flexibility changes with temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of vanes probably call to many:  cheaper and more predictable.   I could not find a reason why Olympic competitors use vanes.  Maybe it is an Olympic requirement?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T07:14:29.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13751" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13752" CreationDate="2016-09-02T13:08:43.957" Score="11" ViewCount="2331" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winter is coming. I need lots of wood to keep warm. I know there are many variables involved but I would like to get a rough estimate of what one can expect to chop in a day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Assumptions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Average build, average height&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20 - 30 yrs old&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not an athlete but in good condition&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tools: Splitting Axe, splitting wedge, maul, 20&quot; chainsaw&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is an area already set up for stacking the chopped wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outside temperature is 70-80 F&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wood is hardwood (oak/maple), not fully seasoned&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8 hours to work (less if you don't think this is realistic), including breaks if need&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8178" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T17:59:56.293" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T17:59:56.293" Title="How much wood can the average person expect to chop in a day?" Tags="&lt;technique&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13751" CreationDate="2016-09-02T14:32:57.510" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in the day when I fit the criteria in the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the wood is down and has been seasoned. One &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_(unit)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cord&lt;/a&gt; {128 cubic feet (3.62 m3)} a day is easy.  I used to cut, split and load into the truck in the morning, sell it later in the day and stack it at the buyers house. Do over next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 or 3 cords a day should be reasonable production for cut, split, haul and stack. As it is unlikely that you need more then 10 cords for a season.  Doing a cord per morning, with other chores in the afternoon would be my choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wood is green (&lt;em&gt;been down for less then 6-12 months&lt;/em&gt;) it is harder to split, may be twice as heavy, and provides significantly less heat. Not only will you have to work 2 or 3 times harder to stack each cord, you will need more cords to get you through the winter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13337/how-to-stash-firewood-without-it-getting-wet/13346#13346&quot;&gt;How to stack wood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13756&quot;&gt;What is the energy difference between green and seasoned fire wood?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T23:57:56.790" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13753" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13755" CreationDate="2016-09-02T14:38:09.343" Score="16" ViewCount="4907" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've generally seen two kinds of locks for adjustable trekking poles.  Twist lock and clamp lock (Clamp lock is also called &quot;lever lock&quot; and &quot;quick lock&quot;).  What are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of clamp vs. twist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clamp lock:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OQjPw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OQjPw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trekking pole clamp lock&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Twist lock:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjSeV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjSeV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trekking pole twist lock&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-09-02T16:49:24.397" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T15:23:49.733" Title="What are the advantages of different locks for collapsible trekking poles?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13753" CreationDate="2016-09-02T15:33:37.957" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically twist locks (in my experience) are a pain. They suffer from a number of issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're difficult to undo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's impossible to grip them with gloves on, this is a problem when it's cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The lock without careful maintenance can lock solid (had this happen a number of times to mine). This can be very difficult to rectify (especially without the help of a pair of plyers, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only disadvantages of clamp locks that I'm aware of are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're newer and tend to be more expensive because of this&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They make the pole more bulky when stowing away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can come undone if you catch the latch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, the mechanism is simpler and just less likely to foul up. You may have guessed I prefer the clamp to the twist lock, which is odd because both my poles are twist lock ones :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8952" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T11:13:36.803" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T11:13:36.803" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13756" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13757" CreationDate="2016-09-02T15:35:19.960" Score="6" ViewCount="651" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know from personal experience that greenwood (freshly cut) does not provide as much heat energy as seasoned wood (has been down for 6-12 months).  When burning it spends a lot of it's energy boiling the water out of the wood.  It takes more green wood to provide the same amount of heat as you would get from seasoned wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I let my firewood season for 12 months, if I burn seasoned fire wood and my neighbor burns green wood, how much more fire wood will he burn in season? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the Wikipedia article &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewood#Heating_value_of_firewood&quot;&gt;Heating value of firewood&lt;/a&gt; there are a lot of variables.  I am just looking for general rule of thumb.  I always burn seasoned wood, but my neighbor just moved into his homestead and will need to burn greenwood this winter.  How much more wood should he expect to need, compared to my normal usage? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T17:59:30.783" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T17:59:30.783" Title="What is the energy difference between green and seasoned fire wood?" Tags="&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13756" CreationDate="2016-09-02T15:59:45.357" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need about 15 to 20% more green wood to achieve the same amount of heating as with seasoned wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Calculation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the linked Wikipedia article green wood weighs 70-100% more than seasoned wood and seasoned wood has an energy content of 4.5kWh/kg = 16.2MJ/kg. This obviously depends on the wood, but we are just looking for an estimate. Therefore any equal sign used here is meant as approximately equal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As wood is usually measured and sold in volume (cord, stere, cubic meters, ...) we neglect the additional weight of the water and just take into account the energy lost due to &quot;boiling&quot; it. Water has a specific heat of 4181J/(kg K) and vaporization heat of 2257kJ/kg. Assuming an initial wood temperature of 0degC green wood thus has an energy content of (16.2 - (2.257 + 0.004181 * 100) * 0.7 to 1)MJ/kg = 14.3 to 14.9MJ/kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-09-02T16:09:27.183" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T16:09:27.183" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13577" CreationDate="2016-09-02T17:30:26.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd recommend contacting an Ugly Stick service department directly and asking them if they can send you a replacement part, there's a chance your rod may even be covered by warranty:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uglystik.com/UglyStik-warranty-service.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.uglystik.com/UglyStik-warranty-service.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IN THE U.S.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shakespeare® Customer Service&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1900 18th Street&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Spirit Lake, IA 51360&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(800) 466-5643&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IN CANADA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mike’s Tackle Repair&lt;br&gt;&#xA;#108-31060 Peardonville Rd.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Abbotsford, BC V2T 6K5&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(604) 855-1119&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rockey’s Tackle Repair&lt;br&gt;&#xA;10 Brammer Drive&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Orilla, ON L3V 7T4&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(705) 325-3526&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T17:30:26.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13759" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-02T19:01:00.873" Score="11" ViewCount="332" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm impressed with the idea of the Ursack, but would like to use the same material to construct a pannier.  Does anyone have any good considerations about the weaknesses I might encounter in a design that uses a backboard and pannier hooks, and what sort of stitching I would need to make it bear-proof?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to be clear, I'm not asking how to hang your pannier, but to make a bear-bag style pannier to be used like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://ursack.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ursack&lt;/a&gt;.   No, I'm not planning on leaving the bicycle on the pannier.  I'm planning to otherwise treat it like an ursack and secure it to a trunk 100ft from camp.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11220" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-26T22:49:14.463" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T22:49:14.463" Title="How would I make a bear-proof pannier?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13760" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-02T19:31:00.867" Score="4" ViewCount="1973" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I cook a hot dinner on a canister stove and plan on cooking a hot breakfast in the morning, &lt;strong&gt;can I leave the stove on the canister overnight&lt;/strong&gt; or would it be &lt;strong&gt;better to take it off&lt;/strong&gt; and reattach in the morning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-28T19:16:37.930" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T19:16:37.930" Title="Would it hurt anything to leave a canister stove attached overnight?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13760" CreationDate="2016-09-02T19:57:01.387" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, go ahead and leave it on, you'll likely save fuel that way, be it a very small amount, but you do lose some fuel each time you take the element off of the canister. You don't need to take it off if you're not packing it away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-02T19:57:01.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13753" CreationDate="2016-09-02T23:52:45.237" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing to bear in mind is that the twist lock will last a lot longer than the quick lock. This is because of the way the mechanism works. Each time you lock and unlock, there's a little wear on the mechanism in the case of the quick lock. With the twist lock, the wear is so slight as to be negligible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11224" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-03-08T13:57:13.173" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T13:57:13.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13402" CreationDate="2016-09-03T01:08:38.117" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I opted for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.insectshieldforpets.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Insect Shield Repellent Bandana&lt;/a&gt;.  I'd rate it a 3 out of 5 for effectiveness, 5 out of 5 for value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-14T18:17:37.360" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T18:17:37.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13760" CreationDate="2016-09-03T01:16:09.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience is with portable grills and cooktops.  They're a bit different, but close enough that I think this may be informative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The valves on cheaper ($50-200) camping grills aren't the best.  I've owned two that still put out some gas when they're &quot;off&quot;.  If you take the whole valve out of the grill and hold your hand over the pinhole, you can feel a small breeze. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually leave the canister attached if the grill is staying outdoors, but I unscrew the canister if the grill is going in my basement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After unscrewing the canister, put your hand over the valve and feel for a breeze.  I've had canisters that their internal valve doesn't close after unscrewing.  Just pay attention and screw it back onto the grill and rely on the grill's valve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6247" LastActivityDate="2016-09-03T01:16:09.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1711" CreationDate="2016-09-03T02:51:01.013" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this question was answered a while ago, but I just thought this might be more relevant to the UK. I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1928720.The_Eyewitness_Handbook_of_Trees&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The DK Handbook by Allen Coombes&lt;/a&gt;. It's easy to use for beginners, with a step by step guide, walking you through the identification step by step. It's also detailed enough for professionals. I work as an arborist and myself and many others I've worked with always keep this book in the van as first call in identifying a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11225" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-18T19:45:31.783" LastActivityDate="2017-06-18T19:45:31.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4400" CreationDate="2016-09-03T05:27:35.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use zinc oxide ointment for making rashes go away and for protecting skin. Found some in the dollar store with a much higher content of zinc oxide than Desitin has. It is cheap, safe and works for me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastActivityDate="2016-09-03T05:27:35.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5577" CreationDate="2016-09-03T05:36:31.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not rock climbing rope, admittedly, but as a tree surgeon, I've always cut the working end off climbing lines as it wears. After the first few feet it's often like new so I get a lot more use out of it like that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also had a few times where a nearly new climbing rope has got a nick in it and I've cut it to make two shorter ropes. I like to tape it before cutting to stop any fraying, then melt the ends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All my equipment is subject to UK loler regulations and has to be assessed every 6 months, my own cut lengths of rope have always passed inspection, provided I've transferred over the serial numbers so they're traceable. If it's good enough for the HSE it's good enough for me I say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11225" LastActivityDate="2016-09-03T05:36:31.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13770" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-03T20:06:00.293" Score="13" ViewCount="11547" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages and disadvantages of carbon fiber vs. aluminium when buying trekking poles?  Are carbon fiber really lighter, do they break easier if jammed wrong, etc.?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T21:53:46.487" Title="Trekking Poles - Carbon Fiber vs. Aluminum" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13772" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13774" CreationDate="2016-09-03T21:51:09.007" Score="12" ViewCount="3082" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent one really miserable night because I found out during the rainstorm that my bivy sack wasn't waterproof. Drying it out wasn't an option because of the rain and  moving some where else also wasn't an option because of the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My temporary solution was to sleep in my rain gear (pants and jacket) inside my sleeping bag, is there a better solution for a situation like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:23:37.307" LastActivityDate="2018-01-31T19:18:27.590" Title="What should you do if your sleeping bag gets soaking wet at night?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13770" CreationDate="2016-09-04T11:34:01.380" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CHOOSING BETWEEN CARBON AND ALUMINIUM WALKING POLES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with most decisions about lightweight equipment there are tradeoffs, and your best choice will depend on your budget, your height and weight, and the way you use your poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Characteristics of carbon poles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you probably know, carbon poles are a matrix of fibres set in resin. Not all composites are the same: materials and construction vary widely, with the best being more expensive than aluminium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good carbon poles are very strong for forces aligned with the lay of the fibres  (top to bottom), but not so strong for forces across the fibres (side to side). They can be weakened if the fibres are cut by abrasion or if the resin becomes fatigued through regular heavy flexing. They also become more brittle in the cold. When carbons fail it can be sudden, with a total and jagged break. If you check out the forums, reports of breakage are frequent, particularly with the ultra-light models. I have also seen reports of carbon poles breaking in high winds when used as tent supports, with the jagged ends damaging the fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Characteristics of aluminium poles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good aluminium poles should be made with an aircraft-grade 7075 (or other 7-series) alloy. Avoid anything made with cheaper 6-series alloys.  The 7075 is a very strong and resilient material that should put up with much more abuse than carbon. Despite being more common, there are fewer reports of failure. Any failure will generally be less dramatic and it would normally be possible to bend the pole back into shape to complete your trip. But reliability comes at a cost, as aluminium is a little heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other considerations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight is not the only factor in pole choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps even more important is the efficiency of the design in transmitting force from your arms to the ground. The traditional straight handle was adopted from the ski-pole and is, in my personal opinion, an ergonomic nonsense in the context of walking. To use it efficiently you have to lock your wrist into an inconvenient and uncomfortable strap, which is an unstable and energy-wasting platform to push against. A more ergonomic design such as the comfortable shaped handle of the PacerPole transmits your push more directly to the ground, saving energy and reducing fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need to consider the locks. In general flick-locks are more reliable and easier to use than twist locks. But there's not that much in it, so this should only be secondary consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Choosing the best poles for your particular usage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Body weight and height:&lt;/strong&gt; if you are tall, large or carry heavy loads you should probably favour the reliability of aluminium. If you are small and travel light, you are less likely to break carbons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ground conditions:&lt;/strong&gt; if you always walk on well-groomed trails you should probably favour carbons. If you abuse your poles by boulder-hopping, vaulting bogs or leaning on them heavily during rough descents and stream crossings, aluminium will be a better bet. One blogger reports that on the rugged TGO cross-Scotland walk, his companions broke carbon poles on three successive years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In your hand vs in your pack:&lt;/strong&gt; if your poles spend a lot of time in your pack this is an argument for carbons. If they are mostly in your hand, ergonomics and reliability trump weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tarping:&lt;/strong&gt; if you also use your poles to support your shelter you may prefer the added security of the aluminiums, as a pole breakage would have more serious consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Budget:&lt;/strong&gt; the quality composites used on high-end poles are more expensive than aluminium. Cheap generic carbons are a bit of a lottery - you won't know how they are constructed and they will probably not perform as well. On the other hand the 7075 aluminium alloy is an international standard and will always be high quality. If your budget is tight, I would go for a 7075 aluminium pole rather than take a gamble on a low-end composite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So pole choice is a very personal matter. I hope you find this helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T12:39:32.447" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T12:39:32.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13772" CreationDate="2016-09-04T12:24:41.230" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First - do everything to prevent getting a wet bag!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A wet sleeping bag must be a nightmare - the best solution is to make sure this never happens to you again!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I use a new shelter somewhere remote I would wait for bad weather and test it out in an exposed location where I can retreat easily if things go pear-shaped. I always inspect my shelter carefully before heading for the wilds to ensure that the seams and fabric are in good condition. And I'd always take a shelter that had a bit in hand to cope with the worst conditions I'm likely to encounter. Whether by luck or by judgement, I've never had a wet bag in decades of wild camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carry sufficient dry clothing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is always the risk of shelter failure. So I would always carry enough clothing to ensure I could survive if my bag got soaked. This means at least a base-layer, puffy, sleeping socks and hat that I keep dry during the day. With a wet bag I'd wear these under my walking clothing and rainwear. I wouldn't be comfortable, but at least I'd make it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;With a wet bag, consider getting back on the trail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always carry a decent walking torch and lightweight spare, and in almost all circumstances I'd probably prefer to get on the move if my bag was unusable - I'm going to be warmer and psychologically I'd find it less miserable to be doing something rather than shivering in the dark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Otherwise, you're in survival mode!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If hitting the trail was impossible for some reason, you're in survival mode. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat some fat, such as cheese, butter or oil. This gives your body the fuel to warm you up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whenever you feel chilled get up and do some vigorous exercise such as star-jumps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your shelter is intact the approach you took of&#xA;wearing your rain-gear inside the bag is probably the best option.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your shelter is shredded you're reduced to looking for&#xA;shelter from the wind and improvising with whatever fabric you could&#xA;salvage. If it's legal and practical you could also consider building a fire, though this takes some skill in the rain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-09-04T13:19:04.840" LastActivityDate="2016-09-04T13:19:04.840" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13772" CreationDate="2016-09-04T16:03:50.550" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to assume that you're too deep into the bush to bail and get back to civilization, and that your bag is all that's standing between you and hypothermia. In this situation, you have to get your bag dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, prevent yourself from getting any wetter. You have rain gear, that is good. Get into dry clothes, put your rain gear on, and stay active so you can  keep warm. Sleeping in your rain gear &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; probably the best temporary solution if you're able to stay warm that way, if not, then you need to get your bag dry, which means bunkering down in a dry shelter. You only have a bivy, so you have to build something else if you can't find any natural shelters like a frost pocket or dry thicket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you have dry shelter, you need to start a drying/warming fire &lt;em&gt;(see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8204/how-to-light-a-fire-with-wet-firewood/8205#8205&quot;&gt;How to light a fire with wet firewood?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/em&gt; and hang your bag so it can catch the heat (don't hang it overtop of the fire). Build a reflector on the opposite side of your fire to reflect the heat back into your shelter and onto your bag. Now you have to stay there until your bag is dry enough to keep you warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-04T16:03:50.550" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13776" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-04T20:59:09.203" Score="7" ViewCount="7093" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Coleman anti-shock hiking pole came apart in two pieces, and I can't get the two pieces back together so they don't slide apart again. Any suggestions how they can be stabilized so it can be used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11232" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-04T22:41:34.197" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T17:26:45.027" Title="How can I re-fit a hiking pole that came apart?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13777" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-04T21:14:10.837" Score="4" ViewCount="2135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried surfing for the first time recently on a yellow foam longboard, the type typically used for teaching as it is less likely to damage you if it hits you on the head ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started out just trying to catch waves lying down, to gain familiarity with the balance of the board and paddling it around.&#xA;I found that even positioned quite far back, as soon as I caught the wave, the nose would dip underwater and I'd somersault over the top of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this normal, and something that wouldn't happen if I jumped to standing position as I caught the board - you're not supposed to surf these boards lying down after all - or does it indicate some other issue with what I'm trying to do? I didn't see anyone else reporting similar issues when I had a quick look along the beach or on the web... is it just front/back weight distribution or should the board not be pointed completely at 90 degrees to the wave, etc, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11233" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T13:04:10.253" Title="Nose-diving when catching a wave on a longboard" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13778" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-05T01:44:06.677" Score="9" ViewCount="801" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to learn target practice inside my house. The goal is to eventually use these skills in &lt;strong&gt;The Great Outdoors&lt;/strong&gt;. I'm looking for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a non-real (e.g. BB type) handgun or rifle that has realistic recoil (as close to realistic as possible, i.e.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a laser target practice thing that I can attach to the said gun above (something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01K4B9WPS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a target suitable for the laser target practice thing in the previous bullet point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;not necessary but nice to have: if the handgun/gun is loud but has a silent mode (or a silencer attachment).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something that combines &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B010FMGDBW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00TEACJ6A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (recoil/blowback) and a silencer would be perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11235" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:42:50.277" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T02:40:40.853" Title="Is there a handgun or rifle target practice set-up for the home?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13777" CreationDate="2016-09-05T08:17:34.300" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't surfed but have enough experience boating and sailing to have an idea...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Try going at around a 45 degree angle or (way) less to a wave as what's happening now is the back being picked up and simply pushing you 'bow first' down into the next wave or bottom of the wave.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;By going at an angle you should stay on the side of the wave longer enabling you to surf it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T08:17:34.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13777" CreationDate="2016-09-05T08:20:31.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When learning, lying down on the board is perfectly normal, and you can surf a wave just fine like this (typically with a loss of agility as it's hard to move your body weight) and a board This happens for two reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The simple one you have already mentioned is being too far forwards. Especially when launching onto the wave, positioning is critical. You need to be far enough forward that when the wave comes underneath you you move forwards, but then you need to move back enough to stabilise and not nosedive or run out too far forwards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On short waves, this can be exacerbated - a tight curve may be shorter than your board (some surfers on the Isar in Munich actually cut the nose of their board off, as the artificial wave there is so tight - others just use very short boards)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest moving further back on your board (as long as you can still catch the wave) and then as soon as you are on the wave hold one rail to turn along the wave. You'll want to be heading along the wave anyway, as otherwise the breaking section will catch you, so just make sure you start this early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going along a wave requires more speed than just heading in at 90 degrees, so this is all a balancing act. You can press down with your hands near the front of the board, while your weight is further back, in order to catch the wave, and then moving your hands further back effectively pulls your weight back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T08:20:31.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13781" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-05T13:27:37.093" Score="8" ViewCount="1362" Body="&lt;p&gt;We carry a flint and steel instead of lighters to light our camp stoves when backpacking because the flint and steel always works and weighs very little.  One of our routine camp activities is to try and start a real fire with one.  Whenever I can find dry tinder, things go very well.  However without dry tinder we have a 0% success rate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to start a fire with a flint and steel with wet tinder, and if so, how?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8204/how-to-light-a-fire-with-wet-firewood&quot;&gt;related question that illustrates how to handle wet wood&lt;/a&gt;.  However that will work only once the tinder is lit.  Similarly this question on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6646/lighting-a-fire-using-a-flint-and-steel&quot;&gt;flint and steel&lt;/a&gt; has answers, but assumes you can get dry tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify, the assumption is that I haven't brought tinder with me and that everything is damp/wet (a common occurrence on Appalachian mornings).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:25:02.370" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:25:02.370" Title="Is it possible to use a flint and steel with wet tinder?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13776" CreationDate="2016-09-05T13:40:30.430" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing these are screw fit poles. This has happened to me. The problem is that the mechanism that prevents the poles from collapsing when you tighten them is essentially a friction expending wedge type mechanism. So as you tighten the bolt inside the body the plastic &quot;wedge&quot; expeands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm using the term &quot;wedge&quot; here, for want of a better term. What I mean is the expanding body mechanism that is inside the pole when they're together. It should be on the end of the bottom pole and will typically be made of plastic with some kind of screw going into the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjSeV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sjSeV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;i.e. The white section on the end of the pole in this photo, above the spring&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's likely happened with yours is that somehow the wedge has gotten out when expanded, so it won't go back in because it's too wide. So you need to loosen then bolt and contracts the &quot;wedge&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do this using a pair of pliers. Basically grip the exposed end of the bottom pole and twist the pole (as though you want to collapse them). Be careful not to damage the locking mechanism and ensure you unscrew them, not tighten them up more. Eventually you should see the locking mechanism &quot;wedge&quot; contract and get thinner. You should now be able to put the pole back together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully nothing is broken and you can tighten them whilst inside. If not you can try and expand the &quot;wedge&quot; a little and try again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they're broken, then they're broken though and you may need a new pole&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T13:40:30.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13781" CreationDate="2016-09-05T14:49:43.227" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want dry tinder in a wet environment you need to put some extra effort in. Don't expect to find it lying around becasue everything exposed to the atmosphere is wet. But you can still get tinder (not including the dating app, you have to download that...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So where's is there a good source of dry material; the inside of logs is dry right?! So if you can split a log. You should be able to do this with a good sized knife and some basic tools (large log as a hammer, etc). The inside of the log is nice and dry (the wood needs to be old wood without too much sap). You can then use your knife to shave the inside of the log. Providing you shavings are nice and thin you should end up with a nice dry tinder material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bark off a birch tree is good too, providing it's not been too exposed to the elements, here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaCFkuWDE1Q&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ray mears video showing how to do this using brich bark&lt;/a&gt;. The techniques are similar for making tinder from a log. Basically you just need to increase the surface area of the dry material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically anything wooden that's dry and isn't directly exposed ot the elements can (with effort) be turned into tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-09-05T15:01:39.373" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T15:01:39.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13784" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13785" CreationDate="2016-09-05T14:59:02.623" Score="31" ViewCount="9648" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went hiking this weekend in a national forest on trails that see little use. In parts there were many spiderwebs crossing the trail - sometimes full webs (which I could usually, but not always, clear before passing) and sometimes just a few strands of silk between trees, which were nearly impossible to see depending on lighting conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a couple times getting spiderweb to the face, I started waving a stick in a figure-8 pattern around eye level every so often and when I suspected there may be a web (for instance, foliage sticking in on either side of the trail). This helped mostly on the full webs I found, but I still kept running into random strands, which made for a very unpleasant hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better way to clear spiderwebs when I can't see them? Are there tell-tale signs that strands of web might be crossing in my path?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T22:39:58.050" Title="How can I clear spiderwebs in my path while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;spider&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-05T15:48:23.700" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;What about a mosquito net? It would protect your face from any unwanted spiders webs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9oDiH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9oDiH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T15:48:23.700" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13776" CreationDate="2016-09-05T17:26:45.027" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming you have a screw/twist locking pole, which has been dismantled, and when you put it back together no amount of twisting makes it lock.  If you can't get it back together at all, see Liam's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a close look at the end of the thinner pole section.  There are a few different twist-lock mechanisms, but they work in a similar way. There is a plastic wedge or nut, which expands as it is screwed onto a thread sticking out the end of the pole.  Here's a sketch I nicked from a &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/komperdell_c2_carbon_tour_duolock_review/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;review&lt;/a&gt; of some Komperdell poles, showing two variations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hCDFl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hCDFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A sketch showing the twist-lock mechanism in walking poles&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sketches are for a pole without anti-shock.  An anti-shock pole has a spring mechanism in there too, usually just below the nut in one of the joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the pole lock, the lower pole section has to turn, while the nut/wedge stays put, along with the upper pole section.  If the nut is retracted all the way, it spins with the lower section of pole, and never tightens.  To stop this from happening you can:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjust the nut by hand until it only just fits into the upper pole section, so there is just a little resistance as you slide the parts together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a slight bending pressure on the pole as you start to screw it up.  This pushes the nut against the inside of the upper pole section.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lubricate the screw thread (be careful not to get lubricant onto the outside of the nut, or inside of the tube). You want a lubricant which is long lived and won't migrate to the wrong place. I use paraffin wax from candle stubs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If that doesn't work, or if the nut doesn't turn, or if the nut is missing, then it may be that something is broken.  You can edit your question to add a photo and we'll have another look.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the sound of it, you don't often take your poles apart.  You may want to store them in pieces, rather than assembled, as this lets any moisture which as made its way into the tubes dry out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11239" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T17:26:45.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-05T18:32:46.810" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you hike in a group, ideally arrange the sequence so someone big and not-so-bright is first.  Maybe they won't notice the webs.  :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not ever seen anyone wear a mosquito net.  Not during spider season.  Not in the tropics, jungles, or rain forests.  I have years of total trail time.  But it is a great option and should be easy to pack for &quot;just in case&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Pacific Northwest, spiders have a definite web building season which lasts 3 or 4 weeks.  In the lowlands, it tends to be September or October seemingly triggered by when temperatures drop or maybe when the rains begin.  So there is no need to carry protection between November through July.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T18:32:46.810" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13781" CreationDate="2016-09-05T18:46:57.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard emergency tinder in most places I have been is a lichen called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usnea&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Man's Beard&lt;/a&gt;.  It can appear in several forms.  Here are the first two from Wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAXby.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JAXby.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c70yv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c70yv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if it is soaking wet, heavily raining, caked in ice, or encased in snow, one need only remove most of the excess moisture by vigorously shaking (or bending to break out the ice).  It is then readily used as tinder.  Of course the drier it is, the better; a little moisture retards its flammability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you carry &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;white gas&lt;/a&gt; as fuel for a portable stove, that makes an excellent &quot;dryer&quot; for wet materials (even paper) &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; makes the tinder easier to ignite.  Be sure to expect a small fireball as the fuel vapor will travel a few feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2016-09-05T20:53:28.903" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T20:53:28.903" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13795" CreationDate="2016-09-05T19:47:29.177" Score="11" ViewCount="1097" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a camping stove that works with fuel you are allowed to take on a plane?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often I fly somewhere without possibility to buy any fuel for my stove after landing. In those cases I take an Esbit stove with me. The Esbit tablets are not allowed on a plane, but don't stand out when going through the scanner so they almost always pass without a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, illegal is illegal and I would feel better having an option that will not get confiscated when detected. Does such an option exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realise that there is a very bad fit between the words &quot;flammable&quot; and &quot;airplane&quot;, but hoped that someone knows an option that I didn't think about. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Border condition: regular commercial flights where you have to go trough a security check at an international airport. Liquid fuels and camping gas are usually mentioned in the pictograms with forbidden objects. The time that my Esbit tablets were caught the discussion was over when the flammable icon on the package was spotted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problems that I've encountered with gas/diesel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I usually depend on public transportation. A pump is often not exactly within walking distance of the airport. Especially troublesome if you have a limited connection time to get the bus or train.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pumps often don't like filling my small bottle. They want a minimum amount (usually solved if you pay for that minimum amount) and I've had cases where filling a metal container was not allowed. I've solved that by buying a bottle of some drink, drinking it, filling the bottle and pouring from drinking bottle to fuel bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Messy to get rid of the remainder when flying back. The best way to do that would be another question.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By taking my fuel with me I basically want to eliminate a factor that is largely out of my control, not always predictable and a potential time sink. I often fly somewhere for 2-4 days and then you don't want to burn that time running errands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastEditorUserId="5567" LastEditDate="2016-09-05T21:10:36.087" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T18:50:36.950" Title="Camping stove with plane allowed fuel" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-05T19:51:29.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spin a length of string or chain while hiking, so that it will destroy or be caught in any spiderwebs in front of you.&#xA;Wear a clear plastic mask, perhaps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11241" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T19:51:29.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13772" CreationDate="2016-09-05T19:57:06.357" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Years ago I was caught in a totally unexpected and sudden blizzard/snowstorm.  I started out the trip at 85&amp;ndash;95&amp;deg;F (30&amp;ndash;35&amp;deg;C) in August so I was totally unprepared for cold weather in the days when I owned a goose down sleeping bag only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hastily found a reasonably wind-sheltered site, pitched the tent, and dove inside as the storm raged.  An hour or two later, I felt the trickle of very cold water flowing (head to foot) through the ground-contacting portion of the sleeping bag.  Turning onto one side bought perhaps 10 minutes of relative comfort.  After about three repositionings, comfort was unattainable.  So I got out of the bag and tent&amp;mdash;standing naked in the fierce blizzard&amp;mdash;and wrung out the totally soaked bag of several gallons of water (or so it seemed) and shook it vigorously to fluff it up.  It was not dry, but at least it was not soaked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting back in the sleeping bag was heavenly:  It was way warmer and I fell asleep immediately.  However, soon it became soaked again and the cycle repeated throughout the night, something like once an hour.  Not the greatest night's sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By first light (04:30) the storm disappeared and I got out to look.  There was perhaps eight inches of &lt;em&gt;Cascade Concrete&lt;/em&gt;&amp;trade; (snow) with drifts of more than two feet.  My tent site turned out to be a small gully which was draining maybe 50 feet (15 m) of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature was chilly at about 10 &amp;deg;F (-12 &amp;deg;C) and my hands were too cold to do a decent packing job (why would anyone take gloves or mittens for summer backpacking?), so I basically stuffed tent and sleeping bag into&amp;mdash;and onto&amp;mdash;the pack.  Though it was a three hour hike from the trailhead on the way in, it took more than seven hours to return because it was difficult following and finding the trail combined with the extra effort of walking in frequently deep snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After considering this misadventure for decades, my advice for a soaking wet sleeping bag is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wring out the sleeping bag.  Even if it is made of down and soaking wet, the moisture in the bag is a major burden on body heat.  Reducing the moisture helps significantly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move to a location that is not so wet.  Even if the storm is raging and you are naked.  Put on some outerwear to increase comfort and probability of success.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to decrease the rate of water ingress.  Laying on top of the backpack may not be &quot;comfortable&quot;, but it is better than being hypothermic.  Or if water is coming from the top of the tent, add a blanket, clothes, or trash bags to slow down getting wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improvise a bed or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_toboggan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;akia&lt;/a&gt; using limbs, branches, and needles.  It can be &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maybe duct tape could make a waterproof blanket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out of the sleeping bag, and wear modern water-resistant materials and hiking apparel.  Bail out next opportunity and return another time with adequate equipment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T01:21:19.400" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T01:21:19.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13793" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-05T20:26:18.450" Score="8" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a machine washable sleeping cot (metal/aluminum frame off the ground). I have seen that most cots are made out of a water resistant material (nylon/polyester/canvas) 600D. I have seen that most cots are not listed as specifically machine washable; there are a few but they do not meet other requirements (price, size, color, height). If it matters, I am looking for an XXL. Most of my searches for &quot;machine washable sleeping cot&quot; return results for dog mats. To be clear, I am not talking about a washable &quot;sleeping pad&quot; that can go on top of the canvas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does water resistance affect machine washability? I guess I've washed plenty of water resistant synthetic material before, but these may not be the same.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it does not say machine washable, are there coatings or other reasons why Nylon/Polyester/Canvas 600D base material cannot be machine washed?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it more likely that a cot not listed as machine washable will be designed such that it might be too  difficult to quickly remove the nylon material from the frame? Or do they know people will possibly want to wash them?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any modular options, wherein the nylon portion is not dependent on the frame, and can be purchased seperately depending in needs, mixed and matched, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What has been you experience machine washing these types of products?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Not sure if people are allowed to suggest products or manufacturers. The most promising appears to be the Teton Sports Outfitter XXL, but it is not listed as machine washable. Yes, I can contact the company myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11242" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T16:58:10.283" Title="Machine Washable Sleeping Cot" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13789" CreationDate="2016-09-05T20:33:13.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is going to produce enough heat to cook a plane is going to have problems with it.   A solid fuel is very stable and not likely to cause a problem.  For sure don't cheat with a compressed gas like propane or butane that could go pissss at low pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A liquid fuel like white gas in a high end bottle is a safe bet but may still be confiscated.  Put wine in two and hope they don't check the third?  Sneak with a plastic container is a no. Sneak is no - they may put you on a dangerous passenger list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multi fuel stoves like a MSR® XGK.  If you are dropped in the middle of now where with absolutely no fuel I would hope you would have a sympathetic pilot to white gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-06T16:55:20.313" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T16:55:20.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13789" CreationDate="2016-09-05T21:56:33.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is &amp;quot;not really&amp;quot;.  At least within the US, liquids with an alcohol content of 70% or greater are not permitted in checked bags or carry-on, and those are the most likely of the fuels you might have been able to get through.  (Gasoline, kerosene, etc. are certainly not permitted.)  You may wish to experiment using 65% ABV beverages to fuel an alcohol stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are two non-standard options: wood or twig burning stoves, and ethanol.  (Yes, I know ethanol is an alcohol, bear with me...)  A twig burning stove can be fueled on-site if you're in a forest, and you can similarly carry large amounts of &amp;quot;fuel&amp;quot; on the plane with you.  The ethanol option will be available to scientific researchers.  To quote from the FAA's Pack Safe site regarding &amp;quot;Biological specimens, non-infectious, in preservative solutions&amp;quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quantity limits: No more than 30 ml of free liquid solution in each inner packaging and no more than one liter in the entire outer package.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inner packagings must be placed in a heat-sealed plastic bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat-sealed plastic bags must be placed in another heat-sealed plastic bag with enough absorbent material to absorb all of the contents of the inner containers. That bag is then put into a strong outer packaging with sufficient cushioning material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer package is suitable marked &amp;quot;Scientific research specimens, 49 CFR 173.4b applies.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For complete packaging requirements and options see 49 CFR 173.4b(b).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the regulation: 49 CFR 175.10(a)(22) and 49 CFR 173.4b(b)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;*Liquids, gels, and aerosols in carry-on baggage are further limited to 100-ml (3.4 oz) containers at the TSA security checkpoint.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, this is likely far less convenient than attempting to find fuel locally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, one other point you should be aware of.  Fuel vapors are cause to reject a stove or empty fuel container, meaning if the screener smells white gas, out it goes.  Using denatured alcohol to clean the container and leaving it in a warm spot to &amp;quot;bake&amp;quot; dry may help.  For a stove, running it for a time on butane might similarly help, as mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/57388/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this thread&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternate option to consider is shipping fuel to your destination ahead of time, particularly if you'll be staying at a hotel upon arrival.  Having someone at your destination who can obtain or hold the fuel for you is also useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ref: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-05T21:56:33.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-06T14:00:27.937" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarterstaff&quot;&gt;Quarterstaff&lt;/a&gt;! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, wait, hear me out. It's not just helpful against Ogres and Trolls while doubling as a walking stick / trekking pole but protects your eyes from various dangers if used properly: spiderwebs, thornbushs, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iB-xy0u4A&quot;&gt;shrubberies&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With respect to the length of the staff I'd go with about the same height as the hiker, maybe add a few inches for the cool. The technique is actually quite simple: grip the staff like a shorter trekking pole and tilt slightly forward. This way the upper part of the staff will be ahead of your face essentially all the time. When entering a more dense area you might want to resort to more &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swordsmanship.ca/academy-articles/fighting-with-staff-and-spear/&quot;&gt;aggresive techniques&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5417" LastEditorUserId="5417" LastEditDate="2016-09-06T20:44:31.963" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T20:44:31.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-06T14:31:08.280" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I only have this issue when we're the first ones on the trail in the morning, so we've learned to take our time at breakfast/packing up and then we hit the trail a bit after we see someone else pass by our camp.  If we aren't lucky enough to have another group clear the path for us, we take turns going in front and doing a scissor motion with our trekking poles when passing between two close trees.  It's not a terrible low-effort upper-body workout, either.  I think the mosquito netting is a practical idea, but for me it kills the fresh-air open-wilderness feel of backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9761" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T14:31:08.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13781" CreationDate="2016-09-06T16:50:28.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;No&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, it's probably not &lt;em&gt;im&lt;/em&gt;possible depending on &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; wet, but I can pretty much guarantee you're going to spend more time striking your steel trying to get the wetter stuff lit than if you were to take the time to find or prepare &lt;em&gt;dry&lt;/em&gt; tinder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're wrong to assume that &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; is wet. Everything may be wet on the &lt;em&gt;outside&lt;/em&gt;, but most logs will be nice and dry in the centre if you cut them open. Cut a nice dry section from the inside of a log, and shave it really fine until you have a good sized nest to strike some sparks into. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In desperation–supposing your head is dry–you can cut the hair from your head (stinks, but works) I've used my dog for tinder before, those soft fine hairs burn in a flash like a fuse, so make sure your kindling is close by because once they catch you're only going to have a split second before it burns out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry tinder is one thing you can't really get away with not having. Bushmen back in the day would always carry some inside their bags (of course they also somethings carried an insulated tin can with hot coals from their previous fire so they wouldn't have to start another with flint). They'd stock up on the trail when the happened upon some nice dry tinder and stuff it in their bags for later, It's aways good to have some in your kit for in an emergency. In fact you should never be out in the wild without emergency tinder in your survival kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good ideas for tinder to carry in your survival kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dryer lint&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Always fine a super dry coming out of the dryer, it receives a spark very well and usually always lights on the first strike.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In scouts we used to make fire starters by mixing candle wax and dryer lint and pouring it into egg cartons (the paper kind, not the styrofoam ones) then cut it out to make a dozen fire starters, they burn well for a decently long time, great for helping you get stubborn wet kindling to catch. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twine/string&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not the synthetic stuff, but the brown help-like twin, unravel a foot-long length of twine down to the base material and you're left with a perfect little nest that will readily light when a hit with a spark.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tissue/Toilet Paper&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Stranded on a beach in a storm, with naught but my trusty Bear Grylls survival knife and a small pack of face tissue, I was able to get a fire going with only one tissue flat on the ground in from of my fire, took a couple tries, but it caught and gave us enough flame to catch my kindling before the heavy rains hit. TP is usually one thing everybody carries (I hope) so it's always a go-to for frustrating when nothing else is working. You can shred it and rough it up so it receives a spark better too. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using materials in nature, I have to confess I've only ever started fires using hairy old mans beard/witches hair, which grow abundantly throughout the rockies, and al:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZeHxO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZeHxO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-09-06T17:47:02.553" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T17:47:02.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3336" CreationDate="2016-09-06T17:09:43.557" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on the area, here in Florida a heavy rain can occur at any time flooding what was reported to be a good trail.  I remember going through a trail in the ONF that the website said was beautiful and discovered it was completely overgrown with vegetation that was 8 feet high. We could not even get through with machetes. We bulldozed our way through which was dangerous (snakes) but it was the only way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not usually ask the ranger station because most of the time they do not know. If I see a hiker coming in the opposite direction I will ask him/her. There is only one sure way to know, go see for yourself. That is what hiking is all about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T17:09:43.557" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13789" CreationDate="2016-09-06T18:04:32.293" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would avoid man-made fuel based stoves all together and just use a titanium wood burning stove. They are also great for areas were large fires are prohibited, but you just want the comfort of a very small well contained fire. They may not work well in some areas that are low on wood or other burnable resources (e.g. dry leaves, tinder, paper, etc.), or where those resources may be prohibited from use (i.e. protected areas). I've traveled once on a commercial and once on a private aircraft with a titanium wood burning without any issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example from REI:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/829302/vargo-titanium-hexagon-backpacking-wood-stove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.rei.com/product/829302/vargo-titanium-hexagon-backpacking-wood-stove&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11257" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T18:04:32.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13805" CreationDate="2016-09-06T21:50:50.477" Score="8" ViewCount="1386" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvwUip4d2no&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1f2Hn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1f2Hn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Man climbing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically I won't say I'm planning to do the same thing but would like to find out more behind how he did it.  Someone told me the suction cups were intended for construction and not climbing but I'm not really sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ggrglass.co.uk/suction-cups/nv11-fairs-air-powered-suction-cup/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The following which looks similar requires an air compressor.&lt;/a&gt; If it requires a small air compressor how did Steve do it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11259" LastEditorUserId="11259" LastEditDate="2016-09-09T00:17:06.320" LastActivityDate="2021-02-01T16:52:03.720" Title="What Suction Cups Were Used To Climb Trump Tower?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-06T22:51:31.857" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We get giant Banana Spiders here in Florida. They can span across the entire trail and though harmless can be a real pain. When going down trails that no one has used for months or years  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6k44.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6k44.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;they are especially thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use netting and a big stick and have to wave it in front of me else you will be spider-faced real quick. They are very timid creatures so they retreat as soon as you touch the net with the stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastEditorUserId="3556" LastEditDate="2016-09-07T18:00:11.783" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T18:00:11.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13803" CreationDate="2016-09-06T23:26:46.063" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like they were four  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ggrglass.co.uk/suction-cups/nv11-fairs-air-powered-suction-cup/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NV11 Fairs Air Powered Suction Cups&lt;/a&gt; as pointed out by this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/trump-tower-suction-cups/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-06T23:26:46.063" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13778" CreationDate="2016-09-07T00:00:54.187" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of aspects you need to train for shooting a gun.  The specific scenario you are training for will change your choice of gear and approach.  I have trained a number of people for defensive style shooting, such as that found in IDPA or IPSC competitions, or for concealed carry purposes.  For indoor training, I use SIRT pistols from &lt;a href=&quot;http://nextleveltraining.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Next Level Training&lt;/a&gt;.  With the SIRT pistol, you can practice almost all aspects of pistol craft except recoil management.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the recoil simulators I have seen have not done an adequate job of simulating any real recoil, so I have stopped considering recoil as something I need to train with.  I use the SIRTs and various targets to train things like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trigger mechanics (finger placement, follow through, finding reset) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Proper eye focus on the front sight &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Target identification&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shot placement&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safe and effective draw mechanics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reloading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basic malfunction drills (Needs to be combined with time on a real gun)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safe movement with a pistol&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot more you can do with it.  If you combine with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://lasrapp.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LASR software&lt;/a&gt;, you can have your shots scored with a web cam pointed at a target and get very good feedback as well as a lot of fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do rifle with the AR-15 SIRT bolt option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of the SIRT option over the LaserLyte or similar options that convert your real gun into a laser simulator is safety and convenience.  The SIRT gun cannot fire a real bullet.  The magazines are weighted to feel like loaded magazines but there is no need for real bullets anywhere in your training area.  The RT part of SIRT stand for &quot;Resetting Trigger&quot; which means that the trigger resets much like a standard pistol, and continued presses of the trigger will result in more laser strikes, whereas the LaserLyte solution requires manually operating the slide to reset the striker before a second shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have put together Powerpoints of targets I want to practice shooting, and using that as my training.  I have a big deck of deer and elk that helps me identify and shoot the vitals quickly, or pass on shots that are not ethical to take.  Even though I am a bow hunter, this has helped my hunting decision making immensely.  I also have a Powerpoint deck of hostile and friendly human targets to practice similar skills.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the SIRT option isn't going to work for you, then you are best off getting an Airsoft gun that is a replica of your real gun, and practicing in an area that the plastic pellets won't harm anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have great eye alignment and focus, and competent gun manipulations like drawing, reholstering, reloading, etc., then at the range you can work on recoil management and be much more focused.  I go out and shoot a box of live rounds every once in a while, but I have found that most of my skill increases come in my house with laser trainer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2019-05-23T03:39:57.053" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T03:39:57.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13803" CreationDate="2016-09-07T06:18:49.890" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It appears to be four of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ggrglass.co.uk/suction-cups/nv11-fairs-air-powered-suction-cup/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NV11 Fairs Air Powered Suction Cup&lt;/a&gt; as already stated by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/8794/charlie-brumbaugh&quot;&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh&lt;/a&gt; in his &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13805/8060&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of sources which claim that they were the used equipment. However, there is no real statement from the climber/police (!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The man appeared to be relying on a series of NV11 Fairs Air Powered&#xA;  Suction Cups, which retail at $280.22 each. The product is marketed as&#xA;  able to lift up to 150 lbs, being ideally suited to picking up glass&#xA;  or stone surfaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/trump-tower-suction-cups/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CNN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;NV11 Fairs Air Powered Suction Cup&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ATFp7m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ATFp7m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;NV11 Fairs Air Powered Suction Cup&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Semi-porous loads can be handled safely with this innovative air&#xA;  powered suction cup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ideal for textured glass or slightly porous stone surfaces, this&#xA;  unique Air Powered NV11 Fairs suction cup is designed for use with a&#xA;  compressed air supply to ensure optimum safety and provide peace of&#xA;  mind during lifting. The high-flow pad attaches quickly during&#xA;  operation without the need for pumping and has an extra tough&#xA;  all-metal handle. This specialist heavy duty suction cup is highly&#xA;  suited to lifted and setting of semi-porous paving and stone flooring&#xA;  tiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Key features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Lifts 68kg &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;250mm (10 inches) diameter lipped pad with closed cell foam&#xA;  ring &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Supplied with protective carrying case &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Vacuum is applied and released with quick action pump handle &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Red line indicator warns of any vacuum loss&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Supplied with 12 month warranty&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Packaging Dimensions &amp;amp; Weight: 320x260x120mm &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Weight 2.5kg (box) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Apply suction cup to dry, clean surface&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Requires small air compressor (not sold by GGR Group) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hand cup requires 2 SCFM [57 litres/minute] @ 75 psi [517 kPa]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T06:27:27.273" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11607" CreationDate="2016-09-07T10:33:41.540" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSG6h.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JSG6h.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After tightening secure the left free side of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/tQKAk1udII8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube video example&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11262" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-26T19:31:45.153" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T19:31:45.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13811" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17630" CreationDate="2016-09-07T13:48:49.940" Score="4" ViewCount="586" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a homebuilt sailing craft that uses a sail similar to the Sunfish (image below) I have seen a few homebuilt sails that use metal electrical conduit for the mast and spars, and am working on a similar design for myself.  In the sunfish a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sunfishsailboats.com/Sunfish_Gooseneck_Assembly_p/90638.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gooseneck&lt;/a&gt; is used to connect the boom to the mast. $84 seems a bit much for one peice of a homebuilt sailing rig.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had contemplated a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/national-hardware-3252bc-1-2-forged-swivel-galvanized?cm_vc=-10005&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Forged Swivel&lt;/a&gt; at $13 it seems more cost effective, and looks to be at least as strong. (&lt;em&gt;Working load weight 3600 lbs for the 1/2 model&lt;/em&gt;) but would probably need to be connected to the mast and boom with rope or &quot;C&quot; clamps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a good solution for the low budget homebuilt sailboat maker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffDrE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffDrE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)#/media/File:Sunfish_rigged_for_sailing.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T02:33:17.230" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T11:43:25.337" Title="Alternative Gooseneck options for small home built sail boats" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13812" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13822" CreationDate="2016-09-07T16:56:37.203" Score="20" ViewCount="5873" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be backpacking in areas where a bear canister is required by regulation.  All of the tip's I've read say to store it XYZ number of feet &quot;downwind from your camp&quot;, presumably so the scent of the food moves away from you rather than in your direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never paid all that much attention to the wind, but in the north east (inland) it seems to blow all willy nilly.  This appears to be reinforced by the fact that the smoke from my fire is smarter than I am and doesn't care if I move my seating position, it will find my eyes in due time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise - if it isn't a noticeably blustery day how can you tell which way the air currents are generally moving?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11254" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:25:43.500" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:25:43.500" Title="How can I tell which way is &quot;down wind&quot;" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13811" CreationDate="2016-09-07T17:04:01.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.melonseed.com/rigging-and-sailing-tips.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sprit rig&lt;/a&gt;, which requires no hardware for the connection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The forward end of the boom is attached to the mast with another small line called a Boom SNOTTER. This short line should be permanently on the mast for sake of convenience. It has either a knot or a loop in one end, and goes down through the eye strap to the jamb cleat. Put the knot or loop into the SLOTTED of the boom, and tension the boom snotter according to the wind strength&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this also necessitates the implementation of the whole Sprit rig, but it might be just what you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T17:04:01.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13812" CreationDate="2016-09-07T17:56:12.150" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simply the easiest way is to light a match (or light a stick from your fire), and look at which way the small flame blows. Simpler still (but less.. uhh.. 'classy'?) take some leaves from the ground, hold them up high, let them fall, and note the direction. Whichever you choose, do it a few times, and in a few different spots around your site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also, however, note that wind &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; blow in different directions based on height. Variable temperatures at different heights (warm air rises) create variable pressures, and thus move air differently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you're using the stick method from above, note that fire is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; warm and staying near the fire will likely mess up your readings to a degree (like reading a compass near a magnet) so move away for the tests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11119" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T17:56:12.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13781" CreationDate="2016-09-07T18:19:17.157" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A ferrocerium rod will produce more, hotter, larger sparks than a traditional flint and steel and with care you can shave off a small pile of material from the rod without sparking it which can act as an igniter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you should carry a reasonable quantity of tinder with you in a waterproof container like a tobacco tin, this means that you will always have the means to reliably create a flame. This should be topped up as you go. Obviously once you have got a fire lit you have the means to dry more tinder to replenish what you have used. Indeed there was a time in teh not too distant past when  tinder box was the normal way of making fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good weather resistant tinder is cotton wool impregnated with Vaseline, tampons are also good as they are very compact and are available individually wrapped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good habit is to collect any good tinder you find on the trail as you go if it is a bit damp you can keep it in an inside pocket and dry it out with your body heat throughout the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of good sources of natural tinder, some work well as they are, others may need a bit of preparation. In Europe bracket fungus has  along history as a tinder and many other fungi and lichens will also work well when dry. Partially rotted wood from resinous woods can also be good and pine sap can be an effective accelerant if not an actual tinder per-se. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often natural tinder will need a bit of preparation. Usually it is enough to scrape the surface with a knife or rock to produce a fine powder which will catch a spark more easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also find that with natural tinder some is good at catching spark and you then need something a bit more fibrous to get a flame from the resulting ember. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also make good tinder from char-cloth this is obtained by partially burning cotton (or similar plant based textiles). You can make this in bulk by heating cotton in a partially sealed container or just carry a roll (like a  bandage) and it should charr itself as you use it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously a lot depends on the environment you are in and it is well worth experimenting with anything which looks likely before you really need it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-01-27T18:37:26.877" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T18:37:26.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13812" CreationDate="2016-09-07T18:47:55.147" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I tell which way is down wind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I know which way is down wind?  I turn so the wind is coming around me from the back and is equal on both right and left sides.  I feel it in my hair, on my face, and on exposed arms and legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the direction is variable, use an average direction.  Is there a direction it comes from more than 50% of the time?  The other directions are probably close to the dominant direction or likely flip flop between two directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the goal is to place food so that lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) don't traipse through my camp following the scent, then there is a wide swath of area which is &quot;good enough&quot;.  Getting the angle to within 0.001&amp;deg; isn't necessary.  In fact, having it within 180&amp;deg; should be fine.  Maybe even 270&amp;deg;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More importantly, place the food far enough away that finding the food doesn't make the camp an apparent &quot;next target&quot;.  In bear country, I find two or three minutes hiking distance (over easy terrain) is a fair compromise between remoteness and convenience of retrieving &quot;just one more thing.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2016-09-07T20:51:46.353" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T20:51:46.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13789" CreationDate="2016-09-07T18:50:36.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fuels tend to be prohibited on commercial flights, by definition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a variety of solid fuel stoves which are popular with bushcrafters and day campers although these tend to be relatively heavy and bulky and rely on you being able to find suitable fuel at your campsite. Their major downside is that they may not be allowed in some areas depending on local definitions of an 'open fire' and they are certainly not as convenient as most liquid or gas fired stoves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi-fuel stoves are a good option for this sort of problem as you can get ones which work with gasoline, diesel and kerosene eg the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primus.eu/omnifuel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;priumus omnifuel&lt;/a&gt;. These generally work very well and are light and convenient and you can get the fuel pretty much anywhere (although obtaining small quantities can sometimes be a problem). One downside is that if you use automotive fuel the smell tends to permeate everything and for obvious reasons gasoline needs to be handled with some care. Although the stoves which connect directly to the fuel bottle are a lot better in this respect. Any stove which works with gasoline should also work with naptha ie lighter fluid (expensive as stove fuel but easy to find) and in larger quantities it is used as panel wipe by automotive paint shops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is alcohol. Something like a Trangia is very reliable and not at all expensive so even if it gets confiscated on the return flight its not too painful. The traditional trangia set is very bulky but all you really need is the burner, a cooking pot (or mug) and  something to support it and you can get aftermarket lightweight supports and heat shields. In most places some suitable fuel is reasonably easy to obtain either as denatured ethanol (methylated spirits in some countries)  or isopropanol (aka rubbing alcohol).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T18:50:36.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13812" CreationDate="2016-09-07T19:26:56.613" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Local wind will vary and settle and night.  If you have a storm moving in or big body of water then would will get persistent breeze.  Near dusk drop some grass a few time and see it is consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T19:26:56.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13820" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-07T20:45:01.890" Score="17" ViewCount="616" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wonder if there are any dog crazy people like me out there who have ever tried to take their dogs kayaking or floating down the river.  Has anyone seen anything created for dog-friendly kayak excursions?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if there is something, much like the trailers people use for carting their children on bicycles, that one could use during excursion kayaking... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11271" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T21:05:30.480" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:05:30.480" Title="How can I take my dog kayaking?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13820" CreationDate="2016-09-07T21:15:25.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get canoe.  Even a two person kayak when you are paddling from just one it is not balanced.  Get a river or boat tube the correct size. Get a lab they can float all day. Unless the water is cold I think most dogs would prefer a good PFD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-07T21:26:59.083" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T21:26:59.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13812" CreationDate="2016-09-07T23:05:17.547" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use your ears.&lt;/strong&gt; OK, Let me explain that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But first things first. The direction of the wind is what we call “downwind”. If I throw a handful of white flour into the wind, the direction that flour travels is “downwind”.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The breeze picks up the scent of nearly everything it touches and carries that scent along wherever it goes. Like the white flour, but on a scale so small that you can’t see it, the smell of nearly everything on your person and in your camp is picked up and carried on the wind. Any animal passing downwind from your camp then knows everything that is in your camp, just by smell (if its sniffer is sensitive enough – and a bear’s is). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you are exactly right. Store your food at least 100 feet downwind from your camp. If a bear is attracted to your camp, he will most likely be tempted by your food, so keeping it far from you will help keep you safe. Hopefully, the canister will do its job and keep your food safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, the wind blows different directions throughout the day, because of terrain and changes in temperature. At night, temperatures even out and cool and air movements usually settle down, becoming slow and steady (no hot, moving sun in the sky to heat up the air). Therefore, if you don’t know the prevailing night-time wind directions in your area, &lt;strong&gt;it would be best&lt;/strong&gt; to check the direction of air movement after the sun goes down (assuming there are no storms stirring things up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As air cools, it sinks, flowing downhill. If you are backpacking in hilly or mountainous areas, rest assured that the breeze will be blowing downhill during the night (unless there is a storm). If one is near the ocean (I know, you stated that you are inland), then the wind should blow out to sea when the sun is down (I live far, far inland, so I have not experienced this, but that’s what I was taught in school).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the &lt;strong&gt;best&lt;/strong&gt; way that I have found to discover the direction of the breeze near my camp (Using my ears):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wait until dusk, that calming, shadowy time between sundown and full dark. Walk in a wide circle around your camp (20-30 feet out will do), stopping several times to test the direction of the air currents. To test the direction of the air currents, simply uncover your head, face and neck, and turn slowly. The fine hairs on your cheeks, and especially your ears, can feel the breeze (even a very soft breeze). When you feel the breeze blowing across the fine hairs on your cheeks and both ears, stop. You are facing UPwind. DOWNwind is directly behind you. Sampling the wind like this in a circle around your camp helps you make a very confident assessment of the wind’s direction. If the breeze is gentle and erratic, you may have to make a couple circles, and even then, you may have to guess a little. However, it’s ok if you don’t get it exactly right, as long as you place/hang your food far from camp. The goal is to place your food in such a way that it does not lure a bear into your camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2016-09-07T23:05:17.547" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13823" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13827" CreationDate="2016-09-07T23:23:05.803" Score="16" ViewCount="2138" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I hear that, when making camp in the mountains, a tent should be pitched so the door is facing a certain direction, usually downhill. I've repeatedly asked why I should do this, and the answers I've received are always &quot;I don't know&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I pitch my tent so it faces downhill - or some other direction? Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T21:17:00.503" Title="When making camp in the mountains, which direction should I face my tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13812" CreationDate="2016-09-08T00:00:59.570" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wet your finger in your mouth, then hold it straight up. It will feel noticeably cooler on the upwind side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7774" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T00:00:59.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13823" CreationDate="2016-09-08T00:17:17.633" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer and reasoning I've heard is place the door facing upwind, or South / Southeast, as this is where the warmer winds tend to come from, northerly winds being colder. Face it east to wake up by the sunrise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note, this is regarding the Northern Hemisphere, but the same logic can be applied for the Southern one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11119" LastEditorUserId="11119" LastEditDate="2016-09-08T01:21:04.307" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T01:21:04.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13823" CreationDate="2016-09-08T00:56:25.617" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pitch the tent flat.  If not flat then most people prefer feet down hill. You may prefer feet up.  Lay down and decide what you what. Most people sleep head at the opening.  Across the grade you roll - not good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like feet down hill and head at the opening so opening up hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-08T15:45:26.567" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T15:45:26.567" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13823" CreationDate="2016-09-08T01:38:19.207" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on where you set it, where I'm from the wind is almost always the determining factor, when you're in thick trees and wind isn't a factor, then you set your tent wherever it fits. Which direction you're facing depends on the terrain and your exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we went camping a couple weeks ago, we set one of our tents up specifically to take advantage of the view: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LBvf2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LBvf2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another determining factor for how you set up some tents is how level the ground is. If the ground is not perfectly flat, you want to orient your heads uphill, this way you don't wake up with a head rush, or if you're in a tent with a bunch of people, you don't all roll over and end up on top of the poor souls who got the spot furthest downhill. If your foot print is round, then you can still put your door wherever you want it, then set up you beds inside with the heads uphill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water is yet another factor when setting up your tent, you don't want to put your tent anywhere water might flow or accumulate. Low spots are great for protection from the wind, and are often flatter, but if there's rain in the overnight forecast, you might consider setting up on the high ground so you don't wake up in a puddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-08-08T19:25:10.977" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T19:25:10.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13820" CreationDate="2016-09-08T07:59:09.193" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning to take our dog kayaking in the not so distant future. We both have two Sit on Top Kayaks which easily leave him room to sit between my feet. If you can fit him in your cockpit in a sit in kayak then it shouldn't be an issue either. From below you can see a section in the back where you can add bags etc (with a elastic string to keep it in place) or between the foot grooves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvKUb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvKUb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to consider when kayaking with your dog:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you on calm water or choppy? Dogs sometimes need a buoyancy aid (see my &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/a/9512/5149&quot;&gt;Q&amp;amp;A&lt;/a&gt; over at Pets, specifically about long haired dogs) but it can depend on the water you're on, and the abilities of your dog.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How big is your dog? Some Kayaks come with a weight limit and you + your dog may make the kayak unstable because of the combined weight. Our dog is a Shetland sheepdog and only 6kg, so it won't make a huge difference for us, but a Labrador for example can be 50-60kg. Our kayaks have a 95~kg limit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is your Kayak a SOT or SI - this would obviously make where your dog sits different, and you'd need to consider both your comfort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Linking to the above point, will you still be able to paddle safely? A big dog too close to you may get in the way of you being able to paddle properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's certainly no issue to have your dog with you in a kayak, but if your dog is a big one, or if you have more than one travelling with you - you may have to consider different options to taking a small dog, like maybe using a canoe. I personally wouldn't consider towing your dog, unless you're on super calm waters like a canal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:59:15.703" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T13:38:09.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13829" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13831" CreationDate="2016-09-08T08:40:40.427" Score="16" ViewCount="5638" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought some fins... Short, much stiffer than some fins used by divers these are more aimed at surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can feel they make me faster but am struggling with technique. I feel I'm fighting them and it's very tough on my ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone offer any advice on how to use them properly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U77Q0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U77Q0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11233" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T12:42:46.173" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T12:42:46.173" Title="Technique for swimming with fins?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;fins&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13829" CreationDate="2016-09-08T16:41:59.217" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a 25+ year &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divemaster&quot;&gt;scuba divemaster&lt;/a&gt;.  Alas, poor fin kicking technique is very common, even among experienced scuba divers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, selection of a fin which is too flexible is better than one which is too stiff (within limits).  If you sometimes use a full 7 mm (1/4 inch) wet suit and other times no wet suit, you likely need two sets of fins.  Same for snorkeling/swimming versus scuba.  The extra bulk of wetsuit/tanks/weights/BCD is appropriately matched with longer and stiffer fins than when skinny dipping.  (I am not sure if it is proper when wearing only fins to call it &lt;em&gt;skinny&lt;/em&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is nearly impossible to select the appropriate length and stiffness in a store (at least by a novice).  Fins need to be test driven.  One lap in a swimming pool is usually enough to determine a good match.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fins are designed with a variety of parameters.  One of the most important is their buoyancy.  If thrown into the water, do they sink or float?  Sinking is good for kicking technique&amp;mdash;especially on the surface (swimming) where density helps keep the fins in the water.  If you'll be at depth (scuba), non-buoyant fins are more comfortable and easier to control&amp;mdash;unless your swim will have elements of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque_du_Soleil&quot;&gt;Cirque du Soleil&lt;/a&gt;.  However, when removing the fins, there is a definite advantage to buoyancy so that $150 fins do not immediately tumble 700+ feet to the bottom between the Galapagos Islands (darn!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common fin technique inefficiency is &quot;bicycling&quot;.  The knees should not be significantly bending.  This causes the fin angle to move a lot without moving through much of the water, so it provides little propulsion but a lot of wear and tear on the feet, ankles, and knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Efficient kicking motion comes from the hips with the knees kept stiff.  If done correctly, it won't be possible to rapidly kick&amp;mdash;and that's okay.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5EyR-BXtUA&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt; shows great kicking technique.  Though he &quot;dolphins&quot; as for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monofin&quot;&gt;monofin&lt;/a&gt;, but it works well with two fins, too.  Notice how he moves the fins through a great distance but hardly flexes the knees.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5wliityRuU&quot;&gt;This video clip&lt;/a&gt; shows both frog kick and flutter kick (the latter I derogatorily call &lt;em&gt;bicycling&lt;/em&gt;).  Frog kick provides nice kicking variety because it uses an entirely different set of muscles.  The flutter kick does have its use:  the video demonstrates how it can be used to prevent kicking up clouds of silt and minimize coral reef damage when swimming near the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By using long, patient kick cycles and keeping the ankles relaxed, stress on the ankles should be minimal.  If you do feel the ankles getting sore or tired, stop, relax, and then continue with gentle large motions instead of rapid tiny kicks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T16:41:59.217" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13829" CreationDate="2016-09-08T16:46:04.130" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, I must ask, is this for surface swimming (e..g snorkling) or for diving? I myself get so fed up with trying to use fins for surface swimming that I simply refuse to anymore, and I think for that case it's a personal thing. For me it just doesn't propel me much there, and constantly is an issue with breaking the surface and not getting much out of them, and they put heavy strain on my ankles. If I do have to use them, I'll swim sideways so that the fins don't ever break the surface of the water much. This works very well but is slightly annoying. This method seems to correlate with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CM4vCf5rJA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;this video&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; which shows swimming with and without fins for the stroke-of-choice for the Navy Seals (allegedly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For diving, if I'm really trying to move using them I'll keep my feet locked in a 'toes-pointed' orientation and knees a little bent, but really make a full, smooth motion from the hips (allowing the knees to bend and using my quadriceps when needed) to move forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11119" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T16:46:04.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13753" CreationDate="2016-09-08T17:07:55.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;@Liam's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13755/305&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; above is great but I wanted to add one additional con of the clap lock system.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You need a screw driver to adjust the tightness of clap based poles so you probably can't do it in the field.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of clam locks similar to these: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SHXq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SHXq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About once or twice a year, I need to tighten the screw that that controls how tightly the clap lock is.  Typically, I realize that I need to tighten the screw when I am miles away from the trailhead where I don't have a screw driver.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this wouldn't be a problem with a twist lock pole.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T17:07:55.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13811" CreationDate="2016-09-08T17:58:31.230" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made one of those rigs once out of wooden poles and and a tarp for a sail. Instead of a gooseneck, I just lashed a &lt;a href=&quot;http://stainlessdirect.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&amp;amp;cPath=23_163&amp;amp;zenid=77fd2418c3e9c8209edbfcce4dd1fa37&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;round ring&lt;/a&gt; to the boom. It's not super stable, but it was cheap and easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/icZDk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/icZDk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T17:58:31.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13835" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14081" CreationDate="2016-09-08T18:54:27.810" Score="5" ViewCount="296" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to explore the a number of High Sierra lakes in California's John Muir Wilderness; specifically in Humphreys Basin. Geology (from photographs) appears severe with rock, scree, and debris, Topography appears manageable, and the vegetation appears sparse. The trails move across the North side of the basin and continue out of the area. Inter-lake trails are not denoted on the USGS maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7RwA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7RwA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any experience bouncing between these lakes in this area? Is the geology and vegetation easy to pass through within the basin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T20:18:39.333" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T20:18:39.333" Title="Is Off Trail Travel Between Lakes in the Humphreys Basin, CA Feasible" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13823" CreationDate="2016-09-08T19:18:29.250" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You pitch the door down&lt;strong&gt;wind&lt;/strong&gt; to help prevent blowing rain/snow from entering when you go in and out. Orienting the shelter to prevailing/expected winds is even more important for those of us that use tarps rather than tents. We don't have a door per se, but have less coverage so need to make sure we take wind into consideration when pitching it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T19:18:29.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13835" CreationDate="2016-09-08T19:27:55.990" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done a good bit of exploring in the Ansel Adams Wilderness north there, and nothing on that map would cause me any concern as the steep parts look avoidable. Just stick to the flatter parts and remember that,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the map and the terrain disagree, trust the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/%7Eparam/quotes/wise.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swiss Army Aphorism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T19:27:55.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13778" CreationDate="2016-09-08T19:59:56.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My point of view will come from training for competition (eg, Olympics) since that is what I did. You won't find any non-cartridge BB/pellet gun that will simulate real recoil so I wouldn't bother. The closest would be the spring piston ones that were in use before CO2 and compressed air took over such as the Feinwerkbau 300 or RWS 75. I'm sure there were cheaper variants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, I would focus on finding an area that you can shoot in your home rather than wasting your time and money on a laser system. I shot in my basement. I know many others that would shoot through living room, hallways, etc. All you need is 36' (though you could get by with as little as 20' if you scale down the targets). You can either make or buy a trap to catch the BBs/pellets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll have much more &lt;strong&gt;fun&lt;/strong&gt; shooting for real rather than watching a line squiggle around on a screen. Laser systems are great for certain things, but not something I'd invest in as a beginner though I can't speak to how useful the cheap ones would be. My quick glance at LaserLyte's site would seem they are made for real firearms (not BB/pellet) and they only show shot placement rather than the full trace of your movement so not much value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really set on not even shooting BBs/pellets, I'd be more inclined to find some lightweight laser to attach to whatever you get and then just video the trace at the target (note that it won't be aligned with the target you're aiming at, of course, but it's the movement and consistency that matters.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T19:59:56.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-09-08T20:26:21.713" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you're taking too much &lt;strong&gt;weight&lt;/strong&gt; at least for 3 days. I recently went on a &lt;strong&gt;7-day&lt;/strong&gt; trip in the Wind River Range in Wyoming (USA) where I camped at 11000+ feet or 3350+ m all but 1 night. There was one day/night of rain and one morning got down to 18 F (-7 C). My total packed weight with food and 1 L of water was 26.5 lbs (12 kg). I do use a tarp rather than tent when I'm solo so that saved a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wrote a paper for Boy Scouts several years ago that applies to just about anyone new to backpacking that would rather go lighter. You may find it useful. &lt;a href=&quot;http://topshotsystems.com/Lightweight_Scouting_Dissertation.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lightweight backpacking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While lighter stuff can be expensive, it doesn't have to be if you are a little creative and get some things on sale or used. My most expensive piece of gear on this trip was my sleeping bag which I got new for $130 US. Well, I guess that's not true anymore because I bought a DeLorme inReach SE for this trip since it was mostly off-trail over rugged, exposed terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T20:26:21.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13835" CreationDate="2016-09-08T21:03:29.740" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;No experience here, but the Google Satellite images appear to show trails.  The USFS maps also show trails, but those differ from the ones in the sat imagery.  In either case, the terrain seems safe, and pictures from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stormdude.com/hab/backpacks/piute-pine/piute-pine1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;someone else's trip report&lt;/a&gt; suggest open terrain with no significant problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T21:03:29.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2016-09-08T21:57:06.303" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;But 3.5 liter is not enough and still 1/4 of the weight.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a good filter, water treatment, or boil water.  Even with a filter have some treatment.  Boil is time consuming and with a bigger pot it adds weight.  More fuel but it does not require much more fuel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note the food you cook does not need separate treatment just bring it to a boil in preparation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stuff in water you see is the stuff that hurts you. The mico bugs was what can hurt you.  Muddy water does not taste very good but it is drinkable and the filter will remove most.  If it is really bad get a water bag and let it sit over night and a lot will settle.  Filter from the top in the AM.  But a good filter is $100.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treatment is going to be the lightest and fastest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you can add powder electrolyte for some flavor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After water.  Take the heavy items and consider if spending more on a lighter version is worth it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-09-08T21:57:06.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13803" CreationDate="2016-09-09T01:15:01.857" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The climber was using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zoro.com/powr-grip-suction-cup-lifter-8-in-horiz-hndl-metal-n4950/i/G0369205/?gclid=CKvZ7uH9t84CFc5bfgodU6sEGA&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Powr-Grip Suction Cup Lifters&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oNVw5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oNVw5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Powr-Grip Suction Cup Lifters&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The full list of equipment can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outsideonline.com/2105706/what-gear-did-trump-tower-climber-use&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T01:15:01.857" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13844" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22480" CreationDate="2016-09-09T04:16:17.017" Score="12" ViewCount="1386" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last October, we were on a road above a beach in a small town near Bar Harbor, Maine, in the Northeast United States. We looked down and saw two fishermen loading their trucks with piles of something fascinating they had just brought in from the ocean with large nets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to learn what they are, and for what purpose they're used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're round, probably 5 inches in diameter, spiky, and mostly green with a bit of brown. The fisherman was inspecting one closely in his hands, and we were able to get a good picture of that. I didn't get a close-up of the other side, but some in the pile look more puffy, so maybe those were upside-down, or right-side up, depending on what it actually is!  At first I thought they were totally covered in those spikes. However, if you click to enlarge the picture and look closely in the middle, there's something that almost looks like it could be a mouth or other opening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is they either end up in salt water aquariums, or at a type of restaurant where I've never been. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know all seaweeds are alive, so I assume they're alive at the time of harvesting, although I don't know for how much longer, especially in a big pile on a hot day. Are they some type of sea plant, or animal in the sense that we generally think of animals? If it's the latter, and they're bound for a restaurant, what and where are the individual body parts? What parts are edible? How are they served?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are indeed edible, and someone has actually tasted or cooked with one, and has something more familiar to compare it with, I'd love to know that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ywhrD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ywhrD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gtp90l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gtp90l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:40:05.330" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T03:33:24.653" Title="What are these round, spiny, puffy, green things from the ocean in Northeast United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13844" CreationDate="2016-09-09T07:19:03.513" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sea Urchins&lt;/a&gt; and they taste like mussels. People mostly eat them raw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're actually pretty tasty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh yeah, you'll peel off the shell and go for the slimy flesh, a delicacy with fresh lemonjuice and a pinch of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to pick them open with my pocketknife and slurp them up with some saltwater (depending on the sea it's probably not the most sanitary way to consume them).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T21:11:58.233" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T21:11:58.233" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13846" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13847" CreationDate="2016-09-09T08:01:58.410" Score="4" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at buying my first pair of snowboard boots. I'm heading to Scotland and the Alps (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.portesdusoleil.com/winter.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Portes Du Soleil&lt;/a&gt;) this winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ride about &quot;Red&quot; level runs with my girlfriend (who'c onsideribly better than me) dragging me off piste (more ot the side of the piste) occasionally and always trying to make me do increasingly harder runs...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of boots/boot features should I be looking for in buying my first boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always rented before now but I would like to not end the day with blisters this winter..!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T00:57:47.050" Title="What should I look for in my first pair of snowboard boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13846" CreationDate="2016-09-09T09:02:38.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all: the boots are the most important equipment for snowboarding! It's good to read something about it but please go to a &lt;em&gt;real&lt;/em&gt; board-shop before purchasing them! Choose one of those fancy ones where guys hang around listening to punk/rap-music :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aXKLfm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aXKLfm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The common ski- or sport-shops are in general not that reliable when it comes to snowboarding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other considerations are summed up in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blue-tomato.com/en-US/page/buyersguide-snowboard-snowboardboots/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article from the Austrian board-shop &amp;quot;Blue Tomato&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Most important: the size&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important criterion when buying a new&#xA;boot is the right size. The Mondo point size, the length of your foot,&#xA;is a good guideline. When your legs are straight, you may touch the&#xA;front of your boot lightly. However, when you bend your knees this&#xA;should not happen. Pay attention that your heel is snug in the boot&#xA;and cannot move. Boots of different brands do not have the same length&#xA;and width, so keep in mind that the boot should also fit your binding.&#xA;Some brands use half-size liners in their outer shoes. If you have&#xA;large feet but do not want to ride a wide board, you can save&#xA;important millimetres in toe- and heel area with this information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The flex value&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowboard boots are available as hard- and soft boots. For freestyle&#xA;as well as freeride, you use soft boots. They are available in&#xA;different flex rates: softer boots for freestyle and harder boots for&#xA;freeride. Hard boots are solely for racing and carving. They greatly&#xA;restrict the freedom of movement, so that you can bring pressure to&#xA;the edge, even at high speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you've described that you want to ride on the slope and a little backcountry, I would choose a flex value of 7.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lacing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lacing of your snowboard boots is essential for the hold. As a&#xA;rule, you can distiguish three different lacing systems: traditional&#xA;lacing, quick lacing systems and Boa. So the question is: what is the&#xA;perfect system for you? We will explain this!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The classic among lacing systems is still the first choice for many&#xA;riders. No other system can adjust the pressure as well as with the&#xA;old-school variant. The laces have a solid core that prevents the knot&#xA;from loosening. The soft coat gives the necessary grip to your fingers&#xA;to get a bombproof hold. Okay, if you ride really hard, you’ll&#xA;probably have to readjust them during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The quick lacing systems, speed lacing, have become a fixed part of&#xA;the sport. Nowadays there is an almost bewildering array, from “twin&#xA;lacing” to “speed zone”. The principle is the same for all of them,&#xA;but, depending on the price range, you get a system for the whole&#xA;shoe, two divided speed-lacing systems for the top and bottom of the&#xA;boot or even a three-part system with extra lacing for more heel-hold.&#xA;With these systems, you thread the laces through plastic- or metal&#xA;devices, tighten them to the desired level and secure them in the&#xA;device. This only takes a few seconds. The more zones the system has,&#xA;the more accurately you can adjust the boot to your foot and&#xA;preferences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Superficially, BOA is a quick lacing system. The only difference is&#xA;that it uses wire and wheels. Depending on the price range the BOA&#xA;system also offers, one, two or even three adjuster wheels for the&#xA;different areas of the boot and often even for the liner. Turning the&#xA;wheel tightens the bootlaces evenly; pushing the button loosens the&#xA;wire again. You can also use this system easily while wearing gloves.&#xA;When it comes to hold, BOA is the first choice. It is not the fastest&#xA;system to tighten, but it is number one to loosen: one button-push and&#xA;the wire is loosened!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A few words on the Liner&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The liner is included with your snowboard boots. It increases the&#xA;comfort of the fairly hard outer boot. Several models even have a&#xA;thermo liner, which you can heat-mould to match the shape of your&#xA;foot. If you are prone to pressure points or particular parts of your&#xA;feet give you problems, a thermo liner may be the solution. You can&#xA;get your thermo liners customised in many Blue Tomato shops; with some&#xA;liners, you can even do it yourself in the oven at home. There are&#xA;liners, especially for the park, with integrated cushioning that&#xA;dampens hard landings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sole Cushioning&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boots have cushioning so you can survive hard landings without&#xA;bruising your heels. Essentially, there are four types of cushioning:&#xA;&lt;em&gt;EVA&lt;/em&gt;, an especially light and flexible plastic that is often used for&#xA;cushioning. However, it loses its shape with excessive cold, and&#xA;therefore diminishes in quality. &lt;em&gt;PU&lt;/em&gt; is a strong and durable plastic&#xA;that does not lose its properties, even in icy temperatures, but costs&#xA;more than EVA. &lt;em&gt;Air cushioning&lt;/em&gt; in the sole absorbs high impacts. This&#xA;works especially well on the heel and forefoot areas, but less with&#xA;icy temperatures. Gel pads are usually incorporated around the heel&#xA;and work in the same way as air cushions, but are less susceptible to&#xA;different temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Don't forget the socks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the perfect soft boot cannot realise its potential when you do&#xA;not wear the right socks. Functional socks, which are long with&#xA;reinforcements at critical points, maximise the fit of your shoe.&#xA;Normal socks are too thin, can chafe at critical points and, in the&#xA;worst case, slide down, wrinkle and provide unnecessary pressure&#xA;points that can become really painful. An adjustment of the liner by&#xA;the use of special fans and sometimes even ovens is possible and&#xA;advisable for most models in the middle and upper price segment. You&#xA;can find information about this in the product descriptions or on the&#xA;boot itself. In case of doubt, our customer service will help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T09:02:38.483" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13846" CreationDate="2016-09-09T19:24:03.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know an answer has already been accepted but I figured I'd chime in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preface: I had an AWFUL pair of boots that aged terribly.  They were cheap, general sports store off season specials.  I don't know if the fit was wrong (I have very thin legs) or if the construction was just that bad, but the tongue would &quot;float&quot; to the outside on both boots after only a few runs, no matter how tightly I tied them, and always resulted in hot spots on the opposite side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My point is - when paying close attention to fit, don't just focus on how much room your toes have like with normal boots and shoes. You put a lot of lateral stress on the boot in all sorts of situations when riding, and the calve/shin/collar area needs to fit well and still be comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also a note about laces.  The boots I ultimately purchased had a &quot;quick lace&quot; system where you pull on the two handles attached to the thin-but-strong laces, pull them back to lock into the grips and try to stuff the excess into the little pockets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was obvious this is the trend, as that style along with the weird crank dial was the only option across multiple brands in the store in my price range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the BOA's I tried, the dial felt like cheap, weak plastic that I would not trust.  This was on well known major brands. I saw a floor model that had one completely broken.  Others who have actually owned a pair may disagree with me but I avoided them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After two seasons with the &quot;speed lace&quot; boots I've come to believe that this is &lt;em&gt;partly&lt;/em&gt; a gimmick. The locks are nice and hold reasonably, but I do need an occasional adjustment. For some reason I need to pull back MUCH harder to get them to tighten as much as I would with normal laces, and with wrapping up the excess around the handle and tucking it into the small pocket, it seems to be only a bit faster than laces.  Why does speed matter anyway? I tie my boots once, before I get my lift ticket, and untie them once after I get back to the car, and &lt;em&gt;maybe&lt;/em&gt; an adjustment half way through the day.  If you need the speed because you are constantly adjusting your boots on the mountain then they simply don't fit properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately I wouldn't let the speed laces stop me from buying my next boot, but I will definitely be on the lookout for traditional laces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last tip: Wear the socks you'd be boarding in to the store!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11254" LastEditorUserId="11254" LastEditDate="2016-09-10T00:57:47.050" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T00:57:47.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13850" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13852" CreationDate="2016-09-09T20:32:51.293" Score="3" ViewCount="682" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using an AustriAlpin autolock carabiner with my Gri Gri 2 for around 9 months, a few times a week (1 to 3 times). It's a very solid, robust and big carabiner, which means that's not too smooth in Gri Gri's hole, but IMHO, it's way far from being retired. I had been told that if a carabiner is used with a Gri Gri, it should never ever be used with any other device. I do understand the concerns, but I've been googling this, and checking Petzl's site as well, but I don't see any evidence on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now my issue is that I have just bought a Mammut Smart Alpine and a Grivel auto-locking carabiner. I love this Grivel, and I like the Mammut Smart as well, because it's smoother for lead belaying, yet has some assisted braking in it.&#xA;However, there are two issues with this set: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grivel biner [despite being labeled as &lt;em&gt;red&lt;/em&gt;] is pinkish purple with a gold gate, where Mammut Smart is gray and red. The color isn't matching and I'm a bit annoyed at this!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's somewhat curved on the wide end which means that Smart can't fully sit in it. I haven't tried them yet, but I feel like the Austriaplin biner fits Smart better, and then I won't have the color mismatching problem!! (though the set will be heavy again (I don't mind it for indoor use, but I still do like to use this Grivel!)).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any clues on this? Shall any biner used with a special belay device, marry it and stay with it forever?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Avunq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Avunq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the two sets&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4qkyx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4qkyx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Austrialpin and Gri Gri&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sfP8m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sfP8m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the tiny bit of wear on Austrialpin&amp;#39;s corners&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nUoup.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nUoup.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Grivel and Gri Gri&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HdB1e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HdB1e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Austrialpin &amp;amp; Smart&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BcTNu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BcTNu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Grivel &amp;amp; Smart&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastEditorUserId="3856" LastEditDate="2016-09-09T20:40:34.690" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T22:38:49.400" Title="Using Gri Gri 2's Carabiner with Another Belay Device?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13820" CreationDate="2016-09-09T22:35:29.397" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many variables that would influence how you transport your dog.  The breed, size, temperament, and training will make certain choices better than others.  I often take my dog, a black lab who weights about 70 lbs, with me in my kayak, my canoe, and small boat.  She is enthusiastic, but also very well trained.  This means I can ask her to sit up in the bow of the boat, the first seat in our two-seater kayak, or down on the floor of the canoe and she will stay there, mostly.  She doesn't need a PFD because she swims much better in current without one than with one.  On cold days, I sometimes give her a neoprene jacket that helps a little with buoyancy, but also keeps her warm.  I sometimes take her just because the boat rides better with her on the bow, so I definitely encourage you to give it a try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because she is exciteable, I have to be ready for unexpected shifts.  Usually this is no problem, but I never place anything on the deck that can slide off, and I always have the gear ready for a cold-water experience (I am most often out in the winter, as we are usually duck hunting together on a river).  A more stable kayak with pontoons is my favorite, but the advantage of a canoe is that when she lays down, she can't see quite as much to get excited about and will ride a little better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a small dog, your lap may be better with a PFD, or if you have a large dog who is less likely to listen, you might want to skip it all together. With small dogs, get the PFD with the handle on the back so you can pluck them out.  And remember, dogs can usually swim, don't wear clothes or shoes, and are generally bad-assed.  A friend of mine drown while trying to rescue his two dogs who went overboard, leaving his young son adrift in the boat.  The dogs swam to shore just fine, and other fishermen found his son.  Stay in the boat and let the dog find her way to safety if there is an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your larger dog goes in the water, one important trick to know is how to load the dog back into the boat.  The technique is specific and non-intuitive.  As your dog approaches the boat, you scoot to the other side to counterbalance.  Now, as your dog's paws start scrabbling at the side of the boat, reach around behind her head and cup the back of her head.  Pull her head towards you.  This will allow her paws to get a purchase on the gunwale or side of the kayak and pull herself into the boat.  You can't usually lift very well without tipping yourself, and the dog has plenty of strength to climb in if they can get a purchase, so concentrate on giving them traction rather than lifting.  Once the dog's head pops up, reach with your other hand to grab her collar and pull/lift her towards you to take a little more weight off.  I practiced this technique on warm days when I didn't have anything other than me and the dog in the boat, and now I do it all the time when she goes in the water for a retrieve.  With a little practice, it becomes second nature to you and the dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T22:35:29.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13850" CreationDate="2016-09-09T22:38:49.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reasons for this recommendation are the same as with the recommendation to never use the rock side biner of a quickdraw with a rope. In both cases there is metal-metal contact. This leads to scratches and in the extreme case even well visible and sensible creases. In the latter case it is very clear that you should not use it in contact with ropes. Unless it is a rely big and sharp crease, you will never get it to cut a rope in two, but it will seriously damage it over time and you will ruin a good rope, that is much more expensive than a biner. If it is just light scratches (and they are always present), it is a matter of debate. As there is no rigorous testing done and published (at least none I am aware of), you can't give a definite recommendation either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My reasoning about lightly scratched biners:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For occasional use I do not think twice about it. If a am mountaineering and the biner I grab first to do a Munter's belay is scratched, that really does not matter.&#xA;For regular use (sports climbing) I use unscratched biners, i.e. biners I do not use with a Grigri. In my case this is not an issue, I have much more biners than Grigris (1). Even if you don't, consider the price of a rope against the price of an additional biner, which you will need anyway if you will ever climb outside of a gym or a perfectly equipped climbing crag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About your particular case:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As a big part of your reasoning is matching colors, so I dare say money is hardly the main concern. So just buy a matching biner for both devices. Like that you are both perfectly fashionable and safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T22:38:49.400" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13784" CreationDate="2016-09-09T22:39:58.050" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a somewhat lame answer, but I am often hunting off-trail and get spiderwebs in the face all the time.  One day I just decided to decorate my face with any spiderwebs where I couldn't see a spider.  Once you get one or two on your face, they stop bothering you, and the big webs with a spider in them are usually easy enough to spot and avoid.  Trying doing one hike where you intentionally gather them with your face, and you might be able to happily hike along without caring afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-09-09T22:39:58.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13854" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-10T01:59:37.333" Score="4" ViewCount="666" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I saw this a few times, years ago&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I met some guys who were top roping next to us in Jackson Falls, IL 25 years ago who showed us a method of retrieving your top carabiner(s) when you were done top roping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They attached the rope to the 'biner in a strange way AND I seem to remember some para-cord being used to pull on and the 'biner would just 'unsnap' from the anchor and come down, on the rope maybe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does someone recognize what I'm describing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recall the method as being a bit unsafe and never used it, therefore my imprecise description of the practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5540" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T15:33:15.270" Title="A method to retrieve a carabiner" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13854" CreationDate="2016-09-10T02:24:27.933" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that what you are referring to is called the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1657055;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Texas Rope Trick&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. I hope that it's obvious that this is an incredibly risky idea and that you are better off just leaving the carabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T15:33:15.270" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T15:33:15.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13856" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13862" CreationDate="2016-09-10T06:42:41.653" Score="5" ViewCount="2281" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other day I was so desperate to go climbing, but I couldn't find a partner, so I ended up self belaying after googling and watching &lt;a href=&quot;http://youtu.be/8AnpN3gSho8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;. I did check Petzl's site to learn that modifying Gri Gri and self belaying using it is prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not a crazy, careless climber and when it comes to safety, I try to be as cautious as possible. I searched and read several threads on the topic, but yet, I'm not convinced why this isn't allowed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now a bit more detail on what I did: similar to the video, I tied myself in, and then attached the other end with Gri Gri to the belay loop. I only climbed a few really easy routs, so that I could be certain I can hold myself up while taking the slack, and did make knots in several points as I ascended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that Gri Gri is not an automatic device, but I have also never seen it failing (at least with the 9.8mm&amp;lt; ropes), and I also try a few small falls and they were fine, too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't make this a habit to practice all the time, but I'm wondering what the issue is with it, with the added knots on the way up? If it fails (no!), the knot will stop it, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P. S. I would not dare to do this outdoors, but only indoors on easier route on that I badly want to climb and there's no one around!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T11:25:13.567" Title="Using Gri Gri 2 as a Self Belaying Device" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13777" CreationDate="2016-09-10T13:04:10.253" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three factors that might cause this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lack of Paddling Speed&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;If you are moving too slowly, you will be hit by the wave rather than catching it. You should be feeling like you are joining the wave. This will require some time to build up paddling strength and technique. The last three strokes need to be big. Stretch out long in front, submerse your arm nearly to the elbow and pull back all the way. Beginners typically stroke too short, and only with their hands. Lack of speed at takeoff is likely the main problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timing&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Sometimes you will miss a wave because you are slightly too far from the shore. Other times, you'll be too close. This can cause a nosedive as the wave is too steep at the point you are catching it. Practice by looking at waves and predicting exactly where they will break. You should not be hit by whitewater as you catch the wave, but it needs to be steep enough to move you forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Miss it: too far out.&#xA;Hit by whitewater: too close to shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight Distribution&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Your board needs to be horizontal as you paddle.  The nose must not be sticking up in the air. If it is, the tail will be dragging too deep in the water.  Nearly everyone gets this wrong initially.  When your board is angled, you can not obtain enough speed. As a result, you will be almost stationary as the wave tumbles. Instead of picking up speed and sliding down the face, you are rotated forwards by the wave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nose in air while paddling: too far back.&#xA;Nose under water: too far forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nose should be on the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a surfer jumps to their feet, the weight shifts backwards considerably. But this happens as the board is starting to plane. They are not in that position they catch the wave. You need to be central on the board. Once you feel it start to accelerate, you can slide back and remain lying down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of these things plays a part. Improvement in any factor will increase the number of good waves you catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T13:04:10.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13856" CreationDate="2016-09-10T16:35:44.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done this before, and it not all that different from jugging up a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you will want to do it to attach the knots (typically a figure eight on a bight) to your belay loop with a locking carbiner. That way, if the gri gri was to fail, you would only fall until you the rope went tight. Tying the knots more often will limit the potential drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to do this more often, I would suggest investing a device meant to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T16:35:44.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13859" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-10T16:48:06.523" Score="3" ViewCount="472" Body="&lt;p&gt;When wearing long pants and shirt, is it useless to apply a mosquito repellent on the skin under the clothes, or is it effective even under clothes? (for India)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5623" LastEditorUserId="5623" LastEditDate="2016-09-13T01:22:02.883" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T01:22:02.883" Title="Is it effective to use mosquito repellent under clothes?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13859" CreationDate="2016-09-10T16:56:36.023" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hopefully, if your clothes are thick enough, the mosquitos won't be able to bite through. Also as DEET apparently works by messing with the mosquitos &lt;a href=&quot;http://phys.org/news/2011-09-deet-insects.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sense of smell&lt;/a&gt;, it won't be as effective because it would first have to go through your clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are biting through your clothes, it would be more effective to spray on top of your clothes which has the added benefit of keeping the DEET of your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T16:56:36.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13871" CreationDate="2016-09-10T18:44:40.750" Score="6" ViewCount="332" Body="&lt;p&gt;While in the Wind River Mountains, I found a bronze plaque that marked the spot where a &lt;a href=&quot;http://myweb.wvnet.edu/~jelkins/lp-2001/fourt.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;person's&lt;/a&gt; ashes where scattered, and while that was done in the early 1930s, it made me wonder if it would still be considered acceptable today (the spreading of ashes, not the plaque)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:23:17.843" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:23:17.843" Title="Is it within Leave No Trace to spread someone's ashes in a wilderness area?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13856" CreationDate="2016-09-10T20:25:56.243" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;We used GriGri extensively at my local wall for groups,  route setting and emergency rescue in the wall.   The key issue is that like a car seat belt a GriGri needs inertia to fire it - a sudden jerk.    If you weight it slowly it can slip and not lock.    I experienced it while route setting and had it not been for the Petzl Shunt positioned above my shoulder holding when the GriGri slipped things could have been very different.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For groups we use to throw a fig8 on a bite on the dead rope once the climber had reached 1 (or 2) metres off the floor for the same reason.  Novice users tend to keep their thumb pad over the lever preventing it from jerking upwards.  The same issue occurs when people use it for leading - to give rope you hold the braking mechanism off.  If you give slack, the person falls whilst clipping and you keep your hand over the lever the GriGri will not fire.   If we used them for leading we use to hold them horizontally so that they would spin out the hand and fire.  We would also keep a loop of rope in our hand under the GriGri so if it was to slip there was a limit of how far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I would not feel comfortable relying on a GriGri as a self belay unless I through that fig8 in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Retired Climbing Instructor of 10yrs.   I accept my knowledge may be out of date.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11293" LastEditorUserId="11293" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T11:25:13.567" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T11:25:13.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3846" CreationDate="2016-09-10T21:43:36.810" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've experienced a lot of side knee pain over a 20 year period of hiking, jogging, walking. The pain is/was always associated with the foot impact. I could jog about 3 miles before it would start, or I could hike about 6 miles with up and down sections before it would start. I was told that it was my IT band, but no one every gave me a satisfactory solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then a friend was starting up a health/fitness retreat resort and wanted some &quot;guinea pigs&quot; to iron out the wrinkles with the staff and classes. In one of those classes, we used a runner's roller to work out muscle kinks and knots. I was told that it would help alleviate my condition by using the roller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has helped. After using a roller for about a week, I have been able to run/jog about 10 miles, hike 11 miles or more without any of the pain I had previously experienced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have recently been experiencing the pain again, but I would have to say it's because I haven't been using the roller lately. Probably been building up a lot of kinks and knots over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I rolled the outer leg muscles. It hurts like hell because of the kinks and knots. Definitely a low cost solution (about $25) that is worth a try. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11295" LastActivityDate="2016-09-10T21:43:36.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13866" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-11T11:13:09.897" Score="8" ViewCount="553" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in the process of building a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moonboard.com&quot;&gt;Moonboard&lt;/a&gt; or basically a home climbing wall which is used for bouldering training. However, because I am not a fan of overhangs, I have built it vertically (the building instructions specify it to be a 40° overhang).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, online there are many problems for the Moonboard which have graded from V5 up to V14. However, these are all problems which have been set on an overhanging wall, so &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;how can I find out what grade these problems would be on a vertical wall&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6730" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T00:56:49.717" Title="How much does an overhang add to the difficulty of a problem?" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13866" CreationDate="2016-09-11T12:03:59.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contrary to e.g. the aid climbing difficulty scale, sports climbing and bouldering scales are comparative (at least in the grades that came up after the seventies). So a grade does not directly tell how hard a climb is, it just says how hard it is related to others. You can see this very well by sometimes drastically different hard routes with the same grade in different crags or gyms. There are two gyms within 10 driving minutes of each other, where equally hard routes have like two French grades difference. What I want to say with this: There is no definite way and you should not concentrate too much on grades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore the only way to transform the grades is by finding a &quot;normal&quot; overhanging moonboard and compare it. I will give some ideas of what makes it harder with an overhang, but these factors cannot be quantified as in 10deg is half a grade.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of holds it is pretty easy to see (isolating it from other factors): Big jugs and slopers are not much different, crimps are. The difficulty of holding a crimp is more or less given by its size and &quot;positivity&quot; (angle of contact area against direction of gravity). This obviously directly changes with the angle of the overhanging wall. One might even come up with some quantification in terms of grades for this.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is weight support by legs. Ideally in climbing you support all your weight with the legs and the hands/arms are only for keeping you at the wall. Of course this is no longer the case for harder routes, but it still holds that you should support as much weight as possible with your legs. In an overhang you have to lean back, so even with perfect foot placement (kneebars excluded) you will have to hold significantly much more weight with your hands. This is actually just trigonometry, so an estimate of how much more force could be made and translated to a grade, but again thats useless (see above).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third thing I come up with right now is body positioning. In an overhang you need to kind of fixate yourself with opposite arms and legs between two holds. This needs a whole lot of body tension. In addition it is a very different way to hold and stand on a hold than when you are climbing a vertical face. The direction of pull/push, the way you grab it may be completely different. So a routesetter will always have this in mind: If a route is overhanging he will do it completely different than on a face. Therefore your routes will be suboptimal as they were designed for an overhang and you will use them vertically. This can mean they are disproportionally easy, but it could also mean that it is just as hard as in a overhang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest you either mount it as it was designed for, or you set your own routes for vertical walls. Setting routes is very difficult at first, but you learn a lot as you have to think about movements in advance, which is an advanced skill, but a very useful one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-09-12T00:56:49.717" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T00:56:49.717" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13868" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-11T12:34:22.030" Score="9" ViewCount="3881" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've already experienced this twice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first time was a year ago, on a hiking camp: on the first day I recklessly went out with one of the best groups there, and while I didn't lag behind, this was very exhausting. On the second day I had to stay in guesthouse due to moderate fever and vomiting. On the third and subsequent days, however, I was fine and could resume hiking, however I was choosing less advanced groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second time was yesterday. I went out by foot to visit two neighboring towns, after spending a year with hardly any physical activity. This took nine hours of walking, still I succeeded. In the evening I again had moderate fever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why does this happen? Do other people also experience this, or is such a body reaction specific to me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8886" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T06:18:39.997" Title="Why would fatigue cause fever?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13868" CreationDate="2016-09-11T14:42:46.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fatigue itself shouldn't cause fever, as it is really a symptom, not a cause, however being fatigued definitely leaves you less able to defend against illness, and an oncoming fever or illness makes you much more likely to be fatigued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have spent a year without any exercise and then have a fairly intense exercise, your body can react in quite strange ways. It is a bit of a shock to your system, and cranking up your metabolism can feel a bit like a common fever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-09-11T14:42:46.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8793" CreationDate="2016-09-11T18:51:28.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that tarps may be good for a short term sloution, but not for the long term.  Depending on the Season or regardless of the season, I prefer a tent with a good fly and tent location is key.  Higher ground, with ground sheet, and tent fly should be more of a longer term solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can always treat the tent for water reproofing and then there would not be any real reason for the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11298" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-09-11T19:05:37.587" LastActivityDate="2016-09-11T19:05:37.587" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13861" CreationDate="2016-09-11T18:53:56.493" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is, however there are some guidelines to follow, and if it happens inside a national park in the United States, a permit may be required. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guidelines are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ashes should be scattered and not buried.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They should be scattered away from water sources and developed areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No marker should be left behind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The group involved should take care not to damage the area by trampling the vegetation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information, here are the links to the guidelines and regulations for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ashes.htm&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/scattering_ashes.htm&quot;&gt;Rocky Mountain&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/ashes.htm&quot;&gt;Grand Teton&lt;/a&gt; national parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-11T18:53:56.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13273" CreationDate="2016-09-11T22:37:39.717" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live by Dartmoor and walk there regularly (in fact I was up there earlier today).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moor carries a significant stock of sheep, cattle and ponies. I've heard of tests that found much of the water is quite heavily contaminated with faeces. In fact the army have used Dartmoor water for testing the effectiveness of filters. The risk is probably quite low, but significantly higher than zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So personally I use a good modern bottle filter (known as the TravelTap in the UK, and the Sechelle in the US). It's certified as effective by many agencies, affordable, light, convenient and lasts for years. If you use a bladder, there are inline equivalents. For me it's a no-brainer - there's no significant downside that I can see. Using this filter I've spent hundreds of days on the moor with no issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also avoid water below the larger mines, as I've been told that there's some heavy metal contamination. As much of the place is bog, there's no lack of alternative sources!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't see any point to a Millbank bag - the water is running over granite and there's rarely much particulate. Plus a bag costs and weighs almost as much as my filter. Boiling isn't very practical for filling up during the day and requires quite a weight of fuel. You could save yourself a lot of unnecessary faff by using a decent filter!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-09-11T22:37:39.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13868" CreationDate="2016-09-12T08:24:38.480" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others experience this too (the internet is filled with similar stories). It does not look like you were really sick - this would have lasted longer than a day. However a weakened immune system is a concern after exhausting exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is difficult to tell you what happened to you, but we can still guess. For example people with high blood pressure can experience fever after too much unprepared exercise. You might want to get checked (and while you are at it, check other stuff too, your doc will be able to tell you what to look for).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vomiting could be a side effect of feeling ill due to the fever, but it can't hurt to ask if you drank enough. Especially after long breaks of exercise. You tend to sweat more, and your body loses salts etc, electrolytes in general. This is no big deal for short workouts, but after long trips this may add up - and you will feel sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several possible reasons, but to be save you might want to get checked up by an expert, and &quot;listen to your body signals&quot; (thanks, mom!) when exercising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T08:24:38.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13876" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-12T11:18:09.800" Score="14" ViewCount="1736" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got myself some short fins since as a fairly weak swimmer especially in my legs I wanted a bit more confidence and power when swimming in the sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However one basic problem I've encountered - how to get out through the breaking waves with them on my feet?! With moderate waves (not dangerous to play in) they are breaking in quite shallow water, and I am so clumsy in my fins that even in knee-depth water or so I get knocked over... but the water is too shallow to swim in. On a fairly flat beach I have to go out a long way to reach deeper water, I can't just dive into a wave and swim out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to put the fins on once I've swum out, but they have straps (since they don't float) so this is not really possible it seems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11233" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T13:41:46.427" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T13:41:46.427" Title="How to get out through surf in fins?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;fins&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13876" CreationDate="2016-09-12T12:01:18.523" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walk sideways like a crab. Every time a wave comes, stop and brace yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First it is easier to walk sideways while wearing fins, second it reduces the surface area that the wave hits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just take it slow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Seeing as you have problems with the straps when trying to put them on in water, the straps can usually be changed. Spring straps are much easier to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pz7VP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pz7VP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3673" LastEditDate="2016-09-13T12:42:48.803" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T12:42:48.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13876" CreationDate="2016-09-12T13:20:40.347" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walk backwards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fins will have the least trouble with the water if you walk backwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-07-27T09:43:59.093" LastActivityDate="2019-07-27T09:43:59.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13879" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13885" CreationDate="2016-09-12T13:54:36.510" Score="7" ViewCount="1735" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a side sleeper. I use a v2 Klymite pad but my hip still hurts during the night because there isn't enough vertical room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm considering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping curled up a bit (so the angle from my hip to thigh bone is not straight, but maybe 30 degrees)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bringing a second pad (non inflatable) with a cutout for my hips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T10:57:20.520" Title="How can I get comfortable sleeping on my side (backpacking)?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13894" CreationDate="2016-09-12T14:46:11.240" Score="21" ViewCount="1668" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although not greater in number, our hummingbirds this summer seem to be larger than in the past. I think it may be because my husband started making our own nectar, so it's fresher, and might taste better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the feeders are attracting a large number of bees, possibly for the same reason. My question is, does the presence of those bees make the hummingbirds more likely to choose a different feeder, or go to a different yard altogether?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Massachusetts, United States, where I live, there are a very few breeds of hummingbirds. The only one that nests here on a regular basis is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby-throated_hummingbird&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ruby-throated hummingbird&lt;/a&gt;, so I'm willing to bet that's what we have. As for the breed of bees, I have no idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture on the left is an example of bees at one of our feeders. Sometimes they line themselves up completely around the base of the feeder, or even clump up. Others fly around. We don't see hummingbirds eating at the same time.  The feeder in the picture on the right is in the same yard about 20 feet away There are no bees, and the bird is happily enjoying the meal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for larger view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3B4po.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3B4pom.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pretty bees!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vfG2K.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vfG2Km.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pretty hummingbird! &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T17:11:31.510" LastActivityDate="2019-07-21T18:24:51.973" Title="Do bees at the hummingbird feeders keep the birds away?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13881" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-12T18:52:50.340" Score="11" ViewCount="393" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two trails leading to a beautiful spot in a nearby park. One of them has a steady climb all the way (trail A) while the other has some sharp climbs followed by relative level segments (trail B). Start an end points are the same. Sunlight and wind exposure are also the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distance on the map for both is around 2mi and differ by only a few yards (A is longer). I've walked both several times and to me it seems that I always end the hike more tired after going through trail A.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, a few questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it common for the steady climb trail to be more tiresome than the sharp climb with level segments one?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How should I deal with each type of trail in order to lessen the exaustion? What techniques can I use?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8254" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T20:44:27.760" Title="Hiking uphill, two choices of trails: how to deal with each one?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13881" CreationDate="2016-09-12T20:34:41.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1594851387&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt; provides a rough guideline for the most efficient climbing grade when switchbacks can be set. I think the climb traverse ratio is in the neighborhood of 1:3. I don't own a copy anymore so I can't reference it directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said we all work differently and a muscular build will prefer a steeper shorter climb while a more endurance optimized build will prefer a smaller gradient with a longer total distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="8922" LastEditDate="2016-09-14T20:44:27.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T20:44:27.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13026" CreationDate="2016-09-12T20:44:17.217" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been up on Beartooth a handful of times. I almost always find somewhere new to explore and kill a few hours. Look for pullouts and see if there is any kind of trail head. The lakes and streams up there are beautiful. Bring bear spray, it's grizzly country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T20:44:17.217" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13879" CreationDate="2016-09-12T21:49:22.017" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a side sleeper as well, and I've found that the gaps in my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.klymit.com/index.php/inertia-x-frame.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;x-frame&lt;/a&gt; help give my hips and shoulders a little extra room when I'm on my side: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/igON0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/igON0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-12T21:49:22.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13879" CreationDate="2016-09-13T01:33:46.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will start as everybody else... :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a side sleeper too. I own a therm a rest 4 season sleeping and despite of being a nice mat for sleeping on snow (inside a tent of course) or soft grass, it's a bit too thin and I can get sore hips if sleeping on hard ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife got a exped mat and because they inflate quite a few inches (her one goes around 3 or 4 inches high) I didn't get sore hips in the few occasions I used it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way I found is when I use my super winter sleeping bag because it's a 700g fill, it's gives a good base on hard ground. Of course that's not a option outside winter. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exped.com/usa/en/tags/sleeping-mats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sleeping mats.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-02-01T09:34:38.763" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T09:34:38.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13881" CreationDate="2016-09-13T11:35:57.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is impossible to generalize which will make someone feel more tired.  That depends on how fast you go, how you handle the intermittent steep parts, etc.  You may feel more tired from trail A because you tend to do it at a faster pace, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, I'd want to go up trail B and down trail A.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T11:35:57.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13876" CreationDate="2016-09-13T11:59:57.853" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walking backwards is the usual way for a short distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a longer distance, I hold my fins in my hands and wade out. When it's deep enough you put them on. This is a bit of a skill. Wait for a wave to pass, then take a breath and put one fin on. Accept that your head will go underwater as you do this. Wait for the next wave and repeat. I hold my second fin by putting it over my wrist as I do the first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put both fins on before the ankle straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3335" LastEditorUserId="3335" LastEditDate="2016-09-13T12:30:44.227" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T12:30:44.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13879" CreationDate="2016-09-13T13:32:36.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I toss and turn a lot and haven't had an issue with the 2.5 inch pads I've used (2 NeoAirs and a Pacific Outdoor Equipment knockoff). The key has been inflation level. There's definitely a sweet spot for me and it's pretty small where I'd guess my hip is 1 inch off the ground. Too little and obviously your hip touches the ground or gets colder. Too much and it's too firm (for me at least). I sometimes need to make a little adjustment in the middle of the night as ambient temp may lower the pressure, requiring a little puff to get me back to the sweet spot. This is definitely true if you use your (warm) breath to inflate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T13:32:36.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13889" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13897" CreationDate="2016-09-13T13:53:47.850" Score="12" ViewCount="6125" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday for the first time I turned my canoe over, then I &lt;strong&gt;tried&lt;/strong&gt; to get back in it.  I have been thinking about adding a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9362/outrigger-and-or-leeboard-when-sailing-a-canoe&quot;&gt;sail to my canoe&lt;/a&gt; and now that I know a bit about sailing, I know I need to plan on being able to right the sailing canoe and get back in it.  So I took the canoe to the lake to practice self recovery (solo) with just an empty canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 17 foot two person plastic canoe &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256/how-to-tow-a-canoe-with-a-bicycle&quot;&gt;as seen in my answers to this question&lt;/a&gt; it has built in flotation at both ends. With the canoe empty, just me in a life jacket and a wood paddle.  It turns out will float the canoe &lt;em&gt;just barely&lt;/em&gt; if the canoe is full of water it floats until I get in. The flotation will not support me and the canoe, I was sitting in the canoe floating by my life jacket with the canoe 2 feet under the surface.  When I get out  it surfaces with the sides just breaking the surface.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a cool video of a guy doing solo recovery &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solwaydory.co.uk/videos/19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;at Solway Dory&lt;/a&gt;, but he is in a smaller lighter canoe, I think he is wearing a dry suit, and he has added side flotation. I watched that video before going to the lake to try it myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Real life me and my canoe (big &amp;amp; heavy). I can't throw it and have it land empty! (no surprise) Best I can do is turn it over slowly which results in it being half full of water when right side up.  I was not able to get back in without filling it the rest of the way with water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later I took the canoe to shore emptied it and a couple of attempts to get back in the canoe when it did not have water in it.  By this point I was tired, and could not make it happen.  I know it is possible, but it is difficult, if I could not do it in warm water while a bit tired, I don't want to bet my life on it in other scenarios. In sailing class I was easy able to get in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sunfish&lt;/a&gt; without difficult, but that is a very different boat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people take canoes white water rafting they add &lt;strong&gt;A LOT&lt;/strong&gt; of flotation (image below), essentially the canoe is all flotation except room for one person.  At that point you might as well get a kayak, what is the point of the canoe? All it holds is you and flotation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I want to add some flotation, at least enough so that I can get in over the side as long as I have enough strength to turn it back over.  Optimally enough so if I am caring &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948/how-to-carry-a-bicycle-in-a-canoe/9255#9255&quot;&gt;my normal load&lt;/a&gt; or if I have a sail I can get it upright and get in. I don't want to fill it with float bags.  The point of a canoe is that you can put a lot in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I decide out how much flotation I need, and where it needs to be? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3UiG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3UiG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-07-27T23:07:18.163" LastActivityDate="2019-07-27T23:07:18.163" Title="How much flotation does a canoe need?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13879" CreationDate="2016-09-13T13:56:05.423" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know you said you were backpacking but you didn't specifically mention weight as an issue, so this answer assumes you'll trade some weight for comfort ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The LL Bean Pathfinder Sleeping Pad is better than most mattresses I've slept on. I'm a smaller framed guy with bony hips and I sleep on my back and my side.  My wife has larger hips and sleeps on her stomach and side.  Most of our experience with this pad is on the hard floor of wooden lean-tos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short version (the one we use, my shins and feet extend past the end) comes in at 22 oz though it does pack down fairly small.  The full size is a whopping 34 ounces and packs quite a bit larger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a self inflating foam style pad so I assume others like it would be similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11254" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T13:56:05.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5667" CreationDate="2016-09-13T15:05:43.863" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We just spent a week on the west coast of Michigan. There was great camping in Manistee, Silverlake, Arcadia, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Traverse City, etc. There is free primitive camping and there is also different degrees of modern camping accommodations. Check out MI Rt 22 which connects all these areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It took us about 5 hours to get to Chicago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T15:05:43.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13889" CreationDate="2016-09-13T15:07:30.773" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: As much as you want/have room for, &lt;em&gt;evenly&lt;/em&gt; distributed in the bow and stern, but the minimum is only how much is necessary to prevent your boat from sinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as getting back in your canoe, if you can flip your canoe and get it half empty while solo then you're actually doing pretty good. If you struggle getting in without taking on extra water, then I'd recommend bailing your canoe before you get in. You can use a milk jug with the bottom cut out so it makes a scoop, a sponge, or actually get a nice &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/brand/level-six+nrs+scotty/ideal-for/watersports/search?q=pump%3Asales-rank&amp;amp;text=pump&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;manual bilge pump&lt;/a&gt; and pump the water out of your canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qUxx.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qUxx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-09-14T14:29:42.237" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T14:29:42.237" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2016-09-13T15:39:45.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're backpacking meals can be an important highlight of the day so if you find that morale is an issue it may be that having better food helps. This may involve carrying a bit of extra weight but even simple tings like sauces and spices can help a lot. It can also be that people aren't used to eating and drinking enough when they are walking and so get tired and hungry during the day. Here adding extra food meals to the day and packing easy to east snack can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be worth weighing packs and distributing the load according to ability, fitness and experience. Inexperienced hikers will tend to both pack more and be less used to carrying weight so sharing out individual pack weight may make everybody happier and help to even out pace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to get a sense of what individuals want to get out of a trip, some like walking for its own sake, some enjoy being in a natural environment and others want a physical challenge. If you have mixed motivation in your group try to reconcile the differences &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Route planning&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Severe up and down hill routes can be difficult even for reasonably fit people who are unused to walking &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Involvement&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Give people responsibilities to think about. Playing follow the leader is always less interesting than being an active part of an expedition. Eg if you are leading an inexperienced group let them take turns to navigate (even let them make small mistakes) and get the whole group involved in route planning and decision making. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T15:39:45.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13880" CreationDate="2016-09-13T15:43:50.697" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there is actually quite a bit of discussion you can find online. Bees in large numbers can keep hummingbirds away.  They don't want to get stung either!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you can lessen the bees by doing a couple things. The first is to maybe dilute your concentration of sugar.  If you are doing a 4:1 solution of water to sugar you can do a 5:1 and that may make it less enticing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Don't use olive oil. Some people have reported success at not adding to the mixture but around the bottom of the feeder, which detracts the bees. But apparently the chance of it getting on the hummingbird doesn't make it very viable since they can't really clean themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT, peppermint extract is harmless and bees and wasps hate the smell. Advice says to rub on the bottom of the feeder. Hummingbirds aren't affected negatively through the smell or touch of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11156" LastEditorUserId="11156" LastEditDate="2016-09-13T20:44:45.790" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T20:44:45.790" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13881" CreationDate="2016-09-13T16:26:44.280" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since no one is really answering your question, I'll give it a go. First, anytime you are travelling by increasing the elevation, you exert more work on your body.  Imagine this, lay out a path. One is two giant steps, almost like someone stacked two big boxes that you have to climb to get up 5 ft. Then for 50 ft you get to walk in a straight path. Now, instead of the initial two big boxes, you instead have to walk 50 ft with a steady incline. The whole time you are walking you will be exerting more work on your body with less recovery time. What you are experiencing is normal. Your body may need to do short bursts on trail B, but you get to recover on the flat areas for a larger portion of time.  On trail A, it's like you are on a constant uphill climb with no way for your body to recover on a flat plane surface. Your leg muscles are constantly working to increase your elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your second point. For both, always stretch. It will keep you loose and drink lots of water, especially on trail A. For trail A, eat a long burning carb like oatmeal.  It will help keep you going on the trail. Mentally you need to be prepared for the long haul. Keep a deep steady breath. Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Take breaks regularly and let your body rest if you are feeling too fatigued. But mentally, accept the fact that path A is just going to be more strenuous and that when you finish, you just accomplished a nice steady workout (helping your heart and endurance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For path B since you are doing sharp increases in elevation, stretching is really important. You will be more prone to injury with quick thrusts on your muscles. About 30 min before a quick change in elevation, eat an apple/banana to give you some quick energy for that sharp increase that will burn fast. After you do the sharp climb, take a small break (2 min) and stretch. Then proceed on the level areas at a steady pace to keep your muscles warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get done with both, stretch again and take nice deep breaths. Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a side note, if you want your hikes to feel more like relaxation instead of exercise, it's best to just get yourself in better shape. If you make sure your physical activity when you exercise is more strenuous than when you hike, hiking will be a much less demanding activity on you and will feel like a day in the park compared to your regular workout routine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy hiking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11156" LastActivityDate="2016-09-13T16:26:44.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13889" CreationDate="2016-09-13T16:39:58.537" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most situations you should be prepared for a dunking, so you could hang around in the water and bail without getting too cold.  Of course, if you're in danger (e.g. from hitting rocks) get yourself to safety with a swim line to the boat and recover it by swinging it into an eddy. If you're touring (including, even especially white water touring) all your gear should be packed in suitable containers (barrels/drybags) &lt;em&gt;that float&lt;/em&gt; and are lashed into place -- thus your cargo adds bouyancy, though potentially not much.  In the case of the bike, of course it's a deadweight and an encumbrance when trying to right the boat, so you'd actually need more bouyancy to counterract that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are big differences between the boat in your picture and a kayak:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'd fall out of the canoe if you capsized&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can move around much more for balance (and may have to)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can get in and out more quickly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rigging and stowing a sail are much easier and much more stable on the canoe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The canoe is less manoeuvrable than the kayak&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can carry a bike in a canoe!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every gallon of dry storage adds 8.36 pounds of flotation (minus the weight of the container) a liter of dry storage adds a Kilogram of flotation. There are two sizes of food grade, air and water tight plastic barrels that are ready available in the &quot;Used Once&quot; market. 8 Gallon and 13 Gallon sizes are found in the US (&lt;em&gt;ebay&lt;/em&gt;) for a reasonable price (&lt;em&gt;~$25 with shipping&lt;/em&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-09-15T13:34:41.833" LastActivityDate="2016-09-15T13:34:41.833" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13904" CreationDate="2016-09-14T14:56:15.067" Score="7" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I determine whether a shotgun fits (or can be easily adapted to fit) me without having the chance to test fire it?  (And without spending thousands of dollars for customization?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether for shooting clays or birds we know that &quot;fit&quot; of a shotgun to a shooter can be critical to the shooter's ability to hit what he points at.  When I take people clay shooting I bring several different guns.  Even with first-time shooters, I can see that if they're missing wildly with one gun, simply handing them another with a stock of different proportions can allow them to start making consistent hits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can this sort of general shotgun fitment be done without access to a range?  If so, how?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-06-15T01:26:21.530" LastActivityDate="2019-06-15T01:26:21.530" Title="How can one assess the fit of a shotgun?" Tags="&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="13901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13061" CreationDate="2016-09-14T18:50:23.833" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Old cotton clothing and rags work very well at stopping arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Save those old tshirts, jeans, and socks that are too worn out to be used as second hand clothing. Stuff them into a burlap bag or cardboard box and use them as archery targets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's what I used to do. I would stuff all of our old, completely worn-out clothing in a large cardboard box. When it was full, I'd tape it shut and use it for archery practice. When the box starts falling apart, just get another box and transfer the old clothing. The now-shredded clothing is still good enough to keep stopping arrows, but it will have settled a bit, so throw in some more old clothing and tape it shut again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only shot cardboard boxes filled with old clothing. I'm sure a burlap bag or those plasticy potato bags would work very well, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only used cotton clothing. I don't know how other materials will hold up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Very important:&lt;/strong&gt; This works just for field tips. Don't ever use broadheads on a target filled with old clothing. In order to remove your arrow, you'll need to unscrew the broadhead - which will require you to open the box (or bag) and dig (and probably get a severe cut).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T18:50:23.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13371" CreationDate="2016-09-14T19:39:02.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bowstring is brutal on the skin of your fingers. All the stored energy in a bent bow passes through the string - and your fingertips - when shooting a bow using just fingers (no mechanical release). Try shooting your bow with no glove. After a dozen shots or so, your fingertips will begin to sting. Another dozen and you'll have blisters. Keep shooting and those blisters will tear off. (Been there.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To protect the skin on your fingertips, just wear a glove. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The glove needs to be a very good fit. If it is slightly bulky, then you will have trouble manipulating your arrow and the bowstring. Also, a loose finger-covering might move with the bowstring, upsetting your arrow. If the glove is too tight, you lose flexibility in your fingers, thus making it difficult, once again, to manipulate your arrow and bowstring. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first got a bow when I was a teenager. The best hunting seasons were during the rut - elk in September, mule deer in November. But those hunts were strictly archery only. So I got a bow. I shot so much that I wore out the shooting glove that I'd bought with my bow. Being just a poor kid, I started shooting with my work gloves, which were made of cowhide. My shooting didn't suffer a bit, so I never bought another shooting glove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The November deer hunt was always cold, so I switched to cheap, thin, cotton gloves that fit very tight but were very flexible. Once again, my shooting didn't suffer at all. When temps dropped down to -10 degrees Fahrenheit, which it does every year (in my part of the world) for a few days in mid-late November, I switched to a bulky, but snug, fleece glove. I had to go a little slow and be extra careful when nocking an arrow but, with practice, I quickly achieved a consistent, smooth release.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I performed my daily shooting practice wearing the same gloves I hunted with - good leather work gloves, cheap cotton gloves, and bulky - but good fitting - fleece gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T19:39:02.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13900" CreationDate="2016-09-14T20:39:00.113" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general rule of thumb I've always read/heard is does the trigger hand placement naturally allow the finger to reach the trigger if you were to set the butt on the inside of the elbow - stick your arm out to your side, bend it so your forearm is pointing up, set shotgun/rifle on your arm out by your elbow. Does your hand naturally reach the grip so you have proper trigger position? If not, you either need spacers or to have the stock length shortened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second thing would be your non-trigger hand reaching the forearm. I have short arms so I just have to deal with most pump/SA shotguns and hold it as far to the rear as I can. You normally want to have the supporting arm to have a fair bend or you'll tire quickly if shooting competitions. Not as big a deal for hunting where you're not shooting for much time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third thing is sight line. Is your eye aligned with the sights when you naturally rest your head on the comb? Do you have to tilt your head up, down or to the side? You may need to add or remove material if it's not adjustable (most aren't). This is more important in competition where you must be fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourth thing is balance. Most shotguns are barrel heavy, which helps facilitate smoother swings while tracking birds, but some could be uncomfortably heavy for weaker or smaller shooters, especially if they'll be shooting for longer sessions. If you can stand in position for a couple minutes with no discomfort it should be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-14T20:39:00.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13900" CreationDate="2016-09-15T03:36:44.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had good luck taking a shotgun in hand and then picking out a spot at a typical bird type height and distance, often where the ceiling meets the wall in a corner.  Then I stare at the spot, and mount the shotgun.  Without moving, I shift my focus to the bead and see how close the bead is to my intended target.  You can do a similar process by closing your eyes and mounting the shotgun.  Open your eyes and see where you are looking first, then check how close the shotgun is in alignment to where you are looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do this procedure with one shotgun, you can't tell much, but if you do it with two or three, you will find that one is probably coming up very well aligned and one is coming up way off.  I have shot the guns that come up naturally much better than I have guns that don't.  I also am primarily hunting live birds, so every shot is from an unmounted start.  If you are just doing trap or skeet where you can set your mount very deliberately, this technique might not tell you as much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a note, once I buy a new shotgun, I use this same drill over and over again to practice the mount and disengaging the safety.  I often say the word &quot;Bang&quot; instead of pulling the trigger, then I check the bead alignment visually.  This really helps me dial in and get the gun pointing how I want it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-09-15T03:36:44.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13905" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13906" CreationDate="2016-09-15T06:12:35.813" Score="8" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've (had) a harsh mosquito (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito&quot;&gt;Culicidae&lt;/a&gt;) year. Normally they already start to disappear around September but this year it's still getting even worse! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which climate do I have to hope for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:09:31.737" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:09:31.737" Title="Which climate causes the mosquito (Culicidae) to die?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13905" CreationDate="2016-09-15T15:40:19.977" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mosquitoes thrive in warm and humid climates. It's extremely important to not allow stagnant water near your home. This aids in the reproduction cycle for mosquitoes. If you like to keep bins of water outside to collect rain for your plants, don't do this as the still water is very enticing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sort of broke off on a tangent there. But back to the question. The climate you want is a very dry climate or very cold. Mosquitoes can't thrive in super dry climates. The reason being there is no area to lay their eggs. During stretches of very dry and hot climates mosquitoes will bite less. The female is the only one that bites, because the protein helps develop the eggs. But in dry weather being hard to find water to lay their eggs, their is no reason to feed on blood. So the biting is much less. But that doesn't mean you will find zero mosquitoes.  From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.desertusa.com/insects/mosquito.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throughout the Southwest, mosquitoes breed and reproduce in ponding&#xA;areas, moist foliage and damp rock exposures along mountain drainages;&#xA;in wetlands, back waters, lake shallows and intermittent streams&#xA;within the desert river basins; and in the playa lakes of open desert&#xA;grass and brushlands. They congregate and multiply in the channels,&#xA;laterals and open fields of irrigated farm land and in neglected fish&#xA;ponds, bird baths, fountains, gutters, swimming and wading pools, and&#xA;outdoor saunas and hot tubs of our desert cities and towns. They may&#xA;even appear in the flotsam and jetsam of the human community, for&#xA;instance, in discarded automobiles, tires, washing machines,&#xA;refrigerators, buckets, pots and cans, where water from desert&#xA;thunderstorms may be trapped for some days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So although the SW is known for a dry climate, it is still possible for mosquitoes to thrive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That leaves very cold climates. Below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, mosquitoes tend to stop biting.  They are cold blooded, so the colder the climate, the less active they will be. Many mosquitoes die off in the fall, but have hibernating eggs. Others may go into hibernation before the first frost and emerge in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to sum it all up, your best hope right now is for a cool down where the temp on avg hovers around 50F. As Sept wraps up you should see less and less mosquitoes as the avg temp drops further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11156" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-15T15:40:19.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13907" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-15T19:23:03.103" Score="10" ViewCount="503" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought them a few days ago and took them for a long walk and then a short hike to try them out. They were fine with the walk, they felt great, but with the hike, problems problems problems. A seam seems to have been done slightly wrong and looks damaged. A friend who runs the shop and was with me at the time took one look at them and apologized, offering either an exchange or money back, that it's clearly a manufacturing fault, very uncommon with this brand, but it can happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought I'll go for the exchange, but then on the unaffected boot something started rubbing really bad against the top of my big toe joint with every step. The other with the loosened seam was OK. We were going downhill for most of the time. I had an unrelated blister on my heel from before so I started out with that foot slightly loosened, but then came to the point that no matter how I laced it was just bad. It's like the boot decided on a point where it bent in and that point was exactly against my toe. It was really, really painful in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I have the option of looking elsewhere, but after trying on tons of boots these are the closest I came to a good fit. They were also great on the walk and they felt fantastic at first. I actually have this problem very often with boots, just not this painful. I often pad that area for a while until the boot &quot;learns&quot; to bend differently. I think I generally get shoes that are too long to accommodate my width and then certain parts of the shoe hit places they were not designed to... But it also could have been down to the initial bad lacing. That is why I don't want to give up on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But then, I'm really afraid that this coupled with the defect is actually a sign of them being a poor fit on me. That perhaps there was no fault in the boot and it's just my foot and walking style that broke it and I feel really bad about it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just don't know. Any ideas or pointers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11317" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T09:41:56.750" Title="Should I give up on my new hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13889" CreationDate="2016-09-15T19:31:44.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be useful for you to reframe your objective mentally a bit.  The goal isn't really to make sure the boat doesn't sink, so much as it is to make sure too much water doesn't get in the boat. By packing your boat with floats/gear/etc. you are preventing that volume of water from entering your boat. This is the real reason why someone would pack a canoe full of float bags. They aren't worried about the canoe sinking to the bottom of the river (generally speaking). They're worried about the canoe taking on so much water that it is harder to control (because of the excess weight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of flotation to add to your canoe really depends on your perceived risk of taking on water, and the consequences if you do take on water.  If the risks are low and consequences minor then just make sure your canoe won't sink to the bottom. If the risks are high and the consequences severe then fill every bit of space you can to deny it to incoming water (turn your canoe into a kayak). If you are somewhere in the middle of those two extremes then strike the balance that suits you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-09-15T19:31:44.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13907" CreationDate="2016-09-15T20:23:45.660" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boots take a little while to break in. My La Sportiva Makalus is a full leather mountaineering boots and took years to break in. In our mountaineering group, we had another 3 guys using Makalus and we would always finish a trip with busted feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other boots I have for other activities don't take as long. It usually takes half a dozen trips to break in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As your friend is the store owner and is happy to replace your boots, you could ask him if you could keep the boots for another couple of trips and see if they get better. Maybe try to use them for a few days (at home, to the supermarket, everywhere) and see if they break in nicely. If they do, then you could exchange for a new pair and go through the process again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip may be useful is to use a sock liner. That would help avoiding blister. What I usually do is to use a thin sock with a very thick on top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a matter of reference, below is the gear I use for my activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain/makalu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;La Sportiva Makalu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lowa.co.nz/product/Z-8S+GTX-100037.htmx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Lowa Z-8s GTX&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vasque.com/USD/product/mens-footwear/backpacking/st-elias-gtx-bungee-gray-07162&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Vasques ST Elias GTX&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bridgedale.com/summit-woolfusion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bridgedale Summit socks (the thick pair)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bridgedale.com/coolmax-liner-everyday-outdoors&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Bridgedale Coolmax Liner (the thin pair)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-09-15T20:23:45.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13910" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13912" CreationDate="2016-09-16T07:43:24.893" Score="54" ViewCount="16304" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywIYQEHZLs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ongoing holy war with &quot;boots people&quot; vs &quot;shoes people&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. A comment on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13907/should-i-give-up-on-my-new-hiking-boots&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; caught my eye:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...Ankle support is a myth for most folks....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I've always worn boots and I beleieve that ankle support helps a lot, especially when I'm tired. When I do wear shoes (approch shoes etc) I get sore ankles. So for me boots work. But I've seen many opinions stating the opposite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Opinons aren't much use though... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has there been any studies on this? what were the results? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Parameters of the question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm only really interested in the use of boots in a &lt;strong&gt;hiking&lt;/strong&gt; setting. Not climbing, technical terrain, etc. So imagine walking a moderate mountain trail with a moderate pack in summer. Which would be best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I don't want this to turn into a &lt;em&gt;I prefer&lt;/em&gt; question. So please do not state your personal opinion in an answer. I really only want quotes from good studies on the subject&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T14:18:24.407" Title="Is ankle support a myth?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13910" CreationDate="2016-09-16T08:55:55.040" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of studies cited in &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/22522/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this forum thread&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Subjects were filmed at 60 Hz while on an inversion platform that suddenly inverted the right ankle 35 degrees . We measured 5 trials of sudden inversion for each subject in high-top and low-top shoes. [...] RESULTS: The high-top shoes significantly reduced the amount and rate of inversion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The results from three studies indicate that, in the absence of additional taping or external support, wearing high-top shoes does not reduce the risk of ankle sprains. Indeed, in one study, the wearing of low-top shoes resulted in a lower incidence of ankle sprains compared to high-top shoes (Rovere et al. 1988). In two recently published meta-analysises, it was also concluded that the role of footwear in the prevention of ankle sprains was not clear (Quinn et al. 2000).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In a prospective study of risk factors for lateral ankle sprain among 390 male Israeli infantry recruits, a 18% incidence of lateral ankle sprains was found in basic training. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of lateral ankle sprains between recruits who trained in modified basketball shoes or standard lightweight infantry boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the picture that emerges is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a strictly biomechanical point of view, ankle support works. The same person, in the same state of training, will have a lower risk of ankle injury with a higher-topped shoe or boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in clinical studies that look at injury rates among people who wear different footwear in a real-life training or sports scenario, there are not significant differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your own experience hints at an explanation for this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When I do wear shoes (approch shoes etc) I get sore ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soreness means a body part is stressed more than normal. But the body is generally good at adapting and strengthening frequently overloaded parts until they can perform the same workload without any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing high-topped boots protects your ankles not just from injury but also from becoming strong and agile enough to not sustain injury without that protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since they provide no better protection against injury &lt;em&gt;in the long term&lt;/em&gt;, high-top boots are an inferior choice due to their higher weight (the effect of which is amplified when worn on the feet), at least for frequent hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, low-top shoes do come with a higher strain and risk of injury until the training effect sets in; so someone used to always hiking in high-top boots should probably stick to less rough terrain for some time after switching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2016-09-17T23:15:05.683" LastActivityDate="2016-09-17T23:15:05.683" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13910" CreationDate="2016-09-16T10:28:26.793" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you asked for actual studies, I think a study on general ankle support in sports will be helpful (It focuses on basketball and volleyball, but has also some generic information that might be useful): &lt;a href=&quot;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/31/2/102.full.pdf+html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a study on ankle support in general. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One should note that hiking does not seem to be affected by that much ankle injuries in general, as mentioned after the abstract:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] Some sports like basketball and volleyball&#xA;  have high ground reaction forces when players&#xA;  land from a high jump, which accentuates the&#xA;  sprain and the rate of injury. This accounts for&#xA;  these sports having 79% and 87% of inversion&#xA;  sprains respectively and 2.5 times more ankle&#xA;  injuries than walking or hiking. [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On injury prevention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] As has already been mentioned, although some&#xA;  limitation of ankle range of movement can be&#xA;  achieved with taping and bracing, it is doubtful&#xA;  whether tapes and braces will withstand the&#xA;  forces of an inversion sprain [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] that both mechanical&#xA;  and functional stability of the ankle&#xA;  can be improved with taping [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] Both taping&#xA;  and braces have been shown to prevent&#xA;  ankle sprains in basketball and soccer players, [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the key points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Restrict range of movement&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Reduce reinjury rate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Improve proprioception&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Limitation of movement is lost after exercise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;No negative effect on most performance tests&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Little negative effect on other joints&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summa sumarum, what I gained from reading this paper:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ankle support does indeed help - so I guess high boots will indeed help too. But: If you have healthy ankles the differences might not be significant. &#xA;When the ankles are already instable support seems to be desirable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend reading over the paper on your own to gain a better picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;* Disclamer: This patent does not link to any research that confirms the following statements, take them with a grain of salt.*&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In further research I stumbled upon the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/patents/US4213255&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;following patent&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] The sole is so configured that the boot can be defined to hold the wearer's ankle substantially more firmly than has heretofore been possible. The sole is so shaped that the sole configuration itself effectively performs the rolling action, both on initial contact and on take-off from a step or stride, which would otherwise require flexing of the ankle and foot muscles during normal walking. Thus, the present sole makes it possible to construct a hiking boot which has substantially improved performance in terms of protecting the wearer from fatigue and injury while walking long distances over various terrains. [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The text above basically states that with this sole less ankle movement is required, therefore reducing the risk of fatigue and therefore injury:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] holding the hold the wearer's ankle substantially more firmly [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where we get to the &quot;the force needs to move somewhere else topic (knee)&quot; which is not evaluated, as so often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US army &lt;a href=&quot;http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&amp;amp;metadataPrefix=html&amp;amp;identifier=ADA373522&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;performed a test&lt;/a&gt; on hiking boots in 1999 - quite an interesting read, but with no real value besides that high top boots have different effects on ankles too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Asolo AFX 535 (boot 10) scored very well as to perceived comfort, prevention&#xA;  of slipping, and rate of oxygen consumption during unloaded walking. It performed&#xA;  poorly at preventing foot or ankle pain [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study also considered &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] shielding the foot from rocks and stones [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which is obviously a factor if you want to compare high top vs low top boots. It has a slight impact on ankle injuries that &lt;strong&gt;could&lt;/strong&gt; be prevented by higher boots, so you might want to factor that in for further research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11320" LastEditorUserId="11320" LastEditDate="2016-09-17T21:26:28.483" LastActivityDate="2016-09-17T21:26:28.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13861" CreationDate="2016-09-16T11:37:00.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you are not talking about laws here (&amp;quot;can I carry an urn with ashes around&amp;quot;), nor about moral (ash-based, not outdoor-based) issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, Wikipedia gives us 7 principles for Leave No Trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;plan ahead and prepare&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;travel and camp on durable surfaces&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;leave what you find&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;respect wildlife&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are either not relevant to your undertaking, or are obvious anyway (e.g., when walking to your chosen spot, don't trample the flowers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That leaves us with...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;dispose of waste properly,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all intents and purposes, I would not consider your ashes &amp;quot;waste&amp;quot;; it is a completely natural product. It is what is left if you burn an animal, they are certainly not toxic to plants they land on, or if swalloed (as individual little particles) by animals. Even if you dump them in a neat heap on the ground, no animal would go and eat big chunks of that. Lastly, if scattered properly, nobody will see them, so it is not a visual problem either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to make sure, you can ask the company which created them for you whether they used any toxic chemicals in the burning process, but, frankly, I would be very highly surprised if they did (only imagine &amp;quot;yes, we use highly toxic Xyzinine to incinerate your grandma&amp;quot; - not conceivable). I also assume that those corpses are naked when cremated (or at least clothed in some non-plastic overalls or sheets to avoid air pollution or the use of expensive filters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;minimize campfire impacts,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This comes closest. You are basically throwing the remains of a campfire in the air; likely with at least &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; wind (for reasons of ceremony). Those ashes will spread over a large area, you will not dump them just in a spot  anyways (for said ceremonial reasons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;be considerate of other visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would likely be the main concern. Please don't do it on a lively mountain summit on a sunny weekend midday with lots of tourists around... obviously don't do it where the ashes would land on the property of strangers, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T11:37:00.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13914" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-16T11:46:50.617" Score="4" ViewCount="507" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have 2 aluminum mess kits.  One is a Boy Scout branded one from the 90's and the other I just bought recently for my son.  Both was bright and shinny metal but I put them in the dishwasher before a weekend camping trip, and they came out discolored and darkened unevenly.  I have always had a dishwasher, so I'm puzzled as to what happened to the older one.  I haven't used the kit in a long time so I can't recall if it ever went into the dishwasher when I was using it.  Why did they discolor, how can I fix it, and did I ruin them functionally?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8989" LastEditorUserId="8989" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T12:06:00.083" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T17:17:28.660" Title="Dishwasher Discolored Mess Kit" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8700" CreationDate="2016-09-16T11:54:14.013" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You got plenty of good tips already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am an Opinel user myself (everyday, not only when hiking); I use it to cut food, open envelopes, fish insects out of my drink, replace dull pizza knifes in a restaurant and whatever else you can think about. What I did with my kids was this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they were very young (like 5-7 or so) they were allowed to handle the knife, but I made it an act of importance. I.e., I would not just throw it over to them and let them do their thing. I would hand it to them slowly, while looking at them steadily and talking earnestly. I very much made it an &quot;adult&quot; thing for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They would very consciously be allowed to study the knife, open the lock, unflip the blade. I would encourage them to touch &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; parts of the blade (by showing more than telling, of course). The small pain when putting the tip to skin (without drawing blood, obviously) and the resistance when moving a fingernail across (not along, obviously) the edge. Folding the blade back in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there on, they were allowed to do stuff with the knife; maybe cut an apple or some meat etc. on a &quot;need to do&quot; base (i.e., not playfully). As my knifes are very sharp indeed, I would closely watch and guide them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At any time, it was completely clear that they were &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; allowed to take the knife without me actively giving it tothem. Not because I said so, but because it was my property, and not a shared item (like you would have with any random bread knife).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this approach, you do know at every stage whether your child is ready or not, and it is very safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T11:54:14.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13920" CreationDate="2016-09-16T12:06:29.847" Score="10" ViewCount="1168" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canoes are known for tipping over, most come with enough flotation so they won't sink.  Stock flotation is often just for neutral buoyancy, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13889/how-much-flotation-does-a-canoe-need&quot;&gt;adding flotation is an option&lt;/a&gt; but if I have not done that, my canoe is likely to sink when I get in, and float back up when I get out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming, I can't get myself in the canoe and the water out (self recovery has failed).  It is just me and my swamped canoe, no help in sight, what do I do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not been drinking and I am wearing a life jacket (PFD).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt; I recognize that it is possible to get back in a canoe and bail out any remaining water, but it is also not always possible. Getting in without filling it with water, is a skill; lack of practice, environmental factors, or injury can make it impossible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bailing out a Canoe full of water&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I have been searching for a good image of a swamped canoe, this image of a young boy alone in canoe, water at the gunwale, shows how low a canoe full of water floats. It doesn't really float so much, as just does not sink. If I put my 180 pounds in my canoe, when it is full of water, all of the canoe goes under water.  I float in my life jacket, with the canoe 2 feet under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bHFZT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bHFZT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T01:29:45.637" Title="I can't get floating in my canoe again, now what?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13914" CreationDate="2016-09-16T13:12:22.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It just oxidized the aluminum.  A hard scrubbing will remove the oxidation.  Just use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004E2RXPA&quot;&gt;green scrubby&lt;/a&gt;.  If you need extra abrasive that is safe, tooth paste will usually work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T13:42:22.073" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T13:42:22.073" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13910" CreationDate="2016-09-16T13:53:11.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't an answer but it's too long for a comment. Since I was the author of that quote you snipped and info from &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com&quot;&gt;BPL&lt;/a&gt; (where I'm a member) has already been presented, I'll just offer my anecdotal evidence that shoes are fine for your stated parameters &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; you have nothing wrong with your lower extremities. To me it boils down to being fit for the activity. If your ankles are weak (as evidenced from your's being sore when you wear approach shoes) then you need to build them up before going to shoes all the time. By &quot;weak&quot; I mean using some muscles more than they are used, just like doing any activity that stresses muscles in ways they aren't used to will cause you to be sore the next day. I just had to contort myself in all different ways to paint my deck and my back, neck and shoulders are letting me know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only get to take 1 big trip a year. The rest of the year I may get to do a couple local trips but they are short and easy terrain. My first trip in 2009 at age 42 I rolled one ankle 3 times pretty well. It was quite painful for a while but I still managed 100 miles over 10 days in the Smoky Mountains. I guess I should note I didn't work out and sit behind a desk all day. 69&quot; tall and around 160 lbs. After that trip I started wearing only sandals nearly everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think on the 2010 trip (first time in Rockies) I only rolled it once but I was in much better shape that summer from gutting/remodeling my house (and down to 145 lbs!). 2011 trip I had a major knee issue (took first major downhill too quickly) and a couple small ankle tweaks. After that, I realized I needed to train more before my trips with the goals being to strengthen my knees (and by default the rest of my lower extremities) and build some cardio for the elevation. Now I walk/jog the bleachers at the high school for an hour 3 x /week a couple months before each trip. That's it. Well, I also started biking a little this year. Since then I've not had any knee or ankle issues. I can almost guarantee I would have severely sprained/strained my ankle on this last trip because of the difficulty of the terrain, but the many times I felt my foot shift to the side or rotate it held up just fine. I would have fallen if I was wearing boots. Of course, the flipside is a I move much quicker and hop to smaller rocks sometimes since I am wearing shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That brings up the other huge benefit of shoes is they are still lighter than any similar boot and that is a proven advantage. Think I saw a question here where someone posted the Army study.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, shoes aren't for everyone. Some people clearly have foot/ankle issues that may not work well with shoes. Some people are so clumsy they need ankle &lt;em&gt;protection&lt;/em&gt; from rocks. :) However, that could be a false assumption on their part since they may not need the protection if they were in lighter shoes that allowed them to be more nimble. Some people are not willing to put in any effort to strengthen their feet/ankles over time. For the majority of folks hiking on trails (or off trail) in summer, shoes are the superior choice. I think those that try them and don't like them think they'll feel as good or better the first couple times and that's just not the case unless you've already got solid feet and ankles from playing sports or similar. Or perhaps they went with too light a shoe with little or no rockplate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could add more but this is long enough already. I just figured I should chime in since you had quoted me. :) Oh, and I personally use Inov-8 Roclite 315 shoes that sadly aren't made anymore. :( If you find a brand/model that works well for you, buy several pair since they normally only stick around a couple years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T13:53:11.767" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13916" CreationDate="2016-09-16T14:24:46.773" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well first of all i have to speak up, if you're lacking the skill to get back into your canoe, you shouldn't be in it in the first place and the same goes to all your potential passengers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as you correctly noted, most canoes float if they're filled with water. This will aid you when you're in a situation where you're in a open body of water and need to &quot;let time pass&quot; while waiting for your Rescue. But most likely you'll tip over because of the environment (pieces of wood in the river, unforeseen rough passages and so on). In cases in which you really can't get back into the Canoe, you should let it slide anyways (since the boat is probably not worth enough compared to your life).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all the other cases, there are floaters which help you to get back inside your boat. If you don't have floaters, a life vest or the necessary skillset to get into your Boat. You shouldn't be in said boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are the Floaters - Paddlefloats&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/95mo7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/95mo7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My basic equipment for my trips (kajak) are the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Life vest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Floater&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Securityline&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without those i wouldn't even consider going into the water, also it may be worth to get the skillset from either someone who can teach you or one of the many ressources you'll find on the Internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So back to your original question: If getting back inside your canoe fails and there's nobody in sight you should try to reach land. In this case it's totally ok to slowly swim with your now immobile Canoe towards land or abandon it alltogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2230" LastEditorUserId="2230" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T14:35:09.053" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T14:35:09.053" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13916" CreationDate="2016-09-16T14:37:54.750" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your priorities are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not drowning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;having a boat and paddle you can get yourself home with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your stuff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your boat &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; contain (and to know it will contain these post-flip, they should be attached to it somehow)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some sort of rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some sort of bailer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you must be &lt;strong&gt;wearing&lt;/strong&gt; a PFD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you're in a largish lake, you are wearing your PFD and clinging to your right-side up boat which is so full of water you believe you can't get in it without sinking it, or you believe you're not able to get into it. What should you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get in it. This is best proven to yourself by practice, but the more water that is in a boat the easier it is to get in. The gunwales are closer to the surface, you can kind of slither over them. You should put a fair amount of effort into getting in before you do anything else. If there are two people, one can help push the other in, who can then help pull the other. Once in you can bail, you can paddle to shore while full of water, you can sit and rest and maybe warm up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you absolutely cannot get in, swim to shore. Ideally, push the boat there, or take a rope end with you and when you get there, pull the boat to yourself. (Pay attention to how deep it is - you may be able to stand and walk which will make bringing the boat easier.) Horrible weather may make that impossible and may be why you tipped in the first place. When the weather is bad, don't paddle right down the centre of wide lakes - stay closer to shore to make this rescue process feasible. But if you can't get the boat to shore, settle for getting yourself to shore. If you have an emergency bag in the boat (mine is a waist pack with matches, medications, a bit of food, a knife, etc) take it with you. With a PFD you can swim a long way, during which time you can think about how foolish it was to be so far from shore.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on shore, focus on drying out, warming up, seeing what you have and if possible getting more of your stuff. Perhaps a bag is still floating and you can go get it? Take off your wet stuff and wring it out. Choose between putting it back on and hanging it up. Get a fire going if you can. Eat something if you can. Even a handful of candy will perk up your brain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have your boat and paddle and are uninjured, go home. You can probably claim for your stuff on your insurance. If you don't have a boat and paddle, or someone is hurt, make that fire very smoky, set up whatever kind of camp you can, and when someone gains a little more strength, consider trying to go get more of your stuff so that people can last until rescue comes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T18:28:50.170" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T18:28:50.170" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13854" CreationDate="2016-09-16T16:23:49.150" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a collection of retrieval methods, some including carabiners.&#xA;Perhaps looking through here will job your memory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dyeclan.com/outdoors101/canyoneering101/?page=rigging-a-retrievable-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://dyeclan.com/outdoors101/canyoneering101/?page=rigging-a-retrievable-rope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6282" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T16:23:49.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13854" CreationDate="2016-09-16T19:04:14.253" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might be referring to this.&#xA;The gray line would be the paracord / accessory cord and the blue line would be the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uXFW5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uXFW5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;You might be referring to this&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess this might not be it since you never want to thread your rope directly through an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9267" LastEditorUserId="9267" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T19:16:28.447" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T19:16:28.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13924" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-16T20:51:58.213" Score="6" ViewCount="380" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was watching one of those Discovery Channel wilderness survival shows last night and one of the &quot;survivors&quot; made a compass from a piece of wire tie and an earbud's magnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He stripped the plastic from the tie and rubbed the magnet in a single direction on one end of half the wire, then suspended it from a thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would he know which end of the wire was north?  As best I can tell, if you don't know the orientation of the magnet, you can't determine the orientation of the needle.  Did magnetizing only one end of the wire make a difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In their scenario, it was daytime, but in a jungle.  The view of the sky was pretty obscured and I believe it was somewhat overcast.   I figured if they couldn't actually determine east from west (they wanted to go east), they couldn't tell north from south to calibrate the compass by the light/sun.  I believe it was midday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9796" LastEditorUserId="9796" LastEditDate="2016-09-16T21:07:04.953" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T22:30:41.433" Title="Making a compass from magnet and needle -- which end is north?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13924" CreationDate="2016-09-16T21:03:19.180" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you would have to know beforehand, is which way is generally north, by other methods, like the North Star, or from the direction of the sun. I don't mean that you could tell which way is north precisely without a compass or gps, but one of the ends should be obviously wrong. For instance in the northern hemisphere, the end pointing towards the sun is the south end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you could mark which end of the improvised magnet pointed north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T21:03:19.180" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13924" CreationDate="2016-09-16T21:50:39.783" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even in an overcast jungle, the sun still cast's a shadow, they'll just be more diffuse and not as ray traced, but if there is light, it is possible to determine which direction it is coming from. The only caveat being at high noon right on the equator during equinox when the sun is literally directly overhead. Having the sun directly overhead doesn't help you, but even then, only 15 minutes later you can have your bearings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a tree, or use a stick planted in the ground. A clear floor of any size will make things easy for you, plant your stick, then look for whatever you might think looks like the darker side of it. Mark this with a stone or leaf or something. Wait 15 minutes, then do the same thing again. You'll have two different points, and easily be able to determine which hemisphere of the sky the sun is in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T21:50:39.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13924" CreationDate="2016-09-16T22:30:41.433" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having watched what I believe to be the episode of the program in question (and if not, it was something very similar), I would say that in my recollection the specific direction of travel was not important (the two survivors did not know where in the jungle they were, nor which direction had the best chance of rescue/encountering civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of the crude compass, per the dialogue/explanation, was not to have them traveling in any specific direction, but rather to prevent them from getting lost and traveling in circles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One direction, regardless of which direction it was, is what they needed, and what they achieved. It doesn't matter if their &quot;North&quot; was actually &quot;South&quot; so long as  it was the same direction that they were traveling before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9767" LastActivityDate="2016-09-16T22:30:41.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13929" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13952" CreationDate="2016-09-18T01:23:09.703" Score="9" ViewCount="12637" Body="&lt;p&gt;This time of year, you see a lot of canoes and kayaks going down the road tied to the top of cars. Some of them not as smartly anchored as others.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the configurations that I see a lot is the &quot;It's not going off the back&quot; method. A quick look at google finds these two examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KrKjn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KrKjn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2LlDh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2LlDh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this method to transport your canoe safe or will it be likely to be lost while driving? What is wrong with this tie down method? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:37:45.430" LastActivityDate="2021-05-20T01:32:26.080" Title="Is it safe to tie a canoe to the top of your car like this?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13929" CreationDate="2016-09-18T01:56:39.407" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a perfect world, the rear strop would be tided further midships to prevent the Kayak moving forward, however, in a pragmatic world, this is not needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The forward strop prevents the kayak lifting the roof rack off the car and wind forcing the kayak backwards. The forward and rear strop and prevents side winds twisting the kayak on the rack. &#xA;Should the Kayak start to move, the driver can easily see and fix it, however this is not normally a problem as the correct attachment to the racks is not hard to achieve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an accident involving a sudden stop, the kayak might move forward until the rear strop comes tight - possible 2 or more meters. This is less than ideal, but the forces required before this happened would almost certainly render the car undriveable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases it would be better if the racks were further apart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T01:56:39.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13931" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13940" CreationDate="2016-09-18T10:15:49.660" Score="9" ViewCount="1047" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're up in the tree stand and need to urinate, is it okay to do it just from above or should one seek another solution? So, does your game somehow smell the urine and will stay away? Any other considerations? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T13:12:21.320" Title="Does urinating from the tree stand ruin your hunt?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13910" CreationDate="2016-09-18T11:08:15.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The high boots choice extends beyond ankle support and depends on both terrain and personal comfort aspects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Scotland the paths (when present) can be variable, and underfoot ranges from bog to lichen covered rocks to large loose boulders. A high boot often provides a level of water resistance that low cut boots &amp;amp; shoes don't provide, so a choice about cold and wet feet becomes part of the mix. Often the Goretex type shoes just don't last and have leak points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the terrain is loose boulder or slippy rocks then one factor for boots is the impact protection between the side of the ankle and the rock, which isn't there for a trainer/shoe. A bruised ankle bone can ruin a day and make for a long walk out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the flip side, my wife had an achilles heel issue which, once there, was exacebated by the boots and she now swears by the low trainers, despite the cold wet feet (the waterproof sox just don't cut it). Meanwhile I'm keeping with my leather boots and wooly sox which keeps my ankles protecetd, feet dry and numb toes warm and cozy. If I was walking in a high dry well marked path region I'd probably change to a lighter weight boot (but still with the padded ankle if scrambling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's about whether the environment wins. Choose your clothes and shoes for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T11:08:15.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13910" CreationDate="2016-09-18T14:08:56.913" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are the studies relevant?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think you're going to get a meaningful answer to your question from a survey of studies - there are simply too many confounders that they don't control for. Here are some of the most important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proprioception&lt;/strong&gt; Not all shoes are equal. At one end you have true &quot;barefoot&quot; shoes with minimal midsoles and very high proprioception. At the other end many approach and walking shoes have thick soles that give little ground feel. Proprioception plays a huge role in the prevention of ankle injury, as good ground feel gives the brain the timely feedback it needs to take the action required to avoid injury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flexibility of the sole&lt;/strong&gt; Let's say you stand on a hidden rock with the potential to turn your ankle. In a minimal shoe, the brain quickly knows there's an issue as we've seen, and because the sole is flexible it can wrap your foot around the obstacle to help prevent injury. Try it for yourself - it's striking how an unencumbered foot can adapt to the terrain. With a thick and rigid sole the brain only knows that there's a problem when the ankle begins to turn, and because there's no scope for altering the shape of the foot it has far fewer options for saving the situation. At a certain angle footwear with a rigid sole passes the point of no return and &quot;capsizes&quot;, ripping your ankle. This is much less of an issue with a flexible sole. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stack height&lt;/strong&gt; This is the distance between the ground and the sole of your foot. The higher the stack height, the greater the leverage when your ankle begins to turn and the greater the potential for injury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heel to toe drop&lt;/strong&gt; The lower the drop, the more naturally your power train can function and respond to threats underfoot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; The weight of the shoe or boot has a significant impact on agility and the ability to recover from a threat, as does the weight of the person and the load carried. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal conditioning and transitioning&lt;/strong&gt; Most of us spend our lives in padded footwear with a high drop. Changing to more minimal footwear requires careful and sensible transitioning. This may well be the reason for your sore ankles when wearing approach shoes. If a couch potato suddenly did a 10k run they would have sore muscles too. You need to build up over weeks or months depending on age and condition, and you may also need to consciously adjust your gait if you are a strong heel-striker. If you have specific issues with foot and ankle health you many need a well-designed exercise programme to rebuild a normal healthy gait. Podiatrists who specialise in rehab claim they can resolve a wide range of conditions, but most of the profession still focuses on orthotics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design and usage of the boot's ankle support&lt;/strong&gt; As a general rule, the greater the ankle support, the less comfortable the boot will be to walk in. For example ski boots give maximum ankle protection but you walk like a duck. Designs and support vary greatly, but in practice most walkers I see have the ankles quite loosely laced for comfort at the expense of support. So the support offered on a lab treadmill is one thing, but the support offered when the boot is used in the field is quite another.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these variables have an enormous impact on the risk of ankle injury, but I'm not aware of any study that even begins to address them comprehensively. The research is nowhere close to providing a meaningful answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So how can you make an informed decision?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is that every hiker has to make a personal choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; say with confidence is that lightweight footwear is a perfectly responsible option provided you transition properly, and we don't need to go to the labs to tell us this. Many thousands of hikers have covered many millions of miles in lightweight trail shoes, and I'm not aware of any credible evidence that this has led to a spate of ankle injuries. This is a huge sample of real people walking in real conditions, and trumps any artificial lab study, I would suggest. Anyone who claims that lightweight footwear is inherently dangerous is simply ill-informed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The old-guard accused the early lightweight hikers of being irresponsible, but now 10lb packs are pretty much mainstream. There are no lab studies that prove this is safe - just a huge amount of practical experience that it works for anyone who develops the requisite attitudes and skill-set. It's the same with lightweight footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any hike there is a wide range of footwear that could do the job, each with it's own pros and cons. We all head out for different reasons and through a great variety of terrain. We all have different priorities and notions of comfort. So we all have to figure out what works for us through trial and error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I prioritise light weight and agility: I choose the  most minimal footwear I can possible get away with. I'm happy to put up with damp feet and the occasional bang on the ankle in return, and I was happy to put in the effort to transition properly. I came to this decision through years of experimentation and have found something that works very well for me. But it may not work for you. I know many others who wouldn't dream of walking the same terrain without a shanked leather walking boot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both are perfectly valid choices. My only aim in promoting lightweight footwear on this site is to open people's minds to alternatives they may not have considered. Though I will say that the more committed and experienced the walker and the more ambitious the project, the more likely it is that they will choose a lightweight option. Long-distance thru-hikers in traditional boots are a vanishing species, in the same way that few people nowadays hike the AT or the PCT with 40lb base-weights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-09-18T14:18:24.407" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T14:18:24.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13929" CreationDate="2016-09-18T16:31:07.837" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The auto in the top photo has a rack that is in the hitch receiver to support the rear of the canoe.  With the strap holding the boat on the rack it appears very secure.  The front looks to have only one strap, on the centerline of the car.  I'd certainly prefer straps going to the sides of the front to assure the boat doesn't start to wobble on the roof from wind pressure.  But this looks reasonable and the driver may well have used this setup enough to be secure with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The SUV, with the canoe tied front, back and to the rack and looks very secure. The main problem with both the front and back straps slanting to the back is that the boat may slip forward in an emergency stop.  Proper tieing to the rack should prevent that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T16:31:07.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2016-09-18T17:09:11.720" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Among the problems with this idea is that pole ends from the inner tent can damage the floor of the outer tent.  If you need to be warmer, augment your sleeping gear with an inexpensive blanket or two.  Check around at used clothing stores or buy new.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T17:09:11.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13938" CreationDate="2016-09-18T20:21:36.137" Score="22" ViewCount="3112" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am trying to find out which way is north at night, and I can see stars, but not the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_star&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Star&lt;/a&gt; or the Southern cross or other recognizable constellations, because the terrain is limiting my view, how can I do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-07T18:40:51.837" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T18:41:28.740" Title="How can I find north from the stars without recognizable constellations?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13937" CreationDate="2016-09-18T20:21:36.137" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you will want to do is to find which way a star is moving. The way to do this, is to line up two objects pointing towards where the star is currently at, like so.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tezop.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tezop.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Then wait 15-20 minutes for the star to move and compare its new position to the old one marked by your sticks.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9lsW.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9lsW.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;As illustrated above the correlation between its movement and the direction the line of sight is facing is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up =&gt; East&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down =&gt;West&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Right =&gt;South&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Left =&gt; North&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it didn't move at all, then congratulations, you have found the North Star.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Limitations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works better the closer you are to the equator, and doesn't work at all at the poles. Also, as pointed out by @Anton Sherwood, the stars underneath the pole star (between it and the horizon) will move the wrong way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-07T18:41:28.740" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T18:41:28.740" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6530" CreationDate="2016-09-18T20:55:36.507" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was a route setter at a UK Wall for about 10 years and we used two primary methods alongside each other.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experience of the route setter - before you started the route you would have a purpose, line and grade in mind based on the available hold color.   If it was for a lead competition then the 'grading' is different to a party route in a top roping section.   Next you have to look at the available line and other routes in that area.  Lots of similar grades on the same section is not good in a busy wall as it causes queues.  Likewise you don't really want a low grade route that crosses multiple lines in a busy wall as it takes up too much space.   Lastly you look at the color of holds available that won't clash with other routes already set.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you can choreograph the route checking moves, clipping positions and trying to spot all the cheat bypasses and resting points. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have set the route you get regulars to forerun the route.   If you know your regulars you will be able to judge their performance on your new route against others they have climbed and grade accordingly.  You might ask other setters or instructors to climb it and comment.  Once you have a consensus it gets graded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We use to have a comments book and that would get reviewed in case we needed to tweak a route either physically or grade based on feedback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11293" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T20:55:36.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13931" CreationDate="2016-09-18T21:38:52.810" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it compromises your hunt.  Urine is one of the most important smells that game animals use to communicate with each other, so it is a smell they are most attuned to.  During mating season, urine tells the males when females are in estrus, and also the relative health of the animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am hunting and I find a fresh urination spot, I smell it and I can tell quite a bit about what happened, including whether it was deer or elk, sex of the elk, and how old it is, so if a lowly human can do it, you know a deer or elk can definitely do it.  You can seek another solution, like using a bottle, but I am paranoid enough about the odor that I am afraid of any leakage.  I do everything I can to avoid any sort of urine smell on me while I hunt including peeing well before I get to my spot and not drinking too much water in the stand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T21:38:52.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13937" CreationDate="2016-09-18T22:01:24.477" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If in the Southern Hemisphere the North Star is not available. Here is how to find your directions using the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Find-True-North-Without-a-Compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Southern Cross&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using the Stars: Southern Hemisphere&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 Find the Southern Cross constellation.&lt;/strong&gt; In the southern hemisphere, the North Star is not visible, and no single star always indicates north or south, but you can use the Southern Cross and the pointer stars as your guide. The Southern Cross constellation is formed by five stars, and the four brightest stars form a cross that is angled to one side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2 Identify the two stars that make up the long axis of the cross.&lt;/strong&gt; These stars form a line which &quot;points&quot; to an imaginary point in the sky which is above the South Pole. Follow the imaginary line down from the two stars five times the distance between them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3 Draw an imaginary line from this point to the ground, and try to identify a corresponding landmark to steer by.&lt;/strong&gt; Since this is true south, true north is directly opposite it (behind you as you are looking at the point).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VAobQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VAobQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Southern Cross&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the Equator one can use the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Find-True-North-Without-a-Compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Constellation of Orion.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 The Orion Constellation is visible from both hemispheres depending on the time of the year.&lt;/strong&gt; It is a permanent feature on the equator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2 Look for Orion's Belt.&lt;/strong&gt; Orion has several prominent stars. The 'belt' (3 stars in a row) runs from East to West. Look for that, it has a 'sword' attached to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3 &lt;strong&gt;Project a line From the sword through the middle star of the Belt.&lt;/strong&gt; That is the general direction of North. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4 Orion lays across the Equator:&lt;/strong&gt; the Belt rises &amp;amp; sets at east &amp;amp; West &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mu4LG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mu4LG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Orion&amp;#39;s Belt&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under certain circumstances you can use &lt;a href=&quot;http://360.here.com/2015/05/29/5-ways-to-find-north-without-a-compass/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;moss&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to indicate north in the Northern Hemisphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moss&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If it’s overcast then look to nature, namely moss, to find north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Moss can only thrive in damp conditions. Damp conditions often, though not exclusively, occur in shadowy areas. In northern hemisphere countries such as the UK the sun moves east to west but it always tracks this path in the south. In sum, north facing gets the least amount of sun and consequentially will be the dampest area. To make sure you are not being mislead, look for moss on vertical structures such as trees and other places where water doesn’t naturally collect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBZHi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBZHi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Moss on Tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best place to look for moss is near the base of large trees!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-18T23:53:40.900" LastActivityDate="2016-09-18T23:53:40.900" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4645" CreationDate="2016-09-19T06:14:50.823" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Things I use with our scouts: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Singing + a special game: because we already know each other, the children/youth are not having a problem singing in front of the others. I introduced a game called &quot;Give me a word&quot;; once you have the word, the group's task would be to collect 5 (or in &quot;hardcore&quot; version 10+) songs which contain the given word somewhere in their lyrics. Let's say the word is &quot;water&quot;, then you can have: Bridge over troubled water, Come away to the water etc. The one who gives the 5th song can choose the next word. They may be narrowed to nature elements, or customized in any way. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reminding them of harder things they &quot;survived&quot;. This often brings up a whole load of stories and funny memories, so while remembering these (+ laughing a lot) they usually carry on without noticing how tired they are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things I use when I am alone: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Singing a tune in my head: I have a problem with uphill walking, unfortunately I walk/climb much slower, often at the far edge of the group, delayed with 15-20 minutes. In order to keep myself motivated to make the next step, I sing. Not aloud, as that makes me much more tired, but in my head: I choose a song with an easy text and I set the goal to walk as long as that song keeps &quot;playing&quot; in my head. This helps me stay motivated + helps me regulate my breath to my steps. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Setting myself a smaller goal: I would set a visible spot as the short-term goal, and when I get there I would choose a new one until I reach the final destination&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T06:14:50.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13868" CreationDate="2016-09-19T06:18:39.997" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sunstroke or dehydration would also cross my mind. Think back to the environment, circumstances, equipment and weather you had then: did you miss a hat? was is a really hot day? did you drink enough water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T06:18:39.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13937" CreationDate="2016-09-19T07:24:19.377" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the idea of the iphone (or Android) time-lapse photography; that'll work even if you have no reception for your phone (download it before you go), but your GPS will work anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that, the sticks idea is a nice construct.  But you can do just as well by lying on your back and watching the sky for about 30 minutes, especially near the horizons.  Where the stars are moving least is going to be near the pole.  Pick a few bright guys in different spots to bird-dog, and see where they go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11348" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T07:24:19.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13947" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13948" CreationDate="2016-09-19T08:21:43.727" Score="5" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been learning about collecting dead wood from trees which are easy enough to identify in summer (lack of leaves) but is there a way of identifying dead wood that also works in winter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-09T04:02:28.823" LastActivityDate="2019-05-09T04:02:28.823" Title="How to identify dead wood in winter" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13947" CreationDate="2016-09-19T09:33:39.137" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find this fairly easy, but not as easy to explain. Knowing the types of trees and how they usually look helps a lot, dead branches will usually stand out a fair bit in my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of bark.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If having a closer look, check if there are healthy looking buds, in many species they fall off or dry out if the branches are dead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lack of thinnest branches, these may have already broken of by colliding into other branches by the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fungi, if there's fungi the wood is usually dead or dying, but possibly not dry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not sure .. it's not very damaging to peel of a little bit of bark or bend a branch a little bit to see whether it's still elastic or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T09:33:39.137" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2016-09-19T09:47:32.053" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tents job is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; insulation. Your tents job is to provide shelter from wind, etc. Heat will (and should) pass though tent membranes very eaily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore adding a tent inside a tent will add practically no extra insulation and therfore no benefit. The outer tent will protect you from wind/rain and provide shelter. The inner tent is doing nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T09:47:32.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13963" CreationDate="2016-09-19T09:53:34.260" Score="12" ViewCount="490" Body="&lt;p&gt;When climbing a multi-pitch route, suppose I am belaying the second climber, using &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverso&quot;&gt;Reverso&lt;/a&gt; or a similar device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It lets me arrange the rope in such a way that when the climber falls, the rope automatically tightens, and the fall is stopped without the belayer's intervention (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-Ij9Es5QRY4/hqdefault.jpg&quot;&gt;picture&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, some people say that I need to hold the rope anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the reason for this requirement? I could come up with the following explanations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I arrange the rope in a wrong direction, holding the rope will prevent slippage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holding the rope prevents me from getting distracted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I am not holding the rope, it makes me responsible for the outcome of any unrelated disaster&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a generalization of the principle &quot;don't let go of the rope&quot;, which is true for sport top-roping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, none of these seems reasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T05:32:28.180" Title="(Why) Should I hold the rope when belaying the second climber with Reverso?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13929" CreationDate="2016-09-19T13:51:48.487" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer your underlying idea, mounting a canoe on the roof of a regular car can easily be done safely - however you've chosen two poor examples. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First photo: not safe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no proper roof-bars. The type of foam pads used aren't suitable for anything bigger than a surf-board. Used like this they will also damage the car roof. I wouldn't ever consider the type of tail mount used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second photo: better - right idea but poorly executed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here we see the boat on proper roof-bars with good straps. However, the boat should be centred on these, even if this means sticking out more at the back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Correct: &#xA;Solid roof-bars (available for all normal cars), with the bars spaced out as much as possible and the boat centred on these - with good quality straps used to secure the boat to the bars. A rear light should be added where necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: when the boat is centred, this prevents forward/back movement because the straps are either side of the middle/widest point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note2: both photos place a heavy emphasis on  nose/tail strapping. In reality they add very little and should never be relied upon. They can help reduce bouncing but if the boat isn't secure without them, it won't be secure with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T13:51:48.487" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13953" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-19T13:53:06.173" Score="5" ViewCount="464" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need some help designing a diet for extended multi-day treks which is &lt;strong&gt;sustainable&lt;/strong&gt;, provides &lt;strong&gt;high-energy&lt;/strong&gt; but still remains somehow &lt;strong&gt;portable&lt;/strong&gt;. For some reason my efforts so far were not very successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Example: I recently did a part of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_20&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GR-20&lt;/a&gt; in Corsica. Admittedly, it is a rather hard alpine trek including a lot of ascends and descends (easily 1600m a day) - and we did our route completely independent of resupplies, meaning 20kg packs. But in just 5 days me and my friend lost 2kg weight each, even with a diet &lt;em&gt;of more than 4000 calories a day!&lt;/em&gt; This is clearly not very sustainable (however great it might be to lose weight in some situations).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We brought:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;porridge with lots of sugar for breakfast,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pastas with pesto/olive oil/mayonnaise for lunch,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pasta for dinner (various sauces)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chocolate, peanuts and sunflower seeds as snacks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious thing to do seems to be to just cram in even more calories per day. But there is really a limit on how much you can eat and still be able to do a fairly exhausting activity afterwards...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even eating 'just' 4000 calories a day requires you to stuff your face with sugar, starch and fat at almost every possible moment. (Ever tried eating 1kg of pasta in one day? :P)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food makes for the largest share of the pack weight by far. Unless one starts living of fat alone 4000 calories mean 1kg of pasta &lt;em&gt;per day&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'd appreciate your advice as to how I can design a diet which allows for a sustainable trek over longer periods of time.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/45/what-is-the-most-efficient-food-to-take-a-for-a-12-15-day-hiking-trip&quot;&gt;What is the most efficient food to take a for a 12-15 day hiking trip?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/134/is-there-a-straightforward-way-to-calculate-energy-requirements-for-a-trek/178#178&quot;&gt;Is there a straightforward way to calculate energy requirements for a trek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T17:25:19.647" Title="Designing a sustainable and portable high-energy diet" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13953" CreationDate="2016-09-19T16:31:45.237" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't try and cram it all day long. Allocate more time for dinner. Start a big dinner as soon has you make camp.  Eat the bulk at dinner when your body can relax and digest fully.  Start your day with a small meal.  Unless you have a lot of nuts or meaty sauce then you may be low on protein.  A cheese stick is also a source of protein without a lot of weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;7,700 cals to lose 1 kg so you were in a deficit of 15,400.  So over a 5 day trip about 3000 / day. That is believable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-19T21:17:58.477" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T21:17:58.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13953" CreationDate="2016-09-19T17:44:44.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Andrew Skurka has a lot of advice on his blog about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://andrewskurka.com/2010/the-5000-calories-per-day-wilderness-diet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;backpacking diet&lt;/a&gt;. He is a world class hiker and does serious mileage over serious terrain. For an Alaska backpacking trip, he packed 4,750-5,000 calories a day and aimed to supplement that to 5,500 calories a day by eating in trail towns. His diet comes in at 140 calories/ounce (4.94 cal/g) and he packs about 2.25 pounds (1020g) per day. When he is guiding he packs 1.5 pounds (680g) per person per day at 125 calories/ounce (4.4 cal/g)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These numbers fall into the range recommended by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/planning-menu.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;: 1.5 to 2.5 lbs. (680-1134g) of food (or 2,500 to 4,500 calories) per person per day .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protein and sugar have about 115 calories per ounce (4 cal/g) while fat has 255 calories per ounce (9 cal/g). To get to a 140 calorie/ounce diet you need to carry food with little water and about 20% fat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;porridge with lots of sugar for breakfast: This has essentially no fat. Substitute butter/olive oil for the sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;pastas with pesto/olive oil/mayonnaise for lunch: As long as it is oily, this is a good choice&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;pasta for dinner (various sauces): Again, the pasta has limited fat. Tomato sauce would do little to help on that front. Oil or cheese is the way to go&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;chocolate, peanuts and sunflower seeds as snacks: Seeds and nuts can be fatty, chocolate has limited fat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2016-09-20T17:25:19.647" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T17:25:19.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11542" CreationDate="2016-09-19T19:08:48.250" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This focuses more on attributes (habits) rather than equipment, since much of my study of history suggests that the possession (or lack) of equipment and/or supplies does not always determine success or failure on an expedition (so many explorers experienced equipment failure/loss). Instead, it is one's attributes and knowledge that contribute most to success - and this probably hasn't changed over the centuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1556523238&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Outdoor Survival Skills&lt;/a&gt;, author and survivor/explorer Larry Dean Olsen lists some of the attributes that survivors possess:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Determination...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A positive degree of stubbornness...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Well-defined values...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Self-direction...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A belief in the goodness of humankind...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cooperative...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A utopian attitude...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A survivor accepts the situation as it is and improves it from that    standpoint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this is a very good list to start with, before even considering equipment, which can vary tremendously. Equipment is unimportant when compared to your own personal attributes and knowledge. If one does not possess most of the above attributes, then he/she should keep his outdoor travel somewhat close to civilization (physically or via communication) in case of emergency. This person would also need to rely heavily on modern equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mr. Olsen tells a true story of Zeke Sanchez who was dropped off “from a small boat onto a bleak stretch of the shore of Lake Powell in southern Utah.” Zeke set off with &lt;strong&gt;no gear or supplies&lt;/strong&gt; (so he could travel fast), to catch up with an outdoor survival group that was 3 days ahead of him, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“in some of the most beautiful but forbidding desert land in North&#xA;  America. He was dressed in jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt, and&#xA;  on his head was tied a large bandana… Three days later, Zeke caught up&#xA;  to his… group, well watered and sassy from eating pack rats, cicadas,&#xA;  mahonia berries, biscuit-roots, Chenopodium, and cactus fruits. He&#xA;  sported two new ratskin possibles pouches, a woven rice grass sleeping&#xA;  mat, a greasewood digging stick, two dozen Paiute deadfall triggers,&#xA;  firesticks, twenty feet of cliffrose rope, a jasper knife, a bone&#xA;  weaving awl, an unfinished serviceberry bow stave, and a whole bundle&#xA;  of reed grass arrowshafts.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice the list of items that Zeke carried after three days. Obviously, these are what he considered to be an essential equipment list. But he didn't start with them! He had the &lt;strong&gt;knowledge&lt;/strong&gt; to make them from what nature offered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mr. Olsen and Mr. Sanchez are modern survivalists who thrive in the outdoors. Other survivalists that immediately spring to mind are Hugh Glass, whom you already mentioned, and John Colter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hugh Glass (&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0803258348&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee, and Mountain Man&lt;/a&gt; by John Myers Myers) was forced into service on a pirate ship, escaped off the coast of Texas around 1820, was captured by Indians, escaped after two years (he learned a lot from them), then hired on with a fur trapping outfit heading for the Rocky Mountains. En route, Glass was mauled by a grizzly and left for dead. (The company was in a hurry and two trappers were left behind to help Glass recover or bury him when he died. He wouldn’t recover or die, so the two trappers finally left him for dead. They took everything but his blanket.) He somehow survived, recovered on his own, and traveled hundreds of miles, alone, &lt;strong&gt;without supplies&lt;/strong&gt;, driven by vengeance to find those who had left him for dead. He eventually explored all over the American west for about 20 years, almost always alone, before finally being killed by Indians. Hugh Glass had the &lt;strong&gt;attributes&lt;/strong&gt; of a survivor in addition to &lt;strong&gt;knowledge&lt;/strong&gt; of how to survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another explorer of considerable note is John Colter who first went west with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. (This expedition was well documented with at least three members keeping journal records throughout. Lots of mistakes, equipment failures, disasters, and lessons learned. Try &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0803280033&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The Way to the Western Sea&lt;/a&gt; by David Lavender.) He was an invaluable aid to the expedition, often hunting and exploring on his own. After spending two and a half years exploring the Missouri and Columbian Rivers, the expedition floated down the Missouri River, back to civilization, without Colter. He remained in the wilderness for four more years, sometimes alone and sometimes in small groups. His two most well-known expeditions include (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0803272642&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;John Colter: His Years in the Rockies&lt;/a&gt; by Burton Harris):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While working at a fort, built by Manuel Lisa’s fur trading company,&#xA;John Colter agreed to notify neighboring Indian villages of the new&#xA;trading post. He then traveled, on foot, throughout the region of&#xA;what is now known as Yellowstone National Park, discovering geysers,&#xA;enormously rugged mountains, and high snow-covered mountain passes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“The trail he made through approximately five hundred miles of&#xA;  mountainous terrain would not be easy for the hiker of today to follow&#xA;  with the assistance of modern maps and roads. The magnitude of&#xA;  Colter’s performance can only be appreciated by bearing in mind that&#xA;  most of the journey was made in the severe winter months, and that in&#xA;  some manner he made his way through jumbled mountain ranges that&#xA;  frequently baffle those who have lived in them all their lives.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The author states that it is known that Colter carried 30 pounds of&#xA;equipment and supplies and, in addition, he carried an essential&#xA;selection of trade goods that would have made his pack considerably&#xA;heavier. Unfortunately, he does not specifically list the contents&#xA;of Colter’s equipment and supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On an expedition in present-day Montana, John Colter was surprised&#xA;and captured by over 800 Blackfeet Indians. After being captured and&#xA;his partner killed, John Colter’s captors decided to make sport of&#xA;him, stripping him naked and telling him to run over a plain pocked&#xA;with prickly pear cactus. They gave him a short lead, then pursued.&#xA;Colter outran the Indians and managed to completely evade them that&#xA;night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“…having escaped from the Indians, his situation was still dreadful:&#xA;  he was completely naked, under a burning sun; the soles of his feet&#xA;  were entirely filled with the thorns of the prickly pear; he was&#xA;  hungry, and had no means of killing game, although he saw abundance&#xA;  around him, and was at least seven days journey from Lisa’s Fort…. He&#xA;  arrived at the fort in seven days, having subsisted on a root….”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T19:08:48.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13937" CreationDate="2016-09-19T19:12:07.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you didn't limit the star(s) used, I'll give an example using the Sun. During the day, put a stick in the ground such that it casts a shadow. Mark the end of the shadow with another stick. Wait 15 minutes. The line from the original marked end of the shadow to current the end of shadow points due east.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T19:12:07.260" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13953" CreationDate="2016-09-19T19:28:44.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would begin with making sure the food plan is nutritionally well-balanced.  For shorter trips you can survive on almost anything, and most people in developed countries are already carrying more than enough calories on their bodies to sustain them for extended periods of time.  (The average fit athlete carries in their body about 2,000 calories in carbs, and 100,000 calories in fat stores.)  Aside from that, I'd also look at your fitness level and how hard you will be pushing yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fitness and Effort:&lt;/strong&gt;  Your aerobic fitness level will determine to what extent your body is less able to fuel itself using mostly fats, and has to dig into the &quot;afterburners&quot; of carb metabolism.  Your body always uses a bit of both, but for normal activity fat provides the bulk of the energy input.  As your activity ramps up, a greater percentage must come from burning carbs.  A higher fitness level keeps that percentage from rising as quickly.  E.g. an untrained person might be getting 60% of their energy from burning carbs while exercising while a fit person might only need to get 35% supplied from carbs for the same activity level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For high intensity effort you can burn through your body's glycogen reserves in a number of hours.  Energy gels can help with this; aim to replenish at least 100 calories per hour.  On the other hand, for lower intensity effort eating good meals when you are less active should be sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Macronutrient Balance:&lt;/strong&gt;  Between carbs, fat, and protein, protein generally will be the smallest portion.  I suggest aiming for 1.2-1.5g per kg of body weight per day, as the amino acids are used to metabolize the carbs and fat as well as to maintain and rebuild muscle.  At least some of that should be eaten just after exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you know, carbs will provide about 4 calories per gram, and fat 9 calories per gram.  This makes olive oil or other fats a good way to bump up the calories you get for a given weight.  My suggestion would be plan for 30% fat in your diet.  There are those people who are keto-adapted and would run on almost no carbs at all, but that's a tale for a different place and attempting to switch directly into that will likely leave you feeling unwell during the transition.  Finally, be particularly cautious of simple sugars, which will burn fast, spike your blood sugar, and then leave you feeling weak after the low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until or unless you've gained more experience and have played with what works and doesn't work for you individually, the traditional advice of a good breakfast and balanced meals will likely work best for such moderate-intensity, long duration efforts.  Once you have done more extreme stuff you can experiment with things like pemmican or the classic Iditarod stick of butter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-09-19T19:28:44.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13950" CreationDate="2016-09-20T02:15:17.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Technically there shouldn't be a problem letting go of it. The conditions to this are that the setup is done correctly and there is no unforeseen failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of a failure there is not much that you holding onto the end of the rope could do to help control/save the situation, but who knows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a link to question regarding the strength of atc guide in autolock mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4896/what-is-the-strength-of-an-atc-belay-device-when-used-in-a-guide-mode-multi-pitc&quot;&gt;What is the strength of an ATC belay device when used in a guide mode/multi-pitch setup?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11360" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T02:15:17.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13962" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13969" CreationDate="2016-09-20T02:55:23.380" Score="8" ViewCount="504" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have access to a 23ft Sonar sailboat that isn't mine. It's pretty difficult to get back into after going for a swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone recommend a type of portable ladder I could bring with me when I use this boat? How would I secure it to the boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Priorities are, in this order: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;must not damage the boat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;portable (I take public transit to the boat, not a car)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;makes getting back on the boat easier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FLMwa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FLMwa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iaCbg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iaCbg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11362" LastEditorUserId="11362" LastEditDate="2016-09-20T14:54:01.343" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T13:44:47.880" Title="Portable ladder for sailboat?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13950" CreationDate="2016-09-20T05:32:28.180" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the listed reasons hold true, and can largely be simplified to the fourth: never let go of the brake strand unless you have tied it off.  This maintains good habits and also mitigates potential accidents.  In the past, such devices have been considered hands-free if monitored (i.e. you're sitting next to it, the ropes are running cleanly, and you're just grabbing a sandwich or a drink).  It may be that more conservative approaches will develop over time, but this is one case where there still appears to be a general tolerance for taking a hand off.  (Whether the manufacturer's instructions agree with this is a different question.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Reverso (or any similar device) used in guide mode has some potential failure modes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first failure mode to watch for is when the rope does not run in line with the brake strand.  E.g. if the anchor is offset from the last piece of protection, when the rope comes tight in a fall it might run across the side of the device instead of over the brake strand.  Result: the brake strand is not captured and no braking occurs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A second potential failure mode is for the loaded strand to &quot;pop&quot; under the brake strand or jam alongside it.  The latter case is not immediately dangerous, but will require work to unbind the strands.  The former case will result in very little braking power, which is a Bad Thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These cases can be mitigated against by making sure the ropes are running in the correct direction and that the rope diameters are well within the sizes the devices are rated for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Largely pulled from: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/atc-guide/106838345__1&quot;&gt;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/atc-guide/106838345__1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T05:32:28.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13962" CreationDate="2016-09-20T14:23:55.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;OP added picture and it appears to have mooring cleats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looks like there are three lift rings and some people put a mooring cleats over the top.  In the picture that webbing is probably to assist getting in the boat.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B3YNd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B3YNd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would just string a rope (or better webbing) across the two lift rings / mooring cleats. Have it hang just below the stern for something to step on.  If you cannot reach the gunwale then also a short loop like in the picture to boost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why two over one cleat &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;two cleats spreads the load - that is a relatively light weight cleat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one cleat side of boat is curved it puts you in bad mechanical position &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R22gL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R22gL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;side ladder&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;side gunwale is wider - harder to reach  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;side when you go to step over the ladder will swing behind the boat and be of basically no help at all   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;with split you are at where the boat extends out so there is very little webbing to swing  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nice spot to swing either leg   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you need multiple rungs I am just not sure&lt;br&gt;&#xA;but if you can get in now with difficulty then most like one is all you need &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a rope ladder you are going to need to inspect the cockpit of the boat for a place to anchor.  Problem is they try and keep the cockpit clear of that type of stuff as it catches rope, toes ...  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could fabricate one from rope or webbing with a couple loops.  Tie it to the main and hang it off the stern.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be able to use a sheet cleat but when you put weight straight down it may pop the cleat and it is hard on the cleat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it is a racing level is is not really designed mooring cleats or a fixed ladder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A portable solid ladder you hang on the stern and store in the hatch may be the way to go.  Steal the rigging is lot more money then steal a ladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T13:44:47.880" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T13:44:47.880" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13966" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13967" CreationDate="2016-09-20T18:09:04.497" Score="6" ViewCount="671" Body="&lt;p&gt;My general question is as such: If I use a 30°F (-1°C) under quilt with my hammock, would I be fine using a 50°F (10°C; or higher) sleeping bag as a &quot;top quit&quot; during 30°F (-1°C) winter nights? My thinking is that since the under quilt is the primary insulator the &quot;top quilt&quot; wouldn't need to provide as much insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mainly camp in Louisiana and Mississippi so the temperature and humidity tend to stay higher during the cold months but can dip into the high teens (-10°C–-6°C) on extreme nights but mostly stay in the mid to 30's °F (couple of °C above zero). I would like to continue to cut weight by purchasing a cooler (warmer weather) sleeping bag and use it as a &quot;top quilt&quot; with my under quilt as my primary insulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to sleep pretty cold from past experiences with ground camping during the winter months. I currently own a 20°F (-7°C) sleeping bag that I've used in my hammock without any under pad/quilt on a 50°F (10°C) night and slept great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the answer more &quot;yes/no&quot; possible. I basically want to know if using an under quilt will allow me to skip the top quilt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11368" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-09-21T10:34:28.530" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T10:34:28.530" Title="Can a cooler (warm weather) sleeping bag be used when combined with a warmer (cold weather) under quilt for hammock camping?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13966" CreationDate="2016-09-20T18:41:41.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on your tolerance for being miserable if it turns out to be too cold. I have personally gone without a sleeping bag at all at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4°C), and survived, but it wasn't particular comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The odds are you aren't going to freeze to death with your setup, so its probably worth trying. I would simply test it first in a place where it is possible to stop the experiment if it turns out to be too miserable for you, like your backyard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-09-21T10:27:40.030" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T10:27:40.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13966" CreationDate="2016-09-20T19:15:20.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;So you have slept on a &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20°F (-7°C) bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hammock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50°F (10°C) night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;just fine &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Want to know if &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50°F (10°C) bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hammock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30°F (-1°C) under quilt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30°F (-1°C) night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;will work? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you sleep cold then no way. Over bagged by 30°F (17°C) you were comfortable - no pad in 50°F (10°C) is not a 30°F (17°C) debit.  A sleeping bag rating is base on an insulated pad.  You just have a proper under pad - you are not going to over under insulate.  You are under bagged by 20°F (11°C).  And the ratings assume a tent - no chill factor.  And ratings are not based on people from LA.  I go back to WA or ski and I wear a full coat when I used to wear a light jacket.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-09-21T10:30:31.990" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T10:30:31.990" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13962" CreationDate="2016-09-20T19:54:31.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simplest thing I think would be to buy a climbing aider/etrier:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nOBBv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nOBBv.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's light, it packs up small in your bag, and they're pretty easy to come by, you can just order one from a climbing shop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you'd need to do is loop it over the mooring cleat and drop the other end in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The economical version would be a piece of old rope with a loop in either end. Loop one end around the cleat, drop the other in the water, then just put your foot in the loop, tug on the rope, and step up to get into the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could buy an actual rope ladder from a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yachtsofstuff.com/yosproduct.asp?ypid=13418&amp;amp;level=111&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;yacht supply store&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tgROM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tgROM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-09-20T21:42:36.853" LastActivityDate="2016-09-20T21:42:36.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13973" CreationDate="2016-09-21T00:08:17.543" Score="4" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a couple of recurve bows that my brother and I had when we were kids.  My kids are just starting to use them now, but the rabbit fur that my dad glued to the risers to use as arrow rests fell apart immediately when we started shooting them after 30 years of non-use.  I would like to replace the rests as close to the way my dad had it rigged as possible.  What is the best way to cure a small section of rabbit fur?  I would rather not go buy any tanning supplies for such a small project if possible.  I am also mostly interested in restoring the bows to the way I remember them, not finding the best arrow rest possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T02:31:09.090" Title="How do you cure rabbit fur for an arrow rest?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;tanning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13966" CreationDate="2016-09-21T00:10:42.497" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my understanding, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;EN 13537&lt;/a&gt; temperature rating is for sleeping bags and not quilts making comparisons difficult. A regular (6', 183 cm) 30°F (-1°C) top quilt (e.g., the &lt;a href=&quot;https://katabaticgear.com/shop/flex-30-sleeping-bag-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;katabatic Flex 30&lt;/a&gt;) has around 11.0 ounces (0.31 kg) of 900 in³/oz (520 cm³/g) fill down. I cannot find stats on a 50°F (10°C) bag, but a regular (6', 183 cm) 40°F (4°C) &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/flicker-40-nano-down-quilt-sleeping-bag.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Feathered Friends Nano 40&lt;/a&gt; bag has around 8.4 ounces (0.24 kg) of 900 in³/oz (520 cm³/g) fill down. This means that a 50°F (10°C) sleeping bag has much less fill (which relates to loft which relates to warmth) than a 30°F (1°C) quilt, even when you pile the entire bag on top of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are differences between a quilt and a sleeping bag (for example the sleeping bag will trap some air (and hence provide some warmth) in the space between the bottom and top, there is not going to be enough loft especially since you say you sleep cold and the fact that quilts temperature rating are not standardized (and hence probably over estimate the warmth).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2016-09-21T10:25:38.040" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T10:25:38.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13970" CreationDate="2016-09-21T02:31:09.090" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tanned some hides before. I believe you want to do only half the process otherwise you lose the fur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you flay the animal (remove the skin). Then wash all the blood and stuff. Get it nice and clean and let it dry. I found direct sun dried is better. Also, if you can tie it up really stretched it will be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a very complex process but you need to keep an eye to see how it goes. It's kind of like cooking, after you get the idea you know when it's good. Practice takes you to perfection. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T02:31:09.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13974" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14020" CreationDate="2016-09-21T03:27:43.213" Score="7" ViewCount="106" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aiders/Etriers are standard equipment for aid climbing, what qualities should I look for when purchasing a pair?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used them before, but they were always borrowed from other people and I am looking to get my own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:16:36.663" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:16:36.663" Title="What qualities should I look for when purchasing aiders/etriers?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13975" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14018" CreationDate="2016-09-21T06:33:32.087" Score="6" ViewCount="1432" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1915/bowline-knot-end-at-the-inside-or-outside&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; asks whether the bowline knot is better with the tail inside or outside the loop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When climbing and tying in with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlinebight/index.php?Categ=boating&amp;amp;LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline on a bight&lt;/a&gt;, does it make a difference whether one starts with an inside or outside bowline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:27:29.113" LastActivityDate="2019-05-29T15:17:35.890" Title="Does inside vs outside make a difference in a bowline on a bight?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13976" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-21T13:05:34.363" Score="4" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to CO and I want to buy a device to help me track various activities such as hiking, trail running, snowboarding, etc. Along with the general &quot;outdoor activities&quot;, I also want to use it for going to the gym as well for basic fitness tracking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While fitness/outdoors is my primary concern, I'd like it to also look stylish and not too bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11372" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-09-21T19:50:59.290" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T19:07:03.307" Title="What devices would help me track my outdoor activities and fitness?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2018-03-28T00:08:45.557" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-21T15:20:04.837" Score="7" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would love to spend a few winter nights with my friends in a winterraum (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_room&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;winter room&lt;/a&gt;) in the Alps; officially, with the owner’s permission. Are all the winterraums meant for emergency only, or are there some that can be used this way, too?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="103" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T19:10:57.843" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T10:56:16.910" Title="Are all Alpine winterraums just for emergency?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13976" CreationDate="2016-09-21T16:07:56.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why don't you get an inexpensive smart phone instead?  For less then $100 (currently some are less than $30) you can get a smart phone at tracfone.com that will do all of that and more. Pair it with a fit bit and still be around $100&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T16:07:56.487" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13979" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-21T17:40:25.293" Score="5" ViewCount="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was staying in the spectacular &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4214/566&quot;&gt;free and open&lt;/a&gt; Ragohytte in magnificent &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.miljodirektoratet.no/Global/dokumenter/Publikasjoner/Brosjyrer/Rago_NP_E%20mai%202011.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rago Nasjonalpark&lt;/a&gt;, and used some of the provided firewood and coal to heat up the stove in order to dry my gear and enjoy a bit of warmth (before the weather improved).  I should and do carry non-burnable waste down (I left some copies of a non-local hiking book for tinder).  Literally, non-burnable waste includes ashes, but I believe people do not carry ashes down from the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oxspp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oxspp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ragohytte in Rago Nasjonalpark, 10 September 2016&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ragohytte in Rago Nasjonalpark, 10 September 2016&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to dispose of ashes and remains of coal and firewood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTGHM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTGHM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ragohytte seen from a distance&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  The same but seen from a distance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T17:40:25.293" Title="How to discard of ashes when in a wilderness cabin?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-09-21T22:25:29.377" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13980" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13982" CreationDate="2016-09-21T17:42:53.587" Score="10" ViewCount="2681" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the 3 main options for portable GPS currently are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dedicated GPS unit &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smart Phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS Watch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They all have somethings in common, and each have other considerations also.  For this question, if my only concerns are GPS and battery life.  Out of the box and/or with available modifications, what are my best options for battery life per dollar?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/873/what-are-some-ways-devices-that-i-can-use-to-charge-my-batteries-in-the-wilderne&quot;&gt;What are some ways/devices that I can use to charge my batteries in the wilderness?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:12:52.733" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T10:04:00.913" Title="When considering GPS battery life where are the best options?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13977" CreationDate="2016-09-21T20:32:01.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might depend on the area. At least in Switzerland the answer is simple: You can use them for planned overnight stays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are usually just a small part of the entire hut with none to rudimentary to quite luxury cooking/heating facilities. Their size and equipment present varies greatly between different huts. Most SAC huts have one though. You should usually contact the &quot;hut person&quot; in advance, both for reserving (he can tell people if it is to be expected that too many mountaineers go there - this is usually not pleasant) and to receive sometimes vital information (e.g. where/which door is the entrance in case you have to shovel it free of snow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please follow the usual guidelines: Leave the place in equal or better state than you found it. Pay the fees and usually make an entry in the hut book - maintaining a hut involves lots of work and money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Wills and Tullochgorum (thanks) this works more or less the same way in Austria, Italy and France.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T10:56:16.910" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T10:56:16.910" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13980" CreationDate="2016-09-21T20:58:36.087" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your three options, a Dedicated GPS unit is going to be your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Smart Phones&lt;/strong&gt; barely last a day. If you're out of coverage, the phone will keep searching for network and battery will die as quick as a cat fight. Of course you can use the airplane mode but we all know how long they last.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GPS watches&lt;/strong&gt; do last a long time. It will vary a bit from brand/model to brand/model. I picked randomly 4 Garmin ones and I got from&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 year for the simplest one&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;up to 3 weeks (watch mode) / up to 8 hours (GPS mode) for the mid range one&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up to 50 hours (GPS mode) / 2 weeks (sensor mode) / 5 weeks (watch mode) to the top model.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you could make usage of a full on all features on for to long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;dedicated GPS unit&lt;/strong&gt; / handheld device picking 4 randomly similar low, mid and top range, all work on AA batteries and last for 25 hours (besides the top range that comes with a removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and last for 14 hours.) But even lasting less than the watches you can easily carry another few batteries. Lasting 25 hours, you could easily have it on for a your whole walk (8 hour / day) for 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the trend is to build a device to suit a specific need. The watches are good for short trips running while GPS devices are more long trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note. I bought one of those portable solar panels (Go Zero, I don't remember the model) to try to recharge things. I think it was a waste of money. On a long hunting trip (a week) I tried to use it and it was cloudy most of the days. I tried to charge a couple of batteries without success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO as biggest and greatest the techs are nowadays I would only trust on batteries for my head-torches and electronic devices :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-09-26T20:38:43.460" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T20:38:43.460" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13962" CreationDate="2016-09-21T22:02:47.587" Score="3" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;must not damage the boat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Damage to the boat is somewhat subjective, you are best able to tell what the owner will consider damage.  Anything that rubs against a surface will cause wear.  I belong to a community sailing program, multiple boats (sunfish) share multiple accessories, I think every boat has a wear mark from where a couple of the tillers tend to rub.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleats on the side of the boat are generally not designed to hold the weight of a full grown human hanging from them.  If you do choose to use a rope ladder I would attach it around the base of the mast. That is the strongest attachment point on any sailing boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you select a solid ladder, keep in mind that less expensive models are going to be made of less expensive materials.  The rubber protective parts on a cheap ladder are less likely to prevent damage (all things being equal).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;portable (I take public transit to the boat, not a car)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are both rope ladders and folding aluminum ladders available starting at $30.  Each can be carried easily, with the rope ladder being the easiest. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;makes getting back on the boat easier&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rope ladder attached to the mast is going to be the least helpful of all the options. As pointed out in the answer by @Paparazzi it will tend to shift under the boat.  It is probably better then nothing, but it will help&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A folding aluminum ladder, over the stern (back) of the boat will make getting in easiest but as it is not going to a custom fit is going to more likely to move around and potentially mar or wear on the boat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases anything that works as a barrier between the boat and the ladder will help prevent damage.  A scrap piece of carpet can be used to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9532/rock-climbing-over-edge-what-can-i-put-under-the-rope-to-protect-it/9533#9533&quot;&gt;protect a rope from stone when rock climbing&lt;/a&gt; and by the same principal it would protect the boat from the rope or aluminum ladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-09-21T22:02:47.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13980" CreationDate="2016-09-21T23:38:35.197" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stretch target: 10 days of GPS between charging points with minimal additional weight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm planning some long on-trail thru-hikes where digital mapping would be much lighter and more practical. But I'll  be up to 10 days between charging points in climates where I can't rely on sun. Can this be done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is doable for navigation using a phone or a dedicated GPS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the many advantages of smartphones over a dedicated GPS, a lot of people have been researching the ins and outs of keeping them going on the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best source I've found is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adventurealan.com/iphone-gps-map-backpacking/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this comprehensive article&lt;/a&gt; by Alan Dixon, the co-founder of Backpacking Light and an actual rocket scientist! Alan and his friends have established protocols that keep a modern phone operational for 5-10 days between charges. To achieve this, you'll be setting up the phone carefully to minimise drain and activating the GPS manually to take bearings as needed. A number of other bloggers confirm that this is doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is similar to the battery life reported by GPS users who only take bearings on an as-needed basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For on-trail work I would plan to supplement this with route cards, and by printing out sections of maps for any particularly tricky sections or exit routes. On a trail, this should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As insurance, most people seem to carry a 6000mAh external battery. This should give you another couple of charges and can be topped up pretty quickly when you hit civilisation, especially if you use one of the fast-charging options. At least one well-known thru-hiker takes a second phone for additional safety, and this would give additional usage time if things go wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For serious off-trail work I personally would be taking maps and using GPS mainly for confirming location. There are some shortcuts that simply aren't worth taking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For tracking you'll need a dedicated device like an InReach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to be days between charging points, you can forget about tracking with your phone. Users report battery depletion at around 5% per hour. You're going to have to carry a huge external battery that takes many hours to recharge  in every trail town. No-one seems to think that this is practical. Dedicated GPS won't last much longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it should be doable with a dedicated tracker such as an InReach, which is optimised for precisely this requirement. It has a phone-sized battery that lasts up to 100 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have the budget, a watch would be a useful supplement&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the time of writing, the top end Garmins and Suuntos claim 40-50 hours of battery life at the slowest update rates, and they only require around 300mAh to recharge. So keeping them going is practical with a small external battery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course they won't give you mapping, so they aren't a stand-alone solution. But they would greatly reduce the need to fire up your big phone or GPS during the typical day. They offer a lightweight altimeter, and their ability to sound an alarm if you drift off route is very attractive. They would be part of my ideal solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this is helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T00:04:15.120" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T00:04:15.120" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13985" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-22T13:59:42.333" Score="13" ViewCount="2768" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently came back from a 17-day backcountry hike.  At the start of the hike, my backpack was 28 kg.  At the end of the hike it was around half of that or a little bit more.  I'm fine hiking with 20 kg, but 28 kg is rather heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first couple of days of my hike I was wondering: is it possible to significantly reduce the mass for a backpack for a long hike, without compromising on safety or comfort, or requiring substantially more skills?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a big backpack, a strong tent that is light but not superlight, a solid stove…  The details are really distracting from my point.  I'm not looking for advice on my gear specifically, but more asking in general: hikers who migrated from “traditional” light but-not-ultralight backpacking gear to ultralight, minimalist gear: do you find that it is in any way less safe, less comfortable, or requiring more skills?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&#xA;Some examples of my gear, along with alternatives:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've tried an ultralight tent in the past (Big Agnes) and it felt far less weather-proof than &lt;a href=&quot;http://gb.hilleberg.com/EN/tent/red-label-tents/akto/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;my Hilleberg&lt;/a&gt;.  When I got stuck in an &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/overnight-storm-dumps-10-cm-of-snow-on-calgary-leaving-30000-without-power&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;unseasonal winter storm&lt;/a&gt; in the Canadian Rockies in 2014, I was very happy that I had a tent I trusted.  Apparently, some people use single-roofed tents or even no tent at all, but I've never seen either in the wild.  I spend most nights in treeless areas.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A sleeping bag with less mass than my Haglöfs Goga Pro is inevitably going to be less warm, so it would compromise both safety and comfort.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.haglofs.com/de/en/Backpacks-and-Bags/LEX-110/p/240000.2C5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;backpack&lt;/a&gt; is 110 litre and was full at the start of my hike, so with a smaller backpack I'd have to attach stuff to the outside.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;All my food is freeze- or air-dried and if I eat any less, I lose even more weight than I already do.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Any alternative to my &lt;a href=&quot;http://trangia.se/stormkok-trangiakok/stormkok-serie-25/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trangia stormcooker&lt;/a&gt; is going to be harder to operate in bad weather.  I've often seen people struggling even in moderate 10 m/s winds, whereas I've never failed to light my stove.  Of course, I would survive without hot food.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I bring a GPS receiver, camera (optional), headlight, and satellite phone.  Apart from the camera they all improve safety.  I enjoy my GPS receiver and camera.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I hike in areas where I'm never more than 10 minutes walk from drinking water, and have no need to carry more than 0.5 L of water at a time.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I use a dedicated &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fishersdirect.com/vision-folding-wading-staff-3086-p.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wading staff&lt;/a&gt;.  I don't use trekking poles, but wouldn't trust them for wading.  I ford on average 1–2 streams/rivers per day, usually knee-deep.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I do use some ultralight gear, such as my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.qiwiz.net/trowels.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trowel&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Ultralight backpacking appears rather uncommon in Scandinavia.  I've never met an ultralight backpacker in the wild, but they &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fjaderlatt.se/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;do exist&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Note: For the purpose of this question, I am interested in any products, regardless of cost.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T19:08:40.530" LastActivityDate="2016-09-27T18:24:35.817" Title="Is using ultralight gear possible without sacrificing safety, comfort, or skills?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13985" CreationDate="2016-09-22T14:54:32.710" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's one gigantic backpack!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's look at it item by item:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tent: Your hillberg is pretty light by several standards, but indeed far from ultralight. Of course the Big agnes is lighter, and there are alternatives that are much lighter, and also cheaper than that, but you do need a tent that matches the conditions. I would not use a tarp in Quebec in summer, because of mosquitoes, and if a winter storm can happen, you definitely want something that can withstand that. However, I have a homemade 2-wall 1-person tent I used for a few days in Ireland (all very rainy days) that held very well, and that weights only 650g packed (the weight of the pegs in that is something like 100g). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bag: Again, it depends on the temperatures. There are several models of the Gola Pro, but for example the -20ºF contains 25oz of down for a total of 2lbs 15oz. That's 22oz for the shell (620g). A typical quilt will have only 200g of shell. also, using better quality down (800 fill against the 700 of the haglofs) wins you another ~100g. That's 500g for the sleeping bag, and it is going to be much more compact, too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't mention your sleeping pad. Again it depends on the temperatures and conditions, a pad to go with that kind of sleeping bag would be 300-700g depending on your budget.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food. Count your calories. If you like peanut butter, you're in luck, otherwise plain nuts are good too. Make sure your food is calorie-dense. Typically around 5 cal/g (peanut butter is 6, noodles are 4).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpack. That is one gigantic backpack. I don't think I have ever seen anyone carry such a big backpack. For my last hike, 6 days with food, tent, ... I was using a 50L, and carrying 16Kg (2L of water included) at the beginning, and around 11Kg at the end. (and there are still things I can remove, as I realized on the way).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stove. Not a big source of weight, unless you are hiking in winter with a fuel stove. In summer I have an alcohol stove made out of a can that is 10g. For longer trips, a gas stove with ~1 small canister for 10-15 days, depending on how much water I need to heat. You should always try to protect your stove from the wind anyway, as you'll get better efficiency.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Electronics. I don't use a GPS. I have a map and a compass. Again, it depends: on the difficulty of the navigation, but I don't think a GPS is often useful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to consider how light your pack can get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make a comprehensive list, and weight everything&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for each item, do you actually need it (GPS?), can you use another item you already have instead? (I have seen people carrying a headlamp and another light to read, for example)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for each remaining items, consider the alternatives. Lighter sleeping bag (what was the expected temperature during your trip? Did you consider a quilt, for example?), lighter tent (depending on the conditions), different food...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T15:08:31.617" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T15:08:31.617" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13985" CreationDate="2016-09-22T15:29:16.473" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to suggest your question is conflicted. If you are not willing to sacrifice comfort and even take responsible risk then you are not ultralight. If you are not willing to sacrifice comfort you are light and comfortable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me ultralight is sacrifice comfort.  And you don't necessarily have to sacrifice safely.  Willing to sleep cold if the temp drops is comfort if there is no chance of freezing to death.  In some ways ultralight is more safe as if you have to get of dodge for like a major storm then you can do it more quickly / cover more ground.  If you had to extricate and immobile party ultralight is safer.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not willing to sacrifice safety or comfort then you are limited to is there an item with same (or better) features and reliability that you can purchase.  You rapidly get into diminishing marginal utility.  Take each item and search the Internet. Your current weight is pretty good so I don't thing you are going to significantly reduce the weight even if money is not a limit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a good water proof tent you are probably not going freeze to death or get frost bit.  If you get some unexpected cold weather then you sleep cold with a bag that was designed for the expected weather.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sure you can go without a camera. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No light is safety problem.  You may need to travel at night.  Get away from a storm or get behind schedule getting to next camp site.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No stove is not necessarily lighter.  If the body has to break down cold foods you will need more food and you will need to spend more time eating.  If you get in a storm hot food is a safety thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to reduce weight is a group.  Share stove, pot, first aid kit ....  Eat out of the pot and skip plates.  Three man tent is better weight / person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to reduce risk is group.  Solo hiking a sprained ankle can be life threatening.  Plan escape routes from each camp reduces risk with no weight.  With three one can stay and tend to the down party while the other goes for help.  At that point your risk to permanent harm or death is very low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are questions on food and weight loss already to not going to duplicate there.  I don't totally agree with maximize calorie / weight as the only or even primary factor.  A body needs a % of carbohydrates and other nutrients.  It should be a healthy diet the leverages calorie to calorie / weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T00:00:21.603" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T00:00:21.603" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13985" CreationDate="2016-09-22T17:01:11.590" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general the more stuff you have the more comfortable you can make yourself when you aren't hiking, but the less comfortable you'll be when you are hiking.  This is the crux of the balancing act. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you bring a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.houzz.com/photos/36526667/Gravity-Free-Chair-WSun-Shade-And-Cup-Tray-Jaquard-contemporary-outdoor-folding-chairs&quot;&gt;big comfy reclining &quot;camping chair&quot;&lt;/a&gt; strapped to your pack you'll be very comfortable sitting in camp but miserable when you are lugging the monstrosity around. If you bring a small square scrap of foam to sit on you'll be less comfortable in camp but much more comfortable hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general it seems to me that &quot;ultralight&quot; sacrifices in camp comfort for hiking comfort, while &quot;traditional light&quot; makes small compromises to hiking comfort for in camp comfort. You should decide where you land on this spectrum and plan accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally on a shorter distance, less arduous, and/or mini excursions from base camp type trip I tend to carry more stuff to make the camping more comfortable. When I'm doing a longer thru-hike I'll strip out the camp comforts to make the hiking more pleasant. In short I optimize for comfort wherever I'll be spending the most time.  If I'm hiking with all my stuff more I'll pack less. If I'm spending more time in and around camp then I'll pack more creature comforts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same general philosophy holds for traveling. If you're going to be on the road traveling through many third world countries over an extending time frame it is infinitely better to only bring a daypack-ish volume of stuff in a backpack. If you're going to visit family and friends for a week there is no penalty for a monstrous piece of wheeled luggage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In closing I think it is important to reevaluate your stance on learning more skills. It is my strong belief that the more you rely on things to be done for you the more you needlessly load yourself up. For example if you completely rely on a GPS unit for navigation then you really need extra batteries and most likely a second GPS unit in case your primary gets damaged. Instead if you learn to use a map and compass you have less failure modes, plus you can carry less weight AND volume. With this minor increase in your skills you've saved weight. By repeating this process your safety margins are improved without requiring increasing amounts of gear which is really the best of both worlds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside I don't know where you're going but a sat phone seems overkill in all but an expedition type setting.  If you really feel like you need sat phone type capabilities for a rescue then I'd highly recommend you look at an emergency beacon instead. They'll be cheaper, smaller, lighter, and optimized for your specific use case. My dad uses &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=100&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; when he goes backcountry skiing alone and likes it very much. Luckily he's never needed to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T17:26:37.930" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T17:26:37.930" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13975" CreationDate="2016-09-22T19:39:00.750" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not two knots if there is only way to tie.  But apparently the feeds are not symmetric.  And it would be possible (but not likely) for the feeds to flop.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/downloads_public/knots/Bowlines_Analysis.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; page 7 the feeds are different.  I don't paste as the link is copyrighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard to describe but the load is the side that is not wrapped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated by Liam a double figure 8 is more common knot for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-22T19:54:29.843" LastActivityDate="2016-09-22T19:54:29.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13990" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13993" CreationDate="2016-09-23T06:14:03.133" Score="8" ViewCount="391" Body="&lt;p&gt;Late I've been shooting with a friend and he had a sack filled with sheep wool a target. This was quite impressive! I've never seen such a cheap and yet qualitative target! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I don't have any shepherds near my home or among my friends, I wanted to search for unprocessed wool on the web. However, that's not quite easy since most of the wool is already washed, quality checked etc. and therefore too expensive and too good too just get shot at. The closest thing I could find is &quot;raw wool&quot;. However, this is already slightly cleaned and quality checked (matted parts are apart and so on). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I search for? The best thing would be a name for unprocessed wool &lt;em&gt;waste&lt;/em&gt; that can't be sold. I hope to get it for free :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T08:03:04.547" LastActivityDate="2016-10-08T00:15:05.673" Title="What would you call wool taken directly from a sheep (unprocessed)?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10749" CreationDate="2016-09-23T06:17:39.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where did you observe the Sandpipers? I ask because the Spotted Sandpiper, the most common in North America expresses unique behavior. The females do the domination and not the males. They use dancing and plumage for their mating rituals. If in Europe or elsewhere, it might be the Common Sandpiper, but those are also sometimes spotted here during migration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question is from January. If you made these observations around that time, it was most likely very early for that to be a mating ritual. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The food display may not have been a display at all, but as has been suggested in the comments above, might have just been an effort to re-position and properly take in the food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cornell University, the definitive resource for birds in North America has the following information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/spotted_sandpiper/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/spotted_sandpiper/lifehistory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9551" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T06:17:39.970" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13990" CreationDate="2016-09-23T11:08:17.257" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think raw wool / raw fleeces are already your best bet on researching this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/bhp/raw-fleece&quot;&gt;e-Bay&lt;/a&gt; turns up some results that may be what you are looking for (based on where you live).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11320" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T11:08:17.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13985" CreationDate="2016-09-23T11:42:35.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, the answer depends on the purpose of your trip&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one end of the spectrum trips involve a little walking and a lot of camping. At the other end you are walking from dawn to dusk and spend little time in your shelter other than to sleep. The best balance between weight on the trail and in-camp comfort will depend on the purpose of your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For long walks, excessive weight affects your comfort and safety too&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your trip is more at the walking end of the spectrum, you should be prioritising comfort on the trail rather than comfort in camp. And nothing destroys the pleasure of walking faster than excessive weight, particularly in mountain country. Excessive weight affects your safety too - fatigue makes you significantly more prone to error, accident and injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the assumption of your question that a heavier pack will provide greater safety and comfort doesn't really hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For 3 season alpine walking, I'm safe &amp;amp; comfortable with a max base-weight of 5 kilos/11 lbs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a reasonable target for exposed alpine thru-hiking without making significant sacrifices in comfort or safety. At this weight I can be safe in a major storm and comfortable down to around -5c/20f. This weight includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A very comfortable and ergonomic rucksack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rugged phone with GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A GPS Personal Location Beacon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A small tablet for reading and backup mapping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A 6000mAh battery for recharging between trail towns&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A high-end travel camera&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An MP3 player&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A very powerful torch for off-trail night walking and a spare for camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm, dry clothing for camp and sleeping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A warm, full-sized sleeping mat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An ergonomic sleeping pillow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full rainwear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full cooking gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full bug-protection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, I'm hardly cutting corners. This is the max I would need for three seasons - for shorter, warmer or more clement trips I would shave a fair bit off this base-weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what am I sacrificing in terms of comfort and safety?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very little, in my experience, and the lighter weight makes walking much more enjoyable. The more ambitious projects on my bucket list simply wouldn't be practical with a heavy pack, so lightweight gear opens up (quite literally) a world of possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main sacrifice is tent-space - it's sized for sleeping. Though I have plenty space to cook, pump up my sleeping mat and pack my sack under cover. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More generally, you have to spend time and $$$ to achieve these weights. You have to treat lightweight gear with a bit more care. And you have to budget to replace it more often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get much below these weights you have to start cutting corners and relying on skill and hardiness to get you through. For me, this is the happy medium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So how do you achieve these weights?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As anyone will tell you, you start with the Big 3 - your tent, pack and sleeping setup. A full discussion would literally fill a book, but modern materials mean that each of these should come in at under a kilo / 2 lbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some general tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;: you can save a lot of weight by using walking poles for the support - stronger than tent poles and weight-free if you're a pole user. By the way, use full-weight aluminium poles and you need have no fears about stream crossings. They won't weigh any more than your staff and have a myriad of uses (but that's another discussion). Vendors like TarpTent, TrekkerTent, Yama, MLD, Six Moons and Z-Packs provide a wide range of lightweight shelters that will survive most conditions. I wanted serious storm-worthiness so I've made my own, with the design goal of being quiet at 40mph and surviving 80 mph without damage. It weighs 800 grams, has an excellent porch for gear and cooking and is pretty much as strong as your Hilleberg.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pack&lt;/strong&gt;: I've never bought into the frameless idea - once you're carrying significant weight a frame that weighs very little hugely improves the carry. Your 120 litre pack is staggeringly large. My base volume is 25 litres with 1.5 litres per day allowance for food. I've made my own pack on ergonomic principles, but there are plenty of good lightweight options from vendors like Z-Packs, Exped, Granite Gear, ULA and many others.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping&lt;/strong&gt;: I don't compromise on this at all because I'm a basket-case if I don't get a good kip. Vendors like Exped and&#xA;Therm-a-Rest provide warm and comfortable sleeping pads for around&#xA;450 grams / 16 oz. For your bag, go for down and consider a quilt -&#xA;they give more insulation for the weight, and I personally find them&#xA;less restrictive and more comfortable. Enlightened Equipment provide&#xA;a good product at a very fair price.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond the big 3, simply focus on sourcing the lightest option for everything - the grams add up. For example my Opinel No 6 knife gives me a practical 7cm blade at just 30 grams. My Petzl E-Lite gives me 70 hours of camp light and on-trail walking for 28 grams, and a set of spare batteries is 6 grams. It's the cumulated impact of lots of small decisions like this that makes the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more detail I'll point you to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adventurealan.com/9-pound-full-comfort-backpacking-gear-list-table/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this excellent gear list&lt;/a&gt; by one of the most experienced and respected people in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your weight and mileage, you should be budgeting around 1 kilo / 2.2 lbs per day. This assumes you focus on foods with high calorie density - do a quick Google and you'll find many blogs exploring this in detail. I've read widely on this and every credible expert gives similar advice. For short trips you can pack a bit less and lose a bit of weight on the hike. For longer trips you simply can't undereat of you'll start cannibalising muscle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this is helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T12:11:15.983" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T12:11:15.983" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9240" CreationDate="2016-09-23T13:58:13.150" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a kids toothbrush (smaller size than adult) and cut down the handle a bit. Skip the toothpaste since your teeth are cleaned by the brushing action. If you really want it for your breath (???) some dry little dots of toothpaste to take with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T13:58:13.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="13998" CreationDate="2016-09-23T16:49:46.833" Score="15" ViewCount="4609" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting back in a canoe is not as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I also learned that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13889&quot;&gt;Extra Flotation might be needed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if I am alone in the middle of a body of water, how do I get back in?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any device that I should have that might help? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not been drinking and I am wearing a life jacket (PFD).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-09-24T13:09:17.327" Title="How do you get back in canoe, by yourself?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9240" CreationDate="2016-09-23T18:55:45.847" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Toothpaste can weigh more than the brush&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campsaver.com/toothpaste-tablets-mint-60-pack?avad=41369_bc4c0917&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tooth paste tablets&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And tooth powder of just baking soda  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A brush that folds into itself&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvLlX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CvLlX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Liberty Mountain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rather than a bandanna a small microfiber towel&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You might gain some weight but can absorb more  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T21:44:32.147" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T21:44:32.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13996" CreationDate="2016-09-23T19:21:38.557" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't only one method, there are a few. Partially the choice depends on which canoe you have (big and wide, very stable or tippy, or a small solo) and if its calm water or not. What you can do with a big canoe might need some tweaks when it comes to some small solo and a canoe with good secondary stability will be easier to get into. Extra flotation is not always needed, its useful to have for practice but some materials allow the canoe to stay at the surface (my cedar canoe will float even if completely swamped for example). When you flip a canoe air remains trapped underneath so, in that condition, it floats upside-down and you can flip it back up without swamping it completely, also canoes that would sink when swamped often have built-in air chambers at the ends so in some ways its possible to selfrescue without extra flotation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(In the other question you linked you are thinking a lot about extra flotation, it can be an help, mostly because whatever room the flotation bag take is less water to bail out, but is not absolutely necessary in a canoe unless you are in whitewater to not get swamped, and there once you flip you don't want to stay close to the canoe, so no re-entry. The other point is that you cant rely on flotation, you might not always have it in the canoe. I don't use extra flotation unless I will encounter rapids, in normal canoe camping trips I used it only once and one of the bags developed a leak so was useless. If you learn to re-enter on your own without any other aid then having extra flotation is just more safety)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not a great idea to re-enter a semiswamped canoe and start bailing, the idea is that the gunnels are lower on the water so the re-entry should be easier but I find it leads to an almost completely swamped canoe which can capsize on you again and, if you make it in and there are waves, you keep getting in more water than you can bail out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing to do is to flip the canoe upright: from underneath, lift one side first to break the vacuum and then lift and throw it at your side, its the &lt;strong&gt;Capistrano flip&lt;/strong&gt; (easier than what you would think even with heavy canoes and it doesn't leave a lot of water in the hull), or you could roll it upright and start bailing while floating beside the canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With two people you would re-enter towards the middle, one person on each side of the canoe, one stabilizes the hull while the other climbs in, first from the water then from inside, or both climb in at the same time thus balancing the hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When alone some hull shapes will let you climb in from the middle but usually its best to re-enter a bit towards the ends so that your weight on the gunnels will be closer to the centerline.&#xA;The movement is one smooth motion, grabbing the gunnels with the hands, you want to put your chest inside the boat and then the feet, then its all a matter of rolling on your back and do whatever you need to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These two youtube videos show you how its done:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guDmxl4kVsU&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Empty a Swamped Canoe from the Water - Capistrano Flip &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVXZFwHvfCE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Capistrano Flip, Canoe solo self rescue &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone teaches to float horizontally at the surface and hook the gunwale with one foot and one arm, the intent is to &quot;lift and roll&quot; into the canoe, this never worked for me though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other methods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a stirrup you hang at the gunwales to help pulling yourself in, I used it once during practice and it works but it always gave me a bad feeling (like if my foot could get trapped in the stirrup if I didn't make it in). It is however useful if there was an injury (like a shoulder injury received while bracing improperly before capsizing), to use the stirrup its more like kicking back rather than stepping up, the mental image is to pull the canoe under you with your foot and not to climb onboard like it was a ladder on a dock (or you would end with the feet under the canoe capsizing it again).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a paddlefloat like the ones used for kayaks, the paddlefloat can be an extra item in the boat or made using a spare, or one's own, lifejacket. I find it laborious and its an extra item to look after, besides it wouldn't work if the paddles are gone when you flipped over. And using your own lifejacket works when everything goes according to plan but if you fall back in trying to re-enter you wont have a lifejacket on&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;use the cargo, if you have packs, in the water to stabilize the hull either as float on one side or as counterbalance on the other depending on the situation or, if the pack is heavy and you wouldn't be able to pull it back in afterwards then use it as counterbalance inside the canoe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all re-entering the canoe is not that difficult. Its like picking up an heavy cedar-canvas and rolling it up on your shoulders for portaging: it just requires practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My cedar canoe is 18ft, narrow, tippy and rather heavy (north of 70#) and we did practice re-entries solo, two people and even two people plus packs and a dog. What seemed really difficult at first has gotten easy with practice. The Capistrano was easier than what I thought from the beginning even when solo and packed, its more technique than strength (and you need to break the suction first otherwise you wont lift even a light canoe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Videos and explanations aside its one of those things that benefit from having someone teaching you, it fixes mistakes right away and you wont take days to learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here there are another couple videos from youtube:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVg9GOY-VcY&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deep water canoe entry &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a5xTX-OBfQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open Canoe Recoveries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: flotation bags inside the canoe wont help you to not flip it, if you don't know how to get in in first place you risk flipping it again, remember that you don't have any secondary stability to count on in a swamped canoe. If the weather is bad and there are a lot of good waves it can become a very long and tiring bailing fight. Its not a good situation to be in. Also, somewhere on the net there was (or still is, not sure) a well known webpage promoting inflatable sponsoons outside the canoe, those differ greatly from the narrow and long &quot;sausage&quot; sponsoons you see in some touring canoes or the builtin sponsoons of the old cedar canoes, they work against you when you have to flip the canoe upright and in waves they can lead to capsizing again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PSPS: if the selfrescue is going well, you are in the water with waves and wind but the canoe is not swamped anymore and you learned how to get in, sometimes an useful thing is to go upwind at one end of the canoe and lower that end in the water using your weight. The other end will lift and the hull will slowly windvane. You can use that to avoid having waves hitting you broadside (If you decide to swim the canoe to shore instead put the hull in between you and the wind/waves)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-24T13:09:17.327" LastActivityDate="2016-09-24T13:09:17.327" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="13999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9240" CreationDate="2016-09-23T21:36:58.843" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Toothbrush design and materials have come a long way. Early forms of the toothbrush have existed for nearly 5000 years. Ancient civilizations used a “chew stick,” a thin twig with a frayed end. The sticks were rubbed against the teeth to remove food. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/ada-seal-of-acceptance/product-category-information/toothbrushes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source: American Dental Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baking soda can be used in lieu of toothpaste and would cut down on water weight in the paste. Toothpaste has 5 components: abrasives, Fluoride, humecants, detergents, and flavoring. Baking soda provides the abrasives and detergents, and eliminates the flavoring and does not need the humecants which keep water in the paste (prevent it from crusting up). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.colgate.com/en/us/oc/oral-health/basics/selecting-dental-products/article/what-is-in-toothpaste-five-ingredients-and-what-they-do-0814&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Source: Colgate Corp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dental floss (or a toothpick) versus a toothbrush might be a lighter option for mouth hygiene. It removes the major food particles and bacterial clusters between teeth, which in my experience are what causes the most irritation and gum issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that these are negligible advantages to bringing a small toothbrush and some toothpaste, but if you really are looking for barebones try the stick, floss and baking soda alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also try cutting the handle of the brush to cut down the length and weight. And stick with only the amount of toothpaste you will actually need on the trip, versus a whole tube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="9447" LastEditDate="2016-09-23T21:42:07.737" LastActivityDate="2016-09-23T21:42:07.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14004" CreationDate="2016-09-24T17:14:53.860" Score="7" ViewCount="4537" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to South East Asia for quite some time, and was looking for appropriate clothing. Quite a few websites &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fodors.com/community/travel-tips-trip-ideas/the-case-for-linen.cfm&quot;&gt;recommend linen clothes&lt;/a&gt;, and almost all of them &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kohsamuisunset.com/what-to-wear-in-thailand/&quot;&gt;recommend UV protective gear&lt;/a&gt; due to most counties being near equator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things that do not add up are that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/clothing/protection&quot;&gt;linen clothes are not very UV&lt;/a&gt; protective, so I was wondering &lt;strong&gt;what would be UPF rating for dark and light linen?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11387" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:39:25.390" LastActivityDate="2019-06-26T21:40:19.097" Title="How much UV protection does different color linen provides?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14002" CreationDate="2016-09-24T17:34:15.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_protective_clothing#Fabric&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Wiki&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A number of fabrics and textiles in common use today need no further&#xA;  UV-blocking enhancement based on their inherent fiber structure,&#xA;  density of weave, and &lt;strong&gt;dye components, especially darker colors and&#xA;  indigo dyes&lt;/strong&gt;. Good examples of these fabrics contain full percentages&#xA;  or blends of heavy-weight natural fibers like cotton, &lt;strong&gt;linen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/clothing/protection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;sun-protection clothing &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many dyes absorb UV, which helps &lt;strong&gt;reduce&lt;/strong&gt; exposure. &lt;strong&gt;Darker&lt;/strong&gt; colors tend&#xA;  to absorb &lt;strong&gt;more&lt;/strong&gt; UV than lighter. &lt;strong&gt;Linen&lt;/strong&gt; shirt can be both cool and sun-smart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't have actual UV numbers.  That would depend on the specific fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-24T17:47:38.653" LastActivityDate="2016-09-24T17:47:38.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14002" CreationDate="2016-09-24T18:07:46.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's interesting but just banging amazon with &quot;linen shirt upf&quot; didn't do anything good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it turned up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skincancer.org/publications/the-melanoma-letter/summer-2012-vol-30-no-2/clothing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;another subpage&lt;/a&gt; of your referenced page.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has a nice graphic with a distribution of UPF Rating per material, which should give you a rough direction of how big the differences per material are actually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9XvWo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9XvWo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which gives a general direction. From what I read linen performs in the regions of cotton regarding UPF. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the real interesting part: I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.at/books?id=CqRtAgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA163&amp;amp;lpg=PA163&amp;amp;dq=linen+upf&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=9trtpg_KZZ&amp;amp;sig=GDtJboC32b9zFmc_HFlcnStW96o&amp;amp;hl=de&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwikoZyly6jPAhWGmBoKHRAfBkM4ChDoAQgjMAE#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=linen%20upf&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; Google Books link which gives quite some comprehensive tables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/muZ5N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/muZ5N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture emerged for me: The material itself is not as important for the UPF rating as the used thickness, dye, weaving technique and color.&#xA;But we can clearly see from the table that &lt;a href=&quot;https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/none/path/s3b7922ee6bdf14c9/image/id3c1164ab2325861/version/1460094747/image.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indigo&lt;/a&gt; has a way higher UPF than &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turkotek.com/mini_salon_00026/e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Madder and Cochineal&lt;/a&gt;. If we extrapolate this (not very scientific) we can assume that with lighter tones there will be worse UPF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11320" LastEditorUserId="11320" LastEditDate="2016-09-24T20:36:13.237" LastActivityDate="2016-09-24T20:36:13.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14487" CreationDate="2016-09-24T20:04:12.847" Score="12" ViewCount="2749" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband found this very large turtle (or tortoise) crossing a road from an industrial park towards a wooded area. It was in June, in Massachusetts, USA, at 8:00 in the evening. He didn't touch it, just walked alongside to make sure it crossed safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The prominent features are as follows: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very hard shell, primarily black, with some dark brown areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Approximately 18 in, (45 cm) long, and 15 in (38 cm) wide, not including head or tail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tail at least 8 in (20 cm) long &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very wide feet with long toenails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Head sticking out only a few inches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pointed upper part of mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low rounded shell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Serrated edges, especially on back of shell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All body parts wrinkled and bumpy &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that one difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that turtles fully immerse themselves in water, whereas tortoises spend most of their time on land, and drink at the edge without swimming. I'm not sure if that's true. My husband hasn't gone into those woods, so he doesn't know whether or not there's a pond or other body of water nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the breed of this gorgeous creature? Is it a turtle or a tortoise? I'd also like to know some other things, such as approximate age; preferred diet; nesting habits; best place and time of year to see them; conservation status (some turtles in Massachusetts are protected or endangered); and any other interesting characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for closer view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVBYf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVBYfm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Turtle with D&amp;#39;s foot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gq1iL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gq1iLm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From the front&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Khs7z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Khs7zm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From the back&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpzBI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpzBIm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From side while walking&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-04T23:09:58.807" LastActivityDate="2019-05-04T23:09:58.807" Title="What breed is this very large, black, turtle/tortoise found in the Northeast United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;&lt;tortoises&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14005" CreationDate="2016-09-24T20:33:18.423" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/reptiles-amphibians/turtles/turtle-species-in-massachusetts&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; of turtles in Massachusetts,  and this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/rare-reptiles-and-amphibians/turtles-of-massachusetts.html&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; as well as the pointed nose and the jagged back shell, I am going to say that this is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle&quot;&gt;common snapping turtle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information I would suggest &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It a good thing that you husband didn't touch it, because they are capable of &lt;a href=&quot;http://epmonthly.com/article/when-turtles-attack/&quot;&gt;biting&lt;/a&gt; (link has gross picture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-09-24T20:33:18.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14007" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14016" CreationDate="2016-09-25T01:58:03.493" Score="13" ViewCount="3073" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why do some people stand in the water to fish and not just stand on the bank of the river? They get wet this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11388" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-09-25T05:03:27.850" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T17:24:43.310" Title="Why do some people stand inside the river fishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14007" CreationDate="2016-09-25T04:16:49.680" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;River banks have trees making it hard to cast.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't have the angle to cast up (or down). Typically cast up and let the bait take a natural path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For fly fishing it is the typically the only option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T04:16:49.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13990" CreationDate="2016-09-25T06:47:33.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As requested. So certain wools are worth more than others when it comes to breed, quality etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a lot of wools the wool itself isn't used in textiles, and as such it does not sell well. In these cases the sheep have to be sheered (leaving a thick dirty fleece on sheep leads to maggots growing inside it) for their own health and hygiene, and the wool is often sold at a value only slightly above the cost of having the sheep sheered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for wool for as cheap as possible, or even free, and are only looking for a handful or so, consider contacting your local farm. If they can't provide it themselves they may known who or where can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: A farmer friend who works on a farm that has sheep&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T06:47:33.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13980" CreationDate="2016-09-25T09:15:07.297" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A dedicated GPS is likely to have better signal as well as better battery life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is that you don't have to run it all the time - if it's had a fix within the last few hours it will pick up in a couple of minutes. It's rare to &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; constant GPS especially with a paper map and a compass (which you should have anyway). So a fix every half hour or hour is often reasonable. Carry the GPS on the outside of your gear and you can turn it on in advance of a planned stop. Clipped to a shoulder strap works well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even my old etrex runs for 20-25 hours off a set of alkaline batteries (forget NiMH, they're too low voltage). Turned on for 10 minutes per hour that's over 100 hours off a single set of batteries, or 10 hours on each of 10 days. So with a single spare set of batteries you've got plenty of margin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A phone is a good backup GPS especially if you've also downloaded maps. But I suggest that it's kept switched off with mobile data and WiFi disabled first (so they don't use battery while it's getting going) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-09-25T10:03:04.987" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T10:03:04.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14007" CreationDate="2016-09-25T09:47:51.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the people I see standing in water fishing are wearing &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gandermountain.com/Footwear/Hunting-Boots/Waders/Hip-Waders&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hip waders&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gandermountain.com/Footwear/Hunting-Boots/Waders/Chest-Waders&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chest waders&lt;/a&gt; essentially really tall rubber boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are not getting wet, they are getting farther from shore, and closer to the fish.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are not standing on the shore, for all the same reasons a person in a boat is not standing on shore. Getting closer to the deeper water where the bigger fish are.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can't get as far in waders as you can in a boat, waders cost much less then a boat, and are easier to transport from home to the water then a boat. Waders will also allow you move around in water that it is to shallow or rocky for a boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the image below the man is wearing chest waders. The stream is to small to navigate by boat.  It would be impossible to fish from shore on the far side. A bit farther down stream it would be impossible to fish from the near side shore.  With the waders on he can travel up and down stream, get to where the fish are without getting cold and wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67V87.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67V87.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Man in Chest waders&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T09:47:51.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14007" CreationDate="2016-09-25T13:08:39.557" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fishing in a river while wearing waders permits me to fish down stream and positioning my lures in the spot that is only possible while being in the water. This also helps me to avoid the many snags such as branches and tree trunks that are commonly found on the banks of many water ways. I can not tell you how many lures I have lost while fishing off the banks of rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fish from the bank of a river you must cast your line upstream. eventually your line will float downstream and make its way towards the edge of water. Hopefully in a spot one can retrieve your equipment for another cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fly fishing can only be done while in the water due to fact that one is moving the fly in in two directions, both in a forward and backward positions. It is the only way to avoid snags.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since most people do not wear waders while fishing or venture into the water I have many more options as to where I want to fish. There is nothing more challenging than fishing on a bank with too many anglers in areas that are renown to be good salmon spots. With waders on I am able to go upstream 100 meters or so from the group &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;and get the big ones all by myself&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt; The spot I prefer to fish in has trees and shrubs on both banks and making it impracticable to access my fishing hole from the banks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note: Waders keep the leaches off!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-25T19:41:02.697" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T19:41:02.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14017" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14027" CreationDate="2016-09-25T15:03:09.647" Score="9" ViewCount="1344" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out of all my dive gear, the item that is the hardest to dry is the BCD. If the weather is nice then it is not an issue, just put it outside. The issue is drying my BCD when the weather is rather inclement outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once I have washed off all the muck it has gathered over the course of a dive, it can take up to a week to dry inside. The only room it can go in while drying is the bathroom, which doesn't have any windows. So my question is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the best way to dry a BCD indoors?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:29:57.233" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T19:42:46.163" Title="How to dry a BCD (Buoyancy Control Device)" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;wet-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13975" CreationDate="2016-09-25T17:57:49.770" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common use of a bowline on the bight in climbing these days is to make a loop in the &lt;em&gt;middle&lt;/em&gt; of the rope in a party of 3 or 4, as one of the comments above mentioned. In this case there's no inside or outside, and the knot is symmetrical with respect to the two ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a tie-in knot, while I can see the difference between an inside and outside single bowline - especially the chance of the end getting caught - the bowline on a bight has the two ends coming out parallel to each other and taking the same turn round the bight. So I do not see any meaningful difference between the two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T17:57:49.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14019" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14021" CreationDate="2016-09-25T20:19:53.267" Score="7" ViewCount="3316" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have Lowa leather hiking boots with a rubber toe cap and sidewalls which I bought around 5 years ago. I've gotten great use out of them and the leather is still in great shape, but the rubber is starting to crumble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's basically very brittle and is slowly peeling away from the leather upper. As a work around, I've used an adhesive to coat the rubber and reattach it to the upper, but I'll need to buy new boots soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is how to postpone the rubber's degradation on my new boots. Since the rest of the boot is in great shape, if the rubber were not cracking, I could get another couple years out of the pair. What care tips can keep the rubber flexible and in good shape?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen suggestions about using glycerine soap or silicon oil for boots with full rubber uppers. Would these products also work for my issues? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11394" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T12:37:21.467" Title="How to prevent rubber on hiking boots from degrading?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13974" CreationDate="2016-09-25T20:35:16.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aiders are the key differentiator between aid climbing and free climbing. When free climbing, the gear is just for protection. In aid climbing, you place protection, clip an aider to it, walk up the aider, reach up and place another piece of protection, repeat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key points are length and number of steps, types, comfort and easy to use for the type of climb you’re doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the key point is the length as I’d hae to get half way up and discover that my bulk Aider is catching everywhere and disturbing my climb. If you are doing a wall with lots of free climbing, you want a shorter aider that will be less bulky when clipped to the side of your harness. If you are doing an aid-intensive route, you want a longer aider that will give you more bounce-testing options. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find further details &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Aider-Reviews/Buying-Advice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-09-25T20:35:16.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14019" CreationDate="2016-09-25T21:14:13.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.armorall.com/products/protectants/original-protectant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Armoral&lt;/a&gt; for the rubber. It &quot;helps renew and revitalize vinyl, rubber and plastic.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Armoral is a great rubber protectant.  It even helps rubber that has started to dry out come back to life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also store the boots in a dark closet.  Clean the boots after use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But Armoral is not going to help the adhesive.  That adhesive has about a 5 year life.  Go with a heavy boot that has a replaceable sewn sole or a light weight boot that is going have a 5 or less year life.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I do is use light boots for yard work and walking the dog so I make sure and wear them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For winter boots I just give them to my brother that drives a cement truck after three years and let him wear them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-26T12:37:21.467" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T12:37:21.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13262" CreationDate="2016-09-25T22:38:59.017" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to various countries in the list (more than once in some of them). I don't think you're going to find wild camp in some of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and most of the area you could do some form of wild camping are now National Parks and you would need permits and they usually &quot;recommend&quot; you to have a guide as a form of touristic attraction. (Basically they want money). :) Also there has been a great effort to clean up the countries after the war but there are still regions where the danger of mines is high. So you can't just wonder around. You also need to keep in mind the Fauna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done various outdoors activities around SE Asia from climbing, canyoning, hiking/trekking and I found it's cheaper and easier to pay for your guides then trying to do it yourself. We are talking about $30 a day for accommodation, meals and drinks and around $50 for a 3-5 days outdoor outing with guides and all gear you would need and food. You pretty much bring yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been to Indonesia in surf trips (Luckily it's fairly close to my part of the world. :) ) and we climbing some mountains and volcanoes over there. You could do some camping but again you would need permits and guides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never been to Malaysia, Singapore, or Philippines to say anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is not what you're looking for you might want to try somewhere else like the Himalayas where you can camp and trek as much as you want in valleys and mountains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People in general are pretty friendly and despite the usual fight, prostitution and/or drug scam, you shouldn't find trouble there. I can tell you two occasions I experienced myself. Once in Thailand, we (me and 3 friends) got burgled and lost our bag with money. We slept in the beach that night and we are still alive. :) Another time 3 (girl) friends where tubing down one of the rivers in Laos. they had a bit too much and ended up miles away down the river. Drunk and Lost they started walking back up the river. Eventually someone offered them a ride and took them back to the place we were staying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might get burgled like us but I don't think you'd get killed but don't get my word for granted. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this part of the question is more suited for the Travel SO site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT ----- &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a map to support my comment below. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All rights and whatever legal things to the right people... (I just copied form the internet. :P )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ilg1h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ilg1h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT 2 -----&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on my experience there. I haven't been there for 4 years now. things might have changed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with wild camping is not because of landmines or population or wildlife. The problem (which I don't actually see as a problem) is that those countries rely on tourists to get some money into the economy therefore wherever can be accessed by people has been transformed into a &quot;business&quot; in a way that you would need to organize with someone to take you there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-09-26T21:21:52.730" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T21:21:52.730" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14024" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14025" CreationDate="2016-09-26T08:46:17.173" Score="24" ViewCount="6037" Body="&lt;p&gt;From all the tents I saw, including the two I have, most of them had black floors. Sometimes, the older tents have differently colored floors, but all the new ones are all one color (usually bright orange/red/green), except the floor - it's black. Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11240" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T13:29:13.173" Title="Why do most tents have black floors?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14024" CreationDate="2016-09-26T10:28:39.357" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;One reason (and I don't know enough to suggest this is the main reason) is for identification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When putting a tent up you may have a bundle of fabric that you need to set down on an uneven surface, sort and erect. Having it in black distinguishes it from the varied colours of the tent walls so you can always place your tent floor down, without having to check all the sections. The floor is the strongest, most heavily waterproofed part of the tent skin, so this also means you are less likely to end up with a damp tent from placing it upside-down on damp ground, or tears from catching branches or roots on a thin piece of tent fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Found another reason:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the floor is manufactured using a different process to the rest of the tent, making floors that matched the tops would require more complicated processes and cost more. A constant black means any floor can be fixed to a top of the correct size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-09-26T13:41:52.757" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T13:41:52.757" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13931" CreationDate="2016-09-26T13:12:21.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I think the answer depends on where you're hunting. I hunt on farm land quite a bit. There are all types of un-natural smells around farm land and there are plenty of deer about, they get used to it. However, if you're hunting in the deep woods that humans only venture into rarely, an unusual odor can be problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2566" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T13:12:21.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2016-09-26T14:13:33.713" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drying rate is proportional the relative humidity but in reverse.&#xA;At 100% relative humidity you will not get any drying.&#xA;England has as typical humidity of 70 - 90. &#xA;Then on top of that the BCD in the bathroom is adding humidity.&#xA;A small dehumidifier will knock out some moisture and reduce drying time. Close the door.&#xA;But the are not exactly cheap - in US start at about $150.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to open the door and put a fan in the bathroom. The vest is adding to the humidity so push that out of the bathroom.  It is cheap. I would try that first.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T14:13:33.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14007" CreationDate="2016-09-26T17:24:43.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many places, the law requires it.  A common access rule in many places is that public access is granted to flowing water, but only to the normal waterline.  Access to the land above that water line is trespassing, requiring the fisherman to be in the water to access it.  This is not always true, for instance some places prohibit being in the water to fish and some jurisdictions allow for also owning the river bottom which makes wading also trespassing without approved access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary reason though is as stated, for correct presentation to the fish holding water.  Wading should be done however only when actually needed to correctly access the holding water as excessive traffic does do damage to the stream and habitat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11042" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T17:24:43.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5798" CreationDate="2016-09-26T19:54:02.877" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My stomping grounds are in central Florida, deep in the subtropical jungles. You do not have much choice, it is under a tree or nothing, so check those trees carefully. If you do find an open prairie that is where everyone else who is out here tonight will be and I like to be stealthy. I like to be far from people. Trees can shield you from rain at first, but then they saturate and then the torrent falls. Rainwater makes branches heavier so falling debris is a problem. The one great benefit is protection from that tropical sun which can burn tarps and tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campfire has to be close to the tent because you want your tent in plain sight at all times. Varmints, two and four legged can get nosy. Last thing you want is to finish eating and come back to a destroyed tent. But it has to be far enough that no spark can reach the tent. We have high winds here that can come up out of nowhere. Toilet, has to be fairly close to you, you just can not go stumbling around in the dark carrying a flashlight, tissue paper, spade while bears, gators and snakes can be anywhere. Dig your holes in the day. A flashlight does not overcome the darkness...everything out there can see a whole better than me in the dark. Also, I have a tight sealed container for urinating when leaving the tent just ain't possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flat ground is deceiving, it can look dry on the surface and be total mud a few inches down. Sometimes, my favorite stealthy deep pit fire just can not be done. Areas here flash flood real quick and suddenly that flat safe area is under 4 inches of water. Last time, we hiked through an area that looked great for camping, only thing it began to rain and soon we were sloshing through a brand new swamp. Still, you have to choose something, we can not even consider lightning. Camp on a small mound and you increase your chances of a strike. Camp away from it and your tent will soon be submerged from runoff from that mound you turned down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is a tradeoff and sometimes you will get unlucky. ShemSeger and others stress the &quot;leave no trace&quot; approach. That is a good rule,  I started camping just 18 months ago, came from NYC to Vegas to Florida and although I love it I am always glad to come home. I truly believe that everyone should spend a night or two out there, make them appreciate the benefits of civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastActivityDate="2016-09-26T19:54:02.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14032" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14047" CreationDate="2016-09-26T21:09:03.347" Score="8" ViewCount="807" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gasoline generators are notoriously noisy (some are more quiet) and smelly.  Many areas like US national parks have restrictions on the use of generators.  Fuel cells are used in many space applications, they are perceived as clean and quiet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generators can cost upwards of a few thousand dollars, clean and quiet having value. If I had a budget of $10,000 (US) , could I purchase a fuel cell that would be appropriate for powering a RV/Camper/Trailer? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why not solar?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solar cells don't work well on cloudy days and under tree cover,  Most (not all) campsites in the US that are primitive (without amenities like power) are under the heavy cover of an established forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:07:00.640" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:07:00.640" Title="Is there a fuel cell that would be clean and quiet enough for RV/Camper/Trailer use?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14034" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14049" CreationDate="2016-09-27T01:17:12.870" Score="7" ViewCount="509" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been told that the only place Emperor penguins live is Antarctica. They live in colonies which can be anywhere from 500-20,000 birds. Unlike some other birds, including other penguin species, they only lay one egg at a time, and on ice rather than land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thousands of people travel to Antarctica each year hoping to see the Emperors. Excursions take place in the form of cruises, airplanes, and helicopters, combined with long walks and camping. Those who've gone report that it's an absolutely magnificent and unforgettable experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since each pair only has one egg per breeding season, if I were fortunate enough to witness these penguins during the incubation period, would I see males, females, or a combination of both? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in order to plan the trip, how long of a window would I have, meaning what's the length of the incubation period? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:59:54.523" LastActivityDate="2018-10-22T08:58:15.513" Title="Does the male or female Emperor penguin incubate their egg, and for how long?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14032" CreationDate="2016-09-27T02:12:28.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not totally clear on your power requirements, but what about solar? For smaller applications there are companies like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goalzero.com/camper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Goal Zero&lt;/a&gt; that provide camp-friendly, turn-key battery and solar panel applications.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the RV is large you could probably contact a major solar installer to line the roof with panels and outfit it with the proper sized battery bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11254" LastActivityDate="2016-09-27T02:12:28.833" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14034" CreationDate="2016-09-27T03:06:14.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The male spends the dark winter incubating the egg in his brood pouch, balancing it on the tops of his feet, for 64 consecutive days until hatching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_penguin&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-09-27T03:06:14.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14024" CreationDate="2016-09-27T05:24:15.143" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the most part, the color of the floor is ambiguous. While most newer tents have the same color floor, it's simply a matter of cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dyeing plastic increases the cost, as black is the most simple natural color to produce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The material is different however only in the sense of durability, moisture wicking qualities, and weight. While it's thickness and material does provide some protection against the elements, it's practically none.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do most tents have black floors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it's the cheapest acceptable standard within the market. (Consumer happiness Vs. Competitive pricing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11407" LastActivityDate="2016-09-27T05:24:15.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14040" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14056" CreationDate="2016-09-27T18:37:03.933" Score="8" ViewCount="834" Body="&lt;p&gt;For packaging dehydrated foods for backpacking, the two options that I can think of are mylar bags and vacuum-sealed bags. What are the pros and cons of each method?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-28T19:17:00.057" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T19:17:00.057" Title="What are the pro and cons of vacuum sealed vs mylar bags for DIY dehydrated foods?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14046" CreationDate="2016-09-28T00:28:45.763" Score="17" ViewCount="5444" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishingReports/index.cfm?ADFG=R2.reportDetail&amp;amp;area_key=29&quot;&gt;said the following&lt;/a&gt; as part of the fishing regulations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Starting September 1, the Parks Highway streams and many other Mat-Su&#xA;  and West Cook Inlet waters go to no bait and single-hook only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm new to fishing.  What is meant by &quot;no bait?&quot;  I'm assuming that doesn't mean that you must cast in an empty hook and hope a fish bites it, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11420" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-09-28T05:45:36.607" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T04:22:17.803" Title="What do fishing regulations mean by &quot;no bait?&quot;" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14044" CreationDate="2016-09-28T00:35:43.513" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it means no bait as in absence of bait.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Single as apposed to double, triple, ... hooks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish will strike at lures / spinners.  Especially if they don't have much experience with fisherman.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is not clear is if artificial bait is OK (a rubber worm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9zEa4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9zEa4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A triple hook below would not be in compliance&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yE5MX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yE5MX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-09-28T01:15:16.330" LastActivityDate="2016-09-28T01:15:16.330" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14044" CreationDate="2016-09-28T00:36:33.030" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alaska Department of fish and Game: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishregulations.sfdefinitions&quot;&gt;Statewide Definitions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bait means any substance applied to fishing gear for the purpose of&#xA;  attracting fish by scent, including fish eggs in any form, natural or&#xA;  preserved animal, fish, fish oil, shellfish, or insect parts, natural&#xA;  or processed vegetable matter, and natural or synthetic chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, in layman's terms, anything with a smell; also commonly called &quot;attractants&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-28T01:29:43.377" LastActivityDate="2016-09-28T01:29:43.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14032" CreationDate="2016-09-28T13:24:59.793" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are fuel cells with 12V output designed for this application, at least considering it as a battery charging task (&lt;a href=&quot;http://fuelcellstore.com/horizon-100watt-fuel-cell-h-100&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;random internet example at 100W&lt;/a&gt;).  Methanol cells are more expensive but the fuel is easier to store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly they get much more expensive as the power output increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Included for completeness)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Not an answer&lt;/em&gt;: LPG generators are supposed to be quiet if you have LPG on board. Whether they're sufficiently quiet is another matter, but don't forget you only need to charge a battery, not to run continuously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Probably not an answer&lt;/em&gt;: 12V/300W wind turbines exist at around £750 (call it $1000).  Normally they're used in conjunction with solar, and the same trees that block your sun would also block the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-09-29T07:53:25.637" LastActivityDate="2016-09-29T07:53:25.637" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11669" CreationDate="2016-09-28T23:58:29.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eiger is a Company located in Indonesia and the main distributor in Europe is a company called Mountaintop Sports GmbH which is located in Germany.&#xA;You can send them an Email at &quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://seputarjakarta.net/eiger-adventure-store.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;info@eiger-adventure.com&lt;/a&gt; &quot; with a picture and I am guessing that  they will be able to help.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11424" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-09-29T12:12:15.407" LastActivityDate="2016-09-29T12:12:15.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14034" CreationDate="2016-09-29T13:57:15.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a fantastic movie about the breeding/brooding/hatching cycle of the emperor penguin, which came out in 2005. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=The+March+of+the+Penguins&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The March of the Penguins&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a clip, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7tWNwhSocE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7tWNwhSocE&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the March of the Penguins reference cited above, the males incubate the eggs and the females, who have gone to the sea to feed, feed the chicks when they (the females) return. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The penguins practice serial monogamy within each breeding season. The&#xA;  female lays a single egg, and the co-operation of the parents is&#xA;  needed if the chick is to survive. After the female lays the egg, she&#xA;  transfers it to the feet of the waiting male with minimal exposure to&#xA;  the elements, as the intense cold could kill the developing embryo.&#xA;  The male tends to the egg when the female returns to the sea, now even&#xA;  farther away, both in order to feed herself and to obtain extra food&#xA;  for feeding her chick when she returns. She has not eaten in two&#xA;  months and by the time she leaves the hatching area, she will have&#xA;  lost a third of her body weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For an additional two months, the males huddle together for warmth,&#xA;  and incubate their eggs. They endure temperatures approaching −62 °C&#xA;  (−80 °F), and their only source of water is snow that falls on the&#xA;  breeding ground. When the chicks hatch, the males have only a small&#xA;  meal to feed them, and if the female does not return, they must&#xA;  abandon their chick and return to the sea to feed themselves. By the&#xA;  time they return, they have lost half their weight and have not eaten&#xA;  for four months. The chicks are also at risk from predatory birds such&#xA;  as northern giant petrels.[6]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum requested by OP:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except for station personnel, most people wanting to see Emperor penguins or other Antarctica wildlife fly to the tip of South America or to New Zealand and take a ship from there.  SA is the departure point for the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea.  NZ is the departure point for the Ross Sea area.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-09-29T15:30:41.167" LastActivityDate="2016-09-29T15:30:41.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14050" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-29T15:13:40.280" Score="6" ViewCount="2701" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generators, fuel cells, solar panels and other power supplies tend to be sold with Watts as the energy value.  Some of my electrical devices list amps, how do I convert amps to watts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:07:08.717" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:07:08.717" Title="How do I calculate how many watts of energy I need when camping?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14050" CreationDate="2016-09-29T15:41:40.753" Score="9" Body="&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Power (watts) = Voltage (volts) * Current (amps)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Current (amps) = Power (watts) / Voltage (volts)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in order to determine the watts from amps, you also need to know the voltage of the devices. Since you are camping, and specifically &quot;car camping&quot; rather than backpacking, I would expect most of your devices will be 12V DC (ie, made to run off a car battery). However, if you were to get a generator or power inverter you could run standard 120V AC items as well. So this is where amperes may come into play. If you get a decent 400W inverter (and ignoring any losses, power factors and spikes), it could pull up to &lt;strong&gt;33&lt;/strong&gt;A constantly from your battery, but you could only plug in 120V AC devices that will draw &lt;strong&gt;3.3&lt;/strong&gt;A. A good inverter will shut down once your battery voltage drops below say 10V or if you draw too much current. Some have fuses as well to guard against large current spikes. A word of caution - if you had such a heavy load on an inverter you would need &lt;strong&gt;8 gauge cables&lt;/strong&gt; to safely connect it directly to your battery. You won't be using your cigarette lighter, which is typically rated for 10A (120W)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The battery-powered items you have are likely listed as mAh or milliAmpere-hours, which is an approximation of the charge capacity of the battery. Most device batteries are in the 3.3-5V range but you don't know the current draw and it will fluctuate greatly anyway with temperature and usage of the device (ie, screen-on time, CPU load, radio usage, etc). FWIW, Lithium-ion batteries are the best for outdoor usage and that is what most devices use today anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastEditorUserId="11281" LastEditDate="2016-09-30T15:25:52.377" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T15:25:52.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14050" CreationDate="2016-09-29T19:09:42.023" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;First question : are you walking or driving and do you need to camp for any length of time ?  For short stay driving you take a second car battery and Amps x 11 = Watts or Watts/11 = Amps.  It is 11 not 12 because the &quot;12V&quot; battery runs down, wires have loss, and the Amp-hours rating of the battery is not exact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anything sustained for more than a weekend, check the forecast and time of year before buying solar panels.  Enough solar panels to run a 40 Watt TV from sunrise to sunset on the gloomiest miserable grey winter day could be as many as goes on a whole house 4000 Watts(peak).  To run the same 3.3 Amps 12 Volts load for a few hours on a summer day under fair sunshine, a single &quot;100 Watt&quot; panel could keep a car battery above 12V but nowadays you'll want a solar charge controller (&quot;&gt;=10 Amps rating&quot;) so that you don't have to check it with a multimeter quite regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't go camping to watch TV and surf the internet.  Do you really need anything more than a flashlight and a box of matches ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11427" LastActivityDate="2016-09-29T19:09:42.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14053" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-09-29T19:26:55.070" Score="2" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoor adventure activities seems like a mouthful, so I was wondering if there was a more appropriate term for such activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia suggests 'Outdoor Recreation' but that implies these to be leisure based activities and doesn't account for people like a lot of us here for whom it is a serious passion or pursuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Outdoor sports' could be an option but it seems too broad and sports has a connotation of being competitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Wilderness Adventures' seems like the only other term which would be appropriate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be an appropriate term that encompasses these activities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Posting here based on suggestions on original thread: &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/350853/is-there-a-term-for-outdoor-adventure-activities-like-camping-hiking-trekking&quot;&gt;https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/350853/is-there-a-term-for-outdoor-adventure-activities-like-camping-hiking-trekking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11428" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:38:11.657" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T21:45:46.713" Title="Appropriate terms for activities like camping, hiking, trekking, mountaineering, wilderness survival?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2016-10-01T13:58:31.653" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14050" CreationDate="2016-09-30T03:19:31.273" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In principle as a practical question there are several different numbers of relevances.  As noted by others the simple formulae that relates the different measures is Watts = Volts x Amps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now when looking at a particular appliance there are two basic concerns.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;a) Does my inverter supply enough power to allow this appliance to run.&#xA;b) How much of the batteries capacity will this appliance use over a period of time.  As I under stand your question it is the former your are most concerned with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Batteries typically are rated in amp_hours which in principle implies that the battery will be able to supply the rated number of amps for an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However it is important to note that traditional car batteries and even cheaper deep cycle batteries are not designed to use all of the rated amp hours on a regular basis.  If you were to run the battery flat the life of the battery would be very short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as a basic approach.  Assume that you have a 100 amp hour battery (Typical of trucks and some big suvs, care are more likely to be 30-40 amp hours.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apply a factor to reflect safe charging so assume you can only use 30-40% of the rated amp hours.  So assume you have 30 amp hours to play with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lets say you have a 20W appliance at 120v.  Then using W=VxA you get that the appliance will draw A =W/V amps = 1/6 amps.  Thus your appliance will draw one of your 30 amp hours for every 6 hours of use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the appliance has an amp rating then the calculation is unnecessary but be careful in both systems because many appliances don't draw current at a steady rate.  A fridge for example will draw a lot of current to get the interior cold and then virtually no current for an extended period of time until the temp rises above a cut-off.  Power tools draw 3-4 times the rated wattage initially to get the tool to speed and then operate close to the rate wattage unless the tool is being stressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11430" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T03:19:31.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11642" CreationDate="2016-09-30T03:54:23.973" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a knife maker I'm not overly fond of paracord wrapped handles.  That said I've done a few and they have there place.  I do impregnate the wrap with epoxy, both for durability and for moister protection of the steel under the wrap.  It makes for a sure grip, so sure that if used hard and long it will raise blisters.  But for a quick task in adverse conditions, cold, wet, blood, ect, it's not likely to slip in your hand.  If you want a knife your going to skin an elk with then get a blade with a smooth and comfortable handle, if your going to use it once in a while paracord is OK.  The one thing about the paracord wrap is that I can do one a lot quicker than I can a traditional handle, think 30 minutes vs. all day or more, so they are cheaper to produce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11431" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T03:54:23.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14040" CreationDate="2016-09-30T04:20:29.300" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mylar bags vs. Vacuum sealed.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pro. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;durability (in general, it depends; thickness is varying); &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can pour inside boiled water without additional wares; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more thermal isolation and great sun protection; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can preserve wet and/or warm food; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;exists solutions for vacuuming, strong sealing, etc.; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;slightly larger weight (thickness is varying; usually the packets weight is insignificant); &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more volume is consumed inside your backpack (if isn't vacuumed);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;non transparent, need signs, etc.; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some air still closed inside (for some products in a long run, it may make a difference); &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can't be sealed by molding (most of time even a zip-lock will be ok); &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;price (in general);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Yes, I used both and had chosen the mylar bags. Maybe, I'm biased.&lt;/em&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9403" LastEditorUserId="9403" LastEditDate="2016-09-30T16:30:33.537" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T16:30:33.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14053" CreationDate="2016-09-30T21:45:46.713" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the term you're looking for is &lt;strong&gt;Outdoorsmanship&lt;/strong&gt;. An outdoorsman is an individual who is interested in the pursuit of many if not all outdoor sports and recreational activities. An &lt;em&gt;extreme outdoorsman&lt;/em&gt; would describe someone who takes more risks in the outdoors, such as alpinists, backcountry survivalists, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-09-30T21:45:46.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13717" CreationDate="2016-10-01T03:56:22.923" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Really its all about the loft. So if you have a specific bag you're wondering about, next time you launder it look at it when its wet and see how much loft remains. I know my winter bag loses about 40% of its loft when wet, which isn't bad, especially because it dries quickly even if it relatively humid. There are many different types of synthetic insulation, different types of face fabrics that can affect the loft. There are too many variables to give a flat number. I've heard people say that synthetic base layers are 40% effective when totally wet, but I don't know how that carries over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really the best thing to do is take your dry sleeping bag, and fluff it out until its fully lofted. Take a ruler and measure 3 points on the sleeping bag to see how much loft you have and average them. Launder the bag, and measure the same 3 points while the bag is wet and average them. Take the averages and you can calculate the percentage difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;i = initial measurement average&#xA;w = wet measurement average&#xA;&#xA;(i-w)/i&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will give a pretty good idea of how much insulation your bag losses when its wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Synthetic will most certainly be more insulating when its wet than a down bag. Down is literally useless when wet. A wet synthetic bag, I'd still sleep in if I had to, a wet down bag I wouldn't even bother(luckily never had this happen). If weight isn't a huge concern, you could try adding a wool blanket. Wool is better than synthetic at keeping its insulation when wet. Wet wool barely looses any insulating properties even when completely saturated. It dries slower than synthetic, but synthetic is generally said to dry faster. But if you're in a rain storm and can't keep dry then wool sounds like it would have been a good option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5954" LastEditorUserId="5954" LastEditDate="2016-10-01T04:03:47.827" LastActivityDate="2016-10-01T04:03:47.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8885" CreationDate="2016-10-01T12:27:28.307" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a smaller pocketknife for cutting cord, doing some whittling when I am shaping wood, tent stakes for instance. I carry a big 8 incher for use as a machete, for splitting small logs, for general protection, for cutting meat, cleaning fish, shaving bark for fuel. We also carry some throwing knives, although I am pretty accurate with all my knives I generally use them to pass the time with practice. Some people have told me that the only tool they really need is a sharp knife,,,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastActivityDate="2016-10-01T12:27:28.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7" CreationDate="2016-10-02T20:00:44.863" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an excellent article from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/water-treatment-backcountry.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;from REI&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Your choices include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pump-style filters and purifiers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gravity-fed filters and purifiers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ultraviolet light pen purifiers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sip/squeeze bottles with in-line filtering straws&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chemical tablets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boiling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YYtdI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YYtdI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling alone is very effective the problems that is takes a lot of time.  You pretty much need to do it at camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another factor is filtered water tastes better. Chemicals make the water taste worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a filter (or one of the other options) for when you need water on the trail.  Leaving camp with 3 liters of water is 6.5 lbs.  Viruses are rarely found in North American wilderness waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for heavy metals.  If there are heavy metals in the water then not reason to go hiking there.  Heavy metals are not naturally occurring in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a collapsible water bucket for camp so you don't have to multiple trips.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btc11.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btc11.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;water bucket&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not yet mentioned is lots of large particles in the water.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7z3q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7z3q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will fowl the filter faster with large the particles. Most filters backwash to restore most of the flow but still better to get rid of the big stuff first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you boil you still don't want to drink water that looks like that. And it does not taste good.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just put the water in a vessel and let the large particles drop to the bottom.  A good share will drop in 2 hours and after 8 you are not going to get much more drop out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cooking water you can use it direct as you are going to boil it anyway.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring a small siphon tube and place the container high enough the water bottle is below it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-10-02T20:09:05.253" LastActivityDate="2016-10-02T20:09:05.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14064" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-03T07:19:15.877" Score="12" ViewCount="477" Body="&lt;p&gt;When a diver goes deeper, the air goes into the lung is compressed, compared to the state of air at sea-level ground. Accordingly, the oxygen partial pressure is higher than the ground. If a diver needs to absorb a certain mount (say, in number of O₂ molecules) of oxygen at a fixed time period, then the diver needs to breath slower to maintain the same oxygen influx, since each breath holds more oxygen at a deeper level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another thought, the assumption of absorbing the same rate of oxygen (# of O₂ per minute) may be incorrect. Since the gas exchange in the lung should depend on the partial pressure differential between the inhale gas and gas in the blood. Since both pressure increases, a diver should maintain roughly the same breath rate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9727" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T05:49:56.330" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T05:49:56.330" Title="Does a diver's breath rate become slower when going deeper?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14065" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-03T18:30:20.850" Score="8" ViewCount="1897" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I made a noose with this knot and lifted a heavy object by putting it inside the noose / knot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the knot should slip and hold the object tightly automatically&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it should be difficult to untie the knot when it is under pressure due to a heavy object.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is slip knot good for this? Which other knot works well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11445" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-10-03T19:03:26.537" LastActivityDate="2017-06-13T12:03:02.067" Title="What knot tightens under pressure and is difficult to untie under tension?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14065" CreationDate="2016-10-03T19:31:48.727" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slip knot will work fine, but if you want a more secure knot then I would probably recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/poachers/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&amp;amp;Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poachers knot&lt;/a&gt;. It's essentially a slip knot tied with a double overhand instead of a single. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pSK9T.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pSK9T.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-10-03T19:31:48.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14064" CreationDate="2016-10-03T19:56:28.193" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your breathing rate is not affected, although experienced divers always try and breath slow, deep and continuous, to conserve air and keep airways open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The higher partial pressure of gasses does however have many other effect on the body, including gas narcosis, oxygen poisoning and increased risk of dysbarism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Just on a side note the pressure in your blood does not increase, but the amount of dissolved gasses does.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2016-10-03T19:56:28.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4214" CreationDate="2016-10-03T22:24:03.693" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://Fjellstyrene.no&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fjellstyrene.no&lt;/a&gt; might lead you to the right fjellstyre and their website with more information about huts &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;here is also a good start for finding open huts..&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://utelivet.wordpress.com/bubasen/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://utelivet.wordpress.com/bubasen/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Edit]&#xA;Still not being a full overview, there is another site from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.statskog.no/Sider/forsiden.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Statskog&lt;/a&gt;, the state owned land and forest enterprise, that has published a &lt;a href=&quot;https://issuu.com/statskog/docs/oversikt_statskogs__pne_buer_og_koier2/1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF OVERVIEW&lt;/a&gt; with 100+ open free cabins around the country. The site is partly translated to English so I figured a direct link to the published pdf would help. &#xA;As I said, not a satisfying correct answer to your question, but a little help along the way.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;[Another Edit]&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I think I found what you are looking for. A google my maps layer with, if not all, pretty many huts that are open and free of charge. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=16I0xdb3yl0tT7LrmGMJoJW_B53s&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;ll=65.33569880530139%2C17.780728350000004&amp;amp;z=5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open huts and shelters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11446" LastEditorUserId="11446" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T20:01:13.053" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T20:01:13.053" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14065" CreationDate="2016-10-03T23:45:11.657" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite not being a knot, I think a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bale_sling_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;bale sling&lt;/a&gt; meets your requirements. There is little resistance on the hitch meaning it will cinch tight pretty easily and it is difficult to release while loaded. You also might want to look at a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;barrel hitch&lt;/a&gt; (again not a knot). It doesn't cinch tight in the same way and one can remove the object easily even when under load, but the design of the hitch is such that the object is unlikely to simply fall out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-10-03T23:45:11.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14073" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-04T00:18:46.770" Score="10" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;On some backpacking trips a car could be left for a couple of weeks, what can I do to ensure that when I return the mice aren't inside and the squirrels are leaving the wiring alone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:22:49.087" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T15:15:12.213" Title="How do you keep rodents out of your vehicle when it's parked at the trailhead?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14074" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-04T09:44:07.223" Score="6" ViewCount="3452" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to build a simple DIY foot pump based camping sink. I can't seem to understand what kind of foot pump should I be buying. I don't know what is the exact term for this kind of foot pump:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zbROa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zbROa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;An image seen on Instructables article&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Field-Sink/step2/Materials/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.instructables.com/id/Field-Sink/step2/Materials/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the term for this kind of foot pump? I reside in Bangalore, India and have access to local hardware stores close by. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found this product online: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OCIfF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OCIfF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Foot pump product on Amazon.in&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.in/Intex-Bellows-Foot-Pump-Hi/dp/B00YH5VL2A?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;keywords=foot%20pump&amp;amp;qid=1475573380&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.amazon.in/Intex-Bellows-Foot-Pump-Hi/dp/B00YH5VL2A?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;keywords=foot%20pump&amp;amp;qid=1475573380&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will this be able to hook up with my DIY camping sink? I selected this particular one as it's easily returnable should things not work out. I have a budget constraint as well. I have never done any kind of plumbing but I am fairly resourceful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11449" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T02:05:43.180" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T02:05:43.180" Title="What kind of foot pump would I need to build a DIY camping sink?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14073" CreationDate="2016-10-04T12:05:28.843" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stop coating your wires with peanut butter! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all seriousness though, squirrels can and will eat wires.  However this is a very unlikely occurrence, as noted by ShemSeger in comments.  I have known exactly ONE person it ever happened to and the car was at their house, not a trail head.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could discourage most pests by putting mothballs in your engine compartment (after it has cooled).  Of course mothballs are toxic and it would be vitally important to remove them before you drive away lest you poison yourself on the fumes.  Most other rodent deterrents are lethal (traps, bait) and it would be pretty unethical IMO to use those in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor activities all have risks and you have to weight the likelyhood of the risk coming to fruition against the cost and effort of prevention.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-10-04T12:05:28.843" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2016-10-04T16:02:09.333" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you considered a grouse net? I've seen different sizes of these. 10 or 12 litres. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jcyvk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jcyvk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are meant to be strapped to your backpack &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dhhNG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dhhNG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example from a &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.xxl.no/norrona-grouse-net-10-l-rypenett/p/1049835_1_style?gclid=CjwKEAjwps2_BRC5jduHor-h8xESJADGT-Ltw8xxVAv2tYb5ah51Pyy6gBFp1VSkr7x6EZEuVH_TyBoCtpLw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norwegian netstore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11446" LastActivityDate="2016-10-04T16:02:09.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14074" CreationDate="2016-10-04T18:37:48.043" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used the &amp;quot;primer bulb pump with check valve&amp;quot; before and it worked great. It's made for boat outboard motors. It comes in a few hose sizes. Do you have a marina or boat supply store near by? If not check on Amazon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;primer bulb pump with check valve ($5 - $20 USD):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1tpwC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1tpwC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nA1bS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nA1bS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11419" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T18:23:36.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13835" CreationDate="2016-10-04T20:25:26.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absolutely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just returned from the area and found that once we crested over Piute Pass and into the Humphreys Basin, the terrain is easily traversable off trail. While the fragile ecology struggling to survive in the rugged windswept mountains may not appreciate traffic from heavy boot-laden steps, access to all of the area lakes, streams, and prominences is easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ikgHw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ikgHw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A view of Humphreys Basin looking West from Piute Pass into Piute Canyon. Summit Lake visible.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastEditorUserId="11211" LastEditDate="2016-10-18T01:35:29.707" LastActivityDate="2016-10-18T01:35:29.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2016-10-05T18:10:46.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another way, similar to the mesh bag that iontomet suggested, is the Maxpedition Roly Poly bag.  It is a bag the rolls into a very small space, has MOLLE attachments for connecting to bags or belts, and can open up and hold just about anything. They come in a bunch of sizes including my favorite that will hold two big mallards easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/leR76.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/leR76.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nFfJT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nFfJT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-10-05T18:10:46.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14087" CreationDate="2016-10-06T00:56:49.483" Score="8" ViewCount="523" Body="&lt;p&gt;Western Mountaineering makes both the Bison GWS (rated -40) and the Cypress GWS (rated -30) sleeping bags. But the Bison has a lower fill weight (42 oz) and is cheaper ($1095) vs the Cypress (50 oz fill weight for $1130). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How could the supposedly warmer Bison have less down in it and cost less? This makes no sense to me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernmountaineering.com/sleeping-bags/gore-windstopper-expedition-series/bison-gws/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bison GWS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernmountaineering.com/sleeping-bags/gore-windstopper-expedition-series/cypress-gws/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cypress GWS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8668" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-06T12:32:22.087" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T18:24:46.170" Title="How could a lighter winter sleeping bag also be warmer?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14086" CreationDate="2016-10-06T02:15:30.040" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is easiest to see the difference here:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernmountaineering.com/sleeping-bags/specification-chart/&quot;&gt;Specification Chart&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavier one is a semi rectangular bag while the lighter one is a mummy bag. Both bags have the same amount of loft, which is usually the key to warmth, but in this case the difference in cut matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-06T12:30:30.543" LastActivityDate="2016-10-06T12:30:30.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14086" CreationDate="2016-10-06T10:10:00.333" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your looking at the wrong value. Fill Weight is not a measure of warmth. It's a measure of the weight of the down. Weight does not equal warmth. The difference in fill weight here is likely (as strong bad says) the cut. The cut of the bison is more generous (more space inside) and it has thicker insulation (11&amp;quot; vs 10&amp;quot;), so its fill weight is slightly higher (the total weight of the down used is greater).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So because the cut is more generous it has a greater surface area; greater surface area means more heat lost. Also there is more air inside the bag that will need heating, so it takes more energy (heat from your body) to heat this air. They've compensated (to some extent at least) by increasing the thickness of the down but it's still isn't as warm as the bag with a smaller surface area (Mummy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They real measure of the effectiveness of the down is the fill power, these both have a fill power of 850+. So the quality of the down is equal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a bit odd that you're paying more for essentially less down, but the manufacturing of the mummy style bag is likely more complex and the company has also decided that you should pay extra for the extra warmth rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also just noticed the the more expensive one has a more complicated internal structure. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernmountaineering.com/product-details/sleeping-bag-fill-construction/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;links on the web site&lt;/a&gt; the more expensive bag is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;V-Block Baffle w/two (offset) draft tubes &amp;amp; full down collar...etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where as the cheaper one is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side Block Baffle w/draft tube and full collar&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the more expensive one is designed to prevent gaps in the loft on the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2021-03-11T18:24:46.170" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T18:24:46.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11020" CreationDate="2016-10-06T12:02:40.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though it isn't traditionally used as such, I've successfully used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buntline_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;buntline hitch&lt;/a&gt; (always of the slipped variety, unless I do not care if I cut the rope) in both roles, bending and binding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Binding&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important that the 'clove hitch' part of the knot is tied very tightly to the standing rope or else it can be difficult to tighten properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will take a round around the items to be bound and then pass the end of the rope through the loop that is created by taking the round (picture below). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAOcg.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAOcg.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This creates a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/overhand/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;(step 3) around the bundle. I tighten this up by pulling both ends. I then dress it up tightly, being sure that the 'clove hitch' has taken all of the slack out of the line. I will push the knot towards the bundle then work the overhand/round slack out and then walk the knot back to the bundle. The overhand knot creates the binding effect and the buntline keeps the overhand knot together while providing a secure hitch. If you do not slip the buntline, you will more than likely need to cut the knot off as it jams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bending&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Create a buntline hitch and then create another on on the other end which loops through the first ones loop. Pull them tight. This has worked for me with the same thickness rope and w/ different diameter rope sizes. Again, be sure to dress each clove hitch so that they are tight around each standing rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, the buntline hitch is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learning-sail-articles/18838-better-than-bowlines.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amazing knot&lt;/a&gt; that is one of my goto knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2016-10-06T12:02:40.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7918" CreationDate="2016-10-06T12:15:47.200" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I only tie one slipped half hitch(pulled really tight) but do a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/chainsinnet/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;daisy chain&lt;/a&gt; after it. The loop created by that one slipped half hitch is the loop that starts the chain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep it secure while I'm finishing the lock, I just pinch the rope around the midline loop and work the slipped half hitch w/ one hand. Once the slipped half hitch is tight and there are 2-3 'chains' after it, the load is held very securely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has two major benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To undo it, pull the loose end. Everything just cleanly falls apart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have extra rope, do more daisy chains to keep it tidy and&#xA;'use it up'.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2016-10-06T12:15:47.200" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14086" CreationDate="2016-10-06T13:50:57.787" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;On reason why the Bison costs less is simply because it has less down. At 8oz for 35$, that's not a big difference though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bison is warmer because it is more snug. The semi-rect shape of the Cypress loses a lot of heat that way, because it exposes a larger outside area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-10-06T13:50:57.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14092" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14098" CreationDate="2016-10-07T02:40:25.257" Score="5" ViewCount="3116" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trigger on my hunting rifle has a rather heavy pull and doesn't break very well, will getting a trigger with a lighter pull weight help me be more accurate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T15:33:42.180" Title="Will a lighter trigger pull help me be more accurate?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14092" CreationDate="2016-10-07T03:30:28.747" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this comes down to personal preference, your level of training, and what type of hunting you're going to be doing with your rifle. In general I don't think trigger pull weight is going to be the deciding factor as to whether or not you come home empty handed unless you are trying to snipe gophers from 500 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to an article in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2011/08/rifle-triggers-weight-problem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Field and Stream&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Good dangerous-game rifles have their triggers set at 4 to 5 pounds&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That article opens up with a comment on a light trigger pull of 1.5 lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... asked if that was a good pull weight for hunting rifles in general. To which I reply, great gobs of goose grease, no! Kenny sets his triggers light because almost all the rifles he builds are for carefully set-up shots at long range, and are purchased by experienced shooters who take the time and ammo to get to know their rifles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also say that there are after market triggers that can break cleanly at 2 oz, but most stock triggers won't function well below 3 lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as whether a lighter trigger pull will improve your accuracy that depends. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=517439&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;According to a forum&lt;/a&gt; M16 triggers are set to 8.5 lbs, and I've personally fired them accurately with iron sights at 500 yards. I'm not a terrible shot but I'm not exceptional either. I bring this up to point out that your estimated pull weight of 7 to 8 lbs isn't outrageous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vickerstactical.com/trigger-pull-weight.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; written from a concealed carry pistol point of view points out a very heavy trigger pull can negatively impact your accuracy. They specifically mention double action pistols with a 13 lb first pull and special police Glocks with a 12 lb pull as very difficult to shoot accurately. They suggest a range of 4 to 6 lbs for your trigger weight which correlates well with the Field and Stream recommendation of 4 to 5 lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly what concerns me more is you saying the trigger doesn't break cleanly. I feel like you should probably let a gunsmith investigate that, and while they have the firearm ask them what they think about the current pull weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-10-07T03:30:28.747" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14117" CreationDate="2016-10-07T11:23:29.083" Score="8" ViewCount="1062" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it legal to tap trees on public land in the UK? I'm thinking of tapping sycamore trees in a local wood on an overnight trip in the spring. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, am I correct in the assumption that the last week of March would be a good time for the trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2016-10-10T15:05:45.650" Title="Tree tapping in the UK - Time and legalities" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14096" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14099" CreationDate="2016-10-07T12:15:26.620" Score="15" ViewCount="1939" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this quetsion &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14095/tree-tapping-in-the-uk-time-and-legalities?noredirect=1#comment34449_14095&quot;&gt;Tree tapping in the UK - Time and legalities&lt;/a&gt;. I have never tapped a tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you do this? What equipment is involved, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-10-08T12:10:07.873" Title="How do you tap a tree for sap?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14096" CreationDate="2016-10-07T12:24:21.250" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few ways to tap a tree, before you tap you need to know when the sap is rising from the roots to the branches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read about&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a knife to make a shallow cut under the bark, then using a twig to guide the flow into a positioned bottled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;using a drill bit to achieve the same effect&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blade/drill should only penetrate to the layer where the bark meets the inner wood as this is where the sap is being transported.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also talk of using muslin cloth to filter before going into your container but that seems to be a small minority of people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you have collected the sap you want, bearing in mind not to take too much that you cause damage to the tree. You then remove your twig/tap from the tree and press the bark back down to form a seal. A lot of people suggest that the use of local cordage (ivy, brambles, etc) to hold it in place is a good idea as the pressure from the sap may force the bark open again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previous advice included blocking the hole or covering with mud, however, this is now thought to introduce foreign material to the tree causing it further damage. The tree cut should be closed with it's own bark and then the bark should be left exposed to the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-10-07T20:13:07.123" LastActivityDate="2016-10-07T20:13:07.123" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14092" CreationDate="2016-10-07T12:30:38.857" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My competition triggers were normally about 2 ounces. However, you can train yourself to use any weight within reason and 7-8 pounds is reasonable for a hunting rifle (people still manage to have accidental discharges). The key is a smooth squeeze directly to the rear, regardless of firearm type. Any force component that misaligns the sights while squeezing is obviously bad and why handguns are harder to shoot accurately than long guns. Everything is about consistency when shooting accurately. Same grip, cheek placement, shoulder placement, pressures in each of those areas, trigger squeeze, etc. Even if you technically don't have great form or technique in some area, if you do it &lt;strong&gt;exactly the same&lt;/strong&gt; each shot, you will be accurate (meaning small group size, not where the group is placed relative to where you wanted it unless you can adjust the sights to compensate). As the sage advice says, &quot;Practice, practice, practice.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One exception to the above may be rapid fire. Very hard to work on a smooth squeeze and consistency if you must shoot fast for some reason, which is naturally why most people can't shoot fast very well (discounting effects from recoil). This shouldn't be a concern for normal hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Erik said, your biggest concern should be the break. It should be crisp and clean, no creep. A gunsmith should be able to fix that up for you. Even our competition triggers were somewhat mass produced so some could benefit from a polishing job. The typical firearm could certainly do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add one more thing. Don't use a scope with too high a power. Just enough to clearly see that you are on target. The more magnification, the more movement you will see and most people have more of a natural tendency to jerk the trigger as the crosshairs are passing by the intended target zone. You can bump up the power a bit if you want once you've got better body hold technique. Or shoot from prone or some other &quot;well rested&quot; position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastEditorUserId="11281" LastEditDate="2016-10-07T12:38:59.190" LastActivityDate="2016-10-07T12:38:59.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14096" CreationDate="2016-10-07T13:06:45.003" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sugar Maple trees are by far the most popular trees that people tap for sap. So I will use this as my example of how to tap a tree. The following is taken from: &lt;a href=&quot;http://commonsensehome.com/make-maple-syrup/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Sense Homesteading.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Identify Maple Trees and Wait for the Right Temperature Range.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are many species of maple trees. The sap gathered from all of them can be boiled down into syrup.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massmaple.org/treeid.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Read more about Maple Tree Identification.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most syrup is produced in the northern states, but can be made as far south as Tennessee. &lt;strong&gt;The temperature must drop below freezing at night and rise above during the day for the sap to run. Trees should have at least a twelve inch diameter before being tapped.&lt;/strong&gt; When the maple trees start budding, sugaring is over, as the sap produces bitter syrup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gather Your Syrup Making Equipment.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Traditional &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002O7LUWO&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;maple syrup making equipment&lt;/a&gt; includes sap spouts, buckets, and covers; which are available in hardware stores, from maple sugaring equipment suppliers, or used from other sugarmakers. &lt;strong&gt;To tap the trees you will need a drill and bit, and a hammer.&lt;/strong&gt; The minimum that a backyard sugarmaker must do is to drill the taphole and tap in the spout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To collect the sap:&lt;/strong&gt;  Milk jugs or even plastic bags can be hung on the spout; or plastic, food-grade tubing can be connected to the spout and the sap run into a bucket or collecting tank on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJe41.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJe41.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a cordless drill to tap maple trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tap the Trees.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tap the trees in the early spring, as daytime temperatures rise above freezing. Drill a hole the size of your spout, at a slight incline.  (Note angle above.)  Tap the spout into the hole firmly, hang the bucket, and put the cover on to keep out rain and bugs. This is the magic moment, as the first drop of clear, sweet sap runs off the spout – often onto an eagerly waiting tongue!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gather the Sap.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sap is perishable, and should be gathered and boiled daily, or kept cold in a storage container until boiling. Filter the sap to remove any impurities.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more Information on this subject please see the following site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://commonsensehome.com/make-maple-syrup/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make Maple Syrup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-10-08T12:10:07.873" LastActivityDate="2016-10-08T12:10:07.873" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4826" CreationDate="2016-10-07T14:40:11.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As stated in previous answers, with proper campsite management like storing food at a good distance from your tent you will be safe unless you run into a scenario of a mother with cubs and that's rare. I'll add you will be much safer sleeping in bear country than in town where the most dangerous of all predators roam, other humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11458" LastActivityDate="2016-10-07T14:40:11.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14101" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-07T14:50:17.100" Score="8" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I process the fruit of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbus_torminalis&quot;&gt;wild service tree&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the berries need to be subjected to frost before they can be dried and consumed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I harvest them early and stick them in the freezer for a few hours instead?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do I know when they are dried/ripened enough ready for eating?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-10-10T14:53:12.517" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T02:18:38.160" Title="Processing the fruit of chequers/wild service tree" Tags="&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14102" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14103" CreationDate="2016-10-07T15:31:27.640" Score="5" ViewCount="281" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a couple of questions about the legality of and how to tap trees to get sap.  Tree sap is the source of sugary syrups like Maple or Sycamore.  The sap can then be evaporated over a fire to leave a high sugar syrup (i.e. Maple Syrup).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the process is not complex, it takes a lot of time and a lot of sap.  If you want a cup (&lt;em&gt;8 fluid ounces, 0.25 liters&lt;/em&gt;) you would need 40+ cups of sap (&lt;em&gt;2.5 US gallons, 10 Liters&lt;/em&gt;).  Additionally for Maple and maybe other trees as well, the sap is best for making syrup during certain times of the year, where particular weather patterns are occurring.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have packed all the required implements with you, if you stop to camp for the night, could you tap a tree (&lt;em&gt;or three&lt;/em&gt;) as you are setting up camp, and produce syrup for breakfast, before hitting the trail again? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14096/how-do-you-tap-a-tree-for-sap&quot;&gt;How do you tap a tree for sap?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14095/tree-tapping-in-the-uk-time-and-legalities&quot;&gt;Tree tapping in the UK - Time and legalities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-10-10T16:58:26.313" Title="Is it practical to tap a tree for syrup on an overnight stop?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14102" CreationDate="2016-10-07T17:56:03.770" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using some numbers from &lt;a href=&quot;http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/FAQ.htm&quot;&gt;Cornell's Extension program&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;10 gallons of sap per tap in a season is reasonable.&#xA;The length of a season varies- Let's say it's 90 days.&#xA;The sugar concentration, which influences how much syrup you get from a given volume of sap, varies.  Let's assume 2%, which means you need 43 gallons of sap to get 1 gallon of syrup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So three taps would get you 30 gallons of sap in a season. But you're there for a night, or 1/180th of a season, so you get .167 gallons of sap.  After a day or so of processing, you could get .00388 gallons of syrup, or 1/2 of a fluid ounce. That's a tablespoon, which is the recommended serving size by the USDA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carrying a bottle of syrup would take up less space than the taps and processing equipment, so it is not practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If sap only flows from taps during the daylight hours when temperatures are high (which is supported by point 14 in the Cornell link), then you will get no syrup at all by tapping trees overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4100" LastEditorUserId="4100" LastEditDate="2016-10-10T16:58:26.313" LastActivityDate="2016-10-10T16:58:26.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14104" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14186" CreationDate="2016-10-07T18:03:50.303" Score="15" ViewCount="451" Body="&lt;p&gt;If climbing shoes are resoled, will they fit differently afterward? If so, in what way does it change (narrower, shorter, tighter, looser, etc..)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:52:18.860" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:52:18.860" Title="Does resoling change a climbing shoe's fit?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14104" CreationDate="2016-10-07T18:22:57.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not unless they did a really bad job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shoe size starts with the sole.  It would be really hard to even sew in an upper to a wrong sized sole. If you told the cobbler you want less width they could stitch in a bit but not very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will take  a bit of time to break the sole in but not nearly as long as the original break in period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-03-22T23:34:38.770" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T23:34:38.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14106" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14107" CreationDate="2016-10-07T18:56:42.147" Score="5" ViewCount="1442" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to getting a trigger with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14092/will-a-lighter-trigger-pull-help-me-be-more-accurate&quot;&gt;lighter pull weight&lt;/a&gt;, I also have the option of switching from a single stage to a two stage trigger. What would the pros and cons of doing so be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:22:35.327" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:22:35.327" Title="What are the pro and cons of two stage vs single stage triggers for hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14106" CreationDate="2016-10-07T21:11:40.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What the 2-stage gains you is having a perceived lighter trigger weight even though it is the same overall. I forget the technical term for it, but the first stage takes up the &quot;slack&quot; or travel in the trigger up to where you reach the second stage. From there it acts just like a single stage. So the potential benefit is if you can set the first stage high enough, you need just a little bit more squeeze to fire the trigger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in your other question we assumed you had a 7-8 pound pull. With a single stage you keep squeezing until you reach that 8 pounds and BANG. With a 2-stage, you could set the first stage to say 6 or 7 pounds (depends on the springs how much adjustment you have). So now you pull back 7 pounds and you reach a stop. At that point you know it's just another pound until BANG.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There isn't really much against having one other than cost and being slightly more complex. For hunting I wouldn't bother, but it would give you something to play with. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-10-07T21:11:40.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14086" CreationDate="2016-10-08T00:03:33.517" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what the Western Mountaineering said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Bison is a considerably narrower bag so even though it has less&#xA;  down/less insulation than the Cypress it has more loft.    The design&#xA;  of the Bison is also quite different.  Both bags take roughly similar&#xA;  amount of production time to build (a little over 8 hours per bag in&#xA;  terms of manufacturing time/labor) but the Cypress uses quite a bit&#xA;  more fabric and down which bumps its production costs (and&#xA;  subsequently its retail price) up above that of the Bison.  I can see&#xA;  how the rating and fill weight specifications might appear to stand in&#xA;  contrast to the retail price difference between the two bags.&#xA;  Hopefully this additional information helps clarify the reason why our&#xA;  Cypress is more expensive than our Bison. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Cypress is just a much wider bag.  Its for people who are large&#xA;  framed and have a tough time fitting (or sleeping comfortably) in a&#xA;  Bison.   We designed it after receiving requests from big guys who are&#xA;  not mountain climbers but hunters in places like Alaska and northern&#xA;  Canada, Montana, etc.    We have  sold these bags to people who are&#xA;  the animal doctors along the Iditarod who are stationed at&#xA;  checkpoints.  They are not climbers, but just people with a bigger&#xA;  build.   Not everyone is a fit climber who uses our products so we&#xA;  created this design for those people to use at cold temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8668" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-09T08:49:46.100" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T08:49:46.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13990" CreationDate="2016-10-08T00:15:05.673" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;raw fleece&lt;/em&gt; is the wool just shorn from a sheep.  It's filled with grass and manure and possibly ticks, bugs, and worms, it smells bad and is greasy with lanolin.  That's probably what you're looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a fleece that's been washed or skirted, it's been prepared for textiles.  Spinners pay a premium for those.  Avoid those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to go to a local wool wholesaler and ask for a discard.  That would be a poorly shorn or incomplete fleece or one with too much hair or other problems.  If you describe what you're using it for you can probably get it for free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11460" LastActivityDate="2016-10-08T00:15:05.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14111" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-09T04:12:01.607" Score="7" ViewCount="916" Body="&lt;p&gt;While out hiking today, I came across a spot where someone had fired off a couple dozen shotgun shells, then left the spent cartridges lying around.  Dealing with those was simple (put them in my trash bag for later disposal), but there were also four discarded live shells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the best way of dealing with live ammunition while out hiking?  I don't like the idea of having it just rattling around in my pack, and once I get it home, I don't know how or where I'd dispose of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-10-11T07:49:12.913" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T07:49:12.913" Title="Disposing of live ammunition" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13770" CreationDate="2016-10-09T04:36:20.343" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When comparing shafts made in the same thickness with the same level of finish and quality of production, carbon will be lighter and stronger compared to aluminium. That said, it is rarely the case and it depends on the company making the poles and the quality of product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The case for aluminium&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminium is a metal that, when used for walking poles, is casted into shafts &#xA;that are then glued with a welding agent to form the parts of the poles (in most cases). This results in a very strong bond and shaft that has a high tolerance for lateral pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminium needs to be relatively thick in order to produce a structurally sound shaft and it is the reason those poles are slightly heavier than a comparable carbon pole with the exact features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminium's two most useful features are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aluminium is a metal that can bend and still retain some structural integrity though it is still more susceptible to break once it is bent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aluminium is a relatively cheap material, especially compared to carbon, and so aluminium walking poles are much cheaper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminium's two biggest drawbacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aluminium poles tend to be heavier due to thicker shafts and &lt;strong&gt;design that is less lightweight focused&lt;/strong&gt;, companies just assume that aluminium poles are &quot;entry level&quot; products&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aluminium vibrates due to the simple fact that it is a metal and is not stiff (like carbon), a fact that can be very annoying in poles without shock absorbers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common aluminium types offered in the market for walking poles are 7075 and 6061, with the 7075 is much less brittle and lighter than 6061.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The case for Carbon Fibre&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon fibre is a composite which means it is artificially made using carbon fibre grid sheets and resin making it a very variable material that really depends on the quality of manufacturing and handling. As a composite is can be as thin or as thick as preferred and can be made with a variety of resins. The right resin in the hands of a good manufacturer can result in a very strong, thin walled shaft that will make extremely lightweight and robust walking poles. In the wrong hands carbon fibre is brittle, fragile to lateral forces and cutting and is quit heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon's two most useful features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Highly customizable to allow for a very high end (and expensive) shaft that is both light and strong&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carbon fibre is stiff and walking poles made of it have no vibrations and offer a very solid feel in the hand when in use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon's two biggest problems:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too easily it &lt;strong&gt;can be made badly&lt;/strong&gt; resulting in a weak shaft that is too brittle and fragile&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The process of making carbon fibre and handling it is expensive which results in expensive walking poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon walking poles tend to be more highly designed compared to aluminium walking poles and will offer lighter features to support the materials lightweight feature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to choose&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No answer here, sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good carbon fibre poles are amazing but poorly made carbon fibre poles will just break too easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well made aluminium poles that are really featured with lightweight finishes are amazing too but tend to climb to the carbon fibre price point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All the above is based on my own process of making walking poles and I have with me identical walking poles made from aluminium and carbon fibre from various qualities&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5963" LastActivityDate="2016-10-09T04:36:20.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14111" CreationDate="2016-10-09T05:09:36.987" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most gun ranges will accept live ammunition for disposal in my area.  I would check there, and if not there, a police department would be my next stop.  This answer probably only works in the United States, I am not sure about abroad, and as a commentor pointed out, outside the United States, and especially in Europe, you may be finding military unexploded ordinance left over from the war.  Don't try to pick up ordinance like unexploded artillery shells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, shotgun shells and other ammunition often contain lead.  If you are handling shotgun shells, expended or unexpended, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you eat, or wear gloves.  Seperate the shells from other items in your pack so you don't contaminate anything.  I never allow my children to handle expended shells because lead is particularly hard on children.  In reality, picking up a few shells here and there probably isn't going to materially change your lead load, but best practices are certainly to be cautious and if you routinely encounter spent shells, make sure you have good lead abatement habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shotgun shell specific:  I have dealt with plastic hulled shotgun shells by using my pocket knife to score the outer shell so that I can remove the end.  Then I dump out the pellets (remember they are likely lead), remove the wad, and then you are left with the two most dangerous parts of the shell, the powder and the primer.  You can dispose of the powder in any number of ways.  My favorite is to make a pile and light it on fire.  Without containment, the powder just burns, it doesn't explode.  You can also just scatter it and it won't be likely to pose a threat to anyone, however you haven't removed it from the environment at that point.  As for the primer, don't try to do anything with it.  It will explode if hit with a concussive force.  A primer can kill a person if it is up close even without any sort of containment.  Just take the leftover primer and shell to your local shooting range for disposal.  Now you are hiking back much less AND if a shell happens to detonate in your pack (extremely unlikely), it is only the primer with no powder to ignite, so the damage will likely be nothing or close to nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2016-10-10T23:27:16.273" LastActivityDate="2016-10-10T23:27:16.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14095" CreationDate="2016-10-10T08:29:33.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading online, I have found that there is no hard and set rule for knowing when to tap, but in the second half of March you should check trees on a regular basis (every day or so) by doing the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simply take a sharp point (I used the tip of the drill) and at about a&#xA;  meter from the ground drive it in past the bark layer, typically 6mm&#xA;  is fine. Give it a little wiggle up &amp;amp; down to loosen the fibres. Now&#xA;  the moment of truth, if the sap is running it will form a droplet&#xA;  within 30 seconds or so. If this doesn’t happen simply revisit the&#xA;  tree every few days at this time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/blog/wild-food-diaries/sycamore-tapping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Sycamore tapping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-10T15:05:45.650" LastActivityDate="2016-10-10T15:05:45.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14118" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14119" CreationDate="2016-10-10T15:36:33.700" Score="12" ViewCount="9442" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some places in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadkill_cuisine#United_States&quot;&gt;US&lt;/a&gt;, it is legal to take roadkill home and eat it while in other places the meat is donated. If it was legal where you are, how would you tell if the meat is still good?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:03:57.593" LastActivityDate="2019-12-04T20:26:41.720" Title="How can you tell if roadkill is safe to eat?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;road-kill&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14118" CreationDate="2016-10-11T00:23:07.213" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most people to even start considering eating roadkill would mean getting over our personal demon of squeamishness. This thought would not appeal to most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are eight (8) important rules to consider before one should eat roadkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8 Rules of Roadkill&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Follow these Roadkill Rules to help determine if food by Ford is safe to swallow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Legal Stuff&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any fur-bearing animal or bird is edible. However, laws on harvesting roadkill or possession of protected species vary from state to state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the Peach state, motorists may collect deer without notifying authorities. Bear collisions must be reported but you get to keep the bruin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Texas and California are among the few states that prohibit roadkill collection. In Alaska, the Fish and Wildlife personnel collect reported road-killed animals and distribute to charities helping the needy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Check your state laws first!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Impact Damage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The point of impact determines how much meat is salvageable. My experience with broadside impacts are not good. Internal organs usually rupture and taint the meat. Not to mention all the bloodshot meat. As in hunting, a head shot saves meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tire treads over the body usually means a bloody mess. Squashed squirrel would require a spatula to remove from the asphalt and should be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Clear Eyes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the eyes are intact and clear, the animal is likely a fresh kill. Cloudy eyes hint that the animal has been dead for some time (more than a few hours).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Creamy discharges around the eyes or other orifices indicate a sick animal. If the eyes are gone, leave it alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Stiffness and Skin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rigor mortis sets within a few hours of death. This is not a deal breaker depending on other indicators. The steak in the butcher’s glass counter has undergone the same process of “decay” or tenderizing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pinch the skin of the animal, unless it’s a porcupine, to check if the skin still moves freely along top of the muscle beneath. If so, you’re probably okay. Skin stuck to the muscle is a bad indicator. If fur can be pulled from the hide with a slight tug, the animal has been deceased far too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Bugs and Blood&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fleas feed on the blood of warm blooded animals. Brush the hair on the carcass and inspect for fleas like you would on a family pet. If fleas are present, that’s a good thing. Fleas won’t stick around on a cold body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There’s usually blood involved when animals come in contact with 3,000 pound machines in motion. Blood all over the road may mean there’s too much damaged meat to salvage. The color of blood present should be a dark red, like, well, fresh blood. Dark puddles of blood have been there been there a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Flies could be a bad sign. They lay larvae in wounds and other openings of the body. A few flies present isn’t always a deal breaker. A prior wound on a living animal may contain maggots. We had a live deer seek refuge in my mother-in-laws car port who had a broken hind leg from a vehicle collision which was infested with maggots. I approached her in an attempt to humanely dispatch her and put her out of her misery. Sadly, she gained her footing and disappeared through our neighborhood woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the hot, humid summers of Georgia, it only takes a few minutes for flies to zero in on dead stuff. Which brings us to our next consideration...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Climate and Weather&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The weather conditions and geographical location are variables to consider. Cold to freezing temperatures is ideal – think… roadside walk-in freezer or fridge. Meat will decompose quickly in hot and humid conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7. Smell&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This one is pretty obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If it has a putrid odor, leave it alone. You don’t have to be a TV survival expert to identify bad meat. Your old factory sensors will let you know… along with your gag reflex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8. Collection and Processing Tips&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our vehicles are prepared with Get Home Kits. You may want to add a few items to it or build a separate Roadkill Kit. My kit is simple and includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Tarp&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Surgical gloves&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you don’t drive a pickup truck, wrap large carcasses in a tarp and place in the vehicle for transport. Smaller animals usually go in a contractor grade garbage bag to get home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s common sense in my mind… Do NOT field dress an animal on the side of the road! It’s dangerous, illegal (hopefully), unsightly, and disrespectful to both animal and human. I’ve seen some really stupid and disgusting practices over the years from unethical “hunters” and idiots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you’re not prepared to harvest game properly, stick with the supermarkets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/should-you-eat-roadkill-8-rules/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Should You Eat Roadkill? 8 Important Rules to Consider First&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum&lt;/strong&gt;: Check out Wikipedia's article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadkill_cuisine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Roadkill cuisine.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2016-10-19T01:34:34.290" LastActivityDate="2016-10-19T01:34:34.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3220" CreationDate="2016-10-11T01:07:19.797" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When preparing for skiing, I run 3km twice a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I repeat the following program three times:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;100 step ups  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;50 jumping jacks  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hold plank for 1 minute  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wall Sit for 1 minute  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;30 Crunches  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each week I increase the reps by 30 - 50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11471" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-10-11T16:43:42.463" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T16:43:42.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14121" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-11T15:35:54.837" Score="31" ViewCount="10292" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regardless of why they would want to cross the road, doing so is dangerous for turtles, especially since a certain percentage of the population will try &lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/5927083/roadkill-experiment-shows-that-six-percent-of-drivers-are-sadistic-animal-killers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;to run them over.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14005/what-breed-is-this-very-large-black-turtle-tortoise-found-in-the-northeast-uni/14006#14006&quot;&gt;snapping turtles are dangerous&lt;/a&gt; enough that I am certainly not going to try and pick one up, so how would I help one get to the other side of the road without hurting it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:32:58.080" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:32:58.080" Title="How would you help a snapping turtle cross the road?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-11T16:23:11.103" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've actually driven up to a very large (more than 1 foot across) snapping turtle.  While it may not be the answer you want, you simply don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things I've tried:  This is based on actual experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lift them from behind:   While easy to run around behind them, it doesn't work.  Little known fact, they can &quot;leap&quot; very small distances, easily out of your hands. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lift them by the tail:  Risk of spinal injury for the turtle, and dangerous for you unless you have rather long arms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flip them over:  No good.  I tried prying with a 3&quot; diameter branch... can't do it.  They have &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; strong legs and it's really hard to flip them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I gave up when it snapped and broke the 3&quot; diameter branch in half.  Noting that my tibia is less than 3&quot; diameter I decided to leave nature to its thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best you can hope for is to block the road until they finish their journey.  Unfortunately they are likely to just chill and not move while you are close by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Sue reiterates in her comment, the most likely outcome of trying to help a snapping turtle is that you injure/maim the turtle.  Close after that is the likelihood that you suffer serious injury as snapping turtles can easily remove parts of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the official Wildlife Division approves: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Snapping turtles should never be picked up by their tails as this can&#xA;  damage the animal's vertebral column and tail, not to mention the&#xA;  human who is in danger of being bitten. Because snapping turtles can&#xA;  be slimy and heavy, the Wildlife Division does not recommend that&#xA;  anyone manually pick them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&amp;amp;q=469200&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Connecticut's Official State Website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2016-10-25T10:22:57.753" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T10:22:57.753" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-11T16:36:17.047" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several years ago, I helped two men move a large turtle about 1,000 feet to a stream.  They had been driving by and saw the turtle on the road, and saw me  in my driveway.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got a hand-truck and a snow shovel.  They slid the snow-shovel under the turtle and eased him onto the hand-truck. (I don't remember which end of the turtle went on the hand-truck.)  One of them held the snow shovel in position  (the turtle was at least half on the snow shovel) and walked backwards, and the other pushed the hand truck.  Fortunately, this was a little traveled road, and the route to the stream was gently downhill.  Success.  (Meanwhile, I put several cones (which we happened to have) around their car and stayed with their dogs.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if this was a snapping turtle or not, but no one wanted to find out first hand.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T16:36:17.047" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-11T18:59:44.463" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way would be to get a thick stick of suitable length and let the snapper bite it. He likely will be stubborn enough to hang on while you drag him where you want him to go.  When he is there, drop the stick and let him go on his way while you go yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11472" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T18:59:44.463" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-11T20:00:17.573" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even though I have a relatively small car, I keep long handled snow brush &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.com/ip/Subzero-50-Extendable-Crossover-Snowbroom/21881867?wmlspartner=wlpa&amp;amp;selectedSellerId=1122&amp;amp;adid=22222222227025397599&amp;amp;wl0=&amp;amp;wl1=g&amp;amp;wl2=c&amp;amp;wl3=64953360648&amp;amp;wl4=pla-91555555968&amp;amp;wl5=9024242&amp;amp;wl6=&amp;amp;wl7=&amp;amp;wl8=&amp;amp;wl9=pla&amp;amp;wl10=101593696&amp;amp;wl11=online&amp;amp;wl12=21881867&amp;amp;wl13=&amp;amp;veh=sem&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like the one pictured below&lt;/a&gt; in my car all year round. The brush end can twist to make it more like a push broom. I've shooed snakes, turtles and geese out of the road with it. Turtles snapped it, snakes bit and, and geese honked at it, but it's still standing. The brush handle is about 4.5 ft long fully extended, so I've got a good distance on the critters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RIMcY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RIMcY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Snowbrush&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer : Don't stop to save animals, and if you do and get hit, it's your choice to do so, not mine, blah blah blah yadda yadda please don't sue me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5529" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T20:00:17.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14118" CreationDate="2016-10-11T21:18:54.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three simple rules to roadkill.  If all three aren't answered yes, it is not what I would consider &quot;safe&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did you witness or cause the incident?  This is the best was to&#xA;guarantee it's fresh.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it a legal harvest? (check your states Department of Natural Resources web site)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you know how to harvest that type of animal?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a pretty straightforward and simple test that will keep you from risk (beyond the normal risks of eating wild game).  Are there ways to &quot;estimate&quot; how old a carcass is?  Sure!  Would I be tempted to use any of those methods in any situation short of starvation?  Nope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastEditorUserId="127" LastEditDate="2016-10-11T21:54:34.473" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T21:54:34.473" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-11T22:24:41.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use a shovel. Just pick it up gently and set him/her down on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11473" LastActivityDate="2016-10-11T22:24:41.830" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14128" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-12T02:22:27.333" Score="6" ViewCount="764" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cant decide whether to use a wash-in or spray-on DWR treatment to my Gore-Tex jacket (Arcteryx ZETA AR).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would rather use the NikWax TX Direct Wash-In because it'll get spread evenly throughout the jacket but wouldn't this cause sweat to bead up on the inside as well as the outside thus causing problems with breathe-ability?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or should I just use the spray-on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8212" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-10-12T06:14:46.687" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T06:14:46.687" Title="Gore-Tex: Does a wash-in DWR treatment affect breathability from the inside?" Tags="&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14129" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14135" CreationDate="2016-10-12T02:42:29.213" Score="16" ViewCount="715" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the Sierra Nevadas, a little over 8,000 feet up. There's an area in my yard that has rocks with a bright shiny sheen to them. I've seen some kind of coating on nearby plants (which doesn't seem to harm them), which I'm guessing is maybe the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some facts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's a ~30 square foot area. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain, shine, cold, hot: it always looks the same.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's not wet to the touch and doesn't rub off easily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I flip a rock over (shown), the part in the dirt doesn't have the sheen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It doesn't really make the rocks very slippery; not anymore than normal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question: what the heck is on my rocks (and plants)? I've attached a picture looking up. There's a regular douglas fir and a residential power line, but there are powerlines all over the neighborhood and douglas firs all over the yard: this doesn't show up anywhere else. And a big area of the sheen just has blue sky overhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example shiny sheen rock. The bottom of a nearby rock laid up against it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n7teJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n7teJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shiny part on right (that was exposed to the air), dull part on left that was in the dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RYzNj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RYzNj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure if it's the same stuff, but this residue is on the plants in the affected area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQnpe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQnpe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went into the middle of the area and snapped a picture looking straight up. Residential powerline overhead (~30' up), standard issue douglas firs nearby. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTDz7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTDz7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T20:18:30.187" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T07:30:05.313" Title="What is this wet/oily residue all over the rocks in my yard?" Tags="&lt;california&gt;&lt;identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14118" CreationDate="2016-10-12T02:52:18.787" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first step in deciding whether to eat the roadkill is to determine the time of death.  Forensic science to the rescue!  For deer the following steps are recommended by Hadley, et al, in their seminal work, Estimating Time of Death of Deer in Missouri; A comparison of Three Indicators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Measure the temperature in the center of muscle mass in the thigh.  Push the thermometer into the muscle to various depths and record the highest temp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For temperatures above 20 degrees F, use the following formula:&#xA;23 + (0.0215 * ambient temp in F) - (0.204 * Measured Temp) = Post Mortem Interval (Hours)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For temperatures below 20 degrees F, use the following formula:&#xA;14.6 - (0.134 * Measured Temp) = Post Mortem Interval (Hours)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this isn't precise enough for you, you can also measure pupil dilation, girth, and rigor mortis in the front leg wrist joint to get a more accurate calculation (see paper cited below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that you have an estimation of time of death, and you know the ambient temperature, you can either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A. Determine if an animal stored at that temperature for that duration is likely to be edible&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-or-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B. Chuck all this data out the window, slice off a piece, cook it up, and see if it smells off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see the full paper that this answer is based on, find it here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12719653_Estimating_Time_of_Death_of_Deer_in_Missouri_A_Comparison_of_Three_Indicators&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Estimating Time of Death of Deer in Missouri; A Comparison of Three Indicators&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: I boiled this way down.  It is only for whitetail deer that have been field dressed.  There is a table for animals that haven't been field dressed, but it needs more complex measurements.  For entertainment value only.  Don't use this on the roadkilled squirrel that looks a million years old and determine it has only been dead for 20 minutes.  There are tons of variables and probably other studies.  I have never tried this (but I am definitely going to if I get a deer or elk this year).  Not to be used by children under 18 without the supervision of and adult with a body temperature in excess of 97 degrees F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-12T12:05:57.333" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T12:05:57.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14128" CreationDate="2016-10-12T06:11:58.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you should definitely use a spray-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arcteryx themselves explicitly state not to use wash-in (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arcteryx.com/product-care.aspx?language=EN&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;product care information&lt;/a&gt;) and Gore-Tex does it implicitly by telling you to apply &quot;to the garments outer fabric&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gore-tex.com/en-us/support/washing-instructions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;washing instructions&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You already stated the reason for this: DWRs function is to keep away the moisture from the &quot;functional&quot; layer to provide better circumstances for moisture getting from the inside to the outside. From the inside it is the opposite: We want the moisture to reach this layer, so there should not be DWR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is pure speculation: I guess the makers of wash-in DWR are aware of this and probably designed their product to only or at least mainly adhere to the material of the outside of a garment. However especially the inside material can vary considerably by manufacturer and model, so even if the above is true it is hardly possible to make the wash-in target specific for all these material types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T06:11:58.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14129" CreationDate="2016-10-12T16:52:06.210" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure looks like a high gloss sealant to me.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clean the rock up and apply a high gloss concrete/masonry sealant to the other side and I bet you get a match.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or take a wire brush to they shiny side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard to believe it is a natural occurrence when the rock next to it has no shine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T16:52:06.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14129" CreationDate="2016-10-12T19:28:03.287" Score="12" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Desert Varnish&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a Wikipedia article on it right here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_varnish&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_varnish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a nutshell, Desert varnish (also known as rock varnish) is a dark, thin (usually 5 to 500 μm thick), layered veneer composed of clay minerals cemented together by oxides and hydroxides of manganese and iron.&lt;sup&gt;[1]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/abNdg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/abNdg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392883/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392883/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T19:28:03.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14136" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14138" CreationDate="2016-10-12T19:45:55.317" Score="5" ViewCount="466" Body="&lt;p&gt;REI's web page for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/766117/gregory-whitney-95-pack&quot;&gt;Gregory Whitney backpack&lt;/a&gt; lists its volume as&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;87 / 95 / 103 liter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you think this exactly mean? Does the backpack have three different ways to use with these different volumes? If so, any idea how they are different?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:27:21.803" Title="What does the three different volume specifications mean for the Gregory Whitney backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14136" CreationDate="2016-10-12T19:52:18.080" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like those the backpack comes in three sizes, &lt;strong&gt;Small&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Medium&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Large&lt;/strong&gt; and what you are seeing is the volume for each size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:27:21.803" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:27:21.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14136" CreationDate="2016-10-12T20:27:48.333" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The increase in pack height to accommodate the S, M and L torso ranges changes the capacity. You'll note the weight is also different because of the extra fabric needed. The hipbelts usually change size quite a bit also since you apparently can't have a tall torso with a skinny waist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-10-12T20:27:48.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-13T05:36:21.743" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contrary to some other answers here, you should be able to just pick it up from behind by the shell, though you need some considerable strength to do so for larger turtles.  To see this being done many many times without injury to the turtles you can view the videos of Coyote Peterson available on YouTube.  He has suffered injury from the turtles, but not while simply lifting one carefully.... he was being stupid and went inside a turtle trap full of snapping turtles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He actually has a video addressing exactly this question here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy_FM_ql03g&amp;amp;index=2&amp;amp;list=PLbfmhGxamZ83f4XpWXk1FdJw7X4H3oENK&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;STOP! Save this Turtle? (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, go behind the turtle and lift it with a hand on the right and left side of the shell where the top and bottom of it join, between the front and back legs a few inches off the ground and get it across the road in the direction it was headed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11486" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-17T13:30:49.507" LastActivityDate="2016-10-17T13:30:49.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14142" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14146" CreationDate="2016-10-13T13:52:43.453" Score="7" ViewCount="343" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently own the most basic closed cell sleeping pad that one could buy. I'd like to upgrade to a better self  inflating pad. I've narrowed it down to about two options:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/845298/rei-airrail-15-self-inflating-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;REI AirRail 1.5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rei.com/product/870759/rei-trekker-self-inflating-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;REI Trekker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first has a higher r-value, is cheaper, and is flat which may be nice when sleeping with another person. However, it's about twice as large as it doesn't fold when wrapping up. Now I'd like to take this on car camps, bike tours, and backpacking. It shouldn't be a problem on my bike as my previous pad is about the same size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when backpacking, would there be a significant disadvantage to taking the larger pad? I assume it would have to go on the outside of the pack. Would the smaller one reasonably fit in a pack? It's a pound heavier but I don't plan on going on week long hikes just yet. Is this just a question of whether I would prefer the comfort of a nice pad or the comfort of less clunky gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11490" LastActivityDate="2016-10-30T03:28:46.863" Title="Choosing a sleeping pad for camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14143" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14144" CreationDate="2016-10-13T14:11:13.403" Score="7" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems pretty clear but I would like to make sure that I don't need a license or permit to Catch and Release in Florida, in the county that I live in. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://myfwc.com/license/recreational/do-i-need-a-license/&quot;&gt;Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You do not need a recreational hunting, freshwater fishing or&#xA;  saltwater fishing license or a *Florida waterfowl, migratory bird,&#xA;  deer, turkey, snook, spiny lobster, archery season, crossbow season,&#xA;  muzzle loading season permit or management area permit if…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You hunt or freshwater fish in your county of residence on your&#xA;  homestead or the homestead of your spouse or minor child, or if you&#xA;  are a minor child hunting or freshwater fishing on the homestead of&#xA;  your parent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I can fish everywhere in my county without a license or permit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-10-13T14:14:28.907" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T18:51:01.947" Title="License Not Needed for Fishing in County of Residence" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14143" CreationDate="2016-10-13T14:35:55.827" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The section you've quoted &lt;strong&gt;does not&lt;/strong&gt; say you can fish everywhere in your home county without a license.  The exemption applies only when you are on your homestead (or your spouse's, kid's, etc.).  &lt;em&gt;Note that &quot;homestead&quot; usually has a particular legal meaning, so don't assume it's just a way of saying &quot;residence&quot; or &quot;property&quot;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you read further down &lt;a href=&quot;http://myfwc.com/license/recreational/do-i-need-a-license/&quot;&gt;the page&lt;/a&gt;, you will find the &quot;cane pole&quot; exemption (meaning no reel allowed):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You are a resident who is fishing with live or natural bait, using poles or lines &lt;strong&gt;that are not equipped with a fishing-line-retrieval mechanism&lt;/strong&gt;, and you are fishing for noncommercial purposes in your home county.  However, you must have a valid fishing license to fish by any method in a fish management area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2016-10-13T14:35:55.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14142" CreationDate="2016-10-13T15:59:57.667" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the characteristics of the pads you selected, here is what I can say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Weight&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crucial when backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1lbs 1oz (740g) is on the heavy side, but still doable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2.5 lbs (1140g) is enormous. If you put that on the outside of your pack, it could unbalance it, and pull you backward. Unless you put it at the bottom, but then you risk tearing your pad when you put your pack down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Packing size&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6.5 x 9 inches is ~10L, which fits in a pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4.75 x 21.25 inches is ~12.5L. Not much more, pretty thin so you can possible put it in the pack, but the length may be an inconvenience to fill your pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;R-value&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both are winter-capable values, depending on what the winter looks like where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4.2. Should be good down to -10C (15F)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5.6. Should be good down to -20C (0F)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Comfort&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.25&quot; (6.3mm) may make a difference, but that part is very subjective. I find 1.5&quot; (38mm) to be plenty. The shape depends on how you sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I &lt;em&gt;had&lt;/em&gt; to choose within these 2, I would not hesitate and take the AirRail 1.5. But it is still too heavy for backpacking for me, so I would probably not take it anyway, unless I needed the R-value for cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2016-10-14T14:06:02.960" LastActivityDate="2016-10-14T14:06:02.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-13T18:41:34.000" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done this once with a medium sized turtle - it was probably about 18+ inches in diameter, and I guess 40 or so pounds. I took a sweatshirt from the trunk, threw it over the turtle's rear end, and lifted - it was too heavy and awkward for me to fully lift, but I got it about an inch of the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The turtle hissed and was cranky, but it was startled enough to get moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lift, plus the general annoyance of the turtle was enough to get it moving towards the side of the road. As soon as it was on the shoulder I let go, grabbed my sweatshirt and backed away, and it went of into the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only problem I had was I think it peed on my shirt, but a wash fixed that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do this - keep an eye out for their mouth - snappers can have very, very long necks and powerful jaws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW: You should always move a turtle in the direction its already facing, never move it where you 'think' it should go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8037" LastActivityDate="2016-10-13T18:41:34.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14149" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-13T22:53:22.670" Score="10" ViewCount="490" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year, we had an assembly at school where two falconers came and talked about the craft. I thought it was amazing and the idea captivated me. But I don't quite remember all the details. He said that once you are the age of fourteen you can go to a master falconer and learn under them as an apprentice. But how does that work exactly? Is it like in the cartoon Chowder, where you live with them and they teach you school and the craft? Or do you stay where you live and just learn under them. Here are the questions I would like answered:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How old do you have to be to become an apprentice? (I'm 14 r/n)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you live with your master and school under them?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are the specific rules for California?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where do I go and what do I do to become an apprentice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11498" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-10-17T13:58:47.663" LastActivityDate="2016-10-18T22:58:52.440" Title="How to become a falconer at a young age?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3148" CreationDate="2016-10-14T01:15:44.840" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually waterproof leather or suede with wool lining would do the trick in the rain. 100% natural material. Many waterproof hiking boots are made of leather&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11499" LastActivityDate="2016-10-14T01:15:44.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14118" CreationDate="2016-10-14T03:39:43.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: if you do Something NOT-SO-SMART&amp;trade; and become ill, injured, or die...that's your choice, not my fault or responsibility. Beware of snarkcasm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there's a lot of good rules of thumb listed, the tests to be concerned with are the same as with any meat, at any time: does it smell and look edible/fresh? Length of time is a consideration, but let's get some reality into the picture. Anything killed that day (OK, probably not aliens. And if you find fish on a road, avoid them just because eating fish found on a road constitutes Something NOT-SO-SMART&amp;trade;), even if it sits out all day is usually, generally speaking, edible. In warmer weather flies laying eggs are a concern, in cooler weather, not so much. Thoroughly cooking the meat solves the flies/eggs concern, though. Meat can hang for a few days...hunters and farmers in different cultures around the world have done this for millennia. Usually gutted but, sometimes, even the innards were left in. It even allows the meat to break down a bit and improve the taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's even evidence that humans were doing things like killing mammoths, sinking the unused portion under water in a lake or pond to freeze, and revisiting the carcass the following Spring. If the innards are intact in roadkill, you want to remove them as soon as possible. It should go without saying that you want to wash the meat, keep it cool, and cook it as soon as possible. If intestines, bladder, or musk glands (on feral hogs, wild boar, or javelina for example) were crushed into the meat (we're talking really bad collision here and/or probably run over again), you should probably avoid it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ultimate modern reality check is how the world's arguably most effective special operations unit to ever exist trained its recruits going through selection. The Selous Scouts of Rhodesia had mandatory training wherein baboon carcasses were hung from poles the last 3 of 5 days that the recruits were denied rations, to show the extent to which a man could go to survive. They would then butcher and eat the rotting, maggot-infested meat by cooking or boiling it after had sat in the sun in front of them for three days. However, they would not reheat/reboil/recook such meat a second time, as rotted meat apparently becomes deadly if already cooked once and begins a second spoiling phase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I myself have eaten game that was allowed to sit out a few days (seasoning), as many hunters here in the USA have done over the years. I have even eaten wild meat that was spoiling (did not have the maggot infestation/issue though) after cooking it, in a similar manner, and am no worse for the wear. But I also do stuff like eat fresh charred scorpion off a campfire rock, and I'm not saying your average foodie is going to enjoy the experience of dining on meat that's going/gone bad and been cooked. Just that within reasonable timespans of limited spoilage, they aren't necessarily going to die (but don't do Something NOT-SO-SMART&amp;trade; just to say you ate days old roadkill, either). Doing Something NOT-SO-SMART&amp;trade;like that, is always a risk. [I'm a hunter and former infantryman who has taught emergency preparedness and survival, so risky stuff and eating things most folks wouldn't normally prepare on the stove is not probably as big a deal to me as it would be to the average person just wanting to get their waste not, want not dietary exploration on.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know the roadkill appeared that day, you are fairly safe, but environment and other issues are always 'current situation' elements to take into account. What matters in that case is not so much how many hours it has sat out, but whether or not it's mashed into pate, contaminated, or if you can stomach it. An excerpt from an article worth reading...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;There is absolutely nothing wrong with rotten meat, even it it's crawling with maggots, providing you cook it first and eat it while it's hot,&quot; asserts Sgt. Maj. Anthony White&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Ludington Daily News - Apr 27, 1977&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9s5OAAAAIBAJ&amp;amp;sjid=J0oDAAAAIBAJ&amp;amp;pg=6017%2C2502487&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Ex-Marine Says Rhodesia's Brown Beret Best in the Bush&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5689" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-14T12:35:22.270" LastActivityDate="2016-10-14T12:35:22.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14152" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-14T18:14:41.273" Score="8" ViewCount="515" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to sewing and new to pack-making.  Trying to build a lightweight pannier, since most panniers are made out of heavy cordura.  I've ordered 2 yards of a  210d Dyneema X Gridstop; (specs here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/materials.shtml&quot;&gt;Materials used in ZPacks Gear&lt;/a&gt;) and am wondering what type of needle/needle size I should use for sewing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11220" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-10-14T22:54:40.460" LastActivityDate="2016-10-14T22:54:40.460" Title="What size needle should I use with 210d Dyneema X Gridstop when sewing my own pack?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14152" CreationDate="2016-10-14T19:03:05.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The needle size depends on the size of the thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that material, you would possibly use MARA 50 (Tex 60) to get strong seams, but you can also use a Tex 40, which is already plenty strong. I would not recommend a smaller thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually use the following needles for thread size:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tex 30: needle 70/10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tex 40: needle 80/12&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tex 60: needle 90/14 or 100/16 if you have many layer to get through&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-10-14T19:03:05.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10076" CreationDate="2016-10-17T01:15:15.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I don't usually feel irritation on my grip hand from either the arrow or the fletchings. However I have felt the need to wear one occasionally when I've got that one odd handmade bow in the bunch that just loves to slap my hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I do pull a pretty strong longbow and finger pain can definitely ruin a good practice session and may even some day cost me a long sought after trophy. Because of this, a very comfortable set of finger tabs. (Rubber rather than leather) as I feel like I have slightly better control, and I believe it turns my string just a wee bit better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, my choice is for the finger tabs only. The second glove always seems to make me feel like I've got too much gear between myself and the shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11515" LastActivityDate="2016-10-17T01:15:15.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14156" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14158" CreationDate="2016-10-17T16:48:39.817" Score="4" ViewCount="1721" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reloading some cartridges, I was on the last step of crimping the bullet into the brass case, and made and mistake and the brass was compressed wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other reason for removing a bullet is if one missed a step and didn't put the powder in first. If a cartridge without powder is put into a gun and fired the primer will give it just enough power to lodge the bullet into the barrel causing a dangerous blockage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not it is possible to reuse the components, how would I remove the bullet from the cartridge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:22:04.480" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:22:04.480" Title="How do you remove a bullet from a cartridge?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14149" CreationDate="2016-10-17T21:37:49.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US you probably won't be able to become an apprentice in the traditional sense at the age of 14 as you will be legally obliged to be in school or at least educated by someone with parental responsibility. Similarly it is not usually possible to employ minors except for casual work with very few hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the fact that in the modern world a falconer is not someone retained by a feudal lord with a job for life so they are running a business and won't have a lot of spare time to train people for free, especially as even unpaid employees may attract all sorts of extra costs in terms in insurance liability etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that I wouldn't want to put you off from something which has genuinely inspired you. I would suggest that you learn as much as you can about the subject via books and the internet (don't forget books). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also find out of there are any falconers local to you, many carefree will be very happy to help young enthusiasts as far as they can, especially if they can show that they really do care about the subject. Here you may need to be gently persistent but I would be surprised if you can't find a master falconer who doesn't respond well to genuine enthusiasm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are 14 you will also need to get your parents/guardians on side as they will probably need to give permission for any training you can get ect and you may need to demonstrate that you can handle your schoolwork at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that traditional apprenticeships always included a lot of dull tedious work so you need to be ready for that in one form or another either directly or indirectly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-10-17T21:37:49.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14156" CreationDate="2016-10-17T22:11:08.577" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can't break it free with pliers where you've added some kind of protection against the teeth (rags, etc) gouging the bullet, you are left with either a collet puller (top) that goes in your press or hammer style puller (bottom).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ut9dP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ut9dP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3jMG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3jMG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2016-10-17T22:11:08.577" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14149" CreationDate="2016-10-17T22:36:06.490" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the answer of @Chris Johns, especially about getting your parents on your side and the need to handle schoolwork and the dedication you will need to attract a sponsor.  And, as @David said in his comment, you will have to clean cages to prove yourself.   Now for some details of what is required in California.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.calhawkingclub.org/index.php/falconry-apprenticeship/steps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;The California Hawking Club&lt;/a&gt; lists eight steps to become a falconer.  The steps are in chronological order. What follows is summarized or quoted from this article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you must pass a falconry exam.  The article directs you to the materials you will need to study.  This exam appears to be akin to the exam one has to pass to get a driver's learner's permit -- bookwork, no hands-on experience required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, get a hunting license, for which you must have taken a &quot;gun hunter safety course&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, get a sponsor. I quote this section in its entirety:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An applicant to be an apprentice must be sponsored by a third-year&#xA;  general or master falconer. Once you're a CHC member and have passed&#xA;  the falconry exam, the California Hawking Club Apprentice Chairs will&#xA;  assist you in contacting potential sponsors (the State does not help&#xA;  you in this regard). This is just one of several excellent reasons to&#xA;  join the California Hawking Club. Unless you are fortunate enough to&#xA;  know a master or general falconer willing to sponsor you, you will end&#xA;  up talking to one of the California Hawking Club's Apprentice Chairmen&#xA;  for the name of candidate sponsors. Those candidate sponsors come from&#xA;  the ranks of the California Hawking Club. They are not obligated to be&#xA;  a sponsor. You must establish that relationship, and being a&#xA;  California Hawking Club member is an important step of that process.&#xA;  Sponsors are looking for apprentices that have done their homework,&#xA;  passed their test, have their hunting license, follow directions, love&#xA;  hawks and are willing to hunt with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the remaining steps, you will be guided by your sponsor, although you will have to do a lot of work yourself.  One of the steps is acquiring equipment, which will probably mean earning and saving money and convincing people who give you gifts to give you what they think are rather odd things, such as Alymeri jesses (?!).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article appears to be an excellent resource, but I don't have the knowledge to make an informed judgment as to whether it tells you everything you need to know to get started.  The major omission I see in this article is that it does not tell you how to learn how to train your hawk.  I assume -- but assumptions are dangerous -- that your sponsor helps you in this, and that the California Hawking Club may also. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just noticed the comment of @Rastafarian referencing this article. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum:&lt;/strong&gt;  See also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.n-a-f-a.com/?page=What_is_Falconry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;North American Falconers Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Falconry is not an &quot;overnight&quot; achievement. Becoming a Master falconer&#xA;  takes at least seven years; finishing your apprenticeship alone will&#xA;  take at least two. Your hawk requires a significant amount of time,&#xA;  every day, 365 days a year, and a bird in training requires&#xA;  substantially more time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope that someone who knows falconry first hand will provide an answer.  Meanwhile, gear yourself up to do a thorough internet search, a lot of reading, and find some cages to clean.  Learning the elements of carpentry is also a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-10-18T22:58:52.440" LastActivityDate="2016-10-18T22:58:52.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14156" CreationDate="2016-10-18T14:40:06.137" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14156/how-do-you-remove-a-bullet-from-a-cartridge/14158#14158&quot;&gt;topshot has a good answer&lt;/a&gt; on how to separate the slug from the brass.  Brass is designed to be reused, which is why reloading exists. Bullets/slugs are designed to be used once. Reusing the brass as long as it still meets expectations is fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you reuse a bullet where the brass was damaged enough to make it unusable, you will be betting your life and others that the bullet was not damaged similarly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bullet you are attempting to save is worth a few cents or tens of dollars, it is import that it work as designed.  I searched and could not find anyone suggesting that reusing a bullet was a good idea.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Save a life, don't reuse any parts from a reload failure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-10-18T14:40:06.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14161" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14165" CreationDate="2016-10-18T15:28:36.737" Score="4" ViewCount="345" Body="&lt;p&gt;My standard procedure when hunting is to hunt with a round in the chamber, safety on and as soon as the day is over or while getting into a vehicle to remove the bullet from the chamber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can happen a lot since it's not unusual to go several days without firing a shot, does chambering the round over and over again result in a loss of accuracy compared to a round that has only been chambered once? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:21:45.343" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:21:45.343" Title="Does chambering a round multiple times degrade its accuracy?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14163" CreationDate="2016-10-18T19:16:05.253" Score="4" ViewCount="358" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which color of these Swim Goggles would be easiest to spot in/ on warm coastal ocean water?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01GBEAD14&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aqua Sphere Kayenne Swim Goggles&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: This is not a shopping question (I'm already planning to buy, just need Color Contrast and visibility question for Coastal Ocean water - from people who understand such waters). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the reasons I posted the following question, was that a large part of beginners lesson (still learning) was hampered by &quot;sand particles&quot; that got lodged in my eyes, and the water burning/ aggravating the eyes and my patience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10738/any-swim-goggles-that-may-be-beneficial-for-a-surfer&quot;&gt;Any swim goggles that may be beneficial for a surfer?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The side benefit is I could use these for Pool Swimming, Open water swim lessons, duck diving lessons, and various other water sports &amp;amp; related activities, if I ever need to/ want to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do understand that these are not a permanent solution for a surfer or wind surfer or major water sports, but I'd rather pick the one that has a better visibility if/ when ever they're lost in ocean (or non ocean) water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What color(s) would be easiest to spot in warm coastal waters?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6659" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:05:25.673" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:05:25.673" Title="Which color of these Swim Goggles would be easiest to spot in/ on warm coastal ocean water?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;swim-goggles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14162" CreationDate="2016-10-18T20:03:46.620" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In water, during the day, darker colors are easier to see. The very differing contrast will help to spot the goggles if they are dropped onto the sand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &lt;strong&gt;ocean colors&lt;/strong&gt; tend to be &lt;strong&gt;beige, green-blue, dark green, grey&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;whites&lt;/strong&gt;. You don't want anything that might blend with these type of colors, so avoid said colors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Black&lt;/strong&gt; and unusual neon colors like &lt;strong&gt;pink, red, orange,&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;yellow&lt;/strong&gt; will be easier to see.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;red&lt;/strong&gt; contrasts with &lt;strong&gt;green&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;yellow&lt;/strong&gt; contrasts with &lt;strong&gt;purple&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;orange&lt;/strong&gt; with &lt;strong&gt;blue&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And with the sandy sea floor, unless it is dark rocks, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the black will contrast with the sand &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the red will help to contrast with any algae or plant life. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were you, I'd buy the &lt;strong&gt;black&lt;/strong&gt; with the &lt;strong&gt;red highlight&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11156" LastEditorUserId="11156" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T17:56:26.663" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T17:56:26.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14161" CreationDate="2016-10-19T00:16:12.207" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If chambering a round deforms or otherwise mars the bullet, it may have a decrease in accuracy. Even a damaged case can change the point of impact for very long range shots.  Also, accuracy is a relative term.  Anything that varies the variables from those present when you shoot from your benchrest conditions will change the point of impact and therefore &quot;accuracy&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking at &quot;Minute of Elk&quot; accuracy out too 300-400 yards (meaning good enough for shooting an elk at that distance under hunting conditions and keeping the bullet in the vitals), then it is unlikely that rechambering a round will have any significant impact.  If you are shooting 1,000 yard elk from a prone position or other similar high-accuracy styles of hunting, then you are in a different definition of accuracy and I wouldn't do anything that might change any variable from my benchrest shooting, and that includes cycling a bullet through the gun multiple times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important factor is bolt versus semi-auto (ignoring lever, pump, and other actions as they are much less common).  Bolt guns are gentler on the rounds and often the round is guided into the chamber with very little contact with the throat of the barrel.  On magazine fed semi-autos, the bullet feed ramps can mar the bullet a little, especially because releasing the bolt into the bullet is a much more forceful action and the feed ramps are designed for ensuring cycling under a wide variety of conditions.  Here, multiple chamberings can have an effect on the bullet quickly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a .300 Win Mag Nemo Omen like this one, and have to cycle the rounds in when I am out hunting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fC6MV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fC6MV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nemo Omen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My practice is to keep that same one round rechambering each time I go out, but the other rounds in the magazine I leave pristine.  If I take a quick snap shot with the round in the magazine, it is because the elk are close (&amp;lt;300 yards) and the round's problems are probably not going to drive me out of that 18 inch circle of vitals.  If it is farther out to where I have time and need to make a more precise shot, I will eject that top round.  This has the added advantage of chambering the round just like I do in benchrest conditions.  I let the charging handle fly free to seat the round, then I am going to immediately fire it.  It hasn't been bumping along all day where minute changes of pressure on the bolt might change how the round sits in the throat of the barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I do to help preserve the surface of the bullet as it enters the throat of the barrel is to hand-load the round rather than let it be stripped from the magazine.  The round can also be damaged when the ejector throws it out, especially if you are shooting plastic tipped (ballistic tipped) bullets as the plastic is really easy to damage.  This makes the top round loaded in a way that doesn't duplicate my benchrest technique, but that top round is for shorter shots anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-10-19T00:16:12.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14161" CreationDate="2016-10-19T00:29:16.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It turns out that repeatedly chambering a round should be avoided, not because of accuracy, but for safety reasons. When a bullet is repeatedly chambered, it can cause what is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/a-very-serious-setback/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;set-back&lt;/a&gt; where the bullet is pushed further and further into the brass case. This can cause &lt;a href=&quot;http://massreloading.com/setback.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;higher pressures&lt;/a&gt; than the gun is designed for and that is dangerous. The type of firearm and round play a role in how likely this is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not sure what the safe number of rechamberings is, as the problem is most often seen by people who do it often, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.policeone.com/police-products/firearms/accessories/articles/82475-Common-sense-duty-ammunition-rotation/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;police&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=130&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;people who conceal carry&lt;/a&gt;. However, I would prefer not to find out, so it seems like a good idea to either rotate the ammo or use it for target practice at the end of the season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-10-19T00:29:16.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4708" CreationDate="2016-10-19T02:05:49.007" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First I use the trick of wringing out the excess water with a ultralight packable towel. Then I strap them to my ridge line in my hammock just above where my legs are. The heat coming off my body, even in the cold a little bit, seems to dry out the socks a little bit. In cold and noise weather, I make sure I have the ability to rotate clothing, but there are limits to that due to risks of hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11523" LastActivityDate="2016-10-19T02:05:49.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14176" CreationDate="2016-10-19T06:09:30.287" Score="7" ViewCount="850" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went for a few hikes in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Canaria&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gran Canaria&lt;/a&gt;. The trails were perfectly signposted and everything. My beautiful experience was a little bit disturbed by the sheer amount of stone piles everywhere. You couldn't walk anywhere without seeing 5 - 15 of these piles! This made me angry (bad for the ecosystem and a violation of the leave-no-trace concept) and wonder why people do this? What is the purpose of them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Fi61.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Fi61.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get me wrong, even if the answer is rather emotional it is a welcome response. So answers like &quot;they do it just for fun&quot; or &quot;they do it for Cthulhu&quot; are perfectly valid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit for clarification:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that people often use stone-piles instead of wooden signposts etc. to mark the trail and that's not a problem at all. However, signpost-stone-piles are pretty rare. They appear here and there where you have to turn or take a specific direction. You barely see one per km. That's not what my question is about! Check out the picture. The sheer amount of them is ridiculous! In this mass they obviously don't serve the purpose to just mark the right way to go. You see &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; 30 of them per km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T01:18:15.053" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T18:17:59.560" Title="What's the purpose of the huge amount of stone piles on the trails in Gran Canaria" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14170" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-19T19:16:35.983" Score="14" ViewCount="1294" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes while camping in forests, there will be dead trees around, or in forests where there was a fire, a high percentage of the trees will be dead. While it is not extremely likely that a tree will fall on you while sleeping, it has happened, with fatal results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If moving out of the forest is not an option, how would you assess the likelihood of an individual tree to fall in order to be able to pick the safest spot to camp, if not necessarily perfectly safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the cases that I am thinking of, moving outside of the forest would put one at risk of lightning and/or weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures of the areas that I am thinking of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/630DN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/630DN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b7FNv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b7FNv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tdRcW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tdRcW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T01:50:31.740" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T01:50:31.740" Title="How to assess the likelihood of a tree falling in a forest?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4708" CreationDate="2016-10-19T22:19:31.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A key part of the answer is to wear socks that dry more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of my life I've never really questioned the superiority of Merino loop socks such as the SmartWool PHDs. But I've begun to realise that once they get wet they are slow to dry and unpleasant to put on when cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So recently I've been experimenting with Bridgeport CoolMax synthetic liner socks. It's been an eye-opener. Much lighter than loop socks, so you can save weight or carry more pairs for the same weight. Comfortable when wet, and dry very quickly by body-heat on the foot. I can't emphasise this enough - thin socks dry &lt;strong&gt;much&lt;/strong&gt; more quickly than looped wool socks. And they are much less unpleasant to put on when cold and damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are pretty durable. And much to my surprise, the stink factor is no worse than Merino. I thought I'd miss the padding, but I haven't noticed any negative effect. And not so much as a hot-spot since I switched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you use lightweight footwear you can build a system around them. You can layer them in the cold (with a vapour barrier between layers in wet cold). Or you can wear a single pair in the heat. And with a single pair, you get more room in the shoe to add a removable rockplate for gnarly going or a thin impact-absorbing insole for road walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here's my drying strategy now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I carry 3 or 4 pairs and change them often to refresh my feet. In dry weather, I hang the spares on my pack to air, and it's very quick to wash them as you pass a stream.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For short periods of rain, I'll keep a dry pair or two back to change into when the sun returns&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For long periods of rain I'll dry them in the evening by wringing them in my towel. If it's warm I'll just hang them up in the shelter - they may still be damp in the morning but putting them on is not particularly unpleasant and they'll dry quickly on my feet. If it's cold and I fancy warm socks in the morning, I simply wear a pair under my sleeping socks. They warm up in moments and are soon dry. This doesn't seem to damp out the down of my quilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'm a convert! Let me know how you get on if you give this a try...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cc7MN.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cc7MN.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2016-10-19T22:19:31.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14170" CreationDate="2016-10-20T01:01:32.340" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few suggestions for reducing the likelihood of an incident:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleep in clearings&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid the forest during heavy winds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid sleeping under large branches&lt;/strong&gt;: even when the tree looks healthy. I have witnessed the aftermath of century old drought-stressed but otherwise healthy California live oaks losing giant branches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;heavy snow load&lt;/strong&gt; increases the likelihood of branches breaking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use common sense&lt;/strong&gt;: don't sleep near dead or leaning trees. Don't stand or sleep next to trees while they are being cut down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2016-10-21T01:35:32.923" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T01:35:32.923" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14121" CreationDate="2016-10-20T01:06:28.893" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this question has been protected, but since I was invited in a comment to post an answer, especially about things that we shouldn't do, I'm going to add this. There is some great, as well as some very dangerous, advice in the existing answers and comments. Although this answer will have some redundancy with those, I'm not trying to take credit away or represent anyone else's advice or research as my own. Also, any criticism isn't personal, but based on advice from experts and research I trust. If this is unwanted, or doesn't contribute anything of value, let me know and I'll delete it!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, obviously nobody's perfect, and there are many times people safely help turtles cross using less than ideal methods. Some of those are included in the sources I've referenced. It's never better to just leave it there to get run over!! However, especially now that I've done so much reading on the subject, my advice will err on the side of caution!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here goes.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I volunteer for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massachusetts Audubon Society&lt;/a&gt;, and have had lengthy discussions with their &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpetology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;herpetologist&lt;/a&gt; (reptile specialist). I also spoke with the experts at &lt;a href=&quot;https://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tufts Wildlife Center&lt;/a&gt;, a world-renowned research, rescue and rehabilitation center, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turtlerescueleague.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turtle Rescue League&lt;/a&gt;, the snapping turtle department at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tortoise Trust&lt;/a&gt;, and the Massachusetts State Herpetologist. Also, for years we had a pet &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northeast Painted turtle&lt;/a&gt; which my husband rescued as a hatchling, so I consulted with the herpetologist who cared for him. I've also read numerous online sources. Along with the good, a lot of information out there is either wrong, misleading, or only meant for professionals, so I've been admonished to read sources very carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why is the large snapper in the road?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the large snapper in the road is a male who's helping find a nesting site, but most frequently it's a mother who's either going to, or from, that nesting site. It happens primarily twice a year, in the spring and the fall. She lives and breeds in the water in a swampy area, but lays the eggs in sandy soil quite a distance away, sometimes as far as 10 miles (16km). It's not her fault that humans have built roads in between!  Once the eggs are laid, the mother travels back and forth many times, along the exact same route, during the lengthy incubation period (as long as 80-90 days). Turtles in the road are on a mission, and sometimes carrying eggs, so protecting them is vital. Obviously, safety is important to you, which is why you asked the question! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As for basking, my sources say it's unusual. Unlike some other turtles, snappers prefer to bask with most of the body under water, and always in an area where they feel safe. Dry hot sun above, hot pavement below, and noise all around make street-basking less comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should I do?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep it protected, safe, and try not to touch it. The snapper is the one turtle that lay-people should never attempt to pick up.  Walk behind or even straddle it. That will cause it to move, or keep it moving. Since snappers almost always walk in a straight line, you don't have to worry about them darting around like other animals, and finishing the crossing doesn't take that long. Snappers are shy in general, and don't chase people. Aggression is a defense mechanism. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure it ends up in the direction it was going. This is mandatory! Never turn it sideways, or around so it's facing the road. If it gets turned around, it will get confused enough to go back into the road, which defeats the purpose! To make sure it's headed in the right direction, watch it walk all the way off the road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always keep it on the path it chose. Don't ever send or lead the turtle to an area away from where you found it, even if it looks to you like a &quot;better place.&quot; The same breeding spots are used for years in a row (it's called &quot;nest site fidelity&quot;) and the turtle knows where it is. Also, the turtle has a &quot;home range&quot; and if it gets lost, it may stop eating and just wander listlessly. Straying out of the home range also increases the risk of spreading diseases to other wild turtles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why shouldn't I lift it?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snapper is built a bit differently than some other turtles, and is more fragile than it looks. Some basic facts about anatomy can help us understand why certain methods should be chosen or avoided. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9ycLj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9ycLj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5fcBtm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5fcBtm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture on the left (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arkive.org/common-snapping-turtle/chelydra-serpentina/image-G136275.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;) is a common snapper. The one on the right (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arkive.org/yellow-bellied-slider-turtle/trachemys-scripta/image-G109355.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;) is a common yellow-bellied slider. Also, an excellent illustration of a snapper top and bottom can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The top shell is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_shell#Carapace&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carapace&lt;/a&gt;, and the bottom shell, also called the underbelly, is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_shell#Plastron&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;plastron&lt;/a&gt;.  They're both part of the spine, and are bones. They're joined together on the sides of the midsection. That junction is not as wide as most other turtles. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you can see, the snapper has a smaller and softer plastron than some other breeds, leaving the belly and internal organs more vulnerable. It's also covered with something called papillae, which help increase oxygen uptake. Those need protecion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The shell breaks easily when lifted, bent, or when significant pressure is applied either from above or below. If that happens, it almost always breaks other sections of the body along with it, and the turtle dies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tail is almost the length of the body, and is fused to the spine the entire way. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tail is a powerful weapon and can thrash sideways almost the full length of the body on either side.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The neck is almost the length of the body, and can reach the whole way around, with the exception of where the tail is attached, and high enough to protect the whole top of the shell. There is no safe place for your hands. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snappers are one of the few turtles that can't quite fit the head all the way into the shell. That lack of ability to retreat is part of why they snap.  It's a defense mechanism. It's also why you almost always get to see the face, while other turtles can hide theirs. (I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think the face is gorgeous!!) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What if I really have or want to move it? What shouldn't I do?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never &quot;use&quot; the tail. Don't lift, drag or raise it by the tail, not even just a few inches. Doing so will almost always break the back, damage internal organs, or both. You may not know it at the time, but even if it gets to the other side, it's already in pain and will likely become paralyzed. If it doesn't die, it will be weakened and more vulnerable to prey. If it's a female, she'll also be unable to complete the cycle of caring for her babies, and if she's carrying eggs, they'll die. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never lift it by any part of the top of the shell. Remember that the whole body is connected to it, and even the largest and strongest snappers are likely to break in half. Even a sectional or edge-only break puts the whole life in danger. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never lift at the junction of the carapace and the plastron. This is okay with other turtles but not the snapper. It can hurt the back and belly. Plus, a full grown snapper can, and will if it's agitated, reach its head around and take off your hands! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never lift it more than a few inches off the ground. It makes it nervous. No matter what method you use, don't put it in a position where it may thrash around and fall. As we know, if humans are holding something that starts wiggling and thrashing, our instinct is to drop it. Keeping the turtle close to the ground can prevent that.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never pull it using something in the mouth. It's bad for the neck and back, and dangerous for the person doing the pulling. In a tug-of-war with a snapper, the turtle always wins! In the process it gets injured, or injures you. If you're too close, it may drop it and grab your arm instead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never drag/push it by the belly. As I said, it has exposed organs, a soft carapace, and is extremely delicate. There are times that relocation involves some contact with the underbelly, but keeping that to a minimum is best for the turtle, and gentleness is essential.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to stay away from the front end. Putting something like a stick in its mouth, even without dragging, can backfire. However, laying a smooth-edged stick (or handle of a broom or shovel) sideways on the ground in front can give it something to lunge for and grab onto if you're bothering it in back. Sometimes a relocation method requires some attention to the front, but keep as much of a distance as possible, and move away quickly. When it snaps, it's fast and hard! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't lift/pull it by the legs. Never pull on the front legs. You can gently sneak under the back legs to use one of the relocation methods, but avoid pulling. Don't pick up the back end and push it, wheelbarrow-style, using the front legs to walk across the road. If you've seen that online, ignore it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't &quot;shove&quot; it from behind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't scoop it onto something like a shovel unless it's level and large enough to hold the entire body. Keep the turtle from being bent. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never scoop it onto something and shove, throw or toss it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never flip it over. It's susceptible to injury, and once you've exposed the neck and those huge legs, so are you! If it's a female with eggs, you'll put them in jeopardy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never ever turn it upside down and lie it along your arm. If you've seen pictures of that, ignore them. The animal is always a smaller size or not a true snapper. It's also frequently drugged, or with a professional who knows it well enough to let it relax there for a minute.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What can I safely do?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the guidelines above, there are a few safe ways to help it get to the other side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's best if you have two people. ab2's method was the most highly is recommended, as long as she can't slip off either the shovel or the hand truck, or whatever similar things you choose. This method fulfills the most important criteria. It's fast and keeps her straight, fully supported, low to the ground, and least likely to get spooked. (Ideally, she should be fully on one or the other, but her size generally precludes that.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're alone, the best advice is to give the turtle a bit of a nudge. Stay behind it, and always use something blunt, like the front of your shoe, or a soft stick. Shoving or poking can injure or anger her, so do it gently and try to stay on either side of the tail. In general, don't use something wide, like a broom, as it's hard to control. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although most people don't, if you have a large enough cardboard box you can trap the turtle. This method is safe for both of you. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turtle-trap.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turtle Traps&lt;/a&gt; exist, but are used mostly by people who have snappers in their yard.)  If it won't walk, use the nudge method to encourage it to go in. Slide the box across the road and gently get the turtle out. Remember again to make sure it's facing the correct way when you release it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can take a floor mat out of your car, slide it underneath the turtle and move it gently, being careful not to scrape. My herpetologists say that's effective and generally safe for the turtle, if you can get the mat underneath. Starting from the back, inch it gently under until at least most of the body is on. Then turn the mat around and drag by the back end of the mat until you get to the other side. (Don't lift.) Immediately turn it back around so the turtle's facing the correct way, and gently inch it off the mat. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In an emergency or you really have no other choice, you can put your hands under the carapace (not the body) at the back end, one on each side of the tail, and lift it. Only raise it a little bit, and tilt it up at enough of an angle so it doesn't fall forward. Very quickly get it to a safe place and gently set it down. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should we do when it's safe on the other side and headed in the right direction?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wish it a happy and safe day!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be glad that you saved the life of this and future generations of turtles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thank anyone who helped you or stopped traffic while you helped the turtle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathe a sigh of relief that you didn't get hurt!  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where can I learn more about snapping turtles and relocation?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are lots of sources for good information. Read carefully and if you see or read something that goes against what most of them are saying, don't do it! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you see or read something that says it should only be done by professionals, don't do it! (Professionals can be reached by calling your local wildlife animal rescue center or your government's department of animal control.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be careful what you watch on YouTube. For instance, Coyote Peterson slips small pieces of good advice in with his dangerous activity, so it's easy to be fooled. (Of note, the video in ttbek's answer has a disclaimer that Coyote and his crew are professionally trained and receive assistance from professionals in their filming.) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some good choices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tortoise Trust&lt;/a&gt; has some excellent pages dedicated to snapping turtles.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chelydra.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chelydra.org&lt;/a&gt; also has many different pages dedicated to the snapping turtle, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_trapping_and_relocation.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turtlerescueleague.com/turtle-in-road&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turtle Rescue League&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turtleconservationfund.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turtle Conservation Fund&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/reptiles-amphibians/turtles/turtle-species-in-massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mass Audubon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tufts Wildlife Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/rare-reptiles-and-amphibians/turtle-frequently-asked-questions.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.incredibleworld.ca/index.php/incrediblespecies/snappingturtle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Incredible World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arkive.org/common-snapping-turtle/chelydra-serpentina/image-G136611.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildscreen Arkive&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&amp;amp;selectedElement=ARAAB01010&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minnesota Department of Natural Resources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metroparks.net/blog/caution-turtle-crossing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metro Parks, Westerville, Ohio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&amp;amp;q=469200&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection&lt;/a&gt; (A section of this page was quoted by OddDeer in Russell Steen's excellent answer.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ncturtlerescueteam.org/common-snapping-turtle/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NC Turtle Rescue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-23T18:26:50.430" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T18:26:50.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14168" CreationDate="2016-10-20T01:48:44.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;rock cairns&lt;/a&gt; and are used to mark tracks.&#xA;Various tracks around the world use them in place where the track might not be so clear or easy to follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some other places, it's just tourists being tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ben Nevis in Scotland has a few cairns to mark the track close to the top where it might have snow some times of the year and the track is not so visible. Also in Scotland, there is a road with lots of cairns everywhere like the pic above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T01:54:30.770" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T01:54:30.770" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14175" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14177" CreationDate="2016-10-20T03:28:28.250" Score="4" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of Lowa Tibet Pro GTX (Nubuk leather and Gore-Tex Lined) and am wondering what conditioning creme I should use besides the stuff that Lowa sells as I generally like to buy from dedicated care companies such as Nikwax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I am thinking of currently purchasing to take care of my boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To clean boots before water proofing - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=85&amp;amp;itemid=-1&amp;amp;fabricid=-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nikwax Footwear Cleaning Gel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproofing - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=77&amp;amp;itemid=-1&amp;amp;fabricid=-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Nikwax Nubuk &amp;amp; Suede Proof&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conditioning - ?????&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nikwax has the Conditioner for Leather &lt;a href=&quot;http://nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=88&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; but it does not say anything about using on Nubuk leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I am looking for&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A Nubuk Leather Conditioner without beeswax as my boots are Gore-Tex lined&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions would be great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thankyou&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I emailed Nikwax about their Conditioner for Leather product and got this response:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many thanks for your enquiry.&#xA;  We do not have a conditioner specifically for the use on Nubuck and Suede. Our Conditioner for Leather is for the use on smooth leather and will smooth out the appearance of nubuck and suede which is why it is not recommended for that use. It will condition nubuck and suede but it will change the cosmetic appearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So will need advice on another brand if anyone is in on the 'know-how'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8212" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:22:20.470" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:22:20.470" Title="Sources of Nubuk (Gore-Tex lined) Leather Conditioner" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14168" CreationDate="2016-10-20T03:37:18.990" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think that there is really a better answer to why than &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/6411/ab2&quot;&gt;ab2's&lt;/a&gt; comment that people are copying the existing ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for what to do about it, that looks like an awful lot of them, but if found in a small group in a wilderness area, well accidents do happen and gravity is a thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T03:37:18.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14175" CreationDate="2016-10-20T09:34:00.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Altberg &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altberg.co.uk/leder-gris/product/leder-bok/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Leder-bok&lt;/a&gt; is the product for you, all their bootcare stuff is designed for modern leathers and materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3422" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T09:34:00.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14178" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14181" CreationDate="2016-10-20T13:07:47.097" Score="10" ViewCount="2372" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why are climbing shoes a slightly tighter than the regular mountaineering shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:51:31.860" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:51:31.860" Title="Why are climbing shoes usually a slightly tighter than the usual mountaineering shoes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14170" CreationDate="2016-10-20T13:20:15.790" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would also consider a few things: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;actual weather for the following night: heavy storms and strong winds may break even healthy branches, not to mention the dry ones&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;terrain + state of the soil on which the camping would be: very dry/cracked soil + steep terrain would increase the chance of dry trees falling down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how dense is the forest. If one dry tree falls, the other trees might slow it down while falling, so it would not reach such a deadly speed to crush you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once it happened that we were camping in the middle of a pine tree forest: weather was clear, no wind... After waking up we found a 20 meter long pine tree fallen down right between two tents. We had sheer luck for the tree falling in the &quot;right&quot; angle + being slowed down by the other trees around it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T13:20:15.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14180" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14222" CreationDate="2016-10-20T13:44:26.647" Score="6" ViewCount="1925" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an early 1970's Sunfish with the old style DePersia Bailer &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=JuEDAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA69&amp;amp;lpg=PA69&amp;amp;dq=DePersia+Bailer&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=tb8AwI2MH0&amp;amp;sig=fdbQMUKcW33FJrFldwHc4V-O3cg&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj99cCVv-nPAhUE8CYKHfxODq4Q6AEITDAI#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=DePersia%20Bailer&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ad from 1957&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0VsNR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0VsNR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plug is missing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Msq5s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Msq5s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have searched and it appears the old style old style DePersia Bailer&#xA; is no longer made, the only source for replacement parts are salvage if you can find them. Several options exist for entire replacement bailers made of plastic. It appears (not conclusive) parts from the new style plastic one WILL NOT work in the old metal ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sailed sunfish all summer, without using the self bailer feature once.  I am looking for plug that I can use in the place of the bailer plug. I measured the plug hole, it seems to be about 1 inch or 7/8 of inch.  I tried using a 1 inch snap lock drain plug, it is slightly to big. The only other size of this I found was 1/2 inch.  I am not sure nor do I have the tools to measure the exact size of the opening nor thread count. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aJlhO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aJlhO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have also tried the 7/8 inch rubber bailer plug and it will not fit in the threaded opening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9WXWa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9WXWa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking for a solutions to plug the existing drain hole without replacing the entire bailer unit.  Preference is an easily removable plug but would consider one that requires tools to screw in and out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Size info&lt;/strong&gt; I found this post about the  DePersia Bailer &lt;a href=&quot;http://sailingforums.com/threads/73-sunfish-plug-parts-questions.13622/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trouble is most of today’s plumbing fittings have tapered thread (NPT - \ / ) and the bailer is a straight thread 1-5/16 long, 7/8x14tpi ( | | ) – not a match.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-10-22T15:35:23.510" LastActivityDate="2021-01-21T00:18:09.883" Title="Drain plug replacement for DePersia Bailer on Sunfish Sailboat" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14178" CreationDate="2016-10-20T14:05:04.953" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing shoes need to be extremely tight* because they frequently have to support a lot of weight on extremely tiny footholds, often on the tip of the toes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C712s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C712s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any free space inside the shoe could cause the shoe to deform (more) and slip off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*: putting on the shoes should not be painful right away, but you can't get optimal performance with shoes that are comfortable to wear for hours and walk around in. It may of course be sensible to sacrifice some performance when you need to wear the shoes longer, e.g. on multipitch climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2016-10-22T12:27:50.917" LastActivityDate="2016-10-22T12:27:50.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14178" CreationDate="2016-10-20T14:31:29.910" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two reasons really&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Feel&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to be able to feel what your standing on, how you foot moves, is it gripping, etc. This also aids precision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Compression allows you to put more weight though your toes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try and stand on one toe without anything on your feet. Impossible right? Now this is the kind of thing climbers need to do all the time. So if you bind all the toes together (in a tight fitting shoe) then you can do this. This is because all the toes can work on one point at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I like to use an example&lt;/strong&gt;, open you hand so your fingers are sprayed apart:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NdRVT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NdRVT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;press with your other hand on one finger upwards, you can't press very hard without it moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now compress your fingers as though they are in tight fitting shoes: bend your fingers and press them together tightly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/22cSW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/22cSW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;now press on one finger, the weight is distributed though the other fingers and you can press a LOT harder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same principal with your feet. The sum is greater than it's individual parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T14:41:49.160" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T14:41:49.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14188" CreationDate="2016-10-20T16:54:08.717" Score="8" ViewCount="1132" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have bought a ultralight travel hammock and now I need to buy a rope to hang it. My weight is about 200 pounds (90 kg) and I want to have the lightest ropes to support my weight, but I'm confused with multiple materials, rope widths and lengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the question is which is the lightest rope I have to buy to complete my ultralight hammock system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11530" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-21T00:29:20.447" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T00:29:20.447" Title="Which kind of rope should I buy to make an ultralight hammock suspension system?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14170" CreationDate="2016-10-20T18:23:46.933" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You asked about access the tree. Inspect it. Push on it. Look for bugs. Knock on it - if it sounds hollow that is not good.  Try and break off limbs - if they break easy that is not good.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you cannot find a spot in a clearing then look for protection like large rocks or fallen trees. If you have climbing gear you could tie it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T18:23:46.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14170" CreationDate="2016-10-20T18:24:55.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To best assess the likelihood of a tree falling or a large branch/limb take the following considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How healthy do the trees look?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might seem obvious but actually take a close look. Does the tree look like it is in a good upright position? Does it sway wildly with even the slightest breeze? Do the roots appear to be fully in the ground?  Does the outside of the tree look like it is leaking any fluid? If so, does the area around it look normal (i.e. no blackish areas or cracking)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are important factors. A tree that leans to one side obviously has it's center of gravity offset. This could lead to the tree uprooting itself. If the tree is very bulky and doesn't allow the wind to freely move through it, this can drag branches and limbs, which may result in a limb or branch falling off. Walk around the tree and ensure there are no roots that appear to be coming out of the ground. I don't mean ones that you simply can see in the soil, but if it appears the roots are literally rising up out of the ground, this can be a bad sign meaning lots of erosion and loose soil. Finally, if the tree looks like something may be eating it or that it might have a disease, avoid this. These things can make the tree weak at its joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How healthy is the soil?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ensure the ground isn't easily broken up. Nice firm, but not too firm, soil will keep the tree firmly in the ground.  If the soil is like sand or mushy like a marsh, this could result in the tree uprooting itself due to wind or too much water in the soil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there lots of branches, twigs, limbs, and other trees that look like they have fallen?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a quick look around. Does the area look like it is prone to things falling off the tree or actual trees falling over? If so better find a more suitable area. If the area looks clean and maybe only leaves have fallen around, you're probably safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the weather forecast?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although rain and storms can happen at a moments notice, before you go camping take as many precautions to avoid high winds and rain. Probably pretty obvious this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If one or more of these factors still doesn't affect you, where can you place a tent with the least likelihood of a tree falling?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point it's simply gambling, which is your choice. Again scope out the area. If it looks like trees all fall in one direction, think about where you could place your tent. If in the case a tree does fall, where would you be safe? Is the wind moving in the same direction that it appears the trees fall? That probably means it gets pretty windy and the wind has the ability to push trees over in that direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area you are looking in is certainly beautiful. If you decide to camp here, just try to be cautious, scope out the area, and then make a strategic decision. All of my tips are just measures to take, but no guarantees. Sometimes trees will fall over no matter how good they look and how good the soil is around it. Try to find the area with most space and clearing around it. If you decide to camp, hope you have a great time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11156" LastEditorUserId="11156" LastEditDate="2016-10-20T22:10:02.870" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T22:10:02.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14104" CreationDate="2016-10-20T18:48:23.797" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had several shoes resoled, and each one fit pretty much just as they did before the resoling.  No adjustments or breaking in necessary, as all the shoes were well seasoned, and the resoling had no perceptible effect on fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11531" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T18:48:23.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14183" CreationDate="2016-10-20T20:15:06.767" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two considerations ( if you don't include cost ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Breaking Strength&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rule of thumb for rigging is that the breaking strength of the rope should be roughly 15x the static load. That's something in the 1300 kg breaking strength range. Probably overkill for a hammock over a soft surface, but if you plan on pitching over rocks or in more precarious locations is worth investigating. Also, the tighter you rig your hammock the more the load on the endpoints is magnified. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stretch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard nylon cords available stretch signficantly under load and even more when they get wet. Even &quot;static&quot; cords like paracord can &#xA;stretch. For a hammock, even a little stretch can be a problem. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best solution I found was spectra webbing for the tree wrap and dyneema cord. You don't want to wrap trees with a thin cord as you can&#xA;easily cut into the tree and damage it. The Amsteel cord found in sailing shops is an easy way to get dyneema cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T20:15:06.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14183" CreationDate="2016-10-20T20:54:18.907" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need two things: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dutchwaregear.com/tree-straps.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Webbing or Tree Straps&lt;/a&gt; - These are critical so that your rope doesn't damage the trees that you are hanging from.  You probably don't want to use webbing between your hammock and the tree, because it will stretch and your hammock will become lower over the night.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crhYL.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crhYL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rope to attach your webbing to your hammock.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dutchwaregear.com/25-feet-of-amsteel.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Armsteel&lt;/a&gt; is gold standard for hammocking setups.  It has zero stretch and is super small and light.  For convenience, I would strongly recommend a set of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dutchwaregear.com/amsteel-whoopie-slings.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whoopie slings&lt;/a&gt;.  These are the easiest way to adjust the height of your hammock - no knots required.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UsKJc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UsKJc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whoopieslings.com/Whoopie_slings.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may also want to have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeHammock4.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ridgeline&lt;/a&gt; so that you can pitch your hammock between trees that are farther apart.  This could be a good option.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to get Webbing &amp;amp; Whoopie set, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dutchwaregear.com/whoopie-hook-suspension-kit-with-whoopie-sling.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this is a good option&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: All links and Images take from Dutchware's site.  I am not affiliated with them but did purchase a set of whoopie slings that I was very satisfied with.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note 2: Stay away from any kind of climbing or boat rope.  Even if they are marked as 'will not stretch' - they will.  Rope stretch for the purposes of hammocking, is different than other uses.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="305" LastActivityDate="2016-10-20T20:54:18.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14190" CreationDate="2016-10-20T21:49:10.670" Score="10" ViewCount="1655" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need a new mainsheet (&lt;em&gt;the rope that controls the boom on the main sail&lt;/em&gt;) for my sunfish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the online sailboat stores, are selling &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westcoastsailing.net/default/boat-parts/sunfish/lines/sunfish-mainsheet-line.html&quot;&gt;8mm FSE Orion&lt;/a&gt; for the job.  My local Hardware store does not offer this type of rope, but does have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-0-375-in-Braided-Polypropylene-Rope-By-the-Foot/3613920&quot;&gt;Blue Hawk 0.375-in Braided Polypropylene Rope (By-the-Foot)&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lehigh-7-16-in-x-100-ft-Braided-Nylon-Rope-By-The-Roll/3587932&quot;&gt;7/16-in x 100-ft Braided Nylon Rope&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowes.com/pd/0-375-in-x-25-ft-Braided-Polypropylene-Rope/50405976&quot;&gt;0.375-in x 25-ft Braided Polypropylene Rope&lt;/a&gt; All of these braided ropes seem fairly comparable to the rope at the online boat stores.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;MM      inch      inch&#xA;8 mm    0.3150    5/16 &#xA;9 mm    0.3543    23/64 &#xA;10 mm   0.3937    25/64 &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/length/mm-to-inch.htm&quot;&gt;conversion source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I use any braided rope I find at the hardware store, or should make sure to find a specific type of rope?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T11:56:29.890" Title="What type of rope to use for the mainsheet of sunfish?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14189" CreationDate="2016-10-21T04:06:08.883" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You most definitely want to be selective when selecting rope for a sailboat's running rigging. I'll group sailboats into two categories: racing and non-racing. Racing sailboat is simply any boat where it participates in a race, not any particular construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For racing sailboats, you will want to stick as close to the manufacturer's specified lines, and your class rules likely also require it. The details of that are beyond the scope of this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all other sailboats, what is most important is the rope material. For size, within a millimeter or so is usually fine, though you'll want to err on too small rather than too large so that the rope doesn't bind in through any blocks  or winches. For dinghies and small boats, control lines are usually sized large to be easy to grip and hold on to, and as a result don't come anywhere close to their yield strength, so don't worry if you're a tiny bit smaller than the stock line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For material, your hardware store options were nylon and polypropylene. Nylon is a no-go for running rigging. It is stretchy and loses strength when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polypropylene is acceptable but isn't the best. It's not very durable and will have to get replaced more often and you'll have to inspect it more regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The materials that remain are basically polyester and a bunch of newish high-tech fibers. Unless you're in a world-class race, there really is no point in getting the other fibers unless you want to throw more money into the water than you would be normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester is what you'll want. Virtually all sailboats not owned by millionaires are equipped with polyester running rigging. For a sunfish, pretty much any double-braided polyester line in the right size will do the job just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-Line-for-Running-Rigging&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; goes into additional detail.  (West marine is a boating retailer, but I have no association with them)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short: go to a specialty boating retailer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T03:25:48.990" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T03:25:48.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14178" CreationDate="2016-10-21T09:03:13.797" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll address the &lt;strong&gt;mountaineering&lt;/strong&gt; viewpoint (as opposed to the other good answers about the &lt;strong&gt;climbing&lt;/strong&gt; viewpoint).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering usually involves covering a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of distance over a bunch of different terrains: flat trails, scrambling/climbing, snow/ice, etc.&#xA;A mountaineering boot thus needs to be able to do all of these in a single pair of boots, and be comfortable all day (or for multiple days). Not an easy task!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering boots are designed to allow the climber to walk relatively comfortably, climb with &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; precision, and connect securely with crampons. Climbing shoes excel at climbing, but it's pretty much impossible to walk for long distances with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, the amount of distance to cover will require a boot that fits well enough for walking, so the boot needs to fit closer to a street shoe than a climbing shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T09:03:13.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14193" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14195" CreationDate="2016-10-21T15:04:32.190" Score="2" ViewCount="447" Body="&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14189/what-type-of-rope-to-use-for-the-mainsheet-of-sunfish#comment34729_14189&quot;&gt;comment by cobaltduck&lt;/a&gt; in the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14189&quot;&gt;What type of rope to use for the mainsheet of sunfish?&lt;/a&gt; the proper name for rope when used on a boat is line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I go to the store and buy a length of rope and put it on my boat it is now a line.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When does it become a line instead of a rope? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When it becomes attached to the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I took a sailing class and learned better. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I buy it and it does not belong to the store any longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:30:11.593" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:30:11.593" Title="When does a Rope become a Line?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-10-22T12:14:12.797" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14253" CreationDate="2016-10-21T15:19:25.727" Score="7" ViewCount="199" Body="&lt;p&gt;First: I am not a sailor.&#xA;Sail boats usually have a lot of lines, block, cleats, jams, travelers and what not on their decks to control the boat and sail system. This looks like a cluttering mess on a deck.&#xA;But, I have seen some sail super yachts with very clean decks. Wally, Sizzler daysailer and similar. I wonder how such a clean layout is done.&#xA;I do understand that much is done with hydraulics or electric driven winches, but even those are not visible.&#xA;so I guess there must be some clever way to hide this hardware (blocks, winches) below deck and out of sight.&#xA;How is this done, are there special underdeck version of travelers and such?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11541" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-14T10:54:13.587" LastActivityDate="2020-04-14T10:54:13.587" Title="How is underdeck rigging done?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14193" CreationDate="2016-10-21T15:22:56.467" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer is that as soon as a thing begins being &lt;em&gt;thought&lt;/em&gt; of, even potentially, as being involved in a sailing craft, it takes on the sailing term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am going to the hardware store to buy something to make a leash for my dog, or to hang stuff up in my shed, that's rope.  If I am going to buy the same exact thing to become a traveler or a painter, that's line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same can be said of a toilet becoming a head, or a piece of wood being a floor/deck or a wall/ bulkhead, or a mattress being for a bed or a berth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2016-10-21T15:36:38.177" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T15:36:38.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14193" CreationDate="2016-10-21T16:06:29.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would rarely call anything a line. More specific terminology, such as sheet or halyard, is generally more helpful. But anyway, I would say a rope is a line when you put it on a boat. Until then it is just a bit of rope that you could do anything else with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that in many ways a line is more general than just rope and can refer to cable or chain on larger boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2016-10-21T16:06:29.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14197" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-23T12:17:08.637" Score="5" ViewCount="531" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a couple of used water-proof barrels for keeping things dry in the canoe.  They are easy to open and close, so in theory they keep your stuff dry and they float.  The lids clamp on (image of 13 gallon, ruler for scale).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, if you put them under water, even just partially submerged water leaks in around the seal.  I purchased them in response to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13889/how-much-flotation-does-a-canoe-need/13897#13897&quot;&gt;How much flotation does a canoe need?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are not damaged, the seals are intact, they are in the same condition as when they were used to transport medications, for their one previous use.  They don't leak fast, but I had one of the smaller 8 gallon ones in a tub 90% submerged for an hour and it was about half full of water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pU2mO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pU2mO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before taking the canoe to the lake to try it out, I cut a circle from a heavy construction grade garbage bag and used it like a drum skin, to try and get a better seal between the lid and the barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nYdda.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nYdda.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This worked better, I spent about an hour tipping the canoe over, getting back in and generally having the barrel partially or fully submerged for most of the time.  Actually I had two, an 8 gallon and a 13 gallon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bag helped, there were a couple of cups of water in the bottom of each. There was also water between the lid and the bag.  &lt;strong&gt;Lesson:&lt;/strong&gt; when using the bag section as a seal, lay the barrel on its side to open. The water between the lid and bag lands on the ground rather than inside your barrel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall I am content with the barrel, bag seal solution.  It provides good flotation, keeps most of the water out, is easy to get stuff in and out of, should have better wear and a longer life than a dry bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking for a solution to keep the stuff inside dry at normal capsize depths, (surface to a max depth of 3 or 4 feet).  While still being able to easily get stuff in and out of the barrel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T20:56:03.313" Title="How can I keep a water-proof barrel dry for use in a canoe?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13889" CreationDate="2016-10-23T13:33:38.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is based on experiments following the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13889/how-much-flotation-does-a-canoe-need/13897#13897&quot;&gt;great answer by Chris&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I purchased two &quot;water proof&quot; barrels. &lt;em&gt;Related&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14197&quot;&gt;How can I keep a water-proof barrel dry for use in a canoe?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is 8 gallons the other is 13 gallons. Every gallon of dry storage adds 8.36 pounds of flotation (minus the weight of the container) a liter of dry storage adds a Kilogram of flotation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I went to the lake and started practicing capsize and recovery.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13996/how-do-you-get-back-in-canoe-by-yourself/13998#13998&quot;&gt;How do you get back in canoe, by yourself?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the lake I used a slightly different tie down on the smaller 8 gallon barrel.  But the same as pictured below for the 13 gallon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8tMvM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8tMvM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BsKj6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BsKj6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lesson 1: The more firmly the flotation is attached to the boat the better.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 8G barrel is more barrel shaped (), this made it more difficult to mount solidly in the canoe. The 13G is more cylinder shaped || combined with the center keel bar and a couple of straps it mounted firmly and easily. During experiments the 8G would float a couple to several inches from the side of the canoe &lt;em&gt;(meaning it allowed the canoe to capture that much more water)&lt;/em&gt;.  The 13G stayed nicely in place.  While the 8G did help, it was not the solution I was looking for.  During a rest break on shore, I removed it and just stayed with the 13G for the rest of the testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lesson 2: 13 gallons is enough for me&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried all the different ways of getting back in the canoe. In the end it really didn't matter how bad my entry was.  13 gallons of flotation got me in the canoe with a enough flotation that it didn't sink.  In one of the last experiments I sat on the edge of the canoe as in the screen shot from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39aM0tbG6VU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; and when I leaned back to roll the canoe upright, it was about 1/3 full of water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S3zMw.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S3zMw.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, I think the answer is that for a canoe on calm water, &lt;strong&gt;about half as much lift/flotation as the weight of your canoe plus you and your gear.&lt;/strong&gt;  Will allow you to renter the canoe (&lt;em&gt;no matter how bad your technique&lt;/em&gt;) and leave room to bail or paddle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is the minimum, extreme conditions will require more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-03-29T22:12:18.310" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T22:12:18.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14199" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14204" CreationDate="2016-10-23T16:25:05.243" Score="6" ViewCount="1177" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a crack about 12 inches (30cm) long on the edge of my Sunfish sailboat.  I am not sure if the crack is all the way through the fiberglass, or just the gel coat.  It is on the corner between the side of and the bottom of the boat.  When I push on it I can hear a little noise that could be glass fibers moving around.  I suspect the fiberglass is at least partially compromised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling around I find people who are using lots of products on fiberglass with super glue and gorilla glue, often considered but maybe not the best choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pending a proper fiberglass patch with a new gel coat application, is there anything I can use to fill and join the crack, that will work well and not create a problem later? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a solution between ducktape and a full fiberglass patch as described in these two questions &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5991&quot;&gt;How to fix a leak in a fibreglass kayak?&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/77&quot;&gt;I put a big gouge in the bow of my canoe going across rocks. How can I fix it?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image of Sunfish, upside down showing crack&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9WJFR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9WJFR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-10-24T05:45:18.763" Title="How can I prevent a fiberglass crack in my sailboat from getting worse?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14201" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-10-23T20:01:57.663" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-10-23T20:01:57.663" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T20:01:57.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14202" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-10-23T20:01:57.663" Score="0" Body="Questions related to possible outdoors activities that can be done in a State Park; Safety precautions and Protocols to be followed when in a State Park; Legalities and Permissions related to a State Park are to be tagged with this tag. Kindly ensure that when you use this tag, please use the tag dedicated to that country and/or state. " OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-23T22:04:16.153" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T22:04:16.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14199" CreationDate="2016-10-23T20:47:03.297" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gel coat is cracked.   It is appropriate to patch the gel coat.   As long as the fiber glass stays wet it is just going to get softer.  Take down the gel coat enough to expose some fiber glass and get a smooth edge.  Get the fiber glass dried out and then seal (with gel coat).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-10-24T04:44:34.053" LastActivityDate="2016-10-24T04:44:34.053" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14199" CreationDate="2016-10-23T23:34:38.357" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gelcoat cracking is pretty much a fact of life in boat ownership. The sun and water is a tough environment. However, gelcoat cracking is usually not too concerning as long as it is fixed right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you could probably get by for awhile just slathering some new gelcoat or epoxy over the crack, if there is any moisture trapped in the cracked area, you're going to make the problem worse. If you live in an area with a real winter and water freezes in the hull you're going to make it a lot worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is to get one of those little fiberglass repair kits from your favorite boating retailer, and follow the directions in it. The only thing that will work well is a proper fiberglass repair, that's why they sell the kits. The basic process is to remove and sand away any compromised material, and build it back up with new material provided by the kit. In addition to the kit's directions, there are roughly a gazillion guides online about the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly enough, the kits usually don't include gelcoat, so you'll need to get some of that too. Epoxy's UV resistance is pretty lousy and unless you protect it with gelcoat or some other product you'll be back at square one in a few years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kits usually use epoxy, which 15 years ago could have been a problem, as sunfishes (and many other boats) are made with polyester resin instead of epoxy, which doesn't bind together too well, but epoxies nowadays have supposedly made that problem a thing of the past. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fiberglass repair isn't terribly difficult, and unless you are trying to sell the boat and never sail again, I guarantee this won't be the last repair you ever make, so you might as well learn how it's done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2016-10-23T23:34:38.357" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14199" CreationDate="2016-10-24T05:45:18.763" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The right way to do it is to repair it as suggested with a fiberglass kit. However,  as also mentioned,  you'll need to put gel coat on to seal the fiberglass.  If you go this route,  I suggest buying one of Don Casey's books on hull repair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option that I've used is Marine-Tex. I stress fractured my foredeck by stupidly cranking down the forestay too tight. I ground out the crack all the way to the wooden core and then filled the grind area with white Marine-Tex being careful to leave no voids. The repair isn't perfect,  but unless you're looking for it,  you're unlikely to see it.  I've also repaired minor dings in the deck with it,  and filled holes in the cabin left by the previous owner's sloppy VHF installation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2016-10-24T05:45:18.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14206" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-24T11:23:19.310" Score="8" ViewCount="13540" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard references to gelcoat being a water proof application for a fiberglass boat hull.  I have always considered fiberglass as inherently water proof. There are several industries surrounding fiberglass as a roofing product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know gelcoat serves several purposes, most notably it is smooth and UV resistant.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a boat prospective; The gelcoat is usually applied to the mold, with the fiberglass applied next.  To the best of my knowledge no one applies a layer of gelcoat to the inside of the hull.  Which means that big fiberglass boat hull is an untreated bucket of water, it is protected on the outside from by the gelcoat, but nothing is protecting the inside. I would imagine in most cases, there is always some standing water someplace in most boats, most drains I have seen leave at least a cup of water in the boat, and I can't say how many I have seen collecting rain water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if any damage might soaking fiberglass in water do to the fiberglass? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:03:37.187" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:03:37.187" Title="What happens when fiberglass gets wet?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14206" CreationDate="2016-10-24T20:47:12.970" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often when we say &quot;Fibreglass&quot; we're actually referring to a composite of both fibreglass and resin (usually polyester for glass, epoxy for carbon/kevlar - sometimes glass). This is important, that resin is a distinct component was missing from the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The composite is formed when glass fabric is shaped in/on a mold and saturated with resin. The resin then cures, forming a rigid structure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is this waterproof?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Yes. &lt;em&gt;If&lt;/em&gt; the resin completely surrounds the fibre. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In production (after initial curing), loose strands will often have to be sanded down and additional resin applied to ensure a compete seal. If, through faulty manufacture or damage, glass is exposed to water (especially salt-water) this will cause to composite to break apart/de-laminate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So why gelcoat?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;To protect the glass/resin composite, primarily from UV.&#xA;Exposing resin to UV will cause it to degrade and crack over time, eventually exposing the fibres to the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gelcoat has other benefits - it's often more durable and a convenient way of adding a coloured layer. &#xA;Gelcoat can be applied directly to the mold to form a convenient and better bonded composite, but can also be applied later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So why doesn't it matter if gelcoat is used on the inside?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;As above, if the glass is sealed properly with resin, the inside of the boat won't need the extra protection from a gelcoat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: fibreglass roofing &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; have a clear/colourless gelcoat for UV protection, but of course manufacturers will make whatever they're paid to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2016-10-24T21:03:33.620" LastActivityDate="2016-10-24T21:03:33.620" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14208" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-25T06:25:43.897" Score="4" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2014 I moved to Alaska. After a few days there I started feeling something crawling and flying around my head and neck area.  At first I thought I was imagining things because it would only happen periodically and I couldn't see anything flying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After several months, they got worse and they started crawling/flying on and around my face getting into my eyes. After a year the problem was so bad that I have to keep my eyes covered with sealed goggles and I sleep with a head net to keep them off my face and eyes. No matter where I go I have this problem, indoor, outdoors, home, work, shopping, driving.  These flying creatures are extremely small and very difficult for anyone to see unless the light hits them just right.  Then they appear the size of dust particles and can be hard to differentiate from dust until you notice their pattern of flight. They seem to be attracted only to me, They don't bother my wife and son even when they stand right next to me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried many products, supplements and changed soaps, deodorants, etc., but nothing slows them down.  My doctor thinks I 'm experiencing phantom crawling sensations or psychological issues, but I assured him that is not the problem.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My doctor wants me to catch a  specimen to show him but I don't know how to catch what I can barely see.  These are much smaller than gnats I'm used to.  Does anyone know what these things are?  And why are they attracted to me?  &lt;strong&gt;How can I catch a few so my doctor has something to work with?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11550" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-10-26T00:39:37.940" LastActivityDate="2016-11-10T13:26:34.213" Title="How can I capture some really small no-seeums to find out what is plaguing me?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14209" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14217" CreationDate="2016-10-25T07:52:19.540" Score="7" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Post-monsoon we have lots of flies and insects in the forests. I was hiking up an easy trail last weekend. It got dark and I still had a couple of hours of walking distance to cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With no light around, flies tend to hover over my head and in front of my face all the time as I was a bit sweaty and obviously due to the headlamp, which is very very irritating. Most of them were typically attracted by the light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you deal with this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Closely related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4156/2303&quot;&gt;How to deal with little flies flying into the eyes?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T21:26:41.427" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T21:26:41.427" Title="Headlamp and flies" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14208" CreationDate="2016-10-25T09:06:51.600" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may be allergic to dust mites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dust Mite Allergy&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have allergies or asthma, a tiny creature living in your home could be making big problems for you. Although you can’t see them, you may be having an allergic reaction to them. They are dust mites and they live in many homes throughout the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dust mites may be the most common trigger of year-round allergies and asthma. They are on every continent except Antarctica. It may not be possible to rid your home entirely of these creatures. But there are ways in which you can lessen your allergic reactions to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What Is a Dust Mite?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dust mite measures only about one-quarter to one-third of a millimeter. They are too small to see with your eyes alone. Under a microscope, they look like white bugs. They have eight legs, so they are not insects, but arthropods, like spiders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aafa.org/page/dust-mite-allergy.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that medical tests are available to identify this allergic reaction, Skin Prick Test (SPT) &amp;amp; Specific IgE Blood Test&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-26T14:40:59.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14211" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14212" CreationDate="2016-10-25T10:23:26.277" Score="7" ViewCount="1103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to install a deck plate in the top of the fresh water tank of my camp trailer (RV) to allow for cleaning the inside at the start of the season.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00863N3Z2&quot;&gt;product I am looking at&lt;/a&gt; recommends &quot;Lubricate with Vaseline or Teflon grease&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking around to see if Teflon is toxic I found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002L5UL92&quot;&gt;Non-toxic when used in quantities and applications as intended; contains no carcinogenic or hazardous air polluting (HAP) ingredients, and emits no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)&lt;/a&gt; but here it is being sold as bicycle lubricant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When choosing between Vaseline or Teflon to lubricate and seal a potable fresh water tank, which is the better choice? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Thanks to &quot;RV Geezer&quot; who suggested this in a review I found while looking for a deck plate to use for my boat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:35:13.990" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:35:13.990" Title="Vaseline or Teflon grease near potable water?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14211" CreationDate="2016-10-25T11:04:08.677" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Teflon is a brand name. The scientific name is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene&quot;&gt;Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching more I find there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.plumbingsupply.com/lube.html&quot;&gt;food grade PTFE lubricants available. (&lt;em&gt;Super Lube&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Points making PTFE appropriate for this application&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Great for installing some faucet stems and cartridges&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food grade. U.S.D.A. rated H-1&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Non-toxic, biodegradable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Odorless, clean, non-staining&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found several references to using Vaseline in plumbing applications. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaseline&quot;&gt;Vaseline&lt;/a&gt; is brand name for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly&quot;&gt;Petroleum jelly&lt;/a&gt; it has been used and is FDA approved for health and skin use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I think; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a high volume water system like home plumbing, either is fine. With Vaseline being less expensive it maybe preferred.  Probably comes down to personal choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a low volume water system like a self contained RV water storage system. Either should be safe, but the Teflon seems to have a slight edge, making the higher cost worth while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T11:04:08.677" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14209" CreationDate="2016-10-25T14:26:36.820" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest thing to do would be to take the lamp off your head and walk with it as a torch in hand. That'd take some of the attention away from your face. Next I'd put on a bug net over my face, and finally I'd walk while waving one of these in front of my face:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Electric Fly Swatter:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2YMe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2YMe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; You'd be amazed by how effective thinning the swarm out every once and a while is at keeping the bugs down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also makes having a lot of bugs around very satisfying, because you get to have fun zapping them all while you hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-10-25T21:52:33.157" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T21:52:33.157" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14168" CreationDate="2016-10-25T18:17:59.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The stone piles shown in the photo are NOT rock cairns. Do not confuse them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many national parks in the US consider stone piles left behind by visitors to be graffiti and or vandalism. They disturb the natural experience. You are encouraged to take down these piles when you see them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rock Cairns are a navigational aid. These rocks are used to mark a trail, and should be left alone. They are there for the safety of hikers so you can find you way. If it marks a path do not take it down.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11419" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T18:17:59.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11885" CreationDate="2016-10-25T18:30:00.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are multiple ways to do what you're looking for. One way I solve this problem is with a metal ring. You attach a fixed knot on the ring, pass one end of the rope through one loop of the hammock, wrap the rope 3-4 times through the ring and then a fixed knot on the other loop of the hammock. Slide the ring up and down the ridgeline to adjust the size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dutchwaregear.com/structural-and-adjustable-ridgelines.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dutchgear&lt;/a&gt; has an image of this setup.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nSGvI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nSGvI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dutchgear pic 3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T18:30:00.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9240" CreationDate="2016-10-25T19:49:20.247" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy toothbrush for kids or an electrical toothbrush head, if it has soft protective bits or decorative parts remove them with pliers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a piece of saran wrap leave a grid of toothpaste drops, let air dry and pack; when you need to brush teeth chew one of these dried up droplets, mixed with saliva they will turn to their original state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mix two two teaspoons of baking soda to a teaspoon of water, brush your teeth with it and rinse well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to recognize sage plant (Salvia Officinalis), it is great for cooking but you can also bush your teeth with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AsBOW.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mediterranean Salvia Officinalis&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11552" LastActivityDate="2016-10-25T19:49:20.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14209" CreationDate="2016-10-25T21:52:37.497" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fastening the lamp further down (eg, chest, waist) generally provides better perception of trail features and makes it easier to wear a headnet. If the light source is above your eyes, you won't be able to see the shadows cast by trail obstructions as well to judge their height/distance. If the light is below your eyes, roots and rocks would cast a shadow that you could see much better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastEditorUserId="11281" LastEditDate="2016-10-26T11:52:08.910" LastActivityDate="2016-10-26T11:52:08.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14218" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14247" CreationDate="2016-10-26T16:33:42.700" Score="7" ViewCount="1682" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sunfish have a closed hull with which includes &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrofoam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Styrofoam&lt;/a&gt; type blocks secured in place with expanding foam.  Everything is sealed at the factory.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Sunfish hull has 4 major fiberglass parts: The hull, deck, tub and dagger board trunk. When the hull and deck are assembled they insert large foam blocks which are glued in place with expanding foam. This assembly becomes a sort of foam sandwich, with the blocks acting as stiffeners for the hull and deck. If they break loose the hull and deck will flex causing the boat to slow down in waves. In extreme cases it can weaken the whole structure. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.windline.net/project3.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9z8v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9z8v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t9O4A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t9O4A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my older sunfish and many others the only drain is on the top deck near the cockpit (&lt;em&gt;not to be confused with the bailer in the cockpit&lt;/em&gt;).  To drain the internal compartment you remove the plug and tip the boat on its side.  It is not unusual to pickup a sunfish and find there is water sloshing around inside the hull that has not been fully drained.  In some cases even boats without sloshing water will have absorbed enought water to have gained significant weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one of the foam blocks is loose or needs to be temporarly moved to make a repair; First you need to install a deckplate to access the internal area, when you are ready to restore the foam block, use expanding foam to lock it back in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is the habbit of sunfish hulls to collect and hold water (&lt;em&gt;some years like 71-72 are extremely subject to this&lt;/em&gt;).  Expanding foam comes in two types; &quot;Closed Cell&quot; &amp;amp; &quot;Open Cell&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Closed Cell Systems are water-resistant, but not waterproof. Minimal exposure to moisture will not affect these foams, however the foam may be compromised if submerged under water for a period of time. Conversely, the Open Cell Systems will absorb and retain water if exposed. Therefore the Open Cell Systems should not be used in areas where moisture may be present. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rhhfoamsystems.com/faq.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The terms; marine Foam, waterresistant foam, waterproof foam, watershedding foam, etc. are used through out product descriptions found online.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems obvious at this point that closed cell foam (of which stroyfoam is one) is the best choice. But there is a lot of grey area in statements like &quot;may be compromised if submerged under water for a period of time&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I look for to find an expandable foam that has waterproof capablities simular to the Styrofoam type block? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2016-11-12T13:54:55.820" LastActivityDate="2016-12-17T00:56:19.383" Title="What to look for in Marine Grade Expanding Foams" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14219" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-26T18:33:50.240" Score="7" ViewCount="235" Body="&lt;p&gt;While climbing Killi (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro&quot;&gt;Mount Kilimanjaro&lt;/a&gt;), we were reminded to drink constantly until we reach the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed that when I did stop and take some sips of water on the final push, I initially felt worse for a short period of time afterwards. What causes this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11554" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-10-26T20:30:34.390" LastActivityDate="2016-10-26T21:34:25.913" Title="Acclimatization Question" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14219" CreationDate="2016-10-26T20:24:58.563" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A reason could be, that your digestion works worse in altitude. Because your stomach is getting work to do when you drink (or even worse, when you eat), you could feel sick so generally your condition feels worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless your body needs the water, it is imperative to be properly hydrated. So if you can't drink anymore (and if you can't eat anymore for longer time periods) you will get weaker. And you might get in serious trouble then. You also can't decide if physical problems are caused by dehydration or altitude sickness, which makes it even more difficult to judge your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-10-26T21:33:20.223" LastActivityDate="2016-10-26T21:33:20.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14180" CreationDate="2016-10-27T20:57:18.980" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the plan B answer.  It works but uses ferrous (will rust) parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a source for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=814&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hex bolts, Zinc plated grade 8 steel yellow, 7/8&quot;-14 x 2&quot;&lt;/a&gt; I ordered it (Just under $10 with shipping.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it arrived, I ran right out and screwed it into the drain. Perfect fit!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xeY6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xeY6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It screwed in about 5 turns by hand before getting hand snug.  I unscrewed it and verified the threads go down and there is room in the drain for the bolt to go in about 1 3/4 inches.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I re-inserted the bolt and used a wrench to tighten it.  It became tight much sooner that I expected.  I suspect there is damaged thread so I didn't try to screw it all the way in for this first test.  I stopped at wrench snuggly tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I filled the cockpit with water to the bottom of the storage drain and left it alone for an hour.  When I came back the water had not noticably changed level (happy dance!) I used the wrench to lossen the bolt and was able to unscrew it by hand.  The water drained out, the bolt came in the house to dry and the boat got turned upside down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PFYLr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PFYLr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best solution would be brass, or another non-ferrous metal about an inch or 1 1/2 inches long 7/8&quot;-14 TPI.  If someone has a source or application please post an answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-10-28T12:02:03.087" LastActivityDate="2016-10-28T12:02:03.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13759" CreationDate="2016-10-28T17:17:49.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First the Ursack is advertised as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bear resistant&lt;/a&gt; not bear proof, nothing is bear proof&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FAQ, have there been any failures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have sold bags in 50 states, Canada and assorted foreign countries. So far, there have been no reports of a bear compromising a standard size IGBC approved S29 AllWhite. Two Majors have been compromised–a bear tore a one inch hole in an Ursack Major–it is not clear if it got much, if any food. A few (about 2 per year) earlier (pre 2014) S29 AllWhites sewn without Spectra thread had the seams ripped. The S29 (green, no ripstop, heavier fabric) introduced June 1, 2004 was the model tested by SIBBG. The fabric has been nearly perfect, but user error (not cinching and knotting Ursack tight) resulted in a few bear incidents. That’s why we changed the design in the AllWhite: to make the cinching and knotting easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no such thing as a bear proof container. Rangers have reported to us that even the hard sided canisters are broken by bears on occasion. A recently published book, Speaking of Bears, reported that one Yosemite bear rolled about 25 canisters over a cliff to break them on the rocks below. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the available information. You can make a bear resistant pannier, as you would any other pannier, use Spectra fabric and Spectra thread.  Sewing would also require an industrial grade machine, capable working with the Spectra fabric and thread.  I would suggest &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ursack.com/contact-us/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;contacting the Ursak Company&lt;/a&gt; to custom make your pannier as probably the most cost effective solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-28T17:17:49.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2016-10-28T19:38:54.760" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a reamer, it is for drilling small holes in wood.&#xA;As an awl, it is for sewing thick material, such as leather, together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are YouTube videos on how to sew with the awl-with-thread-hole tool:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2UPOmhnwQA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Sew with a Swiss Army Knife Awl / Reamer&lt;/a&gt; by Phil Crockett&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PxNwQusco4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to sew with a swiss army knife?&lt;/a&gt; by JJR Survival&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVeDNEOAOI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;victorinox hack - how to sew with a swiss army knife&lt;/a&gt; by &#xA;Nikos Doulas NikGyver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7vDRHdQizw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swiss Army knife sewing&lt;/a&gt; by Mad Dog Survival&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In brief, these are my written instructions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, insert the thread through the awl, push the awl through the start of the hem, pull enough thread for the entire back side of the hem's stitching through to the back side of the hem, and then pull the awl back to the front side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now repeat the following for each successive lock stitch: Move the awl ahead, push it through to the back side as far as it will go and pull it back slightly -- just enough to create a loop with the front-side's thread -- and pause. Poke the back-side thread through the temporary loop then finish pulling the awl back to the front side. Tug both sides of the thread to keep them tidy. Tip: tie the back-end thread to the toothpick tool and use that to help thread it through the little loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To finish, tie both threads together (maybe singe them if they're nylon): Either make the knot over the edge of the hem, or use the awl to bring them to the same side of the hem and then tie together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Better still -- watch the videos!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-11-05T02:36:56.453" LastActivityDate="2019-11-05T02:36:56.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14227" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-10-29T23:28:51.867" Score="10" ViewCount="752" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the east coast of the United States where I live, various species of birds migrate South (sometimes West) for the winter. Some stop briefly on their long trek, others have been here for months. There are also many birds that stay throughout the winter, so we keep feeders out and full all year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird-watching is one of our favorite activities, and lifts our spirits during the short cold days of winter. Lots of birds that are colorful in the summer turn brown and gray in the fall and winter, so knowing what's out there can be confusing. Sometimes I wonder if we're seeing birds that would have migrated if we weren't feeding them, but we don't recognize them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously we'd never want to interfere with what they're designed to do, and we don't intend to change our winter feeding habits. However, we're curious to know if, in migratory birds, the abundance of available food delays or otherwise affects the timing of their migration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-25T23:55:14.203" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T20:18:58.083" Title="Does feeding migratory birds in the fall affect the timing of migration?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14142" CreationDate="2016-10-30T03:28:46.863" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For 1lbs 1oz (740g) I'd choose an inflatable pad.  Mine is 72&quot;x20&quot;x2.5&quot; and super comfortable.  It's also warm because your body is not in contact with the ground.  It takes a few minutes to inflate by mouth (it's an &quot;air core&quot;, no foam inside) but well worth the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastActivityDate="2016-10-30T03:28:46.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14229" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14233" CreationDate="2016-10-30T06:25:15.070" Score="20" ViewCount="6567" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've had a harsh weather turnaround lately in central Europe. It went from a pretty warm late summer to a pretty cold autumn in nearly one single night. As this happened, earthworms started to come out of the garden on my terrace (I also found some in the garage and even in the basement). And we are not speaking about a handful. The whole terrace is full of worms of all sizes! I would say about 50 single death animals. They laid down and died (I assume that since I couldn't really observe the whole process). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I've never experienced something similar before, I wonder what causes this behavior? Why do they do that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mvdv6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mvdv6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jqi45.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jqi45.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bRgwx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bRgwx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The garden/terrace border looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/einJG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/einJG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:55:17.017" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:55:17.017" Title="Dozens of earthworms came on my terrace and died there" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;worms&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14229" CreationDate="2016-10-30T07:57:20.193" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Purely speculative hypothesis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worms are coldblooded, which means they &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.mom.me/effect-temperature-earthworm-population-6147.html&quot;&gt;depend on temperatures above freezing for their metabolism to function&lt;/a&gt;. They survive the winter by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.planetnatural.com/worms-winter/&quot;&gt;burrowing down below the layer of soil that freezes&lt;/a&gt; to hybernate. You mentioned that temperatures changed abruptly. This is where I begin to speculate. It could be that the worms didn't have enough time to prepare themselves for the colder temperatures by burrowing down. They might have sensed the warmth radiating from your heated house and headed towards it in an effort to save themselves from freezing to death. Once on your terrace, they faced the following scenario: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The air was probably below freezing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stone has a low heat capacity. Dropping nighttime temperatures might have cause your terrace to cool down to dangerously low temperatures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unable to burrow through your terrace, the worms where trapped and died of exposure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some might have even made it to your house, but unable to find a way inside, they succumbed to the elements in the open.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the fact that you are finding worms in your garage and basement supports my hypothesis that the worms where trying to seek shelter in your building. You might not have seen this phenomenon before because the weather turnaround might have occurred unusually quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1957" LastEditorUserId="1957" LastEditDate="2016-10-30T08:07:58.750" LastActivityDate="2016-10-30T08:07:58.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14229" CreationDate="2016-10-30T18:08:04.937" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is USUALLY the cause: They are cold so they move to the paved surface which is relatively warm. They are unable to find their way back to the soil so they dry out and die from dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11573" LastActivityDate="2016-10-30T18:08:04.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14229" CreationDate="2016-10-30T23:42:28.683" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;When checking to find out what kind of earthworm we might be discussing, I found sources listing anywhere from 100 to over 6,000 species.  That wasn't very helpful so I'll just skip it and assume you have some common variety of earthworm that's present around many parts of the world!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer here is that they were most likely trying to get to a place where they could dig a tunnel, and succumbed to the elements along the way. The actual elements, however, may not be exactly what we had in mind. It doesn't sound like it got cold enough to freeze them, so I doubt that's why they died. (An interesting fact from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.infoplease.com/t/sci/earthworms/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is that earthworms can freeze solid and still live if the freeze is slow and they do not thaw out and refreeze often. I don't think that applies here, though!) Likely it was a combination of things, including a few that DudeOnRock already mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Earthworms always have tunnels, but as the weather gets cooler, they dig deeper and wider in preparation for the winter. A quick temperature drop can cause them to come out for a short while instead. They don't come looking for warmth, though, but as a mission to find a different place in your yard to dig more trails and hunker down for the winter. They may also grab some snacks, like bugs, along the way, to give them energy for the cold weather to come. Your stones are pretty tight, but there may have been something in the crevices that they wanted to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common cause of environmental earthworm death is dryness, and I think that's the bottom line here. Something happened along the way which caused them to dry out, which resulted in their demise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Earthworms breathe, meaning get oxygen, through their skin. Without enough oxygen, they literally suffocate. In order to absorb the oxygen, however, they must be wet all of the time. This explains the coating of slime (mucus). It's protective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Q. How do earthworms breathe?&#xA;A. Earthworms respire through their skin, and therefore require humid conditions to prevent drying out. They coat themselves in mucus to enable the passage of dissolved oxygen into their bloodstream. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biologyjunction.com/earthworm%20facts.htm#breathe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They need to be wet to dig the tunnels for the winter, (up to about 6 feet or 2 meters, depending on the location and species), to eat, and to procreate. They have no bones, and move through a series of muscle movements which only function when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it had recently rained, and your stones were wet, they may have been attempting to use them as a shortcut to their final destination. One of the reasons earthworms come up in the rain is to make traveling easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Q. Why do worms come onto driveways and sidewalks when it rains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A. Dr. Dennis Linden, Cindy Hale, and other worm experts say that worms come to the surface during rains (especially in the spring) so they can move overland. The temporarily wet conditions give worms a chance to move safely to new places. After rain or during high humidity are safe times for worms to move around without dehydrating. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/WormNotes3.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.todayshomeowner.com/earthworms-taking-over-driveway/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why are earthworms taking over my driveway&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the soil is too dry, they burrow deeper to find moisture. When the soil is wet, they move closer to the surface. When there is adequate surface moisture or humidity, they venture out above ground and look for new places to burrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if your terrace was nice and warm, they would not have been looking for a warm place to hang out. In general, it's very dangerous for earthworms to be out during the day. Light dries them out, literally paralyzing them when they're in it for more than an hour. They lose the ability to seek a safe spot, and die on the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, basements and garages can not support life for earthworms, so they're not generally programmed to seek shelter in those areas. They may be protected from harsh temperatures, but since there's no opportunity for digging, eating, obtaining moisture, or hibernating they'll pretty much always die. If you ever find a live earthworm inside, putting it out may save it. Even if it's winter, if you can dig an area in the dirt more than a few inches deep,  putting them in it can give them a fighting chance. Most likely they'll freeze, but not always.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings us back to where we started. I believe they were on their way to a place for a permanent winter home, and something happened along the way which caused them to dry out. That dryness was the likely cause of death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interesting fact:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This wasn't true in your case, but it's worth knowing that earthworms which are curled into a round ball are usually alive, even if you don't see them moving. Due to a variety of environmental factors, they enter a state similar to hibernation, in that their metabolism slows down, but the worms are awake. In winter, it's called &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diapause&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;diapause&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;, and in the summer it's called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestivation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aestivation&lt;/a&gt;.  Curling up is mostly to preserve their water and oxygen. If you find them like that, they should be carried to a warm, moist area on the grass, if you have one. At some point, they'll come out of it and go about their activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-10-30T23:53:26.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10724" CreationDate="2016-10-31T14:57:18.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 60 persons have drowned in Saltstraumen the last 60 years. Only a few of them have been found. If you go down when the stream is going into the Skjerstadfjord (when it is high-water), a boat or a body will be taken down to the bottom of the fjord because of the special geological shape of the underwater landscape. Then you will never come up! The stream is only 20 meters deep over the threshold, and up to 900 meters deep in the fjord inside. The pressure of the water will keep you at the bottom!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11580" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-10-31T20:58:06.127" LastActivityDate="2016-10-31T20:58:06.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14235" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14238" CreationDate="2016-10-31T15:00:32.427" Score="10" ViewCount="7668" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard about people using electricity to catch worms, mostly around catching worms for fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does this work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:55:02.800" LastActivityDate="2019-11-12T00:51:11.707" Title="Worm catching with electricity?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;trapping&gt;&lt;worms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14229" CreationDate="2016-10-31T15:03:04.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sue has a great &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14229/dozens-of-earthworms-came-on-my-terrace-and-died-there/14233#14233&quot;&gt;well researched answer&lt;/a&gt; about why they probably died, and there are a couple of others as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the number of worms and the varied locations, the reason the worms came out of the ground may be related to an electrical issue.  It could either be an accidental event in your or a neighbors home.  Or it could have been something done intentionally.  You may want to consider checking for shorts in your home electrical system, particularly if you have outdoor wiring. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14235&quot;&gt;Worm catching with electricity?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-10-31T18:10:12.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14227" CreationDate="2016-11-01T02:30:28.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It takes a lot of energy for a bird to migrate, and comes with numerous risks, so if it is possible for it to stay where it is, not migrating can give it an evolutionary advantage. An example would be Canadian geese who &lt;a href=&quot;http://njcooperator.com/article/send-those-canada-geese-packing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;live year round in Florida.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that it depends a lot on the area and species, all of the hummingbirds in Wyoming would migrate with or without food, but the geese in Denver, CO stay all year round and are regarded as pests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether its right or wrong to feed the birds, I think that's up to the individual's judgement, and one feeder would be a drop in the bucket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T20:18:58.083" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T20:18:58.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14235" CreationDate="2016-11-01T03:00:20.270" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Had a neighbor who used this technique to get worms all the time. It was amazing how well this system really works. He used a system where he had several car batteries rigged onto a dolly and thus was able to get his worms away from any buildings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He always caught his worms at night with a flashlight in hand. After putting the two metal rods into the ground, one simply had to wait a few minutes for the worms to come to the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot recall any of us ever getting electrocuted doing this with him, but was it ever a time saver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One draw back to this method is that the worms seemed to have a shorter life expectancy (I cannot recall how long they generally lived for, perhaps a week or so).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is how others do it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Worms will leave the ground in droves if anything disturbs them. Traditional methods of getting worms include fiddling a stick to send vibrations into the ground, waiting for the rain and even pouring mustard into the ground to irritate the worms. Electricity is a bit more dangerous than any of these alternatives, but as long as you don't plug it in when anyone is nearby, you shouldn't have any problems. The electric current will send the worms scurrying to the surface, where you can pick them up for fishing bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1&lt;/strong&gt; Cut the receptor or &quot;female&quot; end off an extension cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 2&lt;/strong&gt; Separate the two wires for 4 to 5 feet. Depending on the configuration of the extension cord, they will either be wrapped in insulation side by side or one will be insulated and the other wrapped around the inner one. If the outer is wrapped around the inner, unwrap it and then wrap it in electrical tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 3&lt;/strong&gt; Trim the last 2 inches of insulation from each wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 4&lt;/strong&gt; Unbend two wire clothes hangers into straight rods. Wrap the end of one wire around one clothes hanger and the end of the other wire around the second hanger. Tape the wire to the clothes hangers with electrical tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 5&lt;/strong&gt; Water your lawn. If it has rained in the last day, you don't need to water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 6&lt;/strong&gt; Stick the two wires into the ground about 2 to 4 feet apart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 7&lt;/strong&gt; Get all people and pets off the lawn. Plug in the extension cord and leave it plugged in for 5 to 10 minutes. Unplug it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 8&lt;/strong&gt; Gather worms off the ground. They should be between and around the wires. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trails.com/how_41250_force-fishing-worms-out-soil.html&quot;&gt;How do I Use Electricity to Force Fishing Worms Out of the Soil?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-11-01T03:00:20.270" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14240" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-01T22:29:05.097" Score="5" ViewCount="814" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am preparing to make a purchase of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skirack.com/madshus-eon-mgv-omni-skis-2015-16-21251273&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;all-terrain touring XC skis&lt;/a&gt; (sidecut 83-62-70 mm), with which I will use &lt;a href=&quot;http://gearx.com/salomon-x-adv-6-sns-backcountry-boots?gclid=CjwKEAjw-uDABRDPz4-0tp6T6lMSJADNoyPbouLHbBwCbR4UX384QrgycPL1oANbq5Ve7PiKILZWohoC3xvw_wcB#517=6584&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SNS XA boots&lt;/a&gt; and bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the rule of thumb for regular XC skis is to go to about 110% of your height for the length of the skis. However, these are more similar to what downhill skis used to look back in the 80s than the regular (competition) XC skis and are meant to be able to handle rougher terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to alpine downhill ski similar skis before I started snowboarding about 20 years ago. I always preferred my skis to be slightly on the shorter side for more maneuverability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am about 6'2&quot; (185 cm) and I have an inkling towards 175 cm touring skis. Considering that I plan to do a little bit of all kinds of touring (trail and BC) with these skis, should I actually try to go with a little longer (185 or 195 cm)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T01:49:28.847" Title="Picking length for all-terrain touring XC skis" Tags="&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14241" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14242" CreationDate="2016-11-02T10:58:30.880" Score="4" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to test a shrinking tube as my arrow winding. Commonly I've used the normal yarn and glue combination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3NrS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3NrS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Shrinking tube as winding&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I wonder how to apply enough heat (at least 120 ° C) to the tube without damaging the feathers? Like a lighter or candle easily ignite the feathers if you aren't careful enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T15:16:40.157" Title="Applying enough heat (120 ° C) to shrinking tube without damaging the fletching" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14241" CreationDate="2016-11-02T11:31:35.720" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A direct flame isn't a good way to set heat shrink tube as the flame is much too hot, making it very difficult to apply heat evenly without just melting the tube. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ideal thing is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/qzTQaGxiUnk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hot air gun&lt;/a&gt;. You can get smaller more precise ones for fiddly electronics applications etc but for arrows a standard sized one should be fine and they generally aren't too expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel that there is still a risk of damaging the feathers then something like a small foil pie case with a hole in the middle could make a convenient heat shield. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T15:16:40.157" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T15:16:40.157" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14243" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14245" CreationDate="2016-11-02T11:36:59.697" Score="16" ViewCount="3403" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to screw a board in my house to mount indoor climbing holds, like an indoor wall. so a piece of board with evenly spaced screw holes in it that accept the standard screw mounts for climbing holds. something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yZroz.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yZroz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem is I don't know how to do this? Multiple questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of board?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do I get the screw holes in (what the holds screw into)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What size bolts/screws do I need?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm happy mounting the board, that's the easy bit. It's actually building the board itself I'm stuck on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T13:24:33.250" LastActivityDate="2016-11-03T07:35:13.680" Title="How can I build a board to mount climbing holds in my house?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14243" CreationDate="2016-11-02T12:31:16.597" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will need to counter sink (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.portercable.com/Products/AccessoriesDetail.aspx?ProductID=20698&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fostner&lt;/a&gt;) the nut (bottom right) on the back side (because it will be up against the wall).  A drill press would be nice.  Or space the board from the wall.  Any solid wood thick enough.  If you are not going to counter sink then you should be able to use plywood.  Practice on a short section.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jwAzC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jwAzC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hand set&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T16:35:31.053" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T16:35:31.053" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14243" CreationDate="2016-11-02T12:37:31.310" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically, using 3/4&quot; (19mm) plywood board is strong enough for this use. And the bolts you want are 3/4&quot; (19mm) plus enough each end to screw into the hold and to accept a nut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bolts used for most holds are M10 or M9.5, so check which your hold supplier uses, and then make sure the holes you drill are that thickness. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coreclimbing.co.uk/shop/tools-fixings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;This sort of bolt&lt;/a&gt; seems to be the most common in metric countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't use more than 2 holes per square foot (21.5 holes per m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) of wall surface (think the industry standard is 2.25 but err on the safe side)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tightening them up doesn't require anything clever - no countersinking required, just tighten them right up. I wouldn't mount it flush to the wall anyway - you are better off leaving that gap so you can get at the bolts as needed, rather than remove the entire piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If covering an entire wall, fix the climbing wall to all your studs, not just at each end, in order to avoid the board pulling away in the centre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-11-03T07:35:13.680" LastActivityDate="2016-11-03T07:35:13.680" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14240" CreationDate="2016-11-02T14:22:53.527" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your height is less important than your &lt;strong&gt;weight&lt;/strong&gt;. When fitting for modern XC skis, the best thing to do is actually stand on the skis and test their flex. You want skis that will make contact with the ground in the kick zone while you're standing on one foot, but suspend the kick zone while distributing your weight through both feet. This provides you with maximum glide length. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factors such as how much extra weight you'll typically be carrying need to be factored as well, if you're going to be skiing with a backpack for example, then you need to consider a ski with a stronger flex. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they size you up at the shop, they actually have you stand on the skis and they slide a leaf gauge tool under the skis to check how much of the kick zone is suspended. You can do the same test with a sheet of paper at home on a hard floor, but not typically&lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; you buy a pair. If you want to order online, go to a shop first, find out what your size is, then order that size online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a size guide offered by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.orscrosscountryskisdirect.com/madshus-eon-backcountry-skis.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bp50u.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bp50u.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T15:52:13.867" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T15:52:13.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14218" CreationDate="2016-11-02T14:26:10.553" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The foam is a quick way to securely glue and fill the gap between block and hull without going to heavier products. All the expanding foams will eventually degrade and in practice you could get plenty of years of service from any expanding foam. There are a lot of different kind of formulation and availability is a big factor in repairing. Even the closed cell foams wont be completely closed cells, meaning that one small portion of the foam will have some open cells (technical specifications usually indicate what percentage, but its minimal and absorption will take years) products used today are much better and consistent than what there was years ago, that's why you find that some older hulls are more prone to get waterlogged than others.&#xA;Don't get scared by the terms &quot;compromised if submerged for a period of time&quot; as they tend to cover constant immersion situations for years (floating docks etc) and not the condition of a properly maintained hull cavity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly you need a closed cell expanding foam, an open cell will end being a sponge and drying out becomes extremely difficult, sometimes impossible.&#xA;I'm not sure if we can name products following a question, however if you go to a chandler asking for a &lt;strong&gt;2 parts closed cell expanding urethane foam&lt;/strong&gt; there are a few, very common brands that are all perfectly suitable, some formulation might attack slightly the Styrofoam surface but usually sets right away so they don't present a problem, manufacturers indicate in clear if they are not compatible with other expanded foams and you can still try on a small piece to be sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you never used them, the way they expand can surprise you, generally they can be poured in layers so do a bit at a time as they can make damages expanding and always leave the room for the foam to expand into, don't trap it between two blocks or it will separate them, for example a crack in a foam block will have to be cut open leaving two wedges &gt;&amp;lt; so the new pour will expand towards the outside.&#xA;A couple of inspection ports are usually added to the deck (splitting apart the hull is definitely not recommended) to allow for complete drying out of the cavity if waterlogged, it can take months in the worst cases so a warm place and a small fan to circulate air (that's why two inspection ports) inside helps. With the inspection ports and draining the cavity as regular habit you wont have the problem of a waterlogged foam block.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you reuse everything and there are no gaps to fill you could go even with plain glue. Careful that open cell and closed cell are different formulations and not all closed cell are the same, glues that bond one kind might melt another so the glues will indicate the types of foam they are formulated for. 3M is one manufacturer but there are others, check your local supplier, epoxy can work for that too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you foresee a foam repair because of an hull crack (you indicate that in a comment) be aware that you don't really need it: the crack can be repaired from outside without removing any foam block and if you were to reach the foam to properly apply a fiberglass patch, the epoxy used to laminate the patch will do its work in bonding it to the foam. (pretty much as it bonds in a foamcore construction)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as a note, there used to be a Sunfish Knowledge Base page somewhere on the net with repair guides also. You might have to search it on google and use the Internet Archive to try to reach it through old links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-11-02T19:59:44.460" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T19:59:44.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14197" CreationDate="2016-11-02T16:15:04.217" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always inspect the seal, the closing ring and the barrel lip when buying used barrels, some are pristine and other have been somewhat abused. In certain cases the seal might look good but, from factory or if a bit old, doesn't apply enough pressure on the barrel lip or the metal ring wedge shape is a bit too open (the ring squashes lid and barrel together pushing the seal against the barrel lip).&#xA;However, for how much you want to pick the best of the bunch, even in barrels with some minor damage you shouldn't have leaks. We had our barrels fully submerged to keep contents cool (we submerged on purpose, normally they float), had them in the water after capsizing and a couple times they ran down rapids and took a good beating but never saw any leaks. And in our barrels the seal is not a solid ring, it shows a joint that is not separated but not glued either so there could be a potential water entry, yet they stayed dry. I even use them  to keep electronics safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have more than one barrel try switching the closing rings, if the ring is the problem that's one way to find out. You could also remove the seal to add another rubber ring underneath, any smooth rubber will do as the seal will still go on top of that, avoid caulking if there's the possibility you don't spread it evenly resulting in a bad seal. This will put more pressure against the barrel lip and that's easier than messing around with the metal ring. &#xA;If you prefer you can use some dry bags inside the barrels, its a bit redundant but the leaky barrel outside might still serve as protection from rocks and puncture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-11-02T16:15:04.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14252" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-03T12:01:23.693" Score="1" ViewCount="74" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm seeing great tips on here about swinging arms and legs to warm cold feet and hands in frigid conditions, but it dates back a bit. I'm looking to include 'field-tested' info on this in a magazine article I'm working on - is anyone willing to provide details? I'd be most grateful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:03:27.467" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:03:27.467" Title="Warming cold hands and feet" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-11-03T13:04:18.527" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14194" CreationDate="2016-11-03T14:19:31.890" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not everything needs to be located underdeck, often some hardware is semi-sunk in the deck, or grouped at a navigation/manoeuvring location on the boat. This can make it less visible. Even in more conventional non-luxury sailboats the fact that everything is neatly routed along the deck helps in reduce cluttering and not make the sailboat look like a man of war when you look at it (and there's a reason many boatowners are neat freaks, even if just when it comes to the boat)&#xA;Some hardware designed just to be flush with the deck and the use of electrical components also allows less conspicuous placement of some equipment. &#xA;Some components can easily enough be completely located below deck, like furling gear, and they can be also operated manually from above deck in case of failure..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some solutions only part of the system is routed below, like the placement of the traveler tackle in the Farr40. Often whats routed below are just all the &quot;ropes&quot; and, wanting, this can be designed into smaller affordable sailboats (I suspect some small boat owners would not like to have to maintain such a system).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not just a matter of aesthetics, racing boats often use these systems to maintain a clean deck and lower the centre of gravity and their main drive is the performance of boat and crew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ViU2b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ViU2b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZCgvl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZCgvl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0JFVa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0JFVa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JrcgA.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JrcgA.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VLxvN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VLxvN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NH66j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NH66j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VkbxK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VkbxK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dBoy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dBoy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCLHT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCLHT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastActivityDate="2016-11-03T14:19:31.890" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14254" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14256" CreationDate="2016-11-03T14:34:26.173" Score="18" ViewCount="3233" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is some trouble. One of my close friends has acrophobia (fear of heights). But he wants to go for a trek for what it offers than just the mesmerizing view from the top. How can I take care of one such person?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obvious assumptions: Hike doesn't include any climbing activity, not even scrambling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-04T18:43:41.093" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T15:45:51.940" Title="How to take care of an acrophobic person while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14254" CreationDate="2016-11-03T15:36:44.257" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never liked heights, but I have still done a lot of things because I wanted to get to the top more than I was afraid of heights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that the best thing to do is to let this friend decide on where he would like to go, and let his motivation decide how much risk (real or perceived) you take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also helps with the fear of heights to get used to it, for me that has always been hanging belays where you hang around at the top of the cliff for a while and eventually you get used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-04T01:39:42.573" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T01:39:42.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14254" CreationDate="2016-11-03T18:32:08.767" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd treat a new acrophobic hiker the same way I would any other new hiker I was out with. I start out by asking them what they are comfortable with before we even start, as well as what their fitness level is. For instance, I have a friend in poor shape with terrible balance who occasionally comes with me hiking. I choose routes with her that are much easier than I would do alone, and that mostly don't involve rock scrambling or unbridged stream crossings. But we've done a little scrambling anyway sometimes, and she's always been happy to learn she can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the way, I check in with a new hiker, especially when we get to a situation that's likely to be a bit tricky. In this case, it might mean a rocky climb or a trail with a drop-off. With a hiker who has no specific problems, it might mean asking how they are doing on a tough, steep section, or just checking on their energy and hydration levels after an hour and taking more frequent breaks than I usually would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With an acrophobic friend, I'd ask them about what sort of situation makes them most uncomfortable, then mostly avoid it. This would probably include scrambling, steep switchbacks, and cliffside trails, but it's their call. No need to avoid all heights, since they already know there will be some. The point is to give them an enjoyable experience so that they want to come back, and maybe push their limits further next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-11-03T18:32:08.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14257" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-03T19:26:32.527" Score="3" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am currently living in the Galápagos Islands. They have no drinking tap water, and the water they provide is not recommended to drink. I got an acute gastroenteritis from it. Here they told me it is an amoeba but didn't specify which. I've been sick for over a week and I'm desperate about the water situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just want a clear answer on what to do to be able to drink the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is boiling non-drinkable water enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11599" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:15:04.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:15:04.843" Title="How can I purify non-drinkable water that may have had organisms in it?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2016-11-04T13:53:47.810" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14254" CreationDate="2016-11-04T10:04:58.613" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over here we refer to height as &quot;exposure&quot; and we encounter a lot of it in the form of cliff traverses.  In order to take care of a person with some fear, one important thing is to recognise that different people have different limits and comfort zones.  For one person walking on an edge with a 2 meter drop is too much, for another 20 meter is the limit, for another walking on a 200 meter drop is not a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take it slow and be aware of the other person and when they seem to become uncomfortable.  Sometimes they may want to push their own comfort zone boundaries and &quot;try again&quot; after a minute, sometimes you may choose to find a way around the obstacle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask them what they want to do!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T10:04:58.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14260" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14262" CreationDate="2016-11-04T16:37:43.443" Score="21" ViewCount="3172" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently developed an interest in mountaineering.  There seems to be so many skills to learn (and master) for mountaineering.  Although I know it will take a few years to learn (although I'd probably never stop learning) I'm wondering from people who enjoy the sport - what are some skills that a hopeful mountaineer should learn first?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have quite a bit of backpacking experience (although, I need to delve more into winter camping), and I am training to be in better physical and mental shape.  But what about skills such as rock climbing, ice axe usage, and other technical skills?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, as a beginner - is learning to be a strong rock climber a good skill to master to eventually learn ice climbing.  Or as a beginner is it better to take glacier routes (and learn glacier travel/crevasse rescue) and over time learn to master more technical climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  I have read through Mountaineering, The Freedom of the Hills.  This book is very in-depth and I can see why people highly recommend it.  They go over many skills though, which is why I come here seeking advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11608" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-11-06T17:05:40.253" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T23:35:21.590" Title="First skills to learn for mountaineering" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T16:45:58.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The very first skill I would learn is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Most of the turn arounds I have seen while mountaineering have been from people not willing to do so. It amazing what can be accomplished simply by keeping on keeping on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that it never hurts to be in better physical shape and when starting out as a rock climber the biggest improvements come from getting over the mental hurdles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, just get out there and do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T16:45:58.037" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T16:50:59.573" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would put avalanche safety and a wilderness first responder course as my top priorities. They teach you how to not get into trouble and how to help others if you do. Just being able to spot an avalanche field is critical, and knowing the signs of a traumatic brain injury (just as an example) can easily be the difference between life and death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond those I think you'll want to hang out with folks who are better and more experienced than you because you'll see places you need to improve. I'm on a search and rescue team which is great because you get a lot of different disciplines and you're sent into environments that aren't really your cup of tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some folks are naturally strong navigators, some are born climbers, and others can look at the clouds and very accurately pick between a gnarly storm and general afternoon squalls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But with a WFR certification and an avalanche class I'd feel a lot more comfortable with you on nearly any trip I'd do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T16:50:59.573" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T17:36:27.793" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Mountains 101&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing you need to learn about Mountaineering is what mountains are, how they got there, and how they behave. You need to understand the terrain, so that you can better assess your risk of exposure, plan routes, and avoid hazards, especially in glacier travel. In most high altitude environments, the landscape has been shaped by glaciers, many of those glaciers are still there, and annually claim lives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that, the next most important thing to learn is mountain safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T23:35:21.590" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T23:35:21.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14254" CreationDate="2016-11-04T20:02:15.473" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers have covered the important ground, and are all things that have helped me, so I'll just add a few things from my own experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have acrophobia, a balance disorder, and a number of physical injuries and illnesses that make it hard for me to go places and see things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband, and the only other friend I trust, have found ways to help me do things I only dreamed of enjoying, so I'll suggest a few. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hold on to your friend when they get scared. That may mean taking their hand, hooking arms, or wrapping your hand around their waist. Sometimes my husband just holds my coat or sleeve, and I feel better. Also, depending on the terrain, stand behind them so they know they can step or tip backwards and not fall over. A hand on my back really increases my confidence.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some people with phobias just need to know they're not stuck, so remind your friend frequently that you'd be happy to take them back at any time. That can mean returning to a place they were comfortable and resting a bit, as others have said, or even going all the way back to the car or place you began. For me, that reassurance has often given me the strength I needed to keep going. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There have been times when I've had to force people to cut the journey short, and been afraid I disappointed them. I know you don't want your friends to feel that way, but just in case, let them know you've had a great time being together and watching them enjoy themselves, and that you'd love to take them again. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently, I went to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acadiamagic.com/schoodic-point.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schoodic Point&lt;/a&gt;, which is a rocky section of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Acadia National Park&lt;/a&gt; in Maine. We stayed where it was fairly flat, without much climbing and no scrambling, but the terrain was rough and scary. It was something I thought I could never do, and planned to stay in the car. With my husband and friend using these methods, and what's in all the other answers here, I went much farther than I thought I would, loved almost every minute, and am looking forward to going back!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I look at the pictures from that vacation and still can't believe that was me up there! Caring for your friend in this way can make this kind of huge impact on their life! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T19:35:39.400" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T19:35:39.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T20:40:43.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First learn safety.  Knots, harness, belay, and rescue are common.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For snow travel learn self arrest with an ice ax.  As far as avalanche safety only climb on glaciers / big snow fields with someone trained and experienced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a class or get hooked up with some experienced climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then learn the skills for the route.  Plan the route according to your skills.  To the top snow is typically best route.  If you like rock then climb rock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can typically avoid rock climbing.  Do it because you want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your objective is to climb ice then start with rock and snow. Ice climbing is high risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-05T17:05:34.597" LastActivityDate="2016-11-05T17:05:34.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T20:46:02.653" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The second most important thing to learn is how to use a first aid kit and how to rescue somebody and/or yourself from various emergency situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first most important thing is to understand that it's wrong to think you'd never need those skills or it's more important to learn how to avoid situations that cause them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6245" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T20:46:02.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-04T22:21:48.570" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've taught some classes for a mountaineering club, and the following sequence is based loosely on what we do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Learn traditional map-reading and navigational skills. Move beyond attempting to navigate the way most people do these days, by peering at the screen of a cell phone. Get in the habit of printing out a paper topo map for any new route you're doing, and build competence at relating the topo map to the landscape you see around you, without depending on GPS (which is limiting and unreliable). Build experience with cross-country travel, so that you're not freaked out by going off trail or losing a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Learn very basic skills at avalanche avoidance. The most basic skill is extremely simple and does not require taking an avalanche course or buying gear. a) Has there been 15 cm (6&quot;) of snow in the last 48 hours? b) Is the slope 30-35 degrees or more (or is the area bare of old-growth trees)? If both of these factors exist, don't go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) Build experience with the ice ax, and also with crampons, microspikes, and snowshoes. The ice ax is a fundamental tool of the mountaineer. Practice self-arrest. Get comfortable with snow travel techniques like the plunge step. Learn to move confidently on steep snow, using the appropriate techniques. While you're gaining this experience, you'll gain skills in keeping yourself comfortable and happy in a cold environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) Learn basic roped climbing techniques. You should know how to put on your harness, half a dozen of the most important knots and their uses, how to flake the rope, and how to provide a hip belay or a belay using a belay device. This could be in the context of rock climbing or snow climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(5) Learn to lead climb (on rock, snow, or ice), and to build anchors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For instance, as a beginner - is learning to be a strong rock climber a good skill to master to eventually learn ice climbing. Or as a beginner is it better to take glacier routes (and learn glacier travel/crevasse rescue) and over time learn to master more technical climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do rock, ice, and glacier travel in any order, or learn any subset of these skills that you wish. They overlap a lot, because they all involve a lot of the same roped climbing skills and anchor building skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First aid training is great, but this is really more of a general life skill. Even if you take a wilderness first aid course, you're more likely to use the skills when you're in your home or at work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-11-04T22:28:03.673" LastActivityDate="2016-11-04T22:28:03.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-05T20:06:39.380" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most important skills is to make friends with skilled mountaineers and have the social skills to make them want to take you along on their next expedition. While this may sound flippant what it really means is find a club with people you get on with and integrate yourself into it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously getting some basic competency with sport and outdoor rock climbing is a good first step as this tends to be more accessible and will teach you some of the fundamental safety skills in terms of using ropes an other gear and there will clearly be a lot of social and technical overlap with winter climbing and mountaineering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-11-05T20:06:39.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14270" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-07T00:03:20.647" Score="5" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's what I want to do, I want to camp (pitch a tent and go hiking) but I don't want to stay too far away from Los Angeles, and I want to camp in a place with a toilet and maybe a shower, I might want the shower over the toilet ;) (for almost free is arround 15~20 Dollars a night)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, because this is my first time camping in California, I'd like to know if I need permits to camp or not, if so, how much they cost, and where I can and cannot camp&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice is appreciated&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8559" LastEditorUserId="8559" LastEditDate="2016-11-07T22:24:40.307" LastActivityDate="2016-11-07T22:24:40.307" Title="Where to camp for almost free on the surroundings of Los Angeles?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;permits&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14270" CreationDate="2016-11-07T12:36:22.813" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your requirements are conflicting.  &lt;i&gt;Think&lt;/i&gt; about it.  It costs money to build showers and toilets and to provide running water.  It's quite unlikely that someone or some organization is going to build a campground with the amenities you want, then let everyone camp there for free, &lt;i&gt;especially&lt;/i&gt; close to a major city where the demand will be high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you can probably camp for free, or you can camp with amenities, but not both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the western US, the rules for camping in National Forests are often quite relaxed.  Many Forests allow &quot;dispersed&quot; camping, which is free.  That means you pull off to the side of a dirt road, and pitch your tent.  There are no toilets or anything else, but it's free.  This tends to be in places that don't get overrun as a result, so &quot;not too far&quot; from Los Angeles is less likely.  Still, such camping is allowed in other places close to major cities, like in the Tonto NF less than one hour drive from downtown Phoenix.  Find the National Forests in the area, and ask them specifically about camping restrictions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National Forests are also good places to camp in special-built campgrounds for relatively low cost compared to other designated-site campgrounds.  State parks tend to cost more.  However, this is just a rough guide.  The general rules are just that, and they can be quite different near cities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-11-07T12:36:22.813" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14270" CreationDate="2016-11-07T13:51:12.157" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a permit for car camping, but parking in many areas in So Cal requires a National Forest Adventure Pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not going to get car camping with a toilet and shower for free. If you want free, you need to go backpacking, not car camping. An example of a typical cost for car camping would be $15 at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/angeles/recreation/recarea?recid=41776&amp;amp;actid=29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Manker Flat&lt;/a&gt;, which has portapotties nearby but no showers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-11-07T13:51:12.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14274" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-07T19:18:18.110" Score="2" ViewCount="1471" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bird in this picture is mostly gray but has black and white stripes on the flank area. It also has a white head, red beak and red-rimmed eye. The head is outlined with a black stripe which goes across the face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the name of the bird?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XSRl4m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XSRl4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A bird to be identified&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt; From &lt;a href=&quot;http://wikibird.blog.ir/1393/06/05/%DA%A9%D8%A8%DA%A9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikibird&lt;/a&gt; - © Morteza Nemati &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:48:40.400" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T06:01:47.253" Title="What is this gray bird that has black stripes on the side and around the head?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14274" CreationDate="2016-11-07T19:49:29.010" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://pakistanpaedia.com/wildlife/birds/bird-watching-in_pakistan.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; (cache &lt;a href=&quot;http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:prhLRpC2VXEJ:pakistanpaedia.com/wildlife/birds/bird-watching-in_pakistan.html+&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ct=clnk&amp;amp;gl=mx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) it's a Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Chukar (Alectoris chukar) is a Eurasian upland game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Its native range in Asia from Pakistan and Kashmir, India and Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukar_partridge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; also has an article about it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This partridge has well marked black and white bars on the flanks and a black band running from the forehead across the eye and running down the head to form a necklace that encloses a white throat. The species has been introduced into many other places and feral populations have established themselves in parts of North America and New Zealand. This bird can be found in parts of Middle East.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T16:28:37.373" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T16:28:37.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14274" CreationDate="2016-11-07T19:49:44.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukar_partridge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chukar partridge&lt;/a&gt;. For more information I would suggest the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukar_partridge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-11-07T19:49:44.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14277" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-08T09:04:18.413" Score="9" ViewCount="508" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fish like this have been caught recently (this Autumn) in many freshwater bodies in  Sweden (like Dalbergsån) and no one knows what they are supposed to be (as written in this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fiskejournalen.se/vad-ar-det-for-art/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;). Apparently, the fish was caught on worms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4KO2o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4KO2o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like a common roach, but the eyes are different colour and the red around the gills is uncharacteristic. Some pictures I have seen show a yellowish hue on the fins. I'd guess it is an invasive new species and probably someone out there knows what it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fiskejournalen.se/vad-ar-det-for-art/?showGallery=b12861&amp;amp;slide=6&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a gallery with other images.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-21T02:42:26.550" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T02:42:26.550" Title="What is this fish that looks like a common roach with black eyes and red gills?" Tags="&lt;fish&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14278" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14280" CreationDate="2016-11-08T09:09:52.320" Score="10" ViewCount="1399" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Ghats&lt;/a&gt;, India where I hike, the grass grows tall in the monsoon season. It very well exceeds human height (&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;taller than 7 feet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;). Last month on a hike the trail suddenly went into such grass.&#xA;I walked through it to the other side anyway.&#xA;Only then I realised that there could have been snakes there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Snakes are what came to my mind, but the question is not limited to snakes. I want to know what precautions we can take to avoid any mishaps that could occur in tall grass, e.g. losing sense of direction, entangling legs and falling, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What could endanger our safety in tall grass?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What precautions should we take in situations where we have to make our way through the grass?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T17:08:57.847" LastActivityDate="2016-11-09T00:18:18.610" Title="What precautions should we take in situations when hiking or walking through tall grass?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14278" CreationDate="2016-11-08T10:37:22.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about snakes then the only thing that you can do and that you should need to do is &quot;&lt;strong&gt;don't be quiet&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;.  Snakes are scared of humans and whenever possible will try to get away as quickly as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A normal conversation with a buddy, the sound of your feet and even the sound of you making your way through grass will alert the snakes to your presence so that they will have enough time to get away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes hear very well and also can feel your footsteps on the ground so there is no need to try to speak load or make a big racket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that there are some cases where I have felt that I would like to give the snakes a bit more warning of my coming.  This is when crossing through wetlands where the water is flowing rapidly and causing white noise that makes it harder to hear.  In such situations your feet also makes less noise, so the snakes will have less warning of your approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two snakes in particular are exceptions to this rule:  The American Rattle snake and it's close cousin the South African Puff Adder does not try to get away when humans approach, since they prefer to hide by blending in.  This causes unwary humans to approach too close, which causes them to attack and gives them a reputation as being aggressive.  Neither of these two snakes prefer to live in tall grass though and they do not occur in India.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some more hints:  Be armed with knowledge about snakes and what to do in case of an encounter - consider subscribing to your local snake conservation Facebook group, read up about the topic, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes do not consider humans to be food.  Producing poison is an &quot;expensive&quot; chemical process, so snakes do not &quot;want to&quot; bite humans, but will do it to save their own lives.  Keep a good distance and healthy respect for them, don't kill or hurt them, and enjoy the amazing sight when you do see them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T10:37:22.683" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14278" CreationDate="2016-11-08T13:12:41.000" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you mentioned tall grass, snakes weren't the first thing that came to my mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes can hide in plain site, let aside the taller grass. They typically want to hide, unless you aren't really entering their hide-outs.&#xA;For snakes that you find in Western Ghats, they typically have their habitat in thickets and holes. Very rarely you'll come across a snake in a grassland, typically when its their basking time, and I haven't seen a snake basking in such tall grass, because it doesn't make sense. The only possibility that you come across snake if it is passing through, but eventually like &lt;em&gt;most of the times&lt;/em&gt; it will know that something (you) are coming closer.&#xA;An argument can be made that if it is so, why people in India usually get bitten by a snake or come across one while they are in a sugarcane farm or a rice farming? And, the only possible valid reason I can think of is presence of rats and other preys that snakes happily feast on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other animals you need to be aware of are hyenas and wolves.&#xA;I have heard of and met people who have excelled at walking without making any noise. When I tried the same over a period of time and finally succeeded at it, I came across a Bison, not exactly in that taller grass, but in a similar region. So, be loud if you want to make sure you keep them away if they are around at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from snakes there are other things you want to be aware of while walking in tall grass. The most important of them is direction. In that case I usually refer a hill or a distant mountain as a landmark before getting into such tall grass. Additionally you can refer your GPS application periodically to check if you are heading into the direction you are supposed to, if you are equipped with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might be specific to the region we trek/hike around: Taller grass in Western Ghat (Well, most part of it) is seasonal. I consider season before I plan any such routes, but obviously if find yourself in a situation that you have to pass through one such long region, bang your feet (not such that it starts hurting your knees) as you walk and make sure you are with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A proper trekking attire: A full pant, a shirt with full sleeves, preferably a hat or a cap. Shoes!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A walking stick which you can use to push aside the grass on the route. Do not slaughter the grass through the way, you can bend it enough to let yourself and your team pass. I am somewhat against that Machete thing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a stick effectively would help you judge what you are stepping into. I have seen people getting their ankles twisted because they didn't see what they stepped onto/into. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible avoid such route during low-light, mist and night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-11-08T14:18:18.530" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T14:18:18.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14254" CreationDate="2016-11-08T13:28:52.640" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an acrophobic myself, you need to be very calm, helpful and be prepared to turn back and/or abort the hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking could be very helpful to help your friend deal with his fears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of years ago I went to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itatiaia_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Itatiaia National Park&lt;/a&gt; and it was very hard to deal with the height. My friends where more experienced and helped me a lot with the hardest parts. Before the finish, I decided that was enough for me, and I waited for the group to finish and come back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I write about this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rodrigomenezesaju.blogspot.com.br/2015/07/prateleiras-e-pico-das-agulhas-negras.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;experience here&lt;/a&gt; (many photos), but it's in portuguese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8948" LastEditorUserId="18480" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T15:45:51.940" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T15:45:51.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5854" CreationDate="2016-11-08T15:55:29.130" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Polarization alone makes no difference to UV protection where it most matters: the interior of your eyes, especially your retinas and vitreous humor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the polarized glass blocks a proportion of incoming light, the proportion of that light which is UV is (roughly speaking) unchanged.  The reason that the &lt;em&gt;ratio&lt;/em&gt; of UV to visible light is important is that the eye adapts very well to the intensity of daylight, opening the iris to admit more light when you wear the sunglasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to ensure that your sunglasses provide UV protection &lt;em&gt;whether or not they are polarized&lt;/em&gt; - look for conformance to ISO 12312 or equivalent, and (where applicable) a CE mark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T22:05:00.787" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T22:05:00.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14284" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14287" CreationDate="2016-11-08T22:26:41.787" Score="17" ViewCount="14363" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm curious as to the difference between an oar and a paddle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it have to do with shape, material, or size? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it solely related to the type of vessel for which it's used? In other words, can you use a paddle to propel a rowboat, or an oar to propel a kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it just a matter of terminology, or something more specific? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-11-13T17:24:40.527" Title="What's the difference between an oar and a paddle?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14284" CreationDate="2016-11-08T22:32:34.900" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, a paddle is held by the person and an oar is connected to the boat in some manner, such as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowlock&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rowlock&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-11-08T22:32:34.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14278" CreationDate="2016-11-09T00:18:18.610" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When walking in long grass and one is trying to avoid snakes at the same time, you have to be aware that you are already braking one of the main guidelines to avoid snakes: &lt;a href=&quot;http://ourhikingblog.com.au/2010/12/9-tips-to-avoid-a-snake-bite-in-the-outdoors.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Avoid walking through long grass or reeds.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like anything else in this domain, there is no clear cut guidelines to follow that would definitely make a snake encounter non existent. No method is perfect!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nearly all snake bites occur on the ankles (90%), hands and lower parts of the legs so covering up these areas will significantly reduce the possibility that a snake’s venom will enter your bloodstream. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/snake-survival-what-every-camper-should-know/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snake Survival: What Every Camper Should Know&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this very reason, I always wear tall leather boots and long pants when walking in tall grasses, regardless of the temperature. Some people actually wear &lt;strong&gt;gaiters&lt;/strong&gt; on their legs, but I have never done this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to &lt;strong&gt;stamp my feet&lt;/strong&gt; as I walk through areas where snakes may be out and about. Although this is not a perfect method to help snakes move off your pathway, it does seems to work, at least for me. Snakes can be very stubborn, and at times, no amount of stomping will make them move. Also keep up a load conversation with your friends, as it will help give the impression to all the wildlife that you are travelling in numbers and all should use the same path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never step over a log&lt;/strong&gt;, but rather step onto it and jump off the log at least a meter or more from the log. A snake could be hiding on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &lt;strong&gt;chiggers&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;tics&lt;/strong&gt; are in your area, tuck your pants into a pair of high socks to prevent chiggers crawling onto the ankle. You could also use a &lt;strong&gt;bug repellent&lt;/strong&gt; to be applied to either or both skin and clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-11-09T00:18:18.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14284" CreationDate="2016-11-10T02:40:42.657" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few fundamental differences between oars and paddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One main difference is the position of the user relative to the direction in which the vessel is moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oars are used to propel the boat in the opposite direction from the direction the rower is seated. Therefore, the person who rows the boat travels backward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddles propel the boat in the same direction the paddler is facing. Therefore, the paddler travels forward. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-oar-and-vs-paddle/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oars are used primarily for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christinedemerchant.com/boat-styles-rowboat.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rowboats&lt;/a&gt; and  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_scull&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sculls&lt;/a&gt;, although there are other popular oar-driven vessels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddles are used primarily for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;canoes&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kayaks&lt;/a&gt;. Paddle design even differs between canoes and kayaks. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/canoe-paddle.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canoe paddles&lt;/a&gt; have long handles with one blade on the end. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/kayak-paddle.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kayak paddles&lt;/a&gt; have blades on both ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oars are attached to the boat using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fisheriessupply.com/dinghy-fishing-and-trailer/oarlocks-and-sockets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;oarlocks&lt;/a&gt;, which come in many shapes and sizes, and can be adapted for a number of different types of boats. Because they're attached, the motion of oars is controlled by the legs, knees and arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddles are not attached to the boat, so they're held by the hand, or both hands, depending on the situation. The strokes of a paddle are controlled by the user's torso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both oars and paddles are made in a number of different materials. Varieties include wood, fiberglass, plastic, as well as nylon and composites. They also both come in different sizes, shapes and designs. They're tailored to the size of the user, the number of users per craft, and the shape or purpose of the boat. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlesandoars.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paddles and Oars&lt;/a&gt; offers information, descriptions, pictures and recommendations for choosing which works best in any given situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thanks go to @Erik for providing additional pertinent information regarding oars:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oars give a much more powerful stroke than paddles due to their increased leverage. This is why bigger heavier crafts typically use oars instead of paddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-11-13T17:24:40.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14208" CreationDate="2016-11-10T13:26:34.213" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can constantly feel them hitting your head and see them on your clothes, you should easily be able to get them trapped on something sticky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try an &lt;em&gt;adhesive bug trap&lt;/em&gt; or simply some &lt;em&gt;double sided tape&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to make them more visible, how about using a very strong light source? At least dust particles can be made visible easily like this, so this should also work for any kind of insect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2016-11-10T13:26:34.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="848" CreationDate="2016-11-11T05:03:14.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the spring you can commonly find delicious new shoots on spruce. They are quite good as a snack when there are no other significant sources of food to eat, or perhaps on a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11637" LastActivityDate="2016-11-11T05:03:14.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14295" CreationDate="2016-11-11T14:10:41.447" Score="12" ViewCount="454" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently taken up bouldering/rock climbing to learn some rock climbing techniques and learn rope skills.  In my research, I have come across two types of climbing: static and dynamic.  Although dynamic climbing seems to very fun, how often is it actually used by mountaineers (I realize that it is actually quite common for rock climbing)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like jumping from one hold to reach the next hold would have many disadvantages, especially when wearing a pack, in cold conditions, and when there is ice or snow.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that dynamic movement can be very broad but I am specifically referring to jumping from hold to hold or swinging, etc.  Is this a skill a mountaineer should use? Or is static climbing more the way to go when in the mountains? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11608" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-11T19:14:33.060" LastActivityDate="2016-11-14T06:04:02.017" Title="Do mountaineers use dynamic climbing when traversing rock/ice?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14294" CreationDate="2016-11-11T18:54:56.583" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem will be that both the terms/activities &quot;dynamic climbing&quot; and &quot;mountaineering&quot; are quite broad. Strictly speaking the answer is yes: You sometimes use dynamic climbing in mountaineering, as there are routes that you cannot do entirely statically. However this is not very helpful and even misleading, so I will try to give a broader view in the following.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You don't often climb dynamically, as not falling is the priority when mountaineering and the risk of falling is inherently bigger when climbing dynamically. However you will sooner or later come across something, that is only or more easily done dynamically, so it does not hurt knowing how to climb dynamically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally define static climbing as a movement during which you could stop and hold that position at any time. This is nothing official and rather strict.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On ice I never heard of dynamic movements being used in mountaineering except for special cases and people pushing the limits. In ice climbing the paradigm is &quot;do not fall&quot; and climbing dynamically goes against that.&#xA;On snow you generally don't climb but walk, so I wouldn't know how dynamic movement applies there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rock you quite frequently use dynamic climbing when considering this strict definition, as it can be much more efficient. E.g. reaching a hold in a kind of swing while all three other extremities are still on steps/holds is perfectly save, but needs less body tension and pulling with your arm. Still you will only do this when you are certain the next hold is good and/or you are in easy terrain without big consequences of a fall.&#xA;The big difference between rock climbing and climbing rock while mountaineering is usually the protection: In rock climbing you protect in a way that you can fall without (serious) injuries, in mountaineering you can or want, due to time constraints, often only protect in a way that prevents a the entire team to fall as far as the mountain goes down (ugly description, in German we call it a &quot;Totalabsturz&quot;). So as in ice climbing, falling is not really an option in mountaineering. This means you take less risks while climbing and therefore tend to climb much more statically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the moves you stated explicitly:&#xA;Jumping to a hold (dyno) and swinging is not something you do in mountaineering on a regular basis, as both inherently carry the risk of missing the next hold/foot and thus falling. Nevertheless you might come across a situation where you need it, e.g. when having to jump over a gap or only having good holds but the rock below is blank. But as I said, that's not something you encounter regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-11T23:41:30.220" LastActivityDate="2016-11-11T23:41:30.220" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14296" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-11T22:18:42.587" Score="11" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a diesel powered sailboat. What are effective ways to avoid microbial contamination of the diesel fuel? And what do you do if the fuel becomes contaminated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[This question originally &lt;a href=&quot;http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/104251/sailing-yachting-seamanship-what-are-effective-ways-to-avoid-microbial-contami/104270#104270&quot;&gt;asked by Curd on the Sailing Yachting and Seamanship proposal&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2016-11-12T14:14:16.070" LastActivityDate="2016-11-28T17:07:18.460" Title="Avoiding microbial contamination of diesel fuel" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14297" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14299" CreationDate="2016-11-12T01:26:45.710" Score="6" ViewCount="1107" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gelcoat is available in 2 formulas, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.totalboat.com/product/gelcoat/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one has wax (finishing), one does not (layering)&lt;/a&gt;. Both need to be mixed with an agent to cause it to harden. Gelcoat that is exposed to the air stays tacky, this allows for a chemical bond to form between layers.  When using gelcoat for the finishing coat of a boat repair, the common method is to use the formula with wax. As the gelcoat sets, the wax floats to the surface and forms the barrier that allows it to fully harden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While shopping for a product at a popular web seller, I found this review for a verified purchase of &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00Q53C3NS&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TotalBoat White Gelcoat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was happy at the time of application on how it was ..., October 20, 2016&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had called the company to make sure I understood how to apply product and mix contents. Got the boat ready and applied the gelcoat. Was happy at the time of application on how it was going to work, but when came back next day there were spots that had not hardened and still have not. I do not understand what went wrong and will be calling the company back on what possibly went wrong. I mixed hardener the same, the surface was all prepared the same. Will have to redo the boat and not going back with this product.&lt;a href=&quot;https://smile.amazon.com/gp/review/R1JBZSMXFR8T69?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the information on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00Q53C3NS&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;product page&lt;/a&gt;, this gelcoat was made with wax. I searched the site where I found the review, but couldn't locate a wax-free product. I ended up going to another source to get a wax-free product for my first layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously I don't know for sure, but the description of &amp;quot;spots that had not hardened&amp;quot; makes me wonder if maybe they used soap and water (acetone is recommended by some) to clean the boat prior to applying the gelcoat. If so, and some soap residue remained, it may have potentially risen through the gelcoat, repelling the wax in &amp;quot;spots&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Assuming the person mixed the gelcoat and hardener well&lt;/strong&gt;, what could have caused some areas not to harden?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-12T17:53:19.923" Title="In a boat repair, what would cause Gelcoat not to harden?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14294" CreationDate="2016-11-12T04:28:33.563" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this isn't the type of dynamic climbing you'd see in a bouldering problem, but one &quot;dynamic&quot; climbing technique that I could see being used on a mountaineering route is a pendulum. This is pretty much what it sounds like one person swings back and forth on the end of the rope so they can get to a climbable line. Here is a video of one being done on El Capitan: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0h1EmGDAI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0h1EmGDAI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of all the &quot;dynamic&quot; moves or techniques this is the one I'd most expect to see on a major expedition style climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure why my YouTube link isn't one boxing. If someone knows how to make it do that I'd appreciate the edit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-11-12T04:28:33.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14297" CreationDate="2016-11-12T11:53:19.703" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several factors that can inhibit the gelcoat from curing. There is not enough information in the review to identify the specific cause.  The only specific cause mentioned is stirring, if we assume the catalyst (hardener) and gelcoat where well mixed, here are some other potential causes (most common, not exhaustive).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Old Product&lt;/strong&gt; Both the epoxy gelcoat and catalyst have a shelf life, if they are to old, they will never fully cure. &lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt; buy new product from a reputable volume dealer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not Mixing Properly&lt;/strong&gt; To much coloring agent or to little of the catalyst can inhibit curing. A new wood stir stick can absorb the catalyst. &lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt; Pre-stir the gelcoat, then add the catalyst and stir well, scrape the sides of the container while mixing. If spraying do not over thin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature&lt;/strong&gt; Gelcoat should be applied when temps are about 70F-80F or 21C-26C. The boat, product and air all need to be warm/cool. &lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt; work in a heated/cooled area. For big boats outside, warm/cool the outside AND inside of the boat. Follow the manufactures recommendations to adjust catalyst for temperatures  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moisture (humidity)&lt;/strong&gt; High Humidity inhibits curing, over 60-80% is problematic. &lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt; work in a environmentally controlled area, Air conditioning also removes heat and moisture.  In a heated area use a dehumidifier. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clean Surface&lt;/strong&gt; Follow manufactures directions for cleaning before and during application.  Some products release amine during curing resulting in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/diy/ask-the-experts/what-is-amine-blush.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amine blush&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Prevention&lt;/strong&gt; If directed; wash with soap, water and scrub pad between applications. Amine is water soluble sanding and/or acetone wash without soap and water washing only spread the amine. Warm dry environments reduce blush from epoxy products. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Solution&lt;/strong&gt; If your gelcoat has not set in 4 to 8 hours there are two options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Limit oxygen exposure.  The easiest way for the backyard/garage home repair person is to cover the area with wax paper.  If it is warm and dry and another 4 to 8 hours has not caused it to set, see step 2. Example from a couple months later &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/14602/4079&quot;&gt;Wax paper on new application&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Scrape off the uncured gelcoat, sand and prep.  Figure out what the problem was and reapply after addressing the problem.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of references that address the many potential problem issues.  Both have ads but serve to identify areas of concern&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fibreglast.com/product/gel-coat-troubleshooting-guide/Learning_Center&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gel Coat Troubleshooting Guide (commercial product page)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/655585-help-gelcoat-not-curing.html#b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Help... Gelcoat is not curing (forum post)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-04-12T17:53:19.923" LastActivityDate="2019-04-12T17:53:19.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14296" CreationDate="2016-11-12T12:43:35.203" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bacteria and fungi can only grow in water, not in the fuel itself. If a fuel tank is unused and resting for a longer time, the small water content in the fuel can separate at the bottom and provide a viable environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the fuel will be extracted at the lowest point of the tank, so that accumulated water will be removed whenever the engine runs and separated in the fuel filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you have a well-constructed tank, and run the engine and clean and drain the fuel filter regularly, you should be fine. It also helps to keep the tank full to prevent condensation from the air inside it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot run the engine regularly, I think there are additives to prevent microbial growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have significant contamination, you probably have to drain and clean the tank as well as the filter and fuel pipes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-11-12T12:43:35.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14218" CreationDate="2016-11-12T13:08:21.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14218/what-to-look-for-in-marine-grade-expanding-foams/14247#14247&quot;&gt;answer by Erik vanDoren&lt;/a&gt; then I cut inspection ports in my boat.  What I learned helps validate the correctness of his answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quick history. I purchased the boat (&lt;em&gt;1972ish sunfish&lt;/em&gt;) a few weeks ago, it had a small crack in the hull and had been stored upside down for some time.  On purchase it had a couple of gallons of water sloshing inside.  I drained the water with the stock drain.  2 or 3 weeks later I began the repairs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After purchasing two inspection port covers, I cut the first hole between the splash guard and the cockpit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sab3S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sab3S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;first hole cut&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't find any standing water, and a picture of the inside looks ok.  The mast post is at the center of the image, the camera is pointing towards the bow. The white on either side is the styrofoam blocks.  There is a litte discoloration in a few places. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NZTut.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NZTut.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;inside looking forward from cockpit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next I mark out an inspection port behind the cock pit. I know that some of the rear center styrofoam block will need to be removed, as it is directly below where the inspection port has to go. I begin drilling the starter hole (&lt;em&gt;use a jigsaw to cut the round hole&lt;/em&gt;) as soon as the bit breaks through the fiberglass water starts coming up through the drill hole! There is both expanding foam and styrofoam under the entire inspection port area. After completing the hole I remove the small block of styrofoam about 6&quot;x6&quot;x4&quot; it is much heavier then I expected. Maybe a pound and half or near a kilo gram.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vgDXD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vgDXD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;styrofoam block from aft of sunfish&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't see any standing water in the back of the boat. A picture of the inside looks much like the front did (&lt;em&gt;looking forward towards the cockpit, the strange fiberglass part in the center of the image is the rear underdeck storage&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Qdaq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Qdaq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;inside aft&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The styrofoam which is considered a closed cell foam is saturated with water.  It is too firm to squeeze like a sponge but on pressing one corner against the concrete floor I get a large puddle of water out, maybe an ounce (30cc), picture below. Also the expanding foam is about equally saturated (not pictured). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gt0wP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gt0wP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Water from styrofoam&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I learned.  Definately get closed cell foam, even with the best closed cell foam if it has any exposure to water, have a plan to dry it out.  Foam will abosorb water like a sponge, even if only exposed to a little standing water in the hull it can be compely saturated.  When I first cut the inspection ports I placed a fan over the front inspection port, moist air flowed well out of the rear inspection port, I kept a dehumidifier running in the garage also.  A few days later the expanding foam at the rear is still wet to the touch.  I flipped the boat over and began repairs on the hull.  I don't have the fan placed but I continue with the dehumidifier while not activly sanding. I plan to update this answer with dry times as the work progresses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update 1 month later&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boat is still in the heated garage, fan blowing through hull most of the time, dehumidifier running keeping the humidity down around 30% and it is not dry yet.  The 6 inch block of foam I cut out, has been laying on the floor next to the boat and you can still feel the water in it when you pick it up. Mounting the inspection ports yesterday I had to remove a bit more foam, while it feels dry on the outside, just an inch in it is still moist. The expanding foam dried out much quicker then the white Styrofoam. It is winter now, and as soon as the last of the marine sealant around the inspection port drys the boat is going out so the car can come in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-17T00:56:19.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14302" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14325" CreationDate="2016-11-12T14:05:33.793" Score="4" ViewCount="502" Body="&lt;p&gt;While researching my answer at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14297/what-would-cause-gelcoat-in-a-boat-repair-not-to-harden/14299#14299&quot;&gt;In a boat repair, what would cause Gelcoat not to harden?&lt;/a&gt; I learned about amine blush.  Amine blush is a waxy layer that forms as most marine epoxies cure.  It can be clearly visible as a white layer, or nearly invisable.  It is water soluble, sanding and/or acetone wash without soap and water washing only spread the amine, creating problems with adhesion and curing with additional repairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per the answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14199/how-can-i-prevent-a-fiberglass-crack-in-my-sailboat-from-getting-worse/14204#14204&quot;&gt;How can I prevent a fiberglass crack in my sailboat from getting worse?&lt;/a&gt; there are two types of resin used in boat construction and repair 'polyester' &amp;amp; 'epoxy'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I washed my boat with soap and water a couple of weeks before beginning repairs. I have identified that is about a 1972 model made with polyester resin.  It has had some older repairs (epoxy vs polyester not yet identified as old repair product) I have made patches with polyester resin and new fiberglass.  So far I have only used acetone and sandpaper in my preparations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need to be concerned about amine blush, or is that only related to new/current repairs with epoxy products in areas where humidity is not well controlled during curing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T16:45:14.877" Title="Is amine blush only a concern with new/ongoing epoxy repairs?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14294" CreationDate="2016-11-14T05:58:21.583" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dynamic climbing is never recommended when mountaineering. The most dynamic you'll get is jumping over a gap. The first rule of trad climbing and ice climbing or any other form of high exposure climbing without fixed pro is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;don't fall&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High altitude rock is not like what you may be used to climbing at a sport crag. You aren't guaranteed to be pulling on &quot;clean rock&quot; once you start climbing away from the graded routes. I've watched people pull boulders the size of refrigerators off of cliff faces just while scrambling up an easy face and pulling on a juggy hold. I always demonstrate to people how unreliable old rotten rock can be by pulling what appears to be good holds clean off a rock face when I recognize one. Climbing dynamically in an environment like that is a disaster waiting to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big difference between sport climbing an alpinism/mountaineering is sport climbing is all about the &lt;em&gt;style&lt;/em&gt; of climbing. It's about the moves, the beta, the grade, and the strain on your body. Alpinism is about conquering the mountain, the freedom of the hills. When you're planning your route to the top, you're typically planning to take the path of least resistance, and doing everything as safely as possible. You're much more likely to get yourself killed climbing dynamically on an exposed alpine route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, there is a relatively new discipline of alpinism known as &lt;em&gt;extreme alpinism&lt;/em&gt; where people take things to the next level and try to speed climb the worlds hardest mountains. Climbs that originally took weeks to summit, and have claimed hundreds of lives (many still claim lives annually) are now being done in on a couple hours by guys like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxEtJoK0-jA&quot;&gt;Ueli Steck.&lt;/a&gt; But even though he's going for speed records, you'll notice when you watch him climb that he's not climbing dynamically as a sport climber would, he may throw out a dynamic move once and a while, but he's also arguably one of the best alpinists to ever live. The average guy wouldn't even think about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-11-14T06:04:02.017" LastActivityDate="2016-11-14T06:04:02.017" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-15T10:51:01.813" Score="3" ViewCount="565" Body="&lt;p&gt;Humans differ in their food preferences. One person loves oysters, another can't stand them, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about animals? Are there any rabbits that don't like carrots? Lions that don't care for zebra? Brown Bears that won't eat fish? Panda bears that turn up their snouts at bamboo? Koalas that eschew eucalyptus leaves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question might seem flippant, but it's not. If there &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; such cases (robins that don't like worms, etc.) what do they eat instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastActivityDate="2016-11-15T14:32:09.487" Title="Do animals have varied taste in foods within their species?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-11-15T14:01:32.140" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14305" CreationDate="2016-11-15T12:21:21.393" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got your question wrong at first. Correctly considered your question is based on a false assumption however. Adult humans don't eat certain food for the simple reason &lt;em&gt;that they can&lt;/em&gt;. You would be absolutely surprised how easily a human can change his mind when hungry :) (vegans who hunt become a thing then). For example North Korean people ate grass and tree bark to survive:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Crippling food shortages exacerbated by government policies in North&#xA;  Korea have caused widespread illness as thousands are forced to&#xA;  survive on so-called &quot;wild foods&quot; such as grass and tree bark,&#xA;  according to testimonies obtained by Amnesty International in a new&#xA;  report.Hwang, a 24-year-old man from Hwasung, North Hamgyong province,&#xA;  was homeless and lived alone from the age of nine. Foraging for wild&#xA;  foods was his only option to avoid starvation.“I ate several different&#xA;  kinds of wild foods, such as neung-jae, which is a wild grass found in&#xA;  the fields. It’s poisonous – your face swells up the next day. Other&#xA;  kinds of grass and some mushrooms are also poisonous so you could die&#xA;  if you picked the wrong one,&quot; says Hwang.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2010/07/starving-north-koreans-forced-survive-diet-grass-and-tree-bark/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amnesty.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't apply to children! It's a biological thing that they are picky (to prevent eating bad food).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The roots of pickiness may lie in our past.  Selective eating is&#xA;  especially common in children, with up to 50% of children reported to&#xA;  be picky.1 Pickiness may have evolved to keep kids from getting sick.&#xA;  When children start to walk, they do not yet know which foods are&#xA;  safe, so avoiding unfamiliar foods can prevent the risk of poisoning&#xA;  as they start becoming independent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.brainfacts.org/2013/07/the-biology-of-picky-eating/#.WCsNlPzlvmG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Brainfacts&lt;/a&gt; backed up with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2943861/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animals in the wilderness aren't in the luxurious position to choose between a served zebra, hippo or antelope (and humans shouldn't be either if you ask me). They get hungry, they hunt, they eat - simple as that. They choose whatever is the most efficient way to reduce their hunger. Imagine the lion would hunt the an antelope down, kills it and invest a huge amount of energy overall. He wouldn't do that twice just because he thinks that the zebra over there is a bit more tasty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get me wrong. This works the other way around, too. Animals are picky if they can. A common house cat may for example prefer tuna wet above dry food. This pickiness seems to be gone after a few days with the dry food only. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also don't think that wild animals aren't picky at all. This is only true for pure taste-pickiness. Several animals don't eat specific plants or other species because it's bad for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Picky eating also benefits other species. A classic example is&#xA;  conditioned taste aversion in rats, first described by John Garcia and&#xA;  colleagues, who found that rats began to avoid sugar when it was&#xA;  paired with a stimulus that made them feel sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.brainfacts.org/2013/07/the-biology-of-picky-eating/#.WCsZufzlvmH&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;brainfacts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just imagine a really poor kid. Can you imagine it saying &quot;No&quot; to a Snickers because it's more the Mars guy? Or think about the reports about cannibalism in an emergency situation (here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_cannibalism#20th_century&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a list&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The crew members of the steamship Dumaru spent three weeks adrift in a&#xA;  lifeboat after the ship exploded and sank in the western Pacific Ocean&#xA;  on October 16, 1918. Quickly exhausting their supply of food and&#xA;  water, they resorted to cannibalism to survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hungry animals - human or not - just eat plainly everything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-11-15T14:32:09.487" LastActivityDate="2016-11-15T14:32:09.487" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14307" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14308" CreationDate="2016-11-15T19:04:38.837" Score="14" ViewCount="4373" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the solution to this problem is to pack food that everyone enjoys eating. However, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;according to Murphy&lt;/a&gt;, this doesn't always happen. Also, sometimes the best tasting food is ruled out by weight/price/space constraints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you are on a backpacking trip with people who are complaining about and/or refusing to eat the food because of the taste/smell/texture/unfamiliarity, what do you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-15T21:47:19.870" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:53:53.197" Title="How do you deal with a picky eater on a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-15T21:31:16.363" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;First step is to try to find out what, among what you have, they do like.  Maybe they hate freeze dried beef stroganoff but like freeze dried spaghetti and meat balls.  To the extent you can without being totally unfair to the rest of the party, give them more of what they like, even if it means you have to eat more beef stroganoff, which you don't like either.  They must like the trail mix and the chocolate and the cheese....let them have somewhat more than their share of that, but not all of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a modest effort at accommodation doesn't work, treat them as you would a bratty child -- which is what they are.  Tell them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I know this isn't Cordon Bleu cuisine, but it is what we have.  Eat it&#xA;  or starve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rest of you have to be united in this approach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a few days, maybe step up the pace of the trip.  If they get hungry enough, they will eat.  Do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt;, repeat, do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; worry about their starving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is usually impractical to split up, because the party usually has only one stove and one of some other essentials.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, never travel with them again.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-15T23:29:55.773" LastActivityDate="2016-11-15T23:29:55.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-15T21:33:17.163" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been involved with hiking/trekking clubs around my area here. I was what they call chief guide for a few years (responsible for organizing trips and lead some of them together with other club members).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the clubs I used to be involved was an university club and as such we had heaps of exchange students. In all those trips, we always had the culture of cooking together dinner and breakfast. It makes easier to bring one set of pots and one fuel cooker (plus a little gas one for emergency) and split between the party. Because the diversity of people from everywhere I had various occasions that party members had unusual allergies (found people allergic to garlic, ice, tomato and a few other things, intolerance of some sort (milk, gluten, etc) and and the occasional picky one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast was fairly easy. A big pot of porridge for the party (usually around 5-6 people). People were advised to bring toppings for the porridge (good old Scots and their salty porridge, others with their brown sugar and cinnamon and so on). People not keen for the porridge would bring their own breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar idea for dinner. We would cook something for everybody. Many time I cooked the mince for the group and some gluten free pasta aside for the gluten free person. I used to send them an email with the plan for the walk and breakfast and dinner. Anyone not happy with either or both were asked to suggest something else or bring their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the bottom line here is we cannot please everybody. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T02:55:42.943" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T02:55:42.943" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-16T00:24:19.270" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like you're assuming there will be group meals, but that's totally unnecessary. In fact, group meals tend to lead to health problems, because people get diseases like giardiasis from each other by hand-to-mouth transmission, due to primitive hygiene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A really simple solution, which I've been using for years, is freezer-bag cooking. Each person brings their own dinners, each in a separate ziplock freezer bag. They bring whatever they like. At dinner time, you boil water and give each person the amount that they need to add to their bag. Seal the bag, wait for it to cook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do this with commercial freeze-dried backpacking meals, many supermarket instant foods such as instant couscous, or recipes that you make at home. There are cookbooks for this, such as Lipsmackin' Backpackin' by Conners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information on giardiasis, see Thomas R. Welch and Timothy P. Welch, &quot;Giardiasis as a threat to backpackers in the United States: a survey of state health departments,&quot; Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 6 (1995) 162, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2895%2971046-8/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Giardiasis as a threat to backpackers in the United States: a survey of state health departments&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T13:53:53.197" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T13:53:53.197" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14328" CreationDate="2016-11-16T10:40:29.147" Score="37" ViewCount="10322" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to go to the Austrian Alps with my 6-year-old daughter in one week. We would like to go on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fer_Priel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Großer Priel&lt;/a&gt;, 2515&amp;nbsp;m. The plan is to go for three days (sleeping two nights in a tent on a snow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She has enough experience (for her age) going to the mountains. Also she is physically strong. She has a winter sleeping bag, and it was already tested during autumn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to ask if there are any special reasons &lt;strong&gt;why not to go with small kid to mountains in winter&lt;/strong&gt;? For example, from medical point of view. Maybe small kids could immediately freeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Because of the big interest in this topic I'll write a short summary based on the answers:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;em&gt;First of all I decided to reconsider the route!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The following risks await a kid in the mountains in winter based on their importance (according to my opinion). Most important listed first:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inability to function alone. Kid should be, let's say, self-contained during an emergency situation (should be able to call emergency\setup emergency locator, should be able to carry a sleeping bag and emergency shelter all the time, should be able to find a suitable place and set it up in a wind\storm, be mentally tough, etc.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bigger risk of hypothermia because of small body volume.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Experience of the guide.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deep snow is very hard for short legs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equipment. Proper equipment in mountains is a must.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk of avalanches and dependency on weather. There is no direct correlation between kids and avalanches/weather. It's a danger for everyone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are a lot of comments about mountain experience. This topic is not to judge my experience and the experience of my daughter. But anyway, I would like to share what experience my daughter has:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I decided to &lt;strong&gt;reconsider the route&lt;/strong&gt;, so don't be afraid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All the kids are different. This is very important! My daughter is physically very strong. She is doing 15 push-ups and 3 pull ups. She can swim a swimming pool length under the water on one breath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;She has experience sleeping at 2500&amp;nbsp;m in a tent during autumn.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close to our apartment we have a forest and small hills. So we are training to walk with heavy backpacks at night. She is very excited that we are going somewhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2016-11-20T08:47:30.897" LastActivityDate="2016-11-20T08:47:30.897" Title="Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T10:54:33.527" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;You know that there is a lot of snow already in those heights in Austria? Even in 1500m people not used to it will get problems. Please have a look at webcams and detailed descriptions of the route you are trying to hike. And check out the conditions!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was never on that mountain but it seems there are exposed ridges and even wire-assured parts on the route up. This means you have to watch your step even when it's dry and snow-free. So even without a kid this might be dangerous in current conditions. This depends highly on &lt;strong&gt;your skills and experience&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I wouldn't recommend your plan with a 6 y.o. kid under winter conditions. During summer, some (trained) kids can have a great time on such a tour though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides the lines above regarding your specific plans, I will give some hints regarding tours with a kid during winter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going with a kid I would recommend at least a rope to back her up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Children most likely won't know if they have power for X more hours or X more kilometers. You are therefore more likely to bring your daughter and yourself in a biga** emergency-situation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you get in trouble you might have to stay in the cold for a long time until help comes (if it is possible for them to come). The muscle to body weight ratio of a kid will be lower, especially of girls. Muscle movement warms your body up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's not unlikely that a kid don't know the risks and therefore might panic if it is getting serious. Panic is not good for both of you...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are in need to supervise your kid. It will always come down to you and the way you care for your kid. Don't overstate the burden on your kid unless it is grown enough to be able to make the decision by herself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T16:46:48.210" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T16:46:48.210" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-16T11:46:45.403" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The organized meal is already covered by the other answers, so let's add some ways to avoid the problem altogether:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyone packs their food, and you let them know in advance if fire and (hot) water are available. If the group is large and unknown, pack a little extra to prevent the people who forget their food (or pack food which will spoil) from starving. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyone brings something to share. Let them know if you bring cutlery and plates or if everyone has to bring their own. Use a service like doodle.com to prevent everybody bringing the same thing. If you have an open fire for barbecue it generally works best if people bring their own meat/meat substitute and everyone brings side dishes to share. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These solutions are more practical on shorter trips. On a weeklong trip go with the other answers to save weight. Also, if you go with the solutions in this answer be prepared to suffer the smell of 3 day old cheese sandwiches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, you can combine the options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell them in advance exactly what food you bring (also mention nuts, gluten, etc). And let them know if fire and (hot) water are available if they want to do their own thing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8239" LastEditorUserId="8239" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T15:32:21.440" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T15:32:21.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T12:02:10.417" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to the small volume of the body - risk of rapid hypothermia in children is very high. Do not risk it in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11664" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T12:13:44.287" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T12:13:44.287" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T12:51:37.867" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;6 is young but you said she is strong and has mountain experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I read there are non-technical (walking) routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If snow is deep it is very hard for short legs.  Make sure she has water proof hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kids are slightly more susceptible to hypothermia but the lows are in the 20's F (-7 – -1°C). If you have proper clothing you are not going to get hypothermia (or even cold).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a 4 season tent I would advise against.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can always decide not to summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;imsodium brings up a great point on avalanche danger.  But that does not necessarily mean don't go.  In the US we have ranger stations that we check in and check out.  They will advise on avalanche danger and alternate hikes.  In the area I suspect there are alternate lower altitude hikes below avalanche danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T14:58:30.300" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T14:58:30.300" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T13:31:59.297" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know the route itself, but according to what I read there are two non-technical routes, one from the &quot;Prielschutzhaus&quot; and another from &quot;Welse Huette&quot;. The first one includes one steep section secured with steel wires. So you need to be sure that you can overcome such difficulties, but even if you can overcome these with your kid and you are well prepared for winter camping, this is not the main/only issue:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avalanches&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find an avalanche report for the exact location, but for the close-by region of Salzburg there is a high risk of avalanches above 2200m (level 3) due to new snow and wind. This will change till next week, but there will most likely still be significant avalanche risk. As the route has very steep sections on the upper part, this risk is serious. So either you are experienced enough to judge the situation for yourself or you absolutely cannot go.&#xA;This tour is often done as a late winter/spring backcountry ski tour, as avalanche risk is more manageable in that time (less snow, frozen snow in the morning). I don't see reports of it being done in winter, so it is probably not safe most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You cannot go because of avalanche danger (not considering this factor rules out that you have experience with it), not because of bringing a kid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T13:31:59.297" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14319" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14327" CreationDate="2016-11-16T14:09:53.917" Score="3" ViewCount="1099" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 1972ish sunfish I am planning to re-gelcoat the entire bottom of the hull.  I made one fiber glass repair where there was a crack through the hull, I took that area down to bare fiberglass before repairing. In another area cracks in the gecoat turned out to be related to a thick layer (3/4 of an inch, 2 cm) of bondo over an old repair.  I sanded that area to the fiberglass, unsure if I am going to add more fiberglass, but not replacing the bondo that thickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where there are scratches or spider crackes I sanded until they were gone, mostly there is still a layer of gelcoat, in few place there is a little fiberglass showing.  For the most part 95% of the hull has a layer of gelcoat sanded with 60 grit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have purchased two quarts of white exposy gelcoat, one laminating and one waxed for the final coat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some research I have done suggest the thick gelcoat is part of the reason for spider cracks (when the fiberglass flexes the gelcoat cracks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan at the moment is, a coat of laminating gelcoat on bare fiberglass, a second coat of laminating on the entire hull, a third coat of waxed/final gelcoat on the entire hull, sand with 400-600 grit and put the trim back on. All gelcoat will be applied with a brush. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I sand the entire hull until the gelcoat is mostly gone? If I consider existing gelcoat as one layer, what the is the maximum number of coats that should be applied over any area of the hull?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T14:46:11.963" Title="How much gelcoat should I remove before redoing the entire hull?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14320" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14331" CreationDate="2016-11-16T14:54:04.320" Score="16" ViewCount="3668" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was chacking a map to see access rights on a particular route I know. I was checking if a path was a bridleway or footpath as I know Mountain Bikes should only use bridleways. Studying the key closely though I became a little confused. If you look at the below section of map:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bEcqo.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bEcqo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and look at the key for the paths shown here. The black dotted line is shown as a path:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WYJbH.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WYJbH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and the green line is a &quot;footpath&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p4GnZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p4GnZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T17:36:36.333" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T14:54:45.747" Title="Difference between a &quot;path&quot; and a &quot;footpath&quot;?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14321" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14322" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" Score="0" Body="The ordnance survey is the UK national mapping agency. All official maps in the UK are generated by this agency. All maps genereated by the Agency are subject to Crown copywrite" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T14:57:47.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14302" CreationDate="2016-11-16T16:35:11.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Amine blush is something you will have to deal only on new repair. In old and exposed repairs the blushing would likely be long gone. &#xA;Basically amine blush is salts of amine carbonate, they will combine with CO2 and air moisture to form hydrates of amine carbonate.  They are a result of the curing process and the hardener is largely responsible of this, in fact you can have hardeners that wont blush and some that will (for example West System 207 vs West System 206) paired with the same resin. &#xA;It looks like a white-ish smudge and given enough time it becomes sort of powdery.&#xA;Depending on the formulations you can have epoxies that will blush and some that wont (non-blushing... they all will blush to a certain extent but in some you simply dont have to worry about it, I worked with some brands that left nothing at all, however rinsing cured laminations before recoating becomes an habit when you are used to work with different epoxies)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chemistry itself, shape of the amine and how they relate to different formulations and strength of the final product isn't something you want to care about as what is available to a backyard builder ends falling all within the same performance envelope that pretty much exceeds the requirements of our applications (things would be different if you were to repair an airplane).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the picture you can see a set of test panels with different epoxies, the one in the bottom left shows some bad blushing&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YUuKj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YUuKj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that they are surface contamination that will prevent proper adhesion of following coats of resin (to fill the weave of the cloth for example) or varnish/paint coatings. That is dealt with by letting the resin cure then simply washing and scrubbing away the amine (warm water with mild soap and scotchbrite type pads) and rinsing. Wet sanding also removes the amine provided the surface is rinsed well during and after the sanding. Other ways to eliminate them are more typical of industrial processes rather than what one does at home. Dry sanding is not suggested as will end pushing the amine inside the sandpaper scratches making them very difficult to remove even with a wash. Using solvents on resins as cleaners is never a good idea due to the possibility that contaminants are left by the solvents themselves, that the solvent wont eliminate contaminants already present on the surface and that they will reduce the performance properties of the resin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method to deal with the amine on several recoatings is to apply the following coats before cure &quot;wet-on-wet&quot;, so the the amine will end only on the final layer, and this can include brushing the gelcoat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is very different from the other kind of wax that shows off in polyester resins&lt;/strong&gt;. Since this kind of resin has difficulty curing in the presence of air a bit of paraffin wax is dissolved in the resin formulation. This wax rises to the surface during the curing process and forms a thin film that separates the resin from the air allowing it to cure hard. Polyester resins are non air-inhibited (they have wax in) or air-inhibited (they dont have wax). The polyester resins without wax are used for layup schedules that have different layers applied at different times as they wont cure completely (without the wax the air inhibits the curing process) thus permitting chemical bonds with the following layers, they are laminating resins and the final lamination with waxed resin or gelcoat will seal them permitting full cure. The polyester resins with wax instead are used for single laminations, final laminations, or pieces that will need to be sanded (cleaning off the wax then sanding and cleaning allows for mechanical adhesion of following coats). Applying a following coat over uncured resin method (hotcoating) comes from the polyester resins: due to price in the past they were the main resin people worked with and many of the techniques have been ported to epoxies now that they are more affordable, not because the two resins work in the same way but because of work habits and often there are different advantages (i.e. wet-on-wet permits the hotcoating of polyesters where the wax can be pushed up across the layers and still have chemical adhesion and in epoxies permits chemical bonding and saves the time of washing the cured layer but mostly saves the need for sanding)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, for different reasons and different substances, both polyester and epoxy resins need a bit of care when multiple laminations are applied one above the other. You will find that epoxies are a lot easier to work with than polyesters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice the problem you are facing is not the amine, which is easily taken care of and patches are laminated in one single shot most of the times. Rather your doubts of possibility of failed adhesion is the fact that you have previous repairs made with who-knows-what. Remember that, waxes and amines aside, while epoxy adheres rather well on polyester resins, polyesters have lousy adhesion on epoxy resin and should not be used on top of it otherwise you risk to have delamination overtime.&#xA;Commercially you can more or less tell the kind of resin used even looking at the cloth (mat for example is used only with polyesters, its fibres are prepped for that resin), but when you are talking about backyard repairs that could have been made using all sort of material at hand you can never tell, so you will be limited to epoxies as they will stick to almost anything already there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humidity isnt a big problem for the resin itself, but clear epoxies in applications where you are looking for it to be completely transparent, can fog up if laminated in high humidity days. (Epoxies specifically formulated for clear laminations show little to no blushing but they will fog if someone scared by what they hear about amines tries to wash before they are completely cured, and often people dont realize that, depending on hardener used and temperatures, it can take weeks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On old resin surface preparation involves a good sanding with rough sandpaper to obtain a mechanical bond, chemical bonds are not possible anymore and using acetone to soften the existing surface only compromises the strength of that resin. Sanding that way there wont be anything on the surface of an old repair to be re-finished with gelcoat. If possible, repairing close to or over old patches, try to eliminate completely the old patch and re-do the whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For very big patches might be necessary to take a mould of the section, prepare the piece on that and once cured cut off the area on the boat and replace it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to shape the outside of a patch to reduce the final sanding epoxy wont adhere to packing tape or saran wrap but still cure under them. With epoxies acetone is pretty much used for cleaning only, duty that can be easily accomplished with simple vinegar. Metal tools like rollers to eliminate air etc are not used with epoxies and a good 90% of the tools needed are single use (measuring cups, spatulas, mixing sticks... all can be found between regular items much cheaper than the dedicated paint store versions)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T16:45:14.877" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T16:45:14.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14320" CreationDate="2016-11-16T16:58:46.793" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;On Ordnance Survey maps in England and Wales, the brown background shows &lt;em&gt;access land&lt;/em&gt;: see &lt;a href=&quot;http://streetmap.co.uk/key/25k-raster-legend.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this legend&lt;/a&gt;.  On such access land, access on foot is permitted anywhere.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-your-right-to-roam&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You cannot cycle here&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A path is a geographic feature.  A public right of way is just that, a right.  It may be on a road, a track, a path, or simply through a field.  If you look carefully, you will see the symbol for a path directly underneath the symbol for a public right of way in many cases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside access land, paths can exist on private land that does not have a public right of way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if public rights of way for footpaths have any meaning on access land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Cska.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Cska.png&quot; alt=&quot;Access land screenshot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T16:58:46.793" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14319" CreationDate="2016-11-16T17:19:10.533" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Talking of brushing coats make things a bit difficult because you can apply thick or thin depending on your &quot;hand&quot; and if sanding is required, which could mean even 4 coats, you have some coarse sandpaper scratches to fill. Quality is also a factor in amount of solids, some cover little. You are trying to do what is normally done for a patch but for the whole hull so it might end with cracks over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you opted for a final layer of waxed (you could have used all non waxed and sealed with PVA to allow curing) you will have to wait for full curing, and then cleaning the wax if you ever find you need to cover other scratches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should see how thick is the gelcoat already on from the areas you sanded through it, but other than that you can't treat the old gelcoat as X thickness, you don't know how it was applied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If in good conditions you could always patch the bare spots with new gelcoat (non waxed) cover with PVA for proper curing, wash the PVA off and sand to feather-in the patches and go over the whole hull with a fine grit to eliminate scratches and prep it for a final coat of waxed (waxed over waxed to be sanded means a lot of time for curing and cleaning in between coats). Perfect surface preparation from the beginning and maybe even spraying would mean no need for sanding so no extra thickness to be applied and just allow for final polish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I probably would do 2 coats if I were to use a roller on perfectly prepped fiberglass surface (I don't brush gelcoat, no sanding on it), and I would be on the thick side, think that usually you are around 0.5mm for gelcoats, you are just getting UV protection. I would also eliminate all the gelcoat that there is, if nothing even just to be sure of what is underneath, it's quite a bit of work but if there was something hiding you are going to find it. Eliminate all the bondo (it's ok on a car, not on a boat... that thick not even on a car really...) and use proper fairing compound (or resin+microspheres) instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry if it was polyester gelcoat over epoxy resin (formulated for that application), just for the gelcoat on an hull that is not constantly in the water adhesion will be ok (there was some testing done on that), but any repair will need to be fully cured and properly prepared (unless you are hotcoating over polyester resin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a whole hull though gelcoat is a lot of work and you would get the same service from paint in a much easier way, it's not a repair where you are trying to match the existing finish after all. Paint requires its own maintenance, you will have to repaint at one point, and future repairs will need to take in account that there's paint on the hull but it's less work with good results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And be aware that bad quality gelcoats will start going to chalk rather early and those cannot be re-buffed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T14:46:11.963" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T14:46:11.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T18:44:10.873" Score="68" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other people have addressed several concerns that I would have bringing a young child into the mountains during the winter. One concern that I haven't seen addressed is; what if something happens to you because &lt;strong&gt;the average 6 year old is going to be &lt;em&gt;entirely&lt;/em&gt; dependent on you&lt;/strong&gt;. If you become compromised for any reason the child more than likely isn't going to be able help you or fend for themselves effectively. While it is certainly true that accidents can happen anytime of the year, winter is unquestionably more risky. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going to take a 6 year old into the mountains in the winter apart from all the other precautions that people mentioned I'd highly recommend that you don't take the child without them being able to do the following things &lt;strong&gt;efficiently in storm/adverse conditions&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Access and activate an emergency locator beacon that they have on their person at all times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be able to carry on their person at all times, an emergency shelter that they can setup/use in storm/adverse conditions and live in alone for at least a couple days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be able to recognize what is the best location they can reach to wait and setup their emergency shelter for a rescue (ie don't setup camp on a cornice)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be able to leave you broken/bleeding/unconscious/dieing/etc to setup their emergency shelter in a safe location to ensure their survival because they recognize they don't have the strength/skills to help you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be mentally tough enough to not leave the emergency shelter during a storm even if that storm lasts for over 24 hours, and they're alone, and they're &quot;sure&quot; they hear you moaning for help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can be confident that your 6 year old child can do all of those things then I'd say you have a very unique child. If they can't then you need to decide for yourself if your child's &lt;strong&gt;almost certain death in the snow, in the event of an accident&lt;/strong&gt;, due to fate or your miscalculation, is worth the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside another risk with children is putting them in a situation that is uncomfortable and makes them not want to do similar activities in the future. For example if the first trip a young kid takes skiing they get cold, wet, and fall constantly they aren't going to be excited to go again. If the first several times they go skiing they are warm, comfortable, and get to drink extra hot chocolate they'll be more forgiving with the intermittent wet, cold, and generally crummy day. If you do decide to take your daughter out snow camping I'd recommend you do absolutely everything in your power to make it go off without a hitch or you're going to have a hard time getting a second chance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-11-16T19:04:07.060" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T19:04:07.060" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T18:51:46.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can recommend exactly 1 thing: stay near the car. Get no farther from the car than you are comfortable carrying her back. Keep gallons of fuel in the car for a stove. You may need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Some people are pointing out this is in fact a well-populated area. If true, and I see no indication in the question it is, this is a lot safer than it appears at first glance. My primary fear would be getting stuck in a storm, and having a 6 year old basically eliminates walk-out in that scenario. But with lots of people around the chances of real help being available get much better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastEditorUserId="6661" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T17:22:43.743" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T17:22:43.743" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-16T18:53:01.827" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you find that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The avalanche risk is close to null (listen to reports, ask professionals, don't take any chances)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have the necessary equipment and you can carry it (you'll have to carry most of it for the both of you. Big sleeping bags, big sleeping pads, too, a good tent, food and kitchen, extra clothing, puffys, ... Also probably snowshoes and/or spikes...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your daughter has the necessary experience to do the trip and enjoy it (did you do long mountain day trips before, trips of several days in milder conditions, ...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then don't forgot to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the route is &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; easy for you. You may have to carry her, you'll definitely have to carry more stuff than you would for yourself, and you need to be prepared for anything during the trip, not arrive at camp tired. Consider possibly something that you could do alone in one big day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk first to open the trail (obviously)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure she is not tired (don't just ask, but look for signs, yawning, slowing pace, irritability), ans stop while she still has some reserve.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look for signs of hypothermia and frostbites. Make sure she feels her feet at all times&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have several backup plans. Don't get stuck on the other side of the mountain with 10 hours of exhausting walk for the last day. Have alternative itineraries that you know in advance that get you out of the mountain rapidly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After the first night, make sure she is ok (well rested, not cold) to continue and spend a second night in the same conditions and then another day. Otherwise, go back early, and try again another time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2016-11-16T18:53:01.827" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14320" CreationDate="2016-11-16T19:41:23.207" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;A path indication on the map means that when the mapper mapped it there was physically a path on the ground. It gives no indication as to who is or is not allowed to use that path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The brown background indicates &quot;access land&quot;. You can walk on this land subject to some restrictions. This applies regardless of whether there happens to be a path. &quot;access land&quot; is a relatively recent concept. It does not in of itself give any permission to cycle or ride horses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The green markings indicate public rights of way. A public footpath is somewhere that people are legally allowed to walk even if the landowner doesn't much like the idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A public bridleway similarly allows the public to walk, cycle or ride horses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A restricted byway aditionally allows non-motorised vehicles and a full byway allows all traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often if you look carefully you will see that the green &quot;public right of way&quot; markings are printed on top of a marking indicating what (path/track/etc) is actually on the ground. Sometimes the official route of the right of way doesn't exactly line up with the actual path. You can see this on your map where there is a &quot;kink&quot; in the public right of way but the actual path underneath goes straight through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately while public footpaths, bridleways and byways are explicitly marked on OS maps there seems to be no disctinction on the map between public and private roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also get &quot;permissive footpaths&quot; where the landowner has decided to allow people to walk and permissive bridleways where the landowner has decided to allow people to walk/cycle/horseride. These are indicated in orange on the OS maps. The importand difference from public footpaths/bridleways is that the landowner can revoke the permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the above applies to England and Wales. In Scotland public rights of way are not shown on OS maps because there is no definitive map of them, only historic convention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7950" LastEditorUserId="7950" LastEditDate="2019-10-01T14:54:45.747" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T14:54:45.747" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14333" CreationDate="2016-11-16T23:37:31.437" Score="8" ViewCount="977" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like using small boats for duck hunting.  I was recently given a sit-in two-seater kayak that I have painted and I am ready to take out on the marshes.  Although I have used small canoes and the like before, this will be my first time in a kayak.  I specifically want to use this boat where the paddle is more difficult because of length, wind, or current, and I want to use the double-ended paddle, lower profile, and lower weight of my kayak to get to further places.  I am trying to figure out how to transport my shotgun.  My shotgun doesn't need to be at the ready because I will be kayaking to a location, setting up and hunting, then kayaking back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could bungee it in place on the deck or throw it on the floor of the kayak in the floating gun case I use, but I am concerned as it is a high-dollar item and I want to do all I can to make sure I don't loose it.  Getting it wet is inevitable so some water will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the options for transporting the gun in the way most likely to be retained in case of an accident?  My kayak is a two seater with no spray skirt.  My dog will be riding in the front seat and has been trained to do well on all manner of boats, so she will be fine but taking up the front seat.  This will be in fresh and salt water.  The temperatures will be about 35 degrees F to about 60 degrees F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tips or tricks for transporting high-value cargo in a kayak like my shotgun?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T04:04:10.353" Title="Kayaking with a shotgun" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14332" CreationDate="2016-11-17T00:24:30.707" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kayaking with a shotgun isn't an original concept, in fact it seems to be increasingly popular with water fowl hunters:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R5Lrp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R5Lrp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VUobb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VUobb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you need to do is buy some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1353/Pack-Rack-Plus-Kayak-Gun-Mounts.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kayak gun mounts&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0D8zW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0D8zW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as transporting your gun in the waterproof case, I'd probably mount some D-rings to the top of your craft, as well as your case and actually use some smaller boat straps to better secure it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T04:04:10.353" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T04:04:10.353" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14334" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14335" CreationDate="2016-11-17T02:49:04.613" Score="13" ViewCount="235" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am watching &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgqaZRCcJl4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a video&lt;/a&gt; about a climb of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna_Massif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Annapurna&lt;/a&gt;.  To acclimate the climbers head up from base camp to another camp higher up, stay for a day or two, then return to base camp.  They repeat this process a few times, each time going a little higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why the return to base camp?  Seems to me that would partially undo the acclimatization they are seeking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T22:15:42.943" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T22:15:42.943" Title="Why would people descend to sleep while acclimatizing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14334" CreationDate="2016-11-17T03:11:14.693" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;What they are doing is following the maxim &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/altitude.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;climb high, sleep low&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. Going too fast will cause altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans have a lower respiration rate while sleeping, which is why they can be okay at higher altitudes while awake and yet need to descend to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The accepted guideline is not to increase your sleeping altitude by more than  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness#Altitude_acclimatization&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1000 ft (300m) per day&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T16:02:34.253" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T16:02:34.253" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-17T10:49:47.367" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short - No, do not take your 6 y.o. daughter on that mountain in winter in one week's time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There'll be plenty of opportunities for parent-daughter bonding in the future in less extreme and more pleasant circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the cardinal rules in mountaineering is to usually travel in fours, minimum of three if all in the party have lots of experience. If one hiker has a mishap, one person can stay with them while the other two go for help. The fact that you are contemplating going essentially by yourself and taking someone who is wholly dependent on you, as has been pointed out above by @Erik and others, indicates to me you don't have the necessary knowledge or experience to do this trip safely by yourself with your daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You asked earlier for details about construction of emergency shelters. Again, this indicates to me you don't have the necessary knowledge or experience to do this trip safely by yourself with your daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The answers above regarding avalanches give me further indication that you have not got the experience for this trip at this time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If nothing else, if you really must go, find 3 people or friends  with more mountain experience than you, and who have some rapport with your daughter, and hire a guide as well. Another alternative might be to do a mountaineering group course with her, where you both can learn how to build emergency shelters and about avalanche drill, amongst other things. That should be some fun and a bit of a challenge for her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11682" LastEditorUserId="11682" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T20:34:48.927" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T20:34:48.927" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-17T12:29:47.313" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The normal track to Großer Priel involves some smaller climbing sections, so even in summer it isn't that easy. Total ascent is around 2000m and about 24 kms, so definitely a serious climb. Do you have snow shoes or skis and are you both well versed in using them? Are you intending to use crampons for both of you for either frozen snow sections or icy climb sections? Will you be having an avalanche probe on you and your daughter? Do you and your daughter have experience in winter mountaineering? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm an experienced climber and did some more serious mountaineering years ago, I would hesitate doing this in winter and definitely would not do this in winter with a six year old. It's okay if you want to do it and pay for the rescue afterwards, but please don't risk the life of your daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures of the winter ascent from: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbandhike.com/?p=5952&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climb and Hike&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11686" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T16:01:11.120" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T16:01:11.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2016-11-17T13:41:20.067" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that with icy conditions that you need to change a few things about how you're walking.  I used to run on icy trails and snowy conditions and found a few things that helped me not take a spill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be deliberate with your steps AKA pay attention to what you're doing.  I tend to walk more with my head slightly focused down to see where my foot placement is going.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shorten your stride and be sure to be ready to shift with your feet. Stronger ankles really help here since you could end up sliding all around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I avoid ice where I can and try to walk on unpacked snow.  Once snow gets packed enough, it becomes just like ice and you slide about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick up some additional grip on your shoes.  Others have mentioned products like Yaktrax all through DIY screws in your boots.  Find something that works for you though.  I haven't tried but heard good things about Salomon trail shoes.  Some of them have little spikes that help gain traction.  That or the Yaktrax would be good so you can use them year round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shoes, I found I have better traction and grip with a flexible sole.  I usually use Nike Free running shoes which have little blocks of traction instead of one cohesive sole.  I find they flex pretty well and grip things well.  Plus, they tend to get stones stuck in them so I'd like to believe that helps with some traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, when it really comes down to just slick, slick ice...  I mock skate across it.  I just &quot;skate&quot; my feet along until I am more comfortable getting full grip.  I cut my stride down to maybe 1/3 of my normal stride, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with all the precautions you can think of, taking a spill is almost inevitable for most things so you really should be preparing for that.  I know when I am hunting in snow covered and hilly woods, I will most likely fall from something.  Try to always keep it in your mind how you will fall and which parts of your body are more likely able to take the abuse.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instincts tend to tell you to put your arms out to catch yourself, but the bones in your arms/hands are smaller and not as willing to take abuse.  So, I might fight that and take the fall on my hip, shoulder, or somewhere that I can spread the impact out over a larger area.  I may get a good bruise, but the odds of me landing on my fingers or wrist and breaking them are lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are just my personal experiences from my life in Ohio.  From the flatlands in the North to the hills of the South, I have taken a few spills here and there and kept trying to learn from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T13:41:20.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14106" CreationDate="2016-11-17T14:43:22.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't say for sure on rifles how well a 2-stage trigger works, but I like it for my revolver.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal preference for me would be to go to a lighter trigger on a rifle though.  This is primarily to reduce the finger squeeze pressure you're exerting to complete the first stage.  I feel like that could potentially throw off your shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, for me and my revolver, it is pretty nice.  It doesn't have safeties and no external hammer.  So, I can pull partway, better line up my shot, then complete it for a more accurate shot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to long guns, I would prefer a lighter trigger since I would have those external safeties.  As in, when I put my finger on the trigger, I mean to shoot very soon.  I would rather not have an intermediate step in between that process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It really comes down to personal preference and which option you work better with.  Try and compare both options and find what works best for you personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T14:43:22.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13530" CreationDate="2016-11-17T14:51:45.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to what James Jenkins said in his answer, it is illegal in Ohio to hunt over bait unless it has been some period of time.  I think it is something like a week or 10 days.  That being said, I do know people who readily bait large tracts of their land in order to bring in game.  I am talking like 10ft away from their tree stand with a clear shooting lane bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of these people are lifetime hunters and a fair amount of them are trying to stuff their freezers with game to last through the year.  So in some respect, part of it is slightly survival, but I think the majority of it is to bring in more trophy game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my perspective, I would prefer the challenge of going without bait.  Of course, hunting a turkey over corn vs hunting a turkey over a soy field aren't too different of a thing.  About the latter, you have to first find said field, then find their entrance/exit routes into the field for feeding, and you need to hopefully not spook them while getting into position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is something more about learning where your game lives, moves about, feeds, and runs to for safety that adds a little bit of a challenge.  It really comes down to what you want to do and what is legal in your area.  I don't get many days to go in the woods so it would make sense for me to try to stay over the baited areas I know about.  However, I would rather try my luck the other way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T14:51:45.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13492" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:07:07.990" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here in Ohio we allow both rifle/shotgun and bow hunting.  I think part of it comes down to the power in each of the two items.  We have 40 pound minimum draw weights on the bows here for hunting.  So these bows should be able to pack a bit more of a punch when they hit.  Couple that with a larger cutting surface, and the game should go down after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, this after a while bit is probably where compassionate lawmakers disagree.  Hitting a whitetail with a bow has many different recommended times to let the deer scamper off and bleed out.  I think the minimum recommended time to go chasing after it is approximately an hour.  In that time, the deer may be bedded down and bleeding out.  Some people may cringe at that thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now let us transfer over to the gun part of things.  Guns pack a good bit of power in them.  I have seen a well place shot drop a whitetail in its tracks.  From initial stun to death in mere seconds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not saying that 100% of the time gun will beat out bow though.  It is all in the hands of the hunter.  We assume everyone will be ethical about it.  Let's not try a bow shot of 100 yards or let's not try 200 yards on a shotgun.  Both can be made, but not by all hunters.  I think lawmakers take that into account somewhat.  I would assume the terrain would also play into it more as well for safety reasons.  For example, we're only allowed straight-walled cartridges in Ohio for hunting.  We are not as isolated though and a 30-06 round might end up going a bit too far for safety reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, another reason to only allow bow/gun or gun could be related to hunter safety.  I don't particularly mean hunter shooting hunter as anyone donning the blaze orange knows that is a distinct possibility.  I am meaning when hunting predatory game like bears.  I have seen YouTubers do it, but I would not want to try to take a bear with my bow.  I can guarantee that if I shot a bear with my bow and angered it, I would not have enough time to get another arrow and draw before its upon me with all its fury.  Of course, there are others different than I, and they would gladly accept that challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are just reasons off the top of my head why one might allow only certain items for hunting.  The main thing to remember is that laws apply to everyone, regardless of skill.  So, you really need to take that into account like the lawmakers hopefully did.  You might get lucky and be able to find some write up by the legislative or judicial bodies as to their justification in certain laws or decrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:07:07.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10544" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:14:37.967" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear hats and try to cover most of my body when going through thicker brush.  I personally don't like when burrs, pricker bushes, or any of the other a-hole plants out there lash out on my head.  Hats allow me to charge head first into some of those in order to help shield my face from them as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus, depending on the climate, hats are good for both keeping me warm and keeping sweat out of my eyes.  I also prefer brimmed hats for sun protection since I don't often wear sunglasses while trekking through the woods.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, there are a select group of people who always wear hats.  As in, they never go anywhere without one on.  Whether they just like the feeling or they're trying to cover up some balding, they're a group of people manufacturers aren't likely to forget about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:14:37.967" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9954" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:25:18.530" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find bows are more challenging.  Plus, in Ohio for whitetail deer, the archery season last from end the of September through February.  The gun season lasts only a week and then an extra weekend.  So comparatively, there is a lot more time you can spend in the woods if you're an archer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the pricing bit of archery vs guns.  Well, my bow (Matthews Z2) cost me 2x what my shotgun (Remington 870 express) cost.  Of course, my buddy just bought a turkey shotgun that dwarfs my box cost so that part is all a matter of preference.  Arrows themselves are probably about 2-3x the cost of each sabot shotgun slug.  Then you need to tack on another $10-20 for broadheads for your arrows.  Now yes, arrows can be reused where slugs cannot.  Accessories are probably similarly priced for each item when all accounted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally think it is all a matter of preference and how long your seasons last.  Plus, it is fair easier (and cheaper) to do more target shooting with a bow than it is with a gun.  Even if you're reloading rifle ammo, you're still gonna surpass the cost of arrows rather quickly.  People may be recoil sensitive so they may go archery instead.  Others may be felons and not able to buy a gun.  We have background checks for guns, but you can pick a bow off the shelve here.  As for the noise part of it, should you really be looking to fire multiple shots?  Guns make it easier for multiple since they're quicker (mostly), but I don't think you should go into it with the notion that you'll want to fire multiple shots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:25:18.530" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9818" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:29:39.330" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition, it isn't only the gun itself you should worry about with steel shot.  For instance, my turkey plug is only for lead shot.  I believe my shotgun can take either, but the specific plug I am using for turkey specifically said no steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For additional maintenance, I don't think there would be as much extra lead residue in your barrel (obviously), but you will probably find more residue from the powder to get the higher pressured shot out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check with the manufacturer of the gun to see what they recommend for that particular model.  If is it really old, then definitely consult a gunsmith or someone whose job it is to know more about guns than us common folk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11687" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:29:39.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14312" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:47:18.170" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ouch.  If you have to ask, you're not ready to take her.  You also intimated that your hiking party is a party of 2.  I wouldn't even be a part of a party of two adults in the summer, let alone a party of two with a young child in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What will either of you two do if the other gets injured?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will you be avoiding avalanche country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What will you do if she decides half-way through that this isn't a very good idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will your cell phone work in the mountains?  In all parts of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you both know what to do if you get lost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about animals in the middle of the night: food is scarce, the snow dampens sound, and animals are keen to know what's good food and what's not worth the effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a sleeping bag is only part of your worries.  Clothes are another.  So is footwear.  You asking about risking a young child's health by taking her - alone - on a long and dangerous setting suggests you yourself don't have a lot of experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if she has an accident on night #1: do you have a backup plan to dry out her sleeping bag for night #2?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really know your medical or outdoors experience, I can only infer it's not much.  If you decide to embark on this trip, I would strongly suggest you enroll yourself in a Wilderness First Aid course.  I don't know where you're from, so, can only give general advice.  But here in the US, the American Red Cross offers courses in Wilderness First Aid, which necessarily includes topics such as anaphalaxis, identifying and handling hypothermia, frostbite, and common injuries.  But finding a course can take months to secure - indeed, I'm renewing my own and here in November I have to wait until April next year to enroll.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to hypothermia, this relates to the medical advice you asked about: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia has the dubious distinction of being a medical condition in which the victim doesn't realize s/he's suffering from it until it is too late, at which point disorientation and inability to treat it set in, to say nothing of what your 6 year old will do.  You are literally placing your (and therefore, HER) life in her hands: Can she be trusted to recognize it in YOU?  Can you recognize it in HER?  Because YOU will not be able to recognize it in YOU and SHE cannot recognize it in HER.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6 year olds also like to eat snow - who doesn't? - but eating snow can be dangerous on a trek like this, and can trigger dehydration and diarrhea.  These are the last things you need to be bringing along on a trip with a 6 year old.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume you've covered the usual hiking hazards, like logistics of water treatment and food, map and compass use, handling getting lost, calling for help, leaving notice with friends/family and a ranger station before embarking, and checking out on your return, that you know how to keep your food safe at night from animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly, I don't know what you've thought out.  But I wouldn't do it.  If you were 30 minutes from civilization at any point in the trip, that'd be one thing.  But you're up in the mountains, and help is difficult to secure in the winter.  I hope your cell phone will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T15:47:18.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14348" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-17T15:54:34.850" Score="11" ViewCount="861" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly use a machete to clear brush.  I must be using the wrong technique for the tool ... or the wrong tool given my technique.  In order to maximize the speed of the blade, I rotate my wrist forward before it strikes wood.  This causes the pommel to dig into the lunar pad (bottom face opposite the thumb) and quickly blister it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shown here is my starting grip:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPx14.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPx14.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Machete starting grip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And my grip at the end of a stroke:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O3ErY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O3ErY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;End stroke pinch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better tool for cutting brush, or maybe just a better grip, given my hand size and strength?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amendment:&lt;/strong&gt; If I don't break my wrist it feels like I'm &quot;hacking&quot; with too light of a tool.  Blade speed is much lower, and so much less work is done with each stroke.  If I were to not break my wrist I could use a much heavier tool: A much longer blade, or a blade at the end of a long handle, which would give the same blade speed and power per stroke without having to break my wrist.  But what am I describing?  A pike?  (And then there's the question of what to do when I have to pack the tool into the wilderness....)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second Amendment:&lt;/strong&gt; I also realized that if I don't break my wrist I can't reach a lot of brush: If I keep the blade at a right angle to my arm then I have to bend to hit anything lower than 3 feet off the ground, and I have to wade further into the brush to reach more central branches, which is an often thorny proposition!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T18:24:50.447" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T03:18:03.770" Title="Correct way to wield a machete?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14348" CreationDate="2016-11-17T16:17:23.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may be over emphasizing the wrist   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.fiskars.com/Ideas-and-How-Tos/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Brush-Clearing/How-to-use-a-Machete&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fiskars&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take big swings, &lt;strong&gt;leading with your elbow, so the blade meets the stems&#xA;  and stalks at an angle and slices through them&lt;/strong&gt;. Never reach out to one&#xA;  side or the other to make quick clean-up cuts in such a way that the&#xA;  blade is moving toward your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breaking the wrist will not have angle and is more of a chop than a cut.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for heavy brush you may need to chop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-17T17:13:58.943" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T17:13:58.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14350" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14352" CreationDate="2016-11-17T18:06:17.833" Score="22" ViewCount="4224" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of the fatal accidents in Yosemite National park come from &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/09/local/la-me-yosemite-mist-trail-20130610&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people getting swept over waterfalls&lt;/a&gt;. Yes, the falls in Yosemite have fences and warning signs and yet people &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Hiker-Swept-Over-Vernal-Falls-Report-125848553.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;still ignore them&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were in a wilderness area and crossing a stream/river with a waterfall downstream of the crossing and there were no signs, how far above the waterfall should you cross?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:24:16.603" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:24:16.603" Title="How far above a waterfall should you be to safely cross?" Tags="&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14350" CreationDate="2016-11-17T18:45:59.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;On pure math&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ws = water speed&lt;br&gt;&#xA;wd = width&lt;br&gt;&#xA;ss = swimmer speed&lt;br&gt;&#xA;us = how far upstream    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;us = wd * ws / ss   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality the moving water will inhibit swimming speed compared to still water.    Double that length might not be good enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the water speed is slower than your swimming speed could angle upstream and swim straight across.  But you rarely find slow water upstream from a water fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An average human can swim about 250 feet per minute.  Throw a stick in the middle and measure how far it goes in a minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T18:45:59.777" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14350" CreationDate="2016-11-17T19:02:04.417" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;The correct answer is as far upstream as you need to in order to swim/wade/jump across the stream and still provide the margin for error you are comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem answering the question in a more straight forward manner you have waterfalls like victoria falls (pictured below) that would almost certainly result in a fatal fall if you were to go over, but the chance of flushing over even when on the edge of the waterfall are low because of the depth and flow at the lip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V8XD3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V8XD3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;People bathing at the top of a waterfall&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To Contrast here is huka falls, a waterfall that even hundreds of meters upstream you cannot safely cross because of the heavy currents and lack of exit points from the river. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AltTE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AltTE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you should avoid any water crossing with any meaningful current; unless you have whitewater experience or you can maintain your footing, shin deep or less, the entire time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an emergency type scenario ropes can be helpful to mitigate risks, but require careful application as they add complexity to a potentially dangerous situation. Again experience goes a long way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I should probably add the Victoria falls is not actually travesable all the way across the lip, but was used as an extreme example of getting close to a lip of a waterfall in one location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I'm a whitewater enthusiast who has willingly gone over numerous waterfalls and navigated safely around even more using a variety of watercraft, swimming, wading etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-11T23:38:46.763" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T23:38:46.763" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14350" CreationDate="2016-11-17T20:37:55.387" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are too many factors to consider to give anything like a precise answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest a conservative rule of thumb for an average hiker, not a super athlete: if you can see or hear the waterfall &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; you can&lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; step or jump over the stream in one step or jump, you are too close. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the waterfall is tiny, and/or the stream is shallow and slow, and/or there are some flat rocks in the stream this rule is too conservative. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like everything else in TGO, the answer depends on judgement and the amount of risk a person is willing to take. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-11-17T20:37:55.387" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14348" CreationDate="2016-11-18T03:00:43.707" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your particular problem with your ulnar pad has less to do with your technique and more to do with your machete. Your handle looks kind of like the end of a baseball bat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare that with my machete pictured below. I can comfortably hold my machete high in the palm of my hand, hook the handle with my pinky finger and break my wrist as I clear small bush by my side with a follow-through swing, or a back and forth motion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm clearing larger stuff, then I grip my machete differently. I swing it more like a hammer, and come from up high and down at about a 45 degree angle across the limb or trunk of whatever I'm cutting. If I keep my machete sharp, I can go through the trunks of spruce trees taller than me with one swipe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cR3Ke.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cR3Ke.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qc7YC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qc7YC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T15:00:04.377" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T15:00:04.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14356" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14357" CreationDate="2016-11-18T05:19:14.950" Score="7" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way up Half Dome is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Dome#Hiking_the_Cable_Route&quot;&gt;cable route&lt;/a&gt; (rated &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot;&gt;Class 3&lt;/a&gt;), which looks like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sw2yDl.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sw2yDl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Half Dome cable route&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Dome#Hiking_the_Cable_Route&quot;&gt;six people have died&lt;/a&gt; on this route since it was put in place, and it looks really steep and scary, how can I ascend it safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T19:28:40.943" Title="How do you safely ascend and descend the Half Dome cable route?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14356" CreationDate="2016-11-18T05:19:14.950" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off, don't even think of attempting this if its raining or thunderstorms are nearby. Not only will water make the rock slick, but the prominence and the metal cables make people on the route prime targets for lighting strikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are going to want to wear grippy shoes because of the slick granite and gloves to protect your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are going to want to do to prevent a catastrophic fall is to clip yourself in to the cables. The minimum equipment for that is a rock climbing harness and a via ferrata setup. A rock climbing helmet would also be a good idea. The caribiners will need to be regular sized (not mini).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you go up the cables, you will have one caribiner connected to the cable at all times. When you get to a post, clip the other caribiner onto the cable on the other side of the post, before removing the first. Like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gzuC4.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gzuC4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were to fall, the caribiner would slide until it caught on the post. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, you &lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt; want to fall, because of the risk of hitting some one else and knocking them down, potentially causing them to fall. The odds are very few people are going to be clipped in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, there is traffic going up and down at the same time so be mindful for other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making certain that you water bottles are secured inside your pack so that they can't fall out and hid someone else is also a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting an early start will give you more time and allow you to take it slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm&quot;&gt;permits are required&lt;/a&gt;, so definately plan ahead and get one, as the penalty for not having one is &lt;a href=&quot;http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2010/02/yosemite-half-dome-permits.html&quot;&gt;rather steep&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-18T19:28:40.943" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T19:28:40.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14358" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-18T08:17:43.197" Score="9" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning to do a dayhike on a mountain almost two thousand meters above sea level (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2007/08/mt-tapulao-2037.html&quot;&gt;Mt. Tapulao&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail is almost 20 kilometers to the summit, and me and my fellow hikers are pretty slow, so there might be a chance we'll be caught by the dark and possibly fatigue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we want to keep things light, and we don't own tents, we need to be able to complete the hike on a single day. In the event that isn't possible, how do we identify good spots to sleep under the stars? The only wildlife hazard I've been reading of are bloodsucking leeches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-08-22T18:59:36.397" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T18:59:36.397" Title="Sleeping outdoors without a tent in a high altitude Mt. Tapulao?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12958" CreationDate="2016-11-18T15:40:53.613" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience relates to Common Dolphin, but likely applies to dolphins of other species, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although dolphin may be seen at any time, you are most likely to see them in proximity to food.  So if their prey is migratory, they may follow the prey to some extent; they may also change prey as different fish are available at different times of year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in north-west Scotland, the best time to see dolphin is in Spring, as salmon make their way to their freshwater spawning grounds.  The fish gather around the river estuaries, making it a great feeding ground for the cetaceans, especially when the tide is low (making it harder for the salmon to enter the rivers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dolphin are sometimes to be found in the vicinity of fish farming operations.  The conjecture is that some of the feed escapes the farm cages, drawing in wild fish which feed on it, and that in turn attracts the dolphins.  The aquaculturists here don't accuse dolphins of damaging cages as seals do (but that might be simply because they like the dolphins, and don't want to believe that they would force their way in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In California, you might find that seasonal differences in water temperature affect the availability of prey.  Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water, so supports less life throughout.  It's possible that &quot;your&quot; dolphins move to a cooler sea when warm currents pass through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T15:40:53.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14356" CreationDate="2016-11-18T16:59:50.987" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you do it safely?  It &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; safe.  Just do it.  Those six deaths were over 100 &lt;em&gt;years&lt;/em&gt;.  Recently there are as many as 50,000 people doing that route &lt;em&gt;per year&lt;/em&gt;.  Even if those six deaths were all in the last year, that's only a 0.012% death rate.  But those weren't all in one year.  The real risk is between one and two orders of magnitude less than that.  You are more likely to be struck by lightning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realize that all activities carry a risk.  Accept that and move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="127" LastActivityDate="2016-11-18T16:59:50.987" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14348" CreationDate="2016-11-18T19:41:35.723" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a regular machete user, I don't know if it is correct in the sense of it being used all over the world, but for me, I take a page out of my Western and Japanese fencing background and use it more like a sword.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hold the machete with a grip diagonal across my palm, securing its position with my index finger and thumb.  The other fingers are looser, allowing me to make a tiny &quot;swing&quot; by partially opening and then closing/tightening my grip.  The fully tightened position is still largely diagonal to my forearm.  As I swing, my hand tightens around the grip, which provides a lot of &quot;snap&quot; at the end of the stroke.  This is very helpful for cutting harder brush and thicker items that really won't cut due to sharpness – they break due to shock.  A sabre fencer would put their thumb on the back of the grip, but most machetes (like historical sabres or the cutlass I have) are too heavy for that kind of stroke, requiring the grip in my photos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: This is why many sabre fencers prefer a curved grip.  It offers more leverage for the finger movements.  However, it isn't necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iUS3j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iUS3j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fully tightened grip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7PFBU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7PFBU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Open grip – my little hands lift the pinky more than yours might&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6318" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-01-21T18:00:09.857" LastActivityDate="2019-01-21T18:00:09.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-18T20:32:25.847" Score="8" ViewCount="4350" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been reading some &quot;make your own gear&quot; forums, and making waxed canvas bags seems to be a popular craft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently did a little research into ripstop nylon (for another SE, &lt;a href=&quot;https://crafts.stackexchange.com/questions/2437/robust-fabric-for-making-a-bag-for-a-3d-printer/2438&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), and it seems to have the same desirable qualities as waxed canvas - tough, strong, waterproof. However, nylon weighs a lot less, so I'd think it would be preferred over waxed canvas for serious hikers and backpackers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that for DIY'ers it's mostly aesthetics - waxed canvas bags usually look pretty cool compared to a nylon sack. But I've never used a waxed canvas bag myself, so I'm curious if there are other advantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some reasons you might prefer a waxed canvas bag over a nylon bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:01:39.097" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:01:39.097" Title="What are reasons to prefer waxed canvas vs. nylon bags?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9954" CreationDate="2016-11-18T23:50:15.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You didn't mention your intended use - so lets go with it; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting;&#xA; - longer season&#xA; - potential access to different game&#xA; - when you shoot it, you don't scare off every animal within ear shot&#xA; - if you manage to kill something, you are one bad mother&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Targeting;&#xA; - cheaper to re-use arrows&#xA; - you can shoot most anywhere (park, back yard, etc)&#xA; - if you manage to hit something, you are one bad mother&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Survival; &#xA; - you can repair a bow with elements from the wild&#xA; - you can make your own arrows&#xA; - living off only a bow makes you one bad mother&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General;&#xA; - uncle Sam seems to think its OK to run around with a deadly bow in your hand vs. a not so deadly 22. &#xA; - owning a bow makes you one bad mother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8845" LastEditorUserId="8845" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T15:31:13.047" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T15:31:13.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14260" CreationDate="2016-11-19T01:04:01.670" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First and foremost is Wilderness First Aid.  There are official courses taught by the American Red Cross, and the Boy Scouts.  The scouts offer the courses to non-scouters, all are welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next on the list of skills to have, in no particular order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;orienteering and map reading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;plant identification&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;water treatment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hygiene (waste handling, cleanliness, disinfecting eating utensils)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weathering the weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food prep (cooking, storage, finding)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hunting, fishing, and trapping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shelter building for all seasons and climates&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hiking (footwear, techniques, exercises)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fire building&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;managing pests (bears, snakes, skunks, insects, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;emergency prep (first aid, getting lost, self-administered first aid)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T13:07:23.673" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T13:07:23.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14369" CreationDate="2016-11-19T05:05:04.630" Score="11" ViewCount="11290" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought about asking this question on English Language and Usage, but decided not to because I want answers from people who are familiar with cascades and waterfalls in reality, not just in the abstract.  Moreover, the definitions aren't very helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/28381?rskey=BcBgeg&amp;amp;result=1#eid&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Oxford English Dictionary&lt;/a&gt;, a cascade is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Usually, a small waterfall; esp. one of a series of small falls,&#xA;  formed by water in its descent over rocks, or in the artificial works&#xA;  of the kind introduced in landscape gardening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/226176?rskey=rxCETm&amp;amp;result=1#eid&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OED&lt;/a&gt;, a waterfall is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A cascade of water falling from a height, formed when a river or&#xA;  stream flows over a precipice or ledge; (also) a garden water feature&#xA;  resembling this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of my hiking has been done in the Sierra, especially Yosemite, where waterfalls and cascades of every size abound.  I have always thought of a waterfall as water that flows over a lip and then falls freely.  And a cascade as water that may flow quite steeply downhill but remains in contact with the underlying rock or streambed.  I would never describe Nevada Falls, for example as a cascade, nor would I describe the cascades that flow over the bare granite at roughly the 8,000 foot level of Yosemite Creek as waterfalls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a difference between the two in TGO in other parts of the world, or have I made up a distinction that is not commonly used in TGO?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:52:27.943" Title="What is the difference between a cascade and a waterfall?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14368" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-19T07:47:28.020" Score="2" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;TopHat has two roving points in its range. One is the Roving Crown...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHP93m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHP93m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Roving Crown&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... and the other is called Charly Point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hlS7Vm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hlS7Vm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Charly Point&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seem to have an identical concept but still the Crown costs three times as much as the Charly. What are the advantages of the crown compared to the charlies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T09:38:54.297" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T09:38:54.297" Title="Roving Crown vs. Charly Point - what's the difference?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;&lt;roving&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14367" CreationDate="2016-11-19T12:54:41.043" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wallpaper-wallpapers.com/281-cascade-pictures.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example of both&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GcTh9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GcTh9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note in the high background, that is a waterfall.  In the foreground is the cascade.  One part fills before the other does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture below shows a cascade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZIOa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZIOa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Another example of just a cascade&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Key difference between the two: in a waterfall, water moves only downward, while in a cascade, it moves both downward and onward, like stairs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-19T17:03:14.657" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T17:03:14.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14364" CreationDate="2016-11-19T13:15:20.307" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canvass is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to repair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to waterproof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More rugged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once it gets mildewed, it's done forever&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nylon is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheaper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to repair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to waterproof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less rugged; carry only soft/dull things; don't scrape the ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mildewed?  No problem.  Wash with Chlorox, then you're good to go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More colorful options&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your answer, therefore, depends on your needs and preferences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T13:15:20.307" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-19T13:45:18.523" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we go backpacking, we first gather to discuss the logistics, and part of that is meals.  Each person knows what they like, I write them all down and order them online or head over to the camping section of Target or whatever.  So, our meals are usually commercially-prepared individual or two-person portions.  It's easy for us then, I just order 3 of this, 6 of that, 1 of the other thing.  Sometimes, I'll buy an extra of something new just to try out.  But everyone gets what they want, and we never have problems with picky eaters.  Occasionally, someone doesn't like this brand or that, or would prefer a different brand offering.  If the cost differential isn't that much, we'll absorb it, not a big deal for us.  That's the scouting way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This, of course, works when you are buying commercially prepared individualized meals, which can be more expensive than group meals - which might be what you are referring to.  If this is the case, then I recommend to gather before the trip, and vote on a meal.  Whoever are the minority votes, they have a choice: eat with the group and pay group rates; or they can separately purchase or prepare their own individual meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone must understand that not all people can be satisfied all the time.  Those who are difficult eaters must realize that their eating habits cause problems for others, as in cases like this.  Therefore, expect some give and take, but the more choosey one is, the more give one will have to provide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do be sensitive to allergy, religious, or dietary requirements.  What to do when the whole group wants ham and cheese sandwiches, and the one among you is Jewish.  Or everyone wants peanut butter and jelly, but one person has allergies to peanuts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, the Jewish person may have to prepare his own sandwich.  And the girl with the allergies... with severe allergy potential, she should be preparing her own foods anyway.  And the fight over whether to get sugarfree snacks or sugared snacks?  Work that in with a group decision.  Compromises like &quot;you'll burn off the sugar on a hike anyway&quot; and &quot;the whole purpose of a sugar snack is for energy, so why remove the energy from the energy snack&quot; will have to come up, and you might decide on something altogether different with neither sugar nor carcinogenic chemical substitutes.  ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T13:45:18.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10487" CreationDate="2016-11-19T23:18:56.673" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having lived in various regions with cold winters, I also tend to suffer from dehydrated skin.  I tried a whole range of moisturizers, from mainstream nivea skin care and equivalent, to a range of natural oils, with mitigated success..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From those years of experimenting I found that the natural oils were working the best, although they were still leaving me slightly unsatisfied because, just like for you, at some point during the day my skin would feel dry again.. The best were the coconut oil, the jojoba oil, and the macadamia oil (the latter having a relatively strong torrefied nut smell)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frustration was starting to set in, until, one day, I discovered Shea butter. Since that day, I haven't had that dry, skin-pulling feeling anymore.  Shea butter is about as 'light' in applied texture as coconut oil, and won't leave a greasy film on your skin or on your hands. And it's affordable. If you want to try it out, as for the oils, go for the pure natural versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11727" LastActivityDate="2016-11-19T23:18:56.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14374" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14378" CreationDate="2016-11-20T00:38:26.313" Score="7" ViewCount="1352" Body="&lt;p&gt;A woman in a semi-rural Maryland neighborhood was injured by a black bear sow a day or two ago.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/bear-mauls-woman-in-frederick-county-driveway-in-rarest-of-rare-attack/2016/11/17/6ddf7abe-acb2-11e6-a31b-4b6397e625d0_story.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Washington Post&lt;/a&gt;.  She heard a dog barking, went out with her dog on a leash to investigate and was attacked in her driveway.  She had her cell phone with her, and called for help. She needed many stiches and, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/frederick-county/md-bear-attack-victims-injuries-worse-than-first-thought-family-says/353866332&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WUSA*9&lt;/a&gt;, may have a fractured hip and will remain in hospital for several days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the WP (link above):   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Authorities said they think the woman inadvertently came between the&#xA;  sow and her three cubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bear, collared, and well known in the neighborhood because of a characteristic limp, was tracked and killed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wildlife specialists had found one of the sow’s three cubs the night&#xA;  of the attack, subdued it with a dart gun and held it until daybreak&#xA;  before it was released. The other two cubs, all likely about 10 months&#xA;  old, also were spotted and determined to be in good health — and able&#xA;  to live on their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The question:  At what age do black bear cubs have a good chance of surviving on their own?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope the answers will consider variables that affect the answer including, but not necessarily limited to: (1) climate and (2) the effect of denning on their own the first winter after being weaned.  As for (1), I would expect these Maryland cubs to have a better chance than cubs of the same age in a climate with a colder, longer winter.  I'd also expect -- but do not know -- that there would be a great advantage to denning with their mother rather than on their own.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:26.020" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:26.020" Title="At what age do black bear cubs have a good chance of surviving on their own?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14377" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-20T14:11:59.157" Score="2" ViewCount="831" Body="&lt;p&gt;What gear do I need to climb buildings? Can I use a suction cup lifters? Or is it a safety risk, since this piece of equipment was clearly not developed to climb buildings? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11730" LastActivityDate="2016-11-20T17:49:58.617" Title="Gear for climbing a building" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2016-11-20T20:58:53.207" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14374" CreationDate="2016-11-20T16:03:24.893" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is probably no perfect answer to your question as different studies will indicate some amount of variation. However it seems that &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;black bear&lt;/a&gt; cubs which are usually born in January and generally stay with their mothers for about 17 months are self-sufficient at the age of 5 or 6 months. Under some circumstances mothers with cubs will accept strange cubs in their dens. &lt;strong&gt;Cubs will instinctively make dens in the fall.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is taken from the USDA in Minnesota: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearstudy.org/website/images/stories/Publications/Aiding_the_Wild_Survival_of_Orphaned_Bear_Cubs.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AIDING THE WILD SURVIVAL OF ORPHANED BEAR CUBS.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reliable methods for aiding the wild survival of abandoned or orphaned bear cubs are needed for use with threatened and endangered species and for use with black bears (Ursus americanus) in areas where populations are low. Methods used in northeastern Minnesota and other areas are reported or reviewed. Options include: (1) returning abandoned cubs to their mothers, (2) introducing orphaned cubs to wild foster mothers, (3) leaving orphans alone that have reached the age of self-sufficiency or transporting them to more favorable areas, and (4) raising orphans for release at the age of self-sufficiency. Mothers with cubs will readily accept strange cubs in their dens and, under some conditions, at other times of the year. Foster mothers may need to&#xA;  have supplemental food placed in their territories if they are to raise adopted cubs, especially if adoptions enlarge litters to more than 3 cubs. Although black bear cubs normally remain with their mothers for 17 months, &lt;strong&gt;they are commonly self-sufficient at 5 months of age (by July)&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;and they instinctively construct dens in fall.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Cubs raised in captivity and released at 5 months to 6 years of age have reportedly shown good survival&lt;/strong&gt; with few instances of nuisance problems. Most of these releases were in remote areas of Idaho and Michigan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-11-20T16:03:24.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14377" CreationDate="2016-11-20T17:49:58.617" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a whole industry of commercial rope access for maintenance etc and the techniques used are related but not identical to recreational climbing and mountaineering. There are also a few individuals who climb buildings for recreation/self promotion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the commercial  case it is usually more about descending from an well established top anchor rather than actual climbing as such. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One problem is that climbing a building without permission will probably be illegal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Robert&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alain Robert&lt;/a&gt; is famous for unauthorised climbs of public buldings but he tends to 'free climb' and it has to be emphasised that this is both illegal and very dangerous. Even he  tends to choose structure which are massive, boring ladders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally climbing a bilding is likely to be failry tedious as you would want to be absolutely certain that it was within your capabilities (or you will die) and it will just be executing the same moves again and again until you get to the top or fall off  so I'm not sure thre is really that much to reccomend it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as it has now been done before there isn't even that much celebrity to be gained. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-11-20T17:49:58.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14380" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14381" CreationDate="2016-11-21T00:10:18.667" Score="9" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aversion to snakes, or at least a predisposition to strongly avoid snakes, appears to be deeply rooted at the genomic level in primates.  See, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://thehumanevolutionblog.com/2014/10/08/are-humans-predisposed-to-fear-snakes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Human Evolution Blog&lt;/a&gt;.  Be warned, there are pictures!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word often used is ophidiophobia, defined by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophidiophobia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; as &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....the abnormal fear of snakes.....Care must also be taken to&#xA;  differentiate people who do not like snakes or fear them for their&#xA;  venom or the inherent danger involved. An ophidiophobe would not only&#xA;  fear them when in live contact but also dreads to think about them or&#xA;  even see them on TV or in pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;About a third of adult humans are ophidiophobic, making this the most&#xA;  common reported phobia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the opinion of the OP, the definition incorrectly identifies intense aversion with fear.  The OP has an intense aversion to snakes, but does not fear them if they are not dangerous nor does she hate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How would you, leading a person or group of people in TGO, set about breaking down an aversion to snakes in one of your charges, assuming the person was willing but very skeptical and nervous at the prospect?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No pictures please, except in a link with a warning! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Footnote:  The OP's aversion is less as a result of seeing a smallish snake slithering along, minding its own business, several times at home and on trails.  Also, reading the section on the pink rattlesnakes in the Grand Canyon helped.  (Colin Renfrew, &lt;em&gt;The Man who Walked through Time&lt;/em&gt;.) Still....no pictures, please!       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T00:56:01.723" Title="Aversion to snakes: How would an outdoors leader go about &quot;curing&quot; this condition in one of her/his charges?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14380" CreationDate="2016-11-21T13:44:33.927" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You cannot overcome a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia&quot;&gt;phobia&lt;/a&gt; without facing the cause that triggers the fear in the first place, at least in a indirect way. To close the book on a phobia and throw it away really cannot help one get over a phobia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people get professional help to deal with their treatment of phobias. Like anything else the degrees of phobias vary from individual to individual. Some medication do exist for the treatment of phobias (of which I will neither recommend or suggest since I am not a doctor). If one prefers this route, that is fine, but please see a qualified doctor of your choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is interesting to note that some phobias extends to pictures of a particular phobia in question. Yet it may be one of key ingredients in constructing a &lt;strong&gt;Fear Ladder&lt;/strong&gt; as an aid in overcoming one's fear or phobia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is one suggestion one might try to do helping one get over a particular phobia: It is called a &lt;strong&gt;Fear Ladder&lt;/strong&gt;. Nothing is a 100% successful, but it may help. I am using the &lt;em&gt;phobia of dogs&lt;/em&gt; as an example of how to construct a fear ladder as is set out in the following article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/phobias-and-fears.htm&quot;&gt;Phobias and Irrational Fears&lt;/a&gt; - Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help for Overcoming Your Anxiety and Fear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The most effective way to overcome a phobia is by gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way. During this exposure process, you’ll learn to ride out the anxiety and fear until it inevitably passes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Through repeated experiences facing your fear, you’ll begin to realize that the worst isn’t going to happen; you’re not going to die or &quot;lose it.&quot; With each exposure, you’ll feel more confident and in control. The phobia begins to lose its power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Successfully facing your fears takes planning, practice, and patience. The following tips will help you get the most out of the exposure process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing up the “fear ladder”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you’ve tried exposure in the past and it didn’t work, you may have started with something too scary or overwhelming. It’s important to begin with a situation that you can handle, and work your way up from there, building your confidence and coping skills as you move up the &lt;strong&gt;“fear ladder.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Facing a fear of dogs: *A sample fear ladder&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 1: Look at pictures of dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 2: Watch a video with dogs in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 3: Look at a dog through a window. &lt;em&gt;(A zoo for snakes).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 4: Stand across the street from a dog on a leash. &lt;em&gt;(Watch kids playing with a garden variety snake).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 5: Stand 10 feet away from a dog on a leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 6: Stand five feet away from a dog on a leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 7: Stand beside a dog on a leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 8: Pet a small dog that someone is holding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 9: Pet a larger dog on a leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Step 10: Pet a larger dog off leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Build your fear ladder&lt;/strong&gt;. Arrange the items on your list from the least scary to the most scary. The first step should make you slightly anxious, but not so frightened that you’re too intimidated to try it. When creating the ladder, it can be helpful to think about your end goal (for example, to be able to be near dogs without panicking) and then break down the steps needed to reach that goal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Work your way up the ladder.&lt;/strong&gt; Start with the first step (in this example, looking at pictures of dogs) and don’t move on until you start to feel more comfortable doing it. If at all possible, stay in the situation long enough for your anxiety to decrease. The longer you expose yourself to the thing you’re afraid of, the more you’ll get used to it and the less anxious you’ll feel when you face it the next time. If the situation itself is short (for example, crossing a bridge), do it over and over again until your anxiety starts to lessen. Once you’ve done a step on several separate occasions without feeling too much anxiety, you can move on to the next step. If a step is too hard, break it down into smaller steps or go slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practice.&lt;/strong&gt; It’s important to practice regularly. The more often you practice, the quicker your progress will be. However, don’t rush. Go at a pace that you can manage without feeling overwhelmed. And remember: you will feel uncomfortable and anxious as you face your fears, but the feelings are only temporary. If you stick with it, the anxiety will fade. Your fears won’t hurt you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing in life may be perfect, but I hope this may be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T00:56:01.723" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T00:56:01.723" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14380" CreationDate="2016-11-21T14:03:04.137" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone with an aversion to snakes has two issues when it comes to a camping trip:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;seeing a snake and having a panic attack or other negative reaction in a particular moment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;worrying about seeing a snake and feeling anxious and unhappy for the entire duration of the trip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this was my aversion and I was planning a trip, or if it was the aversion of someone close to me I wanted to take on a trip, I would not try to cure the first one. That's for a professional. I would work on the second one. Where I camp (Southern Ontario, occasionally some of the southerly parts of Northern Ontario) seeing snakes is very rare. We see a snake (land or water) or its skin roughly once a decade, whether camping or at our rural home. We find it cool and exciting, call everyone over, take pictures, etc. But of course not everyone feels that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would offer the following assurances:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the presence of a snake is highly unlikely&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when we walk a trail, you don't have to go first. The people in front of you will watch for snakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in the rare event they see a snake, they will warn you and keep you and the snake apart, you will be protected by the group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the group will perform any checking you need, such as checking your shoes for snakes before you put them on, going first into situations that are causing you anxiety, and so on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you have a panic attack or refuse to do something or otherwise behave irrationally, we will still love and support you. We will find another route, or carry you, or even cut the trip short if we must. And nobody will say you ruined the trip if we do. We will be understanding and supportive for you,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would hope this collection of support would make a trip feasible for the person with an aversion, and I would leave the actual psychological work to someone else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2016-11-21T14:03:04.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14380" CreationDate="2016-11-21T15:41:14.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might appear as an old-school tri-stated (hence, not convincing enough) answer in a perfect binary world. &#xA;Well, I have been around snakes for quite some time. To be honest haven't really tried to handle them beyond necessity, possibly because thoughts towards their and my own safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get used to with what you don't usually do needs some time and persistent exposure to that very thing. The utmost essential things are &lt;em&gt;requirement&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;desire&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Requirement:&lt;/strong&gt; If I have a strong aversion to snakes, and If I am living in an area where I might find a snake (though, minding it's own business all the while) I may not like my stay there for a longer period of time. &lt;em&gt;C'mon&lt;/em&gt;, if I hate drunkards, I possibly can't live by a dirty bar, not for long. This leaves us with the choice to either get used to with it, or change!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Desire:&lt;/strong&gt; This comes as an immediate factor. To get used to with something, I need to feel the desire to underline my requirement of getting used to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the above two are applicable over a many many things in life, I'll talk about snakes in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary factor about making people feel &lt;em&gt;not endangered&lt;/em&gt; when snakes are around is education. &#xA;As a first step without any snake around, I would typically ask what they feel about snakes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are scared of snakes, if yes, why? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or do they hate snakes as an animal for no reason or just because a bite can kill or put a life at great risk?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then comes the second part, I'd talk about my experiences with snakes and how snakes didn't really try to kill me the way they show in movies. I'd rather try telling (not convincing right away) them that once you understand them, starts respecting them for what they are, you and snake both are safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I'd ask their part of the story: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have they seen a snake real-time? (Very likely to be answered as affirmative, but still I'd ask)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where was it? Did the snake attack? (This can help them telling that don't venture into wrong areas)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have they been chased by a snake ever (as a sarcasm to make the point of course)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Through these kind of questions, I'd come to know if they are really scared of them through unfortunate encounters or are they scared just by the stories people tell. Sometimes over-exaggerated descriptions/discussions (or plain lie) can make one feel scared of snakes, and its not entirely the person's fault.&#xA;These self-answerable questions are need to be asked so that they believe with adequate knowledge they can take of their own safety. Get the thought-process going. Let the questions come from their side as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I see the person is interested to know a bit more, I think I have broken the ice, but at the same time it is essential to tell them not to try doing things they have never tried or have experience of.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e.g. Tom says, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Hey snakes are not really animals who want to kill humans, see there is this rattler and its not gonna kill me, WedaPashi says the same.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Tom does not panic this time (Amazing start!), Tom is not scared (bring it on!), Tom doesn't run away (Way to go boy!) but he does what shouldn't do and gets bitten and is dead (Shuddder!).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;At Tom's funeral Dick says to Harry, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Bloody rattlers. They all want to kill you. It bit Tom on purpose, I saw, it jumped way far than its length and you know Tom is always scared of snakes and karma got to him. WedaPashi is weirdo, snakes don't bite him for some reason.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;Tom's father spend the rest of the days shooting snakes with shotgun, Dick and Harry never went hiking/camping for the rest of their lives which they lived through hating snakes all the while. WedaPashi is labelled abnormal freak by the duo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e.g. Tom says, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Hey snakes are not really animals who want to kill humans, see there is this rattler and its not gonna kill me, WedaPashi says the same.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Tom does not panic this time (Amazing start!), Tom is not scared (bring it on!), Tom doesn't run away (Way to go boy!) but he does what shouldn't do and handles the snake in a way he shouldn't, The innocent snake gets injured, or is killed (Shudder!).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;At the bar, Tom is on cloud no.9 and Dick says to Harry, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Bloody rattlers. I thought they all want to kill you. But you know what, they can't. I saw, it tried to hide, skid away but you know what(!), Tom who is always scared of snakes, got hold of it. He squeezed it hard with a stick so that it doesn't run away. We clicked some pictures. It was great.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;Dick dies trying the same and Tom started hating snakes again, more this time.&#xA;Tom and Harry never went hiking/camping for the rest of their lives which they lived through hating snakes all the while. WedaPashi is labelled abnormal freak by the duo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either ways, if I talked Tom away from his aversion to this stage, I am at fault, its my mistake entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the probability of coming across a snake, I'd identify if the person really needs to come and see it and is ready for it or not. Its not necessary to make the person touch or handle a snake. Visual memories/representation (like we see in movies) plays major role in aversion towards snakes. May be I can locate a snake basking in the sunlight, not willing to harm anyone around, and show that to the person from a safe distance. That might change the image he/she has of snakes in his/her mind (The one with aggressive eyes, unusually big fags). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its unlike other stuff like swimming, speed, etc. Aversion towards animals, can be overcome by educating, which does not require contact beyond a certain barrier. You need not be sitting on an elephant or feeding it haystack if you are scared of it. You need not be a handling a non-venomous snake to realize that you are not scared of it or no longer hating it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If at all I am not able to get the person thinking and the person is not really able to break the nutshell, its absolutely fine. I must have tried enough to educate him/her at least in a direction which delivers overall awareness and might help keeping both of them a bit more safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-11-21T15:56:24.127" LastActivityDate="2016-11-21T15:56:24.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14613" CreationDate="2016-11-21T17:05:58.410" Score="8" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought my first whole rooster saddle for hackle and found out that there are some soft webby feathers under the usable hackle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gsUcH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gsUcH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Feathers under the hackle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I reckon that they are some sort of soft hackle, but some of them look like chickabou. Are there any uses for them when it comes to fly tying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2016-11-25T14:50:38.157" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T17:32:30.337" Title="What are the feathers under the hackle in the rooster saddle?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2016-11-21T19:33:18.357" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One way to give back is to be actively involved in reclamation projects. Growing up I was actively involved in scouting, and every year we participated in a fund raising program known as Trees for Canada, now known as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scouts.ca/ca/scoutrees&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scoutrees&lt;/a&gt;. We would plant thousands of new trees in a day in clear cuts where timber had been recently harvested, or on spoil piles in the mines (where they pile the mountains back up after sifting the coal out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are people who make money planting trees for reclamation companies–mines and forestry companies are required to reclaim sites, so they employ people to do so–but they get paid per tree, so they plant as fast as they can to reach a daily quota. I was told by the environmental specialist on the last scoutrees fundraiser I participated in that they love when the scouts plant, because the trees they plant have a higher survival rate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Volunteer driven reclamation projects are more successful because the people are driven by service and put more care into the work. So in my opinion, the best way to give back to the mountains, is to volunteer with groups who do reclamation work, or donate to such groups, you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://scouts.thankyou4caring.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;donate directly to Scoutrees&lt;/a&gt; for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good organization to donate to would be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Nature Conservancy&lt;/a&gt;. They own a tonne of land around the world, including some land surrounding Glacier/Wateron National Park where I live. Donations help them purchase and maintain more land that they protect and grant various levels of access to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T03:29:12.060" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T03:29:12.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14358" CreationDate="2016-11-21T19:39:16.530" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;That link lists it as a 1-2 day hike.  If you are slow definitely a 2 day hike.  And it says night time temperature can get near freezing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleep under the stars is what you hope for.  If it is cloudy and rainy no tent could be life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once it gets dark it is pretty hard to build any make shift shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tarp you can all get under but that could still be a very miserable night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't know when you are leaving.  Check the actual weather forecast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T15:45:20.257" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T15:45:20.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14387" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-21T19:46:31.867" Score="8" ViewCount="497" Body="&lt;p&gt;In mountaineering, the turnaround time is the point in time at which the party will turn around and head down the mountain regardless of how close to the summit. This is typically done to make certain that everyone is down before afternoon storms roll in and put the party at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am preparing to climb a mountain, how do I determine what the turnaround times and from that what the start time should be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T17:53:32.327" Title="How do you calculate the turnaround and start times when summitting mountains?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14387" CreationDate="2016-11-21T19:46:31.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing to know is what is the latest you want to be on the summit and aim to be off before then. Then you calculate the estimated time it will take to summit and return. The start time is the the lastest time  minus half of the trip time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if thunderstorms are know to hit the mountain starting at noon, and to be conservative you want to be off by 11:00 am, and the whole trip is estimated to take 14 hours, then you want to be on the trail at 4:00 am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;11 - (14/2) = 4&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If getting down at 6:00 pm would mean that you get back in the dark, then it would be better to get an even earlier start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a thunderstorm starts moving in earlier, then you should turn around anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, going up and down take pretty similar amounts of time, but there are few things that make the descent faster, like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ability to glissade the slope you ascended&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rappeling the route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and there are a few things that descent take longer, like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting more and more tired as the day goes on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loosing the sense of urgency that comes with the trying to beat the thunderstorms and so taking your time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T15:52:02.117" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T15:52:02.117" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14358" CreationDate="2016-11-21T23:46:53.777" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you absolutely rule out rain?   If not, you need some sort of shelter, even if just a plastic tarp.  And some warm clothes.  Rainy, no tent, temps near freezing (even significantly above freezing), light clothing, no rain jacket or rain pants, and very little food left -- you could be in a very, very bad way come morning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for picking the spot to sleep, there seem to be quite a few campsites listed in the link.  Are you rejecting these as not private enough?   If so, keep your eyes open on the way up for good places to sleep just off trail.  Have several spots in mind.  Don't waste time searching when you are tired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T04:29:34.383" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T04:29:34.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14387" CreationDate="2016-11-21T23:58:29.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Turnaround time will be driven by the time you want to be back to your origin/campsite. You will also need an idea how long the walk itself is going to take. That's quite important and more precise the better. You don't want underestimate and get caught in a night walk in serious mountaineering. Trust me. I've been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various factors you need to consider to get to this time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Daylight.&lt;/strong&gt; (In my part of the world, sunsets around 22.30 on the longest day and around 16.30 on the shortest day roughly.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather.&lt;/strong&gt; (if you know weather is supposed to turn at some point, you need to allow time to get back safely.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Season of the year.&lt;/strong&gt; (It might be a walk in the park during summer but late in the day during winter becomes a bit tricky when snow starts to melt and is prone to avalanches.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start time also relies on similar factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Daylight.&lt;/strong&gt; (In my part of the world, sunrises around 5.30am on the longest day and around 7.30am on the shortest day roughly. You might want during the winter to have an &quot;alpine start&quot; at 3/4am and start the walk in the dark to make most of the day.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather.&lt;/strong&gt; (if you know weather is supposed to turn at some point, you might want to start earlier to maybe later.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Season of the year.&lt;/strong&gt; (Pretty much the same as the turnover time.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T03:06:04.043" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T03:06:04.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14227" CreationDate="2016-11-22T03:44:01.463" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because there are so many different migratory birds, each with their own unique pattern, this is a rather broad question. The answer, therefore, will be based on the general study of migration, rather than individual birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Migration is an extremely complex process, and a large amount of research into contributing factors is ongoing all over the world. One essential part of that research is rooted in backyard bird feeding and how it affects migration. Variables are many, and include bird species, age, gender, health, and experience, to name just a few.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put this large body of work into simple terms, it's generally accepted that birds who plan on migrating will do so whether or not food remains available. The primary migration triggers are change in the amount of daylight, also known as photoperiod; and change in air temperature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=16090&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell University Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt; in New York is considered a world leader in the study, understanding and conservation of birds. Your &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/should-i-stop-feeding-birds-in-fall-so-they-can-start-their-migration/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; was posed to them as part of their many interactive bird-watching projects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From their answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Keeping your feeders up has no influence on whether a bird will start its journey south. A number of factors trigger the urge for birds to migrate, and the most significant one is day length. As days grow shorter in late summer, birds get restless and start to head south, taking advantage of abundant natural food, and feeders where available, to fuel their flight.&#xA;  Hummingbirds are no different from others and will migrate regardless of whether feeders are kept up. However, we encourage people to keep feeders up for several weeks after the last hummingbird leaves the area, just in case a straggler shows up in need of additional energy before completing the long journey south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also from their &lt;a href=&quot;http://feederwatch.org/learn/feeding-birds-faqs/#will-feeding-birds-in-late-summer-stop-their-migration&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Feederwatch Project&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some people believe they should stop feeding birds right after Labor Day because the birds’ southward migrations will be interrupted. However, a bird’s migratory urge is primarily triggered by day length (photoperiod), and even an abundance of foods at your feeders will not make a bird resist that urge. In fact, your feeder might provide a needed energy boost along a bird’s migration route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/birds/faq#t1441n4756&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The National Audubon Society&lt;/a&gt;, another world-renowned organization, also addresses the issue, especially for people who do not leave feeders up through the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For people who only feed during the summer, they can stop feeding in the fall whenever they want. Migratory birds leave on their own schedule, regardless of food availability, so continued feeding will not prevent birds from migrating as they should. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Late migrants, young and inexperienced birds and hummingbirds that are not completely healthy may be helped by the presence of your feeder, especially in areas where blooming flowers are scarce in fall and early winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many additional studies indicate that the witness of what seems to be a delay in migration is actually time spent loading up on food and calories in order for the migration to be successful. Some birds actually increase their body weight by 100% before making the trip. The report of one such study, authored by a professor at the University of Rhode Island, can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gso.uri.edu/maritimes/Text_Only/00Summer/text/birds.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, I believe that people can leave feeders up all year long without worrying that they're interfering with the natural process of migration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T03:44:01.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2016-11-22T16:03:58.020" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once you learned to appreciate the Mountain, the best way to give back (in my opinion) is to teach others how to behave in nature. This would spread the knowledge you gathered through the years, deepen the Leave No Trace mentality, help people bond with nature, and one day - why not? - maybe make them ask the same question you have now. So they would also give back something one day, and the chain goes on this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might do this by volunteering in NGOs that deal with education. Find your local Scout troop :) or any other organization that deals with youth: giving them skills in a young age, opportunities for bonding and memories, or even a community where they can &quot;belong&quot;. And all this in nature: they can learn to respect not only their fellow humans, but also the Mountain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not the type to get along with children (although some youth organizations - Scouts again, for example - tend to have all age groups, from 7 to 25+ years old), you can still consider volunteering for adult workshops, hold presentations in an afternoon school. Or donating to local NGOs who do such things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T16:03:58.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14394" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14401" CreationDate="2016-11-22T19:27:49.190" Score="9" ViewCount="455" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do know that if your elevation rises while staying in the same position, the pressure is decreasing and that it is a sign of bad weather incoming and a decrease in elevation means that the pressure is increasing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, how often should an altimeter be calibrated to the known altitude from a topographical map and do those calibrations need to be recorded?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, how much change in elevation is significant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T21:17:44.343" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T04:39:53.820" Title="How do you predict weather with an altimeter while mountaineering and or backpacking?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2016-11-22T19:52:56.493" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is a really complicated question because everything we do and don't do has consequences. What is a preferred outcome or consequence to our actions is deeply personal and not really relevant to the mountains. The mountains will survive and thrive regardless of what we do, almost certainly in a different form than we saw it since nothing is static in a natural world. The poem &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/52341&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hamatreya&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; captures this sentiment well. Here is an excerpt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“Here is the land,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Shaggy with wood,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            With its old valley,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Mound and flood.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            But the heritors?—&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Fled like the flood's foam.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            The lawyer and the laws,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            And the kingdom,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Clean swept herefrom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“They called me theirs,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Who so controlled me;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Yet every one&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            Wished to stay, and is gone,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            How am I theirs,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            If they cannot hold me,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;            But I hold them?” &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What people often try to do is defend the earth from the ravages of humans that are transient in nature. This is nicely highlighted in an interview by &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_American_Life&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This American Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; called &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/243/transcript&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Hiker and the Cowman Should be Friends&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But here, in the Escalante, in these canyons, I think the grazing doesn't hurt anything. A canyon bottom, like the gulch, they trail cows through there. And I've seen people, campers, in there. And they see these cows go through, and pound up the ground, and crap everywhere. And then the campers scream about the cows, say how horrible they are. The campers go back to the city. And a month later, I go back down to the same canyon, and you can't tell there was ever a cow in it. It's grown up with grass and clover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the piece they describe a story about a person who would go hiking in an area and see the &quot;destruction&quot; of nature by grazing cattle. The &quot;destruction&quot; the outsiders saw was generally transitory. Grant Johnson used to fight the ranchers but over time he realized the ranchers weren't an evil bunch trying to destroy the land but very much in tune and part of the land. I'm not trying to say that all ranchers are saints and all activists are fighting non-issues. The truth is clearly more muddled. I'm just trying to say that sometimes things aren't as clear cut as either side presents. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this is one of the factors that leads to conflicts like the ones between hunters and anti-hunting activists. Both groups want to see large healthy herds. The anti-hunting activists don't want hunters killing the animals. The hunters think culling the herd is better than overpopulation resulting in starving out animals during the winter. When both groups work together then it is a win-win-win. When they attack each other as diametrically opposed enemies resources are lost that could have helped effect the outcome both groups want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you want to give back to the mountains I think it is important to note that what you're doing is trying to change a landscape to something you think is better, or maintain a landscape's status quo because you feel this is how the landscape should be. As you can see these are very personal decisions and it is unfortunately easier to dismiss your &quot;opposition&quot; as bad/evil/{insert negative adjective}. However I think it is often best to work with people who seem to be opposed to you because they might see an angle you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once you've made your decisions you have three broad categories of actions you can take: change your behavior, influence others, and directly perform works.&lt;/strong&gt; Since these are a bit abstract I'll give some concrete examples&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You are concerned about global warming's affect on glaciers and snowpacks.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change your behavior&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reduce your carbon footprint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Influence others &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raise awareness in your community&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vote for politicians that prioritize global warming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Donate to lobbying groups that want to fight global warming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fund research into global warming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Directly perform works&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plant trees on property you own&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get permission to plant trees on property you don't own&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are more things you could do in each category. Here is another example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You notice lots of trash in your favorite areas.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change your behavior&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't leave trash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack out any used toilet paper instead of burying it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adopt the best practices of organizations like &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Influence others &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raise awareness in your community with speaking events with photos of the trash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase advertising space to raise awareness for this problem&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Donate to organizations that clean up trash in this area, or would be willing to clean up trash in this area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get the local authority over the land to install and service trash cans in the area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get permission to place signage reminding people not to litter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk to people on the trail about the trash problem&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Directly perform works&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack out trash you find&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place signage you have permission to place against littering&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You want to combat the erosion that occurs on your favorite trails.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change your behavior&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you walk the trail less then there will be less erosion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't walk on the trail when you're likely to cause increased erosion (walking on the trail during the rainy season)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Influence others &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raise awareness in your community with speaking events with photos of the erosion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Donate to organizations that maintain the trails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get the local authority over the land to improve the trail or allow you to improve the trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk to people on the trail about the importance of staying on the trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Directly perform works&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improve the trail with permission&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see you can adapt any change you want to see in the outdoors to this three pronged approach. Always be mindful of how your efforts affect the system as a whole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-11-22T22:49:18.960" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T22:49:18.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14396" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14397" CreationDate="2016-11-22T21:16:15.403" Score="11" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;When getting an early alpine start (3-5 am or earlier) it will probably be before the sun comes up. Hopefully, the weather will be better in the morning (that is often the point of an alpine start), but the lack of sunlight can make it difficult to see the clouds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It usually possible to tell if there are clouds are not, by whether or not the stars are visible as well as whether or not the clouds are raining/snowing/sleeting or if there is fog, but observation options are limited compared to what would be visible if the sun was up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given these limitations, how would you assess the weather when getting a really early start?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T16:24:05.713" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T16:24:05.713" Title="How do you assess the weather when getting an alpine start?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14396" CreationDate="2016-11-22T21:49:40.663" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you have already answered. Check for clear sky or how the overall weather feels like. A barometer could give you a brief indication as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you have left home with an idea of the forecast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a service of mountain radios here in my part of the world where you can hire some radios and they do a daily broadcast of weather forecast and you can check in to let them know you and your party is OK. When we do our mountaineering here, we always hire one of those radios so we can get weather forecasts and plan accordingly as weather here changes often and some times from a calm day to a bloody blizzard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-11-24T20:41:38.123" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T20:41:38.123" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14358" CreationDate="2016-11-22T23:51:01.287" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2007/08/mt-tapulao-2037.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the link you gave&lt;/a&gt; in your question there are some pictures. One of the pictures has this caption:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Bunkhouses at the background of the picture, can serve as shelter, and has a nearby water source. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like you could just use the Bunkhouses if you find you're tired and need to spend the night. I don't know what the requirements/cost is for using the bunkhouse. I'd assume you need to bring a sleeping bag to use the facilities but it'd be best if you could ask someone that has been on this hike recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-11-22T23:51:01.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2016-11-23T01:25:36.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;bait cast can throw further than spinning reel. The key point is if you keep getting bird nest, add heavier weights or sinkers, this will reduce your bird nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2nd point is bait cast does not have tangle knots like spinning reel where some knot form for unknown reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you switch to bait cast and know how to use it, you will not go back to spinning reel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11750" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T01:25:36.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10384" CreationDate="2016-11-23T10:57:06.910" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Limit your carbon footprint&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Limiting your carbon footprint is just one of the many ways you can try to protect nature from the impact of man. It is an important one though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the love of God, &lt;strong&gt;stop flying everywhere&lt;/strong&gt;. Take the train or boat or bike. Heck, even a car. Or spend a vacation in a nearby place. This sounds banal, but flying is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;single largest factor&lt;/a&gt; in a persons carbon footprint.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; need the newest fanciest XYZ product? Will its predecessor not also still do the job? (If that one broke, why not spend a little more on something durable and sustainable next time?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stop producing waste whenever possible in your daily life. Use refills/recharges/multiple use products instead of throwaways.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy/build/produce sustainably.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might turn into an argument about climate change. Maybe it should.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2016-11-23T14:37:52.783" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T14:37:52.783" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14394" CreationDate="2016-11-23T13:57:29.917" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a backpacking trip, calibrate the altimeter only at the trailhead and at places, such as a pass or a lake, that are marked on a topo map.  In your comment you mention maybe calibrating the altimeter three times a day, and also by as little as 40 feet.  This seems like overkill to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a backpacking trip, we write down the altimeter reading when we stop for the day, and when we start for the day and maybe at the start and stop of a long break or flattish region if the weather looks like it is changing.  If these notes are organized, it is easy to integrate mentally the changes caused by weather change rather than actual altitude change. (Yes, they are cumulative.)  We calibrate the altimeter only when a significant change has accumulated -- 100 feet or so -- and when we are at a lake or pass or other benchmark.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't feel we need to know the altitude with great accuracy on a step by step basis.  As for what change is significant for forecasting the weather purposes, it depends on the precision and accuracy of your altimeter.  For a long time we had an analog altimeter which could be read to 10 feet precision, but which was not accurate to 10 feet.  A rise or drop of 100 feet overnight was definitely significant, weatherwise.  50 feet, probably significant.  (This is for the Sierra.)        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-11-23T16:46:31.720" LastActivityDate="2016-11-23T16:46:31.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14402" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-23T20:40:32.243" Score="7" ViewCount="1695" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard the argument that red light is better because it helps &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/does-red-light-preserve-your-night-vision&quot;&gt;preserve your night vision&lt;/a&gt;, however it is less bright than white light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other pros and cons that I am missing or circumstances in which one would be highly preferred to the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T15:07:15.127" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T15:07:15.127" Title="What are the pros and cons of using a red colored light source for hiking at night?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14402" CreationDate="2016-11-23T21:59:02.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Red filter for headlights has some specific applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's highly used for hunting and military operations as it doesn't have a strong/long light beam so you can only see very short distances. That is applied for not showing your location to the enemy. e.g you can wander around the forest and read map without getting shot by an enemy sniper. Also when hunting as you can see where you're going but animals wouldn't see you as most animals (that we usually hunt) can't see red very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In hiking, trekking, mountaineering you want a long bright bean that will allow you to see meters ahead. You don't want to discover you're on the edge of a crevasse because you couldn't see further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's why you will find headlamps with the red filter but the big ones don't have filters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;examples given:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/CA/en/Sport/SPECIALIZED-headlamps/TACTIKKA-PLUS#.WDYNavl96Uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Tactikka+&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/PERFORMANCE-headlamps/NAO-PLUS#.WDYQyfl96Uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Nao+&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-24T07:44:34.027" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T07:44:34.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14404" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-23T22:17:31.827" Score="1" ViewCount="1987" Body="&lt;p&gt;Numerous customers who bought the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001AL61F6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;manufacturer-made tent footprint&lt;/a&gt; for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00GSYHOKG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;'Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2' tent&lt;/a&gt; reported on Amazon that the tent footprint is poorly made and NOT AT ALL a good purchase. &#xA;The footprint is highly useful &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/klXBi3rnbhM?t=3m30s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;to convert the tent into a tarp-tent&lt;/a&gt; among other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what alternative footprint products are available to buy from the market (with the possibility of slightly altering it a bit myself to make it suit the tent). But if not possible, I'm considering making one myself. How does one go about doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:44:23.670" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T08:44:23.670" Title="How to DIY a tent footprint for the 'Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2' tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;&lt;tent-footprints&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2016-11-24T10:03:29.867" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14404" CreationDate="2016-11-24T03:41:34.683" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are detailed instructions at &lt;a href=&quot;http://gizmodo.com/how-to-make-your-own-tent-footprint-for-25-1666007412&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gizmodo.com/how-to-make-your-own-tent-footprint&lt;/a&gt;. The example used is even a Big Agnes (but one with an isosceles trapezoid rather than your simple rectangle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, you measure your tent base, cut some Tyvek slightly larger so you can have strong folded edges, place grommets in each of the corners where the poles will go, and tie loops of nylon cord through each grommet for securing to the stakes when pitching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T03:41:34.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14402" CreationDate="2016-11-24T09:32:49.703" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The linked question on biology.SE actually is for many aspect already the answer, one just needs to convert the findings to the outdoors/hiking. I will first reiterate the most important anatomical points from the said question and then pull conclusions for outdoor use of red light. So if you don't care about the background and know what rods/cones are, just skip the next paragraph or if you want more, go read the linked question instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The eye contains (primarily) two types of photoreceptor cells: Rods and cones. There are three types of cones sensitive to different wavelength areas, thus allow for color vision. They are active during good illumination (photopic vision). Rods are much more light sensitive but there is just one type, so distinction of color is not possible (scotopic vision). Rods are primarily sensitive in the blue-green light range. In intermediate lighting conditions both kinds of cells can be active (mesopic vision).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color1.html#receptordist&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;distribution of rods and the different cones in the eye&lt;/a&gt; is not at all uniform: Cones are concentrated in the center while rods are absent in the center and their maximal concentration is at a visual angle of approx 20deg. Additionally in the center there are no S-type cones (sensitive primarily in blue light) and more L-type (redish) than M-type cones&#xA; (greenish).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A great (while lengthy) source for information about the sensitive of the eye to light at different wavelengths is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Color Vision by Bruce McEvoy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;night vision&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red light affects rods and thus night vision the least. It still does, so light intensity is key. What is more important is that the center of the eye is mostly sensitive to red light and has no rods at all. So it is impossible to read anything with blue light or in very dark conditions where only rods are active (well the second is anyway problematic for reading). Just try to read without moving along with your eyes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Using dim red light allows to use rod cells for peripheral low light vision and keeps them active (dim red light!), and at the same time you get much increased vision in the center. Thats why red is great for reading maps in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;color vision&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That one is quite obvious: If it is important to discriminate colors you need to use white light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;hunting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red light is might be useful for stealth as many animals have more rods than cones compared to humans, and are thus perceive red light relatively less strongly compared to humans. This might give you an advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visibility at distance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When light travels through air it is scattered by a process that is dependent on the wavelength. Short wavelengths (i.e. blueish) are scattered much more than red (that is why the sky is blue and sunsets red). Thus red light is better visible at a distance. Uses are position lights, e.g. car rear lamps or the light on the back of the Petzl Nao+ headlamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also there seems to be a misconception about the brightness and cone characteristics of a light source: These are independent of the color. You could have a red light just as bright and focused as a white one. It is clear that a bright red light is not useful, as it would destroy night vision as well and reduce color perception, while I cannot think of an advantage. However having a more focused red light would actually be preferable to the wide cone usually used for head lamps. As described above, red light is most effective for the center of the eye, so only illuminating a spot in direction of view would be more effective.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T09:32:49.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-24T11:48:43.780" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There will be different approaches depending on how much you are &quot;in charge&quot; of the group. Also, I understand the setting is that the group is already &lt;em&gt;on&lt;/em&gt; the trip, possibly with limited possibility to extend or alter food supplies. (If you are just preparing for the trip, then the situation is easier, of course.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on the trip, and intend to share meals prepared by group members in the open, out of supplies you brought with you, then the situation is quite simple. Make a list of all supplies you have or can get hold of. Then involve the group in menu-making, the fussy eaters in particular. Make your point clear: &lt;strong&gt;out of this stuff, what do &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; suggest we cook for the next few mornings/nights?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a group of equals (in terms of responsibility for the outcome of the trip), such as a group of friends, I would not go beyond this basic sharing of responsibility. If you are in charge (of a group of kids, or of your clients on a tour), you've assumed responsibility for them, but your situation might be alleviated by a previous contract (of whatever degree of formality) with them or their parents: if you said earlier that such and such food will be served at such and such intervals, then you simply proceed as planned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your charges are so picky that they are unable to sustain their strength for the tour, you can &lt;strong&gt;try preparing meals that consist of two or more different courses or parts&lt;/strong&gt; (such as, steamed ham &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; pea mash). Then you offer each person to partake of either or both, and help themselves to bread as accompaniment. Do not give any &quot;substitutes&quot; to those who do not opt for either of your courses. (Consider occasionally giving a small dessert to those who do, if they are kids.)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, if they are kids in your charge, drinks can help in terms of giving some extra kick for the day and also creating team spirit. On a cold morning, hot cocoa or ginger tea with honey can work wonders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11752" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T11:48:43.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14024" CreationDate="2016-11-24T13:29:13.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick online search among performance tents sold by a major U.S. retailer and a major U. S. based manufacturer showed no tents with black floors. Many had grey floors, in various shades, which may be what you meant.  Some tents also had floors with colors that matched or coordinated with the tent body or the fly.  My personal experience is that I've had both grey and matched colors on tents.  Also IME,  low performance tents sold by mass merchant stores are more likely to have color matching or coordinating materials on the floors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that grey flooring material is a fashion choice. It is a neutral color to coordinate with the various colors used on the tent body and fly.  The same grey is often used for netting, trim and pole sleeves in my search.  It also is less likely to look shabby from dirt, stains and other wear of use, relative to more colorful fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sharing of one floor fabric color among many different colors of tents is also likely to be an cost saving choice that can be made without impacting the fashion appeal of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T13:29:13.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14307" CreationDate="2016-11-24T14:56:42.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What we did in our local scout troop when we met picky children during several day long hikes: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;explain them how the trip will look like: we camp in such places where we can make fire, but we will not have place for three pans and five pots to cook some fancy thing, especially not for a bigger group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the need to eat some cooked food: for their digestion etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what foods help them with energy in the morning, what is nutricious+fast to prepare+easy to carry the ingredients for the evening etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If any of the children/youngsters has an alternative we are glad to hear it and ready to implement it within our possibilities and money limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When camping in the same place in nature for more days we still met some constraints: no opportunity for storing raw meat or eggs for a longer time; if we wanted to cook some meat, someone had to go to the village in the morning and get it. We learned to deal with this by using canned food + spicy, saucy recipes which take the attention away from the can's taste. Also, we introduced days with more &quot;fun&quot; food for the children, such as pancakes or something they like: this is always a pleasant surprise for them. These remain as highlights, so they never mention that one time when they had pea mash (something less popular). When they really choose not to eat, then we give them one alternative: bread with some spread - not chocolate or marmalade, but something average. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the camp we make a feedback session, and then usually we hear things like &quot;next time don't cook this or that&quot;. If there is a general argument against a food, we will take it off the list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same worked out on biking trips (2 week long with 35 people). When we had resting days we cooked more interesting foods, which was fun and rewarding too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T14:56:42.593" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14402" CreationDate="2016-11-24T14:58:50.307" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the answers given above, red light also produces less of a glare when you walk or run through fog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T14:58:50.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14411" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14412" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" Score="0" Body="Any question about providing adequate lighting during activities outdoors fall into this category. This includes but is not restricted to lighting while camping, during hikes, while climbing and may relate to issues about equipment, best practices..." OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T16:32:41.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14277" CreationDate="2016-11-24T16:53:58.340" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, it seems that the mystery was solved: it is a common roach with a guanin deficiency that causes them to have a different colour, as explained by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fiskejournalen.se/mysterium-med-okand-fiskart-lost/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this ecologist&lt;/a&gt; (in Swedish).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2016-11-24T16:53:58.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14414" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14419" CreationDate="2016-11-25T01:06:24.420" Score="6" ViewCount="2876" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do flashlights (torches) with multi-color capabilities (white, red, blue and green) have any outdoor applications for usage in the forest or while hiking at night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have several flashlight that have multi-color capabilities and would like to know how these various colors of light may be used in the great outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is similar to two other questions that can be found on this site, yet are somewhat different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14402/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-using-a-red-colored-light-source-for-hiking-at-nig&quot;&gt;What are the pros and cons of using a red colored light source for hiking at night?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8082/my-head-torch-lamp-has-a-red-mode-why&quot;&gt;My head torch/lamp has a red mode, why?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could someone explain how these &lt;strong&gt;four colored lights&lt;/strong&gt; could be useful to us in our adventures (hiking, hunting and so on) in the wild?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T19:32:04.987" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T19:32:04.987" Title="Do flashlights (torches) with multi-color capabilities have any applications for usage in the great outdoors at night?" Tags="&lt;night&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14414" CreationDate="2016-11-25T06:01:24.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that some animals find hard to see red and they can't differentiate between red and green very well so I'd assume green and red have the same application (used in dark places) with red being a better option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultraviolet light is used for forensic applications but it's a specific blue light not just a light that is blue so I'd also assume that the blue light in your torch is to mock that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T06:01:24.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14414" CreationDate="2016-11-25T10:36:50.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself hiking along a road at night, especially in a group, a red light towards oncoming traffic may be a good idea. There isn't always a verge to step onto when you notice a car approaching. And some roads can be narrow enough that there's no real correct side and the locals still drive very fast &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T10:36:50.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14440" CreationDate="2016-11-25T12:06:08.010" Score="8" ViewCount="1110" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently someone mentioned a piece of equipment to measure distances. They stated that it was used in military. I think it was called &quot;pace counter&quot;. What exactly is it and how does it work? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:03:03.730" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:03:03.730" Title="What is a &quot;pace&quot; counter and how does it work?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14414" CreationDate="2016-11-25T12:06:33.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Red has been covered already, and it really is the most practical colour to have with you at night, as it is the only one that doesn't impact your night vision significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The others, though, are useful for all sorts of signaling or navigation purposes. It can be easier to signal a red or green rather than send Morse code for stop or go, for example. Or you could give navigation instructions to head for the red light then turn towards the blue light. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T12:06:33.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14414" CreationDate="2016-11-25T12:58:34.123" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just found this and thought it rather interesting and adds just a little something more to the already great answers posted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is from the &lt;strong&gt;Flashlight University&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flashlightuniversity.com/led-colors-and-uses/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;LED Colors and Uses.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;White:&lt;/strong&gt; Great for all around, every day illumination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Red (630 nm):&lt;/strong&gt; Red LEDs are do not appear as bright to the human eye as white LEDs.  If your eyes are night vision adjusted, it’s a good idea to use a red LED to navigate your way in the dark so you don’t ruin your night vision.  Red light is also great for camping if you do not want to wake your neighbors with a bright white light.  Red light is the universal signal for attention, so it is a great thing to have in emergencies for signaling and safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Green (525 nm):&lt;/strong&gt; Green LEDs are useful outdoors.  Many hunters claim that the green light attracts deer and other wild game, and the green light will not scare away fish, deer, and other game like a bright white light will.  The green LEDs also have a longer run time than many other colored LEDs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NVG – Night Vision Green (495 nm):&lt;/strong&gt; NVG LEDs, along with red LEDs, are useful for preserving night vision.  NVG colored LEDs are useful for military pilots as well, who have special equipment that is designed to work with NVG lights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blue (470 nm):&lt;/strong&gt; Blue LEDs are useful for pilots and other personnel who need to read maps at night.  Other colored LEDs (such as red LEDs) will not work for map reading because it will wash out red lines.  Blue LEDs are also used by police and crime scene investigators because &lt;strong&gt;it will make blood and bodily fluids visible&lt;/strong&gt; that are usually invisible to the naked eye.  Blue light is &lt;strong&gt;the only light that can cut through fog&lt;/strong&gt;, which is why it is widely used for fog headlights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that most animals cannot see true spectrum green and blue can be used for tracking wounded animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is from &lt;strong&gt;Voidhawk Flashlights:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://voidhawkflashlights.com/rgb-tactical/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The best 3 color RGB Tactical Flashlight available today!&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Red:&lt;/strong&gt; Coming in at 630 nanometers the Voidhawk RGB Tactical Flashlight uses the perfect Red wavelength for tactical applications such as map reading, hunting, or any nighttime activity where you want to save your night vision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Green:&lt;/strong&gt; Registering at 535 nanometers the Voidhawk RGB Tactical Flashlight uses the perfect Green wavelength for the human eye. Our eyes are most sensitive to green light which makes it perfect for navigating the dark. Green light gives you a high illumination value without causing you to lose your night vision. &lt;strong&gt;Most animals cannot see true spectrum green light very well so it does an excellent job of lighting up a field without disturbing the game.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blue:&lt;/strong&gt; Using a royal blue 465 nanometers the Voidhawk RGB Tactical Flashlight uses the perfect blue light wavelength for &lt;strong&gt;tracking blood trails of wounded prey&lt;/strong&gt; without sacrificing your night vision. Blue light is also excellent for fishing at night as it shines straight through the water without producing any glare, it’s as if the water isn’t even there! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T12:58:34.123" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14420" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-25T16:40:10.330" Score="3" ViewCount="150" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/Products/MiniMo-Cooking-System-Carbon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jet Boil Minimo&lt;/a&gt; is supposed to be an efficient cooking system that uses &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jetboil.com/Accessories/-8L-Spare-Cup/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FluxRing technology&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;FluxRing® technology makes it possible to heat a conveniently shaped vessel with extremely high efficiency. This patented technology captures the heat of the burner and directs it into the contents of the FluxRing® cup, rather than into the air as waste.​​&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/rapid-cooking/pocketrocket/product&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR Pocket Rocket&lt;/a&gt; is a classic and minimalist canister stove. I would like to compare the efficiency/total weight of these two stoves for the use case of boiling 2 cups of water once a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the systems comparable the MSR stove needs a pot (lets assume something like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.evernewamerica.com/ultralight-series/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Evernew Ti Ultralight Pot 600ml&lt;/a&gt;) and a pot cozy. The Jetboil setup is listed as weighing 415 g while the MSR stove, pot, and cozy would be about 240 g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would assume if you are out for a single day the MSR setup wins since you need to carry a single canister in both cases. Is there a break point where the Jetboil fuel savings offsets the heavier weight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T05:18:06.173" Title="Stove efficiency" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14420" CreationDate="2016-11-25T18:47:12.510" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 100 gram canister of Jetpower fuel boils up to 10-12 liters of water according to the web site&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Make it 10 grams / liter   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let'd say it is twice as efficient how many liters are the break even&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And it is probably not twice as efficient &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the break even point?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;415 + L * 10 =  240 + L * 20&lt;br&gt;&#xA;415 - 240 = L * 10&lt;br&gt;&#xA;17.6 L = 74 cups = 37 days  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-11-25T19:19:12.357" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T19:19:12.357" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14358" CreationDate="2016-11-25T18:58:10.277" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general question is not really answerable, but the specific question in regards to Mt Tapulao is answerable. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pinoymountaineer.com/2007/08/mt-tapulao-2037.html&quot;&gt;link you provided&lt;/a&gt; says that guides have been required since 2013. While I am not familiar with the quality and experience of guides in the Philippines, there are some questions you should ask the guide/company before hiring them. Relevant for your question is asking about equipment you need to bring for a day hike given your concerns about speed. You should also ask about what happens in an emergency, what gear the guides bring (or have access to) and fixed turn around times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the description of the trail having a welcome center at the base, a bunk house an hour or so from the summit, multiple campsites, predominately along a former 4x4 road, and good cellphone coverage, I would assume the emergency plan is pretty solid. It is likely as simple as making a phone call for an ATV to come get you or for a bunch of guides/search and rescue to run up/down the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guides likely have some fixed turn around times (possibly modulated by weather) that assures, absent an emergency, that you get down before dark. If something happens and you are forced to spend an unplanned night the required equipment will likely be sufficient or the guide will again make a phone call and get the needed help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-11-25T18:58:10.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14417" CreationDate="2016-11-26T15:06:01.650" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you are referring to a &lt;i&gt;pedometer&lt;/i&gt;.  These things basically count footsteps or strides.  The purpose is usually to infer distance walked or hiked, although there is some error in going from number of strides to distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old style all-mechanical pedometers used a small weight to sense vertical acceleration.  The weight going up and down advanced a counter, with the result usually displayed on a dial.  Modern ones use electronic accelerometers, but still basically do the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want to know distance covered, a GPS with tracking capability will usually yield a better answer.  Note that this capability is available in tablets and smartphones, with the right software app.  Such tablet and smartphones also have accelerometers (this is how they switch between landscape and portrait depending on how you hold the device), so if you really want a pedometer, it can be a simple as running the right app on such a device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could even run a GPS tracker and pedometer together, then compare results on some known path to see what to believe from either in the future.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-11-26T15:06:01.650" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14396" CreationDate="2016-11-26T15:13:39.910" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's usually not that hard to detect clouds at night after your eyes have adjusted to the darkness.  So assessing weather at night is not much different from doing it when the sun is out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the real problem is that morning weather is a poor indicator of what is to come that day.  Morning weather is usually the calmest, then stuff starts happening after the sun has warmed the land for a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the weather in the morning, no matter how well you can see the immediate conditions, is poor information for forecasting more than a few hours into the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good example of this that I've personally encountered a number of times is hiking in the Flagstaff AZ area in August.  In the morning, you have blue sky most days.  The weather looks great.  However, some days, clouds start rolling in by mid morning.  By noon you can get caught in a thunderstorm, and by mid afternoon they can be quite severe.  On other days, the morning starts out cloudless, and the day stays that way.  There is nothing from just observing the conditions from before sunrise into early morning that gives you any indication which way the day will go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2016-11-27T16:08:47.683" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T16:08:47.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4750" CreationDate="2016-11-26T21:19:40.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In outdoor garments, water resistant means that it will keep you dry in light rain for some time, is not a garment to withstand heavy rain. Water proof means that it will keep you dry in the rain, but then it depends on the quality of the material, and how well is designed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11760" LastActivityDate="2016-11-26T21:19:40.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14429" CreationDate="2016-11-27T00:46:21.983" Score="13" ViewCount="1885" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the next week off and I was thinking about exploring some parks in Ontario (e.g: Algonquin). I am prepared for the colder weather and am thinking of doing some trails. Some people I've talked to are asking me not to do this because it might be dangerous. I've only hiked with groups of people and have no experience hiking alone. My question is, are these people just being overly cautious/scared or is solo hiking something that is not recommended (considering the colder weather)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11658" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:35:55.977" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:35:55.977" Title="Dangers of solo hiking (in Ontario)" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14428" CreationDate="2016-11-27T04:35:30.073" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traveling solo doesn't necessarily make a hike any riskier, or lessen your chance of injury. What is does do, is increase the response time of rescue workers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're hiking in a group and something happens, then you have immediate help right there to address any critical needs; from putting pressure on a deadly bleed, to carrying your broken body back to civilization. Hiking with groups can also potentially prevent an incident by increasing the odds that someone could lend a hand to help you out of that raging river before it sweeps you over a waterfall, or grabbing you by the shoulder while you're off balance and saving you before you fall off a treacherous cliff. At the very least, while in a group, if you get hurt, there's at least one other person who can run and get you the help you need as soon as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're alone, you have to wait until someone notices you've been gone longer than you should have been before they send help, and by then it could be too late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was just barely an incident near Portland Oregon this past month, where a girl went hiking without telling anyone, and no one noticed she was missing until her Mom happened to come up from out of state to visit and discovered her daughter's roommate was under the impression the daughter had gone home to visit her parents. After tracking down the most recent GPS info from her phone, they found her abandoned car at a trailhead in a popular hiking area. Weeks later, after a huge search effort–this girl was the daughter of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://fox13now.com/2016/11/11/body-of-missing-piano-guys-daughter-annie-schmidt-likely-found-in-oregon-family-says/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;celebrity piano composer&lt;/a&gt;–which covered hundreds of miles of trail, search dogs were able to sniff out some human remains deep in a ravine where no one could have ever spotted them. They were positively identified as the young woman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Had she informed her roommate about her intensions, the search could have been initiated a lot sooner, rescue workers would have known which trail to search first, and had a much better chance of finding her before she perished.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan on hiking solo, first plan your route, and leave your plan with someone who you will contact when you get back. If you're going out for the weekend, you could let someone at work know what your route and plans are, then if you don't show up at work on Monday, they'll figure out pretty quick that something might have happened and notify the authorities so they can start looking for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good movie that'll ensure you never go anywhere without telling anyone is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;127 Hours&lt;/a&gt;. It's based on a true story of a solo hiker who got his arm pinched by a chockstone in a slot canyon. After 5 days of being stuck, he finally resorted to cutting his own arm off with a dull pocket knife, and hiked the rest of the way out. There was even a rappel at the end of the canyon, which he rigged and descended with a messy bleeding stump of an arm after going without food and water for days. This guy was pretty hardcore, but unfortunately, most people in these situations share &lt;a href=&quot;http://fox13now.com/2016/11/11/body-of-missing-piano-guys-daughter-annie-schmidt-likely-found-in-oregon-family-says/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Annie's&lt;/a&gt; fate, and die alone in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I've solo'd countless hikes, but I take fewer risks when I'm alone, and always make sure people know where I'm going and when I'll be back. It's perfectly safe to go hiking alone as long as you take proper precautions, be prepared &lt;em&gt;(bring a sharp knife with a bone saw!)&lt;/em&gt; and be smart on the trail. If you doubt your abilities, then it's probably best to stick with a group.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T15:05:19.250" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T15:05:19.250" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14420" CreationDate="2016-11-27T05:18:06.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll have several considerations to think about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altitude affects water's boiling point&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperature affects fuel efficiency&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind affects the stove's efficiency&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need to make simultaneous comparisons between the two stoves, and do it in all conditions and at the altitudes you intend to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, you can't go wrong with either.  The MSR is lighter, but you'll want a wind shield.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T05:18:06.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14428" CreationDate="2016-11-27T06:02:06.820" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say whether you will be backpacking or sleeping in a campground or motel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I strongly advise against a backpacking trip as your first experience hiking alone.  I'd advise against &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; making a backpacking trip his/her first experience hiking alone even if it were summer and not nearly winter and up north.  Too many things can go wrong and you are accustomed to being in a group.  Even if you know &lt;em&gt;in theory&lt;/em&gt; the answer to each problem posed by @Wigwam, you don't yet know how &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; will react, alone, in a sticky situation, far from the trailhead.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan on taking day hikes from a campground or motel, then:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check the weather forecast each morning &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter what the forecast says, be prepared for a sudden, unexpected change for the worse &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a plan for each day hike, let a reliable person know what that plan is and stick to it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't go off trail, however tempted you are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turn around well before you are tired, and in plenty of time to get back before dark &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider investing in a Personal Locator Beacon.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T06:02:06.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14433" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-11-27T11:06:40.130" Score="11" ViewCount="2544" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/huntseasons16.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NYS DEC's website&lt;/a&gt;, if you hunt &amp;amp; kill certain species (bobcats, martens, etc.) you must get its pelt 'sealed'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you Google &lt;em&gt;pelt sealing&lt;/em&gt; you'll get a strange list of articles, some of which mention the use of plastic tags applied to the pelt, but none (that I could find) that really explain what pelt sealing actually is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More importantly, &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; seal a pelt? Why only for certain species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like this little tidbit of knowledge is an example of something that is well known by the hardcore hunting community, but hasn't really be made public knowledge to the unwashed masses. Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11764" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T08:09:33.263" Title="What is pelt sealing and why is it required for certain species?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14433" CreationDate="2016-11-27T14:26:54.030" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From dec.ny.gov &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29046.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Furbearer Possession Tags &amp;amp; Pelt Seals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pelt Sealing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purpose&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few purposes for pelt sealing bobcat, otter, fisher and marten species:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To allow the pelt to be exported from New York State, sold, or&#xA;transferred.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To record population and biological information that helps in&#xA;management decisions. For more information, visit the Harvest Data&#xA;webpage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To comply with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered&#xA;Species), which aims to protect against over-exploitation of species&#xA;similar in appearance to some of New York's furbearers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T22:18:26.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4750" CreationDate="2016-11-27T15:49:40.997" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water resistant is often used where water resistance is quantified usually in terms of static pressure head. An obvious example is watches which have long been classified by water depth in metres of pressure in bars or atmospheres. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also fabrics for jackets, tents etc will be specified by the head of water which they will resist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many ways a specified level of water resistance is more useful than just 'waterproof'. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproof is generally used for clothing and means that it won't be penetrated by rain, this is also complicated by the fact that breathability is also very significant in terms of keeping dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarity some fabrics, like &lt;em&gt;ventile&lt;/em&gt;,  have some overall performance advantages in some circumstances in terms of durability, breathability and comfort. Equally there are systems like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buffalo&lt;/a&gt; which focus on overall warmth and comfort rather than absolute waterproofing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T22:21:34.693" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T22:21:34.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14436" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14439" CreationDate="2016-11-27T16:06:40.223" Score="5" ViewCount="728" Body="&lt;p&gt;I warm up very quick and sweat a lot, that's why I am usually looking for the most breathable equipment. My chose is regular fleece plus a breathable wind breaker on top if there is wind. (Please refer to this article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2014/03/fleece-or-soft-shell.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fleece or Soft Shell?&lt;/a&gt;).&#xA;But for the rain I also carry a waterproof hard shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When would one carry both a wind jacket and waterproof hard shell?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When would one carry just one of each?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7847" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-04T04:10:00.260" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T13:13:58.423" Title="When should I carry both a wind jacket and hard shell?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wind&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14428" CreationDate="2016-11-27T18:05:49.070" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest danger in hiking alone is that any sort of injury or illness can very quickly put you in a situation where your life is at risk. anything which immobilises you in the wilderness is potentially quite dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is exacerbate in winter where hypothermia can very easily kill you overnight if you are unable to find shelter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say you break your ankle. If you are in a group they can put up a tent and get you into  sleeping bag and make sure you keep fed and hydrated while other members of the group go off to get help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the fact that a group can look after each other and help avoid dangerous situations in the first place by cross checking navigation and watching each other for signs of fatigue and hypothermia, dehydration ect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't to say that hiking alone is a bad idea but you need to be aware of the risks and how to mitigate them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One very important thing is to let someone trustworthy know your intended route and when you expect to be back, that way if something does go wrong someone will know you are missing and where to look for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you need to be a lot more aware of potential risks as even a minor mishap can very quickly escalate and also make sure that your skills and equipment are up to the environment and route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T18:05:49.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14433" CreationDate="2016-11-27T21:30:25.687" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;From reading the question, I suspect the OP understands &quot;sealing&quot; to be the verb described by the description &quot;apply a nonporous coating to (a surface) to make it impervious.&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they talk about sealing a pelt they are using it as the action to acquire the noun described by the description &quot;a piece of wax, lead, or other material with an individual design stamped into it, attached to a document to show that it has come from the person who claims to have issued it.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tag or seal is applied to the pelt to identify it's origin, and show it has been harvested in accordance with the law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-11-27T23:35:07.420" LastActivityDate="2016-11-27T23:35:07.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14436" CreationDate="2016-11-28T10:10:38.967" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When wind is guaranteed but rain is unlikely you might decide the extra weight is worth it. But good layering with a hard shell that is breathable and has underarm zips can be quite comfortable while saving you the weight of the soft shell. This is my preferred option as the times I get too hot are generally when it's raining. Wind blocking fleece is an alternative too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-11-28T10:10:38.967" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14417" CreationDate="2016-11-28T11:02:50.410" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pace counter is a low-tech, manually operated, very light-weight device that you can make yourself from heavy cord and beads, or buy for $5 to $10. In contrast to a pedometer, which counts for you, you have to mentally keep count of the paces you take; there is nothing automatic about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=How+do+you+use+Ranger+beads%3F&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; tells you how to make your own.  The article calls the device Ranger Beads and says they were originally developed by the military.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_count_beads&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; tells you how to use the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tool is usually constructed using a set of 13 beads on a length of&#xA;  cord. The beads are divided into two sections, separated by a knot. 9&#xA;  beads are used in the lower section, and 4 or more beads are used in&#xA;  the upper section. There is often a loop in the upper end, making it&#xA;  possible to attach the tool to the user's gear with a simple Larks&#xA;  head hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How to use&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are two ways to use the beads. One is to represent the paces the&#xA;  user has walked, while the other is to represent the distance walked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Both methods requires the user to know the relationship between the&#xA;  paces walked and the distance travelled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Counting paces&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As users walk, they typically slide one bead on the cord for every ten&#xA;  paces taken. On the tenth pace, the user slides a bead in the lower&#xA;  section towards the knot. After the 90th pace, all 9 beads are against&#xA;  the knot. On the 100th pace, all 9 beads in the lower section are&#xA;  returned away from the knot, and a bead from the upper section is slid&#xA;  upwards, away from the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In this manner, the user calculates distance travelled by keeping&#xA;  track of paces taken. To use this method, the user must know the&#xA;  length of his pace to accurately calculate distance travelled. Also,&#xA;  the number of paces to be walked must be precalculated, or the&#xA;  distance travelled has to be calculated from the walked paces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Distance walked&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For every 100 metres the user walks, one of the lower beads is pulled&#xA;  down. When the ninth of the lower beads is pulled, the user has walked&#xA;  900 metres. When the user has walked 1000 metres, one of the upper&#xA;  beads is pulled down, and all the lower beads are pulled back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using this method the user must know the number of paces walked in 100&#xA;  metres. An experienced user can also adapt the pace count for each&#xA;  hundred metres depending on the terrain. When using this method the&#xA;  user does not have to calculate or look up how long a distance to walk&#xA;  or the distance travelled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-11-28T11:02:50.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14296" CreationDate="2016-11-28T17:07:18.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Michael Bogwart's answer revealed already relevant points. I experienced contamination 5 years ago, which resulted in multiple engine failure (sometimes while entering marinas), so here is my personal resolution:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best is a big inspection hatch to clean the fuel tank, but this is also a possible point of failure / leakage.&#xA;I only have a 4cm hole in mine, where the fuel gauge is installed, and wanted to keep it this way.&#xA;My &quot;minimally invasive&quot; approach was as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;filter all the fuel in the tank (I used a double action air pump as a &quot;vacuum cleaner&quot; with hoses on in- and outlet, tried to suck up all the big chunks of algae, worked quite  well)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;clean fuel water absorber (algaes were growing in the transparent bottom part), change integrated fuel pre-filter (different filter mesh size did not matter too much as far as I can tell, rather use a finer one, so that main fuel filter lasts a bit longer - my new filter was really black after 20-30 hours the first time after the incident)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a fuel additive, choose well, as some do work only as a prophylactic security to stop bacteria from developing, while others even seem to degrade algae to some extent. I had good experience with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grotamar.de/grotamar-en/grotamar-82.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grotamar&lt;/a&gt;, not so much with Yachticon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;check your reserve tanks, use a filter before filling them into main tank, add additive to reserve as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prevention tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;keep tank and reserve always filled up completely and as close to water, so that the temperature does not change much and condensation water is not such a problem&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;check water absorber and filter every month&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;think about a small backup tank in case main tank gets clogged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2334" LastActivityDate="2016-11-28T17:07:18.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13460" CreationDate="2016-11-29T02:50:18.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The issue:  hard gunk on the rope decreases flexibility of the rope.  Fibers may break when the gunk spot is flexed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suspicion:  Kernmantle ropes will suffer less than conventional laid ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Test:  Take 3 feet off the end of your rope.  Soak it in your paint, and allow to cure.  Flex repeatedly.  Test to breaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  You may find some help by lubricating the rope, or spraying it with silicone so that the paint doesn't wet the surface of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T02:50:18.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12960" CreationDate="2016-11-29T03:06:08.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Materials to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Counter tops:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Formica on marine or pressure treated plywood.  Working with formica is fairly straight forward.  You need a battery laminate trimming tool.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;HDPE.  High density polyethelene.   Easy to cut.  Available in 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 thicknesses.  VERY slick.  On a boat, I'd put edges on the counter to keep things from sliding off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Linoleum (not vinyl flooring) is a very viable option, but subject to knife cuts.  I grew up with lino countertops.  We replaced it with formica after about 15 years because water destroyed the plywood underlay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Butcherblock -- from ikea.  Heavy, but durable.  Need to keep it oiled.  I use this in my house, but I've set it up so that it can be flipped and oiled.  This one needs to be cut at home.  Fails the lightweight test.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not get too wrapped up in easy tooling.  Remember that generators are cheap, and running one for an hour or so to get your project done is not a big deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walls:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PT plywood + paint.  Easy to cut with jigsaw.  Prepaint full sheets at home.  This way you only have minor trimming.   Lots of cool decorative things you can do with stencils.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roofing tin.  Needs a solid backing.  You can get it in various ridged patterns for rigidity, or in full width smooth strips.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ceilings.  Moisture isn't as big a concern here.  (If your ceilings get wet, I suspect you have other, more serious problems.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the height, consider hanging T-bar ceiling.  The space between the real ceiling and the tiles give you a place to hide all sorts of utilities with easy access.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OTOH, there is a lot to be said for not finishing the ceilings with anything but a coat of varnish or paint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T03:06:08.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10661" CreationDate="2016-11-29T03:18:10.570" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not seen this protracted to the scale of weeks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a common effect in my experience, but I've never seen an effect beyond a few days.  I used to do dog sled expeditions in the Rockies, and east of Lake Winnipeg on the Canadian Shield.  We sought out trappers/rangers cabins every 3-4 days, as it was a time to get everything really dry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We found that after spending time in the cold that the cabin was too hot.  Even when my parka zipperpull thermometer said 50 F guys were in their underwear/without shirts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basal metabolic rate increases when you are in cold weather.  In my experience it will go back to normal within a few days of getting back to 'civilization'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice for future:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a backpack to hold surplus clothing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you warm up strip off layers.  In winter I find that the wind layer is most important, so it stays on.  But at times I've had my wind parka on over skin, and still had it partially unzipped at -20F on a calm sunny day. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry water/fluids.  My favorite was to take 2 liters of hot coffee with cream and sugar in a pop bottle.  The bottle wore my extra pair of socks to keep the liquid warm.  Mind you is was luke cool by the end of the day, but it beat packing a thermos.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2016-11-29T19:26:59.527" LastActivityDate="2016-11-29T19:26:59.527" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14450" CreationDate="2016-11-29T21:47:45.697" Score="19" ViewCount="5309" Body="&lt;p&gt;Authorities have recently banned climbing in my favorite site &quot;for safety reasons&quot;. This is, in my opinion, unfair, and was done for unknown political reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to hopefully change their minds so that climbers can continue to access the site? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, what proactive/ preemptive things can I do as a climber so that this doesn't happen in other climbing areas? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="4038" LastEditDate="2016-11-30T08:14:26.740" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T20:09:05.830" Title="What can I do about a rock climbing ban?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14446" CreationDate="2016-11-30T02:50:41.553" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that it is easier to keep access, than to get it back, so I will start with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always follow Leave No Trace and make certain that your activities do not create any eyesores.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Volunteer to help pickup after other people and clean up the trash they leave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protect the reputation of the climbing community, always be safe and do not hesitate to speak up if you see someone else acting in an unsafe manner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Join or donate to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.accessfund.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Access Fund&lt;/a&gt; as they are one of the leading organizations in this area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as getting access restored,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Access Fund has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.accessfund.org/take-action/report-an-access-issue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page to report&lt;/a&gt; these kind of issues, and they may be able to help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It may be worth getting a petition started or attempting to get a more in depth answer from the authorities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Losing access is not a good thing, but at the very least I would spread the news so that more people are aware of the issue. Then it might serve as a wake up call for unsafe/disrespectful people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-11-30T15:11:27.150" LastActivityDate="2016-11-30T15:11:27.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14446" CreationDate="2016-11-30T03:07:20.217" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an individual, probably very little can be done, but what little you can do is essential. Ensure yourself and anyone you climb with obeys rules and climbs safely, and most importantly, is seen to do so. Be considerate to other users of the area as very often the &quot;Safety&quot; card is played but the root cause of bans is often other reasons. I have experienced situations where a few climbers with a sense of entitlement have meant crags that would have been open with a &quot;Please&quot; and &quot;Thank you&quot; have remained closed for years. It may not be fair, but just one person breaking the rules or obeying the rules but being a A.Hole can be enough to close a crag with access problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a part of the climbing community, you have more power - where you can ensure other climbers follow the above advice and separate 'climbers' from 'cowboys' in the publics eye will help. If 'climbers' are seen as safe and socially responsible, but not all people who climb are 'climbers', then doors can be opened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases I have seen climbs reopened, its been though the actions of a recognised organised club, usually of national significance or associated and supported by a national or international organisation. Best thing you can do is join a local club with strong ties to a national level club. None of this happens quickly, often years before significant progress is made. Its possible for such groups to be able to negotiate access to otherwise closed crags as they can show climbers will have training and belong to a organisation that has rules (and insurance cover) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I have seen sites put into jeopardy have been concerns that allowing climbing exposes the land owner/manager/responsible person to legal consequences if things go wrong. In this case, legal advise clearly showing who is responsible and who is not may help. If the land owner/manager is legally accountable for an accident, you need to consider their position, and accept that maybe the problem cannot be solved. In this case, it will come down to the ability of a strong national organisation to have laws clarified or changed - slow and expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-11-30T03:07:20.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14446" CreationDate="2016-11-30T03:14:44.650" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Access to climbing areas is an ongoing issue in many climbing areas. In the United States for example, it is claimed that 1 in 5 climbing areas is threatened by an access issue. There are many &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.accessfund.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;funds&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://squamishaccess.ca&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;societies&lt;/a&gt;, and advocacy groups who work on behalf of climbers to protect public access to climbing areas, to keep them open to the public for recreational climbing. Try searching for an access group that works in your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue of access is not always so simple, as there can be multiple factors to consider when it comes to certain crags. Around where I'm from, there's pretty much open access to &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;, because most of the climbing areas are on crown land. There are however a lot of cliffs and boulders that are on private land, and private land owners have the right to prohibit trespassing on their property. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest concern with climbing on private property in some countries is liability. In North America for example, If someone gets hurt climbing a private crag, then the landowner is legally liable, and can be sued. Most land owners prefer to restrict access to their lands instead of risking the possibility of even one lawsuit. Local authorities are especially likely to restrict climbing on municipally owned lands, because they are regularly subject to a plethora of ridiculous claims (people frequently sue towns and cities because they can't be bothered to be accountable for tripping over their own feet on the sidewalks, and hurting themselves). In the USA this is especially common because in many cases suing is the only option an injured person has for paying their hospital bills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One sensitive issue with a lot of climbing areas is the presence of native art on the rocks. I know of several areas nearby that are prime climbing areas, but climbing there is somewhat controversial because it can do damage to the ancient art on the stone. Access to areas where native art is present is often restricted, and it just so happens that in most places where native art is preserved on stone, the rock is prime for climbing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If climbing has been banned at your crag &quot;for safety reasons&quot; then it sounds like a local authority issue, in which case your best chance of restoring access is to partner with a access group, and petition the local authority. If you can show the authority that an area can be responsibly climbed, then they may work with you to open access to climbing. Talk to the CAO or City Manager about presenting to your council, that should always be your first course of action when seeking change in a policy in a municipality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as preventing access issues, what you need to do is demonstrate that the area is being used responsibly. Leave No Trace ethics will ensure that no flags are raised about improper use of an area. I've seen crags full of garbage and covered with graffiti. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a now-popular climbing area close to where I live that used to be closed to climbing. The Town of Frank in Alberta used to prohibit people from climbing on the millions of boulders which were the result of the worlds largest rock avalanche, that buried most of the Town early in the 20th century. I remember when signs used to be posted on the side of the road telling you that climbing on the rocks was prohibited. Today it's a renowned bouldering area with &lt;em&gt;thousands&lt;/em&gt; of established problems, with more new problems being established almost weekly. Access was granted after it became clear to the municipality that bouldering was a huge tourist attraction, and promoting the area attracts a lot of tourism and benefits local businesses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Frank Slide (Gripped Magazine)&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LY5J4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LY5J4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-01T20:09:05.830" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T20:09:05.830" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9485" CreationDate="2016-11-30T15:50:52.933" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important aspect is the level of training. The human body is extremely good in adapting to carrying weight. You easily find two guys who are the same height and can walk the same distances, even though one of them weighs 30kg (66lbs) more than the other (And no, the extra muscle mass of the heavier guy does not help. Muscle mass has little effect on endurance.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go on a multi-day mountain hike carrying 15kg without any prior training it can easily crush you. But if you slowly build-up your strength and endurance to get used to the weight, these 15kg will barely reduce your performance nor cause much discomfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, I go hiking from April to October. At the start of the season, I make sure to do a few lightweight day hikes followed by a at least a couple of 3-day hikes with moderate weights through mountainous, but not extreme territory. Only then do I go on long tours into high territory. Personally, I find this is enough to build up the endurance I lost over the winter. But for people who are completely new to hiking, I would recommend to increase difficulty, duration and weight even more slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11778" LastActivityDate="2016-11-30T15:50:52.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14428" CreationDate="2016-11-30T23:10:16.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking alone in any season has it's risks; mainly, you lack a key means of getting help should something happen. Just having a phone with you does not guarantee that you will have signal, or that it won't get broken, or that you're being chased by a bear and can't bother even trying to get your phone out of your pocket. With another person with you, that person could go get help, have their own working phone, or at least go tell a ranger that you've been eaten by a bear if they can't distract it without also being eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't tend to be an overly paranoid hiker, however I am prone to injuring myself in situations anyone would consider &quot;very safe.&quot; Examples: falling hard on both knees while walking on flat trail after having just hiked to the Flatiron in the Superstition Mountains (didn't see a 3&quot; step, was staring at the supermoon); nearly breaking my leg on a stick via tripping on another stick on an otherwise clear, flat trail (sticks are out to get me.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11781" LastEditorUserId="11781" LastEditDate="2016-12-01T00:15:03.723" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T00:15:03.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14455" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14456" CreationDate="2016-12-01T01:26:58.233" Score="11" ViewCount="3969" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2013/10/toprope-climbing-belay-technique.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; blog has a discussion of the slip-slap-slide and PBUS techniques for taking in rope when belaying. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-a0FLqwPL8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a video demonstrating PBUS. Slip-slap-slide is illustrated on p. 161 of Freedom of the Hills, 8th ed. I use PBUS, and as the blog discusses, it's becoming almost universal now to teach beginners PBUS. 95% of the people I climb with use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can create some issues if I'm climbing with someone who uses slip-slap-slide, because I have a hard time telling if they're doing it properly. If they're experienced, that's fine, but sometimes I'm climbing with people who seem like beginners, and I want to be able to detect whether they're doing slip-slap-slide wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Can anyone point us to an online video that shows a correct slip-slap-slide belay? Searching on those keywords on youtube didn't quickly turn up anything for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Can anyone describe any common mistakes that beginners make with slip-slap-slide? One thing I'm not clear on from the diagram in FotH (which is an overhead view) is during which parts of the cycle the brake hand is up in the air rather than down by the leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-01T16:19:49.857" LastActivityDate="2018-02-18T11:22:39.547" Title="Correct and incorrect slip-slap-slide belay technique" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14455" CreationDate="2016-12-01T01:48:59.560" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are the steps on the the clip and slide / slip-slap-slide method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First here is how you should hold the rope when you are not pulling in slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nh0eB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nh0eB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To pull in rope, the left hand pulls the rope straight towards the person and the right pulls the brake strand towards it stopping when the left hand is just above the right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sQeGE.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sQeGE.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the hands have met, the you pinch the ropes together with your left thumb and slide the right hand down the braking strand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3AmD.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3AmD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you lock off by moving the right hand off to the side to be ready to catch.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nh0eB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nh0eB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What is dangerous about this method?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dangerous part of this method come from having the braking hand in front of the braking plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the braking plane?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, there is a line that goes straight across the belay device where friction only occurs if the braking strand is held behind it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has basically no friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PJarX.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PJarX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;This is ready to catch.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VZ1P6.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VZ1P6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a zoomed out view of what it looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9JYpw.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9JYpw.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anytime your brake hand is in front of the braking plane, you are not able to hold a fall without moving it behind the braking plane. While pulling in slack with this method, your brake hand will be in front of the braking plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, it happens fast enough that it is not a problem, but sometimes people fail to lock off and leave their hand in front of the braking plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that point it would be more than reasonable to yell at them and tell them to get it together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes this method does make more sense, and in that case the solution is to use a muntor hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A muntor hitch does not suffer from the braking plane problem, and in fact generates the most friction when the rope strands are parralel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T06:23:39.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14459" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14460" CreationDate="2016-12-01T19:41:37.423" Score="17" ViewCount="6606" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading up on Pennsylvania's hunting regulations and noticed there are different seasons for the hunting of deer with bow-and-arrow and firearms. Why is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can understand hunting seasons in general, because you don't want to disrupt the mating and birthing cycles, but why does the method affect this? One kill is one kill...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11790" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T08:59:34.923" LastActivityDate="2021-01-20T18:07:35.293" Title="Why are there separate seasons for archery and firearm hunting for deer?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14459" CreationDate="2016-12-01T19:57:24.257" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the main reason for this is that the hunting styles are a lot different between the two. Archery hunters often don't wear orange and get very close to the their prey while gun hunters wear orange and are able to hunt at ranges of hundreds of yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining those activities at the same time increase the risk of archery hunters being shot by gun hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It evens the playing field between the people who are currently hunting and keeps the archery hunters from getting irritated by all of the noise the gun hunters are making.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often archery seasons are much longer because the chances of success are much lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-01T20:04:24.853" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T20:04:24.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14459" CreationDate="2016-12-01T20:02:56.620" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One shooting the other basically. It's a safety measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live we don't have hunting season. We hunt the whole year round. I'm a bow-hunter and I've encounter myself looking up the barrel of a rifle twice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-12-01T20:02:56.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14485" CreationDate="2016-12-02T02:27:23.057" Score="9" ViewCount="8568" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just passed one of the town parks, and there was a flock of Canada geese sleeping on the frozen lake. It seemed like that would be a rather cold place to sleep, is there a reason beyond the possibility of predators why they would do that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lake is completely frozen, and the surface is hard with no slush. I am not certain if the geese live there year round or not, but the city did pay &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wyomingnews.com/news/cheyenne-s-goose-chasing-dog-effectively-keeping-birds-away/article_e9a389ca-c02d-502f-94aa-2dd7df70c5a1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;$6,000 for a border collie to run the geese off&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T04:59:43.160" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T13:25:26.437" Title="Why would a Canada Goose sleep on a frozen pond?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14455" CreationDate="2016-12-02T02:42:46.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;With SSS, the rope is also unlocked (hand in air) in recover phase. i.e. in SSS, the only time lock is applied is when the climber needs it, unlocked rope is the 'normal' state. In PBCS, an locked rope is the 'normal' state - the rope is braked unless you are pulling in.  Having taught both techniques this difference is important. My observation is students taught SSS often stand around with rope unlocked, student taught PBCS much less so, however, this may be from other things like me having more experience as an instructor and teaching better.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important point of difference is the rope recovery or slide where the brake hand is moving along the rope. PBCS has no time when an unbraked rope is held loosely. The brake position is held by the left hand while the right hand recovers rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With SSS, during the slide action the rope is unbraked. Hand position with SSS must be thumbs down (When right hand at top of pull), figures reaching between ropes, but often moves to thumb up, figures reaching to the outside of the slack rope,  without being noticed. In thumb down, lock can be very easily and quickly applied as the movement to lock position presses the rope into the hand. In thumbs up, which unfortunately feels more natural to some, moving to lock pulls the rope out of the hand, resulting in total lose of control. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thumb up with PBCS is bad, but not as bad as SSS, as the rope is held firmly in the pull phase, so is unlikely to be ripped from hand in applying the lock, and is is in unlocked position for a much shorter time. Also in PBCS, the awkward position of a thumb up hand when moved to brake is noticed by the belayer and self corrected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the main reason you are having trouble finding video of SSS is it a technique that predates UTube by a decades (or two). (I am showing my age admitting I instructed the technique)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T02:42:46.160" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14462" CreationDate="2016-12-02T08:24:04.670" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because it works I guess. Evolution favours the behaviours that leads to survivability. If the birds that slept on the ground survives less than the one on the pound, it will lead to more and more birds sleeping on the pound cause that's what works and will be transmitted to future generation (either by learning or genetics).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6533" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T08:24:04.670" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14473" CreationDate="2016-12-02T08:35:10.593" Score="9" ViewCount="467" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are strategies for successful baking on the trail where wood fires are not allowed? I am particularly interested in&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pizza&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cookies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Corn Bread&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2530" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T19:03:08.307" Title="Baking with backpacking stoves" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14468" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14477" CreationDate="2016-12-02T08:56:47.083" Score="12" ViewCount="1694" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started setting routes in the small bouldering gym of our climbing club. I'm basically learning by doing this, so my approach is basically to try to think of some interesting moves, put up the holds and then tweak the route. Pretty often, this includes finding out that the move I intended doesn't work, or that there is a shortcut that completely takes away the challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: How do I  get from trial-and-error route setting to something more systematic? Are there any important points to consider when starting route setting? Even though my context is bouldering, I'm also happy about any hints that apply to route climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-12-04T10:57:08.897" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T10:57:08.897" Title="How to learn route setting?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;route-setting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14469" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2016-12-02T08:57:38.743" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2016-12-02T08:57:38.743" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T08:57:38.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14470" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2016-12-02T08:57:38.743" Score="0" Body="Questions about the process of setting up routes (or boulder problems) on artificial climbing walls." OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:40:55.597" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:40:55.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14467" CreationDate="2016-12-02T13:52:12.743" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For pizza, I do it in a frying pan with cornmeal under it to keep it from sticking. A lid helps a little. For corn bread, I make &quot;corn pone&quot;, again in the frying pan. You didn't mention regular bread, but I make English muffins, again the frying pan. These all work spectacularly well - the taste and flavor and just what you want and there's no sense of &quot;if only we could have baked&quot; at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my camping companions loves to make &quot;scrambled brownies&quot; which might work in the cookie category. You make up brownie mix (she uses a just-add-water box) and then cook it in a frying pan stirring a lot as though it was scrambled eggs. I can report the result tastes like brownies and is nice in the middle of a trip when food is getting a bit boring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For pies, you're going to have to actually bake, and while I don't do that, there are plenty of people who do. You can get special lightweight lidded pots, heat reflectors and suchlike. Me, I wait and have pie when I get home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T13:52:12.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14459" CreationDate="2016-12-02T15:29:38.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hunting serves several purposes, a few of which are to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allow residents (who own public game animals) to harvest meat;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow long-held traditions;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Manage game populations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two most common types of tools used in hunting are firearms and bows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunters who just want to harvest meat often don't care which tool they use - to them, &quot;One kill is one kill&quot;. They will often choose the easier tool to master, which is the firearm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Folks that want to follow long-held traditions (held by their own ancestors or by people they admire/respect) will choose one tool or the other, based on the tradition followed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for managing game populations, both tools can be utilized to maximum benefit. Hunting with a rifle can be easier, provided the hunter has educated him/herself on the use of the weapon and has practiced enough to become proficient. Rifle seasons are typically short for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting with a bow and arrow, on the other hand, normally requires much more knowledge of the animals, much more practice with the tool (bow), and much more knowledge and practice in woodsmanship. The hunter must get much closer to his quarry. Wild animals are very wary and usually notice a nearby hunter first, even when he wears camouflage, and sneak away without ever being seen by the hunter. Thus, success rates in archery seasons are typically much lower than firearm seasons. Therefore, game departments, using both firearm and archery seasons as management tools, usually lengthen archery seasons. Also, to give archery hunters a little extra help in areas where extra harvest will not hurt game populations (and to help hunters put meat in their freezers), archery seasons are often scheduled to coincide with the target animal's rut (breeding season), when the male animal is less wary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as safety goes, many, if not all, jurisdictions require the hunter to graduate a hunter safety class BEFORE hunting, and/or participate in a mentoring program. Many, but not all, require the hunter to wear &quot;hunter&quot; orange during firearm seasons. Where I live (Idaho), the safety class is required for all hunters (except first-timers that hunt with a mentor), and bowhunters may hunt during &quot;any weapon&quot; season, which is the only season you can hunt with a rifle, and are not required to wear orange.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastEditorUserId="6406" LastEditDate="2016-12-02T16:09:08.690" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T16:09:08.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14475" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14483" CreationDate="2016-12-02T17:28:15.367" Score="13" ViewCount="820" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any reasons, other than tradition, to have archery season either before or after rifle season?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was chatting with a couple of Stack Exchangers when one of them remarked that in Pennsylvania, it was rifle season, to which the other replied that in Oregon, rifle season had ended and they were in archery season. Apparently, archery season in Pennsylvania had already ended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This discussion has already led to the question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/14459/5652&quot;&gt;Why are there separate seasons for archery and firearm hunting for deer?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what I'd like to know is what the reasons are to have one go first.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Why have the archery season either before or after rifle season? Or is that a matter of tradition?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification: I'm not asking why there are separate seasons, as that has already been asked in the linked question. I would like to know the reasons for having one of them be the first, especially seeing that Oregon and Pennsylvania have them in opposite order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5652" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T01:40:23.937" Title="Why would archery season be either before or after rifle season?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14475" CreationDate="2016-12-02T17:32:43.350" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Wyoming, the archery season comes first to coincide with the rut, where the elk and deer are breeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This makes it much easier for the archery hunters as it is possible to call the elk or deer in close enough to shoot, sometimes to  within 10 yards. It is extremely difficult to get close enough otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know why archery would be after, and will have to leave that to someone else to answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-02T17:40:09.413" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T17:40:09.413" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14468" CreationDate="2016-12-02T19:56:49.640" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a lot of trial and error. Setting bouldering problems tends to be easier since they are shorter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest thing to consider is height. Assuming you are reasonably tall individual, solicit feedback from some of the strong junior climbers. They will often be able to tell you where they need an extra foot chip to make a reach or even use it as a hand hold to make a bump. One rule of thumb is if you cannot make the reach with your elbow, the move is too long. If you are short, it is often very hard to judge just how far a tall person can reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider is injury potential. Reaches around features can cause people to bend in weird ways and odd body parts to rub against the wall. No one likes banging an elbow/knee when they fall or rubbing their wrist raw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gimmick moves are over rated. I would avoid trying to set move that requires a knee bar, figure four, dyno, or heel hook. Just stick with straight forward moves that flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Setting below your max grade is much easier than setting at, or even worse above, your max climbing grade. Everyone needs to warm up so good easy routes/problems will not go to waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overly tweaking a move is generally not a good thing. If the quality/difficulty of the move changes drastically with a few degree change in a hold, it is probably not a great move. Eventually, the clean hold will get slimy and it might even twist a bit, essentially reversing all your tweaking. Further everyone climbs differently and has different reaches and balance points. Making a move fit you exactly, or not fit you, does not mean it will fit/not fit other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Makes routes consist of moves of consistent difficulty (and quality). No one wants a route with a single killer move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T19:56:49.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14467" CreationDate="2016-12-02T20:02:57.530" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't mind packing the extra weight (you didn't say that you were backpacking), bring along a cast iron dutch oven.  You can do all those things and more.  Their utility is matched only by their weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T20:02:57.530" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14468" CreationDate="2016-12-02T20:27:16.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Forcing moves is one of the hardest things to accomplish in route setting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, setting easy routes is easy, setting &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt; routes is even easier, but setting beta specific intermediate routes can be next to impossible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the most effective methods I've found for establishing interesting problems that force specific beta is to play &lt;em&gt;take-away&lt;/em&gt;. To play, designate your starting hold and your end hold, then get  bunch of guys to climb with. At the beginning everyone is climbing open holds, but each time someone climbs, they get to choose one hold to take away from the problem, and no one is allowed to use that hold anymore. Every time the problem is climbed it gets more and more challenging, and the beta gets more and more specific. This method of problem setting helps eliminate those alternate solutions to a problem, because if you notice a bunch of people all using the same hold to get through a part, you can take it away and force them to do something different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something I'd do to force moves, was to place holds so they could only be held in one very specific position. Such as using slopers on an overhang, people can't hang from slopers from specific angles, so they're forced to think more about body position and footwork. Avoid using too many jugs when setting problems, because stronger climbers can just campus through them, swing their bodies around, or dyno to the next jug, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my favorite things to do was put jugs on the wall in a way that made them anything but juggy to hang onto, like putting them on upside down or backwards. This forces people to think about the hold differently, and use it as a sloper, undercling, gaston or crimp. People tend to get too familiar with climbing holds, for example, if I see a teknik fatty-fat pinch in a route, I know exactly what I'm in for. But from the right angle, that fatty fat can transform from a fat pinch to a dirty sloper. Use a hold differently than it's normally used and you can change the dynamic of the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One dirty trick you can play on people is stick a really juicy jug in the problem that distracts them from the proper solution the to the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's nothing really systematic about route setting. It's more of an art than an exact science. You need imagination, or you need inspiration. Watch some bouldering competions online, or better yet, go participate in a competition. Climbing a variety of problems helps you bring a greater variety of potential problems back to your gym. Climbing outdoors gives you a lot of inspiration too. It's common for people to duplicate the crux of their latest project so the can practice it in the gym, then go flash it on the boulder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2016-12-02T20:27:16.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14462" CreationDate="2016-12-02T20:40:23.277" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few reasons why Canada Geese sleep on the ice. michael has covered them, so this is supplementary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In simplest terms, it's because they live in the water, and are able to tolerate frozen water for periods of time if fresh is not available. Geese on the ice may be resting or preparing to move on to un-frozen bodies of water when need be. Huddling their bodies together on the ice of a shallow pond can cause it to warm up, especially along the edges, and increase their food supply, so sleeping on the ice can merely be a step towards thawing it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As michael pointed out, their bodies are built to stay warm.  They have insulated underbellies, and enough feathers, generally between 20,000 and 25,000, to keep their upper body temperature around 104°F (40°C). (Goose down has long been considered the warmest filling for things such as jackets and sleeping bags. After hunting nearly decimated the population of Canada geese, they've become protected, and synthetic warming materials are used instead.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Geese also have an interesting type of &lt;a href=&quot;http://askanaturalist.com/why-don%E2%80%99t-ducks%E2%80%99-feet-freeze/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;circulation through their feet&lt;/a&gt; that transfers warm blood back up into their bodies. Since their feet can't freeze, they often sleep with them tucked underneath their bodies. This heat-transference phenomenon is one of the reasons why sometimes you'll see them standing on one foot with the other tucked up under the belly, especially when the ground is frozen. It's also helpful for living on the tundra, where the ground is frozen much of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canada geese live &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/canada-goose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;year round&lt;/a&gt; in much of the United States, including the western part, where I believe you live, so the group on that pond may winter in the area, unless of course nasty people come along and make them move! When in flight (or during migration when applicable) they stay within a certain distance, generally a &quot;bird's-eye view&quot; of bodies of fresh water. They'll either stop and settle in, or at least rest and eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further confirmation that geese sleep on ice, I turned to research done by an organization called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wwt.org.uk/#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildfowl &amp;amp; Wetlands Trust (WWT)&lt;/a&gt;, which is a charity dedicated to saving wetlands in several countries in the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of their projects is the annual publication of a scientific journal called &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildfowl.wwt.org.uk/index.php/wildfowl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildfowl&lt;/a&gt;. In a past journal entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildfowl.wwt.org.uk/index.php/wildfowl/article/viewFile/304/304&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geese in cold weather&lt;/a&gt;, authored by Jules Philippona, it was reported that some geese do indeed sleep on the ice. The article cites several scientific papers written between 1962 and 1964.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that although Canada Geese have become commonplace in the United Kingdom, and are among the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/identification/types-of-geese.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;27 breeds&lt;/a&gt; observed and studied, the following quote doesn't specifically mention them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Geese mostly have their roosts on shallow waters. They also often sleep on ice (Brotherston, 1964, Markgren, 1963, Mathiasson, 1963, Rutschke, 1962).&#xA;  In 1962-3, as well as in other years, geese often used their roosts when these were frozen over. Sometimes even new roosts were formed when the water is ice-covered, as occurred on the Ijsselmeer near the new Noordoostpolder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Ijsselmeer near this polder is not suited for roosts, for the water is deep and ships often pass. When the water is ice-covered, however, thousands of geese sometimes sleep there. Then they feed in the pastures &#xA;  and fields of the neighbouring Noordoost­ polder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the severe winter of 1962-3 geese were seen to roost in their feeding grounds:22nd February, 1963 : Etten. A flock of 480 Whitefronts and 20 Beans feed on sprouts. Afterwards when the evening twilight has come, they fly 50m. away and settle on the snow. An hour later they are &#xA;  still there. It is quite certain that they will pass the night here, although some farm­ houses are within 150m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T00:26:37.760" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T00:26:37.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14459" CreationDate="2016-12-03T21:39:50.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;They typically don't overlap. One factor is safety of not having both on the playing field at the same time. Another factor is give the archer a better chance.  Deer are not stupid. They hear bang and they go into hiding and go high (if they have high ground).  You can scout two weeks prior to hunting season and see lot of deer. Once gun season starts they are a lot harder to find.  Where I grew up the game department would break up large herds by plane prior to gun season but would leave them be for early bow season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-03T21:39:50.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14475" CreationDate="2016-12-04T01:40:23.937" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question was about deer hunting in Pennsylvania and Oregon where the majority of the deer are whitetail deer and mule deer, respectively. My answer applies to both, generally. There are many other species of deer, and I am not referring to them here. Also, the answer to your question is very complicated. I'll try to keep it short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before a game department can design any deer hunt, whether rifle, archery, or any other, they must understand the needs of deer versus the needs of other animals, including humans. Therefore, they employ biologists to help guide the process. These biologists study deer herds extensively (and most other wildlife), and provide a ton of information. &lt;a href=&quot;https://idfg.idaho.gov/2015-deer-elk-outlook&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is an example of Idaho's summary of its deer herd in 2016. (Idaho has lots of whitetail and mule deer hunting opportunities.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also helpful to hunters to understand, at least basically, the needs of deer and their resulting behaviors. Following is a short summary of deer behavior and how it changes throughout the fall months:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deer change their behavior throughout the year due to weather, food sources, breeding, and hunting, among many other reasons. These factors change quickly in autumn, when most hunting seasons take place, and easily change deer behavior. I like to break autumn into four main &quot;seasons&quot; of deer behavior: 1. Late-Summer; 2. Transition; 3. Rut; and 4. Winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Late-Summer, which is mostly the month of September, deer are still acting as they typically would during summer: scattered and mostly relaxed. This is because food is plentiful, the weather is excellent, and even though there are a few hunters out and about in early hunting seasons, most humans in the woods are just camping and hiking and not pursuing the deer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;During Transition, late-September through late-October, the weather is growing cold, food sources are changing (some are dying and others are maturing), and more hunters (and fewer hikers/campers) are in the woods. The deer congregate more near food sources, but can quickly become nocturnal to avoid hunters who are more active and spread out away from roads and main trails.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From late-October through mid-November, the Rut is on (varies a little by region). Bucks seek out does, often in small herds (whitetail and mule deer herd behavior is different), and are often traveling during daylight hours. They are less wary and easier to find.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;By late-November, Winter is usually setting in. There is a second rut in December for the minority of does that were not bred in November, and the bucks who sniff them out. For the majority of deer, however, the rut is over and they continue in earnest to build fat for winter. Most bucks did not eat much during the rut and have already burned through some of their winter fat. Both bucks and does travel more during the day, especially during good weather, in search of whatever food is left so they can store as much winter fat as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Game departments have many different issues (varies tremendously by location) to think about when they are planning when and how long to hold deer hunts, in addition to which type of weapon to allow. In one state, a hunter will usually find dozens, if not hundreds, of different hunts to choose from - categorized by date and geography. One hunt area might offer a hunter a tiny sliver of a chance in some type of lottery system just to get the opportunity to hunt, while another area might offer the hunter the chance to shoot multiple deer in one day (the hunter often must choose one hunt or the other in any given year - cannot hunt both). These hunts are designed to help game departments reach their objectives, which usually are directly related to population but can also be related to moving deer out of certain locations, like farmers' fields. (Idaho - which I'm most familiar with - holds a lot of these types of hunts during August when many early crops are maturing. Many states also hold depredation hunts, rifle or archery, which target local populations that are too high and are either causing property damage or the deer will starve if numbers aren't cut drastically and immediately.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, with this information in mind, we can attempt an answer to &lt;strong&gt;the question&lt;/strong&gt; of holding an archery season before or after a rifle season. The short answer varies tremendously by area. If it's been a good year for deer and there are way more deer than the land can support through the winter, then they could schedule the rifle hunt (where total harvest is usually much higher) to coincide with those times when deer are easier to find, ie. more congregated and traveling/feeding during the day. That would be during the later &quot;seasons&quot; Rut and Winter, and sometimes at the earliest &quot;season&quot; of Late-Summer. However, if deer populations are only a little high, the rifle hunt would normally be held during Transition, when fewer campers/hikers are in the woods and deer are more congregated but often quickly go nocturnal. If deer populations are about right or a little low, the rifle hunt will likely be during Transition and will be short, sometimes only a day or two - or may be cancelled altogether. (Deer reproduce quickly, so this only happens when some other factor is very abnormal, such as drought, disease, predator overpopulation, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bowhunting, on the other hand, usually accounts for a much smaller harvest and, therefore, archery hunts can be scheduled to cover much longer periods of time, even during &quot;seasons&quot; when the deer are much easier to find (Late-Summer, Rut, Winter). For example, in Oregon's 2014 deer hunt, about 166,000 deer were harvested in rifle hunts (varying lengths in October [Transition], depending on the area), and about 51,000 deer were harvested in archery hunts in the entire month of September (Late-Summer), and a few weeks in November (Rut) and December (Winter). &lt;a href=&quot;https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-harvest-reports/deer-harvest-summaries/deer-harvest-summary-2014&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt; for Oregon's 2014 deer harvest summary. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/big_game/deer/index.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt; for a summary of Oregon's deer hunts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pennsylvania also has a variety of hunts to choose from. The rifle hunts are very short and are held later: a few short hunts in mid-October (Transition), but most seem to be a few days around the first of December (Winter) and a longer one that starts at the end of December and goes into January (Winter). Archery, on the other hand, starts as early as mid-September and extends into early-November, then starts up again in late-December and goes into January. Despite these much longer hunts, covering all &quot;seasons&quot;, archery only accounted for about 93,000 deer in 2014, while rifle hunters harvested about double, at around 190,000 deer. See these links for more information on the 2014 deer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/White-tailedDeer/Documents/2014-15%20Harvest%20Estimates%20Report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;harvest&lt;/a&gt; and deer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/Law/Pages/SeasonsandBagLimits.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hunting&lt;/a&gt;, in general, in Pennsylvania. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, archery and rifle hunts are tools for game departments to manage deer populations while also allowing hunters to TRY to meet some of their own needs. The timing of archery versus rifle hunts depends on many variables, is very complicated, and varies by state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T01:40:23.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14436" CreationDate="2016-12-04T13:08:40.000" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;When cool temperatures and wind is a concern, I use a thin, very light windshirt.  If it is cold enough to need fleece, the windshirt comes off and the fleece goes on.  I have a new, fairly densely woven fleece from Patagonia that offers some wind protection but not is not rain resistant.  If more protection is needed, a light rain jacket or heavy rain parka goes on top of the fleece. Because at that point, the weather is usually cool enough that I can adjust the zippers on the fleece and jacket to prevent overheating. The windshirt adds almost no weight to my pack.  When cycling on cool days, I often through the fleece over the windshirt at long stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your needs will depend on the local climate, I live where it rains often but is usually not misty.  In areas with persistent mist and dense fog, a different layering system might be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastEditorUserId="11340" LastEditDate="2016-12-04T13:13:58.423" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T13:13:58.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14462" CreationDate="2016-12-04T16:04:12.673" Score="14" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's not cold for a goose, as they bring their insulating down-filled sleeping gear with them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ponds/lakes are safer for them than a field where predators are more common. Typically in a flock, not all birds will sleep....some are awake &amp;amp; watching.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;note that in the event the ice breaks due to warmer weather and/or wind, a goose will float serenely and the predator/border collie may not survive. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2016-12-04T16:04:12.673" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14467" CreationDate="2016-12-04T21:22:55.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get one of those and you can bake anything you want.&#xA;I've used before and it's awesome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit ---&#xA;Just updated with a link to MEC website. They seem to have it in stock&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4000-241/10%22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outback oven&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is how it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dtThI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dtThI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T19:03:08.307" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T19:03:08.307" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14005" CreationDate="2016-12-04T23:17:10.510" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;common snapping turtle&lt;/a&gt;. It's not a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tortoise&lt;/a&gt;. The biggest difference is that turtles are aquatic, spending most of their time in the water, while tortoises live on land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your other questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Age:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It's not easy to tell the age of the snapper. They reach full size between 8 and 10 years old. Adults measure from 9.5 to 14.5 inches (24 to 36 cm), with many growing much larger. Healthy snappers live an average of 40-60 years, sometimes longer. By that criteria, the one in your pictures looks fully grown, and is probably somewhere between 10 and 60!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diet:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Snappers are omnivores. About two-thirds of their diet is plant-based, including all aquatic vegetation. They also eat insects, spiders, worms, fish, frogs, grubs, smaller breeds of turtles. When bigger they eat snakes, birds, and small mammals. They're pretty sedentary, grabbing what comes by rather than hunting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nesting habits:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Size, rather than age, determines maturity. Breeding begins at about 8 inches long, usually about 6 years old. They nest between April and November. They mate in the water, then the female travels many days and more than a mile, without stopping for water, to make the nest. (Interestingly, fertilization can take place up to two years before she lays the eggs!) Nests are built on land, in loose, sandy soil, on hills, in full sun. She lays a &quot;clutch&quot; of 20-50 eggs, covers them, and makes the long journey home. If she likes the nesting spot, she'll use it for many years. It's called &quot;nest site fidelity.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eggs incubate two to four months, depending mostly on the weather. Sadly, very few snapper births are successful, some sources estimate as low as 1 in 100, thus the need for the large clutch. Birds and animals eat most of the eggs. Of those that survive, few hatchlings make it to adulthood. However, large snappers have very few animal predators. Their primary predators are humans, so if they can steer clear of us, they can live a long time! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best place and time to see them:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In the spring and the fall, the female is seen during the day, traveling to and from nesting areas. Unfortunately, those sightings are usually in the road, where they risk &quot;death-by-car&quot;! They're hard to spot in their murky waters, but they're nocturnal, and eat after dark and early in the morning, so that's the best time to see them. Even then, they stay underwater much of the time, with just their neck and head sticking up, so look for eyes or a moving head. Tread lightly. If scared they'll go under water and swim quickly away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conservation status:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In most areas where snappers are abundant, they're not classified as &quot;endangered.&quot; In Massachusetts they're &quot;protected.&quot; It's illegal to hunt, capture, or remove one from its habitat. Handling is illegal too, and subject to fines, although sometimes people will do so to help them cross the road. Picking them up incorrectly is extremely dangerous to them and should always be avoided unless there's really no other choice. Special handling permits are given to certified wildlife rescuers, rehabilitators, and treatment centers. Even after dying, they're an important part of the eco-system. Removing dead body parts, including just the shells, are subject to a fine, as high as $500.00. In Massachusetts, the penalty for breeding and sales is as high as $2,000.00 (They're legal to have as pets in some states, but not in Massachusetts.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some interesting facts:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The temperature at which the eggs are maintained determines the gender. Eggs maintained at 68°F produce only females; those at 70-72°F produce both male and female turtles; and those incubated at 73-75°F produce only males.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snapping turtles have extremely good eyesight both above and under water. They can even see straight above their heads. They also have excellent hearing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because of their bone structure, snapping turtles can't retract their neck all the way into their body, like most other turtles can. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snappers don't bask on rocks or logs. They get the light they need by raising their head toward the sun while the body is underwater. If you think you see a &quot;snapping turtle&quot; on a log, it's probably a different, but similar-looking, turtle. Full-grown snappers are too big for most logs anyway! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snapping turtles are not as aggressive as commonly believed. They will only defend themselves if cornered, cut off from water or physically handled. They don't like confrontation, and would rather swim away than attack. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Information sources include, but aren't limited to:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tortoise Trust&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Chelydra_serpentina/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bio-kids&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/rare-reptiles-and-amphibians/turtles-of-massachusetts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&amp;amp;q=469200&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tufts Wildlife Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.incredibleworld.ca/index.php/incrediblespecies/snappingturtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Incredible World&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-04T23:08:14.650" LastActivityDate="2019-05-04T23:08:14.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14495" CreationDate="2016-12-04T23:59:22.933" Score="9" ViewCount="1314" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine has a reloading shotgun machine in his basement and often makes specialty loads upon request. He is able to make shotgun shells that have mixed shot sizes of various weights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any real hunting applications for hunters to use shotgun shells containing mixed shot sizes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T12:03:13.803" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T09:58:20.027" Title="Do shotgun shells containing mixed shot sizes have any applications in hunting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;shotguns&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14467" CreationDate="2016-12-05T03:35:05.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is that baking generally requires heating a large volume of air to a fairly  high temperature and so is not very fuel efficient if you aren't already using a wood fire for other purposes (ie heating and boiling water) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want baked-ish food on the trail with a stove then thin foods like pancakes and flatbread are your best bet as these can be cooked in a shallow pan fairly quickly, although when fuel is at a premium these will never be as efficient as boiling or re-hydrating foods like cous-cous, pre-cooked rice or per-packaged stews etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind also that pre-coked cookies, flatbread ect will last for a good few days so you don't need to cook them fresh every day indeed packaged flatbread can last for weeks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get reasonably lightweight camping ovens and it is certainly not impossible to improvise one from natural materials at your campsite but fuel is the real problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T17:25:34.917" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T17:25:34.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14488" CreationDate="2016-12-05T14:02:50.107" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mixed has had limited use. A wide range just does not make sense as you would just tear up the smaller game. Even with similar sizes would get longer shot strings (smaller slow down faster) so a moving target at a distance you are guaranteed to miss with part.  If you do some pattern testing you are likely to get a mixed pattern bigger than the smaller shot alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T16:13:38.023" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T16:13:38.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14467" CreationDate="2016-12-05T15:10:14.480" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacking != baking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do it, but you have to lug around a lot of stuff to do it.  Perhaps, you can take advantage of what is already around you?  By this I mean build your oven, and take only your stove with you.  It'll take some practice and know-how to pull it off.  But once you figure out how to build a pizza oven with a cardboard box and aluminum foil, it's not hard to come up with your own ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a idea comes to mind, which I borrow from the book &quot;shelters, shacks, and shanties&quot;, by none other than D.C. Beard, you might make your own oven out of rocks and boughs you find along the trail.  I wouldn't advise yanking branches from trees, as recommended by Beard, that's not very PC these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to build a fireplace log-cabin style.  That is: lay two sticks in parallel, about 2' apart; then lay two more sticks perpendicular to the first to; and keep on alternating until you get about 3' high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, since you indicated a need to use the backpacker's stove, what you'll want to do is build a flat course, maybe 12&quot; high, so that the stove can comfortably sit underneath.  So lay as many sticks as can sit side-by-side for this layer.  The sticks should be sparse on one end, to allow heat to come through it.  After the first course, you have a sort of flat area to lay your food onto it, you continue to build up; but now you have to cover the sides to keep heat in.  Here's where the boughs come in; perhaps you can use wet leaves, or bunched up vines.  Or maybe you have aluminum foil.  Of course, the top of the fireplace also needs to be solid just as the first course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what you are now left with is a raised log-cabin style fireplace, with the backpacker's stove at the bottom and completely visible.  You need this on the outer part of the oven, or else you could have a fire hazard where the fuel bakes with the food.  If anything, you at least need good air flow, or some fuels will refuse to burn, such as those which are weak at high altitudes (butane and propane, for example.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And so the bottom of the oven is the ground where the stove goes; the next layer is the floor of the oven, and is as big in volume as you need to cook your food; and the next layer is the roof.  The sides are stuffed with wood or boughs to keep the heat in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need an opening; you might fashion one side of the log cabin to do this; you just need to be creative with having a 4th open side which allows to support the two sides.  Maybe some sticks or Y branches can help here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside to this is that you rely on mother nature to provide your materials.  We all know how cooperative mother nature can be...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another idea is to bring a collapsible cardboard box, and some aluminum foil.  As you begin to prepare, cover the interior of the box with foil.  Make a hole in the floor of the box, that's where the heat will come in; then suspend the box about 12&quot; off the ground - just like in the first course of the log-cabin stick method I mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside to this method is that you have to carry the box with you.  Could be cumbersome, if not heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another idea is to build yourself an aluminum box that can collapse.  Otherwise, it is constructed the same way as the cardboard box, with a hole at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside to this is the amount of preparation you'll have to do ahead of time.  However, there are tons of plans to make something like this on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another idea is to use two frying pans, one placed atop and upside down over the other.  The downside to this is the pans can be cumbersome.  And you'll need rather large pans to pull off a meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't specify fuel you'll be using.  I do NOT recommend using white gas or any liquid fuel (especially kerosene or gasoline) as all of them give off an bad odor which will be picked up on your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if your oven is small, you run the risk of setting the whole thing on fire.  What you could do is boil water as you bake.  The steam given off would help prevent that.  Also, soak all of the wood in water before using.  And for the walls, use green leaves or rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T15:10:14.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14455" CreationDate="2016-12-05T16:45:41.830" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I located some more information online about these techniques. SSS was the standard technique in the days when a hip belay was the standard for a lead belay. It also works well for belaying with a Munter. In both of those techniques, braking position is with the braking hand up in the air. For these reasons, I think the normal position for the braking hand in SSS is thumbs-up when the hand is raised. This also explains why people who use SSS may keep their hand high most of the time while waiting for the climber. People do still use a Munter or a hip belay in many mountaineering applications, so SSS is a good technique to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When belay devices became the standard for rock climbing, people who were already experienced belayers kept using SSS. What you tend to hear from these people is that the method is fine, and they just needed to be attentive and ready to bring their brake hand down into the braking position. This is simply a bad idea in the most common configuration, where you're belaying from below. The technique is not fundamentally well suited to use with a belay device in this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For people who insist on using SSS with a belay device for a belay from below, it may make sense to flip the hand compared to the old-fashioned SSS technique, so that the thumb is down when the braking hand is up. This way, when the braking hand has to come down into braking position, the thumb is up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when you're using a belay device, there are some cases where putting the brake hand up is the correct braking position. In multipitch, this is what you need to do to catch a factor-2 fall. Ditto if you're belaying from above. For these situations, SSS may be a good choice. For a belay from above, a better alternative would probably be to redirect the brake strand through a carabiner so that the braking direction is down; this is the easier and more natural braking direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T16:43:27.773" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T16:43:27.773" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14488" CreationDate="2016-12-05T18:26:59.197" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are referring to duplex loads. I don't see a whole lot of duplex loads anymore unless its a mix with TSS (tungsten super shot &amp;ndash; the densest shot available). Remington had a line of duplex loads that featured a mixture of 4 and 6's. The reason stated was the #6 shot would provide the pattern density and the 4 would provide more penetration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11772" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2016-12-05T20:36:17.847" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T20:36:17.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1144" CreationDate="2016-12-05T19:15:13.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being from Arkansas and about 80% of us Arkansan's duck hunt I can throw out a few pointers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Location. Are you in the flyway? Start scouting your local game and fish website about duck hunting. Join internet forums. Your going to get a lot of trash talking being new to the game and asking for help. DO NOT EVER come out and ask, where is everyone killing ducks out. Ask questions like, how is the water on so and so spot. Arkansas puts out a weekly waterfowl report, see if your local game and fish does too. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stamps and license. You have to have a hunting license from your local game and fish, and then state and federal stamps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;DO NOT join Ducks Unlimited. Its a money hungry trash organization that has went down hill over the last decade. Instead join Delta Waterfowl.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy a shotgun. If you can borrow one from a buddy to see if you even like hunting ducks, even better. I use a Remington 870 because it stays in my boat from November till January. Its used as a boat paddle, a push stick, a decoy grabber, and lastly, a tool to shoot ducks. Steel shot only for federal migratory birds. Our go to shell is a 3&quot; #3 in Kent Fasteel. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decoys. Buy used if you can, check craigslist. Down here in Arkansas we hunt mallards so thats what decoys we use. Buy decoys that will match the species of ducks you will be hunting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fields or timber? We hunt timber 100% of the time unless the woods freeze up and then we switch to the river. River hunting can be EXCELLENT at times. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't even mess with a dog right now. See if you like it, and need a dog to retrieve. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calls. Like a lot of these points, regardless of the type of ducks your hunting, practice your calling. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have to hunt public land, be nice, be respectful. Don't roll in to your hunting spot at 6:15. Don't crowd other hunters, if a place is loaded up with hunters, most likely there are some ducks there. Ask politely, &quot;hey you mind if I hunt with y'all this morning?&quot; Be prepared for some no's, but a lot of folks will say yes. Bring some extra little debbie snacks in so you can share with the group. Contribute something! Help with picking the decoys up, and you may make some new friends to hunt with. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be prepared to spend money. Guns, waders, shells, gear, clothing, gas money, decoys...duck hunting is expensive. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be prepared to scout locations for ducks. Most of our time during duck season is scouting where the ducks are. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11772" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T19:15:13.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14497" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14498" CreationDate="2016-12-05T19:52:52.117" Score="19" ViewCount="3319" Body="&lt;p&gt;How long does it take for trash like beer cans, old mattress springs, or glass bottles to go from trash and need to be packed out to being a historic artifact with archaeological significance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:24:34.223" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:24:34.223" Title="How long does it take for trash to become a historical artifact (in the United States)?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14497" CreationDate="2016-12-05T19:52:52.117" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;After &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/protect-arch.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;50 years&lt;/a&gt;, trash becomes protected as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/archeology.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;historical artifact&lt;/a&gt;. It turns out that while you are not allowed to leave cans behind, you are also not allowed to &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/historyculture/trash2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;clean up&lt;/a&gt;&quot; historic cans as they are an important part of the history of the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T19:52:52.117" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14488" CreationDate="2016-12-05T20:34:10.650" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Buck and ball&quot; loads are commonly available.  They're often marketed for self defense, but where legal for hunting they have the same benefits on game, namely: The &quot;ball&quot; (or slug) has more reach for aimed shots on further targets, but if you happen to get a closer-in target you have the &quot;insurance&quot; and added stopping-power of the buckshot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2016-12-05T20:34:10.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6596" CreationDate="2016-12-06T00:08:22.380" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always have a fresh tray/wide container of clean water (endless supply of sea) that I step into next to plastic camping mats and then have a dark coloured towel inside the tent step onto and dry off. Feet are nice and clean. Having a washing station or spare clean water near by helps. I always carry a bucket of water coming from the beach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a picnic mat inside the tent that lets any stray sand to sink into rather than being stuck to your feet. A light mat or rug that can be taken out to shake off any sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dustpan and brush when all else falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11811" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T00:08:22.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14502" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14510" CreationDate="2016-12-06T00:24:44.300" Score="12" ViewCount="3278" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about 150ish lbs and my partner is 100ish lbs.  I've read somewhere that a 2/3 weight ratio between belayer and climber is ok for lead climb, but I don't remember exactly where.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone confirm this?  Looking around the net, I'm getting conflicting and not very authoritative answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking of getting a weight vest of around 10 or so lbs to increase the weight ratio, but I'm also thinking that this may be problematic as the belayer's center of gravity is then raised.  Could that be an issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was also considering ankle weights of 5 lbs a piece (total 10 lbs).  Could this cause an increase chance of knee injury?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other ideas that I may not be thinking of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11812" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-06T09:22:09.910" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T18:30:10.743" Title="Lead climb weight ratios" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2016-12-07T12:29:17.747" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14503" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-06T01:11:33.513" Score="6" ViewCount="1515" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the locking caribiner that connects the person's harness to their rappel device/ropes, should the locking caribiner's gate be toward the top or bottom of the setup when using a screwgate type locking carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, this is what I mean by up or down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Diamond_Airlock_2_HMS_Carabiner.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e9vGY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-06T06:39:13.227" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T02:18:40.987" Title="When rappelling, should a screwgate locking carabiner be orientated up or down?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14505" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-06T01:27:32.627" Score="8" ViewCount="1103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just passed the pond where the geese in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14462/why-would-a-canadian-goose-sleep-on-a-frozen-pond&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; are, and it turns out that while some of the geese are sleeping ontop of the ice, there is a section right there, about 20ft by 80 that is open and some are swimming around in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this particular pond it seems unlikely that there are hot springs that would keep just that part from freezing, so could the geese be doing something to keep the water open in just that part?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T03:34:42.707" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T23:58:21.713" Title="Would a Canada Goose deliberately try to keep a section of water from freezing?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14503" CreationDate="2016-12-06T06:49:42.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Manufacturers all instruct that their screw gate carabiners be used in the upright position when attached to your harness, but in many cases it doesn't really matter as long as it's locked and there aren't any burrs in either end of the biner that could abraid the rope, and your ropes are properly managed. But in general, its always better to orient them up as recommended by the manufacturer, especially if using a device that requires you to feed the rope through the biner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often lockers used in anchors will get burrs from metal on metal contact, usually in the end of the axis below the hinge, which can easily shred a rope. It's for this reason also that quickdraws have a rope and an anchor end, it can be &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/carabiners-and-potential-rope-damage/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;disastrous if you swap them back and forth&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Situations where orientation would matter more than others would depend on what type of descender and biner you're using. If you were descending with an ATC and a pear-shaped biner, then you should orient it up so the rope is rubbing on the nice round profile of the ofset. If you're using a figure 8 and a D-shaped carabiner, then it ultimately wouldn't make a difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Orienting the screw gate down is a popular &lt;em&gt;&quot;gym technique&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Gym techniques are typically implemented in an attempt to eliminate human error and avoid common mishaps, particularly by new or inexperienced climbers, but they are rarely considered proper use by manufacturers or experts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a known flaw of screwgate carabiners that they can come unlocked because of rubbing, or vibrations, which is why many climbers will use pairs oriented with their gates opposite and opposing, but this flaw is also why so many other alternatives to screw gates are available: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Locksafe:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2yLqS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2yLqS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Magnatron:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eBuJj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eBuJj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Double Gate:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;(My personal favourite)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIuk0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIuk0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ball Lock:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;(Second favourite)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lALa8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lALa8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are even screwgate biners with devices that will prevent crossloading which also work to prevent the screwgate from opening unintentionally: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jFx0z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jFx0z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regardless of your biner orientation, if you find yourself in a situation where your rope or another rope is rubbing on your screw gate, you should stop dscending and manage your ropes before you procede. An upside-down screwgate can just as well be opened by a rubbing rope, though maybe not as easily.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T02:18:40.987" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T02:18:40.987" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14509" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-06T07:17:27.187" Score="7" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;I possess the spikes &quot;Snowline Chainsen Trail&quot; of two sizes: a small one and a large one. The small one (EU sizes ≤40) sits extremely tight on my hiking shoes &quot;Nevada MFS 6½&quot; (size 40 EU), the large one (EU sizes ≥40) sits ok, but if you pull the rubber with your fingers, you feel that the spike chains could be moved a very tiny bit, but not too much. I never hiked with spikes; do you have an opinion on whether any of them is any good for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any suggestion for a better spikes model for snow trails for EU size 40 hiking shoes, perhaps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11816" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T13:35:27.087" Title="A technical question on spikes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14502" CreationDate="2016-12-06T08:42:13.037" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 2/3 weight ratio is definitely at the absolut top of what is routinely manageable for lead climbing, and I would not recommend that for novices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional weights are an option, but 10 pounds will probably not be enough. The center of gravity for the belayer is not really an issue, but a lot of weight in a vest is going to be uncomfortable for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more common option is to use a weight bag that is clipped into the belay loop of the belayer's harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're willing to spend a bit of extra money, there is a the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.weighmyrack.com/for-climbers-with-a-large-weight-difference-the-edelrid-ohm-detailed-technical-review/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edelrid Ohm&lt;/a&gt;, a device made specifically for this scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T08:42:13.037" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14509" CreationDate="2016-12-06T10:58:50.123" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Either should be fine providing you use them in the correct context. Their jobs are to provide extra grip in &lt;strong&gt;minimal&lt;/strong&gt; winter conditions. If there are patches of ice and your hiking on easy ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you intend on going on steep terrain and/or full winter (compacted snow, etc) then you will need at least a C1 level Crampon and B1 Boot system. Snow spikes are not an adequete replacement for a proper Crampon, ice axe system and the knowledge to use them correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-12-06T13:35:27.087" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T13:35:27.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14514" CreationDate="2016-12-06T13:43:14.343" Score="8" ViewCount="1371" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on an icy/snow slope if I loose my footing, what is the correct technique to self arrest and control my slide?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To re-iterate, this question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3761/what-is-the-proper-technique-for-self-arrest-when-wearing-crampons&quot;&gt;What is the proper technique for self-arrest when wearing crampons?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is asking specifically what do they need to do with their crampons in this situtation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should the crampons be used for stopping or held high in the air, to&#xA;  avoid tumbling over them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to be more general. How do you self arrest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T09:14:07.740" Title="What is the correct technique for self arrest, with an ice axe, on a snow or ice slope?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14505" CreationDate="2016-12-06T14:27:50.180" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would a Canada Goose deliberately try to keep a section of water&#xA;  from freezing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with all animals, yes if there is an advantage to it in doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;I suppose the real question is why, right?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well there must be something under the ice they want and therefore they keep coming back to that location and break the ice up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What are they after?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well the only thing they could possibly want is food right?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why there?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me unlikely that there is anything special in that particular spot. It's likely just the last space to freeze where there was something easy to access to eat (weed, etc.). So the geece we're likely slowly concentrated in that area. Everytime they return, somewhere else has frozen stopping them from accessing their food. So slowly they concentrated in one area, not though choice but simply though chance, the right numbers and depth of water in the right place. This concetration then means they continually break the ice and prevent it from freezing over, thus allowing them to continue to feed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I'd say the geese are not making a concious decison here (lets not anthropomorphize them here). It's simply that this was the only spot where they ended up by concentrated enough that their actions kept the water open. They return because there's food there and their returning keeps it open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-11T23:44:10.960" LastActivityDate="2018-01-11T23:44:10.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14512" CreationDate="2016-12-06T14:45:33.990" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing to remember is to prevent this situation. You should never find yourself in the position to slip down a slope. In many cases (steepness, snow/ice conditions, ...) there is no way that you will stop once you are slipping, even if you execute the following perfectly. Still we want to be prepared for the worst case as well. And knowing the following is just a first and minor step, the most important thing is to actually try it over and over again. Just make sure the terrain is suitable, so no rocks and a flat (snow) section at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two phases: First you need to get yourself in a stable position, then you need to brake until you eventually stop. The techniques vary depending on the equipment: With an ice-axe and crampons, with an ice-axe only or with neither.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Stable position&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final position you want to be in is front to the ground and head up-slope (against the direction of slipping). Details vary depending on equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ice-axe and crampons&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically the same as with just an ice-axe, however you must make sure your feet are off the ground at all times. Your crampons catching potentially results in uncontrolled tumbling and serious injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ice-axe&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turn sideways, if on your back.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Plunge the pick of your ice-axe into the snow. Do it gradually and keep a firm grip. If you do lose the axe, proceed as described below. This will automatically turn you in the head up position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Neither&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially the same again, but instead of plunging the pick into the snow you brake by pushing your arms into the snow. Just try to lift your upper body with the arms, as if you were going into a plank position or doing push-ups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Braking&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ice-axe and crampons&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still keep your feet away from the ground. If the terrain permits it, keep that way till you stop; it's the safest. If the terrain becomes rocky, try to brake without your feet until there is no other option any more. Meaning the risk to get into an uncontrolled tumble is negligible, as falling over a ridge/crashing into rocks/... is imminent and worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ice-axe&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hold one hand on the shaft, the other on the head of the ice-axe and position it in front of your chest. Apply pressure by leaning onto it. Again do this gradually, sticking it into hard packed snow will probably yank it out of your hands.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;This position might be scary as the ice-axe is pretty close to your face. True, this is dangerous, but this is a life-threatening situation, so braking efficiency wins over the potentially broken nose or missing tooth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Neither&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get up onto your underarms, then lift all your body so that only the underarms and feet are in contact with the snow. In certain conditions you might even want to get into a push-up position (only hands and feet on the ground).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-06T18:06:32.667" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14512" CreationDate="2016-12-06T15:59:51.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a bit to it.  A book like Freedom of the Hills has excellent instructions with illustrations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is solid ice you cannot break through then this is not going to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice on your own, with a group, and / or go to a school.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice on a slope that has a slide out so you will stop even if not successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often if there is a chance of a fall you will be roped up.  If you have some inexperience climbers then rope up.  If you fall call out to the lead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roped is about the same but you can get tangled up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is best if you are tethered to the ax.  The grip is three fingers around the pick and thumb around the shaft (different from a self belay grip).  If you are not in the position before you slip you are going to have trouble&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The braking position is face down head up (hill) dig the pick on same side shoulder or slight above, shaft across your body held near the bottom near your waist with your other hand, and head look away and down.  Knees spread slightly and feet up. Raise your butt to put more force on the pick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can fall in 5 positions&lt;br&gt;&#xA;face down head up (hill)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;face down head down&lt;br&gt;&#xA;face up head up&lt;br&gt;&#xA;face up head down&lt;br&gt;&#xA;tumble  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On descent you are more likely to fall head down.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face up head up is best as you can get the axe in position.  Roll toward the pick (&lt;strong&gt;very important&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face down head up if you are not in position then role to your back to the side of the pick, get axe in position, and role back.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face down head down then above your head to the side dig in the pick and swing into position.  This takes some strength and practice.  Will need the axe in position before you hit the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Face up head down you.  Across your hips dig the pick in and spin around and rotate to face down at the proper moment.  Scary.  You really just need to practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not lead you need the rope outside the pick so you need determine which side they are going to pass and fall on the other side of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roped up if someone drops in a crevasse same thing so you need to have rescue grip on flat snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T16:02:41.707" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T16:02:41.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14516" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-07T06:02:00.737" Score="13" ViewCount="402" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't used trekking poles but I've used wooden poles and they make a huge difference while hiking. Ascents are somewhat easier, and descents are much more so thanks to the poles as another thing you can hold on for balance especially for trails where the only thing you can hold on to is the land you're stepping on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if I rely on poles too much, would I be robbing myself of training and building my body to be able to cope with hiking challenges especially at points where poles aren't needed, like when scrambling or scaling rocky vertical terrain? Also, overall strengthening of the body to build stamina, strength, and endurance since you're technically relying on something to make things easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T13:13:05.453" Title="Is it bad to rely on trekking poles?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14516" CreationDate="2016-12-07T07:35:24.817" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's highly unlikely that using poles will make anything worse. You still have to place your feet as carefully and in the same sort of position (training for technique/precision). Your legs still do most of the work of lifting you up on an ascent, which is when they work the hardest (training for strength). I descend more slowly with poles, and slow, controlled lowering of weights is good training. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could even argue that if using poles protects you from hurting your knees or ankles on the way down, you'll be in better training through not having to take a recovery break. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As trekking poles can be collapsed you can choose when to strap them to your pack. Plenty of people use them mainly for descents and the sort of path where you can really get into a striding rhythm, then put them away for steep bits where they might want their hands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T20:04:15.073" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T20:04:15.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14512" CreationDate="2016-12-07T07:53:18.067" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having learnt this years ago, I can thoroughly recommend that when you're in a suitable spot with a group you practise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rest of the group can observe your form, keep an eye out for hazards and generally stand around looking unconcerned. A suitable spot is reasonably deep snow that naturally flattens out, free of rocks and trees. This may also give you a range of slopes, but anyway don't start too steep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't pick a ski slope or popular off-piste run. You could choose to wear ski goggles but 20 years ago we didn't. Make sure everyone keeps warm. A refresher at the start of the season isn't a bad idea; we once had enough snow in a sloping local park. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're hiring a guide, discuss in advance the possibility of them choosing a spot and doing a brief practice session. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This is meant as an addition to the other answers but grew into too much for a comment) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T07:53:18.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14502" CreationDate="2016-12-07T07:55:19.497" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While having a belayer that is much lighter than the climber is clearly not ideal, especially on lead, it isn't insurmountable.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A famous climbing couple from days of yore was comprised of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Hill&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lynn Hill&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Long_(climber)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Long&lt;/a&gt;. Lynn Hill is 110 pounds and while I can't find any exact numbers John is known as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/news/no-excuses-two-heavy-climbers-crushed/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a big muscular guy&lt;/a&gt;. While they were clearly elite climbers it goes to show you that radically different sizes can be good partners. On a more anecdotal level my first climbing partner was a body builder and I was a fairly scrawny guy. I never asked his weight but I'm sure he outweighed my ~170 lbs by at least 30 to 40 lbs and we never had any problems. Also a more contemporary example would be Ammon McNeely and his girlfriend's second ascent of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/el-caps-hardest-wings-of-steel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wings of Steel&lt;/a&gt;. I don't know their weight difference but Ammon is clearly bigger than her and he regularly took massive falls on that route day after vicious day. Ammon is a terrific guy and a world class climber. Kait on the other hand &lt;a href=&quot;http://fabwags.com/kait-barber-rock-climber-ammon-mcneelys-girlfriend/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;certainly has experience&lt;/a&gt; but she isn't nearly at Ammon's level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.weighmyrack.com/for-climbers-with-a-large-weight-difference-the-edelrid-ohm-detailed-technical-review/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a write up on the Edelrid Ohm&lt;/a&gt; product that Michael also linked to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14510/7995&quot;&gt;in his answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The newest educational standard from the German Alpine Club (Deutsche&#xA;Alpenverein aka DAV) suggests there should be no more than a 10kg (22&#xA;pound) difference between the belayer and climber. This number has&#xA;been reducing over the years as the DAV continues to study the belay&#xA;habits of climbers to ensure a safe experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it’s worth, I weigh less than 120 pounds. In the last 7&#xA;years, my main climbing partner, Andreas, has weighed between 160 and&#xA;175. This is a +35-48% difference – which is higher than even the old European standards recommend. I can actually tell if he’s gained or&#xA;lost weight in how it feels to belay him. When he’s on the heavier&#xA;side of that spectrum, even during a smooth lower, I can be lifted off&#xA;the ground. Whenever he falls, my feet come off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These quotes would suggest that my climbing partner was oversized for me per DAV guidelines. We made it work, and people with a really big disparity (48% difference) can make it work too. So I don't think people should dogmatically dismiss a good climbing partner just because a weight disparity exists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Now that we have that out of the way what can we do when a weight disparity exists?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Increase friction in the system&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you read the review I linked above you can see that the Ohm is basically a device that increases rope drag when the system is loaded. The basic principle at work is the more friction/drag in the system the less upward force is applied on the belayer so the less likely they are to be lifted off the ground. You can also see this technique in climbing gyms that use a round bar as an anchor point that the rope is wrapped around for their top ropes. The more wraps, the more friction in the system and the less force is transmitted to the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally I lead a multi-pitch climb where at the top of one pitch there was so much rope drag (because I didn't use long enough slings) in the system that I had to pull with all my might on the rope in order to get any slack. Luckily by that point in the pitch it was really low angle slab, so it was a pain but not unrecoverable. In any case due to all the rope drag I bet my 4 year old daughter would have been able to hold me if I would have fallen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anchor the belayer/belay from an anchor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we don't want something to go somewhere you anchor it to an immovable object. Depending on the gear you have and the surroundings you can probably find a way to tether the belayer to the ground. Once they're anchored to the ground, or belaying from an anchor, who cares what the weight disparity is as long as they can work the belay device because then their effective weight is orders of magnitude larger than the climber's weight with a proper anchor. Keep in mind too that even if they're too weak to work a tube device there are auto-locking devices like the Grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to keep in mind that these are the default options everyone has when doing multi-pitch climbing, regardless of weight differentials, because the belayer must be anchored while belaying. When doing multi-pitch climbing it is considered a best practice for the leader to belay the second directly from the anchor. Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2015/01/indirect-redirect-and-direct-belays.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one out of a bunch of resources&lt;/a&gt; on the internet covering this technique that specifically mentions disparate weights. Directly belaying a leader from an anchor doesn't have as widespread support. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/multipitch-belaying-off-harness-vs-anchors/107146679&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Two common concerns&lt;/a&gt; are increased forces on the system due to an unyielding anchor, and that anchors aren't typically setup to counteract upward forces. The first complaint in my opinion is mostly valid when your protection is questionable. The second complaint is a bit of a red herring because anchors should be built to handle any forces they may be subjected to. Typically this is a downward pull, but if you are planning to belay off an anchor then you should obviously build an anchor that can support that. Personally I've almost always just belayed off my harness, but I've occasionally belayed a second directly off the anchor, and never belayed a leader directly off an anchor. That being said I've never felt like the situation warranted me belaying a leader directly off an anchor. However, if I felt like the situation warranted this then I'd strongly consider it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accept the fact that the belayer may be lifted up and the leader may fall farther with a more gentle catch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being lifted off the ground as a belayer typically isn't the end of the world if the belayer is on the ball. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7141/7995&quot;&gt;Some belayers even consider this as part of the fun.&lt;/a&gt; Of course there are times when this is dangerous for the belayer and/or the leader. This is a factor you'll have to judge for yourself. Also keep in mind that the person taking the lead fall will experience a more gentle fall because some of the force of the fall is being absorbed by the belayer being lifted off the ground. This will also reduce the forces on your climbing protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my personal experience belaying people who are much heavier than myself I've found what generally happens is I get pulled up a couple feet up in the air, then I lower myself down to the ground, and once my feet are back on terra firma I'm able to lower the other climber. Of course your mileage may vary...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice I didn't recommend you make your partner wear weights while climbing. Climbing should be fun for everyone, and having to stand around carrying a bunch of weight, or slug a bunch of lead weights up multiple pitches isn't going to be fun for long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T18:30:10.743" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14516" CreationDate="2016-12-07T18:29:09.687" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Also, overall strengthening of the body to build stamina, strength, and endurance since you're technically relying on something to make things easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have this backwards. As described in the medical study referenced below, trekking poles make you less efficient, so they increase your exertion. That means that if you do the same hike at the same pace, it will be harder using poles. So if you want a harder workout, using poles is one the ways to do it. But you could also accomplish that simply by increasing your pace, or by putting rocks in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18714242&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt;: Saunders MJ ; Hipp GR ; Wenos DL ; Deaton ML, &quot;Trekking poles increase physiological responses to hiking without increased perceived exertion,&quot; J Strength Cond Res 2008 Sep; 22(5): 1468-74&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-12-07T18:54:53.910" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T18:54:53.910" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14497" CreationDate="2016-12-07T19:53:04.090" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long does it take for trash to become an historical artifact in the United States?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There appears to be a legal answer, which is &quot;50 years&quot;. It is not clear whether this legal answer applies only to Federal land.  The clean-up link takes the reader to a site under the aegis of the National Park Service and which refers to a cache of cans at Big Bend National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume we are talking only about Federal land. I don't want imply that I take breaking the law lightly, but let's bear in mind that the saying below, made famous by Charles Dickens and dating back to at least 1654, is sometimes true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-law-is-an-ass.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The law is an ass.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have hiked many times in the area around Desolation Lakes, near Mt. Humphreys, accessed from Piute Pass, near Bishop, California.  The area was used extensively by sheepherders, mainly Basques, in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  They never heard of LNT, and would have been too busy to follow it if they had.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least one packer in the area did extensive cleanups of the area in the later 20th century, in the '70s and '80s.  It wasn't just that a littered &quot;wilderness&quot; would not be good for his business, he loved that area and wanted it clean -- he said it was his living room.  When we found an old sheepherder site he missed, carpeted with old glass and cans, we double bagged the litter -- maybe 20 to 30 pounds of it -- and gave it to him to pack out with our gear. (The packer said the site was probably an old sheepherder site.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generations of archaeologists and sociologists will have lost something by not having those glass and cans from 19th century sheepherders to interpret, but generations of hikers and backpackers will have gained.  We must each decide what is an artifact and what is rubbish.  An Anasazi potsherd is a relic; leave it alone, and report the find.  A beer can from 1966 is rubbish.  Haul it out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In summary:&lt;/strong&gt; There are things we &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; protect for future generations; beer cans, Styrofoam clamshells and plastic bottles are not among them.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T19:53:04.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5503" CreationDate="2016-12-07T21:22:22.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another solution if you have a computer running Windows or Mac is to use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin BaseCamp&lt;/a&gt;™. It's free. I'll describe the full procedure for windows, for Mac there should not be too much difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Download and install it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freizeitkarte-osm.de/garmin/en/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freizeikarte&lt;/a&gt; and select the map you would like to install part of.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If for instance you want map of Great Britain, download the zip file&#xA;&quot;Microsoft Windows: &lt;a href=&quot;http://download.freizeitkarte-osm.de/garmin/latest/Install_Freizeitkarte_GBR_en.zip&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Britain - archive for Garmin BaseCamp&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unzip the file and run the exec it contains. A wizard is launched. You have to read and accept a license agreement, then choose a destination folder for your map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Run Basecamp - The map should appear under Maps menu.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Connect your Garmin GPS to your computer (USB)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose Maps &gt; Install maps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At this point you device should be detected by BaseCamp. Click continue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Select the map you want to install then click Advanced/partial installation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Here comes the magic part : you get a map of you country where you can select regions or states. There is also a very handy indicator showing available memory on your device. Just select or unselect parts you want to put on your device. This screen shot shows you for Italy: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jmeps.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jmeps.png&quot; alt=&quot;BaseCamp - Italy&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Click continue, then install. Depending on your map(s), the install can take a few minutes. Then click finish.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it ! Enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that BaseCamp menus/buttons descriptions are translated from the french version of BaseCamp, the actual menus/buttons naming  in English version might differ a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11806" LastActivityDate="2016-12-07T21:22:22.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13607" CreationDate="2016-12-08T14:34:55.753" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;llamas are only &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llama&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;native to an area of South American&lt;/a&gt; unless you are hiking in that area, they are not going to be any more of a prospective meal then then the other animals on the hike (i.e. humans).  They are human sized or bigger (&lt;em&gt;a full-size llama is 1.7 to 1.8 m (5.6 to 5.9 ft) tall at the top of the head, and can weigh between 130 and 200 kg (290 and 440 lb).&lt;/em&gt;).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a bear comes looking for a meal in your camp, and chooses to try eating the llama instead of you, it is your lucky day. Heck even if the bear decides you are the meal, your llama &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_llama&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;might protect you&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, the llama is less likely to be the bears meal then you are. Take the precautions from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/225&quot;&gt;What precautions should I take to protect myself and my camp from bears?&lt;/a&gt; and you should both be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T15:12:52.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13607" CreationDate="2016-12-08T16:44:57.560" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of different &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bears&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;types of bears&lt;/a&gt;. Protecting a llama from a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda#Diet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;giant panda&lt;/a&gt; should be quite easy as you are unlikely to see one in the wild and their diet is almost entirely bamboo. If you are in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear#Hunting_and_diet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;polar bear&lt;/a&gt; territory, you should probably be more worried as they are natural hunters, curious, and powerful. That said, I am not sure a llama is a good choice for an arctic pack animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear#Livestock_and_crop_predation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American black bear&lt;/a&gt; predominately eat vegetation, although when food sources are scare they have been known to prey on large animals (e.g., horse and cattle), but prefer to prey on smaller animals. Outside of early spring, there is probably little risk to a llama.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_bear#Diet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;grizzly bear&lt;/a&gt; again predominately eats vegetation, but will attack large animals. Again, they prefer to prey on smaller animals. A hungry grizzly definitely presents a risk to a llama, but also presents a risk to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-12-08T16:44:57.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14516" CreationDate="2016-12-09T00:34:54.680" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm understanding your question, you're asking if using trekking poles will result in poorer conditioning compared to walking without poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is good &lt;a href=&quot;http://britishnordicwalking.org.uk/pages/nordic-walking-research&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;research evidence&lt;/a&gt; that using poles will in fact improve your general conditioning. When used vigorously, the poles provide a &lt;strong&gt;cross-training&lt;/strong&gt; effect by engaging more of your muscles, and there's a whole fitness movement known as Nordic Walking based on this premise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other factor to bear in mind is the &lt;strong&gt;Principle of Specificity&lt;/strong&gt; in training, as explained &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britannica.com/topic/exercise-physical-fitness#ref392860&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. So when you wonder whether you would be robbing yourself of training, you have to ask - training for what? If you find poles helpful and want to improve your capacity to walk with them, you should train with poles. If you want to improve your capacity to walk without them, leave the poles at home. If you want something in-between, use the poles for only some of the time. No need to overthink this: it's as simple as that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2016-12-09T13:13:05.453" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T13:13:05.453" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14529" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-09T01:24:43.843" Score="8" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pondering a longer-term hike in Northern Quebec/Labrador. Autonomous style, sky or snowshoe (TBD) with a sled etc. Right now, considering going Fermont, going south to Sept-Iles (possibly following the Rivière Moisie for some of the way). About 400k give or take, though I might downsize that and leave from somewhere else (south of Fermont, along the road) if that seems to be too ambitious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tons of experience in winter outdoors and winter camping, so that aspect of things I am not worried. I would like to know what would it look like in terms of navigation in that region/environment for a thru-hiker in winter, more precisely for River/lack crossing. I have read this post (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3115/how-to-be-safe-on-lake-and-river-ice-and-what-should-i-do-when-i-fall-through&quot;&gt;How to be safe on lake and river ice and what should I do when I fall through?&lt;/a&gt;) on the topic. However I'd be interested to know what to look for (from a topographic perspective) as to where should I expect better odds of finding a good crossing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 - When looking at a topographic map, what clues (variations in widths, winding or not, upstream or downstream, etc) may help find a route that is likely to provide better crossings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 - In a typical winter, with average temparature for the region (or a comparable region), what are my odds of finding solidly frozen lakes (I am not too worried about those) and finding decently frozen rivers crossings? The Moisie river would be a good example to start from (because it's well-known and a large river)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T23:02:42.877" Title="Long term autonomous winter expedition northern Quebec/Labrador: Advices/questions" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2016-12-09T01:43:37.467" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting topic. For what it's worth (lots of interesting comments above already):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I am winter camping, I'll usually boil all or most of my water for the next day in the evening (so I don't have to take out my stove in the morning, hence I can unpack faster, though that means cold breakfast). I usually keep it in my sleeping back (something like 3-4 liters). If it's really cold out, I wrap the bottle inside light clothes. If it's relatively warm, I wrap it in lots of cloths. This way it helps be keep warm thrue the night without making me sweat. Or you can wrap it in cloths, &amp;amp; then in you backpack. It'll be luckwarm in the morning/slightly warm still. If it's likely to be super cold the next morning, then I don't prepare all the water so that I have boiling water when I leave. user proper Nalgene bottles for that though - you don't want to roll over a PET bottle and have it explode in your bag in the middle of the night...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don't think it necessary at all the get insulated anything just for the purpose of keeping water warm. Insulation is bulky and it's yet more stuff to carry. You can achieve the same by wrapping it in clothes &amp;amp; putting it in your backpack close to your back (e.g. not at the end, and not at the very bottom either - ideally mid-way). I usually keep one/two bottles closer to the middle of my back (warmer). Their goal is to stay unfroze all day. Then I have one closer to the top for easier access (but not at the very top of the bag, it'll freeze fast there). It's a bit of a hassle to wrap/unwrap the bottle every time but you save weight &amp;amp; space.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm skeptical about the alcool addition trick. It's a diuretic, meaning you'll retain less body fluid, and it's a vaso dilatator, so you're loosing more heat. If the amount needed is really, really small, I guess it doesn't have much of an effect, but not that loss of fluid &amp;amp; loss of heat will start way before you're drunk, so you may not need a big amount for it to be an overall bad idea. I think you can achieve much the same with sugar/salt/powdered juices. A little bit will slow down freezing, and it will also help for energy/electrolytes (and it tastes good).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also not necessarily a fan of the in-the-coat trick. Not so comfortable, likely to make you sweat which is bad....&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T01:43:37.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="56" CreationDate="2016-12-09T02:09:32.863" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this could make a good community wiki. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few things not mentioned (unless I missed) more specifically for sleeping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you're hydrated. Sounds dumb because it's cold and you don't feel like dehydration is an issue, but it really is (cold air sucks moisture out of you while breathing, it's cold so you don't feel like drinking potentially cold water, etc). So drink all day, regualarly. When you get in camp, make a point of keeping on drinking. You don't want to gulp 2 litres of water before going to bed (because you'll have to get up to pee soon enough), but you must be hydrated before you go to sleep otherwise you'll have a hard time keeping warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter - if you're tent camping, pack snow under your site before you set it up. PIck a less windy spot and/or make small snow walls around to minimize wind gusts. You can also (if it's not a super traveled/protected forest) put spruce/fir branches under you tent. Pruning lower branches of a tree isn't actually that bad for the tree if you don't over-do it on any single tree (in fact, the lower branches of taller trees are the next one to die naturally). That'll give you an addtional layer of insulation, plus will prevent melting snow from seeping moisture thrue the bottom of your tent (in case you're like me and use 3-seasons tents in winter).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat - as mentionned eat well, but also make sure to have fat/meats (takes longer to digest).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boil water just before going to bed. Wrap it in clothes, make sure it's well closed (and not a cheap PET bottle, use a good nalgene-style) and put it in your sleeping bag. You don't want it to feel TOO hot (you'll sweat), but it'll give you a boost thrue the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleep with your head cover on. It really chances everything.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T02:09:32.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14533" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14534" CreationDate="2016-12-09T16:10:46.333" Score="33" ViewCount="99295" Body="&lt;p&gt;After watching this video of a man &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/FIRT7lf8byw?t=31&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;punching a kangaroo&lt;/a&gt; to rescue his dog, I am wondering how dangerous a kangaroo is to a human on foot? I am sure that there are a lot of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/australias-dangerous-animals-the-top-30/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;other things&lt;/a&gt; in Australia that are dangerous as well, but are kangaroos something that a person would need to worry about?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T05:27:59.393" LastActivityDate="2021-02-06T05:17:32.280" Title="How dangerous are kangaroos?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2016-12-09T17:47:24.640" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking wildlife should not be harassed by humans, but left alone. Bites can infect you with unwanted bacteria and require stitches in a hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large animals should always be left alone because they could be possibly cause people harm. Amongst this group are kangaroos which are to be considered a real possible danger to people, especially if cornered or somehow feel threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their hind legs can disembowel opponents such as other kangaroos or other animals so they should be considered dangerous to people on foot, especially if they are approaching the animal too closely or scare it by accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People should not approach kangaroos on foot but stay away from them as for the same of other large wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Male kangaroos &quot;box&quot;, either in play, when asserting their dominance or in serious competition over females. The punching of the front legs is pretty harmless, but the powerful hind legs with their long sharp toenails are a dangerous weapon. &lt;strong&gt;Kangaroos can disembowel opponents&lt;/strong&gt;, be it other kangaroos or predators like dogs.- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/kangaroo-facts.html&quot;&gt;Kangaroo Facts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oYR4D.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oYR4D.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Kangaroo Sign&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="182" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T21:41:30.500" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T21:41:30.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2016-12-09T20:11:01.803" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kangaroos can be very dangerous to men. It's never a good idea to approach them and we should always exercise caution when in the vicinity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they don't go looking for people to attack. They're herbivores, meaning they only eat vegetation, so even if they kill a person, they don't eat it. They have very little incentive to start a fight with a human, and are most aggressive under two conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kangaroos live in large family groups called mobs. During courtship, the males will fight for &quot;ownership&quot; of the female. They will kick, bite, box with their front feet, and exhibit other aggressive behaviors towards each other. If we insert ourselves into the mix, they can be as aggressive with us as any other threat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Female kangaroos carrying a baby, called a joey, in their pouch, or keeping an eye over one who's learning to live outside the pouch, are very protective, and can be aggressive. Depending on the species, the joey lives in the pouch for a few months or longer before we can even see it, so we don't realize that's what she's doing.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said, we should always give a kangaroo as much space as possible. However, if you're already fairly close when you come upon it, there are things you should do to avoid being hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't walk towards it, especially quickly.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it moves toward you, or shows signs of being aggressive, move away, but don't run. It may think you're another kangaroo and give chase, especially during the two conditions I described above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To move away safely, turn with your side facing the animal and slowly walk away. You can also crouch down with your back facing him and slowly slink/crawl away; or drop to the ground and roll away. All of these actions are considered non-confrontational so the kangaroo will lose interest in you.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kangaroos can't walk backwards, so if you end up behind one, move quietly away, obviously keeping a close eye in case it turns around. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't reach your arms out as if to give it a hug (something I always want to do with whatever animal I encounter!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't exhibit any aggressive behavior. Goading it on is asking for trouble. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't stare it down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't feed it. Kangaroos are becoming more common in back yards. Co-existence can be peaceful, but shouldn't be encouraged. Also, as I said, they only eat vegetation, and even well-intentioned people may give them meat scraps which over time can actually make them sick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a dog with you, be extra careful to avoid areas where kangaroos congregate. There's a predator/prey relationship there, and the kangaroo is likely to see the dog as a threat and lash out rather violently. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-20T04:39:50.397" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T04:39:50.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14536" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14537" CreationDate="2016-12-09T21:24:33.533" Score="5" ViewCount="1842" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to purchase a small sailboat, and want to know if my girlfriend and I could lift the bare hull minus rigging to cartop it.  Specs variously list the displacement or the &quot;hull weight&quot;.  I'm not sure if the &quot;hull weight&quot; includes the rigging, mast, sail(s), etc.  All that stuff will probably weigh 20-30lbs, and lifting a 90lb hull vs lifting a 120lb hull will make a world of difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11832" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-10T03:25:27.477" LastActivityDate="2016-12-10T03:25:27.477" Title="What does &quot;hull weight&quot; include?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14536" CreationDate="2016-12-09T21:37:46.260" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The original meaning was the weight of the water displaced by the hull, but typically the hull weight is used to mean just the weight of the hull - minus fittings etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully that helps solve your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-12-09T21:37:46.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2016-12-09T22:14:47.010" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Potentially, &lt;strong&gt;very dangerous.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kangaroos can be big (largest confirmed stood 2.1 m (6'10&quot;) tall and weighed 91 kg (201 lb)!), they're strong, they have killer claws that they will use to try and gouge the eyes out of opponents, and an even larger claw on the end of their powerful feet that can easily disembowel someone with a kick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When kangaroos fight, they will support themselves on their tails and kick with both feet. You do not want to be on the receiving end of a kick from an animal that can run up to 70km/h. Especially if that animals foot looks more like spear than a foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;amp;ion=1&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=roger%20the%20kangaroo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roger the Kangaroo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hLluR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hLluR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YEgSz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YEgSz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TX2V2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TX2V2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part they are a pretty docile creature, and will typically leave you alone, and won't attack unless they feel threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the wild, kangaroos are hunted by dingos, witch don't look much different than a typical pet dog. The kangaroo in the video obviously felt threatened, and thought the dog was on the hunt (which it was, but for something else) so the Kangaroo was acting defensively. The man in the video risked his own life to try and save his dog, the punch probably wasn't planned, but the kangaroo was lining up for a fight with another biped, one kick and that guy could have been dead, fortunately for him, the punch confused the kangaroo long enough for him and his dog to get away. The kangaroo got the memo that neither animal wanted a fight, so he took off in the other direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kangaroo attacks are rare, only a small handful result in injury each year, compared to the thousands of other annual animal attacks in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing you can do around a kangaroo is treat it like any other wild animal, never approach them, keep your distance, and let them know you're there long before you get too close. Also bear in mind that Kangaroos are one of the fasted land animals on the planet, they can easily cover 25ft (8m) in a single leap. So perhaps stand a bit further back than what you might initially think is a safe distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T22:28:50.623" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T22:28:50.623" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14536" CreationDate="2016-12-10T01:46:31.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Rory states in his answer, hull weight is just the hull.  But you need not worry, the mast, rudder, center board, sail, etc. Are usually loaded separately from the hull of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small two person sail boats, around 100 pound. All the parts except for a couple pieces of hardware come off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The mast slides in and out of a mounting well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sail and spars either come loose, or fold up with the mast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The center board (keel) slides in and out through a hole in the top (centreboard trunk)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rudder clips on and off (it should also fold up, but not all do)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rigging is some rope (line) that generally winds around the sail and spars for travel/storage. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they don't come off, keep looking. The added weight would be the least of your issues. Generally the bare boat is carried to shore, the mast and sail are mounted at the waters edge, the rudder is mounted and folded up.  Once you have pushed off from shore the center board and rudder are lowered.  Anything else would be a huge headache to try and maneuver. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also want to consider a community sailing class.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://morainesailingclub.org/asp/net/new/Learn_To_Sail.aspx&quot;&gt;Local clubs often offer them for a vary reasonable price.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2016-12-10T01:46:31.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14540" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-10T02:05:07.597" Score="-1" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read a couple of sites that say that trailrunners are great for hiking, as they have good traction and are lighter than boots. Would they also work well if you're clambering down or up steep rocky trails? Overall what are their advantages and disadvantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-10T10:04:26.423" LastActivityDate="2016-12-10T12:07:05.163" Title="Trailrunners for hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-12-10T12:25:59.857" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14540" CreationDate="2016-12-10T12:07:05.163" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the major questions asked on the many camino de santiago fora and groups are on shoes.&#xA;And the answers are usually subjective. One or the other isn't usually better but often more liked by one or another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before my first 'pilgrimage tour', which I didn't thought of as a pilgrimage;-) I had bought walking boots and trailrunning shoes. &#xA;Decided to take the trailrunners with me.&#xA;And for sure the sandals, like to walk on sandals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They performed great, many hundreds of kilometers. And after this tour I walked several more, always on trailrunners or sandals, thousands of kilometers.&#xA;Sometimes with goretex ones, but these will dry not that fast and have extra layer which prevents breathability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In future walks I'll use the same combination. &#xA;But, as said before, it's just my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11841" LastActivityDate="2016-12-10T12:07:05.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2016-12-10T14:29:36.720" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having grown up on a farm in Western Australia which is inhabited with kangaroos I have never thought of kangaroos as a danger to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience kangaroos are afraid of humans (unless raised as a pet - yes we had a pet kangaroo as a kid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In saying that there does seem to be a number of reports of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazingaustralia.com.au/animals/kangaroo_attacks.htm&quot;&gt;kangaroo attacks&lt;/a&gt; on the web. Many of these involve dogs. It looks like there has only ever been &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#Interaction_with_humans&quot;&gt;one recorded death&lt;/a&gt; in 1936.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Male kangaroos or &quot;boomers&quot; are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCcLMNcWZOc&quot;&gt;known to fight&lt;/a&gt;, however this is usually only amongst themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are also probably less of a risk in farm areas where they are often culled and hence more afraid of humans - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/plants-and-animals/animals/kangaroo-management-in-western-australia&quot;&gt;An open season has existed for landholders to shoot (most) kangaroos in most areas of WA&lt;/a&gt; since 1988.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe the biggest treat to people from a kangaroo is having them jump onto the road while driving and people &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/trapped-in-her-car-after-rolling-over-deborah-mcknights-three-days-of-hell/news-story/e13ba5239f6b3303b8982f2491bb4987&quot;&gt;swerving to avoid them and rolling the car over&lt;/a&gt;/hitting a tree etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in light of the above my advice is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep dogs on a leash when around kangaroos or at least don't let them approach them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid male kangaroos (Boomers).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid cornering them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid driving at dawn and dusk when kangaroos are most active.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise (personally) I've never had an issue approaching a kangaroo/being around them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11842" LastEditorUserId="11842" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T09:57:06.617" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T09:57:06.617" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="908" CreationDate="2016-12-11T11:23:09.360" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The density (weight) affects ballistics.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Less dense shot will slow down at a faster rate.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lead is a relatively cheap high density metal but is has negative health consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tungsten is dense but it is expensive.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steel is commonly used now and is less dense than lead.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind resistance is only dependent on size and velocity.  A heavier shot has more inertia so the same wind resistance will slow it less.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;the equation is drag = mass * acceleration&lt;br&gt;&#xA;acceleration = drag / mass  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lead is also relatively soft.  There is concern gun barrels designed for lead may be scratched by steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T14:20:23.803" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T14:20:23.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14544" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14545" CreationDate="2016-12-11T16:14:33.040" Score="10" ViewCount="1014" Body="&lt;p&gt;I enjoy hiking but I don't give away some gadgets like flashlight (if hiking at night) and a smartphone for the GPS. I recently took a long hike that went well into the night (about 18 hours hiking straight, with a few rest stops) and found that my hand crank flashlight and USB charger are quite cumbersome to be driven while walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you know if there is any device that would draw power from other body movement that would have enough power for a flashlight and a USB charger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11850" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:56:20.410" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T14:25:38.800" Title="Are there human powered generators that draw power from body movement?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14544" CreationDate="2016-12-11T16:57:57.740" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was a kickstarter for shoe soles that can charge a battery.  The company is called SolePower.  They ran a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/764467377/solepower-power-by-walking-0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;kickstarter&quot;&gt;Kickstarter&lt;/a&gt; and were successful.  I have not followed the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solepowertech.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;company&lt;/a&gt; myself, but they do seem to have progressed since the kickstarter days.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a short summary, your walking will charge a battery bank attached to your ankle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not trying to re-purpose how you hike, but these are my thoughts on meeting your requirements.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase an LED headlamp that utilizes one AA battery. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase a package of 2 Sanyo Eneloop batteries with their USB charger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase these soles (when available, if not already).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You wouldn't have to carry anything anymore really.. an extra AA, your phone and a USB cable for you phone. Battery strapped to your ankle, lamp on your head.. sorry, ran off topic a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solepowertech.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SolePower&lt;/a&gt; soles and shoes are what I came across a while ago when I was doing my research.  (I ended up getting a BioLite for camping :D)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="80" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T17:04:07.690" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T17:04:07.690" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14544" CreationDate="2016-12-11T18:48:08.477" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I get the stated question is generate power  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you are just looking for power a battery is very weight effective.  One AA battery is only 0.8 ounce.   A pair (1.6 oz) on low power will last about 4 hours.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The SolePower is a cool product and good answer but all set up it is about 24 oz without batteries.  Add in 2 sets of batteries 27 oz.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would need to hike 4 hours into the night for 16 nights for the charger to be weight effective.  Even an endurance trekker cannot hike 4 hours into the night for 6 nights let alone 16 nights.  On top of that it is your energy charging the battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-11T18:48:08.477" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14557" CreationDate="2016-12-11T19:03:46.880" Score="7" ViewCount="644" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have experience in climbing limestone and sandstone. These rocks feel rough - you get much traction (especially with sandstone) and can use it to your advantage when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the feeling of artificial holds is the same - they are roughened on purpose to match natural rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I heard that granite is different (I have no experience in technical granite climbing) - the holds feel slippery and require adjustment in technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there dedicated climbing holds for simulating the feeling of granite?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do climbing gyms (bouldering/roped) use holds whose texture matches local rocks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-11T19:33:23.773" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T17:06:52.957" Title="Are there artificial climbing holds that feel like granite?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13607" CreationDate="2016-12-12T00:53:40.787" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen a number of people llama packing in black bear territory in the Sierras. Typically the llamas are hobbled or tied to a line; they can still kick and spit, and they can make noise. Most bears are afraid of humans and domestic animals; the ones that aren't rapidly get shot and/or relocated. Even so, a bear would certainly prefer a poorly guarded gorp cache (or the feed of the llama) to a large angry domestic animal, so, in practice, it isn't necessary to take special precautions for llamas, or horses for that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain lions may be a different case, but I haven't seen too many llama packers in mountain lion territory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T00:53:40.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14552" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14564" CreationDate="2016-12-12T10:46:06.447" Score="12" ViewCount="7305" Body="&lt;p&gt;My fiance and I are planning our first backpacking trip together. I am an experienced backpacker, so I can handle most questions he has and I already have most of the gear that we'll need. However, he wears contacts and is worried about losing contacts and keeping his contacts from freezing. He is very near sighted and has astigmatism. I have never worn contacts or glasses so I'm not sure how to deal with this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Issues: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+Our backpacking trip must occur in spring or fall due to his job, and will probably occur in places where snow and cold temps are possible if not likely. I read that contact solution freezes at 28 °F (-2°C).  I have been out spring backpacking in single-digit temps °F (-18–-12°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+His glasses no longer fit his prescription. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+We're a little broke, so buying new glasses ($400! per pair!) or a different type of contact lens is not really doable for us. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+Leaving contacts in overnight is something he will not do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To handle the losing contacts issue, I am planning on having him bring at least 2 spare pairs of contact lenses (and if he loses 2 contacts, we'll bail). To handle cleanliness issues, I have ordered hand wipes and we'll bring at least two travel bottles of contact solution. So my question is how to keep contacts in the contact case from freezing in cold temps? (Also, any contact-wearing backpackers have any additional tips for backpacking with contacts?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9827" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T12:51:19.640" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T01:58:08.750" Title="How to keep contact lenses from freezing during backpacking in cold temps?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14552" CreationDate="2016-12-12T12:43:26.743" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just sleep with the solution in your sleeping bag. Same with drinking water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day you may need to carry it next to your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T13:30:11.570" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T13:30:11.570" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14547" CreationDate="2016-12-12T13:49:08.163" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;With regards to climbing granite, my experience is in western Canada (Skaha, near Penticton BC) and Bishop (California, bouldering spot), Squamish in BC and a few routes on an outcrop near my hometown (NOT an international destination). I've never been to Yosemite, possibly the main NA icon in terms of granite climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, though the rock in all those places is granite, it doesn't exactly feel the same. I would not describe the climbing as slippery - in pure terms of adherence, it felt comparable to some limestone &amp;amp; sandstone climbs I did. In fact, very popular routes especially on limestone can become quite polished (or water-polished if exposed to drips/running water), almost like glass, while other routes are cheese graders. In places like Greece, where you have a lot of &lt;a href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_8lLbRbpcM/Vo0atf2i1UI/AAAAAAAAOkg/NaCO-l8AJOY/s1600/_MG_8214.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tufa climbing&lt;/a&gt;, the tufas themselves are quite polished as well (not due to traffic - that's just the texture they tend to come into). How adherent granite is probably depends on its grain size which will vary depending on the conditions in which the rock was formed, within some limits as otherwise it will not be classified as granite. All in all, while I would agree that granite in terms of adherence tends to be in the lower end of the possible range for limestone/sandstone, it isn't in my experience a world of difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main thing about granite is that it tends not to be quite as featured as other types of rocks. Granite tends to have more monolithic faces, with cleaner breaks between the rocks (because it is a very strong type of rock, which doesn't break easily). This tends to yield fewer features to climb on, since those features need to be either gas pockets or smaller chunks of rocks that broke off - neither of which are as likely with granite. Most commonly, granite seems to produce slabs &amp;amp; faces. It's hard to find overhanging granite. When you do, it's usually a block that broke off, and the only holds you're likely to find is a big running crack (as opposed to say Red River Kentucky, with huge pockets, or Kalymnos in Greece, with pockets &amp;amp; stalactites).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure what your climbing references are - but if you've been to Red River (Kentucky), you may be familiar with very featured sandstone, huge pockets, big slopes and varying angles in a single climb. This is not necessarily universal to all sandstone - if you take Indian Creek (the huge &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=images&amp;amp;cd=&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjglfaE3u7QAhVKiFQKHYnnCRcQjRwIBw&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fnoblefoto.photoshelter.com%2Fimage%2FI0000GgCvoXCZ3Hc&amp;amp;psig=AFQjCNFXUi9PXhwXzaxsXytbXOxMjnmimg&amp;amp;ust=1481634820701742&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;straight cracks mecca&lt;/a&gt;), this is sandstone as well, though how the rock presents itself (with long straight face) is more reminiscent of granite than most sandstone I've seen elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do have a few sets of holds &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.e-grips.com/c-23-granite.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;like those&lt;/a&gt; at my local gym - but quite frankly I had not stopped much to notice the difference. Also the manufacturer claims it is granite-like, but frankly to me they are plastic-like! To me the main thing that differentiate indoors with granite isn't so much the texture, it's more that indoors all the holds (unless they have some of those in cuts) are poking out - not happening all that often with granite. You also don't have a lot of cracks running indoors, which is a lot of the holds you're likely to have climbing granite. Most gyms I went to also tend to have thing for overhangs, and fewer face climbs (while granite is also the opposite).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Also when climbing indoor, the wall texture itself (e.g. excluding any holds) is what contributes most to how closely it approximates outdoor rocks. In most gym I have tried, especially if they are not recently opened (less than few years, depending on traffic), I would say the texture of the wall itself for adherance is also on the lower end of what outdoor rocks tend to offer. E.g. I usually find plastering a foot on no particular holds easier on actual rock than indoor. Regardless of whether we're talking about granite, sandstone or limestone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastEditorUserId="11830" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T15:39:12.927" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T15:39:12.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14552" CreationDate="2016-12-12T14:21:55.810" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know where you live, but you can buy cheap glasses online and I'm sure a lot of the sites have international delivery. &#xA;I too have astigmatism and I can get extended wear contact lenses (6 days) for under €30 (that's the price for 2 x 3 extended wear monthlies). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to put your contact lens solution in the freezer and check its temperature in regular intervals to see what temperature it freezes. It might not freeze in -18°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also make sure that you bring non-scented anti-bacterial wipes (avoid baby wipes for contact lenses), so he can properly clean his hands before he puts his contact lenses in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11859" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T14:21:55.810" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2016-12-12T14:25:29.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This rule of thumb has not worked for me but here is what worked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get several opinions from people who already done the same exact trail.&#xA;It is better to know these people, so you can compare their physical condition with yours(or your group's)&#xA;You can also check out on writings about the trail, in books, or the net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I take into account the worst case scenario of all the above.&#xA;And then I add one more hour. &#xA;This will define how many hours the hike is going to take. Many times it has become true.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;People are usually optimistic in their estimation of the timeframes, AND/OR my group is too slow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My group is going several hikes during the year, and we seldom do the same hike twice. We are mostly going to trails were none of us has been before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is better to be calculate on the worst case scenario.&#xA;If you have to look for the trail, and start searching around, do not spend to much time. Better to check the time and your GPS position frequently.&#xA;If there is doubt, then immediately decide to go back. If you stop to think, then time flies fast and the sun is coming down (BAD!)  That is not a good time to find an alternate trail. Better to go back the trail and return safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11861" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T14:25:29.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14547" CreationDate="2016-12-12T17:06:52.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a handful of manufacturers that make climbing holds from granite. My recollection is that Petrogrips used to make 30 cm x 30 cm panels of granite with various features cut into them. I cannot find them online, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adventurehardware.com/equipment/climbingwall.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt; sells some real granite holds by Petrogrips. There is also &lt;a href=&quot;http://natureclimbing.com/en/produkt/climbing-holds-x-large/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nature Climbing&lt;/a&gt; which makes holds out of granite. You can also make your own homemade holds: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camp4.com/make-climbing-holds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.camp4.com/make-climbing-holds/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T17:06:52.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8297" CreationDate="2016-12-12T17:41:40.253" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freeze a 24 oz can. It will bulge out.  Put it in a freezer bag.  Pack it in the middle of your sleeping bag.  Wrap your sleeping bag with your insulated pad.  Throw all of that in the freezer for 2-4 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T17:41:40.253" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14559" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14560" CreationDate="2016-12-12T18:12:34.823" Score="10" ViewCount="552" Body="&lt;p&gt;I buy my rock climbing hardware in America and it all comes labeled with &lt;a href=&quot;https://theuiaa.org/safety-standards/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA ratings&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://theuiaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/uiaa-safety-standards-1300x600-1-300x138.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;UIAA rating pic&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ratings make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My gear has met mythological engineering standards. They have been blessed by Officials Who Know Things. A real, live person tested this carabiner, and it passed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Great.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But is any of that actually true? Is each cam, stopper, and carabiner individually tested? Or is it more of an &quot;engineering standard&quot; applied to the design of the gear? What do the UIAA markings on my climbing hardware really &lt;em&gt;mean&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="767" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T09:42:48.860" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T21:09:05.587" Title="What do the UIAA markings on rock climbing gear mean?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14559" CreationDate="2016-12-12T19:11:29.823" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm answering here because I don't think it would fit as a comment but I believe others might have a better answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is each cam, stopper, and carabiner individually tested?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe. It will depend on the manufacturer. Usually a few samples from a batch go through tests. That's why when you hear about recall, they know which batch to recall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/CA/en/Professional/video/Petzl-is-committed-to-product-quality-and-reliability-#.WE7xvvl96Uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is kind of an example (as it's made for the public) of how Petzel run some QA. They make a few pieces, pick some randomly and throw in the test machines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means that, somewhere up the stream they made your rope together with another 10 (100, 1000 ?!?) ropes, picked a few of them and put on a stress machine and stretched until they broke. They checked how much they needed to break the rope and give a tick of pass or not pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they all passed, they take the batch as a good and give them the warm and fuzzy seal of approval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they don't pass they will take that whole batch aside and check what's wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's roughly the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What do the UIAA markings on my climbing hardware really mean?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UIAA markings are the minimum requirements for the gear to get the warm fuzzy UIAA seal of approval from the &lt;em&gt;Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinism (International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manufacturer would have a number of tests to match the UIAA (in this case) requirements. Other manufacturers might want other seals and have extra/other sets of requirements for that too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when they pick some samples and run tests, these tests are to match the UIAA seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few points about QA and certifications&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Smaller the number of pieces in a batch, better the QA control. It's easier to have a better quality gear if two in a batch of 10 pass then if 10 in a batch of 100 and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The better brand is not the one the gear doesn't break. It's the one the gear break the least. If 1 piece in 10 breaks is better than 6 in 10. So we just hope we don't get that faulty one. :) (Of course I'm exaggerating here a bit to emphasize my point. Climbing gear has a very high quality standard and I would expect more like 1 in thousands for the crap brand really).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T20:56:45.743" LastActivityDate="2016-12-12T20:56:45.743" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8297" CreationDate="2016-12-12T20:05:31.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is just a day hike, not an extended backpacking trip?  Then use a good cooler with dry ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elaboration: Dry ice is colder than water ice (-78°C vs 0°C), and thus in a well-insulated cooler should keep anything cold longer.  It also has the advantage of sublimating instead of melting, so your load would become progressively lighter.  Of course you would probably need to practice a bit to figure out just how much dry ice to use so that you don't wind up with your beer still frozen solid at the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OTOH, if it's a day hike, I would leave the drinks &amp;amp; food at the trailhead/camp site.  I've had no problem using regular ice for several days of cold food &amp;amp; drink when for instance camping with the horses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could get a solar electric cooler for use at the trailhead/camp site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5454" LastEditorUserId="5454" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T04:34:45.253" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T04:34:45.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14562" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14563" CreationDate="2016-12-12T21:35:28.433" Score="3" ViewCount="1460" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once I saw a winter jacket of my roommate with some lining under it. This lining absorbed almost all his sweat, besides logo on his shirt. I searched for it, but cannot find any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How this linings called? What technologies/cloth used in it. Can I buy some without jacket? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering, because I also have a little bit sweating problem. I walk fast and because of it I sweat a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11867" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-12T21:46:17.657" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T10:57:54.803" Title="What are anti-sweat technologies in winter jackets called?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14562" CreationDate="2016-12-12T23:46:24.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the comments, it seems that you are looking for some sort of fabric that has &lt;a href=&quot;http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/men/sweating-odor/clothing-materials-reduce-sweating.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;moisture wicking&lt;/a&gt; capabilities.  There are several fabrics that have this desirable trait.  Many of them are synthetic blends, and modern chemical engineering is constantly improving the state-of-the-art in moisture wicking fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the other part of your question, the answer is definitely yes.  You can get practically any garment- underwear, socks, hats, shirts, pants, shirts, jackets, ... - made using one of these fabrics.  The price points are typically higher than standard fabrics, but some are reasonable as well.  From here, I'll leave it to you to shop for exactly what you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: As an after-thought, note that there is a difference between absorbing and wicking.  A fabric that absorbs pulls sweat &lt;strong&gt;into&lt;/strong&gt; itself, and holds it.  A fabric that wicks pulls sweat &lt;strong&gt;through&lt;/strong&gt; itself, from wetter areas to drier areas.  Absorbing is usually bad- it leaves you feeling wet and sticky.  In cold times, that wetness degrades any insulating properties of the fabric, and it hot times it slows evaporation, negating your body's natural attempt to cool itself through sweating.  Wicking is preferred, as it moves the sweat away from the body and allows it to evaporate on the outer surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T13:10:16.640" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T13:10:16.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14552" CreationDate="2016-12-13T00:23:47.443" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;HTH all of y'all .. I've learned it all the hard way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address a few of the points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your fiance is ABSOLUTELY correct to not wear them overnight, can get eye pits, etc.  not fun.  painful, no vision.  been there done that, refuse to do again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the prescription it sounds like I'm in about the same boat. even with insurance i paid $300 for new glasses recently.  TAKE THE GLASSES as a fail safe.  the contacts are more do-able, with some preparation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The nalgene purified water will work .. to a point.  it isn't the same salinity as what is in your eyes, so it feels off, and will be irritating to his eyes.  not so great for enjoying the natural beauty of rugged land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yes contacts can be had for relatively inexpensive compared to glasses, but still require a recent prescription.  And once you're in severe astigmatism territory, it doesn't save THAT much.  Not everyone has YOUR prescription, some folks are worse off (and some are better), but I guarantee the farther the prescription is from 20/20 .. the MORE it costs.  Having the same trait is not equal to having it in the same severity.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get some hand heaters, like for gloves, or shoes .. they should last 4-6 hours .. grab the 8hr if you can find them .. and they only cost a few dollars. Those will keep the solution warm enough to not freeze for the time period those temps would occur. They can also be used to melt out ice should it form pretty quickly (they get TOASTY hot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't find those, as listed above, put the storage case in your sleeping bag. To warm it up QUICK, best to use the heaters above, or use armpits. warmest place on the body outside of the groin. Regardless, when storing: INSULATE.  find some thermal wrap (like the tinfoil lined stuff) or layer tinfoil and paper with felt or cloth (and repeat a few times) as an insulator, and wrap it all around the saline bottle, with the hand heater in between.  The more wraps, the better insulation, the longer it lasts in colder temps.  That takes care of the cleaning component.  The bigger thing is the storage case that they sit in overnight.  Would not want to try and chip them out of ice blocks in the case in the AM.. but if that happens wear glasses for a few hours until it warms up.  same thing though, since that is usually smaller than the saline bottle (and if you're going for up to a week one of the small bottles (4-6 oz) is FINE.  don't haul more than you need.  You'rr talking about 5-10 drops to rinse when removing from storage and putting in the eyes.  so call it 30 drops a day, allowing for some spillage.  Once in the eyes, natural body temp will keep them from freezing.  No worries there. I've skiid/hiked in sub zero with contacts in and they are WAAY better than glasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11869" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T01:58:08.750" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T01:58:08.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14565" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-13T01:18:25.400" Score="16" ViewCount="1336" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since it's the season coming up for many (and snow seems to be in the game this year in eastern NA at least).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the best/optimal strategy with regards to breathing holes for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinzhee&quot;&gt;quinzee&lt;/a&gt; (shelter made of snow)? Elements to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let us think of something to be used as a base camp for autonomous outdoor expedition. Therefore the answer should take into account that there is a need to not over-do it and waste precious heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety is of course an issue and it shouldn't be a gamble&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should be a polyvalent answer and take account different circumstances (snow/drift potentially patching, number of people/size etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assume the entrance is mostly blocked (snow block/backpack).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T03:54:53.430" LastActivityDate="2016-12-14T16:38:38.697" Title="What is the best breathing holes strategy for a quinzee?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14565" CreationDate="2016-12-13T03:38:48.683" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm somewhat of a claustrophobic sleeper when it comes to quinzhees, so I'm very particular about my ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much ventilation you need is proportionate to the size of your quinzhee, and how many people are sleeping in it. Larger quinzhees need less ventilation than smaller ones, and more people obviously require more ventilation than fewer people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will typically put the ventilation hole near my head, so I can sleep with a steady supply of fresh air on my face, with multiple people in a single quinzhee, you could give everyone their own breathing hole and you'd be rather well ventilated, at the very least you need to have a minimum of two holes, so you can have some air flow, but obviously you don't want to make your holes so big that they let in a draft, the size of your hole can be a matter of personal preference, but it should be about the size of a snorkel, big enough for you to draw in enough air to breath comfortably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To promote good airflow, its best to have one hole higher than the other. If you construct a crude chimney, the air passing over the top will actually draw air in from a lower holes that are placed out of the wind. this keeps the fresh air flowing in through your breather holes, and vents the noxious air out the top. This is particularly useful if you're using candles or burning to heat the inside (also good to vent fumes from whoever brought beans to eat that night...). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the general construction of the quinzhee, if you're piling snow, you want to leave the pile long enough for it to set, a few hours minimum after you pack it down. Use twigs no longer than a foot long (30cm) to mark the wall thickness of your quinzhee, stick them into your pile from the outside, this way when you hollow out the inside, you'll know how thick the walls are when you hit your sticks. How you dig the entrance is critical to keeping the quinzhee warm. the best method I like to use is to keep the top of the entrance below the bottom of the floor. This keeps the inside  warm even when you don't have the entrance blocked, and provides you with a nice cold well for cool air to be displaced to (it's easier to replace the cold air with warm air than it is to try and warm air up). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tip for the sake of your irrational paranoia: smooth the inside of your quinzhee walls when you're done hollowing it out. As the temperature rises due to your body heat while you're all in there sleeping, the inner walls are going to start to glaze, and bits of loose snow will fall off of the ceiling onto your sleeping bag, which of course your brain will try to convince you are signs of an impending cave-in. Another reason to keep your walls thin; if a cave-in does happen, then you'll be able to dig yourself out pretty easy. If you make your walls more than a foot thick, then not only will the weight be potentially too great to get off of yourself, but your screams will go unheard, because quinzhees do just as good a job insulating sound as they do heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I've &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; had one collapse on me, and most you can stand on top of and jump on without breaking after they've set up for a night, supposing you've made them properly with good snow. But I know other people who've been temporarily entombed in their poorly constructed quinzhees, so take the time to do it right, the most important part is letting the snow set for at least a couple hours before you start digging it out, and make sure you hallow it out like an arch. Flat ceilings are almost guaranteed to fall in on you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T15:40:46.247" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T15:40:46.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14567" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-13T05:21:51.420" Score="9" ViewCount="231" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've field dressed a doe at 3 PM in Illinois. Due to bad storm and light, I had to leave it in  the back of a pickup over night (it was about 30-40 degrees outside).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I finally had it at processors around 10 AM. Later on they told me that they could only process half the deer because it wasn't hung. Can this be true? And if yes, why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11870" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-14T00:26:23.143" LastActivityDate="2016-12-14T00:26:23.143" Title="Trustworthyness of a claim that a &quot;not hung&quot; doe can't be completely processed" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14567" CreationDate="2016-12-13T05:57:05.677" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You really shouldn't waste any time after you shoot a deer, how long you wait to dress your deer can affect the taste of the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing that happens after you kill a deer is rigor mortis. Chemical changes in the muscles cause the meat to tense up and the carcass to get stiff. If you want tender meat, you need to wait for rigor mortis to pass before butchering. The best thing to do is hang your deer as soon as possible so rigor mortis can pass, and the meat can purge and age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By leaving your deer laying in your truck, you weighted one side, which meant &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livor_mortis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;it couldn't properly purge all the blood&lt;/a&gt;, and left pressure on the tissues under rigor mortis, likely preventing the muscles from tenderizing. This probably left the meat super tough and gamey on the one side.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your butcher is likely doing you a favour, he knows better than anyone else what meat is worth keeping. It's not that they can't process it, it's that they don't think its worth processing, not for steaks anyway. You could probably still make hamburger, sausages or jerky out of it, but it still might not taste so good. I think butchers are hesitant to process anything they think might taste off. It reflects poorly on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T19:20:32.553" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T19:20:32.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14570" CreationDate="2016-12-13T13:36:31.833" Score="11" ViewCount="334" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any special equipment needed for diving with Nitrox(more than 21% O2)? In Germany there are regulations and laws that say that you can only dive using Nitrox if you have this special equipment. I did my SSI Nitrox diver in Indonesia, where we used the regular equipment. Also, I've nowhere before heard of this special equipment. Does anyone have experience with this special equipment? And if so, what is it exactly and what does it cost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9992" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T20:33:25.420" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T09:12:41.883" Title="Special equipment for Nitrox Dive?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14569" CreationDate="2016-12-13T13:44:54.913" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, and no, it kind of depends on the local laws. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So long as your equipment is covered by your manufacturer guarantee, and you will have to bear in mind as will all diving the &lt;strong&gt;local laws and legislations&lt;/strong&gt; for equipment use in various countries / regions within a country, then it can use a higher FO2 than diving with Air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt; your equipment must be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oxygen Clean*.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use Oxygen Compatible Air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be serviced regularly. (I believe with SSI they're making this more frequent)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Specialist Equipment&lt;/strong&gt; in this sense is where you have separate equipment which does not use regular Air or other mixes. This will be things like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;O rings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cylinders.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regs (first and second stages), etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider this as having a separate breathing system for higher FO2 mixes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases this can be your usual equipment after a service + oxygen cleaning. Cost varies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is covered in the SSI Nitrox 32% and 40% courses (at least as of November 2016 for a certainty as that's when I did this course myself).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*Oxygen cleaning&lt;/strong&gt; is a chemical cleaning, surface preparation service for products intended for use in oxygen. - in short, this is to remove particles etc from your gear, it also means you use &lt;strong&gt;oxygen compatible sealants, chemicals etc on the equipment&lt;/strong&gt; as otherwise friction can cause fire and/or explosions due to the high pressures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2016-12-13T14:09:51.227" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T14:09:51.227" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14567" CreationDate="2016-12-13T17:31:32.543" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The butcher's comments sound completely bunk to me.  Although there may be some difference in overall taste by not keeping your meat vertical with good air circulation, this variable is often out of our control during hunting, and for a short amount of time right after the kill with a dressed animal, the difference will be small, in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your butcher is probably doing what most deer processors do and is going to take your deer, and 12 others, and process them in bulk.  You get back your meat pound-for-pound, but it could be from any of the other 12 animals.  This means your meticulous care of your animal goes completely to waste when you get some idiot's deer that was poorly dressed and poorly cared for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Butchers control for this aggregation a little by trying to reject lower quality animals, and I think that is why they don't want to butcher yours. There may be other factors at play if this a local butcher, such as he is full up and doesn't want to admit it, only wants to process larger animals because his profit is higher, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your doe could have had the supplest of summer succor to savor, and have meat that is so sweet and tender that it makes the best Waygu beef taste like sawdust in comparison, and the slight delay in hanging may have not produced the apex taste of that meat, but it could still be one of the best deer ever.  Or, she could have been subsisting on twigs and bark, and no amount of care will elevate her beyond the grind-and-heavily-spice stage.  I wouldn't think twice about how you handled your deer if it were mine, and I would process her expecting the taste to be much more controlled by her summer diet than your handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do yourself a favor and just process the deer yourself if at all possible.  The results are so much better than the processor, in my opinion, that the ability to process the animal myself is what has kept me big game hunting after some of the other attraction has faded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything you need to know about butchering a deer can be learned from Youtube and reading, but for deer, I would start by identifying the prime cuts (tenders, and backstrap) and cut those out and save for steaks.  Then start cutting high up on the rump.  Cut off a bit, fry it up and try it (maybe a dash of salt to bring out the taste).  If you like it, cut steaks out of that muscle group.  Keep going and soon you will run out of steak.  Grind the rest.  Cut off bits from different parts and do this sampling technique and quickly you will know what you want for steaks, stew, or grind.  Once you do this, you can tell by sight, feel, and smell, even after the meat is off the carcass.  Enjoy the best part of deer hunting, in my opinion, the butchering!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2016-12-13T17:31:32.543" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14565" CreationDate="2016-12-14T16:05:18.247" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have an entrance big enough to get in out it seems to me that would be more than enough ventilation even if it is partially blocked with pack(s). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think how much circulation you get in something the size of a house just by opening the door. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For years in scouts for the winter camp out we would make snow caves and never had vent holes.  Climbing I have dug into a side hill and never made vent holes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I do see references to vent hole(s).  Ventilation and let moist air escape.  For moist air to escape then place a vent hole on the top (at least 2&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want vent(s) then no harm other than a little bit of cold air.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not that dependent on number of people.  As you need to increase the diameter the volume of air increases by the cube.  So you have more air per person in larger quinzee.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally the floor level should be a bit (6&quot;+) higher than the outside to facilitate circulation.  Cold air will settle and flow out. Stand a pack up in the middle. Since you are producing heat there will be natural air circulation.  CO₂ settles but there is enough natural circulation that should not come into play. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow blocks to seal off the floor at the entrance is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; a good idea.  That would trap the cold air.  They could also freeze in place and block exit.  If safety is of course an issue and it shouldn't be a gamble then mostly blocking the entrance is clearly a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Entrance should be down wind but even then wind will create some circulation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a stick or ice axe next to you to poke a hole if it does collapse.  Go for like 12&quot; - 18&quot; wall width.  To much wall width would make a collapse that much more snow on top of you.  Built properly they are pretty strong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-14T16:38:38.697" LastActivityDate="2016-12-14T16:38:38.697" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14579" CreationDate="2016-12-14T18:08:57.883" Score="11" ViewCount="419" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been tying a simple shoelace knot for this, however I'm worried it will eventually become loose and come apart all together - especially when on the outside of the backpack. I am looking for a more appropriate hitch when attaching things to my backpack webbing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close fit (The attached item should not be swinging around)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Secure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fairly quick to release&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/qFqtV2X.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example things to strap onto (in order, monoculars, sunglasses, camera bag)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/sHly5Ty.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11878" LastEditorUserId="11878" LastEditDate="2016-12-15T05:07:33.660" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T05:07:33.660" Title="Best knot (hitch) to backpack webbing" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14576" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14580" CreationDate="2016-12-14T19:35:25.133" Score="25" ViewCount="10209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the convenience of having a backpack when I ski.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last winter one of the lifties at the local ski hill gave me guff about my backpack, claiming that it was unsafe.  I wore the same backpack to different slopes around the Northeast US all winter, and he was the only person to ever say anything about my backpack being unsafe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Is it unsafe to ski or ride the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairlift&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;chair lift&lt;/a&gt; with a backpack?  If so, what are the associated risks?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11504" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-14T20:17:17.387" LastActivityDate="2017-10-28T10:24:54.170" Title="Is it unsafe to ride the chair lift with a backpack?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2016-12-14T20:16:20.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is dangerous as it can hang up and it places you more forward in the chair (slip off).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Lift operators fear packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hip pack is a much better option as there is a gap in the chair for the hip pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ski patrolled with a pack as I carried some rescue gear and would carry skis to areas the lift did not go to.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you get on the lift take it off, clip the hip belt to reduce dangling straps, and wear it backwards.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aK64U.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aK64U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for a climbing pack no external pockets. A pack like this:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iU2Pt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iU2Pt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-12-15T08:08:58.347" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T08:08:58.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2016-12-14T21:28:14.783" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes there are increased risks associated with riding a lift while wearing a pack&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Hangups&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first major risk, mentioned by Paparazzi, is hangups. These occur anytime the pack becomes entangled in the chair. These occur fairly frequently when unloading especially with chair riders unfamiliar with the hazard. The danger is compounded with inattentive lift operators as the likelihood of going &quot;around the wheel&quot; and being exposed to real danger goes up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Slips&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second major risk is a slip off the seat. Since the backpack occupies horizontal space the rider has less area to sit and the riders weight is centered much closer to the lip of the chair. My ski area uses deeper chairs to mitigate the issue. Slips tend to occur mostly during loading. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common time for a generalized slip which does not depend on packs occurs when the bar is moved upwards in anticipation for unloading. This risk for this type of slip increases with the use of a pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Bumps&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Pont pointed out in the comments a pack will push you closer to the swing space of the safety bar. This makes bar strikes more likely if when you aren't paying attention and/or your fellow riders don't provide a warning they are moving the bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Other Considerations&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are increased risks packs also reduce risk. The can provide fall protection, additional warmth, and obviously carry supplies which can reduce risk depending on what you bring and how you use it. While they are a &lt;strong&gt;hassle&lt;/strong&gt; for lift operators, ski areas have not banned them likely because the real risk of injury or death combined with lift operator frustration is far less important than lost skier dollars to those who prefer to carry their lunch, water, avalanche gear etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Source:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;At the ski area I frequented for several years backpacks were common since they were mandated and lightly enforced for the hike-able terrain (which accounted for much of the ski areas draw). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="8922" LastEditDate="2017-01-11T14:45:50.427" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T14:45:50.427" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14575" CreationDate="2016-12-15T00:38:01.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A combination of nylon webbing (i.e., a strap) and a plastic buckle that's both quick to cinch tight or to loosen. They're usually called Accessory Straps or Compression Straps. The strap comes in different widths so make sure it will thread through your backpack straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though they're inexpensive, you can easily make your own if you buy and cut the webbing and buckles separately. Sturdy sewing is needed to attach one end of webbing permanently to the buckle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T00:38:01.123" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2016-12-15T01:32:15.333" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a dash of common sense, and a modicum of skill I'd say packs are safe on a chairlift. One winter I skied over 100 days at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. I wore a pack the vast majority of those days. I never once felt that any of my packs at any time were decreasing my safety or the safety of others on the lift, tram, or gondola.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2069911/your-local-chairlift-death-trap&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;According to Outside Magazine&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chairlift accidents happen, too, but &lt;strong&gt;the greatest dangers on lifts come from inexperienced skiers slipping during loading, or children and distracted riders&lt;/strong&gt; falling to the ground. In December 2014, a woman caught her ski on a support pole at Hunter Mountain in New York and fell to her death. Colorado is one of the few states that require resorts to report injuries resulting from lift falls. In the past five years, 74 people were injured falling from lifts in that state, according to numbers provided to Outside by the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The agency classified three of those as the lift operator’s fault.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notice that they didn't mention, packs.&lt;/strong&gt; I believe this is because most people who wear packs wear them responsibly. Also I think it is worthwhile to consider that in a 5 year period a busy skiing state like Colorado experienced on average ~15 falls annually. This is a very low number considering the thousands upon thousands of trips people take on ski lifts in Colorado annually. For more &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safebee.com/outdoors/how-avoid-ski-lift-accidents&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;concrete numbers&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past 42 years — during which skiers took more than 16.3 billion chairlift rides — only 12 people have been killed, according to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). In fact, &lt;strong&gt;you’re eight times more likely to get hurt riding an elevator than hitching a lift up a mountain&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Some general tips I'd offer are:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't wear a big or bulky pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While seated &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safebee.com/outdoors/how-avoid-ski-lift-accidents&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carry the backpack on your lap&lt;/a&gt;, with only one arm in one strap, and any waist belt unbuckled. This way you can sit fully back in the chair, ensure your pack's straps don't get caught in anything during the ride up, and it is easy to ditch the pack in the unlikely event it gets caught on something.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you feel uncomfortable lower the safety bar. This is a good safety tip regardless if you are carrying a pack or not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't carry a pack until you can get on and off the lift smoothly. If you can't do that then you don't need the extra concern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't carry a pack if you are nervous on chairlifts. If you are already worried then you don't need extra gear to worry about.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you ever feel uncomfortable mid ride you can always hook an arm over the back of the chair lift. That will dramatically reduce your already slim odds of falling off the lift. Once again this can be done if you're wearing a pack or not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow lift operator directions. If the lift operator is giving you instructions that you feel are unreasonable exit the line and bring the issue up with the administrative team at the mountain. If the mountain has a strict no packs policy then evaluate if you want to continue to ski/snowboard there without a pack or take your business elsewhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said at the start I don't think wearing a pack is a big deal. Keep in mind you've already decided it is safe enough to sit on a chair suspended several stories in the air with strangers in possibly windy and icy conditions. Once you've made that decision, wearing a pack responsibly probably isn't going to be the straw that tips this activity into &amp;quot;unsafe&amp;quot; territory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T02:13:52.037" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14581" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-15T04:37:04.547" Score="7" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every time I have slept in a snow cave, I have woken up to a ceiling that was noticeably lower than when I went to sleep. Is there a good rule of thumb for estimating how much lower it will get?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently, its not just me that has noticed this phenomenon. There are stories from &lt;a href=&quot;http://50miler.com/2010/03/sleeping-in-a-cave/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;boy scouts&lt;/a&gt; who estimate the shrink at 10 inches, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blogarama.com/politics-blogs/315521-jokpeme-viral-world-news-entertainment-europeusmiddle-eastukasiaafricalatin-america-blog/3521183-skiers-survive-days-shrinking-cave-under-alaskan-snow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;skiers in Alaska&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.explorersweb.com/tech/news.php?id=1280&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;people in Antartica&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.confused.org/trips/carson-pass-2-99-matt-stanton.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;people in California&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://upicture.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/how-to-dig-a-snow-cave-at-10000-feet-on-the-grand-teton/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbers on the Grand Teton&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-29T04:04:34.857" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T04:04:34.857" Title="How much will the ceiling of a snow cave drop by during the night?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14562" CreationDate="2016-12-15T10:57:54.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;paraphasing slightly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are anti-sweat technologies in winter jackets&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to prevent sweat in a winter jacket is to use a breathable layering system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Base Layer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tight fitting wicking material that sits close to your skin. The layers job is to wick the moisture off your skin ASAP. Several good materials for this depending on your circumstances mostly polyester or wool. &lt;strong&gt;Do not use cotton!&lt;/strong&gt; Cotton does not wick well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Breathable insulation layer(s)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your insulation layers are there to keep you warm. If they get wet though they aren't going to be able to do this effectivly. So once the base layer has removed sweat from your skin it need to get out of your system. Good example of this is a breathable fleece. Multiple layers can be worn depending on how cold it is and you can alter the number of layers depending on how much work your doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Breathable Water proof layer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like GoreTex or it's equivalents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because each layer breaths you don't get wet. The moisture is taken off you skin ASAP and is then slowly released though your layers. It's important to have at least one or two breathable layers next to your skin (if not breathable all the way though) as keeping moisture off your skin will prevent you from getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This lining absorbed almost all his sweat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt it... A person can produce a lot of sweat. It's more likely that the lining wiked it off his skin and it was then released into the atmosphere, as above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T10:57:54.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14581" CreationDate="2016-12-15T15:17:36.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you build it properly this shouldn't happen. If my ceiling sagged overnight I'd assess what I might have done wrong while constructing it, or what I could have done better. Did the pile set properly before I started to hollow it out? Dig I dig the walls too thin? Did I not shape the arch of my ceiling propely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of figuring out how to predict how much sag you're going to have, you should learn how to build a snow shelter without &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; resulting sag whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Selection of snow is your first and most important task. The absolute best snow to build a shelter in is a wind drift that was laid down in a single storm. The crystalline structure of the snow in wind drifts is already broken, and won't settle much if at all when you cut into it and build your shelter. Wind drifts are also a good indicator of where you should build your shelter, because they only form where there's a break in the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Building a cave in fresh snow or at the top of a loose snow pack is not the best thing to do structurally, because the snow is not settled and is full of air.  &lt;strong&gt;It's best to first pack the snow down with your snow shoes and let the snow set a bit before you start digging into it.&lt;/strong&gt; Fluffy snow is great for insulation, but not for structure. The best shelter is one that is built just before a snow, a blanket of fresh fallen snow on top of a solid quinzhee is the type of shelter you could live in for the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an emergency situation you may be forced to forgo proper site selection and dig-in wherever you can. In these situations, where you do not necessarily build your shelter in ideal structural snow, then how much your shelter may shrink will depend on how loose the snow is, so plan on building your shelter a little bigger than necessary if you think you're going to be in it for longer than waiting out a storm, or spending only one night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-15T20:23:24.347" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T20:23:24.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14587" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-15T19:52:44.553" Score="7" ViewCount="3573" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am getting back country skis and was thinking of doing some trips where the hike up is too steep to do on skis. I was wondering what are some good ways of attaching skis to a backpack. I came across &lt;a href=&quot;http://amountainjourney.com/carry-skis-backpack/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; but most of their suggested methods assume going through clear (unwooded) terrain, hence the dominance of the horizontal approach. But it for hiking through woods, vertical might be more convenient as long as it doesn't obstruct leg motion. I also found the below backpack that seems like the ties are positioned to support a vertical carry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uckZcm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uckZcm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for suggestions on what some of the options for carrying skis conveniently are, especially uphill and through thickly wooded areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-18T22:10:02.673" Title="Carrying skis attached to backpack" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14587" CreationDate="2016-12-15T20:08:30.073" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't actually ski or crosscountry but I spend lot of time mountaineering with friends that do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packs with ski straps are for sure the way to go. Once I got asked to help someone with strap skis to her pack as she didn't have a pack with straps. I used a pair of those. I used them to strap my crossbow to my pack when hunting and a few other things. They come in various widths and lengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I own a few myself and have used to strap my crossbow as said, ropes, tents, flyes and ground sheets and I'm sure more creative people could come up with other ideas. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seatosummit.com/product/?item=20%20mm%20Accessory%20Straps%20with%20Hook%20Release&amp;amp;o1=0&amp;amp;o2=0&amp;amp;o3=843&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SeaToSummit Straps with hooks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2016-12-18T22:10:02.673" LastActivityDate="2016-12-18T22:10:02.673" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2016-12-15T22:57:55.050" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many (possibly all) European ski resorts it is mandatory to lower the safety bar in a chair lift. On the chairs I have ridden there is not enough space to sit down while wearing a backpack - I am referring to a backpack that has things in it, such as off-piste gear and a bit of spare clothing. Even if you do not want to lower the safety bar on a European chair you are likely to find your chair companions want it lowered. I have been on chairlifts where someone choose to wear their backpack on the lift, they found that the safety bar could not be lowered because their head or upper body obstructed the bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like large numbers of other chairlift users I always took off my backpack and carried it up held against my chest, or sometimes on the chair beside me if there was space. On one occasion out of many ascents a strap got caught as I left the chair. I had to abandon the bag, but as it was not tied to me I could safely let it go. The bag tripped the safety bar and stopped the chair allowing easy retrieval of my bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11099" LastActivityDate="2016-12-15T22:57:55.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11820" CreationDate="2016-12-16T03:16:11.777" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a S&amp;amp;W Model 19-6 and I fire 130 grain .38SPL ammunition out of the revolver and find that it's easier for me to control the recoil and maintain accuracy at 25+ yards than I can the same grain .357 MAG rounds due to the recoil differences. I feel less confident and even dread using the .357 due to the high pressure rounds and the recoil that accompany said ammo. There are traditionalists that claim you only fire the round marked on the gun because it's &quot;unsafe&quot;, when in reality specialty rounds like the .38 SPL, .44 SPL, and rounds that interchange such as the .223 and 5.56x45 NATO, offer different pros and cons that can make or break the performance of the weapon for certain shooter. The pros of having a rifle chambered in .223 is that the .223 is a high pressure round designed for small to medium game and therefore offers a higher pressure tolerance and feeds and cycles the 5.56 well, if not better than some 5.56 configurations due to gas systems and the like. Same concept for the .38 SPL and .357 MAG, except in revolvers, there is no automatic extraction to remove the cassing before it can expand inside the shell housing, in this case the cylinders. So, in my opinion it's about proper research and weapon handling and performance results that should determine whether or not you should run specific ammunition types in your weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11887" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T03:16:11.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14598" CreationDate="2016-12-16T06:50:21.840" Score="6" ViewCount="253" Body="&lt;p&gt;Believe me or not but I'm currently playing a video game :) It's called &quot;Ark: Survival Evolved&quot;. You've to survive in the wilderness and for example pick up berries to do so. There is a specific species of such which leads to dehydration if eaten (still, it fills up your hunger indicator). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This made me wonder if there are any plants in real life with such characteristics? Would it be worth to eat them if you have enough drinkable water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T20:01:17.053" Title="Are there plants (for instance berries) which lead to dehydration if eaten?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14593" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14594" CreationDate="2016-12-16T08:39:36.647" Score="8" ViewCount="4746" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bite valve on my Osprey water bladder is covered in a black mould. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f4YKK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f4YKK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not very old and this is the second valve I've had on this. It seems to be impossible to remove and seems to grow no matter what I do. Couple of questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is this likely to be a health issue? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have used valves like this for long periods of time before so I&#xA;guess not but would be interested to hear other options&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody have a good way to remove this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good old fashioned elbow grease doesn't seem to shift it (doesn't help that it's very inaccessible), nor does soaking in boiling water or disinfectant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone advise how to prevent this from happening? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it seems to grow no matter what I do, though I admit I'm not very good at drying it out after every use... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:28:12.650" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T15:48:27.933" Title="How can I effectively clean the &quot;bite valve&quot; for my water bladder?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14593" CreationDate="2016-12-16T10:26:40.500" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok so I've not had mine too long but this is what I do - bear in mind I'm not 100% sure what kind of the many moulds that is but I'd say it's probably not pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vinegar &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; kill the mould. Mould stains, but it can actually simply be dead mould and has been treated. Leave it for a few hours and let it just seep into the valve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chlorine based cleaning products, such as the ones you use in bathrooms to remove the mould (kills and removes the stain) &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt;, if you soaked it, remove the stain as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these would taste great (and chlorine isn't brilliant to ingest anyway, especially in the concentrations in household cleaning products), so you can then treat the valve with Bicarbonate of Soda, which you can pick up in any supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We use BiCarb to remove bad smells and the mould you get if you leave a water bottle for too long. I'd actually recommend trying this first to see if it'll clean it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just be wary of chemicals vs the plastic, hence vinegar as an option, as you don't want to damage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try to fully drain and hang up my bladder above a sink to let it drip dry after every single use - even if I plan to use it again the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T10:26:40.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14592" CreationDate="2016-12-16T12:29:21.563" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes most of what you eat consumes water for digestion - nuts, grain, beans, and meat. Most if not all vegetables. Only limited fruits have excess water over digestion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can only hope you have enough water to consume a healthy diet.  This game condition in which you only get water from food is not realistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T12:29:21.563" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14587" CreationDate="2016-12-16T15:00:35.667" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://straightchuter.com/a-frame-vs-diagonal-ski-carry/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; covers the 2 commonly used methods for vertically carrying skis, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The diaganol&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3Xtz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3Xtz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The A Frame&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqGma.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SqGma.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoulder Carry&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One additional method of carry which I'm a fan of but is not strictly a &quot;pack carry&quot; is on your shoulder. This method has some clear disadvantages but it maximizes your ability to balance the skis weight over your feet, it allows alternate positions without taking a pack off and it allows you to proactively move the heaviest weight rather than reactively adjust to the shifting weight on your pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T15:00:35.667" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14593" CreationDate="2016-12-16T17:43:54.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are cleaning tablets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are lax on cleaning / drying that might not be the only mold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They sell a cleaning kit.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ospreypacks.com/us/en/fitting-learning/pack-care&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;instructions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CLEANING WITH THE HYDRAULICS™ CLEANING TABLETS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fill reservoir with warm water, do not use boiling water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Add one cleaning tablet to reservoir.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let dissolve for 5 minutes with the reservoir laying on its back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shake the reservoir for 30 seconds to mix and spread the solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pinch the bite valve and squeeze the reservoir to remove air and fill the reservoir hose and bite valve with solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let reservoir sit for 15 minutes and then pour out solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rinse reservoir and tube with clean water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow directions for Cleaning Your Reservoir below for a deeper clean after these steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CLEANING YOUR RESERVOIR&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rinse out the reservoir and fill with warm water and a mild detergent, do not use Bleach or boiling water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the large brush from our Hydraulics™ Reservoir Cleaning Kit to scrub the interior of the reservoir.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remove the hose from the reservoir and the bite valve from the hose and use the small brush from our Hydraulics™ Reservoir Cleaning Kit to scrub the interior of the hose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remove the silicone bite valve cover and clean it and the bite valve with warm soapy water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let the hose and bite valve dry in a well-ventilated area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Insert the drying rack from the Hydraulics™ Reservoir Cleaning Kit through the cap and into the reservoir to hang and let dry and in well-ventilated area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T22:16:39.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14592" CreationDate="2016-12-16T18:43:52.543" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there plants (for instance berries) which lead to dehydration if eaten?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd wager that for most people in practically any reasonable situation you would encounter in the outdoors other sources of dehydration would be a bigger factor than dehydration via eating berries. Perhaps if you were laying down with a huge mound of fairly dry berries, wearing a mask that let you eat but minimized water loss due to water vapor in your breath, in a constant comfortable temperature to avoid any sweating, and constantly eating berries then berry induced dehydration &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be a factor. Even then I think you might lose more water in your feces than digestion. There are so many other bigger ways that you lose water than digestion that I don't think this is the factor that will be the most important thing to control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would even go as far to say that if you're stranded in a hot desert it &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be a good idea to eat dry salty crackers or some salty jerky. This is because the salt will help you retain whatever water you can drink, and help make up for all the electrolytes you're sweating out. Food driven dehydration wouldn't be my biggest concern personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said... &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3602/imsodin&quot;&gt;imsodin&lt;/a&gt; mentioned this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14592/are-there-plants-for-instance-berries-which-lead-to-dehydration-if-eaten?noredirect=1#comment36020_14592&quot;&gt;in a comment&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The obvious answer is yes, there is plants that can cause diarrhea and that is the ultimate way to get dehydrated&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is very true. If you eat a berry that caused diarrhea then the diarrhea certainly cause dehydration.&lt;/strong&gt; According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/331212-what-fruits-cause-diarrhea/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Livestrong Foundation&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many fruits have high fiber content that can potentially cause you to have diarrhea, although no medical organizations recognize certain fruits as being particularly likely to cause diarrhea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That isn't very promising because it says that medical organizations basically say no. Then &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/450670-blackberries-diarrhea/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in another part of their site&lt;/a&gt; they say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blackberries are a healthy snack or dessert, but if you experience diarrhea after eating them, blackberries might not be a good food choice for you. Diarrhea can occur for several reasons after you eat blackberries. The most common causes of diarrhea from blackberries include salicylate sensitivity, food allergy and food poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leads me to believe that some people might have a food allergy to something in a berry, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thepaleomom.com/what-is-salicylate-sensitivityintolerance/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;salicylate sensitivity&lt;/a&gt;, which can cause predicable diarrhea. Interestingly enough WebMD says that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1076-blackberry.aspx?activeingredientid=1076&amp;amp;activeingredientname=blackberry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blackberries can be used to treat diarrhea&lt;/a&gt;, so I guess this berry is a bit of a mixed bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless, the moral of the story is if you are allergic to a component in a berry, and that allergy causes diarrhea, then eating berries might lead to dehydration via diarrhea. All in all I'd say that unless you are one of the few with a pretty specific allergy you're more likely to get diarrhea from drinking directly from a stream via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/giardia-infection/basics/definition/con-20024686&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;giardia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would it be worth to eat them if you have enough drinkable water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably not. Diarrhea isn't fun and you can go for a long time without eating. If you know eating blackberries gives you diarrhea, I'd recommend finding something else to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, as I'm sure you know, this is more of a game mechanic than something you'll likely encounter in a true survival situation, unless you have the same food allergies as your in-game character. The more I think about it that might be an interesting game mechanic to allow a player to specify their allergies so different things become deadly or harmless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T20:01:17.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14592" CreationDate="2016-12-16T19:29:05.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plants can indirectly cause dehydration if you get diarrhea.  The game mechanic can be an oversimplification of reality, or doesn't look at the big picture.  Or this could be a detail that the game developers chose to gloss over :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the tradeoff, the berries could occupy space in your stomach (filling up the hunger indicator) and provide some feeling of satiety, but is it worth it in the long run?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2016-12-16T19:29:05.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14600" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15834" CreationDate="2016-12-17T01:08:01.510" Score="4" ViewCount="285" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking for solutions for screen covers for the inspection port on a sunfish.  In the Q&amp;amp;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14218&quot;&gt;What to look for in Marine Grade Expanding Foams&lt;/a&gt; we learn that water in the hull of sunfish can be an issue.  There are several posts online about leaving the inspection ports (&lt;em&gt;after you install them&lt;/em&gt;) open so they boat can dry out over a period of months.  There are also post recomending screen covers to keep rodents and insects from making home in the hull of your boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked around and only found one &lt;a href=&quot;https://my2fish.wordpress.com/tag/norm-abrams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;post with an example of how, it is a fall 2011.&lt;/a&gt;  The author promised to post a followup in the spring on the success of the screen but did not post the followup.  Does this solution have a fatal flaw, or will it work as is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My boat will be stored outside, upside down on lumber just off the ground. I am looking for an easy to make, solutions to allow air flow while keeping the bugs and rodents out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I purchased and installed inspection ports with the screw in lid, much like in the image.  The screw on lid is used while sailing, the screen for ventilation when in storage. The port mounts fairly flush so you can't use a rubber band or something to seal the opening, like you might do with a cheesecloth and a mason jar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VFRuD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VFRuD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T16:49:28.593" Title="Screen cover for boat inspection port" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14600" CreationDate="2016-12-17T02:27:35.150" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me I would just buy some regular port covers cut a hole and epoxy a screen over the top (or bottom).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-17T02:27:35.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14602" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15049" CreationDate="2016-12-17T02:31:51.160" Score="9" ViewCount="10602" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just finished applying gelcoat to my boat. Results were less than wonderful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some experience, with bondo, fiberglass and painting, so it did not seem like it should be to difficult to get reasonably good results.  Still I did a lot of research online before choosing a product and beginning the operation.  I choose 'TotalBoat White Gelcoat' as the most promising product, I found the most negative review of the product and researched what the best methods for not repeating their experience (see: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14297/in-a-boat-repair-what-would-cause-gelcoat-not-to-harden&quot;&gt;In a boat repair, what would cause Gelcoat not to harden?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prepped the boat, sanding, patching cracks (fiberglass), filling (bondao), sanding and finishing up with a acetone wash, before starting to apply the gelcoat in a heated, vented, humidity controlled garage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ii43F.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ii43F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nearly ready for gelcoat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing the math it came out that one quart of gelcoat would be a bit more then one coat on my 14 foot sunfish hull. Experience with rolling paint and quick setup time once harder is added, drove me to choose a brush.  I was worried about the amount of product the roller would absorb combined with curing quicker then I could full apply one coat.  I choose to use a brush mixing and applying gelcoat in 4 ounce batches. While the product did not give directions for mixing less then quart size batches, multiple online reference indicated 7 to 12 drops per ounce at 70 degrees F gave good results. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I purchased two quarts of TotalBoat White Gelcoat, one without wax for the first coat(s) and one with wax for the top coat. I mixed and applied a first coat just to the areas where I had sanded to bare fiberglass, I used paint strokes fore to aft.  Because I had purchased relatively cheap brushes, there was some issue with loosing bristles in the gelcoat and having to pluck them out (&lt;strong&gt;Next time buy better brushes!&lt;/strong&gt;) About 8 hours later it had dried nicely with a light tack as unwaxed gelcoat should.  I mixed and applied a second coat to the entire hull (6 small batches), using port to starboard strokes. I let it cure overnight and the next morning it was perfect.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing in the morning, I began mixing and applying the waxed gelcoat as the final coat, fore to aft stokes. At 7 drops to the ounce I had only used about half of the catalyst from the first quart, so I continued using the same catalyst with the second quart. Really Really need to spend more then a dollar per brush next time! You throw them away at the end, but all those loose bristles are a major pain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4 hours after fishing the final coat about 50% of the bottom (upside) hull was shinning over as the wax helped the final coat set completely, the gelcoat on the sides did not appear to have cured at all, it was still wet to the touch. 8 hours after finishing the final coat and there was not much change. Having done my research, I knew part of the solution was waxed paper so I covered the entire hull of the boat with waxed paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WYS1n.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WYS1n.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;waxed paper on boat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A new box of wax paper with 75 square feet is almost enough, had to run to the store for a second box.  I left the wax paper in place until the following evening (30ish hours after final coat) when I removed it, the gelcoat was mostly cured.  It was difficult to apply smoothly, some areas had wrinkles, if there was air in the wrinkle it was still tacky.  The sides were still kind of wet (sticks to your finger when you touch it, as opposed to a clean finger tacky feel with the first two coats).  I pulled off the wax paper, mostly it removed nicely.  In the places where the gelcoat was still wet it was messy.  I used the same wax paper just turned it over and reapplied to the areas that were not completely cured. Another 24 hours later the gelcoat had completely set. But is is not smooth.  I had anticipated some sanding because I used a brush, but this is far from just some brush marks.  Applying the wax paper to such a larger area (&lt;em&gt;with a liberal application of profanity&lt;/em&gt;) resulted in a very uneven final surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4w4IX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4w4IX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bottom after wax paper&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the bottom is poor, the edges and sides are really bad, It looks like a first attempt to apply mud on drywall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wmsrC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wmsrC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sides look ugly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is winter now, and the boat is going outside, so the car can come in, it will be spring before I begin sanding the hull and considering the application of another layer of gelcoat to make up what I am going to have to remove to make it smooth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do next time to get a better cure, and smoother final coat in this DIY project?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. This is all polyester so it rules out &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14302/is-amine-blush-only-a-concern-with-new-ongoing-epoxy-repairs&quot;&gt;amine blush&lt;/a&gt; as potential cause of issues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T18:52:44.040" Title="How to get the best results when applying gelcoat with a brush?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14604" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-17T10:46:48.413" Score="9" ViewCount="223" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for the easiest way to cook or preserve fish at the river or lakeside with as minimal preparation or cooking involved so they can be eaten later. Mainly trout, pike or walleye. Ideally I could find a way to cook/pickle them almost instantly without having to gut them (I'm inexperienced in this regard) and then refrigerate them once home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not concerned about taste too much, just keeping the fish safe to eat. My idea was to clean, remove the head, tail and scales, wash them again and just throw them into a thermos with hot water, salt and vinegar and leave them for a few hours to cook thoroughly, then refrigerate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water I would be fishing in is not the cleanest however (Amstel river in The Netherlands), so I'm still concerned about health and safety. I think it might be necessary to also do a rudimentary fileting (i.e just chop off everything except the edible meat) and then throw the meat into a thermos. However as I'm not experienced with gutting this would be a very unskilled effort I'm not sure this is risk-proof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows of the right way to approach this, I'm sure there must be a quick, simple if inelegant/unappetizing way to&#xA;preserve a fish at the riverside. Surely there's a survival technique that can get a fish from water to fridge/plate with as minimal effort and risk as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11895" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T12:52:58.897" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T14:28:46.013" Title="Easiest way to preserve a fishing catch - with cooking or pickling" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;&lt;the-netherlands&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14605" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-18T04:33:25.953" Score="6" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering a MYOG gravity filter project but I'm not sure where to find out if &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mcnett.com/gearaid/silnet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sil Net™&lt;/a&gt; can hold up under long term submersion and won't leak toxins into the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe?  Do you have a reference?  Got any tips on the DIY filter project?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11899" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T16:55:34.057" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T16:55:34.057" Title="Could you use Silnet to seal a drinking water bladder?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14606" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14609" CreationDate="2016-12-18T09:53:09.983" Score="17" ViewCount="8779" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the guides I have found relating to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_oven&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dutch ovens&lt;/a&gt; recommend placing hot coal on and underneath the oven, or hanging the oven from a tripod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if my cast iron Dutch oven could be placed either on the fire directly or on the wood coals at the edge of the fire. I have included an illustration to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9J3sF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9J3sF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Illustrations of a dutch oven&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11611" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T16:54:14.857" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:43:15.887" Title="Can I place a Dutch oven directly into/next to a camp fire?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14604" CreationDate="2016-12-18T11:08:30.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SALT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before refrigeration salt was the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salted_fish.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;primary means of preserving fish.&lt;/a&gt; As you mention in your question filleting them is a a good first step, they should also be dried to reduce the amount of salt needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But what you really want&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep them alive, until you get home to clean, and freeze or refrigerate them.  There are several solutions listed in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4850/when-to-kill-and-bleed-a-fish&quot;&gt;When to kill and bleed a fish&lt;/a&gt; If you keep them healthy enough, and put them in the freezer still alive, they could be &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10084/is-killing-fish-with-iced-water-really-humane/10087#10087&quot;&gt;really fresh when you defrost them&lt;/a&gt; Fish can live for prolonged periods on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14634&quot;&gt;stringers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T18:21:22.123" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14606" CreationDate="2016-12-18T12:27:33.677" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could place it on the fire but you would likely burn the contents. Putting it directly on the fire is also not stable, as the wood shifts as it burns.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tripod over a fire is useful for stability and to reduce the temperature.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coals at the edge should work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why not just pull some coals to the side?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-18T18:15:32.793" LastActivityDate="2016-12-18T18:15:32.793" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14606" CreationDate="2016-12-18T17:35:26.287" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is yes. You can't harm a cast iron Dutch oven with the temperatures generated by a normal campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you have the type of Dutch oven with three legs and a lid designed to hold coals. Those were specifically designed to be right in the fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more common type with a flat bottom and domed lid are probably better used by suspending with their bail instead, simply because they're more prone to burning the food when in direct contact with the coals. However, you can cook perfectly good meals with them by learning how to let the fire die down into nice cooking coals, and how to bank the coals for effective cooking (more like your second diagram). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have both types and prefer cooking on my three legged oven. My brother prefers the flat bottomed kind, but he's got the tripod for suspending the oven, and I don't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3574" LastActivityDate="2016-12-18T17:35:26.287" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14606" CreationDate="2016-12-18T20:51:14.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can with no trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have one that I use a lot direct in the fire. I built a little fire pit outside at home using regular cinder blocks. I used a tripod and hang my cast iron pot just above the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use camping as well all the time in fireplaces like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T16:54:46.020" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T16:54:46.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14611" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14724" CreationDate="2016-12-18T23:08:18.573" Score="7" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Massachusetts, United States. A large number of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/fall-winter-birds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;backyard birds&lt;/a&gt; overwinter in our yard. Some of the smaller varieties include &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/american-goldfinches&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Goldfinch&lt;/a&gt;,  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/tree-sparrows&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Tree Sparrows&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/european-starlings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European Starlings&lt;/a&gt;. The larger ones include &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/northern-cardinals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northern Cardinals&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/mourning-doves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mourning Doves&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many have been here all year, and are accustomed to our landscape. They know where our feeders and bird baths are located, and that we keep them stocked with fresh food and water. Beginning in November, and lasting for months, the water in the bird baths freezes. We bang out the ice, then clean and fill them with fresh water. That works for a while, but by the depth of winter, the water freezes more quickly than we can keep up with it. We keep some small saucers close to the house, which are easy enough to handle, but our full-size feeders are a distance away, larger, and harder to maintain. (I admit I'm not always in the mood to trudge out a few times a day to break the ice!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This year we're considering buying a few submersible water heaters. (I've seen them called both heaters and de-icers. I'm not sure what the difference is, or if it's an important thing to know.) They're designed to go into an existing birdbath. They come with cords which plug in, and have thermostats which keep the water from freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They come in many different sizes, shapes, types of materials, thermostat ranges, lengths and widths of cord, wattage levels. Some are round, others flat. I've heard of one that has timers which turn on during the times of day when birds are more likely to be active. I think those are designed to save the cost of electricity, but they're more expensive to buy, so it probably balances out in the end! We don't need something like that. I've also seen free-standing heated bird baths, but we're not interested in adding to our collection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of our feeders are plastic, others are ceramic and concrete. The diameters vary, from approximately 17 inches to 25 inches. None are deeper than 3 inches at the deepest part, as that's the maximum depth recommended for small birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the most important criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dependable, accurate thermostat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water kept at or above 35°F (1.7°C)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Effective to -20°F (-28°C)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long-lasting, warranteed for at least a few years&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Durable, won't break under the weight of snow and ice, or while being handled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strong, safe cord, with no risk of short-circuit or electrical fire &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cool surface, with no danger of burning birds and backyard animals when touched&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to clean in case of dirt, mud or algae buildup &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easily removable for cleaning the bird bath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Either usable in both plastic and ceramic bird baths, or clearly marked for the specific application&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'd like to stay in a mid-range price category. I'm not asking how much to spend, just to keep in mind when recommending something that we don't want to sacrifice quality and features just to save a few dollars, but we also don't want to spend top dollar to get fancy features we don't need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also not asking for brand recommendations, but would welcome any from people with experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T04:41:34.950" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T18:02:17.873" Title="How should I choose a submersible bird bath heater which is reliable and effective?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;birdbaths&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14384" CreationDate="2016-12-19T17:32:30.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, those do look like a soft hackle of some kind. I don't know which bird, but as long as they are soft they can be useful for a number of purposes. Globalflyfisher.com has some excellent info on specific fly tying, and their &lt;a href=&quot;http://globalflyfisher.com/tie-better/buying-soft-hackle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;page on soft hackle&lt;/a&gt; includes this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using soft hackle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Soft hackle feathers are excellent for several purposes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Soft, wrapped hackle where the barbs will move gently in the water without the stiffness typical for rooster hackle. The hackle can be very sparse as on spiders and flymphs or denser as is the case on certain nymphs and many wet flies and even very dense as it's often used on salmon and steelhead flies or saltwater flies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;False hackles where a bunch of barbs sit under the front of the fly. This can be obtained either by hackling as usual and stroking down the barbs or by simply tying in a bunch of cut-off barbs under the hook shank and letting them fan out slightly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wet fly wings - both whole feathers and made from married or bundled barbs. A lot of really classic wet fly patterns use whole feathers mounted vertically while others use the more common style of marrying barbs to form a typical wet fly feather wing.&#xA;  A special use of soft hackle in wings is the matuka style, where whole feathers are tied in as wings along the top of the hook shank.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dry fly wings. On dry flies the barbs are sometimes rolled to form a vertical wing and at other times the tips of the feathers are tied in as fan wings, back to back, creating amazingly natural looking wings for flies such as mayflies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Used in tails where the feather can be tied in as very controlled, married strips or as a simple, rolled bunch of barbs.&#xA;  For all these purposes you utilize the visual density of the hen feathers and/or their softness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T17:32:30.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8082" CreationDate="2016-12-19T19:50:40.020" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the answers already mentioned, I prefer red light while outdoors in the summer because it seems to attract fewer insects. I always seem to have more insects flying around my face if I use white, and fewer with red. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T19:50:40.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14615" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-19T19:54:38.040" Score="12" ViewCount="2088" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going skiing for the first time. From what I've read, most everyone uses hard shell jackets and pants for skiing. However, they usually mention something about skiing in bad weather, frigid cold temperatures, long hours in the back country, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I go skiing during sunny weather conditions, is it still recommended to use hard shells or could I get away with an insulated/soft shell jacket and pants?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:26:35.590" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:26:35.590" Title="Do I need a hard shell to ski in sunny weather conditions?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14615" CreationDate="2016-12-19T20:11:17.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you get a lot of wind skiing you need to break the wind.  And you don't need as much breath-ability.  But in sunny conditions you can get away with a bit.  You are not going to have a lot of speed your first time skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just saw you live in Houston.  If you just have a soft shell for local weather then get a hard shell.  At like Academy or an army surplus you can decent shell / rain jacket for $80.  A pair heavy wool pants will work fine.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-19T23:54:55.853" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T23:54:55.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14615" CreationDate="2016-12-19T20:48:40.503" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;tl;dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think you need spent big money on a new jacket just to go skiing if you have a serviceable soft shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can wear anything you want. I know when the ski season is coming to a close some people go skiing in little more than bathing suits on warmer days, and there are competitions where people try to cross/jump over pools of ice water. I skied nearly every day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming one season and my go to jacket was a soft shell with a wind proof membrane. I chose that jacket because I would use the lifts and then hike out in the side country (out of bounds areas to the side of the patrolled areas). When I hike I tend to heat up significantly so my soft shell allowed me to dump the excess heat. I only used a regular hard shell ski jacket during the coldest of days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general for beginning skiers/snowboarders &lt;strong&gt;I'd recommend they wear something that is warm, has really good water resistance, and will keep the snow out.&lt;/strong&gt; Hard-shell skiing jackets generally accomplish all of these things. Soft-shell jackets that I've used tend to be a bit shorter in the torso so it is easier for snow to get up underneath your jacket. Depending on how you fall and what type of snow you fall into the snow will be driven underneath your jacket. This is why some ski jackets have a &amp;quot;powder skirt&amp;quot; built into them. If you're wearing pants this is a bigger deal than if you're wearing overalls aka bibs because the snow has a better chance with pants to directly contact your skin. Keep in mind you're probably going to be falling a lot as a first timer so bigger, bulkier clothing is going to keep you warmer and cushion your falls a tad too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The long and the short of it is I'd recommend a big hard-shell jacket, and bibs. If you're learning to snowboard and happen to have a set of hockey breezers I'd recommend you wear those too. However, anything you have, like a soft shell, that will keep you warm and dry is probably okay even if it isn't optimal. This is especially true if you are going skiing at a ski area since the lodge is close and will allow you to warm up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside don't discount the psychological benefits of a warm drink. I almost always bring a small thermos full of hot tea with me while skiing. The tea is always nice, but it is a real lifesaver when you're wet, tired, and feeling miserable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T20:48:40.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14615" CreationDate="2016-12-19T21:53:11.450" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a beginning skier you will probably be falling down a lot. This means that you are likely to end up covered in snow even if the weather is nice. If you are wearing a soft shell, the snow melting from your body heat is more likely to penetrate the shell and make you cold and uncomfortable. Depending on the local climate, you may also have to worry about sitting in icy puddles on the ski lifts. I'd definitely recommend wearing a hard shell as your outer layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2016-12-19T22:54:26.037" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T22:54:26.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14615" CreationDate="2016-12-19T22:33:32.850" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I go skiing during sunny weather conditions, is it still&#xA;  recommended to use hard shells or could I get away with an&#xA;  insulated/soft shell jacket and pants?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes you get away without hardshells in those conditions. Your main &lt;em&gt;enemy&lt;/em&gt; will be relative wind speed (also because of your speed while skiing) and the cold. It can be could in sunny (dry) conditions of course. So you need good insulation which you should be careful of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason for hardshells are wet conditions. Softshells (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5519/2653&quot;&gt;regarding a typical definition&lt;/a&gt;) are resistant to some degree of humidity like decent rain over limited time or e.g. sitting in snow for limited time. Still for intense rain/snowfall you won't stay dry in softshells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I recommend that you have at least a windproof softshell (e.g. Windstopper) and decent insulation. All above is valid for upper and lower body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2016-12-19T22:33:32.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14620" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14624" CreationDate="2016-12-19T23:32:56.343" Score="20" ViewCount="924" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Massachusetts, in the Northeastern region of the United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a lover of bees, I'd like to learn how to identify some varieties, including their behavior, and how they're raised. Major types of bee habitats include domestic, meaning hand-raised in hives by beekeepers, frequently in someone's yard; and wild (also called feral), being raised without human intervention, in the woods and other natural areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I have bees eating in my yard, I'd like to know how to tell if they're being raised in a local hive, or if they live in the wild but are stopping by on their way someplace else? One reason I ask is, if they're being raised locally, I'd like to try to find the beekeeper! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question was inspired by a different &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13880/do-bees-at-the-hummingbird-feeders-keep-the-birds-away&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; about the possible effect of bees on hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeders in my yard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the bees to which I was referring.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3B4po.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3B4po.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A former beekeeper, 243DRob, posted a comment, in part:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Those are domesticated honey bees. They came from a local hive within 3 miles of your home. The bees will use your &quot;nectar&quot; to make honey. If their hive is owned by a beekeeper (most likely), then your &quot;nectar&quot; will end up in the honey they sell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was fascinated to learn that. Obviously, as a beekeeper, a quick look at a picture was all he needed to make the identification. As a layperson, can I learn to do it without much difficulty? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What obvious things should I look for? What about size; shape; color; how they interact with each other or birds; which flowers they like; which type of hummingbird nectar or feeder; the time of the day; the month or season; the presence or absence of other pollinators; or some other variable I haven't mentioned? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are scientific ways to study bees, including &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melittology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Melittology&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.agfoundation.org/news/the-art-science-of-beekeeping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Apiology&lt;/a&gt;, and others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping that depth of knowledge isn't necessary for this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T21:02:19.907" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T21:02:19.907" Title="Is there an easy way to tell if a bee in my yard is being raised in a hive (domestic), or if it's wild (feral)?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14630" CreationDate="2016-12-20T03:54:27.533" Score="12" ViewCount="1148" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone where to fall through the ice on a lake or a pond, what would be some correct ways of rescuing them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is inspired mostly by this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10xdJ-is9U&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;, where one person gets too close to the melted part and falls through and some one comes to attempt a rescue and falls in, and so on, until &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255099/Jackson-Lake-Dramatic-moment-12-people-dragged-water-Christmas-Day-chain-reaction-terror.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;12&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; people end up in the water (Don't worry, nobody dies or is seriously injured).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barring the fact that no one should have been on that ice in the first place, how would you pull them out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:41:40.367" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:41:40.367" Title="What are the correct techniques for rescuing someone who has fallen through the ice?" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14605" CreationDate="2016-12-20T04:40:20.443" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I emailed Gear Aid, the company that makes Silnet. They didn't say it was unsafe but they did say they haven't tested it for that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They recommended I go with a food safe adhesive. I'll probably look into that; however I'm not sure if silnylon is impregnated with non-toxic silicone either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We’ve not used or tested it in the manner you are describing.  You would do better with a food safe adhesive for your project. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11899" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T04:40:20.443" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14620" CreationDate="2016-12-20T06:35:31.317" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I actually had to research backyard beehives not long ago because our Peace Officer discovered someone in town who had hive on their property, and our land use bylaw didn't allow it. I found out that a lot of people in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.delta-business.com/CalgaryBeekeepers/UrbanBeekeepingGuidelines/BeeGuidelinesCalgaryJan2013.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cities&lt;/a&gt; keep bees, your neighbour could have a hive and you might not even know it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Odds are most bees in your backyard are domesticated if you live in an urban area. Most wild hives discovered near populated areas are typically collected by beekeepers anyway, and they add them to their hive. Whenever we get a call about a bee infestation, we have a wait list of of beekeepers we can call who are more than eager to come and collect them. The only difference between wild honey bees and domesticated honey bees is where their hive is, and whether or not humans are taking a cut of their honey. Bees aren't exactly loyal to their queens, it's common for beekeepers to collect swarms and add them to their hives, or give them a queen and make a new hive. Re-queening is even a thing. If a hive is acting aggressive, the beekeepers will &quot;dethrone&quot; the sitting queen and give the hive a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck trying to follow a bee to its hive though. They fly in straight lines above roof tops to and from where they're gathering pollen, and they don't doddle when returning to the hive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding a bee hive is not exciting anyway. They're quite boring actually, just a bunch of plain square boxes with bees coming in and out when they're busy. There are a lot of farms around where I live, so you see boxes of bees on the side of the highway all over the place. Farmers will hire bee keepers to put bees on their property so they can help pollenate their crops. A tree full of blossoms and just buzzing with activity is more interesting than a domestic beehive. In the city people paint their beehives the same colour as their fence to make them inconspicuous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is about as exciting as they get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4aogd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4aogd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you didn't know any better you might mistake them for compost bins. Most aren't even that fancy, they're just a plain square box with a lid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bee keeping is a lot more popular than you might think. If you like bees, you should seriously look into getting your own beginner hive and talk to a local beekeeping association. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-20T16:16:46.110" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T16:16:46.110" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15035" CreationDate="2016-12-20T06:57:28.993" Score="5" ViewCount="685" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://heilakka.com/stumiller/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stu Miller's Dynamic Spine Calculator&lt;/a&gt; asks the user for the &quot;strike plate position&quot;. How do I measure and add it correctly to the calculator? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k4WYo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k4WYo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T20:33:43.463" Title="How to measure strike plate position?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14626" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14627" CreationDate="2016-12-20T09:41:13.883" Score="6" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've caught a fish and want to gut it (remove it's insides ready to eat/keep). How do I do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where do I cut? What needs to be removed, etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T14:21:09.763" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T14:21:09.763" Title="How do I gut a fish?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14626" CreationDate="2016-12-20T09:41:13.883" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This varies slightly from fish to fish (for example gutting a skate is different to gutting a pollock) but for a typical &quot;fish shaped fish&quot; o_O&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;      /&quot;*._         _&#xA;  .-*'`    `*-.._.-'/&#xA;&amp;lt; * ))     ,       ( &#xA;  `*-._`._(__.--*&quot;`.\&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to have a very sharp flexible knife. It's easier to ensure the fish is dead (though not necccasry, commerical fisherman will often gut a live fish). If it's not dead, stun it be hitting it hard on the back of the head using a cosh of some kind, this will stun or kill the fish (depening on how hard you hit it!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To gut a typical fish you want to turn it upside down and locate the anus (towards the back there should be a small hole): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;      /&quot;*._         _&#xA;  .-*'`    `*-.._.-'/&#xA;&amp;lt; * ))     ,       ( &#xA;  `*-._`._(__.--*&quot;`.\&#xA;                 ^&#xA;          about here&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is there you want to cut &lt;strong&gt;towards&lt;/strong&gt;. You start at the head. Locate the point where the gill slits join or failing that simply the flesh under the jaw bone:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;      /&quot;*._         _&#xA;  .-*'`    `*-.._.-'/&#xA;&amp;lt; * ))     ,       ( &#xA;  `*-._`._(__.--*&quot;`.\&#xA;    ^             &#xA;    about here      &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to insert the tip of your knife into this flesh (at the head end) about 0.5cm. Hold the fish firmly with other hand. Slide the knife all the way down the underside of the fish opening up the underneath of the fish until you reach the anus (which you located earlier). The sharper the knife the easier this will be. &lt;strong&gt;Be careful not to cut your hand&lt;/strong&gt; you only need to insert the tip of the knife so don't go slashing all the way though the fish!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should now have a cavity the whole length of the underside of the fish. Insert your index finger into the cavity at the head end, and basically try and hook the innards out. No use being gently here you hant to get a hold of the guts and give them a good pull. Remove anything that isn't flesh. Any blood should be rinsed out (in a river or under a running tap).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want the cavity to be clean and bloodless. Any guts, swim bladders, etc. should be discarded (throw these into the river, lake or sea where they will be eaten by other animals).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For flat fish the process is the same but the cavity is located in a different place (typically) the side of the fish not the underside. The above should be applicible to most &quot;standard shaped&quot; fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T09:41:13.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14628" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-20T09:42:21.130" Score="8" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I'm out in the woods I often find huge pieces, like for example a car tire or even something bigger, or huge piles of trash. Of course I can't take that with me on my hike to bring it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I do then? I feel like this question can't be answered generally so let's narrow it down to Germany or other EU countries. Am I supposed to call the police? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-12-20T12:18:54.637" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T16:09:00.520" Title="What to do when finding huge pieces of trash?" Tags="&lt;europe&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14628" CreationDate="2016-12-20T09:51:33.330" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK you'd inform the council. This would be fly tipping and is actually illegal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/report-flytipping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Report fly-tipping or illegal waste dumping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste. You can report&#xA;  fly-tipping to the local council.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's only a tyre or something small scale they may or may not clean it up. Your probably best getting rid of it yourself. If it's on private land then it's the land owners responsibility. If I own x piece of land I'm well within my rights to leave a tyre on my own land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's in a national park then their is likely laws protecting the natural environment. You can contact the park authority to clarify this. OS maps will tell you if your inside a national park or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-20T12:31:07.457" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T12:31:07.457" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14622" CreationDate="2016-12-20T11:49:26.057" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Most important: Be prepared!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On organized skating tours (at least in sweden) the following is mandatory equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An ice probe (to determine ice thickness so you wont go through in the first place)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A backpack with a complete change of clothes in a watertight bag. The backpack must have a harness that goes between your legs so it doubles as a flotation device and can be used to pull you out of the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice claws/spikes/&quot;Isdubbar&quot; (If you do go through, you stab them into the ice for traction)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A rescue line. A line with a floating weight and a fixed loop in each end. Must be easily accessible even in water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is equipment that both the person in the water and people around are likely to have, even far from populated areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once someone is in the water however, there are several means of rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Best&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rescue helicopter. Lets you get to the person in the water without putting the rescuer at risk. Lets you transport a hypothermic or injured victim safely.&#xA;This naturally is overkill in most cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Second best&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A surf board or similar, that can be pushed out onto thin ice by spreading the load, and what floats if the ice breaks. The victim can grab the board and get up/be pulled up, or a rescuer can lay flat on it grabbing the victim while a second rescuer pushes/pulls the board from behind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are custom built boards designed for this. Naturally a plank, a ladder or a branch will do in an emergency. Anything that spreads the load, ideally floats and/or puts some distance between rescuer and victim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small boat works too, but might be harder to reach up to from the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I put this as &quot;second best&quot;, but only if such items are at hand. If you have a rescue line ant the victim is uninjured, don't waste time looking for a plank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Third best&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A line with a floating weight and a bowline (fixed loop) on both ends. Throw it to the victim. (Or even better, if the victim has one he/she can throw it to a rescuer)&#xA;Either put the bowline around your wrist or (if you came prepared) attach it to a carabiner on your backpacks harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fourth best&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Self rescue. Never go on natural ice unprepared! Wear something that will help you float. (Dry suit, life jacket or a water tight backpack) Bring a pair of &quot;isdubbar&quot; (Swedish. Don't know an english term) or simply two large nails. Stab them into the ice to get traction enough to get back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, make sure that no one else falls through. Always try to get up in the direction from wich you came. And don't go out on natural ice unprepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T07:24:05.693" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T07:24:05.693" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14631" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-20T13:22:14.537" Score="8" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually I don't have any hiking poles with me when walking. From time to time I think it would be great to wander one or two kilometers with some support while on the track. I then often end up with a crooked, harsh and heavy stick I found in the forest nearby. These pieces don't really satisfy my needs and thus get thrown away soon after. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What characteristics should I look for in sticks in the forest to be used as a hiking sticks and where to look for them (which bush, tree etc.)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T10:43:58.887" Title="What to look for in a good natural hiking stick?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14631" CreationDate="2016-12-20T13:36:12.920" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What characteristics should I look for in sticks in the forest to be&#xA;  used as a hiking sticks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strong and don't snap or break when weight applied&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Straight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Correct height, I like one about the same height as me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smooth but not too smooth. Need to get a grip but not tear you hands apart&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;where to look for them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to flip this slightly to what type of tree or bush to use. A good choice is Birch, particuatly &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;copiced&lt;/a&gt; birch. Birch is a good sturdy tree and it grows nice and straight. If It's coppiced the tree will grow lots of long stright vertical branches. You probably want to find one of these about the 2-3 thumb widths in size. I'd cut one off as your sure it won't be rotten then (BTW coppicing in this manner is entirly sustainable, the tree will simply grow more so don't worry about harming to treee). Trim any branches and your good to go. A good branch is worth keeping BTW&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T10:43:58.887" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T10:43:58.887" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14620" CreationDate="2016-12-20T16:26:59.630" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not clear if domesticated and beekeeper (beehive) are the same in the context of that comment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That comment did not conclude beekeeper- rather likely.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My interpretation of the words is since the bees were consuming a non-natural source (hummingbird feeder) they are domesticated.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type / breed of bee does not change going from nest (wild) to beehive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bee type with low honey production is less likely to be from a beehive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An aggressive bee is less likely to be from a beehive. That is not just type - a hive can become aggressive. An aggressive bee will live in a beehive but the beekeeper will not tolerate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Africanized bee was bred for honey production.  It was not discovered they were aggressive until some escaped quarantine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About all you know is they are headed in the direction of home and home is likely less than 2 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T20:19:21.663" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T20:19:21.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14634" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-20T18:19:38.473" Score="4" ViewCount="5604" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_stringer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fish stringer&lt;/a&gt; goes through the gill and mouth of a live fish, providing a way to keep them captive and alive in the lake or river they are caught from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine the key to survival is how much the stringer impacts the gills ability to uptake oxygen. This question is limited to fresh water fishing, using a stringer in salt water is likely to get your catch eaten. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the fish was not significantly harmed when caught, how long can it live on a stringer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5774" LastEditDate="2020-01-21T20:45:15.607" LastActivityDate="2020-01-21T20:45:15.607" Title="How long can fresh water fish live on a stringer?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14615" CreationDate="2016-12-20T18:36:16.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question is really what you mean by sunny weather conditions ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it means the weather is hot or does it means the sun is shinning ? Because in winter, you can have a beautiful sunny sky and extremely low temperatures altogether. For instance in winter you can have 40°F in the resort and 0°F at high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the relevant question is wether it will be &lt;strong&gt;hot&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;cold&lt;/strong&gt; !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is cold then you definitely need warm clothes, and as other members have already said, hardshell is really useful against the cold wind.&#xA;Don't forget that a significant part of your time will be spent doing nothing on the skilift, exposed to wind and cold seats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is hot then this is becoming problematic, because you'll be very hot doing a sport with a hardshell in these conditions. I have ever skied in April under hot conditions, and clearly shorts and T-shirt were sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are 2 issues when it is hot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;snow is wet, if not small ponds everywhere&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;falling onto bare skin hurts a lot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as a beginner, I assume you'll fall quite a few times, and get very wet, so water-resistant clothes are definitely a plus (if you wear jeans for instance, they will be wet quickly and will keep this way all day long). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also to avoid being burnt or tear your clothes apart when falling it is better to have clothes made with solid tissue. The ideal would be to have some hardshell clothes without warm padding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11911" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T18:36:16.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14636" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14664" CreationDate="2016-12-20T18:41:49.437" Score="6" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am fairly new to lead climbing. Yesterday, while I was attempting to lead one of my project routes at the gym, I look a fall while clipping the 3rd clip (in the danger zone). The fall scared me quite a bit because it was so close to the ground. I believe that I was applying good clipping technique, I just wasn't able to anticipate that fall and it caught me off guard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that these unexpected falls happen on project climbs because I haven't worked out all the moves/holds yet. Is there a good method apply when leading project climbs so that I avoid similar mishaps? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11658" LastEditorUserId="11658" LastEditDate="2016-12-20T19:01:34.247" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T19:38:01.010" Title="Tips for leading project climbs" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9706" CreationDate="2016-12-20T18:50:36.243" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been backpacking for over 40 years now. Nearly all backpacks start with waterproof fabric. The problem with &quot;waterproof&quot; backpacks is primarily the seams, then secondarily the strain put on the various fabrics. The seams are made up of a series of holes poked through the waterproof fabric with thread poked through them. It invariably makes a waterproof fabric not waterproof any longer. Seam sealing to re-seal the holes helps, but it isn't always perfect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now consider that every time you load, open, unload your pack, you are wearing the waterproof coating down. Eventually it will wear through and leak. Another problem is that water is pretty invasive. it drips and finds its way into the pack itself. If it's windy, the rain seems to defy gravity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best solution is to determine which pieces of your gear absolutely have to be dry, then put them in waterproof bags inside the pack. Don't count on the backpack even with a pack cover, to keep everything dry. Bag your sleeping bag and clothes. The rest can usually survive water... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11912" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T03:58:30.540" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:58:30.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14636" CreationDate="2016-12-20T19:32:38.337" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I would suggest is that you practice leading routes that you have done without leading many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you have found out, taking the sharp end of the rope adds an extra amount of difficulty, both mentally and physically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would do the route over and over again until you know all of the moves and are confident in your ability to climb it without falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I would reattempt leading it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T19:32:38.337" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9706" CreationDate="2016-12-20T20:28:21.013" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacks are primarily designed to be carried out therefore they need to be light. They also need to be tough so they can endure the trips the specified weights for a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although we do get rained out every now and again no one plans a trip around raining days (Oh look, it's raining let's go hiking). So it's more &quot;efficient&quot; to keep the packs light using a lighter material and just put a simple rain cover in case of rain than make the packs heavier with waterproof material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are waterproof packs in the market. I own a couple myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/CA/en/Sport/Packs-and-accessories/PORTAGE-30L#.WFmRfvl96Uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;petzl portage 30&lt;/a&gt; looks more like a drybag with shoulder straps but I use that one specific for canyoning. I also have a my hiking/trekking pack that uses c-canvas that is waterproof but then my pack weights 3kgs alone. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cactusoutdoor.co.nz/packs-bags/tramp-walk/foray.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cactus Foray&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife has an Osprey Ariel 50 and it's a whole kg lighter than mine. Even if we compare a pack the same size as mine (70L), the Osprey one still a good 800gr lighter and that includes the cover that comes with the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in summary...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;yes, there are packs in the market with waterproof specs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they varies depending what you are planning to do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having waterproof packs might not be the best approach in some cases. (My wife would hate to carry my pack even to go down to the fish and chips shop.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T20:28:21.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14640" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14649" CreationDate="2016-12-20T21:58:11.310" Score="68" ViewCount="15410" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're in a path and you encounter another group going the other way, it is said that whoever is going down should stand aside to let those going up pass through. Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T07:09:51.087" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:56:58.240" Title="When hiking, why is the right of way given to people going up?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-20T22:06:40.363" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is much easier going down than going up, and it is easier for the people descending to stop than the ones going up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The people going up will be working much harder, and be more irritated by having to wait for someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T22:06:40.363" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7918" CreationDate="2016-12-20T22:20:19.767" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one ever seems to mention this but if you have enough rope pass the end of it through the loop a second time. When you pull down to tension, this second pass will tuck itself under the first pass and the friction will hold it in place. Then just tie your half hitch or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11913" LastActivityDate="2016-12-20T22:20:19.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14622" CreationDate="2016-12-20T23:18:55.007" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard way of pulling someone up would be to throw your rescue line to them and then pull them up. But as with anything that is potentially dangerous, the most important part is for everyone (in particular the one in the water) to be prepared, which can only be seen to in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One technical but sometimes overlooked aspect is that when you are the one crawling on the ice, you shouldn't try to stand up until you are back on thick enough ice. When using rescue claws/nails/spikes to get up yourself, try to crawl further than you actually think you need to! Otherwise, the hole just gets bigger and bigger and you exhaust yourself by repeating the procedure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This same principle is behind the ideas of ladders, boards etc. The important part is to distribute the weight on a big area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you're really far away from civilisation, calling for help by helicopter or so is obviously a good idea. But I would suggest trying to save the person before doing that, as it is going to take an eternity for the helicopter to arrive compared to how fast you drown when the water is freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a note: here in Sweden it is very common for schools to teach the basic theory of ice safety, combined with practise. I think going into the water and getting up yourself should be a mandatory prerequisite before going on any serious ice adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11914" LastEditorUserId="11914" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T00:19:22.857" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T00:19:22.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4828" CreationDate="2016-12-21T00:21:56.820" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The altitude sickness sounds like the most likely explanation to me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, one other factor is that snow reflects light. On a sunny day in the right circumstances, a snow slope can act as a giant reflector that can have some physiological side effects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T00:21:56.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T00:55:22.557" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the fact that it is easier to go down than up, I think the biggest issue is safety.  If you were to fall while going down, there is risk of injury to those below (coming up).  It is much easier to lose your footing and fall while moving downwards, and knocking people off a trail can lead to serious injury.  If you were to fall while going up, you would injure only yourself, and typically it is easier to catch yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11916" LastEditorUserId="11916" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T21:13:35.020" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T21:13:35.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14622" CreationDate="2016-12-21T01:07:55.617" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If anyone has ever fallen through ice, you know how devastating is the physical shock of loosing all your body heat in a flash. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fell through ice &lt;strong&gt;once&lt;/strong&gt;, but was fortunately able to get to shore quite easily on my own because I was very close to the shoreline and able to walk out. Believe me icy water takes all the energy out of you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few years back, a friend of mine was out on the ice while fishing, when he simply vanished. He somehow walked across a weak spot on the ice and fell through. It took Search and Rescue three days to locate his body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search and Rescue told us that if a person falls through the ice, it is imperative that he or she find the spot they went through within seconds. &lt;em&gt;Once under the ice it is not so easy to see the hole in the water once one is under the ice because of the distortions of the ice on the surface.&lt;/em&gt; If it is cloudy outside that makes it even harder. A submerged victim has only seconds to find that escape route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see someone fall through the ice and you can see him, the best thing to do is throw him some rope immediately, while staying as far back away from the whole as possible and pull him out of the hole. Do not let him stand up while he is still close to danger zone, as the ice around the hole may be in itself weak. You need be do your pulling in such a fashion as to spread your weight over the ice: avoid standing if possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot see the victim put something with bright colors (red and yellow) at the end of your rope into the water and well below the ice depth. Dot not try going into the water. If the victim sees the rope and grabs it, your in business. Once his head is out of the water and he has had air, get away from the hole and commence the above paragraph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I truly hope none of you will ever have to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T15:46:27.607" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T15:46:27.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T02:19:44.207" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;For another possible explanation, I have always found it easier to see oncoming parties when you are going down. When hiking uphill, many people end up almost staring at their feet. In contrast, when hiking downhill you can spot oncoming parties much more easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T02:19:44.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T02:24:18.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think hiking involves an element of psychological momentum. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You time your rests to be either very short or very long to control momentum loss. You rest with your pack on to avoid momentum loss. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, I think it's about the mental momentum because of physical momentum. It is way easier to overcome inertia to continue down the hill when gravity gives you a boost than it is to overcome inertia restarting an uphill hike against gravity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is to say, I think it is less about the ease of going than it is about the difficulty of resuming. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11899" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T02:24:18.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T07:27:32.403" Score="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three good reasons for this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The harder work an uphill hiker has to do&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The smaller field of vision of an uphill hiker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are in that &quot;hiking rhythm&quot; zone which shouldn't be interrupted (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inertia&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This paragraph contains everything you need to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;And most important and most ignored, everything else being equal, give&#xA;  the right of way to the hiker going uphill!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why the latter? Think about how most people hike - usually focused&#xA;  downward, a few feet ahead on the trail, watching their footing to try&#xA;  to avoid a face plant. If you're headed downhill, you'll generally see&#xA;  some distance ahead of you on the trail at the same time as you're&#xA;  looking down to where you will set your feet the next step or two.&#xA;  You'll see any hiker coming up hill well in advance of meeting. On the&#xA;  other hand, if you're hiking uphill, and looking down at the trail,&#xA;  your range of vision is really just a few feet in front of you.&#xA;  Clearly the hiker going downhill has the visual advantage, and time,&#xA;  to adjust his position so the uphill hiker can pass. And, it's a lot&#xA;  easier for the downhill hiker to stop and resume than it is for the&#xA;  uphill hiker. Think about the interstate trucker or you on a bike - it&#xA;  takes more energy and time to restore speed if starting from a dead&#xA;  stop. So it is with the uphill hiker, especially if carrying a&#xA;  backpack - let her come on through so she can benefit from the &quot;body&#xA;  in motion&quot; principle in physics. This applies to hikers running&#xA;  downhill too. And just because you're running downhill (nobody is&#xA;  impressed anyway, and secretly hoping you face plant) that doesn't&#xA;  give you the right of way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowergear.com/advice.php/content/trail_etiquette_who_has_right_of_way&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lowergear - Who has the &quot;Right-of-Way&quot;?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further citation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On a narrow pass, hikers going uphill have the right of way. Simply&#xA;  put, hikers moving uphill are generally working harder than those on&#xA;  the downhill slope. It is courteous to move to the side and let the&#xA;  uphill trekkers pass through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/5-hiking-etiquette-tips-you-need-to-know-7757018&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Phoenix New Times - Hiking Etiquette&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It seems that many hikers—even experienced ones—may not know or always&#xA;  remember this, but hikers going uphill have the right of way. This is&#xA;  because in general hikers heading up an incline have a smaller field&#xA;  of vision and may also be in that “hiking rhythm” zone and not in the&#xA;  mood to break their pace. Often an uphill hiker may let others come&#xA;  downhill while they take a breather, but remember that’s the uphill&#xA;  hiker’s call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Form &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.rei.com/hike/trail-etiquette-who-has-the-right-of-way/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Co-Op Journal - Trail Etiquette&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2016-12-21T07:54:25.047" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T07:54:25.047" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T11:02:38.023" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect it's just inherited from the &quot;rules of the road&quot; extant before most road traffic was motorised and before most roads were widened to 2 lanes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On single-track roads e.g. in Scotland, it's still the rule of the road, and any motorist who remembers it is much appreciated by the cyclists working hard uphill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The underlying reason is that going uphill - and especially starting uphill - is much harder (especially if you have to pick up toestraps!) and though this applies to some extent to hikers too, I suspect it would simply be too confusing to have one rule for the road and a different rule on footpaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See point 155 in the current edition of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-general-advice.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Highway Code&lt;/a&gt; regarding single track roads : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Give way to vehicles coming uphill whenever you can. &quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8316" LastEditorUserId="8316" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T19:23:04.980" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T19:23:04.980" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T13:08:10.870" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going uphill is hard work, and changing up your speed can ruin your momentum. This is why people traveling uphill have the right of way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11920" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T13:08:10.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14634" CreationDate="2016-12-21T14:38:38.937" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fish can survive a few hours on a stringer, but they're generally not the best approach. The fish will struggle against the stringer and injure itself, which can damage the fish and raises other questions (as @Desorder highlighted in comments). I recommend finding another option for storing your catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11904" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T14:38:38.937" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14655" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-21T15:30:57.330" Score="7" ViewCount="3165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been learning about snow forecasting in the UK. I've learned an important feature is the atmosphere thickness, specifically the &lt;strong&gt;528 line&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pressure decreases with altitude, and thickness measures the&#xA;  difference in height between two standard pressure levels in the&#xA;  atmosphere. It is proportional to the mean temperature of this layer&#xA;  of air, so is a useful way of describing the temperature of an&#xA;  airmass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Weather charts commonly show contour lines of 1,000-500 hPa thickness,&#xA;  which represent the depth (in decametres, where 1 dam = 10 m) of the&#xA;  layer between the 1,000 hPa and 500 hPa pressure levels. Cold, polar&#xA;  air has low thickness, and values of &lt;strong&gt;528 dam or less frequently bring&#xA;  snow to the UK&lt;/strong&gt;. Conversely, warm, tropical air has high thickness, and&#xA;  values in excess of 564 dam across the UK often indicate a heatwave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/guide/weather/symbols&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Taken from the UK met office&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/surface-pressure/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;detailled pressure forcast&lt;/a&gt; I can see this line isn't there today or tomorrow morning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qO7AQ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qO7AQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if I scroll the bar to tomorrow afternoon, it appears:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7UUTX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7UUTX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;(see the red dotted lines)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I missing something here? This seems to be consistent when I've been checking this though the week. Why does this forecast only appear in advance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm defineatly not imagining this, the line that appeared 22nd Dec in the above images is now not there until 23rd Dec.... I don't get what's going on here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T16:05:14.903" LastActivityDate="2020-09-18T15:02:41.043" Title="Why does the 528 thickness lines only appear on weather maps in the future?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-21T20:53:35.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a simpler answer that ignores any kind of &quot;field-of-view&quot; discussion. In the vast majority of cases involving right-of-way on a shared road, the party going faster yields to the party going slower. So cars yield to bikes which yield to pedestrians.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, imagine a flat trail which is shared by bikes and pedestrians. You would expect the bikes to yield to oncoming pedestrians. Since they're going faster, they have a greater responsibility to avoid collisions. In the same way, hikers travelling uphill are assumed to be going slower than downhill hikers. Thus they have the right-of-way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11932" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T20:53:35.473" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14659" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-21T21:46:22.237" Score="13" ViewCount="1927" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the northeast US and have a depression in my backyard: after weeks of freezing weather we had a warm, rainy weekend. Then it all froze =)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now I have a backyard rink, about 100' x 50' (30m x 15m), but I'd like to get it flatter and better-suited to skating. There are spots where it was slushy and a bootprint froze in, ridges and ripples from who-knows-what, &amp;amp;c.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm willing to build apparatus to help me, but would rather not spend much. (Say, under $100 US.) I'm willing to spend up to an hour a day out there working to maintain the rink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm &lt;strong&gt;not willing&lt;/strong&gt; to just flood it to a depth of two inches to set a new layer: that'd take &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; too much water.&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt; I want to use the existing ice (and surrounding snow, if more water's needed) as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I perfect this rink and ensure my kids the best skating every afternoon, all winter?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;* - I know because two years ago, last time this happened, I tried just flooding it. There's enough topography to the ice that In a month of late-night floodings I wasn't able to raise the level enough to effect changes to imperfections on the not-level portions.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11933" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T01:46:27.577" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T01:46:27.577" Title="How can I perfect my backyard ice rink?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;iceskating&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14659" CreationDate="2016-12-21T22:50:13.177" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obvious try and keep people off the ice when it is soft.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_resurfacer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice resurfacer&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before Zamboni 3 or 4 workers had to scrape, wash, and squeegee the&#xA;  ice. A thin layer of water was then added for the fresh ice. This&#xA;  process was extremely time consuming, and Zamboni wanted to find a&#xA;  more efficient way to resurface the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hot water is frequently used because it slightly melts the layer of&#xA;  ice below it, forming a stronger bond when frozen, and because heating&#xA;  the water drives off dissolved gases. This limits chipping and&#xA;  cracking, providing a more enjoyable skating surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not clear how they scraped but I would try a tool like is used for scraping tile off a floor.  Then sweep the chips off.  Then add a small amount of hot water to the problem spots.  For a squeegee I would look at a roller squeegee like is used for tennis courts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T16:17:32.560" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T16:17:32.560" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14659" CreationDate="2016-12-21T22:51:20.743" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like to build a homemade Zamboni, you need some type of powered transport like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://globalnews.ca/news/2430351/alberta-engineers-design-homemade-zamboni-for-outdoor-rink/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;four-wheeler&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://hackaday.com/2012/12/06/backyard-zamboni-keeps-the-best-diy-ice-rink-in-town/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;riding lawnmower&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neatorama.com/2016/02/29/Homemade-Zamboni-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kid on a tricycle&lt;/a&gt;. Then you need a supply of hot water and something to spread it out behind the vehicle. The plans that I have seen usually have a water tank that has a hose going down to a PVC pipe with holes in it and a towel behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more detailed instructions &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schoolyardpuck.com/2012/01/backyard-rink-diy-homzamboni.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and another story with explanation &lt;a href=&quot;http://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/04/news/aroostook/homemade-zamboni-helps-rink-stay-smooth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;YouTube has all kinds of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?tbm=vid&amp;amp;q=home%20made%20zamboni&amp;amp;rct=j&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;videos&lt;/a&gt; on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-21T22:51:20.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8581" CreationDate="2016-12-22T02:18:50.050" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I go walking and hiking without constantly looking down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am walking in a city such as NYC or Las Vegas, I do not look down. I am looking right and left for cars, people and dark alleys. But I think you are correct when in the wild to look down more than other places. As Cody Lundin says foot placement is very important. When stepping on rocks, up and over logs, in and out of mudholes and through high grass, you just have to know where you are placing your feet. There is only one way to know, you travel slowly and deliberately and do not place your feet in any spot that you have not looked at first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, that means cutting your speed down but I do not see any other way. We hike in pairs so that the front guy checks the ground out and generally only looks 15 to 20 ft ahead. He is clearing the way for the guy behind him who scans the trees and listens, getting an overview. Depending on where you are of course we do not relax and smell the coffee until we reach the destination. If you want to look around and enjoy nature, stop! We never do that moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastEditorUserId="3556" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T17:40:30.037" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T17:40:30.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14620" CreationDate="2016-12-22T07:11:50.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to add a little more information, if I can:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term 'Western Honeybee' (Apis Mellifera) refers to bees domesticated and bred for their ability to produce large amounts of honey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some common breeds of these bees include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Italian&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cordovan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russian&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carniolan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other less common strains are often bred for desirable traits such as: being tolerable to local weather patterns or an increased attention hygiene. Generally though, honeybees look very similar. Some of the most notable differences for me is their color, although I'm not an expert in random bee identification. Generally they tend to look almost identical:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/animals/Bugs/H-P/honeybee-whitebackground.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/animals/Bugs/H-P/honeybee-whitebackground.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Honeybee&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/animals/Bugs/H-P/honeybee-whitebackground.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nationalgeographic.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of traits, some bees are more likely to swarm! Now, all honey bees swarm - it's the way of things! A healthy hive can 'throw' or 'cast' a swarm and a new queen will leave with roughly half of the worker bees and take off to find a new home. Conversely, a hive with an ailing queen may also throw a swarm as the hive undergoes its own re-queening process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While swarming is a natural phenomenon, it is not exactly desirable for most beekeepers. A swarm means that a hive will not produce as much honey as it could have with full worker capacity - that is generally the point of beekeeping after all, honey. Some beekeepers actually encourage swarming - viewing swarms as a healthy way to create more localized queens and thereby encourage 'survival of the fittest' in their apiary. However, if they aren't around to catch the swarm they lose out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of catching swarms, beekeepers love to catch swarms - it's free money!  A swarm can mean a few thousand bees and a queen! Generally once a swarm is cast they cluster on a nearby object for a few hours while scouts search for a suitable home. If a beekeeper doesn't catch the swarm during this period, there's no telling where they'll end up! While in a swarm, bees tend to be very docile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, back toward some of the points you brought up (I was excited and rambled):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should you desire, you could plant some flowers that bees tend to frequent - although the flowers to plant would depend on your location. Should a bee find them and really enjoy them, she will perform a dance at the hive entrance relaying the distance to your house, the direction, and the quality of the nectar that is present so other workers can make the journey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you could find a beekeeper, they may be willing to show you their hives. There may be a local beekeeping club that could point you to a member willing to show you a thing or two. They may even have a spare veil so you could observe them one day as the beek (short for beekeeper) performs some inspections or hive management. It is hard to look at a frame from a hive and understand what is going on - it is even more baffling when you realize that everything is controlled by smells called pheromones that are emitted by the queen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps some!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11943" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T10:37:52.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14636" CreationDate="2016-12-22T09:02:50.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;the only issue I can see with what you did above was your proximity to the ground when you fell. It might be worth investing in a &quot;Clip stick&quot;, something like this:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PB7sn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PB7sn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockrun.com/rock-climbing/hardware/clip-sticks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock and Run website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that you can pre clip the first few clips thus saving you from the above issues in the danger zone but will allow you to lead the rest. These are particuarly helpful when leading sport climbs outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue with top roping climbs before leading them is there is the danger that you don't get used to leading diffidult climbs and this may stunt your progress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T09:02:50.033" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14666" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-22T13:16:51.353" Score="8" ViewCount="969" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I am going on a 6 days wildness hike. I have a down sleep bag that can comfortably cover up to 3 degrees if I have thermos on. I am considering getting a sleeping bag liner. Main concerns are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How many degrees this liner can increase in a sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone give some recommendations on how to select a small, ultralight sleep bag liner that can improve the the warmth in the sleeping bag as much as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T17:32:50.713" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T17:32:50.713" Title="How to select a good sleeping bag liner?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14666" CreationDate="2016-12-22T13:51:42.767" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;For your three criteria the one that jumps out for me is a &lt;strong&gt;silk liner&lt;/strong&gt;. It's warmth to bulk ratio is going to be the best. You'll prob get a couple of degrees (5C at most) for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, A sleeping bag liner is mainly to &lt;strong&gt;keep your sleeping bag clean&lt;/strong&gt;, not particularly add warmth, though they do do this also. A better approach to add warmth when in a bag is to wear clothes. I also find this more comfortable as you can get in a right tangle in a bag liner in a bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've even slept in down jackets, etc. when needed. This also keeps your sleeping bag clean as well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T14:15:58.283" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T14:15:58.283" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14666" CreationDate="2016-12-22T14:45:12.150" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic criterion should be keeping the sleeping bag clean, and allowing moisture to wick away from the persons skin. If it adds to the warmth, its win-win situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and far most obvious thing I'd consider is the shape of my sleeping bag: whether it is a Mummy-shaped or a regular rectangular one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering that your sleeping bag is going to keep you warm enough, I'd recommend using a Synthetic liner, such as CoolMax.&#xA;You'll find these ones slightly cheaper than Silk-made ones, though I do understand that you didn't consider cost as one of the criteria. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used one such liner just once, and it was great. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T15:11:28.973" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T15:11:28.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14666" CreationDate="2016-12-22T15:12:24.633" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for a liner to add some serious warmth (10-15 degrees Fahrenheit), look into the Thermalite Reactor series. They weigh generally in the 8oz range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11943" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T15:12:24.633" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14666" CreationDate="2016-12-22T15:49:28.670" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vapor barrier liner gives about 10 F.  You wake up damp and they are not real comfortable but they work.  Not only does it hold some heat in it prevents moisture from building up in the bag.  Especially over multiple cold nights a bag will build up condensation.  A buddy of mine used one year round for ultralight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-22T16:34:49.440" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T16:34:49.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14628" CreationDate="2016-12-22T16:09:00.520" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suggestion for &lt;strong&gt;Germany&lt;/strong&gt;: tell the owner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The owner often has the strongest interest in having it cleaned up fast, because clean places tend to stay clean, but once some&lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; dumped rubbish, others may add to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The owner may know this already but may be waiting e.g. for the weather to be dry enough to haul it out by car/tractor without completely messing up the track.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The owner can then decide to file a report with the police. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;How to find the owner?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comunal and state owned forest sections may have little signs saying e.g. &quot;city of whereever, forest section nnn, name of section of forest&quot; [Do not confuse with the Waldrettungspunkt (forest rescue point) signs].&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Privately owned forest is more difficult, particularly as the sections can be quite small. The local hunter will usually know who owns which piece. The  police can give you the phone number of the hunter (they do that all the time because of wildlife accidents). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T16:09:00.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14659" CreationDate="2016-12-22T18:38:34.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't ice skate and my main goals of working with ice are to get it gone.  That said, if I did want to even out ice with the least amount of work and expense I would get a weed burner and a bottle of propane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inexpensive weed burns can be purchased for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-91033.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;about $20 US&lt;/a&gt;  it easily connects to the 5 gallon propane grill bottle, if you don't have a propane grill, some you know probably does, borrow it and refill it before returning.  Don't use disposable propane bottles, that would be expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the weed burner to melt the high spots, they should melt and level out with the rest of the ice. If you want to get fancy for another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webstaurantstore.com/24-black-floor-cleaning-squeegee/27140076.html?utm_source=Google&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQiAkO7CBRDeqJ_ahuiPrtEBEiQAbYupJWUhLftPbCSr7O40UX0su2mzGGuQdZZtqkH7OobAGmIaAvyF8P8HAQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;$10&lt;/a&gt; you can get a push Squeegee and get a nice smooth finish on the whole area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3IYUFt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3IYUFt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;weed burner image&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T14:38:06.517" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T14:38:06.517" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14636" CreationDate="2016-12-22T19:38:01.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I look a fall while clipping the 3rd clip (in the danger zone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no reason that a climber should be at risk of a ground fall while making the 3rd clip. Even the second clip should be safe in a gym (and ideally outdoors). Something seems off and you should ask either a staff member or a more experienced climber about where you should clip. You should mention your experience of almost taking a ground fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about a ground/ledge fall, it is generally better to clip with the bolt near your waist than far above your head. If you pull out 6 feet of slack to clip a bolt that is 3 feet above your waist, at the end of your fall you will be 3 feet closer to the ground (ignoring rope stretch) then if you climbed the extra 3 feet and clipped the bolt right at your waist. Obviously the clipping stance and difficulty of the extra moves need to be taken into consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2016-12-22T19:38:01.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14659" CreationDate="2016-12-22T21:57:56.937" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a pond on our farm and often groom the ice for ice skating. We have a pretty simple 3-step process that takes about 20 minutes with a couple of people and gives us great ice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shovel off any snow. The melting/freezing snow really ruins your&#xA;ice. We use a metal bladed shovel which also helps to knock off any&#xA;bumps in the ice. (Some loose ice shavings help with the next step, anyways.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray/dump warm water over the ice. In your case where you don't want to have to add water the weed burner will probably work. You just need a thin layer of water to work with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Level the water as needed. We just use a large push broom to ensure we get even coverage. Ultimately, gravity is your friend here and the water should settle to be completely smooth before it freezes, the broom is only used to help push water around. If your hose reaches all areas, then you likely won't even need the broom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't try to do this if it is windy. It will still work, but not as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping snow off of the ice is the most important part.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As others have mentioned, keep people off the ice while it is setting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work with your temperature. If it is going to be above freezing for a little while, just let the sun do all the work for you and let it re-freeze over night. If it is very cold (we get down around -10F at times) you'll need more/warmer water as it freezes so fast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference take a look at step three of Bob Vila's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bobvila.com/articles/backyard-ice-rink/#.WFxQlhsrJhE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3 Simple Steps to a Backyard Ice Skating Rink&lt;/a&gt;. (Yes, it really is just as easy as it sounds).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11954" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2016-12-24T20:03:59.173" LastActivityDate="2016-12-24T20:03:59.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14634" CreationDate="2016-12-22T23:58:04.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting the fish home fresh is more important than how long it actually lives on the stringer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a cooler and you don't have a live tank a stringer is your best option.  Water is almost always cooler than the air, keeps them moist, and will keep them alive for a period of time.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do as little damage as possible removing the hook and use a single hook.  This may involve clipping the line to feed the line through. Do it quickly and get the fish back in the water.  Don't lift the existing fish out of the water to put on a fish on.  A stringer does not impede the breathing that much.  What it does impede is swimming and that is how they get most of the water flow.  In a river or stream put them out in the current.  You can easily get a couple hours in good conditions.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to get to ice in a couple hours then can be sloppy. A stringer is still your best option. But for a couple hours they will keep in fish bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-23T01:47:58.990" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T01:47:58.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14677" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14679" CreationDate="2016-12-23T05:31:07.133" Score="6" ViewCount="445" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did read through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing_(hobby)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki page&lt;/a&gt;, but I am sort of confused now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is Letterboxing the same concept as what we usually call a Treasure hunt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2016-12-23T19:05:39.907" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T19:05:39.907" Title="Letterboxing vs Treasure hunts" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;letterboxing&gt;&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14677" CreationDate="2016-12-23T05:43:13.880" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the Treasure Hunt &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_hunt_(game)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki page&lt;/a&gt;, Letterboxing is considered a form of treasure hunting. Clues are distributed by various manners, including orally, and lead to a specific destination. A difference that stands out to me is that Letterboxing, specifically, tends to include stamps that a player can stamp their own personal log book with to keep track of their exploits. My overall impression of treasure hunts, in contrast, is that you are retrieving a specific object in a treasure hunt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the same lines is geocaching, which has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki page&lt;/a&gt; that compares and contrasts with other forms of treasure hunting. Geocaching tends to use GPS coordinates instead of a series of distributed clues - although there are caches which list clues to another cache in a chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11943" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T05:43:13.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14677" CreationDate="2016-12-23T07:22:42.470" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest difference between letterboxing (at least on Dartmoor, its original home) are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;letterboxes are &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; intended to be left out indefinitely. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they're put out for anyone to find. It's quite common when looking for a specific box with a precise clue (or even GPS) to find another box. If part of a series this may tell you how to get the clues for the rest of the series. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a letterbox is a container (to hold the stamp and book it has to be). A treasure hunt clue could be (e.g.) taped to the bottom of a rock &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;letterboxes are usually on (effectively) public land. Treasure hunts are more often within the boundaries of a particular place with much more control over access and more chance of repairing &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in a treasure hunt, one point leads to the next. Even with a letterbox series arranged as a walk this isn't the norm - all clues are given at the beginning. As boxes go missing or get damaged this can be important. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;letterbox clues are &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; straight geographic directions (bearings, GPS, paces from a distinctive tree or rock) while treasure hunt clues are often riddles or otherwise cryptic. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T07:22:42.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2016-12-23T08:16:16.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;1) &lt;strong&gt;Try to not get in their way&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, snakes would not attack a human unless cornered. So if you spot a snake on your path, try to go around it if it's possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately snakes love to sun bake, and that means that on a warm day in a bushland with known snake presence, there is a good chance you will spot one on a human trail because that's one of the places where they can get the most sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have run into 3 snakes in one day while hiking the Great Ocean Walk, they all slithered away from me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) &lt;strong&gt;Getting out of their territory&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard stories from fellow bushwalkers/hikers about how they were stalked by snakes. I can't verify those stories because I was not there. But some species of snakes are more aggressive than the others and in breeding season they might become territorial. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see many snakes in an area, i.e. near a creek, common sense should tell you to not go near where those snakes are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you are already in the snake's territory, get out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) &lt;strong&gt;Prevention is better than cure&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go into total wildness with no mobile reception, it's best to bring a BLP (personal locating beacon) with the group. In snake infested areas, wear thick enclosed shoes, ideally with high ankle support or with gaiters. Making loud noises, so snakes know to get away from your path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, you are not on snakes food menu and they are afraid of you just like you are afraid of them. So if you give them space, they will leave you alone too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorUserId="3482" LastEditDate="2016-12-23T08:34:38.450" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T08:34:38.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14681" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14682" CreationDate="2016-12-23T11:16:18.587" Score="4" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;Newbie here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few days back I came to know about merino wool. This was from an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/01/21/how-to-travel-around-the-world-with-just-a-20lb-backpack/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; about travelling the world in just 20 lb or roughly 10 kg backpack. From the article - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;My socks, shirts, and undies were all made from Merino wool and I&#xA;  tried to pick dark colors to conceal the inevitable dirt and grime&#xA;  build-up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Merino wool is an amazing material. It has great flow and insulation&#xA;  properties (it will keep you warm when it’s cold outside and cool when&#xA;  it’s hot outside), it dries quickly, it has high odor resistance (you&#xA;  can go longer before washing), it’s not bulky or itchy, and unlike&#xA;  cotton it will still keep you warm if it gets wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Often times I’d jump into the shower wearing my shirt and undies, give&#xA;  them a good wash, wring them out in the sink, roll them up in my towel&#xA;  like a burrito, and step on it (to get more water out). Then I’d put&#xA;  the damp clothing back on and within minutes of walking around they&#xA;  would be dry and clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s the perfect material for the minimal traveler. - artofmanliness.com &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did some more research and came to know that most people think of putting clothes in layers, base layer and so on and so forth.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I come from Asia, so am used to temperate climate of 27°C or 28°C degrees and above are ok. For myself, 20°C or less is not good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope to travel to Canada where it would be chillier than what it is at the present. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I keep warm myself there without getting too weighty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Umm... I am fat and don't wear undies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to buy clothes (specifically merinoo wool clothes) in Canada, which brands would people suggest I look for without breaking the bank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somebody pointed that you can get &quot;last season stuff&quot; in a store, should I be asking at the store about &quot;last season stuff&quot; . Also does &quot;last season stuff&quot; equate to used clothes or not ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are multiple queries but all are related with each other. I did try my hand at &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/84759/what-are-icebreaker-and-merino-wool-clothes-and-where-can-you-get-them&quot;&gt;asking&lt;/a&gt; at travel but was hammered as it's not directly related to travel.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11955" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T19:31:34.167" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T19:31:34.167" Title="Merino wool, brands and layers?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2016-12-23T15:07:24.210" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14681" CreationDate="2016-12-23T12:01:14.293" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is a layering system. This allows you to alter your clothing to your need. Briefly you'll want:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Base Layer&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly merino if you want here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This layers principle job is to wick sweat quickly away from your body. Sweat (or any moisture) against your skin is going to get you cold. This is possibly the opposite to what your used to in a warm climate. Merino is a great wicking layer and it has the added advantage of being a good insulator too. Another good option is polyester.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get different thicknesses of merino for this task. The thickness depends on personal preference and/conditions. A thick layer means you need less additional layers but is less flexible if you get too warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Mid layer(s)&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the main insulating layer. Typically this consists of jackets offering various degrees of warmth from a thin soft shell right up to a thick down jacket. You can get merino jackets too, though they tend to be pricey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the main layer you use to regulate your temperature. If you're too warm you remove layers, if you're too hot you add layers, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Outer layer&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your final layer is typically a waterproof/windproof layer. This is high to protect you form the worst of the elements, snow, rain, ice, etc. You may not wear this all the time but you should always have it with you. Again, if you get wet, you're in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2016-12-23T15:02:32.083" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T15:02:32.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14666" CreationDate="2016-12-23T16:03:03.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would go with a silk liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be sure your thermals and socks are polyesther or poly-cotton blend.  They should be no more than 30% cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, take caution with that down bag.  On a 6-day hike, if it gets wet, you won't be able to dry it in time for the next night you'll need it.  Down compresses well, and is unbeatable for warmth - when dry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is up to you to take that risk, I'm just throwing that out there for you.  I've seen people pack two bags, one down, the other poly - and both meant for warmer weather, thus allowing both to pack down more easily, and yet together offer better insulation.  That's too complicated for my blood, but some people like that arrangement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned the temps can range from 9C to -3C, which means, you could be crossing the melting point.  When temps stay really low, your risk of getting wet is lessened; when temps are really high, your chances increase - but then you don't need the down.  When you are at the melting point thresholds, snow turns to wet, whereas if it was really cold, snow just blows off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2016-12-23T16:03:03.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14685" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14717" CreationDate="2016-12-23T19:09:59.497" Score="10" ViewCount="1188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a problem in bouldering where the swinging of my feet take the grip away from my fingers and throw me off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, I am in a bat-hang, and need to reach an edge hold about 3.5 ft. away from my hand's current hold. I cannot reach this edge without my feet slipping off. But of course, when my feet do slip, even when I manage to grab the next edge, the swing of my legs inevitably throws me off from the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can include a photo to show what I'm doing, but I mean to ask a general question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some things I can do to minimize that swing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw several others doing the same problem, release one foot from the bat-hang and bring their knee to their chest, as if to compact. I see that this reduces mass at the outer radius of my body being accelerated by gravity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything else I can do? I tried slowly slipping my last foot off the bat-hang, but that's only reducing the foot's fall by a few inches (while destroying the top of my shoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Edit&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some photos of the specific problem I'm working on. But I've had the same question in other problems, anywhere where the feet come off while reaching for a hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the starting position of a bat-hang, then how my legs swing after release and finally how I swing off the edge holds due to the swing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WEqw0.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lkFaG.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qbdLO.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2509" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2016-12-31T16:21:00.277" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T16:21:00.277" Title="What are ways to reduce swinging momentum when climbing?" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14686" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14697" CreationDate="2016-12-23T19:52:19.223" Score="18" ViewCount="2092" Body="&lt;p&gt;Close to my home, there is only a bouldering gym, but no climbing gym that offers roped climbing. But my real goal in climbing is leading harder/longer routes. The bouldering really improves my strength and technique, but I often find myself unable to redpoint routes near my limit because my arms are getting pumped before the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: Are there any exercises that can be used to specifically train endurance &lt;em&gt;at home&lt;/em&gt; that need at most a hangboard? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T12:05:24.827" Title="How to train climbing endurance at home?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14687" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14688" CreationDate="2016-12-23T20:08:54.380" Score="28" ViewCount="50619" Body="&lt;p&gt;You see this a lot on films, the hero/heroine is injured and disinfects their wound(s) by pouring whiskey on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit sceptical. If I'm in an emergency scenario and need to prevent infection. Would pouring drinking alcohol on help? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to clarify, I didn't mean a proper alcohol based disinfectant (typically undrinkable) but something that you could drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:38:20.317" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T04:16:51.350" Title="Is whiskey a good disinfectant?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14687" CreationDate="2016-12-23T20:30:32.647" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;This was done on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=cWysBwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA397&amp;amp;lpg=PA397&amp;amp;dq=whiskey%20disinfect%20wounds%20medical%20journal&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=2ynIoK2TEW&amp;amp;sig=bxBBUza48SYYJ4Pu7VgANmGexCY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiUy_iJkYvRAhVK5WMKHZCPBQ4Q6AEIQTAH#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=whiskey%20disinfect%20wounds%20medical%20journal&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Frontier&lt;/a&gt;, and during the &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=d9u7BAAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT82&amp;amp;lpg=PT82&amp;amp;dq=whiskey%20disinfect%20wounds&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=gl8NPy3CUL&amp;amp;sig=C9CFhxuui3U_J1NPliuV0YyRNtI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiIg6jekIvRAhUh4oMKHVvRC9g4ChDoAQg_MAY#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=whiskey%20disinfect%20wounds&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Civil War&lt;/a&gt;. According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://Journal%20of%20the%20American%20Medical%20Association,%20Volume%2020&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;journal from the American Medical Association&lt;/a&gt; printed in 1893, it is a good antiseptic. Apparently, alcohol works by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wisegeek.org/why-is-alcohol-a-good-antiseptic.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;breaking down the protein bonds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like this question has been asked by many other people, and other than historical sources, there doesn't seem to be much current research on it, probably because we now have better antiseptics and disinfectants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Correction, as pointed out by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/11504/lumberjack&quot;&gt;@Lumberjach&lt;/a&gt;, someone did do a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2978/can-liquor-be-used-as-an-emergency-antiseptic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;modern study&lt;/a&gt; and found that whiskey can be used as an antiseptic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing, the difference between antiseptics and disinfectants is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Antiseptics are applied to living skin or tissue to prevent infection,&#xA;  whereas disinfectants are applied to surfaces, equipment or other&#xA;  inanimate objects. Disinfectants are stronger and more toxic than&#xA;  antiseptics because they are applied to surfaces, not living tissue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livestrong.com/article/291472-antiseptic-vs-disinfectant/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T04:16:51.350" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T04:16:51.350" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14690" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14693" CreationDate="2016-12-25T15:07:01.017" Score="7" ViewCount="383" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hop climbs up other plants or objects. It clasps its target always clockwise. What is the reason for this? Wouldn't it be more efficient to select the direction case by case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T20:46:39.767" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T20:46:39.767" Title="Why does hop always grow clockwise?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14691" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-25T15:12:35.793" Score="7" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently my region in Germany had great success in bringing back the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_kite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;red kite bird&lt;/a&gt;. Unfortunately a few decided to stay near newly built wind turbines. Thus the turbines are turned off from time to time to protect the seldom animal. This made me wonder which circumstances disturb the red kite and lead to a shutdown of the wind turbines?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:08:31.710" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:08:31.710" Title="How and why is the red kite bird disturbed by wind turbines?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14685" CreationDate="2016-12-25T17:40:19.983" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can grab your current hold with both hands: do a pull-up, as high as possible. Then release your feet, in any convenient way. While your body starts swinging, reverse the pull-up, so your arms reach fully extended position when your body is roughly vertical. Then try not to lose your grip while your body continues the swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea here is that somehow your angular velocity is getting eaten up by your body straightening, like in the example with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bsharp.org/physics/spins&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;spinning skater&lt;/a&gt; (I cannot really explain it physically). With less angular velocity it's easier to stabilize your body with your feet in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure you can apply this in your specific situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2016-12-25T17:40:19.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14690" CreationDate="2016-12-25T18:07:22.943" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few plants like this. It's coded into their DNA. Some vines spiral in the right-handed sense, others left, e.g., morning glory and honeysuckle go the opposite way. There can also be a screw-handedness in various other things like the way the leaves are arranged around the stalk or the organization of petals into flowers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, humans have their liver on the right and heart on the left, our brain hemispheres are asymmetric, and so on. The asymmetry also exists on the molecular level in all forms of life. For example, the molecule that gives spearmint its characteristic smell has a mirror-image version that exists in caraway seeds and has a different smell. Ultimately all of these asymmetries probably originated by chance at an early stage in the evolution of life on earth. They're coded in DNA, which is itself asymmetric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of evolution, I think there are likely to be different reasons in different animals and plants why it's advantageous to have an asymmetry rather than symmetry. Then if asymmetry is advantageous, it's probably random which of the two occurs. I googled for info on vines, but mainly found only info on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/palmer.hp/asym/BigAsym/BigAsym-Refs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;animals&lt;/a&gt;. So the following is just my speculation, but I would think that in the case of a climbing vine, it would be advantageous for it to have a definite screw-sense programmed into it, because it makes it more likely that it will actually form a spiral, thereby staying firmly attached to the thing it's climbing up. If it didn't have a handedness, then it could kind of randomly start going up one way, then turn the other, and the result might be that it would sort of zigzag back and forth without ever securely wrapping around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-12-26T15:45:47.253" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T15:45:47.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-26T05:19:57.417" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's similar to the rule that sailboats are given right of way over motorboats, and sailboats going upwind have right of way over sailboats going with the wind.  With the boats, it's that motorboats have more options than sailboats, and sailboats with the wind have more options than those going against it.  It's similar with hikers: those going uphill have to work harder, and possibly have fewer options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11975" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T05:19:57.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14686" CreationDate="2016-12-26T09:20:47.887" Score="10" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a hangboard. Use it multiple times a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, set up a pull-up bar on each door of your rooms. Enter only after you do one pull-up. To exert your body as much as you do when climbing, Pulls ups and hangs are the simplest exercises which do that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do Leg-lifts regularly, although they are typically for control and not for strength.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Iron chairs/ Wall sits: This one appear the simplest to do, but I find it a real beast mode exercise. Bend the knees and squat as though sitting in a chair.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use an adjustable finger strengthener. I am looking forward to keep on in office just nearby my keyboard. I might turn into a better climber next season. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; One might ask if these things really train for endurance. I' say, they should. For example, If you keep on increasing the hang time &lt;em&gt;without straining your fingers beyond a certain point where you injure it&lt;/em&gt;, struggle for a particular hang-time goes on decreasing. I definitely am sure that being able to hold onto a particular hold is not exactly required in overall climbing skills, because while climbing we move, fast. But, training your fingers to keep functioning with the same strength over a longer period of time is what directly correlated to endurance. These exercises should do exactly that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2016-12-26T15:42:02.950" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T15:42:02.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2016-12-26T10:17:29.427" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Under the &quot;going-down person stops&quot; convention, the up-going hiker will automatically and immediately have some warning that something is wrong if the down-going hiker fails to stop because he is unable to do so, allowing him to stop and/or take evasive action with minimal communication between the parties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a nearby cliff, steep trails, slippery conditions, and foreign languages are involved then this convention makes a lot of sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11978" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T10:17:29.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14691" CreationDate="2016-12-26T11:43:22.303" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few aspects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collision: some birds are better than others at avoiding wind farms, but this is a risk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Noise: the noise from the turbine and blades unsettles and upsets animals and birds &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Movement: birds of prey are very sensitive to movement, and the unnatural and fast blade movement upsets their normal behaviour &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can lead to them failing to hunt correctly, problems in rearing young, and even problems in courtship. Read this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/our-positions-and-campaigns/positions/windfarms/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; and others on the rspb website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2016-12-26T11:49:25.680" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T11:49:25.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14687" CreationDate="2016-12-26T15:12:42.413" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is whiskey a good disinfectant in an emergency situation while in the outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally any strong alcohol, whether whiskey, vodka, tequila or some other strong liquor should not be used to clean wounds. But in an a survival situation, I would not hesitate to use whiskey or some other strong liquor such as vodka on a wound while in the great outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ehow.com/info_8782812_can-vodka-used-disinfectant.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Treating Wounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alcohol of any kind should never be used on an open wound. Alcohol has the ability to kill exposed tissue as well as germs. This may delay healing. However, &lt;strong&gt;in a situation where standard first aid equipment is not available&lt;/strong&gt;, vodka (or whiskey) may be used to clean dirt from the surrounding area of a wound. Vodka may also be used to disinfect equipment used to treat an open wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our modern whiskeys are rather weak in comparison to the whiskeys used to clean wounds in the good old days of the American Civil War or the wild West.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival/survival-skills/starting-fire/survival-lost-with-only-a-bottle-of-whiskey/#bp=0/img1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Care for Cuts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now imagine you’re injured—does the old cowboy “whiskey in the wound” method work? Modern liquor, including bourbon, clocks in at 40 percent alcohol, &lt;strong&gt;only half the punch of the Wild West moonshines&lt;/strong&gt;, but it still kills topical germs, Tilton says. It might also kill healthy cells, however, and it burns like hell, making clean water a better option. Whiskey does work to sterilize instruments and &lt;em&gt;to blunt pain—drinking two ounces of 90-proof George Dickel reduces pain roughly 50 percent for two hours.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best percentage of alcohol for being affective as a disinfectant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/15683480-distillation-equipment-an-essential-addition-to-any-prepper-s-checklist&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Antiseptic/disinfectant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are plenty of other uses for alcohol aside from drinking and burning it. For example, high strength ethyl alcohol (the kind produced by fermenting sugar and then concentrating it with a still) is a versatile product that doubles as an antiseptic as well as a disinfectant. This means that it’s effective at cleaning wounds but can also be used to clean hard surfaces. It’s a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and is highly effective at killing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Antiseptic and disinfectants are very useful and should be considered highly valuable by SHTF preppers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There is one very important piece of information that one should consider when producing antiseptic: the strength of the alcohol greatly alters its effectiveness and stronger is not always better. Generally, the antimicrobial activity of alcohol is significantly lower at concentrations below 50%. So, when producing antiseptic, make sure that it’s at least 50% alcohol. Also, the optimal strength is in the 60 to 90% range. That’s where the “stronger is not always better” rule comes into play. Interestingly enough, applying alcohol stronger than 90% to a wound actually disrupts the body’s natural healing process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, whiskey could be used to purify iffy water against giardia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival/survival-skills/starting-fire/survival-lost-with-only-a-bottle-of-whiskey/#bp=0/img1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Treat Iffy Water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Early settlers in Canada’s Red River area who mixed a little whiskey into their drinking water had fewer incidences of waterborne illness than their counterparts, reports BACKPACKER columnist and wilderness-medicine expert Buck Tilton. Add a shot to your liter of water, then wait 20 minutes. You want dead, not drunk giardia.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T15:12:42.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14702" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14703" CreationDate="2016-12-26T15:16:02.220" Score="9" ViewCount="1355" Body="&lt;p&gt;In (probably) most of northern Europe, it is somewhat cold and wet outside. Despite this fact, I'm trying to get as much outdoor climbing done as I can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A backup plan for somewhat cold weather (i.e. around/slightly above 0°C) would be to try aid climbing, but we're wondering if this is a safe idea.&#xA;My question is, as the title says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is mobile protection&lt;/strong&gt; (i.e. nuts, cams, hexes etc.) &lt;strong&gt;less safe if the rock is&lt;/strong&gt; (slightly) &lt;strong&gt;wet? Does this change if the temperature is around the freezing point?&lt;/strong&gt; (Bonus points for references from official sources, e.g. manufacturers or climbing associations.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not about heavy rain with water pouring down the rocks, but more about rock that hasn't completely dried from rainfall a few days past (or at most a light drizzle while climbing) where there might remain some really wet spots on the inside of some cracks or flakes. The temperature would be mostly above 0°C, but where one can't see beforehand with 100% certainty that there aren't any frozen spots in some of the cracks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:04.063" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:15:04.063" Title="Are nuts and cams less safe if the rock is wet?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14702" CreationDate="2016-12-26T16:03:52.837" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountaineers doing technical alpine routes certainly use rock pro under wet or icy conditions. However, the kind of routes they're climbing are typically not the kind of high-angle stuff that you have in mind when you go out for a day of rock climbing. There are people who do things like mixed rock/ice climbing, but you really have to know what you're doing. I've never done any aid climbing, but aid climbing in the rain sounds to me like a really, really bad idea, because often the placements are extremely marginal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there are really two separate issues you want to keep in mind when attempting to apply your trad technique under wet conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is that lubrication reduces friction, so for example a cam in a flaring crack might not hold if it's wet, even though it would have held under dry conditions. But of course not all gear placements depend on friction. If you place a big hex in a constriction, no friction is required. And even with an active placement that requires friction, the way active gear works is based on the principle that as you increase the tension on the rope, the gear presses against the rock harder and harder, giving more friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other issue is rock quality. Even on well known trad routes, there is sometimes rock fall. A rock can hold over and over again under whatever strain is applied to it by climbers -- which could mean placing gear behind it, or simply using it as a hold -- but one day, it comes loose. For example, there could be a refrigerator-sized boulder sitting on huge, sloping ledge at the top of a single-pitch climb, which everyone has been using as a belay anchor. It's been holding non-leader falls for years just fine. But on a day when it's raining hard, that amount of force might finally cause it to slide off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Erosion is a natural process that shows bursts of activity at irregular time intervals due to conditions. If you're in the mountains during or soon after a storm, you will often see new rockslides. This is why, for example, there are huge debris-control dams at the bottoms of the canyons in our mountains in Los Angeles. Entire towns have been wiped out by boulders and mud during once-in-a-century storms. In other words, there is no guarantee that something will stay stable just because it's been stable for x years in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're describing temperatures hovering around freezing. One of the natural processes that leads to erosion is the situation where water, ice, or snow gets into cracks between rocks and then undergoes freeze-thaw cycles, expanding and contracting with each cycle. People quarrying rocks have sometimes used this effect intentionally to break rocks apart, e.g., by drilling holes in the rock and letting rain fill them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Trad Climber's Bible by John Long and Peter Croft has a brief section on climbing in the rain. They basically describe it as a misfortune that befalls you because the weather forecast was wrong, and they suggest common-sense ways of dealing with the emergency: don't panic; close your chalk bag and stick it under your clothing; slow down and be deliberate about your movements; place more gear than you normally would; pull on gear if necessary; avoid moss and slime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2016-12-26T16:19:12.427" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T16:19:12.427" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14702" CreationDate="2016-12-26T20:28:48.170" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer to that is yes - but the real answer is it depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing on sandstone, this could actually be very dangerous &amp;amp; unethical. The issue with sandstone is that it tends to be a fairly porous rock. After heavy rains, it is likely to have absorbed some quantity of water in those pores. This weakens the rock, compared to the very same rock with empty pores. Depending on conditions (ambient humidity levels and rock itself), it may take some time before it is safe to climb again. The issues about climbing on wet (porous) sandstone is that it is much more likely to break off if you fall on your pro (not necessarily a huge chunk falling down, but you only need the surface to chip out to take out your cam/nuts...) and also that you could break holds. That's bad for safety AND for climbing ethics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red rocks (near Las Vegas) recommend 24 hours after rain before climbing - I've heard people talking about 36 hours there to be safe too:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lvclimberscouncil.org/climbing-after-rain&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Las Vegas Climbing Council&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, Red River Gorge (Kentucky) is also largely sandstone though of a much stronger type. I've been climbing often there while it rained, mostly in the roofy areas where the rocks tends to stay dry, although it will begin to seep in the cracks if it rains enough. I also climbed there in the spring - with all the snow melting, even if the surface of the rock is dry, the cracks are often seeping so it is safe to assume there's moisture in the rock. It's mostly sport climbing though, but the point about the rock being liable to break is just as valid. Bolted routes at Red Rocks are just as discouraged after rains as trad climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do a long route, and get caught in the rain, you may then have to climb on wet rock anyways. Of course there's a difference between taking a risk because elements force you to and walking to the crag voluntarily to take that same risk (wet rock). But to show it is not an absolute no-go, depending on rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main thing is that wet rock will bite less into your placements than dry one, generally speaking. So each placement should be considered with more caution - raise your standards as to what you will consider a good one. Chokes will tend to be less affected than cams because the friction doesn't matter as much - but be aware that it is more likely it will move after you go so be extra careful for this (perhaps equalize more than you otherwise would have).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding freezing, I am aware of nothing that would make much of a difference between say 20 Celsius wet rock a 2C rock. If you mean below freezing, then I would point out that mix climbing (rock &amp;amp; ice) do use both ice screws &amp;amp; rock protections for their ascents (though these guys are crazy, IMO). One of the issue that I see with this however is that it may be more difficult to determine is the rock is fractured (because it may not ring as hollow if ice fills the cracks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding manufacturer's inputs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metollius seems to think so: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/pdf/cam-manual.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metollius about wet/icy rocks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My opinion on this however (regarding manufacturer's input) is that they are all likely to say it is riskier just because of liability. They are unlikely to provide useful guidelines as to how much riskier or when it is safe regardless. E.g. to me the fact that they describe it as riskier doesn't mean it's a no-go - all things being equal, trad climbing is riskier than top-rope....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-26T22:11:33.223" LastActivityDate="2016-12-26T22:11:33.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13045" CreationDate="2016-12-26T21:16:55.793" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer assumes a year spent on the road, visiting one national park after the other. With an average visit of one week per park, or four parks per month.  The camper (RV) being a self-contained; trailer or motor home with fresh &amp;amp; grey/black water holding tanks.  The optimal RV site being in the park, with at least electrical hookups available, and the site reservable in advance.  Optimal temperature range for visiting the park is a low of 32 F or above, and high of 89 F or below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NKFZy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NKFZy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Jan_Jun&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;January&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Carlsbad Caverns  &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; New Mexico  &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cave/planyourvisit/eatingsleeping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/NMCAVE:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Vehicle or RV camping is prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; White’s City RV Park is closest 575-785-2291&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Horse; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Guadalupe Mountains &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Texas &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/gumo/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/gumo/eatingsleeping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Mountains_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/TXNPGUMO:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearest Comercial is outside of Carlsbad Caverns&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; non-reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Saguaro &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Arizona &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/12067:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; None -Camp sites are not accessible by vehicles and must be hiked to, at 6 designated campgrounds within the Saguaro Wilderness Area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby state park &quot;Catalina State Park’&quot; with electrical hookups &lt;a href=&quot;https://azstateparks.itinio.com/catalina/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://azstateparks.itinio.com/catalina/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike; Permits may be issued up to two months in advance, but no later than noon on the day of departure. All applications by mail or fax must be complete to process. Questions? Call the visitor center at (520) 733-5153.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Joshua Tree &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Tree_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/CANPJT:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;February&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Death Valley &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California,Nevada &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/CANPDV:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Furnace Creek campground has full hookups&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recreation.gov/camping/furnace-creek/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=70978&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.recreation.gov/camping/furnace-creek/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=70978&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Channel Islands &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Islands_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/CANPCHANIS:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; There are no facilities for RV camping, and tent camping requires a boat to get to the park's islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Boat; reservations required&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Sequoia &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/CANPSKC:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Redwood &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood_National_and_State_Parks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USCA0928:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Multiple options &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/lodging.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/lodging.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; reservations recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;March&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Pinnacles &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt;  Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/camp.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnacles_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/CANPPINN:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Pinnacles Campground (Consesion)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recreation.gov/camping/pinnacles-campground-ca/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=73984&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.recreation.gov/camping/pinnacles-campground-ca/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=73984&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Drive; reservations recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Yosemite &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USCA1269:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Zion &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Utah &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/campgrounds-in-zion.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USUT0276:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Many options, Sand Hollow State Park with hookups is nearby &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/sand-hollow-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=UT&amp;amp;parkId=345761&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/sand-hollow-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=UT&amp;amp;parkId=345761&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Arches &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Utah &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arches_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USUT0010:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discovermoab.com/campgrounds_private.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.discovermoab.com/campgrounds_private.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Drive; Reservations recommended. Effective September 6, 2016, Arches National Park has suspended backcountry overnight use while staff examine whether current backcountry management allows for adequate protection to park resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;April&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Black Canyon of the Gunnison &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Colorado &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/blca/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Canyon_of_the_Gunnison_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/NPBLCA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; South Rim Campground (loop B)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recreation.gov/co/south%20rim%20campground%20(co)/campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=74059&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.recreation.gov/co/south%20rim%20campground%20(co)/campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=74059&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Drive; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Petrified Forest &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Arizona &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/imr/pefo/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/pefo/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_Forest_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USAZ0164:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Petrified Forest National Park does not have campground facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Multiple Nearby, some are National Forests with amenties and reservable &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/asnf/recreation/camping-cabins&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/asnf/recreation/camping-cabins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike; Non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Capitol Reef &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Utah &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/campinga.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Reef_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/1919:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.capitolreef.org/lodging.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.capitolreef.org/lodging.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Kings Canyon &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Canyon_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USCA0546:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;May&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Bryce Canyon &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Utah &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Canyon_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/1571:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://utah.com/campgrounds/bryce-canyon-national-park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://utah.com/campgrounds/bryce-canyon-national-park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; some reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Grand Canyon &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Arizona &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USAZ0089:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Adjacent, Mather Campground, Trailer Village (Concession) offers paved RV sites up to 50 feet in length with full hook-ups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=63275&amp;amp;Chain=398&amp;amp;Arrive=1/1/2015&amp;amp;_ga=1.32018878.1891428768.1413476050&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=63275&amp;amp;Chain=398&amp;amp;Arrive=1/1/2015&amp;amp;_ga=1.32018878.1891428768.1413476050&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Rocky Mountain &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Colorado &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/11805:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; The 'Ranger Lakes Campground' in 'State Forest' state campground has electricity &lt;a href=&quot;http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/StateForest/Pages/Camping.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/StateForest/Pages/Camping.aspx&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; some reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fourth week of May is for driving between Rocky Mountain &amp;amp; Acadia.  This trip plan began in Acadia the first week of June.  Leaving a one week gap and the longest distance between parks here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;June&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Acadia &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Maine &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; North Atlantic&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadia_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USME0002:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Schoodic Woods Campground&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recreation.gov/camping/schoodic-woods-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=74299&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.recreation.gov/camping/schoodic-woods-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=74299&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Reservations recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Shenandoah &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Virginia &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Northeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/VANPSH:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Shenandoah River State Park &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/shenandoah-river-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=VA&amp;amp;parkId=140160&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/shenandoah-river-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=VA&amp;amp;parkId=140160&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Cuyahoga Valley &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Ohio &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cuva/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuyahoga_Valley_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/3234:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; No RV camping or overnight parking.  West Branch State Park is the nearest state park &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://ohiostateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/west-branch-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=OH&amp;amp;parkId=960039&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ohiostateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/west-branch-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=OH&amp;amp;parkId=960039&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Reservations recommended (required peak). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Isle Royale &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Michigan &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_Royale_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USMI0431:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; 36 campsites located across the island. Campsites are accessible only by foot or watercraft.  Cascade River State Park appears to be nearest with electric  ~44 miles south of Grand Portage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/cascade_river/camping.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/cascade_river/camping.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAlsZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAlsZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Jul_Dec&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;July&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Voyageurs &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Minnesota &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/voya/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/MNVOYA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; All park campsites are only accessible by watercraft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; See park paper for current lists of Commercial with amenities, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/voya/learn/news/newspaper.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/voya/learn/news/newspaper.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Boat: Reservations required&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Theodore Roosevelt &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; North Dakota &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/thro/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/13647:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby with hookups Sully Creek State Park &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parkrec.nd.gov/parks/scsp/scsp.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.parkrec.nd.gov/parks/scsp/scsp.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Badlands &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; South Dakota &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/badl/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badlands_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/581:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Cedar Pass Campground&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://foreverresorts.rzda.net/cedarpass/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://foreverresorts.rzda.net/cedarpass/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Wind Cave &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; South Dakota &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/wica/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Cave_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USSD0382:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Several Campgrounds with hookups in Custer State Park  &lt;a href=&quot;http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/campgrounds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/campgrounds/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;August&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Grand Teton &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Wyoming &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Teton_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/WYNPGRTE:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Signal Mountain Campground has one site with full hook-ups and 24 sites with electric hookups. Colter Bay RV Park and Headwaters Campgrounds &amp;amp; RV sites do have full hookups.  The campgrounds operate on a first-come, first-served basis, advance reservations are not accepted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Headwaters Campground and RV sites at Flagg Ranch , Reservations team, please call 307-543-2861.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; non-reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Yellowstone &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Wyoming,Montana,Idaho &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USWY0183:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Fishing Bridge RV Park (consesion) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/lodging/camping/fishing-bridge-rv-park/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/lodging/camping/fishing-bridge-rv-park/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Glacier &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Montana &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_National_Park_(U.S.)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USMT0100:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://glaciermt.com/camping.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://glaciermt.com/camping.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; North Cascades &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Washington &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/noca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cascades_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/WANPSNOCA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Multiple state parks with amenities &amp;amp; reservable &lt;a href=&quot;http://parks.state.wa.us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://parks.state.wa.us/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;September&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Olympic &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Washington &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/WANPSOLMP:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Multiple state parks with amenities &amp;amp; reservable &lt;a href=&quot;http://parks.state.wa.us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://parks.state.wa.us/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Mount Rainier &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Washington &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/WANPSMORA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby Alder Lake Park &lt;a href=&quot;https://washington.goingtocamp.com/AlderLake-TacomaPowerPark&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://washington.goingtocamp.com/AlderLake-TacomaPowerPark&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Crater Lake &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Oregon &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/crla/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_Lake_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USOR0082:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Mazama Village Campground has 214 tent and RV sites, accommodating tents up to 12’ x 12’ and RVs up to 50 feet in length. All sites with hookups are available on a same day, first come, first serve basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.craterlakelodges.com/lodging/reservations/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.craterlakelodges.com/lodging/reservations/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive; some reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Lassen Volcanic &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; California &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Pacific West&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/camping-in-campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassen_Volcanic_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USCA0594:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby NFS campgrounds Merrill &amp;amp; Hallsted; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reserveamerica.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.reserveamerica.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;October&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Great Basin &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Nevada &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Basin_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/NVNPGRBA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; 3 commercial campgrounds nearby &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/camping-outside-of-the-park.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/camping-outside-of-the-park.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Mesa Verde &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Colorado &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/meve/planyourvisit/camping2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_Verde_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USCO0266:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Morefield Campground (concession?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitmesaverde.com/lodging-camping/morefield-campground/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.visitmesaverde.com/lodging-camping/morefield-campground/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Drive; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Canyonlands &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Utah &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyonlands_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/UTNPCANY:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discovermoab.com/campgrounds_private.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.discovermoab.com/campgrounds_private.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; non-reservable &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Great Sand Dunes &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Colorado &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sand_Dunes_National_Park_and_Preserve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/SAND:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Campgrounds within 40 miles of Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/area-campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/area-campgrounds.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13045/optimal-timing-routing-for-a-year-visiting-us-national-parks/14713#14713&quot;&gt;There is a 30,000 character limit per answer, See the rest of the answer here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T22:53:35.190" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14706" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14708" CreationDate="2016-12-27T01:33:06.350" Score="9" ViewCount="4121" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple years ago I have traveled to rather remote areas alone on multi-day hikes and the cell phone coverage was poor. During my hike I wanted to let someone know about my progress (the tracking was for security reasons). I set some checkpoints for each day of my hike to reach and tell that person whether I reached that checkpoint, using SMS messages (which is the most reliable option to deliver a message when the network is poor)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have always imagined I could use my smartphone (which has a GPS chip) to get my coordinates and text them (ideally the recipient would be able to open the coordinates on a map to track my position). I did a few times manually copy and past my position from my GPS tracking app to my texting app, but I would like to know if some apps are doing it directly. I.e. the apps should offer to easily do the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;retrieve the coordinates of my current position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;send a text (SMS) with that position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(optionally) read a text and show on a map the position determined by the coordinates&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I have not made clear that there are some extra requirements specific to a remote area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use only SMS (assume the park is remote enough not to have mobile data coverage)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do not track, push your position (every other hour, not every 30 seconds) [to limit the GPS and network use]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there such apps for Android and/or iOS?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:42:51.353" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:42:51.353" Title="Is there a mobile app to easily send a SMS message with coordinates?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;cell-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14706" CreationDate="2016-12-27T02:30:25.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are lots of apps that will share and mark your position with a pin on a map.&lt;/strong&gt; For my day job I'm part of a team that is in charge of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://app.connectedliving.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Connected Living iPhone app&lt;/a&gt;. We offer that functionality among other things. The app that we view as our biggest competition is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.life360.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Life360&lt;/a&gt;. They also offer that functionality among other things. Another app that seems to be a good fit for your requirements is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.glympse.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glympse&lt;/a&gt;. Their feature set is smaller but it is really good for time limited location sharing. If you have an iPhone there is also the bundled app &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201493&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Find My Friends&lt;/a&gt;. I'm sure there are other apps that do what you want too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically using a smartphone isn't ideal for what you want. The apps are going to reduce your battery life, and you will only be able to share/update your location when you have good enough reception. This means that their usefulness is limited to trips that are short, and have good cellphone coverage. In general short trips with good cellphone coverage aren't the kinds of trips where you need regular check ins. If you want to send status messages in the back country you're better off using a satellite system like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/?show_activity=backpackers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SPOT&lt;/a&gt;. While they are more expensive than using your phone, have some problems of their own, and will require you to carry one more thing, they are a better option in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T02:30:25.920" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14706" CreationDate="2016-12-27T03:00:21.087" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know what phone you have, but there appears to be a relatively simple Android app called &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gps.coordinates.share.sms.email&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPS Coordinates GPS Location&lt;/a&gt;&quot; that claims to be able to text your coordinates without requiring a data connection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;The app has over 100,000 downloads with people claiming it does exactly what it states.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11943" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T11:21:31.240" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T11:21:31.240" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14710" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17626" CreationDate="2016-12-27T18:07:42.133" Score="6" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking of buying a satellite check in device. I often go alone, and would like to upgrade from the system of of always letting someone know where I am going and when to expect me back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with that system is that on a multi-day trip, it may be days before someone comes looking for you, and any deviations from the planned course greatly increase the chance of being missed by searchers in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like something that as a minimum has the ability to send a SOS signal, what other features should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2016-12-27T18:45:49.310" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T19:21:29.037" Title="What features should I look for in a satellite emergency device?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14685" CreationDate="2016-12-27T19:44:43.880" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cliffs LIC!  Tucking your legs in would indeed reduce the angular momentum and help control the swing, as would working on upper body and core strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that route I would say the swing is unavoidable, but if you can convert it from a vertical pendulum swing to a horizontal &quot;helicopter spin&quot;, it would feel a lot more static.  Strength and wingspan permitting, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing that (and I hate dynamic moves like this one seems to force), I would try piking my legs to the left to counter the swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T19:44:43.880" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14712" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14714" CreationDate="2016-12-27T19:57:54.723" Score="8" ViewCount="1650" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone were to get an open wound in the back country, say a knife slipped while cooking dinner and sliced the person, how would you treat that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We already have one question about using &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14687/is-whiskey-a-good-disinfectant&quot;&gt;whiskey&lt;/a&gt;, however I would like to know the correct treatment assuming you have a up to date first aid kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T04:31:08.940" Title="How should you treat an open wound in the backcountry?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13045" CreationDate="2016-12-27T22:19:20.820" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;30,000 Character limit per answer.  This is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13045/optimal-timing-routing-for-a-year-visiting-us-national-parks/14705#14705&quot;&gt;end of my large answer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;November&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Mammoth Cave &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Kentucky &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/KYMACA:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby Nolin Lake State Park &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/nolin-lake-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=KY&amp;amp;parkId=91832&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/nolin-lake-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=KY&amp;amp;parkId=91832&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Great Smoky Mountains &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Tennessee,North Carolina &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/carcamping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smoky_Mountains_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/5385:19:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Other for amenities &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Nearby state parks &lt;a href=&quot;http://theblueridgehighlander.com/state_parks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://theblueridgehighlander.com/state_parks/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Congaree &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; South Carolina &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cong/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cong/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congaree_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/SCNPCS:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Camping at Congaree is tent only. RV and/or car camping is not permitted within the park. Poinsett State Park is nearby&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://southcarolinaparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/poinsett/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=SC&amp;amp;parkId=10224&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://southcarolinaparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/poinsett/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=SC&amp;amp;parkId=10224&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive; reservations Required&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Dry Tortugas &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Florida &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/drto/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Tortugas_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/FLNPDRTO:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Boat access only.  Of the nearest private campgrounds Boyd's Key West Campground looks best.  The Nearest state park with electric seems to be Bahia Honda State Park (35 miles from Key West)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://floridastateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/bahia-honda-sp/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=FL&amp;amp;parkId=281005&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://floridastateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/bahia-honda-sp/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=FL&amp;amp;parkId=281005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Boat; non-reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;December&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Everglades &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Florida &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USFL0138:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Flamingo campground, T loop has 41 sites with electircal hookups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recreation.gov/fl/flamingo/campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=70976&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.recreation.gov/fl/flamingo/campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=70976&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Drive, Boat; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Biscayne &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Florida &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Southeast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bisc/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bisc/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscayne_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USFL0037:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; There are no facilities for RV camping, and tent camping requires a boat to get to the park's islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; Pelican Cay Harbor Marina (&lt;em&gt;commercial&lt;/em&gt;) seems closest 305-345-4830&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Boat; non-reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Hot Springs &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Arkansas &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Midwest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/hosp/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/hosp/planyourvisit/campground.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Springs_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USAR0277:1:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Gulpha Gorge Campground, All sites have full hookups: 30 and 50 amp electric, water and sewer connections. Sites are available on a first come, first served basis. You cannot make a reservation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; State parks and commercial options, To many variables to suggest a defualt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; None, Full only&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Big Bend &lt;strong&gt;State:&lt;/strong&gt; Texas &lt;strong&gt;Region:&lt;/strong&gt; Intermountain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Links:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS camping&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bend_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/TXNPBIBE:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Camping in the Park:&lt;/strong&gt; Rio Grande Village RV Campground (concession)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reserve:&lt;/strong&gt; call 1-877-386-4383, or 432-477-2293 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Primitive Camping Options:&lt;/strong&gt; Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse; Some reservable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Disclaimer and warnings&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question says there are 49 National Parks in the lower 48, I only found 47 when creating this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the result of internet searching in the Fall of 2016. Nothing is static, parks are subject to full or partial closure due to weather or planned major constructions projects.  No attempt is made in this answer, to identify closures that are not permanent.  If a major event (disaster or construction project) alters the permanent state of a park readers are encouraged to update the answer, while keeping the same optimal site parameters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modifications in your “optimal” site can greatly impact the potential available solutions.   Of the 47 parks, many do not offer RV camping with electrical hookups (circa 2017), but do have nearby state parks with hookups, these are used as the secondary optimal site location.  Commercial sites with full hook-ups can usually be found in the area. Most National parks allow some form of backcountry camping.  The addition of a generator or solar panel(s) to your RV that eliminate a need for electrical hookups can greatly expand the available options.  Most self-contained RVs will have sufficient battery and fuel (propane) storage to allow for a couple of days camping without any hookups. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the National and State parks have limits on vehicle length.  You will need to know the actual length of you RV, tow vehicle and combined length, when choosing campgrounds and/or specific sites.  Use a tape measure to find the actual length of your equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Legend&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Park = name of the park&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;State = name of the State(s) the national park is located in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Region = general area of the country the park is located in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Link to National Park Service = main park page at nps.gov&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Link to NPS camping = camping page at nps.gov&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Link to Wikipedia = main park page at en.wikipedia.org&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Link to Weather = one of potentially several park specific sites for the monthly weather at weather.com at the time these links where selected they also displayed a graph indicating the average temperature range of the park for each month of the year.  I transferred these values to a table and used the table plan the visit schedule. Optimal temperature range for visiting the park is a low of 32 F or above, and high of 89 F or below.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;RV Camping in the Park = lists the name of a campground in the park with electrical RV hookups (optimal) and or provides important information about RV camping in the park.  “Other for amenities” Means RV camping is allowed in the park, but without hookups.  Length rules are NOT addressed here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reserve = this is my attempt to identify the most likely place I would choose to make reservations for a visit.  Information here is going to be the most subject to deterioration over time and subject to opinion. Attempting this journey without reservations would be disappointing at best, impossible at worst. In some cases, reservations are required for even the most difficult to access non-RV sites.  With variations by park, ranging from drop in the office the day before, to schedule online 2 days, 2 months, or anything up to a year in advance. While it gives a starting point, significant effort by the trip planner will be required in this area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Primitive Camping Options = A brief review of camping options in the park, other than an RV site with hookups.  Any of four general options are given Hike, Boat, Drive, Horse&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike = Generally termed “backcountry camping”, you walk some distance (rules vary by park) carrying all of your gear (and maybe water) to spend the night. Options range from designed sites that require reservations, to sleep anywhere out the wilderness.  At the least usually requires a free pass be obtained from the ranger station that day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boat = Anything from class V white water, to ocean going boating.  Generally, either personal boats or rental options exist, “backcountry camping” access by boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drive = Drive to a designated site without RV hookups, RVs may or may NOT be permitted.  A numbered site in a designated campground, minimum is generally parking for one vehicle, a picnic table, fire pit, and room for a tent.  Drinking water may or may NOT be available in the campground, at least a pit toilet is available, some may have flush toilets and showers with hot water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Horse = Generally, either personal horses or rental options exist, “backcountry camping” by horse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;bicycle&lt;/em&gt; = Rules vary significantly by park.  No parks identified them as primary means of access to a campsite.  I did not include any bicycle considerations in this answer. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T22:49:53.773" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14712" CreationDate="2016-12-27T22:32:16.250" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good wilderness first-aid reference is included below to give you a better grasp on how to handle different wounds. Here's some key points for a wound like a knife wound you described. Note that the best first-aid will depend on the details of the wound, the wounded, and what conditions are present for treatment (who's around, how far is advanced help, what materials are available, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Apply pressure to wound using something absorbent and preferably sterile to prevent excessive bleeding. I've done this using cotton bandanas and clothing before. Sterile gauze would be better. There may be still better designed items for this.  Do this until bleeding is controlled. If bleeding cannot be controlled, you may need to use a tourniquet to restrict blood flow to the wound, which is a dangerous treatment.  If the wound is on a head, don't apply pressure, rather wrap the wound with extra absorbancy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After bleeding is controlled, you'll want to clean, close, and dress the wound to prevent infection. Throughout this process, the more sterile the items involved the better. Cleaning is first done mechanically, using hands to tweezers or whatever your have to remove coarse debris from in and around the wound. Cleaning moves on to rinsing around and then in the wound, preferably with clean water, with enough pressure and volume to really rinse out exposed flesh. You may need to hold the wound or parts of it open at this point to help rinse it.  More and more I hear alcohol and other sterilizing solutions should not be used as it interferes with your body's own defensive and regenerative abilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use medical tape and bandages to close and cover the wound once it is clean. If you cannot clean the wound, do what you can to prevent it from getting dirtier but make sure the wound has air flow and can drain as needed. Dressings should not restrict circulation much if at all - this part is about facilitating healing and preventing additional contamination.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Writing this I remember some important things I learned when dealing with wounds in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Control bleeding before you rinse. Cut and in a panic, I once poured water on a deep and dirty slice thinking I needed to get it clean ASAP. This was the wrong sequence for two reasons: It ended up being that the best thing I had to control bleeding wasn't totally clean, so the water was really needed after that point. The other, more important issue is that by rinsing the fresh wound, I washed away blood that would have been better to keep in place and serve to slow additional bleeding and eventually clot the wound and defend against infection. (That latter point is according to a doctor I consulted, and it makes sense in retrospect.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Antiseptic rinse can be good. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14687/is-whiskey-a-good-disinfectant&quot;&gt;whiskey thread you linked to&lt;/a&gt; points out some subtlety about this. I think it ultimately depends on the conditions and what's available, to decide whether or not to try and sterilize the wound to any extent more than clean water rinsing. Sometimes water is best, I think especially if your body is going to need to resist or fight infection with little help from the outside later on. Sometimes it's better to clean the wound with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, or some other kind of sterilizing solution, then keep it protected until you're in better conditions to get outside help and heal yourself. Sometimes, you know and have access to plants that can treat your wound well - I've seen herbalism in the field work well, but I don't know it well enough to make any recommendations beyond acknowledging it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ultimately you want the wound to: lead to as little blood loss as possible; be rinsed of outside debris and contamination; be able to use your body's natural defenses and healing, which includes the need for some air flow; and be able to stay free of outside debris and contamination. All the while, the healthier you can stay overall, the better, and I think that includes maintaining some careful level of activity to ensure good blood flow.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m49440095_WRFA_ERG_9781584806295.pdf#page=80&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wounds and Wound Infection&lt;/em&gt; on page 73&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m49440095_WRFA_ERG_9781584806295.pdf#page=115&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wound Care&lt;/em&gt; on page 108&lt;/a&gt; of the Red Cross &lt;em&gt;Wilderness and Remote First Aid: Emergency Reference Guide&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T14:50:42.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14710" CreationDate="2016-12-27T23:09:22.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a personal locator beacon (PLB), which just allows me to send a signal in an emergency showing my location. If it can get a GPS signal, it broadcasts my location, but if it can't, it still acts as an omnidirectional beacon. There is no monthly fee. Every few years, NOAA asks me to update/verify my contact info. There is a battery check feature, so I can tell when it's time to replace the battery. The idea is that this is a device that I often bring with me, but hope never to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative is something that's more of a communication device, such as a SPOT. These allow you to send text messages, tell people everything is OK, etc. They generally have a monthly fee. I don't see the communication features as worthwhile, and I don't want a monthly fee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T23:09:22.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14712" CreationDate="2016-12-27T23:58:08.863" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all you need to control what is life threatening.  Control the bleed.  Lay them down and elevate the wound if necessary. Apply sterile dressings (or the closest thing you have to sterile).  As it continues to bleed apply more dressings.  Blood goes through a clotting process and if you pull the dressings it has to start over. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then assess the situation.  Get them comfortable and warm.  Give them something to drink.  Ask them how they feel and if they are on medication.  Clean the wound is secondary at this time.  Make a long term plan.  If are going to extricate and get them to a hospital in a few hours then only clean and dress if you have the materials to do it right.  If it is going to be longer than 24 hours to get professional medical care then clean the best you can.  If you used everything you have sterile then boil some clothes.  Even if you don't have an antiseptic you have soap.  You will find products call first aid antiseptic. Good old soap is better than whiskey.  It not realistic to carry the volume of peroxide required to irrigate a wound in the back country.  If you have a wound like that then you need to make plans to get them to a medical facility.  You don't have a big rush.  You are not going to have a serious infection in 48 hours.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a cut cooking is not likely to be life threatening.  Control the bleed with a dressing.  Clean with soap and water.  Then some antiseptic if you have it. I don't see using whiskey unless you don't even have soap.   Let it dry and apply the best dressing you have.   If you are out of sterile dressing then boil some clothes and hang them out to dry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An up to date first aid kit can mean a lot of stuff. Build your own and take a first aid class. American Red Cross has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr-first-aid/wilderness-sports#wilderness-remote-first-aid&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wilderness first aid&lt;/a&gt;. Ony in the back country would you be in a situation of longer term care. No off the shelf first aid kit is going have the volume to control a major bleed and that is what is going to kill some one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-27T23:58:08.863" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14685" CreationDate="2016-12-28T00:44:00.377" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general the best way to reduce/dampen your swinging is what &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3710/desorder&quot;&gt;Desorder&lt;/a&gt; mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14685/what-are-ways-to-reduce-swinging-momentum-when-climbing#comment36305_14685&quot;&gt;a comment&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You want to exercise your core stability to stop swinging&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you strengthen your core then your core can provide more resistance against the swinging motion. Depending on your strength you can reduce your swing or eliminate it. To see some extreme examples of core strength allowing you to hold improbable poses do an image search on &quot;gymnast on rings.&quot; There are even some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trainingbeta.com/gymnastic-rings-strength-training-for-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;training exercises&lt;/a&gt; you can do for climbing on rings, but any core conditioning exercises will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your specific problem I think increasing your core strength will be the best, but that is more of a long term plan. In the short term I'd ditch the bat hang since it is clearly generating too much angular momentum for you to control at the moment. While your pictures are excellent I can't evaluate the problem very well just with pictures, nor am I an amazing climber. That being said, I'd recommend figuring out how you can get a foot on the hold that you have your right hand on in the first picture. By putting your foot there you will be able to grab the next hold without an uncontrollable swing. It seems to me that you could heel hook the hold your feet are on with your left foot on the forward edge. That would open your hips and allow you to put your right foot on the hold your right hand was on. From there you should be able to remove your heel hook and grab the next hold with your right hand. Once again I don't know if that is a viable plan, but it looks like a possibility based on the pictures and will eliminate any swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T00:44:00.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14718" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-28T00:53:39.730" Score="26" ViewCount="4714" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one is out fishing and someone gets a fishhook stuck in them, what are the different techniques for removing it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T10:21:38.327" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T11:06:37.063" Title="How do you remove a fishhook from a human?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7577" CreationDate="2016-12-28T01:04:58.890" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends a bit on the circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have just fallen in freezing water than stripping off will probably get you warm faster as wet clothing will usually conduct heat away from your body faster than just cold air next to  your skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in cold conditions, being naked is not good for even short term survival, so once you have your core temperature up again you need to get some insulation on or some other external source of warmth (e.g., a fire). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally important is that wearing wet clothes is likely to be the fastest way to get them dry. Wool base layers are particularly good in this context as they retain a significant amount of insulation when wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases, a good compromise is to take off your mid layers and wear your base layers (which dry very quickly) and your shell layers (which shouldn't get wet as such anyway) temporarily discarding your mid layers which tend to be what soaks up water. This will provide you with some immediate protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, you should dry your mid layers as quickly as possible. Fleece and (even more so) fur-pile dry very quickly and provide useful insulation even when damp, so wring them out and hang them up to dry in the wind while you run around, build a fire, or make a hot drink, and then put them back on again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you are getting soaked from rain to the point that you are in trouble, you may be doing something wrong, and in borderline cold/wet conditions it is always wise to keep your sleeping bag and even some emergency insulating clothes in a waterproof bag so if the worst comes to the worst, you can just climb into your sleeping bag to warm up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, a well chosen clothing system should not fail completely even when really wet.  You may be a bit uncomfortable, but you shouldn't actually be in any immediate  danger. For example, for survival, you shouldn't rely on your outer shell to keep you completely dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="14854" LastEditDate="2019-04-22T15:20:34.177" LastActivityDate="2019-04-22T15:20:34.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2016-12-28T01:07:40.390" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often the best solution is to get some fine nosed pliers and push the point of the hook out and through, making an 'exit wound'. This is often preferable to trying to pull a barbed hook back the way it went in. Obviously some common sense needs to be employed here... I'm really talking about a small hook caught in a fold of skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course &lt;strong&gt;if you are in any doubt&lt;/strong&gt; and if it is close to any sensitive areas like the eyes, or if the casualty seems in an undue amount of pain you should just cut off any excess line and &lt;strong&gt;seek proper medical assistance&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally in this situation there is always some risk of infection as it is difficult to adequately clean the wound and it is very likely that the hook is far from being clean, so even if you manage to remove it you should get the wound looked at and keep an eye on any emerging symptoms such as fever or any signs of redness, inflammation etc. around the wound site.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="11349" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T10:37:30.980" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T10:37:30.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14685" CreationDate="2016-12-28T01:27:11.690" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could also try releasing your feet first and using the resulting swing to drive the move to the next hold that way you can start use your existing hand holds as a stable base to resist the initial acceleration and transfer your right hand to the next hold at the last moment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However as other answers have stated it really comes down to a your finger strength to hang onto the hand holds and your core strength to control the swing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But perhaps thinking in terms of using your legs to swing yourself to the next hold in a controlled way may work better than diving for the hold with your right hand and then hoping to control the momentum of your lower body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed perhaps you could swing your right leg inward to get a friction hold on the underside of the overhang that is enough to provide a bit of braking &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T01:27:11.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2016-12-28T03:54:55.943" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The usual place this happens is a finger, ear, occasional other places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are close to town, and have good insurance by all means, tape it in place to minimize movement, and go see a doctor.  I'm assuming that, given the forum, medical help is not at hand.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clip the line off the hook. &lt;em&gt;You don't need to make things worse, when someone trips on the rod, steps on the line, or tangles it in a bush.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wash your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wash the area with disinfectant.  Hydrogen peroxide works well, but bleach or hard liquor will also work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dip the working ends of needle nose pliers and wire cutters too.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the pliers to work the tip of the hook out of the skin. You want the entire barb exposed.  Use the wire cutters to cut off the barb.  Back the hook out.  If you can't cut the barb off, crush the hook to the shaft, effectively making the hook barbless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have one of those treble hooks, the hook may be easier to work with with the hooks separated.  Experiment with a spare hook.  At least clip off the ones that aren't yet engaged in skin. &lt;em&gt;(Imagine becoming your victim's Siamese Twin through the agency of a treblehook.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this isn't working, use a sterile razor blade or disposable scalpel to uncover the barb.  Remove the hook.  There is a chance of cutting a nerve doing this and having a permanent numb spot, or if you are really unlucky loss of function. Nerves that do things are not generally near the surface.  I have twice suffered injuries that required on the order of 70 stitches.  Both resulted in numb patches in the area of the wound, but no loss of function despite 3/4&quot; depth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dry the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shield the edges of the wound and dust with an antibiotic powder, then fasten it closed with butterflies.  (If you don't shield the edges, you have have the difficult task of sticking bandaids to powder.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have an ointment, apply carefully so that you aren't trying to stick butterflies to the ointment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wound is bleeding freely, let it run for a bit to wash out possible infection.  Infection is especially likely if the hook went through clothing first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it won't stop bleeding after several minutes of direct pressure, apply fresh spiderwebs.  The foreign protein will cause the blood to clot almost immediately.  &lt;em&gt;One comment suggests cinnamon. Other powdered spices may work too.  Not sure of the sterility. I suspect that any type of flower pollen would work too, but an allergic response is more likely.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a sterile dressing, apply a generous layer of fresh wood ashes.  They are sterile and will soak up the blood.  This is certain to leave a prominent scar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make butterflies out of duct tape.  Try to keep your grubby fingers off the part that is near the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While toilet paper isn't completely sterile, it's likely a lot cleaner than anything out side of a first aid kit.  This makes acceptable compresses to halt bleeding once you have the hook out.  Don't use the first wrap, and keep the edges off the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T22:34:59.690" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T22:34:59.690" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14611" CreationDate="2016-12-28T04:37:35.267" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's the way I would go about it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, don't worry about efficiency.  Heaters by their nature are close to 100% efficient.  All the energy is turned to heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, thermostatically controlled is a must.  Some have multiple thermocouples for better reliability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly:  Two factors go together:  Warranty period and ease of return, with greater weight being given to the latter.  Check that if you buy it locally, you can return it locally.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Features to consider:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the cord flexible in the cold?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to fasten it in place so that larger birds won't move it or fly off with it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it at least not impossibly ugly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Will it be hurt if it the bath is empty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Will it get hot enough to melt a plastic birdbath if it runs dry?  (I had a dog dish that did this.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I've been unable to find one with more than a 1 year warranty.  Please post back if you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T04:37:35.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2016-12-28T07:21:30.023" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never try to pull the triangle-ish part near the tip of the hook through any human tissue. It is designed not to come off easily and will only cause additional injuries. Otherwise the hook is just a bent stick that will exit quite easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to remove a fishing hook no matter where it is stuck in, it is therefore required that you expose the tip and cut it off. Then gently pull the rest off. Note that it might be easier to cut the tip near the place where the hook enters the skin/fabric if it is not lodged in too deep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I certainly don't advise removing the hook yourself, especially it the tip is buried inside living tissue. If at all possible, &lt;em&gt;leave surgical work for professionals&lt;/em&gt;. See other answers for detailed procedure for removal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11993" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T10:07:39.823" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T10:07:39.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14727" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14728" CreationDate="2016-12-28T12:19:09.537" Score="23" ViewCount="1583" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were attacked by &lt;em&gt;Giant Honey Bees&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_dorsata&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Apis dorsata)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend and I were ensuring the safety of others and got away with 30 odd stings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had proper hiking attire, and buffs to cover our faces.&#xA;Few of us had sunglasses.&#xA;Almost all of us had a cap or a hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following was the exact thing we did once we were under attack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When we were attacked, I asked the group to sit down with head dug between thighs, avoid any kind of movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Half of the group was with me, while others were waiting some place away and safe. I asked them to sit together and immediately put blanket on them to keep the bees from biting them, during the process I had to move, so I got multiple stings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We had to remain that way for a couple of hours, later when we observed that the noise of bees had gone low, we thought we could move. I descended with the group, while I knew I had to return to assist the remaining half of the group.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I guided the first bunch of folks to a safer level where there were no bees, when I started ascending towards the other group I knew I was going to be attacked. Repeating the same, I again got stung like 20 times or so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: That was the only possible way down the mountain, and with almost scramble-like a place with a 50+ m exposure, running wasn't an option. We moved as fast we could.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was that the right approach?&#xA;How to react to one such Honey bee attack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T01:41:40.557" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:41:40.557" Title="Reacting to a bee attack" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14727" CreationDate="2016-12-28T14:28:20.643" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking bees only attack when they feel threatened or protecting their hives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/BEES/Apis_dorsata.htm&quot;&gt;Apis dorsata&lt;/a&gt; has been described as one of the most dangerous animals of the southeastern Asian jungles due to their threatening defensive behaviors. It is considered the most defensive of all of the honey bees, even more defensive than the African honey bee (Ellis and Ellis 2009; Hall et al. 1995). Their main weapons are stingers that are up to 3 mm long and easily penetrate clothing and even the fur of a bear. Attached to the stingers are large venom glands with accompanying muscles that pump the venom into the skin, thus delivering a painful sting. Large numbers of Apis dorsata attack a perceived threat, though only a few provide the painful stings because the bees will die shortly after stinging. The other bees will buzz loudly and bite the threat to deter the threat, without risking the life of many individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best possible thing to do is to flee the area as safely and quickly as possible until you either reach some sort of shelter (car) or gained enough distance from the place of the attack that the bees are no longer a threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The USDA has some general guidelines as what to do when attacked with Africanized Honey Bees and this what I believe should be employed when dealing with &lt;em&gt;Apis dorsata&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;RUN away quickly. Do not stop to help others. However, small children and the disabled may need some assistance. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As you are running, pull your shirt up over your head to protect your face, but make sure it does not slow your progress. This will help keep the bees from targeting the sensitive areas around your head and eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Continue to RUN. Do not stop running until you reach shelter, such as a vehicle or building. A few bees may follow you indoors. However, if you run to a well-lit area, the bees will tend to become confused and fly to windows. Do not jump into water! The bees will wait for you to come up for air. &lt;strong&gt;If you are trapped for some reason, cover up with blankets, sleeping bags, clothes, or whatever else is immediately available.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not swat at the bees or flail your arms. Bees are attracted to movement and crushed bees emit a smell that will attract more bees.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once you have reached shelter or have outrun the bees, remove all stingers. When a honey bees stings, it leaves its stinger in the skin. This kills the honey bee so it can't sting again, but it also means that venom continues to enter into the wound for a short time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not pull stingers out with tweezers or your fingers. This will only squeeze more venom into the wound. Instead, scrape the stinger out sideways using your fingernail, the edge of a credit card, a dull knife blade or other straight-edged object. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you see someone being attacked by bees, encourage them to run away or seek shelter. Do not attempt to rescue them yourself. Call 911 to report a serious stinging attack. The emergency response personnel in your area have probably been trained to handle bee attacks. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have been stung more than 15 times, or are feeling ill, or if you have any reason to believe you may be allergic to bee stings, seek medical attention immediately. The average person can safely tolerate 10 stings per pound of body weight. This means that although 500 stings can kill a child, the average adult could withstand more than 1100 stings. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/honey-bee-research/docs/africanized-honey-bees/page-3/&quot;&gt;USDA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be prudent when coming to the aid of someone who is the victim of bee attacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(Apis dorsata) attacks are also escalated by pheromones. When a bee stings, it not only injects toxins into the victim, it also releases alarm pheromones. When these chemical signals are given off near a hive or swarm, they can trigger other bees to come to their colony mate's defense, often attacking until the victim flees or is killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When one person comes to another victim's aid, the bees will sometimes turn on the newcomer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In this way, bee attacks can escalate and spread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to Thomas Seeley, an apiologist at Cornell University who studies swarm intelligence, the species involved in the attack was most likely the giant honey bee, &lt;em&gt;Apis dorsata&lt;/em&gt;, which is common in Thailand. &quot;It has been described as the most ferocious stinging insect on earth, but it attacks only when disturbed. In Thailand, I've seen these bees fly down and attack boys who had thrown rocks at their nests. Perhaps something like this provoked the bees to attack,&quot; Seeley told Life's Little Mysteries. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/34028-giant-bee-swarm-attack.html&quot;&gt;Giant Bee Swarm Attacks Dozens of Buddhist Monks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T21:36:21.837" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T21:36:21.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7577" CreationDate="2016-12-28T14:57:10.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does depend on the circumstances and the other two answers cover it pretty well. A personal experience to back those answers up: I found myself sleeping in a precarious place after a rain storm which drenched just about all my gear - I was unprepared and did not have a dry bag of spare clothes. Overnight I hung up clothes to dry as well as they could, but weather and location didn't help much. In the morning, with my gear still wet, I rung out my pants and socks as much as I could before putting them on, then put on my outer shell which was still wet but provided wind protection. Before I did all this, I jumped around a bit to get my blood flowing - my sleeping bag was mostly dry but I was soaked and cold getting into it, so I had little warmth to start with and some exercise helped generate some. Expending energy was not a major concern because I just had a few miles to hike back to civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the hike back I was extremely uncomfortable with the cold, wet outer shell against my cold skin. Dry clothing in between would have been immensely useful. Still, I noticed that when I took off the outer shell, exposure to the cold wind was far more bone chilling. I kept the shell on and walked back. In this case, protection from the cold wind was precious, even if it meant wet clothing which would suck some heat off of me. &lt;strong&gt;If wind was not an issue&lt;/strong&gt;, the wetness of clothing sucking heat off of me might be worse than exposed skin I could keep warm with exercise. Even then, I'd be quicker to remove a wet cotton shirt than a wet fleece, and &lt;strong&gt;that depends on how wet the clothes are and how insulating the clothing is when wet.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is critical to have a dry bag for a spare clothes that never get wet unless as the literally last resort - better to wander about naked and have dry clothes to maintain your body heat in overnight if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T14:57:10.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14730" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14733" CreationDate="2016-12-28T15:42:55.107" Score="3" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pocket transit and on the back are a bunch of numbers. They can be seen in these images &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hamptonnautical.com/pictures/enlarged/vintage-brass-pocket-compass-boxed-brass-compass-co-0574-an-1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/B7EAAOSw6dNWTEVT/s-l300.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsc01.alicdn.com%2Fkf%2FUT8TpDmXJpaXXagOFbXR%2FSOLID-BRASS-BRUNTON-POCKET-TRANSIT-COMPASS-3.jpg&amp;amp;imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alibaba.com%2Fshowroom%2Fgeological-compass.html&amp;amp;docid=xpOQ337bORcQgM&amp;amp;tbnid=Qj3cagPjEvmOTM%3A&amp;amp;vet=1&amp;amp;w=999&amp;amp;h=1000&amp;amp;bih=901&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;q=pocket%20transit&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjk26ecnJfRAhUm7YMKHcOtAPw4yAEQMwgvKCwwLA&amp;amp;iact=mrc&amp;amp;uact=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are these numbers used for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T22:42:51.360" Title="What are these numbers on the back of a pocket transit for?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6748" CreationDate="2016-12-28T16:41:25.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like what you did to clean it up was effective and could be adapted for trekking. For example there are three key things I read you did to improve the situation: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wiped up the mess using towels; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;left contaminated gear in a separate area from your regular activities so it could be cleaned when the opportunity presents itself; and &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you cleaned contaminated gear when the opportunity presented itself. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do those three things trekking, just need to adapt the gear/methods for mobility. Here are the same steps, using what's available trekking based on what I and my peers carry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wipe up the mess &lt;strong&gt;using handkerchiefs&lt;/strong&gt; instead of towels. I carry an excessive amount of cotton bandanas to serve as handkerchiefs. It's a relief to have enough clean ones to comfortably wipe your face, blow your noes, whatever you need a quick wipe for. They can also be multi-purpose (and the fact that bandanas come in many colors makes it easy to color code them for different purposes, e.g. so you're not dressing a wound with a snot-rag). One purpose they can serve is as a napkin for eating, or in this case more like a paper towel to clean up a mess. &lt;strong&gt;Forest floor duff&lt;/strong&gt; can also serve as a paper towel to clean up a mess - it leaves (or should I say &lt;em&gt;leafs&lt;/em&gt;) its own mess behind, but duff is potentially a much more hygienic mess than whatever it wiped up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do whatever easy cleaning you can do of contaminated gear - such as wiping the vomit-covered bundle of bandanas you may have in a bunch of leafs - then store it safely and separately until you can do a better cleaning. For this purpose, &lt;strong&gt;having many lightweight bags proves immensely useful&lt;/strong&gt;.  I'm not sure what an old-day equivalent of this is, but having a bunch of zip-lock bags, grocery bags, and larger garbage bags folded up in your pack can serve many different purposes. From poncho to tarp to a sack to seal up something nasty away from everything else next to it in your pack - &lt;strong&gt;a good garbage bag can serve a similar purpose as the back of your car did&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now that your mess is mostly cleaned and contained, you can continue onward. Eventually you need to clean the mess you've contained though. In some treks, the bag of nasty bandanas can wait for a slop sink and washing machine at home. In other cases, due to extended time in the wilderness or due to the importance of contaminated gear (like a sleeping bag you couldn't totally clean and have been carrying in a garbage bag for a day or two), you'll need to have a cleaning session in the field. I find this to be a pain but it is doable and you should be prepared to do it if need be. Having &lt;strong&gt;soap&lt;/strong&gt; (suitable for trekking in its versatility and environmental friendliness), &lt;strong&gt;something to scrub with&lt;/strong&gt; (could even be forest floor duff), &lt;strong&gt;something to hang things up with&lt;/strong&gt; (e.g. rope), and &lt;strong&gt;a way to carry water&lt;/strong&gt; is important (for water, a 1L bottle might do, but a folding bucket, large pouch, or tarp to serve as a slop sink makes this much easier). Away from surface water (preferably 30+ meters) but close enough to have a water source, do plenty of rinsing of your gear, scrubbing and soaping as needed to clean it off. Hang your washed gear up to dry a bit. If the gear or weather isn't conducive to drying easily, then be extra careful in your rinsing to only wet what you need to. To make all this easier, plan on more time than you expect for this process, as being in a rush about this will add stress and not help any of the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately this also raises the importance of redundancy, which is even more challenging and yet even more important when trekking. Versatile gear is good because it can add to your resilience. A tarp serves multiple purposes, good blankets serve multiple purposes, as do multiple layers of clothing and even sleeping bags (e.g. using a medium and light bag combined rather than a single heavy bag). While your main bag is out of commission, having backup gear and knowledge to keep you ok over night is precious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T18:12:28.203" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T18:12:28.203" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2016-12-28T17:41:28.953" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I disagree greatly with all previous answers. Pushing the hook the rest of the way through is very painful and takes much longer than the method I describe below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preferred method is to wrap some strong wire around the bend of the hook, press down on the eye to disengage the barb and pull on the wire very firmly. The hook will pop right out and not damage tissue. I have employed the method too many times unfortunately, all the way up to size 2 hooks for smallmouth. I wouldn't recommend this for sensitive areas (i.e. Near eyes), but for arms, fingers, necks, etc, this is the only method I will use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CkNke.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CkNke.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above picture comes from this article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/general/hookout.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bishfish.co.nz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12002" LastEditorUserId="12002" LastEditDate="2017-02-01T14:42:58.527" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T14:42:58.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14730" CreationDate="2016-12-28T17:51:14.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're quick reference tables for sines in trigonometry.  The first number is degrees incline/decline (measured by using your transit), and the second is the actual value.  Multiply that by the distance to some distant point, and the result is an approximate elevation change.  Or divide an elevation change by the sine value to determine distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Extended mathematical answer:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine you're at the bottom left corner of the triangle below.  Looking at a summit that's 35 degrees up, the sine lookup would be 0.574.  If you determine that the distance is 4 miles away (either by walking it, or guessing), you get &lt;code&gt;4 * 0.57 = 2.8&lt;/code&gt; miles elevation gain from the original reference point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also works the other way around if you know the relative elevation change of a point from your current position.  In the example, if you know the summit is at 35 degrees and is 2.8 mi above you, divide &lt;code&gt;2.8 / 0.57 = 4.9&lt;/code&gt; miles would be the length of the shortest route to the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E3qAe.gif&quot; alt=&quot;example&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T17:51:14.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14730" CreationDate="2016-12-28T17:56:58.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They constitute a sine table for (0 - 45) degrees. Trigonometry: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;rise = slope distance * sine (inclination angle)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You observe a slope length of 50m, and an elevation angle of 10&amp;deg;. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;The elevation gain is 50 * sin(10) = 50 * 0.174 = 8.7m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T22:42:51.360" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T22:42:51.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14712" CreationDate="2016-12-28T19:33:21.327" Score="4" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Control the bleeding with elevation and tight bandaging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean the wound with alcohol (I've also used hand sanitizer).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get medical help for deep lacerations .. or ..&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Periodically replace the dressings and look for infections (if found, go back to step 2).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very important to make sure the person doing the care has used hand sanitizer or other means to prevent any bacteria from getting onto the dressings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12005" LastEditorUserId="12005" LastEditDate="2016-12-30T15:15:21.563" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T15:15:21.563" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14738" CreationDate="2016-12-28T20:13:47.570" Score="11" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a rather &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13772/what-should-you-do-if-your-sleeping-bag-gets-soaking-wet-at-night&quot;&gt;unpleasant&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13717/how-much-insulation-does-a-wet-synthetic-sleeping-bag-provide&quot;&gt;experience&lt;/a&gt; with my current bivy sack, I am looking to replace it. I know that I want one that will hold up in rain, but what else should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:48:27.590" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T16:48:27.590" Title="What should one look for in a bivy sack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;bivy-sacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2016-12-28T21:30:03.207" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a doctor perform the removal of a hook embedded in the skin. As most have pointed out, the first best thing is medical attention I won't dare argue against that sound advice. But, one thing I will say is DO NOT PUSH THE HOOK IN FARTHER, DO NOT CUT THAT HOOK, DO NOT CUT THE LINE.&#xA;Now, envision this; as long as the hook is NOT embedded in a serious location such as an eye etc, and you haven't been silly enough to try to push it farther in, it WILL come out in a snap as long as that line IS NOT CUT!&#xA;OK, you place a finger on the &quot;eye&quot; of the hook, press straight downward so it kind of dents the skin, take THAT UNCUT LINE and feed it thru the &quot;loop&quot; of the bend in the hook, between you finger on the &quot;eye&quot; of the hook, so to make a &quot;sling&quot; from the line. While holding finger on hook with just enough pressure but not too much, grasp firmly the &quot;sling&quot; made from the line, lay the line as close to the skin, in flat plane in line, as possible and yank quickly on the sling. The hook pops right out with minimal damage. Doctor's method. Sorry for the lengthy but without a photo, what else could I do? This is what I have seen done, and read articles on it, and is used by many. It is not my place to advise but since it was asked, I pass on what I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, sometimes the line needs to be cut and i've only quoted what I've seen and heard. No difference if you cut the line and use any other line as long as you can make a sling to pull with. Another solid bit of advice is if the hook is embedded too far, this wont work and you'll HAVE to push the hook through enough to cut the barb then extract it back through the hole. Sorry it's not all that easy an answer to the problem nor is it comfortable, choices are limited at this point aren't they? Attached photo- &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y5Kbx.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y5Kbx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12008" LastEditorUserId="12008" LastEditDate="2016-12-28T21:48:10.540" LastActivityDate="2016-12-28T21:48:10.540" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14736" CreationDate="2016-12-28T22:24:27.270" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I go with tarps or tents instead of Bivy's but have used them before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Necessary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects you from water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects you from strong winds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some ventilation (through openings or fabrics) to reduce condensation and allow fresh air flow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large enough to comfortably fit you and not too much bigger (the less empty space, the easier it is to stay warm inside, but you also want to make sure it fits you &lt;em&gt;plus&lt;/em&gt; whatever gear you'd want to bring inside)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even better:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A hole for your head that you can open or close depending on preference&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bug netting at the opening to protect against insects&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A reliable design for keeping the shelter up off of you - particularly your head - while you sleep (it can be hard to prevent condensation altogether so keeping the shelter off of you can help keep you and your bag dry overnight at least)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;User-friendly: relatively easy to open and close, including while cold; better yet, easy to setup/pack away in case you need to move it in a cinch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tough bottom to handle rough terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T14:31:11.900" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T14:31:11.900" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14739" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14740" CreationDate="2016-12-29T04:08:15.027" Score="4" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;We know we need &quot;Climb High and Sleep low&quot; to prevent Altitude Sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the question is what can affect the acclimatization process?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring luggage/bag/etc when climbing high. Will this affect acclimatization speed?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Age&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gender&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weather&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12013" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T09:53:06.353" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T09:53:06.353" Title="What affects the acclimatization process?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2016-12-29T13:26:58.440" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14739" CreationDate="2016-12-29T04:31:48.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bringing gear up when climbing high won't really affect the rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a possibility that a higher pressure system could increase the amount of oxygen, but true acclimatization takes &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_high_altitude_on_humans#Acclimatization_to_altitude&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;long enough&lt;/a&gt; that it probably won't matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altituderesearch.org/hypoxia/altitude-hypoxia-explained&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude Research Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Women are more susceptible to acute mountain sickness but less so to&#xA;  pulmonary edema.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a study that show a link between &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/08/030820072542.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;obesity and altitude sickness&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently &lt;a href=&quot;http://cozine.com/2006-february/a-benefit-of-aging/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people over 50&lt;/a&gt; are at a lower risk of altitude sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand fit young men can be at a higher risk, because of how they climb i.e. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/on-the-mountain/safe-trekking/altitude-sickness/how-to-avoid-ams/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ascending too fast&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-6753/diamox-oral/details&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;drugs&lt;/a&gt; that can be used to prevent and treat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond all of this, it can vary from person to person, so you will want to watch yourself for any symptoms and learn how your body reacts to altitude. Personally, I have never had anything worse than insomnia from altitude, but other people on the same trip had different reactions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T04:31:48.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14739" CreationDate="2016-12-29T05:11:27.987" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with what Charlie Brumbaugh said and will not repeat it, but will offer an perspective on what the individual can do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The single most effective thing you can do to improve your acclimatization rate is to get in good aerobic shape before starting your trip.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ability to acclimatize varies enormously among individuals, and, for an individual, ability to acclimatize can depend on the altitude.  Some people are fine at modest elevations (say, 14,000 feet and lower) and then just top out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ability to acclimatize will &lt;em&gt;eventually&lt;/em&gt; lessen with age, but at what age the decline becomes noticeable will again vary enormously with the individual.  And, again, staying aerobically fit will postpone that decline.  Moreover, if you take several yearly trips, you may find your ease of acclimatization actually increases with the years (for awhile.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for weather, naturally you will be able to move more briskly if it is not too hot, but this would be true at sea level.  As long as you are pushing yourself but not exhausting yourself -- &lt;em&gt;and staying hydrated&lt;/em&gt; -- you will acclimatize. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Statistics won't tell you anything about &lt;em&gt;yourself&lt;/em&gt; at altitude or anywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T05:16:56.193" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T05:16:56.193" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2016-12-29T07:28:44.950" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like the original poster I do everything in VFF's. Anything else causes me pain. Specifically nerve pain, or neuromas, in between the bones of my foot due to compression of my toes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've easily hiked 5000 miles in VFF KSO's over the past four years. The majority of which has been on the Pacific Crest Trail. I've hiked for months at a time. My pack baseweight is about 12 lbs. With a fully loaded pack I'm between 30 to 40 lbs. I tend to avoid snow, but I can handle 10 miles or so of slipping around. The cold isn't a problem as long as I stay moving. I use trekking poles, and I am highly dependent upon them. I also use dirty girl gaiters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12017" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T07:28:44.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13772" CreationDate="2016-12-29T07:52:39.150" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your solution isn't a bad one.  Adding whatever fleece you have under the raingear would help.  Putting your feet in your pack will help keep them warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much depends on other factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How cold is it getting?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have routinely done trips with teenage boys in the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies in September.  We have had weather as hot as 30 C (upper 80's) and temps as low as -12 C (~7 F)  We used dacron filled bags nominally rated at -20 C (~0 F)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it was unusual for a bag to get totally soaked, we found that if it did happen, wring it out, and crawl in. Wear your polypro. It's not a pleasant night, but you will warm up the bag and get some sleep. One person described it as &amp;quot;Making desultory love to a clam&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I consider September in mountains to be more dangerous than winter. The tendency is for ice water rain and/or sleet, making it harder to keep dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keeping Dry&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used tarps -- the blue woven plastic ones from Canadian Tire.  Each pair of students or pair of staff were issued with one 10x12 tarp and one 8x10 tarp, and a bunch of light nylon rope.  First night we taught them kids 6 ways to pitch a tarp, depending on anticipated weather and wind.  Then senior boys would check the rigging of the newboys to see they hadn't done something silly like leave part of their ground tarp sticking out where all the drainage from the top tarp would drain onto it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coupled with foam pads, kids generally stayed warm and dry.  Most of the time there was nothing more serious than condensation where a bag was against the plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said:  We were  in areas where fires were permitted.  We cooked on wood, and most evenings built a drying fire. (Do not give me static about fires please. I took my nephew into Willmore last summer in August, the height of the tourist season.  We saw 8 people, all on the last day, 3 hours from the trailhead.  Most trips I've not seen anyone else.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is country with LOTS of creek crossings -- at least one an hour, and on one notable stretch on Mumm pass, 57 crossings in 3 miles. Being well soaked from the knees down, and more than damp above, on a wet day was common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This meant that a cold wet expedition could stack the wood high to keep warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are you above timberline?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Timberline is associated with two subfactors:  Often little shelter from wind.  No wood for a warming fire.  One of our policies on any trip that had newboys, was that we camped below tree line.  We did alpine camping with the seniors -- mostly, for them it was their third or fourth trip.  They knew how to keep from getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reducing the consequences.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, you're wet, now what:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out of the wind. If you are in a tent, you've done this, but if you were in a bivy, then you may have the wrong location.  Move to a spot out of hte wind. This may be a small move, or stacking rocks, or putting your pack between you and the wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wring out your bag.  Get one person on each end and wring it hard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on fleece.  It's reasonably warm even wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on socks -- wool or synthetic.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a toque.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat a thousand calories.  Cheese, peanut butter, nuts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Convince your tent mates to let you sleep between them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring the dog in to curl up beside you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contrary to one of the other answers, I would consider moving at night under conditions that got you wet in the first place to be a poor idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footing is hard to judge by the light of a flashlight.  If there is a chance that rain will change to snow, it will be even harder.  If it rained,then cleared, you can end up with black ice covered trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are moving at night, a time when you are used to sleeping.  Not at your best.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are breaking camp at night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation has to be a lot more conscious.  You are 'flying on instruments' You will need your compass and watch more. Or your GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyone has spare batteries for their lights, right?  And will be able to get them out without taking their entire pack apart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you do this in an emergency, do it as practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T07:52:39.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2016-12-29T08:16:05.670" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The link to the image of your pack is broken, so I'm going to generalize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I still prefer my external frame pack (hard to find nowadays) I will gladly live with the extra pound to have pockets, and tie points, and enough frame to lash to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many internal frame packs have compression straps on either side.  Sometimes you can find pockets that can be attached by running the compression straps through them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make a set of panniers for your pack. Take a dead pair of nylon pants, sew the cuffs to make each leg a bag, and cut along the back of the waist leaving about a 6&quot; strip about the crotch.  Sew up the ends of cuts so that it won't tear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In use:  put stuff in either leg, keeping them balanced.  A sleeping bag doesn't work well for this, as it's too big to go in one leg, and you probably don't have anything else the same bulk/weight.  Food items work well, if in bags that won't soak up water.  Fuel bottles are also ok.  Socks, camp shoes, misc non-bulky clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you pack up, let the panniers drape over your pack before you cinch the top hat down. Secure the midpoint of each leg to the middle compression strap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor stores sell the plastic strap patches that you can sew to your pack.  Consider carefully doing this:  The stiches have stress on them, and will probably leak soon after applying seam-seal to the stitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T08:16:05.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14747" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-29T03:48:52.093" Score="4" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been throwing around the idea of purchasing a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.burton.com/blogs/the-burton-blog/story-behind-burtons-one-kind-snowboard-mounting-system-channel/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Burton Channel System&lt;/a&gt; snowboard and everything sounds good except for the lack of information on maintenance. I have been unable to find much online about potential risks or even basic care associated with the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you deal with the snow/ice that will inevitably accumulate during the day? Will water melt and work its way into the base, causing &quot;bubbles&quot; if it freezes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12022" OwnerDisplayName="mlegge" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T20:56:02.603" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T20:57:57.273" Title="What's the best way to clean and maintain a Burton Channel System snowboard?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14736" CreationDate="2016-12-29T17:10:10.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a whole range of options from simple plastic tubes to something more like a small tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ones which have no real supporting structure at all, essentially waterproof sleeping bag covers need to be more waterproof than those which are supported a they will have folds and hollows which can trap water. Similarly there is always the possibility that you can get runoff or puddles forming underneath them if your campsite is less than ideally located and so really need to be gore-tex or similar which can withstand a reasonable head of water. These have the advantage of being light and simple plus if you move around  a lot when you sleep or like to sleep in an odd position  they can be more comfortable, plus they allow you to sit up so you can for example, make a cup of tea in the morning before you get completely out of your sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more structured one, the most elaborate of which start to overlap with small tents will tend to give better weather protection for a lighter fabric weight as they shed water better and the space between you and the skin gives a bit more insulation and ventilation. Some people find these a bit claustrophobic as being in a small tunnel can be worse than a close fitting, although this is of course very subjective. Conversely having a hoop to create some space around your head can make it more comfortable if you get stuck in one to sit out a storm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size is also an important consideration, especially if you are tall or heavily built, similarly you don't want to to be crushing the loft of your sleeping bag, considering also that in some circumstances you may want to sleep wearing a moderate amount of clothing. Fit and overall comfort is best assessed by actually trying on out with the sleeping bag and clothing that you intend to use. You also need to consider how much gear you want to be able to keep in it overnight, clearly most models won't accommodate a large pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally you may want to experiment with what design of opening works for you, if you expect good weather it is often more comfortable to sleep with at least some opening around your face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with the best breathable fabrics and  you will tend to get a bit more condensation than you would in a tent and this can be a problem for down bags even if now water gets in form the outside and it is very difficult to make a bivi bag 100% waterproof in all possible conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth considering that even very basic secondary shelter greatly magnifies the performance of a bag this could be a lightweight tarp or a natural feature of your campsite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside it is also worth mentioning the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/products/?gender=&amp;amp;activity=&amp;amp;insulation=&amp;amp;system=sleep-system&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buffalo sleeping system&lt;/a&gt; as this inherently works well with bivi bags as it is a lot less sensitive to getting wet than most other sleeping bags although it is a not to everybody's taste and doesn't compress as well as lofted insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2016-12-29T17:15:31.737" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T17:15:31.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14749" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14750" CreationDate="2016-12-29T18:30:39.200" Score="7" ViewCount="766" Body="&lt;p&gt;In January 2016, I was on a flight from London to San Francisco and photographed this prominent mountain (the large one, roughly in the centre of the horizon).  Can anybody identify it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The photograph was taken approximately over &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Banks+Lake/@47.7862297,-119.9559572,8.7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x549c1409c53e9cb5:0xe8830a0e55e311ee!8m2!3d47.8139622!4d-119.1820608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Banks Lake&lt;/a&gt; in Washington State; the camera was pointed somewhere between west and north-west.  In case it helps anyone judge the scale, the photo was taken with a 50mm lens on a camera with a 1.6x crop factor. I cropped the image to 16:9 by removing some sky; the width of the image is the original field of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kJB9c.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kJB9c.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3277" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-28T00:11:31.410" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T00:11:31.410" Title="What is this mountain seen from above the Banks Lake region of Washington State?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;mountain-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14749" CreationDate="2016-12-29T18:38:29.090" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to say that that is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Baker&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a zoomed in version of the above picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezuk1.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezuk1.png&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of Mt. Baker&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a Google Earth image of Mt Baker from the south east.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EzGVI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EzGVI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Google Earth image of Mt Baker&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at these pictures, there are two things that stand out as very similar to me. The diamond shaped ridge to the left of the summit and the long sweeping ridge down and to the right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ETM5i.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ETM5i.png&quot; alt=&quot;Image of Mt Baker edited&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2xL3I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2xL3I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Google Earth image of Mt Baker edited&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these features appear on Glacier Peak, and Mt Hood lacks the mountains in front of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:32:44.580" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:32:44.580" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14751" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14752" CreationDate="2016-12-29T19:35:17.327" Score="10" ViewCount="26448" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been curious as to which mountain is in this picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ad/MacOS_Sierra_Desktop.png&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried a reverse Google image search but all I have found is pictures of computers. Presumably it is somewhere in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Nevada Mountains&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:42:53.073" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:42:53.073" Title="What mountain is used in the MacOS Sierra desktop background?" Tags="&lt;california&gt;&lt;mountain-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14751" CreationDate="2016-12-29T22:16:53.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The picture for the Mac OS X Sierra desktop background is of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Pine_Peak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lone Pine Peak&lt;/a&gt;. You can find a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.donsmithblog.com/2011/11/26/exploring-visual-concepts-texture-and-patterns/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar picture taken by Don Smith at their blog&lt;/a&gt;, where they mentioned the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the scene below, I awaited the first light of sunrise to paint the ridges of Lone Pine Peak located in the Alabama Hills just west of Lone Pine, California. The pattern of these ridge lines were there, they were just made evident by the play of alpenglow light and shadow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;-- Don Smith, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.donsmithblog.com/2011/11/26/exploring-visual-concepts-texture-and-patterns/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exploring Visual Concepts &amp;#8211; Texture and Patterns&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5763" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T22:16:53.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14749" CreationDate="2016-12-29T22:27:48.223" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Glacier Peak.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the is Mt Baker then Glacier peak should be in the foreground to the left and look bigger as it is only 240' shorter.  Unless you we quite a bit north of Banks lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T22:27:48.223" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14749" CreationDate="2016-12-29T23:04:55.000" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's definitely one of the cascade peaks, which are all old volcanoes.  The question is which one.  As others have pointed out Mt Baker is a possibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another might be Mt Hood.  It's often not so easy to tell where you are in a commercial airline flight.  You could have been further south than you think.  Note that there seems to be nothing major to the left (south), but there does seem to be a hint of higher mountains at the horizon at the right (north) side of the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer this question best, make a list of the likely suspects (there aren't very many of them), then look at profiles of each one seen from the east southeast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2016-12-29T23:04:55.000" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14757" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14758" CreationDate="2016-12-30T02:00:59.157" Score="8" ViewCount="1237" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often use Google earth to plan trips. One part of that is marking paths  and seeing how steep they are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However Google Earth severely underestimated the steepness of slopes. For instance here is a line drawn up the Glacier Point Apron in Yosemite Valley that Google Earth estimates at a maximum steepness of 99.4%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8pWtK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8pWtK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having been there, I am certain that it is much steeper than 1 ft up for every 1 ft forward, which would be 100%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can a person correct for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:24:23.977" Title="How do you correct Google Earth's incorrect slope percentage?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14757" CreationDate="2016-12-30T02:00:59.157" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason that this happens is that instead of calculating the slope &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(slope)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;correctly&lt;/a&gt; as &lt;strong&gt;Rise over Run&lt;/strong&gt;, Google Earth calculates it as &lt;strong&gt;Rise over Hypotenuse.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you had your standard 3x4x5 right triangle,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w4a4Dm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w4a4Dm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The correct steepness would be 3/4 (75%) while Google Earth would show it as 3/5 (60%). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To solve this we use the good old &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pythagorean theorem&lt;/a&gt;. From Google Earth's percentage we know the hypotenuse is 1 and the rise is 0.6. Using this equation,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/abc65f48e4154460b8ecaa430148b9a3b7f13e1e&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We find that the run is 0.8. Then we divide 0.6 (the rise) by 0.8 (the run) to arrive at a steepness of 75%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For gradual slopes this doesn't matter as much, but as they get steeper, Google Earth's percentage will be more inaccurate as you can see in this chart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TE8Uu.pngt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TE8Uu.pngt&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:24:23.977" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:24:23.977" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13512" CreationDate="2016-12-30T09:21:44.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on what you're doing. My insights:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running/jogging? Barefoot or running shoes near the waterline. Try to avoid sandals that expose your toes completely, since you could hurt you toes &amp;amp; toe joints if you stumble.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking idly? Walk in the seawater if possible or near the waterline so your feet get soaked occasionally. Not only does it provide cooling but also health benefits (arguably).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking through the dry sand? Barefoot. Walk deep in the sand as described in other answers, avoiding the hot top layer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beach volley or such sports? Barefoot or some light covers (&quot;swimming shoes&quot;, special socks etc). Stay hydrated!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11993" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T09:21:44.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14529" CreationDate="2016-12-30T23:02:42.877" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;River crossings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done a couple dozen three week trips on the Canadian Shield, most in Northern Saskatchewan, but also northern Alberta and the N.W.T.  I think the following will be applicable to any land form that has been recently glaciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rapids and fast current are likely at the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place where a contour line crosses the water course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place that is the outlet of a lake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place where the water course narrows by a factor of 3.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place that a small water course goes from double line with shading to a single line in the downstream direction.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place where an esker crosses a water course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any place where a water course passes through a notch in a landform.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoeing, about 1/3 of the above turned out have a visible effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I've also seen rapids, sometimes big ones, where none of the above were true.  Sometimes they weren't on the map either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of these are based on notion that faster water takes less room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lake crossings:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice continues to contract as it gets cold.  While the bottom of the ice is at freezing,the top may be much colder.  This can crack the ice through.  This is NOT usually a real safety hazard -- you won't fall through.  The ice is usually at least 8 inches thick before this happens. But, combined with a snow or wind load, you can get overflow, and end up with a foot of snow, and 6 inches of slush on parts of the lake.  This is a real nuisance to deal with.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cracks can also occur earlier in the season from snow loads on thinner ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The place where streams enter the lake may be thin.  If the ice was thick enough to walk on the stream, you're likely safe.  I've sometimes seen a wide gravel bar where a stream enters a lake.  If the water level is low, you may have fast enough current to have thin ice at this point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use your ears.  You can often hear water moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pay attention to the pattern of cold and precipitation in the fall.  Heavy snow on bogs can result in the bog not freezing -- net result you have snow on top of soggy peat moss.  Can also result in shallow ice on lakes with lots of slush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've not traveled in Labrador, but have done trips on the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, both summer and winter. It's also Canadian Shield.  Very low relief.  Topo maps are not a lot of help, as the land's relief is often less than the height of the trees.  Lake edges and shapes are the primary set of features used for navigation.  I much preferred the photo-mosaic maps, as you could see trees versus rocks versus bogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My trips were in late December, early January.  There was not a problem with thin ice generally. In February you were more likely to have overflow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2016-12-30T23:02:42.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14757" CreationDate="2016-12-31T00:06:00.317" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I stated in the comment I disagree with incorrect.  It is a different but consistent representation of slope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common interpretation of slope is rise (&lt;strong&gt;y&lt;/strong&gt;) over run (&lt;strong&gt;x&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;y&lt;/strong&gt; / &lt;strong&gt;x&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A problem with &lt;strong&gt;y&lt;/strong&gt; / &lt;strong&gt;x&lt;/strong&gt; is if &lt;strong&gt;x&lt;/strong&gt; is zero then that is infinity and calculations get messy and reporting big numbers and infinity is messy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going to call the distance you actually travel &lt;strong&gt;d&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The relationship is &lt;code&gt;x*x + y*y = d*d&lt;/code&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For slope Google uses&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;y&lt;/strong&gt; / &lt;strong&gt;d&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This solves this infinity problem&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A pure vertical is simply 1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google is consistent. They refer to distance and the &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; axis is distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the angled presentation you are looking at distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Call Google Percentage GP&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The conversion is 100*GP/SQRT(10000-GP*GP)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                slope   &#xA;GP  d   x       y/x     % diff&#xA;0   100 100 0   #DIV/0! 0.0&#xA;5   100 99.87   0.05    0.1&#xA;10  100 99.50   0.10    0.5&#xA;15  100 98.87   0.15    1.1&#xA;20  100 97.98   0.20    2.1&#xA;25  100 96.82   0.26    3.3&#xA;30  100 95.39   0.31    4.8&#xA;35  100 93.67   0.37    6.8&#xA;40  100 91.65   0.44    9.1&#xA;45  100 89.30   0.50    12.0&#xA;50  100 86.60   0.58    15.5&#xA;55  100 83.52   0.66    19.7&#xA;60  100 80.00   0.75    25.0&#xA;65  100 75.99   0.86    31.6&#xA;70  100 71.41   0.98    40.0&#xA;75  100 66.14   1.13    51.2&#xA;80  100 60.00   1.33    66.7&#xA;85  100 52.68   1.61    89.8&#xA;90  100 43.59   2.06    129.4&#xA;95  100 31.22   3.04    220.3&#xA;100 100 0.00    #DIV/0! #DIV/0!&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than convert it is just a lot easier to think of 100 as straight vertical.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1:1 is 71 Google Percentage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2016-12-31T03:55:27.020" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T03:55:27.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14764" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2016-12-31T00:30:35.053" Score="9" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13910/is-ankle-support-a-myth&quot;&gt;this question with good answers&lt;/a&gt;, we can read that while being significantly effective for some cases, ankle support from boots/higher shoes does not have an important effect when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking of changing hiking shoes and I wanted to know if there is another difference than ankle support between higher or lower shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-02T18:29:13.547" Title="What are differences between higher and lower shoes other than ankle support?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14685" CreationDate="2016-12-31T01:24:27.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One method to reduce swing is to get your centre of gravity up higher. On this problem it would be a matter of locking off on your left arm while going for the blue hold, then when you grab it, get your upper body as high as you can and keep your core tight. This may be difficult, because if that green hold is as slopey as I think it is, then your body angle is critical for keeping that hold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have a nice arete there to try and toe-hook on, this could give you a little more extension with your arms, and help you make the move a little more static. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is this problem was made by someone a little taller than you. I'm one of those guys who's over 6ft tall and has a +5&quot; ape index. Being lanky makes it a lot easier to reduce swing because you can reach the far holds without being stretched out as much as everyone else, and you can transfer a lot of you body weight to the far hold before cutting your feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have the length, then you need to make up for it with strength and technique, and there's only so much technique can do to help you. There will be a point where the only way you can beat the crux is to get stronger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2016-12-31T01:52:40.220" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T01:52:40.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14764" CreationDate="2016-12-31T01:33:43.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are going to be two main differences that I can think of. The first is that higher shoes are going to weigh more, simply because there is more shoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is that that you are going to be much clunkier/less graceful in higher shoes/boots than in lower. Partly because of the weight and partly because your ankles will have less movement. I almost always wear lower shoes when hunting, because it helps me be quieter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T01:33:43.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14602" CreationDate="2016-12-31T06:36:23.487" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked an older co-worker if he knew about Gel coat on FG, because he was THE dude when it came to that department of the shop. He said there are newer finishes and Gelcoat is a B*&amp;amp;ch to do, best to go find an old-timer who worked with it but as far as he knew &quot;cellophaning&quot; was the ticket to a perfectly smooth finish. And so off I went to research. What I ended up doing was a type of marine urethane I think, been years so pardon me for not giving the exact story here but what a beatutiful smooth shiny awesome paint job. Yes paint, applied with HVLP, on the fiberglass top of a  tent trailer, hard and durable finish. If I remember correctly I got the stuff from a local place called Industrial Plastics and Paints. Acklands, or a body shp supply chain may have a solution. Otherwise, find someone who can &quot;cellophane&quot; that gelcoat. Hope this helps and/or doesnt make things worse. I do know a few 'glassers, I'll ask one of 'em and post his answer for ya. Best I can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OK, update, dude says sand it til smooth and polish it. Uhh, I dont know now. I'd retract everything but something in here may help another so I'm just going to leave it, sorry I couldn't help.&#xA;T.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12032" LastEditorUserId="12032" LastEditDate="2016-12-31T06:53:15.467" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T06:53:15.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14764" CreationDate="2016-12-31T12:24:27.457" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the climate there are some significant differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots are noticeably warmer than shoes. This is beneficial in the cold, though socks etc. provide warmth as well. In hot conditions the extra warmth isn't always welcome. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots keep vegetation off your ankles, which is good if you're off the beaten path, especially with sharp plants. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In dusty or gritty conditions boots reduce the amount that gets in to your footwear, but what does get in hangs around your ankles which isn't pleasant. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots are also better at keeping your feet dry if it's wet/muddy underfoot; I've also found them better with gaiters and/or waterproof trousers against rain. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether you regard the decreased range of movement as a good thing or a bad thing depends on what you're doing and how confident you are in your footing. For example if you can't see the ground clearly (dark, undergrowth) but need a decent pace rather than placing every step gently, you may choose boots; if you're trying to be silent you may well want shoes, even with fairly thin soles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T12:24:27.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14764" CreationDate="2016-12-31T14:16:22.350" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taller shoes or boots are somewhat heavier, but this is generally not a big deal as most of the weight is associated with the soul of a boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking in areas where venomous snakes, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rattlesnakes&lt;/a&gt; abound, then higher shoes will add a little more protection against snake bites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in snake country:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-a-Rattlesnake-Attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dress appropriately&lt;/a&gt;. When in rattlesnake country, do not be blasé about clothing — &lt;strong&gt;the majority of bites occur on the hands, feet and ankles&lt;/strong&gt;. So, apart from not sticking your hands where they shouldn't be, clothing becomes an important protection ally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Toss the sandals — this is time for good quality, thick hiking boots, and decent socks. Over the ankle boots are best, as ankle bites are common. Do not wear sandals, open-toed shoes or bare feet when walking in the desert. There are more things than rattlesnakes awaiting your foolhardiness if you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Wear long, loose-fitting pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;•Use gaiters if possible, especially if you choose not to wear long pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T14:16:22.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11550" CreationDate="2016-12-31T14:47:53.247" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is an old DIY ascender device. My instructor approved it. It is not designed to handle falls, descending or belaying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight and compact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not degrade rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can slide up automatically without constant manual adjusting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can't be used as a sole safety measure (additional belaying is required)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No handle. Attach a carabiner to make a handle (not very comfortable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If somebody wants, I can  add photos of sliding and locked states.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9298" LastActivityDate="2016-12-31T14:47:53.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8773" CreationDate="2017-01-01T14:28:12.347" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why not have the best of both worlds?  I take week long river excursions a few times a year, and I always sleep inside my inflatable, but on shore. Super comfortable, and it keeps me off of the bare ground. Just be careful to remove all sharp objects from beneath, and I usually lay a tarp down (doubled) beneath, and one on top if it's rainy. Best camp sleeping ever!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12039" LastActivityDate="2017-01-01T14:28:12.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2017-01-01T19:33:59.913" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love them both.  At first I thought they would be uncomfortable too because they are so different feeling than most other sandals but after just a short time I got used to them and now I hate wearing anything else.  I started with the non-toe strap variety and then on my second pair they didn't have the one I wanted in that style so I bit the bullet and got a pair with a toe strap.  I was afraid I would hate it but within maybe an hour I forgot I even had them on.  Now I actually prefer the toe most of the time.  I will buy either purely depending on what look I want.  Bottom line though is that I now can hardly bear to wear anything else.  If you have a high arch or plantar fasciitis then these are great.  I went from sore feet anytime I had shoes on for more than a couple hours to hardly ever having sore feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12040" LastActivityDate="2017-01-01T19:33:59.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14777" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14786" CreationDate="2017-01-02T21:41:39.247" Score="10" ViewCount="2820" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its always been cool to be climbing a mountain and look down, and realize that you are high enough that there are clouds below you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures from Wikipedia of what this looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C4%8Covek_i_oblak.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/%C4%8Covek_i_oblak.jpg/800px-%C4%8Covek_i_oblak.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montanhas_encobertas_por_nuvens_na_travessia_da_Serra_Fina.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Montanhas_encobertas_por_nuvens_na_travessia_da_Serra_Fina.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would think that the weather would have a great deal to do with when this happens, what are good indicators or conditions that would create situations like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-03T03:46:58.317" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T18:36:26.503" Title="What type of weather conditions would lead to being above the clouds while mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14777" CreationDate="2017-01-02T22:42:12.340" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are various factors to lead you being above the clouds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mainly what you want to do is to be on top of a mountain during &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thermal inversion&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of&#xA;  an atmospheric property with altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2017-01-02T22:42:12.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14777" CreationDate="2017-01-02T23:23:55.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many clouds are below mountain level   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nenes.eas.gatech.edu/Cloud/Clouds.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Cloud Names, Shapes, and Altitudes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lower are typically cooling of air and not limited to an inversion   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stratocumulus Clouds (“The low, puffy layers”) can typically be detected from the ground&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That is a climb safe cloud&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-02T23:48:12.490" LastActivityDate="2017-01-02T23:48:12.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14782" CreationDate="2017-01-03T02:57:21.533" Score="11" ViewCount="837" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm just curious which animals would peel bark off a tree like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Naqyu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Naqyu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a riparian setting in the Mid Atlantic region. I was thinking maybe a beaver?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-04T20:09:01.650" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T20:09:01.650" Title="Which types of animals would peel bark off this tree?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14781" CreationDate="2017-01-03T03:04:21.847" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;That was definitely a beaver. Nothing else has quite the chewing power of a beaver, for example accoring to Wikipedia, these trees were cut by beavers in a single night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beaver_signs.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Beaver_signs.JPG/800px-Beaver_signs.JPG&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the color of those chips, I would say that you were there less than a week if not sooner from when the beaver was chewing the tree down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that I don't think its a porcupine, is because of the riparian setting and because porcupines usually chew much higher up on a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fun fact, beaver's teeth &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beaversolutions.com/beaver-facts-biology-behavior/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;never stop growing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T03:04:21.847" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9364" CreationDate="2017-01-03T08:54:45.593" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a one-handed knot that doesn't require relacing, try the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknotvideo.htm#onehanded&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one-handed variant of the &quot;Ian Knot&quot;&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ian's shoelace site&lt;/a&gt;. The result is identical to a standard shoelace knot, though I suspect it will take some practice to master.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more straightforward option is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/onehandedknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;one handed shoelace knot&quot;&lt;/a&gt;  Unfortunately this one does require relacing, but allows for a very simple one-handed knot once the lace is set up. The idea is that you &quot;anchor&quot; one end of the lace permanently, letting you tie off the other end by looping it back on itself. A diagram is probably more useful than my attempted explanation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ShddU.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ShddU.gif&quot; alt=&quot;one-handed knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/onehandedknot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: www.fieggen.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked page has step-by-step instructions with diagrams, details, and a photograph of the knot in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a lot of eyelets and don't mind a slightly loose fit, there is also a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/onehandedlacing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one-handed lacing&lt;/a&gt; which relies on eyelet friction alone to keep the lace tight -- you just tuck in the loose end of the shoelace rather than tying it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I found the link to the anchored one-handed knot in an answer by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/12042/rajath&quot;&gt;Rajath&lt;/a&gt;, which was swiftly deleted for being a link-only answer. However, it seemed to me to be the best suggestion posted so far, so I thought it worth salvaging.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T08:54:45.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14777" CreationDate="2017-01-03T10:15:40.650" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe the mountain is just very tall.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleakal%C4%81&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Haleakalā&lt;/a&gt; has a sunrise tour where you can see that every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8651" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T10:15:40.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14777" CreationDate="2017-01-03T14:39:59.550" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;That phenonmon is called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cloud inversion&lt;/a&gt;. It happens in mountainous areas when a layer of warm moist air passes over cold valley floor. So initially the valley is full of cold air:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;\            /&#xA; \   cold   /&#xA;  \        /&#xA;   \______/&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In certain circumstances (an approaching warm front) a layer of warm moist air will pass into the valley and will be forced above the cold air (warm air rises and is less dense, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;\    warm    /&#xA; \ -------  /&#xA;  \  cold  /&#xA;   \______/&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The valley sides and the warm air trap the cold in the valley bottom. Where the warm and cold air touch water is condensed from the warm air to form clouds (&lt;code&gt;---&lt;/code&gt;). The warm air acts as a &quot;cap&quot; preventing the cold from escaping (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capping_inversion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Capping inversion&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what are good indicators or conditions that would create situations&#xA;  like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your looking for a warm front meeting a cold air mass (high pressure in winter) in a mountainous area. Strong winds will &quot;mix&quot; the air masses, so ideally it should be calm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This typically happen around dawn and tend to burn off as the valley bottom is heated, though they can last for long periods of time if the conditions are right. The larger the tempaterature difference (between the cold and the warm masses) the better chance of this happening so look for a warm front where the temperature infront of it, is a lot colder than that behind it (all warm fronts have this to a degree)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW the mountains don't have to be particualry high, this does happen at quite low levels, I've seen it on hills no more than a couple of hundred feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-01-03T17:01:40.903" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T17:01:40.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14777" CreationDate="2017-01-03T18:36:26.503" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is called fog, and you are standing higher then it is thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Clouds can form at many different altitudes. They can be as high as 12 miles above sea level or as low as the ground. Fog is a kind of cloud that touches the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/fog/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T18:36:26.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14789" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-03T18:59:11.697" Score="28" ViewCount="25645" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was out in the woods the other day and I came across a tree. It had all of the bark around the bottom removed, and a good layer of wood removed as well. I estimated the damage was a good 7-8 feet from roots to where the bark had not been removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zYhv9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zYhv9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wood shavings were littered around the tree on top of the leaf litter, which tells me it was recent, and happened fairly quickly, as it seems to have happened all after the leaves had fallen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know deer will destroy trees in a similar fashion, but given the damage was so tall, I know it could not have been a deer. So my prime suspect is a black bear. This was out in the blue Ridge of Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this something a bear would do? If so, is there anyway to guesstimate the size of the bear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have another image closer up to the tree to see the damage. In it, you can see banding, as well as a bit of bark separation, and what looks to be a few holes that may have been cause by boring insects? (brown area of the under bark, near center top of picture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GXgFa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GXgFa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree is located near a spring, near a crest overlooking a valley, next to thick brush in hardwood timber stand consisting of mostly oak and poplar.&#xA;No scat immediately around the tree, though there was scat on the trails around the area - dog like with seeds in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12051" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T10:33:34.867" Title="What animal could strip all the bark off the lower 7 feet of this tree?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-01-03T19:11:01.290" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The culprits probably looked something like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Squirrel_Eating_a_peanut.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Squirrel_Eating_a_peanut.jpg/739px-Squirrel_Eating_a_peanut.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears would leave vertical scratch marks, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://igrow.org/gardens/trees-and-forests/porcupine-and-squirrel-damage-to-trees/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;porcupines eat the outer bark&lt;/a&gt; as well, and the height rules out deer so that really leaves just the squirrels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The time of year also plays a part as bear damage typically happens during the spring while squirrels do this in &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.extension.org/pages/10776/barkstripping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;late winter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squirrels will strip trees so that they can &lt;a href=&quot;http://homeguides.sfgate.com/squirrel-stripping-bark-off-tree-kill-tree-92677.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;line their nests&lt;/a&gt; and get to the tasty under bark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-03T20:04:36.163" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T20:04:36.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-01-03T19:43:33.413" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most ways, it looks like porcupine to me.  The scratch marks going perpendicular to the tree trunk make it less likely to be bear, deer, or elk.  Bear will strip a tree like this if it is rotten and there are lots of bugs underneath the bark, but generally you see this in the fall, not this far into winter, and it is more often stumps and rotten trees.  This tree looks healthy.  Deer or elk generally don't strip it down to the ground so completely, and the shavings are much bigger, with the scratch marks going vertically. The only thing that is slightly different than my experience with porcupines is the amount of the tree that was stripped.  Porcupines often take of a band around the tree about two feet tall about 7 or 8 feet up and it doesn't always go all the way around.  That said, I still think it is porcupine as all the other details match.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did you notice any smell?  On a deer/elk rub this size, I would stick my nose right up close to the ground and sniff.  If you think you are at the State Fair animal barn, it is elk.  If it smells faintly like animal, it might be deer.  If it smells like nothing, it might be bear or porcupine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/features/home/3920618-ask-master-gardener-porcupines-likely-culprits-stripping-bark-maple-trees&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link &quot;ASK A MASTER GARDENER: Porcupines likely culprits in stripping bark from maple trees&quot;&lt;/a&gt; for a similar looking tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uhf7Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uhf7Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Here is a picture of porcupine damage&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastEditorUserId="11094" LastEditDate="2017-01-03T20:07:02.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-03T20:07:02.983" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14792" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-03T23:29:41.390" Score="7" ViewCount="1700" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the last 4 years or so, my day to day walking/hiking shoes have been a pair of Tevas that I picked up from REI (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.teva.com/men-shoes/riva-event/4103.html?dwvar_4103_color=CHRR#q=vibram&amp;amp;start=1&amp;amp;cgid=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Riva Event Model: 4103&lt;/a&gt;). I'm on my second pair now and they've both lasted about 2 years and both have failed in the same way: the sole gets worn out that the water resistant aspects have become a distant memories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've enjoyed these shoes and will replace if necessary, but if possible I'd like to defray the monetary and environmental costs by just repairing them. Is it practical to replace the sole of these shoes and if so, will I need to get a cobbler involved or can it be done at home?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12052" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-04T16:07:38.420" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T20:33:50.200" Title="Sneaker Sole Replacement" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14793" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-04T02:37:00.917" Score="9" ViewCount="1278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often times in high alpine lakes you will see lakes like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgin_Lake_Blanca_Lake_0075.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Virgin_Lake_Blanca_Lake_0075.jpg/800px-Virgin_Lake_Blanca_Lake_0075.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where the color comes from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_flour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rock/glacial flour&lt;/a&gt; suspended in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lakes and sometimes even streams are very pretty, but if one wanted to fish there, would there be any fish or would the amount of rock flour in the water prevent this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T21:44:44.167" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T22:28:27.913" Title="Are there fish in lakes with a lots of glacial flour?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14793" CreationDate="2017-01-04T04:31:05.780" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oh there are lots of fish in there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up only 70km from the glacier that feeds the Elk River, and I've spent a lot of time up at the lakes just below the glacier. In the winter, the water is crystal clear, the clearest I've ever seen in my life. After spring run off however the water turns grey with all the limestone rock flour from the mountains, and it stays that way almost all the way through the summer, then it goes green. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing in those lakes at those times is almost pointless if you're fishing with a cast and lure. The fish just can't see the lure through the murk. Ive been fishing with fish jumping all around me in those lakes and not so much as had a bite. Fly fishers have more success because their fly leaves a shadow on the water, which can be seen from below as a dark spot in the light on the surface, and the fish recognize as food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most all lakes in the mountains are stocked with fish, that much is true for the Canadian Rockies at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flour actually does more to help the fish in those lakes than it does to hinder them. In mountain lakes fish are primarily preyed upon by raptors, bears, otters, and other critters. In the turbid waters the fish are safely concealed so they can't be spotted by predators. People out here will actually dye their private ponds so the fish can't be seen to protect them from birds of prey. If they don't then the eagles and hawks will snatch all the fish out of their ponds in no time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-05T06:05:11.273" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T06:05:11.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14792" CreationDate="2017-01-04T09:02:49.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it practical to replace the sole of these shoes and if so, will I&#xA;  need to get a cobbler involved or can it be done at home?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, resoling boots is practical and cost effective way to repair boots. I've done it in the past. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do it yourself, but I've never tried. Any good cobbler should offer this service or their are specialists on the net that specialise in repairing hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T09:02:49.087" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14793" CreationDate="2017-01-04T14:54:28.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_flour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock flour&lt;/a&gt; does not seem to be much of an impediment for fish living in rock flour alpine lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lake Louise for example is known as the &lt;em&gt;Lake of the Little Fishes&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Louise_(Alberta)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Louise&lt;/a&gt;, named Lake of the Little Fishes by the Stoney Nakota First Nations people, is a glacial lake within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located 5 km (3.1 mi) west of the Hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km2 (0.31 sq mi) and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question here seems to me would be one of elevation. This article (&lt;a href=&quot;https://rootsrated.com/stories/7-must-see-alpine-lakes-near-durango&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;7 Must-See Alpine Lakes Near Durango&lt;/a&gt;) states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The lower elevation lakes are home to fish and aquatic plants and as a result are not a vibrant jewel tone. They are no less beautiful and should be explored for their scenic merit as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T14:54:28.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-04T15:35:10.760" Score="8" ViewCount="1644" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that temperature &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapse_rate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;decreases with altitude&lt;/a&gt;, and yet &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;inversions&lt;/a&gt; happen where cold air is below warmer air, as a general rule of thumb,  where would the warmest place to sleep be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is one place that would be a good example. It's on North Fork of the San Joaquin River in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in California. As one goes over North Glacier pass there are about 5 levels where camping is possible, with a combined elevation difference of about 1700ft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6SjZv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6SjZv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lsmcJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lsmcJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-12T00:17:23.093" LastActivityDate="2020-01-12T00:17:23.093" Title="Would it be warmer to sleep at the bottom or on the side of a valley?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="14799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14798" CreationDate="2017-01-04T15:44:00.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cold air drains and settles in low areas at night. In canyons and valleys especially, cold air is going to be &quot;running&quot; off the tops of the higher elevation ridges and peaks above you and settling into the canyon bottoms. If you have an opportunity to do so, pick an area elevated somewhat off the lowest spots in your area and you'll have a greater chance of avoiding the coldest temperatures in the area that night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T15:44:00.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14800" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14811" CreationDate="2017-01-04T17:01:44.373" Score="9" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always loved going camping, from the age of about 6. I've also always loved watching Bear Grylls' various TV shows from a similar age. Already you can probably see where this is going!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I finished college/sixth form last year (UK College, not US), and now in the summer would like to go camping 'Bear Grylls Style'. What I mean is, I'd like to go camping, but taking only the absolute minimum equipment, like he does (Water bottle, pocket knife etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of what to take, we have no issues with, we've all watched enough survival shows to know what is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we're after is knowing &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real requirements would be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In England (Preferably East, but not too important)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Somewhere that isn't 'extreme', such as mountains, or the M25!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in East Anglia, England, so there is plenty of countryside around, but ideally we need somewhere with a source of food, plenty of materials to make shelter etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anybody in the UK done this before and is able to recommend places to do this? We're only looking to go for 3/4 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12058" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-04T18:23:13.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T13:22:14.930" Title="What are some bare essentials camping spots for first-timers in England?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14792" CreationDate="2017-01-04T20:27:46.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Glued is the least serviceable sole.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primermagazine.com/2014/spend/understanding-shoe-construction-goodyear-welt-blake-stich-cementing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;goodyear welting&lt;/a&gt; is designed to be resoled.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many glued soles can be replaced.  On that sole I don't even think it can be bought from Vibram because of the toe cap. I tried with a similar sole on a pair of Keen and was told no even by Keen.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://us.vibram.com/company/education/sole-factor/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vibram Sole Factor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with glued models that can be resoled I have found the whole shoe is shot before you wear out the sole and the resole was 1/2 the price of the shoe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caro sandals can be resoled but I find them on sale for the price of resole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-04T20:33:50.200" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T20:33:50.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14798" CreationDate="2017-01-04T21:49:06.280" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;At night all layers cool down from lack of radiant energy from the sun.  The wind dies down from the same cause.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cold air is denser and flows down hill. Valley is the worse place to be. About 1/2 up the slope is best. The cold air will push the warmed air up as is flows. &#xA;Ridge line is not good as you more exposed to wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an orchard with a light frost you will see clear as day the valley and ridge take the most hit.  Orchards with hills are more expensive.  It is significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First picture is hard for me to get a perspective.  The second is not a good example.  You are up near ridge line so there is not a lot of colder air from above to settle.  Where this is more significant is a stream that is feed by a glacier miles up stream.  That cold air mass will hit pre dawn just when it was already the coldest time of the day.  Try and get up like 100 feet with some forest protection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-05T16:27:51.487" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T16:27:51.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14804" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14824" CreationDate="2017-01-04T22:06:22.217" Score="6" ViewCount="3002" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few different types of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinniped&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;seals&lt;/a&gt; (Pinnipeds) are common in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Cod&lt;/a&gt;, Massachusetts. Some live and breed there year-round. Others migrate through on their way elsewhere.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're planning a trip to the Cape specifically for the purpose of seal watching. We'd probably be in the area for about two days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What location or locations, and what time of year, should we choose, in order to get the most sightings? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T21:19:00.010" Title="Where and when can I see the most seals in Cape Cod, Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14804" CreationDate="2017-01-04T22:15:45.780" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this web &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.affordable-cape-cod-vacations.com/cape-cod-activities-free.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt; the best time of year is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chatham Fish Pier -- Chatham's fish pier is the place to be when local fishermen unload their catch of the day. See the hilarious show as resident seals beg for lunch. The Pier is open all year, but prime time to see the seals is &lt;strong&gt;May through August&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.baysideresort.com/seal-watching-cape-cod-family-vacations/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; the best time of day is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The best time to see seals is within &lt;strong&gt;2 hours of low tide on a sunny midday afternoon&lt;/strong&gt;. Because seals cannot move well on land, during high tide they position themselves over submerged jetties. When the tide goes out they are left exposed, sitting on the jetty basking in the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And according to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.capecod.com/lifestyle/best-places-to-see-seals-on-cape-cod/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt;, the best places are along the east side of the hook, with the best being off South Mononomy Island which is reached only by boat tours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-05T15:36:09.857" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T15:36:09.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14806" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14812" CreationDate="2017-01-04T22:50:19.503" Score="8" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a &quot;top cap&quot; on a climber's haul bag and how does it work? In &lt;em&gt;Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills&lt;/em&gt; (and also at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neilhopkins.us/mountaineering-guide-2/aid-climbing-equipment.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;neilhopkins.us/mountaineering-guide-2/aid-climbing-equipment&lt;/a&gt;) is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A top cap to the haul bag is a good idea to protect the knot connecting the sack to the haul line and help reduce snagging problems while hauling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but there is no diagram. I can imagine what it looks like because of &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An effective top cap can be readily fashioned from an empty 2-liter plastic bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the sequence like this, from bottom going up: haul sac, strap, carabiner, knot, (upright) &quot;top cap&quot;, then haul rope, with the rope going through the small opening of the bottle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T15:19:01.753" Title="What is a &quot;top cap&quot; on a climber's haul bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14798" CreationDate="2017-01-04T23:06:51.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have answered, valley floors tend to be exposed to cold air running down the hill side and on still nights are the coldest. In most cases it takes little wind to overcome this effect, so only still nights need to consider this effect in most cases. However Glaciers and very large snow fields create a very cold and often strong airflow down the valley no matter what the weather is doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vegetation canopy provides significant warmth by trapping the heat from the day. This is especially relevant on clear nights, much less so on cloudy nights. Vegetation also protects you from wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such, the warmest place will almost always be under a tree canopy, close to the bottom of the valley. In many conditions, the valley floor will be the most warmest practical place to set up camp (keep in mind normal camp safety such as flood plains etc), but if the valley floor is open and exposed, partway up will be warmer in some, but not all, conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-04T23:06:51.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14809" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14822" CreationDate="2017-01-05T01:38:45.870" Score="4" ViewCount="5615" Body="&lt;p&gt;Female mountain lions will scream to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/mountainlion.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;attract a mate&lt;/a&gt;, and males will do it as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxo8X5uIWRE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE7YOJVSoIs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; both have audio of what it sounds like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given how loud it sounds, would there be any way of estimating how far away the mountain lion is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T03:57:52.327" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T00:50:50.007" Title="If you hear a mountain lion screaming, how close is it?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="418" CreationDate="2017-01-05T03:37:38.017" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience a tent will give protection from bears:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was camping in a pup tent on the Bruce Peninsula with my 10 year old daughter. I woke up to the sound of what I first assumed to be &quot;pigs&quot;. They were squabling with each other I think as they knocked over chairs and table. My heart was beating out of my chest as they approached and sniffed all aroung the lower edge of the tent. Their breathing was as loud as a freight train to me. I had no weapon, spray or anything. I heard them leave down the trail but I left the camp in the morning and have never slept in a tent since!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I left my daughter in her sleeping bag as some protection if the bears came through the tent. I got out of mine so I could fight. I honestly feel they left us alone cause we had no food in the tent. It was in a bag hung up in a tree by our van 30 feet away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12060" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-01-05T06:30:00.967" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T06:30:00.967" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14800" CreationDate="2017-01-05T09:48:57.737" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First thing to point out is that wild camping is not legal in the England and Wales (It is in Scotland and Dartmoor). Now that said if you follow some basic rules it is possible. I cover these in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8682/2766&quot;&gt;different answer here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't camp in enclosed fields, these will be owned by someone  (farmer) and they will likely not take kindly to someone rocking up&#xA;  and camping. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Leave no trace&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, don't spoil it for everyone else, if hoards of people start appearing in the mountain areas leaving rubbish&#xA;  everywhere, it's going to get clamped down on and you'll ruin it for&#xA;  everyone, take &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; out with you!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Be discreet, don't camp in the middle of a busy footpath at 1pm (though I have seen this done and no one really complained). Find a&#xA;  quiet remote area, pitch late and leave early (you'll enjoy it more&#xA;  anyway)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Keep away from roads. You don't want your camp site to be visible from the road. This will likely result in a knock on your tent from&#xA;  the police or the local landowner who will move you on. Ideally you&#xA;  want to walk about 1/2 an hour away from the nearest road to be safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So back to your question, there are quite a few &quot;wild&quot; areas in the south east. One that particuarly springs to mind is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Chiltern+Hills+AONB/@52.0123463,-0.3449307,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xdea1d4697751d669!8m2!3d51.7019277!4d-0.7855225&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chilton hills&lt;/a&gt;. That said, nowhere is particuarly remote (I don't know the area well so I may be corrected here) your always going to be near a road or something. It's simply too populated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8LHXA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8LHXA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best nearest place I can think of would be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenewforest.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Forest&lt;/a&gt;, somewhere like here (note the difference in the maps here!):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/apWMS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/apWMS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should have the right mix of remoteness but not too extreme, no mountains, plenty of shelter, etc.&#xA;This should allow you a good couple of days getting away from society!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd reccomend spending a bit of time scanning about on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bing.com/maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bing maps&lt;/a&gt;. Unlike Google maps they offer a &quot;Ordanance Survey&quot; option that allows you to check full res topographic maps to identify paths, features, etc. Means you can have a good reccy of an area and identify some good locations before making a decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/knMDH.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/knMDH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T13:22:14.930" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14806" CreationDate="2017-01-05T15:19:01.753" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's exactly what it is, a &lt;em&gt;top cap&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;knot protector&lt;/em&gt; is simply there to help protect your knot on the swivel from getting abraded against the rock while you're up-hauling:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xaEkj.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xaEkj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/news/your-first-big-wall/&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JMS0f.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JMS0f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://hikinginfinland.com/2015/06/arcteryx-alpine-academy-chamonix-2015.html&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T15:19:01.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14813" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-05T18:21:38.177" Score="1" ViewCount="72" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some people seem to be able (as I've noticed when camping and traveling with different people) be able to produce more heat and need fewer layers in cold situations.  Are there any techniques that cold-weather campers and outdoors enthusiasts use to produce more body heat in for situations (for example, the Wim Hof method)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11220" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:03:16.673" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:03:16.673" Title="Adapting to the cold" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-01-05T20:04:16.400" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2017-01-05T20:21:52.517" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it can be potentially very dangerous to ride a chair lift with a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/p/BO3oNRygu-t/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is a story (warning semi graphic pictures)&lt;/a&gt; about a guy wearing a backpack on a lift and it getting snagged. The guy's pack ends up tangled around his neck, leaving him hanging unconscious 10 feet in the air. Luckily, his friend was able to save him before any thing really bad happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full story&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Today I saved someone's life. I think some strange forces were at work. I planned to ski by myself today. As fate had it though, some good friends ended up recognizing me despite my ski gear, and we joined forces for an epic pow day. Again, fate intervened. One of our crew got his backpack strap stuck in the chairlift as he tried to unload and the lift dragged him back down the hill. We were on the chair lift behind so we unloaded and ran down the hill to help him when we realized the worst possible thing had happened. The backpack had wrapped around his neck and he was unconscious, dangling 10 feet above the snow. Panic set in and we struggled in vain for about a minute to build a human pyramid to get to him but the powder was too deep and we toppled over. I yelled at the lift operator asking if the lift ran in reverse and he cried no. Ski patrol was on their way but not there yet. Panic was becoming terror as we realized we were about to watch our friend die in front of our helpless eyes. Then I had a eureka moment. I realized I could climb the lift tower above the chair and climb onto the cable and shimmy down to him. I knew my slackline experience prepared me perfectly for this so I burst into action. I climbed the tower and slid down to the the chair. It was second nature, just like being on a slackline only way colder and made of steel. I climbed down the chair and I first tried to break the strap by kicking it but I couldn't. A newly arrived ski patrolman threw me a knife and I luckily caught it on the first try and cut the strap. Our friend fell like a doll into the snow. 8 or so ski patrolman then began CPR. Thankfully they were able to restore his breathing, ski him down to the base, and get him into an ambulance which rushed him to the hospital in Denver. I'd like to take this moment now to thank the #slacklife for the skills it has given me. It was incredibly fortunate I was there and able to act quickly. I'd also like to thank ski patrol for their strong work reviving our friend. I just got an update from the hospital and he's doing quite well and will be released tomorrow! #thankful #lovelife #rightplacerighttime&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the semi graphic image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ojdFU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ojdFU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11808" LastEditorUserId="11808" LastEditDate="2017-01-05T20:56:37.313" LastActivityDate="2017-01-05T20:56:37.313" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14712" CreationDate="2017-01-05T22:22:47.057" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Open wounds are treated the same in the back country as they are treated in your kitchen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DEPT&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Direct Pressure &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elevation &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pressure Point &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(now's a good time to call 911, if bleeding so far is uncontrolled)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tourniquet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Direct pressure&lt;/strong&gt; - apply bandage or cloth or clothing to the wound.  Never remove the cloth/bandage, as that will remove the clot and repeat the bleeding again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Elevate&lt;/strong&gt; the wound above the heart if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pressure Point&lt;/strong&gt; - apply pressure to the arteries (not veins) which supply blood to the affected area, at a point between the wound and the heart, and at a place closer to the wound, which crosses a bone.  This reduces pressure and supply of blood to the wound; the closer to the wound you do this, the less you affect other areas of the body which aren't injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tourniquet&lt;/strong&gt; - last resort; do this when you expect to lose a limb.  Once applied, never remove - let emergency personnel handle this.  If you do apply a tourniquet, mark the approximate time on the victim's head.  Use a pen or blood to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a debatable topic to remove dressings; remember that the priority is to stop blood.  When you are at home recovering from surgery, your discharge instructions may call for dressing changes.  But there, you are in a controlled environment with easy access to help, and, blood flow has largely been controlled already - that's why you were sent home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when you are in the wild, there is no guarantee of medical care coming soon.  Therefore, your priority for wound care is to control and prevent further bleeding.  A distant second priority is healing.  Wounds should be kept relatively moist, as this promotes reepithelialization (healing).  The bloody gauzes you use are moist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, to prevent infection, the body itself has its own enzymes which it uses for autolytic debridement, a process the body performs to dissolve necrotic tissue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you determine that the wound has more or less healed, and the removed dressing doesn't indicate more bleeding, the wound should still be kept covered and moist; this protects it from injury, and prevents it from drying as that will slow down the healing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more thing: in the wild, you need to watch out for predators.  Discarding bloody dressings can invite animals, you want to minimize this risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the bandages on as long as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to giving liquids:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;American Red Cross is ambiguous, Army manuals say absolutely DO NOT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue is if the person goes unconscious; in this case, they could expel their stomach contents and then choke.  The Army manual states you should turn the head if you must leave the victim unattended to prevent choking - and to not administer food or liquid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, not every one goes into shock upon bleeding.  In this case: yes, give fluids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, don't give aspirin (that reduces blood's ability to clot), don't give acetominophen (that can upset the stomach and cause vomiting), and don't give ibuprophin or any NSAID, as that reduces swelling - the very thing the body does to reduce blood flow to an area that is injured.  And it can mask other injuries that need to be looked at - like headaches and stomachaches.  Basically: suffer the pain.  If it's Really, Really bad, then Tylenol, Advil, or aspirin isn't going to help anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/Prep_For_Basic_Training/Prep_for_basic_first_aid/check-and-treat-for-shock.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Check and Treat for Shock (Army Study Guide)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m39740251_FA_CPR_AED_PM_sample_chapter.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;First Aid/CPR/AED PARTICIPANT’S MANUAL (American Red Cross)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-06T04:31:08.940" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T04:31:08.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14817" CreationDate="2017-01-06T03:20:46.900" Score="4" ViewCount="2818" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go to the beach, I love to look at sea shells. I never take them with me because they're vital to the eco-system. I just gently pick them up, have a close look and sometimes take pictures, then put them back where they were. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very important to me not to bother any animals. In the case of certain mollusks like clams and mussels, a closed shell is an indication of life. Barnacles, seaweed and a variety of other living things are easily spotted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snail shells are beautiful, varied and interesting, but it's not always easy to tell if there's a live snail inside, especially because they can go so far in that you can't see them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snailfacts.net/sea_snails/sea_snails.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snail Facts&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The snail can protect itself easily by withdrawing its body behind the operculum that works like a trap door.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without seeing movement or evidence of a body, how can I tell just from looking at the shell if it contains a living snail that needs to be left undisturbed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T07:25:20.043" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T07:25:20.043" Title="How can I tell if there's a living snail in the shell, without picking it up?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14816" CreationDate="2017-01-06T03:41:08.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you wanted to pick one up without a live snail inside, I would say finding one on dry sand without a trail that looks like it has been there a while. The signs of that would be, being flipped upside down and having small debris like sand or dirt on top of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enPACKaL4ZQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; shows a sea snail moving at a snail's pace leaving a trail behind it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were to find some empty shells, then it would give you an idea of how much they weigh empty and then if you ever did pick up a live one, you should be able to tell the difference and put it down right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-06T15:45:02.417" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T15:45:02.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2017-01-06T17:21:13.750" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a ski patroller for many years I usually have a pack on when riding the lift. Yes packs can be dangerous, but it is a manageable hazard, and a potentially life saving and life saving and required accessory depending on where you are skiing. People need to be educated about the hazard and how to mitigate it! You determine the hazard by how you wear the pack, and what pack you choose. The primary hazard comes from loose straps or pockets that can catch on the lift. A set of suspenders, safety leash or any other loose garb could have the same potential. All too often is see people on lifts with ski straps and compression straps dangling waiting to catch on the lift. This is like asking to get hung up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best option is to remove the pack when riding the lift or move it to the front, but it is important to clip loose straps when you do this so they they are less likely to catch. The only time i personally have ever had a pack catch on a lift was with it was hanging from one shoulder with the waist belt undone, but it slipped off and went around the bullwheel without me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a patroller we are often transporting gear with us on the lift and removing the pack is a not an option. As such we maintain awareness of our equipment. Prepare for getting off the life checking the you are clear and wear a clean pack with minimal and or stowable exterior straps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The packs I currently use for for patrol have a clean pocketless and strapless exterior. When I am skiing 100% inbounds I wear a Black Diamond Bbee which is clean and has nothing to catch. It is also low profile, such that I barely notice it when sitting on the lift. When I need heavy gear I currently wear a BCA Stash pack with a completely stowable ski carry system (no exposed straps!). I actually tape excess tails on straps to keep them from dangling from my pack so they don't flop around, but it also makes them less likely to catch on the lift. There are many other ski packs that are clean and low profile, but there are also many packs that have dangerously exposed straps and buckles that are best kept clear of the lift. As a buyer you need to look out for this as pack companies are not designing their packs for lifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As people are likely to post references to packs here is self inflicted case of a snowboarder who got &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4041184/Snowboarder-left-hanging-UPSIDE-ski-lift-five-minutes-got-tangled-safety-leash.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hung up by his safety leash&lt;/a&gt;, and a man who ended up upside down a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1106988/Southern-exposure-Man-left-dangling-trouserless-upside-Vail-ski-lift-mishap.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hung by his trousers&lt;/a&gt;.  I also remember an incident at a mountain where a man was saved by a friend when he passed out for medical reasons and was caught by his friend as he was falling out of the chair by his pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12066" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-06T17:55:37.027" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T17:55:37.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14809" CreationDate="2017-01-06T18:55:57.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There does not seem to be much information over the net on the distance one can hear a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountain lion&lt;/a&gt;, but I did find this little tidbit:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The frightening puma scream is the long range call. It has been described as like a high pitched and short roar of one of the big cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Then there is the shrill whistle like call. This call has been used by a tame puma after she received a bit of food after the person called her over. The person described the sound as a high pitched, cheeping, whistle. It can travel a good distance (300 yards). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The same whistle call has been heard by researchers in the mountains of New Mexico between members of a family group and up to 300 meters from each other. The whistle would seem to vary between pumas. &lt;strong&gt;Mountain lion sounds&lt;/strong&gt; are varied and some others are that have been heard between males and females are: a low gargling growl, throaty yowls and squeaks. The squeaks and growls traveled about &lt;strong&gt;50-100 metres&lt;/strong&gt; while the yowls traveled &lt;strong&gt;200 meters&lt;/strong&gt;. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://pictures-of-cats.org/mountain-lion-sounds.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Lion Sounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lTw20.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lTw20.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mountain Lion&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE&lt;/strong&gt; – Cougars (also called pumas, mountain lions, catamounts, Florida panthers, painters, ghost cats, etc) are considered part of the lesser/small cat classification when it comes to their ability to purr and not roar. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/do-big-cats-roar-or-purr/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Do big cats roar or purr - or both?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T18:55:57.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14804" CreationDate="2017-01-06T21:19:00.010" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seals appear at various times in various places on Cape Cod.  There isn't a guaranteed time and place to see seals, but some spots are better than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, this picture was taken at Head of the Meadow Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s0Llk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s0Llk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just one subgroup I captured together with a 300 mm lens.  There were probably 20-30 total that day at that time at that place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was on 24 Sep 2013 at 14:46 at 42.05487°N, 70.08457°W.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seels come to this place regularly enough that there are signs posted about what you're allowed to do and not do when seals are present.  These seals seemed curious, and actually seemed to follow me along the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-01-06T21:19:00.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14825" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14828" CreationDate="2017-01-07T17:00:14.410" Score="15" ViewCount="1508" Body="&lt;p&gt;When melting snow to obtain drinking water, what is the most efficient strategy if one needs more water than results from one pan of snow? Most efficient for me is using a minimum of fuel, not necessary the fastest way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can think of multiple strategies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squeeze snow in pan, melt fully, pour water in container and repeat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squeeze snow in pan, melt fully, pour partly and leave some water in pan, add new snow and repeat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Squeeze snow in pan, start melting, pour water out and add new snow as snow melts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or am I overthinking this and doesn't it really matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume that the water is not intended for immediate cooking, as in that case it looks obvious to continue heating until it boils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastActivityDate="2017-01-08T11:38:41.750" Title="What is the most efficient strategy to melt snow using a stove?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;cold&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14825" CreationDate="2017-01-07T18:59:09.037" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The heat to melt is the same so will not make a lot of difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A larger pan will have more surface area and be more efficient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Continually add snow and ladle out water with a small cup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless it is really cold out you can put snow in a clear container and leave it in the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-01-07T18:59:09.037" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14825" CreationDate="2017-01-07T19:24:07.383" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want to have some water in the pot/pan, as otherwise you will &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.holyadventure.com/purify-water-melted-snow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scorch it&lt;/a&gt;. It doesn't have to be too much, just enough to cover the bottom. Then you would just want to keep stirring it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-07T22:26:15.033" LastActivityDate="2017-01-07T22:26:15.033" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14825" CreationDate="2017-01-08T00:22:25.490" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;For maximum efficiency (i.e. melted water per used fuel) make sure the following things are always true:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always have some water in the pot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Never have only water in the pot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having water increases the thermal conductivity between the pot and the snow/water. With just snow you have a smaller contact area.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As long as there is both snow and water in the pot, the temperature stays at the lowest possible (i.e. melting temperature in the prevailing conditions). All energy goes into melting snow. When there is only water, energy will go into raising the temperature of the water. This means it is best to remove water and add snow in regular intervals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit regarding having/opening a lid:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As pointed out by Paparazzi the benefits from having a lid when melting snow is probably negligible. At melting temperature water will hardly evaporate at all (the vapor pressure is at only 0.006atm at 0degC while it is at 1atm when boiling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unrelated to handling snow/water but still very relevant:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Only based on experience the most important factor for efficiency is something else: Heat exchange between the flames and the pot itself. That is why devices like Jetboil (heat directed around a pot with &quot;heat exchanger&quot;) are very fast at boiling water (usually at the expense of weigth to size ratio). For any burner this means use a wind shield. Preferably one that is as high as the pot and with just a bit bigger diameter than the pot. Also lowering the flame will increase efficiency at the expense of speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-08T11:38:41.750" LastActivityDate="2017-01-08T11:38:41.750" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14101" CreationDate="2017-01-08T02:12:26.157" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would think that you can adapt any method that is used for medlar or common medlar (mespilus germanica). &#xA;So freezer should work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How do I know when they are dried/ripened enough ready for eating?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take some courage - try one. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12073" LastActivityDate="2017-01-08T02:12:26.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14830" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14941" CreationDate="2017-01-08T04:05:27.430" Score="13" ViewCount="1402" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was out ice climbing with a group today and they were using three-point anchors using two &lt;em&gt;vertical&lt;/em&gt; v-threads (abalakovs) with one backup ice-bolt. They said the vertical v-threads &lt;em&gt;(one hole over top of the other)&lt;/em&gt; were superior and stronger than the horizontal ones &lt;em&gt;(holes side-by-side)&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much stronger are vertical v-threads compared to horizontal ones?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;V-Thread:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ie3ye.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ie3ye.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-64ea19414a9d08a8876cf92f06fab366?convert_to_webp=true&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-09T02:10:35.713" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T23:44:58.757" Title="How much stronger is a vertical v-thread than a horizontal one?" Tags="&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;v-thread&gt;&lt;ice-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14825" CreationDate="2017-01-08T08:24:03.283" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A small flame compared to the size of the pot means less heat escaping up the sides. This will of course slow things down. Further minimise this with a pot skirt if at all possible. I had a skirt for my MSR stove that was just very thick foil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have two pans you can put snow in the larger one and use it as a lid on the smaller one when cooking, or even when melting snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-01-08T08:24:03.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-08T15:52:09.570" Score="3" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start with two examples of what I don't want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two years ago, we bought a double Kathmandu airbed in some camping shop in New Zealand. It wasn't cheap, and it was really good for a month of camping. But then ... this year, while camping, we were unpleasantly surprised with a &lt;strong&gt;big bulge&lt;/strong&gt; in the middle of the bed (inside seams broke?). The bulge then expanded through pretty much whole bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have another Intex airbed at home for a spare bed, which is slowly &lt;strong&gt;leaking air&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of these issues are apparent when you're buying, and reviews seem to be good for pretty much any airbed. Recommendations that I find online are very generic (e.g. heavy and comfortable when close to home, light when travelling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a sane way to pick good airbed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11437" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T20:17:06.923" Title="How to pick a good camping airbed?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14833" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-08T16:56:18.910" Score="18" ViewCount="793" Body="&lt;p&gt;Photographed off the Western coast of India, Goa, to be precise. Not even sure this is a creature since I've never seen anything like it. It appeared to move by shooting tiny jets of water from its tentacle like thingies. It looks a bit like a jellyfish but without the typical shape expected. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: No larger animals around, but there were people fishing. Just off the water's edge. Also, no, I don't actually frequent the place so I can't be sure it's not part of the native fauna. Size: Perhaps two adult hand spans long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1gS47.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1gS47.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the sea creature&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:14:29.273" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T22:21:24.313" Title="Identification of a jellyfish-like, shapeless sea-creature from India" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5087" CreationDate="2017-01-08T19:21:08.193" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I sleep in a hammock under a rainfly when I backpack or car camp.  When I'm backpacking, I toss my toothpaste and pre-moistened wipes (anything scented) into my food bag and hang it up several yards from my hammock.  Then, when I go to bed, I place my pack under the backs of my knees.  It's really comfortable having that support.  I hadn't thought I could be more comfortable after my first night in a hammock, but the first time I slept this way I was pleasantly surprised at how good it felt. I bet it would feel good on a pad on the ground, too.  Just make absolute sure that there is nothing scented in your pack when you go to bed. That includes clothes that might have gotten spills or crumbs during dinner. Pack safe, breathe deep and have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12075" LastActivityDate="2017-01-08T19:21:08.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2996" CreationDate="2017-01-09T00:20:37.607" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sumac is a known toxic burning wood of North America. You are not to use it with the preparation of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12077" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T00:20:37.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2996" CreationDate="2017-01-09T04:19:51.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;At &lt;em&gt;The Wood Database&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is a table of 235 wood types&amp;mdash;intended for woodworkers&amp;mdash;which indicates the irritation reactions, type of irritations (skin, eyes, respiratory), and irritation potency.  It should be helpful to infer which woods might be poor choices to burn and breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wood-database.com/douglas-fir/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Douglas-fir&lt;/a&gt; irritates all three areas but at low potency.  Reactions include &lt;em&gt;irritant, giddiness, runny nose, splinters go septic, nausea&lt;/em&gt;.  The details say that reactions to Doug-fir are &lt;em&gt;quite uncommon&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the other extreme is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/australian-cashew-nut/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Australian Cashew Nut&lt;/a&gt; which causes &lt;em&gt;irritant, skin lesions, nosebleeds&lt;/em&gt; of maximum potency.  Surprisingly, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wood-database.com/western-red-cedar/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Red Cedar&lt;/a&gt; has the same severe irritation ratings (and I love sawing it up and deeply inhaling the aroma).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-09T13:43:12.813" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T13:43:12.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14837" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14844" CreationDate="2017-01-09T14:05:47.080" Score="28" ViewCount="9830" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in a survival situation when snow is present?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to know if there are any known techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in the wild for survival reasons when there is snow on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the amount of snow alter the technique that is required?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:47:36.447" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:47:36.447" Title="Are there any techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in snow?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14837" CreationDate="2017-01-09T15:21:53.943" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The base&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to clear an area so that there is little snow on the ground; eventually, your fire will settle down to the ground, so, the less snow there is underneath, the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In really bad situations, you can't move the snow (maybe it's icy, or you don't have a shovel or easy means to move the snow?) or the depth isn't known.  What you can do is to lay larger logs to make a flooring of sorts, then build your fire atop that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another technique is to build a fire on top of a rock; again, you will have to clear snow, but if that's not feasible, you could still lay down flooring logs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also want to build a fire on top of a tree stump.  You might find some debris, like a pot or a #10 tin can in which you can build your fire.  Or large wet strips of tree bark.  Or a fallen tree.  Or maybe you have aluminum foil in your gear; use that for underneath the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that a survival fire should have two purposes: to keep you warm, and to make you noticed.  In keeping you warm, you need to locate it so that it won't melt snow in your shelter area; that means clearing out as much snow as possible around your shelter area.  Again, make a log flooring if this isn't feasible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make you visible, build the fire at higher elevations, so that any smoke generated won't blend with any trees making it harder to pinpoint you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Starting the fire&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't indicate your experience in starting fires, so, for posterity, I'll just assume you don't know; if anything, the tips can be useful for others.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Firestarters&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have firestarters, you can use birch bark&amp;mdash;and only birch bark.  Such can be found by its distinctive white (or silver) coloring, and which can occasionally be found peeling from a tree or log.  You want to collect it from ground logs to prevent injury to a living tree; however, in survival in the snow, it may be impossible to find on the ground: you'll have to get it from a live tree.  Birch bark contains a waxy substance which makes it nearly waterproof and easily lit.  That is your firestarter (hopefully, you have matches or a lighter?).  But take only what you need, and no more, unless you're getting it from dead trees/logs.&#xA;In areas where birch isn't available, an excellent firestarter is Old Man's Beard.  It grows everywhere, and is most commonly found on pine and oak branches, sometimes hanging in long, beard-like strands.  It is a light grey-green color, and it will light even when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tinder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the fire starter to light small wood -- tinder -- that easily snaps when bent.  This should be dead wood, not green from a tree.  In snow conditions, it's freezing, and hard to tell if the wood is dead or just frozen if you don't have experience.  If the twigs come from a branch with leaves on it, it's probably green or live, so keep looking.  Green tinder won't light well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kindling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the tinder twigs as a base to light slightly larger wood, maybe 1&quot; in diameter or less.  Build this wood in a neat fashion, like a tee-pee shape, or a lean-to shape.  It should be built to shield the tinder from being blown out from any wind, snow, or rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lay larger pieces on top of the small wood.  Don't crowd the fire, give it a chance to catch and breathe.  Once going, you can add larger wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Staying warm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation, you need to keep warm.  If you have a reflecting blanket/tarp, wrap it around the coldest member of your group, with the shiny side inside.  This causes the dark side to absorb sunlight, the exact opposite of what you want to do in scorching heat.  Everyone should keep moving to keep the body core as warm as possible: this will help to ward off hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to keep moving is to keep looking for firewood.  You don't know for how long you'll need to be there.  Maybe you're lost, or maybe you're not but you're stuck in a weather pattern preventing you from moving.  Whatever the case, have ample firewood on hand.  Anyone suspected of having hypothermia should not be left unattended: they may wander, creating a new survival problem for you.  But they should be moving as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat, drink, and be merry&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once your fire is built and you have a shelter in case you'll be there awhile, next up is to find water, food, and help, pretty much in that order.  It is most important to have a good attitude.  That will help you think clearly and be proactive about what to do.  When/if hypothermia does set in, a depressed attitude will be more noticeable, so, there are many reasons for having a positive and upbeat attitude, including from those who are normally sullen.  Being depressed in cases like this creates arguments, makes it harder to identify hypothermia, and generally is a selfish attitude.  This is not the time to be selfish.  Water is easy, just melt or eat snow.  (That's a good way to create other medical problems, but worry about that later).  Do eat snow sparingly, though it will cool the core -- the very thing you don't want to do right now.  Next up is food.  You may have to do without, unless you're good at hunting, trapping, or fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Help!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Calling for help can pose challenges, too. You might have a cellphone, use that.  Yelling is a waste of time, unless you're near a well-traveled trail.  Anyone hearing you won't be able to pinpoint you, and snow will absorb sound, so, you won't have benefit there.  A whistle can help, and will save your voice if you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a reflector -- like a mirror -- to reflect sunlight on passersby you might see, or on buildings you see in the distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fire building technique doesn't change regardless of the snow on the ground.  What changes is the amount of work you have to do to get the snow out of the way, or why you are in survival mode at all.  If you have only a light dusting of snow, or you've cleared most -- but not all -- of it away, you might decide that you have enough firewood to not worry about melting snow putting your fire out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-01-11T11:36:24.463" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T11:36:24.463" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14837" CreationDate="2017-01-09T18:22:05.993" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The base of large trees usually have bare ground (at least less snow).  But you need to be careful not to burn the tree and melting snow in tree as it will rain down on you and the fire. A micro fire in a pot will still generate a good bit of heat.  And you are protected from the elements under the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-09T19:56:57.600" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T19:56:57.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14843" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-09T18:48:07.147" Score="8" ViewCount="361" Body="&lt;p&gt;A Recent news event &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38561877&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Pioneer Cabin Tree in California felled by storms)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, brought drive through trees to mind.  When I looked at the pictures, I realized it is not the same tree I drove through last time I was in the Redwood Forest.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching found some different answers.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_058751.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This one by the US forest service&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seecalifornia.com/attractions/california-drive-through-trees.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one by a commercial site&lt;/a&gt;.  Both seem to be subject to some bias, The commercial site lists more, but not sure it is exhaustive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many trees &lt;strong&gt;(singular)&lt;/strong&gt; are there in California you can drive through, as of January 9, 2017?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:43:03.857" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:43:03.857" Title="How many trees are there in California you can drive through?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2017-05-22T05:08:23.103" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14837" CreationDate="2017-01-09T18:54:59.400" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from what is mentioned in the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8204/how-to-light-a-fire-with-wet-firewood/8205#8205&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8204/how-to-light-a-fire-with-wet-firewood/8205#8205&quot;&gt;How to light a fire with wet firewood?&lt;/a&gt;) the things you need to be concerned about in winter are the cold, frozen wood, and your fire being extinguished by snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On winter camps one story that always went around was one of a man who died because after he built his fire and was just barely getting it going, a sluff of snow fell from the tree he was taking shelter under and extinguished it. By the time he had built it back up again, his hands were too frozen to strike a match. So make sure you're building your fire away from anything that can extinguish it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as preparing your fire, you don't have to worry too much about how much snow is beneath it as long as it is somewhat packed down and you have a base of limbs or logs. The best thing to do is lay a base of logs on the snow and build your fire on top of that, then your tinder is protected from the melting snow, which to be frank doesn't really melt that fast even after your fire gets going. When I was a kid we started a huge bonfire on a mountain lake once because we thought it'd be cool to watch it burn through the ice and get extinguished in the lake. The once 20ft flame fire simply burnt out after a &lt;em&gt;long&lt;/em&gt; time and didn't even make a dent in the ice, it just made the surface wet and slick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frozen wood can take even longer to burn than wet wood can, because you have to thaw it out first, so select your wood by taking dead branches high off the ground without any snow on them, or actually fall a dead tree and take the wood from the top and chop your wood really fine to get the dry stuff from the centre. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favourite winter fire is made using four-foot logs between two and four inches in diameter. I set two larger logs parallel on the ground, then start laying the other logs across them until I have a 4ft x 4ft grill. Take a few of the logs out of the middle to start the fire with a typical tipi fire, then once it starts burning and you get few coals, replace the logs. &lt;strong&gt;This type of fire has several advantages:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First&lt;/strong&gt;, you don't have to cut as much wood, the logs are quick and easy to cut because they're skinny, and you don't have to chop any. You simply cut small deadfall trees, or use large branches. In my part of the world we have lots of lodgepole pines, which choke the sun out to the forest floor and kill off a lot of smaller trees, so there's an endless supply of smaller deadfall, perfect for firewood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second&lt;/strong&gt;, after you get a good bed of coals, this fire becomes the perfect fire for warming you up and drying things out, because it's a low-flame, high-heat type of fire. Your logs will burn through in the middle and fall into the coals, when they do, simply tuck the fallen logs under the others and replace them with new ones on top. You will quickly have a 16 square-foot bed of hot coals covered by a grill of skinny logs with very little flame. It's also excellent for cooking because you have the same amount of area to put pans and kettles (just make sure they're sitting on the new logs). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third,&lt;/strong&gt; You can use frozen logs once the fire gets going. When you're replacing logs, you can throw icy frozen solid logs into your grill and they will quickly thaw out and start to burn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, one thing I always carry with me now in the winter is white gas or starter fluid to start my winter fires if it's taking too long to do so with tinder. In emergent situations, you may not have the ability to prepare a proper fire as is illustrated in the frozen-hands story I shared above. But with lighter fluid, you don't need much dexterity to squirt that on and throw a match at it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T02:45:22.540" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14832" CreationDate="2017-01-09T20:17:06.923" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been satisfied with self-inflatable foam pads. These are more for trek and single person, but I know there exists 2 places mattresses using the same technology (though, not personally tested).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage with foam inside, is that it is more difficult to get structural damage compared to compartimented air pockets's mattress. Unfortunately there still can be cuts on sharp rocks, but if you are careful or use an underneath soil isolator there is no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being self-inflatable reduce the energy spended to inflate it. After the self-inflatable phase (from compressed rolled state), you still need to inflate it, but for my single pad, no tool was ever necessary, mouth was largely sufficient. I guess it may be a little different for a larger bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the thickness is reduced a lot so it weights nothing.&#xA;My pad for single person is 4cm thick and less than 2kg and is able to sustain my 120 kg, while a 10 cm air only bed cannot or deinflate during the night ! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have it for 3 years and did not noticed air major leaking so far, at least it is far less noticeable than with classic air beds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The foam also absords sound, so the pad is not too noisy when you move during your sleep, while classic air bed tend to ressemble a big drum and resonates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11911" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T20:17:06.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14837" CreationDate="2017-01-09T20:39:43.327" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to add to what others have said, snow can be pretty useful for managing wind. You can use it to build a wall if there is too much wind. You can then make a hole in that wall to let wind in. Then all you need to do is block the hole or unblock it to manage how much air reaches the fire. If you orient this hole well, you can get really good wind control :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T20:39:43.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14849" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14850" CreationDate="2017-01-09T20:52:34.417" Score="4" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5029-542/Sidewinder-Water-Purifier&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ultraviolet water purifier&lt;/a&gt;. It uses ultraviolet light to kill 99.9% of all viruses and bacteria in one litre of water in 90 seconds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering: if UV light can purify water, then if you were to leave a clear bottle of water in direct sunlight would the natural UV rays from the sun kill all the bacteria and viruses in the water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On that same thought, if UV rays kill bacteria and viruses, can clear water taken from streams exposed to direct sunlight be considered safe to drink?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T21:04:41.837" Title="Can sunlight be used to purify water?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-01-10T13:54:39.900" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14849" CreationDate="2017-01-09T21:04:41.837" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible, here is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt; on it. You do have to check that the plastic in the waterbottle doesn't prevent the UV light peneatrating the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some glass or PVC materials may prevent ultraviolet light from reaching the water.[13] Commercially available bottles made of PET are recommended. The handling is much more convenient in the case of PET bottles. Polycarbonate (resin identification code 7) blocks all UVA and UVB rays, and therefore should not be used. Bottles that are clear are to be preferred over bottles that have been colored. For example: the green of some lemon/lime soda pop bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't work if the water has lots of particles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the sunlight is less strong, due to overcast weather or a less sunny climate, a longer exposure time in the Sun is necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also doesn't work if there are lots of particles in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the water is highly turbid, SODIS cannot be used alone; additional filtering or flocculation is then necessary to clarify the water prior to SODIS treatment&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if it would purify stream water because it is moving, but I have heard that it will purify very high, shallow alpine lakes. One would expect that this method would work better at higher altitudes because of how much more intense the UV rays are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have known about this method for a while, but have never used it, mostly because I didn't want to wait around it to work. I have thought about doing it with clear bottle that are left in camp while one is submitting, so that on your return you would have a bunch or water ready to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-09T21:04:41.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14851" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14854" CreationDate="2017-01-10T00:08:25.777" Score="8" ViewCount="482" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just started climbing and I am wondering if  it's safe to use my body harness and the 2 carabiners from via ferrata kit - they are 25|10|8KN resistant - for climbing too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12083" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T00:57:18.670" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T03:19:31.523" Title="Can I re-use a via ferrata carabiner/harness for climbing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14851" CreationDate="2017-01-10T00:56:34.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The carabiners are definitely good to go as those are pretty standard ratings. Most climbers using climbing harnesses and not body harnesses, I would suggest that you buy a climbing harness as I think that it would work better and be more comfortable for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T00:56:34.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14853" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14855" CreationDate="2017-01-10T03:08:09.927" Score="13" ViewCount="1278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carabiners like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lite_D_Shaped_Carabiners.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Lite_D_Shaped_Carabiners.jpg&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;are marked with the force rating. The one in this picture is rated,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20kn the long way &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8kn the short way&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5kn with the gate open&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are carabiners so much weaker when the &lt;strong&gt;gate is open&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T21:40:08.803" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T06:51:50.297" Title="Why are carabiners so much weaker if the gate is open?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14851" CreationDate="2017-01-10T03:19:31.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. As stated by @Charlie, the ratings on the gear is more than adequate for safety while climbing. The reasons to buy a climbing harness are weight, comfort and convenience rather than anything to do with safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use your own financial situation and importance of the benefits to decide if you should buy a dedicated climbing harness. If you climb once a year, its hard to see how you could justify it, if once a week, a dedicated climbing harness would be a worthwhile investment.  The only caveat - if at any time using the wrong gear distracts you from the enjoyment climbing, you need the right gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T03:19:31.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14853" CreationDate="2017-01-10T03:28:53.283" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being metal carabiners are ductile and deform under load. When the biner is under load and gate closed, the gate of the biner is captured in the nose, and forms a closed loop.  When the gate is open, this loop is not closed and the nose is free open beyond its designed limits. If you load a closed biner to its gate open rating, and try to open the gate, it will probably be jammed (although due designed over engineering it may not be). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does two things - the obvious, but less important part is the gate shares some of the load with the spine. However, more importantly, the gate stops carabiner opening further and deforming beyond its design limits.  The shape of the biner means a majority of the force is transmitted in line with the spine, but the gate must be closed and locked to the nose to achieve full design strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T03:28:53.283" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14830" CreationDate="2017-01-10T03:54:02.653" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One could argue its a mute point, unless you are taking Factor 1's on V Threads. A factor 1 fall generates about 5 kN - you should be no where near this, possibly if you screw up badly subjecting your anchor to half that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a 'debate' we (me and fellow instructors agreeing on a consistent approach) had years a go when instructing students - the outcome was given vertical V threads, in lab testing in ideal conditions are shown to be stronger, the preferences is for vertical. But building the best anchor you can, in the best location, at the best speed, using the best ice will beat the vertical/horizontal debate every time (Except under laboratory conditions)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T03:54:02.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14858" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14859" CreationDate="2017-01-10T05:52:51.657" Score="7" ViewCount="1076" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen ice do a lot of strange things, but I've never seen it do this before: &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/198519875&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Circle spinning on Middle Fork Snoqualmie River (Vimeo)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kw2cB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kw2cB.png&quot; alt=&quot;ice circle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes ice circles to form?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T11:38:40.523" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T11:38:40.523" Title="What is an ice circle, and how does it form?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14858" CreationDate="2017-01-10T06:44:14.200" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Ice Disk&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That phenomenon is called an ice disc or ice circle. It occurs in slow moving water in cold climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ice discs form on the outer bends in a river where the accelerating&#xA;  water creates a force called 'rotational shear', which breaks off a&#xA;  chunk of ice and twists it around. As the disc rotates, it grinds&#xA;  against surrounding ice — smoothing into a circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_circle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Ice Circle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Your Ice Circle&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This particular ice disk (from your video), was formed because there was a certain climate which is perfect for such phenomenon to build. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Calm winds this week combined with 6 mornings in a row in the low 20s&#xA;  made for perfect conditions to form the circles,&quot; said Q13 Chief&#xA;  Meteorologist Walter Kelley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://fox4kc.com/2017/01/09/rare-ice-circle-forms-in-washington-state-river/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fox4KC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why is it so rare?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...) but I've never seen it do this before(.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The occurrence of such are absolutely rare since you have to face perfect really specific conditions (water, climate, river etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ice circles or disc are a relatively uncommon phenomenon. One of the&#xA;  earliest recordings is of a slowly revolving disc spotted on the&#xA;  Mianus River in 1895.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://fox4kc.com/2017/01/09/rare-ice-circle-forms-in-washington-state-river/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fox4KC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An unusual natural phenomenon, ice disks occur in slow moving water in&#xA;  cold climates and can vary in size, with circles more than 15 metres&#xA;  (49 ft) in diameter observed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_circle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia - Ice Circle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Further reading&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.mit.edu/1993/river-0224&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MIT News - Theories abound on how the river got those patterns&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://digg.com/video/ice-circle-river&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Disc Blogpost&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T06:50:22.157" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T06:50:22.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14860" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14947" CreationDate="2017-01-10T12:05:13.517" Score="5" ViewCount="2312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new in Camping, and recently I have camped in France, in the Vosges region, in the locality called &quot;Le bonhomme&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well it's not the pure wilderness but it was very unusual for me, as it was nobody around and I was in the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I set up the camp, it was just for the night so I didn't make any fire pit, but just a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was trying to sleep, I have eared some grunting, and some scratch on the ground. In this situation I was really stressed but well, I didn't close my eyes because there was those sounds during the whole night, and just near my tent. Sometimes something was scratching the tent canvas. I was very unconfortable with this. I took care to have nothing to eat for not drawing attention of any animals. But there was there anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After this, I searched what was the wildlife in this region, and there was grey wolves, wild boars and some boreal lynx in this region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure that there was at one moment some wild boars (Loud noise, big branch cracking) and at another moment some stealthy animals like the grey wolves, maybe curious about the tent ? (Soft noise, something was sniffing the tent but really discreet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the forest was frozed (it was -5°C)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now I have two related questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there some risks in those kinds of situation?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I leave the tent in the middle of the night for seeing what's around without getting harmed?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:24:49.460" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:24:49.460" Title="What are the risks when encounter a wild animal when camping?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2017-01-19T23:58:45.927" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14864" CreationDate="2017-01-10T12:53:14.533" Score="10" ViewCount="1127" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new in Camping, and recently I have camped in France, in the Vosges region, in the locality called &quot;Le bonhomme&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well it's not the pure wilderness but it was very unusual for me, as it was nobody around and I was in a dense forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there was wild boars, grey wolves (and maybe boreal lynx)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how to keep away those animals from my camp without setting a fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:24:57.943" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:24:57.943" Title="How to keep away animals from my camp without setting a fire?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14862" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14863" CreationDate="2017-01-10T13:46:52.027" Score="7" ViewCount="3301" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I have camped in France, in the Vosges region, in the locality called &quot;Le bonhomme&quot;. Where there are many wild boars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was in a dense forest, with a freezy weather. (-5°C)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My camp was just a tent planted in the middle of the forest, with nobody around but me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I knew there was many wild boars around my tent during the night as I can ear them scratching the ground (even my tent) and grunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any reason that a wild boars would charge the tent?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:09:30.333" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T20:51:05.963" Title="Is there any reason that a wild boars would charge the tent?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14862" CreationDate="2017-01-10T14:08:14.453" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never heard of wild boars charging a tent.  I really don't imagine that happening, assuming there isn't a human visibly standing in the doorway or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild boars predominantly charge to protect their young.  A person walking around near them could be seen as a threat, but not a fixed object like a tent.  They don't charge trees and large boulders either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T14:08:14.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14861" CreationDate="2017-01-10T15:42:48.937" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen any evidence that animals are kept away by a fire. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10000/any-dangerous-animals-attracted-to-fire&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; discusses that briefly. In general, wild animals in pristine backcountry areas tend to be wary of humans, simply because we're unfamiliar. Some animals, such as squirrels and bears, that live in heavily used areas can become dependent on human food, and they will then become habituated to humans. In areas like Yosemite Valley, these are animals that cruise the campgrounds nightly. They're certainly not staying away from campgrounds because there are fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wolf attacks are extremely rare in Europe. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/2002.Review.wolf.attacks.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;study of wolf attacks&lt;/a&gt; states: &quot;Since wolves recolonised France in the late 1980's after almost a century of absence there have been no documented attacks on humans.&quot; If you get an opportunity to see a wolf in the wild, you could celebrate it as a rare, once-in-a-lifetime experience to see an animal that has been driven almost to extinction. In times and places where wolf populations are less endangered, it appears that many attacks are by rabid wolves. I doubt that there is much you can do to deter a rabid animal. Note that many different animal species carry rabies, e.g., skunks and bats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your most likely problems when dealing with wild animals are hassles, not attacks, and those hassles are likely to revolve around small animals and their attempts to get your food. To avoid those hassles, the most straightforward thing you can do is to take measures to prevent animals from getting access to your food, and to hide the smell of your food. For example, you can keep all your food sealed inside zip-lock bags, and you can hang your food from a tree or put it inside a hard-sided canister or a kevlar sack such as the ursack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T15:42:48.937" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14862" CreationDate="2017-01-10T18:02:00.610" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wild boars&lt;/a&gt; would not charge a tent. They usually only charge when they feel threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Like many other wild animals, &lt;strong&gt;wild boars will only attack if they are cornered or if they feel threatened&lt;/strong&gt;. Female wild boars are very protective of their young and can easily be provoked. Wild boars are strong animals that can run relatively fast. The canines in adult males can inflict serious injuries in case of an attack. Due to their solid body build wild boars are considered to be particularly dangerous when involved in car accidents. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/dos-and-donts/animal-advisories/wild-boars&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Boars&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said it would be in your own interest not to pitch a tent to close to a boar's lair, where there may be young being sheltered. Also avoid camping on or near trails that boars are known to travel on. Boars do not listen to rules of thumb, so be prudent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you see a pig on the trail keep a safe distance especially if piglets are present. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/wild-pigs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Pigs are a Growing Threat to Hikers on the Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T23:26:57.263" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T23:26:57.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14866" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-10T18:09:26.787" Score="6" ViewCount="1096" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between manual lock and auto lock in Dynafit Low Tech Race ski bindings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:29:48.770" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:29:48.770" Title="Manual vs auto lock ski binding" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14866" CreationDate="2017-01-10T18:16:31.963" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://skimo.co/dynafit-low-tech-race-2-bindings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this source&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Auto-locking toe lever puts you in uphill mode upon step-in, no manual lifting necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means is you don't have to lift up the toe tab to lock in your toe manually. Racers should appreciate this because it will save a little bit of time when stepping into the skis. That being said I doubt this will be the difference that wins a race.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People will engage this lock for two reasons. The most common reason and the only official reason to engage the lock is to reduce the chance of the toe binding popping free while skinning. The alternate and &lt;strong&gt;not manufacturer approved&lt;/strong&gt; reason is to increase the DIN of the bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on &lt;a href=&quot;http://skimo.co/dynafit-low-tech-race-2-bindings#review&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Q&amp;amp;A portion&lt;/a&gt; of the site I linked to above it appears as if the auto-locking low tech race bindings can't be used in the &quot;unlocked&quot; mode. &lt;strong&gt;Since I don't have a set of these bindings I can't attest to the veracity of this claim.&lt;/strong&gt; It should be noted that this might be in violation of race rules, and these bindings are designed to allow lateral release with the toe locked per the link above. The relevant quotes are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;this is a grey area since the rules have been changing and the locking mechanism on the LTR is rather unique (it releases laterally at the heel even when auto-locked).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To me, the portion that you quoted means that an auto-lock is fine as long as you don’t need an additional tool in use (so the binding is self-contained/self-sufficient).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note also this bit of &lt;a href=&quot;http://skimo.co/dynafit-low-tech-race-2-bindings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;text in the description&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lateral and forward release mechanisms provide &lt;strong&gt;a modicum&lt;/strong&gt; of injury prevention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While we're on the topic I think it is important to stress that I'm not encouraging people to ski all Dynafit/tech bindings with the toe locked. Unless the binding is specifically designed to be releasable with the toe locked (as it appears to be with the Low Tech Race 2.0 Auto Lock binding), you should assume &quot;locked&quot; means your toe will not release. There have been some tests by third parties, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildsnow.com/bindings/dynafit-backcountry-skiing-bindings/dynafit-binding-tech-skiing-faq/#bindquirks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;like Lou Dawson&lt;/a&gt;, that show a high DIN release with some models of Dynafit bindings with the toe locked. However, it isn't a good idea to use your gear in a manner inconsistent with manufacturer recommendations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-01-10T22:07:33.543" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T22:07:33.543" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14837" CreationDate="2017-01-10T19:49:37.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say this depends much more on how wet the conditions are in general than just whether there's snow on the ground: when winter-camping in Manitoba, we trampled down the snow a bit and started campfires on top of that. It was usually easy to find birch and spruce wood that was reasonably dry (due to the very low temperatures the air is often very dry, and the climate is continental and quite sunny also in winter, and due to low population density it is easy to find suitable dead trees that have been dried by wind + sun). We used a bit of petroleum jelly/vaseline to light the fire. Petroleum jelly also comes handy for protecting the skin, so it is something we anyways had with us - and it was recommended to take enough have some left in case of needing to start a fire in an emergency situation. (Some people prepare cotton wool balls with petroleum jelly, otherwise you can put some on bark or on a bit of toilet paper or something the like.) If you have and the wind isn't too strong (build a windshade, e.g. from snow or use a sleeping pad) you can also light a candle and drip wax on/between your kindling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the whole I found building campfires in Manitoban winter much easier than starting a campfire in winter in Germany (even without snow/at slightly &gt; 0°C) when everything is very wet (also birch is much less common here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thawing the moisture in the wood in addition to evaporating does take more energy, but actually not very much (44 kJ/mol vaporization enthalpy vs. 6 kJ/mol for thawing). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T19:49:37.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3740" CreationDate="2017-01-10T20:57:15.787" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shooting a gun may require practice to improve your accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't require any training for bear spray. But the problem is that it may not work on very low temperature and you cannot use it in high winds because you may risk to hurt yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option may be to use a stun gun of which electric discharge MAY scare the bear away even from further distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wasn't in an environment where polar bears are present, but I know that these methods might work for brown bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T20:57:15.787" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="157" CreationDate="2017-01-10T21:02:52.057" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most successful method for me is using a lot of shea butter. Before and after a physical activity. Before it reduces friction and acts as moisturizing. After it can be used as a treatment cream because it hydrates your skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastActivityDate="2017-01-10T21:02:52.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14861" CreationDate="2017-01-11T08:41:54.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;While @Ben has written a pretty nice answer, I'll tackle the OP's question a little more directly with a couple of concrete suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Animals are attracted by &lt;strong&gt;food&lt;/strong&gt;. Seal your food in an airtight container (the &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WGknAOm4L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rolltop bags&lt;/a&gt; used in water sports are a great option) and hang it off the ground, for example strung over a tree branch. Be sure to also clean your utensils and cooking dishes, and keep these similarly stored.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can also rig up &lt;strong&gt;warning lines&lt;/strong&gt; around your camp, attached to bells, clean tin cans, or other metallic things, as well as bright scraps of fabric. When an animal disturbs the lines, the items on the lines will clatter and ring, and the fabric will flutter, scaring away the animal. Some companies such as Coughlan's sell &lt;a href=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/712Jro%2BI4aL._SL1500_.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Bells&lt;/a&gt;, but you could buy any bell of the &quot;jingle bells&quot; variety and attach it to a warning line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note, however, that these methods may not be entirely effective, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdooroddities.com/wp-content/gallery/bearonarope/bear_on_a_rope_003.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;depending exactly on what sort of animal you are dealing with&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T08:41:54.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14872" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14882" CreationDate="2017-01-11T12:42:05.447" Score="11" ViewCount="1704" Body="&lt;p&gt;All manufacturers that I can find offering adjustable crampons with smallest size 35 EU. I need crampons for a boots 30-32 EU size. Is it possible to find such crampons? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for glacier trekking crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T23:24:03.813" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T23:24:03.813" Title="Can I get crampons for small feet?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14874" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-11T15:59:31.770" Score="8" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently i was forced to take a long nap in a particular set of toilets at the top of a particular peak after missing the last bin down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had no bivvy gear, but the toilets were heated and i was able to sleep reasonably well. I sprawled out my rope on the floor and slept on top of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested to know if there is a particular way of doing this for maximum comfort. Ta&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T23:34:23.443" Title="How best to arrange a rope that you intend to sleep on top of" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="603" CreationDate="2017-01-11T16:38:24.980" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I may have missed it but I would add the following: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some (like 4+) large thick bandages to stop a major bleed. Like 4 X 4 or 4 X 6.  You can get some life threatening cuts. I ski patrolled and we had a guy cut his inner thigh and 4 of us emptied our kits getting the bleed under control. You also have them for longer term case to change out dressings.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z5DI2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z5DI2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pads&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1-2 rolls of athletic tape.  Tape a sprained ankle or knee.  Tape large bandages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like 1/2 single bed sheet that can be used for a sling or other types of bandaging.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Razor - shave head if they gash a head.  Scalp can easily become infected.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enough parachute or like cord to fabricate a stretcher.  You can also make a stretcher from climbing rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T16:38:24.980" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14874" CreationDate="2017-01-11T18:55:28.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My recommendation would be to coil it into a carpet, it's be the easiest and most comfortable, but it wouldn't stay together very well. You could put your tarp over top if you have a rope tarp, that would help keep it nicely coiled a bit, but tossing and turning at night would eventually end you up in the same position as just messily flaking your rope out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start in the centre and coil the rope round and round until you have a mat like so: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPES7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WPES7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make two round coils, or fold your rope at about 5ft long then coil along the length so you have a longer mat to sleep on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option, which will take a lot of time to tie and untie, and no small amount of skill, is to weave a mat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/csS1i.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/csS1i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This option would take hours, but if you're stuck with nothing to do, it could help you pass the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I wouldn't want to sleep on my rope for fear of doing some unseen damage to it, even though it's unlikely you'd do any damage to it on a clean floor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe include in your rope log that the rope was used to catch some Zzz's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-11T23:34:23.443" LastActivityDate="2017-01-11T23:34:23.443" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6574" CreationDate="2017-01-12T00:13:39.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a paper here by &lt;a href=&quot;http://jap.physiology.org/content/93/3/1039.full&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minetti et al&lt;/a&gt;. describing systematic measurements of this kind of thing: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get an estimate, I assumed that you climbed up and down 1000 m twice, so that the gradient was 0.2. I don't know what your body weights are, so I used 66 kg. The result of the estimate is that you burned 1240 calories climbing and 170 calories descending, for a total of about 1400 cal. The estimate is extremely sensitive to the slope. For instance, if I reduce the slope to 0.15, it reduces the result by 250 cal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't take into account the packs you were carrying. There's an app here from &lt;a href=&quot;http://hikingscience.blogspot.com/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking Science&lt;/a&gt; that tries to do that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minetti's numbers seem low by about a factor of 2 compared to other estimates I've seen. There may be a couple of reasons for this. Their subjects were &quot;elite athletes practicing endurance mountain racing,&quot; so they may have been very efficient compared to most people. Also, they weren't carrying packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've written some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/kcals/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;open-source software&lt;/a&gt; that can make this kind of estimate based on a GPS track: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It didn't allow for the fact that we'd climbed over 1000m multiple times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you sure that it didn't? You say it used GPS, so it would have known how much you climbed and descended. If it really didn't even try to take climbing into account, then its estimate is even more silly. 20 km on the flats would be about 800 calories according to the estimates in the Minetti paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T00:48:20.917" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T00:48:20.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14881" CreationDate="2017-01-12T04:02:51.270" Score="7" ViewCount="9824" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a bird feeder in the garden and fail to attract Blue Tits. Which food should we put in there? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2020-06-25T15:12:40.003" Title="Best food to attract Blue Tits" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14880" CreationDate="2017-01-12T04:23:08.350" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the problem might not be the types of food, but the feeder itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past blue tits had a monopoly on the relatively tricky kind of feeders people put out. The tiny birds were uniquely able to feed from upside coconut shells full of fat, or perch on strings of monkey nuts. They were also the bird most likely to steal the cream from milk bottles, that used to be left on the doorstep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However in recent times people has switched to &lt;strong&gt;larger bird feeders that a variety of birds are able to use, most of which are bigger than the blue tit.&lt;/strong&gt; At the same time old fashioned feeders like monkey nuts and coconut shells are no longer used, and milk comes in plastic bottles that are kept in the fridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/8002824/Wrong-kind-of-bird-feeders-leading-to-fall-in-the-number-of-blue-tits.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For foods they like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They eat mixed bird seed and peanuts from hanging feeders, as well as suet pellets and suet balls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britishbirdfood.co.uk/birdguide/bird/blue-tit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attract Blue Tits with Peanuts, Sunflower Hearts and Black Sunflowers and any mixes that contain Peanut Granules or Sunflower Hearts in hanging feeders. They also love Suet which is high energy and a good winter food for these small birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.justaddbirds.co.uk/attracting-blue-tits/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T04:23:08.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14872" CreationDate="2017-01-12T04:50:57.537" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of &lt;strong&gt;Charlet Moser&lt;/strong&gt; walking crampons, and just for fun, I fit them onto my 3 year old's size 25 winter boots (US/CAN size 9C):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRcHK.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NRcHK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had to cheat of course, I removed the bar that attaches the toe and heel peices, then overlapped them. But looking at the crampons, I think they fit a size 32 natively (US/CAN size 1).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There isn't really a market for children's-sized technical crampons. I think the best thing you're going to find on the market is probably a pair of slip-on shoe spikes such as what I have pictured below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rxQVv.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rxQVv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01M6426HA&quot;&gt;These crampons&lt;/a&gt; are made for kids shoes, and fit a size 28-39 (US/CAN 11C - 6.5), and to be honest are probably adequate for anything a kid that size is going to have the ability for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T04:50:57.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14883" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-12T13:41:19.140" Score="9" ViewCount="1667" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for socks for the following conditions and to complement the following footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife frequently spends several hours driving a car (setting car temperature to stay around +20°C) , then switches for 30 min to 2 hours for moderate outdoor walking in weather like -5..-10°C (eg waiting for a child which rides alpine ski). Her current socks (cotton) get wet while in the car because of sweating, so her feet quickly starts freezing once she gets outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It &lt;em&gt;looks like&lt;/em&gt; she needs a socks with (a) strong moisture-eliminating properties (think Coolmax or similar fibers?) that will be also (b) comfortable in car conditions and (c) warm enough in outdoor conditions. Is such approach correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Given her current shoes, what are optimal socks to keep feets warm during a day?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What mix of fibers/materials to look for (olefin: Coolmax/Drymax etc; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_(textile)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;modal&lt;/a&gt;; viscose; bamboo fiber etc);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What % composition of each fiber is most suitable for the problem in hand?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thin or thick socks?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Her current shoes are: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/Salomon-Rodeo-Black-Light-Moorea/dp/B0089FYTVY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salomon Rodeo WP W&lt;/a&gt; (art. number 308922). &lt;a href=&quot;https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMgdtsQD1GkEiYZT0iVUa5cHKB3eQ9rB7mLZdR7EXKCkQv6euHFHknk1Hx0Pqp16g?key=OEFyeTJlQ3FVbHJTRWlyYUZuY0FTelo2c3p0THVn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6155" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:48:55.007" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:49:29.450" Title="Choosing socks for frequent switching cold-warm" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14883" CreationDate="2017-01-12T14:25:06.880" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just change socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always wear different socks when hiking compared to when doing anything else, like driving.  I don't like hiking with thin socks and shoes and I don't like driving with thick socks and boots.  It only takes a couple of minutes to change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T14:25:06.880" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14883" CreationDate="2017-01-12T15:53:54.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem seems to be not in the socks. She should prevent her legs\socks from getting wet. I suggest to take off the shoes while driving. Especially shoes with Thinsulate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If her legs\socks are wet then &lt;strong&gt;it will be cold in any socks&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T15:53:54.917" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14883" CreationDate="2017-01-12T15:57:30.473" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;For any type of cold you want wool socks. I wear &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5006-539/Super-Wool-Hiker-GX-Socks&quot;&gt;one type of socks&lt;/a&gt; all year-round: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NSvTO.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NSvTO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are 74% merino wool, 20% nylon, and 6% Lycra Spandex. They breath very well, and keep you feet warm even when they are wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wear them in my hiking boots in the heat of the summer, and all the way down to -30°C. I have them on my feet right now actually. I've been walking to work in them on the coldest snowiest days of winter (normally I ride my bike, but still wear the same socks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course I have nice boots too, you can't expect a sock to compensate for poor footwear, they're meant to compliment them. When it gets &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; cold, and I'm going to be standing around for a while, then I'll layer these socks inside of a pair of big thick wool socks in thinner boots. But I've never had cold feet wearing these socks in my Sorel Glacier boots (rated to -74°C). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T15:57:30.473" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6063" CreationDate="2017-01-12T15:58:52.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find it good to have a little bit in various places. Splitting it up this way makes it handier and less cumbersome in all places. Here are some examples of fairly non-intrusive areas you can keep some duct tape (and &lt;a href=&quot;http://lifehacker.com/5906016/make-ranger-bands-heavy-duty-rubber-bands-from-bicycle-inner-tubes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ranger bands&lt;/a&gt; which can serve similar purposes):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap two rows of full-width duct tape around a water bottle, such as a 1L Nalgene bottle, until each layer is about 5mm thick. This in itself gives you quite a lot of duct tape to work with, and serves as a handy grip on a bottle. (Ranger bands can also be secured around the same bottle, though it will take some serious stretching!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a hard sheath for (a) cutting tool(s) you can wrap tape (and possibly ranger bands) around that as well, also securing a supply of duct tape and a handy grip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is good to have a way to take some notes, which means carrying a pencil or some writing implement which you can also wrap duct tape around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can take an old card like an ID or credit card, or a piece of cardboard, or simply the tape itself, and wind the duct tape around this flat surface to create a 'duct tape credit card' type of supply. This can be kept with other ID cards, or left elsewhere in the pack to serve as a non-intrusive, relatively light-weight backup supply of duct tape if needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T15:58:52.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14861" CreationDate="2017-01-12T16:09:18.027" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to flith's answer, noise can be a deterrent. The same way fires are prohibited in some areas, making too much noise may also be frowned upon, so this may not be a viable strategy depending on where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilderness survival expert Les Stroud carries a harmonica as a personnel item and to provide some comfort. He has noted a thought, as I and others have as well, that the harmonica noise can deter animals (while also providing personal comfort before bed). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The saying 'they are more scared of you than you are of them' applies here - animals need to exercise caution as a matter of survival, and approaching a strange creature is risky. Approaching a strange creature that appears very large, fierce, fearless, or &lt;strong&gt;making disturbing, loud, piercing sounds&lt;/strong&gt; (like those from a harmonica) may also appear risky and cause more animals to avoid the area accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T16:09:18.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14889" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-12T17:10:17.917" Score="4" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many years ago I read that buffalo hunters would drink the liquid out of buffalo's eyes to gross out the greenhorns and tenderfeet (people new to the West). Attached to this anecdote was a claim that all ocular fluid is potable water. Is this true? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I don't think the source specifically stated this I believe they were talking about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqueous_humour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aqueous humour&lt;/a&gt; in apparently healthy mammals. That is the subset of animals that I'm most interested in but I'd also be interested in learning if this is generally applicable to any animal with big enough eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:38:43.273" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:38:43.273" Title="Is all ocular fluid potable?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;bison&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14889" CreationDate="2017-01-12T17:30:28.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqueous_humour&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; the Aqueous humour is composed of,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Amino acids: transported by ciliary muscles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;98% water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Electrolytes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ascorbic acid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Glutathione&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Immunoglobulins&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is probably true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did find a &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=NgMX__L3q40C&amp;amp;pg=PA1053&amp;amp;lpg=PA1053&amp;amp;dq=ocular%20fluid%20is%20potable%20water.&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=wszy3nVlab&amp;amp;sig=-5JsHcNAye92TVHErOc1elUIYIs&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiIh82ljb3RAhUrxVQKHa6LB0gQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=ocular%20fluid%20is%20potable%20water.&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; that said that cows that die of nitrate poisoning will have elevated levels of nitrate in the fluid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found a song about eating buffalo eyes in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=kc05AQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA147&amp;amp;lpg=PA147&amp;amp;dq=eat%20buffalo%20eyeballs&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ZjM6QrRgkF&amp;amp;sig=S6piLlRcgVpSemsyngQm0_N53eQ&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiQpMKPjr3RAhVHlFQKHSaKCPMQ6AEINDAF#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=eat%20buffalo%20eyeballs&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nebraska historical record&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People will still eat animal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-track-planet/a-guide-to-feasting-on-br_b_4189232.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eyeballs (gross pictures)&lt;/a&gt; today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-12T17:45:35.283" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T17:45:35.283" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4110" CreationDate="2017-01-12T17:51:45.143" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer is nothing new, but as the method is only mentioned in the question itself and the existing extensive answer takes the opposite view, I still think it is worth writing down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We do this very often in our local mountaineering group. It is perfectly save (provided everyone knows how to handle half ropes in a party of three), but can lead to serious hassle due to tangled ropes - ropes love to create very sophisticated knots in no time at all :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you manage to keep the rope tidy, it is slow. A party of three is anyway slower than a party of 2 and when changing leaders you get even slower. So consider whether you really want it and try to minimize changes. In our use case it is usually two experienced climbers with an unexperienced and both of the former ones want to lead. So they swap once in the middle of a multipitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two rules to keep you save:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use some kind of personal anchor sling for self arrest at belay, not the rope with a clove hitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When retying rope ends, both involved parties do that and only that until retied and partner-checked.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One (obvious) rule to keep the rope usable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When exchanging rope ends, take a lot of care to not thread it through/around/... any other strands. This sounds really moronic, but trust me, knots in the middle of the rope happen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Idgorman already explained in the question how to do this, I will write it down in my own words for completeness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climber leading the lower pitch belays both up normally after establishing the belay. Once everyone is secured at the belay, the one climbing both pitches as second gives his rope end to the leader of the next pitch. He then receives one rope end from the previous leader. Now they are set to go again, the rope is already stacked correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T17:51:45.143" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14883" CreationDate="2017-01-12T20:53:58.127" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wicking is not the most important factor here.  You need a material that wicks and also has good insulation when moist / wet.  With boots her feet are going to sweat in the car.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a good article from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacking-socks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cotton: 100% cotton is not recommended as a sock material for hiking.&#xA;  Cotton absorbs sweat, dries slowly, provides no insulation when wet&#xA;  and it can lead to blisters out on the trail. However, cotton is&#xA;  quite comfortable and, when combined with wool or other wicking and&#xA;  insulating fibers, can be a good choice for light hiking in summer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wool: Wool is the most popular natural sock material. It is warm,&#xA;  cushioning and retains warmth when wet. While older ragg wools could&#xA;  be scratchy next to your skin, newer merino wools are itch-free. Most&#xA;  wool socks use blends of wool and synthetic materials for better&#xA;  durability and faster drying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Synthetic insulating materials: Some man-made materials are designed&#xA;  to insulate like wool and wick moisture. These materials (Hollofil®,&#xA;  Thermax®, Thermastat®) trap warmth like wool, but dry more quickly &#xA;  and are more abrasion resistant.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for thick or thin you need to go for what fits with the existing boots.  Thick is warmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the car use vent or both rather than pure heat directed at the floor. Wear a light jacket so she can comfortably drive the car at a lower temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:49:29.450" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:49:29.450" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14893" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14894" CreationDate="2017-01-12T21:43:57.677" Score="6" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would you store via ferrata equipment between season? Temperature, humidity? Is there any additional maintenance required?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T19:33:06.520" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T19:33:53.260" Title="Via ferrata equipment maintenance" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14893" CreationDate="2017-01-12T22:44:02.270" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For storing the &lt;strong&gt;harness&lt;/strong&gt;, REI &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-climbing-harness.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;recommends&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Transport a harness in its supplied bag and always keep it away from sharp objects, ice screws, crampons, direct sunlight, corrosive substances (e.g., battery acids, gasoline, solvents, bleach) or any other potentially damaging objects. If your harness did not come with a bag, a stuff sack can be a cheap and simple solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-strength-of-worn-belay-loops.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black diamond&lt;/a&gt; says about the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never store a wet or damp harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Store all of your gear in a clean and dry environment, out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep harnesses and other sewn climbing equipment away from gnawing rodents and pets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nylon in your harness will weaken with age if not stored free from mildew, UV light, temperature extremes or other harmful agents. If a harness has been properly stored for ten years or more, retire it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With normal use and proper care, the life expectancy of your harness is approximately three years, and can be longer or shorter depending on how frequently you use it and on the conditions of its use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want to store it in place where it would get moldy, so the less humidity the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the &lt;strong&gt;caribineers&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-for-your-carabiners.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not store your carabiners in humid or salty air, with damp equipment or clothing, or near corrosive chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any slings would fall under the recommendations for the harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T19:33:53.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14896" CreationDate="2017-01-12T23:08:32.967" Score="5" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any techniques to cooking food camping in the wild by harnessing the sun's energy (rays)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have all heard of solar panels being used to generate electricity, but are there any techniques that we can use to cook food while camping and thus avoiding the use of a fire to cook with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T23:18:34.563" Title="Are there any techniques to cooking food when camping in the wild by harnessing the energy of the sun?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14895" CreationDate="2017-01-12T23:18:34.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Certainly, what you are looking for is a &lt;strong&gt;backpacking solar stove&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sunflair_solar_oven.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SunFlair Solar Oven&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.soltac.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SOLTAC's CookSack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or if you really wanted to, you could attempt to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/build_a_simple_solar_cooker.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;build one yourself&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-12T23:18:34.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14686" CreationDate="2017-01-13T09:22:00.340" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can also train endurance at the bouldering gym (at least when it's not too crowded) by doing &quot;4x4&quot; exercises:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do 4 relatively easy bouldering problems back-to-back &lt;em&gt;without any pause between them&lt;/em&gt;, ideally ones that are next to each other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rest just enough so you're not out of breath anymore; If you're not out of breath after 4 problems, do harder ones or downclimb them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat 4 times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T09:22:00.340" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14883" CreationDate="2017-01-13T11:25:37.220" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I second the SmartWool - I have one pair of those. My favorite winter riding socks are made by Wigwam - they used to be called Ingenious - they wisk the moisture away from your feet, and keep you warm and dry!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12115" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T11:25:37.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14899" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-13T14:45:30.760" Score="5" ViewCount="584" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dealing with water rescue, it is valuable to have an easily thrown rope nearby. There are specific items made for this, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B002BBK59C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this throw bag with 50 ft. of high visibility MFP rope by Scotty&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can one prepare for rope rescue in advance, in case it is needed, without having purchased a pre-made throw bag?&lt;/strong&gt; The specific context I'm asking in is primarily for ice-fishing, secondarily for boating. This is assuming I have plenty of suitable rope and just need to upgrade some of that to a setup for easy access and throwing, whether that's by manufacturing my own throw bag or using specific techniques with rope to be prepared for rescue at a moment's notice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some key features I'm thinking the throw bag rescue rope setup has, and most are replicable. I'm just not sure &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; to replicate some of the features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Features making throw bags so valuable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conveniently close, but not too intrusively, the rope must be accessible. If oneself or one's peer falls in, a helpful rope will be one that can be quickly thrown to the victim from a rescuer or potentially to a rescuer from a victim.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope must be spooled in such a way that it can be thrown a distance without tangling, catching itself, and limiting the distance or precision of the throw.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There must be loops on both end of the rope, one for thrower and one for catcher, to handle the rope and wrap it around arms or other items to safely tow and reel in a victim.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The thrown-end of the rope must have some weight to it to enable a distant and accurate throw, but the weight also should be relatively soft so to avoid any possibly injuries to a victim already in danger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High visibility of rope is a must, as victims can easily become disoriented and lose track of the direction toward safety. Flotation is not important, and maybe is even not desirable, as the rope may be better off going beneath the surface in case the victim is submerged. A flotation device is not what this throw-bag is for, though if the throw-bag rope could be coupled with a flotation device such as the rescue donuts in boating, all the better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have plenty of high visibility rope, 7mm+ thickness. I can manage to tie loops at both ends of the rope and have some guesses at adding a weight to one end that wouldn't knock someone out if it landed on their head. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm mainly uncertain about is how to accomplish 1 and 2 simultaneously - I've only ever had to do one at a time, but to be prepared for sudden rescue situations on ice or boat, it seems both needs to be accomplished to carry a useful rope on your person. Suggestions of loops used in 3 and weights for 4 would also be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-01-13T17:42:06.760" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T19:36:41.807" Title="How to improvise a rescue 'throw bag' rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14904" CreationDate="2017-01-13T19:09:52.683" Score="1" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;After answering this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14895/are-there-any-techniques-to-cooking-food-when-camping-in-the-wild-by-harnessing&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, I am wondering when it would be useful to cook with a solar stove. It certainly wouldn't make sense in an  area that is constantly overcast or when speed is of the essence but there are probably times when it would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like the idea of not having to carry my fuel if possible so what times/places would it make sense to use a solar stove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-14T02:26:29.317" Title="What situations/locations would be ideal for using a solar stove while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14899" CreationDate="2017-01-13T19:36:41.807" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A line that sinks would be an deadweight if you had to throw again, and hard to find. The throw bag also gives an obvious floating target and flies well (for a difficult throw with a long line current teaching is to clip on a carabiner as the added weight gives more distance and accuracy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throwing a rope to a sunken victim is a recipe for failure especially if there's even the slightest current. A personal flotation device is a good idea if the risk of entering the water unexpectedly is significant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Current teaching (in white water rescue) is also to avoid loops that could twist round body parts so the bag gives something to grab. You'd only restuff a bag if you had plenty of time - for a rethrow, coiling (actually lap coiling)  is recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throw lines also come in two main types - light, flat ropes designed for ease of throwing, and much stronger, heavier ropes which can be used in other rescue and recovery techniques. A light bag of 15 or 20 metres isn't particularly expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to improvise, forget the bag and throw a rope. There may be some margin to tying a sealed, empty plastic bottle on the throwing end, but you'd want to practice this in advance - it might be too light as the bag is weighted by the remaining rope and the bottle isn't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-01-13T19:36:41.807" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14880" CreationDate="2017-01-14T01:42:14.423" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh is correct in his recommendations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, I've found sources indicating that blue tits like certain live animals in their diet, including insects, caterpillars, mealworms and waxworms. These are most important during breeding season, as they're high in protein which is helpful for hatchlings and young birds. Since the mother feeds the young before herself, she'll often choose those first, then return to the feeders for the larger seeds, suets and nuts which are her staple diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do choose to feed mealworms, it's very important to make sure they're fresh. Any dead or discoloured ones must not be used as they can cause problems such as salmonella poisoning. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/read-and-learn/helping-birds/feeding/whatfood/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although peanuts are mentioned at every source I found, there are some very important things to know before feeding them. It's essential to choose both the right peanuts, and the proper feeding method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peanuts are rich in fat and are popular with tits, greenfinches, house sparrows, nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers and siskins. Crushed or grated nuts attract robins, dunnocks and even wrens. Nuthatches and coal tits may hoard peanuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Salted or dry roasted peanuts should not be used. Peanuts can be high in a natural toxin, which can kill birds, so buy from a reputable dealer, to guarantee freedom from aflatoxin.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/read-and-learn/helping-birds/feeding/whatfood/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also extremely important to crush peanuts. More than one source said that mother birds may grab peanuts whole and try to stuff them down the throats of their young, choking them in the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word of warning- ensure peanuts cannot be taken whole during the nesting season as adults may try to feed them to their small youngsters with potentially tragic results.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.billoddiesbirdfood.co.uk/bill-oddies-blue-tit/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a recommended method for feeding peanuts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put whole peanuts in a good quality metal mesh feeder with a maximum port size of 6mm. This ensures only small particles are taken, particularly important during the breeding season preventing naïve adults from forcing whole peanuts into their chick’s throats. Do not use nylon nets as these can tangle in the birds’ feet. Scatter a few peanuts for our ground feeding friends.&#xA;When: Keep the feeder topped up year round.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.simonkingwildlife.com/page/bird-feeding-guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reallywildbirdfood.co.uk/our-farm/tips-feeding-garden-birds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a fun fact!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Great tits change the shape of their beaks according to the feeding season? In summer, great tits prefer a soft, insect-based diet – which doesn't require much chewing – but in the winter, when their diet becomes predominately seed-based, their bills become thicker, shorter and stronger to cope with cracking the seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-14T01:42:14.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14900" CreationDate="2017-01-14T02:26:29.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems to be that the only real requirement for solar cooking is sunshine and the more the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few disadvantage to cooking with solar energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Disadvantages include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•weight, bulk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•weather dependent&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•backpack versions tend to be very slow to cook (hour plus)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•can't cook at night&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•&lt;strong&gt;must cook in the open away from shade&lt;/strong&gt; (near mountains, under trees, in depressions, by large hikers, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•improper use or accidents can result in serious eye damage or fire - always use eye UV protection - &lt;a href=&quot;http://zenstoves.net/Solar.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar Cookers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When using a solar cooker, it is best to use a black pot with a lid. A thinner one is better than a thick one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dark Colored Solar Cooking Pots are an important part of the solar cooking process. It is through the absorption of the suns rays that the dark colors of your cooking pots really enhance the overall solar cooking process and its results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...By using dark colored, thin cookware, the heat in the solar oven transfers more quickly to the food, thus enabling one to cook quite near as efficiently as with a traditional stove/oven range - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_pots.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar Cooker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems altitude does not stop one from using a solar cooker as long as there is sunshine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Solar Trekkers Cooker&lt;/em&gt; fits in a backpack and has been used at base camp on Mt Everest. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_Trekkers_Cooker&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; has a video of Allart Ligtenberg cooking on Everest!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xUDpq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xUDpq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Allart melting snow near Trashi Lapcha pass, Nepal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is Allart melting snow near Trashi Lapcha pass, Nepal&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cooking times in good condition this article (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allfreecrafts.com/gardening/garden-projects/solar-cooker/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make a Solar Cooker and Learn Basic Solar Cooking&lt;/a&gt;), such as pasta, meat, vegetables, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can even experiment in your backyard cooking a chicken as seen in this video:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://%20Home%20made%20solar%20oven%20cooks%20chicken.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Home made solar oven cooks chicken (YouTube).&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All you need is sun and no rain.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-14T02:26:29.317" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11" CreationDate="2017-01-14T09:12:23.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They say a picture is worth thousand words:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z3dCS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z3dCS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally (except activities like drytooling /ice climbing) when standing upright and holding the axe you should have the end of it in middle of the length of your calf.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nGTmh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nGTmh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://8a.pl/8academy/jak-wybrac-czekan-turystyczny-dobor-dlugosci/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Axe buying guide (Polish)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12121" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T00:41:22.530" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T00:41:22.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14906" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-15T04:13:52.270" Score="11" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a lot of knives that are 20-30 years old, and I've never spent more than $100 on any knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have there been appreciable advances in the steels or treatments applied to mainstream knives over this period?  I.e., are there knives available today under $100 that would perform noticeably better than anything I might have bought for that price a generation ago?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that a lot of differences in blades amount to tradeoffs between durability, flexibility, corrosion resistance, etc.  So an &quot;advance&quot; would be something like, &quot;significantly better in at least one measure without sacrificing performance in any other measure.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T18:29:40.143" Title="Have mainstream knife steels improved in the last generation?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14906" CreationDate="2017-01-15T15:49:45.777" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basic materials have not changed that I am aware of.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basics are carbon steel and stainless steel. All steel has carbon but they seem to use carbon steel to designate it is not stainless steel. Stainless steel resists corrosion (rust). Low carbon is softer (less brittle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alloys are pretty standard. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.knifecenter.com/info/knife-blade-materials&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;knife-blade-materials&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number of knives over $100 has increased.  Benchmade has very few knifes that&#xA;retail for less than $100.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your knives are sharp they should perform like current knifes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not steel but ceramics are getting more popular. They hold an edge but are brittle. Limited number of ceramic pocket knives. Mainly used in the kitchen for vegetables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CCB    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-15T20:09:43.420" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T20:09:43.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14906" CreationDate="2017-01-15T18:37:26.210" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is debatable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the last few decades there have certainly been a steady stream of new steels introduced into knifemaking, however there are very few steels which are designed specifically for this job and most have some other primary industrial purpose, knifemakers just have to evaluate which of the steels available is most appropriate for the job. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth mentioning that simple carbon steels are more than adequate for most knives and the quality of design and manufacture is much more important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that stainless steels &lt;em&gt;tend&lt;/em&gt; to be less effective knife steels, with the obvious exception that they are more corrosion resistant, so in this respect there is more scope for improvement. In particular stainless steels tend to be more difficult to sharpen for a given hardness which is why chisels etc tend to be plain carbon steel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Historically the single biggest improvement was the advent of industrial mass production of steel as opposed to the various carburisation/decarburisation batch processes which were used before which depended greatly on the quality of the ore used and the skill of the smelter. Now you can buy a  good quality tool steel with known and consistent properties off the shelf. So a lot of the more exotic processes like folding and pattern welding are more about getting a consistent product from variable raw materials than having much performance benefit purely in themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also undoubtedly a certain amount of marketing hype and snake-oil in some of the super steels and expensive production knives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the fact that in certain sectors of the market achieving very high hardness is desirable from a marketing perspective as blades stay sharp longer, even if they are very difficult to sharpen and for inexperienced users edge retention will be seen as plus while they might blame themselves for an inability to sharpen them effectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience simple carbon steels are as good as anything as long as they are properly heat treated  and designed although most bulk manufacturers tend to prefer stainless for cosmetic reasons. I would also say that once you get to the mid-range of the knife market it is often better to get a knife from a small artisan maker as you are then at least paying for a bit of craftsmanship and individuality. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different knife makers and enthusiasts will have their own personal preferences for steels and heat treatments and in real terms it is quite difficult to get a 100% objective assessment of whether one steel is &lt;em&gt;better&lt;/em&gt; than another. Often it is a case of balancing various conflicting requirements against each other and many of the newer commercial steel grades are designed to get a very specific set of performance requirements for a particular application. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T18:29:40.143" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T18:29:40.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14909" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14910" CreationDate="2017-01-15T20:14:41.790" Score="8" ViewCount="352" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Massachusetts, which is part of New England, in the Northeast section of the United States. We have a large number of birds I identify as crows, and only crows. I've heard of ravens, but thought they were mainly found in Europe and other countries in that region of the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend recently told me that, although there are other species of crows, those I see most frequently are probably called the American Crow. She also said the Common Raven, which looks similar to that crow, lives year-round in a large portion of the United States, including New England.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that I know ravens exist here, I'd like to know if I've seen them, or are fortunate enough to have some living in my yard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of physical characteristics, behavior, diet, or other factors, how can I tell the difference between the American Crow, and the Common Raven that lives in America? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:29:04.050" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:29:04.050" Title="How can I tell the difference between an American Crow, and a Common Raven that lives in America?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;crows&gt;&lt;ravens&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14909" CreationDate="2017-01-15T20:32:53.800" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this article, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-raven-crow&quot;&gt;(How to Tell a Raven From a Crow)&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups. Also, watch the bird’s tail as it flies overhead. The crow’s tail feathers are basically the same length, so when the bird spreads its tail, it opens like a fan. Ravens, however, have longer middle feathers in their tails, so their tail appears wedge-shaped when open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/similar-species-crows-and-ravens/&quot;&gt;(Similar Species: Crows and Ravens)&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One of the best ways to tell crows and ravens apart is by their calls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/similar-species-crows-and-ravens/&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt; you can find recordings of what each sounds like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-16T16:54:07.173" LastActivityDate="2017-01-16T16:54:07.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7080" CreationDate="2017-01-15T21:30:40.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yup works fine,  not as effective without the wax pocket...but way faster than a skin slog...maybe 70% of a great wax job on classic skies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skins are not damaged by kick wax....I used skins and nordic skies for a decade back in the eighties...no problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just use the right temp kick wax and apply exactly like a nordic job....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downhill is not affected unless your wax job starts ti ice....the scrape off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12123" LastActivityDate="2017-01-15T21:30:40.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2017-01-16T19:10:47.520" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal favorite is the big bore &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000X5YONQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blowgun&lt;/a&gt; by Cold Steel ($33.00 on amazon) I have been able to take frogs, rabbits, and even wild hogs with it. It is also accurate up to 45m but I would recommend 25 to 30 meters for any thing larger than a fat squirrel. If you are a DIYselfer you could also make your own that is parallel to the Cold Steel Blowgun with either 5' of 1/2 inch pvc or 5' of1/2 inch copper pipe. Another pro of the big bore blowgun though is that it can be a very good walking stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12131" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T00:14:43.163" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T00:14:43.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14909" CreationDate="2017-01-16T21:31:56.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest difference between ravens and crows is that ravens average 2 feet long with a 4 ft wingspan, while crows are about 1.5 ft long with a wingspan of 3 feet. These numbers can vary a bit regionally and by individual, but for a casual birder, the size difference along is enough to differentiate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ravens also have a distinctly deeper call, more like a croak. They are rarely seen in large flocks. I've personally only seen them in more than ones and twos around carrion, where they all want to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-01-16T21:31:56.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14914" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14934" CreationDate="2017-01-16T22:00:44.713" Score="5" ViewCount="10398" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammut.ch/INT/en/B2C-Kategorie/Men/Jackets-and-Vests-Men/Hardshell-Jackets-Men/Bormio-HS-Hooded-Jacket-Men/p/1010-18850-0121&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut jacket&lt;/a&gt; that's made with their DRYtech 2-layer material. It's been used quite a bit but still appears to have a lot of life left in it. However it's acquired a weird smell, not unlike fried onions, potentially from being in a generally damp / humid house and close to my kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've washed it in line with the care instructions and this helped a little but not enough. I'm reluctant to start experimenting as I don't want to ruin the material's waterproofing. I've considered leaving it in my car for a few days next time we get -20C weather but I'm not sure how much this will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I safely eliminate odours from favourite jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: I have also sent a question to Mammut and will post any answer they provide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastEditorUserId="6606" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T16:13:51.043" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T17:08:50.643" Title="Deodorising rain jacket without ruining waterproofing" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10989" CreationDate="2017-01-17T01:00:11.073" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a question of the right tool for the job.  For diving in temperatures below 14 degrees Celcius,  a drysuit is best.  When diving below 7 degrees a wetsuit really isn't the right tool for the job and is dangerous as you'll be extremely cold and will suffer on the surface.  Even diving a 7mm wetsuit with a shortie over the top still isn't sufficient when compared with a drysuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A drysuit also gives you additional or backup buoyancy should your BCD fail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when the surface temperature is 25 degrees,  a drysuit is useful as it's a lot colder at depth or when submerged for a long time.   You will vary your drysuit undergarments depending on the temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dives in very cold water the less you're exposed to the water the better.  For the same thickness,  dry gloves keep your hands much warmer than wet gloves as there's no liquid to conduct heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you absolutely must dive in 5 degree water in a wetsuit,  it's vital that it's a semi-dry where your wrists,  ankles and all zips are sealed to avoid flushing of cold water which could cause the 'gasp' reflex.   You must also make sure that you can get into a warm location to change and get out of the wetsuit as soon as possible after the dive.  You do not want to be exposed to wind chill in a wet wetsuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting cold is at best uncomfortable,  it shortens your dive,  it is really unpleasant,  and can put you at great risk,  not least of giving up diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For UK winter diving (typically 5 to 7 degrees),  virtually everybody dives with a drysuit for those reasons.  I dive with drygloves and a heated vest which I can thoroughly recommend especially if you're doing long duration dives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T01:00:11.073" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14917" CreationDate="2017-01-17T01:29:02.137" Score="98" ViewCount="12883" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes while navigating with map and compass, the advice is to aim off i.e. to aim either to the left or right of the intended destination, as opposed to straight for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why and when would one want to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T02:48:26.130" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T22:15:06.427" Title="Why would one aim off when navigating with a map and compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="29" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14916" CreationDate="2017-01-17T01:29:02.137" Score="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason is that you could miss your destination and hit a trail and know that you are almost there, but not know which way to turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/398uh.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/398uh.png&quot; alt=&quot;diagram of aiming off&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you were to go straight for the destination, and because of Murphy or errors or whatever and you ended up at either Point A or Point B, &lt;strong&gt;you wouldn't be certain of which way to turn to reach the trail intersection&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If on the other hand you had gone for Point B in the first place, &lt;strong&gt;you would know that when you got there, you needed to turn left&lt;/strong&gt;. That is why one would aim off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works well when you are going for  a single point on a well defined line like a trail or stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The error is exaggerated for artistic purposes, but if you were to go for the destination straight off, your margin on either side is how far you would be able to see the destination from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, while aiming for Point B, so long as one doesn't end up to the left of the destination, one is fine, and that is a much wider margin or error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T22:15:06.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14916" CreationDate="2017-01-17T09:04:35.220" Score="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the case described by Charlie (and to show that I also can make drawings in Paint), there is the case where you want a stopping line to know when you are going too far. This is mainly useful when you are aiming for the end of a feature. The drawing below is with a river bend that you try to reach, but the same principle works when aiming for the end of a trail, the end of a fence, a turn in a path etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AP1IZ.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AP1IZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Situation sketch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the shortest way is the green line. But what happens if you deviate slightly from it to the left or the right? To the right is not an issue, but if you unknowingly deviate to the left you will end up in the situation of the red line. You should be more or less at your destination, but have no idea if you are too far or should continue a bit further. You are lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid ending up lost, you will usually, on purpose, aim a bit to the right and follow the yellow line. It is a bit longer than the optimal green line, but you are sure that you will end up at the river. And once you hit the river you know that you should follow it a little to the left to end up at your destination. It is a bit longer than the green line, but at least you know that you will not end up in the hopeless case of the red line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T15:37:23.127" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T15:37:23.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14921" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14923" CreationDate="2017-01-17T11:28:36.353" Score="6" ViewCount="1322" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw the following -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dTIZy.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dTIZy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Filson hats&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Filson Hats&lt;/em&gt;: Navy USA-Made 60198 NA Merino Wool Cuff Water-Resistant Cap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The  cap/hat is described as &lt;a href=&quot;http://workingperson.com/filson-hat-navy-60198-na-merino-wool-cuff-cap.html&quot;&gt;Filson hat&lt;/a&gt;. Is this a brand-name or the type of hat ? If it's not the hat/cap type, what are such caps/hats called ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11955" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T12:45:51.330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T02:41:57.793" Title="What are Filson hats?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14921" CreationDate="2017-01-17T11:53:07.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes FILSON is a company.  That is commonly called a stocking cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is kind of expensive for cap.  But it is a nice cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T13:51:06.180" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T13:51:06.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14921" CreationDate="2017-01-17T12:26:23.273" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.filson.com/men/hats-and-caps.html&quot;&gt;Filson&lt;/a&gt; (C.C. Filson Co.) is a company that sells many types of outdoor hats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The particular style of hat you pictured in your question goes by several different names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here in Canada it is known as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toque&quot;&gt;toque&lt;/a&gt; or tuque. Even though other terms are in existence up here, the only phrase I really seem to hear up here is toque. Except for Canada the term primarily used for this hat is a &lt;em&gt;knit cap&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap&quot;&gt;Knit cap&lt;/a&gt; originally of wool is designed to provide warmth in cold weather. Typically, the knit cap is of simple, tapering constructions, though many variants exist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Filson Company uses the term &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.filson.com/men/hats-and-caps.html&quot;&gt;Wool Cuff Cap&lt;/a&gt; for this particular knit cap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T17:17:24.060" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T17:17:24.060" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14909" CreationDate="2017-01-17T12:47:10.607" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ravens spend a lot of time aloft, and fly steadily and sometimes quite high (also solo or in loose pairs most of the time). They call infrequently &quot;cronk&quot; or &quot;cronk cronk&quot; while airborne. They seem to need a good reason to take off but also to land. When they're perched (which they like to do from a good vantage point), a good look can show shaggy feathers on the throat. Crows are more likely to spend time on the ground, and change course more often, as well as being more willing to take flight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T12:47:10.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14925" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-17T12:53:19.867" Score="11" ViewCount="2560" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking in winter near urban areas, it’s difficult to avoid getting salty snow/slush on one’s boots.  Of course, the first rule is to rinse it off immediately, and not to let it soak in.  But sometimes one doesn’t do that (other priorities intervening, or plain old procrastination, …) and so one ends up a few days/weeks later with soaked-in salt on the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;At this stage, what should I do next?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the advice I can find online (mainly: wipe with a vinegar solution) seems to be for just immediate/superficial cleaning — I have tried it, and it had very little apparent effect.  Even if part of the answer is that I’ve irreversibly damaged the boots, I’d still like to know how to minimise/mitigate the damage going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current boots (which are in this state now) are nubuck, but I’d be interested in answers for other common materials as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8043" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T21:54:08.270" Title="How to clean soaked-in winter salt off boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14925" CreationDate="2017-01-17T13:18:15.980" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put them on a go for a hike where it is wet or snowy and not salty. The post &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920/how-much-sea-water-can-i-safely-drink&quot;&gt;How much sea water can I safely drink?&lt;/a&gt; has a bunch of words about salt and water in a body. Leather is skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same principals apply.  You wore boots in a heavy salt environment and the salt equalized into your boots.  If you wear them in a wet low salt environment, the salt will equalize out of the boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed at in the comment by @KenGraham, you should use care and dry they boots slowly, you will also want to treat the leather afterwards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9212/&quot;&gt;Restoring water repellency in leather hiking boots&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8733&quot;&gt;Impregnation and waxing full leather shoes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T14:22:21.293" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14925" CreationDate="2017-01-17T14:06:26.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clean and condition.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-hiking-boots.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good old saddle soap is good.  Then lots of boot conditioner as the salt will dry them out.  Then water proofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T17:54:09.580" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T17:54:09.580" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14928" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14929" CreationDate="2017-01-17T14:14:25.717" Score="7" ViewCount="194" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ferrata harnesses (FH) can be probably &lt;em&gt;safely used also for climbing&lt;/em&gt;, as stated in another &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14851/can-i-re-use-a-via-ferrata-carabiner-harness-for-climbing&quot;&gt;post&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I am not sure how to use the reverso with FH.&#xA;This is because  in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://besthiking.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/71NKyr2jQ7L._SL1000_.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;usual FH&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;the belay loop is rotated by 90 degrees, &#xA;w.r.t. the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/climbing-harness/_jcr_content/images/image0.img.jpg/Anatomy%20of%20a%20climbing%20harness.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;common climbing harness&lt;/a&gt; (CCH).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This will make the reverso slightly flip accordingly &#xA;and therefore&#xA; &lt;em&gt;not &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn.outdoorgearlab.com/photos/13/84/259932_26586_XL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;facing the wall&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, &#xA;but rather the side of the person belaying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if this is really a safety issue and if there is a technique to prevent it (like for instance using a &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.karstendelap.com/2012/10/20/the-locking-quick-draw/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;locking-quick-draw&lt;/a&gt;, that would allow for more flexibility and therefore also for a reasonable angle w.r.t the wall - ~90 degrees)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12083" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T14:16:53.783" Title="How to safely use reverso with ferrata harness?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14928" CreationDate="2017-01-17T16:09:06.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've not done any formal testing and am hesitant to recommend such an arrangement, however over the past 15 years climbing I have in many situations either used or seen others use such harnesses and had no concerns around how belay devices sit.  I've never seen any issue in this arrangement and can't imagine it, you may just want to lock off slightly more to one side rather than directly between your legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In saying this, before trusting this in a critical system test it in a safe manner and ensure you are comfortable, or have a backup set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastEditorUserId="3559" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T14:16:53.783" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T14:16:53.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14914" CreationDate="2017-01-17T16:14:34.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before getting into the main body of my answer, it should be noted that according to the company's guidelines a water-repellent product (DWR) should be reapplied &quot;&lt;strong&gt;about every 5th washing cycle&lt;/strong&gt;.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammut.ch/CA/en_CA/know-how/apparel/handling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Refreshing the Durable Water Repellency (DWR)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The DWR of water-repellent products can be re-energized after washing by giving them a heat treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To this end, tumble-dry your product for approx. 5 minutes or iron it carefully. When ironing a product, lay a cloth between the iron and the garment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With this refreshment of the DWR, it is sufficient to re-impregnate your product only about every 5th washing cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some tips that might be of help to you in getting rid of those unpleasant smells in outdoor clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Odor in workout clothing is most commonly caused by a buildup of sweat and bacteria from your body.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;How you store your workout clothes can also lead to additional odors—for example, leaving sweaty clothes in a closed up gym bag, locker, or hamper.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some general tips: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Turn clothes inside out before washing (since the sweat, oils, and bacteria from your body accumulate on the inside of the clothes). (Mammut recommends this step also)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Always use the sniff test before putting the garment into the dryer,&quot; Zeitler says. (You don't want to &quot;cook&quot; the smells in.) Mammut recommends &quot;tumble-dry your product for approx. 5 minutes or iron it carefully.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wash clothes as soon as possible after wearing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If possible, let sweaty clothes air out immediately rather than stuffing them into a plastic bag or hamper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't use more detergent than recommended or overstuff the machine, both of which make it harder for clothes to rinse clean. (In my tests, every single method did worse if I crammed too many items into one load.) - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.health.com/home/workout-clothes-smell&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Absolute Best Way to Get the Stink Out of Workout Clothes&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does Mammut washing instructions tell us:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammut.ch/CA/en_CA/know-how/apparel/handling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always read the care label before washing your clothes!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Close all zips and velcro fasteners and then turn the garment inside out. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wash with liquid detergent and rinse thoroughly.(Do not use washing powder since this blocks the pores of the membrane). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leave the garment to dry completely.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All said and done Mummut says you &lt;strong&gt;should not washing powders or fabric softeners&lt;/strong&gt;. It seems to me you could try this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.health.com/home/workout-clothes-smell&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;product&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Nathan Sport-Wash&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J6CrV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J6CrV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nathan Sport-Wash&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before using any new product on clothes please read the particular labels to see if the ingredients of this detergent are safe to use. If in doubt, one could email the manufacturer at Mammut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T16:14:34.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14931" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14933" CreationDate="2017-01-17T16:27:27.553" Score="5" ViewCount="727" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you are in a sailboat, and you start getting gusts and choppy water, how do you describe what's happening to your boat?  Can you say that it starts to &quot;flounder,&quot; or is there a better word?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8000" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T03:15:18.183" Title="What do you call it when a sailboat starts to have trouble?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-01-17T19:22:40.107" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14931" CreationDate="2017-01-17T16:46:25.303" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up around sailboats and live on an island. I have always heard the word &amp;quot;foundering&amp;quot; used to describe a boat taking on water and sinking. I have heard the word &amp;quot;flounder&amp;quot; used in connection with boats in less serious trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A discussion of the usages can be found in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/top-10-commonly-confused-words-vol-1/flounder-founder&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merriam-Webster&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When something founders, it loses its foundation. (Founder and foundation have the same root.)&#xA;To founder is to collapse, sink, or fail.&#xA;One source of confusion here is that the meaning of the verb flounder is similar: to flounder is to struggle to move or get one's footing, or to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually. People can flounder, but ships founder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more &amp;quot;colloquial&amp;quot; discussion of the difference can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/flounder-founder/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To flounder is to struggle, but to founder is to sink like a stone and fail. Both are fun as nouns, not so fun as verbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A flounder is a fish, but as a verb, it means to blunder about, to be in serious trouble. In the following examples, something is struggling but hasn't completely failed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He set out for it, limping, while the sharp gravel rolled under his bleeding feet as he floundered up the climbing trail. (Harold Bindloss)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a war that has floundered for nine years without a rational strategy and may endure for another decade. (Sydney Morning Herald)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as he turned around that floundering business, he suggests, so too could he reverse the country's sagging fortunes as its chief executive. (Washington Post)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A founder is someone who starts something, but as a verb, founder literally means &amp;quot;to sink.&amp;quot; Figuratively, it's &amp;quot;to collapse or fail completely.&amp;quot; Here are some examples of sinking and failing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pratt resisted the impulse of most Mormons to head back to the foundering ship. (Salt Lake Tribune)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Xinhua, in an English-language commentary, said China could not stand by while its largest trading partner foundered. (Reuters)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet negotiations over new gas contracts have foundered. (Economist)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flounder and founder are happy little nouns that don't get mixed up. But it all falls apart when they're verbs — if you're floundering, you're struggling. If you're foundering, you're failing completely. You're sunk! You can't even hold onto the letter l.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question also got some attention in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/368783/does-flounder-work-for-sailboats&quot;&gt;English Language &amp;amp; Usage&lt;/a&gt; stack,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T03:15:18.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14931" CreationDate="2017-01-17T16:55:34.050" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you are better off describing the conditions.  Like choppy and or gusty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat could heel / lean, rock, or even capsize.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is more the captain and crew that are floundering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Past flounder is distress.  Crew and or boat need help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T16:58:03.733" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T16:58:03.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14914" CreationDate="2017-01-17T17:08:50.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend you try &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gearaid.com/products/mirazyme&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gear Aid MiraZyme&lt;/a&gt;.  It is formulated specifically to remove odors and it is safe for your waterproofing.  It does not require you to wash your garmet harshly; instead you dip your garment in a dilute solution and leave it to air dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T17:08:50.643" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14931" CreationDate="2017-01-17T17:28:34.883" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure if this is a nautical term, and sure this won't be your favorite, but I have always heard the term &quot;flagging&quot; to indicate that someone or something has lost thrust or energy. If the forward progress of your sailboat slows down due to lack of wind, sail, or other means of propulsion, as in hitting a head wind or choppy seas, you and/or your boat could be said to be &quot;flagging&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9189" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T17:28:34.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14931" CreationDate="2017-01-17T19:21:05.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you gets gusts and choppy water, that's what we call &quot;sailing&quot;.  It happens. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the gusts get severe, you &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reef&lt;/a&gt; the sails, or drop the sails altogether.  Note that this is still within the normal parameters of sailing.  Any competent sailor should be able to deal with this, until you get to gusts so severe that a person would have problems standing upright in the wind, until something breaks, or until your boat ends up somewhere dangerous (such as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_shore&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lee shore&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boat starts to take on water and sink though, the word is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dictionary.com/browse/founder&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;founder&lt;/a&gt;.  You were nearly there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayday&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mayday&lt;/a&gt; is a radio code indicating that you are in immediate lifethreatening danger. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-pan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pan-pan&lt;/a&gt; is a similar code indicating that there is an emergency but you are not in immediate danger.  Neither is something you'd use as a word to describe the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are you actually looking for though?  If you're trying to throw words at a piece of writing to make it sound authentic, I &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;strongly&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; suggest you don't.  Unless you know what you're talking about, you're almost guaranteed to write something ridiculous, and there are enough people with basic knowledge of sailing to call you on it.  If you particularly need expert guidance on how to make it sound authentic, write normally without using jargon, and then call in a friendly expert to advise you on turning it into something which actually works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T19:21:05.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14925" CreationDate="2017-01-17T21:28:20.720" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It think the best way to approach this subject is &lt;strong&gt;three fold&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleaning the Shoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preventing Further Damage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a waterproofing product&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are three steps to clean your boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cleaning the Shoes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 Use vinegar and water.&lt;/strong&gt; A great DIY product for removing salt stains from leather shoes is a solution of water and vinegar.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Simply mix two parts water with one part vinegar in a small jar. Dip a clean, soft rag into the vinegar solution and use it to gently wipe away any salt from the surface of the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Remove the vinegar solution with a water-soaked cloth, then dry with a clean towel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2 Use saddle soap.&lt;/strong&gt; Saddle soap is a great product for cleaning leather shoes and is often made from 100% natural ingredients. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Apply a small amount of saddle soap to a moist sponge and work it into the leather using small circular motions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Use a clean, dry cloth to buff the shoes and remove any excess saddle soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•If you're interested in making your own saddle soap at home, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Saddle-Soap&quot;&gt;this article.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3 Use a salt-stain remover.&lt;/strong&gt; Many shoe and shoe-repair shops sell small bottle of chemical salt-stain removers. These are very effective and last through multiple applications. Use according to the instructions on the label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Preventing Further Damage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 Allow the shoes to dry.&lt;/strong&gt; If your shoes are wet as well as salt-stained, it's important to let them dry out completely in order to avoid permanent damage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;• Place the boots in a warm dry space, away from any direct heat sources, such as a radiator or fireplaces. Rapidly drying the shoes can cause more damage than the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;• Remove any unattached insoles and stuff the shoes with newspaper -- this will speed up the drying process and help the shoes to hold their shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;• Replace the damp newspaper with dry newspaper every couple of hours for even faster drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2 Condition the leather.&lt;/strong&gt; Salt can really dry out leather, so it's important to condition your shoes well after salt exposure to replace any lost moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Buff a little store-bought leather conditioner or lotion into the shoes. This will soften the leather, helping to reverse the effects of the salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•If you don't have any leather conditioner handy, a couple of drops of olive oil will do nicely. Rub a light layer of olive oil onto the surface of the shoes with a soft cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Repeat the process every few hours until the leather doesn't seem to be absorbing any more oil. Buff away any excess with a dry cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3 Use a waterproofing product.&lt;/strong&gt; Buy a special waterproofing product designed especially for leather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•This will help to protect your shoes against both road salt and water damage. Water actually draws salt out of the leather itself, so it can be just as bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•In fact, you should apply this product to any new leather shoes you buy to prevent any damage from occurring in the first place. -  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Road-Salt-off-Leather-Shoes&quot;&gt;How to Clean Road Salt off Leather Shoes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-17T21:54:08.270" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T21:54:08.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14921" CreationDate="2017-01-17T21:30:24.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would comment, but I need reputation for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is a 'Touque'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/thousands-vote-on-correct-spelling-of-canadian-knit-cap-1.2457737&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the proper spelling&lt;/a&gt;. A significant amount of untrustworthy votes on CBC'S webpoll agree on the spelling of touque. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really, just spell it however you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States it's also commonly called a &quot;beanie&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12144" LastEditorUserId="12144" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T02:41:57.793" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T02:41:57.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2017-01-17T22:05:35.397" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option would be a throwing stick.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In general a throwing stick is a stout stick about the length of your forearm.  It's one of the most basic forms of hunting weapons.  They're easily found in wooded areas and easy to use.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your requirements: &#xA;&lt;br/&gt;Effective - People have been hunting with them for thousands of years.  The Aboriginal Australians have even developed them into sticks that return to the thrower.&#xA;&lt;br/&gt;Lightweight - A stick on the ground weighs nothing until you pick it up. If you choose to carry one, you can select the weight that is best for you.&#xA;&lt;br/&gt;Not ammo dependent - It's a stick. You can re-use it as long as you don't lose it.&#xA;&lt;br/&gt;Fast - Keep it handy on your belt or reachable in your pack, then when you see your prey, throw it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like any other weapon, they require a bit of skill and practice to use them effectively. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-01-17T22:05:35.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14830" CreationDate="2017-01-17T23:30:56.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vertical oriented V-threads (A-threads) are significantly stronger than horizontally aligned V-threads. The following numbers should not be taken at face value: Different test configurations were performed, but it is not clearly stated which are used to come up with these numbers.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Tests by Beverly and Attaway showed an increase in mean failure load of 27% with standard deviation of 12%. Both are strong enough for abseiling (mean 11.3kN and 14.4kN, minimum 5.2kN and 10.9kN) but not suited as single anchor point for a belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Experiment Description&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were several experiments performed regarding rebored ice screws and ice screw angle (in case you wonder: positive angle is teeth pointing upwards). The here relevant experiments were sever slow pull tests on V- and A-threads. For reproducibility and ease of access, the tests were performed on lake ice (few tests on waterfall ice were done as well, but only in one configuration).&#xA;Three to seven measurements per configuration were performed and the ice area included by the thread measured for each. The configuration varied not only by being horizontal or vertical, but also by the orientation of the thread. These variations were unfortunately not addressed in the discussion of the results. I can only assume, that they could not determine any significant differences. All these configuration seem to be evaluated to compare A- and V-threads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general they found an expected, but nevertheless nice relation between the area surrounded by the thread (in the following just area) and failure load. As mentioned the comparison of V- to A-threads suffers from varying configurations and potential skewing by different mean areas. It can be assumed that these factors were simply failed to disclose, but were taken into account.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following values (all units kN) were obtained:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;[kN]      V-thread A-thread&#xA;mean:     11.3     14.4  &#xA;std err:   0.8      0.7  &#xA;min:       5.2     10.9  &#xA;max:      16.8     17.5  &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that A-threads are about a forth stronger than V-threads. However looking at the 95% confidence interval of 1%-53% should make it clear that any claim more precise than &quot;A-thread is very likely stronger&quot; is rather adventurous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Discussion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both variants are suitable to use, but as vertical A-threads are stronger, it is advisable to use them. However they cannot be trusted as single anchor for multi-pitch climbing. Ropes are tested to not exceed 12kN in a UIAA fall, which can be assumed as worst case scenario. So a single A-thread may hold such a fall, but not reliably. Always back it up by a second thread or an ice screw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Source&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks to J. Marc Beverly and Stephen W. Attaway for this hands on test with good documentation and to George McEwan from the UKC for publicizing this.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;J.M. Beverly and S.W. Attaway, &lt;em&gt;Ice Climbing Anchor Strength: An In-Depth Analysis&lt;/em&gt;, 2017-01-17, &lt;a href=&quot;http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Beverly.AttawayIce-Climbing-Anchor-Strength_-An-In-Depth-Analysis2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Beverly.AttawayIce-Climbing-Anchor-Strength_-An-In-Depth-Analysis2.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;G. McEwan, &lt;em&gt;Ice Climbing Anchor Strength&lt;/em&gt;, 2017-01-17, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4315&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4315&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T23:44:58.757" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T23:44:58.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7079" CreationDate="2017-01-18T07:08:15.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One product, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://stopheellift.com/products/shl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;StopHeelLift.com&lt;/a&gt;, consists of two pairs of sticky L-shaped pads. Note, it can only be used in boots with removable liners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-02-18T18:47:03.057" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T18:47:03.057" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-01-18T07:08:15.483" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14860" CreationDate="2017-01-18T10:29:39.923" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's always going to be some risk being out wild camping with animals around but I have found that 99% of the time you will be fine! I've had everything from wild boar to hedgehogs and hedgehogs can be very loud! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like cbeleites said unusual animal noises seem much louder during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for leaving the tent at night safely that really depends on your surroundings and the animals in the area. Depending on where you are you may want to store your food in bear canisters so you don't attract animals and take some other precautions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12125" LastEditorUserId="12125" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T12:12:43.540" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T12:12:43.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14843" CreationDate="2017-01-18T12:11:55.440" Score="-4" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drive thru tree park&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Klamath tour tree thru&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shrine Drive thru tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tunnel log&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can't see many more than that!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12125" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T12:11:55.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14906" CreationDate="2017-01-18T15:13:27.417" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For knife it is not just a question of steel. Big part of it is heat treatment and that is usually a thing where price rises. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen steels like S30V, 154CM, D2 in knifes for less than $100. If you go to websites like aliexpress that do direct sales from Asia you can score some good knives for less than $50. But you have to know what to look for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon steel like 1095 is popular because it takes very fine edge and last decent amount. But again heat treatment for this steel is very important. There is manufacturers targeting military and they usually only use 1095. And almost all EDCs in the 1095 are under $100.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purity of steel has improved through the CPM process. Basically the steel is call the powder steel since it is made from something that looks like very fine sand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is website with very long list of steel types:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bladehq.com/cat--Steel-Types--332&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bladehq.com/cat--Steel-Types--332&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Is good as reference if you research a knife and want to find out more about the properties of the steel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the years I kept an eye on CPM 3V steel. It is tool steel used in large machine hammers. It keeps very good edge and is externally tough. I started seeing the steel in more affordable knives. I have knives that cost me from $120 to $1400 from it. And the edge retention on each is pretty much the same. So that is the one I would highly recommend if you are planing on getting good knife with something &quot;new&quot; in the area of steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The old steel types like the 400 series (440C 420 etc) are very good from the past. They are not so good these days. This type of steel is being purchased from china and has a lot of contaminates in it, so the properties of knife go down the hill with it. But if you manage to get knife that has American or even European version of that steel it makes for a pretty good knife that is very affordable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user87" LastEditorDisplayName="user87" LastEditDate="2017-01-18T15:27:12.407" LastActivityDate="2017-01-18T15:27:12.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14916" CreationDate="2017-01-18T16:54:33.083" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Navigation - be it either over land or sea - is governed by non-Euclidean geometry, which means dealing with a sphere instead of a plane. This also means that shortest path between two points on a sphere will never be straight line (unless you can dig really fast). This shortest route is called orthodrome.&#xA;When bearing is designated by compass only we pass every meridian at a same angle (as all meridians converge on the poles), which means we're traveling along the loxodrome (except for bearings due north or south or when travelling along the equator).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aiming slightly to the either side of the compass-designated bearing (which side obviously depends on which direction you're travelling to and which hemisphere you're on, I think) allows to compensate for the loxodrome and to come closer to the orthdrome route, which means you have to cover less distance. The longer the distance, the bigger the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As obviously, this one starts to matter at distances greater than 6 km, which is when curvature of the Earth's surface starts to become noticeable. However, maritime navigation says that going over orthodrome gives benefits over the loxodrome on the distances over 500 nmi.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below images show you what the difference is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WSv0u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WSv0u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12159" LastEditorUserId="12159" LastEditDate="2017-01-20T09:26:23.570" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T09:26:23.570" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14860" CreationDate="2017-01-18T18:48:17.327" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there is always a risk.  You mitigate those risks by your behavior, and, since you didn't mention what behavioral steps you took/take, then it's difficult to answer your questions.  You also didn't mention where you camp, although you did mention you were in France.  But you can camp all over the world, and each place carries unique dangers that other places need not worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you have already encountered the animal, it also depends on who found whom first: if you found the animal first, you run the risk of startling it, which, depending on the animal, its state, and its environment, may run away or attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snakes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most snakes will see you as a threat and will attempt retreat.  If not possible, or they are startled, you may get bitten.  Of course, what happens after this depends much on the snake being venomous or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Small dinosaurs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any Floridian and Australian will tell you to watch out for alligators and crocodiles.  Encounters with these animals almost never end well, no matter who encounters whom.  If you think casual campers need not worry, just remember that an alligator recently killed a young child in Disney World's Grand Floridian hotel.  And golfers there commonly see these on the courses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lazy lizards&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most lizards and reptiles are harmless, insofar as being bitten (snapping turtles are a dangerous exception).  But many are carriers of disease, like salmonella.  And many are protected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bears&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears typically range from friendly to shy, and baby cubs will often scout out human contact, creating a logistics nightmare for mom.  However, it's not uncommon for bear families to be friendly and playful, if annoying, to their human &quot;hosts&quot;.  If the bears are hungry or agitated from a previous encounter, they may become aggressive.  If the bears are not used to human contact, they can become extremely dangerous.  Grizzly bears are always dangerous, your danger here is you will likely be attacked by these kinds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skunks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you startle or anger a skunk, you will not be allowed to ride home with your camping companions for the next decade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other small animals (groundhog, possum, racoons, rabbits, etc)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to worry.  Except your food stores.  Risks here are stolen food, and destruction of property in their attempts to get at said food.  Raccoons in particular are very adept at stealing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One small animal you must not touch is armadillos: they are common and friendly, but they can carry leprosy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big game (deer, moose, elk, etc)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch out.  During mating season, they're extremely territorial, and moose in particular, will not think twice about charging at you.  In addition, it's not uncommon for them to fight over females; in this case, one may chase the other, or they engage each other where your campsite happens to be.  Your risks here can be anywhere from having your things stomped upon, them getting entangled in tarps, hammocks, tents, and tent lines, and you getting stomped on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When not in mating season, you have less to worry about, except for moose and elk.  They're still dangerous and you can be charged at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swine&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild swine are not normally a threat, unless you happen upon a lair with piglets.  Then, the mother will become territorial and may attack.  In this case, they can be very dangerous - and fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fox&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are rarely a threat, your biggest worry is your food.  They can be friendly in environments where humans frequent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coyotes, wolves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are territorial, and can occasionally attack.  As a rule, they tend to leave humans alone, some are even friendly.  Your biggest concern is your food stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bats&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bats are awesome to have: the more bats, the less bugs.  They're harmless, noting the general problems with mammals I mention about, below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you're at, falcon, eagles, hawks, owls, and other predator birds can be annoying, as they'll steal food.  They generally avoid humans, so, if you have an unwatched steak that's sitting out in the open, it's fair game.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, these predator birds can nevertheless be dangerous to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other birds can be dangerous to touch (eg, Blue-Capped Ifrita and Little Shrikethrush), which, because of its diet on a kind of beetle, can induce numbness not unlike poison dart frogs (another creature you ought to avoid, but, not typically found by most campers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you happen to be casually camping in Papua New Guinea, watch out for the Pitohui bird, it can also be lethal to the touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do stay away from vultures.  They won't directly harm you, they're carrion-eaters and are otherwise gentle birds.   They are carriers of Really Bad Diseases, anthrax being one of them.  Anthrax is a bacteria spread via spores, which come from dead animals (and for this reason, you ought not touch dead animals, either - keep on eye on the boys!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also depending on where you camp, very large birds like ostrich, rhea, and cassowary are very dangerous animals and will typically attack for no (obvious) reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mice, Rats&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your biggest worry here are the fleas and ticks, which can introduce diseases like Lyme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insects&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, these can be a problem, too, even though they're not animals.  Scorpions, spiders, mosquitos, bees, and centipedes can be dangerous.  Know the area you are in.  Besides the venomous and stinging variety (either result can trigger anaphylaxis if you have allergies), you also have issues with malaria, lyme, zika, west nile, and others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of disease, many animals - mammals - can be carriers of rabies and hentavirus.  While your biggest concern with large game is being charged at, your biggest worry with smaller animals is disease and symbiotic pests - ticks and fleas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your encounter with an animal may draw the ire of something other than the animals themselves: the law.  Some animals are protected, and so, if you do not take steps to avoid the animal, you may need to later take steps to avoid prosecution.  Many reptiles and birds are protected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to finding animals (and the law) a concern, your other concern is hunters.  It is common for hunting season and camping seasons to overlap.  Good hunting and camping habits dictate that you should wear colored clothing.  Otherwise, your otherwise friendly encounter with a deer may end in disaster for you - and not from the deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing.  All animals who have diseases (eg, rabies) or who are sick or injured, or who are pregnant, can exhibit unpredictable behavior.  In this case, they are &lt;strong&gt;extremely&lt;/strong&gt; dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, lots to be careful about.  Know your environment, know the law, and be prepared.  Remember you are guest in animals' home.  Act like a guest.  Respect what you see, and take nothing for granted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you likely to be attacked by a grunting thing outside your tent?  Probably not.  Gotta get up in the middle of the night to pee?  Watch out and don't step on that scorpion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://listverse.com/2012/06/04/10-birds-you-really-ought-to-avoid/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Birds You Really Ought To Avoid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-birds-that-could-kick-your-ass.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Top 10 Birds That Could Kick Your Ass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299249/Ever-wondered-feels-like-attacked-falcon-Terrifying-moment-bird-prey-swoops-kill.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ever wondered what it feels like being attacked by a falcon? Terrifying moment bird of prey swoops in for the kill&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://reference.medscape.com/features/slideshow/mosquito-borne-illnesses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Medscape&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.safebee.com/health/6-bizarre-diseases-you-can-catch-animals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6 Bizarre Diseases You Can Catch from Animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://discovermagazine.com/2000/nov/featleprosy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Where Leprosy Lurks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-19T23:47:55.330" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T23:47:55.330" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2017-01-19T15:30:01.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think heat versus temperature is addressed in any answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming all skin is the same temperature then cover all skin with equal insulation is optimal.  Starting warm all skin is about the same temperature. Cover nose mouth and eyes is problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens is a smaller mass will lose temperature faster. There is just not as much thermal capacity (reserve) behind the skin. If you go outside naked on a cold day your fingers, toes, ears, and nose will get cold first. The body could send more blood to those parts to basically share the cold but it does not (and for good reason). The body actually restricts blood flow to the extremities to preserver heat (temperature) for the vital organs. This also reduces heat loss as a cold hand, arm, foot, and leg loses heat at a lower rate. Those parts also recover better from cold with the exception of frostbite. The body considers the brain a vital organ. So from the perspective of what the body does when it is cold then torso and head are most important but most people don't want to rob from extremities and make cold feet and hands even colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-01-19T15:30:01.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14951" CreationDate="2017-01-19T23:28:04.447" Score="7" ViewCount="8815" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to southern Virginia near the coast (about 15 miles in from it).  All over the ground are these spiky balls that I assume contain seeds to the tree they fall off of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are literally thousands of these things on the ground. When they first fell, they were green in color. I would have grabbed a picture of the bark of the tree, but the tree that dropped these is covered in some sort of ivy vine that's growing up it and I couldn't get a good picture of the bark.  The trees aren't near any water sources. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jkzy5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jkzy5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;seed pod&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jbpKP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jbpKP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;seed pods on ground&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:38:24.323" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:38:24.323" Title="What kind of tree produces these seed pods looking like spiky balls?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14950" CreationDate="2017-01-19T23:50:05.587" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sweet gum tree&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distinctive compound fruit is hard, dry, and globose,1–1.5 inches (25–38 mm) in diameter, composed of numerous (40-60) capsules.[13] Each capsule, containing one to two small seeds, has a pair of terminal spikes (for a total of 80-120 spikes). When the fruit opens and the seeds are released, each capsule is associated with a small hole (40-60 of these) in the compound fruit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fallen, opened fruits are often abundant beneath the trees; these have been popularly nicknamed &amp;quot;burr (or bir) balls&amp;quot;,[14] &amp;quot;gum balls&amp;quot;,[19] &amp;quot;space bugs&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;monkey balls&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;bommyknockers&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;sticker balls&amp;quot;,[20] or &amp;quot;goblin bombs&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua#Fruit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eattheweeds.com/sweet-gum-tree/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt; for an almost identical picture of the spiky ball and this &lt;a href=&quot;http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=53&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; (via @Sue) to show the range which means that they are definitely in Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T00:01:58.633" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14952" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14953" CreationDate="2017-01-20T06:02:23.887" Score="5" ViewCount="1533" Body="&lt;p&gt;First let me set the stage:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Location&lt;/strong&gt;: Outside of Tokyo (Lake Sagami or something similar)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time&lt;/strong&gt;: End of April&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;: The temperature at night is above 9 °C &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weather&lt;/strong&gt;: It's dry (not raining or snowing) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no camping experience and just want to sleep outside for a night or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the difference of sleeping in a tent compared with just a sleeping bag? Is it warmer? What are the other advantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12061" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-01-20T06:53:05.067" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T06:53:05.067" Title="Sleeping in a sleeping bag only compared to tent camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-01-20T14:21:46.337" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14952" CreationDate="2017-01-20T06:10:35.910" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tent would protect you from rain and snow, and it would keep you warmer since it will create a warm pocket of air around you. It would also keep the bugs away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if rain and/or snow and bugs aren't an issue, then I would totally recommend sleeping outside without one, because then you can see the stars and shooting stars and its a way cooler experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make certain that your sleeping bag is rated for that temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T06:10:35.910" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5174" CreationDate="2017-01-20T15:13:17.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alternately you may be able to change the frequency your current device uses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US you will usually find a &quot;CB Shop&quot; near large truck stops, they should have the skills &amp;amp; parts required to modify the units.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practically, it maybe more efficient to just get new devices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-01-20T16:16:58.130" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T16:16:58.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14957" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14962" CreationDate="2017-01-20T18:20:03.737" Score="5" ViewCount="4262" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I wanted to use fire to cut down a tree how would I accomplish this safely? Clearly if I build a big bonfire at the base of the tree it will burn down and possibly cause a forest fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T00:05:23.533" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T17:30:14.483" Title="How exactly do you cut down a tree with fire?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14957" CreationDate="2017-01-20T18:20:03.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/fellatree.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this resource&lt;/a&gt; one technique is to cake mud on the tree trunk at least 2 inches thick and 6 feet tall. The mud will protect the flames from spreading up the tree. Throughout the whole process it is important to keep an eye on this mud, and replenish it as needed. Remember your goal is to fell a tree not start a forest fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the tree trunk is protected you build a small fire up against the trunk of the tree &lt;strong&gt;on the side you want it to fall&lt;/strong&gt;. The basic plan is to allow the small fire to burn for a little while. When the flames die down you knock the charred wood off the tree trunk. As you repeat this process the fire should burn a wedge into the tree analogous to the wedge you'd cut with an axe or a saw. Once the tree becomes unstable they recommend building a fire all the way around the base of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to note a couple of things. Firstly, &lt;strong&gt;cutting a tree down with fire carries significant risks to yourself and the forest&lt;/strong&gt;. Only use fire to cut down a tree if you can't use an axe or saw, and be careful. Secondly, like they say in the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Felling a tree with fire isn't as predictable as the good ol' axe method so as soon as you hear the wood begin to split..GET OUT OF THE WAY! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2017-01-20T18:20:03.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14916" CreationDate="2017-01-20T19:30:26.780" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was in the Army Infantry in the '90s when we still used maps and compasses to get through the woods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have a tendency to veer off to the side of the hand holding the compass when they are land navigating, especially at night. You could try to compensate by switching which hand you are holding the compass with periodically during that leg of the trip. You could try keep in mind that you veer off and try to compensate. Or, you can just assume it will happen and aim a few degrees opposite of the direction you know you veer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This mostly happens with &quot;dead reckoning&quot; which means you are using your compass and not some distant landmark to stay on your azimuth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are times you can aim a few degrees off during the day when you are walking towards a landmark far away. For instance, if, after looking at your map, you see that your destination is 35 degrees and 650 meters away from you, you could try to keep a pace count and try to stay on azimuth and hope you have kept track of these two things properly and your target will be right where you think it should be. Another method is to see if there is something close to your target (but maybe a few degrees left or right of it) that you can see from your starting point that is also on your map (hill top, tall church, road intersection.) You can easily find and go to that reference. Once you are there you have a much shorter distance to travel to get to your actual target. This gives you a better chance of finding it b/c your pace count is more accurate the shorter distance you go and you will not have as much of an opportunity to veer off your azimuth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12179" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T13:16:35.530" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T13:16:35.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14960" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14967" CreationDate="2017-01-21T02:34:13.343" Score="5" ViewCount="745" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tourist from Australia so bit clueless about these things, going to Canada and wondering if it's worth getting the snow shoe chains/springs/spikes that go over your shoe or boot ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can't really afford snow boots for purely a week so I intend on wearing work boots, however from experience of another trip overseas I slipped over a few times in those in snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More worried about partner as she's pregnant and has even less suitable footwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do they work and are there any issues with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be in Vancouver, BC and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_White_Ski_Resort&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big White&lt;/a&gt;, BC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12181" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T22:57:00.183" LastActivityDate="2017-01-22T13:25:52.617" Title="Is it worth getting snow shoe chains/spikes for only a one week trip to a snowy area?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14960" CreationDate="2017-01-21T02:46:11.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would rather start with some decent winter boots.  They have a soft sole with traction and warmth.  You can find lower end but still nice on sale for like $50 US.  Decent chains / spikes will cost that much.  The cheap rubber pull on spikes are more for icy driveways and sidewalks in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ioOS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ioOS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't endorse hi-tec but I got in trouble for not attributing using a random pic.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.hi-tec.com/logan-mid-wp-9359.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Logan Mid WP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-01-21T19:09:43.517" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T19:09:43.517" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14957" CreationDate="2017-01-21T10:45:04.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unless you are building a bridge you don't.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have the tools to cut it down you don't have the tools to do anything with it once it is down.  You are converting it from a big living standing tree to a big dead laying down tree. Neither of which you have the tools to modify. The only scenario where this adds any value to your life is if your life depends on crossing a river and you can make the tree fall across the river or gorge.  Which would require a tree close to the river that is tall enough to span the gap.  As pointed out in Erik's answer even when the tree falls it may or may not fall according to your plans. Once it hits the ground it going to bounce and the bottom of the tree may end up several feet from the stump, which could be over the edge of the gap you are trying to span.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the above aside, it takes a lot of fuel and a lot of time to actually burn through a tree. Back in my homesteading days, there was a large stump in my front yard.  I had a chainsaw, pick, axe and endless supply of scrap wood from a local mill.  The stump was about 8 or 10 feet tall, and 6 or 8 feet wide. An old growth Douglas Fir.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most old growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) range in height from 200 to 250 feet, and have a diameter of 5 to 8 feet. &lt;a href=&quot;http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/Douglas-fir.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first year, I cut the top of the stump off and split into small pieces to use to burn through the stump.  Around the second or third year I got access to the mill scrapes. Burning through this stump was my hobby, while I didn't work on it everyday, I worked on it several times per week, If I was out doing something I would rekindle the fire.  As you can see in the image, a small fire is eating through the tree trunk at ground level. It leaves a little overhang which I would split off occasionally and use to fuel the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture below is years into the process of burning through the trunk of a tree that was maybe 250 feet tall when it was alive.  Early on I hit some sap veins which helped fuel the fire, and allowed me to burn into the center of the trunk I could have 2 or 3 small files burning inside, while I was inside the trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burning through a tree takes huge amounts of good quality fuel.  I can't even begin to guess how much wood I burned in little fires eating their way through the trunk.  If you measured in truck loads, it would be several.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vOxaM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vOxaM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The moral here&lt;/strong&gt;, is that if you have visions of burning a tree down to use for fire wood, you are going to spend more time gathering more fuel to get the tree down then you will gain in fire wood once it is down.  Then you will have to gather more fuel and build more fires to burn it into pieces you can move. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. A big bonfire does not burn through a tree trunk. It does not transfer enough heat to the tree to consume it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;So I told you all the reasons it is impractical for most of the common reason you would want to fell a tree.  But what if you really did need to spend the time and energy required to fell a tree and fire was your best tool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming only found natural implements (rocks, sticks, bones) for tools and fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make extremely sure the tree is not hollow.  Or you will have a huge &lt;a href=&quot;http://timbertote.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Timber Tote Fire Log&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clear the lower branches, all around the tree.  Give yourself room to work.  Most bark is a natural fire retardant, remove the bark around the base of the tree, all the way around, you only need to clear it a foot or half a meter up.  This will kill the tree and help to dry the wood. Inspect the base of the tree, clear anything that is growing for 3 feet or meter around.  Look which way the tree is leaning, that is the way it is going to want to fall.  Wherever the widest gap is between roots on the side it is leaning to, dig out some dirt around the roots. This is where you are going to build you primary fire.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peel the bark off of the roots and build a small fire in the hollow between the roots. Think of it as little oven.  You start baking the roots/tree stump and the dirt.  The trunk and roots are full of liquids, progress is going be much slower then you think.  As the fire burns it will char the wood and dry out the dirt.  As the dirt drys out it becomes easier to remove, allowing you to get a fire around the roots.  You just keep digging (&lt;em&gt;dirt and charred wood&lt;/em&gt;) and burning until you get well under the tree.  You don't want to go deep, just a couple inches, but you need to get through the to the center.  &lt;strong&gt;AFTER&lt;/strong&gt; you get a bit more then half way through the side it is leaning towards, you do the same on the other side.  This is the second cut (same as tree felling) that allows the tree to fall on towards the side you hollowed out in the first step.  It will be more likely to fall the way you hope, if you leave a hing on both side.  Don't work all the way around like a beaver, or Murphy will have it landing exactly were you least expected and can least afford it to land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Restating: &lt;strong&gt;a small fire&lt;/strong&gt; is best.  It going to be slow going, and your going to be tempted to stack a bunch of wood.  But flames more then a hand high from where you are working is just waste. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T01:31:23.000" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T01:31:23.000" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14963" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14964" CreationDate="2017-01-21T11:14:18.043" Score="8" ViewCount="1122" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am in a survival situation with a knife as my only cutting implement, and I need an axe to chop trees &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14957/how-exactly-do-you-cut-down-a-tree-with-fire/14962#14962&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;because I know burning through them is not practical&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; how would I make one?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What attributes do I look for in wood, stone and binding? Using only a knife and items found in the wilderness how do I fashion an axe that chops trees for making fires or building structures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T15:25:40.490" Title="How do you make a stone axe?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14963" CreationDate="2017-01-21T12:09:33.717" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two principal techniques for making stone tools, depending on the properties of the material you have available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first and probably best known is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knapping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;knapping&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. This is used with glassy rocks like flint and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;obsidian&lt;/a&gt; which can form sharp fracture surfaces when struck or pressed. This process takes a fair degree of skill as you need to understand how the stone will fracture and is a very different technique to conventional stone carving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flint tools can perform surprisingly well, in particular they can take an extremely sharp edge, in some cases sharper than can be achieved with steel. The downside is that the material is quite brittle and the edge dulls fairly quickly when used for chopping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second method is to shape stone by abrasion as in &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiltshireafg.weebly.com/artefact-of-the-month/neolithic-polished-stone-axe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this example&lt;/a&gt; using a second stone as a grinding surface, possibly aided with a sand and water mixture. As an aside it is also interesting to note that a lot of early cast metal axes (ie copper and bronze) look very similar to this type of stone axe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that in a survival situation making a stone axe is likely to be a very low priority. Building shelter etc only requires thin poles which can usually be cut with even quite a small knife with relatively little effort and standing wood does not usually make good fuel, you are much better off collecting dead wood which should by dry enough to snap easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally the techniques required are somewhat specialist and labour intensive and so unless you have prior experience there is a good chance that making them will require more effort than is saved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of binding a common material is rawhide or processed sinew which is applied wet and shrinks as it dries, tightening the bindings. For obvious reasons fixing a stone head to a haft is a bit more tricky than a steel one and it is far from easy to achieve a connection strong enough to withstand the rigours of chopping and you also have to consider the potential danger if the head does come off during use. With all this in mind, in a survival situation just using the head as a hand axe is potentially more practical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-03-24T17:49:38.140" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T17:49:38.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14960" CreationDate="2017-01-21T16:17:57.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I think you should be okay with your boots. You will have to walk slowly, but you should do fine. It may be beneficial to walk around with a walking stick in spots and try to avoid the ice if you encounter it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not know what kind of snow you will encounter at Big White, but they do &lt;strong&gt;offer rentals&lt;/strong&gt; at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hellobc.com/big-white-ski-resort/things-to-do/winter-activities/snowshoeing.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big White Ski Resort&lt;/a&gt;, if need be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip I would suggest is that you follow the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bigwhite.com/mountain-conditions/daily-snow-report&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Daily Snow Report&lt;/a&gt;, just before leaving for Canada, so you can have information on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hellobc.com/big-white-ski-resort.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big White Terrain &amp;amp; Ski Conditions&lt;/a&gt;. I would be more concerned about the temperature than the snow. I live near Vancouver and this year has been exceptionally cold for us and Kelowna is 271 km away from here by plane or 389 km by car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A curious side note:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bigwhite.com/mountain-conditions/daily-snow-report&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Australia Day&lt;/a&gt; is just around the corner! If you're Australian or not, come and celebrate everything that is great about 'Down Under' on &lt;strong&gt;January the 26th&lt;/strong&gt;. Wear your best Australian gear and meet Boomer the Kangaroo at the top of Kangaroo run at 10am. More info &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bigwhite.com/australia-day&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-21T16:17:57.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3124" CreationDate="2017-01-22T07:15:29.050" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to agree with the people who responded saying that a headlamp is the best way to go.  For your uses, you can definitely find a headlamp bright enough and it's so much more convenient to have your hands free.  I would personally recommend a zebra light.  This model in particular is great: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zebralight.com/H600w-Mk-III-XHP35-Neutral-White-18650-Headlamp_p_186.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;H600w Mk III XHP35 Neutral White 18650 Headlamp&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NhW2I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NhW2I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;H600w Mk III XHP35 Neutral White 18650 Headlamp&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These lights are tough. I have purchased 4 of them(I've never had one break, but I can't help but lose them for some reason :s ) and I take them EVERYWHERE.  They've been with me covered in mud in caves, clouded by dust in underground mines, soaking wet and submerged in canyons and rain, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only do they last, but they're incredibly bright (1100 lumens!), have 6 modes, and have a pretty good battery life if you don't cheap out on the batteries you buy (which are rechargeable.  One of my favorite features of them is they're small and have NO BATTERY PACK.  So many of the brighter headlamps come with bulky terrible battery packs with wires that can easily get snagged on something and pulled out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I consider these lights to be the perfect balance of quality and cost.  Unless you want to go custom or the super expensive ones, you'd be hardpressed to find a better value in a headlamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're married to the idea of a hand held, I'd personally recommend going for a modular one.  Solarforce is a great brand that has a variety of different combinations you can create.  You basically pick a body and a drop in and you can mix and match with different pieces to customize your light if you ever find you need a new use for it (i.e - you want it brighter, dimmer, flood, spot, etc.)  This retailer carries some of their lights: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Lights-c5/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solarforce Lights&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9627" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T05:29:23.513" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T05:29:23.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14960" CreationDate="2017-01-22T11:23:22.520" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not too sure if you'll be going through deep snow on a mountain hike or navigating icy sidewalks in Stanley Park &amp;amp; Vancouver, but it's worth almost any price to not get hurt falling down on vacation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stores in Canada like Canadian Tire &amp;amp; Wal-Mart sell slip-on &quot;traction aids&quot; that are especially good for ice and hard snow, the kind most often seen on sidewalks &amp;amp; parking lots, like these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/sub-zero-full-foot-ice-cleats-0788368p.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sub Zero Full-foot Ice Cleats&lt;/a&gt; About $15. Good reviews currently, 4.1 out of 5, in 8 reviews.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UMPHy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UMPHy.png&quot; alt=&quot;sub-zero-full-foot-ice-cleats&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/dryguy-gripon-traction-spikes-0872519p.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MaxxDry GripOns Traction Spikes&lt;/a&gt; About $22. 1.4 out of 5, in 5 reviews. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j9tVn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j9tVn.png&quot; alt=&quot;MaxxDry GripOns Traction Spikes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're hopefully a lot cheaper than two pairs of really nice (expensive) boots or snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nice thing about stores like Canadian Tire &amp;amp; Wal-Mart are that if you're not satisfied (with just about anything) you can return it for a refund. They don't return snow chains for tires, so definitely check before purchase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And for any &quot;bits of metal on your soles&quot; like these, be extra careful if you're walking on a hard smooth surface like &lt;strong&gt;inside a mall or a store&lt;/strong&gt;, I did that once and it was just like walking on ice, almost fell down on a bare dry hard floor. The alternative result could be the metal &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; dig into the store's floor, and that's not good either.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you'll be walking on ice &amp;amp; hard snow it's a good idea to practice an &quot;ice walk&quot; - walk on any snow &lt;em&gt;as if it really is slippery ice&lt;/em&gt;, usually shorter steps &amp;amp; stay more balanced. Then even if all the snow seems &quot;grippy&quot; but when you hit the one patch that really is slippery you won't fall down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On soft deep snow the above will still add some traction just from the big &quot;rubber band&quot; grabbing some snow, but the spikes would be too small to add much traction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want &quot;real&quot; snow shoes Costco in Canada even sells them online (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.costco.ca/snowshoes.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowshoes category on Costco.ca&lt;/a&gt;) maybe inside a few stores too (and Costco will return almost anything, they may even accept returns back in Australia for items bought in Canada, but I'm not at all sure on that, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/Can-I-return-items-purchased-at-a-local-Costco-to-a-Costco-in-another-country&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;somewhat helpful link&lt;/a&gt;). They're currently $260 to $110 (Canadian), or if children's will work they're $85-$75.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lNGXS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lNGXS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Some at Costco even come with poles, these are $179 (Canadian).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked at Costco Australia's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.costco.com.au/index.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; but I guess they don't have online shopping set up yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8264" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-22T13:25:52.617" LastActivityDate="2017-01-22T13:25:52.617" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14971" CreationDate="2017-01-22T21:27:32.797" Score="7" ViewCount="828" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two (main) types of front points with crampons (that I am aware of): Vertical and horizontal ones. Usually vertical is used for technical mountaineering, ice and mixed climbing and horizontal for &quot;non-technical&quot; mountaineering (glacier to moderate mixed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't think of any functional advantage of horizontal front points over vertical ones. By functional I mean that I am not interested in marketing, so cheaper or designed for that particular purpose are not what I am after (there are light all purpose mountaineering crampons with vertical front points).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the reason horizontal front points are widely used? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-23T16:00:40.733" LastActivityDate="2018-03-25T00:26:41.980" Title="What are the advantages of horizontal front points on crampons?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14970" CreationDate="2017-01-23T03:05:15.947" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think of a shovel, you use the sharp edge to cut into the snow, and the flat blade to pack it down. When you're climbing soft ice, you don't want to cut through it, you want it to support your foot so you can you stand on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The horizontal front points are used for hiking glacial ice, snow and non-technical ice climbing. Vertical points are great for sticking into hard waterfall ice, but they will rip right through softer ice and snow like a knife. When hiking non-technical ice, horizontal points are the better choice. It's these style of crampons that all high altitude mountaineers wear when climbing mountains like Everest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/emeA5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/emeA5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have a pair of both, but I've hiked on spring snow and ice with people who were wearing vertical front points, and have watched their feet rip through the ice in spots where my foot placements didn't move in my horizontal front point crampons. I've seen the same thing with people climbing wet waterfall ice even, especially if they only have one front point, they stick it into wet soft ice and it just shred right through it. I caught a fall because of this 2 weekends ago actually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-25T00:26:41.980" LastActivityDate="2018-03-25T00:26:41.980" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14972" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14981" CreationDate="2017-01-23T07:15:34.343" Score="9" ViewCount="583" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was another report recently about a fox sneaking in a house and resting in its living room. Due to the news report it was caused by the extreme cold weather. The fox didn't even bother the man sitting besides it. This happened in Germany but I know a few other similar reports (googled =)). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've a hard time understanding what causes this extreme behavior. Why would a common fox sneak into a house full of humans just to get warm? Is this generally true? Or are these foxes either sick, habituated or tame to some degree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:56:34.937" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:56:34.937" Title="Foxes in the living room - what causes this behavior?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;foxes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="681" CreationDate="2017-01-23T08:03:58.920" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's not a simple answer to the question of where your body loses heat, because the body is a sophisticated thermoregulator, and the amount of heat your body loses, and where it loses heat, varies depending on how warm or cold it &quot;thinks&quot; it is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary means of thermoregulation are by controlling blood flow near the surface of the skin, and by evaporative cooling (i.e., sweating). Let's assume you're concerned with heat loss in cold conditions and just talk about that. All parts of your body can lose heat, but it is obviously not equal, because heat loss will be greater where blood flows close to the skin in exposed parts of the body. The thermogram link posted by mjrider shows many of these areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When cold, your autonomic nervous system uses vasoconstriction to reduce blood flow to areas. In your extremities, blood flow through capillary beds which accelerates heat loss can be completely shut down, and blood flows directly from arteries to the veins through vascular shunts. Note there is some argument about the presence of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precapillary_sphincter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;precapillary sphincters&lt;/a&gt; involved in this process, but there is more recent evidence of the involvement of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.verywell.com/new-pathology-discovered-in-fibromyalgia-3972942&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vascular shunts&lt;/a&gt;. Not sure anyone has explained the role of the AV shunts in &lt;a href=&quot;http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=Raynauds+syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raynaud's syndrome&lt;/a&gt;, but Raynaud's clearly illustrates just how effective these vascular shunts are when in effect. Similarly, &lt;a href=&quot;https://rosacea-support.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/Colin-Dah-Rosacea-Warm-Room.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rosacea&lt;/a&gt; and erythromelalgia reveal locations of capillary beds used for dissipating heat when hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as mentioned in other answers, blood flow to the brain is critical and isn't constricted, so areas like the neck and temple where blood flows next to your skin, when not covered, can represent a major loss of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that these mechanisms can also inadvertently contribute to hypothermia or frostbite, and in some cases it's better to maintain some blood flow. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14412101/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Laplanders&lt;/a&gt; and Inuit have an intrinsic ability to withstand cold conditions far better than the rest of us. The rest of us would have to practice &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tummo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ancient yogi techniques&lt;/a&gt; for maintaining warmth, recently popularized by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wim Hof (The Iceman).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is age-old knowledge: in addition to regular clothing, wear warm socks, gloves, a hat and a scarf. While the feet and hands won't lose a lot of heat when blood flow is constricted, you will become dysfunctional if you don't keep them warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12189" LastEditorUserId="12189" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T03:37:37.810" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T03:37:37.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14974" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14976" CreationDate="2017-01-23T08:50:18.260" Score="8" ViewCount="231" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several different manufacturers producing so called &quot;lumen nocks&quot;. They provide a small light at the end of the arrow. But why? Why would I need a tiny light on my nock? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T19:31:48.713" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T19:31:48.713" Title="What is a lumen nock used for?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14975" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15005" CreationDate="2017-01-23T10:01:44.020" Score="9" ViewCount="10208" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the effect of sharpening ski edges at different angles (85-90) and with different grit diamond stones (150-1200+) or regular files?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does this relate to the level of the skier and the type of snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T12:04:29.467" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T22:46:40.153" Title="Relation of ski edge sharpening to skiing ability and snow conditions" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14974" CreationDate="2017-01-23T11:12:18.433" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are usually used for making your arrows easier to find in low light / cloudy conditions. Also they give a certain flair if you happen to be filming your shot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine hunting in a forest, light isn't that great and it's hard to use a metal detector, and you miss. The idea is so long as you know the general area where it might have landed you will have a much easier time finding it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I think people just like gadgets and shiny things. I've never seen anyone using them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T11:12:18.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-23T19:23:29.433" Score="5" ViewCount="106" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought some nikwax Down Wash to wash my sudden coat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of interest I compared it to a bottle of Nikwax Tech Wash. They appear to contain identical ingredients :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;contains among over ingredients less than 5% polycarboxylates. 5-15% soap. Non-ionic suficactants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So given that, I already own a big bottle of tech wash, I can't see a good reason to buy down specific wash, they appear to be identical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I missing anything? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T08:57:30.470" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T08:57:30.470" Title="Do I need down-specific washing liquid for my coat?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14974" CreationDate="2017-01-23T21:46:27.267" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dynadin is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I would add, the arrows with fletching, broadhead tips, and tuning become very expensive. Losing a $20 arrow does not make sense when you can add $3 (per arrow) to the total price and have a much better chance of finding the arrow. As responsible outdoorsmen and women it is our job to take everything with us that we brought out, including gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lighted nock also provides immediate feedback to the shooter, which is a valuable training tool. It is similar to tracer rounds in rifles and pistols in that you get a visual indication of the flight path. In archery you could use this to dissect what went right and wrong with a shot. With a lighted nock other people are also able to see your shot execution and help in the overall training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9464" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T21:46:27.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14977" CreationDate="2017-01-23T21:55:56.710" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no way you can know from that description whether the two products are identical. There's more than one kind of polycarboxylate, more than one kind of soap, more than one kind of non-ionic surfactant, and certainly more than one kind of ‘other ingredient’. Even if some of those ingredients are the same, their concentrations may be different. Of course it &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be that the two products just the same thing in different bottles, but without an inside contact at Nikwax or some expensive lab work, it's going to be hard to find out for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2017-01-23T21:55:56.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10912" CreationDate="2017-01-24T00:04:33.793" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the south of England,  the main three centres are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vobster Quay in Summerset:  lots of attractions to play on and a tunnel to swim though (at an angle,  so a good buoyancy test).  Max depth circa 35m.  Vis is good in the winter,  less so in the summer when the schools are busy.  Has a burger van for sustenance.  Well stocked shop with plenty of tech kit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stoney Cove in Leicestershire:  has a 35m pit with the &quot;Hydrobox&quot; and some other things to see.  Most of the attractions (Stanegarth tug,  bus,  cars, other boats) are at 18m.  Yellow &quot;Nemo&quot; submarine at 6m.  It's a good place to practice navigation as the bottom's quite featureless.  Some life including little crayfish.  Nice restaurant / cafe which does not allow soggy divers to use.  Hatch for cups of tea and bacon sarnies.  Large well-stocked shop. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NDAC -- National Diving and Activity Centre in Chepstow.  This has a deep pit of about 75metres,  but most of the &quot;attractions&quot; (planes, buses, helicopters tanks, containers, etc.) are above 28 metres with many around 12 metres.  Of the three,  NDAC's visibility is the best.  Nice 'wet' restaurant to warm up in.  Lots of other attractions;  zip-wire,  giant swing,  offroad Segways.  Used by a lot of more serious divers in the winter - my personal favourite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a bunch of shallower lakes/quarries in the south-east,  all  max 10 metres and generally poor visibility and very cold in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wraysbury next to Heathrow.  Silty,  very popular with schools in the summer,  vis can be awful.  Food's OK.  Cheap £10.  Good for navigation practice due to the vis.  Don't arrive much before 0900 or you'll be sent away!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buckland Lake near Rochester.  Chalk pit with some attractions - bus, plane, etc.  Has a tunnel which novices should avoid.  Drinks/food available.  Cheap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holborough Lake near Maidstone.  Chalk pit with some attractions.  Platforms are good for practice.  Entry pretty easy.  Gate opens at 0900.  Generally has a queue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When not in the winter practice period,  sea diving is far more interesting than quarries &amp;amp; lakes.  For novices,  look at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swanage Pier - the place where many people learned to dive.  6ish metres and easy access under the pier.  Lots of boats go from there to the many local wrecks and drift dives.  Highly recommended.  Valentine Tanks is a nice 12ish metre dive on two WW2 tanks.  The house wreck is the Kyarra;  big with lots of life.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Portland / Weymouth - Portland Harbour has lots of wrecks to explore in less than 20 metres of water and is good when it's too rough to go to sea.  Lots of other wrecks available outside to suit all skill levels.  Can also dive off of Chesil Beach if you want some exercise walking up the shingle with your kit on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plymouth - some fantastic diving there.  Lots of wrecks to explore for all skill levels which includes the Scylla (deliberately sunk for divers to play on),  James Egan Lane,  and many great drift dives.  There's loads of boats and dive shops there who would buddy you up.  One of the UK's premier dive locations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brighton / Eastbourne - lots of boats going out from there exploring the hundreds of wrecks off the Sussex coast,  again all levels available.  Issue with that end is the chalky bottom can mess up the vis.  So worth going out further.  Eastbourne's local wreck is the Alaunia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little further afield,  but some of the greatest experience you'll ever have underwater:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;diving with seals in the Farne Islands north of Newcastle.  This is shallow diving at its best with granite rocks,  kelp,  and playing with those cute and playful seals.  One for your diving bucket list.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There's also lots of fantastic diving around the west coast of Scotland;  around the Isle of Mull for example on the wreck of the Rondo at 60 degrees with the bow at the bottom in 50 metres and the rudder at 5 metres - a wreck for everyone to enjoy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And of course there's Scapa flow where much of the German fleet was skuttled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sea on the south coast gets up to about 18C in the summer (July though October),  and down to 7C in the winter.  Visibility can be difficult in spring (&quot;the May rot&quot;) and also after storms.  The northern temperatures get up to about 12C,  so drysuits are pretty much the tool for the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like wrecks,  UK diving really is some of the best diving there is.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T11:54:31.020" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T11:54:31.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14972" CreationDate="2017-01-24T04:11:52.393" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This site says that it has to do with food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foxes are drawn into houses by the availability of food. They will take advantage of open windows, doors, and pet flaps to come inside and wreak havoc. The pests makes messes of kitchens as they forage for fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, and even garbage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.crittercontrol.com/services/fox/fox-in-house.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This fox in London was apparently a gamer,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A cheeky fox has been caught on camera as he casually sneaked into a family home - before stealing a nine-year-old's &lt;strong&gt;PlayStation controller.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sly-fox-sneaks-home-steals-8377239&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one attacked two nine-month-old twins,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shortly before 10pm, a curious fox padded into their home in Victoria Park, east London, and made its way upstairs, where their &lt;strong&gt;nine-month-old&lt;/strong&gt; twins Lola and Isabella were asleep. The &lt;strong&gt;fox attacked the girls on their arms and faces.&lt;/strong&gt; When Pauline heard the crying, she rushed upstairs. &amp;quot;I went into the room and I saw some blood on Isabella's cot,&amp;quot; she said yesterday. &amp;quot;I thought she'd had a nosebleed. I put on the light and I saw a fox and it wasn't even scared of me, it just looked me straight in the eye.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/07/invasion-urban-foxes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one attacked a four month year old,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the BBC's John Andrew said: &amp;quot;The mother was at home and heard this awful scream, went next door where the baby was, found it had been dragged from the cot onto the floor and the baby's hand was in the jaws of the fox.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;She was obviously in a terrible panic and did what she could to get the fox off, including kicking it. Eventually it did let go but the baby was found with quite serious injuries.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our correspondent said it was believed one of the baby's fingers was severed but later re-attached by surgeons in a &amp;quot;delicate and difficult&amp;quot; three-hour operation, although it has not been confirmed by the hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-21399709&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like they will go inside a person's house to get food, or to get out of the cold or just out of curiosity. They do pose a danger to very small humans, but that type of behavior is rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T17:54:36.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14982" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-24T06:58:18.900" Score="2" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine had a car accident where he hit a whitetail. Sadly it died instantly. This made me wonder if someone is going to check if the roadkill can still be eaten. Maybe not for humans but dog food etc. So, if &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14119/8060&quot;&gt;roadkill is found to be safe&lt;/a&gt; to eat, is it further processed in the EU? Or the other way around, is roadkill always dumped? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: I'm not asking for specific cases where people just don't bother eating roadkill. Like for example in Germany you always have to call the appropriated hunter. He kills the animal or makes sure that it is dead. If that guy kills it and thinks: &quot;Seems pretty intact to me. Who cares, I'm taking it with me.&quot;, &lt;em&gt;it is not instance of this question&lt;/em&gt;! I'm asking whether there is an official process by law or other rule-set. A process similar to this (just an analogy): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Driver calls police&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Driver calls hunter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Police makes insurance stuff etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunter takes care of the animal &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunter calls the check-roadkill-authority&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check-roadkill-authority adjudged the meat as process-able&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check-roadkill-authority calls the process-roadkill-authority&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Process-roadkill-authority brings meat to dog-food-factory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T21:25:02.330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T21:25:02.330" Title="Is roadkill processed in the EU?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14982" CreationDate="2017-01-24T12:52:49.330" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might want to read &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/27/why-i-ate-a-roadkill-squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; by someone who actually eats roadkill. I've also known a few people who check to see if deer, pheasants etc. are still OK (they get scavenged pretty quickly so if reasonably intact they're probably quite fresh). In that regard it's like eating game - you don't know for certain that the animal wasn't diseased. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When picked up by the council for disposal, you can assume they go to landfill - the same crew pick up other debris in the same truck and even if they did sort it, what would they do with it? Food waste including meat scraps goes to anaerobic digesters in some places, but at least where we live that don't want raw bones in there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only places I know of making regular reuse of roadkill do it to feed scavengers - vultures in Spain, and black bear in Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T12:52:49.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14985" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-24T16:20:47.147" Score="3" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm confused as to what separates &quot;Vintage Ski Sweaters&quot; from other sweaters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My initial thought was that is would be ski themed or that it would be designed to be light weight with good thermal protection so that it fit under normal skiing attire.  However, after looking at them they look more like every day sweaters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12198" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-01-24T18:41:38.887" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T18:41:38.887" Title="What is a &quot;Vintage Ski Sweater&quot; and how is it different from a normal sweater?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14985" CreationDate="2017-01-24T17:26:15.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &quot;Vintage Ski Sweater&quot;, should be considered any ski sweater of at least five various types depending on how people define the word &lt;em&gt;vintage&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vintage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adjective&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;vintage ‎(comparative more vintage, superlative most vintage)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1 (attributively) Of or relating to a vintage, or to wine identified by a specific vintage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2 (attributively) Having an enduring appeal; high-quality&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3 (attributively) Classic (such as video or computer games from the 1980s and early 1990s, or old magazines, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;4 (attributively) Of a motor car, built between the years 1919 and (usually) 1930 (or sometimes 1919 to 1925 in the USA).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;5 Of a watch, produced between the years 1870 and 1980.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally when I hear the term used in this sense with clothing I generally take it to mean that they are of a classic design and are generally more pricy than other styles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-24T17:26:15.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14982" CreationDate="2017-01-24T17:52:35.507" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To ask about EU would require one answer per participating country.  So I'll answer for the UK and Finland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UK: Yes, you can - so long as you didn't intentionally kill the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.breakeryard.com/news/road-kill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Road kill&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For protected animals - like most wild birds - it's still legal.  But, if you were ever questioned, you'd have to prove that you weren't the one who killed it.  In other words, you're guilty until proven innocent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14631856&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Who, What, Why: Is it legal to eat wild birds?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Finland, roadkill is strictly off-limits.  They fear tapeworms, eaten by pets or by those who kill the animal, and other diseases (eg, African swine flu).  Here, you're supposed to bury the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.evira.fi/elaimet/elainsuojelu-ja-elainten-pito/kuolleet-elaimet/luonnonvaraiset-elaimet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Luonnonvaraiset eläimet (Finnish)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I hope you can read Finnish?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, I know you didn't ask about the US, but here is an interesting book on the subject in the US, Flattened Fauna.  I'm still laughing at the name, so, in retaliation, I'm including this link as well.  Maybe there's some info in there you might find useful.  :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1580087558&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flattened Fauna, Revised: A Field Guide to Common Animals of Roads, Streets, and Highways&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T02:41:44.060" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T02:41:44.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2017-01-25T00:49:58.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that this question has several good responses, but I would like to put forth my two bits worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to include the use of a boomerang as a non-gun hunting instrument or tool and has been historically used for hunting, as well as a sport, and entertainment, especially in &lt;em&gt;the land down under&lt;/em&gt;. They can be used on both small and large game alike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Boomerangs have been historically used for hunting, as well as a sport, and entertainment. They are commonly thought of as an Australian icon, and come in various shapes and sizes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Traditionally, most boomerangs used by aboriginal groups in Australia were 'non-returning'. These weapons, sometimes called &quot;throwsticks&quot; or &quot;kylies&quot;, were used for hunting a variety of prey, from kangaroos to parrots; at a range of about one hundred metres, a 2-kg non-returning boomerang could inflict mortal injury to a large animal.&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; A throwstick thrown nearly horizontally may fly in a nearly straight path and could fell a kangaroo on impact to the legs or knees, while the long-necked emu could be killed by a blow to the neck.[citation needed] Hooked non-returning boomerangs, known as &quot;beaked kylies&quot;, used in northern Central Australia, have been claimed to kill multiple birds when thrown into a dense flock. It should be noted that throwsticks are used as multi-purpose tools by today's aboriginal peoples, and besides throwing could be wielded as clubs, used for digging, used to start friction fires, and are sonorous when two are struck together.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boomerang (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what the Australian Museum has to say about the boomerang:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Those who witnessed Aboriginal cultures in the early colonial times left us different accounts. For example, the marine explorer Phillip Parker King observed in 1818 that a boomerang ‘is used by the natives with success in killing the kangaroo.’ Aborigines throw the boomerang ‘making it revolve on itself, and with such a velocity that one cannot see it ... only the whizzing of it is heard’ reported Francis Barrallier in 1802. An average hunting boomerang of about 500 grams looks like a thin soaring edge in flight, ‘but where it strikes, it breaks through with excessive impetus.’ It is an effective missile within a range of 200 metres. This is nearly three times the range of a hand-thrown spear. In experienced hands the boomerang can be a deadly weapon. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://australianmuseum.net.au/hunting-boomerang-a-weapon-of-choice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunting Boomerang: a Weapon of Choice&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g28PN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g28PN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gapyear.com/features/215468/brutal-facts-about-boomerangs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boomerangs come in different sizes and shapes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T00:49:58.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4995" CreationDate="2017-01-25T04:33:08.673" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To the direct question, as indicated in other answers, tourniquets are placed towards the torso from the site of injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's been a major initiative in the US known as &quot;Stop the Bleed.&quot;  You'll find a significant number of authoritative trainings and recommendations, including the use of tourniquets.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other answers mention the risk of complications with the tourniquet both in tissue damage from prolonged usage as well as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartment_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Compartment Syndrome&lt;/a&gt; upon release. Considering how long it will be to reach extended medical care is part of the equation that's beyond the immediate question.  &quot;The Great Outdoors&quot; includes back country where it may be several days to care, or a quick trip down the hill, the car, and a freeway to a trauma unit - or even a helicopter rescue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of other suggestions on the thread such as elevation that are situationally dependent on the method of injury and possibility of other injuries. They may not be appropriate in all cases.  For instance, a torso injury related to a fall in The Great Outdoors might be combined with an extremity bleed where elevation may exacerbate the combined injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, there are in-person trainings that include pressure point usage including (but not limited to): Stop the Bleed, general First Aid (often including CPR), Wilderness First Responder, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://emilms.fema.gov/IS0317/indexMenu.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)&lt;/a&gt; sections on medical response.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Wikipedia article on tourniquets is well written: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourniquet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourniquet&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note: I'm not a doctor, and this shouldn't be construed as authoritative medical advice. I recommend the &quot;Stop the Bleed&quot; links and resources mentioned over any unattributed advice in my or other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11971" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T05:09:16.853" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T05:09:16.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14990" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14991" CreationDate="2017-01-25T05:17:32.250" Score="12" ViewCount="3133" Body="&lt;p&gt;These were in abundance throughout Germany and looks kinda strange.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6rp6Cl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6rp6Cl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image of a strange seed/fruit in Germany&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12201" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:38:17.110" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:38:17.110" Title="What are these strange seeds that looks like a mini porcupine which you can find all over Germany?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14990" CreationDate="2017-01-25T07:30:22.923" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are not exactly the seeds, but the hull of the seeds of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculus_hippocastanum&quot;&gt;the horse chestnut&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Aesculus_hippocastanum_fruit.jpg/320px-Aesculus_hippocastanum_fruit.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chestnuts.&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aesculus_hippocastanum_fruit.jpg&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aesculus_hippocastanum_fruit.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T07:30:22.923" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14992" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15276" CreationDate="2017-01-25T10:35:30.290" Score="18" ViewCount="24422" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a graphic representation of the terms used in mountaineering literature which narrates different aspects/parts of a mountain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While reading any expedition report, climbing detail we come across following terms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Summit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ridge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ledge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gorge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chimney&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Col&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Face&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cliff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Saddle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pinnacle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can we have a combined representation of (most, if possible all of) these in a single graphic?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T13:59:28.810" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T13:59:28.810" Title="Terms for different parts of a mountain" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14992" CreationDate="2017-01-25T10:37:48.067" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have come-up with a hand-run sketch, may or may not be accurate. But I have tried to translate the local terms we use, and I have pick-up the terms in English that came closest in terms of meaning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xitcU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xitcU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; See updated images.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NGr2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NGr2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In second image, top left corner, I have tried to come-up with something which can explain Face and Cliff. From point A, one would see the drop and call it Cliff. From point B, one would see a vertical rock raising above him/her and call it a Face. (The black shading &lt;em&gt;tries&lt;/em&gt; to show a vertical drop)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless I am so good at 3-D sketching, I doubt if I could ever come-up with a sketch which could have differentiated a Dike and a Mesa. So, I chose to share a picture of a dike separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krK6N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/krK6N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T16:42:38.547" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T16:42:38.547" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14994" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14998" CreationDate="2017-01-25T11:07:59.853" Score="17" ViewCount="10763" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any specifics about how to differentiate a Pass and a Col in terms of mountaineering?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For non-mountaineering and non-geographical interests it's all the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T04:39:48.847" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T07:55:30.447" Title="What is the difference between a Pass and a Col?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2017-01-25T11:08:55.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally think of it this way: Passes are less steeper, and are something which are/were used by people commuting for any reason for that matter. Whereas Cols are something which are comparatively steeper and there may or may not be an established walk-able path/trail through it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consequently, a Pass can definitely be approached from both the sides. Thats not always true/applicable to a Col. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T11:08:55.133" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2017-01-25T11:44:56.130" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pass and col are synonymous.  Col is French whereas the word pass has entered the Germanic languages (German word is &lt;em&gt;Pass&lt;/em&gt;).  The word col entered English usage because of anglophone mountaineers in the French Alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T18:38:23.857" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T18:38:23.857" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14997" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="14999" CreationDate="2017-01-25T13:23:18.310" Score="14" ViewCount="1589" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand the basics of trek / hiking meals which are primarily freeze-dried, lightweight and carbohydrate rich.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those of us with access to a base camp who wish to consume mainly protein supplemented with fats what are you recommendations for protein or fat rich foods using traditional camping methods (Stove, Gas, JetBoil etc).  A large part of the outdoor diet is comprised of freeze dried and carbohydrate rich / high sodium ingredients. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What factors should I consider to prepare high protein meals using a single camping stove and pan?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ease of transport&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Items that don't require refrigeration&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Items which can be cooked without the use of a campfire, microwave, oven or slow cooker type device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-01-25T20:16:14.817" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T17:58:35.567" Title="What factors should I consider to prepare high protein meals using a single camping stove and pan?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;nutrition&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2017-01-25T13:38:37.583" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both words refer to the same topography, which is a &lt;i&gt;saddle point&lt;/i&gt;.  The land goes up in two opposite directions, and down in the two other opposite directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me at least, a col is just this basic topography.  However, a pass implies the saddle point is a reasonable travel connection between the two downhill directions.  Since the two uphill directions of the saddle point form a ridge, a pass is a point that allows reasonable &lt;i&gt;passage&lt;/i&gt; over that ridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a pass is a col, but not all cols are passes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T13:38:37.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="14999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14997" CreationDate="2017-01-25T15:52:57.850" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am pretty certain that this is what you are looking for,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gviUZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gviUZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;jar of peanut butter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.myamericanmarket.com/us/jif-peanut-butter-extra-crunchy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two tablespoons (32g) of the stuff has &lt;strong&gt;8g of protein&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;16g of fat&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;amp;ion=1&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=protein%20in%20peanut%20butter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It easy to carry, does not require refrigeration or cooking. Typically I eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon and &lt;strong&gt;can go through one of the jars pictured in about a week.&lt;/strong&gt;  Yes, it does get old after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more ideas take a look at this &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/21416/high-protein-hiking-foods/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; which includes; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jerky&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foil wrapped fish and meat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cured bacon and sausage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeze dried meat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheeses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered milk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protein powders&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protein bars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nut butters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Legumes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nuts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seeds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition the list can be expanded with&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered egg whites&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeze dried yohgurt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lentils&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Homemade protein bread from coconut flour, eggs, coconut milk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T17:58:35.567" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T17:58:35.567" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14997" CreationDate="2017-01-25T16:04:59.570" Score="12" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what are you recommendations for protein or fat rich foods using traditional camping methods&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Focusing on the fat part, the following are all practical sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;olive oil, or any other vegetable oil, which you can add to rice or pasta, dip crackers in etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nuts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ghee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hard cheeses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;string cheese (if you can find some that's not nonfat)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;salami, pepperoni, slim jims, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also increase fat by substituting crackers and potato chips for bread and tortillas. Potato chips can be put through a food processor to make them more compact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a long trip where you're worried about energy debt and undesired weight loss, it makes sense to find palatable ways to add fat to your food supply, because it's the most dense form of food energy, at 9 kcals/gram. Since the question seems to be motivated by a desire to reduce carbs, I will just note that carbs serve as the primer for fat metabolism, and if you don't have enough carbs in proportion to fat, you will get incomplete fat metabolism, which leads to accumulation of ketone bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2017-01-25T16:04:59.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17228" CreationDate="2017-01-25T22:02:20.783" Score="9" ViewCount="1441" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Context:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope, aka cordage, is useful in many bushcraft projects. Cordage can be useful to hang things up, and it is particularly valuable in constructing tools (e.g. bow drills for fire making, making connections between stone and wood in cutting tools) and furniture or shelters (e.g. setting up tables and stands, connecting parts of walls or structures together). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cordage is easier to bring in to the field rather than try to make it on the spot, but in minimalist or primitive skills, one may choose to make cordage instead of bring it. In those cases, where cordage is to be wild-crafted, people make it from materials like bark, roots, inner fibers from woody plants or grasses, or fibers from animal parts. Some materials are ready to be used right away, and some materials need to be worked on more (e.g. pulled apart or twisted together) before they can be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Question:&lt;/h3&gt;   &#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What plant materials are available for wild-crafting cordage in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_forest-boreal_transition&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion&lt;/a&gt; (e.g. the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA). What was used by indigenous peoples or what is used by primitive skills practitioners now?&lt;/strong&gt; Please be specific enough that the info could be put to practice. For example, if you say 'bark' make note of what tree species, what season the material is gathered in, and what extra work is required before the material can be used as basic rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a standard example of what makes the material usable as rope: the wild-crafted cordage will be used to hold poles of wood together making a table that can support a light weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T22:37:19.093" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T00:34:57.840" Title="What materials can be used to make cordage in forests of the Adirondacks?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15003" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15004" CreationDate="2017-01-26T00:43:39.130" Score="13" ViewCount="2017" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leeches have been known to fall and attach on the eyeballs of hapless hikers. Where I'm from, if a leech attaches itself to you, you just spray it with alcohol and it will shrink and fall off. Obviously spraying alcohol on your eyes is not advisable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked a guide how they would remove one in case it happened, and I was told we would either need tweezers or someone with sharp nails, but both seem to have an opportunity for further injury. I also read that you can just wait for the leech to get full and it will remove itself from you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to remove a leech from your eyes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T15:32:08.033" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T17:51:11.813" Title="How do you remove leeches from your eyeball?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;leeches&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15003" CreationDate="2017-01-26T00:58:25.133" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/how-to-remove-a-leech-from-an-eyeball/news-story/ad58d555d88808c21143d23fbcef02b5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;story&lt;/a&gt; says that a saline solution was used and it was not pulled off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dr Fogg says &lt;strong&gt;tweezers were not an option as simply pulling the leech off could leave its head lodged in the eyeball&lt;/strong&gt;, leading to infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A check of the medical literature revealed two other suggestions - using an anaesthetic on the eye to put the leech to sleep, or salted water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The woman's husband had made an earlier unsuccessful attempt using salted tap water, before she went to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;We numbed the eyeball so we could have a better look at it... but the leech wasn't apparently affected by it,'' Dr Fogg says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Salt crystals also posed some risk of being &quot;abrasive to the eyeball'' and so doctors turned to a hospital staple - &lt;strong&gt;saline solution&lt;/strong&gt; which has many uses, including being used in intravenous drips for people who lack enough salt in their blood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saline solution was now recommended for the treatment of people with leeches on their eyeballs&lt;/strong&gt;, and Dr Fogg says that was not as rare as it sounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nature.com/eye/journal/v20/n3/full/6701862a.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; says that cooking salt and pulling with forceps were used to remove the leach&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The mass was identified as a tiger leech 'Haemadipsa picta' (Figure 1a). This was removed with &lt;strong&gt;direct application of cooking salt to the leech&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;gentle traction with forceps&lt;/strong&gt; ensuring the head was not left in the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a picture of a tiger leech.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tiger_leech_(Haemadipsa_picta).jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Tiger_leech_%28Haemadipsa_picta%29.jpg/800px-Tiger_leech_%28Haemadipsa_picta%29.jpg&quot;/&gt;&#xA;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All emphasis is mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You should not take medical information from the internet and instead seek medical help if at all possible.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T17:51:11.813" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T17:51:11.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14975" CreationDate="2017-01-26T04:43:24.270" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;TL;DR&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't do it. It is really easy to ruin a perfectly good pair of skis. A great way to handle ski maintenance is to wax your own skis, touch up the burrs with a fine grit diamond stone (400-grit or so), and let a professional ski shop handle your edges a couple times per season. This would be analogous to doing your own oil changes on a car, but letting a mechanic deal with fixing the brakes and replacing the spark plugs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, if you are mechanically competent and approach ski tuning methodically, maintaining your ski's edges isn't truly that hard. If you're capable of sharpening a quality knife, you are already halfway to being able to tune ski edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one stop recommendation for edge bevels: 1 degree base edge, 91 (aka 1 aka 89) degree side edge. More aggressive angles are more aggressive, but can also be terrifying and potentially dangerous. Seemingly minute changes (less than half a degree) majorly impact how a ski behaves. Some ski manufacturers will give their recommended edge angles for specific skis (usually buried away in technical specs). Files are for rough shaping, diamond stones are for sharpening, smoothing, and removing burrs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you don't do your own tuning, knowing what you're after can help a ski tech give you a good tune.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introductory Remarks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This link from &lt;a href=&quot;https://the-raceplace.com/pages/how-to-tune-edges&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Race Place&lt;/a&gt; gives a nice overview from which I'm cribbing and double-checking myself. My personal experience comes from 20+ years of tuning my own skis as well as working in ski shops off and on over the last decade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This post is almost entirely about why you might choose specific edge angles; it is not a how to. If you want to see how to actually tune edges, check out these ski tuning videos:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJsxgrwR7IE&amp;amp;ab_channel=SVSTskitools&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sun Valley Ski Tools Base Edge&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0E4UgFPW14&amp;amp;ab_channel=SVSTskitools&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SVST Side Edge Part 1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y0P45p1l94&amp;amp;ab_channel=SVSTskitools&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Part 2&lt;/a&gt; are nice concise videos (~15min for all three)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FJlpcbOk2A&amp;amp;ab_channel=FischerSports&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;World Cup Ski Tech Leo Mussi&lt;/a&gt; taking a ski from start to finish. German with subtitles. Beautiful to watch this man work. Note that he's dealing with a factory fresh world cup ski that only needs side edge beveling. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdgshStMh0A&amp;amp;ab_channel=JansMainStore&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alex Martin&lt;/a&gt; is a world cup ski technician, working with Head Skis and tuning for the likes of Ted Ligety. This is a 40 min long, comprehensive video.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNzve8w2S0E&amp;amp;ab_channel=JansMainStore&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toko Ski Tech: Side Edge Angling&lt;/a&gt; is a 40min long, comprehensive video.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ski tuning world has lots of idiosyncrasies about the best way to do anything. For example, different ski techs will adamantly tell you to tune the base edge or the side edge first, or that all tuning strokes must go from tip to tail. Follow whoever's advice makes sense to you; the key is to do everything consistently and get the same tune on your skis every time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Base&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before even thinking of tuning edges, the base (ptex portion) must be flat from edge to edge. This is checked by holding a &lt;a href=&quot;https://the-raceplace.com/collections/tuning-equipment/products/true-beast-ski-true-bar?variant=27621853703&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;truing bar&lt;/a&gt; against the base of the ski and seeing if/where light shines through between the base and the truing bar while sighting along the base of the ski. For a quick check at home, any object known to be &lt;em&gt;absolutely, perfectly flat&lt;/em&gt; can be substituted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the base is convex (edges lower than base, light shines underneath the truing bar at the edges), the ski will feel &quot;washed out&quot;, hard to turn, or &quot;wander-y&quot;.  In effect, you will need to tip the ski over exceedingly far in order to turn. If the base is concave (edges higher than base, light shines under the center of the truing bar), the ski will feel twitchy and unpredictable. Whenever the ski is running flat, each edge will be fighting to turn the ski opposite directions, generally causing terror. You can also detect a concave base (edge high) by running the truing bar along the base of the ski and listening for the edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While very minor deviations from a flat base can be corrected at home (some dirtbags will use a small hand plane or sandpaper), it is best to get a &quot;Stone Grind&quot; from a reputable ski shop. This has the additional benefit of &lt;em&gt;structuring&lt;/em&gt; the bases, which is important for optimal running characteristics. Additionally, a stone grind is your reset button (within reason) for edge angles if you have created a monster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tools&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with any tools, you get what you pay for. Generally well regarded brands for ski tuning equipment include Swix, Toko, Sun Valley Ski Tools, and BEAST. There are many others out there, many of which produce good stuff. If possible, try to buy from ski tuning / ski racing suppliers and avoid generic big box hardware store tools.  Brands usually market their highest end tools as &quot;World Cup Doo-Hickey Thingamajigger.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A file guide is used to ensure that you are shaping your edges to a consistent angle--keep in mind that we'll be discussing the differences between 1 and 2 degrees. Some World Cup ski techs have tuned thousands of pairs of skis and can do this freehand, but us mere mortals cannot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Files (which can be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.artechski.com/swix-stainless-steel-racing-file-fine-10-cm-17-tpcm/?gclid=CjwKEAiA2abEBRCdx7PqqunM1CYSJABf3qvay-JFzLKRx77UTYr7tacASJLah2qaBvSH463aJ1nTPBoCXz3w_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;shockingly expensive&lt;/a&gt; for truly top-notch ones) are used for removing large amounts of material, but leave a rough edge. Diamond stones are used to bring an edge the last few smidgens into spec and to smooth things out. Just like sandpaper, a 100-grit diamond stone will be coarser and remove more material, while a 1000-grit diamond stone will remove less material and leave a nicer edge. Diamond stones also have a side benefit: when you clip a rock with an edge, the remaining material can become work hardened, to the point that you could actually dull a file. A diamond stone can remove this outer layer, allowing your files to work properly on the underlying material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will generally only use your files a handful of times per season: when changing edge angles or repairing damage. Diamond stones are used for daily/weekly/monthly touch ups and sharpening. Think of it as caring for a fine kitchen knife: you wouldn't go set it up on a vice in the workshop and take a bastard file to it every time it was getting dull. That would only be the case if the edge chipped and you need to do major modifications. Instead, you would use a diamond stone / pocket stone / water stone / etc to restore the fine cutting edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a bare bones home setup, I would recommend a cheaper file and a lower grit diamond stone (probably 200 or grit or so) as well as an adjustable file guide (one each, base edge and side edge). Additionally, you will need a ski vice (or similar) to hold the skis in place and something to hold the bakes back while you work (the rubber bands from the produce aisle work well). From there, suggestions for upgrades would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A gummi stone: used to debur ski edges after tuning, similar in idea to a honing steel for a chef's knife. These come in various hardnesses, start with a medium hardness and build your collection outwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A side edge file: basically a really short file that can follow the contours of the edges on modern shaped skis more easily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A base edge file: the biggest, baddest, widest file you've ever seen, which is useful to ensure that the base edge is filed flat (as opposed to having wavy undulations).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Higher quality file guides: you will get more precision and durability out of high quality, solid metal file guides. Note that many high end file guides are fixed angle tools, necessitating multiple purchases if you want to tune different edge angles. Spring loaded clamps (from the hardware store) are useful to ensure that your files/stones are staying tight against your file guides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A full set of diamond stones, ranging from 100 grit to 1000+ grit. Alternatively, some people prefer a set of ceramic stones or a set of Arkansas Pocket Stones.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A sidewall plane: as edges get filed back, the actual sides of the skis can interfere with tuning the edges and a sidewall plane is used to removing this obstructing material.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Base / Side edge bevel meters: really starting to get esoteric here, but are used to verify that an edge has been tuned to the desired parameters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The list goes on from there, but you probably don't need this post if you need more ideas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There Are Two Edge Angles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before we begin talking about specific edge angles, there are actually two edge angles we need to talk about: base edge angles / base edge bevel and side edge angle / side edge bevel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6P3Jp.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6P3Jp.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Edge Angle Picture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Base Edge Angles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Base edge angles affect how far the point on your edges gets lifted off the snow when the ski is flat, and generally range from 0 to 3 degrees. A smaller angle will help the ski initiate turns quickly, but can make things happen a little too quickly. Terrifying. Conversely, a larger angle will take longer to initiate turns, but will be more predictable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For harder snow, a smaller base edge angle is beneficial. For softer snow / powder, a larger base edge angle is better. From a tuning perspective, decreasing the base edge angle generally necessitates a stone grind to reset to zero followed by hand filing with a guide to reach the desired angle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some recommendations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;1 degree: expert ski racers. Slalom skiers might be around 0--0.5 degrees, while a super-g or downhill racer might be closer to 1 degree.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 degree: as close as it comes to the golden angle. Generally a good starting place on an unfamiliar ski. Many very good skiers have never been on anything else. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;2 degree: very forgiving, almost unresponsive ski. Can be good for a dedicated powder ski that will never see hardpack, or for freestyle moguls or park &amp;amp; pipe. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, if a ski feels overly twitchy and aggressive, increase the base edge angle. If a ski feels unreactive and unwilling to initiate turns, decrease the base edge angle. Adjustments will have more effect on harder snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Side Edge Angles&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, the humanity! There isn't a standardized way of measuring angles. Company A's 1 degree is Company B's 91 degree is Company C's 89 degree. European companies usually measure 86-90 degrees, while US companies usually measure 90-94 degrees. I will use the 90--94 convention. Adding on to that confusion, you must also take into consideration that both the base edge angle and side edge angle affect what angle is formed at the point. For example, a tune with a 1 degree base edge and a 92 degree side edge will have those edges meeting at an 89 degree point. As such, changing the base edge angle often, but not always, necessitates changing the side edge angle as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z9lcP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z9lcP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Base Bevel + Side Bevel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Increasing the side edge angle (say 93 degrees) will make the ski bite harder and turn more aggressively. A more conservative side edge angle (say 90--91 degrees) will help the ski release from turns and be more forgiving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, a few starting points might be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;90 degrees: beginner skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;91 degrees: 90% of skis &amp;amp; skiers. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;92 degrees: Expert skiers, on-piste carving skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;93 degrees: Ski racing, expert skier on carving skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;94 degrees: World Cup level ski racing in slalom. Even then, 94 degrees is rare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the ski feels like it is washing out of turns and not holding an edge, increase the edge angle. If the ski has a mind of its own once on edge and doesn't like to release from turns, decrease the edge angle. Too high of an edge angle is a great way to destroy your knee. Additionally, note that a larger side edge angle, in conjunction with a smaller base edge angle, creates a sharper point which can be more fragile upon impact with rocks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For harder snow, a sharper side edge angle helps the ski bite and carve. For softer snow, a sharper edge angle doesn't have as much benefit and can even be detrimental.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Example Scenarios, Other Considerations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While 99% of skis should be tuned with a consistent edge angle from tip to tail, you can actually vary the base and side edge angles along the length of the ski. This starts to get into the dark arts of ski tuning, but can be beneficial for certain conditions and as a way of compensating for an individual skier's technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a few scenarios with recommendations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alice has never skied before and has just bought her first pair of skis. Recommend 1 degree base and 90 or 91 degree side edge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bob is an intermediate skier who likes to go all over the mountain and is a weekend warrior, with a pair of all-mountain skis. Recommend 1 degree base and 91 degree side edge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carol is an advanced skier who rarely ventures off trail, instead preferring to take her carving skis on groomed runs. Recommend 1 degree base and 92 or 93 degree side edge. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dave is an expert skier who goes everywhere and cranks out beautiful turns on any terrain and any snow. Recommend 1 degree base and 92 degree side edge. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eve is an Olympic-calibre ski racer, specializing in the slalom. Recommend 0.5 degree base edge and 93 or 94 degree side edge. Better yet, work for multiple seasons with Eve to dial in her tuning specs &amp;amp; preferences, validating changes with timed training runs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frank is a 14 year old, budding ski racer. He lives for speed and is gravitating towards the super-g (Mom &amp;amp; Dad refuse to let him race downhill yet). Recommend 1 degree base edge and 93 degree side edge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grace is a freestyle mogul skier who also spends time in the pipe &amp;amp; park. Recommend 1-2 degree base edge and 92 degree side edge. Consider having less aggressive edge angles in the tip and tail to make off-kilter landings and unexpected bumps more manageable. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harold is a ski mountaineer. He lives for making technical jump turns down icy, 60-degree couloirs. Consider the following: 1-2 degree base edge and 91 degree side edge tip and tail, transitioning to 0 degree base and 93 degree side angle underfoot. This will minimize the risk of hooking a tip or tail on a jump turn, while giving as much grip as possible in the middle of turns. This will ski &lt;em&gt;terribly&lt;/em&gt; under other circumstances. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ingrid only ever skis powder out of a helicopter or snowcat on her 125mm waisted skis. Recommend 1 degree base edge and 1 degree side edge angles, aka the edge angles will basically never matter. However, if she does (&lt;em&gt;gasp&lt;/em&gt;) encounter non-blower powder, her ski will be predictable. Never expect to have to tune Ingrid's edges again, outside of removing burrs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;James loves his skis (the Awesome Ski Company's xTrEmE GraPhiX 185), but they are getting beat up and just aren't performing the way they used to. Recommend seeing if Awesome Ski Company lists their factoring tuning specifications for that specific model, perhaps even give the company a call to see what they recommend for that model. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Katrina is generally happy with how her skis perform, but feels like they're a touch &quot;hooky,&quot; i.e., they start turns too aggressively. Try increasing the base edge angle in the tip or perhaps slightly detuning the tips. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liam is an expert skier who had a compound femur fracture &amp;amp; tore his ACL on the first run of the season. After numerous surgeries and extensive physical therapy, Liam has been cleared to start skiing again. Recommend 1 degree base edge and 90 or 91 degree side edge to start, perhaps moving to more aggressive angles as he heals and regains strength. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mary lives for terrain parks and hits rails whenever possible. Recommend...hopeless. Rails will round-over and generally mess up edges quickly. Start with something forgiving (say 2 degree base, 91-92 degree side edge) and try to smooth out the most offending burrs. Strongly recommend having one pair of skis for pipe and park and a pair of skis for everything else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nathan generally likes the way his skis are performing for him, but wishes they had just a bit more grip on hardpack. Try slightly increasing the edge angle--even half a degree could be enough and we don't want to mess with the other performance characteristics. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2017-01-26T22:46:40.153" LastActivityDate="2017-01-26T22:46:40.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15002" CreationDate="2017-01-26T11:56:00.217" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Spruce roots&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spruce roots have been used as cordage since prehistorical times, they were also used by native inhabitants of North America (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primitiveways.com/cordage_in_North_America.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Very short explanation:&lt;/strong&gt; basically you dig up spruce roots, then &lt;em&gt;shave off its bark and the small side-roots&lt;/em&gt; by pulling the length of the root through a split stick. You then &lt;em&gt;split the root down its length&lt;/em&gt;, leaving you with two flexible and strong pieces of cordage that you can use. Some sources suggest to &lt;em&gt;pull the root halves over an edge&lt;/em&gt; to increase their flexibility before use, but apart from that no further processing is necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you didn't know Ray Mears, his shows are all well worth watching. Not as sensationalist as other modern survival shows, just solid proven bushcraft techniques from all over the world. Also you find many of them on YouTube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you search Google for 'spruce root cordage' you will find a ton of resources, ranging from historical accounts, detailed tutorials and of course videos of people harvesting spruce roots and processing them into usable cordage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-15T00:34:57.840" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T00:34:57.840" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15008" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15009" CreationDate="2017-01-27T02:36:37.900" Score="8" ViewCount="1061" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually when I'm at the beach, especially at low tide, there are many pieces of open or broken shells of &lt;a href=&quot;http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bivalve.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mollusks&lt;/a&gt;, including clams. They can't survive without their shells, so those broken pieces are left over from animals which have died. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every once in a while, I'll come across some intact clam shells. Those indicate the presence of a clam. They all belong to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivalvia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bivalvia&lt;/a&gt; family, but the smaller sized varieties are most common along the beaches I frequent. Since these clams live under the wet sand, that can mean they're either already dead but haven't yet been eaten, or have just been washed up with the tide and are still alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I see clams above ground under the hot sun, I'm concerned that drying out is dangerous for them. If I put them out into the water, are they more likely to stay healthy? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/clams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; has good information about the types of clams I'm most likely referring to, along with pictures showing the sizes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on these pictures to see them a bit more clearly.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1PgwK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1PgwK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of five different types of clams&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/esDYq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/esDYqm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of manila and native clams&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note: I understand there are predators on the beach, including humans, but the purpose of the question is about maintaining the health of the clams, not protecting them from predators.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T05:40:35.993" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T05:40:35.993" Title="Will a live clam on the beach have a better chance of staying healthy if I put it in the water?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15008" CreationDate="2017-01-27T09:39:57.873" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you mean the little clams you get on the beach (Part of the Bivalvia group?) rather than bigger beasts like razors, scallops, mussels, or oysters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could plop it in a pool of water, it would likely do better, but they will often survive when left, it's part of their daily cycle living in the sand. In the same way seaweed drys out and survives over the course of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It shouldn't matter about fresh or salt water that you put them in (when storing for food you can leave them in fresh, they filter feed so often you do this with mussels with some oatmeal to make them cleaner as they will pick up nasty chemicals in the sea).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Source just what I did in A-Level Bio when studying &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limpet&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;limpets&lt;/a&gt; and sea-life on British rocky shores.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-01-28T00:04:21.807" LastActivityDate="2017-01-28T00:04:21.807" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15010" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15012" CreationDate="2017-01-27T10:34:51.107" Score="9" ViewCount="1586" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a significant proportion of individuals who enjoy the Great Outdoors that also travel to the wilderness in vehicles converted for camping (RV, Vans, some boats etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those living an outdoor/van/boat life experience what are the risks of sleeping and cooking in a confined, insulated vehicle, and, crucially, how can that be managed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T08:43:33.353" Title="How to manage the risks of sleeping and cooking in a camper van?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15010" CreationDate="2017-01-27T13:04:21.020" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The three risks that are relevant here are the risk of fire, suffocation and carbon monoxide poisoning&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll take suffocation first. A gas leak can exclude oxygen to the point that you can no longer breathe, but there are standard mitigations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the gas canister is usually mounted external to the passenger cabin, in a compartment vented downwards, so that gas escaping a badly fitted connector will not enter the cabin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cookers typically have a safety cutoff that is heat operated, so if a flame blows out, the gas flow will stop.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;propane has a distinctive smell added, so it may wake you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;while the main leak risk is from the connection to the canister, there is obviously a risk of leaks anywhere, so gas leak alarms are used &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon monoxide poisoning is unfortunately a bit more likely. Carbon monoxide is typically a byproduct of burning a flame without enough oxygen, so the usual mitigation is to have a window open. Simple but effective. Like the propane detectors, carbon monoxide detectors will loudly warn you of a leak&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire (and explosion) is mitigated in the main by the cutoff and venting. When lighting a gas cooker, there is usually a requirement to hold the ignition until the flame has caught - and if the flame goes out, the cutoff will stop gas flow shortly afterwards. So the main fire risk when asleep is from leaving flames on - so checking all fire is out before going to bed is essential. No using the cooker as a heater when cold! Just wrap up warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-01-29T08:43:33.353" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T08:43:33.353" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15013" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15014" CreationDate="2017-01-27T13:39:25.813" Score="10" ViewCount="1465" Body="&lt;p&gt;Propane is naturally odorless, the smell we associate with it is the result of adding &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanethiol&quot;&gt;ethyl mercaptan.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible for the ethyl mercaptan to deteriorate, bind with something in the tank or settle so that escaping propane would be without odor? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually get my propane bottles filled from a larger tank propane fuel stop.  If no one has purchased propane from seller for a while, I imagine it is possible for the ethyl mercaptan to settle in such a way that, my 5 gallon or 20 pound tank is pure propane without the additive, or inversely settle so the it all went in prevouse purchases so only pure propane remains in the large supply tank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2017-01-29T15:27:41.467" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:39:37.543" Title="Can Propane lose its stink?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15013" CreationDate="2017-01-27T15:46:36.283" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Odor Loss. &lt;strong&gt;On rare occasions, propane can lose its odor.&lt;/strong&gt; Several things can cause this including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air, water, or rust in a propane tank or cylinder can reduce propane odor concentration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the propane is leaking underground, its passage through soil may reduce the smell of propane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The propane odor may stick to the inside surfaces of gas piping and distribution systems and possibly other materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Since there is a possibility of odor loss or problems with your sense of smell, you should respond immediately to even a faint odor of gas&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emphasis Mine&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pgane.org/consumer-safety/large-tanks/#6&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-27T20:00:44.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15013" CreationDate="2017-01-27T15:55:43.653" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Propane and any of several kinds of mercaptan used as oderants are mixed at the refinery.  Due to pressures in the tanks and the physical characteristics (liquefying) of gases at those pressures, the gases mix as a sort of a solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mercaptan is an extremely pungent material, and is detectable at one part per billion.  OSHA limits use to 10 parts per million.  This means, very little amount of mercaptan needs to be used for the purpose of oderant.  As a result, the slightest amount of contaminants in tanks, valves, or piping; or the slightest mistake in refinery, distribution, or filling, can have a huge impact on its effectiveness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mercaptan reacts to many things it comes into contact with, and once this happens it no longer has the properties it was designed to be used for - a means to detect gas leaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you can no longer smell the gas, it is said to have &quot;faded&quot;.  There are many causes for odor fade:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When propane gas is consumed, it depressurizes and becomes a gas.  Because propane boils and turns to a gas at very low temperatures, -44F, it remains a gas in most environments.  But mercaptan boils and turns to gas at about 42F, and things get complicated here.  Above 42F, mercaptan is a gas, and so, is easily detected.  Below 42F, mercaptan is a liquid.  In this state, it has little means to reach our olfactory senses, except through propane gas itself, which it does so as tiny droplets of liquid.  When the amount of propane leakage is small, then smelling mercaptan becomes more difficult to do.  This is why in the cold, it can be difficult to detect by smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wrong type of canister is used to store the propane, there can be a reaction between the tank walls and the mercaptan.  For example, one form of mercaptan, called tertiary butyl mercaptan, can react with porous walls of new steel pipe, valves, or tanks.  Specifically, it reacts with mill scale and rust, which includes metal oxides, and forms disulfides which are less odorous than mercaptan - thus causing odor fade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wrong method of filling a propane tank is used, where air might be introduced into the tank, the mercaptan can react with the air, weakening the effect of the odorant.  What happens here, is pipes, tanks, and valves can re-oxidize, forming more iron oxide or other rust compounds, which can oxidize the mercaptan and create disulfides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The valves and tubes (and tank) need to be treated - pickled, usually by mercaptan - and if the right tank were used with the wrong tubing or valves, that will cause odor fade as the mercaptan adsorbs to the tank or valves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the propane contains impurities, there's a potential for reactions.  Naturally odorized gas usually contains sulfides and mercaptan, and together creates potential for oxidation and disulfide conversion.  For this reason, most places restrict naturally odorized gas use in consumer use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside the tank, odors are not really faded - but some materials can adsorb the mercaptan (adsorb means to stick to, whereas absorb means to mix).  If there is a leak of propane, you'd expect to smell it.  But if the leak occurred underground, the mercaptan reacts with soil, leaving odorless propane.  Worse, it will settle into low areas.  Propane is not poisonous, but it is an asphyxiant.  If propane gathers in low areas, you might escape explosion hazards, but you wont escape oxygen depletion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mercaptan is also reactive to masonry and fabrics.  This is one reason, among many others, propane should not be stored indoors.  Leaks can have mercaptan adsorbed into walls, furniture, flooring, and fabrics.  Of course, this leaves a more permanent smell, and over time, you become &quot;odor fatigued&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Odor fatigue can occur when you constantly smell a substance - like mercaptan - and you get used to it.  Being near water treatment plants which give off gases reminiscent of mercaptan, or near landfills which give off similar gasses, you become used to the smell and then don't notice it much anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Odors can be masked, as well.  Working in environments with strong odors - stronger than mercaptan - can dull your senses and you can miss the mercaptan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who are older can lose olfactory senses and not notice a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who are sick, such as those who have colds, their olfactory senses are dulled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, improper consumption of propane can cause odor fade.  It is not uncommon to use a portable BBQ grill with an inflexible pipe connected to a 1lb canister which is upside down.  In this case, due to the design of the canister, liquid propane pours through the valves and piping and into the stove.  The liquified propane does not mix with air well, and so, you note incomplete combustion by way of yellow flames and soot.  (It's a huge waste of propane as well.)  If there was a leak, the sooty byproduct of the stove burner can easily mask the smell - even burn along with it.  In addition, this incomplete combustion also produces a highly toxic gas, called carbon monoxide.  Any time you note yellow flames produced from natural gas, propane, butane, or any mixtures therein, you're sure to wind up with CO.  Just one more reason to keep the burner outside or have a proper ventilated system. And to be sure the canisters are always upright.  In fact, some 20lb tanks are designed to shut off if they are tilted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.suhresgas.com/help/LP_GAS_ORORIZATION_INFO.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.suhresgas.com/help/LP_GAS_ORORIZATION_INFO.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://naturalgasodorization.com/page/3/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://naturalgasodorization.com/page/3/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T03:39:37.543" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:39:37.543" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15016" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16019" CreationDate="2017-01-28T19:50:25.350" Score="4" ViewCount="8372" Body="&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14950/what-kind-of-tree-produces-these-seed-pods-looking-like-spiky-balls&quot;&gt;last question&lt;/a&gt; provided me with a very thorough answer and I'm hoping for the same thing with this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another kind of tree in my area (southeast Virginia) produces these long seed pods with seeds that are about the size of a sunflower seed (and look like it too).  When the pods first fell, they were green in color.  They are very long (longer than a pencil)_, and contain multiple seeds.  They hung from the tree and look similar to a sweet pea pod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rOjim.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rOjim.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pod and Pencil&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rtl7l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rtl7l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Seed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qmZ83.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qmZ83.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tree Bark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of tree produces these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:38:08.360" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T16:48:35.750" Title="What kind of tree produces these long multi-seed pods?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15016" CreationDate="2017-01-28T20:09:12.917" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to say that the tree belongs to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Catalpa family.&lt;/a&gt; Here is a picture of the green bean pods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Catalpa_beanpods.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Northern_Catalpa_beanpods.jpg&quot;/&gt;&#xA;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the autumn they bear 20–50 centimetres (7.9–19.7 in) long fruits that resemble a &lt;strong&gt;slender bean pod full of small flat seeds&lt;/strong&gt;, each with two thin wings to aid in wind dispersal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These trees have few limb droppage, but &lt;strong&gt;drop large dark-brown bean pods during late summer&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two subspecies in North America, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_bignonioides&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Catalpa bignonioides (southern catalpa) &lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_speciosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Catalpa speciosa (northern catalpa),&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between the two is described as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Northern and southern catalpas are very similar in appearance, but the northern species has slightly larger leaves, flowers, and bean pods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa#Species&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and talking about the Southern species,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is closely related to the Northern Catalpa (C. speciosa), and can be distinguished by the flowering panicles, which bear a larger number of smaller flowers, and the slightly slenderer seed pods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_bignonioides#Description&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-01-28T20:09:12.917" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15018" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-28T20:56:05.477" Score="4" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do different ski characteristics relate to the skiing ability and snow conditions? Also how do these relate with ski durability in time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ski characteristics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Front tip width&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Middle width&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Back tip width&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radius&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camber / Rocker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Metal tip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nucleus material: composite, wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stiffness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that this could mean a really long answer, but I guess it will help a lot of us in choosing a ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12091" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T21:33:10.443" Title="Relation of ski characteristics to skiing ability and snow conditions" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15019" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15056" CreationDate="2017-01-29T00:35:47.583" Score="3" ViewCount="348" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband recently lost a pair of ear warmers he got at North Face 15 years ago. North Face no longer sells them, so I'm looking for a high-quality replacement. I'm confused by the types of materials used in construction, what they mean, and how they should factor into my purchasing decision.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He had 180's®, and that's what he wants again. I'm not sure if 180's® is a brand, or just a registered style name, but since the question's about materials used, it isn't meant to be a brand request.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After much online research, I've narrowed it down to three pairs that are comparably priced, and look similar to what he had. Each has these same important features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Patented behind-the-head design &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fits comfortably over the ears&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be worn with other headwear, glasses and head protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjustable click-to-fit frames guarantee an easy, comfortable fit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collapsible for easy storage &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've included some descriptions in my choices, but have left out the above features, as I didn't see a need to repeat them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each potential choice has pictures on the linked pages. They are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=49580096&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Urban Ear Warmer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Durable and warm, the 180's® Urban Ear Warmers are guaranteed to keep you dry and comfortable all season long. Soft shell body and fleece lining provide warmth and wind and water resistance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fabric: 97% polyester, 3% spandex&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=49580086&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tec Fleece Ear Warmers&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cold winter days call for the warm and cozy Tec Fleece Ear Warmers from 180's®. A soft fleece outer shell provides warmth and durability, while an inner liner helps to keep you insulated on even the most bitter days on the mountain or in the city. Gear up for cold weather in the 180's® Tec Fleece Ear Warmers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fabrics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;100% polyester insulation and lining&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Polyester/nylon/spandex shell&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.180s.com/product/mens-chesterfield-ear-warmer-3/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chesterfield Ear Warmers&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This stylish ear warmer provides three layers of protection to keep you warm, dry and comfortable on the coldest of winter days. Woven wool outer shell provides style and warmth. Features 100% Primaloft Insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fabrics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lining – 100% Polyester&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Binding – 90% Nylon, 10% Spandex&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shell – 50% Wool, 50% Viscose&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Insulation – 100% Polyester&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, none of them state a temperature range, which is one of the most important considerations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in the Northeast United States, and he needs them for temperatures down to -10°F during the coldest winter months, usually January and February, and up to about 45°F on either side of those coldest months.  He uses them for outdoor activities like backyard bird-feeding, snow shoveling, sledding, skiing, snow-shoeing, hiking in the woods, walking to the parking lot and driving home from work at 2:30 am, among other things. He doesn't climb mountains or do extreme winter sports which keep him outside for long periods of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be a good idea to try on each and see how they feel, but I'm going to order them online so that's not an option. I imagine they're all comfortable enough, but even if they feel great, there's no way to tell if they'd be what he needs to get through the season. Even returnable pairs can't be worn for months first!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my criteria include such things as: appropriate level of warmth; comfort; ease of cleaning; durability; shape and size retention; and expected length of life; can the materials used help me make an informed purchasing decision? If so, which fabrics should I choose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:03:11.987" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:03:11.987" Title="How do I judge what fabrics used to make ear warmers mean, in terms of their function?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15020" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15058" CreationDate="2017-01-29T11:02:10.837" Score="3" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love the idea of ski touring. However, I wonder what would be the best way to learn it. Should I focus on learning alpine and cross-country skiing and then combine the two, or should I rather just start with easy routes? Should I take lessons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am an intermediate alpine skier, but lack any experience in cross-country and off-piste skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify on what terrain I am aimed at:&#xA;Currently a single mountain daytour seems most appealing to me. So ski up in the morning, and then down afterwards. This would probably take place in the Alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T15:54:31.700" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T06:59:15.640" Title="How to learn ski touring" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15021" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15022" CreationDate="2017-01-29T20:26:47.010" Score="10" ViewCount="769" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of videos and instructions out there on what to do when you fall through ice: You turn the direction you came from, pull and kick until you get out and roll yourself to safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what is the procedure, if you are in the middle of the lake, you break through, but the ice all around you is too thin and keeps breaking, when you try to pull yourself out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you do in this situation? Just keep moving, trying to basically swim through the ice, while breaking it hoping to reach thicker ice or the shore? How long would you be able to keep that up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: This question is about the specific situation, in which you can not climb back on to the ice, as it keeps breaking and you are far away from shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:21:44.650" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:21:44.650" Title="Self rescue procedure when falling through ice, but the ice keeps breaking" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;self-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15021" CreationDate="2017-01-29T21:01:52.280" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What do you do in this situation? Just keep moving, trying to basically swim through the ice, while breaking it hoping to reach thicker ice or the shore? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More or less, yes with two caveats. If someone else is in the process of attempting a rescue (e.g., their first rope toss came up short or the boat is on the way) you might be better off making sure you do not end up under the ice (and potentially conserving energy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second caveat is you need to reevaluate which way to go. The general idea of going back the way you came from is that you know the ice quality there. If you have crossed a long expanse of ice and are near the &quot;far&quot; shore, you might be better off going forward instead of backwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How long would you be able to keep that up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors that influence survival/exhaustion times (cf, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/coastal_communities/hypothermia&quot;&gt;http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/coastal_communities/hypothermia&lt;/a&gt;), but you could probably manage to keep your head above water for somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes (maybe 60 if you are in shape and a good swimmer/water treader).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T21:01:52.280" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15020" CreationDate="2017-01-29T21:16:14.230" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not clear what kind of terrain you are planning to ski.  However, you say that you are an intermediate alpine skier, so you are not a rank beginner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start by visiting a ski center that has groomed cross country trails and rental equipment.  And then just go!  See how you do.  Watch more experienced skiers on the trail and see what they do.  Read a few articles on technique and equipment.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a few such sessions, you will learn what you don't know and will learn enough to formulate specific questions.  You should get good at skiing on &lt;em&gt;hilly&lt;/em&gt; groomed trails and hilly snowed-over, ungroomed roads before you tackle any but the most modest off-trail skiing.  This should not take long.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lessons: If you can afford them, take a few private lessons.  Private lessons are more efficient than classes.  In a class, you are frequently being told less than you already know, or less than you need to know.  And very few instructors are good at picking out what each individual in a class is doing wrong and what each individual is doing right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the terrain you want to ski off-trail, you may &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; avalanche training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-01-29T23:44:29.507" LastActivityDate="2017-01-29T23:44:29.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15024" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15043" CreationDate="2017-01-29T23:17:38.790" Score="31" ViewCount="5551" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I were a couple of decades younger, I would seriously consider trying climbing in a climbing gym, but I doubt I have enough flexibility, and I would feel horribly out of place.  The thing that attracts me is the total concentration required; there are things I want to put right out of my mind at least temporarily.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I am curious:  is there a measurable criterion for what level of upper body strength a person should have before even beginning?  Are there any other measures of strength or flexibility that are pre-requisites for starting this sport?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T15:46:06.253" Title="What are the measurable prerequisites of strength and/or flexiblity for starting to climb in a climbing gym?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-29T23:37:05.207" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to say that there aren't any. I have always heard stories of big beefy guys who can a zillion pull-ups getting out into real climbing and then realizing that there are very few features that remotely resemble pull up bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that matter I have gone climbing and rappelling with a person in a wheel chair  and people with other handicaps. Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitadventure.com/adventures-in-joy-an-interview-with-go-for-it-instructors/&quot;&gt;story&lt;/a&gt; and here are some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitadventure.com/gallery/go-2014/&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt; of what that looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, stronger is usually better and the same for flexibility, but I don't think there are any prerequisites for doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T00:18:02.547" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T00:18:02.547" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15026" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15027" CreationDate="2017-01-30T00:21:27.060" Score="4" ViewCount="3755" Body="&lt;p&gt;While navigating or orienteering with a map or compass one of the essential skills is the ability to find your position on the map with the aid of the compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be important if you need to know your exact position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should one do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T15:54:34.093" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T16:24:25.693" Title="How to triangulate your position with a map and compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15026" CreationDate="2017-01-30T00:21:27.060" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic idea behind triangulation is &lt;strong&gt;take multiple bearings with the compass to recognizable points and draw them on the map&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where they intersect is your location.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6aV5v.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6aV5v.png&quot; alt=&quot;Intersecting lines&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want the lines to be as &lt;strong&gt;close to perpendicular&lt;/strong&gt; as possible, for the sake of accuracy. The reason is that when the lines are perpendicular, a &lt;strong&gt;change in the angle isn't as significant&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YAsOO.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YAsOO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See how the &lt;strong&gt;angle between the red and the green lines in Example B is much smaller&lt;/strong&gt; than the one in Example A, and yet the &lt;strong&gt;difference between where the red line intersects the black line and where  the green line intersects the black line is much greater&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond using multiple points, there are other ways to do this. For instance if you are on a long natural feature like a trail or stream or ridge, &lt;strong&gt;you can take one bearing to a feature off to the side.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w9Uk6.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w9Uk6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also take a bearing &lt;strong&gt;parallel to a  feature&lt;/strong&gt; like a curving river and that will give you a good idea of where you could be as the other places along that feature &lt;strong&gt;wouldn't be parallel.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BkhYz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BkhYz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One a rounded hill, if you have an altimeter, you can take a &lt;strong&gt;bearing directly up or down the hill&lt;/strong&gt; and find where that &lt;strong&gt;bearing runs perpendicular&lt;/strong&gt; to the contour lines and &lt;strong&gt;crosses your current elevation&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TwfgP.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TwfgP.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off the three other examples above, the one off to the side is the most accurate, the parallel one depends on the situation and only really give a possible location and the last depends on the accuracy of your altimeter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T16:24:25.693" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T16:24:25.693" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15028" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15030" CreationDate="2017-01-30T00:40:45.963" Score="9" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering getting a used wet suit for sailing and canoeing in the early spring and next fall.  What should I look for?  Based on the related Q&amp;amp;A below, it looks like I will want 6-7mm (1/4 inch) thick with neck, wrist and ankle seals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What else should I look for in a used wet suit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10989/what-wetsuit-thickness-is-recommended-in-which-temperatures-for-diving&quot;&gt;What wetsuit thickness is recommended in which temperatures for diving?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7664/what-kind-of-underwear-inside-union-suit-in-winter&quot;&gt;What kind of underwear inside union suit in winter?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T08:59:37.583" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T08:59:37.583" Title="What should I look for in a used wet suit?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-30T00:45:02.363" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can climb a ladder, you can start rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You won't be doing crazy stuff unless you get more practice and go often enough to build strength, but there will be routes you can work on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where arm strength really matters is overhangs. Unless you're doing those, you'll likely find your hand strength is your limiting factor than your arm strength. Unfortunately hand strength takes longer to develop safely than arm strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just go one day and see what you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T00:45:02.363" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15028" CreationDate="2017-01-30T06:36:04.467" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; want a 6-7mm wetsuit for spring canoeing, you'd have trouble moving freely in it, and you would overheat very easily. They use 7mm wetsuits for &lt;em&gt;arctic diving&lt;/em&gt;. I surf and swim in glacier lakes using a 4-3mm wetsuit (4mm torso, 3mm arms and legs). For paddling especially you want the extra mobility. Paddling with 3mm neoprene on your arms is uncomfortable enough, I don't even want to know what 7mm would feel like chafing up in your armpits after a couple kilometres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as what to look for, &lt;strong&gt;fit is the most important thing&lt;/strong&gt;, if a wetsuit doesn't fit you, then it's no good. For your activities though, you'd be better off looking at getting a drysuit. Wetsuits are for being &lt;em&gt;in&lt;/em&gt; the water. Dry suits are far more comfortable for sailing and paddle sports. You could mix it up though, and get neoprene pants, but look at getting a dry top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T18:43:21.213" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T18:43:21.213" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-30T06:51:05.047" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know some amazing climbers who can't even do a single pull up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing is more about balance and technique than it is about upper body strength. I'm a skinny guy, and one of my favourite things was when some gym rat would wander over from the weight room into the bouldering cave to check it out. They'd see us skinny kids flash up some problem then decide they were going to give it a try. The looks on their faces when they couldn't even grip the holds, or when they'd explode off the wall because they don't understand beta (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the sequence of moves required&lt;/a&gt;), was always amusing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you start climbing is when it's going to be hardest, but after a couple of weeks your muscles will adapt and you'll start to feel stronger. It's the same with any strength training; your measurable gains at the beginning are from your existing muscle becoming more efficient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you'll notice it the most at first is in your forearms; climbing requires a lot of strength in open hand grips. Take your time when you first get on the wall and climb easy for the first 15 minutes to warm up your muscles. This will help prevent the lactic acid buildup in your arms. Learn how to do some forearm stretches too, you'll be doing  lot of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your first year of climbing you'll advance tremendously in your abilities. This is because you learn the basics of climbing technique and how to climb more efficiently. In your second year though, you'll notice that you sort of hit a ceiling. This is you reaching your physical limits. The only way to advance beyond this point is to develop your muscles and grow stronger.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing regularly is important. As soon as you &lt;em&gt;stop&lt;/em&gt; climbing, there will be measurable strength loss after only 2 weeks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is to have fun, which is easier if you make some friends who climb at the same level as you do. You don't have to worry about people judging you either; one of my favourite things about the climbing community is how inclusive it is. Everyone bonds over rocks and talking about projects and their beta. Just tell people you're new and you'll have no shortage of people encouraging you and offering tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T12:34:15.570" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T12:34:15.570" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13627" CreationDate="2017-01-30T10:48:26.313" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thank you for the insight here.  I just had an experience today that was very similar.  I was walking along a desert wash in a VERY remote area (I was the only human within 10 miles) when all of a sudden I saw 6 mountain goats above me.  They did not seem to be merely passing through.  They all turned and stared me down.  I waved at them in a very friendly manner to signal that I was not aggressive.  I thought that would be the end of our interaction.  I then passed around a corner of the wash and saw that they had followed me, going up and over a cliff face to get to the next turn. Once again, I waived to show that I wasn't being aggressive, while making eye contact to let them know I wasn't afraid.  As I continued to walk, they kept staring me down.  At that point, I went into a bit of survival mode and thought of what I would do to defend myself.  If they stalked me, I would run up one of the sides of the wash and throw stones at them until they ran away. I was fully prepared to do so.  But I prayed it wouldn't come to that.  I love animals way too much to do that, unless it is absolutely necessary.  Thankfully, the goats then scurried off and disappeared.  BUT, I left with the distinct impression that they were stalking me, or at the very least, 'testing me'.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MY ADVICE:  Keep your distance from goats, do not think of them as &quot;cute animals&quot; or &quot;pets&quot;.  Respect their boundaries at all times.  If they come off as aggressive look them dead in the eye and stand still.  Let them know you are not afraid, but at the same time, that you are not hostile.  I also think that waving is a good gesture.  It is a way of letting them know you wish them well, and I believe they can sense that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12238" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T10:48:26.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-30T12:23:28.793" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;One aspect not yet touched on is that for beginner climbers, upper body strength is not actually as important as you might imagine. If we exclude overhangs (which is reasonable for early stages of training) then legs really are where all the power requirement sits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact when teaching folks on climbing walls, most of my effort has been in persuading people to relax their grip, lean in, and even let go entirely when resting, in order to focus their attention on &lt;strong&gt;legs for lift and arms for control&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can climb&lt;/strong&gt; at a basic level, if you can walk up stairs. As you progress, you will find the areas you need to develop strength. If you are like me (strong, but should be lighter) overhangs present a challenge to be passed as fast a possible before lactic acid buildup puts a stop to things, whereas my teenage kids find that sort of thing really easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T12:23:28.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15028" CreationDate="2017-01-30T12:28:46.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always check used wetsuits for wear, especially around seams, under arms, between the legs, and the seat. These areas typically wear through fastest, and although they are often strongest (extra stitching and padding) they take a lot of punishment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check internal stitching carefully, as well as any patching. When done well, patches can last a long time, but they may hide problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T12:28:46.990" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14625" CreationDate="2017-01-30T15:22:29.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to measure the strike plate position for the purposes of this calculation is given in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://heilakka.com/stumiller/Dynamic%20Spine%20Calculator%20Instructions%207-18-10.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;instructions for the calculator&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DVcEQ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DVcEQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T15:22:29.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15036" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-30T15:32:57.633" Score="19" ViewCount="2226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally try hiking or cycling, and I notoriously have to deal with the silly issue of dogs roaming freely through villages, even on public trails. Until now, never have I been threatened by a human or a wild beast – but by a domestic dog, many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They may ignore me, or allow me to pass but still bark at me, often they chase my bike, barking, maybe trying to bite my rear wheel or my heel; sometimes they escort me, following me calmly but steadily until I leave the village. Sometimes they allow me to pass the first time, but threaten me when I return home through the same village a few hours later. Once a dog seemed to seriously attempt to attack me – admittedly, I detoured from the track that time, though AFAIK I was still on a public road, not on a private property.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn’t like to get bitten one day…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8886" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T12:32:27.660" Title="How to deal with dogs on public hiking trails?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5512" CreationDate="2017-01-30T15:57:53.373" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general sport terms &quot;Open&quot; is the primary competitive group. Anyone can enter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be other groups that anyone can enter, like &quot;Recreational&quot; or restricted entrance groups like &quot;Under 21s&quot;, &quot;Men&quot;*, &quot;Ladies&quot;, &quot;Masters&quot; (usually over age 35 depending on sport), but if there's an open category and you're competitive, that's the one to be in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;*Usually if there's an &quot;Open&quot;, there won't be a &quot;Men&quot;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T15:57:53.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5530" CreationDate="2017-01-30T18:26:50.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I've learned from living and vacationing in Hawaii on several of the islands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking through the Hawaiian Yellow Pages, it seems that there are several different local food processing places that would process a wild boar for you.  As far as locals helping you out either with hunting or processing, I'd recommend not interfacing with them directly if at all possible.  I've been hiking all over the islands in back trails and typically run into groups of pig hunters.  They're very nice once I explain that I'm just hiking around and state that I'll let them know if I see any pigs.  But, the first question they asked, was &quot;Why are you out here&quot; while looking to see what kind of gear I was carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To many of the locals, vacationers and non-native people, have stolen so much of their resources already, that they are very protective of the resources they have.  I've had a fair number of negative run-ins with locals even just hanging out on certain beaches during certain times.  That being said, not all locals are like that and you might want to connect with a hunting club that has connections in Hawaii.  If wild boar in Hawaii is what you're truly after, it might take some additional planning, forethought, and potentially money.  You might want to see if there are any paid excursions you might be able to take, where most things will be taken care of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a boar is what you're after, regardless of location, I'd suggest looking in the continental US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just looking for a hunt/kill of circumstance, it might turn into more trouble than it's worth, both logistically and culturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-30T20:08:40.827" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T20:08:40.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14625" CreationDate="2017-01-30T20:33:43.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;ShemSeger has a great explanation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we zoom into the graphic you can see where the measurement is made:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPT62.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPT62.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From blue line to blue line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9464" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T20:33:43.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15036" CreationDate="2017-01-30T20:34:55.797" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Statistically, most of the dogs in the world are dogs that are not pets, but live around humans and scavenge food or get food from humans who give it to them. These dogs are in my experience never aggressive with humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a dog is kept as a pet, it will tend to be territorial about its home. When I've been out running, hiking, or cycling, there have been many times when these territorial dogs have hassled me. In nearly all cases, they acted aggressive and followed me, but never actually tried to bite me. So although it's annoying and their owners are being irresponsible, in nearly all cases all you really need to do is move on through, and nothing bad will happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People do, however, get bitten and even killed by dogs. Because the world has so many dogs in it, the risk is actually fairly high in order-of-magnitude terms compared to other kinds of accidents and injuries. Population-wide, your chance of getting killed by a dog is orders of magnitude higher than your chance of being the victim of a terrorist attack, but orders of magnitude lower than your chance of dying of a heroin overdose or in a car accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to protect yourself when running or hiking is simply that if a dog acts aggressive, you pick up a rock or a stick. Often such dogs will shy away even if all you do is &lt;em&gt;pretend&lt;/em&gt; to bend down to pick up a rock. If you like, you can carry pepper spray. Personally, I bought pepper spray for this purpose and then ended up not bringing it with me on runs because it just didn't seem worth the hassle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many cyclists carry pepper spray. If you have a tire pump in a holder that's within easy reach, you can also pull it out while riding and use it the same way you would use a stick -- the dog gets intimidated when you swing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live, in a city in the US, Animal Control is very responsive to complaints about dogs whose owners let them wander around acting aggressive. When a neighborhood dog was repeatedly chasing my kids, and the owners weren't willing to deal with the problem, calling Animal Control was what got them to stop. My understanding is that there's a significant fine, and they warn the owner that if it keeps on happening, they'll take the dog away and kill it. I would hate that to happen to my dog, but then I don't leave my dog running around on the street biting kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T20:34:55.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-30T21:33:01.287" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often absolute strength isn't that important and it's certainly not just a case of dragging yourself up with your arms and really it is more about technique than brute force. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally many people will find that finger strength (and abrasion resistance)  is the first limiting factor and it's fairly hard to train that other than by climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most climbing walls will offer taster sessions and beginners courses which will allow you to try it out and learn the basic skills and safety for very modest expense and the chances are that there will be routes which you can manage without a great deal of difficulty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various grading systems in use for difficulty but the easiest are not much harder than climbing a ladder so it is very likely that there will be a few that you can successfully climb on your first day and then just step up the difficulty to see where your initial limit is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you do a day course for beginners you will be with a group of other novices and an instructor who knows that you are novices and has an strong incentive to encourage you to come back so there should be no particular reason to feel awkward. Equally while indoor climbing is usually done in pairs with one climbing and one belaying in turns there is no reason why you both have to do the same routes so it is perfectly feasible for two climbers with different levels of ability to partner up as long as you are both happy with the other person's competence in belaying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For many people the challenge and excitement is in progressing and it is just as satisfying to master your first route at the next grade up whatever the level of relative difficulty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally doing a challenging move 20 m above the ground will get your attention and demand the sort of concentration you are looking for at whatever level of difficulty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T14:47:12.957" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T14:47:12.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1938" CreationDate="2017-01-30T21:46:18.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about sharpening I would suggest that the best advice is to find a knife which is easy to sharpen rather than one which doesn't need sharpening. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of cheap consumer knives are fairly poor quality stainless steel which is heat treated somewhat on the hard side. These tend to get blunt more slowly but when the really do need sharpening it is a horrible job, especially for a novice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There really isn't such thing as a knife which never needs sharpening and if it isn't sharpened it will become increasingly frustrating and indeed dangerous to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much better is to sharpen little and often, a bit of simple edge maintenance every time you use it is much less effort in the long run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general terms plain carbon steel blades, well heat treated, will be easiest to sharpen. Large scale manufacturers tend to avoid carbon steels as 'stainless steel' look better in a brochure but for the same money a carbon steel blade will often perform better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact for a novice knife user there is not a lot wrong with the basic &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.opinel.com/en/n7-carbon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;opinel no7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a number of guided sharpening systems available which make maintenance much easier for example the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=77&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spyderco Sharpmaker&lt;/a&gt; is well thought of. While these aren't cheap a sharp cheap knife is better than a blunt expensive one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-01-30T21:46:18.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15024" CreationDate="2017-01-30T21:58:32.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there are no particular prerequisites for indoor climbing. Strength, flexibility, endurance will come along the way. Just take a look into any gym, you will see small, large, fat, weak people. In my place there regularly is a one-armed guy...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The gym&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for a large, well-run, popular gym. Good signs are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A nice, inviting website which shows all rooms/walls of the gym; explains how everything functions; explains any rules.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beginner and advanced courses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being chock full at prime time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There should be a small gym-inside-the-gym with assorted equipment (boards to hang from, maybe some weight training stuff).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would &lt;em&gt;strongly&lt;/em&gt; suggest taking a beginners course. Those &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; available for adults. While it may feel weird, just shrug off the feeling. Do not be shy, talk to the coach, ask questions, actually &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; what she says, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;A partner&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the main reason for taking a beginners course would be to find another beginner to start your journey with! Exchange phone numbers with someone who seems to be close to your level of body strength, fitness, etc.. Find a weekly &quot;jour fixe&quot; where you regularly meet. The time/day-of-the-week of the course is a good starting point, as both of you obviously had spare time right then!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then just go and climb. You will find that you will improve very quickly. Do not be shy watching better climbers (i.e., everybody else). Nobody will think bad about you; most people will remember how it was when they started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The partner is important because a) motivation and b) talking about how to tackle different problems. As both of you will have different arm/leg lengths, mobilities, etc., you will quickly see that you will take different approaches to climbing, so you will learn from each other, even if you both are beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Bouldering&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to get into indoor top-rope climbing twice, and it did not work out. The problem is that you are absolutely tied (sic) to having a partner around (so no spontaneous night at the gym) and downtime is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; worse. One of you is &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; not climbing; and when the gym is full, the fullness is much worse, so to speak, since each climb takes longer. Also, frankly, I had incidents with lazy/inattentive partners while my life was literally hanging from a thread... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bouldering to the rescue! I encourage you to skip all the complexities of top-rope climbing, and go straight to bouldering, if you have a gym that focuses on that. Bouldering might not look like much, but it is &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; intense, and since you do not have a long climb for every route, it is much easier for the route setters to give you many, many more diverse problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a bouldering hall is full, it's not such a  big problem. You get queues in front of the walls, but since each attempt takes only a few dozen seconds, 1-2 minutes max, you get to climb rather sooner than later. Also, when the difficulty rises, you need the time between tries to recover your strength anyways, so it is actually good to see what others are doing at &quot;your&quot; problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="9349" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T00:49:17.900" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T00:49:17.900" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15045" CreationDate="2017-01-31T00:49:26.157" Score="15" ViewCount="3701" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Denver, Colorado.  Going above 10,000 ft. (3,000 metre) always results in an air bubble large enough for me to want to tilt the compass to prevent the bubble from interfering with the needle. Is that normal behavior for a compass?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I contacted the manufacturer (Brunton) which responded: &quot;Extremely high elevations can cause temporary air bubbles to occur (also very cold temps can do that), so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see that with any liquid filled compass.&quot; Brunton kindly offered to replace my unit. I will measure the size of the bubble. If it does not exceed 1/4&quot; there is no point in seeking a replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T05:46:21.143" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T05:46:21.143" Title="Is it normal for a compass to develop an air bubble at high altitude?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15044" CreationDate="2017-01-31T01:59:50.047" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't call it normal, but it does happen and if the bubble is large enough it will effect your accuracy. In that case you may want to purchase a new one or if possible send it back to the manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.silvacompass.com/frequently-asked-questions/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silva's FAQ page&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We intend that our compasses are free of bubbles; however, &lt;strong&gt;if a small bubble forms in the liquid-filled capsule, it has no influence on the accuracy&lt;/strong&gt; of the compass. Its appearance and disappearance are due to changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If a bubble larger than 1/4&amp;quot; in diameter appears, it is probably the result of a leaking capsule&lt;/strong&gt;, usually caused by some form of shock damage, and the &lt;strong&gt;capsule will have to be replaced&lt;/strong&gt;. In that case, just call our customer satisfaction department for a return authorization number and shipping address.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had this happen to one of my compasses, and it seems to happen more frequently to the cheaper versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T03:55:02.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15044" CreationDate="2017-01-31T08:08:01.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have observed the same thing with compasses as well as level gauges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say that it's normal unless it is hampering the accuracy beyond an acceptable degree of error. That regular small bubble is left in order to prevent the outer casing from breaking when the liquid expands when it gets heated. &#xA;Liquids are not compressible, so that air bubble which is compressible, provides an additional volume in the casing for accommodating the liquid when it is expanded. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to higher and/or colder regions you'll find that that air bubble has gotten bigger. Heat/Warm it up a bit and the bubble should get smaller as compared to that when colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T15:43:54.457" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T15:43:54.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8948" CreationDate="2017-01-31T10:51:12.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personal radio devices in Europe use a different frequency (446 Mhz). According to a quick google search the frequency range of GMRS/FRS (462-467 Mhz) is used by fire brigades in UK, police in Russia and licensed radio amateurs in Germany... blocking frequencies of police or fire brigades will certainly cause you trouble here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12249" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T10:51:12.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15028" CreationDate="2017-01-31T14:11:28.443" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, consider what design of wetsuit you want. As a (casually) competitive kayaker I use a 2mm &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.decathlon.co.uk/longjohn-sk500-id_8110166.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;longjohn wetsuit&lt;/a&gt; in winter with a thermal &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.decathlon.co.uk/Buy/rash+vest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rash vest&lt;/a&gt; (or two if it's really cold) and a waterproof if it's very windy. Sometimes that's too warm for a proper training day, even in the depths of (UK) winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For casual, whitewater or touring use I wear an extra thermal layer under the wet suit along with full waterproofs. If you're not planning to swim then you're not going to get too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sailing you'll want to be warmer, you spend a lot more time sitting around doing not a lot in the wind, but I'd still suggest longjohn as it keeps your arms free. Wear with thermals, jumper, waterproofs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A full dry cag (latex rubber seals, double layer neoprene waist for spraydeck interlock) is going to be very hot in the long run, I wouldn't suggest it unless you're expecting to swim. Semi-dry cag (neoprene seals, elastic waist) with ordinary waterproof trousers should be about right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, a 7mm full wetsuit will completely immobilise you for the sake of sailing or kayaking. Guidance for diving or surfing isn't suitable for kayaking or sailing as they spend a lot more time in the water. If you swim when you're sailing something has gone wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a used wetsuit, check seams, wear on seat and knees, zips, velcro. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless it's really cheap, I'd ignore anything that's been repaired, wetsuits aren't that expensive new. However: Repairs could be patched or glued. the neoprene glue holds but doesn't stretch well, this will be the probable cause of any repair failure in the long run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T14:11:28.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14602" CreationDate="2017-01-31T14:40:01.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trouble with hardening is usually insufficient hardener in the mix, though it's possible you've got a high temperature or very slow drying gelcoat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting a perfect finish requires either vacuum bagging or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/vacuum-equipment-and-supplies/vacuum-bagging-consumables/release-film-perforated.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;release film&lt;/a&gt;. I don't know exactly what this stuff is in terms of material but it's a plastic sheet layer that doesn't bind to the gelcoat or epoxy as it dries and leaves you with a good smooth finish if used properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not usually a fan of explanatory videos as people spend an hour showing you a 10min job, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2Ezo70vFI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one goes with the product in question&lt;/a&gt; and spends 10mins showing you a 2 hour job (as well as being a good demonstration on how to fix our competition boats).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-02-01T10:43:52.013" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T10:43:52.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15050" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15051" CreationDate="2017-01-31T15:55:45.183" Score="7" ViewCount="2126" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can a compass have its polarity reversed so that the end marked &quot;north&quot; points south and vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, what could one do to prevent and fix this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T17:50:16.137" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T17:50:16.137" Title="Can a compass reverse polarity?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15050" CreationDate="2017-01-31T15:55:45.183" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They certainly can and it is caused by,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please be aware that a reverse polarity is caused by &lt;strong&gt;exposing your compass to articles with iron content&lt;/strong&gt; (something as simple as being placed next to a pair of scissors or a knife for a length of time, microwaves, high tension wires, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.silvacompass.com/frequently-asked-questions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Magnetic fields&lt;/strong&gt; exist around many items we commonly carry with us on the hill; mobiles &amp;amp; smart phones, magnets hidden inside mobile phone cases, avalanche transceivers, radios, personal locator beacons, GPS, cameras, car keys, small magnets on belt fastenings&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5385&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to prevent this is to keep it away from iron objects and ones with strong magnets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A conscious effort is required to keep the compass isolated from other gadgets, from phones and radios, to digital cameras, GPS, avalanche transceivers and SPOT devices. Try experimenting with all your devices near your compass so that you are aware of the ones that have a significant affect and keep them apart whether using them or storing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/reverse-polarity-compasses-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to fix this is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is possible to 'reverse' the reversed polarity using a strong magnet. This can be achieved by quickly flicking the magnet outwards along the 'north' end of the needle. Repeat vice-versa. Always ensure you compare with a compass that is known to be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5385&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some manufactures will also fix it for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-01T04:22:42.240" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T04:22:42.240" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5512" CreationDate="2017-01-31T16:31:15.600" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to run climbing comps approximately 15 years ago and the categories were always U12, U14, U16, U18, Open, and Masters.  In elite competitions as mentioned in another answer Open was open to anyone who wanted to prove they were the best.  In our comps, occasionally these were competitors who could have climbed in age groups, but wanted to climb in the open category instead (or as well, depending on the competition).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think more recently there is a drive to make competitions more fun and social (and get more entrants and more money) hence the introductions of the social categories you have mentioned, but these sit independently of the elite level age based system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3559" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T16:31:15.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15036" CreationDate="2017-01-31T20:29:11.817" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have experienced this problem, mainly in Spain, Germany, or the Alps.  Some things I have found to work:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be assertive.  Show who is the boss.  This doesn't come naturally to me &lt;em&gt;at all&lt;/em&gt; but the last time I encountered an annoying dog, on a rarely used trail that was passing next to a house in Spain, it actually worked.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike with hiking poles.  If you move the tips of a hiking pole into the direction of a dog, it will likely back off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your backpack in front of you as a protection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-01-31T20:40:58.497" LastActivityDate="2017-01-31T20:40:58.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15054" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-01-31T21:39:19.570" Score="6" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am 179-180cm (about 5.9ft) tall. I bought a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seatosummit.co.uk/products/travel-liners/thermolite-reactor-compact-plus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thermolite Reactor Compact Plus&lt;/a&gt; sleeping bag liner. By specification it is 183cm, (6ft), however I did not count that the &quot;head-end&quot; also wraps one's head. So it feels to me that it is quite short. However, I managed to tighten the strap on the head, so technically I fit into it. Bear in mind that this is the first time I've tried sleeping bag liners, so it might be that I am just not used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any general guidelines for choosing a sleeping bag liner size?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12252" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-10T01:59:21.073" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T21:20:33.197" Title="What guidelines should I use when choosing a sleeping bag liner?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15019" CreationDate="2017-01-31T23:54:08.823" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a kid carrying papers in Idaho I had the over the head &lt;strong&gt;ear muffs&lt;/strong&gt; that were acrylic synthetic fur inside and out.  They were certainly good to 0F, probably to -10 F.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Features I looked for:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cupped to go over the ear.  This allowed the fuzz on the inside to fill the space, and not get squashed flat.  It also meant no edge of ear was exposed to the air.  This had the additional advantage of blocking out a lot of the wind noise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reasonably dense fuzz.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plastic, not metal spring between the ear chunks.  The metal ones always caught my hair when I adjusted the length.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjustable length.  Especially important if you have either small or large skull.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bright colour.  Harder to lose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things for keeping ears toasty: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ear bands&lt;/strong&gt;  Same material as toques, but usually with a tighter weave and more stretch material.  These generally do not resize to different shaped skulls.  As a fathead, I found most of these were painfully tight.  Verify that ear bands cover the entire ear.  When stretched, they narrow.  I have frequently seen tops and lobes of ears get frostbitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;toques&lt;/strong&gt; Knit hats, watchman's cap, mitten-hat.  If you have a large head then check the length that it will cover all your ears.  I prefer a toque that is long enough that I can fold it double over my ears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;balaclava&lt;/strong&gt; Ski-mask.  These are long enough to reach below your chin, and  have either 1 large opening for eyes and nose, or 3 openings for eyes and nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;hoods&lt;/strong&gt;  Hoods don't do much directly for your ears, unless they have a drawstring around the face.  But they will funnel warm air from your torso forcing it to pass by your ears on the way out.  And they will reduce the wind chill on your ears.  Hoods do funny things with sounds.  (I almost had a group hit by a train because we didn't hear the train until it was only about 200 yards behind use (about 5 seconds)  It was a seldom used line, which is a nice excuse that holds no water)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold weather (-30 C) I like a balaclava,which I then roll up so I have 2-4 layers over my ears.  In &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; cold weather (-45 C) I wear a balaclava AND a toque.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toques and balaclavas both are often available at the dollar store.  I get them there 3 at a time, since I'm always losing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fabrics and material:&lt;/strong&gt;  Only the earbands really require spandex.  With earmuffs, the spring between the two parts does that job.  With the other two, the nature of being knit, and the large overlap on the ear were sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The  most common materials are acrylic (derived from cellulose) polyester (derived from petrochemicals) and wool.  Acrylic is usually knit, polyester is usually in the form of fleece.  Wool can be knit or felted.  The latter is uncommon, and has little stretch, so must be fitted less casually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acrylic is usually cheaper, which, if you tend to put down your ear coverings when you get hot, can much less painful to your long term wallet health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester is tougher, tends to last longer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that fleeces are too permeable to air.  You need something in addition to keep that insulating air next to your ears.  With knit fabrics, the finer knits are less permeable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spandex is a material used to add stretchyness.  Not needed in a knit fabric, but often used as a component in woven fabrics.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since earbands tend to be tighter on the head they may be lined with a nylon or synthetic tricot (smooth finish) fabric to make them slide on and off more easily, as well as to avoid leaving knit-prints on your ears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have occasionally had cotton toques.  They work, but are subject to all the ailments of cotton:  Not as warm as either synthetic or wool; absorb water, and are hard to dry.  Ok for a bus ride or errand day in town.  Not recommended for back country.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer acrylic.  Doesn't itch as much, is much lighter weight dries in a flash, doesn't shrink if you wash it in hot water. Colorfast.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Headwear tends to get frost from your breath.  Acrylic gear  can be removed, whipped against a tree trunk a few times  (Try to avoid the pitch...) and put on again.  You will leave about 80% of the frost behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are  in wet weather a lot, there is something to be said for wool, but my dislike of wool (for ears) is far stronger than wool's small advantage.  Acrylic tends to be a lot cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2017-02-02T17:58:37.413" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T17:58:37.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9356" CreationDate="2017-02-01T05:45:53.910" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've shared this knot with a few members of the Alpine Climbing Club of Canada. The national representative for my section liked it a lot. I told him I was planning on naming it the 'abseil bend', and he disagreed. He's decided that it should be called the &lt;em&gt;'&lt;strong&gt;Shem-lock&lt;/strong&gt;'&lt;/em&gt;. I was reluctant to accept that name, but he insisted. So... it's officially called the Shem-lock now. It's essentially a flat-overhand and a half; a locking knot for the flat-overhand knot, or EDK (Euro Death Knot). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-26T06:28:31.387" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T06:28:31.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15020" CreationDate="2017-02-01T06:59:15.640" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For AT/Randonee on mountains, you'll need to go up steep (~30°) slopes on skins. You'll need a skin will cover nearly the whole ski base, and that won't slide easily at all (I think my skins require more than 10° of slope to go downhill). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of that friction, you will not experience much that resembles cross country skiing, except for maybe some skating type action. Without skins the skis will give you no grip, you'll have to use poles &amp;amp; skating to go anywhere. Ideally your route will not have any long flat sections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A skill you might work on is going uphill with all that weight on your feet. You won't need to lift your foot for every step, as long as the skis tips stay on top of the snow, so that's just a matter of exercise. You will probably have to change direction on steep slopes, meaning lift one ski out, turn it ~180° then transfer your weight onto it, while your poles are sinking into that bottomless powder. This can get quite awkward and a little frustrating, so I'd practice that before committing to a long day in the back country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the downhill part, you'll get conditions similar to groomed snow during the spring, which is easy enough. Depending on where you are you might get deep powder, very chunky sun cups, avalanche debris that's like rubble, or inch-thick ice. You can practice skiing those while in-bounds, if your local ski resort isn't too obsessive about grooming. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As ab2 said, get some avalanche training, and find out about your local avalanche forecast. Get a beacon and practice using it, some ski areas will offer clinics on beacon use. Find out about the weather and don't get caught on a big icy mountain; many people have died from uncontrolled slides. Best of all go with somebody with experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T06:59:15.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7173" CreationDate="2017-02-01T10:48:49.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My choice was getting a ukulele. Small, light, has a soft padded case which I sometimes wrap in a plastic bag (or put the uke in a bag and then in the case), and I can easily attach it to the main backpack I have (not hanging loose like a guitar &amp;amp; its case would). Might not be as challenging/fun as the guitar, but it is definitely easy to learn/play/carry around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T10:48:49.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13879" CreationDate="2017-02-01T10:57:20.520" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I tried, after waking up with sore hips + being extra sensitive for cold in the hip area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I bend a bit on the stomach side. This helps with the pain, not with the cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having a good sleeping bag excludes the need for several layers while sleeping: I fold these (coat, raincoat, towel) and put them under my hip area to create a softer padding + insulation layer. Helped so far.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T10:57:20.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15036" CreationDate="2017-02-01T11:30:13.040" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer: I am from Romania, my answer is a bit tailored to this corner of the world.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This issue is very common in Central/Eastern European countries and in the Balkans: not only the household dogs in villages, but stray ones (even in cities), and especially the &lt;strong&gt;shepherd dogs&lt;/strong&gt;. Might be a bit repeating the other answers, but I really must point this out, as it has been the source of many accidents, attacks and (yet unsolved) disputes on law inforcements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shepherd dogs are bread to be aggressive: whether assertive barking when turning the hundreds of sheep, giving alarm of an intruder or scaring away bears. The herds can be met literally anywhere (I met them near my hometown, or also at 2200 m altitude in the mountains), and if you approach them they most probably become aggressive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Methods of staying safe: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay aware of your surroundings. Dogs can notice you from far, and you can also hear them. If you hear the barking from afar, slow down, don't anger them with some running pace. When approaching a village, you can automatically slow down: house guarding dogs tend to be more suspicious of hurrying/running people. Also with the sheep herds: these can be heard already from hundreds of meters - dogs barking, bells ringing etc. You can make a few hundred meter detour to avoid them/not to raise too much awareness. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk with a stick. May it be a trekking pole or a random stick you find along the path, it is a good protection against dogs. No need to hit the animals, just swing it around yourself to keep them away. Find this stick in advance, not when the dogs are already behind your heels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick up stones - in time! Don't rely that you will have stones randomly laying on the ground, waiting for you to pick them up (especially in settled areas). This adds some weight to your bag, but you wouldn't notice it so much. Have a few smaller stones in your bag's side pockets, at an easily reachable spot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pepper spray is an option too. Same applies: keep it at an easily reachable spot. You will have no time to search for it once you are surrounded with barking, angry dogs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rather an empiric thing: I noticed that talking to the dogs helps calming them a bit. Also, if you try shouting, there are better chances the owner realizes that the dog barks at a human, so they would call their dog back (rarely applies to Romanian shepherds, though... my - and my friends' - sad experiences show that they rather stand there and laugh on the poor trekker who tries to chase the dogs away, instead of calling them back).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, make sure the owner can see you and realize you mean no harm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have some food you can spare: a small piece of bread you can throw farther, or something interesting for the dogs. Of course, not sharing your whole bag, but it helps calming aggressive dogs down. They might follow you afterwards, though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;someone recommended ultrasound dog repellents (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/bhp/ultrasonic-dog-repeller&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this one&lt;/a&gt;), but they seem a bit cruel to me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2017-03-01T12:32:27.660" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T12:32:27.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15062" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15069" CreationDate="2017-02-01T12:07:43.960" Score="55" ViewCount="9958" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L78MK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;four climbers moving together&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This image has recently come under considerable criticism on social media for dangerous mountaineering practices.  The location is unknown as the qualified mountain guide observer wanted to maintain the climbers' anonymity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The terrain was described as &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard packed solid ice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The slope quickened into a narrows with another slope leading to a boulder field&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The observer described a slip as unsurvivable &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The technique was also described as 'misguided Alpine thinking'&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are four individuals in the image&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are connected via rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What specifically is wrong with the technique being applied in this image and what risks does it pose?  What should the group have been doing to ascend more safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T14:56:02.097" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T11:58:17.100" Title="Is it dangerous to rope together on an ascent of hard packed ice?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15077" CreationDate="2017-02-01T13:15:04.533" Score="9" ViewCount="1625" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several plastic sit-on-top kayaks are being marketed as &quot;unsinkable&quot; and &quot;sea-worthy&quot;. However, I read that few people had to beach when the did not close the front hatch properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: how difficult it is to close the front hatch &quot;properly&quot; and how safe are those &quot;unsinkable&quot; kayaks anyway? Does it help if a kayak has water-sealed bulkhead separating the front hatch and the rest of inside of the boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12254" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:54:01.433" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T20:32:43.297" Title="&quot;Unsinkable&quot; sit-on-top kayaks" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-01T15:26:58.430" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; the snow was hard packed enough that a &lt;strong&gt;self arrest is not possible&lt;/strong&gt;, and there are &lt;strong&gt;no intermediate anchors&lt;/strong&gt;, then if one person falls, &lt;strong&gt;they can take the whole team down with them&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If that was the case&lt;/strong&gt; then what they should have done is to have the first person place anchors as they went up, either snow pickets or ice screws depending on the conditions. The anchors are clipped to the rope and passed by each climber in turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last person in the group picks them up as they go, and when the leader is almost out of pieces, they create a bombproof anchor, bring the entire team up to it and get the pieces from the last person. Its identical to simuling while rock climbing, just on snow/ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, I am not certain of what else they could have done, other than not being there. It is possible that a different time of day would have made for better conditions, but that is hard to say from the image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T20:16:34.887" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15065" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18586" CreationDate="2017-02-01T15:39:23.793" Score="4" ViewCount="299" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two pairs of collapsible poles made by Black Diamond (Traverse and Expedition 3). I tried using them for cross-country skiing on groomed trails, but the baskets I was using (the trekking and compactor powder versions, see images below) weren't ideal, as the forwarding facing part of the basket would get caught in the compacted snow and be hard to pull out. The baskets of cross-country poles are commonly one-sided to avoid this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black Diamond unfortunately doesn't offer other baskets; their suggestion was to cut off some material from my baskets to fix the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps there is another solution? Other manufacturers like Exel, Komperdell, Leki, Swix and Yoko sell replacement tips with proper cross-country baskets, but I'm not sure if they fit the Black Diamond poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BD trekking baskets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2bke6s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2bke6s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;trekking basets&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BD compactor powder baskets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nrUYvs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nrUYvs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: I found that both the large and small versions of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.leki.com/skitour-schneeschuh/accessoires/2466/contour-basket/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leki Contour baskets&lt;/a&gt; both fit fine onto my BD poles and have the basic shape that I was looking for. But they still occasionally catch in packed snow on groomed trails (they are after all made for ski touring). There may be another option to cutting off material (which I'm hesitant to do): removing the tips and installing cross-country style tips (which usually have cross-country style baskets attached to them). However here I would still need to know which tips from other companies would fit the BD poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastEditorUserId="2064" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T11:48:26.157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T15:23:54.090" Title="Cross-country style baskets for Black Diamond collapsible poles" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8961" CreationDate="2017-02-01T16:28:15.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Finding quality 1/4&quot; hangers has been problematic for a long time. There was a thread on the topic on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/979840/Hangers-for-1-4-Bolts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Super Topo&lt;/a&gt; back in 2009. The best solution back then were the Moses hangers (Moses actually posted in the linked Super Topo thread). I cannot find the Moses Enterprises web page so they might be out of business, but it appears you can still get the hangers online (e.g., from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mtntools.com/cat/rclimb/bolts/mosesbolthanger.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Tools&lt;/a&gt; and possibly others). They cost about twice as much as typical bolt hangers, but in my opinion are better than rivet hangers if you are planning on leaving them behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T16:28:15.807" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-01T16:36:55.060" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It look like they are &quot;moving together&quot;. Very common in alpine ascents when moving over easier ground where it would take too long to pitch the climb (fixed belay). The leader would run out around 10-20 meters to the second and would look for rock features or quick placements to get some protection in. Notice the rock features on the ascent, I'm guessing there would be placements there. If the leader or the second falls they will counter one another arresting the fall. It's a good system if worked correctly and it looks like the climbers in the photo are doing everything they should given the angle and general conditions. You can move quickly and relatively safely on easier ground using this system and you don't have to stop to place a fixed belay unless the climb needs to be pitched. I have climbed like this on ice and on easy rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12257" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T16:36:55.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-01T18:47:11.443" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common options coming to my mind are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Securing from anchors and building e.g. one rope-party with 2 and one with 3 members&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is slow but very safe. You do it in steep and/or difficult terrain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moving continuously being roped together while the first uses gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using e.g. a tibloc or you can use rocks to let the rope move behind them (with respect to the side so in case of somebody falling, the rope will cause friction and the weight of different rope partners slowing down the fall - this is more likely done on ridges and not on a face like in the picture)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being comfortable and without big technical difficulties (in respect to the skills of each person in the party) this earns a lot of speed. This is often done in steep ice or on easier to medium difficult rock climbs (common e.g. on UIAA III or IV climbs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moving without protection being roped together&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is typically done on glacier hikes where the main risk is falling into a crevasse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is no risk of crevasses, this can only make sense if you walk e.g. on a snow ridge where you have no possibility to use protection: In case one falls, the roped-in friend has to react very fast and jump on the other side of the ridge. This is very difficult and therefore needs experience. I was told this should only be done by mountain guides going behind the client.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moving without protection not being roped together&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No backups. You have to feel absolutely comfortable with the terrain you are moving in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me it looks very unlikely to have hidden crevasses in the terrain seen in the picture. So for option (3) it is much more likely that the roping together introduces a much higher risk here than going without rope. Especially if you tie in 5 people (!) it is not very likely that the members will hold the party if somebody falls. It will be more like a chain reaction with very fatal consequences, not only for the one who falls, but for the whole party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once was guided in South America on rocky terrain in a five-member party without using protection. For me this is similarly a no-go but the guide said it's OK and he does it all the time. For me this is not the way to move in the mountains, but opinions differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I say you use one of the options (1), (2) or (4) depending on how comfortable you feel in respect to the experience and skill level of all (!) members of the party. If you can't find a conclusion the way to react is: don't ascend further - return to a route which is safer for your group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me it seems that the wall is not that steep so that option (1) is too slow. Especially if you only have 1 rope for 5 people. So I would either search for spots to use mobile protection to place a camelot or nut. Or I would try to find rocks to guide the rope properly - descriped in (2). The only good alternative for me is that everybody feels safe and all are moving unroped (4).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T17:28:05.067" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T17:28:05.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-01T19:45:03.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like a team arrest setup. I've seen it in the books but never had a case to use it. The idea is when a single ax self arrest won't hold all of the axes might. With 5 people the math starts looking good. Icy snow like what I see here holds crampons and force-driven axes very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok I'm the guy famous here for climbing with an ax for which self arrest doesn't work because we were climbing into area where boot ax belay was mandatory anyway, so maybe my evaluations aren't quite right, but here goes: On this slope, the only thing that makes it look to me like they're out of range is the weight of their packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T19:45:03.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15071" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-01T19:59:28.197" Score="29" ViewCount="18495" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love rock climbing and I try to go to my local gym and boulder as often as possible (usually 2-3 times a week). But it's really hard for me to climb for any extended period of time because my arms get pumped very quickly. Sometimes my arms will start getting pumped after just 3-4 easy routes while I'm warming up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So really I have a couple different questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What should I do &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; climbing to increase the amount of time I can climb before my forearms start hurting?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What should I do when my arms get pumped and I want to continue climbing? Usually I'll take a short break and bend my hands forwards/backwards like in this picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eHsGI.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eHsGI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and it definitely helps. I'll also shake my arms which seems to help too. Are there other stretches/workouts that will help me get over it?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there a certain point where I should stop climbing because of pumped arms, instead of pushing through? (To avoid permanent damage) Where exactly is that line?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12245" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T18:06:47.317" Title="Techniques for handling pumped arms?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-02-01T20:57:18.920" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should I do before climbing to increase the amount of time I can&#xA;  climb before my forearms start hurting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of opinions on what to do before climbing, stretching is old school, warming up is new school, easier climbing with a slow progression towards your &quot;problem&quot; for the day is cool too. Nothing but climbing, and often, is going to allow you to climb longer, as in, the only way to get better at climbing is to climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should I do when my arms get pumped and I want to continue&#xA;  climbing? Usually I'll take a short break and bend my hands&#xA;  forwards/backwards like in this picture?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do push ups, surprisingly it removes the PUMP from my forearms better than anything else. Just plain old regular pushups. This doesn't work in TRAD climbing for obvious reasons, but indoor climbing it has allowed me to keep going when I should have quit an hour before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there other stretches/workouts that will help me get over it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;a href=&quot;http://mojagear.com/journal/2016/02/11/how-to-prevent-forearm-pump-climbing/&quot;&gt;HERE&lt;/a&gt; is a good one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there a certain point where I should stop climbing because of&#xA;  pumped arms, instead of pushing through?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To each his own on this one. Only you know your body that well. However, I would note that climbing is a self correcting sport, once you have reached the limit you will not be able to &quot;push&quot; through it, you wont be able to hold the wall anymore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where exactly is that line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will not be able to grip the wall anymore. This is a good time to stop for the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9464" LastActivityDate="2017-02-01T20:57:18.920" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-02-01T21:52:17.140" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes stretch is good.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relax and stop thinking about your arms.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you have a foot holds just breath and relax.  Watch, a good climber will chalk and look around.  If there are three arm moves they will plan them, do them, and rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to let the the arms relax and get some blood flow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you watch like black belt jujitsu they will go like 20 minutes and not even tired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T01:44:53.157" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T01:44:53.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15074" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15075" CreationDate="2017-02-01T23:41:33.287" Score="12" ViewCount="527" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/892/would-railbiking-be-on-topic&quot;&gt;@Ken Graham&lt;/a&gt;, I just heard of an activity called rail biking. It involves riding a certain type of bike along sections of abandoned railroad tracks. It sounds like a lot of fun, and my husband and I would love to try it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He's very athletic, and even has a few different bicycles which he uses on a regular basis. I'm not athletic, although I like to go walking. We don't want to invest money in equipment, at least until we know what it's like and whether or not I'm strong enough to handle it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to participate in rail biking without owning equipment or having prior experience?  We're planning a family vacation to New York, United States, and are hoping to make it part of that trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-03-16T15:50:05.987" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T19:18:51.773" Title="Can I participate in rail biking without my own equipment or experience?" Tags="&lt;biking&gt;&lt;railways&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15074" CreationDate="2017-02-02T00:48:29.970" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is great about railbiking  (or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draisine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;draisines&lt;/a&gt; as some call them)  is that there is such a diversity of styles in use all around the globe and have even been employed in the military occasionally. I generally only use abandoned railway lines as they are safer to use than active ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is as easy as riding any ordinary bike (my style). You simply are not permitted to turn your handle bars, for obvious reasons. If you are unaccustomed to riding a bike, than it may take a little getting used to. I live in British Columbia and there is not a whole lot of people interested in this. But it is such great fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ride something similar to this model:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2qciQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2qciQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Railbiking&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rrbike.freeservers.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Railbike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another style which you should be able to rent in New York (Thanks to Charlie Brumbaugh). This type of railbike might be little more uncomfortable in the beginning , but is still easy and fun to experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/La67P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/La67P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tour the Scenic Adirondacks on One of Kind Railbikes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get more information from them &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.railexplorers.net/tours&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, If you desire a different style of railbike, they should be able to point you in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an historical look at South Africa's military using railbikes during the  ANGLO-BOER WAR OF 1899-1902:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w7KVF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/w7KVF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ANGLO-BOER WAR OF 1899-1902&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol041dm.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Military History Journal&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I find great about the solo style I use is that the parts I employ are that they are light, as well as adjustable and thus I am able to go on different size tracks and tracks of different widths between the tracks. For example some abandoned mines use different gauges and widths. Just do not go into a mine for safety reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-02T17:54:16.297" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T17:54:16.297" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14974" CreationDate="2017-02-02T01:55:41.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use lighted nocks on my arrows because it helps me judge the quality of the arrow strike on an animal.  When the LED on the arrow tip flies across your field of vision, it leaves a trace in your visual memory of the shot. I can immediately determine if something happened during the shot, such as a deflection off a branch, or if the shot went true.  On top of the extreme example of a shot deflection, I also have a memory of where on the animal the arrow struck.  With information on shot placement, I now have a better idea of how lethal my shot was, such as whether it was likely a heart, lung, or double-lung shot, which may inform how I approach tracking the animal and how long I wait before trying to find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I hope that my lighted nock disappears during the shot.  If I see it run off sticking out of the animal, I know I had a shoulder strike or similar.  All of these factors might change how I approach the next step of trailing the animal.  If I didn't see the lighted nock run off with the animal, I usually find the arrow and I can asses the quality and type of blood to confirm the quality of the shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After giving me a lot of really good feedback on how well my shot struck the animal, the lighted nock then does the (less important, in my mind) job of helping me find the arrow if the arrow passed all the way through, or helping me find the animal if the arrow is still embedded.  It is much easier to find a downed deer when there is a lighted nock sticking up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighted nocks also have an advantage when shooting a traditional bow with an instinctual shooting style.  The lighted nock can help you visualize the flight path of the arrow to develop your instinctual shooting at a faster rate because you are getting more feedback about not just where the arrow hit, but the path it took to get there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was a scoffer until I shot my first deer with a lighted nock after they became legal in my jurisdiction, and now I won't hunt without them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T01:55:41.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15063" CreationDate="2017-02-02T08:33:42.233" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The boat itself is effectively unsinkable, it's a sealed plastic box. The hatches normally have bulkheads separating them from the rest of the boat. If the hatch sections become swamped it's not going to sink the boat, just make it very difficult to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that most properly set up kayaks are &quot;unsinkable&quot;.  All kayaks should have adequate buoyancy* to prevent them sinking. That doesn't stop them getting swamped when things go wrong. Here they're using &quot;unsinkable&quot; to say that it behaves like solid block buoyancy i.e. like a surfboard. You might be swimming but the boat is still floating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sea-worthy is an entirely different game. If you're thinking of using a SOT kayak at sea you shouldn't be straying away from lifeguarded beaches or organised groups. You're much more exposed, more likely to come adrift from the boat and probably inexperienced just because you're asking the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How &quot;safe&quot; is it? as safe as the person on board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm yet to see a proper SOT sea kayak. They're mostly recreational toys or fishing platforms. If you're splashing about off balmy beaches in the Bahamas they're fine. If you want to cross the Pentland Firth, then you'll need proper boats and an experienced group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*&lt;sub&gt;&quot;buoyancy&quot; in this case means foam blocks, sealed bulkheads, airbags, etc, design features or addons specifically designed to stop the boat from sinking.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-02-02T14:23:59.613" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T14:23:59.613" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15036" CreationDate="2017-02-02T16:52:38.397" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is more of a road experience for a rural area in Washington state.  Near a  lake a group of pet dogs (all had nice collars) would form a pack during the day and liked to chase bikes.  On flat ground I could outrun them.  I carried pepper spray but was hesitant to use it. One day they caught me on an up hill and the pack leader turned his head to chop on my leg. As that point his intentions were clear. I got him clean in both eyes with pepper spray and he never bothered me again.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bike or foot from bark to bite you will typically see them prepare to bite. Have pepper spray or other defense ready.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking a walking stick / pole is good defense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try and remain calm and proceed with a look of confidence.  If you show fear is when they get more aggressive.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This a set of dogs that were probably not going to hurt the guy but no one should have to deal with that.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcE5DsEUro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dogs farm road&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T16:52:38.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-02T18:09:16.627" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's impossible to say from a photograph whether something is &quot;safe&quot; or not.  Many factors come into play, including the experience level of the climbers concerned.  For all we know, they may have been roped together for a glacier traverse, and chosen to stay roped up for a short section well within their capabilities, knowing they will need to be protected again later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easy to forget that unroping takes time, which can be a risk in itself; in mountaineering, one needs to be aware that the activity involves being aware of and trading off different risks &lt;em&gt;all of the time&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T18:09:16.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5512" CreationDate="2017-02-02T18:39:41.897" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Open is a common term in sports tournaments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a class that is &lt;em&gt;open&lt;/em&gt; to anyone that wants to sign up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically even pros can enter an open division but some tournaments may exclude pros from Open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a club type event it also means you don't have to be member of the club (or country).  British Open, US Open, ....  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T18:39:41.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15063" CreationDate="2017-02-02T20:35:55.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No they are not unsinkable.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a class of boats where the hull material itself is buoyant, like a surfboard. These sit on types are not of this caliber. They are plastic boats with a sealed (to varying degrees) hull which traps air creating buoyancy. Any break in the seal; either by way of an open drain plug, storage hatch ajar (if part of the buoyant hull), or puncture (disrepair, shark attack, slamming into rocky surf) will cause a loss of hull buoyancy. The severity of the mishap will depend on exposure and the size of the breach in the hull and what methods of evacuating water from the hull you have available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2017-02-02T20:35:55.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-02T21:58:57.133" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned by others: It is impossible to definitely judge the situation from just the photo, and that's all we have. As far as I see, there is no protection between the roped climbers here. So my answer is under the &lt;strong&gt;following assumption&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The party is roped up with lots of rope between climbers without any protection in a steep slope of mixed snow and rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is &lt;strong&gt;never a good mode of ascent as it highly increases the risk&lt;/strong&gt;. Lets define a &quot;death rate&quot; as probability of an event times amount of casualties resulting from that event. For simplicity every climber has a 1% chance of falling. When soloing the total risk of the 4 climber party is thus 4 climbers * 1% fall chance * 1 death = 4% death rate. If they are roped up, the risk is 4 climbers * 1% fall chance * 4 deaths = 16% death rate. It increased 4 times (in general by the amount of climbers in the party).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ascending roped without protection is done with a taut rope very close to each other. Even in that configuration it is hard to arrest a fall, the idea is more to prohibit a fall when the second stumbles. On a long rope with (inevitable) slack it is impossible. The only slim hope is, that while falling down the rope entangles itself in a rock... Every year in the mountaineering accident statistics of my country (tiny Switzerland) there is a few casualties from so called &quot;Mitreissunfälle&quot; (literally carry along accident) - so this is not theory, it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several options that all have their place depending on the climbers and conditions: Short-rope, running belay (long rope with protection in between), fixed belays or soloing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is the case of crevasse terrain with intermediate steep section where one is inclined to keep going on long rope without protection to save time. This is however just a pretext and should not be done unless you are under serious time constraint and every one in the party understands the risk. Rather invest some minutes to unrope or put in some (few) protections on a running belay than pulling/being pulled to death with your friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T17:29:09.433" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T17:29:09.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15084" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15245" CreationDate="2017-02-03T09:58:40.233" Score="9" ViewCount="672" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has your city seen a noticeable decrease in population of common sparrows? And, on the contrary an increased population of common pigeons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As per my opinion prime suspects appear to be stronger cellular networks and pollution?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Details: &#xA;City - Mumbai and Pune.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Country - India.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Continent - Asia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:29:32.487" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:29:32.487" Title="What must be causing a decrease in sparrows and an increase in pigeons in my town?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15062" CreationDate="2017-02-03T11:39:06.840" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one of them slips and falls, there's a chance the others won't be able to save their comrade from falling and will be dragged down as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ROME - Yesterday morning, a Dutch woman saw her husband and three children fall into a ravine during a climb on the Mont Dolent, part of the Mont Blanc Massif.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The family had set out in the early morning from a cabin at 2600 meters. Mother Ada stopped at a lower glacier, after which the father and their three children continued the ascent which isn't known as extremely difficult to climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After having reached the summit and having started the descent, after about 200 meters one of them supposedly slipped and dragged the other three in the fall. The four where connected with ropes. This system helps less experienced climbers, but can, as it was yesterday, be fatal to the whole group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;—&quot;Woman sees her family fall into ravine&quot;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parool.nl/buitenland/vrouw-ziet-gezin-in-ravijn-storten~a24377/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Parool&lt;/em&gt;, 25 July 2008&lt;/a&gt; (translated from Dutch)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5652" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T09:54:57.410" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T09:54:57.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3697" CreationDate="2017-02-03T13:05:55.773" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ended up buying two different pairs of removable sole coverings with a sandpaper-like material on them (appropriately called Sandy and Sandy Plus, made by a company called Springyard in Sweden):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sandy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1KslPm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sandy&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sandy Plus (has an extra piece of sandpaper for the heel):&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fDEzR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sandy Plus&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They solve the problem of slippery soles (though the basic model leaves the heel uncovered), but they do wear out fairly quickly (already showed significant wear after one season of use).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T13:05:55.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15087" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15619" CreationDate="2017-02-03T13:10:30.107" Score="8" ViewCount="218" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to go hiking in Hokkaido next spring. I'd like to hike two weeks and to keep away from the cities during this time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to visit Daisetsuzan Park and Shiretoko Park. I've read about Daisetsuzan grand traverse, but with 55km it's far too short for what I want (in 2 weeks I'd like to cover at least 300km or 400km). I'm a seasoned hiker and I know myself and my capacities well. Ideally, I'd like to cross the island from one point to the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there some good resources online? Ideally I'd like some online maps (like &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.wanderland.ch/&quot;&gt;this map of Switzerland&lt;/a&gt; for example) to help me define my itinerary*. Other resources like detailed blogs are also welcome, or personnal information if you have some. I don't speak japanese at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* I've seen opencyclemap maps, but they are not so detailed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T10:58:38.230" Title="Hiking map for Hokkaido and/or other resources" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-02-03T13:57:28.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you can do &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; a given climb is to warm up, which may involve climbing something easier. I've definitely noticed that I pump out more quickly if I hop directly on a route at my limit, compared to climbing one or two easier ones to warm up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For getting rid of pumped forearms, I've had good success with a technique that a physiotherapist friend showed me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hold your arm relaxed in front of you, with the hand half open&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;place the thumb or knuckles of the other hand on the inside of your wrist&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;press down hard and slide the thumb or knuckles &lt;em&gt;slowly&lt;/em&gt; down until you've reached your elbow. Slowly means: take more than 5 seconds to complete the motion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T13:57:28.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-02-03T17:23:58.530" Score="15" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoiding Pump:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warm up, warm up, warm up. To avoid serious arm pump you need to do &lt;em&gt;at least&lt;/em&gt; 15 minutes of &lt;strong&gt;EASY&lt;/strong&gt; climbing. That's 15 minutes of you doing what &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; feel is exceptionally easy, even if that means doing traverses back and forth across the wall, or climbing up and down a step ladder. You want to activate your muscles and get the blood flowing so you can displace any lactic acid that will build up when you start to climb hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best warm up I ever had in my life was when I was in university taking a sculpting class. I spent 8 hours straight carving a plaster sculpture of my fist then went climbing right after. There was &lt;em&gt;nothing&lt;/em&gt; I couldn't hang onto. Hours or carving had warmed my arms up so well that it felt like they would never fatigue, I was pulling on some of the hardest crimpy holds to hang onto and never got close to getting pumped all night. It was amazing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, there's an event the University Climbing Club does called &lt;em&gt;&quot;The Everest Challenge&quot;&lt;/em&gt; where teams climb the elevation of Everest on the climbing wall in 24hours. All the teams get to the point where they feel like they could climb indefinitely. They climb the easiest routes the whole time, and after about 30 laps they're pretty warm and keep going all night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is that warming up needs to be &lt;em&gt;slow and easy&lt;/em&gt;. You can't rush it, you need to take the right amount of time to get yourself ready for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip for preventing arm pump is to &lt;em&gt;relax&lt;/em&gt; when you climb. Don't try to juice the holds, find a good stance and focus on your balance so you can take a lot of the weight with your legs instead of with your arms. &lt;strong&gt;People with bad technique pump out way faster than climbers with good foot work.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treating pump:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel yourself start to get pumped: stop climbing, relax for a bit, and let your arms hang while you gently massage them or swing them around to try and get more blood flow through them. You need to treat the pump before it gets bad, then perhaps spend some more time gently warming up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stretching isn't the best thing for arm pump, stretching is better for arm &lt;em&gt;fatigue&lt;/em&gt;, which is different. For pump you will have more success rubbing, kneading or shaking your forearms to help clear the lactate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I would do in bouldering competitions when I started getting pumped, was to run lines on the floor. Arm pump is caused by lactic acid build up in your arms, so increasing blood flow will aid in clearing that lactate, and upping your cardio is the easiest way to get your heart pumping and get that blood flowing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T18:27:54.090" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T18:27:54.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15090" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15095" CreationDate="2017-02-03T21:14:49.313" Score="3" ViewCount="575" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible (read, can I spend a restful night sleeping?) By using a quilt, bivi bag and ground sheet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quilt I'm looking at is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/sleeping-bags-c21/sleeping-bags-c88/duvet-down-blanket-p3081&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, the idea being that I can take an ultralight bivi bag and groundsheet in addition to my hammock setup (which includes the quilt) so I'm covered whatever the terrain without having to carry two sleeping bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9553" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T01:27:33.450" Title="Can I use a quilt with a bivi bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15090" CreationDate="2017-02-03T21:39:02.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably, but it likely wouldn't keep you as warm underneath unless you wrapped it all the way around, in which case you have almost duplicated a sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the temperature it might work great, or it could be miserable and a lot of that depends on you. Just try to test it out in safe place before you go on some crazy expedition where you have to depend on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T21:39:02.117" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15090" CreationDate="2017-02-03T22:27:36.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;All a quilt is, is a sleeping bag without a zipper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a down barrel sleeping bag rated to -10°C that is advertised as being useful as a duvet/quilt in summer months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use a quilt in any situation you would use a sleeping bag, but you're more likely to feel a draft if you don't tuck the ends in just right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-03T22:35:18.320" LastActivityDate="2017-02-03T22:35:18.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15074" CreationDate="2017-02-03T23:53:30.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a supplement to @Ken Graham's excellent in-depth &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15075/5547&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;. It's an expansion on a link he referenced in his second picture, which seems to perfectly fit the criteria you're seeking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The organization is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.railexplorers.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rail Explorers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They provide guided tours you can take in a safe environment, with no investment or experience necessary. All equipment is included, and tailored to the number and ages of people using it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following information is taken from the various pages of their website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;About Rail Explorers:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Rail Explorers is a company that is passionate about sharing the fun and adventure of riding the rails. We provide a unique way of experiencing the outdoors in a safe, relaxed and enjoyable way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bikes, called Explorers, are different than true bicycles, and even true rail bikes, such as the bikes that serious riders like Ken Graham use. They have no handlebars, but they do have pedals and breaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What is a Rail Explorer?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  A rail explorer is a pedal powered vehicle that rides on railroad tracks. They have 4 steel wheels, hydraulic disc brakes, pedals for each seat, and are comfortable, fun and easy to ride. Although the rail explorers require pedaling, the magic of steel wheels on steel rails makes the experience very different from riding a regular bicycle. There is no need to carefully watch the road ahead, there is no need to steer and riding is hands free - making it easy to take photographs and video as you roll along. &#xA;  Choose either the Tandem Rail Explorer (2 seats) or Quad Rail Explorer (4 seats) for your ride. Single rider 'Jumpseats' are also available. (Pictures of the different models can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.railexplorers.net/explorer-options&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Who can ride the Rail Explorers?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Everyone! Rail explorers are suitable for all ages and abilities - the elderly, families, couples, cyclists, non-cyclists, hikers and couch potatoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it says, it really is a true family experience. Children of all ages are welcome in the Explorers with enough seats so that they can be individually strapped in. Infants are allowed, and are strapped to adults using harnesses which are provided. You can even bring small dogs, if they're on a leash!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each tour has a guide on their own bike in the front and in the back. They travel only on tracks without any trains, and have coordinated with local authorities to make sure no other vehicles are on the road during their hours of operation. Explorers are instructed to spread out, and are not allowed to pile up on one another, or &quot;tailgate.&quot; That way you can feel somewhat on your own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tours run in all weather, as long as it's safe, and each bike comes with an umbrella! Trips are one-way, but they include a free shuttle bus back to the parking lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The company is committed to what they call &quot;Green eco-tourism&quot; meaning the bikes have no emissions; and because they use established trails, no trees, land or wildlife are disturbed to create the opportunity. This is obviously true of all Rail Biking, and another good reason to give it a try.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @Charlie Brumbaugh found, Rail Explorers currently has a location in the Adirondacks Region of New York. Within the next few months, they'll also be opening another New York location, in the Catskill Mountains, and one in Rhode Island. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very least, this should be fun for your family vacation. Since your husband is already a bike rider, though, this might be just what he needs to encourage him to try altering one of his bikes, or purchasing something specifically designed for this purpose. Then he can get the &quot;true&quot; experience. Lists of local rail trails are easy to find on line, but I'm not sure if Rail Biking is allowed everywhere. There are authorities who can be contacted to learn that information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some fun pictures from people enjoying the ride. Click on them for bigger views. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G9XmA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G9XmAm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Family with infant&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mmoiK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mmoiKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Older Couple&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QSIsk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QSIsk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ladies from rear&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgwoN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgwoNm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Farther view of couple&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iDOR2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iDOR2m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;smiling in the rain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPB1Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPB1Zm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kids with hands in air&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3g8Xd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3g8Xdm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Child with pacifier&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T02:11:55.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15090" CreationDate="2017-02-04T01:27:33.450" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ground sheet should not be necessary -- the bivi bag should protect you from a wet, dirty ground -- but you will need a sleeping pad under you for insulation from a cold ground. Having a duvet instead of a sleeping bag should save you money and weight and, given that you have the bivi bag, draft should not be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T01:27:33.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15096" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15192" CreationDate="2017-02-04T01:59:40.640" Score="11" ViewCount="4439" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just looked at our sleeping bags, which we bought in 1972.  They are in pretty good condition, with only a few small patches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is it unusual for a down sleeping bag to give service for 45 years and still be in good condition? Or is this par for the course?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I estimate that the sleeping bags have been used for a minimum of 1,500 nights.  Between trips, they have always been stored unstuffed on a large shelf with nothing on them or pressing against them.  We dry-clean them probably every second or third year -- I'm not sure.  Also pertinent:  we sleep in them lightly but fully clothed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are the only pieces of our original backpacking equipment that we have not replaced several times.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2017-02-04T14:59:08.740" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T07:09:06.637" Title="How long should a down sleeping bag last?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15096" CreationDate="2017-02-04T17:53:39.420" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would simply go by the loft.  More specifically the minimum loft.  If some baffles have blown out the bag is not as effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have source but I read lumberjacks that use the bag year round go for 3-4 years.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lose some loft you can just use it as a heavy summer bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T17:53:39.420" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15171" CreationDate="2017-02-04T21:08:55.967" Score="5" ViewCount="179" Body="&lt;p&gt;Railbiking is so much fun for those of us who are not limited physically in one form or another. Are there any Draisines-Railbike Companies that have wheelchair accessibility options for the disabled? The option could somehow be a motorized railbike or simply a spot on the railbike, while others do the pedaling for the disabled, so that they too can enjoy the Great Outdoors with friends and family?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-02-10T15:49:19.773" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T15:49:19.773" Title="Are there any Draisines-Railbike Companies that have wheelchair accessibility?" Tags="&lt;bikes&gt;&lt;railways&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15098" CreationDate="2017-02-04T22:37:00.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that that there is at least one company that has wheelchair accessibility for railbike riding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is in Belgium as can be seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.belgiumtheplaceto.be/family-holidays-rail-biking.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Biking on rails: it is not an activity we do in the UK - well not legally at least - but wouldn't pedaling along railway lines be fun?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Just sit back comfortably on a purpose-built open wagon and pedal your way along the railway track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Oncoming trains? Both the tracks used for the purpose are out of service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where to try it out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Either along 4km of track alongside the picturesque Molignee river in Dinant area (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.draisine.be/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.draisine.be&lt;/a&gt;) or in the Hautes Fagnes (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.railbike.be/fr/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.railbike.be&lt;/a&gt;) where you pedal for about 7 km from one station to another with two in the front doing the hard work, and two in the back admiring the scenery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The back seats, incidentally, can be removed to allow wheelchair-users to enjoy the ride.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d3bUx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d3bUx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The railbikes of the Molignée&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.draisine.be/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The railbikes of the Molignée&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-02-04T22:37:00.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15114" CreationDate="2017-02-04T22:43:02.187" Score="12" ViewCount="2389" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go hiking in Sweden this summer with a few friends (forming a group of about 5-7 people) for one or two weeks. The goals we targeted were mainly Kungsleden and Sarek. While a hike on Kungsleden should be safe through STF-huts, some websites and users reported that Kungsleden can get crowded in summer. On the other hand, Sarek is described as something which only &quot;experienced hikers&quot; should visit, although containing extraordinary beauty. But really, apart from steep hills and harsh weather conditions, what could possibly go wrong?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About us: We are relatively inexperienced hikers (many of us hiked for a few days, but not recently and probably not with a heavy backpack). However, we are willing to train ourselves (by doing exercises and &quot;test runs&quot; in a nearby forest). And we do not want to risk our lives: We would like to rent a satellite phone, have a first aid kit, and redundancy wherever possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12278" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T15:12:02.757" Title="What could possibly go wrong in Sarek?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15101" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-04T23:27:42.370" Score="10" ViewCount="1178" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I do a certain hike or run, it's going to cost a certain amount of effort, which could be measured by how many calories I burn. How does this effort depend on the amount of climbing? Is there a conversion factor, like a certain number of calories per 100 meters of elevation gain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A related question, posed in terms of a specific hike, was &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6574/how-many-calories-does-hiking-burn&quot;&gt;How many calories does hiking burn?&lt;/a&gt; &quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2021-04-05T03:26:44.233" Title="How does the effort required for a hike or run depend on the amount of elevation gain?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15101" CreationDate="2017-02-04T23:27:42.370" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The previous question motivated me to study this question more deeply, and to write some &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightandmatter.com/kcals/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;open-source software&lt;/a&gt; to do the relevant calculations, along with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.03.438339v1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scientific paper&lt;/a&gt; testing the results against a large volume of real-world data from people running races. Along the way, I learned that a lot of what people believe about this subject seems to be wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have traditionally tried to quantify this kind of thing using two numbers that can be pretty easily estimated from a paper topo map: the horizontal distance and the total elevation gain, i.e., the sum of all the elevation increases, not counting any of the elevation decreases. So for example, if we start from sea level, climb to the summit of a mountain that is 3000 meters tall, and then come back down to our starting point, the total gain is not zero (because we don't count the descent), and is greater than or equal to 3000 meters. It can be greater because you may do some up-down-up-down stuff rather than just steadily climbing to the top and then steadily descending back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the horizontal distance makes sense, because laboratory studies of people running and walking on treadmills show that distance is an extremely important factor. It simply takes energy to put one foot in front of the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the total gain turns out to be a very poor measure of energy expenditure. The energetic cost of running or walking does depend on the slope i, but for the values of i usually encountered in the real world, this slope dependence is not very big. Even a trail that people perceive as extremely steep will typically have a slope of only about 0.03, i.e., 3 meters of elevation gain for every 100 meters of horizontal travel. Furthermore, most hiking and running routes are loops or out-and-backs, so that you end up at the same elevation where you started. Except on extremely steep downhill grades, going downhill is &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; efficient than walking on flat ground. The result is that the effects of any climbing and descending tend to cancel out unless the terrain is fairly steep. In mathematical terms, the energy cost per meter of horizontal travel is a function E(i), where i is the slope, and although this function has some curvature, the curvature is not very strong, so in most cases the average of E(i) and E(-i) is pretty close to E(0), the cost of flat hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I studied race data, I found that the treadmill data usually provided a much better predictor of people's times than a traditional-style rule in which elevation gain is the only factor. However, the efficiency of downhill running in real-world conditions, as measured by race times, seemed not to be anywhere near as efficient as you would think based on the energy measurements in treadmill experiments. This may be because of factors like safety and trail etiquette. Because of this I came up with a model that seems to fit the data better. This model is incorporated as the default in the code.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are three illustrative examples of the output of the model, for a 66 kg person:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;. Run 20 km on flat terrain. Cost: 1130 calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;. Run 10 km up a steady grade, gaining 500 meters of elevation, and then run back down, for a total distance of 20 km. Cost: 1224 calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;. Run 1 km up a hill 500 meters tall, then down the back of the hill, another 1 km. (The climb and the descent are both steady.). Run another 18 km on the flats, for a total distance of 20 km and 500 meters of total gain, the same as in example B. Cost: 1478 calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;D&lt;/strong&gt;. Run 20 km up a steady grade, gaining 500 meters of elevation. Ride home in a car. Cost: 1286 calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we describe these runs in the traditional way, then A is 20 km with no gain, while B, C, and D are each 20 km with 500 meters of gain. However, the energy costs of B, C, and D are all different.&#xA;I've tried to find a simple statistic that would help people to more accurately characterize how hard a certain run or hike would be. What I came up with was something I call the &amp;quot;climb factor,&amp;quot; or CF. It's defined as the fraction of your energy that was spent on climbing. For example, if you compare runs A and C above, the CF for run C is (1478-1130)/1478, or about 24%. Studying the stats for one of my favorite trail runs near my house, which I consider fairly hilly, I was demoralized to learn that its CF was only 3%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baumel, Bob, &amp;quot;Hill effect to second order,&amp;quot; Measurement News, January 1989, #33, p. 36, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runscore.com/coursemeasurement/MeasurementNews/033_89a.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.runscore.com/coursemeasurement/MeasurementNews/033_89a.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baumel, Bob and Jones, Alan, &amp;quot;Uphills, downhills, and the Boston marathon,&amp;quot; Measurement News, March 1990, #40, p. 15, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runscore.com/coursemeasurement/MeasurementNews/040_90a.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.runscore.com/coursemeasurement/MeasurementNews/040_90a.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crowell, &amp;quot;From treadmill to trails: predicting performance of runners,&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.03.438339v1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.03.438339v1&lt;/a&gt; , doi:10.1101/2021.04.03.438339&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looney et al., &amp;quot;Estimating Energy Expenditure during Level, Uphill, and Downhill Walking, Medicine &amp;amp; Science in Sports &amp;amp; Exercise, 2019, doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000002002&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minetti et al. &amp;quot;Energy cost of walking and running at extreme uphill and downhill slopes,&amp;quot; J. Applied Physiology 93 (2002) 1039, &lt;a href=&quot;http://jap.physiology.org/content/93/3/1039.full&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://jap.physiology.org/content/93/3/1039.full&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-04-05T01:17:14.780" LastActivityDate="2021-04-05T01:17:14.780" CommentCount="28" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15100" CreationDate="2017-02-04T23:51:07.377" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure, I would take this hike if I were inexperienced. At a minimum, please talk over your plans with an experienced local guide. Personally I would take a guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The attraction of Sarek is that it is wholly untamed - no marked paths exist to guide you through its breathtaking landscape of mountains and valleys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sarek is a wild and challenging environment, but you do not need to be an expert adventurer to participate. Distances covered daily are manageable, but if you would like to take part in this experience, &lt;strong&gt;you should be fit, have some experience of mountain hikes with tent and be comfortable carrying a pack weight of around 18-20kg with tent over rough terrain.&lt;/strong&gt; You should bear in mind that you will need to count on adding another 6-8kg to your personal pack weight to allow for food, tent, kitchen equipment and fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little about the Kungsleden-Sarek trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Kungsleden is Sweden’s longest and most famous trail. It has become increasingly popular with international hikers in recent years in part due to a National Geographic article listing it among the “World’s Best Hikes“. Although that reviewer did not cover much of the trail’s actually distance, but that is beside the point. Kungsleden is a beautiful 440 km trek through the Scandinavian mountain range between Hemavan in the south and Abisko in the north. Trailing across majestic mountains, river valleys and highland plateaus it is a truly breathtaking experience! Early in the season you can enjoy the midnight sun and later the northern lights. Weather can be unreliable all season though, including late or early snow. We experienced snow already early September this year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, please take a guide with you. This is rough terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sarek National Park is mainly a high-alpine area with almost no accommodation for tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hiking trails&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Kungsleden hiking trail passes through the eastern part of the park, from Saltoluokta to Kvikkjokk. There are no cabins within the park, the Pårte, Aktse and Sitojaure cabins are just outside the park and they are accessible from both Saltoluokta and Kvikkjokk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hazards&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Due to the lack of shelters combined with rapidly shifting weather and rough terrain, it is recommended that hikers are well prepared and experienced before setting out on the trails of the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fording streams&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are few bridges in the park, and &lt;strong&gt;crossing streams (Sami: jokk) and rivers (Sami: ätno) can be dangerous for ill equipped or inexperienced hikers.&lt;/strong&gt; Warm weather increases the melting of the glaciers causing water levels to rise, therefore wading is often easier and safer early in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The only ford across the Rapa River south of the Smaila Moot, is at Tielmaskaite. The ford is long and can only be used when water levels are low. &lt;strong&gt;Inexperienced hikers are recommended not to cross without a guide.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The glacier jokk from Pårtejekna, Kåtokjåhkå, has no fords. There is a bridge at the southernmost part if the stream (67°09′25.9″N 17°51′20.9″E). Hikers can also follow he streams up to the glacier and cross there, although this requires knowledge about glacier crossing. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarek_National_Park&quot;&gt;Sarek National Park (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-05T00:10:39.427" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T00:10:39.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2017-02-05T17:37:20.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inflate the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) and empty out any water from the bladder.  Generally turn it over so the elephant's trunk is lowest and press the deflate button.  Then hang it up over the bath / shower.  Most of the BCD materials aren't that porous,  so there's not that much water caught up in the material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day,  the moisture needs to get out of the BCD and into the surrounding air.  A typical home will be pretty dry,  and a BCD is quite small.  So,  hang it up over the bath / shower,  and leave the door open so any moisture (not a lot) can get out of the bathroom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've a large soggy item,  e.g. wetsuit or neoprene drysuit,  then it can be helpful to point a desk fan at it whilst it hangs up to stir the air around a bit.  Not too close,  but enough to move the air over the item.   Again,  leave the door open to vent into the rest of your home.   There's not much damp from these items,  so it's not going to make anything damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm fortunate enough to have a garage and I just hang up my drysuit, regulators, inflated SMBs and (wing) BCD which dries naturally in a couple or three days (even in the winter).  Only the hood takes time to dry.  I hang my undersuit and undergloves (drygloves) indoors to air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T17:37:20.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13084" CreationDate="2017-02-05T19:10:21.767" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;GoPros have quite short battery life and it's not possible to change the battery under water.  Therefore you'll need to turn it on and off.  The best place to hold a GoPro is in the hand as you can frame the shot and hold it steady.  Attaching it to a helmet / head strap results in lots of poor video which you'll probably throw away.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either attach a bolt snap to the GoPro housing and keep it in your pocket on a bungee loop,  or use a handle -- and add a bolt snap, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're doing more photography than diving,  a 'tray' style system is better with a couple of lights on handles either side.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighting is key to good underwater photography and GoPros aren't that good in really low light,  e.g. UK diving,  so you'll need additional lighting that is very wide-angle.  The best lights are very expensive;  many times the price of the GoPro camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I accidentally flooded my GoPro by failing to properly close the housing -- an expensive mistake.  However,  as an unintended consequence,  my diving massively improved as I now enjoy the dive and not taking endless awful quality video!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T19:10:21.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7480" CreationDate="2017-02-05T19:28:17.470" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Moving vertically +-2m is a lot.  An awful lot.  It shouldn't be more than a few cms.  This sounds like there's something else going on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good buoyancy requires lots of practice to master.  The best place to practice is 15cm above a platform at around 6 metres.  You should be still;  fins not moving;  and not moving forwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your breathing should be slightly heavier than 'normal',  meaning that you need to take slightly larger breaths to clear your 'dead spaces' such as your windpipe,  etc.  This doesn't mean great gasping breaths,  just &quot;normal&quot; breaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your buoyancy should be set that when you breathe in,  then half out,  then hold,  you should stay vertically still.  A big breath in should mean you'll rise,  a big exhale should mean you'll sink.  Normal breaths mean you'll be more-or-less stable vertically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you move up more than about 50cm,  you'll probably need to adjust your Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) to reset to a stable platform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important issue is to be still in the water.  If you're swimming forward,  your attitude (trim angle) will have a great effect on your buoyancy,  particularly if you're not flat in the water --  many people mask poor buoyancy skills by swimming.  As soon as they stop,  they sink or float.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buoyancy and trim are probably the two hardest skills to master in SCUBA diving.  Once sorted,  diving is so much more pleasurable as you can effortlessly hold your position in the water for all sorts of reasons;  from taking photos through watching the wildlife,  and holding your deco stops if you move into technical diving.  Spending time diving in a swimming pool is a good winter passtime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-05T19:28:17.470" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15108" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-05T22:18:23.153" Score="7" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're heading to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ard%C3%A8che&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ardèche&lt;/a&gt; in France in spring, an area with hundreds if not thousands of campgrounds.  Many of those are massive with lots of entertainment provided by facilities such as multiple restaurants, tennis courts, swimming pools with multiple slides, playgrounds, etc.  It's great for the stereotypical Dutch middle class summer holiday but we prefer a small, pleasant, walk-in campground where the priorities are a quiet nature experience, similar to campgrounds in state/provincial and national parks in US and Canada (but still with hot showers).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What online resources can we use to search specifically for small campgrounds that rather focus on peace &amp;amp; quiet, as opposed to peace &amp;amp; party?  I've searched this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rustiekkamperen.com/nl/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dutch website&lt;/a&gt; but they only list three campgrounds in the entire département Ardèche and I suspect there are more that fit my description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: By walk-in, I mean a terrain where cars are not allowed on the campground itself, but remain at a parking lot at the entrance.  I do not mean a campground that cannot be reached by car at all, as I expect that probably does not exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-18T19:02:33.093" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T11:45:51.093" Title="Where are some small, pleasant, natural walk-in campgrounds in France?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15109" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15110" CreationDate="2017-02-06T00:53:29.570" Score="25" ViewCount="2300" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have often checked into the Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley after emerging, filthy and undernourished, from the backcounty.  A hot shower in one of the cottages, an Ahwahnee Burger, a glass (or three) of wine and boysenberry pie a la mode delivered to the cottage patio -- bliss!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine my shock when I heard that the Ahwahnee had been renamed The Majestic because the former concessionaire had trademarked its name, and that of Curry Village and several other historic places.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/How-Yosemite-lost-its-historic-names-and-may-6883006.php&quot;&gt;San Francisco Chronicle&lt;/a&gt; said on March 11, 2016:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The park’s new concessionaire has gone as far as halting sales of&#xA;  “Yosemite National Park” T-shirts because of its predecessor’s claim&#xA;  to the park title. The name “Yosemite” is being used instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article said that the Park Service had not given up and was fighting the case, but I have not found anything more recent on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is happening?  What is an informed prognosis on the outcome of the legal battle?  The Majestic sounds like a Las Vegas hotel, but I better stop before I rant.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-06T04:44:49.590" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T20:29:21.413" Title="Is the Park Service continuing its case to re-rename Yosemite Park's historic landmarks?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15109" CreationDate="2017-02-06T01:29:35.920" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The name change is going ahead, at least for now&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ahwahnee Hotel and other Yosemite National Park landmarks soon will be renamed amid a legal dispute between the government and the facilities' outgoing operator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On March 1, the famed Ahwahnee — a name affixed to countless trail guides and family memories — will become the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. And Curry Village, a collection of cabins near the center of the park that has carried the same name since the 1800s, will become Half Dome Village, park spokesman Scott Gediman said Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“This is not something we did willingly,” said Gediman, noting that the government was fighting to reclaim the old names in hopes that they someday will be restored.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few other things are going to be changed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also affected will be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, becoming Yosemite Valley Lodge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wawona Hotel, becoming Big Trees Lodge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Badger Pass Ski Area, becoming Yosemite Ski &amp;amp; Snowboard Area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yosemite-ahwahnee-hotel-20160114-story.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; (Jan 14,2017)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, I have seen the government change the names of a few landmarks, and usually the locals continue refer to them by their old names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T20:29:21.413" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15100" CreationDate="2017-02-06T07:42:06.143" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to Sarek twice and hiked other parts of the swedish and norwegian mountain range (some &quot;wilder&quot; than sarek) more than a dozen times. Here is my view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sarek is wild, beautiful, but far from deserted during the peak hiking season.&#xA;If you choose one of the more common paths, you will certainly meet other hikers. There are marked paths with huts that see less traffic than the main valleys of Sarek. &#xA;That being said, in the middle of Sarek, You are on you own. Outside help is not to be counted on &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; something goes wrong. Cell phone coverage is almost zero. A sat phone works of course, but see it as a back up, not something you rely on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to your question, what can go wrong?&#xA;First we have the general hazards of hiking in the mountains.&#xA;You might get sick. You might hurt yourself, sprain an ankle or break a leg. You might run into bad weather (Freezing temeratures possible even in summer)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those things might just as well happen on Kungsleden (or at home), but the consequences in Sarek are more serious since you're off-trail two days hike from help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take that boy scout motto to heart: be prepared. Make sure to have some extra rations and days so you can stay put if the weather turns foul, or if you need to rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there two specific dangers that makes Sarek more serious than Kungsleden:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Navigation. Though Sarek is quite easy to navigate in good visibility (simply follow the valleys) it is another matter if it gets foggy. And though the certainly are paths to follow, they are not marked. Be confident with map and compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Fording. On a marked trail like Kungsleden, there are bridges over the streams. With a bit of luck with the weather you'll even keep your feet dry. In Sarek, there are only a few bridges. You won't be able to cross it or get into the central parts without fording minor and major streams. Don't take this lightly. Loosing footing in a rapid stream is really bad news. Read up on the route you're plannning so you don't end up on the wrong side of a stream you cannot cross...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from those two, more alpine hazards face you if you fancy climbing the summits, but peaks and glaciers are an option on a sarek trip, not a necessity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally You also need to be fit and motivated enough for a ten day unsupported hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T07:42:06.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2017-02-06T12:16:45.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In England and Wales, except where prohibited by other law, you have a common law right to collect the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Fs_(legal)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Four Fs&quot;&lt;/a&gt; for personal use: fruit, foliage, flowers and fungi. You don't have this right if you're trespassing, but it applies in any area where you can lawfully be, which includes national parks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4027" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T12:16:45.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15100" CreationDate="2017-02-06T12:25:31.510" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have hiked the entirety of the Kungsleden, did an 11 day Sarek crossing and have also been on parts of the Nordkalottleden and the Padjelantaleden - so you could say I am fairly experienced with northern Scandinavian mountain treks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Kungsleden&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did Kungsleden in 2006 - 'crowded' meant for us that we maybe saw some 5 groups of people per day, sharing camp grounds around the huts with maybe some 5 parties each night. That was on the northernmost section (Abisko southwards), which is also the most popular one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018 I was again hiking parts of the northernmost Kungsleden sections again, we met maybe 10-20 parties per day, with some avg. of maybe 10-30 people camping at the huts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go towards the south, i.e. Kvikkjok/Ammernäs, it gets far less crowded, most days we maybe met some 1-2 groups of hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But:&lt;/strong&gt; Kungsleden remains very very beautiful, it is easy to reach and with all the huts if something goes wrong help is never too far (&lt;em&gt;i.e. maybe half a days walk&lt;/em&gt;). Also, while expensive, you can resupply at the huts and mountain stations, meaning that you don't need to carry as much food if you don't want to (food is heavy :P).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sarek&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sarek on the other hand is quite another experience!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are no marked trails, in some areas there are no trails what so ever. There are no bridges, so expect to do all your river-crossings (of which there can be many) the hard-core way by fording/wading through. Most importantly, except for the one emergency phone cabin in the center of Sarek, it is &lt;strong&gt;completely empty&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; have to &lt;strong&gt;bring food&lt;/strong&gt; for the entire trek, which will take you at least a week, potentially a lot longer (we attempted to cross Sarek on an 11 day route).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Note that you will have to bring plenty of reserves too, as the weather can make short work of your nicely laid out plans: when our group attempted a crossing, a sudden thunderstorm let the rivers swell high enough to cut of some valleys which forced us to completely change our route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If something &lt;strong&gt;goes wrong&lt;/strong&gt;, the nearest place to call for help might be a 3 day hike from where you are, depending on your location. You must be aware of this fact and plan for it: if somebody is injured at least one person must stay with the injured one, while someone (better even two) go and fetch help.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What can go wrong?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of what can actually happen I'd say the dangers are pretty similar on Kungsleden vs. Sarek - with some added risks due to all the river crossings you'll have to do in Sarek (Kungsleden has bridges).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anything from twisted ankles to broken legs or worse&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hypothermia b/c of a combination of bad weather/bad preparation/bad decision making&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting sick midway&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;River crossing by wading (if you do not know the dangers don't even think about Sarek)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; Sarek is not &lt;em&gt;per se&lt;/em&gt; more dangerous (except for river crossings), but  it is a lot more &lt;strong&gt;remote&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;em&gt;If&lt;/em&gt; something happens, getting help will thus be a lot harder than on the Kungsleden. Just imagine having to sit and wait for 2 or 3 days with a broken leg until your friend hopefully made it far enough to alert emergency responders...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, as you say, your group is rather inexperienced, I strongly suggest you stick to Kungsleden. Once you have a couple of weeks experience in Scandinavian mountain treks behind your belt Sarek can be a wonderful and challenging adventure - but this is not something for beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-12-03T15:12:02.757" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T15:12:02.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15115" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15159" CreationDate="2017-02-06T17:21:14.420" Score="4" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for my first skitour skis. I have main focus 90% on ascent, and 10% on descent (mostly on piste). I am 184 cm heigh, and weight is 87kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my weight? inclusive a bagpack (extra 8kg)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my height (how tall I am)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my ski (on-piste) skill is somehow 7/10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I consider Volkl BMT 94 in length 176 is it good choice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12121" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-06T17:27:47.013" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T05:13:08.050" Title="What is a good length for first back country skis?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2017-02-06T17:24:21.007" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most answers curiously omit a very dangerous reason why removing anything should be illegal, unless designated &quot;affirmative&quot; (that is, you are explicitly given permission to take away).  You don't mention where you intend to take your mementos, and dangers lurk here as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All rocks, animal parts, wood, seeds, flowers, food, etc contain things local to the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing an item can have the deleterious effect of defacing the area from which you take things.  Burial sites may contain items that appear to any, other than archaeologists, as &quot;just a stone&quot;.  You can alter the movement of streams and other waterways, damage an animal/bird/reptile habitat.  As mentioned, if everyone took a flower or a rock, then eventually, the area would be scavenged into oblivion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Importing an item to your own area can have the deleterious effect of bringing in blight/disease, or an invasive species (whether insect, microbial, or plant).  In many of the scout camps we go to, there are strict rules that require us to use only local wood for burning - we are forbidden from using wood we bring from elsewhere, including that which we bought from a supermarket.  We either use what we find on the ground, or, as in many camps, the forester will cut wood for us and we can use that.  In New York, you may not bring in wood from further than 50 miles, and if you bring in any wood at all (within 50 miles), you must provide source documentation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/44008.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Frequently Asked Questions for Firewood Regulation and 2012 Revision (Department of Environmental Conservation)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/309.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Forests (Department of Environmental Conservation)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's even a quarantine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/47761.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;EAB Regulations and Quarantines (Department of Environmental Conservation)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just the mere attempt to get at artifacts - even pictures! - can deface an area that is historically or ecologically important or sensitive.  Human presence near some wildlife sites can have negative effects, like bird nests which can cause birds to abandon eggs.  Turtle and other reptile eggs can be destroyed.  Damage to a beaver dam can have downstream effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And sometimes, merely touching things can be dangerous, particularly with animal parts.  Here, rabies, parasites, anthrax, and other diseases are high-risk to human interaction.  So, leave the antlers, skulls, snake heads, and turtle shells alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and animals?  Good luck trying to take a dead mountain lion or eagle you find on a trail head and stuff it.  Taxidermists are forbidden by law to process a protected animal - even if you find it already dead.  There's permits, paper work, red tape, and bureaucracy that are required to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/permits/faqs/FactSheetTaxidermistFront&amp;amp;Back.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Taxidermists &amp;amp; Federal Law (U.S. Fish &amp;amp; Wildlife Service)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You specifically mention taking a live plant and replanting it at home.  You may be allowed to remove from one area, but be prohibited from importing it to another.  In fact, transport across country boundaries is generally illegal.  It's not unusual to try to take home some plant or animal product you purchased at a gift shop - like a sea shell, starfish, pine cone, snake head, or some other animal or plant by-product, only to be told by customs you cannot bring it on the plane or boat.  Even some foods are generally illegal to take across borders.  Food which is processed into oblivion - like soda or milk - is usually okay.  Or canned foods.  But raw food?  Or dried jerky or grain? Conch shells from Barbados?  Dried starfish from Australia?  Sand dollars from Martinique? Or a bottle of wine with a dead snake in it from Vietnam?  Or that dried corn husk from Mexico to make tamales?  It all could be confiscated, even if you purchased it from a super market or gift shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, you may be encouraged to take (or rather, destroy) things, but would generally be prohibited from taking anywhere else.  Kudzu is an infamous example, such as in South Carolina where at one point a few years back the governor declared war on the invasive plant.  All culling by any means available was encouraged.  So you were allow to kill/destroy as much of it as you find, you just aren't allowed to bring it anywhere - because those places likely have kudzu infestations themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as to food: Sometimes, it's not about the danger to the environment, or to yourself or others.  Sometimes, it's about the damage to corporations.  Yep:  Try going to a foreign country and bring in a food product (like seeds) which are not genetically engineered to produce fruit without seeds.  Monsanto spent billions convincing us that seedless watermelons are better because, well, who wants to eat seeds?? - when the real issue is they want you to be buying their seeds year after year.  Seeds will be confiscated at customs checkpoints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the lines of damage to corporate bottom lines, there's also the damage to government bottom lines, too.  Sure, alcohol is not a memento you're going to find.  But tobacco leaves?  Our car got searched because a dog hit on tobacco.  We were allowed to keep the cigarettes because the woman proved she bought them legally.  But the customs officer (or whatever they're called when they're on the reservations) told us that all tobacco products are subject to confiscation if we can't prove we paid tax on it.  And then there's the drug plants, like cocoa, marijuana, poppies, and various mushrooms, which I'm sure you didn't intend to include as mementos, but they nevertheless fall into your category of taking live plants and transporting them somewhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, you may think you are contributing to a species by propagating them, or making your house guests aware of what you've found.  But you may be doing more harm to the area you took them from, or the area into which you brought them, or to the people whose livelihoods rely on them and you took or stole from them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, besides mentioning your intentions with your mementos, you need to be up on the local laws of the place you're taking things from; the laws of the place you're taking things to; and the laws of the places through which you travel to transport things, all in order to know whether such a thing is allowed to be taken to or from.  It's just not feasible to answer here with anything more reasonable other than &quot;you should not remove anything&quot;.  (And be careful about those pictures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T13:29:26.140" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T13:29:26.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15117" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15118" CreationDate="2017-02-06T22:54:13.593" Score="7" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8026/what-are-the-principles-of-leave-no-trace&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; lists the principles of Leave No Trace, taken from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Center for Outdoor Ethics&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the general principals apply to many types of outdoor activities, this particular set seems geared toward land-related activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course all are true no matter who or where you are, or what you're doing, including boating. However, boats and those who use them also have some unique challenges in terms of leaving no trace. I'm thinking especially of things like water and air pollution; endangerment of water-related animal and plant life, sometimes permanently; human waste removal; making too much noise around other boaters or people on land; interfering with those who are using the waters for things such as swimming or fishing; and others I haven't named. With any challenges come responsibility, so I wondered if there's an equivalent organization or set of ethics provided for boaters to follow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would encompass things like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;boaters and their behavior in general&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;different kinds of boats and their purpose&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;various types of bodies of water &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;boats which are moving, moored, or docked  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;geographical location, which might need to be named specifically if rules vary&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does such an organization or set of principles exist? If so, how can I find the information? It might need to be more than one group in order to cover all the things that concern me. Perhaps it's under the umbrella of the Center for Outdoor Ethics, but if so, I didn't see it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T00:50:12.807" Title="Is there a Leave No Trace equivalent specifically for boaters?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15117" CreationDate="2017-02-06T23:39:56.513" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;LNT is a brief and easy to understand guideline on principles of how to live in harmony with the outdoors. The principles apply equally to remote back country travel, boating or even picnicking down at the local urban park. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We already have many written rules, where the wording has become more important than the principle that drove the rules. LNT is about teaching people to think and act based in principles rather than words of rule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The very reason LNT is so important in the first place is because it is not a set of prescriptive rules, but guiding principles. Coming up with a different set of words about how to apply the principles to a new environment would make LNT just another set of (pointless) rules to follow. With so many sets (every activity would demand its own special set of rules) adherents would be able to abdicate responsibility for thinking for themselves by sticking to their carefully selected rule set, making LNT just another point less set of rules.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO A better approach than changing LNT would be to describe how to apply LNT principles to boating (or family picnics or visiting the mall....). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-02-06T23:39:56.513" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2017-02-07T00:10:14.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spinning reels will clearly cast further and easier especially in the wind. But once you learn to throw the baitcaster the accuracy will outweigh all the other downsides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We focus on catching big fish and the baitcaster is stronger, while the spinning reel probably provides a better fight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Read this article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://bassonline.com/florida-styles-of-fishing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fishing styles&lt;/a&gt; to help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12283" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T00:10:14.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15120" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15144" CreationDate="2017-02-07T00:15:14.287" Score="5" ViewCount="2874" Body="&lt;p&gt;How can I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum_arvense&quot;&gt;horsetail&lt;/a&gt; as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indicator_plant&quot;&gt;indicator plant&lt;/a&gt; to find gold while gold pannig?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/what_are_indicator_plants&quot;&gt;What are Indicator Plants?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Indicator plants are peculiar to a certain place. Though they aren’t necessarily rare, they don’t grow just anywhere. They tolerate only a narrow range of growing conditions, so their presence in a forest signals some distinctive aspect of that place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indicator plants can be used for a variety of reasons. They can tell us if we are the wetlands, an old field, a young woodlands, mature woodlands, human impacted sites or whether the soil is alkaline or acid and so on, as seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.espsciencetime.org/student_life.cfm?subpage=295615&quot;&gt;here&#xA;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.permaculturenews.org/resources_files/pdc_info/Plants_as_Soil_Indicators.pdf&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Field horsetail indicates a wet, poorly draining soil and is soggy at different times of the year as is mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;http://homestead.org/DianaBarker/LooktotheWeed/SoilIndicators.htm&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/plants/plants/horsetail&quot;&gt;Horsetail&lt;/a&gt; is a perennial plant that is found in or near watery areas such as marshes, streams, or rivers. Horsetail grows in temperate northern hemisphere areas of Asia, Europe, North America, and North Africa. It flourishes where it can root in water or clay soil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some who claim that horsetail can be used as an indicator plant for finding gold, such as the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some of the most useful plants for mineral prospecting are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gold - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/equisetaceae/equisetum-arvense.htm&quot;&gt;Equisetum arvense&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; confusa (horsetail) - &lt;a href=&quot;http://technology.infomine.com/articles/1/1650/indicator-plants.geobotany/indicator.plants.aspx&quot;&gt;Indicator Plants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following site has this to say about horsetail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The horsetail is a type of plant that grows in sandy soil usually very close to a water supply. Its uses are many as it has a high silica content that allegedly can be of some medicinal value, but its primary function during the gold rush days was for... - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.icmj.com/article-notloggedin.php?id=164&quot;&gt;Horsetail Gold&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is this: &lt;strong&gt;How can one know the differences between what makes a site possibly gold bearing over one that in simply wet, poorly drained and/or sandy, using horsetail as a plant indicator, while gold panning along a river or stream in the Great Outdoors?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T02:38:52.990" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T20:58:54.137" Title="How can I use horsetail as a &quot;indicator plant&quot; to find gold while gold pannig?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;gold-panning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15117" CreationDate="2017-02-07T00:50:12.807" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trash is pretty clear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biological human waste is pretty clear.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grey water is grey.  Boiled some potatoes.  Clean dishes with biodegradable soap or shower with with biodegradable soap.  Discharge into the water just like you would discharge into the ground on land.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gut fish I would discharge to the water.  Where in port I would not typically discharge fish guts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T00:50:12.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15123" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15127" CreationDate="2017-02-07T03:22:38.760" Score="11" ViewCount="346" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am preparing a dayhike with some buddies of mine but to get to the trailhead, we have to cross more than ten river crossings which are passable by huge vehicles. The water there is quite fast and raging. In the interest of time so we could be able to complete the hike in a single day, I'm planning to start the hike early so we can be at the trailhead before the sun rises. What things should I keep in mind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T04:13:01.383" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T12:29:08.233" Title="How to cross rivers or streams at night or in darkness?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15123" CreationDate="2017-02-07T03:33:04.247" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of things you will want to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Headlamps&lt;/strong&gt; are essential as you will want the full use of both of your arms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The darkness will make it more difficult, mostly because you be able to see much less.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The darkness can also mess with your judgement of how far things are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In mountainous areas, the stream levels will usually go up later in the day once the snow starts melting, so something that is barely possible at dawn will probably not be possible at noon.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There will also be an added level of danger because of the added difficulty of getting warm if you fall in (no sunlight to warm you up).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond these all of the standard &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/657/if-i-have-to-cross-an-icy-flowing-river-what-are-some-ways-i-can-cross-safely?rq=1&quot;&gt;precautions&lt;/a&gt; apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I wouldn't say that this is an automatic turnaround, but there is an added level of danger when river crossing at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T03:33:04.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15123" CreationDate="2017-02-07T12:19:52.450" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't&lt;/strong&gt;, unless you know the route very well and are sure the rivers can pose no danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Travel the day before so you arrive to the trailhead before it gets dark, then spend the night at the trailhead.  Big river crossings at night are too dangerous.  A headlight will only do so much as the light will just reflect off the surface.  You won't be able to tell the depth of the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Travelling the afternoon the day before has the added advantage that you will do the river crossings in the afternoon, minimising the risk that swelling river levels trap you on the far side of the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T12:31:33.510" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T12:31:33.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10440" CreationDate="2017-02-07T14:26:52.867" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lumens is the amount of light emitted from your torch. If the same amount light is spread in a tight beam,  say 6 degrees,  it will appear much brighter than the same amount of light spread over a wider beam,  e.g. a 12 degree beam is about 4 times the area than a 6 degree beam,  so will appear to be less bright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big issue is the type of conditions you dive in.  If there's a lot of sediment in the water,  as is normal for UK diving,  then you'll find a wide beam produces a lot of back-scatter,  whereas a tighter beam will produce less.  It's like driving though fog where it's best to use a dipped beam than full beam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being slightly cynical,  there's Lumens and there's Lumens.  A lot of the cheap and nasty far-eastern torches will claim enormous amounts of Lumens;  quite frankly many appear to be made up numbers.  Also cheap torches are a waste of money;  they break after a few usages and literally dissolve in the water.  There's nothing worse than discovering your torch won't work when you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best torches are heavy-duty with descent sized batteries.  These are normally umbilical meaning a thick cable connects the torch head in your hand to the battery on your waist belt.  The torch head usually has a &quot;Goodman handle&quot; which effectively frees your hand with the torch head on the back of your hand.  Needless to say umbilical torches are expensive &gt;$500,  but they're very reliable and have several hours of battery life.  My primary torch is a Light-For-Me 4Tec which has 1200 Lumens in a 6 degree beam pattern and a battery life of over 5 hours -- easily enough for a weekend.  Other similar torches are available,  all are excellent and reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smaller backup torches tend to use the &quot;screw&quot; head to turn them on and use standard non-rechargable batteries.  This is because rechargable batteries discharge over time;  you don't want to discover this when your main torch has failed.  You did check your torch before you dived in?!?  Backup torches are normally stowed on your chest harness,  below your D-ring.  If diving in an overhead environment you &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; take at least two backup torches and one primary torch.  Typically they'll have a tight beam and be of the order of a few hundred Lumens.  My 3 x AA battery backup torches (Ammonite LED1) last for a couple of hours;  easily enough to last the rest of a dive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another benefit of a tight beam pattern is for signalling.  You can communicate using &quot;passive signalling&quot; to your buddy where you are:  typically if your buddy is in front of you,  your beam will be pointing just in front of them so they can see you're keeping up.  You use active signalling to get their attention,  or rapidly waving the torch beam around to immediately get their attention in emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recreational torches tend to have wider beam patterns,  so need a much greater light output.  This means that to be small they have a short battery life at full power.  They can easily cost the same as a fully-featured technical umbilical torch with many hours of battery life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other type of torch is a video torch.  If you're taking photos,  you'll need a very wide beam spread,  so you'll need an enormous light output spread across the beam to light up the target.  These can be eye-wateringly expensive,  easily &gt;$1000.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So lots of choices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T14:26:52.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15129" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15195" CreationDate="2017-02-07T16:15:14.073" Score="45" ViewCount="16173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to go camping in the forest, mostly in summer, sometimes also when temperatures drop to about 0&amp;deg;C/32&amp;deg;F during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a three-season sleeping bag (T-comf: -2°C, T-lim: -8°C, T-ext: -26°C), an inflatable sleeping mat (9cm thick, R-value 2.8), and a good enough tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My equipment should be sufficient for sleeping outside, let alone in a tent, in 0&amp;deg;C (right?). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless, I often wake up in the middle of the night, freezing. Especially, my hips, feet and legs are cold. And of course it is nearly impossible to go back to sleep, once cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried wearing warm headwear, woolen underwear and socks inside the sleeping bag, to no avail. Drinking hot tea before turning in has not helped. Clothes, sleeping bag, tent are all nice and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do I still wake up freezing? What else I can do to keep warm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12169" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:02:50.130" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:02:50.130" Title="Why do I always wake up freezing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="18" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T16:31:49.340" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;As to why you're still cold with those specs: it happens to me as well, and I think the specs are for the 'average' person meaning not only average amount of body fat but also average temperature regulation (as in: certain people feel cold at x°C, while others might already feel cold at x + 2°C or so, you get the point). So it might be possible that you have e.g. low body fat and hence less insulation and also tend to feel cold quicker. So even though the bag's comfort temperature is at -2°C you still get cold because it's just not a sufficient amount of insulation, for you. I'm not 100% sure this is the case, but it seems a plausible enough explanation; the alternative being that the specs on your bag are simply incorrect and/or exaggerated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to what to do about it: first time it happened to me I just put on 2 extra layers of clothing and that was warm enough though not extremely comfortable. After that I got another bag for lower temperatures (something like 5°C lower comfort temp. than the other one) and the was warm enough as well. Also make sure that whatever you put between your bag and the tent floor insulates enough, or sleep raised from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T16:31:49.340" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15123" CreationDate="2017-02-07T16:41:05.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple problems&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not in a good position to access the danger and you have not done the&#xA;route.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If someone does fall rescue is now much more difficult. You don't&#xA;even know which side they got out on or how far. You would need to&#xA;split your party in the dark. Even with a successful rescue you have lost hours and will not make trail head at dawn.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know someone that has done the route recently to tell no problems then OK.  Fast water above your knees in the dark is not a good combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T16:41:05.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T16:57:39.870" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some other things you can try,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fill a water bottle with hot water, wrap it in a t-shirt and put that inside your sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't drink warm tea before you go to bed, as that will increase the chances of having to get out of bed or being uncomfortable all night long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, eating before bed will give your body fuel during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make certain that your sleeping bag fits you properly, as if it is too long there can be an empty space down by your feet that will hurt your ability to stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider getting a warmer sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T21:13:32.143" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T21:13:32.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T18:26:49.143" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're consistently cold in your sleeping system, then you need to change your system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An adequate sleep system for cold weather constitutes &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; sleeping pads: a solid foam sleeping pad underneath of an &lt;em&gt;insulated&lt;/em&gt; air mattress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your sleeping bag should be rated to well below the temperature you're sleeping in. I don't know who comes up with these comfort ratings, but they always seem very subjective to me. I've got a -10°C sleeping bag that seems barely comfortable enough sleeping in the summer months sometimes (granted even in summer the temperature will drop to freezing overnight in the rockies), but in winter at -15°C I'll find myself sweating in it. What you wear in you bag will affect how warm it is, the best thing to do is wear a single warm base layer inside it. Your bag will feel cold when you get into it, but your body will warm the whole bag if you wear fewer layers in it. If you're getting cold spots, it's because you're insulating parts of your body better than others. Sounds to me like you're wearing more layers on your top than you are on your bottom in your bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Before&lt;/em&gt; going to bed, you should relieve yourself of all fluids and &lt;strong&gt;eat&lt;/strong&gt; something hot. Drinking a hot drink before bed will warm you up, but it won't keep you warm overnight, in fact a full bladder will make it more difficult to keep warm. Eating a hot meal will warm you up, &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; put fuel on the fire to keep you warm as you sleep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other items that you can add to your sleeping system may include a &lt;em&gt;bag liner&lt;/em&gt;, a &lt;em&gt;vapour barrier&lt;/em&gt;, an &lt;em&gt;outer bag&lt;/em&gt;, and a warm touque and neck warmer to wear while you sleep and keep the drafts at the neck of your bag at bay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T20:30:02.177" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T20:30:02.177" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T19:54:07.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, your probably sleeping with to much on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your sleeping bag looks fine, assuming your mat and tent are fine, then your likely just fighting moisture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get naked. Or close to it. At least down to your undies. When you cover up in the sleeping bag, and you ware your cloths, specially day cloths, but even some &quot;night cloths&quot; you are going to sweat a little. Any sleeping bag worth a damn will &quot;wick&quot; that moisture away from you, but if you have closes in between it takes longer. The moisture on your skin means you cool, and thus you get cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it seems counter intuitive to ware less cloths to stay warm, but give it a try. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next up is going to be the tent. Make sure you leave a flap open. Not wide open. But air needs to move through the tent to &quot;take away&quot; moisture and humidity. I find the best way to do this is to open a flap &quot;at the top&quot;. The hottest of the air gets to move out, and the air flow stays off of you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, I know that seems a bit backwards. Also the opening doesn't have to be much. If done correctly you won't wake up with condensation on the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally understanding a single key fact really helps. Again assuming that you don't have a hardware problem (like you mat is too thin, or your sleeping in a swamp) then you don't want the tent to get warm. You want it to stay cool and comfortable. If you sweat, your screwed. In fact, if the tent seems a little cold as you go to sleep that is probably correct. As you sleep your body temperature should warm, and the heat of your body (and others) will make for one awesome space heater. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BONUS: If your tent is to big, you will not be able to warm it properly. Tent sizes tend to be a bit of a joke unless your actually keen on sleeping on top of someone, so it can be a bit hard to tell. But essentially there shouldn't be much more room then it takes for you, and who ever your camping with to lie down. And a little bit extra for maybe a backpack each. Anything more then that and your tent is too big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T19:54:07.687" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T19:58:39.960" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides all the mostly great advice already here, you can take your down jacket and crumple it into the the bottom of your bag. Once you get into the bag, stuff your bare feet into the coat. This will supply an extra layer of insulation and &quot;fit&quot; for your feet. &#xA;There are re-usable, lightweight heat packs you can easily carry and place into the coat to give your feet a good, warm start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's miserable being cold, which is why I'm just a 3-season backpacker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T19:58:39.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15137" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15140" CreationDate="2017-02-07T20:22:27.530" Score="44" ViewCount="14914" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the recommendations for sleeping warm is to empty your bladder before bed,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When your bladder is full, your body is &lt;strong&gt;expending energy keeping that liquid warm.&lt;/strong&gt; If you empty it out, your body needs to expend a &lt;strong&gt;little less energy to stay warm.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.rei.com/camp/camping-tip-how-to-sleep-warm/&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There has been some discussion on this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15129/why-do-i-always-wake-up-freezing#answer-15132&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; as to whether or not this is true, especially since it is also recommended to sleep with a warm water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A hot water bottle in your sleeping bag can stay warm for hours and help you sleep soundly when it’s well below freezing in your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.rei.com/camp/camping-tip-how-to-sleep-warm/&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the &lt;strong&gt;scientific&lt;/strong&gt; reason for why this is so or possibly why it is not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T03:25:57.073" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T12:31:12.930" Title="Is it warmer to sleep with an empty bladder?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-07T20:36:51.317" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most important reason to pee before you go to bed: you'll be uncomfortable lying there all night feeling like you have to pee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second most important reason: if you try to delay it, you'll just have to get up later, in the middle of the night. This means getting out of the bag and getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The REI blog sounds scientifically illiterate to me and does not appear to be backed up by a citation of any scientific source or any experimental evidence or valid theoretical argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When your bladder is full, your body is expending energy keeping that liquid warm. If you empty it out, your body needs to expend a little less energy to stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like the blogger didn't understand thermodynamics very well. The rate at which heat flows out of an object by conduction into its colder surroundings is proportional to its &lt;strong&gt;surface area&lt;/strong&gt; and to the &lt;strong&gt;temperature difference&lt;/strong&gt;. When you surround your body with a sleeping bag, the rate of heat flow by conduction is also inversely proportional to the &lt;strong&gt;thickness&lt;/strong&gt; of the bag. Having a bladder full of pee at body temperature doesn't affect any of these three variables, so heat will flow at the same rate when your bladder is full. However, when your bladder is full, it will add slightly to the amount of heat energy that your body starts with, so heat loss at the same rate will produce a slower drop in temperature. In reality I would expect this to be a small effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We could also worry about heat transfer by convection or radiation, but I don't think it changes the conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body does not, of course, spend the whole night coming into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings. It probably maintains its core temperature at close to nominal body temperature, but body parts like skin and fingers will get colder. Your body is probably in a steady state of heat flow for most of the night, with its metabolic heating staying in equilibrium with heat loss. I don't think this alters the conclusions, because the rate of heat loss is still governed by factors that are pretty much the same as in the description above for something just passively cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T20:48:52.603" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T20:48:52.603" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T20:39:07.507" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Putting together a lot of ideas already covered and adding some tips I've gotten over time. I don't have much natural insulation and get cold easily, so these tips have all been important for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ensure you &lt;strong&gt;have the proper gear&lt;/strong&gt;. Sounds like you already do, but maybe need a more appropriate sleeping pad to insulate you from the ever-cold ground. I usually go with egg-crate style foam pads for their versatility and ruggedness.&#xA;Also take care in how you setup your gear - make sure you will stay insulated off the ground, and have you head and upper body slightly elevated relative to your feet - more blood pressure on your feet than on your head will be precious for comfort overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prepare your body&lt;/strong&gt; to stay warm over night. This means eating fats and warm foods that digest slowly. Meat, butter, oils, nuts all really help. Not only will the full belly of warm, heavy food make you sleepy, but your body will generate heat as it slowly processes the food overnight. This also means being hydrated but not excessively, and relieving yourself before bed. 'Holding it in' requires muscles to work, which draws energy that could otherwise be used keeping your core and distant extremities warm. Lastly, there is a psychological aspect to this: you will rest better if you're mentally prepared to wake up now and then cold, know your sleep system is adequate, and as long as you're dry and not showing any signs of sever health issues (numb toes that could lead to frostbite, uncontrollable shivering which could hint at hypothermia), you roll over, curl up, and do your best to relax and get back to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now that your body is prepared to be a heater, and you have the gear to maintain heat, &lt;strong&gt;get ready for bed&lt;/strong&gt;. (This step is important for me as someone fairly lightweight who had the same cold-night problem.) You want to make sure all your clothes are dry, and you want to strip down to the minimum amount of clothing overnight. The latter is for two reasons: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your sleep system and body are working well, you'll accumulate heat through the night. &lt;strong&gt;Too much heat is bad&lt;/strong&gt; and will make you sweat, and any moisture in your sleep system (whether from sweat, weather, or lack of ventilating your own breath) will in turn make you very cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your body is always trying to stay at a certain temperature. If you go to sleep with all your clothes on and your sleep system, &lt;strong&gt;your body will regulate its temperature to its desired state with all aids applied&lt;/strong&gt;, and when you get up and lose the sleep system but don't add much in the way of clothing, your body's thermostat will be running on the cold side. If you go to sleep with less clothing, your body will be forced to step up its furnace to maintain an acceptable temperature. When you get up and out of the sleep system you'll be glad your body is working harder to keep itself warm (this means burning more energy - all the more reason for the bed-time snack) and that you have more layers to put on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, related to all the above points, some other tips that have helped me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take the clothes you removed, and stuff them in your bag (unless that introduces too much moisture to the bag). More insulation &amp;amp; warmer clothes in the morning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm water up before bed, and sleep with your hot water container (so long as it's seal is reliable). It will stay warmer longer, and heat lost from the water is gained in the sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mind your head: your breath needs to be out of the sleeping bag or it will introduce too much moisture inside, and this necessity means at least part of your head will be out of the bag. Have good head insulation handy because of this. That said, still better to try and sleep with fewer clothes if you can handle it. I usually have hats in my bag so I can grab them if I wake up with my head very cold, but I start out with minimal or no hats on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all these pointers, I have slept fine many a night in tarp-shelters in the middle of winter (0ºF give or take) using a 20ºF synthetic bag with a 55ºF synthetic bag in that as a liner, putting on a fresh pair of thermal underwear (top and bottom), thick socks, and a trapper hat as a pillow. That can be rough (an actual pillow would help), but I do sleep and even when I wake up once or twice at night from the cold, I can curl up a little more and get back to sleep — before I know it, I wake up cozy to morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T14:30:10.050" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T14:30:10.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-07T20:53:44.023" Score="73" Body="&lt;p&gt;Humans have a few intuitions about how temperature, heat, and liquids work. These intuitions lead us astray for the specific case of a bladder full of urine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;&quot;Keeping Warm&quot; / &quot;Cooling down&quot;&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first intuition is that &lt;em&gt;things cool down on their own&lt;/em&gt;: If you leave a pie from the oven on your counter, it eventually cools down to room temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We believe things cool down (and thus must be &lt;em&gt;&quot;kept warm&quot;&lt;/em&gt;) because ambient temperature is nearly always colder than any object which we consider to be warm. In reality, things only cool down when &lt;em&gt;their temperature is higher than the temperature of their surroundings&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is thermal equilibrium: &lt;strong&gt;in the absence of other processes, an object and its surroundings will eventually match temperature&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this principle of &lt;em&gt;things cool down on their own&lt;/em&gt; apply here? No. Urine in your bladder is already at thermal equilibrium with the rest of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;&quot;Cool Liquids&quot;&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also intuit that liquids are colder than normal matter, because wetting your hands results in a very high surface area-to-mass ratio, causing rapid evaporation. Evaporation is a cooling process, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also think liquids are colder because they tend to have good thermal conductivity. We perceive the temperature of an object based on the rate of heat exchange with it; that rate is determined by the difference in temperature and its conductivity. Thermally conductive things feel warmer or colder than their nonconductive counterparts because they &quot;move&quot; heat more quickly. This is why metal objects at room temperature feel colder than e.g. cotton at the same temperature -- they are the same temperature, but the higher-conductivity object exchanges heat more quickly. It's also why you can put your hand into a 450 F oven without getting burned, but can't safely grab a metal pan at the same temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do these properties of &lt;em&gt;cool liquids&lt;/em&gt; apply here? No. Urine in your bladder cannot undergo evaporation (it's a closed system), and its high thermal conductivity is irrelevant because it's already at the same temperature as the rest of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Physics&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are only a few factors we need to consider to determine the nighttime temperature of a camper in a sleeping bag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Starting heat energy: How much thermal energy are we starting off with? Going to bed cold is going to be worse than going to bed warm. Starting with a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag is better than starting with a bagful of ice in your sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulation: What is the thermal conductivity between the sleeping bag and the surrounding environment? Well-insulated bags are better than poorly-insulated bags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exterior temperature: How cold is the surrounding environment? All things equal, colder exterior temperatures will cause a higher rate of heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Endothermic / exothermic processes: How much heat is the camper generating (e.g. from metabolism)? Humans convert chemical energy (food calories) into heat; if we burn more calories in this process, we'll stay warmer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leaves us with two possible physically-possible mechanisms of action for the &quot;full bladder makes you colder&quot; hypothesis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Endothermic reaction: It's &lt;em&gt;in theory&lt;/em&gt; possible that urine undergoes some endothermic chemical reaction, like a one-time-use ice pack. There's no evidence for this happening; urine does not meaningfully change chemical composition over time when sitting in the bladder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exothermic inhibition: It's &lt;em&gt;in theory&lt;/em&gt; possible that the human body inhibits its own metabolism when its bladder is full. It definitely seems like we'd notice if this were actually the case. Either way, the mechanism of action here is not that we are &quot;keeping our urine warm&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Running the numbers: A Sanity Check&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The original claim is that you don't have to &quot;keep warm&quot; the contents of your bladder. We've shown that this isn't really a thing, but what if it were? A healthy full adult bladder is about 300 mL of liquid, which would weigh about 300 grams (or half a pound). For a hiker weighing 80 kg / 175 lbs, that's about 0.3% of your total body mass. Is a 0.3% change in body mass really going to significantly change your overnight heating situation? That's implausible at best. Note that the change in surface area (assuming you expand with a full bladder, rather than simply compress other parts of your body) is going to be &lt;em&gt;smaller&lt;/em&gt; than 0.3% because surface is a quadratic measure but volume is cubic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this effect were actually noticeable, it should be &lt;em&gt;twice&lt;/em&gt; as strong for taking a normal #2 (weight 1-3 lbs) right before bed, because you should have to &quot;keep warm&quot; your poop just as much as your urine (presumably). No one seems to comment on this. Humans are pretty good at sensing their bladder fullness but not great at sensing bowel fullness when it's within normal parameters, which suggests there's a strong psychological component going on here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about a hot water bottle in the sleeping bag with you, a common suggestion? Does this matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we heat up a 1 L bottle of water (1,000 grams) to 100 C (boiling) and it eventually cools to 24 C (74 F, a rough guess at the temperature in a warm sleeping bag), we've added 76 Calories* of heat to our system. Basal sleeping metabolism is about 80 Calories per hour; nearly all of these Calories turn into heat (only the small portion stored as chemical energy, e.g. ATP, don't). So if the water bottle cools down to ambient temperature within an hour (a decent guess), it's almost as good as having another human zipped up in the sleeping bag with you for the first hour, which is definitely something. There's a throughput trade-off here; if you insulate the water bottle a bunch to make it cool down over twice the period of time, you get half the per-time energy output.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;*&lt;/code&gt; Note &lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;alorie, equal to 1,000 &lt;strong&gt;c&lt;/strong&gt;alories&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9226" LastEditorUserId="9226" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T23:48:48.067" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T23:48:48.067" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-07T20:56:25.527" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Ben noted in an answer, &quot;the body doesn't spend the whole night coming into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.&quot; Where the body needs to focus its energy is important because if your body is busy heating your core to avoid death, then your fingers and toes can't get as much warming attention and will be more likely to go numb and eventually become frostbitten. Thus, keeping a comfortable core temperature without expending extra internal energy to do so will help keep your fingers and toes a little warmer. (Consider how a proper jacket can help your overall comfort in cold weather, especially if you get blood flowing in your hands and feet. That warming blood flow lasts longer in my extremities if my core is well insulated than if my core is rapidly losing warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related to that, I always think of the need to relieve yourself before bed at camp as related to muscles and energy expenditure with them. If you need to pee and are holding it in whether consciously or not, muscles are working to do that. The blood and energy going to the muscles that are keeping you from wetting your sleeping bag, could be going to your fingers and toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the real scientific answer is in biology, and is beyond the outdoor experiences I've had and been advised by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T21:01:38.230" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T21:01:38.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15120" CreationDate="2017-02-07T21:35:09.963" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The theory required you to get samples and send them to a lab, which wouldn't exactly be practical in the field anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1278a/report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;METAL ABSORPTION BY EQUISETUM (HORSETAIL)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A19 &#xA;  GOLD &#xA;  AND &#xA;  SILVER&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gold &#xA;  in &#xA;  Equisetum &#xA;  throughout &#xA;  the &#xA;  conterminous &#xA;  United &#xA;  States &#xA;  ranged &#xA;  from &#xA;  less &#xA;  than &#xA;  0.1 &#xA;  ppm &#xA;  in &#xA;  the &#xA;  ash &#xA;  to &#xA;  0.4; &#xA;  the &#xA;  latter &#xA;  amount &#xA;  was &#xA;  in &#xA;  a &#xA;  sample &#xA;  collected &#xA;  as &#xA;  background &#xA;  material &#xA;  from &#xA;  Utley, &#xA;  Henderson &#xA;  County, &#xA;  Ky. &#xA;  Of &#xA;  the &#xA;  samples &#xA;  from &#xA;  mineralized &#xA;  areas, &#xA;  those &#xA;  collected &#xA;  in &#xA;  gold-producing &#xA;  districts &#xA;  averaged &#xA;  0.17 &#xA;  ppm &#xA;  compared &#xA;  with &#xA;  0.12 &#xA;  ppm &#xA;  in &#xA;  non-gold-producing &#xA;  areas. &#xA;  The &#xA;  samples &#xA;  collected &#xA;  in &#xA;  Alaska &#xA;  averaged &#xA;  0.34 &#xA;  ppm; &#xA;  this &#xA;  value &#xA;  corresponds &#xA;  closely &#xA;  with &#xA;  those &#xA;  obtained &#xA;  by &#xA;  War- &#xA;  ren &#xA;  and &#xA;  Delavault &#xA;  (1950) &#xA;  for &#xA;  Canadian &#xA;  samples. &#xA;  The &#xA;  difference &#xA;  in &#xA;  average &#xA;  content &#xA;  in &#xA;  plants &#xA;  growing &#xA;  on &#xA;  mineralized &#xA;  and &#xA;  unmineralized &#xA;  ground &#xA;  however, &#xA;  is &#xA;  not &#xA;  significant &#xA;  and &#xA;  suggests &#xA;  that &#xA;  Equisetum &#xA;  would &#xA;  not &#xA;  be &#xA;  useful &#xA;  in &#xA;  prospecting &#xA;  for &#xA;  gold.&#xA;  Silver &#xA;  is &#xA;  absorbed &#xA;  by &#xA;  Equisetum &#xA;  more &#xA;  readily &#xA;  than &#xA;  gold, &#xA;  and &#xA;  the &#xA;  amount &#xA;  of &#xA;  silver &#xA;  absorbed &#xA;  seems &#xA;  to &#xA;  be &#xA;  related &#xA;  to &#xA;  the &#xA;  amount &#xA;  of &#xA;  silver &#xA;  present &#xA;  in &#xA;  the &#xA;  soil. &#xA;  Samples &#xA;  collected &#xA;  at &#xA;  the &#xA;  silver-producing &#xA;  Ore &#xA;  Hill &#xA;  mine, &#xA;  New &#xA;  Hampshire, &#xA;  averaged &#xA;  1.4 &#xA;  ppm; &#xA;  those &#xA;  from &#xA;  other &#xA;  mineral &#xA;  districts &#xA;  averaged &#xA;  0.7 &#xA;  ppm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T21:55:08.183" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T21:55:08.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T21:36:17.440" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many medical reasons that could contribute to coldness: too thin, anemic, hypothyroidism, poor circulation, tired, dehydrated, not enough vitamin B12, diabetes, lean muscle mass, or maybe you have Raynaud’s.  A checkup at the doctor should rule these things out as a cause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20932713,00.html&quot;&gt;10 Reasons You Feel Cold All The Time&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/always-cold/&quot;&gt;12 Medical Reasons You Always Feel Cold&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would nix most of the clothes, except keep a hat on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never wear the day's clothes - if anything, put on tomorrow's clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say you're wearing wool.  Try a synthetic material - polyester - instead.  Or silk.  Some wools can make you itch, that causes sweating and moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your head outside of the bag: breathing inside the bag brings moisture inside.  In this case, your breath is moisturizing your upper body, robbing the lower extremities of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try using a mummy bag; less air around you to keep warm.  Some people find mummies uncomfortable, it takes getting used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't using a mummy, be sure your shoulders are warm; otherwise, you are causing your body to focus on the trunk staying warm, at the expense of the rest of you getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try using a softer mat - or a cot.  Not for insulation, but for comfort.  You may be experiencing hard spots, which cause a feeling of numbness - and cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try sleeping with your head and trunk raised; that will create more blood pressure in the lower extremities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for me, I suffer from mild coldness due to joint issues (so, I'm sensitive to hard spots).  I use foot warmers - I toss a few into the bag.  I also have a Zippo hand warmer (uses Zippo lighter fluid), which lasts about 12-15 hours.  These work better with lighter bags for me, since mine keep dying in the middle of the night - I guess maybe because they're starved of air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-02-07T22:21:05.517" LastActivityDate="2017-02-07T22:21:05.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-07T21:43:04.987" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live and play in Michigan. Some of my warmest and best nights of outdoor sleeping have come in -20°C (not including wind-chill) and colder weather. I do sleep warm though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have separate &quot;sleeping clothes&quot; which are synthetic long johns. You don't want to wear the long underwear you've been hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or whatever in because you've sweat in them and they are &quot;wet&quot;. I don't wear socks because I hate sleeping in socks and my feet never get that cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I melt snow and boil the water, filling a 1 liter Nalgene which I put into a sock and toss that in the foot box of my sleeping bag about 45min before I'm planning to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eat some warm high-energy food just before bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use two closed-cell foam pads under my bag (rated for -18°C) and cinch the hood part of the mummy bag down around my face.  Usually, I will loosen the hood at some point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6502" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T15:13:15.777" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T15:13:15.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15148" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-07T22:46:50.440" Score="6" ViewCount="265" Body="&lt;p&gt;A snow saw is useful for building snow shelters and for avalanche danger testing. Some models are said to be easily attached to ski/trek poles in order to increase the handle length. Under what circumstances would I wish to extend the handle length of a snow saw? I read at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.timefortuckerman.com/forums/forum/lunch-rocks/general-discussion-tux/16044-choosing-a-snow-saw&quot;&gt;a forum&lt;/a&gt; that an extension would allow cutting a cornice but don't understand when it would be wise to do so. Maybe you know why a cornice should be cut or you know of another use for a saw could do with a much longer handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T06:28:28.457" Title="Under what circumstances would I wish to extend the handle length of a snow saw?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15148" CreationDate="2017-02-07T22:58:32.770" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main reason that I found is for cutting a cornice, sometimes referred to as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.genuineguidegear.com/life/blog/g3/bombs-backcountry-how-be-safe-cutting-cornices&quot;&gt;bombs of the backcountry&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Windsor_Cornice2.jpg&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Mount_Windsor_Cornice2.jpg/800px-Mount_Windsor_Cornice2.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extending the handle allows one to cut it without being too close, and as for why one would want to cut a cornice,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The advantage of cutting cornices is that it allows backcountry skiers or mountaineers to &lt;strong&gt;test a slope without getting onto the slope and putting themselves at risk&lt;/strong&gt;. It’s also superior than using results from stability tests performed on adjacent slopes. That all seems straight forward, but make no mistake, cutting cornices can be very dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“The most obvious danger associated with cutting cornices,” says Ron Johnson of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, “is &lt;strong&gt;being too close to the edge and falling off the ridge when the cornice breaks&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.genuineguidegear.com/life/blog/g3/bombs-backcountry-how-be-safe-cutting-cornices&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see video &lt;a href=&quot;http://backcountrymagazine.com/videos/mountain-skills-cutting-cornice/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, it would give you an idea of how stable the slope is, because if a 1200 lb piece of cornice doesn't trigger an avalanche, not much will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T05:05:18.687" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T05:05:18.687" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T00:45:42.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you say an 'inflatable sleeping mat' is this a sealed foam type one or an inflatable airbed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is an air mattress then that could be part of the problem. Because they contain a large volume of air which can move about they don't provide very good insulation compared to a closed-cell or self inflating foam pad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If do do use an air mattress in cold conditions you really need an insulating mat as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The insulation between you and the ground is at least as important as the rating of your sleeping bag as you lose heat to cold ground much more quickly t han to air and this contact point is exactly where the insulation of the bag is compressed by  your weight and least effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also worth adding that sleeping bag temperature ratings need to be taken with a large pinch of salt as they are often a bit optimistic to start with and what is actually comfortable for an individual can vary a lot from person to person. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T00:45:42.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-08T00:50:59.920" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the viewpoint of physics it's exactly the opposite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have taken some liquid and you have already spent some of your energy to heat up that liquid. This liquid increases your total heat capacity making your cooling a tiny bit slower. Ryan estimated that your increase in volume might be about 0,3%, your increase in mass will roughly be the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you increase your surface area as well, but your area increases slower (quadratically) than your volume/mass (which increases cubically). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the upside of full bladder in this rough model is:&#xA;Full bladder =&gt; 0,3% increased mass =&gt; 0,3% more heat in you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the downside is:&#xA;Full bladder =&gt; 0,2% inscreased surface area =&gt; 0,2% faster heat loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus you will be warm for longer if you keep those 300ml of warm liquid instead of peeing out all that heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12297" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T00:50:59.920" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-08T00:53:32.540" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Theoretically, it depends on the length of time you sleep.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a full bladder does is raise your body's heat capacity by providing you with more mass, so your body temperature goes down more slowly because it is storing more energy in the additional mass of the water in the bladder.  However, a full bladder also increases the surface area of your body by an imperceptible amount, and increased surface area means that you lose heat faster.  So with a full bladder, your thermal equilibrium with the outside air will be lower due to the increased surface area, but the amount of time it takes to reach thermal equilibrium will be higher, due to the increased mass of your body.  This is all in theory though, because the amounts we are talking about are negligible and unnoticeable.  In reality, a full bladder causes you to get up during the night and become much colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12299" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T00:53:32.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15153" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15167" CreationDate="2017-02-08T01:15:34.183" Score="10" ViewCount="1486" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spearfishing has been around ages and everyone has heard of how great the Native Indians were at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spearfishing&quot;&gt;spearfishing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As we all know, light is refracted (bent) when it enters water. The key to spearing fish is to know how much below the fish to aim the spear from the edge of a river or stream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the science principle of understanding where to throw a spear into the water in order to catch your fish?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tUWMb.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tUWMb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A smoky day at the Sugar Bowl—Hupa&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Spearfishing&quot;&gt;Spearfishing at Sugar Bowl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T22:25:04.273" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T22:25:04.273" Title="How can one know where to throw one's spear when spearfishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;spears&gt;&lt;spearfishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T01:17:59.157" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An important thing not listed in any of the answers here is to make sure your sleeping bag doesn't let air in around your neck/upper body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether it's a drawstring or something else, try to keep your head area airtight with your sleeping bag. Some sleeping bags, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=mummy+sleeping+bag&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiVvr26qf_RAhWD54MKHf9lB3QQ_AUICSgC&amp;amp;biw=1916&amp;amp;bih=1080&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mummy sleeping bags&lt;/a&gt; help with this by giving your sleeping bag natural structure to make this easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a rectangular sleeping bag, try to draw its cord tighter and be as low in it as possible. Your head and body give off a lot of heat, which is basically lost in a tent, but if you can capture that in a sleeping bag/pillow that's helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6084" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T01:17:59.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15157" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15158" CreationDate="2017-02-08T03:07:34.177" Score="8" ViewCount="2524" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would it be possible for a compass be affected by its surroundings, such as a large iron deposit or other rocks  to the point where it is not working correctly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not talking about declination but rather a change that is specific to a local area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this possible and if so, how would one detect it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T15:45:14.130" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T15:45:14.130" Title="Can a compass be thrown off by its surroundings?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15157" CreationDate="2017-02-08T03:07:34.177" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are certainly areas where there &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_anomaly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic anomalies&lt;/a&gt;. There is on in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_Magnetic_Anomaly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kursk area of Russia&lt;/a&gt; that is caused by a very large iron deposits. There is also one in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui_magnetic_anomaly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Africa&lt;/a&gt; that they are not certain of the cause, but the effect on a person's compass is described as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“If you were on the ground there and you had a magnetic compass, you’d need to correct for it,” says Patrick T. Taylor, a NASA geophysicist who has studied the anomaly closely. “The compasses would go berserk.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/06/21/the-african-country-where-compasses-haywire/siQF9ba6tXD40oMdKvwPoL/story.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is one in Australia that will throw a compass off by 20 degrees,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Basalt formation, “Mt. Jim”, in remote north-east Victoria, Australia, has a magnetic anomaly -20 degree magnetic compass variation - caused by a massive, yet unknown, submerged object. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cameronrobbins.com/mount-jim/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the rocks other than iron ores that will cause problems are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The magnetically important&#xA;  rocks - in a navigation context - include iron ores,&#xA;  ultramafics, and crucially (for Tasmania) basalts (mainly&#xA;  Tertiary in age) and the ubiquitous Jurassic dolerite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eprints.utas.edu.au/13644/1/1997_Leaman_Magnetic_rst.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As all of these can throw your navigation off, the suggested solution is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is &lt;strong&gt;never to assume that the compass&#xA;  is reliable&lt;/strong&gt;: continue to sight objects or trees and &lt;strong&gt;check the&#xA;  consistency of readings along transects (an alignment of&#xA;  two trees or features) for distance segments of at least&#xA;  100-150 m - the longer the better&lt;/strong&gt;. Since most intense&#xA;  anomalies have radii of influence less than 100 m they will&#xA;  be recognised and the background field orientation&#xA;  confirmed. Sightings from hill tops or bare rock exposures&#xA;  should be checked often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://eprints.utas.edu.au/13644/1/1997_Leaman_Magnetic_rst.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To illustrate this, consider the following drawing where you have taken a bearing with Points A and B in a straight line in relation to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ABAm5.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ABAm5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After taking the first bearing with the two points lined up, continue walking towards the two points, keeping them in a straight line and take a second bearing. If the bearings are wildly different, that means that one of them was effected by a local anomaly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible to get &lt;a href=&quot;https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geophysics/map.html#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic anomaly maps.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d5Epg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d5Epg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Magnetic anomaly map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:58:20.777" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:58:20.777" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15115" CreationDate="2017-02-08T05:13:08.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many factors to consider when purchasing skis, but for the most part, unless you're an avid skier and recognize the advantages of having one pair of skis over another then it's probably not going to make much of a difference for your first pair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I'm currently riding a pair of light camber 190's 130,95,110mm in the back country. They are excellent on the flat and on the ascent, and they keep me afloat when skinning, but they're a bit fast for my liking when I'm skiing glades, and they're a bit tough to keep my tips up. I know now that I would prefer to ride a shorter ski with more rocker, maybe even full rocker since I mostly ski off-piste. Since I'm going shorter I probably also want to go wider, since I don't want to lose any of the float my longer skis give me when skinning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until you understand how different styles of skis perform, and where you like to perform, then what type of ski you get is very subjective. The skis you've picked out sound like an excellent choice, and after skiing on them for a while you'll begin to recognize whether they're adequate for what you're doing or whether you need to switch to something else after a couple seasons for whatever advantage you feel you want from your skis. Your first pair will be your benchmark pair, and you'll learn pretty quick to recognize the advantages of other styles of ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T05:13:08.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2017-02-08T05:25:48.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We use both. It is not difficult to light a fire with a ferrocerium rod especially if you have pine trees around as we do. A bit of sap from one of them on your shavings, cotton balls, spanish moss and one strike from the rod will start the fire. No sap? Then we also carry a small jar of vaseline. Both are overkill but help when you must light a fire in the pouring rain or high humidity. Small shavings can be made on site and charcloth is also usable with a firestick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two is one and one is none...Equipment fails under special conditions and that is why we do not skimp on firestarting ways. We have started fires using a magnifying lens which we needed when the guy carrying the firemaking tools decided to fall into the lake and drench our equipment. Only the firesteel and the magnifying glass worked then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are also a lot of fun but recommend watching a video or two to see the proper hand motions. Keep the stick when striking (scraping is the correct word), right on top or in the target.  All of which you have probably done by now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastEditorUserId="3556" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T00:23:59.327" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T00:23:59.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T08:30:26.293" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A point others haven't stressed enough is that the sleeping bag specs I have encountered are way off, in my experience. My experience is that the sleeping bag should be as warm as possible, under almost all conditions. As a family when we go by car we actually bring our down blankets for camping, one of the most comfortable and luxurious experiences on the trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing is that &lt;strong&gt;a sleeping bag which is too warm does little harm:&lt;/strong&gt; you can cover yourself only partly, leave it open on the top etc.; many sleeping bags can be opened and used as a blanket, one can have a leg stick out etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But a sleeping bag which is too cold really sucks.&lt;/strong&gt; One can put clothes on, but that basically doubles the dirtying clothes rate and is uncomfortable and probably still chilly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found sleeping bags rated in the minus-Celsius range uncomfortably warm only during warm summer nights or in the morning when the sun starts heating up the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main trade-off is, of course, the sleeping bag's weight, especially if you are hiking, and the cost: Warm sleeping bags that are also light are more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line: If one can afford and carry the sleeping bag, it's better to err on the warm side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5503" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T08:30:26.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T10:49:33.350" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that an inflatable mat allows for a great deal of cold from the ground to reach you/warmth from you to be drawn out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sleep on an Exped downmat, which although is an inflatable mat, is filled with down feathers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to have the same problem of waking in the night bitterly cold and unable to return to sleep; since using this, I have not had that problem ever.  It's a bit of a pricey thing to buy, but for a good night's sleep is definitely a worthwhile investment.  And it packs up pretty small too so is nice and light and easy to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12308" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T10:49:33.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T13:27:32.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have similar problems with an inflatable mat.  With a foam mat, even if it gives slightly under pressure locations, you're still insulated.  With an inflatable mat, any pressure location has a good chance of going straight through the mat and touching the ground - and at that point of course you have no insulation at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For myself, I combine a Z-Lite underneath and a regular 8mm foam mat on top.  The Z-Lite ensures you are well away from the ground, and the foam mat stops you sinking into the Z-Lite (the &quot;egg crate&quot; effect can be uncomfortable).  The extra weight is negligible, and the end result is a perfectly-comfortable and perfectly-insulated night's sleep.  The Z-Lite is also the best thing ever invented if you're camping on rough/lumpy ground - effectively there isn't competition, because everything else isn't even in the same race.  And for bonus points, the Z-Lite also allows some airflow around the tent floor underneath you, so the normal problem with condensation building up under your mat doesn't happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T13:27:32.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-08T13:27:49.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have also had this experience with similar equipment, and found the problem to be the air mattress when the temperature drops to 0°C and below: I have concluded that there is sufficient convection in the air mattress to transfer the cold from the ground to my body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have solved the problem by laying a thin foam sleeping mat or folded blanket on top of the air mattress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also agree with others who say a sleeping bag rating as comfortable to -2°C does not hold for everyone: I tend to feel colder than others I know with the same equipment and so now habitually over-spec my sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12310" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T13:27:49.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1431" CreationDate="2017-02-08T15:04:20.747" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why would one want one of these rather than a Storm Lighter?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage of a ferro rod is that it is simple, reliable and lasts a long time. There are no moving parts to break or fuel to run out. They will gradually wear down but they last a very long time for their weight and you can see how much material is left. Even if one breaks the broken parts should still be usable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is one type or brand more effective than another?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used various brands and generic ones, they all seem pretty much the same to me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sizes are all over the map. Do these all work equally well? Is it just a matter of lifespan?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty much, a larger one will last longer and is perhaps marginally easier to use but there isn't a lot in it. I find the larger sizes (around 100mm x 10mm diameter) easiest to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are bare rods, rods on lanyards, and rods in handles. How does it matter?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lanyard is useful to stop it getting lost as you can attach it to your equipment. Some people keep them in a loop on their knife sheath so handle and/or lanyard makes them easier to get in and out. With a bare rod you can also make a handle of the size, shape and material you prefer. Some knife makers make ferro rod handles to match a particular knife.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A plain rod though is easier to pack in a survival kit and the smaller ones take up less space than most lighters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is needed to make sparks with one of these rods? Will natural flint work as a striker?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need something reasonably hard with a well defined edge, the spine of a knife is often used or a short length of hacksaw blade. Abrasive materials like sandpaper or rough rocks work too as will a sharp flake of flint. Files work extremely well. They are also soft enough that you can use the edge of a knife as striker with little risk of damaging it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you &quot;strike&quot; or &quot;scrape&quot; a fire steel? How do you hold it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually the best technique is to rest the end of the rod on your tinder and scrape downwards. If you are using an abrasive strike it may be easier to strike it like a match. But it's really a case of what is easiest for you. It take a &lt;em&gt;bit&lt;/em&gt; of practice to get the best results but it is much easier than a flint and steel or friction methods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in the comment below the main aspect of proper technique is to strike/scrape it with enough force to produce good sparks without disturbing your tinder. My preferred method is to place a wad of tinder on a flat surface then trap it with the end of the rod and scrape down onto the tinder rather than holding it above the tinder and trying to aim the sparks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you want to apply moderate pressure with the striker and use a fairly slow scraping movement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can you use less sensitive tinder than is needed for a fire drill or fire piston?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They generate quite a lot of reasonably hot sparks so they tend to light tinder more quickly and easily than friction methods or natural flint and steel and you can light most things which could be reasonably called 'tinder'. They can also light flammable liquids. With care you can also scrape off small shavings of the rod without igniting them which can help ignition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will usually light cotton wool at the first attempt and more difficult tinder like sawdust and paper are certainly achievable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any special precautions or specific failures for fire steels?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not really, they don't like being soaked in water for long periods of time, but this is more an issue of long term storage than use. Obviously if you use a knife to strike them then basic cutting tool safety applies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T00:35:10.313" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T00:35:10.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15153" CreationDate="2017-02-08T16:12:17.477" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The math is trigonometry but I think you would need to get a feel. It is not like you could run the math on the fly anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ratio of sin above and the sin below is 1.33. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More angle is more bend. At perpendicular there is zero bend. At 45 about 13 degree of bend.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 45 degrees if the fish looked like a depth of 2' you would need to aim like 7&quot; below by my calculation.  You still have to guess how deep the fish looks.  Multiply how deep it looks by 1.33. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing would be to set up a string and a target and practice. The spear is also going to push off when it enters the water so need to account for that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T16:55:43.643" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T16:55:43.643" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15153" CreationDate="2017-02-08T17:36:45.563" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great explanation of the concept:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/59-investigating-refraction-and-spearfishing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Investigating refraction and spearfishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Refer to the linked Word document inside.  It is copyrighted, so I hesitate to include its contents in entirety here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter the angle, no matter the position, you always aim for below the apparent position of the fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The apparent position of the fish actually becomes closer to the surface for when further away from the fish. When a person is viewing from a position more directly above the fish, its apparent position is three-quarters of the actual depth of the water. To estimate the actual depth of the fish, estimate how deep it appears to be and add and extra one-third of this distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T17:36:45.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15148" CreationDate="2017-02-08T18:23:50.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another reason for extending a snow saw handle is for preparing a snow stability test, for avalanche awareness. There are various such tests and most initially require digging a trench then isolating a column of snow. The back side of the snow column (opposite the trench face) can be isolated in one of three ways: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place vertical poles at the back corners. Thread a cord with knots from the front of the trench, around the poles, and again to the front. Pull the cord back and forth and downwards, effecting a saw action.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you've no cord or if the cord saw cannot go through a layer of ice: &lt;em&gt;Extend a saw via a pole&lt;/em&gt; and cut the back snow column with it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you've only got a shovel: Cut a shovel width space around &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; sides the column. (This might be difficult to do without disturbing the column.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-02-08T18:38:04.670" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T18:38:04.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15169" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15173" CreationDate="2017-02-08T21:41:27.883" Score="5" ViewCount="453" Body="&lt;p&gt;A flintlock rifle is a weapon that can be indefinitely reloaded without any reliance on infrastructure. Gunpowder can be made from resources commonly found in the outdoors (&lt;em&gt;urine as the nitrate source&lt;/em&gt;) and natural flint used in place of percussion caps.  Scavenged lead can be melted and formed into lead projectiles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While smelting lead occurred as far back as 7000–6500 BCE, I believe that requires a bit more infrastructure then the other items, to load and fire a deadly projectile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I have kept my flintlock in good condition and have everything but lead, what natural item might I use as a projectile, which will be deadly only to my target, and that I can create myself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T02:30:11.123" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T19:44:39.060" Title="In the absence of lead, what can I use for a projectile in a flintlock rifle?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15153" CreationDate="2017-02-08T22:20:56.643" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easy technique is to simply hold the spear in your hand with the tip under the water and stab the fish.  Once your spear enters the water, refraction has identical effects on your view of the spear point and your view of the fish, so you can easily guide it to where you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Throwing&lt;/em&gt; a spear to hit a fish takes a great deal of practice.  The physics of refraction is sufficiently non-linear that the only practical way is trial and lots of error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastEditorUserId="3112" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T21:41:45.470" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T21:41:45.470" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15098" CreationDate="2017-02-08T22:46:55.310" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've located two current possibilities in Germany, and one potential option in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first, and what looks like the best, option, is a company called &lt;a href=&quot;http://draisinentour.de/en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Draisinentour&lt;/a&gt;. It utilizes sections of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glan_Valley_Railway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glan Valley Railway&lt;/a&gt; in the German State of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland-Palatinate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rhineland-Palatinate&lt;/a&gt;. It's quite beautiful!  The page with &lt;a href=&quot;http://draisinentour.de/en/node/14&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt; of their draisines includes one which has a wheelchair attached:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rlzdJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rlzdJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Barrier free from Draisinentour.de/en&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the description:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The barrier-free design is outfitted with two pedal systems and one lever operation, allowing three people on board.&#xA;  The bicycle draisine is registered as a barrier-free operation (Level 1) in compliance with Rhineland-Palatinate Tourism criteria. For more information: www.barrierefrei.rlp-info.de&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clicking on that link leads to a page not found, but that may be because I'm trying to find something in another language. I'd definitely contact them, as that's the only one I've seen that actually has a wheelchair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is &lt;a href=&quot;https://erlebnis-draisine.de/fuhrpark/draisinen/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Erlebnis Draisine&lt;/a&gt;, also in Germany. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although their pictures don't show it, the page says that wheelchair friendly trolleys are available in their fleet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have three routes in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lengenfeld&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lengenfeld&lt;/a&gt; region of the State of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thuringia&lt;/a&gt;. In the descriptions of the first and third, it says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At intervals of 1 to 2 km, there are stops where you can rest and relax. A special draisine with hand drive and wheelchair is available for mobility-impaired guests. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, I think an option will be coming soon with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.railexplorers.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Railbikers&lt;/a&gt;, in New York and Rhode Island, United States. This is the company I referenced in my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15093/5547&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15074/can-i-participate-in-rail-biking-without-my-own-equipment-or-experience&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; about railbiking. I sent them an e-mail asking if they had any railbikes that would accommodate wheelchairs, or, if there was an area on the bike to store a folded wheelchair for people who have some mobility but can't be without the wheelchair.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within twelve hours I received this reply from the owner/managing director. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unfortunately we don’t have a wheelchair accessible explorer built yet - but we are working with our engineer and designer to fabricate one and hope to have it ready by the end of this year. &#xA;  However, we have had many wheelchair bound riders enjoy the explorers - with a little help from our friendly staff or family it is very easy to transfer from the wheelchair to the explorer seat. The seats are adjustable and there is ample room to avoid being tangled in the pedals. Every seat has a seat belt and 5 point harnesses are available for younger children or those requiring additional security.&#xA;  While there isn’t really anywhere to stow a folded wheelchair, our staff would be happy to transport the wheelchair to the other end of the ride in one of our vehicles.&#xA;  Please get in touch when making your reservation to let us know of any requests or assistance that you or your group may require.&#xA;  We look forward to rail exploring with you soon!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought that was very sweet of them! Since we're intending to visit one of their locations next July, I'll definitely report back as to the status of their equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-08T22:46:55.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15169" CreationDate="2017-02-08T22:51:08.720" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One could use many natural things as a projectile, but I will limit my answer to two items and the lethal possibilities would depend on how close you are to the victim. This is such an expansive question, I hope others will have better ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first possible source would be rock salt or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;halite&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Depends on the distance.  The bullet would, without a doubt, fragment into pieces and dust before it got out of the barrel.  The cloud of expanding gas from the explosion would carry these along at high speeds, but that would quickly dissipate, and the pieces would rapidly lose speed due to air resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At point blank, it would be very dangerous, possibly lethal, but even a blank at very close range is dangerous, since you've essentially got a small explosion being directed at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At long distances, it would do nothing.  The salt would lose all it's speed to the air, and even if some chunks reached you, they'd have little velocity left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The question is whether there's an intermediate distance where the explosion itself wouldn't hurt you, but where the salt would still pierce your skin and cause you pain.  I suspect there is, but it would be a pretty limited range.  One would have to experiment, but I'm guessing that once you were about ten yards away, it wouldn't be much more than a noisemaker. – &#xA;  &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/What-would-be-the-effect-of-being-shot-with-rock-salt-bullets-from-a-Desert-Eagle-gun&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What would be the effect of being shot with rock salt bullets from a Desert Eagle gun?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are more interested in keeping small varmints away this is possibility. In any case rock salt in a wound would sting something awful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lessons learned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At 20 yards, you might scare a dog or some other animal, but you sure wouldn’t break the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At 10 yards, you might break the skin with a couple of grains, but nothing very serious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At 12 feet, you might get the desired effect, if the desired effect is to “burn” the target with the rock salt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At 4 feet, you might cause a wound requiring a visit to a hospital for a human, or maybe death to a small animal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Movie plots that show someone “burning” a bad guy at across-the-yard distances are hogwash.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rock salt makes a pitiful personal defense load, as if we didn’t already know that. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-33-rock-salt-in-a-shotgun/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Box O’ Truth #33 – Rock Salt in a Shotgun&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second idea is the use of course &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sand&lt;/a&gt; and a wax mixture (beeswax is a natural product).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many people have asked to see what a sand slug can do. First, it is very light, so that equates to a very reduced amount of energy but lower recoil. Think about a home defense application suitable for a weaker or elderly shooter. I did NOT expect good performance from this round, but it did well. It is also a frangible round and disintegrates on impact after transferring nearly all its energy into the target. The sand reinforces the wax, but doesn't add much heft to it. Those who have wanted to see an all-wax round, this is as close as we've gotten so far. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning!&lt;/strong&gt; Shooting homemade loads can be dangerous. A loose slug can slide down the barrel, and this alone can cause a barrel obstruction resulting in a very bad day. There have been actual cases of guns exploding, videos posted, pictures posted on forums, etc. So it is recommended you do not try this stuff yourself. Just because we have been lucky, doesn't mean you will. – &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj--2Rxd-g4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAND and WAX Shotgun Slugs? We test them!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see their video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj--2Rxd-g4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T19:44:39.060" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T19:44:39.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15169" CreationDate="2017-02-09T01:11:05.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of lead, it is possible to use gravel or pieces of metal, as was done by various tribes in the American West, but it will damage the flintlock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As recorded by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriwether_Lewis&quot;&gt;Capt. Meriwether Lewis&lt;/a&gt; (of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition&quot;&gt;Lewis and Clark fame&lt;/a&gt;),&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The implyments used by the Chinnooks Clatsops Cuth-lah-mahs &amp;amp;c in hunting are the gun the bow &amp;amp; arrow, deadfalls, &lt;a href=&quot;https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1806-01-15&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt; pitts, snares, and spears or gigs; &lt;strong&gt;their guns are usually of an inferior quality being oald refuse American &amp;amp; brittish Musquits which have been repared for this trade.&lt;/strong&gt; there are some very good peices among them, but they are invariably in bad order; they apear not to have been long enouh accustomed to fire arms to understand the management of them.    they have no rifles. Their guns and amunition they reserve for the Elk, deer and bear, of the two last however there are but few in their neighbourhood. they keep their powder in small japaned &lt;a href=&quot;https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1806-01-15&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt; tin flasks which they obtain with their amunition from the traders; &lt;strong&gt;when they happen to have no ball or shot, they substitute gravel or peices of potmettal, and are insensible of the damage done thereby to their guns.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1806-01-15&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T03:26:22.333" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T03:26:22.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-09T02:39:55.167" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd try a higher r-value pad or add a pad.  There is a fair amount of variation in what people say you should use (in fact checking this post, it was r1.5 to r5).  If your 2.8 isn't cutting it for you, try something a bit higher.  When you are lying on your sleeping bag, the parts under your body will lose some of it's ability to insulate you.  Also be very careful of the ground you are sleeping on (rock is not good).  It will also affect how much heat you lose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12319" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T02:39:55.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-09T07:34:55.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The people who have been suggesting sleeping naked and increasing the air flow through your tent might be on to something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're going to sleep feeling fine, then waking up in the middle of the night shivering. You're doing things to be warmer, it isn't helping. It might be making it worse by messing with your circadian rhythm. Instead, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;you might try being cooler&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Here's the idea...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body temperature rises and falls through the day, peaking in the afternoon and hitting its low point in the wee hours of the morning. This helps tell your body to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you're all bundled up in a little tent with poor air circulation and layers and layers of insulation wrapped tight around you. You go to sleep and the body heat you're radiating is trapped. This builds up until in the middle of the night your body is like &quot;my skin is warm, must be time to be awake!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You wake up. Your heart rate, slow while you sleep, increases. Blood vessels in your extremities which have constricted to save heat and energy now open up to bring oxygen to those muscles so they can do work. Warm blood flows out of the core, and cooler blood from your extremities flows in. Your core temperature drops and you start to shiver to generate some heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(In hypothermia cases, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/hypocold.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this sudden rush of cold blood from the extremities back to the core can kill&lt;/a&gt;. This is why you treat hypothermia by warming the core first.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, try sleeping with &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; on to avoid increasing your skin temperature during the night. Socks, and maybe one layer of thermals. Enough to keep you comfortable while you fall asleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://sleep.org/articles/does-your-body-temperature-change-while-you-sleep/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an article by the National Sleep Foundation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6551" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T07:34:55.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-09T12:07:38.037" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see 2 reasons why this happening:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The outside temperature changing all the time. At evening the&#xA;temperature is higher then in the night(morning). So it's normal&#xA;that you fell colder during night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's very much depends on how&#xA;much tired are you. How much do you walk or work on the route during&#xA;the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As some people already suggested: before going to sleep you have to eat and drink hot water(tea).&#xA;For example after I'm walking 8 hour with heavy bagpack in a snow I can't even get asleep. It does not matter how warm my sleeping bag is and how much cloth I wear. Only one thing helps: eat and drink something hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T12:07:38.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15137" CreationDate="2017-02-09T12:31:12.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a really good answer by Ryan Cavanaugh, as to the scientific side of emptying your bladder.  In short NO your not going to be any warmer for having emptied your bladder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HOWEVER&lt;/strong&gt; Big picture human stuff, you might actually &quot;feel&quot; warmer in the end. Now to be clear, this is not at all the same as the argument that you have to work harder to warm urine. It's just a bunch of observations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee, then your going to have to exit your bag, and probably the tent. Generally speaking it's warmer during the day then at night. So it's going to feel much colder to go outside the nice warm tent at 2am.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If we want to talk about heat loss, then you will loose much heat to opening the bag, then tent, exposing your self, and closing everything back up, getting back in the tent, and back in the bag, then just staying in the tent and bag all night. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Along those same lines, when you have been out all day in one temperature, your likely to get acclimated to it. Same is true at night. Your nice warm 70 degree tent is going to make that 20 degree outside feel much much &quot;cooler&quot; then the 30 degree outside you spent all day in. In other words, the fast temperature change from tent to outside is going to be more of a shock then the just being outside. This is amplified by the fact that your sleeping bag is probably warmer then the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lastly cause were all human, when we have one problem we tend to go looking for others. If you wake up at 2am and have to pee, your probably also going to start looking for other things that are wrong. It's cold, that rock is in your back, your shoulder itches, the damn crickets won't stop (keep in mind there probably aren't really crickets at this temperature), your partners breathing is too loud, someone farted and now the tent smells funny, all kinds of things. Things you were perfectly happy to sleep though, now become impediments to sleep. This becomes even worse if you have pressure to sleep. For example if you MUST get up at a time to make the next leg of the journey, and you really outta be well rested.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while you may not burn any extra energy to keep your full bladder at the same temperature as your liver, a full bladder on it's own can really suck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR go pee before you go to bed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T12:31:12.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15157" CreationDate="2017-02-09T13:37:07.893" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP provides an nicely detailed self answer, but I would like to add that when such areas exist, they are of particular concern to mariners&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, and are therefore well-documented for nautical navigation purposes.  I will use as my example an area at the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, as it begins to meet the St. Lawrence River.  The anomaly lies in the channel between the city of Kingston, ON on the mainland and Wolfe Island, in Canadian waters&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOAA chart 14802 covers this area.  If you follow &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/14802.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; and zoom in, you will read this annotation on the chart:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AREA OF MAGNETIC DISTURBANCE&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.charts.noaa.gov/BookletChart/14800_BookletChart.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the booklet for this chart series&lt;/a&gt; tells us on on page 2 that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Local magnetic disturbances.&lt;/strong&gt; –Differences from normal variation of&#xA;about 006°W to 007°E have been observed at numerous locations&#xA;throughout Lake Ontario. Differences of up to 37° have been observed in&#xA;the approach to Kingston, ON, on the north side of the head of the St.&#xA;Lawrence River.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good source, though not official, for Great Lakes boating information is creatively named great-lakes-sailing.com.  Their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.great-lakes-sailing.com/city_of_kingston.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page for Kingston&lt;/a&gt; tells us:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MAGNETIC ANOMALIES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Kingston water front area is affected by a strong magnetic anomaly caused by mineral deposits in the immediate area. The CHS pilot books for both the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River describe it thus:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The normal variation of the compass for the shores adjacent to Kingston Harbour was about 12 degrees west, but along the front of the city it is not less than 18 degrees in the same direction. At the Government Drydock [Kingston Shipyards] it is as much as 30 degrees west, and abreast the Penitentiary it is 18 degrees east. A short distance west of Rockwood Asylum, the variation is again normal. Midway between Pt. Frederick and Garden Island, the amount of westerly variation is 20 degrees. At Simcoe Island it is again normal.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The morale of my story is, if using a compass for navigation in unknown waters, obtain the charts and Coast Pilot for the area and review them in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; I assume the same is true for aviators, but I am a boater, not a pilot, so I write what I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; I feel a little guilty about providing U.S. Government sources for a Canadian thing.  Apologies to Canadian Readers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T13:37:07.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15181" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15182" CreationDate="2017-02-09T13:38:41.103" Score="5" ViewCount="12135" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to a google search sulfur is widely available in nature.  Volcanic regions and hot springs are common sources of it in elemental state. Less obvious sources are iron pyrites (iron sulfide), galena (lead sulfide), gypsum (calcium sulfate), Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) and many other minerals.  It has a low boiling point so can be distilled without much difficulty. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chemicool.com/elements/sulfur.html&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It creates poisonous fumes when burnt and is one of the three main components of black powder, making it an important element for the survivalist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am in an unfamiliar area, how can I identify natural sources of sulfur? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T22:02:38.520" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T01:13:32.500" Title="How to find natural sulfur sources?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15181" CreationDate="2017-02-09T14:12:17.497" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are very lucky, there are rich natural sulfur deposits readily available nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example of such a place is &lt;a href=&quot;http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/harvesting-the-devils-gold/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indonesia&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjJ8cPvk4PSAhUDPBQKHXOrBC8QFggaMAA&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F3709945%2Fsulfur-miners_the-devils-gold_luca-catalano-gonzaga%2F&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNHxN32gyARa_7a76SpgvGXLzOc_Jw&amp;amp;sig2=-ssqk8_NsTMp1TFaBtQ03Q&amp;amp;bvm=bv.146496531,d.d24&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Java&lt;/a&gt;, where blocks of Sulfur can basically be picked up like rocks from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; Note that such locations are &lt;strong&gt;very rare&lt;/strong&gt; and will generally be colocated with zones of strong geologic activity/volcanoes/hot springs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside of such very lucky circumstances sulfur is generally &lt;em&gt;mined&lt;/em&gt; using &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frasch_process&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;various techniques&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There exist also various chemical extractions and processes used to gain sulfur:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02941776&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sulfur from gypsum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/i260045a011&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sulfur from pyrite&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... but let's be honest, none of these ways are particularly suited for someone in &lt;em&gt;'survivalist'&lt;/em&gt; circumstances. &lt;em&gt;At best&lt;/em&gt; you will still need a lot of digging equipment, tools and knowledge for chemical extraction an detailed geological/geographical knowledge to know where to search for raw materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://survinat.com/2014/04/extraction-and-purification-of-sulfur-in-the/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this group&lt;/a&gt;, which travelled to Iceland to try and purify sulfur from natural raw materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Frame Challenge&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With respect to how hard sulfur is to acquire in the largest parts of the world I'd go as far as to say it is of negligible significance in a survivalist setting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short term sulfur/blackpowder needs are covered by what the survivalist brought with them or can salvage from surrounding areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On the long run the survivalist might be better of using tools that can be created from easily gathered natural resources (e.g. bow &amp;amp; arrow).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T10:57:27.667" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T10:57:27.667" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15183" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-09T17:33:24.210" Score="1" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are putting together a survival package for a prolonged period, should a sling make the short list of your hunting tools, and if so, why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By prolonged, I mean a year to decades, during which it is not possible to resupply at an abandoned store.  The survivor is alone, or with a very small group, is athletic, strong and handy. Assume an environment plentiful in fibrous materials and animals that can be skinned.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address the usefulness of a sling for hunting in a prolonged survival situation, the answer should include data on the accuracy, range and velocity attained by modern slingers, and the time it takes an adult to achieve competence in hunting.  Because the sling would probably have to be replaced at some point, the answer should include the difficulty of making and using a replacement from materials in nature.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: this question has been extensively edited after the first answer was posted.  The first answer was a reasonable reply to the original question.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T21:24:01.070" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T21:24:01.070" Title="If you are faced with surviving on your own for a prolonged period, should a sling make your short list of hunting tools, and why or why not?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2017-02-10T16:54:46.340" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15183" CreationDate="2017-02-09T17:55:34.217" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slings are difficult to master,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The main reason that slingers were only found among certain groups and fought as specialized corps in the ancient world was because the &lt;strong&gt;sling required a much higher level of intensive training than any other weapon.&lt;/strong&gt; Even the bow with its point-and-shoot firing can be mastered over a matter of years at almost any age, &lt;strong&gt;while the sling had to be practiced from childhood to achieve an adequate level of proficiency&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;Without the proper amount of training, it is extremely difficult to even launch a missile in the right direction.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Arguably the most famous and skilled slingers of the ancient world were those from the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean. They underwent similar vigorous training from a very early age. &lt;strong&gt;Parents gave a sling to their children as their first toy so that they would become familiar with it as quickly as possible.&lt;/strong&gt; Once familiarity had been achieved, a piece of bread was placed on a stake in front of the children. &lt;strong&gt;The parents withheld food from their children until they could successfully hit the bread and knock it off the stake.&lt;/strong&gt; Using these severe training techniques, Balearic slingers became masters of three different sizes of slings used to launch projectiles at varying distances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because of the large, heavy arrowheads preferred by the Cretans, their arrows were only accurate at a distance of a little more than 442 feet, w&lt;strong&gt;hile the sling could launch projectiles at least 492 feet,&lt;/strong&gt; and most likely even farther due to the incredible skill of the Balearic slingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/ancient-weapons-the-sling/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said they are also easy to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)#Construction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;improvise&lt;/a&gt; so it might be worth the effort to make one. However, it might be better to improvise a bow as that would take less practice to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T19:13:59.370" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T19:13:59.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15183" CreationDate="2017-02-09T18:59:00.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question about which type of weapon is best is certainly opinion based. It depends on circumstances. What is not so opinion based, and stays consistent throughout different situations, are some principles: the importance of &lt;em&gt;capability&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;familiarity&lt;/em&gt; with the equipment. Whichever weapon is more capable in the situation and whichever you are more familiar with is the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A capable weapon is one suitable for the conditions. For the first short chunk of time, perhaps the firearm is the way to go, but in the years ahead without infrastructure for maintenance, reloading, and repair, something like a sling would be of greater value. 'Necessity is the mother of invention' and in this case, you'll find that the tools different cultures made most use of were the ones which were most capable in meeting the demands at hand. If you're looking for a well rounded tool that is most widely capable to meet the dynamic and long-term challenges of long-term survival, you'll probably want something like a knife or axe, and after that, whichever best suits your environment, needs, and abilities (which is where 'firearm vs. sling' becomes moot - depends on many factors about you, probabilities about your surroundings, probabilities of near and distant future scenarios).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, your familiarity is important in deciding which is more valuable. If you don't know how to operate a weapon, it can be both useless and even dangerous to your own well being (consider if you become disarmed by someone more familiar with the spear you were just holding, or if you sling a rock in the wrong direction). If you don't know how to maintain, reload, and repair a weapon, how long will it serve you? All that said, familiarity can be picked up, especially if the stakes are high. So then we need to consider, what's the learning curve like in terms of becoming familiar with the different tools, especially considering the lack of infrastructure? Good luck figuring out how to repair a flint lock with no infrastructure if you don't already know how it works - not to mention actually doing the repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all that said, if you had to pick one, a decent rule of thumb is that more primitive tools (slings, knives, spears, axes, bows, darts) have been tested further by time and can be more reliable as a place &lt;em&gt;to start&lt;/em&gt; for the long run, but in the short-term the more advanced tool can handle more advanced challenges in conditions it is capable in. Do note that humanity evolved to use more advanced tools as more advanced demands called for them; realistically you will never 'just pick one' and depend on it for survival for the remainder of your time. Challenges change, conditions change over time, and so (hopefully) will you. In more common, non-apocolyptic situations, many experts emphasize how your survival in wilderness depends more on your craftiness, mind-set, and adaptability than on the tools you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T18:59:00.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15186" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15203" CreationDate="2017-02-09T19:38:32.357" Score="8" ViewCount="3538" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you smelt and forge iron sources from &amp;amp; in the wilderness? People must have started somewhere with this sort of thing! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once saw a video from a primitive technology practitioner on YouTube who smelted iron from a orange bacterial build up in water that served as the ore, using a wildcrafted furnace he made. &lt;a href=&quot;https://primitivetechnology.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/forge-blower/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;He noted&lt;/a&gt; it was mainly a demonstration of a wildcrafted furnace and that larger furnaces would be built using more charcoal and labor to produce usable quantities of iron. He did not take next steps once he had iron pellets. What would one do with them (or more of them) to make the iron pellets into something useful, such as a nail, a needle, a knife, or an arrowhead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are ways to process iron in the wilderness?&lt;/strong&gt; Since this probably varies geographically, let's focus on common ways that are most widely applicable, and let's assume that we have only wildcrafted tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-02-20T16:01:25.053" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T16:01:25.053" Title="How to process iron in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2017-02-20T19:33:23.080" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10226" CreationDate="2017-02-09T20:16:32.877" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never heard of a methane stove for camping but I can give some justification as to why you would &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; want to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since methane has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_(data_page)#Vapor_pressure_of_liquid&quot;&gt;much higher vapor pressure&lt;/a&gt; at room temperature than e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/propane-vapor-pressure-d_1020.html&quot;&gt;propane&lt;/a&gt; or butane, you cannot reasonably keep it in liquid form without a ridiculously heavy tank. This is the same reason why you can find household propane tanks for grills, but not household methane tanks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do keep methane in a tank that you could reasonably bring camping, it won't be liquified, just compressed, which will mean that your payload of methane will be much less than for propane.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, methanol, propane, and butane make good camping fuels because they can easily be liquified or compressed in a light container. Methane, has advantages for household use because of its &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; lower cost, but only if delivery lines for natural gas are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12327" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T20:16:32.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15186" CreationDate="2017-02-09T21:30:27.587" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Iron ore is called &lt;em&gt;hematite&lt;/em&gt;. It's pretty simple to identify, just look for red rocks that appear to be rusting. Iron is the 4th most abundant element on earth, so it's pretty common in most areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most primitive way to smelt ore is to construct a furnace out of mud, create a fiery inferno inside of it and then pour in all of your ore. You can accomplish a similar feat by digging a hole, building a hot fire, tossing your ore in the middle and covering it so the heat doesn't excape. Heat is essential, you have to be able to get your fire hot enough to melt iron, so use hardwood at the very least, (coal if you can find it) and you have to create a bellows to fan the coals or it won't get hot enough, at the very least you need to sit there and blow on your coals (use a reed as a blow pipe then you don't need to get too close). Do this until the fire burns out or you feel you may have sufficiently smelted the ore. You should be able to dig a clump of dirty iron out of the bottom of your pit. How big it is will depend on the quality of your ore, and whether or not you got your fire hot enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you have your chunk of iron, you're ready yo get your 'blacksmith' on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-09T21:35:28.610" LastActivityDate="2017-02-09T21:35:28.610" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9735" CreationDate="2017-02-10T04:44:39.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having been dumb enough to try this (albeit with a 500m tunnel), I will mention a few drawbacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trains going downhill make very little noise, and tunnel rails are often specially damped, so you will have less warning than outside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A high speed train gives you very little time to react&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In some cases, in a two line tunnel, you will have trains going in the same direction, meaning that retreating to the opposite track may expose you to getting killed by a second train that you could not see because it was hidden by the first one&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A heavy freight train with multiple engines going uphill in a long tunnel can suck all of the oxygen out of a tunnel, so you can die without getting hit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, the spots to hide in, in order from best to worst are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outside the tunnel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The maintenance alcoves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lying pressed up against the wall on a straightaway, below the rungs of the ladders&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lying flat between the tracks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to determine the loading gauge of the railway carriages as well as the profile of the tunnel to see if any of these suggestions will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, be aware that trains are often scheduled in groups, so once your first train passes, there may be more shortly thereafter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, this is an extremely bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T04:44:39.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15148" CreationDate="2017-02-10T06:28:28.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Expanding on cutting cornices, here's a video clip of ski guide &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990xqOEpOxM&amp;amp;ab_channel=ericbalog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Theo Meiners&lt;/a&gt; using an extended snow saw to drop a cornice. Note that most everything happening in that video is intentional (if dangerous, should things go wrong). There are other techniques; this is just one possibility. The general procedure of what's going on in the video is: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut a triangular notch in the cornice, this will be your exit hole. Notice the general shape in front and right of Theo. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut along the length of the cornice. This will make the cornice begin to fracture on a predictable line, as opposed to just trying to stomp on the cornice at a lucky place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;With your tips pointing at your exit hole&lt;/em&gt;, stomp on the cornice with one foot--don't lose your balance when it goes! As soon as the cornice starts to break, dive through your exit hole and keep carrying speed across the slope away from the cornice. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Discussing the why's and when's of this technique is beyond the scope of an answer. Seriously, being near a cornice is a great way to get killed. The takeaway is that you can &quot;safely&quot; drop cornices that would be too large to just stomp with a ski, and do it much more quickly and with less gear than carrying a dedicated cord/cable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the primary benefit of being able to attach a snow saw to a ski pole or probe is to make cutting the back of a column easier in a snow pit (RB and ECT in particular), particularly if there are stiff layers / crusts in your snow profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T06:28:28.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15096" CreationDate="2017-02-10T07:09:06.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Per &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westernmountaineering.com/product-details/materials/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;, American manufacturers of high quality down sleeping bags, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Down also is known to have the greatest longevity, and it will outlast any other insulation by 3 to 5 times, making it the most economical choice after its initial investment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having worked in specialty outdoor retail, I would describe your situation as unusual but not rare (if that makes sense). If properly cared for, as you have described, high quality down will last for numerous sleeping &amp;amp; compression cycles. When a sleeping bag is being stored uncompressed, there is very little degradation that occurs to the insulation. Instead, it is the repeated compression cycles of being stuffed and unstuffed, as well as oils and dirt, that degrade the insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regular weekend use, a down sleeping bag can often last 10-15 years, especially for higher fill power down. In comparison, a synthetic bag might begin to feel colder in as little as 3-4 years. In professional use (e.g. a mountaineering guide), where the bag is being slept in every night and frequently stuffed and unstuffed, a down sleeping bag will begin to feel colder somewhere around 300 nights. All of this, of course, depends on the particulars of the situation. Also consider that a sleeping bag generally encounters low amounts of wear and tear when compared to almost any other piece of gear--it will spend its time outdoors almost always either safely inside a backpack or inside a tent / bivy sack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a parting thought, the difficulty for manufacturers to source high quality down has actually increased over recent decades--fewer people are eating geese. However, manufacturing tolerances, sorting &amp;amp; grading methods, and shell fabric quality have all increased over the same time period. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T07:09:06.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5106" CreationDate="2017-02-10T07:33:42.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The one shortcoming I find reading through many of the other answers is that they seem to skip over a major source of pollutants in backcountry streams: human waste. While you might not be downstream of a cattle feedlot, there's a chance that a human (or other animal) took a dump just upstream from you. Doubly so if you've been hiking along an established trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70023567&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USGS study&lt;/a&gt;. While not particularly far into the backcountry, both of these creeks would objectively appear to be pristine, swift moving mountain streams. Pay particular attention to the bit about &quot;fecal coliforms&quot; and keep in mind that there are more people in the backcountry than there were 20 years ago...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt; This study was conducted in Grand Teton National Park during the summers of 1996 and 1997 to investigate the water quality in two high human use areas: Garnet Canyon and lower Cascade Canyon. To evaluate the water quality in these creeks, fecal coliform, Giardia lamblia, coccidia, and microparticulates were measured in water samples. No evidence of fecal coliform, Giardia lamblia, or coccidia, was found in Garnet Creek. The water quality and general water chemistry of Garnet Creek was similar to the reference site. No Giardia lamblia or coccidia were found in Cascade Creek, but fecal coliforms were present. The isolated colonies of Escherichia coli from Cascade Creek matched the ribosome patterns of avian, deer, canine, elk, rodent, and human coliforms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'll deal with purifying my water (and bringing hand sanitizer!) in order to not deal with diarrhea while backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T07:33:42.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5423" CreationDate="2017-02-10T08:10:05.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first answer that comes to mind: presumably your climbing partner didn't drop their belay device at the same time? It would be astronomically rare for both belay/rappel devices to be dropped at the same time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such, lower the first climber (something you've already practiced almost every time you've been out climbing). The second climber then rappels as normal, taking extra care not to chuck their device as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may seem like a total smart-alec response, but make sure you haven't exhausted all the easy alternatives in an emergency before you go mucking about with &quot;I think I saw how to do this on the internet once.&quot; When was the last time you actually practiced rappelling with a carabiner brake or Dulfersitz? That being said, every climber should absolutely practice self-rescue techniques (including the Munter Hitch and others). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T08:10:05.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15129" CreationDate="2017-02-10T08:36:50.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thanks everybody, for LOTS of great suggestions! There are plenty of things here to try (and some are contradictory), and in order to choose the best answer, I'll have to try them all. So I'm going to accept this answer (my own) for now, until I've tried enough of the suggestions to know what works. Then I'll come back here and choose the best answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what I will try, in more or less this order: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a foam mat in combination with the air mattress &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure I eat well before turning in &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have something to eat with me in the tent, so I can get some quick calories in case I wake up &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping with more clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping with less clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trying a warmer sleeping bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12169" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T08:36:50.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15196" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15197" CreationDate="2017-02-10T10:32:52.473" Score="16" ViewCount="465" Body="&lt;p&gt;What equipment should I carry in case of emergency on a coastal kayaking trip? I normally do short trips (1 week or less) around the islands of northwest Scotland.  I tend to travel solo (sometimes no friends are available; sometimes I just prefer to be on my own).  I don't go more than ten miles (18km) from land, or after sunset.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:58:29.207" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:02:12.810" Title="What safety equipment should I carry for sea-touring by kayak?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15196" CreationDate="2017-02-10T10:32:52.473" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's what I normally take with me on these trips at the moment.  I can&#xA;divide them into what's needed before, during and after an incident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Avoiding trouble&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;clothing&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;food&lt;/strong&gt; (including drink): as with any outdoor&#xA;activity, it's important to avoid fatigue and hypothermia.  Poor&#xA;decision-making is the start of most problems, and reduces your&#xA;ability to correct them.  One of the most useful items is a thin&#xA;thermal balaclava, which I use to regulate heat loss from my head.&#xA;It takes very little space in a pocket, and really reduces the&#xA;effect of cold winds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;map&lt;/strong&gt;/&lt;strong&gt;chart&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;tide tables&lt;/strong&gt; (or tide times for the planned journey): make sure you know where you're&#xA;going, and what places to avoid.  Be aware of tidal streams that&#xA;could increase the effective distance you'll paddle.  I keep the&#xA;most useful map on deck in a clear case, so I can read it as I go.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GPS receiver&lt;/strong&gt;: although not essential, it's a handy backup to&#xA;the map, and I get a psychological boost from having a distance&#xA;countdown to my next destination.  I'm using a small handheld that&#xA;I also use for hillwalking, with maps from OpenStreetMap; these&#xA;include most of the Aids to Navigation in my area, and I contribute&#xA;back any corrections I discover.  I always carry spare batteries -&#xA;usually 1-2 days' worth more than I expect to need.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VHF radio&lt;/strong&gt;: The local coastguard station transmits regular&#xA;safety announcements, with weather forecast every 3 hours,&#xA;military operations notices a couple of times a day, and other&#xA;safety information as required.  It's really useful to be able&#xA;to alter plans in advance of a change in the weather.  Also,&#xA;for longer crossings, I contact the coastguard at start and end&#xA;of the crossing - it's useful to phone them from land before&#xA;the trip to give vessel details, so you only need to give your&#xA;callsign on the radio.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Getting out of trouble&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;buoyancy aid&lt;/strong&gt;: Pretty obvious; everyone has one.  A simple one is&#xA;fine, though paying extra will get you features such as pockets&#xA;(my pockets hold the VHF, beacon and balaclava; there's also a pouch holding a drinks bladder, but you can keep one on deck).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;paddle float&lt;/strong&gt;: Re-entry is much, much easier with extra buoyancy&#xA;on the blade.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;split paddle&lt;/strong&gt;: I've never lost my paddle (I made an elastic leash&#xA;to keep it with the boat), but you can't do much without one, so I&#xA;always carry a spare on the rear deck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;pump&lt;/strong&gt;: Another obvious one; this is the fastest way to empty the&#xA;cockpit of water once you're in it again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;first aid kit&lt;/strong&gt;: Usually, this is a small kit for cuts and scrapes;&#xA;perhaps also a support bandage for strains and sprains.  If travelling&#xA;in company, you can make use of treatments for more serious injuries.&#xA;I think that what to include in a first aid kit is a good question in&#xA;its own right.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Getting help&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VHF radio&lt;/strong&gt;: mentioned above in &amp;quot;avoiding trouble&amp;quot;, having a DSC set&#xA;with in-built GPS enables it to transmit your location in a mayday&#xA;call, reducing the chances of miscommunicated information.  Make sure&#xA;you know how to use it properly - the Short-Range Communication course&#xA;and exam will likely cost you less than the set itself; it allows you&#xA;to operate legally, and it's fun!  Carry a spare battery, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;beacon&lt;/strong&gt;: An emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) uses&#xA;satellite communication to send an alert to the international rescue&#xA;coordinators when you trigger it.  It is important to &lt;strong&gt;register&lt;/strong&gt; your&#xA;beacon with your country's authorities, so your alert will be recognised&#xA;as genuine.  It's probably best to carry it on your person, rather than&#xA;in the boat, in case you get separated somehow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're counting, this is the third GPS unit I have on board (and&#xA;that's not counting the one in my camera).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;flares&lt;/strong&gt;: A small tub of flares sits behind my seat or in the&#xA;day-hatch, to guide rescuers to an exact position.  Currently, I&#xA;have two handheld orange smoke and two red pinpoint.  They only operate for&#xA;a short time, so you'd want to save them until you can see (or at&#xA;least hear) your rescue approaching - even better if you're in radio&#xA;contact and can be told when to use them.  These have a limited shelf life, and need to be replaced after a few years (and the unused ones disposed of responsibly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;strobe light&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;reflective markings&lt;/strong&gt;: Although I don't&#xA;intentionally paddle after dark, in an emergency situation these&#xA;can help improve your visibility to others, supplementing the&#xA;flares.  My kayak top and buoyancy aid both include reflective&#xA;patches; if yours don't, it may be worth sticking or stitching&#xA;some one for yourself.  I've also applied self-adhesive strips of retroflective tape to the paddle blades (including the spare!); the cheap stuff seems as good as the expensive SOLAS-certified versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I choose Lithium cells for the batteries&#xA;in the strobe - these have a very long shelf life, so are more&#xA;likely to work even if you haven't thought about changing them for&#xA;5 or 10 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things I could have listed above but have chosen not&#xA;to carry for various reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tow line&lt;/strong&gt;:  I have one, but normally only take it if I have&#xA;company.  It might be useful to carry on solo trips too, but the&#xA;likelihood of being rescued by other kayakers is very low, and I'm&#xA;running out of space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;radar reflector&lt;/strong&gt;: It would be good to be more visible to other&#xA;traffic, but my area is quiet enough that collision is very unlikely.&#xA;On a kayak, there's a trade-off between reflector height&#xA;and windage.  Further reading can be found in &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Radar, Reflectors and Sea Kayaks:&#xA;A Visibility Study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; by Springuel, Travis and MacDonald.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;helmet&lt;/strong&gt;:  Most time is spent in deep water; although I enjoy&#xA;travelling along coastlines, I try to keep clear of the rocks.&#xA;Could be useful in a forced landing, I guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;mobile telephone&lt;/strong&gt;: Less use than a VHF, as it only allows&#xA;one-to-one communication, and only with someone whose contact&#xA;details you know.  Also, would need a subscription to network&#xA;service, which seems expensive, and the coverage is reportedly&#xA;very patchy.  Possibly useful if you have one already and want to&#xA;check in with someone on shore regularly - but you could cause&#xA;unnecessary worry if unable to connect when you're expected to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;dry suit&lt;/strong&gt;: Too uncomfortable (hot) for energetic paddling!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-16T14:02:12.810" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:02:12.810" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11868" CreationDate="2017-02-10T14:15:03.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A spit is not just any bolt. Spit means almost exclusively (especially among cavers, who care more about the what they are clipping into) the hand-drilled bolts now sold as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Anchors/CHEVILLE-AUTOFOREUSE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cheville autoforeuse&lt;/a&gt; by Petzl. They used to be sold by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spit.fr/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spit&lt;/a&gt; company and AFAIK they are still made by them but are sold by Petzl. The Spit company still sells a lot of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spit.fr/?List-of-sub-range&amp;amp;acti_code=chevillage&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;industrial bolts&lt;/a&gt;, but no climbing certified bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nowadays Petzl sells spits for caving single rope technique use, not for climbing and mountaineering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They usually use the thin M8 thread, although wider designs existed. They may require bringing your own hangers (8 mm, sold by Petzl as Vrillee, Coudee and Clown). If the hangers are in place they should be tightened by an M13 wrench before use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spits are prone to rust and on old routes they cannot be trusted 100 %. They are very short, because they are drilled by hand and are sensitive to the exact depth of the hole. If the hole is too deeep, the hanger will be pushing the bolt out of the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cavers never use spits (even new ones) as a single point anchors. On top of a pitch they should always be doubled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3055" LastEditorUserId="3055" LastEditDate="2017-02-10T14:21:28.743" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T14:21:28.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15199" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-02-10T15:51:02.440" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-02-10T15:51:02.440" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T15:51:02.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15200" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-02-10T15:51:02.440" Score="0" Body="Questions about improving the access to or enjoyment of the Outdoors for people with disabilities, impairments, limitations or special needs of any kind." OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-02-10T18:47:51.493" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T18:47:51.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15201" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-10T17:33:37.347" Score="2" ViewCount="867" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7/what-is-the-safest-way-to-purify-water/4155#4155&quot;&gt;surest ways of purifying water is distillation&lt;/a&gt; water is boiled and only things that evaporate at or below 100C are captured.  This does lead to the potential issue of things like petroleum products with a lower boiling point, getting distilled into your collection chamber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem that if you pre-boil your water in an open container, any contaminates that boil at temps lower then 100C would get cleared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When should I boil water before distilling it? How can I know how long it should pre-boil in an open container? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T18:01:12.873" Title="When should I boil water before distilling it?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15201" CreationDate="2017-02-10T20:10:07.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First and foremost try to find better water.&lt;/strong&gt; If your water is so polluted that this is a serious concern then I strongly feel you should find less polluted water to purify. This is true regardless of what method you're using to purify the water. For an extreme example I wouldn't try to collect water to purify from a port-a-potty if there was a river a couple of miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If for some reason the only water you have is extremely polluted&lt;/strong&gt; then I'd follow these steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collect the water and let it stand for a period of time to allow particulates and oils to separate from the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After skimming the oil from the top transfer the water without the particulates into another vessel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set up your water vessel and heat source so you can vary the temperature of the water. The goal is to have a system in place so you can hold the water at a relatively constant temperature below boiling for a period of time. One primitive way of doing this would be with a tall tripod over a camp fire. That will allow you to adjust the temperature of the water by adjusting the distance the water vessel is above the flames.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After holding the water vessel at a high temperature that is still below boiling for a long period of time you can be relatively certain that the substances that have a boiling point lower than water will have evaporated.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Setup your water vapor collection system, and bring the water to a boil. Since we have boiled off most of the things with a lower boiling point all we should be collecting are things at or close to water's boiling point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T20:10:07.470" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15186" CreationDate="2017-02-10T20:57:18.807" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest way of smelting iron is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomery&quot;&gt;bloomery furnace&lt;/a&gt;. This is essentially a beehive shaped structure, covered in clay and containing alternating layers of charcoal and iron ore with openings top and bottom to allow a controlled airflow through the stack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iron ore comes in several forms but is essentially various iron oxides mixed with silicates. The chemistry behind a bloomery furnace is that the burning charcoal creates both a high temperature and a carbon rich atmosphere inside the furnace in which oxygen is taken away from the iron to react with the carbon (reduction). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the burn the furnace is taken apart and if the process is successful there should be a porous mass of metallic iron mixed with silicate slag, called a 'bloom'. Depending on the quality of the ore and the exact conditions in the furnace there may also be a certain amount of steel of varying carbon content. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This bloom must them be re heated in a forge  and repeatedly hammered and folded to create a usable material. The end product of this 'fining' process is wrought iorn, a composite of more or less pure metallic iron interspersed with fine fibres of silicates. This can either be used as it is with similar properties to mild steel or further processed by carburisation to make steel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A development of this process involves a rather more sophisticated furnace fed with forced air which both reduces the ore and diffuses carbon into the metal, creating cast iron which has a significant carbon content (around 3-5%) and consequently a low enough melting point (around 1200C)  to be cast. Usually the raw 'pig iron' from a furnace needs to be remelted to produce a usable pure material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Producing good quality steel requires additional steps as you need to precisely control the carbon content of the resulting alloy.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T20:57:18.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2017-02-10T23:07:27.893" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own both a 3 season tent and 4 season.  I car camp in warm weather all the time with my 4 season tent because it is bigger.  Once you unzip the door you get a lot of ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-10T23:07:27.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15206" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15208" CreationDate="2017-02-10T23:53:12.413" Score="11" ViewCount="510" Body="&lt;p&gt;As part of an effort to be a responsible user of the world's waterways, I've been thinking about ways to reduce marine pollution. A friend told me that certain chemicals in common brands of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen&quot;&gt;sunscreen&lt;/a&gt; are dangerous to marine life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She specifically said sunscreen is killing much of the delicate eco-system present in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef&quot;&gt;coral reefs&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any proven truth to that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-08T20:40:57.663" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T20:40:57.663" Title="Is sunscreen toxic to marine life, especially coral reefs?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15084" CreationDate="2017-02-11T02:48:48.543" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a guess?  A change in architecture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pigeons favor cliff ledges as nesting sites; they'll happily build nests on window ledges as a substitute for natural cliffs.  Sparrows favor cavities: tree hollows, the eaves of roofs, and other somewhat-enclosed areas.  If there's been a trend of replacing traditional houses with high-rise apartments, I'd expect a corresponding shift from sparrows to pigeons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T02:48:48.543" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15206" CreationDate="2017-02-11T03:12:51.283" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;According to this study by authors C. A. Downs, Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Roee Segal, John Fauth, Sean Knutson, Omri Bronstein, Frederic R. Ciner, Rina Jeger, Yona Lichtenfeld, Cheryl M. Woodley, Paul Pennington, Kelli Cadenas, Ariel Kushmaro, Yossi Loya:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00244-015-0227-7&quot;&gt;Toxicopathological Effects of the Sunscreen UV Filter, Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), on Coral Planulae and Cultured Primary Cells and Its Environmental Contamination in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Benzophenone-3 (BP-3; oxybenzone) is an ingredient in sunscreen lotions and personal-care products that protects against the damaging effects of ultraviolet light. Oxybenzone is an emerging contaminant of concern in marine environments—produced by swimmers and municipal, residential, and boat/ship wastewater discharges. We examined the effects of oxybenzone on the larval form (planula) of the coral Stylophora pistillata, as well as its toxicity in vitro to coral cells from this and six other coral species. Oxybenzone is a photo-toxicant; adverse effects are exacerbated in the light. Whether in darkness or light, oxybenzone transformed planulae from a motile state to a deformed, sessile condition. Planulae exhibited an increasing rate of coral bleaching in response to increasing concentrations of oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is a genotoxicant to corals, exhibiting a positive relationship between DNA-AP lesions and increasing oxybenzone concentrations. Oxybenzone is a skeletal endocrine disruptor; it induced ossification of the planula, encasing the entire planula in its own skeleton. The LC50 of planulae exposed to oxybenzone in the light for an 8- and 24-h exposure was 3.1 mg/L and 139 µg/L, respectively. The LC50s for oxybenzone in darkness for the same time points were 16.8 mg/L and 779 µg/L. Deformity EC20 levels (24 h) of planulae exposed to oxybenzone were 6.5 µg/L in the light and 10 µg/L in darkness. Coral cell LC50s (4 h, in the light) for 7 different coral species ranges from 8 to 340 µg/L, whereas LC20s (4 h, in the light) for the same species ranges from 0.062 to 8 µg/L. Coral reef contamination of oxybenzone in the U.S. Virgin Islands ranged from 75 µg/L to 1.4 mg/L, whereas Hawaiian sites were contaminated between 0.8 and 19.2 µg/L. Oxybenzone poses a hazard to coral reef conservation and threatens the resiliency of coral reefs to climate change.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also supplementary publications if you want to pay for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some countries (Bermuda) are now issuing requests of its tourism industry to ask that their clients (tourists) apply lotion about a half-hour before entering reef waters, the thinking is that these chemicals are absorbed into the skin and are less harmful to the reefs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Another study by authors Bratkovics S, Wirth E, Sapozhnikova Y, Pennington P, Sanger D&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26541983&quot;&gt;Baseline monitoring of organic sunscreen compounds along South Carolina's coastal marine environment.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Organic ultraviolet filters (UV-F) are increasingly being used in personal care products to protect skin and other products from the damaging effects of UV radiation. In this study, marine water was collected monthly for approximately one year from six coastal South Carolina, USA sites and analyzed for the occurrence of seven organic chemicals used as UV filters (avobenzone, dioxybenzone, octocrylene, octinoxate, oxybenzone, padimate-o and sulisobenzone). The results were used to examine the relationship between beach use and the distribution of UV-F compounds along coastal South Carolina, USA. Five of the seven target analytes were detected in seawater along coastal South Carolina during this study. Dioxybenzone and sulisobenzone were not detected. The highest concentrations measured were &gt;3700 ng octocrylene/L and ~2200 ng oxybenzone/L and beach use was greatest at this site; a local beach front park. Patterns in concentrations were assessed based on season and a measure of beach use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And another, extremely detailed and well-sourced study by authors Lauretta Burke, Katie Reytar, Mark Spalding, Allison Perry:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wri.org/publication/reefs-risk-revisited&quot;&gt;Reefs at Risk Revisited&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reefs at Risk Revisited brings together data on the world’s coral reefs in a global analysis designed to quantify threats and to map where reefs are at greatest risk of degradation or loss. We incorporated more than 50 data sources into the analysis—including data on bathymetry (ocean depth), land cover, population distribution and growth rate, observations of coral bleaching, and location of human infrastructure. These data were consolidated within a geographic information system (GIS), and then used to model several broad categories of threat from human activities, climate change, and ocean acidification. In the absence of complete global information on reef condition, this analysis represents a pragmatic hybrid of monitoring observations and modeled predictions of reef condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here are some other links on the subject:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://time.com/4080985/sunscreen-coral-reefs/&quot;&gt;How Sunscreen May Be Destroying Coral Reefs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A chemical in sunscreen may be contributing to the destruction of the coral reefs as swimmers trying to protect their skin venture near reefs, according to new research.&#xA;Researchers behind the study, published in the journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, found that the chemical oxybenzone has toxic effects on young coral that causes endocrine disruption, DNA damage and death of coral, among other the problems. Oxybenzone also exacerbates coral bleaching, a process by which coral reject symbiotic organisms and lose their color. Bleaching has been particularly prevalent in recent years due to rising sea temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/nov15/sunscreen-corals.html&quot;&gt;Skincare Chemical Threatens Coral Reefs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abtract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A study from a team of international scientists has found that a common chemical in many sunscreen lotions and cosmetics is highly toxic to juvenile corals and other marine life. Oxybenzone, or BP-3, is found in more than 3,500 skin care products worldwide for protection against the sun's harmful effects. The compound has been found entering the environment both through wastewater effluent and directly from swimmers wearing sunscreens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(with apologies, I think this refers to the same study as the first I mentioned)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Another study by authors Roberto Danovaro, Lucia Bongiorni, Cinzia Corinaldesi, Donato Giovannelli, Elisabetta Damiani, Paola Astolfi, Lucedio Greci, Antonio Pusceddu&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/27305/Coral-Bleaching&quot;&gt;Coral Bleaching&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Abstract:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coral bleaching (i.e., the release of coral symbiotic zooxanthellae) has negative impacts on biodiversity and functioning of reef ecosystems and their production of goods and services. This increasing world-wide phenomenon is associated with temperature anomalies, high irradiance, pollution, and bacterial diseases. Recently, it has been demonstrated that personal care products, including sunscreens, have an impact on aquatic organisms similar to that of other contaminants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, yeah - lots of studies.  And yes, a product killing much of the delicate eco-systems is allowed to be sold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T11:53:45.173" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T11:53:45.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15196" CreationDate="2017-02-11T03:16:24.587" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living near the Oro.  Helmet, padded life jacket, knee &amp;amp; elbow pads, air splints for bone breaks, snake bite kit, spare paddle, repair kit for fixing rips in boat. cell phone,rope, &amp;amp; still 3 to 4 people die a year doing this. On the Oro. I prefer a bamboo raft for river travel myself.  Long tail.  C.D.O. Philippines. Finest white water river in the world.  I use a outrigger for sea travel. Much better. You can buy food at most huts along the river. If overnight a hammock with roof &amp;amp; netting. Never sleep on the ground.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T03:16:24.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15211" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15220" CreationDate="2017-02-11T03:55:54.067" Score="10" ViewCount="1849" Body="&lt;p&gt;If in a survival situation, how can one preserve the hide of an animal with a minimum amount of tools and skill in order to make clothing or bedding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not asking how to make things with the hides. I simply would like to know the most primitive way to preserve the skin of an animal for survival reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T15:07:07.387" Title="If in a survival situation, how can one preserve a hide of an animal with a minimum amount of tools and skill?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;tanning&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15181" CreationDate="2017-02-11T03:57:31.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can spot sulfur very easily. The rocks will have a yellow or white coating in the river or streams near deposits. These can be scraped off. Or it can be found in some caves. A volcanic mountain area helps. It's used often by natives in medical cures. I would suggest first you learn how to wet pan &amp;amp; dry pan for minerals, and how to follow those up to deposits. This is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creekology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;creekology&lt;/a&gt;.  It saves lots of time walking around looking. You can look at the layers of rock &amp;amp; soil. This is how you find minerals. The richer deposits but do not expect to find much. Metals become very valuable when you do not have them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T01:13:32.500" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T01:13:32.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4997" CreationDate="2017-02-11T11:42:21.147" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Practice and remaining calm underwater seems to be the key to reducing your gas consumption.  Most new divers consume lots of gas due to the unfamiliarity of being underwater,  novice skills,  and the ubiquitous overweighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a while,  you learn to control your buoyancy and get your weighting correct:  enough to stay down with a nearly empty cylinder (circa 30 bar) and no more.  You also learn that winter diving means thicker undersuits / wetsuits which are a lot more buoyant,  so additional weight is needed to counteract it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With more practice you'll consume a lot less gas as skills become far more simple and an awful lot less stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gas consumption is measured as the &quot;Surface Air Consumption&quot; rate (SAC rate) in litres per minute.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As we all know,  for every 10 metres of depth,  add 1 bar of pressure.  So,  at 20 metres,  you'll be at 3 bar which is 3 times the surface pressure.  If you have an SAC of 15 litres/minute,  you'll consume 3x15 = 45 litres per minute at 20 metres,  or 60 litres/minute at 30 metres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your SAC will vary greatly depending on what you're doing underwater.  If you're vigorously swimming against a current,  your SAC will easily double and could quadruple in extremis.  Those numbers again:  if you're really fighting the current your SAC could be 3 times normal,  so using 15 as the base,  this will be 3 x 15 = 45 which is then multiplied by the pressure,  so at 20 metres this is x3,  so you're consuming 135 litres / minute,  or converting that to bar of a single 12 litre cylinder,  that's about 11 bar a minute -- dangerously emptying the cylinder in 13 minutes (using 12 litres x 150 bar)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare that with a chilled-out drift or gentle bimble where your SAC would be normal (15 l/min) so using 45 l/min at 20 metres,  or 40 minutes of gas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With more practice and relaxation,  you can get your SAC down to 12 litres/min (or 50 minutes for 150 bar of a 12 litre cylinder).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tech divers tend to use two SAC rates;  the &quot;bottom&quot; SAC where you're moving around,  and the &quot;deco&quot; SAC where you're hanginging around motionless whilst breathing rich oxygen mixes.  For planning, I use a bottom SAC of 15 l/min and 12 l/min for deco,  but know I use less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For 'fun' I brought a half-empty deco stage with regulators into the lounge one night and measured the amount of gas I consumed whilst watching the telly and doing some internet browsing -- must have looked odd with a reg in my mouth and a clothes peg on my nose!  In that 20 minutes,  my SAC was 7 litres/minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So,  in answer to your question;  you'll need to be moderately fit.  But the main thing is to be relaxed,  which is much easier if you practice your skills,  especially the art of doing nothing - buoyancy &amp;amp; weighting.  The more you practice,  the better you'll be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T11:42:21.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15211" CreationDate="2017-02-11T12:09:14.390" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To make a hide, you need to steam, smoke, and degrease it.  I doubt any of this could be done in survival situations.  Despite the website's dedication to wilderness survival, the link here suggests wilderness preparation, but not necessarily in survival situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/hides/hides01.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hides&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you used the hide from a killed animal, you have the issue of dealing with blood and other liquids, would be a disease risk to you.  So you'd have to process it first, and, given the survival aspect of your question, I'm not sure this is feasible.  If you can make a fire for steaming, it stands to reason you can use that fire for warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are more &quot;survival&quot; methods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/tanning-fur.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tanning Furs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2011/11/survival-skills-brain-tanning-hides&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survival Skills: Brain Tanning Hides&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ninemonthsofsurvival.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/leather-really-is-dead-animal-skin/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;9 MONTHS OF WILDERNESS SURVIVAL&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, I think your efforts are better focused on shelter, warmth, finding food and water, and getting found.  I don't think a dead animal is going to help you, however useful it may seem, other than as food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T12:09:14.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15217" CreationDate="2017-02-10T22:08:00.153" Score="40" ViewCount="4240" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bought my compass in the US last year. Next week I'm going to travel to Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is my US-compass compatible with Australia? or do I need a special compass?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do I need an adapter?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12370" OwnerDisplayName="Christian Deckert" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T14:28:44.920" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T04:46:17.153" Title="Compass compatibility: Can I use my US compass in Australia?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-02-12T07:53:24.223" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15215" CreationDate="2017-02-10T22:10:21.643" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having used my Europe compass in America as well as in Australia, I would say you do not need a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will still point one end of the needle to the north and the other to the south, only the south pole is closer to you than when you are home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As pointed out in the comments and the other answers, the direction as given is good enough for casual use, not for situations in which your life may depend on it. Hand held compasses are more likely suitable, mounted ones as in sailboats and planes may not work well enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" OwnerDisplayName="Willeke" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T08:51:06.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15215" CreationDate="2017-02-10T23:23:29.533" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;I double checked a couple of websites (thanks a lot for the comments to the question) and I'm sure that my compass is not compatible with Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a result of these magnetic variances, the compass industry has divided the earth into 5 &amp;quot;zones&amp;quot;, as identified in the map which shows the different zones starting with Zone 1 at the top and ending with Zone 5 at the bottom (Australia and New Zealand only).   &lt;strong&gt;All of the standard compasses sold at New Zealand are balanced for Zone 5.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A typical feature for regular compasses is that they can function without problems only at limited longitudes because the changes in the magnetic field affect the position of the needle. For fast needles, this phenomenon is even more prominent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mapworld.co.nz/global.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MapWorld&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well Wikipedia suggests that my compass is not working in Australia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the Earth's magnetic field's inclination and intensity vary at different latitudes, compasses are often balanced during manufacture so that the dial or needle will be level, eliminating needle drag which can give inaccurate readings. Most manufacturers balance their compass needles for one of five zones, ranging from zone 1, covering most of the Northern Hemisphere, to zone 5 covering Australia and the southern oceans. &lt;strong&gt;This individual zone balancing prevents excessive dipping of one end of the needle which can cause the compass card to stick and give false readings.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Therefore the answer is:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compasses purchased in Europe or the US cannot be used in Australia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are models available with a &amp;quot;world needle&amp;quot; which work around the world.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12370" OwnerDisplayName="Christian Deckert" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T04:30:03.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15215" CreationDate="2017-02-11T02:51:27.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it is true that the magnetic field encompassing the Earth is not a sphere and dips inward at the poles,  there is no reason a standard compass would not tell you which way is south and which way is north.  While doing a google search for compass zones and which one to use for where, I got an astounding number of results for &lt;strong&gt;GPS&lt;/strong&gt; calibration and pretty much nothing for standard analog compasses.  There was one(1) sailing forum [www.cruisersforum.com] in which a user mentioned the need of &quot;zoned&quot; compasses for travelling below the equator.  In one post. Thats it.  If the need for &quot;zoned&quot; compasses were real, there would be a lot more information available on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the worry is getting completely lost in the blue mountains or similar, I would think bringing a good map, gps, x-tra batt., compass, and a good working knowledge of orienteering would be paramount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to agree with Willeke on this one, he's got experience.  Both Sources given by the OP in his answer are from the same website, &quot;mapworld.com&quot;  The wikipedia source cites mapworld as the source for that info.  &lt;strong&gt;Mapworld&lt;/strong&gt; is a &lt;strong&gt;RETAILER&lt;/strong&gt; OF COMPASSES IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="justin" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T02:51:27.790" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15215" CreationDate="2017-02-11T14:40:15.563" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The effect that might make a compass not work in two different regions of the world is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(magnetic) declination&lt;/a&gt;. This is due to geometry (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10345/how-much-distance-is-there-between-true-north-and-magnetic-north-poles&quot;&gt;geographical and magnetic north are not the same&lt;/a&gt;) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10334/i-never-adjust-for-true-north-is-this-bad-practice&quot;&gt;local effects on the worlds magnetic field&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A compass might be adjustable to this. Usually there is a little screw, with which you can turn the scale to adjust for the declination angle. Any decent regional map has this declination value marked on it or you can find it online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For US and Australia the declination does not have to, but can vary a lot. &lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/historical_declination/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This map showing the declination&lt;/a&gt; shows that the declination in the west of the US and in the east of Australia are pretty similar. So to answer the question whether you need a different compass you need to disclose the declination of your compass and more precise locations than US and Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know there is no such thing as adapters for this. That would be something like an additional scale to mount on top of a compass - not very practical. But maybe someone had an ingenious idea and put it on the market proving me wrong in this - I doubt it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T14:52:41.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15211" CreationDate="2017-02-11T16:16:07.770" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's below freezing, then you don't need to do much more to it apart from take it off of the animal. The Inuit in Northern Canada wear raw caribou hides, and keep them in the freezer over the summer months. So if you're in need of a warm coat to stave off the cold. You can just put it on raw and it'll suffice. To make it soft, you'll need to scrape off all the fat and other tissues, then &lt;em&gt;chew&lt;/em&gt; it. In a true survival situation, you can wear a bloody stinking hide and it will be plenty adequate to keep you warm, and keep you alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T16:21:13.653" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T16:21:13.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15224" CreationDate="2017-02-11T16:35:26.820" Score="3" ViewCount="707" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sulfur has been used for centuries to get ride of nasty little bugs that infest the warm places we like to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15181/&quot;&gt;found natural sulfur sources&lt;/a&gt; can they be used to effectively and safely de-louse my camp?  If so what is the best way to do it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T05:40:50.680" Title="How effective is sulfur for delousing my camp?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15222" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15228" CreationDate="2017-02-11T19:26:53.940" Score="4" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to plan a night trip around the New Moon to have my first go at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophotography&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Astrophotography&lt;/a&gt;, so I'm looking at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moongiant.com/phase/2/26/2017&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moongiant&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to learn what date a moon phase guide represents. For example, I don't know if the New Moon on Feb 26th means there's no Moon on the night of the 25th / morning of the 26th, or the night of the 26th / morning of the 27th.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12348" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T00:12:37.603" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T00:12:37.603" Title="What date does a moon phase guide represent?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15221" CreationDate="2017-02-11T19:30:14.637" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If lice are a problem, go back to town, get the necessary supplies, and deal with it the right way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes it can be fun to play mountain man and try to source everything from the land. But that usually results in ecological damage. This scenario is no exception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T19:30:14.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15221" CreationDate="2017-02-11T20:10:25.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;, sulfur is non toxic and very effective at controlling the itching and repelling horse lice, body lice and other mites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that said, &lt;strong&gt;I would not recommend  delousing your entire camp with sulfur&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend getting out of there and once back home clean up everything immediately, using acceptable means and then and only then return to the great outdoors at a later time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the thing. I am a pesticide applicator and according to the law, you could be in serious trouble if this was done on provincial lands, especially if any damage was caused by such actions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what my course book has to say about sulfur:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sulphur&lt;/strong&gt; is an element long used as a combination fungicide-miticide-insecticide, available in a variety of formulas for the control of a wide range of plant diseases. May injure plants in hot, dry weather. It is phytotoxic to certain sulphur-sensitive plants such as pears, apricots, raspberries and cucurbits. Relatively non toxic to humans, animals and bees, but may be irritating to the eyes and skin. - &lt;em&gt;Handbook For Pesticide Applicators and Dispensers (Page 95).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What you are suggesting is against the law in Canada.&lt;/strong&gt; Only authorized persons can do it in the forests and they are usually government personnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Applying pesticide in any form, whether a natural element or not, is not permitted in  the forest lands of Canada. I would think most countries have similar laws in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T21:14:01.810" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T21:14:01.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15225" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-11T20:41:11.460" Score="12" ViewCount="1992" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I learned about the existence of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocompass&quot;&gt;&quot;gyrocompass&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A gyrocompass is a type of &lt;strong&gt;non-magnetic&lt;/strong&gt; compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and rotation of the Earth (or another planetary body if used elsewhere in the universe) to automatically find geographical direction (normally, true North).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems that these kind of compasses are better than regular compasses (especially when you want to orient yourself or to find &lt;strong&gt;true&lt;/strong&gt; North) as they are not affected by ferromagnetic materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In spite of being objectively better than regular compasses, I had not heard of them until today. I believed there was only one type of compass (the magnetic one we all know).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if there exist any other kind of compasses (magnetic or not) useful for navigation in particular, besides these two (the regular one and the gyrocompass) and also, which of them is the best for said purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12359" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T00:02:00.370" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T22:22:50.563" Title="Are there types of compass other than the regular magnetic one and the gyrocompass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15225" CreationDate="2017-02-11T21:11:27.477" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beyond the ones you have mentioned, there are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_compass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar Compasses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solar compass, a &lt;strong&gt;surveying instrument that makes use of the sun's direction&lt;/strong&gt;, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt.&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_compass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burt’s solar compass is a precision instrument made of brass with a solar attachment that allows surveyors to determine the true north direction by reference to the sun rather than by reference to the magnetic north pole.[5]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It allowed surveyors to locate true north through viewing the sun and other astronomical observations and was not influenced by magnetism or iron ore or other ore materials.[3]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrocompass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Astrocompass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An astrocompass is a navigational tool for &lt;strong&gt;determining the direction of true north through the positions of various astronomical bodies&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are certain circumstances when magnetic compasses and gyrocompasses are unreliable. The most obvious is in polar regions, &lt;strong&gt;where the force exerted on the needle of a magnetic compass is nearly vertical and gyrocompasses become unstable due to the rotation of the Earth.&lt;/strong&gt; Magnetic compasses are also susceptible to disruption from magnetic fields other than the Earth's, such as those produced by the hulls of some metal vehicles or craft. Before the advent of electronic navigational aids such as GPS the most reliable way to ascertain north in such circumstances was through the use of an astrocompass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for which is best, that will depend on you usage and location. Some could be better and some worse depending on the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T21:11:27.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15201" CreationDate="2017-02-11T21:59:04.157" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I still think this is off topic but I don't agree with a posted answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are talking hydrocarbons they are pretty toxic to humans even in small concentrations. A spill minor compared to the size of the ocean will kill marine life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are describing is simple batch distillation and I don't think you could get water contaminated with hydrocarbons safe enough to drink even in a lab with that process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heptane is right at the boiling point of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a degree in chemical engineering and have worked in refineries but I never explicitly worked in waste water.  Water contaminated with hydrocarbon went through some pretty extensive processing to be discarded to public water systems. They use filtration, distillation (not simple - column), and even some enzymes. Some times they just apply enough heat and burn it.  Some times they can run it  through an existing plant and make finished product out of it.  Drinking water is never finished product to my knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find cleaner water.  Water not contaminated with hydrocarbons is readily available.  That kind of contamination is just not common in nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy metals you could address but again that kind of contamination is rare in nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Batch distillation should work for remove salt or any solids but not like you could fabricate in the outdoors.  Not sure for urine as there are some liquid contaminates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your depiction of pre boil is off.  You plain boil off the lighter but you should collect it as it is combustible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T15:16:07.787" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T15:16:07.787" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15222" CreationDate="2017-02-11T22:12:56.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe the way that it works, is the the time at which it peaks/goes darkest is marked as the day that it happens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, on Feb 26th, according to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.moongiant.com/moonphases/February/2017/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page&lt;/a&gt;, the New Moon will peak at &lt;strong&gt;14:58 UTC&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, you're better off using a resource that doesn't just say the day but the actual time. Then depending on where you are in the world will determine if the New Moon peaks closer to the night prior or the night after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="12348" LastEditDate="2017-02-11T23:33:20.350" LastActivityDate="2017-02-11T23:33:20.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15225" CreationDate="2017-02-11T23:25:09.713" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some very crude outdoor compasses which tell us the direction of true north (and assume we can estimate angles from north). The following also assume we're in the northern hemisphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bauervswild.com/2014/11/stick-sun-shadow-compass.html&quot;&gt;sun-stick-shadow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; compass: If the sun shines, place a vertical stick in the ground. Every 15 minutes or so, mark the end of the stick's shadow. The line of shadow marks will lie in a west-to-east direction. And if you happen to do this at mid-day, the very shortest shadow points south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-skills/find-your-direction-by-the-moon/&quot;&gt;crescent moon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; compass: A morning moon looking like this &quot;&lt;strong&gt;(&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; will have its bulge pointing east and an evening moon looking like this &quot;&lt;strong&gt;)&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; will have its bulge pointing west. And the moon will be roughly in the south. More accurately, south is where a line joining the &quot;horns&quot; of the crescent extends down to and meets the horizon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://earthsky.org/tonight/use-big-dipper-to-find-polaris-the-north-star&quot;&gt;pole star&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; compass: On a clear night the star called Polaris is virtually exactly pointing north. (Not part of the question but useful to know: the elevation angle of Polaris above the horizon is your latitude.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T00:03:07.480" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T00:03:07.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9863" CreationDate="2017-02-12T05:15:49.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First you need climb the tree to get them. You need notch the tree to climb it. Then you need a large knife to cut them free. Up in the tree they swing in a circle.  You drop the green ones. Many will split open hitting the ground. Very hard to remove with out a large knife. They are soft. One slice done right with a knife the top is cut off. Drink the juice. Next cut in 1/2 remove pulp. They are not hard like you buy in the store. Unless old &amp;amp; brown. You can mash them between rocks. Go to jamesphilippines on imgur. There you will see us up the coconut trees here. You could find a hard volcanic stone Break &amp;amp; shape it. Then use it to notch &amp;amp; climb the tree. Pound them loose. Leaves are good for a makesift shelter. Also dried for fire wood. Light easy if well dried. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T05:15:49.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15211" CreationDate="2017-02-12T05:27:07.040" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Remove hide. Scrape of all fat. Rub with animals brain, let set overnight. Cold smoke the hide over punk wood. { almost dry rotted wood} You need a cold smoke. This is what you call raw hide.  Very stiff. pound with round rocks to soften. Chew with teeth next for extra soft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T05:27:07.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15235" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15239" CreationDate="2017-02-12T05:41:34.690" Score="6" ViewCount="945" Body="&lt;p&gt;I may have reacted without thinking to the question about dealing with lice because I have never worried about getting lice on a wilderness trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upon reflection, I find I am genuinely interested in knowing under what wilderness conditions lice are a possibility and what reasonable precautions I could take to avoid being colonized by the critters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Reasonable&quot; differs from person to person; I wouldn't consider shaving off all my head and body hair reasonable unless the probability of becoming infested was pretty high, but I can't quantify &quot;pretty high&quot; when the problem is still abstract. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of my backpacking has been in the Sierra and Rockies, most of the time above timberline, there's been some in Hawaii and a bit in Shenandoah.  And believe me, I have emerged filthy from two-week-plus trips, but lice-free.   Would it have been a different story for a much longer trip, or a trip in a very different environment?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T05:50:54.473" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T15:48:30.040" Title="Under what wilderness conditions is becoming infested with lice a possibility and what precautions should one take to avoid it?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15235" CreationDate="2017-02-12T06:23:29.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many different kinds of lice, but only three species can colonize humans. Lice are strongly adapted to a particular species and don't cross infect other species. They are also &quot;obligate&quot; parasites, meaning they can survive only a limited time away from a host. That means that you are &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; likely to develop a louse infestation in areas where human population density is low, i.e. wilderness. Human louse infestations are associated with crowding and intimacy. Really the only way you are going to develop a louse infestation in the wilderness is if someone in your party entered the wilderness already infested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T06:28:54.807" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T06:28:54.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15225" CreationDate="2017-02-12T11:58:54.687" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://geographyfieldwork.com/WatchasCompass.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An analogue watch makes a useful compass&lt;/a&gt; combined with the sun. I've used this to good effect in cities as well as  open country. This link is actually to a rather imprecise method. A more accurate way is given in a book I have, but requires a table of angles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if you only have a digital watch you can draw or imagine the equivalent analogue face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T11:58:54.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15235" CreationDate="2017-02-12T12:55:08.563" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lice are passed on by one of two manners. Either by direct contact or indirect contact with someone who is infected with lice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chances of coming in contact with lice in the wilderness is exceedingly remote. A camp site that has been abandoned for several days would be free of lice if it was actually occupied by an infested person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;First of all, there is no need to spray your home and belongings with potentially dangerous insecticides. Lice are known as “obligate parasites,” meaning they don’t survive very long without their human host. They need us to live, and they die within 24 to 48 hours after removal from a human host. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthline.com/health/lice-how-do-you-get-lice#1&quot;&gt;How to Keep Lice from Spreading—and Coming Back!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is how people actually get lice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Head lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Head lice are spread by direct contact with the hair of an infested person. Anyone who comes in head-to-head contact with someone who already has head lice is at greatest risk. Spread by contact with clothing (such as hats, scarves, coats) or other personal items (such as combs, brushes, or towels) used by an infested person is uncommon. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/gen_info/faqs.html&quot;&gt;Who is at risk for getting head lice?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one really encounters lice in the great outdoors, either someone in the group brought the infestation with them or one is camping (very remote possibility) in camp that had been infested by others within 48 hours of the infested person leaving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically what I am saying is that someone in a hiking group brought the lice into the wilderness with them if an infestation occurred at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;: My same thought still holds for body lice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Without a constant source of blood, the lice perish within 2-5 days. In hot weather, when several layers of infested clothing are worn, the lice may move to an outer layer where the temperature is cooler. Lice are very rarely seen crawling on the outside of infested clothes, if they are visible it is an indication the individual is heavily infested. Normally body lice are sensitive to light and if disturbed will quickly move to a seam or crease for cover. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/bodylice.html&quot;&gt;Department of Medical Entomology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Body lice too are transmitted by contact:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Body lice are spread through direct physical contact with a person who has body lice or through contact with articles such as clothing, beds, bed linens, or towels that have been in contact with an infested person. In the United States, actual infestation with body lice tends to occur only in persons, such as homeless, transient persons, who do not have access to regular (at least weekly) bathing and changes of clean clothes, such as homeless, transient persons. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/body/gen_info/faqs.html&quot;&gt;How are body lice spread?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a truly wild area, I believe such an infestation would not be found, regardless of what type of lice is involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-12T15:48:30.040" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T15:48:30.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15225" CreationDate="2017-02-12T16:48:40.537" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In cartography, the concept of True North may be slightly different in different parts of the county, the state, or the country. When cartographers got together many years ago to hash out some of their different practices, they decided to essentially invent a system that would describe the earth's surface as an approximation of a &lt;strong&gt;spheroid&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They came up with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;geoid&lt;/a&gt;. You are actually pretty familiar with one of the more recent geoids, because its ubiquity is now such that it is a part of your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's because the US Navy, years ago, thought that their current navigation systems were a hodgepodge of ancient relics and technology that was ridiculous. And inaccurate. Even their early version of satellite navigation was pathetic. So they put a few satellites in the air and called the system NAVSTAR. You might know it as the Global Positioning System, GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And so while naval vessels certainly have gyrocompasses galore, and they can break out the old celestial navigation instruments and books, the go-to way of determining position and compass heading is with very fast and very accurate position fixes from GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But going back to the geoid, which is going to be &quot;WGS 84&quot; (1984) for most GPS fixes, the cartographers were able to successfully correlate a local position with a global position. So if &quot;north&quot; in Fairfax county is a few minutes off of true north, or if the &quot;latitude&quot; of positions in Arlington County tends to be 24.3 m south of the global geoid, then a cartographer can account for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if a position needs to be offset in one region, and stretched in another region, the reference geoid is used for the &quot;conversion&quot; as bearing lines pass from one place to another. You will discover that most insular areas of a country have historical boundaries and waterways which are peculiar to that country. So in the US, there is a place allegedly called &quot;Four Corners,&quot; which separates for states. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westword.com/news/story-about-four-corners-marker-being-in-wrong-place-mostly-wrong-5878452&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;It was pinpointed about &quot;1807 feet east of where it should have been placed in 1875&lt;/a&gt;.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to get back to your question, you may be surprised to learn that some old surveyors used literal links and chains, and that sometimes their compass was no more than the apparent line of sight from a &quot;known&quot; position to an unknown position that was halfway to another &quot;known&quot; position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And due to historical errors, the &quot;north-south&quot; property line or the east-west state line near you could be a jagged, seemingly arbitrary, non-true anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the old types of satellite navigation which I failed to mention earlier utilized satellites in polar orbit. This type of orbit is quite a useful one, especially for cartography and communication. You can use this type of satellite on a clear night to find a north-south line. So while you may know how to do celestial navigation, or be able to follow a pole star, a satellite in low polar orbit will be visible, rapidly transiting the sky from north to south. This works in both hemispheres, too, in case you find yourself way down under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So that gives you three more virtual compasses: &lt;strong&gt;1.&lt;/strong&gt; the cartographer's and surveyor's grid coordinate systems that trickle down to us as fence lines and&#xA;national borders. &lt;strong&gt;2.&lt;/strong&gt; the geoid-inspired compass that's on your cell phone. And &lt;strong&gt;3.&lt;/strong&gt; the north-south path of polar orbiting satellites. #1 and #3 can be used without carrying anything with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12369" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T16:48:40.537" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15201" CreationDate="2017-02-12T18:01:12.873" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Distillation of water will not remove all hydrocarbons or chromium-6, without very sophisticated equipment.  It can remove arsenic, salt, and other such nasty compounds.  Source:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hydroviv.com/blogs/water-smarts/5-things-to-know-about-chromium-6-in-drinking-water&quot;&gt;5 Things To Know About Chromium-6 In Drinking Water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, large-scale water purification systems expect water to contain bacteria, parasites, viruses, sediments, chemicals, and VOC.  In a typical setup, such as NYC, which processes 1.4 billion gallons a day, and which takes appx 8 hours for water to enter into, and exit, the filtration systems, rest assured that distillation is not a part of this process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can read about how NYC handles its water, and if you are so inclined, you can arrange for a visit to their facilities, which requires special precautions and arranging, and may not be suitable for everyone.  Nevertheless, I worked there for several years and found the treatment processing fascinating.  Here is the link:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wwsystem.pdf&quot;&gt;New York City’s Wastewater Treatment System (1)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wastewater/wwsystem-process.shtml&quot;&gt;New York City's Wastewater Treatment System (2)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you don't need (or want) distillation to remove the worst of the worst.  Having said that, you can't just drink VOC-contaminated water, like you could drink disease-infected water, and just deal with the consequences later on.  That's because the human body reacts violently to VOC-contaminated water.  Here are some studies on the effects of drinking such contaminated water:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121510-203112/unrestricted/Health_Effects_of_Oil_Contamination_-_Final_Report.pdf&quot;&gt;The Health Effects of Oil Contamination: A Compilation of Research&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the bulk of questions here on this forum deal with personal outdoor issues, I'll relegate my answer to that kind of scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many products on the market for treating water, and all involve either chemically treating the water, filtering the water, or just boiling the water - and none of them will remove VOC or chemical compounds like chromium and arsenic.  Nor will they remove compounds which are solutions - like salt.  VOCs are volatile organic compounds, like oil and benzene.  If you are in a situation where you have to drink this water or go without, you'll have to decide that on your own, based on information such as nearest other water area, your tolerance, and other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But distillation is an impractical form of water purification for most individuals.  The heat needed to distill it would kill off most common bacteria, virus, and parasites.  What's left are the things which cannot easily be removed by distillation, leaving you with a conundrum best handled by not bothering to distill it at all.  Unless you were dealing with salt water - then you have no choice but to distill.  Just know that it wouldn't get rid of all VOCs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think, then, the best way to treat water without products like tablets and filtration systems, or distilling, is to make use of what is already in nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you ask &quot;when should you boil it before distillation&quot;, my answers is &quot;all the time - but skip the distillation step&quot;.  Since you mentioned a concern for petroleum (VOC) contaminant, you should use the soil - sand, if possible - to filter and absorb such contaminants.  In other words, you think about mimicking what NYC does with their water, only on a smaller scale:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remove large sediments&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let stand (that's what the big circular vats are doing to the water, only you don't have vats)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Siphon off water about 3/4 from the top - that removes water between the floating oils and the sunken solids.  Do this without disturbing the water as much as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next up is to filter the water using sand - lots of it.  This will absorb some of the VOCs present, though not all of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last, you can boil water to kill off microorganisms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NYC and other municipal systems go through steps like aeration, ozonation, and chlorination, and these are impractical methods for most individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were truly concerned about removing VOC, then you must use aeration with activated carbon, or use a reverse osmosis filtration method:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/vocs.html&quot;&gt;VOCs: Volatile Organic Chemicals in Private Drinking Water Wells&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note also there are no purification methods for radioactive contaminants in water, and there are many sites in the US with this problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.defendblackhills.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;view=article&amp;amp;id=334:8-ways-radioactive-pollution-affects-the-northern-great-plains-of-the-usa&amp;amp;catid=28:-uranium&amp;amp;Itemid=32&quot;&gt;Defenders of the Black Hills - Hesapa O'nakijin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www3.epa.gov/radtown/contaminated-sites.html&quot;&gt;Radioactively Contaminated Sites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, there are some great articles on purification from the US military, although I haven't found much on oil-contamination:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP000748&quot;&gt;Small Wastewater Treatment Systems Using Soil Purification Method&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and also from the CDC (also little on oil contamination):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html&quot;&gt;A Guide to Drinking Water Treatment and Sanitation for Backcountry &amp;amp; Travel Use&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/emergency_disinfection.html&quot;&gt;Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2017-02-12T18:01:12.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15246" CreationDate="2017-02-12T18:55:25.677" Score="10" ViewCount="5041" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am preparing for a Himalayan Expedition which requires a trekking pole at the altitude of 16000 ft and melting snow condition. I haven't used any aluminium/carbon fibre poles yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually find a wooden hiking stick in the woods and only use them when fording streams and hiking up and down steep slopes. I toss them back into the woods when I am done with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am about to buy a Trekking pole but this question is bothering me: whether to buy a pair or a single-pole? Obviously, it seems the pair would provide more stability but it will also double the weight(avg 230g per pole).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-02-11T15:08:10.437" LastActivityDate="2021-02-11T21:31:31.657" Title="Should I use one or two trekking poles?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15084" CreationDate="2017-02-13T00:43:36.947" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Common Sparrows, which are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureforever.org/state-bird-of-delhi.html#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;State Bird of Delhi&lt;/a&gt;, and also of Bihar, have indeed been on a massive decline in India in recent years. What you're seeing is not a fluke. It's happening in many urban areas in India, and is a serious problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although many studies have been done over the years, the largest group in your area which is currently involved in the study and preservation of sparrows is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureforever.org/#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Nature Forever Society&lt;/a&gt;. &#xA;Since 2005, they've been working for the conservation of house sparrows and other common flora and fauna in urban habitats. Their mission is to involve the citizens in the conservation movement of India, especially in urban landscapes.  I recommend spending a lot of time on their website. There's a tremendous amount to learn, and things you can do to become involved. For instance, each year on March 20, they sponsor &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldsparrowday.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;World Sparrow Day&lt;/a&gt;. They also give out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sparrowawards.natureforever.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sparrow Awards&lt;/a&gt; to regular citizens who are making a real impact in the lives of sparrows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their research is the focus of an article published in March of 2016 in the Daily News Analysis, entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-10-reasons-why-the-sparrow-is-fast-disappearing-from-mumbai-2190510&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 reasons why the sparrow is fast disappearing from Mumbai&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the words of the author Shraddha Shirodkar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While no one can be singled out for the declining sparrow population, it is humans who are collectively responsible for it, explains Mohammed Dilawar, President, Nature Forever Society (NFS), a crusader for the sparrow as well as other common flora and fauna in urban habitats. Through his non-governmental, non-profit organisation, he has been championing the cause of sparrows, by involving citizens in the conservation movement, especially in urban areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She compiled a list called &quot;10 reasons why Mumbaikars need to save the sparrow&quot;. I removed the tenth because I found conflicting evidence from other sources. The bullet points are hers, but also include information from other sources that said the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Felling of trees&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It is common knowledge that more the number of trees, more the number of birds. The spike in the felling of trees in Mumbai is a major reason why sparrows and other birds are facing a loss of habitat, especially their natural nesting spots. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lack of cavity nesting&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The ubiquitous glass buildings of Mumbai—the corporate dens—have replaced many older structures that were built with a façade that had nooks and crannies, even bricked roofs, which allow sparrows to nest. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Absence of native plants&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Native plants such as adulsa, mehndi and many others are outdone by fancy non-native ones like Duranta Erecta, Dumb Cane and others as the trend of modern landscaping catches on. Native plants are the natural habitats of sparrows, providing them insects such as aphids to feed on. Sparrows need a diet of insects in their formative years to grow into healthy adults.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Absence of hedgerows&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Contemporary landscaping is also doing away with hedges, which are preferred by sparrows for nesting. Thick hedgerows are known to protect nesting birds such as the sparrow from predation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Widespread use of concrete&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Sparrows are known to take two types of bath—one with water and one with dust. With the extensive use of concrete in Mumbai, the species is unable to take dust baths.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Modern grocery storage&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Sparrows are known to feed on tiny grains like bajra, which used to be freely available from pecking at gunny bags stored outside older-style grocery stores. They were able to spill seeds on the ground. Also, grocers and street vendors purposely dropped grain and seeds to encourage the sparrows. Modern grocery stores with air-conditioning and plastic packaging take away any chance of finding food grains to feed on.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chemical fertilisers in agricultural produce&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Heavy use of chemical fertilisers leads to agricultural produce being laced by them, hence ruining the food of sparrows. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cell phone radiation&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The electromagnetic fields and radiation created by mobile towers are known to affect sparrows. The effects range from damage to the immune and nervous system of sparrows to interference with their navigating sensors. They tend to get confused and leave the area within a week. Since the eggs they've laid nearby need two weeks to incubate, they don't end up hatching. (I found this in many publications, as it's a very common theory at the moment.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High litter index in Mumbai&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is a rise in the population of crows and stray cats due to the high litter index in Mumbai. Simply put, more the garbage, more the predators that prey on sparrows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional sources for interesting information:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://southasia.oneworld.net/news/disappearing-sparrow-common-bird-goes-uncommon#.WKCVKX_m3IV&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Disappearing Sparrows:Common Bird Goes Uncommon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deccanherald.com/content/77210/house-sparrow-listed-endangered-species.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;House sparrow listed as endangered species&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://citizensparrow.in/index.php?r=site/index&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Citizen Sparrow&lt;/a&gt;. This is an interactive site with opportunities to help keep track of sparrows. It has reports of sparrow sightings all over India, with maps and other fun stuff for sparrow-lovers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureforever.org/sparrows-of-india.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sparrows of India&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T22:44:43.433" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T22:44:43.433" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15242" CreationDate="2017-02-13T00:51:17.347" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;They weight of the extra pole is counteracted by the energy saved using it. Poles do more than offer stability, they also save you legs precious energy on the climb, and on the descent. At 16,000ft you'll sing praises to your hiking poles, and I guarantee you'll find yourself resting on them a lot more than you would have expected. Get two poles, you won't regret it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T00:51:17.347" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15247" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15251" CreationDate="2017-02-13T10:17:25.883" Score="21" ViewCount="12172" Body="&lt;p&gt;They say prevention is better than cure, so for beginner hikes, especially dayhikes, how can one try to ensure that their bowels are empty and they won't suddenly need to poo? Are there proven ways? Is taking medication and relying on it bad? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11705" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-12-04T12:07:46.267" LastActivityDate="2020-11-20T16:45:27.543" Title="How to empty bowels before a hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15242" CreationDate="2017-02-13T10:54:20.353" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you get a pair, you can choose whether to actually use one or both for a particular day.  I recommend that you buy a pair well before your expedition, and use them enough to you learn your preference.  If you never want to use both, you still have one you can retain as a spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I found that when I started using poles, I got very frustrated with a pair, because I no longer had a free hand to hold map and compass, or camera.  After a few months of weekend trips with the poles, I developed techniques for managing with both hands occupied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do be aware that it's easy to have too much faith in poles when you really require an ice-axe.  Don't get overconfident on snowy slopes where the poles help you maintain your footing, but don't give you the ability to arrest a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also have to learn to hold onto your poles when they are not required - remember to strap them onto your back and not throw them &quot;back&quot; into the woods!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T10:54:20.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-02-13T13:33:22.480" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bring &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11201&quot;&gt;toilet paper and a shovel,&lt;/a&gt; exercise is a recognized method of increasing bowel motility (&lt;em&gt;making you poo&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than planning for the likely need, there are no reasonable medical measures you can take that will have a positive influence. There are things you can take, but for occasional use, the results are unlike to give the results you desire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do keep in mind that many people empty their bowels on a fairly regular schedule.  If you normally do it at 8:00 AM, you probably don't want to start on the trail at 6:00 AM.  Many trails have facilities at regular intervals.  Try planning ahead of time, so that this is conveniently done at your normal time which is also a good practice &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T11:24:29.347" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15211" CreationDate="2017-02-13T15:07:07.387" Score="6" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Preservation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have properly skinned the animal and scraped off all the bits of fat/flesh/... from the back side of the hide (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/tanning-fur.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for example) there is not really a need to further 'preserve' it except for drying it. This can be done using salt or, more likely in a survival situation, over a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tanning&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real issue you'll have is with tanning the hide. A simple scraped/dried hide will be stiff as a board, nothing you could make clothes or a blanket from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of rather primitive natural ways to make a hide softer, one of the easier ones is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/tanning-fur-3.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Braining&lt;/a&gt;, followed by&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survival-manual.com/tanning-fur-4.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Softening&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you apply a solution to the hide (here made from water and the animals brain), whereupon you stretch, knead and work the hide &lt;em&gt;while it is drying&lt;/em&gt; to avoid it going hard again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T15:07:07.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-02-13T16:03:51.343" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, we a all adults here (I hope) and our bodies have a regular internal rhythm which they are accustomed to deal with. This point is well  brought out in James Jenkin's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15249/8732&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recommending medications or even laxatives is a bad solution to this hygienic problem. I would hate to have someone get sick or ill at my recommending something of this nature. Leave that option to professionals such as one's general practitioner (doctor).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All said and done, I like Aravona's comment: try taking &quot;orange juice, coffee, etc...&quot; Here is why I am saying that this comment is bang on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do landscaping for a living and I get up at 4:00 AM every morning. I do not have the luxury of just going to the washroom whenever I want at a job site, but apart from the unexpected (and they will arise) I find the following trick quite useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each morning I start my day with two cups of coffee (one can use orange juice, tea or whatever). I drink them fairly close together time wise and well before I need to leave the house. This puts pressure on your lower bowels, making it a necessity to go and empty the bowels of their contents. Will this methods work for everyone I cannot say, but for me it works quite well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Happy Trails and not Happy Trials!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-01-27T00:46:15.647" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T00:46:15.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15252" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-13T17:20:44.037" Score="2" ViewCount="590" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hematite is one of the more common ores for smelting iron, but as illustrated in the comments from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15186/how-to-identify-and-process-iron-in-the-wilderness&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;—the answers to which focus on the processing of iron—there are apparently other sources of iron as well, such as algae from bogs that the average person wouldn't expect could be used to forge an ax-head.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the good ore has already been gathered or mined since the industrial revolution, so what is left over that a survivalist could make use of to create iron tools if they found themselves stranded for months or years? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T16:14:49.270" Title="What are some usable sources of iron for producing iron tools in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-02-13T19:39:16.330" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can take laxatives, but as mentioned, it can lead to dehydration.  You can remedy that by drinking water, which will cause the lesser unpleasantness of having to urinate.  The big problem here is that you don't know when the laxative is done working.  Residual gurgles in the belly will have to be kept - or maybe not...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other extreme, you can take a constipant - the medical equivalent of sitting on a cork.  The problem with this method is that if you get sick from the food you eat, you rob your body of the natural function and defense mechanisms it has to dispose of that which is offensive to it.  You'll then have to expel by way of vomiting, and this is far worse because of the means and reasons for the expel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think, then, the preferred method is to properly learn how to make the arrangements.  You need at least three things: a scoop, toilet paper... and knowledge.  The rest you'll find along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal hygiene is an important factor in your comfort as well as your safety.  It's equally important to fellow hikers' comfort and safety as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend the internationally-acclaimed book, &quot;How to Shit in the Woods&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1580083633&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Shit in the Woods, 3rd Edition: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While we're on the topic, you might want to take a gander at these books as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1932361324&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Shit Around the World: The Art of Staying Clean and Healthy While Traveling (Travelers' Tales Guides)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0898159393&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Up Shit Creek: A Collection of Horrifyingly True Wilderness Toilet Misadventures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The books are legitimate, I promise.  &quot;Up Shit Creek&quot; is more of comic means to discuss a difficult subject, but all three books are on the up-and-up, despite the name.  We have all three books in our scout library.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, moving on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The goal on a hike is to build a &quot;cathole&quot;.  It's a hole.  You dig it with the plastic shovel or scoop.  Dig it 6&quot; deep, and 200' away from any water source (actual distance depends on state laws, the most restrictive seems to be 200' in the US).  You want to dig down deep enough so that others won't step on it.  Also, so that people won't smell it.  And also, so that insects like flies won't drag their feet in it, and then park on your ham sandwich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you do your thing.  When done, use a stick you find in the area, stir it around (this helps mix the bacteria-laden soil with the feces, which helps to decompose it faster).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you bury the waste and toilet paper in the hole.  When you bury the hole, be sure never to touch the plastic shovel with anything in the hole; you don't have the means to easily clean it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, leave a stick standing in the ground - this warns others to find a different spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, be sure to use hand sanitizers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T15:20:06.897" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T15:20:06.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7618" CreationDate="2017-02-13T22:24:21.107" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;ShemSeger has a pretty good answer for kick wax; I would just add that you probably don't need that many layers unless you are skiing 20k+, and that your kick zone should be fixed (go to your local ski shop and get it measured and marked), adjustments for conditions are made in the type and quantity of wax you put on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For glide wax, you may want a waxing bench to support the skis.  This guide from Swix is pretty good (read p.3): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swixsport.com/content/download/161/206067/version/3/file/PRV1425E+XC+Sport+English.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.swixsport.com/content/download/161/206067/version/3/file/PRV1425E+XC+Sport+English.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anytime that your skis start looking gray, they need another coat of glide wax. The first time you wax new skis, apply several coats of wax, ironing and then scraping the wax before it cools.  On the final coat, obviously let the wax cool, then scrape and brush it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12383" LastActivityDate="2017-02-13T22:24:21.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15256" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15629" CreationDate="2017-02-13T23:42:45.687" Score="4" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a good time of year to see autumn colours in the higher areas of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Alps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maritime&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottian_Alps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cottian Alps&lt;/a&gt;, in particular yellow larches such as in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.panoram-art.com/galerie/france/9364-france-Hautes-Alpes-Vallee-de-la-Claree-Nevache-Massif-des-Cerces-panorama-sentucq.h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this photo&lt;/a&gt;¹?  I may have the opportunity to visit either 27 September – October 1, or October 7–11. Would I have a good chance to see autumn colours during either of these periods?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;Photo is taken further north than where I intend to go but illustrates the kind of colours I would like to see.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-07T15:42:27.757" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T11:05:59.987" Title="What's a good time to see autumn colors in the Maritime and Cottian Alps?" Tags="&lt;alps&gt;&lt;autumn&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5353" CreationDate="2017-02-14T08:36:14.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any tent you use would need a fly over it for shade &amp;amp; rain, a screen window for vent, and a tarp on the ground under it. Where I live, in the tropics, we have a pop up vent in the center of our tents. You might look on line for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure any tents you use have good tight zippers on doors &amp;amp; such. Depending on where you go, there could be snakes and scorpions, and you want to avoid those. For insulation, go to a builders supply and see if they have sponge with tin foil coating. It rolls up tight like a thermal blanket. We use it under sheet metal roofs here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your tent stakes should be 1/2 inch rebar or 18 to 24 inch spike nails. Put a floor in it. Do your cooking outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get some waterproof dry cleaning fluid with as much bee's wax as it will absorb. Paint it on and let it dry in the sun for 3 days. It makes your tent last much longer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A cabin tent might be best for long term, with a floor in it. For material I would go with a custom made high end nylon, or a cotton wool mix. It's heavy but will last very long, and is good insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in the tropics, where we think 70 f is cold. Sorry I can't help you there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-26T20:39:52.220" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T20:39:52.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15252" CreationDate="2017-02-14T08:41:16.680" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In truth Iron extracted from sand with a magnet. You loose 1/2 when you melt it down. But is near pure.  Slow but sure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small scale separation of sand from iron filings, See this article: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reference.com/science/separate-sand-salt-iron-filings-18f5234b13c53c1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How do you separate sand, salt and iron filings?&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For larger scale separation of iron from black beach sand, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/PULLING-IRON-from-GOLD-BEACH/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PULLING IRON from GOLD BEACH&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://sciencing.com/extract-iron-from-sand-2340112.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Extract Iron from Sand&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-14T13:45:10.623" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T13:45:10.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7970" CreationDate="2017-02-14T09:04:59.130" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a 3 meter racing narrow beam double outrigger. Most kids can hold there walking speed on long tips. In the bay. That is not pushing it.  Kayaking is a wider boat but no outriggers. So figure 2 mpr. or a 15 mile trip. For the day. 2 in a boat add 1mph to that or 20 miles. That leaves time to shore lunch. Most kids here can do that easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T09:04:59.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-02-14T09:53:46.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You buy one of those anal enema devices. It's like a soft rubber ball with a little tube on it. You fill it with water and squirt it up your ass. Your body will then react like if you had diarrhoea, and empty the bowel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat the process a couple of times. The more water you squirt in, the further up the cleansing will go. Also, holding it in for a minute will help it go up further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I use mine, I sometimes don't poop again for 48 hours, depending on other factors. And it wont dehydrate you. On the contrary. Any water leftover water in the bowel will be absorbed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Completely safe and healthy, no chemicals, no medications, no constipation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12388" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T19:52:20.680" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T19:52:20.680" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15262" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15266" CreationDate="2017-02-14T12:30:26.447" Score="10" ViewCount="700" Body="&lt;p&gt;I seem to often catch myself holding my breath during a difficult crux, which seems quite bad really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, sometimes I actively breathe fast and deep repeatedly before starting a difficult problem (not quite hyperventilating, but breathing fast and really deep for some seconds).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like this is somehow increasing my performance short-term, but can't really tell if this effect is real or imagined - nor do I know whether this could even be detrimental to my performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any good guidelines or techniques when it comes to breathing and bouldering?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General breathing techniques are welcome, but optimally an answer would cover how these apply directly to bouldering and its specific circumstances and requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:43.290" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:02:43.290" Title="Correct breathing while bouldering" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10661" CreationDate="2017-02-14T17:11:54.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe I have an update (and a workaround/solution) to this situation. Last summer I moved into apartment complex which, as I found out later in October, becomes extremely hot with all radiators closed, even though all windows are open, 24/7.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This uncomfortable temperature during evening through morning at home resulted in my internal thermostat kicking in, e.g. constantly feeling hot, sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After about 3-4 weeks of sweating, I got readjusted, and now the regular A/C office temperature is again bearable.  Eventually, I found out a combination of multiple layers over the radiators, that reduced the overall apartment temperature, and I think I'm slipping naturally back, as during weekends I can spend over an hour in a t-shirt and shorts outside, when it's around 32F (0 C), but at least the office temperature is now bearable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, this is a kind-of unexpected solution, but if you have any other ideas, I would still welcome them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, the 100-degree sauna didn't do anything. It's too short of an experience to flip the switch apparently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8537" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T17:11:54.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15265" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-14T17:41:32.240" Score="10" ViewCount="3221" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you have both ski crampons and boot crampons, in what cases should either be used? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the type of ski crampon I have in mind. Thanks to @imsodin for providing the link to the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3vLEX.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3vLEX.gif&quot; alt=&quot;ski crampon&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9698" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T00:31:18.417" LastActivityDate="2020-03-12T04:27:46.680" Title="What are the use cases for ski crampons over boot crampons?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15262" CreationDate="2017-02-14T18:46:20.283" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In various sports and even day-to-day life, breathing techniques make a difference in performance. Generally, you want to &lt;strong&gt;breathe deeply, steadily, and with your breathing muscles relaxed&lt;/strong&gt;. Deep, steady, relaxed breathing can be especially difficult during exercise. You may need to adapt your rate of breathing depending on your activity level. Nonetheless if you can breathe deeply and steadily (rhythmically) that will help maintain performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important not to hold your breath because you put a lot of strain on yourself that way, and you can injure yourself more easily. Ben C. noted the torso tension that can naturally be produced in weight lifting by holding one's breath, but weight lifters will also train to breathe through lifts for the sake of their long-term health and performance. One way to achieve the positives of both regularly breathing + holding your breath is to &lt;strong&gt;time your motions with your exhale or inhale&lt;/strong&gt;. This is common in martial arts and yogas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can familiarize yourself with controlled breathing by practicing it with push-ups or other simple movements. Here's an example routine: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While breathing calmly and with a resting heart rate, enter push-up position &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Begin each push-up movement with an inhale or exhale. Go down with an inhale, go up with an exhale (or vice versa, up to you). Each breath begins slightly before the motion, as if the motion follows the breath / the breath leads the motion. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continue exercising this way until your breathing and heartbeat is in an excited state. At that point, relax and try to return to a resting state as soon as possible. Lay down, sit, stand, pace - whatever you need, but especially &lt;em&gt;breathe&lt;/em&gt; with your entire lungs (from chest to belly) - to return to a calm, comfortable breath and heart rate. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you're back at a resting state, begin the practice again. As for how many times to go through this cycle, that's up to you, but I recommend you do fewer 'reps' in each session but have more frequent sessions (eg. only go through the cycle 3 times in a session, but have practice sessions many times a week). You can also mix up the exercise with push-ups one day, squats another day, a climbing activity another instance, taichi another instance, etc. &lt;em&gt;As noted, this kind of practice can be integrated into everday-day activities - something as simple as opening a door or picking up &amp;amp; putting down a bag can be an opportunity to practice synchronizing breath and movement.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This routine of controlled excitation then relaxation is used by professional athletes (and was mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4997/what-exercises-can-you-do-before-scuba-diving-to-improve-your-air-consumption&quot;&gt;a TGO.SE Q&amp;amp;A about scuba&lt;/a&gt;) as a way to  develop more control over your breath, greater lung capacity, and importantly, more relaxed breathing during times of stress and exercise. As this aids in the performance of martial artists, yoga practitioners, and olympic athletes, I think it will also aid you in climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A specific example of how this would be applied in climbing&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(disclaimer - I don't climb often, but I do apply this regularly in basic acrobatics and other sports and speak with folks who apply this technique in a variety of activities)&lt;/em&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you begin and work through your climb, maintain a rhythmic, deep breath that uses your entire lungs, from chest to belly. When you reach, swing, push or pull up with hands or feet in a way that takes extra 'umph', make sure you begin the movement with a strong exhale or inhale. You should do this for all movements if possible but especially for moves that take extra energy or courage. You would begin a movement with eg. inhaling - a moment after your inhale begins you would begin the movement - with the inhale and the intended movement completing around the same time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throughout your climb, try to keep steady breathing that uses your entire lungs (and accordingly, you'll need steady or smooth movements to match that). You'll find you need to keep your body more relaxed and your motions more rhythmic. The 'relaxed' part is probably the most difficult, because you may tend to tense up muscles in use and put more strain than needed on the main muscle you're using. A key to relaxing is putting minimal tension on muscles - only enough to do what needs to be done - and also working with your entire body to make efficient, balanced movements to 'distribute' muscle tension and keep you most relaxed overall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T14:39:25.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15265" CreationDate="2017-02-14T19:20:29.520" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an excellent &lt;a href=&quot;http://offpistemag.com/crampons/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; comparing the two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the ski when you need the grip but still want the flotation of the ski. You are limited to how steep you can go with a ski.  This is a picture of people using the ski crampon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lU8Yy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lU8Yy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ski crampon&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.proskiservice.com/ski-touring/gear/ski-crampons.html?limit=all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;proskiservice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boot is better when it is too steep for ski, or the snow is so hard you need more bite.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to make sure you have boots compatible with both, but there are many boots and boot crampons like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third option would be add skins. I pretty much recommend skins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T01:08:31.560" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T01:08:31.560" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15268" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-14T20:02:44.990" Score="7" ViewCount="498" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen whippets while skiing and am thinking of taking one (or two?) on a 4 day tour in glacier terrain, but am confused as to their purpose. Do they replace ice axes or are used in conjunction with them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9698" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-02-17T12:26:24.623" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T12:26:24.623" Title="When ski mountaineering should I bring a whippet or ice axe?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15265" CreationDate="2017-02-14T20:26:11.047" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question at its most basic level is generally &lt;strong&gt;use your ski crampons until you would feel more safe using boot crampons&lt;/strong&gt;. I suspect since you asked this question you aren't very experienced with ski crampons and/or boot crampons so I'm going to talk a little bit about their use cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ski crampons are only used when ascending, and used in conjunction with climbing skins. Boot crampons can be used when descending or ascending. Both boot and ski crampons are typically used when the snow conditions are hard. At a very basic level you can picture the climbing skin like the tread on the soles of your boots. Most of the time the skins/tread is sufficient to keep you from slipping but sometimes you want/need extra grip. This is where boot/ski crampons come into play. Crampons bite into the hard snow to give you more grip than your skins/tread alone. With boot crampons you basically have one type of crampon; the kind that straps to your boot. With ski crampons you have two kinds; dynamic and fixed. To quote &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bndskigear.com/faqs.html#faq5&quot;&gt;my dad's website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since the dawn of ski crampons there has been an ongoing debate over dynamic versus static crampons. Dynamic crampons are crampons that rotate up with the forward motion of the ski and static crampons are crampons that remain fixed. Essentially this debate centers on the balance between ease of motion versus ease of activation. Without a crampon lock the crampon will rotate out of the snow as you lift your foot and kick forward. This reduces the amount of drag in the snow/ice as you are moving. If you engage a crampon lock the crampon is not free to rotate up so the user ends up pulling the crampon through the snow/ice. The benefit to this system is the user does not have to step down on the crampon with the sole of their foot in order for it to engage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words dynamic crampons give greater forward efficiency for slightly less activation efficiency. This brings us to the heart of your question. If you ignore fun factor (which is a big factor I know), skis are used to increase your efficiency vs walking. This is a key determinate in whether you choose to use ski crampons or boot crampons. You should choose the crampons that you feel are safest and offer the most efficiency. Most of the time in my experience when skiing is an option ski crampons offer greater efficiency. In my opinion the efficiency spectrum is generally: skis without crampons --&gt; skis with dynamic crampons --&gt; skis with fixed crampons --&gt; boot crampons. Of course your mileage may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2017-02-14T20:26:11.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15270" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-14T20:45:48.627" Score="12" ViewCount="2014" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been an avid diver for over a decade. Once upon a time, I wanted to get my divemaster certification in order to work (for a short time) as a divemaster. However, that ship has since sailed, but getting the certifications is still on my radar as something I'd like to do. I am a rather calm and comfortable diver, with over 200 logged dives in various conditions and locations around the world. I have my PADI Master Diver. I feel like the next step is to do the divemaster. But what would the purpose be if I won't ever work as a divemaster?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My reasons are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finishing what I started. As in, fulfilling that old goal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improving my safe diving skills such as navigation and situational awareness of (and for) those around me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does having a divemaster cert make it easier to go out on dive on my own? (I mean with a buddy in a boat, not &lt;em&gt;alone&lt;/em&gt; obviously) Are there costs associated with having a divemaster cert? Or necessary regularly upkeep?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason why a non-professional diver should not have a divemaster cert?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12395" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T05:50:25.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T05:50:25.973" Title="Is it worth getting a divemaster certification if I don't plan to work as a professional dive master?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15282" CreationDate="2017-02-14T23:37:27.287" Score="7" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you know how fast or slow to go while hiking at elevation (say above 3000 meters) on an instant per instant basis? Elevation, weight carried, steepness, surface underfoot (e.g., trails, cross-country over granite, talus) all affect your energy levels, so it's not as simple as saying N feet and X miles in one hour.  How do I pace myself?  How do I know whether to push myself or to slow down or stop; I want to avoid &quot;hitting the wall&quot; or become so exhausted I can't go on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9698" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-02-19T17:30:42.563" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T21:06:31.123" Title="How do you pace yourself while doing strenuous hikes above 3,000 meters (10,000 feet)?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15271" CreationDate="2017-02-15T00:49:00.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP asks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How do you know how fast or slow to go while climbing at elevation&#xA;  (say above 3000 meters) on an instant per instant basis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, it sounds as though you do not have experience hiking at altitudes above 10,000 feet.  If this is so, my advice is to take a few day hikes (carrying significant weight on your back) before embarking on a multi-day trip, especially if you have to meet distance goals on the trip, for example to get to good camping spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body will tell you if you are going too fast: listen to it. Your heart rate will increase and you will be out of breath to the point that you will be uncomfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the same messages your body sends you at sea level when you are running or working hard, but they will come much sooner at altitude.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend that you &lt;strong&gt;experiment&lt;/strong&gt; with pace, with the goal not speed or distance but endurance;  that is, how long you can go before your body insists that you stop.  If you feel that it sure would be &lt;em&gt;nice&lt;/em&gt; to stop, but that you don't &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to stop, you've hit the right pace.  At the end of the day, you should feel tired, but not wiped out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to discuss acclimatization or precautions against, or how to recognize, altitude sickness: that goes beyond the scope of this question.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T10:38:53.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T10:38:53.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14240" CreationDate="2017-02-15T01:49:28.847" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm 5'11&quot; and I ski on a 196cm ski for racing.  If you're interested in greater maneuverability, then a 195cm would probably be appropriate for you too.  As mentioned above, you should check the flex of your skis, but skis are made with different stiffness's, so you should be able to find a ski that matches both your weight and height.  If you're planning to ski with a backpack or something similar on in the BC, I would warn you that it will probably be a pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12383" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T01:49:28.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14992" CreationDate="2017-02-15T05:10:00.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sorry, no drawings.  But the sources have photos of examples, and names of actual locations.  You would need a seriously detailed drawing/photo to describe all of these features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ablation zone&lt;/strong&gt; - The area of a glacier where yearly melting meets or exceeds the annual snow fall.  Reference: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablation_zone&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ablation zone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aiguille&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - needle] A tall, narrow spire of rock.  See pinnacle, spire, needle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alluvial fan&lt;/strong&gt; - A cone of sediment deposited at an abrupt change of slope; for example, where a post-glacial stream meets the flat floor of a U-shaped valley. Alluvial fans are also common in arid regions where streams flowing off escarpments may periodically carry large loads of sediment during flash floods.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluvial_fan&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alluvial fan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alp&lt;/strong&gt; - A gentle slope above the steep sides of a glaciated valley, often used for summer grazing.  See also transhumance.  Definition: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Arete&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; (arête) - edge or ridge] 1. A narrow ridge. 2. In glaciology, a narrow ridge remaining after glacial erosion from both sides. 3. In rock climbing, a vertical ridge or junction of walls at a convex angle in a rock face.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar%C3%AAte&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arête&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barchan&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Kazakh&lt;/em&gt;] - An arc-shaped dune. Mostly used for sand dunes but sometimes applied to snow dunes as well.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barchan&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Barchan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bergschrund&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;German&lt;/em&gt; - hill-gap] - A crevasse that forms the upper edge of a glacier, separating it from the fixed ice-cap above it. Compare &quot;moat&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergschrund&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bergschrund&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Butte&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt;] A steep-sided, flat-topped hill, smaller than a &quot;mesa&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butte&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Butte&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buttress&lt;/strong&gt; - A prominent feature that juts out from a rock or mountain.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.markpthomas.com/mountaineering/trip-reports/california/mt-whitney-e-buttress&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buttress&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caldera&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Spanish&lt;/em&gt; - cooking pot] A large crater formed by the collapse of the summit cone of a volcano during an eruption. The caldera may contain subsidiary cones built up by subsequent eruptions, or a crater lake if the volcano is extinct or dormant. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldera&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caldera&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Canyon&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Spanish&lt;/em&gt;, cañón] - A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from the erosive activity of a river over geologic timescales.  Also gorge.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chimney&lt;/strong&gt; - A rock cleft with vertical sides mostly parallel, large enough to fit the climber's body into. To climb such a structure, the climber often uses his head, back and feet to apply opposite pressure on the vertical walls.  Also Hoodoo, tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hoodoo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cirque&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - circus] A bowl-shaped valley high on a mountain, usually of glacial origin. Synonyms: cwm (Gaelic), corrie (Scots Gaelic).  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cirque&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cleaver&lt;/strong&gt; - A cleaver is a type of arête that separates a unified flow of glacial ice from its uphill side into two glaciers flanking, and flowing parallel to, the ridge. Cleaver gets its name from the way it resembles a meat cleaver slicing meat into two parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cliff&lt;/strong&gt; - A steep rock face between land and sea, the profile of which is determined largely by the nature of the coastal rocks. For example, resistant rocks such as granite (e.g. at Land's End, England) will produce steep and rugged cliffs. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cliff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Col&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Latin&lt;/em&gt; - neck] the low point on a ridge joining two peaks. Glaciologists reserve this term for gaps of glacial origin, but others use it much more generally.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Col&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coombe&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;Combe&lt;/strong&gt; - See dry valley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cornice&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt;, from &quot;horn&quot;] - Overhanging build-up of snow formed by wind passing sideways over a ridge or cliff. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cornice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snow cornice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Corrie&lt;/strong&gt; - A bowl-shaped hollow on a mountainside in a glaciated region; the area where a valley glacier originates. In glacial times the corrie contained an icefi eld, which in cross section appears as in diagram a above. The shape of the corrie is determined by the rotational erosive force of ice as the glacier moves downslope.  See also cirque or cwm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Couloir&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - passage, corridor] a steep gorge or gully in a mountainside. Couloirs are good places to find uninterrupted snow and ice.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couloir&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Couloir&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crag&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Gaelic&lt;/em&gt;] - a rocky outcrop&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crag and tail&lt;/strong&gt; - Also cragg or (Scotland) craig.  A feature of lowland glaciation, where a resistant rock outcrop withstands erosion by a glacier and remains as a feature after the Ice Age. Rocks of volcanic or metamorphic origin are likely to produce such a feature. As the ice advances over the crag, material will be eroded from the face and sides and will be deposited as a mass of boulder clay and debris on the leeward side, thus producing a 'tail'.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crag_and_tail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crag and tail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crevasse&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - crevice] - A crack in a glacier. Formed by stresses on the moving ice. A major navigational difficulty for mountaineers, and a major hazard when hidden by recent snow.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crevasse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crevasse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cwm&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Welsh&lt;/em&gt; - valley] see &quot;cirque&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Cwm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Cwm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dihedral&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Greek&lt;/em&gt; - two planes] - In rock climbing, a junction of two vertical walls at a concave angle (compare arete). In geometry, the angle between two planes.  Also, Dièdre.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://theundercling.com/what-is-a-dihedral-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dihedral&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dièdre&lt;/strong&gt; - See Dihedral.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dike&lt;/strong&gt; - A dike or dyke, in geological usage, is a sheet of rock that formed in a fracture in a pre-existing rock body. Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma intrudes into a crack then crystallizes as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through an unlayered mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dike_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dip Slope&lt;/strong&gt; - The gentler of the two slopes on either side of an escarpment crest; the dip slope inclines in the direction of the dipping strata; the steep slope in front of the crest is the scarp slope. Example &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dip_slope&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dip slope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dome&lt;/strong&gt; - A peak having that shape.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dome&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drumlin&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Gaelic&lt;/em&gt; - ridge] - a hill formed from glacial debris. See also &quot;moraine&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumlin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drumlin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dry valley&lt;/strong&gt; - Also coombe. A feature of limestone and chalk country, where valleys have been eroded in dry landscapes. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dry valley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Escarpment&lt;/strong&gt; - steep slope or long cliff that forms as an effect of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp (from the Italian scarpa, shoe). But some sources differentiate the two terms, where escarpment refers to the margin between two landforms, while scarp is synonymous with a cliff or steep slope. The surface of the steep slope is called a scarp face. This (escarpment) is a ridge which has a gentle (dip) slope on one side and a steep (scarp) slope on the other side.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escarpment&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Escarpment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fault&lt;/strong&gt; - A fracture in the Earth’s crust on either side of which the rocks have been relatively displaced. Faulting occurs in response to stress in the Earth’s crust; the release of this stress in fault movement is experienced as an earthquake. See also rift valley.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fault&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Felsenmeer&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;German&lt;/em&gt; - sea of rock] - Terrain of fractured rock formed in place by frost action. Compare &quot;talus&quot;.  Also, Block Field, Bolder Field, Stone Field.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockfield&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blockfield&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fold&lt;/strong&gt; - A bending or buckling of once horizontal rock strata. Many folds are the result of rocks being crumpled at plate boundaries (see plate tectonics), though earthquakes can also cause rocks to fold, as can igneous intrusions. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fold&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fold mountains&lt;/strong&gt; - Mountains which have been formed by large-scale and complex folding. Studies of typical fold mountains (the Himalayas, Andes, Alps and Rockies) indicate that folding has taken place deep inside the Earth’s crust and upper mantle as well as in the upper layers of the crust.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold_mountains&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fold mountains&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gendarme&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - man-at-arms] A steep-sided rock formation along a ridge (metaphorically &quot;guarding&quot; the summit).  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarme_(mountaineering)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gendarme&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Glacier&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt;] - Year-round ice covering a large area. Formed from snowfall, glaciers will slide very slowly downhill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gorge&lt;/strong&gt; - See canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gully&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Middle French&lt;/em&gt; - &quot;throat&quot;] - a channel caused by erosion, especially by water running down a slope. The distinction between &quot;gully&quot; and &quot;valley&quot; or &quot;canyon&quot; is one of scale - a gully is usually less than a hundred meters in width. (It is also at least a meter wide; anything smaller would be a ditch or runnel.)  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gully&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gully&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyon&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/runnel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Runnel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hanging valley&lt;/strong&gt; - A valley whose lower end is high on a sheer wall of a larger valley into which it flows. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geography-site.co.uk/pages/physical/glaciers/hang.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hanging Valley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Headwall&lt;/strong&gt; - vertical (&quot;wall&quot;) or near-vertical section of slope at the uphill end (&quot;head&quot;) of a valley, ravine, cirque, etc.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headwall&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Headwall&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Highpoint&lt;/strong&gt; - The point of highest elevation in a given area, eg country, state, or county. A highpoint need not be a summit (or even a peak): The highpoint of the state of Connecticut is on the slopes of Mt Frissel, whose summit is outside the state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Horn&lt;/strong&gt; - a peak having that shape. In glaciology, a horn is defined as the sheer-sided peak remaining after glaciers have removed at least three sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Inselberg&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;German&lt;/em&gt; - &quot;island mountain&quot;] - a mountain with no other mountains nearby.  Examples: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inselbergs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of inselbergs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Interlocking spurs&lt;/strong&gt; - Obstacles of hard rock round which a river twists and turns in a V-shaped valley. Erosion is pronounced on the concave banks, and this ultimately causes the development of spurs which alternate on either side of the river and interlock as shown in the diagram.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_spur&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interlocking spur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Klettersteig&lt;/strong&gt; - [German] - See Via Ferreta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knob&lt;/strong&gt; - A peak or hill having that shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knoll&lt;/strong&gt; - small round hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Krummholz&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;German&lt;/em&gt; - &quot;twisted wood&quot;] - bonsai-like dwarf trees that grow at treeline.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krummholz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Krummholz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lahar&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Java&lt;/em&gt; - flowing lava] - A landslide of pyroclastic debris mixed with water down the sides of a volcano, caused either by heavy rain or the heat of the volcano melting snow and ice.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lahar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ledge&lt;/strong&gt; - A narrow, (more-or-less) flat spot along an otherwise (mostly) vertical face. Synonym: &quot;shelf&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Massif&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - massive] - a range or plateau; a &quot;mass&quot; of peaks or mountains. Carries an implication that the peaks or mountains are bunched together, but not in a neat line. Borrowed from French. Like &quot;range&quot;, can be applied on extremely varied scales, from &quot;Massif Central&quot; to &quot;Massif du Mont Blanc.&quot;  Examples: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massif&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moat&lt;/strong&gt; - Gap along the side of a glacier, separating it from the rock of the valley wall. Compare &quot;bergschrund&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monadnock&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Abenaki&lt;/em&gt; - &quot;Lone Mountain&quot;; the name of a mountain in New Hampshire, USA] - &quot;inselberg&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moraine&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Savoyard French&lt;/em&gt; - hill] - A mound or ridge of dirt, rock, etc deposited by the edge of a glacier. See also &quot;drumlin&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moraine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mesa&lt;/strong&gt; - [Spanish - table] - a large formation having steep sides and a large flat top.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mesa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mountain&lt;/strong&gt; - Not easily defined.  Some governments or hiking clubs will define a mountain as having a minimum elevation, or a minimum prominence, but these standards vary widely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Needle&lt;/strong&gt; - A tall, narrow spire of rock.  See pinnacle, spire, aiguille.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nunatak&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Inuit&lt;/em&gt; - lonely peak] - An ice-free peak that sticks up through a glacier.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nunatak&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pass&lt;/strong&gt; - Any route from one valley, over higher ground to another valley. Usually, a relatively low point along a ridge. Many regional synonyms, such as &quot;notch&quot; in New England.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_pass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain pass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Peak, Summit&lt;/strong&gt; - This is the top of the mountain and a climber’s ultimate goal.  In theory, every mountain has exactly one summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between a peak and summit is that mountains can have multiple peaks, and definition is usually localized.  A peak is a point that's higher than all other adjacent points. There may be some higher point not far away, but if you can't get there without going downhill first, you're standing on a peak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In common usage, a &quot;peak&quot; is pointy, otherwise it may be called a &quot;knob&quot;, &quot;crag&quot;, &quot;bald&quot;, or &quot;dome&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Penitentes&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Spanish&lt;/em&gt; - penitents] - Spiky ice formations caused by uneven evaporation/melting of ice in sunlight. See also sun cups.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitente_(snow_formation)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Penitente&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pinnacle&lt;/strong&gt; - A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire.  See needle, spire, aiguille.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnacle_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinnacle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plateau&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - serving plate] - any area that is higher than (some of) its surroundings and fairly flat when considered from sufficient distance. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateau&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plateau&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Point&lt;/strong&gt; - 1. Any location. 2. A small peninsula, or a formation resembling one. 3. A peak, prominence, or spur not considered worthy of the name &quot;peak&quot;, or simply not yet named. In the absence of any other name, a peak or benchmark may be referred to as &quot;point xxx&quot;, where xxx is its elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prominence&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Latin&lt;/em&gt; - forward projection] 1. The quality of rising above or projecting beyond one's neighbors. 2. A peak or outcrop. 3. A measure of how far a peak rises above its neighbors: the minimum vertical distance one must descend in order to travel (on the ground) from a peak to any higher peak.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_prominence&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prominence&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Range&lt;/strong&gt; - A range is a group of mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roche moutonnée&lt;/strong&gt; - An outcrop of resistant rock sculpted by the passage of a glacier.  Also sheepback.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_moutonn%C3%A9e&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roche moutonnée&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saddle&lt;/strong&gt; - A formation having that shape: high and broad at each end, lower and narrower in the middle.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddle_(landform)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Saddle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sastrugi&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Russian&lt;/em&gt; - grooves] - ripple-like forms with sharp corners formed in hard, windswept snow. Compare &quot;barchan&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sastrugi&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sastrugi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scarp slope&lt;/strong&gt; - The steeper of the two slopes which comprise an escarpment of inclined strata. Compare dip slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scree&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Nordic&lt;/em&gt;] - A surface consisting of small loose rocks which have slid from above and are likely to slide again when stepped upon.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scree&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scree&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sea level&lt;/strong&gt; - Fictional surface formed by the average height of the oceans, ignoring tidal cycles, weather, etc, and extended underneath the land to form a continous surface. This surface is not spherical. Commonly used approximations include &quot;ellipsoids&quot; (slightly-squashed spheres) and &quot;geoids&quot; (bumpier); the latter reflect variations in the strength of gravity in different locations. In many places the various kinds of &quot;sea level&quot; differ from each other by tens of meters, so next time you hear someone recite the altitude of Peak X down to the nearest centimeter, make sure you ask what &quot;reference datum&quot; they're using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seif dune&lt;/strong&gt; - A linear sand dune, the ridge of sand lying parallel to the prevailing wind direction. The eddying movement of the wind keeps the sides of the dune steep. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune#Longitudinal_.28Seif.29_dunes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Longitudinal dunes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Separation&lt;/strong&gt; - the horizontal distance between two points. Sometimes used in deciding whether two points &quot;count&quot; as separate peaks or mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Serac&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - Cheese curd] - A large block or peak of glacier ice which is separated by crevasses from the main mass of its glacier, especially a block that is tilted, upthrust, or overhanging. Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serac&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Serac&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoulder&lt;/strong&gt; - a lateral protrusion on a mountain, or a point on the mountain where the slope changes, forming a convex shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slope&lt;/strong&gt; - This is the side of the mountain.  See &quot;Snowline&quot;.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(slope)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snowline&lt;/strong&gt; - the elevation above which snow remains on the ground year-round, ie the lower boundary of a permanent snowcap. Sometimes also used to designate the lower elevation boundary of merely seasonal snowfields.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_line&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spire&lt;/strong&gt; - a tall and narrow rock formation, resembling a steeple.  See pinnacle, needle, aiguille.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spur&lt;/strong&gt; - [from riding spur, a pointy tool for kicking a horse] - a part of a mountain that projects outward, laterally away from the main body.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur_(topography)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sun cups&lt;/strong&gt; - uneven surface of snow or ice caused by uneven evaporation/melting in sunlight. See also &quot;penitentes&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Syncline&lt;/strong&gt; - A trough in folded strata; the opposite of anticline. See fold.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncline&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Syncline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Talus&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - earthwork] - Jumble of boulders at the base of a cliff from which they've fallen. Compare &quot;felsenmeer&quot;.  See &quot;scree&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Treeline&lt;/strong&gt; - the elevation above which trees cannot grow. Varies with latitude, soil, and exposure to weather (especially wind). In most places trees don't suddenly cease but rather become gradually more dwarfish - see &quot;krummholz&quot;. More-precise definitions (eg, trees below some particular height) may be used for various purposes but I am not aware of a uniform standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;U-shaped valley&lt;/strong&gt; - A glaciated valley, characteristically straight in plan and U-shaped in cross section. See diagram. Compare V-shaped valley.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-shaped_valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;U-shaped valley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;V-shaped valley&lt;/strong&gt; - A narrow, steep-sided valley made by the rapid erosion of rock by streams and rivers. It is V-shaped in cross-section. Compare U-shaped valley.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Valley&lt;/strong&gt; - The whole trough or dip between two mountains is called a valley.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Valley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Verglas&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;French&lt;/em&gt; - glassy ice] - thin, clear ice formed by the freezing of rain or meltwater on a hard, smooth surface (ie, rock). Extremely slippery, and sometimes too thin to hold a crampon or ice axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Via Ferrata&lt;/strong&gt; - [Spanish] A route on a mountain where the safety is provided by steel ropes or chains, permanently fixated to the rock. The progression is often aided by artificial steps or ladders. Typically found in the Alps, also called Klettersteig.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Via ferrata&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yardang&lt;/strong&gt; - [&lt;em&gt;Turkish&lt;/em&gt; - steep bank] - Long, roughly parallel ridges of rock in arid and semi-arid regions. The ridges are undercut by wind erosion and the corridors between them are swept clear of sand by the wind. The ridges are oriented in the direction of the prevailing wind.  Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yardang&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yardang&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Zeugen&lt;/strong&gt; - Pedestal rocks in arid regions; wind erosion is concentrated near the ground, where corrasion by wind-born sand is most active. This leads to undercutting and the pedestal profile emerges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oddizzi.com/teachers/explore-the-world/physical-features/mountains/parts-of-a-mountain/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Features&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dkfindout.com/us/earth/mountains/what-is-mountain/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What is a mountain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/glossary-summit-peak-etc/173401&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SummitPost.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climbing_terms&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glossary of climbing terms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781444313178&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Dictionary of Physical Geography, Third Edition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://resources.collins.co.uk/Wesbite%20images/KS3Geography/TB2/Dictionary%20of%20geographical%20terms.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dictionary of Geographical terms&lt;/a&gt; (downloadable PDF)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T04:09:12.427" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T04:09:12.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15270" CreationDate="2017-02-15T12:08:51.643" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about leaving the PADI fold and moving on to other styles of diving,  for example technical diving: where you can learn to do much longer dives with decompression (an hour at 30 metres?);  where you can use alternative gases - Trimix - and dive deeper;  where you can investigate the amazing underworld in caves/caverns/mines;  diving with CCR;  diving with Sidemount...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PADI are great at getting you started,  but they're not that well known in the technical diving world where the likes of TDI, IANTD, GUE and others rule the roost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Becoming a Divemaster is fine,  but is utterly meaningless in technical diving where excellence in buoyancy,  finning,  trim,  decompression procedures,  dive planning are all essential and are required at a far higher standard than required for the recreational Divemaster qualification.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backfinning?  Helicopter turns? Frog kicking?  Valve drills?  Hovering motionless at 6 metres?  Ignoring the NDLs?  Understanding decompression theory?  Accelerated deco?  Holding your stops?  Not to mention the endless scope for buying tech kit!  None of these are covered in the Divemaster course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the solo diving question:  what's wrong with diving solo?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine you're on a boat and the 'captain' foists some insta-buddy on you.  You're then committed to diving with literally anybody;  and it's very common to have a novice buddied to you -- they get an experienced diver;  you get a liability.  Fine if you like that kind of thing,  but haven't you paid for a dive too?  Provided you've the right experience,  skills and redundant kit,  why not dive on your own?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple of solo diving courses,  such as the SDI Solo Diver course -- that was the best fun I've ever had on any diving course:  being blindfolded,  asked to follow a course around some submerged ISO containers by touch;  tied up (there was some rope the instructor found and dropped on me),  air gunned (i.e. simulating a freeflow - so valve shutdowns), having a fin removed and then deploying an SMB then doing a controlled ascent with stops whilst still blindfolded.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly the SDI Solo Diver has a pre-requisite of 100 dives,  which is twice that of the Divemaster.  The reason is that you've got to be on top of your skills - you're not learning new skills,  you're learning how to use your existing skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there any reason why a non-professional diver should not have a divemaster cert?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it's fundamentally meaningless and the skills aren't particularly useful outside of training or within the PADI system - c.f. the tech skills above&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T15:26:37.780" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T15:26:37.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15271" CreationDate="2017-02-15T12:39:16.003" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Choose a steady pace that you can keep up non-stop for two hours.  If you notice that you need to catch your breath earlier, you are walking too fast.  After two hours it's time for a break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first time I went hiking with a group other than my family, we were fifteen Dutch youths (17–21).  There was a steep trail uphill climbing roughly 800 metre, which should take around two hours at low elevation.  When we started, almost everybody overtook me within minutes.  Within 90 minutes, I had passed all the others one by one, all while they were standing still catching their breath. I was the joint first to arrive at the summit, together with a girl who decided not to speed past me at the start but stay just behind me, then thanked me for keeping a steady pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T12:39:16.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1317" CreationDate="2017-02-15T13:47:03.927" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my diver mask and mask for skiing I'm using following trick(should also work with glasses):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean your mask\glasses as much as possible(inner part of lenses of&#xA;course). For cleaning I'm using normal toothpaste.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your&#xA;mask\glasses clean and never touch it with your fingers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T13:47:03.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15280" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15281" CreationDate="2017-02-15T14:33:40.123" Score="7" ViewCount="1172" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just learned that I am going to end up in San Francisco for 2 weeks in early April. I will be meeting a couple of relatives there who will travel from tropical places, so they won't have a lot of &quot;winter&quot; gear. We would like to go on a 10 day hiking/wild camping trip in the area, so I was hoping to get some ideas.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;At first I thought about going to Yosemite park, but I read it will be quite snowy at this time of the year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestion welcome&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12401" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T15:54:54.100" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T06:36:07.757" Title="Multi-day hiking trip [California, early April]" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15280" CreationDate="2017-02-15T14:38:18.847" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend going to Los Padres National Forest including the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventana_Wilderness&quot;&gt;Ventana Wilderness&lt;/a&gt; in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Lucia_Range&quot;&gt;Santa Lucia Range&lt;/a&gt;.  No chance of snow there as even the highest mountain does not exceed 1800 metre and most time will be spent at lower elevations.  And if you head to summits near the coast you have great views of the Big Sur.  You will probably need a car to get to the trailhead.  I've hiked along the Big Sur around Christmas time and it was very beautiful and pleasantly warm.  You will not need any winter gear¹.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yosemite is too high, you will need snowshoes to hike there in April.  You can also do great hiking in Death Valley or elsewhere in the deserts of Southern California but that is much farther from San Francisco, and much drier.  There's certainly coastal areas north of San Francisco as well but I haven't been there so can't comment on those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;This may depend on your definition of winter, though.  Make sure you study typical night time temperatures for the area and bring appropriate clothes and sleeping bags.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T14:55:57.037" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T14:55:57.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15271" CreationDate="2017-02-15T14:53:21.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I usually climb up to 3000m or slightly beyond that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a heart rate monitor. My pace is set by a heartbeat threshold. I &lt;strong&gt;try not to exceed roughly 150bpm&lt;/strong&gt;. If I exceed my aerobic threshold, I know that I am working harder than normal. This can be sustained for awhile, but not for too long, especially where the air is thinner. You actually get more health benefits if you keep your heart rate relatively low for the long haul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For estimating total time of ascent, I use &lt;strong&gt;1 hour per 500 meters&lt;/strong&gt; (if you are fit and used to altitude changes!) as a rule of thumb. Otherwise, you could adjust the h/m expectation to your fitness level/experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is based on a mostly vertical climb. It of course depends on the angle and how much horizontal terrain you need to cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Where does 150bpm come from?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is the highest recommended bpm for &lt;strong&gt;aerobic respiration&lt;/strong&gt; (cardiovascular) activity before you go &lt;strong&gt;anaerobic&lt;/strong&gt; (muscles produce more lactic acid) for a male of 30 years of age. Obviously you need to know your body, because 150bpm is a rough estimate based on averages that do not take into account the many factors of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can check the average for your age on various websites to get an idea of what your threshold might be. One such example that I did not necessarily use: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/maximum-heart-rate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/maximum-heart-rate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12402" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T07:50:10.110" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15268" CreationDate="2017-02-15T15:00:53.013" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whippet is an attempt to add some ice axe capabilities to a ski pole.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several combinations  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one whippet  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one whippet and one ski pole&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one ice axe and two ski poles  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one ice axe &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think two whippets makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally if I think I might need self arrest then I want an ice axe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am going to ski down something steep enough that I am worried about stopping if I fall then I want two ski poles to minimize my chance of falling (and probe for snow conditions). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A whippet when you have conditions you feel you can stop (arrest) with a whippet.  And you don't think you could stop without one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T15:00:53.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15271" CreationDate="2017-02-15T15:41:12.613" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Listening to your body is good advise as others said: try to maintain relaxed, deep breathing, and when it becomes too much for you to do comfortable, you should slow down or stop to reset back to that. Relaxed in this case just means without tension or any struggle to breathe and get the air you need - climbing a mountain, breathing will be vigorous, but it can still be calm and under control. Someone else mentioned using a heart rate monitor - though I don't have experience with that, I imagine it can help like awareness of your own breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Differing from other answers thus far, I would recommend keeping distance goals based on the overall checkpoints planned on that day. Practicing with simple day hikes and easier backpacking trips certainly makes sense, and even in those cases you will have checkpoints you plan on, whether it's a half way point, a peak, your car, a camp site. In more elaborate trips you will have an understanding of the terrain and natural landmarks to guide you along the trail - practice good orienteering by checking your progress based on terrain, landmark, and trail based checkpoints; consider if your goals are in harmony with your progress or if you need to adjust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you practice you'll get a feel for how to combine the above two paragraphs for you and even for your group so that you can make the best steady progress. You'll have some times you just stop to cool off and reset, but importantly you will begin to combine progress goals with your body's resting needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I'll make steady progress up to a point I've pre-determined on the map since the last time I stopped to check the map (and maybe even planned before I embarked on the trip). I'll get to the point I expected to arrive at, usually a mile marker or some natural landmark, and I'll check my time and how I'm progressing through my day's planned checkpoints. All the while, I'm returning to a very comfortable breathing rate, I'm making sure I'm hydrated and ready to go to the next checkpoint. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some cases, taking breaks as orienteering checkpoints also helps me recognize when I'm &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; on track, either because I'm not comfortable estimating my location to a spot on the map, or because I'm going too slow (or too fast) and should adjust my goals accordingly. Better to calmly realize and note these course adjustments needs ahead of time in calm conditions than later on with more pressure and potentially worsened conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T15:41:12.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-02-15T16:17:42.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a hike you need energy which needs to be balanced with emptying your bowels. I would try to get my system to empty out as much as possible beforehand as recommended in other answers. One to three days in advance you can eat lots of fibers, e.g. oatmeal and the like. Then stop this around 24 hours before the hike and then eat high energy foods with little fiber. Extreme examples would be olive oil and maple syrup/honey + some protein powder. You will then have tons of energy, relatively empty bowels so you can go for quite a while. And you don't need medication. For the hike, you can bring food that is similar to what you ate the last 24 hours to keep even longer but for longer hikes I recommend that you get used to doing it outdoors - you can get quite nice views! You might want to experiment with exactly what you eat, maybe you need some wheatgrass powder, turmeric or other nutrient packed, non-filling foods. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12403" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-02-15T16:44:00.127" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T16:44:00.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15286" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-15T20:43:18.913" Score="34" ViewCount="20915" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to camp in SE Oregon. At minimum, my girlfriend and I will have sleeping bags. We're open to adding a tent, fire, and other stuff as recommended. Our goal is to be able to hike around lightly and sleep without worry of being eaten by a mountain lion (cougar/puma/panther/catamount).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="123" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:04:53.297" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:04:53.297" Title="When back country camping, how do you avoid being attacked by a mountain lion in your sleep?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15287" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-15T21:17:27.923" Score="8" ViewCount="416" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are people who had to survive one or more nights in altitudes above 7000 m at temperatures far below zero, without tent, sometimes without sleeping bag or even a proper jacket. Some examples are described &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/10/the-aj-list-9-legendary-bivouacs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &#xA;Some dug snow caves. What are other helpful strategies/personal traits to survive such bivoucs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12405" LastEditorUserId="12405" LastEditDate="2017-02-16T18:45:12.747" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T06:31:04.753" Title="How can people survive really cold nights outside with minimal equipment?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-15T22:29:03.317" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one looks at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list on Wikipedia of fatal attacks&lt;/a&gt;, one will notice that fatal cougar attacks are pretty rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least 20 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2011, including six in California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Children are particularly vulnerable&lt;/strong&gt;. The majority of the child victims listed here &lt;strong&gt;were not accompanied by adults.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So just by being adults and there being two of you, you have a reduced chance of being attacked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just seeing a mountain lion is a rare occurrence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oregon is home to more than 5,000 cougars, or mountain lions. While cougar sightings and encounters are rare, it is wise to educate yourself about the big cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Native to Oregon, cougars range throughout the state, the highest densities occur in the Blue Mountains in the northeastern part of the state and in the southwestern Cascade Mountains .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/living_with/cougars.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also looks like they are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/big_game/cougar/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hunted in Oregon&lt;/a&gt;, this will be in your favor because the mountain lions will be afraid of getting shot at by humans and therefore avoid them (This is certainly true of coyotes in Wyoming).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think a tent would do you any good and a fire would probably require tending. You could take turns staying up and standing guard, but that would get exhausting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's one of those things where you have to balance the &lt;strong&gt;unlikeliness of it happening with the effort required to try to prevent it.&lt;/strong&gt; After all part of being in the wilderness is the risk/danger and there is &lt;strong&gt;no way to rule out all of the possible misfortunes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a personal anecdote I worked at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitadventure.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Summit Adventure&lt;/a&gt; for a couple of summers. It has been around for more than forty years and the summer staff has always slept outside under the stars on wooden platforms. It seemed like multiple times per summer the mountain lions would come down towards the lake at night and scream. This has happened for as long as it has been around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than freaking people out, no one was ever injured and I don't think anybody ever saw one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I just slept through it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-15T22:49:34.200" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-15T22:35:59.847" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since 2000 there are only 3 recorded death by cougar in North America and all of those were day time.   &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cougar attacks are up but still rare on the west coast.  Up in CA as partly because cougar hunting is not allowed and the numbers are climbing.  In OR and WA dogs cannot be used to hunt cougar. According to the link below since 1990 10 non-fatal attacks and 3 fatal attacks have occurred in CA.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://oregonoutdoorcouncil.org/enough-deception-does-oregon-have-a-cougar-problem-yes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Does Oregon Have A Cougar Problem&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for precaution I would not camp with a small lamb as bait.  Other than that seal up your food and store it way from the main camp.  They have a much higher leap (vertical) compared to bears so would need to go much higher than a regular bear bag and they are very good climbers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pepper / bear spray is reported to be effective.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nathan added a very good point in they are very good hunters.  Attacks are very, very, very, rare but if you are attacked there is a good chance you won't even see it coming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could drop a cougar with a hand gun in the rare, rare, chance one does decide to attack they will close quickly and you would need to be pretty darn good with a gun.  I would go with pepper spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was raised in WA and never saw a cougar but I did see one in Big Bend National park. He / she looked right at me and kept on walking.  I was not concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-16T19:50:07.250" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T19:50:07.250" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15287" CreationDate="2017-02-16T04:08:26.637" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I that most of the cases in the article you linked are an example of &lt;strong&gt;selection bias&lt;/strong&gt;, most people in those situations would die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, the people in that article became &lt;strong&gt;famous by surviving things that would kill the vast majority of people.&lt;/strong&gt; They got lucky, if you will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one who bivyed on K2 didn't survive by much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next morning, John Roskelley and Rick Ridgeway found him continuing down while on their way to the summit. &lt;strong&gt;Wickwire lost parts of two toes and underwent lung surgery due to blood clots on his lungs (pulmonary emboli); he also caught pneumonia and pleurisy.&lt;/strong&gt; The Pakistani army helicoptered Wickwire right from the glacier at the bottom of the mountain, and Wickwire immediately underwent lung surgery.[10] The surgeon expressed uncertainty about Wickwire's ever climbing at high altitudes again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wickwire#K2:_summit_and_bivouac&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man in the first example on Nanga Parbat was aided by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/pilots-salt-the-third-reich-kept-its-soldiers-alert-with-meth/276429/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pervitin&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Meth&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buhl took the drug Pervitin (methamphetamine) during his solo climb to the summit and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalayamasala.com/himalayan-climbs/nanga-parbat-rakhiot-flank-east-ridge-1953&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which apparently protected against the frostbite,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was no prospect of movement without light, and nowhere to lie down or even to sit. He took some Padutin tablets to stimulate the circulation and protect against frostbite. His spare pullover was far below, in his rucksack. He had no bivouac sack. Fortunately, the night was virtually windless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalayamasala.com/himalayan-climbs/nanga-parbat-rakhiot-flank-east-ridge-1953&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in the end the frostbit still got to him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buhl was carried to the roadhead  and was treated for his frostbite injuries in hospital first in Gilgit, and then in Lahore. &lt;strong&gt;In the end he lost two toe&lt;/strong&gt;s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.himalayamasala.com/himalayan-climbs/nanga-parbat-rakhiot-flank-east-ridge-1953&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wouldn't use these stories as an example of something that you could survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T04:08:26.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-16T13:35:39.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cougars are as one would expect not afraid of any animal, being on the top of the food chain. Their one exception would be bears. Not even hunting or other disposal means will deter cougars from attacking people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cougars/tips/solving_problems_cougars.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Killing cougars&lt;/a&gt; does nothing to prevent future cougar attacks or make people and livestock safer; however, employing common sense precautions makes all the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Studies have proven that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catamountcreek.com/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sport hunting&lt;/a&gt; does not increase human safety.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some common sense things one might want to keep in mind while camping in cougar territory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring along a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cougars/tips/solving_problems_cougars.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;whistle or an air horn&lt;/a&gt; that could help scare away wild animals you may encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Store foods stuffs and trash away from your campsite using some bear proof methods most commonly used by hikers and hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not set up camp in an area with fresh cougar &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/cougsf.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tracks&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://huntwashingtonstate.com/HWS/predators.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scat.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hike (and camp) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/mountain-lion-safety.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;with a friend&lt;/a&gt;. Attacks are less likely in a group. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cougars are crepuscular animals (active primarily during twilight), but will look for prey at anytime of the day also. Some sources claim that cougars are mostly in search for their prey between 5:00 am and 7:00 am, and between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. They usually wander during the day and they sleep at night. These are usually the times that the deer are most active. This makes sense to some degree, so I would keep an extra vigilance during these times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I truly doubt that people camping in a group (two or more together) would encounter a cougar at all at night while camping. Please allow me to add my two bits of ideas here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a fire going during the night. Sources can neither affirm or deny the possibility that a campfire would detour a cougar. But at least you will have more light and warmth around you also.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a large stick and or knife close at hand for the unexpected. Just the fact that there are two of you camping together, I doubt this measure would be needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since the big cats do not like groups of people or noise, you might consider taking a radio along with you while camping. Make sure to take advantage of it (if you can get reception) during the hours of dusk and dawn.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="5877" LastEditDate="2017-02-17T00:14:22.613" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T00:14:22.613" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-16T17:17:06.483" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't.  If you hike in the back country, you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; be attacked by cougars in your sleep.  But don't let that stop you.  You should &lt;em&gt;embrace&lt;/em&gt; cougar attacks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When my family camps out, we take turns doing sentry duty at night.  My ten year old loves it: he gets to stay up late, he gets to hold a gun, and best of all, he gets to shoot at cougars!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck to you, and enjoy your camping trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12409" LastEditorUserId="12409" LastEditDate="2017-02-18T13:43:49.787" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T13:43:49.787" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-16T18:25:59.917" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was backpacking with my nine-year-old daughter two years ago in Oregon near Mt. Hood. I awoke (in our tent) to the noise of a cougar walking around outside.  I assumed it was a black bear and didn't learn otherwise until we found its tracks the next morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I made noise by running my fingers over the nylon tent fabric.  It was pretty loud, and the &quot;bear&quot; ran off through the underbrush.  Made really good time for a bear, too!  However, unlike a bear, the cat came back (at least) twice more that same night.  Each time, I scared it off with the same noise, without leaving my tent.  We were there for two more nights, but the cat didn't visit us again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had our food hanging from a tree, out of reach.  The rest of our gear was in the tent with us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing how it behaved, I think there is no chance at all of one coming into a tent.  The strangeness, the noise, and the uncertainty would all keep the cat away.  But I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable sleeping around cougars without a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a lot of research after we got home. Here's what I found out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cougars are very seldom seen.  And they &lt;em&gt;Almost Never&lt;sup&gt;TM&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/em&gt; attack people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cougars generally attack their prey from behind. They will wait, sometimes on a rock or in a tree, until their prey passes by, and then leap on them, grabbing for the neck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the &lt;a href=&quot;http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html#stats&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;vanishingly few&lt;/a&gt; times humans are attacked, it is usually children or small adolescents as the targets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unlike with bears, if you are confronted you want to be intimidating and aggressive. Look directly them. Wave your arms, yell, move back and forth, throw rocks. They don't like to fight their food! Don't try to stand still in a menacing fashion; it won't impress them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the (few) examples of an adult actually getting attacked, most were able to drive the cat away by punching/kicking/fighting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, they like to lay in wait for their prey and take it unawares. And they like easy prey. Most hikers simply don't worry about them, and most people never see one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I saw no references at all to being attacked while sleeping!  Hence my personal preference to use a tent :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back to my own exciting story, here's something that I didn't expect: the cougar raked pine needles and leaves over the ground where we had peed!  Maybe it left some of its own urine there, too, but I didn't think to smell around :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12410" LastEditorUserId="12410" LastEditDate="2017-02-17T06:51:22.080" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T06:51:22.080" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-16T19:15:28.343" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cougars principally hunt at dawn and dusk. If you're small, don't be alone at those times of day. Regular sized adults are generally too big for a cougar to consider as prey. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid animal carcasses. Assume there is a carcass if there are lots of scavenger birds somewhere. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, take standard precautions with food: Keep food odors off your sleeping bags and other night gear, and hang the food itself in a bear bag away from your sleeping site before bed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We say &quot;bear bag&quot; because it sounds good, but to be honest, the problem is usually things like raccoons and skunks, not things like bears and cougars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the super unlikely event that you do encounter a cougar and the even less likely event that it sticks around, maintain eye contact. Cougars like to ambush from behind, so if they know you see them, they usually just chalk up a loss and move on. You can add to your cougar repelling power by standing up tall, holding a jacket in the air or just raising your arms, showing your teeth, and yelling, but eye contact is the main thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll be fine. No need for an overnight fire; no particular anti-wildlife benefits to a tent. Being attacked by a cougar in your sleep is like being crushed by a falling tree in your sleep: Once you've taken a couple sensible precautions, you can put it from your mind and rest easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12411" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T19:15:28.343" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15297" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-16T20:30:58.860" Score="4" ViewCount="630" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why is sunlight in mornings and evenings more intense in the temperate zones than in the tropics? It is more difficult to drive facing the sun at 7am for example in Auckland, NZ than at Singapore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12412" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-16T23:04:00.070" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T19:49:12.293" Title="Why does the intensity of sunlight at sunset/sunrise depend on your latitude?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-16T21:06:59.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This source, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of fatal cougar attacks in North America&lt;/a&gt; suggests &lt;strong&gt;that you are probably safest from a cougar while sleeping.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the seven adults killed by cougars in North America from 1990 through mid-2008, five were jogging, hiking, biking or skiing.  One was killed defending her six year old son on a horseback trip.  The body of the seventh was found near his mobile home.  During this period, two children were killed by cougars, and five children in the 1970s and 1980s.  No adults were reported killed by cougars in the 1970s and 1980s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The source also lists fatal cougar attacks from the beginning of the 20th century, but a list from these early years may not be complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/cougars.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Living with Wildlife: Cougars&lt;/a&gt; by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has this to say about camping in cougar country (emphasis added):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1.Hike in small groups and make enough noise to avoid surprising a cougar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;2.Keep your camp clean and store food and garbage in double plastic bags.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3.Keep small children close to the group, preferably in plain sight just ahead of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;4.Do not approach dead animals, especially deer or elk; they could have been cougar prey left for a later meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number 2 is the one pertinent to your question.  Earlier, in a comment (since removed) I recommended using bear canisters for your food.  I was persuaded by @Charlie Brumbaugh that bear canisters as a cougar preventative are overkill: bears are attracted by food lying around, cougars are not.  Cougars are, however, attracted by the small critters (raccoons, mice) that will be attracted by food you leave improperly stored.  The linked source above advises householders in cougar country:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Feed dogs and cats indoors. If you must feed outside, do so in the &#xA;  morning or midday, and pick up food and water bowls, as well as &#xA;  leftovers and spilled food, well before dark. Pet food and water &#xA;  attract small mammals that, in turn, attract cougars&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that if there are bears, in addition to cougars, where you will be camping, bear canisters are a good idea.  The anecdote in the answer of @bitsmack suggests that you'd be happier in a tent, as does this excerpt from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The List&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing&#xA;  human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person &quot;plays dead&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T21:06:59.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15297" CreationDate="2017-02-16T21:56:17.050" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Part of it is the distance from the sun to the horizon.  In the tropics the sun path angle is nearly at right angles to the surface.  Sunsets are short.  The time between 10 degress above the horizon and below the horizon is also short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As latitude increases, the angle of the sun's path decreases.  The time to cross that last 10 degrees above the horizon increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At mid latitudes (40-50) in the winter the sun never gets far from the horizon.  In Edmonton (54 N) I have to use my sunvisor at noon driving south. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mid latitudes in summer however here, have sunrise at Too Damn Early, and sunset at After My Bedtime, and so the times we are driving about, the sun is high in the sky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:  Near the equator, day length doesn't vary much.  If you have a pattern of commuting at 7 a.m. then possibly in Singapore that doesn't correspond to a time when the sun is a nuisance, and it remains not a nuisance all year.  Where in New Zealand, you are going to facing the glare at some point in the year, and that's what  you remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-02-16T21:56:17.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15297" CreationDate="2017-02-16T23:19:38.260" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to include winter to summer but based on your latitude the sunlight has to pass through a different distance of the atmosphere at dawn and dusk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe this is what Botsford is saying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Circumfrance of earth at the equator is about 25,000 miles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the sun passes over the equator the circumference at 45 degree towards the sun is about .7 that of the equator.  So the sun has .7 the atmosphere to pass through and get filtered.   45 degrees is like Chicago. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-17T01:45:53.660" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T01:45:53.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-02-17T03:10:15.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 40 years of hiking in the wilderness, I have never seen a cougar/panther. but I have smelled bears close by. Bears are more common and can be more aggressive. Never have any food with you that can attract them. Also spray yourself all over with Deet, it will keep the bugs and animals away. Yes really! Carry Mace spray. Also, consider carrying a loud radio with some recordings of rock and roll. Yes, all these things will make the Bear and other predators go somewhere else, unless they smell FOOD and they are very hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, One other point, not all cougars/Panthers are like. Just like Bears, in different kinds and regions are more aggressive than others. As an additional point when I camp in the wilderness, I actually camp in my truck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12419" LastEditorUserId="12419" LastEditDate="2017-11-08T03:27:37.277" LastActivityDate="2017-11-08T03:27:37.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15280" CreationDate="2017-02-17T06:36:07.757" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Point Reyes National Seashore&lt;/a&gt;, close to Petaluma, less than a hour north of San Francisco. It is a beautiful area ranging from thick woods to large open bluffs to the seashore.  Because it is on the coast, the weather is much more temperate than up in the mountains.  There are more miles of trails than you could explore in one trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping is only allowed in four designated campgrounds.  They all require a hike to get there, and they must be reserved well in advance before they fill up.  This area takes its reservations (and other rules) seriously, so I wouldn't try to wing it.  I expect they have to be strict or they would be overrun, being so close to the SF area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we were there, about 15 years ago, we stayed for three nights in the Wildcat Camp.  It was about 6 miles in to the campsite.  I'm sure that you could coordinate a trip that would take you to different sites over multiple days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One word of warning: the deer ticks were prevalent. Perhaps they won't be in early April, but they certainly were in August :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12410" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T06:36:07.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15303" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15307" CreationDate="2017-02-17T06:40:04.157" Score="4" ViewCount="11218" Body="&lt;p&gt;After nearly a decade of regular mountaineering, I am having this issue for the first time. And, I am almost sure to claim that it may not be because of the shoes that I use since I have been using them for close to a year and half. Those shoes are ankle high. Material of the socks that I have tried are typically nylon and cotton. Haven't tried wool yet. I am certain that I am not using a pair of over-sized socks, because I had been using the same size for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problem: While hiking down a lengthy sharp descent, over time my socks seem to roll towards the toe. It's not a really big problem, but at times it's annoying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried different socks so far and eventually after a more or less time each of them ends up doing the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you ever had such an issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-17T21:49:58.887" LastActivityDate="2017-10-02T18:01:28.453" Title="Why do my socks roll down towards the toes of my shoes while mountaineeering?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15304" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15306" CreationDate="2017-02-17T10:24:16.410" Score="13" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7gqPQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7gqPQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tropical fresh water fish&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, I went fishing in a local water reservoir with my younger siblings. We wanted to see if this man-made fresh water lake would have any fish. We live on a tropical island in the Southwestern Pacific. Do you have any idea what type of fish this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish specs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• 7 inches long&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• firm gill flap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• long anal fin&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• dark greenish-gray color&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• lives in shallow, fresh water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12423" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T02:07:21.123" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T02:07:21.123" Title="Identification of a tropical fish with saw-like dorsal fin?" Tags="&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15268" CreationDate="2017-02-17T12:26:00.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I don't use whippets and have never even hold one in my own hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the build of a whippet and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/ask-a-guide-letters/ski-mountaineering-whippet-or-ice-axe/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;question about whippets on AAI&lt;/a&gt; (provided by Ben Crowell) it has a very narrow use case: Difficult skiing terrain, where holding an ice-axe significantly decreases stability and thus increases chances to fall, and well known terrain and conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well know terrain and conditions is very important, as whippets can only help to quickly arrest when you slip, but they can't fulfill other requirements of an ice-axe: Building a T-anchor, plunging and ascending on ice (at least it is only of limited help there). If you are sure that these factors (and probably more that I forgot) are not an issue on your specific tour, you can leave behind the ice-axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for your use case of a glacier tour over several days it is certainly not a replacement, as you need the ability to build a t-anchor to get someone out of a crevasse. And unless you plan to ski very difficult and hard packed sections, it is probably not worth taking them as an addition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as to whether to take one or two whippets: If you take whippets, you probably want two. Otherwise you had to swap them whenever you make a turn in descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T12:26:00.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15304" CreationDate="2017-02-17T14:18:13.117" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This appears to be a &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tilapia sparrmanii&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pictures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0v9Gs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0v9Gs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tilapia 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/30t9Dm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/30t9Dm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tilapia 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brief description:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tilapia sparrmanii, the banded tilapia, or vlei kurper, is a&#xA;  widespread and adaptable cichlid fish that is found in warmer&#xA;  freshwater habitats of southern Africa. They prefer water with ample&#xA;  plant cover, and occur naturally as far north as DR Congo and&#xA;  Tanzania. They have been introduced locally in the northern&#xA;  hemisphere. Younger banded tilapia feed on crustaceans and insect&#xA;  larvae, while the adults feed on terrestrial and aquatic plants and&#xA;  other debris. They undertake local migrations and may shoal before and&#xA;  during spawning time. They guard their own eggs, and although they may&#xA;  move eggs or fry in the mouth, they are not known to be actual&#xA;  mouthbrooders like several other tilapia species. This species can&#xA;  reach a length of 23.5 centimetres (9.3 in) TL and is an important&#xA;  foodfish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilapia_sparrmanii&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The fish is invasive in Micronesia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fish was introduced to Micronesia for aquaculture in 1970. Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5728e/y5728e04.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; for reference and to read more about the introduction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As reported in Welcomme (1988) aquaculture was the prime reason for&#xA;  the introductions of tilapias (Table 1). For the vast majority of the&#xA;  records in DIAS there has been no evaluation of the ecological or&#xA;  social/economic impact of the introduction (DIAS - Figure A). However,&#xA;  of the impacts assessed, there were more positive social and economic&#xA;  impacts reported than negative environmental impacts. Although&#xA;  Welcomme (1988) and others (Beverton 1992) reported that the majority&#xA;  of introductions did not result in the establishment of alien species&#xA;  in the wild, the records in DIAS indicated that most tilapia&#xA;  introductions to Asia and the Pacific were successful at establishing&#xA;  reproducing populations (DIAS - Figure B).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Of the species introduced to Asia, O. mossambicus and O. niloticus are&#xA;  by far the most important from both production and scientific points&#xA;  of view. These species are now widely distributed in most of Asia and&#xA;  occur in natural and quasi-natural waters making them a part of the&#xA;  fish fauna of most of tropical and even sub-tropical Asian aquatic&#xA;  environments, thus creating an increased concern among some&#xA;  conservationists and environmental lobby groups (Pethiyagoda, 1994).&#xA;  Tilapia species tend to hybridize relatively easily, a trait that had&#xA;  been utilized in tilapia aquaculture development from the very early&#xA;  stages (Hickling, 1960; 1963). Introgressive hybridization in cultured&#xA;  stocks (Macaranas et al., 1986) and self-recruiting stocks (De Silva&#xA;  and Ranasinghe, 1989) of tilapia species, particularly between O.&#xA;  mossambicus and O. niloticus, have been reported from many countries.&#xA;  The &quot;red tilapia&quot;, a hybrid between strains of O. mossambicus x O.&#xA;  niloticus is currently considered as important to aquaculture in Asia&#xA;  (Welcomme and Vidthayanon 1999).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-18T17:18:57.177" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T17:18:57.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15303" CreationDate="2017-02-17T15:58:47.587" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This typically indicates you have movement in your shoes, perhaps your insoles are worn and squashed and need replacing. The balls of your feet sliding on the bottom of your boot will eventually bunch your socks up, as will heel lift. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One solution is to get a pair of socks that will &quot;anchor&quot; on the rim of you boot. I used to wear ankle socks a lot, and the only types that wouldn't get eaten by my shoe were styles that had a padded brim over the heel similar to this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vjuvt.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vjuvt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing properly sized &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;fitted&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; socks opposed to &lt;em&gt;tube socks&lt;/em&gt; works as well, the socks I wear have a band that hugs the arch of your foot, I've never had them so much as move in my boots, not even my big Sorel Glacier boots, which normally are sock gluttons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RStYF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RStYF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-02-17T15:58:47.587" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15309" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-18T02:11:04.700" Score="5" ViewCount="265" Body="&lt;p&gt;There has been some discussion on this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15286/when-back-country-camping-how-do-you-avoid-being-attacked-by-a-mountain-lion-in&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; about whether or not &lt;strong&gt;hunting&lt;/strong&gt; would &lt;strong&gt;increase or decrease the likelihood of a mountain lion attack&lt;/strong&gt;. I have seen some websites saying that it does not, but I am &lt;strong&gt;skeptical of their objectivity.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have there been any &lt;strong&gt;reputable studies&lt;/strong&gt; done on this? Or at least &lt;strong&gt;non-biased&lt;/strong&gt;? As in not done by either hunting organizations or organizations who consider almost all hunting to be bad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do realize that the number of attacks is fairly low, but as this is can be a rather controversial subject, I would like to know if any research has been done on it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:03:30.880" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T01:23:44.710" Title="Is there any statistical evidence that hunting reduces the likelihood of mountain lion attacks?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15303" CreationDate="2017-02-18T02:20:36.807" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, I do.  But whereas the other answer suggests to wear ankle or calf socks, I wear socks that go over the calf - to the knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to wear winter boots 2 sizes too large, and summer hiking boots are 1 size too large.  What happens is the socks wear down, so, more movement occurs in the boots.  This also happens with new boots, in that they eventually wear down and create more room.  So, I add in a new insole or an extra pair of socks, and, wear socks that go over the calf.  Wearing ankle socks almost always resulted in losing them in the shoe, so I avoid them altogether.  Maybe I'll try the banded ones for sneakers to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you gain weight - particularly as you gain girth in the calf - that will cause socks to wear out more as they lose elasticity.  And if you lose weight, the socks are either too large, or, have lost their elasticity, and no longer hold.  So, be sure to get new, or like-new socks for each hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T02:20:36.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15311" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15315" CreationDate="2017-02-18T03:12:48.977" Score="5" ViewCount="1952" Body="&lt;p&gt;How should I heat that tent? Is heating It with a heater okay? Are there any safe devices designed for electric heating?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to heat a tent 24 hours? Do you recommend heating while sleep, or should I turn off before sleep. Are there any safe devices provides 24 hours heat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I heat with this types of stuff or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lmZIO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lmZIO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11685" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-18T12:38:35.663" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T15:41:28.573" Title="How to safely heat a enclosed tent with electricity" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15311" CreationDate="2017-02-18T06:01:25.343" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have electric. I would advise a chicken coup heater. If knocked over they are made to not start fires. Made for more rugged outdoor use. Found in farm supplies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T06:01:25.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15309" CreationDate="2017-02-18T13:17:26.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two things we have to keep in mind with this subject. If the cougar populations are in decline anywhere, this would seem to mean that cougar attacks would naturally also be in decline. But if sport hunting is in fact contributing to mountain lion population declines but still not increasing public safety or reducing attacks on livestock, then other options for mountain lion management must be looked into. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at this article, which puts forth the idea that &lt;strong&gt;sport hunting does not reduce the likelihood of mountain lion attack:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainlion.org/sport_hunting.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Lion Foundation&lt;/a&gt; initiated this &lt;em&gt;study to test the claim that sport hunting reduces attacks on humans and predation on livestock.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methodology&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To test the claim that sport hunting reduces conflicts, we looked to California, the only western state with viable mountain lion populations that does not allow sport hunting. Mountain lions have not been sport hunted in California since 1971, first as the result of a legislative moratorium and then as the result of a 1990 citizen sponsored ballot initiative which made the ban permanent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Consequently, for 34 years California has served as a living laboratory to study the relationship between humans and mountain lions in the absence of sport hunting. It also presents an opportunity to test whether sport hunting has been an effective conflict-reduction strategy in states where it is allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Findings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With regard to mountain lion attacks on humans in the western United States and Canada from 1972 (the first year of the sport hunting ban in California) to 2005: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nine states and one Canadian Province, which have sport hunting of mountain lions, had a higher per capita rate of attacks on humans than did California. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two states which have sport hunting of mountain lions had a higher rate of attacks on humans per square mile of suitable mountain lion habitat than did California. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With regard to mountain lion predation on livestock, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2005): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Six states which have sport hunting of mountain lions reported a larger percentage of domestic sheep and lambs killed by mountain lions than did California.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Four states which have sport hunting of mountain lions reported a roughly equivalent or larger percentage of cattle and calves killed by mountain lions and bobcats than did California. [Note: NASS statistics do not distinguish between mountain lion and bobcat attacks on cattle so the actual percentage killed by mountain lions is likely smaller than presented.]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Discussion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is noteworthy that an increase in mountain lion attacks on humans in several western states during the 1990s occurred at the same time that the number of mountain lions killed by humans was reaching record levels. According to agency records, from 1990 to 1999:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;3,255 mountain lions were reported killed by sport hunters in Colorado (10 attacks on humans).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;5,063 mountain lions were killed in Montana (4 attacks).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1,710 mountain lions were killed in Washington (3 attacks).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In fact, some mountain lion experts have raised the possibility that sport hunting -- rather than decreasing the likelihood of attacks -- may actually increase the risk of attacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further information on this subject please take a look at this entire article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainlion.org/sport_hunting.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Effects of Sport Hunting Mountain Lions on Safety and Livestock.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;The article, charts and photos are quite interesting.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QSOLt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QSOLt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Average annual number of mountain lion attacks on humans per one million residents in the western U.S. and British Columbia, 1972-2005&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Average annual number of mountain lion attacks on humans per one million residents in the western U.S. and British Columbia, 1972-2005&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uSnY7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uSnY7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Average annual number of mountain lion attacks on humans per 10,000 square miles of suitable mountain lion habitat in the western U.S., 1972-2005&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Average annual number of mountain lion attacks on humans per 10,000 square miles of suitable mountain lion habitat in the western U.S., 1972-2005&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zl0Sv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zl0Sv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Distribution of human population in western U.S. states. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distribution of human population in western U.S. states. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qnGkx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qnGkx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Distribution of suitable mountain lion habitat in western U.S. states. Source: Ashman et al. (1983), Edwards et al. (1995), Merrill et al. (1996), Thompson et al. (1996), Cassidy (1997), Davis et al. (1998), Redmond et al. (1998), Kagan et al. (1999), O&amp;#39;Neill et al. (2001), Schrupp et al. (2000), Scott et al. (2002), NMGFD (2005), CDOW (2005), Wolstenhulme (2005)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distribution of suitable mountain lion habitat in western U.S. states. Source: Ashman et al. (1983), Edwards et al. (1995), Merrill et al. (1996), Thompson et al. (1996), Cassidy (1997), Davis et al. (1998), Redmond et al. (1998), Kagan et al. (1999), O'Neill et al. (2001), Schrupp et al. (2000), Scott et al. (2002), NMGFD (2005), CDOW (2005), Wolstenhulme (2005)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-18T18:00:37.297" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T18:00:37.297" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15311" CreationDate="2017-02-18T13:44:31.033" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not believe &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/news-and-media/press-room/news-releases/2010/space-heaters-involved-in-79-percent-of-fatal-home-heating-fires&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;space heaters&lt;/a&gt; would be a good idea in a tent. There is not a large volume of air mass to heat in a tent and if you are asleep in a tent, how can you maintain that your feet (for example) would not get too close to the heater for safety reasons and start a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides sleeping bags do quite well to keep people warm, while camping in a tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never have a fire inside your tent as that is simply asking for something to go terribly wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T13:44:31.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15316" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15317" CreationDate="2017-02-18T18:41:29.313" Score="9" ViewCount="6220" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my garage, and when it is parked around town, I lock my bike to a rack via a U-lock or at least a cable lock.&#xA;How should I similarly secure my kayak?&#xA;I realize that a determined thief can break most locks but let’s assume conventional bike locks are good enough to deter casual thieves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T19:25:02.363" Title="How to lock a kayak" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15316" CreationDate="2017-02-18T18:41:29.313" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most solutions require threading one or two long lockable cables through some sort of “holes” in the kayak and onto the fixed rack. The locking cables can be elongated versions of standard bicycle cable locks. However, you may require a “python” cable lock, which allows the working end to be thin and to be tightened through the lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaks can have a number of different things serving as “holes”:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A metal grab handle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A large metal pad eye.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A scupper hole, if the kayak is a sit-on-top (SOT).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A drain hole, if it’s near the cockpit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A seat attachment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other solutions exist when no such “holes” do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A car steering wheel lock, locked across the cockpit and a cable lock around it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two cables, such as from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lassosecuritycables.com/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lassosecuritycables.com&lt;/a&gt;, lassoed tightly over the bow and stern, around a rack, and then tightly to each other.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two special reinforced locking tie-down straps, such as from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kanulock.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kanulock.com&lt;/a&gt;, cinched down onto your rack. Such a strap combines a tie-down strap and a cable lock into a single unit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A special lock from &lt;a href=&quot;http://world.storeyourboard.com/kayak-lock-outdoor-locks-kayaks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;worldstoreyourboard.com&lt;/a&gt; attached to the &quot;kayak accessory rail&quot; found on some fishing kayaks. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-02-18T18:41:29.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15318" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-18T19:03:24.953" Score="6" ViewCount="521" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some damaged-beyond-repair self inflating sleeping pads. &#xA;On one the hard gel housing the valve has completely disintegrated so it cannot be inflated at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two others have dozens of tiny holes, courtesy of the cats’ claws. While I started patching the holes with blobs of silicone gel, I gave up as there seemed to be just too many. They can be fully inflated but slowly deflate after a couple of hours. I’ve used the ¾ size one as a “lunch pad” on day hikes but it seems a bit overkill for such brief usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How have you successfully repurposed your old self inflating sleeping mats?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-25T20:31:53.837" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T20:31:53.837" Title="How to repurpose an old self inflating sleeping pad?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15320" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15322" CreationDate="2017-02-18T22:08:51.850" Score="10" ViewCount="2269" Body="&lt;p&gt;On either side of my backpack, I have a loop with some kind of locking mechanism on them. They look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bgjgS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close up&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are placed on the upper center of my backpack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Osi0R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Overview&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plastic bit at the end can be used to &quot;lock&quot; to itself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uRQ9n.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Closed&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are these loops used for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bag itself is a Lowe Alpine Cerro Torre, for reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12432" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T08:58:16.820" Title="What are these loops on my backpack for?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15320" CreationDate="2017-02-18T22:55:01.520" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are designed to fix your ice axes to the backpack so that they won't move very much. This task should be realized in a lightweight manner and it should be easy and quick to release/adjust. One very common approach is the one from your picture, e.g. explained in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGTtnkXg2fc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you can adjust e.g. poles with them too. Or anything else if you get the point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Now that I can also see your other pics it really looks like the lower part of the ice axe fixing system is missing. Still the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lowealpine.com/us/cerro-torre-65-85-5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;official notes&lt;/a&gt; say you can attach ice axes...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t66yivA-Hys&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=56&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;, which gives interesting information. I have the pack and already used the fixing system Steve House is representing there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-02-19T08:58:16.820" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T08:58:16.820" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15318" CreationDate="2017-02-19T09:33:51.283" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;My only thought is to use them as patching material for the other self-inflating pads your kitties will puncture. Cutting them to-size for inside an animal crate or other surface you want to protect.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2017-02-19T09:33:51.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15324" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15398" CreationDate="2017-02-19T14:17:46.520" Score="10" ViewCount="437" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a world where we are surrounded by technology and information on our screens it's actually becoming more difficult/uncommon to acquire practical skills in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be a good starting point for an adult to start learning skills required to enjoy and understand nature and also increasing skills in safely camping in nature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, being able to identify edible food, reading maps and using a compass correctly, discover wildlife without causing them distress, and identifying safe places to camp in the wild. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't aspire to be a hunter, but more of an explorer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12434" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T21:38:46.990" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T15:53:46.213" Title="How can I acquire practical outdoor skills?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15324" CreationDate="2017-02-19T17:03:38.580" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possibility is to look into doing some volunteer work in a National Park or other park or organization.  You will get outdoors experience and, more important, get connected with people who have a great deal of outdoors experience.  The work might be physically hard, for example trail maintenance, and will pay little or nothing; you have to save up some money to be able to afford to be a volunteer or intern. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some organizations where you can volunteer also offer classes in many aspects of outdoorsmanship. There are also some that have immersive experiences, like weekends outdoors, camping, snow-shoeing, birding, foraging, and animal tracking. You can get a taste of a number of different choices while not having to commit to any one thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One organization you might like is &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/get-involved/state/ok&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics&lt;/a&gt;. They're involved in many aspects of being a responsible citizen of the outdoors. As part of that, they do a lot of education at every level, and excursions and experiences in just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/get-involved/state/ok&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a link to their Oklahoma Branch. I see some exciting things coming up which might interest you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I googled &quot;volunteer opportunities national parks&quot; and came up with several hits, for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/volunteer.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Volunteers-in-Parks&lt;/a&gt;.  On that site, if you click on Volunteer.gov, you can find volunteer opportunities by state; there are several in Oklahoma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this appeals to you, you need to figure out what you have to offer as a volunteer.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T03:58:58.487" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T03:58:58.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15327" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15329" CreationDate="2017-02-20T00:53:51.243" Score="10" ViewCount="375" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a group of friends who live in Florida, United States. One woman is blind. One man uses a wheelchair most of the time, although sometimes a cane is sufficient instead, or a friend to lean on. (My mobility restrictions are very similar to his.) The others have no significant physical restrictions.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're planning a trip up the coast all the way to Maine, including spending a few days with me in Massachusetts. They want to do some mostly flat and easy to navigate trail walking, especially in areas where wildlife, including animals, birds and plants are abundant. My blind friend appreciates the sounds and smells. Many places like that are wheelchair accessible, but I haven't really found anything tailored for blind people. I'd like a few options that would be easy and fun for the whole group, including places she can safely go on her own for a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They don't know exactly when they'll arrive here, but it would be in the summer, probably July or August. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-13T00:25:21.240" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T00:52:36.180" Title="What are some blind-friendly wildlife trails in or including Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15327" CreationDate="2017-02-20T00:53:51.243" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One excellent idea is a trip to the sanctuaries owned by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mass Audubon Society&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have an exciting program called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imls.gov/news-events/project-profiles/massachusetts-audubons-accessible-trails-project&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Accessible Trails Project&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our goal is to connect as many people as possible to the nature of Massachusetts. Our trails are extremely welcoming for all – whether you are an individual without a disability who is a beginner on our trails, or you have any sort of disability that may have kept you from the trail in the past, we aim to design these trails to be welcoming to the entire community. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All 20 Mass Audubon sites with Nature Centers have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/disability/ada&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Americans with Disabilities Act&lt;/a&gt; compliant parking, entrances, admission areas, educational activity spaces, exhibits, galleries, and restrooms. They each also offer at least one Accessible trail, which is mostly flat, and not too difficult for people with walking impairments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of this writing, more than half have trails designed to accommodate people with disabilities at all levels, especially those who can see only partially or not at all. These are All-Person's Trails, or Universally Accessible Sensory Trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These trails are designed and constructed first to physically meet or exceed Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, and then to incorporate universally designed interpretive features including educational stops, wildlife viewing boardwalks and platforms, picnic and play areas, and navigation resources including audio directions, guide ropes, curbing, and handrails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mass Audubon's&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/accessibility&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Accessibility&lt;/a&gt; page gives details and pictures. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/accessibility/accessibility-at-our-wildlife-sanctuaries&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; lists the sanctuaries with Nature Centers, and the notation of those with these newer full-featured trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At all of these equipped sanctuaries, the Nature Center provides everything you need. At the admission window, you can pick up trail information including a guide in printed or Braille format, and a printed or tactile (raised topographical) trail map. They have adaptive items available for loan, including hands-free binoculars (on a tripod), audio players, a walking cane with a small seat, and a push wheelchair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some basic criteria for All Person's Trails, so you can choose any location on the map that's marked as providing them. They're all over the state. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All Person's Trails are typically 0.5-0.75 miles in length and include:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smooth, gentle grades for improved access by foot, stroller, or wheelchair  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sensory-rich audio tours (available by cell phone and/or audio players)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Braille texts and tactile maps  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tour booklets and maps designed for high readability for visually impaired and sighted visitors  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improved signage (also Braille) along trails  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wider boardwalks with bumpers as needed  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Post-and-rope guiding systems. The guiding systems includes beads along the ropes. Round beads indicate the location of a narrated stop where you will find a sign within reach with the stop name and number in print and Braille. A square bead indicates that there is seating nearby.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Interpretive content focusing on the natural and cultural history of each site  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accessible outdoor wildlife observation structures, specialized gardens, seating, play areas, and picnic areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a few examples of these trails, including the rope guide which blind people can use on their own:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bLyh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bLyh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wide area with rope loop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/71vIUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/71vIUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Braille sign&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TXa8D.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TXa8D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Meadow loop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yRYH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1yRYH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Group walking&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZTBmgm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZTBmgm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Woman alone at new picket fence&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kWnNpm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kWnNpm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Guide with two blind people&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ekXy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2ekXy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rope trail in woods&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One great sanctuary is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/drumlin-farm/about/visiting-drumlin-farm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drumlin Farm&lt;/a&gt; in a lovely town close to an hour west of Boston. While not visually-impaired, I do use a cane, walker or wheelchair, and have been very comfortable there. They have fun things for people of all ages. There are animals, farming, learning gardens, and a nature center. Daily hayrides from April through Thanksgiving  include a fun, educational property tour. They have two loops on their All Person's Sensory Trail systems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/drumlin-farm/about/accessibility/accessible-trails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; has a full description of their accessibility options. There's also an audio tour feature, which has downloads of 8 stops on the Ice Pond Trail, which takes you closer to the water and woods; and 12 stops on the Farmyard Loop, which takes you closer to the animals. You can listen to it or download it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice Pond Trail:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ice Pond Trail is a woodland walk along the edge of a small pond, running from the parking lot to the admissions window at our Nature Center. This trail provides a quiet spot away from the busier sections of the farm. While the trail does meet ADA guidelines for grade and surfacing, you may find portions to be steep or strenuous. As with all outdoor trails, please watch your step, since surfaces may be wet or slippery at times depending on recent weather conditions.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Distance: 350-foot accessible pathway&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Features:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A five-foot wide crushed stone surface.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A guide rope is provided along the entire Ice Pond trail, attached to the top of a fence.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Round beads along the rope indicate the location of a narrated stop where you will find a sign within reach with the stop name and number in print and Braille.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A square bead indicates that there is seating nearby.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Farmyard Loop:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This trail takes you from the main entrance at the Drumlin Farm Nature Center, past the wildlife exhibits and the many barns and animals of the farmyard, and back to the Nature Center. Visiting all eleven stops on the Farmyard Loop trail takes about 30 minutes, although you can easily spend one and a half to two hours enjoying the animals and natural habitats along the Farmyard Loop. The trail also includes several optional detours to the wilder areas of the sanctuary, some covering rougher ground, which you are welcome to explore if you choose to.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Distance: 0.4 mile round trip trail&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Features:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The surface is a combination of nine-foot wide paved walkway and hard-packed road.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The path slopes downhill from the Nature Center between markers 8 and 10, with benches available for rest stops at the steepest sections.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is a picnic area after stop 17. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Audio Tour:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is an audio tour for both segments of our accessible trail. You can access the audio tour three ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can call 781-443-7154 on your cell phone. This tour is available by phone April through December.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can download the Audio Tour from the website and play it on your personal audio player when you visit. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can borrow an audio player at the Nature Center admission window.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this gives your friends at least something to consider. Hopefully other people will offer more suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-13T00:52:36.180" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T00:52:36.180" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15327" CreationDate="2017-02-20T14:01:08.220" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what exactly makes a trail more blind-friendly as apposed to something like wheelchair-friendly, so I'll answer for handicapped-accessible trails in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vast majority of trails are always going to be more rugged and not aimed at people with handicaps that prevent them from traveling over rough ground.  This is not due to some elitist deliberate exclusion, but due to the realities of cost.  Handicapped-accessible trails simply cost &lt;i&gt;much much&lt;/i&gt; more to build and maintain than typical &quot;wilderness&quot; trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the trails community is well aware of handicapped needs and tries to address them when practical.  This has been a major topic at the last few Massachusetts State Trails Conferences (yes, there are such things).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm on the Town of Groton Massachusetts Trails Committee, and can recommend two particular trails in town:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Nashua River Rail Trail&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8uyhS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8uyhS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a paved trail built on a old railroad bed.  It goes from Ayer center into Nashua NH, with about 8 miles of it passing thru Groton.  A good place to access it is from the parking area off of Broadmeadow Road (42.6049N, 71.5720W).  Going south from there to the Groton School Pond and back is a nice outing with a lot of nature around, but flat and easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;John Tinker Trail&lt;/b&gt; on Nod Road (42.6286N, 71.5841W) into the J Harry Rich State Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4hsA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4hsA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was just built last year.  It has a packed stone dust surface suitable for wheel chairs and strollers.  It is only about &amp;frac14; mile long, but is completely in the woods, with a beautiful view over a old oxbow of the Nashua River at its end:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gB79J.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gB79J.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail is deliberately winding in places, giving you as much of a &quot;in the woods&quot; experience a trail of that width can provide.  There are granite benches at intervals, and a wide area with more benches at the end to make a picnic spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I mentioned earlier, handicapped-accessible trails are expensive.  When we cut a new trail, a few volunteers can do &amp;frac14; mile in a couple of hours.  There is no direct expense, other than the small &quot;Groton Trails Network&quot; markers we put up at intervals as blazes.  Even with a directional sign at a junction, the total monetary cost would be under $50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, the John Tinker trail cost around $30k and took much more work beyond actually building the trail.  80% of the cost was paid for by a state trails grant, with the town funding the remaining 20% directly or thru in-kind donations of volunteer labor.  Some private donations were received, and over 80 hours of volunteer labor went into preparing the trailbed for the contractor, so in the end little town tax money had to be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just preparing the trail surface for the contractor to do the heavy lifting took a army of volunteers over 80 man-hours.  Then there were many hours by a single dedicated volunteer (the chair of our Trails Committee) who wrangled all the permissions, found the contractor, dealt with restrictions due to this being a possible archeological site, wrote the grant application, organized the aforementioned army of volunteers, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This single &amp;frac14; mile of trail was a major project for the committee for most of a year.  You simply can't have a 110-mile trail system and dedicate this level of resource to each &amp;frac14; mile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T22:39:56.383" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T22:39:56.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15330" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-20T15:43:52.487" Score="7" ViewCount="351" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on hiking from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in Cornwall via the Three Peaks. I'm wondering if there are any good online hiking planners that let you set waypoints and minimise the amount of time spent on roads whilst maximising the time spent on long-distance trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mainly because planning a 1200+ mile route from scratch is a bit of a long-shot, I'd at least like something to start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12439" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T10:44:10.763" Title="Good Hiking Route Planner" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15311" CreationDate="2017-02-20T15:55:04.653" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Frame challenge:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You should probably not be heating your tent at all.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead I suggest getting a better sleeping bag / thermal mat / clothes to sleep in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; In combination with a decent tent they will provide you all the warmth you need to sleep comfy in most any circumstances, especially the ones where you have a power outlet nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Side remark: directly heating with electricity is a fairly expensive and very very inefficient/un-ecological idea to begin with. That holds doubly so in a tent which provides virtually no insulation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T15:55:04.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-20T16:01:05.467" Score="12" ViewCount="3600" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am hiking in the wilderness, a round trip to civilization and back is at least 24 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know where I am and I can return to the same spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my hiking partner dies, how can/should I protect the body while I go to get the authorities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to protect my partner's body while I am gone, what can/should I do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T04:26:26.753" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T07:56:12.590" Title="How to protect a body in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15333" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15339" CreationDate="2017-02-20T16:02:58.363" Score="6" ViewCount="3390" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild strawberries are very tasty, but I have only ever found them by accident.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What &lt;strong&gt;locations&lt;/strong&gt; would be good starting points to look for them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-13T00:22:35.607" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T00:22:35.607" Title="What are good locations to find wild strawberries?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15252" CreationDate="2017-02-20T16:14:49.270" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/bog_iron.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iron Production in the Viking Age on Hurstwic&lt;/a&gt; discusses sources of iron available in the wilderness of Scandinavia and Iceland. To my knowledge and experience, similar sources exist in what is now eastern Canada. From that article and other reading I identify two primary sources of iron people gathered from the wild for primitive tool making:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bog Iron&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the Norse settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, there is clear evidence that Norsemen harvested and smelted bog iron to use as the raw material for the iron rivets they fabricated to repair their ships there 1000 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where streams run from nearby mountains through a peat bog, bog iron can almost always be found. That combination was probably visible to Norse explorers even from on board their ships in the cove at L'Anse aux Meadows. It occurs in glaciated regions throughout the world, and so would have been very familiar to the Norse explorers at Vínland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Streams carry dissolved iron from nearby mountains. In the bog, the iron is concentrated by two processes. The bog environment is acidic, with a low concentration of dissolved oxygen. In the acidic environment of the bog, a chemical reaction forms insoluble iron compounds which precipitate out. But more importantly, anaerobic bacteria (Gallionella and Leptothrix) growing under the surface of the bog concentrate the iron as part of their life processes. Their presence can be detected on the surface by the iridescent oily film they leave on the water, another sure sign of bog iron. In Iceland, the film is called jarnbrák (iron slick).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/csH5P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/csH5P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bogs in Iceland that contain Iron&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Id9ue.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Id9ue.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A film formed on bog water's surface that indicates the presence of bog iron&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D6t4M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D6t4M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bog iron&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a layer of peat in the bog is cut and pulled back using turf knives, pea sized nodules of bog iron can be found and harvested. Although the iron nodules are reasonably pure, there aren't many of them. They are, however, a renewable resource. About once each generation, the same bog can be re-harvested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iron Ore&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some regions (particularly Sweden), iron ore, rather than bog iron, was the raw material for smelting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amHFA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amHFA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Red Earth where iron ore exists&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iron ore is fairly abundant in many parts of the world. According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_ore&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Wikipedia page on Iron Ore&lt;/a&gt;, the color of ores can vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The concentration of iron in ore also varies, and for iron ore to be practical in primitive tool construction, it needs to have a certain amount of iron present. That same Wikipedia article notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than about 60% iron) are known as &amp;quot;natural ore&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;direct shipping ore&amp;quot;, meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T16:14:49.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15333" CreationDate="2017-02-20T16:26:01.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the bellies of critters...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously, anything living in the area is going to know where the wild strawberries grow and will have made a habit of eating them when they get ripe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They grow close to the ground, so unlike black berries and other high bush berries, every critter can easily get to them birds, mice, etc.  I used to frequent a grassy area with wild strawberries, and I probably saw 200+ green ones for every red one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will only be by luck that you will get to them before the local wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T16:26:01.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15332" CreationDate="2017-02-20T16:30:50.030" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, the living are more important than the dead. Check your scene safety, something killed that person and you want to make sure that it won't kill you as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't imagine that you will be alright, your partner just died. Emotionally, your thinking will probably be off, take extra care because of that. I would document what had happened in writing and take pictures, but not disturb the body as there may be an investigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I would very carefully hike out, realizing that you are going to be upset and your decision making skills will probably not be at their best. Take extra time, go around obstacles, don't let your grief get you into stupid situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible it might be better to ask someone not from your group to carry the message and your location out to the authorities, as they will be less emotionally affected by the death and would probably make better decisions because of that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then when the authorities come in, you can walk out with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-20T20:07:59.467" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T20:07:59.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15327" CreationDate="2017-02-20T17:01:15.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bill Irwin, author of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1168894.Blind_Courage&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blind Courage&lt;/a&gt; found the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt; to be a mostly enjoyable outdoors experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While secluded with good opportunities for enjoying nature away from others.  The Appalachian Trail offers some challenges.  Assuming your blind friend will be with you or another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.afb.org/info/friends-and-family/etiquette/being-a-sighted-guide/235&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sighted guide,&lt;/a&gt; Facilities don't need to have braille, or special maps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyplace wheelchair friendly is going to be fine for a blind person with a sighted guide.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not specifically wheelchair friendly. Paths that are relatively smooth and wide enough for two people to walk side by side are optimal.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rail trails&lt;/a&gt; are good. Farther from civilization = less background noise.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of stairs without kickplates are unpleasant. Many outdoors wood steps do not have a solid area at the back of the rise. If your toe does not find a kickplate at the back of the step, it is hard to gauge the depth of the step.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T17:01:15.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13076" CreationDate="2017-02-20T17:17:40.800" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should be able to breathe out through your nose and have no effect on the seating of the mask -- that's what rebreather divers do all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't do this,  it has to be a problem of fit.  Masks are extremely personal bits of kit that need to be tried on before you buy.  Typically the test is to take the strap off (or put it around the front of the mask),  press it to your face and slightly breathe in through your nose.  It should stay in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it doesn't stay in place,  use another mask,  one that fits your face shape better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The strap is there to lightly hold the mask in place;  if it's too tight it can distort the mask surround and make it harder to seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T17:17:40.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15333" CreationDate="2017-02-20T17:18:21.690" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I enjoy going out every year and picking wild fruits out here in &lt;em&gt;Beautiful British Columbia.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many times a year, I will go out picking berries, early in the morning with a friend if possible. My favorite place to go berry picking is down near the Fraser River. I tend to make it a multitask day, by picking other berries at the same time and have even done fishing or gold panning where I go on the same day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not worth your while to go out &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragaria&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wild strawberry&lt;/a&gt; picking as James Jenkins' &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15335/8732&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; points out. When I do it, I take along several small containers in order to pick several different types of berries at the same time: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_spectabilis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;salmonberries&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blackberries&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewberry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dewberries&lt;/a&gt;, wild raspberries and so on. I usually will do this several weekends in a row  and put the berries in separate containers in my freezer until I have enough to make something out of them. If not I can make a mixed wild berry pie or wine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where to find wild strawberries?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wild Strawberries grow in many habitats. When they are found in old orchards or under Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) trees, Grape Ferns (Botrychium spp.) often grow with them. Wild Strawberries tend to be semi-evergreen. Sometimes they still possess last year’s leaves when the plants flower in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Get out and look for strawberries along the edges of abandoned farm fields. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.michigannatureguy.com/blog/2014/06/23/wild-strawberries/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Michigan’s Wild Strawberries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This source gives a little more information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beach strawberries&lt;/strong&gt; (Fragaria chiloensis) can be found along the upper edges of beaches on Washington and Oregon coasts. The leaves are thick and leathery compared to those of other wild strawberries of the Pacific Northwest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The other two strawberries in the region are usually found from the interior valleys west of the Cascades to alpine areas throughout the region. &lt;strong&gt;Wild, or Blue-leaved strawberry&lt;/strong&gt; (Fragaria virginiana) and &lt;strong&gt;Wood strawberry&lt;/strong&gt; (Fragaria vesca) are very similar in their leaves, flowers and fruit. They are found growing along the edges of clearing in woods, and often on rocky, warm south-facing slopes. The bright red fruit of our wild strawberries is quite delicious and very similar in appearance to domestic strawberries except for size, but the flavors of the native strawberries are quite different and special. The berries are found in greatest quantities May-June, depending on location. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://foreststewardshipnotes.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/three-wild-strawberries-of-the-pacific-northwest/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Three Wild Strawberries of the Pacific Northwest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location I go to has salmonberries and blackberries in abundance at shoulder height and wild strawberries at ground level and in front of the berry thickets. It is a gold mine for berries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downfall is that there are sometimes bears around. They like berries too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T17:18:21.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15332" CreationDate="2017-02-20T18:55:44.647" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One problem is going to be predators, scavengers, and insects eating the body.  In the extreme they might drag the body off and you cannot find it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are dead - there is no a big hurry.  Preserve the body for the funeral is an important task.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not likely to have a full size shovel to bury them.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would wrap them in sleeping bags, clothes, tent, tent poles, ... ropes. Once they're all wrapped up, you could put them in the shade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had climbing gear could hang them from a tree by harness, feet, or under arms.  Unless they weigh less than or you had a pulley system then could not do it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If on a glacier then bury them in the snow.  Alone you can not move a body very far. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A live body you might try to extract if you had 4+ but a dead body the common advice is to leave and go for a rescue party.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-02-20T22:07:07.090" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T22:07:07.090" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15342" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-20T20:29:58.903" Score="5" ViewCount="560" Body="&lt;p&gt;After picking berries, you are often left with a pail full of berries, some leaves, some sticks, pieces of stems, sometimes little white worm creatures and some dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an easy way to clean a whole bunch of them at once so that you are left with just the berries?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T10:50:18.767" Title="How to clean picked berries?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15333" CreationDate="2017-02-20T20:42:27.103" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I have no expertise in botany; what follows is just my own anecdotal evidence. But I usually manage pretty well to find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seem to be most common in half-shaded areas -  not in deep shade (almost impossible), not in bright sunlight (possible but less likely), but somewhere in between. Look for areas that are relatively sheltered from the sun, but still have lush, thick, green vegetation at the knee-to-waist-high level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have the vague impression that wild strawberries tend to more common next to conifers than next to deciduous trees, but I am not quite sure about this (maybe this is just my own stereotypes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12443" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-25T20:30:04.080" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T20:30:04.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15333" CreationDate="2017-02-20T22:53:35.420" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have picked wild strawberries in Colorado often while I am out hunting.  My go-to place for wild strawberries is on old logging roads that have been overgrown.  It takes some clear area with shade, but a little sun during the day.  By hiking up old logging roads that twist and turn, you can often find them either in the road or on the side of a cut where the shade/sun mixture is just right.  If the logging road is starting to have little sprouts of trees coming up, but isn't completely overgrown, you are probably on a good candidate road.  Moisture is another factor, but it is easier to look for strawberries than moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another place to look is in rock slides where there are marmots.  I think the marmots are out eating the berries and the seeds end up in the rock slides when the marmots return to home.  I have often found them with the marmots or near the marmot homes.  Wild raspberries seem to do a little better where the marmots are, so don't pass those up while you are searching for the berries.  Sometimes the rock slides the marmots prefer just have too much sun for the berries, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing wild strawberries isn't easy.  You have to really be looking for the plant shape as often the berries are hiding under leaves, so make sure you have that picture in your head as you hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T22:53:35.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15342" CreationDate="2017-02-20T23:03:15.223" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of berry may matter.  I am often picking very ripe blackberries, so you can't do much like shaking or tumbling without damaging the berries.  What I do pick for speed, letting whatever get into my box or pail, then when I am done, transfer the berries one by one into a new container.  I don't have to really look at them or pick stuff out, I just quickly pick one out of the first container and dump it into the second and it actually goes very quickly.  When you are done with the transfer, the little sticks and bugs and whatever generally ends up in the bottom of the original container.  Spiderwebs are too hard to clean off, so I usually just pitch those berries, and I do a little quality control and throw out any obviously rotten or unripe berries that made it in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then.... blackberry liqueur!  If a bug or other contaminant happened to make it it, the alcohol will sterilize it and the berries get strained in the final step anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2017-02-20T23:03:15.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5913" CreationDate="2017-02-20T23:39:06.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding Q2, a sea kayak might be a little too big and expensive for your needs, as beginners. A recreational kayak -- a bit of a cross between a sea kayak and a whitewater kayak -- is more general-purpose, and is often far less expensive than a sea kayak or a whitewater kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T20:41:44.087" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T20:41:44.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15332" CreationDate="2017-02-21T01:52:44.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stay with the body until authorities arrive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are no other people around: call the police using your mobile phone (near civilisation) or satellite phone (far from civilisation).  If you don't have a satellite phone, you might consider activating your Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).  I would not want to hike out leaving the body of a hiking partner behind.  Firstly, I would be severely distressed.  Secondly, I would want to guard the body against animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a frequented area, ask somebody to carry the message for you, as Charlie says in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15336/566&quot;&gt;his answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T10:54:20.560" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15356" CreationDate="2017-02-21T03:00:12.567" Score="27" ViewCount="6738" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one needed to hike out and then come back to a certain spot, how could one temporarily mark their trail so that it is easy to follow back to that &lt;strong&gt;exact&lt;/strong&gt; spot when the route back is not obvious?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be especially important in areas with dense tree cover or otherwise limited visibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of use cases would be by &lt;strong&gt;Search and Rescue personnel who want to mark what has been searched&lt;/strong&gt;, or hunters who need to make &lt;strong&gt;multiple trips to take out game.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of game you need to come back to a much more &lt;strong&gt;specific point than can be found with map and compass.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case, the trail being marked will only be needed &lt;strong&gt;temporarily&lt;/strong&gt; and the marks should be &lt;strong&gt;removed afterwards.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T18:45:22.380" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T14:22:09.750" Title="How to temporarily mark a trail?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T03:00:12.567" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to do this is to turn on the tracking function of your GPS or mark it as a waypoint. Then you can simply follow your track backwards or navigate to the waypoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T17:34:02.757" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T17:34:02.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15342" CreationDate="2017-02-21T06:58:55.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing is to pick them carefully in the first place, discarding any stems and most bugs. The more exposed berries are easier to pick cleanly, as of course are the largest ones. Then with blackberries (for example) putting them in a large container of clean water can get rid of leaves and other bits of plant, which will float. I go for fairly high up berries in hedgerows along roads or even paths because they should be cleaner to start with and I don't want to strip the bush bare anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method I use is freezing them (in a plastic box) until I'm going to use them. They're much more robust that way, and the bits tend to stay behind in the box, or you can shake the berries in a colander and rinse to defrost. Again make sure you don't put any stems in the box. This works in my case even for using a lot at a time (such as for jam or wine), because you don't have to gather them all at once. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But berries that have been frozen are less good for eating raw than freshly picked. So if you find ones that are small and tasty but not juicy, freeze them for cooking; big juicy ones: eat straight away. If you're camping or picnicking, you don't really even need to rinse them, just pick and eat, but look at what you're eating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T10:50:18.767" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T10:50:18.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T08:50:29.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As said by Charlie Brumbaugh, the easiest solution is probably using a GPS system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My prefered solution would be to make little &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cairns&lt;/a&gt; using rocks and/or wood. It is far more discret and not polluting, even if it is probably a little longer to put in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-04T01:40:35.513" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T01:40:35.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15352" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-21T09:12:07.300" Score="6" ViewCount="361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm living near the black forest and one of my favorite animals are lynxes. Since 2014 the lynx-population in the black forest is growing. Still they are quite seldom and of course shy. Nevertheless I want to try my luck and stalk one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I take into account when trying? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:16:08.713" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:16:08.713" Title="How to stalk lynxes in the black forest?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15333" CreationDate="2017-02-21T09:29:20.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since geographical area was not mentioned, &lt;a href=&quot;https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smultron&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smultron&lt;/a&gt; are very common in Sweden. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not sure about the botanical definition of wild strawberries, but usually Smultron is translated as wild strawberries and Jordgubber are strawberries&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are common all over Sweden, personally I have found them in a lot of the less populated areas in and around Stockholm, which due to Stockholm's lower population density is something very common, and especially in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslagen&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roslagen&lt;/a&gt; area to the north of the city.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's common for young adults and kids to string Smultrons on a piece of grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12165" LastEditorUserId="12165" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T15:21:26.740" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T15:21:26.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15342" CreationDate="2017-02-21T09:50:06.510" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually combine the two answers above- pick into a container, when done transfer the berries one by one to a strainer. Get rid of anything suspicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wash thoroughly with cold water, if needed let the berries sit in a bowl with water for a few minutes and rinse again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12165" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T09:50:06.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15352" CreationDate="2017-02-21T10:24:10.020" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to be honest with you here: I don't think you will be successful in observing any wild Lynx. That is unless you are willing to commit a lot of time and quite potentially a fair bit of money into specialised equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lynx are just &lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; shy animals. They will hear you a mile off and will avoid you if possible. They also have very keen smell, so just waiting around for them to wander by is not that easy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lynx live a solitary live, and as (rather) big predators they need a large area which they'll roam in order to hunt for food. A resulting fact is that the Lynx population is very sparse, so even if they weren't shy it would require a fair bit of luck to actually encounter one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lynx are forest animals, you will only very rarely see one in the open - thus requiring you to be quite close to have a chance at spotting them (no fancy mega-zoom lenses :/).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least, as cats they are often active at night or at dusk/dawn - and their night vision is a lot better than yours.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Just as an anecdote of how hard it can be:&lt;/em&gt; I once read an article about people who set up photo-traps to try and capture wild Lynx. Once they had spotted a suitable place for a camera from afar, they changed into special overalls before actually approaching the place - just to try to avoid leaving any kind of strange smells that could put off the cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really dedicated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'd say your best bet would be to talk to local game keepers or wardens (or if you're lucky some biologists). They might already be in the business of observing and monitoring the local Lynx population. Might be that they would let you tag along, or they could at least tell you a lot about the local animals, their habitats, routes, behaviour, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scout for Lynx trails or droppings, and set up an automated camera trap. Even better would be to find a fresh Lynx kill - the cats will likely return to it to feed again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A mother with cubs will find/create a sort of nest or den to shelter her young. I don't suggest you try to approach one - for their sake and yours. You'll likely never find one anyway, but the vicinity of such a place could be a decent spot to set up photo traps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are very very patient you could maybe even hunker down near a good spot and try to spot some Lynx yourself. But you'll likely need night-vision equipment and &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of patience... Animal photographers sometimes spend weeks without seeing any animals. (I'd only think about ever trying this if you've found a fresh kill by a Lynx, otherwise the chances of one returning before your patiences runs out is near zero.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T06:38:25.173" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T06:38:25.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T10:29:16.303" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possible solution is to put chalk crosses on waymarkers. These should wash off in a couple of days so cause limited disruption to other users of the trail. Even this though can seem unsightly to some people, so use with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T10:29:16.303" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15330" CreationDate="2017-02-21T10:44:10.763" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know anything that will do this for you, but the simple answer is to join up some well established paths, For example the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-bridleway&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pennine bridle way&lt;/a&gt; is 205 miles straight down the centre of the country, if you join this up to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/offas-dyke-path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;offas dyke path&lt;/a&gt; then that's another 177 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also utilise the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.waterways.org.uk/pdf/wwwaterwaysmap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;canal network&lt;/a&gt;. This I know joins the offas dyke at Llangollen so that's those two joined up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically a bit of simple research for long distance paths should do all this with minimal effort&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T10:44:10.763" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15332" CreationDate="2017-02-21T12:08:30.947" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds like a macabre version of one of those teambuilding exercises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted above, your emotions will be going haywire and you won't think clearly.  You'll probably stay with your fallen friend for some time before you get your thoughts in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First priority&lt;/strong&gt; is your safety&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second priority&lt;/strong&gt; is immediate first aid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third priority&lt;/strong&gt; is communication (if you have a communication method), seek and follow further advice from the authorities)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fourth priority&lt;/strong&gt; is to continue to administer first aid until you're absolutely sure of the situation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your friend is undoubtedly dead, then your own safety becomes paramount.  If you can't safely get to the body, then you can only leave it in situ until you get the authorities there (by whatever means).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the unlikely event the body is in the open and readily to hand, then practically speaking, protecting the dignity of your friend (and family) is most important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have no means of contacting the authorities from where you are and have to travel some distance to gain help/communication:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd empty his/her back-pack and insert the body's head/shoulders as far as they'll go.  Secure the opening as tight as possible with his/her belt (if predators get to the body, they'll start with the more accessible parts).  You can then cover the remains with branches/foliage/rocks/whatever in an effort to protect from predation.  Protecting the head/upper chest also preserves any evidence for any subsequent medical investigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mark the location of the cairn as clearly as possible (use a nearby tree or rock that won't be dislodged by predators).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the remaining contents of the back-pack to help mark your route back to the closest, easiest, route to a communications point (where you get a cell signal or people).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to mark your exact location on a map before you set off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have communication equipment:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, use the equipment and stick with the body - direct the authorities to you unless instructed otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  I have no experience or training to back this up.  It just seems appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user12449" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T07:56:12.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T13:02:10.760" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today GPS systems are relatively cheap and widely available.  You don't even need a dedicated GPS receiver.  For example, I often use a Android tablet with a built-in GPS, and software that can record waypoints and tracks on pre-loaded maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is, record the lat/lon coordinates of the spot you want to come back to.  It can also help to record a GPS track on your way in and out.  You can follow these tracks or get to the spot later without any alterations of the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you own the land or otherwise have explicit permission, &lt;b&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Do not&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Leave flags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Make cairns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Cut blazes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Make chalk marks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Do anything else that mars the land, rocks, trees or anything else, or leaves a deliberate visible trace of you having been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these are vandalism and just plain rude without permission of whoever has authority over the land.  And no, it being public land doesn't give you the automatic right to do these things, at least not here in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider that maybe you shouldn't even be off a existing trail in the first place.  Wandering around freely is allowed in many public lands, but staying on established trails is required in others.  Don't assume you can wander off trail without making sure it is actually allowed on that particular property.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;More on chalk marks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some apparently believe that it's OK to go one someone else's land and mark it up with chalk, and even worse, indicate a whole new trail.  In most case, that is not so.  I would be upset if someone did that on my land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in cases where the public has permission to walk on the land off-trail freely, marking a new trail still isn't right without explicit permission.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my town, there are no general restrictions on walking around on town-owned conservation land.  I am on both the Trails Committee (who does the planning, construction, and maintenance of trails) and the Conservation Commission (who is the authority that would grant permission for a new trail on such lands).  I can tell you we'd take a dim view of anyone marking a new trail with chalk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the chalk marks alone are vandalism, the real issue is the new trail being marked.  Others will likely see it and follow it, and now it becomes marked just from the wear of usage.  It also gives others the impression that it's OK for anyone to mark a trail.  This is not a sustainable situation, and would make work for the volunteers that manage the conservation lands and the trail system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people not on the Trails Committee or the ConCom have no idea about what restrictions there might have been imposed on a property when it was acquired, deals made about trails with other entities holding CRs (conservation restrictions), research and thought that went into NOT putting a trail in a particular place, future plans for where trails will be, where particularly sensitive environmental areas are, etc.  Someone just barging in can cause real damage.  It can also derail negotiations between different groups about trail placements and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I mention above are not just academic points.  These things have actually happened.  In one case someone put a bridge across a ditch to make it easy to cross.  We were in the middle of trying to convince the CR holder to allow us to put a bridge there.  As you can imagine, a bridge suddenly appearing there without permission didn't go over well.  Now all the trails in a whole section of that parcel are not allowed to be maintained and are essentially closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In another case, a trail was proposed and had gotten as far as being flagged with yellow tape, all with proper permission.  It was then found this went too close to some vernal pools where the endangered blue spotted salamander was found.  It was decided to not route a trail thru that area, and all the flags were carefully removed.  We don't want anyone even giving the impression of a trail near those vernal pools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, you simply don't have the right to mark a new trail on someone else's land without permission.  Here in the US, you must assume that permission is not given unless done so explicitly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making a few chalk marks may seem harmless because they will be washed away after a while with no real environmental harm, but again, that's not the point.  How would you feel if I put a bunch of chalk marks on your house?  Sure, they'll wash away after a while, but that doesn't make it right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T18:18:06.237" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T18:18:06.237" CommentCount="18" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T13:34:38.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I basically agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/1854/olin-lathrop&quot;&gt;Olin&lt;/a&gt;'s &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15359/8060&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;. You can't just put anything on a land you don't own. Even if you own it, you shouldn't because of the leave-no-trace stuff :) Still, there is something which is very easy and really doesn't leave any trace: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Augmented Reality&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've already answered a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11256/how-to-hide-text-so-that-it-cant-be-vandalized-but-without-damaging-any-publi/&quot;&gt;similar question&lt;/a&gt; with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11260/8060&quot;&gt;same answer&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;I love how even the 'I basically agree with Olin's answer' part is the same&lt;/em&gt;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But&lt;/strong&gt; there &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; something you can do about it. You may want to use &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Augmented Reality&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. It's really easy: just download an app like&#xA;  for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wallame&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WallaMe&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.augment.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Augment&lt;/a&gt; and set up your hints. Share&#xA;  them with your friends and thus make them visible when they (your&#xA;  friends) hover over the places with their phone's cam.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The description from Google Play:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Hide messages in the real world using augmented reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Leave a message on the wall, or somewhere in a real place, that can be&#xA;    seen only by those you want. It's a funny way to hide private messages&#xA;    in public places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Take a picture of a wall near you, add pictures or freehand sketches&#xA;    and share your creation with your friends.  Your augmented reality&#xA;    wall can then be viewed by your friends when they are in the location&#xA;    where you created it. You can also make your wall public, so everyone&#xA;    passing by the physical location can use the WallaMe unique viewer to&#xA;    see your augmented reality Wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;WallaMe makes creating your own virtual reality easy - be creative&#xA;    with beautiful stencils, freehand drawing tools, geolocation and image&#xA;    sharing features. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Enjoy the live image stream of public walls being created worldwide&#xA;    within the WallaMe app.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thoKXl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thoKXl.png&quot; alt=&quot;WallaMe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just virtually mark the trail. If you need to find back, you just can hover with your phone's cam and you can easily see your marks. This is especially great if you want to share it with your friends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T13:34:38.700" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15332" CreationDate="2017-02-21T14:19:56.297" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers seem good, however there's an extremely important step they have missed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make sure the person is dead!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(And no I don't mean by stabbing them).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some injuries are clearly fatal but it's entirely possible that someone who is ill/ poisoned/ injured/ hypothermic/ suffering from blood loss/etc may seem dead but actually be alive. You need to get medical professionals on the case as fast as possible and doing so may save their life. Even hospitals and doctors make this mistake from time to time, for example see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/14/waking-morgue-death-janina-kolkiewicz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T14:19:56.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-21T19:08:53.420" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the wooded forests near me a practice I've seen is to lean a small stick (maybe 1 or 2 feet long) against a live or standing tree. The stick is natural to the area so it blends in. It will eventually fall over, or rot if you do not remove it. You might not even notice the stick if you are not looking for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method I use more often is to move a dead and down tree branch already on the ground. Move it to point in the direction you want to travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, don't do too many of them. These are just hints and reminders that you are headed the right way. If you need a continuous reminder of your route, GPS is a better solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11419" LastEditorUserId="3277" LastEditDate="2017-02-21T20:25:16.220" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T20:25:16.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15352" CreationDate="2017-02-21T19:50:58.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first step in stalking a predator is to learn everything about the animal you can using the various resources available to you including people, books, movies, and the internet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second step is to spend some time in their habitat. The more time you spend there the better you are able to apply the knowledge you just learned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple good method's for putting a stalk on any animal is to find high ground for easy observation. Grab some optics and watch cutouts in the timber and natural routes a Lynx might use. If the Black Forest does not provide observation posts, then you can follow signs (tracks, poop, fresh kills). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to identify a Lynx sign versus all the other critters in the Black Forest woods. Once you can do that, learn to age the sign. Once you have a 2-4 hour old sign, follow it. There is plenty of information on tracking animals available but the idea is to look for tracks with fresh poop, fresh kills, or minor weathering, those tend to be the freshest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is not interesting you could try and call them in using various predator calls. You could use trained dogs to trail them. By pure chance, you could cross paths with one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most valuable resource is people in the area with first hand knowledge. If you can get someone to help you through the learning curve I have no doubt you could spot a Lynx on your first few tries. Stay optimistic, most animals prefer to avoid humans, so a little care while wondering goes a long way. Either way it sounds very exciting and worthwhile, be safe and good luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9464" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T19:50:58.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15364" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15393" CreationDate="2017-02-21T20:23:36.373" Score="12" ViewCount="724" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm about to get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3916&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Granada 24&lt;/a&gt; sailboat and I can't really figure out what type of trailer I need. It would be awesome if someone could explain to me what I need to know to choose the right trailer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the specs of the boat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hull type: Mono hull&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keel type: Fin keel (I guess)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Length: 7,20 m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Width: 2,52 m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Draft: 1,25 m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size: 10,1 m2&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight: about 1600 kg (without load)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is very little information on this boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need to use a trailer made to measure, or can I use any trailer that can carry any boat of a specific category within its range of specs (keel type, weight, and dimensions)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cixiq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cixiq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Granada 24&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://warmlicht.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/riss.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://warmlicht.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/riss.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Granada 24 schema&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3916&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picture source 1&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://warmlicht.wordpress.com/sy-mathilda/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picture source 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Resources regarding &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boats.com/resources/sailing-101-sailboat-types-rigs-and-definitions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hull, sail and keel types&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12460" LastEditorUserId="12460" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T11:17:31.183" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T18:40:41.257" Title="What type of trailer do I need for my Granada 24 sailboat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2017-02-21T20:43:55.877" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is from a survival guild I once read. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The process will take at least 30+ hours until you can figure out if it is eatable, and even then you should not eat until you are stuffed (if everything goes right). The idea is simple stress your body at a low risk. You can't get sick when surviving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself in a situation where you have to find something to eat, you can:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Rub the juice of e.g. the berry on thin skin of your body (axilla or your arm, those areas of your body are easily affected by poison and will start itching, become swollen or whatever).&#xA;If you have done that you wait for a couple of hours for the effect to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing happened? Good, you can move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Now put it on your lips, not in your mouth we are far from done testing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wait again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Touch it with your tongue, wait again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) Now you can taste it, but don't eat it, you got it, wait again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5) If nothing happened, you can now try to eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This needs to be done very carefully - even if you are starving, a poison would kill you too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I don't know if it goes for mushrooms, but you can do that with berries, roots, leaves and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12460" LastActivityDate="2017-02-21T20:43:55.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2017-02-22T02:51:18.167" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the bush. You set very still at about 50 meter. Watch. Do the monkeys eat them? If so safe to eat. You can also walk up look &amp;amp; see if the monkeys have been into them. A good sign. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T02:51:18.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15367" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-22T03:24:18.973" Score="10" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having a sense of community on a backpacking trip can mean the difference between enjoyment and misery. It can also be the difference between backpacking as a team instead of as random group of people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The technical definition is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;McMillan &amp;amp; Chavis (1986) define sense of community as &lt;strong&gt;&quot;a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members' needs will be met through their commitment to be together.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_community&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could people on a backpacking trip do to encourage this? I don't think that it can be forced, and being on a backpacking trip will help, simply because people are spending time in close proximity, but are there things that a group or group leader could do help create a sense of community?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T19:50:27.653" Title="How do you create a sense of community on a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-22T04:21:38.233" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For Search and Rescue work, we use GPS to keep track of what has been searched. Each searcher has a GPS, and after every search assignment we give the GPS to command to download the recorded tracks. They keep a master map with all of the areas that have been searched (sometimes multiple times) to use for planning future assignments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We do use flagging tape, but sparingly. Usually either to mark/protect the location of evidence that Law Enforcement may need to look at, or to guide rescuers to the location of a found subject. We do try our best to remove any flagging we put out, but our first priority is the helping the people we are looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11702" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T04:21:38.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14606" CreationDate="2017-02-22T04:55:31.083" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, but that would be to use it as a pot rather than an oven even if you used it with the lid.  To use it as an oven, you should put two-thirds of the heat source on the top of the lid (with one-third on the bottom).  Typically, you should use charcoals briquettes as follows to achieve a 350 degree backing temperature:  Bottom has charcoals equal to two-thirds of the diameter of the top in inches.  Top has charcoals equal to four-thirds of the diameter of the top in inches.  For example, a 12 inch Dutch oven would get eight briquettes on the bottom and sixteen on top.  If you left the briquettes there for sixty minutes you would have the equivalent of about one hour in a standard home oven at 350 degrees.  For each decrease/increase of the temperature by 25 degrees, remove/add three total briquettes (one from bottom and two from top).  Of course, outside temperature and wind will affect the Dutch Oven.  Also, to ensure even heating, rotate the entire pot (including top) counter clockwise by 90 degrees every 15 minutes and the top only clockwise by 90 degrees every fifteen minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12465" LastEditorUserId="12465" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T14:20:34.470" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T14:20:34.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15370" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-22T04:59:19.083" Score="27" ViewCount="8511" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my favorite things about backpacking is the absence of time constraints, you eat when hungry, sleep when tired and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15422/i-have-a-compass-but-no-watch-how-can-i-tell-when-it-will-get-dark&quot;&gt;sort of track&lt;/a&gt; how much time is left until dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be any situations while backpacking where it would be detrimental to not have a means of telling time very precisely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-03-24T16:03:51.537" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T16:03:51.537" Title="Are there any situations while backpacking that would require a watch?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="14" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T05:37:45.903" Score="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't backpack, but I canoe camp and I used to do it with small children. We took a watch and used it for three things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;we need to have all the work done and food eaten by the time it's dark, say 9pm, so we need to land by [whatever] pm to set up camp and cook. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;this food needs to cook for 20 minutes (or this bread needs to rise for 2 hours)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;that portage took 35 minutes, paddling the length of that lake took 4 hours - we tend to record that sort of thing to help with trip planning in the future.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your evening routine is very quick and you don't mind eating in the dark if you felt like going long, if all your cooking is based on &quot;looks done to me&quot;, and if you won't do this same route or even a similar route again another year, then I guess you don't need a watch. (I can also guess you aren't bringing small children or perhaps even any other person.) I don't wear mine, it's in a pocket of my bag, but I like having one with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T05:37:45.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T10:55:58.170" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Navigation. Assuming you know which hemisphere you are on, and assuming your watch is set to local time (even better if set to local solar time, rather than the locally observed time zone), and assuming the sun is visible (weather is not overcast), a watch can be used as an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/forgotten-your-compass-use-the-sun-to-navigate/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;improvised compass&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12469" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T10:55:58.170" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T11:43:20.457" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;To know when it's going to get dark!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Losing track of time is great unless you're in the wilderness, unclear of your location, and the sun goes down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's one thing planning on walking in the dark. It's quite another to be caught off guard (maybe even without a torch). I know you can possibly see how low the sun is, but that only gives you a rough estimate of the amount of daylight you have left (especially if the terrain blocks your view, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="6146" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T14:43:28.167" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T14:43:28.167" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T12:01:57.287" Score="23" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Scheduled Transport&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are catching scheduled transport (e.g. bus or ferry) then you need a watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might only be one trip a day. If you miss it, you are stuck for an extra night. You might be ticketed on one particular time, so if you are late, the next bus or plane won't pick you up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the Milford Track Great Walk in New Zealand. There are only two boat trips a day in summer, and you are ticketed for one specific time. If you miss that, the other ferry that day will only take you if there is space available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tides&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your transport is a boat that can only get in at high tide, then you need a watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are making a crossing that can only be done at low tide, then you need a watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T22:00:18.553" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T22:00:18.553" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T12:22:15.223" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;An important part of navigation while walking is how much distance to the next attack point or objective, especially in poor visibility or at night. If the distance isn't very great, say 100 to 200m (or yards) then counting paces will be the method to use. For distances greater than that, timing is important. Knowing what your average walking speed is, the type of terrain and what height will be gained, will let you estimate how far you have walked by measuring how long it has taken. And for this you will need a watch (or some other means of measuring the time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T12:22:15.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T13:37:17.220" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;To enforce time constraints on activities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'll walk until 1 pm, have lunch, and then continue until 4  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'll fish until 10  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'll take a half hour rest until I need to start again&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you're outside, it's easy for a task or activity to suck up way more time than you expect, leaving you less hours of daylight for the rest of the days tasks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might not matter, but if you don't leave enough time to get water/firewood before it gets dark, you might regret spending six hours whittling a paddle....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd also need one to note the time of death of your &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15332/how-to-protect-a-body-in-the-wilderness/15358&quot;&gt;unfortunate hiking partner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T08:11:45.433" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T14:58:52.200" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;While doing the West Coast Trail in Vancouver, Canada I had to buy a watch for the first time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a table with the tides for that week and I needed the watch to tell if high tide was going to get me while going through different parts of the track. I knew how long hiking through the tide-dependent section would take me and needed the watch to tell at the starting point if I had enough time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I had to wait for an hour or so, other times I had to camp. It was great fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there were alternative routes, but they were ugly and muddy compared to the gorgeous ones by the ocean shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T14:58:52.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T15:02:28.427" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd argue that a watch is a fairly important device for backpacking and I generally never leave without one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Monitor progress&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do multi-day hikes you generally have a plan or schedule you should more-or-less stick to. This schedule can be dictated by your entry/exit procedures (e.g. public transport), by the food you brought (e.g. you have to walk at least X km a day), by available camping spots, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A watch will help you keep a pace which fits your overall schedule.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A (digital) watch/alarm can help you wake up/break camp early enough, giving you enough time/daylight for your planned route.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A watch will help you be in time for any kind of public transport that you'll try to catch on your way in or out of TGO.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Performance and Nutrition&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it can be hard to monitor and pace your performance if all you have is your gut feeling. For some people it is also difficult to judge their personal hydration and 'power reserve' levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A watch will help you pace yourself over a daily route.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping track of time using a watch can help you do regular breaks, eat and drink enough/often and keep a regular sleep cycle. (Note: if you only drink when you're thirsty or eat when your hungry that's already a bit too late.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping track of your progress this way will also help you when planning future hikes as you have a better idea of the distance/elevation you/your group can manage in a certain amount of time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Daylight&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you are hiking, dawn can come very suddenly and walking at night might be extremely dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A watch will make sure you can plan ahead for nightfall and set up camp or adapt your route early enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Specifically a watch will tell you the remaining daytime when the suns height is not visible due to weather/mountains/foliage/... (thx @DavidCullen)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cooking&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plenty of foods require specific cooking times (rice/pasta/...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Instead of monitoring/tasting constantly a watch will just tell you when your food is ready.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are purifying water using tablets the water generally has to sit for a while until you can consider it 'pure'.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Navigation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A watch can be an important navigational aid in dire situations where visibility or orientation are restricted (see for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_reckoning&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dead Reckoning&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Instead of counting your steps (try this once for 5 minutes without losing track, it can be &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt;) a watch can help you tell the distance you have travelled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Emergency compass&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you clearly see the sun a watch can second as an improvised compass in an emergency situation. See for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Analog-Watch-as-a-Compass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. (&lt;em&gt;You should still bring a decent compass though!&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-02-26T12:41:17.920" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T12:41:17.920" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15324" CreationDate="2017-02-22T15:14:39.337" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is kind of tailored to kids but it might be so obvious that it's actually easily missed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For kids wanting to learn about TGO or for parents who'd like their kids to experience TGO having them join a &lt;strong&gt;scout organization&lt;/strong&gt; will be one of the best and most comprehensive TGO experiences they can get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess this depends a lot of the kind of scout organizations you have around and the activities they do - but I'd assume that most of them will spend a great amount of time in TGO, building camps, making fires, cooking outdoors, hiking, navigating, braving wind and weather, learning about local flora and fauna, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T15:14:39.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15367" CreationDate="2017-02-22T15:47:12.167" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There could be one who is quiet or ill at ease within a group. The group should be mature enough to not tease or make fun of one who seems ill at ease in a group setting or even more quiet or is simply less experienced on a backpacking trip. All should be made welcomed and encouraged to be part of the &quot;family&quot; during the trip in the great outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try walking two abreast for awhile. If the trail is not too wide, but is wide enough to walk two abreast, some people are more at ease in very small group.  It might be a good idea to mix the walking partners up every so often and let the slow person set the pace, so that everyone get to communicate with everyone in the group. If you can not walk two abreast, try mixing up the hiking order up the best way possible. I realize that the lead person may have to always be in front, but he should also keep an eye out as to how everything is going within the group every so often. Discord can be like a knife in the back, so all should be careful not to employ rude comments about others in the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Talking behind peoples back is just as bad in group setting and should be culled out at the very moment it starts, perhaps by simply changing the subject matter. We all have to be mature on this issue as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When setting up camp, the various chores (if necessary) can be done in in small groups or partnered up. If there for a few days, let the chores and/or groups be alternated, so as to avoid the &quot;why me all the time&quot; scenarios, while at camp. The leader should also lead by example and perhaps do those things the others find less agreeable. Make sure that any work load of whatever there is does not fall on the shoulders of just one individual either. We have to share this experience together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a campfire going at night, try to encourage everyone to participate in &lt;strong&gt;setting an exciting mood with stories, songs or just talking about the events of the day.&lt;/strong&gt; Do not pressure anyone into doing more talking because they are simply quieter than others. Some people are better at this than others, and others prefer to listen; but if participation is fostered correctly, with respecting one another as a family would, then I believe that a sense of community would be achieved and as well as a sense of being needed will go a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is simply my two bits with my thoughts on this question. By the way, Charlie, this is a great question and I am sure others will answer it better than I have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-02-22T16:18:20.143" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T16:18:20.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15324" CreationDate="2017-02-22T15:59:51.877" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there are many helpful books on a variety of outdoor subjects, the best way to learn outdoor skills is to do. Just like working in a shop, you don't get all the tools then start doing work. First you find a task that you want or need to do and acquire the tools to complete that task.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend starting small. Go for a short hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That will require you to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a trail head  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Estimate time on trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan for weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan for food/water requirements&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After hiking review how you did and adjust the next time. In general I think you learn, what types of hikes you like, how to dress and trail snacks that work for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you find success with your baby steps pick a larger goal like an overnight backpacking trip. Try to plan for that. Before you commit to a trip try carrying that much weight. Make sure you know how to make a fire in a no pressure scenario before you need to make one to cook dinner. The back yard is a great place to learn these skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reality is you can spend a lifetime outside, be a titan of outdoor knowledge and skill, yet still learn new things all the time. That's part of the joy and wonder of the nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T15:59:51.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-22T16:56:41.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, you did say &quot;require&quot; a watch.  I've been hiking nigh on 35 years now, and have never had a &quot;need&quot; for a watch.  I will say a watch is desirable, but on most of my hikes - whether in groups or solo - I tend not to carry a watch, except for recently when there was a requirement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that case, we had a young hiker who required timely medications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also wonder if you mean to distinguish between a real wrist-worn watch and a cellphone.  (and what of the new Apple watches...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &quot;required&quot; is different for some, and not for others.  Recording your adventures by logging, for example.  Some may require a log to be timestamped, while others just use relative time and sequence of events - time be damned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For navigation, I suppose if I lost my compass, a watch would come in handy; but I'd have to say that my orienteering skills are not very strong without knowing how to orient a map properly with a watch.  So even with a watch, I don't think it would help in this case.  Anyway, a compass is a better navigational device than a watch, and a smartphone is better than a compass.  As a backup measure, I'd have both a smartphone and a compass.  A watch might make a good backup device, but this doesn't seem to fit the definition of &quot;required&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some here suggest a watch is good for knowing when to take breaks and when to eat, and so on.  Here, I think &quot;want&quot; is the more important factor - not &quot;need&quot;.  Knowing that darkness is going to set in in, say, 2 hours: what does that do for you?  Wouldn't you hike until it got dark?  Or stop now and enjoy the company or vista for the night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One need I can think of is in first aid: you apply a tourniquet, you should record the time.  (Ah, but this is a recommendation, not an absolute requirement, so not sure if this meets your requirement or not).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if your party wants to split up and meet again at some point in the future, then, having a watch is mandatory: not being on time could be grounds for calling in rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some say a watch is required for cooking.  I don't agree.  Who &quot;cooks&quot; on hikes?  If your menu includes poached or hard boiled eggs, then perhaps a watch is needed.  But all the hikes I've been on, boiling water was needed, and did not require precise timing.  So this is a subjective answer:  some insist to cook, while others stop at the boiling point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then there are some who would like to record their blood pressure and pulse.  For medical purposes, I'd say - yes, absolutely.  But for recreational purposes - watching your exercise - then no, this fits into the &quot;want&quot; category, not &quot;need&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And finally, there are those who like to keep logs of their adventures.  Here, a timepiece would be nice to have, but altogether not &quot;required&quot;, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there you have it:  timely medications, the uncommon first aid procedure, medical procedures, and rendezvous.  All else seems to me that a watch is for &quot;want&quot; and not &quot;need&quot;.  Even in navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T16:56:41.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15367" CreationDate="2017-02-22T16:58:10.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of it will come from having done &lt;strong&gt;hard&lt;/strong&gt; things &lt;strong&gt;together&lt;/strong&gt;. Just being together, say in a classroom, isn't enough, there has to be an element of difficulty. The extreme example of this is men who have served together in combat, which is described extensively in this book, &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1455566381&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing that intense should ever happen on a backpacking trip, but going through difficult stream crossing or long days of hiking or getting low on food will create a sense of community that an idyllic walk in the woods will not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some example of things that can be done to encourage it are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone cooks and eats together. There is something special about breaking bread with one another that will really bring a team together.  Years later no one is going to remember what the food was or what it tasted like, but they will remember if they felt like part of the team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When disagreements arise they need to be brought up and discussed, not hidden away. You can't have people secretly hating each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look out for the weaker people on the team, they should never be at the end of the line. This way they won't be left behind and someone will always be ready to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also helps the more people know about each other and so games that get people to share are a good idea. Having them tell their life story in 5 minutes is one idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T16:58:10.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15367" CreationDate="2017-02-22T17:07:46.690" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create a common challenge, a group purpose&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpacking (for me) is a lot about the adventure, excitement and challenges that naturally come along if you try to navigate through unknown situations - whether that would be hiking through nature or experiencing other cultures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you agree on a common group goal, something that is at least difficult to achieve, the group feeling will emerge very naturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;em&gt;personal examples&lt;/em&gt; I have gone through over the years: When a friend and I found ourselves with little money in an overly expensive city abroad, we tried to get a job. It was not easy because, at the time, we were not fluent in the local language at all and needing to find a job was somewhat of a burden for us but in the end we managed and this experience tied us together for the rest of the trip. Another time, two friends of mine and I were mountaineering and got caught in rain. While passively hiking in a line, each of use developed his or her own fears of hypothermia (it was cold, we were wet). Being experienced trail-runners we decided to speed things a bit up and run rather than walk. While such a decision is not always recommendable, everything turned out well for us: the running kept us warm and it also sparked some sense of group identity. All our bad feelings (misery from the rain first, anxiety, being passive) got washed away and were replaced with positive ones (a common plan to evade the situation, the happiness hormones, the team spirit running at the same pace creates) and because it was us three against the weather, all good feeling were somehow projected onto the group. That was also very beneficial for the rest of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11934" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T17:07:46.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2017-02-22T21:17:44.107" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The tent&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you are tying the hammock to is obviously sticking up a bit.  Let's assume trees.  Things that stick up are more likely to be hit by lightning.  Since the hammock needs to be tied to two things that stick up, one would be hit by the lightning and the other not.  The hammock is now a conduction path for some of the lightning to connect to ground via the tree that didn't get hit directly.  You don't want to be in that hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may feel you are more immune to ground current by being up off the ground, but not necessarily so.  If the ground current from a nearby lightning strike runs parallel to the line between the two trees, then the two hammock supports could be at substantially different voltages.  That voltage would be applied to the hammock.  Again, that's not good for you in the hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main danger in the tent is from ground currents.  Since you have the option of using a hammock, there are taller things than the tent around.  That's good for avoiding a direct hit.  However, the current from a nearby hit can still be substantial thru the ground the tent is sitting on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &quot;tent&quot; implies some sort of floor, presumably made from a insulating material.  You would also usually have something dry and insulating on that floor, like a sleeping pad and a sleeping bag.  Between the tent floor, pad, and sleeping bag, you have at least some protection from the voltages caused by ground currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while neither a hammock nor a tent is safe in the lightning storm, the tent is the better option for minimizing the probability of getting hurt by lighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-02-22T21:17:44.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-23T00:25:50.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a safety factor to track when it's the last safe time turn back: If we don't summit by 2:00pm, it will be difficult to make it down safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also for it's alarm: We need to wake up at 2:00am so we can get a hot meal and be on our way to the summit by 3:00.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11672" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T00:25:50.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-23T01:24:01.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Aid/Emergency Scenarios&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was mentioned in Wigwam's answer, but an emergency or first responder situation could easily bump a watch up into the &quot;Required&quot; category. While these (hopefully) will not be applicable to most hikers, and a certain level of medical training might be required, the fact that this has the &quot;safety&quot; tag and the overall importance of accurate time keeping in an emergency warrants a separate answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional and I am not providing medical advice, this is simply a list of emergency conditions that require precise time keeping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few examples of times where precise time keeping would be important include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Taking vitals&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Measuring a patient's heart rate and respiration rate without a watch would be very difficult, seeing as one would have to be counting &quot;One Mississippi, Two Mississippi...&quot; while also keeping count of heart beats.  In addition, it is very important to take the vitals at regular intervals in order to get an idea of if/how the patient's condition is changing (e.g. going into shock, heat stroke, etc.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time Sensitive Treatments&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was also briefly mentioned in wigwam's answer, but certain treatments are very much dependent on precise time keeping.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;-Tourniquets, which once applied, allow a very limited window (on the order of hours) in which they can be removed before loss of limb becomes an almost certainty. When someone's limb is on the line, it is very important to know EXACTLY when the tourniquet was applied. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Certain types dislocations, which should not be reduced in the field after a given amount of time, or else you risk nerve damage. (&lt;strong&gt;Disclamer: never reduce ANYTHING without proper training, you can do serious and permanent damage!!!&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-Frostbite treatments are very much dependent on the length of time the digit has been frozen.  The decision to try and treat in the field vs extract with frozen appendage is strongly influenced by how long the appendage has been frozen or will remain frozen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Medications&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once again expanding on wigwam's answer, certain medications need to be taken at precise intervals (e.g. taking nitrates for chest pain too soon after taking any kind of E.D. medication can kill a person, or pain killers too frequently can lead to organ damage).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CPR&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As terrible as this is, it is often recommended that CPR be administered for a full 30 minutes before leaving a patient to get help.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I am a certified Wilderness First Responder, and will try to post appropriate source links as necessary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. This is just a list of examples, please don't necessarily take any of it as medical advice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12488" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T01:24:01.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-23T06:15:58.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what kind of a watch we are referring to.&#xA;I typically rely on cellphones only for GPS/Tracks if at all I am tracking a route, otherwise my cellphone is on flight and used just for taking pictures and/or videos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a LadWeather which is capable of informing me about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Time, of course:&lt;/strong&gt; Believe or not, many a times Backpacking, Hiking or any outdoor venture for that matter, is time critical. I need to know how much time I have before it gets dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Temperature:&lt;/strong&gt; Don't know about others, but when outdoors I am sort of keen to know about whats the temperature. I don't know what good does it do to me, but I keep checking it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Altitude (Digital as well a line graph):&lt;/strong&gt; Again, I usually have an idea of the altitude I am getting at, or planning to climb to. But, checking altitude periodically keeps me boosting for climb higher whenever I get tired. On a difficult, lengthy ascend I keep uttering, okay buddy, a 100 m more and then rest for some time. I can agree that this virtual milestone for a pit-stop doesn't require a gadget that measures altitude, but that is the fun part for me personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Direction (A digital compass):&lt;/strong&gt; Not always, but one needs a compass at some point in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Weather forecast:&lt;/strong&gt; Once outdoor, the scene around and the sky/clouds tell you more about weather than what a this wrist watch possibly can. But, again, its a feature and I don't typically rely on it, because, its not connected to grid/internet by any means and there is no way it can &lt;em&gt;predict&lt;/em&gt; if its going to rain, or something like that. But, while drenched in rain, I halt and I take a look at the wrist watch, it shows the raining icon, and so far it hasn't misbehaved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6. Alarms:&lt;/strong&gt; Again, personal opinion. There are people who want to sleep long and wake up whenever they want to, but plan/schedule tells otherwise. I usually setup an alarm for waking up, because by any chance I don't want to miss that sunrise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7. A Stopwatch and a Down Counter:&lt;/strong&gt; I have this habit of challenging myself over a climb. I set up a either of these two (depending upon my moral and physical state of course) and set up a distance and/or climb challenge. Okay, Climb this and reach that col by x minutes, done. If I am absolutely positive about the what I can do, its the down counter so that I can increase the speed looking at how much time is left. Else, a stopwatch, and let it roll. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, I am not claiming that all these features are necessary, but some of these add fun. And to be honest, that may not be the case for every other hiker, mountaineer, climber, cyclist, trail-runner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all know that possibly a cellphone can do these things I listed, and do a lot more. But doesn't a wrist watch look cool?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T06:15:58.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15395" CreationDate="2017-02-23T07:08:40.810" Score="9" ViewCount="1126" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to think this question was a bit ridiculous. The volume of air that we take in while breathing may be high but the lungs &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9066318&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;only consume 25% of the oxygen&lt;/a&gt; for any breath and the rest is returned. Closing the windows while sleeping in a room or sleeping in a closed tent does not affect one's breathing. (At least, it never did for me and I have never heard of such a case.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when I tried my new &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorresearch.com/ch_en/helium-bivy.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bivouac sack&lt;/a&gt; (measures 2.1 m long, 66 cm wide, 50 cm high) last weekend there was a point during the night where I experienced some unrest. I could not sleep (which is not that unusual when it is cold) but also my breathing became very heavy and shallow. More surprisingly, when I opened the bivouac sack's door, the breathing relaxed immediately. I did some background research on this and from &lt;a href=&quot;http://members.shaw.ca/tfrisen/how_much_oxygen_for_a_person.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this calculation&lt;/a&gt;, it seems that humans consume one cubic meter of air in half a day. So if we break this down to a quarter cubic meter for 6 hours of sleep, it might come close to the volume of air that was available in the sack. (But then again I still can't believe it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, I left the door a bit opened for the whole night. However, I do not think this is solution will always work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now I wonder, was what I experienced mainly psychological or are oxygen shortages while sleeping in a bivouac a real thing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional background that may or may not inform answers to the question: The temperature was about 0 °C (32 °F), the air was humid (rather foggy, close to a river) and the elevation was at 500 meters above sea level. I went to stay in the bivouac at 7 pm, the breath shortages occurred, I think, around midnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11934" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T21:02:38.877" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T21:02:38.877" Title="Are Oxygen shortages possible in closed bivouacs?" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;night&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15364" CreationDate="2017-02-23T08:47:29.233" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do I need to use a trailer made to measure, or can I use any trailer&#xA;  that can carry any boat of a specific category within its range of&#xA;  specs (keel type, weight, and dimensions)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need a specific trailer. Just make sure that it's a 2,7 tons trailer with a keel tub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example would be the &quot;Wick braked tandem trailer 2700 kg&quot;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sPhYj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sPhYj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://85.158.4.112/wick-bootstrailer-responsive/trailer-segelboottrailer-2.html#collapseGTDT-2700&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;From &quot;Wick Trailer&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (caution, you've to scroll down and choose the 2700 kg version)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, there is a guy selling this type of a Granada 24 exactly with this trailer on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-granada-24/k0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eBay&lt;/a&gt; (actually it's from a trademark which doesn't exist anymore but Wick continues to build them):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Der Trailer ist ein 2,7 to NELBACH-Trailer Bauj. Okt.2000, TÜV&#xA;  Aug.2018. ebenfalls sehr gepflegt. (sollte man den Trailer nicht&#xA;  gebrauchen, kann das Boot auch ohne dieses erworben werden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Translated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The trailer is a 2,7 t Nelbach from October 2000. (...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is going to look somewhat like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q2QX2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q2QX2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T08:54:06.970" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T08:54:06.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-23T09:02:04.993" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Tidal causeways&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to know the time, the time of the tide and the range of times when you can safely cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T09:02:04.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15392" CreationDate="2017-02-23T10:16:10.207" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you put a plastic back over your head, you are going to suffocate. A good bivvy bag should be designed such that suffocation is not an issue. However, breathing into a bivvy bag is a terrible idea because the vapour in your breath will condense and make you wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make this question a non issue by not breathing into your bivvy bag. Leave an opening. Check the manufacturers recommendation on your product. I bet it gives the same advise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Andy Kirkpatrick has talked about a time when he was bivvying in Patagonia in a special bag made by Rab Carrington. The bag had a 'snorkel' of sorts to allow for breathing. During sleep Andy had a suffocation experience because the snorkel had collapsed. Sorry i dont have a link to this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T10:16:10.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15367" CreationDate="2017-02-23T13:54:57.257" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of games out there (&quot;team building&quot; games, introductory ones, icebreakers etc.). &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wrike.com/blog/team-building-games/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is just the first result of a google search. All games can be adapted to the size and age of the group, but using such games needs preparation in advance. Some people find such games a nuisance, others tend to enjoy them a lot - it really varies. A lot of (youth) organizations have game databases with all kind of searching parameters (size, age, purpose, environment etc.), for example there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scoutresources.org.uk/SR/games/games_active.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; for small children. I know others, but not in English, so... :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides the aforementioned common chores and &quot;doing something hard&quot; together I would mention &lt;strong&gt;introducing some sort of ritual&lt;/strong&gt;. It can be as short as a few minutes, but it should include everyone in the team. Some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preparing topics/tasks for each day: after getting ready to leave, get a quick circle for sharing the topic of the day. At the end of the day gather up and reflect on it. Encourage people to talk about it also during the day. All this could be done in a total of 15 minutes, but can also extend to longer discussions at the evening campfire. For example: find out a thing you didn't know before about each team member until the end of the day; ask at least 3 people about what they wanted to become when they were kids; how to make an awareness event of the state of the local trails/national park. No better ideas now, but I guess you got the point :) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Discussing today's trail: every morning, after breakfast+packing but before leaving discuss the details of that day's trail. Landmarks, challenges etc. We did it on bike trip with beginners, but for experienced hikers it may be boring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Evening ritual (can be done also at dinner, when everyone sits down together): each person shares answers on the following (of course, customizable) questions: what am I grateful for today? what was the most surprising thing I learned? did I manage to talk with someone today? how did I manage to challenge myself today? what am I the most proud of today? etc. You may vary the questions, or ask the same thing every day. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Build the fire together: this is nicest perhaps on the last evening of the trip. Send everyone away for 30 minutes to find all sort of wood suitable for building a fire; if you have a certain topic you would like to discuss, then you can share it, so they could reflect on it while gathering wood. After the 30 minutes meet at the place you would build the fire on, and build the fire together - here it is not the point to see who takes the leading role, just make them aware that &quot;we build one nice fire, we all put our part in it&quot;. Avoid big, groundshaking arguments about the best fire building technique :) the fire is the common goal. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T13:54:57.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15316" CreationDate="2017-02-23T15:24:43.270" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is important to remember that acts of theft are often crimes of opportunity.  Thieves like to take something not because they planned to steal it but because it was easy to take. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The previous answer suggests some great ideas for truly secure methods but simply running a bicycle cable lock through the loop of a handle or through a hole and around an immovable object is often enough to thwart off a would-be thief.  I often use this technique when on short trips when the kayak will be out of sight and it works well in remote locations where a thief is unlikely to be carrying the tools necessary to defeat a lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another tip that almost goes without saying is to simply not provide thieves with the opportunity.  Simply don't take the kayak anywhere you don't need to.&#xA;I generally avoid driving around town with my bikes/kayaks on my vehicle if I can.  I like to do my shopping before a trip and then load the kayaks just before hitting the road.  I know that they are much safer when locked in my garage then they will ever be sitting atop my vehicle, no matter what kind of cables and straps I attach them with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3045" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T15:24:43.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15324" CreationDate="2017-02-23T15:53:46.213" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Start with making a better list of skills to learn. Identifying edible foods is nowhere near skill #1. I occasionally pick berries, and even more rarely catch and eat a fish, but you can have decades of wilderness fun without ever eating wild food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, step 1, read some trip reports, books about long trips that relate to your planned excursions. For example if you want to canoe camp, read about a long and epic canoe trip somewhere near your target area (the Amazon is very different from Northern Ontario.) If you want to hike, read about a through-hike. If you want to climb mountains, read about mountain climbing (but don't read about Everest if you want to do something around Tuscany.) From these you will develop your actual skill list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step 2, do some of this in a supported way. Ideally, get someone to take you on a short trip where you can practice things and get help if you're not doing them correctly. If that's not possible, practice when you're not on a trip: put the tent up inside, cook on your camp stove on your apartment balcony, try packing into your backpack and walking around the block with it for an hour. Here if you can't do something properly there's no harm done, you just return to your safe warm house and your fridge full of food. Make a packing list, and then for a few days try using only things that are on the packing list. When you reach for something you hadn't listed, you can add it to the list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Step 3, do some of it for real, but still somewhat supported. For example, when you canoe in Algonquin Park, the portages are all marked with large signs. You can generally find them by just observing where the 5 or 6 other canoes on the lake are headed. This means your map skills don't have to be amazingly great yet, you just basically need to know north from south. Also the campsites are marked (and on maps you can buy) and fire rings are already built. This means &quot;Choosing a safe place to camp&quot; reduces to &quot;evaluate if you would like this camp site or want to keep going to another one.&quot; This should be a trip with at least one other person, even if they too are a complete beginner. Solo camping requires you to carry much more weight and requires more skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Through it all, keep reading - &quot;how to camp&quot; books if you like, or just inspirational stories. Do small practice trips. Three days without shaving or brushing your teeth won't kill you, and next time your packing list will be a little more complete. You will learn how to get your tent up quickly, and what time you have to start making dinner so you're not eating in the dark. You'll spend the night somewhere buggy or noisy or otherwise non ideal, and next time you'll choose a better campsite. You'll see some wildlife but do something that spooks it, and next time you'll do better. As you get more skilled, you can take longer trips. And at some point you'll realize you're getting good at this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T15:53:46.213" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15392" CreationDate="2017-02-23T15:54:44.937" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would not have guessed you could deplete O₂ or saturate CO₂ but evidence that you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You compared to a tent. A typical backpacking / climbing tent design is different.  The walls and ceiling are breathable with a rain-fly over the top.  Even a 4 season tent is breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N7ewn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N7ewn.png&quot; alt=&quot;without rainfly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qlaKD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qlaKD.png&quot; alt=&quot;with rainfly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T15:54:44.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15418" CreationDate="2017-02-23T16:53:45.623" Score="10" ViewCount="1068" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last night I watched a film about a crew that sailed from New Zealand to Patagonia, with a stop in Antarctica, taking over two months to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the things that caught my attention is when they were talking about their food storage, they mentioned having brought 2,000 raw eggs, covered them in vasoline and stored them in boxes. They said that the &lt;strong&gt;eggs needed to be rotated&lt;/strong&gt; (the box flipped upside down) &lt;strong&gt;once a week to keep them from going bad.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any truth to this and if so why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-23T23:49:59.497" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T15:44:42.923" Title="Do raw eggs need to be rotated for freshness on a long voyage?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15370" CreationDate="2017-02-23T21:24:21.273" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're treating water with chemicals or boiling it, you better know how long it takes to do it right.  A watch is the only way to know exactly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12499" LastActivityDate="2017-02-23T21:24:21.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15405" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-24T03:41:32.153" Score="6" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a backpacking trip with multiple people, it is all but guaranteed that disagreements will arise. Pace, food, wake-up times, route and chores are some of the common sources of friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpacking can be a special set of circumstances for a couple of reasons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can't just &lt;strong&gt;leave an annoying person behind&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's hard to hide your rough sides, for one thing after a couple of days you will all be rather &lt;strong&gt;smelly&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will be in pretty &lt;strong&gt;close proximity&lt;/strong&gt; to the rest of the group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacking can be &lt;strong&gt;stressful&lt;/strong&gt;, long days, aching feet, feeling tired, having a hard time adjusting to the outdoors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyone is &lt;strong&gt;dependent&lt;/strong&gt; to some degree on everyone else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When disagreements arise, what are some good practices for resolving them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T03:57:33.800" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T15:42:30.810" Title="What are good practices for resolving disagreements on a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15406" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-24T06:58:03.773" Score="2" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to convert the spine of my Goldtip and Easton shafts to the AMO static spine standardization. They've their static spine declared as for example &quot;500&quot; which translates into a deflection of &quot;0.500&quot;. But with which measurement method? The AMO/AMA with 2 # @ 26 &quot; or ASTM with 1.94 # @ 28 &quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T07:05:37.390" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T07:05:37.390" Title="Are the Goldtip and Easton spine declarations AMO/AMA or ASTM?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15408" CreationDate="2017-02-24T07:16:04.930" Score="15" ViewCount="5205" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a strange thing going on since a few days ago in the office. Suddenly we recognized a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_blue_tit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blue tit&lt;/a&gt; flying like crazy up and down on our window. It looks quite average, a beautiful bird, not like somehow sick or something. Still, the first day we thought: &quot;Okay, this poor thing sure is ill.&quot; We didn't bother anymore since we thought it's going to die soon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next day however, the blue tit flew a few charges again. Always flying to the window just to go up and down on it then. This lasts for about 5 minutes before the bird moves away again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The behavior is shown frequently for about the last 5 days. Approximately the tit comes every 5 hours trying to storm our window. This doesn't mean, that it's always exactly 5 hours. Sometimes it's only there once per office-day and sometimes it comes back after an hour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen something like this. What's wrong with it? What causes this behavior? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T17:23:00.113" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T17:23:00.113" Title="Why does this blue tit bird desperately want to come inside?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15407" CreationDate="2017-02-24T08:20:36.060" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two possibilities: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There's something it thinks is food on the inside. Note that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/blue-tits-and-milk-bottle-tops&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blue tits are quite clever at accessing food, to the extent of opening foil-topped milk-bottles&lt;/a&gt; (though the linked article illustrates this with a photo of a great tit!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At this time of year, more likely, it's not trying to get in, but sees its reflection as a rival or (as the sexes look alike in blue tits) a potential mate. Winter tit flocks break up in spring and pairs form. This is common is in some species - (European) robin for example, and has been seen in blue tits as well. The time of day at which this occurs may be affected by light levels, which change the brightness of the reflection, also by indoor lighting. You may be able to prove it by placing a mirror in a similar area. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources for the second phenomenon:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/read-and-learn/watching-birds/behaviour/birds_and_windows/attacking.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB (UK)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jstor.org/stable/4077889&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wm. E. Ritter, and Seth B. Benson. &quot;Is the Poor Bird Demented? Another Case of Shadow Boxing&quot;. The Auk, vol. 51, no. 2, 1934, pp. 169–179&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.muhlenberg.edu/media/contentassets/images/academics/biology/biology/faculty/klem/aco/documents/BirdObserver2006.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Daniel Klem, Jr. &quot;Glass: A Deadly Conservation Issue for Birds&quot; Bird Observer Vol. 34, No. 2, 2006&lt;/a&gt; (A brief mention at the end of p.3)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V35/V35_N11/V35_N11_P234_240_A047.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MK Colquhoun. &quot;Notes on the social behaviour of blue tits&quot; Brit. Birds 35 (1942): 234-240.&lt;/a&gt; Well worth a read if you're interested in pairing behaviour&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T09:05:28.533" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T09:05:28.533" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-24T08:52:48.433" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are some methods we use within the Hungarian Scout Organization - some may be a bit outdated from past times when communication was not so easy :) but still, these methods are non-intrusive and leave no trace. I will try to sum up the main points from the text + explain the sections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title + text&lt;/strong&gt;: Road signs (with sticks, chalk, grass, stones): main idea is to leave as little trace as possible, but still mark your path. Use natural materials. In exceptional cases use chalk in urban areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First section&lt;/strong&gt;: good road - the direction to follow. The fourth image shows three stones, a bigger one on the bottom, a smaller one on the top (quite unprobable that it would be like this, unless someone put it that way) + a third stone to show the direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second section&lt;/strong&gt;: direction of walking - confirming you are on the right track, keep it that way. The third image shows a few blades of grass tied in a knot - this can be done only with taller grass, and it might unfold easily... The fourth one is a leaf put on a branch stick in the ground - not too probable to occur in nature on its own, but understandable only for those who know the signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third section&lt;/strong&gt;: danger ahead/stay focused. The third one is also grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fourth row&lt;/strong&gt;: bad road, letter at 3 steps in the given direction, letter at 5 steps, letter at 3 steps drawn with chalk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fifth row&lt;/strong&gt;: we are camping here, we are camping here drawn with chalk + number of the unit, hide, wait here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sixth row&lt;/strong&gt;: good water, bad water, I went home, go home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tlQVJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tlQVJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T08:52:48.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15405" CreationDate="2017-02-24T10:24:37.987" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the group there should be &lt;strong&gt;one leader&lt;/strong&gt;. This is the most experienced person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This person responsible for the route planning, amount of food required also this person checks equipment and cloth required for the trip and decide who take what.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leader should be able detect when group is tired and when to stop for a night\make a camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leader should be able detect if a member does not feel good and he\she takes decision what to do in emergency situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T10:24:37.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15414" CreationDate="2017-02-24T10:27:07.500" Score="15" ViewCount="658" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wrist watch has a barometer, measures atmospheric pressure in mb (millibar).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What role does information about atmospheric pressure play from an outdoor perspective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets stick to caving, hiking/trekking, mountaineering, kayaking, sailing, climbing, deep sea diving, scuba diving in our scope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-03-24T16:04:42.873" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T16:04:42.873" Title="What role does information about atmospheric pressure play from an outdoor perspective?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15411" CreationDate="2017-02-24T12:18:32.523" Score="14" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pressure can tell you altitude (both up in mountains or down in caves).  This is the basis for how many altimeters work.  It helps if you know the pressure at a nearby known altitude.  This helps cancel out natural variations in air pressure due to weather.  Just about every airport has such a barometer, and broadcasts its value.  Pilots, especially those about to land, adjust their altimeters to the airport reading to get accurate readings of height above the runway.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a rough predictor of weather.  A recent decrease in air pressure (at the same location and altitude) usually indicates a storm is coming.  High pressure usually means the opposite.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-02-24T16:54:36.830" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T16:54:36.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10098" CreationDate="2017-02-24T12:44:31.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You freeze. You look at the snake. Do not wave your arms or make sudden movement. If the snake don't move away from you. Look behind you &amp;amp; slowly back off.  Do not stumble or fall.  Find a safe way around the snake or retreat. Move slow! Never try to find out what type of snake! There are look alikes. Normally snakes are not agresive.  Always be on the lookout for them.  Were I live we have 3 type of cobra, 3 type of pit viper, 7 type of ring snake or you call them coral snakes, 3 type of true vipers, Also the only place in the world with fresh water sea snakes. The spitting cobra range 12 to 14 foot a spit. So freeze, back of slow, leave them alone. Only way to chance a snake is 30 foot &amp;amp; a good shotgun. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T12:44:31.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15411" CreationDate="2017-02-24T13:22:46.453" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a scuba diving / apnea (free) diving perspective knowing your barometric pressure can let you know your depth - At 1 bar you are at surface level, with each 10m descent you are at a further 1bar. So at 10m you're at 2bar. At 15m you're at 2.5 Bar etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many risks with being underwater from a scuba perspective which increase with depth. From as little a depth as 5m you can become (depending on you as an individual) susceptible to the effects of nitrogen - as you breathe in and out under water your body takes in more nitrogen than you do at the surface, this again varies on you as an individual (fat absorbs more nitrogen etc). Apnea divers tend to not be affected as they hold a continuous breath. Nitrogen narcosis can cause a lot of problems, from becoming incredibly slow in responding to hallucinating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also with scuba you must continue to breathe, holding your breath can lead to a lot of issues. With depth, and therefore pressure increases, your lungs volume changes, so if you imagine a balloon full of air at the surface, at 40m the balloon will be 1/4 the size but hold the same amount of air. Now imagine you fill that balloon further whilst under water, and then coming up - the balloon will burst as the air expands coming up. This is exactly why divers can never hold their breath, and why you may get a poke in the stomach from your buddy if they don't see bubbles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is commonly recorded on your dive computer though, but some people dive with a watch as well, as a fail-safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T13:22:46.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15342" CreationDate="2017-02-24T14:40:17.097" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've cleaned blueberries on a windy day by gently pouring from one container to another, letting the wind &quot;winnow&quot; the debris. The berries must be dry, i.e. not washed, undamaged/squished. It works well. Best if the berries are handpicked, not by a rake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5925" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T14:40:17.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15405" CreationDate="2017-02-24T15:42:30.810" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the most important thing is that you &lt;strong&gt;set expectations&lt;/strong&gt; prior to the trip. Everyone should be on the same page about the planned route, schedule, meals, etc. Of course, planning is different from doing, so you need a social structure to determine how to handle disputes en route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option is to &lt;strong&gt;pick a leader&lt;/strong&gt; who is experienced both with backpacking and handling disagreements. Everyone knows to go to the leader to mediate problems. This gives the group structure and alleviates tensions between the rest of the group. This is best in groups where there's a clear choice (one person much more experienced, adults leading a group of teens, etc.) both so nobody's feelings get hurt and so their decisions are respected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to &lt;strong&gt;rotate leadership&lt;/strong&gt;. Let one person lead the trail on day one, another on day two - everyone gets time in the hot seat. This is best when everyone has similar levels of experience. You could also do this with smaller tasks, e.g. have a troop leader who is ultimately responsible but let the kids take turns navigating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your group is large enough, &lt;strong&gt;split up into sub-groups&lt;/strong&gt;. For example, on one trip we switched canoe partners each day. So even if we got annoyed with someone, we would only have to put up with them for a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, &lt;strong&gt;give people room for downtime&lt;/strong&gt;. Maybe it's just the introvert in me, but after spending a few days in close quarters with other people and feeling smelly, &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt; can get on my nerves. Sitting quietly on a rock by myself for a few minutes does wonders to recalibrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T15:42:30.810" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21206" CreationDate="2017-02-24T16:12:32.680" Score="9" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will travel to the Highlands and have a very quick stop-over at the Glasgow Airport since I have to catch the bus from Daluir. Is there any chance to get alcohol-fuel for a burner? In some countries Methylated Spirits is available in pharmacy shops but I am not sure if this is the case in Scotland and if there is a pharmacy in the airport area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4068" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:37:59.873" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T17:31:22.080" Title="Alcohol-fuel for burner at the Glasgow Airport" Tags="&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15400" CreationDate="2017-02-24T18:42:11.750" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It turns out that raw eggs need to be either sealed or rotated, the people in the video were doing both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The egg shell is semi-permeable.  As an egg ages, it loses the slightest amount of internal moisture over time (which is why an old egg floats).&lt;/strong&gt;  To minimize this loss, there are two techniques:  &lt;strong&gt;Turning or sealing.&lt;/strong&gt;  Turning requires that you be able to get at your eggs every few days, and sealing requires that you spend some quality time with each and every egg before you stow it.  For most cruisers, it's not a matter of whether you like one method or another, but how deeply you think you might be burying the eggs in your holds, which decides the method used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turning is easy up front, but can be quite a chore over time.  I&lt;strong&gt;f the membrane inside the egg remains in contact with the shell, it will hold moisture much longer.  It's when the membrane pulls away, and the inside of the egg shell dries in one place, that you start to have problems.&lt;/strong&gt;  So if you just turn the eggs completely upside down every couple of days, the eggs will last for a long time.  If you store the eggs in something you can just flip over, it makes things easier, but in most cases you'll still be digging out and turning something every few days.  Of course, each time you move things around, you risk an egg breaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The other option is to seal the eggs individually, so that they won't dry out even after the inside pulls away from the shell.&lt;/strong&gt;  The most common things to use are mineral oil, shellac, or vaseline, but there are actually food grade sealants made for the purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://yachtpals.com/practical-cruising-eggs-7096&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, both techniques are done to prevent the egg from losing moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T18:47:13.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15400" CreationDate="2017-02-24T19:45:41.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kelley at Preparedness Pro published an article called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.preparednesspro.com/safely-preserving-eggs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Safely Preserving Eggs&lt;/a&gt;. She believes that  the answer to your question is yes, the cartons should be gently flipped upside down about once a month. This is to preserve the integrity of the egg. She also seals them individually for the best protection and longevity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is her opinion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several methods you can use and I’ve written of a couple of ways previously, but my favorite one (because it’s the easiest) is using mineral oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you have to do is warm a quarter cup of mineral oil (just about 10 seconds in the microwave will do).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Set your eggs outside of the carton (because it will be hard to get them out one you start using the mineral oil). Put on some food handling gloves (I buy this at one of the warehouses). They are easy to use for safe food handling but they are also a lot less expensive than medical gloves and yet in some circumstances they can be used instead of medical gloves. They are not puncture resistant though, so exercise caution if using them for that purpose).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dab a little bit of the warmed mineral oil on your hands and then pick up an egg. Run your oiled hands all over the eggs, making sure to cover it completely with the mineral oil. Don’t worry if you’re putting it on too thick or thin, just so long as every part of it is covered. When you’re finished with an egg, put it in the egg carton, small pointed side down. A quarter cup of mineral oil should easily do 4 to 6 dozen eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, store your egg cartons in a cool, dry place. You want the temperature to be about 68 degrees for long-term storage—otherwise storing them like this in your regular room temperature is just fine for a few weeks. Remember, the eggs come out of a warm hen. I’m always asked if this will help the eggs keep longer in the refrigerator too. The answer is yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You’ll want to set a reminder on your calendar or cell phone to flip your eggs once a month at which time you’ll simply flip the carton upside down gently so as not to break any of the eggs. Do this every month to maintain the integrity of the egg yolk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For storage up to three months, which is a bit longer than the trip in your question, regular room temperature is good.&#xA;For 6-9 months, a cool dark area is recommended, with temperatures about 65° - 68° and 75% humidity.&#xA;For extra long, up to 9-12 months, store in the refrigerator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you're interested, I found the result of an experiment done by Jamie, of &lt;a href=&quot;http://prepared-housewives.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prepared Housewives&lt;/a&gt;. She treated a carton of 18 eggs with mineral oil according to the same method described above. She put those in the refrigerator, making sure to flip them every month, for a year. She also put a carton of 18 untreated eggs right beside them. At the end of the year, she published her findings in &lt;a href=&quot;http://prepared-housewives.com/preserving-eggs-experiment-1-year-later/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Preserving Eggs with Mineral Oil, 1 Year Later&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you said, the mark of a healthy egg is when it sinks to the bottom. She started there.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Mineral oiled eggs:&#xA;All 18 sunk straight to the bottom, except one, which had a crack in it.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Untreated eggs:&#xA;All 18 floated on the top. One of those also had a crack, with brown sediment oozing out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How well did they cook?&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Mineral oiled eggs: Looked perfect and tasted great.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Untreated eggs: Cooked flat like a pancake. The texture was also different, slightly rubbery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked page has pictures of eggs during each phase of the procedure. The final picture below shows the dramatic difference after cooking them over-easy. She ate the treated egg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can now say I've eaten eggs over a year old!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pKcqD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pKcqD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cooked mineral treated and untreated eggs&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T15:44:42.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15420" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15430" CreationDate="2017-02-24T20:31:05.403" Score="4" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently live about 25 miles northeast of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.  On February 20-21, 2015, a fairly significant snow and ice event struck the area.  On February 29-March 1, 2016, a smaller event occurred also bringing a thin coating of ice.  From February 20-24, 2017, it is sunny and approximately 60°F (16°C) or higher.  I mention this just to illustrate how unusual the weather has been at this time of year, during 2017.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My workplace overlooks a pond.  In past summers, I have gone so far as to break out binoculars and a guide book, and identified that we have at least one &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_map_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map turtle&lt;/a&gt;, five &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;painted turtles&lt;/a&gt;, and maybe a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;red-eared slider&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today (Feb 24, 2017) I went outside for a break and saw the map turtle and two of the painteds on one of the logs on the edge of the pond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering that the long-term forecast does not preclude a return to more normal conditions (there is a blizzard not 200 miles away right now), is there any chance that this early emergence from their &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernaculum_(zoology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hibernacula&lt;/a&gt; could ultimately be harmful to these guys?  Or could they just as easily return to the pond bottom and resume a state of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lllreptile.com/articles/126-reptilian-brumation/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;brumation&lt;/a&gt; for another month or two?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE 6 MARCH 2017 - Early last week there was some heavy rain that swelled the pond and turned it murky. Still, I may have seen one partially-submerged-turtle-shaped object drifting around. Then a few days later, it froze overnight and snowed until noon the next day. Now it has returned to the unseasonable warmth. A bit of a roller coaster from both human and reptile point of view. Anyway, today I saw two painteds on a log. Keeping an optimistic spirit here, until next update.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE 21 MARCH 2107 - We remain on the temperature roller coaster, though it seems to be starting to stabilize. Anyway, ever since the snow events a couple weeks ago, I have seen no more than two painteds at any one time, and so far no other species. Still too early to jump to conclusions, though. At the least, the fact that there are two definite survivors is good reason for optimism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE 27 MARCH 2017 (FINAL) - Great news everyone! I just went out for a look during lunch, and saw a total of five turtles around the pond. One was the map, three were painteds, and one was either another painted or a slider. With the weather stabilizing toward definite spring conditions, it looks like our carapaced friends are in the clear. Yippee!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-04-26T21:49:31.033" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T00:41:58.370" Title="Could this year's unusual warmth harm turtles?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15420" CreationDate="2017-02-24T20:45:56.097" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like it can be harmful for the turtles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Even the healthiest turtle may come out of hibernation too soon and be caught above ground by a spring snowstorm and perish.&lt;/strong&gt; Many wild box turtles are eaten by foraging animals as they sleep, or freeze to death because they didn’t find satisfactory winter dens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://boxturtlesite.info/hib.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Owner Joy Bloor said: &amp;quot;To hibernate properly they need to be under 6C. Above that and they start waking up and start using energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It's energy they can't spare because they don't have the body weight, so we have to keep them warm with the lamps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;They can't go back to sleep because they would die.&lt;/strong&gt; If they are not warm enough they will not eat or drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;So they are up and about now for the year. It's definitely the earliest they've ever been awake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It's the weather. Most of them were still awake in mid-December because it was so mild and now they are out of hibernation already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512241/Four-tortoises-come-hibernation-early-mild-weather.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-24T20:45:56.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15426" CreationDate="2017-02-25T11:27:52.063" Score="8" ViewCount="869" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading all of the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15370&quot;&gt;Are there any situations while backpacking that would require a watch?&lt;/a&gt; and surprised at the number of answers that said you need a watch so you would know how long until dark.  People have been walking around the world for a very long time, portable time pieces have only been readily available for about hundred years. They do have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_watches&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;longer history&lt;/a&gt; but spent much of that time as very high end luxury items. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The compass has a much &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;longer history&lt;/a&gt;, it is simpler instrument, with a much lower cost to acquire and maintain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A watch alone, will not tell you when it going to get dark, nor when the tides will be low, but combined with other information it can help you determine when the forecast event will occur. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I have a compass, how can I use it to estimate how long until sun set? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T16:04:18.317" Title="I have a compass but no watch, how can I tell when it will get dark?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15425" CreationDate="2017-02-25T11:42:43.990" Score="7" ViewCount="6357" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not exactly sure where I am in the world.  It could be that I am in a boat on the ocean, been in a plane crash, or suffered some other calamity.  In any case I either have a compass with me or &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13924&quot;&gt;have made one&lt;/a&gt; and now I need to figure out where I am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I use a compass alone to identify latitude &amp;amp; longitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I need something else, what is it that I need and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T01:21:23.460" Title="How to identify latitude &amp; longitude with a compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15424" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15429" CreationDate="2017-02-25T12:03:37.737" Score="1" ViewCount="406" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming I have memorized the major Latitude and Longitudes as they relate to the world, as shown in the image below and that I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15423/how-to-identify-latitude-longitude-with-a-compass&quot;&gt;know how to identify latitude &amp;amp; longitude with a compass&lt;/a&gt;.  What else do I need to know?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not talking about everything I need to know to find my way to a specific small island in the middle of an ocean, but more for general preparedness.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SeBG8.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SeBG8.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Longitude and latitude&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Longitude_and_latitude_definition.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source Wikicommons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T04:09:39.060" Title="What is the minimum knowledge to navigate with only a compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15423" CreationDate="2017-02-25T13:44:01.030" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You need something else.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextant&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sextant&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_chronometer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;marine chronometer&lt;/a&gt; (a fancy watch). The sextant measures the inclination of a star or the sun, and helps to determine latitude.  Once you know that, using the chronometer and some additional trigonometry gives longitude.  I do not know how to do either of these things, so here's some articles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wikipedia's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_by_chronometer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Longitude By Chronometer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;PBS Nova's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/navigate/escapenav.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Navigation By Sextant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A compass is a magnet that points toward a particular spot on the Earth. The mathematics just don't work out to use that information to get any position information, since many points on the earth will all have the same compass behavior. Even if you had some knowledge of which direction true north was from a different tool, all that information gets you is what your local variation is.  That puts you somewhere on what might be a very large, meandering curve:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsFH5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsFH5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterthought:  You are far from the first to wonder, and it was such a big deal a few hundred years ago to find a way to measure longitude while at sea, that major prizes were offered to anyone who could do it.  The competition was so fierce, that eventually a movie was made about it.  The creatively title &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192263/plotsummary&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Longitude&lt;/a&gt; may be of interest to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-03-02T20:11:45.903" LastActivityDate="2017-03-02T20:11:45.903" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15422" CreationDate="2017-02-25T14:30:02.190" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a compass, nor any mechanical tool at all.  You just need your fingers.  I've linked an article with illustrations at the end, but here is the basic idea:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stand facing the sun, extend your arms out fully, and bend your hands inward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rotate your fingers to be parallel to the horizon, and move your hand(s) to position them between the horizon and the sun.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Count how many fingers are between the horizon and the bottom of the sun.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Each finger means 10 to 15 minutes (different sources give different estimates, my own experience doing this is closer to 10.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in comments, this technique only gives an approximation.  Its usefulness may depend on terrain and even your latitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Find-Out-How-Much-Time-Is-Left-Before-Sunset&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Find Out How Much Time Is Left Before Sunset&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-02-26T14:00:13.807" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T14:00:13.807" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15427" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-25T16:05:21.737" Score="3" ViewCount="686" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought these cross country ski poles from Salomon. The straps are insanely short.  I have very small hands for a guy, and with a (very) thin glove, the velcro hook/loop barely makes a connection. As you see, the diameter, when stretched out to the widest is about 3 inches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I doing something wrong? I want to wear thicker gloves....&#xA;Thoughts, comments, ideas?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kwrnsl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kwrnsl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hZ7RFl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hZ7RFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the diameter is too small!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12513" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:35:14.120" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T18:21:06.093" Title="Salomon Cross-Country Ski Pole Straps Too Short" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15427" CreationDate="2017-02-25T18:12:23.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The straps are supposed to be short, it helps give you more power on your pole stroke, and keep better control of you poles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you properly fit your straps, you're supposed to adjust them short enough be able to draw your poles behind you and lift them off the ground with your hands open. This gives your hands an opportunity to relax in the latter part of your pole stroke, and when bringing your poles back to your front. You don't want to be able to drop your poles out of your grip, but you want to be able to let your grip loose without fumbling to get it back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your pole straps are made for fast powerful pole strokes on long poles. you only wear light gloves with that style of strap because when you're racing you stay warm from staying active, you don't wear thick clothes or gloves because you'll overheat and sweat like crazy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your hands are getting cold, then you're probably not staying active enough. You may want to look at more of a recreational pole strap if you want to slow down and ski more leisurely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T18:12:23.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15424" CreationDate="2017-02-25T20:00:46.863" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you can see from an answer to your &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15423/how-to-identify-latitude-longitude-with-a-compass&quot;&gt;other question&lt;/a&gt;, you cannot determine your global &lt;em&gt;coordinates&lt;/em&gt; via a magnetic compass. &lt;em&gt;Navigation&lt;/em&gt;, however, where you wish to use a compass to help you travel from one known global location to another, has been achieved as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gnomonic map&lt;/a&gt;, plot a straight line connecting your &quot;from&quot; and &quot;to&quot; points. The Gnomic projection has the unique property that all &lt;em&gt;great circle routes&lt;/em&gt; (i.e., shortest courses on a globe) project as straight lines, no matter what direction they have.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carefully transfer the route from the Gnomonic map onto a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mercator map&lt;/a&gt;. Generally stated, your shortest route will plot as a curve. The Mercator projection has the unique property that all &lt;em&gt;loxodromes&lt;/em&gt; &amp;ndash; lines of constant azimuth (or bearing) &amp;ndash; project as straight lines, no matter their initial directions. It also has the property that angles measured between lines on the map are correct. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Segmentize the curved route on the Mercator map. That is, approximate the curve via a sequence of straight lines. Each segment will have constant direction throughout its length.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For each segment, set a course for that segment and travel for the distance indicated by that segment. Note that each True course must be &quot;corrected&quot; for magnetic declination to get the Magnetic (compass) course. Also note that each measured map distance will need to be corrected for scale distortion and this is a mathematical function of latitude. While your overall line of travel will not be exactly the shortest route, it will always be following a set course. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following example is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.geogarage.com/2012/03/gerardus-mercator-father-of-modern.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GeoGarage.com&lt;/a&gt;: First, the shortest route from Seattle to London on a Gnomonic map. Notice its direction changes throughout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XV4K8.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XV4K8.png&quot; alt=&quot;great circle on gnomonic&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that same great circle route plotted as a curve on a Mercator map and, in this case, the curve has been &quot;approximated&quot; by only a single straight segment, representing a line of constant bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NNBvT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NNBvT.png&quot; alt=&quot;loxodrome on mercator map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Such has been the method of global map and compass navigation prior to the age of electronic instrumentation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-02-25T21:07:27.247" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15420" CreationDate="2017-02-25T20:23:58.557" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;An early thaw can definitely be dangerous to some of the many varieties of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;painted turtles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, you only have one breed of painted, which is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/reptiles/midland-painted-turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Midland Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta marginata&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several subspecies of painted turtles in the United States, but only the midland painted turtle occurs in Ohio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Midland painted turtles are among the most abundant and most conspicuous turtles in Ohio. They are particularly fond of basking and can be seen by the dozens on logs and along the banks of most bodies of water through the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This turtle is generally up and out in February, so that's very common!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://trekohio.com/2012/07/19/ohios-12-species-of-turtles-at-a-glance/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio's 12 species of turtles&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While hibernating, the body temperature of the Midland painted turtle averages 6 °C (43 °F). Periods of warm weather bring the turtle out of hibernation, and even in the north, individuals have been seen basking in February.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/reptiles/red-eared-slider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)&lt;/a&gt;, and two varieties of map turtles, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/reptiles/northern-map-turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica)&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/reptiles/ouachita-map-turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ouachita Map Turtle (Graptemys ouachitensis)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; On February 27, 2017, I spoke with a very kind woman at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ohio Division of Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;. I told her where you live and which turtles you've seen. She said all your turtles have adapted to these changes in weather, and can go back into whatever state of hibernation is necessary to protect themselves. A full hibernation isn't always necessary, especially if it's just for a few weeks or so. Some Map turtles tend to end their hibernation earlier than the other breeds anyway. Unfortunately, there are rare times when, if the turtles haven't sensed the weather getting colder, and are spending a lot of time out in the sun, a surprise freeze will cause them to pass away before they can get back under water. She said it's very rare, and happens quickly, so hopefully they don't suffer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those who are deceased can be seen at the water's edge, so it's up to you if you want to look around the pond area. I wouldn't, but I'm very sensitive about seeing injured or deceased animals!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Midland painted turtle and baby: &lt;a href=&quot;https://trekohio.com/2012/07/19/ohios-12-species-of-turtles-at-a-glance/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mjj3O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mjj3O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Midland painted turtle with baby&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ouachita map turtle and baby:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/reptiles/ouachita-map-turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OrNz3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OrNz3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ouachita map turtle and baby&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red Ear Slider: &lt;a href=&quot;https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=1261&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/26l1k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/26l1k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Red Ear Slider&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Northern Map Turtle group:     &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lpzoo.org/blog/northern-map-turtle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U1CK3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U1CK3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Northern Map Turtle group&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE APRIL 2019&lt;/strong&gt;: Thanks for all of your updates from the months after posting the question in February of 2017. It looks like things went really well! That's great news! I hope you've had good strong populations in 2018, and are going through a productive year right now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T00:41:58.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15435" CreationDate="2017-02-25T23:02:00.380" Score="3" ViewCount="356" Body="&lt;p&gt;While backpacking with an inflatable or self-inflating sleeping pad one runs the risk of getting holes in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does happen fairly frequently, and while they do make kits, I would like to know what should be in such a kit if I were to purchase one or what components I would need if I wanted to put one together myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would I need to have with me to fix the leak in the backcountry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-13T00:23:03.157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T00:23:03.157" Title="What should go in an inflatable sleeping pad repair kit?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15432" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-26T00:14:22.410" Score="5" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the second week of October, 2016, my husband and I went for a drive from our home in Massachusetts to the state of Maine. One of the things we wanted to see was the town of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Harbor,_Maine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bar Harbor&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever we go anywhere, we try to take the “scenic route” rather than the highways. That affords us the best opportunities for seeing birds, animals, flowers, woods, and anything else found in nature. Sometimes that means we get lost or off-track, but the best part of that is accidentally ending up in places that are absolutely gorgeous. That was the case on this trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had seen signs to Bar Harbor, but rather than go there (which we did the following day), we took some turns and wandered around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Driving up a hilly but not too narrow road, we spotted a really unusual shoreline, with more different types of rock than I've ever seen in one place. In fact, there were many I don't think I've seen before at all. I think the road was one-way at that section, but I don't remember that for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We parked the car along the side of the road, and literally saw all these different types of rocks and shorelines in my pictures from where we were standing. It was the only stop we made, making it even more fun to see so much. I'm not good at measuring distances, so I don't know how big it was. The water wound in and around the rocks and the shoreline curved in and away. As the shoreline curved away, the rocks became flatter, and some of those had moss on them.  I can't walk easily on this type of terrain, so I got onto the flat orange rock and stayed there. My husband always stays within shouting distance in case I start to slip, but he was able to get to where there were some fascinating breaks in the rocks with water running through them. He also got down to the shore. Some of the drop-off was flat, and, as you can see, there was also an area of dangerous sudden drop off the rocky edge into the ocean. We saw an entrance to a steep wooded path to the left behind the trees, but we didn't walk it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we weren't really paying attention to the signs, as we often don't, I'm not sure exactly where we were. It was probably in the area of Acadia National Park. I'm pretty sure we saw &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acadiamagic.com/CadillacMountain.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cadillac Mountain&lt;/a&gt; nearby, which is in the National Park. We didn't have to stop to pay, and there wasn't a visitor center, so it didn't seem like an &quot;official&quot; Park entrance.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've posted a sampling of the many pictures we took. It's the only stop we made along that road, so it was a treat to see so many fascinating things in one place. Some of the pictures are close-up and cropped. We have some big panoramic views, but they all have other people in them, so I didn't post them. The trees in the first two pictures were up to the left of the rocks, near the road. The ocean and trees in the fourth picture were taken facing out from the lower left most part of the rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping that because of the unique design of the area, someone will be able to tell me exactly where we were, so we can return. I'm also wondering if there's an actual name for it, so I can learn more about the history and rock formations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kERv4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kERv4l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Treeline to the left up the hill&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vw64y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vw64yl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gray rocks by trees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fnKCF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fnKCF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Shore with big water spray&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bMwe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bMwe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flat coastline with mossy rocks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nWTYj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nWTYjl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Drop off at edge&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fBj8L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fBj8Ll.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Space between rocks with water&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T20:10:00.200" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T20:54:19.617" Title="Where exactly is this rocky shoreline in the Downeast region of Maine, USA?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15424" CreationDate="2017-02-26T04:09:39.060" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need know the magnetic variation for the area you are in. This gives you 2 positions to triangle your position &amp;amp; were the sun rises at in the area you think you are in at that time of year.  You now have 3 points to go on. Look up magnetic variation on line. Now you are in the area. Next you need know how to float a stick. This will tell you current variation. Even small islands change the course of currents 200 miles out. With that you head for land &amp;amp; hope you are on the right island or close to the one you want. But I cheat. take a small transistor radio. Pull out the antenna. Know what radio towers are were &amp;amp; station they are. Note on your chart. Buy knowing were they are by the way a cheap radio fades in &amp;amp; out. You know what way to go to that tower. 2 towers are better for exact location to land at. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T04:09:39.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15434" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21845" CreationDate="2017-02-26T06:31:44.607" Score="4" ViewCount="328" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine told me that elephants used for tourism in Thailand are mistreated. They are taken away from their mothers in the wilderness and brought to a station where they are tortured to make them calm, ready to be ridden by everyone. This process is called &quot;cracking&quot;. Is this true? How exactly does this process work? Why do the gameskeepers not react?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T20:29:32.113" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T20:29:32.113" Title="Are elephants used in tourism in Thailand cracked and if yes why is it possible to take the infants away?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;elephants&gt;&lt;thailand&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15431" CreationDate="2017-02-26T13:11:48.760" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many manufacturers of inflatable sleeping pads sell repair kits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Duct tape could be used in an emergency, but I would only use it as a last resort as it will leave a residue on your sleeping pad when you get back home and want to repair it properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most kits will have something like the following items in them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seam Grip Sealer &amp;amp; Adhesive &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tenacious Tape Repair Tape or Tenacious Tape Repair Patches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small patch brush&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaR3B.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaR3B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Seam Grip Field Repair Kit &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gearaid.com/blogs/learn/repair-sleeping-pad&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seam Grip Field Repair Kit&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to make my own repair kit I would add a few more items to make it a little bit more usable on other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pencil or Sharpie to mark where the leak is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rubbing alcohol to clean the spot &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton swabs to used with rubbing alcohol&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small pair of scissors to cut tape instead of just tearing it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small piece of very fine sandpaper to roughen up smooth surfaces if need be so the glue can bound better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T13:11:48.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15432" CreationDate="2017-02-26T14:29:05.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, much of the shoreline of Mt Desert Island looks like that, particularly on the east and south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop and think about what you were doing before and after being there.  There is only one way onto the island by car.  Did you see this before or after getting to Bar Harbor?  How long before or after?  Do you remember which way the shore was facing?  Could you see anything across the water, or was it open ocean?  In what directions from straight out did you see other land across the water?  What time of day was it?  From that you can find the sun angle, from which you may be able to determine orientation some of the pictures were taken in.  Did you just pull over at the side of the road, or was there a parking area just for that purpose?  Were there any signs there?  Was this at high tide or low tide?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, what I'm trying to point out is that you know a lot more than just what the pictures show, even if maybe you don't realize it.  &lt;i&gt;Think&lt;/i&gt; about it carefully.  There are substantial clues in your head.  After narrowing it down, look at maps and Google Earth to see what matches.  At the least, you should be able to dismiss large sections of the coast as not matching.  Keep narrowing things down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you were near Bar Harbor, you should be able to eliminate anyplace on the western half of the island.  The pictures also show no buildings obvious along the shoreline.  That clearly eliminates anyplace at a town, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep following the clues.  You know a lot more than you're telling us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T14:29:05.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15437" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-26T17:52:06.400" Score="14" ViewCount="9915" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacking sleeping pads come in two basic types, foam and air, with some of the air pads being self-inflating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons of each and how would one decide which type to get?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T12:35:24.150" Title="What are the pros and cons of air pads vs foam pads for backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-26T19:21:16.713" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pads have several measurable characteristics that may be important for you when you make a decision:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight. How much you carry is important if you actually carry it. Weights ranges from ~250g to several kilos. Don't forget to consider the repair kit if needed, the pump if you take one, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dimension folded. If you carry it outside your pack make sure it doesn't affect balance. If you carry it inside, look at how much room you need&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;R-value (insulation). Look at the temperatures you'll encounter to get a good minimal value for this one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping dimensions. Most notably the thickness will be a good indication of comfort. Width are usually 50cm or 62.5cm. Length vary between model, but usually you'll find 120cm, 160cm, 180cm, and 200cm. Some people don't need a full length pad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price. Ranges from 5$ to 300$ and possibly more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then the biggest difference is that air pads can be pierced, which may require a repair kit and knowing how to use it and being in conditions where you can use it. (Not sure the glue works in temperatures of -20)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So look at what you need in terms of all those characteristics (Typically, start with the R-value because that's one thing you cannot really compromise much on), then compare the pads that would work for you, and pick the right one&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T19:21:16.713" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15439" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15442" CreationDate="2017-02-26T21:50:28.280" Score="15" ViewCount="868" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did some hikes in the past but I'm way from calling myself experienced. Now, since I live in an awesome region surrounded by Alps, I decided to take a &quot;one hike a week challenge&quot;, hiking mostly alone. The hikes are currently one day hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, it is worth mentioning that I am not very fit, so it is a bit painful (especially afterwards) and I am not very fast. I'm fine with that, I can see a bit of progress since I started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My problem is that I am afraid of heights. So walking near a cliff is really hard for me. I do it, but it takes an awful lot of thinking and convincing myself about things. Also, watching somebody do it gives me a lot more confidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of my fear, today I got stuck at some point. There was quite a steep upwards trail for just a few meters near a cliff, covered with gravel. I took the hardest route possible (near the wall next to the trail), and I got stuck to the ground. Obviously, it was possible to get up. I gave up thinking about a solution when I saw somebody behind me, waited a bit and asked for help. He helped me get on my feet, but besides that I just went up behind him (not exactly following the footsteps).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, up until there I was really afraid of even having a look at the awesome view behind. When we returned, I simply followed his steps on the side of the cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We split paths at some point but, for the rest of the hike, I could handle myself. I actually went down ok, without being scared any more (on the same route).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, it is obvious that just the presence of someone boosted my confidence. Also, I was much faster with him than alone, and not much more tired. And also the lack of my fear helped me made better decision as in &quot;follow the easiest route, not the route as far away from the cliff as possible&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I have to go by myself most of the time (didn't find anyone willing to do this much hiking), do you have any tips for gaining more confidence, controlling the fear and getting faster while alone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12522" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-30T17:38:34.413" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T17:38:34.413" Title="Dealing with anxiety and confidence issues" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-26T21:56:20.127" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used a three quarter length foam pad -- just the basic $20 (or so) Ensolite pad -- for decades until, growing older and more effete, I thought an inflatable pad, aka air mattress, would be more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrong!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The inflatable air mattress -- more than $100 -- was no more comfortable, but was a PIA to deflate and inflate every time we moved camp.  And, as @StrongBad mentioned in his comment, it was slippery: (a) I slipped on it, and (b) it slipped on the ground cloth.  (Weather good -- no tent.) As a result of (b) it was punctured before the end of a 10-day trip.  Moreover, even when we didn't move camp, we had to deflate the #$@&amp;amp; thing, because it could not be simply rolled up and tied to the pack as could a foam pad.  Although this would not have been a nuisance if we had erected the tent, we didn't and it was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, although the inflatable air mattress might have been a bit lighter than the foam pad (I really don't know), it was an object that had to be pampered, and offered no extra comfort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point about comfort is highly subjective.  If you are uncomfortable with the basic foam pad, an air mattress may be worth the hassle and expense.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-02-26T22:01:42.990" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T22:01:42.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-26T22:53:07.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fully inflatable mattresses don't provide a great deal of insulation from the ground and tend to be fairly heavy plus they take a bit of effort to inflate and deflate which can become a nuisance if you are moving camp every day, especially in bad weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A closed cell foam pad is inexpensive, rugged and provides good insulation for light weight. Their main downsides are that they don't compress much and are rather bulky and take up a significant amount of space. Also being fairly thin and firm they don't do much for comfort on hard or lumpy surfaces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The self inflating mats are a lot more compact than closed cell ones for a similar levels of performance while still being fairly easy to set up. They also tend to be a bit softer and thicker for the same weight and so may feel more comfortable, plus you can get extra thick ones, albeit with a corresponding increase in weight and bulk. Like fully inflatable ones they can be punctured. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall inflatable air mattresses aren't that well suited to backpacking. The choice between self-inflating and closed cell option really comes down to a compromise between price, durability and pack size which ultimately depends on your own personal priorities and the conditions you expect to encounter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are unsure then a a basic closed cell foam mat is a pretty safe bet &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T22:53:07.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15439" CreationDate="2017-02-26T23:07:25.163" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;For how to deal with irrational fears I don't think there is any &lt;strong&gt;substitute for repeatedly conquering them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance I used to work at a place where we would take people rock climbing and rappelling which (for most people) are much  scarier then just hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People would get to the top of the climb and then you would tell them to &lt;strong&gt;let go&lt;/strong&gt; of the rock, lean back and push of with their legs. It would freak them out, despite how safe it was. They aren't going to fall or swing or have the rope break but it would still be terrifying for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or we would set up the rappels where they would back of a 120+ ft cliff and just dangle in the air for most of the way down. Even with someone belaying them, it would still freak them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But here's the thing, I don't think I ever saw someone &lt;strong&gt;complete one of these things and then regret it.&lt;/strong&gt; The next time it was easier for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take an honest look at how dangerous it really is, and if your fear is irrational, then take a deep breath and think about the last time your conquered something like it. Remember how good that sense of accomplishment felt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As time goes on you will gain &lt;strong&gt;more and more experience and with that more and more confidence.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T03:43:13.187" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T03:43:13.187" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15439" CreationDate="2017-02-26T23:09:43.647" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you have answered your own question. Find people to hike with.  Start by building a good relationship with them, on trails you know you are capable of. Once you have a good relationship and they are understanding, push your limits with these people as support when needed, but at the same time, they are not crutches you lean on all the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like being alone, do so on trails you have done with someone else - trails you know you can do, and can tell yourself over and over again you have done this before, now is no different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a way to &quot;go to you happy place&quot; when things get scary. For me, when climbing of MTBing, I take myself back to basics - what are the few simple things you were taught (or know) that if done properly, will keep you safe. When hiking it could be Footing and balance. Focus on these. Also control your breathing, slow deep breaths, and relaxation exercises (especially shoulders) might also help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fear is a good thing, it will keep you safe in an unsafe situation. Learn to harness its power rather than have it control you. Don't be afraid of fear itself.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-02-26T23:09:43.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15445" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-27T01:32:32.393" Score="2" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm unsure where to go this summer/autumn.  Among my options would be to join an organised trek somewhere I wouldn't (currently) want to go independently (such as for experience, language, cultural, or political reasons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any targeted search engines where I can search for organised treks based on criteria such as location, length, difficulty, group size, language, price, and other characteristics?  For example, one could search for &quot;challenging tent trekking 7-20 days in northern Russia in August or September with group speaking English, Dutch, German, or Swedish&quot;, or &quot;easy-moderate Dutch-speaking hostel to hostel trekking of any duration with luggage transport in northern Spain between September and December&quot;.  I'm aware of quite a few (commercial or not-for-profit) organisations selling trekking vacations but the market does not appear very transparent.  Google Search may miss quite a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is different from &quot;how to look for a trail buddy&quot;; this question is about organised treks sold by commercial companies or not-for-profit organisations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-04T23:34:09.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T23:34:09.677" Title="Resources for finding organised treks based on specific criteria" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15447" CreationDate="2017-02-27T03:14:02.973" Score="4" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes compasses are less accurate than we would like them to be. They  can be &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15157/can-a-compass-be-thrown-off-by-its-surroundings&quot;&gt;thrown off&lt;/a&gt; by their surroundings, have their &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15050/can-a-compass-reverse-polarity&quot;&gt;polarity reversed&lt;/a&gt;, become &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6941/can-a-compass-needle-become-de-magnetized-over-time&quot;&gt;demagnetized&lt;/a&gt;, develop &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15044/is-it-normal-for-a-compass-to-develop-an-air-bubble-at-high-altitude&quot;&gt;air bubbles&lt;/a&gt; or be taken to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1217/navigational-gear-worldwide&quot;&gt;wrong hemisphere&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However in all of these cases it should be possible to have whatever is effecting the compass either affect all of the bearings equally or to use it as protractor to measure the &lt;strong&gt;angle between the bearings.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case whether or not we know that our bearings are correct, &lt;strong&gt;we could know the angle between the bearings&lt;/strong&gt; to a fair amount of accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would that be enough to find your location on a map, as opposed to having &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15026/how-to-triangulate-your-position-with-a-map-and-compass/15027#15027&quot;&gt;accurate bearings&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T21:23:09.173" Title="Can you find your location using the angle between compass bearings?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15446" CreationDate="2017-02-27T03:14:02.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible and to explain why consider the following question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the angle formed by the red or by the green lines &lt;strong&gt;larger&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrovx.pngt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrovx.pngt&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trick question! The angles are &lt;strong&gt;identical&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You see, if we have our &lt;strong&gt;two points on the map and know the angle between the bearing from us to them&lt;/strong&gt;, then we can use that information to find the &lt;strong&gt;circle that runs through our position and through those two points.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To define the circle, we need to find its &lt;strong&gt;center&lt;/strong&gt; and its &lt;strong&gt;radius&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to find the center is to find the point where the angle &lt;strong&gt;forms a right triangle with the two points.&lt;/strong&gt; The center will be at the &lt;strong&gt;exact half of the hypotenuse (green line)&lt;/strong&gt;. Or one could do it &lt;strong&gt;twice&lt;/strong&gt; from both sides and where the &lt;strong&gt;hypotenuses cross is the center&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zHNOJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zHNOJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once we know the center, the radius is simply the distance between the center and either of the points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To use that &lt;strong&gt;information to find our position&lt;/strong&gt; we will need at least one more piece of information. One can use another circle with a third point and where the circles intersect is your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lelw6.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lelw6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of if you were on a long trail or other feature that went through the circle, that intercepted the circle, one could use logic to find your position. For example if you were &lt;strong&gt;south&lt;/strong&gt; of the two positions in the image below, that would be enough to get a fix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j5EjM.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j5EjM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest is when the angle is exactly 90 degrees, as the the center is halfway between the two points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-02-28T21:23:09.173" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T21:23:09.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-27T03:28:40.230" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Air Mattress&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comfortable&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Come in many varying thicknesses.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Some air mattresses are down-filled.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compact&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(I have one &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&amp;amp;sku=1235607&amp;amp;gclid=CJq7xayjr9ICFQa2wAoddDgNcw&amp;amp;is=REG&amp;amp;c3api=1876%2C72666209402%2C%2C&amp;amp;Q=&amp;amp;A=details&amp;amp;pcur=CAD&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;air mattress&lt;/a&gt; that can pack down to fit inside a pop can.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lighter&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Not necessarily true for all air mattresses.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More Expensive&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More Maintenance&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Can easily be punctured.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some experience required&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(How firm do you make it for it to be most comfortable? How do you get your bag to not slide off it? What's the best way to get the air out of it? Best way to pack it? What do you mean I have frost in my mattress now because I blew into it to inflate it?)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Foam pad:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cheaper&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More Durable&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simple&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cheaper&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(It's not long until they're riddled with puncture holes from crampons, rocks and sticks, or covered with stains from the sap and dirt, or have chunks taken out of them from getting snagged on stuff on the trail, getting stepped on, chewed on, etc.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Less Comfortable&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Less cushion, more firm, less soft.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Less Warm&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Thinner means less insulation.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bulky&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(Can only really be packed on outside of backpack.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Multiple Mattress Systems&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best sleep system is a combination of both a foam pad and an air-mattress. The foam pad protects the air-mattress from the ground, moisture, and provides extra insulation, as well as a bit of firmness when you roll onto your side and you shoulder or hip fully compress your air mattress. It stops your air mattress from sliding around on your tent floor, and gives you something to kneel on when packing everything else up inside your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The con to this system is of course extra weight, it's up to each individual to determine what they need to sleep comfortably, different styles of mattress and different combinations of sleep systems will suit different people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-02-27T04:13:50.167" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T04:13:50.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15446" CreationDate="2017-02-27T03:37:02.190" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem you describe is known in surveying as &lt;em&gt;three point resection&lt;/em&gt; – essentially you need to observe angles, from an unknown point, between three points whose coordinates are known.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you observe the angles via a theodolite (transit). Failing that, a sextant. Failing that, a compass, as you state in the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The means of solution is known as the &lt;em&gt;Tienstra method&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;An &lt;a href=&quot;http://mesamike.org/geocache/GC1B0Q9/tienstra/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interactive web solution is provided here&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tienstra_formula&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mathematics are explained here&lt;/a&gt;. Note, the solution is impossible, or very poor, if all four points lie on, or close to, a circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your initial statement about the compass having systematic error is incorrect, i.e., that the observed magnetic bearings are actually good, then you only need to observe to two known locations. After correcting for magnetic declination you can simply plot the bearings on a map and see where they intersect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T03:56:01.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-27T06:28:58.857" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Foam pad(s) for me!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because: inexpensive, different types can be combined, always ready, waterproof, lightweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After years of trying just gave up on inflatables (or should we call them puncturables?). No matter how careful I was, they puncture, somehow. And the price!  And yes, if you are trekking Everest (again, not) you will need both types ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now when I travel I purchase pads in-country and leave them behind for others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12524" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T06:28:58.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-27T06:44:01.030" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have in the past used tape, natural items, boot scratch across sand to mark side canyons, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes I always try to remove them but something like &quot;left behind tape&quot; should not be too upsetting.&#xA;Just try to be nice (and understanding) :)&#xA;(and remove it yourself)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12524" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T17:53:35.800" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T17:53:35.800" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15439" CreationDate="2017-02-27T08:05:28.857" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you were talking about the Alps I suggest having a look around (on Google maybe) to check what kind of &lt;strong&gt;alpine and hiking clubs&lt;/strong&gt; exist near you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least in Switzerland there are alpine clubs in every city and many smaller towns (even the ones further away from the mountains) and most of them organise regular hikes/outings for their members.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As an example look at SAC (Swiss Alpine Club), they have literally hundreds of local chapters all over Switzerland which you'll find via their homepage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sac-cas.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.sac-cas.ch/&lt;/a&gt;. I'm sure other countries neighbouring the Alps will have similar institutions in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alpine clubs will also be a great pool for getting to know knowledgeable people - so even if some of them might not want to join you for a hike once a week they would point you to further resources and other groups of like-minded people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also the clubs will be accustomed to have members of a variety of skill levels ranging from novice amateurs to experienced mountaineers which will climb the highest and iciest peaks. --&gt; They can also give you advice on good routes/hikes in your vicinity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-03-03T16:17:00.870" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T16:17:00.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15453" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-02-27T08:56:59.127" Score="5" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to get a new pair of trekking poles for my next trek as I find them an invaluable tool on longer hikes with higher pack load. It seems others and science agree &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4470/are-trekking-poles-proven-to-be-helpful/7389#7389&quot;&gt;to some degree&lt;/a&gt; at least, so I might even spend a bit of money and get me some expensive ones...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the realm of telescopic trekking poles I have so fare seen two main systems to 'lock' the separate telescopic segments against one-another:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clamp system&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2EZVSs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2EZVSs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Screw system&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QFs5ks.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QFs5ks.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the benefits and drawbacks of the two systems?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T08:56:59.127" Title="Telescopic trekking poles: clamp vs. screw system" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-02-27T17:29:00.157" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15437" CreationDate="2017-02-27T12:35:24.150" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might also consider a Z-Rest, which greatly improves on the warmth of a foam mat.  It also solves the problem of condensation under your mat, which afflicts both air and foam mats, by the &quot;egg-crate&quot; design allowing some airflow under the mat.  Like other foam mats though, it is still bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2017-02-27T12:35:24.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15455" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15464" CreationDate="2017-02-27T13:43:57.353" Score="9" ViewCount="535" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at buying regulators for scuba-diving this weekend and we came across the options to have a DIN or a yoke valve for our first stage. What are the pros and cons of both a DIN and a yoke valve? Are there any reasons to choose one above the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-01T20:22:26.560" LastActivityDate="2019-05-09T19:47:32.853" Title="What are the pros and cons of both a DIN and a yoke valve for a scuba-diving regulator?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8873" CreationDate="2017-02-28T00:37:58.350" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a big fan of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Rocks_National_Reserve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;City of Rocks&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Albion&lt;/a&gt; Mountains in Idaho. While some of the peaks are over 8500 feet, there is a lot of hiking at lower elevations. There is a lot of exposed granite and much of the hiking is above treeline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T00:37:58.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15455" CreationDate="2017-02-28T01:45:12.740" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a DIN valve can be used at higher pressures and has a more secure connection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since the fitting is more secure, DIN valves allow the use of higher pressures, and are more suitable for demanding diving situations like technical diving-especially in environments like caves or wrecks, where a bump to the valve could cause a leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.joescuba.com/2011/07/scuba-regulators-din-vs-yoke/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also DIN valves are considered to be safer and better for technical diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For those divers wishing to pursue any type of technical diving the DIN valve is recommended. Because of its superior qualities in the environments likely to be encountered it is safer. It will also be more common at the dive shops you deal with, as it is used almost exclusively for cave diving, deep wreck penetration, decompression diving, and rebreather diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floridadiveconnection.com/the-din-valve-for-scuba-divers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one drawback to the DIN valves is that they are less common and therefore you might have to get an adapter as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A drawback for the DIN set up is that the first stage protrudes a little farther than the yoke when you have the adapter on and you will most likely be the minority in the diving group so you better make sure you have an adapter or the proper tools with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://itsallaboutscuba.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/din-vs-yoke/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T01:45:12.740" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15459" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15460" CreationDate="2017-02-28T02:20:53.943" Score="29" ViewCount="4573" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was surprised by this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.greenland.com/en/destinations/south-greenland/qassiarsuk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Visit Greenland&lt;/a&gt; statement on Qassiarsuk:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Due to the sheep in the settlement the surrounding area has no mosquitoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that make sense?  Is there any reason why the presence of sheep would mean less mosquitoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-01T03:05:54.453" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T19:10:52.800" Title="&quot;Due to the sheep in the settlement the surrounding area has no mosquitoes&quot;" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15459" CreationDate="2017-02-28T02:33:39.980" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like there is some truth in it. I don't think that it has to do with the sheep so much as it does with their grazing habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day, &lt;strong&gt;mosquitoes like to rest in tall grass&lt;/strong&gt; or among shrubs in a moist, shady spot. Keeping the grass short deprives them of a resting place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mosquitoworld.net/mosquito-control/around-the-home/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More sheep&lt;/strong&gt; means &lt;strong&gt;less tall grass&lt;/strong&gt; and therefore &lt;strong&gt;less mosquitoes.&lt;/strong&gt; Sheep are preyed upon by mosquitoes but they too will move to areas with shorter grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It's not so bad when your sheep have some wool on them, but if your sheep are just off shears, then the mosquitos drive them mad,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The grazier said stock were changing their behaviour patterns to get away from the most heavily affected parts of paddocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Sheep are keeping out of the &lt;strong&gt;long grass&lt;/strong&gt;, sticking to the areas where they have &lt;strong&gt;grazed the pasture down&lt;/strong&gt;,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;And they're bunching up in the paddocks as well, to protect themselves from being bitten, where normally they'd be strung out all over the place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-29/bourke-overrun-mosquitos-after-rain/7884422&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T19:10:52.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15459" CreationDate="2017-02-28T03:15:34.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping grass mowed short in the tropics greatly reduces mosquitoes. They can not take the sun, they are most active at dusk &amp;amp; daylight. They are weak flyers so do not travel far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sheep graze grass low to the ground. Rabbits are better, they eat more like a goat (anything they can) and make the grass shorter than do sheep.  Throw in a few chickens and there will be very few insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-02-28T14:17:00.040" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T14:17:00.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15463" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15465" CreationDate="2017-02-28T04:59:05.700" Score="11" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say that two persons are going to attempt to climb a mountain that is 6 000 metres high. These persons are equal in every way, except that one lives at sea level and one lives at 2 500 metres above sea level. Is there likely to be any difference in the acclimatization pattern for these persons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, at what altitude must the second person live for there to be any noticeable difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If yes, at what lower altitude must the second person live at for the difference cease to exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12532" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:55:43.067" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:55:43.067" Title="Does the altitude you live at influence the time required for acclimatization?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15455" CreationDate="2017-02-28T05:08:34.683" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;DIN is always a better connector than the older and inferior yoke format which for some reason is far more prevalent in the US and surrounding countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several drawbacks to the yoke:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the o-ring is on the cylinder and is very frequently damaged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the o-ring can be damaged when your kit is assembled if the yoke's  twisted or incorrectly seated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;when the o-ring breaks, it goes bang - scaring anyone around!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's possible to undo a yoke under pressure, it goes bang&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;yokes are limited to 232 bar max&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;yokes are more fragile and are not recommended for diving in an overhead environment: cave, wreck, etc. where they may strike something underwater. Therefore technical divers can't/won't use them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DIN is a much newer connector so is far more reliable, cannot be removed under pressure, and seldom goes bang.  Most DIN regulators work up to 300 bar as the male screw is longer with 8 threads as opposed to 5 threads.  You cannot use a 232 regulator on a 300 bar cylinder (e.g. a suit inflation first stage) as the seal cannot be made (it's short but the female socket is deeper).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe, most people use DIN.  If travelling, it's useful to pack a DIN to yoke adapter just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in the US and have no intentions to move into technical diving, choose yoke.  In all other circumstances, choose DIN.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2017-02-28T22:57:01.590" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T22:57:01.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15463" CreationDate="2017-02-28T13:57:37.133" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living or spending time at higher altitudes will increase your performance via the number of red blood cells you have in your blood. Athletes do this to increase their performance (after they redescended that is), in which case we are speaking of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_training&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude Training&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The effect originates in the differences in partial pressure of gazes at different altitudes (notably oxygen, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_training#Principles_and_mechanisms&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;read more here&lt;/a&gt;). This difference does not start or stop at a certain altitude, but is a gradual change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People can &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness#Altitude_acclimatization&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;acclimatize to higher altitudes&lt;/a&gt; - it seems fairly obvious that somebody who already lived at a couple of thousand meters above sea level has a 'head start' when it comes to acclimatizing to a trip of, say, 6000m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;That does not mean that somebody who lives at high altitude is guaranteed to be immune/resistant to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.healthline.com/health/acute-mountain-sickness#Symptoms4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;AMS&lt;/a&gt; though.&lt;/em&gt; It is basically impossible to tell beforehand who might develop AMS and who will not - even repeated experience at high altitude does not mean you're safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--&gt; Basically the only way to proceed safely is to just treat everyone the same, go slowly following the best practices, and, most importantly, &lt;em&gt;keeping an eye open if anyone is developing symptoms&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your other questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If not, at what altitude must the second person live for there to be any noticeable difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That really depends on your definition of 'noticeable'. This will basically depend on your kind of setup to verify/test for your result. If you are doing a widespread scientific study with lots of fancy equipment you might be able to measure differences which are a lot smaller than if you, say, compare the performance of the soccer team of &lt;em&gt;La Paz&lt;/em&gt; (3600m above sea level) against a soccer team from &lt;em&gt;Amsterdam&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If yes, at what altitude does the difference cease to exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does not. Except, well, at certain altitudes people would rather stop to survive, so everything above that will be similar in terms of performance. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If yes, at what lower altitude must the second person live at for the difference cease to exist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we compare extremes the results would probably be rather obvious, i.e. people living at 0 and 50m will likely get AMS at about the same (statistical) rate. If we compare people living at 0 and 5100m (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rinconada,_Peru&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;La Rinconada, highest settlement acc. to Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;) the former would probably get AMS a lot more often when going to 6000m. But, again, as we are talking about a gradual process there is no sharp cut-off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-02-28T14:51:00.773" LastActivityDate="2017-02-28T14:51:00.773" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2017-02-28T22:44:16.170" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Flagging tape is commonly used by hunters to locate their stands and it is important to remove it once you've returned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bushnell makes a GPS tracking device that stores up to 5 locations/48 hours of trip data. It's pretty fool proof, but it is always best to have a backup plan when using tech-gear, like flagging tape or reflective tacks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend using a user &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00975PTTQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;friendly GPS tracking device like Bushnell's&lt;/a&gt; along with a highly visible, possibly &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B005F06BWG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reflective plan B&lt;/a&gt; that can be visible on all sides (whether large or small) at night using flashlights. Linked are Amazon entries for a Bushnell device along with a reflective/tape alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Thank you for the cool tip &lt;strong&gt;OddDeer&lt;/strong&gt;. Also, thanks for the edit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the techie, smaller footprint options myself. I also think it's important to have at least one low-tech backup plan too. What if you drop your GPS device and it is out of reach, stolen, crushed, etc. Chaos happens, the worst is out there waiting and being prepared for it is just good planning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are biodegradable trail marking tapes as well as photodegradable tapes. &lt;em&gt;(By no means am I trying to push trail ribbon, just low-tech 'Plan B' alternatives that responsible people may find useful.)&lt;/em&gt; I would think the biodegradable tapes would be a better choice for the woods because of the forest canopy, as photodegradable tape requires sunlight for degradability. The US Forest Service ran integrity tests on biodegradable and photodegradable tapes and found photo to outlast bio by quite a bit. (USFS String &amp;amp; Flagging Degradability). I've read reviews on both and hikers/hunters find their photo tape &lt;strong&gt;years&lt;/strong&gt; (yes, plural) after they've left it, although it disintegrated in their hands when touched, it's an eyesore, rude, and creates a dilemma for other hikers/surveyors if they come across old tape. Bio seems most often to disappear after one season, especially in wet climates.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;go FAST and LIGHT dot com sells bright orange biodegradable tape that is non-toxic to humans/animals/enviro made from plant cellulose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand why people don't like to see pops of bright orange when they're out in mother nature, and I hope every human would use with responsibility and not pollute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12536" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-05-12T22:21:19.170" LastActivityDate="2019-05-12T22:21:19.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-03-01T03:39:06.823" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stretching is always a good idea before and physical activity, but there's really nothing you can do to stop the pump before climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On days you aren't climbing  you can specifically workout your forearms. The stronger they get, the longer you can climb before getting a pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, once the real pump sets in, you're pretty much done climbing any hard routes. If you're not worried about cleaning any of your projects and just want to climb around on some jugs, shake it out and climb through the pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One trick that my old climbing coach always did for us at competitions is when you're feeling the pump, get someone to DEEPLY massage your forearms with their thumbs. It can hurt a little when done right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12538" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T03:39:06.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14686" CreationDate="2017-03-01T04:01:23.007" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Forearms are one of the most important things you can train in climbing. Get a hang board or just screw on a few crimps to the wall. Especially in big wall climbing and sport, you've got to have a lot of forearm strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good workout is to stay on the wall without coming down for a set amount of time, say five minutes. It's  a lot harder than it seems but it will build endurance fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, don't underestimate rest days. You're body needs time to recover, so don't climb more than two or three days in a row without a rest day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12538" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T04:01:23.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15445" CreationDate="2017-03-01T18:04:52.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/?ref=header&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;All Trails&quot;&gt;AllTrails.com&lt;/a&gt; would probably be helpful. You can search based on location, difficulty, length, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12538" LastActivityDate="2017-03-01T18:04:52.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15470" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-01T22:54:01.870" Score="5" ViewCount="1792" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American mourning doves&lt;/a&gt; in abundance in Massachusetts. They spend months in our yard, eating seeds both on the ground and in the feeders. They also peck around in my flower garden, so I think they might be eating grubs and insects. We see many of them every day, rain or shine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love their plaintive &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/Dove_Mourning.mp3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cooing sound&lt;/a&gt;. It's hauntingly beautiful. I used to think it was an owl call but know better now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's interesting is that the call sounds like it's coming from a distance away.  It doesn't sound close enough to be at my feeders. I've never seen a bird using their mouth in such a way as to think I was watching them speak. Even when they're in the tree branch above the feeders, as in my second picture, they look and seem silent. I know it's not because they're nocturnal, as I hear it all day, though sometimes louder towards dusk. I don't think I'm just missing it, as I frequently sit outside with them for hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a whooshing sound when they rise from the ground, but that comes from the flapping of their wings, and stops when they land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do these American mourning doves ever make that lovely cooing sound on the ground, feeder, or anyplace where people can see them? If not, why not?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first picture is of their favorite feeder, which is on a pole about six feet in the air. Frequently at least four share that eating space, with one or two sitting on top waiting for their turn. The second picture is on a branch beside a rope that leads to a feeder a few feet down. The third is on the roof of my sunroom, where they sip water as it runs down in rivulets after a rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vA4SM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vA4SM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;2 Doves on feeder&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0E9Az.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0E9Az.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dove on tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVq3fl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVq3fl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Doves on sunroom roof&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:59:42.727" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:59:42.727" Title="Do American mourning doves only make their plaintive cooing sound where people can't see them?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7142" CreationDate="2017-03-02T08:11:18.377" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Identification&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikihow has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Flint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;decent enough page on identifying flint&lt;/a&gt; if you are lucky enough to find yourself in an area where it occurs naturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Occurrence&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But flint is a natural resource. As with all natural resources they will occur in some places in abundance, while not at all in others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We sometimes have this idea that in prehistoric times everybody was able to find and work flint - this is simply not true. Like all other 'geological' resources flint was &lt;a href=&quot;http://geology.com/rocks/flint.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mined and traded for long distances&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://paleo.revues.org/2864?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this study flint-bearing formations in Southern France&lt;/a&gt;, which among other things presents us with this map:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pqty5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pqty5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not wanting to go into detail I'll just point out: there are long stretches and vast areas without known flint formations. If you find yourself in one of those, you will have to resolve to tools made from different materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-03-02T08:11:18.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13425" CreationDate="2017-03-02T08:30:26.033" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked Ueli Steck as @fgysin suggested and got the following answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;It is &quot;Sportusal Spray&quot;. This is a spray stimulating the blood flow.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information have a look at the medication here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medicatione.com/?c=drug&amp;amp;s=sportusal%20spray%20sine%20heparino&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.medicatione.com/?c=drug&amp;amp;s=sportusal%20spray%20sine%20heparino&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-03-02T08:30:26.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15423" CreationDate="2017-03-03T00:15:57.087" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need an up-to-date magnetic variation chart. Set the degrees to True North. This will give you your location to 200 miles. Magnetic North changes a little every year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next you need to know where the sun rises true east or sets true west, and the variation there for that day. There are charts in the Almanac to do this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, check what angle the sun is at high noon. Is it to the North or the South? For this you need to know the angle difference to where you think you are. A sextant is best for this, but some rough calculations can be made with a compass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you're still lost, but you know what area you are in. Choose a big piece of land &amp;amp; dead reckon sail to it. This is why I like a cheap transistor radio with a pull out antenna. At sea you can pick up stations at 200 miles, or sometimes at night up to 500 miles, and have an idea were they are. Head straight for one. Or if there are two or more, figure out your location to 20 miles. As you get closer to land you can fine tune the angles to get close to the port you wish to reach. I only go out 60 to 80 miles in good weather as far as the second reef, but you can do more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The radio trick also works on land. If you have a map with what towns are in a certain area &amp;amp; what radio stations are located in them, mark that on your map. Then you only need to hold your course by a compass. I have found this true. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are close to towns they have roads. Roads have homes on them. They can tell you where to go. The same is true if you're close to coast lines. There are small craft out there. Ask and they will tell you where to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T01:21:23.460" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T01:21:23.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7142" CreationDate="2017-03-03T00:25:01.383" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No flint here. We do have many volcanic rocks that will spark. All I can say is walk the rivers, creeks, &amp;amp; such were water polish's stones. Hard rocks have a shine to them. Pick them up. Dry well &amp;amp; try them. You will soon learn what to look for in your area that sparks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T00:25:01.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15439" CreationDate="2017-03-03T03:38:26.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;That you find being on the edge of cliff scary is in fact a good, healthy response! It means that you are the product of millions of years of evolution, wherein people who had a complete disregard for the edge of cliffs tended to not live long enough to reproduce. The idea of teaching someone how to move in the mountains via the &quot;sink-or-swim&quot; philosophy is reckless and damaging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have acknowledged that your fear seems overwhelming, the goal is to &lt;em&gt;train&lt;/em&gt; your brain and body to perform under these circumstances. Anxiety occurs when we perceive a situation to be too difficult / dangerous for our abilities. That you were able to follow someone else up that section shows that you are physically capable of doing the movements, but your brain hasn't fully internalized that you are capable of doing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See if you can't determine what specific aspects of the situation pushed you into anxiety and fear. Then try to train by replicating similar experiences in low-risk environments. For example, you might take short scrambly hikes with low consequences for a slip, or easy hikes with exposure. As you gain confidence, gradually move to more difficult and intimidating terrain, always remembering that playing near the edge of cliffs is, in fact, dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you watch a video of Alex Honnold soloing a climb, you could jump to saying that he has a deathwish and is just reckless. However, the correct answer is that he has spent years and years honing his ability to climb and deal with the stress of not having a rope, becoming highly attuned to what he is and is not capable of doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T03:38:26.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15477" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-03T05:59:21.997" Score="8" ViewCount="285" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a good 1 person tent, and like some of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.durablecampinggear.com/2017/03/03/best-1-person-tent-reviews/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;. I need a tent that will keep out the rain if needed, but also be open so I can see the sky at night on clear nights. I want enough room to be comfortable with my gear. Is there anything else I should consider before purchasing a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12552" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T04:51:51.960" Title="How do I choose the right tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15477" CreationDate="2017-03-03T08:47:53.850" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Things to consider when purchasing a tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where exactly do you want to use the tent? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On which altitudes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On which terrain? Sometimes you need special tent pegs like on snow or it's even not possible to use them, e.g. on sand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are the conditions you expect, e.g. is it possible to get into storms/strong winds/snowfall?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How robust should the tent be?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How likely is heavy rain? Water resistance in tent fabrics differs quite a lot too&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need an inner tent?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What about ventilation aspects?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mosquito net required or of no need?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the weight of primary interest? How long do you have to carry the gear and on what kind of tour? Generally light is good of course but you have to choose the tradeoff between weight and comfort/robustness/price...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of the previous mentioned criteria sum up in a main question for you when choosing a tent: What &lt;strong&gt;type of tent&lt;/strong&gt; do you wanna get, e.g. dome, igloo or geodesist?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot to consider. You should carefully reflect what you need and what is the field of application. Then you will get the right tent or you go ahead and ask some more specific questions here :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T08:47:53.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15479" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15480" CreationDate="2017-03-03T14:05:51.410" Score="31" ViewCount="3746" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently came across a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--thzzrrw2--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/tdr1lcre7gdexgwh1f2j.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;gif file&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; showing a gang of turkeys circling what appears to be a dead cat. It appears to be a structured formation as the turkeys are trotting at the same pace and spacing between each bird. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this behavior common in turkeys? Is there any explanation for the behavior?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OTpb4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OTpb4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;turkey circle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11790" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:15:59.163" LastActivityDate="2019-02-10T01:59:25.700" Title="Why are these turkeys circling a dead cat?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;turkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15479" CreationDate="2017-03-03T15:48:45.293" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a combination of checking out a potential predator and following a leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turkeys, he says, are naturally fearful of cats, which can be a threat to younger, smaller birds. So it’s likely that, when they came across a dead one in the road, &lt;strong&gt;they were very curious to see what was going on, and whether it was alive.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, turkeys tend to follow a leader or two as they roam through suburban yards in search of food (they have a diet mostly of nuts, grains, and berries—no cats). &lt;strong&gt;So if one leader took it upon itself to march around the corpse and inspect it, it makes sense that the others would follow its lead,&lt;/strong&gt; while keeping a safe distance from the fallen feline. Hence, a near perfect circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/02/turkeys-circling-cat-video-explained/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it is not considered normal behavior for turkeys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, Scarpitti says he has &lt;strong&gt;never seen footage like this in his more than 15 years as a wildlife biologist&lt;/strong&gt;. He showed it to some of his colleagues at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries &amp;amp; Wildlife, he says, and they’ve never seen anything like it either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/02/turkeys-circling-cat-video-explained/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T01:41:18.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15481" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-03T21:22:40.713" Score="6" ViewCount="1035" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was born on ski's and switched to snowboarding and now on the return to skiing. However I intend to do both downhill and skijoring in the next season (skiing with my dogs)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am having trouble deciding on which ski and binding set would be best suited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ungroomed trails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;flat/ hilly terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;downhill&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;distance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions are:&#xA;1. knowing the above factors, is there a ski setup that could handle both downhill and backcountry at speed?&#xA;2. knowing downhill will probably need a separate setup what type of ski could handle like a backcountry ski but with a skating motion in a cross country binding/boot setup? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12559" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-03T21:31:02.157" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T23:34:48.007" Title="Ski setup for skijoring" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15482" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15483" CreationDate="2017-03-03T22:27:57.433" Score="4" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not long ago, my husband and I were at a restaurant in Massachusetts. At a nearby table, a man and woman were discussing a large yacht they had seen moored in Boston Harbor, which intrigued them. They made a plan to go back the following day and look at the boat's HIN number so they could get more information. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we're not boaters, we're curious what they meant. What is the HIN number, and what does it tell about a boat? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-04T18:04:51.973" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T18:04:51.973" Title="What is the HIN number on a boat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15482" CreationDate="2017-03-03T22:37:48.457" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a unique serial number for the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The HIN is a 12 character serial number that uniquely identifies your boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The acronym  stands for &lt;strong&gt;Hull Identification Number&lt;/strong&gt;. It is possible to either do an online lookup for that number or one can gather the manufacture, and date of certification from the number itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is kind of similar to a motor vehicle's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;V.I.N.&lt;/a&gt; number, but is more similar to an airplane's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/aircraft_nnumber_history/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;N-Number&lt;/a&gt; as they are mounted on the outside of the vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The primary HIN must be permanently affixed &lt;strong&gt;(so that it can be seen from outside the boat)&lt;/strong&gt; to the starboard side of the transom within two inches of the top of the transom, gunwale, or hull/deck joint, whichever is lowest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-03T23:52:26.340" LastActivityDate="2017-03-03T23:52:26.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15485" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15486" CreationDate="2017-03-04T01:10:36.623" Score="5" ViewCount="26238" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to go downhill skiing next week and I notice the forecast for the day in question is for winds of 50 to 60 km/h. That seemed high to me. A few years ago, at the same hill, we were turned away when they closed all chair lifts because of strong winds, but how strong I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any standard guidelines that ski hills follow regarding maximum allowable wind strengths, before they close the lifts? I've seen a couple of anecdotal claims that chair lifts remained open (on other hills) even in 40 mph (64 km/h) winds. Seems awfully high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T18:47:03.487" Title="At what wind speeds do ski operators close chair lifts, for safety?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15485" CreationDate="2017-03-04T01:34:33.213" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the answer is that it &lt;strong&gt;depends&lt;/strong&gt; on the direction, wind speed, terrain and type of chairlift. The ski area you are going to might keep statistics on how often the wind makes the use of chairlifts unsafe or whether or not they think the lifts will be open for those dates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It's really a matter of wind speed as well as wind direction and that really is relevant to each chair lift because they all have different aspects and so, typically, &lt;strong&gt;around 40 miles per hour is the tipping point&lt;/strong&gt;,&amp;quot; says Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He explains if the wind is &lt;strong&gt;blowing straight up or down the line there's flexibility but when they see crosswinds like they did&lt;/strong&gt;, Saturday, there's little room for leeway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/ktvm/high-winds-shut-down-bridger-bowl_20160509181537861/9403920&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin were largely unaffected by the extreme breezes Wednesday, with Keystone’s gondola being the only lift closed from normal operation at either resort by midday. It closed at roughly 10:30 a.m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At Breckenridge, it’s often the Imperial Express Chair and the T-bar most affected by high winds, spokeswoman Kristen Petitt-Stewart said. These lifts have yet to open for the season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;The gondola is more sensitive to wind than the lifts&lt;/strong&gt;,” Parquette said, adding that since lifts can run when the gondola can’t, the resort is still able to accommodate guests despite high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitdaily.com/news/high-winds-close-some-lifts-in-summit-county/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This accident happened when the winds were between 30 to 50 mph&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sugarloaf provided a sequence of Tuesday's incident, saying mechanics were unable to fix a problem with the Spillway East lift and were trying to off-load guests when the &lt;strong&gt;lift's cable skipped over the edge of a pulley, causing five chairs to fall between 25 and 30 feet to the ground,&lt;/strong&gt; officials said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before the accident, high winds had delayed the the opening of several lifts. Conditions at the time of the accident were windy, but not unusually so following a major snowstorm, resort spokesman Ethan Austin said. Winds were gusting between &lt;strong&gt;30 mph and 50 mph&lt;/strong&gt; in the area at the time, according to CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T18:47:03.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15479" CreationDate="2017-03-04T13:13:34.573" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why exactly are these turkeys circling a dead cat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not normal behavior for turkeys to say the least, but it does give one the idea that there is strength in numbers. I once recall seeing chickens circling a large snake and the snake decided to leave the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;They might be performing what’s called a “predator inspection,” says Alan Krakauer, a biologist at the University of California, Davis, who studies the behavioral ecology of birds, in an email to The Verge. Sometimes, animals lower down in the food chain approach predators — a behavior that can be seen as risky, but can actually help the prey. Making the predator aware that the prey know it’s there can sometimes scare the predator away. The “inspection” also allows the prey to check how determined the predator is to attack, and can alert other animals to the danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Krakauer says he’s seen turkeys act in a similar way with a coyote once. Richard Buchholz, a professor of biology at the University of Mississippi, agrees: he’s also seen this kind of circling behavior in the turkey bird family, which includes chickens, pheasants, and quail. Following the tail in front of them is a way they stick together as a flock, he says. - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What’s weird is that in the video the turkeys are circling a dead cat — definitely not a dangerous predator. And turkeys don’t usually eat dead animals, including dead cats, so it’s not like they’re doing some weird ritual dance before tasting their meal. What could be happening is that the turkeys are stuck in some kind of never-ending circle, with each bird following the tail in front of it. “It’s not unusual for them to get into those dances where they chase each other around,” Scott Gardner, a turkey expert with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, tells The Verge. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/2/14792602/turkeys-circling-dead-cat-animal-behavior-twitter-video&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why exactly are these turkeys circling a dead cat?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-04T17:21:59.380" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T17:21:59.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4512" CreationDate="2017-03-04T15:19:11.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hi I bought a standard gas canister adapter from ebay, some 6mm fuel line and two high quality butterfly clamps to connect the fuel line to the stove and the gas canister adapter.  It works really well and a very cheap solution the only caution is that you need good quality clamps and good quality fuel line.   This is not supported by MSR and is done at your own risk, that said 2 yrs in still happy with my MOD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12564" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T15:19:11.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15481" CreationDate="2017-03-04T17:23:30.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You and I would probably get a long very well. I ski downhill exclusively in the back country, and whenever I put my XC skis on I'm typically also wearing my skijor harness and getting pulled around by my dog. I have gone skjoring in deeper snow with m AT skis, but can't cover any great distances at speed or without exerting excessive amounts of energy, and light touring skis are just awful trying to descend slopes in any amount of pow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've put a lot of thought into a system that would work for both sports, and I've decided my next setup is going to be for &lt;strong&gt;off-track touring&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Off-track Touring Setup:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qBUZd.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qBUZd.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QUgET.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QUgET.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;or:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q6619.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q6619.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Jl94.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Jl94.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;and:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HwYa9.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HwYa9.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples of light backcountry touring systems include &lt;strong&gt;75mm 3-pin Tele&lt;/strong&gt; (light Telemark), &lt;strong&gt;NNN BC&lt;/strong&gt; (New Nordic Norm Backcountry) and &lt;strong&gt;SNS XA&lt;/strong&gt; (Solomon Nordic Norm X-Adventure). This is about as in-between Alpine Touring and skate-skiing as you can get I think, and will give you the best all-round experience for off-trail exploring with your dog(s). It's either this, or you pick and choose what skis you're going to want for what you're going to be doing most of for the day, and then just struggle on the other parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-03-04T17:23:30.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15492" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-05T10:49:52.327" Score="4" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just reading this answer at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3556/can-you-keep-your-feet-warm-in-ski-boots-on-a-very-cold-day/3559#3559&quot;&gt;Can you keep your feet warm in ski boots on a very cold day?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, add fat to your feet. I don't mean gain weight. Just slather it on before putting socks on. Petroleum jelly will work, as will almost any other fat (other than coconut oil). A nice layer of fat, even external, does wonders for heat retention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ignoring the ick factor that is mentioned in some of the comments to the answer.  From a physical perspective what are the pros and cons of using Petroleum jelly or some other grease on your booted feet when out doors?  I want to know about impacts to foot health as well as impact to socks and boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:16:11.750" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:16:11.750" Title="What are the pros and cons of greased feet in boots?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15493" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15506" CreationDate="2017-03-05T16:19:39.083" Score="9" ViewCount="5670" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just watched the docudrama &quot;Touching the void&quot; for the umpteenth time. I am a climber and mountaineer and have a great deal of respect for Simon Yates and his efforts to save Joe Simpson and also for his decision to cut the rope supporting Joe Simpson. On my last viewing of the movie the blindingly obvious question occurred to me. &lt;strong&gt;Why did Joe Simpson not cut the rope himself?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was in a hopeless situation. Suspended on an overhanging face in severe wind chill conditions, he had lost the ability to climb up the rope, Yates was in an unsustainable position and it was obvious to both parties that this was the case. One of the two had to make a decision. Yates hung on for as long as he could and then cut the rope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Joe Simpson has never blamed Simon Yates for cutting the rope,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simpson publicly defended Yates. He dedicated his book and the documentary to Yates, saying his climbing partner saved his life by staying with him on the mountain for so long. &lt;strong&gt;Simpson said he, too, would have cut the rope if their positions had been reversed.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/27/1109439456306.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but has he ever explained &lt;strong&gt;why he did not cut the rope himself&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12570" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-05T19:24:14.983" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T20:14:50.700" Title="Has Joe Simpson ever explained why he did not cut the rope himself?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15492" CreationDate="2017-03-05T19:13:33.890" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) on feet can be used to,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vaseline.us/skin-health-care/dry-feet-essential-tips-for-treating-dry-skin-on-feet.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Treat dry cracked feet.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vaseline.us/skin-health-care/how-to-help-heal-dry-cracked-heels.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Treat cracked heals.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aad.org/public/skin-hair-nails/injured-skin/blisters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reduce friction and therefore the chances of getting blisters.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience the downsides are the ick factor and you are going to ruin your socks. It would be hard to get it out of shoes or boots afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also people who don't like the idea of putting a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/21/vaseline-petroleum-jelly_n_4136226.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;petroleum product on their skin&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-05T19:13:33.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15470" CreationDate="2017-03-05T23:36:00.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That vocalization is called a perch call, or perch coo. It's only made by a male mourning dove, and the only time he uses it is when he's looking for a mate. As @cr0 and @That Idiot have seen, the dove will make that plaintive sound where you can see him, although it's not that common.  Even if he's visible, you usually don't know he's the one calling out. His mouth opens just a tiny bit and very quickly. The lungs fill and puff up, and the chest pumps out the rest of the sound. The bird waits between 10 and 15 seconds and does it again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mourning doves are monogamous and form strong pair bonds that persist during at least one nesting season. The breeding season is among the longest of all North American birds, with peak nesting activity occurring in late spring/early summer. At the beginning of the breeding season, unpaired males devote considerable time to perch cooing and performing displays such as flapping/gliding flight to attract females. The perch coo is one of the few vocalizations mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) make. It consists of one note followed by a higher one, then three to five notes held at great lengths, and it used by males to court females.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mdwfp.com/media/99075/mourningdovenrcs.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dove generally perches in a conspicuous place about five feet up or higher, where he can be easily seen by female doves. The most common spots are tree branches and power lines. If a male finds a perch he likes, he'll return there throughout the season and defend it from other males. From that position, the sound carries a far distance through the open air. There are times when they'll perch lower to the ground, and call out from there. These perches include fence posts and other man-made structures, usually not lower than a few feet off the ground. According to my research, they don't use feeders or the ground for this behavior. Other mating behaviors take place in these areas, but not the perch call. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some sites with videos showing good examples of the perch coo in action.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/lke-AKOdpu4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird on wire, YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2014/04/02/the-sound-of-a-lonesome-dove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lonesome Dove Blog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://birdnote.org/video/2013/08/portrait-mourning-dove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birdnote.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/MjTvkApzH9g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird on fence post, YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/oDYXr8YjECs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird in tree, YouTube&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further information about the birds, including recordings of this and the few other sounds they make, I recommend &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;All About Birds&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/mourning-dove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon Field Guide&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-03-05T23:36:00.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15498" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-06T01:31:38.217" Score="28" ViewCount="6888" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is fairly common practice to drive to a trailhead, park your vehicle and then go backpacking for a while. It would be a real bummer to come back from a trip and find that your vehicle has been broken into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tips to reduce the likelihood of this happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-07T03:30:28.407" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T11:19:33.110" Title="Are there any tips for preventing a vehicle from being broken into while parked at a trailhead?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-06T10:40:04.220" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds counter intuitive but leave everything inside the car open, i.e. the boot cover glove box, etc. Make it obvious that there is nothing worth stealing inside (and obviously don't leave anything worth stealing). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry about them stealing your car, this is practically impossible with modern security devices (the only way to steal a car these days is by stealing the key due to immobilisers, etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still doesn't protect you from random acts of senseless vandalism but, well nothing can do this really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T11:05:05.570" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T11:05:05.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15493" CreationDate="2017-03-06T12:10:26.357" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a slide show I saw years ago, Joe Simpson said that the knife Simon Yates used was his own (i.e. Joe's).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T12:10:26.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-06T12:26:39.523" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the deciding factors for thieves with cars is whether they can see something they consider of value. &lt;strong&gt;If they have it fixed in their minds to  breaking into your vehicle, they will do it.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a few things I do to avoid such misfortunes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Park your vehicle in the best open and visual spot possible so that thieves would be deterred from being spotted while in a commission of a crime.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you think there are some things that may be more interesting to thieves, cover them with some sort of junk looking objects.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have a friend who never takes new tools in his pick up and he puts &lt;strong&gt;pink paint&lt;/strong&gt; on them as an additional measures against thieves. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I made a center console covering out of vinyl, in order that people looking into my vehicle can not see what I have between the front seats. The vinyl covering is of the same color as the rest of the interior of my vehicle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On some trailheads there are signs to remind people to keep their cars locked when absent from their vehicle. Snatch and grab is the biggest and easiest way for thieves to take what they want.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another way to stop &quot;snatch and grab&quot; is to anchor some of your belonging with a cable to something solid in the vehicle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not leave valuables in your vehicles. If possible leave them at home or keep them on your person.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-05-08T11:03:40.187" LastActivityDate="2018-05-08T11:03:40.187" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-06T13:11:08.920" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The existing answers by Ken and Liam offer good advice. But unfortunately there is nothing you can do to prevent break ins.  Thieves can be surprisingly stupid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;True story...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine drove her jeep wrangler with a soft top to the trail head and parked it before going on a hike. The roof is canvas and the back side window unzips FROM THE OUTSIDE. She left the doors unlocked, so if someone felt a strong urge to rifle through her jeep they would not be inconvenienced and feel the need to damage the canvas top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thief did not even try the door, nor did they unzip the side window. They used a knife to slice through the back side window (plastic).  Opened the (already unlocked) door from inside and rifled through the jeep finding nothing worthy of stealing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No there is nothing you can do&lt;/strong&gt;, to prevent breakins, even leaving the doors unlocked will not prevent a break in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image link of similar vehicle: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Wrangler#/media/File:1992_Jeep_YJ_rear_34.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jeep Wrangler&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qFTX0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qFTX0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T23:53:39.727" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T23:53:39.727" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-06T14:55:01.897" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing that has not been mentioned is to consider which trail head you park at. Some trails/areas have multiple trail heads. If you have a choice in trail head, it is worth talking to locals to determine if any are particularly problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience the most problematic trail heads are those with easy access. What this means is that often if the only available trail heads are problematic, that there are alternatives to parking directly at the trail head. Sometimes you can park in town (e.g., Walmart in the US or an outfitters) and catch a shuttle, hitch, carpool, or even bicycle to the trail head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T14:55:01.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15493" CreationDate="2017-03-06T15:26:45.603" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From Chapters 6 and 7 of the book &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Void&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Touching the Void&lt;/a&gt; by Joe Simpson, there are two things that I think would explain why he didn't cut the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He thought they were both going to die.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I knew he was in the same situation as me, unable to move. Either he would die in his seat or be pulled from it by the constant strain of my body...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Either thought of death, of mine or his, came quite unemotionally - matter-of-fact. I was too tired to care...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The rope jolted down a few inches. How long will you be Simon? I thought. How long till you join me...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...I accepted that I was going to die. There was no alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It didn't occur to him that either of them could/should cut the rope until he saw the cut end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I tugged the loose rope. It moved easily... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When Simon had fallen he would have swept out and clear of the crevasse. So he must have hit the slope and stopped. He would be dead. He must be after that fall. When the rope comes tight I can Prussik up it... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I drew the slack rope to me and stared at the frayed end. Cut!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He had tried to Prussik up earlier to get out of the predicament and failed because his hands were too frozen. He did still have both of his ice axes and at least one screw so it is possible that he could have cut the rope with either of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-06T20:14:50.700" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T20:14:50.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-06T16:53:46.373" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can't leave the car empty-looking, at least don't load the storage up at the trailhead.  There was a spate of thefts a few years ago on Dartmoor where car parks were watched for signs of valuables being tucked away, then a window was smashed and the items stolen.  This was the sort of place where cars are parked for hours rather than days.  In our case they knew which side to smash to be able to reach a handbag.  This was an estate car with a soft luggage cover; that seemed to be a bit of a theme when I looked into it after the event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So instead, get your bags ready before the drive, and pick them up off the back seat when you leave the car.  Any valuables you want on the drive should go with you.  Then leave nothing on show that could look like it might hold valuables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T16:53:46.373" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15508" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-06T19:36:04.407" Score="3" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I would like to take my 7 year old son kayaking this summer. Was thinking about a circumnavigation of &lt;a href=&quot;http://laketahoewatertrail.org/explore-water-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Tahoe&lt;/a&gt;. It looks like there are plenty of put ins and take outs. I am curious how rough are the waters and how difficult are the landings/launches? Is there anything else unique to paddling on Lake Tahoe that we need to be aware of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T19:44:08.387" Title="Lake Tahoe kayaking conditions" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15508" CreationDate="2017-03-06T19:44:08.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like there is a possibility of strong winds,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lake Tahoe is also known for its vibrant blue skies, its sparkling &lt;strong&gt;cold waters&lt;/strong&gt;, and its &lt;strong&gt;hazardous wind conditions&lt;/strong&gt;, especially on the eastern side of the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlingcalifornia.com/article_Kayaking_Lake_Tahoe.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and it may take a lot of padding in some places to make it to the next legal put in/take out&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Paddling completely around Lake Tahoe is popular, but &lt;strong&gt;involves challenging conditions and should be planned carefully.&lt;/strong&gt; The entire trip is approximately 72 miles and no legal overnight camping is allowed between the Lake Forest Campground at Pomin Park on the northwest shore and Zephyr Cove Resort on the southeast shore – a &lt;strong&gt;paddle distance of approximately 35 miles&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/lake-tahoe-water-trail/sieecae3ff96768a7644&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, it looks like this &lt;a href=&quot;http://laketahoewatertrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt; would have all of the information you would need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-06T19:44:08.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15510" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-06T23:00:08.420" Score="3" ViewCount="254" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Skytop area at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawangunk_Ridge&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gunks&lt;/a&gt; has a number of stellar climbs including &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/foops/106364825&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Foops (5.11)&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/super-crack/111251312&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Super Crack (5.12+)&lt;/a&gt;. From what I can piece together, climbing there &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mohonkmountainguides.com/logistics.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;requires a guide&lt;/a&gt; and buying a meal/pass at the resort. Despite the ridiculousness of paying over $500 to be escorted by a guide, is it possible to hire a guide who will sit back and just let my partner and I climb the routes we want? As I was not strong enough to climb Super Crack back in the days before requiring a guide, if we are in over our heads are the guides strong enough to retrieve our gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T08:05:23.813" Title="Climbing at the Skytop area of the Gunks" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1768" CreationDate="2017-03-07T00:03:12.587" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You did not say whether you were going &lt;em&gt;downhill&lt;/em&gt; skiing or &lt;em&gt;cross-country&lt;/em&gt;. The difference is significant:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When &lt;strong&gt;downhill skiing&lt;/strong&gt; you are being carried uphill each time between runs and so are not generating much of your own heat and so are not going to sweat much. You are also never very far from warm shelter where, if you feel cold, you can usually (a) consume hot food and drink and (b) blow hot air into your (temporarily empty) gloves and boots. Thus, so long as you have enough clothing to keep you warm, it needn't be &quot;thermal&quot;. In fact, it is even safe to wear (the dreaded) cotton next to your skin. I do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When &lt;strong&gt;cross-country skiing&lt;/strong&gt; -- or snow-shoeing or winter hiking -- you must propel yourself up every hill and doing so can generate much heat and cause sweating or giving off moist air. Because you are going to be relatively far from shelter, it is critical that you have &quot;thermal&quot; underwear and breathable outer shell that helps keep you warm &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; dry. Synthetics or merino wool will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-11-22T15:07:11.683" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T15:07:11.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7845" CreationDate="2017-03-07T00:29:52.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a pair from the local thrift shop and they were set at five feet.  I tried everything without success until finally read somewhere to use rubber gloves.  I got a pair of my wife's gloves she uses for dishwashing and with just a little effort they came right apart. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12577" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T00:29:52.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-07T01:50:32.217" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your vehicle has a trunk that can't be reached from the cabin, then physically disable the trunk release lever by detaching the cable. Objects in your trunk will only be accessible with a key, or by a very determined thief with a crowbar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12579" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T01:50:32.217" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15514" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15530" CreationDate="2017-03-07T03:47:57.570" Score="18" ViewCount="1221" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes mountains won't have trails or recorded routes simply because they don't get enough traffic that a trail will be created. Not every mountain has recorded routes simply because people haven't written them down in an easily accessible place for everyone yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, consider this Google Earth picture of a mountain. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgWom.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Larger image&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgWom.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UgWom.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;strong&gt;no trails&lt;/strong&gt; from the viewpoint up to the summit and &lt;strong&gt;everything between the viewer and the summit is public land.&lt;/strong&gt; If one were to say, &quot;Wow that looks like a cool mountain, let's go climb that&quot; are there any general rules of thumb as to what to look for when &lt;strong&gt;planning a route&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-13T00:24:23.960" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T19:37:32.967" Title="Are there any general rules of thumb for route finding up a mountain without any trails?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-07T04:17:01.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There ain't no way man...As Mr. Miyagi would say, &quot;the best defense against a would be car vandal is no be there.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I propose a different solution than others would:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never have that problem because I do not park at trailheads. We have been known to pull our 1999 Toyota Corolla off the dirt road we were on ( another tip: find those dirt roads! ) and cover it up, even if it meant building a small lean to over it. Since we were already driving in a very deserted area not turning off a major highway and into a crowded trailhead we would just camp close to the car and we have never had a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, I bike to the trailhead after parking in Walmart's heavily watched parking lot a mile or so away. Or, I sometimes leave the car at home and bike all the way. Yea, down the trail and off of it too a good mountain bike will go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastEditorUserId="3556" LastEditDate="2017-03-07T19:24:24.607" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T19:24:24.607" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-07T12:29:56.553" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, the same rules as elsewhere apply. I’d stick with those:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, do not leave anything of value in the car. They can’t take what’s not there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also avoid leaving hints of something valuable being in the car. For example, a few years back in Milan, the general advice was not to leave a suction cup holder for a sat-nav on the windshield, as would-be thieves might (and frequently did) infer the sat-nav might be in the car.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the inside of the car visible. If you have a station wagon with a trunk cover, pull it back so everyone can see from the outside there’s nothing in the trunk. (Again, common advice in some parts of Italy.) Opening the glove compartment and armrest/center console cover is also a good idea. Anything that looks secured may hint at valuables and attract thieves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do need to leave valuables in the car, hide them under some other object (which should not look like its sole purpose is to conceal valuables). A simple blanket, cheap jacket or the like might work. Taking your valuables with you, or leaving them at home in the first place, is still safer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anticipate being watched: Some thieves observe their targets and strike as soon as they are away. Don’t give any signs of leaving objects of value behind in the car (such as tucking away a cell or purse).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid being the lowest-hanging fruit. If you can, park close to a car that looks like an easier or more desirable target.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are positively sure you have nothing inside your car that you aren’t ready to part with, you can consider leaving the car unlocked. This allows would-be thieves to rifle through your car without having to damage it. Do note, however, that you may be liable in some legislations: If the car is stolen, you may lose insurance coverage and might even be liable it the thief causes an accident with it (as you didn’t take necessary precautions). Some states, like Germany, even fine drivers for parking a car without locking it. Use this one with caution and check local laws and practice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, as everywhere, there is no 100% security. At the best, these things reduce the likelihood of something happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12582" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T12:29:56.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-07T20:43:11.927" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question is pretty broad, but if the terrain is steep enough so that it's likely to be difficult or impassable in spots, then basically the standard technique would be to look at a topo map and look for a route to the top that keeps to the least steep terrain possible. The least steep terrain is where the contour lines are as far apart as possible. If the distance between the contour lines is zero, it's a vertical cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not try to find a route using perspective renderings such as google earth's. It's very, very difficult to judge the steepness of a slope from a perspective view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other factors to keep in mind would be rock quality, snow, and glaciers. Glaciers and permanent snow fields are indicated on topo maps. If snow cover is seasonal, then you can usually anticipate that the snow will come down lower in elevation during the winter, and it will persist for longer on north-facing slopes. If the rock quality is poor, then climbing on snow can actually be easier and safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T20:43:11.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15520" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-07T20:45:04.223" Score="5" ViewCount="805" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are sleeping in a rainstorm it would be warmer to sleep under a tarp, since otherwise you are going to get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be rather difficult to enclose a space with a tarp to the level that a tent provides and so I am wondering if setting up a tarp and &lt;strong&gt;sleeping underneath it on a calm night&lt;/strong&gt; would provide &lt;strong&gt;more warmth&lt;/strong&gt; compared to &lt;strong&gt;sleeping out under the stars.&lt;/strong&gt; Wind should be neglected here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-05-08T08:06:15.017" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T08:06:15.017" Title="Without rain/snow/wind would it be significantly warmer to sleep under a tarp?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-07T21:46:11.883" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will likely find &lt;strong&gt;topo maps&lt;/strong&gt; as the best starting point. Find a route that avoids impassible features, like cliffs or high rivers, and sticks to easier terrain like snowfields (depending on the season and weather conditions) and avoiding thick forests. You may also want to try to find &lt;strong&gt;guidebooks or trip reports&lt;/strong&gt; as they may help you find the best route to take, even if there isn't an established trail. It can also help to find &lt;strong&gt;images&lt;/strong&gt; of the area online so that you can get a good idea of what type of terrain you'll be dealing with. Some non area specific sources are Google Maps, Flickr, Google Images or Panoramio. Also &lt;strong&gt;ask&lt;/strong&gt; around to see if anyone you known in person or on the internet has been to the area before. First hand knowledge is invaluable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're planning the trip ahead of time, one resource that may come in handy is &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caltopo&lt;/a&gt;. It's a free mapping site that is designed for things like mountaineering and makes it easy to switch between or blend different maps - topo, satellite, road, etc. You may also find &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQYjws926kM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://thingstolucat.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Luc Mehl&lt;/a&gt;, an Alaskan adventurer, helpful. Although some is Google Earth and Alaska specific, he spends some time talking about how he finds routes through backcountry areas where he's never been before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12588" LastEditorUserId="12588" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T12:40:31.937" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T12:40:31.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15520" CreationDate="2017-03-07T22:03:23.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neglecting the wind (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advection&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;advection&lt;/a&gt;) the tarp shouldn't make any noticeable difference. I doubt you could measure even one Kelvin difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even a tent isn't providing a lot of warmth during night but as long as you stay active in the tent (by moving and/or cooking) you will notice an increase in the temperature. During night you are passive and most of the produced body heat &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be restrained in the sleeping bag if you use it right (warm enough bag, as little openings as possible). If you (with &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; I mean the system of you and your sleeping bag!) release too much heat, this is bad for your comfort level, so there is not that much energy to heat up the volume of air in the tent. That being said, the smaller that volume of trapped air in the tent, and the less ventilation the tent has, the more will the air be heated up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a tarp setup the ventilation and the &quot;volume of air&quot; is extremely high, mathematically spoken: tends infinity. Even surrounded by dense vegetation a tarp won't increase the temperature underneath noticeably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another source of heat, or better said a source of heat loss is heat radiation. During night - especially clear nights - the heat radiation cools the atmosphere quite a lot. If you'd have a very big tarp, this source of heat loss should be reduced, therefore helping you to heat up. But for a normal sized tarp I doubt you feel the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-03-07T22:03:23.173" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-08T01:32:37.757" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest thing is to plan ahead.  Whether you are going to a trail head or to a show in the city... Don't think that a towel for a cover or sliding it under a seat will work.  Stow stuff in your trunk before arriving.  And hopefully you have a lock on your trunk button.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12590" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T01:32:37.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2017-03-08T04:24:10.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mauna Kea&lt;/a&gt; in Hawaii may meet your requirements. The average highs at the summit are between 40.3 and 50.9 F with most months having less than an inch of rain. The average lows at the summit are between 24.9 and 31.3 F making it a little too cold. Further, the summit is above tree line. Tree line (and the forest zone) is about 4000' below the summit so there should be a sweet spot where you can get limited rain, forest, and temperatures consistently between 40 and 60 F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T04:24:10.737" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2017-03-08T05:47:41.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was going to submit my hometown of San Francisco as a candidate. It rains far less than in the Pacific Northwest and because of terrain and the micro-climates in this tiny city of 49 square miles, it stays pretty cool in a number of different neighborhoods. The Sunset or The Richmond districts could be possible.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K2wZN.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K2wZN.png&quot; alt=&quot;San Francisco Climate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/san-francisco/california/united-states/usca0987&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/san-francisco/california/united-states/usca0987&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iBZIv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iBZIv.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sunset District&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O7t8W.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O7t8W.png&quot; alt=&quot;Richmond District&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; While there is no forest per se, there is the splendid, magnificent &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Golden Gate Park&lt;/a&gt; (larger than NYC's Central Park). &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K7iGR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K7iGR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Stowe Lake&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R8cbW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R8cbW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Botanical Gardens&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R8cbW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KT5rh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aerial GGP&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; As you can see, it's quite large, is truly lush and NO SNOW!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastEditorUserId="12241" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T07:38:07.660" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T07:38:07.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2017-03-08T06:08:34.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like a Prairie Rattler.  I'm guessing you're in New Mexico or Arizona?  These are usually very docile animals; they don't want trouble.  I have had a couple that were tame enough that I could handle them without holding their heads.  Don't bother them, and they will definitely not bother you.  Very passive creatures.  But like any animal, don't back them into a corner.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12592" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T06:08:34.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15527" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15533" CreationDate="2017-03-08T06:59:53.987" Score="9" ViewCount="4928" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're currently planning a tour in the alps. Nothing too big. Just going uphill with the cable-way and then doing 15 km on top. This is because we've a 2 year and a 5 year old girl with us. We can carry the little girl easily around so that she shouldn't be a problem. We are not sure however about the bigger one. At home she does 8, even 9 km with ease. But that happens in a non-alpine terrain and, well, there are still 6 km left. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to know in general whether a kid is capable of walking the striven distance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T18:45:40.910" Title="Hiking with kids - what are the right distances?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-08T10:14:48.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it were me. I would take my binoculars the 20x to 180x ones with me. Set up a base camp &amp;amp; study from there the best way to get to the top.  You have the valley there with water run off a trail of sorts. You also have the ridge line you may be able to walk. Also try to spot any animal trails you could follow. Or were others have gone up. Also to the left a area of sheet erosion. Those can be easy walking.But look before you leap as they say. There are maps that can be studied, Googlr earth photos &amp;amp; such also. Before going.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T10:14:48.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-08T10:15:25.967" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll try to give a fairly generic answer to this broad question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Avoid Dangers&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is obvious really, but first and foremost you'll want to avoid any kind of routes which lead you close to dangers. What's dangerous and what isn't and which levels of danger you'll be prepared to accept will depend highly on your skill level, your environments/weather, the mountain in question, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid scrambles/climbs&lt;/strong&gt; if possible (unless that is your actual goal obviously, in which case you should be properly equipped).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid passing steep ice/snow fields/glaciers&lt;/strong&gt;. For many of those you need special skills and special equipment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't cross streams if avoidable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid crossing ravines/mountainsides where &lt;strong&gt;rockfall&lt;/strong&gt; is frequent. If you do have to cross do so quickly and alertly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid spending time beneath cliff sides, as rockfall is always a danger and there is virtually no warning signs in such a case.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forests are generally quite safe to walk through (trees will protect you against rockfall, will protect the soil from eroding, etc.), but depending on the type of forest can be horribly uncomfortable and inefficient to pass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid long wet grass, or more generally, anything slippery on long unbroken inclines.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally &lt;strong&gt;walking on top of ridges&lt;/strong&gt; will be fairly safe, unless the drop-off towards both sides is very steep and sudden. (In which case it can become a dangerous climb or scramble.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Efficiency&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different countries/regions have different practices when picking paths up steep inclines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In my experience this depends a lot on whether the route was ever used economically (e.g. travel up to mountain pastures with your livestock, or cross a pass to bring goods to market) vs. purely 'recreational' routes. I find the former to use more serpentines, where as recreational routes can be very steep/hard ascends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personally I find it more efficient to pick a &lt;strong&gt;zig-zag/serpentine&lt;/strong&gt; path up an incline - unless it is not very steep. This will allow me to keep a decently fast pace when ascending without getting exhausted quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;But of course serpentines are a &lt;strong&gt;tradeoff of time vs. exhaustion&lt;/strong&gt;. If time is more valuable, then by all means, ascend in the straightest possible line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't lose altitude&lt;/strong&gt; once gained. E.g. no descends and re-ascends on the way up if possible. If you need to move around obstacles big or small, try to keep your altitude by moving along the hillside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid forests if you don't rely on them to keep you out of harms way. Picking a path through a forest can be quite arduous and the same goes for scrubs, thickets and the like.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid bogs and moors. While they generally won't suck you down &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y688upqmRXo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;just like in the movies&lt;/a&gt; they can be hell to navigate and traversing one often takes a lot more energy than simply going around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fauna and Flora&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always when following &lt;em&gt;leave no trace&lt;/em&gt; be aware of your environment and the ecosystem you are moving in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you happen to stumble upon any nests/dens, feeding places or generally herds of animals of any kind give them a wide berth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be mindful of where you pick your path, as the mountain flora can be especially fragile due to the short growth periods.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid walking on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raised_bog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;raised bogs&lt;/a&gt;, as they will take a lot of damage from your steps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be mindful of flowers growing in mountainous ecosystems. At least in alpine regions many of them are protected (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leontopodium_alpinum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edelweiss&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlina_acaulis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silver Thistle&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron_ferrugineum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine Rose&lt;/a&gt;, etc.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-04-04T05:28:35.800" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T05:28:35.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15531" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15532" CreationDate="2017-03-08T11:24:54.923" Score="7" ViewCount="1572" Body="&lt;p&gt;Currently I own what I would call the most basic flashlight. It's a small cylinder with a single bulb within a reflective cone. It seems to do a very poor job at helping me follow the dirt path from my cabin to the main road. The path is winding, sloped, uneven, muddy and has holes and rocks, so it is easy to trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What type of light would be more effective in helping illuminate my way?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously it has to be portable, not too heavy and powered by commonly available batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12596" OwnerDisplayName="Itai" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-08T21:01:30.043" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T21:01:30.043" Title="What kind of portable light is going to be effective at illuminating my path?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-03-09T08:54:55.040" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15531" CreationDate="2017-03-08T12:17:17.580" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend any LED headlamp, it's a huge difference to old school flashlights (much brighter and batteries last much longer). Headlamp because you want to have your hands free if you got to carry something or if the path is slippy after rain. I would make sure it has at least two light modes (dimmed and full) to be flexible and use it for reading too. Almost all of them take AA/AAA batteries, if you just plan to use it for short walks between cabin and car only the batteries probably will last for months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have good experiences with Petzl but any other brand probably will do too (just look into reviews if the promised brightness and battery life is real).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12249" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T12:17:17.580" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15527" CreationDate="2017-03-08T12:51:27.027" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;15 km (9.3 miles) is really long for the average 5 year old, especially when it's 65% longer and at higher altitude than what she's used to.  This sounds like a bad idea to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say you can carry the 2 year old &quot;easily&quot;, but you need to think about that carefully too.  2 years old is about the limit for one of those baby-backpacks.  You may be fine carrying her on your back for the full distance, but she may not be fine with being stuck in the backpack for that long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll have to stop frequently, which makes the whole trek take longer.  What may normally be a 4 hour hike for you could easily turn into a 6 to 8 hour ordeal for the kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if the kids get thru it OK, they won't have fun.  At best, you'll be teaching them that hiking, especially hiking with you, is a chore, not a adventure or something fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find something simpler and more fun for the kids to do than a long trek.  You can bump around and take some short trails when you get to the top.  Leave yourself lots of options.  Watch the weather and the attitude of the kids carefully and adjust what you do on the fly accordingly.  Kids can be fine for a while, then hit their limits quickly.  Everything after that will be unpleasant for them and you.  Always have a quick escape option.  Don't commit to something that takes hours to get back from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T12:51:27.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15531" CreationDate="2017-03-08T13:07:15.333" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend a tactical military-grade flashlight. I personally use one and will not go back to any other style now. Not only do they have the option of going from a strong beam light to a wide surface light, but they are small and can fit in your pocket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example image of the one I use and keep in my vehicle at all time can be seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/itm/G700-Tactical-LED-Flashlight-Lumitact-Military-Zoom-ShadowHawk-X800-Super-Bright-/322099600696&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.com/itm/G700-Tactical-LED-Flashlight-Lumitact-Military-Zoom-ShadowHawk-X800-Super-Bright-/322099600696&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rd8Y4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;G700-Tactical-LED-Flashlight-LumitaDetails about  G700 Tactical LED Flashlight Lumitact Military Zoom ShadowHawk X800 Super Bright &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T13:07:15.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2017-03-08T13:33:25.200" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several places in the US that meet your requirement if you exclude the requirement for forest, and you are will to accept no snow, in place of rare snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;what place in america has forest, temperature ranges from 40-60 degrees year round, does NOT rain for days on end, and rarely gets snow. (&lt;em&gt;from question&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With requirements&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;temperature ranges from 40-60 degrees year round&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;does NOT rain...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most notably is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammoth Cave&lt;/a&gt; but it is in a national park, so it is not a viable solution for a long term living solution. If you stay away from the entrance, the temp is mostly stable at 54 degrees, it never rains or snows. There are several privately held caves with similar environments. Your budget and space requirements would define the choice that best meets your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How cold or hot can it get inside Mammoth Cave?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperatures inside the cave vary somewhat, but usually hover around 54° Fahrenheit, year-round. In the &amp;quot;variable temperature zones&amp;quot; close to the entrances, wind chills in winter can dip below freezing, or temperatures can rise to around 60°.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/maca/faqs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you insist on Forest, then the answer by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5184/what-is-a-place-in-the-u-s-a-that-is-between-40-60-degrees-year-round-and-doesn/5543#5543&quot;&gt;Olin, is the most correct&lt;/a&gt; the answer by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5184/what-is-a-place-in-the-u-s-a-that-is-between-40-60-degrees-year-round-and-doesn/15524#15524&quot;&gt;StrongBad&lt;/a&gt; looks promising but it does not clarify if there are privately held lands available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T13:33:25.200" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15527" CreationDate="2017-03-08T15:18:35.550" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with Olin Lathrop, that distance seems too long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, a base number for children is appx 0.5 mile per age in years, up to around 10 years old.  After that, figure about 1 mile per age in years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's roughly 1km per year, up to 10.  Maybe 2km per year after 10.  Hoping someone can come up with easier to remember numbers than mine, my metric is not very good, sorry.  :-(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a 5 year old should do no more than 2.5 miles.  Can they do more?  Sure, absolutely, if they hike often, play sports, and otherwise are active.  Less if they are couch potatoes.  Will they want to stop often?  Yep.  It's just a baseline.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the climate, weather, your activities, their equipment, their dress, their experience, bringing (their) friends, meals/snacks, terrain, and sights along the way.  For a 5 year old, don't just plan on many stops, but do plan to do things that are fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you factor in terrain, poor weather, higher or lower than comfortable temperatures, higher elevations, you might want to move that .5 to about .3 for mildly uncomfortable effects, and a .2 for moderately uncomfortable effects.  So, a steep climb, move it to a .4.  Very hot out (or cold)?  Another notch to .3.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the &quot;messier&quot; the trail - rocks, puddles, streams, etc - will make the trek take longer, and maybe less desirable for the adults - but definitely more fun for the kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T18:40:20.230" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T18:40:20.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15531" CreationDate="2017-03-08T18:56:20.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can see the appeal of headlamps, but personally I think they are best suited to activities where you &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to have your hands free. That doesn't seem to be the case here, since you don't mention that you have to carry things to or from your cabin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of a headlamp is that although it points in the direction you are facing, you don't really have the same control over it that you do over a hand-held torch. You can't alter the elevation of it, for example. The other aspect is that you'll probably find the beam bobs a lot while you're walking, which can be wearying. A few years ago I did a long-distance walk overnight wearing a headlamp, and after a few miles I had to stop because I was feeling nauseous - I'm pretty sure that was from constantly watching the bobbing circle of light in front of me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a particular brand of torch to recommend, but it seems to me you want something with a wide cone of illumination - you shouldn't need to see all that far &lt;em&gt;ahead&lt;/em&gt; of you, especially on a route you know well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12600" LastActivityDate="2017-03-08T18:56:20.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2017-03-08T19:19:07.710" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great suggestions here; I would add I concur with the leaving car empty of all valuables, glovebox open. Additionally, you could buy a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/category/video+surveillance+security+cameras/car+cameras.do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;car camera with live feed&lt;/a&gt; and GPS capabilities. They are available and not too expensive. A &quot;warning sticker&quot; or two, placed prominently, might do the trick just as well. Akin to putting a security sign on your lawn and decals in the windows of your home. It has deterrent value and potential thieves may well go for a less intimidating vehicle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sc8Vf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sc8Vf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Window Decal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastEditorUserId="12241" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T07:42:56.530" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T07:42:56.530" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-08T21:27:30.733" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ask the locals!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something missing from the current answers and the first port of call in my opinion, unless you are somewhere very remote. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any mountain with significant difficulties or dangers I would always try to ask a local or two (especially in countries where the mapping is poor). Some suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The park rangers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The local guides (they are often happy to give general advice for free)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hut guardians&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Farmers, shepherds and hunters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The local climbing or walking club&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even the local tourist office will sometimes have a route map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you are at it, ask about any local hazards: afternoon thunderstorms, flash floods, wild animals and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ask someone who doesn't know, they will often pass you on to someone who does. I've had a lot of luck with this approach over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-03-12T09:22:28.093" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T09:22:28.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15540" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15541" CreationDate="2017-03-09T14:31:37.500" Score="70" ViewCount="21724" Body="&lt;p&gt;My question is prompted by the answer of @WedaPashi to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9268/when-will-a-rattlesnake-strike&quot;&gt;this question, which is about rattlesnakes&lt;/a&gt;, specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;• Remain calm and first move beyond the snake's striking distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;• Keep calm, panic will make the adrenaline come in picture and the&#xA;  blood circulation will increase, only resulting in causing the venom&#xA;  to spread much quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is excellent advice in an excellent answer, and I don't question that keeping calm is the thing to do, but I'd like to know exactly what is meant by &quot;keeping calm&quot; and some advice on &lt;strong&gt;how&lt;/strong&gt; to keep calm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, I should not start screaming, running around, and flapping my arms, but I assume &quot;keeping calm&quot; means more than not behaving hysterically.  And what can I &lt;strong&gt;do&lt;/strong&gt; to achieve a calmer state?  And why is part of the answer not Xanax, if I happen to have it with me?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T17:47:33.567" Title="I've just been bitten by a rattlesnake; how, exactly, do I &quot;keep calm&quot;?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="19" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-09T14:51:25.337" Score="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eventually some part of your brain is going to start thinking, &quot;Holy (expletive), Rattlesnake! I'm gonna loose an extremity!  I'm gonna die!  What's going to happen to my family?  Why did I even come on this (expletive) trip? OhGodOhGodOhGodOh....&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then another part of your brain is going to tell the first part to stop thinking like that, it is not constructive.  Then the first part is going to reply back, &quot;Up yours!&quot; and go on thinking those thoughts.  The more you try to tell yourself &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to think about something, the more you are going to think about it.  Ever have a musical ear-worm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to not try to tell yourself not to think about the bad things, but instead tell yourself to think about something else.  Tell yourself to think about what you need to do now to get proper care and treatment.  Tell yourself to think about what you will do to celebrate your recovery.  Tell yourself to think about something mundane, like your job or your favorite TV show or that hobby project you've got going.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't try to force out the panicky thoughts, just allow the other thoughts to replace them.  If all else fails, use breathing.  Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale.  Exhale.  Feeling calmer yet?  Works every time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T15:29:26.197" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T15:29:26.197" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-09T15:28:19.780" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great question.  And cobaltduck gave a great answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I teach martial arts, and often the way we teach to calm the mind is by controlling the breathing.  Meditation is always the answer: nothing is gained by panicking.  We have many sayings in life, like &quot;Look before you leap&quot;, &quot;Think before you do&quot;, etc.  And that's easy to say, not so easy to do.  For many, the problem is exacerbated by the snake itself - venomous or not.  Ophidiophobia is one's worst enemy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, breathing calmly and not thinking bad thoughts is a learned and practiced skill: you can't expect someone with no practice to do just that.  Therefore, in your first aid classes (we outdoors people DO study first aid, right?  ;-)  part of your practice on tying square knots, splinting broken limbs, stopping bleeding, and starting breathing and hearts, should also include exercises in breathing exercises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those who are in traditional martial arts, or who take yoga, or otherwise are well-practiced in Asian healing are usually good resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, you will want to settle down as quickly as possible.  Drink nothing but water - caffeine, for example, will increase your heart rate, you don't want that.  Slowly breathe in and slowly breathe out - all at the same slow pace.  You should not assist in your first aid, unless you are alone or the others are panicking or don't know what they're doing.  The more you move, the less you can focus and reduce your heartrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you might want to focus on is the snake.  Good first aid dictates that getting a picture of the snake will be important for medics to prescribe the proper antivenom.  But if there is no camera, you'll have to keep a mental picture of the snake.  So, look at it, verbalize what you see: the rattle, shape of the head, its length, its colors, and every detail you can see about it.  Of course, if the snake is dead or gone, you should focus your efforts on other things, like the serenity of a blue sky, or an ocean sunset.  Maybe try to count the different kinds of birdsong you hear, or count the number of animal life about you.  (And while your at it, if others are in a calm mind, they should also snap pictures or verbalize what they see as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, this good advice - but useless if you don't have the practice.  Take up yoga, martial arts, qigong.  Or just practice meditating on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11609" LastEditorDisplayName="user11609" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T15:59:37.870" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T15:59:37.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2017-03-09T18:15:00.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realize that an answer has already been chosen, but as a frequent sufferer of poison ivy, I feel obliged to answer.  The best way to treat poison ivy, is to not get it in the first place, with avoidance as the first step, but a blocker works as well.  The best blocker I've found is IvyBlock, which is a lotion.  However, I am more likely to use IvyX which comes as towelettes.  I keep a box in my truck and since they're handy and easy to apply, I'm more likely to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, once you get poison ivy, the best treatment I've used is a product called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zanfel.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zanfel&lt;/a&gt;.  It is a wash, in paste form, that bonds to the urushiol, then is washed away.  This stuff is amazing, but very expensive.  I have seen generic versions, but I have been reluctant to try them since Zanfel works so well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some folks have mentioned Benedryl cream/pills, which does help with the itching.  However, it does not treat the root cause of the poison ivy, the urushiol oil.  If I feel that I might have been in contact with poison ivy, I wash with dish soap (Dawn) as it breaks up the oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12607" LastEditorUserId="12607" LastEditDate="2018-08-16T20:57:00.523" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T20:57:00.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-09T18:51:22.393" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I watched my dad nearly slice his thumb off while cutting wood, in the middle of nowhere in France, with a meat cleaver when I was about 10. He turned to me and said 'Go to your mum, ask her for the electrical tape. Tell her it's urgent and to hurry.'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember it clearly to this day, he didn't panic, he didn't jump up and wave his now hanging thumb around everywhere, and somehow it healed almost perfectly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that on, any time I've been in any kind of emergency I've managed to just stop, breath, look around and plan my actions. I've managed to do this when people have fainted in nightclubs, the time I sliced my own finger down to the bone while cutting flapjack, my sister having a diabetes induced fit or the time my mum slipped down two steps and broke her ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I don't suggest you do any of these things, what I think has prepared me the most is the fact my social anxiety has caused me to play these, and many hundreds of other weirder situations through in my head, over and over again, considering what I'd do in each one and allowing it to play out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you can simply think the whole situation through, possibility making it more 'real' via meditation helping to imagine the whole thing, and in fact practice increasing and decreasing your heart rate, and remaining calm, on demand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12487" LastEditorUserId="8620" LastEditDate="2017-03-12T15:08:10.287" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T15:08:10.287" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-09T19:31:48.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Meditation has been mentioned, let me expand on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are certain techniques of meditation (namely Vipassana) which are in no way mystic or magical, but work quite like a sort of maintenance for the mind. While they are obviously employed a lot in Buddhism, they have at their core no religious/mystical background whatsoever, and they do &quot;work&quot; no matter whether you believe in anything or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is not to sit down to meditate right after getting bitten by a snake, but to do the meditation as part of your regular life, at least for a while, like going to a gym to train your bodily muscles. After some time, you will learn to consciously notice what your mind is doing, while it is doing it. You will be able to notice when your thoughts are running away, you will notice when you are agitating yourself and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will be able to recognize fears etc. arising, and let those pesky feelings &quot;pass through&quot; without harm (to a certain degree, you are certainly not expected to become a monk and sit in a cave for 15 years just to survive a snake bite). The great thing is that if your live gets busy and you don't have time for regular practice anymore, whatever you achieved stays with you (like being able to ride a bike).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest this short series as a gentle (western, non-spiritual, non-religious, practical, no-nonsense, no-money, no-person-cult) introduction: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLvU7ppM4vE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to meditate&lt;/a&gt;. Ignore the orange robe and give it a try, you might be surprised by the experience; and you will be that much more prepared for your next rattlesnake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T19:31:48.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15520" CreationDate="2017-03-09T22:00:15.617" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have spent many nights sleeping in tents, tarps, and under the stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents are definitely your warmest option, and can be up to 10 degrees warmer than the outside - if you're using a rainfly. Just using the mesh tent body will even increase the temperature by a few degrees, but won't protect from any weather except mild wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarps can certainly increase the temperature too, but as @Wills mentioned there are some other variables to take into account. If you attach your tarp low to the ground (reducing air volume and also cross-breeze) you can trap some warmth around you. Planning your placement so that your tarp does not create a wind tunnel, and instead catches breezes broadside, will increase your ability to trap heat. Further reducing air flow by surrounding natural elements or using your pack/equipment to block the doorway works too. In many cases, the disadvantage with temperature is far outweighed by the decrease in weight offered by the tarp. &lt;em&gt;edit:&lt;/em&gt; compared to a tent, not to sleeping under the stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shape of the land affects sleeping temperature too - ex: cold air will settle in dips in the ground. Water (streams and lakes) also have a chilling effect on air temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget that most heat loss while camping actually occurs through the ground (given the calm night you mention). A quality sleeping pad will go a long way in keeping you warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12599" LastEditorUserId="12599" LastEditDate="2017-03-09T22:16:41.137" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T22:16:41.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-09T23:38:54.260" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know if this helps, but when I have time to daydream I often intentionally run through awful situations in my mind, embracing as much anxiety as possible (it's a curse) and imagining a good response. I find that this helps me when things actually happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had tangible results with this: One scenario I used to run through often is what I would do if the brakes on my car failed. One day, while driving through NYC, my rear brakeline popped in dense high speed traffic. As I mentally practiced, I downshifted, hit the hazard lights, and used the parking brake, no issues, no panic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Catching myself on a scaffolding collapse was another tangible success; this technique has help me developed a habit of always having response plan when in physically dangerous situations. So, for example, when I climb on things I make a mental note of the nearest stable thing I can grab, and the second nearest thing if that fails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experience is even better, of course (for example, a paramedic I know has seen so many rough situations that if he finds &lt;em&gt;himself&lt;/em&gt; in any, he naturally remains calm and knows what to do -- he understands the difference between real dangers and panic, and remaining calm is second nature to him), but the technique I just described is meant to help me in new situations that I have never been in before. I've also found that it helps me think coolly in situations that I &lt;em&gt;haven't&lt;/em&gt; mentally run through in the past, as a side-effect that I cannot explain. In fact, you asking that question here is a form of you doing this. I have asked &lt;a href=&quot;https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/33641/most-reliable-way-to-stop-an-automatic-with-a-stuck-throttle&quot;&gt;similar types of questions&lt;/a&gt; in the past for this reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think in situations like this, the root of panic is the fundamental sense of not knowing/understanding what's going to happen. I find that minimizing some of the unknowns ahead of time helps to naturally reduce the panic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4120" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:47:21.583" LastActivityDate="2017-03-09T23:45:27.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-10T03:01:47.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Along the lines of existing answers to breathe or meditate, I prefer &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Litany_Against_Fear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Litany Against Fear&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. Breathing alone does not divert the mind for long, so it's necessary to add something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When meditating, one is usually attempting to reign in the mind, but doing so takes mental energy and focus and, in my experience, works best when starting calm. (When I meditated regularly, I found it best to start with a recorded guided relaxation.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeating aloud something like the Litany Against Fear makes you focus enough to divert the part of your mind that gets panicky but is repetitious enough that it does not require the same push of focus. The rhythm keeps you doing it and helps to keep you breathing. Also, it does not so completely occupy your mind that you cannot perform other physical tasks, like tending wounds, driving, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other litanies, mantras, poems, etc, probably work just as well--the trick is that you've got to actually know it to begin with, because you cannot be struggling to remember it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12616" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T03:01:47.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15552" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15555" CreationDate="2017-03-10T07:04:54.713" Score="34" ViewCount="8332" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately I chatted with my neighbor while the farrier was there, to provide her horses with new shoes. Later it made me wonder why they even need them. They don't have any in the wild, so why would they suddenly need some metal bars to walk properly? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:01:08.437" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:01:08.437" Title="Why do horses need to wear shoes?" Tags="&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15552" CreationDate="2017-03-10T07:54:41.400" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because roads are harder than hooves, and whatever is harder usually wears down whatever is softer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also pretty good protection against chipping/splitting that the horse may get from stepping on rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T07:54:41.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-10T10:09:06.747" Score="12" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Know what to do&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Make an effort to know how to deal with the risks of &amp;lt;activity&amp;gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing I learn when I attend first aid courses is not the treatment of the injury, but &lt;strong&gt;knowing what to do encourages calmness&lt;/strong&gt;. Staying calm helps you make better decisions about how to deal with the situation and usually keeps the casualty calm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case that &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; are the casualty, why should things be any different? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I broke my leg on a trampoline&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, I screamed. Twice. But then the first aid training kicked in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I wasn't in any immediate danger, so I stayed where I was.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bones had come through the leg and it was bleeding, so I applied pressure.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I needed an ambulance, so I called for help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time a first aider was applying bandages, I was lying back and concentrating on breathing slowly and for the most part, this extreme physical trauma was comparatively, psychologically trauma-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When my friend broke his leg on a trampoline&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, he screamed. I was nearby, so I went to help&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He was on an unstable trampoline, so I asked others to put mats underneath to keep it still.    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;His leg was at an awkward angle, so I held it still&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;He needed an ambulance, so I called for help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time the paramedics arrived, he was lying back and concentrating on breathing slowly and we were talking about his new phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Admittedly, my first aid training has never covered snake bites as I live in the UK and they're not a threat, but when a new activity poses new risks, I made an effort to ask somebody who does know what they're doing to give me a quick list and the basics of how to deal with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, to answer the part of the question: &lt;code&gt;And why is part of the answer not Xanax, if I happen to have it with me?&lt;/code&gt; Particularly with venom, I wouldn't take any drugs, I have &lt;strong&gt;no idea&lt;/strong&gt; how they'll react with one another. If both the venom and the drug were muscle relaxants for example, I have a feeling your heart may stop sooner!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1. We were both, thankfully, in a controlled environment with lots of people to help. As a trampoline coach, I think garden trampolines are the devil! Don't use them!&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12618" LastEditorUserId="12618" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T10:16:02.160" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T10:16:02.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15552" CreationDate="2017-03-10T10:16:05.030" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few reasons why horses need (and in some cases need not to wear shoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weak hooves / easily cracked or damaged, or mentality. Some horses are prone to easily damaging their hooves. We had one pony who had worn shoes his whole life (he was around 14 when we brought him) and when his shoes were removed he had trouble walking and even over a space of 2-3 weeks was so distressed with lack of shoes the farrier had to come out and put the fronts back on (he had to not have rears due to stable rules but he managed fine with just fronts!). Wearing shoes slows the wear and tear horses get on their hooves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stability. Shoes for domestic / competition horses can come with stud holes. You use studs in bad weather, over the winter, in poor ground conditions. They are little bullet like screw in bits of metal that help the horse get grip in the bad conditions. This makes it harder to walk on the flat but are often used in Cross Country or sponsored rides in the winter seasons. I used these when I competed, when not in use you put a stud plug or some cotton wool in the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8cWzD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8cWzD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;horse shoe studs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Management (this is a sort of side effect that's useful). All horses, even 'wild' ones need a way to care for their hooves. Shoes have a sort of bonus in so far as you really can tell when the farrier needs to come give them a trim! The 'wild' Dartmoor ponies even get rounded up once a year to have a trim because overgrown hooves can leave horses unable to walk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reason &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; to shod a horse - safety for other horses or humans. Imagine being kicked by a steel toe capped boot... but harder.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horse shoes come along the lines of wearing shoes as humans, all a hoof is is a giant nail which needs trimming and care (You do yours don't you?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Domestic horses should be re-shod or have their hooves filed every 4-6 weeks to maintain their hooves unless they throw a shoe. This is probably the biggest downside to shoeing a horse - in very muddy conditions older shoes tend to pull off like a welly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-03-10T15:03:34.113" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T15:03:34.113" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-10T15:06:45.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Returning to a calm state is aided by knowing what to do for a given event.  Knowing the actions required to deal with any situation allows the brain to focus on acting on those steps vice panicking.  How quickly this occurs depends on the amount of time spent learning, practicing, and actually dealing with the event.  Given enough experience your reactions are automatic and panic will not occur since you are busy taking action.&#xA;Given enough experience in dealing with rattle snakes you can probably take action to avoid being bitten in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12626" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T15:06:45.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15559" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15570" CreationDate="2017-03-10T15:28:59.800" Score="22" ViewCount="3016" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go backpacking with a couple friends, but I'm the only one of us with any experience, and I mostly day hike. I've only done a couple of backpacking trips. They've never backpacked, and only hiked occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T13:17:18.040" Title="How should I plan a backpacking trip with people who have never backpacked before?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-10T15:28:59.800" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make the trip short and easy. Better to have them wishing for something longer than regretting that they're stuck on the trail. Just spend one night on the trail, in good weather if you can arrange it. The four most important things for comfort are sufficient water, good shoes, a comfortable pack, and a warm, dry place to sleep. On a short trip, you don't even need much food.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a suggested gear list for the new people. Make it fairly detailed (x pounds/calories of food, x liters of water, waterproof tent (Test it!), a well fitted pack (Try it first!) specifics items of clothing). &#xA;Tell them to practice walking around with the weighted pack beforehand, in whatever shoes they want to wear. If possible, go on day hikes with them carrying a weighted pack to ensure that they do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newbies make mistakes, and a one night trip minimizes the consequences. Plan to cover less distance than you think you should. Five miles is plenty for day 1, or just 2-3 miles if it's steep. It'll let you get a late start and still be feeling good when you make camp. The second day can be longer because you'll end up at home in your own bed, but still keep it to under 10 miles if it's flat, or under 5 if it's steep. You're with people who aren't used to hiking with weight. It's very different than walking around carrying nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on my experience &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; following these guidelines. I went on a 3 day hike with two people who regularly run marathons, but had never been on more than short day hikes. They're used to suffering for the sake of fun, so it worked out, but they had a lot of trouble despite a high level of fitness.  One of them had borrowed a pack the day before from someone who was 8 inches taller, their tent leaked badly, they carried about a week's worth of food and lots of unused gear, and we ran short of water (I carry a filter, but it was a dry summer. It took a while to find a stream that hadn't dried up). At least their shoes fit. But running 26 miles non-stop in under 4 hours turned out to be poor preparation for hiking 8 miles carrying 40 pounds on your back. And if a newbie hasn't tried hiking with 40 pounds, they won't realize why they should try cutting that down to 20-30 until it's too late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T15:28:59.800" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-10T17:28:50.017" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oversee their packing or even pack for them. Chances are if they rarely hike they have little if any backpacking gear. Be sure they do get whatever they need. I would take them on a shopping trip (to my garage) and help them pick and adjust the various equipment I would recommend they take. Make sure the packs and shoes feel comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go well under your limit for both distance and weight. Pushing yourself is almost certain to be beyond their comfort zone. Plan extra rests and view points if possible and probably avoid steep climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry extra first aid supplies especially foot related supplies. Minor injury or irritation is pretty common when doing something you aren't used to. It may be a good idea to take a shoes off break at some point early on to be sure they aren't trying to hide problems, people can get their pride set in unhelpful ways and may have ideas about &quot;toughing it out&quot; that are best avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan entertainment of some kind for the evening. A fire, some stories, a lesson in knots or field craft, maybe a game. It doesn't have to be much, but if you do anything to set the experience apart from hanging out on a couch it will make it special.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider de-fussification. Bring a secret treat, comfort item or present for each person to be used incase of panic. Chocolate generally goes over well. Unexpected pillows can really change a new backpacker's out look.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple points about leading a trip that seem to have been missed: Tell someone where you are going and how long you expect to be out. And make sure you know what rules apply to the places you will hike, camp and park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8348" LastEditorDisplayName="user8348" LastEditDate="2017-03-12T04:31:52.233" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T04:31:52.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-10T17:45:20.740" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in other answers, starting with a short hike is good.  A week-long monstrosity through rugged terrain, while possessing a high &quot;cool factor,&quot; isn't ideal for getting new backpackers hooked.  Rather, I'd aim for a short one-or-two night hike where bailing out midway through is still an option.  When I was a kid, I remember my first overnight hike was still within a three or four hour hike to the car.  That way, if something went really wrong for someone in the group, getting back to the car and civilization was still possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regards to gear selection and packing, providing them with some guidelines (and &quot;must have&quot;s) is a great idea.  In one organization I was in, the standard procedure for everyone's first overnight hike was to bring your (completely packed) backpack to the meeting before the hike, unpack to show what was in it, then repack.  This probably is more reasonable for kids than for adults, but offering to look over what they've packed might be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last thing I'll mention is that you might need to bring slightly more stuff just in case they forget something.  When I'm driving people to a trailhead, I'll put some extra water bottles/food/first aid materials in the car in case they forgot to bring enough (underestimating water needs is probably the most common error I've seen).  Obviously you can't carry enough water/food/gear for two people, but having extra in the car and asking if they need some before departure can save worlds of pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6284" LastActivityDate="2017-03-10T17:45:20.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15552" CreationDate="2017-03-11T05:10:16.543" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe#Reasons_for_use_of_horseshoes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many changes brought about by domestication of the horse have led to a&#xA;  need for shoes for number of reasons, mostly linked to management that&#xA;  results in horses' hooves hardening less and being more vulnerable to&#xA;  injury. In the wild, a horse may travel up to 50 miles per day to&#xA;  obtain adequate forage. While horses in the wild covered large areas&#xA;  of terrain, they usually did so at relatively slow speeds, unless&#xA;  being chased by a predator.[4] They also tended to live in arid steppe&#xA;  climates. The consequence of slow but nonstop travel in a dry climate&#xA;  is that horses' feet are naturally worn to a small, smooth, even and&#xA;  hard state. The continual stimulation of the sole of the foot keeps it&#xA;  thick and hard. However, in domestication, the ways horses are used&#xA;  differ from what they would encounter in their natural environment.&#xA;  Domesticated horses were brought to colder and wetter areas than their&#xA;  ancestral habitat. These softer and heavier soils soften the hooves&#xA;  and have made them prone to splitting, making hoof protection&#xA;  necessary.[4] Consequently, it was in northern Europe that the nailed&#xA;  horseshoe arose in its modern form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T05:10:16.543" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-03-11T05:10:16.543" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15552" CreationDate="2017-03-11T05:44:56.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Domesticated horse activities are not the same as wild or feral horses ( and from the same Wikipedia article provided in the comment by Ilmari Karonen ) an important difference in the domestic is the carrying or pulling of significant added weight that being shod compensated ( I imagine similar to one reason why people invented and wore shoes themselves and in analogy began to treat some of their domestic animals in the same way where the wearing had effect. )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12643" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T05:44:56.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-11T06:15:23.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignorance often breeds (uncontrollable and unnecessary) fear. It doesn't take much to learn about the significant dangers (and how to deal with them) in an area you will visit. &#xA;Facts such as (in Southern California low desserts) no rattle snake bitten victim has ever died. (One exception concerned an &quot;imported&quot; rattlesnake) (In a similar vein, on average, from Alaska to S Mexico, only one person per year dies from shark attacks.)&#xA;Many/most? venomous snake bites are &quot;dry.&quot; The snake does not waste metabolically expensive venom and often the first bite is dry because it is not trying to kill you (you're not a food source) it's trying to escape from you. An angry snake, one that has been threatened for a long time - usually by an inebriated ignorant younger male person is a different matter - the snake will chew and inject all its venom, understandably so! (The boomslang was considered to be harmless until 1953 because so many people had been bitten without any  symptoms.&#xA;If you are not a small person (baby, child) and/or do not suffer allergies and/or are not decrepitly old, you have little to worry about. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to not panicking, think about all the positive aspects that you can derive from knowing the &quot;statistics&quot; as above. From a few years of instructing people to (enjoy) scuba, I have found that telling people to be continually aware of and to control their breathing simply does not work. The breathing rate/quantity response with its positive feedback on breathing too fast/too deeply (essentially you are lowering your CO2, thus raising your pH to which your autonomic response is to feel more panicky and breathe even more so. In a situation, briefly take note of your breathing, is it too fast? too deep? too shallow? Don't &quot;think&quot; about your breathing continuously, your body is pretty good while your brain is in automatic. Look and concentrate on some smallish and slightly complex object that you can pick up to investigate, feel, smell etc. Use as many senses and as narrowly as you can. &#xA;Humor (even dark humor) works. When I see a big shark, I look to see &quot;how fat&quot; it is. Fat = not hungry! (I hope) (They are or at least have all been not skinny so far.)&#xA;In many situations I repeat the &quot;mantra&quot; - Rule # 1 Don't panic, Rule # 2 Don't panic, Rule #3 Don't panic, Rule # 4 OK you can panic now.&#xA;Many people only panic if they have a receptive audience - it is a disguised plea for help. Be aware that &quot;fearless&quot; people are NOT courageous. They are usually ignorant. Fear and its display is not something to be ashamed of. A courageous person overcomes their fear. Sometimes if there are timid people about, it is good policy to hide your fear and/or the cause of your fear because you don't need additional problems (panicking companions) to have to deal with too. &#xA;Excuse the crude grammar, punctuation, syntax, lack of references, non extant editing, split infinitives, post sentence prepositions etc - I have got too many other things to worry and get panicky over, at the moment.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12642" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T06:15:23.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-11T07:11:40.617" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Been there, done that. Everyone survived, but one had to get plucked off the cliff by a chopper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ditto Karen, apnorton, &amp;amp; dirt. Unpack together before trip, repack together. Pack 2-3 heaviest items within easy reach so you can exchange them depending on who's struggling to keep up. Be ready to carry all the heavy gear and extra water yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be sure to stop 1 mile in, make everyone take off their shoes to check for hot spots, and apply moleskin now. Newbie campers--even runners--usually don't recognize pre-blister hot spots. Your shoes wear differently with a pack on terrain vs. running on flat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also grill them repeatedly on basic survival, before and on the trail: &quot;If we get separated or lost, what are you going to do again?&quot; Make a joke out of it beforehand. Tell them you'll just be asking it to see how they're faring on the &quot;death march.&quot; But you need them to constantly be thinking about their response so they don't run or follow equally foolish &quot;instincts&quot; when they get surprised/adrenaline. Telling true good/bad stories is a great way to do this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beware the prideful ones. They're quickest to take off in a dead run when they think they've lost the trail, rather than stopping to reconnoiter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12645" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T07:11:40.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-11T09:48:04.347" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hmmm, people with no real experience, no cardiovascular fitness, no strength to lug a pack around, no navigational skills, I would say heck no. The first time we did it we almost bought the farm, got lost with no gear, no winter protection and we were only a bit more than a mile away from town. It was not our fault, the Ranger gave us wrong directions and sent two newbs through the forest with less than an hour of sunlight left. A forest with bears, rattlers and gators. The point is, the unexpected happens to those who are not prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They should not be using their first experience for training. Trial and error, that is not the way to go out there. Have they watched the necessary vids on youtube? Are they members here? Your training begins and ends at home in safety, because if you can not do it there you can not do it anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this group know how to stay together, how not to panic if they see a bear? Do they know how to walk around without injuring themselves? How to avoid snakes? Nights get cold in the forest, it was 73 in the day and 38 that night that day. Easy to lose the trail, easy to lose the rest and be stranded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First timers have no idea what it is like, I suggest take em down a well known trail, walk them down it for about an hour or maybe and a half and then bring em right back to the car and home. That should be more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just in case you decide to not follow any of my recommendations the number one thing I can say that you should make sure everyone carries is water! Most first timers will try to get by on 20 ounces of water... Let me tell you this, there is no worse hardship then being short on water. Make sure everyone carries a gallon of it. Then comes the pain of carrying it. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3556" LastEditorUserId="3556" LastEditDate="2017-03-11T10:01:49.383" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T10:01:49.383" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5953" CreationDate="2017-03-11T13:40:06.650" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned a few places here already, mounting a cooking surface directly to 20lb LPG container is going to be a stability problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you shop for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_fryer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turkey Fryer&lt;/a&gt; you should find something that will meet all of your needs accept the direct mount to the top of the tank.  The entire unit with cooking surface, large pot, and gas regulator can be purchased new starting at around $30 (US). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can cook soup for a crowd with this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rt1RC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rt1RC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Turkey Fryer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TurkeyFryer.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikicommons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T13:40:06.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-11T15:59:12.987" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only tell you what I do, when I am in this situation. It's tricky, and getting everyone to agree can be tough, but it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Take charge&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;strong&gt;be the leader&lt;/strong&gt;. Don't just &lt;em&gt;suggest&lt;/em&gt; people bring x or y, make them. Assert control over the trip and make sure to keep it. Now that doesn't mean you have to be an ass hat, but you do need to &amp;quot;take charge&amp;quot;.  Make sure you it's clear that you're going and they are coming along. It's hard to describe, because I don't mean to suggest that you be overbearing. But for example, make sure that everyone checks their gear with you. Make sure that everyone checks their food with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people want to split off from the group make sure they know to check with you. Make sure they have you check their tent (or whatever) before they sleep in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this seems silly, but your the one with experience. Be ready to suggest products and items that they will need to bring or buy. Be prepared to call the trip off if it's not going &amp;quot;your way&amp;quot; on a critical issue. Again, sounds bad. But if you say to bring drinking water, and someone is insisting they don't need to because you can just drink from the river, then you suggest that they get some kind of water purification system and they go &amp;quot;no, river water should be fine&amp;quot;, you need to make the call and stop the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Where to go&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, &lt;strong&gt;choose a short trip&lt;/strong&gt;. If it's their first time, then they may not be prepared for what hiking means. Specially if it's off trail. A 2-mile run on a track is a lot different then a 2-mile walk on a animal trail. I would suggest a 1 mile in, setup camp, 1 mile or less out arrangement. Yes, that means a lot of time at camp, but you don't want to be setting up a tent for the first time at dusk. And you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; don't want to have to deal with muscle pain, back pain, sore feet, etc. on the way out. You want to leave them wanting more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Before the trip&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, &lt;strong&gt;have a planning day&lt;/strong&gt;. Get everyone together for dinner or something and go over what the requirements are. Focus on shoes, packs, survival gear and food.  Then, on the second half of planning day head to the stores. Get everything you don't have. Be ready to answer questions about weight, what is needed and what is nice to have. I usually have to remind people that why they want to take is what they will have to carry. That usually gets them to put down the big hibachi grill and choose something more reasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then head to the grocery store. Get the food you want to take. Of course focus on lightweight high-energy foods. Be ready to explain your choices. Keep it simple. Canned food, beef maybe, fruits, nuts, and grains. Even though you may be comfortable preparing a lavish meal over a camp fire, it takes practice that they don't have. So stick with foods that are easy to cook, or don't require cooking. Remember to keep weight in mind. 10 pounds of steak sounds good, but remind them they they will have to carry it, and the ice to keep it edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The day before the trip, have a &lt;strong&gt;packing day&lt;/strong&gt;. Invite everyone over again, and have everyone help each other pack. Make sure you try to distribute weight. Even if it means mixing items. Women usually have to be stopped from bringing to many clothes. Men have a tendency to want to bring too many gadgets. Stick what you need to survive in one pile, and what you want to be comfortable in another. Make sure everyone has their &amp;quot;survival gear&amp;quot;. (For example I think a first aid kit, some water purification tabs, a glow stick, a striker (fire starter), a compass, a knife, some rope, and toilet paper are survival gear).  I would want everyone to carry that themselves. Yes, that means there 6 first aid kits. No one ever dies from too many bandages. (But again a small kit is all that's needed.)  Then look at your comfort gear. Split it up so the weight is even.  Get everyone into their pack, and have them walk around a bit and make sure they're ok with the weight and nothing is off-center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Starting out&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once at the start of the trip, &lt;strong&gt;go over some safety info&lt;/strong&gt;. Point out the ranger stations. Make sure everyone knows which way to walk and how to tell. Set up plans for being separated - both for the daytime and the nighttime. Go over the very basics: don't leave food about, keep your tent closed, keep clothes in your tent. Don't drink &amp;quot;raw&amp;quot; water. Go over what to do if someone is injured. Give everyone a map of the area you're hiking in and point out landmarks. See that big rock. That's this spot on the map. See that hill over there, here it is on the map. The river, that's this line right here. If you get lost, then you sit still and wait one hour. If no one finds you by then, you want to walk towards the river and then follow the bank to the big hill. You will either come the camp site or the ranger station.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Picking a campsite&lt;/strong&gt; is easy; just make sure it's by a nice big landmark. If you're in a place with assigned camp sites then even better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Setting up camp&lt;/strong&gt; make sure you get your spot set up first. If you're using a tent, get it up first. Then help the others with theirs if they ask. If it starts to get dark, it may be time to take charge again, but hopefully, you're with friends and you're not being an ass, so if they need help they will ask. In line with being a leader though, you make the call. If it looks like they're headed for a bad situation help them out. Better mad then dead (or injured, or sick).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While camping&lt;/strong&gt; stay on top of safety issues. Even if it means being a pest. Remind everyone to keep their food and trash away for example. Specially if you're in an area with bears, cougars, etc. Make it a point to turn in early. By now everyone should be following your lead as far as &amp;quot;what needs doing&amp;quot; so take advantage of that and turn in early. A little extra sleep will go along way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire&lt;/strong&gt;, if they have had no experience, then you just manage the fire. Again it can really depend on where you are, but if you're in a &amp;quot;dry&amp;quot; area, it doesn't take much for a bad fire pit to become a dangerous situation. Last think you want is the rangers showing up because someone got silly with the fat wood. Give lessons, show the differences, but make sure they at least check with you before adding to the fire. It takes a while to know if a log will burn for an hour or all night. If you need more heat to cook or if you just need to wait for more of the wood to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;First aid&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it's gonna be weird, but when you stop for the night, and in the morning before you pack up, make sure to do a medical check. Most importantly, make everyone take their shoes and socks off and check for blisters or irritations. These nasty little suckers can turn a 1 mile hike into a hospital trip, and because there seem only minor, people tend to just &amp;quot;tough it out&amp;quot;, when all they really need to do is make someone aware of it, and put on a bandage (when it's early). Same is true for rubbing of pants and pack straps (though just ask don't look). If you catch it when its &amp;quot;itchy&amp;quot;, a little water and a bandage will take care of it. If they wait till it's bleeding and hurts to walk....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Toilet&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems silly, but when setting up camp, when on site, and during your planning meeting make sure to go over it. Different parks have different rules. There not always intuitive or pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;HAVE FUN!!!!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I talk a lot about you taking charge. But this trip is supposed to be fun. Keep it fun. Taking  charge doesn't mean being bossy. But it does mean taking responsibility for the situation. Make sure it's fun and not just a day of you bossing everyone around. Help when needed, interject when needed, but mostly just chill and get back to nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T13:17:18.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15571" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-11T18:54:52.130" Score="6" ViewCount="2002" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen ads touting tactical flashlights, and at least one such flashlight was claimed to be capable of &quot;blind[ing] a bear&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wanted a reality check, and not specifically whether a sufficiently strong tactical flashlight could temporarily blind a bear. My understanding is that people are more visual than many other mammals, and so on egocentric lack of &lt;a href=&quot;https://CJSHayward.com/theory-of-alien-minds&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Theory of Alien Minds&lt;/a&gt;, customers targeted by the ads would think &quot;&lt;strong&gt;I'm mostly incapacitated when I can't see, so being temporarily blind would be an incapacitating experience to a bear,&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; where for bears sight isn't &lt;em&gt;quite&lt;/em&gt; so central and a blinded bear may well be capable of getting to you off of hearing and smell, not to mention even more upset for pain in the eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to defend yourself from a bear, how effective or ineffective would a sufficiently strong tactical flashlight be? Would it be an asset or liability combined with a can of bear spray?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T12:52:41.260" Title="How effective or ineffective are tactical flashlights on bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-03-13T15:25:43.153" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15571" CreationDate="2017-03-11T21:18:43.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a scenario which could go either way. Let me give an example in a different way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people can protect their property against bears by putting an electric fence around their homes. However, this will only work if the bear &quot;knows&quot;  by experience what the fence will do to him if he touches it. My guess is that it will be the same for any type of flashlight, tactical or otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But will a tactical flashlight really work against black bears? Well now: &lt;strong&gt;Let's ask a bear!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When police cars turn on their flashing lights, it gives you a little bit of a start, no? Me too: According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, flashing lights can startle me and cause me to flee the scene. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But there's a problem: It will most likely only work once. Unless something happens to reinforce the light (i.e. you yelling, banging pots, etc.), I'll learn to call your bluff. You might get a few more scares out of me by altering the pattern of lights, but eventually I'll figure out that there's nothing to them. If you're camping in a location with highly motivated problem bears used to raiding camps, it might not even work at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In either case, the best option for you is to keep all smelly items (food, toothpaste, deodorant, you know the drill) in a canister or &lt;strong&gt;in a properly hung bear bag far from camp&lt;/strong&gt;. Since you're in the dark, it's probably best for you to use a locking canister, since some of us up there know how to open screw-top canisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Flashing lights are sometimes recommended for houses with bear problems, but lighting systems can be heavy or problematic to camp with. And how will you sleep with all those flashing lights?! Even with blinders on, you could be ruining the wilderness experience you came for in the first place. Never mind the bears — I think you'd have more trouble from fellow human campers who come from far and wide to see what that annoying flashing is all about. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/stories/ask-a-bear-scared-by-flashing-lights&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ask A Bear: Scared By Flashing Lights?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T12:52:41.260" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T12:52:41.260" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15571" CreationDate="2017-03-11T21:32:55.910" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;At night it would still be a good idea to have the flashlight, because the farther away you could potentially see a bear, the more time you have to adjust your course to avoid it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not it would blind a bear is hard to say, I haven't been able to find any experiments on bears one way or another. Police officers do use tactical flashlights when dealing with people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now, advances in technology have made it possible to increase the power of even small flashlights to emit beyond 500 lumens of light, which is more than enough to illuminate a room and &lt;strong&gt;cause temporary blindness in suspects&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2012/12/tactical-level-lighting.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With my tactical flashlight I can pick up the reflections from animal eyeballs at over 300 yards and being able to spot a bear or other creature at that distance would be a definite asset in avoiding an encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can say for certain that animals are sensitive to light and don't like it getting shined in their eyes and sometimes they will move away from you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T21:32:55.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15576" CreationDate="2017-03-11T22:00:56.330" Score="4" ViewCount="640" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took a picture of this in mixed wooded hills in Oregon in winter. I thought it might be animal scat and was wondering what type of animal, but I asked someone who thought it might be slime mold, at which point I remembered I didn't notice a smell from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify this from the picture?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surroundings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qdDg7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qdDg7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;surrounding ground &amp;amp; leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Close-up: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btR0V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btR0V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;close-up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5426" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T17:05:21.133" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T17:05:21.133" Title="Is this yucky thing scat or slime mold?" Tags="&lt;scat-identification&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15575" CreationDate="2017-03-11T22:22:08.783" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;After looking through all of the pages of Google Image search slime molds, I was unable to find anything that resembled the brown stuff in the above images. There is a list of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://science.halleyhosting.com/nature/cascade/fungi/myxomycetes/myxomycetes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slime Molds of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington&lt;/a&gt; and nothing in that looks similar either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that it is runny scat from an unknown animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T22:22:08.783" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-11T22:32:26.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like others have said in their answers, &lt;strong&gt;give yourself something to do&lt;/strong&gt;, and mentally rehearse it before you go into an area with danger of snakes. As for what to do specifically, here's what we learned in my wilderness first aid course:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Call for help - 911, if there's other people in the area have one of them call 911, whatever's going to get paramedics to you the fastest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get something that can be used as a wrap- ace bandage if you have it, otherwise tear a strip of cloth from your clothes, etc. The longer the better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the bitten limb, starting at a spot above the bite and moving toward the end of the limb (they call this axial to distal). E.g. if you're bitten in the calf, start at about the knee and wrap toward the ankle. If there's someone else around that can do this for you so that you don't exert yourself as much, that's better too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing is that &lt;em&gt;this is not a tourniquet&lt;/em&gt;. Tourniquets are to cut off blood flow, which can cause more complications in this instance. Snake venom travels through the lymphatic system as well as the bloodstream, and lymphatic vessels take less pressure to cut off than blood vessels do. The purpose of the wrap is to close the lymphatic vessels and squeeze the contained venom away from vital organs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing these steps by heart and being able to run through them in the case of a snakebite will help keep you focused and therefore calm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12610" LastActivityDate="2017-03-11T22:32:26.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15578" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15581" CreationDate="2017-03-12T00:40:27.003" Score="6" ViewCount="519" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: An update has been added to this post, and is found below the first set of pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Central Massachusetts, in the town of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mapquest.com/us/ma/holden-282925920&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Holden&lt;/a&gt;. We're on the border of the large city of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mapquest.com/us/ma/worcester-282038981&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Worcester&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15470/do-american-mourning-doves-only-make-their-plaintive-cooing-sound-where-people-c&quot;&gt;previous question&lt;/a&gt;, one of my photographs caught the eye of a user here in Massachusetts who is monitoring the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.invasive.org/hwa/fhtet200103.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hemlock Woolly Adelgid&lt;/a&gt;, an aphid-like tree killer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This insect is decimating forests and home landscapes all over the country. The New England Area is so badly infested that hemlocks are under quarantine in both &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/quarantine_information.html#hwa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maine&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.agriculture.nh.gov/publications-forms/documents/hwa-quarantine.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Hampshire&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems the most significant research in New England has been taking place at &lt;a href=&quot;http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/other-tags/hemlock-woolly-adelgid-hwa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harvard Forest&lt;/a&gt;, the 3500 acre forest owned by Harvard University. It's located in Petersham, a town about 70 miles west of Boston. Senior Ecologist &lt;a href=&quot;http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/researchers/59&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;David Orwig&lt;/a&gt; has spent decades studying and educating about what has been called the &quot;woolly bully&quot; at the forest and other regions. His research is getting widespread attention. In April of 2015, The National Geographic published an article entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150402-forest-die-off-climate-harvard-hemlocks-global-warming/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Are Harvard's Dying Hemlocks a Warning for Trees Everywhere?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The hemlocks here teem with a pest that’s slowly killing them; their demise is all but inevitable. “I’m hoping some will survive,” said Orwig, the forest’s senior ecologist, “but we’re on borrowed time.” &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because this is such an important issue, I'm concerned not only about my own tree, but also about how to identify the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid while out walking, in order to report it to the proper authorities. I'm hoping other people here can be encouraged to do the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, Is my tree infected?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;An excellent publication detailing the life-stages, with pictures, can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.invasive.org/hwa/fhtet200103.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. My tree doesn't seem to have the large growths that are the hallmark of the mature adelgid, but I do have a lot of leaves with a white dusty coloring, which can be a sign of a young infestation.  I did find a woolly-looking thing with pinchers attached to a twig, and a few areas of white netting. There are a few round solid lumps, which I thought might be bird droppings, but the experts would know better about that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the pictures below were taken in the first week of March, 2017, except the one with the doves, which is from July of 2016. To save space, I've made all of them smaller. Please click on them to see larger, more close-up versions. Some are blurry, but I have others I'd be glad to post instead if need be. Don't hesitate to ask. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pictures are as follows:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;First row left: The woolly thing, which dried up after I removed it. First row right: The same thing attached to the branch. Second row left: View of a branch with leaves with white dusty covering; an area of white netting joining some leaves; and a small round mass at the bottom. Second row right: Another look at discolored leaves. Third row left: A view of a branch from behind to show the twigs. Third row right: The picture of a branch taken in July of 2016. Fourth row left: A view of the same branch taken on March 2, 2017.&#xA;Fourth row right: The base of the trunk, which I didn't realize was damaged until last week, when I went out to take these pictures!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XSkAB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XSkABm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Woolly-looking thing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/12zWl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/12zWlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Woolly thing on leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Eo5b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Eo5bm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Thing with white netting and blob&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sAReu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sAReum.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lots of dusty leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/81T88.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/81T88m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Back view of twigs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vA4SM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vA4SMm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Doves on branch Last year July 2016&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tQyZ3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tQyZ3m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Same branch March 2017&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gU55j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gU55jm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bare trunk at base with a few dead branches&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Shortly after posting this I had the tree  examined by a naturalist/ecological arborist who's been studying the adelgid for years and treating trees all over Massachusetts. He said it was very healthy, with good new growth and no evidence of adelgid. He was intrigued by the picture I had posted of the suspected infestation. As part of his research, he's been finding that something had happened, most likely a weather pattern, to cause the adelgids to die off without human intervention. Many previously-infested trees have made remarkable recoveries, most likely including mine. This correlates with information provided by Olin Lathrop's answer below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He examined all of my trees and plants, and did find some Wooly Adelgid on a hemlock in a completely different area of my yard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He explained that Wooly Adelgid is identified by the appearance of white, cotton-like masses at the junctions of the twigs and the needles. The wooly substance is a coating covering an adelgid with eggs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He said my infestation was in a young stage, and didn't cover a large enough section of my tree to be doing major damage. He recommended removing the affected branches, which we did, and keeping an eye on the rest of the tree as we come into the spring and summer. If we see a lot more, and want to treat them, his approach to control begins with spraying the affected area with horticultural oils. The spray coats the adelgids and suffocates them, while not harming the rest of the tree or other plant or animal life. This is the least invasive treatment, and should always be the first choice when possible, especially for a homeowner with only a few trees. If the infestation gets out of control, the next step is to treat the entire tree with an insecticide. Imidacloprid has been used successfully for years, but permethrin seems to have some better qualities, and is becoming more popular. All trees are part of the delicate balance of the outdoor eco-system, and removing them shouldn't be the first course of action. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He agreed that the vicious adelgid is doing tremendous harm wherever it's found. The number of infested trees makes control very difficult, and sadly, especially in forest areas, the adelgids are still winning the war. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I appreciate and give full credit to Olin Lathrop for spotting the problem on the original tree, which precipitated this question. Without his keen eye, and generous help, I would never have had it examined. Then I wouldn't have known I had trouble lurking in a different tree, and probably would have lost it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below are pictures of our actual adelgids, taken in March of 2017. They're similar to Olin's, further confirming the correctness of his answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7Uo2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7Uo2m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;small branch large blobs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Atz8l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Atz8lm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;small branch in front of chair&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Sqtr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Sqtrm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A7GZg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A7GZgm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;under side of branch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U4Gxd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U4Gxdm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tree above the sick branches&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:38:01.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:38:01.910" Title="How can I identify Woolly Adelgid on a Hemlock tree?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-12T08:58:36.123" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two things you can focus on depending on your immediate needs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Focus on small things to do&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All I have to do is make a 911 call&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All I have to do is restrict blood flow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All I have to do is stop the bleeding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All I have to do is turn on my flashlight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to focus on the tiny tasks. Leave the bigger ones for later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have little to do, or don't have the strength to do what needs doing (and have already called for help). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you start with 1, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4, in, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just sit down, lie down, what ever you need to do and focus on breathing and counting. Just keep focusing on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T08:58:36.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1386" CreationDate="2017-03-12T11:47:00.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Naming of objects. One player says the first letter of the name eg &quot;I spy something beginning with G.&quot; The other players have to guess what it is, eg &quot;Grass&quot;. The one who gets it right then takes their turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T11:47:00.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15578" CreationDate="2017-03-12T15:40:05.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I can see, only your original picture from 2016 shows sign of woolly adelgid.  The tree is not in focus since the point of the picture was the doves, but here are some clues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g5DP1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g5DP1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The white dots look characteristic of a woolly adelgid infestation, and a rather severe one if the dots can be seen from the top of the branches.  Another clue is the defoliation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfn9g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfn9g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice how needles are clearly missing in several places, particularly on the branch at lower middle of this snippet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a typical look of a mature woolly adelgid infestation.  It is most obvious on the underside of branches.  Often you will find pieces of branches on the ground, such as this one.  This picture was taken in Groton MA on 30 Apr 2016:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NO0yK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NO0yK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often this can only be seen when looking at the undersides of branches.  Severe infestations can be seen from the tops of the branches, as this one in Beverley MA on 7 Jul 2016:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xt4DS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xt4DS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What made me originally ask about the time and location of your picture (you've told us time, but I'd still like to know location) was that I observed something unexpected happen during the summer of 2016.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were several infestations in Groton that were quite evident in the fall of 2014.  That winter, one night got down to about -15&amp;deg;F, which seems to have killed off most woolly adelgid in the area.  There was very little to be found in the spring of 2015, and thru most of that year.  The next winter only got to -5&amp;deg;F, which is apparently not low enough to kill off the pest.  Things started off in the spring of 2016 about where they left off in the fall of 2015, with some severe infestations by July 2016.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't monitor the woolly adelgid again until fall, when I tried to find a good candidate location for testing a bio-control.  To my suprise, most of the places I checked showed no current signs of adelgid, and even some recovery of the trees.  Most trees seemed to have healthy needles at branch tips, even though further back the needles were still lacking that had dropped previously.  Here is a good example of the foliage pattern:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RqA0v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RqA0v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was in Groton on 6 Nov 2016, and characteristic of many hemlocks in the area.  Note the unusual pattern of needles at the tips of branches, with no needles further back towards the trunk.  There was no adelgid directly visible in this tree and most others, although it could still be found here and there in this stand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something interesting happened in the summer of 2016, which I'd like to understand.  We had a unusually dry summer, with drought conditions in much of Massachusetts.  Most of the hemlocks grow in wet areas, that at least stayed damp.  I don't think the drought affected the hemlocks directly, but may have contributed to the adelgid decline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems this should be studied.  It would be useful to understand what did in the adelgid during the summer of of 2016.  Perhaps this could give a clue towards a new control technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been trying to connect up with people doing research in this area, with only limited success.  If anyone out there is researching this pest, I'm happy to help and be eyes on the ground in the Groton MA area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T15:40:05.887" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15527" CreationDate="2017-03-12T17:06:09.430" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If she is easily doing 10 km now, then a one shot of 15 km isn't unreasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes it will be a challenge.  You may have some tears toward the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tips: Assuming typical alpine country, -- lots of small scree, moss tufts, but not overall very steep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's still not a sidewalk or park trail.  Allow 20% slower speed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allow half speed for the last 6 km.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry gear for the worst seasonable weather. Alpine weather can be capricious.  At all times you should have an alternative in mind for complete loss of visiblity (rain or snow) or thunderstorms.  (You don't really want to be on a ridge when lightning is crashing around you.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;15 minutes in, stop for clothing adjustment.  Many people overdress for the start, and overheat, leading to dehydration.  Little people don't adjust automatically.  Put your hand under their clothing to check for sweat.  Add a layer when stopping for more than a couple minutes, and give them a chance to remove it a few minutes after going again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First rest stop do a foot check for forming blisters.  Do another check in early to mid afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stop and feed every couple of hours.  This is the biggest factor in getting little people to cover ground -- they burn off energy and need refueling much more frequently than an adult.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At high elevation you dehydrate faster.  Be sure you have enough fluids to cope. This affects little people faster than adults.  Water, juice, whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dress the kids in bright colours.  If you have any areas of rocks larger than a toddler, they can vanish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is merit in a harness and leash for toddlers.  This is much better than holding their hand over their head for hours.  A leash allows them to stoop, and pick up a pretty rock, look at a flower etc, and also prevent them from wandering over a cliff.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have doubts, do a practice walk of this length or a bit longer in a situation where you can quit, and grab a bus or taxi. A practice run can also teach the kids the routine -- clothing adjustment, foot checks, eat, drink. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T17:06:09.430" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15520" CreationDate="2017-03-12T17:17:12.527" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tarp is significantly warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On a clear night the surface of your bag is radiating into interstellar space.  Not much radiation back.  With a tarp, you have one absorb/reradiate layer which will essentially cut this in half. If you look on a frosty morning, you will see that there is often no frost under a tree.  Due to the tree intercepting radiation from the ground.  Ground didn't cool as fast.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Due to less radiation the surface of your bag doesn't get cold enough to collect nearly as much frost or dew. So your second night will be warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If there is a wind, then the tarp is effective is so far as it slows down the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you pitch your tarp too low, you will have condensation where your sleeping bag touches the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found generally that I will stay drier with a tarp than I will in a tent.  Most of my camping has been in either the Canadian Rockies, or the Pre-Cambrian Shield.  Below timberline, not in established camps.  My companions had to make compromises to find locations for their tents.  This resulted in rain getting into the tent.  With a tarp, I had a much easier time setting up in a spot that would remain dry, plus the advantage of a dirt/grass/moss/gravel floor meant that water that did get in was more likely to sink than to soak.  (I carry a groundsheet too, but it has a much smaller footprint than the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is much less true if it's snowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-03-12T17:17:12.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15514" CreationDate="2017-03-12T17:30:11.267" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some good answers here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gotchas that can get the unready:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A contour interval of 100 feet or 20 meters is common on mountain maps.  Even a slope that shows an even gradient can have lots of stairsteps too big to handle on close inspection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easy to see cliffs from the bottom.  Much harder to spot from above.  Plan your down route while going up.  If you are doing a loop, put the hard part going up, and come down the easy route.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch for low elevation traps.  The last thing you want is to be perched on top of a cliff with no ready way around at the end of the day, tired, and facing the night.  This makes for bad decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to find a way up, prepare to come back several times, and do a series of scouting missions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't rely on being able to come down on the other side.  One of the more frequent mountain formation process is the block thrust.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YZuQm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YZuQm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Along Cline River&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;em&gt;This view looks north.  Coming up the west side is a cakewalk.  The east side is a bit tricky.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Give yourself lots of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a plan for loss of visibility, and/or lightning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every few minutes turn around and look back the way you came.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have two means of navigation -- e.g paper map AND GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave your plans with someone who will expect a call or text when you are back in contact with the world, and will raise a stink if you don't call in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-14T19:37:32.967" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T19:37:32.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15586" CreationDate="2017-03-12T18:02:13.860" Score="5" ViewCount="1080" Body="&lt;p&gt;A z-pulley or z-drag is a way of gaining leverage to pull a rope tight or to pull an object or person closer to the anchor. It is commonly used to tighten Tyrolean traverses, recover pinned boats in white water or in mountain or rock climbing scenarios. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one set one up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:29:48.300" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:29:48.300" Title="How do you set up a z-pulley?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15585" CreationDate="2017-03-12T18:02:13.860" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically it looks like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rmlgv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rmlgv.png&quot; alt=&quot;diagram of a z-pulley&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope goes from the object to a caribiner that is hooked into the anchor. Then it goes back down to where a prussik and a caribiner have been hooked to the rope going to the object. Then you take the rope through the caribiner, back towards the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make it easier one could use pulleys instead of caribiners. For safety the one should use two opposite and opposed caribiners at each point, just as if your were setting up an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible to add another prussik to capture the progress, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GeU9i.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GeU9i.png&quot; alt=&quot;diagram of a z-pulley with a capture prussik&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or to use a one way pulley at the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible to add another line to the Z to increase the advantage from 3:1 to 5:1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SaRpm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SaRpm.png&quot; alt=&quot;diagram of a 5:1 z-pulley&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:26:03.837" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:26:03.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15587" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15588" CreationDate="2017-03-12T18:40:16.907" Score="12" ViewCount="1838" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is often said that when using two carabiners at the same point, such as an anchor, they should be &lt;strong&gt;opposite&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;opposed&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly does this mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T15:46:34.670" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T15:46:34.670" Title="What are opposite and opposed carabiners?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15587" CreationDate="2017-03-12T18:40:16.907" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what a diagram of &lt;strong&gt;opposite and opposed carabiners&lt;/strong&gt; looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K3WWZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K3WWZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;opposite and opposed carabiners&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gates are on &lt;strong&gt;opposite sides and form a X&lt;/strong&gt; when laid over the top of each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purpose of doing this is to make it difficult for both &lt;strong&gt;gates to open at the same time&lt;/strong&gt;, because &lt;strong&gt;even if the rope doesn't slip out&lt;/strong&gt;, a carabiner with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14853/why-are-carabiners-so-much-weaker-if-the-gate-is-open&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;gate open is much weaker&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice that even if one of the carabiners were to shuffle around (when the system is slack) so that the gates end up on the same side, then they will hinge at opposite ends, minimising the chance of simultaneous opening:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SNkUn.png&quot; alt=&quot;opposite and opposed carabiners After rotation&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were to have the gates on the &lt;strong&gt;opposite sides opening in opposite directions&lt;/strong&gt;, vertically flipping one of the carabiners in the first image like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BNC0M.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BNC0M.png&quot; alt=&quot;incorrect opposite and opposed carabiners&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that a rotation will bring &lt;strong&gt;both gates to the same side and opening in the same direction.&lt;/strong&gt; Notice how the gates are on opposite sides, but when &lt;strong&gt;opened they don't form an X&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:28:06.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-13T01:32:09.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done this a few times with about 30 people in my hiking and camping group.  My main preparation was in selecting a place that was as safe as possible.  The lake we camped on is surrounded by a loop trail of about 11 miles.  So the first day is 6 miles and the second day is 5.  However, there is an easy to walk, but unmarked, one mile path to a road that leads to the trailhead.  Every time I've done this, a few people need to take the shortcut out and I have a co-host to guide them. The guide then walks another mile to the cars and drives back to pick them up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also use the shortcut to carry in a few extras, such as supplies to set up a latrine, a good size first aid kit and a cache of extra potable water.  I want this to be a moderate experience of backpacking for my friends, not a chore for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The campsite has access via a forest service road with a locked gate.  I prepared instruction to give to emergency responders on how to drive to the site, if needed.   And I let the US forest service office know we will be at the site. It is a good idea to have the direct dial number for the proper emergency services in case 911 (or similar) does not work at the location or directs you to another county's service.  If you do not know that cell service is available at the campsite, determine where usable service may stop on the way in or scout out the surrounding area's service availability in advance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastEditorUserId="11340" LastEditDate="2017-03-13T01:49:31.757" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T01:49:31.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15590" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15624" CreationDate="2017-03-13T05:46:53.357" Score="10" ViewCount="2055" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slight Introduction:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A slow sand filter is a filter used to purify water. The original design is composed of a layer of gravel, then a layer of fine sand. Sometimes, however, there is an extra layer of bacteria on the top doing most of the purification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This layer of bacteria is called the &lt;strong&gt;Schmutzdecke&lt;/strong&gt; (German for dirt covering).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/29r7X.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/29r7X.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Slow Sand With Schmutzdecke&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Questions:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do slow sand filters work (I'm referring to ones &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; the Schmutzdecke)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any other materials that have the same &quot;water purification&quot; abilities as sand and gravel?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the gravel base optional? Does it help with any of the actual purification?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you grow the Schmutzdecke?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do see that in the picture, the gravel is used as support. But I'm wondering if it'll affect the clarity of the water if removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen that to grow the Schmutzdecke, you just have it sit in water for a week, and it should grow. But I'm not sure that's correct, because&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where will the bacteria come from?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bacteria won't have any food to grow!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And also, setting a bottle with dirty water in it for a week did nothing to the top layer of sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12462" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:23.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:23.137" Title="How do slow sand filters work and are there any alternatives?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15540" CreationDate="2017-03-13T08:00:05.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of answers here and I'm reluctant to add one more, but after reading through them they all seem to focus on breathing and meditation. I'd like to add some other things to this with a more medical focus, as well as directly address your main questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'd like to know exactly what is meant by &quot;keeping calm&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It quite simply means that because the venom is in your blood stream, activities that cause your heart rate to increase will consequently cause the venom to spread around your body faster, reaching critical areas much more quickly. The obvious solution is to &lt;strong&gt;restrict blood flow as much as possible without cutting off circulation&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;some advice on how to keep calm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;1. Breathing and meditation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has been mentioned by pretty much every other answer here. Think calm thoughts and make a conscious effort to calm yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;2. Apply an elasticated bandage to the bitten limb&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://endomed.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Crepe-Bandage.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;crepe bandage&lt;/a&gt; is a form of elasticated bandage, intended mostly for wrapping sprains, but due to the elastication it will constrict the blood vessels, restricting and therefore slowing blood flow. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/snakes/snake_bites.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Start wrapping at the bite area&lt;/a&gt;, then bandage down the limb and continue back up the entire limb over and above the bite area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning! Note that this is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; an &lt;a href=&quot;http://img2.tfd.com/mk/T/X2604-T-29.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;arterial tourniquet&lt;/a&gt; (which cuts off blood flow entirely), as this can cause additional complications by restricting the venom to the limb.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;3. Do not raise the limb&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;Raise the bitten limb above the level of your heart, if possible. Bitten legs should be raised when lying down, and bitten arms can be put in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C63rt-fleGY/hqdefault.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sling&lt;/a&gt; if you need to move. Again, this helps to slow the rate of blood flow.&lt;/s&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Updated:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ems1.com/health-and-wellness/articles/1051983-The-EMS-guide-to-treating-snakebites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ems1.com&lt;/a&gt;, &quot;&lt;em&gt;Logic suggests that if the bite produces mostly local damage you would want to elevate above the heart to help prevent or decrease edema and additional tissue damage; but if the bite is producing systemic symptoms like shock or bleeding then perhaps the bitten part should be lowered to decrease venom absorption. &lt;strong&gt;Or perhaps the best bet is to keep the involved body part level with the heart. That may be the most logical position because we may not be able to determine if the bite will progress one way or the other.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;4. Monitor the victim&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bitten person (yourself or anybody else) looks like they will lose consciousness, you should put them into the &lt;a href=&quot;https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f0/28/7a/f0287ad6e74041a1d89b4ea5f68a396b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recovery position&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;5. Watch for signs of shock&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the main cause of death in many viper bites. It can occur within a few minutes of the bite, with abdominal pain, explosive diarrhoea, collapse and a spike in blood pressure. If it is due to hypersensitivity to the venom, rather than to its toxicity, these symptoms may resolve spontaneously in half an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to go hiking or camping in snake country, be sure to familiarise yourself with all the risks and recommended medical approaches beforehand. This can vary from place to place, so it's a good idea to check local sources. You can also find a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bites-snake/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;generalised overview of snake bites&lt;/a&gt; and a handy list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imba.com/resources/nmbp/treating-snake-bites&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 things not to do for a bite victim&lt;/a&gt; (at the end of the article).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastEditorUserId="9308" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T17:47:33.567" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T17:47:33.567" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8274" CreationDate="2017-03-13T09:28:37.040" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Wills touched upon in his answer, it's quite useful for sports at night (mountainbiking, skiing, orienteering, etc). But not only does it it allow you to move more safely during the night; it also provides you with a competitive advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having more light available to you compared to your opponents will be advantageous to you. While mountainbiking and skiing generally follows a fixed trail, you are generally&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; completely free to choose your own way when you run orienteering during the night. As the route could be set in an forest completely void of tracks or paths, you could easily be forced to navigate using less distinct terrain features. Hence, having a headlamp that is better than your competitors might allow you to see details they won't. This in turn might allow you to take a shorter but more orienteering-intense route, because you're sure you'll be able to see even the tiniest of rocks (helping you navigate), thus saving you time on the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as athletes always strive to get a competitive edge, modern headlamps used in night orienteering are no longer around 2000 lumen, but rather 3000 - 4000 lumen. Of course, you also need to combine this with a decent beam angle to be able to see as much as possible without moving your head too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Footnote:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking private property, restricted areas, etc into consideration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12532" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T09:28:37.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15559" CreationDate="2017-03-13T11:06:59.917" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am assuming you go with adults. &#xA;They are adults and you don't need to babysit them. Tell them what to take and what to not take, but gear inspection or packing for them? The %&amp;amp;$*? If someone is insane enough to go on a snowy 2500m high mountain in sandals (twice!), it is his problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1.) &lt;b&gt;Make the trip interesting.&lt;/b&gt; This is by far the most important part of the thing. Nearly getting them killed - they will at least have stories to tell, even if they never go again. An easy 10km trip on the forest trail, sleeping there and going back will be likely boring enough they won't consider going out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2.) Too difficult, not enough food, not enough water? You will manage somehow. &lt;strong&gt;But don't go crazy.&lt;/strong&gt; A 50 km trip in 2-3 days over few mountains (2000m height difference per day) is a nice starting experience if they are in reasonable shape, even if they aren't really used to walking. Just make sure an abort is possible at any time - &quot;rescue&quot; needs to be at max few km away. Plus possibly 10-20km walk of one person to get the car, or calling a cab or some other friends to get you all out of there. But if they barely manage to walk 5km on a flat surface without backpack, it is best to simply not go on an overnight trip yet. Find a nice easy 2hr walk to destination and practice on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3.) For a short trip, food is mostly irrelevant. 2-3 days hiking without any food won't kill them, but they will be hungry, tired and easily annoyed. Won't be a nice experience for anyone. Ask them to grab sugary snacks, to eat breakfast before you go and pack a few sandwiches and some fruit. Tell them to not take fatty and salty snacks (chips, flips etc). Water and other drinks are more important. Ask everyone to bring about 2l/day. Mostly water, maybe a bottle of a sports drink. This is also why trip should be short - 1 week requires tons of water or searching for streams. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other stuff they need to take? A towel, spare clothes, medical plasters (preferably blister ones). Sleeping bag depends on the area and weather. In spring/summer can usually go on a trip without and not freeze. If they take it, they should have a light and small one for spring/summer. Not a winter one. Too warm, too heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is very likely they will try to take too much stuff on the first trip or forget something. Put a lot of emphasis that every kilo counts and that you will all stink together :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should pack all they do, bandages and other wound treating stuff (disinfection, soothing etc), extra chocolate in the morning to get them going, tent of course. Maybe flashlight, compass, map (phone can replace these 3, as long as it is charged :) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4.) On the trip, make sure you all stay together at all time. Never give permission to go ahead or stay behind, unless the destination is in sights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make the first stop early enough, say after 30 minutes. Ask them how it is going for now, and ask them to check their feet if there is anything red. Put plaster on the area. Then stop every 2-3 hours for several minutes and check their condition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you are setting up tent early enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12671" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T11:06:59.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15594" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15612" CreationDate="2017-03-13T12:01:20.777" Score="2" ViewCount="4178" Body="&lt;p&gt;In another forum, an user claimed that squirrels' teeth grow again if they are somehow lost. So, if you would pull out a tooth (please don't do this!), it would grow back again. Is this true? If yes, how long would it take to grow back? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:57:41.733" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:57:41.733" Title="Do squirrels' teeth grow again when lost?" Tags="&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15595" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15596" CreationDate="2017-03-13T12:29:10.327" Score="6" ViewCount="342" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it true worth someone's time to learn survival trapping in case of an emergency situation to get food, especially in the winter months?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My gut feeling is that this is not worth my effort to learn this skill because animals can eat through the rope or cord that they employ in setting up their traps. Is my gut feeling correct? The survival trapping websites never show a successful trap catch either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not asking about professional trapping, where trappers use very technical equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T21:44:26.967" Title="How effective is survival trapping?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;trapping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15595" CreationDate="2017-03-13T12:43:45.177" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trapping can be effective with very simple equipment and a properly designed and constructed trap should either kill the animal outright (preferable) or not be easy to escape from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bear in mind that in many cases improvised traps may be illegal (in a non-emergency situation) so it may not be possible to test them in real world conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trapping is not just about being able to build the trap itself, you also need local knowledge of animal behaviour and geography to have a decent chance of a trap being effective for example knowing what species are in a particular area, which are worth targeting  and where to place a trap for it to be effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big advantage of trapping it that it can provide you with high energy food for relatively little physical effort. Equally in a longer term situation just the fact of doing something positive to improve your situation can be an important psychological factor and any success at all will be a big moral boost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not it is worth your time to learn is really up to you to decide. It is fairly unlikely that you will end up in a situation where lack of food becomes a life or death issue and you also have the opportunity to set up traps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly I would say that it is a fairly low priority as a survival skill compared to things like making fire, finding water, navigation and medicine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-07-10T21:44:26.967" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T21:44:26.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15594" CreationDate="2017-03-13T14:12:09.727" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once the squirrel has reached the adult stage, their teeth do not regrow if lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Infant tree squirrels have three pairs of milk teeth that are replaced by adult teeth when the squirrel is four to five months old.  &lt;strong&gt;Once the adult teeth come in, they do not re-grow if lost or removed.&lt;/strong&gt; The baby’s lower incisors come in at between three and four weeks with the upper incisors following at five weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://squirrelrefuge.org/teethissues.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However their teeth do grow continuously throughout their lives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squirrel incisors continuously grow in a highly curved trajectory &lt;strong&gt;throughout their lives, on average about 6 inches per year.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The front of the incisors are covered by hard orange tinted enamel that helps maintain the sharp cutting edges of the teeth.  During normal eating and chewing, properly lined up teeth rub against each other (occlude) grinding down equally and evenly to the right length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://squirrelrefuge.org/teethissues.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T18:44:15.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4213" CreationDate="2017-03-13T21:11:57.183" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always get the most recently printed maps before you head up. Hopefully it's updated with the latest information. Obviously if a hut has burned down a week ago it'll still be on the map. But a year later it should definitely be updated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12674" LastActivityDate="2017-03-13T21:11:57.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15599" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-13T23:31:12.947" Score="4" ViewCount="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;With SPF 30 sunscreen, I am usually protected for an entire day and wont be getting more than a little darker. Now, I am getting low on SPF 30 cream but I have a large supply of SPF 15. Can I just use that one twice often to make up for the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does SPF 15 and SPF 30 sunscreen relate? Is it additive in strength or duration? Meaning can 15 be applied twice as often or twice as much? Or is the protection different?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note that I am looking for how the various protection levels relate.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12596" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:39:17.647" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:39:17.647" Title="SPF Equivalence" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-03-14T09:13:30.340" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1386" CreationDate="2017-03-14T00:43:13.823" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the specifics of the terrain, one game that can help break up the &quot;monotony&quot; of walking for kids is to play a variant of &quot;the floor is hot lava.&quot; Make a game of trying to go down the trail by only stepping on rocks and not dirt. Naturally terrain dependent, but gives kids a way of having something to focus on. It is particularly useful for getting kids that last mile back to the trailhead or camp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a caveat, not that they will use more physical energy to travel like this (as well as a marginally increased chance of a slip). As such, if kids are lagging due to being physically tired, it's probably not the best choice. However, if they're lagging due to being bored of walking, it can be a great way to gamify a hike and use some different muscles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T00:43:13.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5846" CreationDate="2017-03-14T02:46:11.943" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5847/7995&quot;&gt;existing answer&lt;/a&gt;, but I feel like it is a bit misleading in regards to what SPF really means. Reading that quote makes it seem like SPF is a linear relationship between SPF and the time before you will get burned. That isn't strictly true. A more extended quote &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen#Sun_Protection_Factor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;from Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; is (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sun protection factor (SPF rating, introduced in 1974) is a measure of the fraction of sunburn-producing UV rays that reach the skin. &lt;strong&gt;For example, &amp;quot;SPF 15&amp;quot; means that 1/15th of the burning radiation will reach the skin&lt;/strong&gt;, assuming sunscreen is applied evenly at a thick dosage of 2 milligrams per square centimeter (mg/cm2). A user can determine the effectiveness of a sunscreen &amp;quot;by multiplying the SPF factor by the length of time it takes for him or her to suffer a burn without sunscreen.&amp;quot;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dermatology.ucsf.edu/skincancer/General/prevention/Sunscreen.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Thus, if a person develops a sunburn in 10 minutes when not wearing a sunscreen, the same person in the same intensity of sunlight will avoid sunburn for 150 minutes if wearing a sunscreen with an SPF of 15.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dermatology.ucsf.edu/skincancer/General/prevention/Sunscreen.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; &lt;strong&gt;It is important to note that sunscreens with higher SPF do not last or remain effective on the skin any longer than lower SPF and must be continually reapplied as directed, usually every two hours.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aad.org/media/stats/prevention-and-care/sunscreen-faqs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;b&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as you can see the SPF 15 gives 150 minutes of protection is more of a math exercise to see equivalent exposure levels. It isn't extendable to say that applying SPF 50 sunscreen one time will give me 500 minutes of protection since sunscreen needs to be periodically reapplied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other bit that I wanted to add was why people say that after SPF 50 the benefits are negligible. This is because you get less benefit as the SPF goes up. Using the 1/SPF rule from above you see:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF  15 blocks 93.33% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF  30 blocks 97.67% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF  50 blocks 98.00% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF  75 blocks 98.67% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF 100 blocks 99.00% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SPF 200 blocks 99.50% of harmful UV rays&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see you get big gains from using some sunscreen, and then as the numbers get higher you get less bang for the buck (practically speaking). To back this up consider this recommendation from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aad.org/media/stats/prevention-and-care/sunscreen-faqs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Academy of Dermatology&lt;/a&gt; (Emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, which blocks 97 percent of the sun’s rays. Higher-number SPFs block slightly more of the sun’s rays, but no sunscreen can block 100 percent of the sun’s rays. &lt;strong&gt;Currently, there is not any scientific evidence that indicates using a sunscreen with an SPF higher than 50 can protect you better than a sunscreen with an SPF of 50.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also important to remember that high-number SPFs last the same amount of time as low-number SPFs. A high-number SPF does not allow you to spend additional  time outdoors without reapplication. &lt;strong&gt;All sunscreens should be applied approximately every two hours or according to time on the label, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of boosting your SPF beyond 50 you should consider your skin's sensitivity to the ingredients, and the required reapplication interval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T02:46:11.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15604" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15605" CreationDate="2017-03-14T07:35:49.713" Score="10" ViewCount="425" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately I saw a lot of people hunting with spears. Not the primitive type of spear but rather a high-tech one. It looked like made out of carbon or something. I think they were from North America. The question is not limited to this type of course. It was just the thing that drew my attention. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder if there is any rational reason to pick a spear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T00:48:03.037" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T00:59:58.737" Title="Any rational reason to pick a spear to hunt?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;spears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15604" CreationDate="2017-03-14T08:13:52.443" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the reasons why people want to hunt using spears are the similar to the reasons for archery and crossbow hunting: it's about the challenge of hunting with weapons that are - at their core - a lot more primitive than what would be available to hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This could be out of appreciation of indigenous hunting techniques, or because the hunters value the additional challenge, the practice and experience needed - but this is pure speculation at this point and the reasons will vary from person to person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's arguable whether these are &lt;em&gt;rational&lt;/em&gt; reasons - for some of them are certainly &lt;em&gt;emotional&lt;/em&gt; ones... But if you look into the past there certainly have been rational reasons why hunters hunted using spears instead of bows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To some societies &lt;strong&gt;bow and arrow were simply not known&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spears are a lot &lt;strong&gt;easier to manufacture&lt;/strong&gt; than bows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In some societies &lt;strong&gt;spears were much stronger&lt;/strong&gt; than the available bows in terms of force/penetration and were thus able to perform kills of larger animals quicker. (Not wanting to start a discussion on the potential strength of bows here - I'm aware that there were/are some bows that are strong enough to kill pretty much any animal out there...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want to &lt;strong&gt;attach a line&lt;/strong&gt; of any kind to your projectile (say hunting/fishing in water) the spears allow for this a lot easier than bows, where the line tends to become tangled in the bow/string.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A spear can be used in &lt;strong&gt;self defence&lt;/strong&gt;, where a bow is rather useless in such a situation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On a side note:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Recently spear hunting has lead to a bit of controversy, see for example this story where a filmed spear hunt of a baited black bear led to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3743421/Josh-Bowman-Sarah-Bowman-killed-bear-spear-killed-turkey-homemade-bow-hunting-themed-wedding-cake.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;spear hunting being banned in Alberta&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T08:23:16.163" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T08:23:16.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15606" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15622" CreationDate="2017-03-14T11:56:01.807" Score="6" ViewCount="399" Body="&lt;p&gt;Context:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I'm writing a story that will have two people forced to spend the winter (late November to mid-February) in the middle of a forest (Alberta, Canada). They'll have food but it'll be mostly bread (they have flour + yeast), dry meat and potatoes or beans (whichever turns out to have a better balance weight-nutrients-store life). I wanted the characters to collect plant foodstuff to enrich their diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Canada/Alberta/Places/edmonton-snowfall-totals-snow-accumulation-averages.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt;, the ground in the Edmonton area can have an accumulation of snow from 1cm (0.4 inches) to an average of 18cm (11.3 inches). Common sense dictates that the deeper the snow, the harder it will be to collect plant foodstuff, however, in the best case scenario (snow 1cm deep), would it be feasible to collect roots (like broadleaf cattail rhizomes or wild onion) or rose hips (since, not being roots, would be more visible, if they exist)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12678" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-18T20:54:40.823" LastActivityDate="2017-03-18T20:54:40.823" Title="Collecting plant foodstuff in the Canadian wilderness of Alberta during winter?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2017-03-14T11:56:16.467" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I try to use some logics to define it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pass can always be a saddle, a col and a gap. But a gap, a saddle and a col aren't necessarily a pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12680" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T13:03:32.690" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T13:03:32.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15608" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15613" CreationDate="2017-03-14T15:12:05.050" Score="14" ViewCount="386" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Canada, and we get a decent amount of snow in the year.  However, it is very well known that you never get a lot of snow when the temperature is really cold.  For instance, you never get a foot of snow (30 cm) when the temperature is at or below -30 °C (-22 °F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the reason for this?  Why doesn't it snow much when the temperature is very cold?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11633" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T23:48:54.030" LastActivityDate="2018-03-12T14:12:56.150" Title="Why doesn't it snow much at -30 °C?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15609" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15625" CreationDate="2017-03-14T16:15:11.757" Score="6" ViewCount="6625" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some parts of the western United States there are herds of wild horses. How dangerous could a herd be to a human on foot while hiking or backpacking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are dangerous how should a human protect themselves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-05T16:31:29.820" Title="How dangerous are wild horses?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15614" CreationDate="2017-03-14T17:12:08.903" Score="7" ViewCount="1347" Body="&lt;p&gt;What and where will I find the builder's plate and CE marking on a boat in Europe?  The CE marking obviously does not apply outside of Europe, but has anyone seen one of these and if so, where should I start looking for one on a boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12333" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-14T21:20:57.463" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T22:11:31.563" Title="What and where is the builder's plate on a boat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15608" CreationDate="2017-03-14T20:02:25.193" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any place that snows has the saying &quot;too cold to snow,&quot; and it's generally true. Not that mere cold prevents snow formation, but that the coldest weather is generally clear and cold, with no precipitation. When it's a little warmer than that, and cloudy, is when you get more snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard people say it's &quot;too cold to snow&quot; in England, when it's -5 °C. Super funny. In Ontario and the prairies, you'll get plenty of snow at -5 °C, but as you've noticed, not so much at -30 °C. Not &lt;strong&gt;because&lt;/strong&gt; it's cold, but &lt;strong&gt;because&lt;/strong&gt; it's clear - which also makes it cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T15:47:38.043" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T15:47:38.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15594" CreationDate="2017-03-14T21:11:54.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are over 200 species of squirrels broken down into three categories: tree squirrels, ground squirrels, flying squirrels. Since the most common variety is the tree squirrel, that's what I'm discussing here. It's also the kind from the source in Charlie Brumbaugh's answer, &lt;a href=&quot;http://squirrelrefuge.org/teethissues.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Squirrel Refuge&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had lengthy discussions with Wildlife Rehabilitators at &lt;a href=&quot;http://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cummings Veterinary Medical Center of Tufts University, Wildlife Clinic&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.squirrelmender.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Squirrelmender Wildlife Rehabilitation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thesquirrelloversclub.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Squirrel Lover's Club&lt;/a&gt;, and did some online research. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I learned, the answer to your question is, in almost all cases, no. If a tooth has been completely removed, including the root system, no new tooth will grow in its place. As with other animals, and even people, the heart of the tooth is its root system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A squirrel's two top and two bottom incisor teeth (the pointy ones) never stop growing. The average is up to 6 inches per year. Teeth are needed to break nuts and eat other things, and as they eat, the teeth can grind down. Constant growth keeps the squirrels alive. They can't eat without all of their incisors intact, pointed, of the proper length and functioning together in perfect alignment. Under any other conditions, the squirrel will die of malnutrition. The most common conditions I'm referring to are malocclusion, cleft palate, or a broken jaw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rare instances, teeth that have been broken off can continue to grow. If it has a full healthy root system, and no other mitigating factors, there are times when growth will continue. Unfortunately, without treatment, the broken tooth doesn't grow back normally. It also doesn't grow back fast enough to keep the squirrel alive. A squirrel on its own with a broken tooth will die in the same way as if a tooth is gone. However, in very rare instances, and with many months of constant treatment by a trained professional, broken teeth can be shaped as they grow. Eventually the squirrel can have the ability to eat on its own. This has pretty much only been proven successful with baby squirrels, especially those with normally shaped mouths that have had a tooth broken due to injury, not disease. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A squirrel whose teeth have been compromised in any way must be immediately brought to a wildlife rehabilitor. Squirrels without a tooth will usually be humanely euthanized. If teeth are present, and one is broken, the vets might perform the medical treatments needed to enable it to eat normally again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A squirrel who has had dental repair, even successfully, is never released. It won't survive. Sometimes wildlife centers will keep them and they can have a decent quality of life. There's a place near my house which has a re-habbed squirrel living in a large enclosure designed to match outdoor conditions as closely as possible. He's been there for a few years, and is used to teach people how to appreciate squirrels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter what, never ever remove a tooth yourself. If it's a pet squirrel, which is highly discouraged, and in some places illegal, always monitor its teeth. They can be trimmed if healthy. Frequently they get caught in the cage, which causes problems I won't mention in detail. In the yard or wild, if you ever see a squirrel that has a broken or missing tooth; a face that appears deformed; is having difficulty eating; or is much thinner or smaller than normal, take it immediately to a certified Wildlife Rehabilitator. Those can be found by calling your vet for a referral, or in the phone book. Many websites list ways to find a Rehabilitator in your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this answer is more than the question you asked. I just thought it was interesting, so maybe other people will too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For people who love squirrels, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thesquirrelloversclub.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Squirrel Lover's Club&lt;/a&gt; has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thepetitionsite.com/957/607/088/holly-new-york-still-insists-on-slaughtering-squirrels-in-2017/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to sign a petition against Squirrel Slaughtering. The picture is of a mom cuddling her baby, not of hunters or anything violent. WARNING: The petition page has links to some graphic hunting images. I don't know how bad they are because I didn't look at them! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-03-14T21:11:54.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15608" CreationDate="2017-03-14T21:18:49.943" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's actually kind of the other way around, it's not that being too cold prevents snow from falling, it's that an absence of moisture in the air allows the atmosphere to cool. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low pressure systems bring with them &lt;em&gt;(relatively)&lt;/em&gt; warm moist air which precipitates as snow. The clouds overhead act as a blanket, and keep the surface air warmer. When the low pressure systems, clouds, and warm moist air move on, it creates the perfect conditions for the temperatures to drop. Sometimes the warm air systems are replaced by cold air systems when the winds change directions. Where I live the temperature changes drastically when the winds change, on Saturday it was -20°C when the wind was out of the North. A Chinook has blown in the past couple nights out of the West &lt;em&gt;(air from the Pacific Ocean that's traveled over the mountains and warmed up because of adiabatic lapse rates)&lt;/em&gt; and now it's +12°C. That's more than 30 degrees in only a couple days.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cold air holds less moisture than warm air, but it isn't so much the temperature that prevents it from snowing, the temperature of the air determines how much moisture the air can hold. Cold temperatures are an indicator that the air has no more moisture in it, ergo there aren't any weather systems overhead that can produce snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T02:58:27.963" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T02:58:27.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15610" CreationDate="2017-03-15T01:44:27.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.europeanboatingindustry.eu/boatingdownloadables/EUGUIDE_pdf_version.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guide to the NEW Recreational Craft Directive 2013/53/EU&lt;/a&gt; page 8, a builder's plate has the following information on it,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturer’s name, registered trade name or registered&#xA;  trademark, contact address&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;CE marking&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Watercraft design category&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturer’s maximum recommended load (fuel, water,&#xA;  provisions, miscellaneous equipment and people), excluding&#xA;  the weight of the contents of the fixed tanks when full, this should&#xA;  appear in kilograms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Number of persons recommended by the manufacturer for which&#xA;  the watercraft was designed to carry when under way&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For location is says on page 8,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The builder’s plate is usually found &lt;strong&gt;inside the boat, for instance in the&#xA;  cockpit area.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and on page 26,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On a personal watercraft, it is usually found &lt;strong&gt;near the driver’s position,&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  separate from the craft identification number.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T01:44:27.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14600" CreationDate="2017-03-15T06:42:53.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the boat will be stored upside down (thus no water ingress - hopefully) and on wood, yes critter ingress is your main issue.  We have mozzie nets on all our ports and hatches on our boat, and I have found that they are best put in with silicon.  These are however manufacturers mozzie nets with a hard casing.  So, what I would suggest is:  use a fine mesh (either wire or fabric) and fasten it with silicon which can be removed the next season.  Don't use something like Sikaflex (it wont come off easily - if ever), use a bog standard cheap silicon from a DIY store that will only last a few months anyway.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12333" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T06:42:53.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15620" CreationDate="2017-03-15T09:19:53.413" Score="7" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recognized a bunch of obstacles in an area where I often hike lately. They popped up half a year ago and are spread along our local river. It seems like they are aligned to a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not managed to photograph one yet, but they look like jumping obstacles for horses. A few are made out of wooden beams and others are just a straight cut hedges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are these and what are they used for? Is my assumption correct that they may be used for a cross horse jumping course? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'll take a photo and add it soon)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:37:53.337" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:37:53.337" Title="Wooden (or natural) obstacles in &quot;the wild&quot; looking like horse-jump obstacles" Tags="&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15247" CreationDate="2017-03-15T09:24:20.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question because it’s the reason I’ve stuck to short hikes only.  I’m reviewing for my RN licensure exam so will respond addressing the medical aspect:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The no laxative / no enema solution&lt;/strong&gt; - Put your feet up on a 6&amp;quot;-8&amp;quot; stool while sitting on the toilet.  This gets your bowel anatomy lined up for a clear shot out of the exit.  Then grab a book and sit for a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Laxatives&lt;/strong&gt; – All five types have differing amounts of negative effects:  Interfering with absorption of calcium and vitamin D, iron, fat-soluble vitamins or other medications; dehydration; lazy bowel syndrome (bowel will not function without them).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enemas&lt;/strong&gt; - “Retention enemas” stay in the bowel for 15 minutes (water-based) to 30 minutes (oils).  Adverse effects are fluid and electrolyte imbalance, bowel spasms/cramping, and perforation.  While routinely doing enemas is not recommended the following are some tips to avoid adverse effects:  Repeat water-based enemas no more than once (reduces risk of electrolyte imbalances); warm solution to slightly warmer than body temp. by testing on inside of wrist or 100 – 105 F; slowly administer solution (reduces cramping); position left side-lying and/or knee-chest to distribute the solution throughout the lower intestinal tract; lubricate tip of applicator; and insert tip as if going toward the umbilicus (belly button) no more than 3-4&amp;quot; (reduces risk of perforation).  The key is to keep the solution retained as long as possible for desired effect.  Be near a bathroom for when the solution can no longer be retained.  Be ready to run!  :-)          (Fundamentals of nursing, p. 1316-1321, 1331-1334)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference:  Taylor, C. R., Lillis, C., LeMone, P., &amp;amp; Lynn, P. (2011).&#xA;Fundamentals of nursing: The art and science of nursing care (7th ed.). China: Wolters Kluwer Health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12685" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-11-20T16:45:27.543" LastActivityDate="2020-11-20T16:45:27.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15087" CreationDate="2017-03-15T09:50:18.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thansk to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15087/hiking-map-for-hokkaido-and-or-other-resources?noredirect=1#comment38926_15087&quot;&gt;Sue's comment&lt;/a&gt; and using &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/709/12266&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Check this link out: &lt;a href=&quot;http://peaklist.org/misc/links_to_map_resources.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FREE topographic maps and research&#xA;  tools&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found &lt;a href=&quot;http://maps.gsi.go.jp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this online map&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhRPz.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WhRPz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not perfect (the names are only in japanese and I can't trace a GPX track), but it is a good start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anyone (maybe with some knwoledge of japanese) find it is possible to make a GPX track on this map, the information is welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T10:58:38.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15617" CreationDate="2017-03-15T10:11:06.110" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes these could very well be for horses, especially if they are all between 2 foot and 3 foot high (feet and inches are the usual terms for all horse jumps). They could be cross country obstacles for eventing. Eventing is the term for either dressage, show jumping, or cross country, or more usually all three in combination (also known as horse trials). However these can be set up for sponsored rides as well - which is cross country where you raise money for charity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These can be anything from telegraph poles, to trimmed hedges, to tree trunks, to small poles held up, to actual gates / fences. I've done these before and even jumped an RAF glider. These can also include drops (vertical leaps down onto grass or water) or ditches (jump the ditch) or also water to traverse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes these are just convenient natural items though or have been placed for other sports and simply utilised by riders, and have not been placed deliberately by anyone for the sake of eventing but have been utilised for convenience. There is every possibility these are for another sport entirely, or to prevent trespassing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T10:53:33.397" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T10:53:33.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7116" CreationDate="2017-03-15T12:18:43.560" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are mittens warmer than gloves? Let's answer this question.  To start off, we need to think about heat.  Mittens have all your fingers but your thumb pretty much touching.  All of these fingers produce their own body heat, and having all the fingers together, that heat can be shared amongst all the fingers, and some heat gets to your thumb as well which is also generating heat.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now in gloves, each finger only has its own body heat because each finger is isolated from another.  This means that they can't share the body heat, making each finger less warm.  This is just for warmth, but gloves underneath a pair of mittens could be good things when you need independent fingers for things like tying a shoelace or dealing with ice screws. That way you could take the mitten off temporarily.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12686" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T00:23:56.760" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T00:23:56.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15606" CreationDate="2017-03-15T12:56:47.163" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really a comment, or several of them, but too big to use the comments mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alberta is a big place with quite varied climates.  In particular, you can divide the province into the Rocky mountains at the southwestern edge, and the plains in the east and north that cover most of the place.  There is also a large difference between the nearly arctic conditions in the north and the more continental conditions in the south.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In most parts of Alberta &quot;winter&quot; starts well before November and extends well past mid February.  That's OK if your protagonists get into their mess in November and get rescued (or whatever) in mid February.  It's not OK if you think that the conditions lighten up in February somehow so they get themselves out, which they couldn't do in January.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Relying on finding edible plant material in winter isn't going to be a successful survival strategy.  In winter, you'll have to be trapping, fishing, or hunting.  What you trap, fish, or hunt and therefore what strategies you need depends on what area you are stuck in.  The plains will be different than the mountains, for example.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unless you're stuck in the north of Alberta, you're probably better off trying to get out than surviving in place for a whole winter.  That changes your priorities.&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T12:56:47.163" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15623" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15626" CreationDate="2017-03-15T15:00:22.633" Score="5" ViewCount="443" Body="&lt;p&gt;For our little baby's merino wool overtrousers-diapers we use Lanolin, which is absolutely recommendes by all producers of this kind of overtrousers. My question has two parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have googled this now for a while and no outdoor producer of merino stuff (like woolpower, smartwool or others) even mention lanolin. Would there be any point not to wash my merino stuff with lanolin?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brynje-shop.com/en/sportswear~c244/brynje-antarctic-jacket-with-hood-and-shoulder-inlay-10511377-p24357&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;jacket&lt;/a&gt; with different materials. In this case     &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Outside: 70% Merino Wool / 30% Polyamid - 22,5 Micron&#xA;Lining: 100% Polypropylene-Mesh&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be any negative effects washing this jacket with lanolin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe the breathability is affected by a lanolin impregnation but if it is just as the natur is doing it (re-fatting or re-greasing, I am not sure about the vocabular here) it should be still breathable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4068" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T17:59:46.677" Title="Using Lanolin for Merino Clothes" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15590" CreationDate="2017-03-15T15:54:03.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_sand_filter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; has some good info on slow sand filters and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/sand-filtration.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; website also has some useful info. &lt;a href=&quot;http://protosh2o.act.be/VIRTUELE_BIB/Watertechniek/350_Waterbehandeling/353.1_HEN_E5_Manual_Design.pdf.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is an interesting document describing sand filter design. While most of it is quite technical, looking at the engineering side, the first chapter provides a good overview.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general principle of a sand filter is that the sand forms a porous layer which contaminants (bacteria, organic matter, etc) cannot pass through. Instead, they get stuck to or between sand particles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Schmutzdecke is formed primarily from filtered bacteria that then grow in the upper layers of the sand and helps provide additional filtration. The appearance and composition of the Schmutzdecke can vary widely and is dependent on the water being filtered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the gravel, I've been unable to find anything to confirm this but I don't believe it helps with purification as such. I believe it is mainly to help with flow rates and preventing the outflow being blocked with sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for other materials working in the same way, any porous material can have the same effect, but sand is cheap and easily packed into any shape. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic_water_filter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ceramic water filters&lt;/a&gt; are another common type of filter that work on roughly similar principles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T17:47:54.673" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T17:47:54.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15609" CreationDate="2017-03-15T17:55:07.680" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously, since horses are animals, they are relatively predictable (they have known behaviour patterns), but can be very unpredictable (they are autonomous creatures).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note first that &lt;strong&gt;horses are not predators.&lt;/strong&gt;  In other words, they're not out there to get you.  The only case in which they become a threat to humans is when they feel that you are a threat to them.  Even at that, in general, they are somewhat like deer; if they feel threatened, their first instinct is to evade the danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they are tougher animals then deer, and they are well aware that they can defend themselves to some extent: their legs are so powerful they could kill you. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/Can-a-horse-kick-kill-you&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Reference)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer to your first question is, &lt;em&gt;yes,&lt;/em&gt; horses &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; be dangerous to humans if they feel threatened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your second question, the major aspect of protection is prevention.  Keep a safe distance between you and any wild horses you come across - &lt;a href=&quot;http://gosoutheast.about.com/od/beacheslakesrivers/qt/wh_safetytips.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; suggests 50 feet as a good minimum distance.  Obviously, the more horses there are, the less threatened they will tend to feel, therefore keep a greater distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's not &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; you can do as far as protective gear is concerned, short of carrying a weapon (I don't recommend). Pepper spray or other chemical solutions won't do a lot of good since they're coming at you.  You might get the horse, but he might run you over in his terror.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Bottom line:  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Play it safe.  Don't get too close to wild horses (no close-ups with a 50 prime), don't make loud noises: avoid frightening them in any way.  And, oh, by the way, if you have a good telephoto and are taking pictures, be sure to keep one eye out of the viewfinder from time to time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11633" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-05T16:31:29.820" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15623" CreationDate="2017-03-15T17:59:46.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you mean washing with lanolin-containing wool detergent, or just chucking in some of your lanolin you use on your baby's stuff? If the latter, I think it may be hard determining the correct amount. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish I could give you a more technical answer, but I can tell you many &quot;wool detergents&quot; on the market like Nikwax Wool Wash and Kookaburra Wash contain lanolin for the expressed purpose of &quot;replenishing&quot; your merino garment's lanolin. I have read some things saying wool has all or almost all lanolin removed during the process of turning it into fabric and there's no reason any &quot;should&quot; be there, and I have read a small amount remains and that is largely responsible for some of merino's performance attributes like stain and odor resistance and needs to be periodically replenished. I personally use Nikwax Wool Wash with all my merino stuff, they did seem to get marginally softer and sheen-ier, and I didn't notice a huge loss in breathability or whatever, but I've never been fantastic at paying attention to these sorts of things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12688" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T17:59:46.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15644" CreationDate="2017-03-15T18:40:49.577" Score="10" ViewCount="15574" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say that you are out backpacking and a bear spray canister accidentally goes off and gets on your skin or in your eyes or onto your clothing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can't be a pleasant experience as it is meant to deter bears, how can you get it off yourself and your gear in the field (as any residue could potentially either get onto your skin from the gear or potentially attract bears)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-07-01T00:52:35.077" Title="How do you get bear spray off skin and or gear?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15628" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15630" CreationDate="2017-03-15T18:44:22.840" Score="29" ViewCount="2795" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZaffF.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZaffF.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite simply: What is this animal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have searched through various wildlife identification guides (particularly ducks and geese) and have so far not found anything close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11494" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-15T01:57:43.687" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T01:03:49.190" Title="What is this animal with orange webbed feet, a white head with black stripes, and really likes breadcrumbs?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15256" CreationDate="2017-03-15T20:10:54.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I walked through this area on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Traversata_delle_Alpi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grande Traversata delle Alpi&lt;/a&gt; a couple of years back and in some valleys the trees were just beginning to turn by the start of October. I would imagine that this would vary a lot by altitude, by the orientation of the valley, and from year to year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that if you're going into the higher areas in October you should be aware that many of the mountain communities are beginning to shut down for the winter. Huts and shops may have limited opening or be closed, so you need to plan for accommodation and resupply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a9fY7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a9fY7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Autumnal colours on the Pian Ceiol)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-05-08T11:05:59.987" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T11:05:59.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15628" CreationDate="2017-03-15T20:35:13.363" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe this is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/wildfowl/bar-headed-goose.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bar-headed goose&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zw2aF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zw2aF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Group of Bar-headed geese&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/wildfowl/bar-headed-goose.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pK9kA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pK9kA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Group of swimming geese&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://jeb.biologists.org/content/219/13/1933.2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Bar-headed Goose has a white head with distinctive black bars or stripes on its head, black extending down the front and back of the neck, leaving a white stripe down the sides of the neck, the upper parts and breast are medium grey, flanks are grey turning brown on rear flanks, vent and tail border are white, beak is yellow-orange with black tip, and legs and feet are yellow-orange. Both sexes are alike.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/wildfowl/bar-headed-goose.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size: Typical Adult is 71-76cm (28-30in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Food: Aquatic plants, grasses, wheat, barley, and rice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Habitat/Range: Wetlands, high-altitude lakes, and cultivated fields in central Asia, and Tibet. They winter further south in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pairing: They're monogamous throughout a breeding season, and generally gather in colonies of up to 1,000 pairs. (Note the group in the final picture below.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This unique goose is the highest flying bird found, according to a fascinating study reported in &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110610-highest-flying-birds-geese-himalaya-mountains-animals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic&lt;/a&gt;. Yearly migration is triggered by an environmental signal that allows them to miss the summer monsoon season and the worst winter storms. To migrate from India to Mongolia for breeding, they have to fly over the Himalaya mountain range, the tallest mountain range in the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2009, an international team of researchers tagged 25 bar-headed geese in India with GPS transmitters in order to monitor their two-month migration. They reached a peak height of nearly 21,120 feet (6,437 meters), and covered a distance up to 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers)! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The birds made frequent rest stops during the migration, but they appear to have flown over the Himalayan portion of their journey in a single effort that took about eight hours on average and that included little or no rest. A similar intense climb could kill a human without proper acclimatization, Hawkes said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biological information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They need extreme amounts of energy. Other high-flyers glide on currents, but these flap their wings the whole time. (See the picture below.) They can fly over 50 miles an hour without wind to assist them, and their strength enables them to fly in crosswinds without being blown off course!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They fly through the passes of the highest mountains with winds that blow at speeds of more than 200 mph and temperatures low enough to freeze exposed flesh instantly. At this height, oxygen levels drop by one-third; even kerosene cannot burn there and helicopters cannot fly there.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Their powerful and constant flight helps generate body heat, which is retained by their down feathers. Such heat helps keep ice from building up on their wings when flying over mountains.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have a special type of hemoglobin in their blood that absorbs oxygen more quickly than other birds; they can also extract more oxygen from each breath than other birds can.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're important to the study of humans and altitude. Researchers believe better data about their resistance to extreme temperatures will be valuable in helping humans better cope with altitude and respiratory diseases.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This group is flying above the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Plateau&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tibetan Plateau&lt;/a&gt;. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cokesmithphototravel.com/wildlife-of-the-tibetan-plateau-.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picture source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sTP50.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sTP50.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Birds in flight&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a group resting at home in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tinsukiaonline.com/2011/12/magurimotapung-beel-of-tinsukia-assam.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maguri-Motapung Beel wetland&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsukia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tinsukia, India&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/war68m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/war68m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hanging out at home&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/wildfowl/bar-headed-goose.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; of the above information has a number of pictures, a recording of their vocalizations, and a video of the geese in action. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seaworld.org/Animal-Info/Animal-Bytes/Birds/Bar-Headed-Goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Additional referred source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-17T01:03:49.190" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T01:03:49.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15627" CreationDate="2017-03-15T22:04:37.640" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key ingredients in bear sprays are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;capsaicins&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150925-grizzly-bears-attacks-science-animals-bear-spray/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reference&lt;/a&gt;), which are also the key ingredients of classic pepper spray. Cleaning bear spray off of you or your gear is similar to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pepper-spray-store.com/pages/removing-pepper-spray&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cleaning pepper spray off you or your gear&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, it capsaicins can be an extreme irritant, and so you want to minimize harm. Stay calm, avoid rubbing affected areas or spreading the mess, and get to a well ventilated area to relieve irritation. Capsaicins themselves &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin#Mechanism_of_action&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;don't directly damage your skin&lt;/a&gt; - they excite your nerves as if you're being burned though, and the inflamation your body reacts with can actually cause damage in extreme cases. Minimizing your inflammatory response minimizes damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll want to neutralize and clean off the capsaicins. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thekitchn.com/feel-the-burn-tips-for-washing-96609&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The internet says&lt;/a&gt; dairy products like milk and yogurt can help neutralize the burning sensation of capsaicins on you, but you are unlikely to have a bounty of that with you in the wild and that doesn't solve the problem of attracting bears. Capsaicins are not very water soluble, so you'll need to add something to the rinse-scrub-rinse process to remove the capsaicin oils from you or your clothing. Dish soap does this well, or any other detergent normally used for removing greases and oils. If capsaicin is on your skin, other oils can be applied to pickup capsaicin oil that hasn't yet been absorbed - vegetable oil, facial cream, petroleum jelly would be rubbed on the affected area, then washed off as you'd wash them off normally. Capsaicin oils are very soluble in alcohols, so if you have high proof alcohol that can be used to clean capsaicin from you or your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for attracting bears...I'm not sure whether dish soaps will attract them. It is possible, depending on the chemicals and scents used. I wouldn't expect the high proof alcohol to attract bears, and since capsaicins are very soluble in that, that is the ideal cleaning solution. However, how accessible is that in The Great Outdoors? Probably, not very. I'd say if you get bear spray all over you, and wash it off enough to reduce irritation to you, you should take other measures to avoid bears (eg. get out of bear territory) - this could be doubly important if you are now incidentally all out of bear spray!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T22:16:35.960" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T22:16:35.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10470" CreationDate="2017-03-15T22:36:39.787" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will vary from country to country - I can only speak for the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice you are likely to be OK provided you are responsible and apply common sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, if you are on private land without permission you are trespassing and breaking the law. So ask the owner or stick to public land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on public land you could still cause criminal damage to structures and surfaces. Section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A person without lawful excuse destroys or damages property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property OR BEING RECKLESS AS TO WHETHER ANY SUCH PROPERTY WOULD BE DESTROYED OR DAMAGED SHALL BE GUILTY OF AN OFFENCE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So check that structures are stable and don't be reckless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also be charged with causing obstruction if you train in areas with heavy footfall, or with breach of the peace if you disturb or frighten other users of the space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parkour UK also point out that you have a responsibility to be aware of young children nearby who may be unduly influenced by your actions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't cause damage or annoy anyone, it's unlikely that the police will become involved. If the police do turn up, just be polite and respectful. In the opinion of one freerunner turned police officer: &quot;I would say there is VERY little they can go on to actually arrest you.&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://goo.gl/jmlYii&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://goo.gl/jmlYii&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people find it helps to be wearing a T-Shirt with the logo of a club or association, to make it clear that you are athletes and not just yobs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-03-15T23:41:28.533" LastActivityDate="2017-03-15T23:41:28.533" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15634" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15638" CreationDate="2017-03-16T03:31:58.677" Score="7" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I meant to ask a Ranger before we left...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We saw this scat on the hike up to Columbia Point, which is 1/3rd of the way to Upper Yosemite Falls.  March 14 2017.  A warm couple weeks just after the big March snow storms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took a picture because everyone thought the bears were still mostly hibernating, so I thought I would check if it was recent bear activity.  Could be human or even dog?  It was just off the trail, so I'd hope not human!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I forgot scale was important, so I didn't intentionally include any clues -- the right-most dropping is on top of a twig which might help give a sense of scale.  There is also a fly on the middle one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jrWtS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jrWtS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NawqP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NawqP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scat Zoomed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9796" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:21:19.933" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:21:19.933" Title="Scat Identification on Upper Yosemite Falls Trail" Tags="&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;scat-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15635" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15642" CreationDate="2017-03-16T14:14:15.150" Score="11" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to challenge myself more than just running and wanted to know if there were any specifics in how to begin trail / fell running (In this case running up hills / mountains).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything specific about becoming a fell runner which I should know about, or is it simply &quot;Find an elevated trail and run it&quot; ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:30:15.637" Title="How to begin trail / fell running?" Tags="&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8962" CreationDate="2017-03-16T16:16:11.223" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What is a hammock ridgeline?&lt;/em&gt; I agree with Uke, a hammock ridgeline helps you to be able to reproduce the appropriate amount of sag in your hammock. Distance between trees will vary, but with a ridgeline in place the sag in the hammock will stay consistent. The sag is important because it allows you to lay diagonally in the hammock so you can achieve a flat lay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Where is it attached (to the hammock, the attachment points, etc)?&lt;/em&gt; On a gathered end hammock you can attach at the suspension point. Making a ridgeline is easy and you can add it to any hammock that doesn't already have one. Common measurement is 83% of the total hammock length. A 10' hammock would need a 8'3.5&quot; ridgeline. You can make it by tying a loop on each end of the line and then just larks heading it over the end of the hammock. Try to choose a cord that doesn't stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What do I use it for?&lt;/em&gt; Besides what I described above, you can also hang things off of it. Search for ridgeline organizer. Also search for the site &quot;The Ultimate Hang&quot; and &quot;HammockForums&quot;. Lots of great information. Good luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12696" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T16:16:11.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15635" CreationDate="2017-03-16T17:39:04.557" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general there is nothing better than what you said: Go select a hill and start running. If you have (possibly experienced) company all the better. There is one point that you should keep in mind though: Running technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On flat ground technique is already important for efficiency and to go easy on the joints. This is even more important when running down. You need to take care to always run on your forefeet and make ground contact with legs slightly bent, otherwise knee and/or hip problems will ensue. This is especially difficult, as one usually starts a run at the lowest point, so in the end there is a descent. Therefore you must always reach the top with energy reserves for the final descent. For me this is very difficult, as a &quot;summit&quot; is always a great motivation, I need to actively break me down. Another option is to run from a high point or to a place where there is some sort of transportation down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T17:39:04.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15634" CreationDate="2017-03-16T17:59:56.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on Olin Lathrop's suggestion, I searched around for coyote scat and found this resource:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Identification&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Identification&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It points out that dog scat (compared to coyote/wolf) doesn't have a tapered end and has a very consistent appearance due to commercial dog food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coyote (or wolf) would have a tapered end and would contain hair and possibly bone fragments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the uniform consistency and shape, I'll suggest it is dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9796" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T17:59:56.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1386" CreationDate="2017-03-16T19:12:30.447" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Calculating Distance:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Some may not consider this a &quot;game&quot; per say, but could be if approached in that manner. However, it is something I continue to use even with adults, to keep minds occupied.  If the distance of the hike is known, even relative, ask people for different statistics regarding the distance of the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much of the hike have we done in miles? in percent to completion form? For both one way&#xA;and round trip?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How many miles to our destination?  Convert this to feet? Convert&#xA;this to your personal stride?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Estimate the number of steps you've taken.  How many more do we have&#xA;until we reach the destination?  Will this number grow or shrink on&#xA;the way back? (This can be fun if anyone has a step counter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted this requires someone of age to do certain math calculations and more known trails, but it can keep people occupied on hikes that don't provide a lot of scenery.  Added bonus is that the calculations will change very frequently meaning that this can be repeated several times throughout the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With off trail hikes, this can even become a good discussion issue which can keep the group focused and talking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T19:12:30.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1386" CreationDate="2017-03-16T21:48:06.700" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My kids enjoy playing &quot;The Alphabet Game&quot;, &quot;I'm Going on a Trip&quot;, and &quot;20 questions&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Alphabet Game&lt;/strong&gt; This is a version of I Spy. Each person has to spot something that starts with each letter of the alphabet, starting with the letter A and going in order. Those with the sharpest eyes tend to reach Z the quickest, but only if they are paying attention. (Example: A - &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;nts, B - &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;ird, C - Pine &lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;one, etc. ) Kids, and older people, with smaller vocabularies and knowledge learn quickly from the game and soon compete well against Alphabet Game Veterans. For example, when someone spots a porcupine quill for the letter Q, younger kids will remember what to look for in the future for that letter. Each player goes through the alphabet on their own and is not allowed to leapfrog off what another spots - and whoever spots it, claims it. So, if everyone is on C and a single Clark's Nutcracker flies by, whoever spots it first, and names it, gets to move on to D. A sharp-eyed and knowledgable player can reach Z while another is still back near the beginning at, say, the letter F. They also have to spot the object/animal when they need the letter, otherwise it doesn't count. Adults have no advantage in this game over an attentive youngster. Also, the rules can be adjusted for hard letters. For example, if they are allowed to spot items carried by the group, then Z is really easy: just spot a zipper on someone's pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's only one winner per game, but the game cannot start again until everyone has either finished or quit (usually a player wants to quit only when they are really tired). Those who have finished will usually start pointing things out, but not saying anything, to help those that are lagging - all so they can hurry and start the game again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caution: This can create diversions on your hike. For example, if everyone is on the letter F right as the trail nears a creek or marshy area, the players will probably scatter out looking for &lt;strong&gt;F&lt;/strong&gt;ish or &lt;strong&gt;F&lt;/strong&gt;rogs. But that usually just adds to the fun, doesn't it :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also do a version of this game when driving, trying to find the alphabet letters on road signs, license plates, business signs, even mountains (towns around here like to put giant white letters on mountains, just the first letter of their town). We've tried to come up with other versions, too, like picking a book that we've all read and taking turns naming a character whose name starts with the letter our turn falls on. But the only book that has worked out with has been the Harry Potter series (it was lots of fun the one time we played it, but it was just dull the next time we tried).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'm Going on a Trip&lt;/strong&gt; This is a memory game. The first person says &quot;I'm going on a trip and I'm taking a ________. They name something. The next person repeats the statement and adds one more item. The game continues, each person adding a new item at their turn, until one player forgets something on the list. Everyone pays attention and tries hard to remember because they want to catch another player saying something in the wrong order or skipping an item. When you get it wrong on your turn, you're out. Last person still in wins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;20 Questions&lt;/strong&gt; I think most people know this game, but here's my version for whoever doesn't know: Someone imagines something (usually something they just spotted). The game starts when they've got the image in their head. Then anyone can ask questions - only yes/no questions. The person being asked the questions must always answer honestly (or no one will ever want to play with them again) and cannot give any help or hints (we break this rule if younger kids are playing). The game ends when someone correctly guesses the item. The winner then gets to choose the next object and the game starts over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Singing&lt;/strong&gt; This was mentioned above, but I'm repeating it here only because it's really not very popular very often. I think it takes a lot of energy (and oxygen). Plus, it sometimes just sounds like a bunch of noise - especially to other folks out there in the woods. About the only time we sing is if we're really in the mood (lots of energy) or somebody's scared of something (like it's getting dark and we're still hiking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2017-03-16T21:48:06.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15641" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15672" CreationDate="2017-03-17T01:41:30.603" Score="11" ViewCount="720" Body="&lt;p&gt;After seeing &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15628/what-is-this-specific-bird-that-really-likes-breadcrumbs?newreg=aea478f51da34cbeae43cc0726b181c3&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; which had this animation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZaffF.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZaffF.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Bar-headed goose dancing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was left wondering whether this behavior was &quot;normal&quot; or at least healthy. I know sometimes when an animal exhibits odd behavior there's something wrong with it, even if the behavior is normal for other animals, such as humans, or even considered cute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is there something wrong with this bird, or has it just learned that a cute behavior causes the &lt;s&gt;bread dispensers&lt;/s&gt; people to give it food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12698" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-07T03:18:57.557" LastActivityDate="2018-07-08T21:47:12.940" Title="Is this bar-headed goose's behavior an indication of a problem?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15635" CreationDate="2017-03-17T02:00:34.210" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few random tips from many years of mountain running:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There is no shame in walking part or all the way up a long hill&lt;/strong&gt;. The best runners in the world do it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick destinations that excite you, even if they're a little harder to get to or feel slightly outside of your comfort zone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always bring a headlamp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always bring a lightweight windbreaker. The first serious symptom of overexertion is an inability to stay warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always bring an assortment of snacks (50 calories per hour, assortment of fatty, sweet, and salty options).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running with friends is always more fun (not to mention safer).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're driving to your destination, leave some cozy clothes, water, and a big snack in the car. You will thank yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you invest in one piece of gear, make it a solid running pack. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.salomon.com/us/product/s-lab-adv-skin-5set.html?article=375723&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin 5Set&lt;/a&gt; is (in my opinion) the best thing on the market by a wide margin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't worry too much about running technique. It'll come naturally with practice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have fun!!!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12699" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T02:00:34.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15635" CreationDate="2017-03-17T05:19:05.550" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding on to the other excellent answers, here would be a few of my additional tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to pay more attention to the difficulty of a hiking trail before committing to running it. Consider working your way up by running on forest service roads and flat trails before moving to more mountainous trails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trail etiquette is even more important. Announce your presence in safe locations when you want to overtake a slower group of hikers; don't run full tilt around corners.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;That there's no shame in walking cannot be overstated enough. Always keep in mind that &quot;getting to the summit is optional; getting back is mandatory.&quot; This brings us to...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Give some thought to how quickly a minor problem can escalate. A twisted ankle, blisters, running out of water, or an afternoon thunderstorm can be very problematic if you find yourself miles from the trailhead with minimal gear. Always let someone know where you'll be and when you plan to return!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One piece of gear that I highly recommend is an ultra-light wind-breaker such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.patagonia.com/product/mens-houdini-windbreaker-jacket/24141.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Patagonia Houdini&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainhardwear.com/mens-ghost-lite-jacket-1572411.html?cgid=activity-training&amp;amp;dwvar_1572411_variationColor=022#start=4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Hardwear Ghost Lite&lt;/a&gt;. These jackets pack down incredibly small (I've fit mine in the sewn pocket on a hand-bottle) and provide just enough protection to keep you moving if adverse weather rolls in. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like to bring along a couple &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/403-8014996-micropur-mp1-20-usa-only&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets&lt;/a&gt; on a run. Much lighter than carrying a second bottle of water, work reasonably fast, and can help prevent running out of water (provided that you can find a stream). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider getting shoes designed specifically for trail running. In comparison to road runners / sneakers, trail running shoes generally offer more stability, more impact protection, aggressive tread, and stickier rubber. Again, breaking a toe or a slip-and-fall can be more consequential when you're running in the mountains. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T05:19:05.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15627" CreationDate="2017-03-17T06:09:45.353" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going straight to the source, here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mace.com/pdf/msds_bear_pepper_mace.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)&lt;/a&gt; for Mace brand pepper spray (note that bear spray is high concentration, high volume pepper spray). Here's a snip of the relevant section:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hyacV.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hyacV.png&quot; alt=&quot;First Aid measures&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The particular first aid recommendations are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move victim to fresh air, encourage coughing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse eyes &quot;immediately thoroughly, pulling the eyelids well away from the eye (15 minutes minimum). Remove contact lenses, if present and easy to do&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Wash [skin] with plenty of soap and water. Wash contaminated clothing before reuse. Do not apply salves or creams to the affected area. &quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can also be instructive to see videos of people being pepper sprayed (what did we ever do before the internet?). See for example this clip of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apw-e1oRhJA&amp;amp;ab_channel=WarLeaks-DailyMilitaryDefenseVideos%26CombatFootage&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marine Training&lt;/a&gt;. A key realization is that the capsaicin generally does not cause direct damage, but rather activates your pain receptors (particularly the mucous membranes in your mouth, nose, and eyes). As an analogy, eating a hot pepper may make your mouth feel like it is on fire, but your tongue isn't actually burning away. It will be incredibly painful, but you are capable of keeping your eyes open and dealing with any continued threat from a bear as well as providing yourself first aid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your concern of what to do if you should get bear spray on yourself is not an idle consideration! I have friends who have had the following happen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Used bear spray on a bear that was impolite enough to charge from upwind with a stiff breeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Friend A was sprayed in the face in the middle of a multi-pitch rock climb when Friend B was rummaging through his pack and accidentally discharged a bear spray canister. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple closing recommendations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UDAP and other manufacturers recommend doing a &quot;test fire&quot; in order to train yourself on proper operation. Make sure to do this in a truly deserted area, aiming downwind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with any aerosol cannister, make sure to store bear spray below 50 C /122 F. Leaving canister of bear spray inside a car on a hot, sunny day can do detrimental things to your car's upholstery and resale value. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2017-03-17T06:18:39.560" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T06:18:39.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14853" CreationDate="2017-03-17T06:40:37.650" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's go to the source and watch some carabiners getting broken!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Fx9oR2_nU&amp;amp;ab_channel=mrblacksburger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Neutrino Testing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcvl4n6qnM&amp;amp;ab_channel=MacMcCaleb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond wire-gate, open configuration&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o0b5rL9WgA&amp;amp;ab_channel=MetoliusClimbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metolius Carabiner Testing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While these videos show wire-gate carabiners, the idea is the same for a solid gate carabiner like the one pictured in your question. When watching the video, note the distinctly different failure modes: an open carabiner &quot;bends&quot; until breaking, while a closed carabiner &quot;stretches&quot; until snapping. This partially explains why, all else being equal in terms of construction and materials, a D-shaped carabiner is stronger than an oval: the D-shape better aligns the forces along the spine of the carabiner, leading to &quot;stretching&quot; instead of &quot;bending.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These distinctly different failure modes can even be used to autopsy a broken carabiner and determine how it was loaded when it failed. For example, see this Black Diamond &lt;a href=&quot;https://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-weakness-of-nosehooked-carabiners.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;QC Lab&lt;/a&gt; warning about the even more problematic scenario of loading a &quot;nose-hooked&quot; carabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2017-03-17T06:51:50.297" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T06:51:50.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15646" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-17T08:44:59.040" Score="7" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've a Bear Archery Super Kodiak from 2013 with 40 #. I shoot 8,2 gpp arrows on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I heard that I should not shoot a BCY 425x string on it since the high amount of vectran somehow harms my bow. Is this true? An if yes, how exactly is it harmful? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-06-09T13:35:11.010" Title="Does a BCY 425x string harm my tradtional recurve bow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15641" CreationDate="2017-03-17T12:37:04.400" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen gulls do exactly that. It is known as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Worm charming, worm grunting, and worm fiddling are methods of attracting earthworms from the ground. The activity is usually performed to collect bait for fishing but can also take the form of a competitive sport in areas such as east Texas. As a skill and profession worm charming is now very rare, with the art being passed through generations to ensure that it survives&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm_charming&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure why this goose is doing it when being fed but it is probably related to the behaviour described in the article above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-17T16:20:38.967" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T16:20:38.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15641" CreationDate="2017-03-17T17:32:26.020" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paul Lydon could be right. The behavior is designed to encourage worms to come to the surface, to make it easier for the geese to find and eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the same &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worm_charming&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; page he quoted, entitled Worm Charming:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worm charming is a behavior also observed in the animal kingdom, especially among birds. The methods used vary; however, tapping earth with feet to generate vibrations is widespread. One common example is the &amp;quot;Seagull dance&amp;quot;. The wood turtle also seems to be adapted for worm charming, as it is known to stamp its feet – a behavior that attracts worms to the surface and allows the turtle to prey on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003472&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lengthy scientific article&lt;/a&gt; is generally focused on the behavior of moles in Florida. However, it makes mention of herring gulls:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previous investigations have revealed that both wood turtles and herring gulls vibrate the ground to elicit earthworm escapes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is from an article discussing that behavior in seagulls, which has also been observed by Paul Lydon. It's interesting and seems pertinent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://animalbehaviouraberdeen.blogspot.com/2011/03/seagull-rain-dance.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Seagull Rain Dance&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although seagulls will predominately feed on seafood they are also capable of finding sources of food inland for example worms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seagulls use this behavior in an attempt to imitate rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The seagulls can be observed “dancing” and stamping their feet on grassy areas by raising and lowering each foot in turn. The movement of their feet on the grass causes vibrations which are similar to that created by rain. The vibrations cause worms to move to the surface believing it is raining. This rhythmic beat is repeated, the gulls can then be observed scrutinising the ground waiting for their easy snack to emerge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article references work done by Nikolaas Tinbergen, a Dutch ethologist and ornithologist, who earned a Nobel Price for his work in animal behavior. Tinbergen believes four questions that are asked of any animal behaviour can be applied to this observed behaviour of the seagull dance. His belief is that every behavior has a cause, development, evolution and function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cause of this “dancing” behaviour could be attributed to periods of rain in which the seagulls can take advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dance is a learned trick to coax worms to the surface. Earthworms stay underground unless flooded out by rainwater. The vibrations sent into the ground resemble that of rain or an approaching mole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The seagull dance is a taught behaviour and develops with age. The elder seagulls can be seen teaching young the padding motion on grass. The dance is therefore a learned or possibly inherited behaviour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Environmental factors play a role in the dance as it is more commonly seen in birds which have to supplement their diet or have moved inland away from the coast. The rain dance is used by other bird species also, for example similar tactics can be observed in thrushes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this doesn't specifically mention the bar-headed goose, I think it can apply under sections of the above sources. First, that those bar-headed geese are eating in an inland location, and, second, that the rain dance is used by other species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the bread feeding, the goose seems to stop the dance briefly when the bread comes. Maybe it can't dance and eat bread! Maybe it doesn't need to. That's not something I found in the research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T22:47:23.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15610" CreationDate="2017-03-17T22:01:29.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you mentioned wondering what the boat plate looks like, I'm providing a few examples. There's also a bit of information to supplement what Charlie Braumbaugh already presented. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dttas.ie/sites/default/files/node/add/content-publication/Advice%20to%20Consumers%20of%20Recreational%20Craft%20and%20Personel%20Watercraft.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Department of Transport in Ireland&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Every new boat sold or first used in the EU since 16 June 1998 must have a builder’s plate. This plate has the maker’s details and technical information such as the design category, maximum loading weight and engine power. It must also have the CE &#xA;  mark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VKqoJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VKqoJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of a builder&amp;#39;s plate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.anseuropa.it/rcdcomplainceguide_2012_final.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European Boating Industry, Page 1&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the boat was not designed and built for the EU market, for instance second-hand imported boats, the boat will have to individually undergo a post construction assessment (also known as PCA) with a notified body to establish whether it meets the EU requirements. If so, the builder’s plate will contain the words ‘Post Construction Certificate’. Where relevant, the identification number of the notified body that carried out the conformity assessment procedure will be mentioned at the bottom of the plate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same source shows the image below. It calls it an example of how the builder's plate can look. The appearance of the builder’s plate can vary according to manufacturers, the important thing being that the proper information is displayed on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8G2jn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8G2jn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bavaria boat plate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's another example of what a boat plate can look like, with the same accompanying text: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cX35g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cX35g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue and white picture of boat plate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.europeanboatingindustry.eu/boatingdownloadables/EUGUIDE_pdf_version.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one's not easy to read, but it's interesting to look at:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fdTHv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fdTHv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bronze boat plate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yachtforums.com/review/bering-yachts-18-meter-euro-trawler.21861/page-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-17T22:11:31.563" LastActivityDate="2017-03-17T22:11:31.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15635" CreationDate="2017-03-18T10:46:15.713" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basis is indeed &quot;find a trail and run it&quot;. Or for fell running &quot;found a summit and run up and down it&quot;. I like to stress this first of all, because all the well-meant (and very sound!) advice often makes it sound harder than it really is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other great answers, which brought you a lot of very useful information, I'd like to add some more specific English aspects, because that is where your profile puts you and because you also asked about fell running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tie your shoes. And tie them well. In the UK you have a lot of mud. Sometimes liquid mud, sometimes sticky mud. You'll learn to be an expert in the different kinds of mud, but often it is hard to tell the kind before you actually step in. At one point I sank waist deep while running in the Peak District. You don't want to dig out a shoe at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Especially in the mountains, learn to navigate. You have lots of clouds and fog and grey weather. You can get really lost in thick fog. And descending in the wrong valley can easily add a few hours to your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look for the grassy lines when descending. Uphill the shortest way is usually the fastest. Downhill it is usually a grassy line, even if it is a lot longer and not following any path. Descending on grass you can really forget all breaks and feel the childlike feeling of yieeehaaaa. It is an amazing feeling. If you fall you were going too fast. If you don't fall you can still go faster.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At first, stick to paths or close to them, also on access land. When running off-trail it is easy to misjudge the ground underfoot and to loose your bearings. Once you start to know the trails a bit and have some experience there, head for the other parts. Running in that boggy, swampy, marshy ground that the UK is so fond of, can be painfully slow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastActivityDate="2017-03-18T10:46:15.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13453" CreationDate="2017-03-19T11:01:41.553" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cleaning the fire pit is a task I generally do on arrival.  As mentioned in the question and existing answer, hot ashes can start forest fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A full fire pit will contain 2 or 3 things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Charcoal - black peices of wood that have not been fully burnt yet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ash - Grey dust, the remains of wood that have been as fully combusted as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trash - Garbage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First the trash, gets transferred to either the onsite trash collection point or into my haul out container.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, Charcoal gets set aside to use as foundation for starting my fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly the ash, I find that a layer of ash in the bottom of the pit makes starting a fire easier.  I never remove all the ash, I try to leave about a half inch (1.5cm).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are at an established campground in a National or State forest with a fires ring, I expect there will be one of two things present.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flush toilet, which in my experience indicates a fee supported camping site with dedicated trash collection sites. Cold, wet ashes can be put in the trash.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pit/vault toilet, free or very low cost camping, with a haul in, haul out policy.  Ash &lt;strong&gt;WITHOUT TRASH&lt;/strong&gt; can be added to the pit/vault toilet. It will help with smells and composting.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.compostjunkie.com/composting-wood-ashes.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Composting Wood Ashes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42538/1/9241562153.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Linking technology choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation, World Health Organization (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-03-19T11:01:41.553" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15653" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15654" CreationDate="2017-03-19T13:37:50.547" Score="12" ViewCount="441" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many years ago, while hiking with a friend, we came across a particular point in the trail which was rather dangerous. If one slipped, the fall would surely be fatal.  What struck me most is the fact that there was a sign in/sign out sheets (which were in a green box with a plexiglass lid) at the beginning and end of this particular section of the trail. One was encouraged to print one's name, the date and time. The reason for the signing in and out was to know for a fact that hikers actually made it to the other end. If one did not sign in on the other side, Search and Rescue had a idea of where to look. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sign in/sign out sheets were in mid trail and there were no sign in sign in sheets at the trailhead and no permits were required either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is this: &lt;strong&gt;Are Sign in/Sign out sheets for dangerous passages while hiking a common practice? Are there any laws requiring this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-21T11:25:54.767" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T11:25:54.767" Title="Sign in/Sign out sheets for dangerous passages while hiking!" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15653" CreationDate="2017-03-19T16:58:43.797" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, especially where permits are required, it is mandatory to fill out the sign-in/sign out books. Usually they are at trailheads, although I could see them on a particular piece or trail and perhaps shelters along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, mandatory or not, it is &lt;strong&gt;almost always a good idea to put your information down on any sign-in sheets&lt;/strong&gt; and to &lt;strong&gt;sign any summit registers&lt;/strong&gt; you come across as well for the following reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you get lost, it will assist searchers in knowing at least where you were at a specific time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It helps the land managers get a rough estimate of how many people use the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If someone else were to get lost, Search and Rescue will go through the sheets from that time frame looking for people who could have seen the lost person. Then Search and Rescue will call those people  to gather clues about the lost person's possible whereabouts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-19T23:53:29.957" LastActivityDate="2017-03-19T23:53:29.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1678" CreationDate="2017-03-19T18:07:19.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would NOT attempt a backpacking trip of that length with only VFFs if you have only done day hikes in the past.  You definitely want to bring a backup pair of shoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of Altra trail running shoes that are GREAT when my feet get sore.  They are all zero drop, and they all have a super wide toe box (I have very wide feet, and my toes comfortably fit in the toe box without touching the sides of the sneakers at all), the sole lugs are extremely grippy, AND they have attachment points for trail running gaiters. They are also lightweight.  The main difference between different models is the amount of padding in the sole.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;http://a.co/aJJWMV2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altra Olympus 1.5&lt;/a&gt; trail runners in my pack for multiday hikes.  They have a TON of cushion, which is perfect when my feet are all beat up from rocky or rugged trails.  Look through their selection on Amazon, the level of cushion goes all the way from 1.5&quot; on the Olympus to  15mm super-grippy &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.altrarunning.com/men/golden-spike&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Golden Spikes&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12708" LastActivityDate="2017-03-19T18:07:19.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15656" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15669" CreationDate="2017-03-19T23:40:05.087" Score="5" ViewCount="519" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been wondering how often the thru-hikers on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt; resupply. I would assume that it depends on the part of the trail and the hiker, but is there an average distance or length of time between resupplies?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T02:39:22.627" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T02:39:22.627" Title="On average, how often do people thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail resupply?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15657" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-19T23:56:34.913" Score="11" ViewCount="1219" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a down sleeping bag years ago and have been storing it in the stuff sack in came with.  I recently learned that storing it this way is really bad for the sleeping bag.  Is there any way to recover the bag or am I out of luck?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12709" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T15:05:43.647" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T00:32:59.890" Title="Down sleeping bag stored in sack for years" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15659" CreationDate="2017-03-20T00:43:32.097" Score="6" ViewCount="927" Body="&lt;p&gt;During an internet search for fun places to go in the Western United States, I came across a number of articles about an unusual rock formation in Oregon called Duckbill. It was called iconic, treasured and beloved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It had been weakened for years by people standing on, climbing, and falling off it.  It was fenced off for protection of the monument and the people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In September of 2016, it was willfully  and completely destroyed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Publications both nationwide, like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/rock-oregon-cape-kiwanda-collapse-parks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic Society&lt;/a&gt;, and even in Europe, including the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37309111&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BBC News&lt;/a&gt;, reported the  incident. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than the reports of its demise, I'm having trouble finding Duckbill's history, including at the website of &lt;a href=&quot;http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&amp;amp;parkId=130&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a few specific questions, but any and all information would be welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of rock is it made of?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Was it created naturally by erosion?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Was it formed on purpose by people?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When was it given its name? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xDoMX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xDoMX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thenewsguard.com/news/oregon-parks-and-recreation-comments-on-duckbill-vandalism/article_8334b034-7a8d-11e6-8b9e-37e621208981.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0fGnx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0fGnx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Farther away&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/06/492791496/video-appears-to-show-tourists-destroying-popular-oregon-rock-formation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-28T04:10:01.803" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T04:10:01.803" Title="What is the history of the Duckbill rock formation in Oregon?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15658" CreationDate="2017-03-20T01:10:57.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For your specific questions,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rock type is sandstone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This type of rock formation is called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hoodoo&lt;/a&gt; and they happen when a harder rock type or layer is ontop of a weaker layer. The weaker layer erodes away faster, leaving the cap on top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It was naturally formed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It seems like it only got on the news after it was destroyed. I ran multiple Google searches with results limited to before 2016 and found nothing. I would guess that it got its name from the resemblance and then it stuck. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-22T00:52:42.253" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T00:52:42.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15660" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15664" CreationDate="2017-03-20T04:34:31.490" Score="7" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I make a large bonfire I normally use leather work gloves while I'm tending the fire with my fire rake or if I have to move a partially burning log by hand (within reason of course). I've been looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.superiorglove.com/work-gloves/heat-resistant-gloves/kevlar-heat-resistant-gloves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;aramid fibers&lt;/a&gt; that you can buy that can resist up to 932°F (500°C). Would those be better for fire tending than the heavy leather work gloves? Is there a downside to them being synthetic?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12710" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T15:03:07.283" LastActivityDate="2017-03-20T15:08:16.950" Title="Leather Work Gloves or Aramid Fiber Gloves for Bonfires?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15661" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-20T06:50:54.813" Score="2" ViewCount="3932" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard and hence used the term 'Mittens' for those that I use while rappelling. But, the ones that I use for bike-riding are referred as 'Gloves'.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a difference between Gloves and Mittens?&#xA;Is the difference depending upon the following?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If it makes easy, we can limit out scope to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use case: The way they are used and for the purpose of usage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Material those are made-up of.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The way they look&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2017-03-20T07:04:48.280" Title="Difference between Mittens and Gloves" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-03-21T02:52:30.490" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15661" CreationDate="2017-03-20T07:04:48.280" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gloves have separate fingers; they are less warm but allow you to use your hands better. Mittens have only a separate thumb; they are warmer but restrict the hands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both types come in all sorts of materials, and there are even combinations, e.g. gloves with detachable 'mitten-like' finger boxes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/7116/6220&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-03-20T07:04:48.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15657" CreationDate="2017-03-20T07:17:48.173" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given the cost of down bags, it should be worth the effort to revive it. Here are the key issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HOW BADLY IS IT DAMAGED?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How good is the down?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told by an industry insider that soft down clusters should revive pretty well after compression - it's the spines of any harder feather content that can be permanently damaged. So the higher the quality of the filling the better it should have survived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;How clean and dry was it stored?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down that is stored damp can be damaged by mould. Down that is heavily coated by sweat and body oils can't regain it's full loft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REVIVE YOUR BAG?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Try tossing it in the drier&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a good quality down that was stored clean and dry, it's worth tossing it into a tumble-drier for a few minutes to see if this helps it loft. Repair any tears in the cover first so the down doesn't leak. Be sure to use the coolest setting so as not to damage the cover!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Failing that, try washing it or getting it professionally cleaned&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the down was stored damp or dirty, you may still be OK. My source says that a good bag can often revive surprisingly well after a professional clean. Don't use a generalist dry-cleaner - you need a company that offers a specialist service for down bags and clothing. Most countries only have a handful of specialist cleaners so you'll have to do your research and then send the bag away. Or if your budget is tight you can try washing it yourself - you'll find instructions from down specialists PHD Designs &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/cleaning-down-sleeping-bags-and-clothing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do let us know how you get on!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T00:32:59.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15660" CreationDate="2017-03-20T12:32:00.107" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If leather gloves are doing the job, why change?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of variables, but it really comes down to exposure.  For the most part gloves only protect your hands.  When working in and around a large fire, you also need to consider exposure to the rest of your body as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Increasing the fire rating of you gloves, only adds value if you also increase the fire rating of things that are protecting the rest of your body.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When wearing standard leather work goves, in my experience 98% of the time it is heat on my face, arms and legs that drive me back from whatever work I am doing in large fire management. When heat in the hands is the issue, it is probably time to back up anyhow.  The only time I have ever been burned wearing leather gloves is when hot embers found their way into the glove from the cuff.  If this is a problem for you, get leather gloves with a cotton or nomex cuffs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IMPORTANT NOTE&lt;/strong&gt;.  If any part of gloves, lining, cuffs, etc are fabric it is extremely important that you ensure the cloth is not synthetic and/or is fire rated. Synthetic fabrics melting and fuse to skin is a real risk with extremely  unpleasant impacts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-03-20T15:08:16.950" LastActivityDate="2017-03-20T15:08:16.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15665" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15667" CreationDate="2017-03-20T21:07:10.760" Score="11" ViewCount="5417" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to the previous question that turned up when I searched on this topic: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5088/is-there-a-standard-set-of-light-signals-for-mountaineers&quot;&gt;Is there a standard set of light signals for mountaineers?&lt;/a&gt;, but for sound? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeating sets of 3 blasts is standard for distress. &lt;em&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/em&gt; mentions pre-arranging a communication system with your party (e.g., 1 blast = general &quot;how are you&quot; query; 2 blasts = &quot;I'm fine&quot;; 3 blasts = &quot;Help!&quot;). Any other common codes used for simple communication between separated members of a party?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main thing that seems to be missing from the basic code outlined by &lt;em&gt;Freedom&lt;/em&gt; is some clarification around the &quot;I'm fine&quot; response. &quot;I'm fine; keep going&quot; vs &quot;I'm fine; wait for me&quot;. And from the group's perspective, telling the separated person to return vs continuing to forge their own path. Anyone know of or worked out a simple system for this sort of signal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, &quot;don't get separated&quot; is a good rule to follow, but things happen, so would be good to have a communication system in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12712" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:23:47.133" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:23:47.133" Title="Are there standard whistle signals for communicating with separated party members?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;whistles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13518" CreationDate="2017-03-21T02:01:09.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've experienced similar noises at night. I'm guessing what you're hearing are deer. Deer around the world make a wide variety of noises.  I'm in N. America and the deer in my area make a loud snorting sound at night, especially if you set up on or near one of their game trails. Here's a link to a video where you can hear a lot of different examples. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/UO6FvalHULo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/UO6FvalHULo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12696" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T02:01:09.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15665" CreationDate="2017-03-21T02:07:13.493" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://archive.org/stream/scoutingforgirls28490gut/pg28490.txt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whistle Signals&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One blast, &amp;quot;Attention&amp;quot;; &amp;quot;Assemble&amp;quot; (if scattered).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two short blasts, &amp;quot;All right.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Four short blasts, calls &amp;quot;Patrol Leaders come here.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alternate long and short blasts, &amp;quot;Mess Call.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29558/29558-h/29558-h.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship&#xA;By Robert Baden-Powell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One long blast means &amp;quot;Silence,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Alert,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Look out for my next signal.&amp;quot; Also approaching a station.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two short blasts means &amp;quot;All right.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A succession of long, slow blasts means &amp;quot;Go out,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Get farther away,&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Advance,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Extend,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Scatter.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A succession of short, sharp blasts means &amp;quot;Rally,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Close in,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Come together,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Fall in,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Danger,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Alarm.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Three short blasts followed by one long one from scout master calls up the patrol leaders--i.e., &amp;quot;Leaders, come here.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would avoid using whistle signals in the absence of a genuine emergency because other people might assume that you are having one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T15:40:54.320" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15656" CreationDate="2017-03-21T13:22:15.457" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pacific-crest-trail-thru-hiker-survey-2016/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2016 Halfway Anywhere Survey&lt;/a&gt; of PCT hikers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The average days on trail was 145 and the length is 2,650 miles (4265 km).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The average number of resupply stops was 26&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you subtract the average of 17 zero days (days without mileage) and 13 near-zeros, we have 115 days of actual walking, meaning the average hiker was carrying 4-5 days of supplies per leg and averaged 23 miles (37 km) per active day. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-08-27T00:13:54.617" LastActivityDate="2017-08-27T00:13:54.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15665" CreationDate="2017-03-21T17:50:40.850" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beyond the previously mentioned Scouting communication guidelines, &lt;strong&gt;Morse Code&lt;/strong&gt; is definitely an option.  However, Morse code isn't as widely known anymore and could potentially be misinterpreted as a call for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any distance coverable by a whistle in backcountry could also be covered by a two-way radio.  Cheap'ish hand-held radios are a staple for the groups I go backpacking with and &quot;check-in&quot; times are pre-established before we set out.  We all carry whistles as well, but the general consensus is that we only use the whistle in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T17:50:40.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15641" CreationDate="2017-03-21T18:16:41.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I raised both domestic and wild breeds of geese and other water fowl for a number of years.  Eating human foods such as bread are notoriously poor for birds, especially wild breeds including bird rescue work.  They like it, but it is like allowing kids to have candy as a main course for dinner.  Some of the issues it can cause are manifested in leg and feet problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without seeing further video or the bird, it actually walking and running around, I could not say with any certainty if this bird is effected.  At first glance, it appears to be chattering as it is doing it, which I would interpret as just being a &quot;happy dance&quot;, it claiming the treat and wanting more.  Looking closer though, I would have some concern.  The goose was stepping on its own feet and the feet were toed in.  They can do this, and I have seen healthy birds do so, but it is not typical.  This is far more common with birds with injuries or structural issues of the legs.  The bird is not showing other visible signs that I would normally look for with nutritional caused deformities so I suspect it may be fine, but I would have loved to have seen it moving across the field to confirm that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to actually observe the bird, other signs I would look for would be angel wing, structural bowing of the legs, flayed hips, over weight, none of which are apparent so the bird is likely fine with the exception of possible angel wing.  The gif clip is way to short and single angle so I cannot tell on angel wing.  The bird would also walk like this if its legs were pegged, such as fishing line between them, but no visible sign of that without much clearer angel and resolution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11042" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T18:16:41.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15673" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-21T19:08:06.570" Score="8" ViewCount="856" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is good practice on a hiking or backpacking trip to leave a written plan behind with someone. Then if you fail to return by your estimated date Search and Rescue will have an idea of where to look for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides the your expected return date, what should go in your written plan and how detailed should it be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-03-21T19:50:30.197" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T20:11:14.890" Title="What should go in the hiking/backpacking plan that you leave with someone else?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-03-21T23:01:55.753" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15673" CreationDate="2017-03-21T19:31:16.407" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The purpose of the plan is to help rescuers find you. So include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your planned route - this could just be a photocopy of a map with a route drawn on in marker, or &quot;the blah blah trail&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;identifying details. When we go into the Algonquin backcountry by canoe, the permit station asks for the colours of our tents and canoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you are carrying any kind of contact device (cell phone, satellite phone etc) the number of it, so people can either try calling you to ask why you're late, or correlate you to that text message or disconnected 911 call from the day you were supposed to return&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine someone looking for you - what do they need to know? They don't care that you're a strong swimmer or are allergic to shrimp. They don't need a picture of you - anyone close enough to you to see your face can also determine whether you need to be rescued or not. But knowing you have a blue tent and a large white tarp might help them decide which campsite the helicopter should swing by for a closer look.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T19:31:16.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15673" CreationDate="2017-03-21T20:11:14.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To expand on an earlier answer, and what the OP himself mentions, I will add a few more elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the count of persons on the trip.  The rescuers need to know when they are done.  If they've found four people and five went on the trip, for example, that means they keep searching.  Add notes of any relevant medical information about each person, such as diabetic, heart condition, mobility issues, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, a broad inventory of what equipment you have, to give some indication of how well prepared you are to aid your own survival and rescue.  If you went out for what should have been a day hike without a tent and only a small lunch, for example, it might indicate a greater sense of urgency then if you went out for a week long trip with full kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, it may be useful to provide a description of your vehicle(s), to include license plate numbers, and at what trail head you will be parked.  As a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, we would request this information when receiving a report of an overdue vessel, especially if the boat was launched from a trailer at a ramp.  We would send someone by car to that ramp to look for the tow vehicle and trailer, to verify the boat had not been recovered at the ramp.  Even for a boat at a marina, we might call that marina and ask if the owner's car was still in the parking lot.  The same concept applies to an excursion in the woods instead of the waters.  The rescuers will send someone to the trail head parking area to verify you have not returned to your vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further guidance, here is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://floatplancentral.cgaux.org/download/USCGFloatPlan.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sample float plan&lt;/a&gt; from the USCGAux, and here is a similar &lt;a href=&quot;http://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/lasd/163961_LosAngelesCountySheriff-HikingPlan.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;form for hikers&lt;/a&gt; from Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2017-03-21T20:11:14.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15665" CreationDate="2017-03-22T03:36:20.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If anyone has hiked in the woods knows that noise may not travel very far, especially in dense forested areas. So the use of any whistle would imply that group members should be relatively close together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is of little importance what &quot;standards&quot; a particular group uses for their whistle signaling for communications, as long as everybody uses the system correctly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that said I would be cautious on using a whistle too often in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is the most important communication item. This affords a chance of self-rescue if one gets lost or separated from the group. A whistle may also be used to attract the attention of rescuers or passers-by. It requires very little effort and energy to blow, yet the sound carries great distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Children and immature adults &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; keep their lips off until an actual emergency. The whistle is a survival tool, not a toy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All  group members should be familiar with distress signaling. &lt;strong&gt;A universally-recognized distress code is three equal blasts on the whistle, to be repeated until others hear it and respond with two blasts of recognition.&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure everyone knows that if possible, the person lost or in distress needs to stay in one place until reunited with the rest of the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Another universal distress code is the &lt;strong&gt;S.O.S&lt;/strong&gt; (three short blasts, three long blasts, three short blasts).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a whistle that’s worth carrying.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Okay, there are whistles and there are whistles. Forget about kid’s toys and useless, feeble gimmicks. Get a good one, since a life could depend on it. Look for a whistle that’s rated for military, EMS, rescue, or law enforcement work (large, loud, durable, and easy-to-blow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Put your whistle on a lanyard so you don’t lose it. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chelansar.org/ten-essentials/communication/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival and Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-22T12:46:48.357" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T12:46:48.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15677" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-22T03:59:04.237" Score="5" ViewCount="547" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whistles can be used to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15665/are-there-standard-whistle-signals-for-communicating-with-separated-party-member&quot;&gt;signal&lt;/a&gt; to group members, however the downside is that other people may think you are having an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other devices that would allow you to &lt;strong&gt;signal with noise&lt;/strong&gt; to other members of you team but would &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; cause other hikers to &lt;strong&gt;assume that you are in trouble?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:23:28.913" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:23:28.913" Title="Are there sound-based alternatives to whistle signals for group communication?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;whistles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15677" CreationDate="2017-03-22T03:59:04.237" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One alternative is to use animal calls. For instance, on a clear night an &lt;a href=&quot;http://buglingbull.com/shop/elk-calls/116-pack-a-bull-elk-bugle-system/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;elk bugle call&lt;/a&gt; can be heard up to a mile away. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cabelas.com/product/Duck-Commander-Shadow-Duck-Call/1760339.uts?productVariantId=3789739&amp;amp;WT.tsrc=PPC&amp;amp;WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&amp;amp;WT.z_mc_id1=03834876&amp;amp;rid=20&amp;amp;gclid=CJKmn5Wa6dICFQOPaQodfm8OSQ&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;duck calls&lt;/a&gt; or push-to-call &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.primos.com/products/elk-calls/hoochie-mama/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cow elk calls&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These should not replace a whistle as an emergency signaling device, but as a way to &lt;strong&gt;hear where your team members are&lt;/strong&gt; or signal back and forth &lt;strong&gt;without shouting&lt;/strong&gt; they do work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the downsides of this is that in some places the use of animal calls is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yellowstonegeographic.com/Animals/elk.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;illegal&lt;/a&gt;, for instance in national parks in the United States. The other is that you may attract animals (this is what the calls are designed for), including predators and extra care should be taken during hunting seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T03:59:04.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15679" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-22T09:31:07.220" Score="2" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snowboards are often described with the term &quot;Rocker&quot;. It seems like a kind of shape or something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is meant by a &quot;Rocker&quot; snowboard and what are the advantages or disadvantages? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T10:29:17.987" Title="What exactly is a rocker?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2017-03-22T13:06:46.883" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15679" CreationDate="2017-03-22T10:29:17.987" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rocker is a term common for freeride ski and snowboards. Because of the deep snow (powder) you need ski which are floating by design. That means it is easier to ride in powder with a higher rocker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rocker technically means the negative preload the ski/snowboard are having. So if you lay them on the ground without any load, the ski only touches the ground in the middle (where your binding lies) and not over the whole surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems that rockers also show advantages in halfpipes (freeskiing) and even on piste. So the technology is already widespread in winter sports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T10:29:17.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15681" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-22T18:03:42.713" Score="11" ViewCount="2042" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which bird species migrate between Europe and the Americas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are some species which migrate over vast distances, such as the Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), which flies through Alaska and Africa, or the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), which flies seemingly everywhere,* but I don't know what sources to consult for other species as I am a novice birder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm especially interested in knowing about bird species which pass through the UK and also Southern USA. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25migrate.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NYT: Birds that migrate thousands of miles with nary a stop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12722" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-24T19:48:05.123" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T18:15:53.823" Title="Bird migration across Atlantic?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15665" CreationDate="2017-03-22T18:57:41.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from. - Andrew S. Tanenbaum&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are standards you and your companions need to know and agree upon what that standard is prior to having an issue. That said it's fairly common to understand ongoing whistle blasts to mean something isn't right or HEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;A sampling of standards&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answers and comments mention some standards for whistles including boy/girl scouts, morse, SOS, triple blast = emergency etc. Also consider boats, trains, even heavy equipment backing up all use various forms of whistle/horn blasts to mean something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Ambiguity as demonstrated by the whitewater community&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can speak to using whistles in the whitewater environment where 3: emergency but 1 and 2 have different meanings based on which group you are with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Semi-standard commercial rafting whistle blasts&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is a low level situation, everyone pay attention and help if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The situation is elevated secure your boat and help make a good effort to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(3 or more) Dire emergency, walk on water to make the rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Semi-standard private whitewater boater whistle blasts&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm Ok, or drop clear, or otherwise signaling a positive safe state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wait/Be alert. There is an issue but it's not major.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(3 or more) Dire emergency move to the scene of the rescue immediately&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8922" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-22T18:57:41.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15683" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15684" CreationDate="2017-03-23T02:18:00.593" Score="5" ViewCount="5953" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just watched a documentary on PBS that featured many African mammals in the wild. One scene in the documentary showed a baby zebra that was described as &quot;minutes old&quot; walking next to its mother. After a brief moment discussing how the baby needed to learn to walk shortly after birth they showed a male zebra rush the baby and attack it. The mother, obviously distressed, was trying to push the male zebra off the baby without much success. After a period of the male repeatedly cycling between stomping on the baby and pulling it off the ground (by the leg or neck) with its teeth, the male zebra left the baby broken on the ground. The mother stood watch over the baby and you could see the baby struggling. Once the vultures started circling the mother started desperately calling to the baby, but the baby died soon after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The narrator said this attack happened because the male was new and the baby was from an older male that was muscled out. They said this attack was an instinctual response by the new male to give their offspring the best chance at survival.  It is probably naive of me but I was frankly a bit surprised that a zebra would act in this manner. &lt;strong&gt;This leads to my question. Is this an accepted social norm for zebras, or should the young male expect retribution?&lt;/strong&gt; The mother probably couldn't win a fair fight against the male but I'm sure even zebras sleep. She could probably give him a hard kick to the head when he was asleep though and hurt him badly before he could put up much of a fight. Alternatively I'm sure a pack of female zebras could take on one male, but somehow that seems even more unlikely than an ambush by a lone female.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T18:59:14.717" Title="Do zebra mothers seek revenge?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;zebras&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15683" CreationDate="2017-03-23T03:02:00.430" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This happens because stallions will kill foals that are not their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is where things can take a dark turn. If the females in the harem have recently given birth, the &lt;strong&gt;new dominant male may kill their foals to eliminate any traces of his predecessor,&lt;/strong&gt; and to bring the females into oestrus in order to further his own genetic legacy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/disturbing-footage-shows-male-zebra-attacking-a-young-foal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes domestic mares will abort their pregnancy as a preemptive measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The high rate of failed horse pregnancies may have a simple explanation: pragmatism. Mares may simply abort because nearby &lt;strong&gt;stallions other than the sire could be expected to kill the foal anyway.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bartoš argues that the results make sense in light of horses’ natural behaviour. Wild horses live in “harems” consisting of one or more mares and a stallion. A stallion can gain new mares by challenging and defeating another. If a mare becomes pregnant by one stallion but then becomes a member of another harem under another stallion, &lt;strong&gt;she will tend to lose the developing foal and breed with the second stallion instead&lt;/strong&gt;, he says, &lt;strong&gt;because stallions often kill offspring that are not their own.&lt;/strong&gt; “The mares are just trying to avoid wasting resources on a foal that will be killed when born,” he says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that the &lt;strong&gt;mare will mate with the second stallion&lt;/strong&gt; after losing the first foal, it &lt;strong&gt;doesn't seem like they would seek revenge.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zebras could be different, but because they belong to the same &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;genus&lt;/a&gt; I suspect that they would have the same tendencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="13362" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T18:59:14.717" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T18:59:14.717" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15677" CreationDate="2017-03-23T04:03:55.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm sure this isn't what you were shooting for but using radios, satellite phones, cell phones, etc. would all count because they transmit the &quot;noise&quot; of your voice to your target where it is reproduced as noise. So in a way it is kind of like teleporting your words/noise exactly where you want it to go or speaking in a targeted echo chamber. :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of using something like a radio/phone instead of a whistle are plentiful and pretty obvious. Just to increase the length of my answer I'll name a few:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can communicate just with your party&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can communicate more complicated things easier than using a whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can communicate with people farther away than could hear your whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two primary disadvantages to radios/phones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The terrain might prevent the signal from reaching your target.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They require batteries, and must be turned on to work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2017-03-23T04:03:55.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15681" CreationDate="2017-03-23T12:16:59.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a direct answer to your question, but basic logic says that would be unusual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about what seasonal migration is for.  It is to get access to different conditions than any one place provides over changing seasons.  Some species accomplish this by short migrations between different altitudes.  However, long distance migrations are to get different conditions by changing latitude.  Therefore, such migrations are predominantly north/south.  Europe and North America are east/west of each other.  It doesn't make much sense to cross a whole ocean and end up in roughly the same conditions as where you started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By this logic, if there are any species that migrate as you describe, they probably spend summer in the arctic.  Europe and North America are much closer there.  For example, summer breading grounds may be far enough east to be considered &quot;Europe&quot;, but the bird then flies to Brazil during winter in the northern hemisphere.  A reverse scenario might be true between just a little more west in the arctic and winters in the Mediterranean area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-25T18:15:53.823" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T18:15:53.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15687" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-23T12:48:48.933" Score="3" ViewCount="1014" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was searching for boat inspection plates &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0080IMQKG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amazon example&lt;/a&gt; I saw a review where someone had bought one to install in the top of their RV fresh water tank to make cleaning inside easy.  I thought it was a wonderful idea, so I bought an extra, but now that it is getting close to spring, I am having second thoughts about installing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit a quick details, fresh water tank is located under bed in tow behind camp trailer.  The bed lifts to provide access to the tank and additional storage. The water tank is about 25 gallons, 12 inchs tall, and about 2 foot by 3 foot square.  I drain it before winter storage, and run RV anti freeze through the entire system.  The tank is semi transparent plastic.  I general travel with a full tank of fresh water, unless I know there is potable water at my destination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was planning to cut a hole in the top of the tank, just like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14600/screen-cover-for-boat-inspection-port&quot;&gt;for an inspection port&lt;/a&gt;, this would allow me to reach in and scrub the inside of the tank, rinse it out, and flush the system with clean water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard alternative is to fill the fresh water tank with bleach and water, drive around to try and slosh the water around, flush repeatedly, and sometimes use backing soda to get the bleach taste out of the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to reach in and clean will make it quicker, easier, and probably more effective to clean the inside of the fresh water tank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The inspection port is designed to keep water out, so I think there is some risk that sloshing water, or overfilling could force the inspection port cover off. As I would not realize until I stopped, meaning several gallons of water could be sloshing around outside of the tank and inside the camper/trailer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any examples of this working well or failing miserably?  Are there known good solution to provide cleaning access inside of a fresh water tank? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T08:59:41.190" Title="Aftermarket access panel to clean inside fresh water RV tank?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15681" CreationDate="2017-03-23T17:40:26.743" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a route known as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/sowb/flyways/4_East_Atlantic_Factsheet.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;East Atlantic Flyway&lt;/a&gt; used for migration between Eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Siberia, Northern Europe, Western Europe, and on to Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NYr1M.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NYr1M.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 297 species using the flyway and tens of thousands of individuals per year. They are mainly waterfowl and waders, but an interesting exception is &lt;a href=&quot;http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/8/4/505&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the recently discovered route&lt;/a&gt; of a population of Northern Wheatears in Eastern Canada - a small songbird that migrates through Europe to winter in North Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's been a lot of interest in this flyway recently as it provides a vector for Avian Flu to move between European and American populations, with many migration routes overlapping in Iceland, Greenland and Eastern Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not aware of any bird from south of Arctic Canada that makes it over to Europe, apart from the occasional exotic &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/30/bird-numbers-soar-in-britain&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blown over by storms&lt;/a&gt;. Most migrations are on a north-south axis, as populations follow food sources across the seasons. There would be little advantage for a bird from lower latitudes in the Americas to make a strenuous migration to a similar latitude and season in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-03-23T17:46:21.143" LastActivityDate="2017-03-23T17:46:21.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15677" CreationDate="2017-03-23T20:34:04.543" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent a summer with two brothers from the Dominican Republic and they would call out to each other with a loud howl-like &quot;FOOOOOOOOOOOO&quot; sound that carried very well through fields, forests, and over a lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later in life I spent some time with a friend of a friend who was essentially squatting and setting up a semi-permanent settlement in the jungle. Him and his gang of goons used the same sound, a howl-like &quot;FOOOOOO&quot; to signal their presence to each other in a remote Latin American 'city' on a hillside, and they said they used it in the jungle too. I was surprised to actually hear this and see it work for them to regroup from different parts of the city - it really carries well!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The folks from the latter story told me it's the sound that humans can make the loudest for the longest amount of time (key thing there is it's not only loud and carries well, it can also be drawn out for a long period). When you get the chance, try it out, and notice how long you can make it with relative ease (it doesn't take your breath away as other similarly-loud calls might).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put it to practice and found it works. Myself and two others were relying on radios during work in the woods once and our team didn't meet as expected. The &quot;FOOO&quot; sound actually worked better than a pea-less whistle and the non-functional (due to terrain) radio I had, according to my team which heard me and eventually got back together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cup your hands by your mouth like a megaphone and howl out to the sky, &quot;FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for getting in trouble, generally the signal for emergency is three repeated calls. So, don't do that. If you just call once or twice and wait a reasonably long time before calling again, people who are listening are more likely to say &quot;Oh, they're OK or they'd be SOS'ing or calling out more chaotically in a panic.&quot; The FOO sound specifically carries very well but doesn't have the sense of urgency that a high-pitched scream or whistle does, at least in my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-03-23T20:40:08.030" LastActivityDate="2017-03-23T20:40:08.030" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="206" CreationDate="2017-03-24T03:25:20.197" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I didn't see a photo of your new pack. As for where to pack it and tie it down... I use a survival pack myself, smaller but with a full molly system and compression straps. This allows me to use additional pouches or pockets and also rig additional strapping points in various places without messing with the weight distribution of the pack at all. I am also still able to cover it all, minus the sleeping bag, with my rain cover even though the pack is pretty water resistant itself both in design and what I sprayed it with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sleeping bag I use is a summer weight with compression straps and bag. I strap it to the top of my pack and here is why I do this. If my bag is on top it will get less of a beating and is less likely to get wet if I have to travel through any deep water conditions. I survival camp for a week or more at a time so I carry little and use my tools and what is around me so this less is more design works best for me. Being a summer weight sleeping bag it is lighter weight also so my pack doesn't become top heavy at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside my bag I keep items bundled inside small water tight boxes. This keeps things better in poor weather conditions and also adds the special bonus of making your pack a flotation device of sorts with several sealed, water tight boxes inside. Fishing tools, fire tools, cleaning tools (hygiene stuff), first aid tools, food tools, etc. Clothes inside a sealed plastic weather bag and used to fill odd space inside the pack. Anyway, you get the idea...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12725" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T03:25:20.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15677" CreationDate="2017-03-24T15:48:27.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Percussion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drums have been used historically to communicate over long distances in forested areas, so you could send messages simply by knocking on wood. Pick up a couple of hard sticks, and knock them against each other or something else that has some good acoustics. You could communicate with morse code this way, and the average traveler would just assume they're listening to a woodpecker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for something to carry, you could bring a pair of &lt;strong&gt;claves&lt;/strong&gt; along with each group: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E1R3e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E1R3e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make a strong sharp sound that will carry quite a ways, and double as a pair of fighting sticks incase you need to go sinawali on something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-03-24T19:36:27.787" LastActivityDate="2017-03-24T19:36:27.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15692" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-25T00:20:05.300" Score="6" ViewCount="4036" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that there are up to 200 species of owls, encompassing many sizes, shapes and colors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ornithologists and scientists continue finding new species and sub-species. They also re-name previously identified species, so information fluctuates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of March, 2017, what's the smallest of all the owls?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like the name and some information about its characteristics, behavior, and habitat location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-09-25T00:06:08.947" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T00:06:08.947" Title="What is the smallest owl in the world, and where can I see one?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15692" CreationDate="2017-03-25T00:20:05.300" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The smallest owl in the world is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=2230&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi)&lt;/a&gt;. It's about the size of a sparrow, and weighs about an ounce and a half, which is just less than the weight of a golf ball!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wingspan:  13 1/2 - 16 1/2 in.&#xA;Length:                 5 - 5 3/4 in.&#xA;Tail:                      1.8 - 2.1 in.&#xA;Average Weight:        1 1/2 oz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The back side is rusty-brown to orangey-brown with irregular small light rusty to orangey spotting. The light spotting becomes more distinct and lighter on the crown and the head and may even become whitish. The tips of the scapulars are white giving the owl an irregular line of white down the upper backside. Some of the primary and secondary flight feathers have white tips giving the bird some white spots also on the backside. The underside has a base of white with orangey-brown streaks. backside and more orangey on the head and streaking on the front side (chest, flanks, and belly). White eyebrows and some white in the outer facial disk which is mostly orangey in color. The bill is Grayish-horn colored with a pale yellow tip and the iris are yellow. The tail has orange and brown streaks.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owling.com/Elf_nh.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The elf owl has no way to make its own nest, so it lives in nests that have already been made, generally by woodpeckers. Nests are found most frequently in cacti, especially Saguaro, and in high trees in mountains. Nests at elevations of up to about 600-2200 meters (2,000-7,000 feet) are also common. They can be found in dense mesquite, dry oak woodlands, wooded canyons, sycamores, and probably any other tree within its elevation range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States the range is mostly the extreme south of Nevada, across central Arizona, Southwest New Mexico and West Texas. They migrate south for the winter, where they live and breed in Mexico, primarily the Baja region. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In North America breeding season is normally May and June, in Mexico it's March through August. They may lay 1-5 eggs, but 3 are the most common. The incubation period is 21 - 24 days. The young can capture food as soon as they can fly (27-28 days of age) and fledge shortly thereafter (28 - 33 days of age). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their diet consists almost exclusively of arthropods, like moths, crickets, beetles, and spiders. Scorpions are an important staple, but they usually remove the stinger before eating. They may also stash scorpions away (a behavior called caching) so they can eat them later. They've also been observed eating lizards and small mice, even though by looking at them you wouldn't imagine how!  Since water in the desert can be hard to come by, they've adapted to get all the water they need from the prey they feed upon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the elf owl has predators, it is generally hard to find, and would rather hide than fight. Like an opossum, it has the ability to &quot;play dead&quot; when threatened. It hunts only at night, when most of its predators aren't active.  It uses a combination of sight and keen hearing to locate its food. Elf owls have &quot;silent flight&quot; which means they don't make any noise as they approach their prey. The sound of their wing beat is muffled by softened feathers on the leading edges of their wings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, there has been a drastic drop in Elf Owl populations in the United States, but that's due less to predators than to the changing habitat as desert areas have become developed for homes and agriculture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that you know where they live, you have some idea where and when to see one. If you live in their native range, you may have some elfs nearby and not realize it, because they sound more like birds than the owls we're used to hearing. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/Cod0zb4mS6w&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; an example.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the organization &lt;a href=&quot;http://birdnote.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birdnote&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;a href=&quot;http://birdnote.org/blog/2017/03/travel-birdnote-big-bend-national-park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;taking a group&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Bend National Park&lt;/a&gt; in Texas this coming August. Elf owl sightings are expected, so if you can get there, it sounds like a great opportunity!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Click on pictures for closer view. More photographs and sounds can be found at the references I've used in this answer, which are listed below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMWSy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMWSy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Owl in tall cactus&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3GNBg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3GNBg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Owl on stick branch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hXuMC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hXuMCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Face sticking out of cactus&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ke107.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ke107.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Owl/Chipmunk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mIxsy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mIxsym.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Standing on tree in front of nest&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YF6yQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YF6yQm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Two babies in tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtXNP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vtXNPl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Peeking out of tree hole&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://owlinstitute.org/elf-owl.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Owl Research Institute&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Owls of the World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owling.com/Elf_nh.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elf Owl biology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/news/meet-tiniest-owl-world&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=212856&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owlpages.com/owls/search.php?q=elf+owl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Owl Pages&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://birdnote.org/show/elf-owl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birdnote&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/elf%20owl.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://owlinstitute.org/elf-owl.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Owl Institute&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-25T18:11:56.523" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T18:11:56.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15687" CreationDate="2017-03-25T08:59:41.190" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you propose is widely used where I live - although the tanks tend to be installed under the trailer with an access hatch though the floor, so a bit of leakage is not a major issue.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The correct type of hatch should be fine - the screw on lid is pretty secure.  A good sealing system compatible with the tanks plastic is needed - you might need to install a strengthening ring around the inside of the hole depending how flexible the plastic in the tank is. (Sealer does to not adhere to some plastics, so it needs a clamped gasket seal). The only thing to check is the hatch lid has some kind of gasket or O-Ring to seal it. The tank should have an air vent so there should not be a lot of pressure in the hatch - especially if you install the hatch in the center. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as cleaning the tank should not need much. You can reduce the need for it by filtering water as it goes in and only filling from clean town supply water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as cleaning it out I rely on Milton baby bottle steraliser - (Active ingredient Sodium dichloroisocyanurate), as I know its safe. I don't like putting 'bleach' in tanks - as 'bleach' often contains other chemicals. I fills and drain the tank a few times as fast as can about twice a year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-03-25T08:59:41.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15695" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-25T22:44:33.450" Score="15" ViewCount="1826" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of long hikes that I am thinking of doing, both are 70 to 80 miles (110 to 130 km) long one way. I would like to do a yo-yo (140 to 160 miles, 230 to 260 km) without a resupply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not worried about running out of food, since I can just hike until half of the food is gone and then turn around, but I would like to make it to the end and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What strategies/tactics would help me backpack &lt;strong&gt;further without a resupply&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T00:00:56.900" LastActivityDate="2017-06-11T01:18:15.880" Title="How can I backpack further without resupplying?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-26T00:02:17.290" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say anything about the climate and ascent/descent involved, but assuming an average mountain trail 160 miles (260 km) should be doable in a single push.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there's any magic solution to this - it's simply applied common-sense. The main issue is the extra food you have to carry without resupply - around 1kilo/2.2lbs per day on trail plus a bit extra for safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, get fit so you can cover the ground fast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost, I would suggest you get well trained before you go. This means you can travel fast and carry less food, keeping your pack-weight more reasonable. Get going at first light and walk steadily till dusk. Start slow and finish strong, keeping plenty of energy in hand. Strong walkers would aim to average well over 20 miles (32 km) a day on mountain trails in summer conditions - this is a typical pace for anyone tackling trails like the AT or the PCT so it's doable if you're trained. Even if you only manage 20 miles (32 km) a day, you should cover 160 miles (260 km) in a maximum of 8 days. Fast walkers would complete a trip like this in 5-6 days. If the weather in your area is volatile, you need to allow an extra day or two in case you get storm-bound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second, minimise your base weight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to cover distance, you'll probably want to prioritise lightness over comfort. So you should reduce your base pack weight as far as your skill and experience allows without compromising safety. For example, if conditions allow you might want to take a tarp rather than a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third, pack calorie-dense food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you'll want to pack calorie-dense food with a high fat content. It's reasonable to aim for an average of around 120 calories per oz (18 MJ/kg), or even higher if you're prepared to eat a lot of fats such as peanut butter or olive oil. As an average sized male carrying a pack all day on a steep trail you'll be burning around 4000-5000 calories (17-21 MJ) daily. To maintain your weight, you'd have to carry 5000/120 = 42 oz (1.2 kg) of food per day. Most people feel this is too much, and carry around 2.2 lbs (1.0 kg) of food per day (or less if they're small and light). On long trails they re-feed in the trail towns to maintain their weight. On a relatively short walk like this, you would lose a little body-fat. If you have body-fat to spare, you could safely under-eat by an additional 500-1000 calories (2.1–4.2 MJ) a day, so you'd lose a few lbs from your belly during your walk, reducing your pack weight by a few lbs. It's important to trial this on day-walks or weekenders before committing to a bigger walk, so you know how much food you need to keep you happy on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T16:45:00.313" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T16:45:00.313" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-26T04:39:59.293" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with what @Tullochgorum said, and will not repeat his points, but let's examine your strategy of eating half your food and then turning back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a &lt;em&gt;zeroth order approximation&lt;/em&gt; to how to end your trip at the same time as you finish your food.  As @Loren Pechtel said, you may run into bad weather on your way back.  But you are young, fit, strong and intelligent.  You can afford to be tent-bound for a few days, eating very little and burning few calories.  You will then do what explorers in similar situations have always done:  Cut your rations, try not to think about food, bull through and arrive at the end thin and hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can fine-tune your strategy by taking into account the altitude profile of your hike.  At one extreme, the trip out has all of the ascent and the trip back is pure descent.  Since descent is usually twice as fast as ascent, this means you would turn around when you had eaten 2/3 of your food.  In the other extreme (going into the Grand Canyon, for example), you'd turn around when you had eaten 1/3 of your food.  Taking the profile of your hike into account gives you your &lt;em&gt;first order approximation.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the second order approximation:  Your pack will be lighter on the return, so you can make better time.  You will be fitter on the way back, so you can make better time -- or you will have gotten exhausted or sprained something so you will make worse time; you have to deal with this variable statistically, based on what you know about how you perform on long hikes and how accident prone you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you can deliberately plan to lose weight on this trip.  You should be OK &lt;em&gt;planning&lt;/em&gt; to lose 5 pounds, but your safety margin for bad weather is less. You might want to gain weight before the trip, but if so you have to embark on a weight-gain plus improved fitness regimen, as  Jon Krakauer did before his successful Everest attempt, reported in &lt;em&gt;Into Thin Air&lt;/em&gt;.  This may be overkill for the trip you are planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T15:21:48.710" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T15:21:48.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8962" CreationDate="2017-03-26T10:12:32.667" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;May I also add when tying down a tarp, unless it is one of those heavy old canvass tarps, I have always felt most people are doing it wrong. Allow me to explain...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you tie from the ringlets in a high wind (and I don't mean tornado, just decent gusts) you risk the ringlets just ripping loose from the tarp altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I suggest&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;550 paracord is cheap and strong. Run a length of rope through a ringlet, across the tarp and then threaded through the ringlet across from it. I create a sort of rib cage with the rope across the tarp threaded through the ringlets and then tied down. This way the tarp goes all the way to the ground (long tarp not square) and the loops of the rope are connected to a small handful of metal tent stakes I keep with me. This prevents rips and tears and makes your cover much stronger, and less noisy in the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also, if I may:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;When tying off a ridgeline such as in the photo I see one more mistake. Notice the rope is wrapped forever around each tree in an attempt to keep it taught and strong? Problem is there is a single strand of rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best method is to run several strand across between the two trees for your ridgeline, use less to tie it on either side. You don't need a ton of rope wrapped around each tree, just a couple of good knots. Running several strands across rather than just one is what will strengthen the ridgeline, this is basic engineering. This also has the added advantage of more hang points and side by side which is great for running some bug netting around you inside and underneath your tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12725" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T10:12:32.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-26T12:18:52.530" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to do week long trips as a kid with a pretty light pack. If you hunt, fish, &amp;amp; gather along the way, you'll find that you can greatly extend your food supply. A telescoping rod, or an Ugly Stick™ pack well and only add a few ounces of weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A .22 is slightly heavier, but well worth the 4 or 5 pounds. I always felt just a touch safer having my rifle along anyway. I don't recommend anything bigger than this though. Larger caliper rifles are too heavy, have heavier ammo, and it's not like you're hunting big game. We're talking squirrel &amp;amp; rabbits here anyway. (Actually, a 410 gauge shotgun would be a nice alternative, now that I think about it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, take advantage of nature's bounty! Keep your eyes open for wild carrots, berries, nuts, and other forage. Just, be &lt;em&gt;sure&lt;/em&gt; that you know what you're eating. You wouldn't want to eat something that makes you ill on the trail, so only forage if you know what you're doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, don't &lt;em&gt;count&lt;/em&gt; on finding food on the trail. Keep a good eye on your rations and &lt;em&gt;turn around&lt;/em&gt; if you even &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; you're running short. Sure, people can live a lot longer than a few days without food, but the odds of making a stupid mistake and getting hurt go way up when you're hungry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know where you are, and therefore I don't know the legality of what I'm recommending, so please check your local laws and obtain any necessary licenses/training before taking along a gun &amp;amp; fishing rod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12734" LastEditorUserId="12734" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T12:24:53.843" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T12:24:53.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15700" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15734" CreationDate="2017-03-26T12:49:09.970" Score="9" ViewCount="887" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in knowing if there are any military style obstacle course trails that exist in a completely forested setting for the military, police, search and rescue, and so on, yet are open to the general public?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally the course would have be to several miles/kilometers long and both natural and manmade obstacles would be incorporated together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do such military style obstacle course trails exist in a completely forested setting that open to the general public (in the USA)? Other countries may be added in as a complement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T15:28:09.780" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T16:25:58.297" Title="Do military style obstacle course trails exist in a genuinely forested setting and open to the general public?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15701" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15707" CreationDate="2017-03-26T17:07:16.147" Score="54" ViewCount="19077" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've walked barefoot practically all summer for every summer I can remember. However now that I'm a teenager my Mum is saying I need to wear shoes because of glass, needles, worms and diseases. I have done some research but no answer is super clear as to &quot;What are the dangers of barefoot walking?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have stepped on tiny pieces of glass that have penetrated (and were tricky to dig out) as wells as bigger shards that didn't get through, and I have burned and blistered my feet out of my stubbornness. So, what are other relevant dangers of walking barefoot in a small town of Canada?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12736" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T18:03:05.870" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T19:43:43.050" Title="What are the dangers of walking barefoot in towns/cities?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;barefoot&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-26T17:27:13.410" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't answer about a small town in Canada, so I will answer about my own small town (really just a village center) in northern Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there would be any great physical dangers &lt;em&gt;here&lt;/em&gt; as long as you check and wash your feet at the end of the day and disinfect, bandage and watch cuts -- and wear sandals if you have a cut.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the physical dangers, I think needles are the worst -- if needles are at all common on the streets of your town, your Mom is right.  Disinfecting is not enough for a deep needle jab (which includes danger of HIV transmission.)  Also, the answer of @Charlie Brumbaugh lists tetanus as a danger.  He is right!    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, although this may not be fair, how you are perceived if you walk in town barefoot is a danger.   You are going to need the high opinion of your fellow townsfolk as you progress towards adulthood, and barefoot people who are no longer children are irritating to many -- here, if not in your small town.  It isn't rational: a teenager in flip-flops exposes as much of her feet as a barefoot teenager, and the soles of her feet are no dirtier than the soles of the flip-flops.  But it is so: if you were in my town, you will irritate people whose good opinion you really do want.  This paragraph adds up to: pick your battles carefully.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-03-30T19:43:43.050" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T19:43:43.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-26T19:04:31.123" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would add one suggestion to the other answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since you are coming back by the same way, you can cache your food on the way up. The first day will be heavy, but the weight will go down much faster. It requires some extra planning and a few extra approximations, but i means that you basically do the way back with at most 1-2 days of food with you. (You need to plan for caching, though, especially if you have bears and such in your region).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I assume you have a strategy for water. To carry as little water as possible, get as much information as you can on where you can get water, and what is the situation when you are actually reaching that supply. (For example, some springs may be dry in summer or frozen in winter.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure you know yourself. How much food you need, what type of food you can eat for several days in a row, how much more you can walk when you are tired, what is the impact of bad weather on morale and speed,...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T19:04:31.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-26T19:14:41.037" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my town, which is a neighborhood in a suburban location in Massachusetts, barefoot walking is common once the summer starts. I'm old and stay cold longer than most, so I don't even switch over to sandals until long after people like you have taken off your shoes! My &quot;winter feet&quot; are soft and vulnerable, so it takes time to build the callous and thicker skin my &quot;summer feet&quot; need to protect from burning (to a degree), and being vulnerable to some of the small shards of things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I advise looking out for bigger rocks/stones. As your feet get bigger, so do the spaces between your toes, leaving you more susceptible to something getting caught between them, or in the space (arch) under your foot. Those can make you fall, and can be true on all the different surfaces you mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the most polite way possible, I'd also like to mention droppings from animals (scat). We have strict laws about cleaning up after your dog on the sidewalk or on people's lawns, but I don't know if you have that. Still, I have to remember to frequently look down on the sidewalks and roads as I walk. The same is true in your yard and on the trails. There can be diseases present in the scat, and sometimes hard things like berries which stick in your feet. You probably know all that, since that falls into your Mum's category of diseases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animals also dig in the yard, and along the trail. I've often stepped into holes I didn't know were there and twisted toes and even an ankle. I even fell once and hurt my knee. Shoes can be helpful for support at times like that. I spend many hours in my garden during the summer, and always keep something on my feet, usually sneakers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few more things that pertain to all of the areas where you walk. Tree &quot;droppings&quot; can be annoying, and potentially dangerous too. Nuts and acorns can be tripped over. Sap can be sticky and liable to cause a fall. Pinecones can be sharp enough to cause open sores. If people on your street have lots of trees, that may be an issue. The same is true along the trails you mentioned. Also in the yard and on the trails, certain insects, like ants, can bite if you step on them, and bees can sting. There's a type of bee called a miner (or mining) bee that builds its nest in the ground, like anthills, and they can sting if you step on them. As I got older, I would go deeper into the woods and encounter things I didn't used to before I hit your age. If you're doing that, you might be technically in more danger of hurting your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You obviously know about things like rusty nails, discarded bottle caps and other sharp litter. Since you're an experienced barefoot-walker, I'll bet you've been careful of those your whole life! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my area, younger kids leave things lying around on the sidewalks, like small toys, or even bigger things like skateboards. I've often had to step out of the way, or over these things, so as not to trip. Shoes can offer protection if you do step on something like that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may sound silly, but as I got older, I paid a lot less attention to what was on the ground and more to the people I was walking with, like friends. If that pertains to you, it might worry your Mum. You didn't say that though, so I don't want to put words in her mouth! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't mind, I'd like to share a quick story from my life. When I became a teenager, I was allowed to go alone or with friends into stores, restaurants, and other places where bare feet weren't allowed, so my Mum made a strict rule not to leave home without shoes on. That's just my experience of mine, and doesn't answer your question!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You obviously have an excellent Mum who cares enough to worry about you, and has also taught you to be mature enough to come to a place like this and ask for advice. I hope our suggestions can be helpful to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-26T21:17:29.870" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T21:17:29.870" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-26T20:43:57.450" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;My family walks around barefoot all the time, not just in the summer.  We used to live in Santa Clara County, California, but now live in Humboldt County of the same state.  We've never had any serious problems and I would not discourage from doing this but there are several disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;By far the biggest disadvantage is that you will &lt;a href=&quot;https://letsgobarefoot.wordpress.com/2014/12/20/no-shirt-no-shoes-no-service-where-did-it-come-from/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;face significant judgment and discrimination&lt;/a&gt;.  While walking barefoot you people will move to the other side of the street, sneer, shout things like &quot;get some shoes&quot;, etc.  Not everyone does this and outright aggression happens a lot more to the young women in my family than to me (I'm kinda big, they are really small), but it's a pretty serious concern.  This doesn't just apply to strangers on the street, either-- expect to be refused service at many grocery stores, restaurants, and other places of business.  Even public places in the wealthier parts of towns often have security that will lie to and threaten you to get/force you to leave if you are not wearing shoes.  With regard to businesses, you will be told that &quot;It's against the Health Code for us to allow customers without shoes in the bulding&quot;.  That's, like, the number 1 reason given when they kick you out.  It's also not true (the Health Code prohibits employees from not wearing shoes in certain occupations in certain regions, but neither area I have lived in have forbidden customers from not wearing shoes).  Anyways, the harassment can be a real bother; be ready for it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the snow, it gets really cold.  During the winter, sometimes it snows.  Walking in the snow barefoot is alright for a little bit if your feet are used to it, but you risk frostbite if you're out long.  If there's snow and ice on the ground, you should wear shoes or limit your time outside.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feet washing is still important if you walk around barefoot.  On the plus side, you are much less likely to get most common foot diseases and your feet will smell nice because they aren't in a moist, sweaty, warm, dark environment all the time.  On the downside, your feet won't start to smell bad so you might not wash them as thoroughly as you otherwise would.  Basically, just remember to wash.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other barefoot issue is that if you step in something gross with shoes you can take your shoes off before entering the house and washing them. I find that it's far more difficult to take my foot off before entering the house! Avoid walking in terrain where you can't see what you're stepping on/in.  This applies to things like tall grass and dense ferns or ivy.  Since you can't see, you have no way to prevent yourself from stepping in something gross, like animal poop, or even something dangerous, like trash.  This actually applies even when you are wearing shoes-- walking through such things damages the plants involved (less meaningfully in the case of grass) and exposes you to wild animal related risks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://canlyme.com/lyme-prevention/risk-areas/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ticks&lt;/a&gt;.  It may still be worth it to you, at various points in time, to partake in barefoot activities in grassy or otherwise groundcovered areas, but you should try to be aware of the risks and decide on a case by case basis. Personally, walking through tall grass barefoot makes me uncomfortable, so I don't do it unless I absolutely have to.  No one in my family &lt;em&gt;routinely&lt;/em&gt; walks through areas where you can't see what you're stepping in, so, while we haven't had any problems with this besides the occasional, really-gross-but-harmless stepping-in-dog-poop accident, I can't really speak to an overall risk assessment for your off-trail barefoot walking habits.  On-trail and on streets in town you should be able to avoid doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't apply to you at all, since you've been doing this for years, but if you haven't walked around barefoot before you may not be aware that it hurts.  Concrete is rough and hard and will sand down your skin, which means that, until you build up callouses, your feet will start to hurt after walking around for just a bit.  As your feet get tougher, it hurts less or not at all, but there's always more terrain that your feet will need to adapt to.  Pine needle mats hurt until your feet get tough (then they can feel good instead-- very squishy XD ), gravel hurts always even with crazy rediculous feet (as far as I'm aware), concrete will always hurt if you walk on it long enough to sand down the callouses, but at some point that's no longer a feasible amount of time to walk.  This isn't a danger, though, so much as it is unpleasant, unless you end up needing to run away from something else dangerous while barefoot and don't have enough callouses yet to support that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Broken glass, nails, needles, etc are not real problems.  We've never had any serious issues with that.  It's true the streets are dirty sometimes, but you don't go tromping around in the gutter or over broken glass barefoot, and it's not like you end up doing those things on accident.  The danger of that sort of thing happening is exaggerated in the minds of the community, possibly to disguise their more classist motivations for discriminating against the lack of shoes from themselves (see problem with walking barefoot #1).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hookworms have been brought up enough times in comments to be addressed directly. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/gen_info/faqs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;There are no hookworms in Canada or the northern US&lt;/a&gt; and you are at no risk of Hookworm infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12741" LastEditorUserId="12741" LastEditDate="2017-03-30T18:56:21.327" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T18:56:21.327" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15723" CreationDate="2017-03-26T20:58:48.947" Score="9" ViewCount="923" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have sees this lacing a few times now and was wondering why people are doing it. Is there any difference to the ordinary lacing and if so, what is that difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mF1zZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mF1zZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4068" LastEditorUserId="4068" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T19:17:53.500" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T19:17:53.500" Title="What is the top-down (reverse) shoe lacing good for?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15709" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15713" CreationDate="2017-03-26T21:03:33.217" Score="5" ViewCount="731" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the more than 30 years I have lived in northern Virginia, I have never seen a copperhead, although there have been several reliable copperhead sightings in my neighborhood, the most recent last May. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/northern-copperhead&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute&lt;/a&gt;, in a long article has this to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The copperhead is the cause of many snakebites yearly but they are&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  rarely fatal. Bites occur by accidentally stepping on or touching the &#xA;  snake, which tends to be well camouflaged with its surroundings. When &#xA;  touched, the copperhead quickly strikes or remains quiet and tries to &#xA;  flee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article talks about the copperhead habitat:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Copperheads prefer terrestrial to semi-aquatic habitats, which include&#xA;  rocky-forested hillsides and various wetlands. They have also been&#xA;  known to occupy abandoned and rotting wood or sawdust piles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The copperhead hunts by its ability to detect objects that are warmer than its surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article says nothing about whether copperheads are sensitive to noise or vibrations transmitted through the ground.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for my question about reasonable precautions, I am specifically interested in whether simply being noisy is enough to cause them to slither away. If so, is there any difference in behavior between the young and the adults?  The young are fully venomous.  Obviously, wearing high boots or canvas gaiters and canvas gloves would be effective (as would full armor), but this seems like too much -- and too hot -- for pruning and picking up branches and enjoying my woods.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T12:03:05.020" Title="Reasonable precautions against copperheads: will being noisy in copperhead habitat cause them to slither away?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1633" CreationDate="2017-03-26T21:31:28.657" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When walking on sidehill tread cut into a slope, walk closer to the uphill side when possible rather than towards the downslope, which can cause the tread to creep downhill over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not cut switchbacks, as this wears paths between the properly constructed tread that allows water to bypass water control devices and flow at a faster rate, causing erosion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When possible, step over water control features like waterbars, drainage dips and checksteps rather than standing on them and wearing them down or knocking them loose. This isn't always possible, and many are constructed to handle traffic across them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T21:31:28.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-26T21:51:05.083" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;worms&quot; your mother mentions are likely &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hookworms&lt;/a&gt;, which in some regions can be acquired by walking barefoot. I've heard several sources say that they can be found in the southern US, which is rather distant from Canada and a different climate, so I would suspect - but can't say for sure - that this particular risk wouldn't be found in Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other answers have weighed in on other risks, so I'll defer to their expertise there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12742" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T21:51:05.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15712" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-26T22:04:55.163" Score="2" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm heading to Quepos, Costa Rica with 4 teenagers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'd like to do some things like whitewater rafting, hiking, viewing waterfalls, and seeing nature and wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12743" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T22:14:14.330" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T22:26:53.433" Title="What are some things to do with teenagers in Quepos, Costa Rica?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="10" ClosedDate="2017-12-12T09:43:22.907" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15709" CreationDate="2017-03-26T22:24:13.297" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is thought that noise generally will not be affective to make copperheads slither away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Making a lot of noise frightens snakes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mostly false&lt;/strong&gt;. For one thing, &quot;snakes lack external ear openings and are deaf to airborne sounds, so they won't hear or be afraid of pure noise,&quot; Beane said. &quot;But they can feel vibrations through the substrate extremely well, so if you are treading very heavily, snakes might feel the vibrations through the ground.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Plus, snakes are a diverse group, so it's difficult to generalize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Some snakes, like racers and coachwhips, will crawl away if they feel threatened,&quot; Steen said. &quot;But others will rely on camouflage — like rattlesnakes and copperheads. So if you're making a lot of noise, they're just going to hunker down and hope that you don't see them.&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.livescience.com/50583-snake-facts.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fact or Fiction? Test Your Knowledge About Snakes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I lived in Oklahoma, we generally did not walk through long grasses because you can not see snakes and step on one by accident will get you bite.  Walk in the middle of a path and use a walking stick to tap the ground. Snakes will feel the vibrations in the ground before any noise that may scare them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to Avoid a Copperhead Snake&lt;/strong&gt;: Unfortunately, because of their amazing camouflage and unusual reaction of freezing position when in danger, avoiding copperhead snakes is not always easy. Most bites occur when a person isn’t even aware of the snake. If you are in copperhead country, always be aware. Snakes will often sun themselves on roadways, footpaths and rocks. A hunting snake will be concealed in vegetation or dense ground cover. Look before you step. Some hikers have found that the addition of a walking stick can make a difference. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snake-removal.com/copperhead.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Copperhead Facts&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-03-26T22:24:13.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15714" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-26T23:06:56.427" Score="13" ViewCount="1287" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to sizes for different sizes of people, backpacks also have a volume size, usually given in liters or cubic inches, as a measure of how much stuff the backpack can hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I determine what volume size I need, for a given time frame, from say a day hike to a multi-week backpacking trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:25:56.150" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:25:56.150" Title="How to determine the needed volume size when purchasing a backpack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15717" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-27T02:30:47.177" Score="29" ViewCount="8500" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hearing someone above you yell &lt;strong&gt;ROCK&lt;/strong&gt; when climbing is a scary experience because that means that an object (usually a rock) is plummeting down to the route towards you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully you are wearing your helmet, are there any actions/steps one should take in this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-04-04T15:21:11.633" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T15:21:11.633" Title="What should one do when climbing if someone above you yells ROCK?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15717" CreationDate="2017-03-27T03:15:22.120" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have no idea how much time you have before you might take an impact, no matter how far above you the call is made because you don't know the delay in calling ROCK.  Therefore, I think the answer is always the same, look straight at the rock face so your helmet is pointing up towards the object and hopefully takes the fall.  Suck yourself in as close to the rock as you can as long as that is improving your overall stability in the position.  Close your eyes so no sand gets blown in them.  Count to 10 after you hear the last thing pass you before you move or open your eyes. I wouldn't do anything like change a hand or foothold because you probably don't have time.  If you were doing something while the call is made, like a huge dynamic move, I would get secure as quick as possible, but optimizing for time rather than security.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What not to do: look up to see what is falling at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't climbed in over two decades, so there may be updated advice, but that is what I learned and did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(assuming rock, not ice.  I have no idea on ice)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T03:15:22.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-27T05:25:28.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it feels so relaxing to start walking barefoot. Doing this for about 30-60 minutes a day will allow you a vast improvement in your energy and overall well being. Walking barefoot improves your posture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible dangers of walking barefoot could be sharp objects like thorns or flint that can cut your feet or you could get frostbite in winters as a result of the blood in your feet freezing or becoming clogged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12748" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T12:26:34.073" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T12:26:34.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15717" CreationDate="2017-03-27T05:40:10.100" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;How you react will depend on the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're climbing and you hear someone yell &lt;strong&gt;&quot;ROCK&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; then your default reaction should be to hug the rock, brace for impact, and hope the rock misses you, or glances off your helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the call comes from above, you should repeat it in case your belayer didn't hear the person above you. If your belayer makes the call, you can judge the severity of your predicament by their tone. &lt;em&gt;&quot;Roooock...&quot;&lt;/em&gt; Is generally the unconscious response to small stuff falling from the rock face, the little stuff that tinkles off your helmet, or a rock that someone kicks loose, but isn't falling in anyone's direction. &lt;strong&gt;&quot;ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK!!!&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; means that there is real danger of someone getting hurt from a larger rock falling, but those rocks are the ones usually accompanied by loud crashing sound as it bounces off the cliff face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the latter situation, your life or limb may depend on a quick reaction and the possibility of having to dodge the rock, even if that means jumping out of the way and taking a whipper. In those situations, it might not make much of a difference if the rock hits you in the helmet or in the face, so look quick and react accordingly. If you can hear the rock coming it's easier to judge how big it is and which way it's falling, and know where to look, but if you can't hear it, you may be safer to go with the default reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your default reaction should always be to get as close to the wall as possible, preferably under any sort of an overhang, get high on the wall, and brace for impact. You want to get high because you don't want to be straight armed if you get hit in the head. Your arms and legs can soak up some of the impact if your arms are bent and your legs straight at the time of impact, but if your arms are straight, then your neck is going to take all the impact, and likely pop you off the wall, which could result in additional injury as you plummet head first down from whence you came. The only time you would go low is if there was a feature right in front of you that you could duck under. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a belayer, you should always be watching your climber and be aware of what's going on up above. The only time you shouldn't already be aware of whatever rocks may be falling, is when your leader is climbing out of sight. When a rock comes down, you should already be looking up, so judge its trajectory, and get out of its way if you need to. I've watched people lock off their ropes and just run for their life sideways to get out of the way of falling ice and rocks when belaying from the ground. But I've also seen people run 20 feet to the side just to get hit by the thing they were trying to dodge, so make sure you know which way the rock is falling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the small stuff that comes down on dirty routes, you can just tuck in your chin and let it bounce off your helmet. I've seen some people even point their helmet towards the wall to protect their faces from anything that might hit the rock right in front of them and bounce out towards them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Judge your situation, and react accordingly, not getting hit by rocks will often require a modest dose of common sense, so be smart, and don't set yourself up to get hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T01:55:55.273" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T01:55:55.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-27T08:53:42.623" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I literally stuck myself on a discarded hypodermic needle once as an adult, in Rome, through the side of the shoe when I was wearing light &quot;training&quot; shoes; connversely when I was younger than that (a teenager) and used to walk barefoot, I would watch where my feet are going. I had no ill-effect from that incident, though, luckily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Toronto it's normal to see signs on shops saying,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No shirt&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  No shoes&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  No service&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, don't assume you can wear bare feet indoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glass you know about already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people prefer to be barefoot when they &lt;em&gt;run&lt;/em&gt; (in the city or country), even with UK snow (not nearly as cold as Canada), and argue that it's easier on the joints (e.g. knees) because you refrain from landing as hard as you would with cushioned soles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastEditorUserId="6365" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T09:01:51.740" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T09:01:51.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15714" CreationDate="2017-03-27T09:57:34.330" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you need is quite individual and the best way to tell what works for you is from your own experience.  Some ultralight backpackers use backpacks that I would personally consider impossibly light and small (in particular in the USA), but they may be happy to lie under a thin single-layer sheet even in bad weather.  Others prefer to carry a bit more for comfort and (perceived or real) safety.  It depends on the climate too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try with a 65 litre backpack.  Those are very common.  If it seems tight for a 7-day trip, get something larger for your 14-day trip.  If it seems too large for a 7-day trip, then it may be good enough for your 14-day trip.  Etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T10:03:23.437" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T10:03:23.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15708" CreationDate="2017-03-27T10:01:59.913" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife does this with her hiking boots.  She finds that it feels more stable and that the flap and knot remain in place better.  We first learned about it from a seller at a local outdoor store, who recommended it when she felt the flap wasn't staying in place very well.  In practice, a difference is that the knot is lower down, which changes the location where the boot feels most tight.  The best way to find out whether it works for you is really to try out both and experience the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T14:18:27.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T14:18:27.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15709" CreationDate="2017-03-27T11:18:45.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Copperheads here are common in Eastern Kentucky.  Bites are rarely fatal.  Nothing I have seen will &quot;repel&quot; them, though I have found dead ones clearly killed by something with fangs, likely a bobcat.  I often encounter young ones in the spring. You may encounter them in groups. Wear boots that cover the ankle and that will solve most issues, though taller boots might do better in steep ground where the snake might have some height advantage. The folks I know who have been bit had tennis shoes on or had their hand at ground level (climbing, weeding, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12753" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T11:22:00.630" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T11:22:00.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14963" CreationDate="2017-03-27T11:30:31.233" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the book &quot;Poland&quot; Michner describes a technique for embedding a knapped stone axe into a growing tree, a maple if I recall.  This is a slow technique, the tree has to grow enough to retain the stone.  No binding, lashing, glueing, etc needed, just a lot of time.  The end result is a long handled stone axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12753" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T11:30:31.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15717" CreationDate="2017-03-27T11:56:50.937" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As climber, your options are usually limited: get close to the wall, grab a good hold and/or a sling/pair when nearby.  One possibly bad result of the rockfall might be that you'll be short a rope or belayer, hopefully temporarily.  At least temporary rope slack as your belayer saves his beans is to be expected.  When things go really bad they might means that you have to solo off, or wait for a rescue party (which may be other climbers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a belayer, look what's coming where and take evasive action if necessary.  Most of the time, getting close to the rock will work for that.  Your belay might be subpar while doing that: in most cases the consequences for your climber will be preferable to you being dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's for big stuff.  Are we talking about big stuff?  One quick glance should tell you that.  A cloud of disintegrated sandstone is better dealt with by ducking and letting the helmet do its job than by large evasive action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also for better or worse, if it is your own climber shouting, the rock in question may very well be part of a hold he had been planning to use, so if your part of the danger has been dealt with, there is significantly increased probability of your climber tanking as the next occurence to take care of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bad timing, sure, but that's life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12755" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T11:56:50.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-27T12:54:48.027" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the possibility of a foot injury increases when going barefoot vs. wearing some kind of foot protection, even moccasins would help protect your feet. But it all boils down to the amount of risk you are willing to take as you move through life. I see it as a matter of doing the best you can to take care of yourself so you may live a long and healthy life without too many injuries. Good luck to you in you're walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;wooo!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12756" LastEditorUserId="12756" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T15:03:55.133" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T15:03:55.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15714" CreationDate="2017-03-27T13:56:21.363" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always take my 80+25L backpack. Exception might be warm summer weather. It does not matter if I go 1 day or 1 week trip I take large backpack. And here is why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can easily take things from my wife\kids\friends and put them to my backpack quickly. I don't want to think if everything I need to take will fit into backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Putting to many thing into small backpack will make it uncomfortable for carry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I go for 1 day winter trip I take crampons,ice axe, thermos and down jacket(all this can fit into small backpack). So in case I would need to spend a night without tent and sleeping bag I can put my legs into backpack and wear down jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight of such backpack is around 2.5kg. This is the price I pay when I'm taking large backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-10-10T19:38:15.630" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T19:38:15.630" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15708" CreationDate="2017-03-27T16:05:28.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I only do this on the top hooks myself. It helps lock off the laces and prevents them from popping off the hooks. If you leave it the other way around (bottom to top), and don't tie your boots tight enough, then your laces can come off the top hooks, or the knot could roll over the top of the tongue of your boot, especially if you're doing a lot of high-stepping or crouching and flexing your ankle a lot. I've had it happen to me multiple times, which is why I switched to tying it top-down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may be more of an issue for skinny ankles, I had it happen to me a lot when I was a kid and had twigs for legs, but even now when I tie my boots, if I don't go top-down then I don't feel like I'm as secure as the other way around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying all your hooks top-down obviously puts more friction in the system, which would enable you to tie you boots a lot more snug, or leave them a little loose around the ankles without having to worry about the arches coming as loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T16:05:28.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-27T18:38:41.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to add the snakes and the bees/other biting insects. Stepping on either may be dangerous/unpleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12763" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-27T21:28:07.650" LastActivityDate="2017-03-27T21:28:07.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15732" CreationDate="2017-03-27T19:22:05.253" Score="53" ViewCount="11040" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is something I have pondered on multiple occasions, when the light of the full moon and the altitude induced insomnia kept me awake long into the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that this would be an unusual strategy, but I have heard of people  doing it, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/jsmith/jedexped1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jedediah Smith&lt;/a&gt; while crossing a desert on his explorations or this &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/unsupported_john_muir_trail_speed_record_attempt/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;person&lt;/a&gt; who was going to try to break the unsupported and without resupply speed record on the John Muir Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be any advantages to hiking during the night and sleeping during the day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:51:48.407" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:51:48.407" Title="Are there any advantages while backpacking to hike during the night and sleep during the day?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="15" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-27T20:19:40.567" Score="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several reasons, though not all of them would apply for one's usual holiday trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Remaining unseen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, during night its dark and this gives you a fair bit of cover if you want to remain unseen. This reason for traveling at night is common for many hunters in the animal kingdom (and sometimes also their prey), has been used by humans in insecure or hostile territory for centuries and remains a standard technique for some military operations even today. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Evading the elements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking throughout the night and resting in the day can be especially useful in hot, arid conditions. For example in deserts, extreme heat during the day and severe cold in the night often come together. Hiking during the night here serves the double purpose of keeping you active and warm when it is cold while allowing you to save water resources during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boosting morale&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When conditions get worse (cold, moisture), getting up during the night and starting to hike will not only make you feel warm again, it will also boost your morale. Being active, and actively coping with a bad situation rather than staying miserable in the tent for the rest of the night will make you feel better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You want to avoid tourists&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, seriously, this is a real case in point. Most people travel during the day and one of the reasons we (or at least, I) get outdoors is to enjoy some quietness in the wild. Depending where you are, hiking at night is your best bet to fulfill this dream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Navigation&lt;/strong&gt; (only very theoretical)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider a situation where it is all cloudy during the day (so you do not see the sun), you lack a compass and currently have no sense of direction: if you are capable of navigating with the stars, you might consider waiting until dark and hope that the sky will clear up until then. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11934" LastEditorUserId="11934" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T11:56:40.790" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T11:56:40.790" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-27T20:22:41.993" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main advantages are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't need sunscreen&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even with a full moon, the night sky is awesome&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Things look (and sound) weirdly and wonderfully different in moonlight&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In summer, the temperature will be much more conducive to brisk hiking than during the heat of the day &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP did not ask about disadvantages, but the main disadvantage is #3 -- that things look weirdly different.  If you are hiking cross-country, this could cause you to become disoriented and even lost, even in territory that you know well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T19:48:53.710" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T19:48:53.710" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15700" CreationDate="2017-03-27T20:26:36.233" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes and No.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-military obstacle courses do exist, but most are not &quot;open&quot; to the public.  They are privately owned courses that require you to pay to use them.  Most of these are what I would consider, challenge courses and are not very long, but have a large number of height challenges that require teamwork and coordination.  These facilities are used as team-building activities by groups and companies and are typically rented for a specific time period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you're looking for, a course that is several miles long with intermittent obstacles does not exist on a permanent basis. At least none that I have found in most areas.  Which area of the US are you looking at?  Some areas may have trails/runs which could almost classify as a military style obstacle course, but this would vary greatly depending on location.  (For instance, here in Washington State, some parks are set up with obstacle courses for public use, but the obstacles are not very advanced.  As noted in a different comment, this is due to liability.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, these types of obstacle courses do exist on a less-permanent basis for certain events.  Spartan Race, Warrior Dash, Mud Runs, ect... all exist in most areas and will be a military style obstacle course which, after paying, are open to the public.  However, these courses only exist for a limited time and won't be there for &quot;training&quot; purposes.  I would suggest looking into these types of events, if a military style run is what you're after.  But I have not heard of these types of obstacle courses being setup permanently on a trail for any length of time.  Beyond the aforementioned liability concerns, these types of courses destroy the trails they are on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-04-04T16:25:58.297" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T16:25:58.297" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15735" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15736" CreationDate="2017-03-28T03:25:48.520" Score="6" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine you are sitting around ready to begin; you have your gear spread out, and your helmets are off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should you place your helmet so that it doesn't wander off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T15:19:35.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T21:41:42.030" Title="How should helmets be placed on the ground?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15735" CreationDate="2017-03-28T03:25:48.520" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, there are &lt;strong&gt;happy turtles&lt;/strong&gt; and there are &lt;strong&gt;dead turtles&lt;/strong&gt; and helmets should always be placed in the &lt;strong&gt;happy position&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HBcLD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HBcLD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Happy helmets stick around&lt;/strong&gt;, while &lt;strong&gt;dead helmets&lt;/strong&gt; have a tendency to &lt;strong&gt;slide&lt;/strong&gt; down the rock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you could always clip the helmet to something, but it can be much easier to just place it in the happy position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you should &lt;strong&gt;never sit on a helmet&lt;/strong&gt; as that can damage it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T00:24:12.760" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T00:24:12.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3240" CreationDate="2017-03-28T08:23:38.640" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 60m, 10mm rope will get you 99% of places &lt;strong&gt;in some countries&lt;/strong&gt;, including US, Brazil and, I think, UK. In Europe (France, Spain, Italy, for example) a 60m rope will only allow you to climb about ~80% of single pitch routes . There are &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; 40m-routes, so the standard single-pitch rope length here in France is 80m. And you will almost never find anyone in their right mind climbing a multi-pitch route, trad or sports, with a single rope. Most of the time, rappels are over 30m, and pretty often over 40m, so we use two 40m or 50m half (&quot;double&quot;) ropes, clipped alternatively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you ever travel to Europe, I would recommend to bring a 60m, 9.8-10.2mm single rope as well as a 2x50m, 8.1-8.3mm half rope. Look for durability over technicity when shopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12783" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T08:23:38.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-28T09:14:43.293" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well I live in London so my city as an example would give you heaps of problems walking on foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) &lt;strong&gt;Injury&lt;/strong&gt;: The streets on London are riddled with debris, broken glass and other sharp objects capable of cutting through skin. Not to mention the pain of someone stepping on your toes (let's hope they're not wearing stilettos!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) &lt;strong&gt;Infection&lt;/strong&gt;: There is a significant amount of pollution, combined with litter and bodily fluids from the high urban population put you at risk of catching an infection through an exposed foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) &lt;strong&gt;Discomfort&lt;/strong&gt;: Although walking barefoot can be more comfortable than wearing shoes when outside in the woods, London is mainly covered in concrete which puts too much pressure on the heels to walk around barefoot in comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) &lt;strong&gt;Ridicule&lt;/strong&gt;: Most Londoners aren't accustom to seeing a barefoot walker in the city.... You will be stared at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12784" LastEditorUserId="12784" LastEditDate="2017-03-28T11:46:16.623" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T11:46:16.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15740" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-28T18:38:04.660" Score="15" ViewCount="19157" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm concerned about ticks and want to treat some of my outdoor gear with Permethrin, a spray-on very persistent treatment against ticks and mosquitoes, to reduce the chances that I'll bring home ticks from mountain biking and hiking. However, I know that Permethrin is very toxic to cats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is Permethrin relatively safe around cats after it has dried on your gear after initial application?  My cat does have a habit of trying to sleep on my pile of dirty clothes sometimes. Would it be dangerous for my cat to be exposed to my sweaty dirty laundry after a hike, or do I need to keep him completely segregated from gear previously treated with Permethrin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T14:47:32.937" LastActivityDate="2020-01-25T06:10:59.330" Title="Is Permethrin safe for cats after it dries?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15740" CreationDate="2017-03-28T18:47:52.603" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the answer is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt; it is safe after it drys,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not expose cats to wet permethrin as it affects their central nervous system. This is not true with dogs, horses, or cows. &lt;strong&gt;Cats can be around permethrin treated fabrics once the application has dried.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sawyer.com/maximize-effectiveness-permethrin-fabric-treatment/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a product containing permethrin is applied to a dog and there are cats in the household extra care and caution should be taken to ensure that the cats do not come into contact with the product. The best advice is to apply the product in the evening, separate the dog from the cats, and &lt;strong&gt;allow the product to dry over night.&lt;/strong&gt; Once the product &lt;strong&gt;has dried it is no longer a danger to cats or children&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pets.ca/cats/tips/permethrin-kills-cats-pet-tip-247/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before spraying any foliage, flowers, fruits or vegetables in your yard with permethrin, bring cats inside and close the windows to the rooms where they are. Speak with your neighbors to let them know when and where you'll be spraying the permethrin so they can keep their cats indoors as well. Keep cats out of the area by covering sprayed plants with garden netting. You can remove the netting once the spray dries, usually overnight, so don't worry about the netting being a permanent fixture. &lt;strong&gt;Once the leaves of the plants are dry, it's safe for kitties to come out again.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://homeguides.sfgate.com/permethrin-yard-sprays-cats-56775.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For households with dogs and cats, either use spot-on products that do not contain permethrin to avoid accidental exposure, or &lt;strong&gt;keep the pets apart until the dog’s treatment has dried.&lt;/strong&gt; This prevents mutual grooming or even the pets sleeping next to each other, which could result in poisoning if your cat became exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://catfriendly.com/be-a-cat-friendly-caregiver/cat-friendly-safe-home/toxins-poisons/permethrin-poisoning/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your cat separate from any dogs that have been treated for 12-24 hours. This allows the product to dry thoroughly. When in doubt, a &lt;strong&gt;t-shirt can be applied to your dog to prevent accidental exposure to your cat until the product is dried&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your cat away from any areas (indoors and out) that have been treated with a pyrethrin or pyrethroid product &lt;strong&gt;until it has completely dried&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/pyrethrinpyrethroid-poisoning-in-cats&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pyrethrin/Pyrethroid Poisoning in Cats&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T02:33:53.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15742" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15768" CreationDate="2017-03-28T20:49:12.050" Score="7" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that this isn't the best stack exchange site for this question but was the best I could think of, if you think there is a better one please move the question / notify me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are 2 friends who loves to play &quot;treasure hunt&quot; so each time we meet (once a week) we alternatively prepare a short treasure hunt game for the other one. These games are full of riddles about our common hobbies, past experiences, etc. and requires to move around to find clues hidden in the environment, convince other people to do certain actions without them knowing about the game etc. This game is played in the city or in a really really big shopping center. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, following the other one to see how he tries to solve the riddles / deal with people is half of the fun. The objective of the game is solving the riddles to finally find the place where the other guy was hidden so following the player isn't possible. &lt;strong&gt;How can I track the movements of the player to allow me to &quot;participate&quot; in the game without him knowing where I am?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just asking him, &quot;How did you solve this? What did you say to people X?&quot; isn't very fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The game is Max 2 hours long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12796" LastEditorUserId="12796" LastEditDate="2017-03-30T06:07:53.517" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T05:44:44.650" Title="How to follow the movements of a player while remaining unnoticed?" Tags="&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15742" CreationDate="2017-03-28T21:55:46.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A smartphone would solve this.  Make a video call so that you can listen/watch their interactions.  Of course you'll have to make sure they can't locate you by the surroundings in the video.  As far as tracking location, you could use a real-time GPS tracker app.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T21:55:46.240" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-28T23:07:57.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Done it, in all seasons. Usually because I worked late and still wanted to camp. Depending on the time of the year bugs attack your headlamp, so carry it in your hand versus on your head. It's cooler usually, but easier to get lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12800" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T23:07:57.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15701" CreationDate="2017-03-28T23:50:35.760" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Materials which quickly and efficiently heat up can be dangerous on hot summer days. I live in upstate NY, near Canada, and I have been burned by accidentally stepping on the wrong spot. Even if I want to go barefoot, I often bring sandals with me in case I need to go over broken glass or on very hot asphalt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of hot asphalt...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a barefoot man in Arizona who was stopped by police and put in handcuffs and forced to lie down on the very hot road. The road was hot enough that it was burning off the man's skin (most estimates of the road temperature put it at 150-180 degrees; it was measured the day after and was 150 degrees by then). The man proceeded to scream in pain and try to get off the road, which the police refused, forcing him to stay on the road. The man was screaming for help and repeatedly asked the police to move him off the side of the road which they refused. The man suffered awful burns. At one point I think he even asked if he could put on his shoes, and I think that was denied. All this was caught on camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, the man was originally in a car and was made to exit his vehicle, but it could just as easily happen to someone walking on the grass who is forced onto the road. Not living that far south, this would be less of a problem for you or I, but I imagine it would still hurt a lot if we were forced onto a very hot paved road or sidewalk on the hottest summer days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.12news.com/news/caught-on-video-was-arrest-on-hot-asphalt-justified/281128701&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Man burned by road during police stop&quot;&gt;Here is a link to a news article about the incident I mentioned.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I highly advise that you at least bring sandals with you. I often put them in a bag or tie them over my shoulder. I have forgotten to bring footwear and regretted it. I have hurt myself on hot surfaces, on glass, nails, sharp rocks, and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, I once cut my foot bad on a sharp rock while wearing sandals too, and last month I was wearing shoes but had a nail go through the shoe into my foot. So footwear is far from foolproof; still, it is good to have the option and footwear can be the difference between a pleasant day and a painful one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary: barefoot is not &quot;dangerous&quot; in the sense that it should be avoided in many areas, but it does introduce some occasional complications which can be reduced by having footwear available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2017-03-28T23:50:35.760" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15510" CreationDate="2017-03-29T08:05:23.813" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read the &quot;Rock Climbing at Sky Top - Rates and Policies&quot; and the informations on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecrag.com/climbing/united-states/shawangunks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TheCrag&lt;/a&gt; about this area. As TheCrag states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sky Top has many classic routes, and was closed for over ten years by the landowner (the Mohonk Mountain House, an exclusive and expensive resort). As of April 2007 climbing is LEGAL at Sky Top once again - IF, and only if, you are there as a client of their only approved guide service, Alpine Endeavors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that the expensive rates are exist to keep the climbs exclusive to the customers of Mohonk Mountain House. As this is private land there is nothing you can do, besides trespassing of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1879" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T08:05:23.813" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-29T09:22:14.240" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an edge case, but I'll add it nonetheless:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking above the &lt;strong&gt;polar circle&lt;/strong&gt; during summer, hiking during the 'night' will give you the rare chance to experience the wonder that is the &lt;strong&gt;midnights sun&lt;/strong&gt; in the endless nordic summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is nothing quite like starting a climb after dinner, summiting a mountain and having a snack in the midnights sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the same applies for hikes in the far south (those are not quite as easily reachable though, as you need to be on Antarctica).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T09:22:14.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2017-03-29T10:00:12.693" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put some paper ash (just burn a small piece of paper and collect the ash) in the area where you were bit. Bleeding will stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12808" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T10:00:12.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-29T12:59:00.470" Score="11" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Better sights&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some situations, there might be some beautiful things that can only be seen during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This includes Northern lights (Aurora Borealis), but also some places might brag about the great view of the night sky or moon. Of course you can always watch during the night even if not hiking, but since you have to sleep you'd appreciate it for a longer time by hiking during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Weather&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, the weather &lt;strong&gt;could&lt;/strong&gt; be better this way, if it ends up raining during the day and not raining during the night, but that's a specific situation and not a general case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Temperature&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In very hot locations, it might be hard to hike during the entire day, or make you use up a ton of water, while sleeping would save that water and energy under the burning sun, and allow you to walk during the more comfortable night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fewer other people&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You obviously could prefer to hike when there are as few other hikers as possible, to enjoy the nature more, and in that case night would be your best bet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Keep in mind&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, in certain places or situations, all those advantages could apply to the day instead, so it really depends on where you are going, when you are goin, and what the weather will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12811" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T12:59:00.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14963" CreationDate="2017-03-29T13:49:26.250" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an alternative to making an actual axe head you could create a simple &lt;strong&gt;chisel&lt;/strong&gt;, which you then hit with a piece of wood that serves as a hammer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be used fairly efficiently to slowly cut through even larger trees and has the several benefits versus a proper axe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A chisel is far quicker to make and thus more easily replaced.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You save yourself the headache of creating the binding between axehead and handle, which is quite tricky and will probably fail the first couple of times unless you know exactly what you're doing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with any stone tool you should not be putting it through the works like you would a modern day steel axe - while using a chisel you're less likely to strike with too much force thus breaking your axehead or handle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Example:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;On the channel, Primitive Technology, a guy shows &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/BN-34JfUrHY?t=109&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;how to use a chisel while creating a proper axe&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T15:25:40.490" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T15:25:40.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15753" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-29T04:00:39.333" Score="6" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;Among all of the cycling friendly trails in Michigan, do any of them offer the opportunity for rustic or dispersed camping? Preferably, every 20 to 40 miles or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="177" OwnerDisplayName="Nathan Hartley" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-03-29T17:27:22.490" LastActivityDate="2017-07-07T01:17:54.737" Title="Is rustic camping available along any of Michigan's cyling trails?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-29T18:01:17.167" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A disadvantage to be wary of is that nocturnal predators such as mountain lions are active during the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11728" LastActivityDate="2017-03-29T18:01:17.167" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15709" CreationDate="2017-03-29T21:24:17.290" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living in the land where there are more types of reptiles than any place in the world.  Take with you a staff. Head high. Walk slow. Look before you step. Use staff to poke or shake grass &amp;amp; such where snakes may be. But yes noise helps. Snakes are normally shy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T12:03:05.020" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T12:03:05.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2017-03-30T03:15:48.183" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Late answer here.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;A scholarly report discusses fungus and laundry&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several years ago, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ifh-homehygiene.org/system/files_force/publications/Effectiveness_of_laundering_IFHreport_21102013.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scholarly report&lt;/a&gt; was published. The report's &quot;Appendix A&quot; discusses, among other things, how you should do laundry if someone in the home has a fungal infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The advice given&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The report advises:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whenever you do laundry, add some &lt;strong&gt;activated oxygen bleach (AOB)&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Notes: You can use standalone AOB, or a detergent with AOB included. This is available in most supermarkets, but you have to know what to look for. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/12053/if-you-have-fungus-e-g-athletes-foot-its-wise-to-add-activated-oxygen-blea&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, also do laundry at &lt;strong&gt;140 °F (60 °C)&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Note: This may shrink and/or destroy certain items. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sudsuplaundry.com/understanding-laundry-temperatures-know/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source.)&lt;/a&gt; Read their care labels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the &lt;strong&gt;regular cycle&lt;/strong&gt;. Don't enable &quot;quick wash&quot;, &quot;water saving&quot;, or any other environmentally-friendly options.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure each item goes through the rinse and spin cycles &lt;strong&gt;at least twice&lt;/strong&gt;. Preferably three times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's best to wash items belonging to the infected family member in &lt;strong&gt;separate loads&lt;/strong&gt; from everyone else's laundry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can also dry the items in &lt;strong&gt;sunlight&lt;/strong&gt;, this is an extra bonus.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Water temperature&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some countries (including the US and certain others), if you want to wash clothing at 140 °F (60 °C), there's a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An &lt;a href=&quot;http://bottomlineinc.com/laundry-error-to-blame-for-persistent-athletes-foot-and-toenail-fungus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; on the Bottom Line Inc. website states that, in these countries,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;household water heaters typically are set to 120 °F [50 °C] to minimize the risk of scalding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article suggests three possible workarounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One (&lt;strong&gt;dangerous&lt;/strong&gt;) workaround would be to raise your water heater's temperature to 140 °F (60 °C). But this is a dangerously-high setting. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/03/28/175584883/many-hot-water-heaters-set-too-high-upping-burn-risk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source.)&lt;/a&gt; It may also be illegal in your jurisdiction. &lt;a href=&quot;http://inspectapedia.com/plumbing/Hot_Water_Temperature_Laws.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source.)&lt;/a&gt; Water at 120 °F (50 °C) takes 5-10 minutes to cause a third-degree burn; but water at 140 °F (60 °C) takes just 3-5 seconds. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/honeywell-am-1-thermostatic-mixing-valves-water-heater-tempering.45651/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source.)&lt;/a&gt; Third-degree burns sometimes kill people. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28j9zp/eli5_why_when_someone_is_badly_burnt_do_they_die/cibgrh9/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Source.)&lt;/a&gt; Maybe I should email the Bottom Line Inc. and suggest that they revise their article.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another workaround might be to pour a &lt;strong&gt;kettleful of boiling water&lt;/strong&gt; into your top-loading washer shortly before it's finished filling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A third workaround is to use a washing machine with a &lt;strong&gt;water-temperature-boosting feature&lt;/strong&gt;, &quot;such as the Whirlpool Front-Load Washer with Deep-Clean Steam, model #WFW86HEBW, which can get the water up to 150 °F [65 °C]&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12817" LastEditorUserId="12817" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T00:41:27.107" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T00:41:27.107" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15759" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15764" CreationDate="2017-03-30T03:18:17.747" Score="6" ViewCount="1239" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I would consider a regular Bic butane lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BIC_lighter_2008-12-31.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mvWCd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mvWCd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bic lighter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I have noticed that you can buy &lt;strong&gt;High Altitude&lt;/strong&gt; lighters such as this &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B005CX7G0M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one.&lt;/a&gt; Is that &lt;strong&gt;just marketing&lt;/strong&gt; or would a &lt;strong&gt;regular lighter not work at high altitudes?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T20:28:23.623" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T20:28:23.623" Title="Do regular lighters not work at high altitude?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15760" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-30T09:06:44.307" Score="4" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long story short, I want to abseil down from my balcony. The guard rail of my balcony feels sturdy, is bolted into multiple different bricks and uses big screws which makes me think that they will also be long. However since I didn't build the balcony myself nor is its originally intended use case abseiling, I would like to back up the anchor. Since there is not a stronger point to anchor from, I am thinking about backing it up with a human anchor or even solely rely on a human anchor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to do a human anchor and is it possible to use an human anchor as a backup? Or a human anchor with the guard rail as backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible complication: I only have one rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12819" LastEditorUserId="12819" LastEditDate="2017-03-30T09:13:29.953" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T15:24:17.127" Title="Backing up a abseil anchor with a human" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15760" CreationDate="2017-03-30T09:48:40.377" Score="13" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR: don't do this; it's incredibly dangerous and stupid.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I want to abseil down from my balcony. The guard rail of my balcony&#xA;  feels sturdy, is bolted into multiple different bricks and uses big&#xA;  screws which makes me think that they will also be long&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what you're saying is you want to attach yourself to a rope to something and you have virtually no idea how strong it is? Just repeat that to yourself a couple of times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All abseils should (ideally) have a backup. You don't have a backup and you're on questionable anchors to start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to do a human anchor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no proper way. You should &lt;strong&gt;never ever&lt;/strong&gt; abseil off a rope simply attached to a person, backup or otherwise. What if the bolts fail? Then the person gets shock loaded with you falling, and the balcony? What are the chances of them holding that? The mostly likely result of this, is &lt;strong&gt;you and the other person&lt;/strong&gt; going over the edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Possible complication: I only have one rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;o_O&lt;/code&gt; This leads me to think that a) you have no idea what you're talking about b) you plan on abseiling an incredibly long way....given what I've said above, don't!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The guide was holding the rope and somewhere along the rope he&#xA;  connected an ATC&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... and was the guide connected to anything? Because I'd wager he was, probably multiple things using properly rated gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last point: when rock climbing, rappelling off is almost always the most dangerous thing you do. It is not something to be taken lightly. Most serious accidents happen in rock climbing due to a mistake made at this point. If you don't know exactly what you're doing, don't do it. Reading things off the internet is not a substitute for having experience in this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-04-05T15:24:17.127" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T15:24:17.127" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15742" CreationDate="2017-03-30T12:02:11.413" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make the end objective not finding you, but some object. Then you can follow around and watch how the other guy solves the puzzle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T12:02:11.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-30T12:14:51.253" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some types of wildlife might be easier to see (with flashlight) at night than by day: odd as this sounds I have seen this first-hand hiking in Borneo.  During the day I spotted relatively few animals, however hiking at night I was able to see many strange insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates.  My guess is this advantage is more pronounced in tropical rainforests.  In other locales it might be that you just see different wildlife rather than different &amp;amp; more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12821" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T12:14:51.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15759" CreationDate="2017-03-30T13:47:01.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it does not matter which lighter you use if it's filled with butane. Lighter would not work if gas temperature close to boiling temperature. For butane it's -1C. For isobutane it's -11C and for propane it's -42C. Also propane has better evaporation properties. That's why gas stoves filled with 20% propane and 80% isobutane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T13:47:01.143" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15760" CreationDate="2017-03-30T14:12:19.130" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anchors to rappel from &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to be able to withstand some dynamic load -- the difference between just hanging from this point and falling or even just sliding before the rope tighten. So when considering whether an anchor &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; hold (if no bolted anchor is available), e.g. when considering the base of a tree, you should consider whether you could &lt;em&gt;more or less reliably&lt;/em&gt; hang a minivan (something very heavy) from this anchor. Then back it up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So a human &lt;em&gt;and also&lt;/em&gt; a balcony guard rail are completely insufficient&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also your question makes me wonder what type of rope you are using. Rappelling from static rope is completely OK (e.g. caving), but &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; transfer significantly more load to the anchor when slipping, falling etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-05T10:06:43.917" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T10:06:43.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15766" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-03-30T16:29:04.533" Score="5" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one were to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15731/are-there-any-advantages-while-backpacking-to-hike-during-the-night-and-sleep-du&quot;&gt;hike during the night&lt;/a&gt; and sleep during the day, what differences in navigation would one have to take into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience you are more on instruments (such as a compass or GPS) so to speak because of the lower visibility, but are there any other differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:18:03.803" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T19:59:35.033" Title="How would navigation be different while hiking at night?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15742" CreationDate="2017-03-30T17:22:30.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're outdoors you could always use a drone to monitor the hunter by video. To capture the audio you could have the hunter carry a walkie-talkie with a constantly keyed microphone, or start a cellphone call and mute your end. Alternatively you could have the hunter carry a mounted GoPro, or similar camera, like a police body camera. Then you can watch the film afterward with your friend to talk about the hunt. I would think that the mounted camera would be intimidating for some people, so they might not want to interact with the chaser. Of course the camera could be a good hook for the hunter to explain the game and possibly draw people in so your mileage may vary. The drone would offer a unique vantage point and wouldn't be as likely to scare away people but it would limit the search area and require piloting skills. Either way if the videos are well done then you could upload them to YouTube, or even try to submit them to TV networks as a new type of game show. This is the reason why I think using some form of video is really the best option. &lt;strong&gt;Not only does it give you a way to experience the hunt, it also gives you the potential to turn your game into a bigger opportunity.&lt;/strong&gt; At the very least this game has helped you gain and demonstrate some marketable skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to follow the hunter surreptitiously for the first part of the hunt. Basically you will be copying/practicing the techniques demonstrated in innumerable spy/action/etc movies where one character sneaks in the shadows behind the other. This works because you don't really need to be in your spot until the hunter is close to discovering you. Of course you'll miss out on the final puzzle(s) but you will add an extra layer to the game so being the hunted is more involved and exciting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T05:44:44.650" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T05:44:44.650" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15742" CreationDate="2017-03-30T19:36:53.707" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of options work for what you're asking, however, depending on location, some may be easier to do than others.  I'd successfully hidden in plain sight on many occasions, but only really have success using the &quot;Blend In&quot; method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Central Clue Location&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An easy way to be able to observe all the puzzles is pick a central location for all the puzzles which has a position that would allow you to remain hidden.  Those circular clothes racks at a shopping mall are good for this, as you can remain hidden and yet still able to see and hear around you.  All the puzzle items would need to be in the area, but a well placed clothes rack will allow you to see/hear a great distance.  Other options are available, with the key being that you need a hiding location near the final clues.  *Side note: this would be better done at non-peak times, as someone hiding in a clothes rack might draw the wrong kind of attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crowed Location/Blend In:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this method will require you practice this at times when you're not together.  I'd suggest using a family member, which is something I have done in the past.  Pick a busy location and time to play this game with your friend. (Think Black Friday Shopping Center)  Bring a light jacket and turn it inside-out and tie it around your waist.  Wear a baseball cap, but have it turned around.  When the game starts, don the jacket after turning it right side in and turn your baseball cap forwards.  You've successfully destroyed your friend's mental image of what you're wearing, but now you'll have to alter how you walk.  Personally, I choose to take shorter more meandering strides as I'm a tall person.  Hunching over can help with this.  Since you're in a location with lots of distractions you'll be able to follow your friend from a slight distance.  One thing to keep in mind is never make eye contact/look directly at your friend.  A key to this is not to make &quot;sudden&quot; movements.  Everything must be slow and deliberate.  I've pickpocketed family members and planted notes doing this, even when they've been looking for me.  I'm sure there are counter-terrorist tactic books that delve into this more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The focal point of this method is to go with the flow of the crowd.  Anything you do that is contrary to the crowd will single you out.  If your friend veers off suddenly, don't immediately follow.  Wait and move deliberately in his direction, but with a &quot;target&quot; of something different.  You'd be surprised how easy it is to blend in with the &quot;masses&quot; and people will overlook you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Constant Distraction:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the above method of blending in, you can take this one step further and get other people involved to allow you to stay extremely close to your friend.  Sequester random strangers to ask your friend questions.  A easy example is to tell a sales associate that your friend is wanting to look at a certain item.  As your friend is distracted by the sales person, you will be able to observe them closely.  A dangerous/risky example would be to tell security at the mall/location you are at, that your friend has been acting strangely.  Don't mention that he is your friend. Now this comes with some risks, mainly that if you involve security, you might end up in hot water yourself, but might be worth it, depending on how badly you want to win.  Any outside source of distraction to your friend's &quot;search&quot; for you, will allow you to be close by, without being seen.  I'd combine this with changing your appearance slightly for best results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other Considerations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all these to work well, your best bet is to stay out of his/her line of sight at all times and when/if you're in their line of sight, blend in with your environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same can be said if in the woods.  However, in nature, one big difference is that there isn't as much movement in the woods.  Movement should only be done when your friend isn't looking.  Beyond that, remain still and out of line of sight.  Avoid bright colors as well.  In the city, you need to be moving, as people in public are typically moving at relatively the same speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastEditorUserId="12244" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T21:48:10.213" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T21:48:10.213" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15760" CreationDate="2017-03-30T21:37:35.090" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once when I was in the Marine Corps I did rappel for fun off of a guard rail in the central staircase of my three story barracks building. I did not have any problem with the guard rail as an anchor, but when my command found out about my &amp;quot;incident&amp;quot; they were not happy....  This is for good reason because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The guard rail on your balcony is not designed for this type of load so &lt;em&gt;all bets are off&lt;/em&gt; in regards to if it will support your body weight.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that it really is impossible to tell if your particular balcony railing will support your weight or not. The bricks probably have voids in the middle which will reduce their strength, plus they might have been loose in the past so the holes were filled with some grout/mortar that might not be more structural than a bubble gum filler. The railing might be hollow tubing that is rotten with rust from the inside so it looks ok but it will break with any serious weight/pressure. Keep in mind too that bricks are strongest in relation to compressive loads (stacking things on top), they aren't amazingly strong at preventing a bolt from being ripped out. The list goes on, and on when you have something that wasn't really designed for the way it is being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;A quick word on a human as a backup anchor.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is probably a bad idea. &lt;strong&gt;Most balconies&lt;/strong&gt; that suddenly have guard rails missing &lt;strong&gt;are a smooth runway to the abyss.&lt;/strong&gt; If the guard rail pops off then there will likely be nothing preventing your human anchor from being dragged off the balcony. In all reality you should think of a &amp;quot;human&amp;quot; anchor as a counter weight in the form of a sack of beans. Would a sack of beans be dragged to its untimely demise if things go wrong? If the answer is yes then more than likely your friend would suffer the same fate or simply drop you to save their life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something to consider too if you're renting I can't imagine your land lord would condone this behavior. If you do it, and everything goes fine with the rappel, you still might face consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is &lt;strong&gt;a true emergency&lt;/strong&gt; then I'd build an improvised rappel anchor&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything I said is true, and valid, but if the choice is stay and die, jump and probably die, or improvise an anchor to rappel and maybe not die, I'd improvise an anchor and rappel. In the military, which is more cavalier about human life than civilian organizations, one option that was given is to use your rifle, or even a M16 magazine braced against the corner of a window to rappel down to the ground in an emergency. The concept is window corners are strong and your weight will probably keep the magazine/rifle in place while you descend. I've known people who have done it in training and it worked. If you don't have a rifle handy then a 18 inch 2x4 could work in a pinch. If your balcony is the emergency exit you're determined to use then look for something big and sturdy that you could use to &lt;strong&gt;completely block the exit door with overlap on both sides&lt;/strong&gt; (if the door is sliding glass make sure the item is wider than the full width of the glass). For example if you had a one piece table that can span the width, slide it across the exit and use that as your anchor. Alternately if you have a big one piece couch that would span the gap then push it in front of the exit and anchor off that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see I'm not advocating using the railing even in these situations. &lt;strong&gt;There is virtually always going to be an option for a better anchor even in dire circumstances.&lt;/strong&gt; You might be lucky like I was when I did what you are considering, but I personally wouldn't do it and certainly wouldn't recommend you do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T21:37:35.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15760" CreationDate="2017-03-30T21:53:21.927" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would argue that this is not as stupid as it sounds, although you will want to get someone with good experience to help you. In your situation, I would avoid the railing completely as you just do not know much about the material and its strength. Instead I would either do a counter balanced rappel or rely on an unanchored belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Needles in South Dakota is/was famous for its spires with no anchors at the top. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/how-to-simul-rappel/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing article&lt;/a&gt; mentions the basic technique, one person raps off one side while the other person raps off the other side. If there are two balconies on opposite sides of the building you could easily do this. Safer would be to run the rope through the entire building, down the other side and treat it something like an odd toprope with the anchor person standing on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot get the rope through the whole building in a fairly straight line, go with a unanchored belay. The use of unanchored belays based solely on a secure stance are fairly common in mountaineering situations. They are mentioned by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2016/06/quick-belay-techniques.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AAI&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://angeles.sierraclub.org/sites/angeles.sierraclub.org/files/docs/get_outdoors/LRB18_2015_FullLoRes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Club&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbing.com/skills/how-to-hip-belay/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Magazine&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rock climbing, a good seated stance with the rope running between two boulders and your legs straddling the gap is very secure. Even if you get pulled out of your stance, your body becomes a giant chock stone. The ideal setup would be something like running a long piece of webbing through the apartment, out and under the front door (which should be closed), and connected directly to the &quot;anchor&quot; person. The anchor person could sit outside the front door with their feet braced on either side. If you really want you can equalize the anchor between two people. The anchors just sit there wearing a harness with the rappel rope tied into them. They are not belaying. The further the rope/webbing runs along the ground the more friction and less pull on the anchor person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of forces, the situation is similar to lowering someone from the top directly off your harness. The actual forces will depend on how smooth the lowering/rappelling is. While ideally you would be backed up to an anchor, most people can lower a climber without being pulled from a good stance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2017-03-30T22:17:13.857" LastActivityDate="2017-03-30T22:17:13.857" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4366" CreationDate="2017-03-30T23:36:14.973" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a kid we made &quot;backpackers ice cream&quot; something like this...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 package Dream Whip (topping mix)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 package Jell-O pudding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered milk (enough to make 2 cups milk as required by the pudding mix)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 cups Water (enough to make the milk)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mix the above in a pot or baggie and chill as well as you're able - a cold stream works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt you'll ever get an ice cream headache from this, but it was a fun treat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12826" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-03-24T21:38:23.910" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T21:38:23.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15766" CreationDate="2017-03-30T23:48:57.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visibility is reduced&lt;/strong&gt; during the night which makes it harder to &lt;strong&gt;see landmarks&lt;/strong&gt; or where you are in relation to them. This also makes it much harder to &lt;strong&gt;measure your progress.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is much &lt;strong&gt;harder to keep track of which direction you are going&lt;/strong&gt; without a compass or GPS. In the day time the sun provides a good constant reference without much effort. Keeping track of where the north star or southern cross takes some deliberate work and the method for finding north &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13937/how-can-i-find-north-from-the-stars-without-recognizable-constellations&quot;&gt;without recognizable constellations&lt;/a&gt; needs time and can't  be done on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is much easier to &lt;strong&gt;miss a turn&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;get off a trail&lt;/strong&gt;. You can even start to wander in circles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To overcome these difficulties a GPS with a topo map preloaded on the gps can be extremely useful or you can navigate by dead reckoning with a map and compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T00:27:05.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15773" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15787" CreationDate="2017-03-31T00:45:18.450" Score="9" ViewCount="1603" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a technique for navigation known as dead reckoning, what is this technique exactly and when would it be useful?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T22:43:44.863" Title="What is dead reckoning when navigating with a map and compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15773" CreationDate="2017-03-31T00:45:18.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, it is using &lt;strong&gt;compass headings&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;distance traveled&lt;/strong&gt; to navigate to points &lt;strong&gt;without intermediate known locations&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance if you were to start from camp and travel directly east for 4 hours in the middle of the night at a pace of 2 miles per hour, then you could look at a map and say that you are now 8 miles directly east of camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zmYml.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zmYml.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that new location you could then walk south for 1 hour to your destination&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eJnjo.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eJnjo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;errors are cumulative,&lt;/strong&gt; for example, if the first leg of the example had ended up being 6 miles instead of 8 then even if the second leg goes perfectly, you are still going to end up in the wrong place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution to that is to &lt;strong&gt;find your precise location with bearings&lt;/strong&gt; from time to time as that will reset the clock in regard to possible errors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;benefit&lt;/strong&gt; of navigating this way is that it is &lt;strong&gt;possible estimate your position without having triangulated&lt;/strong&gt; your position or found it via landmarks. Sometimes, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh#New_York.E2.80.93Paris_flight&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic&lt;/a&gt; there are no landmarks, and sometimes they are not visible due to night times or heavy fog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T00:45:18.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2017-03-31T04:23:52.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going along the &quot;homebrew supply&quot; route, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peracetic_acid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;peracetic acid&lt;/a&gt; AKA PAA/peroxyacetic acid is a reasonably safe and very effective sanitizer. It's used in hospitals and by veterinarians, as well as in the brewing industry. I've splashed it on myself and my partly wool socks (and shoes) enough times that I'm confident it won't hurt your socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dilute 1:200.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't get the undiluted stuff on your skin or in your eyes!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't try to smell it! (I've been there and done that.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diluted, it is still a bit of a skin irritant, so rinse immediately.&#xA;Even diluted it will react with metals, except for stainless steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recommended exposure time is usually 10 minutes, but I'd probably use it longer on cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2017-04-07T08:03:18.787" LastActivityDate="2017-04-07T08:03:18.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15760" CreationDate="2017-03-31T05:33:30.963" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Sicherungsmann&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before they invented the first climbing aids, human anchors were all alpinists had for protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds exactly like something I would do. In fact, I've done it. When I was a kid I would rappel off of anything with anything, including the handrail of my grandparents deck, and I've actually been at the end of a rope with nothing but my father as an anchor while descending lower sloping alpine cliffs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure it's not safe, but people don't go rock climbing or rappelling because it's safe, they do it because it's fun. There's always inherent risk with descending ropes. The challenge is to mitigate those risks by assessing the danger, and taking proper precautions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First&lt;/strong&gt;, you need to confirm the rail will hold your weight, easiest way to do this is to stand on it. If it'll hold your weight &lt;em&gt;(which it will, because that's the whole intent of handrails...)&lt;/em&gt;, then it's strong enough to hang off with a rope. Better yet, get you &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the friend you're putting on backup to stand on the rail, because if you're putting the rope over it, then it's not holding just your weight, it's holding his too. A little bounce test will confirm it'll hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second&lt;/strong&gt;, tie your anchor as close to the bolts as you can. Shear strength is much greater than pull-out strength, if you tie your rope in the middle of the rail, then it's much like tying a two point anchor with too great an angle, you're actually going to put more  force on the anchors than you would by hanging off only one side. If it were to buckle in the middle, it could pull the screws out. I think I recommend a clove hitch, because it won't slip to the side, otherwise I'd probably recommend a bowline on a bight backed up with a carabiner for ease and convenience of tying, the tail of the rope behind your knot is going to go back to your human anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third&lt;/strong&gt;, tie in your &lt;em&gt;sicherungsmann&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;(belayer/security man)&lt;/em&gt;. You could get him to hold you on a locked off &lt;strong&gt;hip belay&lt;/strong&gt;, but since he's just acting as &lt;strong&gt;deadman anchor&lt;/strong&gt;, you could just have him tie the other end of the rope around his middle and get him in a bomber stance, keeping the direction of pull in mind; if he's sitting on the ground with his feet propped up against a door frame or whatever and you take a fall, then the force is going to want to pull his butt off the ground because the railing will be higher than he is, and if he goes over then you're both in trouble. He needs to get his feet high enough so that if the rope goes tight, he's going to be properly braced for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's my answer to your question as you've scoped it, now I'm going to offer some suggestions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A better anchor would be to &lt;strong&gt;use your couch as a deadman anchor&lt;/strong&gt;. Your couch is not going to go through your patio door if you turn it sideways and tie your rope around the middle. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't put the rope over the hand rail, run it under the bottom of the railing over the edge of the floor of your patio, the floor is stronger, and it removes any possible extension from your system. It does make getting over the rail and onto your rope a little trickier; you have to reach over the rail and grab the rope from the other side, tie into it, climb over the rail, squat down, take the slack through your descender, and then lower yourself over the edge, but it's more secure. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be cautious on your first few goes. Don't dive over the rail, don't go fast, and don't try to stop fast. Slowing yourself down puts more force on the rope than just body weight. When you get close enough to the ground that a fall won't hurt, then you can fart around and swing and bounce on the rope to see how strong it is. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you cover all your angles, you can have fun doing silly stuff with minimal gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T05:33:30.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15766" CreationDate="2017-03-31T07:28:34.490" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there is a difference to understand, the difference between Navigation and Orientation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While on a hike, I rely lesser on a compass, but more on landmarks that I am almost certain to see all the while during the hike. For example, a hill. Second thing I rely heavily on is a water stream/river. While heading into a ravine, I am always almost sure of what direction the river should bend next, and what bank I should find myself on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On night trek/hike, this input/reference is somewhat lost. I think there is more to know than just having an idea of the direction of your destination. While, it is absolutely necessary to know what direction you are supposed to be heading to, its also important to know that the trail may follow a path which turns sometimes in opposite direction before straightening up again. For example, if you are hiking up a ridge, its fairly easy to know that the direction you are heading to is perfect, but while ascending up on hill which has multiple traverses, it sometimes gets a wee-bit confusing if you just pull out your compass and check the direction. The destination might be on north but the trail might head east before turning sharply/bluntly to west so that it heads to direction which was the north from the previous vantage point. So, during the night hike its slightly different &lt;em&gt;if not difficult&lt;/em&gt; to keep the orientation right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I Sometimes track my progress by means of an application. I use apps like MyTracks (Now obsolete), Strava, SportsTracker (So far, my favorite), etc to plot/track the progress, and the application allows me to have a topographical as well as (non-live) satellite view, so I know where I am heading. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like going the old-school way more often than not (and using the application). Even though this depends a lot on weather and visibility, if I have a clear weather, I usually am right about the trail I am taking, since I almost always have/had been through that trail at least once during the broad daylight. This eliminates the possibility that I might have to climb over something that I shouldn't because if I realize that I am venturing in to some section of trail that I can not recall being onto, I have to retreat than finding a way through that part of the trail. I simply head back for a few minutes to the the place  I recall being at when I was here last time around. This eliminates any possibility of trying any stupid climb/descend, helps me to mitigate any risk that the darkness would put me into since I can't see over a much longer distance. e.g. heading to a rock face, or heading to a narrow gorge that I might need to jump over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T08:37:52.203" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T08:37:52.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15766" CreationDate="2017-03-31T09:10:35.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of night-walking in a wide range of conditions. I don't think there's any inherent difference between daytime and nighttime navigation - if your daytime skills are solid you shouldn't have any major issues navigating at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How good is the visibility?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real issue isn't daytime or nighttime navigation - it's the quality of the visibility. And there's a lot of overlap between daytime and nighttime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all nights are dark. Under ideal conditions, above the treeline with a clear sky and a good moon, visibility can be almost as good as during the day. You can see paths and distant features, so navigation is relatively unaffected. These conditions can give magical walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On dark nights visibility isn't much worse than in daytime with a thick fog or a whiteout. The navigation skills required are pretty much identical. In fact, with a good torch you can often see farther on a dark but clear night than you can on a foggy day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How good are your skills?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that navigation in poor visibility is pretty much the same challenge day or night, the core skills such as attack points, handrails, collecting features, pacing and use of contours are equally applicable. Excluding celestial navigation, which isn't much used in the hills, here's no major skill I'm aware of that's specific to night navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you simply need solid skills for navigating in poor visibility. Far too many walkers underestimate the skill levels required - I walk in a fog-prone area with notoriously difficult navigation and often have to help parties off the hill. Don't be that person who has to be rescued because you are lost!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to brush up your skills, I strongly recommend Lyle Brotherton's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Navigation-Manual-Lyle-Brotherton/dp/0007424604/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=&amp;amp;sr=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ultimate Navigation Manual&lt;/a&gt; - this is a course used by Special Forces and rescue services around the world, so if you master the book you'll be a navigation ninja.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How good are your tools?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a worrying tendency for new walkers to over-rely on GPS. But electronics can fail, so it's absolutely necessary to carry a map and compass and have the old-school skills to use them properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, in poor conditions you can make your life much easier by carrying a GPS. With good digital mapping and the requisite skills, nighttime navigation becomes relatively trivial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final issue is lighting. If navigation might be tricky I carry two torches. The first is a standard flood headlamp to light my footfall and nearby features. But I also carry a state-of-the-art flashlight with a narrow spot beam. This only weighs a few grams and can pick out features at over 200 meters/220 yards. I use it for short periods on max power to look ahead for the path, for trail markers and attack points etc. Few people carry a torch like this, but away from easy trails it comes in very useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take-home message&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in summary, with the right skills and the right tools, nighttime navigation should hold no fears. I love nighttime walking, particularly in the snow. The light, the smells, the sounds - all your senses are heightened and it adds a new dimension to your experience of the hills. So brush up on your skills and get out there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T18:02:18.410" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T18:02:18.410" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15779" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15780" CreationDate="2017-03-31T15:52:58.717" Score="14" ViewCount="1037" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3313/aravona&quot;&gt;user&lt;/a&gt; mentioned something called Horse Boarding. At first I thought she was talking about boarding horses, like in a stable, but she was actually referring to an activity that's popular, especially in the UK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the sport of horse-boarding? How is it done? Is it only in the UK, or in other parts of the world? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:01:04.373" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:01:04.373" Title="What is the sport of Horse Boarding?" Tags="&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15779" CreationDate="2017-03-31T16:24:26.597" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.horseboardinguk.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Horse boarding&lt;/a&gt; is a sport similar to kite boarding / kite surfing where one uses wind power via a kite to pull oneself along on a long-board type skateboard or surfboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With Horse Boarding you are pulled along by a horse and rider. This gives added complexity - one because you're doubling (tripling if you include the horse) the number of participants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is considered an extreme sport in a similar way to 3 day eventing (people die doing cross country where jumps go wrong). The idea being to run a course at the fastest time with least faults - same as all horse events, lowest score wins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DESCRIPTION OF ARENA BOARDING&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8.1 Teams compete against the clock around a course defined by a series of gates and obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8.2 The course comprises a series of gates that should be 4 m wide, other obstacles, and designated Start and Finish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8.3 Teams wait in a collecting or pits area, and enter the main part of the arena when called by the pits officials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8.4 The competition comprises runs over Course A and Course B. Course B is the reverse of&#xA;Course A.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full rules below as there are a lot!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is international!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horseboarding International has been set up by Horseboarding UK to promote and develop the sport of horseboarding worldwide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Managed by the founder of the sport in the UK, Daniel Fowler-Prime and together with his highly experienced Horseboarding UK team, it aims to promote and encourage the development of the sport through the establishment of national organisations within individual countries, under a standard system of rules, procedures and values.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a number of complicated rules that you have to pass in order to be able to compete, these include rules for the horse rider, for the board rider, and for the horses welfare:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.horseboardinguk.org/images/downloads/Horseboarding-UK-General-Rules-2017.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.horseboardinguk.org/images/downloads/Horseboarding-UK-General-Rules-2017.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never got to do this as it's more recent than my riding career but I have watched it at country shows and it is a lot of fun (also lead to me kindly asking my dad 'Daddy I need another pony!' for a laugh).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qxup2aDWKo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Horse boarding youtube video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T16:24:26.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15790" CreationDate="2017-03-31T18:16:10.810" Score="7" ViewCount="2366" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.diamir.com/en/product/diamir-freeride-pro/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this binding&lt;/a&gt; with height of 39 mm. I like to freeride and do jumps. I would like to know what are pros and cons of high and low ski bindings and how particularly the height affects ability to control ski while jumping or freeriding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12831" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:30:17.107" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:30:17.107" Title="How does ski binding height affect skiing off-piste?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-31T21:02:20.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I trekked in the desert for few days I had the same problem. We solved it by hiding the food in the ground. We took a car few days earlier with lots of water and food (mostly in cans) and a hoe, and in points that our trail was close to the road we dug and put food and water. Then covered with soil and took few photos, both in zoom-in and zoom-out in order to help us to find the exact spot later (it's harder than it sounds). It helped us a lot, and it's also fun - you earn an additional car trip, and also every time you find the right spot it's really exciting :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your trek!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12771" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T21:02:20.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15695" CreationDate="2017-03-31T21:33:16.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;@Tollochgorum has a lot of great ideas/suggestions, but I'd like to add on a few points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how serious you are about covering this ground quickly, I'd scrap the tent/tarp and replace it with a waterproof Bivy Sack.  Having used this in the military for extended overnight hikes, it worked great.  Simply hike/walk until you're too tired, plop it down in a small clearing next to the trail, go to sleep and start again the next day.  These have the added benefit of being able to house a sleeping bag within the Bivy Sack, which ensures that you and your sleeping bag don't get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a few of your other posts/questions recently have hinted at, using this method you, with an adequate light source, you could also conceivably hike well into the night.  This would expand the amount of time during the day that you'd be able to hike/walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond bringing only high calorie based food, you might want to keep the amount of foods that you'll need a heater to cook to a minimum.  Time spent prepping food or waiting for water to boil is time you're not moving or resting, which should be the only two things you're focusing on, if completing this quickly is your goal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Opinion Based:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd scrap any ideas of catching/hunting game along the trail.  Besides the extra weight for the tools to catch anything you'd want to eat, you'd also have to bring tools to clean and dispose of the animal properly.  This extra weight would deter me from ever doing this, if you're looking to cover ground quickly.  4lbs for a rifle is 4lbs of food you're not able to bring.  4 lbs of Oatmeal or protein powder is a ton of calories, which you'll need to keep up the pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to mention that any time you spend looking/hunting/fishing for food is time you're not moving closer to your goal.  While it sounds neat, in practice, unless you're a very skilled hunter, this type of foraging is better for trips where you have a base camp and plenty of leisure time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you'd have to add in the time you would have to spend gutting the animal and digging a hole to bury the entrails or otherwise stash them.  If you're practicing &quot;leave no trace&quot; you might also have to pack out the carcass and entrails after you eat the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, if completing this trek as quickly as possible is your true goal, forsake all other endeavors or distractions which might slow you down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12244" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T21:33:16.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15735" CreationDate="2017-03-31T21:41:42.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the army we used &quot;dead turtle&quot; - mainly to make it harder for bugs/scorpions/spiders/other friends to get in. So there's no right/wrong, just pros/cons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, the best way to keep it from falling/rolling is to clip it to something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12771" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T21:41:42.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-03-31T22:32:09.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something I've done in the Sierras where it can get quite hot at lower elevations during the day is to use the &quot;siesta&quot; method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get up early and hike until about noon. Wait out the hot hours of the day (roughly 1pm - 4pm) and start hiking again as the day cools off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as hiking in the moonlight, even with the brightest full moon, it can be extremely disorienting. Without color vision your depth perception can be off, even relatively tame terrain can unnerve you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T22:32:09.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15773" CreationDate="2017-03-31T22:34:15.323" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is dead reckoning?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead reckoning is the skill of moving along a specific bearing for a specific distance - eg, to walk 350 meters on a 25 degree bearing - without reference to any major feature in the landscape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When is dead reckoning required?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The foundation of land navigation is the &lt;strong&gt;attack point&lt;/strong&gt;, a term borrowed from orienteering. Basically, this is a feature you aim for that you are confident you will recognise when you reach it and which moves you towards your eventual target for the day. Typical examples would be a peak, a pass, a trail junction or a hut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By moving from attack point to attack point you get regular checks that you are on course. Many navigation techniques such as handrails and gathering features are aimed at helping you find your attack point. Other techniques such as pacing and timing are designed to alert you that you have missed your attack point. And another group of techniques is designed to help you get back on route once you realise that you have gone astray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead reckoning is needed when your next attack point is not visible, and there is no reliable trail to follow. So you have to navigate on a bearing until the attack point becomes visible. This can be because the land is rough or overgrown, or because of fog or whiteout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you navigate on a bearing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a base-plate compass you sight down the direction of travel line and pick out a minor feature such as a tree or a rock, and walk to it. Repeat till your attack point comes into view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In very difficult country such as a featureless desert or ice-field there may be nothing to aim at. In this case you can send a member of your party ahead an agreed number of paces and use a system of signals to move them left or right till they are in line with the direction of travel. Then you walk up to them and repeat. If you are solo, you can throw stones or snowballs along the line of travel. This is a slow and tedious process, but is sometimes life-saving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you estimate distance?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many cases you will have to measure how far you have walked along the bearing to avoid over-shooting your attack point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You measure the distance on the map with the correct scale on your compass base-plate. It's important that you know how many paces you need to cover that distance in various conditions, or alternatively, how much time it should take. In critical situations you might want to use both methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the limitations of dead reckoning?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead reckoning is not an accurate technique, as mistakes cumulate and it is not self-correcting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So experienced navigators do everything they can to minimise the length of dead reckoning legs (anything over 300-400 meters is pretty error-prone), or use handrails and gathering features to minimise the need for accuracy. In safety-critical situations they would often prefer to walk farther on a route that is easier to navigate rather than risk a long dead-reckoning leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practice makes perfect&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead reckoning in challenging conditions is a skill you need to develop consciously. When you find yourself in a blinding fog or blizzard, you want to be confident in your technique. The key skills include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Measuring the distance of your dead reckoning leg&lt;/strong&gt;. Ideally, you'd have done this ahead of time and noted it on your route-card. But you also need to learn how to do this in the field.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knowing how many paces you need to cover the distance&lt;/strong&gt;. In good weather, you have to measure how many paces you take to cover 100 meters/yards in various ground conditions and slopes, so you can estimate how many paces you will need to reach your attack point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know how long you need to cover the distance&lt;/strong&gt;. Counting paces is tedious, so in less critical situations it's easier to estimate distance by time. Again, in good weather you have to experiment till you know your timings over different conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you have to put the skills together and practice walking dead reckoning legs as regularly as you can in safe situations - even a local park can offer a good practice area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-03-31T22:43:44.863" LastActivityDate="2017-03-31T22:43:44.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11423" CreationDate="2017-04-01T16:52:05.673" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a fly tier and I think that I can tie any fly pattern in large sizes as well as small sizes as you suggest .&#xA;The only thing that you do is to keep reducing the volume of the materials used to tie the large flies as you move down to the small sizes .&#xA;I hope that this helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12839" LastActivityDate="2017-04-01T16:52:05.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15781" CreationDate="2017-04-02T02:48:30.870" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This dimension is know as the &lt;em&gt;binding stack height&lt;/em&gt; (as well as &lt;em&gt;binding stand height&lt;/em&gt;) and can be both beneficial and detrimental:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On piste / carving / racing&lt;/strong&gt;: a larger stack height is generally perceived as beneficial---the FIS even passed a regulation limiting it to 50mm after the thickness of binding plates started getting out of hand. The main benefits are more leverage over the edge of the skis and the ability to tip the ski further on edge without boot/snow interference. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Off piste / powder / park&lt;/strong&gt;: a smaller stack height is generally seen as beneficial. Being closer to the ski provides more stability over uneven terrain (imagine trying to ski wearing stilts). A smaller stack height can sometimes indicate a lighter setup--less material raising your boot off the ski (obviously varies from binding to binding). A smaller stack height also gets you those last couple millimeters closer to face shots in powder =P&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, we can't neglect looking taller in the lift line or group photos!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T05:29:25.330" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T05:29:25.330" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2017-04-02T03:39:05.903" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Soap / water / kitchen brush (not wire for me) + 30 minutes of listening to good music and scrubbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12845" LastActivityDate="2017-04-02T03:39:05.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15792" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15795" CreationDate="2017-04-02T13:54:02.993" Score="16" ViewCount="473" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you imagine cutting a canoe or kayak along each axial plane, you get three shapes.  If you cut along the  waterline and look down from above, you get the plan.  Cut thwart-wise at the widest point and view from head-on, that's the cross-section.  The cross-section may or may not include tumblehome, a narrowing of the sides toward the gunwales.  Finally, cut lengthwise and view from the side, that's the rocker.  Designers have a variety of shapes to choose from for each of these, as the sketches below illustrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A2EkC.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A2EkC.gif&quot; alt=&quot;set of images of various plan, cross, and rocker shapes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This discussion ignores things like external keels and tracking channels.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a paddler, you will need to learn how your craft handles, and will observe these characteristics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stability - high resistance to capsizing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speed - low resistance to moving forward through the water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maneuverability - low resistance to changes in direction&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tracking - high resistance to wobble (aka jitterbug) while moving forward&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is how the various choices in plan, cross, and rocker translate into improvements or sacrifices in stability, speed, maneuverability, and tracking.  I already have some broad intuitive notions, as well as a sense that what improves one of these traits generally degrades another.  I am wondering if someone can help with the gritty details, possibly even get into the physics and mathematics of it (i.e. give us a primer on fluid dynamics as it relates to paddle sports.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as an example, I have a kayak with a flat rocker, mid-range plan, and gently rounded cross-section with tumblehome.  This kayak is very stable, has good tracking, is reasonably maneuverable, although it is not fast.  If it were narrower, my guess is it would be faster but less stable.  If the cross-section was more round, it would be more maneuverable but at the expense of its good tracking.  Are these ideas correct?  Why exactly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The image captions are, in order: long narrow plan, short wide plan, flat cross-section, round cross-section with tumble home, vee or hard-chine cross-section, flat rocker, moderate rocker, round rocker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T21:21:01.157" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T21:21:01.157" Title="How do choices in design of a paddle-craft influence its handling characteristics?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4705" CreationDate="2017-04-02T21:40:49.170" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is from what I hear. Best to hire a guide. They have a union kind of. To just hire a local they often get beat. With out a guide you get robbed.  That is only what I hear. I do live in Asia. So good sources but not first hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-04-02T21:40:49.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15792" CreationDate="2017-04-03T06:34:59.350" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ay-yi-yi! This is a very broad question, a true answer to which would probably require a PhD in hydrodynamics or years of relevant engineering expertise.  Note that the interplay between these design characteristics can be very complex and depend greatly on the exact conditions (flat water / waves / moving water / rapids / ..., skill of paddler, travel speed, ...). Furthermore, there are many, many, many other design characteristics that could be considered (freeboard / keel / bow shape / hydro-planing / ergonomics / ...), as well as considering that the hull shape varies over the length of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, here's a very rough guideline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Reverse Engineering&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much can be learned by comparing images of modern boats and considering the intended design. In comparing the general hull shapes, let's try to reverse engineer the design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=sea%20kayak&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj78-WIyYfTAhVq34MKHWviCrcQ_AUICSgC&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=950#tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=crewing%20scull&amp;amp;*&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;crewing scull&lt;/a&gt; is built to travel as fast as possible in a straight line over absolutely flat water. Stability is of minimal concern; all that matters is speed. Consider what can happen at even the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xEjjLoyRvY&amp;amp;ab_channel=Rowing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Olympic level&lt;/a&gt; with a little bit of chop (or purportedly a blade snagging a piece of floating garbage). While there can be some &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; complex hull designs, a scull will generally have: a long narrow plan, a chined cross section, and very little rocker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=sea%20kayak&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjTuJP6yIfTAhWh2YMKHc1PAAsQ_AUIBygC&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=950&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sea kayaks&lt;/a&gt; are generally built for covering long distances on reasonably flat water, generally with few course corrections. The paddler has some ability to provide active stabilization in a well fitting cockpit. A sea kayak generally has: a long narrow plan, a chined cross section, and a slight rocker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=sea%20kayak&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj78-WIyYfTAhVq34MKHWviCrcQ_AUICSgC&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=950#tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=canoe&amp;amp;*&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canoes&lt;/a&gt; are also generally built for covering long distances on reasonably flat water, generally with few course corrections (note that there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=whitewater%20canoe&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjK4dia1YfTAhUs_4MKHeP8DhoQ_AUICCgD&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=950&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;whitewater canoes&lt;/a&gt;, which look very different).Passengers are located higher off the water in a canoe than in a sea kayak. Thus, a canoe has a higher center of gravity and lateral stability is more of a concern---passengers have less ability to provide active stabilization by shifting their weight. A canoe generally has: a long narrow plan (although wider than a sea kayak), a flat cross section, and some rocker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=sea%20kayak&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj78-WIyYfTAhVq34MKHWviCrcQ_AUICSgC&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=950#tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=whitewater%20kayak&amp;amp;*&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whitewater kayaks&lt;/a&gt;. Whitewater kayaking requires frequent changes in direction, with much of the stability coming from the paddler actively balancing and maneuvering. Most of the forward movement comes from the current---actively paddling downstream is generally inefficient. Many designs are also built around &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrA1C8H6sYQ&amp;amp;ab_channel=JezJezz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;surfing waves / playboating / whitewater rodeo&lt;/a&gt;. A whitewater kayak generally has: a short wide plan (often limited by leg length), either a flat bottom with hard chines or a gradually rounded bottom, and a lot of rocker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that we have a handful of actual boat shapes, let's look at each of this hull characteristics in turn. Assume that we are tweaking each of these parameters in isolation (i.e., all else being equal), along with many other disclaimers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Plan:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A longer, narrower plan will generally result in less hydrodynamic drag (particularly dependent on the bow shape). It will also generally track straighter, but at the cost of reduced lateral stability and more difficulty turning. In comparison, a short wide plan would easier to turn and more stable, but give more drag and be slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Cross Section:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A flat bottom will provide the most lateral stability (and usable interior space), but will have a harder time tracking straight. It will also &amp;quot;skid&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;pivot&amp;quot; turns, unless actively tilted on edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rounded bottom will be easier to tip from side to side, which can be beneficial in a kayak. It will behave somewhere in between a flat bottom and a hard chine, depending on how rounded it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;vee or hard chine&amp;quot; cross section will generally track straight, as it has somewhat of a keel effect. This shape also has a secondary balance point when the boat is tipped on its side, allowing it to &amp;quot;carve&amp;quot; turns (this is how you turn a sea kayak, for example). On the flip side, this shape is difficult to turn in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Rocker&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For rocker, we need to consider how much of the boat is in contact with the water (freeboard vs. beam, etc.). A more pronounced rocker will&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be easier to turn (starts to emulate a short, wide plan if we look only at the portion of the hull in contact with the water).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be able to ride up and over waves as opposed to punching through them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be more prone to &amp;quot;planing&amp;quot;--rising up out of the water with increased speed. Think of a speedboat rising up out of the water as it hits high speeds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be somewhat less fore/aft stable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T20:05:00.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15796" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15797" CreationDate="2017-04-03T07:19:48.327" Score="31" ViewCount="5853" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine the situation. You are somewhere in the montblanc massif crossing a glacier and you come across a pair of climbers. You/ I are well trained in crevasse rescue, but are not a certified guide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the pair has fallen into a crevasse but is conscious, and is being supported by his partner in self arrest. The victim is unable to climb out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You call mountain rescue and they say they will be there in 30 mins. &lt;strong&gt;Should you attempt to hoist the victim out with a 3:1 system or just wait for the pros?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very least, I would attempt to build an anchor to take the load off the self arresting climber. Assume sufficient but basic equipment: prussics, karabiners, axes, screws, maybe a petzl micro traxion...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please qualify answers with experience or repeatable references. No personal opinions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T17:36:07.863" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T17:53:18.950" Title="Should one attempt to rescue a stranger from a crevasse or wait for mountain rescue?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15796" CreationDate="2017-04-03T08:54:07.107" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you absolutely should rescue the climber when the situation allows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that matters most is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;suspension trauma&lt;/a&gt;: Prolonged motionless hanging in a harness can lead to loss of consciousness and eventually even death. Of course you say the victim is conscious, so he might be able to move or even install a foot-loop to transition weight to his legs. You also state that he can't climb out, so it is likely he is injured so he might not be able to do this. In any case, even if he is not in immediate danger for suspension trauma, free hanging in a crevasse is not a comfortable position to be in (personal experience). So assess the situation together with the climber in the crevasse and take a decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not saying you need to get him out in every situation, but if the situation permits it, you should. So as usual contact the victim to evaluate his condition and position. If he is unhurt, able to get weight off the harness, but for some reason can't ascend and rescue is hard to do due to an immense snow lip at the crevasse border - by all means wait for the professional rescuers. They have material like tripods to solve such a situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might even be a legal argument about denial of assistance if the victim comes to harm due to the prolonged stay in the crevasse and it can be proven, that you were able to help but didn't. However I doubt this can happen unless you are a professional yourself. Still this is also morally relevant: Do you want to be in the situation where you need to ask yourself the question: What if?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I raised legalities I assume the following argument comes up: But what if the climber is injured during rescue?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The premise is that the climber is conscious. So you can communicate during the entire rescue and you should. Then the risk is minimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I specifically didn't go into details of the rescue, as that was specifically not what the question asked: They are experienced in crevasse rescue. So when I say you should help when applicable, I obviously mean to the extent that makes sense given the situation (I specifically said so) and under the number one principle of any rescue: &lt;em&gt;Keep yourself safe&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-05T08:02:41.207" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T08:02:41.207" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15796" CreationDate="2017-04-03T09:58:10.133" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additionally to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15797/8864&quot;&gt;@imsodins brilliant answer&lt;/a&gt;, I'd say the same applies to almost any mountain rescue situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you are able to contribute to the situation while maintaining your own safety, do it (and if you're not able, stay out of the way of the rescue team)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;securing your position takes precedence over the next steps (&lt;strong&gt;you don't want to be the next task in the rescue teams list!&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;securing the victims position takes in most situations precedence over immediately starting to get her/him out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone gets injured while being rescued, it depends on the local laws. In Europe it's mostly that you are protected unless you've been extremely reckless. (That would be a question for another stackexchange site)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T19:13:09.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15799" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-03T15:11:20.867" Score="15" ViewCount="2790" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are walking on trail, and a game trail heads off in an interesting direction is it ever a bad idea to follow it?  If so how would you know when it is OK to follow a game trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question assumes you have a good maps/GPS/skills and sufficient supplies. So getting lost and starving to death are not primary concerns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related Question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10723&quot;&gt;How can I recognize a game trail?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:24:27.473" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:24:27.473" Title="When is it a bad idea to follow a game trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;game-trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15799" CreationDate="2017-04-03T15:33:58.997" Score="21" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Traffic Jams&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way that game trails are created is by animals walking on them and therefore you can have a higher chance of seeing them. Small animals will get out of your way but moose or bears would be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There really isn't a good way to tell that animals haven't been on a trail, since tracks can be hard to see, especially on hard packed ground. However fresh bear or moose scat would be a good sign not to go down the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also while game trails make sense to animals, they tend to disappear or wander or twist and so good navigation skills are essential. At the same time, they are usually the fastest and easiest ways of getting through dense forests if there are no human trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T15:33:58.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15802" CreationDate="2017-04-03T18:25:27.783" Score="12" ViewCount="8471" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you read old books from cold areas, it's not infrequent to run across the idea of rubbing snow on one's feet when they got frozen or frostbitten.  However, subjectively, it seems to me that this would only make the wounds worse.  Having lived my whole life in places where it gets cold, the best way &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt; know of taking care of frostbite is to warm up the member.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was there any logic behind this practice?  Is this method encouraged / discouraged by modern medicine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11633" LastActivityDate="2019-02-23T23:15:41.983" Title="Why did people rub snow on frozen feet?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15801" CreationDate="2017-04-03T18:54:17.483" Score="18" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Was there any logic behind this practice (rubbing frostbite with snow)? Is this method encouraged /&#xA;  discouraged by modern medicine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=ayeercQ9DEwC&amp;amp;pg=PA80&amp;amp;lpg=PA80&amp;amp;dq=frostbite+--+rubbing+with+snow&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=7xnU0OkKVg&amp;amp;sig=lZcj76dhCdx9YlyxQ2FRb6fUPAk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjwwoLj94jTAhUG3mMKHRS3CMAQ6AEIbjAQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=frostbite%20--%20rubbing%20with%20snow&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries: Prevention, Survival, Rescue ...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;By Gordon G. Giesbrecht, James A. Wilkerson, the treatment gained popularity in the Napoleonic Wars because &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;rapid rewarming from open campfires or other sources of dry heat&#xA;  caused so much devastation.....Dry heat from ....open fires....cannot&#xA;  be controlled. Excessively high temperatures are usually produced,&#xA;  resulting in a combined burn and frostbite, a devasting injury that&#xA;  leads to far greater tissue loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This treatment is not advocated by modern medicine. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.surviveoutdoors.com/reference/frostbite.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survive Outdoors, Inc&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Until the 1950’s frostbite treatment consisted of rubbing snow over&#xA;  the affected area. However in 1956, Merryman disproved this treatment&#xA;  intervention. He instead encouraged the public health service medical&#xA;  officer in Tanana, Alaska to try rapid re-warming, with great&#xA;  success--Hence, the beginning of a new and effective treatment for&#xA;  frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit in response to comment from @imsodin&lt;/strong&gt;, who said &quot;rapid re-warming could be misinterpreted&quot;.  True.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frostbite/basics/treatment/con-20034608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mayo Clinic&lt;/a&gt; site says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gently rewarm frostbitten areas. Soak hands or feet in warm water — 99&#xA;  to 108 F (37 to 42 C) — for 15 to 30 minutes. If a thermometer isn't&#xA;  available, test the water by placing an uninjured hand or elbow in it&#xA;  — it should feel very warm, not hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frostbite/basics/treatment/con-20034608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mayo Clinic&lt;/a&gt; site also says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don't rub the affected area and never rub snow on frostbitten skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, not only rubbing with snow, but rubbing with anything, is a no-no for frostbite.  Rubbing will further damage already damaged tissues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caveat:&lt;/strong&gt;  This answer does not attempt to describe the proper treatment of frostbite; for that, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10452/what-are-the-different-stages-of-frostbite/10459#10459&quot;&gt;What are the different stages of frostbite?&lt;/a&gt;.  The excerpt from the Mayo Clinic addresses only the proper temperature for rewarming; the entire process is more complicated and rewarming in the field is not always the best course.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T23:57:47.810" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15799" CreationDate="2017-04-03T19:35:11.193" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only negative that I can think of is an increased likelihood of stepping into a trap if trapping is legal in the area. While it is easy to find incidents of &lt;a href=&quot;http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/man-uses-cpr-to-save-dog-after-hunting-trap-accident/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pets getting caught&lt;/a&gt; in a trap, there are reports of people getting &lt;a href=&quot;http://wtkr.com/2017/02/28/eastern-shore-man-rescued-after-leg-gets-caught-in-animal-trap/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;caught in hunting traps&lt;/a&gt; too. Trapping is a charged topic, and there are even sites against trapping which purport to have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.all-creatures.org/cash/taah-st-human.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lists of incidents&lt;/a&gt;. It seems like children are particularly vulnerable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of those incidents that I linked are strictly related to walking game trails, but traps are often placed in areas frequently traveled by the targeted animals so game trails logically are potential trapping locations. &lt;strong&gt;When I'm walking around I typically don't worry about traps&lt;/strong&gt;, but it is something to be aware of, especially if you are with young children or pets. Then again I have never frequented areas where trapping was common. If you do live in an area that has trapping be vigilant, and if you see one trap assume others are around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall I wouldn't consider this a deterrent unless the area was a known trapping area, and I had a curious dog with me. If both those conditions were true I'd probably stick to established trails. Otherwise, I say go for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T21:22:00.350" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T21:22:00.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15804" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-03T19:56:22.307" Score="6" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;Excited for an upcoming ski mountaineering trip to the Fuhrer Finger in May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen many guided groups (e.g. IMG) recommend two ice-axes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This left me wondering, what is the ideal tool combo for traveling up glaciated terrain between 40-60 degree slope? The FF doesn't approach 60 degrees, but it would be helpful to know when people think the transition from 1-2 tools makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems like one Whippet and one piolet would be a good compromise of weight/functionality since I plan to be on skis as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9429" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T20:53:37.487" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T10:23:53.360" Title="What combination of tools is ideal for 40-60 degree snow and ice slopes? (Piolet(s), Whippets, ice tools)" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;self-arrest&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15804" CreationDate="2017-04-03T20:31:26.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally I would go with poles and one ice-axe as long as possible. As soon as there are have prolonged steep slopes (defined by having to ascend with front points of crampons) I would take two axes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I originally wrote the paragraph below assuming it was mountaineering (in May - silly me). It is still relevant and applicable, but it assumes that a pole is an additional item. As you have one (two) anyway for skiing, the threshold is much lower for exchanging one ice-axe with a whippet. As I have no experience at all with whippets, I am not really knowledgeable to advice on its usage. I will delete this when more complete answer comes up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go with the worst case of your requirements, it is clearly two ice-axes. In hard frozen snow or ice in a 60deg slope you will be ascending using the front points of the crampons and both ice axes with picks in the snow and hands on the shaft. In snow that allows to create good steps, you can ascend upright zigzagging in slopes up to 60deg. So really it is a judgment call, so you should go with what local guides recommend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-03T20:56:11.437" LastActivityDate="2017-04-03T20:56:11.437" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15796" CreationDate="2017-04-04T02:45:20.147" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important point in any emergency is to avoid making the situation worse. The situation you describe is dynamic and may have several outcomes. Its not really possible to make a decision without seeing the details of the situation. If you attempt to help and mess up there may be more casualties to rescue and the injuries may be worse. Alternatively even if you can't pull the guy out of the crevice you might be able to help secure the partner and prevent him from going in too (self arrest might be unstable, or tiredness could kick in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would do as you suggest, assist the partner while taking minimal risk. Once they are secure (and whoever is in the crevasse isn't going in any further) I would reassess what else, if anything, could be done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing &lt;em&gt;nothing&lt;/em&gt; is not acceptable, at the very least you should check that rescue services have been informed and offer to call them, even if you can provide no material help to the pair. Its possible that the partner can't get access to a phone or radio due to literally holding on for their life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T02:45:20.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15804" CreationDate="2017-04-04T10:23:53.360" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most important thing in ski mountaineering is &lt;strong&gt;weight of equipment&lt;/strong&gt;. So you should take only what you really need. That will allow you quickly move and enjoy a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding what to take (Piolet(s), Whippets, ice tools):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice tools used only for ice climbing and technical routes. Usage is very limited. Also ice tools can't be used for self arresting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;whippets - I don't have experience with them but I think it might be good candidate. It depends on the route and snow\ice condition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 ice axes. Again 2 ice axes should only be used when you need to climb hard ice\snow 60 degree or more. I would better use ice axes instead of ice tools as I would better suffer 30-60m on the route climbing with ice axe then caring additionally ice tools.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my choose for this rouse would be poles and &lt;strong&gt;1 light ice axe&lt;/strong&gt; for self arresting (something like Camp Corsa or Climbing Technology Agile)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T10:23:53.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15810" CreationDate="2017-04-04T10:42:11.887" Score="22" ViewCount="3565" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15796/should-one-attempt-to-rescue-a-stranger-from-a-crevasse-or-wait-for-mountain-res&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; once more brought up the topic of suspension trauma.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to read up on the topic, but found that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; was not as informative as I would have liked. Especially I'm still unclear as to what exactly it is that leads to suspension trauma:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it being unconscious while standing/hanging/... upright?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or is it the actual suspending (generally in some sort of harness) that somehow interferes with the blood flow in a way that will eventually harm you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess I was wondering about this because the exact reason will also change how one should go about situation in which suspension trauma could become an issue. Were #1 above correct then one wouldn't have to be terribly concerned as long as the person was still conscious. In case #2 on the other hand we're basically racing a clock from the second somebody is suspended somewhere... However for #2 I guess the issue could be mitigated by special gear which prevents the circulation/suspension issues all-together?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.697" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T18:42:08.343" Title="Why does suspension trauma happen?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15808" CreationDate="2017-04-04T11:48:57.473" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main problem is the disruption of the normal blood circulation. The blood pressure generated by the heart alone is not able to persistently pump back the blood from the feet, it needs the venes and the &quot;muscle pump&quot; generated by movement of the legs, especially of the feet against the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The loss of consciousness is a symptom, but after a person loses consciousness, the problem is expedited because she doesn't move &lt;em&gt;at all&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T11:48:57.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15808" CreationDate="2017-04-04T11:50:41.600" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most climbing harnesses support the majority of your weight, if freely suspended,  around the tops of the thighs. While the waist belt may be designed to take the brunt of loads in a fall once you are suspended the weight will tend to settle onto the leg loops, depending of course on the position that you end up in. But either way the harness will end up putting pressure on your lower body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even under normal circumstances blood has to flow quite a long way to circulate through your legs which contain large muscles and are lower than the heart. Normal circulation relies on some movement of the legs to keep blood moving effectively. Simply standing or sitting still for long periods can cause problems. It is not that uncommon for soldiers to faint on parades when standing still for long periods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly being suspended by leg loops greatly exacerbates this especially as the femoral artery, one of the largest blood vessels in the body is quite close to the surface around the inner thigh. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being unconscious makes the situation worse as the victim is unable to move or transfer their weight eg to an improvised foot loop but even when conscious the fundamental problem still exists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the waist belt can put pressure on the abdomen constricting the diaphragm and making breathing more difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The net result is that the heart has to work much harder to circulate blood as it is fighting both against gravity and the restriction around the thighs plus any other &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_(circulatory)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;shock&lt;/a&gt; and  trauma which occurred during the initial fall. To put it another way blood tends to pool in the lower body. Which has a knock-on effect for blood flow and thus oxygen supply to the brain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a potential issue that when blood flow is restored to a limb which has been restricted accumulated toxins can overwhelm the body's ability to deal with them potentially causing organ damage. This can also happen with crush injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-04-04T18:42:08.343" LastActivityDate="2017-04-04T18:42:08.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15812" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-04T18:33:38.860" Score="10" ViewCount="737" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be hiking the ice age trail in the Northern unit, between shelter 1 and 2. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you think I would be fine to just pull off the trail and find a good spot to pitch a tent in an unofficial capacity? There seem to be only 5 official spots to camp along the route and they are all reserved.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Specifically, how would the rangers react?  I know that some parks are more lax than others about camping at unofficial sites. (I know and practice leave no trace.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more campsites but only 5 &quot;backpacking&quot; sites on the trail (dispersed canping) as opposed to pulling up the camper to a 12x12 plot of grass with neighbors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/kmn/PDFs/kmnmap.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/kmn/PDFs/kmnmap.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12861" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:54:41.980" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T22:00:25.740" Title="Unofficial camping in Kettle Moraine State Forest" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15813" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-04T23:43:39.600" Score="5" ViewCount="456" Body="&lt;p&gt;When tying my autoblock knot my cord keeps twisting, and it does not end up looking nearly this nice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5q1AY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5q1AY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a double-fisherman loop of cord that stays permanently tied, and it lays flat. How can I prevent my cord from twisting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps I should pre-twist my cord to counter the twist that the knot introduces? What do others do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3066" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T11:40:07.507" Title="How to prevent an autoblock knot from twisting?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13975" CreationDate="2017-04-05T00:26:49.413" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;We here at the Rigstar Training and Testing Center do a lot of break tests.&#xA;Having the tail of the bowline to the inside or outside does not matter for strength or efficiency of the knot. The reaction is the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the scientific reason why it's the same strength or have the same average breaking strength. The bights on the bowline cause compression to the inner part of the bowline rope, also there is the d/D ration of the line going around itself, then the rope when pulled is in tension which causes more compression with the two bights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the rope is in tension it causes the molecules to rub against each other which causes heat within the bites. All of these reactions are the same whether the tail is to the inside or outside of the bowline knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying the tail to the inside or outside does not matter and is a personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12866" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-05-10T16:15:02.090" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T16:15:02.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15813" CreationDate="2017-04-05T09:56:45.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly... your picture features a french prusik or autoblock knot. BUT it's a badly tied one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 3 parts of the knot: 2 tails plus the length of the wraps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These 3 parts NEED to make an equilateral triangle. The knot will probably still work if this is not the case, but the knot is optimal when it makes an equilateral triangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding twisting; I assume you mean the knot deforms and becomes messy when loaded. Don't worry about it, the knot still works and thats all that matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My comment about the geometry of the knot was taught to me by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.timneillguiding.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tim Neil&lt;/a&gt;, the highly experienced mountain guide, whilst on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jcmt.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jonathan Conville&lt;/a&gt; course supported by plas y brenin. By optimal, i mean the knot will hold under load, and will release easily when required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Here's a better example of the knot. Note the 3 lines are roughly equal&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ci5EK.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ci5EK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image taken from: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/images/98/14/108859814_medium_b98f12.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mountainproject.com/images/98/14/108859814_medium_b98f12.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2017-04-05T11:40:07.507" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T11:40:07.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2017-04-05T17:35:07.297" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As always with such general questions, &lt;em&gt;&quot;It depends&quot;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a lightning storm, you should always get well clear of any trees.  The reason for this isn't that trees are necessarily the most likely place for lighting to strike but because, when they are hit, the water inside tends to boil, exploding the tree.  Being hit by burning fragments of timber will likely &lt;strong&gt;Ruin Your Day&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having pitched your tent clear of trees, the most likely risk is from ground path current; the hammock has a slight advantage here, as the current must go up and down the poles to go through you, and everything between the poles is dry (if your tarp is working).  In a tent, you're lying directly on the damp ground with just a thin groundsheet in between.  Ground path currents tend to be much lower than the main strike current (if it was to dissipate evenly across the ground surface, then the current would be inversely proportional to the distance from the strike).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what kind of poles you use for your hammock, you may be increasing the likelihood of a direct strike, but the good news is that such a strike should go straight through that pole to ground.  It might melt the pole as it does so, which wouldn't be fun.  Perhaps pole caps made of old tennis balls may help protect against that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A really bad position to pitch a hammock would be across a rock cleft - if the two lumps of rock are at different potentials, then the lowest-resistance path may well be through you.  Never stretch your hammock across a gap that doesn't have an obviously better electrical bypass very close by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-04-05T17:35:07.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15817" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15818" CreationDate="2017-04-05T17:49:49.973" Score="12" ViewCount="553" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was inspired by the question &lt;a href=&quot;/q/15717&quot;&gt;&quot;What should one do when climbing if someone above you yells ROCK?&quot;&lt;/a&gt; to ask what the equivalents are around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, &lt;strong&gt;what would I shout to warn someone below me of falling rocks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equivalently, &lt;strong&gt;what word should I react to when I hear it shouted?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've created an answer as a Community Wiki to accumulate knowledge from everyone; please contribute to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T23:34:22.453" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T23:34:22.453" Title="What is the warning call for falling rocks in your area?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15817" CreationDate="2017-04-05T17:49:49.973" Score="12" Body="&lt;h1&gt;North America&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;English Canada / United States&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;ROCK!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /rɒk/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;French Canada&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;ROCHE!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /ʁɔʃ/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Europe&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;European Alps&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;CAILLOU !&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /ka.ju/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's French but also sometimes used by non-francophone climbers and hikers in the Alps.  This word is used to warn when a hiker (or a goat!) up the trail loosens a rock that crosses the trail lower down. Fun fact: Literally it means pebble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;STEIN!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /ʃtaɪn/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used in German speaking regions. Exact pronunciation varies in between regions due to dialects, but should be recognisably similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Great Britain&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;BELOW!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /bɪˈləʊ/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used in climbing and in caving; amongst others (e.g. scramblers), knowledge of it is variable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sweden&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;STEN!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; (pronounced /ste:n/)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mainly used in climbing and caving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Asia&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;India&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;Loose rock!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and/or&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;Watch out!&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T17:03:42.817" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-04-05T21:24:28.207" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15820" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15821" CreationDate="2017-04-06T01:49:00.647" Score="2" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service, Yosemite, Current Conditions&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Big Oak Flat Road (Hwy 120) closed into Yosemite Valley; no access to&#xA;Yosemite Valley via Hwy 120&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alert 1 , Severity ,closure ,, Big Oak Flat Road (Hwy 120) closed&#xA;into  Yosemite Valley; no access to Yosemite Valley via Hwy 120.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Big Oak Flat Road is closed between Crane Flat and Foresta due to storm damage. There is no access via Hwy 120 to Yosemite Valley from Buck Meadows, Groveland, or Sonora. From Groveland, use Hwy 49 to Mariposa, then Hwy 140 to Yosemite Valley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I called the Concierge Desk at the Ahwahnee and all they could tell me was that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;part of the road fell off between the Valley and the Crane Flat gas&#xA;station.  There is no estimate as to when 120 will be reopened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have more details as to what happened?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:04:15.157" Title="Details on closure of Rte 120 into Yosemite? (Not normal snow closure.)" Tags="&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15820" CreationDate="2017-04-06T02:11:29.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A dormant spring started up again due to the winter's snow and rain underneath the road and loosened up the underlying soil to the point that the road slid downhill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An underground seasonal spring that began flowing again after being dormant for years was the cause of a 200-foot long fissure resembling an earthquake fault that closed U.S. Highway 120 into Yosemite Valley in February.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.modbee.com/news/article140756798.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Significant rain and snow this winter saturated the soil under the road, causing it to slide downhill, officials said. More than 200 feet of roadway has been damaged as the road continues to slide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/community/mariposa-and-yosemite/article138335153.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-06T03:40:23.617" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T03:40:23.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15822" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15823" CreationDate="2017-04-06T03:23:02.730" Score="6" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a story I have heard about climbers who confused &quot;take&quot; and &quot;safe&quot; and I am wondering if it has actually happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The story goes like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climber is out of sight of the belayer and gets to a hard spot. The climber yells down &lt;strong&gt;&quot;TAKE&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Please pull in as much slack as possible.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the belayer hears &lt;strong&gt;&quot;SAFE&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; as in ,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;I am at the anchor, please take me off belay.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and so the belayer takes the climber off belay. Then the climber attempts the move and falls and plummets to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the confusion is supposed to be because of the belayer being English/Australian, as the American way of asking to be taken off belay is to yell &lt;strong&gt;&quot;OFF BELAY&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems plausible, but are there any &lt;strong&gt;actual records&lt;/strong&gt; of this happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:57:24.730" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:57:24.730" Title="Have the climbing signals &quot;take&quot; and &quot;safe&quot; every been confused to the point of an accident?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15822" CreationDate="2017-04-06T06:39:07.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes! My friend Wendy was belaying my friend Jake on the classic trad route &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=3202&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cemetery Gates&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it was the first pitch. He was around 30m into the pitch and was having a hard time. He'd not moved for a while and shouted down something. Wendy took this to mean safe and started unscrewing the karabiner. The next second he's falling. She makes the catch and all is well, but it was close to disaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was at another crag at the time so I can't give too much detail, but the issue was that he said &quot;take!&quot; and she heard &quot;safe&quot;. This is the one and only time I've heard about this happening though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accident-reports&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock and Ice&lt;/a&gt; post details of accidents that happen in the states. &lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/belayer-drops-climber-70-feet-to-ground&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;heres&lt;/a&gt; an example close to the matter at hand&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been out climbing at Bosigran on windy days several times and not been able to hear my partner. I think it's USUALLY best just to fall off rather than shout take. Rope tugs can be used to signal an increment to the next phase of the climbing system. I've also used walki talkies, but my friend Joe dropped one in the ocean. Thanks Joe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2017-04-06T11:11:14.233" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T11:11:14.233" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15709" CreationDate="2017-04-06T06:48:40.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is already a perfect answer by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15713/2303&quot;&gt;Ken Graham&lt;/a&gt; above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To re-iterate, Copperheads like all other snakes have no external ears, so it can not hear the sounds/noise we make. This goes true for all adults and juveniles Copperhead snakes.&#xA;To address your concerns about coming across one, I'd recommend knowing where you might find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are naturally gifted in camouflaging and are known to have a tendency to remain still and not go away when a threat is imposed, unlike almost all other snakes. Rattlers would happily go away sensing the vibration of one's movement, these won't. Because, camouflage is their best defense. These can grow typically up to 2 to 2 and a half feet. So, vaguely speaking they can strike up to 4-4.5 feet, but they don't, because it has a natural tendency to stay put. Ultimately, chances of getting too close or even step onto one of those is are more since they do not rattle. They flip their tail, but its not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; audible. I think this is the most probable reason behind number of bites and sightings of these snakes. (Before one sees a rattlesnake, the rattler gets going).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 5 sub-species of these, and you might want to known which ones are in your state/area and their habits and habitats. Most of them are diurnal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid going out in their habitats (e.g. Backyard, woods) without high shoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not step into a pile of dry leaves. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep safe distance, use a stick to shuffle pile of leaves before picking them up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caudal luring: These snakes are known for this phenomena of hiding below bunch of leaves/woods and flipping the tail to attract preys. Keep you dogs and kids away from any such thing observed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.760" LastActivityDate="2017-04-06T06:48:40.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15826" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15837" CreationDate="2017-04-06T12:35:36.107" Score="8" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last fall I bought a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sunfish,&lt;/a&gt; best I can tell is built in about 1974 (43 years ago) and has all original sails, sail rings (&lt;em&gt;hold the sail to the spars&lt;/em&gt;), tiller, etc.  Everything but the lines seem to be original. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday it was sunny and warm, wind at about 9MPH, 15KPH, 8 Knots. I took it out to the lake for the first time since I got it.  The was a lull as I launched and things went very well.  On my third upwind leg (&lt;em&gt;narrow lake&lt;/em&gt;) I got good wind and was on beam reach doing about 15MPH, then &lt;strong&gt;the outhauls and sail rings started breaking.&lt;/strong&gt; This was something of a distraction, shore rapidly approaching, so I got a chance to practice my self recovery skills, when I tipped it over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After getting the boat upright, I was able to sail back to shore.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I notice that several places sell &quot;Sunfish Tune-A-Fish Kit&quot; which includes Lines, sail rings, etc. Presumably there is some recommended frequency for changing out gear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How often should line, sail rings, etc be changed? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T15:04:18.703" Title="How often should I change the lines and sail attachment rings?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15827" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16244" CreationDate="2017-04-06T16:23:28.060" Score="10" ViewCount="701" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the differences between a shock absorber as it is used in professional rope access and a via ferrata set?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I found out that in my country shock absorbers have to fulfill EN 355 and via ferrata sets EN 958. Are there any noteworthy differences like length, strength, maximal force or so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can a industrial climbing shock absorber be used in combination with two slings and suitable carabiners for via ferratas? Or vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: For both cases I think about tear-webbing absorbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12797" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T17:26:30.543" LastActivityDate="2017-06-01T17:26:30.543" Title="Differences between shock absorber and via ferrata set" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15830" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-07T17:09:19.590" Score="7" ViewCount="470" Body="&lt;p&gt;In theory &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrofoam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Styrofoam is a closed cell product&lt;/a&gt; meaning that is water proof.  In practice it tends to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14218/what-to-look-for-in-marine-grade-expanding-foams/14301#14301&quot;&gt;absorb and hold water&lt;/a&gt; It can take months to dry out very saturated Styrofoam. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule Styrofoam goes in boats to provide flotation. In many applications the Styrofoam is in locations where water tends to pool and is difficult to completely remove.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found several forum posts about ways to waterproof Styrofoam.  Essentially use a paint that will not melt it, to seal the Styrofoam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is will attempting to seal the Styrofoam, prevent water absorption or will it still allow some absorption and make drying it out even more difficult? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T21:03:03.380" Title="Would waterproofing Styrofoam in a boat make water retention better or worse?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2017-04-07T20:42:54.593" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tried this for two separate trips with my boyfriend. We each have a double nest of our own. They are great because with so much extra fabric you can wrap it around yourself or even sit with your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both nights were AWFUL. There is no angle that won't end up with some kind of pressure for you both. Both nights I ended up sleeping on top of him. This was easier than lying next to eachother (both head to toe &amp;amp; toe to toe, or crossed) because that just resulted in at least an arm loosing circulation for both of us. On top of him I at least kept him warm, and he is such a heavy sleeper, I could adjust &amp;amp; move enough that circulation was achievable (but also meaning I never really fell into deep sleep). He wants to try again, I started packing my one person tent. We share bed &amp;amp; tent without issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as napping, there's nothing better. I have napped in a hammock during ultra races I crew at, day hiking, and climbing. I have napped with and without other people in the hammock. It's fantastic, we even have a hammock stand in our apartment &amp;amp; we will set up to play video games or watch T.V.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as you want to tuck in for the night though, it's time to kick everyone else out of the hammock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12881" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:02:42.577" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:02:42.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2017-04-08T10:40:49.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Barbwire fences are designed to keep cattle in or out of a designated areas. Barbwire intended to prevent human traffic requires &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_wire#Human-proof_fencing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;additional measures&lt;/a&gt;. As previously mentioned it it may or may not indicate a boundary for a traveling human. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where the wire is not intended to halt human traffic there is generally a people/vehicle gate in near proximity to where people are expected to cross the fence.  &lt;strong&gt;A person should go to, and cross the fence at the gate.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of legitimate reasons for crossing barbwire fences where no gate is present. Assuming you are in one of those situations, consider this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barbwire is strung tight for a reason, that is what makes it an effective cattle boundary.  Stretching it to allow a human to pass between/over strands or using it as ladder to climb a post will alter its effectiveness at being a cattle boundary.  That alteration can make the fence an ineffective cattle barrier and/or increase the chance that cattle will be injured by it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the fence is used to contain cattle, there will be cattle who want to sample the grass on the other side. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An unassisted human can't cross a barbwire fence without altering it's cattle containment properties&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A single person crossing may or may not make the fence ineffective, but some do, and several person crossing definitely will require fence maintenance to correct damage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stretching the fence to climb through creates a gap that will allow cattle to put their head through, this creates safety issues for the cattle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing the fence at the post tends to loosen and/or completely remove the staple that is holding the wire to the post. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is not unusual for a barbwire fence to fail catastrophically during a human crossing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When you cross a barbwire fence, you are assuming liability for damage to it.  If you are not prepared to correct that damage, don't cross&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crossing a barbwire fence is kind of like dropping a glass bottle from shoulder height, it &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; won't break the first time, but it might, and if you do repeatedly it will, and it will create a safety hazard that needs to be addressed before it causes injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-04-10T12:28:39.153" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T12:28:39.153" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14600" CreationDate="2017-04-08T11:50:05.453" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After considering the pros and cons of several solutions and desiring a solution with a life span of years, with low cost and easy to reuse, I created my own screen covers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Materials &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two squares of 1 inch white wood, 7 1/4 by 7 1/4 (from a 1x8)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two squares of standard window screen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two metal washers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two short lenghts of cotton clothes line (might use bungee cord in a future upgrade)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two binder clamps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Four 1x2s white wood, ten inches long&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 tube Kitchen and bath silicon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staples &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut the wood to the appropriate size &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/shVjL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/shVjL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wood cut to size&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put it all together without the screen to test it &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kIwtQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kIwtQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Testing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/68tLL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/68tLL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Showing the parts&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Staple the screen to the wood cutout out, Notice the washer that will be used to manage the center hole for rope.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DwDHt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DwDHt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Screen partially attached&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put on a thick layer of silicon to protect the boat from the screen and staples as well as to act as a gasket. (&lt;em&gt;triangle of wood is used to support center of screen while adhering washer to screen&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the silicon is dry, cut silicon out from center of washer and use a cross-tip (Philips) screwdriver to open the whole in the center of screen for the rope to pass through. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hYz0q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hYz0q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;silicon on edge of screen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Install the screened port cover, silicon side down. Use the binder clip to hold tension on the rope. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xkHaR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xkHaR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Installing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vgM6A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vgM6A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ready to go&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat needs to either be stored under cover, or upside down so that rain does not enter the screen.  It should keep bug and critters out, while allowing the moisture trapped inside to evaporate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt; Solution has been working well for 4 months. I don't have a way to weigh the boat, but it feels like it drying out and getting lighter.  I changed the rope for bungee cord to get a better seal, to keep bugs out.  But have had not noticed bugs getting in through the small gap that using the rope would leave on occasion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-08-23T16:49:28.593" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T16:49:28.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-08T18:02:19.253" Score="7" ViewCount="566" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to do a climb that has a long lateral traverse&#xA;I drew up three options, and Option #2 seems to me to be preferable to the other options.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HDbUJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HDbUJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Climbing anchor at traverse&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RyKZa.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RyKZa.png&quot; alt=&quot;Climbing anchor at traverse&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you think the best option is for this situation? Also, if a roof was added above the anchor, does this change your opinion? I imagine getting pulled into the roof head-first if your second falls wouldn't be very nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user9194" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-08T18:10:48.833" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T02:24:21.570" Title="Which option should you use for a multi-pitch climbing anchor after traverse?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15826" CreationDate="2017-04-08T19:22:41.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always taught sailing students to run a full check every time they rig the boat (if it's a dinghy or the mast is regularly lowered) or annually before returning it to the water after winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, a full check after any collision or incident, or after heavy weather/storms is recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that while you can look for worn rigging, it can be very difficult to see problems in areas above your eye-line, or within booms/mast, and deterioration varies due to conditions, storage, sailing stresses, etc so is unpredictable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T15:04:18.703" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T15:04:18.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15839" CreationDate="2017-04-08T20:22:00.813" Score="8" ViewCount="9455" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Northeastern United States, where it's spring at the moment.  We keep bird-feeders throughout the year, so those that over-winter always have something to eat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As is usual at this time of year, a massive group of common grackles  (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/id&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quiscalus quiscula&lt;/a&gt;) recently arrived, along with other birds of similar size and color, including starlings and red-winged blackbirds. There were hundreds of them, quite a magnificent sight. Some have already dispersed, especially the red-wings, but a large number will stay until the late fall migration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the last few weeks, we've been witnessing a behavior we don't remember having seen before. At least five grackles perch near each other on top of a grouping of bird feeders or, less often, on the ground.  They stop eating and stare straight up into the sky.  Some puff up their bodies and flap their wings. They screech at each other, but it doesn't sound like the usual grackle call we're used to hearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a minute or so, some fly off to join the groups scattered in the yard or trees, and the others will continue eating. When they all leave, it's only for a few minutes, and then it happens again. It could be the same group returning or a different group altogether, as we can't strictly identify them. We've seen it a few times over the course of a few hours on a number of different days. &#xA;At first we thought they were on the lookout for some kind of predator up high in the trees or in the sky. However, because they only see out of the sides of their eyes, if their heads are straight up they can't be watching the sky, or even the tall branches above them, so we've pretty much ruled out that theory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what this behavior means? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, they're quite skittish, so every time we try to take a picture, they fly off. They very much resemble the picture below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4vTaq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4vTaq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Grackles looking up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/2013/03/and-this-is-why.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picture Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T16:57:42.560" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T16:57:42.560" Title="Why are common grackles standing on our bird feeders with their heads pointed straight up?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15838" CreationDate="2017-04-08T20:22:00.813" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those grackles are engaged in a courting behavior, most frequently called “bill tilt.” It's also been called “head up” or “head up threat.” While establishing pairs for mating, males vie for the attention of the females. Usually as the birds arrive, a group of males will chase the females. Gradually the males drop off until there are fewer males vying for the attention of each female. Once they settle in at the feeding and nesting areas, the males begin the process of establishing dominance, thus increasing their chance of attracting the specific female who'll become his mate. The males won't do the head tilt unless at least one other male and one female is present. The females may also do the head tilt, but once the pair is established, they both discontinue it. In each group, the male who can tilt his head farthest back and hold it the longest is considered dominant and the other males respect that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the grackles may engage in some physical sparring behavior to establish dominance, much of that is avoided by this behavior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=nepMz-WNRksC&amp;amp;pg=PA208&amp;amp;dq=common+grackle+bill-tilt&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwil5ISt-rPSAhVJ4IMKHbn3AmQQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=common%20grackle%20bill-tilt&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page 208&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=nepMz-WNRksC&amp;amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stokes Backyard Bird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying and understanding the birds in your back yard.&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Watch the common grackles at your bird feeder. Every once in a while they'll look up as if they were looking at the sky. (They are not really looking at the sky; when birds do that they tilt their head to one side.) This display, called “bill tilt”, is part of their language. It is usually done between two males or two females when they are competing for dominance over a mate or at a feeding site. The display is held for several seconds, and then the birds resume feeding. Bill tilting is especially likely to occur when new birds arrive on the scene. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/grackle.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pennsylvania State University&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Groups of grackles foraging in a common feeding area frequently display dominance and aggression behaviors toward each other. One of these behaviors is the “bill-tilt.” Interacting birds tilt their heads upward and point their bills toward the sky. The more dominant the bird, the more upwardly tilted their heads! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ruffling of feathers is also a courting or nesting behavior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Males put on a display for females by fanning their wings and tail, ruffling feathers and tilting their bills. Females quiver their wings in response. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yorkccd.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PA-Wild-Journal-Blackbirds-273-Common-Grackle-268-Brown-headed-Cowbird-269-Red-winged-Blackbird-269-270.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;World-renowned ornithologist, Arthur Cleveland Bent, compiled a &lt;a href=&quot;http://birdsbybent.netfirms.com/ch41-50/grackle.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;large group&lt;/a&gt; of studies and visual reports of grackles and their behavior dating back to the late 1800s. The following is a quote from Witmer Stone in 1937, published by Mr. Bent: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As early as March 5, I have seen evidence of mating and sometimes two males have been in pursuit of a single female, resting near her in the tree tops, where they adopted a curious posture with neck stretched up and bill held vertically. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As early as March 13, many of the Grackles are flying in pairs, the male just behind the female and at a slightly lower level. They are noisy, too, about the nest trees and there is a constant chorus of harsh alarm calls, 'chuck, chuck, chuck,' like the sound produced by drawing the side of the tongue away from the teeth, interspersed with an occasional long drawn 'seeek,' these calls being uttered by birds on the wing as well as those that are perching. Then at intervals from a perching male comes the explosive rasping &quot;song&quot; 'chu-seeeek' accompanied by the characteristic lifting of the shoulders, spreading of the wings and tail, and swelling up of the entire plumage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sounds are described and Illustrated in &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=TCphDgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA475&amp;amp;lpg=PA475&amp;amp;dq=common+grackle+courtship+call&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=S_27CvuGt6&amp;amp;sig=4fG4rBrWAbnMgoRDpjoFLy6Io5w&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwii0YbhrJPTAhUm34MKHWUpDjg4ChDoAQhWMA0#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=common%20grackle%20courtship%20call&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Peterson's Field Guide to Bird Sounds of North America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, the specific calls will be used between males and females or males and males while in a group. Much like the head tilt, the male uses it only in the presence of other males. Once he has found a mate, he doesn't use either again, and neither does she.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-09T18:30:56.443" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T18:30:56.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15840" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15841" CreationDate="2017-04-08T20:22:50.423" Score="8" ViewCount="396" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a number of questions dealing with how start climbing, how to learn it (and how not to learn it) - e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5142&quot;&gt;Is it realistic to teach yourself rock climbing?&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/3955/3143&quot;&gt;What to teach someone who wants to start lead climbing?&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5283/3143&quot;&gt;Reference request: books on self-rescue while climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless from how I am practising and learning climbing, I would be happy to read one or two good books (or online courses, or other comparable resources) about the topic, since I really enjoy learning from books. The things I am mostly interested in are climbing safety, technique and tactics for sports and trad climbing. I am not so much interested in mountaneering or bouldering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could you recommend any books, maybe including some details about the books' focus and content and what makes it recommendable? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Since not all of our users have english as their mothertongue, I think including great books in foreign languages would be a good idea.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-11T22:17:54.300" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T21:31:02.840" Title="Good resources for climbing" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15840" CreationDate="2017-04-08T20:47:53.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Textbook/Bible of Mountaineering:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard book is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaineering:_The_Freedom_of_the_Hills&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt;. That book covers all of the basics for rock climbing and a lot more topics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the chapter titles of the eighth edition, it covers a lot of topics and I have highlighted the relevant chapters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Chapters:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;First Steps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Clothing and Equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Camping and Food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Physical Conditioning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Navigation&#xA;  -Wilderness Travel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stewardship and Access&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Basic Safety System&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belaying&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rappelling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alpine Rock Climbing Technique&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rock Protection&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leading on Rock&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aid and Big Wall Climbing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Snow Travel and Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Alpine Ice Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Waterfall and Mixed Climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Expedition Climbin&lt;/strong&gt;g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Leadership&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Safety: How to Stay Alive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;First Aid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Alpine Search and Rescue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Mountain Geology&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The Cycle of Snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Mountain Weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-11T21:47:35.263" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T21:47:35.263" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2017-04-09T03:04:34.767" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're assuming here that each wire on this particular fence is strung 9 inches above the lower wire - and that we want to cross &lt;strong&gt;safely&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not safe to climb over a barbed wire fence. Neither is safe to climb a fence post. The first carries a high probability of being snagged on barbs and the second carries a high risk of staple/nail/wire failure, resulting in injury to the hiker. Both of these methods will also potentially damage the fence or the post. This leaves two methods for safely crossing the fence - &lt;strong&gt;between the wires, or under the bottom wire&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wires are loose enough to easily spread apart, then it is possible to safely cross between the wires:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option #1 - Crossing between the wires:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using both hands, lift all of your gear over the fence, one piece at a time (backpack, walking stick, etc.), and place or drop gently on the far side. Do this near a fence post so there is no danger of tripping over any of it when crossing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then go to the middle point between two fence posts where there is the most slack in the wires. Stand next to the fence, facing down the fenceline (so either your right or left side is nearer to the fence than the other).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick a wire that is just above the height of your hip - this is the wire to go under. You don't need to touch this one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firmly grasp the wire directly beneath that wire, with both hands, and push down. Don't push hard and don't put your weight onto it - just push it down a few inches to allow room to pass between the wires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross between the wires:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving in a slow, smooth motion (remember, you're already bending&lt;br&gt;&#xA;forward to hold the lower wire down), lift the leg nearest to the&lt;br&gt;&#xA;fence upward, &lt;strong&gt;behind&lt;/strong&gt; you (heel up, toe down), and gently swing&lt;br&gt;&#xA;the entire leg through.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Immediately lower your upper body (remember - already bent forward) to horizontal and swing through the wires.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then follow with the second leg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just imagine bending forward and taking a high step to the side (by swinging the leg back and up) with the second leg following in an identical high step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to move slowly and maintain your balance. If a barb snags your clothing, stop, reverse directions and move back a few inches, lower that portion of your body a little more (or raise, depending on which wire snagged you), and try again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wires are strung too tightly for you to easily spread them sufficiently to fit through, then you cannot safely cross between the wires. Then try option #2 below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option #2 - Crawl under the bottom wire.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Follow the fenceline, first one direction, then the other, looking for a low spot beneath the bottom wire. When you find one that you think you can squirm through, then lift your gear over (same as in Option #1 above), return to the depression, get on your belly, and crawl/scoot/squirm (whatever works for you!) under the bottom wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If neither option will work for you, then do not cross the fence! Look for a gate - while looking for a gate, keep your eyes open for a spot where Option #1 or Option #2 might work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6406" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T03:04:34.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15843" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15844" CreationDate="2017-04-09T18:07:42.830" Score="12" ViewCount="1041" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been a beautiful Sunday here in the UK today and I went by the river (Thames) with my girlfriend to get some sunlight and fresh air. (We rarely do that, so that might be why I'm writing a question right now.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've seen quite a lot people canoeing on inflatable canoes on the river and we thought:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;code&gt;Hey! That actually seems fun! Could we do that?&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I looked up inflatable canoes on eBay and these seem rather cheap -&#xA;then I tried to look up how to approach &quot;getting-started&quot; but I'm a bit confused now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This leads to a question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As a total water-newbie&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;(my experience with water ends on swimming in a pool back when I was a child)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;what do I need to do to be able to legally and safely canoe on Thames?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need any official training? Do I or my canoe need to have a licence?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12890" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-04-09T19:31:01.050" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T08:58:06.750" Title="Getting into canoeing - UK" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15843" CreationDate="2017-04-09T18:32:11.757" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will depend on whereabouts along the Thames you live but there are many canoe and kayak clubs and water-based outdoor recreation centres around. It is possible to get into it without any training but that's not advisable. Most clubs or centres will have some kind of beginner classes. Just do some searches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes and kayaks don't need to be licensed but many &lt;em&gt;rivers&lt;/em&gt; in England often require specific licenses to paddle on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before enquiring, be clear on the difference between a canoe and a kayak: strictly speaking, canoes are paddled with a single-bladed paddle and kayaks are paddled with a double-bladed paddle. (However, in the UK, &quot;canoe&quot; is often the generic term for both.) Both are fun to paddle, in my opinion, so try them both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two more things to consider, but later on, after you've got some experience: Inflatable vs hard shell and single vs double. (In open canoes, the latter is known as solo vs tandem.) You and your friend might like to paddle the same boat, but it's a good idea to both try out your techniques in single/solo boats first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2017-04-09T18:52:31.533" LastActivityDate="2017-04-09T18:52:31.533" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15840" CreationDate="2017-04-10T06:53:55.427" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davemacleod.com/shop/9outof10climbers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, by DaveMcLeod focuses very much on one thing: how to &lt;em&gt;get better&lt;/em&gt; at climbing, mostly from a mental and organizational point of view. The author sometimes gets rambling at times, but undeniably gives good and well-founded advice. If you're serious about pushing your grades, it's a must read.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-12-12T21:31:02.840" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T21:31:02.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2017-04-10T08:29:23.950" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe barbed wire fences are built differently in different parts of the world - at any rate, nobody really mentioned the way that we as kids learned to cross them safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crossing on top in the middle between two posts:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most often barbed wire fences are not very tightly strung, especially if they're not very new - meaning that the individual wires will have some slack to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go to the midway point between two posts (see on the schema below).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Press down on the top wire - either using a stick, or, carefully, using your hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will lower the top wire for 20 cm easily, which should allow you to cross by swinging over one leg, then the other. Of course for a smaller person, or when confronted with a very high fence this could be infeasible. One possible way to cross in that situation is to cross between the wires by pressing down on the lower one, thus enlarging the gap. Otherwise you'll have to result to the methods in the other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                  |&#xA;                  V    &#xA;||--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--||&#xA;||                                ||&#xA;||--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--||&#xA;||                                ||&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;FYI, this method was shown to me by the farmers who actually set up these barbed wires to fence of their mountain pastures. Seems they found crossing fences that way carried no/acceptably small chance of damaging the fence.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T08:29:23.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15843" CreationDate="2017-04-10T08:58:06.750" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;FYI&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do I need a license to paddle on the Thames?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you’re paddling on the non tidal section of the river (Cricklade Bridge to Teddington) yes, you need either a non powered pleasure craft license available from the environment agency &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/unpowered_registration_form.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or join the British Canoe Union (BCU) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoe-england.org.uk/membership/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Either of these entitles you to paddle on the non tidal section of the Thames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you’re paddling on the Thames below Teddington you do not need a license, just remember the Thames here is tidal and a look at a tide table before you go out for the day is very sensible &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/hydro/RICHMOND_2012-2015_Predictions.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other local river such as the Wey or Mole and the Basingstoke Canal and Wey Navigation are also covered by the BCU license&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk/thames-access-27-w.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whitewater Canoe Centre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T08:58:06.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15835" CreationDate="2017-04-10T09:01:04.473" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've yet to see a situation where it'd be harmful belaying your second from a fixed point (Option #1). You won't lose you footing in case s/he falls and since her/his rope is coming from above, there's no huge fall factor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also Option #1 is far more simple than Option #2, so less possibilities to screw up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T09:01:04.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15840" CreationDate="2017-04-10T09:17:43.940" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Libby peters &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Climbing-Essential-Techniques-Mountain/dp/095415116X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock Climbing: Essential Skills &amp;amp; Techniques&lt;/a&gt; is the main resource for UK mountain leader qualifications. Covers all the essential skills for rock climbing. This is very much from the ground up, so has knots, belaying technique to placing trad gear and building belays, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0AHpm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0AHpm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the official handbook of 'the Mountaineering Instructor,&#xA;Single Pitch, Climbing Wall and Climbing Wall Leading Award Schemes'.&#xA;Written by one of the best known rock climbing instructors in the UK&#xA;this is the definitive and comprehensive 'how to rock climb' textbook,&#xA;now in its revised and updated second edition. It covers un-roped&#xA;bouldering and movement skills as well as every aspect of single and&#xA;multi-pitch rock climbing, abseiling, problem solving, the climbing&#xA;environment, the history and development of the sport and much more.&#xA;This book is a reference tool for every climber, from novice to&#xA;expert, as well as containing specific ideas for anyone wanting to&#xA;help coach and instruct others. It is the official handbook for the UK&#xA;qualification system that includes 'the Mountaineering Instructor,&#xA;Climbing Wall, Single Pitch and Climbing Wall Leader Awards and is&#xA;endorsed by the BMC, MCofS and MI. Revised throughout there are&#xA;additional chapters on Sport Climbing, Sea Level Traversing, Ropes&#xA;Courses and Via Ferrata, Adaptive Techniques for Disabled Climbers,&#xA;Injury Avoidance, Improving Technique, Risk Management and the Law and&#xA;Working with Young People. It has a functional design with&#xA;easy-reference colour-coded pages, striking illustrations that&#xA;complement the text and inspiring photos that give a genuine flavour&#xA;of the breadth of climbing possibilities across Britain and Ireland.&#xA;It is the second of a series of manuals from Mountain Leader Training&#xA;UK that includes the highly successful 'Hill Walking' and 'Winter&#xA;Skills'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Climbing-Essential-Techniques-Mountain/dp/095415116X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To highlight one big difference between this and the book &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15841/2766&quot;&gt;recommended by Charlie Brumbaugh&lt;/a&gt;. This is aimed a lot more at UK climbers. We don't really have alpine, big wall or aid climbing in this country. So this is more for Sport and Trad climbers and Boulderers which are the main sports in the UK. There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Winter-Skills-Essential-Walking-Climbing-Techniques-Cunningham/0954151135/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=2BDT083PV6PFK55CWTBF&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;winter equiverlant too&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T07:38:05.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15835" CreationDate="2017-04-10T14:37:59.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One issue with a long traverse is that if the second falls, they may be unable to easily get back on the route. This means that there is an increased likelihood that you will need to escape the belay. It is infinitely easier to escape the belay when you are belaying directly off the anchor. This means I would go with something like anchor 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One issue with all the anchors is that they look designed for a downward force, yet on a traverse, the force is horizontal. If there is another pitch, especially if there is a roof/overhang, the anchor also needs to handle an upwards force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-04-10T14:37:59.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15851" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-10T20:11:56.940" Score="10" ViewCount="775" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where: North-central Massachusetts&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When: 8 April 2017&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I'm out and about, I look at wetlands as I go by to see their general state, how much the invasive phragmites is pushing out the native cattails, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few days ago I saw something unusual, at least in my experience.  I was looking down into a kettle hole from a local road and saw this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Oim8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Oim8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dsas0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dsas0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it's hard to make out what you're looking at in these pictures.  The &quot;reeds&quot; (or whatever they are) are very tall.  They are at least as tall as phragmites, which is already about twice or more as tall as cattails.  These pictures were taken from the side of a small esker, and look down onto this wetland.  These plants looked basically like grass, but much taller than any grass I've ever seen.  I'd guess they were 10-12 feet tall (up to around 4 meters).  They are only growing where it's really wet.  Basically, it looks like this stuff grows in the same conditions you'd expect to find cattails in.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is definitely fresh water.  It's miles from the coast and about 300 feet elevation.  There is no salt or brackish water anywhere around here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I don't think this is phragmites is because there are no tassles at the top anywhere.  Not a single one was visible in this whole stand.  I see plenty of phragmites around this area daily, and the tassles are present at this time and quite obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this plant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know because, for one thing, it's really unusual around here.  I'd also like to know if this is a new invasive we should try to deal with before it spreads.  We have a lot of wetlands around here, but this one kettle hole is the only place I've noticed this plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added in response to comment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plants were the color of dried grass, which I suspect is exactly what they were.  Spring is only just starting, so these stems are probably left over from last year.  Since I haven't seen this &quot;grass&quot; before, I don't know if the existing stems will turn green and come to life over the next few weeks, or whether there will be new sprouts and the stems I saw will eventually decay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't touch these plant, so can't say for sure how brittle they are.  However, the growing season has just started.  What you see survived the winter.  It couldn't be too fragile, else winter winds would have blown it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today was the first warm day this spring.  By next weekend this place may look quite different.  I'll keep watching it and report here if I see what look like significant changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Kettle hole:&lt;/b&gt; A common geological feature in this area.  It is a small depression.  As a result of abundant ground water, these are usually water-filled or at least quite damp at the bottom.  Most kettle holes have no direct water flowing in or out.  The bottoms are wet because they are near or below the water table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kettle holes were formed when a block of ice sat in one place and persisted as the glacier around it was retreating, about 12 thousand years ago.  Flowing water deposited sediment around the ice block.  When the ice block finally melted, a depression was left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Esker:&lt;/b&gt; The result of a stream channel under a glacier.  The stream deposited sediment, which built up the channel.  When the glacier melted, the built-up stream bed is left.  These are usually steep-sided winding &quot;hills&quot;, comprised of mostly river gravel.  Like kettle holes, these are quite common in this region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This area was covered by up to a mile of ice during the last ice age.  The ice left here only about 12,000 years ago, a eye-blink in geologic time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:37:38.013" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:37:38.013" Title="What is this really tall grass-like plant?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15835" CreationDate="2017-04-11T00:47:35.810" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want to do is use a &lt;strong&gt;directional piece&lt;/strong&gt;, but I would not recommend including this piece in your belay anchor. In option #2 up there you're going to switch from a 4 piece anchor to a 2 piece anchor as soon as the rope is weighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove that piece, and place a bomber piece below your belay anchor, so that the redirected force is pulling down on your belay anchor when the rope is weighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jfDHP.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jfDHP.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That extra quick draw is there to help keep the carabiner on your directional piece in place while you're belaying. Make sure you use a dynamic piece of pro for your directional piece, you don't want it to pop out. If you have enough gear, you may even consider using several pieces and make a second anchor for your directional piece, using at least one piece to counter your directional anchor and keep your master-point in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-04-11T02:24:21.570" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T02:24:21.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15853" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15882" CreationDate="2017-04-11T04:41:30.240" Score="8" ViewCount="1604" Body="&lt;p&gt;550 Parachute cord is a very small &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernmantle_rope&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kermantle rope&lt;/a&gt; (has a core and an external sheath)  as you can see in this image. The minimum breaking strength of the cord is 550 pounds, hence the name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paracord-Commercial-Type-III-Inch-Scale.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Paracord-Commercial-Type-III-Inch-Scale.jpg/274px-Paracord-Commercial-Type-III-Inch-Scale.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is sometimes mentioned that in a survival situation, these strands could be used to create snares or as fishing line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of curiosity, how strong is one of the pictured strands by itself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:29:38.253" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T00:23:54.263" Title="How strong are the individual internal strands in 550 parachute cord?" Tags="&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15854" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-11T07:30:36.050" Score="1" ViewCount="725" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to have a campfire on Southport beach in a few weeks as a small birthday celebration with some friends. I was wondering who I should contact to request permission to do so, as I know it's illegal to start a fire in England without the land owner's approval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12897" LastEditorUserId="258" LastEditDate="2017-04-11T14:36:57.770" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T01:45:35.483" Title="Who should I contact if I want to have a campfire?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2017-04-11T14:36:30.687" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2017-04-11T07:32:52.330" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would look for rocks or branches and build a makeshift ladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether going under, between, or over the wires, I would cover the wires with my fleece jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T07:32:52.330" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15854" CreationDate="2017-04-11T07:38:26.373" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This boils down to who owns the land. To quote &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/5508/5547&quot;&gt;Liam's answer&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1329/is-it-legal-to-light-bonfires-on-uk-beaches&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The land between the high water mark and the low water mark is owned by the crown (crown reserves) in UK law. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/coast/series1/13-highlights.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ref&lt;/a&gt;) The land above the high water mark is owned by land owners, this may also be the crown if it's common land etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any land owned by private land owners is subject to the land owners themselves. They could allow or disallow bonfires at their discretion. So if you want to build a bonfire here you should contact the landowner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The law on bonfires on common land will be covered by the local by-laws of the council in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the land is &lt;strong&gt;privately&lt;/strong&gt; owned, you'll have to ask the owner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the land is &lt;strong&gt;publicly&lt;/strong&gt; owned, you'll have to check local by-laws and/or check with local authorities. I'd assume that in such a case the police should be able to either give you an answer directly, or at least point you to whoever can. &lt;em&gt;(Just in case this isn't obvious: don't call the police on their emergency number, but look up the non-emergency number for the local police station online.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T01:45:35.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15857" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-04-11T11:54:36.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Western Ghats (also known as Sahyadri) is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight &quot;hottest hot-spots&quot; of biological diversity in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="5411" LastEditDate="2017-04-11T15:00:08.920" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T15:00:08.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15858" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-04-11T11:54:36.650" Score="0" Body="Used when refereed to Western Mountain ranges or Sahyadri Mountains" OwnerUserId="5411" LastEditorUserId="5411" LastEditDate="2017-04-11T14:37:02.543" LastActivityDate="2017-04-11T14:37:02.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2017-04-12T00:12:50.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lived in Yucatán for a couple of years. Everyone sleeps in hammocks down there (cheaper and cooler than a bed, plus elevated so less chance of bugs, snakes, etc). I have seen a family of four in a single hammock. The hammocks are loosely woven, rather than a single piece of fabric or cloth. Also, they sleep cocoon style (head and feet near the straps, rather than horizontally spread across). If your hammock is large enough, you can spread some of it out and lie down, then your partner spreads a bit of the cloth on the other side. If you leave some slack in the middle, it will tighten when you are both reclined and create a sort of separation. If one of you gets up, it shouldn't disturb the other any more than a stiff mattress would. Granted, it isn't really romantic. In fact, it is more like being in two separate sleeping bags in the same tent, but it does work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12901" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T00:12:50.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15861" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-12T02:43:13.297" Score="7" ViewCount="580" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just found that I can get free &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;geological map&lt;/a&gt; overlays for Google Earth for all of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;individual states in the United States from here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, this is what a good deal of Yosemite National Park looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QHH8B.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QHH8B.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To see what type of rocks a color represents, you simply have to click on it. For instance, the lighter orange is volcanic and the lighter green is glacial deposits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be any practical uses of a map like this for a non-geologist hiker or backpacker? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T02:38:58.230" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T15:48:30.037" Title="Would there be any practical uses of a geological map for a hiker/backpacker?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="980" CreationDate="2017-04-12T03:09:35.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably not as tasty as the answers above, but simple:  I purchase the standard freeze-dried meals, shake, open the package and empty half into a container for later use.  To the package I add 1/2 cup of 5-minute rice or instant mashed potatoes.  On the trail I add boiling water (1/2 of what the package calls for, plus 1/2 cup for the rice or potatoes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bring home (and wash) the freeze-dried meal package for a later trip (the metallic package reflects heat well and causes faster hydration, especially useful at 10,000 ft. altitude).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T03:09:35.730" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-04-12T03:09:35.730" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2017-04-12T06:02:58.550" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought about this for a while, but to be honest I can't see many immediate uses for backpackers that &lt;em&gt;wouldn't&lt;/em&gt; be covered by other means and sources more effectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if the only source you have about a region is such a geological map it might allow you, to some limited degree, to guesstimate the terrain, and maybe even fauna/flora. This could help in route planning, pathfinding, etc. But in the age of Google maps where every square meter of the Earth's surface is mapped and readily available to us a satellite image or a topographical map would be a lot more useful to get to the same info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notwithstanding is of course using a map as the one in question simply for its &lt;strong&gt;(geological) informational value&lt;/strong&gt;! There are many ways to enjoy the outdoors and its wonders - and the geological history of origins can be one of them.&#xA;I totally see how inspecting such a map on a hike (maybe accompanied with some reading on the topic) could shed light on how a specific region or valley came to be, when it was formed by which forces of nature, or maybe the origins of its most spectacular sights and attractions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least to me personally that would be very interesting, even if not immediately &lt;em&gt;practical&lt;/em&gt; ;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-12T23:22:13.147" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T23:22:13.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15864" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15865" CreationDate="2017-04-12T11:30:29.643" Score="8" ViewCount="1203" Body="&lt;p&gt;In sport and trad climbing, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_harness#Types&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sit harness&lt;/a&gt; is widely used (except for children). However, I wondered if there is the possibility to fall out of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One situation where I could see this happen is in climbing a roof, when the hands lose grip on the holds first and you fall head first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-12T12:37:55.747" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T07:26:22.017" Title="Can I fall out of my sit harness?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15864" CreationDate="2017-04-12T12:32:17.407" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;No you cannot - as long as you fit it correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One test you have to do when adjusting the width of the hip strap, is to pull down on the harness to make sure it is impossible to pull it over your hip. So no matter in what weird position you fall, the harness can neither move up (leg loops) nor down (width of hip loop as explained) significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional infos why you might not only want to use a sit harness:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The main reason of using an additional chest harness or combined harness is to keep an upright position without any work. In a sit harness you need to grab something (the rope) with your hand or use significant body strength to keep an upright posture. A correctly fitted chest/combined harness does this automatically.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also a good thing to be upright during an uncontrolled fall. During the free fall phase, a combined harness wont help for that. However as soon as the rope starts braking you, the pull will get you into a (close to) upright position with a combined harness. This is not important because you might slip out of the harness, but because it is easier to &quot;end&quot; a fall gracefully (i.e. without injury) when upright and feet first. Falling down back or head first obviously increases the chances for serious injury during impact. When I am talking about &quot;end&quot; of fall/impact I mean protruding rock features and/or the moment when you hit the wall horizontally (more or less) once the rope stopped the vertical movement (which almost always happens, unless you are in a big overhang).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-12T22:24:18.620" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T22:24:18.620" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="31" CreationDate="2017-04-12T13:12:17.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience with compact stoves for butane/propane mixture:&#xA;Amazingly efficient when it is warm outside. Super for camping in the summer and early autumn. But in the late autumn, when the temperature starts to creep below 5 deg C: Not so efficient anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol stoves have fallen out of favour in Norway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12904" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T13:12:17.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2017-04-12T13:37:56.163" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer: I have no idea how to read the map above :)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me it would seem important in the case of longer time camping. After 10+ years of scout camp experience, I can tell that if you want to dig a, let's say, 2 meter deep hole (for latrines, for food storage, for waste food/water etc.), some information about the amount of rocks or clay would be really useful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other aspect in which it would help: if I get struck by 4-5 days of heavy rain, how would the campground behave? If the under layer is clay then it is different than some calcareous or sandy soil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, in the above cases, the useful information would be about the structure of the upper 2-3 meters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T13:37:56.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2017-04-12T15:43:25.687" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One practical use is to get an idea of how stable/chossy the rocks in a particular area are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From experience the orange (volcanic) rock type is much more unstable and more broken up. That makes it much harder to scramble up the mountains in the volcanic areas as opposed to the granite mountains in the pink areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing that can help plan a route and predict to some degree how difficult a scramble is going to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-04-12T15:43:25.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15869" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15870" CreationDate="2017-04-12T16:45:20.770" Score="6" ViewCount="19135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a cheap but relatively effective solid metal bowl-shaped fire pit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PZN3N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PZN3N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fire Pit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(football [soccer ball] provided for scale)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We sometimes have difficulty getting it lit - the smallest kindling takes well, but I think it doesn't burn hot (or long) enough for larger twigs to catch. I've been wondering if maybe a bit more airflow would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would you recommend drilling some airholes in the base of the pit? If so, any tips on size and/or location? Anything else I need to be careful of - such as integrity of the weatherproof paint?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12905" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:27:19.980" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:27:19.980" Title="Should I add holes to my fire pit/bowl?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15869" CreationDate="2017-04-12T17:11:56.560" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like you clean out and store your metal fire pit someplace after each use; there are no ashes in it, you don't have a hole to drain rain water, and the grass under it is green.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drilling holes will be areas for rust to form. While that is an option, it will quicken end of life as well as let embers fall through. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest you get a fire proof container like a metal coffee can, and place the ash and charcoal in the fire proof container.  Starting a fire on a bed of ash with some charcoal from the last fire, makes fire starting much easier.  The ash container should always be stored outside away from buildings and anything flammable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15877/camp-fire-starting-for-the-novice&quot;&gt;Camp fire starting for the novice?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13453/what-are-the-best-methods-to-clean-out-a-fire-pits-and-dispose-of-the-ash/15652#15652&quot;&gt;What are the best methods to clean out a fire pits and dispose of the ash?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T15:35:50.510" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T15:35:50.510" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15864" CreationDate="2017-04-13T07:26:22.017" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You certainly can, if the waist belt isn't high enough and tight enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I briefly worked at a small rock wall where among other duties I belayed and showed people how to put on a harness.  In my experience most newcomers don't (want to) fit the waist belt properly, and a significant fraction of regular climbers fail here too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The waist belt needs to sit above the hips, not around the hips, and certainly not falling off the butt as some find fashionable with pants.  It is not sufficient to casually tug at your harness and say &quot;look it doesn't slide down.&quot;  In a fall &lt;em&gt;forces many times body-weight&lt;/em&gt; can occur: the padding will compress, the textiles will stretch, and your body will deform.  The harness needs to hold &lt;em&gt;on the pelvis&lt;/em&gt; not on the buttocks or other fleshy bits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at images of the human skeleton: the thick part of the pelvis is at the top, the iliac crest. That is where the belt should hold.  If it slips (or starts) below that point only the projections of the femurs exist to catch it, and they are mobile and of insufficient dimension for the task.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T07:26:22.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15872" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15875" CreationDate="2017-04-13T08:20:27.183" Score="3" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15808/why-does-suspension-trauma-happen&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; I asked about &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;suspension trauma&lt;/a&gt; and why it's effects come to be. Apparently the main reason is reduced blood flow/ circulation. This is due to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;blood vessels being constrained/pressed on by the harness,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lack of movement in leg and feet muscles aggravating the problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question now is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How fast will suspension trauma happen?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How quickly does one have to react would one be confronted with such situation where a group member is suspended and cannot immediately self-rescue or be rescued?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia mentions: &quot;Onset of symptoms may be after just a few minutes, but usually occurs after at least 20 minutes of free hanging.&quot; 20 minutes doesn't seem a whole lot of time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point I'm getting at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long should we wait/try rescue until we &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to start using increasingly desperate measures to save the suspended persons life by getting them off the suspension?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In case this helps, let's assume the following hypothetical scenario: a party of 2 climbers on a multi-pitch climb. The weather is good and decently warm (i.e. no additional problems because of cold temperatures, winds, ...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.983" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T11:14:05.223" Title="How fast does suspension trauma happen?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15869" CreationDate="2017-04-13T08:32:53.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would work on a &lt;strong&gt;fire starting technique&lt;/strong&gt; which doesn't rely on airflow from holes in the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basically use any technique that you would use in an old-fashioned chimney or a campfire on flat ground - in both cases you have to make due without venting from directly below.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While creating holes would certainly help, it would also create problems:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ashes, embers, coals, etc. would fall through while using it. To avoid damaging whatever you use the fire bowl on you'd have to add some heat-resistant container to catch them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As @JamesJenkins mentioned, drilled holes will speed expose the non-coated core of the bowl, and thus allow for rust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least: you'd have to make quite a bunch of holes to get a lot of airflow, at least if you're not paying a lot of attention to fire starting/building technique. And if you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt;, I'd say there shouldn't be any air flow problems even without holes. :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T13:19:47.387" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T13:19:47.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15893" CreationDate="2017-04-13T09:04:26.060" Score="11" ViewCount="631" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently on one of the jungle trails we came across a colony of termites and we went ahead and tasted them (Bear Grylls style?). We did the same with the weaver ants which are quite common in the South Indian forests (these do taste good by the way!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know ants and termites are a rich source of protein. However, according to one of my friends they carry parasites which could harm human beings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wanted to know if we could end up in trouble with these kind of culinary adventures (we do not eat them as a primary source of food). Any precautions to be taken?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would love to know if any of you have done something similar as well :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T03:58:17.100" Title="Eating ants/termites on outdoor expeditions" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;ants&gt;&lt;termites&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15872" CreationDate="2017-04-13T09:39:39.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The wikipedia page you quote should be right, of course this may vary by situation and person. So The asnwer to &quot;how fast&quot; is &quot;about 20 minutes&quot;. &#xA;This is indeed not a whole lot of time. When it is clear that within the next few minutes the person can not be lowered to the ground by normal means, rescue should start immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the person is conscious, she/he should try to keep some movement of the legs, especially against some resistance, if ground is not avialable. A good thing would be a loop of webbing or rope, which is attached to the rope (e.g. via prussik) so that the person can actively stand in it (and change load between right and left leg).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An unconscious person has to be lowered to ground as fast as safely (and sanely) possible. Or, if achievable, pulled up. This is excessively more difficult, but could be the only option (how to pull someone up in such a situation I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15876/8864&quot;&gt;asked here&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is not immediately possible, anything which alleviates the problem at least a little bit is welcome:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the height differential between legs and torso is a main problem, so if the body can be brought in a more horizontal position this would help&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the constriction of the blood flow by the leg loops of the harness is another problem, so if something sturdy like a board is available, shoving it into the leg loops so that the person &quot;sits&quot; on it will help. The pressure in the leg tissue is so more evenly distributed which should improve blood flow a bit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After rescued to the ground, &lt;strong&gt;DON'T&lt;/strong&gt; lay the person completely down, keep her/him with the torso upright. The reason is to not to overwhelm the circulation system with a big volume of blood depleted of oxygen and also possibly enriched with buildup of other substances. This can otherwise lead to a situation called &quot;Bergungstod&quot; in Germany (death after rescue).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The rescuing person should always keep her own safety as top priority&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T12:48:00.420" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T11:14:05.223" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15876" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15881" CreationDate="2017-04-13T11:13:23.340" Score="7" ViewCount="888" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10323/how-do-i-rescue-someone-out-of-a-crevasse&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; made me wonder how one should be pulled up in a rescue situation, e.g. when lowering is not an option. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10324/8864&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; explains a Z-pulley when in an alpine/glacier environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm more interested how to solve this in a rock climbing environment. Is there a faster method than building a Z-pulley with a dedicated anchor? The person herself can be assumed to sit in a harness, and is in a stable position. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT from comments: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15585/how-do-you-set-up-a-z-pulley&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is a good description how a z-pulley works and is set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T18:58:52.953" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T00:27:43.980" Title="How to pull someone up in a rescue situation?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15877" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15948" CreationDate="2017-04-13T12:50:52.667" Score="11" ViewCount="745" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have several posts about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/fire&quot;&gt;fire&lt;/a&gt; most of them are about specific challenges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15869/should-i-add-holes-to-my-fire-pit-bowl&quot;&gt;recent question&lt;/a&gt; had myself and others searching for fire starting basics.  We don't seem to have a post about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does the novice need to know to start a camp fire? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a survival question.  The novice has sufficient seasoned dry wood, paper or other man made materials to start a fire.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:21:19.070" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T19:43:16.737" Title="Camp fire starting for the novice?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15877" CreationDate="2017-04-13T15:49:53.800" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, to start a fire you need to complete the fire triangle,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fire_triangle.svg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Fire_triangle.svg/220px-Fire_triangle.svg.png&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very beginning you will need some kind of starter that can create heat, like a lighter or magnifying glass or matches to get the first spark/flame going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you begin with things that have a lower &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoignition_temperature&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;autoignition temperature&lt;/a&gt; such as tinder or lighter fluid, and use that to light bigger pieces of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-13T16:46:11.777" LastActivityDate="2017-04-13T16:46:11.777" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15876" CreationDate="2017-04-14T00:27:43.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an ideal situation where you are using a belay device in guide mode off of the anchor, I would use a z-pulley, mostly because it would be so fast to set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider your position before setting it up,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h7s3v.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h7s3v.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;at this point all it takes to set up a 3:1 z-pulley is to attach a prussik onto the climber rope with a carabiner and clip the carabiner onto the belay strand like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CrdfR.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CrdfR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the prusik has gotten high enough that it you can no longer pull in rope, let the belay device hold the rope in guide mode, and reach down and push the prusik as far down the rope as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be rather slow since you can't pull in very much at one time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to consider is if it wouldn't be easier to lower the person instead of pulling them up the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could see this being used where you really need to get to the top and your follower is struggling to get past the crux of the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T00:27:43.980" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15853" CreationDate="2017-04-14T00:59:06.423" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like for mil spec (military specification) 550 parachute cord,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The paracord sheath is rated at about 300-pounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;14 inner strings, each of which has a rating of about 17.5 pounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7 strands made up of two strings each for a rating of 35 pounds.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wildernessinnovation.com/survival-supplies/survival-items/550-parachute-cord-mil-spec/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, if the cord in the question was milspec than each strand would be rated to 35 pounds. However, it can be difficult to say if your cord is actually milspec.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-13T00:23:54.263" LastActivityDate="2020-01-13T00:23:54.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15884" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15889" CreationDate="2017-04-14T17:52:16.190" Score="9" ViewCount="964" Body="&lt;p&gt;My yard gets overrun by mosquitoes every summer, due to there being a lot of woods and sitting water areas in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, many of these areas are outside of my yard, and/or protected, so I can't do anything about them. It gets so bad that I can't let my little girls play outside, as they'll instantly get assaulted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last summer I purchased a Flowtron bug zapper that claimed to cover an acre and a half. It did nothing (even with the mosquito scent packs), which is no surprise after the research I've done since then on how worthless bug zappers are for killing biting mosquitoes. Apparently they're attracted to very slight levels of CO2, however the CO2-based mosquito traps on the market seem to all get really bad reviews, stating that they do the job well when they work, but that they often break down. Since most of them are very expensive, this doesn't seem like a good option to pursue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there is some sort of simple device that can emit CO2 very slowly, and that I can place right by my bug zapper. Draw them in with the CO2 and then ZAP!! I'm not the most handy person in the world, can anyone think of a way that this could work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12922" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-17T10:33:49.517" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T21:46:37.170" Title="Is there some sort of portable slow CO2 emitter that can be used in conjunction with a bug zapper?" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15884" CreationDate="2017-04-14T19:08:27.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Burn an ordinary paraffin candle.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several claims floating around that describe how some well-intentioned people are actually &lt;em&gt;increasing&lt;/em&gt; their total CO2 emissions, by turning off their electric lights in favor of burning candles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most of these articles are politically motivated, it is hard to find neutral and scientifically sound sources.  What is clear is that burning candles definitely do emit CO2; how this compares to an electric bulb gets lost in the rhetoric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will refer you to our partners over at &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/8708/29604&quot;&gt;Skeptics SE&lt;/a&gt;, who have a thread about this topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T19:08:27.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2017-04-14T21:16:14.717" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a finish nail; the undamaged sign will slide off sometime in the future when it has long been forgotten, and the tree will have the smallest wound. I have watched a 16d galvanized finish nail, two inches proud, hold a painted tin can lid to a slow-growing tree for at least a couple of decades. Aluminum sounds like an even better material, if a long enough shank can be found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12924" LastActivityDate="2017-04-14T21:16:14.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15888" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15891" CreationDate="2017-04-15T00:01:56.583" Score="12" ViewCount="856" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband frequently walks at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachusett_Reservoir&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wachusett Reservoir&lt;/a&gt;, which spans a few towns in central Massachusetts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This past Sunday he was on his usual path, and saw something floating in the water which he hadn't seen before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a square (or perhaps a rectangle, it was hard to tell) structure built on logs which are notched a foot or so in from the edges. From his guess, it's at least three feet per side, if not more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The floor appears to be a plastic or rubber fencing with small square holes, wrapped tightly around the area of the logs inside their junction. He couldn't tell if stretches or not. Layered over that is a very thin mesh, the material of which he couldn't identify from his vantage point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's an arch of what looks like chicken wire rounded over the structure from one side to the opposite. It's open on both ends. About three quarters of the rounded part of the arch is covered in a dark green material. From the shore it looks like plastic, but he couldn't tell with certainty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A large section of the floor, though not the entire area, is covered with small brown twigs and piles of what look like old nesting materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's anchored a few feet away from the reedy-shore, but is tethered loosely so it rises and falls as the water moves.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this called, and what's its purpose?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pictures were taken with an inexpensive camera using the zoom feature, so they may not be completely clear. He was actually on a path up a hill at least ten feet away.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZrVGj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZrVGj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GACr4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GACr4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Actual view from the path&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:37:29.147" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:37:29.147" Title="What is this floating raft-like object in the waters of a reservoir in Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15884" CreationDate="2017-04-15T08:15:50.107" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can generate CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; with a mixture of &lt;strong&gt;yeast, sugar and water&lt;/strong&gt;, and there is scientific evidence for its effectiveness in attracting mosquitoes. Saitoh et al. (2004) tested the apparatus shown below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/izxkT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/izxkT.png&quot; alt=&quot;Yeast mosquito trap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They constructed it as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two plastic bottles (2-liter volume) were used to hold water solutions of sugar and yeast. The 2 bottles contained different concentrations of dry yeast and sugar: bottle A, 150 g of sugar + 12 g of dry yeast, and water added to total a volume of 1,500 ml; in bottle B, 100 g of sugar + 6 g of dry yeast, and water added to total a volume of 1,750 ml. Because bottle A contains a larger amount of dry yeast, the output rate of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; is higher and the length of supply period is shorter than in bottle B. By using the 2-bottle system, we could achieve the high output rate of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; as well as the long supply period. The bottles were connected to each other with polypropylene tubing and to a small (500-ml-volume) plastic bottle holding the overflowed water solution. Generated CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; was released from a 5-mm hole on the outer wall of the small bottle. For easy preparation of the water solution as well as cleaning, there were 3 joints in the connection tubing (Fig. l). The small bottle was hung close to the opening of a suction trap, similar in design to the CDC-light trap (Service 1993). It was made of 14-cm-long acrylic tubing with an inside diameter of 8.5 cm attached to a 3.0-V motor driving a three-bladed plastic fan powered by four 1.5-V dry batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can of course omit the suction trap and just hang the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; emitter near your existing trap, if you have one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The abstract summarizes the results:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The system could, at average, generate &lt;strong&gt;32.4 ml/min of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; for at least 27 h&lt;/strong&gt;. The total weight of the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; generated was estimated to be 94 g. &lt;strong&gt;The efficacy of yeast-generated CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; as attractant for mosquitoes was significant&lt;/strong&gt;, and the following 6 mosquito species were collected using yeast-generated CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; traps from July to September 2003 in a residential area of southern and northern Yokohama City, Japan: Aedes albopictus (Skuse), Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett), Culex halifaxii Theobald, Cx. pipiens pallens Coquillett, Ochlerotatus japonicus (Theobald), and Tripteroides bambusa (Yamada). Besides mosquitoes, various other insects were collected in the trap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My emphasis.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smallegange et al. (2010) used a similar yeast system and found:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Traps baited with yeast-produced CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; caught significantly more mosquitoes than unbaited traps (up to 34 h post mixing the ingredients) and also significantly more than traps baited with industrial CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, both in the laboratory and semi-field. Adding yeast-produced CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; to traps baited with human odour significantly increased trap catches. In the MalariaSphere, outdoor traps baited with yeast-produced or industrial CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; + human odour reduced house entry of mosquitoes with a human host sleeping under a bed net indoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My emphasis.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Saitoh, Y., Hattori, J., Chinone, S., Nihei, N., Tsuda, Y., Kurahashi, H., &amp;amp; Kobayashi, M. (2004). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/content/part/JAMCA/JAMCA_V20_N3_P261-264.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yeast-generated CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; as a convenient source of carbon dioxide for adult mosquito sampling&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association&lt;/em&gt;, 20(3), 261–264.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smallegange, R. C., Schmied, W. H., van Roey, K. J., Verhulst, N. O., Spitzen, J., Mukabana, W. R., &amp;amp; Takken, W. (2010). &lt;a href=&quot;http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/223/art%253A10.1186%252F1475-2875-9-292.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fmalariajournal.biomedcentral.com%2Farticle%2F10.1186%2F1475-2875-9-292&amp;amp;token2=exp=1492244185~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F223%2Fart%25253A10.1186%25252F1475-2875-9-292.pdf*~hmac=ef9cd5d7cf7ea8d39b91cdc8d821adfe277aca28cd329efdc741c4818224fe4c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sugar-fermenting yeast as an organic source of carbon dioxide to attract the malaria mosquito &lt;em&gt;Anopheles gambiae&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Malaria journal&lt;/em&gt;, 9(1), 292.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-04-18T07:54:01.510" LastActivityDate="2017-04-18T07:54:01.510" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15888" CreationDate="2017-04-15T10:05:02.210" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks very similar to a bird nesting facility I've seen before in nature reserves. Purpose: allow for safe nesting for (probably a specific, possible endangered, species of) birds. Safe, because it is not attached to the land so some predators won't be able to reach it. Not sure if there is an official name for it. Also I've seen similar looking devices which were rather meant for feeding but because this one already has dry grass which looks like it was put there by people I suspect it's meant for nesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;edit&lt;/em&gt; as Kate points out in the comments, these might very well be loon nesting platforms. Sources like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loon.org/nest-rafts.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; shed extra light on the reason they are used. Not just for protection against predators but also against changes in water level (often human-induced) and simply because there might not be enough good nesting opportunities anymore (again, usually due to humans).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastEditorUserId="11817" LastEditDate="2017-04-17T06:40:07.560" LastActivityDate="2017-04-17T06:40:07.560" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15888" CreationDate="2017-04-16T14:39:39.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just thought to expand the topic a little more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is pictured in Sue's question is floating nest for birds. There are a number of birds that prefer the safety of raising their young away from the shore because of predators. Ideally they are not attached to land and are anchored in order to keep it that way. Although floating nest platforms are accessible to predators, a determined pair may successfully defend their young from being attacked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While some find geese to be a nuisance, others enjoy watching and feeding the birds or hunting them for sport. Since the large birds breed and raise their young near natural fresh water sources, a floating nest platform will attract more geese to your lake or pond. You can make a floating nest for geese using some common hardware items and cedar wood poles and planks. Cedar wood is preferred over other types of wood because it is naturally water resistant and doesn't contain treatment paints or chemicals that could contaminate fresh water. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://sciencing.com/build-goose-nesting-box-8567804.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Build a Goose Nesting Box&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one desires to get fancy, here are a few examples of the luxurious models as I call them: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lwbcreations.com/modules.php%3Fset_albumName%3Dalbum02%26op%3Dmodload%26name%3DGallery%26file%3Dindex%26include%3Dview_album.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Duck &amp;amp; Goose Nesting Boxes and Floating Nesting Platforms&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FTP8S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FTP8S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aged Copper Roof 5&amp;#39; diagonal Gazebo with mother goose sitting on the nest&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aged Copper Roof 5' diagonal Gazebo with mother goose sitting on the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IZFB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IZFB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wild Canadian Goose with goslings just hatched! Photo from client in Sacramento, CA&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild Canadian Goose with goslings just hatched! Photo from client in Sacramento, CA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loons also use these floating nests as seen below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I7Pj1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I7Pj1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Loon Nesting Rafts&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loon.org/nest-rafts.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Loon Nesting Raft&lt;/a&gt; Being put out to water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pHgB6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pHgB6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Loon Nesting Rafts&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loon.org/nest-rafts.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Loon Nesting Raft&lt;/a&gt; with a loon in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://maineaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DeSorboRaft.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guidelines for Constructing and Deploying a Loon Nesting Raft&lt;/a&gt;, with illustrations and a materials list, from the Maine Audubon Society.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many books have this now famous way of constructing a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org/Building_Nest_Boxes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada Goose Nest Platform&lt;/a&gt; with an anchor. I learned this one some 15 years back or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are various types of nesting structures that will attract&#xA;  Canada geese including a floating structure as described below. Cut&#xA;  the material as shown and nail boards onto pole sections. Attach a&#xA;  washtub or 10&quot; high section of 55 gallon drum to the platform. Drill&#xA;  drain holes through bottom of tub and cut an escape hatch 6&quot; wide&#xA;  and 4&quot; high just under the top of the tub. This is for young geese to&#xA;  exit the tub. Paint the tub an earth tone color and fill 1/3 full with&#xA;  nesting materials such as grass or hay. Anchor the platform in 2-4 ft.&#xA;  of water. &lt;strong&gt;Nesting structures should be at least 200 yards apart if&#xA;  they are in view of one another&lt;/strong&gt;. This will prevent territorial conflicts. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org/Building_Nest_Boxes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada Goose Nest Platform&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And what about predators?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Canada geese are highly adaptable and will nest in&#xA;  a variety of locations. In many areas, islands,&#xA;  muskrat houses and homemade nesting structures&#xA;  provide safe nest sites. Where these are not&#xA;  available, they will often nest in marsh vegetation,&#xA;  shoreline points or on upland sites where predators&#xA;  may find and destroy the eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Canada geese usually lay five or six eggs (occasionally&#xA;  seven). The gander does not incubate the&#xA;  eggs but remains close at hand guarding the female.&#xA;  Incubation period is 28 days, and after the young are&#xA;  hatched both the gander and the goose take care of&#xA;  them. Canada geese will aggressively defend their&#xA;  nest and young, often attacking intruders by striking&#xA;  hard blows with their wings. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://library.ndsu.edu/tools/dspace/load/?file=/repository/bitstream/handle/10365/17381/WL-910-1986.pdf?sequence=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Homemade Nest Sites for Giant Canada Geese&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-16T19:34:56.330" LastActivityDate="2017-04-16T19:34:56.330" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15851" CreationDate="2017-04-17T15:15:10.480" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &quot;reeds&quot; (or whatever they are) are very tall. Taller than&#xA;  phragmites...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find this statement a little hard to swallow, considering &lt;em&gt;Phragmites australis&lt;/em&gt; subsp. &lt;em&gt;australis&lt;/em&gt; can reach heights as high as 5m (16 ft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my first question would be, &quot;Are you &lt;em&gt;sure&lt;/em&gt; what you're looking at isn't a Phragmite?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Phragmites australis:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3DudF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3DudF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the pictures provided, it's difficult to identify what we're looking at without being able to closely examine it's leaves, or it's seed clusters (often not present when it's dead and brown), but if I had to take a stab at it, if it's not &lt;em&gt;Phragmites&lt;/em&gt; something, then I'd guess it could be &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://digitallibrary.uleth.ca/cdm/search/collection/herbarium/searchterm/Spartina%20/order/nosort&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spartina&lt;/a&gt; cynosuroides&lt;/em&gt;, which is a native marsh grass to the East Coast and grows to over 10ft tall. It's common name is &lt;strong&gt;big cordgrass&lt;/strong&gt;, or &lt;strong&gt;salt reedgrass&lt;/strong&gt;, because it typically grows in more saline waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spartina cynosuroides:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qPz3Z.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qPz3Z.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a hand in developing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitallibrary.uleth.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/herbarium&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of Lethbridge Online Herbarium&lt;/a&gt;. We just so happen to have a sample of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://digitallibrary.uleth.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/herbarium/id/22808/rec/1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Phragmites australis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; that was obtained from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/research/herbarium&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of Massachusetts&lt;/a&gt;, if you want to check it out. The Herbarium may be useful to you in your future endeavours of plant identification as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-17T21:46:53.313" LastActivityDate="2017-04-17T21:46:53.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15874" CreationDate="2017-04-17T17:04:21.820" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Weaver Ants (as well as Weaver Ant Larvae) are apparently one of the best insects humans can consume.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_ant#As_food_and_medicine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Weaver ants are one of the most valued types of insects eaten by humans (entomophagy). In addition to being used as a biological control agent to increase plant production, weaver ants can be utilized directly as a protein and food source since the ants (especially the ant larvae) are edible for humans and high in protein and fatty acids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Termites are also highly edible.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite#As_food&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; for termites states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;43 termite species are used as food by humans or are fed to livestock. These insects are particularly important in less developed countries where malnutrition is common, as the protein from termites can help improve the human diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for if they can be harmful to you, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://actiontermitecontrol.com/are-termites-harmful-to-humans/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this webpage&lt;/a&gt;, termites have not be known to carry harmful diseases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Termites may bite and sting, but these wounds are not toxic. Termites are not known to carry diseases harmful to humans, either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't find much about Weaver Ants containing any parasites, but I have found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/070117/red-weaver-ants-are-antibacterial.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an article&lt;/a&gt; stating that consuming them can actually rid you of certain pathogens such as dysentery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering how widely consumed Weaver Ants are in certain countries, and that 43 termite species have been found to be used as food, I would say that given the amount you are eating, you should experience no illness, especially if you prepare them by cooking them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T03:58:17.100" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T03:58:17.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="31" CreationDate="2017-04-17T20:02:55.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chemically, they're very different, having to do with carbon chain lengths, the discussion about which will not help you decide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@WedaPashi gave an awesome answer, so, I'll add to it by saying this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you must know your stove; I assume you're asking about backpacking stoves who use jets, not generators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, the denser fuels (us-kero/uk-paraffin, diesel) require smaller jet holes and shorter jets, which carburate with a lower air mix, whereas the medium fuels (coleman/white gas, gasoline/petrol, aviation fuel) use a slightly larger jet hole, and a slightly longer jet which allows more air mixture.  Finally, the lightest fuels (propane, butane, and mixes of each) require larger holes and longest jets, as these fuels are under higher pressures and mix more with air.  The reasoning has to do with needing more oxygen to combine with denser chains in the fuels, and you need more oxygen for the lighter fuels.  That doesn't help you choose a stove, it just explains the differences, which answers the first part of your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you need to know local ordinances or laws. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, some places forbid use of liquid gas (white gas, gasoline, diesel, kero, alcohol, etc) and prefer you to use LG - propane or butane - or fuel tabs (or wood).  Places with high water tables or many waterways tend not to allow these liquid fuels, to mitigate the danger of a spill.  Others forbid use of canisters, due to litter concerns.  And you may be subject to rules within your group - the boy scouts, for example - who explicitly forbid use of alcohol, due to the fact that it burns too cleanly, and flames are difficult to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So from a practical point of view, the heavier fuels (white gas, gasoline, diesel, kero) is best (or required) used in cold weather.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, cost could also be a factor in your choice of stove.  Prices for each tend to favor the canisters, as you can get cheap butane stoves for about $8 from Etekcity, which are surprisingly durable, light, and - oddly - almost too small.  They fit inside the concave impression at the bottom of the fuel canister.  The heavy gas stoves by Optimus and MSR are quite durable also, and tend to have the ability to burn a variety of different fuels, but they cost $100 and up - the new optimus optiful cost $180 and literally burns anything except alcohol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, consider the safety and cleanliness of the fuels you'll be burning.  If your stove burns white gas (coleman) it will also burn gasoline (petrol) and aviation fuel.  If your stove burns kerosene (paraffin) it will generally burn diesel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that doesn't mean you should burn all these fuels: gasoline/petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel - they're notoriously poisonous and dirty.  Gas/petrol is also explosive, and if you spill it, you're gonna smell it for days - it won't evaporate away due to the mixtures added to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kerosene is also a dirty fuel, but once it gets started, it burns relatively cleanly.  So, you should prime these stoves with alcohol to mitigate the soot build up.  However, kero is an extremely stable fuel and isn't as flammable as the others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still deciding on a stove or fuel?  The stove mechanics also makes a difference.  For the multi-fuel stoves, you almost always have to change the jets.  Kero/diesel, gas/coleman, propane/butane are the three jets you'll need.  But here I question the need for such a stove: carry what you need for the fuel you'll need.  If you think you need to burn everything, then by all means, bring all the jets and tools to exchange the jets, but that makes the trip a little more complicated.  (Unless you go with the expensive Optimus Optifuel, which requires NO jet changes).  But you still have to worry about clogged jets, and field maintenance on these delicate things can be a menace.  One lost part, and you're screwed.  My advice is to bring the stove with least amount of fuels you'll need and can bring.  Don't bring the one which can burn aviation fuel if you won't be anywhere near an airport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, in an emergency, you can always burn a wood fire, no matter the stove which ran out of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, this is a great read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bushwalkingnsw.org.au/clubsites/FAQ/FAQ_StovesTech.htm#Jets&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FAQ - Technical details on Stoves&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:  More reading material:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/question1051.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What's the difference between gasoline, kerosene, diesel, etc?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.refinerlink.com/blog/how_refiners_decide_gasoline_vs_distillates_2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Refiners Decide to Make Gasoline vs Distillates&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKk8D296MLM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pure naphta (Coleman fuel) vs Unleaded petrol&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hesreport.sunocoinc.com/fw/main/Naphtha-to-Gasoline-120C728.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naphtha to Gasoline &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2017-04-18T14:42:24.393" LastActivityDate="2017-04-18T14:42:24.393" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15884" CreationDate="2017-04-17T23:40:25.633" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Philippines. A 1 litter bottle. Cut of top, insert in bottle. Like a funnel. Sugar water a pinch of yeast does work. Or set near light zapper.  So very cheap to make.  Mint oil. Contact with mint oil is deadly to all mosquitoes. So they avoid that sent.  A oil lamp with mint oil burning will repel mosquitoes. What I use in the Philippines when setting out on the porch at night. Set the oil lamp near the ground slightly upwind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-04-17T23:40:25.633" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15896" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-18T14:59:20.023" Score="5" ViewCount="299" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to do the Laugavegur Trek in Iceland this summer (rain and snow can be expected) and need to buy a tent. I read a few articles on what to consider while buying a tent and got confused because there are so many variables. So I decided to write my requirements here and see if someone can give me an advise.&#xA;My budget is 100-150 euros (100-160 USD) maximum. I know its not a lot of money and I would get what I pay for but I would like to use the tent for many years &lt;strong&gt;if possible&lt;/strong&gt;.I like to go trekking or camping once or twice a year in the mountains during summer time. So light snow and medium to heavy showers can be expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most confusing thing for me is the water resistance level. I am&#xA;not sure what ratings I need. May be some one with actual experience can help. &#xA;Is 2000 mm good enough or should I go for a higher number like 5000 mm. The problem&#xA;is that some tents are rated 2000 mm while other in the same price&#xA;group are rated 3000 to 5000 mm. So I don't know which one to buy. Is the importance given only to resistance level or is there a quality concern. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What happens if I buy a good brand with lower water resistance (2000mm) will it be good enough for my requirements or i need a higher level?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for some practical advice. What actually matters while you are facing heavy showers or does a high water resistance level actually help if its occasional camping or how important is it to have a storage compartment etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a really good tent with floor resistance of 3000mm and top resistance of 2000 mm but I can't find any reviews for it online. Then there is another option for 1/3rd the price with almost similar specifications. So I don't know how the price cut affects the performance.&#xA;I don't want to spend hundreds of euros buying a really awesome tent while the same purpose (of occasional camping) can be served by a cheaper option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6545" LastEditorUserId="6545" LastEditDate="2017-04-19T10:06:23.340" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T13:22:01.723" Title="Confusion in selecting a tent, too many variables" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15896" CreationDate="2017-04-19T14:20:04.593" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to answer your question about &lt;strong&gt;water column&lt;/strong&gt;, which is generally given in XY millimeters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might sound surprising, but generally you can almost ignore the values given by the tent manufacturers. Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How waterproof a tent is doesn't only depend on 2000 vs 5000mm of potential water pressure, but also about &lt;strong&gt;its shape&lt;/strong&gt;. Meaning certain types of tents (e.g. when the fabric is at a steeper angle) will need a lot less water resistance to be essentially waterproof than, say, a tarp that is installed horizontally.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And because you can't often properly compare the different tent shapes, it can be very hard to compare waterproofness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice: Go to your trusted local outdoor store, explain them your requirements and your limitations (money, ...) and they will give you some good suggestions on what you could buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to look into different variables that will affect your enjoyment of the tent a lot more that how many mm of water column its fabric can withstand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight&lt;/strong&gt; is a huge issue in tents, especially when you plan on carrying them (trekking). The problem here is that the lighter the tent, the more expensive it gets - and with 100-150 Euros you won't get far...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Size&lt;/strong&gt; matters. Not everyone has the same requirements here, so think about how much room you need to feel comfortable. Also think about how many ppl you want to bring, how big your packs are, if you want to be able to cook inside (only do this with the right equipment!), etc. Of course bigger means heavier, so there is a tradeoff here...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How &lt;strong&gt;sturdy&lt;/strong&gt; it is will mainly define how many seasons/outings your tent will be usable... Judging this can be very hard though, so I suggest you search for reviews online or (again) ask your local outdoor store for advice. Sturdiness will of course also mean your tent can withstand wind and weather better/longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;shape&lt;/strong&gt; or your tent will have a big impact on size-per-weight and on the tents stability. Very generally speaking: dome tents are the most stable but heaviest, tunnel tents are often the lightest (for their size).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-04-20T07:09:45.813" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T07:09:45.813" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1549" CreationDate="2017-04-19T17:49:30.143" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to see someone throw a 1/64 oz trout magnet for trout, crappie, bluegill, perch, rock bass etc from a baitcaster accurately over and over. Trust me, I've tried it while my kids use all my spinning setups. If you do all sorts of fishing and only have the cash for one type of set-up, get yourself a spinning reel + rod. If you only fish for muskie/pike or big catfish get a big 5500 series baitcaster(i.e. Ambassadeur) which are way easier to cast(once you know how to use it) without backlashes than the smaller ones designed for bass, I have a small AG revo sx that is nice, does cast a little farther and retrieves faster but other than that I dont see many advantages, you can be just as accurate with a spinner, I often get out on dams on the rocks to hit holes, it's much easier to fish vertically with a spinning set up, I've pulled my largest walleye out of deep holes in rocks close to dams&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12949" LastActivityDate="2017-04-19T17:49:30.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15903" CreationDate="2017-04-19T18:24:21.113" Score="14" ViewCount="794" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, I have one large backpack and if I end up going for a much shorter trip, say for 3 days instead of 2+ weeks, I am going to end up with empty space in the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a stability and comfort point of view, am I better off leaving the side compression straps completely undone until I am completely packed resulting in a pack that is short and fat, or should I pack it with the side straps partly taken in so that the backpack ends up being taller and thinner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-19T18:33:28.423" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T21:46:20.320" Title="If I have extra space in a backpack, am I better packing it short and fat or tall and thin?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15902" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-19T21:21:05.560" Score="2" ViewCount="71" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a home made snare that when tightened, causes a weight of 14.5LB to fall, pulling the snare loop closed and towards a chain link bolted to the ground so that the animal will be pushed against that point and the weight will hopefully choke it quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, is 14.5LB enough weight to keep the animal down? It's a fairly big raccoon, and the ground is dirt which it might dig into. I am wondering if it could lift some of the weight with its paws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional Information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The weight falls about a yard. Its enough to where the snare closes and is brought to the point and there is still more room after its pulled against the point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I know it will close around the racoon's neck because I set it 3 inches above the ground and about 6 - 8in diameter. Also, racoons always walk with their head in front of their paws.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pets are not an issue where I live.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The way I set the trap, and the location I set it there is no way for a limb to get caught in the trap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a setup similar to mine except that a bent tree is used to provide the pull and their is not point that the closed snare is pulled against:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LuiCh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LuiCh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;snare&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="6384" LastEditDate="2017-04-20T19:34:59.243" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T19:34:59.243" Title="Power Snare Is a 14.5 LB weight enough to kill a racoon?" Tags="&lt;trapping&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15900" CreationDate="2017-04-20T00:50:07.353" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prefer to pack tall (not much above shoulders though) and thin for better weight distribution and balance, easier maneuvering though bush and general freedom of movement. I find short and fat tends to put weight too far behind you, and makes the pack unbalanced. It also encourages sloppy packing of the pack, and the light weight (compared to longer trips) means I pay for being  a little less disciplined than needed....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in this situation, I pull in the lower compression straps, pack the pack and once packed, pull in the top ones. First pack before the trip I maight unpack a few times to get them just right, but after a few trips, you get pretty good as guessing just how much you need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T00:50:07.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15906" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15911" CreationDate="2017-04-20T04:30:47.497" Score="12" ViewCount="832" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Explanation of why my question is not a duplicate of&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/319/what-is-the-best-way-to-store-my-tent&quot;&gt;What is the best way to store my tent?&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I am specifically asking about an aspect not addressed in the earlier question or any of its answers: does prolonged storage (several years, not several months) in its stuff sack without ever taking it out affect the lifetime of a tent?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have two tents, one smaller than the other; we use the smaller one when we expect mostly fine weather.  We use the larger tent only when the likelihood of bad weather is high. Thus, the larger tent may remain in its sack for more than a year.  Once, after prolonged storage, the rainfly failed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it likely that keeping the tent in its stuffsack for a couple of years was the cause of the failure, and that its exposure to UV over its years of use made it really inadvisable to store it this way?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-04-21T19:26:59.657" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T16:32:13.407" Title="Should one store a tent loose for prolonged periods between uses to maximize its lifetime?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15906" CreationDate="2017-04-20T07:17:51.777" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Storing tents follows the same rules as storing anything basically, with a couple of important additions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep away from &lt;strong&gt;sunlight&lt;/strong&gt;. UV radiation will damage many materials after extended exposure, so keep you tent away from direct sun light when you store it for months. Obviously short term (weeks) exposure isn't a problem, as that's what tents are made for...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Store it &lt;strong&gt;dry&lt;/strong&gt;. By far the most important one: when your tent isn't perfectly dry when packing it in, make sure you unpack it later to let it dry completely, even if that means spreading it in your living room or garage...  If kept moist the tent fabric will form mould. Apart from being nasty and potentially very unhealthy, mould will also attack the &lt;em&gt;coating&lt;/em&gt; of the tent fabric, reducing its waterproofness.  &#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In case this ever happens: the Nylon fabric itself shouldn't be broken down by the mould so will probably be ok. You should be able to reapply the coating (or have your trusted outdoor store do it for you) and regain at least some of the tents former water resistance properties...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid excessive &lt;strong&gt;temperature changes&lt;/strong&gt;. If possible store the tent at more or less the same temperature... From my experience storing it in the attic is ok, but I would not, for example, store it outside over an entire year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Case in point: I've been using a tunnel tent (similar to the &lt;em&gt;Hilleberg&lt;/em&gt; ones, but a less known brand) for more than 12 years. The tent has been used on easily some total of 12 weeks of proper outdoor treks (mainly northern Scandinavia) and on dozens festivals all over Europe. It still serves me well and the only thing I ever had to fix was one of the zippers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-04-20T15:23:44.570" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T15:23:44.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15909" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15912" CreationDate="2017-04-20T15:16:41.643" Score="6" ViewCount="11790" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many many years ago me and my brothers used to go rabbit hunting with air-rifles. I was pretty young TBH and the details are not sharp in my mind. It occurred to me that the .22 calibre air-rifle that we we're using at the time wasn't very powerful. Would this even kill a rabbit cleanly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK this is pretty much the most powerful gun (there's .175 air rifles too) you can get without a license. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I wanted to go hunting today would this rifle by adequate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What weight pellet should I be looking for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What muzzle velocity would be adequate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How close would I need to get?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T02:29:44.957" LastActivityDate="2021-02-22T12:06:06.937" Title="Is a .22 air-rifle powerful enough for a clean kill of a rabbit?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15900" CreationDate="2017-04-20T15:32:07.950" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neither. It's important to pack your bag so that it is &lt;strong&gt;balanced&lt;/strong&gt;. If you pack it too tall, you're going to be top heavy and using your core a lot to keep you balance. If you pack it low and fat, then you're going to be hunched over because your bag is going to be pulling you back. You want to pack your bag so that when it's sitting on the ground, it falls forward. You accomplish this by putting your bulky things in the bottom, then your heavy things closest to your body up behind your shoulder blades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an 80L single compartment bag that I will often take on weekend trips. When I pack it, I adjust the straps so that it emulates a 50L bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't make your bag too tall, or too fat. Pack it so that its all proportionate to the size of the bag you would need for the amount of gear you're carrying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T15:32:07.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15906" CreationDate="2017-04-20T18:55:13.617" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A key part of your question -- &quot;...in its stuff sack...&quot; -- is not addressed here (or in the original, duplicate question).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I bought my first high-quality back-packing tent, I was advised not to store it stuffed into its sac for long periods. It seems perfectly logical to me to &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; store &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; &quot;crushable&quot; gear into its &quot;carrying sac&quot; for long periods for fear of having too many wrinkles and creases permanently imposed upon the material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently had an airbed, that was stored in its carry sac, annoyingly crack along such an unnatural stressed fold. Lucky for me it was a cheapo. I keep my more expensive air bed almost completely self-inflated. I keep my tents and sleeping bags in &quot;storage sacs&quot; that are each about double the size of their carrying sacs. That seems to be a good compromise between fully compressed and fully unwrapped; I don't have endless closet space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To effect a double-size sac for your tent and fly: get another carry-sized sac of similar size and store the tent and fly separately in the two separate sacs. Each will be reasonably compact and airy at the same time. Such a setup for my tent has lasted over 20 years so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went from this storage sac&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; __________&#xA;(          )&#xA;( squashed )&#xA;(tent &amp;amp; fly)&#xA;(__________)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;to these storage sacs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; __________      __________&#xA;(          )    (          )&#xA;( relaxed  )    ( relaxed  )&#xA;(   tent   )    (   fly    )&#xA;(__________)    (__________)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T18:55:13.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15909" CreationDate="2017-04-20T19:04:34.470" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like because you are in the UK, there is a power restriction, which means that you can either go high velocity, lightweight pellet or a low velocity heavy pellet. If that restriction wasn't there, more power would make for cleaner kills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of calibre, all standard air rifles are &lt;strong&gt;restricted in power output to a maximum of 12 ft/lb.&lt;/strong&gt; Whether they are pre-charged or spring-powered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A full-power legal .177 rifle firing an 8.5-gr pellet at around 800fps, or a .22 air rifle firing a 16-gr pellet at around 580fps would be perfectly capable of killing a rabbit at normal ranges up to 35-40 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/air-rifles/could-you-advise-on-the-best-air-rifles-for-shooting-rabbits-20824#mW0zJzPhxH7WBDth.99&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how close, that depends more on how good a shot you are. What I would do is make a circle that is the size of a rabbit's head on a target, and then see from how far away you can consistently hit it. I would doubt that it would be over 50 yards if that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T19:04:34.470" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15909" CreationDate="2017-04-20T19:23:06.760" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used a .177 caliber air rifle with a 1200 fps muzzle velocity to kill rabbits. It is a very quick and clean kill if you hit them in the kill zone. Their hide is incredibly weak compared to larger animals, so you can even get away with longer shots. I have personally killed them up to 30 meters, but I don't think that was the limit of that gun. I have seen rabbits killed with .177 caliber air rifles down to 600 fps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12002" LastEditorUserId="12002" LastEditDate="2017-04-20T23:01:13.593" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T23:01:13.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="656" CreationDate="2017-04-20T20:16:37.610" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think first you need to know what you want to do with it. I'd put rope into three main categories based on thickness: disposable rope, like thin sisal, medium general purpose rope with a breaking strength of a few hundred kg, and climbing rope, which is generally rated for breaking at 2000 kg, or 20 kN. The heavier ropes can do anything the lighter categories can do, but they're much bulkier and heavier to lug around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you're only going to be tying shelters together, tie a tarp up, maybe a washing line, stuff where you don't need strength or grip, grap a few dozen meters of sisal or cheap cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you mostly plan on making rafts, lowering gear down a cliff or getting it across a stream dry, using rope in emergency first aid (pressure bandage, splint, tourniquet if absolutely necessary), tug small boats, tie lots of stuff down on a car/bicycle/donkey or even carry people on your back in an improvised backpack fashion the medium rope is the best choice. Paracord is a good option, as is prusik rope or, quite possibly my personal favorite, some flat webbing, about 15 mm, coarse weave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But while those ropes are strong enough to hold a person, they will not catch a falling one. The medium rope will break on you while climbing. In a real emergency, with a light climber, keeping the line tight, maybe using several ropes braided together, maybe. But if you plan on climbing, bring the real stuff. Same for if you want to be able to tow vehicles (an actual tow cable or a winch setup is still better of course, but this will generally work if you're careful) or do any other real heavy lifting. 1 inch tubular webbing, either climb spec of mil spec, is awesome stuff for a lot of applications. Its limitation is that it will only reliably catch a grown person falling up to about 2 meters. Above that you need dynamic rope. When you're climbing up a cliff putting in your own anchor points, dynamic climbing rope. But for something like abseiling or top-roping static ropes are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major downside is that for many of the applications that require real strong rope, you need a lot of it. Especially for climbing a few dozen meters of rope is not too much of a luxury. Most of the medium strength stuff can be done with a few meters of rope, and the lightest knotting you can do with any rope often requires no more than scraps. At the same time, 50 meters of thin sisal easily fits in your pocket, being the size of maybe 4 meters of medium strength rope or just 1 of the heavy stuff. So if you're not going to use a &quot;tier&quot; or functions, for instance because you don't know how or you don't see how it would be useful in your situation, don't pack for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T20:16:37.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15906" CreationDate="2017-04-20T20:49:54.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is just based on personal experience. I have two tents, one small backpacking tent, and a large tent I call my basecamp tent. Both are stored in the compression sacks they came with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 'basecamp' tent is rarely used, it was stored in my loft for a good four years between uses. On the last use it was abysmal weather but held up as if new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After every use I make sure both my tents are dry and clean before storage. If they are going to be stored for a long time also re-waterproofed and all the seals cared for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tl:Dr So long as they are dry, clean, and stored in a cool dry place out of the sun; storing a tent all compressed together has never given me an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2017-04-20T20:49:54.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15918" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-20T23:03:10.920" Score="9" ViewCount="284" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apologies for the word problem. I'm sure there's a simple solution or two, but I'm trying to work out a real world scenario. We used to indoor top rope belay but that was years ago in boy Scouts so our rock climbing knowledge is incomplete and rusty. We've fished this area for years without needing rescue equipment but as everyone gets older and with the level of parkour required to fish this creek, I feel it's time to be more prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likely scenario: pair of fisherman radio for help with sprained/broken ankle. Unable to follow creek rest of the way to the exit point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worst case scenario: single fisherman misses 15 minute radio check-in. Assume unconscious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Environment: single lane (shared w/ oncoming traffic) mountain road follows creek being fished. Approximately 5 miles between entry/exit points. Road can be as much as 50 feet above creek and incline can be as steep as sheer cliff face though it's usually a sharp incline with near unclimbable shifting gravel. 1 hour drive from cell service, another 1 hour drive to Gunnison hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rescue team: pickup truck with two adults. We'll drive up till we spot fisherman. Probably anchor to the truck or nearby pine trees, blocking the road for other campers/fisherman. Alternate route for them would be a 5 hour drive around so I believe blocked traffic will wait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question: What gear should we prep for potential emergency rescue? I'm assuming this is similar to crevasse rescue without ice picks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12961" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T09:35:42.863" Title="Fisherman rescue, what gear is required?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2017-04-21T00:58:07.610" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest way that I can think of is to have all of the fishermen carry a climbing harness and enough gear that they could ascend the rope. Have two climbing ropes in the truck, one for use and one for backup and if a a fisherman needs help getting up the cliff, anchor the rope, toss the end down to the fisherman and have them pull themselves out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they need extra assistance, you can set up a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15585/how-do-you-set-up-a-z-pulley&quot;&gt;z-pulley&lt;/a&gt; and help pull them up the cliff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your worst case scenario, I would carry a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_board&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;spinal board&lt;/a&gt; in your truck and get the training to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T00:58:07.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2017-04-21T06:58:25.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Croatia:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Generally, it's prohibited anywhere to camp (strictly prohibited in national parks). Not even if landowner gives you a permission. Camping is allowed only in camps that have permission for that business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, law says that local authorities can allow camping in some areas during specific events.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to do wild camping in Croatia outside of tourist regions, as long as you don't do any damage to your surroundings, they will NEVER try to fine you. In most cases they will even ask if you need any help...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12963" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T06:58:25.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5803" CreationDate="2017-04-21T10:50:11.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Practice swimming at a local pool regularly, so that you know your capacity, strength, endurance, and technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you swim across a river, you can swim diagonal to the current in an attempt to offset the push downstream. A big part of swimming across rivers is psychological: accept that you are going to go downstream to some extent, no matter how strong a swimmer you are, and if you surrender to this fact the whole experience is much more relaxed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12964" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T10:50:11.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2017-04-21T12:00:45.673" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you are properly trained in rope rescue techniques I would not advise attempting a rescue unless it is pretty clear that the casualty is in immediate danger.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue here is that a sprained ankle is not going to immediately kill anyone however a botched attempt to winch them up a cliff very well could. As soon as you start they are in a significantly more dangerous situation than they were at the bottom and if they suddenly deteriorate it is much more difficult to stabilise their condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also set yourself up for legal liability. If someone is climbing they take responsibility for the fact that they are undertaking a dangerous activity. By contrast in an amateur rescue attempt the casualty may not be in a position to give informed consent for what you are trying to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much better is to make sure you have the equipment to contact the emergency services reliably as well as satellite phones there are various beacon systems designed for exactly this sort of situation. Similarly up to date first aid training and equipment to stabilise a casualty untill help arrives is probably a better investment of effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you did get training in rope rescue techniques, unless that is backed up by a degree of experience and regular practice there is a good chance that you will make a dangerous mistake in the heat of the moment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the worst case is that you have a casualty with a suspected spinal injury (which seems a distinct possibility in the scenario you describe) in which case you don't want to move them at all unless it is to get them out of real imminent danger &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be that the local fire or ambulance service can give you some more detailed advice which takes into account the facilities available in the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-04-21T15:49:38.380" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T15:49:38.380" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15909" CreationDate="2017-04-21T12:21:45.227" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was young, we would hunt both rabbits and grouse with a .177 caliber air rifle and found them fine for hunting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We made it a point of using pointed pellets while hunting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rMm4O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rMm4O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A selection of .22 pointed pellets: RWS Superpoint, Beeman Silver Sting, Beeman Silver Arrow and ARS Cobra.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A selection of .22 pointed pellets&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/RWS_Superpoint_Extra_22_Cal_14_5_Grains_Pointed_500ct/231&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RWS Superpoint&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/Beeman_Silver_Sting_22_Cal_15_74_Grains_Pointed_200ct/456&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beeman Silver Sting&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/Beeman_Silver_Arrow_22_Cal_17_13_Grains_Pointed_200ct/321&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beeman Silver Arrow&lt;/a&gt; and ARS Cobra. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pointed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The head of a pointed pellet is just that. It ends in a very sharp point that provides maximum penetration on small game. Pointed pellets were designed specifically for hunting and field use. The waist area of pointed pellets is larger in diameter for increased weight without unbalancing the front-to-rear weight distribution, which would destroy accuracy. The skirt area is shorter than a wadcutter skirt. Some pointed designs feature forward-driving bands. These are flat bands around the head, in front of the waist, that increase the surface area that engages the rifling. Increased rifling engagement area provides better accuracy and longer range, but also increases pellet-to-bore friction that must be overcome--or velocity will suffer. For this reason, pellets with forward-driving bands work best in magnum air rifles. If you want a standard-velocity rifle or air pistol for hunting, choose a pointed pellet without forward-driving bands--or one of the hollowpoint designs...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The pointed pellet really is the best choice for hunting. I’ve spoken to many airgun hunters who rely on pointed pellets for humane, one-shot kills on small game. Their other advantage is that they're very accurate. In fact, I've shot some air rifles that grouped pointed pellets better than they did wadcutters. But they do cost more, and their pointed design is very destructive on indoor targets. So, for informal plinking and target work, the wadcutter is still your best bet; &lt;strong&gt;but if you're in the field and looking for game, the pointed pellet can't be beat.&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pyramydair.com/article/The_right_pellet_makes_a_difference_October_2009/72&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The right pellet makes a difference&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T12:21:45.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2017-04-21T12:36:06.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Don't&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given your description and your background: Don't even try it!&#xA;Hauling any load up a slope is much harder than up a vertical cliff, and to attempt that with an injured person... just don't! You'll only end up wasting precious time and quite possibly harm the victim even more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your scenario, I'd drive that hour for cell reception rather than attempt to set uo a hauling system, and I &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; how to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel the extra security is needed, get a sat phone, PLB, VHF radio or whatever works and is available/affordable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T12:36:06.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2017-04-21T13:05:05.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is good that you are planning ahead.  Assuming no communications, and recovery with your group and available assets is the best choice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond basic first aid, you need a couple of things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.landfallnavigation.com/mp.html?cmp=froogle&amp;amp;kw=mp&amp;amp;utm_source=mp&amp;amp;utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&amp;amp;utm_campaign=froogle&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjw2-bHBRDEh6qk5b6yqKIBEiQAFUz29qeM7VLJ_VjM89zrPoplfs4xQdKL_kMtIgkh7qI2hfgaAnpY8P8HAQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rescue sled (random web link)&lt;/a&gt; these run about $1,000 (US) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A winch rated for human lifting, there are several considerations here.  While a standard vehicle or manually operated winch has potential you should understand the risks before betting someones life on one. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Safety equipment for rescue personal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Training, you will need to be trained and gain some experience in the types of rescues you are anticipating. People die and/or kill their friends, when they make poor choices trying to save them.  You need to &lt;strong&gt;&quot;KNOW&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; how and what to do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing above is training and experience.  The best place to get that is volunteering with your local fire department or rescue organization.  You don't say where you live, but if you are rural enough to go fishing, where the bypass road is a 5 hour trip, you should be rural enough that the majority of fire/rescue has available volunteer positions that will get you the training and experience you need to keep yourself and your friends alive when an emergency occurs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T13:05:05.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15927" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15931" CreationDate="2017-04-21T17:57:13.280" Score="5" ViewCount="379" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since braided line floats and mono sinks slowly; do they sell a tapered leader braided line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is my first-year fly fishing - so I may not know enough.  My current setup is a #8 rod with a braided loop going to the fly line.  I then have a tapered leader 9' - 10lb Rio tapered leader and a 3' - 10lb fluorocarbon tippet - for steelhead.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to change the leader to braided and use a 6-8lb tippet for bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9496" LastEditorUserId="9496" LastEditDate="2017-04-21T19:22:30.450" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T20:04:14.753" Title="Fly fishing leaders braided" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2017-04-21T18:04:22.847" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like this would fall under the category of high angle rescue. This is not something that you want to get into. It sounds like you would be at most 2.5 miles from the an easy extraction point. Faced with a vertical haul on a 50' cliff with lose gravel and a 2.5 mile carry, most rescuers will opt for the carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first piece of gear you need is a sat phone or some sort of emergency PLB to call for help. This will reduce the rescue time by at least 1 hour. You will also want a spotting scope and megaphone to help you communicate with the injured individual and assess the situation. You will want a medium size first aid kit, some food and water, extra clothes, a shelter, and a pair of high quality walkie talkies in a backpack in the truck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are willing to undergo some training, a static line, harness, and some gear to set an anchor, on trees, rocks, or possibly the truck, to enable one of you to rappel down to the injured individual would not be unreasonable. Remember to do this far enough downstream to prevent knocking rocks onto the person below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get to the scene you need to assess the situation for severity and your ability to get to the person. You need to determine if you can safely walk to their location (possibly by driving the 2.5 miles) or, if you have the training, if you can rappel to them. You will want to make sure your rescue kit has everything you need to spend the night in the stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T18:04:22.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15929" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-21T18:40:42.543" Score="5" ViewCount="542" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you had a climbing rope anchored above you on either a sheer cliff or a really steep incline, what is the minimum amount of gear that a person would need to ascend the rope without assistance from above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T14:22:00.997" Title="What is the minimum amount of gear that would allow one to ascend a climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15927" CreationDate="2017-04-21T20:04:14.753" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If by braided line you mean something like spider-wire or power-pro, they wouldn't have the backbone to turn over a fly - especially something you are likely to throw for bass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most bass plugs are fairly large and they float - so the leader/tippet doesn't really have to float. It could even be argued that you're better off with it NOT sitting on the surface where it will cast a shadow and be more visible from below. Mono/fluorocarbon virtually disappears below the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IF you are using a sinking bass fly - say like a leech, you don't want the leader to float anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HOWEVER if you are dead set on your leader floating you could always apply something like Gink fly floatant to the leader - OR fall back on the old standby - nose oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2017-04-21T20:04:14.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4817" CreationDate="2017-04-21T21:43:59.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basing on stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume 40% or 1.4 stretch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let x be the distance to the anchor from the ground&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Let y be the rope out beyond the anchor (free rope)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Total rope out = x + y &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fall factor would be 2y / (x + y)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You touch ground when  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;1.4(x + y) = 2x  &#xA;1.4 y = .6 x  &#xA;y = .43 x   &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This assumes the anchor point is the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you cannot even travel 1/2 the distance from the anchor point to the ground.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Need to be aware the rope stretches on both sides of the anchor point.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use s for stretch  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;(1 + s)(x + y) = 2x   &#xA;(1 + s)y = (1 - s)x    &#xA;(1 - s)  / (1 + s) = y/x&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If s = 1.0 then you would hit the ground on any fall.  If you fell at the anchor point the rope would not exhibit max stretch but if it did you would touch ground.  The rope would double in length and you would touch the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If s = 0 then y/x = 1 which makes sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of fall factor&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Getting into a fall factor over 1 is reckless climbing  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;total length &#xA;L&#xA;&#xA;fall (to anchor and past)&#xA;H &#xA;&#xA;anchor to ground    &#xA;L - H/2&#xA;&#xA;stretch &#xA;S &#xA;&#xA;fall factor = H/L&#xA;F&#xA;&#xA;hit the ground when  &#xA;&#xA;(1 + S) * L = 2 * (L - H/2)&#xA;(1 + S) * L = 2L - H  &#xA;(1 + S) = 2 - H/L &#xA;H/L = F = 1 - S  &#xA;&#xA;S = 0&#xA;H = L&#xA;&#xA;S = .4 &#xA;H/L = F = .6 &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-04-23T23:13:50.500" LastActivityDate="2017-04-23T23:13:50.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15929" CreationDate="2017-04-21T22:27:31.143" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No gear:&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;Actually even with a free hanging rope you would not need any gear (assuming you can hold your own weight with just your hands) using the &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boxrox.com/how-to-rope-climb-russian-wrap-carl-paoli-series-no-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;russian wrap&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. It does however take some practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Harness + Prusiks:&lt;/strong&gt; If you want to do it &lt;em&gt;safely&lt;/em&gt;, you should use some kind of harness. You can use a commercial climbing harness, or e.g. tie a &lt;em&gt;swiss seat&lt;/em&gt; from webbing. Then for ascending the minimal version would be two cords about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5116/whats-the-minimum-diameter-cord-to-use-when-climbing-a-rope-using-a-prusik&quot;&gt;half to 3/4 the diameter&lt;/a&gt; of the rope you intend to climb, using the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;prusik hitch&lt;/a&gt; to attach them to the rope, and tying them to your harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i3aN2.jpg&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; /&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/toggle-from-a-single-handhold-to-a-single-foothold.3094912/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least one of them then should have a long enough part to make a foot loop. That way you can alternate by weighing your harness and weighing the foot loop, and shift the other prusik knot upwards, and you're safely connected to the rope itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way is only connecting &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; prusik to your harness but still using the other one for your foot loops, known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11440/8697&quot;&gt;Texan Prusik&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you also want to do it efficiently, it might be worth investing in some more gear like carabiners, slings and mechancial ascenders, see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8226/fixed-line-prusik-vs-mechanical-ascender/8227#8227&quot;&gt;Fixed line: Prusik vs mechanical ascender&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No gear #2:&lt;/strong&gt; If there is enough rope, you could tie a simple harness in the end of the rope (e.g. again using the swiss seat, or the one-loop harness) but still leaving enough tail to tie it with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blake hitch&lt;/a&gt; to the &lt;em&gt;standing part&lt;/em&gt; of the rope (the part going upward to the anchor). This acts like the harness-prusik. Then instead of a foot prusik you could again use the &lt;em&gt;russian wrap&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-26T14:22:00.997" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T14:22:00.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15934" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15935" CreationDate="2017-04-21T23:09:20.777" Score="3" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm part of a group of disabled people who'd like to learn, or at least experience, water skiing. Our disabilities vary, but none of us are able to support our legs enough to stand on water skis without assistance. Some also have limited arm strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that adaptive equipment exists, and we're looking for an opportunity to try it out before making any big investment. Obviously it would have to be a place that rents out the necessary gear, and also offers instruction and physical assistance. If we enjoy it, some of my more adventurous friends might look into becoming part of a large organization with teams and competitions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in New England, but this would be part of a week-long summer trip we're in the process of planning. If we have to travel a few hundred miles in any direction, that would be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this site is an international community, if people are aware of interesting options in other countries, those would also be welcome. I just didn't want to make the question too broad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T00:29:04.600" Title="Where are some places for people who can't stand up to learn water skiing?" Tags="&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15934" CreationDate="2017-04-22T00:15:27.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seems like standing on conventional skis is out if cannot stand.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There actually is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/WSDA/main.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;disabled skiing&lt;/a&gt; category.  There is specialty equipment and I bet as least one ski camp that caters to the category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mainstream related to water skiing is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kneeboard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;knee boarding&lt;/a&gt;.  You don't have to stand and also the pull is not nearly has hard.  It is harder to get up than you would guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sit-down_hydrofoil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hydro ski&lt;/a&gt;.  It takes a lot of technique but you don't stand and less pull than water ski.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tubing but it takes no technique at low speed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the ski camps are in the south and Texas east. You get 9-12 months a year and relatively cheap water.  I would definitely recommend a camp you get top instructors, top equipment, and a private lake.  Also search on ski school.  Schools are easier to book after Aug 15 as that is Nationals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-04-22T00:21:57.840" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T00:21:57.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15934" CreationDate="2017-04-22T00:29:04.600" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the gear you need is what is called a &amp;quot;sit ski&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Individuals that are &lt;strong&gt;unable to stand will ski using a “sit ski,”&lt;/strong&gt; which comes in a variety of sizes from wide, stable skis to narrow, competitive skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Probably 80 percent of our students use a sit-down water ski that was designed by Royce Andes, one of our instructors,” says Haakon Lang-Ree, Executive Director of Disabled Sports USA Far West. Andes, a quadriplegic after a waterskiing accident, designed the Kan Ski Freedom, a sit ski for people who are unable to ski standing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All sit-down skiers use a singlewide ski to which a metal-framed cage is attached. The skier sits in a canvas sling that can be adjusted up or down to change the skier’s center of balance and comes in a variety of models to suit the skiers ability level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.disabledsportsusa.org/sport/waterskiing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For places to go, it looks like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.disabledsportsusa.org/sport/waterskiing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Disabled Sports USA&lt;/a&gt; has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.disabledsportsusa.org/location-map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chapters all across the United States&lt;/a&gt; and they should be able to point you in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/wsda/main.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Water Skiers with Disabilities Association&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water Skiers with Disabilities Association (WSDA) can assist you in overcoming these obstacles. One of the best ways a new skier can learn is to ski with experienced skiers. &lt;strong&gt;WSDA can help you locate other skiers in your area;&lt;/strong&gt; or, if another WSDA member is not in your immediate area, &lt;strong&gt;you can find out who your WSDA Regional Representative is and he or she can put you in contact with other “Learn to Ski” clinics and ski schools.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usawaterski.org/graphics/downloads/wsdabrochure.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T00:29:04.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15896" CreationDate="2017-04-22T01:54:21.577" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Waterproofing is one of the most important things to the average camper,  so an reasonable quality, inexpensive tent will stay dry through mild rains and occasional thunderstorms, and if the tent is stored properly and only used a few days a year,  that waterproofing should last at least several years. Just make sure you know how to set it up properly,  and don't let your body or your gear come in contact with the wet tent walls because either of those mistakes will cause a waterproof tent to leak (explained at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9226/does-touching-the-tent-outer-wall-from-the-inside-make-it-leak/9606#9606&quot;&gt;Does touching the tent outer wall from the inside make it leak?&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is nearly always sacrificed in inexpensive tents is weight. They will use fiberglass or thick metal poles where expensive tents will use flexible, lightweight aluminum.  The fabric will be a durable nylon or polyester, not the latest,  lightest silnylon. A smaller tent is the easiest way to cut weight while saving money. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An inexpensive tent is not necessarily less durable than an expensive one. As I said above, weight is nearly always sacrificed to keep a tent's cost down.  But there are plenty of inexpensive durable materials. Dedicated backpacking tents are made with keeping weight down as a priority,  often at the expense of durability. So a modestly priced tent can last for years of moderate use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inexpensive vs Dirt Cheap. &#xA;The cheapest tents will wear out fast and  may leak when you buy them. Within a few trips,  you risk broken zippers, ripped material, and torn seams. Stay away inexpensive brands with no reviews or recommendations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the trick is to figure out which inexpensive brands still have good quality. I'd suggest asking anyone you know who camps what brand they use. Ask at stores dedicated to hiking and camping. And read reviews of a variety of tents and brands,  not just what you think you want.  Your priorities should be a tent small and light enough to easily carry  and a tent with good waterproofing. Other features are nice to have,  but not essential. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T13:22:01.723" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T13:22:01.723" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15938" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-22T09:26:28.883" Score="4" ViewCount="31753" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have noticed a few people are using blue light bulbs for the front porch and/or walk way.  The light is not very bright and does not cast what I would call sufficient lighting. On some streets half the illuminated evening porch lights are blue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why might people choose a blue light, to light outdoor areas in the evening? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T22:01:27.603" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T22:01:27.603" Title="Why use a blue porch light?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-05-03T10:24:15.523" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15938" CreationDate="2017-04-22T14:11:49.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why use blue lights on your porch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blue light deter druggies from injecting themselves because they cannot see their veins so easily. Junkies keep away!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blue lighting is sometimes used in public toilets (restrooms) to make it more difficult for drug users to inject themselves (veins are harder to see). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was more difficult to see my veins through my skin, but there was normal-coloured lighting in the street outside, and one would assume that the users would thus just go outside instead, though the risk of detection is greater. (An additional result of the blue lighting is that, on going outside after spending more than a few seconds in the toilets, the daytime world appears much brighter and more optimistic, even on an overcast day: could retail designers or others make use of this effect? Do they already?) - &lt;a href=&quot;http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/2006/10/28/a-vein-attempt/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A vein attempt?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;strong&gt;Timmy Jim points out in his comment&lt;/strong&gt; people use blue lights to show support to fallen police in the line of duty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people use them for the &lt;strong&gt;Fourth of July holiday&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Burke said his customers began asking for blue lights Wednesday. Since then, he estimates, his Home Depot store has sold between 50 and 60 blue lights. Normally, the store sells one to five a week. Usually, he said, residents want blue lights for parties or the Fourth of July holiday. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/area-residents-flipping-switches-to-blue-porch-lights-to-back/article_7bff5c20-9302-11e4-9ce6-ffc76d136ad7.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Area residents flipping switches to blue porch lights to back police&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the &lt;strong&gt;Blue Light Safety Project&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is the Blue Light Safety Project. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A blue light signifies that this house is a temporary safe space, &#xA;   open to anyone that feels in danger or threatened. &#xA;   Knock on the door and the residents will provide support &#xA;   until you feel safer or can make other arrangements. &#xA;   If no one is home, you are welcome to sit on the porch &#xA;   for a short time until you feel safe to continue on your way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The project is an attempt to provide safety in our community outside of institutional solutions such as police. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://bluelightsafety.blogspot.ca/p/your-house.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue Light Safety Project&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could be like me. I use a blue light on my porch simply because I do not want a lot of white light coming in through the window!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-04-22T14:20:55.263" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T14:20:55.263" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15896" CreationDate="2017-04-22T18:51:34.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Waterproof.  Use parifin. Candle wax.  Dissolve in dry cleaning fluid. Just enough to dissolve overnight in it. Shake several times.  Paint on with brush. Nothing better except for long life use white bees wax. 1 coat will do. High wind go with a dome tent I think is best. A tent fly over tent is a big help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T18:51:34.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15955" CreationDate="2017-04-22T19:24:44.767" Score="2" ViewCount="253" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several years ago, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/these-high-tech-exoskeletons-slip-on-like-boots-to-make-your-movements-more-efficient/?utm_term=.9f10ea8c5b9e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Post&lt;/a&gt; had an article titled &lt;em&gt;This remarkable new exoskeleton slips on like a boot and makes your walking more efficient&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University created this unpowered,&#xA;  effort-reducing ankle exoskeleton. The walking-assist clutch engages a&#xA;  spring in parallel with the Achilles tendon when the foot is on the&#xA;  ground, offloading the calf muscles and making walking easier.  (Lisa&#xA;  Lau and Steve Collins/Carnegie Mellon University) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The latest exoskeleton technology doesn't need an outside power&#xA;  source  to boost your strength. It harnesses the power of your own&#xA;  muscles to  put a spring in your step instead. And soon baby boomers&#xA;  could be  using it to keep hiking and jogging just a few years longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of the end of 2015, this device reduced the energy required for a healthy person to walk on a flat surface by 7%.  See the line under the picture at &lt;a href=&quot;http://exoskeletonreport.com/2015/12/greg-sawicki-on-successfully-reducing-walking-metabolic-cost/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Greg Sawicki on Successfully Reducing Walking Metabolic Cost&lt;/a&gt;.  If you choose to watch the video, which is heavy on the physics and engineering of the device, it is only the last six minutes or so that discuss the benefits for healthy people; the first 35 minutes or so discuss the benefits for stroke victims.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much has work progressed on this or similar devices since 2015?  Is there any projection as to when ordinary consumers might be able to order a pair at a cost commensurate with other high-end sporting-goods items, e.g., a pair of high performance skis?  Has any TGO user tried one in the lab or in the field? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Footnote:&lt;/strong&gt; Note that exoskeletons are in development for the army and to aid paralyzed people to walk, but, important and life-changing as these developments are, this is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; what this question is about.  See, for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/01/the-incredible-technology-thats-helping-this-paralyzed-woman-hike-the-appalachian-trail/?utm_term=.9158ae95e251&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this story&lt;/a&gt; in the Washington Post about a woman paralyzed from the waist down who is walking the Appalachian Trail with an exoskeleton costing tens of thousands of dollars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T01:14:59.107" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T14:18:17.947" Title="How rapidly (or slowly) is work progressing on &quot;consumer&quot; exoskeletons for baby boomers to extend their hiking and backpacking years?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15942" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15943" CreationDate="2017-04-22T20:19:01.590" Score="3" ViewCount="6401" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mattress in a conversion van width wise seems to be a close call.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically you only get a measure between the wheel wells.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;After that the shape of the van makes it not so clear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For width wise what is the tallest person height to sleep comfortably?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal van like a Ford Transit or Chevy Express.... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-04-22T22:38:08.720" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T07:34:15.943" Title="Camper van conversion sleeping width wise" Tags="&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15942" CreationDate="2017-04-22T23:04:43.490" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically the widest part of a van is about a third of the way up (although this is usually only very slightly wider than at floor level) and they usually narrow a bit towards the roof. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I happen to have the floor dimensions of a Renault Master (similar size to a Transit). The floor is a little over 1700mm (68 inches) wide max. I'm not aware of any standard body vans which are significantly wider than this . However you may need to knock a bit of this to take account of any lining and insulation on the sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So based on that 5'8&quot; would be the absolute maximum for a horizontal mattress but realistically probably a bit less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some experience in working on industrial van conversions and as you say it is not trivial to work out exactly how much clearance there is for any given installation even if you have a van there to measure. However, in my experience, the larger panel vans (ie the ones not based on a car floor pan) tend to be fairly square and don't generally deviate from the floor dimensions by more than an inch or so until you get fairly close to the roof line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically the wheel arches intrude into the interior space by about 5 or 6 inches per side on a large van (apart from double wheel models obviously). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get the chance to measure a van the distance between the horizontal stiffening rails about a third of the way up the side should give you a decent idea as this corresponds fairly well to the max internal width once a lining is fitted (typically 1/4&quot; plywood) minus a bot extra for any insulation/trim on top of the lining. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2017-04-22T23:16:00.023" LastActivityDate="2017-04-22T23:16:00.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15942" CreationDate="2017-04-23T10:22:33.377" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Chris says in his answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15942/camper-van-conversion-sleeping-width-wise/15943#15943&quot;&gt;&quot;widest part of a van is about a third of the way up&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. Everything in his answer is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have slept many nights in a homemade conversion van. If you are sleeping alone, then sleeping diagonally gives much more length.  Useing Chris's width of 5'8' (68 inches) a width of 48 inches, and a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.calculator.net/triangle-calculator.html?vc=90&amp;amp;vx=68&amp;amp;vy=48&amp;amp;va=&amp;amp;vz=&amp;amp;vb=&amp;amp;angleunits=d&amp;amp;x=0&amp;amp;y=0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Triangle calculator&lt;/a&gt; we find that the diagonal length is 83 inches (almost 7 feet)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration is heat or rather lack of heat. Metal vehicles like vans, shed heat quickly. You go to sleep stretched out diagonally on a warm evening and you wake up curled up trying conserve body heat. From experience getting up at dawn, it usually feels warmer outside the van then in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-04-23T10:22:33.377" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15929" CreationDate="2017-04-24T01:37:00.907" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shoelaces... At least according to James Bond. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/8FDX6_BSas8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/8FDX6_BSas8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T01:37:00.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15947" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15951" CreationDate="2017-04-24T02:17:24.570" Score="7" ViewCount="149" Body="&lt;p&gt;When wood is heated, the first thing to ignite are the &quot;burnable gasses&quot; released by the heating process (producing flames).  Some time later, the combustion of these gasses heat the wood to the point that the carbon eventually burns (seen as embers).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this gas which is given off by the wood when it is heated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are two broad stages of combustion, which can be summarized as&#xA;before and after the carbon in the wood is heated enough to combust&#xA;directly.  I am asking about the combustible compounds consumed during &#xA;the first stage (before carbon ignites).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We are all familiar with the end result of a fire:  smoke, steam,&#xA;etc.  These contain many chemical elements, such as CO2 and nitrous&#xA;oxides.  I am not talking about these byproducts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When making char cloth, a flammable gas is given off.  At night, this &#xA;often appears as a blue (or green) jet of flame extending from the &#xA;charring container.  This (I suspect) is the same or remarkably &#xA;similar to the gas released by burning wood.  What is it?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gasifiers can be used to power vehicles or other machinery by heating &#xA;wood in an environment with limited oxygen.  What type of flammable &#xA;gas is produced by a gasifier?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T22:42:23.010" Title="What are &quot;burnable gasses&quot;?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15877" CreationDate="2017-04-24T03:11:01.280" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in an earlier post, there are three critical components:  fuel, oxygen, and heat.  Understanding how these interact is critical to successfully creating a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The oxygen is the easy part given that we're surrounded by it.  Still, you must keep circulation in mind.  The process of combustion consumes oxygen, and if its supply cannot be refreshed, the fire will die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat can come from many sources:  a match, lighter, or ember.  While the first two are obvious, there are many ways of producing an ember: friction (a hand or bow drill), a compression piston, a magnifying glass, or a chemical reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a substance such as wood is burned, there are two general stages of combustion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the first stage, heat triggers the release of gasses which are&#xA;readily combustible.  This is seen as flame, and generally occurs &#xA;between 400-600 degrees (F).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the second phase, the cellulose (consisting largely of carbon) in&#xA;the wood are actually ignited, producing a great deal of heat.  This &#xA;is seen as embers, and happens when temperatures reach 900 to 1,200 &#xA;degrees (F) or greater.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When most of us think about &quot;fuel&quot; for a fire, we think immediately of wood.  Before something as dense as wood can be ignited, we will need something more flammable than wood:  tinder.  Tinder is usually very light material, and can be natural or man made.  Natural tinder may include grasses, cat tails, tree barks, or fungus.  Man made tinders include a broad array of &quot;fire starters&quot;, many of which are chemical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When starting the fire (applying heat to tinder), you are actually getting the tinder to give off gasses.  These gasses ignite, providing additional energy (heat).  Provided enough gas is available and your fuel (wood) can be heated to the requisite temperature, the carbon will eventually begin to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems obvious, but a small piece of wood or tinder can be heated to ignition with a small source of heat.  Consider that a match would do little to heat a quart of water, but that same match might warm a thimble full of water.  Your tinder must be appropriate for your source of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, your choice of tinder and the structure of your fire lay are critical.  You must have a light enough tinder that your heat source can cause it to ignite.  Then, you must have enough tinder to heat your smallest pieces of primary fuel (kindling) to the point that it will ignite.  As we progress, you must have enough small pieces of wood that they are able to heat the larger pieces, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put your tinder to the inside of your fire lay, making sure you are able to EASILY access it with your ignition source.  Surround this by your smallest pieces of fuel (kindling).  Your initial layers of kindling might be the size of match sticks, with the next layer the size of pencils.  Build outward to larger pieces of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of wood used is important.  Very dense wood will burn more slowly, where lighter wood (which contains tiny pockets of air) will burn more quickly.  Pines contain &quot;turpines&quot;, which is a flammable chemical which burns fast and hot, but produces a lot of soot.  Dry wood will burn more quickly than wet wood, where much of the fire's energy is required to heat the water as well.  The type of wood you're burning should be appropriate for your stage of fire (amount of heat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's not forget about oxygen -- if the fuel is stacked too densely, it cannot reach the wood inside the arrangement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may wish to control (limit or accelerate) the access of oxygen to your fire.  Limiting the flow will reduce the rate of combustion, causing your fire to burn cooler and consume fuel at a lower rate.  Increasing the flow of air will consume fuel more quickly and increase heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the fire is going, there are practical matters to consider as well.  Does your fire lay support itself or does it fall apart?  As the fuel burns, how is new fuel added?  There are dozens of techniques easily found by searching on the web.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, it returns to maintaining the balance between fuel, oxygen, and heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastEditorUserId="5341" LastEditDate="2018-07-26T19:43:16.737" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T19:43:16.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="15949" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-24T03:37:13.307" Score="12" ViewCount="1018" Body="&lt;p&gt;Balling up is when the snow starts sticking to the bottom of your crampons to the point that the crampon points are no longer touching the surface. As one can imagine this is a rather dangerous situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do make anti-balling plates that are supposed to keep this from happening, but I have still had problems even with the plates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any recommended techniques in addition to using anti-balling plates to keep this from happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-04T14:36:56.143" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T13:47:38.983" Title="What should you do if your crampons start balling up?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15792" CreationDate="2017-04-24T10:18:26.540" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since there is a great general answer already, I'll add one from my experience with white water kayaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Length: Longer boats have a higher hull speed. When moving at more than the hull speed relative to the water you'll start creating waves, wasting energy. Shorter boats turn faster, and have less problems &quot;boofing&quot;, going over drops without diving in nose first. Boats designed with bigger rivers in mind will often be a bit longer, the slightly longer turning time is easily offset by the higher top speed. Boats made with small and steep creeks in mind are often a little shorter. White water kayaks in general are short by flat water boat standards, as they need to be nimble. Really short boats are used for freestyle kayaking, performing tricks like cartwheels and loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rocker: More rocker also helps in boofing, and a pronounced rocker is on the scale of white water kayaks more important in this aspect than a short length, as well as in smoothly crashing through waves and holes. Any kayak designed for the really serious runs will have a lot of rocker. Boats designed with weaker currents in mind, or those designed for surfing, often have less rocker, or only on the front, to make sure the water doesn't flow on top of the boat and push the nose under. Boats with less rocker sit shallower in the water and hit less rocks, and it helps in creating a big flat surface for the effect discussed below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross section: A round profile is used to create a forgiving displacement hull on serious river and creek running boats. An unexpected stream or push won't take the boat off course or tip it over. Flat profiles are used for control, for instance on boats designed with surfing in mind. A large flat surface with square corners gives the boater a lot more control over the craft and more steering power, even while planing, but it also gives any unexpected currents more control over the boat. A flat boat can be a joy to pilot, it's very reactive and takes little power to paddle if you're using the currents right, a more round boat makes you feel like you can take on the world. A lot of round big river kayaks these days do have rails running along the sides of the boat under or around the water line, they give back some control while not making the boat significantly more punishing. White water kayaks (with the exception of downriver boats, but that's its very own specialized thing) do not have anything remotely resembling an edge, rail or keel in the middle of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's roughly it. Speed = long, forgiving = round, boofing = rocker, surfing = flat, freestyle = short, control = flat or rails. For a better feel of what this means, find some good pictures on manufacturers sites or comparison sites like the Playak buyer guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2017-04-24T23:13:26.703" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T23:13:26.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15947" CreationDate="2017-04-24T11:15:59.243" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wood is not a simple chemical.  It releases a number of different compounds when heated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try distilling wood some time.  Put a few slivers into a test tube and heat it.  Pipe the result into another test tube that is in cool water.  You'll probably be surprised at all the stuff that collects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many varieties of wood, and each of those can be in different states, different moisture levels, etc.  It is therefore impossible to give a accurate account of what you will get with any one chunk of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, common emissions of heated wood include water vapor, methanol, and various other volatile organics.  Obviously the methanol will burn, and so will many of the volatile organics.  The water vapor tends to make the result harder to burn because it won't burn itself, but will displace oxygen necessary to burn other components.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that methanol was called &quot;wood alcohol&quot; long ago, since that was the primary way to make it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-25T00:23:48.680" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T00:23:48.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10367" CreationDate="2017-04-24T11:26:43.120" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a direct answer, but still relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically, &quot;chipmunk&quot; is the common name for a limited few specific species of ground squirrels.  These usually have the stripes that run along their sides converge all the way to the nose.  There are many more ground squirrels that are not really chipmunks.  However, the name &quot;chipmunk&quot; is sometimes applied to any ground squirrel that has stripes on its sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of all this that if you are trying to search for more information on these animals, widening to &quot;ground squirrel&quot; may lead to better results.  It may also help get more scientific write-ups, as apposed to those from people that refer to anything small and furry that scurries around as a &quot;chipmunk&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I find the best way to get good information on particular animals is to use the common names in searches just to get the scientific names.  Then use the scientific names to get the real information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T11:26:43.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14686" CreationDate="2017-04-24T12:05:24.827" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Full body weight hangboard training or pull-ups are way too intense for &lt;em&gt;me&lt;/em&gt; to build or maintain route endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To extend the time under tension to the length experienced on a route and to practice resting as is needed in route climbing I suggest a modification: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GDrlYxrEQo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chair pull-ups&lt;/a&gt;, but using the hangboard or other training holds.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it lets you stay on the holds much longer, as you would on a route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you work pulling muscles at an intensity that is realistic for route climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a slight backward incline is more realistic than a plumb free-hang&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can offload enough weight onto your feet to shake out and recover&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;full-body workout: you work your arms and legs simultaneously&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can move the chair (or other support) around to vary the intensity and work different positions, all the way to body rows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel it is important to work your entire body at once, i.e. upper and lower body in the same exercise, as this is inherent in climbing and there are aspects of endurance that are specific to the muscle groups being worked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* For endurance I like sloper holds like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/large-bombs-45&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bombs&lt;/a&gt;, as these are kinder to the fingers and seem to work the hands and forearms more completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T12:05:24.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2017-04-24T12:31:47.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Hopefully this doesn't apply to you but I think it is a needed reference.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone suffering from unusual or extreme &amp;quot;pump&amp;quot; needs to be aware of functional compartment syndrome, also known as chronic exertional compartment syndrome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excerpts from the book &lt;em&gt;One Move Too Many&lt;/em&gt; by Hochholzer and Schoeffl, emphasis mine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stress related pain in the forearms during difficult climbing is a given factor. If the pain is very intense and does not decrease (or actually increases) after a day or two of rest, the climber may be suffering from functional compartment syndrome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pain is characterized by a feeling that the forearm might be about to pop! In other words, you feel really, really, pumped. &lt;em&gt;An especially strong indicator is if the pumped sensation comes quickly during the work out and at climbing levels way below where your peak has recently been.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chronic compartment syndrome is an increase in the muscle size without an increase in the volume of the muscle fascia (the membrane that encases all your muscles). When the muscle increases in size it needs to fill space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Functional compartment syndrome occurs when the muscles grow faster than the fascia through high intensity training (hypertrophy). Highly trained athletes can also experience the syndrome when an infectious disease has compromised their immune system. &lt;em&gt;The diagnosis is difficult and many doctors do not expect to see in the forearms.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therapy for the syndrome is the stretching of the muscles, massage, ice,&#xA;and hot and cold showers. Also, nonsteroidal antiphlogistic drugs like ibuprofen help to reduce the swelling. If all of these forms of therapy do not&#xA;help, a surgical procedure where the fascia is split needs to be done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the authors of that book required that surgery so he writes from experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also the &lt;a href=&quot;https://pamelashantipack.com/2012/04/10/injuries-chronic-exertional-compartment-syndrome-cecs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;April 10, 2012 weblog of Pamela Shanti Pack&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over a particularly obsessive winter of mixed climbing and bouldering I developed chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) in my forearms. I thought I was getting pumped and needed to train more but the more I trained the more painful my forearms became. Finally, it got to a point where I needed help prying my hands off my ice-tools and I started having difficulty with fine motor skills. And the pain was excruciating. I decided it was time to see a doctor and ultimately consulted four surgeons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CECS is a serious condition that involves increased pressure in a muscle compartment. It can lead to muscle and nerve damage and problems with blood flow. My diagnosis was confirmed by measuring the pressure in the compartments of my forearm using a needle attached to a pressure meter which was inserted into the compartments. My compartment pressures exceeded 35 mg Hg. After conservative approaches to treat the CECS failed (anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, sports massage) my surgeons agreed that because my case was so severe I had two options: quit climbing or have a fasciotomy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I opted to quit climbing due to the considerable risks and scarring involved in the surgery as well as questionable long-term prognosis. I was especially concerned about scar tissue causing more damage. My climbing “retirement” lasted for approximately two months when I discovered that wide crack climbing — due to it’s full body nature — is less forearm intensive for me than sport-climbing, ice-climbing and/or bouldering. And so I was able to continue climbing in this style. I am able to boulder, sport-climb and climb finger cracks to a very limited extent as well. I still have problems with the CECS and avoid training my forearms as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T12:31:47.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15941" CreationDate="2017-04-24T14:18:17.947" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's always risky to make this sort of predictions, I have no insider knowledge on the industry and I think this is going to depend heavily on your budget, but I'd spitball it at twenty years for the first ones being widely commercially available, minus ten or plus another twenty years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, that is a huge range to wild guess at. But for comparison: it took us 13 years, 2001 to 2014, to get from the Segway to the Hoverboard, and that's just making the balancing work well enough that you can to without the big stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several countries are doing some careful field testing of military models right around now I think. If they end up rolling it out widely this is by no means a guarantee that the technology will come to the civilian market, but if it does it should be around 10 years behind large scale military deployment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Passive unpowered exoskeletons solve one of the great problems exoskeletons generally have: battery life. In return the advantages they offer are a lot smaller as well. The key deciding factor is going to be when the potential market willing to shell out for the limited advantages becomes big enough to pay for the complex engineering going into them. The good news is that a lot of the research has already been done, the engineering will keep slowly getting comparatively less complicated and the market is growing. There's a wave of people reaching the age where they start getting serious trouble walking, and compared to previous generations they're on average relatively well off financially. And then there's patents. If someone found the key technology to this concept today they'd have twenty years to monetize it. Given that people love money, the right patent in the right hands could make everything happen very fast, making a deployment ten years from now realistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually the price should stabilize somewhere around the cost of a new scooter (or an electric scooter for powered versions, whichever ends up winning). The skeleton has more weird moving parts and needs to get more strength out of less material, but it does require less material and no power. So maybe it will even go as low as a bicycle at some point. For the first five or ten years after coming out they're going to be considerably more expensive though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is always the option of &quot;never&quot;, but I'd say that if these things are going to happen, they're going to happen relatively soon. If not then either the technology didn't work after all or we found something better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for the next ten to forty years, I think we need to make do with bicycles, with all the cons and pros they carry. But there are realistic reasons for optimism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T14:18:17.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15947" CreationDate="2017-04-24T16:54:45.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gasifier probably produces a different mix than cooler processes in your other answer. Heat wood enough without oxygen and you get mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide, leaving behind charcoal. The H2 and CO mix is a fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-04-24T16:54:45.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15949" CreationDate="2017-04-24T18:22:02.293" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The warning sign of balling up is that your boots will be noticeably heavier due to the snow sticking to them.  Once that happens your options include&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lift up one boot at a time and knock the side of the boot with your ice axe or trekking pole. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knock your boots together every so often to dislodge the snow being careful not to get the crampons tangled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-23T20:46:02.657" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T20:46:02.657" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15959" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15960" CreationDate="2017-04-24T22:42:06.997" Score="29" ViewCount="9909" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I will be taking a rather inherently dangerous multi-day hike by myself.  I was considering buying a flare gun since I will be out of cellular range unless there is something more modern and equally reliable.  Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T12:13:32.210" LastActivityDate="2017-04-29T02:22:33.537" Title="Modern equivalent of a flare gun?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15959" CreationDate="2017-04-24T23:13:11.087" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;In increasing order of complexity and price you have,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personal Locator Beacons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Personal locator beacons are high-powered (typically, 5 watts) devices designed primarily to send out a &lt;strong&gt;personalized emergency distress signal&lt;/strong&gt;. They generally require an open view of the sky to transmit successfully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Satellite Messengers (Like a Garmin inReach)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Much like PLBs, satellite messengers are handheld transmitting devices that are useful in backcountry areas far from reliable cell phone coverage. These user-friendly devices allow you to &lt;strong&gt;communicate short text messages and/or your location coordinates&lt;/strong&gt; with friends or family back home so you can report on your trip’s status or, in an emergency, send calls for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Satellite Phones&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a type of mobile phone that &lt;strong&gt;connects to orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites.&lt;/strong&gt; They provide similar functionality to terrestrial mobile telephones; voice, short messaging service and low-bandwidth internet access are supported through most systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;None of these are a substitute for good judgement&lt;/strong&gt; and the electronics can fail or run out of batteries, but they would be the modern equivalent of a flare gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T12:15:42.277" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T12:15:42.277" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15959" CreationDate="2017-04-24T23:38:10.080" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;While Charlie Brumbaugh's answer is good, there is a cheaper and simpler alternative: a LED marine distress flare. These are handheld LED lights, as bright as a distress flare. Many jurisdictions certify them as legal substitutes for distress flares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However these are substitutes for handheld  flares, not flare guns, and are designed for marine environments where hills,  trees etc. can't block them, and where a bright coloured light is recognized as a distress/location signal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://siriussignal.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link to an example&lt;/a&gt;, without recommending this brand in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2017-04-29T02:22:33.537" LastActivityDate="2017-04-29T02:22:33.537" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15959" CreationDate="2017-04-25T02:29:45.583" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/881344&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;safety whistle&lt;/a&gt; is cheap and reliable. Also, it won't run out of flares or batteries. You can hang it from your backpack shoulder strap for easy access.  (Imagine trying to take off and dig through your backpack with a broken arm.) Three chirps is the distress signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15998/12975&quot;&gt;signal mirror&lt;/a&gt; is an inexpensive visual indicator, like a flare.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12975" LastEditorUserId="12975" LastEditDate="2017-04-28T19:54:40.127" LastActivityDate="2017-04-28T19:54:40.127" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15964" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-25T11:43:21.440" Score="1" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm outdoors quite a bit. But the one thing that takes me out of action is sweat buildup and rubbing in my nether regions. It can literally take me out of action for a few days. I think it comes down to friction and sweat. I use performance boxers daily but it doesn't seem to help the situation. It does seem like hiking causes the majority of these problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12985" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T17:33:46.660" Title="How to stay dry in the nether regions?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-04-25T17:46:41.537" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15964" CreationDate="2017-04-25T13:01:04.720" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That kind of problem is miserable, but fairly common. There are a few things I'd suggest to solve it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good, wicking underwear&lt;/strong&gt;. It sounds like you've tried at least one&#xA;      version, but it is worth experimenting with different styles, brands and&#xA;      materials. I'm a fan of merino wool for dealing with sweat. I find&#xA;      it works as well as or better than any synthetic performance fabrics&#xA;      I've tried. Silk is another natural fabric that might help with&#xA;      chafing.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anti-chafe cream&lt;/strong&gt;. Body Glide is the brand I'm familiar with, but&#xA;      there are many others. It acts as a slick layer on your skin to&#xA;      reduce rubbing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight loss&lt;/strong&gt;. Obviously, this isn't available to people who are&#xA;      already thin, but if extra fat is causing or exacerbating the&#xA;      rubbing, weight loss will help. A much longer term solution than the&#xA;      other two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T13:01:04.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15959" CreationDate="2017-04-25T13:46:09.153" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A laser can be used. There are some lasers with SOS function but it is not necessary. The beam is visible from large area and they can locate you easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be so powerful to be seen but not so much powerful to endanger airplanes above you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12986" LastEditorUserId="12986" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T11:50:06.057" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T11:50:06.057" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15967" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-25T13:58:52.060" Score="20" ViewCount="4795" Body="&lt;p&gt;When firing a flare gun in the air, what is the risk of accidentally starting a forest or wildland fire?  Does the flare go out completely before it touches the ground? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T06:00:29.240" Title="What is the risk of starting a forest or wildland fire with a flare gun?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15967" CreationDate="2017-04-25T14:17:13.963" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a definitely a risk of starting a fire with a flare gun, for this reason they are discouraged by the National Park Service (at least in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not Useful:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cell phones do not have service in the monument&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flares are not always visible to pilots flying overhead during hours of sunlight or in heavy overcast skies. &lt;strong&gt;More importantly, they can start forest fires.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/para/planyourvisit/safety.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a case where a fire was started,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - 29-year-old Kevin Nakagami was arrested by police on suspicion of first-degree arson, after he reportedly told them that he'd fired a flare gun at the Koko Head shooting complex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The flare had landed in some dry brush and snowballed into a full-scale fire fight and rescue operation on the Koko Head hillside.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/15654236/koko-head-range-officer-released-from-jail-speaks-about-flare-gun-fire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a case where firefighters were deliberately using flare guns to start fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garret Blasingame, a Everglades National Park firefighter, &lt;strong&gt;uses a flare gun to ignite brush&lt;/strong&gt; along State Road 29 during a burnout operation to stop a wildfire in the Big Cypress National Preserve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/sfl-brush-fire20110615062005-photo.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T02:21:49.257" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15959" CreationDate="2017-04-25T14:28:51.337" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe you should explain what you need a flare gun equivalent for... A flare gun has a &lt;strong&gt;very specific purpose&lt;/strong&gt; which generally is to &lt;em&gt;alert somebody who is already looking for you&lt;/em&gt; to your immediate location. On top of that you must know that the people looking for you are actually within a certain range, otherwise the flare will be wasted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A flare gun might have a certain appeal to the romantic adventurer, but is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; a useful tool to call for help when alone in a remote wilderness area!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; The flare will only be visible within a certain range for a rather short amount of time. Anybody not currently paying attention to the surroundings will likely miss it, also everybody without direct line of sight won't have any chance to spot it in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your intended purpose is to have a tool that allows you to &lt;strong&gt;direct the attention&lt;/strong&gt; of search-and-rescue personnel to you there are several tools, all with their specific advantages and disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mirror to reflect sunlight (optimally with a hole in the center, through which you can 'aim' the mirror at whomever you're trying to signal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smoke petard&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlight/LED flare&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signal rockets/bangers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rescue whistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least: flare guns still exist and are used in emergency scenarios.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your intended purpose is to &lt;strong&gt;call for help&lt;/strong&gt; and alert rescue personnel in the first place then go with the options mentioned by @Charlie Brumbaugh:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personal Locator Beacon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Satellite Messenger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Satellite Phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T09:29:14.457" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T09:29:14.457" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15964" CreationDate="2017-04-25T17:33:46.660" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;good ideas Karen.&#xA;others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hike in shorts even if it is cold.  Thin nylon pants instead of heavy cotton jeans.  Consider a Utili-Kilt which are completely open and ventilated.  Your legs generate a lot of muscle heat while hiking and really don't need much insulation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compression shorts as a concept are all about holding in place and preventing movement.  Like Bras- &quot;Lift and Separate&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(thin) running tights, providing both the support and less insulation ideas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very thin wicking speedo-type briefs for support of the boys, PLUS very thin compression shorts over it (not too small, not too compressive) or boxer-brief type underwear -- not for heat retention but to provide a &quot;sacrificial&quot; rubbing layer of fabric -- similar to why people hike with two pairs of socks, one a thin liner sock.  With this, definitely shorts or kilt to ventilate and keep cool&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3611" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T17:33:46.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2017-04-25T17:42:10.613" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A small computer fan, taped to a short piece of perforated vacuum-cleaner-type hose, blowing into any boot, will generally dry it out overnight.   Commercial ski boot dryers work this way.  No heat.  Small 5v computer fans can even be rigged off battery power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I generally bring some flip-flops for campsite wear and switch into these (or go barefoot) before crossing streams.  Getting boots wet isn't worth the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3611" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T17:42:10.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15967" CreationDate="2017-04-25T19:35:18.997" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y01pm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y01pm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pains-Wessex rocket flare&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flares ignite at 191 °C (376 °F) and burn as hot as 1,600 °C (2,900 °F). This makes them incredibly dangerous since they are well above the ignition temperature of most flammables found in a forest or wildland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience firing a parachute flare such as a Pains-Wessex at sea level, the air is thicker and they tend to hit the ground unlit. Further in elevation, say 4400', most of the flares tend to stay in the air for less time and hit the ground lit. The flares are hot enough to start a fire instantly if they hit dry grasses or scrub.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've fired illumination style parachute flares into the air and set them off on the ground and used them to illuminate an object. The bigger flares burn so hot that the plywood used to block the light a foot way will ignite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also like to mention it's illegal to fire a Pains-Wessex style parachute flare in a non-emergency situation near a navigable waterway. It will be seen by the Coast Guard as an emergency and they will respond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flare&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flare&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12991" LastEditorUserId="12991" LastEditDate="2017-04-25T22:18:57.803" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T22:18:57.803" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15973" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-25T22:32:57.627" Score="12" ViewCount="4270" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes while backpacking you have to cross streams, and from a weight point of view, it would be nicer to just cross in your bare feet, instead of bringing an extra pair of shoes along. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These situations wouldn't be raging rivers but rather streams that can't be crossed without getting your feet wet, where crossing in bare feet seems like the simple solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have seen outdoor backpacking organizations mandate closed-toed shoes for all stream crossings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the risks of crossing a stream with bare feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-25T23:50:17.290" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T22:54:42.127" Title="What are the risks of stream crossing with bare feet?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15947" CreationDate="2017-04-25T22:42:23.010" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very complex. I am not an expert, but these links might give a hint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smoke - Chemical composition: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke#Chemical_composition&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke#Chemical_composition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lignin, essentially the crude oil of the plant world: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignin#Composition&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignin#Composition&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the image on the Wikipedia lignin page to get an idea of how complex it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12993" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T22:42:23.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15973" CreationDate="2017-04-25T23:47:16.417" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The principal risk is that you will slip and fall.  Depending on the force of the water and what is downstream, this could be serious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at the tread on your hiking boot or running shoe or even tennis shoe, and then look at the sole of your foot.  Unless you can pick out a sandy route with no rocks to cross the stream, it is pretty obvious that there will be more friction between the streambed and the shoe than between the streambed and your bare foot, i.e., you will be less likely to slip and fall.  The better grip of your shoes also allows you to cross the stream faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A secondary benefit of crossing with your shoes on is that very cold mountain streams will feel much less cold if your feet are insulated by boots and socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, your shoes will get wet.  But you can pour the water out and pat much of the moisture out with a towel or sweatshirt.  You can also change to dry socks.  If you have more streams to cross than you have pairs of dry socks, wear a thin undersock of some very low friction material to protect your feet against chafing.             &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-04-25T23:47:16.417" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2017-04-26T00:16:12.087" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not to recommend a brand but I like heavy flat soles with straps&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They pack flat&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you have to swim they are little flippers    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U7GRM.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U7GRM.png&quot; alt=&quot;sandal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chacos.com/US/en/z-2-classic/24083M.html?dwvar_24083M_color=J105801&amp;amp;start=1&amp;amp;sma=sm.00009uh76qrp1daipez2rgijzlf5k#cgid=men-featured-best-seller&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are rock climbing your rock shoes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T00:16:12.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15980" CreationDate="2017-04-26T00:19:59.297" Score="6" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15968/9283&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; on another &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15967/9283&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; says that there is a risk of causing a forest fire when using a flare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a recommended/safer way to use flares that lessens this risk, in the event that someone must use a flare (even against the risk of fire)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, one shouldn't shoot a flare directly at dry wood, but are there other practices that should be avoided when using flares?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9283" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T02:21:09.373" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T02:21:09.373" Title="Is there a safer way to use a flare in a wooded area?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;communication&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15973" CreationDate="2017-04-26T00:39:03.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Barefoot danger possibilities: Nails, broken glass, discarded can lids, sharp rocks, ripping off toenails, general cuts and scrapes, lots more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After trying various options, including barefoot, I'm going to buy light sandals for around camp, hiking on wet days, and stream crossings. I can't hike in wet shoes, even if I cross with shoes but sockless and put my dry socks back on after letting my feet also dry. Just no good for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to experiment carefully, sacrifice a pair of thick socks (i.e., get them wet). Stockingfoot waders (which I've never personally used) have felt soles. Fuzzy dense fabric like that grips wet rocks far better than any rubber and will offer some protection, including (maybe) slipping off if you get a foot trapped between or under rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12993" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T00:39:03.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15978" CreationDate="2017-04-26T01:20:24.270" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that the alternatives in the the answers to the linked question would be a better idea, but if you had to use a flare then there are a couple of things that could lessen but not eliminate the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoot the flare in such a way that when it comes down, it &lt;strong&gt;ends up in a body of water&lt;/strong&gt; such as a lake. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If that is not possible shoot it in such a way as to &lt;strong&gt;maximize the flight time so that it will hopefully have burned out by the time it lands&lt;/strong&gt;. This would normally be straight up,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Flare guns should be pointed up into the air when fired. Shooting the flare &lt;strong&gt;straight up also makes it easier for others to determine your position and maximizes its visibility.&lt;/strong&gt; Aerial flares can travel 500 feet high when fired directly up, making them powerful enough to be lethal if shot at a person or animal, so use caution and observe gun safety rules when handling one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.offgridweb.com/gear/flare-gun-etiquette/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;if there was wind then I would shoot it into the wind for a higher trajectory. Also, if you shoot it straight up, in theory it should come down closer to where you are and hopefully  you could run over and cover it with dirt and make sure it is completely out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, all of the alternatives are so much better and less hazardous that I would use one of them instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T01:29:30.993" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T01:29:30.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15973" CreationDate="2017-04-26T02:24:50.843" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there would be many times when crossing barefoot would be fine. However, a number of potential risks do exist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those can include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting scraped or cut on either the bottoms or sides of your feet. Culprits could be various sharp items, including broken shells, broken glass, pieces of fish hooks, bottle caps or other sharp litter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stubbing your toes on rocks, pebbles, or unexpected items in the water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slipping on rocks, or river bottom areas, that are wet or slimy from something like algae.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Twisting an ankle or two due to lack of support.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being bitten by something in the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Picking up a bacterial infection from something in the water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Losing your balance as you go in or out of the water at the crossing point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In areas of very clear water, many obstacles can be avoided, and slipping would be the most likely problem. If the water is dark or murky, you're more likely to step on something just because you couldn't see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the hazards might be more likely if you're carrying a backpack, especially if it's heavy. For instance, if the load shifts you may lose your footing more easily, whereas the support of a shoe might keep you more steady. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if anyone in the group has a pre-existing condition that makes barefoot walking less than ideal to start with, they might be more susceptible to problems in the water. That's true for me. An old leg and foot injury left permanent problems (mostly lack of feeling in one foot) so I'm not even allowed to walk in the yard barefoot anymore. Your party has already decided to cross barefoot, so that's probably not an issue in this case!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband and I have crossed a lot of rocky streams in the White Mountains area of New Hampshire. We don't go barefoot, but love the feel of the water rushing on and around our feet. We wear &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01HQAPH68&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flip-flop sandals&lt;/a&gt; with some texture under the foot and on the bottom of the sole. They give some support, and are lightweight and easy to carry. That doesn't technically answer your question, though. I just thought I'd share it as an alternative.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T22:54:42.127" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T22:54:42.127" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15982" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15991" CreationDate="2017-04-26T03:54:53.757" Score="7" ViewCount="2302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was out camping recently, and found that the bottom foot or so of my sleeping bag had gotten wet ( in part due to one of the stakes for my rain fly coming loose, but that's another story).  As no one likes sleeping with feet in a wet sleeping bag, I was forced to curl myself up, which is an uncomfortable way to sleep as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That got me thinking; &lt;b&gt;is it possible to waterproof a sleeping bag? &lt;/b&gt; I have some waterproofing spray that I used on my boots and part of a tent, and it says that it is usable on nylon, suede, leather, and Gore-Tex. &lt;b&gt;I was wondering how effective it would be, and whether it would damage my sleeping bag in some way. &lt;/b&gt;  I was considering only spraying the waterproofing on the bottom foot or so of the bag, since I had seen things mentioning that waterproofing can remove the breathability of the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastEditorUserId="9104" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T05:13:07.320" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:44:23.090" Title="Waterproofing a sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-04-26T06:07:29.570" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The DWR will probably not alter its breathability, especially considering that sleeping is quite static.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how the bag got wet, it won't help that much as it can wet out after some time anyway and can wet out through the seam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said: I don't see any negative effects of applying a DWR, only a slightly positive one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9572" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T06:07:29.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15942" CreationDate="2017-04-26T07:16:40.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Putting a bed above the wheel arches is common, with storage underneath. The width you get is similar to the width behind the wheel arches, and that's often specified (it certainly could be found for the transit when we were looking). But I'm well over 6ft and when we bought our transit for conversion we looked hard and found there was no sensible sized van that would take even a 6ft bed across with insulation. You would end up using a lot of length to make a comfortable bed diagonally across the van (you should start with how tall you are and then work out how big a bed you need rather than the other way round). If you're putting in a double bed you can save a little by sleeping staggered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact the insulation doesn't make much difference because of the structure of the walls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We went for a slide out design sleeping along the van and fitted a decent kitchen plus a toilet cubicle in a medium wheelbase transit. The bed goes away easily but you can cook with it out. A major reason for this design is that there's a full length gangway up the middle in which I can stack kayaks. I've had 4 in there with room to spare. Or if can take bikes inside for when they're at risk on the rack outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend going to a place that sells the sort of van you're considering, taking a tape measure. We looked at a few before settling on the transit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T07:34:15.943" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T07:34:15.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15987" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15988" CreationDate="2017-04-26T07:29:45.207" Score="15" ViewCount="5414" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently picked up bouldering and bought my first pair of shoes as well as chalk and a bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only been climbing in the gym for now and handled the equipment like any other gym-sports-equipment: I put it in my bag where it is safe from rain etc. that I might encounter on my way to the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soon I will travel to another city. My backpack is completely filled and the only way to take my equipment for bouldering with me is attaching it to the back or the sides of my backpack. As the weather-forecast does not look too promising I am wondering if it is alright for the shoes to get wet. The chalk-bag should - in theory - be waterproof, but I prefer being safe over being sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize: Is it ok for my climbing shoes to be directly exposed to the rain and how bad would it be if the chalk-bag would leak some water inside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12997" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:31:16.200" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:31:16.200" Title="Is it ok for my climbing shoes/chalk bag to get wet?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;&lt;wet-gear&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15987" CreationDate="2017-04-26T08:02:20.597" Score="17" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it ok for my climbing shoes to be directly exposed to the rain &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mostly fine. A bit of rain is not going damage your shoes. I've gotten mine totally sodden before now. It's also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3668/how-to-clean-rock-climbing-shoes&quot;&gt;fine to wash them&lt;/a&gt;. Trust me you may well want to do this after a couple of months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make sure you dry them well to prevent them from getting mouldy. That's your worst risk. This isn't going to happen from a rain shower though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;how bad would it be if the chalk-bag would leak some water inside&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, not the end of the world. If the chalk (not the bag) gets &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; wet it's going to become unusable though. It will turn into a weird gooey chalky mass. But chalks relatively cheap, you can always replace it. Also fine to wash your chalk bag. Again, just dry it well before use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T13:33:03.777" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T13:33:03.777" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15987" CreationDate="2017-04-26T08:43:41.110" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @Liam's fine answer: The usability of both chalk and shoes will be severely limited &lt;em&gt;while wet&lt;/em&gt;, e.g. friction is extremely reduced and you will slip. Chalk will lump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your shoes will be completely fine when dried. They get all the time at least a little moist from sweat, they are designed to withstand that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With chalk, it will depend on the mix, but most types will probably be usable when thoroughly dried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T13:55:37.660" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T13:55:37.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15973" CreationDate="2017-04-26T09:44:48.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthiasis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helminthiasis&lt;/a&gt; of various kinds does not even rely on open wounds.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schistosomiasis&lt;/a&gt; is particularly ugly and is on the incline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You did not specify just &lt;em&gt;where&lt;/em&gt; you are backpacking: there may be other parasites around.  Of course, with organized backpacking trails, a certain ratio of the group is expected to use new shoes etc and thus is likely to get blisters or other kinds of potentially open sores at the feet that are great for bacterial infections.  This goes in two directions: feet softened by exposure to water are more likely to break open when continuing the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some blisters are a matter of timing: the risk of infection is lower when the blister has had enough time to run its natural course before breaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And slipping in a river bed is a real danger and can easily lead to twisted ankles for people used to the support of hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all in all I consider it likely that the statistics for forcing people to wear solid footwear when crossing are favorable for keeping incidents down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13003" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T09:44:48.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-04-26T10:19:08.473" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;Dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;DWR on sleeping bags is to keep them dry for short periods when they get put on wet grass for a few minutes. Adding DWR to your sleeping bag won't make it waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterproofing spray (DWR). Aids water running off it won't make something that fundamentally isn't waterproof suddenly waterproof (despite what the manufacturer says). A lot of sleeping bags have some degree of DWR pre applied but it tends to wear off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is it possible to waterproof a sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends on your definition of waterproof. Is it possible to make a sleeping bag totally waterproof? &lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would this be a good idea even if you could? Well again &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;. You need moisture to escape your sleeping bag or else you'll wake up drenched in sweat in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you aid it's water repellency with sprays? &lt;strong&gt;A little&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will this top your feet getting wet if your tent breaks? &lt;strong&gt;Probably not&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;would damage my sleeping bag in some way&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends on your sleeping bag a little. Don't apply anything the manufacturer says you shouldn't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said it should be fine to add DWR to a sleeping bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T10:19:08.473" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-04-26T10:21:06.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would strongly caution against anything which might affect the ability of the sleeping bag to breathe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You sweat while you sleep, and I don't think most of us realize how much.    Sleeping bags are designed to be porous, and anything which might alter this could be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a friend who decided to use a mylar emergency blanket on top of his sleeping bag one night (it was colder than he was prepared for).  When he woke up in the morning, his sleeping bag was soaked.  Other than being disgusting, he also found that he was more than a bit wet himself.  And did I mention it was cold outside?  ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the same reason that wisdom suggests sleeping with as few clothes as possible.  If you sleep in your clothing, they will be damp in the morning when you climb out of your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thought of waking up damp on a cold morning is not an enticing one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T10:21:06.467" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2017-04-26T11:49:33.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lighter than a shoe and preferred by many, there is also the option of &lt;a href=&quot;https://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/men/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Five Fingers&lt;/a&gt;, which are like a cross between a shoe and a glove. It doesn't hold the ankle, but at least provides the advantages of Vibram, and it holds more stable than a Teva or any other sandals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I wear Teva sandals for as long as possible during hikes with rivers, but I have the problem that after it gets wet I get blisters on the soles of my feet, where the big toe meets the wet sandal strap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T16:43:45.213" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T16:43:45.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15987" CreationDate="2017-04-26T15:42:06.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course your &lt;strong&gt;outdoor&lt;/strong&gt; equipment has no problems with getting wet. It's not getting any damage if used in rain. While wet the function of your gear may be influenced, e.g. in the case of rubber soles and chalk this will be inevitable the case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your gear is designed and exists to be used outside where it may rain. Even back in the old days when they started climbing steep rock with the newly designed rubber soles they got wet. Back then climbing gyms weren't available and people even couldn't imagine that some decades later hundreds of people crowd up in tiny rooms to climb on plastic walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So don't be afraid of wet gear, just treat it right. Dry it properly, especially if you are hygiene-conscious. And avoid to go climbing outside in bad weather, except you really know what you are doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XR43E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XR43E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Not from my blog, so also not my property.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Not from my blog, so also not my property. Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kafadventures.com/blog/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.kafadventures.com/blog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-04-26T21:08:13.907" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T21:08:13.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15973" CreationDate="2017-04-26T19:07:07.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We do it often in the Philippines. But you can cut your feet. We find there a pair of flip flops improve traction. Easy to pack. Rocks can be slick. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-04-26T19:07:07.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15998" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="15999" CreationDate="2017-04-27T04:21:40.497" Score="30" ViewCount="5738" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say you are in the middle of a desert where there is lots of sunshine, and you are trying to signal for help with a signal mirror.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either in the distance there is a person, or there is an airplane overhead that you are trying to reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How should one aim the signal mirror so that the light that is reflecting from it reaches the objective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T15:49:19.910" LastActivityDate="2020-12-07T14:56:55.620" Title="How do you aim a signal mirror?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="15999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2017-04-27T04:46:26.683" Score="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;How I've practiced is I hold my left hand palm out, and I create a &quot;V&quot; between my ring and middle fingers with the plane or person between my fingers. I then hold the mirror by my face and shine the mirror between my fingers. You should see the light on your hand to confirm you are shining in the right direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13019" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T04:46:26.683" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15938" CreationDate="2017-04-27T05:02:36.600" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_Speaks#Light_It_Up_Blue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue is also the color used for autism awareness.&lt;/a&gt; Typically April is autism awareness month. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13019" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T12:08:02.080" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T12:08:02.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16007" CreationDate="2017-04-27T10:04:58.593" Score="23" ViewCount="3063" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently we visited the alps in Bavaria. We hiked near a lake which had a lot of foam swimming on it. It was not spray from the water but rather a really dense dirty foam. Comparable to shaving foam I guess. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looked similar to this (this image is from the internet and was not taken by me while being at the lake): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFnsy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFnsy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where does such foam originate from? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: I've seen such foam also on other waters already. It just was somehow this time that it made me wonder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:24:09.597" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:24:09.597" Title="What is this dense foam on a lake?" Tags="&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2017-04-27T13:15:31.133" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your signal mirror is likely polished on both sides, with a hole in the middle to help you aim it.  Although the principle is simple, it's fiddly and takes a little practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the mirror in roughly the right position, arrange for its shadow to fall somewhere suitable (e.g. flat rock) so you can see the central spot of light.  Now, line up the hole with your target.  Angle the mirror so you can see the shadow reflected in your (near) side of it and get the spot of light central.  When the mirror is aimed exactly at the target:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the target is seen through the hole&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the reflection of the light spot is positioned over the hole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a simple diagram of the transmitted and reflected light to convince yourself that this works (sorry, it's beyond my ASCII-art capabilities right now!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A CD, DVD or similar medium can be used as a makeshift signal mirror, and conveniently has a hole in the right place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T13:15:31.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16002" CreationDate="2017-04-27T14:15:11.073" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's &quot;foam line&quot; (though I believe there are other names)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It occurs when there are surfactants in water, which is then agitated, resulting in foam forming. This foam then tends to clump together and collect debris along the way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It happens naturally, especially in  fast-flowing rivers or larger lakes in boggy areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can also be caused by pollution - eg. from agricultural run-off, human waste or industrial pollution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note: it isn't an algal bloom as mentioned in another answer, but can occur in tandem as 1. Organic matter in the water can cause both foam and algal bloom 2. As the algi decompose it adds organic matter which causes foaming.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam_line&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link to Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T14:15:11.073" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2017-04-27T15:24:38.930" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer applies only to signal mirrors which are two-sided and have an aiming hole in the middle, which should be the case with any good signal mirror.  My answer will partially duplicate a prior, but will add some rough pictures and also give a description of the geometry behind how it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The process&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stand facing roughly half-way between the sun and the object you want to signal.  Hold the mirror up and observe your own reflection in the back of the mirror.  Move the mirror around until you see the shadow of the mirror on your reflection, and in particular note the little dot of light on your cheek due to the aiming hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zvy3T.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zvy3T.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, angle the mirror so you can see the target object through the hole, and also align the light dot on your cheek with the hole.  Wiggle the mirror slightly so that the target sees a flashing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why it works&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With mirrors, the idea is that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.  For us, we need the angle between the mirror and the sun (&amp;theta;&lt;sub&gt;1&lt;/sub&gt;) and the angle between the mirror and the target (&amp;theta;&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) to be equal.  We do this by making the corresponding angles on the backside of the mirror equal (&amp;theta;&lt;sub&gt;2A&lt;/sub&gt; and &amp;theta;&lt;sub&gt;1A&lt;/sub&gt;), by aligning the reflected dot and the target object via the hole in the mirror.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrWLt.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrWLt.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T15:24:38.930" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2017-04-27T15:44:01.340" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It may not be relevant in too many places, but…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hot springs!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm heading to Iceland again this year and I will carry a colourful jarðfræðikort (geologic map) with me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qeyQd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qeyQd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;geologic map from ISOR&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://isor.is/jardfraedikort-kortavefsja&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ISOR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://jardfraedikort.is/index_enska.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;available online here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The topographic map does not list hot springs.  The tourist map only lists some of them, in particular the ones with tourist infrastructure.  But the ones that are deep in the wilderness, tens of kilometres from the nearest frequented road, may only be indicated on the geological map.  On the map I have, the hot springs are categorised by temperature, so I know that the boiling ones may be fun to watch but not so fun to bathe in.  But imagine being deep in the wilderness, it's 5°C, raining, and windy, and then arriving at a hot spring at 35°C, all for oneself (because no-one else brought a geologic map!).  Hmm.....!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a geologically infant area such as Iceland, the age of the land may also be relevant.  1000 year old land is quite different from 100.000 year old land.  But that information can be more directly obtained from a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ni.is/midlun/utgafa/kort/grodurkort&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vegetation map&lt;/a&gt; where available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;  Finally, it was less useful than I hoped.  Firstly, the scale is not nearly good enough for outdoor use, and I was unable to find some of the hotsprings listed.  Secondly, a hotspring is not yet a hotpool.  A bit of hot water coming out of the muddy ground is a nice curiosity.  But only when someone has built a pool around it does it become an extraordinary backcountry luxury.  The map is a good starting point for the latter, but it's not quite enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-10-16T23:23:30.530" LastActivityDate="2017-10-16T23:23:30.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16010" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16017" CreationDate="2017-04-27T17:30:13.273" Score="11" ViewCount="1213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got my first hammock and am eager to try it out! I don't have an underquilt, I was planning to use my current bag and foam pad. In a tent, they would be on the lower end of comfortable for the anticipated low temperatures this week (~10-15F margin of the rated value, but I sleep cold). So I'm concerned that it would be uncomfortably cold in a hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a rule of thumb for converting sleeping bag temperatures into what it would &quot;feel like&quot; in a hammock, or how much of a temperature difference you feel on the ground vs. in the air?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T22:43:25.053" Title="How much colder is hammock vs. sleeping in a tent?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16002" CreationDate="2017-04-27T18:06:52.540" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's similar to sea foam; nothing to worry about. This usually results from the build up of broken down organic matter that has dissolved in the water and foamed up due to turbulence (i.e. wind/waves, tides, ect.). For example, breakdown of organic material including microscopic critters, like algae, yields proteins that can foam up when agitated - kind of like making meringue from egg whites. This foam can collect along the shoreline and accumulates specks of dirt and debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13027" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T18:06:52.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16012" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-04-27T18:57:55.257" Score="4" ViewCount="265" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that some icebreaker clothing is labeled as &quot;black sheep&quot; merino wool and the same with other brands, so I am wondering if someone can explain or link to something that explains well what the differences are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13029" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:27:36.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:27:36.053" Title="What are the differences between black sheep merino wool and other merino wool?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16012" CreationDate="2017-04-27T19:08:57.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two possible explanations that I can think of,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The wool comes from rare actual black merino sheep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do you have natural colored Merino sheep?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, we do. &lt;strong&gt;Black Merino sheep are quite rare&lt;/strong&gt; and it took us many years to build up our flock to a sizeable number.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.morehousefarm.com/F-A-Qs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is marketing by people who know that humans want to stand out in a crowd by being different and buying expensive/rare things, hence the black sheep label.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this advertisement that calls it Merion Black Sheep wool but doesn't say that it comes from black sheep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There's a reason most of us wear denim 90% of the time—it looks good, feels comfortable, and is tough as nails. But when it comes to hiking and climbing, denim is definitely lacking, well, at least it was. Ortovox is changing the denim game with its &lt;strong&gt;Women's Merino Black Sheep Denim Pants,&lt;/strong&gt; which were designed with climbers in mind and are composed of a cotton, &lt;strong&gt;merino wool,&lt;/strong&gt; and elastane blend for bomber durability, awesome stretch, and killer comfort. The addition of a Cordura stretch inseam gusset adds to their overall durability and mobility while smart features like a brush pocket, zippered map pocket, and chalk bag loop make them a solid choice for an evening at the climbing gym or a day at the crag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountry.com/ortovox-merino-black-sheep-denim-pant-womens?CMP_SKU=ORT002Q&amp;amp;MER=0406&amp;amp;skid=ORT002Q-DMBL-XL&amp;amp;CMP_ID=SH_FRO001&amp;amp;mv_pc=r126&amp;amp;003=7162907&amp;amp;010=ORT002Q-DMBL-XL&amp;amp;utm_source=GPS&amp;amp;utm_medium=GPS&amp;amp;mr:trackingCode=230700BC-79EB-E511-80F3-005056944E17&amp;amp;mr:referralID=NA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would bet on explanation 2 as I kind of doubt that it actually comes from black sheep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-04-27T19:47:24.063" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T19:47:24.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16012" CreationDate="2017-04-27T19:44:47.263" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20160130191151/http://www.icebreaker.com/en/black_sheep&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Using the Way back machine&lt;/a&gt; for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.icebreaker.com/en/black_sheep&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.icebreaker.com/en/black_sheep&lt;/a&gt; (which used to exist, but search engines still link to) it said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ultimate in luxury, soft merino wool clothing, the Icebreaker Black Sheep collection is made from the finest fibers to create a beautifully soft and lightweight line. Comfortable enough to wear day or night, our long-sleeved tops and sweaters are perfect for every activity – whether at the office or sitting by the campfire. Because the Icebreaker Black Sheep line is crafted from our softest and finest merino fibers it is ideal for the modern traveler due to its low bulk and ability to fold small. The perfect night time camping wear, this comfortable clothing collection can be layered over some of our simple base layers or worn on its own. The beautifully soft merino wool finds the perfect balance between ultimate style and luxurious comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it appears that the &quot;blacksheep&quot; merino wool is softer and lighter than regular merino wool.  I'm not sure if it has anything to do with actual black sheep though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13029" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T19:44:47.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16015" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16016" CreationDate="2017-04-27T19:46:47.403" Score="12" ViewCount="29618" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm curious what the differences are between alpaca wool and merino wool.  Say for hiking in hot weather and cold weather, using socks and base layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm especially interested in the durability of Alpaca vs Merino. My gut says Merino will withstand heavy outdoor use better, anyone know for certain if this is correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13029" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-11-19T13:00:11.040" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T14:34:25.130" Title="What are the differences between alpaca wool and merino wool?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16015" CreationDate="2017-04-27T20:19:53.733" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alpaca wool is both lighter and warmer than sheep wool due to it being hollow. It also may be softer, depending on the specific herd of animals. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sierratradingpost.com/lp2/wool-guide/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a nice rundown of different types of wool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Softer and sturdier than cashmere and lighter than sheep's wool, alpaca fleece is a luxurious commodity that produces warm, silky, durable and feather-light garments...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A fine, silky and lightweight fiber&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nice luster&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Creates strong, durable and pill-resistant fabrics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say in general, alpaca is made more into sweaters, or heavier weight clothing, while merino is commonly used for both warm and cold weather as a base/mid layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For socks specifically, look into the material percentages. Socks are almost always blended, which greatly affects the performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12002" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T20:44:02.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16010" CreationDate="2017-04-27T20:46:40.223" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a tent you would have protection from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wind chill&lt;/a&gt; and unless you can cut the air flow to your skin some other way, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wind_chill.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the added effect of wind chill depends on the wind speed&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill#North_American_and_United_Kingdom_wind_chill_index&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The forumla is&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;wind chill (F) = 35.74 + 0.6215T - 35.75V^0.16 + 0.4275TV^0.16&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where T = air temperature (F) and V = Wind Speed (mph)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty complicated, but it looks like the worst case is a temp diff of -20F or worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyhow I would guess it depends on the wind and the rain, if you have either then it will probably be too cold, you would need some cover like a rain fly at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13029" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T20:46:40.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15016" CreationDate="2017-04-27T22:38:40.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;After waiting months for the leaves to return on the tree and reading the comment made by Jamesqf, this is a &lt;strong&gt;Honey Locust Tree&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_locust&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; for the tree, there is a picture that matches what the pods look like before they ripen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXboQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gXboQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pods&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I should point out from Jamesqf's comment is that this is a &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; thornless version of the tree.  I did manage to find a small portion of the tree that had some thorns on it (though it's nothing like what the Wikipedia page shows):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MC2V3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MC2V3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Small thorn&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_gltr.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA&lt;/a&gt;, thornless versions are available, which is likely the kind my apartment complex purchased and planted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thornless and fruitless varieties are readily available&#xA;  through the nursery industry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The leaves and bark also match what is found on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.biologydude.com/2010/08/29/the-honey-locust-my-favorite-tree/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-04-28T00:01:01.833" LastActivityDate="2017-04-28T00:01:01.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16010" CreationDate="2017-04-27T22:43:25.053" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends. Maybe colder, maybe not. (Yeah, right.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, two major rules for hammock happiness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Sleeping pads don't work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) You must arrange your rain fly to block air flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping pads: Are normally 20&quot; (51 cm) wide. The hammock will wrap around your body. Your shoulders and knees (and possibly your elbows, upper arms, hips and thighs) will contact the hammock wall at various points because of this, and though you won't lose significant heat due to this contact, it will drive you nuts and keep you awake all night. Also, a sleeping pad under you means that moisture can't escape. But just about any pad you can get ought to keep your bottom side warm for most spring-summer-fall trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain Fly: I usually sleep on a slope. I hang the up-slope part of my rain fly straight down, weighted by a trekking pole hung horizontally. (I sewed on a couple of extra tie-outs for this.) The down-slope side of the rain fly can be raised as much as I want for views. Since cold air flows down mountainsides, this arrangement defeats the draft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some means of blocking foot-to-head or head-to-foot breezes is necessary at times. Sleeping in still air significantly raises hammock comfort. Don't be fooled by sales photos of hammocks with their rain flies splayed out flat. That won't work unless you sleep so hot that you could just as well snooze naked in the dirt anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A minor rule: Something over the top such as bug netting helps block draftiness, but that isn't enough for me. I add a piece of super-light fabric over that when needed. I once used some super-thin, super-breathable non-woven fabric that covered a scanner I  bought. Don't know where to get more of it but it was great. The right weight of &quot;interfacing&quot; might work. Haven't tried it, but look here for some ideas: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interfacing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interfacing&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.joann.com/fabric/utility-fabric/interfacing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.joann.com/fabric/utility-fabric/interfacing/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suggestion: Try a few close-to-home nights outside before doing anything adventurous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12993" LastActivityDate="2017-04-27T22:43:25.053" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2017-04-28T00:01:34.023" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;A modern (Korean War era and later, at least) signal mirror has a hole in the center, and the hole is surrounded by a grid of retroreflectors. You aim the mirror spot at something close by, then look through the hole. The grid makes a very bright spot where the mirror's reflection is going. You then simply tilt and rotate the mirror to put that spot on your target. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a good photo of what it looks like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NCA1K.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NCA1K.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This is a good photo of what it looks like.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the comment in the image says, that hot spot is not the sun itself. It's showing you where the reflected light from the mirror is going. Just put that spot on your target and there you are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that if sun-to-mirror-to-target bounce makes a fairly shallow angle, say more than about 135 degrees, the retroreflecting grid doesn't work and you have to use the methods given in other answers here. Which are also, of course, useful if you don't have a real signal mirror. So the other good answers in this thread should &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; be ignored. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image ganked from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/signalmirror/28053692656&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this flickr page&lt;/a&gt;. As it says there, several companies do make &quot;signal mirrors&quot; that appear to have a grid around the hole, but don't actually have retroreflectors and don't make the bright spot. (I can  confirm this; I bought one and was disappointed.) If you buy a US signal mirror on eBay and it says &quot;Mark III&quot;, it's the right thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11852" LastEditorUserId="11852" LastEditDate="2017-04-28T19:03:29.090" LastActivityDate="2017-04-28T19:03:29.090" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16002" CreationDate="2017-04-28T05:41:10.703" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to have a marine (reef) aquarium.  One part of filtration is called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_skimmer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;foam fractionator&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.  By blowing fine bubbles in a thin column, you produce a great deal of surface area where air and water touch at an interface.  This affects the entire volume of water in the cup so stuff in the water can’t circulate away or avoid the (normal) surface. Thus the effects below are greatly enhanced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some molecules — including many proteins, especially cell membranes from leftover food and waste — have spans that are hydrophobic and spans that are nydrophilic on the same molecule.  That's bound to happen on any long complex protein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These will gather at the air/water boundary, which it loves better than being totally under water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A collection of this stuff on a bubble makes the bubble wall &lt;em&gt;stay&lt;/em&gt;, in exactly the same way a soap bubble forms.  Soap is in fact a molecule of this type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once such boundaries start collecting, lots of other stuff will get swept up in it and stick, as well.  In your picture you see sticks and leaves.  The same idea occurs on a microscopic scale with tint bits of whatever is floating in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the aquarium, the cup is raised or lowered until the “head” of foam can spill out, removing it from the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same &lt;em&gt;foam fractionation&lt;/em&gt; can certainly occur naturally.  A piece that floats around will “snowball” slowly as there is a tiny air/water interface surrounding it.  Where there's a turbulent fall of water, it more closly resembles the machine version, forming bubbles which are left to recirculate in a small volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8651" LastActivityDate="2017-04-28T05:41:10.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16023" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16026" CreationDate="2017-04-28T06:45:41.987" Score="7" ViewCount="219" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Lech Fall&quot; in Austria is a huge waterfall with a small peninsula on its inflow. This picture gives a nice overview: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q96AT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q96AT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image of the &amp;quot;Lech Fall&amp;quot; in Füssen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fuessen_Lechfall.jpg#mw-jump-to-license&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was standing on that peninsula and experienced extremely strong changes of the water level. It rose that much, that half of the stony land was underwater in seconds! It randomly rose and fell (approximately every 5 minutes).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes these strong &quot;tides&quot;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-04-30T05:20:19.323" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T09:22:18.837" Title="Strange river level changes (similar to tides) near the &quot;Lech Fall&quot;" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;austria&gt;&lt;tides&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16024" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16038" CreationDate="2017-04-28T07:57:03.600" Score="7" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;We visited &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Neuschwanstein&lt;/a&gt; lately and since we were with kids, picked the common tourist path up to the castle. The hike is extremely stressful (for me at least) because you wander on a tarred way with thousands of other people while getting constantly taken over by carriages or even cars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any other more peaceful routes to the castle? I know that the official way is the only one leading to the &quot;front-door&quot;. So, neglect this fact. It's enough if the path ends near the castle and on the same height. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-04-28T12:03:38.270" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T19:45:50.287" Title="Is there another less crowded route up to Schloss Neuschwanstein?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2017-04-28T12:32:46.350" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sun isn't a laser, so you don't actually have to be very accurate.&#xA;The further away your target is, the less accurate you have to be as the reflection will spread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13034" LastActivityDate="2017-04-28T12:32:46.350" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16023" CreationDate="2017-04-28T14:05:35.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks a lot like there's a power station just downstream (&lt;a href=&quot;https://500px.com/photo/66872317/50s-industrial-design-forggensee-power-station-by-tobias-m%C3%BCller&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photo&lt;/a&gt;), which can be seen on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=47.621667&amp;amp;mlon=10.72&amp;amp;zoom=12#map=17/47.56593/10.71132&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;openstreetmap&lt;/a&gt;.  I suspect that the power plant is being used to respond to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaking_power_plant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;peak loads&lt;/a&gt; for which hydro is very good.  That whole stretch of river has several power stations and the flow through them will be coordinated to some extent. In particular there's a dam upstream of the falls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TV pickup&lt;/a&gt; is a phenomenon where electricity demand spikes in the advertising breaks of popular TV programmes.  It may be more of an issue in the UK than in some countries because of of the national obsession with tea-drinking and a significant fraction of the popoulation putting the kettle on at the same time but can account for surges in demand on the timescale you mention.  It's also possible tht related to this you happened to be there at the right time for some sort of test/maintenance operation which resulted in opening/closing gates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm slightly surprised that there aren't any warning signs telling people to stay out of the water as levels may change without warning.  I've seen those before downstream of power stations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T09:22:18.837" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T09:22:18.837" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16028" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16030" CreationDate="2017-04-29T06:33:17.967" Score="4" ViewCount="1650" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently purchased a Petzl ice axe and it came with a leash tired to it using a simple knot that allows the length of the leash to be adjusted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in this knot because I had previously made a Purcell Prusik to leash my ice axe to my harness but I could use this knot to make a harness leash that would allow the same amount of adjustability, be more compact and use much less cord.  I would like to know if it has a name and if there is a reason to prefer a Purcell Prusik for leasing my axe to my harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In particular, I would like to know if it is strong enough to withstand the shock loading that would occur in the case of a fall after sinking the shaft of the axe into the snow.  The knot would need to still be reliable even when the cord is icy.  If you know of any references that would also be interesting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the knot and how it is tied.  Note that my question is about a harness leash that I would make using some accessory cord.  I'm only using the wrist leash to illustrate the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y16AD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y16AD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Step 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4IxuT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4IxuT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Step 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BJGlK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BJGlK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The finished knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:09:25.297" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:09:25.297" Title="What is this knot that is used on ice axe leashes?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2017-04-29T17:14:50.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get all the water out from the beginning. Then unscrew the dumpvalves and connect the BCD with the low pressure inflator hose to a tank. Inflate the BCD. The BCD won't inflate as the air is getting out through the opened dumpvalves but it adds extra ventilation inside the bladder. This leads to the BCD drying faster (kind of the system of a cold air hairdrier). For the rest leave it hanging over the bathtub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13044" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-04-29T19:35:20.353" LastActivityDate="2017-04-29T19:35:20.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16028" CreationDate="2017-04-30T20:16:44.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would call it a basic munter hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the eye in the end of the cord (through which you are pushing the bight in the first image) and imagine it to be a carabiner.  This should make the structure more obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A difference between this and a Purcell Prusik is that the prusik can slip when catching a fall, absorbing some energy that would otherwise be passed along to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether it can hold a fall, that would depend on circumstance and the type of cord used.  Dyneema cord would obviously fare worse than nylon, but presumably if you're sinking the shaft into the snow you're not on pure vertical terrain and probably also standing below the axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wisdom of leashing or not leashing an axe to one's harness has been debated in many places; you should be aware of the risks of either method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ref for PP slippage: &lt;a href=&quot;https://dirtbaglawyer.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/a-case-for-the-purcell-prusik-as-a-personal-anchor-system/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://dirtbaglawyer.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/a-case-for-the-purcell-prusik-as-a-personal-anchor-system/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3200" LastActivityDate="2017-04-30T20:16:44.120" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16032" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-01T12:32:55.953" Score="4" ViewCount="3490" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live about 45 degree north latitude.  Other then at the Equinox, daylight is seldom 12 hours.  Sometimes it is more sometimes less. The summer sun can last 16+ hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand how and why there is only a single sunrise and sun set at the North and South Poles.  But I am trying to get my mind around daylight actually lasting 12 hours every day all year.  It seems like the Earth's tilt and our journey around the sun would make it so the amount of daylight is always changing no matter where you are on the Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-02T01:23:11.540" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T20:04:24.367" Title="Do some parts of the world really have 12 hours of daylight each day of the entire year?" Tags="&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16032" CreationDate="2017-05-01T12:52:11.517" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the equator there is about 12 hours year round. This is due to the tilt of the earth. The equator more directly faces the sun than any other part of earth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-08/news/ct-wea-0708-asktom-20110708_1_equator-length-daylight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-08/news/ct-wea-0708-asktom-20110708_1_equator-length-daylight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13019" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T12:52:11.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14655" CreationDate="2017-05-01T13:13:35.363" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;At least in the US forecast models do change. In unsettled air they change faster. Two possiblies come to mind for why this line would &quot;disappear&quot; or move to another day. Both are kind of related. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The forcast model no longer had enough confidence to display the line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The weather features driving the low boundary had weakened or slowed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US,  the weather office has certain threshold that must be met before they can make certain types of predictions. Depending on the type of input to the forcast models as the time approaches the certainly of a particular event changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here some stations need to make hourly (or more often) observations and others might only update every 4 hours. Weather balloons for upper air checks are every 12 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should contact the MET and see if they offer something like &quot;Forecast Discussion&quot; where the meteorologists involved write about the forecast and their results from different models. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BUF&amp;amp;issuedby=BUF&amp;amp;product=AFD&amp;amp;format=CI&amp;amp;version=1&amp;amp;glossary=1&amp;amp;highlight=off&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;example&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt; is from the weather office which services the area I live in. It also has a historical component so you can see the last few days of forecasts and how they have changed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Baseball great Yogi Berra once pointed out, &quot;Predicting the future is hard because it hasn't happened yet.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13053" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T13:13:35.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16032" CreationDate="2017-05-01T15:59:35.540" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Give the check to avanalfen.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Day light is effected by tilt of the earth.  The tilt of the earth is what causes seasons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the sun is directly overhead absent other factors the split would by 50% 50%.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only between the tropics is the sun ever directly overhead.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The equator has the least deviation from sun directly over head.  At the equator the deviation is about 2 minutes.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are other factors.  Daylight is extended by the atmosphere refracting the light and gravity bend light (a very small amount).  This adds about 7 minutes which is greater than 2 minutes so there is a range around the equator that is more than 12 hours a day year round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-05-01T16:15:15.347" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T16:15:15.347" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16032" CreationDate="2017-05-01T18:12:47.767" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is very close to a 12 hour day of light every day in the Southern Philippines. The mountains behind were I live have some effect on shorter afternoon. &amp;amp; the sun rises over the S Pacific. We have about 5 months the sun is in the North side of the house. About 7 months the sun is south side. But on a boat at sea at the equator it could be done. But still on land only 1 day a year were we would have the exact 12 hour day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T18:12:47.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16032" CreationDate="2017-05-01T18:31:48.480" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you neglect the influence of the terrain/buildings, the atmosphere and the height above sea level, both the time with and without sunlight is very close to 12 hours on the equator (other minor deviations may arise from the non-spheric form of the earth, non-constant rotational speed of the earth and probably some more minor influences). This is due to the equator line always crossing the day-night-border exactly in the middle. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shsu.edu/~dl_www/bkonline/131online/f02latitude/02index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article on latitude&lt;/a&gt; has three images (10.-12.) which illustrate this nicely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These two links also provide explanations for this:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the Northern Hemisphere, the length of the day is longer during the months when the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun and shorter during the months when it's tilted away from the Sun. The reverse is true for the Southern Hemisphere. The Equator is exactly halfway in between the poles. So it wouldn't make any sense for a day on the equator to be longer when one of the poles is tilted towards the Sun, and shorter when the other one is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/161-our-solar-system/the-earth/day-night-cycle/195-is-the-sun-always-up-for-exactly-12-hours-at-the-equator-beginner&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/161-our-solar-system/the-earth/day-night-cycle/195-is-the-sun-always-up-for-exactly-12-hours-at-the-equator-beginner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you do not consider the atmosphere's influence and calculate sunrise and sunset when the true solar disk is on the horizon, then day and night are equal on the equator. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/day_equator.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/day_equator.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality the refraction happening in the atmosphere extends the time in which it is light, depending on models this is estimated at 6-8min.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-05-02T07:06:13.207" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T07:06:13.207" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16024" CreationDate="2017-05-01T19:45:50.287" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there any other more peaceful routes to the castle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, there is another trail called Jugendstrasse. It leads towards the Alpsee lake, around to Mary's bridge and eventually back to Neuschwanstein. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other smaller trails the locals and staff use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been 4 years since we were there, we walked all of the red and blue trails on this map:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/APBHU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/APBHU.png&quot; alt=&quot;Cinderella routes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The red route is perpetually stressful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9464" LastActivityDate="2017-05-01T19:45:50.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-05-02T00:07:22.820" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water proof spray would only help with the outside of the bag. Waterproofing is available that the bag is washed in which coats all the down with hydrophobic water repellant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or ready made ones are also available.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn4BiDsVqyk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn4BiDsVqyk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T00:07:22.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16042" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16044" CreationDate="2017-05-02T11:04:45.000" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something curious happened this weekend. One of my field-tips broke inside the shaft. The actual point and the thread of the tip got separated. The problem is that the thread is stilled screwed in the insert and I have a hit insert which means there is everything &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; of the shaft (nothing to grab). Commonly I would heat the shaft and pull the insert out with a screwed in tip. The broken thread blocks the point of being screwed in of course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an easy way to get the insert out of the shaft? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T13:56:21.753" Title="The thread of my point broke while being screwed-in. How to get the insert out of the shaft?" Tags="&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16032" CreationDate="2017-05-02T13:35:33.140" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine for a minute that the Earth is perfectly spherical, that sunlight arrives &quot;from infinity&quot;, and that any given spot is either lit or unlit.  Then, at any given time, exactly half the surface is in &quot;daytime&quot; and the other half in &quot;night-time&quot;.  The line separating the two is a Great Circle - a circle with the same centre and radius as the solid sphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be clear that any other Great Circle on this ideal Earth must intersect this penumbral line and be divided exactly into two equal parts of light and dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now consider the path that any given place on the sphere travels as it rotates.  It will move around a line of latitude (i.e. always eastwards).  This path forms a circle parallel to the Equator.  There is a line of latitude that is a Great Circle, and that is the Equator itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we can deduce that a point on the Equator, in ideal conditions, will spend exactly half the day on the light side and half the day on the dark side of the Earth (except for the case we ruled out where the Sun is exactly over one of the poles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T13:35:33.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16042" CreationDate="2017-05-02T13:50:59.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you need is a screw extractor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually they are sold with reverse threaded drill bits. You drill into the screw that is recessed and then stick an object in that hole like a flat bladed screwdriver or something of that effect and unscrew the stud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick will be finding a drill bit smaller than the shaft of the stud so you don't damage the threads. You use a left hand or reverse drill bit so there is no chance of driving the stud farther in by the vibration of drilling. Of course this may be more work than the part is worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option maybe cutting a notch in the end of the stud if a little bit is sticking out but not enough to grab with pliers. Then you could just use a small flat bladed screwdriver to unthread it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason why it broke is probably it was over tightened or bent and straightened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13053" LastEditorUserId="13053" LastEditDate="2017-05-02T13:56:21.753" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T13:56:21.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16046" CreationDate="2017-05-02T18:05:27.960" Score="10" ViewCount="1532" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm back from outdoors and while lying down in bed I noticed a tiny tiny insect walking around on my clothes. While trying to take a picture of it to see if it is a tick, it just disappeared and I cannot find it anymore. In the mean time I checked my body to make sure nothing is there and I found two of them on my leg and toe. The one in the leg came off easily with tweezers as close to the skin as possible, where the one in the toe felt like didn't detach in whole and there was a spot of blood after removal. I'll get someone check the spots again for me, but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how can I make sure I haven't brought more of them with me home? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And that the one I lost hasn't landed on my head among bushes and bushes and bushes of hair? (It would be impossible to find anything from my head with all the hair that I have). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I threw the ones I removed in the bin. Can they get out and creep around again?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t0TEO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t0TEO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;that&amp;#39;s my skin texture not leg hair!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lZwq7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lZwq7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the one I lost!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4SsfZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4SsfZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;another shot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T08:06:43.893" LastActivityDate="2017-05-04T23:12:04.013" Title="How can I make sure there are no more ticks around?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;bites&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16045" CreationDate="2017-05-02T19:46:31.543" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you can do is throughly inspect yourself or have someone check you over to see if they can find any. But there's nothing you can do to ensure there aren't anymore around, you can only hope that you've found them all on your person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I first got married, my wife and I went for a hike along the river close to my home. We hung out on the banks in the grass for a bit, but soon discovered the patch of grass we picked was FULL of ticks. I picked 17 off of my wife, we thought we got them all, but when we got home I found a couple more crawling in her hair while we were on the couch watching a movie. A couple days later, we found &lt;em&gt;another&lt;/em&gt; tick on my wife, and we hadn't even even been in the bush since the first tick incident. We couldn't figure out where the stray tick came from until we got in our truck again and found another one on the seat inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We apparently didn't do a good enough job checking each other over the first time, and carried some ticks into the truck where a couple disembarked and hung out in the cab until we got back in again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thorough checks are the only way you can verify you're tick free. it's not enough to just check on the outside of your clothes, ticks will climb &lt;em&gt;inside&lt;/em&gt; you clothes as well, and you need to do these checks &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; you go anywhere the ticks can jump off and hide; like in your tent, your sleeping bag, your vehicle, your home, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T19:39:31.527" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T19:39:31.527" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16047" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-02T20:01:44.793" Score="4" ViewCount="819" Body="&lt;p&gt;We use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coghlans.com/products/4-oz-camp-soap-9617&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coghlan's Camp Soap&lt;/a&gt; when camping, it is available in handy containers at most stores that have any amount of outdoor supplies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But we can only find it in the 4oz bottle, we would like to be able to refill the bottle from a larger container or make our own.  We know reqular dish soap is not the same as camp soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can we make our own camp soap that is going to perform like the product we are used to? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarify: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make our own = Home made &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp soap = Biodegradable &amp;amp; rinses off with little water, while working to clean as you expect from soap product&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T20:50:50.930" LastActivityDate="2017-06-02T21:47:42.197" Title="How to make my own liquid camp soap?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-05-02T22:21:56.120" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best I could advise is a plastic bag over the end of the bag. It it only gets wet at the bottom do to tent flap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T22:21:56.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2017-05-02T22:30:43.923" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have drank it. These were the big vines that grew to the top of trees. Just cut them &amp;amp; let the water flow into a collector below.  Wild grapes here not domestic. I had no ill effects from this. This was in a swamp area that was under water 3 to 4 months a year. So safer than other water avalable at that time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T22:30:43.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2017-05-02T23:16:17.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not exactly grape sap, but a local merchant to me is selling what he calls Organic Water. The source is the liquid evaporated off during the Maple Syrup manufacturing process. Because the source is filtered by the tree, aka a plant source, he was able to get it legally recognized as organic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13053" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T23:16:17.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16047" CreationDate="2017-05-02T23:52:27.323" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to make Coghlan's you can get the ingredients from the MSDS.  But that seems kind of extreme. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HZBpa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HZBpa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;MSDS&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Make our own camp soap&quot; is not very clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-05-02T23:52:27.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16047" CreationDate="2017-05-03T06:25:14.777" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I use for dish washing is &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.ecover.com/products/zero-dish-soap/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ecover ZERO Dish Soap&lt;/a&gt;. It's made with plant-based and mineral ingredients which makes it biodegradable. Comes in a 25oz bottle so it should be enough for you for refilling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For clothes, I use gall soap. That too is biodegradable and on the top of that, it's an awesome stain remover and it's suitable for pretty much any type of cloth you could imagine. Including wool and silk. You should be able to find multiple products. Just look for gall soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For body and hair, I use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.p-jentschura.com/en/products/body-care/alkabath/product-information&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alkaline mineral body care named Meine Base&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the above I use both at home and outdoors. Apart from gall soap which I use only for stains, not as the primary washing detergent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really interested in making your own, here's a good &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humblebeeandme.com/wp-content/uploads/Old-FashionedSoapRecipes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of recipes from 100 years ago&lt;/a&gt;. Beware, some of the ingredients may be hard to come by :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T06:25:14.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2017-05-03T06:35:03.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure about grape sap but I can tell you that birch sap is great and has no ill effects. You can collect it quickly and easily in the break of winter/early spring and it contains heterosides (betuloside and monotropitoside), 17 amino acids including glutamic acid, as well as minerals, enzymes, proteins, betulinic acid and betulin, antioxidants, sugar (xylitol, fructose and glucose) and vitamins (C and B).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yRcNA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yRcNA.png&quot; alt=&quot;Extraction of birch sap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T06:35:03.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2017-05-03T06:47:37.067" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's one piece of equipment I've carried with me on every trip, even on day trips and that's a lightweight and durable rescue blanket. Not only can it help you to stay warm (shiny side in) but it can help you to protect yourself from heat (shiny side out). Being wind and water proof it makes a versatile friend you don't want to part from. I've used it to stay warm in snow storms by wrapping it around my sleeping bag but it also can be used to stay dry by doing just that. And it makes a great cooking shelter when combined with adjustable trekking poles and a couple of tent stakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZWmdk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZWmdk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Used as a cooking shelter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7fV0R.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7fV0R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Used as a cooking shelter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T06:47:37.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16045" CreationDate="2017-05-03T06:57:29.560" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sauna. And not that joke-of-a-sauna but a real Scandinavian sauna with 80°C / 176°F. One thing with ticks is that they can take an enormous amount of beating and other forms of killing attempts but they're extremely vulnerable to heat. Same thing with deer flies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also try with a hot shower but you really have to gradually crank up the heat as much as your skin can take. As its body temperature reaches 42°C/107°F its proteins start to coagulate and it dies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt; Some people seem to find this hard to believe. However, as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.uvm.edu/medicine/mededucation/enews/documents/Markowitz_FMECPoster_2015.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this study concludes&lt;/a&gt;, washing in 46°C/115°F kills all the nymph and adult ticks. In addition to that, the study concluded that it only takes about 5 minutes for a tick to die off at dry heat which suggests you should take a sauna if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-04T23:12:04.013" LastActivityDate="2017-05-04T23:12:04.013" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2017-05-03T07:31:19.080" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geological map can help you to estimate in beforehand the ease of travel, potential of springs and type of vegetation. Highly useful in my book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T07:31:19.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11588" CreationDate="2017-05-03T07:42:22.310" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neoprene socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your feet will stay warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You retain the feel for the surface you're walking on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weights practically nothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects your feet from sharp rocks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find them in stores selling scuba diving equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T07:42:22.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2017-05-03T07:56:05.337" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Merino wool is self-cleaning. Carry as many pairs you need to keep your feet always dry as fungi thrives in moist and dark places. Dry your socks in direct sunlight. Do not wash them too often as wool contains lanolin (aka. wool wax) which has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties that protect the sheep's skin from infection. Of course you need to wash them sometimes but following each wash, lanolize the wool in a tub containing lanolin. Some people skip this step if using a wool wash that contains lanolin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel 100% merino won't cut it, try to find some 100% merino socks with silver-based treatment. Then add the lanolin treatment and you'll have socks you don't want to part from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T08:01:35.383" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T08:01:35.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2017-05-03T08:08:09.890" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the night, open your boots completely (remove soles), have them upright and throw in iron oxide -based hand warmers. They'll heat up to some 70°C/160°F and your boots will be dry by the morning. 10 pairs of hand warmers should cost less than 10 bucks and they weight close to nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T13:39:25.670" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T13:39:25.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16045" CreationDate="2017-05-03T08:31:11.903" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to ShemSegers and Jani-Hyytiäinens answer, I'd like to add that because of their ability of survival just throwing them into the bin might indeed enable them to creep out again (depends on the bin). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make sure, you could kill them with fire. Hold them with tweezers and kill them with a lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T08:31:11.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15877" CreationDate="2017-05-03T08:37:55.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is really no magic in starting a fire. Even moist wood will ignite if you do it right. First you want to forget about paper or any fluids as they won't do you any good, then you need some patience for proper preparation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have a good air circulation from the bottom. 2 blocks of wood side by side with some 10cm/4in apart will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make some thin wood sticks. You can do this easily with your knife and a block of wood. Use another block of wood as a hammer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make some little thicker wood sticks, then a bit more thicker, then a bit more thicker until you have all the sizes up to the size of a normal firewood&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Assemble the sticks side by side on layers, starting from the thinnest ones ending up with the thickest ones so that each layer is perpendicular to the previous one&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ensure you leave about 1.5cm/0.5in space between the sticks. Just enough for the flames to pass in between the sticks and not too wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place some tinder, birch bark or other easily igniting material underneath your creation, light it up, sit back, relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of fire is sometimes referred to as pyramid or log cabin but keep in mind that most people build them completely wrong. What's important is that you build your pyramid in layers leaving no empty space in the middle (you don't want a chimney), have the thinnest sticks in the bottom, ending with thickest ones on the top and having a proper spacing in each layer. The more you have moisture in the wood, the thinner you need to start with. The tinder will first dry, then ignite the thinnest sticks. The thinnest sticks will first dry and then ignite the little thicker sticks and so on and so on until you have enough heat to ignite the thickest ones. It's a chain reaction. If you space the sticks on a layer too tight, the fire won't pass through to the next layer. Spaced too wide, the fire will pass through the layers too quickly to allow the heat to dry the above layer. Remember, you don't want a chimney.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, here's a list of natural tinder/kindling (my favorites bolded):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tinder fungus&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birch bark&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fat Lighter or Fat wood&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shaved bark&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dandelion head (clock)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Poplar Cotton&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Punk wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cattail fluff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cattail leaves (dry)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry grass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry pine needles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T16:50:06.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="266" CreationDate="2017-05-03T09:25:15.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do NOT try this at home. But if your life depends on it and you can't find anything you know is edible, you can follow these instructions. Again, you may die by doing this but if the odds are you'll die anyway, you can play roulette with your life as safely as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub the plant on an area of your skin where the skin is thin and soft. Any itching or unpleasant feeling within an hour or two should lead to leaving the plant out of question.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the plant won't irritate your skin, follow the next steps only following to the next one if previous step won't lead to unpleasant feelings within 5 minutes of exposure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub it a little to your lips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub it a little to the side of your mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub it a little to the tip of your tongue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rub it a little underneath your tongue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chew a small portion of it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swallow a small portion and wait for 5 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If no unpleasant symptoms arise (pain, tickling, burps, nausea, stomach pain, cramps in abdomen or anythin else), consider the plant relatively safe to eat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 2 most common poisons in the plant world. Learn to detect them and ditch any plant you suspect containing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hydrogen cyanide&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smells and tastes like sweet and bitter almonds or peach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oxalic acid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tastes like rhubarb or wood sorrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Avoid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plants that have milk-like sap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plants that have red in them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fruits that are divided to 5 sections&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grasses and other plants that have small spikes in them. With a magnifying glass you'll notice the spikes have a hook in them which can really mess up with your intestines&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Old and withered plants. Many plants generate hydrogen cyanide when in stress&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full-grown ferns as they destroy vitamin B and can cause death. However, all ferns are edible as young although some species may taste awful&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Typha&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learn to recognize them. The genus is largely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is found in a variety of wetland habitats. The rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were already eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago. A small area of typha will produce you large amounts of rhizomes, food equivalent to potato. You can eat them raw but preferably boiled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T09:42:58.273" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T09:42:58.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15900" CreationDate="2017-05-03T10:31:12.980" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tall and thin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 2 rules in weight distribution with a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As close to your back as possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As high as possible (if not traveling in steep terrain, such as mountains where it is safer not to be top heavy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4G585.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4G585.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both of these rules will bring the center of the mass on a backpack as close as possible to your own without the excess need of leaning forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may feel awkward at first to travel with a top-heavy backpack but the problem goes away with a decent backpack adjusted properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensure the backpack is suitable for your anatomy (torso length and hip size)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a decent backpack with good compression capabilities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack the backpack properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjust the backpack properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpack fitting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjust the torso length&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjust the vertical metal rails (if available) to the curvature of your back&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adjust the hip belt to your hip size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacks-adjusting-fit.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backpack adjustment&lt;/strong&gt; - from https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpacks-adjusting-fit.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1: Hipbelt&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put the pack on. Move the hipbelt until the padding hugs the top of your hip bones (your iliac crest). If it sits too low or too high, tighten or loosen the shoulder straps to raise or lower the hipbelt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fasten the hipbelt buckle and tighten it. Be careful not to overtighten the belt: It should be snug and secure without uncomfortably pinching your hips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check the padded sections of the hipbelt to make sure they sit on the top of your hips; if not, readjust your shoulder straps and hipbelt. Try different tensions until you find the sweet spot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belt padding should extend slightly beyond the front point of your hipbones. You also need at least one inch of clearance on either side of the center buckle: If you have less, call REI to see if a smaller belt is available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 2: Shoulder Straps&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull down and back on the ends of the shoulder straps to tighten them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoulder straps should wrap closely around your shoulders, but they should NOT be carrying significant weight. If they are, you'll be putting undue stress on shoulder, neck and upper-back muscles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check to see that the shoulder strap anchor points on your pack are 1 to 2 inches below the top of your shoulders, roughly at the top of your shoulder blades. If not, then either your hipbelt is at the wrong level or your pack’s torso length is incorrect.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vary shoulder-strap tension by tightening and loosening the straps. Learn how to adjust the straps in small increments so you can relieve any pressure points or pain during your hike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 3: Load Lifters&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load-lifter straps connect the top of the shoulder harness to an anchor point near the top of the back panel. When tensioned, they should angle back toward the pack body at roughly a 45-degree angle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don’t overtighten the load lifters! Excess tension that feels great initially can pinch shoulder joints and create discomfort. Strive for snug—not stiff—tension. If you notice a space at the top of your shoulder harness, loosen the load lifters and try again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 4: Sternum Strap&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slide the sternum strap until it’s at a comfortable height across your chest: roughly an inch below your collarbones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buckle and tighten the sternum strap to set the shoulder straps at a width that allows your arms to move freely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid the common mistake of overtightening the sternum strap. This can distort the overall fit of your harness, constrict your chest muscles and restrict your breathing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T21:46:20.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16066" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-03T10:51:39.593" Score="6" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2013 I visited Nuortakrågge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Tx2xESA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nuortakrågge&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nuortakrågge is located at 67.8084°N, 16.6203°E, above Vuodnabahta, Norway.  It is open and free to use.  It is not listed on official maps but there is a small sign along the main trail from Vuodnabahta to the Swedish border.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some entries in the visitor book mentioned Maskåsj-gammen on the Swedish side of the border.  Måskåsj-gammen is not on any maps either, and there is no sign pointing there along the trail from the border to Vásjáluokta.  I asked local Sami people on the boat from Vuodnabahta to Ájluokta, who gave me a description that wasn't very useful (something like &quot;turn left a bit after the 5th stream crossing, but there is no trail&quot;), and pointed out that all the names on the map are wrong (and they don't use the maps because they know the way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;http://krigsminner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/maskasjgammen-et-samisk-kulturminne-med.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a blogpost with a photo&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9lYsi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9lYsi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Måskåsj-gammen&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Måskåsj-gammen.  Photo by Oddmund Andersen.  Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://krigsminner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/maskasjgammen-et-samisk-kulturminne-med.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;krigsminner blog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blog says it is &quot;roughly 6 km into Sweden&quot;, which in the local landscape is not precise enough to find it, in particular since there is apparently no trail leading there.  I don't think it would be possible to find on Google Earth.  There is a map &lt;a href=&quot;http://img7.custompublish.com/getfile.php/3211209.927.wexeyqyyrr/Vandreutstillingen_liten_NY.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;in this document about the history of WW II refugees&lt;/a&gt; but the scale is far too poor to locate the spot in the landscape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the geographic coordinates for Måskåsj-gammen, or where is it relative to locations as written on the official topographic map (regardless of the correctness of the names on them)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T10:57:08.937" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T10:57:08.937" Title="How do I get to Måskåsj-gammen?" Tags="&lt;huts&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5803" CreationDate="2017-05-03T11:07:14.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crossing a stream in a group&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each participant will bring their own rope to the trip if such a crossing is anticipated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First picture:&lt;/strong&gt; #1 will tie the rope around him. Strongest will cross first. #2 and #3 will not be tied to the rope but they'll simply handle the rope and prevents the crossing person from washing away downstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second picture:&lt;/strong&gt; When #1 reaches the other side, #1 detaches himself from the rope. #2 attaches himself and crosses the stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third pricture:&lt;/strong&gt; When #2 has reached the other side, #2 detaches himself, #3 attaches himself and crosses the stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7I4hG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7I4hG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Stream crossing strategy&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:24:10.563" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:24:10.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15731" CreationDate="2017-05-03T11:31:01.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lapland in the spring&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are going on a 2-week trek in Finnish Lapland 27th may. As it turns out, there's more snow this year than on average. If the snow won't melt before our trip, we're planning on traveling at night when the temperature freezes the surface of the snow which makes it possible to travel on snow. During daytime it melts and won't carry you. At those latitudes, the sun won't set even at night so there won't be any problems with visibility. Added bonus is that potential mosquitoes will be hibernating when the temperature drops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lapland in the summer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sun won't set so visibility is not an issue. It's also cooler than during the daytime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lapland in the fall&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're better off by traveling during the day as it's getting really dark and cold in the night time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lapland in the winter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind tends to calm down as the sun sets. Even in northern latitudes when the sun won't rise in the middle of the winter it is possible to travel in full moon if the sky is clear. Added bonus is the potential auroras which are just frickin awesome!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-03T11:36:41.480" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T11:36:41.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2017-05-03T11:41:18.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plantago major&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(broadleaf plantain, white man's foot, or greater plantain)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fvKqQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fvKqQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Plantago major&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broadleaf_Plantain_(Plantago_major)_growing_in_crack_in_sidewalk.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plantain is found all over the world, and is one of the most abundant and accessible medicinal herbs. It contains many bioactive compounds, including allantoin, aucubin, ursolic acid, flavonoids, and asperuloside. Scientific studies have shown that plantain extract has a wide range of biological effects, including wound healing activity, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, weak antibiotic, immuno modulating and antiulcerogenic activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, tie some up on the wound with a gauze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:25:01.970" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:25:01.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="81" CreationDate="2017-05-03T11:55:19.547" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't see air temperature as playing any part in the equation. I just wrote some &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15877/camp-fire-starting-for-the-novice/16063#16063&quot;&gt;instructions for starting a camp fire&lt;/a&gt; and they should apply to pretty much every situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T11:55:19.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2017-05-03T12:03:00.780" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Painted wood with 2 galvanized nails like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h6omZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h6omZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Signs attached to trees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do that all the time in Finnish natural parks and such signs can take all the 4 seasons with minimal maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree will push the sign outwards as it grows but they won't drop out like ever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:25:50.033" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:25:50.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2017-05-03T12:08:56.153" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to attach the sleeping mattress to the bottom of my backpack so that my backpack can stand upright without extra support. Highly convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4WvkB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4WvkB.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mattress attached to backpack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T15:55:02.203" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T15:55:02.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2017-05-03T12:18:42.083" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why to put nails in the trees when you can paint the trail signs on them? I know, I know, it needs some updating each 2-3 years, but plastic and aluminium colors may also fade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider one information board at the beginning of the trail(s), telling where each sign and direction leads, and then just paint them on the tree along the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bp3Tc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bp3Tc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;trail signs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cR71J.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cR71J.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;trail signs painted on trees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:01:31.337" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:01:31.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15714" CreationDate="2017-05-03T12:28:10.073" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For smaller trips I always take my 85L backpack, for longer trips I always take my 110L backpack. If there's extra room, I use the compression straps to make the backpack slimmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But here's what generally affects the size required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expected temperature range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Length of the trip in days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The higher the temperature range is, the more you need different kinds of clothes. For example, our next trip is expected to stay in between -10°C (14°F) and 30°C (86°F) which requires both warm and cool clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more days you spend out there, the more you need room for you food. For example, our next trip is about 2 weeks so I need a lot of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I'm definitely going with the 110L one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T12:28:10.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16028" CreationDate="2017-05-03T22:27:47.217" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since asking the question, I've done some experimentation and discovered a potentially serious problem with this knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it is tied from cord, the size of the loop around which the munter is tied (thanks to @requiem for pointing out that it is a munter) is critical.  If the loop is too large, it can twist into a configuration where the rope can simply slide through the munter.  This cannot occur with a carabiner because carabiners are rigid whereas the rope is not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KPvzl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KPvzl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;After tying the munter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4ICdY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4ICdY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;After pulling on the rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This problem can be fixed at least to some extent by using a slip knot for the loop.  However, I worry that it might still have problems under the strong and sudden force that would occur during a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastActivityDate="2017-05-03T22:27:47.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16079" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16081" CreationDate="2017-05-04T18:32:14.613" Score="4" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got injured at the age of 16 and damaged my right knee ligament. I had a surgery. After gaining strength, I started playing again and that damaged the reconstruction. And now, at the age of 34, with regular exercise, I have got some strength again. Now I can run and jump to catch a moving bus and even a train. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I trek to Annapurna Base Camp at 4130 meter by walking 6 hrs daily for 10 days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12046" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-05-10T14:48:32.563" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T14:48:32.563" Title="Interested in trekking to Annapurna Base Camp" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2017-05-09T06:44:51.793" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16079" CreationDate="2017-05-04T18:52:16.107" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;With that given information we can't tell if &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; can do it. I, for example had an knee surgery too while playing soccer some years ago. Still I am driving to work by bike regularly and I am doing other sports. And I am hiking and climbing. So yes, for myself I can decide and I would be pretty sure I could do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how should we say that for you? Are you doing any sport? If you are just running 1 minute to catch a train say once a week, then I wouldn't suggest to fly to Nepal just to notice a day later that you don't have the endurance. Walking 10 days each day 6 hours isn't easy. So please, do yourself a favour and start in your local hills or even in the city to run slowly for a decent amount of time. You even don't have to run, you can start by hiking two hours on Sundays for example. Then you do it on two days. Then you increase the length of the hike...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get the point. Maybe you notice after 2 weeks that it's very easy for you and you have good stamina. Maybe you don't. Just try it out by yourself, the internet can't give you an answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-05-04T18:52:16.107" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16079" CreationDate="2017-05-04T19:51:05.597" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A short run is not even close to 6 hours with a pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not mobile and have to be extracted it could get expensive.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take some back to back long days with a full pack and see how you feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-05-04T19:51:05.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16083" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-04T21:13:15.487" Score="18" ViewCount="2678" Body="&lt;p&gt;This one is based on an actual experience - One summer I went on a trail through waist-high grass with a friend. We were both wearing shorts, but my friend had hairy legs, while mine were shaved. After the walk, he discovered probably half a dozen ticks on his legs, while I had none (much to my relief!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe my smooth legs kept ticks from sticking, maybe it was just a coincidence... I tried to search but just found internet forum discussions - some for and some against, but no studies or official guidance. So I am asking here!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does shaving help prevent you from getting ticks?&lt;/strong&gt; An authoritative source would be great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-05-07T04:59:00.113" Title="Does shaving help prevent tick bites?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5688" CreationDate="2017-05-05T12:24:44.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stuffing newspapers into wet shoes does wonders while keeping the shape of the shoes. If you, like the suggestions above, you add mild heat the shoes will be dry overnight- even heavy waterproof boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12165" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T12:24:44.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16083" CreationDate="2017-05-05T13:39:06.407" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't say for sure if &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.overlandbasecamp.cc/preventing-lyme-disease-from-deer-ticks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; is autoritive or not, but it does say that shaving your legs makes it more difficult for a tick to stick to you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shave your legs:  Leg hair makes it much easier for a tick to hitch a ride on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found &lt;a href=&quot;http://forums.mtbr.com/general-discussion/best-ways-avoid-ticks-422673.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;another source&lt;/a&gt; saying shaving helps as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One thing that helps is shaving your legs. Not a foolproof way but I would say it reduces them critters by 80%, maybe more. I noticed that when my wife and I were out and she had none, I had around 14 that day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dirtragmag.com/ticks-suck/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another source&lt;/a&gt; doesn't say it will help prevent them from sticking to you, but it does say it'll help you feel them sooner, allowing you to get them off of you before they latch on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shaving your legs like any good roadie will help your tactile response to feel ticks on your minimally stubby/hairy legs, and you can get them off before they attach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One &lt;a href=&quot;https://mybikepath.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/top-3-reasons-for-shaving-legs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;last source&lt;/a&gt; that also says it helps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ticks can jump off weeds and grab your leg hair, then make their way around your body until they decide to bite. Smooth legs don’t leave them much to grab onto, so it’s less likely that a tick will stay on your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would conclude that shaved legs (or other shaved body parts) do help prevent them, and at the very least, it makes it easier to spot them as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T13:39:06.407" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16087" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-05-05T16:46:48.213" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T16:46:48.213" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T16:46:48.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16088" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-05-05T16:46:48.213" Score="0" Body="Questions in regards to outdoor sunlight or solar related questions." OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T19:16:21.587" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T19:16:21.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16089" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-05-05T16:48:12.560" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T16:48:12.560" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T16:48:12.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16090" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-05-05T16:48:12.560" Score="0" Body="A type of fiber obtained from various animals such as sheep.  " OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T17:41:44.593" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T17:41:44.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16092" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-05-05T23:48:22.733" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T23:48:22.733" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T23:48:22.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16093" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-05-05T23:48:22.733" Score="0" Body="Relates to the expected behavior of individuals to one another.  Examples include trail and camping etiquette.  Use this tag when asking about proper etiquette of an activity.  " OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-05-06T07:41:44.583" LastActivityDate="2017-05-06T07:41:44.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16094" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-05-05T23:50:26.220" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-05T23:50:26.220" LastActivityDate="2017-05-05T23:50:26.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16095" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-05-05T23:50:26.220" Score="0" Body="A type of plant comprised of a large trunk, branches, and leaves.  " OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-05-06T07:41:34.037" LastActivityDate="2017-05-06T07:41:34.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16083" CreationDate="2017-05-06T02:39:48.577" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will definitely make them easier to spot and pull off. Obviously they are more visible next to bare skin, but imagine pulling them off in nether regions while worrying about hair. It brings back shudders. Even leg hair gets pulled by yanking ticks off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11728" LastActivityDate="2017-05-06T02:39:48.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16098" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-06T22:16:49.833" Score="2" ViewCount="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering heading to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerlingarfj%C3%B6ll&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kerlingarfjöll&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought it was pretty barren, which would mean it doesn't matter much whether one travels in summer or autumn, but it looks like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.icelandphotography.com/photo/photo-232/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;it does get some mosses&lt;/a&gt;.  What would be the optimal time of year to experience autumn colours in Kerlingarfjöll and surrounding areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-05-07T03:34:23.390" Title="When to see autumn colours in and around Kerlingarfjöll, Iceland?" Tags="&lt;iceland&gt;&lt;autumn&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16098" CreationDate="2017-05-07T03:34:23.390" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say from late August to mid-September. However, the exact timing, the color intensity and duration varies greatly from year to year and is impossible to predict. If you want to maximize your possibilities of seeing autumn colors, I'd say take a 2-week trip on the first half of September while keeping in mind that hot and dry summer, if one should occur, will make the colors appear earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of beliefs about autumn colors, even among locals. For example, temperatures below freezing point has nothing to do with autumn colors although you keep hearing such claims over and over again. One good option is to ask from people who actually life off of autumn colors and have some responsibility over having the timing right. There are quite a few companies organizing photography trips in Iceland, calling a few through and asking specifically about Kerlingarfjöll and this year, might give you a better idea on how to time your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-07T03:34:23.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16083" CreationDate="2017-05-07T04:28:32.800" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Suggestion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep hiking with the friend of yours. It may be that you were not chosen as the host due to him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reasoning&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are active and passive host finding strategies when it comes to ticks. While active ticks run to you, the passive ones will cling on vegetation and wait for contact. In theory it may sound plausible that for the passive ones body hair would provide more to grab on but there's no scientific evidence on whether human body hair is easier for a tick to grab on or if the tick would find it easier to grab onto the skin directly. For active species, body hair probably won't make any difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A more significant factor is the body odour&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Odours are undoubtedly the most important and best studied stimuli.&#xA;  Host-originated odours provide specific information and, when carried&#xA;  on wind currents, also provide directional information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Among the most important host-originated odourants are carbon dioxide,&#xA;  a component of animal breath and ammonia, common in urine and other&#xA;  animal wastes. CO2 and NH3 attraction bring hungry ticks into close&#xA;  proximity to potential hosts, whereupon other, shorter range stimuli&#xA;  become effective. At shorter ranges, butyric acid and lactic acid&#xA;  become effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cvbd.org/en/tick-borne-diseases/about-ticks/tick-feeding/host-seeking/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tick Feeding - Host Seeking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a tick has chosen its host, it often locates its feeding area by the smell. This also depends on the species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00049-004-0280-6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Attractive and repellent host odours guide ticks to their respective feeding sites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Host gender and age&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Women 40 years or older had a 48% higher risk than men 40 years or&#xA;  older and 42% higher risk than women younger than 40 years of&#xA;  attracting tick bites (0.0188 versus 0.0127 and 0.0188 versus 0.0132&#xA;  tick bites respectively per hour). Additionally they had a 96% higher&#xA;  risk than men younger than 40 years of attracting tick bites (0.0188&#xA;  versus 0.0096). The annual incidence rate of EM in women was 506 and&#xA;  in men 423 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (p&amp;lt;0.001). Significant&#xA;  differences in incidence rates occurred in those 40 years or older.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17417955&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Effect of gender on clinical and epidemiologic features of Lyme borreliosis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between the amount of ticks found on one person over another is likely due to ticks simply preferring the smell of one over another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other blood-feeding species -research support the odour-theory&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2520696/Scientists-mosquitoes-attracted-certain-body-odour.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scientists find mosquitoes are attracted to certain body odour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cvbd.org/en/sand-fly-borne-diseases/about-sand-flies/sand-fly-feeding/host-seeking-behaviour/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sand Fly Feeding - Host Seeking Behaviour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://flipper.diff.org/app/items/info/5006&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mosquitoes Host-seeking Behaviour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-07T04:59:00.113" LastActivityDate="2017-05-07T04:59:00.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4066" CreationDate="2017-05-07T05:06:26.803" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you’re experiencing is called cold diuresis, a phenomenon that occurs for reasons that are not entirely clear. One theory that remains popular—though it has been contested—explains how it works like this: When your temperature starts to drop, your body will attempt to reduce heat loss by constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow to the surface of the skin. When that happens, your blood pressure will rise, because the same volume of blood is flowing through less space in your body. In response, your kidneys will pull out excess fluid to reduce your blood pressure, making you have to pee. “A full bladder is a place for additional heat loss, so urinating will help conserve heat,” writes Rick Curtis, the director of Princeton University’s Outdoor Action Program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13077" LastActivityDate="2017-05-07T05:06:26.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2017-05-07T18:23:14.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The crows who come daily to our home in Colorado love to eat whole, unroasted and unsalted peanuts.  They come over in the mornings and late afternoons on weekdays (seems they have other food source on weekends). They are patient with the squirrel who also comes for peanuts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, occasionally a blue jay will visit for peanuts and be a bit aggressive with the crows for the peanuts. But the jays don't usually stay in our neighborhood regularly - it's just once in a while a blue jay comes over and acts like a little jerk. We have crows that come here, not ravens. (Though I keep hoping someday to befriend a raven or two). The peanuts are left for them on a ledge on our front porch. It's great to watch them through the windows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also have two black-oil sunflower feeders in our backyard, which attracts a lot of other smaller birds - the small birds come to those feeders regardless of crows are present on the grounds or not. The robins are particularly fond of our birdbath and seemingly endless supply of garden earthworms. When I garden, sometimes a robin will stand a ways from me and when I move away from the area I just tilled, they will go to the area and look for worms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-18T22:42:44.903" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T22:42:44.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16015" CreationDate="2017-05-07T20:29:29.837" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main difference between alpaca and merino (or any other) wool is the fur itself. Alpaca is not technically wool, as it has a different construction. It's fiber,  which is more like hair. Because Alpaca fiber is hollow, it has many advantages over merino wool. It's warmer, softer, more lightweight, thermal for use in all seasons. It's also durable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for warmth:&#xA;Studies done at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ymccoll.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yocum-McCall Testing Laboratories&lt;/a&gt; have this to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the Yocum-McCall Testing Laboratories, alpaca was shown to be three times warmer than sheep’s wool. Why? One reason is that alpaca is more heavily medullated: in other words, there are tiny hollow areas in the centers of many individual alpaca fibers. These areas hold the warmth and, in addition, make alpaca lighter in weight than other animal fibers.&#xA;  Another study showed that if worn in a 0 degree F environment, alpaca would give a 50 degree F comfort range. Sheep’s wool would provide a 30 degree F comfort range in the same environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.helpyourbodynaturally.com/page/alpaca_faq&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca fiber is warmer than wool if the gauge of yarn is the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://alpacasofmontana.com/pages/why-alpaca&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca is warmer than sheep’s wool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpaca is softer than almost all sheep's wool. Merino can be close, but in order to be soft, it has to be processed in a certain way. The Alpaca fiber you'd find on the market is naturally soft, so you don't have to think about that. If you want to compare the two equally, you have to make sure your merino wool has been through the softening process. That process includes a lot of chemicals, whereas alpaca fiber needs no processing at all. Some people who want to make sure they're wearing a &quot;natural&quot; product choose alpaca fiber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another major difference is that Alpaca is classified as &quot;water-resistant&quot;, and is close to being &quot;water-proof.&quot; It's considered a “dry fiber.” Compared to merino, this is beneficial in a number of ways, especially for outdoor use. It's thermal and excellent at wicking water away from the skin. This makes it more comfortable, and increases its capacity to be warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you pour water on alpaca, it will get wet. However, it does offer great wicking abilities. Wool will absorb up to 50% of its body weight in moisture, but after this there is a saturation point and the sweat can sit next to skin, increasing discomfort, odor and likelihood of blisters (socks rubbing against the skin). Because alpaca is hollow, it traps in more heat and mechanically pushes the water away, never having a saturation point on the skin. Essentially, the water evaporates because of the warmth of the alpaca. &lt;a href=&quot;https://alpacasofmontana.com/pages/why-alpaca&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other sources also list that as an important consideration, and add that in general, alpaca doesn't become moldy or grow mildew.  This is helpful when you're traveling. You don't need to spend a lot of time stopping to let it dry, and you don't need to worry about it spreading mold to your other clothes. It also doesn't smell bad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca does not absorb water into the hair, rather it sheets it off. This factor allows for alpaca to make wonderful outwear and it is why when caught in the rain an alpaca cloth will not smell. Also, because of its water resistance, alpaca is not subject to mold and mildew under normal conditions.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.helpyourbodynaturally.com/page/alpaca_faq&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpaca is also less likely to cause itching. Sheep's wool fur has tiny scales along the edges, whereas alpaca fiber is more smooth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The outside of each strand of sheep's wool has tiny, microscopic scales along the length of the strand. When garments made with wool are worn next to the skin, these scales catch the surface of the skin and cause some wool to feel prickly. Strands of alpaca fiber are smooth and therefore feel less prickly or itchy next to the skin. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.purecountryalpacas.com/pca/faqs.html#wool&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People with hypersensitive skin, like me, may notice an itch even with alpaca fiber. In that case, it's recommended to wear it as an outer layer, or between other layers of clothing. Some chemically treated merino wool is also soft and comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a few things I found about durability:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Durable:&#xA;  A huge Alpaca clothing benefit is that Alpaca fiber is water, wind, and stain resistant. It will shield you from the wind and the rain on a cold day. This allows it to last longer than just about any other material used to make clothes. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpacavalleyfarms.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://reactual.com/clothing/warmest-socks.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; has a fun comparison of different types of wool, including many we wouldn't think of. This is what they say about durability:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca is soft as cashmere but stronger and less costly. It’s more durable than merino. &#xA;  In terms of durability, bison is in most cases the strongest, followed by qiviut and yak down, followed by alpaca and then merino.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://alpacameadows.com/the-alpacas/the-fiber/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;Alpaca is warmer, stronger, lighter, hypoallergenic, and more resilient than wool. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca is a versatile, warm, strong, water resistant fiber which is produced on a gentle, hardy animal.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildhairalpacas.com/pages/1414/wild-hair-alpacas-llc-whats-so-special-about-alpaca-fiber&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpaca is more expensive than wool, but if you're going to choose a wool, merino seems to be the best of the bunch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can afford cashmere, mohair, or Alpaca wool long johns, go for it. Otherwise, Merino wool is the best of the sheep wools. Next to our skin, it is soft, stretchy, supple, and comfy. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowshoemag.com/2014/11/10/analysis-will-merino-wool-keep-us-warm-while-snowshoeing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty much all of the major sites sell alpaca socks (often a blend with merino), hats, scarves, mittens, and things of that nature, and some sell sweaters. One of the many I liked (no affiliation) is &lt;a href=&quot;https://alpacasofmontana.com/collections/alpaca-socks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpacas of Montana.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpaca is considered a dry fiber, without lanolin that is found in sheep’s wool. When the chill of winter hits the air, turn down your thermostat, get into some alpaca socks or alpaca hat, and enjoy.  Alpaca socks continuously &amp;amp; naturally wick moisture, breathe, eliminate odor and help moderate your skin temperature in any environment, thick and thin styles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After much searching I was able to find &lt;a href=&quot;https://woopwear.com/pages/about-us&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; (again no affiliation) that sells layers, including lightweight shirts, and outerwear, including field pants and field coats. They're not cheap, but definitely worth taking a look if alpaca interests you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that alpaca fiber doesn't wrinkle, or only a small amount, making it easy to carry in a backpack or anything else in which you store your clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, alpacas naturally grow in 22 different colors, which makes the choice of clothing more fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-08T17:42:03.577" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T17:42:03.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16105" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-07T20:42:58.737" Score="14" ViewCount="1157" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a backpack to commute on foot. It has one vent channel on the back to cool the back, but the problem I think is my shell. Heat builds up on my back and I get sweaty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a cyclist, I have a number of cycling shells that have a wind-proof, rain resistant (soft shell) front but a breathable back to let you vent heat on a climb without the wind of moving forward freezing you. Thes are not suitable for walking, as they are cut short in the front and long at the back for being in place when hunched forward on the bike. Plus the pockets are on the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything like this around in the hiking world for people with backpacks? I need an outer layer (I think) that compensates for the insulation of my backpack a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13080" LastEditorUserId="13080" LastEditDate="2017-05-10T12:50:17.143" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T19:12:17.187" Title="What type of jacket can I wear to prevent my back from getting sweaty while also wearing a backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16105" CreationDate="2017-05-08T04:41:04.987" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A schoeller softshell would be best for breathability and wicking moisture. It doesn't seem to matter how much I sweat in my schoeller gear, it drys incredibly fast, but what you gain in breathability you often loose in weather protection. You may be interested in knowing that they do make backpacks that provide better ventilation for your back:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ventilated Backpack:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X1HQy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X1HQy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're getting a sweaty back, you can either wear fewer layers to control your perspiration, or you can get a ventilated backpack so your wicking layers can get the moisture from your back out into the air. You may also consider wearing a poncho for your waterproof layer, this will keep you and you backpack dry, as well as give you the freedom of wearing more breathable layers under your backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-05-10T14:23:02.637" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T14:23:02.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16105" CreationDate="2017-05-08T10:35:54.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes there is. First, without going into specific products I can say that I've ditched the idea of shell jackets. And by shell-jackets I'm talking about jackets made out of materials like Gore-Tex. No matter what the marketing department says, such a shell jacket will only get you wet from inside. Especially in rain when the material stops breathing completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As my outer shell, I tend to use nowadays a jacket made out of polyester-cotton -mix that can be waxed to improve its water resistance. The same jacket should use a second, more breathable material in the areas that commonly sweat. For backpacking, these areas include the back and under the arms. While the breathable material can be sprayed to be more water repellent, I tend to leave it as it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to materials, I require the jacket to have good ventilation zippers on the side, no pockets in the hip belt area, large chest pockets and it also should be longer in the back so that it won't reveal my back and protects my buttocks when I lean forward. I also prefer jackets that have a good hood which extends forward enough to protect my face completely from side winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This kind of jacket is great for pretty much any season and the warmth can be adjusted with other garments in the base- and mid-layer. It can take small rains while keeping the feeling dry and when it starts to rain even more, I just throw a poncho over my myself and my backpack and remove it as soon as it stops raining. The benefit of using a poncho is that it does protect my backpack from getting wet (and heavy) while it allows a good ventilation from underneath. For extended periods of rain, I use chaps to protect my legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might add here also that I've been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism which lowers my heat tolerance and makes me sweat very easily which makes me extremely picky when it comes to clothing under physical stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, here's a pretty good overview of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nCUA87deq4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;my current jacket choice with aforementioned specs&lt;/a&gt; and some tips on its usage. The video doesn't go through the backside of the jacket but it's breathable 4-way stretch which is really nice with a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="13063" LastEditDate="2017-05-08T18:47:46.443" LastActivityDate="2017-05-08T18:47:46.443" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16109" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16111" CreationDate="2017-05-09T09:56:01.343" Score="10" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if anyone could help me identify what this plant is? We have found it growing in our garden in England a few times and are unsure what it could be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4syHg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Comfrey plant&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13087" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:02:17.287" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:02:17.287" Title="What is this plant in England with large veined leaves and multi-part buds?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16110" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-09T10:26:50.293" Score="5" ViewCount="3124" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I were woken last night by animal sounds we've never heard before.  We live in MA on the border of NH by wetlands.  It sounded like a group of animals, at least 3.   Their sound started with a clicking or tapping noise, then into something garbled, and ended with a type of cooing.  Because of the cooing, we assumed they were a type of bird.  Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13088" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:24:07.687" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T23:59:29.617" Title="Strange nocturnal animal sounds in Massachusetts" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16109" CreationDate="2017-05-09T12:25:49.263" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thick veins make me believe it is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfrey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Comfrey&lt;/a&gt;.  Your image is of a young plant so it is hard to tell for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is and has been an important part of herbal treatments and gardening.  It is used across the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-09T16:07:54.777" LastActivityDate="2017-05-09T16:07:54.777" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16112" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-09T13:11:58.290" Score="4" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm heading over to Albufeira and I was just wondering if there are any &lt;strong&gt;hiking&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;mountaineering&lt;/strong&gt; activities, or &lt;strong&gt;outdoor landmarks&lt;/strong&gt; worth seeing in the area (or close by). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to be stuck on the beach with my friends the whole holiday, and from what I can see on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g189112-Activities-Albufeira_Faro_District_Algarve.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TripAdvisor&lt;/a&gt; it's just beaches/typical tourist stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone know of any, through resources/personal experiences local to there? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would define local as probably within 25 miles of Albufeira.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I haven't been to Portugal previously, so I'm unaware of any of the surrounding areas. (I'll be going off Google Maps or a real map of some kind only)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13089" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T16:40:13.070" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T16:40:13.070" Title="Are there any mountaineering/hiking activities in or near Albufeira, Portugal?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16127" CreationDate="2017-05-09T14:17:50.710" Score="6" ViewCount="2165" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between tippet and plain old mono or fluorocarbon?  Can't I just use fluorocarbon and save some cash?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FpmoW.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FpmoW.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Setup&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tippet comes in small rolls such as this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6cV3s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6cV3s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas you can buy a roll of fluorocarbon cheaper:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z6W4Es.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z6W4Es.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9496" LastEditorUserId="9496" LastEditDate="2017-05-09T19:42:20.993" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T16:48:44.977" Title="Difference between tippet and plain old mono or fluorocarbon?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16105" CreationDate="2017-05-09T17:33:06.670" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are jackets out there similar to what you're asking for---you do need to poke around for them a bit. Most jackets made for hiking and climbing tend to be cut from one material in order to have a more versatile piece. For a very use specific jacket, such pieces can be awesome though! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keywords that you'll want to look for are &quot;body mapping&quot; or &quot;composite construction&quot; or &quot;hybrid.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here's a picture of the Arcteryx ProCline jacket. The large panel in the back is made from a softshell material, while the rest is made with &quot;Gore fabric technology.&quot; (Image from &lt;a href=&quot;http://arcteryx.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;arcteryx.com&lt;/a&gt;)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tueHQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tueHQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Arcteryx ProCline&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a sofshell/fleece hybrid jacket example, here's the Outdoor Research Centrifuge jacket (image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/en/country&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;outdoorresearch.com&lt;/a&gt;): &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AKAko.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AKAko.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an additional suggestion, why not use similar jackets that you already have from the biking world? No need to buy the same gear twice!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T02:23:15.377" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T02:23:15.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18371" CreationDate="2017-05-10T01:21:37.003" Score="7" ViewCount="1517" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's spring here in the Northeastern United States, and we're getting a large influx of the wonderful birds who will spend the summer and fall with us. Although we feed and water birds, and any other hungry outdoor creatures, throughout the year, we increase their options during the busier months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also the season when merchants heavily advertise many varieties of birdbaths. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read a number of articles saying that birdbaths with moving water are better. They suggest that moving water increases attendance, and keeps the birds, and birdbaths, healthier. For instance, &lt;a href=&quot;https://erie.wbu.com/content/show/8793&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Birds find water sources by sight and sound.  Adding movement to your birdbath creates visual and audio cues that birds will hone in on, allowing you to draw more birds to your bath.  Properly agitated water can also deter mosquitoes from visiting your bath, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/bird-bath-fountains-385544&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; also claims that adding motion to water attracts more birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Water is essential for birds and while a simple bird bath can provide refreshment, more elaborate arrangements like bird bath fountains have many benefits and can attract more birds to any birder's backyard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm seeing a lot of ads for birdbaths with features that keep the water moving. Some examples are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Water+Wiggler&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwj1rrS0h-TTAhUo8IMKHXs1APYQ_AUICygC&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=636#newwindow=1&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=bird+bath+Water+Wiggler&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;water wigglers&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=birdbath+misters&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiZ_N71h-TTAhVJ4IMKHfeIAZkQ_AUICygC&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=636#newwindow=1&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=bird+bath+misters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bird bath misters&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=birdbath+misters&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiZ_N71h-TTAhVJ4IMKHfeIAZkQ_AUICygC&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=636#newwindow=1&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=bird+bath+agitator&amp;amp;imgrc=kaG0dqtIZU7q0M:&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;agitators&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=birdbath+misters&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiZ_N71h-TTAhVJ4IMKHfeIAZkQ_AUICygC&amp;amp;biw=1366&amp;amp;bih=636#newwindow=1&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;q=bird+bath+fountain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fountains&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that most of the sites I found that recommend these devices also sell them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm seeking evidence that birds prefer moving, rather than stagnant, water, from reliable sources that don't make money from their recommendations. It would be even better if they specify which type of water-moving method is preferred. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotal answers through your own experience are fine too, and would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My birds are the American versions, and include swallows (many varieties), sparrows (many varieties), cardinals, blue jays, grackles, robins, crows, finches, thrushes, titmice, woodpeckers, red-winged blackbirds, grosbeaks, mourning doves, canaries, and others in related families. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T21:56:45.513" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T20:36:42.933" Title="Do backyard birds prefer birdbaths with moving water?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;birdbaths&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16118" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16122" CreationDate="2017-05-10T04:34:57.087" Score="6" ViewCount="478" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many places where a special regulation for a river or stream includes tributaries &quot;above&quot; or &quot;below&quot; a particular landmark. If the tributary more or less parallels the main river, does the entire tributary count based on where it enters the main river?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example: Let's say a special regulation says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The main stem of XYX river and tributaries above Miller Bridge is&#xA;  closed to fishing all year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now let's say that XYZ river runs due south. There is also a tributary that mostly parallels XYZ river, and empties into it 1 mile below Miller Bridge. Since the tributary empties into the XYZ river below the bridge, does that mean that the entire tributary is open to fishing? Or, can you only fish in the section of the tributary that is south of where it would be even with the bridge (even though the bridge is on the main river, not the tributary)? If the latter, how would you even know when you were past it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am in California if it makes a difference.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0rufj.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0rufj.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13092" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T18:35:43.133" Title="Definition of tributaries above/below a landmark" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16116" CreationDate="2017-05-10T06:22:14.947" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a paper from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/notes/BirdNote09_ProvideWater.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Providing Water for Birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it does mention the usage of a pump or circulating water, it doesn't suggest it to attract birds. However, it says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The key to attracting a large number of birds is to keep your bath full of water at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another article, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/attracting-birds-with-water-386417&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Attracting Birds With Water&lt;/a&gt; states that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Standing water features such as bird baths and dishes should be&#xA;  cleaned daily, while moving and flowing water will naturally stay&#xA;  fresher and can be cleaned less frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since birds use water to clean up their feathers, it makes sense to keep the water clean at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But nothing to support the claims that birds prefer running water or that they'd locate water by sound. If you keep the bath full and clean at all times, it'll attract birds and they quickly learn it's the cleanest and most dependable source in the neighborhood. Once you have birds in your yard, they probably make enough sounds to attract others. Making the potential water sound a negligible factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T06:22:14.947" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16118" CreationDate="2017-05-10T15:01:47.427" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contact your state natural resources agency (California Fish &amp;amp; Wildlife) and ask them for the official explanation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, the most likely interpretation is that any tributary which connects into the river downstream of the indicated point is open to fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2801" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T15:01:47.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16118" CreationDate="2017-05-10T18:35:43.133" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Above&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; indicate &lt;em&gt;upstream&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;downstream&lt;/em&gt;. When speaking in terms of watersheds, referring to tributaries &lt;em&gt;above&lt;/em&gt; a land mark indicates that the tributary discharges into the body of water upstream from the landmark. The tributary in your illustration is a tributary &lt;em&gt;below&lt;/em&gt; Miller Bridge. At no point does the water from that tributary discharge into the river above the bridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The intent is to protect spawning fish that travel upstream beyond the bridge. If a tributary discharges below the bridge, you can fish the entire tributary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T18:35:43.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16113" CreationDate="2017-05-10T20:19:53.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes.  You can use whatever you want for the tippet.  There is no fly fishing police that enforce tippet rules.  Not like the police who enforce the fishing license rules, the barb-less hooks rules, or the targeting fish out of season rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, your choices of tippet material may produce differing results but nothing works in every situation. Give it try and see what happens.  If you're not happy with the results, try something else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T20:19:53.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2017-05-10T21:00:05.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not exactly your movie-style 3-prong grappling hook, but Fire and Rescue personnel often have hook based systems for use as personal escape devices:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One such product is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Professional/Descenders/EXO-AP-HOOK#.WRN9bmkrKUk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl EXO&lt;/a&gt; which consists of a hook, rope, and rappel device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than being thrown and hoping to catch an edge to ascend a building, they are attached to a building (wrapped around something big, jammed tight against a windowsill, etc.) and used to descend out of a building.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, climbers do actually use something called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-cliffhanger-hook?CMP_SKU=BLD0749&amp;amp;MER=0406&amp;amp;skid=BLD0749-OC-OS&amp;amp;CMP_ID=PLA_GOc001&amp;amp;mv_pc=r101&amp;amp;utm_source=Google&amp;amp;utm_medium=PLA&amp;amp;mr:trackingCode=0F00393B-9A70-DF11-9DA0-002219319097&amp;amp;mr:referralID=NA&amp;amp;mr:device=c&amp;amp;mr:adType=plaonline&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKEAjw9MrIBRCr2LPek5-h8U0SJAD3jfhtBOdYrnOlJCbeVQx2zvonuQi6mY80mAFl0K46n_SbwBoCDDDw_wcB&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;grappling hook&lt;/a&gt;, but similar to the rescue products, they are not thrown, but are rather carefully placed by hand.  Once stuck into a hole/crack/flake on the rock, they can be used to pull the body higher up the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13093" LastActivityDate="2017-05-10T21:00:05.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7347" CreationDate="2017-05-11T06:57:18.190" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absaroka Mountain range in Wyoming right next to the trident plateau. National Geographic named it the most remote place in the lower 48. I lived there for 29 days, backpacking with NOLS... it's doable, trust me, and by far the most secluded section of wilderness I have ever set foot in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13096" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T08:08:19.750" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T08:08:19.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16113" CreationDate="2017-05-11T13:03:04.650" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You CAN use the fluorocarbon for tippet. In fact many high quality tippets ARE made of fluorocarbon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you get by buying the smaller roll of tippet is portability and the ability to conveniently carry several different sizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When fly fishing you will need to adjust your tippet according to the size/type of fly you are using and to how leader shy the fish are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A heavier/bulkier fly will require heavier tippet just to permit a well controlled delivery. If you are throwing very small dry flies you might need 7x or smaller tippet to reduce the line's effect on the fly as it floats in the water or to minimize the chance of spooking a trout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a given outing I regularly change my tippet (at the end of my leader) 3-4 times. Sometimes I'll increase the leader length by adding a bit of 4x, and then tying on 5x, and then some 6x - the idea is to drop down sizes as you go so that each subsequent section requires less energy to turn over - giving a smoother delivery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carrying large rolls of fluorocarbon isn't practical on the stream or bay. Also you may not be able to find large rolls of very fine tippet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3995" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T14:33:04.927" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T14:33:04.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16113" CreationDate="2017-05-11T16:34:54.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other two answers are correct. You can use plain old nylon or fluorocarbon monofilament lines and save cash (with the pitfalls mentioned by the others). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind, however, that specialised tippet brands sometimes use better materials or do fancy things to their lines like coating them with UV or abrasion resistant materials, so you may want to go for them if you want good quality. It is possible to buy large bulky spools of specialised fly fishing tippet (like Stroft, incidentally one of the best in the market) from some brands, so you still get to save money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2017-05-11T16:48:44.977" LastActivityDate="2017-05-11T16:48:44.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16129" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16136" CreationDate="2017-05-11T18:20:46.073" Score="5" ViewCount="6798" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that there is a moth on the outside of my apartment door that has been just sitting there for two days now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXkD5m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXkD5m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Moth&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a light outside my apartment door that likely is what attracted this guy in originally, but even at night time, it just sits here.  This isn't the first time I've witnessed a moth do this before either.  How are moths able to do this, and why do they do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T23:48:22.433" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T23:48:22.433" Title="How/why do moths appear to not move for days?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;moths&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2017-05-12T11:22:51.307" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hike the trail I only eat rice and potatoes. I carry two pounds of food per a day. Gluten is any seed bearing plant, not just wheat barley rye and oats. Most people with celiacs disease are also lactose intolerant. Plus, refined oils like vegetable oil, olive oil, coconut oil, any oil what so ever, ect can cause a g.i. flare up. I take a muiltivitamin daily and have a cup of tea for breakfast. I also take broccoli pills for fiber, making good bowel movements. I hunt, trap, fish, and forage along the way. Small game only. Some dehydrated apples&#xA;with cinnamon aren't bad either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13101" LastActivityDate="2017-05-12T11:22:51.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2017-05-12T11:55:51.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the problems with gluten free diet is bread. Fortunately the solution has already been invented in the stone age and due to its energy content, it's perfect for backpacking. Instead of just handing out a recipe, you can google for the following search terms and adjust your own recipe to your taste and allergies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stone Age Bread&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nordic Nut Bread&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Paleo Bread&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bread is very simple and easy to cook. Usually it consists of some 6 different kinds of nuts, grains, seeds, some olive oil, eggs and a little salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bread contains a lot of energy. According to Fineli, 531 kcal/100g out of which, 81% comes from fat, 14% from proteins, 3% from carbohydrates and 3% from fibre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://fineli.fi/fineli/en/elintarvikkeet/34671&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fineli - Stone Age Bread&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-12T15:48:50.917" LastActivityDate="2017-05-12T15:48:50.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="848" CreationDate="2017-05-12T19:56:44.957" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The resin has alot of calories.  On a video called how to eat a pine tree I think they said 2000 calories in a teaspoon full. In a museum in hungary they said the shephards used to put it on their teeth from where it comes off slowly and it gave them energy to walk all day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13104" LastActivityDate="2017-05-12T19:56:44.957" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16129" CreationDate="2017-05-13T00:44:25.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Speculation based off general knowledge here but that looks to be a common gray moth. Based off some information I've pieced together, mating is usually spring to early summer. This leads me to believe the display you are seeing is for mating. These moths are found through out the nation but heavily concentrated in Ohio and Michigan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13102" LastActivityDate="2017-05-13T00:44:25.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16137" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16139" CreationDate="2017-05-13T02:44:48.557" Score="6" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm fascinated by &lt;a href=&quot;http://ocean.si.edu/corals-and-coral-reefs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;corals&lt;/a&gt;. I've been told there are more than a thousand varieties spread out in bodies of water throughout the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What part of the world has the most varieties of corals in a concentrated area? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-16T21:32:20.473" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T21:32:20.473" Title="What part of the world has the largest variety of corals?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16138" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16141" CreationDate="2017-05-13T18:27:09.270" Score="5" ViewCount="650" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be hiking through &lt;a href=&quot;https://baxterstatepark.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baxter State Park&lt;/a&gt;, in Maine, in June. I am traveling as light as possible as I will be crossing multiple ridges.  I have a 30F sleeping bag and a 0F bag.  The 30F bag is much smaller.  Can I get away with it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-13T23:00:34.573" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T12:34:32.710" Title="What are the nighttime temperatures in Baxter State Park in June?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16137" CreationDate="2017-05-13T19:36:11.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What part of the world has the most varieties of corals in a concentrated area? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of coarse this question can only be qualified by an accurate definition of what the OP means by a concentrated area. In any case I am going to put in my two bits worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7GBA1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7GBA1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Distribution of the world’s coral reefs (red). Blue areas indicate areas in which zooxanthellate corals occur.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://coral.aims.gov.au/info/reefs-distribution.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Distribution&lt;/a&gt; of the world’s coral reefs (red). Blue areas indicate areas in which zooxanthellate corals occur. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Indonesian/Philippines archipelago&lt;/strong&gt; has the world’s greatest concentration of reefs and the greatest coral diversity. Other area of reef concentration are the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the Red Sea and the Caribbean, the latter having a much lower diversity than all major Indo-Pacific regions. The reefs and coral faunas of geological intervals are a combination of inheritance from the past and the outcome of more contemporary events. The distribution of modern reefs are an inheritance of the Tethys-dominated world of the Eocene, subsequently modified by the obliteration of both the Tethys Seaway (Miocene) and the Central American Seaway (Pliocene). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reefs and coral distributions &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is true that without corals there can be no coral reefs, however it is not true that without reefs there are no corals. Rather the opposite: there are at least as many corals (excluding azooxanthellate species) growing in environments that will not support reef development as there are in environments that will. This is because of the constraints of temperature, light availability, sediment load, depth and (lack of) turbulence, all of which may act independently or in various combinations to prevent reef growth. These environmental constraints clearly interlink to produce habitats in which corals might flourish yet do not produce skeletons quickly enough to overcome erosion, or where encrusting coralline algae do not grow. Without the cementing action of algae, coral debris remains unconsolidated and can be swept away by storm waves. Many places where corals are abundant illustrate this; for example, the sea off the northern coast of central Australia is shallow and moderately turbid. There are no reefs, yet 60% of all Great Barrier Reef species grow there, some forming colonies as big and healthy as those on any reef. Long-term ecological issues aside, almost all species of Indo-Pacific corals grow as well in non-reef habitats as they do on reefs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reefs and coral diversity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These is a widely held misconception that reef growth is somehow dependent on coral diversity, probably stemming from the observation that most reefs occur where coral diversity is at least moderately high. However, reefs of the Caribbean have a lower diversity than most Indo-Pacific reefs, and well-formed reefs of the Abrolhos Islands of Brazil have less than 20 species. Clipperton Atoll in the far eastern Pacific has actively growing reefs which provide significant habitat diversity yet only seven species of coral occur there, just three of which contribute to reef-building. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://coral.aims.gov.au/info/reefs-distribution.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coral Fact Sheets&lt;/a&gt; (Australian Government / Australian Institute of Marine Science)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-05-13T19:36:11.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16140" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16197" CreationDate="2017-05-13T21:42:03.457" Score="14" ViewCount="1687" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning for a long cruise in my small yacht. The water tank in the yacht has enough clean water to drink, but not quite enough for showers, cleaning the dishes etc.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Desalinating ocean water during the cruise sounds like a great idea. And I can get by with only &lt;strong&gt;most&lt;/strong&gt; of the salt gone for many of my uses (like showering, cleaning, toilet use..) . Is there a device that can remove salt from ocean waters? I have electricity or petrol available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are huge watermaking machines for big yachts like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westmarine.com/buy/village-marine-tec--lt-1800-watermaker-1800gpd-semi-modular-220-60-12-v-hz-amp--12791810?recordNum=9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one &lt;/a&gt;, but I need something smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13107" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-05-19T23:11:35.287" LastActivityDate="2020-11-12T21:56:53.063" Title="How can I desalinate ocean water enough for cleaning or showering?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16138" CreationDate="2017-05-14T02:01:20.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/MESPBX:13:US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baxter State Park Monthly Weather Forecast&lt;/a&gt;, the record lows for May, June and July are 18 °F (-8°C), 28 °F (-2°C) and 32 F (0°C), respectively.  The average lows for May, June and July are 39 F (4°C), 48 F (9°C) and 54 F (12°C), respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/forecast/modelclimate/baxter-state-park_united-states-of-america_4957608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climate Baxter State Park&lt;/a&gt; says much the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you know, the altitude varies significantly. The approximate elevation is 1,447 feet (441 m), and the highest point (Mt. Katahdin) is 5,267 feet (1605 m).  Figure 3 to 5 degrees (F) temperature drop per 1,000 feet of elevation (6–7°C per 1000 metre) gain, but terrain and wind are always factors.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are camping at the lower elevations of the Park, in a spot sheltered from wind, your 30 °F (-1 °C) bag should be fine, but maybe not at the top of Katahdin.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-05-14T10:45:35.947" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T10:45:35.947" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16137" CreationDate="2017-05-14T03:00:25.700" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Misamis Oriental. Philippines. Running out to the Spartly islands.  Varied rock formations &amp;amp; depth of water. Different currents at sea. But you need travel to see the different ones. Each area differs. Not many tour dives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T03:00:25.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16143" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16144" CreationDate="2017-05-14T05:53:58.570" Score="8" ViewCount="2886" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've already read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5446/what-specific-features-should-i-take-into-account-when-buying-gps-device-for-geo&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4045/how-to-select-a-good-gps-receiver&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; to get some background knowledge on GPS tools, but I'm still left with some questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way I can get a device that consistently provides accuracy to within 10 feet in less than a minute or two?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've messed around with several iPhone apps, but haven't had very good luck thus far.  What's the most accurate a phone can be?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If I can't have accuracy to less than 10 feet within two minutes, what's the closest I can get to that goal? (Both in terms of time and accuracy)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only need to be able to accurately determine the coordinates of specific locations, so I don't need any additional features--even poor battery life isn't a big deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13109" LastEditorUserId="13109" LastEditDate="2017-05-14T13:22:47.117" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T12:28:17.550" Title="Device with very accurate GPS location" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16143" CreationDate="2017-05-14T07:53:26.303" Score="14" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No. GPS is not autonomous. Errors in satellite vehicles can and have propagated to ground stations (I have one on record from a working GPS receiver placing me kilometers from my actual location that coincided with a published failed software update in the satellites). Additionally, selective availability, while not likely, can be turned on by DoD any time it likes. Because there are so many thing to go wrong, it's not possible to use GPS in systems that have a hard performance requirement. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Iphone (like all cell phones) has a small GPS antenna and the GPS is akin  to &quot;would you like fries with that&quot;. i.e. GPS is an add on rather than its reason for existing, and is inferior in nearly every way to a dedicated GPS unit. . &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can't say. GPS results are statistical, not hard and fast. Study standard deviations and such like to get an idea of how to specify required GPS performance. After that, I am sure money comes into it, and for the right amount, you can get what you are after, but only as long as you can specify it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be interested in studying up on &quot;Receiver autonomous integrity monitoring&quot; (RAIM) as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't be bothered with all the above and want a simple answer - buy a dedicated GPS with the smallest TTFF (Cold start, non assisted) you can afford. This is as good a guide to sensitivity and quality as you will get without becoming a rocket scientist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-05-16T08:29:18.410" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T08:29:18.410" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16143" CreationDate="2017-05-14T10:46:30.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Over a small area you may be able to do something. I don't know if you have a small area to deal with, and 10ft might be pushing it even then. Basically you fix the position of a known point by some means (it might not even have to be fixed absolutely depending on your goal). &lt;em&gt;Long term&lt;/em&gt; GPS averaging might do that for you. Then you use this known value to calibrate an offset. You'd need a laptop connected to a dedicated GPS unit and probably custom code. If you could also access differential GPS signals you'd need a beacon receiver for that, but wouldn't need the known point or your own code. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But over a sufficiently small area compass triangulation can get surprisingly good &lt;em&gt;relative&lt;/em&gt; accuracy; once again you need well-surveyed references (and line of sight to them). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-05-15T06:30:43.683" LastActivityDate="2017-05-15T06:30:43.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16138" CreationDate="2017-05-14T12:34:32.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Katahdin is the highest summit in the area and camping is not permitted. Surrounding mountains are not very high and you should be able to camp at the bottom of them with some minimal planning if you're concerned about the temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 30F bag is most likely what you will end up using and I would bring that with a few extra light layers that I can use during the day and at night if needed. e.g. a light puffy &amp;amp; windbreaker pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use lean-to's, these can something feel colder because they are fully open on one side. I have used a 40F quilt in Baxter State Park, in early July, without any trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T12:34:32.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16143" CreationDate="2017-05-14T17:41:39.933" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is based strictly upon my personal experience.&#xA;I am not trying to sell you anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are consumer grade GPS receivers which will get you approximately 3 meters of repeatable accuracy if they are used properly, and there is little or no overhead canopy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had amazing results using a Garmin GLO which receives single frequency GPS, and Glonass data, along with WAAS corrections. ( About $110.00 )&#xA;It connected via bluetooth, and worked with multiple GIS, and mapping software applications, as well as various versions of the Windows operating system.&#xA;I have also used it with several models of semi-rugged, and rugged tablets without issue.&#xA;I have read that it is compatible with Android, Linux, IOS, and just about everything else out there. I only have Windows experience with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were the occasional flyers that were in the five meter range, but in most cases, I was locating previously surveyed locations (Data collected with Survey Grade, Dual Frequency, RTK corrected, GPS/Glonass receivers) within a sub two meter radius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the things I have found is, the units tend to work better when you are moving slightly. Just standing still, the position tends to walk around creating about a four meter circle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Garmin I was using had a 10 HZ update rate which created a very smooth line if I was mapping access routes, or roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mapping data I collected, overlaid extremely well on previously located features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other consumer grade external receivers that are probably capable of collecting data with this type of accuracy, I am just not experienced with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have yet to see an embedded, discreet GPS chip within a mobile phone that approaches the results I have gotten with the Garmin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Selective Availability has been turned off for a long time now, but it can be turned on at the whim of the Department of Defense.&#xA;It would really serve no purpose to do so at this point in time, or in any foreseeable scenario with regards to national security. Everyone knows where everything is. (Sorry, bad generalization.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regards to locating drainage tiles, I have done a great deal of this using a tool called a Magnetomatic. It is basically a telescopic car antenna attached to a swivel that is mounted through a handle. When you cross something that is buried, the antenna will swing in the direction of the object or line that is buried.&#xA;It works on plastic, poly, tile, transite, and metal lines, as well as fiber optic, and twisted pair copper lines. At least it does for me, and most of the people I work with.&#xA;Some people are unable to get it to work for them. Most of them are left handed, and the others are people who are unable to wear a movement style watch. (I believe these people have reversed polarity, but I cannot prove it.)&#xA;The process is similar to witching (divining) for water.&#xA;You can also bend two pinflags at a 90 degree angle to make short handles for each, put one in each hand, with the long ends parallel to each other, and parallel to the ground, about waist high, keeping them a shoulder's width apart. They will cross when you encountered something buried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using the GPS to measure a distance from a known location to find other unknown locations, say starting at a pump in the corner of a field, wanting to find the grid of drain pipes every 100 feet, the Garmin will get you close, but you will still want to verify the locations somehow, rather than blindly trusting the locations provided by the Garmin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13116" LastActivityDate="2017-05-14T17:41:39.933" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16149" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16151" CreationDate="2017-05-15T08:49:40.930" Score="20" ViewCount="4317" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there an argument for removing your boots to prevent frostbitten toes. Lets say you are at 4000m in the winter in a snow cave with no sleeping bag and frostbite is probable, but death is unlikely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing that if there was a benefit to removing the boots, it would be from increased circulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T00:02:38.730" Title="Should one remove their boots in an emergency bivvy situation?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16149" CreationDate="2017-05-15T10:03:28.890" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I only see an advantage &lt;strong&gt;if your boots are wet&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I would advise to remove the wet shoes and socks. Maybe you are in the lucky position to have some dry spare socks in your backpack. If not you may have a bivi sack to heat up your extremities. Otherwise you can at least put your feet in your backpack. This would help immensely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the boots are dry, I don't see any advantage in removing them.&lt;/strong&gt; You can loosen the laces so they won't fit too narrow but they will still give you lots of urgently needed insulation. In general your feet shouldnt swell because of the cold environment but your feet might swell when they warm up again in the snow cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important point: It might seem you have wet socks only because your feet are sweating. Or you have just this false friend feeling. Keep in mind that it might be difficult to get the feet back in the shoes if those are damp (or your feet swell by warming up again) so think twice if you wanna remove the shoes, you might not be able to get them on your feet again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regardless of wet/dry feet with shoes on or off&lt;/strong&gt;: Always observe your overall condition and in particular your extremeties (hands, feet). Especially when you get numb feelings, try to massage them, try to swing the arms and legs to get the blood flowing. Work as a team, observe each other, maybe massage each other, don't forget to melt snow if possible. Drinking is important not only due to acclimatization but also to get the blood thin and therefore flowing to the extremities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-05-16T07:51:42.183" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T07:51:42.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16149" CreationDate="2017-05-15T17:55:09.003" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an anecdote, I did. I unexpectedly bivied overnight during a snowstorm at 14kft in -15F, 50mph winds with a pack, bivy sack and warm clothes. I had dry feet prior, didn't have an issue getting the boots back on, and walked out in the morning without frostbite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used my pack and boots to stabilize the loose snow ledge and provide insulation. I alternated between warming my toes and fingers throughout the night. I've always found my feet are warmer without boots, but I have had severe injuries and my feet swell quite a bit so perhaps the pressure adversely affects them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8572" LastActivityDate="2017-05-15T17:55:09.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16149" CreationDate="2017-05-16T08:29:59.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;@Willis has a great answer which I don't entirely agree with. However, I do not believe there is a right answer so am not saying leaving boots on is wrong - its very situation dependent. Generally I would advocate removing boots unless there is good reason not to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaving feet in boots means little movement, loss of blood flow therefore loss of heat.  In such a situation of a force overnight bivy, frostbite is very likely unless you can maintain blood flow to the extremities - leaving boot on all night will almost certainly mean frostbite by morning. You need to get heat to the feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way to increase blood flow to cool extremities is movement - massage or exercise. With boots on, in a forced bivy, movement of feet and toes is extremely limited. With boots on, there is not way to add heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By removing boots, you can massage feet and use hands to get cold muscles moving and increase blood flow- you can also stick the feet under armpits etc (your mates, not yours) to obtain heat. Clearly this is not an option if solo, leaving blood flow as the only way to get the heat where its needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are extremely disciplined about looking after your feet, once you stop feeling them, you will not be bothered removing your boots, and sacrificing hand warmth in the process, to warm them up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T08:29:59.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10585" CreationDate="2017-05-16T18:30:02.883" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skim-read the books again,  answer some of the review questions again.  This will remind you of the theory.   However,  books are no substitute for getting wet and running through the skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All dive shops / schools will be glad to take you on a refresher dive in a closed environment to go over the skills - rigging the kit,  checking the kit,  buoyancy, trim, reg out, mask off, descents, ascents, etc.  It's in the interest of the shop/school to make sure that you're feeling competent again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The word of warning is that it's said you loose a &quot;level&quot; every year.  The problem is the mind (ego?) remembers how one used to do things and doesn't adjust to the new reality.  So take it gently for the first few dives whilst you remember just how great diving is and reflect on why you left it so long!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diving's like riding a bike;  it comes back pretty quickly.  Have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T18:30:02.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16154" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16157" CreationDate="2017-05-16T21:16:45.197" Score="19" ViewCount="9604" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an old Swiss Army Knife on which I can only open one blade; the rest are locked in place.  How should I clean this, and is there anything else I should do to refurbish it, like oiling, after I clean it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This knife has been part of my daily carry for over a decade, and I carry it when I exercise, so I'm sure the innards are packed with some combination of pocket grunge, old candy and sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one blade I can still pull out works great, but the other blades are nice too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13134" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T08:56:07.877" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T08:56:07.877" Title="How to clean and refurbish a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;swiss-army-knife&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16155" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16163" CreationDate="2017-05-16T21:21:14.050" Score="9" ViewCount="988" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a broken tent piece that I am trying to replace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XfEQ3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XfEQ3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Does anyone know what this piece is called?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This piece forms the canopy of the tent and the poles go into the prongs displayed above. As you can see one of the prongs has become detached and is lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a piece to a Eureka tent. I could not find the model number on the tent perhaps due to the fact that the tent is 30+ years old and the model number tag has been ripped off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13133" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T21:29:37.627" Title="What is this tent piece called?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16155" CreationDate="2017-05-16T21:41:17.763" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't seen a part like that in a tent before, but you might try calling it a &lt;em&gt;boss&lt;/em&gt; or a &lt;em&gt;hub&lt;/em&gt;. It might be located at the &lt;em&gt;apex&lt;/em&gt; and take on that name. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-05-16T21:41:17.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16154" CreationDate="2017-05-16T21:46:39.397" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;When mine gets too bad I use WD40 to free it up, then clean with soapy water and a brush. Mine also goes through the dishwasher sometimes, with the blades partially open. If it gets gummed up with sugary stuff (your candy, or cutting up fruit) a good soak in hot water will free up the blades. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After cleaning it is a good time to sharpen it. If the hinges are still stiff, a drop of light oil (3 in 1 or bike chain oil) at each hinge should do the trick. Work the oil in by opening and closing all the blades a couple of times before assuming you didn't use enough, then wipe any excess off before putting it in your pocket. You  could wrap it in a tissue the first day you carry it in your pocket, in case oil escapes when warmed by body heat - I used to carry one when I wore a suit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-05-17T06:29:46.443" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T06:29:46.443" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16154" CreationDate="2017-05-16T22:28:16.397" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The producer offers a page of care instructions on their website (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.victorinox.com/de/en/Service/Swiss-Army-Knives/Swiss-Army-Knives-Care-Tips/cms/service-swiss-army-knife-care-tips&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) (PDF). The gist is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't use a dishwasher, that might be too aggressive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;open and close the blade multiple times in warm water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dry thoroughly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;put some oil on the friction points (where the blades rotate), open and close multiple times&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@chris-h's answer is also spot on. I, too, use a dishwasher (the producer discourages it). I saw some oxidation of the aluminium parts between the blades after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-05-17T09:11:50.043" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T09:11:50.043" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11289" CreationDate="2017-05-17T00:11:13.937" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; a .30 cal. to take Mule Deer. However they are a proven round, and I personally think they are a little easier to clean than smaller bores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's generally accepted that a .243 Win is a good starting point.  And for the difference in recoil. You'll probably get much better at shooting starting off with that .243 which is more mild in recoil. .243 is also considered by most to be the smallest cartridge to consider for taking Black Bears as well. Though there are folks who actually take Black Bears with .223 Rem. yeah, crazy, I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally started off with a .308 Win. And it handles them with authority, given that you've done your job and placed the bullet properly. They do kick pretty darn good though.  I have a prior collarbone injury and shoulder injury, so the buttstock doesn't lay flat against my shoulder when I'm prone, so when practicing after about 40 shots it starts to hurt pretty good and I have to tap-out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For perspective, I'm relatively new to Hunting. At 45yo in 2014 got the notion in my head I wanted to do it and I wasn't getting any younger, so I'd better get with it. So far I've taken two Mule Deer hunting solo (2015, 2016) about 5 miles in from the vehicle. The 1st buck was with a .308 Win @40yds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the .308 Win the Barnes TTSX 168gr bullets worked amazingly well! That first buck got knocked like 10 inches sideways when I hit him at 40yds. A little high and back for a lung shot, but I think part of the energy got him in the spine as well. He pretty much dropped where he was. His front legs kicked for a little bit after, but not his back legs, so I think the spine sustained damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 2nd buck I decided to take with my Marlin .30-30 Win because I hadn't taken game with it yet, and the terrain is brushy/chapparal and the shots are only like 40yds anyway. The shot placement was different on the 2nd one. He was moving and Quartering away quite a bit. The bullet entered at the midline of the body and took out the liver and the opposite side lung. The bullet didn't pass-thru on that one because it got trapped-in behind the scapula. Also the bullet path was probably a good 18 inches total. There was a little bit of tracking. And since it didn't exit, no blood trail. He ran maybe 35yds, but he was hard to see because one side of his antlers was missing. And he blended in soo well with where he dove under a bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The .30-30 Win is a pleasure to shoot compared to the .308 Win.  In the .30-30 Win I used the Federal Premium Trophy Copper 150gr. The bullet retained all of its weight and mushroomed textbook fashion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bothered to share these two stories if only to note that you should also consider the terrain you will be hunting in. No sense in buying something like a .300 Win Mag if the terrain you're hunting in will never afford you those long distance shots anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I had it to do over again, I'd probably buy a .243 Win and it would be my everything gun. Varmint loads for coyotes, deer loads for deer/bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And oh yeah... if you have to back-pack and hike-in a few miles to your area... get yourself a model with a synthetic stock. You'll end up falling and scratching the darn thing out in the field, I gaurantee it, and the weight savings you'll come to appreciate in no time flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also... don't go cheap on your hunting pack. You need one that can COMFORTABLY carry that weight for quite a ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck. Now go put in the required work!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13135" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T00:11:13.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16161" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16188" CreationDate="2017-05-17T05:29:52.757" Score="6" ViewCount="1521" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is this waterproof glue effective on Goretex? It mentions 'etceteras' in its label but does it stick Goretex to fabric?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bi4nF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bi4nF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gorilla Glue&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bccNg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bccNg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gorilla glue&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stitching on my boot is ripped. I'm not considering sewing it because the needle would tear the Goretex. I know there are other waterproof glues available but I'm specifically interested in knowing if this one does the job. It's not somewhere under pressure I think; (the stitches are gone because of manufacturing fault but I didn't refund them because I wanted the boots!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fOUcT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fOUcT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the boot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastActivityDate="2017-05-20T14:04:42.117" Title="Would Gorilla Glue Work on Goretex?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16162" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-17T09:08:08.517" Score="6" ViewCount="215" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on Annapurna base camp or Manaslu circuit trek in December (mostly the end of December). I know December is the winter season in Nepal and is expected to be quite cold at that time. Has anyone done either of these trails? The details on the internet aren't that great. Would appreciate if someone who has been on either of these has details regarding the accessibility of these routes in December.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: Would love to know if there are other trails which are accessible during December. I'm open to suggestions :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PPS: Accessibility involves the possible need for equipment to make the hike happen (say ropes and ice axes and all) which in a normal Nepal season would not be required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:45:35.567" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T06:19:33.253" Title="Accessibility of hiking trails in Nepal during December" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16155" CreationDate="2017-05-17T15:04:09.653" Score="7" Body="&lt;h1&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent pole &quot;fitting&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy tent pole replacement fittings from sites like &lt;a href=&quot;http://economytent.com/tent-accessories-2/tent-parts-fittings/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;, but it's best to buy it from your tent manufacturer. Sometimes your only option is to buy a new complete pole set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fitting pictured would be a &lt;strong&gt;four-way &lt;em&gt;crown&lt;/em&gt; fitting&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-05-17T16:17:45.897" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T16:17:45.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15949" CreationDate="2017-05-17T16:38:50.243" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually dislodge snow by kicking something: a rock, tree, some ice, or by stomping on a patch of hard ground. Kicking toe first into the snow can dislodge it as well, but often it depends on the type of snow. Using your tool to smack your crampons may work, but it can do damage to both your tool and your crampons, so it's not the best thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anti-balling plates are still the best solution. If you're still balling up with your plates on, then you may need new ones, or you may need to treat them to be smooth and slippery again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made myself a pair of anti-balling plates that I cut out of a crazy carpet, and they work pretty well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ekTKO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ekTKO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first I was just being cheap, but then I discovered that one of the merits of using crazy carpet plates is that they aren't rigid, so the snow can't get packed up inside your crampons as well because the &quot;plate&quot; deforms slightly with each step, dislodging the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crVKL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crVKL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The carpet plastic isn't as durable as a solid anti-balling plate, but considering you can get about a dozen pairs out of one $5 carpet, I think you can afford to cycle through a few pairs. I'm still using the first pair I made, and I've been climbing with them a couple of winters now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-06-05T13:47:38.983" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T13:47:38.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16161" CreationDate="2017-05-17T16:58:21.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it is not a good solution for foot wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it will bond, it forms a waterproof bond that you can &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gorillatough.com/gorilla-glue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Sand, Paint or Stain&quot;.&lt;/a&gt; It is great for many thing you might sand, but not for things that flex. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T16:58:21.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16155" CreationDate="2017-05-17T21:29:37.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is what the leading pole manufacturer DAC would call a 4-way EyePole hub. Here's a three-way version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZXlDf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZXlDf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the plastic cap is missing so you can't see the branding. It's quite a specialised item and your only hope is to secure a spare from Eureka. Given the age I'd have thought your chances are slim, but it would be worth a try. If you can't locate the tent model, just send them your picture of the part. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your only alternative would be to find some strong tubing of a similar diameter and bodge a repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-05-17T21:29:37.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16517" CreationDate="2017-05-18T03:36:02.280" Score="9" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may be better asked as two questions; if so, I will edit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is prompted by a section in &lt;em&gt;Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svante_P%C3%A4%C3%A4bo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Svante Pääbo&lt;/a&gt;, who was the first to sequence Neanderthal (and Denisovan) DNA.  Pääbo and his team had to work out techniques for sequencing nuclear DNA ten and more thousands of years old.  They experimented with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=coprolites&amp;amp;spf=1495077572547&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;coprolites&lt;/a&gt; -- fossilized feces -- of the extinct American &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_sloth&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ground sloth&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The giant sloths had left behind large amounts of droppings, which&#xA;  archaeologists dressed up with the fancy name of coprolites.  In fact,&#xA;  in some caves in places like Nevada, the entire floor, to some depth,&#xA;  is largely made up of old ground-sloth feces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, suppose one has to take shelter in a cave in Nevada:  how would one distinguish an ordinary dirt floor from a floor formed of coprolites of the extinct American ground sloth? Are there any risks involved in taking shelter in any of the coprolite caves? (except for the possible ick factor) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[This sloth,] &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylodon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mylodon&lt;/a&gt;, weighed about 1,000 kilograms (2,205 lb)[2] and&#xA;  was about 3 m (9.8 ft) long from snout to tail tip&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T00:15:13.727" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T06:35:10.297" Title="How do I distinguish a dirt floor in a cave from a floor formed of very old coprolites?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16169" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16170" CreationDate="2017-05-18T13:27:22.610" Score="9" ViewCount="344" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning an overnight hiking trip and want to try cooking fish. We will be camping at an established backcountry site on the trail, which has a spot for a tent near a fire ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this is in an area with black bears. I know to hang all my food and other scented items in a bear bag, and not to eat in the tent. Beyond that, &lt;strong&gt;what additional precautions should I take for smelly foods?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically I just bring less smelly things like trail mix and energy bars, and nothing has ever bothered my site or bear bag (as far as I know!), but I'm worried that fish scent would be way more attractive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should we cook further away from the tent than usual? (There are a number of sites along the hike, so cooking dinner at one site and hiking a bit farther is a possibility.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the best way to dispose of the &quot;juices&quot;, grease, etc. left over from cooking?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-05-18T14:09:22.930" Title="What precautions should I take when cooking smelly food in an area with bears?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16169" CreationDate="2017-05-18T14:09:22.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've got most of it down already.  Cooking away from your sleeping area is always a good precaution, and never eat or bring food into your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://capitolriders.org/education/safely_cooking_and_eating_in_bear_country.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A PDF from CapitolRiders.org&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;points out some of the precautions you can take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Handle food with care. For the best bear-deterring actions, obey this&#xA;list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do cook at least 100 yards (91 meters) from your tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do change clothes after cooking and keep those clothes elsewhere from&#xA;your sleeping area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not ever leave food unattended, not even for moment to go to the stream to get water. Make sure it is guarded by others at the campsite or is put away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your technique of cooking/eating at one site and then moving to the next should work perfectly (so long as they are far enough apart - I imagine they are).  As for disposing of the byproducts of cooking, I would dump anything that won't harm the environment even further away from the cooking site so that others who may use the site won't be in danger.  I would think that grease shouldn't impact the environment so it should be safe to dump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For things that you should not just leave (things that constitute as pollution), you can use another bear bag or garbage bag to hold all of these things and hang it just like you would with your food.  It may be smarter to hang this one separately from and further from the bear bag that contains your food.  This is exactly what I did once on a 2 day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-05-18T14:09:22.930" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16171" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16178" CreationDate="2017-05-18T14:21:06.970" Score="4" ViewCount="378" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be going to a series of &lt;strong&gt;6 to 10 hours day hikes&lt;/strong&gt; in &lt;strong&gt;Hokkaido, Japan&lt;/strong&gt;. Some of these hikes are strenuous in effort, and involves different terrains. The weather should include some rain, but for the most part it will be hot, and humid. I will be there from &lt;strong&gt;the end of July till the end of August&lt;/strong&gt;. I will have my own car as a transportation going through Hokkaido.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01EF8HPG4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a 70L Outdoor backpack&lt;/a&gt; that I usually travel with, but I am NOT planning on doing the hikes with my 70L backpack (tried doing so through Indonesia and Taiwan for multi-day hikes, and it was tough, silly me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am thinking of buying two of a &lt;strong&gt;lightweight packable&lt;/strong&gt; (or foldable) &lt;strong&gt;backpacks&lt;/strong&gt; (like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VWS8LEQ/ref=s9u_wish_gw_i2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;colid=2Z8F8P1TWS4Q5&amp;amp;coliid=I1J4W13UBMDE6T&amp;amp;fpl=fresh&amp;amp;pd_rd_i=B00VWS8LEQ&amp;amp;pd_rd_r=AGSQJEXS8N8YDNRBA9S0&amp;amp;pd_rd_w=oe80I&amp;amp;pd_rd_wg=42cT5&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=desktop&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=QCBMMDDTP9MJQS6T59S3&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=36701&amp;amp;pf_rd_p=16f14aeb-bd11-4e9e-8c26-9ca0139074ee&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;). Then before the hike I was thinking to leave the 70L backpack and use the foldable backpack for the day hike. I will also buy a waterproof cover for the foldable backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I expect that I will be carrying a maximum of 4kg to 5kg. I will have my snacks (and/or meal), 1.5L to 2L of water depending on the hike, a shirt, headlights, and a waterproof jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this sound like a good idea? Also, any possible alternatives for a reliable packable/foldable backpack? (even if it is expensive)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13145" LastEditorUserId="13145" LastEditDate="2017-05-18T21:14:11.130" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T06:24:46.803" Title="Are cheap Packable Backpacks reliable enough for a long day strenuous hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16171" CreationDate="2017-05-18T20:01:10.087" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe spend a bit more and look for something for other uses also.  Shopping or airplane carry on bag.   Make sure it will hold what you need but day hiking does not need to be its only use.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-05-18T20:01:10.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15820" CreationDate="2017-05-18T20:59:16.637" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt;  Route 120 into Yosemite Valley opened on May 1, 2017.  The road crews were still putting finishing touches on the area of the collapse a week later, with short delays.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Delays at the el Portal entrance to Yosemite were in the one to two hour range on the last weekend in April. A ranger described the 120 closure as &quot;a disaster for the el Portal entrance.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extensive road repair is going on in the Valley, with a maze of detours and lane closures.  A flashing light says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your GPS is wrong!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Follow the detour signs!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maintenance cuts, according to a ranger, are hitting Yosemite hard.&lt;/em&gt; One visible sign: roadside litter is obvious within the park.  The waterfalls are spectacular, partly because the snow is melting so rapidly.  (Source: Personal Observation by ab2.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-05-18T20:59:16.637" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-05-18T20:59:16.637" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16175" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-18T21:24:36.510" Score="10" ViewCount="3059" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have sometimes noticed squirrels &quot;pancaking&quot; - lying flat on their stomachs. Unfortunately all my research into this subject has turned up hordes of &quot;cute squirrel&quot; photos and not much else... See the picture:&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cFo4e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cFo4e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;panckaing squirrel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes this behavior? Is it for heat dissipation purposes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13150" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:58:11.727" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:58:11.727" Title="What is this squirrel doing and why?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16175" CreationDate="2017-05-19T01:03:49.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it serves a few purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is for heat absorption, especially if the squirrel is young and the rock is warm. We learned this when we found a young squirrel splayed out like that on our driveway in the sun. It was a hot day and we thought he (or she) would burn on the driveway, but as it turned out, he was probably looking for the heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Squirrels maintain about the same core temperature as we do during the day—around 99°F (37°C), but they can cool off to 95°F (35°C) degrees at night. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/07/animals_in_heat.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to that same source, they can tolerate heat as high as 108°F (42°C),  using other mechanisms, including certain tail movements, to cool down when necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when they're old enough to live on their own, for a period of weeks the mother still spends some time with them and shares her body heat. If they become separated from her, or are still acclimating, they may actively seek out a source to raise their body temperature. That's what we were told when we brought ours to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildlife Clinic&lt;/a&gt; of the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center, a world-renowned leader in the field of wildlife research and care. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because we, and they, were concerned for his safety, we left him overnight so they could run tests, but they said he was totally healthy. They told us to bring him back to the area where we had found him. Either his mom would find him, or, if he was in the process of figuring out how to live outside the nest, he'd probably be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We followed the instructions and he stayed in our yard for two years, after which we moved away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-20T21:40:30.223" LastActivityDate="2017-05-20T21:40:30.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16171" CreationDate="2017-05-19T01:28:27.857" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy it now and do a few hikes before you leave.  If it doesn't do what you need, return it and try something more robust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T01:28:27.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16171" CreationDate="2017-05-19T06:18:28.883" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike a bit in the western ghats (southern India) where we do a lot of 6-8 hour hikes over weekends. I've tried the following three options each with a good degree of success. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A small foldable backpack:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is fine as long as you do not plan to carry anything beyond 5kg.&#xA;And since these backpacks fold into a small space, you could carry it&#xA;in your normal travel pack without compromising on space and use it&#xA;only for small day travels or hikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May turn out to be uncomfortable. These do not usually come with cushion or adjustable straps. Over a 6-8hr hike, these might end up hurting your shoulders due to the lack of weight distribution options.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use a standard 30L backpack:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These are pretty sturdy and can easily be used to carry 7-8kg (or even more! I once strapped a tent to one of these using ropes). These are way more comfortable than your foldable ones as usually these come with a bit of cushion and a few more straps to adjust the weight on your back (some even have a hip strap which I've personally not found any useful).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These do not fold up to the extent the foldable ones do. You may or may not be able to fit in these types of bags into your 70L backpack (I've done this before and they consume a good amount of space which otherwise could have been used for something else. An alternative would be to carry this outside).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use your 70L backpack:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry only the essentials for the hike while you dump the rest in your hotel room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Way more comfortable on your shoulders and back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allows for any additional things to be carried. Eg: Medical kit, downs, ponchos et al.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The backpacks themselves weigh in around 1.5kg (with the support rods and all). Hence you'll be carrying a bit more than you originally planned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; In all the three options, I personally do not see the terrain playing any part. The other thing which I feel could affect your decision would be the weather. A rainy weather means you'll have to have either a poncho to cover both the bag and yourself or at least a bag cover to protect your bag. A sunny one could prompt you to carry more water. In any of the cases, I would suggest you to carry a basic medical kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2017-05-19T06:24:46.803" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T06:24:46.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15477" CreationDate="2017-05-19T10:14:23.487" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no easy answers here - even experienced campers can find this a challenging decision and getting it wrong has significant consequences. You will have to clarify your personal priorities and then do a fair bit of research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Portability - the single most important consideration&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The central issue is portability - most of your other decisions will flow from this. If you are only carrying your shelter for short distances your priority will be comfort in camp. If you are covering the miles, you would be wise to prioritise weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But once you prioritise weight, you have to decide what you will sacrifice for lightness. Here are the key trade-offs you should consider. The right answer will depend on your budget, the conditions and your personal preferences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trade-off #1) Weight vs Budget&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a huge range of prices, from cheap generic Asian imports through mid-market outdoor brands up to small artisan and expedition specialists. You have to decide what you are prepared to spend. In general the more you pay, the better the design, construction and materials, and the more performance you will get at any given weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trade-off #2) Weight vs Durability &amp;amp; Storm-worthiness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general the lighter and more portable the tent, the more care it will need in use, the shorter the expected life, and the more you have to shelter it from wind and snow loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trade-off #3) Weight vs Space, Comfort &amp;amp; Convenience&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, the lighter the shelter the tighter the internal space and the less comfort &amp;amp; convenience in use. So if you prioritise lightness you need to consider what sacrifices you are prepared to make: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need space to sit up and spread yourself out, or are you merely looking for a minimal space to sleep in? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need bug protection? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you prepared to go single-skin and put up with some condensation? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need a large sheltered vestibule for cooking and gear storage? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you prepared to compromise on ease of entry and exit? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What priority do you give to views?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other strategic considerations&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you're not done yet. Here are a couple of other key strategic considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you carry walking poles?&lt;/strong&gt; Poles are one of the heaviest components of any shelter. If you carry walking poles you can save weight by using them as your shelter supports. This comes at a cost though. First, your choice is much more restricted and you will generally have to purchase from a small artisan supplier. And second, you will be restricted to less space-friendly geometries such as pyramids and A-frame ridge tents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you need a free-standing geometry?&lt;/strong&gt; If you regularly camp on surfaces that don't take a tent-peg you may need a free-standing geometric design, though even then you will need some guys to support the tent in bad conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And now you have to sweat the details...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you make the big decisions you still have to decide on the details. True tent obsessives will be researching:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pros and cons of different materials and coatings for walls and floors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pros and cons of different pole materials and manufacturers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The pros and cons of different geometries, pole structures and entrance arrangements.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could literally write a book on the subject, so we can only cover the basics here. Once you are closer to making your choice, search for reviews and get onto the forums - you will find that users are often generous in sharing their experience with particular makes and models.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this gives you a helpful starting point. Now it's over to you...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-05-19T16:54:30.303" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T16:54:30.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16183" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16184" CreationDate="2017-05-19T11:05:47.427" Score="11" ViewCount="301" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I did a trek in the Himalayan region and one of the group members was affected by what we believed was AMS at around 4600m. &#xA;We had to evacuate the person from there and get to around 4100m before she stabilized. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On review of the situation we found the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;She did not have any headache or nausea. She just fainted. Which pointed towards lack of oxygen supply to her brain (subsequently she fainted around 5-6 times while we were bringing her down). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The person concerned was on Diamox (should have helped her acclimatize, but I realize that this is not a guarantee). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;She was well hydrated (she was drinking around 4L of water per day).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;She did exert herself a bit more than required before AMS hit her (she was breathless as well, which is a symptom of AMS). There were no symptoms of headache or any nausea before that (or even after).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Her oxygen reading was around 85% and her HR was registered at 140+ around the time she fainted.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We had to administer Dexamethasone steroid to boost her lungs up and we saw an improvement in her condition in about 45min.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is, can overexertion lead to AMS? Would it act as a possible factor in increasing the chances of a person being affected by AMS? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;PS:&lt;/em&gt; I had a doubt if it was AMS in the first place, but since  there's a possibility of lack of oxygen causing her to faint, I'm assuming it was AMS. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Based on one of the answers given by @wills, I'm adding further clarifications:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The person concerned did mention that she witnessed the 'darkness in front of eyes' before fainting, so I'm ruling out weakness as the reason. Also, this continued to happen some 5-6 times in the next 1 hour or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:59:39.190" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:59:39.190" Title="Can overexertion cause AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16183" CreationDate="2017-05-19T14:07:41.127" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;By 'faint' you mean the person lost consciousness or was it &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; weakness? I was in a similar position but not that severe. I was in the wrong assumption that I was acclimatizing fine because I was the strongest in the group during that time. I felt great, no headache or nausea or anything at all on the acclimatization mountains up to 4500m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the summit attempt I started getting weaker and weaker above 5000m. At 5500m I finally had to return because I was extremely weak plus nausea (no vomitting). My team members had no problems btw. For the details of my story please read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9666/case-example-on-altitude-mountain-sickness-how-to-detect-and-react-properly&quot;&gt;this topic&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think one reason in my example was that my body would have been better acclimatized if I hadn't gone so fast while hiking the preparatory mountains. This doesn't mean you are safe but it helps during acclimatization process if you go very slowly without getting anerob regularly. I can't find a medical paper for now, but at least here are two sources saying the same: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once on the mountain, a slow walking pace is an essential rule. Keep&#xA;  your heart rate low, reduce your daily rhythm, and let go of your&#xA;  stress. Don’t agitate to go faster as it will only hurt your chances&#xA;  higher up the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nomadicexperience.com/2016/01/golden-rules-altitude-acclimatization/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When you first arrive to the high altitude environment, you should&#xA;  only exercise at a level of about half as much as you did in an&#xA;  oxygen-rich environment, and do so at a slower pace. Try not to push&#xA;  yourself to the point of breathlessness for long periods at altitude&#xA;  is the wrong way to go. A slow and steady pace will aid the&#xA;  acclimatization process. It’s better for conditioning, to slow down&#xA;  and continue moving than it is to stop and take breaks. Gradually&#xA;  increase your distances and this is built into our treks and&#xA;  acclimatization program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://iantaylortrekking.com/our-services/acclimatizing-to-low-oxygen-environments/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes, overexertion reduces the ability of the body to acclimate properly and therefore increase the chances of getting AMS.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way the Diamox makes this question more difficult so I wasn't referring to this part of the story. I am just generally saying you should keep a slow pace!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T14:07:41.127" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8675" CreationDate="2017-05-19T22:06:54.090" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;1 location. Are there trees or porch's you can use? 2 Insects, snakes, &amp;amp; such. It needs a roof &amp;amp; mosquito net sides. 3 does all zip or fit together tight closed? 4 take a small flashlight to bed with you. 5 There main purpose is to get you of the ground while sleeping. Protect you from insects, shield you from rain or night mist. A small tent is better to sleep in.  They are made for the tropics. To get you off the ground. Not best to sleep in. 6 take some tinfoil to wrap around the lines to keep scorpions from walking them. &amp;amp; if you need get up in the night use flashlight to look at ground below you before stepping out. Here we have more types or poison reptiles than any place in the world. Not to mention insects, spiders. Why we use them over a small tent. Your area I would advise a small tent. Much warmer, more room to roll over in them at night. Hammocks are for safety in sleeping &amp;amp; make for cool sleeping at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-05-19T22:06:54.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16140" CreationDate="2017-05-19T22:25:09.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way I've seen desalination happen is through evaporation. There are a few ways to do this. One way is to evaporate the water then feed it through a cooling coil (copper piping, helps if it's submerged in water). You could also try a modified version of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar still&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think by far the easiest way is to buy another water tank that you can fill before you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9267" LastEditorUserId="9267" LastEditDate="2017-05-21T20:12:10.430" LastActivityDate="2017-05-21T20:12:10.430" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16193" CreationDate="2017-05-20T02:54:43.307" Score="6" ViewCount="1996" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I have been staying in a tent for several months now in a friend's garden. Neither of us has camping experience and with the weather getting cold, we are starting to have problems with condensation inside the tent. With the help of experienced campers on the web, we figured we have to work against condensation. Keep the tent well stretched, and everything...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still some humidity occurs under us and we cannot figure out how. Rain fly isn't touching the inner tent at any point. Even at the lower side walls of the inner tent, we didn't have any condensation last night because the temperature wasn't that bad (15°C), however we had humidity in some spots under us. Usually likely to happen in between our mats. Under the sleeping bag we're sleeping on. BUT ABOVE THE TENT FLOOR, the floor is dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give a better idea, here's our setup:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our tent sits on some palettes. And there are some thin wooden pieces (the ones that form the back wall of a wardrobe) on the palettes to even out the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Inside, above the tent floor, we have a tarp (to prevent condensation falling down to floor affecting us directly). On the tarp, sleeping mats. On the mats, the sleeping bag we sleep on. We had a rather thin bed mattress in between the mats and the bag, but it gets wet so we had to remove it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our tent is a Doite brand second hand tent and it has these skirts at the bottom sides covering the tent. So I doubt any water is getting under the tent directly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We're in Uruguay, so the temperature isn't that cold, but I can say it's wet quite often. And we have another tarp above the tent hanged to the tree we put our tent under to prevent most of the rain coming down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone help us with keeping condensation out of our tents? We are keeping the tents well stretched and making sure that the rain does not touch the inner tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D6oOa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;it looks like this pretty much every morning. [1]&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fSAuD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fSAuD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7vBNu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7vBNu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13157" LastEditorUserId="13157" LastEditDate="2017-05-25T17:03:33.277" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T17:03:33.277" Title="What could be the cause of condensation on the tent floor?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16161" CreationDate="2017-05-20T14:04:42.117" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;krazy glue&lt;/a&gt; as long as the shoe is clean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not cut the loose thread, but using a needle hide the thread between some fabric. Put the crazy glue along the entire section of stitching in order to reinforce the stitching itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should work as I have done this on outside chairs and no one knows that I repaired them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All said and done the best thing to do is restitch the shoe by hand using the same holes of the manufacturer and then glue it on both sides of the stitch (top and bottom). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gorilla Glue might work but being a waterproof glue is not the same as being breathable such as your Goretex fabric in the shoe. It will form a barrier between the shoe and the rain or water. At least with the kazy glue it is possible to spot glue your shoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-05-20T14:04:42.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16189" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-20T17:26:08.950" Score="6" ViewCount="150" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering getting a new air mattress for situations where I want to save weight. I already have a large comfortable one for when I drive to camping with a car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I saw a system which costs a bit too much to be a &quot;try it and throw away if it is not good&quot;, even at discounter prices, consisting of a 440 g mattress and 84 g sack which is used to pump in the air. The combination costs 74 Euro, while a 800 g mattress with an inbuilt pump from the same low cost supplier is available for 24 Euro. I would pay the difference if I get the weight reduction without loss of comfort in mattress setup and emptying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I watched a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o5Oxnk0xgk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; showing a similar pumpsack system from a brand name supplier (that specific system starts at 1:09 in the video) and it seems like you still have to use your own lungs for it. I really dislike pumping up a whole mattress with lung power when I am exhausted from hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has somebody had experience with the second type of mattress, especially in comparison with the first type? How much effort does it take, is it comparable to lung-blowing or the blow he needs in the video just a small part of it? Are there other difficulties with the inbuilt-pump system which make it less attractive than the pump sack system? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T07:29:07.480" Title="How comfortable are pump sacks for air matresses?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16187" CreationDate="2017-05-20T19:31:58.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Condensation is usually caused by high humidity combined with a temperature differential. It sounds like you have a very humid atmosphere, which in a tent is added to by the high moisture content of your breath, and if you are warm at night, also sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't need to be that cold, especially not if the humidity is really high, but a temperature drop at night could cause a fair amount of condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-05-21T14:53:57.443" LastActivityDate="2017-05-21T14:53:57.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16187" CreationDate="2017-05-21T17:00:22.973" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Condensation is about Relative Humidity of a given system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relative humidity (RH) is the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative humidity depends on &lt;strong&gt;temperature&lt;/strong&gt; and the &lt;strong&gt;pressure&lt;/strong&gt; of the system of interest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When temperature decreases, both partial pressure and vapor pressure decreases. However vapor pressure decreases more rapidly. The result is that relative humidity increases when the air gets colder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When relative humidity hits 100%, condensation occurs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are couple of things that can be done to avoid the relative humidity to hit 100%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Increase temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decrease humidity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, during the day, taking all your gear and insulation materials out of the tent and having the tent well ventilated will not only remove humidity from your gear and inside the tent but also allows the materials beneath the tent to warm up during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before the night falls and air starts cooling, close your tent and bring in your warmed up and dried gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible that since you've had your tent in place for so long time (several months) and well insulated, the ground beneath the tent is much cooler than in the surroundings. This would mean that any warm and humid air getting into close proximity of the ground you've insulated from any heat during the day, would hit 100% relative humidity immediately. In addition to that, it's possible that such a cool ground might never hit temperatures high enough for it to dry. Trapping all the moisture under your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13063" LastActivityDate="2017-05-21T17:00:22.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16187" CreationDate="2017-05-21T18:07:33.893" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have some answers on condensation in general. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your breath adds moisture to the air.  As the air cools the amount of water vapor it can hold drops.  When you get to the dew point the moisture drops out of the air.  The moisture will also collect on surfaces with a temperature under the dew point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even at the lower side walls of the inner tent, we didn't have any&#xA;  condensation last night because the temperature wasn't that bad&#xA;  (15°C), however we had humidity in some spots under us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you mean moisture - humidity is still in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is interesting is the moisture collected only on the floor so it is probably the coolest spot in the tent.  Try thicker wood over the pallets or skip the pallets as they let cool air circulate under the tent.  The ground holds heat pretty well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-05-21T19:11:46.160" LastActivityDate="2017-05-21T19:11:46.160" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16194" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16195" CreationDate="2017-05-21T23:27:44.893" Score="8" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I love animals. All of our vacations are planned around opportunities for viewing wildlife, birds, marine animals, farm animals, backyard animals, butterflies, insects, and just about any other form of life.  I'm disabled and can't walk far, so we tailor our trips to places with handicapped accessibility and limited movement requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A local friend in Massachusetts told me she heard of a drive-through wild animal nature preserve in Florida. Animals from many different regions of the world live there, and apparently most of them are loose. For the sake of safety, no pedestrians or other vehicles are allowed, just passenger cars with windows which can be kept closed. It sounds perfect for us!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drive-though area is one section of a large park and campground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She thinks it's a few hours north of Miami, Florida. Does anyone know the name of the place to which she's referring, including location and additional information about other things to do in the park?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:11:57.437" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:11:57.437" Title="Is there a place near Miami, Florida where I can get close to wild animals without leaving my car?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16194" CreationDate="2017-05-21T23:55:49.657" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lioncountrysafari.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lion Country Safari&lt;/a&gt; matches your description. From their front page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Florida’s only drive-through safari and walk-through amusement park invites you to spend the day on safari with over 900 animals. With animal displays and encounters, animal feeding experiences, 5 rides, water sprayground, food, shopping and more, you are sure to have a memorable experience at Lion Country Safari.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2017-05-21T23:55:49.657" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11765" CreationDate="2017-05-22T08:22:25.947" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK, the form of camping you are referring to is known as &lt;em&gt;Wild Camping&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is pitching up where there are no electrical, water or sanitary facilities.  The term applies equally to camping in tents and parking a motorhome / camper van.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note though that in England and Wales, the practice is illegal.  Except in some of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/outdooractivities/camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Parks&lt;/a&gt;.  However, it is legal in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.visitscotland.com/accommodation/caravan-camping/wild-camping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scotland&lt;/a&gt;, except for certain protected areas, like the banks of Loch Lomond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastActivityDate="2017-05-22T08:22:25.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16140" CreationDate="2017-05-22T20:43:12.713" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is that desalinating water is hard; nearly desalinating it isn't much easier (it would be possible to design a bad reverse osmosis system but there isn't much market for that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead if you need partially desalinated water you could get it by mixing drinking water with salt water. But there are better things to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check what the toilet flushes with - I'm no yachtsman but I think it's seawater. So you can ignore that if I'm right. Cooking and drinking should be possible with less than 5 litres per person per day unless it's very hot (none of this boiling pasta in a vat business - the pan should be not much bigger than the food you're cooking, to save fuel as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Washing is harder to estimate. But here goes. When we had a touring caravan, a 40 litre container of water nearly did two &lt;em&gt;quick&lt;/em&gt; showers. So there's a starting point for estimating how much you need for washing. But according to a sailor friend you wouldn't use fresh for all of that. Either get wet in the sea or with a bucket of seawater left in the sun, wash, then rinse with fresh water, which should be only a couple of litres. And that's when you need an all over wash - less than daily. After all, it's not antisocial like it would be in an office - you're all in the same boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a further point of comparison, this question happened to pop backup just after my water bill came.  At home, with one adult plus a child here half the time, we use about 70 litres per day - and that's with full domestic use, not efficiency-optimised boat gear, not saltwater toilets.  I aim to be efficient, but don't take it to extremes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-11-12T21:56:53.063" LastActivityDate="2020-11-12T21:56:53.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16187" CreationDate="2017-05-23T17:03:10.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Breathing is the largest single source of moisture in a tent, followed by cooking.  A common mistake is to close the tent completely, without providing ventilation to (sufficiently) carry your moist air out, and allow drier air from outside to enter.  I've found that when I've had condensation problems, it can generally be improved by adjusting the ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may take some experimentation to find the optimum balance between keeping warmth in and letting moisture out, but at +15°C, you're unlikely to feel cold, so I'd start by opening up quite a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-05-23T17:03:10.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16140" CreationDate="2017-05-23T19:55:23.290" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You linked to an industrial sized watermaker (75 gallons per &lt;em&gt;hour&lt;/em&gt;) but they do come in smaller sizes for significantly less money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But think hard about how much water you actually need. I'd consider your 80 L/day to be very generous. Ocean water at a normal level of salt is sufficient for showering or cleaning. If the salt remaining on a washed item or person is a problem, do a quick rinse or wipe down with fresh. That alone should cut your daily cleaning needs drastically. If your toilets require fresh water rather than salt or the same sort of chemical used in an RV, you should look into fixing the plumbing, because that's a huge waste of fresh water. Save the fresh water for drinking and cooking, and look at cleaning with it as a luxury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For uses where slightly salty water is acceptable, but ocean water is too salty, you can simply dilute the salt water as needed with your supply of fresh, stretching the freshwater further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2019-07-07T01:54:58.190" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T01:54:58.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16201" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16202" CreationDate="2017-05-24T02:29:31.120" Score="8" ViewCount="1892" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cut down a Douglas Fir tree last year around June and we've dried it outside with tarp on top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Seattle where it constantly rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of days ago I tried to use some of the wood in my outdoor firepit using Duraflame firestarter and it created a lot of smoke and not a lot of fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried couple more times with different pieces but still the same result?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bought  &lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00275F5O2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wood moisture reader&lt;/a&gt; and it reads 10~16% in the middle of the woood. I don't understand why there is too much smoke and not a real fire when I think the wood is sufficiently dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How dry should a firewood be for ideal burn?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13179" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:26:15.017" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:26:15.017" Title="Dry Douglas Fir wood only creates smoke and no fire?" Tags="&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16201" CreationDate="2017-05-24T05:25:37.610" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the moisture content of the wood it is certainly dry enough to have a good fire. I would suggest that you don't have enough heat to fully ignite the gases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood burns through a process called &lt;em&gt;pyrolysis&lt;/em&gt; where heat first breaks down the solid into flammable gases, which if there is enough heat will ignite and start a chain reaction. As the flammable gases burn, more heat is generated, so pyrolysis speeds up, more flammable gases, more heat and so on, until there is no more wood to pyrolyse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, as the flammable gases are driven off, there is not enough heat for them to ignite, then they will just rise off within the smoke. Smoke is essentially a mixture of unburnt flammable gases, partially burnt gases, and steam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds as if you may be trying to start your fire with sections of wood that are too large, so the surface area of the wood is small compared to the volume. So the heat is enough to start pyrolysis, but dissipates too quickly for the gases to spontaneously combust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to start your fire off with very small bits of wood, dry grass, twigs and progressively build up the fire with larger and larger bits of wood. You need to get a good hot base to your fire before putting on large pieces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the classic fire triangle that show that you need all three, oxygen, heat and fuel for a fire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5Svt7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fire Triangle&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-05-24T17:36:02.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16204" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-24T15:26:15.020" Score="11" ViewCount="3230" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing ropes are UIAA rated for so many falls of an 80kg weight. After that number of falls–or a specific period of time based on amount of use–you are supposed to retire the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what if the person you are belaying is only 15kg? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When ropes pass their recommended retirement age it doesn't exactly render them useless, but if you're using a rope to belay weights more than 80% less than what it's rated for, does that mean the rope will be good for a period of time 80% longer than recommended?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my mind, a 15kg kid using a 9.8mm rope would be the equivalent of an 80kg man using a 22.6mm rope, which would last close to forever, but you probably wouldn't want to take any big falls with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To what weight can you safely use retired ropes for belaying small children on top-roped climbs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:57:18.060" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:57:18.060" Title="Can you safely use retired ropes for belaying children?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="19" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16204" CreationDate="2017-05-24T17:51:50.003" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a little bit information out there (&lt;a href=&quot;http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Weber-Hudson1999_ITRSPaper.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), about falls of climbers &lt;em&gt;heavier&lt;/em&gt; than normal which suggests (very roughly) almost a linear relationship between fall load (force) and body weight, assuming equal fall factor. Applying this in the reverse, a significantly lighter climber would apply a significantly smaller load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/508/8864&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; says a UIAA fall is rated for a factor of 1.77. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Children of 15 kg don't climb lead (I'd say). During top roping, forces are &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; less, so I'd say it is safe, &lt;strong&gt;if the rope passes visual inspection and &quot;feels&quot; otherwise &quot;right&quot; (e.g. no broken core)&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd apply a rough safety margin of about 1 order of magnitude, so I'd say it's okay for people of up to 30-35 kg when top roping, and not okay for someone heavier or when lead climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the end you have to use your own judgement, and if there are any doubts, just take the safer alternative: use a fresh rope.&lt;/strong&gt; Pieces of old rope are reusable as donations for e.g. childrens day cares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-05-24T17:58:53.773" LastActivityDate="2017-05-24T17:58:53.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16204" CreationDate="2017-05-24T17:57:03.907" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a really difficult question to answer in the abstract. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/documents/safety/About_Ageing_of_Climbing_Ropes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt; claims that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ageing  caused  only  by  storage  can almost  be  neglected  compared  with ageing  during  use.  This  also  holds  for ageing  by  the  influence  of  ultraviolet radiation;  ropes  may  lose  their  colour with  time,  but  virtually  no  loss  of strength (more precisely, no loss of energy absorption capacity over an edge).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer then depends on why you have retired your rope. Ignoring retirement due to either a single &lt;em&gt;large&lt;/em&gt; (high impact factor) fall or exposure to chemicals (e.g., battery acid), the rope has likely been retired due to wear (fraying of the sheath or flat spots) or some predetermined life span rule that you created or borrowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like climbing on ropes that have flat spots. My ropes tend to get flat spots near the ends where the falls occur. Most of the routes I climb are longer, and therefore once I am forced to cut off a short section from the end, I retire the rope from lead climbing. I tend to then top rope on that rope until I wear out another lead rope. I cannot recall the last time I didn't have extra ropes for top roping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My general rule for top roping is the rope needs to have a visually intact sheath (wear is fine) and not have any flat spots or bulges. It also cannot be ridiculously dirty (although I tend to climb in cleaner areas).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="258" LastEditDate="2017-05-25T17:09:21.997" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T17:09:21.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16140" CreationDate="2017-05-24T22:29:20.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do not say where you sail. Bamboo jungle style. Take a number of 5 gallon buckets, and half-fill them with sea water. Put a 4 to 6 inch PVC pipe in the center to catch water and paint it black. Add a top of clear sheet plastic. Put a weight in center of the sheet so water runs down &amp;amp; drops into pvc pipe. Use a small rabbit pump to remove the water. You should get 1 quart of water per day per bucket in the tropics on average. 1 quart of water is enough for a sponge bath, or to do the dishes &amp;amp; such. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also catch rain off your sail. For your clothes, put them in a net bag with rope &amp;amp; throw over the side. Seawater cleans clothes very well. If it rains, hang them out on the lines to rinse. Sail with the trade winds and you'll be in rainy season then. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T18:53:26.337" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T18:53:26.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16204" CreationDate="2017-05-24T22:53:08.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL;DNR: If you have a safety problem climbing with children, it won't be because the rope is a bit old.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to define what you mean by 'Safely'. I put it that is impossible as it varies for everyone on a daily basis. This makes it one of those unanswerable questions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you rephrase the question - move the focus from just the rope - &quot;Is a retired rope safe&quot; to taking kids climbing as a whole- 'How much does using a retired rope increase the danger of taking children climbing' you get to question that has a useful answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answers focus on the safety of a retired rope. The difference in safety between a brand new rope and retired rope (as in 'recently retired because of standards and manufacturer recommendations' rather than damaged or had a big fall) appears small and insignificant compared to the other dangers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, given the dangers of climbing, I suggest using a retired rope is extremely unlikely to create or contribute to an adverse outcome for any climber, and significantly less so for child or top roped climbers. What this means for Top roped and children can only become insignificant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the above being said, there is another aspect at play that will override all this common sense. If you do take children climbing on say a 30 year old rope, what will people think and say of you? Will you be treated as a cautious climber who has thought through the implications and understands and manages the risks very well, or will you be labeled an irresponsible cowboy idiot who should not be allowed near children. If you had an accident, say a child unties his harness half way up the climb for a laugh, the 30 year old rope would be used to hang you, no matter how irrelevant it was to the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-05-25T04:21:47.553" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T04:21:47.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15822" CreationDate="2017-05-25T00:39:23.190" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anecdotal, but this did happen to a climbing partner of mine while they were climbing with someone else. The climber yelled &quot;Take!&quot; while out of sight of the belayer, and heard a reply &quot;OK, you're off belay!&quot; He immediately clipped in directly to the nearest piece of (trad) gear, and, still holding on to the rock, got a second piece in as a backup, also clipped directly to his harness, and then screamed at the belayer to put him back on belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a clearer instruction than &quot;Safe&quot; is a good start, but not really sufficient, as regardless of what the climber intends to say when they reach the belay/anchor, a belayer could still mishear a climber's call of &quot;Take&quot; as &quot;Safe&quot;. I'd suggest it is more important that the belayer always asks for confirmation before taking a climber off belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;&quot;I'm safe!&quot;&#xA;&quot;Ok, [climber's name], taking you off belay?&quot;&#xA;&quot;Yes, [belayer's name], take me off belay.&quot;&#xA;&quot;Ok!&quot;&#xA;*Belayer only now takes the climber off belay*&#xA;&quot;Ok, [climber's name], you are off belay!&quot;&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13186" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T00:39:23.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3668" CreationDate="2017-05-25T00:43:25.293" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wipe the insides with a cloth soaked in methylated spirits or other denatured/rubbing alcohol. Don't confuse these with petroleum-derived solvents, which are much more likely to damage the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13186" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T00:43:25.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16204" CreationDate="2017-05-25T02:10:05.860" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have several &quot;retired&quot; ropes because we no longer trust them to take 2 factor leader falls. I repelled on one of them years after it was retired. If your ropes are like mine, they'll be fine for top-roping of most adults.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, one rope we retired due to a rock fall landing on it. Nobody's climbing on that anymore. (We cut it in two where the rock landed, and it gets used for knot tying practice now.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've been kinda skirting the edge of the 10 year rule for a leader rope. Somehow we believe that a rope not for lead climbing is good for something like 10 more years after that before we really retire it. But on the up side, we buy over-diameter ropes in the first place so they should last a bit longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, I looked at the rope that took two leader falls in one season, and at the end of the season I said to myself, &quot;Hmm, time to retire that.&quot; Then the rock got it anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastEditorUserId="6661" LastEditDate="2017-05-25T02:17:39.643" LastActivityDate="2017-05-25T02:17:39.643" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16253" CreationDate="2017-05-25T12:09:42.800" Score="17" ViewCount="18629" Body="&lt;p&gt;Watching wildlife shows you frequently see omnivores (&lt;em&gt;i.e. bears&lt;/em&gt;) eating ants and termites.  We have the existing Q&amp;amp;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15874/eating-ants-termites-on-outdoor-expeditions&quot;&gt;Eating ants/termites on outdoor expeditions&lt;/a&gt; explaining that some ants and termites are very good for people to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering if all Ants and Termites are safe to eat?  Are there some that are not safe?  If so how can I tell which are safe which are not safe? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T02:04:03.293" LastActivityDate="2021-05-26T19:20:04.843" Title="Are all Ants and Termites edible?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;ants&gt;&lt;termites&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16204" CreationDate="2017-05-26T16:27:36.960" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My rule of thumb is, if you have to ask if something is still safe to use, the answer is always &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all try to minimize risk and maximize cost/benefit. When I was younger and had less disposable income, my self answer to 'safe vs cost' questions was often more heavily weighted towards cost.  You can make these decisions multiple times and save lots of money, but the cost of that one time that safety should have been more heavily weighted, far exceeds all the money you saved in the earlier choices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We each make and have to live with our own decisions.  The follow-up question you need to ask yourself, is can I live with the cost of being wrong about this choice? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-05-26T16:27:36.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16216" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-28T19:20:56.270" Score="3" ViewCount="607" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a short climbing rope and two carabiners. I want to use it as a strap to carry something (it is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; intended for climbing). As the rope is too long, I fold it once. At one &quot;end&quot; I make a figure eight loop and attach a carabiner to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which knot do I use to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;connect the two loose ends on the other side &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make it possible to attach a carabiner there that is not sliding on the rope?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13201" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-05-28T23:26:25.427" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T02:07:18.617" Title="Which knot is best for connecting loose ends and attaching carabiner?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16224" CreationDate="2017-05-28T20:19:12.073" Score="58" ViewCount="11262" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I hiked for about 4 hours, and I ended up with sun stroke (terrible headache, trembling etc.). The heat was moderate (about 30°C, 86°F in shade), and the way was half in forest. I had a baseball cap on my head and I drank a lot (about 2.5 liter water). I was not dehydrated, judging from urine amount/color. So in theory, I did what was necessary to prepare myself. However, it seems that my body was overwhelmed in spite of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to prepare my body for heat? The people on Savanna, for example, are living with much higher temperatures and full day exposure to sun, and I wouldn't handle that in my today's condition. Is this a genetic factor, or it can be trained, for example sauna, intensive exercises or simply exposure to heat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:54:35.287" LastActivityDate="2019-04-22T09:24:20.197" Title="How should I prepare my body for prolonged exposure to heat?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16216" CreationDate="2017-05-28T21:35:18.293" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no right answer, and we cannot know enough detail to give you the best answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would tie the middle of the rope to the carabiner with a clove hitch, rather than a fig8 as you have described.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the other end, the easy and most reliable option is Two fig 8's tied at the correct length (one could be on a bite). If you want to make the length easy to adjust, you could use Clove Hitch at one or both ends. If using a clove hitch, be aware that if the rope is cycled from slack to tight, they can loosen and move. In this case, especially if its life critical and the knot is unattended, you can tie of the dead end of the rope  with a half hitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-05-28T21:35:18.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-28T21:39:50.517" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;It takes about 2 years to fully get used to heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A ball cap is not good. Get a vented brim hat. The old straw hats are very good, they absorb moisture, and cool by evaporation. The woven reed cone Asian style hats are good.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear light colors. Cotton wicks moisture away to help cool. Tropical wool is the best there is. I recommend a 60% cotton 40% wool mix.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear sandles, not socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat a banana with a little salt on it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear loose fitting cloths, where you can out and about. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dip or soak your hat in water, for extra evaporation. Take some cloth with you if water is close, so you can soak it and wrap it around your wrists. Old cotton sock tops are good for this. Keep them wet to damp, it pulls the heat out of your blood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the tropics here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-05-30T12:38:35.970" LastActivityDate="2017-05-30T12:38:35.970" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16236" CreationDate="2017-05-28T22:24:22.920" Score="9" ViewCount="4490" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our suburban yard in Massachusetts has a small woodsy area. We use a section for feeders for birds, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, and the occasional bear or fox. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an area of our patio, at least 20 feet from the closest feeder and that group of large trees, we put food down and stay within a few inches of, and sometimes directly on, the pile. Certain chipmunks, who we recognize by their markings, know where and when to wait for that food, and happily eat at our feet and even on our shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This year, for the first time, a few squirrels have been daring enough to come  close and eat. I'm surprised because they're usually quite skittish as they get nearer to the house.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first two pictures, I'm standing just behind the leaf at the bottom right corner, and the little squirrel, possibly a young &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42587/0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Red Squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus&lt;/a&gt;, is not more than a foot away. He stood in that sideways position for a few minutes, then turned to face me. He then came closer, right under my feet, to find whatever whole seeds had been left by the chipmunks, and ate for a while. (I didn't take a picture then for fear of scaring him away.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the other two pictures, I'm in pretty much the same place, although it's hard to tell. I believe that squirrel is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42462/0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Grey, Sciurus carolinensis&lt;/a&gt;, which is common here in America, Canada, and also in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/animal-facts/grey-squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;variety of countries in the UK&lt;/a&gt;. He starts by looking tentatively towards me, then moves to where that food is and puts his head down to eat. I don't know if he chose that pile of food because it was the nearest to him, but I assume so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering what they're seeing in each of their body positions. Can they see me, or the chipmunk, only with both eyes facing me, or do they only need one? Can the grey squirrel with his head down eat and watch me at the same time? Can these positions also allow them to see what's happening around or above them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also curious if it's seeing the cat, but there's glass in between them, so there might be glare or other factors. The cat's always pouncing against that window and the squirrels and chipmunks never run away, so either they don't see her or they feel safe knowing they're protected by the window. I admit I really just added the cat picture because it's cute! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not meant to be a highly scientific question. I'm just curious because I spend so much time watching and interacting with my backyard animals, and their behavior fascinates me! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on the pictures for larger view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oNkKL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oNkKL.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Red squirrel left eye towards me&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bcx0b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bcx0b.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Red squirrel sitting up staring at me&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLKzA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLKzA.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Gray squirrel a bit farther away&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qRyLy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qRyLy.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Gray squirrel closer, eating&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yMn4z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yMn4z.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Squirrel and chipmunk&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cUAT5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cUAT5.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Squirrel and cat&quot;/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:58:03.200" LastActivityDate="2019-05-16T12:38:17.710" Title="Do squirrels have front and full peripheral vision?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16220" CreationDate="2017-05-29T04:24:25.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having watched grey squirrels like that for many years in various situations, I feel very confident that the answers to your questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can they see me only with both eyes facing me, or do they only need&#xA;  one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They only need one to see you. It is often very clear that a squirrel is seeing you and paying attention to you with one eye. My &lt;em&gt;impression&lt;/em&gt; is that they tend to do this when they are not particularly alarmed/interested by you, and also when they are still wanting to keep the other eye on things in other directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can the grey squirrel with his head down eat and watch me at the same&#xA;  time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. Squirrels have very high awareness of other creatures around them by vision and hearing, and they are generally very attentively tracking the movement of all other animals around them, even when eating with head down. Note that you can test this theory by moving an arm quietly but suddenly when his head is in a position you think he might not be able to see you. In general they will visibly react to most sudden motions they see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can these positions also allow them to see what's happening around or&#xA;  above them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seem to have some blind spots below and behind their heads and to some degree upwards and back, but if you can see one of their eyes, I believe they can see you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice though that unless they are also concerned about other animals or directions, they will tend to focus on something of interest by facing it so both eyes can see and they get binocular vision, as shown in some of your photos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squirrels also have very good directional hearing, and they are very clever about thinking about where they can jump and climb to to avoid other animals, and seem to always be thinking about this and will even needlessly tease/play with dogs and cats and other squirrels in games of chasing and hiding especially involving trees and running around obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5426" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T13:42:58.357" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T13:42:58.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16223" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16240" CreationDate="2017-05-29T04:59:28.927" Score="12" ViewCount="473" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please refer the image below. This is a screenshot from the movie Meru which is about the successful attempt of climbing Meru by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't understand, why the rope is webbed/passed through snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Aetst.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Aetst.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I watched the film again, and I can confirm that it is snow and not ice.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;P.S.: These 3 mountaineers aren't just any mountaineers that we usually come across. These are well-known, admired, recognized one of the most talented and experienced climbers/mountaineers around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT 2: I just saw the section of the film again, and it is a biner on the right side of the column which is at right hand side of the left red arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2021-01-11T04:36:18.123" LastActivityDate="2021-01-11T04:36:18.123" Title="What is the intention behind webbing the rope through snow?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-29T06:36:47.127" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few things that influence your body's ability to regulate heat. Nutrition, clothing, behavior, and practice are the big ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nutrition is important as far as making sure you're properly hydrated and are replete with electrolytes. It's possible to become dehydrated even while drinking enough water. To fix this, make sure you consume salts such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, or others you can read about here &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte#Physiological_importance&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte#Physiological_importance&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing is important as well, and is easy to do incorrectly if you're unfamiliar with how. You've mentioned you're in a forest, which means you don't have to worry about providing your own shade. Focus on wearing lightweight clothing which allows ventilation. Generally, do not wear cotton. It will absorb several times its weight in water, allowing chafing while preventing your sweat from properly evaporating off your skin. The sweat must evaporate from your skin or a layer of clothing near your skin in order to cool you off; this is called evaporative cooling. Underclothing should also not be cotton, again due to chafing and because your groin is just about the warmest part of your body. Soaked cotton allows much less airflow than soaked wool or synthetics. Wool or wool blend socks are usually best at providing ventilation for your feet to reduce blisters and overheating. The baseball cap you mentioned before is probably also a bad idea, especially if it's cotton. A wide-brimmed hat capable of providing shade while still allowing ventilation is a much better idea. Your head generates a lot of heat, and must be allowed to properly reject it to the atmosphere in order to avoid overheating your brain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Behavior is a much more simple category for improvements. Stay in shade, move slowly, and move even more slowly if you start to feel hot. Do not hesitate to take a break in the shade. In fact, take a break before you feel like you need to. Don't wipe sweat away unless you must. The sweat must remain on your skin to be effective. If you're producing excess sweat to where you're dripping, it may make sense for comfort reasons to wipe it away, but you wouldn't want to keep, say, a towel with you to clear your brow every few seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice is even simpler. Exposing your body to heat while exercising will generally cause you to thermoregulate more effectively. Your body will produce more blood and vasodilate more readily, allowing the blood at the surface of your skin to &quot;donate&quot; larger amounts of heat to the air (if below 38 degrees) or to evaporating sweat (if between 38 and 100 degrees (I really hope you're not going anywhere over 100 degrees)). This is how you see people who live in the tropics or mediterranea go about their day comfortably without sweating like a northerner does. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR:&#xA;Wear a wide hat of non-cotton, wear non-cotton shirt/pants/underpants/socks, move slowly, take breaks, drink water, eat salts in moderation, and keep at it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One controversial piece of advice I'll throw out there that fits with the &quot;practice&quot; paragraph is if you live in a warm place, avoid air conditioning. Or, at least, use in moderation. If you want to get accustomed to 30+ degrees, make sure your AC is set to 25. Just low enough that you don't feel like you're going to die, in other words. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4221" LastEditorUserId="4221" LastEditDate="2017-05-29T06:52:10.323" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T06:52:10.323" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-29T12:05:39.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lived in a city where temperatures didn't rise above 31°C until I was 18 year old, and then moved to another where summer easily gets above 42°C (real feel can reach 54°C). I'm a climber, and I do climb in those temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can only advise you based on my experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I got here I was constantly passing out in the street/bus. I have Polish inheritance so my genetics is not the best to endure this sort of climate. Even nowadays, almost 10 years after I've moved, I still get light headed and stressed sometimes; but what really changed the game for me was something that might look stupid (and maybe is) and, actually, might also be just a placebo, but it helped me greatly: a sauna. A year after moving I decided I had to get myself used to the heat and started going to the sauna twice a week, as if I were in some kind of training. You cannot believe the consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding clothes: get yourself dressed such that most of your body is covered from the sun, but the fabric lets the air circle around your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also learned, with that weird sauna training, that a huge part of &quot;heat sickness&quot; is psychologic. I couldn't stay 15min inside, but when I started meditating in the sauna I became able to stand the heat almost for an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just my $.02.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T12:05:39.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-29T13:15:34.313" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go to Arizona and hike around the desert pretty much every summer.  One thing I've noticed that makes a difference is to immerse yourself in the heat.  Don't try to avoid it; embrace it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have experienced up to 121 &amp;deg;F (49 &amp;deg;C), that I know of.  While that certainly felt hot, the limiting factor for walking around was how much liquid I was willing to carry, not being out in the heat.  However, at that point I had been outside for a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to avoid artificially cooled places.  Sometimes you have to get supplies and go into air conditioned stores.  A few minutes doesn't make much difference, although even then you notice the heat more when you get out than when you went in.  However, absolutely don't sleep in a air conditioned space.  That deprives your body of getting used to the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay hydrated and think about electrolytes.  The first thing I do when I get to AZ is to get a large tub of Gatorade powder.  After that, I make it a rule that I only drink diluted Gatorade.  That, together with salts in what I eat seems to work well enough, at least for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first year I went to the desert in summer, I took plenty of water on a hike but hadn't considered electrolytes.  After probably about 7 miles I got sick enough to throw up and lie down for a while where there was a little shade.  It was the longest 1&amp;frac12; miles back to the car I've ever experienced.  After that, I stuck with diluted Gatorade and haven't had a problem since.  That was about 15 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-05-29T13:15:34.313" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16227" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-05-29T18:01:03.317" Score="11" ViewCount="714" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm reading the &lt;a href=&quot;http://theuiaa.org/documents/safety-standards/UIAA_101_7_ropes_may_2016.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA standard for climbing ropes&lt;/a&gt;, which is supplemented by the EN 892 norm (which I can't provide a link to, since this would be piracy). I'm sort of confused about the fact that, even though they do test the ropes for abrasion, humidity and high fall factor effects, nothing is mentioned about temperature. After a quick search I found some evidences (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ptonline.com/columns/the-effects-of-temperature&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.intechpower.com/material-information/effects-of-temperature&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;) for believing that the properties of nylon can change drastically within a temperature range in which climbing ropes are usually used. EN 892 mentions storage conditions for the ropes before testing, and those conditions include a drying period of 24h in temperatures as high as 50ºC, &lt;em&gt;but the tests themselves are carried on in the very mild temperature of 23ºC&lt;/em&gt;. No tests in colder/warmer conditions are mentioned in either texts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm unable to be worried because I'm sure such a blooper wouldn't happen after so much technology has been applied to mountaineering. I think I'm missing something and I'd be happy if someone could provide me a reference that guarantees that ropes have their temperature-dependent phenomena catalogued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T09:47:01.043" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T20:22:36.593" Title="No testing for temperature-dependent effects on climbing ropes?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-29T23:05:44.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a native Floridian I can tell you dealing with the heat takes a lot more awareness then dealing with the cold. Cold is easy compared to heat. Mostly because cold effects can be felt, while heat can’t (in general). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in Florida it can get well over 37 C in the sun, and it’s humid.  It's normally around 35 C to 38 C, Humidity is generally in the 80s - 90s, some times over 100% but that's rare. High 90s is pretty common. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is this. It's hot, and dealing with heat takes a lot of practice. So let's talk about what you should and should not do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drink a lot. 2.5 litres is not enough. Not even close. It doesn't matter that your pee was clear. You should be drinking closer to 10 litres. This can take a lot of practice. 2 litres is enough to be sitting around. I drink 2 litres a day to sit inside with the air conditioner. I plan on 5 gallons a day when camping and 3 gallons when hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pee ALOT. Obviously with all that water flowing through you it's got to have some where to go. If you’re not peeing every couple of hours you need to up your water intake. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Under no circumstances should you get thirsty. If you get thirsty then you need to stop, seek shade, and rest. Thirst is the first sign of dehydration, but in the heat, it's very easy to miss or ignore and the second sign means heat stroke is just around the corner.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Electrolytes are a mixed bag. You need some extra because you’re going to sweat out salt and potassium, but too much is a bad thing as well. This will take some practice. My best advice is to listen to your body. If you feel weak or tired when you don't think you should, then you should eat salty foods (pretzels are good, more later). If you’re getting cramps or &quot;Charlie horses&quot; then it's time to eat some bananas.  If everything is ok, then maybe just let it ride a bit, but remember by the time you feel these things it's already too late. Sadly, I know of no magical way to tell. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do sweat. Don't wipe it off, don't clean it off, &lt;strong&gt;DO NOT USE ANTIPERSPIRANT&lt;/strong&gt;. Sweat, Sweat, Sweat, Sweat, Sweat. Let your cloths get soaked, be nasty, sticky, and gross. Sweat. It’s basically your best defence against heat. Letting the sweat stay on your skin lets the salt &quot;soak back in&quot; a bit. Washing your self off, or pouring water over your head essentially rinses all that nice, awesome, salt away. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear a &quot;breathing&quot; hat. Straw is awesome. But some synthetics can be great too. Stay away from anything that &quot;wicks sweat away&quot;. Other great options are rags, towels, handkerchiefs, and anything cotton.  Your baseball cap, not a great selection as it would hold in the heat more then let it out (usually, there are exceptions). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eat chocolate and salt. Pretzels are good. My favorite are Pretzel sticks and M&amp;amp;Ms. The sugar is a nice little boost, the chocolate contains great things that will help your body, the bread has a lot of &quot;long term&quot; energy, and the salt will help with electrolytes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look to fruit for flavor. Especially dry fruits, like raisins. They have sugar too, and well help with other bathroom needs. You want a dry fruit because the wet ones will just be a disaster in the heat. Raisins, dried bananas, dried apricots, dried oranges, are really hard to &quot;ruin&quot; with heat. An apple, orange, pomegranate, won't last 10 minutes after you break the skin. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When it's time for lunch. MEAT!!! Red meat contains a lot of things your body has now spent. Fish is ok too but much harder to keep fresh. That said portions should be smaller than normal, a 16 Oz. steak might just literally kill ya. But a 4-6oz steak, laughable at a dinner table at home, is perfect. You want your energy to come from breads and fruits (and chocolate) not from meat. But your body will need the meat to rebuild a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid synthetic foods. They may have lots of cards per pound, but they are harder to digest. You want nice easy to digest foods. Foods that are harder to digest (like the fruit) should be used sparingly. 1 Oz of Raisins to 1 pound of M&amp;amp;Ms and pretzels. Remember it's going to take energy and effort to digest foods and that will heat you up. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rest often. Especially if you’re not accustom to the heat. Walk for 25 mins and rest for 5. You should never feel tired. If your feeling tired rest longer. Even if it means walking for 5 and resting for 25, that's ok. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As to clothes, it's a bit counter intuitive. Wear Pants and a short sieve shirt. The pants, actually help keep you cool. Make sure the pants are cotton and not something else. Jeans are a really good start. It may &quot;feel&quot; warmer, but it will be more regulated. Avoid sweat pants, track pants, and pants that are a blend of fabrics, and shorts. It may seem your cooler in shorts, but you won't really be. Legs are not that good at sweating. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep your shirt on. A lot of people want to take their shirt off when hot. Don't do that. You care more about regulating heat then staying cool. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ware a cotton T-Shirt. Cotton breaths. Silk would do ok too, but that's not very durable. Cotton is king in the heat. Stay away from blends&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You want all your cloths to be &quot;loose&quot;. Not Grandma's moo-moo loose, but loose. You want air to flow through them nicely. You do not want any tight cloths (except socks and you want those really tight). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Socks should be super tight. Not cutting off circulation but as tight as you can wear them comfortably. If you’re sweating and they move around, you’re in for a problem. You want them tight so they can soak through with sweat and still be tight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This brings us to cooling off.  **DON'T COOL OFF* Stay out of the swimming hole, don't pour water over your head, don't run a fan (these are horrible and will cause issues), DO NOT COOL OFF. Once you are cool then swim. Going from very hot to cool will cause a shock to your system. It can even cause heart attacks, stokes, and other really nasty things. Don't do it. Sit, relax and let yourself cool down naturally. Think of yourself like glass. You can't go from one extreme to the other, you need to cool and warm up in between. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure your drinking water is warm. Cold drinking water when you’re hot can make you very sick. The drinking water should be the same temp as it would be if you just left it sitting out in the shade. Heck even hot water would be better than cold. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bonus, just cause it needs mentioning some times. Don't drink booze for at least 2 days before and after something like this. Not even beer. It adds extra strain and won't cool your off or heat you up. (It might actually cool you off a little bit, but it's not worth it). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on your story I would say you were dehydrated (the headache) and had an electrolyte issue (the shakes). You did not have heat stroke. If you did you would not be writing this now. Even mild heat stoke requires weeks of recovery time. You would have had seizures (not just shakes), probably passed out, confusion, vomiting, and in some cases coma. A heat stroke means your core body temp was over 104 F / 40 C. It's nasty and if you were alone, may have (probably would have) resulted in death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would lose the baseball cap in favour of a straw cap, drink a lot more (OSHA recommends a litre an hour for outdoor workers), and then do something about your food. You didn't mention what you ate, but a homemade mix of dried bananas, pretzel sticks and M&amp;amp;M while hiking is amazing, Fish before (with lots of carb heavy foods) and Red meat after (with only a few extra carbs) works really well for a single day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/protective_high.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/protective_high.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="13222" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T18:09:44.757" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T18:09:44.757" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16295" CreationDate="2017-05-30T00:19:27.773" Score="17" ViewCount="2591" Body="&lt;p&gt;Petzl have a diagram on their website for what they call a Double Mariner. It's identified on the site as having a 7:1 mechanical advantage, but I can only see it as having a 5:1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can somebody confirm or explain what I'm missing otherwise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crevasse-rescue-no--3--haul-systems-for-crevasse-rescue?ActivityName=Mountaineering#.WSy5LdXyvrc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crevasse rescue no. 3: haul systems for crevasse rescue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z6uo7.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z6uo7.png&quot; alt=&quot;Double Mariner Diagram&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T04:00:55.780" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T04:00:55.780" Title="Double Mariner Mechanical Advantage" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16230" CreationDate="2017-05-30T08:13:05.127" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This is a very common setup here and intuitively I always thought it was 4:1. So I needed to check more rigorously and the result is: &lt;em&gt;Petzl made their homework, it is 7:1&lt;/em&gt;. Let me try to explain (my handwritten notes are unpublishable...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following derivation is (hopefully) rigorous, but as it is only text and some formulas it is potentially not very helpful to get an understanding of the system. Refer to QuantumBrick's answer with pretty pictures for that and skip to the last paragraph of this answer for some real-world information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mechanical Advantage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;First lets be clear about what we mean when we write x:y: This is the mechanical advantage, i.e. the factor with which the needed force is reduced (neglecting other factors like friction). Another way to put it and that's how I am going to derive it: It is the ratio between the distance traveled while pulling behind the blocking device (i.e. the distance the rescuer &quot;travels&quot;) divided by the distance before the pulley (i.e. the distance the victim/weight/... &quot;travels&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Layout&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So lets work on a scale that is 1 at the anchor/blocking device (yellow thing at the top) and 0 at the lower roll (lowest yellow thing). Let A denote the position of lower roll, B the position of the prusik and C the hand of the person pulling the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Initial Conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The idealized position at start of these three points are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;A = C = 0  &#xA;B = 1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and the length of the cordelette is 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Derivation/Final Conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Now lets define the positions of these points at the end of one pulling iteration and denote them by adding a &quot;'&quot;. This end is defined by the prusik/B meeting the biner that redirects the rope (yellow). In this position the cordelette is exactly folded in halves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;B' - A' = 1/2&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time the distance the rope travelled before the anchor and after must be the same, therefore&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;A' - A = B - B' &amp;lt;=&amp;gt; A' = 1 - B'&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining these two equations yields&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;A' = 1/4&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which is the distance traveled before the pulley. What is left to determine is the distance traveled while pulling on the rope, which is given by C'. This distance is given by the length of the rope between prusik (B) and the hand (1) and the distance between the original position of the biner redirecting the rope (A) and the final position of the prusik (B'):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;    C' = B' - A + 1 = B' + 1 = 1 - A' + 1 = 2 - A'  &#xA;&amp;lt;=&amp;gt; C' = 7/4&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the final ratio is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;C' : A' = 7/4 : 1/4 = 7:1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some perspective&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In improvised rescue the mechanical advantage is just one part of the puzzle. Factors like friction, rope being stuck in a crevasse edge, &quot;victim&quot; being able to help or not, ... are at least equally, if not more important. Especially friction is a huge factor. Since I first did a pulley with a Micro Traxion (no affiliation), I carry it all the time - the ball bearing roll is worth the money. For crevasse rescue of a conscious victim that cannot do self ascent, I prefer the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powderguide.com/fileadmin/artikel/2014/02/1318_bergwissen_-_spaltenbergung_teil_iv_-_bergungsmethoden/3-15_lose_rolle2%20kopie.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;simple pulley&quot; (Oesterreicher Flaschenzug)&lt;/a&gt; (but again using the Micro Traxion instead of the prusik-cordelette setup), as it does not suffer from rope being cut into the crevasse edge, the victim can help pull himself up and the setup is simpler/faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-05-30T19:23:39.587" LastActivityDate="2017-05-30T19:23:39.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16232" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16255" CreationDate="2017-05-30T09:08:24.850" Score="7" ViewCount="766" Body="&lt;p&gt;To drive through a couple hundred kilometers of sandy landscape like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson_Desert&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Simpson Desert&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;central Australia&lt;/em&gt;), do you have to have a 4WD? If so, what are the primary concerns?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T07:47:29.053" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T03:21:10.830" Title="Is it possible to drive through the Simpson Desert in an AWD?" Tags="&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16230" CreationDate="2017-05-30T15:38:09.003" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a picture is worth more than a thousand words in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's first see how the 3:1 pulley system works. I'm choosing the colours so that any changes in pulley or force modulus will be easily visible, and this sketch is nothing but a simplified physicist's view of the 3:1 pulley system the OP attached to his post. Take a moment to see this simplification is exactly the same system as Petzl depicts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JcbpK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JcbpK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main point is that the tension on one end must equal the tension in the other end of any pulley (Newton's third law), and that we can sum forces (Newton's second law). In the 3:1 case the pulleys are used in a way that the forces across all pulleys never change. I chose this example because it is easier to understand and mainly because the 7:1 system is nothing more than a very simple expansion of the 3:1 one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, when analysing the 7:1 case, it is a little harder to see what's going on, but notice that I just added a pulley and attached a fixed rope to a line. Now we're using tension multiplication across moving pulleys, and the forces of same modulus are depicted in the same colours. I think there's nothing else to talk about - one must only understand the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KhSLF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KhSLF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S:&lt;/strong&gt; Sorry about image sizes. Couldn't change them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-05-30T19:40:59.910" LastActivityDate="2017-05-30T19:40:59.910" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16217" CreationDate="2017-05-30T18:46:07.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As there are already a lot of good answers, I thought I'd just tackle the one bit I haven't seen addressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tldr: Drinking water and passing water can help remove excess heat in itself, disregarding the effects of sweat evaporation and benefits of avoiding dehydration.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start drinking more before you plan to go out (12-24hrs), if you start fully hydrated then you start at the right place and that's less water to carry. If you think about how much energy it takes to heat up water, just the act of passing it through your body is going to remove heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no scientific evidence, but from personal experience it seems to be more important to steadily cycle water through me (camel backs are really handy as you can constantly drink little sips).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all the time I'm drinking I'm bringing on cold and when urinating I'm releasing liquid warmer than when it went in. So this is less about hydration levels and more about heat removal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously I'm completely ignoring any heat the body might produce to counter act this process but seeing as you are hot to begin with, it works with homeostasis. As others have mentioned if you get headaches/stomach pain eat something and have some salt, don't drink large amounts of water in one go or you could end up with water poisoning, again camel backs are super handy. If you have to stop to drink, it discourages drinking and encourages large gulps when you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Pseudo science&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I had nothing to back me up other than experience, have some pseudo  science:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific heat capacity of water is really high (&lt;a href=&quot;https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Thermodynamics/Calorimetry/Heat_Capacity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4.186 J/(g  °C)&lt;/a&gt;)&#xA;So say you drink 1 litre of water (~1kg) at 20 degrees and lets say it is all heated to body temperature (~37.5) and then leaves your body via urine/sweat/breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Energy to heat that water = &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4.186(J/(g  °C)) * 1000(g) * (37.5-20)(°C)&#xA;=73255(J)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the human body has a specific heat capacity of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/004060319402047R&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3.8 (3.6-3.9)&lt;/a&gt;  now what effect has that on a 50kg human body? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;=-73255 (J) [as heat] / (3.8 (J/(g  °C)) * 50000(g))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;= -0.386 °C (decrease in body temperature)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From these rough calculations you can see you'll see a bigger benefit from this type of heat loss if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The water is colder &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More water is drunk  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The body temperature is higher&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The body mass is lower &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The body's specific heat capacity is lower, NOT saying you should try to influence this, it might as well be a constant but it's an interesting point as tissue types must differ so would benefit some body types differently even at the same mass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing, it might be psychological but if I have not drank much I find I can get colder/hotter more quickly maybe because I have lowered my body's specific heat capacity by not having enough water in me ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13222" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-04-22T09:24:20.197" LastActivityDate="2019-04-22T09:24:20.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16220" CreationDate="2017-05-30T22:47:39.370" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like many prey animals, vision is optimised to detect danger coming from anywhere. They can see you with one eye very easily, and their reflexes are on a hair-trigger to take them away from incoming attack. They can see above them, and all around, with a blind spot to the rear, and a very small one just in front of the nose (which is thought to lead to accidental biting on occasion when feeding squirrels)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This diagram is for a rabbit (from vgr1.com) but the squirrel is very similar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3txtc.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3txtc.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is very different to predators, whose vision is generally for accuracy in targeting - hence binocular, front facing eyes, allowing very accurate distance perception. See this contrasting diagram of an owl's vision from owlpages.com:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wlHon.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wlHon.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of even more interest is the fact that unlike humans, who have excellent focus in the centre of our vision, a squirrel's peripheral vision is as well focused as the centre, so predators coming from above or from the rear (although not directly behind) are also in perfect focus!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-06-18T08:29:22.683" LastActivityDate="2017-06-18T08:29:22.683" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16162" CreationDate="2017-05-31T09:12:21.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't been to Nepal but I currently live in Sichuan, near another edge of the Tibetan plateau. So here's my answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nepal, and everything near it, is in the monsoon climate- rainy in the summer, dry in the winter. Around here, December is a great time to be in the mountains. Clear skies and little chance of bad weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some websites about Manaslu back this up: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://manaslucircuittrek.com/when-to-trek-the-manaslu-circuit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Best views with crystal clear air&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. Yes it will be cold, but daytime temperatures should be quite comfy, and at night cold &amp;amp; dry is far better than cold &amp;amp; wet. Go for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some websites suggest that things start to shut down in mid December. From my perspective, there is no good reason for that. I'll leave you to do further reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2017-05-31T09:12:21.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16241" CreationDate="2017-05-31T18:56:11.153" Score="12" ViewCount="857" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really want to go to the country of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Georgia&lt;/a&gt; but don't have enough money to fly there. I had a genius idea and decided that I could hire a boat and get across the English channel to France, and then walk from France to Georgia. If I walk for 12 hours a day, at a kilometer (approximately 1/2 mile) every 15 minutes, then I will get to Georgia in 84 days. (I worked it out!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I have two questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Am I even allowed to waltz my way from France to Georgia?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are there any maps? Are there any maps to give me a route to Georgia?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that you may think I'm just asking a silly question, but seriously, I want to know if I could walk to Georgia one day. I would need to make sure I have at least 1/3 of a year spare to do it though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13237" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:03:08.733" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T19:39:07.070" Title="Is it possible to walk from the UK/France to Georgia?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;france&gt;&lt;england&gt;&lt;georgia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16223" CreationDate="2017-05-31T21:11:08.077" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is in this video: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/seCiupa4I6U?t=1m2s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/seCiupa4I6U?t=1m2s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if it's the same traverse as the OP posted, but I'd bet on it. The thing that looks like a biner between the columns is indeed a biner, probably from an ice/snow anchor. The holes (especially the large one) are due to this biner. What happens is that when the leader requires slack and pulls the rope up, the friction between the rope and the columns before the biner is extremely one-directional: the biner forces the rope to run in an almost fixed angle &lt;em&gt;theta&lt;/em&gt; from the belay. Every climber has seen this happen: you place a quickdraw and then the route has a horizontal traverse, and then when it gets vertical again you feel a lot of friction and look down - what you see is the rope being constricted by that quickdraw that preceded the traverse. The friction is mainly due to the normal force the rope creates against that biner, but in this case you also have a lot of friction against the columns before the quickdraws (since they're protruded and pass in front of the rope's way). I've sketched some draws:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Front view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gUCnn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gUCnn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThThh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThThh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Column 1 (and the ones before it also) is the one that will experience the most unidirectional (mostly horizontal) rope slippage, and will acquire holes due to it. Column 2 will also suffer similar effects, because after the anchor the rope's movement is also unidirectional. The following columns will have no holes, since the rope has again a free angle to move until the leader places another anchor - that is, the rope will dangle and scatter the snow in a uniform manner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in agreement with the picture and the video I attached shows pretty clearly that the quickdraw moves up and then, when it reaches a maximum angle, the rope is constricted to move in a single direction. After some meters I'm pretty sure the little hole it opens at each time it does that is already large enough for it to enter it completely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit 1:&lt;/strong&gt; the situation where the holes are inevitably dig is quite possibly when the leader ends the pitch and begins retrieving the excess rope for the second climber to come. This creates constant, fast rope action against the columns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit 2:&lt;/strong&gt; view from above added for clarity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T12:14:07.030" LastActivityDate="2017-06-01T12:14:07.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16239" CreationDate="2017-05-31T21:33:12.767" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you're asking how to get from the UK to somewhere, I'll assume you're an UK citizen. Below you'll find a picture that shows your visa requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OM7gv.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OM7gv.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have two options: coming from above (crossing to Russia) and coming from below (crossing the whole Turkey). I'm pretty sure you'll pick the second choice, since Ukraine is at war and you'd need a rather expensive Russian visa if you chose the first one. Then, even if you choose to cross non-EU countries like Montenegro and Serbia, you'd only need to show your passport at a verification post, located in some specific cities (you necessarily have everything checked if you go by train of bus). It is very easy to cross without passing through a post, but I would never advise that. That's a crime and you can get easily caught when leaving the country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going from below you'd have to necessarily pass through Turkey (cross it, actually). &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_border_crossings_of_Turkey&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a list&lt;/a&gt; of land borders in Turkey. You'd have to necessarily pass through one of them and have your passport stamped. As you saw in the visa requirements, you have the right to ask for an eVISA to Turkey, and I advise you to apply before you start your trip. You probably won't have any problems getting it, but remember: you can't stay in Turkey for longer than 3 months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you're in Georgia. No visas required. Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2017-05-31T21:33:12.767" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16246" CreationDate="2017-05-31T23:43:00.297" Score="4" ViewCount="3415" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of leather Vasque St. Elias GTX which are a bit narrow across the toe box and I want to see if I can get some more room there.  A local shoe repair place said they could do it (for $6 USD and two days on the stretcher).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can this be safely done without damaging the Gore-Tex lining?  Or any other part of the boot?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine it depends on the amount of stretch.  I was going to ask for an extra 1/8 inch of width to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13134" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-06-02T10:32:58.660" LastActivityDate="2017-06-02T10:32:58.660" Title="Can hiking boots with Gore-tex lining be stretched?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16227" CreationDate="2017-06-01T09:41:49.183" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As EN norms are not publicly available and quite costly, I can't confirm for sure that there is no temperature testing - but from what I hear there is none. If anyone can authoritatively confirm or deny this, please write a comment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first impulse is to look into fire-fighting resources. Problem there: Their requirement far exceed what a climber is interested in. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cmcrescue.com/nfpa-1983-life-safety-performance-requirements/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this blog entry&lt;/a&gt; the NFPA &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=1983&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Standard on Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services&quot;&lt;/a&gt; requires rope to withstand a load of 300lbs for 45s at 600degC and 5min at 400degC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One resource of which the relevant part is available through google books is &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.ch/books?id=m8hdo-v_n4sC&amp;amp;pg=PA355&amp;amp;lpg=PA355&amp;amp;dq=rope+high+temperature+test+fire+fighting&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ZJblW4rcNz&amp;amp;sig=pL1gHDut_xfBIQDfIizCznhIYCM&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=rope%20high%20temperature%20test%20fire%20fighting&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1&lt;/a&gt;. They made tests on a Nylon kernmantle rope with 9mm diameter. Unfortunately, it is again in the context of fire-fighting, meaning a rope fulfilling NFPA1983 was used. However it is Nylon as well, so the temperature properties should be the same/similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Static tests were done at room temperature, 100degC and 200 degC. The observed changes in breaking strength (static) relative to room temperature were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;100degC: 84%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  200degC: 60%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time the stiffness also decreased a lot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;100degC: 83%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  200degC: 39%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subsequent discussions on dynamic behaviour were again in the context of a firefighter escaping, so no actual falls discussed. However the important point is still brought up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This reduction in stiffness can be beneficial when the rope is subjected to dynamic loading as long as these dynamic forces do not exceed the reduced strength of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lower stiffness means lower peak forces during a fall, it has the same effect as dynamic belaying. These data suggests that the stiffness reduction is even greater than the reduction of breaking strength. So apparently this is simply not an issue for the upper range of temperatures where climbing ropes are used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T12:09:47.720" LastActivityDate="2017-06-01T12:09:47.720" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15827" CreationDate="2017-06-01T15:26:09.220" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. An industrial shock absorber cannot be used as a via ferrata set, because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Via ferrata sets are intended to absorb falls that exceed a person's height. EN 355 (industrial absorbers) mentions a drop test that involves a 100kg mass being dropped from 1.75m such that the final resultant force cannot exceed 6kN. The EN 958 (via ferrata sets) drop test involved a 80kg mass being dropped from a height of 5m, such that the maximum elongation and resultant force cannot exceed 12m and 6kN, respectively.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Static force tests are different for the two categories: industrial absorbers must withstand 3 min subjected to a constant 15kN force. Ferrata sets must withstand a very different test: a force strong enough to generate an elongation of 1 to 1,5 cm per min is applied to the absorber and the resultant force measured at the tip. It cannot exceed 1.2kN.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN 958 doesn't mention any tests related to harsh environments (this is a constant amongst climbing equipment norms - it looks like no one gives a damn about environmental test). EN 355 mentions a salt water test, to be performed during one or two days, where rusting/functionality are inspected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the main differences between those norms. There are many small differences but I don't think they are worth mentioning. The main point is: an industrial shock absorber is not supposed to work for a fall that is not industrial, and in industry no one climbs a ladder without the constant presence of anchor points. They come as frequently as human height. Ferrata sets, in their turn, are meant to catch someone that slipped from a significant height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.:&lt;/strong&gt; notice that even though industrial sets cannot be used for via ferrata, &lt;em&gt;it looks like&lt;/em&gt; via ferrata sets can be used for industrial mild environments (with the right carabiners, that is, the ones that follow NFPA 1983, not EN 12275).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-01T16:39:29.470" LastActivityDate="2017-06-01T16:39:29.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16242" CreationDate="2017-06-02T08:52:29.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're not going to get a definitive answer here because manufacturers take different approaches to attaching the Gore-Tex liner, and that might affect the result you'll get. Your best option would be to ask Vasque directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though it's probably safe to say that you'll end up with a non-optimal result. Even if the membrane isn't torn by the stretching, the micro-pores would presumably end up larger than they should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be aware that for the great majority of users, Gore-Tex boot liners fail anyway, and sooner rather than later if any real mileage is being covered. In fact, most experienced users tend to avoid Gore-Tex boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boots aren't comfortable they're not much use to you. So if you can't return them, I can't see that you've anything to lose by trying to stretch them. It may simply mean that the membrane will fail a little earlier than otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-06-02T08:52:29.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16232" CreationDate="2017-06-02T09:26:52.240" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer - if you have to ask, you most certainly shouldn't do it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Simpson is regarded as one of the ultimate challenges for cross-country drivers. There are no easy routes, and the dangers are significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would need a high ground clearance 4WD vehicle, and also a great deal of skill and experience together with detailed research and planning. A solo attempt would simply add to the danger - most people cross in convoy for safety reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Access is only allowed at certain times of the year, and expensive permits are required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newbie climbers shouldn't attempt the north face of the Eiger, and newbie cross-country drivers shouldn't attempt the Simpson!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T21:46:54.853" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T21:46:54.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16248" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16251" CreationDate="2017-06-02T10:36:51.830" Score="10" ViewCount="10845" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16242/can-hiking-boots-with-gore-tex-lining-be-stretched/16246#16246&quot;&gt;recent answer&lt;/a&gt; and found this statement&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;for the great majority of users, Gore-Tex boot liners fail anyway, and sooner rather than later if any real mileage is being covered. In fact, most experienced users tend to avoid Gore-Tex boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 10+ year old pair of leather red wings boots with Gore-Tex linning. I wore them enough that the tread is pretty much gone, and never noticed a leak.  But I am not walking through much water with them anymore. I also put mink oil on the leather occasionally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long is Gore-Tex lining in boots effective? Is it distance or age that causes it to fail sooner? Do most experienced users really try to avoid Gore-Tex lining in boots? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T18:55:49.757" Title="How long is Gore-Tex lining in boots effective?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16248" CreationDate="2017-06-02T17:07:41.023" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of variables here so you won't get a hard-and-fast response.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will depend on the stiffness and construction of the boot, your usage, the amount that you sweat, the terrain and the weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those who dislike Gore-Tex boots find that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Under heavy use the membrane degrades and fails, often within weeks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breathability is compromised and sweat builds up inside the boot. Your feet can sweat over half a pint (280ml) per day so for many this is a significant issue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the boot gets wet it takes significantly longer to dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/2567/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;threads like this&lt;/a&gt; where experienced walkers gather, the general view is negative, though some users do find it works for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downsides seem to apply with particular force to lightweight boots and shoes - I've met many people on the trail who were less than delighted with their lightweight GT footwear. But if you are using conventional leather boots, it's harder to see what Gore-Tex offers compared to traditional waterproof dressings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only personal experience was picking up a pair or GT trail shoes in a sale and they seemed to give the worst of all worlds - after the first few hours they let water in but didn't let it drain out. But then I walk off-trail on Dartmoor, which is as bad as it gets underfoot, so your experience may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that in general it's casual users who seem to like GT boots, while walkers who push their equipment are less enthused. In tough environments like Dartmoor and Scotland I've certainly met far more critics than fans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any particular boot you may be able to glean something from the reviews. If you can afford to take a punt, try it and see if it works for you. If funds are tight you might be safer buying something more traditional - that way you know what you're getting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-24T09:30:15.003" LastActivityDate="2017-06-24T09:30:15.003" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16212" CreationDate="2017-06-02T21:35:07.273" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The practice of eating insects is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;entomophagy&lt;/a&gt;. References using that term can include many insects. I've narrowed it down to ants and termites as best as I could, although some of the general advice and information include ants, termites, and other insects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is that not all ants and termites are safe to eat, but most of those you're likely to encounter, either in the woods or at home, are probably edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's because there are 2,000 different kinds of edible ants in the U.S., and up to 12,000 across the world. For termites, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4427943/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Institutes of Health-Pub Med&lt;/a&gt;, 45 termite species belonging to four families were recorded, and 43 of those have been used in the human diet or for feeding livestock. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be safe, many sources say that Field Guides are strongly recommended before foraging for anything, which certainly makes sense. There are different guides to choose from, all with varying reviews. I'll leave that to you to investigate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things to pay close attention to when choosing what to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;*Warning: Although many insects are edible, entomophagy poses some risks. If you are allergic to shrimp, shellfish, dust, or chocolate, never eat an insect. Even the non-allergic, unless in a survival situation, should never eat a raw insect. Certain insects store compounds that make some people sick; some are poisonous; others may be carcinogenic. Be as cautious with insects as you would be if you were gathering mushrooms. Know your insects!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ants/bugs-nf.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some advice is a bit vague, saying things like &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before hunting for ants, make sure you know which ones in the area are safe to eat and hunt. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivopedia.com/edible-bugs-for-survival/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To determine what to avoid, agreement across sources is that insects which are brightly colored, furry, or have a strong smell, should be avoided. The color can be a signal to predators that they contain poisons, which would also be toxic to us. They also tend to be the insects with stingers, including ants. Even if they're safe to eat, we can get hurt in the process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival/top-10-edible-insects.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Secrets of Survival&lt;/a&gt; offers a good summation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Experts say that insects with bright colors like red, orange and yellow aren't safe to eat. Their coloration is a warning to predators that they're toxic. Due to the danger of eating poisonous insects, it's best to just swear off red, orange, and yellow bugs. On the other hand black, brown, and green are typically colors of insects that are safe to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you detect a strong odor around an insect, that's also a sign that it's probably not a safe insect to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many sources say not to eat wild insects that are already dead, especially if you're going to eat them raw. This is mostly because you won't know what killed them. If they were killed by pesticides or diseased animals, they may be carrying something that could make you sick, so it's best to steer clear. People who come across busy anthills usually trust that those ants are safe enough to give them a try. Home ant-farming is also a common way to safely incorporate ants into your diet, and is practiced all over the world for that purpose.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's controversy over eating &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.extension.org/pages/11278/identifying-fire-ants&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fire ants&lt;/a&gt;. Many sources classify them as edible, but since they fall into the category of insects with stingers, they're not the first choice, and to leave them alone if you have other options. If you do want to eat them, take some time to remove the stingers first. Also note that they secrete more of what gives ants their sour flavor, so some people find them less palatable. On the other hand, they're also more spicy, which is one reason people do choose them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're eaten all over the world, so sometimes avoidance is from people who just aren't used to them. This is an account from an American family entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://thecouragevibe.com/2013/02/yes-we-ate-fire-ants-in-a-cambodian-village/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yes we ate fire ants in a Cambodian Village!&lt;/a&gt; They were visiting a native family and immersing themselves in the culture, which included eating many foods not usually eaten by Americans:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Eating fire ants was not in our known realm of possibility or desire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There we were, helping prepare lunch, and suddenly the chance to eat fire ants was in front of us. Would I have the courage to do it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The ants were in a pile, immobilized from being in cold water. We were invited to eat them, raw and alive. Uh oh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I can tell you firsthand the hard part is picking them up from the bowl and actually putting them in your mouth. In case you’re interested, they are a little sour at first bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People all over the world also eat ant larvae. They're known to be very safe and delicious. They don't have the sour taste that develops as the ant matures. You can find them in clumps in the ant nest, either at the top or close to the center of the colony, and under rocks by the edge of the nest. Sources recommend searching for them specifically because they're a delicacy unlike anything else we've tasted.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ants can be eaten cooked or raw. Their natural taste is sour, and like vinegar, so cooking them, especially with other ingredients, makes them taste better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://insectbreeder.com/edible-insects-for-humans/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible insects for humans&lt;/a&gt;, ants can be roasted, toasted, stir-fried, baked, used in salads, chocolate-covered or honey-buttered. The most popular recipe found on the internet using ants is called Ant Brood Tacos. If you try those tacos, report back to let us know how they were!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for termites, which are the second most eaten insect on the planet, I couldn't find any ways to determine which are edible just be looking at them. As I said above, that's probably because most of them are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with ants, they can be eaten cooked or raw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Termites can be cooked in a variety of ways: fried, steamed, roasted or boiled. Of course, if you’re on the go, you can just eat them raw.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivaltek.com/?p=4949&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The show Nova on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ants/bugs-nf.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Public Broadcasting Service Network&lt;/a&gt; interviewed a family who traveled the earth eating insects. This was taken from a discussion about eating termites in Uganda.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Peter: In Uganda, snacking on termites is like raiding the refrigerator in the U.S., except that raiding a termite mound is more work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Faith: First, hack into a waist-high termite mound to expose tunnels; second, cover the tunnel entrances with a cloth; third, wait while soldier termites attack the invading cloth; fourth, yank away cloth, pick off insects, and eat them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Peter: Not bad—crunchy and nutty—but the bites are too  little to get a fix on the taste. This snack is not for the squeamish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with ants, edible termites include those found in and around the house. As long as you haven't sprayed with pest treatment or insecticide, there's nothing wrong with eating them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In other countries termites have been valued for their nutrition and medicinal properties. There are larger species than those that I saw and they can build enormous mounds above ground. In my neck of the woods you can find termites in and under logs that lie on the ground. Pine seems to be the favored wood. They prefer warmth and are more likely to be found in sun-lit areas of the forest floor. In my case the termites were collected under mulch debris but some logs can be split open with hatchets or machetes and tapped on the side to cause the termites to fall out onto a tray or collective surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Next time that you’re walking in the woods, turn over branches and logs that are laying on the ground or explore a tree stump. You may find that these little critters are prevalent and plentiful, and if you dare, pluck one up and give it a taste test!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivaltek.com/?p=4949&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information and recipes can be found all over the internet. Here are a few sites I liked:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infolific.com/leisure/wilderness-survival/eating-bugs-for-survival&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Infolific Wilderness Survival&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://readynutrition.com/resources/what-to-do-when-you-have-no-food_29112009/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What To Do When You Have No Food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/edible-bug.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible bugs in the wilderness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacker.com/survival/8-edible-bugs-that-could-help-you-survive&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible bugs that could help you survive&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival-tips/Top-15-Insects-You-Can-Eat-to-Survive.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Secrets of Survival&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/edible-insects-zebz1305znsp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mother Earth News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://urbansurvivalsite.com/7-bugs-you-can-eat-if-you-really-have-to/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Urban Survival Site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-06-02T21:35:07.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16232" CreationDate="2017-06-03T19:17:36.733" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @Tullochgorum said, the Simpson is a very dangerous area, but it certainly looks beautiful! It's broken down into many sections, and since I don't know your level of off-road driving, I wouldn't presume to tell you which would be best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I'm not an off-road driver, and have never been on this kind of trip, so everything in this answer will be from online research. I only quoted sources which agreed with other sources, so I hope that means the information is credible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your question about vehicles, a 4WD is absolute essential to have almost any possibility of safely crossing the Simpson. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A high clearance 4WD with low range capability is a must and it must be in tip-top condition. This is not a place for all wheel drives and “soft-roaders”. Have your mechanic give the vehicle a thorough check and service and ensure they know you are about to do a Simpson crossing so they appreciate the importance of the job they are doing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/crossing-the-simpson-for-beginners-part-1-who-can-do-it/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is not a trip to be taken lightly and you will need to be very well prepared.  A well maintained and reliable 4WD vehicle is essential.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://campingsouthaustralia.com/simpson-desert.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the important considerations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy construction for durability to drive through extremely difficult conditions. Those include things like rough terrain, potholes, unexpected areas of soft sand, fallen debris, sand-fog, sudden hills on one side of the vehicle. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Height of the vehicle, weight enough to support any modifications, and good suspension &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Heavy duty springs and shockers and a lift are just about essential.  A 2 inch lift is perfect, compromising the handling only marginally whilst providing good clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your suspension will get a severe workout when heading off-road. Aftermarket suspension is a good idea as long as you use reliable and reputable brands and preferably have it fitted by a professional. Shocks and springs in good working order will have a huge effect on how the vehicle handles both on and off the road. Ensure your suspension is adequate for carrying the extra load of your gear. Air bag suspension is a great addition for carrying heavy loads but, even with suspension upgrades, be careful not to go over your vehicles load carrying limit!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/8-4wd-tips-that-could-save-your-life/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Proper tires and room to store extras&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Make sure you have the right tires for the job. There is no point heading across the Simpson Desert on highway tires. A good set of all terrain or mud terrain tires is essential. Ensure you are using reputable and reliable brands and that you have plenty of tread remaining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For remote areas, take a minimum of 2 spare tires and a puncture repair kit. For some trips, you may like to take an extra tire carcass, tire levers, bead breaker, tire gaiter and spare inner tube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A large fuel tank and/or ability to carry extra fuel is essential. There are large spans of the Simpson without fueling stations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Depending on where your last fuel stop is and which route you intend to take, you will need enough fuel to travel from 600 - 800 kilometers (approximately 370 - 500 miles).  It's not nice smooth driving but high range driving over power sucking sandy tracks, dune climbs and probably some low range work for good measure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously there will be many factors that will contribute to your fuel consumption.  Keep in mind that a good margin for error is required. Bad weather can require much harder going than usual, sucking even more fuel out of the tank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A long range fuel tank is a great asset here, but not essential. If this is not going to be the type of trip you do often, the expense of a long range tank is probably not justified. The other option is to use fuel safe jerry cans. These come in 10 and 20 litre sizes and, especially if carrying petrol, should be carried on roof racks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra room to carry spare parts and fluids&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The spares you carry will depend on the age of vehicle, but the most common items carried are belts, hoses, fuses and a fuel filter.&#xA;  If any of these are close to replacement, then have them replaced before leaving and keep the ones removed as spares.&#xA;  Essential fluids such as engine oil, gear oil, brake fluid and coolant should also be carried in remote areas, and some epoxy ribbon or paste can be very handy to repair small leaks in fuel tanks and radiators.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/crossing-the-simpson-for-beginners-part-1-who-can-do-it/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Customized area to mount sand/safety flags, which are important across the whole trip, and mandatory in certain parts. In case you're interested, detailed flag requirements and specifications can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/simpson-desert-alert-the-rules-have-changed/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large enough to sleep in if you get stuck or tired on the long journey. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with any vehicle on a dangerous trip, plenty of room is essential for  &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first aid kits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extra clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extra food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;emergency items such as flares  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;communication equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;navigation equipment &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to make the trip, I recommend checking out this excellent three part series called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/crossing-the-simpson-for-beginners-part-1-who-can-do-it/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crossing the Simpson for beginners&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't or don't want to drive it yourself, there are 4WD tour groups. They vary in length and areas of the desert. You can find a list &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=4x4+drive+tours+at+simpson+desert&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8#newwindow=1&amp;amp;q=4wd+tours+of+simpson+desert&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other source material:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/3851473/driving-across-the-simpson-desert-how-to-cross-the-worlds-largest-sand-dune-desert/?cs=34&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Cross the World's Largest Sand Dune.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/flinders-ranges-outback/simpson-desert-conservation-park-regional-reserve#safety&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Simpson Desert Conservation Park and Regional Reserve&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://campingsouthaustralia.com/simpson-desert.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping South Australia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-06-03T19:17:36.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-06-04T13:41:00.300" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am almost certain this is caused by &lt;em&gt;Sciuris niger&lt;/em&gt; or the Fox squirrel.  In south Georgia they are mostly light gray with black and white, however where I am at slightly above the fall line in Georgia they have more red and orange tones mixed in their gray.  They are much larger than the common Eastern gray squirrel.  I have many acres of old growth hardwoods, and ride it frequently (at occasionally see Fox squirrels on my property.  I had a tree stripped exactly like that two years ago in the hardwood bottoms, and it was done over the course of a week or two at most.  Another tree I had on my property was recently dead, but not at a point where the bark was easily removable.  I'm watching this one to see how it gets worked over.  The wood is not rotted, it was blown over in a storm at the base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The width and depth of the cutting ruled out woodpeckers and smaller squirrels such as &lt;em&gt;Sciurus carolinensis&lt;/em&gt;.  The grooves look similar to trees I've seen with beaver cuttings but due to the height this goes to on both that image and the tree I had observed it on (8 foot or so), we can rule out beaver. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen Fox Squirrels on my trail cam stripping the bark on a recently fallen 80+ year old oak tree, and hope to watch this tree I've included to see if it gets marked up the same way the other one did.  I know from first hand experience that squirrels will use whatever to sharpen their teeth.  Seen photos of them using rocks, I know when I was in the military they'd sharpen their teeth on suspension cables/wires (I had to fix them quite often as a result) and it would make sense that they find a recently dead (therefore hard) tree but not rotten, to sharpen their teeth.  The tree I had looked like a corn cob chewed clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited on 12.31.2017 to add the following information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, I'm back to edit this post.  I apologize to the forum users &amp;amp; moderators for adding a new post below, I didn't realize I could edit (many of the other forums I use that isn't allowed) ... anyways I would have responded to my own post but apparently you need 50 something reputation or whatever to do that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly enough, yesterday (12/30/2017) I had spent some time burning some brush and today (12/31/2017) I noticed this freshly stripped/gnawed DEAD sweetgum about 40 yards from where I was clearing brush this afternoon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deer incisoforms are about the right size to cause this damage although the appearance of the horizontal stripping/gnawing is still somewhat strange to me.  This area where this is happening is a hotbed of deer though.  My trailcams are all on other property in south Georgia right now, I wish I had it here to put up tonight.  Since this happened overnight, I think that is pretty good evidence it might NOT be squirrels ... fox squirrels or otherwise despite how they chew on everything.  Squirrels are generally diurnal.  If it IS a deer, I'm intrigued.  I know unequivocally though it cannot be a porcupine for their range doesn't extend into central Georgia.  We do have bears, I leave adjacent to a WMA but they aren't very common and this isn't due to clawing in my opinion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First picture is to show scale, 2nd to show the height that this has occurred at.  3rd is to show tracks (bottom) that I was able to follow all the way direct to the tree (shown around 12 oclock) and 4th photo is very fresh deer scat and a couple of tracks at the base of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0ivw9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0ivw9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Upclose view to show scale&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pqLUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pqLUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Height of damage&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hlnQV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hlnQV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View from a distance with deer tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AOqsF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AOqsF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Deer scat and deer tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back again.  Whatever started on this newer tree on 12/30/17 came back with a vengeance between 9pm on 1/2/2018 and 5pm on 1/3/2018.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/a/raKjl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://imgur.com/a/raKjl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've linked a number of photos in the gallery but whatever it is completely girdled the tree.  I put up a trail cam and no changes on the tree, and no pictures in the last 24 hours.  If I get some evidence captured on the trail cam I will share back here.  Hopefully that site will be active at least one more time, but it really got chewed up in less than 24 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13245" LastEditorUserId="13245" LastEditDate="2018-01-05T02:32:12.643" LastActivityDate="2018-01-05T02:32:12.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16257" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-05T02:02:19.480" Score="7" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;When drilling new holes for expansion anchor bolts, you need to clean the dust out of the hole before you hammer in the bolt. People will accomplish this by either using a blow tube or a bellows and a wire brush. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been wondering about how effective using water to clean out a bolt hole would be. If you were to blow water into the hole after you blow the dust out to wash it thoroughly vs brushing it. I know many 3/8&quot; expansion bolts are rated for under water use, is using water to clean out your hole effective?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T03:42:12.760" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T21:38:53.907" Title="Can you clean new bolt holes with water?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-06-05T11:47:21.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That was almost certainly done by a porcupine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A4aaM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A4aaM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like beavers, their primary food source is the cambium layer under the bark of trees.  That's actually the only living part of the trunks and major branches of trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, squirrels don't do that.  They might gnaw here or there, but they mostly eat nuts and other seeds.  The grooves from the teeth marks are also too large for squirrels to have made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-06-05T11:55:17.577" LastActivityDate="2017-06-05T11:55:17.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1733" CreationDate="2017-06-05T14:27:33.983" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use waxed paper rolled around my dryer lint,  I make the lint into a long roll and then wrap it in wax paper twice. Twist it until it is twisted along the full length -about 4 inches or however wide you lint comes out of your dryer trap.  They burn with a medium flame and last about 5-8 minutes, sometimes longer if you roll tighter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13250" LastActivityDate="2017-06-05T14:27:33.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16260" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16267" CreationDate="2017-06-06T04:48:47.687" Score="34" ViewCount="10586" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of my camping has been above timberline and ticks have never been a problem.  However, a day in the garden at home in northern Virginia often results in a deer tick or two, despite long pants and long sleeves and DEET.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's been a suggestion of a short camping trip close to home, but it is a banner year for deer ticks here, and the mere thought of sleeping on the ground here makes me feel itchy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I overreacting?  Is there a way to enjoy a couple of nights outdoors without becoming a host to hordes of these tiny thirsty critters?   A complication is that I prefer not to sleep in a tent if the weather is good.  Is a tent necessary to avoid deer ticks? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-06-14T18:20:05.310" Title="Can I safely camp in deer tick country, and if so, how?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-06T07:47:13.230" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use a hammock to keep yourself off of the ground, or even better try searching the web for &quot;Tree tent&quot; there are all manner of interesting designs that could suit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VNR9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VNR9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously not great above the timberline!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T07:47:13.230" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-06T13:35:06.927" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done nearly all of my camping and hunting in deer tick country. You're on the right track with the basics: DEET, long sleeves, long pants, and high socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night use mesh as suggested in comments. I have seen some camping buddies spray the tent edges with DEET, I am skeptical that this works and may be harmful to the tent in the long term. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check yourself and your buddies for ticks regularly. Before you go, brush up on how to remove ticks and pack the first aid to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you hike and move do your best to avoid brushing on flora. Ticks can't jump, fly, or run, so that's how deer ticks get on their hosts. Corroboration for this advice can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/wellbeing/how-avoid-ticks-woods&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and other reputable sources. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1934" LastEditorUserId="1934" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T19:30:42.407" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T19:30:42.407" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-06T15:08:43.417" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I trout fish all the time in tick country, oftentimes hiking through forest to get to my desired location. I tend to camp when I fish too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Awareness is my #1 protection. A tick on your clothes doesn't matter, so if you're diligent, you should be fine. I also like wearing tighter fitting base layers and tucking them into each other (long underwear into socks, undershirt into long underwear). I find they can't access your skin nearly as easy, which makes them easier to find prior to them attaching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, check yourself thoroughly before going to bed, sleep in a tent and you'll be fine. When they're really bad, and I'm alone, I'll sometimes bring a mirror to check for ticks in spots I couldn't otherwise see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is corroborated at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Health Service, in the UK&lt;/a&gt;, as well as other reputable sites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12002" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T16:25:45.960" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T16:25:45.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-06T16:40:31.503" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For peace of mind, the tried and true method is to do a check at the end of the day. According to the Maine Department of Infectious Disease (Response to Question #20):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ticks need to be attached for at least 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme disease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/vector-borne/lyme/lyme-faq.shtml#Q20&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;LINK&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Center for Disease Control (CDC) points to this as a very conservative figure. They say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;~ &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;LINK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do regular nightly checks while camping, you should be protected from any dangerous exposure. Just remember to check difficult to see places like behind your ears, in your hair, groin, and armpits. Feeling those areas is often a good first sweep. If you feel anything like a scab or a skin tag that is new, take the time to visually inspect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other helpful tips are to wear light colored clothing, which will create contrast and help find any ticks that may have grabbed onto you. Also bear in mind that you are more likely to pick up a tick from long grass, rather than them crawling onto you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, the risk for lyme exposure is small, if you do regular checks, so if you need to go through the grass to have fun, go for it, it's worth it! Don't let the thought of ticks get in the way of you enjoying the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T17:45:28.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16257" CreationDate="2017-06-06T21:07:40.010" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;/strong&gt; This answer reflects nothing else than my own opinion on this subject, since I've never used water to clean holes nor know anyone that does so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, first thing I'd like to ask you is: why? You'd have to carry more weight, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with cleaning the holes using air. In fact, as far as I know, industrial bolting manuals do recommend that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, assuming you have a good answer for the &quot;why?&quot; part, let's think a little bit. What happens when you inject water in a bolt hole (careful when pronouncing those words)? Well, firstly, it fills with water. This is &lt;em&gt;per se&lt;/em&gt; a problem, since the whole was already filled with rock powder, which is very thin, and after getting moisturised it will turn into a thick rock porridge. Good luck removing that from the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterwards, what happens? You find a way to place the parabolt inside, and then you start to torque it. But the parabolt already crushed a significant portion of rock porridge, which entered the casing. This will probably make it harder for the casing to grip the rock and will fill it to some extent with moisture. As one might think, &lt;a href=&quot;https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?Term=acid%20rock&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rock has also a pH level&lt;/a&gt;. Moisturising acidic rock will make its powder more efficient in corroding metal (and don't fool yourself - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aperam.com/uploads/stainlesseurope/Brochures/Leaflet%20corrosion_Eng_374Ko.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;stainless also gets corroded&lt;/a&gt;). In a word: this doesn't look good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's think and try to make it look good. One thing one must consider is the angle at which the water straw is placed inside the hole. If directly or carelessly placed, turbulence effects will guarantee that rock powder accumulates in the end of the hole. What I wrote above is the result of this process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HwDN3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HwDN3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now let's think it's somehow possible to fill a hole with water from a fixed position, very close to the wall. This would diminish greatly the turbulence effects due to water evading the end of the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXWOy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXWOy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But let's be honest: that's impossible. Conquering a route is stressful enough to think a climber would be able to place a water straw in a fixed position. The dust would eventually get moisturised. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only missing situation is where the climber removes the dust with air first, then injects water in for some &quot;I have no idea&quot; reason. This is safer, since the powder would be already out, but I'm pretty sure it would make locking the bolt casing harder, since it would reduce the friction between the casing and the rock. It also looks incredibly pointless, since the dust would be already out and the water would activate the rock's chemical properties much more efficiently - and that's some efficiency you &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; I don't think you should do that. Follow the bolting manuals and use air. It's perfectly safe, you don't have to carry it, and it has never failed before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-06-06T21:38:53.907" LastActivityDate="2017-06-06T21:38:53.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-07T01:56:13.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ah, the ticks of the Virginia woods.  I don't think some of the posters here realize one can walk in those woods for an hour and accumulate 100+ ticks.  I spent some time in the woods of Quantico (oohrah), and found how to beat the ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treat your clothes and packs with permethrin.  Here are two references: &lt;a href=&quot;http://sectionhiker.com/treating-your-clothes-with-permethrin/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a hiker blog&lt;/a&gt; and Indiana University Health Center &lt;a href=&quot;http://healthcenter.indiana.edu/answers/insect-precautions.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;information&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have suggested DEET is great for the skin.  Use both in combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13259" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T01:56:13.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16248" CreationDate="2017-06-07T11:28:08.963" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to completely agree with your quote. Essentially in all GoreTex shoes I ever owned, from hiking boots to essentially everyday leather sneakers, the membrane degraded over very short time (at most within a year or two).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is possible to make any general statements though. The degradation obviously depends on how the shoes are used, so &lt;strong&gt;various factors&lt;/strong&gt; like&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;difficult terrain,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;heavy load (person and/or pack weight),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;distance travelled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;will all negatively influence how your membrane holds up and thus directly and negatively impact the water-resistance of your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A further important point for me is also that there is &lt;strong&gt;nothing the wearer can do&lt;/strong&gt; - or anyone, really -  if the GoreTex membrane starts to degrade. Especially in shoes where the water-resistance relies mainly/only on the GoreTex layer, such as in lightweight fabric trekking shoes. Once the GoreTex layer is faulty the shoe just leaks, and that is that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OTOH I have used my last pair of quality full leather boots for 10 years and north of 1500km of hiking, at least half of it in difficult terrain and with a heavy (15kg+ load). The leather degrades 'gracefully' when treated correctly, and the water-resistance of a leather boot is always directly influenced by how you treat it. Even on very old leather boots water-resistance can be regained/improved by correct treatment (e.g. using bees wax).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T11:28:08.963" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16269" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16288" CreationDate="2017-06-07T13:20:24.670" Score="9" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was watching a video this am where a guy tied a clove hitch and passed it though a carabiner one handed. This seemed a very handy technique to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I usually use both hands to tie this, make a loop in one hand, loop in another cross them over pass them into a carabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone describe the technique to do this one handed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T15:13:55.343" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T15:13:55.343" Title="How can you tie a clove hitch one handed?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;clove-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-07T13:36:41.853" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sticky lint roller and rub it over your clothes will get those crawling along looking for a spot. Also check out this article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://mentalfloss.com/article/501394/15-useful-facts-about-lyme-disease&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://mentalfloss.com/article/501394/15-useful-facts-about-lyme-disease&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13264" LastEditorUserId="13264" LastEditDate="2017-06-07T15:32:26.233" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T15:32:26.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16269" CreationDate="2017-06-07T15:32:24.823" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic steps are to clip the rope, form a loop with one end, move it around the other end of the cord/rope and clip it into the carabiner again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the following images, I'm using a somewhat stiff piece of cord and slightly exaggerating some steps to improve visibility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1:&lt;/strong&gt; Clip the rope into the biner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QW7GXm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QW7GXm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;step1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 2:&lt;/strong&gt; Form a loop on the &quot;back&quot; rope with the outside end on the far side of the biner. Usually, you would hold the top of the loop instead of the cord below the loop (unless you are using stiff cord or taking a photo):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyLlLm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyLlLm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;step2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 3:&lt;/strong&gt; Move the loop in front of the biner:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrRNym.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rrRNym.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;step3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 4:&lt;/strong&gt; Clip it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPAKsm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mPAKsm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;step4&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 5:&lt;/strong&gt; Tighten it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaCihm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JaCihm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;step5&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2017-06-07T20:51:36.270" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T20:51:36.270" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16272" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16281" CreationDate="2017-06-07T16:34:53.203" Score="21" ViewCount="8458" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose you're leading a short pitch (20-30m) and you have two followers, or you want to double rope the route, and want to simply half your rope and tie into the centre, pulling the two halves up behind you. What's the best way to tie the centre of the rope into your harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; For clarification, I'd prefer a method that does not incorporate having to use a carabiner to attach to the rope.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T16:34:08.080" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T09:00:15.087" Title="How do you tie in to the centre of a rope?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T16:45:06.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can tie in using a &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwvrZYTMv4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bowline on a bight&lt;/a&gt;;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8jRok7Kofw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Figure 8 knot on a bight&lt;/a&gt;;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fOKk1HPjbI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then attaching one or two opposing locking carabiners &lt;strong&gt;to the loop of your harness&lt;/strong&gt;. You should &lt;strong&gt;never&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach to your double leg and waist loops (the loops you usually tie in to), since this would create three force points and the carabiner's strength is significantly reduced in this configuration;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; At first I thought attaching directly to the rope from the middle wasn't a good idea because it would occupy too much space in your leg/waist loops and maybe burn the rope, but after thinking a little and actually trying it at home I see there's nothing wrong with it. Tying in from the middle using a backed up variation of the bowline or a figure 8 knot seems ok for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-06-07T16:47:57.177" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T16:47:57.177" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T17:01:12.403" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My goal when climbing is to keep the system as simple/clean as possible. If something funky has to be done, I like to transfer that to the second (or in the case of multiple followers the non-leader) if it can be done without adding more complexity. In the case of climbing with inexperienced followers, I like to keep things extremely simple. My method would depend on if I want to double rope the route or have two followers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I want to double rope the route, I would simply tie into the two ends and then have the second tie an eight on a bight and clip in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of two followers on a short pitch, I would avoid trying to have them simulclimb. I would tie in as normal. The first follower would then tie in short. I would use a butterfly knot and then clip the belay loop. An eight on a bight would work since the knot is only going to be loaded from one direction. The second follower would then tie in as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T17:01:12.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T17:14:52.880" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;A knot that's simple and easy to use, explicitly for the purpose of tying in to the middle of the rope, would be the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebutterfly/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Alpine Butterfly&quot;&gt;Alpine Butterfly&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie it, then put it to your belay loop with one or two locking carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="59" LastEditorUserId="59" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T04:16:01.067" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T04:16:01.067" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T18:04:56.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you could tie in with as simple bowline. The main is the loop and then feed through with the tie in.  I would test it out before climbing with it.  But it is designed to take stress on all three leads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T18:04:56.770" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16277" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-07T19:11:17.950" Score="6" ViewCount="1281" Body="&lt;p&gt;I took my first lake swim recently and found my lake has a fair amount algae, which bothered me more than I expected it too.  After some limited research, I found someone saying that it's Eurasian Watermilfoil (though I'm not sure that's correct), here's a picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z5VU9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z5VU9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nasty algae&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an idea of volume, you can see the video here (skip to 41s [probably turn the volume off too]):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgTF-yqI0Fs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video of windsurfing with a good view of the lake's plantlife&lt;/a&gt; (YouTube video in French)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any dangers of swimming with this stuff(assuming volume and proximity to surface are the same as in the video)?  Specifically my concerns are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting caught up in it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something living in it taking a dislike to me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What (if any) are the dangers, and what can i do to mitigate them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lake is Lac Miribel Jonage, Lyon, France if that helps- ignore if it makes the question too specific&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12453" LastEditorUserId="12453" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T15:23:55.523" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T15:55:10.770" Title="Dangers of swimming with algae (potentially Eurasian Watermilfoil)" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16278" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16283" CreationDate="2017-06-07T22:07:20.480" Score="10" ViewCount="1551" Body="&lt;p&gt;One person I regularly climb with uses a belay technique that I was taught to be unsafe, so I would like to know just how unsafe it really is. With a classic tube-style belay device, after taking in slack and bringing the brake hand back down, he simply slides his brake hand up the rope, opening it up just enough to allow the rope to stay in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it is obvious that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-to-climb-better-toprope-belaying/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PBUS&lt;/a&gt; (which is unfortunately not taught here at all) would be much safer, it is less obvious to me whether there is any real danger of him not catching a fall, given that he would probably hold tight as soon as he feels his other hand being pulled. So ideally I would like to know some hard facts such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have any accidents been attributed to this belay technique? (Or a similar technique -- holding the brake hand above the device does not count as similar though.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does anyone know of any experiments to determine if people usually catch falls even if they were holding the rope loosely?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13266" LastEditorUserId="13266" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T21:07:56.407" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T12:27:05.103" Title="How unsafe is this belay technique really?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T22:10:54.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is also needed when having more than two people on a rope on a glacier. If you attach a climber in the middle of the rope, you should also add an &quot;extension&quot; when tying in, but that doesn't seem to be the application the OP has in mind.&#xA;There are multiple options, I use the first:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Overhand knot secured by a fisherman's knot&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do an overhand with a relatively long loop. Trace the loop through the harness and back through the middle of the overhand. Then make a fisherman's knot around the &quot;incoming&quot; two rope strands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just a fisherman's knot&#xA;Same as above, except you don't do an overhand knot in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Retraced overhand knot&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Do an overhand knot with a relatively long loop, put the loop through your harness and then follow the two ropes back through the overhand. In the end you have an overhand with 4 parallel ropes. Overhand instead of figure of 8, as it would become huge and with 4 parallel ropes and it is still easy to open.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cow hitch&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I don't recommend it. Just pull the rope through the harness and step through the loop. Advantage: Position can be easily modified. Disadvantage: You need to do a coordinative full body exercise to at-/detach the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't use biners to attach to the rope for the same reasons you don't do it when attaching to the end of a rope: It pointlessly adds another point of failure (and uses more gear).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T11:13:39.750" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T11:13:39.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-07T23:40:23.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my ROTC rappelling training, I was taught to use an Alpine Butterfly for this purpose.  It's a beautiful, elegant knot that can be reliably tied under pressure while fatigued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13268" LastActivityDate="2017-06-07T23:40:23.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2017-06-08T04:13:44.390" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way is to tie a fixed loop in the middle of the rope (figure 8, alpine butterfly, bowline on a bight, etc) and then clip the climber in to that loop using two locking carabiners. Two carabiners are used here in order to avoid the scenario of a single carabiner rotating into a cross-loaded orientation during a fall and failing as a result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my preferred method is to tie in directly to the rope, with no additional carabiners, using a bowline on a bight. This can be achieved by tied the knot using a long bight that can be passed over the climber's entire body instead of just being passed over the rest of the knot. This gives you a bowline on a bight tie-in with a very large loop, which you can feed back through the knot to reduce the size of the loop before climbing. You then need to expand the loop afterwards before untying. Those who don't know how to tie or visually inspect and verify a bowline on a bight should not attempt this, as incorrectly tying the knot can easily result in a knot (or lack thereof) that is of inadequate security or even completely insecure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method for those more familiar with the figure-8 is to tie a figure 8 loop in a bight, just in the rope, not yet attached to the climber, making the loop large enough to fit over the climber's entire body. Then tie this into the climber's harness using a cow hitch (AKA lark's foot or girth hitch), by passing the figure-8 loop though the tie-in loops and then over the climber's whole body. This gives you a cow hitch tie in (which alone is insecure) backed up with a figure-8. The backup 8 will initially be way to far down the rope, due to its loop initially having been tied large enough to fit over the climber's body, but you can easily feed rope through to snug the figure 8 down against the cow hitch. As with the bowline version, you need to feed rope back through the knot to expand it before you can untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Images, as requested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bowline on a bight:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incorrectly tying this knot can result in a knot that is inadequate or even completely insecure. Do not attempt this if you do not already know how to verify a complete bowline on a bight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a bight from the middle of the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a doubled &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_(knot)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;turn&lt;/a&gt; about a metre from the end of the bight, with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot#Components&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;standing end&lt;/a&gt; on the bottom of the turn. Feed the bight down through the tie-in loops from top to bottom. (Note: It is essential to get these two directions correct.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/euy2gAD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/euy2gADm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Ui554l4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Ui554l4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pass the bight up through the turn, pull it all the way through, and pass it over your head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Eyvxnre.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Eyvxnrem.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/cX4IZOZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/cX4IZOZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 4&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring the bight all the way down your back, and then step through it so it is hanging in front of you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/kFO60TH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/kFO60THm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 5&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/fRMhWyn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/fRMhWynm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 6&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the bight through the knot until it tightens and forms the collar of a bowline, resulting in an bowline with an excessively large loop.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/qq4JdQl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/qq4JdQlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 7&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;6&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feed the excess loop through the nipping turn of the bowline. The result is a nice, tight bowline on a bight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/M14lM7y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/M14lM7ym.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 8&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/5FPBrv2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/5FPBrv2m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 9&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;7&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In order to undo the knot, work backwards through these steps, feeding slack through the nipping turn to enlarge the bowline loop, and then pulling the collar out until you can step through it and pass it up your back and over your head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you can tie this knot in the opposite orientation, making the turn with the standing end on the top, and instead passing the bight through your tie-in loops from bottom to top. You would then pass the bight over your body in the opposite direction, from feet to head. The important part is that the bight is passed through the turn in the correct direction, as getting the direction wrong will result in the bowline collapsing into a girth hitch, which alone is not appropriate as a tie-in knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Girth hitch with figure-8 backup:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a bight from the middle of the rope, and tie a figure-8 about a metre from its end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feed the bight through your tie-in loops from the bottom up to the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/5erf8XR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/5erf8XRm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/eDF4XJ8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/eDF4XJ8m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pass the bight over your head, down your back, and then step back through it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/fEALMyi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/fEALMyim.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/rPprN0j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/rPprN0jm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 4&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull it tight, and you now have a girth hitch with a figure-8 backup that is a long way back up the rope from the girth hitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/jBYspQZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/jBYspQZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 5&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feed the rope between the girth hitch and figure-8 through the figure 8 to bring the two knots close together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the figure-8 snug, and you now have a girth hitch neatly backed up with a figure-8.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/AeNQwd3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/AeNQwd3m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 6&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/QXUM2di.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/QXUM2dim.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BOAB 7&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;7&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To untie, reverse the steps, moving the figure-8 up the rope until you can loosed the girth hitch enough to be able to step through the bight and pass it up your back and over your head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13186" LastEditorUserId="13186" LastEditDate="2017-06-18T10:38:57.807" LastActivityDate="2017-06-18T10:38:57.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16277" CreationDate="2017-06-08T04:30:03.100" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those are just aquatic plants, not algae, and you'll find them in any healthy lake anywhere in the world. They pose no danger to you. No, you won't get tangled in them and drown. People swim through stuff like that all the time. And I really can't imagine what might be lurking in a lake in France that should concern you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5795" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T04:30:03.100" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16278" CreationDate="2017-06-08T05:06:53.337" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not unsafe; really. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gyms will enforce the most foolproof techniques they can, because they can't afford to have some idiot hurt themselves in their gym. Gyms see a lot of casual climbers, and fresh beginners, and they don't want them picking up any habits that could lead to complacency. Sure, the brake-under-slide (or PBUS) is the most redundant and reliable belay, but when you're standing on the 6th pitch of a rotten dolomite face trying to pull 70m of rope while dealing with rope drag so bad you can't tell if you're only taking up the slack or up-hauling your second, then you really don't care about your handwork.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having slack in the rope is way more unsafe than how you're pulling it through your belay device; sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and just because there is a preferred, safer method, doesn't mean that all other methods are dangerous. The most dangerous aspect of rock climbing is the human condition. A competent climber could belay you without any device at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They used to train newbie climbers by tying an 80lb sand bag to the end of a hemp rope, handing the other end of the rope to a belayer, and dropping the weight over the branch of a big tree or over a beam. If the belayer could stop the weight using a hip belay, then he was considered good enough to climb with all the big boys (it was sort of an initiation, because no matter how good you were at it, it still hurt each time you did it). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever technique you use, just make sure you're ready for when your climber needs you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T16:31:35.073" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T16:31:35.073" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16278" CreationDate="2017-06-08T06:48:42.957" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany the DAV teaches the method I think you describe (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlPTvvF8q4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video here&lt;/a&gt;) and calls it &quot;tunneling&quot;. The hand above the device makes sure that the braking hand can stay below the braking plane. You have to close your hand in case of a fall, which is possible quickly enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T06:48:42.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16278" CreationDate="2017-06-08T08:47:17.283" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As knitti already answered, this is the standard method taught in Germany and Switzerland (and possibly others). To keep naming clear, I am going to refer to PBUS and european method. Here we have a discussion about another &quot;phase&quot; of belaying as being unsafe (hand up while pulling in slack).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ShemSeger already puts the hole thing nicely into perspective, so I will only try to convince you, that it is even equally safe:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As any (sane) belaying method, the main principle is to never let go of the braking strand. Now if you take that strictly, you could say loosening, but not removing, your hand from the braking strand equals letting go - but I would refute that, due to the second principle of the european method: Use the non-breaking hand as &quot;sensor&quot;. In the phase where you slide your hand on the braking strand upwards, your other hand is holding the rope above the belay device. In case of a fall in that exact moment, you feel it there, giving you ample time to close your hand behind the belay device. I consider this even advantageous, as it facilitates dynamic belaying. You grip the rope before the device, building up tension in the rope and preparing yourself for the harder pull. Then you can let some rope through the belay device in a controlled fashion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mind you, I am not saying PBUS is bad. I can't, I have never done it. I am just making a case for a method which is widely and successfully used and at least according to the OP, is accused of being unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T12:27:05.103" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T12:27:05.103" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16278" CreationDate="2017-06-08T08:57:06.727" Score="9" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Religious wars have been fought for less.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this safe? Depends on who you ask I'd say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dodging that bullet, &lt;strong&gt;basically this is down to you and your preferences&lt;/strong&gt;. It's your safety the person is responsible for (presuming your climbing). There is a fair chance that this technique is perfectly safe, but you're right, it's not the up to date recommended technique (In the UK anyway, seems &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/16284/2766&quot;&gt;Germany might be different&lt;/a&gt;). So the question you should be asking yourself is &lt;strong&gt;Do YOU want this person to belay you like this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're happy with their competency and you're happy that it seems safe then fine. If not you need to have a difficult conversation with them (&lt;em&gt;Look, I don't mean to be funny but could you belay me this way please? I'm not happy with that technique&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any belayer &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/326373/to-whose-salt-is-the-idiom-worth-ones-salt-referring-to&quot;&gt;worth their salt&lt;/a&gt; should go, &lt;em&gt;oh yeah, fine&lt;/em&gt;. You should always belay how the climber wants to be belayed, not how you want to belay. If they disagree, then maybe you need to find a different partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why is this (potentially) unsafe?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue is without a hand holding the rope at all times (and I mean gripping it), if you have a fall there is a chance the rope &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; accelerate though the belay device. Have you ever tried to catch a moving rope? You won't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Have there been any studies, etc.?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not that I'm aware of. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accident-reports&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock and ice keep a log of accidents&lt;/a&gt; but these are not particularly collated. I'm not aware of any particular studies on this matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T20:30:46.650" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T20:30:46.650" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16269" CreationDate="2017-06-08T13:32:28.850" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found several videos showing a one-handed clove-hitch without clipping, as I think you want:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/os_tQdhLI9Y?t=200&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/os_tQdhLI9Y?t=200&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qSoIY6FPc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qSoIY6FPc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4RMnULYIM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4RMnULYIM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;It looks a little fiddly to me and&lt;/s&gt; I'm not sure where this would be needed versus the more common clip and re-clip method anderas illustrated, but it does look slick.  I don't have a rope handy; please let me know how this works for you when you try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Okay, I found a piece of cord and followed along with the first video, and it's actually pretty easy.  With a bit of practice it could be second nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="133" LastEditorUserId="133" LastEditDate="2017-06-08T13:46:38.730" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T13:46:38.730" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16277" CreationDate="2017-06-08T16:04:41.143" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can indeed get sick from swimming in algae, if the algae is a bloom.  Not all algae in lakes is harmful - in fact, it shows that the lake's ecosystem is alive.  But too much algae can be dangerous, as it deprives the water of oxygen, and introduces harmful bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a warning from New York State:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/91570.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) FAQs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And another from Indiana:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/files/sp-BlueGreenAlgae.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swimming, Boating and Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Michigan:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/coastal-communities/harmful-algal-blooms-in-the-great-lakes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harmful Algal Blooms in the Great Lakes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Washington:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/algae/publichealth/GeneralCyanobacteria.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cyanobacteria&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...and your neck of the woods, the European Environmental Agency:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/blue-green-algae-check-the&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue-green algae - check the water before you swim&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that the photo you shared is of plants, not algae, so not harmful.  But if you really meant algae, and not the plants listed, you should pay attention to these links.  (Well, you should pay attention to the links anyway...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-06-08T16:04:41.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16291" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16292" CreationDate="2017-06-08T22:21:24.670" Score="10" ViewCount="356" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are the first skis I've ever bought for my son. I'm not sure if the bindings have been mounted properly? It looks as though the screws may have been drilled in too deep? It's the same on the other end as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would this affect skiing? durability? etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4QECf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4QECf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0XMjW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0XMjW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13287" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:29:57.380" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:29:57.380" Title="Have these ski bindings been mounted properly?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16291" CreationDate="2017-06-09T06:32:48.043" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to do some work as a ski technician many years ago, and yes, definitely this is not correct. You should not be able to see the screws from the underside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take them back for a replacement, they are potentially dangerous and unlikely to last for as long as they could be expected to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastActivityDate="2017-06-09T06:32:48.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15646" CreationDate="2017-06-09T13:35:11.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;it really depends on the bow tips and whether they are reinforced or not.  If it's a 2013 model, I suspect that it is fine.  Look at the tips, and if there is a 'reinforcement', as in if it has extra glued on material on the tips, then it has likely been made to allow the use of modern 'fastflight' type string materials.  You should also contact the manufacturer with the model number and ask them if it's safe to use modern string material, but I'd bet your fine if your limb tips are reinforced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The warning is typically given to folks who have an older no reinforced tip bow, as the newer sting materials tend to be stronger and thinner, with less string stretch or creep, than Dacron (BCY500 type) or the other stuff.  I hae seen bows damadged by the newer stuff when the bow limb tips weren't reinforced or made for the new stuff, it will cut right through the at the nock shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2017-06-09T13:35:11.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9983" CreationDate="2017-06-09T13:38:40.597" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For bending curves in the bows I have made, I have always just used a light coat of cooking oil.  Mineral oil should work as well, but it would cost more I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-10T23:57:31.877" LastActivityDate="2017-06-10T23:57:31.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16230" CreationDate="2017-06-09T18:29:03.877" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One very easy method to determine the MA of a pulley system is the &lt;em&gt;T-method&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You assume that you pull with one unit of tension. Next you assume each contiguous section has the same amount of tension and you can easily determine them all step by step. (A more detailed explanation can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://roperescuetraining.com/en/physics_calcma_tsystem.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.) In this case this would look like so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y7unv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y7unv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice however you have to deal with the resistance. A good approximatin is that pulleys (as a 180° redirect) are about 90% efficient, and carabiners about 50%. This means if you pull with one unit of tension on one side, the other side only experiences about 90% (or 50%). We can use the same method again and we can see that in practice you only expect about a 4.5:1 advantage:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2QeRw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2QeRw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we swap the top pulley and the carabiner, we actually get a better MA of about 4.92:1 with the same gear (but we obviously lose the progress capturing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2017-06-09T18:35:15.410" LastActivityDate="2017-06-09T18:35:15.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16260" CreationDate="2017-06-10T14:54:53.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inspect your camping spot for ticks first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nymphs are really, really tiny.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A touch-check is not enough, get a visual check if you can.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get the ticks off your clothes before you enter the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know when you are the most vulnerable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A no-see-hum mesh will help, but may not be enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A blood test may reduce the risk of unnoticed Lyme disease.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is more risky than doing day hikes, but here is what I've learnt the hard way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;strong&gt;on camping spots&lt;/strong&gt;: If possible, avoid any kind of vegetation on the ground (for example: dense pine forests are ideal). Otherwise, roll up a sleeve and carefully go with your hand through the grass that would receive your groundsheet, plus a 1-2m safety perimeter. Check that arm often: if you picked up any &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_identification/deer_tick&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tick, nymph or larva&lt;/a&gt; in the process, go somewhere else. It doesn't have to be far away: I've found a clean spot just four meters away from an infested place. You may speed up the process by using some kind of clear cloth instead of your hand, but I'm not sure it is as effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, be aware that until mid-August you'll also meet &lt;strong&gt;nymphs&lt;/strong&gt; (1.5 mm unfed), not just adults (3mm unfed and bulkier). They're just as dangerous. In fact, some researchers believe that nymphs are responsible for a large majority of cases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nymphal ticks cause most cases of Lyme disease. Because nymphs are as small as poppy seeds and their bite is painless, people often don’t realize they have been bitten. Adult ticks can also infect humans, but are easier to spot and remove.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-basics/ticks/about-ticks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably won't feel any bump when touch-checking yourself if it hasn't fed on your blood yet. I suppose you can feel an engorged nymph, but I didn't test that myself. Also, while you may feel the itch of an adult deer tick crawling on your skin, the nymph goes undetected between your hair. So it is better if you and your hiking companions can &lt;strong&gt;check each other visually&lt;/strong&gt;, instead of solely relying on your own touch sense. Otherwise, bring a small mirror as suggested by @Kyle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, think of how you'll go from fully clothed outside of your tent to checked inside your sleeping bag with all ticks out. I have some sort of groundsheet extension where I undress and check myself outside of the tent without being in contact with the ground. I also &lt;strong&gt;check&lt;/strong&gt; my &lt;strong&gt;clothes inside out&lt;/strong&gt;: I once had several nymphs wandering between my clothing layers, probably picked up while pitching the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of which, I found that I was much more vulnerable while camping than just hiking. Pitching, digging the latrine, tending my feet and knees are all activities where I am close to the ground and where ticks may climb onto unprotected body parts (wrists, legs after undressing etc.). Conversely, when hiking I can wear light gaiters to protect my ankles and I can check my pant legs often if I have to go through high grass areas. YMMV, &lt;strong&gt;just be aware of when you are taking the most risks&lt;/strong&gt; and learn to develop a &lt;strong&gt;healthy paranoia&lt;/strong&gt; of all moving or unusual black spots in your close proximity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On tents and nets&lt;/strong&gt;: I wouldn't consider sleeping in tick territory without one. However, I've seen (harmless) larvae go right through my no-see-hum mesh, so I'm not positively sure that it will keep all nymphs out. It will block the adult ticks, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did not try Permethrin, because I'm not too thrilled about handling a &lt;a href=&quot;http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/P1005J0O.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&amp;amp;Client=EPA&amp;amp;Index=2006%20Thru%202010&amp;amp;Docs=&amp;amp;Query=&amp;amp;Time=&amp;amp;EndTime=&amp;amp;SearchMethod=1&amp;amp;TocRestrict=n&amp;amp;Toc=&amp;amp;TocEntry=&amp;amp;QField=&amp;amp;QFieldYear=&amp;amp;QFieldMonth=&amp;amp;QFieldDay=&amp;amp;IntQFieldOp=0&amp;amp;ExtQFieldOp=0&amp;amp;XmlQuery=&amp;amp;File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C06thru10%5CTxt%5C00000012%5CP1005J0O.txt&amp;amp;User=ANONYMOUS&amp;amp;Password=anonymous&amp;amp;SortMethod=h%7C-&amp;amp;MaximumDocuments=1&amp;amp;FuzzyDegree=0&amp;amp;ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&amp;amp;Display=p%7Cf&amp;amp;DefSeekPage=x&amp;amp;SearchBack=ZyActionL&amp;amp;Back=ZyActionS&amp;amp;BackDesc=Results%20page&amp;amp;MaximumPages=1&amp;amp;ZyEntry=1&amp;amp;SeekPage=x&amp;amp;ZyPURL&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;likely carcinogen&lt;/a&gt; without a mean to shower it off at the end of the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, once back home you may do a &lt;strong&gt;blood test&lt;/strong&gt; for Lyme disease. Just be aware that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tiredoflyme.com/4-reasons-a-lyme-test-will-come-back-negative-even-if-a-person-truly-has-lyme-disease.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these tests are not 100% accurate and may produce false negatives&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;: there is no such thing as perfect safety, but I now feel &quot;safe enough&quot; when applying the above tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13290" LastEditorUserId="13290" LastEditDate="2017-06-14T18:20:05.310" LastActivityDate="2017-06-14T18:20:05.310" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16297" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16306" CreationDate="2017-06-10T21:50:41.293" Score="7" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lyme disease, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lyme borreliosis&lt;/a&gt;, has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control as existing, or probably existing, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;many of the United States&lt;/a&gt;. The Lyme Disease Association also reports it in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/cases-stats-maps-a-graphs/940-lyme-in-more-than-80-countries-worldwide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;over 80 countries worldwide&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disease is caused almost exclusively by a bite from a tick in the Ixodes family. According to the Centers for Disease Control in America, in the Eastern United States it's the blacklegged deer tick, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ixodes scapulari&lt;/a&gt;, and in the Mid-Western and Western United States, it's the blacklegged tick &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stopticks.org/ticks/tickwestblacklegged.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ixodes pacificus&lt;/a&gt;.  The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control attributes much of Europe's Lyme to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/vectors/ticks/Pages/ixodes-ricinus.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ixodes ricinus&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Massachusetts, Northeastern United States, which is one of the major hot spots.  From 2005 to 2015, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt; consistently ranked us among the 14 states with the highest reported incidences. In 2015, we were number 5, a dubious honor indeed! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tables and data all show changes in the number of reported cases over the years. Also, a large number of cases worldwide go unreported. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, it's obvious that the Lyme-carrying tick population varies, sometimes greatly, from year to year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some causal factors for the fluctuating populations of ticks which carry Lyme Disease? I'm most interested in the larger fluctuations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:01:34.350" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:01:34.350" Title="What most common factors cause significant fluctuations in numbers of ticks that carry Lyme Disease?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9178" CreationDate="2017-06-12T02:39:44.593" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming your child can either swim or has a lifevest on,  jump into water, turn canoe upside down and hide under it. I thought about this while canoeing with my daughter and her daddy. I told him about my plan if we encounter a bear and the bear decides lunge at us. ;)  have a nice day! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13296" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T07:56:19.470" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T07:56:19.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16297" CreationDate="2017-06-12T06:44:36.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Lyme Disease is not transferred from ticks to their larvae. This is really uncommon to say the least, so most ticks are &quot;clean&quot; at &quot;birth&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To carry Lyme Disease, the ticks have to become infected themselves. They usually get infected by infected hosts, like mice or hedgehogs. The bacteria now reside in the tick's digestive system.&#xA;Ticks now develop into small nymphs, and can start to spread the disease already. After successfully feeding again, the nymphs develop into adult ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually after infecting a host as an adult, ticks copulate on the host. The male tick dies; the female lays up to 3.000 eggs and also dies. This cycle repeats in the next spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This entire cycle can last 3 to 6 years. -- &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.laborvolkmann.de/analysenspektrum/DOCS/20/lyme-borreliose_pat.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source (in german)&lt;/a&gt;. This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Centers for Disease Control&lt;/a&gt; article also explains it well in English. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we can take away from these information is that there are not too many factors that influence the population of infected ticks. One factor is obviously the amount of infected hosts, from which ticks can get the disease. One could argue that the better term would be &quot;availability&quot;, since a large number of infected hosts among a larger number of &quot;clean&quot; hosts might not be beneficial at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The availability of infected hosts, again, is somewhat dependent from the amount of infected ticks that can spread the disease. A second but less important factor is the amount of infected ticks (or larvae of nymphs) that survive from previous generations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T19:04:10.217" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T19:04:10.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16307" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-12T10:26:31.143" Score="8" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to do a 5 days journey on a kayak with a friend. I have a 4.9m plastic sit on top kayak and we were planning to start from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropea&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tropea&lt;/a&gt; on the so called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lacostabella.com/calabria/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;costa degli dei&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (&quot;Coast of the Gods&quot;), and make our way down to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Reggio_Calabria&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reggio Calabria&lt;/a&gt;. On average 15-18 nautical miles per day is planned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this is our first multi-day journey I would love to hear some advice especially related to security. What supplies, tools, radios and all these things are required for instance. We are planning to do it in summer and summer in the south of Italy is extremely hot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are trained and able to row for hours without stopping. We know basic security measures and practice and the nautical code as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13299" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T21:52:04.917" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T21:52:04.917" Title="What equipment do I need for a 5 days kayak journey in the Mediterranean Sea?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-06-13T22:13:45.483" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16308" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16310" CreationDate="2017-06-12T21:37:50.660" Score="7" ViewCount="940" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the central region of Massachusetts, United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last January we found this lovely bird eating suet in our suburban back yard. It's in a section of about ten feeders, mostly in the shade of a few evergreen trees. I've looked through my backyard bird guides and haven't seemed to find anything close enough to make a confident identification. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it was here in January, it might be something that overwinters here. However, some migrators pass through during the winter, so that might be a wrong assumption. Also, we had unusually warm weather during January and February, so that could have thrown off a migration schedule. We don't recall having seen it before and couldn't find it in pictures of our yard in the past few years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frequently birds this size scare smaller birds away from the suet, but that's not the case here. At first I thought it was just docile and they weren't scared, which might be true. However, I've been looking very closely at the two small ones, which are best seen in the bottom picture. They also have dark around the eyes and long skinny legs, so I wonder if this might be an adult male or female with babies who haven't grown into their adult colors. I could be completely wrong, though. It's all part of what makes bird identification difficult, and fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notable physical characteristics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very dark eyes with black area around them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long skinny brown legs, shown best holding onto suet in top picture&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-colored beak, with white closest to the face, then a small orange/brown section, and black at the tip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small specks of white on head and parts of neck&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sections of white gradually getting larger along the lower part of the body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scallop-shaped tail of black feathers with white around the edges&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long thin wings which are mostly brown with light colored stripes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/giqwX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/giqwX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;best view, including long leg holding suet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fp3CJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fp3CJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CaZ2h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CaZ2h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUhUg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUhUg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Good view of underside of tail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLFtk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLFtk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MCFOq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MCFOq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sharing suet with small bird&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T01:59:36.460" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:59:36.460" Title="What is this black and white bird with thin brown legs and a multi-colored beak, found in Massachusetts USA in January?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2017-06-12T21:48:17.653" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about putting a mesh back support (this thing you see on some office chairs) and maybe modify it to fit better with your back? I've been asking myself how to modify my backpacks and this seems like somewhere to start from?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13301" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T21:48:17.653" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16308" CreationDate="2017-06-12T22:24:49.923" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a Starling (&lt;em&gt;Sturnus vulgaris&lt;/em&gt;), which are quite common over here in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZBi2I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZBi2I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/starling/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/starling/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starlings love suet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search for &quot;Starling murmuration&quot; and go to videos, in the UK &amp;amp; Ireland this is a common site in the winter - Try &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wired.com/2011/11/starling-flock/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wired.com/2011/11/starling-flock/&lt;/a&gt; (nb: best viewed at the size on the web page, rather than made full screen)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d0JvU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d0JvU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastEditorUserId="13114" LastEditDate="2017-06-12T22:42:09.790" LastActivityDate="2017-06-12T22:42:09.790" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2017-06-13T01:42:25.883" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the punch while hunting to dispatch wounded birds.  Simply hold the bird by the neck/head and push the punch into the back of the bird's head.  It's quick and humane.  I have never used it to sew since I have a better tool for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13302" LastActivityDate="2017-06-13T01:42:25.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16248" CreationDate="2017-06-13T02:12:11.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never had a pair of GTX boots or shoes where the lining lasted the length of the boot tread.  Sometimes it is shorter and sometimes it is about the time I am thinking of replacing them.  Sometimes it is a small leak in one shoe and sometimes it is major problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And GTX shoes are much hotter and don't dry well overnight if they get overtopped during a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I decided that what I dislike most is the idea of wet feet rather than the actuality of them. So a with pair of highly breathable shoes and the right socks, I don't have any foot problems with wet feet.  Many people seem to like wool socks, but I like 100% synthetic material.  Synthetics are cool and dry quickly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2017-06-13T02:12:11.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14065" CreationDate="2017-06-13T12:03:02.067" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My goto is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/buntline/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;buntline hitch&lt;/a&gt;. I prefer the slipped variety as the non-slipped version is very difficult to untie after its been heavily loaded. The slipped version works very well and makes everything fall apart with a small tug of the tail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2017-06-13T12:03:02.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16314" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-13T19:33:38.457" Score="4" ViewCount="67" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Katadyn hiker pro. I used it for the last time was two years ago and then I stored it without following the procedure for long term storage. This procedure consists in using it with water purified with tablets and should serve to clean the filter from bacteria which eventually can grow. In a month, I will need it for a trip to Africa, so what should I do with the katadyn? Use it as it is? Replacing the filter (that is rather expensive)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13308" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:52.303" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:52.303" Title="Which procedure should I do before using a water filter after being unused for two years?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-06-14T23:00:45.253" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11704" CreationDate="2017-06-13T22:40:33.453" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reverse osmosis filtration systems should remove +90% of fluoride.  To achieve a higher level you would need an activated alumina medium.  RO systems that you see for sale may not list fluoride as a filtered element in there documentation, due to it not being generally perceived as a risk to health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chlorine should be handled by any carbon filtration system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nearly all RO systems will include a carbon media filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="478" LastEditorUserId="478" LastEditDate="2017-06-13T23:13:23.433" LastActivityDate="2017-06-13T23:13:23.433" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16317" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-14T17:30:09.790" Score="7" ViewCount="1324" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to be able do trips with the following characateristics one day:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Solo.  May do in combination with other paddlers, but my primary interest is getting out there on my own.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-day trips on Canadian lakes/slow-moving rivers.  Not into white water at this time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Relatively remote location, small lakes or slow rivers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am relatively inexperienced now, so I am trying to decide whether to learn to Kayak or to Canoe. Either way, I am aware I am looking at a journey of a couple of years before I am really to go out alone. It's OK, I am comfortable with long-term plans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-04T20:44:39.887" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T21:56:13.573" Title="What are the trade offs between kayak and canoe for solo multiday trips?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16318" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-14T21:20:25.537" Score="12" ViewCount="770" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go trail-clearing I generally carry two machetes and a felling ax, but I haven't found a practical way to sling them so I can work with one without taking off the other tools.  The machetes have cordura sheathes with loops, and the ax has a leather bit sheath with a loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have this feeling that people who do this for a living must have clever carrying rigs or slinging techniques so they don't have to drop everything whenever they need to take a whack at something.  Are there any ways to carry or rig tools like this so:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can be drawn straight out of their sheath, put to work, and returned to their sheath without doffing the sheath (or rig, or harness, or whatever is recommended for slinging them)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The slung tools don't inhibit the free swing of any others?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:40:43.527" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:40:43.527" Title="Rigs for carrying axes and machetes" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16318" CreationDate="2017-06-15T12:48:54.877" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience fighting wildland fires, the number of clearing tools and the number of people in the group are usually the same. If you need more tools than you have people to operate, you need more people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wildland fire fighting is mostly about building fire breaks (trails) faster then the fire is moving.  Each tool has a place in the line, the person operating that tool may change but the tool, keeps its position (for the most part).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your example the machete would be first, the ax second. Some work is more exhausting then other work, so the person operating the tool may change, but the machete is always going to be making room for the ax operator to follow and have room to swing the ax.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-06-15T12:48:54.877" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16321" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-15T18:22:45.210" Score="5" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a sport harness and a rescue harness. I'm just wondering if i can use them interchangeably. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13318" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T05:42:23.573" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T05:42:23.573" Title="Can I use a rescue harness for recreational climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-06-19T13:37:49.790" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16322" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16324" CreationDate="2017-06-15T20:49:15.810" Score="5" ViewCount="703" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are these fungi I found on a dead birch? Initially, I thought perhaps &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/ganoderma-applanatum.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;artist's bracket&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/ganoderma-australe.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;southern bracket&lt;/a&gt;, but now I think they might be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomes_fomentarius&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;horses hoof fungus&lt;/a&gt;? I'm not very knowledgeable about this sort of stuff so I could be well off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in lowland Scotland and, they were on the same tree though there was a darker bracket on a log that was on the ground right next to it. I was looking for cramp ball fungus and all I could find until these was wood-ear on some old dead elder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones I touched were hard but I didn't try to get up to the ones on the tree, there was a swarm of beasties about and my dinner was enough protein for my tastes. The tree was split just below the half way point and was abundant. Some were greyer/browner on top and others were mainly white from bottom through to a thin top of pale brown/grey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oiqA6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oiqA6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6DtbS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6DtbS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;fungi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps. sorry, I know the pictures are rubbish! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a slightly edited photo that makes their features a little more distinct.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x9DI4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x9DI4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;a little washed out but clearer pattern&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a few more photos, I edited the colour values on one of them to make it less bright and the other I'll just upload. You can see the trees state and its abundance clearly at least, if nothing else... and I also show in this second update the black fungi.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qZjiC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qZjiC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;twenty&amp;#39;s plenty&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJDaI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJDaI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rock solid&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went back and collected some, definitely sure it is horses hoof fungus and I'm looking forward to processing some amadou from it. Any ideas of uses for the spore tubes? &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGuqO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGuqO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;collected horses hoof&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;They are quite sturdy and apparently they are parasitic and can cause damage to living trees. They live a long time! I took a few and left the others for some other lucky passerby. Quite tricky to get off the tree though... seemingly if you cut free the trama layer, which is sort of like cork or suede, on the outer of the tubes, then let it soak in a mixture of water and ash, before boiling for an hour or so, then gently beating the material to loosen the fibers, you end up with a material that is great for taking a spark from flint/steel or ferro rod, and can smoulder for quite a long time, so you could use it to carry fire with you if you didn't have modern conveniences. Quite a cool fungus! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks to everyone who helped out!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13320" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:36:42.253" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:36:42.253" Title="What are these fungi that I've found growing on a dead birch?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2017-06-16T02:03:40.970" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly , I have done this before and it feels really good and makes your whole mouth feel refreshed. We live near a creek , so , it's usually pretty wet and the grape vines are everywhere. I have noticed that it as a slight plant like taste to it. But I honestly like it.  I hope this helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13321" LastActivityDate="2017-06-16T02:03:40.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16322" CreationDate="2017-06-16T06:03:41.850" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would agree with your research, I am certain that it is &lt;em&gt;Fomes fomentarius&lt;/em&gt; - Hoof Fungus. Common in Scotland, and northern England, becoming progressively rarer as you travel south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some that I photographed in the Great Glen, Scotland, when kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old ones...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vErYi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vErYi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and a fresh one...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qdl8E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qdl8E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently it can be used by trout fishermen to dry their artificial flies, and a dried bracket was found in the possession of Otzi the Iceman whose body was found preserved in a glacier on the border between Italy and Austria. (Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/fomes-fomentarius.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fomes fomentarius (L. ex Fr.) Kickx- Hoof Fungus&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a similar looking fungi that it could be &lt;em&gt;Phellinus igniarius&lt;/em&gt;, but it is rarer in Britain and more often found on willows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-06-17T13:28:22.073" LastActivityDate="2017-06-17T13:28:22.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16318" CreationDate="2017-06-16T13:09:33.913" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about using a couple frogs on your belt.  The type of frog I suggest is similar to a bayonet frog.  It's usually a piece of leather looped around your belt with a holder for a tool.  In the case of a bayonet frog that tool is obviously a bayonet.  But why can't it be an axe or machete? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disadvantage to this is that the axe handle will hang down by your legs and may interfere with walking.  Though, frogs were used for centuries to effectively carry swords and rapiers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-06-16T13:09:33.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16321" CreationDate="2017-06-16T20:56:32.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a technical standpoint, it depends. For example, for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Professional/Harnesses/FALCON#.WURDlkBt8Xc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Falcon&lt;/a&gt; line of rescue harness, only the Mountain is rated fo &lt;em&gt;operations involving technical climbing&lt;/em&gt;. The Ascent &lt;em&gt;is not suitable for progression using rock climbing techniques&lt;/em&gt;. You will need to carefully read the instructions for your rescue harness to determine its suitability for rock climbing. Sport climbing harnesses lack many of the features (e.g., good padding and compatibility with a chest harness) and durability of rescue harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a practical vantage, many SAR teams require dedicated equipment and using your rescue equipment for personal use would be a violation of their policies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-06-16T20:56:32.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16322" CreationDate="2017-06-17T18:25:16.363" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We called them birch ears here. They are antiseptic. If you get cut, slice some and cover the wound with them.  But they are not an eating mushroom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-17T18:31:13.423" LastActivityDate="2017-06-17T18:31:13.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16331" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16344" CreationDate="2017-06-19T11:59:12.927" Score="13" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the rivers in England and Wales are designated as having a &quot;Right of Navigation&quot;. I understand that this is typically interpreted as meaning that you can travel along it in a boat or vessel. I'm interested in knowing whether this also includes the right to swim along the river, so long as one is truly travelling along the river, rather than 'loitering'. I can find no mention that 'navigation' excludes swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://nabo.org.uk/files/members/right_of_nav.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a list of rivers that fall under this category, and some further information. I'm ideally looking for an authoritative answer as swimmers frequently find themselves being shouted at by anglers who claim that swimming is not permitted. However, I cannot find any legislation to suggest that swimming is illegal along a river with a right of navigation. I would expect to both enter and exit the river from public land, just as a kayaker would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="676" LastEditorUserId="676" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T12:40:32.697" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T18:12:41.113" Title="Swimming in a river in England or Wales with a right of navigation" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;england&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16342" CreationDate="2017-06-19T12:46:55.627" Score="4" ViewCount="468" Body="&lt;p&gt;The weather has been really nice this weekend in North wales so over the weekend I set up a slack line in my back garden to have a play about on!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On Sun I went to take it all down. Problem is I attached one end of the line to a carabiner using a clove hitch, it appears this was a big mistake. The hitch is now totally locked up and I can't undo or move the knot, it's been under tension for about 2 days. In hindsight this was probably not the knot to use here...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone suggest any good tricks to loosing the knot off? or do I have to cut the thing off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seen someone suggest a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Fid&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. But I obviously don't own one of these? Alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T15:13:39.203" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T10:55:22.627" Title="Undoing an over tight Clove Hitch?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;&lt;clove-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16332" CreationDate="2017-06-19T13:54:35.923" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about a pencil? I use a pencil to add a little play into stubborn knots.  Don't use a very sharp point, use one that has a rounded point to avoid puncturing the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't climb so the line I use is nautical in nature.  You may want to treat your climbing line more carefully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T13:54:35.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16334" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Link to animation of how to tie a clove hitch can be seen here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveend/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveend/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16335" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" Score="0" Body="A clove hitch is a common climbing/sailing knot. It is locking but also adjustable making it a very versatile knot. Be wary though the clove hitch will slip and can lock under heavy load!" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T15:18:48.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16336" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16340" CreationDate="2017-06-19T15:25:28.930" Score="8" ViewCount="891" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveend/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;description for a clove hitch on animated knots by Grog&lt;/a&gt; (the go to bible of knots IMO) I was surprised to read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caution:&lt;/strong&gt; The Clove Hitch was, originally, included here with the&#xA;  intention of condemning it. It does have two giant faults: it slips&#xA;  and, paradoxically, can also bind. It should be deeply distrusted when&#xA;  used by itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every climber I know relies heavily on this knot and I've seen it used on countless tutorials yet it seems to be marked as &quot;deeply distrusted when used by itself&quot; on Grog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should the clove hitch(with a good length tail) be deeply distrusted ? Why/why not? What alternatives are there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems to come from a sailing point of view, why (if this is the answer) is it not trusted in sailing but it is in climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T09:17:01.417" Title="Is a clove hitch to be distrusted in climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;clove-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16337" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-19T15:45:47.020" Score="5" ViewCount="1602" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once again found a fungi growing on birch and I'm not entirely sure what it is. It looks quite like the chaga fungi but I'm really not too sure! I have seen chaga in some videos before and it seemed much darker but I don't know anything else it might be. The log was on the ground and quite damp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes it is in lowland scotland, the same general area as my previous &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16322/what-are-these-fungi-that-ive-found-growing-on-a-dead-birch&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;! I had a look around to see what else I could find and this is what I found. It wasn't the same tree, maybe about 40 meters from that one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iGPdO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iGPdO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;perhaps chaga?&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13320" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:47:12.967" LastActivityDate="2020-07-15T23:41:35.960" Title="Is this fungus on a birch tree Chaga?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;fungi&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16227" CreationDate="2017-06-19T20:22:36.593" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I said in the comments, I believe my findings deserve an answer on their own. These matters are urgent and I'm a little troubled by what I've found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've sent emails to three major rope manufacturers (Petzl, Beal, Mammut). Only Mammut cared to even write me an answer - which made me feel lonely and friendless. But anyway, I don't think there would be any major difference between all answers I would receive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember I asked for clarification about topics that are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; contained in either EN 892 or the UIAA standard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Regarding UV Exposure&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mammut clarified this point in a way that makes sense to me. We should not be worried about UV damage to the rope because the sheath, which is approximately 1mm thick, breaks the UV before it hits the core. This is true for all modern ropes, and some of them actually exaggerate: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/climbing-rope/sterling-marathon-pro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling's Marathon Pro&lt;/a&gt; has a double sheath, which I believe makes this rope's half-life sort of infinite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Regarding Temperature Range&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mammut says warm temperatures are not a major concern and that they have tested this internally. At this point I sent another email saying that testing stuff internally doesn't convince me unless some statistics are shown to me. Mammut said that they couldn't sent me any statistics, and that they tested the ropes both for the standard temperature (23ºC) and an extreme temperature (50ºC). They say the outcome was the same. I don't believe it. I think there are significant changes in elasticity - but I do believe it's not dangerous to climb in the heat, it only wears your rope significantly more and might turn the catch stiffer if you regularly take whippers in the heat (my opinion).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding low temperatures, my hint was correct: it might not be safe to climb in extremely low temperatures. According to Mammut, cold temperatures might shrink the rope in up to 10% of its length - this makes the catch stiffer. I don't think it would be stiff enough to hurt someone or to break the rope, but I do think taking a factor 2 fall on a frozen rope is not at all a good idea. A major problem about climbing in low temperatures has to to with the heat generated in the impact melting the ice and the rope becoming wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Regarding Wet Ropes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where the problem is real. According to Mammut, I should not be worried about my rope unless it is wet. &lt;a href=&quot;http://kristinandjerry.name/cmru/rescue_info/Technical%20Rescue%20Research/Performance%20Of%20Nylon%20Climbing%20Ropes%20-%20Cutler.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some home-made studies&lt;/a&gt; address both the problem of water and dirt on ropes. I also remember having read (I won't look for this reference right now, but I think it was UIAA itself) that climbing ropes might lose up to 80% of their resistances if wet. The combination of water and dirt might be specially dangerous. Mammut said that they have a very strict method for building dry ropes because water is so dangerous - and that sort of makes me wonder why the hell people still build ropes with non-dry treatment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; don't worry about the UV, and unless you're climbing in an icy environment with a non-dry rope, don't worry too much about low temperatures - but keep in mind your rope might be much shorter. Don't take factor 2 whippers (ever, if possible), since in extreme cold they might &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; hurt or break you up. High temperatures are not dangerous, but your rope will wear out faster climbing in them. Also, high temperatures might come together with high humidity, which is the only thing you should be really worried about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Curiosity of the day:&lt;/strong&gt; manufacturers like Mammut do take a seat in the meetings that decide changes in norms and standards. This means they can do something about what's missing in them, if they want. I'm inclined to say that if they are not insisting on including these things in the norms, it's a little because they don't matter much and a little because no one wants to spend more money doing more tests - even if they would clarify a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T20:22:36.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16331" CreationDate="2017-06-19T20:32:05.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a Brit, but I've found two articles that strongly suggest that swimmers can travel along a river or portion of a river designated as having a &lt;em&gt;Right of Navigation&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://naturenet.net/law/rivers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Navigation Law and access to water&lt;/em&gt; on Naturenet.net:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A right of navigation where it exists is a right to use the river to&#xA;  its full capacity. There is no such thing as a limited right of&#xA;  navigation such as a right limited to canoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above source appears to be neutral on the subject of Right of Navigation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/apr/04/right-rivers-richard-benyon-interests&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another source&lt;/a&gt;, which is impassioned on the question of &lt;em&gt;access&lt;/em&gt;, speaks at least twice of access being denied to &quot;canoers, kayakers and swimmers&quot;.  The question of access to the river is the hot issue, and is different from what is allowed on the river where access is permitted. This pro-access article assumes equal rights for swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T23:51:20.280" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T23:51:20.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16336" CreationDate="2017-06-19T20:54:57.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As noted in the last sentence of the question: Animated Knots is not (mainly?) addressing knots in the context of climbing/mountaineering. There is significant difference in types of knot used and purposes between different disciplines (as well as a lot of overlap of course).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this specific case two problems are listed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;slipping&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This isn't a major problem for the typical use-cases in climbing: Self-securing at belay and temporary fixation of a rope (certainly not exhaustive). A use case where slipping is fatal would be fixing the end of a rope. I have never seen any instruction to do this or anyone doing this in the field, that's usually done with a figure-eight.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, I never personally observed slipping (doesn't mean there is any in all circumstances). Maybe this is due to it being used on thick poles in sailing and thin biners in climbing (small radius usually means higher forces and thus friction).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;binding&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Certainly true, but again easily solved when done on a biner by moving the knot repeatedly in opposite directions. I guess that's not possible when it is done on a big pole (too much friction).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in the end this is a very versatile knot that is used ubiquitously in climbing and these two downsides are apparently not relevant (enough) for climbing to make it unsuitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-20T09:17:01.417" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T09:17:01.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16336" CreationDate="2017-06-19T20:57:16.093" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;How well this knot is slipping should be dependent on the proportion of the diameter of the rope in relation to the diameter of the pole on which is used (nautical) or the carabiner (in climbing). If you tie a clove hitch around a very big diameter, it slips more easily. A diameter similiar to the rope or even smaller introduces way more friction between the strands of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second is, how well is it tightened. A non-tightened clove hitch will slip under moderate tension. (OK, edit: one can carefully craft a non-tightened clove hitch which will slip if drawn carefully)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third is whether it is under continous load, or rapidly unloaded and loaded (thrashing wind).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do fully trust this knot, as it sometimes being the only knot which holds me, e.g. when belaying my second. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-06-19T21:03:22.607" LastActivityDate="2017-06-19T21:03:22.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16332" CreationDate="2017-06-20T08:02:34.230" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/16333/2766&quot;&gt;suggestion by B540Glenn&lt;/a&gt;. Unfortunately this resulted in a very broken pencil and not much progress. It did though inspire me!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figured if I had something pencil shaped but stronger this would probably work. Digging though my tool box I came across a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Nail-Set+Centre-Punch/p/500068&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nail set&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/flnCp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/flnCp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figured this would be perfect. So I set to work forcing the set into the gaps between the ropes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place the set into a suitable gap, hammer gently ensuring the set is going between the coils and not though them:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9YKVS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9YKVS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/51mqb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/51mqb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Starting to get though&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hs3fL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hs3fL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Set though coil of the rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After doing this a couple of times in a couple of places and some gentle levering the knot started to loosen. After a couple of minutes it was loose enough to slip off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dExJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dExJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Released biner and rope. Note the broken pencil and black marks (from the pencil lead) on the rope!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Word of warning, this has done some minor damage to the carabiner and rope. I don't use this rope or biner for climbing so I'm not really bothered but you might want to be wary/more careful than me if you want to keep using these items afterwards for climbing. I mostly use this rope for slacklining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-20T10:55:22.627" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T10:55:22.627" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16331" CreationDate="2017-06-20T08:47:38.620" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, the law on river swimming in England and Wales is a mess. Below the tidal limit swimming is unambiguously legal, provided you access the water from public land. In fresh water, the true answer is that nobody knows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is from a submission by the Outdoor Swimming Society to the National Assembly of Wales, and it's about as authoritative as you're going to get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The laws governing rights of access to (and restrictions on the use of) inland water are immensely complex and piecemeal, being derived from a combination of very old case law, miscellaneous statutory provisions and local byelaws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps more importantly, there is a great deal of uncertainty about&#xA;what the law actually permits, even where legal advice is obtained.&#xA;Much of the case law is contradictory and unclear as to its scope. There is uncertainty as to whether laws relating to commercial uses apply to recreational uses, and whether laws relating to certain types of access to inland water (for example, rights of navigation) extend to other types of access (for example, swimming).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also Douglas Caffyn, &lt;em&gt;The Right of Navigation on Nontidal&#xA;Rivers and the Common Law&lt;/em&gt;, 2004, which comes to a similar conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practical terms it seems to boil down to local use and practice. Land owners can allow permissive access at their discretion. On the Dart, where I swim, the situation is good and most of the best spots are accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for conflict with anglers, we should surely apply a bit of courtesy and commonsense. They have often paid for their fishing, and can be an important contributor to the local economy. As wild swimming groups are pressing for improvements to the law, it would seem best not to antagonise this large and well-organised lobby. So whenever possible it makes sense to avoid the times and places where angling is popular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution, of course, would be legislation similar to the Land Reform&#xA;(Scotland) Act 2003, which liberalised access to wild land and water in Scotland. In general, all parties agree that it has been a striking success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-06-20T18:12:41.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16345" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16348" CreationDate="2017-06-20T13:01:41.177" Score="6" ViewCount="703" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a new water filter, which removes bacteria and protozoa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's tempting to imagine that I can now go around drinking from whatever revolting-looking puddles I come across, but I'm mindful that the filter will not remove viruses and nor will it remove harmful dissolved chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are either of these two forms of contamination likely in upland UK areas?  Are there any ways to tell that a body of water may not be fit to drink even after filtering?  One example might be visible algal blooms (which can produce harmful toxins which won't be filtered out, though the algae themselves will).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this will also (partly) apply to boiling - though boiling will inactivate most (all?) viruses it will not deal with all forms of chemical contamination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:14:47.467" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:14:47.467" Title="What are the most likely causes of unfilterable water contamination in upland UK areas?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16402" CreationDate="2017-06-20T21:02:36.983" Score="9" ViewCount="2705" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/downloads_public/knots/Bowlines_Analysis.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the most comprehensive reference&lt;/a&gt; ever written on bowlines, the EBSB bowline (which is a variation of another variation, called the EBDB bowline, together with a sort of Yosemite finish) is probably the safest easily undone tie-in knot for climbing. It looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SpFJu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SpFJu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;picture of bowline&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can modify my EBDB bowline until it looks exactly like this knot. I'm pretty sure it's the very same, but I want to be over-sure. I can't find a reference that teaches to tie this knot step by step anywhere. Can someone help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-21T14:31:24.983" LastActivityDate="2021-04-22T15:30:35.850" Title="How to tie an EBSB bowline?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16345" CreationDate="2017-06-20T23:39:54.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Viral infection&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have a quality filter which genuinely removes bacteria and protozoa, you are probably safer from viral infection than you think. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Viruses are quite likely to be present in upland water via contamination from human and animal faeces. But they don't tend to exist in isolation - they are normally attached to larger organisms such as bacteria. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've discussed this at length with a filter expert who was involved in a large test for the UK military. They found that quality filters were removing viruses effectively, even though viruses were theoretically small enough to pass through the filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on this advice I've drunk some heavily contaminated water in the Alps using a good filter, with no ill effects. I also walk weekly on Dartmoor, where the water is quite infected by humans and stock, and the filter has protected me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be doubly sure, you could carry some purification tablets for use in sketchy situations, but I haven't felt the need and I've lived to tell the tale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I'll drink unfiltered if the source is fast-flowing and high on the hill, but otherwise I filter. In the UK the risks are modest and many people drink straight from the stream. But the consequences of an infection can be pretty unpleasant, and as filtering is so easy I prefer to be safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chemical contamination&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most portable filters are not effective in removing chemicals. The three main issues are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Run-off from mining&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Run-off from agriculture&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Algal blooms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, it's normally fairly trivial to avoid these contaminants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In areas that have been mined you might want to ask locally if you are planning to camp low down. On the tops you should be above any mine-works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I avoid drinking water below arable farmland - this is not usually an issue in the hills if you plan ahead - just source your water on the higher passages of your walks. On coastal paths I'll carry enough water to get me to the next reliable source. With a filter, you can drink safely from the taps in toilets, from fountains, and from similar sources without having to resort to bottled water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blooms are rare in the UK and should be obvious if encountered. Given our climate, there is usually a running source above the infected body of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A quality filter should be all you need in UK conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So with a little common-sense and planning a good filter should see you through. There's no need to exaggerate the risks, but it's worth taking basic precautions whenever there is any doubt about water quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-21T02:00:29.087" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T02:00:29.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16349" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16373" CreationDate="2017-06-21T01:52:05.520" Score="9" ViewCount="2551" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the smell of sun-dried clothes/blankets/etc, and I got some line to make a clothesline. I've got a device that you pull the line through and it stays where you pulled it, which will be on the end of the line that's anchored to my great outdoors vehicle. I don't know the name of the device, but, anyway, the other end is to be tied to a tree branch. I'm wondering what would be a good knot to tie around the branch so that it can stay tight from the pull on the anchored end---with the device, but be able to be pulled loose on the branch end when I need to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is to say, I need the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) I can tighten the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) I can pull the loose end of the rope to undo the whole thing.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) I don't have to pick at the rope to undo it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;*While the loop is around the branch.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13336" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T02:17:31.403" Title="What would be a good knot to tie a clothesline to a tree?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-06-21T03:00:28.943" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt; knot or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveend/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;clove&lt;/a&gt; hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) (2) (3) added to the question after this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T14:31:30.833" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T14:31:30.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16351" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16352" CreationDate="2017-06-21T03:23:37.327" Score="5" ViewCount="370" Body="&lt;p&gt;My 15 y/o son has expressed an interest in fishing.  He tried it recently using borrowed equipment and would like to get his own.  I fished as a teenager and liked it well enough to do it again.  Then again, I don't miss it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that background I am interested in purchasing the basic gear:  not so cheap that it destroys the experience and not so expensive that I feel I have to go every weekend to justify it.  I could see going four times a year.  I am open to &quot;regular&quot; fishing and &quot;fly&quot; fishing (which I've never done).  We live in Denver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I buy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T10:53:53.507" Title="Getting started fishing" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16351" CreationDate="2017-06-21T06:55:57.103" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go to your local fishing shop. They usually can give you some solid advice. Good fishing gear does not have to be expensive, even for larger fish. Once you get really specialized, you might need an edge. Until then it is smooth sailing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really just want to go fishing about four times a year, grab a light to medium spinning rod, a light to medium spinning reel, some 15lbs braid. Get some of the mentioned lures below, floats and sinkers, a fine selection of hooks, some split shot, and you are set for everything. Once you get hooked (hehe) and look further into fishing, you will see what you should focus on. With your allround gear, you will have a nice foundation to start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming from Europe, I know that bass fishing is a big thing over in the US. Fun fish that basically bite everything that moves through the water. Depending on your local bodies of water, you could start with this target fish, and somewhat specialize. But you did not specify what kind of fishing you would like when &quot;regular&quot; fishing. Thus I will try to cover some of your options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is what some call &quot;active fishing&quot; and non-active fishing, for which I have never used or heard a term.&#xA;Active fishing is everything where you actively guide your bait, like artificial lures, spinners, wobblers, and what-not (the list of these kind of lures becomes very long!). Fly fishing falls under this category as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of active fishing is that you can be very spontaneous and have only little requirements of your fishing spot. You don't need space to sit and stash your equipment, you can fish almost any depth and water vegetation, and since you always have your lures in your tackle box, you can go fishing anytime. &#xA;You are mobile and can move a lot, and you might feel exhausted after a long day of fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;non-active&quot; style of fishing, for which I don't know a term, revolves around presenting a bait to the fish, and waiting for them to bite. You can use floats, special rods with soft tips, or electronic tools to notify you of fish biting. Personally, I love fishing with floats. This kind of fishing can be very relaxing, you enjoy nature, the silence, but are always somewhat focused of your float. This is pure meditation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, these two kinds of fishing have different requirements on your gear. For active fishing, you need a rod that fits the weight of your lure, allows you to feel your lure working in the water, allows you to feel fish interacting with your lure, allows you to guide the lure and reel in the fish properly. While you certainly do not need expensive gear, your gear must fit your lure, target fish, and style of fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the non-active style of fishing, your rig does most of the work. Your gear must be able to handle the fish, but apart of that, you could use a stick as a rod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alright, lets get you equipped. I will not go into all aspects of fishing rods - it's just too much. I will just tell you what you need, but you might want to get some consulting in your local shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For active fishing, you must think about your target fish and the baits you will use. For smaller fish, you will use fine gear. For bigger fish, you will use heavy gear. Active fishing usually is on the fine side. These rods are light and thin, but often relatively stiff. This way you can guide and feel your lure. Keep an eye on its lure weight (if that is the correct term in english. The ideal weight range to use the rod.). It should somewhat match your lures. Slap a reel on your rod that somewhat fits in size. I could go into many details, but after all the reel will not really make or break your fishing experience. Go with a stationary reel. For your fishing line, you can go with mono or braid. I would use braid, but you can use mono as well. Again, this choice depende on your target fish, get some information in your local shop. They will also be able to tell you the appropriate strength. You could just go with some 15 lbs braid. This is overpowered for most target fish, but braid line is fairly thin, so it won't make much of a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you would need some lures. Get some spinbaits your some easy throw-and-reel-in fishing. Get some soft bait and sinkers for some slower fishing (you throw and then reel slowly, or just pull with your rod, work the bait). Get some hard bait for more advanced fishing. I can not go into more detail without going too off-topic. There are too much poosibilities&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now to non-active fishing. Unless you use the tip of your rod as bite-indicator, you can use any rod. It should match your target fish (too light, and big fish might break your gear. Too heavy, and you won't feel anything. &quot;Feeling&quot; the fish can make the difference between losing or not losing a fish.) Pick an appropriate reel and line, you could get some fluorocarbon (supposedly &quot;invisible&quot; leader once submerged in water) to get an edge, or just leave it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending or your style of fishing, get some floats, split shot, sinkers, hooks. Your hooks should match your bait in style (for example worm hooks for worms), and you target fish in size. Your sinkers (for some ground fishing for example) should match your rod and waters in weight. Moving waters require larger weight to stay stationary (there is much more on this topic, but i'll leave it at that). Your floats should match your target fish, fishing distance, and bait. If you fish fairly close to you, you can use smaller floats. Bigger baits and larger casting distances require bigger floats. Again, get some information from your local shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2017-06-21T10:53:53.507" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T10:53:53.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-06-21T07:57:11.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What your talking about here is essentially a slip knot. This will tension under load and not slip off. There are several options I'd say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/noose/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A noose&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlinerunning/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Running&#xA;bowline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/poachers/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poachers knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A figure of eight&lt;/a&gt; with the rope passed though it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to tension the line you can use something like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;truckers hitch&lt;/a&gt;, I used this on my house washing line to get it good and tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply for simplicity I'd probably say a noose is the best bet. If you want something fancy then use the running bowline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the line is slipping laterally (on a horizontal branch), you may want to attach it using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;prusik&lt;/a&gt;. This will resist slipping sideways as it will &quot;grip&quot; the branch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T07:57:11.667" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16354" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16365" CreationDate="2017-06-21T09:43:06.593" Score="6" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;The comment on a previous &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/16342/2766&quot;&gt;question I posted here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am not sure whether this biner was aluminum, but it could be, so a&#xA;  warning (please excuse me if the biner is steel): Aluminum biners are&#xA;  not suited for constant high loads (even less if the forces change&#xA;  around a high value). You should always use steel biners for&#xA;  slacklines and if an aluminum was used, retire it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Got me thinking. When setting up this slackline I used a dyneema at one end to extend the rope slightly. I actually picked dyneema purposly as I didn't want it to stretch. It was under tension (from the slack line and people using the slack line) for a number of hours. I noticed afterwards that the sling had become slightly &quot;stiff&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I now retire this sling? Is it ok to expose dyneema to this type of load or does it act like the aluminium crab mentioned in the comment? Would a Nylon one of held out any better? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to clarify, my question is, having used this sling for a slackline anchor and having had it under load, is it now OK to use while &lt;strong&gt;climbing&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T08:16:25.737" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T08:16:25.737" Title="Is it OK to keep a dyneema sling under constant tension (slackline)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;&lt;dyneema&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14044" CreationDate="2017-06-21T12:02:11.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually, this means that the area is designated for fly fishing with single hook flies.  This type of regulation is usually found in streams where the goal is catch and release fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13339" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T12:02:11.770" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2017-06-21T12:43:42.570" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bleeding really only needs to be done for fish that have really bloody meat. These fish are often &quot;athlete fish&quot; such as Jacks or Tunas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what it sounds like you are going to be fishing in rivers and lakes, this is not a situation where you are going to need to bleed the fish. Fish like trout, bass and walleye have white meat so you won't need to do this to them before you fillet them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13343" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T12:43:42.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-06-21T14:39:08.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm partial to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/anchor/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Anchor Hitch&quot;&gt;Anchor Hitch&lt;/a&gt; myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's simple, secure and you will be able to untie it when you're done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T14:39:08.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16362" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16366" CreationDate="2017-06-21T16:43:21.110" Score="9" ViewCount="556" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's rather warm outside (32.6°C or 91 F) and I'd like to go for a swim.  Having lived in The Netherlands and Sweden, I'm used to living near lakes and the fact that any surface water is by default open to swim in (unless a nature reserve or industrial site), but I have a hard time finding those in the UK.  Looking at places near me on wildswim.com, &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildswim.com/dinton-activity-centre&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one says&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;Open Water Swimming Sessions can only take place during supervised sessions run by the Activity Centre. No swimming is to take place other then through and organised session.&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildswim.com/copthorne-hotel-lake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;another&lt;/a&gt; has specific opening hours.  Both make no sense at all for &lt;strong&gt;wild&lt;/strong&gt; swimming, so now I'm rather confused.  I also found &lt;a href=&quot;https://beta.wildswim.com/Collection/Details/39019e7e-18ea-4072-8d8e-a77c00cd6ffb&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this list&lt;/a&gt; but it's incredibly short for a country the size of the UK (NB: the aforementoined link is currently misconfigured which may trigger security warnings, but lists to a dozen or so popular public lake beaches within the UK)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's plenty of surface water &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ie/maps/@51.4320687,-0.94182,13828m/data=!3m1!1e3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;near me&lt;/a&gt;, and I'd like to take a dip and cool off.  I don't care for changing rooms, safety buoys, or supervision (but I'd appreciate not to have to wade through 3-metre high stinging nettles to reach a lakeshore).  If I identify a pond, lake, canal, or river, how would I tell whether swimming is permitted there?  Is it permitted unless explicitly prohibited, or is it by default not allowed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16331/566&quot;&gt;Swimming in a river in England or Wales with a right of navigation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; I ended up having a nice swim in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/51.41196/-0.89257&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Wood Lake&lt;/a&gt;.  One end of the lake had a sign &lt;em&gt;Swimming strictly prohibited, dangerous water&lt;/em&gt;.  The other end had a wooden platform with a ladder down into the lake.  Very unclear but apart from &lt;em&gt;if you can't swim you may drown&lt;/em&gt; I did not see any indication of danger and I don't know if the prohibition was just at the sign or at the entire lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T08:11:03.850" LastActivityDate="2019-04-30T19:24:19.717" Title="Where can I take a dip?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6271" CreationDate="2017-06-21T21:07:57.260" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a method requiring just a rope&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uUcC5.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uUcC5.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13349" LastEditorUserId="13114" LastEditDate="2017-06-22T00:34:03.710" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T00:34:03.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16354" CreationDate="2017-06-21T21:44:01.740" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you describe is called &lt;em&gt;creep&lt;/em&gt;. According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.balancecommunity.com/wp/slack-science/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2014/11/TB_Understanding-Creep_MAR2012_WEB.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this technical manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Creep is a material property frequently misunderstood and can be defined as the continued extension of a material when subjected to constant, long-term static loading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several types of dyneema and some of them have lower creep resistance. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.balancecommunity.com/slack-science/dyneema-slackline-rigging/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Balance community&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some of the earlier versions of Dyneema suffer from severe creep issues. Creep is the process of plastic deformation under load. That means when you tension a piece of Dyneema, it will continue to loose tension and physically become longer over time. New versions of Dyneema have started to mitigate this issue, with the creep properties of SK-99 being substantially better than all of it's predecessors. This issue only becomes a problem when using the fiber near it's breaking strength or if left under substantial tensions for a long period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, is that an issue? Should you retire your dyneema sling because of creep? Reading about creeping in applications more serious than slacklining (for example, in ropes for boat anchoring), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mooring-solutions.com/About_Dynex/Dyneema_Properties/Creep__85.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a mooring company&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Creep has two important effects in ropes. Loads will equalize between the different yarns, thus rope strength will increase in use. Secondly, it can be used to estimate the safe working life of a rope. In addition to permanent deformation or creep, a higher elongation will occur in a new rope while the fibres or rope adapt to the structure of the load.&#xA;  A worked rope or pre-stretched rope will therefore show less elongation than a new one. As the rope is put under tension for the first time, the fibres rearrange to provide better load sharing, resulting in a gain in the breaking load of 10%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which means that, since you're not worried about the fact that the sling got longer, but if it got weaker, the answer is &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; - at least superficially. You can confirm your sling is still intact by looking at its fibre structure (taken from balance community's website):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ApaTZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ApaTZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This figure is obviously about ropes, but it also applies to slings. Check you sling fibre structure: if it looks as anything above a 4 in the picture, retire it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2017-06-21T21:44:01.740" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16362" CreationDate="2017-06-21T23:04:47.573" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a good summary of the legal position of swimming in the UK&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20180905063142/http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/legal.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.river-swimming.co.uk/legal.htm &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the opening line is most interesting &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;The right to swim is a complex issue which, in many cases, is undetermined.&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; and I think that this forms the basis of my answer which is...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go for a swim wherever you fancy (apart from the areas listed (&#xA;reservoirs, private fishing lakes etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can access the water without trespassing on private land&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have carried out your own personal risk assessment (ie. the water type, the conditions, your swimming ability, hazards, does it smell/look clean?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You do no harm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are not interfering with, or endangering other legitimate users.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It &amp;quot;feels&amp;quot; right&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(6. You don't say that I said it was OK!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone challenges you, be polite and leave quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More than likely no one will notice, or be bothered, and you'll have a lovely swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-30T19:24:19.717" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16368" CreationDate="2017-06-22T08:15:54.837" Score="59" ViewCount="22738" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many UK lakes, I see signs prohibiting swimming with the explanation &lt;em&gt;DANGER: Deep water&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/legal.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This link contains an example&lt;/a&gt;.  I don't understand those signs.  Why is a 30 metre deep lake more dangerous to swimmers than a shallow 3 metre deep lake?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it because deep lakes may be colder (which depends on mixing)?  Currents (should be less, not more)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or does it &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; just mean &lt;em&gt;If you can't swim, you may drown&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Perhaps they're referring to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kraken&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nessie&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nessie&lt;/a&gt;, or other flesh-eating critters living in unseen depths?&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T14:48:31.373" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T14:52:32.263" Title="How does water depth affect swimming safety? Why do signs, especially in the UK, say &quot;DANGER: deep water&quot;?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T08:59:27.030" Score="58" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, there's the obvious issue that the bottom may shelve very steeply, so that non-swimmers trying to paddle may drown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, I think there's a specific point and a more general point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, deep water is more dangerous in terms of &lt;a href=&quot;http://completeguide.rnli.org/cold-water-shock.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cold water shock&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first 3-5 minutes after entering cold water there can be a gasp reflex or muscle spasms that might cause intake of water into the lungs. Also, blood pressure and heart rate are raised, which can cause heart problems or stroke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deep water will remain colder than shallow water. And if the swimmer gets into trouble, they will likely be out of their depth. Also, as has been pointed out in the comments, the banks will often be steep and harder to exit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The accidents tend to happen to young men with a macho approach to cold water. According to RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cold water shock can be prevented by people getting in slowly and&#xA;  acclimatising themselves to the water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But many of these young men tend to jump in and swim out 50 metres&#xA;  (150ft). All of a sudden, cold water shock kicks in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It has nothing to do with how strong a swimmer you are - if you look&#xA;  at triathletes, they wear wetsuits to protect themselves against the&#xA;  shock of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More generally, it seems that Local Authorities are increasingly taking a US-style legally defensive attitude to any risky activity. Increasingly their reflex is simply to ban swimming to cover themselves.  So from this perspective the notice may simply be an excuse for a ban. Here's the response of an official to an Outdoor Swimming Society petition for access to a lake:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Only if the Outdoor Swimming Society can strictly control and manage swimming on the lake, including providing and paying for the appropriate signage, safety measures, public liability insurance and cover of lifeguarding facilities all year round - and this council can be satisfied that all the necessary safety precautions are put in place and be indemnified against any incidents that may occur - will the council reconsider its position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good grief - talk about over the top! This was in a lake where sailing and canoeing were allowed, and the Society was asking why swimming had been singled out. This prejudice against outdoor swimming seems to be an English thing - you don't see it so much in Scotland or the Continent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are they going to ban next - sea bathing, perhaps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T13:27:50.593" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T13:27:50.593" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T09:07:21.700" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK, many of these signs are in old disused and flooded quarries and mines or reservoirs. The issue with any of these sites is they are typically incredibly deep (like 100m~) and become deep very fast. I know of at least one reservoir where within 2m of the shore it drops to the point where you can no longer see the bottom (I'm not even sure how deep it is).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it's hot it's easy to jump straight into the nice cool water. The problem is that the water being very deep takes a lot of energy to heat up, so even near the shore it can be tens of degrees Celsius colder than the air temperature. This can lead to cramp, stitches or even &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_shock_response&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cold water shock&lt;/a&gt; (see quote below from wikipedia). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In humans, cold shock response is perhaps the most common cause of&#xA;  death from immersion in very cold water,&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdH1H.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; such as by falling through&#xA;  thin ice. The immediate shock of the cold causes involuntary&#xA;  inhalation, which if underwater can result in drowning. The cold water&#xA;  can also cause heart attack due to vasoconstriction;[2] the heart has&#xA;  to work harder to pump the same volume of blood throughout the body.&#xA;  For people with heart disease, this additional workload can cause the&#xA;  heart to go into arrest. Inhalation of water (and thus drowning) may&#xA;  result from hyperventilation. Some people are much better able to&#xA;  survive swimming in very cold water due to body or mental&#xA;  conditioning.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdH1H.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any of these responses it can become impossible to swim. If the water gets very deep very quickly, you don't have to be far from the shore to get into serious issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most lakes, etc. in the UK don't have life guards or typically anyone near with a boat, etc. so it's difficult to help people in these situations. This, historically, has led to groups of people (mostly teenagers) drowning as when one gets into trouble, people rush to help and end up drowning too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's become a particular issue in the UK because we have lots of old (Victorian) industrial sites, many of which are flooded. For example, living in North Wales where I live is literally covered in quarries, and mines like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdH1H.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdH1H.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gallery/watch-king-arthur-stuntman-jumps-9096140&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of headlines from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27923677&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article on the BBC&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;381 people drowned in accidents across the UK in 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gullet Quarry, in Worcestershire, claimed the lives of two swimmers&#xA;  during July 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The body of Conor McColl, 16, from Luton, was recovered from a former&#xA;  quarry in Clophill, Bedfordshire&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Headlines like the above have led to a lot of legitimate and &lt;strong&gt;silly&lt;/strong&gt; (that add no benefit), signs being put up by councils and local authorities. They simply don't want to get asked &lt;em&gt;&quot;Why didn't you do anything about this hazard&quot;&lt;/em&gt; when/if someone dies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T18:58:38.083" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T18:58:38.083" CommentCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16362" CreationDate="2017-06-22T09:38:11.267" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a supplement to Martin Hugi's excellent answer I would add that there will likely be groups of people locally with an interest in outdoor swimming, and they will know all the best spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my area there is a Facebook Group, a website with a detailed guide and map, and a couple of bloggers who write up their swims with details of temperature and conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply hook up with people on social media and you should be on your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is mainly an issue in England and Wales. As a Scot, I should proudly mention that we have some of the most enlightened access laws in the world and that these apply to swimming as well as walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T09:38:11.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-06-22T11:34:17.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Round turn and two half hitches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_turn_and_two_half-hitches&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_turn_and_two_half-hitches&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's exactly what this knot is for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5740" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T11:34:17.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-06-22T13:30:39.193" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you considered a quick-release hitch? My first instinct was a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/highwaymans/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;highwayman's hitch&lt;/a&gt;, but that page suggests the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/tumble/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tumble hitch&lt;/a&gt; as a superior alternative. Both knots have one end that can hold a load, and another end that can be used to instantly untie it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word of warning: don't use these knots for anything where a failing knot will cause more harm than some dirty clothes. As these are quick-release knots, they are more prone to unintentionally releasing quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13356" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T13:30:39.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T13:49:21.140" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm always tempted to suggest that if they can put up a sign they can put up a life ring, and sometimes they do.  But the rate of vandalism and theft of rescue equipment, while small, is real. Of course such equipment wouldn't be much use without someone capable of using it. So it's easier just to warn people off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risks at many sites are high and include contamination and steep uneven banks. The policy of just warning people off only really becomes a problem when it becomes a blanket policy. There are still quite a lot of places where it's possible to swim in fresh water, but they can be a long way away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T13:49:21.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16375" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-22T14:37:26.470" Score="1" ViewCount="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a short camping trip coming up. This week, from using a wooden tool, I got blisters on my hands at the base of some fingers. In the future, ideally, I would take precaution to &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; get blisters before a camping trip. Alas, I have them, now what can I do? During the trip I expect to cut wood with axe &amp;amp; saw, keep a fire, and work with ropes setting up, moving around, and breaking down camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not worried about this trip as it's so short and the blisters aren't that bad to begin with. It does make me wonder though, if I have blisters and know I'll be potentially making them much worse, what are the best things I can do in between to heal and prep these spots for more friction? Wearing light work gloves in the first place or at camp is an obvious answer but are there other methods to treat the blisters directly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for related questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This addresses the first-aid options pretty well. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/756/should-you-pop-a-blister&quot;&gt;Should you pop a blister?&lt;/a&gt; If anything it makes me think, pop and treat these blisters while I can and then wrap them before expecting to apply more friction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This explains how to use wraps to protect the blister in the field. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4346/how-to-apply-duct-tapes-and-mole-skin-to-prevent-blisters&quot;&gt;How to apply duct tapes and mole skin to prevent blisters?&lt;/a&gt; Given the blisters are on my hand in this case, work gloves would suffice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T14:37:26.470" Title="How to minimize limitation/pain from blisters caused before a camping trip?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-06-22T15:30:50.110" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T15:07:18.703" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some commentary focuses on quarries and industrial lakes.  I am not of the opinion that that makes a difference: what's down there (ie, machinery, rock ridge formations, etc), and what's in the water (ie, chemicals) is more important than how deep the water is.  In this case, signs should scream &quot;Danger! Keep Out!&quot;, rather than &quot;Danger! Deep Water!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also not of the opinion that cold water temps at depths are a reason for the signs, although I do think it might play a role in swimmability, which pertains to your initial question.  But experienced swimmers know this, non-swimmers do not.  And at depths where temps make a difference to non-swimmers, the depth - and not the temps - is a more troublesome issue for the non-swimmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the question is broad, you did give an example of a lake.  In this case, things like currents or animals/fish playing a role in the &quot;deep&quot; part of the &quot;danger&quot; is less likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The word &quot;deep&quot; doesn't even have legal definition.  After all, pools are often labelled &quot;2 feet deep&quot;, &quot;12 feet deep&quot;, etc.  Is 2 feet really &quot;deep&quot;?  I think not.  So a sign that says &quot;deep water&quot; is simply playing to fears, forcing people to be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that is a valid context: to play on fears, as well as to avoid legal liability.  For example, you mention a lake.  Lakes are not &quot;x meters deep&quot;; rather, they have variable depths.  Someone who cannot swim, perhaps a child, may walk into a shallow area of a lake, walk around, and suddenly find themselves walking at depths they can no longer walk without having to swim.  Is it deep?  Yes, for that person, it's too deep for them to walk.  Is it deep for a diver?  No, of course not - but a diver is used to temperature changes as well as knows how to swim.  The signs, therefore, must pertain to those who cannot swim.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, you see signs at public pools which indicate how deep that part of the pool is - but you never see signs that warn of &quot;deep water&quot;, even at the 4 meter end.  There's a pool near me which has a 20' depth for scuba instruction and practice.  No signs.  Why?  Why does a lake with variable depths get signs, while a pool with a known depth not get a sign?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's the answer: the depths vary, and will be too deep for non-swimmers.  The water isn't more or less swimmable at varying depths, it is that it is less walkable at varying depths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And beaches: why do beaches never have signs indicating that water is deep?  The depth most definitely varies.  There are currents.  Temperatures more assuredly change.  There are fish, some really nasty ones like sharks and jellyfish.  Yet, there are not universally placed signs warning people of these dangers, right?  Well, not true:  It would take away from the beauty of the beaches to have these signs all over the place; but in fact, they do place signs there.  And they do tell you of the dangers: deep water, rip tides, shark sightings, rocks, buoys, and so on.  They're just usually not placed right in the middle of the water where one might swim (or walk) into one.  And they're very specific about the danger that lurks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to liability: That there are signs at all is probably to avoid legal liability, but only in limited cases.  The reality is that lakes are typically owned by government, and suing a government entity is a herculean task.  I think, then, liability is less of the impetus to place a warning sign then it is to help people know that waters are probably deeper than they are tall.  In private lakes, perhaps a warning sign has more legal implication, but your question didn't distinguish between private and public bodies of water.  Rather, you asked if depth made water more or less swimmable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, the example link you provided struck me as odd (and comical, with very young children playing around a scary looking danger sign).  I'm from the US, and am wondering if my definition of bathing and paddling are different than in the UK.  I'm imagining that bathing has a connotation that there is a lot less formality with regards to swimming, and deep water can affect your bathing.  A lost bathing suit can be most embarrassing if you can't swim down to retrieve it - but that hardly warrants a &quot;danger&quot; sign.  As to paddling, well, you're in a boat; the article mentions that swimming and navigation are two separate distinctions in UK law, and that might mean the difference.  Paddling, also, is dangerous to swimmers who could become injured by the craft in which you're paddling, or the paddles themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T15:07:18.703" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16377" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16380" CreationDate="2017-06-22T15:23:18.683" Score="2" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tangentially related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6084/pitching-a-tent-in-the-rain&quot;&gt;Pitching a tent in the rain?&lt;/a&gt; I want to know what the fastest way is for one person to setup a tarp as a big umbrella over a section of camp or as a leantoo for folks to gather under. The setting is in a northern temperate forest with plenty of deciduous and coniferous trees and relatively soft ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question isn't about setting up a shelter for sleeping in the rain, whether that be tarp or tent. It's for making general purpose camp-umbrellas out of apx 4m*4m tarps and other materials as needed. For example, I'm sure rope is needed and since trees are available, I'm not sure stakes are needed but maybe they are. If other equipment is helpful for this, that could be part of the answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my attempts so far, I expect the answer to focus on rope. There's a relevant answer in this question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11250/how-do-you-pitch-a-tarp-so-that-you-will-not-get-wet-in-a-heavy-rain&quot;&gt;How do you pitch a tarp so that you will not get wet in a heavy rain?&lt;/a&gt;) which I'll study more but since it is focused on tarp-tents, I wonder if it applies as well to higher, broader tarp-umbrella setups. What rope configurations are the fastest and most effective to get a tarp up for protection of people or gear at camp in the rain? Where are key tie-off points, what knots are best to practice, that sort of thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:00:45.027" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:00:45.027" Title="What's the fastest way for a single person to setup a tarp umbrella/leantoo in the rain in a nothern temperate forest?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T16:36:33.590" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depth affects safety because you can't breathe if the water level is above your nose, when your feet are standing at the bottom. After that point, it doesn't matter much; there is no difference between 2.5 meters and 25 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people cannot swim very far before they get too tired and need to stand on the bottom to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warning signs are for the general population, not for the English-channel-crossing Olympians. They apply to everyone from age 3 to 103. &quot;Swimming&quot;, for many people, means wading around, and making a few bold strokes here and there in between standing. Deep water doesn't accommodate that activity very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13359" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T16:36:33.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-22T17:09:17.197" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot swim, so if I am expecting something to be shallow enough to stand in and then it turns out that it is much deeper then I will die. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally I would expect that water gradually get deeper but in the case of a steep increase in depth, like a quarry, it may not be so obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I appreciate the deep water signs as well as not being dead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13361" LastEditorUserId="13361" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T18:47:43.403" LastActivityDate="2017-06-23T18:47:43.403" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16377" CreationDate="2017-06-22T20:50:55.263" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lean-tos are hard-sided structures, and are not really meant to be set up quickly.  As a hiker and scouter, I and my group carry tarps all the time, and expect rain to greet us wherever we decide to set up camp.  As such, tarps need to be one of the most accessible things you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were caught in a downpour, my immediate reaction to get/stay dry as quickly as possible would be to generally follow these steps, which does require a leader to step up assertively, and to have knowledgeable people in the group.  When either cannot be accommodated, your chances of a quick setup will look bleak.  And wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing occurs before you even set off:  You must pack appropriately, and everyone must be aware of where everything is.  This isn't just for good measure to stay dry, this applies in cases of emergency.  So, staying dry, staying warm, and having fast access to first aid kits, maps, and means for calling for help need to be very accessible, and everyone has an interest in knowing where these resources are.  Whether you are car camping, hiking, or whatever, everyone ought to know where the emergency equipment is.  Everyone should have personal rain gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next is when it begins to downpour.  The leader must take charge: Assign someone the various tasks, such as retrieval of rope, tarp, stakes, etc.  Not related specifically to your situation, but anyone who doesn't have a job needs to don rain gear.  Staying dry is a safety issue, so, everyone needs to be as dry as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First tie a rope across two trees, as high as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, toss a tarp over it, and guy the tarp with lines, secured to trees, rocks, or pegs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While tying out the tarp, everyone not doing anything needs to remain under the tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While at a Klondike event this past March with the boy scouts, the camp winners did this in a breathtaking 38 seconds.  Their method cannot apply to everyone, and I suspect that they got wind of the specifics of the event and then practiced it.  But here's what they did:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their patrol leader assigned 4 scouts to take on the rope across two trees; one scout climbs the back of another to gain height; each pair ties clove hitches to the tree using 1/2&quot; rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the scouts get into piggy back, and another lays the rope on the ground between the pairs, another scout is assigned to retrieve the tarp.  Rather than throw the tarp over a tied and taught rope, they performed the novel task of throwing the tarp over the rope as it lay on the ground as the pairs of boys assumed their piggy-back position.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the tarp was laid over the rope, and the pairs of boys were piggy-backed, the other scouts handed the pairs the rope, which was first secured on one side, then the other; meanwhile, others were tying the tarp corners with rope.  By the time the tarp was raised and the clove hitches were being secure, the guy lines were being secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;38 seconds was the record for the day.  Group of 8 worked as one well-oiled machine, very impressive.  I definitely took notes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was no easy feat.  Tying the clove hitches on the right side of both trees, getting that one scout to fetch the tarp and unfold it across the outstretched rope, getting the other scouts to tie 2-half hitches on all the corner grommets, getting a piggy-back, raising the center rope, tying off the guys... that took practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't expect every camper in every group to rehearse something like this, but each group needs to have the know-how and the equipment to efficiently set this up.  The key is the leadership to properly communicate what is needed, and the others to know how to perform their task.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T20:50:55.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3524" CreationDate="2017-06-22T21:18:29.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had celiacs disease going on 5 years now and I am lactose intolerant as well. I love hiking and backpacking so I've found a few ways to work around my diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For snacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kind bars&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bobo bars (coconut chocolate chip is my favorite)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bananas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Epic has really great trail mixes with tons of protein&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hard boiled eggs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;carrots and hummus&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nature Valley protein bars (the gluten free ones)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;homemade monster cookies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For meals:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;canned chili or pre-made in freezer bags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Umpqua GF instant oatmeal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pasta with pesto&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;granola with bananas and milk (freeze dried or bring a small container)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;instant brown rice with a can of black beans and tuna&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(leftover chili from dinner on top of) freeze dried eggs with salsa and corn tortillas for breakfast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avocados with tuna inside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;salami with (lactose free) cheese and GF crackers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13364" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-08-15T16:33:20.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T16:33:20.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6319" CreationDate="2017-06-22T23:27:13.143" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's several good answers about dehydration, I thought I'd talk a bit about watching for low electrolytes - I found myself benefiting a great deal from adding some to my drinks even when my activity is fairly mild, so I disagree with the assertion that they are only useful in extreme cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to watch for is, as Karen mentioned in a comment, that too much water and not enough salt feels &quot;sloshy&quot;.  It feels like the water isn't helping, or like you haven't drunk enough or you have symptoms of low water even if you've drunk a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; and you feel heavy with the water, or you feel a bit nauseous and disinclined to drink even though you need it (sweating, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to watch for is wanting salt - like feeling foods are under-salted, or craving salty snacks.  This can be rather subtle, it's easier to catch in retrospect than at the time since it meddles &lt;em&gt;with&lt;/em&gt; perception, and instead of feeling like you need more it may well feel like you've just had less.  This can also show up as wanting to eat - as in, the aforementioned sloshy feeling gets better if one eats between water breaks, but the salt level of the food tends to (in retrospect)  matter more than the bulk.  Salt (specifically, sodium) is one of the primary electrolytes, and relatively easy for the body to poke one to go looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possible symptom is fatigue, fuzzy-mindedness, difficulty concentrating, (slightly) blurred vision, or even headaches.  Again, this can be pretty subtle, especially if it's mild - I actually only noticed the absence of such after I started adding salt to some of my drinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A last possibility, and the easiest &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; most accurate, is to just add a bit of salt to your drink (half teaspoon or less per quart) - if it &lt;em&gt;helps&lt;/em&gt;, then you needed it.  If it tastes or feels good than it is probably worth adding salt to your water again, and paying attention to see if it helps in other ways - especially if the sensation is quite dramatic, that is one of the ways the body can communicate &quot;yes, we need this&quot;.  If salt intake in other areas (meals, etc) starts decreasing once you add a bit of salt to your drinks, then your salt intake is likely driven by need rather than desire, if it balances itself once you have enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth trying out, carrying a small water bottle laced with salt, etc - adding lemon and/or sugar are popular, salty lemonade is one of the easiest electrolyte drinks - or even just a tuck some salt, sugar, lemon packets, into a bag or pocket which you can mix into some water if you think you need it, which costs very little space or weight.  The occasional sip when exerting can help you figure out how the body feels if or when you need electrolytes - if you want pure water, you're likely fine, if (after a bit of walking) the salty lemonade seems like the best idea ever - especially if it seems &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; more appealing than before you started sweating - then you likely need the salts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For myself, the first time I had salty lemonade it was eye-crossingly good, once I started adding salt to my drinks regularly it backed off to merely pleasant - since the body felt it no longer needed to hit me over the head to get enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it does help you, you can think about lacing your primary water supply, or looking for more elaborate mixes (potassium and calcium salts are next in importance, then those needed in trace amounts like magnesium etc).  Or you can carry a small amount of something to mix with your water if/when you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13199" LastActivityDate="2017-06-22T23:27:13.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16383" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-23T01:51:17.553" Score="9" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;My late husband died 7 years ago &amp;amp; I still have his gear. I'm not comfortable leading (and I've lost half my shoulder tendons anyway), so I won't use it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the ropes, etriers, etc should be trashed, but what about used cams, pitons, friends, stoppers with no leader falls on them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas, or ways to assess which are safe to sell?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13368" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T14:16:40.887" LastActivityDate="2017-06-23T14:16:40.887" Title="Selling older gear - is it likely to be safe?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16383" CreationDate="2017-06-23T13:09:01.130" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know lots of people that buy second hand gear, especially cams (they're expensive!). I'm pretty sure you'll find there is a good market on ebay, etc for stuff like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/tech-tip-trad-making-the-call-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing.com offers some good advice&lt;/a&gt; on what to check:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cams&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any bend in a cam’s axle compromises the unit’s strength, even if the&#xA;  spring and trigger actions are still smooth. Regularly inspect your&#xA;  cams to make sure the axles are in good condition. As with biner&#xA;  gates, it’s essential that a cam’s springs work well enough to hold&#xA;  the unit in place until the cam is weighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the springs are sticky, give the device a good cleaning. Cam lobes&#xA;  slightly deform where the metal touches the rock during a fall. Small&#xA;  dents and deformations are fine, but any significant deformation can&#xA;  prevent a cam from rolling smoothly when loading. In this case,&#xA;  replace the unit. Most cam manufacturers will replace the slings for a&#xA;  reasonable fee, as will several third-party stitching services —&#xA;  follow the same guidelines for these slings as you would other&#xA;  “software.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main issue with cams is the sling. I'm not sure I'd trust a second hand cam sling, but given that a new cam can cost £50 I'd buy a second hand one for much less and replace the sling, I'd probably still save money on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Nuts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take a few good falls onto a nut placed in a horizontal and the cable&#xA;  will likely fray. After a good whipper, inspect the nut to make sure&#xA;  there aren’t any sharp burrs or frays in the non-weight-bearing ends&#xA;  of the wires that could tangle or damage your runners or draws —&#xA;  remove these burrs with a standard file or nail clippers. If there are&#xA;  frays or burrs in the weight-bearing wires, replace the nut. In the&#xA;  case of micro-nuts, especially the silver-soldered variety, bent or&#xA;  damaged wires at the head (from falls or aggressive cleaning) are&#xA;  common, and are grounds for immediate retirement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your right, second hand ropes and slings, etc. should prob be trashed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-23T14:16:03.190" LastActivityDate="2017-06-23T14:16:03.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16385" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16435" CreationDate="2017-06-23T13:26:12.987" Score="13" ViewCount="637" Body="&lt;p&gt;When scuba diving I use a weight belt for my weight system - my BCD does have an integrated weight system, but I am still working on my weight distribution for trim, and total amount for buoyancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My weight belt is similar to the image below which has a lead shot bag in but currently I use lead blocks as provided from my dive centre for rental.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fz51T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fz51T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that I often come away with bruising on my hips / sides from the lead blocks where either my drysuit undergarments have shifted to give less padding, or I've ended up with squeeze when descending and been unable to shift air around my drysuit sufficiently - also when using my 3mm shorty abroad for weighting with snorkelling I have experienced the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to move over to lead shot instead of lead block and would like to know what are the differences between the two and their benefits? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:13:59.233" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:13:59.233" Title="Lead shot vs Lead block weights" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-24T07:35:50.257" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's due to water pressure. I don't have to tell you that with every meter you go down, there's another meter of water above you. After a certain point, that could kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13380" LastActivityDate="2017-06-24T07:35:50.257" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="296" CreationDate="2017-06-24T08:24:43.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that doing 4 weeks at the climbing gym followed by 10 days at the normal gym has reduced my injuries and improved other aspects of my climbing, also posture, cardio and flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 10 days I focus on are 3-4-3 3 days all leg plyometrics and cardio. 4 days focussing on heavier weights on larger muscles and using lapis balls as grips for the machines light and high reps. Then 3 days boxing, cardio or bodyweight stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I come back to climbing I feel refreshed mentally and physically. I'm not saying its the best way, but for me when I get to week 3 of my training block and my fingers hurt I can focus on a certain amount of days until my active rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Btw is it all your fingers or just one (normally ring finger for me) that hurt? Is it the joints or dried up flappers that give you hassle? Good luck finding what works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13381" LastActivityDate="2017-06-24T08:24:43.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16389" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16390" CreationDate="2017-06-24T20:33:32.277" Score="5" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the lowest altitude where the effect of lack of acclimatization can be observed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that generally we speak about the need for acclimatization over 3000 meters (9800 feet). Are the negative effects, such as significantly decreased performance, headaches etc., observed on at least a significant part of the population at the lower altitudes, for example 2000 meters (6500 feet)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:55:35.693" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:55:35.693" Title="What is the lowest altitude where the effect of lack of acclimatization can be observed?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16389" CreationDate="2017-06-24T20:56:46.757" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ismm.org/index.php/normal-acclimatization.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Society for Mountain Medicine&lt;/a&gt;, in its article &lt;em&gt;Normal Acclimitization&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Acclimatization is the process of the body adjusting to the decreased&#xA;  availability of oxygen at high altitudes. It is a slow process, taking&#xA;  place over a period of days to weeks.    High altitude is defined as: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•High Altitude: 1500 - 3500 m (5000 - 11500 ft)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Very High Altitude: 3500 - 5500 m (11500 - 18000 ft) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Extreme Altitude: above 5500 m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Practically speaking, however, we generally don't worry much about&#xA;  elevations below about 2500 m (8000 ft) since altitude illness rarely&#xA;  occurs lower than this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a user of this site pooh-poohs the need for acclimatization at the elevation of Denver, they should bear in mind that they are young(ish), in good shape, accustomed to sustained physical exertion and probably have often been at much higher elevations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for peak athletic performers, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/acclimatization-to-altitude.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sports Fitness Advisor&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Acclimatization to altitude has become an important part of the&#xA;  preparation process for athletes competing above 1500m (4921ft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article later mentions the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It takes approximately two weeks to adapt to the changes associated&#xA;  with the hypobaric conditions at 2268m (7500ft), roughly that of&#xA;  Mexico City.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit in Response to Comment by&lt;/em&gt; @Tullochgorum  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP did not ask about AMS, but about acclimatization.  People in good physical shape, like most users here, will land at Denver and will not notice the effect the altitude has on them unless they have to run a goodly distance to make their connection.  So they might pooh-pooh the idea of an effect in Denver.   In contrast, the effect on someone in poor shape might be very noticeable (needs assistance at Denver airport, doesn't need assistance at Dulles) and a top athlete might be so attuned that he might notice any effect immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-06-24T23:19:17.543" LastActivityDate="2017-06-24T23:19:17.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16391" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-24T21:17:12.973" Score="7" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose you need to cover a fairly long distance (e.g. 30 km) in a moderately difficult hiking terrain (no climbing), in 1 day. You can either go alone or with someone, or with a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think (from experience) that alone is always faster. Is it right, and if yes, why? What are the factors that make me waste time? How much time should I expect to waste? Let's eliminate physical fitness differences for the sake of argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the answer is no (i.e. group hiking time is the same or better than alone time):&#xA;How can I achieve the fastest group hiking time -- which typical time wasters to avoid, and how?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T11:45:44.320" Title="Is hiking alone always faster?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16389" CreationDate="2017-06-24T21:51:00.730" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best research I can find is from  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitudemedicine.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Institute of Altitude Medicine&lt;/a&gt; in the US. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting studies on skiers visiting high resorts in Colorado:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) can afflict any visitor sleeping higher than 6000 feet. In&#xA;  Colorado, between 15 and 40% of visitors sleeping at 8000 ft or higher&#xA;  get AMS, with the incidence the highest at the highest resorts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The subjects were people who had come straight up from low altitude in a single day. Subjects who spent a night at an intermediate altitude experienced far fewer symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it seems that people can experience full AMS as low as 6000ft (1800 meters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Headache alone doesn't qualify as AMS - there have to be additional symptoms such as loss of appetite, vomiting, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, or difficulty sleeping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if people experience full AMS at 6000 ft, we can assume that the most susceptible people will experience altitude headaches at an even lower altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can testify to this from personal experience. On the first day at altitude I tend to feel a bit of headache and nausea at around 5500 ft if I'm ascending with a pack. I try to sleep no higher than 6000 feet, and by the next day I'm usually fine and ready to go much higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T08:52:05.487" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T08:52:05.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-24T22:04:30.470" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, hiking alone is definitely  faster if the intent is to get to the destination quickly.  I lead organized hikes often (roughly one/month) for the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) and our local Trails Committee.  I'm sure I've led over 100 by now, so have extensive experience with this.  Groups go slower than fit individuals.  Some reasons:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;In a group, there is shared responsibility.  That means the you're not going to ditch the slowest person halfway out, as much as you might like to.  Instead, the group goes at the speed of the slowest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Even if multiple people hike the same speed on average, they won't hike the same speed in all conditions.  Someone might be faster (relatively) uphill, someone else more confident with balance and be relatively faster downhill.  There can be differences due to surface type, weather, length of being out (tortoise versus hare), etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any time there is a difference, the group goes at the pace of the slowest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;There is more time wasted in a group.  Different people take relatively different amounts of time stopping and drinking, tying their shoes, checking the map frequently/infrequently, etc.  Just getting a group organized and making sure everyone knows what's going to happen, what to expect, etc, takes time.  None of that applies to a single person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;General strategies like frequent fast breaks versus infrequent long breaks don't always mesh, even if each strategy in isolation would yield the same average speed.  Different people also have to go pee at different times, want to add/remove layers at different times.  Ideal eating schedule rarely mesh, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While good leadership can reign in some of these, there will inevitably be occasions where some people are standing around that are ready and willing to hike on while others are doing something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;There are tasks in a group that don't apply to individuals.  If it's just you, you don't waste time deciding who carries the first aid kit, the emergency locator beacon, the bacon grease to smear on that annoying whiner you want a bear to eat, etc.  There is no coordinating the group, listening to what the leader is trying to say, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;A group outing usually has a goal, and that isn't getting from one place to another as fast as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;A group is more of a average.  Even if you got nearly identical people that all agree to get to the destination quickly, more people means more probability of something going wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the case where a single person on a particular hike as 20% probability of something coming up that slows them down.  That means 4 times out of 5 they make it at top speed.  The other time, they may be much slower, or end up turning around and not making it at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a group of 5 such people, there is a 2/3 chance that something will happen to someone that slows him down, which slows the whole group down.  Group resources may allow continuing on and minimizing the problem more than a single hiker, but it's still going to &lt;i&gt;feel&lt;/i&gt; like &quot;groups are slower&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T13:15:49.830" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T13:15:49.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-25T05:40:34.793" Score="4" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have gotten bit by 3 different bugs that have all given me itchy bites but they are oh so different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most recent one is a tick bite, today is the first time I ever remember having a tick bite. I could not feel the tick at all until I felt my neck with my hand. It didn't suck much if any blood(how do I know? It looked deflated and alive after I grabbed it and pulled it off). It immediately started itching after I pulled the tick off but that itch is resolving. There is no swelling at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquito bites are also from a blood sucking bug but this is way different. I actually once endured a full mosquito bite while awake at night. I can tell you from that experience, a mosquito bite is painless at first and then as it continues to suck blood it becomes painful, almost as though it injected venom. After the mosquito flies off nothing happens for several hours. But then it becomes irresistibly itchy(so I rub instead of scratch it) and is like that for a few hours at a time, several times a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spider bites are even more different. Whether I am awake or asleep, the spider biting me is unnoticeable. Then a few hours later it is just like a mosquito bite but worse(again irresistibly itchy for a few hours at a time, several times a day but the itch is much worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yeah, 3 bugs, all give itchy bites, but the bites are so different in timing and/or severity. No allergies to anything except pollen and pet dander. Why are they so different, especially the tick and mosquito which both suck on blood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7767" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T08:47:40.863" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T13:32:13.203" Title="Why do different kinds of bug bites itch in different ways?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bites&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16394" CreationDate="2017-06-25T08:26:07.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I remember, some biting insects deliver an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod_bites_and_stings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anticoagulant&lt;/a&gt; . This may irritate, though it's not well studied. Others rely on not being detected, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077327/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/how-mosquitoes-get-under-your-skin/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deliver an anaesthetic&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One effect that can affect how much a particular bite irritates, even for the same species, is if you knock it off leaving mouthparts behind. Of course different parts of your body have differing sensitivities to stimulus, and are also irritated differently by clothing etc. (a cuff rubbing on a bite can be particularly annoying) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T08:26:07.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-25T10:05:06.643" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, hiking alone is not always faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I absolutely guarantee that if my wife is hiking alone, she will not get there any faster than a group of average hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people dawdle more then others; when they are in a group, they do slow the group some, but the group also gives them reason to start moving again. So a dawdler in a group will move faster being part of the group than hiking alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, two competitive hikers will tend to push each other's limits. You might stop for something when hiking alone, but that would allow your competitive partner to get the lead were you hiking with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a group where everyone else has a more relaxed pace, you will get there later than if you were alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in group where everyone else is setting a faster pace, you will get there sooner than if you were alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2017-06-25T10:50:01.247" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T10:50:01.247" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16394" CreationDate="2017-06-25T13:32:13.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cause of the itch can be quite different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mosquito bites, the itch is due to a allergic reaction to the mosquito's saliva.  The strength of this allergic reaction varies between people, and it is possible, usually after enough exposure, to develop immunity.  That means your body no longer over-reacts to the mosquito spittal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tick bites usually itch for long periods of time (it can take a month or more) because often a piece of the tick is left in your skin.  The body attacking and breaking down this foreign stuff stuck in your skin includes processes that can cause itching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various kinds of spider &quot;bites&quot;.  Some spiders actually feed on your skin.  In that case the itch is similar to when a scab heals.  It's part of the body's process of re-generating and healing tissue.  Such spiders have evolved to inject anesthetic so that you don't feel it when they are feeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other spiders inject venom.  Different venoms can have different effects, from itching to resparatory failure or paralysis resulting in death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T13:32:13.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16398" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16443" CreationDate="2017-06-25T14:17:58.103" Score="6" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;When browsing Wikipedia's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_peaks_by_prominence&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of peaks by prominence&lt;/a&gt;, I was surprised to see that the parent peak of Mt Meru (in Tanzania) is Mount Kenya (350 km away) and not Kilimanjaro (50 km away). The col between Mount Meru and Mount Kenya is 1395 metres. When looking at Google Maps, it seems there are elevation curves at about that altitude between Mt Meru and Kilimanjaro.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the col between Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro? Or in other words, what is the lowest altitude you'd need to descend to from Mount Meru, before you can start to climb toward Kilimanjaro?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12532" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T16:31:12.300" Title="What is the col between Mt Meru and Kilimanjaro?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-06-25T15:18:43.563" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing not yet mentioned is &lt;strong&gt;quickness and ease of rescue&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my younger years, I was a trained lifeguard, and though my certification is long expired, I remember most of the concepts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A struggling swimmer on the surface is one thing, but a swimmer that has been witnessed going down, or worse, reported missing by a companion, is quite another.  For such a situation, in water up to 10 or 12 ft. (3 or 4m), the lifeguards have a chance of doing something.  They line up near the last known position, dive down, look and feel along the bottom as long as possible, come up for a breath or two, and repeat until the victim is found or until exhaustion.  Beyond that depth, even the most fit have trouble remaining down as long, or even being able to get all the way down, and reach exhaustion much quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one lake where I worked, there was a buoy line.  We never took any disciplinary action if anyone went beyond the line, but it was also clearly marked on signs that the lifeguards would not attempt rescue beyond that point.  All we were even allowed to do, per our employer's rules, was call 911.  Odds are the county would have sent out a dive team, and it would have been mostly a recovery operation, not a rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T15:18:43.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16400" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-25T21:35:45.243" Score="8" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent run which crosses the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Bridge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humber Bridge&lt;/a&gt; my GPS watch seems quite confused by my altitude as I crossed the bridge, as if there is an 8m shear drop half way with the south side being lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see this clearly on the graph plotted after uploading the watch's data:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AMjgv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AMjgv.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;as we cross the half way mark going south ~4.88Km in and the reverse ~19.10Km in as we head back north. My first thought would be to just assume a fault in the watch's calculations, but I remember noticing the same signature in another trace of the route from a previous year when doing a little research before the run like so&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3goae.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3goae.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;and doing a little more research after the same can be seen in the official map for another run that crosses the bridge available &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehullmarathon.co.uk/pdf/hull-marathon-route-map.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (the elevation map in the bottom right shows the same drop between ~17.5 and 20 miles when the route is south of the bridge's half way point).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why would this be?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it a coincidence that the dividing line appears to be right in the middle of the bridge?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are such anomalies common?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extra information as per the comments below: I'm using a TomTom GPS watch and their standard web interface. I have had a thought and will review the raw data from the device when I get home to see if the anomaly is there too or introduced in later analysis. I don't know what the data sources for the other graphs were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13398" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:56:28.513" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:56:28.513" Title="GPS Altitude Anomalies" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11380" CreationDate="2017-06-25T22:25:44.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sand dollars with barnacles attached like that are very common in the Monterey area. In fact, beaches like Del Monte are considered excellent locations for scientists to study them. The well-respected &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monterey Bay Aquarium&lt;/a&gt; has extensive ongoing research on both sand dollars and barnacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the 900 species of acorn barnacles, including those in your picture, some have been seen on sand dollars on the California coast for many decades. There are reports dating as far back as the early part of the century. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exoticsguide.org/balanus_amphitrite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Exotics Guide&lt;/a&gt; has an interesting list of species and when they were recorded in different geographic locations, including Monterey Bay. Two of the more common species are popular in the area, both of which choose sand dollars for their home. I'm glad you didn't ask for an exact identification, because it can be hard to narrow down. However, I wouldn't be surprised if yours is a Paraconcavus pacificus, also called the red-striped acorn barnacle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Paraconcavus pacificus is a primarily subtidal barnacle that ranges from Monterey Bay to Baja California. It usually lives attached to other organisms, such as sand dollars, on sandy bottoms. It grows to a diameter of 35 mm, and has smooth white walls with reddish stripes. There are fine lines running from the base up toward the apex on the outer surface of the scutum, which distinguishes this species from Balanus amphitrite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/296099-Paraconcavus-pacificus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;naturalist site&lt;/a&gt; run by the California Academy of Science, describes the Paraconcavus pacificus, pretty much the same way. The following section underscores its propensity for sand dollars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While it will attach to many different kinds of hard substrate, it shows a preference for attaching the shells of other organisms, particularly sand dollars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend spending time at that site. It has a wealth of information about the barnacle, such as how it functions, its life history, and other interesting features. It also has a page with a map of distribution, clearly showing that it's more common in your area than pretty much anywhere else in the world!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a graph on that page showing the history of sightings. I think it's updated constantly because it's current as of June, 2017. Since it began in August of 2014, the level stayed pretty steady until the summer of 2016, when there was a marked increase. You may have witnessed part of that, since you wrote this question in April of 2016. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That site also has a good &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/296099-Paraconcavus-pacificus/browse_photos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photograph collection&lt;/a&gt;, which shows many that are similar to your picture. I didn't post any because I'm not sure they're public domain. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rickm.us/?page_id=631#gallery/bd5bd0a990a87ef6117a7616db541835/29/comments&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; was taken in Monterey in 2014. It's from the blog page of a family on vacation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/weather/weather-watch/article39438603.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; from the San Luis Obispo Tribune, in March of 2013, entitled Barnacles and Sand Dollars. It's the story of a woman who observed an unusual increase in barnacles on sand dollars on her favorite California beaches in the area of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cayucosbythesea.com/about.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cayucos&lt;/a&gt;. It's a few hours away from Monterey, but I think it's relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Minnesotan Judy Flatten spends her winters in Cayucos. On most days, she takes long walks along the beach between Cayucos and Morro Bay and is glad to have escaped Minnesota's winter freeze.&#xA;  This year she observed that countless sand dollars had acorn barnacles attached. In fact, these crustaceans, related to lobsters and crabs, were on every solid surface that was temporarily covered by seawater. She wondered if some sort of plague had struck her beloved beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This led the reporter to contact a local environmental scientist, Fred Steinert, who has spent decades studying barnacles on sand dollars and tracking these patterns. He usually finds the largest populations in August and September. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article continues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fred told me that the last two years have been especially strong in barnacle recruitment, which may have led to Judy's observations of countless reddish white, cone-like structures along the shoreline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Judging by when the article was written, he would have been referring to the years 2012 and 2013. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for why they wash up on the beach, it's usually because they're deceased. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sand dollars live in the subtidal zone, which is an area close to the water's edge. It's shallow, but not visible, even at low tide. Most of the time they're submerged in the sand on their side, though sometimes they're lying flat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a good description from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/sand-dollar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monterey Bay Aquarium&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The familiar exoskeleton of a sand dollar—often found cast up on a beach—is white, with an obvious five-pointed shape on the back. But a live sand dollar has a different look. Densely packed, tiny, dark purple spines cover live sand dollars and hide the star design.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In their sandy seafloor habitat, sand dollars use their fuzzy spines, aided by tiny hairs (cilia), to ferry food particles along their bodies to a central mouth on their bottom side. They capture plankton with spines and pincers (pedicellariae) on their body surfaces. A tiny teepee-shaped cone of spines bunched up on a sand dollar's body marks a spot where captive amphipods or crab larvae are being held for transport to the mouth. Unlike sea stars that use tube feet for locomotion, sand dollars use their spines to move along the sand, or to drive edgewise into the sand. On the upper half of the sand dollar's body, spines also serve as gills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In quiet waters, these flattened animals stand on end, partially buried in the sand. When waters are rough, sand dollars hold their ground by lying flat—or burrowing under. In fast-moving waters, adults also fight the currents by growing heavier skeletons. Young sand dollars swallow heavy sand grains to weigh themselves down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multiple sources agree that when sand dollars die, they can't hold on to the ocean floor. They wash up on the beach, where over time the sun bleaches the color out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The prevalence of dead sand-dollars on the California Coast beaches seems to be in proportion to their numbers, and the usual cycle of life, not necessarily to an event that precipitates early death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, the sand dollar in your picture has a dark tint to it. I don't know if that's just the nature of the picture, or if it's recently deceased. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time we're ever supposed to touch a sand dollar is if we genuinely suspect that it's alive. It would have to be very dark. Obviously if it appears to be walking, you should suspect life! If you find a stationary dark one, look closely on its back for a furry texture. If you see that, you can lift it gently, and, while holding it upright, look at the bottom. If you see a lot of spines, or any moving spines, walk a few feet out into the water and gently set it down in the sand, not just in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barnacles can live for a period of time on a dead host, but once it's out of the water for a while, it too runs out of food. It will pass away and leave the shell empty. That's why barnacles on old, dried up logs and other hosts high on the beach are empty. If you have any suspicion that there's a live barnacle, absolutely do not touch it. It's not always easy to tell without experience, so we should never disturb a barnacle unless it's obviously empty. Interestingly, sometimes tiny hermit crabs will take up residence in an empty barnacle shell. That's another reason why we must look closely before touching them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll leave you with this fun fact from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/acorn-barnacle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Monterey Bay Aquarium&lt;/a&gt; about how a barnacle becomes a barnacle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Acorn barnacles, related to shrimp, hide their identity in snail-like shells. But they begin life as free swimming larvae. When the time comes to settle, the larvae &quot;glue&quot; their heads to hard surfaces, such as pilings, wharfs, ships, rocks or other hard-shelled animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once attached, they change into juvenile barnacles, minatures of the adults. Then each builds its own fortress—a cone-shaped limestone shell with a trap door in the ceiling. When water covers a barnacle, the trap door opens, and the barnacle's feathery legs emerge to sweep the water for plankton and detritus. When the tide is out, barnacles close their trap doors to conserve moisture. Barnacles spend the rest of their lives in this position—head down and feet up!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-06-25T22:25:44.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16347" CreationDate="2017-06-26T00:36:19.523" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You just needed to look a little farther on the PACI site for a step by step instuction on how to do the EBSB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/downloads_public/knots/S-Knots.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this pdf&lt;/a&gt; on page 37 - pw &lt;em&gt;Copyright&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/knots.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.paci.com.au/knots.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ye0Ud.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ye0Ud.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastEditorUserId="3222" LastEditDate="2021-03-19T11:57:38.730" LastActivityDate="2021-03-19T11:57:38.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16400" CreationDate="2017-06-26T06:54:16.070" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is basically a copy and paste from an answer I gave here  &lt;a href=&quot;http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/234430/&quot;&gt;http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/234430/&lt;/a&gt;… There are also links to more info in the other answer &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There could be a number of problems in play here depending on where you are, what the terrain is like, and what the capabilities of your device are?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your device uses pressure sensors they may not be physically able to provide accurate altitude readings. Certainly, in a device using typical consumer-grade chips, and sensors, they may not be sensitive enough to read accurately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instruments that are accurate will typically have expensive components and would require calibrating at a known altitude before being used to take into account the local weather and pressure conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your device is calculating the altitude based upon your location then it could be calculating your altitude above the ellipsoid, which if it using GPS is probably altitude related to the WGS84 global spheroid. This is a mathematical surface that describes the shape of the planet, which is not a sphere, but an ellipsoid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where the satellites are at the time when the readings are taken will also effect the accuracy of the altitude that the GPS system can calculate. This is due to the errors inherent in the system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GPS device uses the distance to the visible satellites and their geometric positions to fix a location. So, to put it simply in relation to elevation, when satellites are low on the horizon, the change in distance to a satellite will not change much with a change in altitude; so the error is greater. Multiply the errors across all available satellites and this could explain inaccuracies. This is called geometric dilution of precision (GDOP).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13114" LastEditorUserId="13114" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T09:28:42.983" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T09:28:42.983" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-26T07:08:30.967" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of variables:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A minor effect on day hikes but a significant one in backpacking is kit sharing (1 stove/tent/guidebook/first aid kit per group). It's not just the weight but the bulk and finding things at stops. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some individuals are easily sidetracked, or tend not to get up if they sit down for a rest. A friend can keep them on track. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If a group stops for one member it's common for another to think &quot;while we're stopped I'll just...&quot; just as the first starts getting ready to go again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plenty of people charge up hills then have to stop and have a good rest, talking longer than if they'd plodded slowly in the first place. Walking with a buddy, even if you stop chatting for the climb, you don't tend to take it too quick. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If someone is struggling, company makes that easier, even if there's little that can be done practically to help. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On balance the optimal group is likely to be about 3 people &lt;em&gt;but only if they work well together&lt;/em&gt;. You don't have to be experienced at working in &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; team, but in a similar team. If one member calls a halt, everyone needs to get on with adjusting layers, having a drink or whatever, then get going again. It's important that this tone is set from the very beginning of the trip - once bad habits set in for the day you're stuck. A good leader helps but can only do so much, and as the group grows the chances of running an efficient trip shrink fast. This group size is also good for safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-06-28T13:42:42.923" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T13:42:42.923" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16405" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16406" CreationDate="2017-06-26T07:26:32.823" Score="52" ViewCount="15767" Body="&lt;p&gt;Motivated by a comment thread in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16367/how-does-water-depth-affect-swimming-safety-why-do-signs-especially-in-the-uk&quot;&gt;this question here&lt;/a&gt;. As far as I know the consensus basically boils down to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is very hard rescuing someone who is drowning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can be very dangerous rescuing a drowning person, as they can drown their attempted rescuers when panicking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally it seems that rescue should be attempted only by people who underwent the corresponding training.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However. Let's assume that we see someone is drowning near the lake shore and we're the only person in the immediate vicinity. Also for the sake of the argument let's assume that we recognised that this person needs immediate rescue from drowning (which, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/what-drowning-really-looks-like&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;apparently&lt;/a&gt;, is not obvious most of the times!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there something that we can and should be doing to help the drowning person (obviously apart from &lt;em&gt;calling first responders&lt;/em&gt;)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-06-26T10:59:28.647" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T21:14:43.050" Title="How to safely rescue someone drowning as an untrained bystander?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-26T07:44:57.323" Score="61" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never, ever enter the water yourself. The most likely outcome of this is you both drown!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first thought should always be, &quot;how can I alert the authorities as fast as possible&quot;. If you leave the area to do this make a note of &lt;strong&gt;exactly&lt;/strong&gt; where you are first. If you have alerted the authorities (life guard, police, ambulance, etc.) or can't for some reason then you can try the below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rospa.com/leisure-safety/water/advice/children-young-people/rescue-methods/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Royal society for the prevention of accidents (Rospa) has the following advice&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rescuing a drowning person is the last resort and you should do&#xA;  everything possible to avoid getting into a dangerous situation in the&#xA;  first place. If you have to make a rescue attempt, &lt;strong&gt;think of your own&#xA;  safety first&lt;/strong&gt; and never put yourself in danger. &lt;strong&gt;If the rescue is too&#xA;  dangerous, wait until the emergency services arrive&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Reach&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With a long stick, a scarf, clothes or anything else. Crouch or lie down to avoid being pulled in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Wade&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Test the depth with a long stick before wading in and then use the stick to reach out. Hold on to someone else or the bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Throw&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A rope is best - you can then pull in the person. Otherwise throw something that will float - a ball, a plastic bottle, a&#xA;  lifebuoy. This will keep the person afloat until help comes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Row&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Use a boat if there is one nearby and if you can use it safely. Do not try to pull the person on board in case they panic and capsize the&#xA;  boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So basically do whatever you can to reach the person without entering the water yourself. Many dangerous areas have life rings, etc. These should be your first port of call. &lt;strong&gt;If you can't safely get to the person, don't try!&lt;/strong&gt; This is pretty hard I'd imagine but the correct thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add a brief note to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Let's assume that we see someone is drowning near the lake shore and&#xA;  we're the only person in the immediate vicinity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about your phone? Pretty much everyone has a mobile phone these days. Even if you don't have signal you can often call the emergency services. Mobile phone companies will share bandwidth for emergency calls hence the &quot;emergency calls only&quot; message on your phone. So your phone may say it doesn't have signal but it can (often) access signal for a 999(112, 911, etc &lt;em&gt;insert your emergency phone number here&lt;/em&gt;) call. This might not be true in very remote mountainous regions but always try even if it seems it won't work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-06-26T12:21:19.420" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T12:21:19.420" CommentCount="22" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16407" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-26T08:16:34.490" Score="3" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I bought an ice axe from Russia some 10-15 years ago and cannot remember their ratings, I just wondered if somebody knew (or knew where to find) descriptions of the Russian ice axe test requirements?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3616/what-s-the-difference-between-a-b-and-a-t-ice-axe&quot;&gt;For example&lt;/a&gt;, UIAA B/&quot;Basic&quot; axes can take 250kg sideways shaft/head interface load; UIAA T/&quot;Technical&quot; axes can take 400kg etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T02:34:24.737" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T15:15:28.357" Title="Does anybody know or know where to find the requirements for Russian ice axe tests?" Tags="&lt;ice-axes&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-26T09:07:06.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main thing is stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One person alone only stop for his/her own rest needs.  When there is more than one person in the group, the group needs to stop for each one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking on my own I often find that I don't stop at all, simply because I go at a pace which is comfortable to me.  A group goes at the pace of the slowest person and stops for every person's rest needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that the smaller the group, the faster the pace in general.  These kind of &quot;generalisations&quot; always have plenty of exceptions though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T09:07:06.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-26T09:41:10.240" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hike alone, I tend to stop very often, just to take photos or pick some herbs. Hiking with other people motivates me to go on. Of course, the slowest person dictates the pace of the group, and that is often me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What proved to be a good practice when I am with a bigger group is to split in two: those who want to go faster are not bored because of the slow ones, and the slow people don't get tired too fast because of the unsuitable pace. We agree on a mid-point where the fast guys wait for the slower ones (have lunch there or something), and then we meet at the day's destination. The tendency I noticed is that the slow group is usually delayed with 20-30 minutes, but of course this can vary on people and terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T09:41:10.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-26T13:29:15.773" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I learned the following in my lifeguard training from the Boy Scouts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;REACH: Victim(s) are located close to the shoreline and the rescuer(s) can retrieve them by reaching with their persons, rescue&#xA;  pole or hook, an oar, a backboard, etc without having to enter the&#xA;  water. Victim(s) must be conscious, alert, and able to grab and hold&#xA;  on to the reaching device for this method to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;THROW: Victim(s) are too far away from the shoreline to be reached with a rigid object. Rescuers can throw ropes, rope bags, flotation&#xA;  rings or discs tied to a rope, a PFD tied to a rope, etc. to retrieve&#xA;  the victim without having to enter the water. Victim(s) must be&#xA;  conscious, alert, and able to grab and hold on to the thrown object&#xA;  for this method to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;ROW: Victim(s) are too far away from the shoreline to be reached or to have a flotation device thrown to them. Rescuers must use a boat or&#xA;  approved watercraft to access and retrieve the victim(s) without&#xA;  having to enter the water. Once close enough to the victim(s),&#xA;  rescuers can Reach, Throw, or lift them directly into the boat&#xA;  (whichever method is easiest and safest). Victim(s) may be conscious&#xA;  and alert or unconscious.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;GO: Rescuers must physically enter the water and swim to the victim(s) to retrieve them. This method may be used from the shoreline&#xA;  or from a boat depending on the circumstances. This method is&#xA;  typically used for unconscious victims but may also be used for&#xA;  conscious and alert victims that are in distress or unable to grab and&#xA;  hold on to a flotation device. Only those rescuers, who are strong&#xA;  swimmers, should enter the water to retrieve a victim.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Text copied from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lancasterfd.net/uploads/OPEN_WATER_RESCUE_07-18-12.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lancasterfd.net/uploads/OPEN_WATER_RESCUE_07-18-12.pdf&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your example of a drowning victim at a lake, you should first try to establish verbal communication with them.  I've witnessed countless times where kids &lt;em&gt;pretend&lt;/em&gt; they are drowning by splashing around and calling for help.  The giggles help to separate the two situations apart.  During training, we often simulated the call for help with the word &quot;pineapple&quot;.  Once you know a person is having difficulty swimming, never take your eyes off of them.  If you can, call the authorities for help.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the victim is close enough to the shore or dock, try to reach out to them with a long poll, a towel or t-shirt, or even your arm.  If you cannot reach them, the next step should be to throw a flotation device to them.  If they are beyond throwing distance and you have a boat available, use it to get closer to the victim then use one of the methods above.  Be careful not to be pulled in yourself.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last method is only recommended for trained and experienced rescuers, and that is to physically get in the water and go to them.  This is by far the riskiest method of rescue for anyone (including lifeguards), and is the last method on the list for that purpose.  When you get into the water, you may be exposing yourself to the same drowning hazards as the victim.  Upon reaching the victim, they will be panicked and will want to grab onto the nearest object - you!  If the victim will not calm down, lifeguards are often taught techniques to swim around the victim and subdue them with a hold.  Even if a rescuer can manage to reach a victim and get a hold of them, they then need to swim them back to shore.  This can be exhausting even for strong swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't become a victim yourself.  Stick with reaching, throwing, or rowing and always call for help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13146" LastEditorUserId="13146" LastEditDate="2017-06-27T14:47:55.993" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T14:47:55.993" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-26T15:06:52.007" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was always taught three very important things to consider before you even attempt to rescue someone in distress in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You, yourself, all alone, barely float. You might think you're awesome at back floating, but put just a ten pound weight on your chest and see if you can still float. A person will weigh more than that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;People in distress in the water are stupid, scared, and lethal. They will grab on to ANYTHING to stay afloat. That includes you. They will have no problem drowning your ass to save themselves. For you, you're making decisions in a crisis; for them, they're in survival-at-all-costs mode.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whatever caused the problem for that person could still cause a problem for you. If they got tangled in a rope, then what's gonna stop you from getting tangled? Sometimes this is a non-issue, but most of the time people that are in distress in the water get that way by accident. A strong current, a big wave, an animal, all of which you will have to deal with too, if you decide to go out there. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if someone is in distress, your goal is not to get them out of the water. Your goal is to keep them alive long enough for two or three people to get them out of the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was taught:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reach - From the pool side, or dock or boat or platform, grab a stick and reach. If they can reach out to the stick, you may be able to get them to the edge. Don't be afraid to &quot;beat&quot; them with the stick. If they can clearly reach it and are just not seeing it, smack them with it. Especially their arms and hands. You're not trying to knock them out, you're trying to get them to notice the stick. Hitting their arms or hands will get them to instinctively notice. Again don't knock them out; think nun with a ruler not He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Throw - If the stick won't reach, or they don't notice it, time to start throwing things. Take anything that floats, even a little and whip it right at their head. Not in front, not behind, not off to the side, right smack at their head. The goal is that while they are flapping around like a fool, their hands or arms land on the floaty thing. Usually &quot;life savers&quot; or other pool floats work really well. Don't throw anything that is going to cause a concussion, you are aiming for their head. So even though it floats the 4x4 post, not a good choice. If you don't have anything else, then chuck it at them, but avoid the head obviously. However consider that it will be further away and probably useless because of that.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walk - IF you can stand up AND you know there are no issues (like rocks or animals) then it's generally safe enough to walk out to them and carry/push them to the edge. Again, this is more like in a pool setting. If you don't know the bottom, or the cause for distress, you're better off skipping this one. If you just have to, then use a walking stick, carry two &quot;floats&quot; (ones on a rope work well), stay calm and &quot;poke-and-step&quot; your way out to them. If you can no longer reach the bottom with sure footing when you get to them this isn't going to work. But hey your closer now, so try beaning them with the floats.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Touch - This is totally a last resort. If you have to go and get them by walking or swimming to them, then use the floats. Especially as you get close. Your goal isn't to get them to land. Not alone. Your goal is to keep their head above water. You need to be really prepared for this and it shouldn't be tried except when there are no other options.  Get to them. Try to come up behind them. Grab them by the neck, forcefully. Put your arm around their neck. You're not trying to choke them, you're trying to make sure they can't turn around and drown you. If you have to, be prepared to smack/punch this person. Sometimes they will need that shock to stop acting a fool. Sometimes you will need to to keep yourself out of trouble. Approach this option as a fight, not a rescue. Get to them, take control, dominate, then once they're calm (or knocked out), focus on treading water and keeping your head, and theirs above the water. Only then do you try to drag them to the shore. In short, if you have to go this route (and you really shouldn't) 1. Subdue, 2. Stabilize, 3. Exit. The real problem with this approach  is that you are not rescuing a person making decisions, you're rescuing a mass that will do anything, including kill you, to stay alive. You might as well think of your friend your trying to save as a mass of wet loins. You really have to approach it with that mind set, and be ready to do what ever it takes to keep your self alive, even if it means punching your friend in the face till they are dazed so they don't drown you too. You approach from the back and use the &quot;choke hold&quot; (don't choke them that won't help) to minimize the risk to your self. The worst thing you could do is come in from the front, all calm and &quot;I'm here to help, please don't hit me&quot; cause they will. They can't help it, they're not thinking they're just reacting. Dominate the situation.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wait - Sounds mean, but if they're drowning, just wait, they will go unconscious soon enough, then you can move them to land and use CPR if needed. Keep in mind you should use the same rules as &quot;touch&quot;. This actually will have a higher success rate than you, as an untrained person, jumping in the water and trying to subdue them and get them back to land, but only works well in situations where you know the water. If they're freaking out in a pool or lake, or the like, where you can reach the bottom. That's why it's last. It doesn't work everywhere.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't stress enough, that this situation is a lot like CPR. Screw the broken ribs, compress the chest. Some of the stuff in this answer may seem &quot;mean&quot; if your doing them to your room mate in the living room, but if the  person is in distress in the water your going to do more damage being &quot;nice&quot; then doing what needs to be done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time &quot;Touch&quot; is really a bad idea. If you have no choice and you decide to try, as an untrained person your much more likely to just drown your self. You really need to consider all options.  The absolute worse thing you can do is get in the water and make the situation more difficult by getting into trouble yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="13415" LastEditDate="2017-06-26T15:52:32.037" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T15:52:32.037" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13753" CreationDate="2017-06-26T15:23:49.733" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clamp locks are the safest and the best design. The clamps are designed to fit flush to poles -I have never encountered the clamps opening by catching on anything for over 10 years owning the poles and I do a lot of hiking and snowshoeing with these. I used to own the old twist poles and they are lethal.&#xA;Everyone I know who have the twist locks ask me to help fix them as they cannot loosen or cannot tighten or they fail or collapse when used which is dangerous. They throw these twisties out and then use common sense and buy the clamp lock poles and are happy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13414" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T15:23:49.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16414" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-26T17:31:25.557" Score="5" ViewCount="14564" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do water shoes (not socks) expand some so when purchasing you should go down a size?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wear 8.5 shoe but water shoes do not come in half sizes so wandering if I should go down to an 8 since the shoe may expand some IN WATER.  Nothing worse than to get a size 9 and be in the water to lift my foot up in water and the shoe come off.  Please advise.  the size 9's I purchased are already a big too big so have ordered an 8.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13417" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T18:02:28.953" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T18:02:28.953" Title="Should one purchase a smaller water shoe size?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;water-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-26T18:35:52.197" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is best to throw them a line or float. Use a long stick. They will grab you &amp;amp; take you under with them.  Normal way is to sail close with your outrigger &amp;amp; let them grab one. Then set of a flare. To bring other boats. Near shore yell loud bring out the people form a human chain. This is much safer than trying alone. The human chain has saved many lives near shore were I live in storms when boats are drove into the rocks making shore. S. Pacific. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-06-26T18:35:52.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11380" CreationDate="2017-06-26T18:43:25.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I live sand dollars as such are rare to find until after a storm or typhoon has passed. Then you can find them on the beach. The barnacles are a good food for squid &amp;amp; such, when they're alive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T17:28:26.613" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T17:28:26.613" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-27T11:12:37.443" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers here have good info but are either incomplete or disordered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Phone emergency services first&lt;/strong&gt; either you'll need them or you cancel them a minute or two later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two important principles that guide us here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hierarchy of safety and hierarchy of recuse methods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;hierarchy of safety&lt;/strong&gt; (who's safety you should put first when making decisions):&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;self&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;victim&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, your own safety comes first, then the safety of your group etc. Any attempt to rescue should never put yourself or others in your group in danger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hierarchy of rescue&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Talk&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;this should always be plan A. it's no risk. Simply helping people calm down and  telling them  what to do and where to go. Surprisingly effective. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reach&lt;/strong&gt;:&#xA;Staying firmly on the bank, find a stick/branch/whatever to pull someone into safety. The important thing here is that you let go if you begin to put your own safety at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;For UNTRAINED people, it ends here. You can't go further down this list without putting yourself or others in greater danger.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;(But I'll finish anyway)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Throw&lt;/strong&gt;. &#xA;Ideally a throw rope that you can use to pull/pendulum someone to safety. This isn't for untrained people because &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;: ropes in water are dangerous. Victims become tangled in them and untrained rescuers can do silly things like getting themselves dragged in.  &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;: unless you know how to throw a rope, you probably won't succeed anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Row&lt;/strong&gt;(paddle)&#xA;Again, this is something you do only if you are skilled with the craft and in rescuing with it (if you were, you'd already be familiar with this list). Otherwise you're just putting yourself in danger.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Go&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Rescuer in the water. Either swimming out or as a dope-on-rope. Only if you've trained in this and with the assistance of other trained people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heilo&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;A situation that can only be solved with a helicopter rescue. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2017-06-27T12:09:15.260" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T12:09:15.260" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16400" CreationDate="2017-06-27T18:32:58.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having been a surveyor in a previous time of my life, I can say that at least at that time (15 years ago or so) GPS was really quite good at lat/lon type coordinates, but not quite so good at elevations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that your device(s) might be using different data sets, or the measurements just aren't precise enough in the particular area to be reflected properly in your graph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastEditorUserId="11316" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T15:13:22.640" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T15:13:22.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16425" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16432" CreationDate="2017-06-27T19:32:18.323" Score="37" ViewCount="11995" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been researching which kayak I'd like to buy, and I keep coming across the notion that longer kayaks are faster than shorter ones. I can understand that shorter kayaks have a greater tendency to alter course with each stroke, thus affecting your overall forward velocity, but if you correct for this in your calculations, it seems to me that a longer kayak would have more overall surface area than a shorter one, and would thus be slowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is perhaps the case that this slowing of the longer kayak is not as pronounced as the loss of forward velocity experienced by the shorter kayak. Is there something else physically going on that affects the kayak's performance in the water that I'm not thinking of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr: is there any truth to the fact that, all things being equal, a longer kayak will have a higher top speed for a given kayaker, and if so, why?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Edit&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I ask about length specifically. In other words, two boats of identical design and type, with identical beam widths, identical hull materials, and the same pilot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T20:34:03.680" LastActivityDate="2021-01-18T21:06:41.013" Title="Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16414" CreationDate="2017-06-27T20:20:01.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you are looking at shoes that only come in full sizes, I'm guessing you're looking at very cheap shoes. A cheap water shoe is usually made of a rubber sole and an upper of neoprene (somewhat stretchy) and very stretchy fabric. If your foot fits on the sole, the upper should stretch enough to accommodate the rest of the foot. The sole will not stretch whether it's wet or dry. The upper will stretch both while wet and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether you should buy a size up or down, that depends entirely on the brand and manufacturer. It's likely that either shoe will be OK, but will not fit well. The only way to know is to try before buying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nicer water shoes will vary more in how they're made, and may use less flexible materials in the upper. They are generally more durable, more secure, and more likely to come in half sizes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T20:20:01.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10668" CreationDate="2017-06-27T20:31:57.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One summer job, I needed shoes to walk on a rocky beach, sometimes in the water, for 5 to 10 miles per day all summer. Stretchy neoprene shoes were terrible for this- no traction and no support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I used regular sneakers. I chose a pair of cross country racing flats. The model I used are no longer made, but were made by New Balance. The uppers were extremely well ventilated polyester, so they drained very quickly, and the thin material dried much faster than a padded sandal, and certainly much faster than a regular sneaker of leather or cotton would. There are probably other minimalist sneakers that would be equally good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing to look for is thin fabric that attaches directly to the sole, with no rubber rim that would keep the water from draining. Running shoes in general will be good because those tend to be very well ventilated, and minimalist shoes will be best because there will be very little padding to hold extra water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T20:31:57.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-27T20:46:48.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you want a TL;DR answer. The other answers have danced around this but here it is. This proposal requires no special training and is easy to remember. Are you ready for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wait until the person drowning is unconscious&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's it. Print it on cards, hand it out to friends. Post it on signs if need be. People will think you're crazy at first. I mean, firefighters run into burning buildings, so why not jump in an save them? &lt;strong&gt;Because you will drown.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took a course in lifeguarding in boy scouts and, at 12 years old, we had to save Dave. Dave was a 200lb grown man who would swim out and be our drowning victim (yes, a 12 yr old can save even an adult). Dave's sole role was to teach us that our life was more important than his. Sometimes you could talk Dave down, but sometimes you would have to wait until he went under the water. If you didn't, you now had a 200lb man holding 12 yr old boys underwater. See the problem? We did, and we saw it from underwater, realizing that this wasn't a game, it was life or death. Nobody died, of course, but we could have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can revive an unconscious person. If you do it immediately, there's little or no risk to their health, but most importantly there's no risk to yours. Keep in mind that calling and waiting for rescuers involves the same thing, it's just you wait for them to come fish the person out instead of doing it yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13431" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T20:46:48.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-27T20:57:50.060" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;The narrower the beam, the less paddling resistance the boat will have.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any given weight capacity, the longer boat will have a narrower beam.  (The widest part of the boat, where the paddler sits)  The benefits of a narrow beam far outweighs any additional surface drag that might occur from having a longer water line.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the ways this is observed is the lower amount of turbulence in the water behind a long, narrow boat. Water turbulence is just wasted paddling energy.  Picture how racing shells are designed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastEditorUserId="11340" LastEditDate="2017-06-27T21:03:12.943" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T21:03:12.943" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16391" CreationDate="2017-06-27T21:20:04.273" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fastest hikes I've done are with a small group headed by a guy that has a very fast pace.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My natural pace is about 3.25 MPH.   I just fall into that unless I concentrate all the time, which is hard to do once you start to get a bit tired on the trail from going faster than the natural pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often lead hikes of 60 or so people and can keep ahead of most of the group on flat lands.  But I'm relatively slow on climbs (struggling to make 1000 feet an hour, breath has always been a problem for me) and many of those who lag behind in the flats will pass me going up hill.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the real answer is, it depends on your body, the terrain and who you hike with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastEditorUserId="11340" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T11:45:44.320" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T11:45:44.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-27T21:50:33.077" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Longer, narrower kayaks out perform shorter, wider kayaks in speed and long distance performance. One of the reasons being is that a longer kayak has more volume, ergo more buoyancy and floats higher. They glide over the surface of the water, cutting the wake in front of them like a knife. Shorter, low volume kayaks sit deeper in the water. They're great for white water and maneuverability, but if you try to take them into open water then they essentially plough through it vs. gliding along the top of it. Friction is not a noticeable factor as long as you maintain the hull of your craft and keep it smooth and waxed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T21:50:33.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-27T22:38:03.877" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Executive summary: All else equal, a longer boat will have a greater hull speed. A greater hull speed means less drag and hence greater speed for a given amount of &quot;paddling effort&quot;. Hence, longer kayaks can be said to be faster than shorter ones.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bit you're missing is that boats make waves, and these waves can make it harder to go fast. Selectively cutting out some sentences from &lt;a href=&quot;http://antrimdesign.com/heavy-boats-light-boats-and-hull-speed.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A boat displaces its own weight in water. When the boat is moving, it must push that much water out of the way as it goes forward. Each boat creates a bow wave and a stern wave. When a boat reaches &quot;hull speed&quot; the bow and stern waves coincide to make one huge wave system. A heavy boat gets trapped in its own wave system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaks aren't heavy boats but they generally follow this rule, and generally follow the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hull speed&lt;/a&gt; rules. If you look up those rules then you will see that the length of the waterline is the crucial factor with a longer waterline giving a higher hull speed. This is because the resistance offered by the standing wave is greater than the friction of a larger wet surface area. If you think about it this makes sense because a primary advantage of water transport is hugely reduced friction compared to ground transportation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't convinced yet you can look at the experimental results and pretty charts found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/tutorial/how-much-faster-is-the-longer-kayak/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Their research showed that the longer kayak in their test set had the least drag, but the smallest boat at times was easier to paddle than the medium boat. So in practice a longer kayak will most likely be fastest, but ultimately a better designed but slightly shorter kayak might be faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Just for fun)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to keep in mind is a longer kayak gives you more &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4hb84A9h28&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;room for passengers&lt;/a&gt;. Of course not all passengers &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee79_7CZ0uM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;can fit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="13475" LastEditDate="2017-07-02T17:43:33.017" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T17:43:33.017" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-27T23:04:03.680" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that with any boat the maximum hull speed possible is equal to 1.4 X square root of the waterline length. This is for powered craft but as you are supplying the power it should still apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13433" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T23:04:03.680" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="347" CreationDate="2017-06-27T23:25:43.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Dangeranger's answer: If you as victim have climbing equipment or a rope, fasten it to your body (if not already fastened) and release your rope. It is very, very hard to find avalanche victims, some are not even found after hours of searching. The chance that at least some part of 30 m rope will be over the surface and therefore allows immediate backtracking of the victims position is much, much higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8571" LastActivityDate="2017-06-27T23:25:43.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16385" CreationDate="2017-06-28T03:26:19.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since no one has taken a stab at this I'll throw in my opinion even though I have zero dry suit experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lead Block/Bullet Weights&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're willing to fiddle with them you can really fine tune their placement (assuming you use a straight belt and not a pouch/shot belt like shown).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They can't shift around independent of the belt (assuming you use a straight belt and not a pouch/shot belt like shown).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More versatile since they can work with pouch/shot belts or straight belts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Effectively unbreakable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When coated may be more environmentally friendly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be uncomfortable when not placed properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to fine tune your weight moments before the dive (assuming you use a straight belt and not a pouch/shot belt like shown).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lead Shot Weights&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More comfortable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to adjust weight moments prior to a dive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weights can shift in pouches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can only be used in specialized weight belts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less control over exact weight placement&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Potential for breakage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm not aware of any that come coated.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all honesty the breakage pro/con isn't a big deal as long as you take care of your gear. The shot weights are pretty hardy and are further protected by the pouches when in use. Another thing that isn't a big deal even though I called it out is precise weight placement. While this is true, in my experience having the right amount of weight is much more important than exact placement of the weight assuming you're generally balanced. Same thing with weights shifting. While I've felt it before while skin diving the only time I think it could be a factor is in heavier surf. Of course heavier surf generally means low visibility so you probably aren't diving in it anyway. The last caveat I have is in regards to coated vs uncoated weights. I don't believe uncoated weights have a significant affect on the environment while diving, but I added it for people who are concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though the pro/con list looks unbalanced, &lt;strong&gt;my general impression is shot weights are more convenient and comfortable so if you're investing in a new system you might as well go that route&lt;/strong&gt;. This is doubly true since you've had problems with solid weights. On the other hand, if you're looking for something hard wearing, possibly more environmentally friendly, utilitarian, and/or cheap go for the solid lead weights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have solid lead weights on my dive belt. This is mostly because they were most common when I started diving and I have never felt like I had a reason to switch to shot weights. I do have a belt though with a single pouch for shot weights that I use when snorkeling and spear fishing (free diving). I went that route for the comfort factor, and the ability easily adjust my weight depending on if I'm wearing a wet suit or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T03:44:34.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-28T11:23:50.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a reason why there are different kayaks: the small ones (a.k.a., whitewater kayaks) are very turnable, and this is exactly what you want in a strong/fast moving current. If things get &quot;white&quot;, you must be able to do things like turn on the spot in an instant, with not too much effort. Short, fat kayaks do that splendidly; it is harder to &lt;em&gt;keep&lt;/em&gt; them from turning than to turn them. (And other things factor in as well, for example being able to &quot;edge&quot;, to do rolls easily and quickly and so on.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sea kayaks, the opposite is true. You almost never want to turn in them; you can go wide arcs with no problem. But it is very important that you get from point A to B with minimal effort, as you can get into real, life-threatening danger if you run out of steam far from civilization with no real survival gear with you (think &quot;eskimo in the ice&quot;). Hence, those are designed to go forward very easily, and to resist turning with every stroke. (You also don't want to &quot;edge&quot; as there is not really a fast-changing current in play; and while you certainly want to be able to roll these kayaks as well, it does not matter if it takes you a few seconds longer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The physical reason is simple - the fast type is streamlined (more deep than wide, without pronounced edges anywhere). Making few waves or submerged vortices, slicing through the water easily. The turning type is anti-streamlined; i.e., designed to &quot;sit&quot; on the water with minimal submersion, with a wide body to facilitate that, and with special edges designed to catch quick-changing currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, yes, if you want to go straight and far (and fast), then long = easier. If you want to be very mobile (turning a lot) and speed is of no concern, then short = easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T11:23:50.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16438" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-28T13:09:27.000" Score="8" ViewCount="473" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was sitting and thinking last night...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have gas and loose stool (diarrhea) and you are squatting over a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cathole&lt;/a&gt; in the wilderness how do keep your pants and foot wear clean?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11201/whats-the-problem-with-burying-toilet-paper&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the problem with burying toilet paper?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11100/why-are-people-so-worried-about-giardia&quot;&gt;Why are people so worried about Giardia?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T19:17:40.163" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T19:17:40.163" Title="How to deal with diarrhea when using a cathole in the wilderness?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-28T14:14:50.480" Score="15" Body="&lt;h1&gt;As a general rule, yes&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider a boat weighing 20kg, a paddler weighing 80kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're now displacing 100litres of water, the way in which you displace that volume has a lot to do with how easily the boat will handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you choose to displace it as a wide cylinder on a vertical axis you will have high maneuverability and low forward speed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you choose to displace as a narrow cylinder on a horizontal axis (aligned fore/aft) you will have high forward speed and low maneuverability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply put: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The wide short boat is primarily suffering from &lt;strong&gt;form drag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The long narrow boat is primarily affected by &lt;strong&gt;skin friction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/adZ6S.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/adZ6S.png&quot; alt=&quot;Form drag or skin friction&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Image from above linked wikipedia (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;drag&lt;/a&gt;) article&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means in practice is that in a short wide boat, for example a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kayaksandpaddles.co.uk/canoe/kayak/uk/shop/productpages/wavesport-kayaks/wavesport-mobius.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;playboat&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(Length: 168 cm&#xA;Width: 64 cm&#xA;Weight: 14 kg),&#xA;you'll hit a low top speed where a wave has built up in front of and behind you (bow wave and wake) between which you're stuck, you can't break through the wave ahead, you can't break through someone else's wake to get ahead of them. Most of your energy is going into moving water around rather than moving yourself forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were in a long narrow boat, for example a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.desperate-measures.co.uk/canoes-online/Kayaks_WW_Perception_Wavehopper.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wavehopper&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(Length: 400 cm&#xA;Width: 60 cm&#xA;Weight: 18 kg),&#xA;you'd cruise past the playboat while doing a lot less work and barely noticing that you'd cut through the waves, its speed is limited almost entirely by how fast and efficiently you can move your paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this point on physics SE is probably your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything is a compromise. For my purposes the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dpp-dynamic.com/3-dynamic/15-dynamic-diamond-2-large.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;polo boat&lt;/a&gt; is a perfect compromise, but then I play polo. In a straight line someone in a sea kayak or any given racing boat is going to be faster, straight lines are boring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real answer isn't in asking whether a longer boat is faster, it almost universally is, it's in asking what you want to do with your boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T09:49:41.460" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16440" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-06-28T16:03:11.483" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-06-28T16:03:11.483" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T16:03:11.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16441" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-06-28T16:03:11.483" Score="0" Body="Electronic devices: computers, smartphones, tablets, electronic hardware and platforms." OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T07:04:04.073" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T07:04:04.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16442" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16444" CreationDate="2017-06-28T16:10:21.317" Score="12" ViewCount="1162" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was watching a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwpWl9WnO0Y&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; featuring clips from award winning kayaking films.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I immediately noticed was multiple instances of kayakers running waterfalls who seem to be intentionally throwing their paddle away during the drop (you can see what I'm talking about pretty clearly at about 2:20). This seems to be contrary to what I always learned that your paddle is your life. I understand that for the initial landing not having your paddle in your hand might reduce the chance for injury, but it seems like the almost complete lack of maneuverability due to no longer having a paddle should make holding onto the paddle worthwhile. Not the to mention the expense of losing paddles if they run away or the time involved in trying to find your paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these people just dropping the waterfalls and immediately bailing out of their kayaks at the bottom when the camera stops so they don't care about maneuverability? Do they just count on friends out of frame that have an extra paddle to give them at the bottom? Or is the risk of injury just so great above a certain height that the paddle has to go?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:27:07.260" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:27:07.260" Title="Kayakers throwing their paddles when running waterfalls" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16398" CreationDate="2017-06-28T16:31:12.300" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm basing my answer on SRTM data &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cgiar-csi.org/data/srtm-90m-digital-elevation-database-v4-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;downloaded from CGIAR&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing I did was map the region around the three mountains using two colours: green is 1395m or lower and purple is higher than 1395m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0RpR9.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0RpR9.png&quot; alt=&quot;Elevation map with 1395m cut-off&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This confirms that we can walk from Mount Meru to Mount Kenya while staying in the high (purple) regions while to get to Kilimanjaro we need to cross the green region (below 1395m). The col between Mount Meru and Mount Kenya is that very narrow part of purple a bit north of Mount Meru.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This far you still don't have an answer to your question, but I wanted to make sure that the approach is consistent with the value of 1395m that you found. Now, your question is basically how we need to chose the cut-off between  green and purple to connect the purple patches around Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro. After some trial and error I got this image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ipJj4.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ipJj4.png&quot; alt=&quot;Elevation map with 1373m cutoff&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, green is 1373m or lower and purple is higher than 1373m. This is the lowest cut-off where you can find a path from Mount Meru to Kilimanjaro while staying in the purple region. Conclusion: the col between Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro is 1373m high. Give or take a few meters. This is about 20 meters lower than the col between Mount Meru and Mount Kenya.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would put it somewhere around &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/AgU74NZCL2S2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;37.0050E, 3.1382S&lt;/a&gt; but given the flatness of the terrain over there, it will probably not be very easy to find the exact spot if you would be standing there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5567" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T16:31:12.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16442" CreationDate="2017-06-28T18:00:33.017" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reasons for doing it include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not breaking your paddles (this is the main one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not breaking your face&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it is (was) cool &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it's fun&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last two are why it's being done in the linked video. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re: your concerns, it's something you only do on pool drops where you can just hand-roll up (if needed) and hand-paddle into the eddy - or at least have someone at the bottom fetch you your paddles. You'd never do it if the drop is followed by a (significant) rapid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are they swimming at the bottom? No. Why would they, that's too much effort and you'd get all wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: you never &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to do this. Just holding onto your paddles and tucking in to the side is the standard way to run a bigger drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2017-06-28T18:06:47.093" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T18:06:47.093" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16445" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-28T19:29:46.970" Score="7" ViewCount="1361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to try tarp camping.  3m x 3m (9ft x 9ft) and 3m x 4m (9ft x 12ft) tarps of differing material are plentiful and many are even affordable.  Which tarp shape is more versatile in the number of setup configurations?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Configurations should include a simple roof, lean-to-type or a fully enclosed tent-like structures.  All weather conditions should be considered also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are other shapes but they seem to be intended for specialized configurations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So Square or Rectangle?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T18:23:52.820" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T18:41:24.393" Title="Are square or rectangular tarp shapes more versatile?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16445" CreationDate="2017-06-28T20:32:39.197" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going back to WW.2. A shelter half as used by the US. Army. This would form a pup tent with 2 joined or a lean to with one. Sized right for a rain protector over cloths. Kind of  rectangle with a triangle at both ends. Buttons &amp;amp; button holes at the top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T07:04:59.193" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T07:04:59.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2017-06-28T20:39:57.637" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me. Chicken necks tied on a string. Crabs will hold onto them till pulled very close to shore were you dip net them with a flat or strait nose dipnet. Also in box traps the pull up kind if in a boat. Were the sides lay out flat. Or form a pyramid. S Pacific. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T20:39:57.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16405" CreationDate="2017-06-28T21:14:43.050" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SHOUT&lt;/strong&gt; should be on top of all the lists. It helps remove panic, attracts attention and allows the passage of useful instructions to the victim, such as treading water, floating on their back (so the mouth and nose are upper most!), encouraging them to swim / doggy paddle backwards (nostrils uppermost!). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you can look for anything that could aid you/them - a piece of wood, a football, etc. for floatation and reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Followed by all the other good advice&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T21:14:43.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16442" CreationDate="2017-06-28T22:46:05.287" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;OK, going by the first part of that video mainly, as the other two seem to be more technical and not so steep:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they are throwing the paddles away, they always seem to be falling from very high, the kayak pointing straight down, and they are going to hit the water flat with their face. In the first 2 or 3 falls, you see they not only throw the paddle, but also cover their faces with the hands to avoid hitting the surface hard on the face. I guess that's related - throwing the paddle so they have both hands for the face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Markedly, in all other falls, which are either not that high or where they are flying with a horizontal kayak, there is no throwing-away going on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2017-06-28T22:46:05.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16450" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-28T23:02:47.307" Score="7" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am investigating the feasibility of a hike looping around Hofsjökull.  The route takes me through the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ust.is/einstaklingar/nattura/fridlyst-svaedi/sudurland/thjorsarver/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Þjórsárver&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://protectedplanet.net/346546&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guðlaugstungur og Álfgeirstungur&lt;/a&gt; protected areas.  The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ust.is/library/Skrar/Einstaklingar/Fridlyst-svaedi/Auglysingar/thorsarver_507_1987.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;regulations for Þjórsarver&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ust.is/library/Skrar/Einstaklingar/Fridlyst-svaedi/Auglysingar/gudlaugstungur_1150_2005.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;those for Guðlaugstungur og Álfgeirstungur&lt;/a&gt; do not appear to make mention of camping, but Google Translate may fool me here.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I permitted to camp in those protected areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, I would practice strict leave no trace and avoid fragile vegetated areas, which is exactly what makes Þjórsárver so unique in the Highlands of Iceland (compare &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickriver.com/photos/iceland-ho/sets/72157594472287697/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Þjórsárver photos&lt;/a&gt; with neighbouring &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Sprengisandur&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sprengisandur&lt;/a&gt;!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T15:59:10.737" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T20:25:57.220" Title="Can I camp in the protected areas Þjórsárver and Guðlaugstungur og Álfgeirstungur?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16451" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-28T23:20:33.717" Score="10" ViewCount="350" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am investigating the feasibility of a hike looping around Hofsjökull.  Among the foreseen challenges are 17 crossings of named rivers (and many smaller ones).  All rivers I need to cross have 4WD roads fording through downstream from where I will be hiking, sometimes quite far downstream after the confluence of several more rivers.  From a driver's perspective, I have seen the recommendation, “if you wouldn't ford it on foot, don't ford it by car”.  Logically, it should follow that if a 4WD road does ford a river, it should be fordable on foot (weather permitting).  Is this accurate?  Can I infer from the observation that a 4WD road has an unbridged river crossing downstream that it may be fordable on foot upstream?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; For the purpose of this question, please assume complete sterility.  I am considering only fordability due to water depth and force.  I am not interesting in dangers from carnivorous animals in the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-02T19:47:48.027" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T19:47:48.027" Title="Does fordable by 4WD imply fordable on foot?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16452" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16480" CreationDate="2017-06-28T23:30:52.823" Score="11" ViewCount="477" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am investigating the feasibility of a hike looping around Hofsjökull.  This will take me through several “deserts” such as Hofsafrétt and Sprengisandur.  On photos, this looks pretty dry, but Iceland is not the Sahara.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Islande_Sprengisandur_d%C3%A9sert_sol.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sprengisandur&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: Johann Dréo, CC-BY-SA, &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Islande_Sprengisandur_d%C3%A9sert_sol.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A topographic map appears to show plenty of streams in this area, but so do maps in deserts in the USA, even if those streams rarely have water (usually shown dashed but sometimes also when drawn as continuous lines).  Should I expect that streams to be seasonal and dried out in September, or can I rest assured that in the chilly climate of Iceland with little evaporation, streams do not actually dry out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:19:20.667" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:19:20.667" Title="Are Icelandic deserts so dry I need to worry about drinking water?" Tags="&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16451" CreationDate="2017-06-29T02:05:26.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The presence of a ford in a river is a &lt;em&gt;local&lt;/em&gt; condition: it's a point in the flow where the river has leveled out, producing a wide, slow, shallow flow.  In addition, a ford generally has a hard bottom, either naturally or through &quot;improvement&quot; with imported gravel.  The presence of a ford at one point says absolutely nothing about the fordability of that river anywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your secondary question, &quot;you can ford it here by car&quot; does strongly imply &quot;you can ford it here on foot&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T02:05:26.910" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16451" CreationDate="2017-06-29T03:32:39.850" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/water/tadd/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The U.S. National Weather Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Turn Around Don't Drown® &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other&#xA;  thunderstorm related hazard. The Centers for Disease Control and&#xA;  Prevention report that over half of all flood-related drownings occur&#xA;  when a vehicle is driven into hazardous flood water. The next highest&#xA;  percentage of flood-related deaths is due to walking into or near&#xA;  flood waters. People underestimate the force and power of water. Many&#xA;  of the deaths occur in automobiles as they are swept downstream. Of&#xA;  these drownings, many are preventable, but too many people continue to&#xA;  drive around the barriers that warn you the road is flooded. &lt;strong&gt;A mere 6&#xA;  inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It takes&#xA;  just 12 inches of rushing water to carry away a small car, while 2&#xA;  feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles.&lt;/strong&gt; It is NEVER safe&#xA;  to drive or walk into flood waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've quoted the warning in full, and bolded the part that sheds light on the OP's question.  The bolded sentence says to me that fordable by 4WD vehicle does not necessarily mean fordable by foot, even upstream of the ford.  (Note: 12 inches equals one foot equals 30.48 cm.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T19:39:46.577" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T19:39:46.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16455" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-06-29T17:58:50.233" Score="2" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the best places in Mexico City to go for a hike. Ideally they should be safe, with amazing views, can go with my car with two or three other people, they are not so crowded, last for approximately 3-5 hours and are not technically difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13455" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-06-29T20:36:29.353" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T20:36:29.353" Title="What are the best places to go for a hike near Mexico City?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-07-07T07:28:16.613" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="347" CreationDate="2017-06-29T19:58:59.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The accepted answer gives good advice, which I will not repeat here.  But although reading about what to do is much better than not knowing anything about what to do, &lt;strong&gt;reading is no substitute for hands-on training&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thus add this answer for the record: if you are travelling in an area where avalanches are a known danger, take an avalanche training course!  Here is one place to start looking for a course:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://avtraining.org/avalanche-training-courses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Institute for Avalanche Rescue and Education&lt;/a&gt;.  One-day courses may be available, and an investment of one day (or even two) is a good investment in avalanche country.  At a bare minimum, get and learn how to use, the equipment listed in the accepted answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T19:58:59.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16457" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16459" CreationDate="2017-06-29T20:28:55.533" Score="5" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to protect a room from mosquitoes, I am looking for something I can use which does not change the way the room looks from the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13455" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:15:59.600" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:15:59.600" Title="How can I protect a room from bugs without using mosquito-nets or visible barriers?" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2017-06-29T21:00:42.607" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The classic maximum speed of a displacement vessel is associated with a Froude Number [velocity / sqrt(g*LWL) ] = 0.4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you want velocity in knots and measure water line length in feet (with acceleration due to gravity = 32.2 ft/s²) then Vmax = 0.4 * sqrt(32.2) * 3600 sec/hour / 6076 ft/nautical mile * sqrt(LWL)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or Vmax = 1.34*sqrt(LWL)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The coefficient of 1.34 is the classic value, but values between 1.3 and 1.5 are given which represents a Froude number range of 0.38-0.45. The coefficient is not an approximation for √2 as claimed elsewhere. The reason for the drag increase is due to the interaction of the waves induced by the hull as mentioned by Erik. The reason for the range is because hull design can impact the induced waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A planing vessel is not subject to this limit. It is probably easier to plane a shorter craft, but planing by human power, while possible, is not sustainable over any distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wave-induced drag can be overcome with a wave-piercing design. Length is your friend here as well. For a given beam (just enough to fit the paddler) a longer boat will have a smaller leading edge wedge angle and more wave-piercing capability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of this means the given paddler has the strength and stamina to reach that point where the wave induced drag spikes. As you state, the longer boat will have more surface area which is more skin friction. It will also tend to be heavier (given the same construction) and displace more water. At some point, the theoretical increase in speed with length is no longer practically achievable. The exact point is different for every paddler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to consider is the type of water you will operate in. Kayaking a long boat in high waves will reduce the effective water line as the boat's bow and stern lift out of the water. Kayaking a long boat on flat open water is a dream. Paddling that boat in a quartering wind can be a huge frustration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Length is the most important variable for straight line speed, but the right length for you may not be the longest you can find!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13457" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-06-30T12:17:32.910" LastActivityDate="2017-06-30T12:17:32.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16457" CreationDate="2017-06-29T23:07:32.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Screens are the best solution, and the only solution guaranteed to keep your room 100% bug free (as long as people are careful not to let them in at the door).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other preventative methods include using mosquito deterrents or repellents like citronella candles, torches, lanterns, etc. There are brands devoted to mosquito control like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermacell.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thermacell&lt;/a&gt; who provide a plethora of products. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your next best solution is to control the mosquito population in your yard. Preventative methods work the best, by either eliminating breeding areas such as anything that can collect water (spare tires, buckets or pails, ditches that perpetually puddle, swampy areas, etc.), mosquitoes will breed wherever there is standing water. Some mosquitos lay eggs in grass too, keep your grass cut and don't let any areas of you yard get overgrown. Long grass is a haven for mosquitos because they can fly down where they have protection from sun and heat, and also often find water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you can treat your yard and kill all the mosquitos before they become a problem. Larvicide any pools, fountains, or ponds that you have in your yard. This kills 99% of the larvae before they mature. Malathion is most popular for killing mature mosquitos in your yard. You can get a bottle with a hose attachment and spray your yard, or you can get a fogger from pretty much any hardware store and fog your yard. Do this the morning of or the night before your event and you're pretty  much guaranteed to not have any bug problems that night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-06-29T23:07:32.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16438" CreationDate="2017-06-30T09:19:11.273" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;BTDT I think, but I don't remember ever having a 'problem'. As a guy who camps and also gets to use squatty potties once in a while, here's my advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, ditch the shorts/pants it'll be much more comfortable to squat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, the ground doesn't splash as much as a bowl full of water, so the problem probably isn't as bad as you might think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, if your cathole is located on a slight slope you'll probably be able to get quite close too it, helping contain problems. A nice benefit of this - less strain on the ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourth - you can pile up the dirt from the hole near your feet, as extra protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fifth -by the time you hike out, whatever's on your boots will be long gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And final bonus comment - the backwoods is a place to enjoy, not to find out whether you can survive on questionable food choices. Eat food that you would eat in everyday life, cooked properly, and enjoy your trip!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2017-06-30T09:19:11.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16461" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16464" CreationDate="2017-06-30T11:05:44.477" Score="8" ViewCount="396" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some methods to obtain drinking water from a glacier or icefield, in the absence of snow or reachable meltwater?  Collecting ice is much harder than collecting snow.  Do I need to bring special tools or can I collect tools “in the wild” to break or scrape ice from a glacier/icefield for melting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-06-30T13:40:31.373" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T06:51:15.873" Title="Obtaining drinking water from a glacier or icefield, in the absence of snow or reachable meltwater" Tags="&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16463" CreationDate="2017-06-30T13:48:49.893" Score="13" ViewCount="3260" Body="&lt;p&gt;When in tick country, tick checks are critical. Easier with a buddy who can look where the sun doesn't shine, but even alone, diligent inspection (especially with a mirror of some sort) can go a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is about what to do after spotting what &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be a tick in solo inspection. If one isn't certain if they've found a tick or not, or they are pretty certain but it is hard to access, what's the best course of action?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is general but here's a specific scenario: camping out in backcountry, I do a tick check and find what might be a tick on my middle lower back. I use a mirror and I brush it with my finger, then my nail, to see if it moves even a little bit (likely a tick) or if it seems to be completely one-with-my-skin (probably a forgotten birthmark). If I can't convince myself it is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a tick I spotted, or if I end up confident it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a tick, what should my next course of action be given its hard-to-access location and the lack of anybody else around? All the more challenging in this scenario, I don't plan to see anyone else for at least a few more days!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2020-10-26T14:38:18.737" Title="How to confirm/remove ticks in tough spots when alone?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16462" CreationDate="2017-06-30T17:43:56.373" Score="8" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Determining whether it's a tick&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a digital camera or mobile phone with you, you could try photographing your suspected tick. I don't have a tick handy for testing purposes, but I just tried a couple of close-up shots with my mid-range 2015 phone and it doesn't have any trouble imaging features well under a millimetre in size. A high-end phone or digital camera ought to do even better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, even if you can't confirm with total certainty that it's a tick, there are a couple of removal techniques you could attempt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Removing the suspected tick&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some sources recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mydr.com.au/first-aid-self-care/tick-removal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;freezing the tick using a medical freezing spray&lt;/a&gt;, and letting the dead tick drop off naturally. If you plan ahead and bring freezing spray, this should let you remove a tick from anywhere you can reach to detect one. (However, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bada-uk.org/correct-tick-removal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some sources&lt;/a&gt; also recommend &lt;em&gt;against&lt;/em&gt; freezing ticks, claiming that it can encourage them to regurgitate their stomach contents.) If your suspected tick isn't actually a tick, this technique won't do any harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I found myself in this situation and didn't have freezing spray, I'd probably go with the (generally discouraged) technique of using my fingernails as tweezers. This risks squeezing the tick's body, but I think it's the lesser of two evils. And I think that my fingertips are sensitive enough to get the positioning right without being able to see what I'm doing. Like the freezing spray, this is a technique you can try even if you're not sure it's a tick. If it's a splinter, it's good to remove it anyway, and if it's a birthmark, you'll probably (painfully) realize this before you manage to pull it off completely :).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T05:53:39.360" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T05:53:39.360" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16461" CreationDate="2017-06-30T17:45:43.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mohs hardness scale&lt;/a&gt; is a common scale used to describe the hardness (resistance to scratching) of different materials. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/ice/lec02/lec2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hardness of ice&lt;/a&gt; is between 1.5 and 6 Mohs. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.granitemarblewa.com/a-peek-at-the-strength-and-hardness-ratings-of-granite-and-marble/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hardness of granite&lt;/a&gt; is 7 Mohs so you should be able to scratch ice with rocks you find. I cannot find a definitive answer on the hardness of wood, but it seems like wood would not scratch steel (hardness of 4 Mohs) or even copper (hardness of 3 Mohs) so it is probably around a 3 or so. In a one off survival situation you can definitely pound on the ice with rocks to shatter manageable pieces. Using sticks will be a lot less efficient than rocks (and possibly not possible depending on temperature). If you need to gather a lot of ice, or do it regularly, a small hand drill and saw work well. An ice pick can also work. If you are going to try and shatter ice, you need to be careful to protect your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After obtaining manageable pieces, you are then left with melting the ice and warming the water. While you can do this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/488/does-eating-snow-help-dehydration&quot;&gt;with your own body heat&lt;/a&gt;, you need to be careful. You may be better off using the heat source to directly (or indirectly) melt the ice (e.g., by putting the hot pot directly on the glacier or pouring out hot/warm water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2017-06-30T19:57:14.993" LastActivityDate="2017-06-30T19:57:14.993" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16461" CreationDate="2017-06-30T23:25:42.867" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another answer talks about hardness.  There is some relevance to that, but more importantly, ice is brittle, regardless of how hard it is.  You don't need much of a tool to scrape or crack chunks from a large piece of ice like a glacier.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, any large piece of ice has to have edges someplace.  It's easier to split off pot-sized chunks from edges than from a large flat plane of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point is that very rarely do you have just pure clear ice in nature.  I've been right up to a few glaciers, and they always were at least a little bit &quot;snowy&quot; on top.  They aren't nice clear solid blocks of ice like ice cubes.  You do see that when you go into a crevasse or under the glacier, but the surface is usually more like hardened snow than solid ice.  It should not be hard to scrape some of that into a pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet another point, anywhere there are large ice features, like glaciers, there will be streams coming out the bottom end of them.  If you can walk up to the foot of a glacier, you don't need to gather snow or chunks of ice at all.  You just fill the pot with the inevitable meltwater flowing out.  About the only time this doesn't work is in winter when the whole lot is covered with snow.  But then you've got lots of snow to easily scoop up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-06-30T23:25:42.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16457" CreationDate="2017-07-01T01:17:57.563" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mint oil.  Mint oil is fatal to all mosquitoes. Some on a rag here &amp;amp; there or mix it with lamp oil &amp;amp; burn it in a lamp.  There are also mosquito coils you can burn at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T01:17:57.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16349" CreationDate="2017-07-01T02:17:31.403" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The timber hitch works wel for tying the line to larger trees, the clove hitch is fine for any thin poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T02:17:31.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16438" CreationDate="2017-07-01T13:51:33.123" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following assumes you have enough time to follow all the steps, and assumes you are below timberline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dig your cathole on Side B of the log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plant your feet on Side A of the log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drop your nether garments to your knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brace yourself with your hands on the log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sling your backside over the log.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proceed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-01T14:30:16.800" LastActivityDate="2017-07-01T14:30:16.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10667" CreationDate="2017-07-02T01:40:33.540" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tie in is incorrect and should go through the lower loop before tying off with a bowline. Remember to double back on the buckle as the webbing has the potential to slip.&#xA;Despite the ignorent comments, this is still one of the best harnesses conceived, especially when having to put it on in adverse conditions. Should be used with a chest harness, as there was a tendency to flip upside down on occasion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13471" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T01:40:33.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16457" CreationDate="2017-07-02T04:15:47.570" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/prevent-mosquito-bites.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The CDC recommends...&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take steps to control mosquitoes inside and outside your home&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use screens on windows and doors. Repair holes in screens to keep mosquitoes outside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Use air conditioning when available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Sleep under a mosquito bed net if air conditioned or screened rooms are not available or if sleeping outdoors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out items that hold water, such as tires, buckets, planters, toys, pools, birdbaths, flowerpots, or trash containers. Check inside and outside your home. Mosquitoes lay eggs near water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air conditioning and/or bug nets are used in many parts of the world to protect against mosquitoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T04:15:47.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16461" CreationDate="2017-07-02T06:51:15.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quite often you'll have an ice axe with you in glacier country. That should be quite effective. If not, tent pegs, especially rock pegs or v pegs make decent chipping tools even for soft stone. You may need to hit them with a rock. Aluminium pegs are probably too soft; plastic ones definitely are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T06:51:15.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16474" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16479" CreationDate="2017-07-02T16:09:26.477" Score="5" ViewCount="1645" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the 70s, while learning sailing, I was taught to use a double half hitch, where the two hitches are tied in opposite directions. However, in the 90s, I took a USCG course, where in the same situations I was taught to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_half-hitches&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;two half hitches&lt;/a&gt;, where the hitches are tied in the same direction, similar to a clove hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, see this image from this &lt;a href=&quot;https://scoutpioneering.com/2016/03/13/larks-head/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;scoutpioneering.com post&lt;/a&gt;, where they call my &quot;double half hitch&quot; a Lark's Head, and &quot;two half hitches&quot; a Clove Hitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jjKeZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jjKeZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lark&amp;#39;s Head vs Clove Hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should have asked the course leaders, but never did: is there a valid use for a double half hitch/Lark's Head? (It's the version I always tie, although it does seem to work free when intermittently loaded.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11729" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T12:11:05.583" Title="Double half hitch, versus two half hitches?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;clove-hitch&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16475" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16477" CreationDate="2017-07-02T20:41:00.533" Score="7" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just realised you can't sleep in hostels if you're under 18 years old.&#xA;Is this the same for staying at a campsite in Italy?&#xA;I really need help because I already planned a whole vacation around camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13477" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T23:16:32.100" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T23:16:32.100" Title="Can I camp on campsites as a 16 year old in Italy?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;italy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16400" CreationDate="2017-07-02T22:16:08.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having talked about this to a couple of people offline who have some experience with mapping, we have a working theory (though I'll not accept my own answer unless+until others confirm these ideas).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in the other answers and comments the altitude is not coming from the GPS readings. Because satellites are essentially on the same plane (relative to the sideways difference in their locations) altitude calculations have such a high error range that (at least on consumer-grade phone/watch style devices) they are at best general indicators. For this reason, again also alluded to in other answers/comments, reference map data is used instead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is effectively an altitude difference of the road either side of the river, the south side &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; lower at the point that the height mapping data becomes available than the north side at the point that the height mapping data becomes available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The available height data is the issue - in the sources used there is nothing (not even a reading of the riverbed height) for the bulk of the bridge. The data used only contains data for land that is at least mostly permanently above water. If you look at the trace either side (I didn't notice this before) you can see it going down as if it is following the river floor not the road height. Where this is no data the height of the closest point with data is used. The closest point with data switches about half way over which is why there is a sudden change, because as per point 2 there &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; is difference in altitude between those last points with altitude data.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to summarise what happens going south:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Approaching the bridge area all is well, we have height mapping data that matches where the road it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The height data is following the &lt;em&gt;land&lt;/em&gt; not the &lt;em&gt;road&lt;/em&gt; so moving onto the bridge you initially see the downwards curve of the riverside not the upwards rise of the road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At a certain point the height data stops, so the last/nearest point with data is used for the altitude reading. You can see this in the trace as a flat line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the middle of the bridge that point is no longer the nearest, son on the first trace a point on the south side is so its altitude is used (see below for why we think the details here differ on the second trace). This causes the precipitous change in the chart.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Again there is the flat reading, as there is not real altitude data so that nearest point is used as a best guess.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once there is altitude data available, it again follows the land not the road and you see the rising curve of the river bank.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once beyond that curve we are no longer elevated above the land by a raised section of road and the trace is again following both the lay of the land and the road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exactly the same occurs in reverse on the return leg of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two half-marathon traces I included seem to be using slightly different map data. On the trace taken from my trip the riverside is an obvious curve and the &quot;no data&quot; section is shorter. On the other trace the altitude data stops closer to the sides of the river so the flat parts of the trace are longer. Also it seems that instead of using the nearest point on the map for which there is data it is using the last point visited for which there is data, so the sudden change in altitude occurs when altitude data &quot;appears&quot; again (near the sides of the river) rather than half way between the points where there is data, so near the end of the bridge the traveller is heading towards rather than in the middle of the bridge. The trace on the full marathon PDF is a little different again because the traveller never goes further south then the bridge exit, immediately turning under the bridge to join the other carriageway to go back north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comments? This seems to make sense in our heads at least...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13398" LastActivityDate="2017-07-02T22:16:08.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16475" CreationDate="2017-07-03T10:30:37.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you're going to have problems with camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The age of responsibility in Italian law is 18 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've looked at the terms and conditions of a number of campsites, and they all say that each group must have at least one responsible adult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that this will vary from site to site depending on their insurance etc, but on a quick search I was unable to find a site that would accept you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you can't bluff it, as they will ask to see your passport when you arrive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it wasn't hard to find hostels who will take you, provided you have original written permission from your parents. Obviously, it would be sensible to contact them in advance to make sure there is no misunderstanding, so you don't have problems when you arrive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-07-03T10:30:37.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="139" CreationDate="2017-07-03T12:30:49.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the answers here suggest really bad solutions.  I recently researched an answer for the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/17598/tick-removal-to-twist-or-not-twist&quot;&gt;Tick removal, to twist or not twist?&lt;/a&gt; it focuses on technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can find lots of people with lots of suggestions, the only empirically (science based) proven techniques are to remove the tick in a timely manor with the correct tool, either fine point tweezers or a special tick removal tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The CDC offers these great guidelines for tick removal with tweezers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to remove a tick&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid folklore remedies such as &amp;quot;painting&amp;quot; the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach from the skin. Your goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible–not waiting for it to detach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/helK8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/helK8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;CDC removal&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is important to notice&lt;/strong&gt; that the CDC recommends fine tipped tweezers, not the wider version that are often used for pulling splinters or plucking eye brows.  When wide tipped tweezers and/or fingers used to pull ticks, there is higher risk of causing injury to the patient by leaving parts of the tick or its gut contents behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well what about tools designed to be twisted, &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/2553/how-to-remove-a-tick-on-a-dog&quot;&gt;as recommended in this answer&lt;/a&gt; or in the image below?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OqSQq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OqSQq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tick twister removal&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how and/or why should you twist or not twist a tick?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A ticks mouth parts have barbs, these attach inside the patients body making it difficult for the tick to be dislodged.  While there is always a risk of leaving part of the mouth behind the correct technique for the tool will increase the chances of removing the tick without harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PqbU9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PqbU9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;barbed mouth parts&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If removing with tweezers, don't twist.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not twist or jerk the tick as this may leave its mouth parts embedded, or cause it to regurgitate disease-causing fluids. If any mouth parts do break off, they may be removed with a sterilised needle or tweezer points. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bada-uk.org/correct-tick-removal/tick-removal-fine-tipped-tweezers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When using a tool designed to be remove ticks by twisting, twist 2 or 3 times&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The O'Tom Tick Twister ® cradles the body of the tick and doesn't exert pressure to either its mouth parts or its abdomen. It can therefore be safely twisted in one direction (either clockwise or counter-clockwise – the tick is not screw-threaded), which allows the barbs on the tick's proboscis to be freed from the surrounding tissue. The twisting action also helps to crack the special saliva cement that most hard-tick species secrete to fix themselves in. Because the tool doesn't cause any compression to the body of the tick, it minimises the risk of back-flow of the tick's saliva and gut contents, and  therefore helps to avoid disease transmission. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bada-uk.org/correct-tick-removal/tick-removal-tick-removal-tool&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research sources: while multiple references were used to create this answer.  Much of the direct referencing comes from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bada-uk.org/bada-uk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BADA-UK&lt;/a&gt; they are a volunteer charity, which had really good and completed descriptions and rationale for everything they posted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-07-03T12:30:49.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16474" CreationDate="2017-07-03T13:23:13.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, a note on terminology.  There are several groups of knots that have a certain what I call topology.  When that topology in the rope is tied around a fixed object, the resulting knot has one name, but when turned around that object then tied around the standing end of the rope, it has a different name.  Further, some knots can also be used to join ends of two ropes, and then it will have yet a different name.  Examples include the pairs you listed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Larks head (around object) and double half-hitch (around the standing end)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clove hitch (around object) and two half-hitches (around the standing end)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a close look at these two as well, and you'll see the same topology:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bowline (forms a closed loop) and sheet bend (joins end of two ropes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, I think you partially answer your own question- the two half-hitches holds better under load than does the double half-hitch.  This is easy to test for yourself- tie each one in a small piece of rope around a convenient table leg or something, then pull backwards.  You will find the double half-hitch slips more easily than the two half-hitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T13:16:52.150" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T13:16:52.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16452" CreationDate="2017-07-03T14:09:27.137" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is from the well known trekker Andrew Skurka, who did an East/West traverse that would cross similar terrain to your proposed route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have asked around and everywhere I hear that water is sufficiently available in all areas, but I keep wondering about this ‘desert’ area that you also talk about. The area around Askja seems so dry and empty to me and running out of water there seems to be one of the worst things to do.&#xA;  So how was your experience on this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Andrew's reply:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There’s plenty of water. You might have to carry some, but never much. Plus, you don’t burn through much water in those cool, windy conditions, hiking on flat terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FFXZT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FFXZT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://andrewskurka.com/adventures/iceland-traverse/#comment-5408&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;See source...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-05T09:00:32.627" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T09:00:32.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16474" CreationDate="2017-07-03T15:24:50.303" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking closely at the photo, the knots are very much different.  In the lark's head, the running end is inside the knot; that means, as tension is applied, the knot will tend to tighten on the standing end, making it more secure.  The pull of the standing end will tend to pull the knot and the running end into the knot, guaranteeing a tight knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the clove hitch shown, the running end is on the outside of the knot's load, which means, the tightness of the knot relies on the knot tier's skill at keeping it tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, if the knots were tied such that there isn't much load on the knot (and there is more slip in the bight), then, the clove hitch will tend to twist out, eventually allowing the running end to unsecure itself from inside the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first (lark's head double half-hitch) is a more secure knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2017-07-05T12:11:05.583" LastActivityDate="2017-07-05T12:11:05.583" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16482" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-03T18:37:40.830" Score="6" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently went backpacking above treeline in Colorado. It was in a National Wilderness and there were no designated camping areas. Finding a flat enough spot for 3 tents proved to be difficult at best. While respecting the rule of camping at least 100 ft from the trail and water bodies we ended up walking off trail more that I'd like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that a group of 2-6 people can, unfortunately, do a lot of stomping while &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;finding a camp site that is 100+ ft from trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;finding a camp site that is 100+ ft from water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walking 100+ ft to the food cooking area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;walking another direction to a waste area (and digging holes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tying food up in a tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some way to minimize our impact on the terrain while following all the other guidelines?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8156" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T17:17:33.967" Title="How to minimize impact on terrain at camp?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16483" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-04T07:53:23.800" Score="24" ViewCount="4190" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife is due to under take her &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountain-training.org/walking/skills-and-awards/lowland-leader&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lowland Leader&lt;/a&gt; course in then next couple of months and she has been advised to gain experience using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harvey Maps&lt;/a&gt; as well as the more familiar Ordnance Survey maps. &#xA;As far as I can see the only advantage they have is that they are waterproof as standard.  They don't cover the whole of the country and are not as widely available as Ordnance Survey maps so I can not see a reason why it would be necessary to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What advantages do Harvey maps offer over Ordnance Survey maps?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13484" LastEditorUserId="13484" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T09:16:23.527" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T11:53:13.777" Title="Why would one choose to use a Harvey map rather than an Ordnance Survey map?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16483" CreationDate="2017-07-04T10:20:47.933" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used OS 1:25k and 1:50k extensively in the UK.  I also have a little experience of using 1:40k Harveys maps (Lake district, for mountain marathons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been impressed with the Harveys: in detail as well as scale they sit nicely in between the two OS scales.  So you get very detailed contours (nearly as much as the OS 1:25k), but less of the clutter on the 1:25k OS maps - they don't attempt to map every fence post and small rock.  I personally find that a lot of the fine detail in the 1:25k is not very helpful for navigation, but I &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; like to have more detailed contours than the 1:50k offers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another (small) advantage with the Harveys is that they seem to have more sensible coverage.  For example, in the Lake District I recently had to take four OS maps where one of the Harveys maps would have covered it.  But that just depends on where you want to walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T10:20:47.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16483" CreationDate="2017-07-04T11:55:12.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know several people who recommend the Harvey maps, so they're obviously not terrible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main advantage is the 1:40,000 scale which offers most of the detail of a 1:25,000 map while covering a larger area. Additionally, they don't have many irrelevant features like county boundaries and slightly more colourful style than OS maps, which make it easier to understand the map at a glance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The larger area of the maps allows them to cover more useful areas where multiple 1:25000 maps would be needed. Particularly the Lakes, which are covered by 4 OS maps compared to 1 Harvey map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, their waterproofness is pretty good and can make them much easier to use than using a mapcase or a laminated OS map, which are much more bulky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously as OS maps cover the entire country Harvey maps are never strictly necessary, but in many situations they can provide an, at least arguably, better alternative  to OS maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3234" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T11:55:12.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16483" CreationDate="2017-07-04T12:23:16.380" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, if you've ever tried walking in countries like Spain or Italy, we should celebrate the fact that we are spoiled for choice. You can always get by with an OS, so why would you ever choose Harvey?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you should understand that they offer two main series - the SuperWalker maps at 1:25k and mainly centered on popular mountains, and the newer BMC Mountain Maps that cover wider areas at 1:40k.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what I like about the Harvey offerings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are tougher than the OS maps, without the bulk of the lamination. You don't need a map case - just fold and roll and stick them in a pocket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The footpaths are often more complete and accurate - they get on the ground and check them out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's the same for rocky and marshy ground - they get out there and check the terrain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Subjectively, I find the contouring and shading is clearer - compare the mapping of the Cuillin, for example.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They omit details like administrative boundaries that clutter the mapping and are of little interest to walkers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They name the popular climbing crags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They offer maps scaled and centered to show a whole area - eg 1 map for the Lakes, vs 4 for the OS. The Dartmoor map, for example, is more convenient than the two-sided OS Explorer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They offer strip-maps covering many of the National Trails, while you would need multiple OS maps for the same coverage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They offer useful specialist maps - eg large scale summit maps for complex tops and fell running maps for popular races and challenges.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The contours are visible using a night-vision red light, while they are pretty much unreadable on the OS map.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the downside: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the 40k sheets you won't have a romer on your compass, but they do sell one for £1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you're trying to navigate the valleys though farms and fields the 1:40k can lack detail vs 1:25k mapping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're not so clear about the access status of the land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They don't show as many ancient monuments.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They don't show pubs! (Don't they understand their market??)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short - both the OS and Harvey make great maps. There will be times when one suits your usage better than another, and times when you might use them in combination - eg the more detailed 1:25k OS map for planning and the more convenient 1:40k Harvey on the hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T12:30:25.720" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T12:30:25.720" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16482" CreationDate="2017-07-04T12:40:42.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting question. Some suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In bear country many trekkers cook their evening meal by the trail, then walk on to camp. This reduces the need to move around your campsite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Again, you could cut down trips to your latrine area by seeing to your needs before you reach the camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You could try to narrow down campsite selection before you go, using large-scale maps, satellite maps, and asking the locals. Or check out the terrain from above as you walk. This would reduce the need for recces off the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you wear boots, you could walk around camp in bare feet or use a lightweight foot-covering to reduce erosion a little.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T12:55:27.190" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T12:55:27.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2017-07-04T16:26:14.957" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I kayak fish and do it this way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;catch fish&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;cut through the &quot;throat&quot; by putting the fish on its back (belly up), inserting a knife through one gill opening to the other, and then cutting &quot;upward&quot; to sever the little connection of flesh directly under the gills (where the belly becomes the chin)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;bend the head backward to snap the neck (spinal column)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(this step I only do for certain species) remove guts and gills&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;let fish bleed out for a few minutes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;put in cooler with big slabs of ice that I freeze in cake pans or juice / pop bottles that are full of ice&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On warm days in Nova Scotia this will get me through a long day of fishing with fresh and high quality fish. On smaller fish I can do the above without a knife. It satisfies numerous personal requirements;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a quick humane kill&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;no fish flopping around in my kayak as they suffocate (a terrible way to die, by the way)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;the heart beats for a minute after you snap the spine so blood gets pumped out where you cut under the gills and this improves the quality of the meat&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;fish are kept cool until I can fillet them that night at home&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just watch that your ice doesn't melt, leaving your fish sitting in water, which can soften the flesh. If your ice is melting a lot, drain the water out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13486" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-04T17:34:24.533" LastActivityDate="2017-07-04T17:34:24.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15753" CreationDate="2017-07-06T18:08:01.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the U.P. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Peninsula_of_Michigan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Upper Peninsula of Michigan)&lt;/a&gt;, there are several long gravel trails (primarily ATV/snowmobile, but also allow cycling) that pass through Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests, both of which allow dispersed camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13503" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-07T01:17:54.737" LastActivityDate="2017-07-07T01:17:54.737" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16495" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-07T14:37:11.877" Score="5" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw people using a square tarp sort of like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJOez.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJOez.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will you not get flooded during rain? Specifically, I'm wondering about water flowing in on the ground from the front. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tyically, tents have a kind of rim around them on the bottom:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lgtg7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lgtg7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The entrance is not right at the floor but is above that black rim on the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a tarp having one whole side open, and no rim, what happens if it rains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13509" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:00:39.707" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:00:39.707" Title="Open-sided tarp in rain" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16496" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16524" CreationDate="2017-07-07T15:26:19.840" Score="6" ViewCount="223" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am confused by my new map of the Westfjords of Iceland. The geographic coordinate grid is rotated slightly, but the map indicates that true north is still the top of the page. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5GugQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5GugQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Relevant portion of the map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's going on? I would have thought a flat map would be unraveled so that all the lines of longitude were vertical and therefore parallel to true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Importantly, how do I take a bearing on this map? Do I rotate my housing so that it is aligned with the true north arrow or the grid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to be clear, the above photograph contains the entire legend of the map. There is no mention of magnetic declination, which is roughly 15° W in this part of Iceland in 2017 according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;. Furthermore, the difference between the grid and the north arrow is not 15°. It would be highly unusual for the north arrow to be magnetic and not true north, but I suppose that's possible. I think I understand how to calculate a route given true north and magnetic declination on a map, but I'm not sure how to interpret this map so that I can start planning my route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the comments, @imsodin asked if the angles of the longitudinal lines changed on the map. Using a high resolution scan of the map and Illustrator, I think I can conclude that they do very slightly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XCwAQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XCwAQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12968" LastEditorUserId="12968" LastEditDate="2017-07-07T16:33:10.290" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T10:14:45.217" Title="How to take a bearing when the geographic coordinate grid is not aligned with true north on a map?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16499" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16512" CreationDate="2017-07-07T21:20:12.380" Score="9" ViewCount="409" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most species of bison have been bred with cattle at one time or another during history. The American Bison (bison bison) is unique because it's genetically pure, having only the DNA of the bison, with no evidence of genes of cattle or any other animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told that Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, has the oldest and largest population of pure American bison currently residing on public land. We live on the East Coast of the United States, and don't generally travel far away, but we really want to see some! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've never been to a place as big as Yellowstone, so help would be appreciated. We'd like to know:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where are the largest number of these bison located in the Park? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are they visible throughout the year? If not, when is the best time of the year to see the most?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's the best time of day to see them?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's the easiest access route to take, starting with the entrance to the Park, and choosing which trails/roads to use? If possible, I'd like to see them without too much walking or hiking, because I'm disabled, but if necessary, we'd figure something out. Adhering to the principles of &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; is a mandatory criteria.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are herds of pure bison in other places, including them as an option would be great too! We'd consider any place in the continent of North America. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-17T21:02:21.643" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T00:26:18.287" Title="Where can we see genetically pure American Bison, including Yellowstone National Park?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;yellowstone&gt;&lt;bison&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16500" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16507" CreationDate="2017-07-08T15:12:48.230" Score="7" ViewCount="1287" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Lowe Aline Attack 50 pack from around 2000 and recently much of the inside has accumulated a sort of brown powder that is either, I suspect, some kind of mildew, or the remains of the decomposition of the pack's waterproofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHPje.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHPje.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;mysterious stuff in pack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stuff is not easy to remove; if I beat the pack while holding it upside down, the dust gradually falls out. Wiping it down with a damp cloth or cleaner doesn't speed the process up much. The stuff appears to be only on the waterproof liner and, to a much lesser extent, facing surfaces.&#xA;What is it? Can it be removed? Is it just time for a new pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum--&#xA;I've already accepted an answer below but wanted to share that Lowe customer support concurs that the waterproof liner has decomposed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Bzu1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Bzu1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lowe e-mail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13513" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:40:37.670" LastActivityDate="2018-07-08T17:03:13.120" Title="What is this brown dust/powder inside my old pack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16501" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16502" CreationDate="2017-07-08T18:04:53.573" Score="5" ViewCount="532" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Compression%20dry%20bag%20with%20valve%20and%20belt/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This dry bag&lt;/a&gt; comes with a valve and compression straps.  I understand the purpose of the compression bag, but what is the purpose of a valve?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T06:48:05.853" Title="What is the purpose of a valve on a dry bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16501" CreationDate="2017-07-08T18:48:10.810" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Letting the air out while you're closing/compressing the bag, looks like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's probably more of a risk than a benefit in general, but could be worth considering if you need to pack tight around hard objects or edges, like having gear for a multi day trip inside a kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could use it as a water bag with tap, but it does not look like that's the intended function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T06:54:11.087" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T06:54:11.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16499" CreationDate="2017-07-08T22:06:40.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For animal viewing. I would go to N Dakota. Drive the back roads not the mains roads. Stop at the badlands see some wild goats &amp;amp; buffalo. Mt Rushmore. Take the ranch roads around from there.  Many are still gravel roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-08T22:06:40.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16504" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16511" CreationDate="2017-07-09T01:13:09.647" Score="8" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had to turn around on a long (5000ft) glacier route last week because one of my ankles had really begun to hurt. The ankle was so fatigued after 1000ft that I doubted my ability to safely finish the remaining 4000ft, and the descent. I had decent double plastic boots, and had no problem kicking steps up soft snow the day before, but cramponing up a long, 25-35°, solidly frozen slope was apparently more than my ankles could handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a training regimen for foot and ankle strength?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T07:54:16.643" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T09:11:36.213" Title="How do I strengthen my ankles for long, steepish, snow and glacier routes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16482" CreationDate="2017-07-09T02:59:14.543" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with all of the tactics mentioned by @Tullochgorum, except for the bare feet -- Ouch!  However, the terrain &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; your feet will thank you for wearing light weight camp shoes.  As for looking for a suitable campsite, one or two people can do that -- six people do not have to go out scouting in all directions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way to reduce your impact in some circumstances is to remember that guidelines are just that -- guidelines -- not rules that must never be bent.  If you are above timberline on an unfrequented trail, and especially if you are going to decamp early next morning, it may be better to camp on a sandy spot less than 100 feet from the trail than tromp down the wildflowers making an extensive search.   Also a group of six well above timberline has little to fear from a black bear by cooking at their campsite.  And bear canisters, while they should be placed outside the perimeter of the campsite, need not be placed 100 feet away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rules that &lt;strong&gt;can't&lt;/strong&gt; be broken have to do with waste, garbage, cooking scraps, washing up and litter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note that I am &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; recommending bending guidelines merely because one is tired or it is getting dark, or because one is dismissive of rules or thinks that one party doesn't make a difference.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T03:13:46.377" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T03:13:46.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16495" CreationDate="2017-07-09T03:22:48.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Setup is the answer here.  You would preferably want your open side to be lower in elevation than your closed side, so that you dont have ground runoff running into your tent.  Same as for a regular closed tent.  On a totally flat piece of ground, your probably going to want to dig a shallow trench (think moat) around the shelter to redirect any sheeting water around the shelter.  Use the dirt from your moat to build up a raised area for actually sleeping, plus a good ground cover, you should be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if possible, make sure that your closed side is facing into the wind, so you don't have rain blowing into the shelter.  Even better if you can fashion a bit of an overhang or 'porch' on the open side.  Look up &lt;a href=&quot;http://tentsmiths.com/period-tents-whelen-tents.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;'whelen' tents&lt;/a&gt;, you will see what I mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T23:06:44.343" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T23:06:44.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16500" CreationDate="2017-07-09T14:17:07.290" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a tailor, I would say that it is either the water proofing is breaking down  or if it contains a fabric glue binding two types of fabric together is disintegrating. This is almost impossible to cleanup correctly. Personally I would either use it as it is, if you could use it in some way that such a condition would not be a hindrance for your backpacking, or get rid of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could consider a pack liner (like a large trash-bag inside the bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, &lt;strong&gt;I would simply get a new backpack&lt;/strong&gt;. Sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="13491" LastEditDate="2017-07-10T10:54:29.013" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T10:54:29.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16508" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-09T14:41:22.523" Score="5" ViewCount="458" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are camping in the summer at the Mediterranean Sea.&#xA;We camped there already sometimes and in the summers its quite hot. Now we are thinking about how to improve the cooling of a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe making the outside wet. Not sure if some wet things in the tent could help ?&#xA;Does anyone have any tips ? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not about getting it cool while camping, but getting it bearable warm only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13514" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T23:45:21.503" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T20:28:08.490" Title="How to cool a tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16508" CreationDate="2017-07-09T16:42:18.140" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first consideration is siting the tent. Is there shade? A breeze? Ideally a breeze off the water? Can you open two sides of the tent so the breeze flows through it? The same tent can be dramatically hotter if it's pitched sideways to the air currents so none goes through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't set up in the shade, then can you make shade? Is there a way to pitch a tarp over the tent to shade it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hanging up damp towels inside the tent for the breeze to blow over might help, but only if there is a breeze, or a small battery powered fan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T16:42:18.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16510" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-09T19:38:44.927" Score="6" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.unesco.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UNESCO&lt;/a&gt;, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,  has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/09/lake-district-is-uks-first-national-park-to-win-world-heritage-status&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;declared the Lake District National Park a cultural World Heritage Site&lt;/a&gt; (WHS), according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/422&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;criteria (ii)(v)(vi)&lt;/a&gt;, which &lt;a href=&quot;http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;are&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, it is the &lt;strong&gt;cultural&lt;/strong&gt; value of the Lake District that is protected, not the natural one.  Some are highly critical of this decision; for example, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/09/lake-district-world-heritage-site-george-monbiot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this opinion post&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this decision mean that attempts of reforestation and broader ways of rewilding of the Lake District must cease, considering that it is protected in its current (i.e. heavily eroded and some would say “sheepwrecked”) form?  Proponents of rewilding may hope the Lake District may one day look more like the Adirondacks (including top predators) than like the Lake District from English painters, but that sounds incompatible with the kind of protection UNESCO has declared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:43:56.370" Title="What are the consequences of the Lake Districts WHS status for attempts at rewilding/reforestation?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16504" CreationDate="2017-07-09T20:27:38.763" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get a balance board. When you brush your teeth, stand on it with bare feet and balance. Once you become stronger, balance standing on one foot. I did this during marathon training with good results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fitter1.com/assets/images/Pro_Balance_Boards_16.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Balance board example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To increase calf strength, try step-ups:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Position the tip of your foot on a stair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flex your foot, raising your body by a few inches just using your calf muscles. Release slowly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start with 2x12 repetitions. Over the next weeks carefully increase the volume or the intensity, by holding a weight (heavy book, juice box, dumbell)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T07:50:42.710" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T07:50:42.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16499" CreationDate="2017-07-09T20:39:09.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do check out Hayden and Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The following is taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/lamar-hayden-valley&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Watch Wildlife in Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;Wildlife Watching In Yellowstone National Park&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yellowstone’s huge, wide valleys make excellent habitat for wildlife.&#xA;  For your best chance of spotting bears, wolves, bison, pronghorn, and&#xA;  many more species, head to  Lamar and Hayden valleys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again from the same website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Best Time to Watch Wildlife&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Time: Animals are most active at dawn and dusk. If you’re going early,&#xA;  aim to be in the valleys before sunrise for the best odds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Season: Hayden Valley is best spring through fall, when the park roads&#xA;  are open. Lamar Valley is accessible by vehicle year-round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TripAdvisor has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60999-i481-k3611024-Hayden_Valley_or_Lamar_Valley_for_Animals-Yellowstone_National_Park_Wyoming.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;discussion of Lamar Valley vs. Hayden Valley&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service website&lt;/a&gt; has good information and safety recommendations. Each year a number of visitors are injured by wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multiple entrances to the park, and lodging opportunities both inside and outside the park.  Regardless of where you stay, you will do a considerable amount of driving travel in Yellowstone - it's huge and you won't simply park and see everything. We stayed outside the park, and made sure we had plenty of gas for each day. Beyond the simple mileage, you can be caught in &quot;animal traffic jams&quot; for significant periods of time. This can be either simply stuck as a herd of animals block the road, or stuck in long lines of cars who are looking at animals.  Rangers will generally arrive soon to move things along, but it can take a while.  We were stuck for 30 minutes for people stopping to watch geese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mention you're disabled, these locations offer plenty of opportunity from the road and comfort of your car or near to it. Some people bring binoculars or spotting scopes, and they're often willing to share if you don't have your own.  Many locations also have good boardwalks, paved paths, or well maintained gravel pathways if you are in a wheelchair.  There are many marked and unmarked driving pull-outs through out the park. Along Yellowstone Lake there are little parking areas with short walks to glorious views and often a picnic table all to yourself.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a teaser from our trip through Hayden Valley the first week of August in 2015 right from the car.  Your opportunities will vary, but it's definitely possible.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSxvF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSxvF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Roadside Bison in Hayden Valley&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't mention other large animals, but there are large populations of elk in the Mammoth Springs vicinity right in town. This picture is done with a 5x telephoto point and shoot - it seems closer than it is.  I just liked getting the sign in the shot.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k0MRA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k0MRA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mammoth Springs Elk&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11971" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-07-09T22:50:23.083" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T22:50:23.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16495" CreationDate="2017-07-09T22:24:37.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the main thing about this answer is I am not prepared to be drawn into a pointless religious debate over whats better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, Tents are better at keeping water out but heavier and in some people opinion, more complicated.  Tarps are lighter to carry and simple (In theory) to set up, if you have the skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people find tarps are 'good enough' at keeping water out, like their other features (weight, simplicity, open to the wild etc) and prefer tarps. Others prefer tents, feeling that the extra weight is worth the perceived advantages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as getting flooded in rain, it comes down to your bushman-ship. A skilled person won't have any problems, will select a good site and position the tarp so rain is not a problem. In the same situation, a less skill person may find themselves soaking wet and drowning in an inch of water. The tub floor of a tent is more of an advantage to a less skilled person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T22:24:37.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16508" CreationDate="2017-07-09T23:41:47.780" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had this same problem with our family tent (6 person tent) while camping in the interior of British Columbia. And it gets hot there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, color maybe beneficial for you. Try choosing a tent of a light color such as off white or cream. Light colored fabrics tend not to get as hot as dark colored ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a tent has flap window with the ability of being tied open (which ours did) on the sides where there is no door this would be helpful in letting the air circulate in and out of the tent. However if your tent has these features, but has a sort of screen sown into it in order to keep the bugs out, then the open windows are really of no avail. And if possible keep the door open as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than this I would suggest tenting in the shade if possible or making some shade with a tarp to keep the sun off the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-07-09T23:41:47.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16515" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16516" CreationDate="2017-07-10T00:14:19.597" Score="5" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;In August of 2015, my husband and I were out for a walk at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-central/wachusett-reservoir.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wachusett Reservoir&lt;/a&gt;, in Central Massachusetts. It was the same walk, including day and time, as in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9157/what-types-of-trees-are-in-these-intertwined-groups-in-massachusetts&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We stopped at the water's edge. It's the same water I referenced in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15888/what-is-this-floating-raft-like-object-in-the-waters-of-a-reservoir-in-massachus&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, although the reservoir is large, and we were quite a distance from that spot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lovely delicate-looking creature flew in and landed gently on the top of a broken twig of marsh grass, only a few inches from where we were standing. It had a narrow, stick-like orange and white body; a red head with large black eyes (which for some reason came out white in the photograph); four lacy orange/red wings edged in white; and very thin long gray legs.  We stayed very still and it remained resting there for at least five minutes. Then another landed nearby and &quot;ours&quot; flew towards it, and they took off together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From past experience, I assumed it was a dragonfly. However, for the first time, I recently heard of something called a damselfly. I thought that meant a female dragonfly, mostly because a damsel is a female. (According to Oxford and other dictionaries, a damsel is technically &quot;a young unmarried woman&quot; but that has no bearing on this question!) However, I've been told by a friend that, although they're in the same family, they're two different entities with similar, but unique, characteristics and behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first picture is the original taken by my husband. The others are the same picture, just cropped and zoomed in, so you can see more details, like the fur. As I said above, the white eyes in the picture were actually black. Unfortunately, we didn't get a side view, and you can only see the end of one wing, but I'm hoping there's enough to make a correct identification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a dragonfly or a damselfly? How can I tell? (Of course it's possible that it's neither, but I don't think that's the case.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qYCR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qYCR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Original&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8uona.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8uona.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A bit closer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nTsKK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nTsKK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Much closer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:31:11.173" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T19:31:11.173" Title="Is this a dragonfly or a damselfly?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16515" CreationDate="2017-07-10T06:17:50.453" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a dragonfly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Damselflies place their wings alongside their body when resting. Dragonflies can not do this, once they had their first flight after hatching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when you see their wings pointing to their back, it's a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beneficialbugs.org/bugs/damselfly/American_rubyspot_med.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;damselfly&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;em&gt;maybe&lt;/em&gt; a freshly hatched dragonfly (in these cases you can tell the difference by the cocoon, or just wait to see the wing position)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Ejvh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Ejvh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beneficialbugs.org/bugs/damselfly/American_rubyspot_med.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wings point to the side, it is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qYCR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dragonfly&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qYCR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qYCR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/how-tell-difference-between-dragonfly-and-damselfly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This Link&lt;/a&gt; provided by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3313/aravona&quot;&gt;Aravona&lt;/a&gt; in a comment above contains additional information on how dragonflies and damselflies can be told apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T06:43:28.357" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T06:43:28.357" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16168" CreationDate="2017-07-10T06:35:10.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, there are no risks, assuming you're asking abput biohazards. This is poop so old it has petrified, become stone and/or sand. The only microorganisms that actively live in there are ones that can also live in other types of sand. There are some forms of bacterial and probably fungal spores that can stay alive in a suspended state for tens or even hudreds of millions of years, but since this is a cave floor made of crumbling poop rather than some well preserved ancient crystal and you stomp around in it rather than creating the perfect conditions for these bacteria to come back to life I figure you're quite safe. Also because the main poop bacteria that make people sick, like E. Coli, don't form spores at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're worried about disturbing an important feces research site, you'll be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T06:35:10.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16501" CreationDate="2017-07-10T06:48:05.853" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A further reason is to use the space in the bag for buoyancy and to squeeze the bag into a space securely, by adding air to the bag after it's in place. This generally means a valve on a tube. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T06:48:05.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16508" CreationDate="2017-07-10T11:20:38.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might want to consider an all-mesh inner tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BSPdl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BSPdl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hilleberg Akto Mesh&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://gb.hilleberg.com/EN/shelters/mesh-inner-tents/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hilleberg Akto Mesh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That should make use of any breeze, and as a bonus, is light-weight (540g)  Use it seperately when no rain is expected, or with an outer tent or tarp when it might rain.  Hilleberg and probably other tentmakers have other mesh shelters like &lt;a href=&quot;http://gb.hilleberg.com/EN/shelters/mesh-ridge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this ridge&lt;/a&gt; (designed to be used with tarps if it rains) as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T11:20:38.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16499" CreationDate="2017-07-10T11:45:02.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bison roam over large areas of Yellowstone, and you'll certainly spot a few from the road.  They don't care about cars and humans much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember them being readily visible from the road in various places, particularly along the stretch north of West Thumb where most of the geyser basins are.  You'll see them even if you aren't trying to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you just want to see wild bison, there are closer places.  Yellowstone may have the largest wild herd, but Yellowstone is also large.  There are other reserves further east where there may be less bison, but the area is also smaller.  I remember in particular bison causing traffic problems in Cave of the Winds.  A few decided that the middle of the road was a nice place to sit for a while.  When something the size of a small car wants to sit someplace, there is little you can do about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that bison are ultimately grassland animals.  Their natural range does extend into the mountains, like in Yellowstone, but their real home is on the prairie.  Most national forests and state parks in the prairie region have native bison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They really aren't hard to see once you go to where they live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T11:45:02.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16521" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16527" CreationDate="2017-07-10T12:30:51.097" Score="25" ViewCount="18098" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are always camping in areas we have not been to before.  We usually use Google maps (satellite) to try and guess about the appropriateness of a camp before going there.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From experience we know that a couple hundred feet (~100 meters) of forest between a camp site and busy highway, means lots of road noise in the camping experience. A couple miles (3KM) of forest between camp and busy roads, almost always results in only hearing forest sounds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any scientific data on how much forest (or other terrain) will dissipate the majority of traffic noise? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rephrase Question; What is the minimum amount of forest I need between me and the highway so I won't hear the highway? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T16:00:41.197" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T19:02:32.117" Title="How far from a road do I need to be to not hear the traffic?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16521" CreationDate="2017-07-10T13:23:45.273" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends enormously on landscape, weather, and infrastructure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in The Netherlands several hundred meter from a motorway, but with good noise barriers, we heard almost nothing.  My friend lives less than 100 metre from a noise-barriered motorway and it's nearly inaudible.  Now I live several km from a motorway in England, without noise barriers.  Depending on the weather, I either hear nothing at all or it's so annoying I can not stand being in my garden, and hear it even with the windows closed.  I've been considering to buy a sound pressure level meter to compare my impression to something measurable and try to relate it to my circumstances.  The quietest weather tends to be dense fog, when traffic is either crawling or stationary, both of which are sufficiently quiet several kms away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's a hill between you and the road, or if the road is underground, you will hear (nearly) nothing even very close.  But if the road is in a valley and you're up on the slope, you might hear it many kms away.  I've been 10 km from roads and still found some heavy powerful lorries going uphill disturbing, but that on a mostly open landscape with at most small sub-Arctic mountain birch forest type trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some countries there are interactive noise maps, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.extrium.co.uk/noiseviewer.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one for England&lt;/a&gt;.  I found the value of this quite limited, as my personal experience is worse than this map claims for my area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on the road, of course.  Some roads have traffic all night, others become completely quiet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, my strategy if I'm near a road, is to seek out a sound I find pleasant rather than annoying: specifically, a stream or river.  Those may drown out the road sound such that I can pretend to be in the wilderness rather than right next to a road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-10T15:37:57.880" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T15:37:57.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16523" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16540" CreationDate="2017-07-10T15:10:59.223" Score="52" ViewCount="19068" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had to tie down a tree last night since recent storms broke the guy lines I had placed when I planted it, and I used a tautline knot how-to I found online to tie it, since I was never a Scout. After reading a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10334/i-never-adjust-for-true-north-is-this-bad-practice#comment25083_10343&quot;&gt;comment by @KRyan&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/10334/3076&quot;&gt;a recent question&lt;/a&gt;, and considering my recent face-to-face with my inexperience, I started lamenting the fact that I was never a Scout. Which got me thinking: &lt;strong&gt;is there an organization similar to the Boy Scouts for adults who want to learn outdoorsmanship?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:&lt;/em&gt; My country of residence is the United States. Also, googling led me to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nols.edu/en/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NOLS&lt;/a&gt;, but that seems to be a lot more intense, with semester-long courses and student loans and college credit. I'm really just looking for a weekend scouting club where I can learn how to survive and thrive outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit 2:&lt;/em&gt; I know some have suggested the military in jest, but others have done so more seriously. I have several reasons for not joining the military, but my main one is I have a family and I don't want to be away from them. That said, I'm very interested in options where both I and my daughter can participate together. As for the Boy/Girl Scouts, we're atheist and would prefer something without a religious component. Hence the OP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T04:22:44.977" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T17:22:06.647" Title="Is there an organization for adults to learn outdoor skills with their kids?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;family&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="15" FavoriteCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16496" CreationDate="2017-07-10T16:08:54.727" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to know whether the magnetic declination you have was measured from Grid North or from True North.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a &lt;strong&gt;Grid declination&lt;/strong&gt;, then you align the north arrow of the compass with &lt;strong&gt;Grid North&lt;/strong&gt; (the frame of the map) before adjusting for declination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a &lt;strong&gt;True declination&lt;/strong&gt;, then you align the north arrow of the compass with &lt;strong&gt;True North&lt;/strong&gt; (the lines of longitude) before adjusting for declination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The declination is just telling you the angle between (Grid or True) North and (Magnetic) North, so you just need to be consistent with the two knowns to get the angle you need between your bearing and Magnetic North.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a high-latitude location like Iceland, the declination may differ significantly from sheet to sheet - possibly even within a sheet, in which case you'll likely be given the value at each corner, and you should interpolate accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T16:08:54.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16510" CreationDate="2017-07-10T17:48:45.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, the UNESCO WHS classification would be an obstacle to Monbiot's rewilding proposals, as it focuses on the preservation of a farmed landscape. But that begs the question of whether radical rewilding, as envisioned by Monbiot, would be the right way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No-one is going to deny that there is plenty of bad land management in the UK, particularly on some of the large shooting estates. And there is plenty of room for introducing better practice. But the experienced country folk with whom I have discussed this regard Monbiot's radical rewilding proposal as seriously misconceived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, we need a reality check. It's now understood that many areas of land, such as the Amazonian rainforest and Yellowstone that were once thought to be &quot;wild&quot; were in fact carefully managed by the indigenous population. With the exception of a small corner of Poland, there is virtually no land in the whole of Europe that could truly be designated as wild - it is &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; managed to a greater or lesser degree. These are created landscapes - so exactly what point in their evolution are we supposed to revert to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know the detail of his Lake District proposals, but here in Dartmoor his proposals for the area have been met with derision by local conservationists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example he talks of the reintroduction of large predators in an area of just 365 square miles that couldn't possibly maintain a population in any natural way - the range would be orders of magnitude too small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He proposes the abandonment of a farming system going back to the bronze age, in a way that would destroy the economy of many local communities. No-one believes that farming could be replaced by eco-tourism as he proposes, particularly as a return to gorse and scrub would destroy the amenity of the moor. Without managed grazing most of the moor would become impassible, the views would be lost and the unmatched bronze-age remains would be buried in scrub and destroyed. Also, a recent study on rewilding Dartmoor concluded that in all likelihood wild fires would sweep uncontrolled through the moor in times of drought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Landscapes-without-livestock-report.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Landscapes without Livestock&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've followed the rewilding debate for some time, and it's striking that most of the proponents are idealistic urban greens, while most of the critics are the pragmatic people who actually work and manage the land. And Monbiot does himself few favours with his insulting implication that he is the only voice with the true interests of the countryside at heart - I know some of these farmers and conservationists and they love the land with a passion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Monbiot has sparked a useful debate, but his proposals are unworkable and won't be implemented. What is actually needed is the careful and incremental introduction of better management practice to enrich the ecology of our National Parks while preserving their rich heritage of landscape and culture. And I can't see how the new UNESCO classification should hold this back in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T11:31:04.907" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T11:31:04.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T17:52:49.090" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know of any organization as you describe, but there certainly ways for adults to learn outdoorsmanship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are likely outdoor clubs in your area that run educational programs.  Here in New England, the major one is the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club).  They regularly run educational programs on various topics and at various levels.  I attended one many years ago on winter camping and cold issues.  Very informative.  I have helped in the past with their backpacking course and orienteering course.  I imagine the Sierra Club and many other less well known organizations do similar things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also organizations that exist mostly to run educational programs.  One in NH I've been to is called SOLO.  I think they specialize in first aid and medical issues.  There are others.  Ask around locally.  If you don't know where to start, ask for advice at a place that sells equipment for backcountry camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T17:52:49.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16521" CreationDate="2017-07-10T18:07:33.090" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is it depends. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/03jul/06.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Highway noise&lt;/a&gt; is typically 70-80 dB at 15 m. To a first order approximation, sound waves obey the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;inverse square law&lt;/a&gt; where there is a 6 dB drop every doubling of the distance. This means a sound source that has a level of 72 dB at 15 m would have a level of 0 dB at 60 km. While &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_threshold_of_hearing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;absolute threshold&lt;/a&gt; is typically described as 0 dB, highway noise probably becomes imperceptible from the forest background noise at 30 dB, or about 3.8 km from the highway under ideal conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first order approximation is not very good. This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/me458/10_osp.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;book chapter&lt;/a&gt; seems to touch on the key factors meteorological conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity), terrain (e.g., hills and what is on the ground) and obstructions that will influence the propagation of the sound. Some of these things cause sound to get attenuated quicker while others can cause it to propagate further (e.g., a forest can act as a wave guide). If the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environMent/noise/regulations_and_guidance/polguide/polguide05.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vegetation&lt;/a&gt; is thick enough, it can provide substantial attenuation (10 dB per 61 m). Further, the inverse square law is for point sources and, as the linked chapter points out, highway noise is potentially better modeled as multiple point sources 9or maybe even a line source if there is lots of traffic). As I said, the answer depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-03-26T15:57:14.387" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T15:57:14.387" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16521" CreationDate="2017-07-10T18:08:44.307" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I work in an office that's inside a forest, and about 800 m away from a busy motorway (2x2 lanes, 120 km/h speed limit), with noise barriers along the motorway. I go for a walk in the forest every day. At 800 m, the motorway is inaudible. At ~400 m, it starts to become audible if the wind is from the motorway toward me. At ~300 m, it's audible in any weather.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13519" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T18:08:44.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16510" CreationDate="2017-07-10T18:52:18.103" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tweeted a link to this question and a series of tweets from &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/Future_Heritage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heritage Futures&lt;/a&gt; said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A big question and the answer is it remains to be seen. There are no current plans to extend rewilding in the Lake District beyond the @wildennerdale which is an ongoing project. The cultural landscape designation recognises the ongoing use and evolution of landscape but it also recognises the outstanding universal value of the landscape created by fell shepherding and management should sustain that. Designation [is] a sign of support for current management models for the area and changes, such as large scale rewilding would be scrutinized at international level. But WHS designations not the end of the story change &amp;amp; conflict continue at many sites (Stonehenge, Liverpool). All our partners in the Lake District welcome the news as a new chapter in an old story &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st0kwBsedeE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st0kwBsedeE&lt;/a&gt; … Just writing a blog now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heritage Futures is a research project about how people imagine and care about the future of heritage, the heritage of the future, what now-things will be seen as &quot;heritage&quot; later, whether any place or thing should be frozen in time at all and if so at what point, and so on. The Lake District is an area of special interest for them. You may find their Twitter feed and &lt;a href=&quot;https://heritage-futures.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web site&lt;/a&gt; interesting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/research/readwatchlisten/features/from-the-lakes-to-hebron-a-history-of-unesco-s-heritage-sites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; is now live. It notes that some people object to the designation because they feel it will prevent any changes, and says such people are wrong (not to object, but to feel changes will be prevented.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2017-07-13T16:08:27.680" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T16:08:27.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T19:14:38.880" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an active adult in the Boy Scouts of America, I would highly suggest that you find a local scout troop in your area and sign up.  Not only will you be helping the troop in a number of ways, but it will present you with a great way to learn many of the outdoor skills that you are interested in.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the Boy Scout troop gains new members, they will have to learn the basics in order to advance through the ranks.  This is a perfect opportunity to sit down and learn those skills with them.  For example, I was recently instructing a basic compass course for new scouts.  One of the adults who recently signed up with his son wanted to assist, but had the same level of experience as most of the new scouts (i.e. none). Within a few minutes he was able to actively instruct and assist some of the scouts who were having trouble with the course.  They say the best way to learn is to teach, right?  It is also a great way for the more experienced to brush up on their skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As suggested by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16523/is-there-something-like-boy-scouts-for-adults?newreg=2b39488b85164f029b16932d24fe15ce#comment41614_16532&quot;&gt;@KRyan in a comment below&lt;/a&gt;, there are some qualifications for adults before they may join a troop.  The BSA is a private organization, and ask that their members follow a recognized religion.  Many troops meet at churches, synagogues, and mosques.  You do not need to be a member of that religious organization to join, but it may help.  Some troops take this more seriously than others.  I have been a member of a Jewish troop for the past 18 years.  During that time, we have had a number of members who were not Jewish, it really made no difference.  More recently, some new scouts have joined the troop who also keep kosher.  That means on camping trips, they don't eat bacon and have kosher marshmellows on the s'mores (yes, they do exist).  I have never had a personal experience where religion or other personal beliefs have negatively impacted scouting, but your mileage may vary.  Also, you do not need to have a boy in the troop to be a part of it yourself.  If you do have a son who is of the proper age to join, I suggest signing both of you up.  It is definitely more fun doing it together!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not interested in joining a Boy Scout troop, you might be able to find an REI near you that offers classes in various outdoor activities.  The location near me offers monthly classes on beginner camping and backpacking.  YouTube videos might be another option.  You could also look for an outdoors-oriented Meetup in your area.  You may be able to learn from these members.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13146" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T19:40:06.160" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T19:40:06.160" CommentCount="17" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15595" CreationDate="2017-07-10T19:40:37.357" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Food is not a priority in the short term (1 week). The body is quite capable of functioning properly without food for a week. So for the majority of the survival scenarios there is no need to forage for food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the long term (months) food is the main priority. But a few squirrels or rabbits won't be a relevant sustenance. Still good traps to consider learning are the figure 4 deadfall trap, paiute deadfall trap, ojibway bird trap (this one is great because it even works without bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to gather lots of calories from traps and make it worth the effort and have a sustainable food source then you must focus on big game. Deer snares, bear deadfall traps etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a rabbit a day is just a morale boost. It provides no relevant sustenance in the long term. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spent six months living in the boreal forest. Brought less than half the calories I needed for food and foraged the rest. &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivalskills.guide/six-months-in-the-wilderness/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Six Months in The Boreal Forest&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13522" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T19:40:37.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T20:21:38.597" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could read the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/literature-media/handbooks/handbook-bs-13-ed-coil-rs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boy Scout Handbook&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scoutstuff.org/fieldbook-coil-2014.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BSA Fieldbook&lt;/a&gt; to get a strong basic knowledge of scouting skills. You'll need to get hands on experience, but that doesn't require being in the back country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4100" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T20:21:38.597" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16535" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-10T20:39:33.637" Score="4" ViewCount="81" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for wildlife viewing areas that are open to manually powered boats (i.e. Canoe) in areas within a few hours drive of Pittsburgh PA.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Criteria:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Motor boats are prohibited (&lt;em&gt;electric only motors, is ok&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Manually powered boats are allowed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open to the public most or all of the year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ability to paddle to and from the launch point (There are rivers that come close to my criteria but the current makes the journey one way) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to be able to take a blind passenger on a canoe trip to enjoy the sounds of nature. The closest I have found are organized journeys into restricted lands, where a large group (of sighted, talkative people) join you on the journey. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; Clarify per request in comments&#xA;Rivers don't work well, as the areas without current tend to have a high motorboat population. (fails criteria 1 &amp;amp; 4)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few man made lakes in the area, the ones I have looked at to date are planted with fish, so there is a high population of people fishing, this negatively impacts the wildlife around the lake. (multiple options that meet criteria 1-4, but no significant wildlife)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been looking at wildlife refuges on the shores of the great lakes, but the few I have checked have highly restricted access (fails criteria 2 &amp;amp; 3) the only option is to guided tour with lots of noisy people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen some areas that meet all of criteria but, the tend to be in natural marshes and swamps, Washington, Florida, etc with large wetland preserves and/or tidal lands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt; I have my own watercraft.  I don't need a rental boat, I just need to be able to access the water with my canoe and a handicapped passenger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:22:13.110" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:22:13.110" Title="Wildlife canoe trails in or near Western Pennsylvania" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T21:08:24.280" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the closest &quot;adult version&quot; of Boy Scouts are Firefighters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They help people, cut trees and any kind of useful &quot;manual&quot; work the citizens need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Logically there are quite big differences but I hope you get the idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13526" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T21:08:24.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2017-07-10T21:25:11.720" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some years ago I climbed Teide from sea level,  Playa del Soccorro at the north coast. I spent 9 hours 45 minutes  on the 3718 meters climb, walking slowly all the time. After the summit I went down to the refuge at 3200 m and stayed there overnight.  I am not a runner, but used to long climbs.  A very strong friend of mine hase done the whole climb from sea level in 4,5 hours, running.  There is no water along the climb, so bring enough to drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13527" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T21:25:11.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T21:53:28.377" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outwardbound.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.outwardbound.org/&lt;/a&gt; - has education programs for adults.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I think you're on the right track with just finding your local community in some online way. For example, you can learn a lot and meet local folks here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not underestimate the value of becoming a Boy or Girl Scout leader - it can be very fulfilling. However, understand that scouting in those organizations is not just about outdoors stuff, it's about other life skills as well. If you are looking for outdoors groups, Boy and Girl Scouts isn't really the right group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12004" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T21:53:28.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16521" CreationDate="2017-07-10T22:34:10.817" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to what @strongbad had said, you also have other complex issues to deal with as well... For example, if it is hot outside, you can be as little as 50-100 yards from the road (or less) and not hear anything from the road because the heat carries the sound waves upwards. Meteorology plays a significant factor in the science of sound. That's why a few battles during the Civil War were won by those armies. The enemy never heard their cannon fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: administrators, please feel free to delete this answer. My SE app failed to load part of strongbad's answer, so I missed half of what they said. My apologies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13529" LastEditorUserId="13529" LastEditDate="2017-07-10T22:39:15.820" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T22:39:15.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-10T22:37:37.090" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Volunteer in Search and Rescue (SAR).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just got certified through my state's Sheriff's Association as a volunteer search and rescuer. I went through a two-month-long class with an intense outdoor &quot;final exam&quot; in order to get the certification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Class topics included: tracking, outdoor clothing and equipment, wilderness navigation (map/compass/GPS), fire/water/shelter/signaling, environmental injuries, equine and canine resources, HAZMAT, crime scene investigations and evidence, lost subject behavior, CPR/AED certification, and yes, plenty of knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I volunteer in several local SAR groups, including a ground search group, an aircraft-based group, and an amateur radio emergency service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every person in these groups has unique skills, and without exception everyone has been friendly and interesting. One of the guys wants to be able to tie 150 knots... and he has a list of them and is working on it. If you want to geek out in depth on &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; outdoor subject, there is someone to do it with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AND there are actual missions, a literal race against time to find someone and return them home before they succumb to the elements. Noble purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was a Boy Scout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The tautline hitch should never be used for rescue loads or climbing... but it is still one of my favorite knots because it is tied quickly, slips for adjustment, and holds well enough.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13528" LastActivityDate="2017-07-10T22:37:37.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16541" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16543" CreationDate="2017-07-11T01:10:27.607" Score="4" ViewCount="706" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling this can come in handy but I don't know why exactly has this been provided.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uoYuQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uoYuQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BFhMh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BFhMh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OnoZu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OnoZu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qydgn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qydgn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6545" LastEditorUserId="6545" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T13:03:35.777" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T21:27:24.917" Title="What is the use of this cord on my backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9178" CreationDate="2017-07-11T01:27:39.310" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just in case anyone is reading this thinking about it, obviously later than this post was created though. I have been in this situation. I grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and have shot at bears with bb guns and paintball guns just to get away from the trash and other things. I've encountered bears twice while out fishing and they left me right alone. The first time was a bit crazy though lol. Second time not as much. These days they know not to tangle with folks. But spray and definitely a gun if you can have one..( hopefully your not in a super liberal state where everyone is all scared of firearms) can usually get them away from you. Just shoot near it unless you have no other choice. Family first though. Humans are more important. The first time I stayed still just about and the second time I just kind of slowly paddled and kept fishing. Both times I felt pretty safe. And they acted the same. Only freak out if you have too. Over reacting can cause more problems. For you and the bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13531" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T01:27:39.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16541" CreationDate="2017-07-11T04:23:51.093" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The real range of answers is only limited by your imagination. There are an innumerable amount of things you can do with a spare bit of cordage. One use that I can see for it in your picture is as a replacement for your rubber band around the tent poles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The most likely &lt;em&gt;intended&lt;/em&gt; use is to secure the sharp end of an ice tool.&lt;/strong&gt; The nylon loop at the bottom right of your second picture is to secure the head of the ice tool. If you threaded the head of the tool through there it would probably just reach the abrasion resistant batch that the cord in question is mounted. This would also allow the compression strap to secure the handle of the ice tool, and keep the sharp bottom end of the ice tool firmly next to the extra thick abrasion resistant patch. Granted this would also point the sharp end of the ice tool towards your arms which probably isn't ideal....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP posted a comment that identified the pack as a Walkabout 65 made by Halti. I wasn't able to find that exact pack on their website, but I did find their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.halti.com/collections/backpacks/products/discover-45-pack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Discover 45&lt;/a&gt; pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8NUI2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8NUI2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Discover 45 pack detail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see they have the same type of cord directly above the tool loop like I'd expect to secure the end of ice tools. I think the apparent forward angle I saw in the OP's photo was an artifact, and the cord is for securing the end of an ice tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T13:04:07.843" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T13:04:07.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2017-07-11T06:49:08.657" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as being able to tie a knot blindfolded, etc...  A better measure is to understand how knots work, and what constitutes a properly tied knot. If I was half way up a big wall and you insisted that I tie in using no known knot, and a substitute that was minimal and elegant, I would have no difficulty coming up with one. You can do it by rote, or you can actually understand what is going on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not true that any of these knots is nearly as strong as the rope they are tied in. They run 65-80% last I heard, which was a long time ago. However, dynamic ropes never develop impact loads that threaten overall tensile strength (if the parts are healthy) so it works out. I figure the stronger an otherwise functional knot, the longer the rope end will last since the loads fall in much the same place every time. Can't hurt anything to use strong knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there may be sufficient experience in the guide and gym community to throw legitimate shade on the bowline, when dealing with essentially non-climbers. But there is also sufficient evidence to suggest that having two belayers on the same rope is a rational process (in series, not at either end as in normal roped climbing).  So what needs the insurance company, and what needs the real world are two different things. Your laces are pretty important when climbing, and one has to wonder what insurance company tie is acceptable there. Belt or suspenders, boxers or briefs. All stuff we need the insurance company to weigh in on, and in certain circles, they would have legitimate info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;/Edit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing about the figure of 8 being easier to check and all that is fine if you are not in any way interested in anything other than the simplest climbing set-ups, which are adequate for a great deal of climbing. But in anything more complicated, you better be able to do more than follow nursery rhyme sequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People I meet tend to divide into people who are technical and/or good knot tiers, and people who are useless, and the division is far from equal. So really there are two sets of instructions. One for those who are hopeless, and one for those who have strong skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though it isn't the metric I use. Honold uses the 8 with follow through in the videos I have seen. I am a double bowline guy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13533" LastEditorUserId="2653" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T14:33:21.807" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T14:33:21.807" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16546" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-11T08:35:24.050" Score="4" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of an all natural way to get rid of stink bugs? I know they are harmless but, they seem to really like my house. I don't want to kill them, I just want them to go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13535" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T10:50:36.613" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T12:05:01.790" Title="Stink bug repellent" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16504" CreationDate="2017-07-11T09:11:36.213" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Go jogging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not on asphalt or paved roads, go &quot;off-piste&quot;. Woodland trails are great. If you are able to, choose low shoes with low to moderate damping. Then run. Jogging over uneven ground is what I do to keep my feet strong. After years of playing handball I had trouble with my ankles, but running with low profile shoes in the forest (and trekking in the mountains come vacation time) keeps me on my feet (literally and figuratively). If you start to improve, and want to &quot;up it a notch&quot; then you can always go for no-padding-shoes or bare-foot and try some &lt;a href=&quot;http://fl.milesplit.com/articles/112223/heels-or-toes-what-is-the-best-way-to-run&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;front foot running&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T09:11:36.213" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16546" CreationDate="2017-07-11T12:05:01.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few ideas or you to ponder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plant or move fruit trees and vegetable gardens, especially tomato plants, away from your home to prevent stink bugs from landing on the exterior of your home. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://patch.com/maryland/columbia/10-ways-to-fend-off-stink-bugs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Ways to Fend Off Stink Bugs&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check your attic for holes or gaps and close them up. Stinkbugs often enter through attics - &lt;a href=&quot;https://patch.com/maryland/columbia/10-ways-to-fend-off-stink-bugs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Ways to Fend Off Stink Bugs&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following may also be helpful:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth&lt;/strong&gt;. Spread this chalky powder both outside and inside, focusing on entryways like windows and doors along with other areas where stink bugs seem to gather. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make a garlic spray&lt;/strong&gt;. Mix 2 cups (500 ml) water with 4 tsp (20 ml) garlic powder in a spray bottle. Spray this solution onto plant leaves, windowsills, and other areas stink bugs frequent. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep stink bugs away with mint&lt;/strong&gt;. Mix 2 cups (500 ml) of water with 10 drops of mint oil in a spray bottle. Spray the solution around possible entryways and hide-outs. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use catnip&lt;/strong&gt;. Sprinkle catnip powder around your garden and home, focusing on areas that are prone to stink bug infestation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spray the stink bugs with soapy water&lt;/strong&gt;. Mix 32 oz (1000 ml) hot water with 3/4 cup (180 ml) mild dish soap. Spray this solution directly onto stink bugs or in areas where stink bugs gather. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use neem oil&lt;/strong&gt;. Combine 32 oz (1000 ml) warm water with 1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 ml) neem oil in a spray bottle. Coat leaves, windowsills, and other potential entryways or hiding spots with this solution. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Stink-Bugs-Naturally&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs Naturally&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not forget to seal off your doors and windows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The most common entryways for stink bugs include windows, doors, baseboards, and ceiling lights. Filling gaps or correcting loose seals should significantly decrease the number of stink bugs roaming through your home. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Stink-Bugs-Naturally&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs Naturally&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T12:05:01.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-11T14:29:56.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.venturing.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.venturing.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Venturing Age Groups&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Venturers&#xA;Youth Participants: those who are age 14 (or 13 and graduated 8th grade) through the age of 17 are referred to as youth participants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adult Participants: those who are age 18 through 20 are considered adults (per youth protection guidelines), however, may still participate in the program through leadership positions, awards, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advisors&#xA;Adult Advisors: those who are 21 or older serve as advisors. They do not lead the unit, but instead work with the youth leaders to help ensure success, safety, and personal growth for all members.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13542" LastEditorUserId="13542" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T21:40:38.947" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T21:40:38.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16551" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16554" CreationDate="2017-07-11T15:28:43.367" Score="8" ViewCount="1010" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any suggestions on what footwear to wear in a wet climate (specific: Vietnam in September)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The use case would be mostly walking on streets, with occasional hikes in easy but slippery terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For short term undertakings I would simply go for hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in that case the shoes won't have a real chance to dry as I infer from other reports. &#xA;Typical suggestions include: &#xA;- FlipFlops (plastic)&#xA;- Birkenstocks (the plastic ones)&#xA;- Crocs (plastic)&#xA;- Basically everything that is made of plastic und soaks up no water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these solutions seem highly unreasonable for longer periods of walking, let alone off the streets, let alone with a backpack of approx 10-15kg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for suggestions that are backed up by experience and minimize the amount of shoes that need to be used to achieve a comfortable and healthy trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am also looking for suggestions on how to dry shoes in a wet climate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11320" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T21:20:45.620" Title="Footwear for one month in wet climate" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-11T15:45:30.420" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking boots for the hikes and flip flops for hard surfaces or while the boots dry out would seem to be a good compromise. The cost and weight of a pair of flip flops are negligible. Minimise the amount of water getting into the boots with gaiters. If they get really wet, stuff them with newspaper, replacing a couple of times. This gets them from really wet to damp quite quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd go for breathable boots in your case but some would disagree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some areas sports sandals are good for wet hiking, but I wouldn't fancy it without knowing more about the wildlife and even the plant life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wellingtons are another option. I've never found them good for hiking but some people get on with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-07-12T09:46:59.750" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T09:46:59.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-11T16:11:44.950" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A sandal with straps like Chaco or Keen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5KS6G.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5KS6G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Chaco&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T16:11:44.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-11T16:21:20.417" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;In a word: sandals&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a reason everyone you'll be around also wears sandals. But you'll want the same thong sandals or &quot;flip flops&quot; that they wear, since you'll be taking them off all the time (entering stores, homes, etc. If you see a pile of shoes, add yours to the pile.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ojd0Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ojd0Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source:&lt;/em&gt; I used to live in Thailand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;But what about all the walking?&quot;&lt;/em&gt; I can hear you ask. I was almost totally pedestrian when I lived in Thailand, as is 95% of the country. You'll get along just fine in your flip flops. That is seriously the only pair of shoes you'll need at all. No socks, no boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2017-07-11T16:27:56.543" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T16:27:56.543" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16521" CreationDate="2017-07-11T16:34:35.247" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not just the distance, but depends on the barriers. The barrier may be highway installations, landscapes, forest etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Refer the picture below. The place behind the barrier has less noise than the one on the top of the hill, even though it is further away in distance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Jzou.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Jzou.png&quot; alt=&quot;The place behind the barrier has less noise than the one on the top of the hill, even though it is further away in distance&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nonoise.org/library/highway/traffic/traffic.htm]&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nonoise.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13544" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-12T00:54:17.857" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T00:54:17.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-11T18:55:20.970" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of great answers here, and one answer touched on it, but I really wanted to emphasize the quality of the resources and classes available at REI. Classes are open to members and non-members, with members getting a discount on paid classes but they also have free options for things like emergency preparedness. The REI website has a search page for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/outdoorschool/hiking-camping-classes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;local events and classes&lt;/a&gt; where you find classes near you. There's stuff from camping and backpacking and navigation, to survival, to paddling, and even stuff like bike maintenance for all levels of experience. And yes, there are classes on knot-tying, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a location near you, I highly recommend it. They even do outings (which tend to be a little more expensive, considering many of the in-store classes are either free or $10 for members) that offer more hands-on experiences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as far as getting the hands-on experience goes, once you know the basics, I would recommend using the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.meetup.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;meetup.com&lt;/a&gt; outdoors &amp;amp; adventure tab to both get to know other people near you with similar interests and get experience from knowledgeable people. It's more cost-effective, and you'll probably have better experiences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are comfortable with your skills, get out and do it yourself! Nothing will help you learn outdoorsman skills like being out on your own in the wilderness, assuming you are safe, well-prepared, and well-equipped! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13549" LastEditorUserId="13570" LastEditDate="2017-07-14T02:08:13.993" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T02:08:13.993" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16508" CreationDate="2017-07-11T20:28:08.490" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of things you can do to keep a tent cooler. However some depend on your exact scenario, so I'll give a shotgun spread of advice and you can use what applies to your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In high humidity, you generally want to keep any and all moisture possible out of your tent. Additional moisture in a humid environment will contribute to the stuffy, unbearable feeling, and will cause internal condensation to form if the circulation is not perfect, resulting in water dripping within your tent. Not fun options.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In low humidity, however the damp towel suggestion from above is a good idea. As he said, only do this if you have a good breeze. Along this line, a battery powered fan with (or without) a bowl of ice, if you have regular access to it, can be surprisingly effective for a few people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are going to be mostly stationary (have the same campsite for multiple days in a row), an air mattress might be a really great investment. From a scientific perspective, I can only speculate, but from personal experience, it keeps me much cooler than sleeping on the ground when the weather is really hot. Because of this, an air mattress might prove to be worth it even if you will be moving campsites a lot!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Again, if you are going to be mostly stationary, shade your tent to prevent it from heating up immensely during the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; going to be stationary, the above will be less effective. In this case, you really want to pitch your tent on ground that was shaded during the day, as the ground will be giving off a lot of heat throughout the night if it was in the sun all day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully some of these tips prove to be helpful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13549" LastActivityDate="2017-07-11T20:28:08.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-12T00:36:00.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I lived in the southern US, I used to ware men's crocs all the time. They are great for walking in and traversing small bodies of water. They dry off in just a minute or two and have rather good traction on most surfaces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example of what I wore:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03feA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03feA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Men&amp;#39;s croc&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T00:36:00.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-12T00:43:37.303" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camel brand shoes. Closed toe sandals. 1 tube shoes glue. have in Thailand,Cambodia,Vietnam,Philippines. The one with cat soles are the best. For allround wear. Found in most malls. In S.E.Asia. Or ask for them once there. If in the bush wear heavy socks in them. I get about 1 year use out of a pair in the Philippines. Heavy use. If you see a part starting to fail on them shoes glue supper repairs them. American made shoes fall apart in Asia. Different glue used for the tropics. Nike sandals do well with the over top. for city use &amp;amp; shopping. Buy there. These are not cheap shoes U.S. $30 to $50 in Asia price range a pair. Take my word for this. A different glue is used in Asia for shoes. So for long lasting buy there. These have a leather upper. Better yet see a local cobbler. But it takes 3 days to make a pair of shoes there. Select your sole stile &amp;amp; custom fit to your feet. U.S.$50 up for good ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T00:43:37.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10418" CreationDate="2017-07-12T01:03:04.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Christmas 2014, my wife and I spent camping on an otherwise uninhabited car-free island in the Pacific Ocean.  On Christmas Day, we hiked all day in superb weather in a spectacular landscape, less than 100 km from the Los Angeles area, and we did not see a single soul.  It was the best day of my life.  And we travelled there from Toronto, Ontario, most of the way by &lt;strong&gt;train&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kwPVp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kwPVp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Christmas Day&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Montañon Peak, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, Christmas Day, 2014.  Probably the best day in my life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although the train is not a typical mode of transportation in North America, is it quite suitable for an outdoor vacation in combination with car rental.  You're not limited much in the amount or type of stuff to take, you get to experience the distance and see the country, and you can get closer to most national parks than by air.  Compared to driving, it saves time, because the train continues day and night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We took a train from Toronto, Ontario to Salinas, California, then a bus to Monterey.  From there we had a one-way car rental to Los Angeles, camping at the Big Sur and at Channel Islands National Park on the way (possibly the most underrated national park in the USA; see above).  Then we took a train from Los Angeles to El Paso, from where we had a one-way car rental to San Antonio, while visiting White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and Big Bend National Park (we could have camped there, but it was winter and we decided to take a cabin, which was for the best because it turned out a serious winter storm was coming).  From San Antonio we took the train back to the Great Lakes area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was a very memorable vacation and we did not enter an aeroplane once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-12T09:51:26.443" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T09:51:26.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1720" CreationDate="2017-07-12T10:09:26.460" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a specific class of boat designed to do exactly what you want - &quot;crossover&quot; kayaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.wavesport.com/sites/default/files/styles/actual_size/public/images/products/views/Ethos-Ten_CORE-WhiteOut_Citrus-Twist-top.png&quot; alt=&quot;Wavesport ethos 10&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.liquidlogickayaks.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/Stinger%20XP_Blue%20Header%20Image_2_1140x480.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Liquidlogic stringer XP&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general they..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;are much longer than a whitewater boat but are still short enough to be usable on a river&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;are very stable and forgiving&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;have proper whitewater outfitting (means they can be controlled properly)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;have hatches for storage&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;often have skegs &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the major manufacturers have their own models, often a range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are different designs, some are a bit more focused on whitewater, some a bit more on sea, touring etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As another poster said, skills are the most important thing. Going from flat to moving water isn't &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt;, but there's very important differences in safety, rescue, and skills. It's not about the boat - a paddler with the right ability will  paddle a river more safely in an inflatable rubber duck than someone else in the &lt;em&gt;right&lt;/em&gt; boat. If you have a club nearby, join up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3474" LastEditorUserId="3474" LastEditDate="2017-07-12T10:14:55.520" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T10:14:55.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14718" CreationDate="2017-07-12T11:06:37.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the other answers given do include some good advice, there are a few other points worth making. NB I speak as something of an expert, having stuck hooks in myself (unintentionally) several times and having witnessed several other incidents, including a friend putting one point of a large treble through his finger while we were fishing Lake Nasser in Egypt, hundreds of kilometres away from medical help. (I have a photo, but it would be gratuitous posting it here.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes a great deal of sense to always carry a small first aid kit when you are out fishing. It's not just hooks - a few plasters, some antiseptic wipes and a bandage take up little room in your kit and can save a ruined day otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; within easy reach of professional medical assistance, then by all means take advantage of that. (I live and fish mostly within the UK so medical treatment is free at the point of delivery, so cost doesn't come into the equation.) Having said that, do you really want to pack up and drive to the nearest A&amp;amp;E with a hook stuck in you, only to be used as practice by a bunch of trainee nurses who have much less idea than you do about getting hooks out of living creatures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My basic advice is that you probably have the skill to remove the hook from a fish with the minimum damage to your quarry, or a more experienced member of your party does, especially if you practice catch &amp;amp; release, so use that skill on yourself or others. There is no practical difference between removing a hook humanely from a fish or a person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you normally unhook fish without tools, then consider carrying a pair of fine nosed pliers just in case. Then unhook yourself just as you would a fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sit down first (you might just faint), then practice the move. Go through it in your head. Grip the hook as near to where it emerges as possible and make sure your grip is good. You want to do this once, and get it right first time. The second try will hurt much more. Then roll the hook out. Any pressure should be away from the barb - it is designed to catch on tissue, so try to put pressure on the hook in the plane opposite to the barb. One decisive movement, taking a fraction of a second, firm and quick but not hurried. I have even unhooked myself like this when the hook was down the side of my fingernail, with the barb catching on the edge of the nail inside the finger!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to get a friend to do it for you, even if, say, you have a hook stuck in your left hand and you are right handed and you can reach easily. There are advantages to not having to build up to doing it to yourself. Explain what you would like them to do and emphasise that you really want the first attempt to be the one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13556" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T11:06:37.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-07-12T16:35:16.900" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://americanalpineclub.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Alpine Club&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine Club of Canada&lt;/a&gt; each have local sections that offer regular skills courses in ropes, weather, orienteering (map, compass, GPS), climbing, mountaineering, avalanche safety, glacier travel, backcountry cooking, ski touring, how to lead groups, and more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Membership is usually very affordable (around $50 a year) and many courses are free at the section level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2017-07-12T16:35:16.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16566" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18030" CreationDate="2017-07-12T19:37:42.823" Score="5" ViewCount="633" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a pair of Hanwag boots late in 2013 at Naturkompaniet in Norrköping, Sweden, and I've never loved a pair of boots more.  But now at least one of the shoes is in a bad state and a repair shop has adviced me it is not worth repairing.  I can't find any comparable boots in brick&amp;amp;mortar stores and I'm hesitant to buy online¹, unless I buy exactly what I have.  Unfortunately, &lt;em&gt;I don't know what I have&lt;/em&gt;.  The labels are completely gone, I can just about identify them as Hanwag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q9h86.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q9h86.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Boot photo one&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WDZ3b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WDZ3b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Boot photo two&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My boots are 26 cm high, have six layers of hooks on the edge and one in the middle.  The mass of each boot is nearly 1 kg (990 g).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They look a lot like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hanwag.com/brenner-wide-gtxr&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hanwag Brenner Wide GTX&lt;/a&gt;, but I'm not sure.  Of course, it's not certain that the model I have is still sold.  Can anyone identify the exact model?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16567/566&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: The reason Lancashire Shoe Repairs recommended they were not worth repairing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjtVp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjtVp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Damage&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Quote: &lt;em&gt;A total of £130 and because of the damage to the leather the boot will leak so in my opinion its just not worth repairing them&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:36:30.477" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T23:09:23.033" Title="What model of Hanwag boots are those?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16567" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16571" CreationDate="2017-07-12T19:39:57.227" Score="8" ViewCount="2149" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many (online) shops classify boots between hiking and hunting; for example, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://hanwagboot.com/collections/mens-hunting&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hunting boots&lt;/a&gt;.  The hunting boots look more like the kind of boots I like, than the hiking boots do.  What are the differences?  Is it just that hiking boots are assumed to be used on trails and hunting boots in any terrain, or are there other differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I rarely hike on trails on my big wilderness hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-16T05:20:57.627" LastActivityDate="2017-07-16T05:20:57.627" Title="What is the difference between hiking boots and “hunting boots”?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16568" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16570" CreationDate="2017-07-12T22:11:10.993" Score="11" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a friend who lives in Orlando, Florida. She and her husband are avid sailors and travelers. They also hunt lighthouses, and have seen over 100 different ones. They're currently on a trip from Florida up the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Nova Scotia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She's been seeing signs on some beaches in Florida and North Carolina prohibiting the use of artificial lights after 9:00 pm. This includes beach boardwalk lights, headlights, streetlights, and even house lights for people who live on the waterfront. These are mainly in areas where turtles breed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would these rules be in effect? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-25T02:22:57.230" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T02:22:57.230" Title="Why should lights be turned off on beaches where turtles breed?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16576" CreationDate="2017-07-12T22:43:45.763" Score="6" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am camping this weekend and my new tent just arrived today. I want to put it up and waterproof it now with a spray-on silicone waterproofer and a seam sealer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's evening right now and very bright/sunny/hot but we're expecting a short storm late this night.  If I waterproof the tent now, will the rain nullify the waterproofing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13561" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-07-19T08:10:50.417" LastActivityDate="2018-01-29T07:59:48.700" Title="Can I waterproof a tent just before it rains?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16568" CreationDate="2017-07-13T01:41:08.960" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-threats-artificial-lighting/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Sea Turtle Conservancy&lt;/a&gt; (STC) gives two reasons for keeping beaches dark at night when sea turtles are laying or hatching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first reason the STC gives is that a nesting turtle likes quiet, dark beaches. If she cannot find such a spot after several attempts, she will choose a less than ideal spot to lay her eggs, and perhaps even lay them in the ocean.  This reduces the probability of survival for the hatchlings.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having been liberally splattered with sand by a turtle laying in broad daylight (Aldabra Atoll, the Seychelles) as one of a ring of observing tourists (quiet and motionless tourists), I personally put greater emphasis on the second reason given by the STC.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lighting near the shore also can cause hatchlings to become&#xA;  disoriented and wander inland, where they often die of dehydration or&#xA;  predation. Hatchlings, scientists believe, have an innate instinct&#xA;  that leads them in the brightest direction, which is normally&#xA;  moonlight reflecting off of the ocean. Excess lighting from the&#xA;  nearshore buildings and streets draw hatchlings toward land, where&#xA;  they may be eaten, run over, or drown in swimming pools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd welcome more expert opinion on the sensitivity of nesting females to light.  The adult turtles I have encountered seem phlegmatic, but maybe inside they are nervous.  Also, I am perhaps reading too much into the behavior of the Aldabra Atoll turtle.  Aldabra Atoll has only a small research station and very few visitors -- it is as unlike a Florida seaside community as any place on Earth.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-13T01:46:38.747" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T01:46:38.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16567" CreationDate="2017-07-13T05:20:52.063" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;From that linked site, &quot;Hunting&quot; just seems to be a marketing term, since most of the boots appear in multiple categories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in New Zealand, professional hunters usually wear rubber lace-ups. When you spend weeks in the bush at a time, a leather boot will rot and fall apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who hunt for a day or a weekend wear the same boots as pretty much everyone else in the bush. About the only distinction a New Zealand store would make in marketing boots is &quot;Non-Alpine&quot; and &quot;Alpine&quot; - the difference being that alpine boots have full-length shanks and mounting points for crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/shop/outdoor/footwear&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Torpedo7&lt;/a&gt; has &quot;Hiking Boots&quot; and &quot;Snow Boots&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T05:20:52.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16541" CreationDate="2017-07-13T05:27:10.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that it is above the mesh pocket at the side, my guess is that it is for walking/ski poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to put the poles away for a short time (for example, a traverse using your ice axe, a river crossing), you don't need to go to the trouble of loosening the compression straps (the ones holding the tent poles in the photos above).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T05:27:10.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16574" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" Score="0" Body="" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16575" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" Score="0" Body="Kitesurfing is a sport incorporating elements of Kite flying, windsurfing, wakeboarding, etc. similar to windsuring the surfer stands on a board and is powered by the wind. Instead of a fixed mast though the surfer is pulled by a large kite. The boards are also smaller than windsurfing making board control more like snowboarding/wakeboarding" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T08:33:21.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16569" CreationDate="2017-07-13T15:42:05.153" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most products require 24-48 hours of dry time.  Some also recommend multiple coats, with some time (i.e. 4 hours) between coats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Allow article to dry for 24-48 hours &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.kiwicare.com/products/kiwi-camp-dry-heavy-duty-water-repellent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We often spray waterproofing on our fabrics in the garage.  This keeps them out of the rain while drying and allows for ventilation, while drying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-07-13T18:20:38.903" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T18:20:38.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-07-13T19:18:30.857" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Theoretically you have a lot of options and most of them are covered in answers above. &#xA;Practically you will be comfortable with flipflops or sandals. 95% of cases you will be wearing flipflops or sandals without socks. You have options of plastic, rubbers or nylon sandals, take one that you are comfortable with. Walking and normal hiking should be taken care by them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For rest 5% cases keep a Camel Boot or Hiking Boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GF7fF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GF7fF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13544" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T19:18:30.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-07-13T21:25:15.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a possibility that it could have been a beaver that has done this to that tree.&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&#xA;A beaver's diet mainly consists of tree bark and cambium which is the soft material that grows directly under tree bark. The food of choice for beavers when it comes to trees tends to be the bark of the willow, maple, birch, aspen, cottonwood, beech, poplar and alder tree. They are one of very few animals that have the ability to digest tree bark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0SDAs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tree With Beaver Damage&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.knowledgeiskey.co.uk/css/images/article-images/beaver-wood.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Knowledge is Key&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However beavers do tend to cut down a tree before eating the bark, a characteristic of beavers felling trees is an hourglass shape cut into the bottom of the tree. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.knowledgeiskey.co.uk/articles/why-do-beavers-build-dams&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn more about beavers here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13572" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T10:33:34.867" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T10:33:34.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3187" CreationDate="2017-07-13T21:43:33.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears do not hibernate as such, they do something with some characteristics of hibernation called denning. Whilst in this state a bear is still aware of its surroundings and can be easily awoken so it can defend itself from threats. Female bears also tend to give birth during 'denning' this can make them particularly defensive. I would advise still taking caution during the winter months, if they are awoken from their slumber they will be more 'sluggish' but I still would not like to be confronting one!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.knowledgeiskey.co.uk/articles/why-do-animals-hibernate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;You can read more about hibernation associated bears and other animals here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13572" LastActivityDate="2017-07-13T21:43:33.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16581" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-14T02:14:41.813" Score="4" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ikOXH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;I caught this fish yesterday in St. John river in Canada. My father and I don't know what it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish like this have been caught recently (this Summer). Apparently, the fish was caught using worms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13573" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T04:38:45.103" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T04:38:45.103" Title="What is this 40 cm long greenish and golden shining fish with brown fins?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16581" CreationDate="2017-07-14T03:10:15.687" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It appears to be a smallmouth bass based on this MN DNR &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/bass/small_large.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TUb8G.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TUb8G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;s vs l mouth&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13574" LastEditorUserId="13574" LastEditDate="2017-07-14T12:11:46.260" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T12:11:46.260" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16583" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16586" CreationDate="2017-07-14T03:33:49.337" Score="3" ViewCount="4743" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using an old lure with great success and I'd like to know more about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what is this type typically called?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what are the proper uses?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what fish will likely take this lure?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rb90T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rb90T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lure 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GSf19.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GSf19.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lure 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It dives deep and has been attracting bass like a magnet.  It sinks when stationary.  I'm a decent fisherman but am by no means an expert.  I'm really just curious to know why this is working so well vs other newer, presumably &quot;better,&quot; lures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13574" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:36:24.350" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T02:19:44.360" Title="What type of fishing lure is this?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="559" CreationDate="2017-07-14T04:52:56.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A book I read once recommended a two part system for testing unfamiliar plants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;1. Taste Test&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eating a small portion of the plant and waiting to see if anything happens as another &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/567/8060&quot;&gt;commentator&lt;/a&gt; mentioned in greater detail above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So learning to taste well is a valuable skill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Start with a clean mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Take a small bite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Chew it in the very front of your mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Spit it out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Notice how it tastes, and how you feel. Not just in your mouth &amp;amp;&#xA;  throat, but throughout your body. Dizzy? Fuzzy vision? Weak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;By &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/23/jay-bazuzi&quot;&gt;Jay Bazuzi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;2. Scratch Test&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scratch test is similar to an allergy test. It's also good to remember that a plants flower, leaves, bark or roots could contain varying amounts of various chemicals that may or may not be beneficial. So it's a good idea to systematically work your way through various plants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also many plants may be mildly edible or better eaten in small quantities. For example &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum#Edibility&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dandelion is known to be a salad herb&lt;/a&gt;, but it's also diuretic when too much is eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13575" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-07-14T05:52:24.503" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T05:52:24.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16583" CreationDate="2017-07-14T07:46:45.923" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless there is a certain terminology for &quot;backside&quot; plugs, this is a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;plug&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (or as I know it: a wobbler. No idea which term is more commonly used around where you live).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_%28fishing%29&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had to bust out my detective hat and pipe to find information on these ones, but I stumbled upon this: &lt;a href=&quot;http://wuli.com/wood-bomber-fishing-lure/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;an article about this bait&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are(?)/were made by bomber, and nowadays you find them as &lt;em&gt;Arbogast Mudbugs&lt;/em&gt;. (Note the two notches vs one notch in the bomber)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now on to &lt;em&gt;plugs&lt;/em&gt; as I understand you question being for plugs in general, not your bait specificly. There are some different types, some with shovel, some without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones without shovel usually sink, and depend on you to perform, you twitch your rod and work the bait to make it &quot;jump&quot; through the water like an injured fish. With some skill you can walk it through the water impressively (you make make it do sharp 90 or even 180 degree turns). But I don't want to focus on these baits, lets focus on the baits with this &quot;shovel&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shovel can determine how deep your lure runs at certain reeling speeds. These lures typically float (or suspend in the water), and only start to dive once you start reeling them in. You can make it more attractive by adding some twitches again, sometimes you even have to. But usually it &quot;wobbles&quot; from side to side, which attracts fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your questions specifically: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is a type of plug, you find some more information above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You use them to catch predatory fish. Depending on the action you can just cast-and-reel these baits, adding some more action yourself. Depending on the baits action, you will use reel-speed to get it to your preferred depth, and then slow down and start working your bait. You reel slowly, you stop and let the lure rise to the top, then you start reeling again to make it dive. Or you just reel at a constant speed. Plugs have a diving depth at which they don't dive much deeper. You are constantly pulling it upwards, and the shovel pulls it downwards, at some point you will reach a balance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will catch predatory fish with it. It it eats living fish, you catch it. I even had birds attack wobblers of mine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On why this lure seems to perform so much better than other, modern lures: Chances are that it doesn't. You were successful with it and use it again, thus you remain successful with it. The most successful lures are usually ... wet. You use them, you catch fish with them. Since this lure seems to be more uncommon than most modern lures, it might acutally have an advantage as fish might be less timid towards it. All those shiny, rattling, loud lures in the water, and suddenly there is a lot of movement amongst fish, as you catch one of them, chances are that this stress makes fish avoid these new types of lures. On the other hand, they still catch fish, so who knows...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So who knows why your lure might be more successful. Fish don't know it yet? It looks like some type of familiar food to them? You were lucky? The lure just performs better than modern ones? Maybe it just has the perfect diving depth for your lake, or it dives at a speed that perfectly passes each water depth, aiding in finding fish. I can only speculate at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just replace your hooks once in a while ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T07:46:45.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2017-07-14T15:15:17.660" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a Lands End duffel with the delamination problem. I turned it inside out and put it in the washing machine using detergent and the hot water setting and that removed most of the urethane coating. I thought better of putting the bag in the dryer. The coating remained fully intact on one panel. I suspect our problem is occurring because of a manufacturing defect on the supply level. My bag has sentimental value, which prevents me from sending it to the landfill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13580" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-24T23:01:08.637" LastActivityDate="2017-10-24T23:01:08.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2017-07-14T16:34:12.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few thoughts. My old Gregory pack started losing its weatherproofing a few years ago, at least in part, due to mold. So, after scrapping off the old material (yes, even in the corners), I treated it for mold (expose it to lots of sunshine, soaked it in a mold killer) Then, I coated the inside with a heavy-duty sealant for tent floors. It was all a stupid crazy amount of work, but so would be earning enough money to buy a new pack. Pack stays dry as a bone now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13565" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T16:34:12.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16583" CreationDate="2017-07-14T17:42:25.590" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The name of it was a bomber. Back in the 50s. Very good old lure back then. Or plug. Have used them often in younger years.  They were a good fish catcher &amp;amp; have been for years. It seems lures work for a while then quit. As fish get use to seeing them. The fish had not seen that type of lure before plug. That is not a real old one as it uses hook eyes rather than the 3way seat on the treble hooks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T17:42:25.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16581" CreationDate="2017-07-14T17:58:27.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to @acpilot's answer, it appears New Brunswick, while not part of the native range of the smallmouth bass, is part of the expanded range of the fish. That further leads to a possible confirmation of the species. Here is the native and expanded range of the species in the United States &lt;a href=&quot;https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=396&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;according to the US Geological Survey&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GbY0R.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GbY0R.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This map doesn't show the expanded range into Canada, but this paper from the Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences describes the species in Canada:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;T.G. Brown, B. Runciman, S. Pollard, A.D.A. Grant, and M.J. Bradford: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/337846.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Biological Synopsis of Smallmouth Bass &lt;em&gt;(Micropterus dolomieu)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&quot; [2009] &lt;em&gt;Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, the authors include this map of the native and expanded ranges of the species in section 2 of their paper, &quot;Distribution&quot;, which shows the species in New Brunswick:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iLPva.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iLPva.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T17:58:27.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16591" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-07-14T18:11:57.140" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not all outdoor activities are suitable for young children. The use of this tag signifies that the activity in question is intended for everyone to enjoy, not just the grown ups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2017-07-14T20:22:42.067" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T20:22:42.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16592" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-07-14T18:11:57.140" Score="0" Body="Posts about outdoor activities for the whole family" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2017-07-14T19:00:19.933" LastActivityDate="2017-07-14T19:00:19.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16595" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-15T00:59:21.763" Score="2" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mushrooms were picked in a public park in Fukuoka, Japan. Can someone help to identify them please?&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYNaP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYNaP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mushrooms-Fukuoka-Japan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13582" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:36:11.957" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:36:11.957" Title="What are these mushrooms found in Fukuoka, Japan?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;&lt;fungi&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9215" CreationDate="2017-07-15T10:18:08.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;These rock climbers Obviously did not read your question. if the tree was bigger than you could hug. this was overkill. use the rule of thigh. A branch as big as your thigh in softwood is good enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you would not hurt the cambium of the tree.  Us tree climbers do it all the time...and we care about trees.  if you are worried and want increased safety, tie a mid line knot (use an Alpine Butterfly) at the half way point put a locking carabiner though it and around the other line that goes around the tree.  This the repel line. Note you now have a secure non moving loop around the tree.  When you get to the bottom, you can pull the other end and retrieve the whole system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find there are good ideas from Rock and Tree climbing. Take the eclectic approach to knowledge&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13583" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-07-15T19:39:35.137" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T19:39:35.137" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16598" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16601" CreationDate="2017-07-15T17:50:15.283" Score="73" ViewCount="24311" Body="&lt;p&gt;I swim decently - no pro but I can do a couple of km, resting once in awhile.  Many times, both in day and night, in the warm, summer, Mediterranean sea, friends have cautioned me to &quot;not swim so far out&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has happened both in day and at night; I suppose there's a different answer for each.  The water never gets cold at the distances I go, there's no jellyfish or anything like that out there, and I watch out for boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what's wrong with swimming out far?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9206" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-16T05:20:35.077" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:52:38.403" Title="What's wrong with swimming out far?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-15T18:43:20.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not keeping a eye on the tides. Near shore or between islands the tide going out can sweep you out to sea. Once back on the beach it can be a long walk back to your flipflops  On hot sand rocks coral &amp;amp; such. Just because you fail to see the shark does not mean he his not there. Other beach goers do not pay attention to you way out there. It is a long swim back from out there with fish &amp;amp; speargun. I would advise if going out that far to take a inflatable object with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T18:43:20.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16595" CreationDate="2017-07-15T18:51:53.287" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Masshurumu Button Point to button on your shirt. Fairly expensive in Japan. That type fresh. Grown commercial there. Or wild. Close as I can come. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T18:51:53.287" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-15T21:30:18.207" Score="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;There don't seem to be any detailed statistics, but common-sense will tell you that open-water swimming away from the shore is not risk-free. The hazards can be split into four categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1 - Wind and currents&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even in the Med wind and currents can be problematic. On one windy day in 2013, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380565/Seven-people-drown-seas-Frances-Mediterranean-coast-80mph-winds-unpredictable-currents-cause-treacherous-conditions.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;seven swimmers drowned&lt;/a&gt; along just one stretch of the French coast. The weather can be unpredictable and sudden storms are common. The farther out you are, the more wind and current will come into play.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2 - Boats&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may keep an eye open for boats - but are they keeping an eye open for you? A lot of people in hire boats barely know what they are doing, and every year bathers are run down. As a swimmer you are not very visible, particularly at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can reduce the risk a little by wearing a fluorescent cap and trailing a high-viz float:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/omNSH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/omNSH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swimsecure.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Credit: SwimSecure&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The farther out you are, the more you are at risk from boats that won't be on the lookout for swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3 - Sea life&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jellyfish in the Med are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/03/jellyfish-surge-mediterranean-environment-tourists&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a significant danger&lt;/a&gt;, with over 150,000 swimmers being treated each year. Stings can be toxic enough to cause you difficulties. I'm not sure how you can be so confident that there are no jellyfish where you swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The farther out you are, the more difficult it becomes to get back to shore if you are badly stung.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4 - Sudden illness or incapacity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any sudden incapacity in deep water can be fatal, so cramp, heart-attack, stroke, asthma etc will have more serious consequences, particularly if you are swimming alone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine drowned while swimming in warm water when it seems that he simply fainted. He was young, fit and healthy and had never fainted before, so we'll never know why it happened. A prominent member of the wild swimming community in Devon where I live was found drowned while swimming solo in open water. He was super-fit and highly experienced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can improve your chances of surviving an incapacity by learning the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.drownproofing.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drownproofing technique&lt;/a&gt;, which enables you to float efficiently without full use of your arms and legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clearly, the farther out you are the more difficult it becomes to survive any sudden incapacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while you couldn't say that offshore swimming in the Med is unjustifiable, the dangers are significant. Especially if you are swimming alone, it would be more prudent to swim parallel to the shore where you can reach safely quickly if you get into trouble. Is it really worth the extra risk to swim farther out? Only you can decide - but do it with a realistic understanding of the risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-07-19T09:57:28.370" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T09:57:28.370" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16567" CreationDate="2017-07-15T21:40:38.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I talked to a person (employee or owner) at the Bush Craft Store in Enfield, Middlesex.  He told me that the Hanwag Brenner Wide boots have been specifically designed to be &lt;strong&gt;quiet&lt;/strong&gt;, with the use for hunters in mind.  Quiet boots would be more particularly relevant for hunters and nature photographers, and less so for &quot;regular&quot; hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T21:40:38.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-15T22:54:42.067" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two sources of danger, both of which are unexpected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first has to do with the variations of &lt;em&gt;your&lt;/em&gt; condition. Based on what you have written, you can do say, two kilometers on an &quot;average&quot; day. Then it seems that you can swim safely one kilometer out and one kilometer back. But there will be some days that are not so average, one when you can swim only 1.5 kilometers. If you swim 1 kilometer out on such a day and head back, you may end up 0.5 kilometer short and drown. This is particularly true if you get a cramp and there's no one around to help you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second has to do with variations in the &lt;em&gt;sea's&lt;/em&gt; condition. Again, there will be no troubling winds, tides, currents, boats, jellyfish on an &quot;average&quot; day. But there will be one day when there will be a problem of this sort that you won't be able to handle, especially if it catches you unawares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above events could be 1 in 100 (or even 1 in a thousand). But if you go out 20 times a year, you can expect to encounter a 1 in a 100 event in 5 years (50 years for 1 in 1000).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you should stay close enough to the shore to be 1) near other people, and 2) to be on or near water shallow enough to stand (or push off a shallow bottom) if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5603" LastActivityDate="2017-07-15T22:54:42.067" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16604" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16622" CreationDate="2017-07-16T00:10:35.737" Score="19" ViewCount="941" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like many people, we have bird feeders, and a bird-bath.  We also have a feeding station (replenished in the mornings only) that attracts squirrels and chipmunks and some of the larger birds.  During the winter, we are religious about keeping the bird feeders full, and during the few heavy snows we have in our area, we shovel a patch on our patio and put out extra seed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are selective about what we feed. We don't put out food for raccoons or foxes or deer, all of which we have in fair abundance. Still, we're feeding wildlife in our yard, which in National Parks we're sternly enjoined not to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an ecological justification for feeding birds, beyond our own selfish pleasure in watching a patch of our yard alive with beautiful creatures? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please specify the geographical area of your answer.  The answer(s) may differ depending on the ecosystem.               &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-20T18:46:16.923" LastActivityDate="2021-02-04T17:40:48.653" Title="What is the ecological justification (if any) for bird feeders?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16604" CreationDate="2017-07-16T03:57:06.627" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers to this question may differ based on location, but I can tell you that in my part of the world there is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2001_184.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;legislation in place for controlling populations of certain birds&lt;/a&gt; (as well as other pesky critters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird feeders are for bird watchers who want to attract birds into their yards. I'm the other type of people. I have raspberries, saskatoons, cherries, and apples growing in my yard, so I want the birds to stay away. I have bird nets protecting my trees and bushes, owl decoys to scare the birds away (as do many of my neighbours), and a list of all the birds considered &quot;nuisance birds&quot; under Alberta legislation that anyone can legally dispose off using &lt;em&gt;good husbandry&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no ecological justification for feeding birds, they don't need the food, the vast majority of the birds eating from your feeders aren't threatened species. Odds are many of the birds you're feeding are in the same boat as sparrows, starlings, magpies and rock doves are in Alberta; they're considered nuisance birds, and do damage to the crops meant for people. Providing them with food only increases their numbers, and gives added cause for agriculturalist to cull them in order to control their numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you enjoy having the birds in your yard, that's fine. But you're not helping them. In fact. you're doing the opposite. Some of the birds you so generously feed likely become dependant on the food you provide them to the point where they would struggle if you were to stop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird feeders are for bird watchers. They aren't for the birds, they're for the people who fill the feeders and like to watch the birds. There's nothing wrong with feeding the birds, just keep in mind that there are also lots of places where there's nothing wrong with killing them just to reduce their numbers (or teaching them a lesson for ruining all my cherries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-07-16T03:57:06.627" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1720" CreationDate="2017-07-16T09:05:07.740" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;While class 2 rapids are widely regarded beginner level, they are challenging to beginners. If you have no experience with them, as the question suggests, I would recommend you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't paddle them alone. Even going together with other beginners is still quite risky, as they can't help you, so they don't add much safety. You'll just end up losing 3 boats and/or paddles rather than 1 on an embarrasingly easy run. Having anyone with the basics down around is a lot better. Even just having them yell at you not to try to stand in the middle of the stream could save lives, in the worst case scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't paddle them as a multi day run away from easy river acces, like in a gorge. I have no idea what you're planning, but if it sounds like an expedition and looks like an expedition, get a little experience first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't go out without safety equipment. Have a helmet, floatation device (life vest, but specifically one for kayaking and rafting, not a sailing vest if at all possible), wetsuit or drysuit, plus at least one first aid kit among the group and a throw line for anyone that can use it, depending on the type of water (they're not equally useful on all kinds of rivers, and at level 2 that can mean they're not necessary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally: you want a whitewater or a crossover boat, something where you can close the deck with a sprayskirt. But that's probably the least important point on this list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-07-16T09:05:07.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-16T09:23:24.160" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others have already pointed out the dangers of changing weather conditions, tides, sealife and other people (boats, jetskis, etc) but I think another danger is heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps. All of these things are caused by exposure to heat, lack of hydration and other factors. If you're swimming for a while and you haven't been careful about your fluid intake or sun exposure, you could get into trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13588" LastActivityDate="2017-07-16T09:23:24.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-16T22:36:35.007" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers already told you about exhaustion, I can tell you firsthand how dangerous cramps could be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was swimming together with my former girlfriend in Ustka, Poland on the coast of the Baltic Sea. I would say that I am an average swimmer with a good constituition so I can swim several kilometers and I never had cramps before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was no warning when suddenly my right leg was strongly cramping. I was thrown out of balance by the unexpected shift and swallowed some water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now there are two things about Ustka: The beach has an extremely gentle slope so you can walk out hundred meter and you are still standing. The other is that the water is brackish water, it does not sting and it causes no coughing. Luckily I was still in standing depth, 1.7 m and therefore it was not a problem. The sea was also calm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being curious by nature and being safe, I tried out to stay afloat with the cramping leg and simulated that my other leg could not move either. Yes, you can stay afloat, &lt;strong&gt;but it took me several minutes to master it&lt;/strong&gt;. Essentially I must submerge my body almost completely, breathe deeply and put my body in a relaxing position. If you are able to dive, you could pull your toes to your body to loose the cramps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I could stay afloat, but what now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Every time I tried to raise my arm (I did not raise it fully because I did not want to alert any guards), my body was submerged and I could not breathe anymore.&lt;/strong&gt; It puts me out of the relaxing position and every time it was hard to get again in the floating position. &lt;strong&gt;The same problem when I forcefully blew out air to simulate screaming&lt;/strong&gt;, I sank and I often lost the necessary coordination to stay afloat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I could not move&lt;/strong&gt;. For someone who does not experience it, it is very hard to imagine how strongly the movement is inhibited. You need the legs to balance yourself, without them you cannot execute effective swimming movements anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So essentially I cannot scream, I cannot alarm people and I cannot move&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;The whole thing was problematic enough with one leg cramping, I was feeling like a turtle on the back, if the whole thing would be realistic, I would have drown. And I would say that if the leg really cramps the first time, you are not able to move correctly to stay afloat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ADDITION: @Headcrab pointed exactly out what I want to warn against: &lt;em&gt;You are deluding yourselves&lt;/em&gt; if you think it is the same if you are in the swimming pool and simulate cramps by holding the legs stretched. Sure, that is also easy for me: Simply blow yourself up as much as possible and scream and move your arms as you like. &lt;strong&gt;It does not work this way&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It is very hard to describe what exactly is happening, but I do my best to explain it: Even if you do not move, your brain is in control of your extremities and can anticipate the correct movements to float. So it can balance out problems almost subconsciously. Once your leg cramps, your brain cannot anticipate your leg movement nor can it correct it, so you lose your balance almost immediately (which resulted that I swallowed water). In this case your brain almost immediately switches to &quot;RED ALERT&quot; and you are prone to panic which is not a good thing. After finding ground immediately (I knew that, but your brain needs reassurance), the panic ceased, but the lingering impression how fast you can lose control is still on my mind.&#xA;The cramping leg caused that I need to use my torso muscles to hold the leg up (you need to lie on your back to put your mouth and nose on top) and in an unusual position; I was lying lower in the water than normally. Also I needed to regulate my position actively and clumsily to hold my balance and I really needed time to allow my brain to adjust to the new conditions; if I make too strong moves, I lose my balance. As my left leg was only &quot;simulating&quot;, the water was calm and not irritating, the real condition with two legs crampings could be only much worse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As muscle tissue is denser as water and I was really almost submerged, I am inclined to believe that a more muscular man than me &lt;strong&gt;cannot&lt;/strong&gt; simply hold himself up. Having different body types, other people may experience it different, but for me neither screaming nor waving was possible without submerging again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8571" LastEditorUserId="8571" LastEditDate="2017-07-18T15:58:09.100" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T15:58:09.100" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16611" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16613" CreationDate="2017-07-17T02:20:41.973" Score="11" ViewCount="504" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only been climbing a few months.  I bought &lt;a href=&quot;http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/climbing-harnesses/momentum-harness-BD651068_cfg.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a harness&lt;/a&gt; and have been using it.  I know they don't last forever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I know when to stop using it and buy a new one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/592/6596&quot;&gt;How should I check climbing equipment to tell whether it is still safe to use?&lt;/a&gt; doesn't talk about harnesses)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastActivityDate="2017-07-17T21:08:41.780" Title="How do I know when to retire a climbing harness?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16611" CreationDate="2017-07-17T08:52:17.087" Score="11" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When it's beyond the lifetime recommended by the manufacturer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you see abrasion or damage that is more than superficial on any of the load-bearing components. This means you have to inspect your harness regularly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When it has been in contact with a number of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.calpaclab.com/nylon-chemical-compatibility-chart/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;strongly corrosive substances&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When there is discoloration (indicates excessive exposure to sunlight, which can weaken Nylon).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an article that goes into some more detail: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountry.com/explore/when-to-replace-your-rock-climbing-harness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.backcountry.com/explore/when-to-replace-your-rock-climbing-harness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-07-17T21:08:41.780" LastActivityDate="2017-07-17T21:08:41.780" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16615" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16619" CreationDate="2017-07-17T13:38:22.637" Score="10" ViewCount="775" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am used to abseiling with a prusik cord, which gives me protection for the case I lose control of the descent speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have heard that in canyoning, in some situations, using the prusik is considered undesirable. So people descend on ropes with just a braking device, and without a prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it really the case? If yes, what makes it a valid technique specifically in canyoning, and not in e.g. rock climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T18:20:15.383" Title="In canyoning, [why] do people skip a backup prusik?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16616" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-17T15:50:24.843" Score="6" ViewCount="620" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Brunton Truarc 3 compass. At the time I bought it I wasn't aware about declination settings or navigation basics. But recently I realized that it has offset of a few degrees (around 6 degrees). It bothers me that the red line and 0 degrees do not align properly but that is a bit of an OCD thing.&#xA;What I really want to know is do I need to replace this compass or compensate for the offset. Or this is a minor error and can be ignored. I think I will mostly use it while walking 100-200kms max.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: the problem is the 0 deg, red internal marking and black outside arrow marking can never align.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPcq4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPcq4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G1PFE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G1PFE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6545" LastEditorUserId="6545" LastEditDate="2017-07-17T16:53:40.040" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T09:31:20.837" Title="Offset in compass" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16616" CreationDate="2017-07-17T16:53:46.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Higher-end compasses have a north arrow that can be rotated relative to the baseplate - usually with a screw adjuster somewhere around the edge.  The grid lines on the baseplate remain in a fixed position, so that the arrow can point to magnetic north when the lines point to grid north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On your picture, the thin red line at about 183° shows that your compass is adjusted for 3° East declination (reading the yellow scale).  It's a shame you only have two grid lines (at the far left and right of the window) for lining up with your map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the yellow scale (marked &quot;West Declination&quot; and &quot;East Declination&quot;) to set the declination to match your region and map projection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-07-18T07:58:38.767" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T07:58:38.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16615" CreationDate="2017-07-17T18:54:53.140" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canyoneering presents different risks than rock climbing because water is involved &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9183/can-rock-climbers-easily-transition-to-canyoning?rq=1#comment21203_9184&quot;&gt;This comment&lt;/a&gt; on another post shows why water is an important factor (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Canyoneering with an autoblock actually has the potential be fatal. Wet ropes have a lot more rope-on-rope friction, &lt;strong&gt;if your autoblock locks up while you're in a waterfall, then you're at risk of drowning&lt;/strong&gt;. That same risk is also why it's recommended that you carry a knife with you, so you can cut yourself loose if you get stuck under a heavy flow of water. when I rappel with my kong hydrobot, I can let go of the rope completely and it will take me down the the bottom at a reasonable constant speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/4148/shemseger&quot;&gt;Shem&lt;/a&gt; notes in the comment above when canyoneering near water you have to weigh the risk of &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; falling. He mentioned on situation where not falling is potentially more risky than falling, (drowning halfway down a waterfall). It is safe to say that most rock climbing doesn't involve rappels down or through active waterfalls....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-07-17T20:07:21.097" LastActivityDate="2017-07-17T20:07:21.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16615" CreationDate="2017-07-17T19:41:38.660" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canyoneering has one major danger that is not (normally) one in mountaineering: water. If you get stuck abseiling along/in a waterfall and end up hanging in the waterfall, you can drown. An &quot;engaged&quot; friction knot can be difficult to loosen, especially when in an averse environment like a waterfall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time I did canyoning an experienced party member went down first. After him everybody that finished abseiling down secured the one following him by holding the rope. In case the person abseiling lost control, you would pull on the rope thus stopping the descent. Apparently this technique is known as &quot;fireman backup&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-18T18:20:15.383" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T18:20:15.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16616" CreationDate="2017-07-17T20:19:55.377" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Adjusting Declination&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brunton.com/products/truarc-3#desc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;maker&lt;/a&gt; that compass has &quot;tool-less declination compensation&quot; - so you should be able to correct that for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;local magnetic declination&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The video on their webpage shows how to make the adjustment - it looks like you apply pressure to the top and twist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison, my old Suunto has a small brass-coloured screw on the back that you adjust using a tool attached to the neck-cord&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nSCBW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nSCBW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tXI2y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tXI2y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adjustment screw is near the bottom of the black ring in second photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Heading vs Declination settings&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vwVRh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vwVRh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fixed Luminous green/yellow lines on baseplate offset from &quot;N&quot; by declination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Floating Red pointer indicates magnetic-north&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0 degrees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;N indicates grid-north (map north)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass aligned with map grid lines&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ignore this (inclinometer)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i1FbL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i1FbL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compass ring rotated and set for travel to E&#xA;Compass body aligned with direction of travel, compass points E.&#xA;Compass pointer is inside the luminous markings, NOT aligned to N.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A huge magnetic anomaly suddenly appeared near Eskdale changing local magnetic deviation to 40°. (Massive subterranean upwelling of neodymium).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I therefore adjusted my compass' declination to match, &#xA;using the small screw on the underside (NOT the ring on the top).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mG1AT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mG1AT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My compass is still set to point East.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My compass needle still sits inside the luminous markings.&#xA;The luminous markings are now offset from grid-north by 40° &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4266" LastEditorUserId="4266" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T09:52:33.933" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T09:52:33.933" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16604" CreationDate="2017-07-18T09:41:07.997" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If we exclude the birdwatching explanation Shem gives, the only possible ecological reason for a bird feeder is to counteract the negative effect we have on the bird's habitat by having our house there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't explain why we only tend to feed &quot;cute&quot; animals - if we are to be honest about ecological support, we should analyse impact data on all the species we have negatively impacted in our locale and feed them all no matter if they are cute birds, hedgehogs etc or spiders, insects and slugs... And very few people will do that, sadly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality, all life impacts other life. Human occupation has negative impact on some species and positive on others. We cannot really justify bird feeding from an ecological standpoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have nesting boxes for finches and tits in the big trees at the bottom of my garden, bee-friendly plants and insect &quot;hotels&quot; in my garden, but I also have a cat that actively hunts, I dissuade the foxes and deer from coming too close and I dispose of snails and slugs - so even though I am ecologically aware, I'm as biased towards animals I like as the next person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T09:41:07.997" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16277" CreationDate="2017-07-18T15:55:10.770" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the lakes in my city are infested with milfoil.  In small amounts it is not a hazard.  It is a tough, scratchy plant and I have gotten (brief) rashes on my arms after swimming through thick patches.  The other hazard is that it drags on your limbs.  If you remain calm it is fatiguing.  If you panic it could be quite dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13620" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T15:55:10.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16482" CreationDate="2017-07-18T17:17:33.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kudos to you for at least trying to follow the LNT guidelines. You certainly see a LOT of well-used sites in designated Wilderness areas that do not meet the distance from trail/water criteria. Saw many of those sites last week in the Lost Creek Wilderness, including several that had significant trash issues, too. :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other suggestions offered, try to not follow in others' footsteps through the vegetation so as to not form a &quot;path&quot;. It will recover quicker. I also try to walk on whatever durable surfaces (i.e., rocks) that are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T17:17:33.967" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16625" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16445" CreationDate="2017-07-18T17:45:17.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rectangular would offer the most choices. I have used a 8x6 and 9x7 in a half-mid pitch above treeline in the Rockies. Whether it is rectangle or square, which is also a rectangle, is insignificant since you could do the same pitches with either one assuming the sides are long enough for the coverage you desire. You would need longer sides if you want to be fully enclosed unless you don't mind cramped space. Where you run into issues is with shaped tarps that can only be done in 1 or maybe 2 pitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T17:45:17.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16569" CreationDate="2017-07-18T19:25:04.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one were to discover a leaking section of fabric &lt;em&gt;during&lt;/em&gt; a rainstorm, a highly effective solution is to rub wax (candle, ski wax, paraffin, etc.) on the fabric.  No need to heat it:  rubbing cold works fine.  It is better to apply from the outside, but it works okay from the (more comfortable and convenient) inside too.  One rubbing generally lasts for several days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2017-07-18T19:25:04.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-18T21:20:39.823" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;One reason is geometry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If people on the shore know the approximate direction you went to swim, your possible location could be anywhere inside a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_sector&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;circular sector&lt;/a&gt;. The area of this sector depends on the square of the radius:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a1oCx.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a1oCx.gif&quot; alt=&quot;area of a circular sector&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each time you double the distance to the shore, you divide by 4 the chances of someone finding you if you ever need help and cannot be seen or heard (e.g. due to waves or obscurity).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It gets worse if you begin to drown. Assuming a constant slope of the sea bed, the volume of water that needs to be searched depends on the cube of the distance to the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13002" LastEditorUserId="13002" LastEditDate="2017-07-19T09:38:10.810" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T09:38:10.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-19T14:22:01.920" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers only mentioned that tides can be dangerous, but didn't go into details. And I am not sure how applicable that can be to the Mediterranean sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But tides can be very dangerous, when the sea drags away from the beach. This once happened when I swam in the Atlantic ocean. Fortunately, I didn't go far away, and noticed what is going on. I was swimming like crazy and managed to make it to the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More details about this in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/3910-rip-currents-ocean-deadliest-trick.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Rip currents: The ocean's deadliest trick&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13624" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T14:22:01.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16639" CreationDate="2017-07-19T14:23:28.477" Score="5" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a knot novice and I was thinking about using a &lt;a href=&quot;http://notableknotindex.webs.com/blakeshitch.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blake's hitch&lt;/a&gt; while camping. The hitch is finished with a stopper knot, which appears pretty critical to me. I thought it would make sense to insert a small stick into the stopper knot to function like a toggle does on a tarp grommet (I &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; it's called a toggle). I imagine that something like this might be useful in some other context also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there stopper knots that are particularly suited to holding a toggle/stick? Are some stopper knots a bad idea for this purpose? Finally, is putting a toggle on the end of a Blake's hitch a bad idea for some reason?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I considered just using a constrictor knot on the toggle instead of a true stopper knot, but I read that this can be impossible to untie after use and that scared me off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.P.S. I was thinking of using this like a taut line hitch. Appeared more secure and easily adjustable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3580" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T14:49:24.713" Title="Stopper with Toggle for Blake's Hitch" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16629" CreationDate="2017-07-19T14:43:22.667" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The stopper knot is purely a backup to prevent disastrous slippage (i.e., the end pulling through the knot). For most cases, the stopper knot will not be loaded. Even in the case of slippage, the stopper knot is only taking a fraction of the weight so will probably not become overly tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your use case is going to likely result in the heavily loading of the stopper knot, you probably want to consider a different tension hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T14:43:22.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16631" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16647" CreationDate="2017-07-19T15:38:19.323" Score="10" ViewCount="286" Body="&lt;p&gt;When reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16604/what-is-the-ecological-justification-if-any-for-bird-feeders&quot;&gt;this question (What is the ecological justification (if any) for bird feeders?)&lt;/a&gt; on bird feeders I wondered if there would be an ecological impact on having a bird bath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially in cities where summer temperatures can be a bit unforgiving (and the fact that we've replaced natural landscapes with concrete) it may seem like installing a bird-bath in your yard will aid birds in dealing with the temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far it seems like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9566/how-to-help-birds-with-water&quot;&gt;good idea&lt;/a&gt;. But is there be a downside I might be missing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2017-07-19T19:55:35.510" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T23:33:35.640" Title="What's the ecological impact of bird-baths?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5142" CreationDate="2017-07-19T18:51:02.947" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general consensus is clearly that it's a bad idea to try to teach yourself. I tend to agree. That said, I suspect that none of these people who have commented thus far are speaking from experience, so I thought I'd chime in as someone who has actually taught himself to climb, to offer a perspective of what that's like too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make it short: in my case (and do not assume yours will be the same), I felt like learning to top rope and sport climbing was fairly safe and straightforward. Ditto for multipitch sport climbing. Trad climbing was more extreme. Having had a more experienced partner would have been more helpful here. Trying to learn to alpine climb on my own was... Not good. Don't do it. Take a course from the american alpine institute instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I started to climb I didn't know any climbers, lived in the midwest before the gym scene exploded and was too poor to take a course. So similar situation to what you're describing I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top Rope/Sport climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were not a lot of &quot;unknown unknowns&quot; here. You should be able to look at the safety system and understand why and how it will keep you alive if you fall. If you don't understand it, stop and figure it out before continuing. There were no surprises here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a crag with bolted routes, and bolted anchors. Asked a local climber in camp where a good top roping spot was and spent a weekend on the wall he directed me to, and then went back for another weekend once I could afford  quickdraws and started lead climbing on bolts. It was terrifying, but in retrospect we were in fact climbing and belaying more or less safely. Common sense was very helpful, but I wish I'd known how to tie an autoblocking friction knot to back up rappels. Would have made it a bit safer (see Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2012, &quot;know the ropes&quot; section). Also, should have bought a helmet on day one. I got comfortable sport climbing pretty quickly though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning to do multipitch sport routes was also fairly easy. Plan ahead and get a belay device you can use for belaying off the anchor. Petzl Reverso or black diamond guide are good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trad cragging:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were many more &quot;known unknowns&quot; here than in sport climbing. Books helped a lot, but experience was also clearly needed, which I gained by climbing routes that were well within my abilities for a long time. The main issue is learning what a good gear placement looks like, understanding fall forces and anchor building.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After about two years I had placed enough gear in a large enough variety of rock at many different crags to have gained some perspective. By this point I had also climbed a bit with a couple of more experienced people, not many, and not often, but enough to at least gain confidence from having a more experienced climber sign off on my placements. I also did some mock lead falls with backup ropes to test gear, and see how bad a placement could be and still hold. Some top rope aid climbing also helped, as did John Long's anchors book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpine rock climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of unknown unknowns. I thought I was going to die. And I don't mean I was scared shitless. I definitely was, but what I rather mean is that I realized death was likely, and I had to force myself to come to terms with that. In retrospect, this is the point where I think no matter how motivated you are, if you don't have the money, you should stop. Better to come up with the cash, and take a course from the american alpine institute (AAI) or something equivalent. I ended up going back with more experienced people and getting some instruction from them for this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13628" LastActivityDate="2017-07-19T18:51:02.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16634" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-19T20:06:38.023" Score="5" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the process of designing a more functional &quot;hood&quot; to block UV / sun exposure and also provide shelter from rain.  I believe that the best gear and products are developed by &quot;looking to nature&quot; for inspiration.  Therefore, what solutions exist in nature to reduce the amount of UV / sun exposure or provide shelter from rain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am specifically (though not exclusively) interested in mimicking any hood-like features that animals exhibit, or any natural means of blocking the UV rays/sun such as the way trees in the rain forest create a natural canopy (perhaps less obvious examples will generate more inspiration).  Are there are any other means of reducing UV/sun exposure or offering shelter from the rain? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hoping to gain some inspiration here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12636" LastEditorUserId="12636" LastEditDate="2017-07-20T03:34:01.197" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T11:02:06.680" Title="Where in nature can we find examples of natural &quot;hoods&quot; - either for reducing UV / sun exposure or for providing shelter from rain?" Tags="&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2017-07-20T05:15:36.967" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compressed toilet paper coins. These are made of plant cellulose and are biodegradable. Just add about a teaspoon of water or less and they unfold into the most comfortable toilet paper you can imagine. They are about the size of a stack of five US nickles each and are strong enough for washing off your face or other areas. Strict places like the AppTrail you can not use these but other places these are just fine just treat them like TP and bury it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13633" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T05:15:36.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16636" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16637" CreationDate="2017-07-20T06:28:38.937" Score="9" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;We found this beauty in our yard: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rR8VQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rR8VQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was 10 cm long and it was crawling pretty fast. What made it even more spectacular were the little turquoise spots on it. I suppose it will be a butterfly (but correct me if I'm wrong). Does anyone have a clue what species it is? I tried to look at some moth/caterpillar identification webpages, but with no success (they are covering mostly the United States).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ro/maps/place/Cluj+County/@46.88202,22.8685,148210m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47490c1f916c0b8b:0x42469dc74237d9e8!8m2!3d46.7941797!4d23.6121492?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cluj county, Romania&lt;/a&gt; (moderate continental climate).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T04:00:11.883" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T04:00:11.883" Title="What will this bright green caterpillar with small turquoise spots turn into?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;&lt;romania&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16636" CreationDate="2017-07-20T07:16:43.750" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/07/22/great-peacock-moth-caterpillar-from-greece/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnia_pyri&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; for other images, including a painting of the moth by Van Gogh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Saturnia pyri, the giant peacock moth, also called the great peacock&#xA;  moth, giant emperor moth, or Viennese emperor, is a Saturniid moth&#xA;  which is native to Europe. It is the largest European moth, with a&#xA;  wingspan reaching 15-20 cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In French it is called Grand paon de nuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture on the left is from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Caterpillars,+Romania&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;imgil=w3__kTeS8gn4dM%253A%253BSliZUM-KvIShBM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.whatsthatbug.com%25252F2011%25252F07%25252F04%25252Fgreat-peacock-moth-caterpillar-from-france-2%25252F&amp;amp;source=iu&amp;amp;pf=m&amp;amp;fir=w3__kTeS8gn4dM%253A%252CSliZUM-KvIShBM%252C_&amp;amp;usg=__bvfSdnLkglURmB-M8pBM5NvhleI%3D&amp;amp;biw=1261&amp;amp;bih=615&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjW5Neuq5fVAhVBNiYKHT7sCmYQyjcIOQ&amp;amp;ei=3ltwWdb9NsHsmAG-2KuwBg#imgdii=frd-Yqtty_JhSM:&amp;amp;imgrc=w3__kTeS8gn4dM:&amp;amp;spf=1500535777223&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caterpillars, Romania&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;The picture on the right shows the caterpillar and the moth. It's from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wwb.co.uk/giant-peacock-moth-pyri-5-cocoons&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Worldwide Butterflies&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJXn6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJXn6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhVn5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhVn5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's an excellent picture of the entire lifecyle of the moth &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-complete-life-cycle-of-giant-peacock-moth-saturnia-pyri-caterpillars-52277887.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. It shows the cocoons and moths in various stages while they change color and shape as they mature. There's a charge to download it, so I didn't do that, but I highly recommend checking it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-20T17:01:08.833" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T17:01:08.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16634" CreationDate="2017-07-20T11:02:06.680" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Protecting against UV is usually done with a covering like fur, feathers, scales, a hard shell, etc, or pigment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our own species is a great example of the latter.  It seems we emerged on the plains of central Africa where UV exposure is a serious issue.  The first humans most likely had dark skin, as humans still do that stayed in that area.  Those that migrated north encountered a different tradeoff where UV exposure was less of a threat and being able to make vitamin D from sunlight more of a advantage.  As a result, those with a long ancestry in more polar regions evolved light-colored skin.  As people migrated to different places, the lightness/darkness of the skin evolved to suit the local conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunscreen is something light-colored people can use to temporarily attenuate UV.  Unlike the natural melanin, it doesn't also attenuate visible light, so doesn't appear dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T11:02:06.680" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16629" CreationDate="2017-07-20T14:49:24.713" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Blake's hitch is widely used in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbingarborist.com/blakes.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on-rope tree climbing&lt;/a&gt; / &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=ddrt%20climbing&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8#safe=off&amp;amp;q=ddrt%20climbing%20blake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;arborist work&lt;/a&gt; (Doubled Rope Technique, DdRT, methods). The nature of on rope tree climbing lends itself to having many loading/unloading cycles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically when tied and properly adjusted,  climbers will put either a simple overhand, double fisherman's, or figure 8 in the tail. Anything more than this isn't deemed necessary for life-saving utilization of this knot, which is more critical than it being used for tarp tie offs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd stick with just a simple overhand knot (as shown in your link) or a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.samsonrope.com/Pages/ClimbingHitchesTerminationKnots.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;figure 8&lt;/a&gt;. Just be sure to properly adjust and set the knot before heavily loading it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T14:49:24.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16595" CreationDate="2017-07-20T21:18:00.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hard to tell from photo, but: &quot;gills&quot; look yellow which is wrong for a button /agaricus compestri . Do they have gills ? If they have a spongy matter and not gills they are likely some boletin . Usually found under conifers. If so, likely edible but not much flavor.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13640" LastActivityDate="2017-07-20T21:18:00.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-07-21T00:29:45.773" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are at least two distinct sources of danger, one that is a threat to non- and weak swimmers, and one that can affect even good swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious danger is that non-swimmers can drown in water that is more than chin high. They can even drown in shallower water if they get their foot caught in the ground or otherwise &quot;trapped&quot; in a way that pulls their head below water, and there's no one to rescue them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a less obvious danger to stronger swimmers. Shallower water is warmer, or at least absorbs heat better; deeper water is colder. The circulation of cold, deep water could cause cramps,shock or other problems to good swimmers, causing them to drown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5603" LastActivityDate="2017-07-21T00:29:45.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16643" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-21T05:20:51.120" Score="2" ViewCount="63" Body="&lt;p&gt;Skinning out deer is complicated when it comes to fiddly parts like the ears. This is especially true for Antelopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to correctly skin out the ears of an Antelope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-07-21T05:20:51.120" Title="How to correctly skin out an Antelope's ear" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2017-07-21T07:54:47.873" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of these answers have talked about the specific risks involved in swimming. Here's a different angle: the danger of any activity is related to a) how risky it is (the other answers) and b) what you can do about them - ie. &lt;em&gt;what is your escape plan if something goes wrong&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swimming deep in the ocean, you're basically relying on your ability to keep swimming, or failing that, remaining afloat until you can be rescued or drift back to shore. As far as &quot;Plan B's&quot; go, both of those suck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, short answer - it's dangerous because if anything goes wrong, there's not much you can do about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6620" LastActivityDate="2017-07-21T07:54:47.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16646" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16649" CreationDate="2017-07-21T12:09:34.420" Score="15" ViewCount="2675" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to do a 16 day &quot;standard&quot; Everest base camp trek in Nepal coming September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I expect to visit Camp 1 (or even beyond?) as well or is this completely off limits for casual tourists?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read that, summit expeditions will stay at base camp for weeks, in order to acclimatize for the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much acclimatization would it take if I want to only visit camp 1 for example?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="191" LastEditDate="2017-07-21T14:16:01.830" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T22:16:28.543" Title="Can I expect to visit Camp 1 and beyond on an Everest base camp expedition?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16631" CreationDate="2017-07-21T13:09:26.710" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only downside of birdbaths that I can think of is that they become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.  And you can't do much about that, you can't put any insecticide in it for fear of messing up the birds, and the baths I have seen are too shallow to put in minnows or whatnot to eat the mosquito larvae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2017-07-21T13:09:26.710" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16646" CreationDate="2017-07-21T13:53:26.953" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one is allowed to just show up at base camp and expect to be able to advance to any of the other camps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, there is a lot of paperwork that must be completed before you're even granted a permit to climb Everest, which includes a letter of recommendation from a national climbing association. The permit to basecamp is only $50.00, but if you want to go any further, then you need to purchase an $11,000.00 permit. If you get caught above basecamp without a permit, the fine is $22,000.00, and you might even get jail time on top of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, the route from basecamp to camp 1 is the traverse through the Khumbu Icefall, which isn't just a walk in the park. It's a treacherous traverse over deep crevasses and under looming seracs, which requires the use of ice axes and crampons, and the only way through is over ladder bridges and with the use of fixed ropes. Navigating the Khumbu Icefall is a little more technical now than it has been in past years, because they changed the route in order to avoid the danger of avalanches. Many people have died on Everest between basecamp and camp 1 by being swept off by an avalanche into a crevasse.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AWgAY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AWgAY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/2009/4/khumbu-traverse-nepal-pod/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expeditions pay big money to have all those ladders and ropes packed all the way up to Everest, and to have experienced Sherpas fix them along the best route, which changes every year as the ice continuously moves and changes form. They aren't going to simply let you make use of their equipment. One of the biggest hurdles on Everest is getting around all the officials who want a piece of the tourism revenue pie. Tourism is number one industry in Nepal, and climbing in the Himalayas represents a large portion of that industry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to check out any of the camps above base camp, you're going to have to bring some deep pockets with you. I'm not going to say it's not possible, but if it is, it's &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; going to be cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Edit&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After finding a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowyhorizon.com/mountaineering/climbing-permit.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fee schedule&lt;/a&gt;, it looks like the $11,000.00 fee is only for Everest Summit bids in Spring. In Autumn it appears you could go as high as Camp III for only $900.00 if you purchase a &lt;strong&gt;Lhotse&lt;/strong&gt; summit permit (Lhotse is the peak right beside Everest, you climb the Lhotse Ice Face to get to Camp III, then head South up to the Summit of Everest, or North to the Summit of Lhotse). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, you're going to need a permit, and likely a guide. Your best course of action is to hook up with a expedition like the one linked above. Expeditions help you cut through all the bureaucracy by dealing with all the government officials on your behalf. It's still going to cost you something though, and you're going to need to buy all your gear, which you may want to do in Nepal, I've heard you can get great deals on stuff if you buy it there as lots of climbers leave their used gear behind after their once in a lifetime summit attempt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T22:16:28.543" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T22:16:28.543" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16651" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16716" CreationDate="2017-07-21T17:23:37.637" Score="6" ViewCount="345" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India.&#xA;Most of the times the hike involves walking/climbing in day time and resting/sleeping, often in caves/unmanned temples/shaks of some kind at night. Sometimes the hike involves walking at night.&#xA;I wonder which dangerous wild animals (predatory/non predatory) should I be worried about. What precautions should I take to avoid getting too close/alerting them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:41.007" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:23:41.007" Title="Which dangerous wild animals are most likely to be encountered in Western Ghats, India" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;western-ghats&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16652" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-21T18:41:08.187" Score="6" ViewCount="659" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm very new to/inexperienced at hiking, and I got invited to an impromptu, 7-mile hike tomorrow at Alamere Falls (places online say it's &quot;intermediate difficulty&quot;). I've only gone on what I think are really easy hikes before. I'm not a runner either. This might be relevant as well: I do walk barefoot rather frequently (e.g. I don't wear shoes in the house, and often not at my desk job either).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My problem lies in my footwear: I somehow misplaced my hiking boots when moving. This leaves me with a few options, and I'm wondering what is best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a camping trip a month or so ago, I bought some Vibram FiveFingers (the outdoors kind, &lt;a href=&quot;http://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/men/outdoor/trek-ascent/M47.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/men/outdoor/trek-ascent/M47.html&lt;/a&gt;). I wore them for the whole weekend, and it was very comfortable. I did a tiny bit of a trail, but generally walked quite a bit (and danced a little too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have some non-hiking boots (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.j75shoes.com/mens/boots-chukkas/d-day-black-black/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.j75shoes.com/mens/boots-chukkas/d-day-black-black/&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I have some old tennis shoes, but the soles are pretty messed up and they have very little traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming I can't find any hiking boots to borrow by tomorrow, should I:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;just wear the regular boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wear the vibrams, but bring the regular boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wear the vibrams, but bring the tennis shoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;something else&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13649" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:44:43.593" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T20:49:12.167" Title="Vibram FiveFingers or Non-Hiking Boots as a Beginner in Hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;vibram-five-fingers&gt;&lt;barefoot&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16653" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16685" CreationDate="2017-07-21T19:21:55.603" Score="10" ViewCount="2844" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has been an especially prolific year for ticks in the northeastern region of the United States. We've had so many in our yard that I've given up gardening and switched to planting in pots!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We find them on ourselves frequently after filling our large number of bird feeders and bird baths. I think they're mostly in the tall grasses, wildflowers, other plants, and the regular lawn. I don't think they live in trees, though I'm not sure. Perhaps they're in the lower sections, near the grasses and vines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are very few deer in this neighborhood, but I know dogs and other animals, like the fox that's been wandering through every once in a while, leave ticks here for our enjoyment! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It only recently occurred to me that birds might be affected. We can clean up most of the obvious places where the ticks hide in our yard, but that doesn't mean the birds are safe. Obviously we can't clean up the woods or water sources inhabited by the wild birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't recall hearing that birds are affected by ticks, but I've never studied it either. Do ticks like birds, whether in the yard or in the wild? If so, do they bite them as they do with humans, or do they hang on and use the birds as carriers? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T06:32:05.610" Title="Do birds get ticks?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16652" CreationDate="2017-07-21T20:07:19.520" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say it would depend on the terrain and whether you are going to carry a heavy pack with you.  You had mentioned that the trail is intermediate, so having a bit of traction on your soles would be nice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, true hiking boots with ankle support are to help you when carrying a large backpack.  I have a friend who hikes in non-hiking boots like those because she finds them comfortable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I would suggest going with the Vibrams instead.  What matters most is what is comfortable for you (and your feet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13146" LastActivityDate="2017-07-21T20:07:19.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16652" CreationDate="2017-07-22T04:12:58.707" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are normal weight,then I would strongly suggest wearing whatever runners you wear day to day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your feet are happy in them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your body mechanics are used to them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would never recommend 5 finger type footwear (any almost barefoot type footwear) for a first trip.  The almost comes about because I'd consider it if you were doing your garden work barefoot, routinely walked on gravel driveways barefoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't recommend new footwear for any hike.  ANYTHING you are going to wear on a hike that is harder than what you are used to should be worn daily for at least at least a  week prior to the event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going on a trip that is on rough trail, then you need to get your feet ready for it.  Buy your boots at least 2 weeks ahead of time.  Wear them for 8-10 hours a day. This is what you will be doing on the trip.  At home, you won't be walking as much, but at least your feet will start getting used to the boots or shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;But wait!  I only have 3-4 days!&quot;  In that case, get a pair of ankle high (over the ankle bone) boots that are mostly fabric.  These are a lot more flexible than the &quot;boots of iron&quot; leather boots.  They also don't provide as much support.  Wear two pair of thick socks when trying them on.  Many people's feet swell from trail abuse, and some mornings being able to reduce the sock count make make them a lot easier to put on.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preferred  footwear for hiking are rubber soled neoprene water boots.  They are flexible, and let me feel the trail, without bruising my feet too badly on rocks.  However they are unsuitable for scree, and don't have enough traction for mud, so also have a pair of walking shoes.  This combination is a good compromise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note too:  I run a tree farm, and except when I need to bounce on a shovel, I am barefoot most of the day.  Your mileage may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one point in my past I ran 'newboy' hikes.  The new students (highschool) would depart for a week in the rockies the day after arriving.  We found that our best strategy was to provide a cheap pair of canvas high top sneakers, and a pair of their own shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sneakers were a known quantity.  They gave some ankle support, were easy to dry, and if sized to go over two pairs of sock, warm.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most boys elected to wear the newboy runners (as they were called) during the day, and use their own sneakers for camps shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having two pairs meant that if one was giving blisters, they could change to the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-02-13T20:49:12.167" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T20:49:12.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13066" CreationDate="2017-07-22T09:30:02.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a man who has spent a lot of time flying into to and from a camp job in Fort Mcmurray, Canada. I offer my humble opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are very likely to die very quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperatures are deadly, not having the right clothes is pretty much fatal. And that is even before you get above the treeline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say watch the movie alive where this happens, pretty brutal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13654" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T09:30:02.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16658" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-22T12:24:32.303" Score="2" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an idea to attach a small spinning reel abu silver max 5, to an ugly stik 7'6&quot; medium light casting reel (which I already own), to fish sub 10 gram lures and live bait.  Anyone see a major problem with this? (I am trying to save the expense of buying a dedicated spinning rod, since I already own the baitcasting rod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13657" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T03:26:07.887" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T03:26:07.887" Title="Can I attach a small spinning reel to a baitcasting rod?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16662" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17131" CreationDate="2017-07-22T22:52:19.437" Score="5" ViewCount="235" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any ideas what bird is making this song?&lt;/strong&gt;  Unfortunately, this photo was the best I got, but I did get a lot of audio of it's call (the YouTube video has a bunch of them clipped together).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the video, you can see one of the birds (same kind as the one singing) fly away.  In case it's flight gives any hints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It sounds like it has at least two (maybe three) distinct calls.&lt;/strong&gt; The one call, you can hear over and over, and was the majority of it's calls.  But it also had one where it had &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/Jtn7M1y1Pwc?t=22s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;7 or 8 super-quick chirps followed by a high-low, high-low (specific spot in video linked here)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in Northwest Ohio, US if that helps narrow it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Video:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtn7M1y1Pwc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube video (with song) of unknown bird&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Photo:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCQUz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCQUz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Unknown bird&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rough Sketch&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Update: I saw it today through binoculars, but still couldn't get close enough / for long enough. I did see that it had some spots or lines on it's stomach (similar to a young bird, but it appears to be an adult).  It was lighter brown than I was led to believe from the videos when it was silhouetted last night. It had a dark marking from its eye like a racoon, and white over its eye.  It is roughly 50% to 70% smaller than the robins we have around here, which are probably American Robins, as described on &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/birds/american-robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; from the Ohio Division of Wildlife. It appeared to be the size of a chickadee but with a longer tail. Larger than a gold finch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only times I've seen this bird, it was on the very top of a pine tree (like in the video). I've not seen it on the ground at all. There was a bird here last year that I never saw that was making a very unique sound. Not sure if it was this kind or not, as I wasn't able to find it and don't remember the song.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today's look was quick, and I tried to remember as best I could, but again, it was from a distance, so the rough sketch below might not be super accurate.  The first time I saw it today, I thought it may have had some orange tint on its stomach, but didn't see it the second time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ze96g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ze96g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rough sketch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE 2:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After much googling, &lt;strong&gt;it looks very similar to a female rose breasted grosbeak (if not exactly alike).  I can't find a song that matches though, so I can't verify if that's what it is.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13659" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:49:16.943" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:49:16.943" Title="What is this brown bird with a white area over its eye, found on the top of a pine tree in Ohio?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13066" CreationDate="2017-07-22T23:23:29.373" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;N Pacific water landing. Summer. 15 min. if in the water. 30 min on the plane raft. On land. 15 min unless you can get a fire going or find a way to stay warm. At -30 below. Longer the warmer it is. Heat is the main thing. With heat for 40 days with water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T23:23:29.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2017-07-22T23:49:03.483" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a bullock knife. 24 inch blade. slight drop from the handle. 1/4 thick blue steel 4 inch wide blade. Good point on it. then a slight curve to the blade for cutting threw vines bamboo &amp;amp; such. Then it flattens for use as a draw knife or such. Good for splitting wood cutting vines, knoching coconut trees to climb them &amp;amp; drop coconuts. Same knife we use when working the watterbuffalo. For bush use. Made by Felix out local blacksmith. With a recap tire handle riveted on for non slip. But has weight to carry. Much depends on were you are &amp;amp; use of knife. Think large bowey knife you call them for jungle use. You can set up a shelter or build a bamboo raft with them to float back with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-22T23:49:03.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2017-07-23T00:00:27.257" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will find many of the smaller palm trees have a soft inner fiber if split open &amp;amp; dug out with a flat stick. Or coconut fiber removed from green coconuts. Some like silk. Leaves I do not use most have a sharp edge to them so does grass. Just split them open remove soft fibers wad them up &amp;amp; use. Will be slightly damp. Often better than toiletpaper. A squat in the river is not bad use left hand to clean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-23T00:00:27.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10089" CreationDate="2017-07-23T01:13:16.893" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can build a basic thermometer using just water, or any liquid. You first need to mostly seal it in a container (like a glass bottle) and use a straw or thin clear tube immersed in it to allow the liquid to expand up the straw. Do not let the straw touch the bottom. A 50-50 water &amp;amp; alcohol solution will also do the trick if you happen to have alcohol, but in a survival role alcohol should be kept for injuries, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick in order to re-use the thermo-bottle it is to make sure that each day the exact same amount of water/alcohol is there at the start since both water and alcohol slowly do evaporate over time. (Note your regular mercury thermometer is sealed so it never escapes.) Or seal it all when not using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next stage is marking the clear tube with various temperatures. Best case scenario is if you are in winter and can place it in ice cold water. That's your 0°C/32°F mark on the straw, usually the bottom of the straw. Placing the thermo-bottle in boiling water is an upper mark on the straw, just be careful not to burn yourself, or crack the bottle, or even melt the bottle or straw. Placing the thermo-bottle under your jacket for 10 minutes should give you a 37.0°C/98.6°F reading or body temperature (or you can immerse the bottle in your fresh urine which should be about 37°C/98°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have these various marks, divide the straw into equal sections to give you an approximation of the temperature between your body temp and zero. It is still an approximation because altitude, humidity, pressure and water density can affect the reading. With alcohol as a liquid, readings below zero will also be possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For efficiency, practice using and marking a practice thermo-bottle and straw or tube BEFORE going into the outdoors when you do have a thermometer to help. This will help you get the kinks out when you finally need to construct one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other ways to measure temperature without a proper thermometer are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A Galileo thermometer (more complicated tube with water and floating weighted orbs in it)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Evaporation rates of a water drop in direct sunshine (done ahead of time and memorized.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Facial sensation (the face is better than hand at discerning temperature)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A basic personal chart (ice freezes at 0°C/32°F, my breath is visible at 7°C/45°F, I go to t-shirt mode at 16°C/61°F, I start to sweat when sitting at 28°C/82°F, my metal camping spoon in 43°C/110°F sun for 1 minute scalds me)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a related site about the thermo-bottle (not my site): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/water-thermometer-sick-science/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/water-thermometer-sick-science/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS do not throw boiling water in freezing temperatures, it's not worth the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13660" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-12-03T14:04:03.507" LastActivityDate="2019-12-03T14:04:03.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16679" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-23T19:22:47.783" Score="9" ViewCount="462" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing for about 7 years starting when I was 31 years old.  Initially I made rapid progress as I learned the various techniques etc, but after about a year I plateaued and I haven't really made any progress in the last 6 years.  I have kids and I'm pretty busy all week so I only get to climb, with another friend my age at the weekend so as it stands I'm doing about 2 hours climbing per week.  I can reliably climb up to a French grade 6b or a bouldering grade V4 but that's about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People generally say that my technique is good but what I really lack is strength.  I see other people do routes that are beyond me and I get as far as &quot;that pull&quot; or &quot;that hold&quot; and I simply don't have the strength to do the move that's required.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So here's the thing, I'd love to go up another grade and to be able to climb V5-V6 routes but it's clear that if I don't make a change to how much training I'm doing it won't happen.  I don't have a lot of time but I'm wondering what I could do with a few hours at home over the week that would help me improve at the weekend?  Would two 20 minute finger board sessions mid-week at home be enough to get me up a grade?  What kind of things would I be best investing my limited time in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2256" LastActivityDate="2017-07-29T19:55:41.180" Title="What's the easiest way of improving my strength without a large investment of time?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7709" CreationDate="2017-07-24T01:22:43.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing shoes should be as snug as possible. Not tight to the point that you can't walk (unless you know they will break in) but also not too loose that your toes aren't touching the end of the shoe. They should also fit volume-wise, meaning your feet shouldn't be getting crushed or have too much room on the sides as well as the top&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This guide is pretty useful for getting an idea of how to size popular climbing shoes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://athleteaudit.com/how-to-size-the-most-popular-climbing-shoes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://athleteaudit.com/how-to-size-the-most-popular-climbing-shoes/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13670" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T01:22:43.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16683" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-24T04:04:57.823" Score="10" ViewCount="9401" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today I went to paddle with a friend and he said that I should sit in the back because I'm heavier. But why is that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does this help with the weight distribution or handling of the kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13671" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2017-07-25T02:40:27.813" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T05:57:34.380" Title="Why should the heavier person sit in the back of a tandem kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16653" CreationDate="2017-07-24T06:32:05.610" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, birds can get ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some sources online, amongst them &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3291064/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this paper&lt;/a&gt;, which also contains information about birds and borreliosis. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Primarily wild living birds are affected by ticks. Ticks use them as host and bite them, feed on them. The birds can spread borelliosis , and while the ticks don't just hang on birds to use them as a carrier, birds &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; carry ticks over large distances. Due to to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lifecycles&lt;/a&gt; of ticks as a larvae, nymph and adult, ticks can actually make use of this relocation and infest new areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An interesting additional information is that healthy birds can do well with a tick sucking their blood. However, if a smaller bird is host to multiple ticks, it can succumb the blood loss and die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T06:32:05.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9271" CreationDate="2017-07-24T08:05:33.707" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, 18 feet (6m) is plenty long enough for even a 4 (or 3) piece anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to tie two figure-8s at the ends of your cordalette.   Chris McNamara has a video on this that shows the technique. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/2q2PdnAAy6w&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/2q2PdnAAy6w&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13674" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T08:05:33.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16679" CreationDate="2017-07-24T08:20:33.920" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends on the person of course, but yes, any type of extra exercise which is sufficiently long would be beneficial. And 20min of fingerboard might just do the trick. Especially with climbing where strength can become the limiting factor. However if it is really enough to get to e.g. 6C is something different. A fingerboard is mainly about forearm strength. Ok, biceps as well if you're doing pull-ups, but that is about it. And while forearm strength is important in climbing there's a ton of other muscles you'll be using as well: climbing really is a 'using the whole body' type of sport, especially when adavancing to the higher grades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: the fingerboard won't hurt (though keep in mind to warm up gradually to avoid injuries) but to know whether it helps you'll have to try it since there's more to climbing than just fingers. Probably, unless you are a pro working on some specific body part, the single best exercise for climbing is simply more climbing. If I go from once a week to an average of 1.5 times per week, after a month or two I'm climbing 1 grade higher. I tried other things like fingerboards and never got any yield like that. What did help me a bit, but not as much as actual climbing in a dedicated spot, was mimicking climbing by having multiple fingerboards and whatever could serve as a grip and creating a small climbing route at home. You do need the space for that though. Climbing trees is another thing, though more dangerous. But it's also more fun, and hence easier to sustain, than the just seeminly pointless hanging from a fingerboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T08:20:33.920" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16652" CreationDate="2017-07-24T08:40:00.943" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of trail running vibram fivefingers but I find that the grip, while often good enough, isn't perfect for all situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you didn't have sore calf muscles last time from walking in a different way (more on your front foot), I would wear the vibrams but definitely bring a backup that you are used to wearing, preferably the boots as they probably have better grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, it's a short trail so don't worry too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2017-07-24T20:45:55.507" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T20:45:55.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16689" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-24T12:22:31.863" Score="35" ViewCount="12877" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why do climbers not use electrically heated suits to climb peaks like Mt. Everest? Or am I just mistaken and they already do it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13677" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:26:30.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T21:51:17.490" Title="Why don't climbers use electrically heated suits?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16689" CreationDate="2017-07-24T13:23:48.403" Score="40" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firstly there's the weight issue - as Paparazzi commented, batteries are heavy!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then there's temperature - battery performance drops considerably in the cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And finally reliability - if your electrical circuit goes, you will freeze unless you have properly insulated clothing...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so why bother having the batteries at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T13:23:48.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7761" CreationDate="2017-07-24T13:37:05.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a 20L dry sack for washing clothes. This has no issues at all and it stores clothes well if it's dried compleatly even in wet rainy hiking and camping situations. I put a tiny rubber spiky ball which is a toy for small dogs into this 20 L dry sack and then put dirty clothes in and add enough water to move them around with a very small amount of bio degradable detergent such as Dr bronners soap. Shake it and knead it lightly with the dogs toy ball inside then throw away the dirty water and clean water to rinse. Repeat shaking and kneading it lightly, then throw the water away again. Wring the clothes out, then hang the wet clothes and the dry sack flipped inside out on a cloth line. When it's dried, fold the clothes, roll them up and place them neatly inside the same clean dried 20L dry sack. Now, I'm ready to put it into my backpack even when hiking in rain. My clothes stay dry and clean. I've learned this trick from one long haired Japanese hinter / camper who moves like a ninja on trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13679" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-07-24T15:37:50.243" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T15:37:50.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16683" CreationDate="2017-07-24T16:42:35.493" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's along the lines of @stijn's comment but worse: if the nose digs in, not only do you lose speed, but your control suffers (and not just because many steering strokes require water speed). In even slightly choppy water the bow tends to dig in just when you don't want it to - when you want control. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partly because of this, the front seat tends to be quite small, so you may not be able to put a tall person in there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bigger person can also apply more steering force - they're likely to be stronger as well as having more leverage. This makes stern rudders more effective, among other strokes. These are long boats and take some steering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A further factor is that experienced or supervising paddlers are often larger and stronger with better technique, because novices are often children and even adults new to kayaking won't have trained their kayaking muscles. The occupant of the rear seat can keep an eye on the occupant of the front seat. It's also possible to roll a whitewater tandem kayak from the back alone - I've done that in a topo duo after the front paddler bailed, and also with a passive front paddler (as a training exercise or challenge). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at open canoes with one paddler. The paddler is either central or well back. Last time I was in a canoe I was in the middle with my young daughter at the front. For control and trim I'd have been better further back (especially as it was a very wide boat) but I wanted to be closer to her as it was her first time in a boat. It turned out she was too small to paddle so didn't need any coaching, and I could have sat/knelt at the back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-07-24T16:47:54.073" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T16:47:54.073" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3312" CreationDate="2017-07-24T19:03:38.740" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few reasons. This first is that legs are mostly bone and muscle, which if you're walking is doing fairly constant work. Compared to the head and torso your legs are much less bothered about being a bit too hot or cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly it is generally  much more hassle to put on and take off leg-wear, especially over boots so you loose the main point of layering which is to make it easier to adjust clothing to the conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you are walking etc adding layers to the legs can quickly become an impediment which is annoying and wastes energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience any sort of moderately windproof trousers (eg polycotton) are fine in most conditions, even when I'm wearing quite a few layers on my body and it is pretty rare that I would bother with waterproof trousers at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In colder conditions many people will wear some sort of thermal leggings under trousers indeed before stretchy sports leggings became a thing many people wore women's nylon tights as they add quiet a bit of extra insulation, dry fast and don't add much bulk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often the biggest problem is at the waist where you can get a gap between the top and bottom half of the clothing so in really cold conditions single piece suits or salopettes are often the preferred solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T19:03:38.740" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16689" CreationDate="2017-07-24T19:48:28.850" Score="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: It turns out battery-powered heating in clothing actually &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; used on Mt. Everest: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hotronic.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hotronic&lt;/a&gt; makes battery-powered heated insoles that are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2011/03/07/a-look-at-my-everest-2011-gear/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;used by Everest climbers&lt;/a&gt;, for example. &lt;a href=&quot;https://mobilewarming.com/men-s/jackets.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw--DLBRCNARIsAFIwR245GDmqSz6RK3auLb9oyePTxgG8B3BwNSw5VLQMeIa3VqLymWU96kIaArpHEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Battery powered jackets&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.heated-gloves.com/?source=googleads&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw--DLBRCNARIsAFIwR24tXZDxihmwiJHBmd7oBhb4yOLpM_tB-Y-LjHiLIGTOlftmAmdbXLsaAnOTEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;other types of clothing&lt;/a&gt; are also common, but the models I checked only provide warmth for a few hours (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thewarmingstore.com/battery-heated-jacket.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this jacket&lt;/a&gt;, which runs 3-10 hours on a single 6000mAh power bank that's about 200 grams). Mt. Everest can take days or weeks to climb, depending on how acclimatized you are, so that's a lot of batteries to have to carry, even if you're not running every article of powered clothing nonstop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides, better technology is already available. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1919251/forget-down%E2%80%94aerogel-insulator-future&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aerogel jackets&lt;/a&gt; are a thing - in fact, they've been tested on Everest, and they're so effective that the climbers actually &lt;em&gt;overheated&lt;/em&gt; in early designs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In 2010, apparel maker Champion put aerogel inside a jacket lining and&#xA;  sent mountaineer Jamie Clarke up Everest; he overheated&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aerogels&lt;/a&gt; are among the lightest artificial materials and most efficient artificial insulators, and they're also surprisingly strong structurally. A jacket made of that material is therefore going to be lighter and more reliable than a complex battery-powered electrical system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aerogel is 90 percent air and 10 percent silica. The silica is&#xA;  extremely porous, but because the holes are 1/10,000th the diameter of&#xA;  a human hair, they block nearly all airflow, making it supremely&#xA;  effective as an insulator. It’s also shockingly light: the&#xA;  hockey-puck-size samples shown here—enough to outfit a pair of&#xA;  mountaineering boots—weigh just nine-tenths of an ounce each&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aerogel is an extreme example, but even with more common insulators (e.g. down, wool, synthetic) the point remains the same: the human body produces a lot of heat on its own, so you only need a decent type and amount of insulation to retain enough of that heat to keep the body within a healthy temperature range in any environment. Since insulation requires no energy and little maintenance, functions at very low temperatures, is generally lightweight, and is resilient to damage and wear, there's been no need to replace it - climbers have relied on it successfully throughout history.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13685" LastEditorUserId="13685" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T15:14:10.617" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T15:14:10.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9849" CreationDate="2017-07-24T20:10:42.333" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cow will run towards you if they think you have feed or milking time. Stand your ground facing them. They will stop about 3 foot from you.  A bull charges in a strait line. Head down. You can side step them &amp;amp; work your way to a fence or tree. A cow charges head up. They keep sight of you.  If they don't hook you slide your bullock knife between there ribs. Get a lung on them. P.S. Last waterbuffalo charge I seen 3 years ago. It took 3 men to bring her down &amp;amp; 1 still got hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T20:10:42.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="746" CreationDate="2017-07-24T21:06:20.437" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can carry an empty water bottle for this purpose, fill it up in some stream when you know you have to go in a while and wash up like in many Asian countries. I wouldn't recommend doing it in the stream itself for hygienic reasons, plus using a bottle is also a lot easier when you're used to it. I can refer you to this other stackexchange site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/3080/ok-were-all-adults-here-so-really-how-on-earth-should-i-use-a-squat-toilet&quot;&gt;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/3080/ok-were-all-adults-here-so-really-how-on-earth-should-i-use-a-squat-toilet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T11:48:42.373" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T11:48:42.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="361" CreationDate="2017-07-24T22:27:57.337" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Erik's question is critical here.  If your goal is to be Robinson Crusoe, then all the &quot;survival knife&quot; recommendations make sense.  If your goal is to be out in the woods for some other reason and you want to stay safe, I recommend something like this: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yTQlFm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yTQlFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tiny Swiss Army knife&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to also carry of the little pocket sized wire saws for cutting wood.  Neither of those is going to help you spear a water buffalo, but that's probably not something you really need to do.  Realistically, what do you use a knife for in the wilderness?  You use it to cut cord and bandages, to repair your gear, maybe to dig out splinters before they get infected.  If you want to cut wood for fuel or shelter, you really want a saw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cute little Swiss Army knife and the wire saw aren't going to feel as cool as your ka-bar, but they're small and light enough to drop into your essentials kit so they're with you on every single outing, including the one where you end up needing them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13684" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T22:27:57.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2017-07-24T23:02:52.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to have the most tender feet. However, I've found that by simply going barefoot year around is the best way to harden them. I live on a ranch in Texas, so I go barefoot whenever possible. Of course, I regularly run barefoot and yes, your feet will toughen to the point where hot, triple digit asphalt is not even noticed, let  alone cooler concrete. Running on gravel is not a problem, let alone walking on gravel. I don't pretend my feet are as tough as an equatorial African whose soles are often compared to horses hoofs, but that's probably because I haven't been doing it long enough. Also, your feet will immediately begin to soften up if you go back to wearing shoes, say during a colder than normal winter. Then you have to start all over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13686" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-24T23:17:14.593" LastActivityDate="2017-07-24T23:17:14.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16535" CreationDate="2017-07-25T02:27:49.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you thought of the Lower Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle? It's 1.5 hours from Pittsburgh and has the distinction of a paddler being able to park, put in below the falls, run the river, and then take out near the put in  (due to its loop configuration). The walk back to your car is 5 minutes. This 'loop' section of the river is about a mile of Class II &amp;amp; III rapids, so you'll need whitewater experience &amp;amp; you and your canoe, kayak, or raft needs to be suitably outfitted. As a guide, we've taken lots of handicap folks through this section, but to meet your criteria for solitude you'll need an early start on a weekday or plan your trip for the off-season - late fall or early spring. Of course, you'll want to scout/paddle it first without a handicap passenger to determine it's suitability to your needs, including the area wildlife. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13686" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T02:27:49.470" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16701" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16734" CreationDate="2017-07-25T05:23:40.517" Score="7" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be in the path of total darkness during the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017.  I plan to be in alpine wilderness (Oregon Cascades), but will adjust my location as needed so that there are no clouds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll have a single 4K video camera, tripod, ample recording memory, and batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the typical eclipse video is a direct image of the sun waning, then black with halo, then waxing, etc., I suspect there will be adequate quantities of those videos available for viewing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am hoping to capture something more unusual -- something that isn't routinely photographed.   Ideas which spring to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;environmental changes attendant upon the eclipse, such as wind direction, air temperature, stream flow, ambient sound, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wildlife behavioral changes:  birds, mammals, rodents, fish, insects, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;vegetation changes:  what do flowers which open for daylight or track the sun do for two minutes of darkness and about 60 minutes of variable darkness before and about 60 minutes afterward?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other features attendant on a total solar eclipse which I could capture with my equipment and that are relatively rarely photographed except in scientific expeditions? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise, are there any aspects which you know might be a waste of time to try to capture?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-25T16:17:49.633" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T02:11:13.360" Title="What to video during a solar eclipse?" Tags="&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;videography&gt;&lt;eclipse&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16535" CreationDate="2017-07-25T12:36:11.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found and have visited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/presqueisle/index.htm#boating&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Presque Isle State Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Internal combustion engines are prohibited in the interior lagoons, which are defined as the continuous body of water between Misery Bay and Marina Lake, excluding Graveyard Pond. A boat rental concession in the Graveyard Pond area provides a variety of powered and non-powered craft. Beaching of boats along the Presque Isle shoreline is permitted, except within 100 feet of designated swimming areas and at the Gull Point Natural Area between April 1 and November 30.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a long stretch of quite calm water ways beginning at the Graveyard Pond area.  Visiting on a Friday in July we found there were both casual paddlers and fishers.  Some occasional road and people noises were noticed.  But stretches of several minutes with only nature and wildlife sounds were enjoyed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Still looking for other options... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T12:36:11.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16703" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16707" CreationDate="2017-07-25T12:51:54.397" Score="8" ViewCount="2296" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the easiest trekking routes to take in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarek_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sarek National Park&lt;/a&gt; in Sweden?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider late summer, Saltoluokta and Kvikkjokk as starting/ending points, 5 to 7 days without access to food store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; By &quot;the easiest&quot; I mean a route which would e.g. require minimum of river fording, bringing less equipment than in other cases, can possibly take advantage of boat and helicopter traffic etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13675" LastEditorUserId="13675" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T07:51:12.300" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T14:21:23.060" Title="What are the easiest trekking routes in Sarek National Park in Sweden?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16705" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16717" CreationDate="2017-07-25T19:49:43.287" Score="13" ViewCount="1387" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16683/why-should-the-heavier-person-sit-in-the-back-of-a-tandem-kayak&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, and perhaps others on the site, although I don't think it's an exact duplicate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have friends who would like to take a two-person kayak trip down a stream in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, USA, while on a vacation. The boat would be a rental from one of those places that caters to vacationers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One friend was born without arms, and therefore has no ability to hold a paddle. They're trying to figure out if they should have her sit in the front or the back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My fully-abled friend has done the same trip a few times, so she knows the terrain, but she's only ever used a single person kayak. The stream in that area is fairly level, with some curves, hills and rocks, but nothing too strenuous. It's not deep enough for capsizing to be a concern. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My handicapped friend misses out on a lot of fun on vacations, because she has to wait on the sidelines while the rest of our friends go on excursions without her. That's why they've decided to rent a tandem kayak this time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's possible that when they get there the rental place will suggest who should sit where, however, they'd like some advice before they go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both women are about the same height and weight, so those will not be factors. The only difference will be that one person can't hold a paddle, or anything else.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A canoe is not an option, as the place they're going is too narrow, and canoe rentals are not even available for that route. They could choose a different area and use a canoe, but they like this route as it offers the most options for seeing birds and other wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T01:46:50.657" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T20:44:16.500" Title="Where should a person who can't hold a paddle sit in a tandem kayak?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16705" CreationDate="2017-07-25T21:25:38.967" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normally 'the skipper' goes in the back. In my experience, steering a double from the front is difficult (practically impossible if only one person in the kayak). Therefore, put the able bodied person in the back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also has the advantage the 'skipper' can keep an eye on the person in the front. In the case of a novice it can be comforting to have the other person chatting and offering advice and describing whats going on, and whats required from them. Having the novice in the front allows a more natural conversation to go on around thing like balance etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-07-25T21:25:38.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16703" CreationDate="2017-07-26T01:14:10.827" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest is to take the routes that many people take, because on those routes, social trails have formed and you may find help if you are in trouble.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5–7 days is too short.  Although you can get through quickly if you take take the route from Tjåmotis into Aktse and you might make it to Akkastugorna in 5 days, I would not recommend it.  You should take extra days in case of delays, and if you are not late, you can use those extra days for detours or day trips.  However, if you mean you have 7 days to get from Aktse to Kisuris (for example), you should be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kungsleden (the mountain &quot;highway&quot; full of cabins and trails so well maintained they remind of North American National Parks) leads through the far southeastern corner of the park, from Saltoluokta via Aktse to Kvikkjokk.  At Aktse, you can take a boat to a point under Nammásj.  From here, there is a reasonably good trail all the way to Skarja and Kutjaure at the tri-park-point with Stora Sjöfallet and Padjelanta.  Although this trail is not an official trail and contains some laborious stretches, in particular through Rapaselet, it is nowhere difficult by Sarek standards, and at times actually has wooden planks laid out through wet areas.  However, you will still need a tent and you will still need to ford streams.  There are no navigational challenges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This route is popular and if you hike it in summer, you will meet plenty of other people, probably several groups every day.  That makes it easier as well, because you will not need to bring equipment such as a satellite phone: in summer on the trail you are certain to meet other people who may be of assistance in case of an emergency (by warning authorities as soon as they reach civilisation).  However, I recommend autumn as the birch forest may be full of mosquitoes in summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hiked this route in September 2013, and it's very, very beautiful, in particular the view from Skierffe above Aktse.  We met people three times in total.  If you do one thing in Sarek, hike to Skierffe — you can do it as a day trip from Aktse.  You can also hike from Skierffe down to Rapadalen (we did this in 2013) but that requires more off-trail navigation including through the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you seriously only have 5–7 days, you won't make it far into Sarek.  Use Aktse as a base and hike into the park 1–2 days, then turn around to where you came from.  You won't have time to cross Sarek through Aktse if you start at Kvikkjokk or Saltoluokta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xkOJC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xkOJC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View from Skierffe toward Laitaure&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;View from Skierffe toward Laitaure, 11 September 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g0VYo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g0VYo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View from Skierffe toward Námmasj&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;View from Skierffe toward Námmasj.  The boat will drop you off at the bottom of Námmasj, so if you want to enjoy the view from Skierffe, do that as a day trip from Aktse before setting off into the Sarek wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJtDP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bJtDP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rapaselet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Rapaselet, 14 September 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9izc3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9izc3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alep Vássjájågåsj&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Alep Vássjájågåsj, 15 September 2013.  You will need to ford this river (the contributary on the right, not the big one on the left, which is Ráhpaädno)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eDIFH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eDIFH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nameless &amp;quot;canal&amp;quot; to be crossed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&quot;Canal&quot; without name on the map to be crossed.  Not difficult, but unavoidable.  No flow but it is around waist-deep.  This obstacle is less than 30 minutes hiking west of crossing Alep Vássjájågåsj, and as I remember the terrain in-between is easy, so in good weather you could consider keeping your river-crossing footwear on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iNHcA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iNHcA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ruohtesvágge&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trails through Ruohtesvágge.  17 September 2013&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpkpV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qpkpV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Smájllájåhkå&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Smájllájåhkå, 17 September 2013.  In my experience, this is the most difficult ford of the route.  As you can see, it's glacier-fed so it has substantial amounts of water year-round.  It's not particularly difficult, but it's rather cold.  I recommend to bring a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/13167/566&quot;&gt;wading staff&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xn0ov.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xn0ov.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Approaching the merger between Sjnjuvtjudisjåhkå and Sjpietjavjåhkå, where Sarek, Padjelanta and Stora Sjöfallet meet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;19 September 2013.  Approaching the merger between Sjnjuvtjudisjåhkå and Sjpietjavjåhkå, where Sarek, Padjelanta and Stora Sjöfallet meet, and the staffed Kisuris cabin is located.  Soon after, you will reach the Mountain Highway of Padjelantaleden, from where getting back to civilisation is a walk in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T15:10:15.490" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T15:10:15.490" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1890" CreationDate="2017-07-26T05:35:13.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I carry a tailored pocket kit with me wherever I go, simply due to how easy it is to throw into a pocket or backpack. May as well carry one if you have the space, right?&#xA;Note that I said &lt;em&gt;tailored&lt;/em&gt;. It's not a commercial tin and it's been constructed to meet conditions in South-East Queensland. As such, it carries items I know will be practical in this region. &#xA;I've had cause to use my folding knife, ferro rod and tube of super-glue for all kinds of purposes, but only once in something close to a life-or-death situation. I'd torn a deep gash in my calf after getting caught on a barbed wire fence. Since my kit contains a dozen water purification tablets, which double as prophylactics when dissolved into a cup of water, I was able to get a fire going, boil the billy (context: this was during a fencing repair run on the farm, so I had the ute and what amounts to a full camping kit at hand) and was able to mix up an antiseptic solution. After cleaning the wound to the best of my ability, I glued the gash back together. Didn't have time for stitches, so super-glue it was. It held up long enough to get into town and drop by the clinic, and I avoided infection, so the puri-tabs must have done some good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moral of the story: Carry a kit with you, but only carry what is practical for your expected conditions. For me that means not wasting space with fishing tackle and cold-weather gear. Still keep a space blanket in there with all the necessities for a rough and ready shelter, but everything i did to patch myself up could have been just as easily achieved with local bush ingredients (melaleuca leaves, acacia sap and palm leaves for bandaging). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's always worthwhile to carry a basic kit tailored to your environment, but commercial tins try to be all-in-one and thus are practically useless without adequate practice and foreknowledge of the conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13702" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T05:35:13.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16705" CreationDate="2017-07-26T06:53:34.410" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to mattnz's answer (and my answer at your related question):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've paddled a tandem sea kayak (we were using it as a tourer that day) from the back while the front paddler was unable to paddle through cramp. I had plenty of control even though the rudder wasn't available (pedals jammed). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A paddling friend has been known to run white water in the front of a topo duo with a strong paddler in the back while temporarily prevented from paddling. That's fine too. Obviously nothing too serious, and with extra safety cover. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T06:53:34.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12992" CreationDate="2017-07-26T11:43:09.263" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For an experienced paddler&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These kayaks can be a delight to paddle on flat water. They're light, fast, and maneuver beautifully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For an inexperienced paddler&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It'll be a nightmare. It has a K1 competition cockpit which is a tight squeeze to get into (legs in first then shuffle to get your bum in). If you have to swim out and your technique isn't perfect it'll strip all the skin off your lower legs, the same can be true just from getting in and out. The knee brace edges are bare composite, they're sharp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It'll never go in a straight line and if you don't get the right edge on the turn it'll bite. There will also be rough patches and sharp edges asking for you to injure yourself, on an older boat like this you'll learn the joys of glass fibre rash. The fit is tight to get good control, you probably won't be able to wear shoes inside and you'll get a selection of injuries to your feet if you don't have the right callouses for it. You'll also find the seating position really quite uncomfortable for prolonged use until you adapt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The particular boat in the image has a major repair to the nose, I'd inspect carefully to see if there's anything else. Holding it over your head to see where the light comes through can be a good start to finding real damage, but a full inspection of the hull, deck and seams will be required. Don't neglect the deck because it's normal for boats of this type to be significantly submerged when turning even on flat water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The seat has the remains of glued on padding round the back, you'll need to clean that up or it'll be quite uncomfortable. They normally come with Badger adjustable footrests, but check it doesn't have fixed position pegs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In short:&lt;/strong&gt; This is not a beginner's boat, it's especially not suited to an unsupervised beginner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-07-26T12:41:54.803" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T12:41:54.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16679" CreationDate="2017-07-26T12:42:55.510" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hmm,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've just found some excellent resources which seem to answer my needs.  There's a podcast here called &quot;performance tips for weekend warriors&quot; which seems to fit my needs and a training program.  I'll be trying this out and seeing where I get on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trainingforclimbing.com/podcast-14-performance-tips-for-weekend-warriors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://trainingforclimbing.com/podcast-14-performance-tips-for-weekend-warriors/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trainingforclimbing.com/training-programs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://trainingforclimbing.com/training-programs/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2256" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T12:42:55.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16679" CreationDate="2017-07-26T13:43:49.890" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you really want to do is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;repeatedly&quot; train&lt;/strong&gt; in Bodyweight / Calisthenics/ Gymnastics/ Acrobatic oriented &lt;strong&gt;muscle chain &amp;amp; neural pathways, across varied planes &amp;amp; directions of motion&lt;/strong&gt;; especially those of &lt;strong&gt;disadvantaged leverage&lt;/strong&gt;.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, rock climbers may have &quot;higher endurance&quot; due to longer climbs, but pound for pound the &lt;strong&gt;disadvantaged positions some of these folks bodies can achieve&lt;/strong&gt; would leave a climber flabbergasted.  That is strength in &quot;directions&quot; that no climber or body builder would have ever bothered, &lt;strong&gt;which they have to have trained to perfection&lt;/strong&gt;.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the places I got into that initially was a forum called BodyWeightCulture (.net).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That eventually led me to an article on Dragon Door around Gymnastic Strength training by Coach Christopher Sommer who sometime around/ after that started &quot;Gymnastic Bodies&quot; website, forum - which led to a Book and Online training programs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gymnasts undergo some of the highest loads &amp;amp; variations of loads in different directions than any other sport&lt;/strong&gt;, so their training centers hugely around not just muscle strength, but tendon &amp;amp; soft tissue with mobility and strength in &lt;strong&gt;all directions of disadvantaged leverage&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, being able to &quot;condition&quot; and &quot;strengthen&quot; the entire muscle/ body chain and control its &quot;&lt;strong&gt;coordinated&quot; movement &amp;amp; proprioception is going to be uniquely beneficial&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few other programs/ books around this from other sources so do look it up, but largely this was usually knowledge only known to people in the Gymnastics arena that is now out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A picture worth thousand words; You and I wont reach this anytime soon, but the direction/ pathway &lt;strong&gt;is as good as it gets&lt;/strong&gt; for Strength to Weight ratio.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bodyweighttrainingarena.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/image-4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://bodyweighttrainingarena.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/image-4.jpg&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The books &amp;amp; training programs are copyrighted so I cannot share the content but if you are so inclined you can find the Table of Contents and some previews &amp;amp; freebies online that depict/ show/ indicate the direction of these &amp;amp; Articles that give you a glimpse into the types of exercises.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rock Climbers using / training in similar ways:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/comments/4wunyn/strength_exercises_for_rock_climbing_on_gymnastic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/comments/4wunyn/strength_exercises_for_rock_climbing_on_gymnastic/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trainingbeta.com/gymnastic-rings-strength-training-for-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.trainingbeta.com/gymnastic-rings-strength-training-for-climbing/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/127016821&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://vimeo.com/127016821&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Case Study: How an Accomplished Climber Used Gymnastic Rings for Better Performance - &lt;a href=&quot;https://gmb.io/climber-sami/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://gmb.io/climber-sami/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/improve-climbing-using-gymnasticbodies-strength-mobility/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/improve-climbing-using-gymnasticbodies-strength-mobility/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://touchstoneclimbing.com/a-gymnast-in-the-climbing-gym-cisco-gonzalez/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://touchstoneclimbing.com/a-gymnast-in-the-climbing-gym-cisco-gonzalez/&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/outdoor/adventure/2015/01/rock-climbing-gymnast-andrea-hah&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/outdoor/adventure/2015/01/rock-climbing-gymnast-andrea-hah&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwP1NEUxXs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwP1NEUxXs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/DFojqoAfJ7g?t=46&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/DFojqoAfJ7g?t=46&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/8CAtQeFbwic?t=282&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/8CAtQeFbwic?t=282&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Cautionary Note:&lt;/strong&gt; Some reference samples of starting points/ mid points &amp;amp; where it goes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these are advanced moves so &lt;strong&gt;there are progressions &amp;amp; conditioning to get there&lt;/strong&gt;. Since the advent of GB/ GST lot of tutorials (good &amp;amp; bad) have popped up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please do your homework before you try them as they can screw up your joints/ tendons if done wrong or done before your body is that level.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;/BLOCKQUOTE&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To whet your appetite (free content from their FB/ Youtube channels):&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Great Overview / Fundamental Article by Steven Low (former GB member):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://stevenlow.org/the-fundamentals-of-bodyweight-strength-training/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://stevenlow.org/the-fundamentals-of-bodyweight-strength-training/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His 2nd Book&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0990873854&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Gravity-Systematic-Gymnastics-Bodyweight/dp/0990873854/&lt;/a&gt;  - See Table of Contents  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where it all Started: GB Forums&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi Plane Pulling (a term never heard or seen by me elsewhere - Google it)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGMcEoDbg0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGMcEoDbg0&lt;/a&gt;  - &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riTZNhGI-Jo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riTZNhGI-Jo&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;em&gt;Yewki and it combines a pullup, a row and a front lever together&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bodyweightculture.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-8931.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bodyweightculture.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-8931.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies/posts/1088319601191739&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies/posts/1088319601191739&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Front Lever Progressions:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3EwjmqsPnw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3EwjmqsPnw&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/155-front-lever-pulls-a-conditioning-necessity/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/155-front-lever-pulls-a-conditioning-necessity/&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;360 Pulls - A Multi-Plane Pulling Exercise&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/263-360-pulls-a-multi-plane-pulling-exercise/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/263-360-pulls-a-multi-plane-pulling-exercise/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://breakingmuscle.com/reviews/book-review-foundation-one-and-handstand-one-by-christopher-sommer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://breakingmuscle.com/reviews/book-review-foundation-one-and-handstand-one-by-christopher-sommer&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/blog/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/blog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/really-causes-tennis-elbow-fix/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/really-causes-tennis-elbow-fix/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/joints-pop-crackle-doesnt-mean-think/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/joints-pop-crackle-doesnt-mean-think/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6659" LastEditorUserId="6659" LastEditDate="2017-07-29T19:55:41.180" LastActivityDate="2017-07-29T19:55:41.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16722" CreationDate="2017-07-26T16:47:41.887" Score="5" ViewCount="882" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use Climbing rope double up as braided as 1.5&quot; Gym Climbing rope. What type, diameter rope, No of Strands?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Found these sample videos but curious to know what would be the best way to do this?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2z-iyTcOxU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2z-iyTcOxU&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hugzQeQSqoo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hugzQeQSqoo&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqURFyLXusI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqURFyLXusI&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Used and new both are possibe, but what type (dry, solid, stretchy/ semi stretchy) , diameter etc to use? and Why? Pros &amp;amp; Cons of above factors chosen?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it possible to get/ use Polyester (better when there's water)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not intend to cut the rope (so its usable when undone as well). Will just pair out strand lengths as a U loops to become the &quot;pairs&quot; that will/ can be braided as shown or in other ways if any suggested. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6659" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T08:49:23.947" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T08:49:23.947" Title="What type of rope should I use to make a 1.5&quot; Gym Climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16616" CreationDate="2017-07-26T18:04:36.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a similar compass.  What you see is normal, and can (and should) be changed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You review declination with NOAA, because declination changes with your physical location, and over time.  Refer here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/declination.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnetic Declination (Variance)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you want to adjust your compass so that it is offset by the declination you determine from the above link.  My compass is not &quot;tool-less&quot;, so I need a small screwdriver to make the adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, your compass is normal, it's just set for a different declination.  Once you set the declination in these kinds of compasses, you read maps as you normally would, without adding or subtracting degrees.  This is a neat way to use a compass, but, the expensive ones will do this, such as yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T18:04:36.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16651" CreationDate="2017-07-26T18:20:40.247" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked the Ghats in Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Kerala without issues, but did take sensible precautions. The most dangerous animals are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaur&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;gaur&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (wild relatives of cattle), &lt;strong&gt;boar, snakes, and elephants&lt;/strong&gt;. Each requires its own precautions, but most will happily get out of your way if they know that you are coming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In areas with known &lt;strong&gt;Gaur&lt;/strong&gt; populations, use extreme caution. I'd recommend not travelling by foot in those areas. If you must hike in those areas, &lt;strong&gt;make some noise so that they can hear you coming&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boar&lt;/strong&gt; are mostly crepuscular (active near dawn and dusk) and can be very grumpy if surprised or if they are defending their babies. Again, make some noise so that you don't surprise them. &lt;strong&gt;You can often smell them before you can see them&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snakes&lt;/strong&gt; require attention while you are hiking. They are most likely to sense your presence by feeling the vibrations of your footsteps. Be especially careful if you are hiking in areas with lots of leaf litter, where it will be difficult for them to detect your footsteps. &lt;strong&gt;Watch ahead of you, and do not step or reach into brush or tussocks of grass.&lt;/strong&gt; Brown cobras are especially fond of hiding in the vegetation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wild elephants are increasingly rare&lt;/strong&gt; but can be a problem in some very wild areas (such as Mudumalai). &lt;strong&gt;Should you encounter elephants, back up slowly and calmly. Do not run from a false charge (ears out and trunk up), but seek cover immediately from a real charge (ears back and trunk tucked up under the chin).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When camping, the usual morning precautions are in order--&lt;strong&gt;shake out your boots before putting them on and shake out your bedding before rolling it up.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chances of coming upon these creatures are slim, and they will (almost without exception) &lt;strong&gt;give way if you have announced your presence. Be alert and enjoy your hikes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wish I was there right now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastEditorUserId="7964" LastEditDate="2017-07-29T07:10:45.737" LastActivityDate="2017-07-29T07:10:45.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16705" CreationDate="2017-07-26T20:44:16.500" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When paddling solo with a passenger, the passenger sits in the bow. Whoever is in control of the kayak should almost always sit in the rear &lt;em&gt;(exceptions being when paddling &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7101/what-is-the-most-effective-means-of-paddling-a-canoe-against-the-current-under/7102#7102&quot;&gt;into a current or into a strong headwind&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be interested to know that there are people without the use of their arms who are able to kayak with their feet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2gIAY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2gIAY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorgulfcoast.com/adaptive-kayaking/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a plethora of &lt;a href=&quot;http://kayaks.regioaltena.net/foot-paddle-kayaks-for-sale/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;kayaks on the market that are foot-powered&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gAujs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gAujs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD6OQhCeXqs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nkofJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nkofJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Riding in a kayak is ok, but depending on how keen your friend is, she may have more fun if she was able to have a kayak of her own, you'd just need to find someone who rents out fishing kayaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-07-26T20:44:16.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16718" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-27T06:39:02.560" Score="2" ViewCount="71" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to take a bow-hunter course (DBJV) following the guidelines provided by IBEP and EBF. However, all the regulations seem to be for compound bows. Is it even possible to take the exam with a recurve bow? If yes, where are the regulations for such written down? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T16:52:49.307" Title="Is an IBEP/EBF course also possible with a recurve bow?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;recurve-bow&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16719" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16720" CreationDate="2017-07-27T12:27:07.013" Score="19" ViewCount="5027" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16705/where-should-a-person-who-cant-hold-a-paddle-sit-in-a-tandem-kayak&quot;&gt;Where should a person who can&amp;#39;t hold a paddle sit in a tandem kayak?&lt;/a&gt; &quot;One friend was born without arms&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many life jackets are vests that are in part, kept on the person by the arms extending through arm holes.  If worn by a person without arms, it would seem likely the life jacket would easily slip off of the person rather then support them.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of Life Jacket for a person without arms?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T18:45:50.770" Title="Life Jacket for a person without arms?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16719" CreationDate="2017-07-27T13:33:15.643" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The expensive way is to get a harness lifejacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cheap way is to fit a crotch strap to a lifejacket (type 2 pfd), this is a standard part and I believe most lifejackets have fittings for one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By your description I'm assuming in this case that you actually mean a buoyancy aid (type 3 pfd) rather than a lifejacket, but you can still follow the same principle of rigging a crotch strap or if you're concerned about your creative abilities and comfort, rig it to a climbing harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, for someone with no arms, I would advise a proper lifejacket (type 2 pfd) unless they're a strong swimmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-07-27T17:03:11.877" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T17:03:11.877" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16714" CreationDate="2017-07-27T14:05:51.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing you mean a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD0uO7JGdZU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rope like you get in school gyms&lt;/a&gt;, not climbing gyms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't say any climbing rope is a good choice here. Quite a few problems:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dynamic rope stretches, this is going to make using it hard&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll get nasty rope burn, hemp rope is used for this because it's a lot softer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It'll possibly add all sorts of twists in your rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It'll possibly degrade your rope, I'm not sure I fancy using a climbing rope in this manner, all those strands rubing together may make it unsafe. At the very least it's going to make it &quot;fur&quot; up. Generally, don't use climbing rope for anything but climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to do this I'd try and get hold of some retired rope (possibly from a climbing gym) and/or some static rope that isn't going to stretch that much (the kind used for setting up top ropes not for actually climbing on). Or better yet some soft hemp rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T14:05:51.467" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16714" CreationDate="2017-07-27T14:44:09.887" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it's very common to braid a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast-roping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fast rope&lt;/a&gt; for climbing out of old rock climbing rope, however the key word there is &lt;em&gt;old&lt;/em&gt;. You would typically use whatever retired climbing rope you can get your hands on, as purchasing new rope specifically for this would be very costly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If using &lt;strong&gt;rock climbing rope&lt;/strong&gt;, the &lt;strong&gt;the type, whether static or dynamic, dry treated or not, is unlikely to make a difference&lt;/strong&gt;. The &lt;strong&gt;loads&lt;/strong&gt; on such a rope &lt;strong&gt;(1/8 bodyweight per strand of an 8 strand braided rope)&lt;/strong&gt; are &lt;em&gt;so low&lt;/em&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;any stretch&lt;/strong&gt; in the rope itself will be &lt;strong&gt;negligible&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one thing that would make a difference is the &lt;strong&gt;rope diameter&lt;/strong&gt;, as an &lt;strong&gt;8mm rope&lt;/strong&gt; would obviously lead to a &lt;strong&gt;braided rope 20% narrower&lt;/strong&gt; than what you'd get from a &lt;strong&gt;10mm rope&lt;/strong&gt;. And I would estimate that a &lt;strong&gt;10mm rope in an 8-strand braid&lt;/strong&gt; would &lt;strong&gt;get you close to 1.5 inches final diameter&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use &lt;strong&gt;polyester rope&lt;/strong&gt; if you &lt;strong&gt;really need it to be less likely to absorb water&lt;/strong&gt;, but unless you're using it to climb out of the ocean, I can't imagine that would be a concern. If you do use polyester, make sure the &lt;strong&gt;rope you obtain is double-braided rather than twisted&lt;/strong&gt;, as the &lt;strong&gt;latter will be much less comfortable to grip&lt;/strong&gt;. (&lt;strong&gt;Double-braided is a sheath and core construction&lt;/strong&gt;, similar to the &lt;strong&gt;kernmantle design&lt;/strong&gt; of rock climbing ropes.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making the braid without cutting the rope is also possible, but limits your options, would be less neat and harder to work with. Are you really going to go to all the effort of braiding it just to undo the rope and use it for something else later? Much better to just get a used rope for cheap, and braid it with no intention of even undoing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you've already figure out how to braid it without cutting, but here's an image to illustrate it. (Click to enlarge.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Nwg9fHG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Nwg9fHGm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Thumbnail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This approach requires that you follow the pattern for a &lt;strong&gt;four strand round braid&lt;/strong&gt;, but &lt;strong&gt;using a pair of strands instead of single strands&lt;/strong&gt;, thereby &lt;strong&gt;doubling the total number of strands to eight&lt;/strong&gt;. The final product will have strands always running in pairs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative pattern that you could use &lt;em&gt;if you cut the rope&lt;/em&gt; is to do a proper &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQqZDBhLos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;eight strand round braid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, where the strands are &lt;strong&gt;braided individually&lt;/strong&gt; instead of in pairs, resulting in a &lt;strong&gt;smoother, more evenly round final product&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13186" LastEditorUserId="6659" LastEditDate="2017-07-29T15:28:26.737" LastActivityDate="2017-07-29T15:28:26.737" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16727" CreationDate="2017-07-27T15:30:25.277" Score="5" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand that there are a lot of factors that add to the error of a bearing and therefore the accuracy of a triangulation but I would like to know in general how accurate it is possible to be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make this question more concrete I have this case as my question. I sighted a stadium I can see from my house and found its bearing adjusting for declination using a lensatic compass with a sight. I then drew the line from that bearing on my map with a map compass which facilitated an accurate transfer of the reading. I did the same with another building that I saw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where the lines intersected was about 400 meters away from where I actually was according to the map legend. These buildings were each less than 2 miles away from me as the crow flies. It seems the error would be very small at this range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a normal amount of error for a handheld lensatic compass or can I expect better results?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:17:15.727" Title="Handheld Compass Triangulation Typical Error Range" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16719" CreationDate="2017-07-27T15:56:57.777" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the best bet for a person without arms (assuming we aren't talking rough water/offshore use) is a type 2 life jacket. Specifically the type that look like an oversized bib.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hoQBK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hoQBK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Stearns Adult Type II Boating Lifevest&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These jackets don't rely on arms to secure them to your body, and &lt;strong&gt;will generally allow conscious people to remain face up&lt;/strong&gt; without much effort which is nice if the wearer is scared of water or can't swim. You can also purchase a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000NVBWAI&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;universal crotch strap&lt;/a&gt;&quot; that should prevent it from riding up. I think this combination &lt;strong&gt;would be the cheapest and easiest option&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there are disadvantages to this type of life jacket. Namely they make you look like a dork, and aren't exceedingly comfortable. &lt;strong&gt;One other concern I'd have is if the jacket could rotate while your friend is in the water.&lt;/strong&gt; Admittedly I have no idea if it would happen but it would be a scary experience if it did happen. The crotch strap should limit the twisting/rotation to some degree so this might not be a problem in practice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it were my friend I'd try out the jacket with crotch strap combo on land first. If you both came to the conclusion that rotation/twisting is a non-issue this is the route I'd go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If twisting/rotation is a valid concern with the bib type 2 life jacket then you could experiment with an &quot;upside-down&quot; life jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zQVan.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zQVan.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;UFloat marketing demo with people&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are worn basically like a diaper over your swimming suit. There are even &lt;a href=&quot;https://theufloat.com/products/ufloat-uscg-type-v-pfd?variant=16952248069&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some models&lt;/a&gt; that are Coast Guard approved. &lt;strong&gt;Your friend's lack of arms should pose no problem.&lt;/strong&gt; I've never used or seen one of these being used but &lt;strong&gt;I'd wonder how stable it was in the water&lt;/strong&gt;. I'd assume since it is Coast Guard approved it is reasonably stable. Also I can't imagine that would be comfortable to sit in for a full day in the water...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is full blown &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pfd-a.com/#3models&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;disabled life jackets&lt;/a&gt;. These are likely to be the safest option out there. Two of the models shown in the link above don't seem all that practical since they look like a life ring with seat cushions sewn on. The other model looks like an over built version of the standard type 2 life jacket, which confirms that the first option I gave above is likely a good choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-07-27T18:45:50.770" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T18:45:50.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16723" CreationDate="2017-07-27T20:03:21.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking hand bearings can be tricky to get precise and accurate. There are a lot of factors that play into one's success, stability of the user as the most critical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While on the water I perceive my best single reading will be within 2.5˚ (i.e. I will bounce within a 5˚ window). While on land, I can usually take a bearing within a 2˚ window. If I'm using a tripod on a stable surface and out of the wind, I can take a bearing accurate within 1/2˚. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compasses are not terribly fickle and a changing environment is the culprit for inaccuracies. You, the surface you're standing on, or someone doing metallic-ribbon-dancing next to you... (I don't think that's really a thing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the comments indicate, it's also important to make sure your initial math is correct. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what a few bearings may look like with 5˚ variation.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ac6U7.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ac6U7.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bearings with 5˚ errors at approximately 1.25mies&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution to the error:&#xA;Take frequent readings from multiple landmarks. &#xA;Improve your guess by looking at your altitude in relation to your landmarks and applying trig.&#xA;In your example you guessed your distance from the objects at approximately 2 miles. If you knew this distance exactly, you wouldn't need bearings, you could just draw two circles and look for the intersection. &#xA;If you know the heights of objects, and you are able to measure the angle of altitude. You can then divide the altitude of the object by the tangent of your angle of altitude for the distance away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iZjDw.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iZjDw.png&quot; alt=&quot;Distance calculation based on altitude angle measurements&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what a few distance calculations may look like:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O6YFC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O6YFC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Location reckoning using distance rings&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a link to the example maps: &lt;a href=&quot;https://sartopo.com/m/R2J1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://sartopo.com/m/R2J1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastEditorUserId="11211" LastEditDate="2017-07-27T20:17:15.727" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:17:15.727" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16723" CreationDate="2017-07-27T20:05:27.350" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;400m is a bit extreme.  I would estimate that I can reliably get well under 100m depending on the quality and scale of my map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you indicate, there are many contributing factors to the absolute error:  the resolution (and error) in your compass, your ability to use the compass, and the distance.  You can adjust for these by using more than two intersecting lines (3 is standard), and keep them more than about 60 degrees apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you will end up as your &quot;area of uncertainty&quot; is a small triangle.  All things equal, estimate your position as being in the center of the triangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are outdoors, you can use a creek, a trail, or a ridge line as your third reference.  In this case, you should adjust your approximation appropriately since you are certain about the location of this &quot;line&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:05:27.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15018" CreationDate="2017-07-27T20:43:42.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Icy conditions will require more rigid skis that cut into the snow and don't track in established ruts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soft powder will require fat skis that float and flex through the soft snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beginner skiers will want a ski that turns easily and doesn't go fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advanced skiers tailor the skis to their particular desires and my eventually collect a quiver, each with it's specific condition &amp;amp; use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most resorts carry a nice variety of skis to rent. It's reasonable for intermediate skiers to rent a variety of skis in order to play with the style they like for the conditions of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To briefly look at your metrics: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Front tip width: Float of the front of the ski &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Middle width: Float of the middle of the ski &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Back tip width: Float of the back of the ski&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radius: Float vs. pierce (if you plunge your ski through the snow, how easy is it to extract?) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height: Speed vs. turning (longer skis will increase speed and increase turning radius)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight: Float &amp;amp; comfort on your legs &amp;amp; transport (light skis will increase your skiing endurance. Material will dictate how long they last)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camber / Rocker: Turning &amp;amp; speed (This helps with turning and drag. There are some fun models for demonstrating the effects of camber on a ski)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Metal tip: Durability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nucleus material: Flexibility &amp;amp; Strength &amp;amp; Weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stiffness: Control. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:43:42.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2017-07-27T20:52:42.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I returned an ll bean pack that I loved but the waterproofing turned to mush,very sticky.I have another ll bean pack doing the same thing so I tried denatured alcohol. It was messy but it cleaned it off very well.now I'll just have to put everything in plastic bags in the pack because there is no more waterproofing. If you could soak it in denatured alcohol,that would work the best. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13723" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T20:52:42.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15830" CreationDate="2017-07-27T21:03:03.380" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Considering the construction principal: &quot;Water Will Find The Failure,&quot; water-proofing barriers must be complete, or provide outlets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you seal your object 100%, it's ability to retain water will increase as water will be trapped by both the foam and the sealant. However, if the foam contains 0% humidity when you seal it and it is sealed 100%, then it will be perpetually dry. In both cases you are Maintaining the buoyancy of the object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fail to seal the object 100%, or it suffers damage or degradation, then the object will have a tendency to retain water as it is added to the system and will generally Lose buoyancy over time with exposure to moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most foam floatation I've seen is protected from UV behind wood or fiberglass bulkheads that contain a drain to the bilge or cockpit. Through either damage or degradation the waterproofing fails and water will find the failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the foam is holding water, it is more indicative of aging foam that should be replaced, not preserved. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck with the boat!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11211" LastActivityDate="2017-07-27T21:03:03.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16732" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-27T21:05:58.310" Score="7" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there an app that will tell me where the nearest cell phone tower is when I am out of cell range?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like something like this so that I can know which direction to go to get to a signal in the event I need to call or text someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: I'm in a U.S. National Park and want to know the best direction to hike or drive to minimize time to cell signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13722" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:43:35.507" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:43:35.507" Title="Cell Phone Tower Location app" Tags="&lt;cell-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16733" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-28T00:21:16.543" Score="5" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Situation&lt;/strong&gt;:  Your party is hours or days from the trailhead, when one of the party stumbles on a yellowjacket nest and is stung multiple times by the tiny fighter aircraft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The person had been stung several times before, and suffered only swelling around the stings, but never had a systemic reaction (no &lt;a href=&quot;http://acaai.org/allergies/anaphylaxis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;anaphylaxis&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should this person do?  Should he get out as fast as possible because of the number of stings and because a relatively mild reaction on a previous occasion does not guarantee a relatively mild reaction on the next occasion?  Or should he stay quiet, applying cold compresses (ideally with snow, if accessible) to the stings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This happened to me last weekend while doing yard work, but I was a mere 2.5 mile drive from a walk-in clinic and went immediately there, where I got a Benadryl shot and a prednisone-related shot.  Within ten minutes, the swellings disappeared.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T02:55:22.110" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T15:42:13.303" Title="What to do if you have been stung multiple times by yellow-jackets hours or days from the trailhead?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16701" CreationDate="2017-07-28T02:11:13.360" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Video the zillions of tiny eclipse images, as the eclipse proceeds, which are produced by the gaps in foliage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any set of bushes or trees in front of the sun will have the effect of presenting many, many tiny apertures, each of which will cast an image of the eclipse on the ground or another surface (e.g. a wall, depending on the angle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's pretty impressive, and beautiful.  It's actually more spectacular when the eclipse presents a crescent than when it is full - thousands of tiny crescents, each slowly developing. Like watching lots of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;camera obscura&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first noticed this by accident, and it was quite startling. Everyone around had prepared the usual means of observing the eclipse: lens to paper, film negative, etc. It was when I used binoculars to cast the image onto paper that I noticed that the ground was in fact filled with a multitude of tiny eclipses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9985" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T02:11:13.360" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16735" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16747" CreationDate="2017-07-28T09:09:07.130" Score="9" ViewCount="1299" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on an adventure to Africa next year. We'll be in the savanna and thus I'm wondering how to behave in sight of hippopotamuses. What are the most common mistakes people make around hippopotamuses that result in injury?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:29.203" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:23:29.203" Title="How to avoid dangerous encounters with hippopotamuses?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;africa&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16736" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-28T10:42:38.447" Score="19" ViewCount="4064" Body="&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend and I do top rope climbing quite regularly in our indoor climbing centre. On attempting a harder route, he slipped and fell, reaching the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am trying to understand what went wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the details of that climb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are approximately the same weight, he is a couple of Kgs more than me but normally never lifted higher than toes when he falls. The route he was working on was 14.5m, which he was 3m high at the time of the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From previous routes set this rope is stretchy. I normally don't give much slack, however, he is a fast climber so it can be a little difficult to keep up. Probably irrelevant, but when he fell he seemed to bounce backwards towards me which left me quite shocked and possibly not applying as much pressure as I should have done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main question is, is it normal to fall to the ground in these conditions or is there something I could have done to prevent this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13727" LastEditorUserId="5828" LastEditDate="2017-07-29T15:28:54.540" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T17:03:08.733" Title="How can someone fall 3m to the ground while top-roping &amp; how to prevent it?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-28T10:52:09.837" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're top roping on a 14.5m climb, 10% stretch* in the 29m of rope between you will be up to 2.9m. In practice there's less rope than that between you, but if there's a little slack in the rope on a climb of that height, the fall could easily hit 3m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way round it is to keep more tension on the rope in the first few metres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you're already aware ropes stretch under load, the longer the rope, the further it will stretch. You have to be very careful close to the ground on long climbs as the fall distance could be within the stretch on the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* 10% stretch is the maximum permitted elongation with a static load of 80kg. This is a dynamic situation, so the value can only be used as a guide.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T12:56:18.873" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T12:56:18.873" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-28T14:29:03.337" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You did slow his fall.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume 15 meters of rope to the top then 12 meters back to him for a total of 27 meters.  Stretch = 3/27 = 1/9.  So just over 10%.  And that assumes no slack in the line.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are top roping you can use a less stretchy rope as there should be not dynamic type falls where you need the stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T14:29:03.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16733" CreationDate="2017-07-28T15:42:13.303" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Get out as fast as possible&quot; doesn't make sense considering you are &quot;hours or days&quot; from a trailhead.  If the allergic reaction is going to kill you, like swelling up your throat to the point you can't breath, it's going to happen within about 20 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have someone in your party with such alergies, it is imperative you bring medications to deal with it.  Certainly you need some antihistamine.  That's a good idea to have in your kit anyway.  Someone with known severe alergies to things in the woods should also bring epi-pens and show others where they are and how to use them.  The epi mitigates the immediate symptoms in the short term.  That allows you to give them the antihistamine that hopefully kicks in before the epi wears off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T15:42:13.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-28T15:48:12.720" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not aiming to repeat what Separatrix has said; So assuming he's going to be hitting the floor just because of the stretch, you want to minimise slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do this, firstly you want to see if there's a way that you can pull the slack in faster.  There's many way to do this and I'm sure you're aware of them all so I won't list how to belay faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, if he's going to do something that he feels is a risk and he isn't happy with the amount of slack, it's up to him to call it out.  He was on a harder route, so should've been concious that he was likely to fall, thus gone slower to ensure that the slack was taken up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you can see that there's a load of slack, and you can't pull it in fast enough, tell them they're at risk and to stop/slow down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't emphasise the last one enough.  The person belaying has to do everything they can to protect the climber; and if that means the climber has to get comfy somwhere and wait for the belayer to do something, then that's what needs to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13729" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T15:48:12.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-28T18:04:34.783" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rope stretch is definitely a factor, but something I always do when I am unsure is I sit on the rope before climbing. What I mean is to have the belayer take in any loose rope, and then let your body weight fall until the rope is keeping you from sitting on the ground. The knot will tighten and all of the little loose ends will also tighten and remove most of the unexpected slack that can occur. That leaves you being as tight as possible to the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastEditorUserId="13732" LastEditDate="2017-07-31T17:03:08.733" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T17:03:08.733" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-28T19:33:23.640" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You failed to specify whether the rope was installed in the gym or you brought your own (and presumably led the pitch) and whether this gym allows leading routes with the installed ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is purely a top-roping gym with preinstalled ropes, it's quite likely that the ropes are static ropes which tend to have about 4% stretch as opposed to dynamic ropes more in the 12-15% range under load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That can make for a considerable difference already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;He seemed to bounce backwards towards me&quot; sounds like you were standing at an angle.  For the first pitch, it's usually better to stand slightly to the side (if the climber isn't right below the anchor, the side &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; getting the pendulum swing) so that neither your climber will drop on your head nor will the rope angle make it likely to drag you from your position significantly (consequently feeding a commensurate amount of rope) without your weight providing a direct counterforce rather than just a bit of inertia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standing at an angle also tends to mask slack a lot: slack is the amount of rope that can go through before the rope becomes taught.  Some people think &quot;slack&quot; means the rope sloping downwards from the belay device before going up again.  While that &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a big red flag: the more you stand at an angle, the more slack you can have (even if you could stand your ground on a fall) without it being terribly conspicuous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the line/route is significantly overhanging or sideways, it's much preferable to stand below the toprope anchor rather than near your climber when those positions differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And when a grounder is to be feared, be prepared to haul in the last bit of rope tight, then jump down (the locality may only provide for actually sitting down, but that's still better than nothing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13733" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T19:33:23.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13407" CreationDate="2017-07-28T20:56:20.643" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask ten people &quot;what is the correct thing to do in a lightning storm&quot; and you'll get fifteen asserted answers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning can travel eight miles through the ground and shut off your heart (you can survive a hit of well over 200,00 volts- albeit with some significant exit wounds- but 0.5 amps will shut off your heart). As has been previously stated, most deaths occur from current traveling through the ground and through your body as you are in its path (it can travel in a &quot;line&quot; as if a bolt on the ground, or in a ripple radiating out as water when something drops on the surface). If points above and below your heart are both touching the ground when the current passes through you, it is like a really powerful AED hitting you. This is why the graphic Paparazzi provided is so commonly taught- the current will pass from one foot, up a leg, through your ass, down the other leg and foot into the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go ahead- get into get into that position. We'll wait for a minute....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long did you last? When I was a guide in Utah we had storms come through that would last over an hour (average was probably 20 min, longest I can remember was 2.5 hours). I can't do that for more than five minutes, no way that's realistic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for insulation on sleeping pads and in tents, it would take three to five feet of rubber to insulate you from that current outside an urban area so no, your sleeping pad and shoes aren't going to do shit for you. Getting away from the trees, while the reasoning makes sense (yes, they are most likely to get hit and the rapid boiling of their sap causing them to explode would not be a good time for you), it isn't a smart thing to move away from them. When you get as far from the trees as you can, you become the tallest thing in the area you have just moved to, so you're now the target in that spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For getting to a low point, not a good choice either- &lt;i&gt;the electricity is trying to get to ground...you just made yourself ground.&lt;/i&gt; That goes for caves, rock faces and &quot;shelves&quot; through which the electricity will pass en route to ground too (I always cringe when I see rock climbers getting ready to head up to the rock at 2:30 in the afternoon, thunderhead building). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reality is, if you're in the wilderness in a lightning storm you're in a bad place. In Denver people get hit in parking lots and at t-ball games all the time- seriously. Look it up. In the wilderness, you're not only outside an area where concrete and asphalt provide a significant resistor to impede the current and buildings have lightning rods on them to attract lightning to them, but you are in a situation where you better know Wilderness First Aid (16 hour class) and what to do when (not if) someone gets hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sit on your butt at the base of a average height tree, in an area of average elevation ground for that area, grab a snack and a book, put on your rain gear, and be 100' from any gear or other people as you can (people generate small electric fields which compound with proximity and think camp stoves, knives, all the little metal pieces of gear you have in your pack...for that matter, make sure your phone and pocket knives are in your pack or away from you too) and settle in until there is a 40 one-thousand count between lightning and thunder. No option is a good one, but this is the most practical. Does it work? Who knows. Is there enough documented case study to provide a scientifically backed answer to the question on any choice? Nope. This one just makes the most practical sense given what we know about lightning's behavior and our understanding of the effects of electricity on the human body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for hammocks- no clue and everybody is guessing. There is no information on how far lightning will travel up a tree to bridge to another (hammock attachments tend to be 4-6 feet up a tree trunk depending on distance, tree, user, etc). Most backpacking hammocks are made of parachute material which would most likely melt before the electricity could transfer through me. Could it arc/jump up from the ground to me while I'm in my hammock? Maybe, but then where is it going to go? Remember, it wants to find ground and it would have hit me at a low point. More likely to give me a zap (like a static shock when you touch a metal door knob after walking around carpet in your socks) and melt a hole in my hammock than travel from my butt, up my body, up the line to the tree, and back down to the ground. I'm no electrician, but that doesn't make sense to me from the electricity portion of High School Physics class (it was public school, so I guess you never know).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest potential danger is that it travels up the tree, down the hammock line, through me, out my hip and arcs to the ground. That only works if it goes up my torso though. It is very unlikely that, if it did go up the tree and chose the path down the dry nylon hammock line (I use a rain fly which keeps the line- thus me- dry) rather than back down the most direct path of the already conductive tree that it would then, ratehr than taking most direct path to the ground from my ass arcing down, instead go back up the other side and down the other tree. That only works if the hammock is running directly parallel to the ground- mine sags down quite a bit when I get in it, kind of like...a hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, there is no documented information on this- there are no cases yet and even one or two anecdotal cases would tell us very little. It is all speculation based upon our understanding of what we believe lightning behavior to be. Just as we thought tourniquets would cause you to lose the limb if you applied one on based upon our understanding of human anatomy and physiology but no real data to drive it and have now learned that it just isn't the case and have manufactured tourniquets for use at the Basic First Aid level, all of this is based upon our understanding of what we believe lightning behavior to be and it's interaction with the natural world in wilderness settings but we may someday have actual data driven guidelines which prove or disprove some or all of it. We do, however, have enough data to know that was an offensively long sentence for the grammar police (see what I did there?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The end answer is: it sucks to be in a lightning storm anywhere, in the wilderness especially. Limit the contact you have with the ground to ensure there isn't a direct path between points above and below the heart, ensure that you aren't the tallest thing around (or next to it), don't be close to other people or gear and make sure you aren't on the highest or lowest ground or on a shelf, cave or wall the lighting will travel down on its path to ground. Other than that, take a Wilderness First Aid course before you spend time in the wilderness so you know what to do when someone eventually does get hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the next question- yes. You do need to get out of your tent at night. On more than one occasion I have been up at three in the morning against a tree being pissed on my Mother Nature while contemplating whether I really cared if I got hit or not enough to be out in that shit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm getting ready to guide a climb next week and, as for me, I'll choose to remain in the hammock if the weather comes in. I think it will be the safest bet (and, really, it is all just a bet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13734" LastEditorUserId="13734" LastEditDate="2017-07-28T21:28:32.943" LastActivityDate="2017-07-28T21:28:32.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16745" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-07-29T09:57:25.343" Score="8" ViewCount="319" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am always amazed when there is a rain cloud moving across the country dropping inches per hour of rain as it goes. In my imagination I try to visualize how the cloud could have carried all that water so far inland from the ocean...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some clouds pass overhead, casting a shadow but leaving me dry. Some clouds only sprinkle, hardly enough to impact my out door activities.  Other clouds, well there have been sometimes that I really wish I had known sooner to look for shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I tell, how much if any rain is going to fall from a cloud heading in my direction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I am not looking for suggestions to check the local radar on my smart phone.  I want to know how to look at a cloud and decide how much rain it is going to drop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T19:05:48.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T19:05:48.677" Title="How can I tell how much, if any, rain is in an approaching cloud?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16745" CreationDate="2017-07-29T11:20:59.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Isolated clouds are going to be easier to judge than gradually thickening cloud cover, as cloud height is important. I assume you've already established that the cloud is approaching you, though you might still be lucky. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy rain is often visible as distortion of the view below clouds at some distance, particularly if there's something distinctive that gets obscured (like a tree line, hillside, or prominent building). Lighter rain appears more like a faint mist. This can help you judge &lt;em&gt;when&lt;/em&gt; the rain is going to arrive as well, from the rate that features are obscured. Pronounced darkening of the ground below an approaching cloud is another sign of heavy rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you're uphill from what you're looking at, the rain is likely to get heavier, or even start from a cloud that otherwise wasn't producing rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-07-29T11:20:59.843" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16735" CreationDate="2017-07-29T22:46:13.567" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common mistakes made by people in hippopotamus, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hippopotamus amphibius&lt;/a&gt;, territory in Africa include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with every other animal, the most important mistake is not taking the time to learn about their behavior and respect it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting between parents and calves  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting between males when they're fighting for territory  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting in their way when they're attacking their predators, which include crocodiles in the same water &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting in their way when they're on land eating vegetation  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting in their way when they're going from land back to the water  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking or camping on paths where there is visible hippo dung  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ignoring warning signs of an impending attack  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of my actual quotes come from an interview with scientist John Coppinger in July 2010, published in Discover Wildlife entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discoverwildlife.com/travel/how-avoid-hippo-attack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to avoid a hippo attack.&lt;/a&gt; These are his two opening paragraphs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In my experience, the commonly heard claim that hippos are responsible for more attacks on humans than any other dangerous animal in Africa is a complete myth. The Luangwa Valley has the densest population of hippos in Africa, yet after half a lifetime here, I am aware of only two instances of serious human injuries being caused by hippos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While there are few attacks, it would be folly to assume that these animals are not dangerous. Hippos are large and powerful, and despite being herbivores, are armed with long, lethal teeth that are designed for battle. I have seen a hippo kill a large crocodile with a single bite, and a human would offer little to no resistance if a hippo was to become aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hippos in water:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Like many animals, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hippopotamus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hippos&lt;/a&gt; which can live up to 50 years, are at their happiest when left alone in their habitat, which is in water deep enough to totally submerge themselves, generally at least 5 feet deep. That said, they can be very dangerous to humans, mostly because in the event of an attack, we're not likely to survive it. It is therefore vital to avoid inciting an attack in the first place, whether on land or on the water (in a boat or canoe). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hippos are vegetarian, so humans are not prey. Even if they kill one, they just leave it there. That doesn't mean we can't be hurt, just that the reasons why they hurt us are different from some other animals. We're at highest risk when we act like predators. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hippos have to spend most of their time (at least 18 hours a day) in water deep enough to cover them because their skin burns very quickly, and they get sunstroke and die. (If they're on land in the heat of the day, such as during the dry season, they secrete an interesting substance which is designed both to protect them from both sunstroke but infection. It's red, so if you've ever heard that &quot;hippos sweat blood&quot; that's what people are referring to. &lt;a href=&quot;https://asknature.org/strategy/secretion-protects-skin/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; offers excellent scientific reasons for this phenomenon.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hippos can hold their breath for up to seven minutes, although they usually come up to breathe more frequently than that. That's a built-in behavior, and they can even come up to breathe in their sleep without waking up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hippos live in large groupings, called pods, so even if you see only one set of eyes, assume that there are more underwater, and take proper precautions.  Hippos can't swim, float, or jump, so they stand and walk around in water. However, they can run up to 20 miles (32 km) per hour as long as their feet are touching the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safest thing to do while boating in hippo territory is stay in water deeper than five feet, or if you're in a narrow area, stay alert. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hippos don't like vibration&lt;/strong&gt;. When boating in hippo territory the advice is to bang on your boat with an oar or paddle, or anything that will vibrate the boat. It can prevent hippos from coming up underneath you and capsizing the boat. It's also a way for hippos to track your presence.  That doesn't mean you're safe, it's just a way to buy time while you go to a deeper area. Going to an opposite shore and disembarking is a good idea, but not always practical if traveling down the river to a destination.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hippos are ferociously protective of their young and will readily come to their defense if they feel that their young are threatened in any way. This is when they're most likely to attack.&lt;/strong&gt; Think about what you'd do if someone broke into your house with your child sleeping in the next room. In this situation, we're in their house. Hippos breed, give birth and even suckle their young under water for up to 18 months, so it's not always easy to spot the calves, unless you see them at the water's edge. Adults start at around five feet tall, so if you see one shorter than that, it's probably a youngster. The best thing to do is assume that any large group of hippos you encounter includes some young that are being protected, and stay a respectable distance away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The first obvious outward sign of an attack in water is when they open their huge mouth.&lt;/strong&gt; What looks like a yawn is a display of large teeth from a bull (make) hippo. If it feels threatened, or angry, it then lets out a very loud grunt, which is followed quickly by the attack. If you already hear that grunt, you're getting too close, and should immediately retreat. If you can actually see it, you may be in very serious danger. The attack can be a fight between males, a grabbing of an animal predator, or something else. Human or not, anything that threatens the family is at risk. If you're near deeper water, continue on, keeping a constant beating on the boat. Don't turn back, because you already know there's a family there. If necessary, find a safe spot on the other side and disembark. The hippo's very unlikely to come up and give chase on land. It would take him away from his family, and it isn't safe for him in the heat of the day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hippos on land:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You're safe on land for most of the day, as long as you're at a respectable distance from the shore, and aren't on a path with hippo dung. However, once the sun goes down, the hippos will come out of the water to eat. They eat an average of 150 pounds of food per day, all vegetation, so they have to use their land time wisely. They're often on the shore or a nearby path for four to five hours, and can travel up to 5 miles from where they got out of the water. That's not the time to stay in their territory. When they're ready to go back to where they want to enter the water, they do it instinctively and quickly, plowing down anything in the way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you come across a hippo on land, don't get between it and the water.&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  Hippos are extremely fleet of foot, and will outpace humans. They move very quietly and can be very dangerous if encountered suddenly. When a grazing hippo is disturbed, it is extremely dangerous to get between it and the water as it will run blindly along its paths, trampling anything in its way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When confronted by a hippo on land, the best thing one can do is dive out of its way.&lt;/strong&gt; Avoid hippos by not going near thickets and reeds near the water, and do not camp near hippo paths or waterholes as hippo are attracted to fires and lights. Be very vigilant during drought times as hippo will tend to concentrate in small waterholes and pans, and as they feel threatened in shallow water, will not hesitate to charge. They are quite capable of biting a human in half with little effort. During the rut, males fight viciously and often to the death, leaving opponents with severe wounds. Females normally wander off to solitary confinement in areas of reed-beds to give birth and often keep the young away from the males who may occasionally kill them. Hippos, especially in winter months, will lie up away from the water’s edge. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/assessments/assess_97/africa.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another &lt;a href=&quot;https://midwiferyuganda.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/if-you-find-you-are-being-chased-by-a-hippo-dont-run-in-a-straight-line/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; from Uganda offers this advice when a hippo's on the way to the water:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you find yourself being chased by a hippo, don’t run in a straight line. Their voluptuous figures do not allow for sharp turns, one must zigzag to get away. If need be, jump behind a tree or termite mound for cover. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/hippo-haven-107453678/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smithsonian&lt;/a&gt; has a beautiful story of a couple who have spent 15 years protecting an endangered pod in Zimbabwe. Although they've become as close to friends as one can get, they've spent many hours up in trees, when a hippo on land gets too close. I infer from this that if you're able to climb a nearby tree to escape, you should do so. (For animal lovers, it's a really cool article. The wife, Karen Paolillo, from Britain, is lovingly known in Africa as &quot;the hippo whisperer.&quot;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another helpful way to know where a hippo is on land, is to memorize and listen for the call of an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxpecker&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oxpecker bird&lt;/a&gt;. They spend much of their time eating ticks and other bugs off the skin of the hippo. The bird call is a good way to warn you that you're in hippo territory. The bird feeds off other large animals in the area, so it's not always a hippo, but better safe than sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hippos also have a very pungent odor, so if you don't see or hear anything, a sharp strong smell can alert you to their presence in the vicinity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For the best view of the hippos in water, and for your own safety, don't schedule your visit during the dry season&lt;/strong&gt;. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.overlandingafrica.com/weather/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; lists weather patterns in various areas of Africa. It can be helpful when planning your trip.) Hippos are primarily in the water for much of the year. During the dry season when the waters recede, they spend much more time on land and are much more dangerous during the dry season. They tend to be found in larger groups on land, and much of the feeding and fighting takes place out of the water. If you're walking or camping near an area where a larger group of hippos are on land, risk of fatal encounter increases greatly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On water and land, don't bother to try to distract them.&lt;/strong&gt; They don't see well. Trying to distract them by swinging arms, clapping, or making noise doesn't work with hippos. Don't throw anything either, like rocks. It doesn't incite them, as with other animals, but it doesn't prevent attacks either. It's just wasted time that should be spent retreating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The end of the article I started with offers a good basic summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;JOHN’S TOP TIPS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you’re in a canoe, allow hippos plenty of space. Avoid rivers where numbers are concentrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tap the side of the boat to signal your position so hippos do not come up beneath you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Keep your distance when on foot. Avoid thickets where hippos may be skulking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Listen out for oxpecker calls – a warning sign that there may be a hippo around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a last resort, use a tree or termite mound as cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(That article didn't explain why the termite mound is a good idea, and I haven't done research yet as to the relationship between hippos and termites. However, I find that tip fascinating.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Supporting and additional references:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out the site &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kariega.co.za/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-hippos&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 fascinating facts about hippos&lt;/a&gt; from the Kariega Game Reserve in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It lists some of what I've mentioned here, and much more. There's also a beautiful video of the hippos during each part of their day, both in and out of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/hippo/hippo.htm#5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sandiego Zoo Global&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hippopotamus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;African Wildlife Foundation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wildugandablog.com/uganda-wildlife-2/common-hippopotamus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Uganda Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/hippopotamus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;World Wildlife Organization&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.earthsendangered.com/article.asp?ID=9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Earth's Endangered Creatures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know you didn't ask it, but it's worth noting that we're much more dangerous to hippos than they are to us. &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildugandablog.com/uganda-wildlife-2/common-hippopotamus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The main predator of hippos is humans.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. For years, people have killed them for their teeth and meat. In fact, according to many sources they're considered either endangered or vulnerable. Hippos have very few predators, and most sources list us at the top of the group.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-07-30T20:53:33.833" LastActivityDate="2017-07-30T20:53:33.833" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16736" CreationDate="2017-07-30T16:41:41.463" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides technically identifying where the slack came from, don't lose the simple moral: the belayer actually has to work pretty hard in the first few meters of the top rope route to keep the rope taut. Belaying top-rope is not a freebie. The quality of the belay still matters. Outdoor, on longer routes, a top rope belayer has a bit more stretch to work against, and has to manage terrain problems as the route ascends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On short, indoor routes you likely have a dynamic rope (stretchy) that is also quite old and worn and has a lot of friction. So it will slow you down, &lt;strong&gt;and the friction will cause you to &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; the rope is taut even though slack is building.&lt;/strong&gt; You have to muscle it through to avoid this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus, you should communicate this through with your partner. Gravity does not know the difference between a slow belayer and a fast climber. Climbing is a team sport. The belay is part of the climb. Assessing the environment of the belay is part of the belay. Let's say it's rope drag, which is my guess. Then in the future if you notice rope drag, your partner needs to know that big moves early in the climb can lose full protection. This is okay, but you should acknowledge and agree to this risk ahead of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4038" LastActivityDate="2017-07-30T16:41:41.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8922" CreationDate="2017-07-31T14:58:03.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8922/cleaning-the-plastic-residue-of-the-inside-of-my-old-backpack/8932#8932&quot;&gt;answer from Paul,&lt;/a&gt; I scrubbed all messy parts with alcohol using a strong but nylon (or so) brush. It does come off quite ok then. After I impregnated it with a nikwash product. I do love my Lowa backpack, it does carry heavyer loads very well, so I do not want to part from it for now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13744" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-07-31T15:41:28.597" LastActivityDate="2017-07-31T15:41:28.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16752" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16753" CreationDate="2017-07-31T16:23:00.453" Score="16" ViewCount="5420" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just saw this claim on BBC news, and found it hard to believe.  Annually 7,300+ car vs moose accidents in a country that is 173,000 Square Miles, that is like one collision with a moose (and probably close to one dead moose) in every 23 Square Miles (60 Square KM). It just seems very unrealistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;About 20 times a day, a driver somewhere in Sweden crashes a car into a moose. The giant deer are usually injured or killed, the cars often destroyed, and the drivers frequently hurt.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/will-driverless-cars-mean-less-roadkill-180957103/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do cars really hit 20 moose per day in Sweden?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so what happens to the the moose who are killed?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many live moose are there in Sweden to support these kind of losses? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:42:32.830" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:42:32.830" Title="Do cars really hit 20 moose per day in Sweden?" Tags="&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;moose&gt;&lt;road-kill&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16752" CreationDate="2017-07-31T17:12:30.407" Score="18" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Moose–Vehicle Collisions&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://indexsmart.mirasmart.com/25esv/PDFfiles/25ESV-000294.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fatal Car to Moose Collisions&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Sweden, the number of moose vehicle collisions (MVCs) were 5874 in 2016 (Nationella Viltolycksrådet 2015). During the last 10 years in average 5 [&lt;strong&gt;human&lt;/strong&gt;] fatalities occur annually due to MVCs in Sweden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put this in proportion, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://sweden.se/nature/swedens-most-dangerous-animal/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweden Sverige&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis added):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are approximately 350,000 moose (Alces alces) in Sweden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If a moose feels cornered, it sometimes lowers its head and rushes towards  people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Every year there are approximately 6,000 road accidents involving moose.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Each year about 100,000 moose are killed during hunting season in Sweden.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you just want to watch moose, not hunt them, you can go on a &amp;quot;moose safari&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The actual numbers of reported collisions vary from year to year and source to source.&lt;/strong&gt; According to research done at &lt;a href=&quot;http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/research/something-hit-me-moose-movement-and-vehicle-collisions-northern-sweden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Sivis Lab&lt;/a&gt;, which focuses on sustainability and conservation,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Sweden, moose are a national symbol, a major game species, and a hazard for car travel, &lt;strong&gt;with some 4,500 accidents per year&lt;/strong&gt;. [year not given] (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only 285 people were killed in road fatalities from all causes in 2012, according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thelocal.se/20131019/50890&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Local SE&lt;/a&gt;.  The only data I have been able to find so far on moose mortality from MVCs dates from 1980 (from &lt;a href=&quot;http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.424.8675&amp;amp;rep=rep1&amp;amp;type=pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The toll of the automobile:&#xA;Wildlife and roads in Sweden&lt;/a&gt; by Andreas Seiler:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, approximately 92% of all moose and 98% of all roe deer&#xA;involved in police-reported vehicle collisions in Sweden ultimately&#xA;died as a consequence of an accident (Almkvist et al. 1980).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swedish traffic became much more dangerous for moose in the 1970s: a report from 1986 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1646516/pdf/amjph00267-0110.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose, Sweden&lt;/a&gt; stated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Sweden, the number of reported road accidents involving large wildlife and motor vehicles has increased five-fold during the 1970s and now constitute about one third of the accidents on the state road net (i.e., excluding rural roads). It can be calculated that about one driver out of 10 with an annual driving distance over 20,000 km will collide with a moose once during his lifetime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this trend may be reversed.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wired.com/2017/01/volvos-cars-now-spot-moose-hit-brakes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wired&lt;/a&gt; new technology debuted in 2017 &amp;quot;to help save the Swedes meatballs&amp;quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Volvo's] new Large Animal Detection system can spot and identify outsized carbon-based hazards and stop the car before colliding with moose.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Sustainability of the Moose Population&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://fp7hunt.net/Portals/HUNT/Reports/HUNT%20Swedish%20research%20findings.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunting for Sustainability: A Summary of Research Findings from Sweden&lt;/a&gt;.  This source summarizes the management of the moose population in in Sweden and is part of a larger project funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Research Programme.  Hunting appears to be conscientiously regulated in Sweden with due regard for the management of game populations.  However, I am not knowledgeable enough to critique this report.  Of the ungulate populations in Europe (not just Sweden) the report says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some countries, where the total ungulate population has increased to its highest level since the Ice Age have raised a general concern for negative ecosystem impacts due to overgrazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Contribution of Moose to the Swedes' Diet&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The majority of moose hunted are hunted for food. &lt;a href=&quot;http://fp7hunt.net/Portals/HUNT/Reports/HUNT%20Swedish%20research%20findings.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunting for Sustainability&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The support for hunting among the public in Sweden is strong. There is&#xA;thus a wide acceptance for hunting, in terms of wildlife management&#xA;but also as a way of providing food. The support for ‘pure‘&#xA;recreational hunting is however lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is only a qualitative comparison, but let's &lt;strong&gt;assume&lt;/strong&gt; that all hunted moose wind up contributing to the diet of the Swedes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One can expect to get 312 pounds of meat from a moose.  Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pourvoiries.com/en-us/2012/02/how-many-pounds-of-meat-will-you-get-from-your-moose/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pourvoiries du Québec&lt;/a&gt;.  That is 31.2 million pounds of moose meat per year from hunting, for 9.9 million Swedes, or 3 pounds per Swede or 12 Moose-Quarter-Pounders per year per Swede.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T23:36:56.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16752" CreationDate="2017-07-31T18:36:45.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To address the follow-up, Sweden has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thelocal.se/20141222/swedens-wild-carnivore-population-on-the-rise&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;four species of large carnivore&lt;/a&gt;: wolf, wolverine, brown bear and lynx. The first three are all willing to scavenge, as are some birds, and of course humans (plenty of people eat fresh roadkill). In other countries large roadkill is used as food for bears and zoo animals, though I can't find a solid source for Sweden. Obviously much of it on well-travelled roads near urban areas will end up being disposed of, presumably in landfill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/388/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interesting reading&lt;/a&gt; from an international perspective with an emphasis on Sweden (a doctoral thesis). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-08-01T15:12:45.240" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T15:12:45.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16752" CreationDate="2017-07-31T22:12:42.053" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This comes from more of a personal experience side of things, rather than a statistics point of view. See the other answers if you are looking for the actual numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being a Swede, and telling just from the number of people I know have hit moose with a car, that figure might very well be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moose are very common in Sweden (seeing as the country is mostly forest), and spotting one is not very hard. If you're in a forested place a few (metric) miles away from the nearest densely populated area, getting to see several moose within the span of half an hour is not uncommon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The larger motorways have fencing to prevent wildlife accidents (and clear warnings where the fencing has gaps), so from my experience, most accidents happen on smaller roads. As to why hitting them is so common, it's probably because the driver has little control over if they hit the moose or not. By the time you see the moose, it's probably too late. Whether you actually hit is more dependent on how the moose reacts. Telling from hunting stories that I've heard, moose have quite a good sense of hearing, so I'd assume the moose would be aware of passing cars. As to why they still decide to run across the road, I'm not really sure. Maybe it's to try and get away from the noise, but that is just speculation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens when you actually hit the moose is generally that only the moose gets injured. From what I've heard, nearly in all cases, the moose flies over the roof of the car, not causing any major damage to the driver nor the car. Injuries most often come from the fact that the moose goes through the windshield, crushing the driver. My grandfather always told me to lean down in the car if I saw a moose. Once you've hit a moose, you're required to report it to the police, and tell the location of where it happened. What the police do with the moose, I don't know. I'd assume this is where they get such accurate statistics from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moose population is very large; I'd guess that road accidents have barely any impact on the overall moose population. I'd estimate that tens of times more moose are killed during hunting, compared to road accidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13746" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T08:17:08.083" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T08:17:08.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2017-08-01T00:25:46.233" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are you aware of hiking sandals? the are sandals with a stiffer base to provide support with a viabram sole to give better grip some have covers for the toes. Keen teva meindle and other boot makers have their versions of the walking sandal. if you have pair of walking boots that you are happy with see if that company has a walking sandal as well as the sandal will probably based on the same last and will fit you better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13748" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T00:25:46.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16745" CreationDate="2017-08-01T07:38:43.653" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's an assumption here that a cloud is a static thing that fills up and then empties. This isn't the case. A cloud is merely a manifestation of the moisture in the air. The water condenses slightly to form a vapour. It's part of the water cycle. So as it's raining it could also be filling up from evaporation, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f5bLN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f5bLN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From Nasa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose the short answer is &lt;strong&gt;the (maximum) amount of rain in a cloud is dependant on the air temperature, relative humidity goes up as the air increases in temperature.&lt;/strong&gt; Here's a graph:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/19I4o.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/19I4o.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/moisture-holding-capacity-air-d_281.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to pick a slightly arbitary figure at 60f(15c) every m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; of water in the air (can) hold just under a pound of water (I don't know why they choose pounds and meters here, meters and KG would be a better option but there you go). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously cloud temperature can very considerably and clouds can be many km&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; in size. Clouds can reach a height of 20,000 feet and come in lot's of forms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YCALZ.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YCALZ.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://scied.ucar.edu/webweather/clouds/cloud-types&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at the cumulonimbus cloud (a common &quot;rain type&quot; cloud) the temperature gradient from the top and the bottom (50,000 feet in total!) can be very large indeed as is the m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; of moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we take our cumulonimbus and assume it is 50,000 feet (15240 m) high. Let's assume the average temperature of this cloud is (picks a number at random) 33f(1c) that means every m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; holds a bout 0.3lbs of water. So a 1x m&lt;sup&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; block 15240m high &lt;strong&gt;can&lt;/strong&gt; hold about 4,572lbs of water. You then need to times this by the area (m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) of the cloud (if you can figure this out...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously we make &lt;strong&gt;a lot&lt;/strong&gt; of assumptions here and it will not be a static amount (pretty much ever). Also bear in mind that not all this moisture will turn to rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So tl;dr a lot and it's complicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T13:56:16.847" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T13:56:16.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16758" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17019" CreationDate="2017-08-01T08:00:37.367" Score="9" ViewCount="369" Body="&lt;p&gt;What height should a climber consider safe on a boulder such that in case of a fall her/his spotter can guide her/him fall to safely land on feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, safety is for both of them, and not just the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a guideline that climbing/bouldering folks follow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-08-01T09:59:02.867" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T22:00:49.093" Title="How high is too high for a spotter while spotting a climber?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16759" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-01T09:13:22.540" Score="11" ViewCount="894" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other week me and my wife climbed into a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cwm/Corrie/Cirque&lt;/a&gt; in the lake district on the side of St Sunday Crag in the UK. I could distinctly hear someone talking. I could basically hear every word. I looked for this person only to realise they we're on the other side of the cwm. I checked my map, they we're about 0.5-1km away!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/93hjI.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/93hjI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was at X they we're at Y. Each Square on this map is 1km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whats the process that allowed me to hear this person over such a long distance? I've experienced this phenomenon several times. Always in Cwms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:09:58.247" Title="Why can I hear such long distances in the mountains?" Tags="&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16759" CreationDate="2017-08-01T11:18:42.837" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sound reflected by concave surfaces will concentrate in a narrow area rather like light passing through a convex lens. You were probably at one of the focal points for the sound being reflected in the cwm behind the person you could hear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T11:18:42.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16745" CreationDate="2017-08-01T11:32:21.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Randall Munroe has the single best article on this I have ever seen, over on his &lt;a href=&quot;https://what-if.xkcd.com/12/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What-If site&lt;/a&gt; where he discusses what would happen if all the water in a cloud formed one giant raindrop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend reading the whole thing, even if just for the destructive vision he has, and especially the final line, but a useful excerpt from the page here is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We’ll imagine our storm measures 100 kilometers on each side and has a high TPW content of 6 centimeters. This means the water in our rainstorm would have a volume of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100km×100km×6cm=0.6km3&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That water would weigh 600 million tons (which happens to be about the current weight of our species). Normally, a portion of this water would fall, scattered, as rain—at most, 6 centimeters of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T11:32:21.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16763" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-01T17:15:08.033" Score="10" ViewCount="9088" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a complete noob when it comes to ropes and knots. It's high time I start practicing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which rope, most preferably easily available and portable, should I use for practice?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should it be of particular size or material? Or it could be something as simple as a nylon rope( Something that I have with me TBH )&#xA;I plan on practicing in my everyday train commute and at home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note : I am going to use this rope only for practicing knots.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T09:47:43.483" Title="Which type of rope is to be used to practice knots?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16763" CreationDate="2017-08-01T17:53:53.450" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;3 to 7mm utility cord.  It is designed to be tied.  If you go to a climbing retailer you can typically buy by the foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qfnP0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qfnP0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cord&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-08-02T19:44:55.987" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T19:44:55.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16758" CreationDate="2017-08-01T17:59:32.183" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should always look to guide the climber to the crash pads (mats) and try to let them land on their feet only if possible rather than catching them. But when it comes to it being high, you should adjust the mat(s) rather than just yourself to catch/redirect them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastEditorUserId="13732" LastEditDate="2017-08-02T16:11:56.557" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T16:11:56.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16763" CreationDate="2017-08-01T19:20:04.877" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The existing answer is perfectly fine, I just take a little different angle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; rope-like object that fulfills either of these two conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You already have it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It will be useful for whatever you learn the knots for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, I can read - I am ignoring your note on purpose ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T19:20:04.877" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16763" CreationDate="2017-08-01T21:33:04.387" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to use rope specific to the knots' purpose.  It does no good to practice a fisherman's knot on hemp or climbing rope, when fishing line is expected.  You'll never understand the nuances of the knot if you do otherwise.  Bends tend to require ropes of different sizes and/or materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were to practice basic Boy or Girl Scout knots, then yes, any rope you have is a good start: hemp, clothesline, para cord, climbing.  But once you start practicing with knots who have specialized purposes, you need to practice with the rope they're intended to be used with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't specifically mention &quot;splicing&quot;, but here, the best rope to practice with is ¼&quot; hemp.  Such beginner practice will inevitably require the entire train commute home  :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-08-01T21:33:04.387" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1488" CreationDate="2017-08-02T06:01:59.657" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;An answer from the paddle board side.  I've seen paddle boards up to 400lb among the casually available, generally among the longer (and wider) of the selections, like 12-14 feet or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With some looking online, I found one that is rated to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.islesurfandsup.com/stand-up-paddle-boards/inflatables/megalodon/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;450&lt;/a&gt;, another for &lt;a href=&quot;https://liquidshredder.com/product/12ft-tandem-sup-paddleboard/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;430&lt;/a&gt;, intended for tandem paddle boarding.  One more was rated to &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.to/2teyMsZ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;700&lt;/a&gt;.  There are also group paddle boards, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.islesurfandsup.com/stand-up-paddle-boards/inflatables/megalodon/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;first link&lt;/a&gt; mentions one rated to 1050.  Note that this would be very large and likely difficult to maneuver.  Searches for tandem or family sized paddle boards may unearth others.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the personal side, I took a paddle boarding lesson some months ago and tried several boards... looking at the average capacities vs lengths now, at least some of the boards I tried must have had official capacities considerably under (100lbs or more under) my actual weight.  I had no real trouble with any of them, though I did prefer the longer and wider among the boards.  It may be relevant that I didn't stand up to paddle board, I was kneeling and sitting on each one I tried - I mention this because difficulty balancing is one of the cited problems with overloading a paddle board, though my own balance is poor enough I can't say if that was the reason.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may also be worth noting that weight and weight capacities were not discussed when signing up for lessons, contrasted to kayaking which both noted some restrictions when signing up and considered capacity when choosing a kayak.  Also, I had quite severe problems balancing and maneuvering while kayaking (probably I was close to or a bit over the capacity), while the paddle boards were quite workable and stable enough I would have had no concerns about adding weight (in the form of gear) even though I must have been, again, nearly at to slightly above intended capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for this somewhat long-winded anecdote is, you may be able to look for lessons or rentals on boards even somewhat below the recommended weight capacity, as long as you can account for the lesser stability (in my case, by sitting or kneeling instead of standing).  This might work to see if you would even be interested, and you can look for one with the right weight capacity after you know it will be worth it for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13199" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T06:01:59.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16770" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-02T14:32:35.010" Score="61" ViewCount="27225" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently crossing a lake that is commonly used for swimming and recreation. When I was swimming back to the shore, I was constantly nervous that my bag would be stolen, along with the keys in it. The lake spans several hundred metres, so there would have been opportunities for thieves taking our stuff. Luckily, everything was still in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to find a way to take the key to my flat and bike with me while swimming without any chance of losing them. I do not need more than the two keys and a towel (the mobile phone will stay at home).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Thank you all for the overwhelming amount of replies! I try also to follow all the comments and still don't know which of the replies I should pick for marking as the answer because so many of them are so great. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13758" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:28:56.640" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T16:39:10.043" Title="How can I take keys with me while swimming?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-02T14:51:19.790" Score="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of swim/board shorts come with key keepers in the pockets. Chances are you may even have one in the swimwear you own. It's simply a length of elastic cord stitched into your pocket. If you don't have one, it can easily be added. You attach your keys to the loop using a girth hitch:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9a453.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9a453.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-05-12T18:50:38.633" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T18:50:38.633" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-02T15:33:12.703" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your trunks don't have a designated key pouch or you're a female you can tie your keys to the draw string inside your trunks or bikini top. If you have a key fob on your keychain leave it in your car or at home. If your car has a combination lock you can leave your keys in the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13760" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T15:33:12.703" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-02T17:02:05.603" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few ways to do this in addition to the previous answer.  If you have a car with a hitch:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xQm50.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xQm50.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what we use when we SCUBA dive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are only swimming and presumably not going to great depths, you can also use a waterproof wallet.  I have two varieties:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ZSau.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ZSau.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3PLpA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3PLpA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wallets tend to run less than $10, the hitch lock is more like $30-$50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13762" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T17:02:05.603" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-02T19:12:59.910" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use 3mm utility cord around my neck.  I tie in key with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/girth-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Girth Hitch&lt;/a&gt;.  Or tie the key into the necklace.  I use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/double-fishermans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double fisherman&lt;/a&gt; on the cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-08-05T17:10:06.480" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T17:10:06.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-02T19:27:42.480" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kind of like the key keeper on the swim trunks. Some young girls make a cord like that that goes around your ankle to sell at S. Pacific beach's. They seem to work. Elastic cord. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T19:27:42.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15028" CreationDate="2017-08-02T19:52:27.423" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your purpose, I would choose a surfing suit.  They tend to run much cheaper than scuba suits as their purpose is different.  They also tend to have more generous room in the arms and shoulders.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all else fit is key to wet suit purchase.  Life can be a bit hellish in a suit that does not fit correctly.  That is one reason I would not buy used.  You have to try on each brand and how they fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13762" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T19:52:27.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16779" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-02T21:14:57.267" Score="6" ViewCount="805" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this happened the other day; shouldn't have happened if I had been taking my time and paying attention to what I was doing, but it did: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was cleaning several ropes from the top of a short crag after a session of climbing with a small group. After cleaning the last top rope anchor, I quickly pulled the one end of the rope up so I could feed it through the rappel ring on the belay station and rap down instead of hiking out. I was rushing a bit because everyone else had already walked off except one person, and truth be told I didn't have much on me at the time &lt;em&gt;(long story short, I was climbing barefoot in a variation of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of these&lt;/a&gt;, and didn't bring a descender with me)&lt;/em&gt;. So I fed the rope through the ring, dropped the end back down, quickly tied a munter and jumpped off the overhanging top. I got about a halfway down when I noticed that one of the ends of my rope wasn't touching the ground... In fact it was probably about 10-15ft above the ground. After rolling my eyes and chastising myself for being so careless, I had to decide what to do in order to prevent myself from running out of rope and taking a fall (I was free hanging and a good ways away from the wall). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, I should have confirmed my rope was on the ground and knotted the ends, but what I should have done couldn't help me after it was too late. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this is something that can happen when descending on two different sized ropes that are doubled up, because the smaller diameter rope will go through your device faster that the larger rope, and ergo come up short when you get to the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite whatever circumstance may put you in this situation, what is the proper way to get out of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T21:32:31.020" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T21:32:31.020" Title="What do you do when you're rappelling a halfed rope and you run out of rope on one side?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16779" CreationDate="2017-08-02T21:14:57.267" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing you can do if there isn't too much friction in your rope, is lock off the short side of the rope, and continue to descend on the long side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the short end locked off, you can lower yourself on the other end as if you have yourself on top-rope. Do this until the short end is touching the ground, then you can continue to descend as normal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method only works effectively if you're descending off of a rap ring, it's not guaranteed to work in all situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-08-02T21:14:57.267" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T02:38:24.040" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would be very leary about taking keys out into the water - most car modern car keys are not particular water proof and if you lose it in the water, it's pretty much gone for good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a combination lock box that attaches to my car. Eg something similar to this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BA7cv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BA7cv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This allows you to leave bigger items in the car and rely on the car locks to keep every thing else safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13766" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T02:38:24.040" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T06:19:12.607" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get waterproof belt pouches. I used to use them when I wore a wetsuit for kayaking (a drysuit makes this simpler). They'll easily hold cash + phone +keys, and are nicer for swimming with than something that trails round your neck. As kayaking sometimes involves swimming in white water with trees and rocks around, the pouches with lanyards would be snag hazards, especially carried round your neck. For short swims with more stuff I've used a small dry bag (the roll top sort). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T06:19:12.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16732" CreationDate="2017-08-03T06:57:27.917" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a bit of a non-answer but is probably better than a string of comments. There are some ideas in here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that you need line of sight rather than to be near a tower. You could work that out from a contour map with the towers marked - get electronically or on paper. But tower locations aren't generally published, at least not in a convenient way. You can guess at some of them, so climbing a hill that will give you line of sight to a town should work - for which you need a topographic map and some old fashioned navigation skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A partial technical solution would be to log signal against location, to let you know the minimum backtrack to get a signal. This might get through quite a lot of battery. I know it would be possible to build such an app but I don't think one exists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An automation app I use called &lt;code&gt;tasker&lt;/code&gt; can report a list of cells it can see. The code names for the cells don't make it clear what network they're on, but if you're strictly considering emergency calls that won't matter.  Although it's a very versatile app I don't know how you could make it log your location when cells are found, and reporting the list is a tool for building rules to preform actions when a specific cell is near. It looks like it can tell you when you've lost signal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are apps that upload your location when they have a signal. If you could locally access a log from such an app you might be able to tell where you were when you had coverage. But you probably can't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would still need to use your judgement about whether to go uphill to get line of sight, or backtrack. This depends on so much more than information about cell locations (such as the nature of the emergency and the weather conditions). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally signal propagation is strange. Sometimes you'll get a good signal without line of sight because of reflections. I've even known a wooded river valley with no signal (on my network) except at the base of a particular tree beside the path, where it was weak but repeatable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T07:07:00.830" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T07:07:00.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T07:43:53.170" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've has a similar question on Travel.SE. The answer below is largely based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/49082/22140&quot;&gt;this other answer of mine&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Invest in a  Dry Egg/Box&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion is to carry your keys in the water with you when you go for a dip. Keys can easily fit in what is called a &lt;strong&gt;freediving dry egg/box&lt;/strong&gt; which, as the name suggests, is a gadget used by divers to keep their stuff dry whilst in the water. These gadgets come in various different sizes, cost under €20 and look something like this (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scubastore.com/scuba-diving/mares-plastic-dry-egg/5499/p&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image courtesy of ScubaStore&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8p3yK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8p3yK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;freediving dry egg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.watersportswarehouse.co.uk/images/product/full/mares-personal-dry-box_415727.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;watersportswarehouse.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a dry egg I've been using for five years now. I've taken it with me countless times out in the sea and it has done its job. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Test for Waterproofness&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing you should do after purchasing your egg is to test ride its watertightness. Put a piece of paper in it, lock it up and throw it in a sink/bucket full of water. Then wiggle it around for a few minutes. Take it out, open it and check the paper: if it's wet you either did not close the egg properly or it leaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Wearing Tips&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One possible way of carrying the egg whilst swimming could be  replacing the lanyard with a longer one so that you can wear it diagonally across one shoulder like a shoulder bag. Other options include tying it to your swimming trunks, wearing it around your waist, your neck, or wearing a rubber weight belt of the type used by freedivers on which you can strap the box. The needed comfort also depends in how much swimming you are planning to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4137" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T12:49:13.130" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:49:13.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T08:42:07.357" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's just the keys that need securing, I love key wristbands. They are properly secure and you have the key in sight if you are a bit paranoid about it ;) I prefer it over any kinds of bags on strings, as it gives you less of a hassle and less of a feeling you might lose that stuff dangling from your wrist at any moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hit your favourite online shop with &quot;key wristband swimming&quot;, you should get some. Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3grzs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3grzs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;key wristband&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an alternative for more than just keys, I find running belts with pouches quite helpful. Note that they are typically not waterproof, so if you need to take your smartphone, you will need to protect it separately.&#xA;Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k1OrY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k1OrY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;belt pouch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13772" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T16:39:10.043" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T16:39:10.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T10:07:12.570" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most here have focused on taking the key with you to the lake, with the assumption that you have taken your car. Here is slightly different solution:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My house has an electronic lock with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.safe.co.uk/products/yale-keyfree-with-remote-module-chrome.html?ACODE=googlebase&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwk4vMBRAgEiwA4ftLs7FlT_JudOaoyBQkpmDSN8Mq4iNd5zPfPyM0jIYdua4SMDzpxv2e0xoCYO0QAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;keycode&lt;/a&gt;. This might seem extreme/expensive but it is useful for more than just going swimming. If you are not taking your car to the beach/lake then this better than the car key safe option. Going for runs/cycles in clothing without pockets is a great help. You don't have to worry about loosing the key of heavy night at the pub and long trips away. Letting trusted guests in without a key is also very helpful. It has temporary codes so you can set/delete/change this after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another similar and less costly solution is to have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.screwfix.com/p/master-lock-5-key-combination-key-safe/77908?kpid=77908&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwk4vMBRAgEiwA4ftLs53cCgD6t4VZO73YzOUOyCuKSKTIDEqWk89pMrpgLIAOceNwsCrsjBoCtv0QAvD_BwE&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;amp;dclid=CLfux6TnutUCFTgx0wod8rMBZQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;combination key safe&lt;/a&gt;. This has most of the same advantages but for a slight lack in convenience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11883" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T10:07:12.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T14:49:39.107" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a product that launched in 2015 called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.Pocketbands.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PocketBands&lt;/a&gt;. It is a low profile silicone band/bracelet that has a hidden pocket. You insert your key on the underside and it stays secure while swimming, running or other activities. It only holds one key, so you would need to buy two for both your keys. I bought these when PocketBands were a Kickstarter project, and the keys do stay put! They are less than $10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.Pocketbands.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o7N98m.png&quot; alt=&quot;PocketBands&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned being nervous about your bag the keys were in, which reminded me of another successful Kickstarter project for a really nice looking, innovative, theft proof &lt;strong&gt;lightweight&lt;/strong&gt; backpack by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.loctote.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Loctote&lt;/a&gt; which is made of a slash proof fabric. This was also featured on Shark Tank (a TV show that pitches innovative products to a group of investors). I hope this is helpful! The bag is intended to be locked to a fixed object, so being slash proof is important, as long as the lock holds it's less likely a target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13778" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T16:35:35.437" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T16:35:35.437" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-03T16:47:14.690" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very low budget solution: Safety pin your key to your swimsuit--inside a pocket if possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13780" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T16:47:14.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16792" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16793" CreationDate="2017-08-03T18:15:55.313" Score="9" ViewCount="3030" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend just came back from the beach and he mentioned he decided not to take his bike because he wasn't sure if it would be easy/comfortable to ride it on the sand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We started discussing if it would be easier dry sand or in the sturdier wet sand, and if the slope would be too much of a hassle. Then we discussed traction and using the lower shifts (assuming we're not interested in an actual workout). After the obvious &lt;em&gt;impasse&lt;/em&gt;, I thought I'd be better off asking here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What should I take into account if I want to ride a bike on the beach?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T08:37:07.400" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T08:47:33.973" Title="Riding a bicycle on the beach?" Tags="&lt;beach&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16792" CreationDate="2017-08-03T18:26:41.500" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes wet sand is easier.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start in a low gear and see what works.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want weight back - arms straight and head back.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bigger tires are better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Riding in soft sand is hard.  As in difficult and tiring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that sand and saltwater is hard on a bike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T06:04:56.210" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T06:04:56.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16792" CreationDate="2017-08-03T19:02:50.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;They do make a balloon tire a wide one for bikes just for beach riding. That is the way to go on the beach. Takes a wide rim. See often in the Philippines &amp;amp; bikes made for beach &amp;amp; sand ridding. Gear low sand has a lot of drag even with beach or sand tires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T19:02:50.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16779" CreationDate="2017-08-03T19:08:47.243" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically this is almost the textbook worst case scenario lacking only on not being hurt, completely alone in the dark and bad weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize the situation you have a piece of rated webbing you are using as a harness, a single locking carabiner and the rope. The rope is running through a rap ring of unknown strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you could try and adjust the lengths of the ropes, the problem is that they need to be unweighted to do it safely because many rap rings can wear through if a weighted rope is pulled through them. Things are even worse since you are using a Munter because if you hold one strand fixed and allow the long strand to move this can saw through the rope. You could attempt to have the strands move at different rates, but this would still cause the weighted rope to run through the rap ring. If you wait until you are very close to the end of the rope, then if you do saw through the rope or rap ring, the fall will not be very far (and you may even make it to the ground). If you do this, make sure you hike back to the top and replace the potentially compromised rap ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the exact heights, you might be able to safely rap off the end of the ropes. If the end of the rope is only 10 feet up, your feet will only be 7 feet above the ground when you get to the end of the rope. Hopefully with the additional rope stretch you would make it (or at least be close enough to not get injured in the drop). Being bare foot adds to the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best option is to go up and not down. You can ask the person on the ground to tie some extra gear onto the long end of the rope (a couple of slings and carabiners is all you need). That said, you have enough gear to rescue yourself since you are using a swiss seat harness made from webbing (if you were in a modern harness and alone, I think you are screwed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to use the webbing from your harness to create a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;klemheist&lt;/a&gt; and the carabiner from the Munter to ascend the rope. Of course you have to first free up the webbing. To get the webbing, you need to create a second swiss seat harness from the running end of the rope. Then use some extra rope to saw through the webbing harness (bet you wish you had a small knife). Depending on how tight the second swiss seat is, you will fall a little. All of these steps could be eliminated if you had a piece of webbing or cord (maybe from your chalk bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have the webbing make a klemheist and a foot loop (if needed, use some more rope). Push the klemheist high, step up, clip in with the carabiner, sit down, repeat. You should tie in short frequently since otherwise when you open the carabiner to reclip in, you will be out of the system (a second carabiner would be super helpful here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T19:08:47.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16779" CreationDate="2017-08-03T21:07:31.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am sure that's not what you want, but from the exact situation you describe, there is another pretty simple (though still more involved than @ShemSegers variant) solution based on this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] everyone else had already walked off except one&#xA;  person [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tell this person to pick up the end that is on the ground and to take you on belay. Even if he doesn't have any gear, instruct him how to use a rock/tree/... for &quot;belaying&quot;. Attach yourself to the short end as closely to the munter as possible. Then if you can unload the rope for a short time, do that and untie the munter. If you don't, you need to make a foot sling from the excess rope to do the same. After that you are let down to the ground by your belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;StrongBad brought up the point of unsuitable rappel wrings that may break from the rope friction: I have never seen a rappel ring like this and can't imagine any metal being abraded to the point of breaking by one slow descent of 3m. However I do hear some scary stories of material in place on the other side of the great pond, so who knows :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-08-03T21:57:59.933" LastActivityDate="2017-08-03T21:57:59.933" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-04T03:27:27.320" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It frustrates me that most of the answers are unfortunate variations of &quot;just put the keys into your pocket&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with that suggestion is that most sets of car keys include an electronic component with buttons for remotely interacting with the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other really viable answer I've seen is the Dry Egg thing, but that isn't entirely convenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On short notice what I would suggest is one of two things: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) put the keys in a condom (and if you're worried about the key bursting the condom, but the keys in a plastic bag first), and then tie the condom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) buy a cheap jar of jam (or pasta sauce or something), empty it, wash it in the lake, put the keys in it, and put the lid back on. Now you have a dry key store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13785" LastEditorUserId="13785" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T05:37:07.020" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T05:37:07.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16799" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-04T04:05:27.177" Score="2" ViewCount="2263" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that they say to make as much noise as possible to try and show your dominance, but what happens if I am sleeping? If I wake up with a bear right outside my tent while i'm sleeping, and I have nothing to defend myself with, what should I do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13786" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:14:37.767" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:14:37.767" Title="Should I be scared if a black bear is outside of my tent at night?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-08-04T15:02:45.210" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16792" CreationDate="2017-08-04T08:47:33.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One important thing to bear in mind (and the main reason I've never ridden my mountain bike on the beach) is the effect of sand and salt water on all your parts and the frame itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sand is going to clog everything up (bottom bracket, gears and cassette are going to take the brunt of this) and the salt water is going to make everything rust, including your frame. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd only do this on an old banger, I certainly wouldn't take your £3k full bounce mountain bike onto the beach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want the bike to eventually seize up &lt;strong&gt;I'd strip the whole thing down and clean everything out (thoroughly) often.&lt;/strong&gt; Pay particular attention to the bottom bracket, cassette and de-raillers. Remove them from the bike. Clean them and their housings out, I'm talking power washer here. Greases and oil them thoroughly and put them back in..... Then probably oil them again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do get salt water into the frame your going to have a hell of a time getting it out and all the time it's in their it's going to corrode everything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T08:47:33.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-04T10:46:01.853" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a nudist/naturist, I've been to resorts where I've rented a cabin or trailer and needed to keep the key with me. As the resort(s) deal with people who aren't wearing trunks or have pockets, the key they provided was attached to a coil wristband, much like a telephone receiver cord. I was then able to keep it around my wrist the whole day while swimming, hiking, playing tennis, etc. without concern of losing the key(s).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've attached a stock photo as not to advertise for anyone; however, these keyrings were under USD $1 or GBP £0.76.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fzdSO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fzdSO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spiral Wrist Coil Key Chain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13795" LastEditorUserId="13795" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T10:59:00.767" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T10:59:00.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16799" CreationDate="2017-08-04T12:29:53.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Making noise is useful when walking in a forest to tell the animals that you're coming. They probably retreat to safe distance when they hear your voice. However, when you're sleeping, you should avoid making sudden moves or sounds. Move slowly and talk calmly if you want to. The animal probably smells you, so it's no surprise that you're nearby. Startling it might give the impression that you're hostile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion is to stay still and observe what the bear is doing. Don't turn your back to it especially if it has visual contact. Turning away, making sudden moves or fleeing might trigger a &quot;hunting instinct&quot; (there's probably a better translation) in the animal, making it maul you even if it originally doesn't want to hurt you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the bear probably smells your presence. And if it sees you? Playing dead is not recommended anymore at least where I live. The animal might get confused and try to claw or gnaw you. It's better to sit in a low squatting stance, probably leaning a bit forward. Again not turning your back to the animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a difference to sounds you can make. I've noticed that a continuous chatter is less annoying to animals than sudden snorts. Snorting might startle animals, while talking appears to make them lose interest in you. Maybe they know that people don't talk when they're alone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user11993" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T12:29:53.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6304" CreationDate="2017-08-04T15:46:26.773" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For surfing, you will first need to know how to swim very well. If you do know how to swim, or if you practice it daily, then you are are quite fit to go surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are planning to go surfing without regular swimming practice, then first start practicing swimming and then thinking of surfing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For surfing, you need to have a strong physique. By strong, I mean to say physically strong not a body of muscles.&#xA;The exercise that you need to be strong are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Running - 30 mins daily(non-stop)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Skipping - 15 Mins&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Push ups - 40&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crunches - 50&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sit-ups - 100&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Squats - 75&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lunges - 50&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Abdomen exercises&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13797" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T22:05:53.327" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T22:05:53.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1658" CreationDate="2017-08-04T16:21:45.257" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best 5 Himalayan treks that would be climbed from Nepal are-&#xA;The Himalaya’s are the world’s greatest mountain chain, home to the world’s highest mountains.Most trekkers head straight for Everest Base Camp and it’s a great option for an adventure.However, an adventure abounds among the peaks of the Himalayas of which over 100 exceed 7000m or 24000 feet.  Here is a quick rundown of 10 greatest treks from Bhutan to India to Nepal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Everest Base Camp&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All time favorite trek in the Himalayas. Greatest views of the Everest, a good trail, wonderful tea houses and almost continuous views of some of the tallest peaks in the world will keep your attention during a typical 11-day trek. The trail ends at Everest Base Camp, where one can look directly up the ice fall of the Khumbu Glacier towards the peak of Everest which is still an impressive 3500m above. Trekking is possible from September to June and although it’s cold in December and January it’s the time of year you can find real solitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2: Poon Hill and the Annapurna Base Camp&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is really two treks that can be done either separately or together. Like the Everest Base Camp trek, this offers a great trail and fabulous tea house lodgings for those looking for a little comfort along the way. If you have just four or five days the trek to Poon Hill is one of the best short treks in the Himalayas and offers a fantastic up close views of Annapurna. If you have a little more time then make the journey to Annapurna Base Camp established in the famed Annapurna Sanctuary where you can see a breathtaking the view of the south face of Annapurna I, the 10th tallest peak in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3: Manaslu Circuit&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Manaslu Trek is a 14 to 16-day tea-house trek which encircles the world’s 8th highest peak, quite a long trek but one that you are bound to enjoy. In recent years the tea houses and trails have been improved and this trek is quickly becoming a popular alternative to the Annapurna Circuit. This is one of Nepal’s great treks and it gets you away from the crowds at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4: Makalu Base Camp Trek&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s a little more than 16-day trek to the base camp of Makalu the world’s 5th tallest peak. Unlike the treks mentioned so far, this is not your general tea house trek and requires organizing for camping. The trek transverses through a range of environments as it heads up the Barun Valley to the Makalu base camp. It’s a true wilderness experience with some of the last remnants of untouched forests and beautiful alpine meadows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5: Upper Mustang Trek&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Upper Mustang Trek offers a diverse experience, highlighting the desert beauty and ancient Tibetan cultures of Nepal. The 18-day long trek heads north from Jomsom on the far side of the Annapurna Range. A special permit is needed to enter the area and the trek needs to be arranged as a combination tea houses and camping trek. Very few tourists (maybe 1000 a year) make the journey to see this remote part of Nepal. Some of the highlights of the trek include the ancient “Forbidden City” and the ancient monasteries and caves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To know about more treks in Himalayas you could check the sourced page and use their app to get connected with the trekking groups for your area.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13797" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2017-08-04T22:06:28.703" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T22:06:28.703" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14064" CreationDate="2017-08-04T18:04:24.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The urge to breathe is driven by the CO2 content which is still being produced at the same rate at depth as on the surface.  We metabolise the oxygen and produce CO2 as a by-product.  In fact at the surface we breathe out surplus oxygen,  hence one can perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Skip breathing',  i.e. deliberately breathing slowly is really not a good idea as you will build up your CO2 content which can be extremely bad giving you a headache or worse.  One of the absolute worse things that can happen underwater is a CO2 hit -- called hypercapnia -- which can be fatal.  You'll be uncontrollably gasping for breath consuming an enormous quantities of gas and could even spit out your regulator.  Divers I know who have experienced this never want to experience it again.  Rebreather divers do a lot of training for this eventuality;  it's much less common on open circuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alas the high partial oxygen pressure at depth (up to 1.4 on the bottom and 1.6 when decompressing -- the air we're breathing now is 0.21) makes little or no difference to the amount of CO2 we produce and expel from our lungs when we breathe out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One's breathing rate does tend to reduce when hanging at a decompression stop.  The deeper and longer one goes,  the longer these stops will be and they can easily exceed an hour.  The breathing rate goes down simply because you're doing nothing;  laying flat in the water for 30 mins watching your computer's timer appear to slow down.  Good meditation practice - and no mobile phone signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing that affects our breathing rate is stress.  Novice divers tend to breathe more than experienced divers.  But there's nothing like an instructor testing you and &quot;breaking&quot; your equipment to increase your SAC (Surface Air Consumption) rate.  Or diving in a shark cage:  happy happy, then when the shark appears...  where's all that gas gone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2017-08-04T18:04:24.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16810" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16822" CreationDate="2017-08-04T19:48:21.273" Score="11" ViewCount="933" Body="&lt;p&gt;How rare is it to be resistant to poison ivy, or become resistant. I ask only because when younger I was very allergic, but now I can pull it out with bare hands or roll around in it without even an itch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13787" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T03:44:26.173" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T03:44:26.173" Title="How rare is resistance to poison ivy, and does resistance increase?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16815" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-05T02:37:08.587" Score="12" ViewCount="2236" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a hike, we often find many ticks on us (and remove them of course). But the assumption is that some might still be in the clothing, on the shoes, etc. I don't want to throw the worn stuff in the laundry hamper, and have the ticks potentially crawl all over the house, and I also don't want to (or can't - think motel room) immediately wash after every hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that, I thought I had the really clever idea to put my clothing (and shoes) inside a plastic bag in the microwave, for maybe ten seconds (at full power), assuming that would be unsurvivable for ticks (and hopefully any other bugs, spiders, and whatever else was alive in my cloth - shudder). Then I throw them in the laundry hamper (or luggage) for later washing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question: Does ten seconds of micro-waving kill ticks? Is this a useful approach?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13805" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-09T08:51:52.657" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T18:32:25.037" Title="Does putting an item in a microwave oven kill ticks (and other bugs)?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16810" CreationDate="2017-08-05T17:30:16.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how rare resistance is, but it seems the real question is about resistance coming and going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, resistance can come and go for individuals over their lifetime.  Exposure, or long periods of non-exposure, can make a difference, but the result seems to not be predictable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most anecdotes are from people that were, or thought they were, resistant at some point, then have a sudden and unpleasant reaction one day.  Of course those are the anecdotes we are more likely to tell and pass along than the other way around, so meaningful data is hard to tell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, people being resistant, then one day not any more, has happened to three people I've personally talked to.  It can definitely happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moral of the story is to always treat poison ivy (or any of the urushiol-bearing plants) as if you are allergic, because you can't ever rely on not being allergic in any one case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T17:30:16.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16815" CreationDate="2017-08-05T20:34:38.303" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, microwaving will kill ticks. It would do so by making the innards of the bug heat up until it explodes. Pretty gross, so definitely put the clothes inside a bag first!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a few sources talking about killing ticks via microwave, for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fightbugs.com/how-to-get-rid-of-ticks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/Can-you-kill-deer-ticks-by-putting-clothes-in-a-microwave&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a Quora thread&lt;/a&gt;. There's even &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6YVwmJ5UWk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a video&lt;/a&gt; of someone doing this too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to be careful about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not microwave&lt;/strong&gt; if there is any metal on the clothing!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be very cautious about anything catching on fire (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/Laundry-Is-it-safe-to-microwave-wet-clothes-to-dry-them/answer/Kathleen-Fasanella#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;elastic&lt;/a&gt;?) - microwave only in short intervals and keep an eye on it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Natural fibers should be relatively safe. Synthetics on the other hand are plastic, so they can melt if they are heated too much for too long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other ideas you could try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Iron the clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a hair dryer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a sealable bag and stash it there until you can wash the clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T20:34:38.303" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16810" CreationDate="2017-08-05T23:37:16.813" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The poison ivy plant itself is not what makes people itch. It's an oil called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;urushiol&lt;/a&gt;, which is inside the leaves, stems and roots of the plants. That's why some of the sources I quote below use the word urushiol, as that's the technical term for what causes the reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the research I found indicates that between 15% and 25% of people are resistant to the effects of poison ivy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/understanding-poison-ivy-oak-sumac-basics#1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This source&lt;/a&gt; puts the number at 15%:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you ever wondered: Can I get poison ivy? What you're really asking is: Am I allergic to the plant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everyone is. Up to 85% of Americans are allergic to poison ivy, leaving at least 15% resistant to any reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dr. David Adams, a dermatologist at Penn State in Hershey, Pennsylvania, puts the resistant figure at around 25%. He's quoted in an article published in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150701140859.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Science Daily&lt;/a&gt; in July, 2015:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three-quarters of the population will get an itchy red rash if exposed to the urushiol oil inside the plant's leaves, stem and roots. One-quarter of people will not have any reaction to exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you were in the majority group who were allergic as a child, there is research to back up your experience of being less allergic, or even not allergic at all, now that you're older.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/understanding-poison-ivy-oak-sumac-basics#1-2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Understanding Poison Ivy Basics&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sensitivity to poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac varies from a mild to severe reaction, and may not cause any reaction at all the first time you're exposed. Some adults who reacted to poison ivy as children may find that they are now less sensitive. Some may even lose their sensitivity altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/35712-heathy-geezer-poison-ivy.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Live Science&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question&lt;/strong&gt;: I used to get poison ivy a lot when I was a kid. As an adult, I can't remember getting it. Do you develop an immunity to poison ivy?&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Answer&lt;/strong&gt;: Most people have some level of sensitivity to toxic plants. It's the world's most common allergy.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Sensitivity to poison ivy, oak and sumac tends to decline with age. People who got rashes as children usually see their sensitivity decrease by early adulthood. People who were once allergic to poison plants may even lose their sensitivity entirely later in life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can go the other way too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ivyblock.com/myths.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Myths About Poison Ivy&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Myth&lt;/strong&gt;: Once allergic, always allergic to poison ivy.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Fact&lt;/strong&gt;: A person's sensitivity to urushiol reaction changes over time, and even from season to season. People who were sensitive to poison ivy as children may not be allergic as adults and vice versa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://medicinebow.net/media/articles-written-by-mark-warren/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-poison-ivy-but-were-afraid-to-touch/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Medicinebow&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of us are born into this world immune to poison ivy. But that can change at any time, even well into adult hood. When that happens, it almost always means that the allergy lasts for the rest of a lifetime. However, there are contrary claims: Some people who as a child suffered a severe rash allegedly develop immunity as adults.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-05T23:37:16.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16770" CreationDate="2017-08-06T06:45:53.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My swim trunks generally came with a tie string in the front to permit them to be securely fastened to my waist. So when I was a kid, my house key was merely tied into the string with the standard knot. I always used the same knot as I did for a shoelace, which is called a &quot;Double Slip Knot.&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Double+Slip+Knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Double+Slip+Knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key would be tucked into my trunks along with the knot. This location may be a bit uncomfortable due to the convergence of dangling brass with other dangling parts, but it has the distinct advantage of simplicity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same thing worked for locker keys. Many swimming pools have lockers for your personal items, and this was one method used to keep the key attached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12369" LastActivityDate="2017-08-06T06:45:53.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1722" CreationDate="2017-08-06T16:11:51.860" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In response to this:  John- it may not be a control issue- it may be that your wife enjoys exercising competency just as you possibly do and if you are always steering then she is relegated to being a follower, something difficult for us women to always have to do if our men need to be in charge doing 'manly' things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My dear hubby is always wanting to protect me from just about everything.  He is a giant gentle bear of a man and I am a smallish framed woman.  However, I like the feeling of accomplishment and need to be able to do that in our outdoor pursuits as as well as career, etc. whereas he would tote me about if he had his way, saving me from any of life's hardships and trials, including paddling. He encouraged me to retire early so I could just relax, he wants to cary in all the groceries and just dote on me, which is awesome in some respects but restricting in others.  I have explained that I dearly appreciate his care and concern but that he has to let me fail and succeed on my own time in my own way.  That includes carrying groceries since I need my muscles to remain strong as I enter older age. Fortunately he is a great listener and once I explained why I need to fail and succeed and try out new things and accomplish things on my own, he totally got it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps you see your wife more as an individual with her own set of needs rather than perhaps a competitor trying to control everything.  &lt;em&gt;Put her in the back and see how it goes.&lt;/em&gt;  Then take turns at this in your paddling and you will form a team instead of a competition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13811" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-08-06T20:33:46.310" LastActivityDate="2017-08-06T20:33:46.310" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16815" CreationDate="2017-08-07T10:03:01.517" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't count on this working dependably, especially with shoes. The problem is that a microwave works by directly heating up certain molecules, most importantly water. And the energy from the microwave is spread over all such molecules in it. If your clothes are sweaty, there could easily be enough water in them so that it absorbs most of the energy and the ticks aren't heated up enough to die, especially if it's only for ten seconds. And leather shoes will always have quite a bit of moisture in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you'd need to adjust the time and intensity of the microwaving to the total amount of water in there, which you cannot really know. If you misjudge and microwave too little, the ticks survive. If you microwave too much, you could damage the clothes, or the microwave. Again, shoes are especially problematic because they contain glue, which could be damaged by the microwave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-08-10T09:12:55.027" LastActivityDate="2017-08-10T09:12:55.027" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16830" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-07T18:21:45.530" Score="9" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm off this weekend for a three-day big wall with two other friends. I read &quot;Big Walls&quot;, by Long and Middendorf, but the book is too old and doesn't really mention strategies for a three-member crew. For a two-member crew, the strategy is quite standard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climber 1 (C1) climbs pitch, attached to a lead rope (R1) and carrying with him a second rope (R2), which will serve as a zip-line and a haul line;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 arrives at belay, fixes R1 and sets a hauling system for R2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C2 lowers off the pig (haul bag), which is then hauled by C1 while C2 jugs R1 and cleans the pitch;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat for next pitch;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S: If the pitch is long and horizontal, a third rope can make things easier: not only it'll be used to lower off the pig, but also to cancel pendula C2 might have to deal with during the cleaning.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, when dealing with one more person, things start to get a little weirder, since there are many possible strategies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A possible one I was thinking about is &lt;em&gt;Method 1&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 sets off with R1 and R2, same way as before;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 arrives at the belay, fixes both R1 and R2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C2 helps lower out C3, which will jug the fixed line R2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C3 arrives at belay with C2 still waiting. After arriving, C3 sends a signal to C2 to start lowering off the pigs;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C2 lowers off the pigs and starts jugging the fixed line R1 and cleaning the pitch. Meanwhile, C3 and C1 are hauling the pigs;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When hauling is done, C2 is probably halfway cleaning, and C1 or C3 can start leading a new pitch. Hopefully C2 will arrive at belay before the leader is halfway through, because most of the gear will be hanging with C2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S: As always, another rope can be carried by C2 to help him clear the pendula and lower off the pigs.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another one is &lt;em&gt;Method 2&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 sets off with R1 and R2, same way as before;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 arrives at the belay, fixes R1 and pulls up R2 and two other ropes, R3 and R4. R2 in this case will be a very thin, 7mm zip-line;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C1 fixes R1 and R3 and sets a pulley system for R4;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;C3 starts jugging R3 and leader starts hauling from R4 at the same time. C2 immediately sets off to clean the pitch;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After C3 gets to belay and helps C1 with the hauling, he or C1 can already start leading the next pitch;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S: a fifth (!) rope can be carried to avoid pendula, etc.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope I was transparent enough in my descriptions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, let's talk about the advantages of each method. Method 1 has the downside of C2 having to wait till C3 got to the belay to lower off the pigs, and only then start cleaning. But C3 is the fastest of the group anyway: he needs only to jug fast and tight. The main advantage of Method 1 is that C3 can help C1, which just leaded a possible A3+ and is thanking Odin for being alive, to haul the pigs. This method also involves a maximum of 3 ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method 2, on the other hand, can be faster: C2 starts cleaning immediately after C1 fixes R1. C3 can deal with lowering off the pigs and then can sprint up from a fixed line, to help C1 haul a little, and to lead the next pitch. C2 will be cleaning throughout the whole process, so the next leader will have available gear earlier than in Method 1. The problem is that at least 4 ropes &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; be carried, and that C1 will have to haul at least a little bit on his own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you know another method? Does anyone have any experience with both of these methods and can suggest any improvement/comment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-08-08T03:25:45.913" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T14:53:51.220" Title="Big wall strategies for a three-member team" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6413" CreationDate="2017-08-08T00:43:29.267" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to leave lanyards, hair ties or scrunchies, sewing kits, excess usb leads (short ones) pencils and sharpener, batteries with date left on it, even a clean, ironed hanky and a small microfibe hand towel. (Back when they were fancy and new!) These days I am restarting and leaving similar items as am back to finding the easier or larger caches.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13826" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T00:43:29.267" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-08-08T00:43:29.267" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16703" CreationDate="2017-08-08T14:21:23.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here comes my variant of the trekking route which I've recently done without any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starting point is Kvikkjokk, the end is in Saltoluokta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day 1.&lt;/strong&gt; Kvikkjokk - Pårte.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 2.&lt;/strong&gt; Pårte - Aktse. You'll have to cross Laitaure lake to get to Aktse.&#xA; There are rowing boats at any time or a motor boat twice a day. If you want to take a motor boat you'll need to hurry up as the walking distance is long (about 20 km) and the latter boat is at 5 PM.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 3.&lt;/strong&gt; Aktse - Rapadalen. There is a boat from Akste to Nammasj in Rapa river delta at 10 AM every morning. Rapadalen is a bit too long for a one day tour so consider staying one night there. It's also easy to loose the trail in some places and finding it in the forest will require some time.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 4.&lt;/strong&gt; Rapadalen - around Smaila Moot. You can stay somewhere in the middle of Sarek. Variants are many.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 5.&lt;/strong&gt; Smaila Moot - Pastavagge. Pastavagge can be done in one day but it's good to have an extra one for unforeseen obstacles and just to enjoy the nature around.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 6.&lt;/strong&gt; Pastavagge - Sitojaurestugorna. You can take a boat from Rinim in the end of Pastavagge directly to Sitojaurestugorna.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Day 7.&lt;/strong&gt; Sitojaurestugorna - Saltoluokta.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As there is a food store in Aktse there's only 5 days without refill.&#xA;The route can be done faster or slower depending on the weather conditions and your plans.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There were only 5 streams that required some wading skills this time of year (beginning of August), the deepest one was about the knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route can be done in an opposite way obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13675" LastActivityDate="2017-08-08T14:21:23.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16830" CreationDate="2017-08-09T14:53:51.220" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One issue with Method 1 is that after C3 finishes jugging on R2, C2 needs to be able to pull R2 back to the anchor and attach the pig. If the lower end of R2 is attached to the anchor, then it may become difficult for C3 to tie in short as they are jugging since the rope could become taught. A way around this is to either attach the pendulum rope R3 to R2 to allow C2 to retrieve the lower end of R2. A slightly different system would be for C3 to drag a second haul line R4 as they are jugging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One issue with Method 2 is there is a lot going on (two people jugging and one person hauling). It might be better if C2 lowers C3 and the pig out immediately and both C2 and C3 start jugging, but C1 does not immediately start hauling the pig. Then when C3 gets to the belay, they can start leading the next pitch immediately. When C2 finishes cleaning, they can then start hauling (sucks to be C2). This not only gets the next pitch started sooner, but also means only two things are moving at once (two people jugging, leader and cleaner, or leader and pig).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T14:53:51.220" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16836" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-09T18:52:38.687" Score="-3" ViewCount="2081" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experiences with guns and/or bear spray in combination, instead of just carrying one over the other? How have bears reacted to warning shots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We backpack in bear country (black &amp;amp; grizz) and carry bear spray as well as a handgun for our safety. Unless we're in a National Park, we will also have our Border Collie with us, mostly off leash (if you ever hiked long distance, over variable terrain with your dog(s), you know why a leash isn't comfortable or safe for either dog or owner), but not allowed to run ahead of us on the trail. I've read many stories, statistics and comparisons between using bear spray vs. a gun for protection, almost all of them favor the bear spray. I'm not disagreeing with these, but haven't found much advise on the use of BOTH.&#xA;We ran into black bear in the Wilderness the other day, on the trail, about 50-70 yards away. The dog was about 10 feet to my right, and we saw the bear just after it had spotted us. She didn't charge or bark. The bear checked us out, while I turned sideways, keeping an eye on the bear, reaching for my bear spray, and telling my hiking companion behind me of the bear. We were slowly backing away to give the bear an escape route, speaking to the bear and the dog. The bear (bluff) charged, and my companion shot a warning shot. Everybody froze. The bear stopped its charge. I discharged the bear spray, mainly to build a wall in front of us, as the bear was about 25 yards away now. The wind carried the bear spray cloud off to the side, it went out maybe ~10', not the 35' advertised on the can, I was disappointed in the product. We talked loudly and aggressively to the bear and stood our ground, the bear left. Despite being in the wilderness, this was on a fairly busy trail, at a lake used for camping as well. I'm assuming the bear was habituated to humans and looking for food rewards. We saw it again on our way back from our destination in a gully, this time we were louder and there was no wind, so the bear had spotted us beforehand and wandered through the creek and up the other side of the gully, clearly not out for a confrontation. After this experience, I don't see how one would ONLY carry bear spray, as the bear would have to have been so much closer in its charge for it to have even reached it/deterred it with the wind. The warning shot proved very effective in this case! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13835" LastEditorUserId="13835" LastEditDate="2017-08-09T21:54:11.867" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T22:06:40.410" Title="Warning shot in bear encounter?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2017-08-10T07:37:41.013" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4829" CreationDate="2017-08-09T19:32:40.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;All potentially smelly things can attract bears, which is why they are on the list of items that should be avoided or stored properly. Speaking from personal experience though, MYSELF will be far smellier at the end of day after hiking, sweating, hanging out at the campfire, and applying copious amounts of bug spray, than a tube of toothpaste, or a water bottle, that only ever had water in it. The bear WILL smell me in the tent either way, and if it comes after me, I will fight back, as this will not be a surprise encounter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13835" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T19:32:40.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3740" CreationDate="2017-08-09T19:41:57.083" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We carry both, a handgun (.45) and bear spray in black bear/grizzly country. A warning shot recently stopped a black bear from (bluff) charging LONG before it was within range of the bear spray. I deployed the bear spray as well, but it was carried sideways 10 feet by the wind and the bear would have to been much closer for it to be effective. Had it charged again, or for real (not bluffing), bear spray should be more effective, as it builds a wall in front of you, and is much easier to deploy and aim than a gun. Luckily, I never had to test it's effectiveness at close range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13835" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T19:41:57.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16836" CreationDate="2017-08-09T21:57:07.890" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before bear spray was even a thing, people always carried shotguns. Most people in the wilder parts of the world still do carry shotguns, because an angry bear will charge right through bear spray, as recently happened to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/todd.orr?hc_ref=ARQI_Au0umFrnlTQv_e8p-k-AFOyHJVZSMeSNt6dI307mGUv9--BAPrmkmsaBwupVng&amp;amp;fref=nf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;man in Montana&lt;/a&gt; late last year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One guy I hiked with as a kid kept 5 shots in his shotgun, the first was just bird shot, a warning shot into the air. The second was a ball slug, to shoot past or near the bear so he could hear it whiz by. The last three shots were hollow points, to put the bear down if it didn't stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear spray is only effective if deployed within range of the bear, there's no such thing as, &quot;putting up a wall&quot; of spray, you should only use it on bears that are approaching you and are getting close enough that you are going to have to either spray them or fight them. If a bear is in full charge, you can try spraying early and hope the bear doesn't run into the cloud, but it's not guaranteed to stop a bear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time you'd carry both spray and a gun, is if you had more than one person and you wanted to have lethal backup incase the bear spray proved ineffective. But even if the bear spray doesn't work, and the guy with the spray gets attacked, there's a chance the guy with the gun might shoot guy with the spray instead of the bear. A man was shot by his son in law near Fernie BC not to many summers ago trying to save his life from a bear that was attacking him. The son-in-law put several shots into the bear and at least on into his father-in-law's leg during all the kicking and screaming with the bear on top of him. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-08-09T22:06:40.410" LastActivityDate="2017-08-09T22:06:40.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1722" CreationDate="2017-08-10T08:50:04.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to give paddling advice without seeing someone paddle, but from your description it sounds like the person in front is actively doing the wrong thing, and quite strongly so because the person in the rear position should have much more control over the boat than the one in front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most likely thing I can think of is that she is trying too hard to help steering. When you want to go to the right, she knows she has to paddle on the left, so she looks at her left blade, leans to the left and starts paddling really hard but very close to the boat. This is something a lot of beginners do, and it's ineffective or counter-productive at worst. Try to give her the advice to look where she wants to go, not where her blade is, because the body goes where the head goes and the boat goes where the body goes, and to use long, wide strokes far from the boat while steering. You could also ask her to try holding the paddle with her hands further apart. Yourself too. Most people hold their hands too close together, giving them less control over the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, ask her to not try and steer at all but just paddle forwards while you figure out better how to steer the boat. If your handling of the boat was good enough she would not have much influence from the front. You might be able to use the same tips above, and as a bit of a patch you can also use braking strokes on the side of the boat where you want to go. They're a stronger steering influence than the wide &quot;bow strokes&quot; on the other side. Try to not hold the paddle perpendicular to the boat and just brake hard though. Instead, try to use the blade more like a rudder, almost parallel to the boat and as far back as comfortable. Feel what the pressure does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I said before, it is really hard to give advice based on a text, it's better to have a kayaker friend have a single look at you guys than to ask online, but this is what I think might help based on your description. That being said, I work as a kayak guide for beginners, and often a crucial part of the best approach is just to keep trying. I've yet to see someone go from zero to hero from a single tip, but I've seen plenty of boats coming in stronger than they went out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2017-08-10T08:55:28.957" LastActivityDate="2017-08-10T08:55:28.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16759" CreationDate="2017-08-10T09:18:15.213" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even barring special circumstances like focal points and such you can in general hear sounds from further away in the mountains. Reason one is all the air between two points. On flat ground there is often lots of sound absorbing stuff near the path of the sound, like soil and plants. Open air carries the sound better. The second reason are rocky walls serving as deflectors. If you talk in front of a large rocky wall all the sound that would usually go backwards is reflected, increasing the amount of sound going forward. If the listener is also standing in front of a rock, some of the sound that misses them on the way in gets reflected back and still makes it to their ears. In very short: you hear better for the same reason there are echo's. If a valley echoes well, it probably carries sounds very far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-08-10T09:18:15.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16842" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16844" CreationDate="2017-08-10T22:11:05.743" Score="11" ViewCount="332" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the United States, we have areas designated as National Parks, and areas designated as National Monuments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the fundamental differences between the two? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:45:20.057" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:45:20.057" Title="What's the difference between a National Park and a National Monument in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;national-monuments&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16842" CreationDate="2017-08-11T02:03:51.653" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The difference is mostly one of administrative/bureaucratic elements. Both are protected areas, the difference is in who creates and manages them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All National Parks are run by the National Park Service (NPS), part of the US Department of the Interior. Creation of new national parks is done through an act of congress. Creation of a new park using land administered by a different dept, such as a National Forest which is managed by the Dept of Agriculture, would also require congressional action to reassign that section of land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National Monuments on the other hand, can be created on any federally owned land, through presidential authority alone. Congress can create monuments as well, but authority is not exclusive to them as is for NPS. Additionally, management of a National Monument can be done by whatever agency is appropriate. Many National Monuments are run and managed by the NPS, but not all. Some are maintaind by the US Forest Service, some by the BLM, one by the Dept of Energy, one by the Air Force and others. Whereas without exception all National Parks must be managed by the NPS. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, there is really no significant necessary difference, as whether a given place feels like a park, museum, or something else will depend more on what the protected area contains rather than who's running it. Being a park does have a somewhat narrower criteria than national monuments, but you'll see more variation within the two groups than between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-08-11T02:03:51.653" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16845" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16855" CreationDate="2017-08-11T08:45:36.133" Score="11" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently gotten into foraging for mushrooms locally and have been happily eating &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_campestris&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;field mushrooms&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvatia_gigantea&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;giant puffballs&lt;/a&gt; (these are absolutely delicious if you can find them BTW). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was reading a foraging book the other day and it stated that there is only one truly deadly poisonous mushroom in the UK (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Death cap&lt;/a&gt;). All the others may well make you really ill but would be unlikely to kill you, unless you eat them in large quantities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-13T23:02:17.200" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T23:02:17.200" Title="What UK mushrooms will kill you?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16846" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-11T16:30:20.497" Score="5" ViewCount="101" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to fish for Butterfly Peacock bass with some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onthewater.com/versatile-bucktail-jig&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bucktail jigs&lt;/a&gt;, but I haven't been able to find information on the best way to rig my line to have a successful setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Florida and am fishing in a river that is around 20-30ft deep where I am. I've heard that the average size of these fish here is around 5 lb. I have a 6'6&quot; light power Ugly Stik spinning rod and a 3000 Penn Pursuit reel with 10lb braided line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I use/rig a bucktail jig in this situation and what size jig should I use? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-26T01:17:40.883" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T01:17:40.883" Title="What's the best way to use bucktail jigs to catch Butterfly Peacock bass?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16847" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17125" CreationDate="2017-08-11T20:47:19.023" Score="4" ViewCount="303" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/405054/is-there-an-english-equivalent-for-the-persian-proverb-to-play-with-tail-of-lio/405119#comment964826_405119&quot;&gt;This exchange of comments&lt;/a&gt; on English Language and Usage got me to wondering if outdoor ice-skating &lt;strong&gt;is&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;was&lt;/strong&gt; ever a sport in Iran (or central Asia). Certainly it gets cold enough in parts of Iran. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iran has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/iran-ski-dizin-damavand-silk-road/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ski resorts&lt;/a&gt;, and skiing has been popular in Iran for a long time. Good skiing is easily accessible from Tehran.  However, the main population center, Tehran, has an average low above freezing, so skaters there are dependent on ice-rinks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first ice-rink in Tehran since 1979 opened in 2013: From &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920916001365&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FarsNews&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Iran’s first standard skating rink will open in Tehran’s Aramis Sports&#xA;  Complex on Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The rink is predicted to host thousands of Iranian ice-skating&#xA;  enthusiasts who have long been waiting for the standard hall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The openning [sic] of the ice rink seems to be now even more important than&#xA;  before as Iranian athletes can exercise six ice-related sports in&#xA;  preparation for winter Olympics and Asian games, including ice skating&#xA;  and figure skating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://globalnews.ca/video/1018434/raw-video-iran-opens-first-ice-rink-in-three-decades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Global News&lt;/a&gt; shows a video of skaters enjoying the rink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skating, of course, started as an outdoor sport thousands of years ago: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_skating&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one source&lt;/a&gt; says more than 3,000 years ago in Finland.  The same source says that ice-skating can be traced in China to the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE).  See also &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080104-first-skates_2.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic&lt;/a&gt; on the subject of ancient ice-skates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have not been able to find anything on outdoor ice-skating on natural ice in Iran. I could have generalized my search to ancient Persia, and the countries of Central Asia, but decided to ask the question here instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Afterthought:&lt;/em&gt;  It may be that Central Asia is too dry, and Iran not cold enough, except in the mountains, which are sparsely populated.  But it would be nice to know for sure.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-08-11T22:47:52.933" LastActivityDate="2017-09-10T00:58:14.010" Title="Is ice-skating on lakes or ponds a sport in Iran (or Central Asia)?" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;iran&gt;&lt;iceskating&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16849" CreationDate="2017-08-12T02:33:50.610" Score="9" ViewCount="3186" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was walking my dog along this one stretch of side walk in my neighborhood and there are a few of these trees lined up along it.  They have a fuzzy seed pod (or perhaps a flower pod?) that reminds me of an artichoke, and smooth shiny leaves.  Below are pictures of the pod and leaves, and the bark (which is a bit blurry, but I don't think it takes away from it too much):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOUA3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOUA3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pod and leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7GYF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7GYF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of tree is this?  This is in  southeast Virginia, but I think these trees were planted here, so I'm not sure if they are native to the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:36:07.320" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T14:18:05.337" Title="What is this tree with shiny leaves and a fuzzy seed pod?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16848" CreationDate="2017-08-12T05:29:40.280" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's a &lt;strong&gt;magnolia&lt;/strong&gt; tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first saw one in Delaware in the dead of winter encased in ice after an ice storm. All the other trees had dropped their leaves, but the magnolia doesn't shed its thick leaves seasonally, it sheds them like an evergreen throughout the year. It was odd to see a green-leafed tree in the dead of winter. Trees up north shed their leaves in order to preserve water, as 90% percent of the water trees soak up evaporates into the air, so if they kept their leaves through the winter they'd die from thirst. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The magnolia seems to be able to survive with its thicker leaves by curling them up in the winter. Your first impression is that the tree is curling up its leaves in an effort to stay warm, but I believe it's actually trying to conserve water by hiding its leaves from the sun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://midatlanticgardening.com/tag/magnolia/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mid-Atlantic Gardening&lt;/a&gt; has good information and pictures of the types of magnolia that grow in Virginia. It also shows other shrubs and trees in your area, in case you're interested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-12T17:26:36.490" LastActivityDate="2017-08-12T17:26:36.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16851" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16852" CreationDate="2017-08-12T22:08:58.900" Score="10" ViewCount="308" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know dry bags come in different sizes and materials, some being soft and some being rigid and tough. However I've noticed there are items in the market that are exactly the same as a soft dry bag but are called '&lt;em&gt;sac liner&lt;/em&gt;' or '&lt;em&gt;rucksack liner&lt;/em&gt;'. I can't spot any differences as the closure is the same and all the seams are sealed. So I'm wondering, can I use a sac liner as a dry bag to carry in a small kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-29T13:30:05.827" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T13:30:05.827" Title="What is the difference between a sac liner and a dry bag?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16851" CreationDate="2017-08-13T08:08:57.743" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The soft dry bags aren't as good as the stiffer sort anyway. My traditional plasticised dry bag can handle long periods in the water if it's been rolled down properly, but my nylon ones eventually let a little moisture in if squashed around in water. I think the roll seal isn't as good if they're too flexible, especially if you also attach it by the loop formed by clipping it shut. Also the dynamic pressure of moving water could easily exceed the hydrostatic head of many fabrics. So I'd be very wary about using a large soft one for things that have to be completely dry. My first aid kit, for example, is in one small dry bag inside another which it shares with other emergency kit that can handle a little damp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The soft dry bags sold for watersports use have some reinforcement to help the top roll down properly (even though I've expressed my doubts about how well this works). The ones sold as liners often don't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-08-13T15:34:16.203" LastActivityDate="2017-08-13T15:34:16.203" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16845" CreationDate="2017-08-14T06:16:48.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am quite certain that there are more deadly mushrooms than just the one you mentioned - if only for the other members of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita#Toxicity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amanita&lt;/a&gt; Genus, many of which are very poisonous and some plain kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_virosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amanita Vitrosa&lt;/a&gt;, with the uncommonly poetic name &lt;em&gt;destroying angel&lt;/em&gt; (German: Weisser Knollenblätterpilz), is just as deadly as the one you mentioned. What makes it potentially even more dangerous (or at least I was told so by several people who taught me mushroom foraging as a kid) is that it has some similarities to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Agaricus&lt;/a&gt; (German: Champignon), some of which are commonly collected for eating. Apparently it happens that people mix them up and get themselves killed this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line: Best don't touch anything from the Amanita Genus. From Wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although some species of Amanita are edible, many fungi experts advise against eating a member of Amanita unless the species is known with absolute certainty. Because so many species within this genus are so deadly toxic, if a specimen is identified incorrectly, consumption may cause extreme sickness and possibly death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2nd Bottom line: know your mushrooms. &lt;strong&gt;Stick to the ones you know well&lt;/strong&gt; and are clearly distinguishable from poisonous members of the Fungi kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If ever in doubt, don't eat them - or &lt;strong&gt;get the mushrooms tested&lt;/strong&gt; first: I don't know about other places, but in Switzerland in mushroom season there are designated mushroom control offices where people can bring their finds and have them looked at by a fungi expert. (See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vapko.ch/index.php/de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;VAPKO&lt;/a&gt;, page in German/French/Italian)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2017-08-14T08:29:05.567" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T08:29:05.567" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16851" CreationDate="2017-08-14T15:16:11.207" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rucksack liners don't require as much sturdiness as a dry bag since they go inside a rucksack/backpack, which gives it protection and structure.  As such rucksack liners weigh less than dry bags and alone won't stand up to the same abuse but inside a backpack will perform optimally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="231" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T15:16:11.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16848" CreationDate="2017-08-14T15:41:02.080" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;100% magnolia, I have 3 of them in my yard.  Beautiful trees, have very fragrant blossoms in the spring and summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T15:41:02.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6956" CreationDate="2017-08-14T16:36:36.443" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use an empty prescription medication plastic bottle form CVS or Wallgreens.  If it's a little bit loose, I can secure it with a duct tape.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13854" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T16:36:36.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16718" CreationDate="2017-08-14T16:52:49.307" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;yes, it is possible, at least for the Alabama curriculum it is.  Alabama doesn't require the course, but other states do and you can take it online.  The course specifically talks about recurves and longbows.  Check you state laws concerning minimum poundage and equipment, and assuming the state your hunting in allows the weapon, give it a go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see where it talks about 'traditional' archery stuff in the alabama study guide on this page:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bowhunter-ed.com/alabama/studyGuide/The-Longbow/301002_776&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bowhunter-ed.com/alabama/studyGuide/The-Longbow/301002_776&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2017-08-14T16:52:49.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16860" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16866" CreationDate="2017-08-14T19:44:09.150" Score="8" ViewCount="6748" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is this one tree (I believe an oak tree) near my road that is very large in size.  Practically at the base of its trunk, it diverges into four other large trunks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZJe3il.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZJe3il.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tree split into 4&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes this phenomenon in trees?  Is it possible that this was actually a few trees that have grow into one another?  To me, this looks like one tree that early on in it's life, somehow split off into four trunks like so.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T10:39:05.660" Title="What causes a tree to split into multiple trunks?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16862" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-14T23:02:08.277" Score="10" ViewCount="361" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking and backpacking, I often ponder how the trail came to be located where it is. Some trails, especially longer ones, seem like they could take several different routes to get to their destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say a wooded, mountainous US national park decides to build a trail several miles long between an established trail and an interesting geological feature. How would they go about routing said trail? How would the approach have differed before technologies like GPS, aerial imagery, and detailed topographic maps came about?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13512" LastEditorUserId="13512" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T15:11:14.143" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T15:11:14.143" Title="How are the routes of hiking trails determined?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16863" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-15T03:02:23.487" Score="1" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing 1-2 times / week (usually once) for about a month. After each time I climb, I feel joint pain in my elbows. From my understanding, this is likely &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_elbow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tennis Elbow&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slowly but surely, the pain seems to be becoming less intense, and also last a bit shorter each time I climb. My question is, how long does it generally take to stop feeling elbow pain altogether after a climb? I am aware that there are mitigating techniques for alleviating joint pain as mentioned in this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/296/what-can-i-do-to-help-relieve-joint-pain-in-fingers-after-climbing/6897#6897&quot;&gt;What can I do to help relieve joint pain in fingers after climbing?&lt;/a&gt;. My question, however, is related to how long it generally takes to feel &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt; elbow pain for someone who is climbing 1-2 times / week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13857" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T03:02:23.487" Title="How long does it generally take to stop feeling climber's elbow?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-08-15T09:27:44.393" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16860" CreationDate="2017-08-15T05:39:13.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If in the past a fairly large tree had been cut there, the stump, if left high enough to sprout could feasibly have a group that could grow to that size Because it doesn't appear to be from lightning or some other natural damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13787" LastEditorUserId="13787" LastEditDate="2017-08-15T17:11:34.197" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T17:11:34.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16862" CreationDate="2017-08-15T09:38:00.863" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This very much depends on what country you're in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The majority of footpaths in the UK are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-public-rights-of-way&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;public rights of way&lt;/a&gt;. These are simply the routes people have travelled since time immemorial, the route from a village to the market town or an ancient &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drovers%27_road&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;drovers' road&lt;/a&gt;. Some of these were paved and became modern roads, many were not and remain footpaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The newer routes are often either created by the National Trust or other body to allow easy access to a specific location, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/the-trails&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;national trails&lt;/a&gt;, or are disused railway lines that have been converted to footpaths or cycle trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T09:38:00.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16860" CreationDate="2017-08-15T12:25:01.563" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US this is sometimes called a schoolmarm (alt school-marm) there are a number of ways they can form.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/glossary.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;OSHA Logging terms&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16860/what-causes-a-tree-to-split-into-multiple-trunks/16864#16864&quot;&gt;existing answer&lt;/a&gt; some trees like willow grow very aggressively and a low cut stump can have several shoots that grow in to trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two or more seeds growing in the same location can grow multiple trees.  If there is sufficient sunlight neither new sapling will have a significant advantage and both will prosper.  This can occur naturally or from manual over planting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes two forks of a tree will grow about the same. This can be an internal event for the tree, or due to an external trauma like the top of the main trunk of the sapling being browsed by wild life, leaving lower branches to compete to become one or more primary trunk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Schoolmarm's pose risks on two fronts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The junction between the trunks is more likely to catch water and/or debris, leading to rot that will cause it to fail (die and/or fall) earlier then it neighbors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is very difficult to cut down the tree safely, without good access to back side of the tree it is difficult to control the direction of it's fall. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/working-with-chainsaws/directional-tree-felling-how-to-notch-and-hinge-a-tree/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Directional tree felling&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T10:39:05.660" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T10:39:05.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16867" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16868" CreationDate="2017-08-15T16:53:19.433" Score="11" ViewCount="641" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent hike at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/wachusett-meadow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;http://town.princeton.ma.us/Pages/index&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Princeton, Massachusetts&lt;/a&gt;, my husband came across this tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trunk is twisted in a spiral/curly fashion. It was in a forest of many other trees, but this was the only one that looked like that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the name of the tree? Is that just the way it grows, or an indication of something wrong with it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oFX7V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oFX7V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;curly tree at Audubon&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-17T19:24:22.177" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T11:40:54.743" Title="What is this tree with a spiral shaped trunk in Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16867" CreationDate="2017-08-15T18:41:00.380" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect that tree grew with something else twined around it.  That something else has meanwhile died or been removed.  Bittersweet is a likely candidate for what might have wound around the tree earlier in its life.  There is more information on bittersweet in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/9157/1854&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't tell exactly what type of tree it is without seeing the leaves.  However, it is a hardwood.  The leaves we can see appear to be maple, but it's hard to tell, and they don't look like they are from the tree in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-04-06T11:40:54.743" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T11:40:54.743" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16862" CreationDate="2017-08-15T18:55:21.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many reasons a trail takes the particular path it does.  Probably the most common is historical, as you mention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the least common is deliberate design.  Most trails have evolved from usage patterns before anyone went out to deliberately make a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trails that are deliberately designed as trails are the results of lots of tradeoffs.  There are many criteria that go into deciding where exactly to route a trail.  Some are:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Access to points of interest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Limit the slope.  People generally don't like steep trails.  They are also more difficult to maintain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are designing a handicapped-accessible trail, then you have to be careful about maximum grade (among many other things).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ease of cutting the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ease of maintaining the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Trying not to create erosion.  You really don't want a trail going straight up a slope, even if the magnitude of the slope is acceptable.  Use will make a rut.  Then water will run down the rut making a bigger rut.  In the end you created a new streambed, not a trail.  Then people walk along the sides, making a even bigger mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;To avoid particularly sensitive ecological areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;To keep things like nearby houses out of sight of the trail users.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Because conservation restrictions, deed restrictions, requirements of the land donor, or various other legal restrictions don't give you much choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;You (or the organization you are designing the trail for) only owns a narrow corridor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;To avoid certain terrain, like rock jumbles, soggy areas, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added in response to new question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;US national park ... How would I go about routing a public-use trail&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;YOU DON'T!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hacking your own trails in a National Park is a really bad idea, not to mention a federal offense that will have consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really think there should be a new trail somewhere in a National Park, you very humbly propose it to park management.  Most likely they won't be interested.  If you do actually convince them, it will be a process.  They will have standards that new trails must adhere to, various policies and procedures that must be followed, etc.  They will certainly want to choose the route.  You might be able to help or have influence over that process, probably depending on what they think of you.  They will most likely want to do the construction with their own trail crews.  Volunteers they feel comfortable with may be able to contribute, but don't take that for granted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T00:39:49.473" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T00:39:49.473" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2017-08-15T20:22:13.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The TL;DR answer: Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can always kill in self defense if your life is in serious danger* from the animal or even person you're shooting, e.g. if you have good reason to believe they are trying to kill you (for instance because they're a bear and they're charging) in any jurisdiction I know of. It doesn't matter if that animal/person is the last white tiger or the queen of Britain. It even doesn't matter whether in hindsight you were actually in danger. If the bear is drawing what after the fact turns out to be a fake gun on you (I know, great example) you were still in the right, because you had no way to know it was fake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever die messily, let it not be because you wondered about local laws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Some jurisdictions like several US states use a more relaxed idea of serious danger, while other places like much of Europe are stricter, but getting mauled by a bear counts everywhere, even in places without bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See all the other answers for things to consider and some great alternatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Oh wow, didn't see how old this question was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-08-15T20:22:13.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16871" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16872" CreationDate="2017-08-15T23:30:51.347" Score="6" ViewCount="309" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in my hometown in Northeast Pennsylvania, I remembered that there was this tree down my road that had an &lt;strong&gt;extreme&lt;/strong&gt; curvature to it.  Now, I could see a branch of a tree growing like this, but this trees curved part was its trunk and very low to the ground, and then it started to grow straight up.  Here is that tree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AcfbPl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AcfbPl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Crazy tree&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now in my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16860/what-causes-a-tree-to-split-into-multiple-trunks&quot;&gt;previous question&lt;/a&gt;, I asked how a tree split off into multiple trunks, but this is something far more bizarre.  How and why did this tree grow like this?  It's almost hard to believe that a tree grew this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:11:33.687" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:11:33.687" Title="How does a tree with such an extreme curvature form?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16871" CreationDate="2017-08-16T00:07:09.320" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;That tree got bent over but not snapped when it was just tall enough so that its tip was where the end of the bend is now.  One of the small branches near that tip happened to point upwards after the bending.  That branch basically became the new trunk.  The existing bent wood stayed where it was, with layers added each year enlarging its diameter.  Now 25 year later you come along and see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree survived its early trauma, but if it weren't growing at the side of a field that is actively maintained, it probably would not have gotten enough light to compete.  Note that some of its branches are already dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T00:07:09.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16873" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-16T13:56:25.347" Score="7" ViewCount="203" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in a region where you have trails that are open any time of the year, some of the other trails are usable throughout the year except rainy (monsoon) season.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are also rare cases of the trails with sharp slopes regarding which trekkers are advised against using them in Summers (due to extremely dry weather causing soil and grass drying which turns into a extremely difficult section to pass through).&#xA;In our region, people typically have got familiar with marking of trails by best natural ways instead of signboards (which are very rare). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the best possible ways to indicate a 'closed' trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start with, what I have seen for decades now, villagers usually put a huge branch of thorny bush on the trail so that no cattle (or a trekker) continue to walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T20:40:07.300" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T17:57:52.337" Title="What are the best possible ways of indicating a 'closed' trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16874" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:44:07.787" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T15:44:07.787" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T15:44:07.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16875" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:44:07.787" Score="0" Body="May refer to how to safely sleep or rest in the outdoors, as well as for questions about sleep gear.  " OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T18:10:42.713" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T18:10:42.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16876" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:45:19.947" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T15:45:19.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T15:45:19.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16877" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:45:19.947" Score="0" Body="Ammunition for a bow. This tag should be used when asking question about types of arrows or how they should be used." OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-08-16T18:10:50.830" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T18:10:50.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16878" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:47:15.960" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:28:59.110" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:28:59.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16879" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:47:15.960" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Mt Everest" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:28:59.110" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:28:59.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16880" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:48:54.213" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord when referring to type-III paracord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of parachutes. This cord is useful for many other tasks and is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:07:35.763" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:07:35.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16881" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-16T15:48:54.213" Score="0" Body="Questions about paracord (parachute cord)" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:07:35.763" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:07:35.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16882" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16883" CreationDate="2017-08-16T16:24:16.497" Score="8" ViewCount="1909" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a fairly bad cut on my leg, not quite bad enough for stitches but will probably leave a scar. I have a camping trip planned this weekend at a lake where we will go swimming and kayaking. I expect the cut to be partially healed by then, but not to the point where I feel safe leaving it exposed. (I'm also a little nervous given a couple recent news reports about &quot;flesh-eating bacteria&quot;, even though I know it's rare, and the incidents didn't happen near where we'll be!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At home I have been wearing a fabric bandage, which allows air flow but only keeps it safe from &quot;dry&quot; contaminants. I did read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14712/how-should-you-treat-an-open-wound-in-the-backcountry&quot;&gt;How should you treat an open wound in the backcountry?&lt;/a&gt;, but it's about immediate first aid treatment for when the wound happens in the wild, and doesn't discuss what to do about water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What precautions should I take to protect the wound before, during, and after going into lake water? What first-aid items should I pack?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, simply not swimming and kayaking is an option for this situation (although it would be a bummer), but this could also be a concern if you got a cut on a canoeing trip or a hike with water crossings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11039" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:56:30.480" Title="How can I care for a wound that will be immersed in water?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16882" CreationDate="2017-08-16T16:32:33.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water tight is subject to lots of variable. As you mention just staying out of the water is the least risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are Waterproof Transparent Dressings, a good example is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nexcare.com/3M/en_US/nexcare/products/catalog/~/Nexcare-Tegaderm-Waterproof-Transparent-Dressing?N=4326+3294529207+3294631802&amp;amp;rt=rud&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nexcare™ Tegaderm™ Waterproof Transparent Dressing&lt;/a&gt; It lists among its attributes &quot;Seals out water, dirt and germs to help prevent infection&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen this stuff in use, it can stay in place for up to a week, and is not easy to remove. If there are hairs growing in the area, it may compromise the seal and make removal painful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T16:32:33.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16873" CreationDate="2017-08-16T16:51:00.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A trail closed sign on a post or tree.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TtNYy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TtNYy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sign&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-08-16T16:51:00.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16885" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16905" CreationDate="2017-08-16T19:38:11.733" Score="12" ViewCount="3476" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the United Kingdom. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This cheeky fellow recently wandered into the house, scaring the life out of the missus, much to the amusement of the child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OFhGDm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mystery Bird&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/om5KYm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mystery Bird&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XKKvQm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mystery Bird&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put him out in the porch with a bit of wild bird seed mix I had kicking around from spring time, he ate some and wandered off. He's since been back for more and has taken to wandering in and out. I have a large garden with several well established trees, undergrowth etc. I don't mind him hanging around and am happy to put food out / make somewhere suitable in the porch for him to sleep but I'd like to know more info so I can put out the right food etc. Any advice on what he is, what he eats, bedding materials etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why am I bothering with a wild bird, you may ask? Couple of reasons - I live near a very fast road and it'd be a shame for him to get flattened. He looks young and on his own and I suspect he's not truly wild; there are a couple of places round here that keep and breed pheasants (as far as I'm aware) and he may have come from there/ have been raised in some form of captivity. I've made enquiries with the locals but no one has responded to say they're a bird short, so if he's heading towards a career in the big outdoors, I don't mind providing a helping hand (and if he becomes a semi-pet, no big deal either, though he does poop like a trooper, so maybe he can stay outside)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13868" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:49:27.793" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:49:27.793" Title="Is it a pheasant? A grouse? What do I feed it?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16885" CreationDate="2017-08-17T07:42:57.110" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would start with any bird seed blend you may have.  After all it is a bird and I have turkeys and even deer eat my bird seed so it'll eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13787" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T07:42:57.110" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="679" CreationDate="2017-08-17T08:06:34.603" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most people make far to much noise when in the woods to ever see a bear unless you have some munchies. The few bears I've come across took off as fast as they could. Nothing closer than 50' though but they rarely want anything to do with you anyway. But to answer the question yes you can defend yourself&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13787" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T08:06:34.603" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16888" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16906" CreationDate="2017-08-17T11:55:14.750" Score="7" ViewCount="796" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about getting into geocaching with my girlfriend, as it sounds like an activity that we'd both enjoy a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I really don't think that I want to buy a dedicated GPS device if at all avoidable. On one hand I don't want to spend the money, on the other it'll just be one more device to keep around, make sure it's charged, upgrade firmware or maps, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I simply use my smartphone with Google maps for geocaching? Are the modern smartphone GPS receivers accurate enough?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything that would make dedicated GPS devices much better at geocaching compared to smartphones?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:43:50.237" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T01:40:26.113" Title="Geocaching: How important is having a dedicated GPS device instead of a smartphone?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;cell-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16889" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-17T12:01:45.383" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-08-17T12:01:45.383" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T12:01:45.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16890" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-17T12:01:45.383" Score="0" Body="Questions about helmets" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:10:25.177" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:10:25.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16891" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-17T12:04:45.007" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-08-17T12:04:45.007" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T12:04:45.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16892" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-17T12:04:45.007" Score="0" Body="Refers to the different kinds of chemical fuels used with outdoor appliances.  Use this tag for questions about specific fuels." OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2017-08-17T16:24:01.733" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T16:24:01.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16873" CreationDate="2017-08-17T17:57:52.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest a closure notice showing the reason and the time-period. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiURg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiURg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Explaining the closure makes it more likely that people will understand the reason and comply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Western Alps you sometimes come across chord or tape across a trail with no reason given, which makes it difficult to evaluate whether to ignore it or not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alternative to a notice would be some kind of a physical barrier, but this would likely hamper local people going about their business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T17:57:52.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16888" CreationDate="2017-08-17T18:12:07.320" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern smartphones are at least as accurate as dedicated GPS devices in most conditions. Just turn off battery intensive apps to preserve battery life if you will be out for an extended period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But Google Maps is not the way to go outside of urban walking - you will generally need a specialised GPS app with downloadable maps that can be used offline when reception isn't available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/58xFC.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/58xFC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T18:12:07.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16898" CreationDate="2017-08-17T19:12:19.693" Score="11" ViewCount="1623" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry if this question has been asked before or if it's a very vague question, but I'm just in the process of buying a new backpack for myself and I'm confused about how it's supposed to fit on the shoulders. I've no previous experience with backpacks and would appreciate a little help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was considering this backpack : &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.decathlon.co.uk/f40-air-backpack-grey-blue-id_8382979.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;QUECHUA Forclaz 40 Litre Air+ Women's Backpack - Grey/Blue&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;(It's in my budget and I trust decathlon. I can't afford a very expensive backpack at the moment).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's an internal frame backpack that I've tried in the store and it does feel comfortable, however, the shoulder strap comes slightly above my shoulder (instead on sitting on my shoulder), almost like this: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IQaxl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IQaxl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asumed since it's shown like that on the official pictures, that's how it is supposed to be but on second thoughts, may be this is the wrong fit for me? Is this normal or should the strap be sitting on my shoulders? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a 2 weeks long trip where we'd be travelling hostel to hostel (so I won't have any camping or other heavy gear except for my hiking boots and a thick jacket). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13873" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:40:31.697" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T12:13:07.603" Title="How is a backpack supposed to fit on the shoulder?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16862" CreationDate="2017-08-17T20:00:24.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Were I live they were first goat trails. Goats pick the easy way. Next waterbuffalo walked them, These were soon hooked to sleds to pull more. &amp;amp; are still in use to walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T20:00:24.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16897" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16902" CreationDate="2017-08-17T20:28:08.187" Score="11" ViewCount="594" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be participating in the UK National Three Peaks Challenge at the end of next month. For those who are unaware; the Three Peaks consists of hiking the highest peak in England, Scotland and Wales, all within 24 hours (travel between included). These are: Ben Nevis in Scotland (1345m), Snowdon in Wales (1085m) and Scafell Pike in England (978m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I signed up for this three months ago and immediately began training four to five times a week in the gym. I would consider myself to be a relatively fit and healthy person, and have successfully trekked Kilimanjaro with little training. When the time limit is taken into consideration, the Three Peaks becomes a much more demanding challenge and it will probably be one of the most difficult challenges I've faced to date. However, I live in a completely flat area and don't have time to travel to higher land to train properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Without access to mountains for some sort of test-run, how can I be sure that I'm ready for the Three Peaks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13789" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T23:42:21.963" LastActivityDate="2020-05-27T09:48:37.310" Title="How can I be sure that I'm ready to do the Three Peaks Challenge?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16895" CreationDate="2017-08-17T21:09:45.733" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll notice that the shoulder straps are adjustable by pulling webbing/strap through the locking slider on the front of the bottom of the padded part of the strap. It's not very likely that there is no range at which the pack will fit you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that the picture shows the strap lifting up off the shoulder a little does suggest that the wearer in this picture should tighten that lower adjustment strap a little, and it also suggests that there is no significant weight inside the pack at this time. There's probably a pillow or packing peanuts or something in it just for the photo shoot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the pack was packed with gear, food, water, or anything heavy, the pack's weight would ideally mostly be borne on the hips by the waist strap, and the shoulder straps mainly serve to keep the pack up straight rather than falling over sideways or falling off backwards. You can snug the straps up tight to move the load off your hipbones and onto your shoulders, but, I only do that when my hips get sore and need a 10 or 15 minute break. Then I'll loosen the shoulder load and let the pack settle onto my hips again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll also see, above and behind the wearer's shoulder, another adjustment strap which controls how tightly the upper part of the pack is pulled toward the wearer's back. Again, this isn't to &quot;fit&quot; over the top of the curve of the shoulder, it's to hold the pack upright, so, it's not important that you see in the picture that that strap meets the pack well above the height of the wearer's shoulder. It's pulling the pack toward the front of her shoulder from above, it's not supposed to be hanging the weight of the pack off the top of her shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think you need to worry about this particular pack not fitting you. It has several adjustments available and appears that it could fit quite a range of wearers. Just understand that the best fit for long hiking wear is such that the padded waist strap puts most of the load onto your hips, and the shoulder straps should hold the load above your hips up straight so it's not falling off behind or to the side and twisting at your waist. Also so that it's not shifting side-to-side and banging into your back with every step and is staying comfortably in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T21:09:45.733" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16897" CreationDate="2017-08-17T21:43:06.673" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a few colleagues who have done this, and one team who did it with a colleague in a wheelchair. They are all reasonably fit, but the day job is desk-based, so if you have managed Kili easily, and train regularly, I can't imagine you will have many problems. I'd suggest you go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will have no issues with altitude, as the three peaks are not high, but some parts of the route are over scree, so it is worthwhile finding a local scree slope to train on, to help avoid injury when travelling fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-08-17T21:43:06.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16897" CreationDate="2017-08-18T09:51:49.540" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;All 3 main paths up Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis are well marked maintained and straight forward. I'd suggest anyone reasonably fit should be able to do anyone of these (up and down) in 3-4 hours (my fastest time up and down Snowdon is 2 hours). The hardest bit of the 3 peaks is the driving. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Fort+William/Wasdale+Head/Llanberis/@54.9486167,-6.107356,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x48893323371c031b:0xcda03ee308544821!2m2!1d-5.1052179!2d56.819817!1m5!1m1!1s0x487cc8b90ba9d8a1:0x5628c80d862314f9!2m2!1d-3.255929!2d54.468185!1m5!1m1!1s0x4865083adcf9019d:0x661d4ddca71a0d79!2m2!1d-4.127549!2d53.1180329!3e0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google thinks it's about a 10 hour drive&lt;/a&gt; so you're likely going to spend &lt;strong&gt;9 hours walking and 10 hours driving.&lt;/strong&gt;. Can you walk for 9 hours? Can you endure sitting in a car for 10?! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say this is possible for pretty much any fit and healthy person and 1000's complete it each year. But an increasingly large number are getting themselves into difficulty, mostly due to poor planning. Have a look though the various mountain rescue teams blogs and you'll see a lot of 3 peakers getting lost, etc. and having to be rescued by mountain rescue (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.llanberismountainrescue.co.uk/incidents&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Llanberis MRT blog&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many locals now dislike 3 peak teams due to some bad practices, always follow &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_No_Trace&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;leave no trace ethics&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a brief checklist of what you should be prepared for/be aware of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'd invest at least as much effort in the organisation side of the&#xA;driving as I would in training for the walking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be aware of daylight!&lt;/strong&gt; Lots and lots of people get caught out by the sun going down. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know your route, have a map and compass with you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure at least one member of your party is    &lt;strong&gt;comfortable&#xA;navigating in the hills potentially in the dark&lt;/strong&gt;, especially this&#xA;time of year (you've missed the longest days now).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Injuries, carry a good first aid kit and be prepared to turn around&#xA;if you need to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Parking, sounds silly but this time of year all 3 mountains are&#xA;incredibly crowded. I know it's virtually impossible to park in&#xA;Pen-Y-Pass (the closest car park to snowdon) pretty much any time of&#xA;year. Ben Nevis is very remote and has very limited parking. So plan how you're going to get to the foot of the mountains. You&#xA;may need to use public transport unless someone can drop you off and&#xA;park further away. If you park badly &lt;strong&gt;expect a ticket&lt;/strong&gt; (and possibly a shouting at from a disgruntled local)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan toilet breaks. Don't defecate into the bushes, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those interested a much more environmentally friendly version is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.threepeakschallenge.uk/yorkshire-three-peaks-challenge/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yorkshire 3 peaks&lt;/a&gt;, no driving between the mountains. Just because the hills aren't as big doesn't make it easier BTW, I did this in training for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.welsh3000s.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;welsh 15 peaks&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://snowdonia3000.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/yorkshire-3-peaks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;more on my blog&lt;/a&gt; :) ) and it was pretty gruelling taking about 10 hours of solid walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T21:48:22.343" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T21:48:22.343" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16903" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interestingly the 3 peaks are not the 3 highest peaks in the UK, though Ben Nevis is the highest overall. All 3 of the actual highest peaks are in Scotland (Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui and Braeriach). Though the 3 peaks included in this list are the 3 most famous and take in every country in the UK mainland, England, Scotland and Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16904" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" Score="0" Body="The UK three peaks is challenge is to climb the three highest peaks in each country of the UK in a 24 hour period. The mountains included are, Ben Nevis on the west coast of Scotland (the highest peak in Scotland), Scarfell Pike in the Lake District (Highest Peak in England) and Snowdon in Snowdonia(Highest Peak in Wales). The mountains are a considerable distance apart and require quite a lot of driving to get between." OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T10:39:11.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16885" CreationDate="2017-08-18T13:55:55.877" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The photos are a bit blurry but I'm reasonably sure it's a young Grey Partridge&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTpoi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTpoi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dermotbreen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/grey-partridge-august-15.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/g/greypartridge/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPCA has more info on them&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A medium-sized, plump gamebird with a distinctive orange face. Flies&#xA;  with whirring wings and occasional glides, showing a chestnut tail. It&#xA;  is strictly a ground bird, never likely to be found in pear trees!&#xA;  Groups of 6-15 (known as coveys) are most usually seen outside the&#xA;  breeding season. Once very common and widespread, it has undergone&#xA;  serious declines throughout most of its range and is a Red List&#xA;  species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;What they eat&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leaves, seeds and insects&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You said&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;he's not truly wild; there are a couple of places round here that keep and breed pheasants&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are likely shooting reserves. They try and keep the birds pretty wild in these, normally feeding at a distance, etc. I think partridges are just not really very afraid of humans (right up until the point where they got shot). So this will be pretty much a wild bird (or at least semi wild). though probably used to seeing humans and don't regard them as a threat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bedding materials&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partridge are ground nesting. So they'll make their home in any long grass with good cover they can find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-08-18T15:57:32.717" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T15:57:32.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16888" CreationDate="2017-08-18T21:35:51.827" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the good advice Tullochgorum gave,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been Geocaching for a couple years, i did it for about a year with just my phone, later i bought a dedicated GPS device, used it for awhile and then went back to my phone. With the correct app a phone is just fine. I find mine to be accurate to about 10 feet, with the given hints and whatnot in the geocache descriptions i have hid many with people finding them just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have had many occasions where when using my phone and a friend using a GPS device, i walked right up to the geocache where as they were a bit off and much slower to find it. May just be luck in that instance but i am confident that a phone will work okay for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also if you are new to the hobby, not much point in dropping a couple hundred dollars to try something you may or may not like. If you do it for a while and feel you would really benefit from a GPS device, then drop the money on one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I however also like using my phone because i can find the cache and record the find and make any notes or record the picking up of travel bugs right there on the same device rather than having to keep switching back and forth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this helps, and happy caching! Be careful though as it's addictive! Also be sure you are not encroaching on private property in order to get to a cache, unless it is specified that the land owner knows of the cache and is aware people may be looking for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would look into the Cgeo app, it is what i use in addition to a separate compass app that tells me headings and such for puzzle and tricky caches. I use the compass to get a better heading that cgeo as it tends to be slightly more accurate, both were free on an android device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2017-08-18T21:35:51.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16907" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17015" CreationDate="2017-08-19T09:53:57.433" Score="1" ViewCount="1077" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the answers at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5963&quot;&gt;Does water in the sun get purified from or polluted by algae, fungi and bacteria?&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14849&quot;&gt;Can sunlight be used to purify water?&lt;/a&gt; water in special containers can be purified in sun light in about 5 hours:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I purify water with sunlight and without a special container?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clarify:&lt;/strong&gt; can water in a shallow pan be purified by sunlight? There are multiple reasons a person might not have a PET bottle, and need to purify water.  As an example; hiking in the back country, I would be more likely to have a cooking pan than a supply of plastic bottles. While fire can be used to boil water, why use a fire if sunlight can do the same thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-08-20T09:46:38.887" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T00:02:48.747" Title="Can I use sunlight to purify water without a special container?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;sun&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16911" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-20T15:15:19.370" Score="2" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was hiking in the Southern Canadian Rockies yesterday and was paying special attention to all the plants I'm not familiar with, one was these bushes with these clusters of tiny blue berries. The berries are only about 4-5mm in diameter. What are they, and are they edible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Nalgene for scale)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOSNZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOSNZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:35:56.097" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:35:56.097" Title="What are these clusters of tiny dark blue berries found in the Southern Canadian Rockies?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16912" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16924" CreationDate="2017-08-20T15:22:55.737" Score="2" ViewCount="483" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was hiking in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/maps/place/49%C2%B033&amp;#39;35.7%22N+114%C2%B037&amp;#39;02.0%22W/@49.5599285,-114.619422,635m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d49.559925!4d-114.617228?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ptolemy Plateau&lt;/a&gt; in the Canadian Rockies yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LfGCA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LfGCA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were all these plants that looked like something right out of a Dr. Seuss book. What are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GygU1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GygU1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/unmok.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/unmok.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:35:48.803" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:35:48.803" Title="What is this plant with fluffy white flowers in the Canadian Rockies?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1961" CreationDate="2017-08-20T17:30:26.177" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It takes some judging. Stand tall. it is 13 miles to the horizon. Squat 1/2 that is 7 miles So your height to the horizon or a yard stick is better. Rough triangle. That gives you distance. Current float a stick. This takes more skill than I have. But many of the natives in the S Pacific have showed me how to do this &amp;amp; they are always right. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You put your finger in the fork of the stick or another stick. You watch the swing &amp;amp; bobble in the stick from over the side of your boat. It can be done. Takes some skill to do. You need learn how to do such. My teachers in this were fisher folk in the S Pacific islands. I use it some when out night fishing on the reefs. I am not the best at it but can tell current change fishing on the reefs. For drop offs &amp;amp; cut's threw the reefs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-08-22T13:01:47.740" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T13:01:47.740" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16911" CreationDate="2017-08-20T18:29:39.677" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;elderberry (or Sambucus)&lt;/a&gt;. Most of the species are edible according to that Wikipedia article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13675" LastActivityDate="2017-08-20T18:29:39.677" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16915" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-20T19:43:18.297" Score="3" ViewCount="1041" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an old Marlin 38.40 lever action rifle and am having trouble finding ammo for it.  Can I fire modern .38 cartridges in this rifle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13885" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-14T14:49:23.057" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T14:49:23.057" Title="Is it safe to fire .38 cartridges in a 38.40" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16915" CreationDate="2017-08-21T14:44:39.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, I don't believe so.  The .38-40, perhaps despite its name is a 40 caliber round, while the .38 Special, certainly despite its name, is a much smaller .357 round.  The case diameter dimensions are also much smaller, so a .38 Special round is unlikely to fit properly in your rifle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, it's generally considered to be a bad idea to fire modern ammunition in guns designed for much older ammunition, since modern ammunition tends to be loaded to far higher pressures that its earlier counterparts. This  can cause catastrophic failures in firearms that weren't designed for it. In this specific case, you might be unlikely to have overpressure issues because of the .38 Special is so much smaller than a .38-40 round, allowing gas to escape every which way, but it's not a certainty since &lt;em&gt;because&lt;/em&gt; gas will be escaping every which way it can potentially put pressure on components of the rifle that should be sealed from such forces by the shell case.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any event, I wouldn't try this combination.  It can only result in bad things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2523" LastEditorUserId="2523" LastEditDate="2017-08-21T14:50:18.267" LastActivityDate="2017-08-21T14:50:18.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16915" CreationDate="2017-08-21T15:11:42.943" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The long and the short of it is no - definitely not. If you check &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38-40_Winchester&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; (or other reputable sources such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.saami.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAAMI&lt;/a&gt;) you will see that the parent case of the .38-40 is the .44-40 Wincheseter, which on the face of it makes them completely incompatible. To see &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; these rounds are actually incompatible you can search the SAAMI specifications for the .38 and the .38-40 rounds:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lONrP.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lONrP.png&quot; alt=&quot;.38-40 Winchester&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DrukV.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DrukV.png&quot; alt=&quot;.38 Special&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see above, these rounds are not even remotely close. In general, though, the only rounds that will be compatible are rounds that share a common &quot;ancestor&quot;, meaning that they have a common parent design. Basically what this means is that the new round is a necked-down or necked-up version of the parent design. For example, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.25-45_Sharps&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;.25-45 Sharps&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.223_Remington&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;.223 Remington&lt;/a&gt;. The .223 is the parent design, and the .25-45 is simply a necked-up version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically You will find that rounds which are compatible are only necked-down rounds, meaning that you could use .25-45 Sharps brass and convert it to .223 Remington by running the round through your resizing dies, and then trimming the brass to the proper length. Working brass in such a manner will inevitably result in a very poor success rate, and is generally not recommended because it may weaken the metal; I can't remember whether brass work hardens. However, if you have a firearm chambered in a caliber which is no longer manufactured, it may be your only alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13889" LastActivityDate="2017-08-21T15:11:42.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16871" CreationDate="2017-08-21T18:56:55.350" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trees such as this in the jungle. Bent in a certain way. By natives tell you something. So the tree was bent. Normally to point in a way to lead you. Such as to a spring, trail, village, or other. Bent as that it could not native to that area be cave or shelter with rock under it this way. If it was bent for a reason. It looks like the tree top was buried with the second limb left to grow. Some from of land mark. I see water near it. So did some one want you to know there was shelter near a stream if using it for a trail??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-21T18:56:55.350" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16923" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16925" CreationDate="2017-08-21T22:22:09.940" Score="23" ViewCount="11028" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bit hypothetical, but ruling out being able to use a solar still, or the SODIS method, could you make water drinkable by using the suns heat through a magnifying glass?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paper self ignites at 451° F , water boils at 212° F, but that is at one concentrated point when paper burns using a magnifying glass. Would it be possible to boil a small about of water using the same method? For sake of it lets say you have a magnifying glass that is 3.5&quot; across, and a plethora of different small containers available glass or metal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize you could then start a fire, and boil water in a metal container but i am just curious if it is possible to heat the water enough to be drinkable without placing it on a fire using this method. As fires cause smoke lets say you are in a less than desirable place where the smoke from a fire could give away your location when you didn't want it to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T19:40:28.830" Title="Can you boil/decontaminate water with heat from a magnifying glass?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16912" CreationDate="2017-08-21T22:36:53.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone_occidentalis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Anemone occidentalis&quot;&gt;Anemone occidentalis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Native to far western North America including British Columbia to California and Montana, it is found growing in gravelly soils on slopes and in moist meadows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hi7vb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hi7vb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8374" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-08-22T03:24:56.123" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T03:24:56.123" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16923" CreationDate="2017-08-21T22:40:10.393" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's do some back-of-the-envelope calculations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific heat of water is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of a particular amount of water by 1 degree C. This is 4.186 joules/gram °C &lt;a href=&quot;http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/spht.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(reference)&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To raise the temperature of 1 L of water (1000 g) by 80 degrees C (to boiling from room temperature), would be 4.186 * 1000 * 80 = 334,800 joules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of sunlight falling on a square metre of the earth's surface is at maximum about 300 watts/m² &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(reference)&lt;/a&gt;. A watt is a joule per second, so this means you could get 334,800 joules from a square metre of sunlight in 334,800 / 300 = 1116 seconds, or about 19 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, a magnifying glass with an area of a square metre would be rather heavy and unwieldy to carry. A largeish one of 9 cm (3.54 inch) diameter would be about 64 cm², or 0.0064 square metres. Using this magnifying glass would boil our 1 litre of water in about 157 times as much time, or about 175,000 seconds, or just over 48 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, the amount of energy you can collect directly from the sun is insufficient to boil any useful amount of water in a reasonable time. Even if you only wanted a small drink of 100 mL, it would still take all afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-08-22T06:01:54.660" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T06:01:54.660" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16732" CreationDate="2017-08-21T22:56:00.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if &lt;a href=&quot;https://opensignal.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;OpenSignal&quot;&gt;OpenSignal&lt;/a&gt; has offline support for the maps portion, but per the &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&amp;amp;referrer=utm_source=OSWebsiteMain&amp;amp;utm_medium=OSWebsiteMain&amp;amp;utm_campaign=OSWebsiteMain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Android app&lt;/a&gt; if you have enough signal to connect to a tower at all:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shows direction of your connected cell tower - walking towards it, or out of the way of obstructions, can improve cellular connection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that as the data is all crowdsourced, your results in a particular area my vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8374" LastActivityDate="2017-08-21T22:56:00.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16927" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-22T00:03:50.937" Score="6" ViewCount="1899" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a pair of Keen hiking boots that, at their best when brand new, never had a particularly good grip, and now, a few years later, have simply lost any grip to speak of. They are so slippery on any surface, wet or dry, that not only is it embarrassing, but downright dangerous sometimes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is whether there is some technique or trick to getting the bottoms of the boots grippier? Perhaps scarring them with a blade, or running a grate over them, or some other method? The bottoms appear to be the standard rubbery type of bottom that most hiking boots have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T14:04:19.083" Title="How to improve the grip on my boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16927" CreationDate="2017-08-22T07:20:32.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't an 'off-the-shelf' solution, its more of a DIY thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have faced a time when I didn't want to get rid of my shoes because they were intact, it was just the sole that had worn out and would slip often than not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First ensure that they aren't structurally damaged. Is it really going to help longer term if you somehow manage to improve grip?&#xA;If they are good (as they always are), and of course if you are okay with getting rid of its existing grip, you can try what I have tried years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean the sole. Remove/Scrub off anything from it. Including the (broken) hard rubber that came with shoe when you bought it. Make it plain. After this the sole should like what you have on a shoe that you use for playing tennis, a flat sole.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the best shoe goo you can find, seal any leaks if there are. Apply shoe goo allover the sole and attach a thin rubber insole over it. Let it dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pMeUA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pMeUA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get similar type of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antivibration-Rubber-Pad-50x100x10mm-Reduce-Noise-Mount-Mat-grip-shock-absorber-/352136980101&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;antivibration rubber pads&lt;/a&gt;, they are pretty cheap. Cut them and stick them at the heel and on the out sides of the shoe. (On Left sole left corner. On right sole, right corner). These rubbers work so well to improve the grip on the sides of the shoe. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find another set of rubber pad that people usually use for furniture. The size and shapes for those may vary from what I can find here. But, look for something which is not extremely hard. Cut it in a shape of the heel of the shoe and stick it using shoe goo. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For toe part again use the same antivibration rubber pads, but in a horizontal manner. That improve the grip on toe side, makes life easy on sharp descends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One all layers are glued perfectly, use a sandpaper to level them up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This worked for me. But I only preferred to use those shoes for dry conditions, didn't want to risk a thing. &#xA;The durability will depend on factors like Usage, way of storing when not in use, quality and harness of the rubber, quality of the shoe goo (adhesive) and of course craftsmanship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T14:04:19.083" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T14:04:19.083" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16931" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17368" CreationDate="2017-08-22T19:42:39.643" Score="7" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my planned circuit around &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofsj%C3%B6kull&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Höfsjökull&lt;/a&gt; in Iceland, the biggest of the 15–20 fords will be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.ja.is/kort/?z=7&amp;amp;x=524989&amp;amp;y=468982&amp;amp;type=map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Þjórsárkvíslar&lt;/a&gt;.  Travel writer Fabrizio Frascaroli &lt;a href=&quot;https://grapevine.is/travel/traveling-on-your-own/2008/02/08/across-the-country-in-40-days-4/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;describes&lt;/a&gt; fording this river; I have included an excerpt below, a bit long but I found it too beautiful to shorten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fabrizio was hiking from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.ja.is/kort/?z=8&amp;amp;x=544371&amp;amp;y=470680&amp;amp;type=map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nýidalur&lt;/a&gt;, a location at least 20 km (as the crow flies) east of Þjórsárkvíslar.  I will be arriving from the north, from the area around &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.ja.is/kort/?z=6&amp;amp;x=529639&amp;amp;y=481957&amp;amp;type=map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Klakkur / Háalda / Háölduhraun&lt;/a&gt;, so my route is different.  Counting on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lmi.is/en/kortasafn/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DMA C761 map&lt;/a&gt;, there are 23 small (&amp;lt;18 metre) and and 2 intermediate (18–25 metre) crossings between Klakkur and Arnarfell, with the biggest ones at 28N 7182500 619250 and 28N 7174900 611200.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickriver.com/photos/iceland-ho/sets/72157594472287697/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Þjórsárver&lt;/a&gt; is in the middle of it.  I don't know exactly where &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/iceland-ho/355174103/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this wide but shallow and quiet river&lt;/a&gt; is located but it looks unproblematic despite its large size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the safest route for crossing Þjórsárkvíslar when arriving from the north?  Are there any established locations that travellers have used in centuries past, perhaps indicated by cairns or not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I wake up to my alarm clock at 3:30 in the night: it is time to wade, and the favour of the morning’s earliest hours is required, however masochistic that may feel. The weather conditions look optimal for the upcoming challenges: entirely dry, still, and as cold as it gets in July.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  It must be roughly 8am when I start the Þjórsárkvíslar crossing: the dreaded springs of Þjórsá, Iceland’s longest river. One after the other, I leave behind all the threads of an endless web of streams and rivulets.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  I feel a mixture of relief and disappointment about the smoothness of my progression, but it is not meant to last much longer; it is promptly dissolved by the appearance of the river’s last branch, frightening in all its breadth and might, surrounded by the notoriety of grim tales and warnings. The water’s depth varies in a range generously estimated to be between 50cm and 150cm. The prospect of confronting a violent flow up to my chest has admittedly been the source of many headaches over the last few days. In the end, however, the Þjórsárkvíslar will not treat me that badly. The water level suddenly rises above my waist, but with a detour upstream I am able to find a relatively innocuous course in shallow waters, all the way to the other bank. I do not know how long I have been soaking in the river, probably some ten minutes. What’s certain is that as I gain the high ground again, the bite of the cold has made me totally hazy, I am speaking in tongues and can hardly remember how to spell my own name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://grapevine.is/travel/traveling-on-your-own/2008/02/08/across-the-country-in-40-days-4/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fabrizio Frascaroli&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Across the country in 40 days&lt;/em&gt;, published on grapevine.is.  Downloaded 22 August 2017.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-10-12T10:50:55.590" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T13:14:36.343" Title="Safest route to cross Þjórsárkvíslar from the north" Tags="&lt;iceland&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="29" CreationDate="2017-08-22T23:25:17.883" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cheap &amp;amp; tight way? 1 box of black trash bags. 24 rubber bands. 12 1/4 inch plastic tubes. 4 foot long. catch container's. fill bags with water. Pull tight at top, put in tubes. secure with rubber bands. run tubes down hill. catch evaporated water in pans. This is drinkable water. I keep a kit like this in the nose of the boat in the S Pacific. + have trash bags when I come into shore. You never know when out in the big lonely. Set bags in sun. Keep tubes in shade &amp;amp; covered with a damp rag or such if have.  This the bags of water set in the sun will give you hot wash water in the bush when you come in also. Reuse bags for trash when breaking camp. I have only expermented with this in the boat. It worked. Have used to heat water in the bush to wash with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T23:25:17.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2017-08-22T23:55:04.057" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look for a small drier to dry stick. Take knife &amp;amp; cut upward into it so tou have feathers on it. Sick bottom in ground. upright light bottom feathers. Have small light tender handy. This will give you about 15 seconds of flame. Build fire up from there. between 2 larger small logs. once fire is going place 2 to 3 small logs above it. Dry as you can find. Leave room to keep your fire going. heat drys out the top logs &amp;amp; side logs.  Pine is best as has oil in it. You need to look at sheltered sticks were rain don't hit to bad. for your starter stick. Stick about as big around as little finger is best. You may need to shave bark off it first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-22T23:55:04.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16935" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16978" CreationDate="2017-08-23T02:59:39.513" Score="5" ViewCount="377" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the suburban town of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden,_Massachusetts#Geography&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Holden&lt;/a&gt;, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Central Massachusetts&lt;/a&gt;. Many hundreds of acres of mature woodland areas are being torn down nearby to create new roads and housing developments, and it's getting worse. As a staunch conservationist, this concerns me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently a friend in a nearby city, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester,_Massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Worcester, Massachusetts&lt;/a&gt;, had a young &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;black bear&lt;/a&gt; on her deck. The area is very developed, congested, and there aren't many trees. My friend doesn't have bird feeders, although her neighbors do. Some people are careful with their garbage, but there's plenty around.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bear didn't do anything aggressive, it just seemed curious. She didn't want it to get hurt so she called animal control to come protect it. Unfortunately, by the time the officer arrived, the bear had wandered off. The officer said he'd try to find, tranquilize and transport it for release at a nearby wildlife habitat area, but he couldn't promise anything. He said there's been a significant increase in bear sightings in her city over the last few years. City animal officers aren't properly equipped to protect them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In his opinion, the increase is due, at least in large part, to the construction I mentioned. There's enormous decimation of natural habitats of bears and other animals. Ponds and other water sources are being drained, which is devastating for animals and birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He said food, shelter and security are no longer available to animals that have inhabited these areas for many years. This has caused bears (and other animals) to venture into areas where they wouldn't necessarily need or want to go in order to find food. The youngsters, such as my friend's visitor, might even be looking for their mother, family members, or other animals who are usually together in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is my question:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Does it make sense to assume that a significant decrease in their natural habitat would drive more bears into a busy city than would otherwise be there? Is there a causal relationship in this type of situation? Learning about this will help me in my approach to conservation, both personally and politically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-23T22:02:25.007" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T22:02:25.007" Title="Is it likely that decimation of its suburban forest habitat would cause a black bear to wander into a busy city if it wouldn't otherwise go there?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16937" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-23T12:54:07.450" Score="12" ViewCount="980" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sunfish&lt;/a&gt; is a small sailboat with a lateen sail.  Realistically you can not raise the sail while in it.  Usually raising and lower the sail is done at shore.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is occasionally necessary to paddle the sunfish, due to lack of wind and/or obstacles.  The spars on the sail are about the same 14 feet (4.2 meters) as the boat is long, and need to rest down the center of the boat when down. Pretty much this means if you are paddling a sunfish the sail is up, you are becalmed (or in irons, &lt;em&gt;heading into the wind&lt;/em&gt;) and sail flowing directly down the center line of the boat, with any slight side breeze making the lower spar (&lt;em&gt;like a boom&lt;/em&gt;) push against you (or bang you in the head).  It is easy enough to raise the spar and put it to the other side. but it is not effective for long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been river sailing and sometimes need to move upstream past a wind block, so need to paddle for some distance.  I am looking for a solution that will allow me to paddle for 10 or 15 minutes safely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffDrE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffDrE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)#/media/File:Sunfish_rigged_for_sailing.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can add more pictures later if needed.  Leave a comment if not clear&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:06:25.913" LastActivityDate="2020-03-16T06:57:31.870" Title="How to manage the sail of a sunfish when paddling?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16937" CreationDate="2017-08-23T14:35:38.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're a bit more cramped than a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.toppersailboats.com/the-boats/#topper&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;topper&lt;/a&gt; but it seems to be much the same game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very much about the type of paddle you're using and the position you want to be in. We used praddles in the Toppers for which you need to be low and close to the water anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhTdG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhTdG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;praddle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kneel in the bottom of the boat, tiller between your legs, and lean forward to get to paddling position, since you'll be close to the boat the boom should pass over your head. You'll bang your head once in a while but if you're sailing small dinghies you need to develop a thick skull anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T14:35:38.963" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16935" CreationDate="2017-08-23T17:40:02.833" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bears only have one reason to go anywhere, and that reason is food.&lt;/strong&gt; Humans eat to live, but bears live to eat. They are always on the move to find more food, discovering new patches of berries, digging up hills full of delicious roots, turning over rocks to find sleeping moths and other bugs, ripping open rotten logs for grubs. They consume massive amounts of food everyday and will stay on the move until they find something to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number one reason why feeding bears is prohibited &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt; is because once a bear finds food, he sticks around until the food is all gone. With berry patches, once a bear has picked the last berry, there's nothing left for it anymore and it moves on. In residential areas however, once a bear has discovered that there is a replenishable food source (usually garbage cans) then they stick around, or return frequently. This is especially true for young bears, as they're still learning how to fend for themselves, and are quick to pick up on bad habits, like nosing around in peoples back yards hoping to luck out and find some scraps out of the garbage, or get some handouts from people BBQing in their back yards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a small bear is approaching people in their yards, sniffing them expectantly, then I'd be willing to bet that young bear has received handouts before, and is now going yard to yard looking for more people to give it food. Unfortunately for the bear, it is most likely going to be euthanized, because bears that get handouts and get used to approaching humans become problem bears when they get bigger, and more aggressively &quot;solicit&quot; for handouts or invade backyards or even inside of peoples homes. The idiom used by fish and wildlife officers is, &lt;em&gt;&quot;A fed bear is a dead bear&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Feeding bears is a death sentence, because they will always come back for more, and when bears repeatedly get too close to people is when they're determined to be a danger to the public.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-23T22:34:37.970" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T22:34:37.970" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16885" CreationDate="2017-08-23T19:47:41.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regardless of what kind of game bird it is (although I'm with Liam--it's probably Grey Partridge), the dietary requirements will be similar. All game birds need a significant amount of protein in their diets, in addition to the expected seeds and greens. If there is a feed store nearby, you should be able to get game bird diet (preferably) or chick starter food. Be sure to get the un-medicated version. (Rabbit food will do, if nothing else is available.) A good seed mix is also helpful. Most game birds also like alfalfa hay. A little crushed oyster shell will provide useful minerals and calcium. I feed my quail chick starter, alfalfa, seed, and oyster shell, and they thrive on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastActivityDate="2017-08-23T19:47:41.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16941" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-23T22:55:51.320" Score="1" ViewCount="96" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I did the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toiyabe_Range#Toiyabe_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toiyabe Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt; and noticed that there are three different kinds of trail signs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap plastic triangular ones that say &lt;strong&gt;Toiyabe Crest National Recreation Trail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Square posts with small signs that say &lt;strong&gt;TCT &amp;uarr;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Round posts with &lt;strong&gt;Crest Trail&lt;/strong&gt; incised into them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that in order of age it went round, square and then plastic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing them made me wonder what the &lt;strong&gt;original trail signs were back when the CCC built the trail.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:49:31.247" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T16:49:31.247" Title="What were the original trail signs on the Toiyabe Crest Trail?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;signage&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="16942" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-24T02:58:32.670" Score="7" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a bear kills a human, it is usually euthanized as in the case of a grizzly bear that partially ate a man in Yellowstone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It also seems likely to end sadly for the bears. Park officials have captured the sow believed to have killed Crosby along with one of her two cubs. &lt;strong&gt;If DNA evidence matches her to the killing, she will be euthanized and her cubs offered to a rehabilitation center or zoo.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/11/when-a-bear-takes-a-humans-life-it-almost-always-pays-with-its-own/?utm_term=.a0d124f29998&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in the situation that a person had to use their can of bear spray on a bear and it worked as intended with no injuries to the person, what actions would authorities take regarding the bear (if any)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:40:43.213" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:40:43.213" Title="What happens to the bear after being pepper sprayed?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16942" CreationDate="2017-08-24T06:17:33.990" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question depends a lot on the situation. If the bear runs away after being sprayed, then it gets away with a runny nose and burning eyes/lungs for a while and a reason not to approach people again. Problem solved. The people who sprayed the bear may or may not report it depending on the whole situation. I've met multiple bears I could have sprayed, but instead just let them keep moving along. If the bear leaves and everyone is doing fine then there's no need to do anything else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a nuisance bear, and keeps returning after getting sprayed, then officers get involved and relocate the bear as they would any other nuisance bear. If people get hurt, or if the bear is acting aggressive, or harassing people, then it's most likely going to get euthanized. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T06:17:33.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11250" CreationDate="2017-08-24T12:14:35.453" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tarp can be pitched with four corner pegs, center pole chimney and a rigid pole for each camper(up to 4 campers) that is good for all weather. Tight to the ground at all edges or all four sides raised for a shade in hot sunshine. All without changing the 4 corner pegs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13918" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-24T18:30:24.807" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T18:30:24.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4224" CreationDate="2017-08-24T14:24:43.683" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing I have ever found for getting rid of odors, and it works extremely well, is something called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.odorxit.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;OdorXit&quot;&gt;&quot;OdorXit&quot;&lt;/a&gt; which is based on some enzymes that neutralize odors instead of masking them. I've used it successfully on some nasty things, like animal urine under the floorboards of an apartment I renovated, clothing with foul odors, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so, I would definitely recommend using it. Additionally, when you hang things out in the sunlight to dry, this tends to do a good job with odors too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3538" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T14:24:43.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16445" CreationDate="2017-08-24T18:29:12.290" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a lot of thought, I don't think that there are any shape configurations that would be limited to just a square or just a rectangular tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when you are sleeping under a tarp, either on the ground or in a hammock your &lt;strong&gt;body is in a rectangular shape.&lt;/strong&gt; I use a 5ftx7ft tarp and if it was 7ftx7ft square tarp it would just be extra weight to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T18:29:12.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16949" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-24T20:49:50.830" Score="3" ViewCount="469" Body="&lt;p&gt;Currently bicycles are prohibited in federal wilderness areas in the United States. However there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1349/text&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bill&lt;/a&gt; in the House of Representatives that would remove the prohibition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As one can imagine, this has stirred up a rather fierce debate on both sides of the proposal both &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1848481/mountain-bikes-should-be-allowed-wilderness-areas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;for&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2165406/five-lies-being-used-get-mountain-bikes-wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;against&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Important&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because this is a controversial subject, I am &lt;strong&gt;not asking whether or not this is a good or bad idea&lt;/strong&gt; or what the pros and cons would be but rather &lt;strong&gt;hoping for a fair listing of the arguments on both sides&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T00:00:31.293" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T00:00:31.293" Title="What are the arguments for and against allowing bicycles in wilderness areas in the US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16950" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-24T21:34:09.490" Score="10" ViewCount="3725" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are foam sleeping pads with a reflective surface on one side like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermarest.com/mattresses/ridge-rest-solar-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermarest.com/mattresses/ridge-rest-solar-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LYrDlm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;with instructions to use the reflective side for maximum warmth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't doubt that it is warmer, but I do wonder &lt;strong&gt;by how much&lt;/strong&gt; especially &lt;strong&gt;since I used both sides of one this summer and couldn't really tell the difference&lt;/strong&gt; (it would be hard to tell since the temperature varies from night to night).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T14:52:02.180" Title="How much of a temperature difference does a reflective sleeping pad make?" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16949" CreationDate="2017-08-24T21:38:52.403" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a cyclist on the side of people being allowed to ride on trails in National Parks. The arguments for are simple: allow bikes so cyclists can enjoy nature while doing a healthy activity they also enjoy. Bikes are faster than hiking, allowing you to explore more trail in a day, make the descents a lot easier, and also enable older people who can't hike well (bad knees) to still enjoy a gentle trail by cycling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The arguments against are mainly related to trail maintenance and safety. Bikes can make a mess out of muddy hiking trails, especially when strong cyclists try to pedal through the mud and dig up ruts, but maintenance wise that the only con to a bike, unless you want to include tire tracks on rocks. The main concern is safety; people bombing down a popular trail and colliding with hikers, or scaring horses, which usually results in people getting bucked off and hurt. Parks are concerned about liability. Mountain Biking is a high speed sport, and high speed sports are all capable of producing serious injuries. Park officials don't want to have to deal with crashes and wipeouts, or complaints from jumpy hikers about that crazy cyclist who passed them going &quot;dangerously fast&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Parks are all about keeping the peace, which mostly means the peace and quiet in the administration building, they don't want to deal with paperwork, which incidents of any type create for them. It's easier to ban an activity then it is to deal with the injuries and drama from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-08-24T21:38:52.403" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16952" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigri_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gri-gri belay devices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16953" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" Score="0" Body="Questions about gri-gri belay devices" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T02:56:43.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16954" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyoning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although hiking down a canyon that is non-technical, (canyon hiking) is often referred to as canyoneering, the terms canyoning and canyoneering are more often associated with technical descents — those that require abseils (rappels) and ropework, technical climbing or down-climbing, technical jumps, and/or technical swims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Canyoning is frequently done in remote and rugged settings and often requires navigational, route-finding and other wilderness travel skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16955" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" Score="0" Body="Questions about canyoning" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T02:58:18.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16956" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:00:08.180" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yosemite National Park (/joʊˈsɛmɪti/ yoh-SEM-it-ee[5]) is a national park spanning portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in Northern California.[6][7] The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 747,956 acres (1,168.681 sq mi; 302,687 ha; 3,026.87 km2)[2] and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:00:08.180" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:00:08.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16957" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:00:08.180" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Yosemite (Yosemite National Park)" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:14:45.360" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:14:45.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16958" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Simple Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leeches are annelids, a kind of worm (ground creature) that lives in wet places. All leeches are carnivorous, that is, they eat mainly meat, but some are also haemophagic; this means they drink the blood of other animals. They are sometimes helpful in medicine. They are often used to reduce blood clots. They were used to suck the blood of patients a long time ago, before we knew about germs and that losing blood is bad&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16959" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" Score="0" Body="Questions about leeches" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:10:21.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16960" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_spray&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bear spray is a type of pepper spray or capsaicin deterrent that is used to deter aggressive bears, typically in wilderness environments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16961" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" Score="0" Body="Questions about bear spray and its uses" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:11:41.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16962" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The moose (North America) or elk (Eurasia), Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the broad, flat (or palmate) antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic (&quot;twig-like&quot;) configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16963" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" Score="0" Body="Questions about moose " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:12:53.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16964" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mount Kilimanjaro ( /ˌkɪlɪmənˈdʒɑːroʊ/),[7] with its three volcanic cones, &quot;Kibo&quot;, &quot;Mawenzi&quot;, and &quot;Shira&quot;, is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the &lt;strong&gt;highest mountain in Africa&lt;/strong&gt;, and rises approximately 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) from its base to 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16965" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Kilimanjaro" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:14:18.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16966" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acclimatization&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Acclimatization or acclimatisation (also called acclimation or acclimatation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16967" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" Score="0" Body="Questions about acclimatization" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T03:36:37.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16968" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_pad&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In camping, a ground pad, sleeping pad, sleeping mat, roll mat, or iso mat is a simple device often used in conjunction with a sleeping bag. Its purpose is to provide padding and thermal insulation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16969" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" Score="0" Body="Questions about sleeping pads" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:13:59.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16970" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsurfing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Windsurfing is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually 2.5 to 3 meters long, with displacements typically between 60 and 250 litres, powered by wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and consists of a mast, boom and sail. The sail area generally ranges from 2.5 m2 to 12 m2 depending on the conditions, the skill of the sailor, the type of windsurfing being undertaken and the weight of the person windsurfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16971" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" Score="0" Body="Questions about windsurfing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T04:41:53.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16972" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19154" CreationDate="2017-08-25T15:31:21.190" Score="5" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;With some friends, I saw some dinosaur  tracks in Wyoming that looked like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ECEY4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ECEY4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dinosaur track&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify what type of dinosaur made these tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T17:50:55.193" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T12:30:25.620" Title="What species of dinosaur made these 3 toed 6 inch long tracks?" Tags="&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;fossil-identification&gt;&lt;dinosaurs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16973" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16974" CreationDate="2017-08-25T16:52:31.453" Score="11" ViewCount="1031" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a very secluded beach on the Faroe Islands (half a day's hike from the nearest road, and you have to climb down a 50m cliff using an old rope), I found these rusted metal objects. They're about 80cm long (daisies for scale) and lay near a lot of driftwood and old buoys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first suspicion would be a naval mine, but I'm far from sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LU677.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LU677.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Metal Object&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:35:43.793" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:35:43.793" Title="What are these rusted metal objects found on a beach?" Tags="&lt;beach&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;&lt;faroe-islands&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16973" CreationDate="2017-08-25T18:48:58.740" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like decommissioned harbor mines. At the end of World War II many were removed from river mouths &amp;amp; harbors. Once set out you can not use them again, so they removed the explosive &amp;amp; primer, then dumped the rest close to the place where it had been decommissioned. They were deactivated, then thrown on the beach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one is too rusty to tell for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-08-25T19:27:46.543" LastActivityDate="2017-08-25T19:27:46.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16975" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-25T19:29:38.013" Score="2" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone knows that fires are a big concern during droughts, but can they also cause a drought elsewhere? I currently live just on the East side of the Canadian Rockies. All summer long fires have been burning in British Columbia and in Montana, and we've been down wind catching all of the smoke. We have not had a single significant day of rainfall all summer long. It rained a little only once overnight a few weeks back from what I can recall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best guess is that the smoke and heat from the fires is somehow drying out the air before it reaches the continental divide, preventing any kind of rain fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can forest fires cause droughts significant distances downwind? If so, how? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:13:51.357" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:13:51.357" Title="Can forest fires cause a drought?" Tags="&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16976" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="16977" CreationDate="2017-08-25T19:49:29.327" Score="4" ViewCount="9956" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the summer, I always hear &lt;a href=&quot;https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByNi02RoHJUIaG1MTnlPeEE0cDA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this sound&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's like a long &quot;hissing&quot; sound.  I assume that it is some sort of insect that produces this, and it's usually during warmer days.  It can be heard all day long, but I don't think at night I've ever heard it.  What bug makes this sound?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T19:33:44.960" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T21:15:44.837" Title="What insect makes this hissing type sound, especially in the summer?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16976" CreationDate="2017-08-25T20:01:04.357" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its very hard to distinguish from that sound clip but my guess as to what you are hearing is probably cicadas depending on your location. They can sound like a buzzing or hissing noise and generally are most active during the peak of summer. If you look you will probably find their shells they have left behind after crawling out of the ground to start their second phase of life. (seen below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLEnE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLEnE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is one after leaving it's shell:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GeMyp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GeMyp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might watch this clip and see if it is a similar noise to what you are hearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mah26og11ms&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Summer Cicada sounds YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional information from comments:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are interesting creatures for sure, they live for up to 17 years, but once they crawl out of the ground and shed their shell and get wings, they only live for about 5 or more weeks in which they try and find a mate. Also a favorite food of copperhead snakes and the sole receptacle for cicada killer wasp larva, So they have tough lives once they crawl out of the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cicada killers are a wasp species that uses these to house their larva, they sting them which paralyzes them and they drag them to their burrows where the wasp lays eggs in the still living cicada, its young then hatch later and eat the cicada for nutrition. The holes you find, if the size of your finger in width may be wasp burrows. There is usually but not always a pile of dirt around the hole that looks like it has been balled up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional cicada fun facts and life cycle information from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cicadamania.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cicada Mania&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cicadas are insects, best known for the songs sung by most, but not&#xA;  all, male cicadas. Males sing by flexing their tymbals, which are&#xA;  drum-like organs found in their abdomens. Small muscles rapidly pull&#xA;  the tymbals in and out of shape — like the cap of a Snapple bottle.&#xA;  The sound is intensified by the cicada's mostly hollow abdomen. Female&#xA;  and some male cicadas will also make a sound by flicking their wings,&#xA;  but it isn't the same as the song cicadas are known for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cicadas begin life as a rice-shaped egg, which the female deposits in&#xA;  a groove she makes in a tree limb, using her ovipositor. The groove&#xA;  provides shelter and exposes the tree fluids, which the young cicadas&#xA;  feed on. These grooves can kill small branches. When the branches die&#xA;  and leaves turn brown, it is called flagging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once the egg hatches the cicada begins to feed on the tree fluids. At&#xA;  this point it looks like a termite or small white ant. Once the young&#xA;  cicada is ready, it crawls from the groove and falls to the ground&#xA;  where it will dig until it finds roots to feed on. Once roots are&#xA;  found the cicada will stay underground from 2 to 17 years depending on&#xA;  the species. Cicadas are active underground, tunneling and feeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After the long 2 to 17 years, cicadas emerge from the ground as&#xA;  nymphs. Nymphs climb the nearest available tree, and begin to shed&#xA;  their nymph exoskeleton. Free of their old skin, their wings will&#xA;  inflate with fluid and their adult skin will harden. Once their new&#xA;  wings and body are ready, they can begin their brief adult life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Adult cicadas, also called imagoes, spend their time in trees looking&#xA;  for a mate. Males sing, females respond, mating begins, and the cycle&#xA;  of life begins again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Different Types of Life Cycles&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;There are three types of cicada life cycles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Annual:&lt;/strong&gt; Cicada species with annual life cycles emerge every year, for example, Swamp Cicadas (Neotibicen tibicen) emerge every year in the United States, and Green Grocers (Cyclochila australasiae) emerge every year in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Periodical:&lt;/strong&gt; Cicadas species with periodical life cycles emerge all together after long periods of time, for example, Magicicada septendecim will emerge every 17 years (Find out where they'll emerge next).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Proto-periodical:&lt;/strong&gt; Cicada species with proto-periodical life cycles might emerge every year, but every so many years they emerge in heavy numbers, like the Okanagana.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Different Varieties&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;How Many:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; There are over 190 varieties (including species &amp;amp; subspecies) of cicadas in North America, and over 3,390 varieties of cicadas around the world. This number grows each year as researchers discover and document new species. Cicadas exist on every continent but Antarctica.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Largest:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; The world's largest species of cicada is the Megapomponia imperatoria, which is native to Malaysia. The largest species in North America is Neotibicen auletes, aka the Northern Dusk Singing Cicada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Loudest:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; According to the University of Florida Book of Insect Records, the Neotibicen pronotalis is the loudest cicada in North America, and can achieve 108.9 decibels. Australian species of cicadas, like the Double Drummer (Thopa saccata) are said to exceed 120 deafening decibels at close range. The loudest cicada in the world is supposed to be the Brevisana brevis, a cicada found in Africa. At a distance of 50cm (~20&quot;) B. brevis reaches 106.7 decibels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Longest Lifecycle:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; The most well-known cicadas in the North America are the Magicicada periodical cicadas, aka &quot;locusts&quot;, which have amazingly long 17 or 13 year lifecycles. Brood VI (17 year life cycle) will emerge in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in 2017. Read more about where and when.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit for Sue: I found your question on the Cicada Mania site. They had this to say..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A few people have asked me if cicadas sing at night. The truth is, in most cases they do not. Most of the time when you hear an insect at night it is a cricket or katydid. However, there are a few cases when cicadas will sing at night:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the presence of artificial light sources, like streetlights &amp;amp; flood&#xA;  lights, or a full moon. I turned on a flood light tonight to test this&#xA;  and it worked: a cicada started to sing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;When it’s extraordinarily hot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If the cicada is disturbed or attacked&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If they’re overcrowded&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2017-08-28T15:20:28.933" LastActivityDate="2017-08-28T15:20:28.933" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16935" CreationDate="2017-08-26T00:04:56.627" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears have definitely been migrating from the Berkshires in western MA eastward over the last couple of decades or so.  Everyplace roughly outside Route 128 (about 15 mile ring road around Boston) and parts of the south shore and The Cape has bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loss of habitat is pushing them to find food elsewhere.  Increasingly, that elsewhere is near people, since that's pretty much all that's left.  Bears are naturally afraid of humans, but with increased exposure, some become acclimated.  In places with less wild food, bears are becoming increasingly used to being around humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One town in the Connecticut Valley (North Hampton ?) had such a bear problem that it took a city-wide effort and new ordinances to deal with the problem.  You can probably find details about that on line.  Worcester may be headed the same way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acclimated bears are a danger to humans, and are usually shot by animal control officers.  The best thing you can do is make sure there is never any food left around, and to encourage your neighbors to do the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your bear was probably young and inexperienced, has previously found food near humans, and may have even been given handouts by irresponsible people.  Once this behavior is learned, it is not unlearned.  This bear will undoubtedly continue, and will most likely get itself killed this fall when it &lt;i&gt;really&lt;/i&gt; steps up its eating behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The MA Division of Fish and Wildlife tracks these encounters and is quite aware of the situation.  There is probably a lot of detail about urban bears on their web site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Added&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a link to a relevant page on the MA Wildlife web site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/black-bear-mass.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/black-bear-mass.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-08-26T00:50:54.177" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T00:50:54.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16950" CreationDate="2017-08-26T18:57:01.950" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you probably know, there is an industry standard for measuring the thermal effectiveness of sleeping pads known as the R-Value. It's not the most realistic of tests, but it's better than nothing. Individuals vary widely, so there's no real substitute for field-testing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's generally accepted that 1.5 is the lowest meaningful R-Value - anything less and you are effectively sleeping on the ground. For most sleepers a value of 3 should suffice for 2-3 seasons, while 5+ is generally recommended for hard frosts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The RidgeRest range illustrated in your question ranges from 2.6 - 3.5. So they should all be fine for summer use, and the warmest version should also work for the elbow seasons if you're not a cold sleeper. They are popular with younger and/or hard-core trekkers because they are virtually indestructible compared to an air-mat, but at some considerable cost in terms of comfort and packability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to perceived warmth there are a wide range of variables at work. And most of the effectiveness of the mat will be due to the closed cells in the foam - the reflective surface is probably pretty marginal. So it's unlikely you would notice much difference if you slept on the &quot;wrong&quot; side unless you were right at the lower end of the specified temperature range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T18:57:01.950" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15157" CreationDate="2017-08-26T20:31:03.193" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mineral deposits can do this. iron deposits are famed for it. Australia in areas. Is famed for this. Also the area at sea were your compass goes from pointing east to magnetic north to west. Off Australia. It is best to take a upto date magnetic variation chart with you before going to a area. These can be found on line. For free. Just print them off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T20:31:03.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2017-08-26T22:04:01.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roof-top tent. I'm over 60 and there are lots of places I've never gone like national parks. It's easy to get up and into, and easy to get out. Unpacking and setting up the tent is simply popping it open - I lay out the bedding before I leave home. I have a 3&quot; foam pad with a memory foam mattress topper. I just fold the tent down and push up the ladder when I'm ready to leave for the day or head to another park. I have a minimalist campsite: a tarp, a cookstove, one bin of cookware, utensils and plates and bowls, another of staples, and an ice chest. I splurged on one of the dense foam ones and don't need to buy ice every day. I set up a sun shower in the morning to heat water for washing dishes and I use a mesh bag to hang dishes to dry. I have a couple of comfortable camp chairs, full height ones, not the low riders. All this plus a duffle bag of clothes and towels fit into the back of my small SUV. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important though, is that when I'm feeling like it's too much, I get a hotel room for a night or two. Or I can head home if the weather is really, really bad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13928" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T22:04:01.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15157" CreationDate="2017-08-26T22:14:09.873" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Split Rock Lighthouse was built in 1910 on the north shore of Lake Superior, near Two Harbors, Minnesota, because all the iron ore in the area (one of the largest deposits in North America) deflected compasses by &lt;em&gt;about&lt;/em&gt; 8°. Great ships went down in storms because they got too close to the shore. The Coast Guard retired the lighthouse in 1969. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The area was aggressively mined for iron ore for many years so it's likely its impact on a compass has changed. I haven't heard about anyone charting deflection recently so your guess is as good as mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13928" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T22:14:09.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16732" CreationDate="2017-08-26T22:51:29.843" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume you have a solar cell or backup battery to recharge your phone. The manual solution suggested above - climb a hill and look - will be your low power mode. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13928" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T22:51:29.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7969" CreationDate="2017-08-26T23:39:28.803" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Punch a hole in each corner of the sign.  Run a length of 1/8&quot; elastic around the tree and the top 2 holes, and again around the tree and the bottom 2 holes.  Tie a rolling hitch behind the tree for each cord, leaving plenty of extra length.  Loosen the cord as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13929" LastActivityDate="2017-08-26T23:39:28.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16987" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-27T00:35:36.623" Score="11" ViewCount="3014" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, people go into nature and go missing.  A big search party is set up but they may be never found again.  A morbid version of “leave no trace”.  We probably all know examples: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2164446/leave-no-trace&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Joe Keller&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bt.dk/danmark/husker-du-forsvundne-joey-nu-er-han-officielt-erklaeret-doed&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Joey Ravn&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://decorrespondent.nl/786/de-man-die-voor-de-rechter-moest-bewijzen-dat-hij-in-leven-was/74537166-8adbcf5b&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hans Nolte&lt;/a&gt; (the father of a childhood friend), and many others.  It might happen in vast wilderness areas or in relatively small nature reserves.  It is often a mystery.  In Iceland (with plenty of wilderness and bad weather) the concept is part of national folklore.  Sometimes people are found alive, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/vermiste-toerist-mary-anne-levend-gevonden-in-spanje~a2462402/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mary-Anne Goossens&lt;/a&gt; who was found after sitting at a stream in the Spanish mountains for 18 days — she was lost and decided to stay put, unaware how close to civilisation she was or where to go, worried to explore and lose track of the water source; the trail would have been in shouting distance if it wasn't for the sound of the river.  There must also be cases where someone is eventually found, but too late, or died in an accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any statistics on how often people go missing in nature, and out of whose, how often they are found — dead or alive?  I realise this may depend on many factors, and there may not be much research on the topic, so I will consider any actual facts on the matter welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T15:45:50.543" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T08:46:38.023" Title="How often are missing people found?" Tags="&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16988" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" LastActivityDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16989" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" Score="0" Body="When you don't know where you are.  Use this tag for questions related to how to prevent getting lost, how to react when you do get lost, or other questions related to the consequences of getting lost." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" LastActivityDate="2017-08-27T00:37:30.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16987" CreationDate="2017-08-27T03:19:00.377" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;From this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.befoundalive.com/articles/article/8430068/163315.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; which is pulling statistics from&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1580/08-WEME-OR-299R.1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;*&amp;quot;Dead Men Walking: Search and Rescue in U.S. National Parks&amp;quot;, Wilderness &amp;amp; Environmental Medicine (Volume 20, Number 3), 2009.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Estimated number of SAR missions in US each year: 50,000&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Percent of SAR operations aiding lost individuals: 36%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Percent of SAR operations in national parks to find lost hikers: 40%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a estimate of 18,000 SAR operations per year  aiding lost individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as statistics on how many people go missing and are never found or found dead, the only statistics that I know of are from &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0970097360&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; which only has statistics for Yosemite National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize those statistics from 1966 to 2005 on page 575,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;7 people were lost and found dead&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;23 people were lost and not found&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;11 people were found but remain unidentified&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the huge number of people who visit Yosemite each year &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/management/statistics.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(5,217,114  in 2016)&lt;/a&gt;  it seems safe to say that the &lt;strong&gt;number of people who are never found is a tiny fraction of all visitors and that it is a very rare occurrence.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-27T04:16:14.843" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16992" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-27T21:47:32.943" Score="9" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was younger, during the late 1960's and 1970's, my Dad had a personal-size sailboat, called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sunfish&lt;/a&gt;.  He loved it because it was lightweight, easy to sail on his own, and had room to include a few young children if we wanted to go with him. It was also easy to right by himself after capsizing, which we frequently did on purpose just for fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used it regularly, on freshwater lakes and ponds throughout Massachusetts, where we lived. I would call him an accomplished solo sailor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each year during that same time period, we spent the month of August in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantucket,_Massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nantucket&lt;/a&gt;, an Island about 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Almost every day we sailed throughout the ocean waters of the region. Some areas were calm, and others were quite choppy and rough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One day while he was out in the Sound by himself, a thunderstorm, including lightning, arose. He wanted to wait it out, but the Coast Guard spotted him. They brought him in, impounded the boat, and he had to pay a fine to get it back. I don't know if there were actual written rules he didn't follow, or if the Coast Guard just considered him a danger to himself, or a reckless person, and reacted accordingly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the current rules in 2017? Can a Sunfish be sailed during a thunderstorm in waters off the Massachusetts/Cape Cod region? Is a permit required? Are there separate rules because of its design or weight class, or are the rules the same regardless of the size or type of boat? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this question is easier to answer without it being specific to Massachusetts, that's fine. I just didn't want to make it too broad, especially since rules may vary from state to state. Feel free to expand it to increase the amount of useful information for the community. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:57:44.470" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:57:44.470" Title="Is it legal to sail a personal-size boat in the ocean in Massachusetts during a thunderstorm?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16987" CreationDate="2017-08-28T12:29:54.810" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's impossible to give a clear answer to this. There are a few factors to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Who is &quot;lost&quot;?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be able to find data on the number of people who are called in as missing, and where some sort of search mission is sent out to rescue them. However, not all of those people were ever at any danger of disappearing. Some may have wandered a bit off the path and then called in for a rescue themselves, others may never have been missing in the first place, but were reported as such by worried relatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, there may also be people who went missing in the woods without anybody knowing about it. There are many missing person cases where it is simply not known what happened to them after they were last seen, and any number of them may well have wandered into the woods and never returned. And some people may be missing without anybody knowing they are missing at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a database of missing people in the US, called the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. However, this does not differentiate between people who went missing in nature and who went missing under some other circumstance and were presumably abducted or fell victim to some other crime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2164446/leave-no-trace&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; states the number of unresolved missing person cases on public land as 1,600, but that number is not based on official stats, only on research by hobbyists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Who is &quot;found&quot;?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead people are presumably much more likely to be &quot;found&quot; than living people. For one thing, a living person may come back from the wilderness by their own efforts and never bother to officially inform the park authorities. A dead person will only be discovered if somebody else finds them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flip-side of this situation is that sometimes, the remains of a person are found in the wilderness when the person had never been reported as missing, or as missing in the wilderness. So they were &quot;found&quot; despite never being the object of a search or rescue mission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have to consider that many people who &quot;go missing&quot; were never lost in the woods, but knew perfectly well where they are when they fell victim to some attack or accident. So in many cases, there was never a possibility of finding them alive in the first place. These people are exceptionally likely to be found dead, because their position is known. On the other hand, they are also often found alive, if they fail to come home at the expected time, and can be found injured or incapacitated at the site where they were expected to be - but they may not ever be counted as missing in that situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no number of missing and of found people, because neither term is very clearly defined, and no database collecting these cases exists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13936" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-28T18:07:44.943" LastActivityDate="2017-08-28T18:07:44.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2017-08-28T16:46:06.537" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One downside I've recently found out is that some hammock use can violate Leave No Trace policies.  If you aren't careful about the rig you use to hang the hammock, you could injure the trees.  The wider the strapping around the tree, the better for the tree.  I suppose this doesn't mean all hammocking is bad for LNT, but it is common to hang a hammock with ripcord or similar such rope, and that's supposed to be no good for most trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the boy scout camps we go to mention this, although so far none prohibit use.  It's also part of our leadership training.  As a result, the scouts are recognizing some downsides but which can be mitigated with better equipment and training.  It is interesting to note that the BSA is also promoting the concept, and some troops are reporting complete conversion to hammock-only camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/blog/hammock-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hammock Camping - LNT.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/blog/leave-no-trace-skills-hammock-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LNT Skills - Hammock Camping&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And some interesting dialog in this forum discussing a specific ban on the subject, as well as discusses some other downsides which, like my own answer, can be mitigated with proper resources and training:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-107334.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Could use help here: Persuade a camp director that hammocks are OK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-08-28T16:46:06.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2017-08-28T17:51:38.430" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;They tend to wrap around you. It's hard to roll over in them. Heat loss can be a disadvantage too, but I live in the tropics so that is an advantage. Where I live it can be hard to find trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-11T23:41:57.687" LastActivityDate="2017-10-11T23:41:57.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17002" CreationDate="2017-08-28T18:05:57.887" Score="4" ViewCount="483" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the arguments made against PLBs is that people will use them in non-emergencies and put rescuers  in unnecessary peril. This definitely does happen from time to time as in this case in the Grand Canyon,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once again, nightfall prevented a response by park helicopter, &lt;strong&gt;so an Arizona DPS helicopter whose crew utilized night vision goggles was brought in. They found that the members of the group were concerned about possible dehydration because the water they’d found tasted salty, but no actual emergency existed.&lt;/strong&gt; The helicopter crew declined their request for a night evacuation but provided them with water before departing. On the following morning, another SPOT “help” activation came in from the group. This time they were flown out by park helicopter. All four refused medical assessment or treatment. The group’s leader had reportedly hiked once at the Grand Canyon; the other adult had no Grand Canyon and very little backpacking experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201002600/False-Alarm-Arizona-Grand-Canyon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any statistics as to how often a PLB alarm is used frivolously as opposed to in a real emergency?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T17:05:16.200" Title="Are there any statistics on how many PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) activations are real as opposed to frivolous?" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="16999" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-29T00:49:49.987" Score="2" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several decades ago, I read a book written by a man who rescued and raised two wolf cubs whose mother had been killed. He was sure his wife would welcome the cubs, but he was apprehensive about the reaction of his large, male German Shepherd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dog took one sniff of the cubs, and adopted them, starting by licking them clean (they were filthy).   I don't remember how the man and his wife fed them; I think they had not been weaned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The book focused on the pack that developed.  The man was the alpha male, his wife the alpha female.  The German Shepherd was initially the beta male.  As a juvenile or young adult, the male wolf challenged the man, who instantly and forcefully responded, and thus maintained his position as alpha male.  The male wolf and the German Shepherd worked out an arrangement where the GS was beta in the home territory, but when the pack (led by the man) went far afield, the male wolf was the beta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man trained the wolves to live on their own -- &lt;em&gt;Born Free&lt;/em&gt; with wolves instead of lions -- and eventually the wolves, who had started to roam on their own, left and did not come back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know the title, I don't know the author (it wasn't Farley Mowatt or Barry Lopez or Jack London)), and I don't know where this happened, but my impression is the northwest US or Canada.  The book was presented as the true experiences of the author.  Does this go &lt;em&gt;click&lt;/em&gt; with anyone?  Does the premise of the book - the artificial pack -- jibe with what has been observed about wolf and dog behavior and their relationship to humans?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T16:56:05.100" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T16:56:05.100" Title="Book about wolves raised by a man, his wife and a German Shepherd: familiar to anyone? Is basic premise plausible?" Tags="&lt;books&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16996" CreationDate="2017-08-29T16:19:47.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In 2003, the International Maritime Organisation &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Safety/RadioCommunicationsAndSearchAndRescue/SearchAndRescue/Documents/MSC.1-Circ.1078%20-%20Guidelines%20To%20Administrations%20On%20Reporting%20False%20Alerts.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stated in 2003&lt;/a&gt; that fewer than 1 in 20 alerts related to persons genuinely in distress:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1.4  False alerts in the IAMSAR Manual are defined as: &lt;em&gt;Any alert received by the SAR system  indicating an actual or potential distress&#xA;  situation, when no such situation actually exists&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  1.5  Due to an increasing problem it was decided to  start collection of data on the causes for false  alerts.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  1.6  Statistics from (M)RCCs show that the percentage of false alerts are approximately 95-100%  of the total alerts received, mainly caused&#xA;  by lack  of knowledge of the relevant conventions, codes  and&#xA;  regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The European Radiocommunications Committee gives &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/official/pdf/Rep110.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a breakdown&lt;/a&gt; of root causes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mishandling: 40%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Beacon Malfunction: 10%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Mounting Failure: 6%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Environmental Conditions: 4%&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Unknown: 40%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't include figures for intentional, genuine alerts, but does list some cause descriptions that mostly indicate accidental, rather than frivolous, activation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1649650002.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report by the US FCC&lt;/a&gt; in 1995 states that around 10% of activations were genuine - this may indicate an increase in false alerts over that period (this one is interesting reading, with some notable examples in the text - start at page 10, labelled &quot;18&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An undated &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/BMW%2008%20attachments/EPIRB%20False%20Alert%20Study.2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;presentation&lt;/a&gt; from US Coast Guard and NOAA says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;96% of 406MHz EPIRB Alerts are false&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;85% Resolved by RCCs with  registration and  good detective work&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that many of the above incidents measured above relate to automatically-activated beacons carried on boats, rather than PLBs, so &lt;strong&gt;it may be invalid to suggest that the PLB false-activation rate is the same as for EPIRBs in general&lt;/strong&gt;.  For example, the last document above says that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;69% Of &#xA;  False Alerts [are due to]&#xA;  Bracket &#xA;  Interface Failure&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This clearly doesn't apply to PLBs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A report that distinguishes PLBs from other EPIRBs is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.icao.int/APAC/Meetings/2014%20APSAR%20TF2/WP13%20Cospas-Sarsat%20COSPAS-SARSAT%20Status%20Report%20and%20Operational%20Statistics.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a January&#xA;2014 report by ICOA&lt;/a&gt; which says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Based on the data provided by Participants, Cospas-Sarsat calculates two false alert rates,  identified  for convenience as the “SAR false alert rate” and the “beacon false alert&#xA;  rate”.  The SAR  false  alert  rate,  which  characterises  the &#xA;  impact  of  false  alerts  on  SAR  services,  is  the  percentage  of&#xA;  false  alerts  plus  undetermined  alerts  (no  person  in  distress &#xA;  fo und;  no  beacon  found)  over  the  total  number of alerts&#xA;  transmitted to SAR authorities.  [...] In  2012, the false alert rate was 96%, i.e. about one&#xA;  real alert in 25 alerts received.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that year, the &quot;beacon false alert rate&quot; is listed at 0.4% for PLBs, compared to 0.9% for other EPIRBs and 4.9% for the old 121.5 MHz ELTs (i.e. one in 250 PLBs in the world transmitted a false alert; we can estimate that one in 5000 beacons was used in a real emergency in that year).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T17:05:16.200" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T17:05:16.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16950" CreationDate="2017-08-29T17:11:10.343" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an unsourced quote, I'm afraid, but perhaps relevant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Reflective foil is very effective, reducing radiated heat loss by 97%.  That's almost all &lt;strong&gt;of the 5% we lose by radiation&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, IR reflection is useful &lt;em&gt;only when you've almost eliminated conductive and convective heat loss&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-08-30T08:01:40.427" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T08:01:40.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17004" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17005" CreationDate="2017-08-29T17:25:55.717" Score="4" ViewCount="992" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes climbers/mountaineers will say that they are getting an alpine start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does this mean and why would they want to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-15T05:10:07.410" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T05:10:07.410" Title="What is an alpine start?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17004" CreationDate="2017-08-29T17:25:55.717" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;An alpine start is when &lt;strong&gt;one starts a climb really early in the morning&lt;/strong&gt; (well before sunrise). Usually the goal is to make it to the top and back down before the conditions deteriorate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting too late of a start increases a number of risks including,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thunderstorms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rockfall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weakened snow bridges&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crampons balling up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other times its worth getting an alpine start just to see the sunrise from the top of a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T17:25:55.717" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17006" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-29T17:55:55.980" Score="5" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a lot of trail signs and one thing I noticed is that sometimes they have the distance from one point to another like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Phelps Lake 4 miles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Death Canyon Shelf 8 miles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and sometimes the mileage is simply omitted. Are there reasons for this or is it simply a matter of style?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T19:21:32.083" Title="Are there reasons for not putting the mileage on trail signs or is it just a matter of style?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17007" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17008" CreationDate="2017-08-29T17:59:40.177" Score="9" ViewCount="2328" Body="&lt;p&gt;I, an experienced climber who knows how to rappel, would like to take some people on a scramble route that requires rappelling into a notch. The other people on the trip have standard top rope climbing experience (i.e. know how to tie in to their harness, and be lowered at the end of a top rope climb), but they do not know how to rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My plan is to set up a rappel anchor, using one or more slings around a boulder and thread the rope through rappel rings, or more likely, quicklink carabiners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The process to get down into the notch would be as follows:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rappel to the bottom, and go off rappel  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The other person would pull one end of the rope up and tie in to their harness  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would put them on belay and lower them down as if they had just a finished a top rope climb  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the rope through the anchor and continue on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special considerations for this method? How should I build the anchor knowing that the rope will be moving through it, possibly multiple times?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12140" LastEditorUserId="12140" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T19:51:42.163" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T03:11:56.087" Title="Lowering other members of a party on belay after rappelling" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17007" CreationDate="2017-08-29T18:19:50.167" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I don't like about your plan, &lt;strong&gt;the less experienced people will be tying themselves in without you present&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;the last person won't have a second pair of eyeballs to double check that they have everything set up right&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However there is a way to have &lt;strong&gt;everyone set up ahead of time.&lt;/strong&gt; What you want to do is throw both ends down and then set all of the ATCs up to rappel. Extend the ATCs with a sling so that the people are not pulled to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kWlnu.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kWlnu.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only the last person in the line will be able to rappel, due to the weight placed on the rope. Once you reach the ground the next person will be able to rappel and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way you can do a double check that everyone is set up properly and ready to go. Also you will be able to give them a fireman's belay at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would take them rappelling first before you take them on this trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T20:31:26.353" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T20:31:26.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17007" CreationDate="2017-08-29T19:34:29.573" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My approach would depend on if I was confident that the rappel was straight forward with an obvious bottom with a solid secure place to become unsecured from the rope. If everything is straight forward, I would probably lower each person from the top and after everyone else is down rappel myself. Being lowered from the top is pretty similar to being lowered from the bottom, so the less experienced individuals should not have any problems. This lets you check that everyone is setup correctly before beginning to lower them. It also means you can monitor people near the edge and the rope as it goes over the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the descent for the first person could be tricky or an anchor needs to be set up at the bottom, then it might be better if you go first. Instead of them tying in, I would probably have them each clip in to a large locking carabiner (maybe two that are opposite and opposed). The key thing to stress in this situation is for them to NOT drop the rope. If you have a bunch of people, this is really asking for the rope to get dropped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When setting up the anchor, for either method, you need to be aware of the edge. Putting the &quot;master point&quot; right at the edge decreases the chance it runs over anything sharp, but it also makes it more tricky to weight the rope. Putting the master point far from the edge makes weighting the rope easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T19:34:29.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16975" CreationDate="2017-08-29T20:37:56.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a huge high pressure ridge (588+DAM) that has been parked over a good share of the Intermountain West (centered in various parts of the Great Basin) all summer. Storms that ride over the ridge to the north and then come down on the east side of the clockwise circulation will be where the rainfall occurs. The smoke itself if anything will contain water vapor, and indeed pyroclastic clouds can cause rainfall in their vicinity.  But as for drought downwind, no. Heat islands in cities can clearly change rainfall patterns (such as Atlanta), but not the smoke. The fire season has been very active (nifc.gov) on both sides of the border.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13941" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T20:37:56.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17007" CreationDate="2017-08-29T21:42:14.290" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Extending everyone's rappels and tying everyone into the rope before the first person descends is the proper, safest way to do things, unless you wanted all the followers to tie an autoblock as well. It's the quickest,  simplest, safest thing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alternative would be to set up a proper top-belay anchor, lower all your friends from the anchor one at a time, then clean the anchor and rap down on whatever you're leaving behind. Or, you can have you friends rappel by themselves, but keep them on a backup belay with a second rope (also from above, you can also accomplish this using one rope: rappelling on one half, and using the other half as the backup belay). This way they get a chance to give rappelling a try, but you've got an extra line on them incase they slip up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-08-30T03:11:56.087" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T03:11:56.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17007" CreationDate="2017-08-29T23:05:18.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While Charlie Brumbaugh's solution will work, it has the downside that everyone's attachment relies on a sling as a single point of failure, and slings are not nearly as robust as the things that we would normally accept as single points of failure, such as ropes, harnesses, and carabiners. If there were any unnoticed damage to one of the slings, someone could be dropped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative solution is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set up the rappel anchor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchor yourself to the rappel anchor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fix&lt;/strong&gt; the middle of the rope to the rappel anchor. If using maillons or carabiners, you can just tie a figure 8, bowline on a bight, etc in the middle of the rope and clip that in. If using rappel rings then threading the rope to the centre and then tying a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot#Stein_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stein knot&lt;/a&gt; will be more convenient later on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Throw one half of the rope over the edge. Everyone but you will rappel on this single strand. We'll call this half of the rope the &quot;rappel strand&quot; and the remaining half, which is still at the top, the &quot;belay strand&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have each person set up their rappel device on the rappel strand, and tie in to the end of the belay strand with a figure 8.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get out your belay device, and put the person who will be rappelling on belay using the belay strand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let them rappel, paying out enough rope on the belay strand that it is just slightly slack, so that they are in control (and learning how to rappel!), but you can catch them if they let go of the rappel brake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When they reach the bottom, they untie, you take them off belay and pull the belay strand back up, and repeat with the next person. If you don't have enough rappel devices for everyone, they can even attach the device to the belay strand to be pulled up and given to the next person.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When everyone is down, rig the rope as a normal retrievable rappel, either by unclipping the rope, undoing the knot and reclipping it if using maillons or carabiners, or just by undoing the stein knot if using rappel rings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You rappel down to the others, either using a Prusik backup or getting one of them to give you a fireman's belay.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13186" LastEditorUserId="13186" LastEditDate="2017-08-29T23:14:32.437" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T23:14:32.437" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16758" CreationDate="2017-08-29T23:13:06.940" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it depends on the situation, what's on the ground, whether or not the boulder is overhanging (chance of falling headfirst), traverses etc. But personally as a spotter I'd feel pretty redundant if the climber is over 6m (approx 20 feet) off the deck. Then my main concerns would be: protruding rocks, overhangs and trying to keep their head off the floor. Then again, I hardly ever boulder with more than 2/3 pads and friends, so with 20 pads and mates, maybe it feels different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will vary for different people, I feel a lot more confident with a strong spotter than some of my scrawnier friends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13942" LastActivityDate="2017-08-29T23:13:06.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16907" CreationDate="2017-08-30T00:02:48.747" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are not &quot;special&quot; containers, they are the most widespread containers holding potable water in the world, with more than 100 million used per day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, you don't necessarily need a bottle made of PET, but even  a basic reading and understanding of how the SODIS process works should make it obvious why using anything other than a PET bottle is pointless. SODIS is more than just basic sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SODIS is performed by filling a bottle about 3/4 full, shaking the water vigorously for at least 20 seconds, then putting the bottle in the sun for a minimum of 5 hours, for up to several days, ideally with a reflective element around the bottle to concentrate as much sunlight into the water as is practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way this works is through 2 methods. First and foremost is the interaction with UV-A and the dissolved oxygen in the water. UV-A is barely ionizing radiation, and it will form free radicals and hydrogen peroxides in the water by interacting with the oxygen. These substances are very nasty to microorganisms. Additionally, the entire sunlight band helps warm the water. The warmer the water, the more effective the free radicals and peroxides are. The less UV and heat that can be delivered to the water, the less effective the process will be. If you're in a cold-weather area far in the north, SODIS may never be suitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to use something other than PET, you need to provide something that doesn't absorb UV radiation, and is effective at keeping the water warm. Glass and Polycarbonate both absorb UV, so with Glass, PC, and PET out, whatever you are left with is going to be far more &quot;special&quot; and uncommon I'm not even going to offer an alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So no, a shallow pan will not work. It neither provides a means to oxygenate the water, nor will it keep it warm. If you are going to hike in the back country, be prepared, and that means not improvising with critical wellness aspects like safe drinking water when it takes almost no effort or cost to bring the right supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T00:02:48.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17016" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17017" CreationDate="2017-08-30T01:19:13.497" Score="8" ViewCount="367" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people rappel without a backup prussik, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16615/in-canyoning-why-do-people-skip-a-backup-prusik/16619#16619&quot;&gt;such as when canyoning&lt;/a&gt; and sometimes an auto block needs to be adjusted. In either of these situations, is there a way to stop yourself in the middle of the rappel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T08:34:43.747" Title="How to stop in the middle of a rappel without an autoblock?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17016" CreationDate="2017-08-30T01:19:13.497" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple solution is to take the rope (both strands if rappelling on a doubled rope) below the device  and wrap the several times around your upper leg and hold your upper leg perpendicular to the ground (this keeps the rope from slipping off).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not particularly comfortable and you don't want to do it for an extended amount of time, but as a stopgap measure it works quite well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To getting going again, point your leg towards the ground and  unwrap the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T01:19:13.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17016" CreationDate="2017-08-30T08:34:43.747" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure I'd fancy trusting my life to wrapping the rope around my leg. The conventional way to escape a belay is to tie it off, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vdiffclimbing.com/tieoff-belay/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;see here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5ftga.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5ftga.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For extra safety you can clip the figure eight onto your harness using a carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T08:34:43.747" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16758" CreationDate="2017-08-30T13:13:09.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This varies a lot so it's hard to write a definitive answer. But if you're bouldering (full stop) and you think you're going to fall off (high in your grade) and your concerned about your landing, you want a spotter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Height is pretty much irrelevant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spotters jobs include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making sure you don't land on your head&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensuring you land on your feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensuring you land on the mats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving the mats around so that they're under you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shouting encouragement...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Telling you they did it last week and it's easy, you're just doing it&#xA;wrong&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just as relevant at 1m as it is at 6m. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember a spotters job is &lt;strong&gt;not to catch you&lt;/strong&gt;. They are there to ensure you land safely on the mats. This may mean they push you as you fall or flip you onto your feet but they should never try and actually catch you; this will likely just result in both the climber and spotter getting hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't mean you always need a spotter; they just add an extra dimension of safety. It's up to you to decide if you feel you want one or not. It's likely advisable if the landing is bad (not flat and/or covered in rocks, etc) or you're really pushing your grade and may have an uncontrolled fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We seem to be getting into the realms of when does bouldering stop being bouldering and start free soloing. TBH I don't know, I don't think anyone does. It really depends on your own confidence. Personally I don't think I've climbed over 3m or so without a rope. If you're brave enough to climb higher than this with just mats then good luck. A spotter may help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some advice form Climbing.com on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/how-to-approach-highball-boulder-problems/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;spotting on high ball problems&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis my own):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Never assume you’re being spotted and don’t be afraid to request one.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;As climbers, we’re responsible for our own safety&lt;/strong&gt;. Spotting a&#xA;  super-highball can be dangerous, and the main goal for a spotter is to&#xA;  guide the falling climber onto the pads, not to catch her or slow her&#xA;  fall. Discuss the landing zone, how you might fall, and where the&#xA;  spotters should stand. As the climber falls, the spotter should aim to&#xA;  grasp her hips and fall with her toward the pads. With really big&#xA;  highballs, use a “floating pad” to cushion the impact: Two people hold&#xA;  a regular pad a few feet above the main pad layout, tracking&#xA;  underneath the climber and letting go when the climber hits this pad.&#xA;  The climber will hit the floating pad first, slowing her fall, before&#xA;  landing on the layered pads below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While spotting, keep fingers and thumbs together in a cupped position&#xA;  (spoons) as opposed to spread out (forks). This prevents finger and&#xA;  hand injury. With arms up, keep your elbows and knees slightly bent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tl;Dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very subjective and you really need to make you own decision here but a spotter will help move the mats into the correct position if nothing else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-08-30T15:07:28.390" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T15:07:28.390" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17006" CreationDate="2017-08-30T14:04:44.607" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knowing why distance was included or omitted in any particular instance requires asking the people that decided on that particular sign.  In other words, in the general case, you don't know why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been involved with specifying trail signs.  One reason I can imagine that distances were omitted is because they weren't known with enough confidence to put them on a sign.  A sign or a bunch of signs needed to get done, and nobody had time to go out and measure the trail distances.  Another possibility is that whoever specified the sign just didn't feel it mattered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm on the town Trails Committee, and am in the process of getting signs put up at trail intersections.  This is more work and more complicated than most people would expect.  We want distances for each destination, which means we have to actually know the distances first.  GPS tracks can be OK, but are often not so good at measuring distance, especially when the trail is very curvy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before we can get signs made, I go out and get the length of every trail segment with a measuring wheel.  The distances that go on the signs are often a summation of 10 or more individual trail segments.  To avoid accumulating errors, I record the distance of each trail segment to 1/1000 mile.  These are added up to get the distance to the destination for the trail sign, then rounded to the nearest 1/10 mile.  With this process, we can be quite confident the result is accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can certainly see some organizations just skipping all that by not putting distances on signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be giving a talk on this topic and trail mapping in general at the MA state Trails Conference later this year in November.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T14:04:44.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16950" CreationDate="2017-08-30T18:48:57.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm gonna go with &quot;not much&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found this article,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.perkinelmer.com/lab-solutions/resources/docs/TCH_reflection-Measurements.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reflection Measurements in IR Spectroscopy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in it, I recognize many English words, but they did not seem to be arranged in a coherent fashion that I could well understand.  Maybe you have more luck or skill than I.  It seems written for an audience, a party to which I was not invited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I can distill from it is this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat can be reflected (back), transmitted (through), or absorbed (kept, and not reflected or transmitted).  I suspect that heat will be split all 3 ways (some being reflected, some being transmitted, and some being absorbed), and, the material which allows more heat to be reflected more than it is transmitted or absorbed will be more effective for this particular purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article also states that reflection takes place at the surface.  My guess is, a foam padding painted with aluminum reflective paint or such coating will effectively reflect, but probably not with someone sleeping on it, which will disrupt the reflection.  Because the surface is distorted when slept upon, the foam material is the next line of defense against transmittal of heat, and all we can do is hope for as much absorption as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess, then, the thinner the foam, the less absorption and greater transmittal occurs, and that factor can be determined by the material's ability to compress, and, the weight of the person sleeping on it.  A child, for example, might find it warmer than an adult might, because there is less deformity of the surface, and, when compressed, is less so than when an adult sleeps on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T18:48:57.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17022" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-08-30T19:08:42.213" Score="6" ViewCount="1203" Body="&lt;p&gt;To simul-rappel, the technique goes as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prepare to rappel as usual, passing the rope through bomber bolts;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie knots on both ends of the rope;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attach your personal anchoring system (PAS) to your partner's PAS or belay loop (or remain tied to him in any other way);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set the gear to rappel from a single strand of the rope simultaneously with your partner, who's going to rappel from the other one;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weigh the rope and be absolutely sure neither you nor your partner has its weight placed on the PAS, but on the rope (standard procedure: never untie from something that's hard to untie from). In other words: make sure you're both tied to the rope and balanced only by your weights;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Untie both PASes and rappel down singing a beautiful song, preferably in a sonorous language like Italian, Portuguese of Russian (German and Polish songs may cause accidents);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This method is faster than usual rappelling. Many people use it frequently, and even more people have used it at least once. I like using it a lot, and one of these days a friend came to me saying that another climber got freaked out after hearing he used simul-rappelling in a daily basis. According to this guy, simul-rappelling is more dangerous than rappeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This got me thinking: imagine the belay is bomber and your rope is trustworthy (if those are not matched, then rappelling won't be safe regardless of the method). Then why would simul-rappelling be more dangerous than rappelling? I can only think of one situation where this is true: the weight difference between the climbers is considerable &lt;em&gt;plus&lt;/em&gt; they're not attach to each other (as when rappelling from opposed sides on a spire). Overall, this is easily solved by remaining attached to your partner - actually, sometimes going down is &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; possible if simul-rappeling (like when one of the climbers is so light that the rope won't run through the brake - this happens sometimes to children).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does someone have a clear, precise reason for simul-rappelling to be more dangerous than rappelling? Since most climbing accidents happen during the rappel and many of them are due to the fact that one of the climbers didn't actually pass his/her rope through the breaking device, I'd say simul-rappelling is actually &lt;em&gt;safer&lt;/em&gt; than standard rappelling, since both climbers need to be balanced on the rope (using their braking devices) before lowering themselves.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T16:07:20.117" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T18:04:30.670" Title="The dangers of simul-rappelling" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17023" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17028" CreationDate="2017-08-30T19:18:18.067" Score="13" ViewCount="11730" Body="&lt;p&gt;When car camping, I use a solar charger to charge my electronics. Sometimes I can place it outside, and other times I will stick it on the dash to charge things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell that putting it on the dash is less efficient, but I wonder by how much?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:16:16.370" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:16:16.370" Title="How much less efficient is a solar charger when on a car's dashboard instead of in direct sunlight?" Tags="&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17023" CreationDate="2017-08-30T20:14:08.433" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shouldn't be less efficient at all - or at least, approximately as efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solar panels generate energy utilising the band-gap structure inherent to semiconductor materials. This means that, to generate current, you need to dislodge an electron from the valence band to the conductor band, and the laws of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;quantum mechanics&lt;/a&gt; state that this can only happen if the photon that hits the electron has an energy of at least the band-gap potential. There's also an upper limit, given by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scattering_amplitude&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;scattering amplitude&lt;/a&gt;: if this photon has too much energy, then the probability it'd &quot;hit&quot; an electron is very very small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In English: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solarcellcentral.com/limits_page.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar panels work with light that's in the middle of the spectrum&lt;/a&gt; (between UV/gamma and radio/infrared), which includes what we call &lt;em&gt;visible&lt;/em&gt;. Windshields are transparent, which means they filter almost no visible light (otherwise they'd be black). In a word: your solar panel behind a windshield glass is as efficient as your eyes behind a windshield glass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; thanks to ChrisH's comments, we can quantitatively have an idea of this small efficiency loss. Due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_diffraction&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;optical scattering effects&lt;/a&gt;, your sight is probably 5~10% worse behind a windshield, which means your solar panel will also be 5~10% less efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2017-08-30T20:35:28.007" LastActivityDate="2017-08-30T20:35:28.007" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17025" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17055" CreationDate="2017-08-31T03:44:23.930" Score="4" ViewCount="225" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Canyoning/Canyoneering, floating ropes are used to make rope management a lot easier. Unfortunately for those of us interested in canyoning who don't live in Europe, specialized canyoning gear isn't easy to come by. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to treat a regular static rope so that it will float?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:58:01.970" Title="Can you float-treat a rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17023" CreationDate="2017-08-31T06:13:55.743" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, a solar charger will less efficient when you put it on the dash rather than outside for a couple of reasons that I can think of offhand in addition to the optical effects already mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the electricity generation comes from UV photons. Photon for photon, a UV photon has more energy than a visible light photon because it has a higher frequency (photoelectric effect - energy is proportional to frequency). Glass is a very effective UV blocker so you'd be losing part of the spectrum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solar cells generally perform less well at higher temperatures. A car dash will often be at a higher temperature (sometimes significantly higher) than the outside temperature, so the performance (conversion efficiency) will be degraded as it gets hotter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you've already seen, the efficiency is less when the solar charger is on the dash. You'd probably have to do some comparisons with different conditions to find out how much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13943" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T06:13:55.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17023" CreationDate="2017-08-31T13:40:28.567" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, the solar panel will be a little less efficient on the dashboard than outside because:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wavelengths absorbed by the windshield&lt;/b&gt;.  The windshield absorbs most UV, which does still contribute to the solar panel output when present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Light attenuation due to air/glass interface&lt;/b&gt;.  The glass will always reflect some light.  Think of it this way.  You can see the reflection of the sun in the windshield if you look at it from outside.  That reflected light is obviously not going to hit the solar panel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Light attenuation due to windshield angle&lt;/b&gt;.  When the windshield is directly facing the sun, relatively little of the sunlight is reflected.  However, when the sunlight is hitting the windshield at a glancing angle, a significant fraction of the light is reflected and therefore not transmitted to where it hits the solar panel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Decreased panel efficiency due to temperature&lt;/b&gt;.  The efficiency of solar panels goes down with increased temperature, becoming 0 at about 150 &amp;deg;C.  Usually there will be more air flow around a panel that is by itself outside than inside the car on the dashboard.  Also the surrounding dashboard is heated by the sunlight, which warms the air around the panel, which warms the panel more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all these effects together, it would not be surprising to see the output of the panel drop by half in some cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T17:10:23.053" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T17:10:23.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17022" CreationDate="2017-08-31T14:30:07.613" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A very important point here is rappelling/abseiling is &lt;strong&gt;the most dangerous part of a climb&lt;/strong&gt;. You're very exposed, typically relying on your rope alone and whatever you're anchored to and nothing else, your backups are minimal. An accident at this point is more likely to be serious or even fatal at this point then any other point on your climb. So most climbers do whatever they can to mitigate these risks. If you want to not do this to save some time (the only upside to rappelling at the same time is that it's faster), then that's up to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rappelling at the same time is more dangerous than standard rappelling, this is highlighted in this accident report &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/climber-killed-in-simul-rappelling-accident-on-the-goat-wall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/climber-killed-in-simul-rappelling-accident-on-the-goat-wall&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here the people rapelling ended up in this situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                  /|\&#xA;                  x| |&#xA;                   | |&#xA;                   | |&#xA;                   | y&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;code&gt;y&lt;/code&gt; had reached the base of the cliff. He naturally unweighted the rappel. This caused a sudden shift in the rope though his device that he wasn't expecting. Unfortunately the rope came out of his device entirely and this caused the fatality of &lt;code&gt;x&lt;/code&gt; (a fall of around 300 feet+). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were likely mitigating factors here, &lt;code&gt;y&lt;/code&gt; didn't have any backups (prusik) and they should have rappelled at the same distance keeping the rope even. But it does highlight an extra complexity that can be mitigated simply by rappelling individually. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's another accident where one person has again lost the rope. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/simul-rappel-goes-tragically-wrong-reed-s-pinnacle-yosemite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/simul-rappel-goes-tragically-wrong-reed-s-pinnacle-yosemite&lt;/a&gt; this article also contains some prevention information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This accident would have been prevented if the climbers had tied knots&#xA;  in the ends of the rope before rappelling. Note, however, that knotted&#xA;  ends will not always prevent rappelling accidents. For example, on&#xA;  rappels where the rope ends reach the ground or a ledge, losing&#xA;  control could still result in a ground/ledge fall. A safer method&#xA;  involves both knotting rope ends and using a hands-free backup such as&#xA;  a prusik hitched on the rope below your rappel device, as shown in the&#xA;  photo here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simul-rappelling is rarely necessary&lt;/strong&gt;—perhaps the only time it is&#xA;  actually required is to descend a spire where there is no anchor, and&#xA;  climbers must rappel different sides to get down. Simul-rappelling&#xA;  also presents extra risks. It increases the load on the anchor—a&#xA;  consideration in scenarios where you’re rapping on old fixed pitons,&#xA;  bolts or gear that could fail under high loads, such as those&#xA;  generated when two climbers jounce down uneven terrain simultaneously.&#xA;  Also, if the two climbers are using different devices or one of them&#xA;  is significantly heavier than the other, the rope might be&#xA;  differentially loaded, allowing more slack to slip through the anchor&#xA;  on one side and causing the rope ends to become uneven. The real&#xA;  danger in simul-rappelling, though, as evidenced by this fatal&#xA;  accident, is that if one rappeller unweights his side of the rope,&#xA;  either by reaching the ground or a ledge ahead of his partner or by&#xA;  losing control of his brake hand, the rappeller on the other side of&#xA;  the rope will free fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Avoid any scenarios where you unnecessarily place your life in the&#xA;  hands of another. In this case, David could simply have tied off the&#xA;  rope and rapped on a single line using his Grigri, then John could&#xA;  have rigged for a double-rope rappel. Or, knowing that the 80-meter&#xA;  rope was long enough, John could have, after leading, simply lowered&#xA;  from the anchor (quicklinks and rings) and belayed David up using a&#xA;  slingshot toprope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to Accidents in North American Mountaineering in 2013,&#xA;  rappelling accounts for a high percentage of climbing fatalities every&#xA;  year. Hedge your bets by practicing safe rappelling: knot your ropes,&#xA;  use a hands-free backup and take responsibility for your own safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading another incident (can't find the article) where a mitigating factor was the use of a gri gri. Again the people rappeling we're uneven and this caused one of the gri gri's to slip. The unevenness accelerated the rope slip though the gri gri and again one person died. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'd say simul-rappelling is actually safer than standard rappelling,&#xA;  since both climbers need to be balanced on the rope (using their&#xA;  braking devices) before lowering themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is exactly why it's &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; safer,  &lt;em&gt;both climbers need to be balanced on the rope&lt;/em&gt;, at all times, evenly, or else someone falls. If your on your own you have control of both ropes and it's even because it's just you controlling both at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T16:10:15.637" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T16:10:15.637" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4776" CreationDate="2017-08-31T15:55:37.927" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing to consider, You could use an adhesive thermal insulating liner on the underside of the bed cap, it would be semi-permanent but i don't see it causing any adverse affects if left in place year round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bed liner is one of the one piece plastic liners you could try removing it, adding a layer of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dynamat.com/automotive-and-transportation/automotive-restoration/dynaliner/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dynamat&lt;/a&gt; beneath the liner covering the entire bed and then re-install the plastic liner over the top. This material could be used for the bed and the cap, it is made to dampen sound and insulate the inside of vehicles from heat from the engine bay/firewall but would work equally well at keeping it inside. It comes in various thickness and can be installed yourself pretty easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only down side is if you sleep with the cap on in summer it could get a little toasty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an image of some installed to give you an idea of its pliable nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sLWSB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sLWSB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T15:55:37.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4776" CreationDate="2017-08-31T17:06:12.907" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It makes more sense to insulate you than the whole back of the truck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a foam pad to put under your sleeping bag.  You say there is a plastic liner, but a real sleeping pad should insulate much better than the liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for losing heat from the top, get a warmer sleeping bag or just put a blanket over the existing one on cold nights.  You've got a whole truck, so carrying a extra blanket or two shouldn't be a problem.  With the blankets, you can tune your insulation to the temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T17:06:12.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5408" CreationDate="2017-08-31T17:24:58.847" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an extension to Openstreetmap, I recommend &lt;a href=&quot;http://garmin.opentopomap.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Opentopomap&lt;/a&gt;.  It has the same trail data as Openstreetmap, but adds contour lines, which can be quite handy when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I recommend to never hike on a GPS alone.  Bring a paper map from the Spanish IGN.  You'll get more overview, and a GPS can break or run out of battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T17:24:58.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17022" CreationDate="2017-08-31T17:53:17.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it isn't fair to simu-abseiling to pull out horrific accident reports and use them to say it isn't safe, because there are just as horrific accidents with &quot;traditional&quot; abseiling. The only fair comparison would be if there were numbers of rappels done and numbers of accidents on both styles - I am pretty sure this kind of data doesn't exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the exact procedure and situation described in the question I agree, simu-abseiling is just as safe. However it is in my opinion not meaningful in this case to restrict the scenario to a perfect execution. There are situations where different techniques differ in safety given a defined scenario and not allowing mistakes - this is not one. I don't have numbers ready, but I strongly believe that mistakes are the prime reasons for accidents while abseiling. So what you &lt;em&gt;can meaningfully compare is the complexity of a system and thus chances of making a mistake and the consequences of a mistake&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is based on armchair thinking: I have done plenty &quot;normal&quot; abseils, but only one simu-abseil (in a controlled environment for fun and the experience). It concerns &quot;risk&quot; which is an extremely complicated issue in itself and the tolerance for risk is a personal choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the first part about higher complexity and thus options to make a mistake is not that bad for simu-abseiling. Then again for me it is unthinkable to not use a backup friction knot on long/multi-pitch abseils (ever had to untie a tangled rope during abseiling?): A backup knot completely removes the risk of unloading the rope while the other end is still loaded (you can't remove a friction knot when loaded).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What weighs more in my opinion is the consequences of a mistake. History proves that everyone can make mistakes, so ignoring this aspect would be naive. If you do a mistake (e.g. the classic: going over the rope's end due to missing knot) two people are dead instead of one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you consider chance of a mistake to be equal between both options and define risk as chance times consequences you have twice the risk for simu-abseiling. This is likely also the reason why many people consider simu-abseiling instinctively as much less safe. However this is also where human risk perception usually breaks down: Low probability, high consequence. To be fair, not only human perception, this also makes it extremely hard to quantify it. Even if there was data on it, you would need a huge amount of cases to get any significant results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And one aspect that is not safety related: If you do remain attached to each other while abseiling this is a &lt;em&gt;pain&lt;/em&gt;. I feel like it is already annoying when just abseiling straight down. However very often I need to search for the next belay or do pendulum to reach it. Doing this in perfect synchronization appears to be an art-form very hard to master.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I probably didn't really answer the question directly, but that also intended. Many of the above is based on arguments, a final answer is a judgment call. And everyone has to do it for themselves. In my opinion there is no reason to demonise simu-abseiling. I don't do it because I believe in keeping to one system that everyone knows. I would be feigning if saying I did it for safety, as I often leave out knots in the end (start the stoning) when going down first myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-08-31T18:04:30.670" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T18:04:30.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17034" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17210" CreationDate="2017-08-31T18:20:14.330" Score="8" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do laps at the pool quite often and when I do front crawl I breathe out with my face in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to do the same at a lake (it was quite warm actually but choppy conditions) but found it quite a bit harder to force air out of my mouth and nearly impossible to breathe out of my nose (which I prefer in the pool).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything about open water that would make this harder?  Or was it psychological?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't notice myself feeling tense (I was close to shore) - but I wondered if small currents from the chop, relative to a pool made the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12289" LastActivityDate="2017-09-22T10:52:11.803" Title="Is it harder to exhale while swimming in open water?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17036" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17037" CreationDate="2017-08-31T18:50:17.860" Score="8" ViewCount="426" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can be a real pain to lose or forget something when backpacking, especially if you have to backtrack miles to retrieve it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tips to avoid this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T13:18:10.007" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T08:34:11.187" Title="Tips for avoiding losing things when backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-08-31T18:50:17.860" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tips that I can think of are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your backpack organized and place things into the same pockets each time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid pulling everything out of your backpack if you don't have to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have to pull stuff out of your backpack, place them onto a barren surface like a rock or tarp (avoid long grass).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brightly colored things are harder to misplace, it can be worth it to mark things with bright orange tape or paint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the area in which you place items as small as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After everything is packed and your backpack is on, do a visual sweep of the area to make sure that nothing has been left behind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T18:50:17.860" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16758" CreationDate="2017-08-31T22:00:49.093" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends entirely on the skill level of the climber &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the spotter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Falling is a skill, and catching a fall is a skill. The more skilled the climbers are, the higher risks they can take. If either one is uncomfortable with how high a boulder is, then the problem shouldn't be attempted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Catching highballers usually requires a lot of crashpads, and a lot of spotters, and whomever is spotting needs to be alert and make sure the pads move to where they need to be as a climber falls. The climber must also be certain that if they take a fall, that it's controlled so they can land on their feet and take as much of the force of from the fall as possible with their legs; this often requires them to bail off before they blow off. When spotting high falls, you're priority is to ensure the pads are under the climber, and that the climber hits the pads by directing their fall if they fall outside the LZ, sometimes injuries can't be prevented on highballers, climbers attempting them acknowledge this risk, and do their best to come out of a fall with as little injury as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/die-trying/videos/too-big-to-flail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Watch the spotters as they spot Alex Hannold on &quot;Too Big To Flail&quot;.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkHhM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkHhM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-08-31T22:00:49.093" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5174" CreationDate="2017-09-01T00:52:17.063" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an amateur radio operator (Extra Class) active in Skywarn.  Yes, PMR radios transmit in the amateur radio spectrum in Canada and the U.S.  Yes, it is not legal.  In the wilderness, far away from civilization, and with handheld radios that emit a few hundred milliwatts, you will absolutely, positively not interfere with anyone.  If by the smallest of chances someone might actually hear you, it would be in the background noise, it would be for a very short period of time, and no one is going to &quot;hunt you down&quot; and slam you up against the wall.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be confronted by some kind of vigilante ham radio operator.  But if you are, you have a legal loophole through which you can escape without any problem:  the FCC allows anyone to use any means of communications at all (legal or illegal) if it is an emergency.  Just tell them you had these radios, brought them with you from Europe, and used them to prevent one of your hiking party from getting lost, and it was an emergency.  End of story.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States, even in large metropolitan areas, you can go for years before you ever hear anyone on these frequencies.  They are simply not used.  So, no one is going to feel you are trespassing on their frequencies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13947" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T00:52:17.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17040" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17041" CreationDate="2017-09-01T03:08:27.353" Score="10" ViewCount="2340" Body="&lt;p&gt;We saw this magnificent white tiger in a wildlife rehabilitation center in the United States. I don't like seeing animals out of their natural habitat, but all of these animals were rescued from circuses or zoos, and are not able to be returned to the wild. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually these places have signs by the animal enclosures so we can learn about the animals, but I didn't see any information there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This especially intrigued me because I don't think I've ever seen a white tiger before, even on television. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where does this breed of tiger usually live? What are some other important facts about it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PDL79.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PDL79.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIt4Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIt4Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:21:44.637" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T17:05:41.003" Title="Where do white tigers live?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;tigers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17040" CreationDate="2017-09-01T03:30:00.353" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;All white tigers live in zoos. The last white tiger living in the wild was shot in 1958. (This breaks my heart.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://a-z-animals.com/animals/white-tiger/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a-z animals&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;White Tiger Classification and Evolution The White Tiger (also known&#xA;  as the White Bengal Tiger) is a subspecies of Tiger, found throughout&#xA;  the Indian subcontinent. Although the range of the White Tiger is&#xA;  historically very large, these animals are incredibly rare as their&#xA;  colouration is dependent on a defective, recessive gene that is passed&#xA;  on from their parents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fellow cat-lover sent me an e-mail nearly two months ago about a &quot;pale tiger&quot; that had just been photographed in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/exceptionally-rare-pale-tiger-photographed-in-the-wild&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Guardian&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Animal spotted by photographer in jungles of southern India may be the&#xA;  fairest known tiger living outside captivity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pale tigers, distinct from white tigers, are thought to have a genetic&#xA;  mutation that results in what biologists call colour morphism. It&#xA;  occurs in environments with large, random mating pools that allow for&#xA;  the varied exchange of genes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Parvish Pandya, a doctor of zoology, said the birth of a tiger with&#xA;  pale fur was “quite a genetic chance”. He ruled out the possibility&#xA;  the tiger was albino, citing the lack of pinkish hue around its eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wright, who has spent decades in India tracking tigers, said she&#xA;  recalled only ever seeing one before, in the Ranthambore national park&#xA;  in Rajasthan in the 1980s. “But it wasn’t nearly as pale as this one,”&#xA;  she said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The last white tiger in the wild was shot in 1958, and though some&#xA;  still live in public and private zoos, many suffer severe health&#xA;  problems due to a lack of genetic mixing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wright said the absence of white tiger genes in the wild meant the&#xA;  pale tiger in Tamil Nadu could be the fairest known tiger living&#xA;  outside captivity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T03:39:34.370" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T03:39:34.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17042" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-01T07:05:04.610" Score="-3" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I am always looking for my next challenge I have decided that I want to reach the highest points in some of the European countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a pretty fit person and I went on some 3-4 day trips in the mountains of Italy and Austria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to start in 2018 with this challenge, but what countries should I do first and where do I find the right information? I am having trouble of finding information of mountains like Olympus and Großglockner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I want to start as soon as possible with this in 2018, what mountains should I do first and what time of year can I start?&#xA;Probably the mountains with the least snow first?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the mountains I want to climb (not all in 2018 and not complete at all):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Olympus (Greece)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zugspitze (Germany)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;El Teide (Spain)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Großglockner (Austria)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dufourspitze (Swiss)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mont Blanc (France)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13948" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T09:29:34.467" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T11:33:40.600" Title="Want to climb highest mountains of most European country's, how and where to start?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-09-01T13:11:28.723" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17042" CreationDate="2017-09-01T08:04:39.757" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always felt uncomfortable when it is about asking people do go for a particular trek, and sometimes the asking them otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;I am a pretty fit person and I went on some 3-4 day trips in the mountains of Italy and Austria.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't ensure that you are ready do deal with treks/mountains in the region which may (or may not) be new to you. I am from India and I have been into mountaineering for over a decade now, but that doesn't directly qualify me to trek or plan a climb in Europe or even somewhere in Asia. Because, surroundings change, the way people go about it (might) change. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to be rude outright, and I'd never advice you to not to go for it, but I'd strongly recommend you to explore the region which you know about. (If you are not already) Be a regular hiker/trekker and get familiar with do's and dont's when things go wrong. A bad day (not a worst one!) in mountains shape you as a better trekker than 10 good days in mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you are really ready to go with it, I'll help you with first item in your list. I am sure you can do this for other mountains by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt; Olympus (Greece)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This mountain is in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.olympusfd.gr/us/infos.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Olympus National Park&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.olympusfd.gr/us/Diadromes.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is the link to the details about the mountain route documented by the Olympus National Park authorities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.olympusfd.gr/us/phones.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is the link to the important phone numbers&lt;/a&gt;. Try some of them and may be you will find someone who can guide you about the best season to visit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.olympusfd.gr/us/Rules.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is the link to the general regulations to be observed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-09-26T11:33:40.600" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T11:33:40.600" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13480" CreationDate="2017-09-01T08:18:39.500" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are overdue, and the search party &lt;em&gt;know you have a PLB&lt;/em&gt;, the fact that they have not received an alert from it suggests either&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are merely delayed, and will turn up soon, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you are so incapacitated that you could not use the beacon (probably already dead - sorry!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you activate the PLB, the level of concern will likely increase - you've indicated that you need help, and soon.  More resources may be deployed, possibly impacting any other callouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recommendation is to proceed directly to habitation (without delay, but without taking unnecessary risk) and make an emergency phone or radio call (use the 112 emergency number, or the national equivalent if you're in a country that still hasn't adopted the standard; on radio, you'll want a Channel 16 &quot;Securite&quot; message) to ensure that the &quot;stand down&quot; message gets to the team who would have been activated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, find a big rock and drop it on your leg hard enough to break it.  You can now activate your beacon with a clear conscience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T08:18:39.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17045" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17046" CreationDate="2017-09-01T09:00:01.580" Score="7" ViewCount="382" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a knot that can be used to tie bulky objects together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I would use compression straps to tightly strap a tent to a bike handlebars, but I only have paracord at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/reef/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;square knot&lt;/a&gt; but I am afraid it would come loose with all the vibrations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like some kind of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/truckersquick/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trucker's hitch&lt;/a&gt; would work, but I don't have a tension point I could use to keep it under tension?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What knots are good for this kind of situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13949" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:38:19.703" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T16:01:12.270" Title="Which knot to tie bulky objects together for transport" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17045" CreationDate="2017-09-01T09:51:01.040" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tie a loop in one end with a bowline, thread the rope though the loop and around the package, as you would with compression straps. If you can't get it tight enough with a couple of half hitches use a truckers hitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T09:51:01.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4589" CreationDate="2017-09-01T10:22:50.523" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't really think that woman should be afraid when hiking alone. However, for sure, both woman and man should be careful. According to Sky Above Us Statistic deaths related to lack of knowledge and experience (while hiking and outdoors activities) by far outnumber deaths attributed to falls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even further, according to a Backpacker Data your risk of being a victim of a violent crime (murder, rape, or aggravated assault) is thousands of times lower in a national park than in the country as a whole!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am an experienced hiker, and I am sure that there are too many benefits in hiking to give up on it just because you are afraid of getting assaulted  (It can happen to you anywhere!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you need to get well prepared before hitting the trail for the first time. Here is a great guide from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hikingdude.com/hiking-alone.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking Dude&lt;/a&gt; and my article &lt;a href=&quot;https://hikeandcycle.com/37-tips-for-women-hiking-alone-bonus-female-hikers-blogs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;37 Tips for Women Hiking Alone&lt;/a&gt;. Also, think about finding someone to accompany you on your first hike. Hiking together is without doubts less risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13950" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T10:22:50.523" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-09-01T12:04:07.873" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I try to always check all the zippers on my pack before putting it on and then turn around and scan the area before walking off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13952" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T12:04:07.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9284" CreationDate="2017-09-01T12:18:14.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently, I started backpacking again after a 20 year break. I still had my old equipment in the storage room. I tested my Coleman Apex unleaded gas stove and it worked fine. Then the first trip out the pressurized fuel line split open and started spraying gas out while the stove was lit. Fortunately, I got the flame turned off in time. My advice, buy new equipment. It's lighter than the old stuff too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13952" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T12:18:14.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5097" CreationDate="2017-09-01T15:20:47.230" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's useful for extinguishing your campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stir the coals, add the &quot;liquid&quot;, then stir again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T15:20:47.230" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2017-09-01T21:47:52.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prefer the mat (in the rare case of sleeping outside in winter, mats) rolled up inside the rucksack, against its wall, as shown in the middle picture in your question.  This way the mat is safe (possibly the least concern, as others described), and it does not protrude in any direction, which is quite useful is certain types of terrain (like getting through bushes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this uses up some space inside, so you need a big enough rucksack (or carry less stuff).  Also, pulling the mat out is easy, but for putting it back you normally need to first pull out quite some stuff, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6368" LastEditorUserId="6368" LastEditDate="2017-09-01T21:55:43.880" LastActivityDate="2017-09-01T21:55:43.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-09-02T06:31:06.483" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;An extension of the &lt;em&gt;same things in same pockets&lt;/em&gt; approach is kits for specific purposes: a cook kit might include cutlery, lighter, stove tools, washing up necessities, penknife; a valuables or daily carry kit could include money, ID, keys, penknife. But wherever you choose to put the knife, that's its home. Then you can check the cook kit after everything has cooled down and before you set off, for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each kit goes in a bag, with as much labelling as you feel necessary. For trips that involve shared responsiblity, a full list of contents for each kit can be written on the bag. Small thin dry bags are quite suitable and can be written on with marker pen.  These bags are often brightly coloured, which is no bad thing; in fact bags that are effectively camouflaged run the risk of leaving the whole bag, especially if you're setting off at dawn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Larger items are much less of an issue and are dealt with by checking the ground after everyone has their pack on. Check carefully around the fire or where you had the stove. This is also a check for litter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worst of all are tent pegs. They hide in the grass and you may have quite a few without spares. If you're running really tight, counting them into the bag may be the only way. If you've got (or can make) a couple of spares, you don't need to go to that extreme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can keep a log of who finds the most dropped kit after the bags are packed. They win a symbolic prize on return, like the leader buys them a drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T09:19:36.657" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T09:19:36.657" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17053" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-02T20:08:22.013" Score="6" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently started lead climbing in the gym after taking a lead climbing class.  So far, I've only led with someone I know from the class who I watched lead belaying a number of times during the class.  However, at some point I will want to lead climb with others and will therefore need a way to assess their competence as lead partners before climbing with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what is a good way to do this?  I've read this question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11269/vetting-belayers-at-the-gym&quot;&gt;Vetting belayers at the gym?&lt;/a&gt;), but I'm specifically asking about lead belay and it is obviously more complicated and the potential for a serious accident is greater.  I could make sure that they have their lead card and climb easy routes at first that I'd be very unlikely to fall on, but I wouldn't be able to see their belay technique since I'd be looking at the wall most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that some people only let others who they know belay them, but presumably you didn't know them at first, so this only seems like a realistic option for experienced climbers who already have several lead climbing partners.  I'm asking about how to find competent climbing&#xA;partners in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you handle this situation?  If it matters, I plan on only leading indoors for a while until I gain more experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastActivityDate="2017-09-02T20:08:22.013" Title="Assessing potential lead climbing partners for competence and safety" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-09-02T21:56:46.730" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-09-02T20:28:02.430" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, I'm a total scatterbrain on the trail, so I can answer from hard experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three scenarios - before you go, leaving camp or accommodation, and getting back on trail after a rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Before you go&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one's easy - the spreadsheet is your friend. I have printed checklists in plastic sleeves, and they have saved me a good deal of pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping your storage organised will definitely help, but it's easy to forget things that you have in your day-sack, or that torch you used for a job around the house...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And having a packing routine is also helpful. If everything has its place in your system, you're more likely to notice if it's missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leaving camp or accommodation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This really shouldn't be a problem. You're fresh, and you've just been packing so making sure you have everything is top of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One key is developing tidy camp routines. If I use anything away from the tent such as a stove, I'll stow it back under the fly immediately after use. If everything is in one place, it's hard to forget in the morning. If you spread yourself around, the risk is higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common risk is tent pegs - so again, develop a routine. Count them into your hand as you take down your shelter to be sure you don't leave any in the ground. Then put them straight into the peg bag - never lay them down. Know how many you have out with you and as a double-check, count them in the bag before you pack it away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I leave, I will always have a wander around to double-check I've got everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same applies if you're in a hut or hostel - be sure to keep everything in one place rather than spreading stuff around. Here the main risks are electronics on recharge, toiletries, towels and torches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In each scenario, have a mental checklist for your morning pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the trail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is more risky. You may be tired, or chatting with your companions, or preoccupied with some issue you're facing on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal solution is lanyards. Everything vital, such as my hat, compass, wallet, phone, PLB and the like is either attached to my body or to my pack (even as a scatterbrain, I've never managed to forget my pack!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do try to remember to check around when I leave, but sometimes forget. Which is why I've resorted to physical safeguards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long story short...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be aware of the things you are most likely to forget in each scenario, and develop a routine to run through a physical or mental checklist every time you depart&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are still liable to forget things, tie them to yourself or to your pack!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T08:34:11.187" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T08:34:11.187" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17025" CreationDate="2017-09-03T05:41:34.873" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, because whether a rope floats or sinks is dependent on its specific gravity (which in turn is dependent on the materials used).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] Those with SG [special gravity] greater than 1 are denser than water and will, disregarding surface tension effects, sink in it. Those with an SG less than 1 are less dense than water and will float on it. [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_gravity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As examples,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Manila Rope 1.38&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Polypropylene Rope 0.91&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Nova Blue (Nylon) 1.38&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Spectra Fibre 0.98&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://s591854561.onlinehome.us/catalogs/cordage.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-04T14:31:43.403" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T14:31:43.403" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1594" CreationDate="2017-09-03T16:58:38.887" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out &lt;a href=&quot;http://ultimatesurvivaltips.com/paracord-basics/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://ultimatesurvivaltips.com/paracord-basics/&lt;/a&gt; for a pretty good answer to this question. Some of the main points about paracord:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stronger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better resistance to minor nicks and damage &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be disassembled and then used for small nets, fishing line, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13956" LastActivityDate="2017-09-03T16:58:38.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16885" CreationDate="2017-09-03T22:34:00.260" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit late, but hope I can add something to the excellent answers you've already received. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with the general concensus that it's probably a young grey partridge (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_partridge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Perdix Perdix&lt;/a&gt;). The adult would generally have brighter colors. I've never had one, so I can't speak from experience, but since you're interested in taking care of it, I can give you some information I found online. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This partridge is a ground hopper. They don't fly very high or very often. They almost never migrate, so yours is probably not too far from where it was born. They're usually in small family groups, so it may have become separated from its group and is wandering around the neighborhood looking for them. Your concern about the road is definitely valid. It has made it to your yard more than once, but may not be as lucky every time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past the main reason for raising pheasants was for food or sport-hunting, but since their numbers have declined dramatically over the last few decades, many farmers are now attempting to create optimal conditions to increase the population. In some parts of the UK, these controlled farms are the only places this bird is thriving. Therefore, I'd continue checking with your local farmers to see if they're missing one. Local feed stores can also tell you if anyone has reported strays. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to keep it, even for a while, here are some basics. (Much of this is  overkill for a quick stay at your hotel, but it's interesting so I decided to include it!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You've been given excellent advice, including from Tom Gaskill, who has first hand experience raising this family of birds, so I'd trust that! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeds and seed mixes are required all year round, but not as their sole diet.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For young birds, insects can be up to 90% of their diet. Their preferences include caterpillars, beetles, bugs, ants and aphids. They gradually need fewer protein sources, and by the time they're adults, animal foods only make up about 10% of their diet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Adult grey partridges seek places where they can find lots of seed food throughout the year. During the spring and early summer, partridges feed mainly on green leafy material, including dandelions, small grains and assorted grasses. In the summer and fall, weed seeds of plants including foxtail, wild buckwheat and linotweed are abundant sources of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cultivated grains, such as wheat, corn, oats and barley are another essential food source: such grains can account for over one-third of the bird’s summer diet and become increasingly important through the winter In many areas of the partridge’s range, field stubble and waste grains (especially corn) constitute nearly all of its winter food supply.  (&lt;a href=&quot;http://what-when-how.com/birds/gray-partridge-birds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bedding:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They nest and sleep in the ground, so mimicking those conditions is the best idea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Grey partridges nest on the ground in hedge bottoms, grass margins, beetle banks, cereals, game cover and nettle beds. Dead &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tussock_(grass)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tussocky grass&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;additional source added by me&lt;/em&gt;), left over from the previous year, is particularly attractive as nesting cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you already have much of what he needs right in your yard. Anything you can use from your garden or trees will work. Tall grasses, short grasses, tree leaves, piles of soft brush and lightweight branches are all good. Soft-type hay is okay too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long term:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I know you only mentioned wanting to keep him comfy for a while on the porch, but in case you're interested in doing more, there are lots of good articles about how to create a year-round home for your new friend. Since you already have trees and a garden, you might not need to change a lot. Depending on your yard, the following might be too much, but a scaled-down version would certainly work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can provide seed food throughout the winter at a low cost with wild bird cover. Establish a seed-rich crop in the spring and maintain it for two years. Kale and quinoa are particularly useful components in the mix.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can also establish brood-rearing cover in the autumn. Use a mix of a cereal and a brassica, such as mustard or linseed, and up to 5 per cent red clover to attract insects.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Establishing this adjacent to a tussocky grass margin creates an insect-rich chick feeding area. &#xA;  (&lt;a href=&quot;https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/farming/advice/helping-species/grey-partridge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conservation:&lt;/strong&gt; (I'm adding this because you said you like him, and because I like him!)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The grey partridge is &quot;Globally Threatened&quot; and has had a &quot;Severe Decline&quot; in its appearance in the UK over the last few decades. As I mentioned earlier, the primary problem is destruction of their habitat, so they have less to eat and fewer good nesting places. This is happening for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gwct.org.uk/research/species/birds/grey-partridge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;many reasons&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gwct.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT)&lt;/a&gt; is working with the British Government to create ways to bring back the grey partridge population. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I encourage you to check out their long term monitoring project called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gwct.org.uk/research/long-term-monitoring/partridge-count-scheme/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Partridge Count Scheme&lt;/a&gt;. They use information from all available sources to try and help in the fight, and ask anyone to please report sightings, including you! Even your one little bird visit will make a difference for the future of these guys.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-03T22:42:55.660" LastActivityDate="2017-09-03T22:42:55.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15120" CreationDate="2017-09-04T02:47:04.507" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That doesn't necessarily mean that Equisetum arvense is a poor indicator of gold.  It simply means that the plant does not take up enough gold in mineral rich areas to be significant (gold is a noble metal and as such it doesn't &quot;like&quot; to be ionic and I thing most plants use an ions charge in conjunction with water to pull the metals in..) but it may well grow in areas whose geologic characteristics that tend corresponds to gold deposits. Then again it may not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is my understanding that gold accumulates in loose soils but stops at bedrock.  It is my understanding that equisetum (horse tail) likes to grow in poor draining soils.  Poor draining soils = loose soils near bedrock?  Mind you that while I have a degree in chemistry and training in chemical engineering this is not my field of expertise. Good luck and have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a link to an old report from the USGS...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF03215461.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gold in Plants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13957" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-09-04T10:40:03.633" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T10:40:03.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-09-04T12:00:42.477" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Before leaving home&lt;/strong&gt;: I prepare myself two safety kits (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowqueenandscout.com/journal/2015/7/8/100daysofwilderness-day-42-how-to-make-a-simple-survival-kit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; as an idea) - one contains medication and first aid, the other has survival tools (like matches and stuff to build a fire). I check their content periodically, so when I leave to a trip I just throw the boxes in my bag and know I have all I need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rest of the things: I try to run a scenario of a day. I need water and food - do I have a bottle? snacks?; I arrive in the evening - I need tools for cooking; I have to set camp - do I have all I need for sleeping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T12:00:42.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8671" CreationDate="2017-09-04T12:15:59.553" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, mold is a problem of humidity and high temperature. Minor spores are present almost everywhere and are carried through the air. But for the development of mold it is necessary to create hothouse conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We usually keep our shoes in a dry house or apartment. Rarely will anyone decide to send their favorite pair of boots to the basement or sandals to the balcony. However, even with the general dryness in the room, you can find the most unpleasant surprise at the beginning of the new season. This happens because the shoes are not dried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise it will happen if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the shoes were in a cellophane bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there is no free air circulation in the box with shoes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the apartment is wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before trying to &lt;a href=&quot;http://tornado-plumbing.com/can-waterproofing-help-get-rid-mold/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;remove the mold&lt;/a&gt; from the shoes you need to estimate the size of the lesion. Single spots on the outer surface - this is not a problem. Worse if the mold has occupied completely visible internal parts. It will be very difficult to get rid of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is necessary to remember that mold is a living organism. The colony, which settled on the shoes, quickly leads them into disrepair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13924" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T12:15:59.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17061" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17065" CreationDate="2017-09-04T14:32:41.457" Score="7" ViewCount="323" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently hiking around Finland with my girlfriend and we came across several trees that seem to have been had at by some sort of animal. I'm quite curious as to what it may be and any help would be appreciated. An image of such a tree (taken at Koivusuo luonnonpuisto) is below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p4GTm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p4GTm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I could tell, the trees seemed to be had at for no particular reason (bugs etc) and no tree seemed to be partly done either. Any tree in such a state had it's bark &quot;scraped&quot; off from all around it, and up to approximately 15ft high on some as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've looked online for some answers, though I think the closest I found was Elk or Squirrels. At first I even thought it might have been a lightning strike simply because I found a charred tree in the forest, but I think this to be unlikely given how many and how perfectly the bark surrounds the base of the trunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks for any help on this! Been wondering for a few months and thought I'd finally ask for help :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13959" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-04T14:40:51.280" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T20:29:25.983" Title="What kind of animal may have done this?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;finland&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17063" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17094" CreationDate="2017-09-04T15:32:08.763" Score="7" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started harvesting pine nut cones from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyon_pine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;piñon trees&lt;/a&gt; in my area yesterday and am a bit worried about the crop. From the cones I have been able to open I notice that most of the nuts are undeveloped inside the shell, just shriveled up. Is this just a bad season? I shouldn't think so, because a lot of the trees look fully loaded. I'm wondering if I'm just picking the wrong trees or something. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience in this matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm picking them on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingus_Mountain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mingus Mountain&lt;/a&gt; in North-Central Arizona and I started at around 5,700 feet right where the trees begin at the base of the mountain. Most of the trees I picked from were younger and had a more bushy structure, because those are easier to pick, and tended to have more cones. About half of the trees I passed with cones were already fully opened and it looked like the birds already took the good nuts, because most every nut I inspected on these trees was hollow and around half of the nuts were missing (I'm guessing these were the good ones).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13035" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-07T02:42:10.400" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T02:42:10.400" Title="How to tell if piñon trees have good cones" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17061" CreationDate="2017-09-04T17:30:12.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure about all the bark being stripped off, but the elongated holes look like the work of pileated woodpeckers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13960" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T17:30:12.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17061" CreationDate="2017-09-04T20:29:25.983" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost certainly, this is the work of a woodpecker foraging for grubs in a dead and rotting tree: they tend to move methodically up the trunk excavating at intervals, producing the Swiss cheese effect visible in your photo. This being Finland, your culprit is probably the black woodpecker &lt;em&gt;Dryocopus martius&lt;/em&gt;. For comparison, here's a stock photo entitled &quot;Black woodpecker holes on a dead pine tree at a Nordic bog in spring&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yvunp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yvunp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black woodpecker holes on a dead pine tree at a Nordic bog in spring&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.shutterstock.com/de/image-photo/black-woodpecker-holes-on-dead-pine-620480864?src=55qsMKaTvvgX1uwV-zZGZw-1-0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/iCp04Ik1Kvs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; shows a black woodpecker at work. Here's a still from it:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FT2dm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FT2dm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black woodpecker foraging&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T20:29:25.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15120" CreationDate="2017-09-04T20:32:55.353" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gold you find while panning didn't originate locally. It came from a gold vein in a rock somewhere but was eroded to tiny particles, carried off with a water current and deposited somewhere where the current becomes weaker. If you see horsetail growing you've found an area where there is water and probably not too much current in any part of the year. It does not tell you if there are or were gold deposits upstream, it does not tell you how much or little current there is higher upstream and it does not tell you how long the situation has been like this. It's an indicator of one prerequisite for finding gold. You can use it when you learn indicators for other factors involved as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-09-04T20:32:55.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17068" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17069" CreationDate="2017-09-05T00:33:40.840" Score="15" ViewCount="3435" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/17053/5330&quot;&gt;Assessing potential lead climbing partners for competence and safety&lt;/a&gt; asserts that a lead climb belay is more complicated and has higher potential for a serious accident over a top rope belay.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this the case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are top rope belays inherently simpler and  is the potential for a serious accident much lower than with a lead belay?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, in the context and risk of an entire climb, what part does the extra complexity (if any) of belaying a lead vs top roped climber play in the overall &#xA;safety of climbers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I am interested specifically in the risks of the belay and not the inherent risk of top roping vs lead climbing. As this is about comparison to top rope, it's reasonable to exclude multi-pitch considerations from answers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T08:37:04.993" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T04:49:08.387" Title="Is belaying a lead more difficult than a top roped climber" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-05T01:02:44.747" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. No question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With top-roping, the belayer can be spacing-out quite a bit and still do their job with a minimum of risk. With one hand on the belay tool, and another sensing the tension of the rope to the climber, you feel when there is some slack, then haul it in without even thinking. If the climber falls, it's rare the fall with be more than a foot or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, the lead belayer has to be paying much more attention to what the climber is doing. Instead of hauling in the slack as in top-roping, in lead the rope is paid out as the climber ascends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the climber suddenly lunges upwards in top roping, faster than the belayer can haul it in, it's no big deal, there will be a little slack, and if they fall, they'll fall to about where they were before lunging, hardly cause for concern. Since the rope is paid out in lead, the belayer has to anticipate how much rope the climber will need. As a result, lead belayers maintain a fair amount of slack in the line. Few things are as demoralizing as making a complicated move while climbing, only to get yanked down because you've run out of slack and the belayer is slow to pay out. This especially can happen when the climber is trying to clip in, where the excess rope is the greatest, and therefore one of the most dangerous times to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a lead climber falls while climbing, they'll fall whatever the distance to the last anchor is, plus the slack. If the climber falls while struggling to clip in, they'll fall double the distance down to the last anchor. On many routes than can be several feet, equating to a drop of 6 feet or more, before the rope begins to tension. When it does, that can easily yank the belayer up off the ground, and the belayer must be anticipating it or they're going to be having a bad time. I've been climbing with a friend where he slipped while clipping in, and I was suddenly about 4 or 5 feet off the ground hanging off the wall by the time the two of us came to rest. That would not have gone well had I not been paying attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as I am belaying, I must be watching what my partner is doing. When he is climbing, I keep the slack as low as I can without impeding his progress, and when he is ready I pay out more so he can bring the rope up to clip in, anticipate any trouble, then when he is successfully clipped in, haul in a bit of the slack in preparation for him to resume climbing. I have to be careful how much slack he has, as if I have too much near the bottom of the route for example, he could hit the deck, or me, before the rope even tensions. In outdoor climbing locations, varied terrain may present that hazard along the route, and in those situations I must communicate and coordinate the slack/speed relationship with the climber through those portions of the route. In top roping, I barely have to do any of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, as he is climbing, I must keep an eye on every time he clips in, to make sure he does it properly. When fatigued from a difficult climb, it could be easy to clip in backwards, for example. If a clip-in isn't done properly and he falls, the anchor could release, which obviously can be very dangerous. In top toping, I don't even have to look up at all while my partner is climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ropes are rated for a particular amount of falls at or above a given fall factor, after which the rope must be retired as it is no longer safe. If climbing exclusively top-roping, you will basically never approach a fall factor high enough to even bother thinking about whether it crossed the safety threshold. When lead climbing, that can happen on any route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T01:02:44.747" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-05T01:03:36.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a climber on top rope, takes a fall, there isn't much force at all compared with the forces that are generated when a lead climber falls. That force has the potential to pull the belayer into something or even off the ground and into the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a risk, when the lead climber first starts out of falling (before clipping anything) and decking on top of the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that you want to pay much closer attention to the climber when leading, since you have to pay out enough slack that the climber is not held back, while at the same time not having too much out. The slack on a top rope climber can be done just by feel for the most part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, it is more difficult and has a higher potential of injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T01:03:36.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-05T10:57:08.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with everything said above but nonetheless one should not underestimate the false sense of security when belaying someone climbing on top rope. Because top roping is &quot;safer&quot;, there is a greater risk of distraction which can lead to accidents. It would be interesting to look at statistics.&#xA;Additionally most beginners start climbing on top rope and belaying with little experience.&#xA;Another factor to consider is which belaying equipment is used.&#xA;Lastly the risk of rock fall onto the belayer should be equal or perhaps even greater with top rope than lead climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13966" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T10:57:08.567" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-05T13:23:33.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the good answer from @whatsisname, don't forget about the possibility of gear and/or placement failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're leading, you have precisely one piece of gear catching your fall.  If that doesn't hold, you'd better hope the one below does - and that the extra slack you now have is less than the distance from that gear to the ground.  If you've got a bomber gear placement, then you're probably good.  If all you've managed to place is a tiny wire, and/or the rock is weak and may let your gear pull out, you need to be looking for your next placement ASAP.  And don't forget that gear may come dislodged as the leader pulls the rope through.  This all makes your gear placements a long way from perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, standard best practise for top-roping is a three-point gear placement.  You've got plenty of time to choose the best places to fix your gear/slings/whatever, and you can test them to make sure it's secure.  Even a two-point setup drops the risk by orders of magnitude; with a three-point setup, the risk of injury through failure of the belay itself is astronomically small.  The weakest point in the link now is the belayer doing their job properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T13:23:33.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17074" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17098" CreationDate="2017-09-05T14:43:49.013" Score="5" ViewCount="931" Body="&lt;p&gt;These blue berries are growing in clusters on a medium size bush in Southern Ontario, Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are they, and are they edible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some details:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The leafs are leathery and slippery.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The seeds are about the size of the berry, but flat and have a small ridge down the middle of one side.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The flesh is the same color as the skin and slightly fluffy. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It does not taste like much when touched to the tongue, possibly slightly like an overripe blueberry. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These fruits appear quite overripe at this time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Click on pictures for closer view.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ULCDn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ULCDnl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a5zNV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a5zNVm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ijXIt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ijXItm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYLMH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYLMHm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JFOBo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JFOBom.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1940" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:35:38.720" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:13:14.137" Title="What are these small blue berries growing in clusters on a medium size bush in Southern Ontario, Canada?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-05T15:58:50.383" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others pointed out, as a rule yes.  Here are a few cases where lead belay is actually easier:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;on a well-drilled route with crux (like a roof) close to the bottom and bolt above but within easy clipping range.  In that case, the lead belay will make cruising the crux pretty safe while the toprope belay can lead to grounding because of rope stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a traverse with well-drilled anchors before key moves.  In that case, the key moves will be well-secured on lead while you need to unclip (and get the danger of a pendulum swing) before the key moves when following.  Assuming that the draws are still in...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now (2) is obviously unpleasant for the climber but if the traverse happens over a ridge, the belayer needs to catch the climber before he hangs in unclimbable terrain (you can use slings for ascending on the straight rope part but might not easily get past the ridge if there is no bolt or other fixture in reach).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while as a rule lead climbing and belay are harder than toproping, there are a few rare exceptions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13968" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T16:33:09.277" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T16:33:09.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17076" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17080" CreationDate="2017-09-05T17:16:56.877" Score="6" ViewCount="824" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been thinking about buying a canoe for a little while now. Growing up my family had an aluminum canoe so I've been looking at aluminum canoes in addition to the plastic canoes commonly seen in sporting goods stores. Today while looking at the canoes it struck me that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osagian.com/index.php?route=product/product&amp;amp;path=1&amp;amp;product_id=78&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Osagian 17'&lt;/a&gt; canoe has very similar dimensions to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oldtowncanoe.com/canoes/recreation/discovery_169/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Town Discovery 169&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oldtowncanoe.com/canoes/penobscot/penobscot_174/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Town Penobscot 174&lt;/a&gt;. Both Old Town canoes have a capacity nearly double the 780 lbs. capacity of the Osagian canoe. The major difference that I can see is the Discovery is 2 inches taller and the Penobscot is 1 inch taller than the Osagian. I would be inclined to attribute the extra capacity to the height difference but Penobscot has 100 lb more capacity than the Discovery even though it is 1 inch shorter. This means that length is a bigger factor than height for Old Town canoe capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally the shape of the boats seems similar from a top view. Not that a couple of pounds weight would equate to hundreds of pounds of additional capacity but the aluminum Osagian canoe is lighter than either of the Old Town canoes.  So why do the Old Town canoes have more carrying capacity? Is this just a meaningless marketing number so each company can claim whatever numbers they want?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.marathonboat.com/2012_Grumman_Canoe_v3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grumman aluminum canoe&lt;/a&gt; that has a very comparable capacity to the Osagian canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-09-05T18:41:08.413" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:04:15.017" Title="Why do Old Town canoes have dramatically higher capacity than Osagian canoes?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17076" CreationDate="2017-09-05T21:55:27.460" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It could just be a difference between how the companies calculate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From an article about kayak weight capacity,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There's no industry standard for determining the maximum weight capacity of a fishing kayak.&lt;/strong&gt; Every company approaches the question a little differently. The more you dive into the numbers, the more it is obvious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoekayak.com/kayakfish/kayakfish-features/kayak-weight-capacity/#9hQ1L7ZXSwMSvjki.99&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While every manufacturer assigns a weight capacity to its designs, it isn't truly a hard and fast rating.&lt;/strong&gt; Working weight capacity is dependent on water and weather conditions, the user's experience level, load distribution, and the user's fitness and agility level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canoekayak.com/kayakfish/kayakfish-features/kayak-weight-capacity/#9hQ1L7ZXSwMSvjki.99&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T21:55:27.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="726" CreationDate="2017-09-05T22:29:07.513" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are confident and not out of breath, reattach the skirt before the roll after upside-down re-entry (re-entry and roll mentioned above). It takes a lot of effort and maybe a nose plug. But if you can do it, it saves a lot of pumping effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13973" LastActivityDate="2017-09-05T22:29:07.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17076" CreationDate="2017-09-06T03:04:15.017" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agree with Charlie Brumbaugh&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturer's figures are based on smoke and mirrors, bragging rights, and what someone thinks would be possible in good conditions.  I tell you that loading a canoe with the amount of weight they declare is something that can be done only on a calm day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've run into one company that give the required weight to raise the water line inch by inch.  (Clipper, I think...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rules of thumb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A foot of extra canoe is added in the middle.  The ends are the same.  So the capacity goes up fast with increasing length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making it narrower doesn't decrease the capacity nearly as fast, but it decreases stability in a hurry.  I took a 32&quot; beam canoe, took out the thwarts, and cranked it down to 30 inches.  Made it noticeably faster, and a lot tippier.  Now this would also have altered the cross section of the boat, so it's not just because it's narrower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider 15 foot canoe as a solo boat for a big person; as a tandem canoe for kids at the cottage, possibly a weekend tripping boat for average size people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I liked the Discover series for tripping in Northern Saskatchewan.  The 163 was good for the kids.  169 was good for most staff, and we had a big 172 for our ox -- staff member who was 6' 3&quot; and 220 lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically a canoe carried 2 people, 2 70 liter sealine personal packs, 2 sealine group gear packs.  Personal packs were typically about 30-40 pounds.  Food packs could be 80-100 at the start of a trip.  So 280 pounds plus people.  If people was a pair of 120 pound grand 9's, you got 520.  More often it would be a 150 pound senior and a 120 pound shrimp.  Play with the numbers.  It's hard to get above 600.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were out for 2-3 weeks at a time.  Figure 2 pounds dry weight food per man day, to increase it by another 2 weeks would be 14 days * 2 people/canoe * 2 pounds/day = another 56 pounds per canoe. (The non-personal packs also included fuel, stove, kitchen tarp...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 163's were ok, but less than nimble until we ate down the food.  I preferred the 169's.  The 172 was also a pig.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also owned an 17 foot clipper tripper, but I never did a long trip on it.  But it was FAST.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:04:15.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17036" CreationDate="2017-09-06T03:14:14.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Routine is your friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tent pegs:  One person picks up all the pegs.  Start from the front and go around.  Count the pegs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cup &amp;amp; spoon: Top right pack pocket.&#xA;Rain gear: outside top pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When running trips, I tied each boy's cup to his spoon with 18&quot; of paracord.  Told them to hang it in a tree by their tarp, or in their pack when not in use.  When I found a cup and spoon left around the camp, I'd pick it up, check the name (paint pen) &quot;Smith!&quot;  &quot;Yes sir?&quot;  &quot;Who's responsible for your cup?&quot;  &quot;I am sir.&quot; Hold up cup.  &quot;Oops&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also would do a check of camp, not just our own tent, but all the tenting sites.  Most of the time we would raise hell about litter, but we found other stuff too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lunch was the biggest problem.  People would peel down to swim in the creek, or layer up because they were chilled, then forget stuff when lunch was over.  One person again, did a sweep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:14:14.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16950" CreationDate="2017-09-06T03:36:59.943" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of heat loss, they are marginal at best.  However....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had  aluminum coated emergency tarp -- silver on one side, bright orange on the other.  I found that sleeping under the stars that the aluminum surface would not collect dew.  I didn't understand this until high school physics.  Somethat that is a good reflector is also a low emitter.  The aluminum surface was a poor emitter, the orange surface a reasonable absorber.  So the surface of the aluminum was the ground temperature from earlier in the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The consequence was that my sleeping bag wasn't wet from dew underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've wondered if you could make a sleeping bag with a low emissivity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:36:59.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16882" CreationDate="2017-09-06T03:56:30.480" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had this happen on trips a lot.  (You take 20 teenage males into the bush...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There aren't that many pathogens that thrive on people.  Your biggest problem is not the lake, but the sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the day, leave it open to the air.  Wear shorts.  Cover it only if it's going to be constantly getting dirt on it.  When you can keep it open, keep a film of polysporin on it.  Reapply 3-4 times a day as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the lake shore, expose to sun, unless you are at risk for sunburn.  If you have reason to think that the lake has pathogens in it get someone to stretch the skin moderately tight, and apply a bead of crazy glue to the wound.  Hold the skin stretched until the glue sets.  This keeps the glue from tearing as you use your leg.  while this keeps germs out, it also keeps out oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night reapply polysporin, and put a gauze bandage on it.  Wrap with 2-3 turns of vet wrap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it scabs over well, then just inspect it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may need to cover it again when it begins to itch.  Try not to scratch it with the same fingernails that have been scratching your bum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vet wrap is a sticky stretchy wrap.  It sticks well to itself.  You can also buy it as sports wrap at several times the price.  Available at farm supply stores in a bunch of different colours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T03:56:30.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17085" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17096" CreationDate="2017-09-06T04:07:10.323" Score="14" ViewCount="15122" Body="&lt;p&gt;Growing up we had an old aluminum canoe. It looked kind of ugly, and had some dents, but it was a great boat. Over the past 5 years I've been in various sporting goods stores in California, Colorado, and Idaho looking at canoes. Every single canoe they have on display is plastic. They never have aluminum canoes. Aluminum canoes that I've found on the internet are price competitive (generally slightly cheaper), and weigh less than the plastic canoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own biased perception is the aluminum canoes are more durable, hardier (in and out of the water since they can't warp if stored in the sun), require less maintenance, and if they are damaged are easier to fix. I know that I'm biased so I don't understand why the market seems to be dominated by plastic canoes. What am I missing? Why are plastic canoes everywhere and aluminum canoes hard to find? Is there something in the pro/con list between the respective build materials that makes plastic canoes a clear winner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T21:03:20.983" Title="Why aren't aluminum canoes more popular/prevalent?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17091" CreationDate="2017-09-06T05:25:46.180" Score="14" ViewCount="4512" Body="&lt;p&gt;This Fall, there are a lot of large fires burning in the pacific northwest of the US and the air quality on many trails and mountains is poor as a result.  This makes hiking and climbing unpleasant, unhealthy and possibly unsafe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clear, I am not asking about areas that are directly threatened by the flames, but there are many places that are relatively far away from the fires but are still unhealthy to hike in due to receiving many wind-borne pm2.5 particulates from the fire (which are apparently the main health hazard).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there are any good ways to mitigate the smoke?  I looked into face masks and there are some that claim to be suitable for exercise (not sure if there's any truth to that).  However, it seems that it can be difficult to tell if the mask fits properly and if it does not then it will not provide a proper seal and will be ineffective.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be very interested to hear about any effective methods for dealing with the smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:34:00.603" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T10:00:20.443" Title="Hiking and climbing in smoky areas" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17086" CreationDate="2017-09-06T06:44:41.873" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMO the best solution right now is not to go. I live in the PNW, and I'm simply avoiding strenuous exercise until air quality improves. I wouldn't enjoy hiking with a mask on, and it's unhealthy to exert oneself with these air quality levels. I had a hike planned for this weekend which I called off due to the fire and air quality situation, and that same day 140 people got trapped on a trail overnight when a fire blocked the trail. Recreational hiking can wait until safer conditions return. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Some areas in the PNW have official trail closures right now. I'm not going to link to them directly because this information changes constantly. Before going to a USFS area, search for &lt;code&gt;[name] national forest alerts and notices&lt;/code&gt; and you should be able to find a page with current closure information &amp;ndash; for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/crgnsa/alerts-notices&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page for the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area&lt;/a&gt; shows fire-related closures on the PCT and many other trails. If you are going to other areas, you can check with the proper ranger district office for the region you are planning to visit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="208" LastEditorUserId="208" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T00:22:22.503" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T00:22:22.503" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17086" CreationDate="2017-09-06T08:44:42.900" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Smoke from a burning fire is essentially the stuff from the fire that hasn't burnt well and gases formed by the reaction of whatever is burnt with whatever is in the air. In a forest fire this is going to be mostly carbon in various forms. A well fitted, well made mask of a decent quality is going to &lt;strong&gt;help&lt;/strong&gt; filter out this carbon in the air (the smoke). A cheap DIY type mask is likely going to do virtually nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a face mask isn't going to do a lot about though is the gases which are also emitted from the burning process, things like Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, etc. These gases are far too small to be filtered out. That's why fire crews wear breathing apparatus with air tanks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you have a really high end mask designed for this kind of thing, think the ones they wore on breaking bad!.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Gak4m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Gak4m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;BreakingBad Image&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/30/22/297202F500000578-3145014-Hmm_not_such_a_good_idea_after_all_Fans_were_angry_after_Paul_po-m-40_1435699158406.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These masks have special reactive filters and nano filters to remove chemicals out of the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These gasses tend to dissipate into the atmosphere quite quickly but in a big fire can still be around in quite large amounts (relative to the typical).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tl;Dr&lt;/strong&gt; It'll help a little to keep some of the larger pollutants out of your lungs but you are still likely to be inhaling a lot of nasties. I'd give it a miss until the pollution gets better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8871" LastEditDate="2017-09-06T20:48:54.633" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T20:48:54.633" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17086" CreationDate="2017-09-06T15:08:49.853" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm literally in the thick of the smoke right now, fires are burning a half hour upwind of me, and ash has been falling from the sky like snow. Just this past couple weeks the government has been shutting down the backcountry to &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; access. The nearby National Park just issued a voluntary evacuation order, and they're talking about upping it to a mandatory evacuation. I have friends and family who have already been evacuated from their homes in BC because fires are burning out of control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking in the backcountry is simply not advisable at this time. But depending where you are, you may be far enough down wind and safe from the fire. I went on several hikes this summer with a haze of smoke in the air, but not enough to warrant the use of a mask. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in smoke thick enough to need a mask, then chances are you're too close to the fire and probably shouldn't be putting yourself at risk of getting trapped out in the backcountry. You're only going to complicate the efforts of emergency response crews if you do. Be sure that you know where the fire danger is &lt;strong&gt;before&lt;/strong&gt; you go out on your hike, and do not put yourself in the path of of anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are far enough removed from the fire that it won't present any danger, then the best thing to take along with you would be a pollution mask, which are purpose built for being worn outdoors in poor air quality   while being moderately active (walking around/cycling/commuting etc.). There is a selection of rather stylish masks &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/Cambridge-Mask-Company-Respirator-Adjustable/dp/B0725YPXN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1504709064&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=polution%2Bmask&amp;amp;th=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;available on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cambridgemask.com/technology/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cambridge Mask Co.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DzIuC.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DzIuC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in general, wearing a mask is not the best way to protect your health during a smoke event. In fact, masks may lead to a false sense of security, which may encourage increased physical activity and time spent outdoors, meaning increased exposure to smoke. They can also make breathing more difficult. It's best to stay indoors, and avoid the smoke altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-06T20:38:46.537" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T20:38:46.537" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17085" CreationDate="2017-09-06T15:39:06.077" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everything is made out of plastic these days, isn't it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;From My Own Experience as a Sea Kayak and Canoe Guide in British Columbia&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the water, the material that a boat is made of doesn't really affect its handling and performance. A canoe (or kayak) can be made out of metal, wood, fibreglass, Kevlar, or plastic and have very similar buoyancy and &quot;feel&quot; the same as the same hull design made in another material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kevlar is the lightest out of the water so that's the easiest boat to lift off your car and carry (sometimes by yourself) down to the water. Plus Kevlar is a cool word to say and has good impact resistance. However, Kevlar has poor abrasion resistance. The difference between impact and abrasion is like the difference between paddling your boat as fast as you can into a rock and dragging your boat up a beach with sharp rocks. Both of these scenarios can happen intentionally or by accident. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyways, back to your question. You say, &quot;aluminium canoes are more durable&quot;. This could be true, but plastic doesn't dent as easily after an impact and can be re-formed with a hairdryer (!!!). Yes, plastic boats can warp if left too long in the hot sun. Some other cons against an aluminium boat could be: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some aluminium boats are riveted. These rivets can loosen over time making the boat leaky, depending on its design. Other materials can be formed into one piece (a whole boat). Fiberglass is actually very easy to repair.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry to say this but aluminium boats are noisier. Bumping the paddle against the gunwale makes a lot more noise on metal than plastic or fibreglass, etc. This can be annoying to the wildlife in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;The Following Is More Speculation than Personal Experience&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturing with lightweight metals may be more costly nowadays than working with plastic. If a product is made beautifully in wood or metal, someone out there is making it cheaper (and uglier) in plastic. It's sad, I hear ya. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, the look of aluminium is not as nice as the multitude of colors that a fibreglass/Kevlar (or even plastic) boat could be. Even wood looks better than metal. I realise that this is not a practical reason, but I do believe it is a reason we don't see more boats made out of metal these days. I also realise that some may like the look of metal over solid color. However, I feel that those folks are in the minority. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, it doesn't really matter what your boat is made out of as long as it floats and you have fun using it!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T15:39:06.077" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17085" CreationDate="2017-09-06T17:21:49.763" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aluminum is not good at compound curves. My Chestnut Prospector has a section that is concave front to back and convex up and down (or the other way around depending on whether you're looking at it from inside or outside the boat.) Aluminum isn't good at that. Wood (well woodstrip, anyway) and fibre are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminum can feel very cold on a cool misty morning, and very hot in the blazing sun. Plastic etc are a little better in that regard, though wood is the most even-temperature. Wooden gunwales can go a long way to helping on that front, which also helps with the noise. I have a fibreglass canoe with aluminum gunwales (it was a wedding gift) so I know another disadvantage of aluminum gunwales: a grey smudginess often rubs off onto you. And then there are dents, scratches, and dullness over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you want a boat with beautiful lines, a beautiful surface, physically comfortable, quiet while you're using it, and will not change appearance, you're going to go with wood or some sort of fibre, depending on how you feel about maintenance, how much money you have, and how important weight is. (Fibre can be heavier or lighter than wood depending on what you have to spend.) You're unlikely to choose aluminum. So people make less of them these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2017-09-06T17:21:49.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17063" CreationDate="2017-09-06T19:00:55.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The number of cones on a piñon can be deceptive. In some seasons, they may set lots of cones but have poor pollination or endure below-average rainfall (which results in seeds failing to develop). This year's monsoon in central Arizona has been disappointing, so it is likely that the lack of rainfall contributed to the poor quantity of developed seeds. Smaller, younger trees (as you were foraging in) have less-developed root systems and are more susceptible to drying than are larger trees. The most reliable way to find the best crop is to follow the piñon jays, but then you have to compete with the specialists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An excellent source for information about the piñon pine is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ronaldlanner.com/the_pinon_pine____a_natural_and_cultural_history__with_a_section_on_pine_nut_coo_13776.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ronald Lanner, The Piñon Pine: A Natural and Cultural History&lt;/a&gt;. It's informative, very entertaining, and includes recipes. The relationship between the jays and the pines is well explored in John Marzluff and Russell Balda, The Pinyon Jay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-07T01:34:46.843" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T01:34:46.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17085" CreationDate="2017-09-06T19:48:06.877" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've owned both.  I've also used CPVC and Royalex canoes on trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aluminum is noisy.  You don't have to tell people that you hit a rock.  They will hear, even over the roar.  It's cold.  If you spend time on your knees in your canoe, you will want to install foam kneelers. It's also grabby.  Aluminum sticks to rocks.  It dents.  Bring your automotive dent kit.  Mind you, it will take huge amounts of abuse and still be usable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Until the Discovery series came out, aluminum was popular with canoe rentals.  Customers couldn't hurt them much that couldn't be fixed with a wooden block and a hammer, and a can of spray paint. The Discovery didn't get so banged up looking, and was still cheap.  The downside was greater weight at 80 some pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of production it's expensive to set up.  Grumman cornered the aluminum canoe market because they were set up to make airplanes.  Making a plug for a cloth/resin lay up is a few hundred dollars.  Making the jigs for stamping aluminum run about 100K a set, and it takes at least 2 sets to make a canoe, assuming bow/stern symmetry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Resin/fabric is the cheapest to set up.  You also have the greatest control over the final shape of the hull.  Compound curves are easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next cheapest is the cross linked CPVC (Discover series)  You're working with a sheet, and deforming it, or making it in a rotational mold.  Because of the thickness of the material, it makes for a much blunter end than a resin/fabric hull. &lt;em&gt;(Old Town claims that the Discover series is made from a triple layer of polyethylene.  Either they have changed, or my memory is bad.  Probably the latter. I will re-edit if I can find out.)&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Royalex is a triple layer laminate.    This makes it harder to work with.  It's a very forgiving material hitting rocks, but it also flexes (oil cans) in rough water making it a high energy canoe to move.  If you do manage to damage it, it's hard to repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="7986" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T21:02:55.907" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T21:02:55.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17068" CreationDate="2017-09-07T05:20:50.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit late to the party, but I'll add my two cents.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some gyms have actually have a portion of the top-rope belay test where the belayer must catch two unannounced falls without looking at the climber.  It is fairly simple to belay on top rope where you are not looking at the climber or your hands.  As another answer mentioned, you can feel for slack, and then pull it in.  While you never want to get so confident that you become lax in your belay technique, top rope belay does not usually require constant attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could in no way belay on lead while not paying attention to your climber.  Between feeding slack, taking it in, checking that your climber hasn't screwed up, and more, belaying on lead is a whole different level.  Also, as the fall factor is generally greater, more care has to be put into where you stand as you belay, since you will get pulled towards where the rope is headed, which more often than not, pulls you towards the wall and upwards.  While that is a concern top roping, leading has greater fall forces and can pull the belayer off the ground.  In fact, I have seen a belayer and climber collide in midair during a fall.  As a belayer, that means it is even more critical to hold onto the rope at all costs, since you have a significantly higher chance of hitting something while belaying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top rope belaying is inherently simpler, as there are fewer things to pay attention to at any given time.  Lead belay has additional things to keep track of, including greater fall factors, as well as everything that is required for top rope belaying.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T05:20:50.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17074" CreationDate="2017-09-07T06:32:19.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer: I may be wrong, don't eat things that you are not 100% sure are edible!!!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a Nannyberry. It is edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.onlyfoods.net/nannyberry-viburnum-lentago.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viburnum_lentago&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Link&lt;/a&gt; for convenience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fun fact:  The English translation of its German name is &quot;Canadian Snowball&quot; (Kanadischer Schneeball).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T14:08:36.150" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T14:08:36.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17099" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17112" CreationDate="2017-09-07T11:54:34.773" Score="8" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I was camping in the local mountains and while showering a storm blew in so I took a shower in a thunderstorm. Some people said it was very dangerous. The showers were basic structures outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to take a shower outside during a thunderstorm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13967" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T17:39:34.110" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T17:39:34.110" Title="Is it safe to take a shower outside during a thunderstorm?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2017-09-07T15:11:28.413" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pass is a natural way or low point which facilitate moving across a mountain without clumbing its full height whereas a col is the lowest point of a mountain ridge between two peaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13986" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T15:11:28.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17101" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:35:37.487" Score="17" ViewCount="6404" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm writing a story in which someone is shot in a cave system. Another character is an adjoining tunnel some distance and at least a few tunnel intersections away. Would the sound of the shot reach her? Would it sound like a gun shot? or a rumble of echos? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13987" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:09:46.643" LastActivityDate="2018-10-05T00:32:47.817" Title="Would a gunshot echo in a cave?" Tags="&lt;caving&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17102" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:36:32.890" Score="2" ViewCount="281" Body="&lt;p&gt;On backpacking trips, I would like to avoid dew because it means either waiting till the sun has come up and dried my stuff off or packing wet things and drying them later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that dew is less likely at higher elevations, is this true or simply a coincidence?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T12:56:10.453" Title="Can I avoid dew by sleeping at higher elevations?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17101" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:46:21.000" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;It turns out that gunshots can be used to map caves,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The decade-long search might have gone a little differently, though, if soldiers had access to a new system that can use sound waves from a gunshot to quickly map unknown caves and tunnels. The portable system, created by David Bowen of Acentech in Cambridge, Massachusetts, consists of two microphones placed at the entrance of a cave or tunnel, which are hooked up to a laptop loaded with software designed to decode acoustic signals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A gun is fired four or five times, with about 5 seconds between each shot. Fifteen to 20 seconds later the map appears on the laptop’s screen, with simple graphs that display the area of the cave at different distances, and written explanations of the data, such as “30 feet ahead is a large opening”. A portable subwoofer can be used in place of a firearm as the source of the sound waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028156-000-gunshot-echoes-used-to-map-caves-interior/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so it is probable that the other person would hear the shot. It is likely that it would be a rumble and not a single noise since there are lots of surfaces to bounce off of in a cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, it would be hard to say, since people usually don't shoot inside of caves. The noise level will be higher and that will result in damaged hearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-05T00:32:47.817" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17104" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:53:04.440" Score="3" ViewCount="3280" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once, I was waiting for bats to come out of a cave (I knew there were some in the cave) and they never came out that I could see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it was after hibernation and the bats were definitely awake (up and squeaking), it was kind of cold (too cold for short sleeves) and I wondered if that might have kept the bats inside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T21:28:21.433" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T23:12:18.820" Title="How warm does it need to be for bats to come out of their caves?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17105" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Simple Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. They are the only mammals that can fly. Other mammals like flying squirrels, or flying possum, can glide but not fly. Bats are nocturnal – they are active during the night, dusk, or dawn. Most use echolocation to catch prey and to find their way about. As nighttime animals, bats avoid direct competition with birds, few of which are nocturnal&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17106" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" Score="0" Body="Questions about bats" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T19:54:24.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17102" CreationDate="2017-09-07T22:14:51.270" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dew is likely wherever there is atmospheric moisture and an overnight drop in temperature. Dew forms when the ground or any other object radiates it's heat and becomes cooler than the air. The moisture in the air condenses on the cool object just as water condenses on a glass of ice water. This typically happens during the coldest part of the night, which is just before the dawn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way to avoid dew on your sleeping bag is to not expose it to the outside air. This is most effectively achieved by sleeping in a bivy sack, in a tent, or under a tarp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T22:14:51.270" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17102" CreationDate="2017-09-07T22:46:17.977" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this Physics forum, altitude does not directly correlate with dew point. So it will greatly depend on the other atmospheric conditions which will very from one time to another. So not something you can count on in order to avoid dew formation entirely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dew point temperature depends on the partial pressure of water vapor present in the atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure (and hence, altitude) does not affect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/dew-point-temperature.248410/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/dew-point-temperature.248410/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They explain it a bit more but that was the most straight forward explanation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T23:07:26.813" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T23:07:26.813" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17104" CreationDate="2017-09-07T23:05:04.300" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Likely the reason was due to a momentary torpor. Similar to hibernation but sometimes only lasting as little as a few hours. When it is cold, there are less insects, which mean less food for the bats. The bats know this and choose instead to save energy rather than waste it flying around. Bats have a very high metabolism and consume an enormous amount of food to keep up with it, but are also very good at conserving energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nps.gov goes into this some:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bats use a lot of energy flying around and must consume a lot of food, such as insects, to fuel their daily activities. When cold weather drives insects away, bats must choose to hunker down and hibernate or migrate to warmer areas with more abundant food supply....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hibernation involves an extreme reduction in metabolic rate, heart rate, and respiratory rate that allows a bat to survive long periods of time without food. A bat's heart rate drops from 200-300 beats per minute to 10 beats per minute, and it may go minutes without taking a breath. The bat's body temperature can also drop to near freezing, depending on the temperature of the bat's surroundings. Other bodily functions also slow down, which reduces energy costs by about 98%. In this state of &quot;torpor,&quot; bats are experts in high energy efficiency!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bats may enter torpor for just a few hours to save energy during a cold day&lt;/strong&gt;, or they can remain in torpor for up to a month while&#xA;  hibernating over winter. During hibernation, bats cycle through&#xA;  periods of torpor interrupted by brief periods of arousal when their&#xA;  body temperatures return to normal for a few hours. Some species, such&#xA;  as this little brown bat, may hibernate for more than six months&#xA;  waiting for the return of insects in the spring. Bats choose places&#xA;  like caves, mines, rock crevices, and other structures with ideal&#xA;  temperature and humidity for hibernation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full text can be read here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/hibernate-or-migrate.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/hibernate-or-migrate.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2017-09-07T23:12:18.820" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T23:12:18.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17099" CreationDate="2017-09-07T23:57:56.453" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that it's not safe to be outside during a thunderstorm at all, and the showers were outside, the answer is clearly no. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's really not much more to be said. This is basic common sense that you need to exercise a little more liberally while in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5795" LastActivityDate="2017-09-07T23:57:56.453" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17099" CreationDate="2017-09-08T00:18:28.997" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the basic principles of lightning safety is that &lt;strong&gt;you don't want to be the highest thing&lt;/strong&gt; around and &lt;strong&gt;you don't want to be under something that is the highest thing around.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example &lt;a href=&quot;https://rrfw.org/RaftingGrandCanyon/Lightning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;only one group&lt;/a&gt; has ever been struck while floating the Colorado through the Grand Canyon, but multiple people have been struck either on the rim or while sheltering under trees on the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that shower heads are usually higher than people, I would not want to be standing underneath one during a thunderstorm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T17:39:19.907" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T17:39:19.907" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17101" CreationDate="2017-09-08T01:27:03.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;So the answer is that the other person will almost definitely be able to hear the gunshot in the absence of background noise. Will it echo? That sounds like it would depend a lot on how much the walls in the cave system resemble the grooves in acoustic tiles from recording studios. Also tunnels that open into large caverns or even tunnels that gradually widen have a damping effect on echoes returning to the source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second person in this scenario actually doesn't need to hear an echo, they only need to hear the original sound, and especially if the tunnels are of consistent diameter, they will act to propagate the sound (and the shock) from the gunshot for very great distances. (Meaning the person a few intersections away might also get hearing damage from the pneumatic column between them transmitting nearly the same concussion to them as the person firing the gun)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;YouTube is failing to provide good examples, but the next time you see a hollow handrail that's a few carlengths long, ask a friend to 'drum' one open end with the palm of their hand and have your head (not ear) near to the other open end. It makes a sound a bit like a dubstep bass drop and is actually much louder at the far end than for the person making the sound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visualising this scenario everyone is in corridor-sized tunnels, the previous answer shows huge cavernous rooms so if you mean could someone at the opening of Carlsbad cavern hear a gunshot by the elevators? Maybe not. That's a long hike between those two places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13990" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-08T11:52:54.583" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T11:52:54.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17101" CreationDate="2017-09-08T15:35:34.627" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience in caves, I'd say you could expect the gunshot to reverberate for just a second or two in passages that are barely more than walking size.  In larger passages, maybe longer.  Around a few bends it would probably sound muffled as well.  And keep in mind that sound travels through small, impassable cracks and crannies in caves as well -- I've heard the muffled thuds of people crawling through passage hundreds of feet away with no direct path between us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13996" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T15:35:34.627" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17116" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-08T16:21:37.403" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;After boiling water it went from clear to brownish red. I boiled the clear water in a stainless steel pan and as it was boiling it started to become brownish red. The more I boiled it the more pronounced it became. I put the boiled water in a glass and compared it to the same water before boiling and it was clear. Just to further test if this was the water or the pan I used purified water and boiled it in the same pan and it was clear. What's going on? Why is my water brownish-red after boiling? &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FNXzc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FNXzc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13997" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T05:58:52.487" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T05:58:52.487" Title="Water turning slightly reddish brown" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2017-09-09T06:04:27.370" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15206" CreationDate="2017-09-08T20:34:24.720" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no definitive answer at this time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There has been one well publicized lab study, &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00244-015-0227-7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toxicopathological Effects of the Sunscreen UV Filter, Oxybenzone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, behind a paywall. There was a lab &amp;amp; field study in 2008 &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2291018/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sunscreens Cause Coral Bleaching by Promoting Viral Infections.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lab studies are interesting and can help point the direction for field studies but by themselves are not definitive and one field study cannot supply the data necessary to make any kind of conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the authors of the first study has posted an interesting blog post at MarineSafe dot org urging caution about other ingredients used in &quot;reef safe&quot; lotions. Including titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, organic neem, eucalyptus and lavender oils as well as organic beeswax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;User11609 has posted some inaccurate and misleading &quot;studies&quot; that really need to be addressed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second study offered as proof is simply a Baseline study that says these chemicals are in the water in South Carolina beach areas. They draw no conclusions as to their effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third &quot;extremely detailed and well-sourced study&quot; is about reef die off in general, is global in scale and I wasn't able to find a single data point referencing oxybenzone or sunscreen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fourth &quot;study&quot; is a Time Magazine article referencing the first study. I find this &quot;evidence&quot; intentionally misleading. No one uses &quot;Abstract:&quot; when discussing news articles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sixth &quot;study&quot; is someones personal post on an engineering bulletin board. I find this &quot;evidence&quot; intentionally misleading as well. No one uses &quot;Abstract:&quot; when discussing anonymous opinions on an irrelevant web site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no connection in any way to any company or organization in this question. I wear long sleeve shirts and sit in the shade at the beach. I wear rash guards or dive skins when I'm in the water. I am in or on tropical water 3-5 days a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14000" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T20:34:24.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17118" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17119" CreationDate="2017-09-08T20:43:04.297" Score="1" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation, lets say post apocalyptic, what are some unconventional ways a campfire could be lit? Obviously there are the classic flint and steel, rod and bow, and of course matches. But what are creative non conventional ways to start a fire from things you might find in a post apocalyptic scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One example i have heard would be with a battery, and a piece of foiled chewing gum wrapper seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-A-Lighter-Out-Of-Battery-Gum-Wrapper/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/650Po.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/650Po.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:25:57.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:25:57.893" Title="Unconventional ways to light a fire" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2017-09-08T23:08:11.153" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17118" CreationDate="2017-09-08T20:59:42.223" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a bit of research i found a suitable answer to my own question. Feel free to add your own as well, i thought i would share as i found it rather interesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://urbansurvivalsite.com/weirdest-ways-to-start-a-fire/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Urbansurvivalsite.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Steel Wool and Battery&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is similar to the gum wrapper method. Just stretch the steel wool so it reaches the positive and negative terminals, and it will create enough energy to set the wool on fire. The easiest way is to use a 9V battery (like in the video below) because you can easily touch both terminals to the steel wool at the same time. But if all you have is a cylindrical battery such as a AA battery, you can use that as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jumper Cables and a Car Battery&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, attach a set of jumper cables to your car battery. Then take the opposite ends and tap them together to create sparks. If you have plenty of dry tinder, you can use those sparks to get a fire started. It’s even easier if you have some steel wool. This method is somewhat dangerous since you risk blowing up your car battery, but it’s worth a try to avoid freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pencil and a Car Battery&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don’t want to make sparks with your jumper cables, try this instead. Carve down two ends of a pencil until the lead is exposed, then attach your jumper cables to both ends of the pencil, making sure the jumper cables are touching the lead. Place the pencil on your tinder, then attach the other ends of the jumper cables to your car battery. Soon, the pencil will heat up and set your tinder on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;D Batteries and a Cell Phone Cord&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, take your charger cord and strip the ends so the wire is exposed. Hold two D batteries together, press one end of the cord to the bottom of one battery, then touch the wires on the other end of the cord to the top of the other battery. Have some tinder touching the top of the other battery also. The heat will cause the tinder to catch fire. This is a little tricky, but it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Condom Filled With Water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously. Just fill a condom with water until it’s the size of a small water balloon, then hold it at an angle that focuses the sunlight into a narrow beam. Focus the beam of sunlight onto some dried grass for a few minutes. This will cause the grass to heat and eventually start burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Urine and a Plastic Bag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may sound far-fetched, but it works if you have plenty of sunlight. First, fill a plastic bag with urine. Alternatively, you can shape some plastic wrap into a bowl, put some urine in it, and wrap it up (as seen in the video below). A water bottle probably won’t work because you won’t be able to fill it enough to get the refraction you need. Once your urine-filled magnifying glass is ready, use it to focus a beam of sunlight on your tinder. Before long, it will catch fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plastic Wrap and Water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way to use sunlight is to create an aqua lens. Stretch some plastic wrap across a frame of some sort and secure it in place with tape. Then pour water onto the plastic wrap until you have a bowl of water. If the sun is overhead, the aqua lens will form a beam of sunlight under which you can put your tinder. Before long, the tinder will catch fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Light Bulb and Water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one is fairly simple. Break off the bottom of a clear light bulb and remove everything inside it. Fill the light bulb with water and use it as an aqua lens to focus sunlight on a bundle of tinder. After a while, the tinder will start burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An Old TV Screen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have or can find an old big screen TV, take it apart and remove the giant Fresnel lens. Now simple angle the lens so a beam of sunlight is focused on your tinder. Before long, the tinder will catch fire. Warning: This method makes a very hot beam of sunlight. So hot, in fact, that it can boil a bottle of water. So don’t stick your hand in the sunbeam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Chunk of Ice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, ice can also start a fire. It works the same way as the condom filled with water. Just angle the ice at your dried grass and let sun work its magic. You’ll want to wear gloves so your hands don’t get too cold. This method can take a bit, and you’ll need direct sunlight to do it, but it definitely works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chocolate and a Soda Can&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply rub some chocolate on the bottom of an aluminum can, then polish it with a paper towel or cloth until it’s nice and shiny. After that, you can use it as a reflective tool to aim a beam of sunlight at your tinder. Before long, the tinder will catch fire. Then add wood to build a fire. If you don’t have any chocolate, use some toothpaste instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Flashlight&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove the top lens and pull out the reflective cone that the light bulb sits in. Place a bit of dried grass or dry moss where the bulb would normally sit, and place the cone in direct sunlight. The reflection of the sunlight will heat the tinder and cause it to start burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An Empty Lighter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An empty lighter may seem useless, but you can still use it to start a fire. Slowly grind the wheel of the lighter against a sheet of paper. After a minute or two, you’ll accumulate a small pile of flint dust. Now put some tinder on the dust, then use the lighter to throw a spark at it. The dust will catch the spark and set your tinder on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brake Fluid and Chlorine&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with a small pile of powdered chlorine, pour some brake fluid on it, then quickly back away. After smoking for a few moments, the pile will burst into flames. Now throw some tinder and wood on the pile before the flames go out. Since there’s the possibility of an explosive effect, I recommend wearing safety goggles or averting your eyes. I would also do this on the ground instead of in a container since there’s no telling how the material in the container will react.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T21:07:16.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1156" CreationDate="2017-09-08T21:01:35.620" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compression sleeves work really well. In addition I would add stretches for your calves and arches. Carry lacrosse ball to roll out under your foot and lower leg muscles, especially if you get shin splints often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13183" LastActivityDate="2017-09-08T21:01:35.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2017-09-08T22:56:07.843" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Sea To Summit 'Wilderness Wash' bottles are by far the best. They have a squirt insert so don't drip and easier to control amounts. The insert comes out for filling and cleaning. The cap plugs the hole of the insert as well as cinching down on the bottle itself, so double leakproof. You can jump on it with all your weight and the bottle bursts before the seal fails, I have. They're available in 1.3, 3, 8.5oz and the squirt insert and cap is interchangeable throughout. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried many bottle types and some work fine but nearly all fail with dramatic changes in altitude and temperature. If you fill these about 7/8 full and squeeze the air out before capping they never fail. Normal smaller Nalgene work fine as well but no squirt insert, which I find immensely handy for cleanliness and portioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've put vinegar, oil, honey, tabasco, jellies, even thinner nut butters in them and the squirt insert and bottle always function flawlessly. With the added pouring ease and packability of a thin oblong bottle instead of round &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14002" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T04:07:58.237" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T04:07:58.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17124" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-09T22:33:48.213" Score="4" ViewCount="1080" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iditarod&lt;/a&gt; sled dog race is a competition that takes place in Alaska, USA. Each team consists of a &lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/resources/mushers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;musher&lt;/a&gt;, who drives the sled, and 16 &lt;a href=&quot;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150131-sled-dog-alaskan-husky-racing-iditarod-winter-video-culture/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sled dogs&lt;/a&gt;. The race usually starts in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anchorage&lt;/a&gt; and ends in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nome,_Alaska&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nome&lt;/a&gt;.  The total mileage is in the vicinity of 1000. Some people like to call it 1049 miles since Alaska was the 49th state, but it's generally somewhat shy of that. Having begun in 1973, the race takes place annually, usually starting in the first week of March. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Iditarod begins and ends at the same spot every year, but at some point along the way a section of it is split off for a portion of the race. In the even numbered calendar years, it goes on something called the Northern Route. In the odd numbered years, it travels the Southern Route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm intrigued by the different routes, and have a few questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have there always been two routes or were they created at some point in the history of the race? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it didn't start out that way, in what year were the separate routes created? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's the purpose of using different routes?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At which town does the split begin, and at which town does it end? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What are the towns on the North Route that aren't on the South, and vice versa?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-24T19:29:20.117" LastActivityDate="2017-10-08T04:08:21.027" Title="Why does the Iditarod sled dog race use separate routes in alternating years?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;alaska&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16847" CreationDate="2017-09-10T00:45:07.427" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are at least two lakes in Iran which are commonly used for ice skating during the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is Lake Zarivar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.samita.com/en/blog/wonderful-iranian-lakes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wonderful Iranian Lakes&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Located in the ancient city of Marivan in Kurdistan province near the western Zagros mountain range, Lake Zarivar, locally known as “Lost Paradise” is a river which is constantly full of water rooted from the melted snow of the surrounding mountains of the picturesque district, making it one of Iran’s most beautiful rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being within a short distance of dense oak forests, the river provides good chances for popular activities such as riding boats in the summer and ice skating during winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dreamofiran.com/10-wonderful-ways-to-spend-winter-in-iran/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 Wonderful Ways to Spend Winter in Iran&lt;/a&gt; also recommends Zarivar as a place to skate:&#xA;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some lakes in Iran’s cold western and north-western areas which get totally frozen during winter. As an example, the beautiful Zarivar in Kurdistan province gets thick enough for the ice skate in winters. Moreover, you can enjoy learning a great deal of folklore about the origins of Zarivar through Iranian Kurdish locals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture is from their site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/18wDg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/18wDg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other I found is Avan Lake, also called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovan_Lake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ovan Lake&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://english.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=80351&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Magical Beauty of Avan Lake&lt;/a&gt; is a page solely dedicated to this lake, and things you may see and do there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alamut is a popular tourist spot due to its unique natural attractions and climatic diversity.  Because of the heavy seasonal rainfall and snowfall in the winters, which at times reaches a few meters, it has numerous water resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, Ovan Lake is among the most enchanting in the region and known for its magical beauty. Surrounded by Avan, Darbon, Zavardasht and Zarabad villages, the lake is located 1,800 meters above sea-level. The deepest section of the lake is 7.5 meters and extends over 70,000 square meters. It is fed by springs on the bed of the lake and annual precipitations. The excess water of the lake forms a small river which irrigates farmlands in the villages of Kooshk and Aayeen. Most residents of these two villages either breed livestock or work their land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ovan Lake is suitable for fishing, swimming and riding boats in summer while in fall it hosts migratory birds such as swan, goose and duck. In winter, the lake can be used for sports such as skiing and ice skating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.persianarium.com/index.php?DISP=list&amp;amp;catid=3&amp;amp;atid=36&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; also has a description of the Avan Lake, as well as a map of the lake and the surrounding area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Avan Lake, in the Province of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qazvin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Qazvin&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;source link added by me&lt;/em&gt;) is situated in the historic Alamout area, home to the world-famous Alamout fortress, which was once the headquarters of the Ismaili sect, led by Hassan Sabbah between the 11th and 13th centuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lake has a surface of 70 square kilometers (27 square miles) at 1,800 meters (5,905 feet) above sea levels. The Avan Lake is crystal clear and is solely supplied by underground spring discharges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing, swimming and sailing are the activities available during summer. The lakes surface freezes in winter and is suitable for ice-skating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-10T00:58:14.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17127" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17132" CreationDate="2017-09-10T09:14:29.873" Score="15" ViewCount="2013" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've spent most of my working life outdoors (forestry mostly), but have not done much hiking, which I now intend to do. When working outdoors, my clothing consisted of a wool shirt and waxed cotton waistcoat, anything else would just be ripped to shreds within a few months. If it rained we'd get wet, shelter in the truck for lunch, come home, dry stuff by the fire and then start again tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, this system isn't going to work so well for hiking as I might not be able to have a fire so I'm looking to upgrade my gear. The thing that's confusing me is that there seems to be a plethora of coats available, but very few waterproof trousers and even fewer waistcoats. Intuitively, from my time working outdoors, getting my arms wet was no worse than getting my legs wet in terms of cold/discomfort, as long as my torso stayed dry. Most places though seem to think a full coat is the most important bit of kit with some leggings reserved for it it's really wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there some logic behind this that I'm missing, or is it just convention? As far as I can tell from experience in the rain, if you wear a short coat, the rain all runs off it onto your thighs, making them soaking wet, so unless you plan to don waterproof trousers &lt;em&gt;every time&lt;/em&gt; you put a coat on, you're going to get wet legs. If you're going to accept wet legs in all but the worst of rain, then why not wet arms too and keep everything lighter and more free to move when it's not raining?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since putting on a pair of waterproof trousers over boots and all every time it rains is such a faff, I'd be inclined to wear a waterproof waistcoat like I used to at work and carry a poncho to cover arms &lt;em&gt;and legs&lt;/em&gt; if it rains. Is there something wrong with this set-up that I'm missing, it doesn't seem popular?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14011" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:26:23.883" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T14:05:34.127" Title="Is a full waterproof coat more important than waterproof trousers for hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17127" CreationDate="2017-09-10T14:55:14.923" Score="9" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Intro:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get wet from sweat or wet from rain, or a combination.  The waterproof breathables depend on the outside surface being not wet.  So the outside layer has to shed water.  This generally works well in light to moderate rains -- up to about 1 mm/hour, but fails in major downpours.  You will get wet where pack straps bear down on your shoulders, and at least damp between your pack and your body.  This is one reason I prefer an external frame pack.  Less of it presses against you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ponchos&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The poncho comes in a variety of shapes.  One version has a longer back so it can be worn over your pack.  I have generally stayed drier in a poncho than in a raincoat, as there is LOTS of ventilation.  Some have snaps on the edge you can use to make short sleeves for your arms, or reduce the wind catching on them.  Recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A poncho is a pain in the wind, and it tends to catch in brush, or crossing deadfall.  The wind issue can be relieved somewhat by making a belt out of elastic waist band material (1&quot; wide plus snap click buckles.) This usually makes the brush problem worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ponchos are  ok for walking or standing around, but seem to constantly be in the way if you are working,  Try setting 2 foot survey sticks, or doing litter pickup wearing a poncho.  Ugh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used ponchos canoeing too.  The waist belt is necessary here, as the wind can flip either end over your vision in a hurry.  I was uneasy about dumping wearing a poncho, enough so that I removed it and tucked it away when we came to rapids.  Wearing your life jacket over your poncho helps a lot.  Ponchos for canoeing have a longer front so your lap and thighs are covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Raincoats&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a jacket with a water impermeable layer.  The most common is urethane coated nylon.  I expect now there are silicone nylon ones.  They are perfect at keeping the rain out.  And at keeping the sweat in.  They are inexpensive, and if you are in a climate where it rains a lot or you are in a situation with a lot of water in the air (sailing...) they are a good solution.  You will get wet from sweat condensation, but you will be warm and damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Waterproof breathables&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gore tex is in the lead here, but there are several competitors.  The waterproof layer in a goretex jacket is a separate layer.  Good jackets have a liner layer too to protect the magic (It's a sheet of teflon that's been stretched.) This makes the jacket somewhat heavier, and a 3 layer construction is more expensive.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They aren't fully waterproof due to needle holes to sew.  Good ones are seam sealed at critical points -- shoulder seams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various breathable membranes that can be stuck to the fabric.  These are much less expensive since the garment is then only single layer construction, but it tends not to work as well as the gore tex ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Wet weather clothing in general:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general the synthetic fabrics work better.  They can get wet, but the water isn't absorbed by the fiber itself.  Wring it out well, and it's generally just damp, but will now trap enough air that it's reasonable warm, even though you feel like you are making love to a clam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have 3 different issues:  Insulation, water resistance, wind resistance.  Often blocking the wind over a light layer is sufficient.  You will use various combinations depending on circumstances.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fleece is warm, but has very little wind resistance.  A wind parka has excellent wind resistance, but little insulation value.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I've come up with interesting combinations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tracking and lining canoeing:  Sunny day:  Water boots, running shorts, life jacket and toque (aka watchman's cap, stocking cap, mitten hat) when I start getting chilly.  Cloudy day.  Add polypro top and bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The poly gets wet, but it's barely damp 20 minutes after you are out of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 inches of snow the night before.  All the brush with leaves full of slush the next morning -- but bright sun and warm.  Shorts, no shirt.  Got a blast of ice water every couple hundred feet when had to pass between two bushes, but overall was comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-15 C, bright sun. snowshoeing.  Wind pants over poly bottom.  Wind parka over skin top.  Just blocking the wind was enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-40 C, 30-40 kph winds.  Winter parka, two fleeces, toque and balaclava, polypro top and bottom, fleece pants, wind pants, felt lined boots 3 sizes to large with 3 pairs wool socks, leather mitts with fleece liners, and thin polypro gloves.  (the latter give full dexterity, but your skin doesn't freeze to dog clips.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At present my preferred system for hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  I'm in central Alberta.  If it rains here, the temperature drops to about 10 C (50 F) in a hurry.  In the mountains you can get snow any month of the year, and even in August hard frosts on a clear night are common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tight weave nylon wind pants with full leg zip.  This allows you to unzip the cuffs a bit so water drains faster after fording a stream, and allows you to unzip the sides at the top for more ventilation. It also means you can put them on and off without taking off your boots. Do not get the super light weight ones made from rip stop nylon unless you are on groomed trails all the time. Look for material equivalent to what is often used in kids book bags at the light end, to lightweight jean fabric at the heavier end.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A goretex parka.  Avoid the lightweight ones.  MEC has a line made from heavy nylon canvas as the outer layer.  This is certainly proof against spruce twigs and wild rose.  Haven't tested it against Devil's club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under the parka a minimum of a dry wick t-shirt.  More commonly, a light weight polypro top, long sleeve.  If it's colder I have a medium weight fleece.  Usually my legs are warm enough due to the effort of hiking, but if not, I also have along polypro bottoms.  These come out if the temperatures are close to freezing, and I'm walking through rain soaked brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is consistently below freezing, I will wear a wind parka that is not water proof.  Most of the breathables don't work well below freezing if they are decent at above freezing temps.  The pores in the magic layer plug with ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my head I usually have a toque.  I like the cheap acrylic ones that you can get at the dollar store.  I usually carry two, one for day time use, and one to sleep in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All jackets are below-the-butt length.  This puts them mid thigh in front. I don't like elastic waists:  They impede airflow, and I get wetter. Having a draw string at the waist level can be useful on windy days, but I use it rarely.  A loose lower end means that as you move more, the garment flaps more allowing warm humid air to move through the insulation area.  This, along with hood on or off, top zip, gives good ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking in light rain, I often only do up a couple of snaps on the front.  This gives me reasonable rain coverage, but leaves good ventilation.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my feet I usually wear a thin pair of poly pro socks and a pair of thick wool/nylon socks.  If there isn't snow on the ground, I wear low cut trail shoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-16T14:05:34.127" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T14:05:34.127" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17127" CreationDate="2017-09-10T18:27:08.583" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can totally see your point of view as your coming from forestry or generally &lt;em&gt;working&lt;/em&gt; outdoors, but this is fairly straight forward from a hiking point of view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking is walking, meaning work for your legs. I never had cold legs while walking, but the fairly idle arms get cold much faster. Furthermore, open armpits are an easy entry for rain to your core, which is well prevented by coats with arms. Whether or not to use waterproof trousers depends on two factors: The first is the one you already mentioned: Is there a possibility to get dry at the end of the day? Second issue is with conditions: In (near) freezing conditions or any situation, where short term inactivity (no more heating your legs) can already be critical (or simple highly uncomfortable). Why not always use water-proof trousers: Increased sweating, increased cost when trashing them (I kill trousers quickly) and weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-09-10T18:27:08.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16662" CreationDate="2017-09-11T01:53:06.373" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Song sparrow?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/wdaE7eaayKM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/wdaE7eaayKM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a western birder but that's what it sounds like to me. Out here they are usually found in wetter areas or in riparian habitat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14013" LastActivityDate="2017-09-11T01:53:06.373" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17127" CreationDate="2017-09-11T03:45:22.637" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I say you should always wear the gear that you already own and you are comfortable in instead of following some fashion trend. If you like your setup go for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that I think there are some reasons why people tend to recommend a coat over a vest. First and foremost when you are earning a living outdoors you work more or less in all kinds of weather. When you go outdoors for recreation you try your best to only go when the weather is going to be reasonably good. This is where the no waterproof pants comes in. People will bring a jacket for warmth &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; a hedge against inclimate weather. Like imasodin said when hiking your arms are more likely to get cold and a jacket keeps the weather out better than a vest. If people think odds are good they will encounter significant moisture then people bring water proof pants. Like I said people mostly want to go hike when they think it isn't going to rain so carrying full rain gear is unnecessary but a good jacket that works for wind, water, and general warmth makes perfect sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration is most hikers don't have quality wool long sleeve shirts because you don't find them in generic outdoors stores like REI where many hikers shop. There's a couple reasons for this but the biggest one in my opinion is hiker/backpacker fashion follows climbing/mountaineering clothing trends. These realms embrace fancy synthetic fibers due to their light weight. I have some Army surplus thick wool pants that are phenomenal for a cold rainy day. Of course they weigh a ton, aren't worn by serious mountaineers anymore for that reason, and as a result aren't being marketed by major brands because who really wants to go for a 10 mile hike in the pouring rain where you can't see the dramatic sweeping views anyway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address the poncho bit some people do carry ponchos with them in case it rains. Of course since they aren't planning on going out when it is raining these ponchos are the thin plastic &quot;emergency&quot; ponchos. Ponchos are fabulous for walking around in when it is wet but they also aren't as functional as pants and a jacket for climbing or mountaineering. Of course you aren't going to plan on climbing or mountaineering in the rain but if you do I know I'd rather be reaching over my head in the rain with a jacket than a poncho. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear what you have if it is comfortable &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;most people plan trips around good weather &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiker fashion follows backpacker/climbing/mountaineering fashion where weight savings are prized above almost all else &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jackets offer a good balance of protection from the wind, cold, and occasional rainfall. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Vests are rare since jackets are so dominant and as a result the shirts commonly found in stores pair better with jackets than vests.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-09-11T13:39:21.577" LastActivityDate="2017-09-11T13:39:21.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17099" CreationDate="2017-09-11T09:14:26.840" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say slightly dangerous, and probably more dangerous than other locations. You wish to avoid two things in thunderstorms. Places that are higher than the local area (50m-ish area) and &quot;electrical earth&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shower is a superb electrical earth, metal structure, with a better connection to &quot;earth&quot; than most protective earth setups. Just imagine the miles of pipes running below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A shower is generally higher than you, but if the said shower was just next to the eiffel tower it wouldn't be much of a concern. Hard to say in your case. But I would probably, as a rule, avoid outdoor showers in a thunder storm. There is also the chance that there would be arcing in and between the shower pipes due to a lightning hit elsewhere, if it hit the water pipes. But now we are in the &quot;really unlucky&quot; part of the probability chart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2017-09-11T09:14:26.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17134" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-11T11:31:23.557" Score="9" ViewCount="1554" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realise this might be linked to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; question, but hopefully is a little different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In updating my 'outdoor work' wardrobe to 'hiking' activities, I'm now looking at base layers and am a bit confused by the issue around cotton. All the 'hiking' websites seem to strongly advise against wearing cotton base layers because they will cool your body down too much because they hold moisture and wicking synthetics are the preferred choice because they take moisture away so keeping you warm. Look over to the 'running' websites, however, and they all say not to wear cotton because it will trap heat by holding moisture and wicking synthetics are preferred because they cool you down. Basically, the exact opposite reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To the cynic in me this seems a little bit like clever marketing and a presumption in favour of modernity simply because it &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; be better, but I'm no materials scientist so I'm prepared to accept the counter-intuitive answer that cotton both warms you up &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; cools you down, just at the wrong times, but if this is the case I'd dearly like to know how.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14011" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T11:10:34.883" Title="Does cotton make you colder or hotter?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17134" CreationDate="2017-09-11T14:17:49.330" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Edit:  A comment pointed out that I didn't answer the question.  Dry cotton is a good insulator, and most cotton t-shirts are thicker on average than synthetic shirts.  A typical cotton tee in dry weather will be warmer than a typical dry synthetic shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now start to work hard.  The cotton takes a fair amount to soak through.  So even after you start to sweat, it takes a while before evaporation is happening on the surface of the cotton.  This cooling effect will continue after you've stopped working, as you have a considerable backlog of sweat in the shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has happened to me many times:  I chug up the last thousand feet of scree to the pass sweating in the sun.  Step, step breath. step step breath.  Thinking, &quot;I'm too old for this stuff.&quot;  I get to the top.  Of course there's a wind.  Yes my synthetic shirt has some sweat in it, especially where my pack and straps sat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm chilled.  But not as much as I am with cotton.  The greater porosity of the the synthetic meant I had a fair amount of direct evaporation.  What sweat that's in the shirt moved to the surface (wicking...) and dried there.  So I got more benefit right away when I started my upward trudge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR:  &lt;strong&gt;Because of cotton's water storage there is a bigger lag during variable activity.  You can be too hot and too cold at various points in your activity cycle.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a reason people wear cotton in tropical climates.  And on my canoe trips in summer, one item is a light weight light coloured (not white. beige or light green) long sleeve cotton shirt, as the best protection against bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with cotton is that the fibres soak up water and it takes a long time to dry.  During that long time, the water evaporates, cooling you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario:  You're on a hike in jeans and t-shirt.  Squall line comes through and drops a quarter inch of rain in 20 minutes, followed by a cold front.  The day drops from 70 F to 50 F, with a stiff wind.  That wind evaporates the water in your clothes putting a layer of wet cloth at about 40 F next to your skin.  Some of that is balanced by bright sun, but you are still cold, and working your way toward hypothermia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Change it to nylon pants and a polyester shirt.  The pants don't bind as much, so your skin isn't next to a layer of wet fabric.  A lot of that water drained through the fabric down to the cuffs and dripped off.  The shirt because of it's fine weave (that's how they wick) will hold water on the fabric, but not in it.  Take it off, wring it out put it on damp.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Net result:  A lot less chilling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario:  It's been drizzly all day.  You are moderately soaked.  Come into camp, build a fire.  With wet jeans, you are steaming for an hour.  With nylon wind pants you are steaming for 10 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Scenario:  You're hiking and cross a stream.  You lose your footing, and go SPLASH!.  In cotton you are now carrying 5-10 pounds more weight that will gradually reduce over the next two hours.  With synthetic you are carrying 1-2 pounds more weight that is dry to touch in 20 minutes to half an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me the problem of cotton isn't that it's 'cold' but that it &lt;strong&gt;stays cold and wet&lt;/strong&gt; for long periods of time.  In hot weather this is a win.  Take off your shirt, soak it in the creek, pull it back on (gasp as cold shirt hits warm ribs...) and you are cooled for a while from the shirt's evaporation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When running canoe expeditions I recommended two cotton tee shirts, and one synthetic.  If the weather looked to be cool, or wet, or I knew that the day would include lots of in and out of the canoes tracking and lining, I would recommend to the kids that they wear their synthetic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't have to be expensive.  I have 5 drywick synthetic shirts now.  Got them all at goodwill, paying about a buck more than a cotton tee would have been.  One has a corporated logo, one has Carnival's logo.  Nylon pants in the sports wear.  I prefer to get unlined ones, as they are more versatile, but I have a couple pair with poly mesh lining that I use when working outside in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got one goretex Sierra Designs jacket at Value Village for $8.  The liner has failed somewhat.  Not longer fully waterproof, but I use it when I doing errands on rainy days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are certain other circumstances that cotton is fine in addition to the hot weather scenario.  I pick up a couple of 'quilties' each fall.  Cotton flannel outside, quilted dacron fiber inside.  This is a nice combination when I'm working outside on my farm.  Nice balance of wind resistance and warmth.  I've used them on day trips snowshoeing. They are cheap, but they tear on sharp wood ends, and barbed wire fences.  By the end of a year or two they are dog bedding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I would never take them on an overnight.  Get them wet and they are a real challenge to get dry.  At home I either hang them on a hook by the wood stove, or chuck them in the dryer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton gloves are the worst:  A glove or mitten is almost always wet by the end of the day, or at least damp.  It is very difficult to get the right balance of warmth and wind resistance.  Hands go through a cycle of flushing with blood when you are cold, so their temp cycles too.  When they are warm, they sweat, especially the palms.   (Trick:  apply antipersperant to your hands and soles of your feet to reduce the sweating and chilling issue)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-11-12T13:55:48.050" LastActivityDate="2018-11-12T13:55:48.050" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17140" CreationDate="2017-09-11T14:49:23.553" Score="6" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent multi-pitch climb, we encountered a strange situation: &#xA;The wall was basically divided into three parts: 200m of climbing, a large steep grassy part where you untie from the rope and walk to the last 200m of climbing leading to the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After untying from the rope after the first part, we noticed that there was a pair of ibexes standing at the start of the second climbing part. They didn't seem to care about us, and one of them simply sat down where we wanted to climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We didn't approach them (we were about 100-150m away from them) as we weren't sure how they would react, and (obviously) didn't want to be pushed off the mountain by them. We simply extended our break a bit longer than planned. After that break, the ibexes went uphill (away from our route) and left us alone. But we wondered: &lt;strong&gt;When approached, do ibexes tend to defend their territory or rather flee if the terrain allows this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2017-09-11T15:02:21.983" LastActivityDate="2017-09-11T17:09:32.617" Title="Will ibexes react aggressively or flee if approached on a mountain?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17139" CreationDate="2017-09-11T17:09:32.617" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to make sure it doesn't completely contradict my experience, I have made a quick google search and came up with exactly one incident between a human and an ibex - a dog was involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience there are two types of encounters: Chance encounters of &quot;really&quot; wild ibex and encounters with ibexes accustomed to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The accustomed kind is typical in highly frequented  areas and is highly intimidating: These animals are huge and if you have ever seen two males go at each other, you will have a healthy share of fear mixed into the awe when seeing one up close. I never had any of these act aggressively, but as with any wild animal accustomed to humans trouble is possible. As long as they aren't immediately close (&gt;20m) I keep an I on them, but proceed as usual. On the occasion it decides to approach, I avoid any small movements or loud noises. Not that this is necessarily a problem, I have seen a group of tourist scream from enthusiasm when an ibex was approx 30m away and it didn't care in the slightest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't imagine the &quot;really&quot; wild kind to be a problem at all in terms of aggressive actions. I say imagine as I am not a biologist having studied their nature, but have a limited set of experiences. In all of them, they either run away or peculiarly move away but keep relatively close (seeing distance) and seem to observe you. I never felt threatened, but there is a real danger in this situation: Rockfall. Whenever there are ibexes around, be extremely wary of falling rocks. They are sure footed, but they go anywhere including sections with loose rock. So when one is directly above you, get out of the vertical line if possible and if not, be attentive to take shelter (move close to the wall) in case rock is coming towards you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, I would have made a break too: Enjoy a midday brake with a good view of a magnificent creature. If you needed to go on, I would have done so slowly, obviously monitoring how they react.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-09-11T17:09:32.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17141" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-11T19:20:57.373" Score="6" ViewCount="647" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know the origin of the word &quot;Sendtember&quot;? I'm trying to figure out what it means and Google isn't being helpful. I think it has something to do with temperatures in the month of September to be more favorable for rock climbing. Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14018" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T14:31:51.477" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T14:31:51.477" Title="What is the Origin of the Word &quot;Sendtember&quot; in Rock Climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17141" CreationDate="2017-09-11T20:01:50.560" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a combination of Send and September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sendtember – according to climbing folklore – is blessed with perfect cool, dry, stable spring conditions in which climbers can harvest the gains made in a long winter of hard training. &lt;strong&gt;September, they say, is the most sendingest month of the year.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.verticallifemag.com.au/2015/10/youve-been-wrong-about-sendtember/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this article though, the number of sends actually peaks in October,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Whilst there is an upswing in tickage in September the phenomenon &lt;strong&gt;peaks in October, making it the most sendingest month.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.verticallifemag.com.au/2015/10/youve-been-wrong-about-sendtember/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The word &quot;send&quot; in this context is climbing language for successfully climbing a route. A route is considered climbed successfully, when it was red-pointed, which means climbed in lead from the ground up without ever weighting the security chain (rope and quickdraws).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T12:53:02.653" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T12:53:02.653" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17102" CreationDate="2017-09-12T12:56:10.453" Score="3" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Cause of dew:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have a local surface that is below the dewpoint.  It has gotten enough colder than the air, that water condenses on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dew is heavy on clear nights (more surface radiation cooling as your sleeping bag tries to warm up interstellar space)  Smoke in the air, or overcast will reduce or eliminate the amount of dew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dew is heavier when the air is more humid. (Temperature doesn't have to drop as much for water to condense)  However water vapour interferes with radiation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dew is almost non-existent if there is a breeze. The air next to a surface can't get that bit colder to allow water to condense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Avoiding Dew:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Move away from water&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.  Running creeks, lakes, swamps will provide a source of water vapour.  Large bodies will be warmer than the land at night and will evaporate strongly, putting more water into the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Move away from the bottom of the valley&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.  Cold air settles.  I've found that being even 15 to 20 feet vertically (5-6 meters) can make a 10 F (5C) difference in temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Put something between you and the sky&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.  This blocks radiation from the surface of your bag, so the surface doesn't cool as much, reducing or eliminating dew.  This can be a tarp, a tent, or the canopy of a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reduce the amount of visible sky&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; This is a variation of the previous point.  Radiation is going to be proportional to the amount of sky that your sleeping bag can see.  Very little dew at the bottom of a cleft.  A ravine can reduce sky by 50%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Dealing with Dew.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use a tarp or tent, pack the wet layer in a plastic bag so that it doesn't get your other gear wet, or roll it up in your foam pad to keep it out of your pack entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Site your camp to catch the sun at sunrise.  Or as soon as you get up move the wet item to a spot that is sunny.  If I've tarped it, I will raise the west corners so that the entire tarp is exposed to the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get a lighter coloured sleeping bag/tarp/tent.  You actually want a fabric that is very reflective in infrared.  This radiates poorly.  As far as I know no one makes such a fabric for backcountry gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T12:56:10.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17147" CreationDate="2017-09-12T14:31:25.607" Score="5" ViewCount="519" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several years ago I purchased an Exped down filled inflatable sleeping pad. It is a more comfortable pad than Thermarest pads I've used in the past, so I would still recommend it. That being said, when I purchased the pad I remember Exped making a big deal about how their pads are filled with down as if this was a major improvement in terms of warmth (and possibly comfort) over other sleeping pads. At the time I bought this marketing pitch hook, line, and sinker.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I was laying in my tent during a recent camping trip and I started to think about what possible benefit down really offers inside of an inflatable sleeping pad. As far as I know down is warm because it does a good job of trapping air and it is light weight. How would trapping air be helpful in an inflatable sleeping pad? The air is already trapped or the pad would deflate. Down's other claim to fame is being light weight. I don't know how that applies to a sleeping pad since not filling it with down would be lighter than filling it with down. Also getting down wet is a known problem and so Exped recommends that I fill my sleeping pad using the pad's stuff sack as an air pump so the moisture from my breath doesn't foul the down inside the pad. That leads to a bulky, specialized stuff sack that I didn't need for other sleeping pads. Another mild annoyance is there are two valves on the\h pad so that down doesn't collect on one side of the pad. This makes deflating quicker but it doubles the chance a valve will fail thus ruining my pad. &lt;strong&gt;The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that the increased warmth and comfort of my Exped pad was due to its substantially increased thickness vs Thermarest pads.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does filling a sleeping pad offer any real benefit or is it just a marketing gimmick that exploits foolish people like myself who blindly accept down makes everything better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T18:39:18.323" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T17:48:20.650" Title="Down inside of a sleeping pad does it make a difference?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17145" CreationDate="2017-09-12T15:29:01.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down reduces the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Dictionary#dobs=convection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;convective&lt;/a&gt; heat loss substantially.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and&#xA;  therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to&#xA;  sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in&#xA;  transfer of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rolling around is forced convection. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down also reduces conductive and radiant heat loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also put insulation between the studs in a house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-09-12T16:11:11.050" LastActivityDate="2017-09-12T16:11:11.050" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17145" CreationDate="2017-09-12T18:27:44.790" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In terms of sleeping, a sleeping pad performs two purposes. The first is to provide warmth and down is a good insulator. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exped.com/usa/en/product-category/mats/downmat-xp-9-lw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exped XP 9 LW&lt;/a&gt; has an R value of 8.00, a weight of 41.3 oz, a length of 77.6 in, width of 25.6 in, and thickness of 3.5 in. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermarest.com/mattresses/prolite-plus-10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ThermaRest Prolite Plus&lt;/a&gt;, a fairly high end self inflating pad has an R-Value of 3.4, a weight of 31 oz, a length of 77 in, a width of 25 in, and thickness of 1.5 in. R values essentially add, so two Prolite pads would weigh 62 oz and only provide an r value of 7. The down seems to provide a substantial improvement to both weight and warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth noting that the thickness of a pad is only slightly related to the R value. Both the XP 9 and the Prolite provide about the same amount of warmth per thickness, this is because they are filled with insulating materials that trap the air and prevent/limit circulation. A pad like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigagnes.com/Air-Core-Ultra&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Agnes Air Core&lt;/a&gt; is basically a pool float 3.5 inches thick that does little to limit air circulation. While the manufacturer states it is comfortable to 35 degrees, they do not provide the industry standard R value, which is likely essentially 0 (the two pieces of nylon will provide some insulation). For comparisons, Exped rates their pad down to -36 degrees F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While down is a good insulator, for its weight, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermarest.com/mattresses/neoair-xtherm-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ThermaRest Neoair&lt;/a&gt; provides an R value of 5.7 with a weight of 23 oz. It does this by creating a lot of small air compartments and lining these with a heat reflective coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings us to the second purpose, which is to provide a comfortable sleeping surface. While the Neoair provides better (marketed as the best) warmth for weight, many people complain these mats are loud. I am not sure how much quieter or more comfortable a down filled pad is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T17:48:20.650" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T17:48:20.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17149" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;See the official &lt;a href=&quot;https://gopro.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GoPro web site&lt;/a&gt; for more information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17150" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" Score="0" Body="Go Pro is a make of versatile, waterproof and robust &quot;Adventure Cameras&quot;. They are typically small and produce HD video and photos. They are designed for mounting on the user or their equipment/poles, etc. " OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T10:53:49.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17145" CreationDate="2017-09-13T13:35:54.697" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You blow up your pad every night with hot humid air from your lungs.  You deflate it every morning.  That water vapour condenses in the pad.  Getting the water vapour out requires letting the pad self inflate from a source of warm dry air, and then forcing the air out.  Over and over and over.  (The easiest way to do this is to fold it in half and put it under the cushions on a chair.  Every time you sit down, you deflate it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How significant is this?  My Thermarest is 60 cm x 150 cm and is about 3 cm thick.  Volume of 60 * 150 * 3 = 27000 cm2 = 27 liters.  Air at body temp holds about 40g water /cubic meter. If I'm in a hurry and add 20 liters of air to it, then I'm adding 40g/m3 * 20 l * 1 m3/1000 l = 0.8 g water per inflation.  With foam I don't worry about it much.  Foam isn't eaten by fungi.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down is moderately good at absorbing water.  A damp downbag isn't nearly as warm as a bone dry one.  Down I think would be much weaker than foam for self inflating the pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would worry about down mildewing in the pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So addressing your original question about a difference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I expect a down filled pad to have a shorter life.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I expect it to be harder to dry out internally after prolonged winter use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't see any reason for it to be warmer than the same thickness foam pad, and possibly worse depending on how much water the down has adsorbed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on construction details, I do expect it to be slightly lighter than a foam pad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T13:35:54.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1220" CreationDate="2017-09-13T16:02:04.657" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked out for these things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery life: Look for additional features like &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.lenovo.com/in/en/solutions/ht101065&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Low Power Consumption mode&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS Support (*Usually a common feature in all mobile phones) and accuracy with maps, with maximum support.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Build quality: Compact, sleek and rugged design, Consider weight and frame (Metal or plastic). Should be easy to handle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;IP Rating: For water resistant index&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camera (Can be an optional parameter to consider, if you already have a better digital/analog camera). And inbuilt image processing quality and camera features?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My personal observation: Pictures taken on 5 Megapixel camera of Nokia are way better than those taken on 5 Megapixel camera of Motorola (Test case: Nokia X vs Moto E 2nd generation). &#xA;Also, some of the mobiles have rare features like slow motion camera, which my mobile doesn't have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flashlight feature? (Again, almost common in all mobile phones these days)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does the touchscreen have support for touch with gloves ON? My Lenovo has a mode which I can enable based on whether I am going to use it with gloves or without gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ability to configure gestures? I can flip my cell upside down to lock it. When I bought my mobile phone, I was considering a Windows phone as well, it didn't have that feature, so I went on to purchase my existing phone (Lenovo). This is one of those features that I use a lot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T12:09:08.213" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T12:09:08.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17155" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17156" CreationDate="2017-09-13T20:24:16.037" Score="1" ViewCount="248" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when hunting elk, especially archery, you will hear elk calls and be unsure whether it is an elk or a human using an elk call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How could one tell the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:04:54.877" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:04:54.877" Title="How to tell the difference between elk and hunters using elk calls?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17155" CreationDate="2017-09-13T20:24:16.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tricks are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Humans carry both bugle (bull) and cow calls, while a bull elk won't make cow noises. So hearing a bugle and then a cow call from the same place is almost guaranteed to be a human.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Humans can be over eager to respond and will bugle back very quickly while elk will take a while.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elk move around while humans will usually stay in the same spot as they are hoping the elk comes to them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bull elk will vary their calls, but humans usually only carry one bugle call and that leads to it sounding pretty much the same.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T20:24:16.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2017-09-13T20:38:14.160" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a rope swing I'd recommend polypropylene.  It's pretty durable, UV resistand and won't rot from water outside.  It's also pretty soft.  We bought a couple swings for our daughters from &lt;a href=&quot;https://treeswingstore.com/kidstreeswings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://treeswingstore.com/kidstreeswings/&lt;/a&gt; and they had poly rope.  Turned out to be pretty soft.  We hand't really thought about it before hand so I gues we were lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14027" LastActivityDate="2017-09-13T20:38:14.160" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17158" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-13T22:36:27.887" Score="20" ViewCount="1526" Body="&lt;p&gt;The crazy &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/feu-fire-kenow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;34,000 hectare Waterton wildfire&lt;/a&gt; (more than 84,000 acres) appears to be slowing down a little, but already much of the landscape is scorched, and the flames are out in a lot of places. It may be too soon to start thinking this while the fire is still being fought, and evacuation orders are still in effect, but the prospects for backcountry skiing this winter are already looking fantastic: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4EV7K.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4EV7K.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fires a few years ago in the Crowsnest Pass proved that fires do wonders for backcounty skiing. For sure the area will be safe to enter months down the road after there is a good blanket of snow in there, but what are the general guidelines for re-entering a forest that has recently been burned out by forest fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-24T20:30:53.973" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T03:38:28.133" Title="How long after a forest fire can you safely re-enter a forest?" Tags="&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17158" CreationDate="2017-09-13T22:56:06.510" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as the danger from hotspots, it looks like it could be a while,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A municipal leader in British Columbia's central Interior says he wouldn't be surprised if wildfires that have chewed through more than 10,600 square kilometres of woodland smoulder until 2018.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chairman Al Richmond of the Cariboo Regional District said &lt;strong&gt;hot spots from many of the largest fires likely won't be doused until the spring,&lt;/strong&gt; mirroring the Fort McMurray wildfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-1.4272400&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other danger after a forest fire is that it weaken the trees and increase the risk that a tree could fall and injure/kill someone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Burned trees may pose a hazard in three ways. Fire&#xA;  does not just burn above ground; stumps and root systems&#xA;  are also consumed leaving holes and hollow areas&#xA;  below the ground. &lt;strong&gt;A person can easily stumble into these&#xA;  holes or have the earth give way above a burned-out root&#xA;  system&lt;/strong&gt;. Immediately following a fire, these pockets may&#xA;  still be hot and pose a burn risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The fire may have consumed a significant portion of&#xA;  a tree’s root system or lower trunk, although the tree is&#xA;  frequently left standing. &lt;strong&gt;These trees may fall at any time,&#xA;  even without wind.&lt;/strong&gt; Fallen trees may get hung up in the&#xA;  branches of other trees and break away at a later time.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Upper portions of the trunk and branches may have been&#xA;  partially consumed in the fire, yet still retain a fragile connection&#xA;  to the tree.&lt;/strong&gt; Again, these may break away from&#xA;  the main tree without warning. Wind will exacerbate the&#xA;  problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For how long it would take to have all of the fire burned trees fall, it could take decades. However, the risk should lessen as time goes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T06:12:38.937" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T06:12:38.937" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17085" CreationDate="2017-09-14T00:41:02.557" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aluminum canoes became popular because the aerospace company Grumman had surplus manufacturing capacity after World War 2.   As did aluminum producer Alcoa.  (There were probably other companies to) Alcoa's manufacturing was based in the North West and powered by relatively cheap hydroelectric power  at the time there was little other need for the power.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the time the main alternatives were wood or perhaps fiberglass. Those suffer from weight or fragility problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All those factors have changed now.  Aluminum is now more expensive.  Power demand in the North West is no longer met by hydro and aluminum is a globally produced commodity that can be imported from places where power is cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combine this with the problems with aluminum mentioned in other answers and the  remarkable improvements in plastics since the 1950's and you have a much better materials for consumer grade, durable craft.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T00:41:02.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17163" CreationDate="2017-09-14T04:44:43.490" Score="11" ViewCount="2195" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was having a debate with my friend on the definition of &quot;Sport Climbing&quot;. We both agree it means rock climbing with no pre-setup ropes on a bolted route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think regardless of whether this route is in an indoor gym or at a real rock outdoors it's all called sport climbing. However, my friend thinks it's only called sport climbing if it's at a real rock outdoors. He called it &quot;indoor lead climbing&quot; if it's in an indoor gym. But I think lead climbing has a broader meaning, it includes both sport climbing and trad climbing and it's also mentioned in this question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4639/14028&quot;&gt;What's the difference between Sport Climbing and Traditional Climbing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:24:01.247" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:24:01.247" Title="Does &quot;Sport Climbing&quot; refer to bolted climbing outdoors only or both indoors and outdoors" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17162" CreationDate="2017-09-14T06:36:51.683" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;You (arguably) are right. I would even approach it the other way around: Should there be another description for outdoor lead climbing on bolted routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Proof&quot;: Climbing on artificial holds has become a pretty huge competitive sport. The main international association for this sport is called IFSC: &quot;International Federation of Sport Climbing&quot;. As it's events are pretty well attended you can't really argue this is an abuse of the term (or if you do, you have to accept the abuse is commonplace).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion the reason why there is no distinction and both climbing on natural rock and artificial holds is called sport climbing is in its development. Originally climbing on artificial holds was a mere means of training, nowadays there is a huge amount of climbers that hardly ever touches natural rock. It has become a sport of its own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion it would totally make sense to use &quot;sports climbing&quot; for climbing on artificial holds and &quot;rock climbing&quot; for climbing on real rock. What certainly is inconsistent is to call it &quot;indoor&quot; something, because you also have artificial climbing walls outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T06:36:51.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17162" CreationDate="2017-09-14T07:39:08.110" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sport climbing means both indoor and outdoor climbing. Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sport climbing originally developed out of Trad climbing where climbers wanted to climb really hard routes without the nasty business of fatal falls getting in the way. This was the original definition of sport climbing (I think everyone agrees with this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd now say it &lt;strong&gt;also covers indoor sport climbing&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.olympic.org/news/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-sport-climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sport climbing is now an Olympic sport and will be done indoors&lt;/a&gt;. In the Olympics climbers climb on artificial holds. The Olympic committee defines this as sport climbing on their own web site. Now actually the Olympic definition of sport climbing includes &lt;em&gt;speed climbing, lead climbing and bouldering&lt;/em&gt;. So if you go by the Olympic definition all indoor climbing is Sport Climbing. It also doesn't mention outdoor climbing at all. So is the definition changing slightly in this age of indoor climbing walls and plastic pullers?!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)&lt;/a&gt;. Again the Olympic committee define this as the world championships of sport climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The first IFSC World Championships were held in Frankfurt (Germany) in&#xA;  1991&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IFSC competitions are also held on artificial walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T07:55:14.747" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T07:55:14.747" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17162" CreationDate="2017-09-14T14:01:26.253" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;It is more about style than routes.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term &quot;Sport climbing&quot; generally (traditionally) refers to climbing (routes longer than boulder problems) in such a way that the climber only have to focus on overcoming technical difficulty, not risk management. This differs from trad[itional] climbing where the climber always must consider if the protection available is sufficient (depending on the climbers skill and risk acceptance)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Sport climbing&quot; is thus more about a style of climbing than a classification of routes. There are bolted routes that definitely are not &quot;Sport&quot; and naturally protected routes that can be climbed in a &quot;sport&quot; manner with todays equipment.&#xA;However, many use &quot;Sport climbing&quot; as equivalent to &quot;Climbing on fully bolted routes&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Sport climbing&quot; that is now an olympic sport would rather be called &quot;Competition climbing&quot; by those who care about the difference. &quot;Competition climbing&quot; is sport climbing (or bouldering) arranged in such a way that you have a fair competition. (similar conditions for participants etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T07:38:33.410" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T07:38:33.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2017-09-14T14:28:01.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Baden-Powell Service Association (BPSA-US), a traditional scouting organization that promotes inclusive membership, outdoor skills, back to basic traditional program and service in the community. They have adult section called Rover open to adults.&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bpsa-us.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bpsa-us.org/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14032" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T14:28:01.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17169" CreationDate="2017-09-14T14:36:06.387" Score="4" ViewCount="7383" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know I shouldn't indulge in something like going on a beach while wearing shoes with breathable fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, it happened the other day and now I still feel like there is some sand hidden somewhere in the shoe fabric which I want to get rid of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the  possible way to get rid of all the sand from your shoe if you don't have a vacuum cleaner with you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="9260" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T15:40:46.017" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T17:02:19.000" Title="How to get rid of sand from your shoes?" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10265" CreationDate="2017-09-14T16:08:35.453" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes for cotton or poly cotton jackets wax is far more effective at waterproofing a coat. An easy way to reproof such a coat is to rub a candle on it until it is covered in white wax. Then take a hair dryer and melt the wax in. You might need to repeat the process to make it really water proof. The sprays like Nikwax and Fabsil tend to wear off after a few weeks. But with melted in solid wax the waterproofness should last for at least several months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14033" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T16:08:35.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17167" CreationDate="2017-09-14T17:02:19.000" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really hate it when that happens. These are my steps for getting sand (and other small debris) out of shoes after an adventure:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take out the insoles if you haven't already. Lots of stuff will be trapped under/around them. I usually wash my insoles in the washing machine, I've never had a problem doing that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use some force to beat as much as you can out of the fabric, then shake out anything that fell out inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse the shoes thoroughly with water. A source of pressure is best so you can run water through the fabric itself. Best is a hose, because then you can run the water both outside to inside and inside to outside. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let them dry thoroughly. Use a fan to speed this up if needed. Leaving them out in the sun or in a heated area to dry isn't recommended as this can damage both the fabric and the other material of the shoes. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once they dry beat them together again. If more stuff comes out, repeat the process.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only downside to this is that your shoes are wet and out of commission until they dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14034" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T17:02:19.000" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17170" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19040" CreationDate="2017-09-14T19:00:26.500" Score="5" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing I need to do to prepare for deer season is to sight in my rifle. I'm new to the Boise area and don't know where I should go. I'd prefer to go somewhere free, but if the only options available are paid ranges I'll do that. In talking to non-sportsmen they recommended driving out into the desert south of town. While I know it is legal to shoot on many types of public land I'd like something more concrete than a hand wave in a general direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, where I grew up there was &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Keswick+Dam+Shooting+Area/@40.6414086,-122.4572701,236m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x0:0x0!2zNDDCsDM4JzI5LjYiTiAxMjLCsDI3JzI0LjUiVw!3b1!8m2!3d40.6415556!4d-122.4568056!3m4!1s0x0:0x1b08523e6b91d58f!8m2!3d40.6415395!4d-122.4569406&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one shooting area on public land&lt;/a&gt; that was very well known and used. So well known and used that it is even marked on Google Maps as &quot;Keswick Dam Shooting Area.&quot; There was &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B040&amp;#39;11.3%22N+122%C2%B026&amp;#39;42.6%22W/@40.669812,-122.4457132,289m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d40.6698123!4d-122.4451662&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another area&lt;/a&gt; that was known and used but saw substantially less traffic because you had to walk a short ways in. Out of the tens of thousands of acres of public land in the area where it was legal to shoot these two spots were the places where everyone went to shoot. I'm looking for a similar situation in the Boise area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason why I want to stick to the known shooting areas is I want to avoid having arguments with well intentioned random passerbys if what I'm doing is legal or not. Sticking to known shooting areas avoids this hassle. Also some areas are better than other areas. When these areas are on public land they end up seeing more shooters over time until they become known as the local shooting spot. I'd rather not reinvent the wheel and go to a known good area. Finally, if I can drive directly to a known good spot I will save time. If all I have is directions to a thousand acres of BLM land I have to search a thousand acres for a good backstop far enough away with protection from the wind along the shooting corridor and low probability that people/animals will wander into my line of fire. Known shooting spots will have solved these problems, and allow me to drive directly to that spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-07T19:01:40.063" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T19:01:40.063" Title="Locations to sight in a rifle around Boise, Idaho" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10265" CreationDate="2017-09-14T19:29:43.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can, buy a block of candle wax at a hobby store candle shop. Then buy dry cleaning fluid. Carbon tetra cloride is best, although you may not be allowed to buy that in the U.S.  Put your wax in that to dissolve, as much as it will in 24 hours. Paint it on with a brush or spray bottle. This is the best I have found to use.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a light wax, Pledge furniture polish works well but it doesn't last as long.  In 3 days the scent will leave. This is a 3rd world tropics solution. Here we can not buy camp dry &amp;amp; such as you can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my duster long coat which is 65% cotton I find this works well. It's also good for water proofing a nylon tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just need a few days of water proofing, try the Pledge. Reapply in a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-14T20:23:04.657" LastActivityDate="2017-09-14T20:23:04.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17172" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17178" CreationDate="2017-09-14T22:43:05.417" Score="6" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have hiked in years past up to 12,000 ft but normally topped out around 8,000 ft when doing day hikes. &#xA;Problem is that I'm in my 60's, haven't hiked in 3 years and live at an altitude that tops out below 1,000 ft .  I'd liked to feel comfortable enough that I could do a 6 mile round trip day hike topping out at 8,000 ft.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is how best to condition myself and get back in shape to do these kind of hikes?&#xA;Any suggestions would be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9326" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T18:35:53.070" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T18:35:53.070" Title="How best to condition oneself to do day hikes at an altitude peaking at 6,000 to 8,000 ft?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-14T23:28:35.530" Score="2" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some I've noticed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;V0 – hanging by one's arms; shifting weight for balance; pushing with one's legs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;V1 – pinching, edging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;V2 – laybacking, pockets, backstepping, flagging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;V3 – 'more strength'?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'More strength' is what it feels like you're missing when you can't do a problem – better technique is unimaginable. It's also obviously needed too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other techniques should I be practicing, and looking for opportunities to use – and at what grades?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the top Google search result for me just now for &quot;climbing grades chart&quot; so feel free to use any grade scale:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/climbing-grade-conversion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing grade conversion - MEC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, this question is similar to this existing question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6530/how-do-you-decide-on-a-climbing-grade&quot;&gt;bouldering - How do you decide on a climbing grade? - The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is, in a sense, the 'inverse' of that other question. But I'm not a route setter, nor am I devising my own pitches or problems. I want to know a &lt;em&gt;rough&lt;/em&gt; ordering of techniques and their &lt;em&gt;at-least-approximate&lt;/em&gt; association with various grades. I understand that there aren't hard-and-fast rules and that there are lots of reasons why this is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I've already supplied several examples of techniques that, in my experience at least, seem to only be necessary at certain grades. I'm sure there are more. What are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also understand that, in fact, basically any technique may be required at fairly low grades, i.e. V3-V4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But some techniques, e.g. bicycling; or certain types of problems, e.g. roofs, overhangs of greater than 30 degrees; just don't seem to reasonably be expected at lower grade problems. I dispute, for instance, that a problem with a 60 degree overhang, for more than one or two moves, could reasonably be graded a V1. That absolutely contradicts my (limited) experience and I can't imagine that anyone would expect climbers at a V1 grade level to be able to climb such features consistently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8280" LastEditorUserId="8280" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T14:27:46.733" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T14:27:46.733" Title="With what specific techniques are various bouldering grades associated?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ClosedDate="2017-09-15T15:40:41.953" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17173" CreationDate="2017-09-15T00:05:44.853" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there may not be certain techniques or hold types you see much of at lower grades (slopers, dynos, and crimps come to mind) I don't think you can generally equate specific techniques to specific grades - everything will just get harder as you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally the type of rock, angle, and holds encountered will vary significantly from gym to gym to outdoor area. You could have v8 with all slopers, all tiny pinches, or all micro crimps. Generally as you noted, holds get smaller/steeper/more overhung and technique needs to be more refined as you go up in difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The need for 'more strength' often translates many different ways. It can be a lack of muscle endurance, a lack of power, a lack of tendon strength, or a lack of technique, among others. Pinpointing the specific area of weakness can be challenging, for example, feeling like you don't have the endurance to complete a specific problem could actually be a symptom of not using the proper technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you figure out what technique might be helpful in a given situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to your bouldering area at peak times and watch people who are better than you try problems that are around (or just within) the limit of your ability. See if they incorporate specific movements like flagging or matching, watch how they shift their weight through the problem, and where + how they place their hands and feet on the holds...then try it yourself. It may also turn out that you just can't hang on to a certain hold and, yes, need more pull/grip/crimp strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're trying to get better at climbing generally (especially bouldering or sport, less so trad) a hangboard regimen is a decent place to start. This will help build some of the tendon &amp;amp; forearm strength that is often lacking when starting out. Do be careful, as hangboards put A LOT of stress on parts of the body that don't normally deal with that kind of stress, and it is easy to injure yourself if you go too hard to fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're thinking about getting serious in training I'd highly recommend Eric Horst's book &lt;a href=&quot;http://trainingforclimbing.com/buy-books/training-for-climbing-3rd-edition-2016/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;training for climbing&lt;/a&gt; lots of good info about physiology, training ideas, and sport-specific areas to target weaknesses in your abilities. It had some basic plans, and a lot of information on how to craft a training plan specific to your own needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14034" LastEditorUserId="14034" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T00:30:39.803" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T00:30:39.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17172" CreationDate="2017-09-15T14:24:56.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Older people better tolerate high altitude. For that altitude you don't need to do any special trainings\preparation. It would be enough to do any sport activity like running swimming or bicycle. The more sports you do the more comfortable you will be during your hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T14:24:56.073" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17180" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17182" CreationDate="2017-09-15T18:01:50.127" Score="9" ViewCount="447" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14739/what-affects-the-acclimatization-process/14740#answer-14741&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; mentions,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The single most effective thing you can do to improve your acclimatization rate is to get in good aerobic shape before starting your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems plausible that being in good aerobic shape would help one acclimatize, are there there any studies to back this up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-15T23:32:37.733" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T21:02:59.670" Title="Are there any studies showing that being in good aerobic shape will lessen the risk of altitude sickness?" Tags="&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17162" CreationDate="2017-09-15T18:17:01.690" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The expression &quot;sport climbing&quot; was created to contrast against &quot;traditional&quot; climbing. The difference at that time was that sport climbs didn't demand very much effort spent arranging, fixing and cleaning anchors and belays, whereas traditional climbing required one to arrange all of one's own hardware for anchors and belays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that time, indoor climbing gyms weren't really a thing, and organized competitions on artificial or natural routes weren't, either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Style wise, &quot;sport climbing&quot; and leading up bolts in an indoor gym are essentially identical. Name wise, I'm convinced that the expression &quot;sport climbing&quot; is never taken to include the activity of leading up bolts in a gym or on an outdoor artificial wall, but is interpreted to mean leading up bolts placed in rock which was natural before it got developed for climbing. I'm also convinced that the expression &quot;sport climbing&quot; is only taken to mean &quot;contest/competition&quot; by uninformed people outside the sport. Among climbers, they don't call a competitive event &quot;a sport climb&quot;, they call a &lt;strong&gt;route&lt;/strong&gt; a sport climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2017-09-15T18:17:01.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17180" CreationDate="2017-09-15T18:51:07.763" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;No - the studies show that aerobic fitness has no protective effect. This is from the Institute for Altitude Medicine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MYTH - PHYSICAL FITNESS PROTECTS AGAINST ALTITUDE SICKNESS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Physical fitness offers no protection from altitude illness. In fact, many young fit athletes drive themselves too hard at altitude prior to acclimatizing thinking they can push through the discomfort. They ignore signs of altitude illness thinking it can't affect them because they are fit and healthy. Everyone, regardless of fitness, is susceptible to AMS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitudemedicine.org/myths-about-altitude/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally, I remember a season in Chamonix with my climbing partner - we hadn't done much training before the trip but spent a few days acclimatising. Then we were joined by a couple of friends who were superbly fit, having recently run fast times in the London Marathon. We blew them off the hill for the first two or three days till they caught up with their acclimatisation. There are no shorcuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T21:02:59.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17183" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-15T21:56:29.040" Score="2" ViewCount="390" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would it have been possible to sail a small boat from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/The+Wash+National+Nature+Reserve/@52.9920189,0.0938593,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xbb9ec420d4add213!8m2!3d52.8235124!4d0.2835846?shorturl=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Wash, Norfolk, UK&lt;/a&gt; to Dunkirk in WWII? Could it be done in one go? If not, where would you stop en route?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eXZOJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eXZOJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14041" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-18T17:28:16.300" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T17:28:16.300" Title="Sailing from the Wash, UK to France during World War II." Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17184" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17185" CreationDate="2017-09-16T01:35:13.073" Score="7" ViewCount="9557" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the Northeastern region of the United States, and am an avid bird-lover. I love robins for their looks, and because they're harbingers of spring in my area. I thought robins were the same here and in Europe, but was recently told there are major differences. If the information I was given is correct, they don't even belong to the same family of bird!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm almost certain the majority of our robins are called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/id&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Robin&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to go to a European country, would I recognize the physical characteristics of the robin there, or is the bird different enough that it would not look like a &quot;robin&quot; to me? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the appearance, are the basic behavioral characteristics, such as diet, preferred habitat, and nesting, similar, or are there significant differences in those also? Do the European robins ever migrate to America? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-19T23:57:34.690" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T23:13:05.070" Title="How does a European Robin differ from an American Robin?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17184" CreationDate="2017-09-16T01:44:00.543" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Robin&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgLRi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgLRi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;American Robin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turdus-migratorius-002.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European Robin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tKFwM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tKFwM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;European Robin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erithacus_rubecula_with_cocked_head.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are from different families of birds,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a &lt;strong&gt;migratory songbird of the thrush family.&lt;/strong&gt; It is named after the European robin&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Turdus-migratorius-002.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt; because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the &lt;strong&gt;European robin belonging to the Old World flycatcher family.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia). &lt;strong&gt;These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World_flycatcher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The thrushes are a family, Turdidae, of passerine birds with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before the subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, was split out and moved to the Old World flycatchers. &lt;strong&gt;The thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates and fruit.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrush_(bird)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-04T02:49:31.903" LastActivityDate="2019-09-04T02:49:31.903" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2017-09-16T09:19:51.030" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to sum up other answers and add something that was missing:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As mentioned choose surrounding nature color if you want to blend in (e.g. while wild camping where it is not legal). Green, brown, grey or white depending on the place you camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose bright color for emergency (valid reason) or ease of finding your own camp (not so valid, don't be so careless to lose sight of your camp). Orange works best.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insects. While most animals won't be bothered by any color, some colors tend to attract insects. E.g. yellow Nemo Hornet Elite can be a nightmare with some type of insects.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature. Dark can get hot in midday, bright is nice early in the morning (though might have only psychological element if camping in cold areas).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt; Light hue. If you're spending more time inside the tent not sleeping (e.g. caught in heavy rain), orange hue (Big agnes copper spur) is not the best if you are trying to read a book/kindle. MSR Hubba Hubba tents with grey is best for reading, very bright and natural light. Dark colors (dark green) is only suitable for sleeping, light green (any Nemo tent with birch green color) is ok to spend time inside as it tends to have little hue to the light.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt; Depression/Melancholy. I forgot about this at all when posting first as it doesn't affect me,&#xA; but there is actual people who reported emotional problems during prolonged stays in the green tents. Solution for depressed ones is lightweight MSR tents with euro green fly which is dark olive color. This particular color doesn't create any green hue, furthermore fabric is thin, therefore it is only dark from outside and bright inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I personally like to blend in well and usually hike in grassy areas, so I prefer greenish tone tent with orange footprint (in case of emergency). Light grey is close second for that bright and natural feeling inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14043" LastEditorUserId="14043" LastEditDate="2017-09-17T08:43:59.213" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T08:43:59.213" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2017-09-17T06:29:03.967" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in San Diego and this past summer I've walked barefoot at home almost 100%. Meaning when the Asphalt in front of my house was 135°F, I'd purposely stand on it to toughen the feet up. I also walk the dog a mile a day on concert and do yard work barefoot. My feet toughened up, check.  Next is dexterity of the toes. I have a bunch of small objects in a container that I dump on the ground and pick them up and put them back in with my feet.  Remember, your toes are there to help you balance a load so make sure you can use them too. I do my workouts now in bare feet and I have way more ability to keep good form and lift heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14046" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-10T23:29:38.750" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T23:29:38.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2017-09-17T15:11:40.237" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. Yum Yum yellow is used as the tent on life rafts as it is easy to see at sea. Red midcolor  holds heat in the cold but reflects heat in the summer. Dull colors blend in better if you do not want seen. White is cool in the summer. Black heats best in winter. So use of tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T15:11:40.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2017-09-17T20:48:16.510" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walk barefoot a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rub your feet with alcohol.  Use the 99% stuff, not the 70%.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soak your feet in brine.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On hot surfaces it's cooler to run.  When you walk, each foot is on the ground more than half the time.  When you run there is at least some time that both feet are airborne.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got to the point where I could run to the 10 miles to work, wearing water socks on the gravel roads and barefoot on the pavement. (About 4 miles of gravel, 6 of pavement)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T20:48:16.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2017-09-17T20:51:58.043" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Light colours don't heat up as much during the day, nor cool off as much at night.  Light colours allow more light in the tent.  If I'm stormbound I'd much rather be in a white/light beige tent than in either red or green.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T20:51:58.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8165" CreationDate="2017-09-17T20:58:40.447" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your environment, disguise the packed portion of dirt with litter.  If you make it look disgusting (add a rubber dead rat...) more people will avoid even walking near it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding something that stinks in a mesh bag tucked out of sight nearby will also repel people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the trail is more than one bush long, put a more than right angle turn in it.If you look down the trail start and see a bush, it's not obvious there is a trail there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the bushes on either side thick:  Add about 1/2 cup of 20-20-20 fertilizer in a 4 foot diameter circle for each bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2017-09-17T20:58:40.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17193" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18238" CreationDate="2017-09-18T07:50:34.283" Score="8" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;A comment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One little thing that I understand differently: Sport climbing did not&#xA;  evolve from trad climbing (at least not in the modern sense), but more&#xA;  of artificial climbing. Using gear for advancement not only protection&#xA;  was the standard and the revolution was to ditch that and climb on&#xA;  &quot;unclimbable&quot; difficulties by using bolts as protection, which allows&#xA;  to fall (which wasn't an option before).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17164/2766&quot;&gt;my answer here&lt;/a&gt; got me thinking. What exactly was the first sport route in the world? When did it get bolted, why and by who?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By sport route I mean &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8127/2766&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;free climbing outside with only bolts to protect falls&lt;/strong&gt;, not aid climbing using bolts or using the odd bolt/piton here and there&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T10:15:12.177" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T10:15:12.177" Title="When, how and by whom was sport climbing invented?" Tags="&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17193" CreationDate="2017-09-18T10:37:21.710" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to what I can find on Wikipedia and elsewhere, it looks like it was in the 1880s. Before that, bolts had been used as climbing aids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best candidate for first climber and route is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Parry_Haskett_Smith&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;W.P. Haskett Smith&lt;/a&gt; up the Napes Needle in the Lake District in 1886, however most climbers that used artificial aids used them to climb, not just for safety until into the 1920s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T10:37:21.710" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17183" CreationDate="2017-09-18T11:57:36.613" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would it have been possible to sail a small boat from The Wash,&#xA;  Norfolk, UK to Dunkirk in WWII?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the evacuation of Dunkirk the authorities called on all available civilian boats to aid in the evacuation. These were called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ships_of_Dunkirk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;The little ships of Dunkirk&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ships gathered at Ramsgate before moving with the larger ships to Dunkirk. These boats we're mostly used as ferries to the larger boats. The distance from the Wash to Ramsgate is about 175 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cv2ve.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cv2ve.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;then another 45 miles to Dunkirk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Gv8g.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Gv8g.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you don't state how big this small boat is. But a reasonably sized boat should be able to make this journey in several hours. It's certainly less than a days sailing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two of the lifeboats in the list of ships stand out in relation to this question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Herbert Sturmey (ON 664) from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldeburgh_Lifeboat_Station&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aldeburgh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lucy Lavers (ON 832) from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadgwith#Lifeboats&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cadgwith&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though not quite as far north &lt;strong&gt;Aldeburgh&lt;/strong&gt; isn't that far further south of the Wash:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/59lbI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/59lbI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cadwith is much further away than the wash though in an Easterly direction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F0sPF.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F0sPF.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BZZ3f.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BZZ3f.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roughly a 319 miles, nearly twice the distance of The Wash&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Grandad was involved in Dunkirk and sailed a boat (he was a lifeboatman) from Rhyl in North Wales to Dunkirk at around the same time. This journey is much longer than the one you described:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X1FjO.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X1FjO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A journey of about 641 miles! The evacuation of Dunkirk lasted just over a week. So it's very much possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-09-18T16:33:39.953" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T16:33:39.953" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17196" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17201" CreationDate="2017-09-18T15:07:46.997" Score="4" ViewCount="3465" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just pulled my old Molle rucksack (5.11 Rush 72) out of storage and it is has a white/grey mould running through the fabric.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best way to make this rucksack suitable for use again?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is large (over 50 litres) and probably will need an industrial washer / launderette if that is the technique for cleaning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further details &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1050D Nylon &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;210D 118T PUx2 coating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has been used extensively outdoors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never had mould before&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has been stored indoors, dry for approximately 6 months &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T17:12:35.447" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T17:12:35.447" Title="How to get mould out of rucksack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17198" CreationDate="2017-09-18T18:15:27.457" Score="4" ViewCount="421" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking for places to find bats in their natural habitat, rather than around the house. The author of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17104/how-warm-does-it-need-to-be-for-bats-to-come-out-of-their-caves&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; saw some bats in a lava tube. I've never heard of a lava tube before, and would like to know what it means, and how it happens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that lava flows from a volcano, and affects any type of terrain in its path, including where it lands on the ground, which can be quite a distance from the site of the eruption. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does lava create a tube-type formation with space inside? Is it hard enough to become something permanent, or is it a temporary structure that caves in at some point?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any place in the United States where we could go to see one? I'm hoping we might find some bats inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Follow-up:&lt;/strong&gt; Since people have been kind enough to teach me about the lava tubes, I've learned that not all of them have bats. When planning a trip, it's best to look up each cave individually to see if they are home to bats. Interestingly, even if they aren't in the caves, there are often bats living in the immediate vicinity, so on a trip you can frequently see both. (It's also worth researching the area before a trip, because some caves are closed at various times to protect the maternity colonies. For instance, at the time of this writing, 7 caves in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/labe/planyourvisit/caving.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lava Bed National Monument&lt;/a&gt; in California will be closed for the summer while the bats give birth and care for the young.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T21:10:40.660" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T21:10:40.660" Title="What is a lava tube, as a place to see bats? Are there any in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;bats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17197" CreationDate="2017-09-18T19:23:35.313" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically, a lava tube is formed when a underground lava flow stops flowing, leaving behind a long tubular cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow.&lt;/strong&gt; Tubes can be draining lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lava tubes are a type of lava cave formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust, which thickens and forms a roof above the still-flowing lava stream.&lt;/strong&gt; Tubes form in one of two ways: by the crusting over of lava channels, and from pāhoehoe flows where the lava is moving under the surface.&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tube&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tube&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what the lava tubes at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_(Utah)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammoth Cave (Utah)&lt;/a&gt; look like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aWN8r.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aWN8r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mammoth_Cave_(Utah) lava tube&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/drNCC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/drNCC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mammoth_Cave_(Utah) lava tube&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLCw7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLCw7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mammoth_Cave_(Utah) lava tube&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-18T19:23:35.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6710" CreationDate="2017-09-19T00:55:02.407" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;use the backstep&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if that is the official name. It's what we called it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's  intuitive but it's incredibly effective to give you more reach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For supporting yourself on left foot and right hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are starting facing the wall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rotate your hips to the right so that your left hip is against the wall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Step up with your left foot. Put nearly all of your weight on that left foot.&#xA;Keep your right arm straight so you weight is on you skeleton (pulling on right arm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use your right foot to push against the wall to help your hips stay pivoted against the wall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All of you weight is now on left foot and right arm. You can use your right foot and waist to rotate your shoulders to the right which pivots your left (free) arm really high.  See the photo. His weight is mostly on his left foot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yGRZd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yGRZd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/images/2Kb2kC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photo &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastEditorUserId="489" LastEditDate="2017-09-19T01:01:53.390" LastActivityDate="2017-09-19T01:01:53.390" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17202" CreationDate="2017-09-19T10:09:52.840" Score="13" ViewCount="4852" Body="&lt;p&gt;hopefully this is not a duplicate as I've searched for an answer on here before posting. I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/40/how-do-i-wash-gore-tex-clothing/58#58&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; but there seems to be conflicting views on certain aspects of the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would like to know is how should I go about washing my waterproof coat? It's not GoreTex, but IsoTex (5000 on the waterproof scale). This will be the first time I have washed it, and I've had it about a year now.&#xA;From reading other answers I assume I will need some sort of waterproofing agent to wash it with - are there different types for different materials and could anyone recommend a brand in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also unsure about whether to tumble dry the coat or let it hang. I've seen comments claiming the tumble dryer will ruin the coat, and others saying it helps to reinforce the chemical outer layer. Can anyone confirm what the best method of drying the coat would be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I've seen plenty of waterproofing sprays in hiking shops before - are these any good/appropriate for use on a coat? Or are they just for re-applying lost waterproofing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14054" LastActivityDate="2017-09-20T15:25:04.367" Title="I need to wash my waterproof coat without ruining the waterproofing" Tags="&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17196" CreationDate="2017-09-19T12:55:47.260" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sun will help, you can leave it in the sun taking care the whole affected area gets direct sun then, still outside, brush off all that is possible with a stiff brush. After that you can proceed to a proper wash.&#xA;For the wash you can use oxygen bleach, it will have a better outcome than regular bleach.&#xA;From there on it really depends on the conditions of the pack after the wash, you might have to repeat the process. &#xA;Keep in mind that even if the mould is gone there is a good chance it will smell like mildew, that is a difficult smell to remove sometimes and that some discoloration can remain in the area affected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember that the brush will have to be treated as the pack is after you used it on the mould.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit to address the residual mildew smell, which is likely to remain if the mould was a lot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in conservation, commercial products that will bind the leftover chemicals causing the odour are used&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I tried Mirazine in the past, always gave poor results for mildew.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there are home remedies, vinegar being the most common&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;on boats, beside the usual commercial stuff, its often used borax or glycol (plain antifreeze works too even if its propylene glycol) This stuff needs proper disposal after being used as its a wash, the intent in this case is to remove the smell not to use these substances as biocide, the process for that is slightly different and not applicable to the question.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;YMMV depending on conditions and material treated.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not use Feebreze or similar to cover the smell or you will end with a carousel of stenches that will drive you nuts. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2017-09-22T14:02:14.427" LastActivityDate="2017-09-22T14:02:14.427" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17200" CreationDate="2017-09-19T13:27:21.633" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;As stated, your first port of call should be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.regatta.com/garment-care/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the manufacturer's washing instructions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with this fabric. A quick google of IsoTex basically shows it's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.regatta.com/fabrics/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Regatta waterproof fabric&lt;/a&gt;. Not much details on how it's made, etc. but it does state it has a Durable Water Repellent (DWR):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The DwR outer fabric reinforces the waterproof quality and helps the&#xA;  water to run off whilst adding to the garment's windproof performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's got a Hydrostatic Head of 5000 then it's not as waterproof as Gore-Tex. This, and looking at the types of coat its made into, and the price point for, etc. makes me think it's not got got a physical barrier like Gore-Tex (or if it does, it's not as sophisticated).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bearing all the above in mind, you want a non-detergent cleaner. I always use &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NikWax Tech Wash&lt;/a&gt;. Regatta recommend their own brand, but well they would... I've always had good results with the NikWax one though. Don't use normal washing powder; that will reduce the effectiveness of the DWR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would definitely then apply a new DWR. From looking at similar fabrics and reading reviews, a good application of DWR is pretty essential to this coat; without it, it isn't going to stay waterproof for long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer a spray-on one as opposed to a wash-in one. It allows you to be more targeted in its application, i.e. only spray it on the outside where it's supposed to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tumble drying will improve the DWR. DWR works by tiny microscopic spikes keeping the water from soaking in. Over time these spikes wear down. Tumble drying (heating) allows the chemicals to re-form these spikes. &lt;strong&gt;Will it ruin your coat?&lt;/strong&gt; What does the label say? If it says do not tumble dry, then don't. If it says you can, it will help and is worth doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="14057" LastEditDate="2017-09-20T15:25:04.367" LastActivityDate="2017-09-20T15:25:04.367" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17200" CreationDate="2017-09-19T17:20:07.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following information is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.regattaprofessional.com/product-garmentcare.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Regatta Professional&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Question: How should I wash my Waterproof Garment?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Answer: Always follow the care symbols on the inner label when washing your jacket. It is advised that you use pure soap such as Regatta non-detergent Cleaner when washing your Regatta waterproof garment. Avoid use of biological washing powders or fabric conditioners as these may leave a residue that could affect the breathability of your garment and de-activate the water repellant finish.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Question: How do I remove stains such as oil and grease?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Answer: Avoid using a commercial stain remover to erase stains, as the waterproof coating on your Regatta jacket is NOT resistant to chemicals. Treat your garment as directed on the care label. This method may not remove oil and grease, but using a stain-removing product or biological washing powder may cause your garment to degrade.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Question: Do I really need to reproof my garment?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Answer:&#xA;  Reproofing your garment on a regular basis enhances its technical performance. Every time the jacket is washed as directed on the care label, it should also be re-proofed. Use either Regatta Wash-in Reproofer or Regatta spray-on Reproofer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Question: What is the life expectancy of a waterproof jacket?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Answer: Remember that all Regatta Isotex garments are guaranteed to be windproof, waterproof and breathable for 3 years. Given that you choose the correct garment for your activity and it is properly maintained, you should expect to enjoy your jacket long after its guarantee has expired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-09-19T19:48:35.597" LastActivityDate="2017-09-19T19:48:35.597" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17209" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-22T01:10:54.780" Score="1" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for an article that was published in either Rock and Ice or Climbing Magazine around 1999. I know the area and route of the article topic as well as the author's name. I may even have a copy of the cover image and/or and image used in the article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there digital back issues of the magazine? Is there a search function? Are there libraries that would have back issues in print (or microfilm)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="11800" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T20:34:29.470" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T21:11:09.337" Title="Searching and reading back issues of Climbing and Rock and Ice" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17034" CreationDate="2017-09-22T10:52:11.803" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only answer this based on my own experience and my theory based on that. That is, that exhaling used to be difficult for me in conditions where inhaling is uncertain. When doing the crawl your mouth is very close to the water surface when inhaling, so in choppy conditions the wavelets will sometimes cover your mouth while you are in the inhaling cycle. If you are used to swimming in flat calm water, your body is conditioned to rely on being able to breathe whenever you are in the inhaling position. When exhaling, your body will sink deeper into the water. Your subconsciousness knows this and fights against this, as this will make access to air even more difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you keep practising in choppy water you will re-condition yourself and exhaling will become as natural as in flat water over time. The progress will be quicker if you learn how to avoid inhaling water in these conditions of course. It's basically about teaching your inner animal that exhaling and giving up the extra buoyancy is safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14067" LastActivityDate="2017-09-22T10:52:11.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13383" CreationDate="2017-09-22T11:29:01.493" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any authority in Germany is required by law to direct you to the correct office to deal with your question (Amtshilfe). A good starting point would be the receptionist at the local council (this could be a Gemeindeverwaltung, Samtgemeindeverwaltung or Kreisverwaltung depending on where you are). Public land may be owned by them, the Country or the Federation. They will help you find the right place. Wikipedia is a great source for information about finding the web page for the local authority. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good alternative would be asking at a local restaurant or hotel for advice on whom to approach first, as they have a natural interest in any event that would increase tourism in the area. They may direct you to someone who is especially sympathetic to requests as yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14067" LastActivityDate="2017-09-22T11:29:01.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17213" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-23T19:24:24.930" Score="2" ViewCount="20898" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently got my new Osprey Atmos 65, and I really want to attach some patches that I bought online. Will normal iron patches work or can I sew them on instead? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will it damage the backpack? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14077" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-24T05:38:28.780" LastActivityDate="2017-09-24T09:10:32.650" Title="How can I attach a patch to a nylon backpack?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17213" CreationDate="2017-09-24T09:10:32.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iron-on&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; careful of iron-on - nylon melts! You have to get the temperature right. I wouldn't be confident that the patch would hold as the rucksack flexes, though I guess that depends on the quality of the adhesive you use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sewing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sewing will puncture the fabric and allow a little moisture through. You could mitigate this by applying silicone seam sealant to your stitch-holes on the inside of the pack. Not a bad solution, and less prone to disaster than iron-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bonding&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the patch is made of nylon, you could bond it on for a reliable solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purchase a silicone seam sealer like McNETT SilNet, or any 100% silicone sealant from the hardware store.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spread the sealant thinly on the back of your patch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stick the patch to the pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply pressure evenly over the patch with something heavy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave overnight for the bond to cure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will only work reliably with nylon. If the patch is polyester or some natural fabric you'd probably be better to sew it on and seal the holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-09-24T09:10:32.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22711" CreationDate="2017-09-24T22:24:51.157" Score="5" ViewCount="1188" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE - 26 OCTOBER 2017&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I just received an email from JanSport Customer Service (after I had sent them the pictures you see below).  They still maintain that the subject backpack is a &lt;strong&gt;Cascade&lt;/strong&gt; model.  I'm not totally convinced, but have to accept their verdict unless someone here comes up with some clear photos that will prove JanSport wrong.  If and when such evidence arrives, I will award that post as the best answer to this question...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END OF UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I acquired a JanSport external frame backpack in the early 90's from a thrift store - it was used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently hiked a few sections of the Colorado Trail and said backpack attracted lots of interest, since it was so old.  I got several questions about it, but was unable to provide much information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pics of my backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mlaOcl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mlaOcl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KePk0l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KePk0l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XpSj0l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XpSj0l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOwVDl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOwVDl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F0ehol.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F0ehol.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IHpnl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2IHpnl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YHaSal.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YHaSal.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RodRKl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RodRKl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t3sd6l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t3sd6l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lwgkRl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lwgkRl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've asked JanSport Customer Service about this.  While they were very helpful, and even shipped a part I needed for the backpack, they've been unable to correctly identify the backpack.  They guessed that it was a Cascade model, from the early 80's.  They scanned a page from a 1983 JanSport catalog and sent it to me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/geYh0l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/geYh0l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can clearly see, my backpack is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; one of the three pictured on said scanned catalog page.  Of the three backpacks pictured on said page, mine is closest in appearance to the one on the left, as that one has a straight upper-most crossbar.  It is interesting to note that, of the two Cascade models depicted (the two left-most backpacks pictured on said catalog page), the one for the larger torso has a straight, vice curved, upper-most crossbar.  One wonders if that would be true for my backpack, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can anyone provide the model name and year of this backpack?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14078" LastEditorUserId="14078" LastEditDate="2017-10-26T17:47:15.680" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T15:05:01.180" Title="Can anyone identify this JanSport external frame backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17216" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions relating to forest fires&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17217" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to forest fires" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T02:26:35.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17218" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-25T04:03:11.643" Score="25" ViewCount="5655" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/feu-fire-kenow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kenow fire&lt;/a&gt; ripped through the Rockies near where I live. Flames were reported to be hundreds of meters high coming off the tops of some trees. Some of those flames licked the crags I most frequently climb. Parks Canada is assessing the danger of re-entering the area, citing warnings of a large number of danger trees and rock falls due to the intensity of the fire. How do forest fires affect climbing crags?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before fire:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/haiNo.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/haiNo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During Fire:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0iwez.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0iwez.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After Fire:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AFpPw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AFpPw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OG92m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OG92m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fire was intense enough to ignite the trees in the alcove half way up the face of the cliff:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tgsva.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tgsva.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Roadside crag that got a little scorched:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fj50p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fj50p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:36:16.810" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T17:36:16.810" Title="How do forest fires affect rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17218" CreationDate="2017-09-25T07:07:10.140" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;A forest fire can definitely affect the rocks and cause hazards (in addition to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17158/how-long-after-a-forest-fire-can-you-safely-re-enter-a-forest?rq=1&quot;&gt;hazards in the forest&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hot burning fires destabilize rock.&lt;/strong&gt; This can result in removal of rock coatings,&#xA;flaking, scaling, and/or abrasion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://alliance.la.asu.edu/rockart/NSF/RASI_Tidbit_FireLoss.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spall is flakes of a material that are broken off a larger solid body&lt;/strong&gt; and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ball bearing). Spalling and spallation both describe the process of surface failure in which spall is shed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rocks do not conduct heat well, so when they are exposed to extreme heat the outermost layer becomes much hotter than the rock underneath causing differential thermal expansion. This differential expansion causes sub-surface shear stress, in turn causing spalling. &lt;strong&gt;Extreme temperature change, such as forest fires, can also cause spalling of rock.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spall&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many places the rock cliffs were cracked, causing them to loosen and slide down in alvalanches to the bottom of the canyon&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZOAQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=RA3-PA66&amp;amp;lpg=RA3-PA66&amp;amp;dq=fires%20burn%20rock%20cliff&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=yyuLnwz-9d&amp;amp;sig=tb-IMdb_hcA_YiYDtRdaQHAAuQU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjkzZ2r4b_WAhVlHGMKHfCoDDI4ChDoAQhEMAc#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=fires%20burn%20rock%20cliff&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T14:38:13.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17218" CreationDate="2017-09-25T07:46:44.977" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to what the other answer says, a fire burning near a crag could weaken bolts; so if there is fire damage anywhere nearby, the bolts should be considered suspect and replaced (at least the anchors).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the rock itself, I'd approach it like a new crag that has not been climbed before, i.e. expect holds to come loose and be prepared for rockfall in general - helmets are a must.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, fire-damaged trees should never be used as anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-09-25T09:45:11.707" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T09:45:11.707" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17006" CreationDate="2017-09-25T15:51:43.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Europe, especially in the mountains, trail signs usually have time instead of distance, even though the distance is probably accurately known. The mileage isn't really the most important thing as altitude change and terrain are much more important; 3 miles on a good track along a valley floor might take less than an hour, but 3 miles on a narrow, difficult path that ascends 3000ft to a Col might take several hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, distance might be misleading, so time is used as a better indicator of the commitment and effort required to reach the signposted destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A8RbH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A8RbH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swiss mountain hiking signs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;By Irmgard (Own work) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GFDL&lt;/a&gt;, and by &lt;a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CC-BY-SA-3.0&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="132" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-26T19:21:32.083" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T19:21:32.083" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15002" CreationDate="2017-09-25T16:51:13.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;tl;dr&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gather a few plants from your area. For each one, flip a coin; if it's tails, you can use it for what you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Where I'm coming from on this&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live near the area you specify; in New York, not in the Adirondacks but to the west of them, and I have been there. Fortunately though, my advice is generic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have just recently gotten deeper into the cord/rope making craft, and I have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to make and how many resources will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have made a bunch of cords and ropes recently out of many different materials. The one part of your question that I cannot answer directly (but which I would say is not super important) is to be specific about species; I do not know what most of the plants around me are, but I just use them anyway, and most of them work! So here is my advice...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The Good Part&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that more plants seem to work than to not for this. Grasses, flowers, fibers, etc..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything that is soft and bendable is obviously a good first choice. Even if it is soft and breaks easily, that is usually fine if you just work in more of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;One extreme of the spectrum: mowed grass&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if it is short, that has not been a problem for me. Just a few days ago, I even decided to try it with short, mowed grass. I thought it would be difficult, maybe impossible, but I was surprised to find that even mowed grass, just 2 to 4 inches, made fine cord using the standard technique. I just started with a much smaller V to begin with the longest couple of grass blades I could find - I think those two blades were 4 or 5 inches - and I had to twist in extra material much more often than with longer resources. I made a cord that was a few millimeters thick, and it could have been used for some very lightweight purposes, and if made thicker it might have worked even for the table example you ask for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, un-mowed grass that is a few feet long will work much better than mowed grass. This was just to make a point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;More plants will work if you soften them up first&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many plants that are not fibrous and which seem too tough and non-pliable to use, I have found that I can still use them if I soften them up first. For some of the plants, I carefully squeeze the stem until it partially crushes, and some still hold together decent even if fully crushed. This allows them to bend some and to tie around objects, especially if the objects are large such that the plant needn't form a tight bend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Another softening technique&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to the previous technique, I have found that some plants become quite workable if I do the following, assuming they do not simply snap into two pieces when I try this but instead stays together after breaking: I bend the plant carefully until it breaks (but does not come apart; it is still 1 length), and then I either try to repeat this making many breaks along the plant, or if the plant is not too stiff sometimes I can &quot;slide&quot; the break (not sure how else to describe it) along the plant so that it is thoroughly broken along the entire length - some plants still hold together well after doing this. Then it is workable enough to use as with other methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sometimes a processed cord is not necessary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, some plants seem to be strong enough to use directly, without processing into nice cord or rope. I have found multiple plants which I can directly pluck and straight away tie into a circle and have a difficult time breaking them; they would work great for the situation you describe. Sometimes these plants, though working without being cord or rope, do still require processing like in the previous two techniques I mention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The default technique&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there is the technique I see most advertised: try to get strands of fiber from plants, often from inside the bark of woody plants (including trees) and twist them together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A tip on determination for the frustrated&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just because I make the bold claim that most of the plants around me work for tying/lashing, that does not mean that it's all sugar and spice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I do when I'm unsure of the resources in an area: I go for a short walk and take some time to look at all the different plants nearby, and I choose many of them that look promising and even some that do not look promising. I gather an armload of 5, or 10, or even more, different plant types - and often several plants of each type that I pick, sometimes it's more than an armload - and I sit down with them all and test each one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can take a while. Sometimes I spend an hour just experimenting with what I gathered, and I find that these 2 plants work ok, this 1 barely works, those 2 work terrible, this 1 simply cannot work at all, and this one works great. Then based on the best candidates, I decide which one I will use: which one was most abundant? easiest to pick? did it make me itch or sting when I handled it? etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I go gather. Depending on how far away the resource was or how plentiful or scarce it was: I will either gather several times more than I need to be safe (I still mess up and need to redo sometimes), or I gather just what I need and either go back for more if needed or sit and work at the resource's location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cliché phrase is very true here: if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Do not be afraid to fail a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just this morning I tried several new (to me) resources for making baskets, and I insisted on limiting myself to the materials a family member had on their 1-acre property, even when they suggested some proper basket-weaving plants &quot;just over their, off the property&quot;. I tried several times, and I did not complete any of the baskets I started; one of the materials was sort of working and maybe I could have finished a basket with a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of very slow, careful, hard work, but I decided it was not worth it and moved on to some different materials. This morning's basket making attempts were very enlightening for me, but I would consider the basket making itself to have been a failure - even if I did finish the one that was sort-of working it would have been a weak and flimsy basket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Another fun extreme: More grass&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What inspired me to get back into this skill and develop it more was reading a website about making ropes from grass. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hollowtop.com/Articles/Rope_Making.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Human rope making machine&quot;&gt;You can find the site that re-inspired me here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On that web page, a technique is discussed which uses multiple people and large bundles of grass to make large, strong ropes. The technique is based on the typical &quot;take a bit of your material, make a V, keep twisting in material into each side&quot; cordage technique, except it is scaled way up to a point where each person is doing what one or two of your fingers are doing when making the cordage by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ropes that guy makes, with groups of people, are said to be thick but strong, generally taking loads of hundreds of pounds. He claims that one rope they made could not be broken in a game of tug-of-war between a large group of adults. And this is &lt;em&gt;grass&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am tempted now to include an entire section about some cultures which have (and still do in some cases) do neat things with grass ropes, such as the amazing bridges made out of grass ropes. But instead of delving into that, I will just mention it and suggest that Googling something like &quot;ancient grass bridges&quot; would provide interesting reading material. I would not want to trust a high bridge made of grass, but if done by skilled workers they do a fine job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to have a hard time with this and considered paracord an integral part of my outdoor activities. But after experimenting with all of the plants I can find and practicing with them, I have found that it is actually difficult for me to go somewhere now and &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; find something that can be used for tying/lashing. Wherever I go, there seems to be multiple plants that fulfill the need. Even in the city, as long as it is a city with lawns, even fresh-mowed lawns provide adequate cord if you are determined enough - and I have done it from a city lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in essence, my answer is: The materials that work for your needs depends on your experience with them. Instead of researching which sources make the best cords or ropes, it is probably a better use of your time to learn how to make them from a larger range of sources. If you have practiced this, gather from 5 different plants (including trees) from the location you are in, and I would be surprised if you cannot find a suitable material for what you describe among what you have gathered. I cannot identify most of the stuff I use; I just use it and it just works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I have not traveled extensively far away. Perhaps my thoughts about this would be dashed if I left the U.S. north-east and went camping in the mid-west or in a different country. But thinking back to videos I have seen of situations in other countries, I am fairly confident of my previous statements. Of course, an area that does not have multiple or abundant plants, like a desert, is another story entirely, but I think my answer should work for most of the world, and it is catered to New York state as you requested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note: some of the materials may degrade quickly. I have never tested any of mine after a long time, but I have seen others say that their crude ropes (untreated, hastily constructed with poor weave or twist technique) has only lasted for months, or even days for some poor quality materials. I feel it important to add this so that you do not get the idea that all plants that work initially can be trusted to hold your large potting plant of garlic through the winter while you are away; when you come back in the spring that pot might be dumped on the ground. When I originally wrote this answer, I was envisioning something like &quot;I'm roughing it for a week or two and I want my own crudely built stuff while I'm here so it can be 'luxurious roughing it'.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2017-09-26T19:52:59.620" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T19:52:59.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15367" CreationDate="2017-09-25T19:50:27.653" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's extremely important to create a sense of community on any excursion you take. I read &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; blog post and it had really good ideas for different team building activities to do. Its a good way for the people in the group to get to know one another in a relaxed atmosphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favorite one was- Shipwrecked: Your plane has just crashed on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. You have just a few minutes to salvage some items from the wreckage before the whole plane burns down. What items will your team choose?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A great activity inspired by classic shipwrecked stories. This one will inspire collaboration and creative problem-solving skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another great one: Guess the Object- A quick take on dumb charades. One person from the group has to demonstrate an object. The others have to guess what it is. Great for inspiring creativity and getting people to loosen up at the start of an event. Also works great as an interlude between longer activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are just some of great activities that can create a sense of community on a biking trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14090" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T19:50:27.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5345" CreationDate="2017-09-25T20:24:21.287" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great answers here.  This news piece seems to be relevant to your question, now probably 3 years old now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/09/23/student-survives-three-days-trapped-in-a-cave-after-college-spelunking-group-leaves-him-behind/?utm_term=.74e074af3c75&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grade Point&#xA;Student survives three days in a cave after college spelunking group leaves him behind&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And since no one mentioned it, I'll say it here: Always do a periodic headcount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do a head count before you enter the cave, and be sure of the names of each caver&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do a periodic head count while inside the cave - for example, every hour - and be sure you can touch the person whose name whom you call out.  It's not enough to ask them to say &quot;here!&quot; because they can be several yards away and be missed.  And it's not good enough for a proxy to say &quot;yeah, he was just here with me&quot;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do a head count by name when you exit the cave&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Each person - not just the group leader - should indicate to a friend or family of their plans: when they're heading out, where they're going, and when they plan to return.  That friend or family member should expect contact indicating that they've safely exited the cave.  This is no different than going hiking above ground: leave a hiking plan with a trusted person who can call for help if you do not respond when expected to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T20:24:21.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17233" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17234" CreationDate="2017-09-25T20:45:12.190" Score="2" ViewCount="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are hunting elk in a team of two people with one attempting to call it&#xA;in and the other to kill it, where should the caller be in relation to the hunter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:05:29.890" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:05:29.890" Title="When calling in elk during bow season, where should the caller be in relation to the hunter?" Tags="&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17233" CreationDate="2017-09-25T20:45:12.190" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The caller should be at least 50 yards downwind of of the hunter. The reason is that &#xA;elk have a good sense where a call is coming from and won't get very close &#xA;(usually around 50 yards) to that spot unless they see another elk. If the &#xA;caller is right next to the hunter, the elk will usually stay just out of range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if the caller is back more than 50 yards, then the elk will come much &#xA;closer to the hunter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-25T20:45:12.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12997" CreationDate="2017-09-26T11:43:01.677" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several things that I can think of just now!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First, look online for best &lt;strong&gt;windsurfing equipment for your personal case&lt;/strong&gt;: beginner, intermediate, advanced? That will determine the size of the sail, the mast, the size of the board etc... The more you know before going to buy anything, the least it is likely you will make a mistake buying something of poor quality&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second, make sure &lt;strong&gt;your equipment all connects together&lt;/strong&gt; and the &lt;strong&gt;mast can freely lean in any direction&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Third, &lt;strong&gt;check for the sail&lt;/strong&gt;. Has it been patched up? If so, how? Does it have bad scratches looking as though they could open up with high wind? (and back to &lt;em&gt;first&lt;/em&gt;, is it the right size for your size and level?)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fourth, &lt;strong&gt;the state of the board. Especially the fin&lt;/strong&gt;. The fin is supposed to be put straight down and hold, and you are supposed to take it off or to leave it flat with the board. Make sure this freedom of movement is good otherwise you'll have a bad time resisting water current at sea or carrying your board on the sand after a day out windsurfing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fifth, &lt;strong&gt;the uphaul&lt;/strong&gt; - that little rope - that will allow you to &lt;strong&gt;pull the sail out of the water&lt;/strong&gt;. If you don't have that you can probably change it yourself, but check for it anyway!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And finally, I would talk about &lt;strong&gt;the beam&lt;/strong&gt;. Is that not too damaged? Plenty of people tape them up which is perfectly acceptable so don't get too worried over that if it feels strong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, really it comes down to common sense and your instinct. I'd advise you take a look at second hand shops for a little while, that will allow you to realise what to look for. I would say I'm fairly new to windsurfing but most of the time you'll see what is good or bad, and if something is wrong you'll be able to change just that! (in case you make a mistake when buying)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14097" LastEditorUserId="14097" LastEditDate="2018-08-07T12:48:40.837" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T12:48:40.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17237" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17238" CreationDate="2017-09-26T12:37:22.463" Score="7" ViewCount="3800" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading some of the comments on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17185/2766&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....they're seen in the UK as winter birds. Not, I think, that they're&#xA;  not around in the summer; more that other birds aren't around in the&#xA;  winter but robins are. Robins are often found on Christmas cards in&#xA;  the UK. (Christmas being in the winter in the UK.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Robins are around all year in the summer, spring, etc. and have a red breast, etc (except juveniles) all year. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/r/robin/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSBP web site confirms this&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familiar&#xA;  throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females&#xA;  look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted&#xA;  with golden brown. Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their&#xA;  cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to&#xA;  drive away intruders. They will sing at night next to street lights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why are robins so associated with Christmas and winter? Where does this come from?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:44:05.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:44:05.337" Title="Why is the European robin associated with winter?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17237" CreationDate="2017-09-26T13:20:58.243" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Robins are an all year round bird in the UK:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/r/robin/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;with its bright red breast it is familar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this proves, for those of a keen eye, that there's inherently nothing special about the Robin Male vs Female, only the juveniles have a different colouring, no changes throughout the seasons like some mammals, nothing. They're pretty dapper in their red chests all year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.saywhydoi.com/christmas-robin-why-are-robins-on-christmas-cards/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SoWhyDoI&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although robin folklore existed for many years, the robin became far&#xA;  more widely associated with Christmas after it was depicted on&#xA;  Christmas cards in 19th century England; a tradition that has been&#xA;  retained to this day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why are robins on Christmas cards? It’s all inspired by the robins who&#xA;  used to deliver the Christmas cards in 19th century Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the 1800s, British postmen wore bright red uniforms. They wore red in honor of the crown since red is considered both a Royal color and an important color on the English flag. (Incidentally, this may also be one of the reasons why British post boxes were eventually standardized to be red). The postmen in their red-breasted coats resembled the much-loved British bird, the robin red-breast, earning Victorian postmen the nick-name: Robins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok so this is a nice piece of information I did not know - Posties have always had a nickname of sorts, and it could be a valid reason for why they are on Christmas cards etc around that time of year, however there are other speculations too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Christianity:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Legend has it that the robin's redbreast gives it a direct link to Christianity.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One fable suggests that when the baby Jesus was in his manger in the stable, the fire which had been lit to keep him warm started to blaze up very strongly. A brown robin, noticing that Mary had been distracted by the inn-keeper’s wife, placed himself between the fire and the face of baby Jesus. The robin fluffed out its feathers to protect the baby, but in so-doing its breast was scorched by the fire. This redness was then passed onto future generations of robins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/home-garden/gardening/wildlife/birds/christmas-robin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Saga website on Christianity and Robins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think as well one good idea about why they are on postcards is when we used to get a huge blanket of snow Mr Robin Redbreast would stand out against the bland colours of winter with his bright red feathers, the contrast looked good and someone painted it and... here we are!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T13:20:58.243" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17241" CreationDate="2017-09-26T16:44:49.150" Score="11" ViewCount="520" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought an old knife, the previous owner botched up the blade. The sharpening was done so bad there are sections that look like a one sided knife blade and some that are sharpened on both. I can usually get a good hone on a knife if its been factory sharpened and then I take good care of it. But I'm not sure how I would restore this blade to a factory condition. I'd normally contact the manufacturer but they are no longer in existence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I get my knife back to factory sharp condition? I'd like to get it ground down, how do I do this? What is the easiest way to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14099" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:21.763" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:23:21.763" Title="Restore knife to factory sharp condition" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17218" CreationDate="2017-09-26T17:48:44.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fire was used in traditional mining to ease breaking the rock into smaller pieces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-setting&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-setting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it is this once desirable effect what makes it now dangerous for you to go climbing there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14100" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T17:48:44.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17239" CreationDate="2017-09-26T18:35:16.463" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take it to a knife smith. They have specialized equipment, experience, and knowledge. They'll be able to put an appropriate grind back on it and address any other issues.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T18:35:16.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17237" CreationDate="2017-09-26T19:11:59.347" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One unusual thing about robins is that they're &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/r/robin/territory.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;territorial all year round&lt;/a&gt;. Combined with the way they sing from prominent spots to mark out their territory, this makes them really rather obvious in the winter, when other birds are quiet and inconspicuous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Robins, as well as being plentiful, are also quite confiding around humans, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_robin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mainly in the UK where we lack large wild herbivores to turn over soil and expose insects&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While mainly insectivorous they'll happily take seed and other food from human sources, meaning that when food supplies are low they come to gardens.  Once there, as they're so confiding, they often feed closer to people than other birds, coming for food almost immediately.  It's not unknown for people to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/07/robin-redbreast-my-friend&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hand-feed wild robins in the garden&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall if you hear a bird singing around Christmas it's probably a Robin, and the song will draw attention to a bird which is after all quite striking for something so common. Their habit of perching on artificial structures for some time (and returning to the same song posts) also makes them easy to observe, and paint/draw/photograph. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; Wikipedia cites RSPB &lt;em&gt;Birds of Britain and Europe&lt;/em&gt;, Rob Hume 2002 (ISBN 0751312347), which is where I'd read about this peculiarly localised aspect of behaviour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T08:09:24.600" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T08:09:24.600" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17243" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-26T20:29:32.343" Score="4" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tents and tarps have these long straps (sketch &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/images/zS3oB1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), which may be used to tie them to distant trees. When unused, they can look untidy and become tangled. This can happen both when the tent is in use and when it is folded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper way to deal with these straps when they are unused?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:00:32.887" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T09:17:52.300" Title="How to compactify the long straps on a tent or tarp when not in use?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17243" CreationDate="2017-09-26T20:47:58.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my tarp I just fold the tarp and then wrap the strings around it. For a tent you can wrap the cords as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1621/how-can-rope-cordage-be-packed-to-minimize-tangles?rq=1&quot;&gt;described in these answers&lt;/a&gt; so that it looks something like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IbnO2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;wrapped rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't worry too much about it, the more you camp and use it, the better you will get at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-09-26T20:47:58.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17245" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17246" CreationDate="2017-09-26T21:27:38.950" Score="2" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes due to a high ridge or other land feature, the time that the sun comes &#xA;over the horizon and gives direct sunlight is different from the time calculated by a sunrise table. From personal experience it can be up to several hours later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to at least estimate the  time of direct sunlight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-21T20:16:51.323" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T20:16:51.323" Title="How to estimate the time between direct sunlight and sunrise?" Tags="&lt;sun&gt;&lt;sunrise&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17245" CreationDate="2017-09-26T21:27:38.950" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution is the same as for estimating the time until sunset. What you do is &#xA;hold your arms straight out in front of you and then stack them up from &lt;strong&gt;level&lt;/strong&gt; until you reach the horizon. Each hand is equal to approximately one hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be useful in situations where you have the option of camping on either &#xA;the west or east sides of a high ridge. Camping on the east side will mean that &#xA;the sun's warmth will reach you much earlier in the day, while the west side makes it easier to sleep in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One place where this is very handy is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uinta_Highline_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Uinta Highline Trail&lt;/a&gt; as you are repeatedly crossing high ridges that run north to south like this one and there is a large difference between sunrise and when the sun comes over the horizon,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qJnif.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qJnif.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Porcupine Pass Uintas&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, while it is light out, its going to be a while before the sun comes over the ridge and really starts warming things up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T23:13:02.500" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T23:13:02.500" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17218" CreationDate="2017-09-27T00:20:36.830" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there were a &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; amount of heat, you might actually have to consider the hydrological issues.  All mountains, hills, etc., have a water table.  Steam can exert extreme pressures, enough to fracture many types of rock.  Additionally, as the water warms, some minerals are going to become more soluble in it, which could cause internal erosion.  If the resulting solution is acidic, and it might very well be, then you're potentially going to see further degradation of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah, I think you'd want to have a very good sense of how much heat there was, and where the water table was.  Though I have to think it would take a truly hellacious amount of heat to cause what would basically be a temporary hot spring or geyser.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You know what, though?  I'll bet a coal seam fire could do the trick, eventually.  You could look at the studies that have been done on those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13268" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T00:20:36.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17248" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17249" CreationDate="2017-09-27T01:17:39.267" Score="5" ViewCount="1075" Body="&lt;p&gt;House cats will play with their food i.e. catch a mouse then let it go and then &#xA;recatch it over and over again before finally eating it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do mountain lions exhibit similar behavior?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T04:03:08.150" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T04:03:08.150" Title="Do mountain lions play with their food?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17248" CreationDate="2017-09-27T02:57:10.747" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, I cannot give you an answer based on first-hand experience or, unfortunately, even close personal observation.  The two sources, (1) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.balancedecology.org/MountainLionWebSite/Mountain_Lion_Behavior.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Balanced Ecology, Inc&lt;/a&gt; and (2) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.defenders.org/mountain-lion/basic-facts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Defenders of Wildlife&lt;/a&gt; suggest that cougars do not play with their prey, at least not the larger of their prey.  Cougars eat a variety of animals from rabbits to deer.  &lt;em&gt;Defenders of Wildlife&lt;/em&gt; says they also eat mice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source 1: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Mountain Lion remains alert to any movement, odor or sound and,&#xA;  when at approximately 50 feet, runs or bounds forward attacking the&#xA;  prey from the back or side.  The most common form of attack is to&#xA;  grasp the neck and shoulders with its front paws and claws followed by&#xA;  a deadly bite to the neck.  Large prey such as deer will often fall to&#xA;  the ground during such a forceful attack.......&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After making a kill, the Mountain Lion will usually drag the kill to a&#xA;  protected area and feed on the shoulder and upper abdomen areas first.&#xA;  If cubs are present, they will feed on soft tissues before continuing&#xA;  to consume other body parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source 2:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mountain lions are active hunters and may travel long distances in&#xA;  search of food. They hunt alone and attack from behind, breaking the&#xA;  neck of their prey by biting it at the base of the skull. After&#xA;  killing their prey, they will bury it and leave it, coming back to&#xA;  feed on it when hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to why the domestic cat (which includes feral cats) &quot;play&quot; with their prey, &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.metaphoricalplatypus.com/articles/animals/cats/cat-psychology-behaviour-and-communication/why-do-cats-play-with-their-prey/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metaphorical Platypus&lt;/a&gt; says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cats kill their prey by delivering a neck bite that severs the spinal&#xA;  cord. To do this, they must temporarily release the prey to get at the&#xA;  nape of the neck, but when they do so, they risk the prey escaping or&#xA;  counterattacking. Small animals will defend themselves if they get the&#xA;  chance. Mice, rats, and other rodents can deliver a vicious bite, and&#xA;  birds can peck. A cat has a very short muzzle, and to get close enough&#xA;  to apply the neck bite, she risks injury to her eyes and face from the&#xA;  prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A cat will “play” with her prey to tire it out in order to reduce the&#xA;  risk of injury to herself, but she’s not actually playing in the human&#xA;  sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.perfectpaws.com/help3.html#.WcsQBzhe7Z4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Perfect Paws&lt;/a&gt; says that part of the training of a kitten is for the mother to bring home injured prey and let the kittens learn how to kill by practicing on the injured prey.  Perfect Paws also says that the domestic cat's prey can inflict injuries on the cat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Catwatching,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; by Desmond Morris (Crown Publishers, 1987), gives more credence to actual playing.  Morris says that the hunting drive is independent of the hunger drive, and that for pampered domestic cats &lt;em&gt;catching a little field mouse or a small bird is a great event&lt;/em&gt; and the cat &lt;em&gt;cannot bear to end the chase.&lt;/em&gt;  Morris says that barn cats only occasionally play with their prey, and gives the teaching reason quoted above from Perfect Paws.  Morris also mentions the danger of a rodent bite to the cat, and distinguishes the hit-and- chase &quot;play&quot; prompted by this danger from trap-and-release true play. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the two sources about the cougar, a need to tire out prey does not seem to apply.  The cougar attacks with great momentum and makes a quick kill.  Moreover, a deer relative to a cougar is larger than a mouse relative to a cat (and can inflict great damage with its sharp hooves); thus the relative danger to the cougar of playing with a deer is greater than the danger of a cat playing with a mouse.  As for the additional explanation of Morris, that a domestic cat wants to prolong a rare and exciting hunting experience, this would not apply to a cougar, for whom hunting is a deadly serious business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be interesting is to look at other species of felis and see if the domestic cat and its closest wild relative (felis sylvestris) are the only ones that play with their prey or whether this behavior extends to other species too, and if so where the dividing line is in terms of size and hunting habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T03:18:29.457" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T03:18:29.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17215" CreationDate="2017-09-27T06:26:00.453" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;strong&gt;It is a McKinley.&lt;/strong&gt; The difference is the padded hip belt vs the frame extending to the side of the hips. The backpack in OPs picture features the padded hip belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorinov8.com/pictures/image2626.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorinov8.com/pictures/image2626.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previous post:&#xA;It is the D2 or McKinley. I can not spot a difference in the picture and description below. I think they revamped the pack at some point, newer images of the D2 show a slightly different version of the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2017-09-27T13:03:02.587" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T13:03:02.587" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15766" CreationDate="2017-09-27T19:59:35.033" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could only travel short distance at night. You would need a snake stick. The death toll is high for night walkers.  Most from snake bite. But even the beach has scorpions at night on it. This is not a advisable thing to do unless above 6,000 feet. Or the snake zone. But then you might take a fall of a cliff. I would avoid such. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T19:59:35.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17239" CreationDate="2017-09-27T21:53:37.900" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The next time a Gun &amp;amp; Knife show or an Outdoor Gear show comes to your area, take the knife.  Visit a vendor who is selling knife sharpeners and giving demonstrations.  Use the line, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your sharpener won't be able to get THIS knife sharp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the knife comes out sharp, then buy the product.  You will then have a sharp knife and a method to keep it that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-09-27T21:53:37.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17255" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-28T00:17:25.217" Score="5" ViewCount="818" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the things you can do with a retired climbing rope is to decore it &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yourdictionary.com/decore&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(remove the main center section)&lt;/a&gt;, and &#xA;turn the sheath into rope bracelets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last time I decored a rope I cut it into approximately 4 ft sections and then pulled the center strands out before cutting it into smaller pieces. Is there a better way of doing it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T02:04:07.270" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T15:18:50.130" Title="How to decore a retired climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17255" CreationDate="2017-09-28T03:02:54.830" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kernmantle ropes are constructed by braiding a mantle (sheath) around a dynamic kern (core). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8YG6b.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8YG6b.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the rope is constructed, the only way to get the core out without damaging the sheath is to pull it out as you've been doing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had some success pulling the kern out of longer lengths of rope by pulling out one strand of the kern at a time until there is sufficient room to pull all the remaining strands at once. The core can't easily be pulled when the rope is stretched; as the weave will tighten around the core. The most effective way to pull the core is to push the weave back, exposing the core, then pulling on one or two of the strands. It's important to do this with the rope straight and without any twists in it, or else the strands of the core will get bunched up on each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T15:18:50.130" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T15:18:50.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17239" CreationDate="2017-09-28T13:25:02.400" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to go the DIY route, use a stationary/bench grinder.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;These often have adjustable guides to help you set an angle equal to the original.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;After getting the angle back on both sides of the knife and getting rid of all the dents in the blade you can use a whetstone to sharpen the rest of the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/70JYy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/70JYy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example of a stationary grinder&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T13:25:02.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16367" CreationDate="2017-09-28T14:52:32.263" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite the many answers here, I do not see one that I personally experienced; and, in fact, I see the mistaken idea that &quot;Once it's deep enough there's no difference; 2.5m and 25m are equivalent.&quot; I disagree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was younger and was still learning to swim, I decided to go &quot;swimming,&quot; thinking that I could do so. That was my intention, at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I decided to leave the area where I was supposed to be &lt;em&gt;wading&lt;/em&gt;, and I walked over to an area where the water was much deeper. How deep, I'm not sure, but it was much higher than I was tall. I quickly found out that I could not really swim like I thought I could.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately for me, I have never been able to float well; I seem to be one of those &quot;negative buoyancy&quot; people, even more-so when I was younger. So I sank &lt;em&gt;to the bottom&lt;/em&gt;, and I was not able to get back to the surface since I could not swim. I was terrified at first, but then I realized that if I kicked off of the bottom hard I could get a reasonable distance up, and if combined with my previously futile flailing I could actually break surface for a moment, just long enough to breathe, before sinking back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did this up and down almost-swimming a few times and realized that I could keep it going enough to stay alive, so I started trying to slowly work my way back while doing this. It was very slow going and I went top to bottom back to top, gasping what air I could each time I inched my way, many times before I got to safety. I was probably running on adrenaline for part of that, and I recall being exhausted and barely being able to pull myself out of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not sure how deep the water was, but I would guess maybe 3 to 5 meters. If it had been 1 to 3 meters deeper, maybe I could still have just barely reached the surface, maybe not; I don't know. So something in the 4 to 7 meter range I'll guess was survivable for me. If it had been 30 meters, I might not be alive now to provide this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, there can be a difference between &quot;way over your head but only somewhat deep&quot; and &quot;wow that is way freaking deep.&quot; That is, assuming you cannot swim. If you can swim, then the difference just became much smaller, but still present according to some other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that I am much older and can swim fine, I have swam in water deep enough that I don't know where the bottom is. As such, my first instinctive reaction to OP's question was &quot;There is not really a difference,&quot; but then I quickly remembered my incident back when I could not yet swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if there had been a sign saying &quot;Danger: This water is way freaking deep&quot; I might have still &quot;swam&quot; there anyway, since I was under the false notion that I could swim. But that is a separate matter and is only one aspect of the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T14:52:32.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17260" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-28T14:54:22.443" Score="1" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/feu-fire-kenow/feu-fire-images-04&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kenow fire&lt;/a&gt; burned ~38,100 hectares of forest in BC and in Waterton Lakes National Park. There are rumours surfacing about the number of animals found dead in the park thus far. Ground crews have apparently found at least nine burnt grizzly bears, and they're finding cougars dead up in trees. Cougars tree in the face of danger, so it's possible that every cougar in the park could have died in the flames. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any official stats as to how many animals have been identified thus far?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tJCfd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tJCfd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/srs/images/WebMap_11x17_Sept23_BiL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/srs/images/WebMap_11x17_Sept23_BiL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T03:55:27.810" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T03:55:27.810" Title="How many animals have been found burned to death in the Kenow fire area?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8261" CreationDate="2017-09-28T16:35:36.533" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bear bangers seem like a great option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;bang&quot; should cause a would-be attacker to flee the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk of fire is exceedingly low. Explosives are commonly used in firefighting because they suck the oxygen out of the area around them. That removes a piece of the fire triangle... removing the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14109" LastActivityDate="2017-09-28T16:35:36.533" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14622" CreationDate="2017-09-29T00:38:07.053" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If they are above water. Instruct them to turn around. Back to ice. Put there hands on the ice &amp;amp; lever up. This throws the body backwards onto the top of the ice. Next remove your coat shirt belly down on the ice flip it toward them and drag them a foot at a time towards you. as you back off. Take my word for this. I ran a trap line going to school in America as a teen. Been threw the ice a few times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T00:38:07.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15286" CreationDate="2017-09-29T00:54:23.943" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Big cats as a general rule. Like to attack from above. So do not sleep close to steep facings. Sleep Away from cover. Wild cats do not like the smell of humans. They are probably approaching camp for other food than you. Unless very hungry. Do not get up with out shining a light around area first. Most tiger attacks happen to women. Going for water after dark.  Walking trails to springs.  But snake bites are far more common. So they like to ambush over stalk. This is big cats in general. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T00:54:23.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17270" CreationDate="2017-09-29T12:56:55.133" Score="6" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a definite way of approximating the time remaining before sun is set and it starts getting dark?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do understand that there is a time difference between 'Sunset' and the 'moment when it gets dark'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd prefer answers that do not involve using a Sunrise/Sunset table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: India.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2017-11-15T04:18:08.493" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T04:18:08.493" Title="Approximating the time remaining before sun is set and it starts getting dark" Tags="&lt;sun&gt;&lt;time&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17268" CreationDate="2017-09-29T13:45:02.940" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a function of latitude and season.  Apart from that, it depends on local landscape, weather, and your own eyes.  On a rainy day in a dense forest, it may already be quite dark at sunset.  On a clear day on a treeless plain, there's still plenty of daylight at sunset for most people, even though it's a lot darker than at midday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Civil twilight is defined as the period between sunrise and when it gets too dark to do everyday outside activities.  That typically corresponds to the Sun being around 6° below the horizon.  Depending on latitude, that may be as short as 20 minutes (equator) or as long as several weeks (poles).  Near the Arctic Circle around the equinoxes, it tends to be around an hour.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You said you preferred not to use sunset tables, but it really is the best way to go.  I tend to use the &lt;a href=&quot;http://aa.usno.navy.mil/rstt/onedaytable?ID=AA&amp;amp;year=2017&amp;amp;month=9&amp;amp;day=21&amp;amp;place=Svartisen&amp;amp;lon_sign=1&amp;amp;lon_deg=13&amp;amp;lon_min=43&amp;amp;lat_sign=1&amp;amp;lat_deg=66&amp;amp;lat_min=42&amp;amp;tz=2&amp;amp;tz_sign=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Navy calculator&lt;/a&gt;.  For your question, you only need to pay attention to the difference between sunset and &quot;end of civil twilight&quot;.  In an open area, that is a good proxy for the period during which you won't need artificial light for outdoor activities.  When the weather is very poor and you're in a forest or deep valley, you'll need to reduce this period a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T13:56:43.493" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T13:56:43.493" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17268" CreationDate="2017-09-29T20:33:31.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can quickly determine how much time you have until the sun goes over the horizon using your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hold your hand out in front of you at arms length, parallel to the ground, palm towards you. Each hand span between the sun and where the sun sets on the horizon is approximately 1 hour. A finger span is about 15 minutes. One thing to keep in mind is that the sun follows a different path through the sky depending on where you are in the world and the season, so follow the path of the sun throughout the day if you don't already know where it's going to go over the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a trick I've used my entire life, and it's pretty accurate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;~2 hours until sunset:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QbjG7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QbjG7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-09-29T20:40:35.840" LastActivityDate="2017-09-29T20:40:35.840" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17271" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-30T01:03:54.163" Score="6" ViewCount="2571" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a new puppy and can't wait to take him to TGO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since he's still growing he'll grow out of any harness that fits at the moment. I'm considering tying a harness out of webbing, but all instructions I've found so far require D rings, stitching and cutting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But aside from my current needs I'd really like to know how to tie a makeshift hoist harness for my dog in case I ever need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;How can I tie a one-piece harness out of webbing?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some tidbits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't really need/want a harness for everyday use or even a walking harness.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I want to be prepared for unforeseen situations (lowering him off a cliff comes to mind), so a rappelling/hoist harness is more like it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I want to know how to tie one &lt;em&gt;in case I need it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For walking I prefer a simple collar over a chest harness (plus good education/training so he understands my commands) but a collar won't do if I ever need to lower him from a cliff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hopefully this will be a non-issue as soon as he stops growing and I can buy something that's safe and comfortable for him. However, further down the road I'd &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; like to know how to tie one in case we forget it, it breaks, or something similar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T04:02:20.007" Title="How to tie a one-piece webbing harness for dogs?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17273" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17326" CreationDate="2017-09-30T13:58:58.610" Score="6" ViewCount="628" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to grade a route when cumulating grades for multiple sections? Is it based on the overall feeling of difficulty or is there some cumulative formula to apply which yields a more or less accurate grade?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the following explanation, I'll use the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)#French_numerical_grades&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;french sport climbing grading system&lt;/a&gt; (see link for details).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is better explained by using an example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route &quot;Chilam Balam&quot; is a long route (80m) which is made of 3 sections. In &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0uyFWeOoE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0uyFWeOoE&lt;/a&gt; (french), the climber says the first section is 8c+, then 8c, then it's not clear but let's say 8b.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This route was rated 9b+ during the original ascent, but then 9b by Adam Ondra and even 9a+ by other repeaters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a formula where &lt;code&gt;8c+ + 8c + 8b = 9b&lt;/code&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In bouldering too, I heard things like &quot;it's an 8B that goes into an 8A+, so the overall grade is 8B+&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no formula, what is the difference between a short 9a route and a long one? Like a long 9a is just an 8c that is really long? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also heard that you could explain sport climbing routes using bouldering grades, for example a route that contains a 7A boulder problem is ~8a (that is, you add +1 to the boulder grade to get the sport climbing grade).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11740" LastEditorUserId="11740" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T14:14:17.547" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:33:43.910" Title="Rock climbing grading theory" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17275" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T19:35:53.957" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying bugs or insects. Please describe it in the title. Post at least one picture and add detailed physical characteristics in the question. Geographic location is important, as is the environment, such as on a tree or plant, the ground, the yard, on an object, near other animals. Please be prepared to provide further details if requested.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T03:17:50.717" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T03:17:50.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17276" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T19:35:53.957" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying bugs or insects. Please describe it in the title. Post at least one picture and add detailed physical characteristics in the question. Geographic location is important, as is the environment, such as on a tree or plant, the ground, the yard, on an object, near other animals. Please be prepared to provide further details if requested.  " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T03:17:50.717" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T03:17:50.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17277" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T19:44:03.420" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying plants. Please write a descriptive title. Include at least one picture, more if possible. Include identifying features of the plant in the text. Please also add details such as location or weather conditions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T05:14:45.250" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T05:14:45.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17278" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T19:44:03.420" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying plants. Please write a descriptive title. Include at least one picture, more if possible. Include identifying features of the plant in the text. Please also add details such as location or weather conditions.  " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T05:14:45.250" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T05:14:45.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17279" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-09-30T20:05:44.720" Score="-2" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whats are some simple knots to attach a rope to a pole?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It involves simply looping around the pole, and then running through one of the ends through the loop and tightening&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14121" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T13:28:49.047" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T18:54:59.700" Title="What the name of the knot that is used for tying something to a pole?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ClosedDate="2017-10-01T19:56:20.340" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17280" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying knots, please include a picture of the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17281" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying knots, please include a picture of the knot." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:11:53.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17282" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Page&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17283" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" Score="0" Body="Questions about dyneema slings or ropes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T20:58:17.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17284" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17285" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" Score="0" Body="Questions about viewing eclipses in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:01:03.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17286" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadkill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17287" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" Score="0" Body="Questions about road kill (animals killed by cars on roads)" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:05:03.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17288" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17289" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" Score="0" Body="Questions about zebras" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:05:42.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17290" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17291" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" Score="0" Body="Questions about rattlesnakes or their bites." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:07:52.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17292" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17293" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of iran" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:08:30.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17294" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17295" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" Score="0" Body="Questions about mushrooms" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:10:36.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17296" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17297" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" Score="0" Body="Questions about permits like for back country camping" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:16:04.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17298" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid_climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17299" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" Score="0" Body="Questions about aid climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:17:00.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17300" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-country_skiing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-country_skiing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17301" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" Score="0" Body="Questions about cross-country-skiing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:26:23.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17302" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17303" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Scotland" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T21:34:20.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17279" CreationDate="2017-09-30T22:31:46.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hitch_knots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hitch knot&lt;/a&gt;.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A hitch is a type of knot used for binding rope to an object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be thinking of a clove hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-09-30T22:31:46.670" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-01T04:47:02.283" Score="4" ViewCount="400" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these pair of binoculars that were bought at least 15 years ago. Please see the 3 questions in the picture below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVHlc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xVHlc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T00:35:03.057" Title="What exactly do the 2 knobs on my Zeiss 10 × 25B binoculars do?" Tags="&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17305" CreationDate="2017-10-01T05:05:03.577" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knob on the left is for &lt;strong&gt;adjusting the focus to the distance&lt;/strong&gt;, the knob on the right is for &lt;strong&gt;diopter adjustment&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beside the center focusing wheel, there usually is a &lt;strong&gt;separate diopter adjustment that serves to compensate for unequal vision that might exist between the viewer's two eyes. The diopter adjustment, which often has a scale showing plus (+) and minus (-)&lt;/strong&gt; diopter settings on opposite sides of a zero (0) marker, might consist of a focusing ring located on the right eyepiece or it might exist as a cleverly disguised but separate function of the central-focusing system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/gear/2007/09/adjusting-binoculars&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The diopter adjustment is a control knob on your binocular. It is designed to let you compensate for differences between your own two eyes. Once you set the diopter, then the two barrels should stay in proper relation. From then on you can focus just by turning the central focusing knob.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people don't realize that their binocular has a diopter adjustment. &lt;strong&gt;If it gets turned, it can make the binocular unusable, as the two eyes can never focus at the same distance at the same time.&lt;/strong&gt; (Sometimes a person thinks there's something wrong with the binocular, when all it needs it to have the diopter adjustment set properly.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/diopter_set.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found nothing that says why + and - but would guess that it is simply to be able to tell them apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T05:13:23.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17309" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17334" CreationDate="2017-10-01T11:02:49.520" Score="5" ViewCount="335" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to rent a campervan during a 1-month trip to New Zealand (South Island) which is self-contained, however, does not come with a shower. I wonder whether it is ok to use a solar shower while camping at Department of Conservation or other camp grounds? I strictly do not intend to use any shampoo or other chemicals while showering (I plan on taking proper showers every few days when staying at private camp sites with proper shower facilities).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking because I intend to get deep into the back country for fly fishing where there are not always camp facilities with showers available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9554" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T05:41:35.123" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T05:41:35.123" Title="Can I use solar showers when camping at Department of Conservation or other campsites in New Zealand?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;new-zealand&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17279" CreationDate="2017-10-01T18:54:59.700" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds like it might be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gvhBs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gvhBs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14034" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T18:54:59.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17309" CreationDate="2017-10-01T18:56:46.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the answer is yes as they are one of the recommended items to bring as a camp host.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Solar shower – there are cold water showers available&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/volunteer/in-your-region/marlborough/marlborough-sounds-campsite-hosts/camp-host-information-for-kenepuru-head/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camp host information for Kenepuru Head&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, solar showers are mentioned by several reviews of the campgrounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The showers are set up to hang your &lt;strong&gt;solar shower&lt;/strong&gt; and conveniently located in every bay. Because this is part of the Great Walk as well, trampers have their own handy sites available almost right on the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g776842-d777749-r192499822-Totaranui_Campground-Abel_Tasman_National_Park_Nelson_Tasman_Region_South_Island.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Excellent DOC Campground&#xA;  We stayed there for a week with two small kids - really enjoyed the place and the surrounding Abel Tasman National park. Plenty of things to do also with kids :-). &lt;strong&gt;If you prefer warm showers bring your solar shower&lt;/strong&gt; - and plenty of sunscreen and anti sandfly magic!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g776842-d777749-r251725590-Totaranui_Campground-Abel_Tasman_National_Park_Nelson_Tasman_Region_South_Island.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T00:52:21.133" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T00:52:21.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17328" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:07:29.603" Score="2" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that in the mountains around Grenoble there are some huts. I would like to go on a two-day hike and spend a night in such hut. I mean how much snow there is? How low can a temperature drop during the day and at night? Are there avalanches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4188" LastActivityDate="2017-10-04T10:48:52.070" Title="Hiking in France in August - Grenoble" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17313" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying man-made objects in the outdoors, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17314" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying man-made objects in the outdoors, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:19:38.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17315" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying trees in the outdoors, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17316" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying trees in the outdoors, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:19:49.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17317" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying gear, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17318" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying gear, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:01.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17319" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying scat, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17320" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying scat, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:11.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17321" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying fungi, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17322" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying fungi, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:22.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17323" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions about identifying fossils, please use a descriptive title and include a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17324" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying fossils, please use a descriptive title and include a picture." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T19:20:34.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17312" CreationDate="2017-10-01T20:06:25.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is all information you can get from a plethora of online sources, but from a quick 2 minutes I found this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for Grenoble, a 20cm snowfall is a high average.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature change between day and night can be around 9C (+2 to -7) in winter but more like 12C in August, and the higher up you are, the colder this will get.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.worldweatheronline.com/grenoble-weather-averages/rhone-alpes/fr.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.worldweatheronline.com/grenoble-weather-averages/rhone-alpes/fr.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, avalanches do happen at Les Deux Alpes...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2017-10-01T20:06:25.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17273" CreationDate="2017-10-02T06:53:22.087" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The theory is that (sport) grades should reflect the technical skill, strength and stamina required to redpoint the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore the definition of, say a 8a route is that &quot;a climber that consistently climbs 8a routes will succeed while a 7a+ climber will struggle&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When climbers talk about grades on sections of routes, they actually mean &quot;if this section was an isolated route, it would be graded 8c&quot;. Naturally, climbing a hard crux after a sustained section of hard moves is not the same as if the same crux comes after a good rest position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One must remember that grading is complex and subjective, and that an individual climbers will &quot;achieve&quot; higher grades on routes that suits their style and strenghts and &quot;underperform&quot; on routes that targets their weaknesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2017-10-02T06:53:22.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17312" CreationDate="2017-10-02T09:34:11.203" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;August is high season so the huts will be very full, particularly at weekends. It's best to book well in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stick to the more popular marked hiking trails you are unlikely to experience much snow at that time of year. Just read the guidebook - if there are any technical passages that require equipment it will be highlighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course these are high mountains so there is always the possibility of an unseasonal blizzard. Serious storms will normally be forecast, so it's unlikely you'll be caught out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that time of year avalanche is not a risk on marked trails, though falling ice can be an issue on more technical routes if you decide to do some peak-bagging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In August the temperatures can feel pretty hot, especially when ascending. A good sun hat is essential! At night at a high hut the outside temperature might drop as low as -5c. If you are crossing high passes bear this in mind when choosing your safety equipment in case you have to overnight on the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're used to the US West Coast, just be aware that weather in Europe is much more changeable. You can experience all kinds of conditions in a single day. So be prepared for heat, cold and rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're new to the high alps you're in for a treat. But be realistic about the limits of your experience and choose suitable trails - they are graded for difficulty and seriousness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-10-04T10:48:52.070" LastActivityDate="2017-10-04T10:48:52.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17273" CreationDate="2017-10-02T10:23:57.393" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many aspects to a climbing route's difficulty, so it is fundamentally questionable to lump it all into one number, and is really only accepted because &lt;em&gt;most&lt;/em&gt; climbers don't have a huge imbalance in the different aspects of climbing proficiency, i.e. a climber who has very good technique probably climbs often enough that their power and endurance are also good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, the lenght of a route influences its grade and you could definitely have cases where &quot;9a is just an 8c that is really long&quot;, i.e. it has no single move that is harder what you'd typically find on an 8c, but the length makes it hard because you have to do 8c moves while already pumped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is no formula, becuase there are still many aspects. &lt;em&gt;Where&lt;/em&gt; in the route are the hard moves? One hard move after many easy ones is harder than when it comes right at the start. And, very important for endurance considerations: are there rest positions? A good rest position removes much of the endurance-related difficulty at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T21:33:43.910" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T21:33:43.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17305" CreationDate="2017-10-02T21:32:42.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic problem being dealt with here is that your eyes don't necessarily focus identically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what these do is let you compensate for that difference. The main focus knob changes the focus for both eyes together. You use this to deal with the distance to the subject. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second knob with the &quot;+&quot; and&quot;-&quot; adjusts the focus for only one eye relative to the other. It uses the name &quot;diopter&quot; because diopters are the unit normally used to measure corrective lenses (e.g. eyeglasses).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Positive numbers are magnifying and negative numbers are reducing lenses. In this context what matters is that positive corrects farsightedness and negative corrects nearsightedness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To adjust it, you normally want to cover the lens with the diopter adjustment&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, so you can't see through that side. Then focus on something with the normal focus knob. When it's sharp, switch the cover to the other lens. Then adjust the diopter knob to get that eye's image in focus (without changing the main focus knob).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that when you set the diopter knob, you're only correcting for the focus of one eye relative to the other. For example, if you're nearsighted in general, but the eye affected by the diopter knob is somewhat &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; nearsighted than the other eye, you'll use the &lt;code&gt;+&lt;/code&gt; side of the adjustment range to compensate, even though that eye is near-sighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From then on (unless somebody messes with it) you just focus with the main knob and leave the diopter knob alone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes people try to do this by closing one eye at a time. This does work to at least some degree, but using the lens cap is generally better. The problem is that when you close one eye, you're generally squinting somewhat with the other eye. You want to adjust the focus for when your eyes are relaxed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14128" LastEditorUserId="14128" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T00:35:03.057" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T00:35:03.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8749" CreationDate="2017-10-02T23:50:21.720" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I propose an onion bag or any other sack with a loose mesh fabric.  Along with allowing air to circulate around the mushroom, it allows any spores the mushroom may release to return to the wild.  By allowing the spores to escape, you're allowing the mushroom to reproduce and be there for the next harvest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-10-02T23:50:21.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17309" CreationDate="2017-10-02T23:57:40.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;DOC has different levels of camp sites from fully serviced though to the most basic. A few (eg Totaranui and Whites bay) have cold showers, and many of these have a rope and hooks for hanging a solar showers for those who prefer warm water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the basic sites you will most likely be visiting, especially the less busy and more remote ones, it is common to use a solar shower hung in a tree.  Provided you do so well away from water courses. Its also common to use biodegradable soap, although its debatable if it is acceptable. Even at busy DOC camps, family groups often setup shower tents at the edge of their campsite that just drain onto the ground - although the acceptability of this varies between camp sites.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you work within the principles of LNT you certainly won't run foul of regulations or what is considered acceptable. Do expect to see behavior you find less than desirable e.g. washing with soap in rivers, cleaning teeth at water supply taps. Although New Zealand is relativity 'clean and green', many of the tourists (local and international) are, putting it bluntly, ignorant pigs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-10-02T23:57:40.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19175" CreationDate="2017-10-03T01:13:40.047" Score="10" ViewCount="3779" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been a Boy Scout for seven years now, and as I'm moving from high school to college I'd like to get into solo backpacking. I live in the lower peninsula of the state of Michigan. I don't foresee camping in anything under 10°F (-12°C). To camp four seasons, what would be a good R value for my sleeping pad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14129" LastEditorUserId="14129" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T04:17:43.453" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T20:13:08.767" Title="What is a good R value for a four-season sleeping pad?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17335" CreationDate="2017-10-03T01:54:13.270" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like there is &lt;strong&gt;not a consensus on what the minimum R value should be, but that the higher the R value the better.&lt;/strong&gt; It will also depend on how you sleep and what your comfort level is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it would be possible to borrow one to try it out before going I would suggest doing that. Its worth trying the pads out in advance where  you won't freeze to death if the pad turns out to not be warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Another useful bit of knowledge is that you can &lt;strong&gt;generally draw the line between three-season and winter mattresses at an approximate R-value of 3.0.&lt;/strong&gt; We also think that if a mattress is to supply any reliable amount of warmth, it should have an R-value of at least 1.5. Any less and you could basically be sleeping on a heat sink, which can continually drain warmth from your body, making for a pretty grim night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thermarestblog.com/r-value-meaning/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://thermarestblog.com/r-value-meaning/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pros: Air pads are incredibly comfortable and lightweight and the most compact type of pad when packed. &lt;strong&gt;Most are designed for backpacking or camping in warm conditions (about 3 R-value)&lt;/strong&gt; while others are designed with &lt;strong&gt;additional insulation for four-season use&lt;/strong&gt;. You can customize the firmness of the mattress by releasing some air from the valve while you’re lying on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/sleeping-pads.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/sleeping-pads.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In sub-zero temperatures &lt;strong&gt;most people (varies according to the individual) require an R-Value of 4 or more in order to feel comfortable.&lt;/strong&gt; In milder conditions, sleeping mats with R-Values of 2 to 3 generally suffice for most hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehikinglife.com/gear/sleeping-mat/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.thehikinglife.com/gear/sleeping-mat/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In general, sleeping pads with R-values of 0-2 will only be good for warm weather trips. R-values of 2-4 are good for most 3-season backpacking conditions. &lt;strong&gt;R-values of 4-6 are good when the temperature drops around or below freezing.&lt;/strong&gt; You’ll likely want a pad (or combine a foam and air pad) with 5+ R-value if you’re winter backpacking and you’ll be sleeping on snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cleverhiker.com/best-sleeping-pads/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cleverhiker.com/best-sleeping-pads/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T02:01:33.373" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T02:01:33.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17337" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17340" CreationDate="2017-10-03T02:36:23.230" Score="3" ViewCount="3044" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adventure-kings-double-swag-big-daddy-deluxe.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double canvas swag&lt;/a&gt; that tends to sag in the middle. What options do I have to fix this problem and keep the canvas from sagging too much?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wumwo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wumwo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo of the double canvas swag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14130" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:02:35.343" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T10:53:02.710" Title="How can I prevent this canvas swag from sagging in the middle?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17338" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17345" CreationDate="2017-10-03T05:01:04.573" Score="7" ViewCount="2794" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pictured below is my knife sharpener. I’d like to sharpen my knives, but there’s so much metal built up on the stones that it won’t sharpen. How can I clean these off? Attempts with cloths and Q-tips have been unsuccessful. Here’s a &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.to/2ym38zK&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to the sharpener.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Ox3k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Ox3k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Knife Sharpener&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14129" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:17.387" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T22:49:04.463" Title="How do I clean my knife sharpener?" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17339" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-03T06:48:58.433" Score="3" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to Wikipedia (&lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthuhn#Ansiedelungen_in_Europa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;German Wikipedia - Truthuhn&lt;/a&gt;), there were several attempts to domicile turkeys in Europe since 1732. All of them were not successful at all. Still they kept on trying until 1993! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In Mitteleuropa gelangen über mehrere Jahrzehnte Ansiedlungen,&#xA;  allerdings mussten die Populationen immer durch Hilfsmaßnahmen&#xA;  unterstützt werden. In Niederösterreich gab es zwischen 1880 und 1940&#xA;  größere Brutpopulationen, die mehrere hundert Individuen umfassten,&#xA;  die jedoch nach der Einstellung der Hege im Zweiten Weltkrieg rasch&#xA;  zusammenbrachen. Eine Neuansiedlung scheiterte sowie auch die elf&#xA;  Versuche, mit denen zwischen 1953 und 1993 in Deutschland Truthühner&#xA;  angesiedelt werden sollten. Eine Ansiedelung im Oberrheingebiet&#xA;  erreichte einen Höchstbestand von 300 Individuen, 1997 gab es jedoch&#xA;  nur 12 Individuen. Im Kreis Wesel gab es in den 1960er Jahren 200 bis&#xA;  250 Individuen, 1977 lebten jedoch nur noch ein Männchen und vier oder&#xA;  fünf Weibchen. Den größten freilebenden mitteleuropäischen Bestand&#xA;  gibt es in Tschechien, wo es 1988 noch 530 Individuen gab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Die früheste Erwähnung von ausgesiedelten Truthuhn-Beständen in&#xA;  Deutschland beschreibt den Zeitraum von 1698 bis 1732. Es ist&#xA;  allerdings nicht erwiesen, ob es sich dabei um Wildtruthühner oder um&#xA;  domestizierte Tiere handelte.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthuhn#Ansiedelungen_in_Europa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;German Wikipedia - Truthuhn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google translate (cause I'm lazy): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Central Europe several settlements have been established, but the populations have always had to be supported by aid measures. In Lower Austria there were larger breeding populations between 1880 and 1940, which included several hundred individuals, but which collapsed rapidly after the attitude of the Hege in the Second World War. A new resettlement failed as well as the eleven attempts, with which between 1953 and 1993 in Germany should be moved turkeys. A settlement in the Upper Rhine region reached a peak of 300 individuals, but in 1997 there were only 12 individuals. In Wesel, there were between 200 and 250 individuals in the 1960s, but in 1977 only one male and four or five females lived. The largest free-living Central European plant is found in the Czech Republic, where there were still 530 individuals in 1988.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The earliest mention of extinct turkeys in Germany describes the period from 1698 to 1732. It is, however, not established whether these were turkeys or domesticated animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why did they want this so bad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:19.860" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:23:19.860" Title="Why did they try so hard to bring the turkey to Europe?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;turkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17337" CreationDate="2017-10-03T10:07:27.550" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the risk of suggesting the obvious here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Rig up an internal hoop.  Use a spare of one of the external hoops and cut a few inches off to fit.  Pad the ends, and Velcro the ends and top to the inside of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Put a few more guy-ropes on the end hoops to encourage some more lateral tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second option should be the easiest one to try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T10:07:27.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2017-10-03T10:19:42.020" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a very nice pair of 15x50 image stabilised binoculars for birding/wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they're pretty heavy but when I can stand next to a birder with a dedicated spotting scope and see things that he can't, I'm pretty happy with myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also pretty good for aviation and for casual star-gazing.  The image stabilisation doesn't seem to affect image quality in any significant way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy and expensive though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T10:19:42.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11311" CreationDate="2017-10-03T10:54:24.737" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find the Bushnel 10 x 90 0r 20x180 do a fair all round job. For around $60 U.S. 70 or 90 mm. lens. 90 is better for low light. 70 for daytime. These are made in China. The India made ones are junk. Remember the further away the more humidity in the way. Any thing over 20x you need a support to hold steady. But I use these most for setting up photos threw a telescope. For a good clear shot. You should be able to find them on line. Lazada does not ship to the U.S. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T10:54:24.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9268" CreationDate="2017-10-03T11:29:13.997" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Living in the land that has more types of poison reptiles than any place in the world, I will give this advise: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freeze on sight of a snake.  Try to identify the snake. This is important as antivenom must be flown in fast. There are varieties of snakes even in same family of snakes. You do not want the generic antivenom. Or just a snake bit me. They assume cobra. But we have many others also.  If by then the snake is not moving off. Slowly back off  to safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T12:09:59.880" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T12:09:59.880" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17338" CreationDate="2017-10-03T13:50:21.210" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the owners manual &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsproducts.com/uploaded/553a9bcb7d1106.77962736.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, it says to &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Always clean your sharpener after use. Clean with damp cloth or mild&#xA;  brush. Do not rinse with  water. Store in a drawer or cabinet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have a build-up of material that can't be removed, the manual suggests, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the carbide blades or ceramic stones stop removing metal from the&#xA;  knife blade, they should be replaced.  Contact Smith's to purchase&#xA;  replacement blades or stones and for instructions on how to replace&#xA;  them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T13:50:21.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17346" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17353" CreationDate="2017-10-03T14:05:00.917" Score="2" ViewCount="1131" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the best or easiest way to attach a loop tag onto a canvas tent? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A loop tag is a loop of canvas so that I can tie a guy string to the loop tag and then down to a stake so that I can implement the solution to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17337/how-can-i-prevent-this-canvas-swag-from-sagging-in-the-middle&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I sew it on? Glue it on? What type of glue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14130" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:02:43.737" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:02:43.737" Title="What's the best or easiest way to attach a loop tag onto canvas?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17127" CreationDate="2017-10-03T14:54:30.503" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have  to say when i hiked the  PCt, I  completed 90% of it in shorts, I  did  bring wet trousers  but  never  used them. I  did  however use a rain  jacket  on many  occasions . I  found  i  got  too hot  in rain pants  and  found  that  my shorts quickly dried  out. Maybe  if its  really  cold i may of  worn  them.&#xA;But  even  marching through snow  shorts were good  for  me &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14131" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T14:54:30.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1246" CreationDate="2017-10-03T15:01:02.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hiked the PCT, I wore NosiLife Cargo Shorts, from Craghopper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wore them continuously for 4 months before I began to wear them out.  They would have lasted longer, but I lost so much weight they would no longer stay up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They did get a bit thin in the bum, but that was due to me glissading and  falling on my arse a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14131" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-10-03T16:01:04.513" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T16:01:04.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17337" CreationDate="2017-10-03T21:37:30.753" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main thing is that the outer guy-line needs to pull in a direction which pulls the top of the hoop outward effectively. Extending the guy-line in the picture farther away from the tent and closer to a horizontal angle is not an effective way to get more outward pull at the top of the hoop, surprisingly. It will pull the sides of the hoop somewhat, but to pull the top of the hoop away from the middle of the tent, the guy line should be perceived as an extension of the canvas eave. So, find the maximum angle which the eave can make away from the tent, and make sure that the guy line pulls toward the ground in that direction. So, you'll stake the guy line to the ground more closely to the tent. When pulling the guy line farther outward doesn't pull the eave farther outward, that's the point to stop looking for a stake point farther from the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you find that angle, you'll want the guy line to be under as much tension as reasonable. Given the angle, you can see, I'm sure, how &quot;pulling down (and out, but not too far out) on the guy line is the same as pulling up (and out) on the top of the hoop&quot;. So come up with a way to make the guy line tighter. You'll want to ensure that the stake or sandbag or whatever's holding the guy line down is as secure, heavy, or otherwise immobile as you can, and then use various means of tightening the tension on the guy line against that resistance. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tautline-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tautline hitch knot&lt;/a&gt; or a plastic or metal &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1837/how-do-i-use-these-guy-line-runners-to-adjust-the-tension-on-my-tents-lines&quot;&gt;guyline adjuster tab&lt;/a&gt; at the end of the line are options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, you can also consider adding a guyline directly to the top of the hoop so that you CAN angle a guyline in the horizontal direction (which isn't optimal if the guyline is fixed to the canvas eave). Angling your guyline farther outward lets you take advantage of stakes which have less holding power, but only if it's attached to the top of the hoop and not to the eave. Once the line from the top of the hoop is fast and pulling outward (away from the center of the swag), then you still would use the other guy line, but only for holding the eave out, not for holding the hoop up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2017-10-03T21:37:30.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17352" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17354" CreationDate="2017-10-05T03:06:33.023" Score="10" ViewCount="6815" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some reasonable (ie: &lt;strong&gt;safe, portable, reusable&lt;/strong&gt;) ways to start a fire with a magnifying glass &lt;strong&gt;without damaging my eyes from staring at the focused sunlight&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Background&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently started practicing some different fire starting techniques than I usually use, including starting a fire with a magnifying glass. When starting a fire with a magnifying glass, you focus the sun's light into a small but super-bright spot on a material to heat it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XWlpP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XWlpP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;magnifying-glass-focused-rays-burn-hole-in-paper&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Image Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/archimedes-really-destroy-ships-focusing-sunlight-mirrors-death-ray-myth-plausibility.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Burning with a lens&quot;&gt;ScienceABC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My biggest problem when trying to light my kindling with a magnifying glass is keeping track of the &lt;em&gt;blindingly bright&lt;/em&gt; spot that is necessarily part of this process. It is difficult for me to keep track of what I am doing since I try not to stare at the bright spot too much. &lt;strong&gt;Looking straight at the spot for an extended time is dangerous to your eyesight.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last two times I tried this I have burned spots into my vision. One of the times I gave myself temporary color blindness for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per comment by fgysin, I will try to find something more than my anecdotal evidence for the danger of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Criteria&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now &lt;strong&gt;I'm worried about this and want to make sure I stay safe&lt;/strong&gt;. Fire safety factors aside for this question; I am asking strictly about &lt;strong&gt;eye safety&lt;/strong&gt;, and strictly about over-exposure to sunlight when concentrating said sunlight with a magnifying glass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some criteria to make a good answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must allow user to &lt;em&gt;look at the focused spot&lt;/em&gt; without damaging eyes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must allow user to look at the focused spot &lt;em&gt;long enough to start a fire&lt;/em&gt; with it (One minute is probably more than enough once I get better; less is needed in optimal conditions)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must be &lt;em&gt;reusable&lt;/em&gt; a lot of times. If the method requires something to be continually replaced, like batteries, then I might as well just bring matches and keep replacing them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should be &lt;em&gt;portable&lt;/em&gt; for recreational use such as while camping or hiking; the more portable the better since I would like to take it in a long-duration hiking pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please keep other reasonable factors in mind, even if I have neglected to mention them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Some ideas I had which I don't think will work&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ideas can form a baseline by demonstrating what I think is almost reasonable but not quite good enough. If you think I am wrong about any of the following, then please do make an answer refuting my worry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunglasses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Welding mask&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mirror&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phone camera (or other digital camera) for indirect viewing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sunglasses I assume are not strong enough, and after my previous two attempts I'm too scared to try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A welding mask would technically work but it is big and bulky and would serve no other purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My welding mask does allow me to remove the small viewing &quot;window&quot; from it, essentially allowing me to hold up a small (approximately 2-or-3 inch by 3-or-4 inch) light-blocking lens. This is &lt;em&gt;almost&lt;/em&gt; an answer, but my welding mask requires batteries to operate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise, other bulky eclipse-viewing devices should be considered out of scope if they are not easily portable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mirror just redirects the problem, I think, but maybe there is a clever way to use a small hand mirror to safely redirect the image that I'm not aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that some cameras can be damaged by imaging the sun if I use it a lot combined with the magnifying glass, I'm afraid it will be ruined and therefore not be a good solution. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, does anyone have any ideas for how to do this without going blind after a few camping trips?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experience from people who do start their camp fires with magnifying glasses is obviously great but not necessary, so please don't hesitate to pitch in with ideas you think could work. If they sound safe, I'll try to attempt them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the answers here have provided great tools (+1 all) for the magnifier-lit fire, and you should add all of them to your fire-lighting skill set. I have found that a combination of them works best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since getting the advice from you guys nearly 2 years ago, I have started many, many fires with magnifying glasses. It has even become one of my primary fire starting methods as long as the sun cooperates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the answers were great, but since I can only accept 1 I accepted the one which was closest to what I actually prefer doing now, and which also is the most direct answer to the question the way I asked it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that I've honed the skill, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22524/14074&quot;&gt;I have even added an answer of my own&lt;/a&gt;, and I have also included in that answer my commentary on the other answers, combining them all together and discussing some of their synergies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T03:57:31.690" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T04:01:54.937" Title="Eye safety when starting a fire with a magnifying glass" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17346" CreationDate="2017-10-05T03:40:35.820" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was going to do this, I would use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.speedystitcher.com/#the-basics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Speedy Stitcher&lt;/a&gt; or similar tool,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00NO4B9Z4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H7a0zm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;to stitch the loop to the tent  and then cover the stitches with a canvas seam sealer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't trust glue as there is going to be a lot of pull on the loop tag (the whole point of adding the loop tag is to be able to exert pull on the tent) but stitches should hold it in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The canvas seam sealer would be to prevent leaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-10-05T03:40:35.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2017-10-05T04:03:05.170" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just use &lt;a href=&quot;https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eclipse glasses&lt;/a&gt;. As they are &lt;strong&gt;safe to look directly at the sun with&lt;/strong&gt;, then they should be fine to look at the bright spot caused by the magnifying glass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just make certain that they are &lt;a href=&quot;https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/iso-certification&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;certified&lt;/a&gt; and not rip-offs and then you should be good to go. &lt;strong&gt;They meet all of your requirements&lt;/strong&gt; and would be &lt;strong&gt;no more trouble to take with you than a pair of sunglasses&lt;/strong&gt; which you probably already have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-10-05T04:03:05.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2017-10-05T16:58:25.373" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use your finger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally to using your finger to cover the sun when trying to spot something in the sky you can use the principle to cover the bright spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will be closing one eye and putting the finger between your eye and the bright spot to cover it just enough to not bother you &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xqYpa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xqYpa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used that system several times both with the sun but also if I had to do a couple of tack welds and someone else was using my welding mask (my face was protected and me mentioning doesn't mean I advocate this system for regular welding). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also suggest you use a charcloth, besides catching fire easily the general glare from a charcloth is much less than from a white piece of paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, I lit fires with a magnifying glass but, in those cases, I never felt a particular need to protect my eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your requirements you say it must allow looking at the bright spot. Honestly, unless you are the kid burning ants with the magnifying glass, you don't really need to look right at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you are worried about looking directly at the bright spot then don't consider a mirror, you wouldn't want to reflect the light right in your eyes by some freak accident. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8876" LastEditorUserId="8876" LastEditDate="2017-10-05T18:46:22.340" LastActivityDate="2017-10-05T18:46:22.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2017-10-05T17:27:35.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option would be to use &lt;strong&gt;snow glasses&lt;/strong&gt;. They've been used for centuries to prevent snow blindness, and work by limiting the amount of light that can enter your eyes. They are simple to make, and can be constructed out of any opaque material you can put an eye slit in. To control the amount of light entering your eyes, simply make the slit smaller. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These would be an excellent option because you wouldn't have to carry anything extra with you, they're traditionally made out of wood or tree bark. We used to make them as kids in school up here in Canada out of a chunk of cereal box, but you can also make a simple pair out of duck tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a pinch, you can just look through the tight gaps in your fingers, which may be sufficient for your needs, just cover your face with your hand and peek out a tiny slit between you fingers. I do this quite often when stepping outside for a moment from the dark indoors into the blinding white of a bright snowy day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MzM2y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MzM2y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wTJcT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wTJcT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-10-05T17:27:35.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2017-10-05T18:15:53.127" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a non-battery welding mask glass.  You can carry it in the same pouch as your magnifying glass.  One can be &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0192PX77Q&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Purchased new&lt;/a&gt; for a couple of dollars.  They can also be had second hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-10-05T18:15:53.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17358" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-05T23:35:14.120" Score="8" ViewCount="375" Body="&lt;p&gt;When walking on Hofsjökull glacier in Iceland, I wondered: how do people camp on multi-day trekking trips across icecaps, such as when crossing Greenland?  My primary choice of tightening a tent is to put pins into the soil; this doesn't work on ice.  My second choice is to use rocks to fasten my guy lines; this doesn't work either on an ice cap.  How would I fasten my tent?  And not to forget, it can be very windy on those ice caps and glaciers, as there are no obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-10-06T02:14:39.577" Title="How do people camp on ice?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17358" CreationDate="2017-10-06T00:06:48.570" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't use ordinary tent pegs, you use something a lot more substantial. For example, pictured below are two ice screws (cheap ones I found a picture of on Ali Express), which would work if the ice is hard enough. These screw into the ice and the threads hold them in place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use these, and you leave your tent behind during the day, make sure you cover them with a pile of snow so they don't warm up in the sun, melt the ice, and pull out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Id0n8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Id0n8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ice tent pegs&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastEditorUserId="3516" LastEditDate="2017-10-06T02:14:39.577" LastActivityDate="2017-10-06T02:14:39.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17360" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-06T03:47:15.387" Score="10" ViewCount="445" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this arrowhead-shaped rock on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americantrails.org/NRTDatabase/trailDetail.php?recordID=447&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toiyabe Crest&lt;/a&gt; trail in Nevada, USA. I'm wondering if it actually is an arrowhead. It's about 1.5 inches long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qd08t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qd08t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;possible arrowhead&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reasons that I think it could be is that it's about the right shape and the edges looked like it had been sharpened. It also has what looks like a notch on one side (pointed to with the red arrow). It was also of a different kind of rock than everything else in the immediate area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could it be an arrowhead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:35:33.313" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:35:33.313" Title="Is this rock I found on the Toiyabe Crest Trail an arrowhead?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17361" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17370" CreationDate="2017-10-06T08:42:07.730" Score="4" ViewCount="766" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for an activity watch that lasts at least 20 days, since it's for a trip to the ME Base Camp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should have these features: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;20 days + batteries *&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;HR monitor (chest band/wrist) *&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS *&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;common smartwatch-features&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* mandatory &lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any watch available that fits these needs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14144" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-10-11T19:42:41.507" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T14:32:40.290" Title="Is there a smartwatch/activity tracker lasting 20 days for a trek to Everest Base Camp?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ClosedDate="2017-10-15T22:55:53.440" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17360" CreationDate="2017-10-06T11:47:26.933" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, that looks like arrow heads I've found in that general area too.  Note that it may be a unfinished or discarded piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is clear flaking and shaping.  It would be very very unlikely for this to have happened by natural causes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-10-06T11:47:26.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17365" CreationDate="2017-10-07T12:33:23.633" Score="10" ViewCount="545" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw mention of a 'dish' hold, and cannot figure out what this means exactly from Google searches. There are many sites selling dish holds like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.e-grips.com/s-5-holds.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one, but I don't understand what 'dish' means from the pictures. Plates? Something to do with their flatness? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14151" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-14T19:31:18.387" LastActivityDate="2018-02-14T19:31:18.387" Title="What is a dish or dish-like hand hold in rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17363" CreationDate="2017-10-07T14:38:35.440" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Dish holds&quot; are holds that are (in relation to their total size) rather flat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That seems to be their defining property - they can be round, have pockets, edges or other interesting features on them, but the one thing they have in common is their flat shape. This is in contrast to e.g. large jugs or slopers etc. which stick out more from the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-10-07T14:38:35.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17361" CreationDate="2017-10-07T18:08:38.947" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is at least one, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://vectorwatch.com/vector-luna-smart-watch#luna-steel-blackleather-regular&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vector Luna Smart Watch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vector Watch’s tagline is &lt;strong&gt;“The smartwatch with a 30-day battery life”&lt;/strong&gt; and they really put the battery lifetime in the front line. It is really hard to find a smartwatch these days which will hold the charge for a whole month.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smartgeekwrist.com/smartwatches-long-battery-life/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its features should meet most of your requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Always on power saving monochrome display&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Activity and sleep tracking with &lt;strong&gt;Google Fit and Apple Health Kit integration&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Full bundle of customizable watchfaces, data streams and apps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GPS real-time data&lt;/strong&gt; collected from phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Accept/reject calls, view texts, emails, phone notifications&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Find phone, camera control, remote music&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water resistant&lt;/strong&gt; up to 5ATM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smartgeekwrist.com/smartwatches-long-battery-life/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that I would check the smart watches in these three articles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://smartwatches.org/learn/smartwatches-with-the-best-battery-life/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://smartwatches.org/learn/smartwatches-with-the-best-battery-life/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smartgeekwrist.com/smartwatches-long-battery-life/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.smartgeekwrist.com/smartwatches-long-battery-life/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lifewire.com/smart-watches-with-longest-battery-life-3441445&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.lifewire.com/smart-watches-with-longest-battery-life-3441445&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-10-07T18:08:38.947" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17367" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-07T22:47:36.443" Score="10" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Iceland, off-roading is strictly prohibited.  Unfortunately, it still happens and one can find tracks of off-roading all over the central highlands.  On the other hand, in the landscape, some roads that are mapped on Atlaskort do not look like much more than some tracks in the landscape either, and may have neither an F-number nor a sign where they depart from larger roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under these circumstances, how would I tell a road from a place where several cars have illegally off-roaded before?  Must a road have an F-number to be permissible for driving?  If I have a (possibly old) map that shows a road somewhere, and I subsequently see that road in the landscape, does that mean driving there is fine, or is there some more official source stating what exactly are the roads that are officially recognised?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-08T02:06:29.200" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T00:25:14.157" Title="What exactly constitutes a &quot;road&quot; in Iceland?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16931" CreationDate="2017-10-07T22:51:06.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As it happens, the easiest way to cross from the north is &lt;strong&gt;on the ice of the Þjórsarjökull glacier&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The glacier in this area is almost completely flat.  There are very few crevasses or other features, and those that do exist are shallow and easily visible.  Þjórsárjökull is the lowest part of Hofsjökull, at the eastern end, getting nearly down to 600 metre.  When I was there in September 2017, there was no snow anywhere on the glacier.  The surface of the ice was rough all day; the only slippery parts were parts where there was substantial mud on the ice.  The approach to the ice was very muddy (question on that follows and will be linked later), but once on the ice, hiking was a breeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, hiking on a glacier is never risk-free, but under the circumstances, I found that hiking on the glacier was substantially less risky than fording the rivers coming out of it.  In other parts of Iceland, official hiking routes cross glaciers.  No special equipment beyond standard hiking equipment was needed when I hiked there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-10-12T13:14:36.343" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T13:14:36.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17124" CreationDate="2017-10-08T04:08:21.027" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The original route of the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which started in 1973, was what is now known as the Northern Route. In 1977 the Iditarod Board of Directors decided to split the route into two sections, and the Southern Route was created. They also felt that alternating routes each year would be the best way to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Both sections of the trail are a part of the Iditarod National Historical Trail which was used in early years for all winter travel. Dog sleds delivered the mail, the preacher, the groceries, and hauled out gold and furs all the way to Anchorage or Fairbanks.  During the early years of the Iditarod Race, the mushers only traveled the northern trail. &lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/about/the-iditarod-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The decision to split the route was made for a few reasons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It was difficult for the smaller villages to handle the large influx of people, dogs, and press every year.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Southern Route included a trip through the actual town of Iditarod. Even though it was by then a deserted ghost town, the committee felt it was significant to use the section of the trail for which the race was named.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It gave some towns the ability to participate which hadn't previously been included, such as Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Eagle Island. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route travels from Anchorage to Nome. It stops in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.populationlist.com/Ophir/Alaska/United_States/3197736/city-population&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ophir&lt;/a&gt;, a true &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_town&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;“ghost town”&lt;/a&gt; with a population of zero. Then it splits off into the Northern Route and the Southern Route, meeting back up together at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaltag,_Alaska&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kaltag&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The current route, after Anchorage, travels through checkpoints in Campbell Airstrip, Willow, Knik, Yentna Station, Skwentna, Finger Lake, Rainy Pass (Puntilla), Rohn Roadhouse, Nikolai, McGrath, and Takotna, after which it arrives in Ophir. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After Ophir, the Northern Route stops at checkpoints in Cripple, Ruby, Galena and Nulato before getting to Kaltag. The Southern Route, after Ophir, stops in Iditarod, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Eagle Island, and then gets to Kaltag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After Kaltag the mushers and their sled dogs stop at Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, Safety, and, finally, Nome. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the official route map. A list of checkpoints and distances between them can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/about/the-iditarod-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0A1Wj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0A1Wj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Map of whole trail, both routes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/edu/maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Map Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that weather and other things cause changes to the exact route. There have been numerous times when, in order to make sure the race took place during the appointed week, changes have been made. Global warming in general has been blamed for some of the more recent changes. For instance, in 2017, the weather was so warm that it was not safe to use certain parts of the trail due to lack of sufficient snow. Therefore, the course was altered. More information, including the course for that year, can be found at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iditarod-reroute-differences-on-the-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Alaska Life&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources for information in this answer include&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iditarod, the Last Great Race&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sbnation.com/2013/3/1/4037544/2013-iditarod-history-facts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SBNATION&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://iditarod.com/edu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iditarod EDU&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iditarod-reroute-differences-on-the-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Alaska Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-10-08T04:08:21.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17361" CreationDate="2017-10-08T07:41:53.943" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a well-written and comprehensive &lt;a href=&quot;https://besthiking.net/best-watches-for-hiking-2015/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article on that topic on Best Hiking called &quot;Best Watches for Hiking 2017&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;The Best Watches for Hiking in 2017&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A good hiking watch does not only show time and date, but also&#xA;  provides you with crucial information (such as altitude, location, air&#xA;  pressure, sunrise/sunset times etc.) which can help you with&#xA;  navigation, planning and weather prediction. Watches with&#xA;  hiking-specific features are very popular these days and the companies&#xA;  behind them are making great progress when it comes to combining&#xA;  design with useful technology. This selection of the best hiking&#xA;  watches includes three watches which are equipped with GPS and two&#xA;  without. GPS indeed has its advantages but since some hikers prefer&#xA;  watches without GPS (due to longer battery life, less complicated user&#xA;  interface etc.), we wanted to include some options for them too. All&#xA;  watches in this selection have compass, altimeter and barometer –&#xA;  features which we consider essential for activities such as hiking,&#xA;  trekking, mountaineering and backpacking. This review will help you&#xA;  find a watch which will meet your requirements. As new models of&#xA;  watches with hiking features are being released regularly, we&#xA;  continuously update this selection in order to always recommend you&#xA;  the best products available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite giving recommendations, they tell you about a lot of details to keep an eye on when purchasing a smartwatch for mountaineering. Thus my advice is to read through it. However, to address your question, I'll narrow down the recommendation list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day the current market only lets you decide between these two watches meeting all of your requirements:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Garmin Fenix 5 (GPS/&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLONASS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GLONASS&lt;/a&gt;, battery life 4 weeks, HR)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Garmin Fenix 5 watch replaced the highly popular Garmin Fenix 3&#xA;  watch in 2017. It is basically a Smartwatch with a high resolution&#xA;  color display that is designed for harsh outdoor conditions. The watch&#xA;  is made of very robust materials – the bezel is made of stainless&#xA;  steel while the lens is made of Sapphire glass (Sapphire models).&#xA;  Therefore, the watch offers great abrasion resistance and durability.&#xA;  Nevertheless, the design of the watch makes it elegant enough to wear&#xA;  to business meetings without thinking twice. The Garmin Fenix 5 watch&#xA;  is equipped with a 3-axis compass, altimeter, barometer and&#xA;  thermometer. For more accurate temperature readings, you can connect&#xA;  it to an external temperature sensor (Garmin Tempe). The compass and&#xA;  altimeter are calibrated automatically via GPS. Other features made&#xA;  possible by GPS include that the watch can automatically set the time&#xA;  based on your location and of course offers navigation and tracking. &#xA;  You can import routes and points of interest and the watch will&#xA;  provide you with the directions. Activities can be saved and detailed&#xA;  information about each activity can be accessed through the Garmin&#xA;  Connect app (desktop or mobile version). The Garmin Fenix 5 has&#xA;  numerous fitness features like V02 estimator, recovery advisor, race&#xA;  predictor etc. and is also suitable for other sports like running,&#xA;  swimming and skiing. The Connect IQ connectivity allows you to&#xA;  personalize the watch with apps, widgets and unique watch faces (for&#xA;  example a weather widget can be installed on the watch so that you can&#xA;  access the weather forecast directly on the watch). The Fenix 5 watch&#xA;  can be synchronized with a Smartphone (Garmin Connect mobile app is&#xA;  available for both iOS and Android devices) to show texts, alerts,&#xA;  emails and other notifications. Another useful feature is that the&#xA;  watch can be paired with the Garmin Virb action camera and thus you&#xA;  can control the camera directly from the watch. The Garmin Fenix 5&#xA;  watch is available in three different sizes; Fenix 5S (42 mm/1.7 in.),&#xA;  Fenix 5 (47 mm/1.9 in.) and Fenix 5X (51 mm/2.0 in.). The 5X model, in&#xA;  addition to the features mentioned above, also supports maps – it can&#xA;  show a topographic map which is very useful for navigation. The Garmin&#xA;  Fenix 5 watch is definitely an incredible timepiece. We highly&#xA;  recommend it to all hikers and other sports enthusiasts who want a&#xA;  very versatile watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Suunto Ambit 3 (GPS, battery life 4 weeks, HR)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Suunto Ambit 3 watch is another great choice for hikers and&#xA;  mountaineers as it offers great functionality and durability. In&#xA;  comparison to the Garmin Fenix 5 watch, the Suunto Ambit 3 watch has a&#xA;  less sophisticated display (matrix) but on the other hand it is also&#xA;  slightly easier to use (the watch has a very user-friendly interface).&#xA;  The watch features GPS, altimeter, barometer, thermometer and compass.&#xA;  Navigation with the watch is very easy as the waypoints and GPX routes&#xA;  can be simply imported to the watch from the Suunto Movescount app,&#xA;  where you can easily plan routes before your hike. Furthermore, you&#xA;  can find existing routes from other Movescount users and import them&#xA;  to your own watch – not least by using the Heatmap feature which shows&#xA;  popular routes within a certain area. In addition to planning, the&#xA;  Movescount app also offers a complete overview of your workouts (a&#xA;  calendar shows workouts with parameters such as duration, distance,&#xA;  burned calories etc.). The Suunto Ambit 3 can also track the distance&#xA;  walked, find a route back to your starting point, show current speed&#xA;  and much more. It is also compatible with a heart-rate belt and so,&#xA;  based on your heart rate and other data, it can calculate the amount&#xA;  of calories burned. The Ambit 3 is Suunto’s first Bluetooth-compatible&#xA;  watch. Therefore, it can be easily connected to a Smartphone and show&#xA;  you incoming and missed calls, messages and other notifications from&#xA;  the phone when you install the Suunto Movescount app (available for&#xA;  Android and iOS deviceces). You can also find other apps for the watch&#xA;  on the Suunto Movescount web app and you can even create your own apps&#xA;  for the watch. Suunto Ambit 3 is a great watch for hiking and&#xA;  mountaineering as it offers numerous hiking features. It comes in four&#xA;  different versions – Suunto Ambit 3 Peak, Suunto Ambit 3 Vertical,&#xA;  Suunto Ambit 3 Sport and Suunto Ambit 3 Run. However, the features&#xA;  described above apply only to the Suunto Ambit 3 Peak watches which&#xA;  are designed particularly for hiking and mountaineering. Some Suunto&#xA;  Ambit 3 Peak watches are equipped with Sapphire glass lenses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also both of them are smartwatches and provide relevant features. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2017-10-08T07:41:53.943" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17339" CreationDate="2017-10-08T15:07:27.400" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Asking why people wanted to do something in the past is opinion-based, so this question will likely be closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm only guessing, but most likely the desire to establish wild populations of turkeys was to be able to hunt them.  I'm not a hunter, but here in New England where wild turkeys are common, I know that they are also a favorite of hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially back in 1732, and unfortunately even as recently as 1993, people rarely stopped to think about the impact of a non-native animal on a existing ecosystem.  Significant numbers of wild turkeys would certainly have had some impact on the balance of European ecosystems.  Some native species would benefit, and some would decline.  Whether the overall effect would be &quot;desirable&quot; in human terms would be a matter of opinion, and what attributes of the ecosystem a particular person valued above others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;History tells us that almost certainly there would have been unforseen negative consequences.  You should consider yourselves fortunate that attempts to introduce these foreign animals into the wild failed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A much more interesting question would have been why the introduction efforts failed.  I don't even know enough to guess at the answer to that, but the answer could be illuminating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-10-08T15:07:27.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17361" CreationDate="2017-10-08T21:09:02.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not yet seen any GPS capable watch that has such a long battery live. GPS watches like Suunto Ambit and Garmin Fenix do advertise longer battery live, but these durations are only reached when turning GPS off. That will hardly change, as battery technology hasn't changed and there is nothing that will in the short term as far as I know. The Suunto Ambit 3 advertises 50h lifetime with lowest interval GPS (1 per min). Assuming you are on the move for 10h a day, this means 5 days lifetime&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution is simple: Go with any watch that is battery efficient and meets your need and get battery to recharge it. There are no official numbers I am aware of, but the circulating value is 300-500mAh for typical battery capacities. This seems about right judging from the size. This means a small and cheap USB powerbank of e.g. 3000mAh will keep it running for 20d plus some extra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-10-08T21:09:02.807" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17367" CreationDate="2017-10-09T11:47:03.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most (main) roads are marked with yellow poles.  Other roads might be marked by stacks of rocks or the simple fact that there's a winding patch of less rough terrain forming an obvious trail.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you're unsure of road markings use a proper gps unit with trail maps to verify your location.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following points are mentioned on &lt;a href=&quot;http://safetravel.is/driving/illegal-off-road-driving/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Check out the road map and see where the roads and trails are.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Get information about the appropriate routes at visitor centers, and from rangers or staff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Find out in advance when mountain roads are likely to be open, along with other related information at visitor centers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;By uprooting or driving on moss, damage is caused that can take nature decades to repair.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Walk around a short distance or turn around if you can’t go any further by driving&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fines or imprisonment can be expected for offenses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave no trail (don't drive on moss and other soft/damageable surfaces)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get an up to date map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a proper gps unit to verify your location&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't be afraid to ask for advice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is some more info (and a proper map) on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goiceland.com/blog/driving-off-road-in-iceland-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-10T00:25:14.157" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T00:25:14.157" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17374" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-10T15:32:34.113" Score="8" ViewCount="4014" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several posts on this side make mention of tent &quot;skirts&quot;.  For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4433/566&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;A &quot;skirt&quot; at the bottom of the tent, which makes outer tent reach the ground, so wind is not beating into the inner tent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16187/566&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;it has these skirts at the bottom sides covering the tent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10573/566&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Skirt. If you care a lot about wind and sand, then you should look for a tent with a skirt&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some &lt;a href=&quot;https://scandinavianoutdoor.com/hilleberg/gear/tents/accessories/lumiliepeet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;for sale here&lt;/a&gt;, but without a picture.  Google Images appears to show tents with an extra flap at the rainfly, but the rain would have to be extremely horizontal for rain to hit the inner tent that way.  Is it for single roof tents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T23:46:46.647" Title="What is a tent skirt and what is its purpose?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17363" CreationDate="2017-10-10T16:28:43.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, a dish hold is one containing a &lt;strong&gt;smooth, shallow concave indentation&lt;/strong&gt;, generally looking like the shape of a bowl or dish. I think it would fall under the sloper category, although slopers include both smooth concave and convex surfaces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below are some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Zmty.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Zmty.png&quot; alt=&quot;The indentation on the right would be considered a dish hold.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The indentation on the right would be considered a dish hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/joVEn.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/joVEn.png&quot; alt=&quot;Another example of a dish hold.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example of a dish hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3345" LastActivityDate="2017-10-10T16:28:43.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17374" CreationDate="2017-10-10T23:37:01.100" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You pretty much answer your own question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow skirts are primarily used on 4 season tents designed for high altitude or arctic conditions. The idea is that you pile snow on the skirt to seal the perimeter and prevent the entry of wind-driven snow. The skirt can also help anchor the tent and reduce flapping in extreme winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h1ihO.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h1ihO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However skirts add weight and reduce ventilation options in good weather, so in modern designs they are frequently omitted. For example Hilleberg tents, which are widely used in arctic conditions, do not come with skirts as standard. Instead, the fly is designed to hug the ground and the user would simply create a wall of snow around the hem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CONCj.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CONCj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Less commonly skirts are used in summer, when they are referred to as &quot;sod skirts&quot;. You pile dirt on the skirt to keep out wind, dust, sand, insects, snakes and vermin. This technique is mainly used in floorless tents as the skirt is pretty much redundant if you have a sewn-in groundsheet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-10-12T23:46:46.647" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T23:46:46.647" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15714" CreationDate="2017-10-11T00:52:58.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Typical volume requirements&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pack requirements vary hugely depending on your hiking style, the weather, and on the length and purpose of your trip. But to get you oriented, here are some typical volumes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For a summer day-pack 15 liters should be adequate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lightweight hikers might tackle a thru-hike with a 40-50 liter pack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Traditionalist hunters, fishers and bushcrafters packing into a base camp&#xA;might need 100 litres or even more, depending on their style and&#xA;equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While camping in extreme cold requires more volume for bulky sleeping&#xA;bags and clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people will simply list their equipment and total up the estimated volume of each item. Then add around 1.5 litres for each day of food, and, obviously, 1 liter for each liter of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to select your pack&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you intend to build up a quiver of packs for different uses, the key is to err on the large side. Most of the pack's weight is in the frame and straps - the weight of additional fabric for an extra 10 or or 20 liters of capacity is minimal. If the pack has a good compression system you can use it for a very wide range of capacities and still have it carry well. It's also quicker and easier to pack a sack when it's not too tight for capacity. There's very little penalty for a pack that's a bit larger than you need, while a pack that's too small can be a major issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packs will generally fall into 3 categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frameless sacks for light loads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Packs with a lightweight frame designed for loads up to around 15kg/30lbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load haulers with substantial suspensions designed for big weights.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very most you should be able to cover your general requirements with 1 pack in each class. Though for many people, a single pack with a lightweight frame should cover all their needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, there is no standard for measuring pack volume so advertised capacity can vary widely between manufacturers. Again, the answer is to err on the large side. Something I've done in the past is to take my equipment into the store and see how it fits in the pack - a good specialised retailer should be happy accommodate you, particularly if you call ahead and ask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-10-20T20:14:24.743" LastActivityDate="2017-10-20T20:14:24.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17361" CreationDate="2017-10-11T14:43:40.933" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you mean a watch which will last 20 days while continuously tracking GPS, I think it unlikely.  The lowest-power GPS modules (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.u-blox.com/en/press-release/u-blox-launches-ground-breaking-super-low-power-gnss-receiver-chip-wearable&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;) run at about &lt;code&gt;20 mW&lt;/code&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For 20 days' continuous use that is &lt;code&gt;20*24*60*60*0.02 = 34.56 kJ&lt;/code&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lithium-ion batteries store about &lt;code&gt;460 kJ/kg&lt;/code&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.allaboutbatteries.com/Battery-Energy.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;) so you would need 75g of battery (roughly 3x AA size) just to power the GPS module.  CPU, display and other circuitry could at least double that.  That is feasible for a portable device, but not really a watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-10-12T14:32:40.290" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T14:32:40.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17360" CreationDate="2017-10-12T03:28:47.957" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't honestly know what an arrowhead looks like, especially not well enough to make a definitive identification. However, I found two references that at least confirm a possibility that arrowheads may exist on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://travelnevada.com/discover/27146/toiyabe-crest-national-recreation-trailarc-dome-wildnerness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toiyabe Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt;. Since you asked &quot;could it be an arrowhead,&quot; I hope this might be helpful. There aren't any pictures in either of them, so I don't have anything to compare with what you found, but I think reading these two accounts could be interesting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://austinnevada.com/wide-open-spaces-austin-nevada/wilderness-areas/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Austin Nevada Wilderness Areas&lt;/a&gt; has some good information about the Toiyabe Crest Trail, which is the longest maintained trail in Nevada. The website gives general information, including a good list of things you might see while traveling there. The area is rich with a diverse array of animals, birds and fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Toiyabe Range is also diverse in geologic finds. Plutonic, volcanic and sedimentary rocks are all present. Keen eyes will spot plant and animal fossils as well as an occasional arrowhead. Rockhounds will also find treasures in the variety of specimens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My second account is from &quot;Backpacking in the Arc Dome Wilderness&quot; published online at &lt;a href=&quot;https://thepathlessbeaten.com/2012/06/21/backpacking-in-the-arc-dome-wilderness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Path Less Beaten&lt;/a&gt;. I know you've made the trip, but for others who are interested, this is a very long, detailed, report written by a man who made the arduous journey with his dogs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were out for many days, and after one of their final nights in the wilderness, he writes this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The dogs enjoyed a leisurely morning sunning themselves as I made breakfast and started packing up. After I rolled up the tent, I found that I had been sleeping on top of an arrowhead the whole time. It looked to be made of flint, and had the tip broken off. It was kind of neat to think that this spot had been used for camping for hundreds of years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T03:28:47.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17382" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17383" CreationDate="2017-10-12T13:10:24.300" Score="12" ViewCount="1639" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be a Dad for the first time early next year. My wife and I are very active outdoorsy kind of people. I've started looking at a baby carrier so we can take our wee one out on short walks and for me when I take our dogs out for a walk (which I do a couple of times a day). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want a carrier as we live quite rural and a lot of the places I go on a day to day basis have no pavements, etc. So a pram simply won't be practical. I also often climb the local hills and I'd like to take the baby with me occasionally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at baby carriers though there is a bewildering array of different styles, positions, etc. From the high end fully outdoors backpacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tx1Il.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tx1Il.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Smaller picture of carrier&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trekitt.co.uk/16177/products/osprey-poco-ag-child-carrier-ivy-green.aspx?origin=pla&amp;amp;kwd=&amp;amp;currency=GBP&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccNweBoLAnqPVHPJQ432w2Zin6tUenNmrkXLvTr0_I1-wy150bDGf_IhoCpw0QAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To simple baby slings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFoRF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFoRF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00ARWPOBQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously money is a factor here, we've got a baby on the way, we're not exactly flush for cash so I don't want to spend a lot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given activities such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gentle hill walks&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walking in low country&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of carrier should I be looking for? What features do I want, which are over kill and which are required?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-12T23:28:51.497" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T03:41:22.123" Title="What kind of baby carrier is best for use walking and climbing in the hills?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17382" CreationDate="2017-10-12T15:35:36.260" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;All our kids have been coming on hikes with us since they were newborns. We have two types of baby carrying hiking packs, two more snuggly baby carriers, and a variety of baby wraps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to your question is to carry the kid in the carrier suitable for their size and age. When your baby is brand new and can't sit up on it's own, then you should carry it in a wrap, after it gets to about 6 months old, then you can carry them in a back pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had our pack and a couple snuggly carriers before we got our first baby wrap. I highly recommend getting a wrap first, the babies like them much better because they keep their arms and legs tucked in and hold their heads too. They literally just sleep the whole time when they're in the wrap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sWTse.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sWTse.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they get bigger you can move them into the backpacks. We were hiking this year with my 4 and 2 year old both in backpacks, that way my wife and I could have a good hike without having to wait for littles to keep up, or listen to them complain about being tired. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for a brand new baby, you definitely want to go with a wrap like this one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ux2Il.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ux2Il.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're very versatile, they keep the baby up close to your centre of gravity, they're comfortable for you and the baby, and you can wear a backpack over top of them. After that, invest in a nice comfy hiking backpack for the kid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one I have comes with a hood and a full rain cover, so I can basically take my kids hiking with me in any weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mZmh7.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mZmh7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BeuAL.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BeuAL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5aMjb.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5aMjb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Sometimes the littles want to hike too:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/illXg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/illXg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T03:41:22.123" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T03:41:22.123" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3738" CreationDate="2017-10-12T15:38:45.983" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you considered making a &quot;poop tube&quot;? This is something I've heard of people using when in areas where your required to carry out all waste or big wall climbing etc. Essentially it's an air tight pack able tube for depositing waste into. You make one using plumbing supplies, so a length of pipe (choose your diameter and length as you see fit) and two screw on pipe caps (one for each end), something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nOFKC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nOFKC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-sp292-screw-on-end-cap-grey/16026?kpid=16026&amp;amp;ds_rl=1245250&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwpfzOBRA5EiwAU0ccNyHG_8N-nJ1FXEqyjJ5Sof3zMijMm8xRAGSc_rv71cB0eBjhsiuIERoChRYQAvD_BwE&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;amp;dclid=CI61v_-069YCFYduGwodN9ADhg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unscrew one end, deposit nappy, screw back up. The whole lot is totally sealed and smell proof. It's also rinse clean once you empty it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T15:38:45.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17385" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17388" CreationDate="2017-10-12T18:19:24.153" Score="9" ViewCount="4437" Body="&lt;p&gt;My neighbor has asked me to pull their pontoon boat out of the lake to store for winter.  However, this particular boat has been beached, so much so that &lt;strong&gt;I cannot push it back in to the water which I need to do before I can store it.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like get it out of the lake before the lake freezes and potentially damages the boat and the boat ramp is on the other side of the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are &lt;strong&gt;some tips on the best/easiest way to get the boat back in to the water?&lt;/strong&gt;.....aside from the obvious, pull with rope from another boat and push from shore?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I took a picture of the boat, it's worse than I thought.  Unfortunately there is no easy way to get to the beach where it stuck, with any equipment, due to a large hill.  I do not have a lot of manpower available, just 2-3 guys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cNR3e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cNR3e.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Beached Boat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12607" LastEditorUserId="12607" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T12:08:21.187" LastActivityDate="2017-10-15T07:51:01.807" Title="How to get a beached pontoon boat back into the water?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17385" CreationDate="2017-10-12T23:37:06.273" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yell at some of the fisher boys on or near the beach. Tell them you need the boat in the water. They will be down with palm log rollers &amp;amp; have you in the water in 10 minutes. Give them some money for this. Same as removing boat from water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T12:57:19.423" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T12:57:19.423" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17382" CreationDate="2017-10-12T23:57:06.767" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a supplement to @ShemSeger's answer, NZ rucksack makers Aarn offer clip-on front pockets that help counterbalance the weight of a kid on your back if you're using a carrier with a waist-belt and sternum strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that you fill the pockets with some of your heavier gear and your water. As well as keeping your stuff to hand, balancing the load in this way makes a surprising difference if you are carrying a larger kid for any kind of distance - it's less fatiguing and kinder to your back and shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qBLiT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qBLiT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-10-12T23:57:06.767" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17385" CreationDate="2017-10-13T06:05:26.153" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;What constitutes “best and easiest?” I suspect you don’t want to pay for a proper boat lift to drive down to the beach and pick up the boat. If feasible that would be the best safety wise and easiest in terms of physical effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once watched a crew of Peruvian fishermen pull a beached fishing trawler all the way onto the shore. Like you suggested in your question with enough bodies pushing or pulling you could move the boat anywhere you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don’t have the manpower and have plenty of time you can trench around and under the pontoons. Once the trenches are deep enough you can flood them and float the boat out. Depending on what lake this is and the regulations you might get in trouble for enacting your engineering project.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option that might work is to load up the back end to try to lift the nose. Depending on the slope of the beach you might be able to swamp the back of the boat enough to get the nose free. Of course you might screw up systems that weren’t designed to be submerged or grind the back end of the pontoons against the lake bed causing damage and/or increased resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final option would be to put a couple of old tires between one or both pontoons and the front bumper of your pickup truck. The tires will hopefully protect the boat and the truck as you use the truck to push the boat back in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the most recent edit showed that some of my hare-brained schemes wouldn't work I cooked up another. What you can do is get a tall jack like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://hi-lift.com/hi-lift-jacks/all-cast/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hi-Lift&lt;/a&gt; that you can attach a sling to wrap around a pontoon. Additionally get a bunch of 4 inch ABS pipe (the black plastic pipe) that is cut to extend about 4 inches on each side of a single pontoon (roughly 16 to 20 inches). The idea is you jack up the boat and stick pipes under the pontoon. If the pipes will roll then it will be easy to push the boat into the water. If the pipes don't roll then it will offer a low friction surface that will make it easier than fighting the mud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T15:40:46.003" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T15:40:46.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17390" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-13T15:56:14.820" Score="24" ViewCount="3402" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to follow a equestrian trail and assume I can ford where the horse-trail does?  Or should I expect equestrians to ford rivers too deep or swift to ford on foot?  I'm thinking of the situation in Iceland, where the topographic map may suggest routes for hikers or equestrians, and some of those may ford quite sizeable rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-13T20:10:19.687" LastActivityDate="2017-10-15T15:14:31.030" Title="Can horses ford deeper/faster rivers than humans?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;horses&gt;&lt;fording&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17390" CreationDate="2017-10-13T16:04:21.737" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Horses are &lt;strong&gt;bigger&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;stronger&lt;/strong&gt; and than humans and because of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square%E2%80%93cube_law&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;square cube law&lt;/a&gt;, they have &lt;strong&gt;more mass to surface area&lt;/strong&gt; which makes them better suited to fording deeper/faster rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether or not you could cross where the horses do, that will &lt;strong&gt;depend on the individual crossing&lt;/strong&gt;. You &lt;strong&gt;probably couldn't cross at all of the places horses can&lt;/strong&gt;, but that doesn't mean that you would be able to &lt;strong&gt;cross at none&lt;/strong&gt; of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T16:04:21.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17390" CreationDate="2017-10-13T18:13:38.117" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, it is often the opposite--many fords which are fine for humans are unsafe for a horse and rider, because the ground is too rocky, or the area is too narrow or steep, or the ford relies on some tool like stepping stones or a safety rope that the horse can't use. On the other hand, horse-safe fords can be muddier and deeper than those meant for humans...not because it's not safe for humans, but just because most hikers don't like to get that wet. But realistically, most riders would prefer not to cross on horseback anything that they couldn't cross on foot if they really had to...because you never know when you might have to (if your horse goes lame for some reason). So you will probably be able to cross most (but not necessarily all) horse-safe fords, but it may not be very pleasant for you and there may be another crossing nearby that would be better suited for a human.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Side note, you made a comment about asking someone else for a ride on their horse to get across--I think you were joking, but just in case, don't do this.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastActivityDate="2017-10-13T18:13:38.117" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5822" CreationDate="2017-10-14T04:21:42.987" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with being sure to properly site the camp but I disagree with laying on the ground during thunderstorms.  Crouching on the balls of your feet is the safest course of action.  Do not lay on the ground ... the infinitesimally small insulation from your mat isn't going to do much when it comes to current that first made it through the air and then through the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14181" LastActivityDate="2017-10-14T04:21:42.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17385" CreationDate="2017-10-14T08:06:42.493" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even 350 HP ski boat would not be able to pull that out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dig it out with a shovel would be a lot of work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a task for a commercial salvage company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or put like 30 people on it.   2-3 is not going to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is far enough out that a frozen lake is not going to hurt it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-10-14T08:06:42.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13262" CreationDate="2017-10-14T18:13:27.237" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7QCBi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7QCBi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot; skipping around the shore line&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I camp all over NE Thailand. Mostly discretely in a hammock and use a gas stove. There are national parks which are just a record of your entry and exit, once inside you can lose yourself to the outside world. Laos is very strict mostly due to ordinance but around towns they want to see tourists using hostels etc which would resort to one choice, wild camping. I have never pitched a tent but just feel it in my bones it would invite questions and maybe the police. Cambodia is like Thailand and Laos, so cheap that backpackers dont humph a tent around and would rather doss in a hostel. I find the hammock the answer as locals all use them, any questions you just say you are resting. No one ever looks into a hammock.The problem I find with wild camping is you are never wild. Just as you set up camp and check your surrounds some local wanders by. Its their territory and they are everywhere even on the water. I use a kayak and no sooner it hit the water some local was telling me to get away from his patch.Fields trees, lakes? They are all claimed and these peoples way of life. Nothing worse than some farmer sweating away in the mid day heat while someone is camping away in front of them. The parks are well looked after and a great hideaway. When I crawl out of the bushes I can have a wash up, a beer or 2 and some cooked food as the parks have facilities. Choose a random farm and get their permission to use the house as a base to wash up. Have a few beers and move on, everyone is happy. Skipping through the countryside like this keeps a social air to camping and not hid away in a bush trying to be quiet from the locals. My 3 methods are 1st, National Park and find a far away corner to be alone. 2nd, bouncing across and around lakes in the kayak, pulling in at night and sleeping on the waters edge. 3rd, the sociable scene talking to farmers and cutting through their land sharing a beer at their house.  No summary just the advice, go for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GWDNU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GWDNU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Travel light and keep tucked away&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14182" LastEditorUserId="14182" LastEditDate="2017-10-14T19:32:57.560" LastActivityDate="2017-10-14T19:32:57.560" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13262" CreationDate="2017-10-14T20:43:37.937" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many places in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misamis_Oriental&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Missamis Oriental Philippines&lt;/a&gt;, some of the most wild land left in Asia. Once in the mountains you can get lost for weeks. Above the Sky Islands new species are being found. Last year when National Geographic went to Sky Island they found 5 new species of animal &amp;amp; 1 new bird. The Northern part is very safe. There are waterfalls, and eagles which are the largest in the world. It's very primitive in places. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could start off at the bay, then walk down to the river then up to the fall, It would be a hard day's walk. Buy some food at the camp, then head from there into the bush. You must realize once you're off the main road there is no electricity and no camp grounds. You're on your own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would advise staying on the small foot trails. They go to the villages in the bush. They're very primitive but you can buy food at them. The problem with Vietnam Cambodia is that many of the bush trails still have some land mines on them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This area is near were I live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-15T20:25:16.513" LastActivityDate="2017-10-15T20:25:16.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17390" CreationDate="2017-10-15T00:00:26.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in New Zealand, land of many rivers. Whether a river is crossable depends completely on depth and flow rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whether a horse or 4WD could cross it is irrelevant&lt;/strong&gt;, because the flow rate and depth vary depending on rainfall in the high country 2-12 hours ago.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen river crossings that can vary from &quot;Where's the water?&quot; (because it's flowing below the ground) right up to &quot;Where's the far side?&quot;, because it's 50 metres wide, and you can't see the far side for the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rule of thumb for a crossing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can see shingle/rocks poking through the water, it's fine to cross.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the water flow seems &quot;fast&quot; then stop and find another crossing point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the flow is &quot;none-slow&quot; you can cross up to hip depth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in doubt, roping up is safer. Not crossing here/now is &lt;strong&gt;safest&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And being tempted to try and balance on rocks to keep completely out of the water? That's a cue to get out the camera - rocks in a riverbed can be unstable and/or slippery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2017-10-15T15:14:31.030" LastActivityDate="2017-10-15T15:14:31.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17385" CreationDate="2017-10-15T07:51:01.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking at this using techniques from a 4x4 recovery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My approach with just a few men would be a hilift jack (you would probably need two) and rollers. The boat has a great point for the jack to access on the lower gunnel.  Lift one side, insert rollers and do the same on the other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be to row out with a decent size anchor, and use a winch to pull the boat back. Again, a high-lift jack can be used as a winch with appropriate chains or wire (rope would be too stretchy). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its possible to 'walk' hilift jacks - jack the boat (you would be needing 4 jacks), and push the boat backwards off the jacks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note the jacks would need large base plates to prevent them sinking into the mud. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note2: Hilift jacks are dangerous, the above suggestions come with real risk of property damage or personal injury if not done properly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on this, I would arrive at the boat with at least 2 hilift jacks, a big anchor (if it does not have one already), winch and wire strops, base plates (500x500mm), rollers and a couple of lengths of 4x2 (100x50mm) timber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-10-15T07:51:01.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17401" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-15T08:49:16.850" Score="11" ViewCount="487" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am regularly using the Click-Up belay device from Climbing Technologies together with a 40-meters rope from Edelrid I bought recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, after using the two only about 10 times together (always indoors) I noticed that there is abnormally strong wear on the rope but only on the second half, i.e. the part of the rope that is needed when lowering the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, I am wondering if anybody else has observed something like this? Or whether it might be related to edges highlighted in the picture below? &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YGBHq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YGBHq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The edges don't seem to be extremely sharp but the only thing I can imagine that could cause this problem, in particular because when lowering the other climber and pushing the rope over to the left (so that it's running over the dark gray plastic part), I see pilling (from the rope) is collecting there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some additional information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope is 9.8 mm in diameter (it's the Edelrid Freedom), so within the recommended range given by the manufacturer (8.6 - 10.5 mm).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is some wear on the caribiner but it doesn't really have sharp edges.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My (very subjective) definition of &quot;abnormally strong wear&quot; is based on other people being surprised by the wear of my rope in comparison to theirs (made by different manufacturers and used with different belay devices), and on my feeling that after 10 times (some 30-40 hours) a rope shouldn't look like one long toothbrush...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We both are rather lightweight (~ 65 kg).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some photos to illustrate what I mean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Part of the rope that shows strong wear&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o70jn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o70jn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Strong wear of rope (10x used)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The first meters still look good as new (this is the same rope although the color seems different in the photos...)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KcXco.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KcXco.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;First meters still look as new&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The carabiner (which belongs to the Click-up and is a few years older than the rope) has some dents which could be related...&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnfXM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnfXM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Carabiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And finally, this is what is looks like after lowering somebody.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eGTa6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eGTa6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8751" OwnerDisplayName="fuenfundachtzig" LastEditorUserId="8751" LastEditDate="2017-10-22T13:54:02.637" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T20:04:51.140" Title="Can a click-up belay tool cause rope wear?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17401" CreationDate="2017-10-16T01:21:51.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any&lt;/strong&gt; belay device &lt;strong&gt;will cause wear and tear&lt;/strong&gt; on the rope since they work by &lt;strong&gt;applying friction&lt;/strong&gt; to the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot &lt;strong&gt;more&lt;/strong&gt; friction when &lt;strong&gt;lowering&lt;/strong&gt; a person than when &lt;strong&gt;belaying&lt;/strong&gt; them so wear on that part of the rope is to be expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s &lt;strong&gt;pretty normal for the sheath to look fuzzy&lt;/strong&gt; or have some tears in it, but if any tears expose the core, it’s time to put it out to pasture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountry.com/explore/when-to-replace-your-climbing-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.backcountry.com/explore/when-to-replace-your-climbing-rope&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its not uncommon for a rope to have pilling or to not look as nice after a lot of belaying. I have seen pilling pile up when lowering with a Gri Gri so it doesn't surprise me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In summary&lt;/strong&gt; this type of wear and tear is &lt;strong&gt;normal&lt;/strong&gt; and probably &lt;strong&gt;not related to your specific device.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it would still probably be a good idea to ask an expert who can physically examine the rope and belay device. They should also be able to teach you how to check your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wanted gear that will last longer, try a static as opposed to a dynamic rope and steel instead of aluminium caribiners and belay devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way of avoiding this type of wear and tear is to stop climbing :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-22T20:04:51.140" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T20:04:51.140" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17401" CreationDate="2017-10-16T22:51:27.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the wear is indeed in the region which is mostly (only) in contact with the Click-Up, I'd double check the carabiner. Here the device is sold only together with its carabiner, to avoid mismatches which can cause increased wear, and reduce braking friction (&lt;strong&gt;so one part of the answer: in special cirumstances: yes it can&lt;/strong&gt;). Is the carabiner original? Is is really without any edge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I enjoy the company of a few people while training, who use a diversity of belaying devices (each their favourite, each for considerable time). There is &lt;strong&gt;no apparent difference in wear&lt;/strong&gt; (that is my answer) for tubes (e.g. ATC), Click-Up (which is also considered a tube-like device) or grigri. There is considerable increase in rope twist when belaying with a munter hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is noticable wear around the region of redirection when top-roping on routes when the redirection point on the rope is around the same region for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of those people are deliberately using the rope from both ends (to even out the unavoidable wear and twisting). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from wear through belaying and redirection I would also check whether the rope drags regularly over abrasive surfaces &lt;strong&gt;on the wall&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-10-16T22:59:32.363" LastActivityDate="2017-10-16T22:59:32.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17404" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17433" CreationDate="2017-10-17T08:54:05.677" Score="11" ViewCount="11533" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last weekend I went to the range with a youngster. Naturally he was very curious and asked me a lot of question. One of them was, why there even was a cock feather which needs to be pointed away from the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, I had to admit that I don't really know the exact reason for it. So why do we need the cock feather concept? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification for lay people:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every arrow has a so called cock feather. It's basically just the same as the others but in a different color (not necessary but is a common practice). This feather indicates how the arrow needs to be positioned on the bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UggCT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UggCT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often the cock feather points to the left on traditional bows. On compound bows it's either up or down (can't remember and I'm not a compound shooter). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just something you get told when doing a course. &quot;The cock feather needs to point to the left.&quot; But why is this the case? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2017-10-17T17:23:09.580" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T22:15:44.883" Title="Why is there a cock vane/feather?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17405" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18141" CreationDate="2017-10-17T15:07:39.670" Score="4" ViewCount="924" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do any kid size (205 mm or 32 EU) ski touring boots and bindings exist? The smallest size I'm able to find is 220 mm, 35 EU.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T15:04:12.763" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:41:12.847" Title="Are there any kid sized alpine touring ski boots and bindings?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17406" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-17T17:04:22.120" Score="6" ViewCount="586" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're looking for an overnight loop near the Boston area. I've checked out the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.northeasthikes.com/the-pemi-loop-hike/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pemi Loop Hike&lt;/a&gt; in New Hampshire, but it's strenuous and we think it might be a little too much for the more novice members in my party. We have 3 days off in November. The Pemi Loop takes 3-4 days, so even if we chose it, it might be pushing it. Any other recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I meant that we are from Boston and are willing to drive up to 3 hours away to hike. We have done plenty of day hikes that distance away. I've hiked &lt;a href=&quot;http://monadnocktrails.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Monadnock&lt;/a&gt; with this same group and we thought it was good terrain for our skill level.  So something like that for a few days would be ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all have a 3 day weekend in November off, so we thought it would be fun to try an overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of us have hiked overnight before, so I'm not too familiar with how campsites work. I'm guessing it varies a lot depending on the trail. But if I can get any and all suggestions for 2-3 day loops in New England, that would help greatly. Then I can start looking into details and finding the right hike for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it doesn't have to be a loop. As long as I can get back to my car to drive us home that works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14199" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-18T22:01:33.530" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T22:23:16.610" Title="What's a good overnight hiking loop in New England, within a 3 hour range of Boston?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17404" CreationDate="2017-10-17T22:03:17.540" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This one is actually much simpler than you might realise:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a three feathered arrow, the nock is at 90 degrees to one feather, and at 30 degrees to the other two feathers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the cock feather was pointed towards the bow, it would be much more likely to hit the bow than the other feathers would if the arrow was rotated the other way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So having it in an obvious colour just makes it quick and easy to know which way is less likely to cause accuracy issues. The feather itself is physically the same as the others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more experienced archers, who can fully use the archer's paradox, the colour may simply aid in nocking the arrow quickly, as you can ensure it is always the correct direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-10-19T08:03:27.940" LastActivityDate="2017-10-19T08:03:27.940" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17404" CreationDate="2017-10-18T04:24:39.050" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It affects accuracy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's something in archery known as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7zewtuUM_0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;archers paradox&lt;/a&gt;. If you think about it, you never actually shoot an arrow straight in front of you, you have to shoot it around the bow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wFb5F.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wFb5F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7zewtuUM_0&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=2m42s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;watch an arrow in slow motion&lt;/a&gt;, it bends one way just as it's loosed, the other way as it's going around the bow, and back again before straightening out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7JuXL.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7JuXL.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fletches (feathers) are indexed on the arrow so that when they pass the bow they will hopefully clear it completely without touching the shaft &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7zewtuUM_0&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=3m16s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(see Slo-mo video)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you knock the arrow wrong (or worse, you build your arrow like a noob and put the fletches/knock on wrong), with the index vane towards the shaft, then not only will you most likely miss the target because your fletches are deflecting off the shaft, you also have a good chance of ripping the fletch clean off the arrow. I had to glue many a fletch back onto my fathers arrows using his big compound bow as a child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So index out, so you don't hit the shaft with the fletches, the index vane is often a different colour on pre-made arrows as Rory mentions, to make it easier to recognize if an arrow is knocked correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-10-18T04:30:31.523" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T04:30:31.523" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17406" CreationDate="2017-10-18T11:14:49.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There isn't a lot of wilderness near Boston, but there are many local trails.  Camping is not allowed on most land that local trails pass over.  However, it is sometimes possible to get permission.  It is probably possible to string together a loop on local trails with pre-arranged camping permission in specific areas.  You would have to do a lot of digging to find the many local trails, find a decent sized loop, then look for camping permission at a few selected sites along that loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are willing to spot a car instead of requiring a loop, then you have many more options.  There are more regional trails in the area than most people realize.  These are long enough for 3 days of hiking.  The closest such trail to Boston is probably the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.baycircuit.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bay Circuit Trail&lt;/a&gt;, which runs through 37 towns in Eastern Massachusetts. I don't know what camping restrictions there might be, but I'd start out assuming camping is not allowed without specific permission that needs to be obtained in advance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a littler further from Boston but a more wild experience, check out the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacomet-Monadnock_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;M+M&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.midstatetrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Midstate&lt;/a&gt; Trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are willing to get further from Boston such that the question is really about New England, then there are many more options.  These include the Berkshires in western MA, the Green Mountains in VT, the White Mountains in NH, and many other more wild areas than anything near Boston.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-18T22:23:16.610" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T22:23:16.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7274" CreationDate="2017-10-18T13:29:49.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are called weed burners for a reason.  Find a long stiff weed. drop it across wire with leaves. In 15 min you will know as to damage to the leaves. Remove weed with long stick,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-10-18T13:29:49.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17413" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-19T13:35:58.297" Score="7" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was in Nepal two years ago and got the stomach flu. Last time I was only in Kathmandu and Pokhara and didn't do any trekking, so it was not critical, although it was very unpleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two years later, now, I am in Nepal again. I thought surely I would have developed some kind of immunity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was proven wrong when I reached Annapurna base camp and got the stomach flu there. Needless to say the next days trekking down where a pure nightmare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I got back in Kathmandu, feeling better, I got another version of the stomach flu again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I expect to develop immunity against these diseases? I am planning on doing the Everest base camp expedition in another two years, but am now having doubts if this is a good idea. I really am not mentally prepared to walk sick for days like that again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do other people deal with this kind of problem? I had anti diarrhoea meds with me, but they did absolutely nothing for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T08:45:17.377" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T08:45:17.377" Title="How long until I develop immunity to stomach flu / travelers' disease?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17415" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17418" CreationDate="2017-10-20T11:04:09.583" Score="5" ViewCount="555" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the moment I have a sport harness which is not ideal for trad climbing. I might buy a trad harness for outdoor climbing only, however I for the moment, I've been focused on Grivel Lynx and have been thinking that I can rack my gear on its loops and keep them on it all the time even when climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a bad back and hanging all the gear off the harness makes it worse (not sure how the weight on Lynx would make my shoulders feel!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantages of using this is that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can see all your gear and choose the right one easier. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the bag part of the backpack is detachable so you don't have to carry extra weight if you don't want to. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can store your non-climbing shoes or whatever in the backpack if needed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can move around better without all the weight around the waist or getting stuck somewhere as they always stick somewhere when I have them on my harness. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you have only one harness for indoor and outdoors (as I do), you don't have to keep replacing the gear. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've received a few frowns when mentioning that but I don't what actual disadvantages it can have, except for getting weird looks from fellow-climbers at a crag. What could the disadvantages of carrying the gear in this way be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P. S. I don't really climb multi pitches at this stage, but might get there soon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jvcm3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jvcm3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;GrivelLynx&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wqaiz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wqaiz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;GrivelLynx GearLoops&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lX5Ct.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lX5Ct.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastActivityDate="2017-10-26T16:00:08.673" Title="What would be the disadvantage of racking trad gear around the shoulders rather than the harness, if any?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17415" CreationDate="2017-10-20T12:15:40.693" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One obvious disadvantage would be climbing chimneys and shoulder cracks will be trickier, since you don't have most of your back to press against some wall, this should even be true (but less so) if you detach the backpack part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also any significant weight which presses on your shoulders will make your arms feel sore earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastEditorUserId="8864" LastEditDate="2017-10-20T12:44:27.973" LastActivityDate="2017-10-20T12:44:27.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17417" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-20T13:44:54.087" Score="9" ViewCount="688" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a Type 1 diabetic and aspire to move to the arctic wilderness of Alaska. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can figure out how to maintain enough emergency carb food for survival. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one thing I'm not sure how I will handle is how to keep 3 months of medicine(insulin) at a temperature between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit (2 - 8 Celsius) for up to 3 months. This is the temperature most refrigerators maintain easily, but power will likely not be too reliable out there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the issue with storing my medicine which I will eventually use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the insulin I will use daily, I need it to be above freezing at all times(doesn't have to be within 10 degrees as the stored insulin does). I figure there must be some kind of '&lt;em&gt;heat pouch&lt;/em&gt;' but I don't know of any product that could keep something warm for extended periods of time, without batteries/power in sub-zero temperaturs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope to find a cabin with a solar system built in, but if I do not, or the system fails, what are some temperature regulation methods that can be used in extreme low temps as there is in remote areas around the arctic circle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14215" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-10-20T14:30:43.800" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T13:46:02.817" Title="How can I keep insulin at the correct temperature in sub zero temperatures?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17415" CreationDate="2017-10-20T15:33:51.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, racking on your shoulders isn't meant to substitute racking on your belt. Supplementary shoulder racks are meant to provide you with &lt;em&gt;additional&lt;/em&gt; racking points for climbs where you are carrying a lot of extra gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You missed the most advantageous point to racking around your shoulders, which is passing gear to your climbing partner when you're multi-pitching. When I lead on trad I always give my follower a sling to put over their shoulder to rack all the gear to when they clean the pitch. This way when they get up to the next belay they can just hand me the whole rack instead of passing each piece of gear off their belt one at a time. This saves you a tonne of time transitioning between pitches, speeds your ascent, and ensures that your follower doesn't forget to pass you that one critical go-to piece of gear you use on every pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main disadvantage to climbing with a rack over your shoulders is it tends to get in your way as you climb, especially when you're racking out in front of you; your gear hangs out in front while you're trying to climb over bulges and you end up kneeling on it, it snags on cracks as you're trying to make a move off some thin holds and throws you off balance, you get stuck, etc. It's best to rack you belt first, then when you run out of room, put the rest of your rack on your shoulder slings. Even when you do, you want to rack those bottom loops on the slings first, to keep the gear as low and a far back as possible, you'd only ever rack the loops high on your shoulders when the other loops are already full.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-10-26T16:00:08.673" LastActivityDate="2017-10-26T16:00:08.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8352" CreationDate="2017-10-20T20:21:59.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was searching for something like that myself earlier this year.  Living in Florida, I was trying to find long pants that are light, cool, and dry quickly that I could wear hiking, camping, and kayaking, and didn't break the bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After trying a few different kinds, I found that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/511-tactical-fast-tac-urban-pants-for-men&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5.11 Tactical Fast-Tac Urban Pants&lt;/a&gt; work great for all those scenarios, and they're light enough that if I want to swim when I'm kayaking, I can.  They dry pretty quick as well, and don't limit mobility much when they're wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially I avoided 5.11 Tactical because most of their stuff is a bit too extreme with their tactical-ness, but I was wandering around Bass Pro Shop one day and found them for $39.99.  They fit comfortably, have an elastic waist, and a convenient &lt;s&gt;magazine&lt;/s&gt; phone pocket on the right thigh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7986" LastActivityDate="2017-10-20T20:21:59.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17417" CreationDate="2017-10-21T01:06:38.583" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use the same solution anyone uses to make unreliable power reliable: get a gas/diesel/etc generator and heater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T01:06:38.583" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17415" CreationDate="2017-10-21T10:15:34.270" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Developing a flexible system for racking your gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess that racking using a particular pack would work in certain specific circumstances, but to me it looks inflexible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Everything is in a fixed position, so you're stuck if you want to move your gear out the way for a specific move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What if you want to do a longer climb with a larger pack? You'll have to work out a whole new system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What if you're on a longer climb and sharing the lead - how do you hand the rack to your partner? On alpine routes your efficiency at the changeover on the belay can make a big difference to your timings, which can mean a big difference to your safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was an active climber pretty much our whole group used a bandolier-style gear sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i139K.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i139K.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a more flexible approach:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can use it with any pack or with no pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can rack all the gear on the sling or distribute it between the sling and your harness, as circumstances dictate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In grooves and chimneys you can sweep your gear out the way, so it doesn't snag - this can be quite a big deal on certain styles of climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you're alternating the lead you can simply hand the whole rack to your partner (have a safe and rehearsed routine for doing this - dropping your rack on an alpine route would be no joke!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. No approach will be ideal in every situation, but if you standardise on a single, flexible approach it will be good enough for most of what you do, and you will get to know its pros and cons so you develop habits that work. This will be safer in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finding something that works for your back issues&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only reason that a bandolier might not work for you would be your back issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast to what you posted, it seems logical that the most back-friendly position for your gear would be your harness - this puts all the weight on your hips. Your proposed solution seems to put all the weight on your back and shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bandolier does put the weight on your shoulder, but it moves as you climb which would vary the direction of pressure, and you could alternate shoulders from pitch to pitch. So it might be less uncomfortable than you would imagine. You'll just have to experiment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to me, the pack-based solution is too specialised - I think you'd be better taking a longer view and developing an approach that will adapt to a wider range of trad situations as your skills and ambitions develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T10:15:34.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17413" CreationDate="2017-10-21T10:45:30.910" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's highly unlikely that you will develop immunity with the long gaps between your trips and the large range of infectious agents you might be faced with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only practical solution is iron discipline around personal hygiene, food and water. Here's the approach I use - it's worked well for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The problems often start on the flight, where food can be stored at blood-heat for hours. I always take the veggie option - less chance of picking up a bug.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always carry an effective filter, and always filter water. Don't trust bottled water or soda from down-market outlets - it's often fake and filled from the local river. In restaurants, always insist that bottled water is served with the seal unbroken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't take ice in your drinks&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't eat salads or unpeeled fruits&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Disinfect your hands after toileting and before you eat. Be very wary of eating food handled by your companions - they may not be as careful as you are. Studies in the US have found that many issues on the trail are due to cross-infection from poor hygiene rather than to infected water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be wary of street food and of accepting hospitality from anyone who might have drawn their water from an unsafe supply.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only relax these rules in upmarket hotels and restaurants, and even then I'm careful. The worst experience I've had was when a group of us ate in a fancy salad-bar in Mumbai. It was popular with local Westerners so we thought it would be OK, but boy were we wrong...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this might seem killjoy, but the alternatives are not pleasant as you have discovered. And it can be worse - you can also pick up hep or even cholera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On my first trip to Asia I was studying with the great yogi B K S Iyengar. He spotted me buying street food and pointed out very forcefully that I was being an idiot as I simply wouldn't have the immunity to get away with it. The lesson stuck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience people who try to be cool and go native inevitably end up getting ill - sometimes very ill. So be uncool and stay safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T10:45:30.910" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17233" CreationDate="2017-10-21T17:06:08.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to optimize for putting the shooter in the best place to intercept the bull on the way to caller, while keeping both the caller and shooter downwind of the approach.  The bull will try to approach the caller from as downwind as possible, depending on how angry/horny he is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, you will have an idea of which direction the elk will come from and what the possible approaches are.  The elk will get close to where he thinks he should be able to see the cow or bull that is making the noise (the caller), and look around, also called &quot;hanging up&quot;.  If you can figure out where that will be, you set the hunter up in a spot with a good view of the ambush site with enough cover to draw behind as the elk approaches.  Hopefully the elk will approach right into the ambush site and sit still while he looks around giving a good shot opportunity.  Thickness of the terrain and certainty of where the elk will come from will determine how confidently you can place the hunter in the right location.  Sometimes the terrain makes one approach a near certainty and other times it is difficult to tell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you aren't certain, the hunter needs to be closer to the caller because you are less likely to be in the right spot when the elk steps out.  If the elk gets around the hunter to the caller, it is unlikely to work out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the summary is that the hunter should be as far in front of the caller as possible while still being relatively sure the elk can't slip around behind and end up sniffing out the caller without the hunter having a shot.  Terrain and wind will dictate all for each situation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(And then, once you have it all figured out, a little spike elk will come down and impossible cliff face to bust you right as the herd bull is about to walk into your shooting lane.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2017-10-21T17:06:08.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17413" CreationDate="2017-10-21T18:56:18.557" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer from @Tullochgorum gave you excellent advice from a person with experience trekking in Asia.  I don't have any experience in Asia outside major cities, nor am I an MD, but I think a few caveats are in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) &lt;strong&gt;If I were you, I'd not only go to a travel clinic, but see a specialist on GI disorders.&lt;/strong&gt;  You may be especially sensitive; what works for most people may not be enough for you.  One thought: did your extreme reaction occur on your first trip, or did you have a few trouble-free trips at first?  Do you have more problems than you'd like even at home (e.g., sickness with weakness and/or dehydration)?  Whatever the answers to these questions, I advise seeing a specialist, because of caveat #2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) There are many strains of e-coli, of which some Asian strains are really, really not nice, and are also highly resistant to antibiotics.  See, for example, this very recent article from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-colistin-resistance-20170131-story.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LA Times&lt;/a&gt;. There are many other articles along this line, which come up when you Google for e-coli strains or drug resistant e-coli. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) As several comments mentioned, &lt;em&gt;developing immunity naturally&lt;/em&gt; to every bug that could cause you trouble in Asia isn't going to happen, or will happen only after a lot of suffering on your part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) You mention getting a vaccine. Again, I am not an MD or a biologist, but see my Point 2.  Even one of the most common vaccines (flu, and that is a viral, not a bacterial disease) protects only against some strains.  Not even the &lt;a href=&quot;https://medshadow.org/features/pros-cons-hpv-vaccine/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuvy1xbGC1wIVSIF-Ch3K3A0UEAAYAiAAEgLQ5_D_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HPV vaccine&lt;/a&gt; protects against all strains of HPV.  This is another reason to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See a specialist!&lt;/strong&gt; (Some doctors might want to follow up with you after the trip, especially if they've prescribed medication.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-10-22T01:50:24.290" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T01:50:24.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17417" CreationDate="2017-10-21T22:58:26.827" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For type 2 diabetics some of the new inhaled insulin products like Afrezza seem to be more forgiving of temperature fluctuations. These appear to only be the fast acting insulin's so not a big help for the type 1 who also needs long acting insulin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no products that I am aware designed specifically to keep something just above freezing without going over 70 (or lower degrees). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I travel with a type 1 diabetic, and I have spent several years living off grid, I am not a Doctor, and the following are just suggestions, you will want to run any potential solution past your medical provider.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first point is keeping a 90 day supply at refrigerator temp.  As we know a 90 day supply through many insurance programs is cheaper.  A 30 day supply &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iddt.org/about/living-with-diabetes/storing-insulin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;or 28 day according to this source&lt;/a&gt; can stay at room temperature. So changing your refill quantity could make things easier, allowing for a larger range of temperatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are totally off grid but able to maintain a room above freezing products like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8854/keeping-single-item-cold-while-backpacking-for-2-days/9816#9816&quot;&gt;frio&lt;/a&gt; can really help with temperature stabilization. We own several of them in different sizes, and they have really helped us be more mobile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping dependable refrigerator temps off grid, is really hard.  There are 12 volt and propane refrigerators, but in my experience, the temperature control is not fine enough to risk insulin in. A couple of ice particles in your beverage is fine, but in your insulin, could mean your death. If your going to use a refrigerator to cool insulin in a warm room, I strongly suggest only using a 110 volt unit (&lt;em&gt;not a dual or three way model, a 110 only household model&lt;/em&gt;). Which means a very expensive off grid power supply, that provides juice 24/7.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping a room warm is not difficult, if you are there.  But the most cost effective solutions are wood and Kerosene, for the very budget aware solutions these are going to need attention every 8 to 12 hours at the outside.  If you are gone for 24 hours, during an arctic winter day/night the risk of indoor freezing temps is very high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to keep heat going while you are gone for say a 72 hour round trip into town to pick up meds and supplies, and you are totally off grid, a propane heating system is probably the most cost effective solution. Our newer camp trailer has a thermostat controlled propane heater, that uses a 12 volt power supply. How much battery and propane you need depends on the size area you are heating and how much insulation you have.  My off grid time was in Washington state, and I found a 100 pound (25 gallon) propane tank was large enough to last several days, even with the heaviest usage, and small enough that I could move it reasonably well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary; If I was going off grid, arctic winter, with type 1 diabetic supplies. I would get insulin refills every 30 days, use a frio to keep the temperature stable (also helps keep the chill off for short periods).  I would use a thermostatic controlled propane heater with a 12 volt fan. I would have at least two 25 gallon propane tanks, and head into town for more propane no later then the day I connected the last tank (sooner is ok, but make sure you have a full tank connected the day you leave).  There are a lot of variables on 12 volt usage, so you will need to figure out how many deep cycle batteries you will need to keep the house going for 3 days.  Keep in mind, a snow covered solar panel on a cloudy day is not going to provide any energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional Comment&lt;/strong&gt; Currently we travel with a camp trailer, that has a 110 and propane power options. We never put insulin it! We do use it to freeze, freezer packs, which we then use to keep the insulin (and other meds) cool in a small cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T17:02:07.987" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T17:02:07.987" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17429" CreationDate="2017-10-22T17:06:18.780" Score="7" ViewCount="693" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been walking my dog recently in the Templeton woods in Dundee, Scotland. When I walked past the Gallow Hill water tower I came across these concrete (?) posts. There were about 20-30 of them and I'd like to know if anyone can tell me what these are and why they're there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/raXu5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/raXu5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where the water tower is, but I can't see the posts on the satellite image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/4nFet5Ezt9x&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;56°29'43.3&quot;N 3°02'02.6&quot;W (Google Maps)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14220" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-05-09T12:52:32.370" LastActivityDate="2019-05-09T12:52:32.370" Title="What are these concrete posts near the Gallow Hill water tower in Dundee, Scotland?" Tags="&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17428" CreationDate="2017-10-22T21:15:04.843" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;They appear to be part of a water tank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/336500/732500/12/100954&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1954 OS map that describes buildings at that location as &quot;tanks&quot;&lt;/a&gt; -- a term also applied on the same map to the water tower itself.  Earlier maps don't show them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=340385&amp;amp;y=730678&amp;amp;z=120&amp;amp;sv=dundee&amp;amp;st=3&amp;amp;tl=Map+of+Dundee,+Dundee+City+[City/Town/Village]&amp;amp;searchp=ids.srf&amp;amp;mapp=map.srf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;current OS map&lt;/a&gt; only shows the tower itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a scale so making very rough guesses as to the diameter of the silver birch trees, they've been there a decade or so according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.agro-9e85fb25-bae7-4ba3-a446-d051ce98ca2c/c/tkaczyk13-4-8-e.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this paper&lt;/a&gt; (which was looking at rather different terrain so we can only guess very roughly).  Of course the trees may have been planted long after the structure was demolished.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/336500/732500/10/101322&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this map from 1989&lt;/a&gt; doesn't show anything except the main water tower (though something is present in 1979).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's as much as I can tell -- google has no archive news about Gallow Hill or Clatoo long enough ago to be relevant, and I can't find photos other than modern ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-10-22T21:15:04.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16992" CreationDate="2017-10-22T23:16:44.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is yes, if the rules are followed, it is technically legal for personal size sailboats, 16ft (4.9m) or under, to be out in a thunderstorm in Nantucket Sound. The Sunfish, which is 13.9ft, (4.23m), falls into that category. However, it's not smart, and is highly discouraged!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Classification:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Massachusetts State Boating Laws break watercraft down into two classifications; those with motors and those without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Registration:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;For use in public waterways, registration is only required for watercraft which have a motor, even if the motor is not the primary means of propulsion. Watercraft without motors do not need to be registered with the State. The Sunfish was designed without a motor, and I believe that's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sunfishdirect.com/store/specifications&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;still true&lt;/a&gt;. Therefore registration is not necessary, and would not have been the cause of your dad's trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Federal Safety Regulations:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;All boats, of all sizes, registered or not, must comply with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boatma.com/safetytips.html?p=safetytips#federallaw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Federal Regulations&lt;/a&gt; for safety. Federal laws are classified by boat size. The smallest category is 16ft (4.9m) or smaller. As I said above, the Sunfish is 13.9 ft, (4.23m) so it falls into that category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Among other things, boats in this category are required to carry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Life Jackets (PFDs):&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;One Type I, II, III, IV, or Hybrid Type V for each person. Hybrid Type V must be worn at all times to meet Coast Guard regulations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At least one oar or paddle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whistle, Bell or Horn:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Any device capable of making an &amp;quot;efficient sound signal.&amp;quot; This regulation is applicable for boats up to 65.6 ft. (20 meters). Larger boats have stricter sound requirements.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boatma.com/safetytips.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massachusetts Marine Trades Association&lt;/a&gt; Massachusetts Boat Safety Tips website clearly lays out the rules for all varieties of boat. All boaters would benefit greatly from reading that site and its related links. They have a list of potentially life-saving safety tips, two of which may have been especially pertinent in the case of your father's incident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be weather wise. Sudden wind shifts, fog, lightning flashes and choppy water all can mean a storm is brewing. Bring a portable radio to regularly check weather reports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tell someone where you're going, who is with you, and how long you'll be away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your dad complied with legal rules but not safety rules, that would have been enough to get him in trouble.  Putting other boats and boaters at risk of injury just to have the adventure of sailing in a storm is a bad idea. Your suspicion that he might have been considered reckless makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's disrespectful to use precious agency resources when they have more important problems to attend to during a weather event. Impounding the boat and punishing the sailor would have been appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The waters surrounding Nantucket are governed by a complex combination of Federal and State jurisdiction, mostly for environmental protection reasons. A few different agencies monitor watercraft behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had some trouble locating enforcement measures for small sail boats in current times. Some sites say that agencies are frustrated when it comes to enforcement, mostly because revocation of license is the first line of defense, and small sail boats don't need to be licensed. Some infractions are just overlooked, unless they're very dangerous, or committed by repeat offenders. Even with the rules in place, impounding doesn't seem to be used as it was so many years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nantucket's population has had tremendous growth in the last 50 years. The island was much less populated at the time of the incident you described, so local enforcement was probably more personally involved. The fine itself was probably for the infraction, the cost for the boat to be towed to and stored in the impound area, or both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-10-24T01:46:14.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17404" CreationDate="2017-10-23T01:40:38.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, it is done to minimize the possibility that the feathers will contact the arrow rest. Since there are different types of arrow rests, the direction pointed will depend on the type of rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The nock of your arrows should be adjusted so that when placed on the string (nocked) the cock feather or vane (the one with a different color) points in the &lt;strong&gt;direction that will minimize the possibility of fletching (vanes or feathers) contacting the arrow rest.&lt;/strong&gt;  For example, with a two tine rest the cock feather should be &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt; to pass between the tines without touching, whereas with the Whisker Biscuit it should be &lt;strong&gt;up&lt;/strong&gt; to avoid the stiffer bristles that support the arrow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bowhuntingbasics.com/basic_archery.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bowhuntingbasics.com/basic_archery.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Depends on the rest you are using&lt;/strong&gt;. If it is a drop away rest than you want the odd colored vane to be pointing &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt;. With a rest like a whisker biscuit it really doesn’t matter which way it is pointing. Most other rests, you want the odd colored vane pointing &lt;strong&gt;toward you&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.archerysupplier.com/which-way-should-the-fletching-be-pointed/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.archerysupplier.com/which-way-should-the-fletching-be-pointed/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The cock feather is pointed &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt; between the prongs of the arrow rest. Traditional archers and some compound shooters use solid rests and the cock feather is then pointed &lt;strong&gt;straight out to the side.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=Bdy7mT4iWMgC&amp;amp;pg=PA31&amp;amp;lpg=PA31&amp;amp;dq=what%20is%20the%20odd%20colored%20fletching%20called&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=v79LHRWEFy&amp;amp;sig=OzEOnZpz89SN7eCsgaXT7HTBafo&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjTwciezIXXAhUR4GMKHR5XDmw4ChDoAQgnMAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=what%20is%20the%20odd%20colored%20fletching%20called&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T01:40:38.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17445" CreationDate="2017-10-23T10:51:48.423" Score="16" ViewCount="9062" Body="&lt;p&gt;I follow the international rock climbing scene, and we constantly hear of repetitions of hard routes on El Capitan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On Youtube, it is possible to find many videos of strong climbers from all over the world climbing (sometimes free) routes such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VapbvTq8GOE&amp;amp;t=483s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Nose&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccPYyF-plQY&amp;amp;t=9s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Golden Gate&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f13cti8iLsw&amp;amp;t=157s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zodiac&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/athletes/alex-honnold/most-dangerous-free-solo-climb-yosemite-national-park-el-capitan/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freerider&lt;/a&gt; and Salathé Wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you look for videos of people climbing Half Dome, or articles about ascents on Half Dome, you find almost nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first I thought that it is because most of the routes there are aid climbing routes, and aid climbing is not very fashionable right now. However, most of the routes on El Capitan are also aid routes, and many of them have been free climbed, so this explanation is not very satisfactory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it because of the difficulty, i.e. is it much harder to free climb Half Dome (apart from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_Northwest_Face_of_Half_Dome&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Regular Northwest Face&lt;/a&gt;), or are other factors involved?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That rock is just so iconic, and it seems very strange that no strong climber is interested in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(I am looking from the factors that could explain why Half Dome is much less frequented than El Cap, possibly with facts to back up the answer, like interviews to climbers or statistics.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T10:50:12.530" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T10:50:12.530" Title="Why is (almost) no one climbing hard routes on Half Dome?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;aid-climbing&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17436" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17439" CreationDate="2017-10-23T15:49:01.150" Score="9" ViewCount="1216" Body="&lt;p&gt;What would be the easiest type of shelter for a young kid to build, alone and with minimal tools, in a deep winter survival situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a kid 10-12 years old, carrying only a Swiss army-knife, a hatchet and some string/sailing cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14118" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-27T02:15:13.060" LastActivityDate="2017-10-27T02:15:13.060" Title="Quick and easy winter shelter for kids to build" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17435" CreationDate="2017-10-23T16:14:39.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, &lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150731-is-half-dome-too-dangerous/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;this article&quot;&gt;this article in National Geographic&lt;/a&gt; provides a clue - a number of key areas on the face have become unstable, and a large rockfall has destroyed a section of the Normal Northwest Face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doesn't sound like fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some of the rubble at the base of the cliff:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RT40g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RT40g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T16:14:39.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17435" CreationDate="2017-10-23T20:39:34.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there's simply more to climb on El Cap. A quick look at the list of established climbs in Yosemite (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/routes-by-difficulty&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/routes-by-difficulty&lt;/a&gt;) reveals that there are &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; more routes on El Cap than there are on Half Dome. Interestingly enough, despite the fact the cliff is significantly taller, many of Half Dome's popular routes are quite a few pitches shorter than many of the routes on El Cap, and aren't rated as high. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Half Dome is the sheerest cliff on the North American Continent, one of the sheerest in the world. Some of the faces are smooth and virtually featureless, with only small hairline cracks to follow. It's not possible to climb much of Half Dome without aid; using thin pitons and spending hours upon hour hand-drilling bolt holes (bolts are only permitted in Yosemite if exclusively hand-drilled), which is why most people are drawn to El Cap where they can climb a big wall but still free climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Belay Station on the 11th pitch of the &quot;Regular Route&quot; on Half Dome:&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q45sJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q45sJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Not a whole lot to grab on this rock:&lt;/em&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CN1Il.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CN1Il.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer appears to be: There are more routes to climb on El Cap, and the quality of climbing is better/more varied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-10-23T20:46:07.070" LastActivityDate="2017-10-23T20:46:07.070" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17436" CreationDate="2017-10-23T23:09:55.537" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few different styles of shelters that come to mind with differing levels of difficulty. A lot of it depends on if they will be making it to survive the night, or to survive for an exponential amount of time until possible rescue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snow cave is one option, however it may be difficult with the tools you have mentioned. Although I think that it would be the best option for survival in a deep winter scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below I have listed this in addition to several other options for shelter depending on the surrounding area and snow cover. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow Cave&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be challenging to build without a shovel, but provides excellent coverage and warmth if done correctly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Begin by finding a large snow drift that looks to have been there for some time, a fresh one will work but the more the snow has been packed the better. Begin digging into the side that faces away from the wind near the bottom of the drift, you don't want cold air and snow blowing in your doorway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dig in and then up a bit keeping the ceiling an arch, do not build a flat ceiling or you risk the shelter collapsing. Having a step to sleep on will also help to keep the warm air from escaping. A candle or very small fire can raise the temperature quite a bit in a well built snow cave, but if you have a fire you need to also have some vent holes. Don't want to burn up all your oxygen if you have the doorway sealed. Here is a basic illustration of one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vWQbS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vWQbS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An image of inside a real one, this is the style I prefer with a t-shape cut into the drift. This keeps you close to the ceiling where the warm air collects. If the lower portion slopes downward toward the door, that is even better for filtering out the cold air. Use the steps to sleep on and leave your packs and tools on the floor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ko9Y9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ko9Y9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a young child it would not need to be overly large for them to survive a night, but they can be built larger and more advanced if you will be using it for multiple nights. It is also wise to mark the top so that you do not walk on it, and if possible flag the area in case someone is looking for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other option that is similar is a basic debris hut, that you then insulate with snow. This image shows the use of a parachute, but with enough pine boughs and debris snow could be used without a parachute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XbBRS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XbBRS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow Pit Style shelter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Difficult without a shovel and time consuming&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar design that could be done with some patience and a hatchet is a pit style shelter. These are created in areas with deep heavily packed snow. In layman's terms you dig a large pit surrounding a tree that is already half buried in snow, then make a top by laying pine or other branches so that they rest on the central tree. You can lash them with twine or cord for additional security. Ideally you want to cover the top with enough pine that it makes a nice mat on top to hold heat in. Also if you have a tarp it helps to add a layer between the branches. You then also make a mat at the bottom with pine boughs or something similar to put a layer of cushion/insulation between you and the cold ground. This is a very important step for any winter survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KhNuo.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KhNuo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Debris Hut&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Relatively easy to assemble and can be made semi quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not in deep snow, another shelter that comes to mind is using a fallen tree to make a double lean-to style shelter, often referred to as a debris hut. This can be done with a tree that has fallen but remained attached to the trunk, or by placing a large log or tree on a low limb of another. For this case, being children, finding the first would be the way to go, as your ridge pole is already in place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NABHX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NABHX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tree such as this one is a great starting point. From here you would just find sticks or small logs and lean them against the main tree (the ridgepole), after getting a good framework of sticks, then cover with as much foliage as you can. A good dense layer of pine boughs works well, in cold weather you can do this several times to make the walls nice and insulated. If it is cold you should also try and get yourself off the ground or at least onto a pine bough mattress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have the side up it should look something like this, only on a larger scale. This just happened to be the best picture I could quickly find. You would also want a more substantial framework before the animated insulation layer and for it to be able to cover your entire body length. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dxfU7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dxfU7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure that the ridgepole is sturdy and can support the weight of the branches placed on it and any possible snow that may fall. The last thing you want is for your shelter to collapse, trapping you inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are enough leaves and debris around to be found it should look something like this. You would also want to cover the entrance if at all possible, which can be done by lashing pine boughs or sticks together to make a makeshift door panel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0EYqH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0EYqH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Basic Lean-to&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to build, doesn't offer as much protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, a basic lean-to could also be used, but I generally like a little more than a single wall, although depending on the situation that may be all you need. Just be sure when building it to put the back wall against the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice in the image below he is well up off the cold ground and also has a fire nearby, both of these facts are instrumental in surviving in the cold with a lean-to type of shelter. However, this is still a little too open for my tastes, and at very least I would try and build one with a bit more angle and coverage over the top of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MWwTl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MWwTl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or make what is called a double lean-to, where essentially two lean-to's face each other with a camp fire in the middle. Basically a debris hut with an open top, I would prefer a debris hut in a winter situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pbF5p.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pbF5p.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-24T22:53:34.887" LastActivityDate="2017-10-24T22:53:34.887" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8309" CreationDate="2017-10-25T08:06:00.623" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I simply added a pen top to the end of my filter hose. Remove my bite valve, and put the top in or on the camelbak hose and get to pumping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14231" LastActivityDate="2017-10-25T08:06:00.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17435" CreationDate="2017-10-25T13:31:15.210" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading the comments and discussing with other users helped me get a much better idea of the possible causes why we hear of so many hard (sometimes free) ascents on El Capitan and almost none on Half Dome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. The approach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HqRx8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HqRx8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fig. 1 - The two possible approaches to HD and the Regular NW Face route [From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/route-overlay-slabs-approach-half-dome/1002461&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;summitpost.org&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/half-dome/105833395&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountainproject.com&lt;/a&gt;, there are two possible approaches to Half Dome (HD): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1) Hike up from Happy Isles up the Mist Trail through Little Yosemite Valley (approx. 8 miles to the shoulder of Half Dome). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2) Head over from Happy Isles past Mirror Lake and hike up the &quot;Death&#xA;  Slabs&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Option 1 is smooth hiking and clearly the way to go for the south&#xA;  facing routes. Option 2 is significantly faster (for the NW face), in&#xA;  both directions, but requires skilled route finding, very steep&#xA;  hiking, and use of fixed lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Half-Dome-Regular-Northwest-Face&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Supertopo.com&lt;/a&gt; gives an approach time of 3 hours to get to the base of the Regular Northwest Face route (which is on the left side of the NW face, see Fig.1), and even if it is not specified if it is via the trail or via the Death Slabs we can guess is via the Slabs, since it is the fastest path to the NW face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some quotes from other websites about the approach:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Get your gear and partner in order. Do an &lt;strong&gt;excruciating approach up thousands of feet&lt;/strong&gt;, passing hundreds of knackered tourists from all over the world. Although a few will recognize you as a climber, most will look at you like you're a bit off in the head for shlepping an enormous, orange plastic backpack up the several million steps. And in many ways they're right, for you're about to pull off one of the most spectacular climbs on the face of our fair planet.[&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/v/regular-northwest-face-of-half-dome/105912416&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountainproject.com&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;HD is more of an alpine wall, with a &lt;strong&gt;grueling 2.5 hr-half day approach&lt;/strong&gt; and loose/impossible hauling that forces people to go fast and light.[&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/routes-by-difficulty&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;yosemitebigwall.com&lt;/a&gt;, about the route The Reg]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bC80c.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bC80c.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[Fig. 2 - The Death Slabs - From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/tr/RNWF-8-6-11-First-Big-Wall/t11107n.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;supertopo.com&lt;/a&gt;  ]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the approach to HD is not easy: either an 8 miles trail up to the shoulder and then down, or 3 hours up the Death Slabs, a path which includes parts on fixed ropes and some tricky climbing passages (more about the Slabs on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/el-capitan/150993&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;summitpost.org&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison, the approach to The Nose on El Cap &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-El-Capitan-The-Nose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;takes just 10 minutes&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Working on a hard project requires spending days, weeks, sometimes months on the route. If the route is on El Cap, this is not a problem since it is possible to go by car and simply walk for 10 minutes to the base of the route. This is not the case with HD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. Route level&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, aid climbing is not as popular as in the past, and strong climber try to make new free ascents or to free old aid climbing routes. So, when talking about the level, I will concentrate on free ascents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yosemitebigwall.com provides a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/routes-by-difficulty&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; of the most famous routes in Yosemite by length and level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Amongst the routes listed as &quot;beginner&quot; level, only one, the Regular NW Face, is on HD, while El Cap has 5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At &quot;intermediate&quot;, we find 25 El Cap routes, but only 3 HD routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks therefore that the average level of the routes on HD is higher than that on El Cap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take for example the famous route &lt;strong&gt;Zodiac&lt;/strong&gt;, on El Capitan: 5.7 A3, 15 pitches. The Huber brothers, who &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/alexander-and-thomas-huber-free-the-zodiac.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;first freed it in 2015&lt;/a&gt;, evaluated the difficulty of the free ascent 5.13+. Since then (at the moment I'm writing is October 2017), the route has seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/longhf.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;only other two free ascents&lt;/a&gt; as far as I know, by Tommy Caldwell in 2015 and by the team composed by Barbara Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher in 2016. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest routes in terms of difficulty and length that we can find on HD are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South Face, Half Dome South Face VI 5.8 A3 17 pitches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tis sa ack, Half Dome Northwest Face VI 5.9 A2+ or C3 21 pitches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Direct Northwest Face, Half Dome Northwest Face VI 5.10 A2+ 24 pitches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;all of which are longer than Zodiac and as hard, if not harder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of these three routes, &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/longhf.htm#half&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;only the Direct NW Face has been free climbed&lt;/a&gt;, the first time in 1992 by Todd Skinner and the second time by Tommy Caldwell in 2007. The difficulty of the free ascent is reported to be around 5.13c/d. More about big wall free climbing in Yosemite: &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/longhf.htm#half&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/longhf.htm#half&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Danger&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2015, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/big-section-of-half-dome-route-falls-off/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a key section of the famous Regular NW Face route on HD fell off&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbingyosemite.com/portfolio/half-dome-rockfall-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbingyosemite.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Water staining on this slab suggests that large portions of the rock sheet that fell were completely separated from the adjacent (and now exposed) rock for decades prior to failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUF75.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RUF75.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[Fig 3 - The flake structure of the rock of HD - From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-102609&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;elcapreport&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By looking at pictures of the rock on HD, we can see that there are many similar &quot;flake&quot; structures on the NW face, where most of the climbing routes are (Fig. 3). Actually, the gradual falling of sheets of rock is how HD NW face was formed in the first place; quoting &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/rockfall.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;nps.gov&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A number of geologic processes set the stage for rockfalls, including glaciation, weathering, and bedrock fractures. Tectonic stresses and erosion cause granite rock to fracture. Rockfalls later occur along these fractures. &lt;strong&gt;Fractures that develop parallel to the surface are called sheeting joints&lt;/strong&gt;. Sheeting joints create large slabs of rock that ultimately fall away in a process known as exfoliation. &lt;strong&gt;In Yosemite Valley, Royal Arches and the face of Half Dome are examples of landforms that have resulted from this process&lt;/strong&gt;. Over long periods, water flowing through fractures decomposes the bedrock in a process called weathering. Weathering loosens bonds that hold rocks in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These recent rockfalls have left many people wondering wether that section of HD is has not become &lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150731-is-half-dome-too-dangerous/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;too dangerous to climb&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be, therefore, that the peculiar structure of HD makes it more subject to dangerous rockfalls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EkaI0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EkaI0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the above map (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/rockfall.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;nps.gov&lt;/a&gt;) we can see that even if there have been many rockfalls on El Cap, most of the biggest ones are in winter and fall, when the walls are less frequented. The NW face of HD, on the other side, had many big rockfalls in spring and summer, when the frequentation is higher (especially in spring and early summer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="14224" LastEditDate="2017-10-27T08:04:57.723" LastActivityDate="2017-10-27T08:04:57.723" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17448" CreationDate="2017-10-25T13:36:47.773" Score="9" ViewCount="12502" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally hike in the Sahyadri ranges in Maharashtra (India).&#xA;During the rainy season there are a lot of crabs on the trail.&#xA;In case the crab bites, what are the first aid steps that can be taken?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9711" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-27T18:55:33.447" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:24:46.667" Title="What first aid can be done for Crab Bite?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17436" CreationDate="2017-10-25T14:21:18.583" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer from @Nate Wengert, far away from reality. I don't think that kid will be able to dig snow cave or build a shelter even having hatchet and shovel. It might be easy when you do it in good sunny weather on your backyard. Try to do it at night when you got lost, when you have frozen hands and legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is shelter build by adult. The guy had basic instruments like axe and saw. He wanted to try to survive in forest during winter. He died in 2 days. this guy was with his friend which decided to return to people and &lt;strong&gt;survived&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPgRc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPgRc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to be prepare for survival situation and here is how my kid prepared(I have 7y.o. daughter):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a good and appropriate cloth: this is warm glows, down jacket,&#xA;leather boots, gaiters. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All season blanket (made of foil). The weight is minimal, 50 gram maybe. And luminous stick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mobile phone and PMR radio for communication.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In survival situation kid should use daylight to walk, find people and ask for help. Not spending time by building shelter. In one day kid can make 20-40km without heavy backpack. It's very hard to find a place where is no people in 20km range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a kid need to spend a night in mountains or forest then first what is needed is to find a place protected from wind. Then put legs to backpack, wear down jacket, use foil blanket and open luminous stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-10-25T14:21:18.583" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17446" CreationDate="2017-10-25T14:29:17.247" Score="10" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First control the bleeding with gauze or a cloth and light pressure&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Elevate the foot &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean with soap and water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply an antiseptic&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can get single packs &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bandage/bandaid(plaster) if necessary&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they latch onto a toe they could break or sprain it. If so you can tape two toes together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T17:24:46.667" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:24:46.667" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17415" CreationDate="2017-10-25T23:50:22.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chimneys / offwidths would be hell with that thing. Other than that, it might get in your way while climbing... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, if it works for you, go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14234" LastActivityDate="2017-10-25T23:50:22.680" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17451" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17452" CreationDate="2017-10-26T15:20:04.867" Score="3" ViewCount="367" Body="&lt;p&gt;To start I am from the Midwest in the United States. In the recent years, many lakes and rivers have been taken over by an invasive species of fish called Asian Carp. These fish are disgusting/slimy fish, but have had several people tell me if you know how to clean and cook them properly they are actually a good eating fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done research and cannot find one good way to clean/cook them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know how to clean a wide variety of fish(Bluegill, Crappie, White Bass, Catfish..etc) But I would really like to know how to clean an Asian Carp and then how to cook it properly so that it is edible, AND tastes good. Any suggestions would be helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11496" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-26T15:23:56.377" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T00:02:43.917" Title="How to clean and cook Asian Carp" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17451" CreationDate="2017-10-26T17:45:43.100" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU_JSKwVUOE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;decent video&lt;/a&gt; detailing just how to do it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically filet it like any other fish. Remove the &quot;dark meat&quot; that is pungent and distasteful. Then remove the row of spines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taste tests described in the video show that virtually everyone preferred asian carp (poached or fried) over the other varieties such as tilapia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faZqIdGi87k&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another one narrated with a great accent.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2017-10-26T17:45:43.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14576" CreationDate="2017-10-28T08:24:34.083" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The liftie was right to inform you of the dangers. The backpack straps and buckles can easily get caught on the back of the chair. As a Director of a Ski School in France 'Ski with Ease' we always inform skiers of the risks and inform of best practice to remove and place on your lap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't matter if you are an experienced skier or not, it only takes a second to get caught.. Ski trouser braces dangling to look cool are another that I have witnessed getting caught on lift exit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our resorts are particularly hot on it after a child died just a few years ago &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11914211/Ski-bosses-go-on-trial-for-death-of-British-teenager-strangled-on-French-Alps-lift.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11914211/Ski-bosses-go-on-trial-for-death-of-British-teenager-strangled-on-French-Alps-lift.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/05/boy-left-dangling-ski-lift-snagging-rucksack/amp/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/05/boy-left-dangling-ski-lift-snagging-rucksack/amp/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid wearing rucksacks wherever possible as they are going to affect your balance over the center of your skis. Of course off piste skiing they would be a must to carry probe and shovel etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14240" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-10-28T10:24:54.170" LastActivityDate="2017-10-28T10:24:54.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17457" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-28T15:36:17.337" Score="25" ViewCount="6561" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read some articles that suggested that even moderately high altitudes can lead to some irreversible brain damage. Thus, I was wondering whether that is actually possible and what is its likelihood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done that once and I was wondering if there's a realistic chance that I caused myself brain damage. I usually live at 500ft (~150m) and I did a hike to a summit which is at 9,600ft (~2900m). We spent a night at 7,000ft (~2100m) and then on the next day climbed the peak and went back to 500ft. Thus, we spent around 5-6 hours at above 9,000ft elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never felt any discomfort or any worrisome symptoms and I was 18 at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14243" LastEditorUserId="14245" LastEditDate="2017-10-29T00:19:24.533" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T17:00:10.460" Title="Can you get permanent brain damage by spending a day at 10,000ft (~3000m) altitude?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17457" CreationDate="2017-10-28T17:07:45.717" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;: Yes, it can happen at &lt;strong&gt;that altitude&lt;/strong&gt;, but the odds are extremely &lt;strong&gt;low&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long answer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;High-altitude cerebral edema&lt;/a&gt; has happened at lower than 10,000 ft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The condition is &lt;strong&gt;seldom see&lt;/strong&gt;n below 3,000 metres (9,800 ft),&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/into-thin-air-altitudes-toll-on-the/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt; but in some &lt;strong&gt;rare cases it has developed as low as 2,500 metres (8,200 ft).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema#Epidemiology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give an idea of how rare those rare cases are, consider&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HACE occurs in &lt;strong&gt;0.5% to 1%&lt;/strong&gt; of people who climb or trek between 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) and 5,000 metres (16,000 ft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema#Epidemiology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth noting that while &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;HACE&lt;/a&gt; is rare it also an extremely serious situation that will end fatally without treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although AMS is not life-threatening, &lt;strong&gt;HACE is usually fatal within 24 hours if untreated.&lt;/strong&gt; Without treatment, the patient will enter a coma and then die. In some cases, patients have died within a few hours, and a few have survived for two days. Descriptions of &lt;strong&gt;fatal cases often involve climbers who continue ascending while suffering from the condition's symptoms.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cerebral_edema&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The damage caused by HACE is long lasting,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It was previously thought that HACE did not leave any traces in the brains of survivors,&amp;quot; said Dr. Michael Knauth, PhD, director of the University Medical Center Department of Neuroradiology in Göttingen. &amp;quot;Our studies show that this is not the case. &lt;strong&gt;For several years after, microhemorrhages or microbleeds are visible in the brains of HACE survivors.&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survivors of the most clinically severe cases of HACE had the most prominent evidence of microhemorrhages&lt;/strong&gt; on MRI, according to the research group. The bleeds were found predominantly in the corpus callosum, which consists of densely packed nerve fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres, and they showed a characteristic distribution different from other vascular diseases such as vasculitis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.auntminnieeurope.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&amp;amp;sub=def&amp;amp;pag=dis&amp;amp;ItemID=607424&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For much &lt;strong&gt;higher&lt;/strong&gt; peaks, their is a real risk of permanent brain damage and that is &lt;strong&gt;without showing signs of altitude sickness.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;METHODS:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We recruited 35 climbers consecutively (12 were professional and 23 were amateur) in 4 expeditions without supplementary oxygen: 12 professionals and one amateur went up to Mt. Everest (8848 m), 8 amateurs to Mt. Aconcagua (6959 m), 7 amateurs to Mont Blanc (4810 m), and 7 amateurs to Mt. Kilimanjaro (5895 m). The mean age was 33.8 years (range: 22-46). All of them underwent general medical examination, standard blood tests, and MRI of the brain after the expeditions. MRI also was carried out in a control group of 20 healthy subjects. Single-voxel MR spectroscopy was carried out in 14 amateur subjects after the expeditions and in 10 healthy controls. As outcome measures, we evaluated changes in the hematocrit value, presence of cerebral lesions on MRI, as well as atrophy and dilatation of Virchow-Robin spaces, and differences in the metabolite ratios obtained from brain MRS in comparison with controls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Only 1 in 13 of the Everest climbers had a normal MRI&lt;/strong&gt;; the amateur showed &lt;strong&gt;frontal subcortical lesions&lt;/strong&gt;, and the &lt;strong&gt;remainder had cortical atrophy and enlargement of Virchow-Robin spaces but no lesions&lt;/strong&gt;. Among the remaining amateurs, 13 showed symptoms of high-altitude illness, &lt;strong&gt;5 had subcortical irreversible lesions&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;10 had innumerable widened Virchow-Robin spaces&lt;/strong&gt;. Conversely, we did not see any lesion in the control group. We found no significant differences in the metabolite ratios between climbers and controls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16443427&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16443427&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T04:55:17.510" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17459" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17460" CreationDate="2017-10-29T04:58:40.310" Score="5" ViewCount="5274" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt;  This question is motivated by an accident that happened to my sister in a very rural area. She was on a fence and fell onto a t-post which basically impaled her, but which fell out by the time she hit the ground. (Details are gruesome.)  We padded the injury with some shirts and then basically panicked until we saw a helicopter. We signaled the helicopter, which landed; we put her on a tarp and transferred her to the copter, which flew her to a hospital 15 miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Question:&lt;/strong&gt; We were lucky.  I've thought about this incident and wondered how a &lt;em&gt;similar&lt;/em&gt; (not identical) incident could be handled far from help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume you are in the wilderness. Phones are dead, you don't have a PLB, and if you walked out, help could not arrive in less than three days. You have a first aid kit and some other equipment that might be helpful, including but not necessarily limited to, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, pliers, scissors, fishing line, iodine, tape, and rope  You have a well set-up campsite and plenty of easily accessible food and water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your hiking partner gets stabbed through the stomach with a tree branch. The branch is still all the way in and is small enough so your partner can be moved. Your only options are to attempt to treat them or watch them die. What can you do?  What should you not do? What aid can you give before hiking out for help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One commenter asked if the branch had splinters. Branches often do, but an answer that does not account for splinters could still be useful.  I chose &lt;em&gt;branch&lt;/em&gt; instead of &lt;em&gt;generic object&lt;/em&gt;, which seemed vague, and because my own experience, which was a t-post, would make the question too narrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14249" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-10-30T07:23:04.703" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T22:29:56.010" Title="What to do if someone gets impaled in the stomach?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17459" CreationDate="2017-10-29T05:28:26.817" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;To quote from the Wilderness First Responder manual,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Large objects found impaled in a wound &lt;strong&gt;should be left in place if you can get to a medical facility with relative ease.&lt;/strong&gt; Yanking on an object can stimulate serious bleeding and damage underlying structures, &lt;strong&gt;especially if the object is impaled in a body cavity&lt;/strong&gt;, such as the chest, &lt;strong&gt;abdomen&lt;/strong&gt; or head&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The object should be stabilized with padding to prevent movement. The padding should be as high as the object to protect it from being bumped during transport and the patient should be carried out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In many cases there is nothing easy about getting to help and impaled objects sometimes make evacuation very difficult. Removal of impaled objects in the wilderness is an oft-debated subject. They are often difficult to stabilize over rough terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Page 107 Wilderness First Responder -Buck Tilton, MS, WEMT&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With any abdominal injury anticipate nausea and vomiting. Over time blood may appear in the vomit (often looking like coffee grounds), in the urine (often appearing pale pink), or in the stool (often described as black and tarry), depending on where the damage occurred. Over time a fever may develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stay alert to the &lt;strong&gt;possiblity of vomiting.&lt;/strong&gt; Generally &lt;strong&gt;treat for shock.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If evacuation is delayed&lt;/strong&gt; and the patient is alert, the patient may be given clear fluids to drink, as long as she or he tolerates the fluids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The immediate seriousness of any &lt;strong&gt;penetrating abdominal cavity&lt;/strong&gt;, as with blunt trama, is determined by what got damaged inside and how badly its bleeding. &lt;strong&gt;With severe bleeding, shock is imminent&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;immediate evacuation is the only chance of salvation.&lt;/strong&gt; Over time the risk of infection is very high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;External bleeding should be controlled. Wounds should be cleaned and bandaged... Impaled objects, in almost all cases &lt;strong&gt;should be stabilized in place.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Page 75 Wilderness First Responder -Buck Tilton, MS, WEMT&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short it looks like the odds of the impaled person dying are very high and yet in this scenario you really don't have much choice but to go for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would want to treat before going for help and since there is probably going to be vomiting, the victim should know about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_position&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;recovery position&lt;/a&gt; in case they go unconscious so they don't choke on their own vomit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It trying to get help from anyone around you before going for help by making a distress signal like blowing a whistle in three blasts or shouting or gunshots. Then before leaving you could make three X symbols on the ground to indicate that you need medical assistance in case a plane were to fly over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On your way out, I would say to keep blowing your whistle and try to find other people on the way and direct them back to help the victim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Situations like this are part of why the minimum group size is 3 so that one person could stay with the victim while the other goes for help. It would also be a good reason to carry a PLB or a Satellite device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-10-29T19:16:11.920" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T19:16:11.920" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17457" CreationDate="2017-10-29T15:00:42.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there were any serious likelyhood of brain damage due to exposure to 10,000 feet or more altitude for just a day, then the city of Cusco would be full of brain-damaged zombies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are nearly half a million people &lt;i&gt;living&lt;/i&gt; in Cusco, for long periods, even their whole lives, at over 10,000 feet.  The city has been continuously inhabited for 100s of years, perhaps nearly 1000 years.  If there were significant brain damage from this, I expect it would be well known by now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T15:00:42.007" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17457" CreationDate="2017-10-29T17:00:10.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, you certainly have not suffered any damage. But there are several aspects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regarding HACE and HAPE: It's extremely rare below 3000 meters, but there is no way to predict which person will suffer from it. The only way to prevent it is staying well-hydrated, and to ascend not too fast (i.e. lengthen the ascent by making some overnight stays). If it occurs, descend as fast as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oxygen supply: The untrained, not acclimatized person will get enough oxygen for consciousness at 6000-7000 meters, but you will not be able to do any meaningful work. You'll feel quite drowsy. A person who lives near sea level (e.g. below 500 meters) has only half the muscular strength at 3500 meters. It's an effect every mountaineer knows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a comparison: Passenger aircraft are pressurized to the same pressure that occurs at around 2000 to 2400 meters - this is to relieve stress on the airframe. So you get from near sea level to 2400 meters in a very short time, and you will notice a certain drop in alertness and muscular power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14252" LastActivityDate="2017-10-29T17:00:10.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17464" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17465" CreationDate="2017-10-30T10:43:54.973" Score="44" ViewCount="39569" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to be a regular climber, and unfortunately I have put on some serious weight over the last 4 years, and I have not been able to climb as much as would have loved to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While, I am still working on my schedule to get back to climbing gym, many of the people I know have been trolling me that the apple have fallen far away from the tree now (That, its too late for me to start climbing again). I do my best to avoid those talks, but can't help but notice that it is actually making sense, I haven't seen fat climbers around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current BMI is &quot;26.8 Overweight&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why aren't there any fat climbers? Or more importantly, should fat people ever climb?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T06:20:21.723" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T06:20:21.723" Title="Should overweight people ever climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T11:21:42.630" Score="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should overweight people climb? If they want to, then yes of course they should.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have any hard fact to back it up, but I do know a few climbers that are slightly overweight and have participated in guiding climbing days where some participants where seriously overweight (in some cases due to obvious medical reasons, in other cases I don't know why).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As climbing is vertical, there is an obvious disadvantage of the additional weight. This even applies to friends who do cycling and climbing: They usually complain that they need to lift those huge thighs up the wall. Also looking at pros like Adam Ondra (especially in his younger years) and at kids around 8-12 years, the incredible strength to weight ratio is apparent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that all sounds like I am arguing against climbing when overweight - far from it. You need to adhere to the same principles any beginner or anyone on re-entry needs to: Listen to your body, don't pressure yourself or let anyone pressure you into doing anything you don't feel comfortable with. This is especially hard if you climbed a certain grade some years ago: You won't reach it immediately. Go at an easy level such that you enjoy climbing and start raising the level in a way you feel comfortable with or stay at the level you like, nothing wrong with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter if you are perfectly fine with your weight and just want to climb, or if you want to climb and lose some weight, climbing is a great activity to do it - don't let yourself be talked out of it by obviously badly informed peers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum (not directly relevant to the question):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As other answers and comments tend to go in a different direction, let me give a motivation for this answer, skip it if you don't care:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I know the OP does already do high-altitude mountaineering, so I considered this to be about rock-climbing in the narrower sense, not climbing as in every activity involving non-horizontal motion in the broader sense. Also the question is centered on social interactions, being negative about climbing while being overweight - that's what my answer addresses. The question does not mention any technical issues about climbing. There are technical/security related aspects to be considered, but there is nothing preventing you from climbing. This is nothing against other answer, it just provides my reasoning why I don't include such points, as brought up in comments, in this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T14:39:03.597" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T14:39:03.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17466" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-10-30T12:00:29.987" Score="12" ViewCount="6479" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I was flying above the Mediterranean sea, it was a nice day, without storms or strong winds. I fly around 20 minutes above it before arriving to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During these 20 minutes I saw that the sea had plenty of white spots, some of them really big, more than a ship. They were not changing size, changing shape or disappearing as waves would do. Really, each one of them did not change at all during the minutes I could see them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks as foam from a chemical product or something similar. But there was A LOT of spots during long time in the whole sea, as far as I could see and during the whole travel. Close to the shore, the white spots disappear. What can that be? If is some chemical, where does it come from? Waves? I dont think so...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-I am not sure if I should ask this here-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this photo I did. They seem at the beginning waves but they would change. These spots in the photo didn't change at all&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GmEPK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GmEPK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was flight through more or less this route:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZSOz7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZSOz7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14255" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:24:01.430" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T22:14:34.007" Title="What are those white spots on the sea" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17466" CreationDate="2017-10-30T13:26:30.733" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are wave crests. It's wind folding over the top of waves, which mixes them with air. They're also called white caps. If they're closer to the shore you have a change of water color to a lighter blue. That lighter blue could mean there's coral below or a shallow bottom. Waves do not move fast. They're more like a drum in the water slowly rolling forward, with the wind picking up the back side &amp;amp; folding it over the drum. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T03:06:53.313" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T03:06:53.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T14:06:11.617" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could ask the similar question &quot;Most runners I see aren't fat, so is it wrong to start running as a massive guy?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the good and really good climbers are most likely on the thinner side because of obvious and already denoted reasons. Besides that, as for runners, do the sport but don't start over-motivated. Often people who like to get 20kg off start running and a week later they can't walk anymore. For climbing, even as a skinny person, you shouldn't force it too much. Especially the tendons and ligaments won't get used to the 'new' heavy strain and injuries get likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest to do both: Some endurance sport (which will also help to get some kilos off) and climbing. Especially when you are eager to go climbing, so do it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2653" LastActivityDate="2017-10-30T14:06:11.617" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T16:57:15.580" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't climbed for a long time - not since uni.  Our climbing club was famous for its training though, so people from other clubs often joined us for the workout, and a fair number continued to actually doing some climbing.  Having belayed a few people much heavier than me (rugby players!), my main caveat is that your belayer needs to be cautious about your relative weights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't an issue if belaying from above - in that case the belayer is clipped in, and all is good.  Belaying from below though, whether that's with a top-rope or seconding, they need to be aware that if you come off, they're going to be heading up at speed!  With a climber significantly heavier than yourself, it's best to treat it similarly to belaying from above.  Find something behind you to put a sling round, clip the sling to your belay device (not to the back of your harness!), and you're safe.  It doesn't need the same security that belaying from above does, because it's only there to catch the difference in weights, but it's still pretty important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your belayer may not have thought of this, because they're too used to catching similarly-sized gym rats.  It's sensible for you to check this, just in case.  It doesn't matter how strong they are or how good their technique is, gravity is gravity, and once their feet leave the ground it's Sir Isaac who decides the outcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2017-10-30T16:57:15.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T20:31:49.320" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm fat, and I climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now to be fair I climb indoors and not up the side of a mountain, but some of the problems I face would tend to be the same. Also I climb for fun. It's a much better workout than a treadmill. But I am by no means a serious climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Safety gear is harder to find. I am a big dude, not just fat (though I am that too). Finding size 16 climbing shoes is tough. Finding a properly fitting harness is tough.  Etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think it's harder to do overhangs and roof climbs, there are people at the gym that can climb overhangs and &quot;ceiling faces&quot; (not sure what to call those) with what seems like little effort. For me, once the overhang is past a certain point, getting enough friction with my feet seems impossible. I don't even know where to start with climbing on the roof. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have to be very careful of weight ratings. Some gear (a lot actually) is only rated for smaller people. You have to be really aware of that and not just assume that the gear is OK to use for you because everyone else uses it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have to warn your belayer. It's really easy for them to belay correctly if they know, but the gym I go to requires that belayers use the floor mounts so a good pulley system is in place. If they get lazy though and decide to just use the top mounts, well I imagine it would look a lot like the old Saturday morning cartoons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have to deal with a lot of funny looks, I get them all the time from people that haven't seen me climb yet. Going to a new gym is also a lot of extra work. Usually I end up having to convince the safety crew that I do know what I am doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is perhaps more with being generally big than fat (taller than most). But I find that when people move the holds, they place them a bit too close together. And that when I place holds (you're allowed to move them in the gym I go to, to change the difficulty) I place them too far apart. People have complained, as have I. There seems to be a war between tall people and short people over hold placement. Funny thing, if the gym places them, they're fine. I suspect that we climbers just don't know how to place them correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T22:10:53.060" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T22:10:53.060" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17271" CreationDate="2017-10-30T20:48:08.283" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following these visual instructions you should be able to do this for your dog. The only caveat is you'll have to tuck in into their collar or hold the strap temporarily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.animatedknots.com/harness/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32_KwV-CGqE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32_KwV-CGqE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to provide an alternative with rope, which &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; use cutting, multiple pieces and optional fastening, but is still rather simple and reusable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYdvVmF4nS0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to make a slip knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without being there in person you may have to play around with this a bit to figure it out but it's not too difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a slip knot at both ends of 4 ropes or use straps with a looped fastening at both ends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While making the loop for last 2 ropes, thread the rope through the loops of one of the first two. This will connect 2 ropes at their loops, making a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_%28geometry%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lens shape&lt;/a&gt;. Make sure to leave some slack rope on one of the loops to adjust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using whichever knot you prefer, connect two of the lenses together at a point or use a ring/other type of fastening. Your pet will step through these two &quot;holes&quot; to get the harness on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Part way up, using whichever knot you prefer, connect a rope running across the two inside parts of the lens, this will go across the front of your pet's chest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally place another knot, ring or other removal fastening of your choosing at the remaining tips of the 2 lens-shaped &quot;rope rings&quot;. This will go behind your pet's back and is where you will attach a leash / rope / etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Combining these methods should be possible. If you try post a comment please!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a one-piece version with webbing of my rope method. Note, all mention of right or left legs refers to their front legs. You could probably adapt this for a full body knot though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lift the webbing between your dog's left armpit from behind, so that just enough is in front of them to wrap around toward the back of their neck with a bit extra. Hold the front end of the strap here.&#xA;1b. Alternatively, hold one end of the webbing behind the dog's neck, then guide the rest of the rolled up webbing around their neck, forward across their chest and under their left armpit. Same result.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With the back end of the strap, wrap it over their back also and guide the roll in front of their chest, back behind their right armpit, and up to the back of the neck again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You now have two lengths of webbing running in along the front side of your dog's chest and one confused dog. Wrap the webbing around from back to chest &lt;em&gt;behind&lt;/em&gt; their left leg and pull it through the front facing strap of their right leg. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep wrapping back toward the spot behind their left leg and pull the strap across the under side of their chest, coming above their back on the right side and wrapping toward the front-facing side on the left side. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thread the strap through the front-facing left strap that is across their chest, wrapping toward the under side behind the right leg. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally bring the strap up to the one you're holding at their back and wrap one more time around the underside back up to the back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cinch it all together on top or hook both sides of the webbing to whatever. You're good to go.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14249" LastEditorUserId="14249" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T04:02:20.007" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T04:02:20.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T22:41:14.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;How fat is fat?  Some people simply won't be able to because of weight issues, but beyond that: There's no reason not to if you can IMO.  Take appropriate precautions, and generally approach it like you are a beginner (take it slow, build up tendon strength, make sure you aren't injuring yourself, and of course make sure your form is on point).  Give it some time and you will be back to sending just like before :D  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally: I sometimes climb with a bigger guy (~6' &amp;amp; ~250-275 lbs), we have to be a bit more careful about me belaying him (I'm 5'8 / ~180 lb, so a ~75 lb / 40-50%  weight difference).  It definitely takes some getting used to - but it's pretty manageable overall - indoors on vertical routes I will often tie down to a ground anchor so that I don't get dragged up the wall, outdoors I generally do not - because rope drag + the routes we climb are generally not overhung.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12251" LastActivityDate="2017-10-30T22:41:14.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T22:48:44.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I am not brave enough to call John Dunne fat, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/no-excuses-two-heavy-climbers-crushed/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Magazine&lt;/a&gt; did. So there is at least one objectively fat climber that could send 5.14. That man can float up some seriously hard stuff:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WO3KNHCZsA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WO3KNHCZsA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-10-30T22:48:44.720" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-30T22:57:12.150" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's called the &quot;mountain climber's weight loss program&quot;: eat everything you want, and climb two mountains a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Serious rock climbers aren't fat because they can't eat enough to get fat.  Climbing a mountain, or spending a day bouncing up and down a cliff, can easily burn 10,000 calories.  No matter how much you eat, your digestive system can't process food fast enough to replace that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2017-10-30T22:57:12.150" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17477" CreationDate="2017-10-31T04:06:58.540" Score="10" ViewCount="1299" Body="&lt;p&gt;In rock climbing a carabiner can get &lt;strong&gt;nose-hooked&lt;/strong&gt; and it is a very dangerous situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is a nose-hooked carabiner and why is it dangerous?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T12:21:06.793" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T12:21:06.793" Title="What is a nose-hooked carabiner and why is it dangerous?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17476" CreationDate="2017-10-31T04:06:58.540" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;To put it simply, it is when the nose of the carabiner gets hooked onto something, which reduces its strength dramatically. This happens by preventing the carabiner gate from closing and keeping it in a position that results in a catastrophic load pattern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BhVqxm.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BhVqxm.png&quot; alt=&quot;carabiner nose&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can happen for instance when sport climbing and one goes to clip a bolt and by mistake one does not pass the nose all the way through the bolt but rather the notch in the carabiner gets hooked on the gate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G6iQ8.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G6iQ8.png&quot; alt=&quot;carabiner hooked on an obstruction&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that this is so dangerous is that it greatly weakens the carabiner. A carabiner's &quot;D&quot; shape is designed to put as much of the load force as possible along the spine opposite the gate. When hooked, the weight is placed on a weak position, with an additional torque placed into the material, which dramatically lowers the carabiner's weight carrying capability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many carabiners will have markings for the rating along the spine with the gate closed, gate open, and with the carabiner sideways. Gate open and sideways is often less than a third the capacity of the carabiner properly loaded. When nose hooked, it's even worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Black Diamond,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But when you test a nose-hooked carabiner, &lt;strong&gt;it can fail at less than 10% of its rated closed gate strength&lt;/strong&gt;—that's &lt;strong&gt;less than 2 kN (500 lbf or 227 kg)&lt;/strong&gt;, a load that can be easily generated in even the &lt;strong&gt;smallest of climbing falls&lt;/strong&gt; or even just a &lt;strong&gt;light bounce test&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-weakness-of-nosehooked-carabiners.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T12:20:52.837" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T12:20:52.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14747" CreationDate="2017-10-31T13:48:56.123" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 2012 Custom that has given me no problems.  I think normal maintenance is all it takes.  Be sure to put it away dry and clean. Store properly in the off season and you should have no problems. I received &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.burton.com/us/en/p/burton-est-tool/W18-108201.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; as a gift and every now and then I will clean out the &quot;channel&quot; with a pipe cleaner or q-tip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4296" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T20:57:57.273" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T20:57:57.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17479" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17481" CreationDate="2017-10-31T15:38:26.283" Score="10" ViewCount="507" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was out hunting last weekend (end of October) near Yellow Pine, Idaho. While walking up a hill during the late morning with moderate timber coverage (thin enough to ski comfortably but thick enough to prevent grass from growing) I spotted a large owl sitting on a branch about 20 feet above the ground. It was really fun to see the owl. The owl was large (roughly 18 to 24 inches tall) with a white face. The feathers appeared to be white with light brown tips giving the bird a banded look. It had a large wingspan too at approximately 4 to 5 feet wide. We tried to take a picture of the owl with my father's cellphone but the picture didn't turn out because the bird was in the shadows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This morning I turned to the internet for help identifying the owl. In this &lt;a href=&quot;https://idfg.idaho.gov/old-web/docs/wildlife/nongame/leafletOwls.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Owls of Idaho&lt;/a&gt; resource the only owl that looks close is the Snowy Owl. The owl we saw seemed to have a wider/bulky body, and more dense brown banding. When I did a photo search on snowy owls I found a &lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/animals/Birds/Q-Z/photoark-snowyowl.ngsversion.1466006497813.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic Kids&lt;/a&gt; picture that looks much closer to what we saw. The owl in the NatGeo picture looks smaller than the bird I saw but that could just be a trick of the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally I'd be comfortable declaring I saw a Snowy Owl since that NatGeo picture looked reasonably close to what I saw. My only lingering doubt is because we saw the bird in a moderately dense pine forest. All the resources I've seen on the internet state that snowy owls prefer open terrain. Here is a quote from the Owls of Idaho resource:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When snowy owls come south, they may be found on open ground (such as marshes, meadows or prairies)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/snowy-owl/#photoark-snowyowl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NatGeo article&lt;/a&gt; states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra. Snowy owls perch on the ground or on short posts. From there they patiently watch for prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like the terrain that I spotted the owl in doesn't fit with these descriptions of the snowy owl's preferred territory. Are there any other owls that can be found in Idaho that I might be confusing for a snowy owl? Alternatively are snowy owls known to frequent moderately timbered hill sides in Idaho instead of more open terrain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T17:17:36.097" LastActivityDate="2021-01-11T19:33:06.947" Title="Possible snowy owl seen in the trees" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-10-31T22:45:12.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your goal in going to the climbing gym is to get stronger, have fun, and / or hang out, then go for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you want to optimize your use of workout time to lose weight, you're probably better off choosing a more aerobic sport. Climbing is primarily about strength and technique rather than maintaining an elevated heart rate. Sport climbing involves long breaks to belay, while bouldering generally involves long rests between short spurts of effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want an aerobic climbing workout, your best bet is outdoors. Find a nice long juggy boulder traverse and go back and forth on it. Or a V1 that you can do laps on -- do it 20 or 30 times in a row without a break. Most gyms have long traverses for the same purpose, but you have to go when the gym is nearly empty to use them without getting in the way of other problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's much easier to get an aerobic workout and burn a large amount of calories if you choose a sport like trail running, rowing, water polo, or zumba.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, by the way, I have known overweight climbers, some who seemed to be under the impression they're going to lose weight by climbing a couple of routes every few weeks. I'm afraid it doesn't work like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9213" LastEditorUserId="9213" LastEditDate="2017-10-31T22:51:57.943" LastActivityDate="2017-10-31T22:51:57.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17479" CreationDate="2017-11-01T01:43:19.910" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sherlock Holmes&lt;/a&gt; would say,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How often have I said to you that when you have &lt;strong&gt;eliminated the impossible,&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;whatever remains,&lt;/strong&gt; however &lt;strong&gt;improbable&lt;/strong&gt;, must &lt;strong&gt;be the truth?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look through the list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://idfg.idaho.gov/old-web/docs/wildlife/nongame/leafletOwls.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;owls in Idaho&lt;/a&gt;, or the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.owling.com/north-american-owls/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of owls in North America&lt;/a&gt; you will notice that the &lt;strong&gt;only white owl&lt;/strong&gt; is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_owl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowy Owl.&lt;/a&gt; It seems far more likely that you saw a snowy owl in a forest where it was temporarily passing through, than you saw a different species that no one else has seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There aren't many trees in the arctic,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As well as being the area within the Arctic Circle, the Arctic can also be defined as being the area above the &quot;treeline&quot; &lt;strong&gt;(farther north than trees can grow)&lt;/strong&gt;, where there is only tundra and the Arctic Ocean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-treeline.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Snowy owls &lt;strong&gt;nest in the Arctic tundra of the northernmost stretches of Alaska, Northern Canada, and Eurasia.&lt;/strong&gt; They winter south through Canada and northern Eurasia, with irruptions occurring further south in some years. Snowy owls are attracted to open areas like coastal dunes and prairies that a&lt;strong&gt;ppear somewhat similar to tundra.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_owl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so its not like they have much choice when they are up north to be in a wooded areas and once they come south it makes sense that they would stick to areas that look similar to what they are used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, they probably wouldn't avoid trees if they had the chance, to avoid predators and all. It could have just been passing through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T01:43:19.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14428" CreationDate="2017-11-01T14:10:23.350" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Late to the party, but the current answers don't really highlight a vital safety point for solo hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risks of solo hiking have been transformed by the advent of PLBs (Personal Location Beacons). These are handheld units that transmit your rescue request and precise location via satellite to an international Rescue Control Center which will quickly alert your local Search and Rescue service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d1S4e.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d1S4e.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past, as a solo walker all you could do was leave your route. If you became incapacitated on a multi-day trip, it might take days before SAR were alerted, and additional time for them to find you. Now the rescue can be alerted literally within minutes and they know exactly where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is still the risk that you could become totally incapacitated and unable to activate the PLB, so it's still important to leave your route. But for the great majority of incidents a PLB will result in much quicker rescue, with much less inconvenience and risk to the SAR personnel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are walking solo in wild country I feel that a PLB is pretty much a requirement these days, or at least a Garmin inReach (a less reliable but more versatile alternative). If you won't carry one for yourself and your loved ones, consider the SAR personnel who have to risk their lives and give up their time to find you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the PLB is no substitute for proper experience, planning and equipment as outlined in the other answers. But it is an important element of responsible back-country travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-11-01T18:33:36.850" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T18:33:36.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-11-01T14:59:52.833" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a friend who lost a significant amount of weight from bouldering and climbing. What was remarkable about his weight loss is that as he began to shed pounds, his climbing strength and abilities soared unbelievably. If you think about it, he had been weight training on the wall for a couple of years carrying all his extra mass up with him, so first of all he developed the strength he needed so he could climb as heavy as he was. Then after he started to lose weight, his strength to weight ratio began to increase, which resulted in transforming him into a stronger than average climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only concern he had was taking a fall on belay. Whoever was belaying him usually went for a trip up the wall after he took a fall, so if he fell too close to the ground, then he was hitting bottom. The person on belay needs to be prepared to go for a lift in the event of a fall if they aren't heavier, or near the same weight as the climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When top-roping, some belayers anchor themselves to the floor to prevent lift-offs. I don't recommend anchoring the belayer to the ground if they're lighter than the climber, it actually puts more stress on the rope and gear after a fall. anchoring is of course unavoidable when multi pitching, in which case you want to anchor your belay directly to the wall on the bolts instead of your harness when sport climbing. When trad climbing, you may want to use an extra piece in the direction of pull in case of a fall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T14:59:52.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7577" CreationDate="2017-11-01T21:56:18.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In cold weather, your first priority should be to keep your clothes dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear waterproofs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dress lightly enough that you don't sweat - it's better to start your day slightly cold than to start it hot and end up damp and frozen. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot keep your clothes dry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet wool or fleece is much better than nothing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet silk, leather, and most synthetic fabrics will also keep you warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet cotton is worse than nothing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wet down is worthless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cloth traps air in its fibers. These tiny air pockets keep your body heat trapped against your skin. A &lt;strong&gt;good insulator&lt;/strong&gt;, like &lt;strong&gt;down&lt;/strong&gt;, traps more air than a &lt;strong&gt;poor insulator&lt;/strong&gt;, like &lt;strong&gt;cotton&lt;/strong&gt;. This is why down coats are puffy and weigh less than a wool coat or cotton hoodie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When cloth gets wet, these air pockets fill with water, which conducts heat about ten times faster than water. Warm-when-wet materials, like wool, have fibers (or coatings) that repel water. This keeps some of their air pockets open. Dry wool is warmer and comfier than &lt;strong&gt;wet wool&lt;/strong&gt;, but both are much &lt;strong&gt;warmer than nothing&lt;/strong&gt;.  Down, on the other hand, is a good insulator when dry, but when wet, is virtually worthless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton, in contrast, absorbs water. Its fibers stick together when they get wet. This closes the air pockets, making cotton useless for insulation. Worse, soaked cotton holds a large volume of water against your skin. Cold water absorbs heat faster than similarly cold air, so you get cold faster in wet cotton clothing than you would naked in cold air. &lt;strong&gt;Wet cotton is worse than nothing.&lt;/strong&gt; In bad weather, cotton kills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14275" LastEditorUserId="3478" LastEditDate="2019-04-21T21:19:44.790" LastActivityDate="2019-04-21T21:19:44.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17479" CreationDate="2017-11-01T23:30:35.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only possible confusion species would be barn owl. Yellow Pine is near the limit of barn owl range, and barn owl is very noticeably slimmer (not more plump) than snowy owl, so I think you're right in calling it a snowy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most snowy owls that head into the lower 48 states in the winter are 1st-winter birds, which are more heavily marked than most adults, which fits your description perfectly. An owl perched up in a tree would likely fluff up to increase the insulating effect of its feathers, which explains why it looked bigger than expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowy owls sometimes irrupt southward in substantial numbers (unpredictably), so it will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a big winter for snowies. That's a really nice find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastActivityDate="2017-11-01T23:30:35.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-11-02T02:30:03.447" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is probably harder for overweight people to climb (as are many other activities for them), but it is not impossible. I don’t see the shlightest reason why they shouldn’t do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Successful climbing on an experienced level comes from training and fitness, and - contrary to common believe - fitness is not the opposite of ‘fatness’. You can be fit and fat at the same time, it is just harder. The reason is that you get fit by exercising and being active, and you get fat from overeating, and it is absolutely possible to exercise, be very active, and overeat at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;N.B.: I have personal experience, I spent thirty years of my life with 60 kg (130 pounds) overweight, and I did many years of mountain climbing (difficulty about like El Capitan), thousand mile bicycle tours, and many other strenuous outdoor activities. It is quite doubtful that I am the only such person in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13805" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T02:30:03.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-11-02T11:53:27.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last spring I was in Italy climbing.  There was a group from Switzerland, all a bit pudgy, and one guy with a beer belly led something like a 6c or 7a.  Seriously frustrating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now obviously you should not jump into it without thought: your sinews and tendons have not yet adapted to your weight, and that takes several years.  Muscles respond much faster to a workout, so climbing at the limits the muscles tell you will become injury-prone after a few months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14279" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T11:53:27.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17488" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-02T14:31:50.053" Score="5" ViewCount="442" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to climb a mountain with my daughter. There is a glacier on the route that we should cross. Other routes take much longer or are technically more difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The glacier does not have many crevasses but they are deep and may be hidden. All people have glacier equipment: crampons, ice axes, rope, etc. There is a big difference in the weight of a kid and adult. The kid is 20 kg (44 lb) and the adult is 80 kg (176 lb). The kid can't belay an adult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First case: 1 adult and 1 kid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second case: 2 adults and 1 kid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T20:18:41.463" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T20:26:26.673" Title="How can I safely climb a glacial route with just a kid or one other person?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17488" CreationDate="2017-11-02T14:59:53.773" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a clear answer here: &lt;strong&gt;just don't do it&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glacier rescue is challenging - you need to know the techniques and practice them seriously. And I can tell you from experience that a glacier rescue is scary, stressful and exhausting, and that was with a party of 4 fit and experienced adults. If you have to ask the question, you simply don't have the skills to execute safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two highly skilled adults on a glacier with hidden crevasses is very sketchy: it can be difficult to hold a fall and even more difficult to extract - often impossible if the faller is injured. There is no way the kid could hold the adult, never mind rescue them from the crevasse. It would be grossly irresponsible to venture onto a dangerous glacier with just an adult and child on the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With two skilled adults and a kid you are effectively in the same marginal situation as two adults on their own,  but with additional risks and responsibilities. The kid won't have the weight, skill or temperament to be anything other than a hindrance if anything goes wrong. And if it's the kid who falls in, it might be a traumatic experience for them even if they don't get injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP has clarified that this is a recreational trip and that their aim is to climb a particular peak with their daughter. There is no way that a glacier of this kind can be made safe for a child in a small party. Please be responsible and find a safer route for your outing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T16:09:04.437" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T16:09:04.437" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17488" CreationDate="2017-11-02T15:18:48.220" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You used the term belay incorrectly.  The other member is just an anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that the child cannot perform a self rescue and cannot anchor an adult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had two groups of three (one all experienced adults) and the all adults lead then the all adults could perform a z-pulley rescue.  It still would be traumatic for the child. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A child is going to have trouble with glacier travel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T20:26:26.673" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T20:26:26.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17492" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17496" CreationDate="2017-11-02T15:51:40.950" Score="4" ViewCount="1108" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally design or lead hikes in areas with multiple trail junctions.  I attempt to be thorough in the planning by having several different ways for hikers to follow the trail. (Maps and GPS are the two main methods) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am seeking a better way to verbally describe the planned hike route by describing the trails and turns in a systematic way.  I'd rather not devise my own nomenclature, as I have read very good trail descriptions in the past.  I am sure there is some well proven way of writing useful description using somewhat standardised language. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone point me to a good reference for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11340" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T04:32:44.377" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T04:32:44.377" Title="How to describe a trail well for others in a systematic way?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17488" CreationDate="2017-11-02T21:22:24.173" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;While children can be proficient mountaineers and well trained, there are things they likely cannot do and some additional risks they face. For example, children are more susceptible to hypothermia. Most children are not capable of performing first aid and lack the physical strength to dig out someone trapped in an avalanche. If a single adult is climbing with a child, they should consider themselves as essentially climbing alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A child climbing alone with a single adult also faces a unique risk in that if the adult falls into a crevasse, the odds of an unanchored child catching such a fall are pretty low (the exact odds depend on how the adult falls, the steepness of the slope and how icy things are). The adult and child will both likely end up wedged at the bottom of the crevasse. This must be prevented at all costs. Basically this means that whenever there is a chance the adult could fall (i.e., always on the glacier), there needs to be adequate protection. You might be able to get by with a 4th class running belay placing pickets, screws or deadman as you go, but you would probably want to go very slow and just set 5th class belays and go a rope length at a time. With a solid anchor a child can catch basically any fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth noting that if the child some how manages to catch the fall such they both do not end up in the crevasse, then things are not too bad as long as the child is capable of setting an anchor while holding the fall and knows how to build a hauling system and appropriately protect the lip (etc). If the child knows the skills, their size should not prevent them from getting the adult out. There of course is the issue of first aid and hypothermia once the child gets the adult out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the child is not highly skilled and trained, then one adult and one child over any technical terrain is ridiculously unsafe. Two adults and one untrained child has a lot of similar risks are two adults, but if one adult falls, they will likely pull the child off leaving the remaining adult having to catch an adult and a child (good luck with that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T22:07:41.473" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T22:07:41.473" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17494" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanning_(leather)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanning_(leather)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17495" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" Score="0" Body="Questions about tanning animal hides." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" LastActivityDate="2017-11-02T22:29:09.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17492" CreationDate="2017-11-03T04:32:08.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a minimum a trail description should include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;End&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Distance/Elevation Change&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Estimated Time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For describing the actual trail you would want to include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The general direction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What the elevation trend is, uphill vs downhill or mixed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The type of terrain, rolling, forested, flat, lots of switch backs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where water is along the trail and if applicable how long between water sources.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good places to camp along the trail (if backpacking.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any places where a person could easily get lost or confused.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Landmarks along the way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Directions for which junctions or turns to take.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, there is a list of trail terms that can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americantrails.org/resources/info/TrailTermCOTI.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and another &lt;a href=&quot;https://adventures.hartleybrody.com/glossary-of-hiking-backpacking-terms-acronyms/#dirtbag&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do be aware that trail terms depend on the culture and so can vary wildly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T04:32:08.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17500" CreationDate="2017-11-03T15:24:38.373" Score="10" ViewCount="876" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17493/3602&quot;&gt;this answer about mountaineering on a glacier&lt;/a&gt;, @StrongBad mentioned 4th and 5th class belays. I have never heard of belays being classified into such classes. In what context are these classes used and how are the different classes defined?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-11-03T23:55:58.200" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T17:43:46.977" Title="What do classifications of belays (like &quot;4th class belay&quot;) mean?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17498" CreationDate="2017-11-03T15:36:55.003" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A better description for 4th class belay would be &lt;strong&gt;simul-climbing or running belays.&lt;/strong&gt; That is when you are roped together with intermediate protection. I described such a scenario &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15062/is-it-dangerous-to-rope-together-on-an-ascent-of-hard-packed-ice/15064#15064&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Its typically done on easier climbs when the risk of falling is much lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5th class is actual rock climbing with belaying from anchors or the ground. One would belay from the anchor while the other lead climbs up and set a anchor to belay the belayer up to. This can also be called &lt;strong&gt;pitching it out&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-03T15:36:55.003" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17498" CreationDate="2017-11-03T16:14:30.673" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The belay class in the linked answer is in reference to the typical methods one would use in grade 4 (or 5) &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Yosemite Decimal System&quot;&gt;Yosemite Decimal System&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, in a rock climbing context you typically see grades like &lt;strong&gt;5&lt;/strong&gt;.6, &lt;strong&gt;5&lt;/strong&gt;.10a. The &lt;strong&gt;5&lt;/strong&gt; indicates that the route is what we commonly call &quot;rock climbing&quot;, but grades 1-4 also exist. &#xA;These are for hiking (class 1), scrambling (2 and 3) and easy climbing, but way easier than the UIAA grade IV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide that you need to do a &lt;strong&gt;class 4 climb&lt;/strong&gt; protected by a rope, you commonly would rope up as a party and &lt;strong&gt;simul-climb&lt;/strong&gt; while the first person places intermediate protection (such as nuts, friends, or, in the context of the linked question, ice screws). In contrast, the typical method to do &lt;strong&gt;class 5 climbs&lt;/strong&gt; is to have a belayer that &lt;strong&gt;belays&lt;/strong&gt; a leader (i.e. typical rock climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this explanation only takes &lt;em&gt;typical&lt;/em&gt; cases into account. You might need to belay children or handicapped people on class 4 terrain, or you might decide to simul-climb a YDS 5.5 (UIAA IV) climb under certain circumstances (if you know what you are doing!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: As the comments point out, the terms might not be commonly used. For a &lt;em&gt;4th class running belay&lt;/em&gt;, the commonly used term is &lt;em&gt;running belay&lt;/em&gt;, not &lt;em&gt;4th class belay&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2017-11-04T17:43:46.977" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T17:43:46.977" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17464" CreationDate="2017-11-04T23:05:52.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see no reason why not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no idea whether climbing is an optimal  way to loose wight or not but an form or exercise which you enjoy and actually do is definitely better than one you don't. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally what you don't want to do is try too hard and injure yourself. Having said that climbing a fairly easy route if probably a lot more fun than running a few km. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might even find that after a few months and losing a few pounds you have better technique than gym bunnies who just drag themselves up with their arms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastActivityDate="2017-11-04T23:05:52.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17503" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17504" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of Nepal" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:24:54.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17505" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17506" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" Score="0" Body="Questions about tent footprints" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:25:17.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17507" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17508" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" Score="0" Body="Questions about sharpening knives" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T04:25:35.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7602" CreationDate="2017-11-05T13:00:09.370" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;(I'm going to be using cm for this piece because they're more precise and because I'm used to them, imperial readers just keep in mind an inch is close to 2.5 cm.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends heavily on all sorts of other circumstances. 4 or 5 cm can be enough. But it's probably not enough is there are a lot of people on the ice, if you're going out completely alone (this is not the best idea to begin with, but it gets deadly quick on thin ice) or if you're going out far from the shore and/or onto a deep (more than your own height) body of water. It also depends a bit on your own size. A typical 50 kg teenage girl can go out on thinner ice than a 100+ kg lumberjack type. (100 kg = 220 lbs, but you already got the idea.) If more cold weather is expected it might also be good to stay off the ice just for the sake of the ice, so everybody gets to enjoy it in another one or two days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over here in the Netherlands outdoor natural ice skating clubs typically open their rinks when there's 7 cm of ice. That's a controlled environment with safety officials and limited depth, but there are a lot of people on the ice, and typically the only incidents happen at the sides when stepping onto or off of the ice, that's where the layer is thinnest and breaks the easiest. By the time those rinks open natural lakes are often already swarming with skaters, because we know it will thaw out quickly again, risks be damned. So about 6 cm usually holds, even though weak spots will come through quickly and you might have to go ashore for small parts of the route. The ice is seen as solid as houses (for skating purposes) by about 15 cm, when an &quot;elfstedentocht&quot; can be run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Some rinks can run with as little as 1 or 2 cm of ice, but those are just a thin layer of water on top of a solid surface. The ice itself wouldn't hold a person.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all fairness I think the other question you link is a better way to approach skating than this one. Don't overemphasize the importance of thickness. Check out the ice for yourself. Is it nice smooth fresh black ice? When you test it, does it hold? When you step out on it, does it crack a bit to set but then seem solid? If there's slushy parts, do they seem superficial, or could those be or quickly become holes? Are the weak parts positioned in such a way that you can take them one person at a time and with some speed? If you're unsure about your ability to judge this, try to find someone with some experience you can take on a trip. That's always a good option if available to you. Also judge non-ice related factors: How far does this route take you from help or a nice and warm place? How good of a skater are you? Is it realistic to say you could fall and land on the ice with a heavy thump? Because most of those people out on 5 or 6 cm of ice do not do that. It also helps if most people there are quick enough to start moving when they notice the ice cracking too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And take some precautions, like bringing an awl or pick to help yourself get a grip on the ice after you fell through, and a long scarf or a rescue line to drag others out. Don't have those? That's another factor to account for. A change of dry clothes and maybe a warm drink back at your entry point/car can also be nice. And don't be afraid to go check it out and having to go to another location or even coming back empty handed. Outdoor sports mean unpredictability. That's how you know it's an adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(It's an old question, but since it was edited and winter is coming around again...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2017-11-05T13:05:45.917" LastActivityDate="2017-11-05T13:05:45.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17510" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17515" CreationDate="2017-11-06T14:26:27.397" Score="11" ViewCount="1417" Body="&lt;p&gt;For reasons of time-saving and avoiding retie figure 8 knots all the time, can I clip the figure 8 knot via two carabiners each clipped to either loop of the harness? This way there will be no cross loading of the carabiner. Clipping is way faster than tying figure 8 knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The carabiners are double-locking ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, thanks to all of you. You provided such an amazing info! Can't stop clicking upvotes. I see there is missing some clarification about why I need all that. So I'm putting it here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soon I with my kids will go to a hiking trip involving several sections of scrambling through a canyon. The youngest is 4 y.o. I have harnesses for the elder kids and full-body kid's harness (Black Diamond Momentum). Since we will have several such sections of climbing and regular hiking between them I thought that clipping and unclipping carabiners would be much faster (mind the fact that I will safeguard all three kids). The scrambling sections themselves are not very long, so they will not take much time to pass. There are anchors on top of each section, so my plan was that I climb, clip the rope, then probably go down and safeguard my kids one-by-one (there will be more adults).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will be no hard falls, since I'll watch them and will keep the rope tight through my belaying device. Having that convenience of fast clip/unclip is hugely important and also safer. Because if you stuck there after sunset - it's no joke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14300" LastEditorUserId="14300" LastEditDate="2017-11-07T18:09:36.857" LastActivityDate="2017-11-25T17:03:50.257" Title="Climbing harness: clip two carabiners to avoid cross-loading" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17511" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-06T16:12:55.407" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2017-11-06T16:12:55.407" LastActivityDate="2017-11-06T16:12:55.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17512" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-06T16:12:55.407" Score="0" Body="This is a special tag that is designed to be used only by the system for questions that have had all of their other tags removed. Do not add this tag to existing questions, it is reserved for use by the system to identify posts with no valid tags." OwnerUserId="6144" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2017-11-06T19:33:25.363" LastActivityDate="2017-11-06T19:33:25.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17510" CreationDate="2017-11-06T18:21:14.173" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on your edit that adds additional context your plan seems reasonable. In addition to the carabiners &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17515/7995&quot;&gt;ShemSeger recommends&lt;/a&gt; you might consider a &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmprofessional.com/products/steel-carabiners/steel-captive-eye&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;captive eye carabiner&lt;/a&gt; (any rated biner is fine. I'm just using these DMM biners as an example). These are often used in more industrial settings so they're often found in steel. Alternatively you can get a &lt;a href=&quot;http://dmmclimbing.com/products/belay-master-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DMM Belay Master 2&lt;/a&gt; carabiner. These are designed to ensure the biner is locked properly and prevent crossloading  Finally, I agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17514/7995&quot;&gt;StrongBad&lt;/a&gt; that you should use the belay loop not the tie in points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Original answer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This heavily depends on context and exactly what you mean by &amp;quot;either loop of the harness.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First things first. &lt;strong&gt;The only loops that are load bearing on a standard climbing seat harness are located in the crotch area. These are known as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/climbing-harness.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tie in points&lt;/a&gt;. Any other loop on the harness is intended to hold gear and isn't strong enough to hold your weight.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you're talking about load bearing attachment points on the harness carabiners are only safe from cross loading in one very specific scenario. The carabiners need to constantly loaded so they maintain the appropriate orientation at all times and don't allow the rope/carabiner to move/rotate. The only way to really ensure this is to be climbing in a firm (constant tension on the rope) top rope situation. This is why the climbing towers you see at fairs with automatic belays are safe (among other reasons) even though they're using carabiners. These situations also benefit from the improved speed you mentioned. Constant tension on the carabiner is also why people aren't really worried about cross loading carabiners mid-rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any other climbing situation/scenario &lt;strong&gt;the modest additional speed gain and significantly decreased safety margin aren't justified.&lt;/strong&gt; I've climbed with many different people both outside and in gyms. Unless you have a group of people working a single short easy top roped climb the climbing time is going to be much greater than the tying in time. It simply doesn't take much time to tie and untie a knot. Occasionally I've taken many falls on a climb and had to untie a rock hard figure 8 knot when my forearms and fingers are pumped. Even then the entire amount of time to untie was less than 5 minutes, and the time it takes to tie a figure 8 should be less than 2 minutes including dressing the knot. You shouldn't feel so pressured to avoid an worst case scenario of 7 minutes of work that you're willing to risk a ground fall from height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-07T20:41:22.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17510" CreationDate="2017-11-06T19:37:55.693" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is great practice, but lots of people top rope off of a single biner attached to the belay loop. The belay loop is plenty strong for this purpose, but the carabiner adds an additional single point of failure into the system. Two locking carabiners that are opposite and opposed would provide redundancy in the case of failure. Using the belay loop is generally more desirable as it reduces the change of cross loading as there are only two points of contact (the rope and the belay loop) as opposed to using the harness where there are three points of contact (rope, waist loop, crotch loop).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some climbing gyms may allow this, others will most definitely not allow this. I believe, but cannot find it on line, that some gyms actually require you to clip into pre-tied knots. The idea being the chance of the carabiner failing is lower than the chance of the knot being tied incorrectly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-11-06T19:37:55.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17510" CreationDate="2017-11-07T02:53:04.887" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of people will double up twist-lock carabiners for various reasons, and it is considered an acceptable method of protection by many, although in my opinion it is very unnecessary (related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10750/is-it-ever-necessary-to-double-up-locking-carabiners&quot;&gt;Is it ever necessary to double up locking carabiners?&lt;/a&gt;). They do not however bypass the belay loop as you are describing by clipping a biner into both the seat and belt loops independently. Doing so could eventually cause one biner to open the gate on the other, especially if using twist locks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best method I know of for clipping a climber in with a carabiner is to tie a tight knot onto an &lt;em&gt;auto-locking&lt;/em&gt;, gatekeeper-style, pear-shaped carabiner&lt;/strong&gt; such as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5029-300/Magnetron-Gridlock-Carabiner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Magnetron Gridlock carabiner&lt;/a&gt;, or a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5043-606/Clepsydra-Twin-Gate-Biner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grivel Clepsydra Double Gate biner&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Grivel Clepsydra Double Gate secured to rope by wrapping the rope tight around the biner twice, then tying off with a double overhand (a round turn and double overhand noose - the rope will break before this knot comes undone), but you can also tie a tight figure 8 on a bight, a water bowline, etc.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrHVi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrHVi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the simplest, fool proof method for tying into a carabiner while top-roping. Cross loading is eliminated, and your transition between climbers is a lot simpler and quicker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-11-25T17:03:50.257" LastActivityDate="2017-11-25T17:03:50.257" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17517" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17520" CreationDate="2017-11-07T17:19:21.690" Score="8" ViewCount="584" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent question made me wonder how a running belay is really done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose you are climbing an alpine route, maybe of difficulty UIAA 5. You encounter a stretch of 100m of UIAA 1 terrain with no visible difficult parts and ample opportunity to place protection (or even some bolts). It is possible to do it in two or three pitches, but from what I heard, this would be the perfect candidate for simul-climbing with a running belay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I understand it, the leader would start climbing on belay and placing protection. After a suitable distance, the second would clean the anchor and follow while the leader continues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't suppose the second would wait until the whole rope is out (i.e. until the leader climbed about 50m), but tie into the middle of the rope and somehow store the excess rope &lt;em&gt;somehow&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;strong&gt;How would he do that?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T17:56:13.640" Title="How to &quot;store&quot; excess rope in a running belay?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17517" CreationDate="2017-11-07T18:53:35.423" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The way I have always done that is wrap the extra rope around my self. It goes over one shoulder and then under the the arm on the other side. Then, in addition to tying it at the end of the rope with a figure-eight like normal, you tie another figure-of-eight on a byte  and clip that to your belay loop with a locking carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-07T18:53:35.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8445" CreationDate="2017-11-07T22:29:33.477" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an outdoor camera(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.arlo.com/en-us/landing/Arlo-Verizon/?cid=us-arlo-go-srch&amp;amp;utm_source=search&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=q417-us-arlo-go-search&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA0IXQBRA2EiwAMODilzFQn8VhrIK0CTquazqPtqPtP-1N2RRgYhKqXLOL37cn674Y106Y7BoCTUoQAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arlo Go&lt;/a&gt;) made specifically for Verizon network(This is not a trail camera). It uses the 4G LTZ network and will work with a solar panel, so running power would not be an issue. This camera and plan also come with Free cloud storage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This Camera works great but I am not sure as to if it will send you notifications that detect movement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11496" LastActivityDate="2017-11-07T22:29:33.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17517" CreationDate="2017-11-08T02:03:14.737" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want to learn to tie is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bq7_is-dJQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kiwi Coil&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SeDrn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SeDrn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A kiwi coil is an alpine coil you manage and wear while still tied into the end of your rope. Tie in as you normally would while climbing or glacier walking, then coil as much rope as you want around your body. Tie off in the middle of the rope by passing a bight of rope through your belay loop and around the coil, finish it off by tying an overhand on a bight onto the rope leading to your partner (back up by clipping the tail end of your bight to your belay loop). If you tie it right, you can safely take a fall and all the force will go into your harness as if on the end of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can keep smaller coils (3-5m) in your hand too, tie a &quot;magic knot&quot; (slip knot) to hold in your hand as a handle between your hand coil and your partner, this helps you keep a better grip on the rope and coil, and in the event you need to drop the coil, the slip knot will come undone as soon as the rope goes taught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a long rope, each climber can carry a kiwi coil, distributing the extra rope between the two of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T17:56:13.640" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T17:56:13.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17522" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17523" CreationDate="2017-11-08T02:46:01.720" Score="22" ViewCount="4996" Body="&lt;p&gt;When birds gather into groups, they fly in a variety of different formations and patterns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some birds fly in a formation that looks like the letter &quot;V&quot;. Several species of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;geese&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pelicans&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ibis&lt;/a&gt; are just a few of the more commonly known. This is their normal flying behavior, but can be more evident during migration due to the large numbers headed in the same direction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the other common birds fly in swarms or flocks without any obvious pattern. There's also a type of flock, exhibited breathtakingly by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starling&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;starlings&lt;/a&gt;, which is called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/starling/roosting.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;murmuration&lt;/a&gt;. It's a group of literally thousands of birds flying in magnificent and unique patterns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took the picture below over a lake in Rhode Island, United States, recently. The geese had just taken off and were flying in some side-by-side V-shaped groups. As they got farther away they gathered into smaller, tighter, individual V-shaped groups. Of course I've seen this behavior before, but on that particular evening, as I watched these geese leave the area, I began to ponder it more deeply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do some birds fly in a V-formation? Is it just a random pattern or is there a reason for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HkTvV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HkTvV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;geese over the lake in Rhode Island&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2017-11-08T17:49:43.230" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T22:08:25.603" Title="Why do some birds fly in a V-formation?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17522" CreationDate="2017-11-08T05:40:04.980" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;They fly on the wing currents produced by the birds in front of them. It's similar to drafting someone in front of you while cycling or racing. The leader is breaking trail, and the followers are benefiting by exerting less energy. They end up in a V-formation as birds join up one after the other and find a wing to fly on. After a while, the leader gets tired and falls back onto the wing of another, giving a different bird the opportunity to spear-head through the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a National Geographical article that details the specifics:&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/01/15/birds-that-fly-in-a-v-formation-use-an-amazing-trick/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birds That Fly in a V Formation Use An Amazing Trick&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the article: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a bird flaps, a rotating vortex of air rolls off each of its&#xA;  wingtips. These vortices mean that the air immediately behind the bird&#xA;  gets constantly pushed downwards (downwash), and the air behind it and&#xA;  off to the sides gets pushed upwards (upwash)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-04T22:08:25.603" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T22:08:25.603" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17524" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-08T11:37:49.217" Score="4" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have experience in backpacking but have no climbing experience. I am trying to learn how to camp on top of mountains after class 2 or 3 climbing. My motive is to take sunrise and sunset photos. After tons of research, camping on top seems to be the only way to avoid climbing at dark. I know there are many other things I need to learn. So I am looking for some help. I want to use Mt. Agassiz as an example, as it is the first one I am going to attempt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My biggest concern is lightning and thunderstorm. How do you guys minimize the risk? I know thunderstorm is common in summer afternoons. Should I absolutely avoid camping on top in summer? For the tent, I have Hilleburg Nallo 2 and Big Agnas Copper Spur 2, for my wife and me. Are they suitable for this kind of camping? I know it is hard to find a flat space on the rocks and talus. I am open to buy something new if it is necessary. From weight standpoint, I do not see that bivy has much benefit as two bivys weight might be close to my Copper Spur. Also should I expect high wind at night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14304" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-11-10T19:42:45.050" LastActivityDate="2017-11-10T19:42:45.050" Title="Camping on top of a mountain" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17524" CreationDate="2017-11-08T12:55:54.310" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, make sure it is allowed.  I'll assume you are talking about the Mt Agassiz in Arizona north of Flagstaff in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness of the Coconino National Forest.  While backcountry camping is generally permitted in this region, there may be some restrictions above tree line, and possible additional restrictions within the Wilderness Area.  Don't assume.  Check.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for thunderstorms, those tend to occur mostly in the afternoon in summer in that area.  You can still get dumped on during the night, but &lt;i&gt;generally&lt;/i&gt; with less chance of lightning.  Usually the mornings are clear regardless of what the weather will be in the afternoon.  Then on some days, clouds start rolling in by 11:00, and you can be in serious weather by 12:00 or 13:00.  On other days, it stays clear.  Check the weather forecast and wait for a suitable period where thunderstorms are less likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been to the top of Agassiz, so don't know what the micro-terrain up there looks like.  Finding a place to put a tent among the rocks may be difficult.  The nearby (and slightly higher) Mt Humphreys has a circle of rocks at top that you might be able to pitch a tent in.  The rocks would also be a minor wind break.  Keep in mind that due to this being in a Wilderness Area, re-arranging of rocks significant enough to build a windbreak may be frowned upon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You really should have a conversation with the rangers about your plans, and then listen carefully to their recommendations, if what you want to do is allowed at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-11-08T12:55:54.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17524" CreationDate="2017-11-08T16:31:15.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can sleep up high on top of peaks but there are a couple of reasons it isn't usually done,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have to haul all of your heavy gear (sleeping bags, bivy/tent etc) instead of leaving that at a base camp and taking a light day pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is usually less water higher up, so you have to haul that too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The consequences of a slip and fall with a heavy backpack are greater than with a light one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If a thunderstorm rolls in, you are going to have to haul all of that back down the mountain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this leads people to usually get an alpine start from a lower camp instead of camping on top. Its usually possible to get up in time to see the sunrise, you just have to start early enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you still wanted to sleep on top,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring  a bivy and not a tent, because it will be easier to find a sleeping spot for a bivy than a tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep one eye on the sky at all times, and if a thunderstorm appears head down right away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-08T16:31:15.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17527" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-08T19:51:18.303" Score="7" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am from the Midwest and it is very common to plant food plots for deer hunting or hunt over a flooded cornfield(with planted millet for ducks). This is completely legal here. But as soon as you take a bag of apples and set them out for deer to eat it becomes illegal, or if you place kernels of corn around where you are duck hunting it is illegal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between purposely planting food and purposely placing food you have planted somewhere else?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like if placing a food source is illegal than planting one to hunt over should be illegal too, or vice versa and both methods are legal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11496" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-10T17:52:44.317" LastActivityDate="2017-11-10T17:54:12.623" Title="Why is it legal to hunt over planted food but not placed food?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17528" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17536" CreationDate="2017-11-08T20:58:25.630" Score="7" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;So backstory behind the title! My mother is in her late 40's and has decided that next year, starting in April, she is going to hike the full Appalachian Trail. Now I know next to nothing about the trail itself, but I want to be able to assist her in this immense transition from being a bad-ass kindergarten teacher to a bad-ass trail hiker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far she has talked to me about: having Power of Attorney on her accounts while she is gone so that I can make sure her bills are being paid and so I can send her packages at specific intervals, and managing her social media so that I can help promote her endeavors. I just want to make sure that I do everything I can to make her hike successful and SAFE. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit, for more information about her.&#xA;Like I mentioned above she is 48. In the past year she has spent a lot of weekends on short hikes or camping trips, and worked out during the week (mostly cardio). This will be the first hike she has done that is longer than a week (which is where my worry comes from). That being said she has been doing her research and watching all sorts of YouTube channels and documentaries about it. I'm less afraid of her not having the knowledge for the trail, but more about her emotional needs and how to prepare her for being in natural solitary for 6 months.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14312" LastEditorUserId="14312" LastEditDate="2017-11-09T13:21:59.917" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T23:02:34.557" Title="Mother is attempting full Appalachian Trail next year - how can I help her now and while she is doing it?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17528" CreationDate="2017-11-09T00:26:19.900" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest that you and your mother read Bill Bryson's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods_(book)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt;. For a look into the book, including sections of text, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0307279464&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. It also comes in an audio book and was made into a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods_(film)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;movie&lt;/a&gt; in 2015.  Bryson hiked with a friend, and although he skipped many sections (i.e., did not complete the trail), he had a great experience.  The book is a great read, informative and &lt;em&gt;funny&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I suggest this book is: your mother sounds as though she is relatively inexperienced for a trip as long as the Appalachian Trail.  Backpacking for one week is hard, but backpacking for six months is not just a longer hike, but a qualitatively different hike. (A Snow Leopard is not just a bigger long-haired cat than a Persian, but a qualitatively different cat.)  Bryson's book will put the trip in perspective in a way that no maps or hiking guides could.   Naturally, your mother needs to study the maps and hiking guides, but she knows that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above paragraph is not meant to discourage your mother or to make you anxious.  Your mother has an admirable goal, and I will be thrilled if you report back that she arrived at Mount Katahdin next fall -- a thru-hiker on her first try!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, I will repeat my comment: your mother should: (1) take a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Satellite Messenger or PLB&lt;/a&gt;; (2) observe bear precautions with food, but otherwise not worry about bears; (3) get at least some rudimentary medical knowledge (if she does not already); (4) arrange to talk with you and/or a friend at logical points along the way.  (Once a day is too often (she needs to get away from it all) and probably impossible anyway.)  If your mother opts for a satellite messenger, (4) is to some extent redundant with (1) as far as safety goes,   but would be good for her mental health and yours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2017-11-09T21:43:58.890" LastActivityDate="2017-11-09T21:43:58.890" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17531" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-09T03:08:52.273" Score="3" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;During the winter I travel long distances over 25 miles into forest, lakes, rivers and mountains. I always worry that when it's time to leave I'll find myself trapped by tree laying over the road. Temperatures can be 25°F to 45°F (around -5°C to +5°C), and the chances of seeing anyone there could be slim during the winter. Should I activate my beacon?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14315" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T18:12:04.423" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:12:04.423" Title="Should I activate my beacon if the road to safety is blocked?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17531" CreationDate="2017-11-09T06:59:34.407" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;My first response is &quot;No, you should not set off your beacon, it would interfere with Natural Selection.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously though, if you are not equipped to spend a single night out, you should not be there.  Your beacon should be used only in a life threatening emergency, a tree across the road should not be enough on its own to generate the level of peril that your life is in danger. If there is a risk of trees blocking the road, you should carry the tools to clear it, or arrange for someone to come and look for you if you do not return. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's different if the tree fell on you, or the tree blocked your exit and an unexpected, unseasonable storm came in and you have been trapped for a week, or the tree is blocking your exit and you are being stalked by a pack of wolves. In these cases, it's not unreasonable to call for rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T17:20:09.367" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T17:20:09.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17531" CreationDate="2017-11-09T11:40:41.037" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume here that you are traveling by car.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you carry a survival package so you can survive for at least a night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the tree situation, carry a large towing strap and invest in a (chain) saw appropriate for the size of trees in the area.  This way you should be able to chop the tree in a few pieces and pull them to the side of the road using either your car with the towing strap or by hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not activate your beacon until you are in actual danger.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T17:23:52.797" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T17:23:52.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17531" CreationDate="2017-11-09T12:22:26.677" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you aren't equipped to handle a situation where you can't drive out as expected, then you don't belong there.  Conversely, if you go to such places and situations, you should take enough stuff with you to be able to survive and possibly get out on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tree falling across the road is only one of several things that aren't too ridiculously improbable that prevent you from driving out as expected.  Something could go wrong with the car.  If in winter, a large enough snow storm would prevent driving out.  A tree falling across the road isn't even the most likely of these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going into the forest on backcountry roads 25 miles from the nearest pavement, cell phone reception, etc, then you need to be prepared.  The level of preparedness depends on what dangers you will face, how much time you have to deal with them, and what level of hassle and uncomfort you are willing to put up with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summer, it might be as simple as bringing a wind breaker or rain coat, and water.  You can walk the 25 miles, even if it takes most of the night.  For a bit more comfort, bring a small tent.  Stay in place until the next morning, then you've got all day to hike out.  If further away, bring a backpack with a tent.  Now you can take multiple days to hike out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In winter, warm clothes and a sleeping bag are pretty much essential.  Even a &quot;3 season&quot; tent, snow shoes, and backpacking stove are a really good idea.  Personally, I wouldn't drive 25 miles into a forest in winter without them.  From there, add more to increase comfort.  In summer, not eating for a day or two is no big deal.  In winter, that's not such a good idea because your body needs more calories just to keep warm.  You really should have a few days of food with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Anecdote&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you describe actually happened to my, although it was in summer.  I drove about 20 miles into the National Forest southwest of Flagstaff Arizona.  I did a day hike down into Sycamore Canyon and back.  During the last hour on the way back, a strong thunderstorm rolled in.  It came with some serious wind, lightning, and rain.  I got back to the car about 15 minutes after it was over.  At that point it was about 17:00, which meant about 2&amp;frac12; hours of daylight left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shortly after leaving the parking area, I encountered a large tree across the road.  There is a whole network of &quot;roads&quot; in that area, so I looked at the map and planned to take a longer way around on somewhat less desirable roads.  I had a rental car with only typical ground clearance for a passenger car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I was turning around on the narrow dirt road, apparently the oil pan hit a rock in the road I didn't see.  I smelled the oil, then noticed the oil light coming on a few seconds later.  I shut off the engine immediately, and coasted down a small hill to &quot;park&quot; the car on the side of the dirt road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I set up the tent in a nearby spot, had dinner, and spent the night there.  It was really no different than what I was planning on doing anyway, just not in that spot.  The next morning at dawn, I mixed up a gallon of diluted Gatorade, threw it into a day pack and started hiking out.  After about 10 miles, I ran into someone that gave me a lift to the nearest paved road.  From there I walked to the police station and told them about the down tree.  Then I had to find someone to tow the car, and a place to tow it to where it could get fixed.  That took a lot more walking around, but by the time I got back to the car in a tow truck, the tree had been cleared.  The car got towed out of there to a garage in Flagstaff, all before it got dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having the equipment and food to stay out in the forest for several days and to hike out if needed, made this just a adventure instead of a serious problem.  I never felt like I was in danger or in any real trouble.  In this case, the most important item was probably the water and Gatorade powder.  The rest made things more comfortable, but without enough water I would have been in at least some trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different conditions require different items.  Think about what you would need and/or want to stay out a extra few days, and to hike out on your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-11-09T12:22:26.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17528" CreationDate="2017-11-09T23:51:00.963" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's great that you're being so supportive, but there's a limit to what you can do to help. Thru-hiking is all about self-reliance, so your mother really has to develop her own skills and mental resilience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds as though you're already on top of your main role, which is to hold the fort in terms of managing her finances and resupply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put your mind at rest, she won't be in &quot;natural solitary for 6 months&quot;. The AT is a popular trail and highly sociable. If she wants company she won't have any trouble finding it. With the exception of the 100 Mile Wilderness, it's also mainly near to population centres, so she can be in touch with family and friends on a regular basis. And as you seem so concerned for her safety, it might be a good idea for her to carry a Garmin inReach Satellite Communicator so you can track her progress and exchange messages when there's no cellphone reception. It also acts as an emergency beacon if she ever needs help from Search and Rescue - this is a big deal for solo hikers and will greatly enhance her safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you say, there's no shortage of online videos and advice, so she should be well briefed. It's the world's most vlogged trail! Though from what you say, her experience is quite limited for such a big project. From what I've seen, many US thru-hikers set out under-prepared in terms of basic back-country skills. For your own peace of mind, you might want to double-check that she is up to speed in the key areas that people tend to neglect:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Basic navigation skills&lt;/strong&gt;: the AT is a well-marked trail, but you still need to develop a sound grounding in navigation with map and compass. You may never need it but if you do it can be a life-safer - just a few years back there was a fatality when a lady missed the trail and become hopelessly lost. Too many people these days rely solely on their cellphone GPS. I was recently on a thread with some of the most experience thru-hikers on the planet, and all agreed that this is a terrible idea - she should be carrying map and compass and know how to use them. I recommend Lyle Brotherton's excellent &lt;em&gt;Ultimate Navigation Manual&lt;/em&gt; as a resource, or she could do a course.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The ability to deal with wet-cold&lt;/strong&gt;: the AT is prone to some truly terrible weather, particularly in the White Mountains. There have been many incidents where people suffer from exposure and get into serious trouble. There's a skill to walking safely in bad weather in terms of equipment selection, management of pace, judging the conditions, selecting escape routes, erecting your shelter in a storm etc etc.  There's no substitute for experience - encourage your mum to get out in bad weather over the winter to test her setup and gain confidence in her judgement. Obviously, this should be done in safe situations where it's easy to bail out. If there's a local mountaineering club she could hook up with them and learn from the old-timers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Walking ergonomics&lt;/strong&gt;: very few people think about this. But there is a real skill to walking efficiently and without injury, especially up and down steep hills. And the AT is pretty much &lt;strong&gt;all&lt;/strong&gt; steep hills! I learned much of what I know from watching the old guides in the Alps, but also from research and experimentation. Experienced walkers can quickly spot other seasoned hikers on the trail because they tend to walk more efficiently. It's too big a topic to go into here, but encourage her to research it, or go on a forum like BackpackingLight.com and ask for advice. On such a long walk this can make the difference between success and failure. Also, most people who carry walking poles have little idea how to use them - there's a technique and she should learn it. This helps preserve the knees of those of us past the first flush of youth...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as I say, these are the skills that I feel aren't given enough attention by the typical newbie thru-hiker. I hope something here is helpful. I won't duplicate the topics that are covered well on YouTube except to repeat that as a newbie she should &lt;strong&gt;start slow and work up her mileage gradually&lt;/strong&gt;. Many people start too fast, get injured or demoralised and have to bail. It's a marathon not a sprint - for the first 6 weeks or so she should stop well before she feels she needs to. She'll make up the time later on when she's trail-hardened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wish her all the best - it should be a great adventure. And although I've highlighted the dangers, just hold onto the thought that the great, great majority of hikers come through the experience safe and sound, with their lives much enriched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-11-11T23:02:34.557" LastActivityDate="2017-11-11T23:02:34.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17537" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-10T10:49:21.603" Score="-2" ViewCount="319" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a small or mini knife for when I don't have a normal sized knife with me. I don't need it for self-defense, but just for cutting things in normal day usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What features should I look for in a very small/mini knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14323" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:23:06.367" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T07:28:30.980" Title="What features should I look for in a mini knife?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17527" CreationDate="2017-11-10T17:54:12.623" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First it is not illegal to feed and hunt in all areas, only some.  Google &quot;deer feeder&quot; there are industries around this market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I discuss some of the considerations in my answer at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13530/what-are-the-downsides-of-baiting-game-while-hunting/13537#13537&quot;&gt;What are the downsides of baiting game while hunting?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where food is grown, grown food plots are always present, all animals including game animals come and go to these plots as they desire. It just in not practical to say you can't hunt in the crop fields of the US grain belt.  Additionally it takes substantial work outside of the hunting season to maintain this plot of land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a hunter grabs a bag of apples at the store, and drops them in a field, the food is only there by the direct intervention of the hunter. True he probably does it more than once, but the point is that is unnatural. The food surplus (what the animal eats), is greater than the environment can support. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The real short answer is:&lt;/strong&gt; Where baiting is illegal, the law makers believe it will increase the harvest rate (killing) of target species above what the ecosystem can sustain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are environmental, political and economic reasons that make the extermination of game animals in some areas undesirable. Hunting laws are generally designed to maintain stable population and harvest rates.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-11-10T17:54:12.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16183" CreationDate="2017-11-10T21:07:17.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the name for a group of conditions that arise from the affects of altitude on the body. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt; The time for these conditions to develop varies and are influenced by many factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The symptoms your group member experienced are most likely came from an acute lack of oxygen supply to the brain. This would generally be called AMS in the context of high-altitude trekking, but is a more acute condition than the ones usually described in discussion about proper acclimation. The last part of my answer goes into more detail about the other kinds of symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At higher elevations, less oxygen is available to the body. A range of adaptations to compensate happen over a wide time frame. The most immediate ones have to do with breathing, heart rate, and blood supply. It's easy, even on foot, to ascend much faster than these basic mechanisms can cope with. When the air is thin, breathing hard is not enough to get more oxygen into the blood. There needs to be more blood moving through the lungs, and it needs to stay there longer to become oxygenated. The body needs time to properly adjust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exertion increases the oxygen demands of the body. If not properly acclimated, exertion can create an oxygen deficit where it is &quot;used&quot; faster than it is replaced. This leads to severe short term affects like fainting, but luckily can be resolved quickly by descending and rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=8kICGe7NakQC&amp;amp;pg=PA13#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This book&lt;/a&gt; goes into detail on the biological mechanisms of the affect of altitude on the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can overexertion lead to AMS?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, at altitude it is easy to overwhelm the body's ability to supply oxygen, which is one of the causes of AMS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would it act as a possible factor in increasing the chances of a person being affected by AMS?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples of other AMS symptoms are: nausea, weakness, insomnia, and lack of appetite. High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), which are life-threatening, are sometimes included under AMS and sometimes categorized separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proper acclimation can reduce the chance of being affected. Since these conditions are complex and involve multiple anatomical systems, this is not as well understood from a scientific perspective. However, there are vast amounts of experiential evidence that show the best way to do it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ascend slowly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conserve energy, &lt;strong&gt;avoid overexertion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay hydrated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleep well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14325" LastEditorUserId="14325" LastEditDate="2017-11-10T21:22:06.753" LastActivityDate="2017-11-10T21:22:06.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17540" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17545" CreationDate="2017-11-11T22:57:36.903" Score="8" ViewCount="538" Body="&lt;p&gt;The motivation for this question is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17459/what-to-do-if-someone-gets-impaled-in-the-stomach&quot;&gt;impalement&lt;/a&gt; question.  The impalement question asked what to do in a particular catastrophic accident if &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Phones are dead, you don't have a PLB, and if you walked out, help could not arrive in less than three days&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is irresponsible to be three days away &lt;em&gt;from any type of communication&lt;/em&gt;, given the availability of a PLB or a satellite communication device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, one doesn't carry such a device when walking the dog to the grocery store, and maybe not on a well travelled trail, with many access points, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://bikewashington.org/canal/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;C&amp;amp;O Towpath&lt;/a&gt;.  But does there come a point where one should carry such a device, not only for one's own safety but out of consideration for family and rescuers?  If so, what are the these minimum conditions?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several questions have asked about features of these devices, and the conditions under which they should be activated, but I could not find a question about when it is irresponsible not to carry them.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T00:39:13.973" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T18:20:14.940" Title="In what situations is it irresponsible not to carry a PLB or satellite messenger device?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17540" CreationDate="2017-11-11T23:44:38.483" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: You can be irresponsible with or without a PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most basic principle of responsibility in the wilderness is that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;YOU are ultimately responsible for your own safety.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that being the case there are few things more &lt;strong&gt;irresponsible&lt;/strong&gt; than than the idea that you &lt;strong&gt;can take risks, and if anything goes wrong, you will simply push a big button&lt;/strong&gt; and Search and Rescue will show up and whisk you to safety in their big helicopter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the rules of survival from Off the Edge Death in the Grand Canyon is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Never rely on a cell phone as your sole safety and survival kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Page 560)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the authors also mention that,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The take home lesson here is that one should never embark on any hike into the backcountry unless one has fully prepared to successfully do that hike &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; a PLB and without a Satellite Phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Page 118 Emphasis in the original)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As someone else said,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Now you can go into the back country and &lt;strong&gt;take a risk you might not normally have taken,&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; says Matt Scharper, who coordinates a rescue every day in a state with wilderness so rugged even crashed planes can take decades to find. &quot;With the &lt;strong&gt;Yuppie 911&lt;/strong&gt;, you send a message to a satellite and the government pulls your butt out of &lt;strong&gt;something you shouldn't have been in in the first place.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33470581/ns/us_news-life/t/tired-hike-rescuers-fear-yuppie/#.WgeGSManHcs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this case where a party in the Grand Canyon pushed their PLB Button 4 times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The group’s leader had reportedly hiked once at the Grand Canyon; the other adult had no Grand Canyon and very little backpacking experience. When asked what they would have done &lt;strong&gt;without the SPOT device, the leader stated, “We would have never attempted this hike.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2009/10/third-time-was-anything-charming-%E2%80%93-spot-misuse-grand-canyon-national-park4790&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that your PLB might not work depending on your location (such as deep slot canyons) or Search and Rescue might get there too late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The use of a PLB should not detract from effective individual preparation. Therefore, make sure you are adequately prepared to survive as a Search and Rescue response is &lt;strong&gt;not always instantaneous&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hikesafe.com/index.php?page=technology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the most tragic case of someone who waited for rescue instead of trying to self rescue is Geraldine Largay who got lost while hiking the Appalachian Trail and stayed put.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Her cell phone couldn’t get a signal. Instead of continuing to hike she stayed put. For 26 days she wrote in a journal until she died quietly of exposure and starvation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freep.com/story/travel/2016/07/23/appalachian-trail-geraldine-largy/86992994/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The camp was less than two miles from the Appalachian trail. Adam wrote that walking south from the campsite, the dense forest became open woods with good visibility after 60-70 yards, and after another 25 minutes he found “a clear logging road” that led to lodging. In total the walk took about 30 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/hiker-who-went-missing-on-appalachian-trail-survived-26-days-before-dying&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this to say that people can be very responsible and safe without a PLB and people can be very irresponsible with a PLB. Being responsible is more about the mindset and the preparation than a particular piece of gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T18:20:14.940" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T18:20:14.940" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17542" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17735" CreationDate="2017-11-12T01:13:45.650" Score="9" ViewCount="192" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm partially handicapped, and sometimes can only walk short distances without the use of a wheelchair, especially outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to take walks alone in the winter (especially to see winter birds), but I don't have the strength or balance to walk alone on paths with snow; and I can't always ambulate in my wheelchair by myself on snowy paths. I can drive the back wheels myself with my hands, especially if I put my thick &quot;winter wheels&quot; on. However, the front wheels sink in the snow and get stuck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that gear exists to enable the front wheels to move smoothly along the snow, but I haven't seen it or met anyone who has used it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm only looking for something to help me on paths where the snow is fully packed or has up to a few inches of powdery snow-cover. I'm thinking about &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;using existing paths where the snow is mostly, but not necessarily completely, packed down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;creating new paths in areas where there are no more than a few inches of snow  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;having a way to get home if it all of a sudden starts to snow when I'm out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My ultimate goal for the gear would be something that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I can attach/detach on my own  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;doesn't weigh more than a few pounds  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;isn't too bulky, in case I want to keep it in my lap for part of the trip &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not asking for brands or prices. I want to know if gear like this exists, and if so, what criteria I should look for when making my choice. If there is no such thing, that's a valid answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T23:29:27.040" Title="What features should I look for in gear to support front wheels of wheelchairs for travel on snowy paths?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17542" CreationDate="2017-11-12T02:08:52.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think what you are looking for is these attachments called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wheelblades.ch/en/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wheelblades&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dVi3u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dVi3u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wheelblades&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wheelblades.ch/en/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;essentially mini skis that lock onto the front wheels of a wheelchair&lt;/strong&gt;, Wheelblades are designed as an easy-to-use solution that aid traction and give a little extra oomph through snow, ice and slush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like a snowshoe does for the person wearing it, the Wheelblades spread the weight over a greater surface area. Instead of slipping and sinking, the front wheels float and glide. A pair of channels on the base of the ski compress the snow, which increases stability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wheelblades use a clamp lock to secure to the wheels. They are designed to be &lt;strong&gt;installed within minutes&lt;/strong&gt; by raising the wheelchair up on its primary drive wheels, lowering the front wheels on top and closing the clamp on the binding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://newatlas.com/wheelblades-mini-wheelchair-skis/24329/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do have some limitations,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wheelblades are to be used for travel on packed-down snow without any loose gravel. They are not suitable for traveling on ice, deep snow or snow-free substrata. They are not intended for use on ski or toboggan runs or the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wheelblades.ch/wheelblades-wAssets/docs/wheelblades-S-Manual.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have only been able to find one &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wheelblades.ch/en/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;company&lt;/a&gt; making these. It's based in Switzerland, which is the location of the inventor, Patrick Meyer, who is a quadriplegic. They can be purchased in other countries however, including the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.clintonrivermedical.com/wheelblades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt;, Canada and possibly others, although I didn't check.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know you didn't ask, but one of their models can also be used on baby strollers, which could be a big help for winter family travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T00:39:49.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17540" CreationDate="2017-11-12T11:10:59.867" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL/DR: There's really no argument - just carry a PLB for any non-trivial trip!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a question I've discussed with the leaders of SAR teams. They are unanimous that &lt;strong&gt;responsible&lt;/strong&gt; use of a PLB makes life much safer and easier for both you and the rescue team. They encourage all parties to carry them, and particularly solo walkers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would argue that for any non-trivial project it's irresponsible not to carry a PLB. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's imagine a scenario where a solo walker does and does not carry a PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scenario 1: you don't carry a PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are planning a 6 day solo walk on a remote wilderness trail. You are experienced and responsible and leave notice of your route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you get an immobilising injury on day 3, with no cellphone reception. Here's how it plays out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have to wait at least 4-5 days before SAR will consider you lost and start their search.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now the rescue team have to cover 150 miles of trail to find you, plus&#xA;there's the possibility that you might have lost the trail or tried&#xA;to bail out down a side-trail. This kind of search involves dozens&#xA;of volunteers giving up days or weeks of their time, and if conditions are&#xA;poor they may be risking their lives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If helicopters join the search you are also risking the lives of the crew (there was a recent incident where a rescue copter went down with all hands lost). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It may take days to find you. Grim for the rescue team, and grim for you - if you have a bad injury this might be harrowing or even life-threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scenario 2: you carry a PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After your injury you simply press the button. The SAR team knows exactly where you are, and as soon as conditions allow they come straight to you and get you out ASAP. Simple as that. While rescue would have taken at least 4 days without the PLB (and often much longer), in this scenario you might well be picked up within hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can any sane person argue that Scenario 1 is better?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've been looking at a fairly extreme scenario (though it's not at all uncommon). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the same principles apply on shorter trips or with larger parties. Used responsibly there is simply no downside to carrying a PLB. On shorter trips the benefits may be less dramatic but they are still significant. I was involved in a search in Glen Coe - a small but complex area in Scotland. It took days to find the walker, by which time they had died of their injuries. My PLB lives in my pack and I carry it all the time, even on day walks. I can't see any reason not to - in an emergency it's unambiguously better for everyone involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No need for debate - just get one and carry it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Responsible use of satellite devices&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like any tool a PLB can be abused. It's emphatically not a reason for undertaking irresponsible projects on the assumption that you'll be bailed out if things go bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was recent incident on the Pacific Crest Trail when a thru-hiker went into the Washington Cascades late in the season with storms forecast and against the strongest advice from local experts. Reportedly, his PLB gave him a false sense of security. Sure enough he became trapped by heavy snow and had to be rescued in the face of potentially lethal avalanche risk. This kind of behaviour is the height of selfishness and irresponsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But SAR leaders tell me that this kind of abuse is rare. The benefits when responsibly used hugely outweigh the actions of the occasional idiot. They all agree that on balance the advent of PLBs is a game-changing improvement to safety in the back-country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What about Spot or inReach compared to a dedicated PLB device?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A satellite communicator can also work if (a) You are 100% sure that there is reception throughout your route, (b) You are careful to preserve the battery life, and (c) You are careful to keep your account in good order. Plus with the inReach you can communicate the details of your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this is a compromise - a PLB is a much more powerful and reliable device for calling in SAR, and once it's purchased and registered there is no ongoing account to worry about. For communicators, the rescue functions are a secondary add-on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a larger party, the ideal scenario is to carry both a PLB and an inReach, and for deep-wilderness travel (eg Alaska or Greenland) a satellite phone is worth considering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you're only carrying one device, the PLB is the way to go when rescue is your priority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T18:19:23.290" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T18:19:23.290" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17546" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17547" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" Score="0" Body="Questions about backpacking solo" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:34:50.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17548" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17549" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" Score="0" Body="Questions about hiking solo" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:36:11.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17550" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17551" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" Score="0" Body="Questions about kayaking solo" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T20:40:46.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17552" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17553" CreationDate="2017-11-12T21:43:17.573" Score="10" ViewCount="3551" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that they are full of starch and fat. I also know that deer and boars eat them. Is it safe for a human to eat them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4188" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:06:53.833" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:06:53.833" Title="Can I eat raw acorns?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17552" CreationDate="2017-11-12T21:57:58.887" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like eating raw acorns &lt;strong&gt;won't kill&lt;/strong&gt; you but its not likely to be pleasant and &lt;strong&gt;can harm you&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, even “sweet” acorns should be leached to remove what tannins exist in them because several studies show that unleached acorns can make you constipated and can harm your teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://honest-food.net/how-to-eat-acorns/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've ever tried a raw acorn, and quickly spat it out, that's probably due to tannins. These compounds give raw acorns an astringent, puckery quality (they can also do some damage to your kidneys as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/10/24/358527018/nutritious-acorns-dont-have-to-just-be-snacks-for-squirrels&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tannins in the acorns make them bitter, and inedible unless the tannins are leached out. (Theoretically you could ruin your kidneys by eating unprocessed acorns, but the tannins make them so nasty that you’d be hard pressed to eat enough to do yourself harm.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rootsimple.com/2013/10/advanced-acorn-processing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;good news&lt;/strong&gt; is that it &lt;strong&gt;isn't all that hard to process&lt;/strong&gt; the acorns to remove the tannins. You basically crack them and soak them in several changes of water for a couple of hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luckily the tannins are water-soluble, so you can leach them out with a few changes of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you've also got to crack the shells (bricks, rocks and hammers were employed at the workshop), pick out the nut meats, weed out the bad ones and grind the nuts into meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/10/24/358527018/nutritious-acorns-dont-have-to-just-be-snacks-for-squirrels&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Processing acorns starts out by shelling of the nuts and leaching out the tannins that make them bitter and nauseating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-5-ways-eat-acorns&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-12T23:19:08.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14620" CreationDate="2017-11-13T04:59:37.490" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bees in your picture are honey bees. If the bees you were seeing happened to not be honey bees, bumble bees for example, then they would most likely be wild/non-domesticated. For honey bees it could be either way. You can't tell by looking at them. Honey bees in a managed hive can throw off a swarm to become a wild colony in a tree or something. In that case the bees in the wild colony will look identical to the managed colony. You'd have to track them back to their hive to find out. Search for &quot;bee lining&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14331" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T04:59:37.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17556" CreationDate="2017-11-13T14:10:39.810" Score="61" ViewCount="28317" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent comment &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cows eat grass, doesn't mean you can!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;got me thinking.  Corn, wheat, rice, etc are all grass that we eat regularly.  I am not sure the human race could survive on the planet without eating grass.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in all fairness, for the most part humans only eat the grains of the grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I eat the other parts of the grass also? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If yes, what do I need to know and/or do to prepare the grass for eating?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T08:47:34.173" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T11:31:13.340" Title="Can I safely eat grass?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17555" CreationDate="2017-11-13T14:27:50.263" Score="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just because there are grasses (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poaceae&lt;/a&gt;) with edible and nutritious parts does not mean that this applies to all grasses. That is pretty common-place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick Google search give you all the info you need:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many grasses are edible, in the sense that you can eat it; you simply won't get any energy/nutrients out of it. They consist mostly of cellulose, and our digestive tract is simply not made to break that down (as opposed to, e.g. cows, which employ four stomachs for that purpose). There are however also grasses that are toxic. So when not discerning between actual species, the effect of eating grasses is somewhere between no effect and harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T11:31:13.340" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T11:31:13.340" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17557" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17558" CreationDate="2017-11-13T15:08:26.697" Score="36" ViewCount="7545" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am moving to a different state soon. In order to make the move easier I have decided to sell some of my firearms. I live in a state that doesn't have universal background checks, unfortunately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the most responsible way to sell my firearms? From other listings I have seen, most people just take an approach of only selling to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry_in_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CCW&lt;/a&gt; holders. That's not a bad idea - are there other good ways? I'm making the assumption that selling to a pawn shop will give me nowhere near good value for my collection. But they would conduct background checks on the future buyer right? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of receipt should I be issuing with the firearm? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="2386" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T13:10:43.423" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T15:23:33.910" Title="What is the responsible way to sell a firearm?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-13T15:26:59.750" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is nothing that says that &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; can't require a background check. Most firearms stores would do a background check and transfer the firearm for a small fee. Its the same process if you buy a gun online and have it shipped to a licensed &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FFL&lt;/a&gt;dealer to have it transferred to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would have to find a local &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FFL&lt;/a&gt; dealer to settle all of the details. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, selling to any &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FFL&lt;/a&gt;dealer would mean that they would take care of the background checks in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="anon" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T15:26:59.750" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3312" CreationDate="2017-11-13T15:43:33.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Edmonton and just walking outside at all means everything needs a couple layers. Many of my friends routinely wear full snowpants around, I wear a floor length snow skirt that snaps all the way to the bottom so it’s easier to deal with than changing in and out of long underwear once at work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s true, legs don’t “sense” cold in the same way but it doesn’t mean they aren’t cold, and I’m pretty sure my thighs at the knee are frost bitten. They generally go from cool to sharp pain below -15°C which is a warm day in the winter here, and when we all fill our gas tanks, get groceries and a car wash. No one is really deterred in their activities even at -40°C. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to kind of laugh at windproof cotton/poly pants as being good enough, or that walking makes your legs warm. Not here, I walk everywhere, and it’s the act of walking that brings the top of my leg in contact with pants and closer to the -25°C outside temp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice is get awesome snow pants with a full zip for easy in/easy out AND long thermal underwear, AND good pants, and based on your activity, use any combo of those.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zPtel.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Keeping warm in Edmonton&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14333" LastEditorUserId="8871" LastEditDate="2017-11-13T20:54:06.507" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T20:54:06.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-13T16:20:51.657" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possible solution, if you find a buyer that is willing to wait for it, i have heard of people taking a copy of the buyer's drivers license to the police station and asking them to run it to check for any red flags, or past offenses that prevent them from owning guns such as domestic abuse, or being a felon. I'm not sure if all police departments would do this or if they would charge to do it, but it does help keep them out of the wrong hands. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I would write your own bill of sale with both parties signing it basically just saying &quot;I ______ sold this model of gun, for this amount, to ______ on this date. Serial number __________&quot; then both parties sign the bottom of the page. This simply removes as much liability as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or as Charlie suggested you may be able to find a FFL dealer that will run the same paperwork as if they were buying it from them for a small nominal fee and act as a broker of sorts. The most money will be made selling it to a private individual but i understand your caution. I have had FFL transfers done for as little as 10$.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T16:20:51.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17555" CreationDate="2017-11-13T17:01:36.457" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eating grass isn't smart because our bodies lack the enzymes to digest it, and because you never know if some animal came along and crapped on it.  Don't eat grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14336" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T17:01:36.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17562" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17587" CreationDate="2017-11-13T17:54:19.583" Score="11" ViewCount="297" Body="&lt;p&gt;After using tape gloves for crack climbing, I always have some tape gunk left over on my skin. While it doesn't hurt and goes away a few days of rigorous scrubbing, it doesn't look super great at the office on Monday morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I remove this gunk left on my skin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for something that's relatively painless, and won't hurt when it gets in cuts on the hand/fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, switching to rubber gloves is not on the table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T05:15:14.707" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T14:38:14.573" Title="How to painlessly remove gunk left by tape gloves?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;crack-climbing&gt;&lt;tape-gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-13T18:59:05.473" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can require the purchaser to fill out a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Form 4473&quot;&gt;Form 4473&lt;/a&gt; that the BATFE requires FFL holders to file.  Make sure the purchaser fills out the form and signs it.  Even though you're not an FFL holder, the form holds it's own weight.  It states on the form &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;18.c.  I also understand that making any false oral or written statement, or exhibiting any false or misrepresented identification&#xA;  with respect to this  transaction, is a crime punishable as a felony&#xA;  under Federal law, and may also violate State and/or local law&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, make sure the purchaser answered the questions correctly.  Do NOT sell the firearm if the answers aren't correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purchaser should not object too strongly with this method.  Because you're keeping the form for your records and not sending it to the BATFE.  If (s)he does, then don't sell the firearm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the form forever so you have a record of the sale.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastEditorUserId="11800" LastEditDate="2017-11-13T19:25:38.863" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T19:25:38.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17555" CreationDate="2017-11-13T19:45:02.837" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to the existing answers, depending on where the grass is growing, there can be all sorts of synthetic fertilizers thrown onto it which would be very harmful to humans. You do not want to eat Scott's Lawn Fertilizer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14343" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T19:45:02.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17555" CreationDate="2017-11-13T19:49:25.447" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the low nutrients issue, grass stems are covered in tiny silica spikes, which act as an abrasive on your insides. These spikes are thought to have evolved as a defense against being eaten (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16638012&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silica in grasses as a defence against insect herbivores:&lt;/a&gt;) -- which clearly didn't work in the long run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But anyway, if you don't have a tough lining like a cow has on its lips, esophagus and stomach, you'll risk feeling sandpapered inside or worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13206" LastEditorDisplayName="user14347" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T12:00:04.003" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T12:00:04.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-13T20:24:24.180" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three ways that I am aware of, as a private seller to sell your guns to someone else correctly. Keep in mind that correctly is very jurisdiction-driven, and in some ways dependent on opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But First&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you can sell your gun at all. Many collectible guns fall under certain rules where you are allowed to own them if you did before such and such a date, but your no longer allowed to sell them. Also be aware that there may be county and other requirements. For example, in Florida you can sell your gun with no background check, but if the buyer doesn't have a CCL then there is still a wait period. Some counties do require background checks even if the state does not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&quot;Good&quot; ways to sell&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are exceptions these ways are so easy and accessible that most people just go one of these ways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gun show. There are many gun shows. If you wish to sell at a gun show there are sections set up to let you do just that. You pay a small fee, and a FFL will handle the transaction for you, like a broker.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gun shop/clubs. Most gun shops and clubs offer a &quot;transfer&quot; or &quot;broker&quot; service. Like the gun show, a FFL brokers the deal for you for a small fee. In both cases they make sure all laws are followed and that all the paperwork is in order. They will also have rules on who the buyer can be so you can feel safe that your gun isn't going to someone unsafe. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;County&lt;/strong&gt; Sheriff's office will usually help you transact a sale if you call ahead and ask them to. They may not want to help you sell 200 guns, but they are usually more then willing to help with a few. They can do background checks, witness the sale, and make sure the paper work recommended is filled out correctly. Make sure you call to arrange this first. Showing up at the sheriffs office with a gun in your hand will make for a very bad day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FL specific things&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no registration in FL. In theory you could sell your gun to anyone, so long as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You traded something of equal value&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The buyer is a FL resident&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You know the buyer is over 18&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You know the buyer is not a convicted felon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But keeping a good record is recommended. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T20:32:19.710" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T20:32:19.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-13T21:30:34.003" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I live in a state that doesn't have universal background checks, unfortunately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Universal background checks are simply an elimination of private sale, so the lack of such a policy simply means you have another option. Here are all your options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sell to any store which handles firearms. Any gun store, pawn shop, or other business which regularly sells firearms is &lt;strong&gt;legally required&lt;/strong&gt; to hold a Federal Firearms License (FFL), and any FFL holder is &lt;strong&gt;legally required&lt;/strong&gt; to conduct background checks (NICS check through a form 4473) on any buyer. If you sell to a store, you will likely get much less than the firearms are worth, but they will be out of your concern immediately and you will have peace of mind that they are going to a responsible owner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sell them online, through a site like Gunbroker or Armslist, and transfer through a gun store. Virtually all gun stores offer firearm transfers as a service, with typical prices ranging from $10-50. The way this works is once you receive payment for the firearms, you ship them to a gun store chosen by the buyer (&lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; the buyer themselves). The gun store logs the transfer, conducts the background check (again, they are legally required to do this), and then if the buyer passes they take possession of the firearm. Normally the buyer chooses the FFL and pays the FFL transfer fee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sell them locally, but process the transaction through a local gun store. This is exactly as the above, except instead of shipping to an FFL, you and the buyer meet at a local gun store to handle the background check.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sell them through private sale. This is simply a face-to-face transaction. Legally, you can not sell them to someone you know to be a prohibited person (someone who is not legally allowed to own a gun), and the buyer &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; be a resident of the same state as you. Banning this is all that 'universal background checks' are, but you're free to ignore this option if you don't feel comfortable with it. Because ordinary citizens are not allowed to access the NICS, some opt to use concealed carry permits as an indirect confirmation that someone has passed a background check in the past.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like #1 will be the easiest option for you, but #2 doesn't entail any additional legal responsibility and will get you a better price if you're willing to do the work of advertising and shipping, and #3 is easier still if you can find a local buyer. Any of the first three options ensures that a background check is being conducted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14348" LastEditorUserId="14348" LastEditDate="2017-11-13T21:36:59.840" LastActivityDate="2017-11-13T21:36:59.840" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17571" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17572" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" Score="0" Body="Questions about ants" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:08:18.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17573" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:08:35.033" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:08:35.033" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:08:35.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17574" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:08:35.033" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions about butterflies. " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T01:30:26.873" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T01:30:26.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17575" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17576" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Finland" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:09:00.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17577" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17578" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" Score="0" Body="Questions about walking in winter conditions" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:09:54.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17579" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17580" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" Score="0" Body="Questions about whitewater-rafting" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:10:06.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17581" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17582" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" Score="0" Body="Questions about sunglasses" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:11:21.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17583" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17584" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" Score="0" Body="Questions about socks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T02:13:59.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17585" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17586" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" Score="0" Body="Questions about electronic gear, GPSs, watches, etc" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T03:09:39.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17562" CreationDate="2017-11-14T05:14:57.550" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;After looking around the internet, it seems that oils can be used to remove tape residue. So things like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Olive Oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coconut Oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;would  be possibilities for removing the gunk and shouldn't hurt if it gets into cuts. They should also be good for your hands, especially if they are dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T05:14:57.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17555" CreationDate="2017-11-14T13:57:00.517" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A look through the veterinary literature can show you some further reasons not to just go out and eat grass. Specifically, parasites like liver fluke, different species of tapeworm, and  some nematodes can infect humans as well as sheep (or cows, or mufflons, or whatever lives on the pastures where you find your grass). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in a real outdoors situation, experimenting with grasses is unwise, even if you are very hungry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T13:57:00.517" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17562" CreationDate="2017-11-14T16:42:25.630" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Gojo Pumice Hand Cleaner.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've worked with grease, grime, or in a coal mine then you know what pumice hand cleaner is, it has silica sand in it to help scour away the gunk. You use it &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; water on your dry hands, then after you've loosened all the gunk you wash off the cleaner with soap and water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used this stuff with open cuts on my hands, and it's not bad even when scrubbing the dirt out of your open wounds (small open wounds). I remember being impressed with how gentle it was as far as stinging is concerned. Wetnaps and hand sanitizer are the devil on abrasions compared to this stuff. I highly recommend it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N4bvS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N4bvS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T16:42:25.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17562" CreationDate="2017-11-14T17:08:02.400" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarfega&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swarfega&lt;/a&gt; will remove anything from motor oil to tape gunk&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MblRv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MblRv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T17:08:02.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17592" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17593" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" Score="0" Body="Questions about tape gloves" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T17:13:13.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17562" CreationDate="2017-11-14T17:18:55.360" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the key is to avoid the gunk in the first place, or more accurately the second place. I like the these &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/better-tape-gloves/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tape gloves&lt;/a&gt; and the advice at the end. That advice is you can shave the back of your hands. The tape gunk comes off bare skin much easier than when it is matted into the hair on your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second, and more important advice, is to reuse your gloves. The second time you use them the tape it is much less sticky and you end up with less gunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T17:18:55.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17595" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-14T17:46:06.637" Score="9" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been told that climbing cracks is very much a methodical procedure. Especially in places like Yosemite and Indian creek, where the cracks can be the only feature of the rock that can be used to climb up. There is a distinct set of techniques employed to jam your finger/hands/arms/... in the crack, which can be &quot;ordered&quot; by crack width. Not absolute width, at it always depends on the climbers finger/hand/arm/... thickness, just to sort the techniques from narrowest to widest. Some techniques I know of but that are certainly not complete: ring lock, hand jam, fist jam, hand&amp;amp;fist stack, chicken wing, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I am looking for is an ordered list of these crack climbing techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the names aren't self evident, a short explanation is welcome, but don't got into detail - many of these techniques probably warrant their own question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T21:37:36.530" Title="What are the different techniques to jam in a crack?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;crack-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17595" CreationDate="2017-11-14T18:35:52.073" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To start with,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fingers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ringlock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Handjams (thumbs up, thumbs down, cupped hand)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fistjams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hand &amp;amp; Fist stack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fist stack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Chicken wing&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arm bar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;whole body (chimney):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;frog (feet against back wall, knees aginst front wall)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sitting (back against back wall, feet against front wall)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stemming (left foot/hand against one wall, right foot/hand against other)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have more, just add them to the list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T21:37:36.530" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T21:37:36.530" CommentCount="3" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-11-14T18:35:52.073" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17597" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17598" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" Score="0" Body="Questions about crack-climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" LastActivityDate="2017-11-14T18:54:32.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17599" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17606" CreationDate="2017-11-15T04:15:13.830" Score="6" ViewCount="227" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blaming it on my roommate all the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He goes for a 3 day hike, whenever he is back, he is tired, thats obvious and evident. The night he comes in, he goes to washroom (for poo) and his poo smells real bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it common/normal? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I too face the same issue once in a while).&#xA;What might he be doing wrong? Is it related to hydrating habits and/or diet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydration: Never dehydrated really. Water intake might be a bit low as compared to a regular day, but manageable.&#xA;Diet: Mostly white bread and pickle/jam/sauce or butter as lunch. Lots of tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers to munch on. Some variant of steamed rice as the dinner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:33:32.690" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:33:32.690" Title="Why does poo smell more after someone is back from a trek/hike?" Tags="&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17601" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17602" CreationDate="2017-11-15T05:19:34.700" Score="3" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, one needs to get up for an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17004/what-is-an-alpine-start&quot;&gt;alpine start&lt;/a&gt; i.e. really, really early, and yet not have a functioning alarm. Cell phones have a tendency to lose the correct time when shut off and then turned back on in an area with no service and watches can break or run out of batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tips for still getting up really early &lt;strong&gt;without an alarm&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2017-11-15T08:26:33.330" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T08:26:33.330" Title="How to get up for an alpine start without an alarm?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;time&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17601" CreationDate="2017-11-15T05:19:34.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some things that will help in getting up early without an alarm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink &lt;strong&gt;more water than normal&lt;/strong&gt; before bed , this ensures that you won't sleep all of the way through the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to sleep so that the rising moon/early twilight will &lt;strong&gt;shine on you earlier&lt;/strong&gt; (don't sleep on the west side of a big rock)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once, up &lt;strong&gt;don't go back to sleep&lt;/strong&gt; even if that means starting slightly earlier than you had planned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get to bed &lt;strong&gt;early&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you do this enough times in a short time span, it is possible to approximate the time before sunrise by the position of Venus in the sky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remember that it is important to get up early, and that you can sleep later in the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T05:19:34.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17603" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-15T05:28:49.287" Score="3" ViewCount="967" Body="&lt;p&gt;In lots of places around the world, locking folding knives are illegal for everyday carry while non-locking folding knives are much less restricted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost everyone I know who carries a knife daily has a locking and my biggest concern would be the blade closing when I don't want it to and cutting me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I don't need to worry about the legal aspect because of my location, are there any advantages of a non-locking knife over a locking knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T11:00:56.783" Title="Are there any non-legal advantages of a non-locking knife?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17603" CreationDate="2017-11-15T07:04:06.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knives which are restricted in some places may still be threatening in others. Obviously this applies especially to large knives, but there are plenty of small vicious-looking knives (such as the one attached to my buoyancy aid when kayaking). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vast range of compact knives with features for daily tasks (e.g. almost anything by Victorinox) has to be one advantage. I do have a locking Victorinox but it's too big to carry in a pocket. Many of the small locking knives have rather annoying blades for simple tasks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For most slicing or pressing cuts, there's no force to close the blade so you don't have to worry about it closing on yourself. I include whittling a pencil in this, but not a bit of tree that might have snags. That said my default grip with a normal penknife doesn't put my fingers in the way of the blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T11:00:56.783" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T11:00:56.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17599" CreationDate="2017-11-15T13:34:58.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even in a vegetarian diet, changes in diet result in digestion changes.  Gas is created by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;flora and fauna in the digestive tract.&lt;/a&gt; If you exclude something or add something at the top of the digestive tract, it would be normal to expect a different result in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the list of trail food you provided, one possibility is an increase in butter consumption on the trail.  If the person is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lactose intolerance&lt;/a&gt; even a moderate increase can result in the symptoms you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Solution&lt;/strong&gt; Identify which foods are added or removed from the diet while hiking. One at a time, restore or remove the different items from the trail diet until you identify which is the cause. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T13:34:58.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17603" CreationDate="2017-11-15T14:45:52.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sole difference between a locking and non-locking knife is the blade folding in without any locking/unlocking mechanism. For this comparison i will assume, that you can close the blade with locking mechanism one-handed, otherwise you have an advantage right there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short FYI: The (legal) reason is that non-locking knifes can not be used as a stabbing weapon as easily as locking knifes (could be considered a downside in the great outdoors?). Some laws (for example in germany) even disallow folding knifes that can be opened with one hand, as they can be used as a hidden weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now back to your question. There are no obvious advantages for a blade to not have a lockable blade. But we can get creative! If an accident seriously disables you, closing a non-locking foldable knife with one (impaired?) hand might be easier. Also, when using your knife for batoning (for which you SHOULD use a FIXED blade knife!), the folding blade might put less stress on the pivot, so you don't break the non-existent locking mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, an anecdotal advantage of normal looking, non-locking, red, classical victorinox knifes: you can take them out of your pocket and use them without having everyone else around you think, that you were up to no good. - As opposed to those tactical folding knifes (which usually lock!). But this is off-topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you might get creative and find advantages for non-locknig folding knifes,  but apart from the fact that their non-existing locking mechanism can't break, there is no real advantage to them, especially in an outdoor situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T14:45:52.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17603" CreationDate="2017-11-15T15:05:04.090" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure there are advantages!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and obvious one: You can close them without unlocking the blade!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second: They are mechanically simpler to construct, making them potentially cheaper, lighter, smaller and/or more durable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14389" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T15:05:04.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17557" CreationDate="2017-11-15T15:23:33.910" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it partly depends on what guns you're selling, how many you're selling, and also what your time is worth. If you're selling a commodity gun like a Marlin 60 or Ruger 10/22, probably sell them to a gun shop. They'll give you a decent price and your time is probably worth more than what it would take to go through the extra trouble of meeting a private buyer at a police station or gun shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have something interesting like a pre-`64 Winchester 70, that might be worth taking to an auction house. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5921" LastActivityDate="2017-11-15T15:23:33.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16658" CreationDate="2017-11-16T02:42:33.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically as far as spinning/casting goes, not very good to mix the two. I would go to Walmart and buy a $20 spinning rod. The eyelits are extremely different and trying to use the wrong style reel usually doesn't pan out very well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14395" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T02:42:33.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17613" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17614" CreationDate="2017-11-16T04:15:02.887" Score="4" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carabiners like this one,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cHIEOm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cHIEOm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;HMS Carabiner&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Black_Diamond_Airlock_2_HMS_Carabiner.png/640px-Black_Diamond_Airlock_2_HMS_Carabiner.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;are called HMS carabiners. Why are they called that and what does HMS stand for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T04:15:02.887" Title="Why are large/pear shaped locking carabiners called HMS carabiners?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17613" CreationDate="2017-11-16T04:15:02.887" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;These types of carabiners are designed to be used with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munter_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Munter Hitch&lt;/a&gt;. The Munter Hitch was created by a Swiss mountain guide named &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Munter&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Werner Munter&lt;/a&gt; who called it,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Halbmastwurfsicherung&lt;/strong&gt;, meaning half clove hitch belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munter_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The abbreviation for &lt;strong&gt;Halbmastwurfsicherung&lt;/strong&gt; is HMS and that is why the large/pear shaped carabiners are called HMS carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T04:15:02.887" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17615" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17616" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" Score="0" Body="Questions related to anchors used for all types of boats and watercraft." OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T05:21:22.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17620" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17622" CreationDate="2017-11-16T11:41:59.453" Score="27" ViewCount="4215" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say I'm a fairly experienced hiker, and would love to begin climbing some more challenging mountains, i.e. mountains that require actual climbing, rather than just hiking. I have next to no climbing experience at the moment; apart from the occasional birthday party at the climbing wall when I was child. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's winter at the moment, so if I were to begin to learn to climb any time soon, I'd imagine my only option would be indoors. If I were to wait until spring, &lt;strong&gt;are there any benefits to learning how to climb outdoors, when the end goal is outdoor climbing?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13789" LastEditorUserId="2283" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T20:47:15.240" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T21:23:40.500" Title="What are the benefits of learning to climb outdoors rather than indoors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17620" CreationDate="2017-11-16T12:08:50.720" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a total beginner? Not a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A beginner is better off in the warm and dry with consistent safe holds, solid top rope fixings, and close to the pub for the end of the session. There are basic proficiencies that you're much better off learning indoors in a controlled environment like belaying and basic movement. You'll also get a lot more climbing in for your time unless you live virtually under your chosen climbing routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further down the line there are different approaches and techniques, and it becomes a very different experience indoors and out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T13:36:10.663" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T13:36:10.663" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17620" CreationDate="2017-11-16T14:22:47.700" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;In your specific situation where it is either start climbing now indoors or in spring outdoors, that alone is reason enough to prefer indoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there are the following already mentioned benefits indoors: Big pool of climbing partners, lots of courses, easy access, independent from weather and probably more. The last point makes it very suitable to learn the basics of or improve strength for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However if all of the above is not a problem and your goal is to climb outdoors and for mountaineering, learning to climb outdoors has its distinct advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Route finding/knowing rock:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Indoors the route is given with colourful plastic things. Well, you don't have that outdoors. The sooner you learn to recognize usable holds and fit placements the better. And while bolts will lead your way, you still get a feeling for lines which is one of the most important factors on alpine climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climbing style&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Indoor climbing focuses a lot on holds and strength. Outdoor climbing is much more about feet and friction, also for holds. This is really a huge factor. Lots of indoor climbers climb harder routes after a short time of intense training than I do, but outside I still surpass them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Habits&quot;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Checking whether the hold is loose before putting your weight on it, recognizing potential dangers like ledges and many other small factors will become a habit the sooner you stay doing them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So start climbing now indoors, learn rope handling, build endurance and strength and whatever else, but as soon as it is possible, go climb outside. In addition to the factors above, it is also much more fun ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T14:22:47.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17562" CreationDate="2017-11-16T14:38:14.573" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any detergent-based soap will work best to remove things like oils and adhesives. Gojo and similar brands are a reasonable choice, and the added pumice lets you scrub a bit harder. Something like Dawn dish soap will also work, but require a bit more scrubbing. Ultimately you're down to 1) The adhesives drying out and falling off 2) mechanical removal (rubbing, scrubbing) and 3) the adhesive being stripped away chemically. (detergent based soaps)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T14:38:14.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17624" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17625" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Colorado" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T18:07:59.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14710" CreationDate="2017-11-16T19:13:18.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PLB:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Robust. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simple to operate.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most have a battery that enables standby for years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No account needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Newer ones provide GPS location. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inflexible.  You can only say, &quot;I'm in trouble, come get me&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Requires special radios to track. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has zero subtlety: The people receiving the call have no idea of the number of people involved, or the urgency. Nor do they get any indication of special circumstances. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimum 1 hour time between pushing the button and the appropriate SAR being notified. (See link below.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No way to tell if there is anyone responding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SAR services are an unknown quantity.  Many are excellent.  Some are moribund, or part of the local emergency scene and stretched thin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mrtsos.com/plbs-explained/what-is-a-personal-locator-beacon-plb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mrtsos.com/plbs-explained/what-is-a-personal-locator-beacon-plb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Satellite Messenger:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allows text messages bidirectionally between locations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sends GPS coordinates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be configured to send breadcrumbs (locations) at user setable intervals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shorter response time -- typically a few minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;By using it, you get familiar with limitations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Uses power. Can easily run your battery flat on an expedition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Possibly less robust.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Requires account and activation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to set up a responsible someone to receive messages either by email or text.  This may increase the delay in getting action.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://explore.garmin.com/en-CA/inreach/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://explore.garmin.com/en-CA/inreach/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sat Phone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Voice communication.  Easy to resolve issues quickly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;By using it, you get familiar with limitations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can phone anyone in the world.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Larger, heavier, more expensive  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eats batteries. (Carry one spare that is reserved for emergency)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Requires clear view of sky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not automatically send GPS location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Requires current account.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is option based.  You need to decide the relative merits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've spend years (literally -- add up all my trips and it's just under 3 years) in the bush.  The need to communicate with the outside rises quite frequently in situations that are short of life or death.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A PLB a good answer for scenarios where someone has an injury that immobilizes him. But consider the following scenarios.  I would not want to activate SAR for any of these situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We've wrapped one of our two canoes around a rock. (Happened to a friend. They had to abandon the good canoe and walk out.)  &lt;em&gt;I don't need rescue. I need another canoe&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mike has lost his insulin bottle. &lt;em&gt;Can someone airdrop me a bottle of insulin&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bear came into camp, ate the next two weeks groceries. (Happened to me, but he only got today's lunch) &lt;em&gt;Move up our Cree Lake food drop, and add 15 lbs each of rice and beans&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fred has what looks like appendicitis.  I need to talk to someone to tell for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is a forest fire in front of you, and you need to change routes, so you need some different maps. (Happened to me canoeing in N. Sask. Being paranoid, I happened to have maps for the route change.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look instead at something like In-Reach &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This gives you both emergency 1 button &quot;I'm in trouble&quot; as well as text messages. You have the flexibility to say that you need help, that you need a new canoe, that you need insulin, groceries. The costs are fairly modest, and you can sleep your account for months you're not in the field. Transmission time ranges from instant to minutes, with typical times being about 3 minutes for round trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next step up is a satellite phone. Last time I did a remote trip with clients this ran about $200/month plus $3/minute for usage. Connectivity wasn't perfect: You need a clear view of the sky, and even so there are pauses in coverage. This was using the Iridium system. We carried a spare battery for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For individual users, the InReach is affordable. For expeditions a sat phone gives you a better response and gets things resolved in far less time. In addition you can pay for it by charging clients $150 for ten minutes from the middle of nowhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have carried PLBs on trips.  We never used it.  Didn't want to bring the whole world down around our ears.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've carried SSB radios too.  These are a PITA, as it takes a good hour to set up the antenna (long wave, down near AM frequencies)  Unreliable at best.  Our protocol said, &quot;Send out a plane if you haven't gotten a transmission in 72 hours&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used two text based services.  The first filled a 20&quot; pelican case, weighed 30 pounds, and typically took 20 minutes to send a text message.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second was an In-Reach.  I used this when I took my nephew and my dog for a week in Willmore Wilderness.  We made a point of sending a text every evening, and waiting for a reply.  We had no problems with it, and used sparingly we still had 40% of battery at the end of the week.  (We carried a USB battery to recharge it just in case.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used Sat phones on a few trips.    Reliability is about the same as for GPS.  If you can see enough sky for your GPS, then generally your sat phone will work.  We have had issues with bad antennas, faulty battery packs, and getting the device wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point in my life, I consider the In-reach to be the best solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-16T19:21:29.037" LastActivityDate="2017-11-16T19:21:29.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17620" CreationDate="2017-11-17T05:02:42.973" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I would say I'm a fairly experienced hiker, and would love to begin climbing some more challenging mountains i.e. mountains that require actual climbing, rather than just hiking. [...] are there any benefits to learning how to climb outdoors, when the end goal is outdoor climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to your question depends somewhat on what type of outdoor climbing you have in mind: sport? trad? alpine? Since you describe climbing as an extension of hiking, then you are most likely to be interested in trad or alpine. In this answer, I'll focus on trad climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your goal is trad climing, then there is basically almost no overlap whatsoever between the skills you learn in gym climbing and the skills you need for trad climbing. They're almost unrelated sports. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trad climbing involves learning belaying, routefinding, knots, placing gear, evaluating rock quality, rope handling, building anchors, and possibly multipitch climbing. Gym climbing involves none of these, except for belaying plus an extremely limited amount of knots and rope handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gym climbing can help with building certain types of strength, endurance, and technique. However, as a beginning trad climber you would never get on a route that would require this kind of physical ability. Also, these physical abilities gained from indoor climbing are basically 100% about face climbing. Outdoor climbing involves slab, crack, and face, with crack being by far the predominant type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, indoor climbing is fun, so who cares whether it prepares you for outdoor climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T05:08:09.893" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T05:08:09.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7233" CreationDate="2017-11-17T08:38:06.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some container with the shape of conical (upside down) bucket is perfect for this. When it freezes, the ice should move upwards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14412" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T08:38:06.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17629" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-17T09:22:35.430" Score="6" ViewCount="3656" Body="&lt;p&gt;My doctor just used sports tape on me for a hip injury. I had never used sports tape before and realized that it might work well for blister prevention on my feet while backpacking. It seems very similar to the Spenco brand from the US that I order and keep on hand because nothing like it is available in stores here. Sports tape is much cheaper and readily available and therefore would be a good substitute. Has anyone used this very adhesive cotton(?) tape for foot blister prevention? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13952" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T00:08:28.490" Title="Sports tape to prevent blisters while backpacking?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13811" CreationDate="2017-11-17T11:43:25.337" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you really want to take the budget option you can just use rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is something that dates back to the old wooden ship days but given that you're not putting a vast amount of load on the rig and a gooseneck is fundamentally just two loops with flexibility between them, there's no reason not to just tie it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T11:43:25.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17629" CreationDate="2017-11-17T12:54:34.087" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used sports tape before and it does work to prevent blisters. Sometimes people will also use duct tape.   Personally other ways of preventing blisters are better because you have to peel the tape off after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-04-24T00:08:28.490" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T00:08:28.490" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17629" CreationDate="2017-11-17T15:01:46.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've personally used it to prevent blisters (and also tried going without it for comparison).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience it works wonders. I am quite prone to blisters when going without, but by going a day without and then taping up the areas that feel sore I have been able to completely prevent blisters on multiple week-long trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be some pain in removing the tape for the night (I suggest changing tape daily), but it will often fall off on its own too due to friction/sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12432" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T15:01:46.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17633" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-17T20:45:09.947" Score="-3" ViewCount="579" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have eagerly consumed many accounts of early mountaineering expeditions in which the mountaineers always eagerly consumed Kendal Mint Cake (KMC). I got the impression that they would have found it unthinkable to set off without it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that it is difficult to digest anything at very high altitudes, because digestion involves oxidation.  Sugar, a simple carb, is the easiest thing to digest, and that is about all KMC is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendal_Mint_Cake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, Kendal Mint Cake&lt;/a&gt; says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sir Edmund Hillary and his team carried Romney's Kendal Mint Cake with&#xA;  them on the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.[2] The&#xA;  packaging currently includes the following: “'We sat on the snow and&#xA;  looked at the country far below us … we nibbled Kendal Mint&#xA;  Cake.'[this quote needs a citation] &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A member of the successful Everest expedition wrote – 'It was easily&#xA;  the most popular item on our high altitude ration – our only criticism&#xA;  was that we did not have enough of it.'”[2]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mint cake was provided for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of&#xA;  1914–1917, which was led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.[13]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman included mint cake in their supplies&#xA;  for their 2004 motorcycle trip around the world in Long Way Round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Kendal Mint Cake is also a standard part of the 24-hour ration&#xA;  pack issued to the Irish Defence Forces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic ingredients (sugar and peppermint flavoring) -- and the picture in the link above -- seem very similar to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Peppermint_Pattie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;York Peppermint Pattie&lt;/a&gt;, which&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;was first produced in York, Pennsylvania, by Henry Kessler at his York&#xA;  Cone Company in 1940,[1] for sale in the Northeastern United States,&#xA;  Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Florida.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The preeminence of Mint Cake in extreme expeditions may simply be because it got a much earlier start than the Peppermint Pattie, but were there other factors in play also? Is there any evidence that PP even tried to compete in that niche?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I have no connection to the producers of either.)    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:44:22.517" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T02:44:22.517" Title="What accounts for the predominance of Kendall Mint Cake over York Peppermint Pattie in mountaineering expeditions?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17633" CreationDate="2017-11-17T21:47:42.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've eaten both. They really don't have anything in common besides containing a lot of sugar and peppermint flavoring. There may be several variants of mint cake now, but the stuff I was eating in the 70s and that Edmund Hillary was eating on Everest was literally a block of sugar flavored with peppermint oil. There was no chocolate coating, and it was hard as a rock. I didn't find it a treat at all, but it was indestructible and highly resistant to spoilage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The filling in York Peppermint Patties is soft and creamy. It contains lecithin, emulsifiers, and egg whites, along with the sugar and chocolate. None of that in the classic mint cake. The lecithin and egg whites would make it much more susceptible to spoilage, though modern preservatives may partially address that problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I much prefer caffeinated gummi bears these days. but then I don't have to march through tropical climates for two weeks to get to the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2017-11-17T21:54:52.600" LastActivityDate="2017-11-17T21:54:52.600" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17636" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17637" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" Score="0" Body="Use this tag for questions regarding the dealing with of wet gear, such as clothing, boots, backpacks, sleeping bags, and other items that are normally used in outdoor pursuits. This tag should not be used alone, but always in conjunction with the gear that is wet.  " OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T01:34:08.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17638" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17639" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" Score="0" Body="Questions about panning for gold" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T02:49:54.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17640" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17641" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Andes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T02:55:28.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19" CreationDate="2017-11-18T03:27:00.537" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to repeat any of the good advice given in earlier answers.  However, creams, lotions and salves will not work if you have a massive case of poison ivy.  Then there is nothing to do but go to your doctor or to a walk-in clinic and get a &lt;em&gt;prednisone&lt;/em&gt; shot and/or tablets.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a horrible case of poison ivy many years ago -- hands, arms, legs, face, and, I don't know how, around my waist -- unendurable.  I got a shot of prednisone plus a course of prednisone tablets.  Within 24 hours, the eruptions and itching were &lt;em&gt;totally gone&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ever since then, I have been a fanatic about watching out for poison ivy and washing my hands thoroughly with &lt;em&gt;Lava Hand Soap&lt;/em&gt; very soon after I even suspect I have touched it while gardening.  This has worked.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prednisone is a powerful drug, and not one you want to ask for casually or use frequently, but when your body is covered with poison ivy, Over-the-Counter remedies are useless and you need prednisone or a similar steroid prescribed by a doctor. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T03:27:00.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17629" CreationDate="2017-11-18T10:13:50.200" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Foot health and blister prevention is a large subject - you can literally write a book about it. My understanding was greatly increased by &lt;strong&gt;John Vonhof's &lt;em&gt;Fixing Your Feet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, which is regarded as the classic in the field. John is a faspacker and ultramarathoner who developed his skills treating thousands of endurance athletes during ultra events. He swaps ideas with many others in the field and regularly updates the book as experience develops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;John does not recommend generic white sports tape - it's designed to stick to itself and does not adhere all that well to skin. Duct tape is cheap and workable, but for most applications there's a better alternative. If you're after the best solution and can bear a little extra expense he strongly recommends kinesiology tapes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WZnoH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WZnoH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some of the advantages he lists:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kinesiology tape has a paper backing that you peel off before applying, which makes it easier to cut shapes in advance without it sticking to itself. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It’s much easier to work with. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tape is latex free. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has a much smoother texture than sports tape and is far easier to apply. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It’s very sticky, has a nice longitudinal stretch, and is resilient. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is thin enough to be used on the toes. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It comes in a range of widths and can be cut and shaped to any part of the foot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It works in all conditions, including heat and cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of skill to taping effectively - there's a substantial chapter in the book and the devil's in the detail. As well as using the right brand for the application, you also have to prepare the skin correctly, use the correct amount of stretch and apply far enough in advance for the adhesive to set. And taping to protect an existing blister requires additional techniques. You can also apply tapes to the shoe or the socks to counter specific issues such as a rough seam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course taping is just part of the picture. You also have to consider: conditioning; shoe and sock selection; insoles; lacing techniques; powders, lubricants antiperspirants and skin-toughening agents, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stress your feet with ultra events, thru-hikes and the like, finding the right combination of solutions will likely take a lot of experimentation. You can short-cut the whole process by building on the experience of others, and the book is an eye-opener - highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T15:08:45.573" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T15:08:45.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17644" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17645" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Youhiogheny River" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:26:26.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17646" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17647" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" Score="0" Body="Questions about waterfalls" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T16:27:55.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17648" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17651" CreationDate="2017-11-18T17:14:36.250" Score="7" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I came across the story of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_the_Wonder_Dog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bobbie the Wonder dog&lt;/a&gt; and it really got me wondering about the veracity of this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, aside from the fact that the dog found the way on his own, if a person is thru-hiking a 2500 trail, which I'm assuming is not a technical trail and that can be regularly done in 5 to 6 months without rushing. Can this person with a dog do the trail in the same time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14420" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T17:42:53.227" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T17:42:53.227" Title="Can a dog thru-hike 2500 miles in 6 months?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17649" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17650" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" Score="0" Body="Questions about the history of things in the Outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T17:15:47.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17648" CreationDate="2017-11-18T17:42:12.720" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;People have taken dogs on long thru hikes in about that time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This summer my dog was (I’m fairly certain) the first to complete a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We began our adventure June 20th at Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park on the Canada/Montana border. We hiked through 5 states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On average he carried 10lbs. of food (4 day ration) and my hiking partner or I would carry the rest. We averaged 20-25 mile days. Grizby came in handy at times finding the trail when it was covered with snow, sniffing out springs, and even swam across a stream and retrieved a sock I had left behind (It took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to teach him to do that).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.ruffwear.com/2014/01/08/grizby-and-bethany-complete-a-thru-hike-of-the-continental-divide-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guide-dog, Tennille and I have trekked more than 6,000 miles together and have completed five thru-hikes throughout the United States. We’ve found that long-distance hiking is a very enjoyable experience if done correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thermarestblog.com/considering-a-long-distance-hike-with-your-dog/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hello! I completed my thru hike in 2015 with my dog, No Shame. We had an amazing journey full of ups and downs, seems that is the nature of the AT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/dog-survived-thru-hike-keeping-healthy/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, it is possible for a dog to accomplish something like that. It is also worth pointing out that Bobbie the wonder dog had help,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who had fed and sheltered Bobbie on his journey wrote the family to tell about their time with Bobbie. The Humane Society of Portland was able to use these stories to assemble a relatively accurate description of the route Bobbie took.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_the_Wonder_Dog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and that he averaged 14 miles per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During his ordeal he crossed at least 2,551 miles (4,105 km) of plains, desert, and mountains in the winter to return home, an average of approximately 14 miles (23 km) per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_the_Wonder_Dog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T17:42:12.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17652" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17653" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" Score="0" Body="Questions about allergic reactions, including prevention and treatment" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T18:52:54.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17654" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17655" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Romania" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:40:09.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17656" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17657" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Ohio River" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:10.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17658" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17659" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" Score="0" Body="Questions about spiders" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:34.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17660" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17661" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" Score="0" Body="Questions about long-bows" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:41:48.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17662" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17663" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" Score="0" Body="Questions about harnesses, including rock climbing harnesses" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:44:15.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17664" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17665" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" Score="0" Body="Questions about the via-ferrata stylle of climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:45:10.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17666" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17667" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" Score="0" Body="Questions about multi-pitch climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:45:36.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17668" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17669" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" Score="0" Body="Questions about liquid fuel stoves" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T19:46:03.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17671" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17672" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" Score="0" Body="Questions about the proper terms for something, or the reasons behind naming something" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" LastActivityDate="2017-11-18T22:09:01.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2017-11-19T16:01:05.293" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rubbing alcohol, also known as surgical spirits,  can be used to harden skin.&#xA;It is used in hospitals as a cleanser and also to prevent bedsores developing.&#xA;I always apply it twice daily to my feet for a week, before wearing new footwear, boots in particular and have done so for decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14428" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T16:01:05.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17675" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17676" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" Score="0" Body="Questions about canister stoves" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" LastActivityDate="2017-11-19T23:43:47.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17678" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17679" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" Score="0" Body="Questions about termites" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T15:38:34.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17680" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17681" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" Score="0" Body="Questions about scuba masks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T17:47:35.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17682" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17683" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" Score="0" Body="Questions about monkeys" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T18:37:58.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17684" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17685" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" Score="0" Body="Questions about coconut palms" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T18:38:37.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17686" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17687" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Poland" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:00:48.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17688" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17689" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" Score="0" Body="Questions about fording streams/rivers" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:01:19.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17690" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17691" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" Score="0" Body="Questions about rain gear" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:09:05.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17692" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17693" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Alaska" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T19:20:51.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17694" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:20:26.363" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:20:26.363" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:20:26.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17695" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:20:26.363" Score="0" Body="Questions about snowshoes, i.e. the equipment used for snowshoeing. For questions focused on the activity use the tag snowshoeing instead." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T22:50:47.783" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T22:50:47.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17696" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17697" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" Score="0" Body="Questions about skateboarding" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:23:05.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17698" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17699" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Massachusetts" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" LastActivityDate="2017-11-20T20:25:13.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17700" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17701" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Tatra mountains" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:32:30.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17702" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17703" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Faroe Islands" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:34:11.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17704" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17705" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Gulf Coast of the United States" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T15:48:38.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17706" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17707" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Rocky Mountains" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T16:22:40.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17708" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17709" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" Score="0" Body="Questions about hunting gear" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:26:06.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17710" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17711" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Peru" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:35:51.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17712" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17713" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" Score="0" Body="Questions about pack animals including lamas, horses and mules" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:36:26.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17714" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17715" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" Score="0" Body="Questions about tides" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T18:37:13.993" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17716" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17717" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" Score="0" Body="Questions about trekking solo" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" LastActivityDate="2017-11-21T22:03:54.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2017-11-22T16:37:36.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your pack is substantially heavier than I would be happy with for 2-3 days.  For two days I take 7kg including food and water filter.  Many of the other answers have good suggestions; I think there are two general themes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you have some items which are redundant (e.g. tarp &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; tent; headlamp &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; flashlight; knife &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; multi-tool)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you can always spend (lots) more money on lighter gear, but you can probably cheaply replace some of your things with lighter versions (e.g. plastic for steel mug; polyester for cotton clothing; if your mess kit has steel pans/tins replace them with aluminium; don't take a pan lid take a couple of pieces of foil)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The additional recommendation I would make would be that you list and weigh all your gear, then after each trip note whether you needed each item or not (and whether there was anything you wanted but &lt;strong&gt;didn't&lt;/strong&gt; have).  Obviously there will be some things (whistle, med kit) that you hope you will never use, but need them anyway, but this gives you a good idea of what you can drop.  My pack weight has come down a lot with experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T16:37:36.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17719" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17720" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" Score="0" Body="Questions about 3d archery" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:30:18.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17721" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17722" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" Score="0" Body="Questions about the trucker-hitch hitch" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:31:59.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17723" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17724" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" Score="0" Body="Questions about ice skating" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:44:04.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17725" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17726" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" Score="0" Body="Questions about vibram five fingers minimal shoes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:44:48.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17727" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17728" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" Score="0" Body="Questions about fungi" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" LastActivityDate="2017-11-22T18:47:55.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17542" CreationDate="2017-11-24T08:19:57.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just a thought: I used to take my mom to the beach in wheelchairs with oversized tires. They made going across the sand much easier. They're made to get wet and are easy to clean. They have a storage pouch in the back, and even have an umbrella for sun protection.  I'm not sure how this would work on snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthproductsforyou.com/p-healthline-medical-all-terrain-beach-wheelchair.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAo9_QBRACEiwASknDwXPPKyxtEqan-kaMtxctfqVrzJ4MHP8IQ1iOJq7zBw4GbFEEajaw1RoCE0YQAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; showing you what I'm talking about. This picture is on that page. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JvXzf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JvXzf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13565" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-26T23:29:27.040" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T23:29:27.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17629" CreationDate="2017-11-24T09:16:13.527" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I bought a roll of KT Tape Pro and cut some for my usual blister spots. It stayed on for a week, at home not on the trail. It’s synthetic, not cotton, thin and super adhesive. I think it will work well for blister prevention. I’ll try it on my next trip, 4 days in December.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13952" LastActivityDate="2017-11-24T09:16:13.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3598" CreationDate="2017-11-25T11:35:05.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BACKPACKING AND LONG-DISTANCE WALKING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PiZ7g.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PiZ7g.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based Chris Townsend's decades of experience as a walker and equipment reviewer, this is the most comprehensive guide to walking trails. Although the author is British it's written for the US market, but anyone who spends time in the outdoors will find much to learn here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MOUNTAINEERING, BACK-COUNTRY SKIING AND KAYAKING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z4LxC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z4LxC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 620 page monster, this tour-de-force has been the go-to resource for over half a century. Drawing on the collective expertise of The Mountaineers club of Seattle, it covers just about every outdoor topic with all the detail you could wish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My ancient edition contains one of my all-time favorite quotes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A true mountaineer is never lost (though they may be temporarily disoriented for a few days at a time...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MOUNTAIN LEADERSHIP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NkLpb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NkLpb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lead groups into wild country, you owe it to your party to study this book with care. As the handbook for the UK's mountain leadership certification, it has evolved over a number of editions into the Bible of it's field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LAND NAVIGATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jugLp.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jugLp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Widely regarded as the definitive resource on the topic. Brotherton is a highly respected expert who trains SAR teams and Special Forces around the world. The book is based on this experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It covers every aspect of land navigation with authority and lucidity, and also recommends safe and effective ways to develop and practice the techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's lavishly produced and a pleasure to use - but avoid the Kindle edition as the layout is a mess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought I was an expert navigator before I read this book - now I realise I'm a mere beginner. If you venture into wild country navigation can be a life-or-death skill, and &lt;em&gt;The Ultimate Navigation Manual&lt;/em&gt; is the fast track to high-level expertise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FITNESS AND ENDURANCE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KZcfU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KZcfU.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stretch yourself in the hills, this is the book for you. A comprehensive guide to training for mountain adventures, and by far the best in its field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BIOGRAPHY&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll take this opportunity to alert people to a classic that's little known outside of Scotland:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FSL16.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FSL16.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Written by Everest pioneer Bill Murray on toilet paper in a German POW camp during WWII, this is an extended meditation on why we are drawn to the beauty of the hills. Poetic, witty and gripping by turn, it entranced me as a schoolboy and belongs in the very top rank of mountain writing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still in print, and available on amazon.co.uk as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountaineering-Scotland-classics-mountain-literature-ebook/dp/B0148YLTXU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1511606714&amp;amp;sr=8-5&amp;amp;keywords=mountaineering%20in%20Scotland%22an%20inexpensive%20Kindle%20edition%22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an inexpensive Kindle edition&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-11-25T11:35:05.517" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-11-25T11:35:05.517" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17542" CreationDate="2017-11-25T12:15:10.833" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your expected usage, I believe a more practical solution would be an add-on front all terrain wheel.  Products like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gofreewheel.com/default.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FreeWheel&lt;/a&gt; give the front of the wheelchair similar terrain capabilities as the rear. You can attach and detach it easily, even while in the wheelchair, and it folds up and stores in the back of the wheelchair when you don't need it. It works well on snow, gravel, sand, water, ice, etc. The wheel turns and swivels so you can turn fully around without assistance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That site shows pictures of people using this style of gear on many types of terrain. In addition to the pictures, there are helpful videos, three of which include snow travel. One specifically shows a person traveling alone along a snowy path in the woods, which I believe is what you're asking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UNnGJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UNnGJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;FreeWheel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mda.org/quest/article/road-trekking-wheelchair-users&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; that offers solutions from world wide manufacturers, but the free wheel style is useful for many types of outdoor pursuits, so it seems to be the most versatile. Pictures demonstrate that it can be used for a wide variety of wheelchair designs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-11-26T22:44:58.340" LastActivityDate="2017-11-26T22:44:58.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17736" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17795" CreationDate="2017-11-25T17:36:16.637" Score="8" ViewCount="721" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is commonly known that loading your carabiner in three directions is bad, as it reduces it's strength. This is apparent when talking about belay stations, as e.g. described &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2010/11/triaxal-loading-on-trees.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;in this blog post by the American Alpine Institute&lt;/a&gt;. The same danger is often associated with attaching a carabiner to both the seat and leg loops of a harness as opposed to just the belay loop. I haven't yet seen any evidence supporting or refuting this. By evidence I mean something like an accident report or actual tests done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal hypothesis is that this is not problematic. I am just stating this as a reasoning for asking for evidence. I do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; claim that this hypothesis is correct, as equally I haven't done or read any tests validating it. These two loops are close together in the first place and their position is not fixed, they are only tightly wrapped around body parts, which themselves aren't rigid either. Therefore I believe that under load they will be pulled close together and away from the body, such applying an effective single force to the biner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, this is not about any other dis-/advantages except this particular safety issue. I know people who use it, which reason enough to ask this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-11-25T22:14:08.490" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T16:53:54.963" Title="Is there any evidence that attaching a biner to both seat and leg loops results in a 3-way load?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6609" CreationDate="2017-11-25T20:01:37.327" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried answering this, but the answer was locked. So anyway... I posted a picture of a 3&quot; burner that only weighed 96 grams as opposed to your 6&quot; tall burner. Using said 3&quot; burner would make the the whole unit shorter and less top heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user13952" LastActivityDate="2017-11-25T20:01:37.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17740" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-26T23:55:09.137" Score="-6" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking into getting camping equipment and doing so long term hiking. Haven't been camping in years. How would test my equipment if I live in the city? I would be hiking solo across the USA, How much should I need for such an endeavor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14456" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T06:12:27.900" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T06:12:27.900" Title="camping equipment testing if no yard" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;solo-backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2017-11-27T08:54:44.077" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17740" CreationDate="2017-11-27T02:04:03.310" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the city; to prepare for my Sierra backpacking trips I jam all my gear in my pack and take off walking, increasing distance as my endurance increases. I stop and eat lunch from my pack, using the actual gear. I pitch my tent in the yard at home when I get back (you can do this indoors) and sleep in it. I make dinner using my stove (careful with &lt;em&gt;this&lt;/em&gt; indoors) and eating actual dehydrated meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps me me find and fix all types of issues with my gear (pack, how I pack it, ease of use, meals I like, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly it helps me determine which things I really &lt;strong&gt;don't need&lt;/strong&gt; to bring, to save on weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T02:04:03.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17742" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17743" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" Score="0" Body="Questions about target shooting" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T15:59:19.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17744" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17745" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" Score="0" Body="Questions about free climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T15:59:33.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17746" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-27T17:35:56.340" Score="4" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most small (110g, 225g) gas cartridges now use EAN417 threads with a valve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research on this forum suggests that in France, the CampingGaz standard is preferred and that, allegedly, isn't EAN417.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14459" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:11:55.430" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T07:45:07.687" Title="Is the gas canister standard common in France incompatible with EAN417?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23" CreationDate="2017-11-27T18:36:31.057" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire&lt;/strong&gt;. As Kevin's comment said, &lt;em&gt;carefully&lt;/em&gt;. I am surprised that was the only mention of fire so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Benefit over &quot;just use your body to dry clothes&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other answers take at least hours, sometimes &lt;em&gt;days&lt;/em&gt;, and that is generally assuming you can use your body heat as a resource at all, as opposed to needing to heat yourself up as well. In my personal experience, if my clothes are wet enough that I want them drier, then I do not want to be sharing body heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, fire is both faster and more versatile for warming clothes, so if the conditions are bad enough, just make a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Details&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I want to get warm and dry, I make a small fire. Small enough that it cannot flare up into a big one if I ignore it for a while, so that I can leave it while I work and keep coming back to it as needed; also small enough that I can get up very close to it. Large enough that anything held a few inches to a foot away for more than a few seconds starts to get hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can probably guess that hanging clothes over top of this fire is not generally a good idea, as it will get smokes and also drip water into the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;On-Body&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly to some other answers, I often dry my clothes on my body, but it is the fire doing the drying, not my body. In fact, after heating the clothes up, while they are on my body, the warm water then keeps me warmer too and it feels good. &lt;strong&gt;Warning!!! You must be very, very careful when doing this.&lt;/strong&gt; If you stay close to the fire too long or get too close at all, obviously &lt;em&gt;bad things will happen&lt;/em&gt;: depending on your type of clothing, it could &lt;em&gt;melt, burn, or both melt and burn&lt;/em&gt;. Keep enough distance that you can get the fabric hot, but not nearly hot enough to ignite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have caught clothes on fire before, but never as part of drying them, not even with 100% cotton clothes, though cotton usually ignites easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I step away from the fire after being close for 5-10 seconds using this technique, the wet areas of my clothes are at least warm, sometimes hot. If my clothes are completely soaked, then I often get them hot enough that I can see the water steaming off my clothes rapidly. But, &lt;strong&gt;another warning!&lt;/strong&gt; Even if you do not get your clothes hot enough to burn, you can still be hurt by hot, steamy clothes. Multiple times, I have warmed up a wet pant leg or shirt that was not flat against my skin and gotten a surprise when I stood up and the material pressed back against my skin again, wet but hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When doing this, I generally have to repeat often. Either because I'm very wet and each application of heat last long enough to get out only some fraction of the water, or because the conditions are wet and I keep getting wet such as when working in light rain or snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works well, but I cannot stress enough how careful you must be. Negligence &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; lead to injury. If you are getting cold enough that you are having difficulty feeling the heat, then you are very likely to damage yourself by overheating; please do not over-expose yourself to the fire due to lack of feeling after you have been over-exposed to the wet and cold! In this situation, you &lt;em&gt;must get help&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done this multiple times, but here's my best anecdote...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One time I did this after being fully submerged under water; it was either late fall or early winter, and it was cold enough that there was some thin ice over parts of the water. After surfacing from the water, I chilled so fast in the breeze I have no doubt that I would have become hypothermic if it weren't for the fact that we had prepared ahead of time with a fire near the shore specifically for warming/drying on. Because of the fire, I only got cold enough to shiver for a while but was otherwise fine and resumed normal activities within an hour. Whenever I see people doing cold weather activities where water is involved (or could accidentally be involved) without a fire ready, it makes me cringe. Fires are an important tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Off-Body&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if your clothes are not on your body, you can still use the fire obviously. In this case, do not put them as close to the fire as you might while they are still on your body; since you will likely be leaving them there longer, they can be further away. Also, use fire-heated rocks to keep the clothes warm enough to dry faster. Be careful though that you do not heat the rocks too much. If the rock has heated up enough that I cannot touch it at all without burning myself, then I will not use it to warm anything flammable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, and to quote Kevin's comment: &quot;(Carefully) by a fire&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T18:36:31.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17748" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17749" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" Score="0" Body="Questions about repairing skiis" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:27:12.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:30:57.127" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The wide array of answers here, and disagreements in the comments, only helps when I give you the dreaded answer that nobody likes to hear: It Depends. Everyone has their own opinions about what is important and what is not important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately for most of it, what it depends on is you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safety (Generally, &quot;Must Have&quot;)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a very few things that are absolutely essential which you definitely should have for &lt;strong&gt;safety&lt;/strong&gt; reasons, unless you are willing to risk your safety for reduced weight (I advise against it)...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire starting tools&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Med kit, but you might consider leaving out things that won't apply to your situation or which you do not know how to use anyway. Ex: I have a snake bite venom-extraction tool (suction) which is not needed in my area (not to mention many people suggest against using them anyway).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Everything Else&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to figure out what you are comfortable with, and your weight carried will generally be a weight/comfort trade-off. Only you can decide where on that scale you lie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really like being toasty warm, bone dry, well fed, well watered, and to do all that with minimum effort so that you have more time to sit and admire nature, then you need to get used to weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really like being highly mobile during the hike, and you are willing to either spend more time in camp-setup or not be fully sheltered, and have other niceties you don't mind sacrificing, then you can get the weight way, way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Minimal Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am on the &quot;travel lite, sacrifice comforts&quot; side. I would be willing to take just a tarp and sleeping bag for shelter. Since I like to camp even through the winter though, the sleeping bag specifically I do not sacrifice on. Cold weather bag under a tarp is fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water: I'm fine taking little to none. Gathering and boiling; for me that is part of the fun experience but for others that might be a nuisance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Food: I don't mind getting hungry, don't mind eating some edible leaves, or even stripping some inner bark off my firewood to eat before burning the rest. My food expectations are low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been more than 3 days without anything but water, and I've been more than 24 hours without even water. And there have been plenty of times where I've gone a week or two eating only once every day or two days. The 24-hours-no-water was not planned but it wasn't terrible. Going for days on no food or little food is not exactly planned but I knew it was a possibility, and I was fine with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know plenty of people who would refuse those conditions: 2+ square meals per day or they quit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For fire, I'm with you on backups-upon-backups. I like to have at least 3 different ways to start a fire available, but I'll take even more if I can. I prefer ferro rod to start mine with a spark, but having lighters and matches available is a good thing. I had to use a bic lighter to start a fire once this year when the rain and wind were bad. The backup was welcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my primary fire kit is just a tiny tin. It's not an altoids tin, but it's similar, a bit smaller I think, weighs probably a few ounces when full of my kit, and it's sufficient almost every time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not weigh my gear, but I think I would be fine with 10 pounds (that's about 5 kg) or less for a 3-day trip. I am sure there are some who would be comfortable with less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, for some unknown reason, I could go on a 3-day trip I wanted but could take nothing but a bottle of water, a knife, a tarp, and my tiny fire kit, I would not let that stop me from going on and enjoying said trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also keep the specific trip in mind. If I were to go on a 3-day hot-desert trek right now I would take gallons of water, a few granola bars, and only 2-5 pounds of other stuff. In the desert I would be paranoid about getting stuck without enough water, so I would be willing to carry 20+kg (40+ pounds), almost all of it water, where someone else might bring a battery-fan and a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Maximal Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other end of the spectrum, I sometimes camp with people who &quot;need&quot; so much stuff that vehicles must be brought to carry it all and you cannot stray far from the vehicles. Hundreds of pounds of stuff for a few people. Full camp stove, full kitchen set of pots, pans, dishes, folding chairs, folding tables, extra shelter to protect this mobile kitchen from weather/bugs, etc.. For them, carrying as much as they can possibly lift would still not be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you can supply yourself with the food and water you need to stay fed and the shelter you need to stay alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think people should push their limits and try to live with less from time to time since that only makes us better, but each individual needs to figure out how light they can travel and still be comfortable and happy. Don't go with 2 kg of gear and have a miserable time just because I said it's good for you. Bring enough to enjoy the trip. If that requires 18 kilograms, so be it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make your best guess, then keep re-evaluating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'll close with a couple tips&lt;/strong&gt;: An easy way to reduce weight without sacrificing is to research edible plants. If you eat the occasional leaf while you walk and reduce your packed food accordingly, you get a weight reduction practically for free. Second: some items are consumable, therefore some weight is diminishing - 1 pound of food is only carried on day one, 0 - 0.5 day 2, and it's not in your pack at all while hiking day 3, and similar for water reserves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:30:57.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17751" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17752" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" Score="0" Body="Questions about off road driving" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:37:45.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17753" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17754" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" Score="0" Body="Questions about gloves" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:21.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17755" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17756" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to women" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:32.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17757" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17758" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" Score="0" Body="Questions about binoculars" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:38:45.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17759" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17760" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" Score="0" Body="Questions about signs in the Outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T20:49:53.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17761" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17762" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" Score="0" Body="Questions about crevasses" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" LastActivityDate="2017-11-27T23:06:56.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17763" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-28T02:29:32.947" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T02:29:32.947" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T02:29:32.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17764" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-28T02:29:32.947" Score="0" Body="Questions about snowshoeing, i.e. hiking while wearing snowshoes. For questions focused on the equipment instead of the activity use the tag snowshoes instead." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T22:18:38.343" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T22:18:38.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="17765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17746" CreationDate="2017-11-28T07:45:07.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;CampingGaz cartridges are incompatible with threaded cartridges, as the former use a kind of snap-on valve mechanism and don't have threads. Because of this, you can't use CampingGaz cartridges with threaded stoves (and vice-versa).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you travel to France and have to buy cartridges there, Edelrid (and potentially other manufacturers) makes an adapter that allows you to use threaded stoves with CampingGaz cartridges. If you want to see it in action, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dydOQPCMDTw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; nicely shows it in operation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T07:45:07.687" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17767" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17775" CreationDate="2017-11-28T14:50:45.267" Score="7" ViewCount="385" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are often town signs featuring another smaller sign reading &quot;Wildtollwut! Gefährdeter Bezirk&quot; in Germany. This directly translates into &quot;Rabies! Endangered district&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XuTFc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XuTFc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to react to such a sign? What are Dos and Don'ts in such a district? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:23:00.127" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:23:00.127" Title="Dos and Don'ts in an area signed with the shield &quot;Rabies! Endangered District&quot; in Germany" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17768" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17769" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" Score="0" Body="Questions about  stoves that use propane tanks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" LastActivityDate="2017-11-28T17:37:22.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17770" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17792" CreationDate="2017-11-29T01:10:13.710" Score="3" ViewCount="179" Body="&lt;p&gt;The author of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17479/possible-snowy-owl-seen-in-the-trees&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; on this site wondered if they had possibly seen a snowy owl. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quoted source in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17481/5547&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; to that question used the word irruption in part of a sentence about where the owls spend the winter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17485/5547&quot;&gt;Another answer&lt;/a&gt; to the same question also used the word irrupt. Here is the pertinent part:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Snowy owls sometimes irrupt southward in substantial numbers (unpredictably), so it will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a big winter for snowies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in the definition and usage of irruption, and what it means in the context of bird behavior and bird watching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that birds, including owls, have migration patterns. Is irruption a migratory behavior? If not, what makes it different? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it something that happens only with owls, or with other birds too? Can a layman tell by observing a bird if it is one that irrupts, and, if so, whether or not it's in a period of irruption? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T01:22:59.620" Title="What is the meaning and proper usage of the term &quot;irruption&quot; in bird behavior?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;migration&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17770" CreationDate="2017-11-29T02:27:20.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Its when a massive amount of birds suddenly migrate all at once to a area they aren't usually found in.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An irruption is a dramatic, &lt;strong&gt;irregular migration of large numbers&lt;/strong&gt; of birds to areas where they &lt;strong&gt;aren’t typically found&lt;/strong&gt;, possibly at a great distance from their normal ranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This type of population shift can also be called Malthusian growth, in recognition of the population studies and analyses done by English cleric and demography scholar Thomas Robert Malthus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Several &lt;strong&gt;factors&lt;/strong&gt; can lead to irruptive years for different birds. The most &lt;strong&gt;common cause is a lack of food&lt;/strong&gt; in the birds’ normal wintering grounds; famine can force large numbers of birds to seek more plentiful habitats until seeds, flowers and insects return in the spring. Birds that feed on the seeds and catkins of birch, maple, pine, spruce and hemlock trees often irrupt when those types of trees have poor seed crops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/bird-irruptions-and-causes-386711&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ornithologists generally concur that irruptions are &lt;strong&gt;triggered by food shortages,&lt;/strong&gt; such as failure of the coniferous cone crops over a large geographic area. Analysis by ornithologists Carl Bock and Larry Lepthien of many years of Audubon Christmas Counts indicate that a synchronization of seed crop failures in some high-latitude tree species leads to southward irruptions of species normally dependent on those seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diurnal and nocturnal raptors that feed on small mammals with cyclic population fluctuations constitute another group of irruptive species which also eat foods that fluctuate from year to year in boreal regions. Among North American species, Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Goshawk, &lt;strong&gt;Snowy&lt;/strong&gt;, Great Horned, and Short-eared Owls are known to irrupt periodically. Two main cycles are recognized in boreal small mammals: a four-year cycle among tundra and grassland rodents, and a ten-year cycle that characterizes snowshoe hares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Irruptions.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T02:27:20.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17772" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17773" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" Score="0" Body="Questions about taking videos in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T04:00:12.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17767" CreationDate="2017-11-29T07:20:43.870" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;At first of all how old is this picture? Because many sources say that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wir-sind-tierarzt.de/2017/09/deutschland-tollwutfrei-und-dennoch-impfen/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Germany is rabies-free since 2008.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jagdverband.de/node/6578&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(second Source)&lt;/a&gt; But I'm not a 100% sure if there has to be a case of rabis to put up those signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Humans:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;In principle those signs have no impact on your every day life, even as a outdoor-enthusiast. You should, like always, avoid contact with wild animals. If you get attacked by a wild animal and you get bitten you should go to a doctor as soon as possible. Even if there is no rabies suspicion in this area you go should to a doctor after you get bitten by an animal because they can transmit various diseases. If you see a dead animal lying around in such an area &lt;em&gt;don't touch it&lt;/em&gt; and call your local hunter/vet/police and report the find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pets:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; If you own a dog and you live or hike with your dog in such an district &lt;em&gt;you always have to lead him on a leash&lt;/em&gt; because he could bite a wild animal or get bitten by one.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Pets that have no rabies vaccination(or an unproveable vaccination), and are under rabies suspicion, can be put to sleep.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are from Germany or you can read/understand the german language, here is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tollwv_1991/BJNR011680991.html#BJNR011680991BJNG000402377&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link to the german rabies-regulation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11684" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T07:20:43.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17767" CreationDate="2017-11-29T08:12:12.517" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you see a sign like this, you should either&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ignore it, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Contact the local municipality &lt;em&gt;(Gemeinde)&lt;/em&gt; to have it removed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Gistiv stated, Germany is rabies-free since 2008, but it seems that there was no concerted effort to remove these signs when rabies was eradicated. &lt;a href=&quot;http://m.mainpost.de/regional/main-spessart/Tiermedizin;art772,9363776&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This paywalled newspaper article&lt;/a&gt; is, precisely, about a misleading left-over rabies warning sign like the one you photographed. The article clarifies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Muss man sich also fürchten? „Nein“, erklärt Dr. Martin Korneli vom Veterinäramt des Landkreises Main-Spessart. „Ganz Deutschland ist mittlerweile tollwutfrei.“ ... „Das Schild muss demnächst mal weg“, erklärt Susanne Günzel von der Stadt Arnstein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Translated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do you have to be afraid? ‘No’, explains Dr Martin Korneli of the Veterinary Office of the Main-Spessart district. ‘All of Germany is now free of rabies.’ ... ‘The sign has to go soon’, explains Susanne Günzel of the City of Arnstein.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vogelschutz-komitee.de/index.php/jagd/39-uncategorised/322-bayern-tollwut-schilder-muessen-entfernt-werden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This web page&lt;/a&gt; also mentions the problem of the left-over signs. They link to an &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20140718153026/http://www.abschaffung-der-jagd.de/downloads/tollwutfreiheit.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;official declaration from the responsible Bavarian ministry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; which confirms that Germany is rabies-free and, regarding the signs, says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gefährdete Bezirke sind nach § 8 Abs. 2 der Tollwut-VO durch Schilder zu kennzeichnen, wobei die &lt;strong&gt;Gemeinde&lt;/strong&gt; nach § 1 Abs. 5 der Verordnung zum Vollzug des Tierseuchenrechts für das Aufstellen und &lt;strong&gt;Entfernen&lt;/strong&gt; der Schilder &lt;strong&gt;zuständig&lt;/strong&gt; ist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which clarifies that the &lt;em&gt;Gemeinde&lt;/em&gt; is responsible for removing the signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;The link on the website is broken, so I've linked to an archived version of the document instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T08:12:12.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17736" CreationDate="2017-11-29T09:29:31.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yes...&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can easily do this experiment yourself. Attach a carabiner to both leg and waist loops. Tie the biner to a rope or use a sling and hang from a branch or anchor. Observe how the biner is loaded.&#xA;Depending on your individual harness, body and carabiner, there will be some degree of triaxial load ie the alignment of forces on the biner will not be optimal with regard to how it is designed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;...but not really...&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carabiners are not rated for triaxal load, only for closed gate load, open gate load and minor axis (across the gate) load.&#xA;It is not, however, likely that they will perform significantly worse with any triaxial load than with minor axis or open gate load. That is the carabiner will, worst case, hold about 7kN. There is no way you'll sumbit a biner at your harness to such forces without doing something very very wrong. Note also that some harnesses don't have a belay loop. (And older models didn't have none) For those harnesses you'll simply have to attach a belay biner to both loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;...still, just don't&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just because a non-optimal practice won't kill you doesn't mean it's a good idea. Belay loops were added for a reason. Manufacturers and climbers around you will assume and expect that you use your gear as intended. Don't do things differently unless you have a very good reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T09:29:31.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17767" CreationDate="2017-11-29T12:56:44.810" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if the existence of rabies in that area is real, there is really very little you would do differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in a area (New England, North America) where rabies is present.  In your words, the entire continent is a &lt;i&gt;Gefährdeter Bezirk&lt;/i&gt;.  You are always conscious that any wild animal could possibly be infected.  The vast majority of the time, it means you do nothing different than you otherwise would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be careful if I saw a wild animal acting strangely and not having the usual fear of humans it should.  If I got bitten anyway, I'd definitely go to a doctor and get checked for rabies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While rabies is a serious disease that needs to be treated, the chance of getting infected is quite small.  I've never myself seen a obvious rabid animal, and I don't personally know anyone that got bitten by a rabid animal and was infected by rabies.  It happens, but the probability is far below risks you take for granted every day.  Human deaths from rabies in all of North America now average around a couple a year.  If I remember right, that is fewer people than get hit by lightning over the same time and region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest human impact from the existence of rabies is that pets that go outdoors have to be immunized.  That is also why the human rabies fatality rate is so low compared to the early 1900s before dogs were routinely immunized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-11-29T12:56:44.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17778" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17779" CreationDate="2017-11-29T13:43:05.067" Score="9" ViewCount="2245" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answers at a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17767/dos-and-donts-in-an-area-signed-with-the-shield-rabies-endangered-district-i&quot;&gt;recent question&lt;/a&gt; say that Germany has been rabies free since 2008.  My first response was how could that even be possible, must be some significant border protection that keeps wild animals from crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you look at the CDC site &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/importation/rabies-free-countries.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabies-Free Countries and Political Units&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs may be imported without a valid rabies vaccination certificate if they have lived for a minimum of 6 months, or since birth, in a country that is considered by CDC to be free of rabies in land animals, as listed below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And goes on to identify those countries, of which Germany and it's neighbor Czech Republic are both listed. (&lt;em&gt;presumably this is consistent across all of Europe, not just these two Countries&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Europe:&lt;/strong&gt;   Albania, Andorra, Austria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Cabrera, Channel Islands, Corsica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Formentera, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Majorca, Malta, Minorca, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway (except Svalbard), Portugal, San Marino, Spain (except Ceuta and Melilla), Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BUT&lt;/strong&gt; if you look at the individual countries on the CDC site such as Germany or the Czech Republic it says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/germany?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Health Information for Travelers to Germany, Traveler View&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabies is present in bats in Germany. However, it is not a major risk to most travelers. CDC recommends rabies vaccine for only these groups:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Travelers involved in outdoor and other activities in remote areas that put them at risk for bat bites (such as adventure travel and caving).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who will be working with or around bats (such as wildlife professionals and researchers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While most bats don't have rabies... &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabies in humans is rare in the United States. There are usually only one or two human cases per year. But the most common source of human rabies in the United States is from bats.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it seems like these areas are Rabies free, as long as you don't go outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is Germany or any of Europe &amp;quot;really&amp;quot; rabies free?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:22:52.540" Title="Is Germany or any of Europe really rabies free?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17778" CreationDate="2017-11-29T14:21:47.400" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;As your travel advisory links state, the ‘rabies-free’ designation ignores bats. This is also mentioned on the CDC list of rabies-free countries which you link to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The countries on this list are those that have not reported recent cases of rabies in &lt;strong&gt;land animals&lt;/strong&gt; and that have adequate disease surveillance for rabies cases as determined by CDC. &lt;strong&gt;Countries on this list might still have circulating bat lyssaviruses&lt;/strong&gt;, which can cause the disease, rabies, in people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in that sense, very few territories are &lt;em&gt;absolutely&lt;/em&gt; rabies-free. Antarctica qualifies, as does New Zealand, and various smaller islands. Australia &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; be argued to be rabies-free on a technicality since it lacks the classical strain of the rabies virus, but the Australian bat lyssavirus is indistinguishable in its effects and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/Handbook10-home~handbook10part4~handbook10-4-16&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Australian Department of Health&lt;/a&gt; considers that ‘the term “rabies” refers to disease caused by any of the known lyssavirus species’.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So it seems like these areas are Rabies free, as long as you don't go outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going to be strict about it: no, not even if you stay indoors, because a bat may fly in through the window and bite you. And even if you're in Antarctica, there's a tiny chance that a bat may somehow evade the strict quarantine procedures, fly out of a packing crate, and bite you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why do the CDC have a ‘rabies-free’ designation? Most probably because it’s a &lt;em&gt;convenient approximation&lt;/em&gt;. Bats aren’t particularly interested in biting humans. For most people, the risk of contracting rabies from a bat bite is vanishingly tiny. It makes sense to distinguish between countries where contracting rabies is a real, plausible danger and those where it’s less likely than being struck by lightning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of terminology works like this. There are many drinks we designate as ‘alcohol-free’, despite the fact that &lt;a href=&quot;https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/3011&quot;&gt;nearly all foods and drinks contain at least trace amounts of ethanol&lt;/a&gt;. As in the case of ‘rabies-free’, it’s a term that’s used to help people make practical decisions, rather than to satisfy a strict mathematical definition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T07:29:11.383" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T07:29:11.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17781" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17782" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" Score="0" Body="Questions about scrambling i.e. third class climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:18:23.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17783" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17784" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" Score="0" Body="Questions about rabid animals" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:21:32.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17785" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17786" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" Score="0" Body="Questions about trapping" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T03:44:57.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17787" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17788" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" Score="0" Body="Questions about navigating on rivers.with a boat (anything that floats, with or without power) " OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T12:25:15.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13246" CreationDate="2017-11-30T18:55:49.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several symptoms that could indicate an animal &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have rabies–they have already been shared in other answers to this question–but &lt;strong&gt;the only way to know for certain if an animal is actually rabid is to have the brain of the animal examined in a laboratory&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past I was CSPS and EMP Level III Advanced first-aid certified. In our training we were instructed that in the event of an animal attack where the animal is suspected of being rabid, we were to make the effort to capture the animal so that it could be tested for rabies. Specifically, we needed to send the head of the animal into the lab so the animals brain could be examined. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The treatment for rabies is intrusive to say the least. It requires multiple large vaccine injections to the abdomen to help your body identify and fight the virus. I had the process explained to me once by a nurse when I was a child. I had been bit (chewed on) by an animal I caught in a snare and was trying to release. I thought it would give me some sort of outdoors-credibility if I could say I was once bit by an animal and had to get vaccinated for rabies. After hearing about the agonizing process, and the resulting bruising and discomfort, I decided I'd be satisfied with just a scar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-11-30T20:13:01.333" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T20:13:01.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17736" CreationDate="2017-11-30T19:30:51.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All harness manufacturers instruct users to put carabiners through the belay loop and not the tie-in points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Petzl has it in their manual:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b2RJL.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b2RJL.png&quot; alt=&quot;petzl manual&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black Diamond's Director of Global Quality Kolin Powick (who does much of their gear testing) has this to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“You should only ever have a carabiner through your belay loop,” he says. Belay loops keep everything properly oriented, and make it easy for you to visually inspect the system. “If you instead clip the belay carabiner through your harness tie-in points,” says Powick, “then everything is rotated to an inappropriate, non-ergonomic angle, which makes belaying awkward and can cause triaxial loading, where a carabiner is pulled in three directions … not good.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/belay-loop-myth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2017-11-30T19:30:51.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17770" CreationDate="2017-12-01T01:16:19.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure where you live, Sue. But, as a birder in NE Ohio, I watch this website in the fall as do a lot of other birders:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jeaniron.ca/2017/wff17.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.jeaniron.ca/2017/wff17.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This predicts the amount of food seed-eaters will have in Canada, which can give some indication of what northern birds will come to Ohio. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, it isn't an exact thing as this current fall/winter is showing. The forecast was that there was plenty of food up north. But, we are already having a number of reports of pine siskins and crossbills. Crossbills are usually very uncommon in NE Ohio. But, there are at least two flocks being reported right now. One is west of Toledo in Oak Openings, and the other is near a reservoir just south of Mansfield. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are also experiencing a number of snowy owls all along the Lake Erie shoreline and in some inland sites like airports and farmlands. It is thought that a number of these owls are youngsters who have a tough time up north compared to the adult/more experienced owls. But, there are some adults around right now. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will add something else that I learned from a number of organizations that do bird banding. It is difficult to determine if birds like blue jays and chickadees are visitors from Canada to Ohio seeking food (irruptions) or they are just local birds that are wandering since we have those species year-round. There is really no way to tell unless the birds have been banded and are recaptured. (Banding is a low-return activity. Only a fraction of banded birds are ever recovered. But, it is one of the only way to try to track bird movements. GPS/satellite trackers are coming down in size and cost. They may be the future of tracking the smaller songbirds. They are used in some larger birds now like hawks and cranes.) Birds like the siskens, crossbills and others like evening grosbeaks are easy to label as they don't normally live here in Ohio. So, it's a pretty good bet that they are from the north when we see them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastEditorDisplayName="user14513" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T01:22:59.620" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T01:22:59.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17793" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17794" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" Score="0" Body="Questions about feet, such as preventing blisters or keeping them warm" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T02:55:24.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17736" CreationDate="2017-12-01T03:39:02.790" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/climbing-harnesses/alpine-bod-harness-BD6500260000M__1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Harness&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8LY5g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8LY5g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black Diamond Harness Alpine Bod harness&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/climbing-harnesses/alpine-bod-harness-BD6500260000M__1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as you will notice, there is &lt;strong&gt;no belay loop&lt;/strong&gt; at all. This is how the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bdel/default/dw66a9ffb1/files/mm5873_a_alpine_bod_WEB.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;directions&lt;/a&gt; show one belaying with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/je1kK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/je1kK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this type of harness is designed to be used this way, most other harnesses are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For data on how hard it would be to break a tri-axial loaded crabiner consider that &lt;a href=&quot;https://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/de_DE/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond was able to break one at 17 KN.&lt;/a&gt; For comparison,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A Black Diamond harness belay loop can withstand 15 kN (3372 lbf) of force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/qc-lab-strength-of-worn-belay-loops.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as other evidence that would show that clipping to both loops can cause the carabiner to fail, I am unaware of any studies. However, there were/are a good number of climbers clipped to both, even with harnesses that had a belay loop, especially after the death of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Skinner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Todd Skinner&lt;/a&gt; whose worn belay loop failed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know of any instances where people have died because a carabiner used to belay someone failed due to cross-loading. I think that if such an event were to become known, people would be pointing to it as a reason to use the belay loop to belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other reason to clip to both loops, is that it will make it much harder to belay in the PBUS style, as a belay device such as an ATC will be oriented horizontally instead of vertically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:08:41.613" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:08:41.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17796" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17797" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" Score="0" Body="Questions about time of year before and after the busiest time" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T03:46:34.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17798" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17799" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" Score="0" Body="Questions about animal migrations" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T05:59:00.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17800" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17801" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" Score="0" Body="Questions about huts" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T05:59:28.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11920" CreationDate="2017-12-01T06:45:33.727" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rule of thumb is that the maximum weight you should be carrying is 20% of your body weight if you do not know how much weight you could be comfortably carrying while on a multi-days hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you know how much weight you should be carrying, the next step is to rank items by how essential they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially important in summer and dry seasons. In drier seasons, not every creek marked on your map have water. Hiking in high temperature while dehydrated could be fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately water is also going to be one of the heaviest items in your backpack. So knowing where reliable water sources are will help you managing the weight of your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping bag and clothes that are warm enough:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially important in cooler seasons. Hypothermia could kill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can carry gourmet food and fresh vegetable and fruits. But you can also cut down the weight down by bring dehydrate food and multi-vitamin pills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two person tent is sure more comfortable than a single person one. But single person tent is lighter. If you are really into hiking, ultralight tent could help to keep the weight down as long as shelter is concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking utensils:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some kind of container (i.e. steel mug) &amp;amp; spork could come very handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stove &amp;amp; fuel - essential unless you plan to use camp fire to cook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Orientation tools and first aid kit:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a good guide and team of experienced hikers, then you can carry only the essential. But if you hike alone, more prepared is always better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal hygiene and extra clean clothes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nice to have, but you will end up dirty after 2-3 days hiking and sleeping in the dirt/snow. Can cut down if needed to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Redundancy/just-in-case items:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarp when you already carrying tent; &#xA;Flashlight when you already got headlamp; &#xA;A lighter, matches &amp;amp; flint: all three of those fire starting items.&#xA;Batteries and powerbank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can carry extra weight and have extra space in your backpack, then sure. Otherwise you can do with only one set of them instead of carrying both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3482" LastEditorUserId="3482" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T06:52:41.907" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T06:52:41.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17803" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-01T16:06:48.493" Score="4" ViewCount="234" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife likes to shoot arrows at targets.  She uses a relatively lightweight draw compound bow now. We have been talking about her trying a crossbow.  I did a quick search online and found junior models with draw weights from 15 to 60 lbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect 15lbs is not going to give good results, and 60lbs is more than she is using now.  Presumably there is some value in the middle that is optimal for target practice only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the minimum draw weight for a target practice &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; crossbow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-01-01T20:11:29.333" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T06:21:29.033" Title="Minimum draw weight for a target practice only crossbow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17803" CreationDate="2017-12-01T17:12:33.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are comparing apples to oranges here. You can have a much much higher pull weight on a crossbow, simply because it is easier and you can use mechanical advantage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at history, the advantages of a crossbow is that the archers didn't need to have the same amount of physical strength required to pull a long bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That said, most of the better hunting crossbows are in the &lt;strong&gt;150 to 175 pounds range, with a few topping out over 200 pounds.&lt;/strong&gt; In general, bigger is better—or in this case, faster. Keep in mind that you can go too heavy, too, as at least one state—Ohio—has a maximum allowable draw weight of 200 pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2013/2/21/12-crossbow-dos-and-3-donts/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;200 lbs incidentally is the world record for a longbow.&#xA; =&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mark Stretton (UK) drew a longbow weighing 90 kg (200 lb) to the maximum draw on an arrow of 82.5 cm (32 ½ in) at the shooting grounds of The Bath Archers, Somerset, UK on 15 August 2004.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/heaviest-longbow-draw-weight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for your actual question, heavier pull weights mean faster arrows and therefore less drop and more accuracy. At some point however, a heavier pull will be impossible to pull back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where that point is will &lt;strong&gt;depend on the person&lt;/strong&gt;. To find that point I would suggest that you visit a physical store and ask to attempt to cock one before actually buying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I would doubt that a 60lb pull would be too much for an average person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:34:56.753" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:34:56.753" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16318" CreationDate="2017-12-01T17:44:11.780" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In reference to my comment above i made this drawing. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cmAI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cmAI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The comment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What if you made a backpack only to be used for this, the ax could either go in the main part if you made a supportive frame or hang off your belt, the two machetes could be stowed in PVC tubes you attach on either side of the backpack. The tricky part would be making the pack have a supportive frame, and old hiking pack may be able to be customized to do so. Alternatively you could place a small bucket in the bag to give it shape and make it more sturdy. Other than that id go two custom slings for the machetes on your back deadpool style lol machetes can be used one handed while you hold ax&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could only do the machete tube portion and keep the axe on a loop off of you belt as it wouldn't interfere with swinging a machete to greatly. A little crazy, a little out there, but it could work with a little trial and error. With a large PVC tube you could easily return them without having to feel for a sheath with a little practice. And you'd look like a bad ass :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T17:44:11.780" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17806" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17807" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" Score="0" Body="Questions about the use of cell phones in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:43:08.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17808" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17809" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" Score="0" Body="Questions about making primitive tools like cord of stone axes in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T18:45:50.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17810" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17811" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with hot weather" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T19:32:11.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17812" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17813" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" Score="0" Body="Questions about anchors in ice for climbing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T22:13:26.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17814" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17815" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" Score="0" Body="Questions about jackets" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" LastActivityDate="2017-12-01T22:13:56.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17816" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17817" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" Score="0" Body="Questions about games in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:11:34.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17818" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17819" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" Score="0" Body="Questions about big wall climbing like Half Dome or El Capitan" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:12:16.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17820" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17821" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying mountains. Please include pictures and use a descriptive title." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:12:50.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17822" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17823" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" Score="0" Body="Questions about rescuing yourself" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T05:39:22.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17824" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17825" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" Score="0" Body="Questions asking about the proper technique to do something" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T17:51:33.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17826" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T17:59:46.153" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T17:59:46.153" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T17:59:46.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17827" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T17:59:46.153" Score="0" Body="Questions about firewood such as gathering, energy content or what types to use" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T23:40:54.837" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T23:40:54.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17828" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17829" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" Score="0" Body="Questions about things made out of wood" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T18:04:59.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17831" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-02T21:11:58.803" Score="3" ViewCount="1373" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've &lt;a href=&quot;https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/98058/do-things-like-a-rope-bucket-or-firewood-have-to-be-protected-from-the-weather&quot;&gt;asked this question on Worldbuilding.SE&lt;/a&gt; because of what I need the answer for and I learned that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the climate, I can store the firewood outside with no protection;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firewood should be stored in a lean-to for a year to age, then inside right before burning;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Firewood should always be stored inside since we cannot allow it to get wet since wet-dry cycles damage it;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it feasible to keep firewood outside in a lean-to not right before burning or is it required to keep firewood inside all times to protect it from getting wet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8886" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:41:08.620" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T20:56:53.490" Title="Does firewood have to be stored inside or is storing it in a lean-to sufficient?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-02T21:23:24.267" Score="3" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it feasible to tie the rope and bucket to the well and therefore keep it outside or do the rope and bucket have to be kept inside to protect them from harmful weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or does the well, bucket and rope need to be covered by a roof to keep the bucket and rope dry and prevent rot? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in actual practice during or slightly after Medieval times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8886" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:44:17.653" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:44:17.653" Title="Can a rope&amp;bucket used to gather water from a well be kept outside, tied to this well, or does it have to be kept inside?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17832" CreationDate="2017-12-02T22:20:32.803" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wells are covered to keep the water clean, not to keep it dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A well bucket rope is only going to be as long as needed, one end is going to get wet several times a day.  Even in single person home well, you are probably collecting water for the home morning and evening, as well as watering the animals during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how often water is taken from the well, it is most probably that one end is going to stay wetter then any reasonable amount of rain is going to make it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rain is so significant that your rope is never dry, you won't dig a well you will catch the water from the roof of your house.  Digging a well is a lot of hard work, building a gutter and cistern is much easier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. it does not matter if the whole rope or just one end is always wet. A well is going to have a rope just long enough to reach the water.  If one section if it is wearing out, you need a new rope of just the right length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-12-02T22:20:32.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17831" CreationDate="2017-12-03T07:51:11.117" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very simply, the drier the wood, the more efficiently it burns, and the easier it lights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lean-to on the downwind side of the house is very common as a long-term wood store (there's generally a prevailing wind direction; this is often, but not always, the same as the direction the wind blows most often when it rains).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bringing wood into the house for a few hours or days before burning does little to dry the bulk though it helps dry the surface and make it easier to light. So indoor storage is more important for kindling (thin sticks used in getting a fire started). Tinder (easily ignited material used in starting a fire, such as newspaper or dried grass) must be completely dry. Once a fire is established it can burn quite wet wood, but this wastes a lot of heat in the form of steam out of the chimney; the lower combustion temperature also means more smoke, which is a further sign of inefficient burning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One good reason for keeping a day or so's supply in the house is to reduce the effort and time taken bringing it in, while letting less cold air in. So taking a log basket to the wood shed each day and bringing it back in full could be part of the morning routine. Chopping may be required at this stage. The first wood used to get the fire going again in the morning would probably be kept in the house overnight as it needs to be dry; this might be the last few pieces in the log basket before fetching more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T11:40:05.000" LastActivityDate="2017-12-03T11:40:05.000" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17835" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17872" CreationDate="2017-12-03T11:44:35.383" Score="1" ViewCount="632" Body="&lt;p&gt;All things being equal a lighter arrow will travel faster when shot from a bow.  A faster arrow tends to drop less over a given distance.  Both will have similar kinetic energy over a short distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A longbow or a compound bow requires an arrow long enough to span the draw length.  A crossbow arrow &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow_bolt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;quarrel or bolt&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; is supported by the barrel of the crossbow so can made lighter just by making it shorter. Different materials and options (i.e. arrow tips) can also result in lighter weights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the lightest arrow/bolt practical for target practice?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am not worried about penetration (killing power) is there any arrow weight that is to low? i.e. is overly susceptible to cross winds or travels so fast that it creates safety issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-03T21:41:37.480" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T17:52:05.867" Title="What is the lightest arrow practical for target practice?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17837" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17838" CreationDate="2017-12-03T23:43:04.360" Score="9" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the terms in orienteering/navigation is &quot;handrail feature&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly does this term mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:40:12.943" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:40:12.943" Title="In orienteering/navigation, what is a handrail feature?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17837" CreationDate="2017-12-03T23:43:04.360" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;A handrail feature is something that you can &lt;strong&gt;travel paralleled to in order to reach your destination.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good example of this would be a stream/river as while you wouldn't want to follow directly beside it due to any swamps/marshes/beaver dams or trying to follow the bends, staying parallel to it, would help &lt;strong&gt;prevent you from getting lost.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZUV0l.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZUV0l.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few other examples would be long ridges, trails, roads, and valleys. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8231" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T20:16:10.230" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T20:16:10.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17839" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17840" CreationDate="2017-12-03T23:59:53.937" Score="11" ViewCount="835" Body="&lt;p&gt;On of the terms used in orienteering is &quot;catch feature&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is a catch feature and how would a catch feature help one with navigating in the outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:40:03.757" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:40:03.757" Title="What is a catch feature in orienteering?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17839" CreationDate="2017-12-03T23:59:53.937" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A catch feature is a feature that you will run into, if you have gone too far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tGPhl.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tGPhl.png&quot; alt=&quot;Travel parallel to handrail to run into catch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see above, if you are using the stream as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17837/in-orienteering-navigation-what-is-a-handrail-feature&quot;&gt;handrail feature&lt;/a&gt; to get to the bridge in order to cross, the trail acts as a catch feature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are heading towards a catch feature and not following a handrail, then you will want to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14916/why-would-one-aim-off-when-navigating-with-a-map-and-compass#answer-14917&quot;&gt;aim off&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples of things that can act as handrail features include streams, trails, roads, and ridge lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8231" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T20:15:55.543" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T20:15:55.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16895" CreationDate="2017-12-04T03:25:01.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Too long for a comment so will add this to complement the excellent answer by @Beanluc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Referring solely to the picture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with the apparent light weight of the pack, it appears that  pack is adjusted too long for the person in the picture. The straps are attached to the pack well above her shoulders and the waist belt is sitting nicely on her hip bone. This means the harness length is an inch or two too long for a perfect fit. Adding weight will push the straps lower, but the waist belt might be too low to be well supported on her hips&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This model pack does appear to have an adjustment for harness length. When buying, ensure that the harness can be shorten so the straps attach to the backpack at a height lower than the shoulder blade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T03:25:01.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17842" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17858" CreationDate="2017-12-04T13:35:59.970" Score="2" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is canoe trail, in the interior lagoons of Presque Isle State Park PA.  No gas engines are allowed, travel is bidirectional, like a bike path most travelers make a two way trip on the same path.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I was paddling there this summer, I noticed that the water plants a few feet under the surface all pointed in the same direction, indicating a current.  This was consistent for multiple visits this summer. The current is nearly insignificant from a paddling perspective but it does impact the plant life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The canoe trail is indicated in the map below by a red line.  As I recall the current was flowing from west to east (left to right).  These lagoons are interconnected, on a peninsula, communicating with sheltered bays, inside of a sheltered bay.  There are no elevated locations that might be the source of artesian wells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What causes the current in the interior lagoons of Presque Isle State Park PA?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KwNyr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KwNyr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Canoe trail path&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Details about the area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/PresqueIsleStatePark/Pages/Boating.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Presque Isle State Park at PA State Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presque_Isle_State_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Presque Isle State Park at Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:06:04.713" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T12:15:25.047" Title="What causes the current in the interior lagoons of Presque Isle State Park PA?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-04T16:29:52.803" Score="1" ViewCount="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Treasure Of Khan by Clive Cussler, the main protagonist is lost in a desert and uses his watch to determine directions, here is the quote : &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An old survival trick, he knew that south must be halfway between the&#xA;  hour hand and twelve o'clock if he was standing in the Northern&#xA;  Hemisphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't quite understood it. Is this a real trick ? Is there a name for it ? How does it work ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14556" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T16:29:52.803" Title="Trick from a Novel to find cardinal point" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2017-12-04T16:36:25.673" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17845" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17850" CreationDate="2017-12-04T16:46:08.733" Score="6" ViewCount="820" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm confused about whether these headings refer to the direction of the source of the wind/swell, or the the direction they are blowing into. My understanding is that they are talking about the source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, this morning's Surfline report:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fading WNW offers up head&#xA;  high-overhead surf to good exposures... Winds are steady N-NNE now, adding a bit of texture&#xA;  to unsheltered breaks...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My interpretation of this is that there is a swell COMING FROM the WNW (so it's actually heading towards ESE?) and that wind is coming from N-NNE,(so the wind is actually blowing TOWARDS S-SSW?) Is my understanding correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, on the left column in Surfline, it describes the following, along with a logo of an arrow. The arrow is POINTING at the direction that the wind is blowing TOWARDS right? Whereas the text (NE 42) is specifying the direction the wind CAME from right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Nu8S.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Nu8S.png&quot; alt=&quot;Surfline wind and swell info&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, since the reports specify the direction of the source, can I always assume that the swell and wind is going TOWARDS the opposite direction of the source?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14557" LastEditorUserId="14557" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T01:22:25.673" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:06:57.977" Title="What do surf report terms like &quot;fading WNW swell&quot; mean?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2996" CreationDate="2017-12-04T17:26:02.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As noted in a comment, all wood can be considered to release toxins in the smoke when burned. &lt;strong&gt;You may be exposed to more toxic smoke if you burn hotter fires.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood contains a lot of chemicals, and burning it involves a lot of chemical reactions. Different chemicals burn off into the smoke at different temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not smoke food, but my understanding of food smoking is that lower temperature smoke is better for smoking meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that more toxic chemicals tend to smoke out at much higher temperatures, approaching or exceeding 1000 degrees F (540 C). This is especially relevant to those using home-made wood charcoal, as the chemicals which burn at lower temp are already driven off, so you are more likely to be burning a hotter fire with less pleasant smoke. Likely less smoke overall, but that smoke may be made of more toxic chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have made some good quality charcoal and plan to try some crafts next year such as pottery, melting down steel, or making some glass; these require very high temperatures (please use extreme caution and do your research if you follow suit). When I recently found out that late-stage smoke may be more toxic, that was concerning to me. If I do these projects, I will need to avoid the smoke as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recall a few articles which discuss the higher-temp toxic smokes, but I do not remember how to get at them now. I will update this answer within a day or two after I track down the reference links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T17:26:02.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17847" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-04T18:06:28.407" Score="1" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hiked the AT this summer and the PCT three years ago, and it's looking like I may have the chance to return to New England for about a month sometime in Dec/Jan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any recommendations for how best to spend this time in the great outdoors? I love thru-hiking, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, and I have a lot of winter mountaineering experience and winter gear, so I'm looking for some suggestions really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be flying from UK into Connecticut and then I can drive from there to anywhere nearby, probably north since the AT took me that way and I really liked it - Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How realistic is thru-hiking in that part of the world in Dec/Jan, in terms of weather, snow, etc? I was considering the Long Trail but wondered if that might be too ambitious in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and I'll probably be solo - my friends are too fond of their sofas! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in order of preference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thru-hiking/backpacking an established trail for multiple weeks, do-able in winter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multi-day cross-country ski routes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Downhill skiing/snowboarding at a resort likely to have good snow at that time of year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Anything else you think might be fun&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14560" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:39:57.067" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:39:57.067" Title="A winter month in New England - what to do, looking for thru-hikes or other suggestions" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2017-12-13T08:55:20.353" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17736" CreationDate="2017-12-04T18:35:25.813" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only agree with the previous answers that clipping into the tie in points just increases the risk of the carabiner not being loaded as designed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there have been accidents of carabiners &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; being loaded as designed and I found a source that mentions such a failure that involved cliping into two tie in points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the following source two cases were studied: In the first one a carabiner was clipped into both tie in points and a figure-8 descender came free of the carabiner, as the carabiner was loaded in 3 or 4 directions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://caves.org/section/vertical/nh/47/uiaa2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Karabiner Breakings when Using a Figure-of-Eight&quot; by Neville McMillan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At the start of an abseil, when the rope is more horizontal than vertical, depending on the orientation of the karabiner, this can allow the FoE to apply a large force to the gate of the karabiner, and lever it open [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the second one something similar happended, but with the carabiner clipped into the belay loop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T16:53:54.963" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T16:53:54.963" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8204" CreationDate="2017-12-04T18:36:51.613" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;even wood that's been kept covered is often very wet and can be&#xA;  difficult to light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will second that. Some people claim their wood is dry, but if you go look at how they &quot;cover&quot; it, sometimes you see that the wood is only protected from the lightest of rains in the lightest of winds. I have seen some &quot;coverings&quot; that any amount of normal wind would blow the rain right under and onto the wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Techniques for fire starting in wet conditions&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What are some techniques for lighting wet firewood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Get at the drier wood on the inside&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to dry out the firewood as best you can, if that is possible. Either way, make sure that you cut into the wood; as long as the wood is only wet on the surface, you can get drier wood on the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get at the drier wood, you can use a bladed tool (generally knife or hatchet) to cut off the wet outer part. Also make sure you split the wood as much as you are willing to do; the increased surface area will help a lot toward getting the wood to catch fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Use lots of tinder and kindling; as much as you can make&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even more importantly is to use a &lt;strong&gt;lot&lt;/strong&gt; of tinder and kindling. When I light in wet conditions, sometimes I spend most of my time making a pile of wood shavings with my knife. I make enough of them that I have a reasonably large pile to light, and plenty more to keep adding if the larger pieces are having a hard time catching. Have extra tinder on hand for the same reason, in case the shavings themselves are too moist, or in case the fire goes out and you need to re-start it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On top of your tiny kindling, keep working your way up to slightly larger pieces; do not suddenly jump from small kindling to very large pieces of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Some methods for more extreme wetness&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying to start a fire while it is &lt;em&gt;currently&lt;/em&gt; raining, as opposed to after a rain, it can be even more difficult. I have found that the humidity and rain are sometimes bad enough that no amount of kindling will do: the tinder and kindling are becoming too wet simply by being in the wet air. When your resources are this wet, you need to use something that catches easily and burns hotter, like fat-wood, magnesium, or super-fine steel wool. You can even combine these things: my father likes to use magnesium and fat-wood together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fat wood&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fat-wood is a naturally occurring kind of wood which is saturated with resin. You can also make a home-made variant by soaking wood in flammable resins. It catches a spark or flame relatively easily, and it burns hotter and longer than normal wood. You then continue as before, working your way up with larger pieces of wood, once this has helped you get your start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take some very small shavings off of it, and some larger shavings. You can even make toothpick-sized kindling and bigger if you're having a hard enough time. Usually, you make tinder and kindling from it then put what's left of your fat-wood piece away to help with more fires later, but if you need the fire fast or bad enough, or if it's a short trip or have plenty to spare, you can put what's left of your fat-wood stick in over your fat-wood tinder and kindling since whole fat-wood sticks help too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Magnesium&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Magnesium burns super-hot; many thousands of degrees. The magnesium for fire starting comes in a small block, and you scrape some of it off the block to make a small pile of scrapings/shavings. Then, usually a spark is applied by using a ferro rod; as long as the spark lands directly on the tiny magnesium shavings it should give you a super hot spot for a very brief time which you use to get your damp tinder and kindling lit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Steel wool&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steel wool, the super-fine grade stuff, burns quite hot too. I once saw someone completely submerge it under water, take it out and shake it off for a minute, then drop a spark on it with a ferro rod. He then blew on it for a few seconds, and it was hot enough that kindling on it starting catching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Charcoal&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When conditions are very poor, my preferred method is to use charcoal. If I can get even a tiny spot on the charcoal to glow red, I can then blow on it to increase the size and heat of the red spot, then I hold a second piece of charcoal up to it so that it too can start getting hot; once the two of them are working together, it is easy to keep working up from there, possibly with even more small pieces of charcoal if the conditions are bad enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This technique requires &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of blowing. Be prepared to be exhausted after. Also, once it starts to smoke, try to turn away quickly to breathe, and be prepared to accidentally inhale some smoke that will choke you out for a moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The up-side to this technique is that the charcoal burns hot, and you can keep forcing it to stay hot by continually blowing on it; so much so, that I have multiple times skipped kindling entirely and jumped straight from small pieces of charcoal to larger pieces of wood. Of course, lots of kindling is still helpful, and it will save some of your breathe. When all else fails, I get the initial charcoal red spot by applying a bic lighter to a sharp corner on the piece of charcoal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Counter intuitive method: use green wood&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This next one sounds completely counter-intuitive, but I have used it successfully. This one is back to wet conditions &lt;em&gt;after&lt;/em&gt; a rain, not during the rain, and it only works if you have a nice, sunny day after the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting objects out under a bright sun, especially if it's mid-day, can help dry things out a lot better. Smaller, thinner objects are going to dry out even faster, and this is good for your tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grab up a thin, live (yes, still green) branch from a tree. Scrape the bark away (if it is a kind of bark that is good for starting fires, then obviously use it as well), then start scraping at the inner wood. Try to keep the stuff you scrape off the wood to be as thin as you can possibly make it. I find it works best for me if I hold my knife perpendicular (straight up and down) on the wood and just scrape side to side, instead of whittling into the wood. Sometimes I even use the 90-degree corner on the &lt;em&gt;back&lt;/em&gt; of my knife instead of using the actual blade, and I scrape this back and forth along the inner wood of the thin branch. I do this for a long time, building up as large a pile as I can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These ultra-thin shavings are so thin that, by the time I am done, the first half of what I worked on is much drier. But now it's time to make them even better yet; go spread this tinder bundle out in the direct sunlight for 10 to 30 minutes to dry them out even more. Because they are so super thin, they dry out very fast in the sunlight. That is why I use &lt;em&gt;green&lt;/em&gt; wood instead of dead wood for this part; I have found that I can get the shavings even thinner than I can with dead wood. Once it dries out in the sun for a quarter hour or half hour, now it's dry wood &lt;em&gt;and it's super thin which is great for tinder&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With green wood, I can get the stuff I scrape off so thin that sometimes it looks fuzzy instead of woody. And since it is so thin, which is good for lighting, I have a few times gotten it to light after a rain even without the sun-drying, though don't skip the sun step if it's shining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, this sounds crazy and counter-intuitive. I saw a guy do it on YouTube and thought &quot;He must be crazy for choosing green wood,&quot; until he explained it and actually got a fire lit with it. I had to try it to make sure he wasn't pulling our leg, and it worked great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, make sure you have multiple alternatives available to you. I keep multiple tools in my pocket-sized tinder box. It has a tiny piece of fat-wood, a few scraps of char cloth, a few tiny pieces of charcoal, a small chunk cut off of a magnesium block (spot reserved, it's not currently there), and a small ferro rod removed from its handle. Sometimes I have a tiny tinder-nest in there too from the afore-mentioned scrapings off a thin, green stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all of those options, it is rare that I need anything else to get a fire started even in wet conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Your other question&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there ways to tell wet pre-cut firewood from wood that's only damp&#xA;  on the outside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to push into the wood. If it is only surface-wetness, you should not be able to push into it at all; the wood should feel completely firm and tough as usual. The wetter the wood is, the more you will be able to push into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I just did a fire recently where I did use some very wet wood. I had some branches that I could push into about a quarter-inch, more in some spots. I scraped this wettest part away and burned the rest; it did not burn well, but the fire was already established, so it did eventually burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For wood which is wet, but not wet enough to feel soft at all, you could try looking for signs like fungus. Not all fungus will be large mushrooms; even smaller spots, which could look almost like mold (and might indeed be mold).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location of the wood is another indicator. If the wood was flat against the ground, it is more likely to be wetter all the way through. If it is not flat, maybe a branch that is curved enough that part of it is held off the ground, or one side is propped against a tree or on a bush or another branch, or if the entire thing is caught up in something and not on the ground at all, etc.: since it has been kept off the ground, it is likely to be drier on the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2017-12-04T18:45:24.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-04T18:45:24.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17845" CreationDate="2017-12-04T19:04:16.917" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wind directions are always given as the direction the wind is coming from. It would be natural for surf reports to do the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is born out by looking at Surfline surf reports for the West coast of North America. Surf is invariably reported as have a direction of somewhere in the western half of the compass - W, NW, SW etc. (excluding the 'inner' sides of islands or peninsulas.) Given the unlikelihood of surf originating on the land and travelling out to sea it would appear my assumption is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, the arrow in the wind report shows the direction in which it is blowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Directions of surf and wind both indicate the direction it comes from.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:06:57.977" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:06:57.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17852" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17853" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" Score="0" Body="Questions about topographical (topo) maps" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:03:39.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17854" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17855" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Pennsylvania" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:08:11.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1592" CreationDate="2017-12-05T02:21:37.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My recommendation would be to use &lt;a href=&quot;http://caltopo.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;caltopo.com&lt;/a&gt;, which is a quick way to check water levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOx93.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOx93.png&quot; alt=&quot;Settings to overlay water gauges&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Checking this option will show you available data from a lot of water gauges all over the country:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Jxrx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Jxrx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each little circle is one water gauge, and clicking it will show you the water levels over the past couple of days.  This is an example from the Merced River, measured in Yosemite Valley at Happy Isles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p2DlV.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p2DlV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14565" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T02:21:37.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1592" CreationDate="2017-12-05T06:16:05.120" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;RiverApp (riverapp.net) has a pretty good selection of paddlable rivers across both Europe and the States. The data is all just coming from the separate national services, but it's nice to have them in one place. Popular runs sometimes even have useful notes on recent hazards attached from other users. It's quite a handy tool to use at home or on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T06:16:05.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17842" CreationDate="2017-12-05T12:15:25.047" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lake Erie is classed as non-tidal because the tidal variance is less than &lt;a href=&quot;https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gltides.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5cm at spring tide&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However (same source):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wind and weather conditions on the Great Lakes may create a &lt;a href=&quot;https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seiche.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;seiche&lt;/a&gt;, an oscillating wave which can be several feet high. In many of the Great Lakes, the time period between the “high” and “low” of a seiche may be between four and seven hours. As this is very similar to the six-hour time period of the tides on the ocean, it is frequently mistaken for a tide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the image shows a larger body of water behind a bottleneck you could well be seeing this effect as a current flowing through that narrowed region caused by variance in water depth in the outer lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T12:15:25.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17847" CreationDate="2017-12-05T13:06:24.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've already done the AT, so know what the terrain of the Berkshires, Green Mountains, and White Mountains is like.  Obviously that gets a lot more difficult with 2-6 feet of snow on the ground.  With the right gear, it is of course doable, but at too high a hassle level for most people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Long Trail is the first that came to my mind from your description.  Don't expect accommodations anywhere along the trail, like there are in places along the AT in summer.  You'll be pretty much alone, except where the trail passes near ski resorts.  You'll have more options where to camp than in summer, but much less options for anything other than finding and making your own campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a tamer and less wild experience, you can try some of the smaller lesser-known trails.  I'm from north-central MA, so the ones I'm most familiar with are the M+M and Midstate Trails.  Permission to camp may be a issue.  These kind of trails cross a lot of private lands with public access rights negotiated.  Those rights often do not include camping.  If you look at any of these secondary trails, you probably want to secure permission for camping spots in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then of course there are lots of options in the White Mountains.  Some of the huts are still open in winter, usually with just a single caretaker.  You won't get a meal and other accommodations like you can in summer, but you can sleep indoors.  Check ahead.  In this case, contact the AMC at the Pinkham Notch visitor center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of beautiful and wild trails in the White Mountains that are not part of the AT.  Just get a map and look around.  As one of many possible examples, you can park at Lincoln Woods, then take the Wilderness Trail to Bondcliff (my favorite spot in all the White Mountains), Bond, Guyot, the Twins, etc.  Or stay in the valleys more easterly.  There are many many options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another totally different possibility is to do a few day hikes on the many local trails that are all throughout the region.  These are harder to find, since there is no larger organization that lists them.  For example, my town (Groton, MA) has over 110 miles of trails on over 10 square miles of land open to the public.  We have more miles of trails than we do paved roads, but anyone more than a few towns away probably has no idea of that.  You'll never be that far from a road or a house, but you will discover some amazingly pretty places.  Overnight camping is generally not allowed without advance permission, but these kinds of trails are best done as day adventures anyway.  Permission can also be arranged, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T13:06:24.747" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17861" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-05T14:01:09.517" Score="29" ViewCount="6314" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got my first tick bite recently, on the top of my foot. The tick was latched on. There was a circle of small dots around the tick and a slightly bigger red area close by. They were all there from the beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could those be test bites before the tick found the best spot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14572" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T09:44:31.353" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T12:44:21.360" Title="Could a tick make several test bites in a circle?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17861" CreationDate="2017-12-05T14:47:12.840" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think they ever do test bites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If it looks anything like a dot surrounded by a ring, go see a doctor as you might have Lyme disease.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Centers for Disease Control&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tickborne diseases can result in mild symptoms treatable at home to severe infections requiring hospitalization. Although easily treated with antibiotics, these diseases can be difficult for physicians to diagnose. However, early recognition and treatment of the infection decreases the risk of serious complications. &lt;strong&gt;So see your doctor immediately if you have been bitten by a tick and experience any of the symptoms described here&lt;/strong&gt;. (Emphasis mine.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this related page from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDC&lt;/a&gt; for more information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wN970.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wN970.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image displaying possible physical manifestations appearance&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early Signs and Symptoms (3 to 30 days after tick bite)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Erythema migrans (EM) rash:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Occurs in approximately 70 to 80 percent of infected persons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Begins at the site of a tick bite after a delay of 3 to 30 days (average is about 7 days)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expands gradually over a period of days reaching up to 12 inches or more (30 cm) across&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May feel warm to the touch but is rarely itchy or painful&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sometimes clears as it enlarges, resulting in a target or “bull’s-eye” appearance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May appear on any area of the body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See examples of EM rashes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later Signs and Symptoms (days to months after tick bite)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Severe headaches and neck stiffness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additional EM rashes on other areas of the body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, particularly the knees and other large joints.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Facial palsy (loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both sides of the face)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nerve pain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Problems with short-term memory&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also, when you remove a tick always make a note of where it was and monitor the spot for a few days.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T02:42:19.900" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17863" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17867" CreationDate="2017-12-05T15:01:53.470" Score="8" ViewCount="2313" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just saw this 2009 article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-12/can-whale-get-rabies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Can a Whale Get Rabies?&lt;/a&gt; which includes this statement,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although there is absolutely no record of a rabid whale, and only one documented case of rabies in a seal—a ringed seal caught in 1980 in Svalbard, an archipelago off Norway—the scenario may soon be of greater concern. &quot;Starting 10 years ago, coyotes began to prey on harp seals here on Cape Cod,&quot; Moore says. &quot;Because of that, I like for my staff to get vaccinated. There's a very small chance that a seal will have rabies.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem that there is a vector for rabies to cross oceans and potentially infect land mammals, slight but plausible...  It has been nearly 10 years since the article.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any documentation of a person getting rabies from a marine mammal? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:22:28.070" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:22:28.070" Title="Has a person ever got rabies from a marine mammal?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;rabies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="704" CreationDate="2017-12-05T15:10:22.580" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;While getting U.S.G.S maps are very good...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to a specific park, check their website and search for trail books with organization that support the park such as the &quot;Friends of [park name]&quot;. These organizations often have special books with limited printing with maps of specific areas in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Algonquin Provincial Park has its own set of maps and guidebooks for both hiking and canoeing. If you go to this park, you must check out those resources. They are quite extensive. I think other larger Provincial Parks in Canada also have &quot;Friends&quot; organizations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allegheny National Forest has at least two hiking guide books with maps. The one I used for years was put out with help from the Sierra Club. The guide books have the U.S.G.S. maps in them with the trails marked. The maps themselves often don't have the trails marked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acadia National Park in Maine has many guidebooks with maps for special areas: the carriage trails, the hiking trails, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you are going to a specific area or park, research like crazy online for sources of maps. Individuals may have websites with custom maps. Think outside the box: Birding groups may have their own maps that may show feature not on other maps. Waterfall groups have their specialty maps. Geocaching.com has their own maps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is better to do some work before you go somewhere so you are prepared so you can be safe and so you don't miss anything special.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14563" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T15:10:22.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17847" CreationDate="2017-12-05T19:11:43.787" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thru-hiking/backpacking an established trail for multiple weeks, do-able in winter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longer hiking trails in ME, NH, and VT, apart from the AT, like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long Trail&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacomet-Monadnock_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metacomet-Monadnock Trail&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohos_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cohos Trail&lt;/a&gt; just have too much extreme weather on exposed peaks to be safe for a solo hiker. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_National_Scenic_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New &#xA;England Scenic Trail&lt;/a&gt; in CT and MA could be a possibility since it stays at lower elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Multi-day cross-country ski routes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best of these is probably the 300 mile &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamount_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Catamount Trail&lt;/a&gt; in VT. The terrain is generally reasonable and the route tries to limit things like avalanche risks, but again, multi-day winter solo trips in New England are dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Downhill skiing/snowboarding at a resort likely to have good snow at that time of year&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should not be a problem. There are tons of them and they all snow making capabilities so will have plenty of terrain. New England is small enough that you can hit a number of these resorts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Anything else you think might be fun&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is more to winter in New England than mountains and harsh weather. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Circuit_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bay Circuit Trail&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midstate_Trail_(Massachusetts)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Midstate Trail&lt;/a&gt; can be done in portions or a few days. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/upload/CACOmapweb.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Cod National Seashore&lt;/a&gt; in the winter would not offer typical beach weather, but you could easily spend a week exploring the beaches, trails, and area. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Rail_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape cod Rail to Trail&lt;/a&gt; project, and others, offer a nice way to see other parts of Cape Cod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T19:11:43.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17861" CreationDate="2017-12-05T20:05:15.557" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;That definitely sounds like a tick bite from a lyme disease infested tick. Get to the doctor ASAP and they can give you an antibiotic that can kill the disease before it becomes a long term problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14577" LastActivityDate="2017-12-05T20:05:15.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17863" CreationDate="2017-12-05T21:56:01.307" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The WHO reports no rabies contracted from marine life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabies (World Health Oorganization)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, many kinds of marine mammals, such as seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, and - especially - killer whales, can be carriers.  The vector typically starts with a land mammal, like an infected dog, coyote, or polar bear attacking its prey (said sea lion or seal).  These become infected; in turn, killer whales (orcas) are the next most-prone marine mammal, because they are the largest and most likely to attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trainers.neaq.org/2008/07/28-seal-safety.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marine Safety Trainers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is rare for marine animals to contract rabies, for the reason that land-dwelling rabies-carrying mammals are so rare; once in the ocean, spread to other mammals is rare, because these mammals do not normally attack in a way that rabies can spread easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless, diseases spread to humans is not well understood.  This article is from Inter-Research Science Center, and they did a clinical study of marine animal injuries to humans, and nowhere is rabies ever mentioned.  They even discuss native tribes who hunt seals for meat, and record no rabies injuries there.  (There are many diseases passed; it's just that none of them is rabies).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d081p081.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Health risks for marine mammal workers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:08:16.433" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:08:16.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17831" CreationDate="2017-12-06T01:22:42.993" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, many (most?) people keep their firewood outside. You may want to bring it inside a day prior to burning to maximize the amount of BTU so that it burns hotter and also create less residue (creosote).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that you actually do not want to bring the firewood inside because&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It brings humidity in the dwelling (and possibly mold)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It brings/invites bugs and vermin (termites!) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It takes too much space (i.e. you likely do not have enough space)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For outside protection you may cover just the top of the firewood with a tarp/plastic to limit the amount of rain/water pouring onto your cord of wood. Often leaving only a foot of overhang as to not restrict air flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:15:14.597" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:15:14.597" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17870" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-06T03:29:44.353" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T03:29:44.353" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T03:29:44.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17871" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-06T03:29:44.353" Score="0" Body="Questions about human waste, including urine and feces, during or preparing for outdoor activities. These can be about location, such as areas where bathrooms aren't available; the best way to dispose of human waste without causing harm to land, people or animals (including the principals of Leave No Trace); and other related situations.  " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T02:18:17.090" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T02:18:17.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17835" CreationDate="2017-12-06T08:39:00.130" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The weight of the arrow depends on the material used to make it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First let’s understand that you pick an arrow based on the weight of the bow (poundage) and the archer’s draw length. That will give the spine (group) of the arrow you should be using. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are ways to play with spine... longer arrows, heavier points, etc but let’s forget this for now and just follow the recipe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will find some aluminium arrows have a similar GPI (grains per inch). As soon as you move to the more specialised top of the line arrows they move from aluminium to carbon and then from carbon to some crazy alloy and the GPI changes significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you pick the right arrow with the right spine for the right length arrows will vary in weight based on the material they’re made. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then weight play another part of the game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighter arrows has less drop as you said but are more susceptible to wind and also more fragile. You shoot a few light arrows on a tree and they start to split.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting ones are heavier as they need to hold more energy for penetration. Also it’s unlikely hunters will be shooting further than 30-40 meters/yards so distance is not the point of those kind of arrows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Olympic archers will be looking for mid ground where arrows are not too light to be influenced by wind in those 70 meter shoots but also not too heavy to avoid the extra drop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT 1&#xA;I have a feeling that as much as I added info RE arrow weights and materials I didn’t actually answer your question. &#xA;The lightest arrow practical for target shooting will be as light as the material that the arrow is made of allows but strong enough to be shot by a bow of certain poundage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT 2&#xA;Given a certain bow with X pounds and an archer with Y draw length what's the lightest arrows we can use? Taken that James are not going to hide in this garage and make his Jame's special super light alloy to make his arrows we only have wooden, aluminium and carbon arrows available. We know that carbon is lighter (in general) so it needs to be carbon. So the lightest arrow you can shoot from your bow (safely) will be the weakest spine you can find for your bow and archer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastEditorUserId="3710" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:18:45.410" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:18:45.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17861" CreationDate="2017-12-06T16:28:03.720" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the question asked, no, ticks don't do test bites. They walk on your body until they find a spot where the epidermis is thin enough, then just go for it. You won't find a tick latched onto the heel of your foot, the cap of your knee or other areas of thick skin. It takes a &lt;a href=&quot;http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/30/heres-what-happens-when-a-tick-bites-you/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fairly long time for a tick to reach a blood vessel&lt;/a&gt;, so test bites would significantly hinder the chances of success before getting brushed off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5866" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T16:28:03.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17874" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17875" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" Score="0" Body="Questions about alpine touring" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T18:15:52.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17876" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17877" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with wind in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" LastActivityDate="2017-12-06T18:19:55.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17878" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17879" CreationDate="2017-12-07T01:07:43.027" Score="6" ViewCount="2344" Body="&lt;p&gt;This bird showed up on the website NextDoor. A bunch of people were saying it's a Cooper's Hawk. To me it's clearly a Peregrine Falcon. My reasoning is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;there are Peregrines around here all the time (Los Angeles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the eyes are not red&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the Cooper's Hawk has a darker head in maturity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other opinions welcome please.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O5RF1l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O5RF1l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TPJNb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TPJNb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12036" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:49:49.477" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:48:52.283" Title="How to correctly identify a bird that looks like a Cooper's Hawk or a Peregrine Falcon?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17878" CreationDate="2017-12-07T02:32:56.823" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;That definitely looks like a Cooper's hawk. First consider this picture of a Cooper's hawk that looks remarkable similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I4tDE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I4tDE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cooper%27s_Hawk_Eating_a_Finch.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to consider is that in &lt;strong&gt;your picture and this one is that they both have dark and light bands in the tail feathers&lt;/strong&gt; and Peregrine falcons do not have that, at least to the same extent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picture of a peregrine falcon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uY8jr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uY8jr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falc%C3%A3o_Peregrino_(1).jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:48:52.283" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:48:52.283" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17880" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17881" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" Score="0" Body="Questions about muscle cramps" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:00:32.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17882" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17883" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" Score="0" Body="Questions about things with down insulation" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T03:17:07.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17831" CreationDate="2017-12-07T06:10:57.673" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally we store our firewood outside (lean-on) and bring a bucket full inside before we use it. We never had a problem doing so, but we do have a roof over it outside. We only use thoroughly dried firewood and even if it gets wet on the surface with the rain it dries quickly again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in Australia and termites love to go into the wood, therefore we do not store it inside and invite them this way into our home ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14590" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-07T16:09:01.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T16:09:01.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2017-12-07T09:01:44.963" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get a set of curtains and make the carabiners the rungs for the curtain, just make sure that the bar that it slides on is of a good diameter for the carabiners, or if you can find a bar sturdy and narrow enough you could take the core out of a retired climbing rope and put it over the curtain bar for bonus points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14591" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T09:01:44.963" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2017-12-07T09:01:44.963" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14544" CreationDate="2017-12-07T11:28:29.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignoring the usb charger and just focusing on light. There are a multitude of mechanically powered lights.  Personally I have several of them.  IMHO the most effective and efficient are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanically_powered_flashlight#Shake_type_design&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shake Type&lt;/a&gt; originally marketed under the name &quot;NightStar jP Shake Flashlight&quot; The best are &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00F2PMD2Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;relatively expensive USD $60+&lt;/a&gt; I have an original NightStar JP that is more then 10 or 15 years old, It has spent hundreds of thousands of miles sitting on the floor of my vehicle next to the drivers seat and still works (&lt;em&gt;just checked&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reality of mechanical energy to light is usually less impressive (&lt;em&gt;shorter light time&lt;/em&gt;) then advertised. There are currently several &quot;shake lights&quot; on the market and some made by the same NightStar company.  All the models I have tried have been a disappointment, even the NightStar JP which is the best I have seen or used really only gives a small amount of light, and 2 to 4 minutes of it for a a few seconds of shaking.  On a clear night, with just the stars for light, I would not use it to light my path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The magnet is strong, and can be a risk to any sensitive electronics placed near it.  But the magnet also works well to keep the flashlight in place next to the metal base of my car seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that the best is disappointing; if my NightStar JP was lost, I would buy another.  It does not give a lot of light, and it does not last long.  But it always works. It is possible to walk and shake it at the same time. When it is dark and overcast and you literally can not see your hand in front of your face and you don't remember when the last time you checked your flashlight was, a quality mechanical light (that uses a capacitor NOT a battery) can make all the difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about ease of use, weight, cost and brightness of light, one or two small LED, battery operated lights, with a supply of spare AA or AAA is probably going to give you more light, for less money and weight then a mechanical light, for trips of several days.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14544/are-there-human-powered-generators-that-draw-power-from-body-movement/14546#14546&quot;&gt;answers address,&lt;/a&gt; the practicality of spare batteries for short term electronic requirements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T14:25:38.800" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T14:25:38.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11681" CreationDate="2017-12-07T11:56:22.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main reason for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pilgrim.es/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camino de Santiago pilgrimage&lt;/a&gt; is to experience something different. Doesn't matter what moves you - outdoors love, passion, faith, adventure, boredom... Whatever it is everyone is opened to meet new people and share adventures together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14592" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T11:56:22.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17888" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17904" CreationDate="2017-12-07T12:40:14.730" Score="4" ViewCount="2844" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to snowboard. I am not yet prepared to spend a lot of money on it. I know a special jacket for skiing is better but won't it suffice to just use normal urban jacket for skiing in the beginning? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is a normal cheap non-specialized jacket that bad for this activity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to a ski resort at about 1,600 meters.  Last time I was there, it was unnaturally warm in Winter with about -1C temp. But I can't predict weather next time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer one of the comments, I was going to go for a snowboard rather than ski, but itsn't there no difference? I have never heard of jackets made for ski or snowboard specifically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14593" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:27:26.230" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:27:26.230" Title="Use normal urban jacket for skiing/snowboard" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17831" CreationDate="2017-12-07T20:56:53.490" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's my central european (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cfb/Dfb climate&lt;/a&gt;: temperate or continental humid climate with warm summer, no dry season) take on the question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have enough rain and moisture so that having some kind of roof over the wood is good. Nowadays, no problem (lean-to with sheet metal roof or just tarp or sheet metal on the stack work well). I doubt this was done in medieval times, though. I wouldn't put it that far up on the priority list: a shed would certainly be &lt;em&gt;more useful&lt;/em&gt; for keeping your hay and grain (food in general) dry over winter and I doubt there was so much suplus productivity to build sheds for wood. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A somewhat more classical way is to have a stack of wood on the side of the house if possible still somewhat protected by the roof overhang. I'd say this is an intermediate storage: enough for a couple of weeks in winter if you are  heating entirely by wood. Gives you a buffer so you have a reasonably sized storage from where you can easily fetch wood inside:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LE8QC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LE8QC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;stack at house&quot;&gt; (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schwarzwaelder_Bauernhaus_um_1900.jpg)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Nowadays, still done &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.holz-haus-bauen.de/2015/12/06/bauen-haus-mit-dem-wohlfuehlbaustoff-holz/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;for the country-side feeling and the add-on wood stove in the living room&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Personally, we don't have that, but we have a storage for about 2 m³ in the basement where our furnace is. Main point of this is less to dry the wood but to avoid bringing mud/snow/moisture with your shoes into the house (the wood is dumped into the basement through a slide).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;there are techniques to set up wood stacks so they form their own roof/shed:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HMHWO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HMHWO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Holzmiete&quot;&gt; (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Holzmiete.jpg)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much the wood rots depends very much on the type of wood. Over here, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can leave oak for decades sitting around in just a flat topped stack. The uppermost few pieces will rot, and soil will form and this will be a bit like a grass roof. Below the wood will be reasonably dry (i.e. at a moisture level suitable for burning). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beech, OTOH, will rot very fast. Spruce and pine are somewhat intermediate. So is cherry.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Note that when you first stack green (i.e. fresh, not wind-dried) wood it shrinks quite a bit due to drying and the stack may become unstable (also, it typically shrinks more on one side due to uneven drying). Oak at that point will easily shed its bark which will help much for making it suitable for long-term storage (years). Stacking the wood without bark will make it much less susceptible to rain. The first stage of drying often takes place in the forest, and my guess is that this may have been done already in medieval times: transporting unnecessary ware was at least as much of a problem then as it is now:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0XP33.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0XP33.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;flat wood stack in forest&quot;&gt; (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Fuelwood.JPG) note the tarp on top of the stack (beech)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure whether the described stacking techniques were used in medieval times, though: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rather short pieces are needed for stoves like &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCchenhexe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this &quot;kitchen witch&quot;&lt;/a&gt; which AFAIK were introduced in the 18th century and their heating furnace counterparts. They are used with more evenly sized pieces of wood: only comparably small pieces of wood fit in there, but you don't want to have them too small, neither.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In medieval times, AFAIK open fireplaces were used for cooking, and I'd guess that common people did not have masonry stoves (which anyways were built suitable for large pieces of wood). I doubt anyone put in the work to saw the wood into evenly sized pieces without a compelling need to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our neighbour who used to be a farmer and is now approaching his 90s says: an (economically) healthy farm should always have [own] 3 harvests: one on the field, one in the barn and one in the bank. This translates to one bad year will not immedeately throw the farm into disaster. And you cannot rely on a bad year being immediately followed by a good year.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Same goes for wood: a wet and stormy winter can hamper your forestry work quite a bit. Or illness.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Again, I doubt the corresponding level of wealth was reached in medieval times here (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbuchdemografie/bevoelkerungsdynamik/historische-entwicklung-der-bevoelkerung.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Herden: Die Bevölkerungsentwickung in der Geschichte, 2007 says that western Europe had 450 famines between 1000 and 1885&lt;/a&gt; - this is indication that people weren't able to accumulate wealth to allow dealing with single bad harvests. My guess is also that under these circumstances, noone has time and energy to gather wood to stack in excess of the immediate need, nor would it be advisable as it probably would have been stolen anyways).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T20:56:53.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17832" CreationDate="2017-12-07T21:01:19.623" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are talking about a wooden bucket, you'd want to keep it moist all the time. It will crack and leak when drying thoroughly. Incidentally, this will not be a problem, as it will go into the well several times per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2017-12-07T21:01:19.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14544" CreationDate="2017-12-08T00:55:21.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The U.S. Army had a power-generating backpack developed, within which were ballast weights which moved with the wearer's marching motion, and which were coupled to some sort of generator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like this item has been commercialized now:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lightningpacks.com/lightningpacks.com/Electricity-Generating_Backpack_%7C_Lightning_Packs,_LLC.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lightningpacks.com/lightningpacks.com/Electricity-Generating_Backpack_%7C_Lightning_Packs,_LLC.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastEditorUserId="13735" LastEditDate="2017-12-08T20:50:49.047" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T20:50:49.047" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17861" CreationDate="2017-12-08T05:40:36.017" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, they don't. They scrape the skin lightly with their chelicerae as a part of the biting process, but once they start the process of biting, they are firmly anchoring themselves into place, as a result of the hook-like &quot;teeth&quot; that cover their mouthparts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a decent explanation of the process with an accompanying video here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/30/heres-what-happens-when-a-tick-bites-you/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here’s What Happens When A Tick Bites You&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14597" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2017-12-08T12:44:21.360" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T12:44:21.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17894" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-08T12:14:42.103" Score="6" ViewCount="436" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently came across a hiking boot maker with a front page photo showing someone walking off trail in ankle high boots that are untied. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jaeVV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jaeVV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hiker&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.solepowertech.com/#solepower&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems to be a current fashion trend, and if you google &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=untied+boots+look&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;untied boots look&lt;/a&gt; you get several hits showing and describing how to get the 'look'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shopping in the mall, with untied boots is one thing. But I wonder if there are negative impacts from trail (or off trail) hiking with untied boots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have the existing Q&amp;amp;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13910/&quot;&gt;Is ankle support a myth?&lt;/a&gt; that goes into detail about ankle support, presumably all the linked studies had people wearing properly laced foot wear. I am not asking about ankle support in this question.  We also have a Q&amp;amp;A about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7946&quot;&gt;When is it OK to hike off trail?&lt;/a&gt; which is not the subject of this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How important is it to &quot;properly&quot; lace and tie your boots when hiking?  Can I just hike in boots without laces at all? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:13:44.480" Title="Hiking with boots untied?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17894" CreationDate="2017-12-08T15:52:41.857" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems to be the definition of &lt;strong&gt;valuing looks over function.&lt;/strong&gt; I mean, yes you can hike with the laces untied, but its going to make you more &lt;strong&gt;likely to trip and slip around&lt;/strong&gt; and your feet are going to slide around around in your boots and that will &lt;strong&gt;lead to blisters&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have never understood why people spend an inordinate amount of money to look cool in the outdoors where there are so few people to impress.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T02:13:44.480" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T02:13:44.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17944" CreationDate="2017-12-08T19:29:15.590" Score="12" ViewCount="1509" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been trying to find the US Military's guidelines or standard for how long a soldier can go without food, for any branch of the military.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any such recommendation, as to how long a man can go without food (and what activity level he can be expected to perform to)?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:48:44.280" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T13:36:49.453" Title="US Military's standards for how long a soldier can go without food?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17897" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17905" CreationDate="2017-12-08T20:58:53.137" Score="3" ViewCount="2967" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own several down jackets but my favorite and warmest doesn't have the best colors. It's black which is great but shoulder area is orange. It's an LL Bean jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible I can dye and change only the orange color to something else without compromising warmth/ruining jacket? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, what do I have to do change the color? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14561" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:27:16.807" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:27:16.807" Title="Is it possible to partially change color of down jacket?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;down&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17878" CreationDate="2017-12-08T22:17:13.783" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One good way to figure out what a bird is is by going step by step with its characteristics. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has good web pages for this for each species. Note: It is not just the look of a bird that matters. Read the behavior section, as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing I want to caution you about with bird ID is that, it is sometimes easy to want to see a more exotic or rarer species. It is probably human nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this is no doubt a Cooper's Hawk. They are exciting birds. They are very smart. They used to be hawks that lived in the woods. But, they have adapted very well to suburban life where people put out feeders that attract smaller birds...which, in turn, feeds predators like these hawks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to see a Peregrine Falcon, post something here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://birding.aba.org/maillist/CA06&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://birding.aba.org/maillist/CA06&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Or, look online for a local chapter of the Audubon Society to find out how to contact some birders. Most birders are happy to share information like where to find these falcons. I would bet they are nesting on the tall buildings in the downtown area. You can also check Facebook for some local birding groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as this specific photo goes, look at the photos on the two Cornell websites. Compare the tail of your bird and the other ones. That long striped tail points to a Coop. And, compare the head of the bird in your photo with the other ones. Your hawk has a &quot;cap&quot; of gray feathers. The falcons don't have that. The adult Coops do. Enjoy this hawk if you see it again. They are really cool birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14563" LastActivityDate="2017-12-08T22:17:13.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17896" CreationDate="2017-12-09T03:15:02.027" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see that nobody has weighed in on this, I think because there is an old saying that &quot;an army marches on its stomach&quot; (N. Bonaparte). The armies of the world would probably focus more on how to &lt;em&gt;get&lt;/em&gt; nutrition, rather than how long it is ok to be without. Due to physiological differences (I'm not a doctor BTW) between individuals, there is sure to be a wide range of tolerance for starvation before different humans are unable to function to whatever degree is your benchmark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some experience through my brother who coaches wrestlers. These young men routinely starve themselves to make lower weight classes, all while working incredibly hard and expending extraordinary amounts of energy. When I expressed my concern about long-term health effects, my brother said something that made some sense to me: &quot;Humans are genetically built to be able to keep working through periods of fasting, how long depends on their mental and physical fortitude&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T03:15:02.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17900" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-09T04:47:02.940" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-09T04:47:02.940" LastActivityDate="2017-12-09T04:47:02.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17901" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-09T04:47:02.940" Score="0" Body="Questions about identifying birds. Please use a descriptive title. Repeat the description in the question and include as many details as possible. Geographic location is very important, as is environment, such as woods, body of water, backyard, city, sky. Pictures are very important, we may not be able to answer the question without them. " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T22:38:18.530" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T22:38:18.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17888" CreationDate="2017-12-09T16:03:08.020" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for most outdoor activities, you can certainly get by with non-specialized clothing for skiing and snowboarding. As @imsodin points out in the comments, a ski resort is (compared to a lot of outdoor settings) a pretty safe place to make a mistake about clothing: if you find yourself too cold or wet, you can get indoors quickly; if you stay on-piste, your chances of death or serious injury from exposure are practically nil. Another advantage is that you're only skiing for, usually, a few hours per day; if your clothes get soaked, they have &gt;12 hours to dry out overnight before you go back out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ski-field conditions can vary hugely in terms of sun, wind, air temperature, and precipitation -- even during the course of a day. Whatever you wear needs to be able to deal, to some extent, with any conditions you're likely to encounter. If there's a chance you'll hit freeze-thaw conditions, you'll want a jacket, and preferably trousers, that's reasonably waterproof. You're unlikely to find yourself skiing in pouring rain, so serious full-on waterproofing isn't essential, but your jacket should at least be able to handle a bit of sleet and wet snow without soaking through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I skied for years without any specialist clothing, though admittedly only for a week or so per season. Initially I was using a cheap, sort-of-slightly-water-resistant jacket and overtrousers, sized fairly large, with as many layers of synthetic thermals and fleeces as required to keep me warm on the day. For my first time skiing or snowboarding, I definitely wouldn't invest in a specialized jacket. Even if you end up buying one later, you'll be able to make a better selection once you have some experience on the slopes. There's no question that a specialized skiing/snowboarding jacket makes life more pleasant, but it's by no means necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a slight aside, there are three things you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; want to think about: gloves, goggles, and a helmet. Ski gloves are thicker than most everyday gloves, and layering is seldom effective: you can get away with a light glove liner and generously sized outer glove, but in general you risk reducing your circulation and making your hands colder if you try to stack up too many gloves (source: bitter experience). Goggles are also hard to substitute with everyday equivalents: in good conditions you can get by with a decent pair of wrap-around sunglasses, but even cheap goggles do a lot better as soon as you have wind, snow, or sweat to contend with. As for the helmet, you can probably hire one, but check the prices: often it doesn't take many days of rental charges to equal the purchase price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T10:51:07.803" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T10:51:07.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17897" CreationDate="2017-12-09T16:20:47.797" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the answer is no,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The biggest problem you face in dyeing a coat is that it probably has a &lt;strong&gt;DWR (Durable Water Repellent) finish.&lt;/strong&gt; This is a coating that is applied to the outside of the fabric to resist water. It's very important to have a DWR finish on a down coat, because down loses all insulative ability once it gets wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; your coat has a DWR coating, you will &lt;strong&gt;not be able to dye it successfully, and you probably won't be able to paint it satisfactorily,&lt;/strong&gt; either. Occasionally one sees advice from non-experts to ruin the DWR finish with fabric softener in order to dye it; unfortunately, the DWR finish will still be there enough to prevent adequate dyeing, and fabric softener itself causes problems in dyeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyeblog/C2070637368/E20090113094557/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't look like the dyeing process is much fun either,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'd rather not subject a down coat to dyeing, since you have to simmer the coat with the acid dye, plus an acid such as vinegar, for some time, stirring constantly. I doubt that you have a large enough cooking pot to allow the coat to move freely, and if you do, you're unlikely to want to spoil it by using it to dye. You should never plan to reuse a dyeing pot for food later on; textile dyes, including Rit dye, are not safe to use in food preparation containers. Also, the vinegar will react badly with aluminum, so you cannot use an inexpensive pot; you'd want a stainless steel or enamel pot. I don't recommend dye for your nylon coat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like you are out of luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T04:43:29.140" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T04:43:29.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5316" CreationDate="2017-12-10T00:36:08.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in western Oregon and frequently ski areas in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Range&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cascades&lt;/a&gt;.  One winter, a weather forecaster said the weather at a ski area was going to be warm and wet (mixed snow and rain) that day; another weatherperson said it was going to be very cold and dry.  A rare forecast for sure.  Both have excellent reputations and good forecast accuracy.  Usually when one forecaster is very wrong, they all are&amp;mdash;Mother Nature usually outsmarting them in unison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike most places, the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be one of the most difficult places in the world to accurately predict weather (said several meteorology students at university).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turned out both weather forecasts were correct&amp;mdash;simultaneously.  As I skied down a major ridge, the warm and moist air to the west was blowing over the ridge and mixing with the very cold dry air on the east side.  It formed a rotor (horizontal cyclone) in the lee of the ridge which formed dense fog, heavy snow, and strong wind which lasted for several hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That day, the mountain was creating dramatically unique weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T00:36:08.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17908" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17909" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" Score="0" Body="Questions about how to start a campfire/bonfire in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T03:21:50.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17451" CreationDate="2017-12-10T06:13:19.073" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's an excellent Asian method. These directions are for a good size carp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy 1 short 3/4 inch thick &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;coco lumber&lt;/a&gt;, 3 inch wide board. Some places have it in a scrap box. Shape it like a flat hair brush. Drill 6 holes in it offset. Put 6 wood screws in holes, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch long. This is to scale them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Run a sharp pointed knife along top of spine inside fish. Leave the head on. Gut the fish. Remove the blood and rinse in tepid water. If you have hogs, they will eat the guts. If you have chickens, they'll eat the scales. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grill on &lt;a href=&quot;http://ukrfuel.com/news-how-to-make-coconut-shell-charcoal-39.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;coconut hull charcoal&lt;/a&gt; (which does not burn as hot as American charcoal), until it's light brown on the outside. Flip it over and grill the other side. You may add a wipe of soy sauce, fish sauce, lime or lemon to the cooked side at this time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make a complete dish, cook some sticky rice and put it in a ring mold, upside down on a plate on the table. (Remove the ring mold before eating.) Have some sauces made for everyone on the table. Soy sauce with 1/10th to 4 crushed &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cayennediane.com/peppers/thai-dragon-pepper/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;volcano peppers&lt;/a&gt; in it is good. The volcano pepper is very spicy, so Americans may wish to go with 1/10th volcano pepper. The Phillipine style uses 3-4 crushed peppers. Have 2 liters of red horse beer ready &amp;amp; a pitcher with ice in it on the table. Tiger beer is good also. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to eat it is with your fingers. A pinch of fish, a little sauce, a pinch of rice, a sip of cold beer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have friends over. Relax together and talk, or maybe play some cards. It doesn't get much better than this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-10T21:34:24.360" LastActivityDate="2017-12-10T21:34:24.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17451" CreationDate="2017-12-10T20:08:17.897" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard a news story about a year ago about some group along the Mississippi River that was catching these carp and processing them for human consumption. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish I could give more details. They hired some top chefs to come up with recipes for the fish as they appear to be good to eat. The carp are not going away. They are only going to increase. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, why not exploit them as a food source? This group said the hardest part of making the fish popular to eat is that people have never tried them. They held tasting sessions in various spots and gave away free meals with the fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14563" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T00:02:43.917" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T00:02:43.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17917" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17919" CreationDate="2017-12-11T08:09:05.833" Score="34" ViewCount="15969" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Foreword:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there is a bicycle SE where this question may belong, but it is more about the training factor for other outdoor hobbies than about cycling itself. Cycling could theoretically be replaced with another endurance sport even if that is unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My Background:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have suffered from a knee injury (with surgery) over the last 1½ years and I also will be having more surgery (ankle) in about a month. Next year, when I'm done recovering, and my body is working as intended without any limitations, I want to get back into sports climbing and hiking/mountaineering. As endurance training for those hobbies, I thought it would be great to cycle to work every day (has lot of other benefits too). I live 18km away form my workplace which means about an hour of cycling twice a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Actual Question:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know any book/website/youtube-channel that suggests training for more than 3-4 consecutive days, as your muscles need time to recover. Having this in mind, is it really a good idea to cycle to work every day for &amp;gt;45 mins (one way) from a training perspective? What also strengthens my thoughts is that when I want to do some kind of outdoor or sports activity on the evening or at the weekend my body needs to &amp;quot;do work&amp;quot; for multiple hours at least 6 days per week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11684" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T12:49:17.563" Title="Is it really a good workout to go to work by bike every day?" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T09:27:05.380" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it's very good workout to go by bike every day. It's anyway better then going almost the same time by public transport.&#xA;I'm not an expert but you need  more time to recover when you increase a load. If you go every day the same route then you have constant load. &#xA;First few weeks it will be difficult of course and you will be more tired then usual. Just don't give up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going by bike trains not just muscles but also cardiovascular system, lungs, it has positive effect on metabolism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good thing is that you don't need to spend additional time going to gym. For me as person who has a family it's very important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I go to work by bike ~55 min one way. It's around 2 hours a day. At the beginning it was fun to go by bike but after some time it's boring. So I try to listen a music for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T09:27:05.380" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T11:13:10.527" Score="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a technicality here that's about the difference between &quot;training&quot; and &quot;being active&quot;. It's important not to confuse the two but where the threshold lies is a matter for an individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the first few weeks, cycle commuting will be training. Subsequent to that, assuming you're not the type to cycle at full sprint everywhere, it's simply a part of an active lifestyle. It goes along with walking to the shops instead of driving, and using the stairs instead of the elevator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T11:13:10.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17894" CreationDate="2017-12-11T13:30:32.320" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;With laces untied you're more prone to slipping around in your shoes thus increasing your chances of getting blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also (from own experience with using low shows untied) those shoes wear down much more quickly because they get strained differently than they're designed for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T13:30:32.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T14:01:17.957" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Subject to advice from your physio and doctor, training on a (well-fitted) bike can be excellent, as your joints aren't under too much load or twisting.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cycling that sort of distance will make a huge difference to your cardiovascular fitness and weight (which may have suffered due to enforced rest).  It's not really strength training for the climbing, and the muscles used are diffferent to hiking, but it will provide a good baseline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I started on a slightly shorter (but hilly) commute, I didn't go for 5 days a week at first. I built up to it over a few weeks.  But riding that distance every day is perfectly sensible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T14:01:17.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10241" CreationDate="2017-12-11T14:23:45.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked at the links in your article. That is a barred owl according to the photo linked to the news story/webpage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like most other raptors, the male owl can be 2/3 the size of a female. So, it can appear to be an immature bird. Having seen these owls here in Northeast Ohio, I can tell you that the male of this species looks more compact than a female - especially in height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a park here in NE Ohio where hikers were also attacked by a male barred owl a couple of years ago. There was a nest nearby. The owl would dive-bomb people who passed by the area. In particular, the male didn't like one hiker's red baseball cap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to participate in a raptor nest survey. Owl nests are very difficult to find because they used cavities in trees. So, unless you see one go in or come out, you may never find the nest. I was VERY lucky one year to have spotted a barred owl going into a large hole in a tree. It was really great to go there in the very early morning to watch the owls. And, at that nest, the male perched about six feet off the ground. I would pass right by him when I was on my way to the area that gave me the best view of the tree with the cavity. So, in this case, the male was very accommodating towards me. I would talk to it as I passed it by. The female would always be perched on or near the nest tree. It would often glance down at me. I never felt like the owls were bothered by me. I do believe they understood that I was no threat to them. And, even when the three young owls came out of the nest, the adults were never aggressive towards me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Great horned owls are an exception to this. They often nest on top of large broken off trees or use old hawk nests. What is fascinating about these owls is that, they will start pairing up and nesting in December and January. They will use a hawk nest, raise their young, and leave the area. Then, later in the spring, a hawk will use the same nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also watch other raptor nests: screech owls, Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, broad-winged hawks. I can tell you that each adult hawk is different. Some were extremely tolerant of me. Some would start screaming when I was a long distance away from a nest. I always learned where the hawks'/owls' comfort zone was. And, I kept a respectable distance to the nests at all time. Birds are vulnerable when they nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more thing: Wildlife today is being forced to deal with human development. So, wildlife-human encounters are going to happen. The wildlife has no where else to go. So, some species will adapt and some will not. A good book about this subject is &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0300216874&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Welcome to Subirdia&quot;&lt;/a&gt; by John M. Marzluff. (The link to a vendor is purely to learn more about the book, not a recommendation as to where to purchase it.) It covers more than just birds. It uses a lot of current research studies. Highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-11T22:55:19.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T22:55:19.677" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T14:31:23.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your body will tell you if you are over doing it.... Increased resting heart rate, fatigue, etc.  The older I get, the more I'm finding that I need to vary my work outs.  Doing something new will leave me amazingly stiff the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14605" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T14:31:23.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T15:58:11.593" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It should be good for your heart (and maybe body-weight) at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I started commuting that distance (18 km. each way) I bought a better bike (i.e. $700 new instead of $200 new, with extra-good tires, better gears, and bestest brakes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More to the point, I interspersed that riding with rest days (when I took public transport instead). Cycling every other day (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday), or two days followed by a rest (e.g. Monday and Tuesday but not Wednesday) might be a good beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially if your feet are clipped to the pedals (e.g. using SPD shoes) it's possible to get some wear if your fit is wrong: with a 90 RPM cadence, a 1 hour ride each way implies 10,000 cycles per day -- so a lot of repetition. One of my knees started to hurt after the first few weeks, because I had the bike lock positioned in the wrong place on the bike which maladjusted that knee's positioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you've got used to it (let's say, after the first 10 or 20 weeks) then you can do it 5 days a week (and on weekends too if you like) -- that's how long it took me to get used to it, I'm aged in my 50s ... and I did go hours on weekend days too, for fun. 36 km isn't really long-distance on a bike; I think 50 km (called &quot;a metric half-century&quot;) is maybe the minimum distance that a cyclist would begin to consider a long distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the plus side you'll probably end up fitter than most other people in town ... maybe including people who only ride on the weekends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the minus side you might be surprised at how poorly that translates to other exercises. I think it will help you run. It may (I think it does) help you walk or jog up-hill. I was surprised though, earlier this year, how much it hurt me to walk down-hill (i.e. walk down a mountain-side for an hour or two): that hurt me at the time and for days afterwards, as if my legs were bruised ... something different about the action, the way the muscle is used, the range of motion or something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T15:58:11.593" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-11T16:27:36.970" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bike about 15 km each way commuting to work (70% road-like, 30% forest - 70% flat, 30% hills, but feels flat for the most part). I arrive bathing in sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After two years, I once had a puncture on my way, about 2 km from my destination. I did not have time to fix the tire so I hid the bike and told myself that I am now a superhero so I can easily run these two remaining kilometers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After 400 meters my lungs were on fire and I felt as if I were in a triathlon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is to say that biking will not help you to improve everything (including endurance) but it is a fantastic way to help your body anyway. I feel much better after my ride and while I do not have any measurements, I can say that my body likes this effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It did not help me to loose weight (I did that after changing my lifestyle, it is much more efficient), did not help in running, did not develop any muscles in a visible way but it is much better this way anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is outside of your question, but biking this way really helps me to switch from &quot;work&quot; to &quot;home&quot; mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3568" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T16:27:36.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17894" CreationDate="2017-12-11T19:50:54.730" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The greatest risk with unlaced shoes or boots is that a lace will slip out of the shoes or boots and you will trip on a lace dangling on the ground.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often go around with unlaced tennis shoes (although not while playing tennis) not to look cool, but because lacing and unlacing is just one more tedious thing to do.  My laces occasionally slip out and I have to stop and tuck them back in.  On a sidewalk or indoors, it is easy to notice a dangling lace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if your laces slip out and dangle while hiking, especially off-trail, you might not notice, and you could take an uncomfortable fall, and a fall far from help if you need it.   So if you want the unlaced cool look while hiking, I recommend that you &lt;strong&gt;remove&lt;/strong&gt; the laces from your shoes or boots.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2017-12-11T19:50:54.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17927" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17935" CreationDate="2017-12-11T23:56:24.737" Score="7" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;In spring 2018, I intend to visit Bears Ears National Monument.  Not any more; President Trump has declared to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/climate/bears-ears-monument-trump.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reduce the size of the monument&lt;/a&gt;.  The area I intend to visit, around the Valley of the Gods, Cedar Mesa/Grand Gulch, and Dark Canyon Wilderness, are no longer part of the monument.  In truth, I only became aware those destinations were part of a National Monument at all when the news reported they no longer were.  I'm still going to visit the area — just most of my visit won't be on a national monument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/bears-ears-national-monument&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Forest Service reports&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;em&gt;monuments generally preserve current uses of the land, including tribal access for traditional plant and firewood gathering and for ceremonial purposes, off-highway recreation on existing routes, grazing, hunting and fishing and water and utility infrastructure&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, as a recreational visitor intending to do hiking and backpacking, what are the practical implications of the fact that those areas are no longer part of a National Monument?  In my understanding, it will remain public land managed by BLM and the Forest Service and the wilderness areas in the area will remain wilderness areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T22:45:14.893" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T22:45:14.893" Title="For outdoor recreation, what are the practical implications of the downsizing of Bears Ears National Monument?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-monuments&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-12T01:04:07.733" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's great for cardio-health, but it's not a great whole body exercise.  Since you're a climber already, you know what I mean.  I bike frequently, and row as well, but climbing will still kick my ass.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also add that it depends on the route you're taking.  Several co-workers have been injured biking in my area, as many drivers are self-centered idiots, and there are many roads without a great division between the bikes and cars.  I would hate for you to do something healthy to recover from an injury, only to get hurt again by some driver that though Twitter was more important than watching the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14609" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T01:04:07.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17929" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17930" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" Score="0" Body="Questions about boars (basically wild pigs)" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:06.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17931" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17932" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" Score="0" Body="Questions about squirrels " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:20.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17933" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17934" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" Score="0" Body="Questions about foxes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T05:37:32.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17927" CreationDate="2017-12-12T12:24:28.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US, the designation &lt;i&gt;National Monument&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;National Park&lt;/i&gt; (same thing other than the first created by presidential edict and the second by congress), sets preservation as one of the top goals.  The intent is land that is largely to be left alone, and not harvested for various resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forest service and BLM land is intended to be &quot;working&quot; land.  It's viewed as a national resource, although it generally has to be used in a sustainable way.  Various people's and organization's view of &quot;sustainable&quot; differ, however, so some serious controversies can erupt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that the Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture.  You often see the slogan &lt;i&gt;&quot;Land of many uses&quot;&lt;/i&gt; on signs as you enter and leave Forest Service land.  While preservation can be a primary goal of some areas, others are managed for timber, for example.  Hunting is also usually allowed, within state and local restrictions, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the nation's forest products come from National Forest lands.  When the forest managers decide some area is ready to be harvested, they specify exactly what is allowed to be done where, and put it out for bid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to answer your question more directly, you as someone hiking around might notice:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Timber harvesting in progress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;More back country motorized vehicle use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fewer facilities like vistor centers and interpretive programs for educating the public about the area and its nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fewer restrictions on where you are allowed to go and where you are allowed to camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, there is another designation, called a &lt;i&gt;Wilderness Area&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, that can exist within just about any kind of federal land.  These places are strictly reserved for nature where &lt;i&gt;&quot;the earth&#xA;and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a&#xA;visitor who does not remain&quot;&lt;/I&gt;.  This is the highest form of protection in the US.  No permanent structures are allowed, including roads.  Trails and trail signs are allowed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the most awesome wilderness areas are within Forest Service and BLM land.  These are truly places where you may take only pictures and leave only footprints, and you should be careful about the impact of the latter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;16 USC 1131-1136, Public Law 88-577, &lt;a href=&quot;https://wilderness.nps.gov/document/wildernessAct.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;The Wilderness Act&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, 3 September 1964.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T12:40:23.737" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T12:40:23.737" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-12T15:11:24.933" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It isn't so much about the training as it is about the recovery. Professional cyclists are on the bike for 700-1000 kilometers a week, often with two different training sessions in a day, and multiple days in a row. Same for any endurance athlete, such as triathletes, marathoners, ultra runners, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bad news is, that if they aren't training, they are resting/recovering with a team of professionals, which you most likely don't have. The good news is, you won't be sustaining the training load that they are either which means that you can easily achieve the commuting goal. So lets look at this from the ground up (if you will pardon the pun).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As was pointed out, the training portion was a bit glossed over. As I understand it, you want the bike commute to supplement training for sport climbing and hiking/mountaineering. I think that cycling would provide an ideal supplement training, as it will increase cardio, is low impact, and more importantly will strengthen the muscles of the leg which in turn will help stabilize the knee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the morning commute, not much variation is needed other than the straight ride, as you don't want to arrive at work wiped out for an hour. If you have a desk job, you will have ample recovery during the day for any evening activity. If you have a more active job, make the morning commute as easy as possible. Find a comfortable gear so that you are neither &quot;spinning&quot; rapidly or pushing mightily. It should just feel comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the evening commute, on days that you are not intending on walking/hiking at home, you can add in items like getting back up to speed as soon as possible after stops, going out of your way a bit to add in hills, items like that. That will give you some speed work as well as muscle development. If you are intending on walking/hiking/climbing that evening, then treat it as you do the morning commute. Light on the actual work, use it as a warm up. Concentrate on making the &quot;full circle&quot; on the pedals, so that while one leg is pushing down, the other is pulling up. This takes some practice to get used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a sample schedule, I would lay it out something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Monday - Bike commute if weekend was easy (or you rested on Sunday), otherwise rest or bike 1 way only&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tuesday - Bike commute easy/easy, easy hike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wednesday - Bike commute easy/hard, or no commute + moderate hike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thursday - No commute, easy hike or rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Friday - Commute easy/hard, no hike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Saturday - Hike as you want&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunday - Same as Saturday or rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That kind of a schedule should serve you well initially, and there is no real reason that you could not work up to commuting every day and hiking most days as well. That is where the self monitoring comes in, if you know you have a hard hike coming up, rest on the commute portion, or if you are knackered, take a day off from commute/hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For other considerations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What kind of bike?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering your history, the first thing that you want to consider is what kind of bike to get. I personally would recommend either a hardtail mountain bike, or a commuter/cross type bike. A typical racing type bike isn't the best for commuting, and the others would allow you to commute and use it for general recreation. The cycling adage is, you can have light, cheap and reliable. Pick two. I would recommend avoiding the big box stores (Walmart, Target, Dicks sporting, etc) as they will have the lower end. While that is not a bad thing, I don't like the component groups that they come with. YMMV, find one you like. If you can test ride a few even better. If worse comes to worse and you hate cycling, the resale is much better as well. As pointed out in the comments, you can get puncture resistant tires and tubes, and add in a protective slime, the trade off is in the weight of the bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fit is CRITICAL&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you buy a big box bike, I would first find a bike shop that offers a fitting service. Usually this is free if you purchase a bike, or may cost a few $$ if you just want the numbers. But, especially with your knee and ankle surgeries, you want the correct saddle height and crank length (The crank is the piece that holds the pedals and the chain). If you don't fit those correctly, you will cause more pain/potential trouble in your legs and potentially hips/lower back. If you have oddly splayed feet (I have feet that point out), you can even get custom clipless pedals with specified spindle lengths (How far out from the crank the pedal is). This lets you pedal with a more natural motion and foot position. Also, find a saddle/seat that you are comfortable on. More people give up cycling because they have an ass hatchet for a seat than anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Jeez, man, I'm not even on the bike yet!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, now you have a bike. And a helmet. Never get on a bike without a helmet. If you are new to cycling, then I wouldn't recommend just jumping in and cycling both ways every day. Ease into it, get used to the bike, handling in traffic, all of that before fully committing to the commute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good news on that front, is that 18km an hour is right around 12 mph, and that is a relatively leisurely pace. Even a recreational cyclist should be able to sustain that without too much training stress. Some ways that you could also ease into it, is see if bus lines go the same way. Where I live in the US, most buses have bike racks on the front so that you could cycle to work, then take the bus home or partway. Or, if you can leave your car at work, drive to work with your car, cycle home, then cycle back the next day. As another poster suggested, once you get used to it, you can sprint for stop signs, add in small training items without causing too much stress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're tired, simply skip a day. You're doing this for health, not training for a race. The basic back and forth every day should not put enough stress on you that you need tons of recovery, so eating well and getting a good nights sleep should be all you need, especially as you get more used to the exercise. Cycling is also very minimal impact, so you don't have the same recovery requirements as you would for running or other heavier impact items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Wait, you mean there is more?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some other items/things to consider as you start on this journey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work accommodations - Is there a place to lock up your bike? A place to change clothes? Possibly shower? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothing - Pack your work clothes, cycle in other stuff. You will get dirty, get chain grease on your leg, get rain/snowed on, etc. Just take a pack with your stuff. If it's going to rain, stuff it in a waterproof container (I used a trash bag, honestly).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other items - In addition to the helmet, I have a small pack that fits under my seat. I carry tire irons, extra tubes, some CO2 cartridges for inflation, a little bit of $$ just in case, and a laminated paper with medical/contact information.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycling gear - Helmet, bike shorts (See below), cycling gloves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be prepared - You will crash. There are 2 types of cyclists, those that have crashed and those that lie about it. Either through no fault of your own, or you miss a patch of gravel/ice and slide down. Learn to fall safely. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider upper body weight routines - Cycling is all cardio and lower body. For general lifestyle, I would add upper body exercises to balance. You can find a lot of body weight type exercises that can be done at home without equipment or with minimal investment. (You can check the &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;Fitness stack&lt;/a&gt; for some ideas).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Practice&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't just get in your car and start driving everywhere. You practiced. Same with the bike. Get on a friendly commuter trail and just get used to the bike. If you do get clipless pedals, sit on the bike next to a post or fence for balance, and just practice unclipping and clipping in. Even with that, expect to come to a stop sign and fall over because you can't get your foot out. I do that about 2x a year, honestly. Take the bike into a grassy area or field and fall over. Don't reach out to brace with your hands, you'll break your wrists. Just kind of lean over and roll onto your hips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get some comfortable cycling shorts. Remember the point about the saddle? Same goes for clothing. Don't skimp on the contact points. It doesn't have to be the lycra bib looking things (Although they are uber comfortable), but something that will make it more enjoyable to spend some time cycling. Good gloves, with hand padding. Also if you will be cycling in various weather conditions, get weather appropriate clothing. Remember if it is cold and raining, it will be cold, raining and windy on a bike (You create your own headwind). There is &lt;em&gt;nothing&lt;/em&gt; more miserable than being cold, tired and hungry with another 20 miles left to go on the ride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;argumentum ad verecundiam (or who is this guy?)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been a touring and competitive cyclist for a long time (over 30 years off and on). I've been on two-three week cross country rides covering 100-150k per day, as well as racing both road and mountain. I've cycled in a lot of different conditions on a lot of different bikes. Oh yeah, I also have a degree in exercise kinesiology. :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8475" LastEditorUserId="8475" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T17:40:21.110" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T17:40:21.110" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-12T17:04:51.337" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. I use an exercise bike on the highest resistance at least 3 times a week. It's great for cardio and builds thigh muscles. As @Stedy mentioned, it's also great for mental health (anti-depression/anti-anxiety). I seem to be able to hike trails and mountains faster than my younger friends. You only need time to recover if you are doing strength training which pushes muscles past their limits and causes micro-tears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest problem you will have if going to work is staying fresh in the office! I would recommend getting a lift with the bike to work and riding home, or bring rubbing alcohol (or salicylic acid astringent) and cotton squares to work and soak the cotton squares in alcohol and wiping down your moist areas in the restroom. Bacteria cause odors and alcohol kills bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8574" LastEditorUserId="8574" LastEditDate="2017-12-12T17:12:52.847" LastActivityDate="2017-12-12T17:12:52.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17939" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17940" CreationDate="2017-12-13T01:40:21.370" Score="4" ViewCount="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/nava/planyourvisit/upload/NAVA_S2-for-web-use.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Navajo National Monument website&lt;/a&gt; notes that Betatakin can only be visited on a ranger-guided tour.  It states that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/nava/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;groups leave daily&lt;/a&gt; between May 27 and September 3, and cliff dwellings are closed from October through April.  We will pass through the area May 13–14.  Is it possible to visit Betatakin during this period?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:45:11.997" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:45:11.997" Title="Can I visit Betatakin in mid-May?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;spring&gt;&lt;national-monuments&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17939" CreationDate="2017-12-13T04:45:50.980" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will have to call and find out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Scheduling: Betatakin tours are free and available during the regular season, May 27, 2017– September 3, 2017, with a limit of 25 people per tour. All tours to Betatakin are on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations are not required. &lt;strong&gt;Off-season will depend on weather conditions and available staffing. Please call (928)-672-2700 to confirm when tours are available.&lt;/strong&gt; If you represent a large group, please call in advance for possible accommodation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/nava/planyourvisit/upload/Betatakin-Tour-Information-2017.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:48:03.253" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T04:48:03.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17942" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-11-27T00:26:00.743" Score="6" ViewCount="223" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been some months reading as much as possible about walking biomechanics, and unfortunately I haven't found too much information or usually contradictory information. Usually everything is focused on running biomechanics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the information I've gathered from different resources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Head should look forward, ear over the shoulders, even though in some resources they say you should lean forward a little bit to let gravity move you forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There should be counter rotation movement from the arms, but it should come from the upper thoracic cage, not from the shoulders or arms. Some resources say the arms should move at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The abs should be slightly activated keeping the lower back still, always in the same position. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The motion should be initiated with the gluts, which should push forward. Each side of the hips moves to allow a bigger stride while the gluts are holding the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QS4ph.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QS4ph.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The knees should land with the knee straightened but not locked. Some resources say you should land with them bent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's not important how you land with your feet, you should let that the foot adapts to the terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The external side of the foot should should be parallel to the other side, making the toes point forward. But some resources say it's ok to have them pointing outward. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things I've realized by walking barefoot from 2min to 2h a day during one month after a metatarsal fracture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think that the heel should stay longer in the floor than what I used to do. Having a shortened calf doesn't allow the whole range of motion of the leg to have a stride long enough, that makes me put too much weight in the ball of the feet too soon. I think, as opposed to running, we should keep always some weight in each foot, and before rolling into the forefoot is important to already have some weight in the other foot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don't know and can't find what's the utility of the 4 little toes. I used to have some kind of metatarsalgia between the second and third metarsal and I realized that I was  griping the floor a lot while walking causing hammer or claw toes. After a while trying to relax them and training myself to stay on one leg without using the toes that pain stopped. I don't know if I was using them to get stability in the foot instead of using other muscles in the foot or leg. I'm aware of the big toe windlass mechanism, but I'm not sure it is also applied to walking. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Should we extend (dorsiflex) the toes before landing?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much width should there be between our stride, I've seen in some website that we should walk with our bigtoes touching the same lines, but in some other running resources I've seen that there should be a bigger gap, between 10 to 20cm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9xhWb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9xhWb.png&quot; alt=&quot;width&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you think about this points? Which one are &quot;correct&quot; and which one are &quot;wrong&quot;?. Any other important aspect? I know this depends a lot on how the terrain is and a lot of things, but let's say I would like to know about the biomechanics walking in a flat hard surfaces with some backpack (under 10% body-weight) and the priority is to walk a long distance minimizing the risk of injury, and I don't want to rely on any kind of shoes as shock absorber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14635" OwnerDisplayName="nck" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T04:48:24.673" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T22:53:23.787" Title="How should I walk or hike barefoot?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17896" CreationDate="2017-12-13T19:00:16.563" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL; DR - I don't think there are any actual existing guidelines for how long a soldier can go without food. There are recommended minimums for various operational capacities. As has been pointed out already, water is of much more importance, and there are numerous performance studies showing athletic impairment at levels as low as 5% dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot find (And having been in the medical side of the military for 10 years I do not remember any minimum guidelines on food deprivation) anything current mandating that soldiers cannot go more than X days without food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the &lt;em&gt;minimum&lt;/em&gt; caloric needs of soldiers and various Special Forces (SF) units around the world has been studied quite a bit, as well as what happens with physical and cognitive performance in periods of both sleep and food deprivation. You could compare that with the extreme limits of food deprivation before death and come to an answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I apologize in advance, some of these I do not have access to the full study.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This study looked at both &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080603211000792&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;food and sleep deprivation&lt;/a&gt; (Admittedly for a civilian group going through survival training), and concluded that within 24 hours, subjects showed marked decline in several cognitive areas. Food deprivation was less dramatic than was sleep deprivation. (And this has been proven in real world studies, many people start hallucinating with sleep deprivation long before food deprivation would have an effect).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is &lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/aaeb/bf0c9e458fa606453dffc3778f0a9c52c1f3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of the better studies I found&lt;/a&gt;, as it compared energy requirements over different SF groups in different regions, as well as under different stresses. The section for the US Rangers showed a daily calorie deficit of 1200 calories (The data is given in MJ, which is ~ 240 kilocalories) per day. They showed a surprising amount of weight loss (16% vs an expected 10%), but not as much strength loss as they expected. This was not, however, complete deprivation but merely shortage, and presumably balanced nutrition for what they did get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A very interesting paragraph:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Soldiers provided an additional 1.7 MJ/day supplement&#xA;  during the 8-week Ranger course converted approximately&#xA;  half of the additional food energy to body energy&#xA;  stores, and used the remainder to fuel higher energy&#xA;  expenditure [8]. This presumably reflects a lifting of&#xA;  the ceiling on TEE that is imposed by inadequate&#xA;  intakes, as in studies of undernourished Columbian&#xA;  school children playing soccer alongside adequately nourished&#xA;  children [27], when energy intake appeared to limit&#xA;  work performance. Earlier studies of laborers, such as&#xA;  sugar cane cutters and road builders, also support the idea&#xA;  that inadequate energy intake constrains energy expenditure&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/aaeb/bf0c9e458fa606453dffc3778f0a9c52c1f3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This suggests that when in a period of caloric deficit, the body limits the amount you can do before exhaustion, and when calories are restored, the activity level also rebounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I admit, I did not read the entire chapter, but most of the methods for establishing MDRI (Military Dietary Reference Intakes, or RDA for soldiers) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/11610/chapter/4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;can be found here&lt;/a&gt;, albeit slightly dated (2006).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA387084&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This PDF from 2001&lt;/a&gt; does give a minimum of 1500 kilocalories for restricted rations, which suggests that at a minimum, soldiers must get that amount on a daily basis to be able to function at any operable level. You might be able to extrapolate from that how long without food before a soldier becomes unable to function (Again, paying attention to the water factor).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in pursuing the research rabbit hole, there are numerous linked studies cited as reference in the studies I linked, and google scholar will have many available for perusal. I realize this doesn't &lt;em&gt;quite&lt;/em&gt; answer the full question, but it's like trying to prove a negative, I'm not sure they even exist in the form you are seeking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8475" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:21:13.637" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:21:13.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-13T20:05:10.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of examples of efforts of long term daily training efforts, both in cycling and in running:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In 2017, Amanda Coker set the record for distance ridden on a bicycle in a year (86,573.2 miles), well over 200 miles per day. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In 2016, Pete Kostelnick ran 3,067 miles across the United States in 42 days, 6 hours and 30 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In 2017, Sandy Villines ran 3126.52 miles across the United States in 54 days, 16 hours and 24 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every year, several people run across the United States.  A typical pace for a run across the US is somewhere around 40 miles per day, necessitating 7 or 8 hours of running each day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking around the internet, it looks like 100+ miles per week on a bike is not unusual.  This seems right because 100 miles per week is well known as a goal (from Lydiard) for runners.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.runeveryday.com/lists/USRSA-Active-List.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.runeveryday.com/lists/USRSA-Active-List.html&lt;/a&gt; lists &lt;em&gt;streak&lt;/em&gt; runners who have run at least one mile per day for some period of time.  The top 60 active streaks are all greater than 30 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding any worries anyone might have about elderly bicyclists challenging themselves, Robert Marchand set an over 100 age group record in 2012 by biking 24.250 kilometers in an hour.  On the advice of French physiologist Veronique Billat, he started training harder and improved this record to 26.927 kilometers in 2014.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may take some time to work up to 45 minutes biking, twice a day but this is well within human capabilities.  My guess is that after doing this for some time, you will start going on longer rides on the weekends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14633" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:22:07.067" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:22:07.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17878" CreationDate="2017-12-13T21:59:44.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heartily agree with everything that Charlie and Janet provided in their answers. I would add one strategic suggestion. When identifying a bird, start with shape. Peregrine falcons have strong wings that, when the birds are perched, give them a 'padded shoulder' look, and they have relatively short tails. All accipiters (including Cooper's hawks) have rounded wings that, when folded, fit snugly against the body and they all have very long tails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Colors can be deceptive (such as eye colors, that can appear very different in different lighting conditions). It is usually (although not quite always) best only to use broad and obvious colors in identification. In your bird, note the finely-barred rufous underparts that are very obvious--that's trademark Cooper's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-13T21:59:44.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6625" CreationDate="2017-12-14T00:35:09.527" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR short version&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have a reasonable list, though I would add a tarp or some other water-proof shelter that is quick and easy to set up and take down. This is to increase mobility or in case an emergency shelter is needed. Natural shelters are cool, but relying only on them slows you down &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt;, I mean &lt;em&gt;a really lot&lt;/em&gt;, and I'm still understating it. Just toss a tarp in your pack, even if it's a small one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A knife, something for water that is cookable, something to start fire, a tarp. This does not include special items that depend on the location or duration; other than such specialty things, this list is it - all that's needed for short-term extreme-minimalist camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If longer than a few days, then some food too (for 2-3 days, identify and eat what you find). And depending on the climate, a sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optional (but highly recommended): Water filter, rain coat, paracord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paracord only optional if plants very easy to use and good for lashing are abundant in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Long Version&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you started with packs, I'll just mention quickly that I prefer the military-grade molle ones. Mine has taken much abuse, including getting rained &lt;em&gt;into&lt;/em&gt; and being left with water inside of it for a while, and it looks beat up but has not failed me yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have stated, combining your question and comments (you should edit your comments into your question), that you are speaking about the bare minimum, extremely rough, minimalist survival scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that scenario, technically you do not need anything. I have heard of a TV show about a guy who goes out with nothing but camera and medicine (not even clothes!) and makes everything on the spot needed to survive. I haven't seen it yet but I plan to watch that some day. &lt;em&gt;However&lt;/em&gt;, that situation is a silly way to spend a vacation, even if you are into the super-minimal setting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Criteria&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we need to lay some ground rules to judge by; you have given us a great foundation for that. My answer will assume that...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you want to stay relatively comfortable&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. no freezing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b. no heat exhaustion (though I won't be addressing this much since I'm far enough north it's simply &quot;sit under a tree&quot; around here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c. no feeling miserable because of your conditions (ex: getting rained on when you were not prepared)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;d. no going without a reasonable amount of water for more than a day&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e. no spending 100% of your effort simply subsisting by foraging for food and water all day&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you want to do this with the minimal amount of help from modern civilization&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you want to be mobile enough that you can pack up your few belongings and move when you want or need to, and to be able to continue as you were in the new location&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. I mentioned &quot;or need to&quot; to account for emergencies which require evacuation or avoiding natural events such as fires, tornadoes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;some extra items for extra comfort can be brought as long as they are tiny enough and lightweight enough that they do not get in the way &lt;em&gt;at all&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you want to stay alive, and preferably not permanently injured in some way&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. you did make this sound optional in one of your comments, but I'm going to ignore that in my answer, otherwise the answer could be &quot;Just go out with nothing. If you die, so what?&quot;  ;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Assessment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going with that, you meet or exceed everything except some form of shelter that allows you to retain good mobility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My Commentary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically, you can make almost anything you need, but remember the parts about comfort, subsisting, and mobility; that's what keeps us reasonable. So here's my food for thought...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Knife&lt;/strong&gt;: Obvious. However, sometimes I carry a multi-tool - a great survival multi-tool will have at least a knife and tiny saw, and preferably a few other useful survival things; I've even seen some that have little hatchet heads on the other end of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water&lt;/strong&gt;: I'm right with you on the water container: 1 or 2 containers that can hold water and which can be cooked in. At least 1 of said containers should be able to be able to be closed and be water-tight, which yours are. Like you, I would bring these with some water pre-loaded. I would also suggest that at least 1 such container be one that you can reach into easily - no small neck like some canteens have - so that you can more easily cook larger things in it or clean it; this might mean the other container is more of a pot than a proper canteen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rationale: having a closable, water-tight container has obvious benefits, but having a container you can reach into and cook larger things in is for multiple other reasons. Yes, you can cook things skewered on sticks or placed on stones (flat stones work well for cooking on), but this is easier to clean, and you can boil larger foods as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Optional) A water filter will put even more water sources easily at your use. I would get the smallest, lightest-weight one I could find. If no other water sources are present, a filter allows you to clean the water from mud or even to dig straight down where you're standing and get water from the muddy pit you dig, assuming the water table is high enough. This also keeps your canteens cleaner; you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; boil muddy water in them, but that's not pleasant and leaves them dirty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen some articles and videos about making your own water filters by crushing charcoal you make from your fire. I tried that, and it did indeed clean the water, but the water flow in the one I made was sooo slow that it could not be considered a reasonable source of drinking water for any extended duration. Maybe if I tried it a few times I could get one to work right, but if you are spending times making and remaking water filters in the wild then you've dropped out of the criteria I mentioned above that I'm using for this answer. Note though: when testing the water filter I made, I mixed up some very dirty, muddy, nasty water to put into it, and what few drops of water came out the other side were pure, clean, clear looking, but the water just wasn't moving through it quick enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire&lt;/strong&gt;: Because the tools for fire starting are so tiny and light, the list is longer but it doesn't take up much space or weight total. I carry a tiny metal tin in my pocket. The tin contains the fire tools and it can be used to burn things in low-oxygen (ie: making charcloth). If I haven't replaced items, I am sometimes missing some of what follows, but the general contents are intended to be: ferro rod, weatherproof matches (matches are optional if you have all of the other things listed), charcloth, tiny pieces of charcoal, a small piece (1 inch by half-inch, short enough to fit) fat-wood, a small piece cut off a magnesium block, a knife blade removed from a small pocket knife, a short length of a metal-cutting hack-saw blade which was cut from a hack-saw using another hack-saw (this gets a great shower of sparks from the ferro rod), often a little folded up piece of aluminum foil, sometimes a tiny tinder nest if I have one that small prepared, and a little scrap of paper with all these contents written on it to help me remember what I'm missing when I restock it (which can also be burned if necessary). All of this fits inside the tiny tin which is less than a half-inch thick, is about an inch and a half long one way, and about 2 or 3 inches the other way, and &lt;em&gt;it weighs much less than 1 pound&lt;/em&gt;. Not sure exactly - probably 2 or 3 ounces. It just goes in my pocket, so it is always easily available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knife, water container, and fire tools I would say are the 3 most important tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some kind of &lt;strong&gt;shelter&lt;/strong&gt; is very important to bring. I said that the previous 3 things are the most important items because you can construct your own shelter from what's available, and that is fun to do, however your mobility is severely restricted if you do not bring anything for shelter, and your trip is less safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tarp is an easy thing to bring. A small one need not take up much space or weight. A tarp is highly recommended even for minimalist camping. If you had not specified a 2-3 day trip, I would list this as &quot;must have,&quot; but not taking one even on a 2-day trip is still silly. Obviously, you could substitute other things for a tarp, such as a bivvy bag for example. A tarp can also help protect you from sun exposure and heat in areas where that is a concern. Having a tarp for shelter makes you much more mobile than using only natural elements for shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Optional, sort of) A sleeping bag is a must-have for me, as I am in cold weather territory: when winter camping here you need to bring something rated for sub-freezing temperatures. A zero-degree sleeping bag is the biggest, heaviest thing among my gear that I would consider a necessity. It is annoying but life-sustaining. If camping in warm weather, this is optional, cold weather not optional.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Optional) If you get caught out in the rain when you do not have a shelter up, a tarp can be sufficient to keep you dry, but it is big and clumsy to just wrap around yourself. For this, I would suggest a rain coat. That might sound odd for minimalist extreme-camping, but 1) you can easily get dangerously cold from the rain, and 2) you can get tiny emergency raincoats that take up practically no space and weight. I have one I bought from a sporting store which only cost a few dollars, and when it's still in its package it is only a few inches by a few inches, and less than an inch thick. No reason not to toss that into your pack; if you don't need it you'll forget you even have it in there, and if you do need it you'll be so happy to have it. I still have not opened mine, as the few times I needed it I was dumb enough not to have it, and I was miserable instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shelter is more important than people realize. Without food you won't die for weeks, without water you won't die for days, but without proper shelter it is possible to die in hours if the conditions are terrible or even just from rain if it's not otherwise warm out. If the weather changes from bright sun-shiny to down-pouring rain rapidly (I've seen it happen very fast), and you're not ready for it, you cannot get a fire or shelter made fast enough, so you &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to have something ready to immediately protect yourself. The alternative is to sacrifice your immobility and never leave a permanent (or at least semi-permanent) shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;: For the 2-3 days you mentioned, you can bring a little bit of food if you want, but you can just as easily live off the land if you are sure of your plant identification. You are not going to starve by eating nothing but dandelions for 2 or 3 days. The better you can identify (avoiding poison/toxic plants is more important than knowing good ones), the more food you can forage out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer than a few days, yeah, don't forget to pack some food. If I was going ultra-light for a week or two, I would probably bring a granola bar per day and a bag of trail-mix, still supplemented with the plants as before. And maybe a box of pasta to eat halfway through. My diet is unconventional, but the general idea remains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another note on fire: Even if you get good at making friction fires so that you technically don't need fire starting tools so much, tools are still good to have anyway since starting friction fires all the time will wear you out fast and require you to eat more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Optional) Cord: can't forget the cordage! Although you can forage for plants to use for this, paracord is so useful and doesn't take up much room that there's no reason not to bring at least some, even if you don't plan on using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For minimalist extreme-camping: &lt;strong&gt;a knife, something for water that is cookable, something for fire, a tarp&lt;/strong&gt;. This does not include special items that depend on the location or duration; other than such specialty things, this list is it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's only a few pounds so far, and if you carry the knife in your pocket or on a belt and the fire tools likewise attached to you somehow, that leaves just the tarp and water container to pack, so a bag is not necessary if you don't bring any of the items below - just attach the canteen with a biner or tie it to you, and tie the tarp up and wear the tarp itself as if it were a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If longer than a few days, then some food too. And depending on the climate, a sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optional (but highly recommended): Water filter, rain coat, paracord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Additional Notes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note: none of this has mentioned first-aid, compass/map, or any other tools not directly related to your day-to-day needs that you are likely to encounter. That said, you &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; bring such things, and the above &quot;optional&quot; items too, even if you do not plan to use them. It doesn't hurt to bring along a few lightweight items. No matter how &quot;bad-ass&quot; you think you are (even if you really are one), it doesn't hurt to have a compass, map, minimal first-aid, etc. tucked into the bottom of a back-pack and to forget about them being there. It's the &quot;not that you would, but that you could&quot; mentality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will admit, though, that I usually do not bring compass and map. I have gotten lost as a result, but I just wandered around until I found a feature I could follow. However, whenever I have gotten lost it has not been in a huge park or preserve that you could get lost in for weeks, nor was it in a dangerous area; in such conditions I am much more likely to bring a map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:22:37.150" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:22:37.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17948" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17949" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" Score="0" Body="Questions about elk " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:23:59.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17950" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-14T02:24:34.920" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-14T02:24:34.920" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T02:24:34.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17951" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-14T02:24:34.920" Score="0" Body="Questions about areas that are legally protected, including, but not limited to, national parks or monuments." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-24T22:50:03.043" LastActivityDate="2017-12-24T22:50:03.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17917" CreationDate="2017-12-14T12:49:17.563" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've commuted by bike all my life. I'm now 62.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last 5 years (before switching to working at home) I was cycling a minimum of 22km each way - every day. A total of over 2 hours a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never been ill, never catch colds, can run for an hour with no noticeable effort, look two thirds my age, and call the kind of fast dances of my youth that many a contemporary mid-20 year-old finds exhausting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I look to the rest of my age group, many have health problems. These are people who have driven, bussed or railed their way to work all their lives. It all adds up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used the bike through all those years because, thanks to a climate summit in Edinburgh in the 70s, I was made alert to the dangers of what they described as a coming 'high tour of all weather systems'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am the only person I know who did this. My friends opted for scorn, excuses or denial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before this armageddon closes in on us, I plan to retire to all the traveling I never did. With my bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Use it or lose it&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14639" LastActivityDate="2017-12-14T12:49:17.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17954" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17996" CreationDate="2017-12-14T17:17:55.000" Score="6" ViewCount="328" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the most reliable way to start a friction fire using foraged materials?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not necessarily just the overall technique (ie: &quot;drill&quot; or &quot;plow&quot; or whatever); it's good to compare specific variations of the technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume that you can process the materials with a blade. It is only fine to use other tools if they can be made from what you find (ex: preparing a hearth board days or weeks ahead of time).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume I have the most common knowledge that you can expect someone to have after watching 2 or 3 videos each about fire drills, plows, and saws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:03:00.213" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:03:37.867" Title="What is the most reliable way to start a friction fire?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17955" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-14T17:28:28.160" Score="11" ViewCount="2088" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a few videos of people using an interesting friction-fire technique, and a couple of them called it a &quot;fire roll.&quot; To do this, they fluffed up a cotton ball, put something in it such as ashes, rolled it up in their hands into a worm-like strand, then they very vigorously rolled it back and forth between two wood boards. It did not take long at all, looked fairly easy, and they got a fire started. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this is cool, it was done with household items (2x4, cotton balls). Is it possible to transfer this technique to wild foraged resources? Obviously, use split wood that you collect instead of 2x4s, and use the smoothest wood you can split so it doesn't catch. But what about a cotton ball substitute? And the ashes that were put into the cotton ball to provide increased friction? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, ashes we can grab from a previous fire if we have had one, but it would be nice if we can find a substitute for that too in case you have not had a previous fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any natural resources that can be foraged that can be used in a &quot;fire roll&quot; friction-fire technique?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cotton ball replacement is the most important part of this question. And yes, I know that cotton comes from a plant, but I am not sure if this will work with raw cotton, and cotton does not grow in the north. Also, it would be preferable, though not necessary, if we could get an affirmative answer that lists a general way to process many plants to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:43:57.830" LastActivityDate="2018-10-24T14:06:12.183" Title="Are there any natural materials that can work for a &quot;fire roll&quot; friction fire?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17958" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17959" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" Score="0" Body="Questions about hydration bladders (such as Camelbacks)." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:35:42.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17960" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17961" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" Score="0" Body="Questions about water bottles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:36:28.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17962" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17963" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" Score="0" Body="Questions about alcohol in the Outdoors, including consumption and use as a fuel or a disinfectant." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T05:37:04.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17964" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-15T16:32:58.133" Score="9" ViewCount="1183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to hike a section of the Bruce Trail next year with my German Shepherd. It's mostly low hills but every once in a while I run into vertical ladders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I carry my German Shepherd up and down ladders?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He is not trained with ladders in any way &lt;strong&gt;right now&lt;/strong&gt; but I can work on it, I have time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:02:48.037" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:02:48.037" Title="How to carry a German Shepherd up and down ladders on the trail?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17965" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="17979" CreationDate="2017-12-15T16:33:36.953" Score="7" ViewCount="1342" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a multi-tool and I want to disassemble it &amp;ndash; not for any repairing just to take it apart and take the blade for other uses &amp;ndash; but it has no screws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I disassemble it? (See image below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbpDrl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbpDrl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;img&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14323" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T21:11:21.450" LastActivityDate="2020-12-24T10:59:21.157" Title="How can I disassemble a multi-tool with no screws on it?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17965" CreationDate="2017-12-15T16:36:18.403" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disassembly is the easy part.  Drill out the rivets.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reassembly will be a big problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T08:26:10.593" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T08:26:10.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17967" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17968" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" Score="0" Body="Questions about bison" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:38:05.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17969" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17970" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" Score="0" Body="Questions about tigers" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" LastActivityDate="2017-12-15T18:38:24.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1287" CreationDate="2017-12-15T19:18:30.017" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One small note to add to all these good answers: After you get all your gear, try all of it on at home. Get familiar with it. You don't want to go there and try it on for the first time, and then find out that you can't fit all your layers under your coat or in your boats, etc. The best time to find problems is before you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you are familiar with all the pockets so you can easily take things in and out of them, and so you know their capacity. You want to know where to store things like sunglasses that you might take off and put back on, or something like where to store a small camera in your clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:51:21.893" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:51:21.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17973" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17974" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" Score="0" Body="Questions about cooking over a campfire" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:52:28.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17975" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17976" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" Score="0" Body="Questions about protecting yourself from harmful ultraviolet radiation which causes both sunburns and snow blindness" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:54:19.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17977" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17978" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" Score="0" Body="Questions about staying hydrated or avoiding dehydration" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T02:57:07.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17965" CreationDate="2017-12-16T10:18:53.650" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tool pictured is riveted together with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivet#Solid/round_head_rivets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;solid rivets.&lt;/a&gt;  It is not designed to be repaired, as mentioned in a comment, if it is not working correctly it should be disposed of and replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to use a grinder to remove the flared head of the rivet and then punch it out.  Alternately you can drill out the rivet, by drilling a hole in the exact center of the rivet.  While both of these approaches theoretically allow for reassembly, they will almost certainly damage the tools body to some extent.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re-assembly would require either a precision sized high grade bolt OR equipment to replace a solid rivet (&lt;strong&gt;This is NOT a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivet#Blind_rivets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blind/pop rivet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;). As this is a solid rivet, rivet replacements require tools not generally found in the home tool shop or home store. Bolts in this size from a home supply store will not be strong enough to handle the load.  Bolts have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/materials-and-grades/bolt-grade-chart.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;strength grade&lt;/a&gt;, small bolts from the home supply store are not designed for tool quality use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attempts to repair the tool pictured will cost more than a replacement tool, and most likely will leave you with a tool that is NOT safe to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T23:58:43.123" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T23:58:43.123" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1287" CreationDate="2017-12-16T13:00:22.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another slight side note, you may want moving layers, plus a &quot;standing&quot; layer. If you're walking around in heavy snowfall, you will probably get quite warm but you'll cool down very quickly once you stop. &#xA;When winter walking (-5ish) I tend to wear a baselayer and softshell (hardshell if it's really windy) to walk then throw on a big down jacket (rab neutrino endurance) as soon as we stop. So add an extra mid layer/2 maybe a thick fleece or extra softshell.&#xA;If you can't test your systems before you go, then you can always add more thin layers than separate thick layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13942" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T13:00:22.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5074" CreationDate="2017-12-16T18:33:07.710" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.warmlite.com/vapor-barrier/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; on vapor barriers. Your trash bag will act as a very good vapor barrier on the parts of your body that it covers. You are going to need a really large garbage bag, or a hole cut in the bottom, in order to cover your torso. Garbage bags, even the heavy duty ones, are not that durable, so you may need to bring one for every night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like your plan is to put a cotton liner inside your vapor barrier. I This is pretty close to the worst thing you can do. The vapor barrier, if working correctly, will trap about 0.5 liters of perspiration every night. In the ideal world you would achieve 100% relative humidity within the vapor barrier and everywhere the cotton liner is, which I think will reduce a lot of the chilling effect of the cotton, but more likely there are going to be gaps in your vapor barrier and the cotton is going to be a bad idea. Soaking a cotton liner in 0.5 liters of water is going to lead to a chilly night. You would be much better off putting the cotton liner on the outside of the vapor barrier. In that case, if the vapor barrier is working, the cotton liner will stay dry, but of course you will be sleeping in the clammy hell of a vapor barrier liner (but you will be warm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T18:33:07.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17982" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17983" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" Score="0" Body="Questions about national monuments" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:45:49.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17984" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17985" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" Score="0" Body="Questions about ice-screws" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:49:34.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17986" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17987" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" Score="0" Body="Questions about snow goggles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:49:53.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17988" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17989" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" Score="0" Body="Questions about swim goggles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:50:04.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17990" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:50:20.430" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-16T20:50:20.430" LastActivityDate="2017-12-16T20:50:20.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17991" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-16T20:50:20.430" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Yellowstone National Park in the United States." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T03:01:56.960" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T03:01:56.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17992" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-17T10:30:21.840" Score="3" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17965&quot;&gt;asks about disassembling a multi tool&lt;/a&gt; pictured below.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have an existing question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1924&quot;&gt;How do you fashion a spear with a fixed blade&lt;/a&gt;. All of the blades pictured are long handled and/or have a long tang. A long tang provides a solid mounting point as shown in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5352&quot;&gt;the accepted answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Half a dozen multi tool blades would be a small and light addition to my survival gear.  If they were all potential spears it could make a huge difference in a survival scenario, and would keep my primary long handled knife from being at risk of loss or damage in a spearing event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I use the blade of a multi tool as an effective spear point?  If so, how would I attach it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbpDrl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hbpDrl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;img&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T02:44:36.827" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T02:44:36.827" Title="Can I use the blade of a multi tool as a spear point?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;spears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17993" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-17T10:31:15.037" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T10:31:15.037" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T10:31:15.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17994" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-17T10:31:15.037" Score="0" Body="Questions relating to the purchase, making, and/or usage of spears in the great outdoors." OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-17T23:34:32.843" LastActivityDate="2017-12-17T23:34:32.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17992" CreationDate="2017-12-18T00:13:52.970" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you could if you can get the multitool apart, although it won't be the easiest thing in the world. and it won't be as stable as a traditional arrow head or spear point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you want a straight-ish branch about the same thickness as the blade you are intending to use. Use your narrowest blade or punch type blade to bore a hole in the branch, take the multi apart, then either use the cotter pin from the multi or a smaller branch pounded into the hole to secure the blade. You will want to place the hole down from the end of the branch 1&quot; or so, and then also split the branch in the middle to accommodate the blad. You'll need to wrap it with something to bind it, and since it only has a single hinge point, it will be apt to collapse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would recommend as an alternative, is a set of throwing knives. A lot of varieties are not the greatest for throwing, but for the weight, you can pack three for very little overhead. Many varieties have holes bored in the handle for weight distribution, as seen here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1kib.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1kib.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That also gives you spares, and if you get a decent set, then you also have a ranged recoverable weapon as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8475" LastEditorUserId="8475" LastEditDate="2017-12-18T00:27:44.203" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T00:27:44.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17954" CreationDate="2017-12-18T08:41:00.390" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The one you've practiced&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starting a friction fire is hard work. It's not something you can &amp;quot;just do&amp;quot; after watching a video.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to have the experience to choose the right wood, build the bow or drill or whatever method you've chosen and the strength and stamina to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the methods are reliable for a beginner, none of them are &amp;quot;easy&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try them all and you might find that one works better for you than the others in the long run, but a definitive answer can't be given as to which one is best, because it really is which one the individual in question finds suits them best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T16:41:38.947" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17964" CreationDate="2017-12-18T08:49:48.607" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you probably need is a dog carry harness (pictured below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're relatively easily purchased, though mostly people have them for small rather than large dogs. Finding one rated for an Alsatian may be harder but they're certainly made for military and police use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need to practice carrying in a controlled environment as much for your own safety as training the dog to the harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utqRN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/utqRN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Holstered attack dog&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T08:49:48.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="17999" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-18T17:29:41.340" Score="1" ViewCount="845" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to purchase a &quot; Weber Smokey Mountain,&quot; but wanted to get an enclosure for it so that during cold/rainy/windy weather I can smoke without issues, since I heard it isn't greatly insulated from the elements (which could have to do with it's price-point).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realized that I could use my shed as a storage/smoking area for my smoker.  I notice there is a 4&quot; or so hole with a vent at the top of my shed (I believe I Saw one on both front and back), but the vents seem to be very narrow (to stop larger-bugs/animals from coming in).  I could replace them, but I also noticed 2 rectangular (2 square panels on top of each other for each window) windows on the side of my shed that seem to open with a screen on the bottom panel for airflow.  I would place my smoker next to one of the 2 windows with the exhaust facing out towards the window.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am curious if&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The windows itself would provide enough of a ventilation source for the WSM if I keep the door open there should be a nice draft going from the door to the window which should pull the smoke better; however a door being open will cause temp shifts (the shed still gets cold anyways), wind, and possibly animals to get inside.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it would be better to get a venting fan with louvers and put it in the window's space so the smoke should get pulled out by the powerful vent fan and I shouldn't have any issues.  BUt the thing is, will all of the smoke get pulled, or will it float to the top of my shed and stay there? (I assume the smoke would escape from the vents on top, but I'm not sure if it will be good enough even for just a little trailing smoke).  EDIT:  I also would like to have an intake fan on the other window so that I will get fresh air inside the shed as well, or maybe just keep the other window open(without a fan) to create a nice draft. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;:EDIT-END&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I should get fans and place them up top where the vents are (but I would have to cut a hole which is what I want to avoid and why I really am happy I found windows in my shed).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My major concern is to make sure that I am not generating too much smoke and creating carbon monoxide.  I will be setting up a few carbon monoxide readers around the smoker, door, etc, and I'm hoping there is a unit that I can get that connects to a mobile device or desktop so I can monitor the shed.  I really do not think I will have an issue with #2, but I want to be safe, but curious what others think.  I'm not sure if creating a cross breeze with #1 will be safe, especially doing longer smokes that will go into the night time where animals roam. That is why I especially like having the shed, and it being fully closed (besides the windows being open, or the fan being on with louvers open, or closed when off).  Which is why #2 seems like my best bet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice is appreciated, thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:  I want to keep the smoker enclosed in the shed as much as possible. I want to be able to open the door to the shed, and be able get inside and close it, to tend to the smoker.  This means I need to have most of the smoke leaving, and some fresh air coming inside that I can tend to the smoker without worry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: the shed was cold when I went inside it the other day, but that can be fixed in many ways.  The fire from the smoker should warm it up nicely, but I can add other heaters as well, or maybe some insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE:  The shed is wood, so I'm not really sure if the smoker inside a wood shed is even a &quot;smart idea&quot; but I don't see the flames leaving the smoker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE:  I figured this would be better for &quot;The Great Outdoors&quot; over &quot;Cooking,&quot; but if I that is not the case, please feel free to flag the post in order to migrate it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14634" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:03:58.553" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:03:58.553" Title="If I put a smoker in a shed, does my exhaust have to be at the top of my shed? (Does exhaust height matter)?" Tags="&lt;safety-standards&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2017-12-20T05:33:35.603" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17999" CreationDate="2017-12-18T17:45:20.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it will create CO.  The question is if the CO level is dangerous when you open the door to tend to the cooker.  Put it by the door and don't enter the shed while cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2017-12-18T17:45:20.743" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18042" CreationDate="2017-12-18T17:48:51.743" Score="3" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired mostly by this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17992/can-i-use-the-blade-of-a-multi-tool-as-a-spear-point#answer-17995&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, if I were to decide to buy a set of throwing knives for just for fun, what exactly should I be looking for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do realize that throwing knives are not legal everywhere, but they are legal where I am at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there features that would make one set better than another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:02:53.333" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T06:10:40.343" Title="What should I look for in throwing knives?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18002" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-18T23:37:58.233" Score="5" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the last few years on rivers, the wooden skegs under my homemade houseboat have gotten chewed up. I will have to drydock and repair them this year. While it is out of the water, I thought I might put metal (brass, aluminum, steel) along the edges to protect them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best material to protect the wooden skegs on my flatbottom barge houseboat? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14666" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:03:05.740" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T22:42:29.480" Title="Best material to protect wooden skegs" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18003" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18004" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with poison oak, especially prevention and treatment" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:17.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18005" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18006" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with poison ivy, especially prevention and treatment" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:30.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18007" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18008" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" Score="0" Body="Questions about pants" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:41.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18009" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:55.153" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water shoes are footwear made of a material such as neoprene, and intended to be used immersed in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are used by surfers, divers and kayakers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T11:17:19.680" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T11:17:19.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18010" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:04:55.153" Score="0" Body="Questions about water shoes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:04:55.153" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:04:55.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18011" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18012" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" Score="0" Body="Questions about frostbite, including treatment and prevention" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:15.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18013" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18014" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" Score="0" Body="Questions about climbing shoes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:25.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18015" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18016" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with cold water in the outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:40.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18017" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18018" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" Score="0" Body="Questions about sharks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T04:05:50.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17954" CreationDate="2017-12-19T04:35:19.103" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen the most people succeed with the hand drill method. But I've never seen anyone succeed with the hand drill without getting blisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen anyone succeed with the plow method. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've only seen the fire drill succesful when two people worked together. Also, for the fire drill you need a very strong string, a knife to hollow out the top block and some grease for the top block, which makes it unlikely that you don't also have a lighter with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important is of course that the wood is completely dry. Any hint of moisture makes your efforts futile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using two rocks or a flintrock and metal to produce sparks doesn't seem to work, unless the metal is magnesium. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw someone using a tinder mushroom in a video, but I couldn't even get that to burn with a lighter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14667" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:03:37.867" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:03:37.867" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17999" CreationDate="2017-12-19T15:22:42.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Safety guidelines for this smoker specifically state that it's not suitable for indoor use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's quite literally the first thing on the instructions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.riversidegardencentre.co.uk/pdf/2009_Smokey_Mountain_Cooker.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.riversidegardencentre.co.uk/pdf/2009_Smokey_Mountain_Cooker.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;DANGER&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Failure to follow the Dangers, Warnings, and Cautions contained in this Owner’s Manual may result in serious bodily injury, death, &#xA;  or fire causing damage to property.&#xA;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do not use indoors! This smoker is designed for outdoor use only. If used indoors, toxic fumes will accumulate and cause serious bodily injury or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the looks of the design it isn't possible to seal it to a chimney so there's no way to control the exhaust gases/CO. What you'd probably find if you ran it in the shed was that the CO alarms would give you no peace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to run it under a shelter then a small shelter with no more than 3 walls and a roof is possibly acceptable to ensure adequate ventilation for you to share a space with it. Basically no more than wind and rain screens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T15:22:42.980" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17999" CreationDate="2017-12-19T16:11:51.190" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a dirty kitchen, Cooking shed. A chimney or stack. Needs be 6 inch's above roof peak. For proper draft. So no back draft. Were the pipe goes threw the roof you need double wall vent pipe. Cut a 12 inch square hole in the roof. Next lay over the hole a 24 inch sheet metal. Cut a hole round in the center with tin snips. like triangles. This is fitted down the double wall pipe. Onto the roof wood. Keeps rain out. Keeps heat from wood so no fire there. Next a dirty kitchen needs vented. So you will need leave a window open. Or door when cooking. On a wood roof this is important to prevent fires &amp;amp; proper venting. Nothing better than a plain stove pipe to set a roof on fire in a cook shed. Be sure &amp;amp; check vent pipes often. They can have no holes in then were a spark or hot cinder can escape. Keep cooker away from walls. Use cheap sheet metal on the walls near them to deflect heat &amp;amp; sparks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastActivityDate="2017-12-19T16:11:51.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18024" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-20T04:06:38.810" Score="7" ViewCount="3313" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;obsidian&lt;/a&gt; and I know that it can be made into knives and other sharp objects such as arrowheads. Historically this was done for a long time in the United States before there were steel blades. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steel has a lot of advantages, but I think that it would be a fun project to make one and it could even come in handy in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the process be for making an obsidian knife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-23T02:43:25.463" LastActivityDate="2020-05-11T01:43:27.477" Title="How can I make an obsidian knife?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18024" CreationDate="2017-12-20T06:05:37.467" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have to chip it. Primitive hand axes were very slowly and carefully shaped using another stone to chip away at the tool bit by bit until the desired shape was achieved. They were then sharpened against another stone in a similar fashion to using a modern wet-stone today. The process for shaping obsidian is known as flint-knapping. One method of flint-knapping is to use lead filled copper boppers. You need lots of patience to complete the task, go too fast and you could ruin your tool by taking off too big a chip or flake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This guy shows one method to knap an obsidian blade: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf8gqCSHZfc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flint Knapping a Far Cry Primal Inspired Dagger Blade&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is another method from a different part of the world; this guy is making a danish dagger: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMDDcIdgsEA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flintknapping the Type IV Danish Dagger&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:10:51.870" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:10:51.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18026" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18027" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" Score="0" Body="Questions about acute mountain sickness, which is caused by the lower amounts of oxygen at higher altitudes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T06:06:32.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2017-12-20T09:40:50.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a very simple way to relieve the itching for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Press firmly on the bite with your fingers or thumb for 20-30 seconds.  The pressure causes the body to release endorphins that will suppress the itch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a cure, the itching returns after an hour or so - just press again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this is only practical if you have a small number of bites.  If you have several, it is not realistic to press on your whole body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T09:46:10.697" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T09:46:10.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16566" CreationDate="2017-12-20T13:04:27.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure if this is still important, but those are the Standard Hanwag Trapper GTX, they are out of production, but some shops still have a few sizes in stock. I just ordered some here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recon-company.com/hanwag-trapper-gtx/3236&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.recon-company.com/hanwag-trapper-gtx/3236&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Hope that helps...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14678" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T13:04:27.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18031" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-20T14:35:58.167" Score="4" ViewCount="78" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to fly to Tromso in February with my friends. We'd like to stay for 3 - 4 days and have few questions, I'd be glad if someone could answer them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are going to get a tent so we can use the &quot;right to roam&quot; and change our place of visit. Do you have any special tips for us? Which place is best for setting up the tent? We have some experience from wild camping in Poland and we always choose dense forest for this, but I know Tromso region lacks woodlands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are taking food with us, too. Can we set up a fireplace? Can we use sticks already laying on the ground (I guess yes) or even cut down the tree (I guess not)? We always clean up after ourselves to leave place untouched, but don't wan't to bring or buy fuel if we can use what nature offers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I know there are free and open cabins in the area. Some of them are possibly reachable for a one day hike, but some are quite a distance away. How easy is to hitchhike in Norway?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What would happen if the cabin is already occupied? Or if anyone else comes to it after us? Is there some kind of reservation system?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll edit the question if anything comes to my mind. Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13769" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T15:41:07.990" Title="Hunting for aurora near Tromso - few questions" Tags="&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18031" CreationDate="2017-12-20T14:39:37.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Tromsø region does not lack woodlands.  If you go out into Bardu into spectacular Dividalen National Park, there are plenty of woodlands.  However, mountain birch forests in winter are nothing like dense forests in Poland or other midlatitude regions.  The trees are 3–7 metre high and lots of light passes through, so in most forests your opportunities for aurora viewing are fine.  Both in Dividalen and on Senja there are free and open cabins that are deep in the woods (the one in Dividalen will be at least two days walking/skiing, though, and can be tricky to find; I've read some reports of people concluding it didn't exist!).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can light a fire.  Open fires are prohibited below the treeline between 15 April and 15 September.  In February you're fine.  Bring your own firewood or collect dead wood from the ground.  Do not cut off branches from living trees.  In February it may be difficult to tell dead from living trees, so do not cut off any branches at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've hitchhiked in Norway and I've found it works quite well, but I would recommend to try buses as well.  The road closest to some of those cabins may be a rural road with little traffic, so it may be a couple of hours before you get picked up.  You might be better off roadwalking from the nearest bus stop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is no reservation system.  For people arriving the same day, it's first come first served.  If you've already stayed one or more nights, the group who has stayed the largest number of nights should leave to make place for the newly arrived group.  This is even more true if you can sleep in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2017-12-20T15:41:07.990" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T15:41:07.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18033" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-20T15:30:04.900" Score="8" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an outdoor beginner, I was interested in some possible tool combinations for shorter outdoor hiking trips, say, 2-5 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what little experience I have, I reckon that the most common tasks will be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the preparation of food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;minor woodworking (firewood, skewers, replacement tent pegs/pole) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;occasional minor digging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to what I've read, it is common to use a heavier field knife in combination with a smaller swiss army knife or multitool, omitting any additional tools like a pocket saw or a small axe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your experience, are the features in those types of tool combinations reasonable for what I'd like to do? Is there other criteria I should consider when making a choice, and why? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14672" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-22T23:15:18.780" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T23:15:18.780" Title="As an outdoor beginner, what features in knife/tool combinations should I look for?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18033" CreationDate="2017-12-20T15:49:15.307" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's pretty usual to carry both a multi-tool and a regular fixed/folding knife. The knives on a multi-tool are okay for small tasks but once you want to do some serious cutting such as whittling or skinning or cutting food, a dedicated knife is much better than one that is included on a multi-tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were trying to save weight, then I would suggest taking only a multi-tool but get one where the blade locks open. Its harder to use a knife if the blade doesn't lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T04:02:38.407" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T04:02:38.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10701" CreationDate="2017-12-20T16:02:21.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adjustable XC poles are useful if the snow either side of the trail is significantly higher than the floor of the trail, i.e. you're skiing in a deep rut and there is a hard crust on the surrounding surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14680" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T16:02:21.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18033" CreationDate="2017-12-20T16:57:45.810" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a lot of it depends on what type of terrain, and how primitive you plan on being. I personally would take a sharp medium sized pocket knife (3-4&quot; blade) to be used for food prep and other small tasks. Ideally this would be of decent hard steel that can take some abuse without chipping or dulling very quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The secondary blade depends somewhat on what you want to carry, if you will need to be chopping wood for fires every night a small lightweight hatchet is quite useful, i may opt for this over a secondary large knife as they can also be used for light digging if the soil is not saturated with rocks. However, if you know the area you will be hiking in has plenty of downed wood you can simply gather this may not be necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking through rough terrain without trails and really getting out there into dense vegetation or woods you may find a machete is more useful than a hatchet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also always take a small knife sharpener in my pack, they don't weigh a whole lot but do make life easier if you will be using your blade quite often. Not necessary but a personal luxury i enjoy, especially if you are going to be using something for digging or other utilitarian purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wire saws can also be handy for small branches for fire wood but are somewhat tiring to use at times, although they weigh significantly less than a hatchet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A mess kit or multi-purpose cooking dish/pot/mug is also a necessity in regards to food prep in my humble opinion, you can do without one but it makes life much more enjoyable for me if i have something i can throw on the fire to cook just about anything in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T16:57:45.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18041" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18033" CreationDate="2017-12-20T21:36:48.530" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to carry a solid 6&quot; knife when hiking.... What I have learnt for longer trips, you have to carry it. A single quality 3&quot;-4&quot; swiss army knife will do everything that you need to do well (A 2&quot; folding knife will do 95% of what you need well, and the other 5% it can do), ideally with a locking blade. Five days is a long time to carry something that makes doing something once or twice a fraction easier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Common beginner mistake is to take stuff that &quot;I might need&quot; (make wooden tent pegs to replace lost ones - don't loose them, make do if you do) or &quot;Would be better for&quot; (cutting fire wood - if the wood small enough to cut with any knife and dry enough to burn, stand on it to break it). For 5 days, the weight of a knife that makes gathering firewood for cooking fires significantly easier could be easily saved by carrying cooker fuel.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are you digging - if its toilet, you don't want to be taking your food prep knife anywhere near toileting locations, and should carry a proper small shovel which is better for the task. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a larger group (say 4 or more) we might have one larger (4-6&quot;) knife in the group equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2017-12-20T21:36:48.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18001" CreationDate="2017-12-21T05:19:17.567" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want knives that are not easily broken by repeated (repeated hundreds of times) misstrikes. You will notice that knives labeled as &quot;throwing knives&quot; at retail are most often free of any bolster, guard, handle scales, etc. That's because those things will be destroyed in the learning process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key to successfully throwing a knife lies in repetition with the same knife. Only a superb champion of the craft would be likely to &quot;stick&quot; a knife he has never practiced with. Along these lines, a balanced knife is easier to learn with; however, any knife can be thrown and stuck if you practice long enough with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T05:19:17.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10701" CreationDate="2017-12-21T10:46:52.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bee in my bonnet about this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conventional trekking poles evolved out of ski-poles, but they have a different function and simply don't work very well for walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The warning sign is that you need to resort to the artificial expedient of straps to actually hold on to the things. This can be inconvenient, uncomfortable and puts unnatural pressure on the joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/seZvy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/seZvy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small UK company has produced what in my experience is an objectively better approach, with an ergonomic handle that channels the weight safely and comfortably to the root of the hand without any need for straps. It also encourages good technique by ensuring you hold the poles at the correct angle. I've used them extensively, and would never go back to a conventional pole. It's hands-down a more comfortable and efficient design (pun intended).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P2Bhl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P2Bhl.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The industry showed no interest in a product that challenged their current offerings, so the inventor set up her own little business to produce them. The PacerPoles have a devoted following in the UK, where they are used by most of the best-known writers and reviewers such as Chris Townsend, but they are little known elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the process has gone full circle and people are using the PacerPoles for skiing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a very conservative market niche, and this is the only meaningful development I'm aware of in the field. But I would encourage people to think outside of the box and not to settle for an inherently flawed design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T10:46:52.377" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18045" CreationDate="2017-12-21T13:31:07.677" Score="8" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several month ago me and my climbing partner were climbing a mountain over 7000m. In first few day my climbing partner got AMS. It was high-altitude pulmonary edema (he felt very bad, he had strong cough with blood). So we gave him an injection of Dexamethasone and safely returned him home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was treated for about a month and now he's healthy. He is doing different sports like cycling, running etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are going to climb another mountain ~5000m. I'm afraid of repeating described situation. I have tried to read about medical research on this topic but unable to find the answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T17:27:29.170" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T12:53:59.373" Title="Is acute mountain sickness repeatable?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;acute-mountain-sickness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18044" CreationDate="2017-12-21T14:54:58.667" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, he can get it again and in fact people with a history of altitude sickness have a higher risk of getting it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Risk factors for altitude illness include rapid ascent, strenuous physical exertion, young age, living at a low altitude, and a history of altitude illness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aafp.org/afp/2010/1101/p1103.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude Illness: Risk Factors, Prevention, Presentation, and Treatment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a previous history of suffering from acute mountain sickness, then you are probably more likely to get it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.altitude.org/altitude_sickness.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude Sickness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was also a study done on this question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445095/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;Return to Activity at Altitude After High-Altitude Illness&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sports and other activities at high altitude are popular, yet they pose the unique risk for high-altitude illness (HAI). Once those who have suffered from a HAI recover, they commonly desire or need to perform the same activity at altitude in the immediate or distant future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the type of HAI experienced and the current level of recovery, factors needing consideration in the return-to-play plan include physical activity requirements, flexibility of the activity schedule, and available medical equipment and facilities. Most important, adherence to prudent acclimatization protocols and gradual ascent recommendations (when above 3000 m, no more than 600-m net elevation gain per day, and 1 rest day every 1 to 2 ascent days) is powerful in its preventive value and thus strongly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a thoughtful plan, most recurrent HAI in athletes can be prevented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445095/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Return to Activity at Altitude After High-Altitude Illness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it looks like while your friend does have a higher risk, it doesn't mean that he has to stop, just that you need to be more careful and ascend slower next time. Given that you already made this awful experience and are researching the topic, you probably already know this: You need to read up on and consult a professional about how to acclimatize correctly and most importantly, how to detect signs of AMS. &lt;strong&gt;You must be able to turn around and seek lower terrain before it gets as bad as developing pulmonary edema.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T12:53:59.373" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18033" CreationDate="2017-12-21T19:30:42.267" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly, there isn't much you can't do with a decent mid-sized fixed blade (your basic 3-4&quot; Mora type) with a Scandi (flat) grind, and a small axe for processing firewood. With practice, you can also use the axe head for planing and shaving wood (tinder, feather sticks, etc). A 6&quot; knife is completely overkill unless you're also hunting and gutting your own food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, a multi-tool has more design compromises than advantages for bushcraft, and I no longer carry one. Folding blades in general are also riskier, in the event you need to do something that stresses the blade, as the hinge is a potential point of failure. A lot of discussions online seem to focus on batoning with a knife, which I would strongly recommend against, in favour of either an axe, or bludgeoning wooden wedges with another piece of wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also used to (and still occasionally) carry a lightweight folding saw, where the blade stows inside the handle, but I also find rare use for it that can't be done with an axe. Those little chain saws that are a piece of serrated wire are little better than gimmicks. I wouldn't carry a sharpening stone for just a few days' trip, but a small stone or lapstone is handy for longer trips. This can be shared in a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond those, you could take a hardened plastic trowel for a lightweight digging tool (outdoor shops often sell these), but with your axe and knife, it's also easy enough to shape a pointy piece of wood to accomplish the same job. It mostly comes down to skill with the blades (practice) and creativity in improvising tools and solutions out in the field, rather than bringing everything and the kitchen sink with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T19:30:42.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18047" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18048" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" Score="0" Body="Questions about search and rescue" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T21:00:24.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18049" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18050" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to tropical climates" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" LastActivityDate="2017-12-21T21:00:55.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18051" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18052" CreationDate="2017-12-22T05:30:34.990" Score="6" ViewCount="2948" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got a sample of Petzl's new assisted braking device, the Grigri+. I must admit I look at it with a lot of disdain, mostly because&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's bulkier than the Grigri 2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's heavier than the Grigri 2;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The possibility to choose between lead and top rope modes adds a new mechanical component, which should pretty much weaken the system;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has almost no ear to grab when using Petzl's recommended belay technique;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, the device has very clear advantages over its predecessor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stainless steel reinforcements to high friction areas;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Added anti-panic handle;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Internal components made of a different, higher friction material - this makes it possible to build a larger chamber, which should (in principle) decrease the friction when paying out slack;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Casing improved in order to cover the whole interior of the brake - this should keep dirt out;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Petzl finally addressed a &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; serious problem with Grigri2: the stupid, sharp, wrongly placed casing's tail;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need to decide whether or not to sell the device without using it, otherwise the price will fall down - and I'm the first among my friends to have one of these, which means I can't just borrow one and test it. I've read multiple reviews, but everyone's just praising the device and the criticism is mostly expressed as &quot;this brake is made to  help beginners, and its functions should make the life of someone who just started to climb much easier&quot;. The thing is that an anti-panic handle, lead and top rope modes and stainless steel reinforcements mean pretty much nothing to me. What would really make me choose to keep this device are advantages 3 and 5: if it's really much easier to pay slack with this thing, and if it wears the rope less, then I'll keep it. All disadvantages are really important to me, specially 3 and 4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check the picture below. Notice how the back of Grigri2's casing (right) was smartly substituted by a new chamber design on the Grigri+ (left)... But notice also how the area to place your finger has disappeared in the Grigri+ (you can't see it in this picture, but the small orange button to place your finger is flat and not very anatomical).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V1z22.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/V1z22.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So: have you used this device? Does it wear the rope less than its predecessor? Is it really easier to pay slack with? Have you had any problems with the belay/top rope button?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T19:42:36.990" Title="Grigri+ vs grigri 2" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18051" CreationDate="2017-12-22T07:58:15.230" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used both Grigri devices (the older one much more often than the new one), but I own neither. So I can answer at least most of your questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;have you used this device?&lt;/strong&gt; I have used it a few times ;-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does it wear the rope less than its predecessor?&lt;/strong&gt; I don't know, I didn't use it more than a few times, and my ropes get used with all kinds of belay devices. So I can't comment on the rope wear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it really easier to pay slack with?&lt;/strong&gt; Paying out slack works well, a slight bit better than with the older gri-gri.[1] But the ropes I used it with are within the recommended diameter for both devices (9.4-10.3mm), while the Grigri+ is recommended for a wider range (8.5-11mm). In that range, the difference could be larger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Have you had any problems with the belay/top rope button?&lt;/strong&gt; The switch itself works fine. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some answers to points that seem implicit in your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The top rope mode is mostly recommended for beginners or for accident prevention when the need to pay out slack is rare [2]. In that mode, the device locks more quickly. You can toprope just fine in lead mode, but the toprope mode can be useful if you teach beginners how to belay, or you own a gym and want to &quot;support&quot; beginners. (You can even &quot;lock&quot; the mode switch, so that you need a small pin to switch modes again.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll quickly get used to the smaller area for grabbing the device when paying out slack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In my experience (and personal opinion), the anti-panic function is overrated. After five years of climbing, I never felt that an intuitive panic reaction would be to pull on the handle instead of simply holding on to the brake strand of the rope. The panic function locks the rope if you pull on the handle too hard, but can be &quot;overridden&quot; by pulling even harder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The general gist of reviews of the Grigri+ seems to be:&lt;/strong&gt; If you currently own an older Grigri, there rarely is a need to switch to the new one. If you are looking to buy a Grigri, the Grigri+ might be worth the additional cost if you either climb with beginners or need the additional range of supported rope diameters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] I prefer devices like the Mammut Smart or AustriAlpin Fish for leading, so I'm not that used to belaying with a Grigri. Thus, I cannot comment on the fine details, but both devices generally &quot;feel&quot; very similar when paying out slack. Things might be different if you are an experienced grigri lead belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/LU/en/Sport/Choosing-the-belay-mode&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.petzl.com/LU/en/Sport/Choosing-the-belay-mode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So this belay mode is preferred in the following situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Supervision of children/beginners learning how to top-rope belay in climbing school.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Occasional rope climbing with the GRIGRI.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Belaying the second in multi-pitch climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2017-12-22T19:42:36.990" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T19:42:36.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18051" CreationDate="2017-12-22T18:19:51.550" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a Grigri1 and a Grigri+, and I'm used to the Grigri2 too. To me Grigri+ is better. Positives: new materials, improved casing, no sharp edges, anti-panic handle, greater range of ropes can be well controlled by belayers and, last, the new system about belaying top-rope (though useless to me). Negative: the more you go further 9,4 mm the more you experiment difficulty with paying out slack. No problems I find neither with the dimension of the item nor with the absence of the rounded fold on the outer left. I hope my english is good enough. Keep your Grigri+, unless you're in money need. I went from &quot;One&quot; to &quot;Plus&quot;, but I wouldn't do it if I owned a Grigri2. Now I'm pretty satisfied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14688" LastActivityDate="2017-12-22T18:19:51.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18055" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-23T11:00:46.827" Score="6" ViewCount="1852" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just saw this BBC news clip &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-42374522/does-canada-have-the-solution-to-slipping-on-ice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Does Canada have the solution to slipping on ice?&lt;/a&gt; at about 1:20 into the clip (&lt;em&gt;not counting the commercial&lt;/em&gt;) a scientist says &quot;most footwear performs poorly&quot; he also says just looking at the tread of the shoe/boot is not a good guide.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those who can't watch the video.  Canada has an indoor lab with ice floors that can be angled to test traction on both frozen and partially melted ice. There is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ratemytreads.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;related web page&lt;/a&gt; that has ratings for different boots. Neither the news clip nor the web page tells me how to identify good footwear, there is an option to see ratings for tested boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a couple of existing questions about footwear and ice, that mostly talk about how to walk, or what &amp;amp; when to use add on traction devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8974&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the best way to avoid slipping on ice?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14960&quot;&gt;Is it worth getting snow shoe chains/spikes for only a one week trip to a snowy area?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/918&quot;&gt;Are Ice grips worth buying?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choosing boots is complex, and the top rated boot might not fit my foot or maybe it is not available in my area or... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am in the boot store without a rating source for boots, how can I identify which boots will have the best soles for walking on snow and ice (&lt;em&gt;and be safe on hard floors indoors&lt;/em&gt;)?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2017-12-23T21:19:50.180" Title="How to identify good winter boots for walking on ice?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18055" CreationDate="2017-12-23T21:19:50.180" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rocky Mountain Canadian here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to identify good boots for ice is to simply feel the rubber on the soles. The softer and the stickier the rubber on the soles of the boots, the better traction they will provide on ice. Vulcanized natural rubber is the best. The gold standard for winter boots in Western Canada up in the rockies are Sorel Boots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have one pair of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sorelfootwear.ca/en/mens-glacier-xt-boot-1573891.html?cgid=men-boots&amp;amp;dwvar_1573891_variationColor=010#prefn1=activity&amp;amp;prefn2=productShoeType&amp;amp;prefv1=045&amp;amp;prefv2=01&amp;amp;start=0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sorel Glacier Boots&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;(rated to -73°C!)&lt;/em&gt; that I've worn for 21 winters now, and apart from being a bit sun bleached they're still in great shape. Despite the decades that have passed since I bought my boots, the soles on the new boot are still the exact same design.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7LUY0.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7LUY0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeAkc.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeAkc.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, rubber alone isn't going to prevent you from slipping on all types of ice. Some boots will work better than others, but the best ice traction comes from wearing crampons/ice cleats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/yaktrax-pro-walker-15ykxuyktrkprwlkrfbo/15ykxuyktrkprwlkrfbo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yaktrax&lt;/a&gt; that I use when it is especially icy, but I've never worn them on my Glacier boots (although I have worn my charlet mozer glacier walking crampons on them for scrambling up steep icy hills), I usually wear them over my casual shoes. I find they're best for making good time on icy trails because your feet don't slip out behind you as you walk. They're essentially chains for your soles.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5n6zh.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5n6zh.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crampons are the only way to guarantee you'll have traction on ice all the time, but the best way to pick out a good pair of boots with good ice traction is to feel the soles, you want a boot that feels like a good winter tire; sticky, soft, and with a tread that can manipulate a bit by pushing on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2017-12-23T21:19:50.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18057" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-24T23:18:47.733" Score="5" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got my first set of frame touring bindings (I have not toured before, but want to start).  I am using my alpine boots with Tyrolia Aambition (10 and 13 models that are both frame touring bindings).  The toe of my boot wiggles a bit in the bindings.  Is this ok?  Or is there a mistake in the installation?  (with my alpine boots and bindings, the toe is always very solid and fixed...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14691" LastActivityDate="2017-12-24T23:18:47.733" Title="Boot toe wiggles in frame touring binding - is this ok?" Tags="&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18058" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-25T18:40:42.407" Score="4" ViewCount="415" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to carry a daypack that doubles up as a travel bag for a 2-3 day trip, so I don't have to repack my work gear into a travel bag. Last year I found an excellent candidate in the Osprey Radial 34 and did a lot of travel with it. This year I decided to upgrade to the 2016 edition and found it an immense regression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After months of trying to like it (the bag has excellent organisation), I cannot make it feel comfortable on my back no matter how I adjust its straps and the position of my gear within. The bag always feels like its centre of gravity is away from my body. The shoulder straps pull outwards, and need the chest strap buckled to reduce strain on my shoulder blades. Since this is a cycling bag, I've tried cycling with it (road bike, so steep angle of lean forward), and yet it still feels like the weight is away from my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried carrying the same load in cheap bags with no padding and I can manage hours of walking with them. The load is not the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to understand why this bag is so uncomfortable so I know what to avoid in a future bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Radial 34 has a back mesh with an air gap. It's barely a centimetre, significantly less than the pre-2016 edition, but it manages to retain the air gap when I wear it. The bag makes contact on two shoulder blades -- which, coupled with the shoulder straps in front makes it feel like it's prying apart my shoulders -- and on the rounded bottom that goes on the hip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm working on the following theories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The centre of gravity is indeed off, and putting heavy objects close to the back isn't enough to help.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bag is too tall. The M/L size is supposedly right for my 5'10&quot; frame (I don't have torso measurements handy), but maybe I really need the S/M size to take pressure off my shoulder blades.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The elastic cord used in place of the load lifter straps (an unusual design feature of this bag) is the problem and needs to replaced with non-stretching cord.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The metal frame of this bag has the wrong shape and needs to be rounder or flatter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Help me figure this out, fellow backpack enthusiasts. What is wrong with this bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14694" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T15:56:37.913" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T20:58:54.153" Title="What would make my backpack uncomfortable?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18060" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-26T01:30:15.647" Score="1" ViewCount="611" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just got this Weather advisory, and it appears over-dramatic, so would like some feedback if it's actually possible to get frostbite within 30 minutes if it's only around -30-35 Celsius (that's not really &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; cold, just 5-10 degrees less than normal temperature).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON MST TUESDAY... *&#xA;  WHAT... VERY COLD WIND CHILLS EXPECTED. THE COLD WIND CHILLS WILL&#xA;  CAUSE FROSTBITE IN AS LITTLE AS &lt;strong&gt;30 MINUTES&lt;/strong&gt; TO EXPOSED SKIN. EXPECT&#xA;  WIND CHILLS TO RANGE FROM &lt;strong&gt;20 BELOW ZERO TO 30 BELOW ZERO&lt;/strong&gt;. * WHERE...&#xA;  PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. * WHEN... UNTIL NOON&#xA;  MST TUESDAY. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... THE COLDEST WIND CHILLS ARE&#xA;  EXPECTED LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH MID-MORNING TUESDAY.&#xA;  PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT&#xA;  COLD AIR AND THE WIND WILL COMBINE TO CREATE LOW WIND CHILLS. FROST&#xA;  BITE AND HYPOTHERMIA CAN OCCUR IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. MAKE SURE&#xA;  YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I find it simply hard to believe that if I never got frostbite at -25 Celsius, that 5-10 degrees more would be enough to cause it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is -25 some kind of biological threshold or something ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For longer walks(&gt;1 hour), I usually start using gloves&amp;amp;hat below -12-15 and a lambskin fur coat (below -18 C), though front half of face is obviously uncovered.&#xA;But that's the part of body which is 'trained' for cold the most, no ? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't the face's frostbite threshold move further, because that part of skin is frequently exposed to cold ? Or it doesn't really work that way ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Perhaps there's a difference between &quot;1. Real -35 C&quot; and &quot;2. Windchill -35 C&quot; that's making this confusing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not sure if important to this, but there's a larger river right next to our village (hence the &quot;lake effect&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around 3am tonight (at least according to weather.com interpolations) the windchill should be around -30 F, which is about -35 C. I'm gonna stay up and walk my Husky (who, btw, isn't really bothered by these temperatures) then to see for myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would appreciate your input to either of the questions, thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT1: It's 3.30 am, but the -30F is now moved to 9am, so no luck...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT2: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These are my [non-scientific] observational findings/opinions from the&#xA;  experiment of spending 45 minutes at -33 C (-27 F) Windchill at 9.30am&#xA;  yesterday:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The thermal face-slap when walking out of building was strong, but definitely far from the worst ones in past (like that blizzard), which to me confirms you also really need a proper base air temperature (air  was only -15F (-26 C) after all). It did provide a proper &quot;lung bite&quot; though as breathing was a notch more painful&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My current gloves/hat combo cost $15 at a local HW store, so it should be obvious how well it [does not] protect against cold compared to the pro gear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The gloves are, however, very good at gauging the temperature, as the time when my hands get cold inside is , empirically, linear to the temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At -33 C, my hands got really cold inside under 5 minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After 15 minutes I did a bit of exposure - 12 minutes of no gloves and taking picture of the very interesting [NatGeo-worthy] river fog phenomenon. It was pretty painful the whole time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fingers got totally white within few minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After 12 minutes I put on gloves and walked for another 20 minutes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also noticed there's a surprisingly huge difference in perceived cold between walking right on the river bank and walking, say, 10 minutes away from it, between the houses. That [very] local river humidity in the air, that beautifully frosts all the twigs and branches on the trees by the river, makes quite a strong difference at -33 C, though. Much, much stronger than under -25 C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I got back home after 45 minutes, it took about another 15 very painful minutes for my fingers to regain the full dexterity so I could work on computer. Right hand took slightly longer as I got carpal tunnel there (it's also much more sensitive to cold than the left hand)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Face was alright (other than the slight pain) - I was periodically touching it with gloves to check (as per the recommendations I received here below) - like I said, I don't really care if I freeze to death, but sure as hell don't want to walk around face-disfigured (with stage-3 necro chunks of skin)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it turns out after all, that those 5-10 degrees more [base point being at -25 C], are indeed just that : few degrees more and not really a big deal for a short exposure. &#xA;Of course, on a mountain or on a multi-day tent hike, it'd be a whole different story...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Moral of the story&lt;/em&gt; : &lt;strong&gt;Ignore the [triple-facepalm-worthy] bombastic local weather alerts&lt;/strong&gt; filled with overly dramatic TV tone (&quot;OMG ! SNOWMAGEDDON !&quot;) and really - just use common sense. If it's 5-10 degrees more, it really is just 5-10 degrees more, duh !!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14695" LastEditorUserId="14695" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T18:43:26.830" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T18:43:26.830" Title="Can you really get Frostbite within 30 minutes at -35 'C" Tags="&lt;frostbite&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18060" CreationDate="2017-12-26T02:04:03.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. Refer &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.almanac.com/windchill-chart-united-states&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.almanac.com/windchill-chart-united-states&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frostbite is possible in temperatures as warm as 10F in 30 minutes, and easily within 5 minutes at the temperatures you are quoting. It is not entirely down to wind chill, clearly appropriate clothing makes all the difference, include water proofing. In the very cold temperatures, the snow is dry, but if you fell into a river or lake (and got out) at -35C I doubt you would have more than a few minutes, let alone 30, unless you were able to get dry.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal experience - after 4 hours in -5C of exceptionally adverse weather (60-80knot winds, sleety rain and accident requiring removing outer gloves to apply first aid as well as slowing our return to a safe camp), I was as serious risk, I have no doubt I would have lost figures had I ignored the warning signs. I have no reason to doubt the time frames in the above charts.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, plenty of people love frolicking around in -40C and do it nearly every day in winter with no adverse outcomes. It just goes to show that frostbite (and other related issues) are a product of more than temperature alone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note - Where I live, plenty of international tourists ignore our weather advisories and go home in body bags. Apply your knowledge of local conditions and common sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorDisplayName="user5330" LastEditDate="2017-12-26T02:11:15.093" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T02:11:15.093" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18060" CreationDate="2017-12-26T11:28:53.930" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;I find it simply hard to believe that if I never got frostbite at -25 Celsius, that 5-10 degrees more would be enough to cause it&#xA;  Is -25 some kind of biological threshold or something ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't found any reference to such a biological threshold and  I highly doubt there is. Most thresholds are compromises, because in an advisory, you can't state all influencing external (weather) and personal factors. And even if you did, there still wouldn't be some precise magic boundary temperature. So take it for what it is: A warning, not a word-for-word guideline for your behaviour. In mattnz answer he gives a table that already does differentiate a lot more by giving a boundary temperature based on both wind and exposure time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;For longer walks(&gt;1 hour), I usually start using gloves&amp;amp;hat below -12-15 and a lambskin fur coat (below -18 C), though front half of face is obviously uncovered. But that's the part of body which is 'trained' for cold the most, no ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Doesn't the face's frostbite threshold move further, because that part of skin is frequently exposed to cold ? Or it doesn't really work that way ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Perhaps there's a difference between &quot;1. Real -35 C&quot; and &quot;2. Windchill -35 C&quot; that's making this confusing?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very important: &lt;strong&gt;Even reversible stage 1 frost bite makes you more vulnerable for frostbite in the future&lt;/strong&gt; [1,2]. There seems to be a training effect if you expose your skin to the cold without frostbite though [2]. So yes it is possible that your face is trained to take more cold, while if you kept your hands in gloves all the time, the might take less before getting frostbite. However nose and ears are usually the very first places to get frostbite. It is hard to detect by yourself, as feeling is impaired already before frostbite hits in and you can't inspect visibly (I don't assume you carry a mirror ;) ). Otherwise the best measure is to pinch the nose and see whether it regains colour. If it doesn't, you are at serious risk (if not already in frostbite). Get to a warm place and/or try covering it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a non-representational illustration of different training: I wouldn't stay below -25degC in windy conditions without covering my face at all. When skitouring I always cover my face (as in pull down hat and pull up tube scarf) if there is significant wind (and temps usually -20-0degC).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Not sure if important to this, but there's a larger river right next to our village (hence the &quot;lake effect&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This as well as remarks about coats conflate two different (while linked) issue: In these scenarios your main problem is hypothermia. This is a risk factor for frostbite, but you can contrive frostbite without any hypothermia at all. I think further discussion of hypothermia just distracts from the main issue of your question, especially given your very martial comments about nice ways to die ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https://patient.info/doctor/cold-injury#nav-0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://patient.info/doctor/cold-injury#nav-0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7401208_Resistance_Index_of_Frostbite_as_a_predictor_of_cold_injury_in_Arctic_operations&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7401208_Resistance_Index_of_Frostbite_as_a_predictor_of_cold_injury_in_Arctic_operations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-12-26T11:35:48.193" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T11:35:48.193" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14789" CreationDate="2017-12-26T12:46:39.370" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I originally thought a porcupine did this (see my other answer), but after seeing your new photos and a closer look at the original ones I now have a different theory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your tree was first infested by some kind of beetle.  These beetles burrowed in the cambium layer, making the channels.  After the tree was full of lots of yummy fat beetles, a bear came along.  The bear tore off all the bark it could reach to get at the beetles underneath.  What look like horizontal teeth or claw marks are actually the exposed beetle tunnels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look carefully at a section of your original picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rc7cK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rc7cK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note the holes in the piece of remaining bark.  Also note that the &quot;scratch marks&quot; go right up to and possibly under the bark.  That's not easy for something chewing or clawing to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What tipped me off to this possibility was your newly posted picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KghpA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KghpA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is more clearly showing exposed beetle tunnels in what looks to be somewhat rotten wood.  Here you can see the pattern is more random, with no consistent clawing or chewing in any directions.  There are whole flat areas that are missing that don't look like linear features.  The sides of the tunnels are also almost vertical in places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, this picture clearly shows insect damage.  It would have avoided much confusion if you had shown this originally.  A entomologist or maybe a forester familiar with your area can probably tell you what insect did this.  The tunnels made by various insects have species-distinctive characteristics, like the general pattern, size, depth, crossectional shape, shape of entrance holes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T12:46:39.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18064" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18065" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing dealing with groups of people in the Outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T16:49:01.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18060" CreationDate="2017-12-26T21:47:32.910" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that whenever I have to perform fine manipulation that require removing my gloves, in those temperatures (even up to -20 or -15), I feel my hand cool down really fast to the point of hurting within a minutes (seconds if there is wind and it is really cold).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't find it hard to believe that exposed skin can get bad frostbites in 30 minutes. 30 minutes is a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature of your face depends on how much warm blood your body sends there, which depends on how warm you are overall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stay in the wind for a while, monitor the level of feeling in your nose, have someone watch for discoloration if possible, wear a facemask if you need, and remember that when it stops hurting it is already late.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also remember that the difference between -20 and -35 is the same as between 15 (light jacket on a cool spring day) and 0 (snow, most people wear hats, gloves, and thicker jacket if out for more than 10 minutes)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2017-12-26T21:47:32.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2017-12-26T22:18:49.713" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clove oil applied to the bite will help. Boil down a strong solution of cloves. Test it on your skin to make sure it doesn't burn or feel too hot. If it does, boil it for longer until it reduces down. Put it on a wet cloth and place the cloth on the bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clove oil is a minty, slightly camphorous and strong smelling essential oil that repels bugs and also treats bug bites. It is rich in eugenol, an aromatic compound that is analgesic, anti-inflammatory and rich in antioxidants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clove oil can help relieve itching, reduce pain and decrease swelling from all sorts of bug bites including bee stings, wasp stings, ant bites and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.themiracleofessentialoils.com/essential-oils-for-bug-bites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source-Top 10 Essential Oils for Bug Bites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should insects get the best of you, herbal treatments can ease the discomfort. Many commercial bug-bite products contain plant-based counterirritants that stimulate sensory receptors in the skin, creating a sensation of warmth, coolness, or reduced pain. These include camphor, derived from the essential oil of the camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora); menthol, the chief constituent of oil of peppermint (M. ¥ piperita); and oil of clove (Syzygium aromaticum).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/herbs-for-health-battle-of-the-bug?PageId=2%25252523ArticleContent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source-Herbs for Health-Treat Insect Bites and Stings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to stopping itching, clove oil is a great pain killer, which you sometimes need for those bites. It's only one step below Novocaine as a pain killer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12302" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2017-12-29T05:07:36.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18071" CreationDate="2017-12-27T06:48:02.087" Score="7" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a CamelBak backpack for years (a Rim Runner that I bought in 2005), and for Christmas treated myself to a new &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/military/gmi-packs/M01005--MilTac_HAWG?color=bd80dd0d597a486395d6339327546e6e&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MilTac H.A.W.G.&lt;/a&gt; as one of the zips on the old Rim Runner was starting to break and, well, I wanted something new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm very pleased with the backpack, but one old issue persists; the 3l of water just isn't enough on 4+ hour hikes in hot weather (I'm in Australia, so it's summer here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone had any success adding a second hydration reservoir to a pack? Is there typically space in the main reservoir pocket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14700" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2017-12-27T10:23:37.093" LastActivityDate="2018-02-03T08:42:33.690" Title="Adding extra hydration to a CamelBak backpack" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="630" CreationDate="2017-12-27T08:07:06.593" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/753378/camelbak-reservoir-dryer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reservoir dryer&lt;/a&gt; to hang my reservoir open and upside-down, and...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only ever fill with water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Empty and dry every night, even if using it the next day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After about half an hour of drying pinch the bite valve and shake to remove any extra water, and also shake the reservoir with the opening facing down to remove any water that has collected&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack it all away after about a day, or once things look nice and dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been following this approach with the reservoir for the CamelBak I bought in 2005 is still going strong, with no mould or other nasties inside!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14700" LastActivityDate="2017-12-27T08:07:06.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18069" CreationDate="2017-12-27T13:30:47.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the product, I don't quite comprehend why it would seem difficult to add a second reservoir, unless you aren't talking about a second hydration pack itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I trek around in similar conditions (India) as you do, and I typically face this issue, and for that I do the simplest thing I can think of.&#xA;Carry 3 bottles (1L each). When hydration bladder get empty, I refill it with water in the bottles. I plan to upgrade from hard bottles to collapsible water packs which I can place where I find enough volume for it to accommodate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-02-03T08:42:33.690" LastActivityDate="2018-02-03T08:42:33.690" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18072" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-28T06:52:49.263" Score="8" ViewCount="1387" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for recommendations on how I can carry my Canon &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_camera&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bridge camera&lt;/a&gt; while hiking, so that it doesn't get in the way too much &lt;em&gt;but&lt;/em&gt; is easy to get to when I want to take a photo (typically of an interesting bird or animal).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the moment I mostly carry the camera in my backpack, but it tends to get lost amongst everything else and is fiddly to get to (especially in a hurry) so I end up just not losing it. I've tried carrying it on a shoulder strap (not shown below), but then spend my whole time getting it tangled in my backpack shoulder straps or worrying about knocking it on a tree branch or rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some more details about the gear I have...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Backpack&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Camelbak &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/packs/M01005--MilTac_HAWG?color=bd80dd0d597a486395d6339327546e6e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MilTec H.A.W.G.&lt;/a&gt; Has two large sections, compression straps on the sides and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOLLE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MOLLE&lt;/a&gt; panel to which extra things can be attached. You can buy MOLLE camera pouches, but the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hazard4.com/forward-observer.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ones I've found&lt;/a&gt; are all DSLR-sized, so too large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VwKG9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VwKG9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Backpack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Camera&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Canon &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/powershot-sx50-hs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PowerShot SX50 HS&lt;/a&gt;. Nothing special, but has a great zoom on it. It's &lt;strong&gt;smaller than a DSLR, but larger than a compact&lt;/strong&gt;, at about 12cm (4.7&quot;) wide and deep and 9cm (3.5&quot;) tall. It's an awkward shape, to say the least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b8PCK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b8PCK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Camera 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HhuMo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HhuMo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Camera 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VkcBp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VkcBp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Camera 3&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Camera case&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Lowepro &lt;a href=&quot;https://store.lowepro.com/apex-110-aw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Apex 110 AW&lt;/a&gt;. Cheap, bought in a panic. Has a belt loop on the back, handle on the top, and eyelets for a shoulder strap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UocXS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UocXS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Camera case&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any hints or tips will be welcomed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14700" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:35:26.873" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T12:42:41.280" Title="Carrying a bridge camera while hiking with a backpack" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;dslr&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2017-12-28T07:20:36.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've gone backpacking many times with a proper DSLR, I found it easy to manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a crumpler bag, which form factor wise is similar to yours. I put the shoulder strap over my shoulder, with the camera bag in front of me. I set the strap length so it kinda hangs right below my sternum. I then put my backpack on, over the camera bag strap. Any top loading camera bag should work. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.crumpler.com/au/5-million-dollar-home/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is my specific bag&lt;/a&gt;, but there is little unique to it, there are a gazillion similar products that could be used the same way I use mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I need the camera I take it out, and put it away when I don't need it, with access right in front of me. I almost never put the camera strap around my neck, but do sometimes wrap it around my wrist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this setup I can easily switch lenses too, even while on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a little time consuming getting saddled up with everything, but not enough to be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2017-12-28T07:20:36.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18074" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18077" CreationDate="2017-12-28T13:31:25.830" Score="10" ViewCount="2424" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a current trend to carry babies in a pack on your front (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_transport&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia does not show it&lt;/a&gt; but Google images has lots of hits 'front baby carrier')&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hiking with a backpack, is including a frontpack (with a baby or just gear) a practice you should consider?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the considerations for combining a frontpack with a backpack while hiking? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T01:51:42.470" Title="Combining a Frontpack with a Backpack while hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2017-12-28T13:34:09.583" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike a lot with a camera.  Put the camera around your neck and one shoulder after putting on the backpack.  If the camera is just around your neck, as it would be in a more pure photographic situation, then it bounces around too much when hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting on the camera &lt;i&gt;after&lt;/i&gt; that backpack is important.  That way it is not tangled in the backpack straps, and it is easy to take the shoulder out of the loop when using the camera.  It does mean you have to take the camera off to take off the backpack.  That doesn't seem as big a deal to me because I tend to use the camera more than needing to get at something in the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the camera around the neck and one shoulder, it lies against your side and is much less bouncy.  You'll probably need to fiddle with the strap length until you get the camera to hang flat against your side in the right place.  You also need to position it forward/backward in the right place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I position it a little to the front from straight side.  That way my arm can still swing on that side, but the camera isn't so far forward that it dangles around too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm right-handed, so hang the camera around my neck and left shoulder when walking.  It's then very easy to grab the camera with my right hand and bring it up to my eye, while simultaneously sliding my left arm &quot;out of the loop&quot;.  It sounds a lot more complicated than it is.  In fact, I've gotten used to the motion to the point where I now automatically rotate the camera on/off switch to on with my right hand at the same time.  It becomes automatic after you do it a few times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of camera can make quite a difference to the comfort.  When I changed from a Nikon F3-T film camera to a Nikon D3s, I was worried how much less comfortable the considerably heavier D3s would feel.  To my surprise, it is actually more comfortable.  That is because the area and height of the back of the D3s is larger.  It therefore lies flatter against my side.  The same weight lens doesn't pivot it down as much, keeping the bottom back edge of the camera from digging into my side as much.  The extra heaviness doesn't feel like much compared to even a day pack with a water bottle, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2017-12-28T13:34:09.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18074" CreationDate="2017-12-28T16:35:46.870" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have hauled a backpack and a baby in a front carrier, while also walking two dogs. I wouldn't &quot;recommend&quot; it to anyone, however, I will continue doing it, because it is my only practical option. I have a Bjorn brand carrier, so other baby carriers might be easier to deal with, but I'm doubtful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a serious hassle to get set up. You have to put the baby carrier on, with the backpack on over that. You also have to put the baby in the carrier before you can put the backpack on. Other brands might be doable to put the baby in second, but in my carrier, there are these little clips that clip the front panel to the harness, that are covered by the backpack straps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is surprisingly challenging to clip in the backpack waist buckles with little baby feet hanging in the way, and you can't see what you're doing because there is a baby head blocking your view. You also have to be careful slinging the backpack over your shoulders, because the little one probably won't appreciate you flinging your upper body about to swing the backpack around, nor do you want to bonk his noggin with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are hauling gear instead of a baby, apart from a camera I can't think of anything you'd want out in front of you instead of in the backpack. Obviously with gear you can be more forceful getting saddled up, but if you have a bunch of gear, just get a bigger backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use the front carrier because our baby is only 5 months old, and he doesn't have the neck strength to even be facing outwards in the carrier. The moment he's old enough and strong enough to ride in a backpack carrier, that's where he is going to go. Of course, probably shortly after that happens there will be another baby and then I'll be hauling two of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; When I am out and about with this setup, I am typically running errands, going to the grocery store, etc. My alternative would be to go to the store in one trip, and walk the dogs in a different trip. When I get to the store, I have to take the backpack off to load it up, and put it back one with my stuff. So despite saying it's a &quot;serious hassle&quot;, it's not so much of a hassle that I make two trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2017-12-28T16:46:03.457" LastActivityDate="2017-12-28T16:46:03.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18074" CreationDate="2017-12-29T09:13:15.890" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All conventional backpacks are unbalanced&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the problem with conventional backpacks - they are inherently unbalanced. So once you are carrying any kind of non-trivial weight, you have to lean forwards to counterbalance the additional weight on your back. This throws out your natural walking posture, causing fatigue and discomfort. It's simply a law of physics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nakzs.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nakzs.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Well designed front pockets can solve this issue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a small New Zealand company called Aarn that has been working with a respected ergonomics lab to offer an alternative. By adding pockets to the front using an integrated suspension system, you can counterbalance the load and regain a balanced and natural walking posture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the forces at play, as measured in the lab:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6KXaL.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6KXaL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here's a practical illustration of the difference this makes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLQbF.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BLQbF.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell you from personal experience that the benefits over a long day are striking - less fatigue, complete freedom from pain in the back and shoulders, and significantly improved agility and balance. You also enjoy easy access to your gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside is increased complexity - it takes effort and experimentation to get the system dialed-in and it's a bit more hassle to get your pack on and off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what makes for an effective frontpack design?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are obvious challenges to designing a frontpack system: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to ensure good visibility for the feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to provide adequate ventilation for the chest and accommodate the female anatomy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to transfer the weight off the shoulders and down to the hip-belt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most frontpacks on the market don't do a great job with this. Here's the Zpacks offering, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WLrR7.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WLrR7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It obscures your view of your feet, sits directly on your chest, and hangs off the shoulder-straps, increasing the weight on your shoulders and spine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But Aarn has pretty much solved these issues with his framed front pockets that offer good visibility and air-circulation, and transfer the weight directly to the hip belt:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lhw5w.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lhw5w.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6n1td.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6n1td.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He also offers pockets that will integrate with a conventional child-carrier to make life a little more bearable (pun intended):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qrLYl.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qrLYl.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm very interested in backpack design and am currently building my own version of the Aarn bodypack. I've searched extensively for innovations in the field, and the frontpack concept is the only approach with the potential to revolutionise the load-carrying experience. But doing it ad-hoc is unlikely to work well for you - the elements need to be carefully designed to work together as a system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T15:33:55.903" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T15:33:55.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18080" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-29T20:41:01.297" Score="3" ViewCount="1222" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_touring&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alpine touring&lt;/a&gt; and skiing in general. As such I (stupidly?) bought some beginners (cheap) alpine ski boots. They don't seem to have a lot of flex in them, even when they are in &quot;hike&quot; mode (with the little tabs at the back flipped up).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that some people recommend not doing the main (top) boot strap up at all when touring and only doing it up for skiing downhill. However, these boots are a little uncomfortable anyways and rub a little in the heal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering, what's the best way to make alpine boots comfortable while touring on AT skis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastActivityDate="2017-12-29T21:25:06.343" Title="Most comfortable way to adjust boots while in tour mode on AT skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18080" CreationDate="2017-12-29T21:25:06.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Correct but unsatisfying answer: There is no boiler-plate configuration, you just need to try it out yourself. Even with proper AT boots, there is no single correct way - some people tighten more, some less uphill depending both on boots and personal taste. Nevertheless here are some pointers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally if you do tighten buckles uphill, do so as little as possible to get the desired effect - it is better for blood flow and thus preventing cold feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upper buckles need not be tightened. For proper working AT boots it can be beneficial to tighten them moderately to reduce movement of the shin against the boot. For stiff alpine boots loosening those will help a lot by increasing forward flexibility. Again, there is no right way and just as a little illustration a not entirely uncommon problem when doing lots of ski touring are irritated to openly bleeding shins. A friend swears on shaving this area to prevent it :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ankle/lower buckles need to be tight enough that you don't have significant movement at your heels. If you heels move up and down while walking, chances of blisters are high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall alpine boots are ok for trying out ski touring, if you actually get into it, there is no way around getting dedicated ski touring boots. In my opinion it is the most important piece of gear, vastly underrated compared to the skis. It is worth searching for a pair that fits your feet well and thermoform the liners (and even secondarily the shell if necessary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2017-12-29T21:25:06.343" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17620" CreationDate="2017-12-29T21:27:19.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[I] would love to begin climbing some more challenging mountains, i.e.&#xA;  mountains that require actual climbing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It comes down to this: your long term goals!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gaining experience on actual rock will help you greatly (since you want to climb mountains with rocks). Managing hazards and risks, placing gear, leading a run-out, and route finding (no colored plastic holds outside!) are all things that you can only really learn by doing the actual climbing (outside, on rocks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However! Strength is something every climber needs. Strong fingers, strong core and strong mind are all attributes that you can develop while climbing indoors (the latter being a little more difficult to develop). These are things that will help you literally climb the rock with your hands and feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I learned outdoors - but I'm in the gross minority nowadays. Nothing wrong with starting indoors and then climbing outdoors at every possible opportunity (for the tan, of course). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think climbing outdoors teaches you more about yourself (even spiritually) and is more rewarding. When you get off work at 5 and it's dark and raining out though, the climbing gym is just about your only option...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I say, it all comes down to your long term goals and since you say that you want to climb mountains - climbing outside will serve your experience level while climbing indoors (and outdoors) will up your strength (making you more confident on those long run outs!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of all, have fun (indoors or outdoors)! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastActivityDate="2017-12-29T21:27:19.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2017-12-30T02:08:22.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.etsy.com/listing/528104427/rider-strap-combo-camera-strap?ref=shop_home_active_3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this strap&lt;/a&gt; for biking: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QnIuY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QnIuY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a crossbody strap with a stabilizer that keeps the camera securely on your back while biking. It's perfect for mirrorless or compact cameras, but could hold a DSLR. It works for skateboarding, hiking, and I imagine it's great for climbing when you want to keep the camera out of the way with both hands free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14708" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2017-12-30T22:57:44.023" LastActivityDate="2017-12-30T22:57:44.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18085" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2017-12-30T15:50:36.440" Score="5" ViewCount="1774" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to alpine touring skiing, and I'd like to purchase some new (more comfortable) AT boots. I currently have frame-style bindings on my AT skis. I'd like an &quot;upgrade path&quot;. Can I purchase and use tech-style boots in my current ski bindings and then (one day) buy new tech bindings and use the same boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, will I have to get new tech bindings at the same time I purchase new tech-style (&quot;Dynafit&quot;) touring boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2568" LastEditorUserId="2568" LastEditDate="2017-12-31T01:12:43.090" LastActivityDate="2017-12-31T01:12:43.090" Title="Are &quot;Dynafit&quot;/tech ski boots compatible with frame-style touring bindings?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18085" CreationDate="2017-12-30T19:55:07.467" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is tech binding compatible boots will work fine with non-tech AT bindings in the vast majority of circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more involved answer is (as always for safety gear) to check the specific manufacturer recommendations for a specific boot/binding combination. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.evo.com/guides/how-to-buy-alpine-touring-ski-boots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is a quote&lt;/a&gt; to support that: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;MOST AT boots and alpine boots will work with MOST frame AT bindings (Marker, Salomon/Atomic, Tyrolia, Fritschi), but be sure to check the manufacturer’s recommendations. Boots with minimalist soles like the Dynafit TLT5, TLT6 and TLT7, Atomic Backland series, La Sportiva Stratos/Syborg, Arc'teryx Procline and Scarpa Alien series boots are compatible only with tech bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While most alpine boots will work with most frame AT bindings &lt;strong&gt;don't use your AT boots in your alpine bindings&lt;/strong&gt;. The rubber on the sole of the AT boot may cause your alpine binding to release at a higher and/or inconsistent DIN value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2017-12-30T20:06:01.860" LastActivityDate="2017-12-30T20:06:01.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18087" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18088" CreationDate="2017-12-31T13:17:02.187" Score="5" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some products like 'Icy Hot' contain a substance called 'Camphor' that can make your skin feel warm when applied.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is cold out today (1&amp;deg;F or -17&amp;deg;C). I have been making short trips out to shovel snow.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I use a product that contains camphor before I go out, or as soon as I come in, will it help keep or rewarm body parts? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T20:24:55.327" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T20:24:55.327" Title="Using Camphor (Icy Hot) in the winter for warmth" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18087" CreationDate="2017-12-31T18:10:21.997" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;While a shot of liquor or an applications of camphor may make you feel warmer, neither is actually providing heat. They are chemically stimulating nerve endings and &quot;tricking&quot; your body into &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dilating the peripheral blood vessels&lt;/a&gt;. This makes your extremities feel warmer, but it also means that you are cooling your core faster than you would without the liquor or camphor. If you are popping in and out of a warm house to shovel snow, this is probably harmless. If you are out in the cold, away from shelter for a longer period of time, then it's probably pointless, and perhaps even ill-advised. You should just be wearing suitable clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you'll also find that applying camphor to already cold hands will be ineffective. If your hands are seriously cold, their surface circulation is probably already shut down. That means the camphor will just sit on your skin without being absorbed, until the circulation in your hands is restored by warming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2018-01-01T02:12:05.133" LastActivityDate="2018-01-01T02:12:05.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18090" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-01T11:37:14.860" Score="5" ViewCount="1331" Body="&lt;p&gt;A now-deleted answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18087/&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; suggested using chemical heating pads in sleeping bags at night to provide added warmth.  The product suggested is the 'Thermacare ... Fe-loaded material' I looked and it seems to use a chemical reaction to create heat over a period of about 8 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ThermaCare® technology combines iron, oxygen, water and salt in single-use HeatWraps to produce real heat. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermacare.com/how-thermacare-works&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Do not wear while sleeping&quot; is one of the instructions on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=1807&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official product usage label&lt;/a&gt; from the manufacturer. But, as long as it is just in the sleeping bag with me and not stuck to my skin it should be fine, right? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T01:40:24.660" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:36:01.340" Title="What are the considerations for using chemical heat pads in sleeping bags?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18090" CreationDate="2018-01-01T12:24:32.483" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is true that the instructions say not to sleep with the Thermacare on you. Most electrical hot pads have the same warning. For some people, particularly those with compromised circulation, the heat directly on the skin can, indeed, result in a burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a warming device in your sleeping bag, the product does not need to be directly on your skin. It could be over a layer or layers of clothes. It could be wrapped in a poly jacket. It could be shoved down at the bottom of your bag. It still pumps out heat inside the larger insulating envelope of your bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, before doing so, you probably should use one, on your skin, during the day to see how you, personally, respond to the output. I, for one, have no issues wearing one directly on my skin, and have done so many times when my back has been acting up. Once assured of daytime use, you can try it inside the bag, but off your skin. I am now confident of my personal response, and wear it right in my back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two things to consider further. One, I normally sleep on my sides, not my back, so I don’t have the product sandwiched with my body weight between me and my bag/pad. Second, I’m usually at 8000 feet or higher elevation, so the reaction rate may be lower given the reduced atmospheric pressure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:36:01.340" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:36:01.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2018-01-02T13:25:36.763" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I almost never leave my DSLR behind, when hiking, biking or climbing I use both a camera sling and a small (as possible) camera bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bag fits just my camera with attached lens, some spare batteries and one or two circular filters.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have the sling attached to the side of the body of the camera instead of the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both straps are padded and allow for some comfort, when the camera is in the bag I simply leave the sling attached.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This allows me to unzip the bag and take out the camera without any risk of it falling.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I found it best to have the bag carrying the weight of the camera when it's inside and leave the sling a bit longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rDbeW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rDbeW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Small camera bag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q69s7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q69s7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Camera sling&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T13:25:36.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4114" CreationDate="2018-01-02T14:24:40.883" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Early this year I crewed on a yacht that was crossing the Atlantic and all of the crew were doing this for the first time. For our leg from Lanzarote to St Lucia we had 1,000 liters of fresh water in the tanks and this with careful use would last for 30 days for a crew of five. So from a practical experience I can answer some of the questions based on our 26 days and nights at sea, living with just the bare minimum of fresh water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all brushed our teeth twice a day with toothpaste and salt water. This is very common practice and I've done this a few times for extended periods. I found that my teeth and gums were clean and healthy and it's something I look forward to when traveling on or near the sea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We washed our hands after the toilet use using saltwater from the foot pump tap. &#xA;Our dishes were washed with sea water every day. This includes the coffee cafetiere which was not rinsed with fresh water and we noticed no real difference in taste. We did have to use more washing up liquid than you would do in fresh water but this is normal in sea water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Washing ourselves was another issue altogether. We had to strip down to our underpants and put on a safety harness and climb over the rail to the platform on the back of the yacht just above the water. Yes the yacht was moving at approx. 7 knots and there was not much room, but just enough to stand up. We would throw a bucket into the sea and wet ourselves and then apply soap and rinse off. It was not an easy process and you did feel very exposed as the yacht was always moving. A slip over even with a harness attached would cause an injury. We would then take time out to dry naturally in the breeze and sunshine. We tried all the soaps on board and even a bit of detergent. Liquid shampoo worked the best as it would rinse off well and not leave a residue. The down side was that we had to use a plastic container. We tried really hard to minimise our plastic and shred and compressed it. After 26 days we had the amount of plastic in the picture below for our crew of five.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lW4Ox.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lW4Ox.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;26 days of plastic rubbish&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We did not wash our clothes and just lived with them being dirty and sweaty. A clean set of clothes was a real treat but only lasted a few hours and then they were just like the rest of your clothes and the rest of crew. Our risk was actually drying them without them accidentally going overboard and the reality of getting them back was zero. There was also the risk that drying clothes would get in the way of the normal running of the boat, with a greater potential of initiating unnecessary problems. So for us it was that if clothing went overboard we would not alter our course. We washed our clothes after we made land. We did this by hand and rinsing does use quite a bit of fresh water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for pollution, well, the fact that you are using soap in the sea means that your bodily dirt is being attached to the soap lather and is entering the sea. It is a sad reality that if you want to be clean your dirt has to enter the water system, be that fresh or seawater. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be clean you will have to spend money to generate a lather and you will pollute. If you are going to wash in seawater I would check the ingredients, and ideally for there to be nothing that you are not personally happy to put into our seas or oceans. Unfortunately they have to use the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nomenclature_of_Cosmetic_Ingredients&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Nomencature of Cosmetic Ingredients&lt;/a&gt; naming system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal bar soap does not lather and what is left on your skin is hard to rinse off. This is because the seawater has approx. 3.5% Salt or NaCl and most bar soaps convert the fats and oils to soap using a lye solution that is made from water and Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chemistry of soap&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So chemically soap for seawater needs to be made using Potassium Hydroxide in the Lye but this is more expensive than the Sodium Hydroxide. Liquid soaps are made with a Lye that has a high content of Potassium Hydroxide and they will work in sea water. The main issue here is that they are all in plastic containers and they can easily slip overboard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for a bar soap that works in seawater you need to go no further than looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.driftwoodshaper.com/soap&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website&lt;/a&gt;. Their bar soap is specially designed to work in seawater. It has a high Potassium Hydroxide content and is packaged in cardboard, so no plastic, even in the packaging glue. It has a high Glycerin content with the bare minimum of ingredients so what you are leaving behind is minimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14716" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:35:39.470" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:35:39.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18096" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18097" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" Score="0" Body="Questions about ski-bindings" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" LastActivityDate="2018-01-02T19:30:28.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18098" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-02T21:58:40.223" Score="2" ViewCount="1996" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a Canada goose stuck frozen on Ramapo Lake in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/ramapo.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ramapo Mountain State Forest&lt;/a&gt; near Oakland, New Jersey. I was told that it had been dead for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can a goose freeze to the ice and get stuck? What explanation is there for how a goose could die in the middle of a frozen lake?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14719" LastEditorUserId="9985" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T06:06:03.773" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T06:06:03.773" Title="Dead Canada goose stuck frozen to top of lake" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18098" CreationDate="2018-01-03T01:46:19.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most likely cause of death would be a &lt;strong&gt;crash landing&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When geese come in for a landing after a long flight they are exhausted and look for lakes or ponds to land on because they can glide in onto the water and come to an easy stop without much effort. For geese to land on solid ground they have to slow their speed significantly and flap a bunch before touching down or they can seriously hurt themselves. One ice geese will tend to ski out the landings a bit because they know the ice is slippery, but they still slow themselves down quite a bit before touching down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be hard for geese sometimes to distinguish between a nice soft liquid lake, and frozen ice depending on the clarity of the ice when it freezes. Geese are not unaccustomed to landing on ice, but when they do they typically slow down more than they would when landing on water and ski out the landing. Tired geese are known to have rough landings every once and a while, even on water, but if they have one flying in on a frozen lake expecting it to be water, and land hard, it can sometimes result in injury, leading to death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the same reason why you'll occasionally find dead geese on football fields that have blue artificial turf. They mistake the turf for a lake and come in for a rough landing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the most likely reason your goose is dead could be a crash landing, resulting in an injury that prevented the goose from escaping the freezing cold, which led to the goose's eventual death by exposure and freezing to the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-01-05T21:13:19.930" LastActivityDate="2018-01-05T21:13:19.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18100" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18101" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" Score="0" Body="Questions about game trails (trails created by animals)" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:03.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18102" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18103" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" Score="0" Body="Questions about chipmunks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:14.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18104" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18105" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" Score="0" Body="Questions about opossums" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:25.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18106" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18107" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" Score="0" Body="Questions about turkeys" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:36.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18108" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18109" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to India" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:47.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18110" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18111" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" Score="0" Body="Questions about tortoises" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:40:57.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18112" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18113" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" Score="0" Body="Questions about turtles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:41:08.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18114" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18115" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" Score="0" Body="Questions about coyotes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T04:41:18.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18116" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18120" CreationDate="2018-01-03T06:50:59.520" Score="11" ViewCount="23423" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a number of old gas canisters commonly used in camp stoves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have been around for over 5 years and have rusted - that is to say their condition is questionable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are all 80% butane, 20% propane (my single burner camp stove claims it can take butane only)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some are half full, others are completely full&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked the local council but even after ringing other departments all they could tell me is that they should not go into my regular/recycling bin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked the local dump, but they told me that they must be empty first. They also said that there are places where you can empty gas cylinders (for BBQs, etc) but didn't know any place that could/would empty camp stove canisters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked a couple outdoor shops (BCF, etc), but the only suggestion I got was to manually release the gas myself. My concern is that releasing 4-5 full canisters of gas into my back yard would be too dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you safely dispose of these old and rusty camp stove gas canisters? I am in Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WIEuI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WIEuI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11611" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T19:48:25.470" LastActivityDate="2018-01-05T22:33:38.070" Title="How do you safely and legally dispose of old, damaged/unsafe camp stove gas canisters that are still full?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18117" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-03T08:28:06.897" Score="5" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any good software to manage GPS tracks and POI efficiently that you would recommend? My dream would be an offline computer based (macOS and Windows) software, with a modern GUI, which allows a multi-level structure as Base Camp does, with meta-data search and the ability to display offline (OSM, GMAP as a wish, it is probably proprietary) and online maps (OSM). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am currently using Garmin Base Camp and MyMaps in Google Maps for sharing routes and POI with other persons. Both lacks of some key functions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Base Camp: No batch export of tracks with the file structure, no good meta data search, no integration of online maps (Apple Plan, Google Maps...), ergonomics and GUI from another century&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;MyMaps: Online only (export as KML possible, sync with Google Earth App is not working well, and the ergonomics in Google Earth is terrible), only one level of hierarchy, import of track in a separate layer (not possible to import a track in the active layer). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What software (computer based, no App for smartphone or tablet) for managing GPS tracks fulfill these criteria? And if there are multiple, what are their respective (dis-)advantages?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-01-03T10:25:01.080" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T10:25:01.080" Title="GPS data management software" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15108" CreationDate="2018-01-03T11:45:51.093" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having camped in France for the last 5 years and have been returning the same place, Camping Municpal at Cap-de-l'Homy, I suggest you have a look at the Office National des Forets (ONF) Camping Charter, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.onf.fr/activites_nature/sommaire/sortir_en_foret/campings-en-foret/@@index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.onf.fr/activites_nature/sommaire/sortir_en_foret/campings-en-foret/@@index.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have eleven campsites with web links to the individual campsite web pages. This charter commits the campsites in a quality ecotourism approach that favors camping in all its forms for holidays closer to nature. &#xA;They are likely to have similar rules in that you can't drive your car after 10 pm and before 7 am but if you do need to leave outside this time them you park in a special area. It is quiet from 7pm to 10pm and from 10pm to 7am it is absolute quiet. I have found that these rules are strictly applied and enforced and noisy people are asked to leave. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also the municipal campsites that are run by the local town. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.camping-municipal.org/ardeche-camping-municipal.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.camping-municipal.org/ardeche-camping-municipal.htm&lt;/a&gt;. They generally don't have the &quot;Theme Park&quot; type camping as they want people to visit the town and explore their area. Outside of the July and August holiday there is little need to book and it is more of a turn up, determine which available plot is great for you and then let them know how many nights you want to stay. Even the very popular Camping Municpal at Cap-de-l'Homy in August, there are plots for people who just chance it and it is best to do this when they open up in the morning.&#xA;I'm not too sure if this approach will suit you but it is the approach the French have to camping and their systems are built around this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found too that even miles away from busy towns and only speaking a little French that they help you out as much as possible. Don't forget the local Toursit Office for Free wifi as they all seem to have it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campsites signatories of the camping charter commit themselves to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preserve the camping spirit&#xA;Offer a quality of life and environment&#xA;Keep the forest character of the campsite&#xA;Develop places to welcome people with reduced mobility&#xA;Propose animations and activities of full nature&#xA;Ensure the safety of all&#xA;Promote renewable energies and mild means of transport&#xA;Practice a respectful management of the environment&#xA;Promote local heritage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14716" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T11:45:51.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18116" CreationDate="2018-01-03T12:21:01.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There must be some kind of &quot;free list&quot; or &quot;sell list&quot; where you can give away stuff in your area.  Maybe you can find someone that has a stove that is compatible with these things.  Perhaps the local outdoor store can help, although they see these free canisters as offsetting sales of new ones.  A outdoor club would be a good place to ask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's probably not a good idea to take them backpacking due to their condition, but maybe the person with the compatible stove can use the stove in his back yard for some types of cooking, or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That way the propane and butane, and the energy it took to refine them, aren't completely wasted.  The use of these canisters should, in theory, offset other energy use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T12:21:01.703" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18116" CreationDate="2018-01-03T13:34:32.500" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are correct that using or any attempt to empty damaged or rusty containers has a significant potential for personal injury or death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is the US redneck answer, it may not be appropriate in your (&lt;em&gt;or any&lt;/em&gt;) area.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use them for target practice with a long range rifle.  Place the containers down range on the ground, return to the shooting line and when all is clear, shoot them with the rifle.  They will empty quickly. The empty containers can then be disposed of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternate: Contact the local gun club and offer the full containers for target practice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safe choice:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contact your local fire department, they should understand the risk these canisters pose and not make the suggestion to manually release the gas yourself.  They should either know of a safe disposal location, or may be interested in using them for training.  Fire departments often have live fire events, and may be able to burn these in controlled and educational manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T02:47:52.420" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T02:47:52.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18116" CreationDate="2018-01-03T15:47:59.443" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some of the National Parks in the United States there is actually a program to recycle the containers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Propane Bottle Recycler (PBR), a mobile propane cylinder recycling unit, is now being utilized to recycle an estimated 20,000, small, one-pound propane cylinders discarded in the greater Yellowstone area each year. &lt;strong&gt;The recycling function of this unit is twofold —the PBR is powered by propane that is extracted from the canisters and recycled; the canisters are then flattened to be recycled into steel.&lt;/strong&gt; . As a result of the success of this unit, other national and state parks, as well as Canadian parks have instituted this program. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.propanebottlerecycler.org/what-we-do/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;According to Verne, the new machine can remove residual propane from cylinders used for camp stoves, barbecue grills and lanterns and process it in just one minute. The old machine required more than 30 minutes for one cylinder. The new vehicle also is more efficient since it only requires one person to operate, and the new design built atop a trailer allows Yellowstone to recycle the scrap metal from the cylinders while storing any remaining propane for use in park equipment like mowers and forklifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/new-machine-recycles-camping-propane-cylinders-for-yellowstone-grand-teton/article_e0825348-3df8-53b5-be5e-a7d487720b91.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe there would be something similar in Australia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-01-03T15:47:59.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18122" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18326" CreationDate="2018-01-03T20:35:18.190" Score="5" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most big game species in the United States there is a minimum legal caliber where in order for a cartridge to be used for hunting it has to be of a certain size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For all big and trophy game species, legal firearms also include any cartridge of at least .35 caliber and at least 1.5 inches in overall length, or a cartridge that generally delivers 500 foot-pounds of impact at 100 yards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.huntwyo.com/blog/new-weapon-regulations-for-hunting-in-wyoming/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is to make sure that people are using cartridges that are big enough to get a clean kill and not just wound the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the minimum caliber determined?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T12:50:07.640" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T01:11:07.933" Title="How are minimum legal calibers for hunting decided?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18116" CreationDate="2018-01-03T22:07:23.410" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Putting my comment into an answer - I don't think you need to over think it, they are nothing special. Propellant for most aerosols is Butane, these have an odor added, so are no different than a can of air freshener and could be used as one if you like the smell of gas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the amount of butane in each can is not that much, I would put them into a cooker (outside), use a detergent spray to check for leaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If there is no leak&lt;/strong&gt;, light it and let the gas burn.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;If there is a leak&lt;/strong&gt;, I would leave the cooker outside in a safe, open space (away from combustibles) and let the gas run out without lighting it, you may want to open the valve on low and leave it overnight. Ideally do this on a day with a bit of breeze to disperse the gas (mainly for the smell). As gas is heavier than air, I would sit the cooker up high on a table top, and make sure there are no open pits close by (e.g. swimming pools etc.) for the heavy gas to accumulate in. Some might suggest keeping smokers away while doing this - however I am normally non-interventionist, and believe in letting nature take its course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T07:03:05.873" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T07:03:05.873" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2018-01-04T09:42:24.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am using a DSLR camera (Pentax KS-2, which is environmental sealed, as well as the Pentax lenses) for hiking, mountaineering, ski touring, rock climbing and mountain biking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camera bag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last winter, I used a camera bag from Hama (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hama.com/00121879/hama-odessa-camera-bag-110-colt-black-grey?bySearch=Etuis%2520Colts%2520pour%2520appareil%2520photo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hama Odessa 110 Colt&lt;/a&gt;) that I wear on a shoulder underneath the back pack, so I can remove my back pack easily. In order to avoid movement of the camera bag when I move, I attach it to the back pack belt. This is very convenient and protect the camera well. The only drawback is that it requires a lot of operations until the camera is out of the bag (open the zip, pull out the camera, shoot, put the camera back, close the zip). Especially with gloves, the opening of the zip is slow. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0Kq1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n0Kq1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoulder holding mechanism&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried this summer a shoulder holding mechanism that is fixed on the back pack shoulder strap. I have a product from Peak Design (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.peakdesign.com/capture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Capture&lt;/a&gt;). It is much quicker and more convenient that the bag, but the camera is less protected. I prefer it to the bag for every sports, it is less bulky and gives more movement freedom. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XZn26.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XZn26.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see however from my experience two main drawbacks to the holder: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The camera is unprotected: I scratched the body several time while rock climbing (nothing serious, I close the screen), and it is open to rain and snow (this is one of the reason why I have chosen a Pentax camera, with weather sealed bodies and lenses)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can lead to serious shoulder injuries when crashing, especially on a mountain bike and eventually when skiing. This is the reason, why I only carry the camera on the holder when walking up with the ski (I then put it on the bag for the descent) and for light cross country bike tours (no park, enduro or alpine tour) for these two sports. For hiking, climbing, mountaineering, I do not see the injury risk as critical. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go hiking: The best (handling and comfort) solution is the shoulder locking mechanism. If it starts raining, put the camera in a plastic bag in your back pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last hint for outdoor photography, that helps for both the bag and the shoulder carrier: Put a filter (clear sky or UV, both are pretty neutral) on the lens. You avoid to always put and remove the lens protector. The filter is easy to clean, and can be exchanged for a couple of bucks. This increase the lens life and the handling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="2312" LastEditDate="2018-01-04T13:58:44.803" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T13:58:44.803" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2018-01-04T15:38:45.423" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a proper backpack for a DSLR.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I literally carry my DSLR backpack everywhere. It's basically my man-purse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The model I have has a camera pocket on the side, which I can access quickly by dropping one shoulder strap and opening the zipper pocket. I've had the same bag for about 8 years now. The only time I don't carry my DSLR hiking bag is when I need a bigger bag for overnight trips, or when I'm going on a climb or hike where I decide I don't want to bring my DSLR (I've smashed cameras before while rock climbing, and sometimes prefer to enjoy the activity more through my own eyes than the eye of a camera).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9qOOO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9qOOO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T15:38:45.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17522" CreationDate="2018-01-04T19:31:37.900" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that air-pressure explanation too.  There might be some truth to it, but it sounds rather complicated to be a sound explanation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, the real reason birds fly in a V-formation is because the &quot;leader&quot; is either front-right or front-left in their field of vision.  This is due to the location of their eyes on their heads:  they are on the sides, rather than in front like we humans.  A bird sees most easily what is either left or right of its head, not what is directly in front of its head.  Example, watch a  robin cock its head to the right or to the left when it spies a worm in the grass.  The &quot;lead&quot; bird is in front, and the bird(s) behind it are looking at the leader and it is either on its right or left side and somewhat to the front.  This is a simpler explanation than the air pressure differentials.  Occam's razor.  Apply this concept to a flock of birds and you'll get a natural V-formation, even multiple V-formations within the same flock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans might be displaying a cognitive bias when they expect the birds to fly in a straight line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14654" LastActivityDate="2018-01-04T19:31:37.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18098" CreationDate="2018-01-05T19:23:13.620" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I didn't find exact number but the population seems to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/canada-goose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;more then 2 million birds&lt;/a&gt;  with a life expectancy of 10 to 24 year that gives an average life span of 17 years or 6,205 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 million birds divided by 6,205 days = 322 birds dying each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not at all surprising that there is a dead Canadian goose on lake, in fact there are hundreds of new ones every day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-01-05T19:23:13.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18116" CreationDate="2018-01-05T22:33:38.070" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will not have any problems with propane or butane being released in your yard, unless there are sparks or a heat source near by, or if there are low areas leading into a house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would manually release the gas, one can a day - and don't burn the gas.  In this manner, the gas will naturally dissipate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue for you then becomes what to do with the spent canisters; and for that you'd have to defer to local code.  Some will require you show evidence of physical destruction (eg, crushed or with a hole in it).  For this, you could flatten them with a car.  You use a vice, but this leads to a potential for a spark setting off residue gas, you really don't want that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, I would not ignite the gas in a stove.  If you're questioning how to get rid of them, their suitability for consumption is in doubt.  Just release the gas and you'll be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, the gas you have is not poisonous if you responsibly release the gas.  Propane is an asphyxiant, and it will deplete oxygen in your blood if you do not get to fresh air.  The butane in the canister is not enough to be a problem for you if you just dissipate the canister, even if the canister is in your hand.  Just aim it away from you and you'll be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-01-05T22:33:38.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2018-01-07T00:57:03.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your looking for a club you and your child could participate in together then maybe checkout Spiral Scouts International. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spiralscouts.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.spiralscouts.org/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA; It is for kids aged 3-18 years old, co-ed. They are not religious, there are badges you can earn that are about religion but they are completely optional. Spiral Scouts strongly encourage the child's family to participate, and in their badge work they cover camping and outdoor skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14732" LastActivityDate="2018-01-07T00:57:03.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18131" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" LastActivityDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18132" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" Score="0" Body="Questions about geese" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" LastActivityDate="2018-01-07T03:19:13.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18166" CreationDate="2018-01-07T06:37:43.733" Score="5" ViewCount="1072" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 10k mm waterproof jacket from Quiksilver and I was wondering if there is any supposed way I should wash it properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know about Nikwax tech wash and have a bottle of it, but how much should I use of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I need to prepare or clean the washing machine before (from other detergents and residue) and what setting should I put it on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do i need to use 1k spin centrifuge? What sensitivity should I pick, a more harsh like cotton or something more easier like wool? Should I dry hang?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14734" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T12:35:38.647" Title="How to properly wash a snowboard/ski tech jacket?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18134" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-07T11:59:57.730" Score="3" ViewCount="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just purchased a 6' light action Shakespeare Ugly Stik GX2 spinning rod and a 3000 size Penn Pursuit 2 reel. I also have some 8lb test mono line. I live near Miami Beach, Florida and will be fishing Saltwater/freshwater from piers and over canals/rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have any idea about the types of fish that are down here and so I am not really sure what kind of tackle I should use. What hook sizes are best and in general what kind of tackle should I be using? I am not really going for any particular type of fish, just trying to have fun. If someone knows about fish down here and could give me tips on that it would be great too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T01:31:19.470" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T01:31:19.470" Title="Tackle needed for basic fishing in Miami?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13262" CreationDate="2018-01-07T17:41:18.520" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ajuqG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ajuqG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xo62b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xo62b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably way to late for OP. But last year I drove over the marked road on a motorbike. It is extremely secluded and for some parts I met only 2-4 people per hour. There is a bunch of big hydrodams in the middle, so the roads are pretty good. Its also pretty high up (the road runs over and along a mountain ridge), so a little bit cooler. Amazing nature, absolutely no tourists, no humans at all part of the time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up sleeping one night in the wild (just north of Veal Veaeng). I left the main road and went in 30 meters on an old abandoned logging road. Couldn't be seen from the road (so safe from robbers) and the only sound was the wildlife and a nearby stream. Had I been better prepared I probably would have stayed a few nights on the mountains and done some exploring and trekking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But pack water and gas, there aren't a lot of stores around if you run out. And do not drive during the rainy season, I did mid may and the roads near Veal Veaeng were almost destroyed already. As far as I know there are no hostels or things until you hit Veal Veaeng (there should be a homestay there), so leave very early in the morning if you don't want to camp or stay in Veal Veaeng. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14735" LastEditorUserId="14735" LastEditDate="2018-01-07T17:51:47.870" LastActivityDate="2018-01-07T17:51:47.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18136" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18137" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" Score="0" Body="Questions about fishing rods" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T01:31:28.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4454" CreationDate="2018-01-08T05:48:17.637" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used old tents to make re usable shopping bags. The netting also makes great produce bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14737" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T05:48:17.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14505" CreationDate="2018-01-08T15:12:01.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tried to research your question, but could find no information - credible or otherwise - which would suggest a deliberate behavior.  So, my answer is just a guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, Canada geese feed by dipping their head under water to feed on vegetation.  As others said, this action can create enough surface movement as to prevent the water from freezing.  But my observations of local Canada geese say otherwise: we're experiencing temps in the single-digits over the last several weeks, and the geese are happily playing (?) on the ice of a normally slow-moving river.  So wherever they're getting their food from is anyone's guess - but it's definitely not from underneath the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're seeing the geese in cold weather, then you're seeing the urban-adaptive nonmigrating Canada geese, and, that means, they've found ways to adapt by eating and nesting in ways that are different than their migratory brethren.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to answer your question, I would say &quot;they could - but only for more warmer cold climates, and not at all for very cold climates&quot;.  To suggest &quot;they would&quot; suggests an instinctive action on their part, and I haven't seen any information to support this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned it is a local park pond.  If the pond is artificially fed via a pipe below, that could be the reason that the water moves above and does not freeze over.  It could also be that the pond feeds the pipe for local use.  In this case, artificially moving the water using bubble machines could be in use (like that used on the sides of boats that are moored in fresh water to prevent freezing along side it).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thought on why there would be a hole in the ice (which I realize is not what you asked) is, maybe there is runoff from local streets?  This would add salt to the water, if your area does salting in the winter.  This could create a salinity in the water that is both agreeable to the Canada goose, as well as make that part of the water less able to freeze.  When that saline water is diluted as it mixes with the fresher water away from that entry point, that water can freeze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/living/canada_geese.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Living with Wildlife - Canada Geese&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somewhat unrelated to your question, I found that the name of the bird is actually &quot;Canada goose&quot; (branta canadensis), and use of &quot;Canadian goose&quot; suggests its citizenship!  LOL  The link here gives examples and counter examples of other species' names, and shows why language (especially English), in my opinion, is a stupid form of communication...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/04/canada-goose.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada (or Canadian?) geese&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T15:12:01.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4454" CreationDate="2018-01-08T15:23:21.457" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use it for shade at the beach?  Cut off a side so you have something to sit under for shade or to protect yourself from the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T15:23:21.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17405" CreationDate="2018-01-08T19:10:25.183" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found solution. There is adapter for kids. It's possible to use this adapter with usual skis.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jdrsx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jdrsx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the link with more description:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camp-usa.com/product/brands/contour-skins/contour-startup-ski-touring-adapter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.camp-usa.com/product/brands/contour-skins/contour-startup-ski-touring-adapter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And here is a video on youtube how the adapter works: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Exg3U56ZQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Exg3U56ZQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-01-08T19:10:25.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18151" CreationDate="2018-01-09T01:48:01.720" Score="12" ViewCount="7932" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering what is the best way to progress from being a consistent V4 and on-sight/&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6661/what-do-the-climbing-terms-redpoint-pinkpoint-flash-and-onsight-mean&quot;&gt;redpoint&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4674/please-explain-rock-climbing-grades&quot;&gt;5.11 climber&lt;/a&gt;? I seem to have hit a plateau in my progression and it is super frustrating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indoors, I &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6661/what-do-the-climbing-terms-redpoint-pinkpoint-flash-and-onsight-mean&quot;&gt;flash&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6007/8794&quot;&gt;V4 range climbs&lt;/a&gt; but then work and work &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6007/8794&quot;&gt;V5&lt;/a&gt; and get one every few goes. I am focusing more on bouldering at the moment, so any tips or training schemes would be beneficial!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T01:06:13.023" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T01:06:13.023" Title="How to progress in rock climbing after grades v4 / 5.11+?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18146" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-09T02:40:48.783" Score="10" ViewCount="14396" Body="&lt;p&gt;The author of a question on our site referred to a certain type of goose as a Canadian goose. Some people thought that the correct name is Canada goose, rather than Canadian.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia refers to them as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada Goose&lt;/a&gt; but will redirect from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_goose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canadian Goose&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always heard them referred to as Canadian Geese. Which is the correct term?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-26T01:32:04.303" LastActivityDate="2020-01-17T08:22:42.520" Title="Is the correct term Canada Goose or Canadian Goose?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18147" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18149" CreationDate="2018-01-09T02:52:14.877" Score="7" ViewCount="716" Body="&lt;p&gt;This article says that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.self.com/story/running-shoes-too-old&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Running shoes only last about a year&lt;/a&gt; regardless of mileage. Is there a similar time frame for climbing shoes? I searched the internet and it seems that most climbers wear through their shoes' soles well before they might age out, but it also seems that every climber who responds to such questions climbs 2-3 times a week or more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9518" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T02:08:35.410" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T18:04:53.077" Title="Do climbing shoes wear out from age alone?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18147" CreationDate="2018-01-09T03:15:06.973" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They won't wear out from age alone. It seems like the big sticking point to the author of the article was that the foam loses its padding over time,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a general rule, he tells customers who are casual runners they can go about a year (even if you don’t rack up 300 to 500 miles in that time, &lt;strong&gt;the foam still loses its oomph).&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.self.com/story/running-shoes-too-old&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That really doesn't apply to climbing shoes, especially since you can get your climbing shoes resoled once the rubber wears out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on how hard and how often you climb, for a professional rock climber with sponsorships doing hard routes in Yosemite, it would probably be worth it to replace shoes fairly often, but probably not for most people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have done almost all of my climbing in shoes that were 20+ years old, and while new shoes would probably be better, I haven't bothered to spend the money when the old ones work just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T03:15:06.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18147" CreationDate="2018-01-09T07:27:14.897" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing shoes don't wear out from age alone (in any realistic time frame that is).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the rubber in the soles do age (probably because it &quot;dries&quot; and oxidizes over time) which affects the shoes performance negatively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can fresh up old but not worn out soles with sand paper or a steel brush to get some of the original stickiness back. And of course you can always resole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good fit and sticky rubber is what makes a good allround climbing shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T07:27:14.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-09T07:51:01.453" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In British English there's no doubt. Sources including the prestigious Royal Society for the Protection of Birds use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/canada-goose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Canada Goose&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  every time (often abbreviated to &lt;em&gt;Canada&lt;/em&gt; in the field) . But bird names in common use do vary internationally (e.g. &lt;em&gt;Diver&lt;/em&gt; vs. &lt;em&gt;Loon&lt;/em&gt;), so I make no statement as to use west of the Atlantic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone mentioned a &lt;em&gt;Canadian goose&lt;/em&gt;, that wouldn't actually tell us the species. Using &lt;em&gt;Canadian&lt;/em&gt; to refer to a goose would only make sense in an sentence like &quot;That ringed Barnacle is &lt;em&gt;Canadian&lt;/em&gt;, I've looked up the rings online&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T00:28:52.423" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T00:28:52.423" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18145" CreationDate="2018-01-09T08:37:14.150" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before embarking on specifics, a word of advice: &lt;em&gt;learn to love plateaus&lt;/em&gt;. When beginning climbing, we make drastic improvements seemingly every time we go out. As we improve, gains become more and more difficult. There will still be jumps in ability, but they will become more and more sporadic. Learn to love climbing for the movement and adventure, for the striving towards mastery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that being said, here are the things that I would focus on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're particularly unfit, you generally don't need to focus too much on climbing specific fitness at this stage. That being said, core exercises and gentle hangboarding would generally be beneficial at around the stage it sounds like you're at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take an honest assessment of your abilities--what are your strengths and weaknesses? You say you regularly flash V4...does that include V4 in every possible style? Overhanging pinches / smeary slabs / dynamic problems / .... ? Indoors and outdoors, on plastic / granite / sandstone / limestone / ...? &lt;strong&gt;Train your weaknesses&lt;/strong&gt;. Actively seek them out---look for your &quot;vegetable problems&quot; that you know you should really work on, not just your &quot;dessert problems&quot; that you can flash to show off. Try climbing in styles that challenge your habits: intentionally use uncomfortably high or low feet, climb as slowly and statically as possible, climb as fast and dynamic as you can, ...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Intentional practice. So you just flashed a V4. Congratulations! Now what? You can never climb that problem ever again and have your ego adequately inflated, or you can critically analyze your performance---was it a &quot;lucky&quot; send that was super-shaky and seconds away from falling the entire time? Did you climb it &lt;em&gt;perfectly&lt;/em&gt;? Try climbing that problem 5 more times (with rest in between), striving to make each attempt better. Hone in on the tiniest micro-beta, key in to precisely what body positions make the problem work. A professional musician doesn't play through a piece of music once and then try to perform it in concert; a professional golfer spends hours upon hours at a driving range polishing their swing. Similarly, strive for &lt;em&gt;mastery&lt;/em&gt;, not just &quot;sending.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get honest critical feedback. While this could be as formal as finding a coach, try starting with seeking out stronger climbers (or even comparably skilled climbers) and asking them to watch you climb a problem and then critique your movement. Similarly, try recording yourself climbing and looking at the video afterwards---you can often spot better ways to move and eliminate inefficiencies when you aren't in the middle of trying to perform these movements. Think of it like a professional athlete reviewing every play on the game tape. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps especially pertinent: &lt;em&gt;try harder problems&lt;/em&gt;. One very, very loose rule of thumb is that for sport climbing, your redpoint/project grade should generally be about a number grade harder than your onsight grade. For example, if you are onsighting 11b, you should be redpointing 12b. If you're flashing V4, you should be redpointing V6. As the adage goes, &quot;If you aren't falling, you aren't trying.&quot; If you &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpfIEes3lnw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;watch&lt;/a&gt; almost any &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZENFrgOPuOI#t=04m54s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbing&lt;/a&gt; video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PP1AK1Aqis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ever&lt;/a&gt;, it will invariably show the hero climber falling. Over. And over. And over. &lt;em&gt;Hard problems are hard&lt;/em&gt; and we learn by falling slightly later each time. &#xA;Try seeking out a short (&amp;lt;5 moves) sequence that feels severely difficult, but not impossible. Practice just this sequence for 20 minutes. If you manage to do the sequence in this amount of time, &lt;em&gt;it was too easy&lt;/em&gt; and you need to set higher goals. Come back to this exact same sequence each week for a month. The goal with this drill is to learn what your limits really are and what climbing with true, maximal, 100%, hold-my-hernia-while-I-try-this intensity. See this clip on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhVXa1i_73E&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Limit Bouldering&lt;/a&gt; by Power Company Climbing for tips on this drill. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T08:37:14.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-09T11:32:17.207" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;, the name is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Canada Goose&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The big, black-necked Canada Goose with its signature white chinstrap&#xA;  mark is a familiar and widespread bird of fields and parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of them are not even Canadian, having emigrated permanently south to the lower-48.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thousands of “honkers” migrate north and south each year, filling the&#xA;  sky with long V-formations. But as lawns have proliferated, more and&#xA;  more of these grassland-adapted birds are staying put in urban and&#xA;  suburban areas year-round, where some people regard them as pests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, nothing is ever simple.  The Latin name is Branta Canadensis, which, &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; I remember my long ago Latin correctly, is Goose of Canada, or Canadian Goose.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, according to Cornell:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although&#xA;  only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as&#xA;  you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest&#xA;  forms are now considered a different species: the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cackling Goose&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article consistently calls them the Canada Goose, and never once Canadian Geese.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&amp;amp;avibaseid=B59E18633E2EFD25&amp;amp;sec=summary&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Avibase, the World Bird Database&lt;/a&gt;, is an excellent source for all the subspecies of the Canada Goose. It has a taxonomic breakdown of the entire Branta species group. Following the links leads to specific information about each variety.  It also lists synonyms in virtually every well-known language. Everything is cross-referenced and linked to the various ornithologists from which the information originates. (Note that even some of the geese specifically native to Canada, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&amp;amp;avibaseid=A8DED8A8&amp;amp;sec=summary&amp;amp;ssver=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vancouver Goose&lt;/a&gt;, are still called Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This 10-page document from 1951, published by the &lt;a href=&quot;http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/3908/N1537.pdf?sequence=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Museaum of Natural History in the City of New York&lt;/a&gt; is a study of the taxonomy of Canada Geese with a lot of interesting scientific information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, people with PhDs in ornithology call them the Canada Goose. But what do people without PhDs call them? One example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.nordstrom.com/c/canada-goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nordstrom's&lt;/a&gt; sells an outerwear brand called &lt;em&gt;Canada Goose&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://languagehat.com/canadian-geese/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Languagehat.com&lt;/a&gt; claims, without offering proof:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The vast majority of English speaking people call the goose that is&#xA;  large and has a black head -— Branta Canadensis -— a Canadian Goose.&#xA;  However, its original name was a CANADA Goose.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the data from &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Canada+goose%2CCanadian+goose%2C+Canada+geese%2C+Canadian+geese&amp;amp;year_start=1800&amp;amp;year_end=2000&amp;amp;corpus=4&amp;amp;smoothing=3&amp;amp;share=&amp;amp;direct_url=t1%3B%2CCanada%20goose%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CCanadian%20goose%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CCanada%20geese%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CCanadian%20geese%3B%2Cc0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;N-grams&lt;/a&gt; contradicts Languagehat.  Canada goose is more frequently cited, according to N-grams than Canadian goose, and always has been.  The data for Canadian geese is more complex, with Canadian geese dominating ca 1840, and currently on the upswing. &lt;strong&gt;According to N-grams, Canada goose dominates over Canadian goose and Canada geese dominates over Canadian geese.&lt;/strong&gt;   Thanks to @Alan Munn for the N-grams link.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion, from these and other references on Google:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canada Goose is prescriptively correct. However, &quot;west of the Atlantic&quot; is a big area, with many local terms and dialects and filled with people who do not care what PhDs in ornithology or English say.  &lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; enough of them eventually say &lt;em&gt;Canadian Goose&lt;/em&gt;, then that might become a &quot;correct&quot; term too.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For TGO, I recommend we stay with the terminology of Cornell, the Audubon Society, all the other ornithological experts, and Nordstrom's, and follow N-grams and say&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Canada Goose&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Footnote:  There is also the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/01/11/trump-administration-is-taking-steps-to-remove-a-threatened-lynx-from-the-endangered-species-list/?utm_term=.9948c69516c3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada Lynx&lt;/a&gt;, which currently is doing fairly well in the U.S., although that might change. (There is a gorgeous pic in the link.)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T22:50:35.340" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T22:50:35.340" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-09T12:25:32.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only truly correct term is &lt;i&gt;Branta canadensis&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, for everyday English, the quote from the suggested edit is completely correct.  The colloquial term is &quot;Canada goose&quot;.  There is a lot of sloppiness with this term in common usage.  Most people will understand what you mean if you say &quot;Canadian goose&quot;, especially from context, but it's not really right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is interesting to note that around here (New England), we have a whole population of Canada geese that are not Canadian geese.  Originally before human intervention, the species bred in Canada, then migrated south during winter.  Canada geese in the eastern US were decimated by hunting for their goose down.  Then in the early 1900s, some geese from the plains were introduced here.  They breed here and stay resident all year round without migrating to Canada in the summer.  Meanwhile, the original population rebounded after hunting was restricted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we have Canada geese that are not Canadian because they spend their whole lives here.  We also have Canadian Canada geese that largely fly overhead on their way between their summer breeding grounds in Canada and their winter homes in the mid-Atlantic area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T12:05:26.237" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T12:05:26.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18145" CreationDate="2018-01-09T15:05:30.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good tip I've used a couple of times, do that V5 project your stuck on and get someone to video you doing it. Watch it back, you'll be surprised what you see. Often what you think your doing and what your actually doing are two very different things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;V4 is pretty good (I don't boulder a lot these days and focus more on route climbing) I've been climbing for 10 years and I don't do much above this myself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who I know who climb harder than this often do for one very good reason, &lt;strong&gt;they just climb more often&lt;/strong&gt; than me. I'm busy I only climb once a week, people who climb better grades than me generally go 2-3 (or more) times a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T15:05:30.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18156" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-09T15:11:40.013" Score="0" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone &quot;flashes&quot; a climb what does this mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T15:34:17.680" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T16:07:42.890" Title="In rock climbing what does the term &quot;Flash&quot; mean?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2018-01-09T16:14:14.810" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-09T16:56:40.970" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For branta canadensis, it is &quot;Canada Goose&quot;.  As I suggested in my previous answer to a related question of yours, language is a stupid form of communication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reputable sources in this link say it is &quot;Canada goose&quot; and give several examples of similarly named animals (or plants) that do and do not fit the nomenclature:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canada rice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canada thistle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canada violet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;American crow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cuban parakeet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jamaican lizard cuckoo&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;California condor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arizona woodpecker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Louisiana waterthrush&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;American robin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2015/04/canada-goose.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canada (or Canadian?) geese&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T16:56:40.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18159" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18160" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" Score="0" Body="Questions about owls" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" LastActivityDate="2018-01-09T17:18:03.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-09T22:43:44.063" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you are in the world and if your referring to them scientifically or not makes a big difference. But in the US some refer to them as Canadian Geese.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14744" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-01-17T08:22:42.520" LastActivityDate="2020-01-17T08:22:42.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18147" CreationDate="2018-01-10T02:04:13.777" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rubber oxidizes. The term (in time) that your rubber oxidizes at cannot be said because of certain conditions, but I can name a few tips to help prevent that from happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid heat, UV exposure, oxygen, and pressure. Of course, these cannot be completely avoided as you rock climb or do anything with your shoes, but being conscious of how you store your shoes makes a big difference over a long term. I have also heard of people seran wrapping their shoes over the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, I've noticed my shoes' rubber get stiffer after 3 months of no use. But it also depends on the shoe and if the rubber is meant to be stiffer or softer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastEditorUserId="13732" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T18:04:53.077" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T18:04:53.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18164" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18165" CreationDate="2018-01-10T07:00:41.453" Score="5" ViewCount="9255" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some modern firearms can come with either round or octagonal barrels, such as the 45-70 Marlin Guide vs the 45-70 Marlin Cowboy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the advantages of one over the other be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T15:31:01.163" LastActivityDate="2020-07-10T15:11:54.693" Title="What are the advantages/disadvantages of octagonal barrels?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18164" CreationDate="2018-01-10T07:00:41.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A octagonal barrel has several &lt;strong&gt;advantages&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They look really cool and historic. The historical reason they were made that way is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Practically all are barrels are now turned to a round circumference or shape, concentric with the bore. Our old gunsmith makers of muzzle loading rifles almost invariably make their barrels octagonal, or eight sided in shape, &lt;strong&gt;most likely because none of them had a modern lathe with which they could turn them truly round, and they found it easier to make the barrel uniform by forging or grinding it into an octagon.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JX7IOY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Small Arms Design and Ballistics; Volume I by  Colonel Townsend Whelen&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quote sent by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://centerofthewest.org/research/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buffalo Bill Cody Center of the West&lt;/a&gt; after I emailed and asked if they knew why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There really is no clear cut answer but the &lt;strong&gt;general consensus is that before the popularity of lathes it was easier to file flats than make a round barrel for cost and time saving.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Email from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.henryusa.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Henry Repeating Arms&lt;/a&gt; in response to my question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The flat surface will help one keep the barrel straight and not slanted when aiming&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An octagon barrel has but one advantage-- &lt;strong&gt;it calls attention to any canting or sideways tilting of the barrel when in the act of aiming&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JX7IOY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Small Arms Design and Ballistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They can be slightly heavier/thicker than a round barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don't know that there is an actual &quot;advantage&quot; of an octagon over a round barrel other than usually they are &lt;strong&gt;slightly heavier/thicker than a round barrel.&lt;/strong&gt;  Octagons are usually installed on firearms to &lt;strong&gt;obtain a classic look.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Email from &lt;a href=&quot;http://mcgowenbarrel.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;McGowen Precision Barrels&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;disadvantages&lt;/strong&gt; include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unequal expansion when in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;and it may have a disadvantage in that it &lt;strong&gt;may not expand equally when it heats up from firing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JX7IOY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Small Arms Design and Ballistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cost more (at least in 1945).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many think that an octagon barrel present a &lt;strong&gt;great deal of beauty&lt;/strong&gt;, and it is doubtful if the disadvantages  would be at all apparent in a heavy barrel, but the &lt;strong&gt;cost of making such a barrel today is rather excessive.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000JX7IOY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Small Arms Design and Ballistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-10T17:17:24.357" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T17:17:24.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18133" CreationDate="2018-01-10T12:35:38.647" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;So that appears to be made of &quot;Dry Flight 10K&quot; whatever that is... o_O I can't find any washing instructions for this...whatever it is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reading between the lines a little I'm guessing it's breathable in which case I'd follow the below instructions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thoroughly clean your washing machine and remove residues (I alwasy&#xA;run a rinse though first)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wash with a non-detergent cleaner like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NikWax tech wash&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Jacket should have &lt;strong&gt;labels telling you what temperature,Spin cycle, etc.&lt;/strong&gt; to wash on, see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.textileaffairs.com/lguide.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;key of symbols&lt;/a&gt; wash it following these instructions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While its wet re-proof it using a water proofing agent (I prefer spray on ones as I find they work better, something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/nikwax-tx-direct-spray-on-300ml-E9714007.html?channable=e15806.MjQzMzdfMTgw&amp;amp;colour=180&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAkNfSBRCSARIsAL-u3X8ihsTyo_D0KaB2toXEmtgrFk12NoU0-AC8SQmCNgrrfQ7C7vtjuh8aAmIUEALw_wcB&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NikWax Tx Direct&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can tumble dry your coat, check the label again:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nbOom.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nbOom.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;..do so. Tumble drying will aid the proofer attaching to the coat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can't tumble dry it line dry as usual&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-01-10T12:35:38.647" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18168" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-10T16:16:46.957" Score="4" ViewCount="1795" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to purchase a ski jacket. I want it to be warm in the temperature range of -5ºC to -13ºC and have decent impermeability characteristics.&#xA;I am female, my height is 163cm, my weight is 52kg. I have presently found two jackets that I am interested in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hellyhansen.com/en_ca/w-freedom-jacket-65576&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helly Hansen Freedom&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.salomon.com/int/product/icerocket-jkt-w.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salomon Ice-rocket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am stuck between both of these, because I can not find the temperature/insulation range characteristics for the warmth layers&lt;/strong&gt;. Both have 20K mm of impermeability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Helly Hansen has 60g/m2 of Primaloft Black ECO layer insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Salomon 100g/m2 of Advanced Skin Warm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please advise, if anyone knows the &lt;strong&gt;difference between these two insulation layers &quot;Primaloft vs Advanced Skin&quot;.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Which jacket will suit better for the temperature range I require, of -5ºC to -13ºC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14746" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-16T22:50:30.590" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T08:58:32.793" Title="Primaloft vs Advanced Skin Warm" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18169" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20507" CreationDate="2018-01-10T18:07:34.777" Score="11" ViewCount="8002" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 50-liter backpack which I used very little and that afterwards was kept stored for more than 10 years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today I noticed that some parts inside, I think the waterproof coating, has become sticky. This is apparently a common problem (read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backpacking.net/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&amp;amp;Number=91650&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.edcforums.com/threads/sticky-tacky-cordura.99046/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) due to the breaking down of the urethane coating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What one can do to remove the stickiness? From what I've read, one should avoid machine washing, and some people solved the problem by rubbing the inside with talc powder. Are there any other solutions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: similar question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16500/what-is-this-brown-dust-powder-inside-my-old-pack&quot;&gt;What is this brown dust/powder inside my old pack?&lt;/a&gt; However, in my case the coating looks perfect and is not delaminating; it's just sticky at the touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14748" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:32:40.277" LastActivityDate="2020-09-20T07:25:58.153" Title="Inside waterproof coating of backpack has become sticky" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-11T15:39:51.220" Score="4" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping to find a spot that gets snow in March, where the temperature doesn't get above freezing during the day.  I'd like to avoid the AM ice/PM slush conditions that occur in many places in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to find an interactive map of skiing resorts in North American that combines these features:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;includes current snow depth (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.weather.gov/nerfc/snow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.weather.gov/nerfc/snow&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;snowfall forecasts based on historical data that can be selected by a date range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;low and high temperatures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;includes all North American skiing resorts (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onthesnow.com/united-states/map.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.onthesnow.com/united-states/map.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;based on google maps or openstreetmap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of disparate sources, but I've not seen a unified source.  Is there one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14755" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:32:46.907" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:32:46.907" Title="Is there an interactive map of skiing resorts with snow forecasts?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2018-02-17T09:11:05.163" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18146" CreationDate="2018-01-11T15:54:33.940" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;eBird, which is for recording species lists created by the Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology uses &quot;Canada Goose&quot;. But, it should also be noted (as others have already done so) that the common name for a bird in one place is not something others may use elsewhere. That is why scientists use the Latin names as Olin pointed out. By using the Latin name, everyone knows what everyone else is talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an page from eBird that shows this use of common names around the world. You can set your eBird list of common names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://help.ebird.org/customer/en/portal/articles/1596582-common-name-translations-in-ebird?b_id=1928&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Name Translations in eBird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example of how common names differ around the world is by looking at North American raptor names and European raptor names. Europeans use the term &quot;buzzard&quot; to describe some species of hawks while North American species of vultures are sometimes referred to as &quot;buzzards&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should also be noted that common names change. There was once a sparrow hawk  in North America. This name waws even used in the guidebooks. But, now they are referred to as the American Kestrel. So, common names should not be taken as being written in stone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even scientific names will change as DNA studies become more common. Here is a recent article about that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/news/here-are-biggest-changes-aou-checklist-north-american-birds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here Are the Biggest Changes to the AOU Checklist of North American Birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14756" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T20:59:10.510" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T20:59:10.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18169" CreationDate="2018-01-11T16:02:13.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had this problem with a favorite fanny pack (L.L. Bean) a few years ago. I turned the pack inside out and used a stiff brush on it to get it all out. I even tried a wire brush for tough spots. But, you have to be careful not to damage the pack itself. As a result, I now try to find/buy packs that don't have this coating. There are some with a plastic liner. Or, I get an unlined pack and use zip-lock bags or plastic containers. Using the bags and containers actually keeps things more organized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14756" LastActivityDate="2018-01-11T16:02:13.880" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18145" CreationDate="2018-01-11T21:19:26.383" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The existing answers are very good, but I have some tips that were not emphasized enough:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Train with friends. You need to be very mature to be able to visualize and correct your own problems by creating movements that feel hard for you. Forget about that. Exploit the fact that people are different, and thus have different preferences. You might be very good at crimps and terrible at pinches, so you'll definitely profit from bouldering with someone that's better at pinches than you. Don't count on correcting your own mistakes by opening problems with pinches intentionally, because psychology says you'll try exactly the ones you feel less difficulty on. If your gym has a MoonBoard, go after all V4s you find, and focus on the ones you can't flash. Doing this with a friend is always more fun, too!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boulder extensively. At this stage, focus in increasing your onsight bouldering grade. Instead of going for a V6, send four or five V4s and one V5. After one or two months doing this, send three V4s and two V5s, and move on to warming up on one or two V4s and sending three or four V5s. At this point, move to V6s. I think focusing on bouldering is the best possible way to understand your weaknesses and strengths. If you're used to sending V5s, then you should be able to execute &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; move in a 5.12a/b route. I'm not saying you'll send it, but you'll definitely do all moves separately. You can try to send the route afterwards to see what happens: did you fall out of exhaustion? Incorporate resistance training into your training. Did you get scared? Fall more and try to change your mindset. Bouldering frequently assures you that failing because of movement complexity will rarely happen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Train your head. When I was about to sent my first 5.12, my mindset really bothered me. It was a barrier I had created for myself, and that I thought I had to break. Nowadays I see how fit I was for that grade - in fact, after sending my first 5.12, I sent five others in two months, all of them within two or three tries... But the first one took me two months, trying it once a week. My mindset was wrong: 5.12 is nothing more than a harder 5.11. This is valid for all grades. There are no plateaus. There are no barriers. If you feel stuck at a grade, this will definitely corrupt your mindset and make you think there's something that needs to fundamentally change for you to be able to send that grade, but most of the time, there isn't. If you regularly send V6/7 you should be able to send &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; grade up to 5.13- &lt;em&gt;or&lt;/em&gt; understand that you didn't fall on that route because something mysterious was missing. Perhaps you needed a little bit more stamina, and that's all. Everything else is fabricated by that little demon that says that &quot;you're still not ready for this grade&quot;. Ignore him. Don't let him enter your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2018-01-11T21:19:26.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18177" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18178" CreationDate="2018-01-11T22:39:56.017" Score="7" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been told that the best time to look for deer antler sheds is during February or March when there is some snow on the ground so it is easy to spot the antlers. I do not have a dog, so I cannot train one to find them. I plan on trying my best to find them come this February, but any tips to maximize my efforts would be great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When is a good time to go shed hunting in South-Eastern Wisconsin (can generalize if that is too specific)? What are some tips to maximize the efforts of shed hunting? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14337" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T00:40:14.050" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:33:25.130" Title="When is a good time to go hunting for deer antler sheds?" Tags="&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18177" CreationDate="2018-01-11T23:01:09.153" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want to go after they have dropped their antlers and before the grass has really started growing again in the Spring since that will hide the sheds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they shed can vary depending on the area and the year,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One thing we do know is that after the rut, a buck’s testosterone levels begin to decrease, and when they drop to a certain level, antlers are shed. Since antlers shed at different times in certain areas and in certain years, something causes the testosterone levels to vary from area to area and winter to winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/when-do-deer-drop-their-antlers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good places to look are usually wherever the deer are known to hangout during the time that they are losing their antlers. That includes places where deer go to scrape the velvet off their horns when the horns are growing, like aspen groves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow will help, as long as the antlers are on top and not buried, at the same time sheds will eventually become bleached and then blend into the snow, while sticking out like a sore thumb in areas with dead/brown grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also a case where the early bird gets the worm, since other people will be looking for them, and animals will chew the sheds for the minerals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:33:25.130" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:33:25.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18179" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18180" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the sea or oceans" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:55:01.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18181" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18182" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" Score="0" Body="Questions about dealing with ice" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T05:59:22.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18183" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18184" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" Score="0" Body="Questions about rescuing someone in the Outdoors. Do note that self-rescues have their own tag" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:00:19.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18185" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18186" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" Score="0" Body="Questions about bivouacs or camping with bivy sacks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:01:40.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18187" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18188" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" Score="0" Body="Questions about nutrition in the Outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:02:13.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18189" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18190" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" Score="0" Body="Questions about travelling, especially long distance or by airplane to the Outdoor site" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:04:40.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18191" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18192" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" Score="0" Body="Questions about railways" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:04:52.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18193" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18194" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" Score="0" Body="Questions about paddling, i.e. the use of paddles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:06:53.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18195" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18196" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" Score="0" Body="Questions about time, such as telling it without a watch" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:07:24.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18197" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18198" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" Score="0" Body="Questions about minimalist shoes" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:10:32.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18199" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18200" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" Score="0" Body="All questions using this tag have been closed" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:10:50.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18201" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18202" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" Score="0" Body="Questions about climbing in winter" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:11:56.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18203" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18204" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" Score="0" Body="Questions about insulation or the insulating properties of gear" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:12:54.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18205" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18206" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" Score="0" Body="Questions about bivy sacks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:19.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18207" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18208" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" Score="0" Body="Questions about bear bangers" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:30.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18209" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18210" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" Score="0" Body="Questions about radios" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:28:48.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18211" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18212" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" Score="0" Body="Questions about bowline knots" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:29:06.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18213" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18214" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" Score="0" Body="Questions about whistles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T06:31:08.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18216" CreationDate="2018-01-12T08:08:51.070" Score="6" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been bouldering in rock climbing gyms for a while and am able to send V2~V3s. I've never bouldered outdoors before and I wonder what are the differences, and are there any outdoor specific techniques that I should focus practicing on? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the easiest way to find out is just go out and climb but the problem is the closest outdoor bouldering location is 4 hours away from where I live. I am planning on going there to boulder with my friends soon and I want to be as prepared as I could and make the trip count. My friends who could boulder V4~V5 in my gym also told me that they can only boulder at most V2 outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-15T01:07:57.563" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T17:08:00.640" Title="What kind of technique is required for bouldering outdoors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18215" CreationDate="2018-01-12T08:34:57.460" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no generic answer to your question - it all depends on the kind of boulders you'll encounter on your destination. For example, if you have overhanging jug problems, the technique required is similar to gym problems. But you'll rarely find finger cracks, slabby balance problems or other &quot;outdoor-style&quot; problems in gyms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only &lt;em&gt;technique&lt;/em&gt; that you're guaranteed to need is to be able to &quot;read&quot; the rock and find your routes if they aren't all chalked up (which you can't practice indoors). At first, that might be difficult, but you get used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of this, here are some generic tips for the transition from indoor to outdoor bouldering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring enough crash pads.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn to spot properly. In most gyms, a padded floor means that you don't really need a spotter, but outdoors you'll be thankful for a good spotter. See this question for hints on spotting: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9745/how-to-spot-someone-who-is-bouldering&quot;&gt;How to &amp;quot;spot&amp;quot; someone who is bouldering?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't be discouraged by not sending problems of your gym grade. Gym routes tend to be easier for their grade than outdoor routes. Indoors, you have several advantages which don't apply outdoors: marked/colored holds, adapting to the style of your local setters, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have fun and don't only look at the grades. Outdoor climbing can be quite different from indoor climbing, so go there for the experience, not for the grades!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T08:34:57.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18217" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-12T09:38:57.973" Score="5" ViewCount="562" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I'd like to do some survival in Europe, one way to gather food is hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In which Europese countries is it legal to hunt small game like rabbits and ducks, without or with an easy to obtain licence?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best answer would be comparable to this one: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/111/14665&quot;&gt;Where in Europe is wild camping permitted?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14665" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T09:38:57.973" Title="Where in Europe is it legal to hunt small game without a licence?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="873" CreationDate="2018-01-12T13:40:46.260" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A crank powered charger might work as well. At least you would have power when there's no sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanically_powered_flashlight&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Something like the examples here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14665" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T13:40:46.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18220" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18224" CreationDate="2018-01-12T14:37:28.513" Score="9" ViewCount="1286" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a backpack with emergency survival gear for my car.  The scenario being it might take a couple of days of walking to get someplace that money and/or a credit card will increase my chances of survival. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to keep emergency rations in the backpack.  Currently I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.powerbar.com/PowerBar-Performance-Energy-Bar--Chocolate/p/PWR-000023&amp;amp;c=PowerBar@Energy@Performance#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PowerBar Performance Energy&lt;/a&gt; The packaging holds up very well, they have a taffy consistancy so don't break into crumbs.  There is no scenario where you could not eat one, even in driving windy rain, in total darkness you could open one of these without tools and consume all the nutrition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional, while they don't taste bad, they are not a treat, so kids and spouses are unlikely to deplete supplies between rest stops on the road. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking to add variety to the survival rations and am looking for comparable rations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-13T20:16:40.727" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T13:25:04.353" Title="What types of food make for good emergency rations that I can store in a car?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1098" CreationDate="2018-01-12T15:19:48.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should look at scuba diving stores. They have whistles that are so loud they put a BIG warning on the box that tells you not to blow them indoors because they can damage one's hearing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do get one of these heed the warning. Your ears will be ringing if you blow it with half effort in a hotel room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: These pea-less whistle work well underwater. So, you can imagine how loud they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divers-supply.com/windstorm-whistle-yellow.html?utm_source=adwordsfroogle&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=adwordsfroogle&amp;amp;utm_content=INS-SP0238&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0rTCxNzS2AIV0IKzCh1O8wdfEAQYBCABEgIU8fD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.divers-supply.com/windstorm-whistle-yellow.html?utm_source=adwordsfroogle&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=adwordsfroogle&amp;amp;utm_content=INS-SP0238&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0rTCxNzS2AIV0IKzCh1O8wdfEAQYBCABEgIU8fD_BwE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T15:19:48.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18222" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-12T17:17:57.410" Score="7" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to replace the line in a traveller on a catamaran and I need a very hard wearing sheath due to the nature of the setup. Is dyneema the way to go here? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3630" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-13T04:58:33.090" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T15:05:10.543" Title="What's the hardest wearing multibraid rope type?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18220" CreationDate="2018-01-12T18:57:55.847" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cheap and simple solution to this is 5 lbs of peanut butter i.e. two normal sized Jiff containers and a spoon ducktaped to the containers for approximately 12,000 + calories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If unopened, they should have a shelf life of over a year, and you could always just replace them every so often and eat the old ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that  varied and not very  good tasting, long lasting food is a contradiction in terms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-01-12T18:57:55.847" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18220" CreationDate="2018-01-12T19:51:15.623" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're unlikely to have to eat all your emergency rations in adverse conditions, so apart from a variety of bars I suggest :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nuts. I'm quite partial to chilli peanuts, toasted corn kernels and things like that for endurance cycling. They're one of the few savoury options. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crackers (e.g. cheese flavour). They're a little bulky so they're be a small proportion. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trail mix (you can even assemble your own) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweets (boiled or jelly) for that pure sugar boost when you've been hiking all day and have a hill to climb. Kendal mint cake is a less tempting version. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chocolate (unless it's hot). You may need to hide this under the energy bars. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When pushing yourself hard a variety of flavours and textures is good, rather than thinking you don't fancy yet another sweetish, vaguely chewy thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The variety including savoury stuff can be used to make it feel more like you've had a meal (2 courses even) which is quite a boost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these have quite a long shelf life &lt;em&gt;because&lt;/em&gt; they're low in water, so plan for plenty of water. This might include sealed containers of water, purification, or probably both, but depends on the conditions. This low water content also helps them to be energy dense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Emergency stuff is emergency stuff. Seal it up if you need to, or store the good stuff in the spare wheel well out of sight. Snacks are another matter, take them too if you need to. Check the emergency kit before heading off into the wilds (also check the torch batteries etc.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-16T19:41:13.060" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T19:41:13.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18226" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-12T22:15:04.040" Score="4" ViewCount="480" Body="&lt;p&gt;Somewhat motivated by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18145/how-to-progress-in-rock-climbing-after-grades-v4-5-11&quot;&gt;How to progress in rock climbing after grades v4 / 5.11+?&lt;/a&gt; I am curious if anyone has tried to document if there are particular grades that climbers &lt;em&gt;plateau&lt;/em&gt; on and need more time to work through. In other words, do many climbers get stuck at V4 an need to work hard to progress and then again at V7, or is it an individual thing that some get stuck at V3, other V4 and some V5?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T22:02:08.533" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T22:02:08.533" Title="Are there particular grades that indoor climbers often struggle with" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2018-02-07T18:04:53.380" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18226" CreationDate="2018-01-13T04:51:21.120" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only answer from my personal perspective. It might not be statistically relevant, but I dare say it could be a little generalisable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been climbing actively (more than 3 days a week), both indoors and outdoors, for the past 3+ years. I have climbed with beginners and was mentored by people that climb since the 1990s. Most of my climbing partners today have around 10 years of experience, and I know most of their trajectories within climbing from their stories. I have also taught climbing to 5 or 6 people and watched them blossom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, I strongly believe people &quot;plateau&quot; at a grade mostly because they have the wrong mindset. It might be possible that a large group of people usually get stuck at a certain grade, but by discussing this with everyone else, that grade ends up being mystified. Even people that wouldn't normally find those grades very hard end up being beaten by the majority - that was my case with 5.12. See my answer in the link the OP attached to his question for a more thorough development of these ideas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, there is an extremely important age component. From my perspective this is very easy to identify. Beside the obvious metabolic component, people usually think that if you start climbing early, your body will have more ease to adapt to the harsh conditions climbing exposes you to - and that's very, very true, but there's more: children are not discouraged by the myths adult create around a grade. A children/teenager doesn't give a damn about 5.12 being &quot;so hard&quot; for so many people: they just go there and send. Everyone remembers how reckless we were when we were teenagers... This also leaks to climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that the introduction has been duly made, we can cut to the business. People usually get stuck at the transitions between&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;V3 - V4 (mental)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;V5 and above (real)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;5.10d - 5.11a (mental)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;5.12 and above (real)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've split the transitions between the ones I believe are mental and the ones I believe are real. The mental ones are the mystified ones: they usually rest on a threshold and require a change of mindset. If you climb 5.10d and have a strong mind, you can certainly climb 5.11a. You just need to get used to the fact that you climb better than you think. This is not true, however, for the steps between sending V5 and sending V6. There's obviously a mindset tuning, but climbing a V5 does not guarantee you'll be able to send V6 at the same pace you moved from V4 to V5. You will be required to hangboard, campus, and practice other specific exercises that increase your tendon strength and anaerobic power/resistance. People that redpoint V4 have usually no idea of what if feels like to send a V7 - because it's impossible for them. Their body is not ready. They need specific training. I have seen people climb V3 on January and onsight V7 in July, &lt;em&gt;but that's not normal&lt;/em&gt;. Those people are different, and are usually teenagers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, if you climb 5.11, you already have a good notion of what sport climbing is. You'll have a shock transition between 5.11 and 5.12, and then you'll be introduced to the world of specific training. From then on, you already know what you need to do: climb less, train more! The grades below could be achieved only by climbing, but the ones above 5.12+ usually (USUALLY!) need specific points that you can only develop by complementing your climbing with campusing, hangboarding, weightlifting, etc. The same applies for grades above V5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people don't understand (or simple don't care) their body requires training to break some barriers, and that's why most people plateau at redpointing V4 and 5.11b/c. Some people are very light/strong/young/motivated and don't even notice those barriers, but most people I know, do. I also know a lot of people (myself included) that are stuck at the 5.13 transitions - but come on: those grades are &lt;em&gt;meant&lt;/em&gt; to be plateaus. For most people, there is no quick pace after 5.12+. Training (not climbing!) at least 4 times a week is a must, and we know it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2018-01-13T05:03:24.483" LastActivityDate="2018-01-13T05:03:24.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18230" CreationDate="2018-01-14T18:38:11.027" Score="7" ViewCount="512" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a question that has bugged me for some time. Some very hard sport routes are very, &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; long. Some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hardclimbs.info/climbs/chilam-balam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chilam Balam&lt;/a&gt;: 80 m (260 ft) - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASvUhPsuLJE&amp;amp;t=752s&amp;amp;ab_channel=MENDOZACLIMB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video (Adam Ondra)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/ethan-pringle-repeats-jumbo-love-5-15b/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jumbo Love&lt;/a&gt;: 75 m (250 ft) - &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/218653943&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video (Ethan Pringle)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2012/10/ondra_makes_fa_of_the_change_9b+-67488&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Change&lt;/a&gt;: 55 m (180 ft) - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0uesTSgMys&amp;amp;ab_channel=Bernartwood&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video (Adam Ondra)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, commercially available climbing ropes are max. 80 m (260 ft) long; however, to descend from a 80 m long route, you would need a 160 m long rope! Maybe something less if the route is overhanging, but still much longer that what -as far as i know- is commercially available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what kind of ropes are used for these &amp;quot;super-routes&amp;quot;? Some kind of &amp;quot;custom&amp;quot; ropes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know perfectly well (as I've done it myself many times, only on shorter lengths) that it is possible to climb an 80 m route with two 80m ropes (half ropes or twin ropes), then join them together and rappel down for all the 80m. But &lt;strong&gt;from the linked videos it is clear that a single rope is being used&lt;/strong&gt; (see for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASvUhPsuLJE&amp;amp;t=752s&amp;amp;ab_channel=MENDOZACLIMB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ondra on Chilam Balam&lt;/a&gt;). This makes perfect sense, because we are talking about cutting-edge routes, at the limit of modern sport climbing, and carrying two ropes, even if thin half ropes, with all the added weight would probably decrease the performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Updates&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/chris-sharma-joins-sterling-ropes-team-sends-jumbo-love-on-sterling-s-nano-92mm/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, it is specified that Chris Sharma used a 80 m, 9.2 mm Sterling Fusion Nano to send Jumbo Love. The route actually tops out on a plateau, as it is clear from Ethan Pringle's video, so you can probably walk down from it. However, what if he couldn't finish the climb and had to get down? I don't think that anyone would climb an 80 m long 9b knowing that the only way out is to finish the route...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockclimbing.com/forum/Climbing_Information_C2/General_F23/Jumbo_Love_details_P2008254/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Similar thread (with no definitive answer) on rockclimbing.com&lt;/a&gt;. They point out that Jumbo Love should have one or two intermediate anchors that would allow you to rappel down. But in Ethan Pringle's video you can clearly see that &lt;em&gt;he is carrying no gear at all&lt;/em&gt;, so either he was sure he would have topped out (but what if he got hurt?), or the rope was long enough to allow him to descend. Also in Chris Sharma's &lt;a href=&quot;https://gripped.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Jumbo-Love-Chris-Sharma.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt; you can see that he was only carrying one quickdraw with him, not enough for a rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T19:44:51.070" Title="What kind of ropes are used for very long sport routes (like Chilam Balam)?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18228" CreationDate="2018-01-14T20:04:01.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don’t need a 160 meter rope just two 80 meter ropes joined with a knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could do it with one 80 meter climbing rope and another lighter retrieval line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is a situation where there is not going to be a second climber then at the anchor the first climber can pull the end of the rope all the way up through the quickdraws and toss it down. Then the belayer can tie a second 80 meter rope on for the climber to pull up and rappel on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-14T22:04:36.443" LastActivityDate="2018-01-14T22:04:36.443" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18228" CreationDate="2018-01-14T21:40:52.923" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know what makes you think climbing ropes are limited at 80m. They are produced in one very long strand and then cut to the sizes you find in the store. I agree 80m is the max for what is usually found in stores, but you can get 200m ropes or climbing rope by the meter. A random google hit (no affiliation): &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.climbinganchors.com.au/climbing-gear/ropes/dynamic-ropes/dynamic-spools-or-shorter-lengths/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.climbinganchors.com.au/climbing-gear/ropes/dynamic-ropes/dynamic-spools-or-shorter-lengths/&lt;/a&gt; A friend of mine owns a 200m half-rope, so I also have first hand evidence that something like this exists ;) And even if they weren't generally available, those guys are usually sponsored by gear manufacturers, so it wouldn't be hard for them to get an extra long rope for extra marketable route send. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-01-15T10:29:22.510" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T10:29:22.510" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18232" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18233" CreationDate="2018-01-15T04:25:08.933" Score="4" ViewCount="2710" Body="&lt;p&gt;Peanut butter can be good &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14999/8794&quot;&gt;source of protein&lt;/a&gt; or useful for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18224/8794&quot;&gt;emergency rations&lt;/a&gt;, but it can be sticky and not finger friendly, how can you make it less sticky?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T00:51:58.010" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T00:51:58.010" Title="How to make peanut butter less sticky?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18232" CreationDate="2018-01-15T04:25:08.933" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The trick is to mix it with something else such as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered Milk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oatmeal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered sugar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Graham Crackers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rice Crispies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also add other things to increase the sweetness like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chocolate Chips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Honey&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are looking for is for the combination to have the consistency of Play-Doh. What you can do then is wrap the ball in saran wrap to keep it together. This has the advantage of not having it in the plastic container, which doesn't shrink as the peanut butter is eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for exact recipes, the thing you are looking for is &quot;No-bake Peanut Butter Balls&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-30T22:21:37.903" LastActivityDate="2018-09-30T22:21:37.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18234" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18235" CreationDate="2018-01-15T05:46:50.840" Score="2" ViewCount="1387" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some revolvers like the earliest Colts do not have top straps, and that is the easy way of telling them apart from the early Remingtons or from any modern revolvers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is a top strap on a revolver?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-15T23:13:17.593" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T00:59:32.700" Title="What is a top strap on a revolver?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18234" CreationDate="2018-01-15T05:46:50.840" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The top strap on a revolver is the part that goes &lt;strong&gt;over the top of the cylinder&lt;/strong&gt; as you can see on this picture of an 1858 Remington.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JX9Uw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JX9Uw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Remingtonapart.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison, here is a picture of a 1851 Navy Colt which doesn't have a top strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rtk8R.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rtk8R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colt_Navy_partially_stripped.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, here is what an assembled 1858 Remington looks like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7hTSa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7hTSa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_model_Army_IMG_3544.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and here is what an assembled 1851 Navy Colt looks like (notice the lack of top strap).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/82qll.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/82qll.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Navy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason revolvers stopped lacking top straps is because top straps make for a stronger gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Army rejected the pistol and &lt;strong&gt;asked for a more powerful caliber with a stronger frame.&lt;/strong&gt; Mason redesigned the frame to incorporate a topstrap, similar to the Remington revolvers, and placed the rear sight on the rear of the frame; he consulted with Richards on some other improvements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Model_1871-72_Open_Top&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T00:59:32.700" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T00:59:32.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2018-01-15T07:54:48.077" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience, people either use a double bowline (*) or a double figure 8. The bowline (in my experience!) is used only by fairly experienced climbers, probably because it is more difficult to execute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will list some pros/cons of the two knots; remind anyway that &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;both knots are absolutely safe to use&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (as I'm sure is the Yosemite bowline, which I don't know).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Figure 8&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pros&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy execution&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to check&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cons&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope tightens up after a fall, making loosening difficult. For the same reason, it will ruin the rope faster than the bowline.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Double Bowline&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pros&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't tighten up after a fall (so it also ruins the rope less)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cons&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has a tendency to loosen up, so a security knot is needed to prevent this (figure F below).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More difficult to execute than the figure 8, so less beginner-friendly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trickier than figure 8 to check.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I67Sp.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I67Sp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Execution of a double bowline with security knot. Figure taken from Alpinismo su Roccia - Club Alpino Italiano (2008)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) I think it is equivalent to what you refer to as &quot;bowline on a bight&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="14224" LastEditDate="2018-01-15T13:34:37.110" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T13:34:37.110" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18215" CreationDate="2018-01-15T09:37:03.080" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple of things to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18216/2766&quot;&gt;supplement Andrea's answer&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Learning to read the route (as already stated)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bouldering indoors has one big thing that makes it easier than outdoors all the holds are bug brightly coloured plastic. At no point do you have to search around to find that crimp or foot placement, it's all been worked out for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you boulder outdoors (obviously) there is nothing to tell you where all the holds are. You need to work that out yourself (or get someone to tell you, this is called getting &amp;quot;beta&amp;quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Different techniques&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also the holds may (depending on rock type) be very different. For example very few indoor walls employ hand jamming as a technique, but a lot of grit stone problems involve pretty much constant hand jamming:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zzmfb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zzmfb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rock Types&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plastic holds feel very similar. Climbing in one indoor wall is typically the same as climbing in any other indoor wall. Rock can very a lot. There is a world of difference between slate and sandstone. So you may climb v2 on sand stone, then go to a slate wall and not be able to do v0 (at least until you get used to it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Grade deflation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This is my personal opinion and can vary depending on the wall)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6898/why-are-indoor-climbing-grades-easier&quot;&gt;Indoor climbs tend to be rated lower than outdoor ones&lt;/a&gt;. You may well find that if you boulder indoors at v3 you may struggle outdoors at v0. If climbing walls set their v0s at the difficulty of outdoor v0s, they would have a lot less customers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example I boulder at about v4-5 in my local climbing gym, yet I boulder v0-1 outdoors (I'm not a big boulderer anymore TBF).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.joergbrutscher.homepage.t-online.de/crackcli.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T10:05:00.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17193" CreationDate="2018-01-15T13:10:50.350" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, the &amp;quot;change of paradigm&amp;quot; that led to the birth of sport climbing happened between the 70s and the 80s, and it happened separately in Europe and in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the early 1900s to the 50s, rock climbing was mostly seen as a &amp;quot;tool&amp;quot; necessary to reach the summit of a mountain. There was no real distinction between &amp;quot;aid climbing&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;free climbing&amp;quot;, too: the goal was to reach new summits and to establish new bold first ascents in the mountains, whatever the means.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there were those who advocated a purer climbing style, as for example the german &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Preuss_(climber)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paul Preuss&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the next few months he made the second ascents of Angelo Dibona's routes on the Croz dell'Altissimo and the Northwest Ridge of the Grossen Ödstein, &lt;strong&gt;making a point of not using any of the pitons left by the first ascensionists, thereby putting into practice his desire to climb as his predecessors Georg Winkler and Emil Zsigmondy had: in a pure style, meaning without any artificial aids [...]&lt;/strong&gt;. Pitons and carabiners were just starting to be effectively adapted for use in the mountains. At first they were just used for protection or securing a rappel line, but then increasingly became used for upward progress, for instance as hand or footholds, or to secure the rope for a pendulum or tension traverse. &lt;strong&gt;To Preuss this was nothing less than cheating&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preuss even wrote a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Preuss_(climber)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;series of principles&lt;/a&gt; to express his ethics of climbing, criticizing the use of any artificial mean (including the rope) for the progression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, people like Preuss were rare, and most of the alpinists in the world didn't bother about &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; a summit was reached, as long as it was reached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The debate about the the ethics of climbing made a return at the end of the 60s and of the early 70s: the advances in technology and the diffusion of the expansion bolt had made possible to climb almost anything, as long as you had enough gear and patience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The excessive use of bolts and artificial means was strongly criticzed, amongst the others, by Reinhold Messner in Italy, who wrote in 1968 the famous article &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web.mit.edu/lin/Public/climbing/Messner.txt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The murder of the impossible&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; and by Royal Robbins in the USA, which described his ideas in the book &lt;em&gt;Advanced rockcraft&lt;/em&gt; (1973).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adventure and boldness were still considered prominent in rock climbing, and not much stress was put on technical difficulty. Therefore, using too many artificial means was seen as a betrayal of all climbing was about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things started to change in the late 70s/ early 80s. In some circles attention began to shift from the heroism of climbing to the technical difficulty. An important step in this process was the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_shoe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;invention of modern rubber-soled climbing shoes in the early 80s&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W2C9dm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W2C9dm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Figure: The Boreal Fire', probably the first modern climbing shoe (&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e7/ed/ed/e7eded53138ac1d4956764322efe5355--climbing-shoes-escalade.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Europe, one of the birthplaces of free climbing was the Gorges du Verdon:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the Verdon is perhaps best known as a climbing destination—and &lt;strong&gt;one of the birthplaces of sport climbing&lt;/strong&gt;, a genre defined by the use of bolts, drilled into the rock, to protect climbers. By the mid-1980s, the Verdon was the &lt;strong&gt;world’s first prominent climbing area to feature, almost entirely, all-bolted routes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-&lt;a href=&quot;http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/30/exploring-the-birthplace-of-sport-climbing-in-europes-grandest-canyon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exploring the Birthplace of Sport Climbing in Europe’s Grandest Canyon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two most famous pioneers of sport climbing of sport climbing in Verdon were the two Patricks: Edlinger and Berhault.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know much about the birth of sport climbing in the USA, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/where-it-all-began/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; identifies Smith Rock as one of the birthplaces of this activity:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 1982 Climbing article mentioned Smith’s shift from aid climbing to free climbing, but the most significant changes had just begun. [...] “We were pushing each other, and once we had done all the existing climbs, we had to find something else to do,” he explains. “&lt;strong&gt;There weren’t many cracks left, but there were so many beautiful faces and arêtes&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem was lack of protection, and rather than run it out, &lt;strong&gt;Watts began experimenting with rappelling down potential climbs, cleaning loose rock, and hand-drilling a few protection bolts&lt;/strong&gt;. “&lt;strong&gt;It was a big shift, putting up the bolts and making the routes as hard as we possibly could&lt;/strong&gt;,” says Watts. “We were just trying to raise the standard.” Unlike places like Yosemite Valley and Joshua Tree, where rap bolting had a stigma that led to controversy and even violence, sport climbing was quickly accepted at Smith, mainly because of the area’s isolation. By the &lt;strong&gt;mid-1980s&lt;/strong&gt;, there were dozens of 5.12 and 5.13 routes at Smith, including many that remain popular classics today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important event that marks the birth of sport climbing is the first climbing competition: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Master&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sportroccia&lt;/a&gt;, in 1985 at Bardonecchia, Italy. The competition took place on real rock, and not on artificial walls like modern competitions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JKe5N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JKe5N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Figure: Patrick Edlinger at Sportroccia, the first climbing competition (1985) © Marco Maria Scolaris&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other relevant articles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mojagear.com/learn/2015/12/09/a-brief-history-of-rock-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Brief History of Rock Climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sport climbing—today’s most popular form of roped climbing—was a highly controversial practice during &lt;strong&gt;its early inception in the 1980s&lt;/strong&gt;. During this time, sport climbing pioneers such as Alan Watts scoured the walls of Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park to find lines that could be established using bolts drilled into crack-less rock faces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T13:19:21.170" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18215" CreationDate="2018-01-15T17:08:00.640" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Required techniques vary from area to area and problem to problem, that said I think there are 3 &lt;em&gt;techniques&lt;/em&gt; that are universal. This belief stems from my philosophy that the best thing about climbing hard is that there are more cool problems that you can climb. This is not to say there are not cool V2s (or even VBs, but a V5 climber has access to everything that a V4 climber has access to and more. My second belief is that climbers only break out the technique when they lack the power to climb it properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first is topping out. Unless you are really lucky, indoor bouldering does not generally require/enable/allow you to top out. You get to the last hold and drop down onto a bunch of cushy pads. Outdoors, you get to the last hold and now you got to figure out how to get over the lip. In generally, involves a mantle of some sort and your feet really high. You blow the top out and it is likely you are coming off head over heels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second is power. At the V2/V3 grade, there are not many problems that stronger climbers cannot do while wearing approach shoes without jamming, heel hooking or any other technique like trickery. Enough power will get you through almost any V3 (and a lot more). Sure, really good technique applied to the appropriate problem will get you to the top, but if you can only choose one tool for your arsenal, power is not a bad one to choose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third is enough open hand strength to allow you to deliver your power to the rock. Sure some holds are better crimped and others should be jammed, but again, if you can slap a hold and have your hand stick to it, that should get you through most V3s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for route finding/reading, at the V2 level, in all but the most isolated areas you will have plenty of access to beta. Even in the absence of beta (and chalk), if you have enough power, it doesn't matter if you miss a key foot hold or your hands are backwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for differences in indoor and outdoor grading, this often depends on the area. Indoor bouldering at the V2/V3 level is often on steep terrain with either big jugs far apart or moderate holds close together. Outdoor V2/V3 is often less or near vertical. This means that power that you develop in the gym is less useful outside, but as your indoor power grows and you start to climb steeper problems outside, that gap will close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-01-15T17:08:00.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18220" CreationDate="2018-01-15T22:51:36.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most soup today comes with tops with easy pull-off top containers. Some other canned products do, too, like Spam and canned veggies. Most have a long shelf life. Most all canned food is already cooked. You can eat soup right out of the can. (Probably want to shake to mix first.) And, you can put the cans in a bag or plastic container with a big piece of paper with a list of expiration dates so you can easily check them from time to time. Use them at home and replace them when they get to their date. A nice big can of beef-veggie soup would taste a lot better than a granola bar. Pack couple of spoons in there, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14756" LastEditorUserId="14756" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T14:54:28.293" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T14:54:28.293" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18243" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="708" CreationDate="2018-01-16T14:35:10.737" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Naismith's rule (19½ minutes for every mile, plus 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet) is meant for reasonably easy ground conditions. Here in the White Mountains on New Hampshire the local hiking club came up with a rule to reflect the very rocky trail conditions (30 minutes for every mile, plus 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But these do not take into account your intent, ground conditions, and how much you are carrying. Is this a casual or scenic walk, or are you pushing yourself for exercise? Is it a smooth path, a little rooty and rocky, or very rocky trail? Are you carrying just water, a day pack, or a loaded overnight backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I created an &lt;a href=&quot;http://trailsnh.com/tools/hiking-time-calculator.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Estimated Hiking Time Calculator&quot;&gt;Estimated Hiking Time Calculator&lt;/a&gt; bases on Naismith's rule where you can adjust for your intended pace, trail conditions, and pack weight. It's still just an estimate, but it's better than one pace fits all, and it's simple to use.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11419" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T14:35:10.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18244" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-16T16:59:01.747" Score="6" ViewCount="5079" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few weeks ago, I strapped a target onto a tree that was about 1.5-2' in diameter to sight my muzzleloader on private property. I fired about a dozen .50 cal bullets into the tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to liking firearms and hunting, I also happen to be a so called &quot;treehugger&quot;. Shooting a tree ain't exactly hugging so my question is, how bad is firing bullets into it? For example, how much damage did I inflict on the tree in the example above? Will the tree die? Will it recover? How many rounds can an average tree take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T04:22:24.790" Title="Shooting into tree" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11290" CreationDate="2018-01-16T17:39:54.680" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A kayaker and snowboarder here. You don't want to use a ski helmet when you go whitewater kayaking -- they usually have padding that is somewhat water resistant but not designed to endure constantly wet conditions, which your kayaking helmet is exposed to even if you manage to remain right side up and not roll much or, worse yet, swim -- because of the exposure to waves and splash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you absolutely must have only one helmet, I would go with a kayaking helmet, something like Sweet protection. But many kayaking helmets come without ear coverage, which leaves your ears exposed to the cold. Some (like creeking helmets) often cover ears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short, best to have separate helmets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T17:39:54.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18244" CreationDate="2018-01-16T17:53:53.307" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tree can die of lead poisoning from bullets,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On the morning of July 3, Confederate forces launched the second of two attacks on Union troops occupying Culp's Hill. The Rebels, though, were ultimately repelled - after seven hours of fighting - largely due to an artillery bombardment from Union forces perched on Powers Hill. Soon after the battle, Culp's Hill became a popular picnic area for tourists who were intrigued by the bullet-riddled trees. &lt;strong&gt;Few of these trees survive today, though. Historians say most literally died from lead poisoning.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2011/08/10/civil-war/31568233/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and here is what the Forest Service has to say about it,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Use approved targets along with a safe, ”bullet-proof” backstop. &lt;strong&gt;Do not to attach your targets to vegetation or structures, such as; trees,&lt;/strong&gt; log decks, slash piles, fences, or water tanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/shooting&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-16T18:03:57.817" LastActivityDate="2018-01-16T18:03:57.817" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18247" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-16T21:17:08.530" Score="4" ViewCount="374" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the largely indoor sport of oneupswomanship, real fur, especially mink, sable or chinchilla, offers a great advantage; no one wearing a synthetic fabric, however stylish the coat or jacket, is in the running.  This extends to the partially outdoor sports of après-ski and outdoor dining at fashionable ski-resort restaurants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, from the purely utilitarian perspective of keeping warm and dry while actively engaged outdoors, is there a fur that outperforms any synthetic material or combination of synthetic materials (i.e., layering) on the market, and if so, which fur and for what sport or activity?  (Ignore considerations of cost; any synthetic on the market will be cheaper than almost any natural fur.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading that reindeer hairs are shaped in a way that cause them to trap air extraordinarily well; a garment of reindeer skin is thus an outstanding insulator.  (Anyone: feel free to expand on this in an answer.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, while I dislike the use of fur merely for display or to signify wealth or status, I am open to information that fur outperform synthetics for prolonged activity (or inactivity such as waiting at a seal hole) in extreme conditions.  Weight and flexibility should be considered as factors as well as insulating properties and water repellancy. Whether modern synthetics and design match fur even in extreme conditions is also of interest; relevant would be what Himalayan climbers and modern Antarctic explorers use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by an article in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/01/11/trump-administration-is-taking-steps-to-remove-a-threatened-lynx-from-the-endangered-species-list/?utm_term=.3f7d2937d024&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Washington Post on the Canada Lynx&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T14:08:44.393" LastActivityDate="2018-01-22T14:40:04.503" Title="From the perspective of someone engaging in an outdoor sport, is there any fur that confers an advantage over all synthetic materials?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18247" CreationDate="2018-01-16T21:35:21.107" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: If you're in extreme Arctic conditions fur does have an advantage.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is this study on the Inuit's Fur Parkas&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ABSTRACT: &lt;strong&gt;The traditional clothing system developed and used by the Inuit is the most effective cold weather clothing developed to date. One of the key elements used by the Inuit is a fur ruff attached to the hood, hem, and cuffs of their parkas.&lt;/strong&gt; This paper determines why the fur ruff is so critical&#xA;  to the effectiveness of cold-weather clothing, especially in protecting the face, without impeding movement or view, so essential to the Inuit hunter. To quantify the effectiveness of this clothing, heat transfer was measured on a model placed in a subsonic wind tunnel. The wind velocity and angle to&#xA;  the wind were varied. A boundary layer forms on the face, and heat transfer was measured across that layer using thermocouples. Different fur ruff geometries were examined to determine which was most efficient. The experimental results were combined with data collected using ethno-historical methods since 1970 by 2 of the authors. &lt;strong&gt;The traditional headgear proved to be the most efficient.&lt;/strong&gt; The lowest heat transfer was found for the sunburst fur ruff geometry at different angles of attack and wind speeds. This unique combination of scientific and traditional Aboriginal knowledge provides a holistic perspective on new insights into the effectiveness of cold-weather clothing systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The face must be exposed in order to see for hunting&#xA;  or travel. It is therefore essential to minimize facial&#xA;  heat transfer for frostbite prevention and survival. Not&#xA;  only does the Inuit parka ruff, which is worn behind&#xA;  the cheek bones, allow the wearer to see while hunting&#xA;  and traveling, it also drastically reduces the amount of&#xA;  hoar frost that otherwise builds up around a hood&#xA;  if worn in front of the cheek bones (as is the case&#xA;  with southern-style hoods). This frost build-up impairs&#xA;  vision and acts as a conductor, drawing heat from the&#xA;  face, thereby increasing the possibility of frostbite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The superior effectiveness of this piece of clothing&#xA;  has been known by Inuit hunters and seamstresses,&#xA;  who have thrived for thousands of years by creating&#xA;  polar ruff designs that provide protection against the&#xA;  cold, windy arctic climates; it is quantified for the first&#xA;  time in this paper. The sunburst fur ruff design is truly&#xA;  a remarkable ‘time-tested’ design. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.int-res.com/articles/cr2004/26/c026p077.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also what Canada Goose who makes fur coats says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Why we choose fur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No matter where they’re worn, many of our products are designed and built to protect against the elements in the coldest places on Earth – places where exposed skin can freeze in an instant. &lt;strong&gt;In these environments, we believe that fur is the best choice. Having fur trim around a jacket hood disrupts airflow and creates turbulent air which helps protect the face from frostbite.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canadagoose.com/us/en/fur-and-down-policy/fur-and-down-policy.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding Everest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In addition to a banquet, the AAC took the anniversary year to get some gear from the 1963 expedition in a studio for a photo shoot. This included a jacket made by Eddie Bauer that's among the most iconic in the history of outdoor sports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bright red and equipped with a fur ruff on the hood, the jacket was state of the art in its day.&lt;/strong&gt; It was insulated with enough down to be protective to minus-85 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Whittaker kept the jacket packed away for most of the ascent in 1963.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was too warm until the climbing team got high on the mountain's face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gear-junkie-everest-parka-basis-of-modern-designs/article_61996e9b-64bb-580d-a7e5-9fe1259db8b9.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/caribou-skin-clothing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS page on caribou skin clothing&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Inland mountain Eskimos experience one of the world’s most extreme winter climates—temperatures of 55 degrees below zero or colder, often with gale force winds and blinding snow. Despite these daunting conditions, Eskimo people carry on with their daily life of hunting, fishing, gathering firewood, traveling, and camping. &lt;strong&gt;The key to their success and survival—above all else—is warm, effective, brilliantly designed and expertly made clothing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Eskimo people make their warmest clothing from caribou hide—a material that evolved over millions of years in the Arctic environment, providing caribou with unequaled insulation against penetrating cold and gales. &lt;strong&gt;Caribou hair is hollow, so it traps insulating air not only between the hairs but also inside them. Clothing made from this material is extraordinarily warm, lightweight, water repellent and durable.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An Eskimo hunter dressed in traditional clothing was completely wrapped in caribou skins. His parka —a hooded jacket invented by Eskimos—was made of caribou skin and worn with the fur inside. For deep cold and storms, a second parka could be worn over the first, with the fur side out. &lt;strong&gt;A wolf or wolverine fur ruff around the hood created a little pool of warmth that protected the wearer’s exposed face. Unlike other furs, wolverine also easily sheds the frost that collects from a wearer’s breath.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Caribou skin boots (kamik) are durable, extraordinarily warm, and nearly as lightweight and supple as the most comfortable slippers. &lt;strong&gt;No modern materials can match the combination of warmth and light weight of caribou skin boots.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Caribou skin boots, socks, and mittens—meticulously crafted by women in the village—are still regularly worn by Nunamiut people and are r&lt;strong&gt;egarded as superior to any commercially made substitute.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Perhaps the strongest testament to the ingenuity and effectiveness of traditional Eskimo clothing is seen in the iconic bright red parkas with fur ruffs, worn by Antarctic researchers working in the coldest places on earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/caribou-skin-clothing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T02:47:12.403" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T02:47:12.403" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18250" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18251" CreationDate="2018-01-17T03:35:10.037" Score="9" ViewCount="825" Body="&lt;p&gt;6 weeks ago a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torresian_crow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Torresian Crows&lt;/a&gt; (&quot;also called Australian crow or Papuan crow&quot;) began roosting in close proximity to my residence. Their chicks have left the nest and they do not seem to be moving on. I fear that they are preparing for another spawn which is another 5-6 weeks that I will have to endure their unrelenting torment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Torresian Crows in my region are a protected species and it is illegal to harm them in any form, as such they have become the dominant predator in the region. They do not fear humans in any capacity and when in numbers will assault people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am personally assaulted almost on a daily basis and I am unable to change my route past their nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a proven method to defending from aerial assault that does not involve directly harming the animal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I have tried the following strategies to no avail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feeding the crows, the crow ate the food I had provided and then swooped at me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ignoring the crows, this resulted in the crow gouging at my scalp casting a large gash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yelling at the crows, this makes them more angry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swinging keys above my head, this stops the crows from swooping but makes them follow me for up to 500m from the nest, swooping whenever i relent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only strategy that seems to have effect is not commuting in day hours. As it is currently summer, that means that I have to leave before dawn and return after sunset. This is becoming impractical as work is beginning to notice my prolonged hours and is asking me to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14774" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:28:57.993" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T19:07:58.467" Title="How to defend against swooping Torresian Crow" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;crows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18250" CreationDate="2018-01-17T04:55:17.890" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might try an &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;umbrella.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  See this article from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/14/eagle-owl-caught-dutch-town-attacks-purmerend-netherlands&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Guardian&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Rogue owl caught after year-long reign of terror in Dutch town&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A rogue owl that has terrorised a northern Dutch city for the past&#xA;  year, forcing citizens to arm themselves with umbrellas at night, has&#xA;  been caught, officials have announced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dubbed the “terror owl” by residents of Purmerend, north of Amsterdam,&#xA;  the aggressive European eagle owl is suspected of more than 50 attacks&#xA;  on humans, swooping silently from above and leaving many of its&#xA;  victims bloody and bruised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The owl was also protected, but the city got permission to hire a falconer to trap it, and a permanent home was found for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article does not say how effective the umbrellas were.  It does note that the European eagle owl weighs up to 3 kg and has a wing span of up to 1.8 meters.  So if umbrellas worked on the owl, they probably will work on your crows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T04:55:17.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18267" CreationDate="2018-01-17T05:21:38.210" Score="6" ViewCount="959" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm fairly new to climbing, I've been climbing just over a year. &#xA;This is my first pair of shoes. I've worn the soles down, and wondering whether this kind of wear can be repaired or not, or if I should just buy new ones. I guess I tend to drag my foot along the wall a lot, but I wound up wearing down the rubber on the inside of my toes, and the rigid inner sole is exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are a 90$ pair of Scarpa Origins. Been used for about 15 months. I climb about 6 hours of bouldering a week at my local climbing gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JsWHi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JsWHi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read &lt;a href=&quot;https://mojagear.com/journal/2016/11/09/all-about-climbing-shoe-resoles-pros-cons-and-how-to-get-it-done/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, and give both some good pros and cons of resoling or not, but I don't have any experience yet to make an informed decision off of, being my first pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of my climbing buddies told me about resoleing when I showed him. Another guy I asked at the gym said &lt;em&gt;&quot;Nah, just buy a new pair, cuz chances are something else will go soon too.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; Just looking to see what everyone else has to say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14771" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T21:27:12.890" Title="Are my climbing shoes worth repairing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18253" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18255" CreationDate="2018-01-17T08:37:40.720" Score="9" ViewCount="874" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am evaluating the acquisition of a backpack with an avalanche airbag. I have a good overview of the different technologies and of the products on the market. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I find no information from users about the typical life expectancy of such bag. Can I expect to buy a product with a similar life time as for normal backpack (with similar use)? Are some technologies or brands known to have shorter life expectancy? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I of course exclude the fact that the gas cartridge must be exchanged regularly and the case, when the airbag is triggered for a real avalanche. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T22:10:00.623" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T22:10:00.623" Title="What is the life expectancy of an avalanche airbag backpack?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;avalanche-airbags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18252" CreationDate="2018-01-17T09:43:07.063" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;These shoes are pretty far gone. At the very least you'll need a new toe rand in addition to the resole, which is going to cost you a significant portion of the price of a new shoe. Your shoes may even be too far gone for any repair at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Treat this as an opportunity: it's unlikely your first pair of shoes fit exactly right. Now, you know much more about what you liked and disliked about your shoes. Take this chance to try on a lot of new models, and pick out a shoe that you like even more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next time, get your shoes resoled &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; they show signs of wear on the rand. &lt;a href=&quot;http://newenglandresoul.com/resole-basics/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here are some images&lt;/a&gt; showing the signs of needing a rand repair. Resoling shoes is great, but rand repair is costly and lowers the lifetime of your shoes. I generally get 3-5 resoles out of my shoes before retiring them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T09:43:07.063" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18253" CreationDate="2018-01-17T13:40:08.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak directly to avalanche airbags, but I do have some experience with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_shelter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire Shelters&lt;/a&gt;, I believe the same considerations apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Life expectancy of wilderness survival equipment is not measured by the calendar. It is measured by wear.  Safety devices should be inspected at the beginning of every season and regularly throughout the season.  One time use equipment like fire shelters and avalanche airbags spend time with you in the outdoors being subject to any number of hazards.  Even just sitting in storage they can have failure events. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than focusing on how long the device will live, focus on ease of inspection, testing and replacement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you remove it from the carry/deployment device to inspect?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are replacements for the expendables available that will fit into the carry/deployment device you are considering?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T13:40:08.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18253" CreationDate="2018-01-17T15:50:59.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Its going to depend on how it is used, but a maximum of ten years.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Periodic Deployment/Service Life&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BCA recommends deploying your Float airbag at least once per year, both to make sure the system is&#xA;operating correctly and to be sure the user knows how to operate the equipment efficiently. Put it on,&#xA;pull the trigger, repack the airbag and refill the cylinder before the season starts. &lt;strong&gt;Your Float airbag is&#xA;designed to undergo a minimum of 20 deployments and is warranted for three years. With occasional&#xA;use and proper care, the system can be expected to last for 5 years. Under frequent use and with proper&#xA;care the system may need to be retired before 5 years. The maximum shelf life is 10 years from the&#xA;date of manufacture. Factors that may reduce the lifespan of the product are: abrasion, wear, prolonged&#xA;exposure to sunlight, prolonged exposure to moisture, or harsh environments.&lt;/strong&gt; The manufacturing date&#xA;can be found underneath the cylinder sleeve in the main compartment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://backcountryaccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BCA-product-manual-Float-avalanche-airbag-pack-english.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The VOLTAIR™ Avalanche Airbag has a maximum lifespan of&#xA;10 years, regardless of use.&lt;/strong&gt; The frequency of use, care and&#xA;maintenance routine, and storage of the VOLTAIR™ will impact&#xA;the actual lifespan and warranty coverage. To achieve maximum&#xA;longevity and performance, follow the care and storage&#xA;instructions found in the instruction manual. VOLTAIR™ batteries&#xA;should function as expected for at least 3 years with normal usage&#xA;and storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://images.arcteryx.com/pdf/Voltair-Avalanche-Airbag-Instruction-Manual-Web.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lifespan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The JetForce System is certified for 50 full deployments.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;With normal use and proper care the typical lifespan of a&#xA;JetForce Backpack is five years. The actual lifespan can&#xA;be longer or shorter depending on how frequently you use&#xA;it and on the conditions of its use. The maximum lifespan&#xA;of a JetForce Backpack is up to 10 years from the date of&#xA;manufacture, even if unused and properly stored.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Factors that will reduce the lifespan of a JetForce&#xA;Backpack: Falls, abrasion, wear, prolonged exposure to&#xA;sunlight, salt water/air, corrosive chemicals, harsh environments&#xA;or misuse of the battery.&#xA;The typical estimated lifespan of your replaceable LithiumIon&#xA;battery is three to five years. All Lithium-Ion batteries&#xA;deteriorate with age.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pieps.com/sites/default/files/jetforce_manual_1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T21:07:33.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18257" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18258" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" Score="0" Body="Questions about avalanche airbags" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T16:06:18.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18250" CreationDate="2018-01-18T03:59:36.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're correct that these Torresian Crows can, at times, exhibit aggressive behavior, and, unlike some other crows, may directly attack people. It stems from a defensive parental instinct though, and is territorial in nature. According to The Brisbane City Council's page on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/environment-waste/natural-environment/protecting-wildlife-brisbane/living-wildlife/swooping-birds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swooping Animals&lt;/a&gt;, they, and some of Brisbane's other native birds, are most likely to swoop people during peak breeding time, which is between July and December. As you've found out by experience, each nesting cycle during that time usually lasts up to six weeks. The swooping is a normal defensive behavior, generally caused by a bird with eggs or newly hatched young in the nest. The people who are most vulnerable are those who are closest to the nest. The crows do establish territories which extend beyond the actual nest, and may include your backyard, street, local park or field areas, or buildings like an office or school, so people may not even know where the nest is. In your case though, the nest is right nearby, so you know exactly where it is, and, unfortunately, you're in the direct path of the most vulnerability!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are things you can do, some of which you've tried, which, unfortunately, haven't been working for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WildlifeQld Snake Catcher Brisbane &amp;amp; Bird Management&lt;/a&gt; is a good source of have information about birds and crows, including a page dedicated solely to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/bird-conflicts/crows.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Torresian Crow (Covus orru).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you said, they're protected in your area, for several reasons, primarily because they provide natural pest management. They eat insects and small rodents in agricultural, woodland and suburban gardens. Through defecation in these areas, they disperse seeds which helps growth and survival of native crops. They also eat animals which are already deceased in the road, providing assistance with clean-up, and also creating a continuing benefit to the ecosystem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following is their advice. I know you've tried some of these things, but I'm leaving them in so the answer includes the complete list.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't interfere with the bird, its nest or the chicks.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Crows are a protected species under Australian law and attempts to harm or kill these birds are illegal. These birds are merely protecting there young from a perceived intruder in much the same we would our own children.    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't feed crows. It is commonly believed that by feeding these birds they become friendly and won't become a nuisance. The truth is it encourages other animals into the area to take advantage of a free feed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid the area. If there is an alternate way of getting to work, going to the shops or taking the kids to school then use it instead. It's a small price to pay when considering a potential injury.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Where possible keep your eye on the bird. In most cases the bird will not swoop and make contact if it sees you are watching. If the bird does approach the simple waving of an arm will deter it from making physical contact.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Carrying a hat, umbrella or alternate object which you can hold above you head can help in deterring birds from swooping. Walking in a group can also be a great tactic.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Placing eyespots on your bike helmet, wearing sunglasses on the back of your head or keeping the bird in eye contact may in some cases help prevent swooping. Crows like magpies utilise the element of a surprise attack when you're not looking. Therefore maintaining eye contact, or the illusion that you are, may as previously mentioned aid in deterring them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Don't harass the birds, as this can make them more aggressive and more likely to injury someone else.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Informing your local council and having them erect signs is a great way of informing residents of swooping birds in the area so they are aware of the temporary risk. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/bird-conflicts/crows.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the birds, even when not breeding, haven't moved away on their own, you can seek removal or relocation assistance, however, and this is very important: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Never try to remove or relocate even one of these birds, either on your own, or by calling a &quot;relocation specialist&quot; People advertise themselves as &quot;certified&quot; or &quot;licensed&quot; in order to make money, so be careful when seeking help. Only people with certification from the Environmental Protection Agency are authorized to help, and there's a strict process they need to go through to receive the proper certification.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Advice &amp;amp; Relocation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If your best efforts of deterring the bird fail then further advice or relocation may be your last resort. Ecologically-minded crow advice, specialist trapping requirements, and ecologically sound translocation methods are employed by licensed professionals for effective crow relocation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Trapping &amp;amp; relocation of the bird is done in accordance with requirements stipulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and permits are issued after stringent examination as to knowledge and suitability to actively manage conflict crows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Every effort is made to ensure the birds are managed as to welfare, and to minimize any possible harm whilst being trapped, upon trapping, and through transit to a suitable release site.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/bird-conflicts/crows.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-01-20T03:29:36.900" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T03:29:36.900" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18261" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18262" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" Score="0" Body="Questions about ravens" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:30:48.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18263" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18264" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" Score="0" Body="Questions about crows" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T17:31:00.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18265" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18266" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" Score="0" Body="Questions about worms" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T19:58:11.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18252" CreationDate="2018-01-18T21:27:12.890" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shoes can be resoled from a worse state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current shoes have been resoled from a similiar state three times. The first time they worked even better than new (the rubber was better). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It all depends on the price you can get versus you'd like to pay for a new pair. Here a complete resole is around 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a new pair of shoes (if you don't buy the most expensive shoes)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/gear/the-art-of-resoling-a-climbing-shoe.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is a nice breakdown how it's done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2018-01-18T21:27:12.890" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18268" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-18T22:28:43.273" Score="4" ViewCount="364" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend travelled to Alaska last summer, and took several guided trips in areas with large &lt;strong&gt;brown bear populations&lt;/strong&gt;.  In each case, according to his report, the guides were armed &lt;strong&gt;only&lt;/strong&gt; with bear spray.  On one of the trips, to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.travelalaska.com/Destinations/Parks%20and%20Public%20Lands/Admiralty%20Island%20National%20Monument.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Admiralty Island&lt;/a&gt;, my friend said that the guides were rangers. (He did not say about the other trips.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guiding companies or, in the case of Admiralty Island, the Park Service, must be confident that they can protect their clients  with bear spray alone.  A client mauled by a brown bear on a guided trip under the explicit protection of the company or the Park Service would make for very bad publicity.  Tourism is important to the economy of Southeast Alaska.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ktoo.org/2015/08/05/report-shows-economic-impact-tourism-southeast/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;KTOO Public Media&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Report shows economic impact of tourism in Southeast&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the reasons for their confidence?&lt;/strong&gt; I can think of several possible reasons or combinations of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) The tourists are taken to places where brown bears have become acclimated to people. This doesn't mean that the bears are tame; they are still wild and dangerous. However, they see people as a normal, harmless part of their environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Bears are much more wary about a group of people -- say 4 to 8 people -- than one or two hikers, and the guides keep the people together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) People don't smell yummy. They smell somewhere between &lt;em&gt;yecch&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;meh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) The tourists are taken to places where the bears have an abundance of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(5) The bears do not associate people with food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In other words, are the guides relying on managing the pre-encounter situations to prevent encounters ?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) There is a backup guide/ranger with a gun out of sight of the tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An answer specific to protecting tourists on guided tours in Alaska would be ideal.  A more general answer about protecting clients who are on a guided tour against brown bears would also be useful.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:16:40.510" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:16:40.510" Title="Under what conditions can a guide be highly confident of protecting clients against brown bears without using firearms?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;bear-spray&gt;&lt;alaska&gt;&lt;brown-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18270" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-17T14:14:40.173" Score="5" ViewCount="493" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to learn snowboarding for the first time and would like to take some classes. I am trying to plan a visit to a ski resort and for that I am looking at the weather report shown below and would like help understanding it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does the Mountain, Valley and the height mentioned mean?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does the &quot;Fresh snow&quot; (in centimes?) mean? What amount of fresh snow is ideal and is it better if it has snowed the day before but not on the day of snowboarding?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does the rainfall(in liters?) mean? What would be a bad amount of rainfall that would make the visit meaningless?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What does snow line mean?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, general advice on picking a good day to go and learn would be appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88Mxa.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88Mxa.png&quot; alt=&quot;Weather report&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Screenshot taken on 2018-01-19 from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergfex.com/garmisch-partenkirchen/wetter/prognose/#day2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bergfex.com/garmisch-partenkirchen/wetter/prognose/#day2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Can't Tell" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-01-19T12:03:41.097" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T16:33:56.117" Title="Understanding a ski resort weather report" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18270" CreationDate="2018-01-17T15:24:55.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;That are a lot of questions for one question... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mountain&lt;/strong&gt; = report for the top of the mountain, the highest point in that area (start of the piste is somewhere up there)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Valley&lt;/strong&gt; = same for the valley, the lowest point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Height&lt;/strong&gt; = height above sea level for both&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fresh snow&lt;/strong&gt; = the snow that has fallen recently, how much is needed depends on the piste (are there many rocks, etc. that need to be covered with snow) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rain in liters&lt;/strong&gt; = rain in liters per square meter per hour... 1l ~ 1mm of rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow line&lt;/strong&gt; = height above sea level where the boundary between snow and no snow lies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good day to learn boarding would look like this (I took that picture a few km away from your weather report's location): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvKH5l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xvKH5l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;weather&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14786" OwnerDisplayName="dly" LastActivityDate="2018-01-17T15:24:55.843" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18272" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-19T08:30:19.847" Score="2" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;My main problem when bouldering and sometimes while climbing is, that after some time the skin/flesh of my middle and lower phalanges start to hurt and the skin comes off so further climbing becomes nearly impossible. The timespan until this happens differes and I can't see any progression over time or that bigger timespans between my climbing sessions would lead to better conditions. It seems to me that this isn't a problem of training, but of poor preparation/condition which lead to a bad form of the day for my fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question would be, is there anything I can do between the days of climbing to strengthen and prepare my finger skin/flesh to make it last longer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11684" LastActivityDate="2018-01-19T22:55:09.793" Title="Are there ways to make the skin on my fingers last longer while climbing/bouldering?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2018-01-19T23:54:30.597" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1562" CreationDate="2018-01-19T09:51:03.707" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To toughen up the skin on your hands you want to be climbing or generally doing things that scuff up the skin (i.e. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1573/2766&quot;&gt;exercises already suggested above&lt;/a&gt;). There really isn't any short cuts to this. Just keep working on it and it will get better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tough skin is great it stops your hands tearing up on rough terrain/rock. But your skin can be too tough. You also want to try and keep you skin &quot;even&quot;. Build up of callouses will be counter productive to you skin as they tend to come off and form &quot;flappers&quot;. See this related question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6862/how-to-take-care-of-climbing-hands&quot;&gt;How to take care of climbing hands?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-01-19T09:51:03.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18244" CreationDate="2018-01-19T21:40:50.530" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;By puncturing the cambium of the tree with bullets you are on the way to girdling it. Girdling a tree happens when enough of the circumference of the tree has been damaged just beneath the bark so as to interrupt water and nutrient flow, effectively strangling the tree. This is a slow death. In most cases small punctures and bark damage can be healed over by healthy trees, but larger openings increase stress and risk of infection for the tree, reducing its chances of survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you're adding to the environment when firing off each round, you could be exposing the tree and its neighbors to toxins like heavy metals. Unless you're shooting a lot and at the same spot I don't think there would be very much buildup, but there is not a clear threshold as to what is acceptable and what is not. How poisonous something is generally depends on dose and the digester.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the one hand you can be pretty confident adding plastic and brass shells and casings, along with metal fragments, into the area and trees themselves will not help life there. Plants are not deficient in those kind of nutrients, so even a little is probably not a good thing. On the other hand, sport shooting is an outdoor sport, and the time you spend outside can go in tandem with stewardship of the area. These two things - sport shooting and stewarding the area you enjoy sporting in - are orthogonal to each other in that one doesn't rely on the other. Our relationships with the woods are complex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, on note of our relationships with the woods: keep in mind &lt;strong&gt;sawmills don't want trees with bullets in them&lt;/strong&gt; as it can damage their saws. So if there is forestry done in an area, be mindful of that and try not to shoot the trees! I'd say same goes in a maple syrup tapping area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, as a firearms safety measure, it is a good idea not to shoot into trees and instead pick a bulletproof backstop. For example a dirt mound larger than your target area is much safer than a tree, because you can be more confident your accurate or stray bullets will not go beyond the area you're observing and aiming at. Shooting at a tree, a bullet can easily miss the tree - are you paying attention to what's beyond it? Also, after enough shots, eventually your bullets will start going through the tree - can you see what's behind it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; My suggestion would be: Research the materials you're adding to your local environment, where they come from and what happens to them over time. Follow your gut, heck even ask the forest and see what your intuition tells you. And of course, stay within the bounds of smart firearm safety, which I think draws the line in this case and demands that you setup a more short-term failsafe target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-01-21T04:22:24.790" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T04:22:24.790" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18272" CreationDate="2018-01-19T22:55:09.793" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some things that can prevent the skin from tearing off and getting the so-called &quot;flappers&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, learn to control your center of gravity and your contact points with the wall so that you can make as many moves as possible statically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfH_S2LTEXA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfH_S2LTEXA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because dynamic moves tend to result in stronger peak forces you need to absorb with your hands and your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, avoid over-gripping large holds:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iUW4R.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iUW4R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overgripping results in more lateral forces on the skin of your fingers, which increases the chance of flappers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2018-01-19T22:55:09.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18244" CreationDate="2018-01-20T08:32:57.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule I don't think you should fire .50 cal rifle rounds at any object you'd like to keep intact. They tend to be rather destructive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for exactly how bad it was, try inspecting the tree. Did the shots go through a solid target first, or was this a paper target/did they miss the target? What can you see when shining a flaslight into the entry point? Do you see any exit points? Are they small and bullet shaped in a straight line from the entry point, or are there chunks of tree missing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a big tree though, it can soak some damage. I first read that as a 2 inch tree, I was kind of surprised it still looked like it would survive. If you want us to be able to analyse better, send pictures of the situation please.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-01-20T11:03:53.580" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T11:03:53.580" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6862" CreationDate="2018-01-20T21:19:14.747" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have experience with calloused fingers from playing a string instrument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moisturizers, if overused, will inhibit the formation of callous, which protects the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the callous is too thick and you are losing some of the sensitivity you need for perception, you can file it gently with an emery board or metal file intended for fingernails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also do some gentle filing to smooth any sharp edges or bumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To build protective callous you have to expose your skin to the same type of stress, on a regular basis, and go easy until the callous is well established (i.e. reduce your practice session).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly (but I'm not a climber), you could use a product from the drug store billed as preventing blisters, or athletic tape, or paper tape, during a climbing session when you feel your callous is not well established yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8000" LastActivityDate="2018-01-20T21:19:14.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18244" CreationDate="2018-01-21T00:20:40.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I searched for any scientific evidence that lead from bullets harm trees.  I could not find any harm from the lead (&lt;em&gt;other then the obvious physical trauma&lt;/em&gt;).  You probably would not want to eat the tree, but there is no evidence that lead in moderate or even heavy amounts will cause to the tree to die, or live a substandard life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trees can survive for long periods with a few bullets in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week, park officials found a new one — although fallen — with two bullets still embedded in its trunk 148 years later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“The real witnesses to the battle . . . are still here,” John Heiser, Gettysburg National Military Park historian, said Tuesday, “even though they can’t talk to us. . . . They’re the last living witnesses to this singular event.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maintenance employees found the bullets in an old oak tree that had toppled on Culp’s Hill, southeast of town, the site of bitter fighting between Union and Confederate forces on July 2 and 3, 1863.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The discovery was made Aug. 4 as employees cut into the fallen oak tree, and their chain saw struck the bullets. The park said the tree fell about three or four years ago. The bullets were about 13 feet up from the roots, and the part of the tree where the projectiles were found was about 27 inches in diameter. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gettysburg-battle-bullets-found-embedded-in-tree/2011/08/09/gIQA251a5I_story.html?utm_term=.5281b89d2d3b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Post; Gettysburg battle bullets found embedded in tree By Michael E. Ruane August 9, 2011&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might even be a bullet in the 2x4 your house is made from.  We can see from the image below a bullet does not appear to harm the growth near the injury site any more than knot or broken branch would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/76FXu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/76FXu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Somebody shot the tree that my 2x4 was made from&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/2esie3/somebody_shot_the_tree_that_my_2x4_was_made_from/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plants can and do absorb lead, thought it seems it is more significantly absorbed from air then earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Riihling and Tyler (1968) grew plants from roadside seed in contaminated soils obtained near highways. The plants contained only 5-10 ppm lead in the dry weight of the plant, whereas the same species of weeds that grew in the same soils along the roadside contained 68-950 ppm lead in the dry weight of washed samples. These data indicate absorption of lead from the atmosphere. &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=DXPZAAAAMAAJ&amp;amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;amp;source=gbs_ge_summary_r&amp;amp;cad=0#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lead in the Environment: Tom Gray Lovering U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976 (pg 69&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But lead does not travel through the tree to any great degree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A solution of lead arsenate was formerly widely used in orchard to control pests... However a study of uptake of arsenic and lead by apple and apricot trees growing in such soil has found that though uptake occurs neither metal reaches levels which are danger to consumer health. &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=6eWpW1ypIdUC&amp;amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;amp;source=gbs_ge_summary_r&amp;amp;cad=0#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Metal Contamination of Food: Conor Reilly John Wiley &amp;amp; Sons, Apr 15, 2008 (pg45)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trees exposed to metric tons of lead, do absorb some, but no indications of harm to the trees from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The researchers'' survey found 11 metric tons of shot in the shotgun range and 12 metric tons of lead bullets in the rifle range. &amp;quot;These ranges are 10 years old. Most of the lead shot has accumulated on about four or five acres. Some shots have been into the woods, which cover hundreds of acres,&amp;quot; Rimstidt said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However some lead escapes, he said. &amp;quot;But we learned that it is absorbed in the top few inches of soil and does not migrate beyond that,&amp;quot; Rimstidt said. &amp;quot;Lead is not very mobile. It does not wash away in surface or ground water.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another finding is that there are large amounts of lead in the trees near the shooting range – but not in a large percentage of the trees, Rimstidt said. &amp;quot;If and when those trees are harvested, they would be contaminated with lead &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041104005801.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Science Daily:Do Lead Bullets Continue To Be A Hazard After They Land?, Source Virginia Tech November 5, 2004&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trees can be injured by trauma, same as a person.  An occasional euphemism is to say someone died of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=acute%20lead%20poisoning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lead poisoning when shot&lt;/a&gt; and this may be what is meant by phrase quoted in another answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2011/08/10/civil-war/31568233/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;Few of these trees survive today, though. Historians say most literally died from lead poisoning.&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no doubt that lead in animal carcass is harmful for scavengers. (&lt;em&gt;Not strongly related to points above but worthy of mention&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most lead-core rifle bullets fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces when they strike animal tissue. Lead-tainted meat may become part of scavengers' food supplies when any of the following occur: a wounded animal escapes a hunting attempt, an animal shot as a pest is not retrieved from the field, or when gutpiles remain on the landscape after a hunt. Over the past 3 decades, California condor recovery efforts have brought to light how this lead pathway in the ecosystem can threaten even the very survival of a species.But as you will see, impacts extend to many other wildlife species also. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/pinn/learn/nature/leadinfo.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service: Lead Bullet Risks for Wildlife &amp;amp; Humans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T00:20:40.777" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18280" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-21T00:49:04.167" Score="-2" ViewCount="100" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just a quick question, when hiking are there opportunities to work as you go? Just small cash-in-hand jobs or is it advised to save for a while before setting off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14788" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T19:46:14.913" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T19:46:14.913" Title="I am researching the E4 path" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;european-long-distance-paths&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2018-01-21T13:18:32.623" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18270" CreationDate="2018-01-21T00:55:47.547" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to Can't Tell's great interpretation, a good day to go snowboarding would mean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not so cold it's uncomfortable to be outside (adequately dressed)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not a bad day to be outside for any other reason&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not so warm the snow is slushy, or worse melting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow not melting for any other reason&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow deep enough your snowboard isn't going through the snow and hitting the ground&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Determining this from the weather report&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Temperature high around -5 to zero. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Temperature high hasn't been more than two or three degrees above zero for a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No rain, and has been no rain for a few days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not too much wind, which makes it hard to see and prevents you staying outside in the Cold for long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Significant snowfall in previous days, and especially some snow since the last time it rained or went above +5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a beginner you are mostly interested in the weather in the valley, as you will be starting on the lower slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperatures a bit colder won't hurt snow conditions, and as long as you are dressed for them and can tolerate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many resorts include a snow depth report, though this one doesn't. In my experience they are usually exaggerated, but with experience can be correlated with the actual depth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T04:23:43.720" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T04:23:43.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18280" CreationDate="2018-01-21T10:55:24.187" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A through-hike of the E4 would be a major undertaking, at over 10,000k / 6,500 miles. Unless you're a very powerful walker it's going to take you at least 2 years. A section hike would take many years more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's difficult to see how you could realistically undertake this without significant funding. The path passes through many areas where wild camping would be difficult or illegal, so on top of your food you would have to budget for many nights of camp-sites and accommodation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You really can't rely on picking up casual work on the way. If you're not an EC citizen it wouldn't even be legal. And if you are, the language difficulties are likely to be insurmountable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of work do you imagine you could find? I can't see how it would be practical. And if you do work your way along the route, how many years are you thinking of investing in the project?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you'd be better to draw up a careful budget and have the funds in hand before you set off. It will be much easier to find well-paid work in your own community, so when you hit the trail you can concentrate on your walk without stressing over money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-01-22T11:03:56.750" LastActivityDate="2018-01-22T11:03:56.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1013" CreationDate="2018-01-21T14:46:44.247" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wear two socks every day. In fact they're just cheap cotton socks that I buy from Walmart. Although my friends think I'm ridiculous for doing this, it does decrease friction, it aborbs sweat, my feet blister much less, less callouses, more cushion, less stink. My friends even challenged me to go back to one pair of socks for a while, but it bothers me too much, so after trying it, I never went back to single socks again. Again, this is just experience with cheap cotton socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14792" LastActivityDate="2018-01-21T14:46:44.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18284" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-21T21:53:29.227" Score="8" ViewCount="782" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in the market for a kayak and am wondering what type of kayak or what features I should look at given my requirements. Here's the details you'll probably need to help me out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm 6'1&quot; and 215 lbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have very little paddling experience&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would like to use it for both flat water fishing as well as river kayaking in nothing more than class 1 and 2 rapids.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it exists, I would also like a kayak that could handle all that as well as some small swell paddling on the ocean&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize one size doesn't always fit all, but I'm hoping to get some direction on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T04:55:41.693" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T16:24:11.807" Title="Kayak for fishing and low class rapids?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18284" CreationDate="2018-01-22T08:06:29.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A kayak that can handle rocky class  2 rapids can handle inshore waters in benign conditions, or surf a little. Whether it's good for fishing is another matter; for that I'm used to seeing sit-on-top boats. These are also good for a little summer coastal paddling, and I've seen them on easy whitewater but don't fancy it myself (because I'm used to being able to roll and take part in rescues). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be more worried about the paddler. With minimal experience even class 2 can be risky, and judging sea conditions in all but the most sheltered waters is a skill in its own right. Getting some practice with a coach or experienced paddler of the right type would be well worth it and also allow you to try out boat types. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T06:53:37.353" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T06:53:37.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18288" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18289" CreationDate="2018-01-22T17:10:52.240" Score="17" ViewCount="2995" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be camping and commuting to work for some undetermined number of months. During this time, I plan to do a lot of working out as well, and I'm wondering what healthy camp-friendly mostly non-perishables are there for this kind of lifestyle. A lot of what I've seen has a tremendous amount of sodium, or isn't very diverse (i.e. not a lot of fruits and vegetables), being  mostly bars and granola.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I do plan to do campfire cooking, but would like my doing so to be a matter of choice rather than necessity. Or, to be able to cook large batches of food on the weekends to last the week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get to the various campsites, I will drive and park in a nearby lot. I'm aiming to have the campsite within a 20 minute hike of the parking spot. There are various grocery stores within 20 minutes of the parking site as well. Additionally, I have a lunchbox size fridge space available at work to store a minimal amount. Work is about 20 minutes away from the park site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14796" LastEditorUserId="14796" LastEditDate="2018-01-22T17:29:27.057" LastActivityDate="2021-03-01T02:04:14.557" Title="Diet for Long-Term Camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2018-01-22T17:32:17.243" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stews based on fresh vegetables and pulses (dried or tinned) are as healthy as you like and can be made from only shelf-stable ingredients. With the addition of potatoes or pearl barley you can cook a meal in one pot, over a fire or camping stove without much control. Sauces can be based on beer/wine/tomatoes/coconut milk etc. Rice or pasta on the side, or fresh bread if you have access to it, can make a nice change.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One example might be red lentil dhal: fry an onion and some garlic, add spices, a tin of tomatoes, red lentils and water. Simmer until the lentils are soft and the dish has thickened. Serve with rice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be used to keeping fresh vegetables in the fridge, but in many cases it's not necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By varying the flavours such as herbs and spices you can make a wide variety of foods, which is more appealing than the same thing every day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like meat, there are dishes like corned beef hash, or you can add cured sausage or even jerky to stews or pasta sauces. But tinned fish is probably better if you're concerned about sodium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baking potatoes or sweet potatoes in a campfire is another long established practice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another idea, especially for when it's too warm to want stew or similar: Eggs. I know you have to refrigerate eggs your side of the Atlantic but they'll still keep for the time it takes you to get them to your camp (as will a measured quantity of cheese or cooked meat, with the rest of the pack stored in your tiny bit of work fridge). You can then make an omelette or scrambled eggs, to have with a salad or baked potato. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T21:58:51.243" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T21:58:51.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2018-01-22T18:07:57.170" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you keep a cooler in your vehicle?  If so then you are set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have access to groceries you are not limited to &lt;em&gt;camping&lt;/em&gt; (prepared backpacking packs) food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most fresh fruits and vegetables last 3 days unless it is just plain hot out.  Dried beans, pasta, and the like last a month.  Canned goods last months.  Fresh meat will keep until dinner if you buy on the way home.  If you are just packing in food for a day you don't need to be light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a fire or a stove then you cannot cook &lt;em&gt;camping&lt;/em&gt; or regular food.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of uncooked low salt you have fresh fruits and vegetables.  Lot of canned food is low salt and can be consumed without heating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Batch cooked foods are not going to last long if not refrigerated.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-01-22T19:15:17.940" LastActivityDate="2018-01-22T19:15:17.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18268" CreationDate="2018-01-22T21:56:03.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is only a partial answer, and I don't feel comfortable citing the following source without permission. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I e-mailed a highly condensed version of my question to a reputable guiding company specializing in small group trips and custom charters in Southeast Alaska.  This is the reply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A trip into bear country is not without risk!   The first and most&#xA;  important element of avoiding a bad bear encounter is the guide. Our&#xA;  guides have years of experience around coastal brown bears and they're&#xA;  constantly assessing the situation to put the group's safety first.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/recreation/natureviewing/?cid=stelprdb5401876&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pack&#xA;  Creek&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  (link added), we think bear spray to be an appropriate tool for&#xA;  deterring contact with a bear, particularly at a location where bears&#xA;  are accustomed to seeing people. Bear spray is statistically more&#xA;  effective than firearms. &lt;strong&gt;At locations where bears are not accustomed&#xA;  to seeing people, we may consider a firearm in addition to bear&#xA;  spray&lt;/strong&gt; (emphasis added).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On &lt;strong&gt;custom trips&lt;/strong&gt;, this company says, on their website, that they&#xA; provide  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;professional wilderness guide with years of experience in bear&#xA;  country, and &lt;strong&gt;equipped with a bear protection firearm&lt;/strong&gt; and canister&#xA;  of bear spray, a first aid kit, and marine radio.  (Emphasis added.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that these trips are day trips; if clients want to stay overnight, they sleep offshore on a chartered vessel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a recent example, near Sitka on a hike along a salmon stream, bear spray might or might not have been &quot;enough&quot;.  The case near Sitka, which does &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; involve the source quoted above, is reported &lt;a href=&quot;https://craigmedred.news/2016/08/19/pepper-spray-ends-bear-attack/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  There were about 20 tourists in a group, with a guide at the front and at the back.  The guide at the front was attacked, and either did not have bear spray or did not have time to deploy her spray.  (Accounts differ.)  The guide at the rear rushed to her rescue and drove off the bear with his spray.  The guide at the front was seriously but not fatally injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-22T22:31:33.523" LastActivityDate="2018-01-22T22:31:33.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18292" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18297" CreationDate="2018-01-23T00:06:11.223" Score="5" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;What, you may ask, is coasteering?  Does saying it is similar to kloofing help? Thought not.  Many sites describe coasteering; here is a brief description exerpted from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1785421/what-coasteering-and-where-can-i-do-it&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;outsideonline.com&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;What Is Coasteering, and Where Can I Do It?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Coasteering is a combination of rock climbing, swimming, and optional&#xA;  cliff jumping. As you’ve probably guessed from the term, this sport,&#xA;  which got its start in Wales, takes place on a coastline. It has&#xA;  allure for those looking for an adrenaline rush—and some exercise—in a&#xA;  beautiful environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One of the greatest things about coasteering is that almost everybody&#xA;  can do it. Andy Middleton, founder of the TYF Group, which facilitates&#xA;  outdoor adventures in southwest Wales, says that “anyone who’s capable&#xA;  of walking the coast would be OK to coasteer. We introduced our kids&#xA;  to it not long after they’d learned to walk.” His organization has&#xA;  hosted coasteering excursions for people well into their seventies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds thrilling, but a coasteering experience that would be fine for a child soon after it has learned to walk, or a person in their seventies, however athletic and proficient, probably doesn't offer much of a challenge to an experienced coasteerer (if this is a word) in her prime.  And vice versa: a route that would challenge an experienced coasteerer is probably no place for a beginner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have searched &lt;em&gt;Are there grades in coasteering&lt;/em&gt;, and the few hits I got were about training coasteering guides, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://newquaywatersportscentre.co.uk/training/coasteering-guide-training/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence my question: &lt;strong&gt;Is there a grading system, even an embryonic grading system, for this sport, similar (but perhaps more complicated) to the grading system for climbing?&lt;/strong&gt;  Or not, for reasons of the newness of the sport or the nature of the sport?  Or would someone thinking about trying a route have to rely on a qualitative description of the route?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thanks to @gerrit for raising this in Chat.  He declined to post a question.  As for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCBDwUxiNVI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kloofing&lt;/a&gt;, it seems to be canyoneering with a South African accent.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:48:33.733" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:48:33.733" Title="Are coasteering routes graded, or does one have to rely on a qualitative description of the difficulties of a route?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;coast&gt;&lt;coasteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11807" CreationDate="2018-01-23T02:45:58.420" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a complete answer, but there is evidence that crow populations are rebounding. From &lt;a href=&quot;https://pilotonline.com/life/wildlife-nature/coastal-journal/article_60f7f719-e018-546f-9200-8b0e523a0d5d.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Virginian-Pilot&lt;/a&gt;, July, 2017.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Crows? Who’s been seeing and hearing a lot of these noisy raucous&#xA;  critters this year?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I certainly have. The big black birds are raising Cain, up and down&#xA;  the North End.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This paper is based in Norfolk, about a four hour drive from my house. &#xA;It is a far from a scientific article, so I won't quote more.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/crows-return-after-west-nile-die-off/article_76f29e15-946b-5594-b6e8-7336b09066e7.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;St. Louis Post Dispatch&lt;/a&gt;, February 2013, crows are returning to the Midwest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count indicated that the bird [crow]&#xA;  population may be back to pre-virus levels in Illinois, and recovering&#xA;  part of its numbers in Missouri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;They’re almost back to where they were 10 years ago&lt;/em&gt;, said Robert Russell, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, referring&#xA;  to the Midwest. &lt;em&gt;Our crows are pretty much back to normal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crows were especially hard hit by the West Nile Virus:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The death rate for infected crows was 99 percent when the disease&#xA;  first appeared in 1999.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was, as of the publication of this article, no definitive explanation for the resurgence of the crow population: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No one knows why the crows seem to be returning now. West Nile is&#xA;  still with us, although at reduced rates. There were 21 human cases in&#xA;  Missouri last year, compared with 168 a decade earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After the worst years for bird kills, scientists sampled birds to see&#xA;  if they were developing antibodies to the virus. “We didn’t find any,”&#xA;  said McGowan, the Cornell crow expert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The answer might lie in a sort of high-speed evolution. The crows that&#xA;  survived have the most natural resistance to the disease, and they’re&#xA;  passing it on to their progeny, said Geoff LeBaron, the ornithologist&#xA;  in charge of the Audubon bird count.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2014, &lt;a href=&quot;https://baynature.org/article/counting-crows-why-are-there-so-many/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bay Nature&lt;/a&gt; reported increasing crow populations in Berkeley, CA, possibly attributable to the birds' intelligence and adaptability.  (There was not a dieback of crows in Berkeley.)  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/counting-crows-the-impact-of-the-west-nile-virus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;, WNV became less lethal as it moved west and was less lethal to crows in diverse habitats. Going beyond crows to some other species of birds, the picture is not so happy, but this is beyond the scope of the question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T03:28:12.210" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T03:28:12.210" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18268" CreationDate="2018-01-23T06:49:34.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;They might be confident to carry bear spray &lt;em&gt;because it is the better and safer option&lt;/em&gt; than carrying a gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was discussed a bunch of times on TGO already, one example of it can be found in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6987/trail-gun-for-protection-against-bears/6988#6988&quot;&gt;this answer here&lt;/a&gt;, which cites sources claiming that bear spray shows 98% effectiveness in deterring grizzly attacks in Alaska, whereas bringing a gun did not show nearly as good results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T06:49:34.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18228" CreationDate="2018-01-23T07:06:56.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As discussed in other answers, the easiest option would be to just have a custom rope and then everything works as you would expect. In a similar pro-climber vein, don't discount using rigging from the camera crew or stashing gear / fixed ropes. Note that these options incur a penalty in terms of either cost, weight of ropes to carry to the crag, or the added weight of a tag line (which can be quite significant on hard routes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More common (sometimes even required at sport crags for mere mortals) is to lower off using intermediate anchors. In the video of Ethan Pringle on Jumbo Love, you can clearly pick out intermediate anchors (e.g. at the 15:27 mark next to his right foot), so option 1 or 2 below would likely be the method of choice. Note that we're fully into the land of non-beginner rope work and shenanigans. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Engage brain and receive training before doing anything that follows&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all of the options to be discussed, the climber should take steps to &lt;em&gt;make sure that they do not drop the rope!&lt;/em&gt; Just as with cleaning a sport anchor, there are many ways to achieve this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A workflow would be something like....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Option 1&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer lowers climber to next highest anchor. This may require the climber to &quot;tram&quot; along the rope on steeply overhanging routes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climber securely connects to anchor. On a project route, you would likely have a couple carabiners left at the intermediate anchor for just this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer disconnects from the rope. !Make sure the climber is safe first!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climber pulls the rope, either by: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Pulling from the climber end, taking the belayer end all the way through the top anchor, which then hopefully falls to the ground for the belayer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) The climber unties, pulls the the belayer side of the rope such that the climber end goes up to the top anchor and back down to the climber at the intermediate anchor. This method is generally easier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of how the rope was pulled, the climber threads the intermediate anchor, the belayer puts them back on, and the belayer lowers the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Repeat if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Option 2&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer lowers climber to intermediate anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climber secures to intermediate anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer takes the climber off; climber pulls the rope through and threads the intermediate anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer takes the free end of the rope, which has come down to the ground, and ties it to a second rope. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer lowers the climber from the intermediate anchor, perhaps with shenanigans to pass the knot; or the belayer clips a belay device to the rope and the climber tags up the second rope &amp;amp; belay device and rappels from the intermediate anchor with two ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Option Danger&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a rather more daring/dangerous/please-don't-do-this approach...&lt;strong&gt;DANGER&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lower the climber to a quickdraw + bolt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use the quickdraw to connect the climber directly to the bolt (having one extra quickdraw makes this much easier). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer gives a touch of slack, climber connects to the strand going directly to the belayer with a locking carabiner, e.g., by clipping to a figure-eight-on-a-bight. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climber unties the rope from their harness, pulls this newly freed end through the quickdraws above and back down to them. If the bolt that the climber is hanging on were to fail, they would take a leader fall onto the locking biner. Not the safest thing, but at least there's some level of backup...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climber ties back in, belayer takes up the slack, climber unclips from the quickdraw, belayer resumes lowering from the quickdraw that the climber was previously connected to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people have even been known to just clip into the quickdraw and not bother with the extra hijinx of connecting the the belayer side with a locker. Regardless of whether this step is done or not, there will be a least a couple moments where the climber is hanging off &lt;strong&gt;a single bolt&lt;/strong&gt; and a &lt;strong&gt;single carabiner&lt;/strong&gt;. This breaks one of the cardinal rules (never trust your life to a single piece of gear), but new bolts in sound rock and quickdraws are usually pretty strong and...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't see why this is extremely dangerous for yourself, don't ever try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Option Free Solo Belayer&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While not directly applicable to the routes mentioned, the following can often be quite useful. This would generally apply to a route where just an extra 5-10m of rope are necessary to get the climber down from hanging in free space &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the route starts with easy terrain (say 10m of 4th/easy 5th before the route steepens). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer lowers climber as far as possible, to the point of having a stopper knot on the brake side of the belay device taking up the load (or even better, having the belayer tie into their end of the rope before the climber ever leaves the ground).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Belayer climbs upwards on easy terrain, acting as a counter-weight to the climber. Once the climber reaches the ground, they untie.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The belayer downclimbs back to the ground, being cognizant of the fact that they are effectively free-soloing. Herein lies the importance of the route starting with easy terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Occasionally, on overhanging routes where the ground slopes away from the base of the route, the climber doesn't need to untie, but rather just walk uphill back to the base of the route as the belayer downclimbs / gets lowered as a counter-weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Research &amp;amp; Development Option&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One product scheduled to hit the market in 2018 is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/beal.official/videos/1754083811298297/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beal Escaper&lt;/a&gt;, additional &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aBUZDW9Mgw#t=09m30s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video and commentary&lt;/a&gt;. The device connects to the anchor and then one end of your rope is tied to it. After doing a full length, single strand rappel, simply do ten hard tugs and everything comes falling down to you. Shades of Samwise Gamgee and his elven rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. The main utility would seem to be multipitch routes, where an entire second rope (an extra 5-10lbs) has to be carried up the route just to use as a tag line for rappelling off. In the context of the original question, this would still require the climber to a) get lowered and secure into an intermediate anchor; b) pull the rope through after being taken off bely; c) either tag up or carry along a belay device and the Beal Escaper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As this isn't scheduled to hit the market until the end of 2018, it hasn't undergone &quot;real world&quot; testing. On a first pass, it seems absolutely terrifying and prone to many &quot;what if?&quot; scenarios. On the other hand, Beal is a well respected brand and they would have to have tested it extensively before even thinking of selling such a product commercially...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Canyoneering-World Options&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving well outside the realm of the question, you can look to the canyoneering world for inspiration on how to do long rappels with a minimal amount of gear. For that community, they aspire to &quot;ghosting&quot;: traveling down a canyon leaving absolutely no gear behind (not even a sling around a tree or, heaven forbid, a bolted anchor). They make the sketchy anchors used while alpine climbing seem OSHA approved in comparison. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For examples, there are things like the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/techtips/fiddlestick/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Imlay Canyon Gear Fiddlestick&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjZRp2lyQRM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;) for retrieving a rope with only a tiny pull cord after a full length rappel, or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imlaycanyongear.com/sandtrap.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the SandTrap&lt;/a&gt; which is effectively a tarp that you fill with sand, rappel off of, and then use a pull cord on one corner to dump all the sand out of and send everything down to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, great ways to make rappelling even more dangerous and not applicable to the tame world of sport climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T19:24:14.097" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T19:24:14.097" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18292" CreationDate="2018-01-23T10:46:13.413" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the coasteering excursions I and my family have been on in Scotland, the rest of the UK and some other European countries, there appears to be no consistent grading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have seen is use of common grading for the climbing parts plus usually a comment on the &quot;relative danger&quot; on the drop to water and swimming sections. This commentary may have height and tide information, as well as any key risks to be aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's not yet as formalised as climbing routes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My favourite part of all coasteering is overhang routes, giving the option of falling into the sea below - no safety gear required!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T10:46:13.413" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18298" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18299" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" Score="0" Body="Questions about coasteering" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T17:04:01.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2018-01-23T18:24:51.160" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider also jarred foods like sun dried tomato, olives etc. Combined with pasta (and maybe a tin of fish) these add flavour and last reasonably well. Cous cous is another grain to consider; it's faster cooking than pasta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mornings, I'd look at the many ways to cook porridge, and dried milk if you like milk in it. Adding dried fruit and nuts would be a good way to get extra nutrients into your diet, plus gives an almost endless variety of flavours! One of my favourites is dried apple and cinnamon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest buying or making a small stove; the ease of use over a campfire will be significant. My preference is for an alcohol burning stove, since that's cheap and easy to carry fuel, but gas is faster. You can also get stoves that work with wood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Batch cooking may work from a food safety perspective in winter, but not summer. And you'll have to heat it up somehow anyway, so I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve by doing it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14797" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:24:51.160" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2018-01-23T18:44:12.093" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They sell small electric coolers (e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.coleman.com/40-quart-powerchill-hotcold-thermoelectric-cooler/3000001495.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one by Coleman&lt;/a&gt;) that run off of battery power (you can swap out your car battery with a marine battery or get a second battery/solar setup). As you are driving most days, you shouldn't have to worry about the battery running down. Then get yourself a nice two/three burner propane stove (e.g.,  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coleman.com/perfectflow-2-burner-propane-stove/2000020943.html?cgid=coleman-stovesandgrills-stoves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one by Coleman&lt;/a&gt;), an external propane tank, a wash basin, and a 5 gallon jug of water and you have a pretty nice kitchen (you of course can add an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.coleman.com/camp-oven/2000016462.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;oven&lt;/a&gt;). Now you can cook almost anything (keeping ice cream and other frozen foods is more difficult). On all but the hottest weeks you can batch cook and store a couple of days of leftovers in the cooler. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest you never cook at your campsite apart from maybe a small stove to boil water for coffee/tea in the morning and night. Rather, I suggest swinging by the grocery store on the way &lt;em&gt;home&lt;/em&gt;, buy what you want and cook it in the store parking lot, eat, and then drive the rest of the way home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:44:12.093" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18302" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18303" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" Score="0" Body="Questions about robins" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" LastActivityDate="2018-01-23T18:44:30.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18284" CreationDate="2018-01-23T23:38:01.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The type of boat you're describing here is called a crossover kayak. Some models include the Pyranha Fusion, the Dagger Katana, the Jackson Karma RG and the Liquidlogic Stinger XP. For models with different sizes: at your size you will be looking at the largest version in most lineups. You'll fit in those no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By definition the boats are compromises, and pretty big compromises. No crossover is going to give you the same fast gentle touring a good flatwater boat does, and if they get close they won't be the greatest on whitewater. On top of that you should not go out on whitewater alone. The boats can handle class 2 rapids, and some of the newer more whitewater inspired ones will do class 3 and 4 as well, it's just not really a solo hobby. And the same goes for sea paddling. If you're going to do fishing and would like to try whitewater ones or twice I'd get a fishing kayak and find a club you can join on the whitewater a few times. They'll have a boat you can borrow or rent. But if you really want to do both, especially if you want to do both on the same trip, crossovers might be worth getting into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-01-29T19:53:19.780" LastActivityDate="2018-01-29T19:53:19.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-23T23:41:43.600" Score="10" ViewCount="732" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to hike for a week with two dogs. Each dog eats 4 cups of kibble a day, that's about 14 liters of kibble per week. The issue is the volume not the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I feed them so that I do not have to carry so much?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T22:23:05.793" Title="What can I feed my dogs on a week-long hike?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18305" CreationDate="2018-01-24T00:47:32.993" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One problem is a dogs do not like changes in diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search on calorie dense or weight gain dog food.  I don't want to name brands.   Work that into their diet before you leave.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get packs for your dogs.  But a nice dog pack is not cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fatten them up a bit before the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid we would fish and feed them a lot of fish.  I get that is a change of diet but it is clean protein. Warning even in a tent a dog fish fart is deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T13:34:32.310" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T13:34:32.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18305" CreationDate="2018-01-24T02:04:28.190" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of things you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use some puppy kibble with the adult dog food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cut your dog food with about 25% puppy food during hiking trips. Puppy food had added calories and protein which will help boost your dogs nutritional intake during big mile days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpacker.com/gear/keep-your-dog-s-energy-up-on-the-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is freeze dried dog food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Other than standard dog food, there are also several freeze-dried raw meat products on the market. This type of dog food is ideal for backpacking, either for people who feed raw, or for anyone wanting to supplement their dog’s trail diet, because of its small size and carrying weight. The only real downside is that it tends to be more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.liveoutdoors.com/recreation/206459-trail-diet-for-your-hiking-dog/#gIuHR3jKh2b5bgtG.99&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use dog energy bars&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Familiar with energy bars? Dog bars are a very similar concept. Each bar is formulated to work as either a meal replacement or meal supplement. Better yet, there are recipes made with ingredients to fuel up both you and your dog so that you can pack less. As we mentioned earlier, the most important thing to remember when choosing the type of bar you want to pack is the duration of your trip!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.redbarninc.com/blog/6-easy-dog-treats-to-pack-for-your-next-hike/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that the dog will need more food than normal,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Your dog will need more calories than they normally eat if they are going to hike all day on the trail though. Dogs will need about 25% more calories than they normally eat to keep their energy up on a big adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierratradingpost.com/blog/lifestyle/backpacking-dogs-teamsierra/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, there are a number of articles and blog posts dealing with this that you might find useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierratradingpost.com/blog/lifestyle/backpacking-dogs-teamsierra/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adventure Dogs: Fueling Your Pooch While Backpacking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thehikingtreeblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/long-distance-hiking-with-a-dog-nutrition/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long Distance Hiking With a Dog: Nutrition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpacker.com/gear/keep-your-dog-s-energy-up-on-the-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Keep Your Dog's Energy Up on the Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Assets/ClientPages/zz_HIkingWithYourDog_WhatToPack.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking with your dog? Check out the canine ten essentials&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/hiking-dogs.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking or Backpacking with Your Dog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.liveoutdoors.com/recreation/206459-trail-diet-for-your-hiking-dog/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail Diet for Your Hiking Dog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:22:05.717" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:22:05.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18308" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18314" CreationDate="2018-01-24T02:20:30.497" Score="6" ViewCount="509" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_European_long_distance_path#Parts_only_marked_on_the_map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia notes&lt;/a&gt; that the E1 is marked from Okstindan to Børgefjell National Park, but is ambiguous about the national park itself.  Indeed, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.norgeskart.no/#!?project=seeiendom&amp;amp;layers=1004,1015&amp;amp;zoom=8&amp;amp;lat=7240850.90&amp;amp;lon=455652.88&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norgeskart has a route&lt;/a&gt; northward from the park boundary (which at this point is at a lake).  Wikipedia goes on to describe the route south of Børgefjell National Park.  What is the route for the E1 through Børgefjell National Park itself?  Does it follow Grensesømmen and/or Nordlandsruta in this area?  And where do those routes go, then?   As far as I know, there are no marked trails at all in Børgefjell, but a route suggestion can still be useful planning information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.e1hikingtours.com/individual.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;E1 Hiking Tours website&lt;/a&gt; does not list the route in Norway and Sweden at all.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yhxe_3sZrLUJ:www.fjallklubben.se/sfk/fjet-hiddenmenu-322/281-fjet-2-2006-artikel-1.html+&amp;amp;cd=5&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ct=clnk&amp;amp;gl=uk&amp;amp;client=firefox-b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This old forum post (Google Cache)&lt;/a&gt; describes it starting north of Børgefjell only. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:22:42.377" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T21:44:29.913" Title="What route does the E1 European Long Distance Path take through Børgefjell National Park?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;norway&gt;&lt;european-long-distance-paths&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18309" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions related to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_European_long_distance_path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;E1 European long distance path&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18310" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" Score="0" Body="Questions related to the E1 long distance trail connecting North Cape, Norway to Italy." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T02:21:44.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18268" CreationDate="2018-01-24T03:16:05.903" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of circumstances where bear spray is at a disadvantage to firearms including environmental factors like wind, rain and cold temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Know the product!  &lt;strong&gt;Winds, rain, snow, freezing temperatures and age of the product all play a role in the effectiveness of bear spray&lt;/strong&gt;. If it’s expired, properly dispose of it according to manufacturer's recommendations and replace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trailmob.com/outdoor-skills/how-to-use-bear-spray&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be aware that extreme heat or cold may affect the performance of the product. Canisters have been known to explode if left in a vehicle in summer. Each canister also has an expiration date.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fwp.mt.gov/recreation/safety/wildlife/bears/bearSpray.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like a &lt;strong&gt;strong wind, hard rain&lt;/strong&gt; requires a forceful spray to compensate for the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bearspray.com/bear-deterrent-spray-volume/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes bear spray won't stop the bear or even cause the bear to react.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lone female grizzly bear reportedly surprised a man hunting elk at Big Creek north of Gardiner on Oct. 28. The hunter reported to Montana Fish, Wildlife &amp;amp; Parks that he came upon the bear feeding on a carcass in the brush and that the bear charged him. The hunter said he first used bear spray to deter the attack then shot the bear in self defense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second incident was reported on Oct. 31 by a group of elk hunters who said they came upon and surprised a female grizzly bear with two young bears at Johnson Lake near West Yellowstone. The hunters said they first used bear spray on the charging bear but, as the bear continued to approach, they reportedly shot the bear in self defense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/hunting/nr_2349.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Brad Benter, who has experience with spraying several bears that barely responded, describes spray as “better than nothing,” but warns people need to be aware it might not work very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twice, Benter said, he has sprayed bears in the face from as close as six feet and solicited only a minimal reaction.&lt;/strong&gt;  In one case, he said, the bear backed away from the weatherport into which it had been peering. In the other, the bear just ignored the spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In neither of those cases did the spray spark aggression, but “it wasn’t like the bears went away,” Benter said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://craigmedred.news/2017/06/29/bear-spray-yes-or-no/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During a recent interview with TIME, Orr described how he first spotted the grizzly bear and her cubs while he was hiking through Madison Valley to scout for elk. The next thing he knew, she was charging full speed at him, he said.&lt;strong&gt;He used his bear spray, which generally deters aggressive bears, but the grizzly jumped on top of him, biting his head and arms before walking back into the woods.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Montana native says he then got up and began to jog back to his car, which was about three miles away. Ten minutes later, she was back, he said. This time, she bit his arm and shoulder before standing on top of him to make sure he was no longer a threat. Orr eventually managed to get up and hike out the rest of the way to his car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://time.com/4550059/bear-attack-montana-todd-orr/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people talk about bear spray being more effective in studies they are usually referring to this one &lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear/files/JWM_BearSprayAlaska.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska&lt;/a&gt; and yet,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Tom Smith’s bear-spray research, just &lt;strong&gt;10 of 72 bear-spray incidents involved charging bears.&lt;/strong&gt; Most incidents involved curious or non-aggressive bears. In contrast, his &lt;strong&gt;gun study examined bear attacks only.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hcn.org/articles/bear-spray-for-hunters-a-reality-check&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People will say that in the study the people who used bear spray were uninjured compared to the people who used firearms, but since people have been seriously injured while using bear spray, it seems that the data is incomplete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put bear attacks in perspective, you are far more likely to be stabbed/robbed/murdered/raped by the two legged creatures you encounter and yet lots of people don't carry weapons to prepare for that eventuality. So I am not sure that I would say that the guides don't carry firearms because they are confident of not needing the them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T03:16:05.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18313" CreationDate="2018-01-24T03:47:19.483" Score="2" ViewCount="804" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do bears, as opposed to defending cubs, being startled by humans, or trying to get into food, ever decide to prey on humans?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in stalk, kill and then eat them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T01:14:02.210" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T01:14:02.210" Title="Do black, brown/grizzly or polar bears ever prey on humans?" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;&lt;brown-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18312" CreationDate="2018-01-24T03:47:19.483" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: While rare, it definitely happens.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact the majority of people killed by black bears in North America were killed by aggressive bears not by say surprised bears or mothers defending their cubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study found that 63 people were killed in 59 incidents in Canada, Alaska and the lower 48 states. The researchers determined that the majority (88%) of fatal attacks involved a bear exhibiting predatory behaviour, and 92% of the predatory bears were males. The authors suggest male black bears have evolved some different behaviours than females.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/science/11bears.html?mcubz=2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We judged that the bear involved acted as a &lt;strong&gt;predator in 88% (49 of 56) of fatal incidents&lt;/strong&gt;. Adult (n = 23) or subadult (n = 10) male bears were involved in 92% (33 of 36) of fatal predatory incidents, reflecting biological and behavioral differences between male and female bears. That most fatal black bear attacks were predatory and were carried out by 1 bear shows that &lt;strong&gt;females with young are not the most dangerous black bears.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.72/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ken Marsh, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the animal responsible for the attack was an adult male black bear. The carcass of the animal, which mine officials said was shot at the scene, was retrieved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A preliminary examination of the case, Marsh said, appeared to rule out any sign that the mauling was the result of a surprise encounter or a defensive attack by the bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Initial indications, the information we have, are consistent with a predatory attack,&amp;quot; Marsh said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Murphy, the ABR president, said employees told him the fatal mauling involved an &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;extremely aggressive, predatory black bear.&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The &lt;strong&gt;bear appears to have stalked them,&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot; Murphy said the employees told him. &amp;quot;It came up from &lt;strong&gt;behind them and attacked.&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/06/22/anchorage-woman-27-idd-as-victim-of-fatal-interior-black-bear-mauling/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;WEST MILFORD, N.J. — Authorities say the first known fatal bear attack in New Jersey was unprovoked and the bear was acting in a &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;predatory&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Officials attribute the death of a 22-year-old Rutgers University student from Edison to &amp;quot;mauling.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.startribune.com/bear-in-fatal-nj-attack-was-unprovoked-acting-predatory/281046202/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rancher Sevend (Sven) Satre might have been able to provide some answers to these questions if he were still alive. On June 14, 1996, the 53-year-old man was riding his horse, checking on his cattle in the timbered country near the central British Columbia community of Tatlayoko Lake. He never returned. &lt;strong&gt;Satre's partially eaten body was located the next morning&lt;/strong&gt; and an aggressive black bear was dispatched at the gruesome site by the search party. A necropsy performed on the bear proved that indeed it was the man-eater. Interestingly, it was in perfect health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By all indications, the &lt;strong&gt;bear had stalked Satre and his horse for more than half a mile before rushing in for the kill.&lt;/strong&gt; The horse and rider had only just begun to react to the attack when Satre's saddle rolled after a tight left turn and he was thrown to the ground. Trackers concluded that Satre fought off the predatory black bear for less than 10 seconds before he was overpowered and killed. His axe was found at the site where the one-sided fight took place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2007/09/black-bears-simple-fools-or-cunning-killers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grizzly bears will also prey on people,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The man, who isn't being named by conservation officers, was moose calling with a hunting partner along the Smart River in northern B.C. on Wednesday, when a female &lt;strong&gt;grizzly&lt;/strong&gt; attacked him from behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conservation officers &lt;strong&gt;say the attack was predatory,&lt;/strong&gt; meaning the bear wanted to eat the man.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/man-expected-to-make-full-recovery-after-predatory-attack-by-emaciated-grizzly-near-b-c-yukon-border-1.4314753&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Predatory attacks by bears are very rare, but do occur.  Any bear that continues to approach, follow, disappear and reappear or displays other stalking behaviors is possibly considering you as prey.  Bears that attack you in your tent or confront you aggressively in your campsite or cooking area should also be considered a predatory threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://westernwildlife.org/grizzly-bear-outreach-project/bear-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polar bears will also prey on humans&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Atwood was a member of a team that combed through nearly 150 years of records of bear attacks in Canada, Greenland, Russia, the US and Norway. They drew their data from government agencies, news reports and, in the older cases, from ships’ logs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between 1870 and 2014, they found 73 cases of polar bears attacking a group of people or an individual, with 63 people injured and 20 people dead. &lt;strong&gt;Bears were acting in a predatory manner in most attacks&lt;/strong&gt;, and it was male bears that were more often involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where details were available, the researchers assigned the attacking bear a score reflecting its body condition. It turned out that 61 per cent of these bears were in “below average” condition – a situation Atwood says is down to them not finding as much food because of dwindling time on sea ice, their habitual seal hunting ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140701-polar-bear-attacks-on-people-set-to-rise-as-climate-changes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last thing to note is that while people say that polar bears are the only animals that hunt humans, this is not true, since black bears and brown bears will do it as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:22:54.580" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18308" CreationDate="2018-01-24T10:59:39.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;strong&gt;two conflicting accounts&lt;/strong&gt; of the route of the E1 through Børgefjell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After coming back from Børgefjell, I believe that the route through Børgefjell is &lt;strong&gt;probably the toughest part of the E1&lt;/strong&gt;, and a good candidate for the toughest part of &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; European long-distance hiking route.  Within Børgefjell, there are no markers, few trails, few bridges, and just a handful of (emergency) shelters.  The lack of markers is a conscious decision out of respect for the local Sami traditions, so this is unlikely to change.  Due to the very low level of visitation and the relatively open terrain, it is unlikely that any trails will socially develop apart from the limited sections where they already exist.  This section of the E1 required extensive wilderness experience.  An example of the landscape along the route:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4pWeN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4pWeN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Scenery along the E1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Scenery along the E1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The E1 crosses the snowfield visible near the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the E1 through Børgefjell appears too wild, there is an easy alternative on the Swedish side.  Coming from the north, the easy alternative branches southeast from Harvass to follow &lt;a href=&quot;https://southlapland.com/norgefararleden/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norgefararleden&lt;/a&gt; to the cabins at Tjåkkelestugan, then to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stekenjokk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stekenjokk&lt;/a&gt;, then back into Norway.  This route sticks to trails or rural roads all the way with roofed accommodation at regular intervals (in fact, it has a fair bit of roadwalking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now to the route of the actual E1.  As stated, there are two conflicting accounts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Account one: there is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#route?type=relation&amp;amp;id=1254350&amp;amp;map=10!65.1966!14.1191&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interactive map of all (?) E-routes&lt;/a&gt; on the website &lt;em&gt;waymarkedtrails&lt;/em&gt;.  I don't know how reliable it is, but for the sections I've walked in the past it appears accurate.  This source suggests that the route is indeed unmarked and that, from north to south, the route is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harvasstua (connected by road 48 km from Hattfjelldal/Aarporte, opportunity to restock)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Storvollen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Park boundary south of Austre Tiplingen/Luvlie Diehpele&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More or less following the &lt;em&gt;reingjerde&lt;/em&gt; toward Rotnan-Ranserdalen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up to Viermatjahke&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Passing south of Viermavatnet/Viermejaevrie&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crossing from Nordland into Nord-Trøndelag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Following Viermevuemie to the park boundary at the northern tip of Nååmesjenjaevrie/Namsvatnet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From here there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://borgefjellfoten.wordpress.com/skyssbat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;seasonal boat&lt;/a&gt; to Fredheim at Naustervika, which is connected by road 15 km from Røyrvik, the next opportunity to restock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Account two: a complete description of the E1 from north to south through Norway is available from &lt;a href=&quot;https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/turistforeningen/files/6df56f7315c200764d8f8098113b0f58d97bd2c0.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turistforeningen&lt;/a&gt;.  The relevant part through Børgefjell is described as four long sections from Daningen in the north to Bustadmo in the south.  This description includes the sections to reach the park from the nearest road from the north and to get out of the park to the nearest road south of it.  The description is in Norwegian, but I will provide a translation in English.  Note that this route description does &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; agree with the route sketch on &lt;em&gt;waymarkedtrails&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Susendalen – Tiplingan Skogstue¹, 16 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vi følger nå veien utover Susendalen i 6 km til krysset hvor vei tar ned til&#xA;  Eldsmoen. Vi fortsetter forbi krysset til vi er over brua like etter, og tar da&#xA;  sti ned til Oksvollen og krysser Susna på bru. Skal nå bratt opp gjennom&#xA;  skogen til Susenfjellenden hvor stigningen blir slakere, og avtar helt inn&#xA;  under SØ-enden av Susenfjellet. Vi dreier VSV og holder litt over skoggrensa&#xA;  et par km. Igjen mer mot SV og slakt ned gjennom våtlendt skog til&#xA;  Tverrelva. Krysser den og stiger opp til Ruffie. Der passerer vi stidele for&#xA;  stien ned til brua over Tiplingelva. Vi fortsetter mot SV i ca 1,7 km fram til&#xA;  Tiplingan skogstue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overnatting: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turkarthelgeland.no/tiplingan-skogstue.5159292-234276.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tiplingan&lt;/a&gt; skogstue&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Tiplingan Skogstue - Raentserenmehkie, 18 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Del av E1 og Grensesømmen. Strekningen er ikke market.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Fra Tiplingan skogstue går vi tilbake opp til stidelet på Ruffie og tar stien&#xA;  mot S ned til brua over Tiplingelva. Her går grensa til Børgefjell&#xA;  nasjonalpark. Fra brua tar vi rett S mellom bekkedragene og følger ryggen&#xA;  opp til Kraejhpie hvor vi kommer over skogen. Fortsetter mot S og passerer&#xA;  pkt 857 og følger bekk før vi kommer til elv og reingjerde der det gjør en&#xA;  sving. Vi krysser elva nedenfor reingjerdet og følger V-siden av reingjerdet&#xA;  og elva ca 2 km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vi får større avstand fra elva og passerer V for vann 960 og over&#xA;  høydedraget mellom punktene 1060 og 1033. Litt ned for å krysse bekken&#xA;  fra Reinhornvatnet og gjennom skardet litt V for høyde 1002. Dreier nå mot&#xA;  SV og passerer svingene i Ranserelva før vi krysser den. Herfra en drøy km&#xA;  mellom tjernene mot S til bua like ved reingjerdet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overnatting: &lt;a href=&quot;http://tversavnorge.blogg.no/1410254440_ndbua_raentserenmehki.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raentserenmehkie&lt;/a&gt;²&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Raentserenmehkie - Viermahytta, 28 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Del av E1 og Grensesømmen. Strekningen er ikke market.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Fra bua følger vi reingjerdet mot SV. Når gjerdet dreier mot S fortsetter vi&#xA;  rett fram innover dalen og opp snøbakken til skardet ved vann 1065. Her&#xA;  oppe dreier vi mot V og går ned i Virmadalen slik at vi kommer på N-siden&#xA;  av elva og vannene. Slik følger vi dalen nedover og passerer fylkesgrensa&#xA;  mellom Nordland og Nord-Trøndelag før vi kommer til skogen. Dreier da&#xA;  mer mot S for fortsatt å følge Vierma langs V-siden helt til utløpet i&#xA;  Namsvatnet. Snaut 300 m videre langs vannkanten ligger Viermahytta før vi&#xA;  kommer til utløpet av Storelva.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overnatting: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.royrvik-fjellstyre.no/index.php/hytter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Viermahytta&lt;/a&gt; (Røyrvik Fjellstyre) (Åpen 01.06 – 09.09., 6 sengeplasser)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Viermahytta - Bustadmo, 27,5 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Del av E1 og Grensesømmen. Strekningen er ikke market.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Fra hytta går vi tilbake til utløpet av Vierma og over brua og passerer på&#xA;  oversiden av husene i Norddalsvika. Innerst i vika er det myr helt ned til&#xA;  vannet, så vi prøver å gå innenfor myrene og dreier da mot SØ. Krysser&#xA;  Matbekken og holder samme høyde til vi er over utløpet av Orrelva.&#xA;  Nærmer oss da elva og krysser den på bru ca 800 m ovenfor utløpet. Kan nå&#xA;  ta rundt høyde 556 på N-siden eller gå over den til Storvika og fortsette&#xA;  langs vannkanten i en drøy km. Her går vi ut av Børgefjell Nasjonalpark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Når vannkanten får mer vestlig retning tar vi gradvis opp fra vannet og&#xA;  passerer skardet Ø for Sultenfiskåsen. Vi går S for Sultenfisktjerna i et vatt&#xA;  og myrete terreng. Vi holder også på S-siden av Lille Gollomvatnet, og må&#xA;  dreie mot S når vi kommer til Store Gollomvatnet. Følger vannet litt over&#xA;  vannkanten, men før og etter Rennselelva er det myrlendt. I V-enden av&#xA;  vannet kommer vi til skogsvei som følges i 4 km til hovedveien. Denne&#xA;  følger vi mot S og tar til høyre i første kryss på vei som fører til Bustadmo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alternativ til å gå er å bruke &lt;a href=&quot;http://borgefjellfoten.wordpress.com/skyssbat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;skyssbåt&lt;/a&gt; over Namsvatnet,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overnatting:&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitborgefjell.com/index.php?side=155&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bustadmo&lt;/a&gt; ”Base Camp Børgefjell” (privat)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My translation (improvements welcome):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Susendalen – Tiplingan Skogstue¹, 16 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We now follow the road through Susendalen for 6 km until the intersection where a road goes down to Eldsmoen.  We continue beyond the intersection to a bridge just after, and then take the trail down to Oksvollen and cross Susna with a bridge.  Shall now go steeply up through the forest to Susenfjellenden where the climb becomes more gentle, and stops completely at the SE-end of Susenfjellet.  We head WSW and hold slightly above the treeline for a few km.  A bit more SW again and gently down through the wetland forest to Tverrelva.  We cross it and climb up to Ruffie.  There we pass the trail intersection for the trail down to the bridge over the Tipling river.  We continue SW for around 1.7 km until the Tiplingan forest cabin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Accommodation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turkarthelgeland.no/tiplingan-skogstue.5159292-234276.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tiplingan&lt;/a&gt; skogstue&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Tiplingan Skogstue - Raentserenmehkie, 18 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Part of E1 and Grensesømmen.  Section is not marked.  From Tiplingan forest cabin it goes back to the trail intersection at Ruffie and we take the trail south down to the bridge over the Tipling river.  Here we pass the boundary with Børgefjell National Park.  From the bridge we head straight south between the streams and follow the ridge up to Kraejhpie where we get out of the forest.  Continue south and pass point 857 and follow the stream before we reach a river and reindeer fence where it makes a swing.  We cross the river underneath the reindeer fence and follow the west side of the fence and river for around 2 km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We get a larger distance from the river and pass west of lake 960 and over the heights between points 1060 and 1033.  A bit down to cross the stream coming out of Reinhornvatnet and through the pass a bit west of height 1002.  Now we turn SW and pass the meanders in the Ranser river before we cross it.  From here about a km between the little lakes southward to the shelter near the reindeer fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Accommodation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://tversavnorge.blogg.no/1410254440_ndbua_raentserenmehki.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raentserenmehkie&lt;/a&gt;²&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Raentserenmehkie - Viermahytta, 28 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Part of E1 and Grensesømmen.  Stretch is not marked.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  From the shelter we follow the reindeer fence SW.  When the fence turns south we continue straight on into the the valley and up onto the snow slope to the pass near lake 1065.  Up here we turn W and go down into Virmadalen such that we end up on the north side of the river and the lakes.  This way we follow the valley down and pass the county boundary between Nordland and Trøndelag before we reach the forest.  Then we turn rather S to continue following Vierma on the W-side all the way to the mouth at Namsvatnet.  Some 300 m further along the lake shore lies Viermahytta before we reach the mouth of Storelva.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Accommodation: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.royrvik-fjellstyre.no/index.php/hytter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Viermahytta&lt;/a&gt; (Røyrvik Fjellstyre) (open 01.06 – 09.09., 6 beds)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Viermahytta - Bustadmo, 27,5 km&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Part of E1 and Grensesømmen.  Stretch is not marked.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  From the hut we go back to the mouth of Vierma and over the bridge and pass at the other side of the houses in Norddalsvika.  On the inside of the bay there is swamp all the way down to the lake, so we try to go on the inside of the swamps and thus turn SE.  Cross Matbekken and hold the same height until we are above the mouth of Orrelva.  Approaching the river and crossing it on a bridge ca. 800 m above the mouth of Orrelva.  Can now go around height 556 on the N-side or go over it to Storvika and continue along the lakeshore for around 1 km.  Here we leave Børgefjell National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the lakeshore takes a more westerly coarse we go gradually up from the lake and pass the col E of Sultenfiskåsen.  We go S of Sultenfisktjerna in a wet and swampy terrain.  We also keep to the S-side of Lille Gollomvatnet, and must turn S when we reach Store Gollomvatnet.  Follow the lake a bit above the lakeshore, but before and after Rennelelva it's swampy.  At the W-end of the lake we reach a forestry road that is followed for 4 km to the main road.  This one we follow S and turn right at the first cross that leads to Bustadmo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An alternative to the walk is to use &lt;a href=&quot;http://borgefjellfoten.wordpress.com/skyssbat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a boat&lt;/a&gt; over Namsvatnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Accommodation:&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitborgefjell.com/index.php?side=155&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bustadmo&lt;/a&gt; ”Base Camp Børgefjell” (private)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distance from Harvasstua to the boat landing appears to be around 55 km.  Please be aware that there are no trails, markings, bridges, or shelters along the E1 within the park boundaries.  Expect swamps, bushwhacking, and river fording. Do not attempt this route without prior experience in navigating trailless terrain in the Scandinavian mountain wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹Official description starts at a little cabin in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.turkarthelgeland.no/daningen.5141909-234276.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Daningen&lt;/a&gt; 4.5 km north of the road at Susendalen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;²This is an extremely basic accommodation.  You'd be better off sleeping in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PRE1Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PRE1Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Raentserenmehkie, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Raentserenmehkie, outside&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d2fHK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d2fHK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Raentserenmehkie, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Raentserenmehkie, inside&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not camping, then please do yourself a favour and walk the extra 3 km to and from &lt;strong&gt;Ranserbu&lt;/strong&gt;, which is of much better standard, and also open for hikers to use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VfnH8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VfnH8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ranserbu&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ranserbu&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Page at Norwegian tourist association which used to describe the shelter in Raentserenmehkie as &quot;extremely basic&quot; no longer exists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-10-03T21:44:29.913" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T21:44:29.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10023" CreationDate="2018-01-24T19:33:53.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pulling down dangerous tree limbs. We have had a few elm trees fall victim to Dutch Elm Disease, and one of them has large cracks all over it, and we're afraid large sections of the tree will fall onto people, so we use grappling hooks to pull down the larger, more dangerous branches instead of having to stand under it with a chainsaw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14804" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:22:21.387" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:22:21.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18316" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European long-distance paths&lt;/a&gt; on Wikipedia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18317" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" Score="0" Body="Questions on hiking on European long-distance paths.  Use this tag for questions specific to one of the twelve international European long-distance paths.  For long-distance paths entirely in one Europea country, such as GRs in France or Spain National Trails in the UK or LAWs in The Netherlands, use other, country-specific tags." OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" LastActivityDate="2018-01-24T19:50:35.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18318" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18319" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" Score="0" Body="Questions about grizzly bears" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:14.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18320" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18321" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" Score="0" Body="Questions about brown bears" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:24.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18322" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18323" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" Score="0" Body="Questions about black bears" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:43.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18324" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18325" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" Score="0" Body="Questions about polar bears" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T00:23:53.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18122" CreationDate="2018-01-25T01:11:07.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have great answers, but I thought that I would post what I have found so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sorry for my delay on your question and I don’t have a very good answer.  It was determined by the commission with probably some input from FWP staff.  It would of went out for public comment and then the commission would of voted on the proposal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer I got back from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The caliber and bullet weight restrictions were determined by what would be the minimum acceptable energy to reliably harvest an elk sized animal.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer I got back from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pennsylvania Game Commision&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thank you for contacting Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Caliber restrictions are discussed, voted on, and ultimately decided by the wildlife commission. Commission meetings are open to the public and there is the opportunity for public input on issues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer I got back from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://cpw.state.co.us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Colorado Parks and Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-01-25T01:11:07.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18327" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18328" CreationDate="2018-01-25T14:25:09.990" Score="27" ViewCount="2145" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been told that electronics can possibly interfere with avalanche beacons (cell phones, radios, etc., but even flashlights). Is there any truth to this? A source would be helpful, ideally from a beacon manufacturer themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is indeed the case, how large is the impact: would it slow down a search, make it impossible, or not measurably change anything?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can one do to protect themselves from interference by electronics?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-01-31T18:26:18.643" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T15:08:57.730" Title="Do electronics interfere with avalanche beacons?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18327" CreationDate="2018-01-25T15:22:45.627" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes it does, especially mobile phones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I attended an avalanche course last year. The guide did a very simple demonstration. He powered his avalanche beacon on &amp;quot;send&amp;quot; mode, and put it on his backpack over the snow surface. All participants walked away from his beacon in a straight line with their own beacons in &amp;quot;search&amp;quot; mode. We all marked in the snow the distance where our own beacon stopped receiving the signal (not all devices have the same search range).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guide then repeated the exercise with his mobile phone placed 20cm from his beacon. The phone was switched on, he had 3 out of 4 bars of signal (with 4G), and did not make/receive any call or SMS during the test. We again walked away from the beacon in a straight line: Every participant stopped receiving the signal about 10-12m earlier than for the first test.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion: If you keep your mobile phone in your pockets and you are buried under the snow in an avalanche, the range at which the signal of your device can be detected by other people is significantly reduced! As result, it takes more time to find you, and the risk of death increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally keep my mobile phone in airplane mode: first it saves battery for an emergency, secondly it reduce the interfere with the avalanche beacon. Third (this is personal): it is OK and feels good from time to time ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for references:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid having other electronic devices (e.g. mobile phones, radios, headlamps, cameras), metal objects (pocket knives, magnetic buttons), or other transceivers close to your running avalanche transceiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://encrypted.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=11&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjIkIKytfPYAhUO6KQKHTteDgoQFghPMAo&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mammut.com%2Fassets%2Fdownload%2F14_master%2F2838_BarryvoxPULSE_UserManual_Web_EN.pdf&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw3D9hXXd2ZEMZAQYJW2zObT&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut Barryvox manual&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How strong is the disturbing influence of my cellphone?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cellphones, especially smartphones, as well as other electronic devices (e.g.&#xA;cameras), can influence the functionality of your avalanche&#xA;transceiver in the close range. This applies for all avalanche&#xA;transceivers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Possible effects on send function:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reduction in signal strength and&#xA;therefore range reduction for faulty transmitter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Possible effects on search function:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Reduction of receiving range&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;• Wrong direction and/or distance indication&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;• Display of additional, non-existent transmitter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all electronic devices, as well as metals and magnets, a minimum&#xA;distance should be observed: 20 cm in SEND mode, 50 cm in SEARCH mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pieps.com/en/content/transceiver-knowledge&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pieps Transceiver Knowledge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2312" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-15T14:34:56.080" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18330" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-25T18:23:28.573" Score="50" ViewCount="15619" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to hike, and I have two large dogs (German Shepherd, Presa Canario). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a long hike I look reasonably homeless (long hair, unshaven, muddy). Combined with two large, potentially dangerous dogs, it might scare off some people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I make sure we do not scare people / make them more comfortable meeting us on the trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-01-27T09:47:55.173" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T10:44:29.363" Title="How do I make people not be afraid of me and my dogs?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-25T18:35:22.880" Score="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple suggestions for meeting people on the trail with dogs,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the dogs leashed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When passing people put the dogs on the opposite side of yourself so that you are between the dogs and the people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull off to the side and have the dogs sit, as this demonstrates that you have control over the dogs and they will listen to you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Talk with the people you meet, ask the normal social questions like &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How is your day?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How long have you been out for?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where have you been?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smile and generally be friendly towards people.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T19:52:40.140" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T19:52:40.140" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-25T21:00:07.697" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless your dogs are well behaved (will sit on a single command and not move) then address the dogs and distract them.  Grab them by the collar.  If the people don't bother you then the dogs are not likely to be bothered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the dogs will sit then leash them and order them to sit to the trail side.  I don't see a need or benefit to engage the people other than hello.  You want to teach the dogs that trail people are of no concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-01-26T12:29:40.403" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T12:29:40.403" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T03:10:12.000" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who is fine with dogs, I'm saddened that my son was nipped by a puppy when he was very young and is now very nervous when needing to walk past dogs, and there are lots of strays where I live. In time, I hope to help him react to dogs in a different way, but right now he is afraid of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you met him with your dogs, there is nothing you can do that will change that. As a dog owner and lover, that might not sit very comfortably with you. But you would only be able to minimise his exposure and fear towards your dogs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Charlie gives good advice on showing you have control, but if you stopped to talk to my son whilst your dogs were obediently sitting by your side, he'd still be scared. If you recognised that and asked &quot;Are you scared by my dogs?&quot; and were prepared to cheerily move on without taking it personally if the answer was &quot;Yes&quot;, then I would say you've done all you reasonably can. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I'm focussing on the title of the question, because the details show you're looking to accomplish something a bit different, but I wanted to make the point: some people are just afraid of dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14815" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T03:10:12.000" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T03:28:53.290" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important thing is keeping all dogs on-leash in public areas. Technically, you can't &lt;em&gt;make&lt;/em&gt; any person not feel afraid. But a leash will do a lot to reassure someone who is frightened or concerned, so they know they can maintain a physical distance according to their comfort level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some folks, such as myself, are highly allergic to dogs. Many times, I have been completely accosted by off-leash dogs and told by their owner, &quot;Don't worry, they're friendly&quot; as if that makes it all okay. I love dogs, but as you might imagine, it's really frustrating to have to cut an excursion short to go shower off the allergens and change clothes before I get (too) sick. In my case, the fact that your dogs are extra-friendly just means they'll be even better at covering me with the stuff that will force me to go home sick instead of enjoying my day off. :\&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also known some people who have had a traumatic experience with a dog, and sadly, are going to be afraid of any dog no matter how sweet or friendly. Some people are autistic and just don't like to be touched by anyone. Young children may be startled to encounter an unfamiliar dog, and become terrified when they realize there is nothing to stop it from jumping on them if they back away. Etc., etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all of these cases, it's not a personal thing against you and your dogs -- honest! So please don't take it that way. There are just some people who, for whatever reason, won't want to get up close and personal with your dogs -- and that's okay. There's no need for you to prove how friendly your dogs really are, or for us to explain why we don't want physical contact. For people like us, the best reassurance of all is that your pups are on-leash, so that we are free to initiate contact (or not) on our own terms, as our needs allow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14816" LastEditorUserId="14816" LastEditDate="2018-01-27T07:39:16.763" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T07:39:16.763" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T07:32:30.367" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though you don't actually state it, I get the impression you normally let your dogs roam free on your hikes. If this is correct, then you are taking a very large risk with other people's health and welfare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both your dogs are large and very capable of inflicting significant injury on even an adult human. Dogs will react violently if they feel threatened or if their hunting instinct is aroused. You cannot predict with certainty how your dog is going to react if someone suddenly comes round the bend. Perhaps they are laughing loudly, or they suddenly scream because a bee flew into their hair, or maybe they are bleeding from a scratch. Any tiny thing could surprise the tiny mind of a dog and trigger its primal reflex - you will not be able to predict this or be able to control it with a verbal command, no matter how much you think you know your dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if your dog only wants to be friendly it can still injure a person. As you probably have observed, dogs show affection by muzzle-licking. Since our muzzles are high up on our bodies, dogs have to leap up on us to reach them. A large dog like one of yours, will send a child flying if it leaps on it at speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand you want to live the free life of roaming the hills with your trusty doggie companions but the reality is that you risk serious injury to some innocent passer-by. Please reflect on this and leash your dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3990" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T07:32:30.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T11:19:59.160" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's really rather simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All dogs in all public areas must be kept under control at all times.  If your dog goes toward other people, it is not under control and must be kept on a leash, as others have said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, the only dogs that are under control of accompanying humans without being on the leash are service dogs and other working dogs (such as guide dogs for the blind¹ (unlikely to find on a hiking trail, although I did once meet a blind hiker on a narrow hiking trail along a steep slope)) and hunting dogs.  I've met plenty of hunting dogs in nature, and they all seemed to totally ignore me.  I'm afraid of dogs (including Liams “sea sponge”), but I don't mind hunting dogs.  They appear to be true professionals.  And that's for the better, because keeping a hunting dog on a leash would be impractical.  A hunting dog may startle me but as it ignores me it will not scare me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any other kind of dog, I have rarely if ever experienced that an owner was actually in control.  Therefore, the advice in other answers applies: your dog must be on the leash at all times, because you almost never know for sure if other hikers are near.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;Of course, guide dogs for the blind are always on a very short &quot;leash&quot; (I don't know the correct word), I mean that I haven't seen that the human needed this &quot;leash&quot; to stop the dog from going to other people.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T10:54:31.467" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T10:54:31.467" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T15:06:26.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get a visible dog muzzle, so people clearly see that your dogs are harmless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like this:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y8kTN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y8kTN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;dog wearing muzzle with a cartoon drawing on the muzzle to look as if the dog is smiling &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but nothing like this:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1e72Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1e72Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dog wearing a muzzle decorated to look as if the dog Is baring sharp, bloodstained teeth&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13624" LastEditorUserId="11542" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T06:44:55.107" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T06:44:55.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T16:26:41.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider a dog vest or one of those cute outfits women dress up there pets with. Always have your dog on a leash and under control. Make sure you have water and a treat available anytime you are out doors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14828" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T16:26:41.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2018-01-26T22:45:27.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been in contact with Coleman via email for the past several months. They now have a replacement spigot in stock (Jan 2018), with a different part number. The new part number is 3000005305. I &lt;em&gt;really hope&lt;/em&gt; this means the design and/or materials have been improved so it doesn't break after the first use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just ordered two of them, and they should arrive within 6-10 business days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't available yet on their website, you have to call Coleman to place an order. Their number is 1-800-835-3278.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14836" LastActivityDate="2018-01-26T22:45:27.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-26T22:54:27.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read a leash as maybe saying, &quot;The owner doesn't trust this dog unleashed&quot;; and no-leash as saying, &quot;This is a well-behaved dog.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's if I can assume that the dog-owner is competent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO it's just as good (as using a leash) to demonstrate your control by giving &quot;sit!&quot; or &quot;heel&quot; or whatever else. Ideally your dog is looking to (looking at) you for instructions, in which case I can ignore the dog and talk to you. If the dog is looking at me and trying to make its own mind up, then maybe I'll avoid all y'all (so that the dog stays closer to you than to me).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing (the only important thing) is to be safe. It doesn't matter so much whether I'm scared of the dog and/or want to talk with you, the most (or only) important thing is that I mustn't be attacked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to use a leash only for safety's sake (not to punish the dog, not to make people feel happy) and/or to comply with the law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other bit (&quot;homeless, long hair, unshaven, muddy&quot;) is maybe a bit more important than the dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess my message is that it's possible to visibly control the dogs even without a leash. I cycle on a mixed-use tow-path and so cross paths with dozens of dogs per year. I ring my bell as I approach (so I can see what the dog's reaction to me will be while I'm still at a distance). Sometimes after an off-leash dog sees me, the owner &quot;checks&quot; the dog -- tells it to sit or just calls its name, at which point the dog might do a shoulder-check to the owner (&quot;Hello, yes, I am still with you&quot;) -- as long as the dog is more interested in what the owner wants than it is in me then all's good (in my opinion). If the attention of the owner and the dog are on me and not on each other -- then I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastEditorUserId="6365" LastEditDate="2020-01-09T10:44:29.363" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T10:44:29.363" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13772" CreationDate="2018-01-27T09:28:16.607" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are all well put together answers. Here's an additional step regardless of the season&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In an emergency&lt;/strong&gt; a tea light candle carefully set on/in a disposable pie tin can heat a 4 season tent enough to aid the drying process - &lt;strong&gt;just be sure to isolate, ventalate, and insulate the flame properly&lt;/strong&gt;! &#xA;-- (tent model, size, wind, temp, and humidity will all change effectiveness)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carying at least one mylar emergency blanket at all times is wise. In situations where you are wet these can save lives, and they bring some peace of mind while you are dry. I've always been comfortable after laying one loosely over my sleeping bag on uncomfortably cool summer nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dollar stores often sell all three items, sometimes with emergency blankets big enough to turn into a sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weight:&#xA;A tea light candle ~3 grams.&#xA;Disposable pie tin ~4 grams.&#xA;Emergency mylar blanket ~12 grams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to the weight to effectiveness ratio, I go through about 2 mylar blankets a season using them almost daily.  They block the sun well too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14842" LastEditorUserId="14842" LastEditDate="2018-01-31T19:18:27.590" LastActivityDate="2018-01-31T19:18:27.590" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11743" CreationDate="2018-01-27T10:34:09.047" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mylar emergency blankets can be critical when minimizing gear - regardless of season or location. They are a good tool beyond just a first aid kit staple, inexpensive &amp;amp; lightweight, and can make life comfortable in a pinch or save a life in an emergency. .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See my answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13772/what-should-you-do-if-your-sleeping-bag-gets-soaking-wet-at-night&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for more about drying out and staying warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14842" LastEditorUserId="14842" LastEditDate="2018-01-27T10:43:24.047" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T10:43:24.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18305" CreationDate="2018-01-27T22:23:05.793" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Teach your dog to pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4 cups seems like a lot. Big dogs?  Our dogs live outside in winter and get 2 cups.  The two larger ones are 50-55 pounds. If the main ingredient in your dogfood is corn meal, and half the calories come out the back end.   Many dogs do not digest corn meal well. Change brands. That alone may reduce the amount you have to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Figure out a calories per cup for your food.&#xA;Replace one quarter to one half the food with equivalent calories from fat.  I would suggest using lard as it has less scent.  You can melt these together to save volume.  Fat runs about 3600 cal/pound, where cereals and proteins run about 14-1600.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Introduce this new diet to your dogs about a week ahead of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the dogs aren't working hard enough not all the fat will be digested, and you will see greasy stools.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a long term solution, as it is deficient in protein, and likely trace minerals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If lower volume is sufficient, try mixing fish meal with fat.  You may have to hunt for fish meal, but I've found it at any place that bulk sales ingredients for livestock and poultry feed.  This will give you a compact brick.  It will also reek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make any food more efficient by adding water and cooking it.  Dogs have fast digestive tracts and there are a lot of calories left in their crap.  Cooking starts the breakdown process and pre-moistens the starches so that the dog gets more out of it.  Cooking doesn't have to be complicated.  Mix equal volumes dog food and water, and bring to a boil.  Set aside for half an hour.  When it's cool enough to eat, it's ready.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T22:23:05.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2018-01-27T22:35:28.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live for a month at a time on the following type of diet. Weights are in pounds if unspecified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast:  hot cereal 0.2 brown sugar 1 oz dried fruit 2 oz  margarine .5 oz milk powder 1/4 c/person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lunch:  1 cup granola, or 2/3 cup trail mix (half nuts)&#xA;3 oz cheese, 1/3 tube stoned wheat thins, 1.5 oz peanut butter. 2 oz dried fruit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(We would normally split this and have 2 lunches a day.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supper:  pasta 0.35 or rice 0.3 or beans, lentils, buckwheet 0.3&#xA;dried veggies (any of carrots, peas, turnips, onions, mushrooms, cabbage) 1-2 oz&#xA;margarine 1 oz.&#xA;dried soup mix as sauce. Spices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hot chocolate with breakfast, sweet tea with supper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also would bring a few spare soup mixes for something hot at lunch on a cold raw day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold weather double the margarine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works out to about 3500 cal/day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In theory this isn't enough.  However we have found that neither boys nor staff lose significant weight.  On canoe trips we typically are on the water 9-10 hours/day, and 7-8 hours on hiking trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2021-03-01T02:04:14.557" LastActivityDate="2021-03-01T02:04:14.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-01-27T23:06:56.290" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some more points in addition mainly to @CharlieBrumbaugh's answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both in Central Europe (where I'm from) and traveling Canada I've only &lt;em&gt;once&lt;/em&gt; in my life encountered a &quot;visibly&quot; and truly homeless person in the &quot;outdoors&quot; (actually just outside my home). All other encounters with homeless persons I personally had took place in cities and typically quite downtown. From that observation: I'd say the risk of confusion with homeless person would be maybe highest at a train station on the way home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one point that would make me wary (both outdoors and in town) would be beer/alcohol smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, a friendly grinning muddy backpacker saying &quot;Hi&quot; with happy muddy tired dogs would not rise a hobo impression with me. Hiking backpack and homeless person's backpack also typically look somewhat different, even if the hiker had to resort to plastic bags. If you want to make sure, let a GPS device dangle visibly from your shoulder strap ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About the dogs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people have commented already: some people are afraid of dogs, and typically more so of large dogs. And some are allergic to dogs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I haven't seen so far in this thread is: lots of people are also totally inexperienced with dogs: I grew up in rural place, we always had dogs and so had our neighbours etc. After a gap due to studying and working in large cities, I'm now back living in a village and have a currently adolescent &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Swiss_Mountain_Dog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Greater Swiss&lt;/a&gt;. I'm now just learning that most of my friends and acquaintances that met during studies and as colleagues (and also their kids) don't have a clue how to approach a dog (no clue as in asking whether &quot;is this a threatening gesture&quot; when the dog was yawning). And most of them are very fond of the outdoors (in a town-folk manner). This got me thinking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While most people I meet locally outdoors are used to dogs (ask interested questions, walk their own dog, ... - we're rural area [for Germany] that is nice but not so exciting people would come here for a day hike from anywhere else) I expect to meet more dog-inexperienced people in more &quot;famous&quot; regions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In consequence, &lt;strong&gt;I train my dog in ways inexperienced people approach dogs&lt;/strong&gt;, like &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;patting the head (he was scared of that a bit at the beginning - and of course, scared dogs are unpredictable/potentially dangerous), &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ignoring people looking/staring at the dog (still somewhat difficult: if someone is looking at him, that means &lt;em&gt;dog should make friends with them, right?&lt;/em&gt; If someone is staring, &lt;em&gt;dog needs to pacify the staring person.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Maybe by licking the hands?s&lt;/em&gt; =&gt; which will then go up, &lt;em&gt;so dog should jump to reach them, right?&lt;/em&gt;). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learn that throwing up hands in humans is not the equivalent of dog play-with-me-jumps. (Still to learn) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expose him to crowds (group hikes - obviously after making sure &lt;em&gt;beforehand&lt;/em&gt; that everyone is OK with this). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With that he also has to endure strangers petting (it happens that grown up strangers pet him who did not ask beforehand! - I had totally expected this of kids, but not of grown ups). The goal is: dog knows he has to ignore humans, regardless of whether they ignore him or not. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Same with kids. Fortunately, there's a &quot;forest-kindergarden&quot; coming along regularly and about half of the kids love petting him and giving him treats [he loves that, too] - the other half is somewhat inexperienced/reserved or even a bit scared but the group is large enough that each kid can decide how close they'll be to the dog. The kindergardeners (or I) then explain a bit about dogs and everyone learns something. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also hand over the leash to other persons (though he mostly just looks what I sign/allow with strangers - which is totally OK as long as I'm around)&#xA;including  kids  (obviously only in situations where I trust him to obey unleashed, and only closeby - and, depending on the size of the kid with a halter* instead of the collar)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I train him walking with a halter for two reasons: in case we want to go by train, he's officially required to have a muzzle [the halter counts in some regions like a muzzle] and I want him to get used to having such a construction in his face. Second reason is: with the halter, also my 70-year-old mother is in perfect &lt;em&gt;physical&lt;/em&gt; control of 60 kg adolescent dog of a cart-pulling breed.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Halter isn't as bad as muzzle, but I do get questions whether he's dangerous [sometimes adding: although he looks so friendly] when the halter is on - people understand that I want him to be used to halter/muzzle so he can come on the train. BTW: He's not &quot;one of those breeds&quot; - but: but for the white parts of the coat, they look quite similar to Rottweilers, and I get asked every once in a while whether he's a Rottweiler mix.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For this question: So, yes, people may be extra scared of a muzzled dog. Maybe depending on local customs about muzzling: here only very few dogs are muzzled. &quot;Those breeds&quot; and &quot;problem dogs&quot; are required to, and so is any dog in trains etc. who isn't inside a bag (but dog on train is comparably uncommon). In contrast, leash is the norm. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2018-01-27T23:18:55.700" LastActivityDate="2018-01-27T23:18:55.700" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18349" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-01-28T01:02:55.140" Score="4" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Massachusetts, in the Northeast United States. Our backyard is a National Wildlife Federation &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Certify.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Certified Wildlife Habitat&lt;/a&gt;. We're responsible for providing shelter, places for raising young, food and water all year round. We have trees, bushes, plants, and many feeders and bird baths. We take our part, especially in the winter, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/notes/BirdNote01_WinterFeeding.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;very seriously&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water freezes in our bird baths for months. We crack ice out and refill them regularly, but we'd like something heated to keep the water thawed. We were going to get &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14611/how-should-i-choose-a-submersible-bird-bath-heater-which-is-reliable-and-effecti&quot;&gt;submersible water heaters&lt;/a&gt;, but decided a free-standing unit we can use all year makes more sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We want something strong and sturdy, that won't crack under the weight of heavy snow or ice, or when birds and other animals are using it. Something easy to clean would be great! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some online that are thermostat-controlled. They turn on when the water begins to freeze, raise it to 35°F, and shut off when it gets warmer. They're rated to -10° or lower. They have electrical cords underneath.  This type looks good to us, as long as it's guaranteed for electrical safety and accurate temperature. We don't want it to cause damage to any part of the birds or other animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They come in either one-piece or two piece, in different sizes. They have a variety of edge and body styles, and choice of materials. We don't know the pros and cons of any of those features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which type of free-standing, thermostatically-controlled birdbaths would meet our most important criteria? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-31T20:51:48.640" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T20:54:36.337" Title="What features should I look for in a free-standing heated birdbath for below zero temperatures?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;birdbaths&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18349" CreationDate="2018-01-28T01:02:55.140" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few months ago, in November, 2017, we purchased a heated bird bath which fulfills all the criteria and more! It's a common type, and is sold by retailers world-wide. As I write this, in January, we've already had crazy weather with up to 40° degree changes in a single day, including record cold, and every form of precipitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the main features: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It has two pieces with a top that screws tightly onto the base. It's made of lightweight resin, which looks like stone. It's rust and corrosion resistant, and stronger and more durable than plastic. The basin and heating mechanism are guaranteed for 3 years. It's rated to -20°F, but has been proven effective in colder regions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's 18&quot; diameter, 23&quot; tall, 2&quot; at the deepest part. The edges are scalloped and smooth for perching, and there's a raised section in the middle of the basin. There's plenty of room for many birds or all sizes. We've had up to 5 sparrow-sized birds, a blue jay and mourning dove at the same time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It turns on when the water hits 32°, heats it quickly, holds is at 35°, shuts off if it gets to 37°. Birds can't burn or freeze their feet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The heating outlet is underneath the basin, and the base is open inside to run the cord up. Our unit is 60 feet across the yard, so we used two 30 feet heavy-duty water-proof outdoor extension cords with water-tight cord connectors. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's really easy to clean with a sponge or light wire brush. Screwing off the top and dumping the dirty water on the ground works well too!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few suggestions for best use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heated water evaporates quickly, so check it often. When watering's inconvenient, we throw snow on it and in a few minutes it's melted! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure it's stable and weighted. Even though it has a wide-bottom pedestal shape, it doesn't weigh much. We built a solid platform with slate for it to stand on. Definitely fill the whole base part with sand. We've watched large raccoons climb on it for a drink, without tipping it at all. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't let a long cord lie on the ground. We put our unit near a tree, ran the extension cords up a few feet, across some strong rope, and down to the plug on the outside of the house. (You can see much of that in the bottom picture.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE October 27, 2018.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This birdbath is amazing!!! Since I wrote this last January, we had many months of the same crazy weather, including a thaw in February and 3 feet of snow in March! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has continued to work perfectly and it looks brand new! We recently plugged it in for our second winter, so I thought I'd add this update. The lower pictures are from the March snowstorm!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blue jay, sparrow and mourning dove:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qRjNJm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qRjNJm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue jay on edge, bird in water and bird on other edge.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blue jay splashing while sparrow drinks!&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TpJ4Lm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TpJ4Lm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue jay and other bird bathing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Squirrel's thirsty too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTpsHm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CTpsHm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Squirrel drinking.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Snowy pictures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bird on branch waiting to take a drink:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCDzP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCDzP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;In snow with bird on branch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;We throw snow onto the birdbath from the left of the tree:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mNzLd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mNzLd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Far view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-31T20:54:36.337" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T20:54:36.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18284" CreationDate="2018-01-29T13:52:36.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly I have to say that I disapprove of an inexperienced kayaker considering running any rapids alone. Get out and walk round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, given that and your intent to fish, I suggest looking at the sit-on-top style kayaks. Many of them are primarily designed for fishing and hence have mountings for fishing rods and other related equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking as someone who once did a slalom competition in a pool boat, pretty much any boat can handle light rapids or a bit of surf, but you want something with a reasonable rocker (curve in the hull front to back) or a very long boat, a tourer or sea kayak, that ignores such considerations by shear size. You will find the shorter boat easier to handle though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T08:40:06.133" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T08:40:06.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18354" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18355" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" Score="0" Body="Questions about bird baths" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T04:41:45.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6060" CreationDate="2018-01-30T05:04:12.817" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can, unzip your sleeping a little bit and stick your feet out. If your feet are cold than you body will be cold too. If your head or your hair is cold your body will be cold too. So if your hair/head or feet are cold your body will be cold too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14869" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T05:04:12.817" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11306" CreationDate="2018-01-30T15:35:46.247" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cave photographers have to deal with a similar problem, where thin steam that's normally invisible can be seen in photographs taken with flash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steam is composed of fairly spherical droplets of water.  These act in a similar way to road studs of the &quot;cat's-eye&quot; type - they reflect light &lt;strong&gt;directly back&lt;/strong&gt; to its source.  The solution is to move the light &lt;strong&gt;off-axis&lt;/strong&gt;, so the reflection is no longer aimed at your camera (eye).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take your head-torch off, and hold or attach it away from your line of sight.  Attaching it to your belt is ideal, if you want to illuminate the ground - you now have less distance between the light and the target (though if you get it too low, you'll find that every rock casts a huge shadow, hiding your route).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the same principle as front fog lights on motor vehicles, which are low-mounted for the same reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T15:35:46.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10212" CreationDate="2018-01-30T18:10:34.430" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Arbitrary rules are just that - arbitrary.  One point of difference is that in 3D archery in the USA, you get exactly one arrow per target -- there's no concept of a &quot;split kill&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ring you list as &quot;non-scoring&quot; is 14 points in ASA tournaments, but non-scoring in IBO tournaments.  The smaller &quot;upper/lower&quot; 12 are only valid for ASA, and the middle 12 is only valid for IBO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFrkw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFrkw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3D scoring for various associations&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://dmtargets.com/scoring/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://dmtargets.com/scoring/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why?  Who knows.  But they have to be different or you wouldn't have two associations to join.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other news, NFAA and USA Archery / World Archery use different rules too -- For instance: NFAA allows &quot;barebow&quot; to have a 12-inch stabilizer, where USA Archery / World Archery requires the whole bow to fit through a 122 mm ring when unstrung.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14876" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:10:34.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10790" CreationDate="2018-01-30T18:21:53.913" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Easton Traditional are slightly heavier GPI because (I think) of their wood decal wrap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://eastonhunting.com/target/5mm-axis-traditional/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;400 spine Trad is 4.9 GPI&lt;/a&gt; where the &lt;a href=&quot;https://eastonhunting.com/target/5mm-axis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;same spine in the ST is 4.0 GPI&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few other minor differences in outside diameter, but all the components are otherwise identical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14876" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:21:53.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10086" CreationDate="2018-01-30T18:28:12.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The NFAA has a great guide on how to create a field archery course.  The guide talks about minimum distances between targets, backstops and safe angles of approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nfaausa.com/wp-content/uploads/Archery-Range-Guidelines.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nfaausa.com/wp-content/uploads/Archery-Range-Guidelines.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Easton Foundation also has a more illustrated guide to range design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.esdf.org/FacilityGuide/pdf/ArcheryFacilityPlanningGuide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.esdf.org/FacilityGuide/pdf/ArcheryFacilityPlanningGuide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My key takeaway: expect to use 1 acre per target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14876" LastActivityDate="2018-01-30T18:28:12.643" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18361" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18362" CreationDate="2018-01-31T07:52:57.527" Score="10" ViewCount="1369" Body="&lt;p&gt;I mostly boulder and I don't like to jump down from the top of the route, because my ankles/knees/back feels weird when landing. However, when I climb down sometimes my arms feel even more tired than when I was climbing up. I suspect my climbing form was especially bad when I am climbing down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can find a ton of videos/articles on techniques of climbing up, but surprisingly I couldn't find anything concrete on techniques of climbing down. Some articles only state the obvious stuff like &quot;don't be afraid, look down carefully&quot;. Can you guys advise me some concrete techniques for down climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T03:13:48.950" Title="Are there any concrete techniques for down climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18361" CreationDate="2018-01-31T11:28:30.870" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Little excursion up front: If you have problems with joints or back when jumping down, do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; ignore that. Either you already have a significant problem with those areas, in which case you should consult a health professional, or more likely you don't land properly. Even with mats, good landing technique is very important to save your body. That's out of scope of this question, but you could google for Judo/Jiu Jiutsu falling techniques (in a simplified manner work very well) or ask another question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most important thing about down-climbing is exercise: It isn't technically very hard, one just hardly ever does it and thus generally pretty much sucks at it. Think back to when you started climbing. So do easy routes and climb them down. This is also a great warm-up or endurance (on a little harder routes) training. My go to warm-up for the trainings I give are general purpose core and should exercises alternating with climbing one easy bouldering route up and down. Just doing that before training will improve your down-climbing tremendously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to specific things to look out for when down-climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you just need to get down in any way: Often you can choose where to down-climb by gripping the top edge and moving side-ways to an easy route. Just make sure there is nobody climbing below you!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even more so than on climbing up, you can do everything on arms stretched out (as you don't need to reach far against gravity, but with gravity): Find a hold a little lower, then shift your body position such that the lower arm is stretched out (all while keeping the upper arm stretched out too), then loosen the upper arm and repeat. If you can't get into a fully stretched position, make sure to have a good foot placement right under your center of gravity to help lower yourself to get to the stretched position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feet placement: Nothing different than on climbing up, but many people just stop using them going down (because gravity). Obviously, that's bad, because you also need energy just to hold on to a hold and while lowering yourself. So never let yourself go away with letting your foot hang towards that next foothold that is just a little bit out of reach. Always use your feet and replace them often.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strength: If you do the above, you don't need more than climbing up, so specific training isn't necessary. If you still go for quick and dirty climbing down (as in hangling, not feet), pull-up focused on going down can help: In any case the going down face of pull-ups is just as important as going up, but for climbing down it is even more important. So if you struggle with &quot;full&quot; pull-ups, use your feet to push yourself up, then let loose and go down in a controlled fashion (which is anyway a good exercise if you aren't strong enough to do many &quot;full&quot; pull-ups). As mentioned, this strength exercise isn't necessary though and won't benefit you much for bouldering in general, for that finger and core strength are key.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Climb easy routes up &lt;em&gt;and down&lt;/em&gt; (e.g. for warm-up), and soon you will be much more comfortable climbing down in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-01-31T11:28:30.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18365" CreationDate="2018-01-31T14:50:21.123" Score="10" ViewCount="874" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18361/are-there-any-concrete-techniques-for-down-climbing&quot;&gt;recent question&lt;/a&gt; made me wonder: A while ago, there was a nice route in the local bouldering gym with a rather high crux. The repeated jumping-off lead to minor knee pain for a few days. Now, there is a new interesting route with no down-climbing options from the top (which means that jumping off in a somewhat controlled way is neccessary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you &lt;em&gt;best&lt;/em&gt; land when jumping off a bouldering route? How to minmize negative effects on joints such as the knee?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2018-01-31T19:02:42.923" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T14:35:32.103" Title="How to land when jumping off a bouldering problem to minimize injury potential?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18363" CreationDate="2018-01-31T20:57:03.093" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to land after bailing off a boulder is &lt;strong&gt;controlled, on your feet, and in the middle of the pad.&lt;/strong&gt; Apart from that your landing isn't any different than it would be in any other activity where you jump off of things: touch down with your toes first, shoulder width apart, and bend at the knees to try and soak up as much of the force of the landing as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your legs aren't strong enough to take the full force of a jump, normally you tuck and roll. On a crash pad, people soak up as much of the force with their legs as they can (or want to), then crumple down onto their butt and roll onto their backs, staying on the pad as much as they can. Your spotters should be there to help make sure you stay on the pad as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're experiencing joint pain while landing on the pad, then chances are you have suffered an injury, or you have a muscle imbalance leading to an injury. You may require a combination of strength training, stretching and change of technique, a phisio or athletic therapist can advise you on this matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-01-31T20:57:03.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18363" CreationDate="2018-01-31T21:15:10.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two linked, but distinct issues: Preventing immediate injury and landing as &quot;softly&quot; as possible to prevent long term issues with joints/back/... The title tends to address the former, the body the latter, so I will address both. Also I only address the situation in a gym, i.e. mats all over the ground and no obstacles (I know, the people, but herding them away is the main job of a gym spotter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Direct injury&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All non-finger indoor bouldering injuries I had to witness affected arms/shoulders due to &quot;bad&quot; reflexes: Using the arms to &quot;catch&quot; the fall. This is not necessary with mats and spotters and it can very easily result in minor injuries, and major injuries are totally possible (like in permanent shoulder damage). The only thing arms should do is protect the head: Put your hands beside your head, which you pull forward towards your chest, such that elbows point away from your face (you can also interlace them behind your head/neck, but I doubt you do that while falling). The main point is: This is against your intuition/reflexes, so you need to train this, i.e. do it consciously on fake falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is one blatant exception to this: If you fall literally directly upside down, you will want to use your arms because your neck is just quite a bit more valuable. However I have never seen a bouldering fall where no rotation is involved or anyone was unlucky enough to be in the vertical position of rolling. What exactly you do here I don't know, but I'd doubt you could do anything consciously in this scenario anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MX4as.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MX4as.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Falling flat forward&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Photo by Patrick Matros in article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2017/1/92-99%28bouldern-safety%20basics%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bouldern - Safety Basics&lt;/a&gt; by von Tanner Robert, Schäffler Klaus and Matros Patrick published in &lt;a href=&quot;http://bergundsteigen.at&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bergundsteigen&lt;/a&gt; (#98) 1/17.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fall +- flat face forward, there is another technique: Landing in a position similar to a plank: Arms at a right angle you can think of hitting the floor with your open palms and then the entire forearm. Head looking to the side, legs slightly spread and as much core tension as you can. The idea is absorb as much energy as you can and ideally keep your head entirely from the mat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, there is not much you can do on landing, but also not much injury potential. What you can do is have good spotter, but there are other questions for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Soft falling&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First step is falling controlled vertically without much rotation. Obviously that isn't necessarily possible if you fall, but even then it makes sense to think about it: If you have a high crux move, also spend a thought on how you could fall and what position you will probably fall in, such that you can mentally prepare yourself (and maybe your spotter). In case you fall/jump controlled, the best way is to cut your feet loose, to hang straight down without swinging (obviously you might need to use your feet to stabilize yourself against the wall to stop any swinging). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A2ghJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A2ghJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Landing &amp;quot;softly&amp;quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Photo by Klaus Schäffler in article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2017/1/92-99%28bouldern-safety%20basics%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bouldern - Safety Basics&lt;/a&gt; by von Tanner Robert, Schäffler Klaus and Matros Patrick published in &lt;a href=&quot;http://bergundsteigen.at&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bergundsteigen&lt;/a&gt; (#98) 1/17.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When falling get into a step position with your legs and, to get into the habit, put your arms besides your head as described above. On ground contact bend your knees and push backwards, such that you roll on your back (first ground contact at your hips). The point is not to keep standing, which puts pressure on all the usual long term suspects, from ankles over knees to your back. All the energy goes into rolling backwards. If there is a lot of energy and you want to be fancy, you may go into a roll backwards to get directly on your feet :D &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11039" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T14:35:32.103" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T14:35:32.103" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18361" CreationDate="2018-01-31T21:29:14.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down climbing is always harder than climbing up, and more dangerous as well. Most serious injuries on mountains occur during the descent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The technique to down climbing a boulder problem is to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;choose your route down before you climb up&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you ascend anything you should always be thinking about the descent and planning your escape route. Lots of times you can simply walk off the back of a boulder, or down climb an easy section. When you do down climb, make sure you are aware of where you holds are, and carefully plan out your beta for getting down. During your descent, go slow, and be extra cautious, and still with a spotter, your spotters can help you find holds with your feet as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not unusual to exert more energy on the down climb than on the way up. This is the nature of &lt;strong&gt;eccentric resistance&lt;/strong&gt; (the un-flexing of muscles). The slow and controlled release of muscles under weight (eccentric training) is actually an effective exercise for breaking down and building muscle and strength, but it wears you out quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It isn't unheard of to get off a boulder by down climbing a nearby tree, or even using a rope. My climbing club in university had a retired rope they tied into a rope ladder like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rope Ladder Knot:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Q6ph.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Q6ph.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nearest boulder was very close to a perfect cube with a flat top and steep vertical sides all around. The best way off was to either down climb to a lower ledge to jump off, or down climb the ladder, which was tossed over the top of the boulder and anchored to the ground or another person on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T03:13:48.950" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T03:13:48.950" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18368" CreationDate="2018-01-31T21:33:49.567" Score="5" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of friends and I have taken up hiking here in South Africa and they're pretty geared up with their ankle guards, and extreme hiking shoes and what not. They've got their hiking underwear and whatever else they feel they need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always always been opposed to heavy bulky shoes, and always wear minimal stuff. Heck I even said a prayer after ZemGear shut down their operation, so sad so sad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike fine with my minimal footwear. I'm extremely light on my feet, so my toes do not bump into anything, and I tread lightly with quite a bit of agility, so I move like a ninja.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing is, my feet are pounding after a hike. As in muscle-pounding. It's like when you do too many wrist-curls, but on my feet. Personally this is a feeling I welcome, and love. And my feet heal within a couple of hours after the hike, so it doesn't bother me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But is it unhealthy in the long-run? (I promise, I did not intend that pun.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: As requested, I don't hike with just my sneakers or anything. I specifically purchased a thick-soled aqua sock so that I could enjoy the many waterfalls we encounter on our hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14887" LastEditorUserId="14887" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T12:21:13.750" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T12:21:13.750" Title="Is it unhealthy to wear minimal footwear?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;barefoot&gt;&lt;minimalist-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18368" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18367" CreationDate="2018-01-31T21:51:28.503" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the pain is from muscles only, then there should be no long term problems. However feet are extremely complex with lots of small bones, cartilage and tendons. So it is possible that these are involved in causing your pains. In worst case, you could even have fatigue breaks. The fact that the pain is going away after a few days makes this less likely, but tendons and cartilage may still be involved (they don't heal that fast, but pain may still subside). The only way to know for sure is to &lt;em&gt;ask a health professional&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever causes this pains it shows that your feet are not up to the task you require of them. This might or might not be connected with your foot wear. Judging that is way too individual to be done properly over the internet. The main point is you need to train: Go more regularly on shorter hikes carrying less weight. If the pain arises regardless of intensity, you want to consult a knowledgeable shoe seller/fitter and if the shoes aren't the problem, a health professional. If not, increase length/weight/speed/... and as with any training, listen to your body/feat while doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And just to be clear: I am very well aware that there is always some soreness in ones feet after a full day of hiking, no matter how good a fit ones shoes are or how well one trains, but the description seems to exceed and differ quite a bit from &quot;normal&quot; soreness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3516" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T00:42:16.783" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T00:42:16.783" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18369" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18370" CreationDate="2018-01-31T23:30:06.690" Score="6" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some questions regarding &quot;minimalist shoes&quot; on the site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By looking at those with the tag, it seems that the term relates to shoes that have thin soles without much spring to them, and sometimes laces. I assume that's not all there is to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the definition of minimalist shoes, and what are the criteria necessary to meet the definition? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T03:55:47.297" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T06:44:41.220" Title="What are &quot;minimalist shoes&quot;?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;minimalist-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18369" CreationDate="2018-01-31T23:41:46.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was actually a &lt;a href=&quot;https://jfootankleres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13047-015-0094-5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;project&lt;/a&gt; done on the definition of what a minimalist shoe is and the result was&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Footwear providing minimal interference with the natural movement of the foot due to its high flexibility, low heel to toe drop, weight and stack height, and the absence of motion control and stability devices&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for a simpler definition, this is what &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_shoe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Minimalist shoes are shoes intended to closely approximate barefoot running conditions.&lt;a href=&quot;https://jfootankleres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13047-015-0094-5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; They have reduced cushioning, thin soles, and are of lighter weight than other running shoes, allowing for more sensory contact for the foot on the ground while simultaneously providing the feet with some protection from ground hazards and conditions (such as pebbles and dirt).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One example of minimalistic shoes would be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibram_FiveFingers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vibram FiveFingers&lt;/a&gt; shoes which look like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6vijK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6vijK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;black shoes that are made with individual toes the same way gloves have individual fingers &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vibram_Five_Finger_Shoes.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11542" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T23:49:44.203" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T23:49:44.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16116" CreationDate="2018-02-01T01:24:45.693" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt there is a specific answer; I think different species have different preferences. In the Piney woods of east Texas , I have a couple traditional baths and a small pond with a 30 ft stream of recycled water ; 2 &quot; deep 24 &quot; wide. the birds use both. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But while they go to the baths one at a time , several go to the stream at one time. The migrating Robins ( thousands in a loose flock) are notable because there will be one every 18 &quot; the length of the stream . They splash around so much that it makes the pond cloudy with mud for a day. On a hot summer day I put a small fogger nozzle high in a tree; The birds find it in a couple minutes. So I think the birds will take any water they can get ( and don't care if it is muddy ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T02:22:58.957" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T02:22:58.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18475" CreationDate="2018-02-01T10:23:05.140" Score="3" ViewCount="964" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am from Morocco where we use something called Sardine paste to catch sargo. It's a dough that contains sardine and flour and beach sand. it's very effective but it doesn't work in all conditions, like when there is too much wind or the waves are too big (&gt;1.5m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14871" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T16:42:34.957" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T16:42:34.957" Title="What is the best bait to catch sargo fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;bait&gt;&lt;morocco&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18373" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-01T13:53:08.463" Score="5" ViewCount="2582" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13772/what-should-you-do-if-your-sleeping-bag-gets-soaking-wet-at-night/18344#18344&quot;&gt;recent answer&lt;/a&gt; said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In an emergency a tea light candle carefully set on/in a disposable pie tin can heat a 4 season tent enough to aid the drying process - just be sure to isolate, ventalate, and insulate the flame properly! -- (tent model, size, wind, temp, and humidity will all change effectiveness)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tea light does not have a lot of fuel, and if you consider food that a person eats as fuel, it would seem that a person burns a lot more fuel then a tea light. By extension if you have a person and tea light in the same enclosed area it would seem that the majority of heat being generated would come from the person. Keep in mind that both the person and the candle are combing (burning) Carbon and Oxygen, both include a supply of Carbon, but require Oxygen to be replenished from the environment.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I googled around a bit, and did not find an authoritative answer, but it seems like most hits are listing a resting human body as 100 watts of energy and tea light as 30 watts of energy. I have personally used a 60 watt incandescent light bulb as a heat source, and in a small area it is significant. It does not require ventilation, but is a fire hazard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the question: &lt;strong&gt;Can a tea light candle safely generate useful amounts of heat?&lt;/strong&gt; I think there are couple of points that need to be addressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the heat/energy output of a person?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the heat/energy output of a tea light?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do both consume similar amounts of Oxygen for the amount of heat/energy given?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If we assume a two person tent provides sufficient gas exchange for two people, can an equivalent number of tea light candles provide the same heat/energy without additional ventilation? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-01T16:25:33.123" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T16:25:33.123" Title="How many tea light candles are needed to equal the heat output of a person?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18373" CreationDate="2018-02-01T15:54:25.640" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Two candles to a person but you really shouldn't have an open flame inside a tent.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTU of a person,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, the human body generates about 330 BTUs per hour of heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This number fluctuates depending on the conscious state of the person. For example, a human body may give off closer to 400 BTUs of body heat while active but only 315 BTUs or fewer while sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reference.com/science/many-btus-human-body-generate-69ac8026ba9cd4a8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTU of a candle&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Now, how many candle do we need to produce 10 kBTU/h? It turns out that the energy output of candles is well studied:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From measurements of the mean mass loss rate (0.105 g/min) and hceff (43.8 kJ/g), the steady-state heat release rate from the candle was calculated as 77±9 W&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which can be converted to be 263 BTU/h.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/18338/is-this-tealight-flowerpot-heater-more-efficient-than-just-tealights&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So two candles would produce more heat than one person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As regards the oxygen, using an open flame inside a tent is a BAD IDEA partly because you can set the tent on fire, and partly because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never use an open flame inside a tent. This includes any type of fuel-burning lantern, candles, stove or grill. Use only battery-operated lights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mckinneytexas.org/878/Camping-Fire-Safety&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never use a flame or any other heating device inside a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T15:54:25.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18367" CreationDate="2018-02-01T16:31:27.853" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this question will vary on your level of foot strength and the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Human beings did pretty well for thousands of years without supportive footwear, but when they started walking on hard stone and climbing rocky mountains they quickly discovered their feet weren't suited for it. You'll notice that most large mammals that live at high elevation have hooves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people entering the minimalist barefoot shoe niche grew up wearing sneakers that provided some level of support for your arch/ankle/etc., which has the byproduct of under-developing the stabilizer muscles in your feet as you grow and mature. The result is very sore feet after using the minimalist shoes for long periods of time; the risk is causing a muskuloskeletal disorder from straining these muscles by using them excessively before they have the opportunity to properly develop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not unhealthy to wear minimalist footwear, but &lt;em&gt;on what terrain&lt;/em&gt; your wear them could be bad for your body in the long run. Human beings were never meant to walk or run exclusively on hard pavement or sidewalks. Nor were we designed to clamber around on sharp rocks at high elevations. Homo Sapiens are a low-elevation tropical animals, You'll notice the vast majority of the world's population is still in Southern Asia, which is very tropical. We had to adapt technology like clothes and footwear in order to thrive in other environments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're running on soft ground and you have the foot strength, then there are plenty of arguments in favour of minimalist shoes being better for you than other shoes, because it brings your posture and gait back to what nature intended it to be. If you're hiking in the mountains on uneven rocky terrain, especially while carrying a heavy bag, then you'd be better off wearing a supportive hiking boot, emulating a sturdy hoof of a high-altitude ungulate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T16:31:27.853" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18369" CreationDate="2018-02-01T16:45:28.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Minimalist shoes or &quot;barefoot&quot; shoes are shoes that provide your feet with some form of protection, but get you as close to a barefoot experience as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The styles range from simple ultralight sneakers, to thin almost slipper like shoes, all the way down to &lt;em&gt;stick on&lt;/em&gt; shoes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Eo3o.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Eo3o.png&quot; alt=&quot;Picture of assortment of minimalist shoes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://xeroshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/minimalist-footwear.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vZ7Ch.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vZ7Ch.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;picture of man’s feet with blue plastic soles stuck to their underside &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://awesurf.com/products/sticker-shoes-stick-on-soles-sticky-pads-nakefit-for-feet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11542" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T06:44:41.220" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T06:44:41.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18378" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18380" CreationDate="2018-02-01T18:29:01.983" Score="7" ViewCount="1774" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18373/how-many-tea-light-candles-are-needed-to-equal-the-heat-output-of-a-person#comment46147_18373&quot;&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt; at a recent question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18373&quot;&gt;How many tea light candles are needed to equal the heat output of a person?&lt;/a&gt; suggest that burning a candle can produce water vaper that masses twice as much as the candle&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A typical tea light is around 10g so we'd produce nearly 20g of water from that. That's enough to take the humidity of a cubic metre of completely (and unrealistically) dry air up to 100% (i.e. condensing) at 15C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically there are also ventilation issues (as mentioned in comments, question and answer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably there are similar results for other portable combustables like, propane, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does warming an enclosed area with an open flame provide help with drying wet fabric?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T19:11:22.093" Title="Does warming an enclosed area with an open flame provide help with drying wet fabric?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18378" CreationDate="2018-02-01T20:11:12.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd have to say No, not based on the water vapor in the exhaust from the candle, but based on the fact that if the area is enclosed and not very large, you can only dry a very small amount of wet fabric no matter whether you're using a heat source or not. Unless you have a way to dehumidify the area and store the condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat will obviously help with drying in an open system. Warmer air holds more water vapor, and warmer conditions hasten evaporation. But it doesn't take much water to saturate the air in a small, enclosed area and prevent further evaporation and drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some means of rapid dehumidification, and sequestering the liquid water which condenses out, would help with the drying of the fabric and every other surface in the area, but you still wouldn't want to be inside of there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're going to want ventilation. If you have that, then a candle is likely to help quite a bit. Not to mention, protecting any living, breathing occupant of the same area from suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T20:11:12.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18378" CreationDate="2018-02-01T20:13:13.733" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To dry an object, as you know you want the water to evaporate off of it and out of it. Heat is one of the obvious ways to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The dumbed down chemistry lesson&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you &lt;em&gt;increase&lt;/em&gt; the humidity of the air, you will indeed slow evaporation and therefore slow the drying process. The water molecules leave the object you want dry when some of the surface ones have enough energy to break free from the rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To drastically over-simplify it, imagine the molecules as a bunch of sticky balls all vibrating around (think maybe one of those kid ball pits, but all of them extreme bouncy-balls, covered in slow-drying glue, and with a motor at the bottom keeping them all vibrating), vibrating hard enough that they are moving relative to each other (ie: not stuck in place like a solid). The ones that vibrate hard enough can break free from the sticky mess entirely and get away. The water molecules that do that become part of the water vapor in the air. When water boils, that is when all of them are on the verge of breaking free, and many cross that boundary rapidly. For simple evaporation, you have to wait as the energy randomly shifts around in the water until one of the molecules happens to get bumped around just right to have that kind of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back to the stick-ball analogy: imagine that a bunch of other balls have already broken free of the mass and are wildly zooming around through the air because of all the energy they have. The balls trying to leave the sticky mass will have a hard time doing so if there are too many balls ready to knock it back in. That's kind of like how evaporation works when the air is too humid. The balls (or water molecules) &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; still get free of the mass into the air, but they now require even more energy to ensure that it happens at a reasonable rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The ramifications (and crux of the answer)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you raise the air temperature just a little bit but raise the humidity a lot, you're much worse off. In fact, I would suggest that keeping humidity as low as possible is more important than adding heat, assuming the heat is in small quantities of only a few degrees, or even a few tens of degrees. If you can raise the temperature &lt;em&gt;while also keeping the humidity constant or lower&lt;/em&gt;, then that will help, yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can increase the heat &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; though, then it is worth it. If you can increase the temperature of the room to a significant fraction of boiling temperature (close to 100C or 200F), then you're good... except that then it's way too hot, so you're &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; good. @JiK suggests in comment that some people do tolerate this temperature for extended periods of time, but you won't catch me sitting in a 200 degree F room for an extended time. I certainly could not handle that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer, as long as you are willing to tend the drying process very carefully and actively, is to dry with a flame and get  your fabric close enough to the flame to heat up a lot. But &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; the wet portions; you will ruin the fabric if you get drier portions near the fire too, or if some of it dries out before other parts and is still too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I do sometimes is to hold fabric close to a fire, just out of reach of burning myself, until the water starts to come off fast and visibly as steam, maybe even making a sizzling sound, then I pull it back. That dries it out &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; faster. As for using propane, this might work with a propane stove, but I would be wary of that and way extra cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that as you are drying your fabric, the water coming off of it will itself raise the humidity around it. So if you are in a small, enclosed area, each unit of drying will be more difficult than the unit of drying that preceded it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T19:11:22.093" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T19:11:22.093" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18378" CreationDate="2018-02-01T20:49:24.443" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost all common fuels produce water when burnt, as they're made up of hydrocarbons. That is to say the hydrogen in them combines with oxygen to form water. The extreme example is methane, which has 4 hydrogen atoms to one carbon&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a completely sealed but poorly insulated space (an approximation to a tent with all vents closed) an equilibrium will be reached as water condenses on the walls (the outside will be cooler than the inside due to the heat source. The production of water amounts for a lot of the energy released per unit mass of fuel. Eventually the process will be limited by oxygen depletion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a completely open environment the air isn't heated appreciably - or rather the hot air convects away, taking the water vapour with it. But radiant heat is effective. That's what happens when you dry things in front of a fire. If it's raining you can often arrange your camp so that the things you need to dry are sheltered from the rain but receive radiant heat from the fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The intermediate case is interesting: enough ventilation to carry away the combustion products and replace the oxygen  (in fact to carry away the water evaporated from your wet clothes). This is clearly possible as anyone who's finished a wet hike at a pub with an open fire can confirm. The fireplace and chimney are important, as they transfer heat to the room while venting the combustion products and sucking in fresh air. A wood burning stove is similar but more efficient. Whether we could arrange such a setup in an outdoors situation is another matter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The common exception to these fuels is charcoal. It's not actually pure carbon but near enough. So next to no water is given off in burning. And that's very closely related to why it's so hazardous to burn indoors. It's not very energy dense (so you burn more), and consumes a lot of oxygen. So it rapidly depletes the oxygen in the air. But (much more so than in the case of hydrocarbon fuels) this just changes the combustion reaction to produce carbon monoxide, instead of putting the fire out. And carbon monoxide is poisonous (large quantities of carbon dioxide aren't much fun either but CO is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; worse). This explains most of the warnings about not burning stuff n tents (which by the way aren't as ventilated as those I was brought up cooking in). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you burnt charcoal to dry your clothes, it would work well, but you wouldn't be in a fit state to worry about at clothes if you were breathing the same air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T20:49:24.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18378" CreationDate="2018-02-01T21:23:39.063" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a known fact that warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. Put a wet garment in a warm dry room and it will dry faster than in a cool dry room. It's called relative humidity, the warmer the air, the more moisture it will hold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an enclosed area, a warmer room will dry out a garment more, but only until the air reaches 100% humidity, or equilibrium is reached (the air is as moist as the garment).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's interesting is after you warm the space you're in with a small flame, and wait for the air to get humid. You can subsequently cool the space and the moisture the air will condense on any cool surface area, such as the walls of your shelter (I'm imagining drying clothes out in a quinzee). When you heat the room again, the relative humidity will once again be low, and you can dry your clothes some more (so long as you take measures to prevent the moisture in the room from condensing on your wet clothes in between). Note that this is not a quick or efficient way to dry your clothes. It's more effective to produce a lot of heat, and have a vent in the space to allow air to circulate and water vapor to escape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T21:23:39.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18002" CreationDate="2018-02-01T22:42:29.480" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;HDHM polyethelene.  The acronymm is High Density, High Molecular weight.  Sheets of it are used to line the chutes for ore dumping facilities, and to protect the edge of highway snowplows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to make dog sleds out of it. 1/4&quot; outlasted oak runners by about 4:1 Can be machined with wood working equipment.  Cost is about $1-$2/pound.  Ask at industrial plastics stores.  Sometimes you can get scraps for cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides:  you can't glue it.  You can screw it.  I would suggest using a layer of slow set epoxy putty as a void filler, and screw with large head short screws.  You need to counter sink the screw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The material is available in thicker chunks.  You may be able to replace the whole skeg with PE.  Be a lot easier and not much heavier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T22:42:29.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17955" CreationDate="2018-02-01T22:45:14.607" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seed fluff:  wild clematis, milkweed, dandelion, thistle, salsify...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birch bark:  Shred into narrow pieces (1/16 wide&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cedar bark: shred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nettle fibers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general google anything that could make rope or twine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T22:45:14.607" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17942" CreationDate="2018-02-01T22:53:23.787" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I run barefoot, and I hike in neoprene water booties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're over thinking it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  For your stepping, my preference is to keep my feet parallel to my direction of travel.  If you want to practice, walk on a curb or railroad rail.  (Watch for trains...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  For pacing, you want to have a certain looseness, like a puppet without quite enough tension in the strings.  This allows you a quick recovery when you step on something painful, or unlevel that would otherwise roll your ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Footstrike should range from ball first to heal first, but whole foot planted before there is a lot of weight on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D: Pack will be a huge determinate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A heavy load makes it hard to avoid rolling ankle sprains.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A thicker pack front to back will require more leaning forward to balance it, as will one where the load is low in the pack.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A higher load requires less lean, but if you trip, recovery is a lot more difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T22:53:23.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18378" CreationDate="2018-02-01T23:13:57.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where others have said correctly that warmer air can contain more water vapor than cold air, a very important detail is that you need to move cold air to the wet clothes and warm the air there to create a large evaporation of water from the clothes that will dry it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very much like blowing cold air on a misty windscreen in a car to get the mist off it. The cold air is warmed by the windscreen and then it is absorbing the moisture off the windscreen. It takes longer to remove the mist from the windscreen with hot air as that already contains a lot of water vapor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8383" LastActivityDate="2018-02-01T23:13:57.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18220" CreationDate="2018-02-02T01:30:48.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above, things like energy bars work well.  Prefer the ones in aluminum coated plastic packets as they are more airtight, and don't go rancid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go with nuts, get ones that are sealed.  Again, anthing that permits oxygen access to the nuts will cause the oils to go rancid.  Nuts have the advantage of being about 1/3 fat.  They have the disadvantage that, unless chewed thoroughly, large amounts pass through you undigested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration, however is water.  An easy and cheap way to store and carry this is to use 2 liter (2 quart) soda bottles:  They seal well, and are tough.  The thinner water bottle plastic can break if struck hard when full against a corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water is more important that food.  You can go weeks without food, days without water.  Depending on your climate you may want 2 to 8 liters of water per day.  (From experience in winter travel, and cool weather, 2 liters of water a day is the minimum.  Backpacking I carry a 2 liter bottle to refill my 12 oz squeeze bottle.  The dog caries and addition 4 500 ml bottles in his pack, and I have &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; run out of water above timberline toward the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in country that has water sources that you are willing to drink, you can replenish your water supply. My go to hiking area has abundant water below tree line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I would suggest 4 liters of water per day of walking time.  If it's there, you can abandon it, either at the car or beside the road.  If it's not there, well, your imagination is as good as mine.  (A comment said 'No one is going to walk out with 5 gallons of water.  If I had to walk out of Death Valley, I would, or even in many places in the Southwest.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This illustrates a critical point however:  You need to define the context of what sort of the situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you alone, or is there a chance you will have company?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are your mobile, or fixed?  Your question says mobile.  What is your plan if you are with someone who is unable to walk out?  Or YOU are unable to walk out?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Expected weather.  Preparing for a trek in the Sonoran Desert in August is different from Wood Buffalo Park in January.  The latter leaves you critically dependent on being able to melt snow for water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do you have the knowledge/skills/gear to be at least partially self sufficient?  This slows you down a lot, but if you are unable to walk to a reasonable location in your two day window, staying put may make more sense.  (The usual advice is &quot;Stay with your vehicle&quot;:  it's easier to find from the air.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For longer event storage, a 5 gallon pail of brown rice and lentils works well.  The mixture makes a complete protein, and 1.5 to 2 lbs per day will allow reasonably hard work.  It does take about 40 minutes of boiling water to cook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T13:25:04.353" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T13:25:04.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18072" CreationDate="2018-02-02T01:58:22.953" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I backpack with my D7100 and an 18-200 mm zoom.  It rides in a nylon camera bag -- just a cheap $20 buck one, that I spray with 2-3 coats of scotch guard water repellant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The strap that came with the camera bag isn't long enough. I made another one, and put a fleece pad on it so it doesn't chew my neck.  I like the top of the camera bag to be just a little lower than my elbows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry an elastic strap -- about as stretchy as a bungie cord with compatible hooks.  On rough trail where I'm using my hands a lot, this goes around me, under my pack and hooks to the camera bag.  This keeps at hand in front of me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But most of the time when just on ordinary trail, my hands are folded on top of the camera bag, or thumbs are hooked into the straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T01:58:22.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18390" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18406" CreationDate="2018-02-02T03:30:13.777" Score="6" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a look at this knife:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TjdOD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TjdOD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice that the edge start very far away from the edge of the blade, if that makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question I'm asking myself is whether, when sharpening this knife, do I need to keep this super long edge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z2cgf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z2cgf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or do I need to sharpen the edge like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qNais.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qNais.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, my question is how do I sharpen this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, is 800 grit enough to make a practical, sharp edge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13509" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T12:45:28.737" Title="How to sharpen a peculiar looking knife" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18391" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-02T04:20:08.287" Score="42" ViewCount="12356" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got a comment &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18331/8794&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; that said,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Please omit the &quot;Where have you been?&quot; part of your social interaction. That is going to set me more on edge, not put me at ease. It sounds &quot;stalker-ish&quot;, which is especially bad in OP's case where you look ragged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and before that Strongbad had suggested changing &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Where are you headed? to Where have you been?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for basically the same reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this doesn't match my personal experience at all. In my experience if you are making someone else nervous, they are going to pass you quickly without talking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand if you meet someone and are talking its seems very normal to discuss either of the questions especially for finding out what lies ahead if you are going opposite directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it actually poor etiquette to these questions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T05:00:45.497" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T13:15:35.810" Title="Is it poor etiquette to ask fellow backpackers where they have been/where they are going?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18409" CreationDate="2018-02-02T04:28:23.190" Score="8" ViewCount="1279" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, its not a hypothetical situation, and secondly, with all due respect, I am aware of where the debates like 'Should you get into this trouble at first place?' end-up, so lets not get into that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was running low on water during a trek off late, I usually don't like chewing gums much. A friend offered me to have a chewing gum, he made the point that it can help preventing my mouth from feeling dry. Dried mouth does indeed worsen the feeling of thirst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though it did work that day, a couple years ago I had a different observation. I had tried the same thing back then, and I am quite certain that chewing gum due to its nature, added to my woes a bad headache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't really found out how worsen/better it feels if you chew a chewing gum, and when it looses its juices/taste you throw it away, and (have to) continue without water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-03T05:41:21.613" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T18:54:20.810" Title="Does a chewing gum really help in keeping mouth moist?" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T06:00:58.853" Score="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. There's nothing wrong with asking other adventurers where they have adventured. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've asked random people that question, other people have asked me, it never has put me or them on edge or anything of the sort. Sometimes people like to know if the trail they're on leads to something interesting and is worth going, sometimes people like to hear of others experience, as well as just regular small talk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When backpacking, people are generally on the move, so &quot;where are you going&quot; and &quot;where have you been&quot; are pretty much the go-to introduction questions because that's whats of most interest to backpackers. In my experience, people love talking about their adventures, so if you ask where they've been, they'll blab for as long as you're willing to listen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, human communication is complex, and there are a wide variety of situations you can be in when you encounter random people, but frankly, anything beyond the general case is material for IPS.se for the specific situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T06:00:58.853" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-02T10:53:55.187" Score="9" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last night I was walking the dog near area where I climb a lot. Above the quarry where most of the climbing happens there is a really nice natural short crag. Looking at this crag I thought there were a couple of really nice boulder problems on them. A lot of the stuff was junk (low grade scrambling) but there were definitely a few really nice overhanging prows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9dxQz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9dxQz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;em&gt;dog for scale&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a look on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UKclimbing database&lt;/a&gt; and I can't see anything logged in this area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKHAQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKHAQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This makes me think this could be an unknown crag! What's the etiquette on this? If I get a first ascent can I confirm this and how do I document it? Just stick it on ukclimbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T23:13:41.777" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T23:13:41.777" Title="How do I know if I've made a &quot;first ascent&quot;?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18394" CreationDate="2018-02-02T11:09:26.397" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There may be &quot;formal&quot; ways to go about this, potentially online, but I know nothing about this, so I hope others can shed light on that aspect. However there is a &quot;traditional&quot; way about this: Phone up the local climbing &quot;gurus&quot; (for lack of a better word). These may be people having established climbing crags in the vicinity or simply well connected resident climbers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will hardly know who that is directly (if you do, all the better), but you will be able to find some initial contact point trough guide books, local groups of climbers or simply by an online search. Then tell them that you found an interesting climbing area and that you're interested in whether it is already established for climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they know, great, if they don't, ask them who might know. This might seem very time consuming, but not only am I convinced that it yields more accurate results than any online database (especially for obscure &quot;non-elite&quot; climbs), but you will get to know great climbers and through that you might also learn about other climbing &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bijou&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bijous&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T17:22:18.817" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T17:22:18.817" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T13:17:41.610" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is nothing wrong with asking people you meet on the trail where there are coming from or going to.  This is very normal trail-encounter talk.  I've asked people this many times and rarely gotten a negative reaction.  Likewise, I've been asked these many times, and never considered it to be inappropriate in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One obvious reasons hikers do this, especially when meeting people coming the other way, is to get reports of what is ahead.  This first-hand reporting system is clearly to everyone's advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reason I often ask people this when encountering them on trails in town is that I'm on the Trails Committee.  I like to know what people are doing, what trails they are using, what they think of them, etc.  It's a great way to get direct feedback.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often find that most people know only a little bit of our large trail system (over 110 miles on over 10 square miles of land).  After talking to them for a little bit and introducing myself as a member of the Trails Committee, most of the time I get questions about the trail system.  I keep a bunch of Trails Committee &quot;business cards&quot; in my pocket when on the local trails.  These have the URL to our on-line map on them.  Sometimes I even show them on their smart phones how to get to the on-line map and how to enable the little dot that will follow them around as they are hiking.  In the vast majority of these encounters, people are very appreciative of me having stopped and helped them understand the trail system better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I run into people who are lost, sometimes without even knowing it yet.  Over the years, there have been more than a few cases where I discovered people weren't where they thought they were.  It wouldn't have been possible to help them without asking where they were, where they were going, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very occasionally, I run into people that just want to keep hiking.  No problem.  I just smile, say something like &quot;Have great day&quot;, and move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing NOT to do is to try to stop anyone that is running.  Runners are there for a different reason, and stopping interferes with that.  If they stop and try to chat, that's fine, but don't engage runners in any way that asks them to stop unless there is a critical situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T13:23:00.680" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T13:23:00.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18397" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18408" CreationDate="2018-02-02T13:22:54.153" Score="15" ViewCount="4015" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a &quot;discussion&quot; with someone on Facebook recently. It came about over a photo shared in a group I'm a member of (I can't share the photo as it's not my property).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The photo showed two people in winter conditions on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/how-to-scramble-crib-goch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crib Goch in snowdonia&lt;/a&gt;. The two were attached via a rope. The rope was taut between them (about 2m long) and they were both standing on the ridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made a comment along the lines of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ah, demonstrating the classic &quot;Scottish death rope.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding being that using a rope in this manner is dangerous. A fall by either party would result in the other party also falling (possibly with much worse consequences for the &quot;belayer&quot;). To &quot;short rope&quot; in this scenario, I would always place some kind of runner. This was what I was told, always place runners on a short rope or don't short rope (i.e. untie)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were several people who agreed with me and several who vehemently disagreed with me. Often the line was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountain-training.org/walking/skills-and-awards/mountain-leader&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Leader&lt;/a&gt; and this is a perfectly valid technique&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is it appropriate to &quot;short rope&quot; without a runner? When and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally I'd like some kind of best practice guidance from some authoritative sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T19:10:56.807" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T15:03:48.300" Title="Is &quot;Short roping&quot; &quot;Death Roping&quot;?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18390" CreationDate="2018-02-02T13:34:14.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks to be what is known as a flat &quot;Scandi&quot; grind on the edge. There are a lot of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=262ZrxulO38&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;good resources&lt;/a&gt; online about how to sharpen this type of grind, but basically this is considered a relatively sturdy grind and simple to sharpen because there is no secondary bevel. The angle of that &quot;edge&quot; is your sharpening angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the grit, that will depend upon the degree to which your blade is &quot;dull,&quot; but 800 would be appropriate for general touch-ups on a well maintained blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T13:34:14.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T14:19:58.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am newer to hiking so on longer trails near rest points I will ask where else people have been. Normally it is well received and I leave with a laundry list of additional trails to track down when I am home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also first hand trail reports are always welcome when in places with small amounts of staff, which is evident at the start or end of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14892" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T14:19:58.877" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T14:46:20.493" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Context matters. There is nothing wrong with &quot;where have you been&quot; when you meet a fellow backpacker on a trail. But that is not the context of the linked question. Here, the other person is in a panic due to seeing your dogs, and potentially suspicious of you. In this frame, &quot;where have you been&quot; &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; sound like a nosy question, but so does &quot;where are you headed&quot; (&lt;em&gt;... is this weird dog-guy going to follow me?&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you absolutely want to avoid any risk of putting the other person more on edge, stick to something that is harder to misconstrue, like &quot;nice weather, isn't it?&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, the context is better judged in action, i.e. how much on edge does the person look, how does s/he react to your eye contact etc.? And if s/he looks halfway ok, &quot;where have you been&quot; is going to set the person at ease rather than on edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastEditorUserId="6220" LastEditDate="2018-07-09T19:59:02.043" LastActivityDate="2018-07-09T19:59:02.043" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18397" CreationDate="2018-02-02T15:46:21.773" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am pretty certain that I have already answered why this is dangerous &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15062/is-it-dangerous-to-rope-together-on-an-ascent-of-hard-packed-ice/15064#15064&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for when it would be a valid technique,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the terrain is such that there is a slight risk of falling, but not enough to justify putting in intermediate placements.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When balancing the need for speed with the risk of falling such as trying to get down before a storm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is done quite frequently on snow where you are depending on the other people to stop your fall with by self-arresting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately it all comes down to judgment and the amount of risk people are willing to take. I mean belays are the safest way to go, but people will still solo rock climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T15:47:58.300" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T15:47:58.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8873" CreationDate="2018-02-02T16:57:46.570" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you mentioned the Sierra's I'd recommend you investigate the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Alps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trinity Alps&lt;/a&gt;. I grew up backpacking in this area and it fits all of your requirements perfectly. It has tons of exposed granite, remoteness, and the tallest peak is just a smidge above 9,000 feet. There are also lots of lakes in the area so you can have ready access to water with good fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also good support from outfitters since you mentioned it. I've never used an outfitter so I can't give any recommendations but using the search term &amp;quot;trinity alps outfitters&amp;quot; I found at least 4 outfitters serving the area. Many years ago father was able to rent a pack mule in the area, so that may be an option as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below are some factoids about the area that I pulled from the Wikipedia article above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second largest wilderness area in California&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The lowest snowfield in California that does not disappear except in the extreme runs of dry years is located above Mirror Lake at an elevation of 6,600 ft. [This is just up the trail from Emerald and Sapphire lake shown below.]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Contains a 15 acre glacier complete with crevasses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cryptozoology&lt;/a&gt; discovery opportunities with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bigfoot&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Alps_giant_salamander&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trinity Alps Giant Salamander&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't take any of these photos but here are some I found online to give you an idea:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://hikemtshasta.com/tag/trinity-alps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Granite Lake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ylwUD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ylwUD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Granite Lake&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/caribou-lake-trinity-alps/406805&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caribou Lake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMs5x.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMs5x.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Caribou Lake&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Emerald and Sapphire Lake&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyLR5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyLR5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Emerald and Sapphire Lakes&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Emerald and Sapphire lake picture above was taken from a trail that goes over a ridge from Caribou Lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T17:47:45.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T17:11:26.583" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No.  In my experience it's a default intro question for multi-day hikers, and can make sense (if stopped to rest/eat) for short hikes too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone worried that you may follow them can respond to these questions vaguely - &quot;working my way towards the north end of the island!&quot; when that's clearly a multi-day goal, or &quot;oh, you know, just exploring fun-looking loops&quot; in a smaller area with a network of trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go with a question that comes naturally come to you instead of sounding stilted - I'd be more uneasy if it looked like someone was sizing me up and overthinking how to interact, than if they just asked a question.  (Although &quot;where are you camping tonight?&quot; is the kind of question that I would probably answer ambiguously, depending on the situation.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you get the sense they're uneasy, you can be the first to leave the encounter - whichever direction you were going before.  Of course it might be mildly awkward if you met at a spot mid-trail where you were planning to turn around anyway, if you haven't already explained this to the person in your trail chat exchange and it looks like you are doubling back to follow them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14894" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T17:11:26.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18397" CreationDate="2018-02-02T18:20:38.683" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never understood the reason for this technique, but let me guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When one of the people is much more experienced than the other, he can judge where there is no risk (99% of the time), and when there is slight risk (let's say 1%). In the risky situations, short rope allows for quick and efficient belay, or even physical &quot;help&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you usually see is the 99%-of-the-time situation, where the rope has no importance, but it's not practical to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T18:20:38.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T20:05:34.853" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am the one who left the comment you quoted, so I'll provide some advice from that point of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you open with &quot;Where have you been?&quot; or something similar, or ask it very early on, then cautious people very well could be unnerved. Even if I was not afraid of you, asking where I have been or am going is not necessarily &lt;em&gt;rude&lt;/em&gt;, per se, but it seems odd out of context. Asked merely out of the blue, I would assume that the other person is either comparing their trip to mine and might even try to 1-up me with something like &quot;Ow wow, that's neat. I've come twice that far.&quot; or the like, or that they are a bit stalker-ish. I will not assume that you definitely are a stalker, but I will be wary that you could be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, on the other hand, I stopped and talked to you for longer than a passing nicety, then there could be situations in which you could ask about my travels. After talking about the weather, or about the trail conditions, or about your dogs, or something else, if you said &quot;I still have a long walk ahead of me too. 15 more miles just for today. What about you? &lt;strong&gt;Where are you headed?&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; &lt;em&gt;That&lt;/em&gt; would sound a whole lot better. And maybe that was even what you had in mind in your original answer that I commented on. In this situation, I might even tell you all about my trip and have a great conversation with you about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could also work, even up front, if it was in the context of some reason why that information was useful to you. &quot;Hey, I am looking for a river that is supposed to be up ahead and was wondering if you came from that way?&quot; or &quot;Hello. I just ran into [insert appropriate obstacle] in the path a couple miles back beyond the fork. Which way are you going?&quot; Then obviously that is also fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But just by itself, with no conversational context, I'm likely to raise an eyebrow and respond with &quot;I have at least a few miles to go. I'll find out when I get there.&quot; and try to end the conversation short. Some people &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; that abrupt and are just being friendly, but generally that is an odd context-less question. And I don't want to take the risk that you might be up to no good (no good doesn't even need to be evil; I have heard of people playing pranks on others, something I would still want to avoid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good point inspired by the answer by @henning, adding my comment there to my answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the biggest worries is that you would follow me. However, the following does not even need to be through any malice. I would worry that it was, but it is still awkward to be followed when nothing bad is afoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have actually had socially odd people follow me before and continue trying to be friendly to me. This is rare, but it has happened to me more than once. Sometimes I have even tried to get them to stop following me but they don't seem to get that what they are doing is not socially acceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, after trying to be extra nice to this one guy one time for as long as I could bear, I outright told him that I did not want him to keep following me and trying to talk to me; he acted like I was the one in the wrong, and &lt;em&gt;he actually asked me if I needed a hug&lt;/em&gt;... yes, that's right, I was creeped out by him, and he asked me if I needed a hug. And I truly believe that he was not out to steal from me nor to hurt me, that he was just a socially odd person. I get socially odd - I'm somewhat socially odd, but there is weird and then there is &quot;I hope I am never in that situation again&quot; level of awkward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps my experiences are part of what makes this difference between you and I.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So being leery of you does not necessarily mean I think you are going to attack my camp at night. If you're creepy enough, sure, maybe that could be a concern too. But I do not want the potential for &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; problems, whether they be fear of burglary, or even if they are just you thinking I need a hug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T20:38:07.380" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T20:38:07.380" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18390" CreationDate="2018-02-02T20:27:24.747" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are  two options. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First you can sharpen it with a single bevel (per side), this requires sharpening with the wide bevel flat to the stone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively you can sharpen with a small second 'micro bevel' at a slightly steeper angle than the primary bevel. this makes it much easier to give the blade frequent touch-ups but you will still need to regrind the main bevel periodically when the micro bevel gets too wide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;800 grit is a bit on the coarse side but should be OK for general use, for something like woodcarving you would want to go a bit finer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T12:45:28.737" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T12:45:28.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-02T20:40:57.750" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the circumstances. When hiking alone, I am always a little suspicious of strangers. I don't think this is that unusual, especially in some of the busier places I visit in the US, as &lt;a href=&quot;http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123679&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;crime in US National Parks&lt;/a&gt; is a thing. Rarely, but much more than once, I have skipped planned campsites and lunch spots (and even in some cases packed up and left), and as a hitch hiker I have turned down rides, based on vibes I got from strangers. I much prefer a stranger to tell me things about themselves than to ask questions about me. If I want to tell you about where I have been, I will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The context of the question was about an individual with two large dogs that looks homeless and not making people scared. Your proposed questions were&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;How is your day?&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a great question since I can tell you anything I am comfortable with&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Where are you headed?&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it is not an atypical question, it raises red flags for me. What runs through my mind is &lt;em&gt;why do you want to know&lt;/em&gt;. I want to make sure you are not going to try and follow me. In most cases I will tell you, in others I will just blow you off and give a vague answer. I suggested &lt;em&gt;where have you been&lt;/em&gt; since rarely does knowing where I came from put me at risk, but even that is a little invasive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;How long have you been out for?&#xA;Where are you from?&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I almost pointed out in my comment that these make me think you want to know if something happened to me, if someone would come looking right away. Telling a creepy stranger that you are not from around here and haven't checked in 3 days, is not really a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The questions are not really out of place, but under certain circumstances they might make an individual a little more on edge. This is especially true if you look homeless and have two large scary dogs. More importantly, most hikers are all to happy to tell you where they have been and are going. There typically is no reason to even have to ask; if you strike up a conversation, they will probably tell you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-02-02T20:55:32.900" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T20:55:32.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18397" CreationDate="2018-02-02T21:17:18.017" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short roping is dangerous, but it is also a critical part of guiding. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpineskills.com/pdf_forms/ShortRoping.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This presentation&lt;/a&gt; touches on a lot of the reasons for short roping and risks associated with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short roping is claimed to provide three advantages. The first is that the short rope increases the confidence of the weaker climber and there by decreases the likelihood of a fall. The second is that a short roping can prevent a slip from becoming a fall. The third, and most dubious of the claims, is that once the slip becomes a fall, the short rope allows the stronger climber to stop the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disadvantage of the short rope is that if the weaker climber falls bad things are potentially going to happen to the stronger climber. In most cases, short roping is used in a client/guide relationship where the guide has already screwed up if the client falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-02-02T21:17:18.017" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18392" CreationDate="2018-02-03T12:28:04.957" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's perfectly possible for both to be true: it moistened your mouth but doesn't help with hydration The act of chewing stimulates saliva production, so your mouth is less dry. But that wastes a little water as you exhale. It also diverts ways from keeping you hydrated. These are both small effects, but by masking a major sign of thirst or can make you drink less when water is available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-02-03T12:28:04.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-03T19:30:49.917" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no &lt;em&gt;right answer&lt;/em&gt; to this question, but let me give you a perspective from an older generation -- a generation which was raised to respect privacy, perhaps too much.  As such, I consider it bad manners to ask personal questions of strangers without giving a good reason for the question.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there is usually a way to avoid the personal question by rephrasing the question.  &quot;Do you know if the trail above Lake X is blocked?&quot; is very different from &quot;Where are you going/where are you coming from?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People obviously differ on whether where one is going/is coming from is a personal question.  People also differ as to how long it takes for a person met by chance on a trail to become more than a total stranger.  Two sentences, or five minutes, or never?  Much depends on the impressions they make on each other, how their day has gone so far, how tired they are, and what side of the sleeping bag they got out of that morning.  I might be friendly today but stand-offish tomorrow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, my advice is to phrase questions as impersonal questions and not to be offended if the stranger you meet does not want to talk.  Much of the joy of backpacking, for me, is to get far &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madding&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;away from the madding crowd&lt;/a&gt;.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-02-03T19:30:49.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18397" CreationDate="2018-02-03T22:36:53.023" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A logical, no emotional, (simplified) mathematical way consider it- it turns a potential fall with X percent of death or injury into a fall with X percent possibility of two deaths or injuries. It reduces the chance of a double fall to Y percentage of single fall.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the maths is simply short rope if 2*Y &amp;lt; 1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can add the 'reduce the chance of a slip turning into a fall' argument by adding a Z percent and the maths becomes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short rope if 2*Y*Z &amp;lt; 1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are the stronger climber, you need to consider are you prepared to increase your personal risk to reduce the personal risk to your partner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arguments of should you or shoulnd't you come down to simply not understanding the decision making process or presuming the maths above comes out one or other side of 1.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2018-02-03T22:36:53.023" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-05T01:30:20.690" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sort of off-topic but some of the biggest searches here in New Zealand are for people who didn't let anyone know where they were going.  Add on to this the number of side-trips that crop up while you're out, I think its a good idea to tell at least someone you meet.  Many of our tramping huts have log books for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14907" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T01:30:20.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-05T11:14:10.730" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Comments from Aaron and StrongBad suggest this may be a country-specific thing, in particular due to being further from civilisation, and perhaps with greater public access to guns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, &lt;em&gt;every&lt;/em&gt; walker, without exception, will talk to other walkers.  To fail to say &quot;hi&quot; as you pass is deeply rude - and in places accessible with transport (such as the top of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowdon&lt;/a&gt;) where you'll get keen walkers and day-trippers together, people blanking you is the clearest sign of whether they're walkers or they just got up there on the train.  (Unsuitable footwear too, of course! :)  And if you pause at a natural stopping point - a stile or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_station&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trig point&lt;/a&gt;, say - and another walker coming past asks you where you've come from and where you're heading, again it would be seen as unusually rude to just blank them.  You don't have to tell them your life story, or your full plans for the day or the next week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partly it could be out of genuine curiosity.  But partly it's a human interaction thing though. The person asking is simply acknowledging that you both have a shared interest, and that shared interest gives a common topic of conversation which otherwise you would not have. Sure, you could both talk about the weather (and that's why Brits talk about the weather - it's about the only safe shared experience we all have as a conversation opener), but you're both doing something you both enjoy, so why not chat about it briefly while you both get your breath, then move off again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of walking, and I rarely find people wanting to use this to show off.  Show-offs don't tend to survive (often literally!) in the hills.  Where you're going is purely factual.  If someone is setting themselves a hard day's walking, you don't think they're boasting, you wish them luck.  And if they've just got a short distance today, you say &quot;you lucky sod, you'll be in the pub before me then&quot;.  If you think they're showing off and they won't make it, you still wish them well, knowing privately that they're going to be suffering around mid-afternoon.  (You can generally tell &quot;all-the-gear-but-no-idea&quot; folk by their pristine kit.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mostly you won't be going in the same direction as the other person.  If you're doing a long distance walk though (especially if it's a defined route), the chances are very good that you'll meet the same people as you go.  Maybe you'll overtake them during the day, or they'll overtake you, or you'll just see the same people at the campsites or huts in the evenings.  If you blank them during the day, things are going to be pretty damn awkward in the evening.  Be human.  Interact.  You may not know these people from Adam, and you may never see them again in your life - but be sure that any of these other walkers will risk their neck for you if they find you in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastEditorUserId="6481" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T18:16:20.283" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T18:16:20.283" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18417" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-05T12:37:57.630" Score="5" ViewCount="167" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a book or digital database of rock climbing pictures from before 1950. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to search online, but, except for a few pictures, I didn't have much luck. Also, the name of the photographer and/or the source are often not reported in the pictures that I found online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The period I am more interested in is the 1920s-40s, the &quot;golden age&quot; of rock climbing in Europe. To be even more specific, I would be very happy to find some photography book/database about climbing in the Alps in the 1920s-40s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-05T18:26:27.100" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T05:44:38.940" Title="Climbing before 1950: photography book/database" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2018-02-05T13:02:43.280" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to suggest a different approach than the majority which seem to suggest that dogs shouldn't ever get to go hiking without being leashed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me, you need two components, and you'll be successful according to how well you can pull them off:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be able to read other people's reactions and body language to gauge whether they're interested in 'meeting' your dogs or not.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Train your dogs to ignore strangers and stick close to you when passing others unless you tell them it's okay to say hello.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not sure on the first point, assume they don't want to meet your dogs. Personally, I love to meet dogs out walking, and I'll always say a 'Hey, pup' or something like that - it should be obvious if someone else is keen for a pat, just as it's obvious if people want to chat or keep walking without stopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea that dogs must always be leashed in public really saddens me. Yes, some people are afraid or allergic - and that's totally legitimate - but dogs are part of our world, and I think it's perfectly appropriate that they are governed by &lt;em&gt;manners&lt;/em&gt; rather than ropes and muzzles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a hiker, you have the right to expect that you're not licked or bitten by someone else's pet in public, but I don't agree that that translates to every pet needing to be tied to its owner at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6620" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T13:02:43.280" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18397" CreationDate="2018-02-05T15:03:48.300" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short roping is an &lt;em&gt;advanced&lt;/em&gt; technique, but it is a &lt;strong&gt;necessary&lt;/strong&gt; one to progress quickly and safely in the mountains.&#xA;As with most techniques, knowing &lt;em&gt;when&lt;/em&gt; to apply it just as important (or more) as the technique itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safety in short-roping comes from three main ingredients:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coaching the climber through easy moves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preventing a slip from turning into a fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being able to quickly switch to belayed mode.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last point is often overlooked in discussions on roped travel safety. There are &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; cases where a rope is superfluous on some part of a climb, but a short difficult section is coming up. When this happens, the climbers are left to either (a) stop, pull out the rope, rope up, etc. or (b) proceed unroped. One wastes time, the other is unsafe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being short-roped allows the first climber to say &quot;hey, stop and wait here&quot;, drop hand coils, climb up a moderately difficult section quickly, then use a basic belay (e.g., a rock horn, a quick cam, boot axe, etc.). When a longer difficult section is coming up, you can even start dropping kiwi coils to have a full rope length available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To recap, the only times I will short-rope are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The short-roping climber (&quot;guide&quot;) is 110% comfortable on the terrain, and the risk of a fall is zero (for them). The short-roped climber (&quot;client&quot;) is perhaps less experienced and can use some coaching, but is not very likely to fall either. This is why guides and experienced climbers often use short-rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Furthermore, the short-roping climber is &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; in a position to assist the short-roped climber: preventing a slip from becoming a fall, providing guidance (&quot;left hand here&quot;), etc... Generally, this precludes short-roping from being used safely in technical terrain where the climbers need to use their hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The short-roping climber is always above the short-roped climber: going first when climbing up, going behind when climbing down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The two climbers should be close together: as close as possible without kicking each other. More rope in the system makes it effectively impossible to prevent a slip from turning into a fall; there's just too much slack and stretch in the system. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope should be relatively tight: when going up, the short-roping climber must feel their partner through the rope. If the rope has any slack in it, it will be impossible to sense a slip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Both climbers should have a kiwi coil, and the short-roping climber carries 4-6 coils of rope in their hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short-roping with three (or more!) climbers is reserved for expert Swiss mountain guides named Wili.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with all things in the mountains, &lt;strong&gt;prevention is better than a cure&lt;/strong&gt;: if you're really worried about a fall and are still short-roping, you're probably doing something wrong. Done correctly, short-roping can provide extra confidence for a weaker climber, and respond quickly in the event of a slip. &lt;strong&gt;Most importantly, the rope is already ready to be used for a quick belay when the terrain gets harder.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short-roping is not for everyone, but it is a valid strategy for traveling safely and quickly in the mountains. In my experience, it's the &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; way to cover enough ground on the relatively easy terrain to do the bigger objectives. In some cases, it's the only (reasonably) available protection strategy; e.g., on knife edge ridges such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camptocamp.org/routes/55258/fr/aiguille-de-rochefort-aretes-de-rochefort-en-ar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aiguille de Rochefort&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T15:03:48.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18420" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18421" CreationDate="2018-02-05T17:09:20.467" Score="2" ViewCount="357" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some revolvers are single action and some are double action, what exactly is the difference between the two types?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-06T11:10:05.777" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T03:17:24.113" Title="What is the difference between single and double action revolvers?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18420" CreationDate="2018-02-05T17:09:20.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TDLR : Single actions only fire the revolver, double actions both cock the hammer and fire.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way that revolvers work is that each time it is fired, the cylinder must be rotated and the hammer cocked so that it can be dropped onto the primer to fire the bullet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do this with a &lt;strong&gt;single action revolver the user has to manually cock the hammer&lt;/strong&gt; back before pulling the trigger while pulling the trigger on a &lt;strong&gt;double action revolver cocks the hammer and then fires the revolver&lt;/strong&gt; by dropping the hammer onto the primer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of not having to manually cock the hammer with a double action is that the the trigger pull is much heavier and that leads one to be less accurate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most double action revolvers however do have the ability to manually cock the hammer for extra accuracy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Double action revolvers that lack the ability to manually cock the hammer are called &lt;strong&gt;double action only&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition there are a few double action revolvers such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley%E2%80%93Fosbery_Automatic_Revolver&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Webley–Fosbery Automatic Revolver&lt;/a&gt; where the recoil is used to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer to avoid the heavy trigger pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-13T03:17:24.113" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T03:17:24.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7586" CreationDate="2018-02-05T17:10:08.107" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Liam's answer is spot-on, but I would like to add some details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Dawn wall&quot; is actually not the name of a route, but of a portion of the south-east face of El Capitan, which you can see in the figure below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1afvI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1afvI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Figure: the south-east face of El Cap. From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xrez.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.xRez.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first ascension of El Cap passing through the Dawn Wall was realized in 1970 by Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell after 27 days on the wall (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/warren-harding-and-dean-caldwell-and-the-wall-of-early-morning-light-on-el-capitan.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;). The name given to this route was &lt;strong&gt;Wall of the Early Morning Light (WEML)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since then, other routes have been established on the Dawn Wall, most notably (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/el-capitan-southeast-face&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mescalito&lt;/strong&gt; VI 5.7 C3F or A2  (FA:October 1973. Charlie Porter, Hugh Burton, Steve Sutton)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New Dawn&lt;/strong&gt; VI 5.7 A3 (FA:June 1972. Charlie Porter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caldwell and Jorgeson's route is called &lt;strong&gt;Free Dawn&lt;/strong&gt; and it resulted from the combination of 14 pitches of Mescalito, 2 pitches of Adrift, 4-5 of WEML, 2 pitches of Tempest and 8 new pitches (&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/longhf.htm#westb&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is remarkable about their ascent, apart from the &lt;em&gt;very remarkable&lt;/em&gt; fact that it was a free ascent, is the amount of time and work that they had to put into finding a path that would allow for the route to be free climbed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was not a &quot;mere&quot; free ascent of a pre-existing aid route, even if some people seem to think that what Tommy and Kevin did was &quot;just&quot; a free ascent of the old WEML route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In total, this super-project took 8 years (from 2007 to 2015), and a lot of this time was spent just looking for a viable route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T17:10:08.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18392" CreationDate="2018-02-05T18:54:20.810" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted to write a comment to supplement the fine answer by @Chris H but it was too long, is important, and can pass as an answer. The literal &quot;yes/no&quot; answer is as ChrisH says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chewing gum can moisten your mouth &lt;em&gt;because the water is being taken out of your body&lt;/em&gt;. Some of that can be re-absorbed, but some &lt;em&gt;will be lost&lt;/em&gt;. That is: by doing this you may feel better temporarily, but you are dehydrating yourself more in the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chris suggests this is a small effect, but I would say that depends on how dehydrated you already are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Severe dry mouth from dehydration can be painful but should usually be ok short term. I have had it to the point it was painful many times, to the point that it affected my sleep wherein I was dreaming about drinking as much water as I could with no relief since it was just a dream (in fact, I have had that exact dream many times; it is not uncommon when my mouth is way too dry).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go for hours in this condition, assuming you are not keeping yourself dehydrated over the longer term of many days, my experience suggests you should be fine. I do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; suggest that you be carefree about it, so please do not take that from what I say, as dehydration can be dangerous. And, as you probably experienced, it is annoying enough that it can detract from the quality of your hike. But in the long term, you should be fine even if you decline the gum, and I personally would decline it whether I was severely dehydrated and couldn't spare to lose a drop, or even if I was only slightly dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go all day like this and cannot stand it, personally I would rather relieve the discomfort by adding water from around me rather than relieving it by removing water from my body. In fact, you could make something similar to gum by taking a plant which is wet inside and chewing on that instead as if it were gum. Or, better yet, drink the sap from a plant then just chew on what's left of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the usual warnings about knowing your plants and beware of toxic or poisonous plants applies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T18:54:20.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18420" CreationDate="2018-02-05T19:01:58.240" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Striker-fired pistols too, can be either &quot;double action&quot; or &quot;single action.&quot; Usually the first shot in a magazine will require you to manually chamber the round, after which a pistol is then &quot;single action.&quot; In cases where you don't manually chamber the round, the trigger pull is a longer, heavier, double action pull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14915" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T19:01:58.240" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2018-02-05T20:58:58.807" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It isn't poor etiquette per se, however one should remember that many people who are out on an adventure are doing so to get away from people, and for a lot of people, it can be rather annoying and intrusive to get &quot;talked up&quot; by every person who passes. I'm actually surprised that so many people here think it's normal to question people you run into on the trail - up here in Canada, it's certainly something that people, particularly &quot;off the beaten track&quot; tend to avoid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, i'm more of a &quot;hello&quot; or subtle-nod kinda person on the trail. I neither ask these kinds of questions, nor divulge much when asked. Most of my hiking is to or from a rock or alpine objective, and therefore most of it takes place very early in the morning or late at night. For alpine objectives, I may ask if only to see if the other party is attempting the same route we are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think overall, it's actually rather context dependent. Out on trails or destinations that are popular with the &quot;tourist&quot; crowd, I could see it being pretty standard. But in a lot of cases, I could see it being more intrusive than not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14916" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T20:58:58.807" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18226" CreationDate="2018-02-05T21:08:00.823" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak specifically to &quot;indoor climbers&quot;, but i've definitely witnessed some fairly common overall plateaus, and experienced a few myself with regards to outdoor climbing. I would however say that it is VERY dependent on the person... and the ones that are common are typically in the mid-range grades, and are often &quot;number&quot; dependent... meaning they are related to people mythic-ally associating a number with whether or not they can climb that grade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.13c/d seems to be a common plateau for a lot of people. For whatever reason, this is the hardest that a lot of people ever climb. It's a bit of a make or break grade for people who break past the 5.12's. I believe that the reason is that progressing into 5.14 requires either extremely rare genetics, or an extremely specific training regime that a lot of people simply can't commit to due to life/time/mentality limitations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.12a/b seems to be another plateau for a lot of people. Either climbing 5.12 (which for many, ends up being a life long or multi-year goal) or progressing beyond 5.12a. Many people finally climb 5.12a and then stagnate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5.11a also seems to be a big hurdle for a lot of people, which I believe mostly to be mental more than physical. I think physically, just about anyone can climb 5.11a, but mentally it's just this huge blocker that people can't seem to be able to bring themselves to be able to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14916" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T21:08:00.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17620" CreationDate="2018-02-05T21:23:40.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Speaking anecdotally as someone who started climbing outdoors, I can say that there are a few things I gained from starting my rock climbing journey outdoors that have been a huge benefit for me personally, and i've noticed have been severely lacking in people who started rock climbing indoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By background is a lot of mountain biking, hiking, scrambling, skiing, a bit of alpine climbing, and then finally... rock climbing, ice climbing, and then more serious alpine climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few things I believe have been huge for me due to starting outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;All conditions climbing. Indoors, it is easy to get used to very controlled situations that do very little to prepare people for the many different situations they can experience outdoors. This goes 10x for alpine and multipitch. When you start climbing outdoors, falling rock, loose rock, changing weather conditions, changing temperatures and humidity, and changing rock conditions become just another important part of the experience. These kinds of things can't be taught or learned indoors. It sounds like you have a lot of experience due to your scrambling background... but for someone without that... outdoor is the place to start. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Systems management - Alpine climbing of any kind is 90% systems and 10% actual rock climbing ability. Indoor climbing does almost nothing to prepare one for anything beyond small outdoor crags. Indoor climbing is no substitute for experience on longer outdoor routes or very easy multipitches, even of the bolted variety. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Route finding (both macro and micro) - Once again, colored or taped holds do nothing to help someone read a route. This again goes triple for alpine or multipitch. People who start indoors have to re-learn everything when it comes to outdoor climbing. I've seen far too many people start indoors, and then fail to really make any progress outdoors because they routes of the same grade feel impossible. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Headspace / mental control - Indoors, bolts are a fixed distance apart, and it's hard to find incentive to lead climb when the routes always have ropes up. Climbing outdoors is an immediate intro to lead climbing, and it's easy to build a strong base on lead climbing, and all the fear management that comes with it. Sure, it can be scary to lead indoors... but this is nothing compared to the mental control and fear management that is required to competently lead trad, alpine, or even the spacier bolts on outdoor sport routes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Footwork - people who start out climbing indoors often have terrible footwork that makes outdoor climbing into a frustrating experience. Indoor climbs, particularly at lower grades, have extremely good feet that are not at all like outdoor climbs where foot placements are often terrible, or seemingly non-existent.  I learned to climb outdoors on 5.6/5.7 limestone slabby climbs. This gave me an incredible foundation of good footwork and trusting bad footholds which has carried me well into the 5.12's and on many alpine climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, there's certainly nothing wrong with indoor climbing whatsoever... particularly for those of us who live in a part of the world with long winters. I climb indoors up to 4-5 times per week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as someone with a lot of alpine climbing experience to someone looking to do &quot;harder&quot; alpine routes... indoor rock climbing is not a substitute for experience with outdoor systems and routes, and will do little to prepare you for alpine climbing of any kind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14916" LastActivityDate="2018-02-05T21:23:40.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6610" CreationDate="2018-02-06T10:50:06.227" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've to agree with @Dakatine on this. What also matters is how you descend. The gait and the positioning of the foot matters a lot. I've changed my gait over a period of time to avoid the knee pain. Now, I use more of my thigh and calf muscles. Apart from what Datatine wrote, here are a few more tips to reduce the impact on knees:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While going down, the first impact should be on the heels of the foot in front. Putting the ball first leads to the knees being pushed forward which causes unwanted strain on them. This also shifts your weight to the front which is undesirable as it makes you lose your balance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bend your knees while you are going down during a hike. Keeping knees locked will add a huge amount of pressure on the knees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your body weight behind you. This is similar to the point mentioned saying your weight should lie on the back foot till your front foot is perfectly placed downhill. This allows for your thigh muscles to be used instead of the joints.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep smaller steps. If you are in a hurry, quicker smaller steps are better than longer steps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have already spoken about trekking poles and the zig-zag walks. In both the cases, keeping a bent knee and using the knees as a spring helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T10:50:06.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18429" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-06T15:33:04.530" Score="11" ViewCount="4774" Body="&lt;p&gt;I rent out a lot of alpine touring (AT) skis. We advise people not to use these skis for downhill resort skiing. Part of that is because we don't want people renting out the skis (which we rent at a lower price than resorts) just go to a resort and then deny people the ability to go into the backcountry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my question is this: are there other, more legitimate reasons why we should advise people not to use our AT equipment at a resort? My first assumption is that it provides a lot of wear and tear on the bindings. They aren't made to go downhill as much as they would at a resort, but this could be incorrect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The obvious second concern is safety and the release mechanism on AT bindings - we have traditional AT bindings (not tech) in our fleet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14922" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-06T17:59:42.410" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:40:25.740" Title="Are AT skis unsuited for downhill skiing at a resort?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;ski-repair&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18429" CreationDate="2018-02-06T16:13:36.480" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two different norms for ski bindings (and their release characteristics): ISO 9462 for alpine ski bindings and ISO 13992 for touring ski bindings. The former is tested together with alpine boots/soles (ISO 5355), the latter with touring boots (ISO 9523), which are bent and have rubber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume you are not mixing the boots and bindings of either kind in rental. I am not a lawyer, but I would assume that could even open you to lawsuits in case of injuries. In addition as far as I know the requirements on alpine bindings in terms of consistent release are significantly higher than for touring bindings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess safety is always a good selling point. Another minor point (at least for the average skier) is binding performance: Average touring bindings have less direct force transfer to the skis than alpine bindings (that's one reason for having dedicated freeride touring bindings). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion your main argument should be the increased safety, as a customer going for the cheaper binding option, despite being the &quot;non-dedicated&quot; type will hardly care about performance characteristics (unless they are the show-off type which do not care about safety, then that point might be better suited).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum: The above is specifically addressing the question in the body, asking for reasons not to use touring bindings. I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; saying that downhill skiing with touring gear is a bad practice in general, I do it myself (just because I don't own dedicated alpine skiing gear), just that dedicated gear is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-02-06T18:26:18.557" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T18:26:18.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18429" CreationDate="2018-02-06T16:20:08.910" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's nothing wrong with using your AT gear at a resort. Actually, to a degree, your gear will probably see &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; wear on a resort than during traditional AT use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When climbing hills, your bindings and boots will see on the average a few thousand steps each day. That's thousands of actuations of the pivots in the bindings &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the boots. On a resort, your clients would probably leave the boots and bindings locked out most of the day. On the flip side, your clients will be getting more runs in each day, which will likely result in more wear on the bases and edges, but if your clients are sticking to groomed runs, then the wear should be almost negligible. Riding through wild terrain, climbing up and down over stumps and all the other unknowns in the deep snow is where you're more likely to rip a skin or gouge out your bases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as safety goes, as long as your AT setups have bindings with DIN settings then you're fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, the wear and tear on your gear will depend largely on its intended use and who's using it. There's a broad range of types of AT gear from big mountain use down to ultralight randonee, but the super light randonee skis with dynafit style bindings and no brakes probably wouldn't even be allowed at some resorts, but everything else should be just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real reason you would deny people the ability to take your gear to the resort would be store policy. You mentioned you wanted to reserve the AT skis for people who actually wanted to go use them in the backcountry for AT skiing. If that's your philosophy, then that's your prerogative. But as a business model, it's good business if people are renting from you more than the competitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T16:40:25.740" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:40:25.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6596" CreationDate="2018-02-06T17:24:05.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am searching for a good answer to this same dilema. I live close to Crystal Beach Texas, and love to camp on the beach. The problem that has kept me from the beach is thus...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as sundown comes, a constant breeze comes up off the Gulf of Mexico, picking up sand, flowing up the sides of the tent, and in through the no see um mesh screening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent I use is a Coleman Sundome 12x10 6 person 2 pole dome tent. The old model (2005). The main body of the tent has the screens down about 50% down the sides of the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is impossible to sleep, or enjoy the trip when you are being constantly sand blasted in the tent... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way I have dealt with this also kills the enjoyable / cooling effect of the breeze. I bring with me 4 5' sections of 2&quot; PVC pipe, some paracord, and a poly tarp. I set up an angled &quot;wind brake&quot; that basically redirects the blowing sand, and wind up and over my tent.  Sort of like a spoiler on a car directing air up and over the front end...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the kitchen setup, same sort of thing. But I use a commercial EZ Up with big sand anchors, and again, a tarp. The tarp is rigged windward to direct wind and sand over the top of the EZ Up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ALL foodstuffs, dishware, etc... are kept in water tight containers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main issue, like I stated above, is that while you eliminate the sand problem, you also eliminate the positive action of the cooling effect of the breeze...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we camp at Galveston Island State Park, there are these concrete dining covers that are at the camp sites, and we are on the inland side of the dunes, so sand isn't so bad. There we generally set up like at a regular lake, but keep things covered more than usual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it more or less all depends on the camp site itself. ON the beach with a breeze, problem, back a bit in the vegitation, not so bad...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14924" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-02-06T18:05:22.770" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T18:05:22.770" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18434" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-06T23:35:50.270" Score="4" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went ice climbing the other day at an exposed climb in gale force winds. This place is notorious for wind, and the gusts we were getting that day felt like they were up to the 80-90km gusts range. It was a full on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chinook&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It wasn't bad when you were on the ice hanging on to your tools, but on the descent the wind was so intense I couldn't stay on my feet. It was gusting straight up the mountain, so I was fighting it the whole way down. The gusts would either stop me dead in my tracks or knock me over backwards. I dared not lean into the wind, because as soon as the gust died I would have fallen forward down the mountain. It was a struggle almost every step of the way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting blown around all over the place, I kept thinking to myself, how the heck are you supposed to deal with the wind in this kind of situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T17:03:45.210" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T17:03:45.210" Title="How to safely descend a slope in high winds?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18434" CreationDate="2018-02-06T23:35:50.270" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;One technique I found that worked was to get low and lead with my feet. When a gust came along, instead of pushing into the wind, I'd try to duck under the gust and reach forward with me feet. All the while I was trying to keep my ax plunged into the snow behind me, which wasn't easy for moving because I had my shorter waterfall ice tools and they were plunging up to my wrist. I essentially had to keep one hand on the ground and almost semi-crawl down the mountain feet first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-02-06T23:35:50.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18436" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18438" CreationDate="2018-02-07T00:49:22.137" Score="5" ViewCount="6768" Body="&lt;p&gt;How many hours a day do Canada Geese typically sleep in a 24 hour period?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14926" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T18:10:43.277" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T15:23:19.730" Title="How many hours a day, on average, do Canada Geese sleep?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16116" CreationDate="2018-02-07T01:09:29.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience is that birds prefer still water, even though it causes the need for more cleaning of a birdbath. I base my answer on much observation of our 2 acre pond at the bottom of my front yard. The pond has a natural supply of water flowing into it and, therefore, a constant exiting of water through a drainpipe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flow in and out is slow, no current to worry about. The birds always choose to bathe in an area far away from the flowing water. I find it interesting, also, that I see them bathing much more often when outside temps are between 30 &amp;amp; 35 degrees F, give or take. During summer, I see many taking dirt baths instead of water baths. So I do not think they care if the water is clean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I often see birds choosing mud puddles to take their bath rather than any other water source, especially Robins and smaller size birds for the most part. &#xA;Twice I've observed American crows teaching their young how to take a bath. One juvenile was a slow learner. Mom had to demonstrate several times before youngster got a good feel for it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14926" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-28T20:36:42.933" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T20:36:42.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18436" CreationDate="2018-02-07T02:17:43.043" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like they spend very little time during the day sleeping,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aleutian Canada geese in the northern, Arcata study area in 2002 spent 87.0% of the daylight hours actively foraging (SE = 0.01, n = 700 scans) and 12.7%&#xA;  being vigilant (SE = 0.01, n = 700 scans), leaving little time for other activities (Fig. 4). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.humboldt.edu/wildlife/faculty/black/pdf/Black%20et%20al.%20CAGO%202004%20symposium.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, that will depend on the conditions with less activity happening during very cold temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Temperatures between 16&amp;deg; and 20&amp;deg; F represent a relatively narrow threshold&#xA;  at which these Canada geese did or did not fly in large numbers. Below 15” F&#xA;  the geese spent a great amount of time apparently sleeping with the bill placed&#xA;  under the scapular feathers and the feet and tarsi drawn into the flank feathers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Activity was minimal and the tendency to flee from predators or other disturbances&#xA;  was markedly reduced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v084n03/p0278-p0295.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will sleep in the water, and some geese will guard,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Geese actually sleep in the water, with a few geese taking shifts throughout the night to act as sentinels. Predators can’t reach them in the water, at least not without making a lot of splashing and sending out warning ripples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/09/02/where-do-geese-go-at-night/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The habitat is right.  Golf courses and the typical suburban housing development that includes a pond of some sort are ideal for the birds.  For sleeping at night and loafing during the day, they prefer the combination of water and grassy areas with open sightlines between the two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20170927020603/http://gpnc.org/canada.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can apparently also do what is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unihemispheric_slow-wave_sleep&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;unihemispheric slow-wave sleep&lt;/a&gt;  where they literally sleep with one eye open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You may also see geese on the shoreline sleeping while they stand on one foot and one eye open. Always on the lookout for danger, the ability to sleep with only half a brain and one eye open is called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep (USWS).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T18:35:13.597" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T18:35:13.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18417" CreationDate="2018-02-07T03:11:53.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a site that has a number of old climbing photographs from around that time and I think is your best option (that I could find).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www128.pair.com/r3d4k7/HistoricalClimbingImages1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Historical Rock Climbing Images 1890s - 1930s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yrc.org.uk/yrcweb/index.php/journal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yorkshire Ramblers Journal&lt;/a&gt; which goes back all the way to 1899 and some of the articles have pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that one call pull the names of the photographers and use that to run more Google searches to find more images.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Perry-Smith&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oliver Perry-Smith&lt;/a&gt;, there is also a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.northconwayrockclimbs.com/support-material/Oliver.Perry.Smith.Profile.of.a.Mountaineer.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;profile of him with photos.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;as_q=%22guy%20d.%20barton%22%20photography&amp;amp;as_epq=&amp;amp;as_oq=&amp;amp;as_eq=&amp;amp;imgsz=&amp;amp;imgar=&amp;amp;imgc=&amp;amp;imgcolor=&amp;amp;imgtype=&amp;amp;cr=&amp;amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;amp;safe=images&amp;amp;as_filetype=&amp;amp;as_rights=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guy d. Barton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;as_q=%22G.%20A.%20Fowkes%22&amp;amp;as_epq=&amp;amp;as_oq=&amp;amp;as_eq=&amp;amp;imgsz=&amp;amp;imgar=&amp;amp;imgc=&amp;amp;imgcolor=&amp;amp;imgtype=&amp;amp;cr=&amp;amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;amp;safe=images&amp;amp;as_filetype=&amp;amp;as_rights=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;G. A. Fowkes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yrc.org.uk/yrcweb/index.php/journal/vols1-5/44-vol1-cat/no3/78-v1n3p213&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Claude Barton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;as_q=%22Walter%20Hahn%22%20climbing&amp;amp;as_epq=&amp;amp;as_oq=&amp;amp;as_eq=&amp;amp;imgsz=&amp;amp;imgar=&amp;amp;imgc=&amp;amp;imgcolor=&amp;amp;imgtype=&amp;amp;cr=&amp;amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;amp;safe=images&amp;amp;as_filetype=&amp;amp;as_rights=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Walter Hahn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;as_q=%22R.%20Kobach%22%20climbing&amp;amp;as_epq=&amp;amp;as_oq=&amp;amp;as_eq=&amp;amp;imgsz=&amp;amp;imgar=&amp;amp;imgc=&amp;amp;imgcolor=&amp;amp;imgtype=&amp;amp;cr=&amp;amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;amp;safe=images&amp;amp;as_filetype=&amp;amp;as_rights=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;R. Kobach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also find a few by looking for some of the climbers of that era&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Emilio_Comici&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Emilio Comici&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Kurz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toni Kurz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Hinterstoisser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Andreas Hinterstoisser&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T05:44:38.940" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T05:44:38.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18434" CreationDate="2018-02-07T03:42:54.873" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The risk of a strong wind (Chinook or foehn winds are common here in New Zealand. Highest recorded wind speed 250km/h caused by one) should never be underestimated. It takes a lot of physical and mental energy to move safely in these conditions - even the most benign snow slope can become treacherous with enough wind. If on the walk out 'get-home-itus' can make you push harder than you might otherwise. The focus must be on the amount of effort you are putting in, not how much (little) you think you should be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen a climber picked up and blown 20 meters by a foehn wind. It does not matter how good a climber you are - if you lifted off the ground the outcome is always going to be down to luck. If the wind is lifting you, you need to consider if you are safe. If not you can then rope up and use a running belay, maybe even a full belay. Worst case is to dig in and wait it out, but make you this decision is made early enough for a successful shelter to be built or found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as carrying on, roped or unroped, you need to reduce your wind profile. If you are lucky you can choose a route that allows you to descend with you back to the wind - it will be fast, easy and with the wind no longer in your eyes, you can see where your going so much safer (I have done this and ended up on the opposite side of the mountain from my car and overnight gear, but alive). If you have to climb down into the wind, face into it (Unless no pack, then side on is a lower profile). Squat down rather than lean back or forward. Listen for wind gusts and when you hear one coming, get low quickly, as the gust dies down, move on.  Have your ice axe ready at all times and use it for stability. I have ended up crawling for about 100 meters,(which got me to a lee slope).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for terrain that provide shelter from the wind, but be very wary of lee slopes and assess avalanche risk (all too easy to forget in the joy and relief of getting out the wind).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-07T03:51:15.323" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T03:51:15.323" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18429" CreationDate="2018-02-07T09:36:51.347" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use both AT skis and downhill skis. I have different bindings for AT skis (dynafit TLT and Marker where boots connected to the frame). I'm not good at skiing, so for me there is no difference which bindings to use for downhill skiing. Both work just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is in skis and boots (not bindings). AT skis are made light and AT boots are soft compare with downhill skis and boots. In AT boots you are walking 90% of time  and 10% time skiing. So when I'm buying AT boots I'm checking if it's comfortable to walk in boots, and I don't care about skiing because again skiing is just small amount of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried to use AT boots with downhill skis and the problem is that AT boots does not hold the leg as good as boots for downhill skiing. So it's difficult to control skies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My AT skis has no brakes and I have to tie skis with laces; that takes a lot of time. On a resort you should do this operation very often as you take off skis very often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a conclusion I can say that it's possible to use AT skis for downhill skiing but it's uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T16:39:28.347" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:39:28.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18442" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18448" CreationDate="2018-02-07T14:36:46.133" Score="7" ViewCount="7834" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think of myself as being a paranoid individual, but I am cautious about people I meet when hiking. For example, if I am eating lunch at a site less than a mile from an infrequently used trail head and someone shows up with &lt;em&gt;inappropriate&lt;/em&gt; gear (for example no pack and wearing jeans) and attempts to start off a conversation by asking me where I am headed and how long I have been out, I get cautious and might even pack up early. I understand that it is likely this person is just being friendly while out on a day hike that does not require &lt;em&gt;appropriate&lt;/em&gt; gear, but I have no idea how often this person is in fact up to no good.&#xA;Similiarly, on the Appalachian Trail if I get to a shelter near the road that I was planning on camping at and it looks like someone is living there, I might decide to keep hiking. This may be completely irrational since I cannot recall ever hearing of anyone being assaulted or robbed on a hiking trail or at a campsite. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the question somewhat focused, how often are crimes like robbery and assault (I am not concerned with all crimes like vagarency, public intoxication, or drug use/possession), committed/reported on the Appalachian Trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T00:06:46.910" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T00:06:46.910" Title="Frequency of crime/assault on the Appalachian Trail" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18429" CreationDate="2018-02-07T14:42:33.367" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;AT skis are optimized towards low weight; downhill skis are optimized towards high stiffness. So in general, AT skis will not be as stiff as downhill skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stiffness translates to stability at speed. If skis are less stiff they tend to start to flap at higher speeds, especially on groomed slopes, leading to loss of control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even moderately experienced skiers will notice the difference on groomed runs, and they will prefer downhill skis. Probably for beginners AT skis might be slightly more comfortable because the instability at speed is not an issue while the decrease in weight makes it easier in other situations, but this should be a small subset of your clients.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar story for AT boots vs downhill boots (with the addition that AT boots are not just lighter, but also more flexible by design, so loss of control at speed is even more of an issue).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="577" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-08T16:37:18.743" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T16:37:18.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18444" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-07T16:48:35.790" Score="6" ViewCount="885" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own the REI Half Dome 2 Plus. The top section of the aluminum tent pole tore at the end (see blue area of picture), and in order to get it to fit in the plastic piece it was supposed to (the inside of the black plastic), it had to be re-bent. This eventually caused the end 1-2cm to rip off completely, leaving me with a shortened and slightly misshapen top tent pole section, which now barely fits into the black plastic piece and over the other tent pole piece inside of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to repair this piece with off the shelf parts? (most repair kits are directed toward tube pieces which aren't in the middle of the tent--and thus hard to get to) Or to cheaply replace my entire frame? The tent itself is in great condition. Unfortunately, it just appears that the poles were cheaply made. I would love to upgrade to stronger poles that can fit the same tent if possible. I am aware of tentpoletechnologies, which I have contacted, but repairs and replacements through them cost more than half the price of the tent!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P076g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P076g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rei top of tent pole&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6073" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T17:31:55.007" Title="How to repair top section of tent pole" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18444" CreationDate="2018-02-07T17:31:55.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aluminum poles will typically break in the fashion you describe when they aren't fully inserted into their fittings. There are easy patches for breaks in the middle of a pole (just slide a sleeve of longer diameter tube over the break area), but unfortunately, aluminum poles aren't easily repaired, especially on the ends, and this is due to the nature of the alloys. It's not that the alloy is cheap, it's that it was put under stress it wasn't meant to take. My 1 year old daughter broke my expensive MSR poles once by hanging off the poles while I was in the process of taking down the tent. The pole she hung on was no longer fully inserted onto the fitting, and the leverage caused it to break the same way you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7751/how-to-straighten-a-bent-tent-pole&quot;&gt;How to straighten a bent tent pole&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I explain in the answer linked above, once hardened aluminum is damaged, it can't be &lt;em&gt;un&lt;/em&gt;damaged without putting it through an annealing and re-hardening process, otherwise it just breaks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best option for a repair is to take your tent back to REI and see it they will replace the section of pole for you. They may have some extra lengths laying around and give one to you, or they can probably hook you up with one for cheap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't that lucky at the store, then your next best option for repair is to find some length of pole that does fit into your fitting, and cutting back your other pole so you can fit them together in the fashion I describe above using a length off larger tube. This repair will however affect the flexibility of your pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your last resort will be to buy a completely new set of poles for your tent. The advantage to this is your tent will be as good as new, and you'll have ample supply or replacement parts if you ever break a pole again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-02-07T17:31:55.007" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18442" CreationDate="2018-02-08T05:49:22.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note: I don't know that its possible to answer this without mentioning the things that have happened, some of which were pretty horrible. Not everyone may want to read this.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR: People will be a horrible out of civilization as in it, and the rarity is matched by the severity and barbarity of the incidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For theft;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We do have some crime. One of our volunteer caretakers was robbed at gunpoint a month ago at a trail shelter near Eckville, Pennsylvania,&amp;quot; Proudman said. &amp;quot;The individual was captured in Wyoming.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the &lt;strong&gt;200-300 incidents reported a year are petty crimes, Proudman said, including vandalism, and backpacks getting stolen.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.citizen-times.com/story/sports/outdoors/2015/03/24/hiking-deaths-rare-heavily-traveled-appalachian-trail/70394614/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, one of the biggest dangers along the trail is that posed by other people. While most hikers you come across will likely be friendly, some might be aggressive or try to steal your pack when you’re not looking. Theft is especially prevalent at small towns along the trail. Never leave your bag lying outside of a restaurant, store, or hostel along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.mountainkhakis.com/from-mk/7-dangers-appalachian-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trouble is uncommon on the Appalachian Trail, but theft is not uncommon. C&lt;strong&gt;ars parked at trailheads may be targeted for break-ins, because thieves know that the owner will be away for a while.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=ONgfBKBeTJ0C&amp;amp;pg=PR21&amp;amp;lpg=PR21&amp;amp;dq=appalachian%20trail%20%22theft%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=pd2hftBKAv&amp;amp;sig=krhDAuE1Oquob9qe8HpADmdc7Dc&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjdvs7pw5XZAhVFxmMKHVebC-IQ6AEIYzAI#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=appalachian%20trail%20%22theft%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a &lt;strong&gt;study done that simply asked if hikers had experiences that made them feel unsafe while hiking the trail&lt;/strong&gt; and while not all of those involved people (such as unsafe conditions) a number of them did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Amongst the 467 solo thru-hikers (thru-hikers who hiked less than 25% of the trail with a dedicated partner), 233 (50%) reported having an unsafe experience.  There was no difference between men and women in reporting an unsafe experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proportionately, more solo women than solo men reported their most unsafe experience as being a strange person on the trail, strange person in town, hitchhiking, and other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting sex aside and looking at the general difference between solo hikers and partners, the odds of a solo hiker having an unsafe experience was 1.3 times more than that of a hiker in a partnership, so this implies that hiking with a partner has a slight overall protective effect, regardless of sex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, 50% of solo thru-hikers reported having no unsafe experiences at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A significant limitation of this survey was that it only asked whether or not hikers had an unsafe experience (i.e., yes or no).  For those who did report an unsafe experience, the survey did not ask “how many?”  So the case may be that even though women and men both reported having at least one unsafe experience at rates that did not differ, women could have still experienced more unsafe events than men, or vice-versa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://distancehiking.com/safety/menandwomen/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For murders and rapes,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since 1974, &lt;strong&gt;about ten murders&lt;/strong&gt; took place on or near the Appalachian Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=gMWmqNumlfAC&amp;amp;pg=PA258&amp;amp;lpg=PA258&amp;amp;dq=%22appalachian%20trail%20murder%22%20since%201974&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=sGJL7Df2sy&amp;amp;sig=q7OXwFfrDu0zfw0S-3c265aO7Zs&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi-zLShvJXZAhVX22MKHVc4C5gQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22appalachian%20trail%20murder%22%20since%201974&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nine of those are listed &lt;a href=&quot;http://appalachiantrailhistory.org/exhibits/show/crime-on-the-at/murder&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This Washington Post article from 2008 says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There is about one assault a year and one rape every three years, on average, according to Conservancy figures&lt;/strong&gt;. There have been eight murders linked to the trail since the 1970s, King says.** The most recent was in January, when Meredith Emerson, 24, was abducted on Blood Mountain in Georgia and killed by Gary Michael Hilton, a 61-year-old drifter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702332_3.html?sid=ST2008070801140&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, there is little but news stories but not any studies that I could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 19-year-old from New York paused in her Appalachian Trail hike to mail herself a package that she could pick up after she'd hiked farther north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Vinton man saw her walking along U.S. 11 toward the Troutville Post Office and offered her a ride in his sedan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But he took her instead to the office of the Botetourt County trucking company where he worked, and he sexually assaulted her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.richmond.com/news/man-gets-years-in-sexual-assault/article_18f73e2f-5160-5f8f-bc8d-94e76899f5b5.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gettysburg police said a 46-year-old Alabama hiker received second- and third-degree burns in a Thursday morning assault by people who may have thought he was homeless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Police said two men got out of the car, threw liquid on the victim and lit him on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/appalacian_trail_hiker_burned.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Randall Lee Smith (1954 – May 10, 2008)&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=gMWmqNumlfAC&amp;amp;pg=PA258&amp;amp;lpg=PA258&amp;amp;dq=%22appalachian%20trail%20murder%22%20since%201974&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=sGJL7Df2sy&amp;amp;sig=q7OXwFfrDu0zfw0S-3c265aO7Zs&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi-zLShvJXZAhVX22MKHVc4C5gQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22appalachian%20trail%20murder%22%20since%201974&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5&lt;/a&gt; was a convicted murderer from Pearisburg, Virginia.&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702332_3.html?sid=ST2008070801140&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;7&lt;/a&gt; He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, who were killed while hiking the Appalachian Trail, in May 1981.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On May 6, 2008, Smith attempted to kill two fishermen less than two miles from the site of the 1981 murders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Lee_Smith&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, were found about a week after they set out on a camping trip in May 1996. Their bodies were discovered about a quarter-mile from Skyline Drive off the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park, south of Luray. Their hands were bound, their mouths gagged and their throats slit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rice, 35, has been charged with two counts of capital murder for the killings and faces two additional counts of capital murder on the grounds that he intentionally selected Williams and Winans because they were female and because they were gay. He has pleaded not guilty to the slayings. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence for assaulting a female bicyclist at Shenandoah National Park in 1997.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20061005204836/http://www.aldha.org/arrest02.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Five of its hikers had been killed in four attacks, the earliest in May 1974, the most recent in May 1988.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those crimes shared traits with what transpired at Thelma Marks. Two of the four attacks were aimed at couples. Three came at trailside shelters. All were ghastly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, none drew the attention, or generated the angst, of the incident here. Perhaps it was because Thelma Marks fell within range of news media in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., and because it involved not only a crime but a mountain manhunt that lasted a week. Perhaps the shelter’s remoteness—far greater than that of past trouble—played into our big-city uneasiness about what lurks in the woods at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe it was the sheer savagery of the act. Or the questions that lingered when the man responsible would not say why he shot Geoff three times or why he tied Molly’s hands behind her back and looped the rope around her neck. Why he raped her. Why he stabbed her eight times in the neck, throat, and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2011326/murder-appalachian-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meredith Emerson used her wits and martial arts training when she was attacked in the north Georgia mountains by a drifter who eventually killed and decapitated her, the convicted killer told investigators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gary Michael Hilton described his four days with Emerson, and how she fought him from the moment he tried to overpower her as she hiked with her dog, Ella, according to the interviews that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcnews.com/id/23769881/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/killer-says-female-hiker-fought-him-end/#.Wnvab6inHcs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People are far more dangerous than any wild animal, for comparison Yosemite, which has  much better recorded statistics, the wild animals have been responsible for 6 deaths with half of those from Hantavirus carried by rodents compared to 44 homicides and 70 suicides &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0970097360&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; page 575.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, &lt;strong&gt;theft/assault/rape/murder is rare&lt;/strong&gt; on the Appalachian trail, at the same time &lt;strong&gt;incredibly horrific crimes&lt;/strong&gt; have been committed against hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;strong&gt;doesn't mean that one should stay home&lt;/strong&gt; (we are all going to die regardless) &lt;strong&gt;or to avoid people altogether&lt;/strong&gt; but it does mean that &lt;strong&gt;one does need to be vigilant,&lt;/strong&gt; and you can't assume that anyone has your best interests in heart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:32:31.927" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10019" CreationDate="2018-02-08T20:13:09.560" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you come across a hyena do not back away from it, this will tell the hyena you are prey and it might attack you.Do not run unless you are faster than a deer,otherwise do not run.If it comes near you, look for anything that might be used as a weapon, if it attacks you fight back by kicking and punching it in the face. If more hyenas show up, I suggest running for your life and do not stop.Turn over rubbish cans and crates while running to slow the hyenas down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14931" LastActivityDate="2018-02-08T20:13:09.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="705" CreationDate="2018-02-09T00:19:11.190" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with everything StudioHack is saying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure the thickness is compatible with your hiking boots/shoes. It is a lot easier to add an extra sole to your boots/shoes to make up for some empty space. But, it is almost impossible to compensate for too tight a fit. So, either get socks first and take them with you when you buy boots, or take your boots with you to a shop that will let you try on socks. You may have to take an extremely thin pair of socks with you in order to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used SmartWool socks for almost 20 years. I can attest that they are very comfortable (not itchy) and have kept my feet dry and cool in the deserts of Utah in over 100-degree heat. And, they keep my feet warm in sub-zero weather in the snow. So, I recommend them from may years of use. I thought it might be in my imagination that they worked so well until I used the Smartwool socks one day in Utah and cotton socks the next day. I cannot tell you how much better it feels to have dry feet in the dessert compared to wet, sweaty feet. I'm assuming that price isn't a factor for you. But, good gear (especially foot gear) is worth extra money. They run over $10 a pair depending on what style you choose - thick, thin, etc. But, I only use them for hiking. So, mine have lasted a long, long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, if you have never tried any brands, it might be worth while to narrow down your choice to a few brands, and they buy one of each and try them especially if you are planning to make a long hiking vacation. You want to try them out at home first, and then buy a number of the ones you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did find that I could easily rinse out the SmartWool socks with mild detergent when I went hiking. I only had four pair. So, I had to rinse them for the whole week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:32:18.510" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:32:18.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18452" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18454" CreationDate="2018-02-09T04:23:36.370" Score="11" ViewCount="2179" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there are a number of recognized sub-species of Canada geese, this question pertains to the main species, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose#Taxonomy_and_etymology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Branta canadensis&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18438/5547&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18436/how-many-hours-a-day-on-average-do-canada-geese-sleep&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; asking how many hours a day Canada Geese sleep, mentioned a sentinel goose. It seems that the function of the sentinel goose is to guard the flock while they're asleep. These geese switch off during the night, so that none are responsible for the whole time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some animals have a certain gender which is responsible for the safety of the group, and I wonder if this is true with the Canada Goose. The male and female &lt;a href=&quot;http://animals.mom.me/tell-difference-between-female-male-canada-geese-7649.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;look almost exactly the same&lt;/a&gt;, although the male is a bit larger, so unless we see them standing together, it would be very difficult to tell by looking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the sentinel (guard) goose always a male, always a female, or does it vary? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-10T00:45:04.973" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T18:01:24.560" Title="Is a sentinel (guard) Canada Goose always a male, or a female, or does it vary?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18462" CreationDate="2018-02-09T04:29:32.970" Score="9" ViewCount="461" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18442/8794&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; about how common assaults/crime happen to people hiking the Appalachian Trail which I have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18448/8794&quot;&gt;answered&lt;/a&gt; with basically all of the statistics I could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However it doesn't seem to me that one can judge the safety of something by the numbers when the risk is going to vary considerably by the person and by the actions they take.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this &lt;a href=&quot;https://xkcd.com/795/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;XKCD&lt;/a&gt; that illustrates quite well what I am talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/conditional_risk.png&quot; title=&quot;'Dude, wait -- I'm not American! So my risk is basically zero!'&quot; &gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the overall deaths are low being above treeline or in open fields greatly increases your risk (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Roy Sullivan&lt;/a&gt; was struck by lightning 7 times).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is that for example just because there were 3 rappel failures out of 43631 climbers in a study(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S0953-9859(90)71338-1/pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;) that doesn't seem to mean that rappelling is safe (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=rappel%20death&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people die rappelling&lt;/a&gt;) but rather that most climbers take the appropriate precautions and do it safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would the statistics of how frequent crime happens(if comprehensive and accurate) be an indicator of how safe a trail is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:32:52.007" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T03:43:22.323" Title="Are statistics about the frequency of crime actually useful in determining how safe a trail is?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18452" CreationDate="2018-02-09T04:55:14.850" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When geese are feeding it is not specified as far as I can tell, but during nesting it is the male who does  the guarding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wary - Alert for danger. Often while the flock is feeding, &lt;strong&gt;individuals will take turns acting as sentinels (neck erect)&lt;/strong&gt;, warning others of impending danger (Bent 1925).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadageesenewjersey.com/Canada%20Geese%20Facts.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Canada Geese are fond of returning regularly to the place which they have chosen for resting in, and this they continue to do until they find themselves greatly molested while there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Thus, on some of the great sand-bars of the Ohio, the Mississippi, and other lase streams, congregated flocks, often amounting to a thousand individuals, may be seen at the approach of night, which they spend there, lying on the sand within a few feet of each other, &lt;strong&gt;every flock having its own sentinel.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/canada-goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Whilst the group, called a gaggle, of geese are feeding &lt;strong&gt;at least one goose will stand guard, a sentinel against any predatory threat.&lt;/strong&gt; They have an incredible sense of sight and hearing and issue out a very loud warming honk in the event of danger. Wherever geese congregate other birds will visit the pond or lake to take advantage of this early warning system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Sentience_in_farm%20_Animals_Poulty_Geese..htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As compared to during nesting times,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Geese are perennially monogamous, meaning that one male and one female form a lifelong pair bond. Like ducks, paired male geese protect their mates from harassment by intruders, but their larger size allows ganders to defend against not only other males but also many predators. While male ducks wait on nearby ponds to rejoin their respective mates following egg laying and during incubation breaks, &lt;strong&gt;ganders stand guard in the immediate vicinity of the nest. In further contrast to ducks, male geese remain intensely territorial until the eggs hatch and then assist the female with brood-rearing duties.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/understanding-waterfowl-drakes-and-ganders&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Geese will appear in pairs during nesting season. &lt;strong&gt;A solitary goose&#xA;  typically indicates that a nest is in the vicinity and &quot;he&quot; is&#xA;  standing guard.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.takeflightgoosemgt.com/goosefacts.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The male goose will stand at guard a distance away from his nesting mate, so that he does not attract predators to his mate. We get numerous calls during nesting season about “a goose has been standing in one spot for days, it won’t fly away; is it OK”? &lt;strong&gt;This is the male goose standing guard over the nesting goose.&lt;/strong&gt; If a predator approaches the nesting area, he will attack it, to distract it from discovering the nesting goose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;She covers them to keep them safe for predators. With a gentle sound from her, the goslings know they are being called to safety, and all scurry under her wings where it is safe. &lt;strong&gt;The gander, the father of the goslings, stands watch over the little ones and his mate&lt;/strong&gt;, very proudly, his strong neck raised high and looking about in all directions, guarding and protecting them all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.preservewildlife.com/canada-geese.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fun fact, humans sometimes use geese to guard things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On modern farms, geese are said to be good deterrents to predators of other domestic fowl,&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadageesenewjersey.com/Canada%20Geese%20Facts.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;[13] and snakes. A handbook on industrial security recommends them for protecting warehouses and other isolated physical assets.[14] They are reported to have been used to guard United States Air Defense Command installations in Germany;[15] Ballantine's Distillery in Dumbarton, Scotland; and to protect a police station in Xinjiang, China&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T05:32:44.333" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:32:44.333" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18455" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18456" CreationDate="2018-02-09T05:26:51.173" Score="0" ViewCount="102" Body="&lt;p&gt;Somewhat like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18420/what-is-the-difference-between-single-and-double-action-revolvers&quot;&gt;revolvers&lt;/a&gt;, semi-automatic pistols also come in single action, double action/single action and double action only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also while there are similarities to how this terminology is used with revolvers, there are also differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly are the differences between these types of actions and between the same terms being applied to both revolvers and semi-autos?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:26:51.173" Title="What is the difference between single action (SA), double action/single action (DA/SA) and double action only(DAO) semi-auto pistols" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18455" CreationDate="2018-02-09T05:26:51.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Starting with simple and moving to more complex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Single Action (SA)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A single action will only drop the hammer, it will not cock it back. If a round is chambered and then the hammer lowered, it must be manually cocked before it can fire. A good example of a single action is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;M1911 pistol&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Double Action/Single Action (DA/SA)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A double action/single action will both cock and drop the hammer onto the primer. This makes it possible to carry the gun with a round in the chamber and the hammer down while not having to manually cock the hammer. However this means that the first trigger pull will be longer and heavier then the subsequent shots, which will be fired in single action mode. A good example of this would be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beretta 92&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Double Action Only (DAO)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A double action only does not fully cock the firing mechanism (usually a striker instead of an external hammer) upon firing but rather the cocking is accomplished by pulling the trigger each time. This has the advantage of all of the trigger pulls being the same as opposed to the (DA/SA) actions. An example would be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIG_Sauer_P250&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SIG Sauer P250&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the differences in terminology between revolvers and semi-autos,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whether it is single of double action matters for every shot with a revolver, while after the first shot with a semi-auto the difference between single action and double action/single action no longer matters since the action of the slide after firing loads a round and cocks the hammer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pulling the trigger on a double action revolver will rotate the cylinder bringing a live round under the hammer. This is not true of semi-auto pistols as a round has to be chambered manually and firing that round will load the next one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T05:26:51.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18453" CreationDate="2018-02-09T13:21:38.767" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The total number of incidents, even over a defined period of time, is meaningless by itself.  There is no absolute scale for danger.  What we really want to know is how dangerous one thing is relative to another, with the second being something familiar that we have some intuitive sense about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you had absolutely accurate statistics that there were 100 crimes on the Red Trail.  So what?  Is that high, low, normal?  You can't tell from this alone whether you should consider it dangerous to take the Red Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Blue Trail had only 50 crimes.  But does that make it safer?  Is the same time period being compared?  How many people went on each trail?  How long did they stay on each trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What was the nature of the crimes?  If 10 of the crimes on the Blue Trail where stabbings, but 97 out of 100 on the Red Trail were theft of unattended items, does that change your mind which trail you'd rather take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you knew all these things, that still doesn't put either trail in perspective so that you can relate its safety with ordinary circumstances.  In roughly April of 2017, there were 61 shootings in New York City.  Does that mean you're safer on the Red Trail than walking the streets of NYC?  Maybe, but you need a lot more info to draw any conclusions.  How many of these shootings were on the street of people walking around?  You plan on doing only day hikes on the Red Trail.  How many of the 100 crimes were during the day?  How many of the NYC shootings were during the day?  It's really hard to get a apples to apples comparison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also beware of anecdotal evidence.  People tend to remember and report unusual incidents more than the ordinary.  Your cousin's friend's sister tells of this creepy-looking guy following her on the Red Trail.  However, there were probably far more creepy-looking guys going the same way as her last time she walked around NYC.  She doesn't tell stories of those since people going the same way walking behind you in NYC is a expected occurrence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In neither of these cases anything bad actually happened.  So not only is there strong reporting bias, it's not clear there is anything to report.  The one creepy-looking guy on the Red Trail might have just been there by random chance with no ill intent.  However, two of the many people that happened to be walking behind her in NYC might have been thinking how to maneuver themselves to snatch her purse, but didn't get a chance to pull it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, without &lt;b&gt;a lot&lt;/b&gt; of detailed information, most of these statistics mean very little.  And, those details are either just not available, or would be a huge amount of work to gather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like hiking, go hiking.  Take the usual basic precautions, but don't obsess about them to the point it detracts from your hiking unless you have specific actionable information.  Realize that specific actionable information is very rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T13:21:38.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18458" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-09T13:58:15.247" Score="7" ViewCount="4441" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know a good type of suitable glue to repair a delaminated sole on (modern) cross country ski boots with plastic soles (Rottefella NNN in particular). The delaminated part is in the front with a bar for latching in a binding, so it has to withstand substantial forces. I am not 100% sure about the midsole (boot) material, but it's probably either soft plastic or gummi.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not sure if any common glue intended for trekking/walking shoe resoling will provide enough adhesion and/or will stick to plastic sole. Nevertheless, I was not successful when looking for information or advice targeting modern XC skiing boots in particular, so any hint is welcomed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I suspect the plastic is polypropylene (immune to acetone, and burn test on small chip, I cut away, suggests this too &amp;ndash; though hard to tell from such little sample, so not 100% sure). This would rule out most of the common glue types on market, as these are usually not suitable for PP and PET, I am afraid&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14933" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-02-11T15:59:18.543" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T02:31:14.197" Title="What type of glue is best to repair/resole cross country ski boots with plastic soles?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18460" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18461" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" Score="0" Body="Questions about preventing theft in the Outdoors" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T15:55:34.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18453" CreationDate="2018-02-09T18:41:13.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Statistics is sometimes referred to as the study of decision making in the face of uncertainty. The XKCD comic is funny because the character is relying on a hopelessly broad statistic when there is actually a lot of relevant information staring them right in the face, which should obviously change their evaluation of the hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are generic crime statistics useful in evaluating the danger of a trail? That depends on how much uncertainty you face in your decision. If you know that your trailhead is the site of the annual camping trip and drunken revel of the local &quot;Outlaw&quot; motorcycle club, which resulted in 10 reports of assault last year, then you face a lot less uncertainty in your decision then just knowing that a particular trailhead was the site of 12 crimes over the course of a year. If you have no other information about specific hazards, then the generic statistics are all you have to go on, and they may be better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is an additional factor in that &lt;a href=&quot;https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/wrong-about-risk-blame-your-brain/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people tend to be very irrational about assessing relative risk&lt;/a&gt;. Crime in the US is actually relatively rare, and driving is ubiquitous, so folks obsess about the danger of being assaulted on the trail, while being totally comfortable with driving to the trailhead, even though the probability of being in a serious motor vehicle accident is much higher then the probability of being assaulted on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2018-02-09T18:41:13.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18463" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-10T18:20:16.343" Score="4" ViewCount="395" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got this backpack but noticed that the waistband can't be concealed when not being used. It is the one with a large buckle in the bottom of the picture below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ElHcf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ElHcf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I plan to use it snowboarding, dangling straps can be a hazard, particularly when getting off the lift etc. I'm looking for an idea for how to hide them. I think it would be ideal if they came out of pockets with zippers so they can be tucked inside the pack when not utilized. If not, do you think they sell packs that have that feature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="1923" LastEditDate="2018-02-10T18:29:11.057" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T23:46:19.067" Title="Hiding backpack waistband" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18463" CreationDate="2018-02-10T19:48:24.573" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't tell from the picture whether this would work with that pack, but with some of mine I run the hip belt round the pack rather than round me, before fastening it round the back. If you're worried about it snagging after that, you might want to put an elasticated rain cover over the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen packs with covers for &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; the straps, but not just for the belt. Actually I've got two that cover the straps - they convert into bike panniers (one doesn't have a belt at all). But these tend to be not very good as general backpacks. Either they're a compromise like my panniers, or they're large travel backpacks that you can treat like a suitcase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can pull it tight enough that the belt buckle is in the small of your back, maybe you could pad it enough to be comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-02-10T19:48:24.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13209" CreationDate="2018-02-10T23:30:31.200" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I've learned in half-a-century of camping...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First, don't get too stressed out - in most developed countries theft is rare. Don't let your concerns spoil your holiday! (But be sensible - there are a few countries were camping would be risky, so do your research.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second, as far as you sensibly can, leave your valuables at home. In particular don't take anything irreplaceable and of great sentimental value. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Third, carry critical documents (passport, insurance, tickets etc) in some kind of hidden under-clothes security wallet and keep them on you at all times&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fourth, if you are car-camping, keep anything of value locked and unseen in the boot/trunk of your vehicle when you're away from your tent. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, in an organised site there may be lockers available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I don't have a car, I prefer to carry my most expensive lightweight gear with me in my backpack when I'm off the site - my high-end sleeping quilt and mat, my camera and electronics, my down clothing etc. It doesn't really weigh much, and it gives me some piece of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before you go off-site, tidy up your pitch, tuck everything out of sight and zip up your tent. Make your site as anonymous and uninviting as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you get to know your neighbours and they seem trustworthy, ask them to keep an eye on your stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really just a question of common-sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But above all - relax and have fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2018-02-10T23:30:31.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18467" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-11T00:07:13.323" Score="1" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a propane lantern that the glass measures 3.25 X 3.25 and on the glass it has borosil with an r in a circle beside it, but no numbers so that we can get a new globe because it has broken.  Anyone have any idea what the number is or where I can get a new globe for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14938" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T22:01:09.963" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T22:01:09.963" Title="How to replace an unknown propane lantern globe?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2018-02-28T15:14:08.640" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2018-02-11T08:41:33.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are already loads of good tips here as I add this, but I'm missing one in particular: if you have to leave electronics behind (for some reason you can't leave them at home, like maybe you're doing the hike on your way somewhere), in particular larger items like a laptop, shut the device down (or hibernate, not sleep) and take the battery out of the device just to be sure. Theoretically thieves can detect a device in several ways, including finding the electrical charge itself (against which the removed battery would help), but the easiest thing to track inside a metal car in practice is the wifi signal. This can at least on some models even be detected in sleep mode. Make these preparations before you're at your parking spot because as others noted thieves can be watching. And there are way more thieves with eyes than with wifi detectors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I'm writing anyway, avoid leaving expensive sports equipment in sports related locales. Thieves go to these trail heads because they're trail heads. It's mostly not an issue with walking, but a thief visiting say a cross country skiing trail start might know a thing or two about which skis are resellable. Similarly kayak exit points and campings are visited by thieves who know their boats. If you have to leave stuff, lock it up someway, make them work for their loot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-02-11T08:41:33.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18469" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18504" CreationDate="2018-02-11T11:41:37.883" Score="11" ViewCount="1902" Body="&lt;p&gt;My vehicle has broken down in the middle of a desert, I have some tools but I am  out of water.  I have the ability to make a fire.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that drinking antifreeze is fatal, but I am wondering if I can distill drinkable water from the antifreeze or any of the other fluids in the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am also aware that automotive batteries are usually refilled with distilled water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Automotive Fluids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water mixed with antifreeze (radiator) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery fluid &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Windshield washer fluid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brake fluid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Power steering fluid&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Motor oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transmission fluid (automatic)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gear oil (Manual transmission, differentials) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fuel (gas or diesel) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short term survival is the goal, living long enough to die of cancer in 10 years because there was a carcinogen in something, is not a bad option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have an existing post &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1617/finding-water-in-the-dry-wilderness&quot;&gt;Finding water in the dry wilderness&lt;/a&gt; but it does not address the several gallons of fluids that might be available in your automobile.  This question is specific to automotive fluids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T13:29:20.160" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T16:22:10.243" Title="Can any automotive fluids be made safe to drink?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18469" CreationDate="2018-02-11T17:17:05.177" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;None of these fluids can be made &quot;safe&quot; for consumption.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of these liquids are oil based with these exceptionn:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;battery fluid: is a strong acid, which is diluted with water&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;washer fluid: water with some detergent, which might be the least harmful combination, but will potientially interfere with your body chemistry&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;water with antifreeze - dont drink antifreeze, 'nuff said&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8864" LastActivityDate="2018-02-11T17:17:05.177" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18467" CreationDate="2018-02-11T17:36:08.957" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience (across multiple vendors!), the glass globes on propane lanterns are fairly standard sizes.  It seems like there are two or three which are very common.  Unless you have a real odd-ball size/style (and lacking a photo or more detailed description of what you have), you should be able to pick up a replacement off the shelf at your local Walmart or Target.  Many other outdoor retailers (Academy Sports, Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain, etc) also carry replacements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take your dimensions with you to the store.  My bet is that you'll find one which is compatible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2018-02-11T17:36:08.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18474" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19836" CreationDate="2018-02-11T17:44:51.563" Score="7" ViewCount="73891" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am disabled in the wildness, there are no natural water sources available.  I have 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water.  The only practical solution is to sit and wait for rescue. I will be resting in the shade. How much water should I drink each day to survive as long as possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a memory from school that the kidney is obligated to produce 500ML of urine each day.  That would seem to be lowest possible consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a variety of amounts during an internet search.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With the possibility of urine output dropping to 500 ml, the minimum could be just over 1 liter a day or for the sake of making it easy to understand, this would be just over 32 ounces a day for a 154 lb man&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.watercures.org/survival-hydration.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A normally active person needs about three quarters of a gallon of fluid daily, from water and other beverages. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ready.gov/water&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source(&lt;em&gt;ready.gov&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Absolute Minimum Requirements...for replacement purposes, for an &quot;average&quot; person, has been estimated to be approximately 3 liters (3.2 quarts) per day, given average temperate climate conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/St-Ts/Survival-Needs.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;one gallon of water per person, per day &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fema.gov/txt/library/f&amp;amp;web.txt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source (&lt;em&gt;FEMA&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a minimum of 7.5 litres per capita per day will meet the requirements of most people under most conditions. This water needs to be of a quality that represents a tolerable level of risk. However, in an emergency situation, a minimum of 15 litres is required &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/emergencies/qa/emergencies_qa5/en/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source (&lt;em&gt;WHO&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With daily consumption of 500ML (~ 1/2 quart) the water would last 2 weeks, but would I survive?  A 7.5 liters (~2 gallons) the water would last a single day and I would die in about 3 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much water should I ration myself each day? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T02:17:46.650" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T17:12:59.580" Title="What is the minimum amount of water per day to survive?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18372" CreationDate="2018-02-11T23:22:10.237" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sargo are bottom feeders, and prefer crustaceans as their staple diet. The most reliable choices for bait include shrimp/prawns, mussels, squid, clams, and sea snails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People also catch them with worms, and small pieces of fish. Where they're plentiful, they'll eat other bait that people have on hand when catching similar fish in the same water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also another paste in addition to the one you mentioned. It's made from bread/flour and cheese, and the sargo seem to enjoy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources for this information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://socalsurfrats.com/surf-fishing-california/content.php?135-How-to-catch-a-sargo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Catch a Sargo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pierfishing.com/resources/index.php?id=fish:sargo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pier Fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/targeting-sargo.304965/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Targeting Sargo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seafishinghowto.com/marine-species/fish/sargo-diplodus-sargus.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seafishing Marine Species&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theoutdoorlodge.com/fishing/species/surffish.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Outdoor Lodge&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-02-11T23:22:10.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18474" CreationDate="2018-02-12T00:42:31.777" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rationing water &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/6875/8794&quot;&gt;is not a good idea&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If activity is reduced, healthy people can survive on half their&#xA;  usual food intake for an extended period and without any food for many days. &lt;strong&gt;Food, unlike water, may be rationed safely,&lt;/strong&gt; except for children and pregnant women.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If supplies run low, never ration water. Drink the amount you need today, and try to find more for tomorrow.&lt;/strong&gt; You can minimize the amount of water your body needs by reducing activity and staying cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fema.gov/txt/library/f&amp;amp;web.txt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as how long you could live, Over the edge: Death in the Grand Canyon has data from as study called Physiology of Men in the Desert by Edward Adolph and the estimates for time until death starting from a properly hydrated state are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not moving and staying in the shade - 72 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving only at night - 48 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moving during the day - 24 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its also going to depend on whether it is likely that someone will come to your aid in time to save your life. If nobody knows where you are or when you should check in and the odds of someone coming along are slim, well then you are going to have to decide whether or move or stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People &lt;strong&gt;have died because they choose to stay put and wait for rescue instead of trying to fix the problem themselves.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Her cell phone couldn’t get a signal. Instead of continuing to hike she stayed put. For 26 days she wrote in a journal until she died quietly of exposure and starvation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freep.com/story/travel/2016/07/23/appalachian-trail-geraldine-largy/86992994/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The camp was less than two miles from the Appalachian trail. Adam wrote that walking south from the campsite, the dense forest became open woods with good visibility after 60-70 yards, and after another 25 minutes he found “a clear logging road” that led to lodging. In total the walk took about 30 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/hiker-who-went-missing-on-appalachian-trail-survived-26-days-before-dying&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that specific case the search and rescue teams did have a decent idea of where to look, but still failed to find the person who ended up dying of starvation after the search was called off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T00:42:31.777" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18477" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18478" CreationDate="2018-02-12T06:58:52.673" Score="9" ViewCount="4781" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Horatio Hornblower novels&lt;/a&gt;, when they want to get the last bit of speed out of a sailing ship, the crew will wet the sails down in order to go faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a real example consider,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The men were constantly employed in wetting the sails and as the wind filled them and the speed of the ship increased, the stratagem had the desired effect.  The schooner hove to at about 2 P. M. and surrendered.  She proved to be the Confederate schooner Henry Travers of New Orleans sailing under British register.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.marblehead.org/historical-commission/pages/old-marblehead&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What was the reason for doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:02:52.530" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:02:52.530" Title="Why did wetting down canvas sails increase the speed of a sailing ship?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18477" CreationDate="2018-02-12T06:58:52.673" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wetting the sails down helps hold more wind by closing the gaps and making the sails stand flatter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now the sails had to be kept wet, for a wet sail holds more of the wind than a dry one.&lt;/strong&gt; Water had to be hoisted up from the sea to the towering height of Constitution's yards and spilled down the sails. Even in the humidity that prevailed — the humidity that made the labor so exhausting — the rate of evaporation from that area of canvas made it necessary that the work should be hard and continuous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=OsGKAgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA46&amp;amp;dq=constitution%20wet%20sails&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi40bKj4p_ZAhVB3mMKHbuJAN4Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=constitution%20wet%20sails&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Age of Fighting Sale, C.S. Forester&lt;/a&gt; (Author of the Horatio Hornblower novels)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some one suggests &quot;wetting the sails.&quot; On this point I would say a few words to you. &lt;strong&gt;No doubt wetting swells the threads of the canvas, which then offer a closer surface to the action of the wind&lt;/strong&gt; ; but if the sails are new they do not so much require it, and the jumping about of the men will do more harm than good. Another disadvantage may arise from their not being wetted evenly, which, in the hurry and excitement of the moment, the chances are they will not be ; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=fWmCibvwwggC&amp;amp;pg=PA95&amp;amp;dq=wetting%20canvas%20sails&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwih1rrL4p_ZAhVG2mMKHdKUB8IQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=wetting%20canvas%20sails&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Yacht Sailor. A Treatise on Practical Yachtsmanship, Cruising and Racing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The general practice among English yachtsmen when the America arrived there in 1851, was to cut and sew the sails so they would form themselves into a bag to hold the wind, &lt;strong&gt;although the advantage of flatness of surface for plying to windward was well understood, and the practice of wetting, or as they termed it, “skeeting” the canvas, was well understood and often employed on board racing boats and ships to flatten their canvas.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=bw80AQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA20&amp;amp;dq=wetting%20canvas%20sails&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwih1rrL4p_ZAhVG2mMKHdKUB8IQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=wetting%20canvas%20sails&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Sails are Made and Handled: With a Chapter on Racing Kinks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It appears from theory that the &lt;strong&gt;wetting the sails of a ship should increase the advantageous action of the wind upon them, not only by closing up the interstices between the threads of which they are com posed, but likewise making the sails stand flatter.&lt;/strong&gt; The custom of wetting the sails on board small vessels, the only ones where the expedient is at present practicable, seems to confirm the idea of its supposed utility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=wZgAAAAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA407&amp;amp;dq=wetting%20%20sails&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi25pOk5J_ZAhUDy2MKHVwyDcYQ6AEIPDAE#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=wetting%20%20sails&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette, Volume 56&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Flax fibres swell in thickness with moisture and &lt;strong&gt;wetting sails is one way of decreasing porosity&lt;/strong&gt; and hence increasing effective driving force (Gordon, 1977: 143)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=eWLJAwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA222&amp;amp;dq=wetting%20%20sails&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwicz5e65Z_ZAhVM7GMKHfMpBtk4ChDoAQgtMAE#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=wetting%20%20sails&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ancient Boats in North-West Europe: The Archaeology of Water Transport to AD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T06:58:52.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18479" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18480" CreationDate="2018-02-12T07:07:11.670" Score="8" ViewCount="402" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Context:&lt;/strong&gt; I'm planning to take my self-inflating sleeping pad on a bike trip this year. The bike doesn't have any mounting points for a rack, so space is somewhat limited. Currently, my plan is to simply strap the pad to the handlebars in the manufacturer-provided stuff sack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; Do self-inflating pads need to be protected from rain? Will water from the outside do any damage? I'm wondering whether I should get a dry bag or whether the (not fully waterproof) stuff sack is enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T07:16:12.520" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T18:06:17.280" Title="Do self-inflating sleeping pads have to be kept dry during trips?" Tags="&lt;rain&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18479" CreationDate="2018-02-12T07:15:53.577" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not exactly, if your sleeping pad gets wet and you lay your sleeping bag on top of it then your sleeping bag will get wet and that's not a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, your sleeping pad is &lt;strong&gt;preventing air from getting out, and that means its capable of keeping water out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand blowing into it will introduce moisture which can be a problem in cold conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Winter use: If freezing&#xA;  conditions will be encountered daily for several weeks, avoid breath inflation. Moisture from breath may accumulate and freeze inside the mattress. Under extremely cold&#xA;  conditions, the mattress may be slow to self-inflate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wou.edu/campusrec/files/2015/06/Self-Inflate-Brochure.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-12T18:06:17.280" LastActivityDate="2018-02-12T18:06:17.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18483" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18484" CreationDate="2018-02-12T17:33:01.663" Score="0" ViewCount="309" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when setting up rock climbs for people you will have climbers of various abilities and yet not have enough resources to set up enough climbs so that everyone has something that is hard enough to keep the interested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a case like this, are there any ways to make a rock climb harder for the the more skilled climbers to keep the interested?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T22:47:17.803" Title="How to make rock climbing more challenging without changing to a more difficult route?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18483" CreationDate="2018-02-12T17:33:01.663" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of the ways to make a rock climb more difficult include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No hands touching the rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing blindfolded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two climbers climbing as in a three legged race.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoiding certain holds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing really slowly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing really fast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Different colored holds for different difficulties&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Added weight for experienced/stronger climbers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2018-02-13T15:50:30.153" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T15:50:30.153" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2018-02-12T18:36:43.693" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18483" CreationDate="2018-02-13T02:47:26.123" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common way to add difficulty to a climbing route is to climb it without using all the available features in the rock.&#xA;There's a popular top roping crag in Waterton Lakes National Park that sees a lot of traffic. To mix things up a bit, the locals will climb the routes without using specific types of features, such as no horizontal cracks, no closed hold jugs, no pinches, etc. Or they'll play a variation of the climbing game &quot;take-away&quot; where the climbers will choose holds to eliminate from the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another fun variation is to climb as dynamically as possible, skipping past entire sections of the route, or seeing who can add in the biggest dyno possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've dyno'd all you can, you can try to campus as much of the route as possiple, or add in ridiculous beta, like unnecessary heel hooks or bat hangs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you've climbed a route enough times, you can start climbing it as fast as you can, to see who can red-point the route the fastest. Alternatively you could try to see who can climb the route with the fewest number of moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most daring of challenges is to go full &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Honnold&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Honnold&lt;/a&gt; on the route and free-solo it &lt;em&gt;(For expert climbers only! If you can't climb a route with ease, knowing for a surety you can climb it flawlessly without risk of taking a fall, then you should never attempt it)&lt;/em&gt;.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-13T15:43:31.467" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T15:43:31.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18489" CreationDate="2018-02-13T03:59:53.110" Score="2" ViewCount="3355" Body="&lt;p&gt;The more common way of belaying is called PBUS which stands for Pull, Under, Brake, Slide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the correct way to do this (including illustrations)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-02T22:13:08.720" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T18:52:29.967" Title="What are the steps in the PBUS method of belaying?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18488" CreationDate="2018-02-13T03:59:53.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P for Pull&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One hand holds the rope above belay device and the other below. During this step the hand above pulls down while at the same time the lower hand pulls the rope through the belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vfe6s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vfe6s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;B for Brake&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the above step, it is not always possible to keep the lower hand behind the braking plane, especially on lower angle climbs. During this step, you want to make certain that the lower hand is behind the braking plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P9f2I.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P9f2I.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;U for Under&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During this step, the upper hand reaches down, underneath of the lower hand to hold the rope in preparation of the next step, slide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GDuM4.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GDuM4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S is for Slide&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During this step the upper hand holds the brake strand while the lower slides back up the rope in preparation to start the process over again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tc2DL.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tc2DL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After this the upper hand goes back to the top to restart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two things to note, people will say that this is safer than the slip-slap-slide method, and they are usually right, &lt;strong&gt;but you have to watch the braking plane.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing the &lt;strong&gt;PBUS style and yet having the lower/brake hand in front of the braking plane  is dangerous&lt;/strong&gt; as you have no friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;DON'T DO THIS&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMbHP.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WMbHP.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is that while the PBUS method works really well for sport or indoor climbing when the climber is above at a steep angle, it gets harder and hard to keep the brake hand behind the braking plane when the angle is less steep or if you are belaying someone from below you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is why it is worth it to know both PBUS and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14456/8794&quot;&gt;slip-slap-slide technique&lt;/a&gt;, especially if you are ever doing a body belay which basically mandates the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/14456/8794&quot;&gt;slip-slap-slide technique&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-14T02:41:41.713" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18491" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-13T19:28:29.347" Score="7" ViewCount="3357" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/trail-cooking-101/freezer-bag-cooking-101/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freezer bag cooking&lt;/a&gt; refers to cooking by boiling water in a pot, add the boiling water to a zip-lock type freezer bag filled with the meal, placing the filled bag in an insulating cozy, and letting everything soak/heat/cook until edible. I have read varying views on the safety of the method concerning adding boiling water to the plastic bag and chemicals leeching into the food. &lt;a href=&quot;https://andrewskurka.com/2016/freezer-bag-cooking-no-thank-you/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Andrew Skurka says&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do you think it’s safe to heat food in a freezer bag? Ziplok does, based on the standards set by the EPA for food-grade plastics. I’m not concerned with what they know, but what they don’t know yet (a la BPA), and I’d rather not chance it when there’s a reasonable alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;while &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trailcooking.com/trail-cooking-101/freezer-bags-safe/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;TrailCooking.com says&lt;/a&gt; about the safety of freezer bag cooking: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our personal opinion is yes, but you really should do the research yourself and make your own informed decision. We have provided some discussion points and links below to help you make that decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone done a proper chemical analysis or study to determine if it is safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T05:06:57.680" Title="Is freezer bag cooking safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18058" CreationDate="2018-02-13T20:58:54.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some bags have an adjustment where you can set the upper attachment point of the straps.  This often isn't obvious, as you have to un thread the plastic triangular attach point, run the central strap under one or more horizontal straps on the back of the pack, then rethread the attach point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is pulling you back, I suspect that the attach point is too low, allow the bag to sag backward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some bags have straps that run from the top of the bag to the front of the shoulder straps.  Tightening these can keep the top of the pack from flopping around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also find that the perceived weight varies with how you load the pack.  If I'm in rugged terrain, I like the centre of mass low, as it keeps me more stable.  However this means I have to lean further forward to balance.  On smooth terrain, a higher load allows a more relaxed pace.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bag is &quot;thick&quot; front to back, and you have too much volume, then the load moves into the bottom of the pack.  More work.    Use compression straps to make it thinner so that you are using at least the entire pack that is in contact with your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-13T20:58:54.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18493" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-14T01:47:56.293" Score="9" ViewCount="602" Body="&lt;p&gt;While watching the Ladies' Olympic Snowboarding Halfpipe in Pyeongchang, I noticed what appeared to be straps around the lower leg of each competitor. For example, here's a couple pictures of American champion Chloe Kim with said straps indicated:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4LrLl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4LrLl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ChloeKim&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6n136.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6n136.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;ChloeKim2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And Chinese Silver Medalist Liu Jiayu:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZazT0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZazT0.png&quot; alt=&quot;Liu Jiayu&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And France's Mirabelle Thovex:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rjAQG.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rjAQG.png&quot; alt=&quot;Mirabelle Thovex&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;All images from screencaps of the NBC Olympics stream, available at &lt;a href=&quot;http://stream.nbcolympics.com/snowboarding-womens-halfpipe-final&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://stream.nbcolympics.com/snowboarding-womens-halfpipe-final&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am having trouble determining what exactly these are. My thoughts are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't seem to be part of the team uniform, as I noticed these &quot;straps&quot; around the leg of athletes from several different countries (perhaps even all?). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With there being a strap around each leg, it wouldn't seem to be a snowboard leash (from the video, I didn't see any competitors remove a leash when taking off their board). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My best guess is some sort of electronic transmitters. If so, to what end? Providing analytics to broadcasters for the &quot;Maximum / Average Amplitude&quot; graphics? Data for judges to confirm number of rotations? Data for the athletes/coaches to analyze later?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While currently watching the Men's Halfpipe Final, these straps can also be spotted on several competitors (but, perhaps notably, not America's Shaun White). As not every competitor seems to be wearing these, it wouldn't seem to be something mandated by the IOC and thus presumably useful to the snowboarding world in general. Of course, it could be that other competitors are wearing them under their snowboarding pants?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T21:21:48.890" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T21:21:48.890" Title="Straps around Olympic Halfpipe Snowboarder Legs?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18494" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-02-14T01:49:09.170" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-02-14T01:49:09.170" LastActivityDate="2018-02-14T01:49:09.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18495" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-02-14T01:49:09.170" Score="0" Body="For questions regarding competition, rules, regulations, and techniques in the Summer &amp; Winter Olympic Games." OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T23:25:33.273" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T23:25:33.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18496" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18518" CreationDate="2018-02-14T17:02:16.687" Score="11" ViewCount="307" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other day, this question (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18477/9109&quot;&gt;Why did wetting down canvas sails increase the speed of a sailing ship?&lt;/a&gt;) was asked regarding the historical practice of wetting down sails.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18478/9109&quot;&gt;current answer&lt;/a&gt; quotes several sources describing two factors.  First, is to swell the fibers of the sail and to seal the spaces between threads so that the wind blows along the sail, not through it.  This makes perfect sense to me.  The second, per the quoted sources, is to &quot;to flatten their canvas&quot; or &quot;likewise making the sails stand flatter.&quot;  This lies almost in direct contrast to my intuition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been taught (and I admit I am barely a novice sailor, and mostly a power-boater or paddle-boater) that a sail acts similar to an aircraft wing, so to make it create aerodynamic lift, it needs to have a wing-like shape to it, called a belly.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pdracer.com/sail/sail-shaping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; describes the concept and why it is important.  At first glance it would seem that flattening a sail would reduce the pressure differential between the windward and leeward sides, thus reducing the lift generated by the sail, taking speed away from the sailboat.  Yet both quoted sources in the linked answer refer to either racing or pursuit, and the wettened flat sails aiding the vessel's speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In trying to justify this, I wondered whether it mattered if one was dealing with a square-rigged sail versus a fore-and-aft sail, and also if the vessel is on a beat, reach or run.   For example, the sail on a square-rigger on either a broad reach or a run is essentially using the wind like a pushing hand, so maximizing area of resistance is more important than creating a lifting surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the sources tends to confirm this partially:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;general practice ... to cut and sew the sails so they would form themselves into a bag to hold the wind, although the advantage of flatness of surface for plying to windward was well understood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, it contradicts my thoughts above, as &quot;plying to windward&quot; is equivalent to beating, and the reference to yachting and the &lt;em&gt;America&lt;/em&gt; suggests fore-and-aft rigs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just can't wrap my brain around wanting flatness in this situation.  Please help me understand the interplay between the various forces acting on a sail and how the amount of belly helps and hurts in various points of sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-01T03:03:30.227" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T03:05:02.707" Title="When trimming my sails, why would I want them to stand flat, versus having some belly?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18497" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-02-14T18:40:23.560" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-02-14T18:40:23.560" LastActivityDate="2018-02-14T18:40:23.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18498" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-02-14T18:40:23.560" Score="0" Body="For questions relating to how physical and natural forces- such as aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, chemical interactions, coriolis effects, and others- influence the practice of an outdoor activity.  Should not be the only tag." OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-02-17T02:55:55.380" LastActivityDate="2018-02-17T02:55:55.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18499" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-14T19:56:52.873" Score="24" ViewCount="4557" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my younger/cheaper days, I used to scavenge firewood after the crowds would leave the camping area at the end of the weekend. Generally, this meant grabbing piles of unused firewood from near the fire rings of vacant campsites. Every once in a while I would come across a prime log (think 2 ft diameter x 4 ft long unsplit hardwood) that was still smoldering in the fire ring. As this was in the desert where water was scarce, dousing the logs was not really an option. On more than one occasion, I was able to simply kick the log out of the bed of my pickup into the fire ring and with a couple of lung fulls of air get a raging fire going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I doubt one can truly safely transport a smoldering log, what is the best way to do so. For example, putting it in the trunk of a car would minimize airflow, but be really dangerous if it ignited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-02-14T21:59:46.007" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T18:06:16.780" Title="Can smoldering logs be transported safely" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18499" CreationDate="2018-02-14T20:53:20.087" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not inside anything you're in&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A smouldering fire is pretty much the worst thing for generating carbon monoxide. That will poison you. I'd include the boot of a saloon car (trunk of a sedan?) as there's normally plenty of ventilation between that and the cabin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reason for this is in case it ignites something - you don't want to be too close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an absolute minimum, in a pickup or other open vehicle. I'd want something to serve as a fire bowl, held down with metal fixings in the bed, and a tight-fitting metal lid, fastened. And still not for long or too fast (airflow). Wrapping it in a fire blanket would insulate it and keep the air off it to some extent. Too little air and it will go out, but it should light again easily, maybe even by retaining enough heat to get tinder going. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T16:40:51.803" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T16:40:51.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18501" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18503" CreationDate="2018-02-14T22:29:07.460" Score="9" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suppose I get one of those text messages, like the Icelandic authorities send to travellers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...Wind gusts could reach speeds that are known for blowing cars off the road and even pulling up the tarmac! 45-50 m/s, 112 mph or 180 km/h can be expected in some areas!...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose I've been out for a long time already, and this system was too far away when I left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And suppose I'm here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g13Vq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g13Vq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Svartakvísl, central Iceland&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Svartakvísl, central Iceland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nowhere to hide.  No building within 24 hour walking.  No caves.  I might be able to reach a canyon, but I have no clue if that's a safe place to hide.  Perhaps it will funnel the wind, or perhaps the wind may be associated with flash floods or landslides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to be OK?  Is this a moment to call for emergency helicopter rescue (obviously BEFORE the storm hits)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: I have read &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8550&quot;&gt;What is a good tarp setup for very high winds above the tree line?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, but that question talks about 25 m/s winds.  I might consider sheltering in a very good and very well-pitched tent in 25 m/s wind gusts.  Not so when wind gusts may be up to 50 m/s.  I am not confident the answers there are wise for winds such as presently occurring in Iceland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T12:41:38.857" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T13:21:49.753" Title="What can I do if I have 24-hour warning of very strong wind gusts (45–50 m/s), but I cannot reach a fixed shelter within this period?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18501" CreationDate="2018-02-14T22:50:55.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are probably going to want to do is &lt;strong&gt;to build your own shelter out of rocks. Basically, you are going to want to pile them up into a wall a couple of feet high and get down behind that.&lt;/strong&gt; If you know the direction the wind is coming from then you can make a horseshoe shaped shelter with the open side facing downwind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you will want to get in and stay down until the storm blows over making certain that your gear is buttoned down as well. Its probably not a bad idea to bring goggles ahead of time to protect your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have to set up your tent, I wouldn't just to spare it the beating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, shelters like this are fairly common in mountain areas having been built previous hikers or inhabitants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterwords, you should dismantle the shelter, but I wouldn't dismantle any you find since it they could have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/the-enclosure/863794&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;historic value and be a couple hundred years old&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-14T22:50:55.843" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18469" CreationDate="2018-02-15T03:17:14.247" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three fluids in your car that contain water: the battery electrolyte, the washer fluid, and the coolant.  Everything else is hydrocarbon-based, and in a properly-functioning car, contains no water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the battery, the electrolyte is a mix of sulfuric acid and distilled water.  A modern sealed battery keeps the amount of electrolyte to a minimum, so it's not a good source of water even if you could neutralize the acid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Washer fluid is typically a mix of water, an alcohol (usually methanol), and detergent; in colder climates, it often has ethylene glycol mixed in to lower the freezing point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coolant is roughly a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze, typically ethylene glycol.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ethylene glycol has a boiling point of 197°C, well above that of water.  If you're desperate, your best bet is to set up a solar still to extract the water from the antifreeze.  The difference in boiling points means that your still will be producing reasonably pure water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distilling the washer fluid has the problem that methanol boils at a lower temperature than water.  The initial output of the still will be a poisonous methanol/water mix, and there's no good way to tell when the methanol level has dropped far enough to be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long-shot option is to &lt;em&gt;make&lt;/em&gt; your water.  Hydrocarbons produce carbon dioxide and water vapor when burned; you could attempt to disassemble your car's exhaust system and use it as a condenser to capture some of that water vapor.  Of course, in the long run, you're likely to wind up with heavy-metal poisoning, or unburned hydrocarbons giving you cancer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T03:17:14.247" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18453" CreationDate="2018-02-15T03:28:49.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The crime rate on most trails is 0, due to the very low frequency of use.  The trails that have had a crime committed on them tend to have a very high crime &lt;em&gt;rate&lt;/em&gt;, again due to the low frequency of use.  There are only a few trails that have high enough usage for the crime rate statistics to be dominated by something other than random chance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T03:28:49.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18491" CreationDate="2018-02-15T05:06:57.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;TLDR: It looks like the bigger risk is spilling the boiling water onto yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what Ziplok has to say about their products,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That’s good news all around.Ziploc® brand containers are made from polypropylene and can be recycled in a limited (but growing number) of communities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SC Johnson’s Ziploc® brand Bags and Containers are BPA free. Our products are extensively evaluated for toxicity and safety and comply with applicable quality and safety regulations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A few years back, concerns were raised about the alleged dangers of using plastics in microwaves. The presumption argued that a combination of fat, high heat and plastic releases dioxin into food and ultimately into the cells of the body, which would then increase the risk of producing cancerous cells. After we researched these claims, it became clear that the information was misleading and unnecessarily alarming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ziploc.com/en/sustainability-and-safety&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to National Geographic the  is used in,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;deli soups, syrup, yogurt and&#xA;  margarine containers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;disposable diapers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;outdoor carpet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;house wrap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;clouded plastic containers,e.g. baby bottles, straws&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and there are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No known health issues&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www-tc.pbs.org/strangedays/pdf/StrangeDaysSmartPlasticsGuide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.advancedpetrochem.com/sites/default/files/MSDS%20Advanced-PP%20Homopolymer%20Updated%20April%202016.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAFETY DATA SHEET Polypropylene (PP)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ingestion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No known significant effects or hazards &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Melting Point | 150-170 °C (DSC) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Decomposition temperature | &gt;300°C (&gt;572°F) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chemical stability:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This product is a stable thermoplastic with no chemical reactivity under normal handling and&#xA;  storage conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Possibility of hazardous reactions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Under normal conditions of storage and use, hazardous reactions will not occur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Conditions to avoid:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Strong oxidation agents, avoid temperatures above 300 degree C (570 F). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article says that polypropylene  is considered less risky for leaching compared to other types of plastic..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There appears to be even less concern – which has translated into fewer studies – &lt;strong&gt;regarding leaching of toxins from polypropylene&lt;/strong&gt; (recycle code 5), the other plastic dinnerware workhorse. Polypropylene bowls and plates are also considered safe to use in the microwave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What about BPA and phthalates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What we do know though is that &lt;strong&gt;neither polypropylene nor melamine contain two of the toxins that have raised concern in recent years: bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other notes I found,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All of the plastic food containers that we examined in our kitchen were branded with the number 5, which means they’re made of PP, or polypropylene. That’s a cloudy plastic generally considered to be food safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dishwashers.reviewed.com/features/what-the-symbols-on-your-tupperware-really-mean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not so, says vom Saal, who notes that there are plenty of other materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene plastics, that would be fine substitutes in at least some applications. &quot;There are a whole variety of different kinds of plastic materials and glass,&quot; he says. &quot;They are all more stable than polycarbonate.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/plastic-not-fantastic-with-bisphenol-a/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found a study where the microwaved water in plastic containers and tested for leakage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mcpherson.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/99-Torrison.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Effect of Microwave Radiation on Polypropylene Used in Food&#xA;Containers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The question of whether or not any potentially hazardous organic&#xA;  compounds were being introduced into food by the plastic itself was also addressed. Although there were not any&#xA;  specific answers given to these questions, the quality of the plastics commercially available were evaluated. The&#xA;  results proved that the plastics used in everyday food containers are of good quality and do not leach enough&#xA;  hazardous material to be in anyway harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The results indicated support of the original&#xA;  hypothesis. No evidence was found of any harmful&#xA;  chemicals leaching into food from the plastic dishware. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T05:06:57.680" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18507" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18508" CreationDate="2018-02-15T08:39:17.613" Score="11" ViewCount="1450" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in how Viking era&lt;sup&gt;1)&lt;/sup&gt; hikers carried their gear and provisions while out and about on foot. My focus here would be longer walks in civilian life, e.g. to get from farm A to farm B. I.e. no raiding parties, travel on horse back, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen some interpretations in videos of reenactment groups where simple wooden racks made out of split branches are used (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/3m-vFw1xHgc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video here&lt;/a&gt;). &#xA;In others I have seen people simply carry a cloth bag over their shoulder, or bundles held together with a belt carried on the back by holding on to one end of the belt with one hand. At least the two latter examples don't seem very practical, as they don't leave your hands free and are prone to be rather tiring over longer distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I do realise that civilians walking long distances was probably not something that was very common at the time - at least not without good reason. These reasons would of course likely dictate how said marches were done and what kind of equipment was used (if any at all). Meaning that farmer Jo Jonson probably spent all his life on his farm and maybe the ones around him, and didn't venture out into the wide world carrying lot's of stuff...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Still, if possible, I'm looking for sources (preferably archaeological finds, depictions or texts) that give some idea of the available possibilities.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1)&lt;/sup&gt; I'm mostly interested in lets say ca. 800-1000 AD Scandinavia. (This is still very broad, I can refine it if necessary.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T10:56:35.350" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T10:56:35.350" Title="How did Viking era hikers carry their gear and provisions?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18507" CreationDate="2018-02-15T09:12:55.337" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This can be answered pretty precisely. They used the so called &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Gokstad backpack&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wychwood.wikidot.com/kit-bags&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://wychwood.wikidot.com/kit-bags&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Gokstad 'backpack:' this is an oval cross-sectioned tube of&#xA;  leather or woven birch bark, attached to a thin wooden base and with a&#xA;  wooden lid and shoulder straps attached. More details may be found on&#xA;  this website&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately the linked website in the quote is not reachable anymore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ovSap.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ovSap.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CzCwA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CzCwA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This thread might be really interesting for you: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/comments/2wcc9x/did_vikings_use_backpacks_and_other_carrying/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.reddit.com/r/Norse/comments/2wcc9x/did_vikings_use_backpacks_and_other_carrying/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T09:12:55.337" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18499" CreationDate="2018-02-15T11:15:27.237" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can. It's called a &lt;strong&gt;long match&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://survivalmagazine.org/bushcraft/long-match/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here's an example of how to make one&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen several variations on this theme but basically you want a method to hold the heat of the fire with a limited oxygen supply and insulation. You need some Oxygen to get to the fire to keep it smouldering and you need some fuel for that fire but the trick is just enough and not too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pre burnt but extinguished wood also has advantages when starting fires. The wood will typically take a match a lot quicker than freshly cut or found wood. So it &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; be worth transporting this with you if you're in a situation where good tinder or fuel is scarce. but ensuring a log is completely out is hard. Wood can hold a lot of heat internally and hot wood is only lacking oxygen to turn into burning wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Obviously carrying around a fire has inherent risks.&lt;/strong&gt; Like a lot of bushcraft you need to weigh up &lt;strong&gt;effort&lt;/strong&gt; vs &lt;strong&gt;benefit&lt;/strong&gt; vs &lt;strong&gt;risk&lt;/strong&gt;. A long match is &lt;strong&gt;high risk&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;requires a lot of effort&lt;/strong&gt; so it's only really useful in a situation where you need a fire fast and you will struggle for dry tinder, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So, I can, but should I?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;90% of the time your better off just building a fire from scratch where and when you want it. A simple bundle of good tinder and a fire stick is much more practical than a long match.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long match can be very useful for transporting a fire short distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;I would never ever put a long match in a car&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...like just don't this is crazy&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T11:21:16.580" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T11:21:16.580" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18501" CreationDate="2018-02-15T12:27:44.940" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Charlie's answer on building a shelter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make sure you don't have to move once the storm hits.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll likely hardly be able to walk around safely, so make sure you're in the best spot already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay well above the waterline to avoid &lt;em&gt;raising rivers/flash floods&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay away from ravines that could be dangerous because of &lt;em&gt;avalanches/mudslides&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay away from any trees (at the wind speeds you're describing also avoid forests!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep some distance from cliffs (unless you can get inside some cave/crack) because of &lt;em&gt;rockfall&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winds of these strengths could well be coming with a thunderstorm, so keep the usual &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10215/protect-yourself-from-a-lightning-strike&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;lightning&lt;/em&gt; protection advice&lt;/a&gt; in mind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make sure you'll be warm enough&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to mess about with your equipment in these conditions might be rather hard, do prepare as well you can:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on enough layers of clothing (insulation, wind/rain protection)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In extreme cases you could improvise a bivouac by wrapping a tarp/tent floor/tent fly around you before crouching behind your shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have enough snacks/drinks ready (e.g. make some hot tea in preparation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T13:21:49.753" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T13:21:49.753" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18511" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18514" CreationDate="2018-02-15T13:55:19.277" Score="18" ViewCount="1718" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has been bugging me for a while. A party is traveling on a glacier and adds braking knots evenly to the length of the rope as seen in &lt;a href=&quot;/a/7025&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt;. The person leading the rope falls into a crevasse and the knots do not stop the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does the rest of the team pull the leader out given that the knots would jam up the system? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T17:41:41.683" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T12:27:45.653" Title="Crevasse rescue with knots in the rope" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18499" CreationDate="2018-02-15T13:57:24.627" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;What firefighter could resist a question like this?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb, &lt;strong&gt;never kick a smoldering log&lt;/strong&gt; to put it out, &lt;strong&gt;especially not in a dry environment&lt;/strong&gt; where water is scarce.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smoke is the byproduct of incomplete combustion, so if it's smoldering, it's burning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kicking a burning log dislodges burning embers into the air, where they can be carried further than expected and in many, unexpected directions.  The same thing happens as the wood moves around while you're driving down the road with smoldering logs in the bed of your truck.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better solution is to place the logs in a metal box where they will be partially deprived of oxygen, which is essential to combustion.  This is going to result in a great deal of smoke, as combustion becomes less and less complete until the fire goes out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the best option and &lt;strong&gt;the only thing that should be taught to children is to put the fire out with water&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;While I have your attention:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; It's quite common for houses to burn down days and weeks after a woodland fire event, because burning embers became airborne and get caught in air vents in the roof, under the eves of the roof, or in any other opening where they can go unnoticed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to protect your home against forest fires is to create a defensible space around your home, using least combustible materials in landscaping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://disastersafety.org/ibhs/research-center-demo-wildfire-2011/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Check out some cool pictures that illustrate the topics above.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14959" LastEditorUserId="14959" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T14:33:30.077" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T14:33:30.077" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18499" CreationDate="2018-02-15T14:56:27.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve moved many smoldering fires and hot coals with metal buckets. They can be obtained easily and cheaply. I’d never suggest putting it inside the trunk of your car though.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One such as this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chewy.com/behrens-galvanized-steel-locking-lid/dp/139691?utm_source=google-product&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=hg&amp;amp;utm_content=Behrens&amp;amp;utm_term=&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI68j6wc2o2QIVxWV-Ch03vgH0EAQYECABEgIlY_D_BwE&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.chewy.com/behrens-galvanized-steel-locking-lid/dp/139691?utm_source=google-product&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=hg&amp;amp;utm_content=Behrens&amp;amp;utm_term=&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI68j6wc2o2QIVxWV-Ch03vgH0EAQYECABEgIlY_D_BwE&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14960" LastEditorUserId="14960" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T19:02:22.943" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T19:02:22.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18511" CreationDate="2018-02-15T15:12:19.850" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a 3:1 (Z-pulley) haul, the victim's rope is used for hauling directly. As you point out correctly, a surface rescue is impossible if you have knots in the rope, since the rope is under tension and you cannot untie the knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you can also drop a different strand of rope down to the victim and haul them out with that (it's then called a rescue strand). Since it's not under tension, it's possible to remove all knots from the rope before sending it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples are a 2:1 (C-pulley or &lt;em&gt;drop&lt;/em&gt; loop) haul or a 6:1 (C cross Z) haul, where in both cases you drop a bight of rope down to the victim. They  attach the rope (with a pulley) to their harness, and then the rescuers haul.&#xA;You could also send down a single strand of rope down and do a 3:1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In any case, for a surface rescue, you need some rope available on the surface.&lt;/strong&gt; All climbers tied together on a glacier should have some additional rope to perform a rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that all these require the victim to be conscious and able to help. If this is not the case, a rescuer needs to rappel into the crevasse, potentially address any immediate life-threatening injuries, clip the rope to the victim, ascend back out, then haul. This gets quite complicated, but is part of the guides' exam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last option would be for the victim to self-rescue, passing their prussiks over each knot in the rope. Clipping into the knots is possible and makes life a little bit easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T12:27:45.653" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T12:27:45.653" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18493" CreationDate="2018-02-15T16:13:19.130" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are transponders that the riders wear. They provide data to the judges, most notably amplitude or height achieved out of the halfpipe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In effect, each athlete now controls his or her own clock, determining when it stops and starts and, increasingly, carrying it along the way. &lt;strong&gt;Speed skaters wear transponders on their ankles that mark their location, speed, and running time at every moment along their path; alpine skiers have them on their boots.&lt;/strong&gt; Many of the temporal innovations this year have less to do with timing, per se, than with its permutations: the real-time acceleration rate and brake speed of speed skaters and alpine skiers; &lt;strong&gt;the takeoff and landing speeds of snowboarders;&lt;/strong&gt; g-forces in the bobsleigh. It’s a continuous stream of entertaining data, but it can also be fed back into the training process, helping athletes to understand where they gained or lost time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-olympics-never-ending-struggle-to-keep-track-of-time/amp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-olympics-never-ending-struggle-to-keep-track-of-time/amp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14960" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-15T16:20:25.770" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T16:20:25.770" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2018-02-15T16:49:09.890" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although it may seem extreme, I often disconnect my battery before embarking on a hike. Especially if I am in a remote location. This is a nice way to ensure there is no slow electrical drain that may discharge the battery. Additionally, it would hamper a would-be thief’s efforts at stealing the car. If I must leave something of value in the car, I try to hide it either under a seat or in the spare tire compartment, hoping that the thief is too lazy to search thoroughly. I have also used personal alarms such as these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00DBF0K9C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New and Interesting Finds on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are easy to attach to a backpack or bag left in the car, and if the thief removes the bag, the alarm goes off. Might be enough to cause him to run off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14960" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T04:28:50.493" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T04:28:50.493" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18511" CreationDate="2018-02-15T19:34:33.863" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Felix's excellent answer of what should be done it practice, it is well worth knowing how to pass a knot in the rope (whether while rappelling or hauling). This will generally be more time consuming than just having an extra length of rope for which to affect the rescue and it should be noted that the knots that were tied to add friction on the lip of the crevasse during the fall will also add friction during the haul back out, perhaps becoming completely jammed up on the lip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As this is a standard self-rescue technique, I'll give a brief overview of how this might look for a typical 3:1 z-drag setup. The additional gear requirements are minimal, needing only an extra sling/prusik and two carabiners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Always obtain professional instruction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rig the z-drag as normal, but with one key difference: attach the braking prusik to the anchor with a &lt;em&gt;load-releasable knot&lt;/em&gt;, e.g., a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/muntermule/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Munter-Mule hitch&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Haul as normal until the knot in the rope gets close to the anchor. Clip a backup knot, untie the hauling prusik and retie it on the other side of the knot in the rope. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Haul until the knot in the rope is jammed up against the braking prusik.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the extra sling to tie another prusik onto the hauling line below the knot to act as the new braking prusik and clip into the anchor (if there will be more knots to pass, make sure to use another Munter-Mule). Slide this prusik as far as possible down the rope. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making sure a backup knot is tied, slowly release the Munter-Mule on the original braking prusik until the load is safely taken up by the newly tied prusik. Remove the original prusik from the system completely. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Haul another foot or so until the knot in the rope is up against the pulley or carabiner at the anchor. Either untie the knot (generally difficult, but simpler) or slightly extend the attachment point so that the pulley/carabiner can be reattached below the knot in the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat this process until the fallen climber is safe. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For variation on this approach, see the following technical bulletin from Petzl: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Crevasse-fall--hauling-on-a-rope-with-knots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crevasse Hauling on a Rope with Knots&lt;/a&gt;. While illustrated with a Micro-traxion and a tibloc, the same procedure works with prusiks as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It proceeds much in the same manner for steps 1 and 2, but then uses an extra sling to connect the hauling prusik to the anchor (shown in green):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qOFdF.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qOFdF.png&quot; alt=&quot;Petzl Tech Bulletin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pull on the hauling system to release tension on the braking mechanism (whether micro-traxion or prusik), and then allow the rope to slide back through the system until the weight of the climber is taken up by the green sling. With this newly introduced slack, untie the knot (or pass it by extending the pulley at the anchor), then haul again until the green sling is slack and can be removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-02-15T19:34:33.863" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18496" CreationDate="2018-02-15T19:42:57.803" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I didn't intend to self-answer, but after hours of 'net searching I seem to have stumbled on the answer, provided by an Olympic Gold Medalist sailor from Australia, so I hope we can trust it.  You can read the full article at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/depowering-in-high-winds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Australia Sailing&lt;/a&gt; yourself, I will just summarize it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When on a boat and the winds are gaining in intensity, this will have the effect of adding power to your sails, which adds speed.  At the same time, the higher winds will increase the heel of your boat, which takes speed away and makes the helm unbalanced.  When the heel exceeds a few degrees, the net effect is negative, and you need to de-power your sails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can do this by either pinching in, meaning to sail closer to the direction of the wind, or by flattening sails, reducing their horizontal curvature.  There are a few ways to do this, including adding tension to the backstay, putting the traveler all the way out, increasing down-haul, and- as the linked question and answer describe- wetting the sails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-01T03:05:02.707" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T03:05:02.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18519" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18520" CreationDate="2018-02-16T03:21:25.390" Score="4" ViewCount="560" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some features in orienteering or navigation are called attack points. What exactly does this refer to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-16T20:26:36.977" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T20:26:36.977" Title="In orienteering/navigation, what is an attack point?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18519" CreationDate="2018-02-16T03:21:25.390" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To put it really simply, an &lt;strong&gt;attack point is something that you can aim towards, that is far more obvious and easy to navigate to than your actual destination.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For examples consider navigating to a lava tube cave in a forest with bluffs around. While the cave won't be visible until you are really close to it, the bluffs will stick out above the trees and you can use them to aim in addition to using a map and compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bM17J.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bM17J.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good example would be heading towards a glacier lake at the bottom of a mountain to camp, the mountain peak will be visible for quite a ways farther, especially when navigating through dense terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7Kh1.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7Kh1.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-16T03:21:25.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18523" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-18T06:58:13.367" Score="9" ViewCount="1216" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that you can't use an Iridium handset to place an emergency call without a SIM card (which seems to be more a commercial than a technical issue).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm wondering is whether an &quot;expired&quot; SIM could be used, allowing users to buy a SIM card once and for all, and then be able to use it to communicate with rescuers if need be, rather than paying for an expensive monthly plan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ps: I'm aware of the existence of PLBs, but unfortunately those only let you trigger a distress signal, not communicate with rescuers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14973" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T09:12:49.040" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T11:09:42.110" Title="Can you use an Iridium phone with a SIM but with no active plan to place an emergency call?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11642" CreationDate="2018-02-18T08:41:43.303" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers some of these knives are meant to have a use as a spearhead. You use the cord to tie the metal handle to a stick or split the stick a little, stick the handle in between and tie it closed. For this use these knives are arguably a lot better than anything with a decent grip. (Though not nearly as good as specialist equupment the owner is likely to have experimented with a little.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-02-18T08:41:43.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18523" CreationDate="2018-02-18T21:27:01.590" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked at some different plans and it looks like you could buy a prepaid plan and not activate it for up to 2 years. See the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.satphonestore.com/airtime/iridium-airtime.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pricing here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However that seems like the really expensive option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since  you only want something for use in emergencys and want to be able to communicate with rescuers which rules out PLBs, I would suggest a inReach instead. That would much &lt;a href=&quot;https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cheaper&lt;/a&gt; and they work as a GPS as well&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-02-18T21:27:01.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18527" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-18T23:51:01.917" Score="4" ViewCount="179" Body="&lt;p&gt;My understanding (possibly wrong) is that the use of semiautomatic hunting rifles is fairly recent.  I recently encountered someone online who claimed that in the United States even in the 1970s it was fairly common for semiautomatics to be used in hunting.  Is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6231" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T05:32:57.797" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T05:32:57.797" Title="When did semiautomatic hunting rifles become commonly used in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18528" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-19T00:23:54.047" Score="4" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GFZJk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GFZJk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I live in the West Georgia area. We now have several trees chewed up beginning 5 feet off the ground and all the way around the tree, some to the very top. I found a birch that had a 4 foot section eaten out of the top about 20' feet up. Pines, oaks, sweet gums are affected so far and several people in Troup County have the same issue and no one has any answers except: squirrels, woodpeckers, bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tsScN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tsScN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14970" LastEditorUserId="14970" LastEditDate="2018-03-12T13:02:04.527" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T03:07:24.217" Title="What animal would chew up trees in West Georgia?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18527" CreationDate="2018-02-19T05:32:49.197" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first mention I can find of a semi-auto rifle produced in the United States for hunting was the Remington Model 8.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Remington Model 8 rifle was the first commercially successful semiautomatic rifle offered for civilian sale in the United States&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary market for the Model 8 was sport hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Model_8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first successful semi-auto shotgun was the Browning Auto-5&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was the first successful semi-automatic shotgun design, and remained in production until 1998.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most A-5s have removable plugs in the magazine which prevent more than three shells from being loaded (two in the magazine, plus one in the chamber) to comply with US federal migratory waterfowl laws, as well as some state hunting regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Auto-5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as you can see, hunting with semiautomatics has been going on for quite a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further along in history, after World War 2 there were surplus &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Garand&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;M1 Garands&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_carbine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;M1 Carbines&lt;/a&gt; which were semiautomatic and used for hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then in 1964 Colt started selling AR-15 as sporting rifles (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_sporting_rifle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;) and in 1977 the patent on the gas system expired, allowing more manufacturers to build them.(&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=bCFjCgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT10&amp;amp;dq=The%20Evolution%20of%20the%20Black%20Rifle%20By%20Jeff%20Zimba&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi_1IuN8cPTAhXKwFQKHQs9B2cQ6AEIIjAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=patent&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 1990s companies started taking the carry handle off and instead putting a flat rail on top instead which in turn made it easier to use scopes. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=MQw5AwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA15#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today semiautomatics are very popular due to a number of factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap ammunition relatively speaking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2011/12/top-5-softest-kicking-semi-auto-shotguns&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lower felt recoil&lt;/a&gt; which makes them more pleasant to shoot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of customization options.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ability to quickly fire a second shot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this to say that while semiautomatics have been used for hunting for quite a while, today's popularity is more a recent thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T05:32:49.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18530" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18553" CreationDate="2018-02-19T06:00:24.050" Score="3" ViewCount="267" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was making the last of my approach to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ritter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt Ritter&lt;/a&gt; when I saw this salamander.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBSIL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBSIL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;salamander on snow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was probably 3-4 inches long and around 4:30 in the morning, I think the forecasted temperature was around 40&amp;deg; Fahrenheit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would anyone know what kind of salamander this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T21:37:24.067" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T21:37:24.067" Title="What kind salamander is this black and grey one I found at around 11,000 feet near Mt Ritter in the Sierras?" Tags="&lt;california&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;salamanders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18523" CreationDate="2018-02-19T11:09:42.110" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iridium Sims&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Iridium currently offer a very basic entry-level Emergency Plan for $25 a month, which suggests that you will not get any emergency facilities without an active plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't say what your usage will be, but before you make your choice you should research the pros and cons of your three main options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PLB&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The PLB is, currently, one-way only as you say. But compared to your other options it generates much the strongest signal,  has by far the most reliable satellite reception, and will work under heavy tree cover and in mountainous areas, deep valleys and even gorges. Recent models will automatically communicate your GPS coordinates and broadcast a homing signal to rescuers. It also has a sealed, long-life battery. And it connects directly to the COSPAS-SARSAT global rescue dispatch service. It is much the most reliable way to call in the rescue, and does not require a costly ongoing airtime plan to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Satellite phones&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quality satellite phone offers by far the best communication experience, with the choice between text and voice. But compared to the PLB, it is much more expensive to purchase and run, and it has far less reliable reception. Nor does it automatically communicate your position to rescuers. You also have to be careful to keep its battery topped up, and the regular charging/discharging cycle means that its battery life will be more limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Messengers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are a half-way house between the phones and the PLBs. The cheap-and-cheerful Spot offers one-way text communication, and the more upmarket InReach offers 2-way texting. But compared to a PLB, reception is much less reliable, you have ongoing service charges, and you have to keep the battery topped up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Choosing a service&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the best solution will depend on your priorities and budget. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a lightweight solo walk where I could only take one device it would be a PLB, as my priority would be reliable rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your priority is keeping friends and family informed on a modest budget, you'd probably prefer a messenger. But be aware that rescue will be significantly less reliable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a larger party in a serious and remote location, the ideal would be to carry both a PLB and a satellite phone. That way you can reliably call in the rescue in-extremis, but also have a good chance of being able to communicate with friends and family, with medical and rescue services, get access to weather reports, and organise logistics. Given the overall cost of such a trip, the relatively modest additional costs of this arrangement would seem like a good investment. People never think it can happen to them - but believe me - it can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T11:09:42.110" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1670" CreationDate="2018-02-19T12:11:38.160" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can give an answer for &lt;strong&gt;Switzerland&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Orienteering&lt;/a&gt; in Switzerland is comparatively popular and widely known  - and also called &quot;OL/Orientierungslauf&quot; (incidentally, Switzerland is also &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering#World_rankings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rather good&lt;/a&gt; at this in competitions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how prevalent this is, but in my childhood orienteering was one of the subjects taught in physical education/sports during primary and secondary school - i.e. all of us kids got to team up in groups, each group got a map and they sent us into a nearby (small) forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to say, however, that I haven't yet heard of an orienteering event that uses fragmented/obfuscated maps of the kind that you described - though that doesn't mean that it can't exist...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T12:11:38.160" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18533" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18579" CreationDate="2018-02-19T12:35:28.653" Score="10" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;These questions (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18496/when-trimming-my-sails-why-would-i-want-them-to-stand-flat-versus-having-some%5C&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18477/why-did-wetting-down-canvas-sails-increase-the-speed-of-a-sailing-ship&quot;&gt;two&lt;/a&gt;) about sail wetting/trimming raised another question for me. Disclaimer: I'm at best a novice sailor, and I've never sailed on a square rigger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I understood (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pdracer.com/sail/sail-shaping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;) sails work in 2 ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running directly before the wind the sail essentially just pushes you forward. Your max speed here is essentially the wind speed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running into/across (don't expect me to know the English nomenclature please :P) the wind the sails provide lift a little like an airplane wing does. Which, on modern ships, provides a lot more speed than running with the wind (can be up to several times faster or more).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also my understanding that the way square-rigged sails are set up they won't achieve the usual 'wing-shape' cross section that, say, a fore-and-aft rig will achieve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do a square-riggers sails also provide &quot;airplane wing-style&quot; propulsion, or do they only work in what the above article describes as the 'kite' type of providing push.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm asking because one of the linked questions at the beginning actually cites a &lt;em&gt;Hornblower&lt;/em&gt; novel - in which I would expect the ship in question to be a square-rigger  - wetting it's sails. And while the wetting of the sails also seems to have other effects (swelling of fibers making sails less permeable) it would seem that the 'aicraft-wing-style' (please let me know if there is a better term for this :P) propulsion would be a lot more important, seeing that it allows you to achieve higher speeds generally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T13:41:11.973" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T13:15:56.680" Title="Do square-riggers also use 'aircraft-wing-style' propulsion?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18534" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18690" CreationDate="2018-02-19T18:03:51.960" Score="2" ViewCount="716" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend I was out for the third time on my MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes. I'm pretty happy with them, particularly the traction on ice or heavy crust. However, the bindings are driving me crazy! The bindings are rubber straps with eyelets. They wrap over your foot, and around a hook with a post that catches in the eyelet. The straps are stretchy, and the tension from the stretch holds the strap in place on the post. The excess strap folds back over, and is tucked into a small clip attached loosely to the root end of the strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My complaint about the binding is two fold. First, I really have to torque on the straps to hook an eyelet with enough tension to hold it securely on the post. The problem is particularly bad with the heel straps. Second, the excess strap invariably pops out of the tidying clip, and they all end up waving in the air. I then invariably catch the loose strap on something, the strap pops off the post, and I have to stop and re-secure the strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anybody had a similar experience with these bindings, or am I doing something horribly wrong? What can I do to keep the straps fastened securely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T09:16:18.850" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T09:16:18.850" Title="How to counter bindings getting loose on MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes?" Tags="&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18499" CreationDate="2018-02-19T18:06:16.780" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers you've received so far touch on several key elements of this situation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Liam's answer nicely addresses the &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; of carrying burning embers around with you, though it's not strictly applicable to the question of salvaging an entire already-smoldering log from a fire-pit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chris H's answer offers a fairly reasonable approach to carrying around a smoldering log in the bed of a pickup (and is quite correct that any variation on &quot;smoldering fuel of any kind inside an enclosed vehicle&quot; is a recipe for carbon monoxide poisoning, and as such is a hard no).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rbsdca's answer highlights the hazards of keeping a smoldering log around in the first place (embers may go places you never expected, and wood can smolder a shockingly long time then burst into flame at some later point).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;But What Is It You Really Want?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question doesn't specify whether keeping the log smoldering is actually an objective, or you just want to salvage a log which happens to be smoldering when you get there. So:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you really do want to devise a way to safely transport a log while keeping it smoldering, I'd say that Chris H's approach is on the right track, but I would take it farther. To really keep the heat trapped and properly control the airflow, I would suggest a metal box within a larger metal box, with some fiberglass insulation between the two. The whole arrangement should be firmly secured to the open bed of a pickup truck. You would have to experiment with adjustable vents in both boxes to let just enough air reach the log, and ideally the vents should be baffled to minimize the effect of driving speed on airflow. And even then, the risk that Lightness Races in Orbit pointed out about possibly getting a flash-up from built-up wood gas igniting suddenly when introduced to open air is still a possibility. Not to mention the chance of a traffic accident, with a box of fire in the back of a pickup truck and gas dripping, leaking, or spraying from a damaged vehicle...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you just want the log, the task is much easier. Put a metal job-box (as tightly-closing as possible) in the back of your pickup, shovel a few inches of sand in the bottom, and then when you can't resist that smoldering log, you throw it in the box, bury it thoroughly with more sand, close up the job-box, and off you go. The combination of sand and closed metal box should smother the fire quite effectively. A fiberglass fire-blanket soaked in water or fire-retardant gel wrapped around the log on its way into the box could serve as extra assurance too, even if there isn't enough water available to douse and soak the log.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and also, I don't know where you live, but I wouldn't be surprised if many jurisdictions have laws against carrying a fire around in a moving vehicle. All in all, there's no circumstance in which transporting a burning log in a car or truck is genuinely safe or advisable, though there's lots you can do to &lt;em&gt;mitigate&lt;/em&gt; the risk if you're really determined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14978" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T18:06:16.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18536" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-19T19:44:59.713" Score="14" ViewCount="621" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week, while exploring tree snowboarding at Big Sky, MT, I ended up in a tree well. I was up to my waist and was able to crawl out. But it felt awkward and I see how I could sink deeper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, should this happen again and to a greater depth, what are some techniques to get out, especially, if my head gets submerged in snow? While taking the snowboard off for moveability seems like a no brainer, will it actually cause me to sink deeper in the snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T16:03:10.580" Title="Escaping tree well" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18536" CreationDate="2018-02-19T20:29:54.207" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Really the key to escaping tree wells is to ski/board/snowshoe with a buddy. I have friends who have ended up head down in a tree well, completely unable to reach their bindings. With every movement more snow would fill in the well. If they hadn't been skiing with a partner, it would have been a dire situation. Even with a partner it took a while to get them detached from their skis, head up, and out of the well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2018-02-19T20:35:22.343" LastActivityDate="2018-02-19T20:35:22.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18538" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-19T22:43:01.893" Score="4" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do if an elephant is annoyed by my presence and if I can't outrun it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5439" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T18:34:29.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T17:21:39.947" Title="What should I do if I face Elephant?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;elephants&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18541" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18542" CreationDate="2018-02-20T15:45:57.160" Score="8" ViewCount="2534" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take public transportation to my work and the climbing gym. This means my climbing gear stays in my office all day with me. My climbing shoes stink and are really offensive to have in my office. When at home I tend to store them in the garage. What is the best way to contain the stench so that my office does not smell like rotting feet? The solution needs to be suitable for being carried on public transportation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an attempt to mitigate the &lt;a href=&quot;https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem&quot;&gt;XY debate&lt;/a&gt;, lets assume that I am either unable, unwilling, or unsuccessful at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3668/how-to-clean-rock-climbing-shoes&quot;&gt;cleaning rock climbing shoes&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T23:19:41.340" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T09:24:04.010" Title="How to contain the stench of climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-02-20T15:50:31.087" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seal them away (in transit and at work - store them somewhere dry and well ventilated at home). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canoeandkayakstore.co.uk/109597/products/palm_ultralite_dry_bag.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dry bag&lt;/a&gt; sold for kayaking etc. Small ones are cheap on ebay but I've linked to something slightly better. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are storage bags that seal and allow you to suck out the air with a vacuum cleaner. These might actually reduce the stink rather than just containing it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A ziplock bag might even work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all of these, but especially the first and third, you should ensure they're dry before putting them in, or only put them in for as short a period as possible (not all day in an office). Damp shoes will allow the bacteria that make them stink to breed faster (and encourage mould). You can add some silica gel sachets, especially for the way home, but these have a finite ability to absorb moisture; you can regenerate them with heat. &lt;a href=&quot;http://tioram.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Special shoe-drying, microwaveable silica gel packs&lt;/a&gt; are available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T20:23:52.113" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T20:23:52.113" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18543" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18545" CreationDate="2018-02-20T16:10:47.440" Score="5" ViewCount="699" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a 3 day hike (somewhere between early June and early September) in the New Hampshire's White Mountains, specifically the Presidentials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to avoid the biggest crowds and would like to know the busiest months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine that July and August are the busiest but I may be wrong because of other factors like Appalachian Trail thru-hikers and other factors I haven't considered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are the trails heavily used on weekdays outside of prime vacation time period?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="625" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T22:46:36.917" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T12:29:17.933" Title="What are the busiest months for hiking in the New Hampshire Presidential Mountains?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18536" CreationDate="2018-02-20T16:15:10.683" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting trapped in a tree-well is equally as dangerous as getting buried by an avalanche. In fact, &lt;a href=&quot;https://mpora.com/snowboarding/tree-well-survival-guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;it's claimed&lt;/a&gt; that tree-wells account for ~20% of all ski deaths. Every professional guide I've ever skied with has warned that tree wells are just as deadly as avalanches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to treat tree-wells with the same respect you treat avalanche terrain: Don't ski alone; wear a beacon; carry a shovel and probe; and, know how to conduct an avalanche rescue. It's also recommended to keep an eye on your skiing partner, don't go too far without checking over your shoulder to make sure they're still with you. This way you won't get too far ahead of them incase they do end up in a tree-well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fall into a deep well, your very best chance of surviving is to stay calm and grab onto the tree to try and prevent yourself from sinking any deeper. If you can, try to get your skis/snowboard off and get yourself upright. This will expend HUGE amounts of energy, so be wise with every move you make. If possible, you can attempt to climb the tree, but it may be smarter to climb only until you find a pocket of air to breath in, then wait for rescue. This is of course an optimistic best case scenario. I've been head down in tree-wells with skis on before (small ones), any attempts you make to free yourself are absolutely exhausting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://mpora.com/snowboarding/tree-well-survival-guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; provides some more details on what to do in a tree-well emergency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-26T16:03:10.580" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T16:03:10.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18543" CreationDate="2018-02-20T16:58:25.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your time period of early June to Early September, my guess is that the least crowded period will be early June. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/New-Hampshire-Economic-Impact-Report-2015.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This report (Fig. 4)&lt;/a&gt; shows the number of &lt;em&gt;bed nights&lt;/em&gt; in AMC huts as a function of months. July has about 10% less bed nights than August and both July and August have substantially more bed nights than June or September. My guess is that August is about peak capacity for the huts since there are about 425 beds (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Huts_of_the_White_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Huts_of_the_White_Mountains&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that the decreased numbers in June are due to less visitors at the beginning of the month due to black flies and schools still being in session and the decreased numbers in September are due to schools starting up again and it beginning to get cold. Therefore the beginning of June would be your best bet in terms of crowds, but watch out for the black flies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T16:58:25.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18546" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18547" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" Score="0" Body="Questions about elephants" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T18:34:39.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-02-20T19:43:38.997" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use an odor neutralizer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the smell will be coming from the inside of the shoe, Spray them with an odor neutraliser or a specialist shoe odor neutralizer, then pack them paper or cloth impregnated with the same stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may take a while to work on its own, but can be used in conjunction with the suggestion to sealing them.  Sealing them will make the problem worse though, as the smell is caused by bacteria, and sealing them locks in the moisture the bacteria need.  The paper (throw away after use) or cloth (wash regularly) will absorb the moisture that is causing the problem.  When at home, remove the cloth or paper after a few hours and if possible leave where the is plenty of air flow to dry them out.  If yo  do this, after a week or two you may find you no longer need to seal them up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T19:43:38.997" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-02-20T20:53:24.850" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have this same problem with Vibrams and have found Lysol to be somewhat effective in mitigating the bacterial growth and ensuing smell. I use a quick spray a few times a week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the smell gets noticeably stronger, I throw the shoes into the washing machine with a cup of vinegar. My understanding is that the vinegar kills the odor-causing bacteria. Afterwards, I wash them with regular detergent to get rid of the vinegar smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14983" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T20:53:24.850" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-02-20T22:41:25.603" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The root cause of the problem is the moisture. If you can get them to dry somewhat then the smell will be much easier to manage. The short term solution is to use some sort of desiccant right after you're finished with them. I've used some of my wife's knee high hosiery filled with kitty litter. The point is to use some fine threaded &quot;bag&quot; to contain the desiccant, so you can use whatever you have available to contain the absorbent material. If you can get it, then silica sand, chalk, talc or even salt would work... but ensure that whatever you use won't actually damage the shoes. The best thing is that many of those products come in a scented variant that will be additionally useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you couple this with an air tight bag, then your shoes won't emit any odors in the office (or gain mold) and then you can air them out when you get home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14985" LastActivityDate="2018-02-20T22:41:25.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18551" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18558" CreationDate="2018-02-21T00:22:06.157" Score="2" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I caught this fish in a canal in South Florida that I believe is brackish because I also caught some Florida Gar. At first I thought it was a Blue Gill but I am wondering if it might be a Mayan Cichlid. It looks too elongated and small to be a Blue Gill and I don't see a black spot but I am not sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is about 5 inches long. Could someone identify this fish? I have caught 9-10 of them that were this size and then I caught a fish that looked a lot like it but was a few sizes larger (like 300% bigger in length and width) which I am not sure is a bigger version or a different species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyK8Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyK8Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-21T02:42:04.360" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T02:42:04.360" Title="What type of fish is this?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18530" CreationDate="2018-02-21T03:09:29.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is most likely a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/h.platycephalus.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Lyell Salamander. Hydromantes platycephalus&lt;/a&gt;. That page has excellent pictures of both the salamanders and the mountains on which you'll find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic descriptions I've found from a number of sources match yours in terms of coloration, although at certain life stages parts of them can be tinged with yellow or silver. They have that dark mottled pattern, and a tail that looks like stone. They also have webbed feet with the correct amount of toes, which is four on the front and five on the back. Other salamanders in the same species have different numbers of toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?account=amphibiaweb&amp;amp;where-genus=Hydromantes&amp;amp;where-species=platycephalus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amphibia Web&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This species of Hydromantes has a flattened head and body, as the name--platy (flat)-cephalus (referring to the head)--suggests; blunt snout; short, blunt tail and a pedicelled, mushroom-shaped tongue (Stebbins 1951). There are 4 blunt-tipped, partly webbed toes on the front feet, and 5 on the hind feet. Adults reach about 120 mm (4.72 inches) total length, and usually have 12-13 costal grooves. Males are usually longer than females and have wider heads (Adams 1942).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Color: Dark chocolate to blackish above, with mottled pale gray to pinkish patches composed of whitish flecks; in some individuals, mottling completely obscures dark ground color; the dorsal coloration tends to match the color and pattern of granite rock common in this salamander's habitat, and varies among populations as substrate color varies. Ventral color is sooty to blackish often broken by irregular clusters of silvery chromophores, especially beneath limbs, on gular region, and on sides of belly. Juveniles: Completely dark brown to black with scattered golden stippling, or clusters of pale yellow chromophores dorsally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The  Mt. Lyell is one of the few varieties of salamander in California that are indigenous to the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Almost all other California salamanders are in the Western part of the state, and even at the Pacific coastal region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adult Habitat: &lt;strong&gt;Favored habitats are downslope from melting snowfields, which persist long into or even through the summer in the high Sierra Nevada.&lt;/strong&gt; Individuals also are encountered under rocks at the edge of streams; at low elevations, they may be found in direct contact with moist soil under rocks or occasionally under pieces of wood. Salamanders also are found under moss on wet rock faces (e.g., in Yosemite Valley).&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://amphibiaweb.org/species/4077&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your hiking range of about 11,000 feet makes sense. Its altitudinal range is 1,220–3,660 m (4,000–12,010 ft) above sea level.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lyell_salamander&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that makes me feel fairly confident in this identification is the outside temperature of 40°. Also, that you saw it at night, as it's generally nocturnal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This species is nocturnal and cold tolerant down to 35 degrees F. (2.0 C).&#xA;Surface activity is from late April to early September. Mt. Lyell Salamanders probably move into below-ground microhabitats and remain inactive during winter freezes and summer droughts, but they remain active underground during the summer. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/h.platycephalus.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like you left that one where you found it, which is always important with anything we come across outside. Also, it's unlawful to take or own one in California because it's protected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conservation: Mt. Lyell salamanders enjoy protected status and appear to be in good condition. Much of their range is in National Parks and Wilderness Areas, so there are few threats from human activities, although road construction in the Sonora Pass region could harm excellent habitat, that occurs near roadside. They are protected as a species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Game and may not be taken or possessed at any time.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://amphibiaweb.org/species/4077&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map on &lt;a href=&quot;http://berkeleymapper.berkeley.edu/index.html?tabfile=https://amphibiaweb.org/tmpfiles/600796&amp;amp;configfile=https://amphibiaweb.org/tmpfiles/bm_config_805478.xml&amp;amp;ViewResults=tab&amp;amp;sourcename=AmphibiaWeb+Species+Map:+Hydromantes+platycephalus&amp;amp;amphibiaweb=true&amp;amp;label=1&amp;amp;opacity=0.50&amp;amp;pointDisplay=pointMarkers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; is marked with dots representing actual sightings, each with specific details as to where and when. Many are in the exact area where you were hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T04:40:24.560" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13234" CreationDate="2018-02-21T12:56:54.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a bowhunter and bowhunting trip organiser in Hungary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You not need a holding permit for a hunting bow. But You need a valid hunting licence for Your home-land and a valid licence for fire weapon or hunting bow or hunting bird or hunting dog (greyhound) and an Invitation letter. It's enough for a Hungarian ticket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14988" LastEditorUserId="11606" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T17:59:18.870" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T17:59:18.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18568" CreationDate="2018-02-21T13:01:08.517" Score="8" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sadly after many years my trusted Helsport tunnel tent&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; took some damage in a storm that I'm not sure will be repairable. I'm therefore looking into the possibility of getting a new tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I looked into tent trade-offs last, tunnel tents where the ones who provided the best ratio in terms of &lt;em&gt;internal space&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/em&gt; for &lt;em&gt;low weight&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was a long time ago though, I have have seen many new (and sometimes rather exotic) tent constructions here and there... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So are there tent constructions that provides more space than tunnel tents do for the same weight?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some details on what I'm looking for and what not:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm looking for &lt;strong&gt;3-season double-wall&lt;/strong&gt; tent constructions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size that I'm targeting: &lt;strong&gt;2-3 person&lt;/strong&gt; tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm not currently interested in ultralight-solutions. I do self-sustained treks of 1-2 weeks in northern Scandinavia - and quite frankly, I don't trust ultralight solutions enough to bring them with me on such a trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As I hope my new tent will last me an other 10-15 years, I'm ok with spending some money. While an answer such as &quot;more expensive tunnel tents will be lighter than cheap ones&quot; isn't exactly what I'm looking for, if it boils down to it I'll go that way...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; : My tent is probably the ancestor model to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.helsport.no/fjellheimen-pro-camp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fjellheimen Pro Camp&lt;/a&gt;. Only like 20 years older. :)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; : I don't need standing height. I'm mostly looking for space in the inner tent and a roomy vestibule for keeping packs etc.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; : In comparison, dome tents tend to (tended to?) provide you the best stability/robustness in high winds and adverse conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-08-05T08:28:39.427" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T15:39:24.193" Title="Are there tents with better space-to-weight ratio than tunnel tents?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18556" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18557" CreationDate="2018-02-21T15:08:35.280" Score="6" ViewCount="9654" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have enough experience with mountain hiking, but in the area where I live (the Alps), the wind rarelly gets extremelly strong, so I have no idea about judging when it is actually unsafe to hike because of high wind speeds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This winter I was in Tenerife, where I have attempted to climb Mount Teide. Due to public transport limitations I have decided to divide my climb into two days, and spend the night in the hut. On the first day, the wind was already very strong, but being sheltered by the side of the mountain, I had no problems reaching the hut. The people coming back from the peak, however, were all talking about how much trouble they had on the more exposed parts of the mountain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was hoping the conditions would get better on the following day. But in the morning the wind picked up even more. It was constantly between 90 and 100 km/h. Since there also was a thick fog, and I would have seen absolutelly nothing from the top of the mountain, I have decided to give up, and head down instead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ever since I have been wondering: had I decided to push on to the top, would it have been dangerous? What wind speed is too high for mountain hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit as an answer to comments:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was no snow or ice, so avalanche or slipping dangers were not an issue. The path itself was not technically challenging on its own (in good weather conditions tourists do the last bit after taking a gondola). The climb was super exposed though: no vegetation or shelter at that altitude, and Tenerife being an island, the winds come directly from the ocean. As I haven't been to the top, I am not able to tell how risky a potential fall would have been, but let's assume that like in most places in the mountains, there were at least some spots where the path was passing close to cliffs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, I do not want to make the question too tailored to this specific situation, because I prefer the answer to be usable in future situations I (or somebody else) will have in the mountains. All I want to know, if there is a specific estimate, how strong should a wind be, to be able to blow an average adult person off a cliff. I do understand that in specific situations where balancing is important (ridge crossing, scrambling or other technical climbing, etc) the safe wind speeds are surelly much lower. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-02-22T14:46:58.930" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:46:43.477" Title="At what wind speed is hiking considered unsafe" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18556" CreationDate="2018-02-21T16:00:29.333" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;By the Beaufort scale if would be over level 8,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Level 7: 50-61 km/h, 32–38 mph: Inconvenience felt when walking against the wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Level 8: 62-74 km/h, 39–46 mph: Twigs break off trees; generally impedes progress&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or from the National Weather service levels,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Wind Advisory means that sustained winds of 30 mph for one hour and/or frequent gusts of at least 45 mph&lt;/strong&gt; are occurring or expected within the next 36 hours. These winds will make it difficult to drive high profile vehicles. Small, unsecured objects may be blown around by these winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A High Wind Watch means that sustained winds of 40 mph for one hour and/or frequent gusts of at least 58 mph&lt;/strong&gt; are expected within the next 12 to 48 hours. Check to make sure all loose objects outside are secured. Plan to postpone any unnecessary driving during this time since these winds will make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. These winds may damage trees, power lines and small structures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A High Wind Warning means that sustained winds of 40 mph for one hour and/or frequent gusts of at least 58 mph&lt;/strong&gt; are occurring or expected within the next 36 hours. Ensure that all objects outside are secured. Refrain from any unnecessary driving during this time since these winds will make driving very difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Winds this strong may damage trees, power lines and small structures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weather.gov/dmx/dsswind&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a great deal of personal experience with the wind in Wyoming, and you can go hiking in 50-60 mph winds, its just not pleasant. Whether or not it will knock you down and be unsafe depends on the person. You would also have to consider the risks of what would happen if the wind did knock you over. On an exposed ridge that would be a bigger deal than a flat hillside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T16:37:11.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18551" CreationDate="2018-02-21T16:25:55.717" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fish in the above image is a &lt;strong&gt;Mayan cichlid&lt;/strong&gt; (Mayaheros urophthalmus sym. Cichlasoma urophthalmum).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/erss/uncertainrisk/Cichlasoma-urophthalmum-WEB-11-1-2012.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Short Description&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Cichlasoma urophthalmus is a medium sized cichlid fish. Adults range from 8 to 22 cm standard length (SL) and a maximum of 600 g weight. Important traits useful for distinguishing C. urophthalmus: 1) seven (rarely 8) prominent dark bars on body (the first an oblique along nape that crosses near the lateral line origin, and the seventh or posterior-most bar positioned on the caudal peduncle); 2) &lt;strong&gt;conspicuous, dark blotch centered above the caudal fin base and often outlined by a light halo (this blotch may be nearly round, oval square, or vertically elongate, and is noticeably blacker than the dark body bands);&lt;/strong&gt; 3) caudal fin rounded; 4) anal-fin spines 5-7 (usually 6); 5) dorsal-fin spines 14-18 (usually16); and 6) well developed canine, unicuspid teeth in both jaws. Males and females are similar in appearance and are difficult to distinguish even during reproductive season, when both sexes develop intense red on the ventral side of their body. This species is however; highly variable in color and anatomical features such as body.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T16:35:02.473" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T16:35:02.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1535" CreationDate="2018-02-21T18:43:59.380" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It’s always up to the traveler and its needs, but basically you need to cover those points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleep -&gt; Tent, sleeping bag &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;kitchen -&gt; Gas cooker, mess kit &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hygiene -&gt; toiletry bag, water filter &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;light -&gt; flashlight or candles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bags -&gt; waterproof bags, hiking bags &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;firstaid -&gt; first aid kit or at&#xA;least plasters and healing ointments &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;others -&gt; knife, compass,&#xA;lighter, powerbank&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14991" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T18:45:33.903" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T18:45:33.903" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18561" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18562" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" Score="0" Body="Questions about salamanders" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T21:37:34.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3488" CreationDate="2018-02-21T22:06:46.253" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a physician. High proof alcohol &amp;ndash; be it ethanol or rubbing &amp;ndash; causes osmotic bursting of cells &amp;ndash; like distilled water &amp;ndash; and hurts like Hell. It is only suitable for surfaces, or intact skin. Even peroxide is harsh, if you use over 3% strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14993" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T18:43:54.173" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T18:43:54.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6898" CreationDate="2018-02-21T23:19:35.183" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find similar graded climbs are so much easier outside than the ones in the gym. Maybe its because I'm a shorter climber, I think I have many more options to find foot and handholds outside. It seems to me, in the gyms I've frequented, that many of the climbs are geared more toward climbers of average to taller heights with little choice for alternative holds for shorter climbers. Outside I have many more options to reach the next hold&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14995" LastActivityDate="2018-02-21T23:19:35.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18543" CreationDate="2018-02-22T12:29:17.933" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Early September is the best choice considering the criteria you have given.  While it is true that there are less hikers in early June than later in the summer, there are reasons for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black flies can be quite annoying then.  June is also wetter and muddier than early September.  Avoid Labor Day weekend, but there will be fewer hikers immediately after that.  September weather tends to be dryer with more clear days than other parts of the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, my favorite time to hike in the White Mountains is from Labor Day until peak leaf season.  That's in early to mid October, depending on elevation and weather specifics of that year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Timing isn't the only way to avoid crowds.  Most of the people will be on the AT, or doing day hikes on a few of the popular trails that afford a out-and-back to some nice vista or other destination.  The White Mountains has a large network of trails, with most of them not crowded at all, even during peak season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So don't do the Presi-traverse on the AT.  You'll meet lots of people and have a hard time finding a place to camp at night.  Instead, make a loop over more obscure side trails.  It helps if you can spot a car, but there is also a shuttle bus system for hikers run by the AMC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done two and three night loops in the middle of summer west of Crawford Notch and hardly run into anyone once I got past casual day-hike range from the trailhead.  If you insist on going up to the Presidential ridge, especially near Mt Washington or Lake of the Clouds or Madison huts, you're going to run into people.  But that's only a tiny fraction of the available trails, especially if you have the flexibility to not have to get back to a trailhead for three days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a good look at the maps.  Get the AMC maps printed on Tyvek.  Those really do hold up well to water and other trail-abuse.  The AMC does a decent job of keeping the trail information on those maps current.  They are no doubt the best maps for hiking in the White Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T12:29:17.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18538" CreationDate="2018-02-22T12:59:16.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the Elephant is annoyed, not actually aggressive, then walk away without hesitating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are between a mother and calf, do not approach the calf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not try to climb trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animals are not emotional about your presence.  They will do the minimum needed to ensure their own safety. Only in rare cases does this mean that the animal will choose to attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So by reducing the risk to the animal (put distance between it and yourself) you will get them to ignore you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About other animals: With animals that have been accustomed to humans the rules change. This is especially true for baboons.  Also a few animals notably the African Buffalo, are naturally aggressive and highly unpredictable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T12:59:16.630" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18270" CreationDate="2018-02-22T15:41:40.830" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I am using the same website for weather reports in ski resorts, I think I can answer your questions quite precisely. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What does the Mountain, Valley and the height mentioned mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The highest and the lowest points in the resort. The height is the height meters above the see level of both of those points. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What does the &quot;Fresh snow&quot; (in centimes?) mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much fresh snow will be falling on that particular day. Note that there are 4 bars for each day, the heights of the bars show in which part of the day (night, morning, afternoon or evening) it will be snowing the most. The number (e.g. 12cm), says the total amount of fresh snow for the day when measured on the ground after it has fallen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What amount of fresh snow is ideal and is it better if it has snowed the day before but not on the day of snowboarding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are a beginner, you probably prefer the days with no or little fresh snow. If you are an advanced skier who skis in the back country, you will be chasing the days with as much fresh snow as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What does the rainfall(in liters?) mean? What would be a bad amount of rainfall that would make the visit meaningless?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of rain that will fall on that particular day. Normally you do not want any rain while skiing, as it makes the slopes icy, your clothes wet, and the whole experience uterly unenjoyable. It might be ok if it is in the valey only, but then it will mean snow on top of the mountain. In any case, snow is much more preferable than rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What does snow line mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The height at which snow starts. Note that the slopes below it might still be covered with snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Also, general advice on picking a good day to go and learn would be appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few additional things you should keep in mind when selecting a good day for skiing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Temperature&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sun hours&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wind speed&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow condition&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best temperature depends on personal preferences, but you should avoid the extremes. If it is too cold (-15 or -20), you might be freezing. If it is too warm (around +10, or even a bit less), the snow might be melting, becoming heavy and less slipery. For it to be too hot though, it must be fairly late in the season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a beginner you want as much sun as possible. More sun means better visibility and a more enjoyable experience altogether while rolling around on your ass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not want the wind to be too strong. e.g. the days where it is marked red in your example forecast. Strong winds might mean closed lifts, snow being blown in your face, you being cold, harder to control your snowboard/skis, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want the snow condition to be fresh (Neuschnee), with grip (griffig), or maybe slushy (not sure how it is in German). Basically anything else than icy (eisig). Especially so when you are on a snowboard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The snow condition and some extra info you can get by clicking on a specific day in the forecast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as an example, in this specific weather forecast, the best days would be Tuesday and Wednesday. But keep in mind that weather in the mountains is especially hard to predict. I would say that the forecasts are reliable max 1 or 2 days in advance. And even then I would not count too much on it. The general trend (getting warmer and less snowy) might be correct, but do not expect it to be on Tuesday exactly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-02-22T16:33:56.117" LastActivityDate="2018-02-22T16:33:56.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18555" CreationDate="2018-02-22T18:20:41.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are your options?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As someone who makes their own shelters I've given a great deal of thought to the pros and cons of different architectures. But like most things involving gear choice, the real answer is that &quot;it depends&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that you are camping in exposed places, I wouldn't waste much time on the more exotic geodesic architectures - at the consumer end they are mostly designed for below the treeline, and at the mountaineering end they are designed for snow loading and are heavier than you really need for 3-season use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your main choices boil down to the tunnel, the dome and the pyramid/tepee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can't go far wrong with a good Scandinavian dome or tunnel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not going to find any dramatic differences in the space to weight ratio between domes and tunnels - it really boils down to your subjective preferences in terms of features. They both use space effectively, and they both pitch easily and take the weather. The downside is that a robust design is likely to work out at around a kilo per person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But if you want to save weight, your best option is to consider a pyramid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best option for significant weight savings would be pyramid or tepee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially true if you or your party use walking poles, as in contrast to domes and tunnels you won't need to carry additional tent-poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when made of ultralight materials, mids can be bomber when well executed. For Scandinavian conditions I would have no qualms about using a mid from vendors such as Mountain Laurel or SeekOutside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er9VWmCmbgg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MLD DuoMid in stormy conditions...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of mids is their use of space - the walls slope and you have a pole in the middle. But the upside is that this architecture is more efficient in terms of poles and fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in return for some mild inconveniences you can save significant weight. A spacious double-wall setup from Mountain Laurel starts at under 300g per person if your budget stretches to Cuben - a very significant saving over your typical Scandinavian tunnel or dome. More budget-friendly silnylon models will still work out significantly lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people don't get on with mids, while others swear by them and wouldn't use anything else. It's really a question of your own usage, preferences and dislikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if weight is a priority, I would suggest that mids are certainly an option worth exploring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-05T15:39:24.193" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T15:39:24.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18570" CreationDate="2018-02-23T10:28:37.090" Score="24" ViewCount="5718" Body="&lt;p&gt;In another &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7530/why-dont-people-in-the-uk-use-snowshoes&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; someone posted a photo of a skier going up an apparently extremely steep slope on skins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This slope looks so steep that skinning would be really difficult (especially on an icy slope without ski crampons), and the mountains in the back seem &quot;off&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this image rotated or altered in some way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lAFGi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;skier using skins&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image from an article on &lt;a href=&quot;http://straightchuter.com/steep-skinning-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;straightchuter.com&lt;/a&gt; regarding steep skinning technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2018-02-26T08:38:52.117" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T21:32:38.530" Title="Is this image of a skier skinning up a very steep slope rotated?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18569" CreationDate="2018-02-23T13:51:32.447" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the right snow, you can ascend extremely steep (even if it probably isn't the most economical thing to do) - so from that aspect, I don't see a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the skiers center of gravity, it doesn't seem to be off by far either. I estimated the center of gravity at the red dot. If the weight was mainly on the back leg, the current orientation would make sense (vertical red line). However the picture is shot in the moment before the left/back leg is pulled to the front (it is almost stretched, right/front foot rests on &quot;climbing assistance post&quot; (German Steighilfe)), so most of the weight will be on the front leg. There is an ongoing front motion, so being slightly behind the front leg might be fine, but not that much. In conclusion I would estimate the angled red line to be vertical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAFzt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nAFzt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Original photo with center of gravity and &amp;quot;vertical&amp;quot; lines&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-02-23T13:51:32.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18569" CreationDate="2018-02-23T18:41:06.193" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that the mountains in the background look weird, but the crop is so close that it's hard to tell for certain without additional context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This image appears to be from an article on skinning up steep slopes, and states that the skier is on a 34 degree slope:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://straightchuter.com/steep-skinning-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://straightchuter.com/steep-skinning-technique/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that Chris Figenshau &lt;a href=&quot;http://exumguides.com/chris-figenshau/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;appears to be a very experienced skier and guide&lt;/a&gt; and also that a quick check with the ruler tool in photoshop gets a pretty similar number:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u5k5D.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u5k5D.png&quot; alt=&quot;Measuring the angle of the ski on the slop in photoshop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'd say it's legit.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14034" LastActivityDate="2018-02-23T18:41:06.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18572" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-23T19:04:37.317" Score="0" ViewCount="798" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've imagined this scenario many times: you break through a snow bridge and fall into a hidden crevasse, how should you react? The fear is, if you're wearing crampons, your foot may snag the ice during the fall, in which case you're likely to break your ankle and get flipped upside down (upside down in a crevasse is pretty much certain death). Or you end up deep in the crevasse seriously injured which leaves you helpless and unable to help yourself out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5GD5ZAolOI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;skiers&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpx4ajgaL08&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;snowboarders&lt;/a&gt; having success in minimizing injury by putting their feet across against the opposite wall and slowing their descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's lots of info about crevasse rescue, but not much about how to react in the moment of the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can you do when you suddenly feel yourself starting to break through the snow and know you're going into a crevasse?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-02-23T20:21:13.953" LastActivityDate="2019-03-24T10:57:53.687" Title="How to mitigate injury when falling into a crevasse?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18573" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-24T00:11:11.357" Score="3" ViewCount="3914" Body="&lt;p&gt;What material &amp;ndash; such as polyester, polypropylene or wool &amp;ndash; or combination thereof, both works to keep you warm when wet and dries quickly, as an alternative to neoprene? I'm looking for something cheaper and simpler than a dry suit but less restrictive than a wet suit, for paddling in cool but not very cold water. Something you can submerge in and still keep reasonably warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-02-28T03:27:00.583" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T12:29:56.570" Title="What material is a good alternative to neoprene?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18574" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18569" CreationDate="2018-02-24T00:23:34.090" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It cannot be that the image is rotated, &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; that this rotation is the only alteration to the image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is simple: &lt;strong&gt;look at the straps of the backpack&lt;/strong&gt;. They are hanging vertically, and they are aligned with the vertical axis of the image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, they give us a &quot;plumb line&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the image had been rotated, that detail would have to have been doctored also to conceal the ruse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ways in which this hypothesis might be wrong:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;there had been a headwind (somehow not shielded by the climber's body) which tilted the straps by a few degrees, allowing for the rotation to make them appear vertical.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;the photo was snapped just as the climber made a forward lurch. A momentary forward lurch would not only tilt the hanging backpack straps, but also foil the analysis of the body posture and center of gravity and all that. In general, what we see as a static situation in a still picture may in fact be an illusion created by taking a snapshot of a momentary dynamic situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than the straps, another detail we can look at in the image is the pattern of of snow accumulation on the crags in the background. I've enhanced the contrast over the lower left area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0JEhn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0JEhn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a pattern of cascading trails in the accumulated snow left behind by sliding powder suggesting that the picture is upright. The inset duplicate of that detail indicates with red lines what I'm referring to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15001" LastEditorUserId="15001" LastEditDate="2018-02-26T21:32:38.530" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T21:32:38.530" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18573" CreationDate="2018-02-24T01:25:47.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that it would depend more on the air temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have cold water and rather warm temperatures, such as rafting on a cold river on a hot summer day, then synthetics like polyester or polypropylene would be the way to go since they will dry out quickly and not retain the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Polyolefin%20swimwear&amp;amp;oq=Polyolefin%20swimwear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polyolefin swimwear&lt;/a&gt; which are designed to provide insulation and warmth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where wool has an advantage is for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernsey_(clothing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fisherman/sailers&lt;/a&gt; who are spending time in much colder temperatures, since even if wool doesn't dry quickly, it retains its insulating properties even when wet. It looks like it was used for swimming suits but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/07/22/swim-suit-men/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hasn't been used since the 1930s in the US.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-02-24T02:59:25.807" LastActivityDate="2018-02-24T02:59:25.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18569" CreationDate="2018-02-24T02:43:41.743" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The picture in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7540/5547&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; to that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7530/why-dont-people-in-the-uk-use-snowshoes&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; you referred to here doesn't have a source listed for attribution. To me, however, it does look like the same picture as the one in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7691/5547&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; to the question that ShemSeger suggested as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7686/how-steep-of-a-slope-can-you-skin-up-in-at-gear&quot;&gt;duplicate&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That answer attributes the picture to a site called &lt;a href=&quot;http://straightchuter.com/steep-skinning-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Straightchuter&lt;/a&gt;, which gives the name of the person who made this climb and the technique, called Steep Skinning, needed to do it. If indeed that is the same picture, then the picture you have would not have been altered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a photo of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chris Figenshau skinning up a 34-degree icy slope in New Zealand with textbook perfect style.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the instructions he offers in order to make this climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your back straight – don’t bend/break at the waist&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your skis as flat as possible on the snow to maximize the surface area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your skis as flat as possible on the snow to maximize the surface area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Press through your heels (important)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plant your poles near to your toepieces – not too far forward or off to the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay off of your edges.  If you need to move sideways, “crab” to the left or right by moving your entire ski instead of trying to edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look up and forward, not down at your boots.  As the Bloodhound Gang song goes – “Lift your head up high and blow your brains out.”  Steep skinning may be painful until you get the hang of it, but it also gets you places in a hurry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He concludes by saying:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself slipping, try lifting your big toe.  This is hard to do if you are leaning forward, (so lean back) and it will help shift your weight to the aft.  It’s like hitting the brakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-24T02:56:52.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18573" CreationDate="2018-02-24T20:10:42.543" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fleece dries fast, and fleece is relatively warm while wet. It's probably the best you're going to get in normal clothing materials. But it's not an alternative to a wetsuit or drysuit, more of a &quot;I'm going hiking with a light jacket in autumn&quot; option, or an addition for below a wetsuit. If that's what you're looking for in terms of how wet you'll get, how long you'll stay wet and how cold the weather will be, it's a good option. Add a dry top/anorak to keep the wind out, and you've got a decent flatwater kayak/canoe combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermal shirts (thanks for the correction Martin) sometimes called thermal underwear, often made from some combination of polyester and viscose or such, are a good option as well. They're a lot thinner than a good fleece sweater, but are form fitting and surprisingly warm for their thickness. A thermoshirt and an anorak works maybe just a bit worse than fleece and anorak, a thermoshirt alone can be nice of a warmer day if the water's not too cold. They can also be layered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When doing even light whitewater, sea paddling or longer trips think about it a bit, try to build up some experience so you'll know your limits and those of your gear. Better safe than hypothermic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-03-12T22:14:56.113" LastActivityDate="2018-03-12T22:14:56.113" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18533" CreationDate="2018-02-25T04:15:22.697" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Yes, square riggers can use the airfoil type propulsion, though not as effectively as a fore-and-aft rigged ship.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In slightly more detail, there are two reasons why this is the case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Despite the name, a square-rigger can in fact turn its spars.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spars are the things the sail hangs from, and they can be turned substantially from running straight across the vessel ('square' to the ship), enabling them to catch the wind from the side (a 'beam reach') or even slightly ahead (a 'close reach'). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A square-rigged ship usually has some fore-and-aft rigged sails.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mightiest windjammer usually has several headsails or jibs that will catch the wind at a greater angle than the square rigged sails, and smaller vessels often have sails rigged fore-and-aft between the masts, called staysails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it could not sail into the wind at all, a square rigger would be of only limited use. However square-riggers are very much more efficient sailing downwind. A rule of thumb is that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol13/tnm_13_4_29-39.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a square rigger can sail about 6 points (70 degrees) from the wind.&lt;/a&gt; which means they have to sail nearly three miles in total distance to cover a single mile upwind. A fore-and-aft rigged boat can usually manage 45 degrees, meaning that it need sail only about 1.5 miles total distance to gain a mile upwind. That is why the great sailing ships always followed routes where the wind blew in the direction they wanted to go, even if it meant sailing further. I've heard it said that Australian ships would actually sail the wrong way round the world (or at least the wrong way round Antarctica) rather than try to sail upwind from one part of Australia to another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty sailing to windward means that square riggers would do very complicated manouvers, essentially turning the 'wrong way' ( gybing, or 'wearing' as it was called) rather than trying to turn through the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some interesting video of square-riggers changing direction, including demonstrating some of the above facts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCKGS_bLKI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCKGS_bLKI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6DZIvMZWzQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6DZIvMZWzQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3jU9Xz_GHE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3jU9Xz_GHE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-11-01T13:15:56.680" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T13:15:56.680" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18585" CreationDate="2018-02-25T22:35:05.527" Score="11" ViewCount="1016" Body="&lt;p&gt;When referring to a sailing boats course relative to the wind there are some clearly defined terms like &quot;beam-reach&quot;, which is exactly perpendicular to the wind. A broader range like &quot;close-reach&quot; is defined as between &quot;beam-reach&quot; and &quot;close-hauled&quot;. The latter is what I am not so sure about. Wikipedia defines it as&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the craft's course is as close to the wind as allows the sail(s) to generate maximum lift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That seems to make sense in terms of optimizing speed: If you go more leeward the boat with the tightly trimmed sails will capsize and if you go farther windward you'll get slower.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;All texts I read mention &quot;close-hauled&quot; as the &quot;normal&quot; direction when sailing upwind (not explicitly, it's just always the term used). However if your final goal is directly upwind, speed when sailing &quot;close-hauled&quot; competes with a direction closer to your final goal when pointing more windward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would like to know is what exactly is the significance of sailing &quot;close-hauled&quot;? Is it always (well mostly) the ideal course when sailing upwind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-02-26T09:40:11.337" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T20:03:50.703" Title="What is the purpose of being close-hauled when sailing upwind?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18569" CreationDate="2018-02-25T23:21:06.153" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just wanted to give my input as an avid backcountry skier and general ski bum during the winters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above, the straps seem like a pretty good indicator that the picture is real.  Even if he was moving, skining up a slope is a pretty smooth movement that wouldn't disturb the straps much.  If there was any wind then there is a low chance that the two straps would be parallel with each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Posing for a picture like this would be pretty easy.  Given grippy snow conditions, you could skin up an entire mountain at that angle.  Many people I know (including myself) prefer a steep skin track because it makes the Elevation Gain/Distance Traveled ratio higher.  Although I think it is technically more energy efficient to be at less of an angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seeing as this was posted to an article specificaly about steep skining, and the ease of taking such picture.  I would say there isn't any motivation to fake it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15008" LastActivityDate="2018-02-25T23:21:06.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18572" CreationDate="2018-02-26T08:58:52.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry to post a &quot;You can't-answer&quot;, but the truth about crevasses is that the only two things that can save you are&lt;br&gt;&#xA;a) being roped up&lt;br&gt;&#xA;b) pure dumb luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever end up in a situation where your actions from &quot;Oh sh*t&quot; to &quot;Ouch, now how do I get up?&quot; matters, you've done something really wrong.&#xA;Your best chances are if you have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roped up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have enough people on the rope to hold you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kept the rope tight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practiced with the people you're roped up with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes in theory it matters how you fall, but the thing about crevasses is that you dont know what their insides look like until you actually fall in. Is it wide? Narrow? Deep? Does it have protrusions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to stem against the sides might help if the crevasse is just narrow enough, but try it with a wider crevasse and you'll just break your ankles, flip upside down and make things even worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have been saved by their skis getting stuck, but your bindings might have opened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing is: you will NOT know when the snow collapses what awaits below. When you DO know and have time to react, you have already fallen 5-10 meters, unless caught by a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2018-02-27T08:54:20.157" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T08:54:20.157" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18581" CreationDate="2018-02-26T09:12:03.483" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;While a close-reach or beam-reach is going to give the vessel the highest speed through the water, this may not be what you want. Being close-hauled &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; point you higher so while you lose speed, the end result may still be faster to your destination, or more appropriate through narrows, or in order to use a tide or any one of a number of other reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This diagram from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/e-newsletters/inbrief/Pages/do-you-know-your-points-of-sail.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RYA points of sail page&lt;/a&gt; shows this quite clearly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nJJsH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nJJsH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as you have indicated, it may not be the ideal course upwind - for example if the sea is choppy a close hauled course may mean every wave halts the boat. Your close reach may be better so you can flow over the waves. You will be a couple of points lower off the wind, so will need to tack more, but if your speed across the water makes up for this then that may be the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This varies a lot with the type of boat. Monohulls point much higher than catamarans, but catamarans are still faster over most courses simply because of the much high speed across water. Square riggers cannot point very high at all - in fact they are so bad at it, they used to choose routes specifically to avoid it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-02-26T12:59:51.320" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T12:59:51.320" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15065" CreationDate="2018-02-26T15:23:54.090" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Leki Contour-Basket small (75 mm) fit the poles and have worked quite well for me so far: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3tUYB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3tUYB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2064" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T15:23:54.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18222" CreationDate="2018-02-26T16:44:21.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dyneema is the most hard wearing, however if you need it to run through any friction grip or clutch it is not a good choice as it is very smooth and shiny.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester really is the cost-effective, UV resistant and strong, especially when paired with a Dyneema core, so this is probably the way to go, although you could look at Cordura as an alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T16:44:21.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18588" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-26T17:24:43.137" Score="8" ViewCount="656" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one of the Hornblower novels, he is being pursued by a French frigate on the first day of war.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the chase, both the British and French ships are sailing upwind, and it is &lt;strong&gt;mentioned that the theoretically correct moment to tack is passing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once settled on the new tack the Loire’s natural advantages asserted themselves once more. She showed her extra speed and extra weatherliness; she drew up again from Hotspur’s quarter to her beam; then she could luff up briefly and gain a little more to windward on the Hotspur. The minutes passed like seconds, an hour like a minute, as the Hotspur plunged along, with every man braced on the heeling deck and the wind shrieking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Time to go about again, sir?” asked Bush, tentatively and greatly daring, but the &lt;strong&gt;theoretically correct moment was passing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The French captain was no fool, evidently. &lt;strong&gt;He had observed the Hotspur delaying past the best moment for tacking&lt;/strong&gt;, he had seen the squall engulfing her, and had anticipated her action. He must have tacked at the very same moment. In consequence he had lost little while tacking, and that little had been regained by the time the two ships were in sight of each other once more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/forestercs-hornblowerandthehotspur/forestercs-hornblowerandthehotspur-00-h.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hornblower and the Hotspur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How exactly does one determine the best time to tack when optimizing for speed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T19:28:00.597" Title="How do you determine the optimum time to tack?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;tacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18589" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18594" CreationDate="2018-02-26T17:33:03.963" Score="5" ViewCount="4823" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a recent question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18573/what-material-is-a-good-alternative-to-neoprene&quot;&gt;What material is a good alternative to neoprene?&lt;/a&gt; one of the comments to an answer says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;whole suit filled up with water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might be taking it out of context, but as I read the comment it seems to imply something I have heard previously that wet clothes in water are somehow significantly heavier than dry clothes on land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I have been fully dressed in the water several times. When I was in the Army we marched fully clothed in to deep water and expected to stay alive in the water (not cold) for an hour as part of &quot;Drown Proofing&quot;. More recently I have found myself fully dressed and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15826/how-often-should-i-change-the-lines-and-sail-attachment-rings&quot;&gt;treading water (with a life jacket)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no doubt that once you get out wet clothes are heavy on land, but in water, they are just full of water, which weighs the same as water, hence it not any heavier. Often the clothes will also trap air and may add to your buoyancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that clothing also tends to keep me warmer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How dangerous is swimming fully dressed in cotton/denim clothes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T15:38:52.030" Title="How dangerous is swimming fully dressed in cotton/denim clothes?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18589" CreationDate="2018-02-26T18:58:31.890" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;With cotton clothing the main risk is hypothermia, cotton soaks up a lot of water but also easily exchanges water easily with a wet environment, it's one of the coldest things to wear when wet. Wearing nothing is colder, but that's mostly true as long as you stay wet. Nothing dries a lot quicker than cotton, and wet cotton doesn't provide that much wind protection. Fleece is probably the best &quot;normal clothing stuff&quot; to get wet in, wool is heavier but still relatively warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy clothing mostly starts being a problem in moving water. You bob up and down, but heavy clothing really limits the amount of up you can get, which leads to deeper downs. It also hinders any swimming you want to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-02-26T18:58:31.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18591" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18592" CreationDate="2018-02-26T23:49:14.487" Score="6" ViewCount="561" Body="&lt;p&gt;Decades ago, there was a proposal that there should be no-rescue zones for backpackers, in which backpackers would be entirely on their own, and rescue by government agencies would not be permitted. (Private rescue operations would be permitted.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See, for example, this 1984 article in &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Backpacker&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=TuADAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA62&amp;amp;dq=no+rescue+zones+for+backpackers&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjLnbHI4MTZAhVJuVkKHTN9BDEQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=no%20rescue%20zones%20for%20backpackers&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;You're Losing Your Right to be Alone&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I recall, the principal objection was, to put it crudely and sexistly, no agency could resist the pleas of a tearful mother whose son was lost and possibly seriously injured.  Public outcry would force government SAR. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did this proposal just fade away?  Or was it never really taken seriously?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-02-27T00:18:24.980" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T08:02:56.483" Title="What ever happened to the proposals for no-rescue zones for backpackers?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18591" CreationDate="2018-02-27T01:13:17.080" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like it was most commonly proposed in the 1980s to around 1994 and has since been brought up at different times by different people but was never implemented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the results I found and the dates, and I only quoted the ones that don't require typing out the passages by hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cabdirect.org%2Fcabdirect%2Fabstract%2F19851821004&amp;amp;oq=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cabdirect.org%2Fcabdirect%2Fabstract%2F19851821004&amp;amp;aq&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1983&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=TuADAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA65&amp;amp;lpg=PA65&amp;amp;dq=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=6U3822ogJO&amp;amp;sig=1EmHUL4dmC89rYvZ2NojxxvP_2U&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjT2oep8MTZAhVB42MKHcMKDhwQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1984&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=TuADAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA60&amp;amp;lpg=PA60&amp;amp;dq=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=6U3822oiEJ&amp;amp;sig=69obpDwpu9IZBJrz-0L_E-vIyME&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiN1O_t8MTZAhUC5GMKHQcDB4UQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1984&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=698DAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA8&amp;amp;lpg=PA8&amp;amp;dq=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=o1WG2LNWzh&amp;amp;sig=jpYMvdDbD05RoeF3xQu4w0G6obk&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiN1O_t8MTZAhUC5GMKHQcDB4UQ6AEIMTAC#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1985&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nash argues for the designation of &quot;norescue&#xA;  wilderness&quot; areas in some parks,&#xA;  places where visitors understand that&#xA;  they're on their own.&#xA;  &quot;National park zones of self-reliance&#xA;  could be rated for visitor competency and&#xA;  should be accompanied by a program of&#xA;  wilderness licensing,&quot; he says, enlarging&#xA;  on the idea. &quot;Let those who wish to enter&#xA;  no-rescue wilderness prepare themselves&#xA;  for that privilege.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://npshistory.com/newsletters/ranger/ranger-v1n2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1985&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A discussion of the moral implications of a &quot;no-rescue&quot; wilderness area (rugged, remote, possibly dangerous areas featuring no trails, signs, patrols, or search-and-rescue) considers such aspects as lack of liability, right of choice by visitors, and conflicting perspectives on the subject. (CB)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ357484&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1987&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=4NucDgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA42&amp;amp;lpg=PA42&amp;amp;dq=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=Gj1mZppeKw&amp;amp;sig=Uw7QjJxfovYJ9ul72e1goky9PMI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjT2oep8MTZAhVB42MKHcMKDhwQ6AEISzAG#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1987&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A radical few are pushing for creation of &quot;no-rescue zones,&quot; where people would be on their own in the natural world--come hell or high water.&#xA;  &quot;We live in a society where people want to experience the benefits of high adventure but then force somebody else to pay the costs when things go wrong,&quot; said Leo McAvoy, a University of Minnesota professor who favors no-rescue zones. &quot;It's time for some self-responsibility.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-30/news/mn-62531_1_national-park-service&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1993&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=_AvDQoEUmhQC&amp;amp;pg=PA30&amp;amp;lpg=PA30&amp;amp;dq=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=gq0JnIUHiM&amp;amp;sig=c1z7FoovAMpUshfTO6v6DC11nDE&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiN1O_t8MTZAhUC5GMKHQcDB4UQ6AEIOjAF#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1994&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=AM8hDgAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA204&amp;amp;lpg=PA204&amp;amp;dq=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=2Phz9hyL_c&amp;amp;sig=YnqLC5fJ1fXqUOpXCKBHwLesTtE&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiN1O_t8MTZAhUC5GMKHQcDB4UQ6AEIPjAH#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1994&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=BuEDAAAAMBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA15&amp;amp;lpg=PA15&amp;amp;dq=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=e2FMXDq7Op&amp;amp;sig=syTjSS5ngsXg807BBn69aTZhFrE&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjT2oep8MTZAhVB42MKHcMKDhwQ6AEIXTAI#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=no-rescue%20zones&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1994&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The lack of judgment and personal responsibility of wilderness travelers with the&#xA;  resultant cost of rescue has led to the proposal of no-rescue zones. Certain wilderness&#xA;  areas would be posted with advisories that travelers enter at their own risk; helicopters&#xA;  (and possibly search teams) would not enter. Given the current legal climate in the United&#xA;  States, this concept is unlikely to win support. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(13)80003-8/pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1995&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Second, because of the high fee, the climbing&#xA;  community felt they were being singled out and attacked. They argued strongly for ideas&#xA;  like &quot;no rescue zones&quot; and personal bonding, and they attacked several aspects of the&#xA;  Service's mountaineering program. Some of the arguments were simply unrealistic.&#xA;  History has repeatedly shown that climbers in trouble will call for help, and if they don't&#xA;  families will call politicians who will demand that the Service respond. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://scholar.law.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&amp;amp;context=challenging-federal-ownership-management&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1995&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=eYo2AQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA32&amp;amp;lpg=PA32&amp;amp;dq=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=RTy4zgDXPM&amp;amp;sig=33ra9n9s0GeFOLgayscWIWwvLgY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiN1O_t8MTZAhUC5GMKHQcDB4UQ6AEIMzAD#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22no-rescue%20zones%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2005&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No-rescue wilderness is an idea &#xA;  based on the preservation of the&#xA;  wilderness experiance Users are solely responsible for their own personal welfare. agencies that manage that area of land would be absolved of all legal risks involved agencies would infact be prohibited from intervening in no rescue areas for any reason! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://prezi.com/ukbuzod4tuea/no-rescue-wilderness/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2012&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Attempting to rouse more pointed debate, Kennedy suggested, “I wonder if we shouldn’t have no-rescue zones.” That would be the extreme, libertarian response to Simonson’s “buyer beware” in a market that should only properly be selling, in Viesturs’ phrase, “a chance to try,” not the right to reach the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/big-mountain-vets-debate-the-future-of-the-himalaya/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2007&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This Mount Hood story has a lot of folks demanding that reckless hikers and climbers who need rescuing be billed for the rescue, or even that certain zones be declared no-rescue zones; if you enter them, and something goes wrong, well, been nice knowing you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://doylesrader.blogspot.com/2009/12/mountain-climbing.html?m=0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2009&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In addition to defraying the cost, the frequent rescues have spurred some interesting ideas from no-rescue zones to backcountry rescue insurance. While some ideas are intriguing, others border on the bizarre. A few of these ideas might even create new industries, such as body retrieval for the many cadavers littering the new no-rescue zones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2012/03/dan-crane-licensing-adirondack-hikers.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2012&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Establishment of a &quot;No-Rescue&quot; Policy or “No Rescue Zones”&#xA;  in Wilderness.&#xA;  Recreationist would retain total responsibility for their own&#xA;  safety—that is, would assume the full risk of participation.&#xA;  The agency would be responsible for providing basic&#xA;  information describing the area, informing users of the principal&#xA;  risks in the proposed outing, and informing them further that&#xA;  under no circumstances would outside assistance be available to&#xA;  anyone while in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cals.arizona.edu/~gimblett/Wilderness%20and%20Recreation%20Planning%20Frameworks.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2013&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can find no evidence that that any of these proposals were ever implemented, but it does look like some people did take them seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for would this work, consider the tragic story of &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-20/local/me-11184_1_garden-grove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jasmine Bitts&lt;/a&gt;.  She and her parents were evacuated from a cabin due to the danger or treefall. Her parents however &lt;strong&gt;snuck past the guard and past the caution tape to return the cabin&lt;/strong&gt; where a tree fell ontop of her and killed her. Her mother &lt;strong&gt;won&lt;/strong&gt; a lawsuit against the Park Service. (Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite pg 441)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-27T04:56:14.327" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T04:56:14.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18591" CreationDate="2018-02-27T08:02:56.483" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of good reasons to reject such proposals, and these would have stopped them being implemented. Some examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deliberate injury - would the emergency services attend if someone was assaulted? If so, claim assault and you're rescued; if not, all sorts of things could go wrong, from illegal prize fights to murder. Even hunting negligence causing injury would go undetected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does the lack of liability extend to employees of the forest/parks service? Contractors? All contractors by law? Or is there freedom to implement dangerous working practices in an already risky job. Firefighters need to fight forest fires according to the conditions and their resources, not stop at some arbitrary line. If the forest service attempt to enforce hunting laws they have to be backed up or they're at risk of conflict. And hunting laws would have to be enforced or stable populations are to be maintained. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless actually fenced, people &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; get in without seeing signs. Perhaps they're lost just outside the boundary and looking for a trail, any trail, and go the wrong way. Lots of expensive lawyers' bills.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In many countries there just isn't the space for this and the sort of areas we've already got - as wild as possible in a human-dominated world, and with rescue not easy or guaranteed. So to create these areas for a few individualists, you'd be denying access to many more people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of these depend on the fact that government services have powers that private services don't. The national parks service in the US is a striking example as their role overlaps with all the emergency services. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arguments in favour of them also lack weight in the places where they're most plausible. In plenty of areas if you leave the trail you won't see a other person for days. If you don't tell anyone where you're going, you can essentially disappear. You'd eventually be spotted if you set up a big camp or lit a big fire, but may of those arguing for such areas want to keep moving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T08:02:56.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18589" CreationDate="2018-02-27T16:22:09.260" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton kills - but only when not in water.  Whilst in water, cotton will not have any thermal effect.  However, the material itself can easily wear you down through drag.  You might be able to swim short distances, but longer ones - depending on your fitness - can slow you down considerably through drag.  Elite swimmers will wear suits with soft and flowing curves, and no extraneous material.  Some even go so far as to shave their body to reduce drag their hair might have.  I don't know if that's effective or not, but when races are won by a thousandths of a second, perhaps it's worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothes that are worn are not made with elite swimming in mind, and so any material - cotton or not - which doesn't easily allow water to pass through it or by it will tend to drag the swimmer, leading to early fatigue.  If one were to wear tight-fitting clothes, which allows water to pass around it more easily, that could reduce that lag; but if the clothes were too tight, that can be restrictive on the muscles needed for motion or breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, cotton does bind to water, and holds tight to it.  This is the reason we advocate against wearing cotton in cold weather, because water that gets into the fabric will have a tendency to cling to it, making the wearer colder.  In the water, again, there isn't much of a thermal effect because water is in contact with the body regardless of the cotton; but the fact remains that cotton binds with water.  When you are swimming, you're dragging all that water along creating additional drag.  So, wearing a loose-fitting rayon shirt, for example, will have a tendency to drag the swimmer.  But a similarly-fitting cotton shirt will have more of a drag effect because it holds onto the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try swimming with a jacket on, and you'll feel the extra weight you're lugging around when you swim.  This is a reason we call for removal of as much clothing as possible when there is a need to swim some distance.  If you tread or are using a life-saving device, the clothing won't matter - and will come in handy once rescued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T16:22:09.260" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15796" CreationDate="2018-02-27T17:53:18.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to add one point to the other good answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You call mountain rescue and they say they will be there in 30 mins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are in communication with rescue, once you have answered all their questions, ask &lt;em&gt;them&lt;/em&gt; how to proceed meanwhile (tell what knowledge and equipment you have). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: plausibility check for the scenario: You meant to say that your team comes across another team that just had an accident, right? You are&#xA;not &lt;em&gt;on your own&lt;/em&gt; in a crevasse area!? (Otherwise, rescue would probably tell you to anchor yourself and stay where you are and not move until they pick you off the glacier after the other guy is rescued...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T17:53:18.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18588" CreationDate="2018-02-27T22:15:01.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hope you like a non-answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There rarely ever is a theoretically optimal time to tack that can be described in the abstract, as there are so many unknown, random variables. The best time to tack, for pure speed, is never. But never isn't a practical answer, as you usually have an ultimate destination or things to avoid, and the wind isn't constant, so you have to weigh your current course against those things, and so it usually boils down to experienced judgement and gut feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's look at two simple beating strategies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/byj94.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/byj94.png&quot; alt=&quot;beating strategies&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is objectively better? Neither. Both strategies are appropriate for different situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets imagine boat B is chasing boat A. Boat B may be able to overtake boat A by not wasting as much speed tacking so often. But what happens if boat A decides to change course while B is tacking so far away? What happens if the wind changes unfavorably while B is so far away? You have to make choices while predicting the future, a very challenging task.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another example of a course decision:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tsUZu.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tsUZu.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rounding a mark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an illustration of a racing situation. In here, we are rounding the triangular mark counter-clockwise to the left. The solid lines and the dashed lines are two possible courses. If you look at where the two lines split, between there and the place where the dashed line turns, is a sort of 'no-go' zone for the dashed line course. If you turn later than the solid line does, you'll have to turn later again to avoid hitting the mark. But if you wait not long enough, you'll have to do two short, back to back tacks, which can be brutal on your speed and kills your maneuverability. If you take the dashed course, you can see there is somewhat an optimal place to turn, right where you are now able to reach across the wind at maximum speed and pass just alongside the mark. Going any further and you're wasting time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But which of those two courses is better? No way to say. The wind could shift towards the left while C is just below the mark and really ruin its skipper's day, or it could shift towards the right and do the same to D. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different wind directions, presence of other boats, presence of other hazards, all makes deciding when and where to turn challenging for a skipper, especially in a wartime or racing situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With some time at the helm sailing, one can develop an intuitive feel for how best to pilot a course, but people have written vast books to try to cover the entire subject and you could read them all and would still need practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-02-27T22:15:01.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1397" CreationDate="2018-02-28T04:51:23.893" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many sources of vitamin C in the wild. Some of the tricks that I have come across is to know how to extract it in ways that do not destroy the vitamin C. Berries are great in vitamin C and may be eaten raw. However there are a great variety of other sources of vitamin C in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Let’s take a look at a few wild sources of vitamin C from plants available in my habitat (Southwestern Pennsylvania).  For reference, the orange – at 100 grams – contains approximately 53 mg of vitamin C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Species (100 g), parts of plant, vitamin C content (1, 2, 3)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dog rose (Rosa canina), fruit, 1252 mg&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Balsam fir (Abies balsamea), needles, 270 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), bark and needles, 200 mg and 32 mg respectively&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), aerial parts, 190 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Red spruce (Picea rubens), needles, 169 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wild garlic (Allium vineale), leaves, 130 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Garden yellow-rocket (Barbarea vulgaris), basal leaves, 130 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Common blue violet (Viola sororia), basal leaves, 130 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album), whole young plants, 130 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Elderberry (Sambucus nigra), fruit, 116 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), basal leaves of first year plants, 91 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wild leeks (Allium tricoccum), leaves, 80 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), fruit, 80 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mock strawberry (Duchesnea indica), leaves, 79 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), flowers, 69 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), fruit, 68 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Common yellow woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta), leaves, 59 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), needles, 45 mg&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Looking at this list, it’s quite evident that vitamin C is ubiquitous in nature.  And it’s not just found in plants.  One can acquire vitamin C by consuming animals; the heart, liver, and adrenals are all good sources of vitamin C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This list also hints at another important implication:  our hunter and gatherer ancestors surely were ingesting vitamin C in levels greater than what is recommended today.  After all, the average indigenous diet was far more diverse than the modern dietary amalgamation of corn, wheat, and soy; this traditional heterogeneity ensured that vitamin C was easily acquired.  Additionally, research has shown that animal organs, rich in vitamin C, were favored over muscle meats in traditional diets. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildfoodism.com/2014/08/18/finding-vitamin-c-outside-the-grocery-store-looking-into-wild-sources/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Finding Vitamin C Outside The Grocery Store – Looking Into Wild Sources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number one on the list is &quot;rose hips&quot; and this is my personal favorite due to its' history in Britain during World War II. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During World War II in Britain, the general public were encouraged to return to (or re-learn) the art of foraging in order to supplement or augment rationed foodstuffs.  Most of the emphasis was on wild vegetation, there not being a great deal of wild game accessible to the ordinary person. The concept was not just tossed out to the population to follow-up as they saw fit, it was actively promoted and resourced by the government. The Ministry of Food published several leaflets on how to find and use the “Hedgerow Harvest” and County Herb Committees were set up to organize collections on a large scale. The latter was directed particularly towards wild foods with health benefits – many of the sources of fruit no longer being available – and also included foods for livestock feeding, such as horse-chestnuts (‘conkers.’)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One item singled out for particular attention was the rose-hip -&lt;/strong&gt; a valuable source of vitamin C. The national diet was at some risk of shortage of Vitamin C due to the cessation of importation of fruit such as oranges during the war. The solution was to ask the public to collect rose hips from wild or cultivated bushes, the harvest then to be processed by commercial companies into syrup which could then be made available in the shops. The details and success of the campaign are eloquently told in two articles in The Times [London, England] in autumn of 1941, and mid-winter 1942. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2014/05/the-rose-hip-collection-campaign-ww-ii.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Rose Hip Collection Campaign (WW II).&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one time people could read articles on how rose hips saved the British during the World War II. It makes great tea and syrup! In fact, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recipespastandpresent.org.uk/wartime/tag/rosehip-syrup/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Recipes Past and Present&lt;/a&gt; has some fun recipes for ways to use rose hips, including written and video instructions. Much of it was taken from a Ministry of Food leaflet, Hedgerow Harvest, published in 1943.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cqchY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cqchY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wartime Rose Hip Collecting in Britain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.recipespastandpresent.org.uk/wartime/tag/rosehip-syrup/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wartime Rose Hip Collecting in Britain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-03-01T13:07:32.043" LastActivityDate="2018-03-01T13:07:32.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18598" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-02-28T11:48:08.303" Score="2" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I will (once more) go for an extended trek in the very &lt;strong&gt;north of Sweden&lt;/strong&gt; (and/or Norway). The region we'll likely end up in will be around the big trekking routes &lt;em&gt;Kungsleden/Padjelantaleden/Nordkalottleden&lt;/em&gt;, also nearby is Swedens highest mountain, &lt;em&gt;Kebnekaise&lt;/em&gt;, and the famous &lt;em&gt;Sarek&lt;/em&gt; national park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The possible routes sometimes follow valleys, cross rivers and lakes but for big parts are also above the tree line (which, at this geographical latitude, is only around 700m above sea level).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The time of the year will be high summer for northern Scandinavia (as high as it gets that is), i.e. &lt;strong&gt;July/August&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I only know of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blueberries&lt;/a&gt; and the delicious but rare &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_chamaemorus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hjortron&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What (other) foods can we forage while on our trek?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Btw, we won't have permits needed for hunting/fishing (nor the required skills I might add ;)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-02-28T16:20:07.853" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T23:27:00.423" Title="Foraging food in Kungsleden/Kebnekaise/Sarek (SWE) region in summer" Tags="&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18599" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18600" CreationDate="2018-02-28T12:10:14.243" Score="2" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any possible risks of exercising (body weight, calisthenics only) at high altitudes? I'm talking of altitudes above 4500m. The whole premise is not to lose muscle mass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background: I'll be trekking in the Himalayan region for a couple of months this year. Most of the treks are in the range of 4500m-5900m. Since I'll be on many long hikes, I do not want to lose the muscle mass by not doing my regular workouts (all calisthenics, no weights/machines involved).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please assume that I will have a good source of proteins. The question is purely on the any possible risks of high altitude workouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Please consider a fit middle aged person with zero medical issues. Who is well acclimatized for the given altitude. I'm not worried about specifics of a person. I'm more interested in how high altitude workouts could affect a person. Mostly due to oxygen deficiency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-03-08T05:28:22.653" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T05:28:22.653" Title="What are the possible risks of exercising at high altitudes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18599" CreationDate="2018-02-28T13:37:04.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no &quot;abnormal&quot; risk involved with strength exercises at high altitude. What I mean by &quot;abnormal&quot; is, that there is nothing different about doing body-weight strength exercises compared to e.g. climbing, which is not uncommonly done at such altitudes. You will certainly not be able to do workouts at the same intensity as at low altitudes. It is even quite likely to be a problem, that you won't be able to get to the intensities needed to maintain your current peak strength, due to exhausting your &quot;base endurance&quot; first. And as with all increased activity at high altitude, this might exacerbate existing or reveal new symptoms of AMS. So in the end compared to exercising at low altitude you simply need to adjust your training intensity and listen to your body even more closely (and most importantly, also act accordingly if you feel something).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T13:37:04.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18588" CreationDate="2018-02-28T13:59:27.810" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The text implies differences in the ships.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once settled on the new tack the Loire’s natural advantages asserted themselves once more. She showed her extra speed and extra weatherliness;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hotspur: Smaller (he's running not fighting), slower in a straight line, but quicker to tack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loire: Bigger and faster on the straight but slower to tack, possibly able to sail closer to the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In such a case Hornblower on the Hotspur would be tacking tactically to keep as much distance as possible between the two ships. The Loire must match his tacking to stay close, but every time the two ships tack Hornblower gains a little distance as he's faster to maneuvre. There's a mention of a squall which suggests that normal procedure would have been to tack away to avoid it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxCKGS_bLKI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video showing tacking a large square rig vessel and the amount of time it takes&lt;/a&gt;, all in, about 5mins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For modern inshore sailing and racing in small boats, you have to consider that the wind doesn't just sit in one direction and never change. It constantly shifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lifts, the wind shifts behind you allowing you to sail closer to your course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Headers, the wind shifts ahead of you pushing you further from your course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Remember that a header on one tack is a lift on the other.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One would normally tack into a header&lt;/strong&gt; as this allows you to sail the shortest course. Quirks of wind shifts mean it normally flips back and forth between two directions, if you tack into the headers you'll almost never get a lift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-02-28T14:33:27.763" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T14:33:27.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18599" CreationDate="2018-02-28T14:15:38.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Exercises actively affects the viscosity of the blood. High altitude and exercises affects amount of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematocrit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hematocrit&lt;/a&gt; in the blood. This increases the load on the heart and causes blood flow disorders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw people vomiting on 4500 and I saw people died on 5500m from &lt;strong&gt;heart attack&lt;/strong&gt; and they were not doing any additional exercises. Personally I would be very careful with exercises on high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T14:15:38.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18598" CreationDate="2018-02-28T14:30:55.893" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not nearly enough - don't rely on it. You might find blueberries in the parts of the trail that is below approx. 200m above sea level and certainly you will come upon patches of ripe cloudberries as high as perhaps 600m hillsides facing south but that will not be enough to sustain you. There are some edible roots and shoots - also reindeer moss - but you really can't get enough nutrition out of any of it. Eating reindeer moss is a way to probably not die of starvation, but it will feel like it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You absolutely need to either bring food or be willing and able to go while enduring light starvation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But please bring food and go, it is a beautiful place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T14:30:55.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18599" CreationDate="2018-02-28T22:12:14.693" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The real question here is how do I maintain muscle mass at high altitude, with the flawed premise that resistance exercise is the only way. Exercising to maintain muscle mass at high altitude will be futile for most, and should be a low priority for everyone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To maintain muscle mass you not only need resistance exercise, need to have an adequate diet with enough protein to maintain the exercised muscles. Lack of oxygen causes the digestive system to shut down and keeping adequate food intake is hard. Many people find the only food they tolerate at high altitude is simple carbohydrates.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As exercising depletes oxygen available for digestion, the effect on the digestion is likely reduce tolerance for food, especially more complex foods such as proteins needed after resistance exercise. The smallest loss of muscle mass will most likely come from spending the time resting, eating and hydrating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the unlikely event you have consumed enough calories (especially enough protein) to replace you daily needs, the small amount of exercise you will be able to do will not make a make a big difference to muscle mass loss.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T22:12:14.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18598" CreationDate="2018-02-28T23:27:00.423" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is some food for thought:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Autumn is the time to come and enjoy the fruits of nature’s labour. During August and September, the forests burst to life with berries, edible wild mushrooms (chanterelles and porcini), and local plants and herbs that are just ripe for the picking. A Swedish law called Allemansrätten (&quot;every man's right&quot;), means that anyone is free to roam and forage this wild fare, on the conditions that only non-protected food is taken, and nature isn’t disturbed or destroyed. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecommonwanderer.com/blog/things-to-do-in-swedish-lapland-autumn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GO FORAGING IN THE FORESTS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore it may be possible to forage some of the following wild edibles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bog Bilberries – “Odon”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bog bilberries (Vaccinium uliginosum), called “Odon” in Swedish, belong to the same genus as the Swedish blueberry. They can be found in the same places as blåbär, but as indicated by the English name, more often on bogs. The flowers are white, the berry is blue, often somewhat bigger than a Swedish blueberry, and slightly oval in shape. Odon are edible but the taste is rather bland, why they seldom are picked deliberately. They can easily be discerned from blueberries by the darker color of the leaves, and by the fact that the inside of the berry is pink, not burgundy red. Unknowingly, blueberry jam (“blåbärssylt”) often contains a few odon, but you can’t tell the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Arctic bramble – “Åkerbär”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Swedish name “åkerbär” means “field berry”. As the English name suggests, this is a plant that prefers the arctic regions. Growing in moist grassland it can be found mostly in the northern half of Sweden, but it appears sparsely as far south as in the northern tip of Värmland. However, as far south as that, the berries often do not ripen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rose hips – “nypon”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the old days, it was quite common to collect rose hips and turn them into nyponsoppa (rose hip soup), an orange to light brown sweet dessert soup, rich in vitamin C. Nyponsoppa is popular also today as a snack, dessert, or for breakfast, often served with cream, and sometimes with small almond cookies floating in the bowl. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swedishfreak.com/nature/swedish-berries/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swedish Berries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2018-02-28T23:27:00.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18608" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18609" CreationDate="2018-03-01T04:27:08.867" Score="8" ViewCount="217" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a question on the site seeking information about foraging food in Sweden. One of the answers says any wild food in the forests of Swedish Lapland can be foraged and removed except &quot;protected&quot; food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What types of edible wild things in that region are protected? Which governing bodies or organizations decide the criteria necessary to receive protected status? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-19T01:09:43.520" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T01:09:43.520" Title="What types of wild foods are protected from foraging in the Swedish Lapland forests, and how is the status decided?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18608" CreationDate="2018-03-01T09:10:06.897" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Protected species in sweden are listed in English here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swedishepa.se/Enjoying-nature/Animal-and-plants/Protected-species/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Protected Species in Sweden&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since information is subject to change I will not copy the information into this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, hunting and fishing is regulated. Naturally, anything grown commercially is off limits too, since that is the property of the land owner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that National Parks/nature reserves have special rules, and You'll need to check the specifics for the actual area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-03-01T12:49:00.083" LastActivityDate="2018-03-01T12:49:00.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18612" CreationDate="2018-03-01T11:01:35.550" Score="14" ViewCount="2111" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a rather nice 1-2 person hiking tent from over 20 years ago. It's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hillanddaleoutdoors.co.uk/productDetail.php?productId=5629&amp;amp;brand=1276&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu4Lbx_zK2QIVrbztCh2eRQnkEAQYAyABEgIQfvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;still made&lt;/a&gt;, with very few changes, and is a double wall design that pitches in one go. I thought it was nylon but the current model is polyester; it's certainly synthetic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was put away clean and dry some years ago, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in an unheated loft. I expected to use it again soon but never did. Now I need a light tent again, I want to see if this one is still useful. I can pitch it in the garden, but what should I do to make sure it's OK? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-03-01T13:18:56.063" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T15:08:18.290" Title="What do I need to do to a tent that's been stored for a long time?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18610" CreationDate="2018-03-01T14:40:33.423" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Putting it up in the garden sounds like a great idea, as it will let you check if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;all parts are still there, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;everything is in working condition, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you still know how to actually put it up. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more important thing worth checking is if the tent still is waterproof. In case there is no rain in the forecast for the next few days, you can try to simulate it with a help of a garden hose or in some similar way. I would especially check the seams. If there are signs of leakage, it can be fixed with a waterproofing spray. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-03-01T14:40:33.423" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18610" CreationDate="2018-03-01T16:02:04.437" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additionally to what April mentioned I would:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check if any of the &lt;strong&gt;plastic parts&lt;/strong&gt; (if there are any) got brittle. If they did I would replace them (this should be easy if the tent is actually still produced).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the &lt;strong&gt;zippers&lt;/strong&gt; are metal, check them for rust. If they are rusty and tend to get stuck I suggest cleaning them with a mild rust solvent, like WD40. Take care not to get any of this on the actual tent fabric though (also don't use this on plastic zippers!).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check that you have the needed number of &lt;strong&gt;pegs&lt;/strong&gt;. Many tents can be set up with a minimal amount of pegs in good weather, with the option to user more pegs/cordage in windy conditions. Make sure you have enough pegs for the worst case (and maybe a spare or two).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check all the area/seams/ribbons where most force is applied to the tent: e.g. where cords are attacked, near loops to place pegs, where tent poles are fixed, etc. These areas are bound to experience the highest load so are bound to wear out first.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check all &lt;strong&gt;elastic&lt;/strong&gt; parts/cords/loops. Elastics have the tendency to become very brittle and just dissolve after some years, chances are that they won't hold up anymore and need to be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T15:25:20.870" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T15:25:20.870" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16015" CreationDate="2018-03-02T15:44:44.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alpaca socks are unique in that alpaca is a hollow core fiber. This means the yarns that make up the socks wrap your foot like a radiator carrying warm air to keep your feet warm when it's cold outside. In addition, alpaca fiber is 5 times stronger than wool and the scale height of each fiber is about 30% as high as wool. Scales are small barbs on the fiber that can be scratchy when worn on sensitive skin. This is why many people who say they are allergic to wool have no issues when wearing alpaca. The other great feature about the smaller scale height is that the fiber is very smooth resulting in less blisters and rubbing on your feet during hikes or long walks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another great feature about alpaca socks is how well they wick moisture. This occurs when we blend the hollow core fiber of alpaca with synthetic fibers to add stretch and durability. This combination along with our specific knitting styles wicks the moisture away from your feet and up the length of the sock where it quickly dissipates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15027" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-02T16:05:30.283" LastActivityDate="2018-03-02T16:05:30.283" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18488" CreationDate="2018-03-02T23:57:05.020" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good &quot;how-to&quot; on top rope belaying is given on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/how-to-top-rope-belay/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Expedition Backcountry Adventures Blog:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;Start Position&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ShV7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ShV7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/belay-300x276.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;1. Pull &lt;em&gt;('P'bus)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As the climber moves up the rock, you need to pull in the extra rope&#xA;  (slack) to keep the rope taught. Do this by pulling down on the&#xA;  climber’s side of the rope with your free hand (left hand) while&#xA;  simultaneously pulling out on the brake side of the rope with your&#xA;  brake hand (right hand).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N3g2R.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N3g2R.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/belay-2-300x255.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pull: Your free hand (left) pulls down while the brake hand pulls out.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tip: limit the amount of rope you pull to about one foot. If you pull&#xA;  as far as your arms will reach, you’ll have a  tough time with the&#xA;  next few steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;2. Brake &lt;em&gt;(p'B'us)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After pulling in the slack, bring your brake hand (right hand) down&#xA;  into the brake position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9RG1G.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9RG1G.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/belay-3-300x276.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Brake: Bring your brake hand down into the brake position&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;3. Under &lt;em&gt;(pb'U's)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now that your brake hand (right hand) is in the brake position, have&#xA;  your free hand (left hand) grab the rope underneath your right hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONekn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONekn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/belay-4-300x276.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Under: Use your free hand (left hand) to grasp the rope beneath your brake hand.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h2&gt;4. Slide &lt;em&gt;(pbu'S')&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once both hands are firmly grasping the brake side of the rope, slide&#xA;  your brake hand (right hand) up the rope until it is just a couple&#xA;  inches from the ATC. Your brake hand should never come off of the&#xA;  rope, simply loosen it’s grip on the rope so that you can slide it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/idUIZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/idUIZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://expeditionba.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/belay-5-300x276.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Slide: Slide your brake hand up towards your belay device.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;PBSS?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A variation I'll often use when there isn't too much drag in the system involves keeping BOTH hands on the rope under the belay device, and never letting go of the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I start with both hands holding the brake. When I &lt;strong&gt;pull&lt;/strong&gt;, I pull  up with both hands to take out the slack, then &lt;strong&gt;brake&lt;/strong&gt; with both hands, &lt;strong&gt;slide&lt;/strong&gt; the top hand up, then &lt;strong&gt;slide&lt;/strong&gt; the bottom hand up, and repeat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works well on belays where the rope isn't dragging on the rock, but as soon as you get some friction in the system you need to let go with that one hand to help pull the rope down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T18:52:29.967" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T18:52:29.967" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18618" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-03T15:38:53.663" Score="2" ViewCount="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;An avid novice angler with some experience with bass fishing, I recently moved to northern Atlanta. I love the cultural dynamics here in Atlanta, but haven't had a chance to meet other anglers. I would be grateful for some information on good spots for bank fishing (any kind of fish) north of Atlanta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15036" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T00:43:50.317" Title="Fishing spots in greater Atlanta area?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18619" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-03T16:36:44.490" Score="38" ViewCount="13698" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two large dogs - a German Shepherd and a Presa Canario. I hike alone with my dogs in black (not grizzly) bear country. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I still need to hang my food? Or will the three of us be able to convince a bear that um... maybe next camp has better food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-03T20:37:37.123" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T16:10:10.807" Title="Do I still need to hang my food if I have two large dogs?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-03T17:33:22.223" Score="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;You know, most black bears are probably going to be deterred by the presence of your dogs, but bears come in all sorts of personalities and degrees of desperation for food. Your dogs might be able to take a bear in a fight, but that doesn't mean they won't get seriously hurt in the process. Think about the possible consequences if deterrence fails:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A needlessly dead or injured bear&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An injured dog, far from medical care&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A dead dog&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't assign odds to any of these, but hanging your food seems like such a minimal effort, I can't imagine not doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T17:33:03.743" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T17:33:03.743" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-03T17:56:28.560" Score="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you absolutely need to properly protect your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proper food storage in the wilderness isn't just for you, &lt;strong&gt;it's also for the bears&lt;/strong&gt;. Even if your dogs or you are able to fend off a bear, you may in the process clue the bear in to the fact that where there are humans, there is food. And if you've inadvertently trained a bear to think that human campers have food, and the only thing between getting that food is to rumble, you've dealt that bear a death sentence, as well as signed up some other unsuspecting person for a heap of trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you make the bear think &lt;em&gt;&quot;maybe next camp has better food?&quot;&lt;/em&gt;, then it clearly is aware that camps are places for food, and so you and everyone else who hasn't properly managed your food has failed to properly protect the wildlife and has failed that bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always store your food well away from camp in a proper bear proof manner. There is no excuse for laziness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-03-03T17:56:28.560" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20180" CreationDate="2018-03-04T08:23:48.480" Score="5" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at extending a strip of LED lighting into another of the tents rooms.&#xA;Dividing the rooms is mozzie mesh.&#xA;I could run a 3m extension wire down and back up again, however, I was wondering if there was some sort of connector that would magnetically clamp to either side of the mesh and form the electrical connection to extend&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15041" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T15:07:29.583" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T15:07:29.583" Title="Magnetic connector for LED light on tent mesh" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18618" CreationDate="2018-03-05T00:43:50.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bull Sluice Lake is a great place. There is bank access as well as a dock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15045" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T00:43:50.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18625" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-05T01:08:42.460" Score="4" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently heard that &lt;a href=&quot;http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sciurus_carolinensis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern grey squirrels&lt;/a&gt; sometimes dig holes, pretend to bury nuts, or other food, and then cover the empty holes. I was told that they use all the same motions and effort as they would if actually burying a nut for future consumption. Sometimes they even have a nut in their mouth, and at some point during the process, they store it deep into their cheek, so squirrels watching them assume their mouth is empty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The purpose is to deceive those onlooking squirrels, or to lead squirrels who arrive later on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/wild-goose-chase&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wild goose chase&lt;/a&gt;, searching for stashed food to steal where there isn't any.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like either sophisticated behavior, or a fun story. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do squirrels actually pretend to bury food? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, is there any scientific evidence that it works? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T16:14:58.687" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:50:37.400" Title="Do Eastern grey squirrels pretend to bury nuts in the ground?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18626" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18630" CreationDate="2018-03-05T01:11:29.000" Score="5" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the same Hornblower story that inspired this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18588/how-do-you-determine-the-optimum-time-to-tack&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, Hornblower tricks the French captain by acting as if to tack, but stopping and swinging back. When the French try to do the same they are unable to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'He's coming about, sir!' reported Prowse. 'He's casting off the braces!'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He must make quite sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Mainsail haul!'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was the danger point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'He's past the wind's eye, sir. His foretops'ls coming round.'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Ava-a-ast!'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'She's in irons, sir. She's all a-back.'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That was the very thing Hornblower had hoped for. He had believed it likely that he would be able to effect his escape to leeward, perhaps after an exchange of broadsides; this present situation had appeared possible but too good to materialise. The Loire was hanging helpless in the wind. &lt;strong&gt;Her captain had noted Hotspur's manoeuvre just too late. Instead of going round on the other tack, getting his ship under command, and then tacking once more in pursuit, he had tried to follow Hotspur's example and revert to his previous course. But with an unskilled crew and without a carefully prepared plan the improvisation had failed disastrously.&lt;/strong&gt; While Hornblower watched he saw Loire yaw off the wind and then swing back again, refusing obstinately, like a frightened horse, to do the sensible thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/forestercs-hornblowerandthehotspur/forestercs-hornblowerandthehotspur-00-h.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; Emphasis mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings up my question, &lt;strong&gt;is there a point when tacking after which you can't turn change back right away to your original course but need to fully swing onto the new tack for a while before tacking back?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T22:16:45.247" Title="Is there a point at which one is committed to a tack?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;tacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18625" CreationDate="2018-03-05T01:20:43.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks &lt;strong&gt;like the answer is yes,&lt;/strong&gt; they do pretend to bury their food to keep other squirrels from getting at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dr Michael Steele of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and colleagues, whose research is highlighted in this week's New Scientist magazine, observed eastern grey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, in Pennsylvania and Connecticut using the tactic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When acorns were placed near to squirrels at the two sites they engaged in pretend burying activity 13 per cent and 22 per cent of the time respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were more likely to do so in the autumn and when other squirrels were within 66ft (20m) of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3322101/Cunning-squirrels-pretend-to-bury-their-food.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study that this information comes from is called,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347207004988?via%3Dihub&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cache protection strategies of a scatter-hoarding rodent: do tree squirrels engage in behavioural deception?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and is unfortunately paywalled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:50:37.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18628" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18629" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" Score="0" Body="Questions about hummingbirds" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T02:20:58.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18626" CreationDate="2018-03-05T02:47:18.510" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes there is, but the situation being described is probably not exactly that.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we consider a standard sailboat with a headsail and mainsail, as the boat turns into the wind the wind pressure on the headsail tries to push the front of the boat away from the wind. As the prow turns across the wind, i.e. through the point where the boat points direct upwind, the jib changes side and the wind on the headsail is now pressuring the boat to complete the turn. This is the change of sides meant by &quot;the foretops'l has crossed over'. Turning back is now more difficult, if not impossible. A simple sailboat gets around this effect (which undesirably slows the turn) by releasing the headsail during the tack and resecuring it on the other side. A larger ship with more sails probably cannot do this with all their sails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However there is a much more important effect at play here.&lt;/strong&gt; As a ship turns through the wind the sails no longer are propelling the ship forward. The ship relies on momentum it already has in order to complete the turn. If the turn is not completed, or it attempts to turn back without sufficient forward speed, the ship can find itself facing upwind with no forward speed. Because it is facing upwind the sails do not drive it forward, and because it has no forward speed the rudder is not effective and it cannot turn away from the wind. The ship stops and becomes virtually impossible to maneuver. This is what is meant by &quot;in irons&quot;. It was likely this effect that stopped the Loire - it wasn't that they were past an absolute point of no return, but that the Loire, &quot;with an unskilled crew and without a carefully prepared plan&quot;, was too slow in reversing the turn, and lost too much speed, leaving them without the forward momentum required to finish off the reverse turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A ship in irons can take a long time to get out, and makes no progress while it does so. The chasing ship no longer has any chance of catching the Hotspur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T19:19:46.543" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T19:19:46.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-05T08:44:15.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do hang the food (or use a bear can, etc.) In my experience, wild animals are not deterred by dogs very much. A bear that lives close to humans might even be attracted to dogs: dogs frequently have dog food with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not exactly on topic, but I have woken up to deer approaching my camp, while my large dog was barking her head off. They only stopped advancing when the human stood up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4310" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T08:44:15.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-05T13:24:03.393" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of really good answers here.  But I feel like something is being overlooked.  You and the dogs are going to be asleep, when the bear comes walking through your camp.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the food is hanging out of reach, the bear is just going to keep walking, in all likelihood you and the dogs might never know you had a visitor in the night.  The same is going to be true for, other forms of wildlife, like raccoons, opossums, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should always keep food and food prep supplies out of reach of all wildlife; everyone will live longer, happier lives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T13:24:03.393" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18633" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-05T16:22:58.317" Score="4" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one of the Hornblower books,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;We're weathering on her&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; said Hornblower; his eye was aching with staring through the glass, and his arms even were weary with holding the telescope to his eye, but in the excitement of the chase he could not relax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;Not as much as I'd like&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; growled Bolton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Hands to the mainbrace!&amp;quot; roared Pellew at that moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It was a matter of the most vital concern to trim the sails so as to lie as close as possible to the wind; a hundred yards gained to windward would count as much as a mile gained in a stern chase.&lt;/strong&gt; Pellew was looking up at the sails, back at the fleeting wake, across at the French ship, gauging the strength of the wind, estimating the strain on the rigging, doing everything that a lifetime of experience could suggest to close the gap between the two ships. Pellew's next order sent all hands to run out the guns on the weather side; that would in part counteract the heel and give the Indefatigable more grip upon the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/forestercs-mrmidshipmanhornblower/forestercs-mrmidshipmanhornblower-00-h.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; Emphasis mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is the &lt;strong&gt;distance gained to windward&lt;/strong&gt; so important in this type of situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T15:00:04.093" Title="When a sailing ship is pursuing another upwind, why does the distance gained to windward matter so much?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18633" CreationDate="2018-03-05T18:50:55.497" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Windward progress is so valuable in a tactical situation like a warship chase because the windward position is the more maneuverable one. If you can overcome your quarry's distance-made-good-to-windward, you can completely overcome any evasions they may attempt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a different situation than non-violent, course-specified racing, which has its own reasons why velocity-made-good is valuable, and cruising/passagemaking, which again has different reasons why velocity-made-good is valuable. I'm not describing what those reasons are because the question specifies the Hornblower situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T18:50:55.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2018-03-05T20:18:28.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Makes a huge difference. I did it this weekend. The inner tent was very comfortable wearing long underwear, even outside the sleeping bag. The outer tent was cold and drafty. Outside was 30 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15059" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T20:18:28.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18636" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18637" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" Score="0" Body="Questions about tacking, i.e. switching from one tack to another while sailing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" LastActivityDate="2018-03-05T22:17:07.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-05T22:25:34.053" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Under the right circumstances, a black bear can kill a man (or a dog) with a single swat of its paw. While most back bears are timid and afraid of humans, due to 10,000 years of being hunted by Native Americans with bows, a few, a very few, have been know to kill and eat humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a reason why the writers guide for &lt;em&gt;The Outer Limits&lt;/em&gt; said that each episode needed to have a dangerous creature or other frightening danger and described that as &quot;the bear&quot; instead of the wolf, the mountain lion, the wolverine, the fox,  etc. etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should want to do everything you can to avoid becoming the victim of one of those very rare aggressive black bears, and a good person should want to do everything he possibly could to keep black bears from associating humans with food, possibly leading to some black bears preying on humans. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I cared for my dogs, I would take all possible bear precautions.  One bear vs one dog is likely to be ten to one odds in favor of the bear, to use an arbitrary number.  Two dogs vs one bear would then be five to one odds in favor of the bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is not good odds.  Avoid bear fights and avoid events that could result in bear fights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You yourself, without any dogs, might be able to scare way a bear without a fight.  So you and the two dogs might be able to scare way a bear without a fight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if it comes to a fight, you and/or one or both of your dogs could be killed or badly wounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you love yourself, you will take all reasonable precautions to avoid interacting with potentially extremely dangerous wild bears.  And if you also love your dogs, you won't count on them to be your bodyguards against bears, but will take all reasonable precautions to avoid interacting with potentially extremely dangerous wild bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid bear confrontations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T15:51:19.133" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T15:51:19.133" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18641" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-06T03:51:30.150" Score="4" ViewCount="234" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I am heading out with three friends to galavant through the American west on little more than gas money and a dream. The trip is looking like 2 weeks or so. Assuming I already know about major attractions (national parks and such) and that I'd like to avoid commercial experiences, does anyone have any unmissable places we should hit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're mainly looking for natural beauty. Hot springs, mountains, favorite trails, cool lookouts, small towns, communities, geological oddities, caves, ruins, forests, canyons! Looking for it all! Even if you know an area or a forest or a stretch of road that's just pretty, Do tell! While I want to avoid over-planning (road trip ruiner), I'd also like to avoid missing out on good scenery!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the VERY tentative map: Mid colorado, through the mountains to lower colorado, into the four corners area, Run all around utah, hit the north rim of the grand canyon, maybe go as far south as flagstaff, az, up to northern-ish new mexico and done.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RIQ5k.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RIQ5k.png&quot; alt=&quot;Roadtripmap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the amazingness of the idea, 100 miles out of the way is not out of the question. The plan is to mold the route around areas and destinations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15063" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T04:33:16.957" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T13:29:34.597" Title="Road trip through the great American West - Anyone have Ideas for locations, areas, or activities?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2018-03-06T23:32:30.367" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18642" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18697" CreationDate="2018-03-06T03:59:15.083" Score="5" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent power failure made firewood one of the four most important things in our lives for nearly three days.  We had enough in our pile of cut up fallen branches and small logs to keep our cat warm and happy, and ourselves not too unhappy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've never split logs (and certainly never bought split logs at the supermarket), but I've often wondered just how difficult it would be to learn how to split logs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume you, an expert log-splitter, have an utter neophyte in front of you, in reasonable, but far from spectacular, condition.   &lt;strong&gt;What are the steps you would take to safely turn her into an adept log-splitter?&lt;/strong&gt;  And, very roughly, how long would it take -- i.e., one half hour session;  ten half-hour sessions; more than ten?  What would be the youngest student you would train?         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:50:24.387" Title="What are the steps you would go through to teach someone how to split logs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18642" CreationDate="2018-03-06T04:36:43.763" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For teaching someone, I would probably demonstrate it once and then let them go at it while watching to make sure they don't hurt themselves.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not all that hard and smaller logs are easier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The precautions are,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear safety glasses to protect against the chips or other flying debris.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear gloves to protect your hands,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Steel toed boots are not really necessary, but aren't a bad idea either.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are different things you can use depending on the type and size of wood.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An axe or hatchet for smaller wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A sledge hammer and wedge for larger logs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_maul&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;splitting maul&lt;/a&gt; (you have to be careful to not break the handle)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The basic process is for splitting logs with a sledgehammer and wedge is,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the log upright on a flat surface.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Examine the log for signs of weakness such as preexisting cracks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Line the wedge up to split it in half the first time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold the wedge in one hand and gently pound it in, taking care not to hit your fingers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once the wedge is in firm enough to hold itself you start taking the big swings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When its ready to split, the ding of the mallet/sledgehammer against the wedge changes. That's when you pull the log apart to avoid driving the wedge into the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the wedge gets stuck and won't split the log, you need to put another wedge in. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the wedge gets stuck due to the springiness of the log, you jam in a piece of wood into the crack to help the wedge hold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the first split it gets easier to split into more pieces and harder to keep upright. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The process for using a axe/hatchet&lt;/strong&gt; is pretty similiar, except that you are trying to swing the axe into the middle of it hard enough to split it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that it just takes practice and some brute strength to pound through. Once you can identify the weak points and hit the wedge everytime you are probably good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how hold, I would say once someone is mature enough to be careful and big enough to swing the hammer then they could do it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T20:50:24.387" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:50:24.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-03-06T05:16:38.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bootbananas.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boot Bananas&lt;/a&gt; sourced from my local bouldering gym after complaints by my better half about stenchy climbing shoes. Since using them the complaints have completely dried up. They are still working 4 months later, I'll probably replace them after a year. $25 AUD per year seems like a reasonable price to pay to keep those around you happy. There are other options out there as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen similar, refillable options. Check out your local climbing gym or climbing gear shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are basically just commercial variations of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18550/12248&quot;&gt;Bills answer&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also used a commercial foot odour neutralising powder. &lt;strong&gt;Don't&lt;/strong&gt; go down this path. The powder crusts up in the bottom of your shoes after a particularly sweaty session. While the odour is eliminated, you end up with uncomfortable, crusty climbing shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12248" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T05:16:38.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18646" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-06T11:17:12.640" Score="0" ViewCount="1298" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18619/do-i-still-need-to-hang-my-food-if-i-have-two-large-dogs/18638#18638&quot;&gt;recent post said:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a black bear can kill a man (or a dog) with a single swat of its paw. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose anything is possible. But is it realistic? Has it ever happened?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling 'man killed by single punch' finds several instance where a person killed a person with one punch.  I also find &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/08/lion-killed-intern-swipe-paw-inquest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a lion killed a person with a single swipe&lt;/a&gt;. But not finding anything about a black bear doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any records of this happening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T01:55:40.873" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T13:38:55.757" Title="Is it feasible that a black bear could kill a man with a single swat?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18641" CreationDate="2018-03-06T13:21:20.757" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some points of interest you should definitely include, based on your rough proposed area:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Arches National Monument.  It's at least worth a day trip thru there.  There are some natural arches in other places in the general region, but there is nothing like Arches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bryce Canyon.  The highest concentration of the best hoodoos anywhere.  It's also a nice and comfortable place to stay, being about 7000 feet up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Grand Canyon, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Grand Staircase - Escalante.  There are slot canyons all over the region you intend to explore, but this place has some great ones, and they are accessible.  It's also still fairly wild.  I'd stay off the beaten track in the adjacent National Forest.  The campground in Capitol Reef is overrun with tourists, screaming kids, and drunken yahoos being rowdy until 2:00 in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bisti De Na Zin Wilderness.  This is a amazing but little-known place (Shh, don't tell anyone).  It's about 35 miles south of Farmington NM in the Four Corners area, a little east of the north-south road.  It's very primitive.  There is just a parking area and a fence to keep cattle out.  You walk in and at first it looks like nothing special.  Poke around in the side canyons to the right (south), and you'll see a whole bunch of other-worldly rock formations.  If NASA ever needs to fake a landing on a different planet, this is where they'll go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T13:21:20.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18641" CreationDate="2018-03-06T13:29:34.597" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gas Money and Dream will not get you into Grand Canyon NP.  With some exceptions it is $30 per vehicle to visit the most popular areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;FREE ENTRANCE PARK DAYS TO KEEP IN MIND FOR 2017:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does not include other fees such as tours, lodging, reservations, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 16th&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;National Park Week, April 15-16 and 22-23&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;National Park Service’s Birthday, August 25&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;National Public Lands Day, September 30&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Veteran’s Day, November 11-12&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;GENERAL ENTRANCE FEES FOR NORTH &amp;amp; SOUTH RIM:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Private Vehicle-$30&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Motorcycle-$25&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bicycle, On Foot, or Shuttle-$15&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;REMINDER: No refunds for weather conditions&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecanyon.com/fees&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T13:29:34.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3133" CreationDate="2018-03-06T14:03:02.797" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are sort of a secret tip i got and took us on many incredibly awesome hikes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nzfrenzy.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.nzfrenzy.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I travelled through NZ for a couple of months and mainly used these as a foundation for our trips. We were very glad to have them and recommended them to everyone we met.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was actually hestitating on sharing these because we enjoyed the fact that many of the places arent well known and not overrun by tourists. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also features well known highlights though, you wont miss out on any NZ awesomeness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15068" LastEditorUserId="15068" LastEditDate="2018-03-06T14:16:02.557" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T14:16:02.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18646" CreationDate="2018-03-06T16:24:04.973" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to say yes, it is possible mostly &lt;strong&gt;because humans kill other humans with a single punch from time to time and black bears are certainly stronger.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cupido said there are “hundreds” of documented one-punch deaths nationwide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sbsun.com/2018/01/06/deputy-killed-by-a-punch-isnt-the-only-one-other-deaths-show-even-single-punch-can-be-traumatic-experts-say/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One-punch deaths fall even further down the list. But it happens often enough that Gunson, without pause, is able to describe precisely how a sock to the face can end a life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“They fall over backwards and they hit the back of their head,” Gunson said. “They often end up having a skull fracture.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/21/deaths-from-a-single-punch-not-that-uncommon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I can find no record of it happening in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedias list of fatal bear attacks in North America.&lt;/a&gt; From the research that I did for this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18312/do-black-brown-grizzly-or-polar-bears-ever-prey-on-humans&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, it seems that most bear attacks are a lot messier than a single punch kill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand people have survived punching bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Canadian man had to punch a black bear in the nose to force it outside after it followed a toddler into a British Columbia family's home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41016576&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nelson tried to swing at the bear but missed, hitting it in the teeth. The bear hit back, scratching Nelson across the chest and face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed,&amp;quot; Nelson said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So Nelson swung a second time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Most bears are right-handed.'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I had the perfect shot to take. I did an underhand and hit it right in the snout.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-man-punches-black-bear-1.3663954&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T17:15:25.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18646" CreationDate="2018-03-06T18:47:32.367" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Depends on the size of the bear.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears vary in size, small female bears can weigh in under 100 lbs, which makes them about the same size as a large dog. But big black bears can weigh in at more than 600 lbs. The largest black bear on record was in New Brunswick in Canada, and is estimated to have weighed ~1,100 lbs! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A swat to the head by a bear of sufficient mass will undoubtedly be enough to end your life, as sure as a baseball bat to the head can kill you. Keep in mind that a seemingly innocuous hit to the head can be fatal to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The strike force of a bear should not be underestimated. Grizzly bears for example have allegedly been recorded on multiple occasions—although occurrences are still very rare—decapitating moose with one swipe to the head &lt;em&gt;(moose have since been discovered to have a peculiar weakness in their necks that make them prone to decapitation, but still)&lt;/em&gt;. A large Black Bear is about the same size as an average Grizzly, so it's not unreasonable to assume a big enough black bear could potentially take your head off if it landed a well placed swat your cranium, although you'd more than likely be sent flying with your head still attached.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T04:30:24.307" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T04:30:24.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18652" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-06T20:21:57.803" Score="5" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of salomon rocker 2s with z12 bindings on a demo plate. Would it be advantageous for my skiing performance to remove the demo plate and have the bindings directly on the skis? I normally hang out on big mountain shoots and dense tree runs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15073" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T23:18:52.493" Title="Skiing demo plate vs no demo plate" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18642" CreationDate="2018-03-06T20:30:27.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will get it within half an hour, if you're a little handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Preparation:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a splitting maul&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking safety shoes might be wise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Select the biggest log to use it as 'table'.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety tips for when you are splitting:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spread your legs, so if you might miss, you won't hit your legs/feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure no one is in front or behind you. Especially for older, worn splitting mauls, the head might accidently detach. You don't want to hit anybody.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual process of splitting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the log you want to split on the 'table'&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hit it with the sharp edge of the splitting maul, preferably in the middle. The log should split now.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it did not split, you might hit it again at the same spot (and again), or find a smaller or drier log. Some logs just don't easily split, especially the ones with big branches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the youngest student, that's tricky. I think I was about 14 years old when I learned.  That's about right, because you have to be strong enough to hold and swing the splitting maul, which is quite a bit heavier than a common axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14665" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-15T22:04:33.347" LastActivityDate="2018-03-15T22:04:33.347" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18652" CreationDate="2018-03-06T23:18:52.493" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you know exactly where your bindings need to be fixed then you don't need the demo plate, and fixing directly to the ski gives a more rigid connection between boot and ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A demo plate is only really useful if you need adjustment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2018-03-06T23:18:52.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10180" CreationDate="2018-03-07T01:21:11.173" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was taught during my Sea Cadet training days to remove my jacket or sweatshirt, and drape it over a strand of the barbed wire. Then knee beside the wire with the long axis of one's body parallel to the wire. Push down hard on the strand BELOW the one on which you jacket is hanging. You can see the barbs by your belly, and avoid them. Your back, which you cannot see, will be protected by the jacket from the barbs above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15077" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T01:21:11.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18656" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18633" CreationDate="2018-03-07T05:41:30.563" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the same reason it matters in any other chase: &lt;strong&gt;distance gained in a pursuit brings you closer to the objective.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sailing upwind is like climbing up hill, it's slower going as opposed to being on flat ground or going down hill. Small gains upwind at slower speeds are as the book indicates: they count the same as larger gains at higher speeds. The quote quote above isn't indicating that windward gains are especially important, it's drawing attention to the fact that relatively shorter gains windward are equally as valuable as greater gains in a stern chase.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T05:41:30.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18657" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-07T08:19:51.337" Score="8" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm getting an Inmarsat phone for my time around San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to help me with emergencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What number do I dial if I have an issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know 133 is the emergency number, but I don't think that works given my phone is a satellite phone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read that I need to look up the local police phone numbers, but that information is not published anywhere online!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15078" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T16:28:15.490" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:49:51.173" Title="Dialing an emergency number in a foreign country using a satellite phone" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18659" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18671" CreationDate="2018-03-07T09:55:14.153" Score="5" ViewCount="1060" Body="&lt;p&gt;During my recent ski touring trip I have forgotten the protective mesh of my climbing skins in the car. I have noticed my mistake when on the top of the mountain, but by then it was way too late. Not having a better idea, I have stuck the two skins together, and hoped for the best. This was not a good idea. Once at home, I had big problems taking the two skins apart. I am afraid I might have even damaged the skins somewhat. And the edges of the skins that were not alighned properly got some fluff on the glue anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was there any way to protect my skins better? I thought about just rolling them up, but then I would have gotten fluff from the back of the skins all over the glue? Maybe I should have stuck them on my backpack? But it was not exactly clean.. Should I have tried to get some garbage bags or some paper? But that could have gotten stuck and break when taking it off? The best idea I came up with, albeit too late, was to stick as much snow as possible on the skins, and then put them together. Would that have worked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T17:48:09.587" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T17:48:09.587" Title="Protecting climbing skins without a protective mesh" Tags="&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18660" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18661" CreationDate="2018-03-07T10:00:43.710" Score="11" ViewCount="3315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be going to a ski resort in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. It’s also very popular for winter hiking and has a lot of routes set out. Because I can’t go skiing this year I’d like to do some hiking around the lake and possibly down the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bought some good boots and I have a good jacket and thermos clothes from skiing but I have a few questions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can I wear a thermos legging only? My ski pants do not allow a lot of freedom of movement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How does getting off a chairlift work? I won’t be as fast as the skiiers and I might even slip and fall. I’m a little nervous about this. Will the operators spot me/help me?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;is it generally safe for a young woman to go hike in the mountains alone?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15080" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T17:48:27.010" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T17:48:27.010" Title="First time snow hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-07T10:44:48.833" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never been in the area, but from what I can see in the Internet, there indeed are a lot of winter hiking routes in Lenzerheide. And all those routes are signposted. In fact, you can see a map and get all the hike descriptions right here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://lenzerheide.com/en/winter/winter-activities/winter-hiking/winter-walking-tours&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://lenzerheide.com/en/winter/winter-activities/winter-hiking/winter-walking-tours&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend starting with the hikes that are rated as easy, and if you are having no problems with those, you can upgrade yourself to the ones of moderate difficulty. The difficulty usually describes the distance, and the hight meters, but can also be because of technical difficulty, so read the description well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there is no danger to females or any other human beings from either wildlife or other people in Switzerland, one should not underestimate the mountains. Even more so in winter. Make sure you will be able to walk down on your own, or catch a lift down before its closing time. Make sure you have enough clothes and something to drink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more important thing to pay attention to while in the mountains in winter, are the avalanches. While most hikes should be put in places that are safe, do read descriptions or ask around to be sure. Also, on different days the avalanche dangers might vary. General avalanche dangers can be checked here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.slf.ch/en/avalanche-bulletin-and-snow-situation.html#avalanchedanger&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.slf.ch/en/avalanche-bulletin-and-snow-situation.html#avalanchedanger&lt;/a&gt;. Ask around and do not go on hikes that are closed. They usually are closed because of avalanche danger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regard to clothes, make sure that you are wearing layers of clothing that are easy to take off/put on. You do not want to get cold, but you also do not want to sweat. Take some extra base-layer clothes if you are planing to get a break in a hut. You will probably sweat in any case, and it is nice to change into something dry. Walking with just thermo leggings might work, but be sure to bring along something waterproof/warmer. The weather in the mountains is likelly to change, and you do not want to risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should not worry too much about the lifts though, because either the accomodations are already made for pedestrians, or you will not be able to get on them. Most lifts where pedestrians are allowed will be cabin lifts anyway. And if you will need to take a chair lift, the lift guys will be aware of you. You probably can see what kind of lifts (if any) you need to take in the descriptions of the hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You did not ask anything about the equipment you should take, but I will give some tips anyway. You should absolutelly bring some sticks. This could be either normal hiking sticks equiped with snow baskets, or just a pair of regular ski sticks. While most of the hikes can probably be done in waterproof winter hiking shoes, you might consider renting snow shoes for easier walking. This could be especially useful with fresh snow. Some of the hikes will, however, be on roads, you do not need snow shows for these. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-03-07T11:43:07.937" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T11:43:07.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-07T11:07:16.760" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start answering from last question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's hard to say if it's safe to hike alone. Most people will say No. I believe that in Alps rescue will come in 10-20 min if you are able to call for a help. The thing is it would be very stressful for you. This year me and my friend found a girl in Switzerland Alps. She took a lift to Gornergrat ~3000m, she wanted to go down the mountain and got lost(she was using GPS in her iphone).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Operator will help you for sure to get off from chairlift but sometimes it's not allowed to go without skies\snowboard. But you can take a cabin lift.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can go in thermo leggings but only for short hike. The problem it's not waterproof. I would better go in ski pants. What is more important is to have a &lt;strong&gt;gaiters&lt;/strong&gt; to prevent snow from getting inside the boot. I would also take a snow shoes (depends of the route).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T11:07:16.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-07T11:07:31.113" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nice place to go! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Can I wear a thermos legging only? My ski pants do not allow a lot of freedom of movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously depends on the weather: On a sunny day with no wind you can wear whatever you want, if there is snowfall and/or strong winds, having no protection against those wont be fun. Also if there is fresh snow overnight and there is snow on top of the groomed trails, you will get wet legs. I'd just try and take the ski pants with me, such that you can put them on if it's too cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;How does getting off a chairlift work? I won’t be as fast as the skiiers and I might even slip and fall. I’m a little nervous about&#xA;  this. Will the operators spot me/help me?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No problem whatsover, all stations are supervised at all times and sometimes even routinely slow down for people on foot. They will certainly slow down if you have problems. In general even on &quot;normal&quot; speed for a mobile person it's no problem to exit the lift, just walk briskly away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;is it generally safe for a young woman to go hike in the mountains alone?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a nice day there's lots of people around, so very likely you won't be secluded and come upon other hikers frequently. And generally, you don't really need to worry about this. Obviously I can't guarantee anything, but solo hiking is common in Switzerland, admittedly more males, but that's from my perspective more an ego/accomplishment thing than security. Ah yeah and a tangential note just because they exist: All that doesn't count for Apres-Ski-Bars, there the normally quite high alcohol-level comes with the usual problems, but it's not like you need to go there ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also while (we) Swiss people are generally pretty reserved, they are still nice (I know this is cliched, but it applies often :P ): If you would like to join with a group for the hike, just approach any group starting hiking asking whether you can join. If you speak English only, look for young or English speakers - if they don't speak English well (or just think they don't), they may get on the defense due to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety wise that's not a problem either: If you get injured it is as mentioned likely to have people around to help. If not you can get help by cell phone. And generally these are groomed trails, so for a young person to injure yourself you need to be quite unlucky. Avalanches are not a problem either on official trails, they are only opened when safe.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Generally you can't compare official posted trails in a ski resort in Switzerland with &quot;going into the mountains&quot;. In comparison this is a very well controlled environment for the general public which normally has no/very little awareness of safety principles in mountains. That's not to say it's impossible for anything to happen, but it's unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-03-08T16:07:07.310" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T16:07:07.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-07T11:56:16.017" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ill just add on the answers already here. I've been to a similar skiing resort before in Switzerland(Riederalp) with my grandparents. They did many hikes there together and its perfectly safe, just dress warm. The liftoperators will gladly help you get off and on the lift. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15081" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T11:56:16.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18659" CreationDate="2018-03-07T12:12:51.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That depends a lot on the specific type of skin: Traditional &quot;glue&quot; type skins can be stuck together generally without damage, but as you discovered, it is not ideal. They are quite hard to pry apart and it can happen (albeit not often), that some of the glue is on just one side afterwards. There are several &quot;modern&quot; type &quot;adhesion&quot; skins, which differ in their handling, I am aware of silicone and acrylate based solutions. Those can be either rolled up or stuck together. If there is any dirt on them, they are washable. There were some early types of &quot;non-traditional&quot; skins that &lt;em&gt;cannot ever&lt;/em&gt; be stuck together, it will break them - afaik those aren't on the market anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your description you have the traditional type of skins. Paper definitely would be a bad idea: As you discovered they stick quite a lot so paper will mostly likely tear and it will be really hard to remove from your skin. Same with thin plastic/garbage bags. Sticking snow in between wont harm the skins long term (they won't stick until dried though), but I doubt the snow would stay in between the skins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all if you don't have obvious substitutes like strong plastic bags, sticking them together is the best option to keep dirt away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T12:12:51.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-07T13:55:03.230" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been in that area quite a lot, but have only limited experience with it for hiking in the winter (was occupied with skiing most of the time). Nevertheless I can try to give some insight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can take lifts, but as far as I know only some are possible for people without skiing equipment: Rothorn I/II and Panoramabahn. Maybe some on the side towards Arosa, but I have not been there enough to know it for sure. The lifts mentioned above are gondolas, i.e. it is quite easy to enter and exit them&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you want to go, it is quite safe, or not so safe. For example taking Rothorn II up to the top, and then taking one of the snowy paths down is always a stupid idea, but taking a tour around the Heidsee is safe, as far as I am concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Concerning clothing: I am only wearing stable trousers, such as jeans, and stable boots. Of course gloves, a (light) jacket and something warm for the head. Depending on how fast you walk, prepare to take something of if it gets too warm. Most of the trails usually are free from deep snow, but that depends on the weather.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Nevertheless, also take care of the avalanche possibilities, even though the probability for them to hit the hiking trails is rather low.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally some nice trips I would recommend: &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;207 Mittelberg Parpan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;203 Alp Stätz&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;201 Heidseerunde  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless I would test all of them. Taking a map with you is recommended, it can be possible to loose GPS in the mountains, even though you have rather good mobile reception throughout the whole valley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15083" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T13:55:03.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18619" CreationDate="2018-03-07T16:10:10.807" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It doesn't sound like you're thinking of carrying a bear canister either.&#xA;A bear will just wait until it's quiet then come into your camp - you may or may not be there.  If you &lt;strong&gt;are&lt;/strong&gt; there, then you will have real problems.  I wouldn't even prep my meals near my campsite.&#xA;On the other hand, bears aren't the only animals that want your food.  Consider whether the dogs will notice the mice getting into your backpack and food.  I've seen a camper hang his food up without even noticing that a mouse had already hidden in it.  He lost a lot of his food before he got it down to have a late snack.  I'd still recommend always hanging your food when you aren't actually eating it.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And, don't forget the long cord to hang it with!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15087" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T16:10:10.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18657" CreationDate="2018-03-07T16:27:40.173" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I found for most countries,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you have an Inmarsat satellite phone:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;You will need to obtain the full international access code, country code, and phone number for the local fire, police, or ambulance depending upon the nature of the emergency and store it in your contacts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.globaltelesat.co.uk/blog/how-to-call-emergency-numbers-from-your-sat-phone/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to call emergency numbers from your Sat Phone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and for the specific numbers for Chile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note: I have not tested this, but the numbers should be correct.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_call_prefixes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Full international access code from Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1xx0, where xx is the international carrier selection code&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Chilean carrier selection codes can be found on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Carrier_Selection_Code&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_calling_codes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Country code&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+56&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phone numbers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Emergency Telephone Numbers (within Chile) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Police (carabineros): 133 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ambulance (ambulancia): 131 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fire (bomberos): 132 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sea Rescue (rescate del mar): 137&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Air Rescue (Busqueda y Salvamento Aereo): 138&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mountain Rescue (rescate del montana): 699 4764 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.experiencechile.org/health-safety.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ExperienceChile.Org - Health &amp;amp; Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T20:49:51.173" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:49:51.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18659" CreationDate="2018-03-07T17:15:22.047" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you did is not uncommon. Randonee racers fold their skins in half and stick them to themselves all the time. The mesh cheat sheets work great at prolonging the life of the glue on your skins, but they aren't 100% necessary. I ski with people who for years have only ever stuck their skins to themselves, and aside from some pitting of the glue, their skins are fine and stick just as well. That being said, I always use my meshes when I'm putting my skins away, with the exception of making quick transitions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If it's cold enough&lt;/em&gt;, and your skins are clean (you haven't walked through any dirt or pine needles), then something else you can do is &lt;em&gt;roll&lt;/em&gt; your skins. I've never done this myself, but supposedly the glue doesn't stick to the mohair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://snowboardmountaineer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/IMG_2757.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZfRsk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rolled climbing skins&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, the important thing is to make sure you &lt;em&gt;un&lt;/em&gt;stick you skins from each other before you let your skins warm up, especially if they're wet. In your situation, I'd pull your skins apart as soon as you got back to your vehicle and stick them to your meshes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your skins get dirty, you can clean them by picking the bits off the bottom with a pair of tweezers, then soaking them in a bucket of cool water overnight with some light detergent. If you're glue is to the point where it isn't sticking so well, you can reactivate the glue using a hot iron, or buy some new transfer strips. A good post about cleaning your skins (where this image was taken from) can be found here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://snowboardmountaineer.com/tech-tip-skins/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tech Tip: Skins, drying, cleaning, re-activating glue.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T17:07:41.437" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T17:07:41.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18672" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18680" CreationDate="2018-03-07T22:52:32.660" Score="6" ViewCount="251" Body="&lt;p&gt;See this article on &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;plogging&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/02/23/plogging-is-the-swedish-fitness-craze-for-people-who-want-to-save-the-planet-its-making-its-way-to-the-u-s/?utm_term=.35803c5dcf2d&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Post&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;Swedish Fitness Craze Coming to the US&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;(March 06, 2018):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Have you recently spotted people toting trash bags while jogging? Or&#xA;  their hands filled with old plastic bottles? You might soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sweden’s latest fitness craze — plogging — is making its way to U.S.&#xA;  shores. The term is a mash-up of jogging and the Swedish “plocka upp,”&#xA;  meaning pick up. In this case, litter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further on in the article, it says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Think squats while jogging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several times a year, I walk and pick up trash, using a grabber which means I don't squat much and don't have to touch the stuff I pick up.  &lt;strong&gt;I am trying to envision what, exactly, I would do if I were jogging instead of walking.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let's dispose of the safety concerns.&lt;/strong&gt;  Assume a straight road with little traffic, wide shoulders and wide verges (the unpaved strip adjacent to the shoulders), and no poison ivy in the verges, none of which apply to my road.  I have to be on full alert while .... plalking (?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does one squat and pick up on the fly, without slowing down?  That seems difficult.  Does one jog one way and concentrate on picking up on the return trip?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does one avoid getting imbalanced after picking up a lot of stuff, or does one carry two bags, one in each hand?  A U.S. plogger who plogs along the Alexandria, VA waterfront says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are an alarming number of full diapers...They turn my stomach&#xA;  the most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has some enterprising company  marketed a wide-apertured plogging bag that one carries on one's back?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a new outdoor sport, with great benefits to the individual practicing it and to the great outdoors.  &lt;strong&gt;What is the most efficient and effective way to plog?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addendum in response to a comment:  People pick up other people's litter on hiking trails, in the backcountry, and on beaches too, and good for them, but this question is about the mechanics of doing this while jogging, as opposed to walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-03-08T02:14:46.300" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T21:29:36.923" Title="What is an effective technique for plogging?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;litter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18672" CreationDate="2018-03-07T23:27:46.833" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most efficient way to run and pick up trash would probably be to know where the garbage cans along the route are so you can carry the trash for as little time as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least according to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/6392/is-running-with-hand-weights-a-bad-idea&quot;&gt;Fitness.SE answer&lt;/a&gt; , its not a good idea to run with hand weights, since there is little physical gain and danger of hurting your joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were optimizing for most trash picked up, you would want to slow down and walk and look carefully, using a picker and a pail or maybe a shovel cause humans can be rather disgusting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From lots of experience of cleaning up trash, speed and thoroughness don't happen at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-07T23:27:46.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10239" CreationDate="2018-03-08T01:47:24.893" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I camped in Zion during New Years a few years ago - it is very cold. The air is frigid and the only times you feel warm is with sun. That being said, the park is very quiet and beautiful in the winter. Theres lots of huge icicles hanging from cliffs, icy lakes, etc. Keep in mind a lot of the trails are closed. We were able to do Angels Landing and the extra ice added for a thrill ;-) Camping in the cold is not fun in my humble opinion - but if you wanted to do so, get a sleeping bag rated for 10 degrees less than the average night temperature. You'd rather be too warm in that situation than too cold! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15093" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T01:47:24.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18679" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-08T06:07:05.850" Score="9" ViewCount="29648" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this insect under my shirt while working, it is the first time I ever see something like that and it is kind of too small for me to tell what it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BMzKt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BMzKt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfy90.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfy90.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not have a property measuring tool to get it's size but it is at most 1cm across. Had too zoom a lot with my phone camera to take these pictures so it is kind of blur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it matters I live in Singapore, there are various trees around the place but I did not go into any patches of dense forested areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15095" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T17:13:04.710" LastActivityDate="2020-09-08T09:14:15.323" Title="What is this round, shiny black bug, about 10mm long, found in Singapore?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;singapore&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18672" CreationDate="2018-03-08T08:07:16.590" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest the first step is to go for the light, grabbable stuff - plastic bottles for example. The contents, if any, can be poured onto the ground. This assumes your roadside example, which is likely to be so polluted that pouring out a bit of sugary water (or even urine, found in bottles by the side of the road surprisingly often) will be environmentally OK. You may not want to do this on a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact if you specialise, you can recycle easily - plastic bottles in one trip, cans the next, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Something big enough to pick up easily with one hand, on clear ground, can be grabbed without breaking step though it will take some practice.&lt;/strong&gt;  I could not find a video, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rugbycoachweekly.net/rugby-drills-and-skills/passing-handling/practice-one-handed-ball-pick-ups/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rugby Coach Weekly&lt;/a&gt; describes the technique, which I remember from my school days.  My understanding of plogging is that the goal isn't to get every last scrap, but to make a difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wear gloves, waterproof and tough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pictures I've seen do show people jogging with two bags, which would improve the balance but make picking things up harder. I suggest one bag, changing hands occasionally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With an out and back route or a regular loop run in alternating directions you can run out quite fast and empty handed, and come back more slowly. You may even make a mental note of bad patches to stop and do properly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-03-08T21:29:36.923" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T21:29:36.923" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-08T09:48:08.060" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally do winter hiking and here are my 2 cents:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can I wear a thermos legging only? My ski pants do not allow a lot of freedom of movement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When doing winter hiking I believe the most important thing is to have good waterproof shoes and clothing. I don't know if your thermos legging are, but in case they are not at the very least buy some waterproof spats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still remember that when you are moving you WILL get hot and start sweating. You don't want to have too much clothing on. Make sure to be able to easily put on/off clothes. When moving it is very hot, when stopping you get cold quite quickly. I use summer water proof pants for winter hiking that have zippers for better cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How does getting off a chairlift work? I won’t be as fast as the skiiers and I might even slip and fall. I’m a little nervous about this. Will the operators spot me/help me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The operators should help you - that is their job. Still I don't find getting off the chairlift much harder in winter. However having nice shoes with good grip helps. Additionally I strongly recommend such shoes for winter hiking. Snowy terrain is slippery especially if there are some uncovered rocks on your path. In general if you don't go over steep terrain I think climbing irons are not necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it generally safe for a young woman to go hike in the mountains alone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking alone in winter might be dangerous as weather changes are quite rapid. A few weeks ago I was at a hike in the mountain and fog appeared out of nowhere in a manner of minutes greatly reducing visibility. From your question it seems you are not very experienced hiker so I would advice you to seek company. If that is not an option here are a few things to take with you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A GPS of some sort - most phones have integrated and they should be good enough&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A headlamp - in case it gets dark walking can get quite dangerous. A headlamp is of great help and it also is not big/heavy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some food and something to drink&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15098" LastEditorUserId="15098" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T08:21:51.543" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T08:21:51.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-08T12:38:39.237" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will just add or clarify a small detail to all the other good answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is perfectly normal to stop several times to adjust or change clothing. The first stop is usually after five minutes, and is called &quot;a technical stop&quot; in Norway. -- If you find yourself with your head down in the backpack changing clothes more often than you would have expected, you are not stupid: You are Learning and Experimenting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your walks :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12904" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T12:38:39.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-08T13:09:11.603" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to address the safety angle specifically: the main things you need to concerned about being alone in the mountains in winter are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sudden drastic weather changes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being stuck in the cold, possibly overnight, because you got lost or injured.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being on a marked trail and &lt;em&gt;staying on it&lt;/em&gt; protects you pretty well against 2 and 3, so make sure you do that - no shortcuts or getting creative! But you can lose the trail, especially if 1 strikes. Specific things you can do to mitigate the remaining risks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a GPS smartphone with an offline map of the area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inform someone where you're going and when you expect to be back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take enough extra clothes and a flashlight or headlamp so that bad weather and/or nightfall won't be life-threatening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T13:09:11.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18684" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18685" CreationDate="2018-03-08T14:54:17.203" Score="2" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at an 11lb-capacity propane canister (2 1/2 gallons). The canister itself ostensibly weighs 13 pounds. If filled to the max (which you're not supposed to do anyway), is the maximum this filled canister going to weigh be 24 lbs (propane and tank together)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.homedepot.com/p/Worthington-Pro-Grade-11-lb-Empty-Propane-Tank-281165/202034839?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7Cgoogle%7C&amp;amp;mid=soBNBDgBD%7Cdm_mtid_890338a25189_pcrid_238558823659_pkw__pmt__product_202034839_slid_&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA24PVBRBvEiwAyBxf-VV-e9fRExs9Y7JfGf02iWuDwSN3NG9rKYGzQOtY-6m9lKBLeSw6ahoCYyEQAvD_BwE&amp;amp;dclid=CKvy8cL83NkCFUc7Twod7V4Adw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is the one I was looking at.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lifted the propane tank in-store yesterday, and it felt heavier than 13 lbs, but was empty. I didn't weigh it, so I could be mistaken, but it felt much heavier. Would the air inside it make all that much difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15038" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T15:08:42.017" Title="Are pounds of propane actual pounds of weight?" Tags="&lt;propane-tank&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18684" CreationDate="2018-03-08T15:08:42.017" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, propane in pounds is measured in weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer:&lt;/strong&gt; Propane can be measured in a few manners. The most common way is by gallons. It can also be measured by pounds (one gallon = 4.2lbs). When measured in gallons, a meter at the pump is used to determine the amount of propane that has been filled into a tank. &lt;strong&gt;When measured in pounds, the tare (empty starting) weight of the tank must be known first. After this weight is taken into account, the tank is then filled to capacity with the correct volume. (i.e. A BBQ tank is commonly referred to as a 20lb tank. This is because these tanks hold 20lbs or approximately five gallons of propane).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gasteconline.com/faqs.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your second question, the simple answer is that you are mistaken in your estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T15:08:42.017" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18660" CreationDate="2018-03-08T15:36:11.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I didn't see anyone say this, perhaps because this area is well-populated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going alone, let someone know when and where you're going and what time you're expecting to be back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15101" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T15:36:11.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18458" CreationDate="2018-03-08T17:18:18.920" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that the best solution for my ski boots has been Gorilla Glue and Shoe Goo. Before applying you may want to score the area with a rubber file (like the ones found in bicycle repair kits), this will help the glue have something to hold onto.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14962" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T17:18:18.920" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2018-03-08T21:43:25.680" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After reviewing many blogs on this topic and running some experiments, I think I found something else helpful.  I have an old Whisperlite from around 1999 or 2000.  When Coleman gas could not be controlled, I cleaned it out thoroughly and switched to MSR Super Fuel.  The Super Fuel is wonderful and I am able to control a steady simmer without problems on a clean stove.  I also applied the low pressure technique (from the start) and works great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15102" LastActivityDate="2018-03-08T21:43:25.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18534" CreationDate="2018-03-09T04:53:31.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the Denalis and I also found it difficult to tighten the straps in the cold (it was -20 C the first time I put the snowshoes on.) I found if I fit them to my boot first in the warmth of my house and then loosened the heel straps a couple of holes it was easy to tighten them up again in the cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found the the straps came loose in the frontmost position over the toe, and it helped to take off the strap, switch the clip so now it opens to the front of the snowshoe, then reattach the strap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made it even more secure by buying a replacement set of clips and adding them on to each strap in the opposite direction, so each strap has a pair of opposing clips holding it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15104" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T04:53:31.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18534" CreationDate="2018-03-09T06:29:16.147" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some things you can try to hold the boot in place that work for me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strap the toe, then the heel. Strap the rest of the foot straps. Then, re-tighten the toe &amp;amp; top straps so they are really tight. It helps to think about pushing your foot back into the heel strap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Really pull on the straps. You're probably already doing this, but you can always pull harder! Basically you want all the straps to be spring-loaded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try a different shoe: It could be your boots are too small for the snowshoe. Try a different pair of boots (e.g., mountaineering boots) for &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; outing. If that helps, you should change snowshoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If nothing helps, get new snowshoes. It sucks, but it sucks a lot less than using gear you dislike. Sell these to a friend and (hopefully) try out a different strap system before you buy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To have the straps &quot;kept&quot; neat, I usually just slide the keeper plastic bit all the way to the opposite side and that seems to help. Make sure you're not wearing your snowshoes reversed (it's pretty easy to do): the buckles should be on the inside and the straps should go out, not in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't help, you could try tucking the leftover strap under the tensioned strap (probably don't try this with gloves on), or try some aftermarket magnet modification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T06:29:16.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18642" CreationDate="2018-03-09T07:07:28.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've taught boy and girl scouts how to chop for some years, so I'm going to treat you as one of those. I'm also going to assume you've never worked with any kind of axe (or ax, I'm going to use the Brittish spelling because I wrote most of this before I found out there's a difference) before so I can get a nice general answer out of it (all the other wood was chopped by Rambo, using a lightsaber).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Setting up/safety&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put on sturdy closed shoes. Safety shoes are best, but boy scouts don't have those either. Gloves and safety glasses can be useful as well if you have any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Select a chopping block. This is a large log, around 30cm/a foot in height or a bit taller. You only need this for splitting, but since that's what we're mostly interested in, go ahead and take it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Place the chopping block in such a way that all the dangerous zones are free up to several meters from you. The dangerous zones are:&#xA;Anywhere in front of you.&#xA;Straight to the side of the chopping block (wood will be flying here)&#xA;Straight behind you (axe heads under extreme circumstances can break loose from the handle, they will either be flying straight forward or straight back)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leaves diagonally behind you as the only safe space for attentive (!) audience members and instructors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, take a one handed hatchet. No, seriously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chopping and splitting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you're using a hatchet, sit down on one knee. Hold the hatchet in your preferred hand. For chopping longer branches in pieces, put it down on the ground in front of you and start chopping away. After a few swings just to test it out, start trying to cut a V-shape. This means letting your chops come in a little bit from the right and the left, which will remove wood from the branch much (much) better than chopping straight down will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For splitting, sit down on one knee in front of your block, put a small log/piece of branch on top of it with one of the flat cut off ends up. (This doesn't really work with branches you chopped through, sawed wood only.) Do a slow practice swing to judge your distance, and then do the real swing. For splitting, every swing has to be powerful. It's better do do ten proper swings in a minute and split 5-10 logs than to just keep hammering on the same one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time if you have a swing that was hard enough to get the head stuck in the wood but not hard enough to split it right away you want to take the head out and swing again. Chops like this do weaken the wood, you have a better chance of succeeding on the net swing. Sometimes though, if the head is in deep and not in any way at the edges of the log it can be preferable to lift the axe with the block still on it and hammer the whole thing down on the block. Most people figure this technique out by themselves and use it too often, but it can be the right thing to do. Try to learn when (not) to do this by trying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moving on to bigger things&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the point at which I'd judge if someone looks like they have enough control over the hatchet. Are their swings landing where they should? Does the head strike the wood straight down, or does it turn away a bit during the swing? If it looks good you can move on to a larger axe almost immediately, but especially some of the younger kids I've trained (11, 12 years old) just didn't have the strength or coordination. This doesn't mean they can't use a two handed axe until they've grown a bit more, they can learn to compensate through getting more of a feel for it. That will often take a few hours of practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in doubt, or when the student disagrees with my assessment, there is a nice little test you can do as a rule of thumb. Hold the axe with the amount of hands you are going to use (one for a hatchet, but we don't need to test that, two for anything larger). Put those hands near the bottom of the handle, then stretch out your arms and the axe horizontally away from yourself. The handle cannot in any way rest on the underside of your arms, you must be able to hold the axe horizontally on wrist strength alone. If you can hold the axe and your arms stretched out and horizontal like this for at least around 20 seconds you're good to move on. If not you're in the &quot;need some practice&quot; group. The main limit of the test is that it doesn't work for seeing if someone has practiced enough. No amount of technique and coordination is going to let you hold that axe any longer. But for beginners it's a neat little trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Two handed axes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If and when you figure you qualify, take the smallest two handed axe you have. Splitting can be done with any of them, even if the largest heaviest broad headed splitting mauls are ideal. You can start taking larger logs now than you had with the hatchet. For two handed axes you stand up rather than sitting on one knee. You put your legs apart far enough that a theoretical run away axe could pass between them. Branches to chop into pieces still go on the ground, logs to split still on a block. You still take a slow test swing to judge your distance. You still swing straight down for splitting and in a slight V for chopping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main difference between a hatchet and a two hander is the swing itself, and the position of your hands during it. You take your non-preferred hand and you place it at the bottom of the handle. Then you take your preferred hand and place it near the top, close to the head. This way you have a lot of control over the axe, but you can't get a lot of force out of it. So what you do is sliding your preferred hand down during the swing. This is important, do not try to just hold a two handed axe by the end of the handle because it sounded too complicated. Look up videos of someone splitting if my text is unclear. Ones you can do this you can try to switch your hands around as well, if you want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's it. You know how to chop now, and you have a rough idea of how to see/feel if you're ready for a larger chopper. Don't move on up too quickly. If you're big and strong and you always hit straight that's nice, but there's no shame in not chopping your own toes off because you really wanted to use the biggest axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Batoning&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, there is a way to split small logs using a knife. You want a sturdy, larger survival knife for this. You put the small log on top of your block, You hold the knife across it, with the handle just off the wood and the sharp edge down. And then you hammer on it with a piece of wood (do not use a steel hammer, or a wooden mallet you'd like to keep in one piece) until it goes into and (hammer on the exposed tip for this part) all the way through the log. This can sometimes be easier than using a hatchet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T07:07:28.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18633" CreationDate="2018-03-09T15:00:04.093" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The ship to windward is &amp;quot;ahead&amp;quot;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing is entirely linear in this game, but the key is that the further off the wind you're sailing, the faster you can go (this is &lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/186515/why-is-a-beam-reach-the-fastest-point-of-sail-on-modern-sailboats&quot;&gt;not true&lt;/a&gt; of modern racers), up to an effective limit of the same speed as the wind (also not true of modern racers). The ship to windward has the option to turn off the wind and make up that ground at will, though it's usually better to maintain the windward position until a tactically appropriate moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being the ship to windward also gives you a greater ability to control the situation, consider two ships running close hauled and parallel,  both would like to perform a boarding action, however only the ship to windward is in a position to make this decision. The ship to leeward can only turn further from the wind and not practically towards the windward vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the vessels are running close to each other there's a more direct effect, the sails of the windward vessel will be shadowing the leeward vessel from the wind, leaving them slower and less maneuverable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T15:00:04.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15054" CreationDate="2018-03-09T21:20:33.197" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags come in a variety of sizes (e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/how-to-fit-a-sleeping-bag&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/how-to-fit-a-sleeping-bag&lt;/a&gt;). The most common being regular and long (sometimes there is a short and sometimes there is a women's regular and long). The typical regular fits people up to 6' tall and a long fits people up to 6' 6&quot;. Of course there is some variability across bag designs and people's preference. As you are just under 6' tall, you might fit in a regular bag, but you might be more comfortable in a long bag. Typically you want the shortest bag that you are comfortable since that will be the warmest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general guideline on liner size is to buy a liner that matches the size of your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T21:20:33.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13379" CreationDate="2018-03-09T21:33:37.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before rubber soles, mountaineers (and others) used &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobnail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hobnailed&lt;/a&gt; boots &quot;have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear&quot;. There is a nice note &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1928656/most-influential-gear-all-time&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; about Vibram soles replacing hobnailed boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T21:33:37.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18642" CreationDate="2018-03-09T22:29:03.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is how we teach our scouts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When cutting, your primary tool will be an axe (held with two hands) or hatchet (held with one hand), but a bow saw and splitting wedge can also be used.  This focuses mainly on the former two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety clothing&lt;/strong&gt; - gloves, safety goggles/glasses, and close-toed shoes (preferably boots)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety location&lt;/strong&gt; - choose an area safe from children and pets, lest they distract you or they get hit with wood chips.  Rope or tape off an area that no one goes inside while anyone already inside has cutting tools in hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety of others&lt;/strong&gt; - be sure no one is in front of you or behind you; check often&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety in equipment&lt;/strong&gt; - be sure axe, hatchet, and mallet or hammer heads are secure; check often.  Cutting tools should be fairly sharp.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety in technique&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When using an axe or hatchet, never swing at a piece of wood you are holding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When using an axe, cut direction is down your center line, never have your knee or foot on that line, keep feet shoulder-width apart&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never use your foot to secure a piece of wood you're cutting with axe or hatchet.  A foot can secure a piece you're sawing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When using a hatchet, using two hands can make for difficult aim&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never use damaged equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never use equipment when you are fatigued, injured, sick, or distracted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never use headphones while cutting - creates distraction, may not hear people about you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rest often&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;All cutting should be done on a steady wood base to protect against cutting into the ground and hitting rocks or roots which can damage and dull the cutting tools, and which can reduce bounce-back if you strike it the wrong way&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For large pieces of wood (5&quot; or more, depending on your strength, stamina, wood quality, and wood type), you might have best luck starting out with a mallet and splitting wedge.  If you don't have a splitting wedge, start cutting large pieces from the outside working your way inward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lean wood against (or stand it atop) the steady wood base&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid the temptation to use a hammer to the back of an axe or hatchet to cut.  Heads can be brittle and shatter.  A hammer (or rubber mallet) might be used to help dislodge a stuck head&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tips with using an axe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;These are heavy, and is easy to become fatigued with using one&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let the axe head do the work: you don't need to put muscle into the cut, you need to put speed into the cut&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Minimize bending over as you cut down - that creates back aches later on (or sooner)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As you lift the axe, your dominant hand holds the bottom of the axe, your other hand raises the axe by holding the handle near the axe head&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the axe is lifted to its apex, slide your non-dominant hand down to above where your dominant hand is holding, and both hands should be relaxed - no death grips needed or wanted&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the axe is swung down, grip firmly with both hands, just enough to control the axe on its descent, but not with a death grip: that will tend to slow the swing as well as increase fatigue&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look at where you want to cut; don't take your eye off that spot as you raise the axe, or when you lower it&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Breathe in when you lift the axe up, breathe out when you swing down&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stack cut wood periodically to avoid tripping and to make cleanup easy&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tips with using a hatchet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Small pieces can pose a challenge.  I've been known to bend the rules when no one's looking - we all do - but know the proper technique for securing small pieces:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Method one: stand wood upright; PLACE hatchet head at top where you want to split; use your palm or hammer and gently tap the axe to start a split; when hatchet is embedded securely, swing hatchet and wood down into wood base&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Method two: hold wood and hatchet in one hand, and allow hatchet blade to sit on the end of the wood a few inches from the end; use the hatchet and wood like a hammer as you bang into the wood base.  Holding onto the wood here is allowed, because the direction of the hatchet head isn't in the direction of your hands or fingers&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:&#xA;You asked about timing.  That depends on your skill, stamina, quality of tools, type of wood, condition of wood, and thickness of wood.  New pieces of oak will take forever to cut through; old pine can be a breeze to go through.  If you don't have a splitting wedge, that can sap time and endurance as you slog through a large piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You asked about youngest age to cut.  That depends on each child; physical capability is important, as is maturity, and each person is different.  We don't teach Paul Bunyan requirements to anyone younger than 14 and all must demonstrate some degree of physical conditioning.  Those who are 11 and up, and mature enough, can use a hatchet and saw under supervision.  Keep a first aid kit handy, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2018-03-09T22:34:35.110" LastActivityDate="2018-03-09T22:34:35.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1951" CreationDate="2018-03-10T01:48:44.867" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the answers above are great but I would like to add about the rubber wear. If you do commit to buying used climbing shoes, take note of the rubber wear. If the toes are worn unevenly or you can see the that toes or sides are dragged on climbing walls a lot, then that is a sign that they have been used by a new climber, or one with poor footwork, so I would recommend avoiding them. Uneven wear can cut the lifetime of a shoe dramatically, so in that sense it may be worth it to buy a new shoe if you are going to use it regularly, as you will get more use out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2018-03-10T01:48:44.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13379" CreationDate="2018-03-10T08:52:12.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, in many ways the cradle of mountaineering as a sport, it was common to wear traditional shepherds footwear known variously as &lt;em&gt;shepherds boots&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;fell boots&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;hill boots&lt;/em&gt; depending on your location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't need to speculate about how these boots performed, because you can still buy them today. The bootmakers William Lennon of Derbyshire have been making hill boots since the Victorian period using the same designs, materials and methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONSTRUCTION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Ednp.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Ednp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's how Lennon describe the construction of their hill boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Made from reverse tanned waxed kip butt leather which is ultra durable yet very giving and flexible when broken in. Manufactured using the brass screwed and stitched method which incorporates a vegetable tanned leather insole and throughsole for comfort and breathability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boot in the illustration has what is known as a &lt;em&gt;fully sprung sole&lt;/em&gt;. As you can see, there is an upward curve at the toe which reportedly adds a slight spring to the step and eases walking uphill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a party in the Lake District in 1873, wearing very similar boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ogAdt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ogAdt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TRACTION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The soles were heavy gauge double or triple leather, with iron plates to protect the heel and toe and a pattern of single and triple nails for additional traction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhrMM.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhrMM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mountaineering became more popular, more specialised nails became available, and you can find lively discussions about the best patterns to use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kcPrf.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kcPrf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Durability was an issue, as the metal had to be quite soft in order to get a good purchase in the leather of the sole. This wasn't solved till 1912 when a Swiss jeweler invented a way to braise a soft spike to a hard head and launched the Tricouni nail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rubber Vibram soles didn't appear till 1937, and the sole designs we use today reflect the nailing patterns in use at that time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qzRt6.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qzRt6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MAINTENANCE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To condition and waterproof the leather, the boots were dressed with Dubbin. This is a preparation of natural wax, oil and tallow that dates back to Medieval times. I used it as a kid, and it's very effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xCzoa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xCzoa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PERFORMANCE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to users these boots break in well and are very comfortable, waterproof and durable in use. But compared to a modern walking boot, they are heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nailed soles work well on soft ground and snow, but can slip on smooth surfaces and are challenging to use on technical rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One drawback of the nails is that they conduct heat away from the foot in cold weather. It was common to wear a couple of pairs of thick socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FARTHER AFIELD&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can gather, the pioneer climbers in the Western Alps and the USA were wearing similar footwear - there wasn't a great deal of choice at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-03-10T09:54:49.327" LastActivityDate="2018-03-10T09:54:49.327" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5157" CreationDate="2018-03-11T03:40:54.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used sandpaper on my hands for 5 or so years starting when I picked up climbing and had trouble with pretty beat up and blistered hands. I only ever sanded the dry or ragged edges at first, but it has honestly been a long time since I've blistered, and to my mind not from lack of friction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seemed counter intuitive but steady sanding stopping at any discomfort has made my hands feel better, front and back with emphasis on the tips.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skateboard grip tape is really easy to stick to things, like your desk, or steering wheel, hangboard, weights, a piece of scrap wood, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your skin receives consistent friction, it gets stronger, from rock or sandpaper, same same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That has been my personal experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15109" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-11T23:55:20.627" LastActivityDate="2018-03-11T23:55:20.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18703" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-12T09:30:39.157" Score="6" ViewCount="383" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am visiting some relatives in Malaysia. They introduced me to this plant and talk about the health benefits of consuming this plant. I am trying to find out more about this plant, but they could only provide the name in the local dialect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I asked further and confirmed that this plant has a rather roundish white flower. It is currently not blooming so I don't have photos, but the flower is described as small and round, about the size of the first phalanx of the thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The locals call it &quot;Cheng Ma Jin&quot; or some others call it &quot;Tit Ma Cheng&quot;. It might be due to different dialects or just pronunciation since they are mostly elderly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OloGql.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OloGql.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thtpCl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/thtpCl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Whole plant&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xRYgBl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xRYgBl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15096" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T20:34:46.077" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:34:46.077" Title="What is this plant with leaves that have serrated edges, and white flowers, found in Malaysia?" Tags="&lt;plant-identification&gt;&lt;malaysia&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18704" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-12T14:11:29.767" Score="4" ViewCount="750" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 12ft 1963 V bottom starcraft boat that is a little tippy. I would like to add folding pontoons to stop the feeling of tipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes I'm talking about making outriggers. Homemade that will retract when not cruising. The boat is a 1963 V-bottom alum StarCraft. I'm not sure of the weight I believe its around 60-70lbs. I have two ele motors, 30 thrust an a 50 thrust motors. My plan for the boat is fishing and enjoying on a lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I figure were to put them on the craft and how far away/out from the boat should they be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15112" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T20:19:47.457" LastActivityDate="2020-08-02T19:35:27.813" Title="how to calculate adding pontoons to a 12FT aluminum V bottom boat" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15608" CreationDate="2018-03-12T14:12:56.150" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a link to a calculator you can play with: &lt;a href=&quot;https://planetcalc.com/2167/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://planetcalc.com/2167/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let us say that it starts to snow when the relative humidity in the air gets over 100%. You will then see that there is far less moisture in the air -30 centigrade than at 0 centigrade. It is not that there is a sharp cut-off points when it stops to snow. It is just that the air above contains less and less water that can produce a snowfall, as the temperature decreases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12904" LastActivityDate="2018-03-12T14:12:56.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4547" CreationDate="2018-03-13T00:41:31.487" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As of 2017, the majority of PCT thru-hikers are relying on apps. The most popular option is known as &quot;Guthook,&quot; from Atlas Guides. Other popular options include &quot;Halfmile&quot; and &quot;Hikerbot.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These apps are comparable to AWOL's AT guidebook in many ways. While offerings vary between apps, you can expect to find a GPS route of the trail, elevation profiles, locations of campsites, and detailed listings of resupply town resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15115" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T00:41:31.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18708" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18709" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Malaysia" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T01:45:43.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18710" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18711" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Singapore" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T01:46:01.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8808" CreationDate="2018-03-13T08:13:18.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a fantastic aluminium frypan, about 10&quot; across. It was very light, had a good spot near the top of my pack, and could cook a steak, or noodles, or boil water for a drink. It could go on gas, on a hut stove, on coals. Between that and my cups-canteen I was covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also use rectangular mess-kit, exactly like these:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6hyKO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6hyKO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mess kit from aussie disposals&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image Sourced from aussiedisposals.com.au&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as well as an aluminium set kind of like these:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uC2v8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uC2v8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3 piece cook set&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image sourced from urbanoutback.com.au&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 3 piece has the advantage of being a plate and/or frypan and pot, so I can cook more complex meals including steak, onions and mashed potato and gravy. If the hike is longer, with mainly dehydrated foods, noodles, and pasta, I will probably go for the mess-kit. I may save up and get one titanium vessel, but not sure which size/shape yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14998" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-03-15T00:56:24.907" LastActivityDate="2018-03-15T00:56:24.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2018-03-13T08:57:11.427" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;New Zealand has many tracks with river crossings, and it is known that rivers can be deadly if approached without respect. With that in mind, always check out what is down stream for if things go pear-shaped - avoid sieves (branches which you get washed into and held under) as well as rapids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stability wise, you would have the following ranking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots, laced up well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sandels&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bare feet &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;crocs or jandels or similar. I am joking. Just don't. Crocs have the holes in them to allow the last shred of your dignity to escape.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comfort wise, if your boots get wet, then they get a bit heavy. As long as you can dry your feet out in the evening, and have dry socks to start each day, you can last a while with boots getting wet. If they are leather and you have few crossings, you can wring your socks out after each crossing, but I usually don't bother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often use sandals, and they are also handy for having around the camp site in the evening, instead of my big clod-hoppers - though sand flies do make a meal of the ankles where I come from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only cross bare feet if it is a sand or shingle base, as I can't afford to slip and wreck my ankle, or get a deep cut filled with mud. Your feet are your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to remove your boots to cross, do it properly, and TIE them to your pack or belt or something, using the laces. If your boots are just tied to each other and looped around your neck, and you fall over - they are gone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a stout stick about your own height, as a third leg, keeping it upstream. It allows you to maintain two points of contact to the riverbed.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBnhV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBnhV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;NZ River&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;This is a pretty typical South Island river. It might be the Hawden valley just below sudden valley, or possibly the doubtful valley, but I honestly can't remember when I took it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some good advice can be found at the mountain safety council site:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mountainsafety.org.nz/resources/toolbox/river-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NZ Mountain Safety Council&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14998" LastEditorUserId="14998" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T07:05:08.587" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T07:05:08.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18528" CreationDate="2018-03-13T12:31:02.180" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quick synopsis:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Beetles infested tree.  See circular holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Woodpeckers made larger holes to get at the beetles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Tree died.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bark fell off, helped along by animals trying to get to the tasty beetle larva.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more depth, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18063/1854&quot;&gt;my answer&lt;/a&gt; to the question this is a duplicate of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-03-14T14:45:35.460" LastActivityDate="2018-03-14T14:45:35.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18717" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18718" CreationDate="2018-03-13T14:16:47.270" Score="7" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I understand it, you can't combine multiple suncreens to combine their SPF values.  This makes sense as they all work on the same concepts and your skin can't simply &quot;hold more&quot; because it's two different brands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;But how do you measure combined sunscreen&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;clothing?&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;Or for that matter, combined layers of clothing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My instinct is that you would &lt;em&gt;multiply&lt;/em&gt; them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Clothing:   UPF 3, passes 33% of UV.  C=0.33&#xA;Sunscreen:  SPF 5, passes 20% of UV.  S=0.20&#xA;Total = C * S = 0.066, or SPF 15&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone confirm this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bonus question:  &lt;em&gt;What about tan + sunscreen?  Would they add, multiply, or just be the maximum of the two?&lt;/em&gt;  I'm guessing it's &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; the last because black skin with a natural SPF of around 13 still benefits significantly from an SPF 15 sunscreen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15118" LastEditorUserId="15118" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T19:25:57.820" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T19:25:57.820" Title="How to measure combined clothing and sunscreen?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18717" CreationDate="2018-03-13T16:22:31.993" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Purely theoretical (in practice sunscreen isn't as strong as it says on the bottle to begin with) you multiply it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If 1/3rd of the UV photons make it through the first layer, and of those that made it through 1/5th get through the second layer as well, then 1/15th of the original photons made it through both layers, and 3*5=15.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the same for tan, that's melanin, which is a pigment that's great at absorbing light. That's why it looks dark. Any light that gets absorbed does not get through to the living layer of the skin where it can be harmful, because it would need to be not absorbed to do that, so the same idea as for clothing and sunblock applies. So with three layers of protection the total factor would then be 3*5*13(=15*13=10*13+5*13=130+65)=195.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore it does not matter for the protection factor whether the protecting layer reflects light away, which makes it look light or white or in special cases like a mirror, or absorbs it, which makes it look dark or black. As long as the photons don't arrive at the layer below it. (Although I guess you could make a case for several reflecting layers above each other being less effective then several absorbing layers, because they could re-reflect reflected photons back down, but that's taking this theory further than its practical purpose.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice: adjust the numbers for sunscreen down a little, do what usually works for you and get out of the sun when you're getting burned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T16:22:31.993" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18717" CreationDate="2018-03-13T20:12:45.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fine answer of @Monster is correct for UVB rays, but the point raised by @imsodin is pertinent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following information and quotes are taken from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.skincancer.org/prevention/uva-and-uvb&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skin Cancer Foundation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;UVA and UVB&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When talking about sun protection, there are two broad ranges of ultraviolet (UV) light:  UVA and UVB. UVA rays have a wavelength between 320 and 400 nanometers, and UVB rays a wavelength between 290 and 320 nanometers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UVA rays &quot;are 30 to 50 times more prevalent than UVB rays&quot; and go through clouds and glass.  UVA rays cause aging of the skin (wrinkles) and relatively recent evidence implicates UVA rays in skin cancer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UVB rays are the cause of sunburn.  Glass stops most UVB rays. &lt;strong&gt;The SPF factor applies to the UVB rays.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since both UVA and UVB are harmful, you need protection from both&#xA;  kinds of rays. To make sure you're getting effective UVA as well as&#xA;  UVB coverage, look for a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher, plus&#xA;  some combination of the following UVA-screening ingredients:&#xA;  stabilized a avobenzone, ecamsule (a.k.a. MexorylTM), oxybenzone,&#xA;  titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide. &lt;strong&gt;You may see the phrases multi&#xA;  spectrum, broad spectrum or UVA/UVB protection on sunscreen labels,&#xA;  and these all indicate that some UVA protection is provided. However,&#xA;  because there is no consensus on how much protection these terms&#xA;  indicate, such phrases may not be entirely meaningful.&lt;/strong&gt;  (emphasis&#xA;  added).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thus, you cannot calculate the combined protection from multiple protective layers for UVA rays the way you can for UVB rays.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T20:12:45.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18720" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18724" CreationDate="2018-03-13T21:01:23.057" Score="11" ViewCount="749" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a few scuba dives and really enjoy it, except (diving or not) I get cold quickly when submerged. I have very low body fat and relatively low  blood pressure (though I am healthy overall) so it's not a surprise I get cold quickly. Even swimming in tropical waters, it doesn't take long for me to start shivering and getting uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The past few times I've had guided scuba dives, I wore wet suits and was in fairly warm water, but still got so cold by the end of a ~30 minute dive that I had trouble taking full deep breaths, I shivered for a while after getting out of the water, and in some cases I started losing mobility in my fingers (like how it's difficult to grip a pencil if your hands are cold for a while).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I consider doing more scuba diving in the future - both in the tropics and potentially in colder waters if I can find a way for that not to be miserable - I wonder if I should invest in a dry suit or some other equipment to help me mitigate the cold. From reading the Wikipedia page on dry suits &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_suit#Hazards_of_use&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;and their hazards&lt;/a&gt;, I understand dry suits can add some complication. I'm unfamiliar with these details for now, but I'm not worried about needing to learn new things as other than cold I've been comfortable scuba diving so far. Whether dry suit or some other option, &lt;strong&gt;how can I mitigate getting cold so quickly when diving?&lt;/strong&gt; Again emphasizing the context: I get uncomfortably cold even in 30 minute tropical dives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I'm not just asking about what dive suits to use in different temperatures, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10989&quot;&gt;as in this post&lt;/a&gt;. I'm asking about what to do to get over getting cold easily in any temperature water. While the two are related I think there could be nuance to answering my question, addressing unique issues to folks who get cold easily not just people diving in colder waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T15:45:28.590" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T15:45:28.590" Title="How to avoid getting cold when diving?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-03-13T22:44:05.900" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put fabric softeners inside the shoe to keep the scent down or at least smell better and use Fabreze. Those two options have done wonders for me. Also, take your shoes of in between climbs to help prevent further stink accumulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2018-03-13T22:44:05.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18722" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-13T23:35:35.590" Score="4" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;Squirrels bury nuts for future consumption, sometimes many months away. I recently &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18625/do-eastern-grey-squirrels-pretend-to-bury-nuts-in-the-ground&quot;&gt;learned&lt;/a&gt; that tree squirrels, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sciurus_carolinensis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern grey squirrels&lt;/a&gt;, sometimes dig empty holes, pretend to drop nuts in them, then cover them back up. It's a behavior which is generally called either &quot;tactical deception&quot; or &quot;deceptive caching.&quot; It takes place in all squirrel habitats, including backyards, forests, and anyplace where food is available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squirrels do this so that other squirrels, or nut-loving animals, will spend time digging in a recognizable hole, only to find it empty. If squirrels can be deceived in this way, then how do they know where nuts really are? There has to be something to it other than random digging, which seems especially hard to believe in large forests. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do squirrels actually find nuts, either buried by themselves or by others?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-13T23:41:13.847" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:51:03.820" Title="How do squirrels find buried nuts?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18722" CreationDate="2018-03-14T00:42:08.180" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like its a &lt;strong&gt;combination of smell and memory.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Abstract. It has previously been assumed that grey squirrels, Sciurus cqrolinensis, cannot remember the locations of nuts they have buried, and hence must relocate nuts by their odour. This assumption was tested by measuring the accuracy of cache retrieval of captive squirrels. Each squirrel was released alone into an outdoor arena,where it cached 10 hazel nuts. After a delay of 2,4 or 12 days, each squirrel was returned to the arena and tested for its ability to retrieve nuts from its own cache sites and from 10 cache sites used by other squirrels. Although each squirrel's own caches were close to the caches of other squirrels, the squirrels retrieved significantly more nuts from their own sites than from sites used by other squirrels, after all delays. &lt;strong&gt;The retrieval accuracy of the squirrels under these conditions indicates that while grey squirrels can locate buried nuts by their odour, they can also remember the &#xA;   individual locations of nuts they have buried.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A greater .number of a squirrel's own caches ('own') retrieval than caches of other squirrels ('other') relative to the numbers of each cache type available, was taken as positive evidence for memory of cache location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Memory of cache locations, even in the absence&#xA;  of competitors or predators, may have additional&#xA;  adaptive value if it increases a squirrel's retrieval&#xA;  efficiency. The squirrels in this study appeared to&#xA;  minimize their retrieval searcli paths by running&#xA;  directly from one patch oftrvo or three caches to the&#xA;  next, harvesting the caches r&quot;ith little ;e-tracing of&#xA;  their path; this can be seen in the sequence of&#xA;  retrievals illustrated in Fig. l. &lt;strong&gt;If so, this would indicate&#xA;  that grey squirrels, like chimpanzees Pan&#xA;  troglodytes (Menzel, 1973), can remember a series&#xA;  of locations in relation to each other and use this&#xA;  information to form a cognitive map,&lt;/strong&gt; where information&#xA;  about cache sites may be encoded&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An&#xA;  interesting implication of these results is that the&#xA;  squirrels employed two methods to find caches:&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;they returned to sites where they had buried nuts&#xA;  and they searched for the odour of buried nuts.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Under the conditions of this experiment, either the&#xA;  first method was used more often than the second,&#xA;  or it succeeded more often. Perhaps these methods&#xA;  are used simultaneously: squirrels might sniff the&#xA;  ground for odour cues while they are orienting to&#xA;  the locations of remembered cache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://jacobs.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Animal-Behaviour-1991-Jacobs.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grey squirrels remember the locations of buried nuts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was also a study that found that the squirrels &lt;strong&gt;were organizing their nuts to make them easier to remember&lt;/strong&gt; and find when gathered from a single source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Squirrels either collected each nut from a different location or collected all nuts from a single location; we then mapped their subsequent cache distributions using GPS. The chunking hypothesis predicted that squirrels would spatially organize caches by nut species, regardless of presentation order. &lt;strong&gt;Our results instead demonstrated that squirrels spatially chunked their caches by nut species but only when caching food that was foraged from a single location. This first demonstration of spatial chunking in a scatter hoarder underscores the cognitive demand of scatter hoarding.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/9/170958&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caching for where and what: evidence for a mnemonic strategy in a scatter-hoarder&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T20:51:03.820" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:51:03.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18720" CreationDate="2018-03-14T09:25:01.813" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you need your very own wetsuit, preferably one that is made for cold waters. Not sure if you can be too warm in a wetsuit, honestly, I am not an expert in this, but you definitely need a warmer one than an average person in a particular water temperature. And if you rent a wetsuit from a diving school, you get whatever they have available. You might try asking whether they have warmer suits, but I think in general, especially in tropical countries, they will not have much variety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another problem with wetsuits is that they have to fit you perfectly. It should be difficult (yet possible) to put it on/ take it off, and it should be as tight as possible. Because if there is any space for water/air in between the wetsuit and your body, you will be cold. I myself am tall, and when renting wetsuits in Asia I was constantly given ones that were way too big for me widthwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you decide to buy a wetsuit, you could check out this for choosing the correct thickness: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.evo.com/guides/wetsuit-thickness-and-temperature-chart&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wetsuit Thickness Guide &amp;amp; Temperature Chart&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And this video for getting the correct size: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNv3vmfFwwg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Finding the Right Fit (Youtube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-03-14T22:53:44.423" LastActivityDate="2018-03-14T22:53:44.423" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18720" CreationDate="2018-03-14T13:48:14.383" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As an answer that will be of immediate use without investing a lot of money:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can wear &lt;strong&gt;two wetsuits, one over the other&lt;/strong&gt;. I have done this in the past when the rental place couldn't provide a warm enough one in my needed size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will restrict your mobility a little, so this is certainly not an optimal solution - but it's cheap, and you can probably ask for it almost anywhere you're renting a wetsuit (maybe pay a bit extra).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course buying a properly fitted wetsuit in the thickness that you need is still the far superior option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-03-14T13:48:14.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18726" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18327" CreationDate="2018-03-14T19:15:21.860" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am the lead hardware engineer for Backcountry Access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interference from personal electronic devices (PED) is very real, and it can range anywhere from minimal impact to severe.  The reasons are a little complicated to understand, but basically the worst case is if the PED emits a signal at or very close to 457kHz, which is the beacon frequency.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;LED headlamps could have an internal regulator or dimmer emitting large signals in this band unintentionally. The dimming circuitry can actually make the problem much worse! If you absolutely must have an LED light near the searching beacon, the best thing you can do is to switch it to full brightness, so that the dimming circuitry is less likely to cause problems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beacon designers do everything possible to minimize this problem, but we have no control over other electronic devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cell phones and other devices don't intentionally transmit here but they emit broadband noise and other signals which makes it more difficult to hear weak beacon signals.  Two way radios, MP3 players, even something like a digital watch or heart rate monitor could emit a signal that interferes. (REALLY!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Airplane mode&quot; turns off the radios in the phone, but those are the LEAST of the problem!  The processor itself, display, and much other internal circuitry is still on, and can still emit enough signal to mask a beacon unless you are very close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nature of the interference will change with different operating modes (play vs standby etc) and as the battery level changes, or at different temperatures, so a device that doesn't seem to cause a problem today can be worse or severe tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing you can do is to turn those devices OFF when searching. &#xA;The second best is to get those devices away from the search area.&#xA;In general doubling the distance from the PED to the beacon receiver will cut the interference by 4x.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An old analog beacon like the Ortovox F1 can be used to illustrate the problem because it allows you to hear what the beacon electronics are trying to deal with. You might find it interesting to grab one cheap on Ebay and have a listen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a practical standpoint, the biggest threat is electronics carried by the searchers which can create signals that interfere with the ability of the receivers to hear weak beacon signals at larger distances. Electronic noise emitted by PEDs carried by the victim are not an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the lab, I can place my cell phone a few inches away from a transmitting beacon. When the beacon is off, my cell phone noise is detectable at about 1.5 meters. Some phones are worse, some are better. With the beacon transmitting, the cell phone noise is completely undetectable during the beacon transmissions.  In between beacon pulses, the cell phone again becomes detectable.  From a few meters away our to full range, the cell phone will be undetectable while the beacon transmitter will be clear.   Get that Ortovox and have a listen! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is conceivable that PEDs on the victim could, at very short range, confuse the searcher by showing up as a second weak signal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metals &lt;strong&gt;VERY&lt;/strong&gt; close to the transmitter (inches) can cause an increase in power consumption in transmit mode, and can distort the field which might cause errors in pinpointing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we get into what &quot;&lt;strong&gt;could&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; happen, it can get confusing, and I don't want to risk creating any more myths about how beacons work, but I do want to answer completely and honestly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15122" LastEditorUserId="15122" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T15:08:57.730" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T15:08:57.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18727" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-15T13:11:39.957" Score="4" ViewCount="2382" Body="&lt;p&gt;Please note I am not asking 'in what conditions some compasses can develop a bubble', what I am asking is, why can't manufacturers make liquid filled compasses that will not, ever, develop bubbles.  If we take atmospheric pressure (i.e. 'altitude') as a cause of bubbles, I fail to see why a compass could not tolerate the pressure difference.  At the top of Mt Everest atmospheric pressure is ~1/3 of sea level.  That's not a lot, especially if we consider that we can manufacture equipment for diving that survives without a problem to much greater pressure changes.  Making a case/liquid that would not bubble in the cold should also not be such trial.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why do we still have compasses that develop bubbles in 2018?  I accept that people now use GPS units and such, so the actual R&amp;amp;D for boring compasses is probably little, but I am surprised nonetheless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2902" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-15T19:18:10.747" LastActivityDate="2020-05-25T15:42:00.123" Title="Why do compasses develop bubbles?" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18727" CreationDate="2018-03-15T14:41:54.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Either small leaks or changes in atmospheric pressure. However &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15045/8794&quot;&gt;if the bubble is less than 1/4 inch across it won't affect accuracy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bubbles can form from high elevation or exposure to cold temperatures, which cause the liquid to contract, leaving an air bubble behind. Usually, the bubble will disappear when the compass is returned to sea level and/or room temperature.&lt;/strong&gt; If it doesn't, place it in a warm spot-like a sunny windowsill-so the liquid can heat, expand, and return to it's normal volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpacker.com/gear/compass-bubbles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Compass Bubbles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A compass is usually filled with water or compass oil, which is a mixture of water and mineral spirits. Bubbles usually emerge in compasses as a result of drastic atmospheric pressure changes or a slight leak in the housing material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goneoutdoors.com/bubble-out-compass-8568883.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, magnetic compasses are designed to not have a bubble; if you see a bubble, the chances of a leak is high. This may seem unlikely to you, because you may not have noticed any fluid escaping from the compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your compass has most likely developed a very small leak, which has allowed some fluid to escape. When you observe the bubble in the morning, your compass is cool and the missing fluid has caused a bubble to form. As the temperature rises, the fluid expands, thereby taking up volume and making the bubble disappear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mrs-marine.com.my/index.php/technical-info/magnetic-compass-frequently-asked-questions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of patents on compasses with efforts to solve this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A method of preventing air bubbles in a compass equipped with fluid expansion capability, &lt;strong&gt;wherein a compass unit is assembled with a fluid expansion diaphragm; the compass unit is filled with fluid expanding the diaphragm, and sealed while maintaining the diaphragm in its expanded state for preventing air bubbles in reduced pressure and/or reduced temperature conditions,&lt;/strong&gt; without significantly changing the basic structure of the compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Description&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FIELD OF INVENTION&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This invention relates to an air bubble free compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BACKGROUND OF INVENTION&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some compasses are designed with a housing which includes a neoprene expansion diaphragm that allows for expansion of the damping oil when the compass is subjected to heat which can occur when the compass is in the sun on the bridge of a ship. The diaphragm expands and contracts maintaining proper fluid pressure in the compass unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://patents.google.com/patent/US5469631&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Air bubble free compass and method of manufacturing same&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A compass housing capable of withstanding high external pressure such as encountered in deep submergence applications. The housing includes a pair of hemispherical portions interconnected to form a sealed enclosure and at least one portion being formed of a resilient material capable of expansion and contraction in the presence of varying differential pressure conditions. The housing is completely filled with a damping liquid under pressure to provide an internal pressure higher than atmospheric pressure such that in the presence of higher external pressures, the inner and outer pressures tend to equalize, thereby minimizing the differential pressure on the housing itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://patents.google.com/patent/US4004348&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;High pressure compass housing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the invention, the rst-mentioned object is realized by the liquid being enclosed within a chamber formed of a cover portion of transparent material and -a. thin resilient bottom portion secured thereto, this bottom portion being adapted to adjust itself to the changes of volume of the enclosed liquid caused by variations in temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter object is fullled, according to `the invention, by the compass needle being arranged on a pin Whichis carried by an intermediate partition or bridge, a frame or the like arranged between the transparent cover and the resilient bottom, the said partition or the like being provided with openings and being so arranged that the distance of the needle from -.the cover remains substantially consta-nt in spite of the move-v ments on the resilient bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://patents.google.com/patent/US2136970&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fluid compass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T00:57:08.270" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18642" CreationDate="2018-03-15T21:50:36.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Started as comment but then I realized it's getting too long).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short version: quite in contrast to Monster's advise, I recommend to start with a splitting maul if possible, because the splitting maul features fewer possibilities to hurt yourself than axes and hatchets. If your wood is too soft for the maul, go for a large splitting axe instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long version:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's how I learned splitting wood:  with a splitting maul and mostly oak.&#xA;Initially, we kids weren't allowed to handle the hatchet as being too dangerous. The splitting maul practically implies a minimum age, having a 3 kg head and ≈ 90 cm handle. &#xA;I don't remember exactly when I started, I guess it came slowly as I grew up and became able to lift the splitting maul more and more easily... I remember birthday party games  &quot;how many hits to hammer the nail completely into the log/to split this log&quot; were I wasn't participating as having an unfair advantage. Not sure about the &lt;strong&gt;age&lt;/strong&gt;, but probably around 12 or 13. As you asked about teaching &lt;strong&gt;her&lt;/strong&gt;, I'm a woman, btw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Choice of tool: hatchet vs. axe vs. splitting maul&lt;/strong&gt;, in general and for learning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Handbeil.jpg/320px-Handbeil.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Handbeil.jpg/320px-Handbeil.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hatchet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Axt_zum_spalten.jpg/320px-Axt_zum_spalten.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Axt_zum_spalten.jpg/320px-Axt_zum_spalten.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;axe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eB8NA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eB8NA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;splitting maul&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A hatchet has about 800 g head weiht and some 30 cm handle. It is typically used one-handed, although I was taught (and highly recommend this) that the safest place for the second hand is: also at the handle. The handle is so short that you can easily cut off fingers or chop into your leg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A general-purpose axe has typically about (1 - ) 1.5 kg head, and (40 -) 70 cm handle. It is used in two-handed fashion. Much less dangerous for your fingers, but will easily chop your lower legs. Felling axes are not meant for splitting wood, but for felling trees and cutting off branches.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A splitting axe is heavier (2.5 kg head) with e.g. 80 cm handle and a broader wedge shaped head. This is the serious splitting tool in softwood regions. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A splitting maul has about 3 kg head. In contrast to the axe, the head has a more hammer/mallet shaped back side and the wedge is still broader.  The handle is about 90 cm long, recommendation is that it should end at your belly button. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now the cool thing in terms of working safety is: the maul's head will hit the ground in front of you. It is basically impossible to chop yourself with a maul. Similar but a bit tighter for a splitting axe with 80 cm handle.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hatchet and general-purpose and felling axes work by &lt;em&gt;cutting&lt;/em&gt; whereas the maul works by splitting (wedging). This also means: the axe and hatchet need to be kept sharp. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The heavier the head and the longer the handle, the bigger logs you can split. Both in length and diameter. Smaller tools can be split with the heavier tools quite easily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A maul is very efficient with hard woods: oak, beech etc. Softer woods like spruce may be like trying to split rubber, a splitting axe is better for them. Or wait till the wood is frozen, the maul then works nicely.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;OTOH, if you try to split oak with an axe you'll spend the major part of your time trying to get the stuck axe out again.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hatchet and hatchet-type axe work better on shorter logs. We mostly split 40 or 50 cm logs (or 1 m), hatchet and axe are OK with shorter pieces for the small stove (say, 20 or 25 cm). Heavy splitting axes are used also for large pieces of softwood. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short pieces need a chopping block below (see axe image). 40 or 50 cm pieces (up to 80 cm - but that's an unusual size) are best split standing on the ground with the maul, 1 m logs lying. 1m logs typiclly need a wedge + hammer/mallet/maul (steel wedges are forbidden over here for safety reasons, aluminum ones are preferred, steel + wood wedges work as well) - see e.g. this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulp3PbxdG7k&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tutorial video by the Bavarian State Forestry&lt;/a&gt; featuring splitting axe in the first part and splitting maul towards the end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the maul gets stuck in hard wood, you can usually wedge some smaller piece of wood in below the maul to prevent the crack from completely closing when you take out the maul. If it gets stuck in one of those &quot;rubber&quot; types of wood, rethink the strategy (this depends also on what other tools are available: chain saw? motorized splitter?). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I find 50 cm logs most efficient for the oak: right size for the maul, most are just done with one or a few hits. Smaller pieces are almost same effort for much less wood, 1 m logs are inefficient: wedging is slow, at least oak in the thickness that needs to be split as 1 m log needs a wedge. Chainsaw is a faster alternative to the wedge, or a motorized splitter (which is still slower than splitting 2 50 cm pieces by maul).   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some secrets of the trade: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll need to hit thick logs with the maul with about the same precision as thin and short logs with the hatchet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You want to hit the very core of the log. That's where it splits easily. Chopping at a secant line typically needs far more force, and comes at the danger of deflecting your tool sideways.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are more considerations, like using existing cracks, whether you try to avoid a branch or rather split it exactly in the middle, etc. Experience is needed to just see or know what to do.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learning the required precision in hitting will take time. You can know a good part of the &quot;theory&quot; after the half hour mentioned in another answer, but unless you're quite professional handling sledgehammers, you'll need quite a while to get to the necessary force, speed and precision.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Handles are a prolongation of your arm: use all those tools with elongated arms, one hand is at the very end of the handle, the other a bit above. With the maul it is easier to lift it with the 2nd hand further up the handle, but slide it down when hitting (can be seen in the tutorial video). Everything else is super fatiguing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other people already gave some good &lt;strong&gt;safety&lt;/strong&gt; advice. Let me add: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure there is no clothes line in the vicinity. It's an ugly experience to have axe or maul being sprung back unexpectedly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots (I typcially wear the chain-saw safety boots I anyways have) are &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; better than shoes. Even though the maul won't hit your legs or feet, you will hit pieces of wood against your shins.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Largest danger zone is behind and in front of you (because of the tool), but pieces of wood will fly sideways. And I sometimes find it faster to turn around the piece of wood to align myself with the direction of easiest splitting than to turn a log that doesn't want to stand in another direction, so front and sideways may change...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, but not least: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The maul handles break mostly because too long hits mean the wooden handle instead of the head meats the wood. All this happens &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; to beginners, and it tends to slowly chip away the handle on the front side just below the head. If you look closely, you can see a bit of this at the axe image.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This chipping can be prevented by a &lt;strong&gt;protective sleeve&lt;/strong&gt;. Some manufacturers sell their mauls with such a protection, we use a 10 cm piece of HDPE pipe (the thick pressure rated stuff used for water supply), slit open at the back and bent into the needed form (by heating). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T01:20:35.480" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T01:20:35.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18732" CreationDate="2018-03-16T05:12:38.317" Score="1" ViewCount="280" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have one question asking where it is &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15044/is-it-normal-for-a-compass-to-develop-an-air-bubble-at-high-altitude&quot;&gt;normal for a compass to have bubbles&lt;/a&gt; and another asking &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18727/why-do-compasses-develop-bubbles&quot;&gt;why compasses get bubbles&lt;/a&gt;, but we do not have a question clearly asking &lt;strong&gt;if handheld compasses exist that do not get bubbles.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So are there handheld compasses that do not get bubbles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T20:35:13.690" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T16:04:55.563" Title="Are there bubble free handheld compasses?" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18731" CreationDate="2018-03-16T05:12:38.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is yes, there are bubble free compasses. It seems that the trick to getting a compass to not have bubbles is to use a thermo-elastic capsule which flexes with the temperature changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;K&amp;amp;R's &lt;strong&gt;thermo-elastic capsule&lt;/strong&gt; is flexible, not brittle. This accomplishes two things: 1) the &lt;strong&gt;capsule flexes with temperature and altitude changes to keep out bubbles&lt;/strong&gt;, and 2) the capsule doesn't develop leaking hairline cracks when you drop it (or step on it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thecompassstore.com/m1sport.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Cruiser's instruments are housed in a rugged zinc body with a t&lt;strong&gt;hermo-elastic capsule for durable bubble-free performance,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bestmadeco.com/products/cruiser-compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like not many manufactures make these types of handheld compasses, &lt;strong&gt;but they do exist.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T16:04:55.563" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T16:04:55.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18734" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-16T14:36:47.410" Score="8" ViewCount="405" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from Munich, Germany. There is a German highest mountain Zugspitze (2.962m) close to the city (2 hours with a train), and I want to climb it in spring. Base camp is 700m high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of possible ways to hike there. Each takes from 8 to 10 hours and has from 8 to 21 km. I prefer the 21km road, because its the easiest one and starts from train station in the city under the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About me: 20 years old, fit, BMI 22-23, have done swimming for 2 years, now do gym 3 times a week. I also can run, 5 km with 5-6 pace, larger distances are boring for me. Now I quit running to gain some weight. I'm also a skier, have been skiing in Tirol, Austria, pretty high 2200-3400m altitude, so I can imagine what it's like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I'm not much into hiking, have done it a couple of times as I was a kid, how can I prepare my body for such a hike? I suppose I need some kind of endurance training and do more leg days in a gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To mention, I have suitable gear, such as hiking boots (Haix P9), and baselayers and backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll appreciate any helpful advice or strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suggested below answer &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/464/what-are-some-proven-methods-of-training-for-week-long-backpacking-trips-at-high&quot;&gt;What are some proven methods of training for week long backpacking trips at high altitude?&lt;/a&gt; has more information about acclimatisation and long trips. But was useful in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found the information about altitude sickness in this one: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6285/altitude-sickness-when-going-from-sea-level-to-14-000-ft-4-200m-in-a-single-da?rq=1&quot;&gt;Altitude sickness when going from sea level to 14,000 ft (4,200m) in a single day&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15132" OwnerDisplayName="Mykyta Ivaniuk" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T19:53:46.270" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T10:40:01.223" Title="How can I prepare my body for a relatively hard hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18735" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18793" CreationDate="2018-03-16T15:06:04.973" Score="7" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year I was snowboarding in Tignes (France). I was coming down a steep red run into La Daille (Orange on the map below) when I lost my edge (heel side). I'm not a great snowboarder...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wXjvy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wXjvy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I ended up falling forwards (not seriously) with my feet facing down the slope. I landed on my backside and started sliding down the steep icy slope. I was in a sitting position and wanted to simply get back onto my board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing I did seems to either &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a) stop my slide or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;b) allow me to get enough traction on my edge to get back up onto my&#xA;board.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up sliding down the whole slope on my bum, complete with plumes of snow shooting into the air from my board. It was quite spectacular (to the point where people on the overhead chair lift whooped and cheered me much to my embarrassment). I do have a video off my go-pro somewhere, I'll have to see if I can dig it out...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While sliding, I tried to lever myself back on top of the board but I couldn't gain enough traction to actually lift myself off the snow and I couldn't get my edge to dig into the snow enough to slow/stop me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I have done here? I know the real solution was to not lose my edge in the first place, but presuming I have, how do I arrest my slide and/or regain my edge and stand back onto the board?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-16T19:42:44.863" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T21:05:08.007" Title="How can you regain your feet when you lose an edge snowboarding on steep terrain?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18734" CreationDate="2018-03-16T20:44:51.207" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mountain you're planning to hike is similar in size to the mountains I climb in the Canadian Rockies. I grew up climbing mountains, but I've never been one for training, especially running. If I was you I'd just go climb the mountain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was in University I led a group of guys on a multi-day backpacking trip in the mountains near where I grew up, I was nervous because I knew a couple of them were runners and spent a lot of time jogging each day; I doubted my fitness in comparison. On the hike it became apparent that I was the strongest hiker carrying a big bag, the reason being that out of everyone in the group, I had spent my youth carrying big bags on long hikes. The others were athletic, but had trained their bodies to perform during different activities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, on another occasion when I took a group of boys out backpacking there was one 17 year old boy who had never carried a bag in his life, but was heavily involved in team sports. He stormed the trail like nothing could slow him down leaving everyone else in his dust, and did it without breaking a sweat. To add insult to injury he did it wearing an old pair of gym sneakers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're reasonably fit, and have a good pair of footwear, then I'd say you're adequately prepared to take that hike on. The only thing you'll need to learn is how to pace yourself. If you don't know how to pace yourself, you'll figure out your pace after about an hour of hard hiking when you're exhausted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would serve you better than physical training, is practical knowledge. Learn some basic mountain safety and first aid. Those skills will serve you better in the mountains than how many leg days you do in a week.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T20:44:51.207" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18720" CreationDate="2018-03-16T21:04:23.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought I would weigh in with the other method you mentioned. Drysuits. You would need to take a course to use it safely, there is more to it than diving in a wetsuit. As someone who primarily dives in a drysuit, they are worth the effort of learning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now to the aspects of the actual suit. The issue will be cost. Both for a course and the suit itself. The course, for me at least, cost £160. A cheap suit will be about £500. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For warmer diving I would suggest neoprene, it can be comfortable in waters up to about 24°c and with an undersuit down to about 5°c (at least that is the coldest I have been in comfortably)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fair few people will tell you that a course isn't necessary, but I would strongly recommend it. With a course you can rent one and see if you like diving in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2018-03-16T21:04:23.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18738" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18739" CreationDate="2018-03-17T10:37:13.220" Score="10" ViewCount="517" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backpacks that we use are typically categorized in litres (Or liters if you are an American English follower).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whats is the point?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why don't we have backpacks that are categorized as for example 70 kg instead of 70 L?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T16:41:32.917" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T16:41:32.917" Title="Why are backpacks sized in liters?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18738" CreationDate="2018-03-17T11:12:29.627" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because the characteristic of a backpack in question is volume or how much content it can hold, not mass. An extreme example: If I fill lead into a 20l pack, I get ~225kg, if I fill styropor into a 50l pack, I get about 2.5kg. Mass is still specified sometimes to give the empty mass of a pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to specify max loaded mass as either a limit for what the backpack can structurally take without taking damage or a limit for what the carrying system (shoulder, hip straps) are designed for. But these are different concerns and both are very imprecise. Maybe the max load without the pack taking damage could be estimated and the producer could recommend a max load to be carried with the pack, but as with any &quot;soft manufacturer recommendations&quot;, that wouldn't be much help, as the human carrying the weight will be the limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-03-17T16:22:26.000" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T16:22:26.000" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18740" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18741" CreationDate="2018-03-17T12:53:57.030" Score="97" ViewCount="40439" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some time ago, while driving on a snowy road, someone told me a kind of horror story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It involved a guy who was driving alone with an old car on an overland road in Siberia during winter, so the temperature was supposedly well below freezing. The car stopped working, and with no cellphone reception or anyone else driving on this road, he consequently froze to death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I don't think this was a true story and was of course very careless, it nevertheless made me wonder. &lt;strong&gt;What would be the best course of action in such a situation, i.e. where I find myself with a broken car many (possible hundreds) of miles away from larger roads, cell towers and villages?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12153" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T15:55:48.800" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T19:16:16.163" Title="My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="14" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="32" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-17T13:01:36.663" Score="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;When travelling on extremely remote roads, you need to prepare for the worst.  This is even more true if you are travelling in a climate where the weather might kill you within days, such as in extreme cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a car break down once at -35°C.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/70597590#map=11/66.9317/21.0732&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;That road&lt;/a&gt; in Northern Sweden wasn't as remote as the one in Siberia you describe, as it still had maybe two cars per hour during the day.  We were around 30 km from the nearest town.  It could have been quite bad at night, as apart from travelling together, we had not really prepared as we should have, although I do think we had mobile phone coverage (but batteries can die quickly when it's very cold!).  Fortunately we were travelling with two cars so we were fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bmBgE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bmBgE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cold&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;The day before our car broke down (the road in the picture is much busier than the road where our car broke down).&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Travel in a group.  That means a group of cars.  If one car breaks down, you might be surprised how many can squeeze into the other when they must.  You may also be able to tow the broken car with people in it, but it gets very cold very quickly in the car being towed, so you may not want to do this for too long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always bring enough food and shelter such that you can survive for some days in case your car breaks down and you need to wait a long time.  That may mean full camping gear (at least a warm sleeping bag) and perhaps fuel to make a fire (making a fire from wood alone can reportedly be hard at -40°C).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a satellite-phone so you can call for help (unless you're absolutely certain of full mobile phone coverage).  A PLB or similar emergency beacon might work as well.  Make sure your emergency beacon has global coverage, including high latitudes, and does not rely on mobile networks or geostationary satellites.  In some remote areas, such as along the Labrador Highway, motorists can rent or borrow those from the authorities.  Make sure the batteries are full and that both device and batteries are designed to work at low temperatures.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Thanks to Pont for reminding me of this one): Leave a travel plan with a trusted source.  Tell them when you expect to be in safety, and report that you are when you have arrived.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Thanks to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18744/566&quot;&gt;Willekes answer&lt;/a&gt;): See if you can repair the car!  Even if you are prepared, surviving for days at -40°C is not funny (unless you're a hardcore polar adventurer).  As a corollary, when you venture out in remote areas with dangerous weather, bring spare car parts to cover common faults, and practice the skill of carrying out those fixes in the field.  It might save your life.  Several other answers have specific advice related to emergency car repair.  See also this &lt;a href=&quot;https://makezine.com/2017/02/01/return-makeshift-challenge-dead-car-battery/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;MakeShift Challenge article&lt;/a&gt; going into some detail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar principles apply when travelling in a hot desert, although then the primary danger is dehydration rather than freezing to death.  In hot deserts I tend to have about 20 litre of water per person in the car (which should be enough to survive a week).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if you've done nothing of this?  What if you decided you only needed shorts and sandals because it's warm in the car and at your destination, and you didn't bring much food because it was &quot;only&quot; an 8 hour drive?  In this case, there is very little you can do but to hope for survival (or pray, if that's your thing).  The situation is described in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQuLJ0uzNls&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a Swedish pop song&lt;/a&gt;, where someone does exactly that.  Ultimately he stumbles out of the car and starts to walk (he has no clue exactly where he is, the song predates both satellite navigation or mobile phones), only to fall into the snow, be pushed off the road when the snowplough comes along, and die a cold death out on a frozen swamp.  Don't let that be you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T13:30:38.290" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T13:30:38.290" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2018-03-17T13:02:14.833" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started to feed these smart cautious birds a few years ago in my back yard in the winter. In my amazement they are also guardian birds for morning doves. I had watched these crows chase and intervene a hawk in my yard trying to catch a dove. They have done this several times. So I am definitely loving and feeding these amazing birds. What is truly amazing is to watch them bring their babies to feed in the spring. I feed them all our left over table scraps, meats and they do like the sunflower seeds from the bird feeders that drop to the ground. &#xA;Eva  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15138" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T13:02:14.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-17T18:28:51.697" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always learned that when you go to remote areas you should have at least a basic knowledge of car repair and depending on the make of car and the area you go to your knowledge should be good to expert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your first action should be looking whether you can repair it, with what you have and where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is not possible, you go to what the answer by @Gerrit tells you and you use your emergency pack as well as trying to contact people.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If there might be people in line of sight, even not in direct sight, starting a fire which smokes by day might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-03-17T18:48:54.697" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T18:48:54.697" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-17T18:41:58.330" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are hundreds of miles away from anyone else, getting out of the car and walking is a stupid idea. Chances are you'll die before reaching anyone or you get lost. If someone goes out looking for you they'll probably take the road/fly along the road to search for you, so as long as you stay close to the road eventually they'll find our car. Thus, keeping the car on/close to the road and staying close to or inside your car is the best course of action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to what gerrit said, how about taking a flare gun and enough ammo with you? In case you hear a rescue helicopter flying around or people calling your name it's a good way to signal them where you are. Especially when there is a snowstorm or heavy fog this will help the search teams find you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, and this might sound silly: If there is absolutely nothing you can do, like not being able to get the car working again and walking is not an option, but the only option is to wait, possibly for several days, then I think having a book, a guitar or something else to keep your mind calm and occupied would be a good idea. Boredom combined with fear of death can have bad effects on a person's rationality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15141" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-17T21:31:55.617" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T21:31:55.617" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2018-03-17T18:45:52.940" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a teen I have helped to raise an orphan (European) crow, which was hand tame when it approached my parents in the local park. Clearly had been fed by humans and was not yet able to eat himself, played with the piece of bread it was offered and opened it bill when my mother had some bread soaked in water on her finger. So she took it home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were advised to give it bird food meant for insect eaters (which is readily available from the pet shop), mixed with water, as long as it needed to be hand fed. When growing to eat by itself the advice was to combine the bird food with live insects and other creepy and crawlies as long as he liked them.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Besides, fruit, cheese, (hard boiled) eggs, bread, peas, the wormlets living in the peas, fresh grounded meat and whatever else the crow showed interest in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not given, but a favorite if he could get its bill in, butter. By preference a bite out of the middle of a new stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as the bird was able to eat them, we showed it the insects, spiders and so on that lived in and near the house, teaching him his natural food.&#xA;We had him fly freely outside almost from the start, taking him in at night, first in the house and later in the shed.&#xA;He lived with us for a whole year and came in for some food and company the next summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note: We were happy to help out the bird but it was a relief when it decided not to return after living out for the summer, it was a very curious animal and would peck open every box in the shed where he lived, would take out small items and hide them in other areas. And make a great mess of the area around its food bowl. And he would try to peck the paper boys and mail men, (till we taught those to try to hit it with the newspaper in their hand.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-03-18T09:45:58.033" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T09:45:58.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-17T21:53:12.777" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Basic car survival kit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flares&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dehydrated food&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Signal mirror&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Map and compass (not for hiking. Need to know what direction the nearest people would be to use the sinal mirror effectively)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water (at least 1 gal, more if you will be more than 50 miles from help at &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; point)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Battery operated multi-channel handheld radio (many places have relays along the highway, so as long as range is better than a mile or so, should be okay. A 10-20min walk would get a response)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spare tire, car battery, jack, 1st aid kit, and a car charger.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should be altered depending on climate, but it's good for a start and every car should have this before any trip anyway. Even to work. Never know what might happen or what might be useful at any given time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15143" LastActivityDate="2018-03-17T21:53:12.777" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18748" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-17T23:46:27.383" Score="6" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've had at least one &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9573/what-should-i-feed-ravens-crows&quot;&gt;discussion&lt;/a&gt; about what to feed birds in the crow and raven families in our yards. This question is about the most effective way to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When setting up the feeding areas of our yard, we often keep the small birds in mind. However, we've seen the small and medium sized birds chase the larger ones, including crows/ravens, off the feeders, away from birdbaths, and around the yard, so we know size is not necessarily an indicator of dominance. I'd like to know what conditions and accommodations might be the most conducive to keeping those big birds here.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an optimal time of day to feed these birds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the foods they eat from feeders, are certain types of feeders better than others? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does placement of food (either in feeders or on the ground) matter in terms of proximity to things in the yard, such as &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other bird feeders&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;birdbaths&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;trees, bushes, plants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;houses, sheds or other structures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other factors should be considered to make sure ravens and crows get the right amount of healthy food? Since they tend to eat most of the same types of foods, I'm assuming the factors would be the same or similar. If that's not the case, would you kindly answer for whichever one you know, and specify it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-18T22:13:57.503" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T00:09:47.210" Title="What factors should be considered when helping to feed crows/ravens in the yard?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;crows&gt;&lt;ravens&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18720" CreationDate="2018-03-18T02:09:33.160" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider a semi-dry suit. Here is a description of one from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scubadoctor.com.au/diveshop/index.php?main_page=index&amp;amp;cPath=311_79&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scuba Doctor&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Semi-dry suits are effectively a thick wetsuit with better-than-usual&#xA;  seals at wrist, neck and ankles. The seals limit the volume of water&#xA;  entering and leaving the suit. The wearer gets wet in a semi-dry suit&#xA;  but the water that enters is soon warmed up and does not leave the&#xA;  suit readily, so the wearer remains warm. The trapped layer of water&#xA;  does not add to the suit's insulating ability. Any residual water&#xA;  circulation past the seals still causes heat loss. But semi-dry suits&#xA;  are cheap and simple compared to dry suits. They are made from thick&#xA;  Neoprene, which provides good thermal protection. They lose buoyancy&#xA;  and thermal protection as the trapped gas bubbles in the Neoprene&#xA;  compress at depth. Semi-dry suits can come in various configurations&#xA;  including a single piece or two pieces, made of 'long johns' and a&#xA;  separate 'jacket'. Semi dry suits do not usually include boots, so a&#xA;  separate pair of insulating boots are worn. They are used typically&#xA;  where the water temperature is between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I too have low blood pressure and get cold easily, and use an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aqualung.com/au/dive-gear/wetsuits/solafx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aqualung SolAfx&lt;/a&gt; 8/7mm semi-dry wetsuit. Diving in one feels great, but takes some getting used to. They are more expensive and less frequently used than regular wetsuits, so buying second-hand is a good option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple other links about semi-dry suits:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.subea.com/advice/why-dive-semi-dry-suit-tp_3872&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scubeo&lt;/a&gt;, suits for sale at &lt;a href=&quot;https://scubadiving.com.au/collections/scuba-diving-gear/semi-dry-suits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adreno&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14151" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T02:09:33.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-18T04:42:24.693" Score="50" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, if you go somewhere in a car, take along the clothes necessary to be outside for an extended period.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;406 MHz PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the &lt;a href=&quot;http://abcnews.go.com/2020/kati-kim-tells-heart-wrenching-story-family-ended/story?id=12884927&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tragedies&lt;/a&gt; have one thing in common: they did not have one of these and/or did not activate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flyingmag.com/avionics-gear/pilot-supplies/buyers-guide-personal-locator-beacons&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;gold-standard&lt;/a&gt;, same as aircraft ELTs and ship EPIRBs and works worldwide on the COSPAS-&lt;strong&gt;SAR&lt;/strong&gt;SAT network, whose purpose is this.  They don't maintain one sat system for supertankers and another one for the rabble.  It's the same system so you get airliner tier locator service. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By treaty it's tied to rescue services worldwide (some of the pretenders can't say that). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each unit has a serial number.   When you trigger it, the monitoring authority first call the phone number that you registered with the device, the purpose being to swiftly deal with false alerts (which was a huge problem with the previous generation of system).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you fail to answer or your wife says she can't account for you, they look at the transmitted GPS coordinates (100m radius, if equipped) otherwise they use doppler data from the satellites (3000m radius), and dispatch the call to the appropriate response agency based on geography - e.g. in the USA, Coast Guard if off the coast, Forest Service, CalFire, police if in an urbanized area, highway patrol if along a highway, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The unit also beacons on 121.5 MHz, an older, short-range signal which can be picked up by passing aircraft, and it is retained to allow Civil Air Patrol and walk-in rescuers to triangulate on your exact location. It's nice at this point to have flags or strobes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a 406MHz beacon cannot do is &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/ZsDQTszvsWw?t=1m40s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;let you tweet&lt;/a&gt;. There are other services that do, but have a monthly service fee and they aren't very good PLBs - they're on an inferior sat network and have been sued about that, and no longer brag so loudly about being an emergency device.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T04:42:24.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-18T06:09:24.057" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the best things you can do in this situation is actually what you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; do before it happens: bring preparations. Other comments have already mentioned different items already and ultimately you need to have brought those with you for them to be of any use, or what you lack in items you need skills to make up for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether by items or skills, you need to be prepared to address a few major goals/needs. I think about this in part with the classical elements, an helpful checklist to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Signaling/rescue&lt;/strong&gt;: devices like a PLB or EPERB &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18750/8443&quot;&gt;like @Harper mentioned in their answer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal safety&lt;/strong&gt;: this is actually mostly a skills thing I think, but some items may be helpful if you practice the right techniques to use them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature: fire&lt;/strong&gt;; be it blankets, hand warmer packets, the ability to start a fire safely even in difficult weather, appropriate clothes to be outdoors or even spending the night though that relates more to shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Communication&lt;/strong&gt;: wind; related to signaling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;: earth; the ability to use what's with you and your immediate environment to safely (and even sort of comfortably?) spend the night or hide from foul weather, base camp &amp;amp; resources like rope and shelter building/sustaining materials&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water&lt;/strong&gt;: water; supply, filter or tablets, container to boil in, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;: snack bars in the center console, that sorta thing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Repairs&lt;/strong&gt;: spare tire and kit at the least, portable battery, basic tools and knowledge can go a long way keeping you on track and out of potential stranding&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This list not only applies to what to prepare with beforehand, but also with what you need to put into practice to address the situation. Refer to this checklist in times of peace and challenges, and if you do both you'll probably get out of a disaster painlessly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T06:09:24.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18752" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-18T09:51:57.750" Score="5" ViewCount="1155" Body="&lt;p&gt;When the RMS Titanic sank, there were not enough life boats, many hundreds of people went into the cold water and many died from hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The water temperature in the area where Titanic sank, which was well below normal, ... The coldness of the water was a critical factor, often causing death within minutes for many of those in the water. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic#Survivors_and_victims&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few apparently survived for several hours in the water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A small number of passengers and crew were able to make their way to the two unlaunched collapsible boats, surviving for several hours (some still clinging to the overturned Collapsible B) &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passengers_of_the_RMS_Titanic#Survivors_and_victims&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What made it possible for those few to survive hours in water reported to be 28 °F (−2 °C)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I know my ship is sinking and I may be in cold water for several hours, what choices (type of clothing?) can I make that increase my chances of survival?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18589&quot;&gt;How dangerous is swimming fully dressed in cotton/denim clothes?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T18:44:33.910" Title="Titanic survival, ice cold water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18738" CreationDate="2018-03-18T11:26:13.860" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Luggage is usually chosen on its size, not on the weight it can transport.&#xA;Liters are a measure of size, kilos are a measure of weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me it is harder to convert a given weight in a certain substance into a real size than it is to convert a given number in liters to a real size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to know how many kilos of water a given pack can move, you can just replace liters with kilos. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good pack makers will also tell you the weight limits of your pack if you are likely to reach them in normal use, but as very few people will be able to lift and carry backpacks filled to the limits with heavy items, a well made pack should be able to withstand more kilos than the average human can carry.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The point where packs fail is mostly after use, so a weight limit or indication will not be very helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T11:26:13.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18748" CreationDate="2018-03-18T14:15:57.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Birds of the genus &lt;i&gt;Corvus&lt;/i&gt; are intelligent and generalists.  They are not picky, and can survive on lots of different types of food.  They are also more able than other birds to find clever ways to get to food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything edible that isn't small seed they can't pick up easily will interest them.  I've had ravens catch little bits of cheese I threw up in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to selectively feed these large birds, make the morsels too large for most other birds to manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, these birds are fine on their own.  If you aren't really sure you are helping them, then I'd do nothing at all.  They've been here long before people sometimes fed them.  Nature will find its own balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, make sure you don't put out bear food.  Black bears (&lt;i&gt;Ursus americanus&lt;/i&gt;) are now all around where you live, even if you don't regularly see them.  They will tear down bird feeders and anything else they can reach that they smell food in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bears by themselves are not really much of a problem, but bears that become habituated to humans are.  Bird feeders and garbage left out are the two most prevalent reasons bears come in contact with humans.  They are intelligent, so they quickly learn that food is available by humans if they happen to find it there a few times.  They also lose their natural fear of humans.  That's bad for you if you happen to be between a habituated bear and what it thinks is food in your back yard.  Even if you don't get hurt, these things often end by the Fish and Wildlife folks coming out and shooting the bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T14:15:57.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18755" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18759" CreationDate="2018-03-18T17:18:31.550" Score="3" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to hike/wildcamp in finnish Lappland in August, in Viipustunturit and maybe also in Muotkatunturit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything special that I should do about the local animals? E.g. in the context of US people advise to cook and eat away from the camp, and hang food on trees to avoid attracting bears (and prevent them from associating humans with food).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9052/15154&quot;&gt;this answer this should not be necessary in Scandinavia&lt;/a&gt;. According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7584/how-to-camp-in-wolf-country&quot;&gt;another wolfs are not a problem either&lt;/a&gt;. Are there any other animals (apart from mosquitoes and midges) that I should take into account? If yes, how?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15154" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-18T23:31:23.037" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T02:42:17.690" Title="Hiking in Lappland in August - what about animals?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;finland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-18T20:31:05.323" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is not constrained to Siberia.&lt;/strong&gt; A snowstorm/blizzard can occur at many locations and throw down so much snow that roads are blocked and people outside the main routes (or even &lt;strong&gt;on main routes&lt;/strong&gt;) get trapped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As most of the answers give good advice on preparation (telling the route and estimated time of arrival, having a kit and good clothing or even an PLB), I give some advice if you haven't all those nice things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the snow is really dense and visibility drops below 50 meters/yards, you should use &lt;em&gt;high beam and fog warning lamp&lt;/em&gt;.If you recognize that more and more snow is coming and the street is fully covered in snow you should immediately &lt;em&gt;put on the snow-chains if you have them&lt;/em&gt;. It can always happen that you make an accident and hit a tree or oversee a ditch so your car is broken down which makes your snow-chains useless. &lt;em&gt;Make a pause and notice on your mobile (GPS) and/or street maps where your last position is. Look deliberately how many others cars/people you are meeting to get a feeling how deserted your location is.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Once you come through a village/city, stay there.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ok, the road is blocked. The bridge has collapsed, a tree has fallen, you ditched your car or drive against a tree. You are quite unharmed, but you are stuck.&lt;strong&gt;Chances are that if you are on a remote location, even a working mobile does you not much good. Many people will have the same problems and the emergencies will assign you a low priority. Still it could work out, so trying is absolutely necessary&lt;/strong&gt;.  How remote is your location? If you met some people/cars, you may look out for help. While in the civilization people are less prone to help, in remote areas people know that getting stuck sucks and will likely help out or at least inform someone about your trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say up to this point it did not work out. You are stuck and you are in a remote area. Your phone is either in a dead spot or the emergency informs you politely that it could take some time because they are overstrained. What now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are you drunk?&lt;/strong&gt; In this case you &lt;strong&gt;must avoid sleep at all costs&lt;/strong&gt; because not only your body loses heat disproportionally (the normal reaction of blood vessels for cold is contracting to minimize heat loss), but the pain and uncontrolling shivering which at least warns people and help them stay awake is strongly suppressed. One young woman, 18 years old, in my original town came back from a party intoxicated and never made it home. They found her next morning in a small wood under a tree; she must have shortly leaned on it, started sleeping and froze to death :(. &lt;em&gt;So put your face into snow, beat yourself or do whatever it takes to stay awake.&lt;/em&gt; If, on the other hand, you know it's over, alcohol can accelerate death.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If it is heavily snowing/foggy, you most likely cannot walk away from the car.&lt;/strong&gt; It does not need to be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteout_(weather)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;whiteout&lt;/a&gt;, it only needs a remote location where visibility is so reduced that you are in danger to get lost. Your car has at least some visibility, a human figure in snow is practically invisible. Snow has also its advantages, if it is not stormy, it will build up on the car, adding insulation (Do not remove snow from your car for this exact purpose). &lt;strong&gt;Stay in your car and use the time to find out where you are and if there is anything in walking range.&lt;/strong&gt; If you don't have maps or a mobile with maps and GPS, now is the time to curse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot stay in the car because it gets too cold...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insulate yourself as good as possible&lt;/strong&gt;. If you have some clothes, put them all on. Scrap everything together which helps you to stay warm. Newspaper or paper in general: Put it around your arms and legs. Use the foot mat around your torso. Rip off the seat cover. Aluminum foil or plastic foil...does not matter: around the body. If you have fat (like butter or oil), put it on your face and on your body. Does not matter if you look like a kidnapped scarecrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Build a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cave&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snow cave&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; If you are in a snowstorm or blizzard, you should be able to build a cave inside a snowbank. Rightly build, it is an excellent shelter against the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you are near trees and you don't have snow, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Fire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;start a fire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. Get firewood together, put tinder under it and light it. In this very specific circumstances you can use gasoline from the car for the tinder which will work wonders for igniting (&lt;strong&gt;BUT BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL.&lt;/strong&gt; It is only because the risk of freezing to death that I mention this at all.). Smokers have it easy because they have matches or a lighter, other people can use e.g. the car lighter and if there is not anything, use the car battery. Build it up and short circuit it with metal to get sparks and fire. To have a homely place, you need to build a reflector, something in your back which reflects the warmth going out from the fire into your back, e.g. your car chassis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have anything of it. There is a bare field, no wood, nothing burnable in the car, there's no snow, nothing. And it is getting colder. What now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_and_testament#Requirements_for_creation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The correct way to write a testament&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. I am very sorry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8571" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T20:31:05.323" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18752" CreationDate="2018-03-18T22:34:54.940" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The US Coast Guard has done a number of studies too try and predict this and it looks like survival times can are highly dependent on the person and what they are wearing when all of the other factors are the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;ST was reduced to 5.3 hours if the&#xA;  body fat level of the victim changed to “very lean,” and increased to 8.5 hours if the fat&#xA;  level changed to “very fat.” ST increased to 25.1 hours when the victim with medium&#xA;  body fat wore “Dry Suit, Double Pile, &amp;amp; Vest.” As noted above, &lt;strong&gt;clothing insulation&#xA;  increases ST significantly,&lt;/strong&gt; thus, it is critical to pay attention to what clothing the victim&#xA;  might be wearing. &#xA;  ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Individual differences in survival times are high.&lt;/strong&gt; Even under similar conditions,&#xA;  some people survive only for a few hours, while other victims survive much longer. One&#xA;  factor affecting ST is &lt;strong&gt;body build, i.e., height, weight, and body fat percentage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Predicted&#xA;  STs demonstrated significant variance in the probability of survival. About 50% of the&#xA;  test population should survive hypothermia for 2.8, 5.0, 7.4, and 12.6 hours at water&#xA;  temperatures of 0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°C, respectively. At 0°C, ST varied from 1.2 to 3.8&#xA;  hours. That range of predicted ST values appeared to be consistent with events during&#xA;  the Titanic shipwreck, where water temperature was near 0°C and virtually no survivors&#xA;  were present after 2 hours (29).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a478415.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL DECISION AID (PSDA)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the same study, it also matters how much of the body is immersed with more immersion leading to shorter survival times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, as one can't change their height, weight or body fat percentage at a moments notice, then all that leaves is getting more insulating clothes. In fact, there are drysuits designed specifically to keep a person from getting hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An immersion suit, or survival suit (or more specifically an immersion survival suit) is a special type of waterproof dry suit that protects the wearer from hypothermia from immersion in cold water, after abandoning a sinking or capsized vessel, especially in the open ocean. They usually have built-on feet (boots), and a hood, and either built-on gloves or watertight wrist seals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_suit&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a immersion suit, do note that on p&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a508288.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;age 20 of these recommendations&lt;/a&gt; for the Coast Guard, that any clothes are better than none and that only being partially immersed leads to much longer survival times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-18T22:34:54.940" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-18T23:52:31.577" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, I'm from Russia, and I heard that in the most desperate situation like this you can burn your car's tires. The tires are made of oil, so they burn well. Using fire from tires you can use other car parts that burn well, like a seat. This will allow you to last at least for a day and if you're driving a big car, like a semi, you can last several days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, it's better to have a survival kit, but in an emergency situation like this, when you don't have anything but lighter, such strategy might save your life. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15164" LastEditorUserId="15164" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T20:37:05.887" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T20:37:05.887" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18755" CreationDate="2018-03-19T02:42:17.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lapland has &lt;strong&gt;moose&lt;/strong&gt;.  As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/responding-to-moose-encounters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AMC Outdoors&lt;/a&gt; says in its article &lt;em&gt;Do You Know How to Respond to a Moose Encounter?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any moose, at any time of year, may respond aggressively if provoked by your presence&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tricky thing is, you may be doing nothing, and a moose will be provoked for reasons unclear even to it.  Or it may not.  Moose are not the most intelligent of animals.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A moose who feels threatened by your presence will often just move away, but sometimes it will charge you to make you move away.  The article gives a rule of thumb for you to judge how close is too close to a moose:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You should be far enough away to get behind the nearest tree before a&#xA;  galloping horse could get there,” explains Kristine Rines, wildlife&#xA;  biologist with New Hampshire Fish and Game and director of the state’s&#xA;  moose program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article says that a moose who feels provoked may display warning signs, or it may simply abruptly charge with no warning signs at all.  If a moose displays warning signs, for example, laying its ears back, or if it changes its behavior in any way, back away.  If the moose approaches you, back away.  If it charges, &lt;strong&gt;run&lt;/strong&gt;.   Do &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; stand your ground. Once the moose has driven you far enough away for it to feel unthreatened, it will stop.  If the moose knocks you to the ground, continue to try to get away.  The good news is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sustained assaults are rare, however, and the odds of a fatal attack&#xA;  are extremely low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't approach a moose and don't get impatient with a moose who is blocking your way, and, of course, be extra cautious around mothers with calves or during mating season.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T02:42:17.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18760" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-19T05:36:24.267" Score="3" ViewCount="2005" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just went outside (11:30pm) and could hear seagulls screaming/cawing overhead. I looked in the direction of where the sound was coming from and could see a couple hundred of them being illuminated by the lights of the buildings as they flew overhead. It's winter, it's still snowing, I'm just outside &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterton-Glacier_International_Peace_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Waterton Glacier International Peace Park&lt;/a&gt; in Canada, and it's night. Why are there hundreds of seagulls flying around in the dark in the middle of the night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T03:39:10.773" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T12:00:16.403" Title="Seagulls flocking by night?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-19T06:20:05.030" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are times when a car will not drive, but its engine will run. In such cases, if you can spare the fuel, use the engine to generate heat. Ventilation from time to time would help prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the engine won’t run, perhaps the battery is fully charged. All of that power will produce a decent amount of heat if you can rig something up with the materials at hand. A headlamp might generate heat, depending on its age and type, and wouldn’t be too difficult to transfer to the car's inter¡or. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have any vessels with which to capture the engine oil and coolant, and if you know how to drain them from the engine, you’ll have hot water bottles for a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As was suggested earlier, the upholstery and carpets can be repurposed for garments and blankets. Don’t forget to look up. The headliner might be of use if it is fabric that you can peel off, and the underside of the hood might yield up some felt for additional insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your fuel will be helpful in starting fires, and you might be lucky enough to have some useful parts like this metal air filter housing on which to build a fire. You’ll need a tube to siphon gasoline from the gas tank. If you have jumper cables, you should be able to fashion a tube by pulling the wires completely out of the vinyl sheathing. Failing that, there might be a hose in the engine you can use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVljF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lVljF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The engine compartment of this 1960s Citröen sedan has the makings of a fireplace, complete with chimney.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15168" LastEditorUserId="15168" LastEditDate="2018-03-25T06:29:32.157" LastActivityDate="2018-03-25T06:29:32.157" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10553" CreationDate="2018-03-19T06:44:57.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping your eyes on the wolf in a way that he could observe might also have been helpful. Because he was very thin (poor thing) he might also have been very weak. He might have been waiting for a moment when you were “off guard” so he could have the advantage of surprise. You did not give him that. (I just read somewhere that domestic dogs are highly attuned to human gaze, and behave very differently when they know a person’s eyes are upon them compared to when they know the person is looking at something else.) Finally, I think wolves attack from behind, like the small domestic dog that bit you, and the three that bit me when I was helping out at a dog sanctuary. Your strolling companion was at your side. I don’t know if the wolf preferred to walk at your side, indicating that he might have been hoping you had some leftover cabbage rolls (golubtsi) to share instead of hoping to kill you, or if you forced him to by proceeding very slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, your not running was highly beneficial, but that was mentioned by another respondent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible that the wolf and his pack received food with some regularity, from the local people or from others passing by on their way to somewhere else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15168" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T06:44:57.317" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18734" CreationDate="2018-03-19T09:22:33.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question here is not if you will be able to climb the mount or not. You will climb it for sure. The question is how comfortable the climbing will be? Will you be able to see a beauty of the mountains or during your climb you will be suffering and sweating?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good indication that you are ready and you will be comfortable on the route is that you are able to run 10km in less then 50min.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't like running you can ride a bike. You can go to swimming pool once or twice a week. Another good thing is sauna.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as more sport you do as more comfortable you will be on the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T09:22:33.723" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18734" CreationDate="2018-03-19T10:40:01.223" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;All other answers here are good, and you for sure can prepare for the hike somewhat by running/cycling, or just go unprepared and push through it somehow. But have you considered building up your condition for a hard hike by simply doing shorter hikes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you have mentioned, you live in Munich, so there should be no lack of smaller mountains within 1-2 hours reach. And while there is snow at higher altitudes, you can surelly find short hikes that start low enough. Or you can also look into winter hiking/snowshoeing routes. In any case, there is snow on Zugspitze probably till late June or even early July. You still have lots of time to prepare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or do you really want to do the hike in spring? I do not have much knowledge about this specific mountain, but a hike to the top in spring should be somewhere in between impossible/dangerous and difficult/requiring specific knowledge and equipment. There will for sure still be snow in spring, and avalanches will be a threat whichever path you choose. You can find &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.auf-die-zugspitze-wandern.info/besteigung-ab-wann-ist-die-zugspitze-begehbar/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some information in German about the recommended hiking months&lt;/a&gt;. From the looks of it, August seems to be the best month, while end of June till September should also be fine. And some of the easier paths (Reintal, Gatterl) could be sometimes doable in May. It all varies from year to year though. This winter was fairly snowy in the Alps, so I expect the hiking season might very well be delayed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T10:40:01.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18752" CreationDate="2018-03-19T14:51:30.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any amount of insulation helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 3 main areas of heat loss.  Head, sides of chest, and groin area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any form of fabric will work.  Yes, even cotton.  (Cotton's problem is when it's in the air.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an exercise try this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While wearing a life jacket in the water, remove your belt, then put it under your knees and around your neck so that your your knees are held close to your chest. Do this in a way that allows you to duck out of it without having to fumble with the buckle. Clamp your arms to your sides.  This doesn't work well if you have short belt (small waist) compared to your height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Float like this for several minutes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Undo the belt and move.  You will notice a rush of cold, as you dissipate the warm water near your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  I did this experiment using a horse collar type life jacket, not the more modern vest type.  Initial experiments should start with just hugging your knees to your chest to see that you float stably in that position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find your self on a Titanic replay, look for a garbage bag. Dress as warmly as you can, then bite holes in the two bottom corners and the middle of the bottom, and pull it over your head over the top of your life jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The holes will stretch open, but will be snug.  Use your belt to fasten the bottom edge of the bag close to you, or tuck into your pants. If you can, tie the corners between your legs. Ideally drop your pants, tie between your legs, and pull your pants up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This slows the water exchange between your clothes and the sea.  The water warms up some, and your survival time lengthens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A woollen hat with a bread bag over it also helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A garbage bag is a good piece of survival gear if you are in the mountains for the same reason.  Test:  On a winter day go outside with a bucket of water, dressed in a t-shirt.  Get someone to pour the bucket over you.  In a very short time you will be quite cold.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put on your garbage bag.  Instantly you feel warmer: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You've blocked the evaporation that was taking place from your wet clothing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You've blocked the chimney effect of warm air next to your body rising away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You've blocked the breeze.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now this is not a panacea:  A dry parka is certainly a better bet.  But you can put a spare garbage bag in the bottom of every daypack you own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T13:01:22.010" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T13:01:22.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10667" CreationDate="2018-03-19T15:26:07.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting comments.  I happened upon this site while investigating a Willans harness I saw on a Jay Leno car.  Nope.  It is not the same company. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used a Whillans sit harness thoughout my climbing career, mostly in the 1970s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I liked the harness a lot and preferred it to my friend's harnesses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I keep my figure eight knot on the same side of the carabiner as shown in the photo.  Under load, this method kept a spacing between the the two top web loops, and the center web loop.  The length the climber tied the rope loop  adjusted the tightness under load. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the figure eight knot was used on the outside of the carabiner, the center loop and the two top loops would be pulled tightly together under load, and would be less comfortable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For rappelling and belaying, I would attached the device to the center loop carabiner.  For redundancy, I would also run a small runner or sling from the carabiner, through the two waist loops, and back to the carabiner.  This would put some of the load onto the back or waist, from the legs,  Unless the load was from straight up.  So rappelling was most comfortable leaning slightly backwards, with the load distributed between the legs and also on the back of the waist.  The more vertical the body position, the more load on the legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a worst case scenario, if the center loop failed, the two top loops would prevent a catastrophe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15184" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T15:26:07.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-19T15:42:53.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;People here are posting horror stories about being 30km from nearest habitation (this is walkable distance).&#xA;If you're in Siberia, you're likely to be 300km from nearest habitation on a road with traffic some 2 cars/week.&#xA;So if your car broke, you die. It happens (often) in Siberia.&#xA;Never ever travel alone/in a single car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you can try call for help via sattelite phone (note: not all sattelite providers work well in high latitudes!), this is it. But likely the help won't be there in time to get you alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is -50C outside (again, -50 is a normal winter in Siberia) you can stay warm for a while by burning the car (since there's nothing else to burn; also it provides a fair amount of smoke that can be noticed by a nomadic family). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15185" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T15:42:53.380" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18541" CreationDate="2018-03-19T19:18:50.840" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hang my shoes on the outside of my bag. I've found that containing them in a airtight bag and then drying them &quot;later&quot; leads to them being sealed in an anaerobic environment, especially if they are warm, leads to more of those bacteria breeding. They go into their dormant phase after they dry. Getting airflow through them is crucial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I get home (if I make it home), I usually hang them up and spray a 1:20 bleach solution in them. It's enough to kill the shit inside of it and slowly degrades the leather at a rate greater than the degradation of the rubber from climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've neutralized the bacteria from revitalizing themselves every time you climb, they start to stink significantly less. It's important to start whatever habit with your shoes as soon as you get them so they don't petri-dish out while they still have a good edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15186" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T19:18:50.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18770" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-19T20:12:16.963" Score="0" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because I know many people, including family members, who have had very bad experiences with lyme disease, I am hesitant to get more involved in the outdoors. In live in Massachusetts where there lyme problem is particularly bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can I do to defend myself against lyme carrying ticks while being able to enjoy the outdoors (hiking, camping, hammocking, birding, mountain biking) worry free? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15191" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:01:25.927" Title="How to defend against getting lyme disease?" Tags="&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2018-03-19T21:17:28.233" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18770" CreationDate="2018-03-19T21:01:25.927" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The best defense against ticks are your clothes&lt;/strong&gt;. Ticks hang out on the ends of branches and blades of grass with their arms in he air waiting to hook onto anything that has blood to pass by. After they hook onto someone/something, they climb up until they find a nice spot to dig in, like under your shirt on your lower back, on your neck, or in your hair. If you don't give them an opportunity to get under your clothes to your skin, then they'll typically get spotted by one of your buddies while they're climbing all over you looking for a way in. It's important to do tick checks too; whenever you stop, take time to look each other over and make sure there aren't any ticks crawling around each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the way you dress, the best tick and bug defense is tall socks, long legged pants, long sleeve shirt (tucked in), and a hat. Make sure you wear light colours so you can easily spot ticks on your clothes. You can get extremely lightweight and breathable hiking pants and shirts that help you stay cool on hot days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also tick-repellents you can spray all over yourself and your clothes, DEET will work to a degree, but there are other repellents and treatments for your clothes that claim they'll kill ticks after 30 seconds of being on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first line of defense is always going to be the way you dress, the next line of defense is going to be doing regular checks for ticks, especially after you push through some bush, or brush up against any grasses or other vegetation ticks might be hanging out in. I picked 17 ticks of my wife once after sitting down next to a river beside the &lt;em&gt;wrong&lt;/em&gt; patch of grass, so just be mindful about it and you shouldn't have a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:01:25.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18772" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-19T21:16:39.880" Score="4" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live with my parents. I love bird watching, and would love a bird feeder, but my mother does not want to keep one fearing it will attract rodents which may carry lyme disease. We've had bad experiences with lyme.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any other way I can attract birds to my yard? Is the concern regarding rodents a valid one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15191" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T13:17:32.397" Title="Is there a way to attract more birds to my yard without a bird feeder?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1060" CreationDate="2018-03-19T21:23:02.810" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main idea to muscle up your arms and strengthen your wrists and fingers is to make things harder when you carry things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry more, with one hand instead of two. Use less fingers (as you pointed out). This also works with heavy doors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move things away from your body. It’s harder to carry a luggage if you try to push it away from you instead of having it close.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put as much as you can in one hand if what you’re carrying is not too fragile.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Switch hands: if your strong arm/hand is the right one, carry things with the left one, and vice-versa.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve had great success carrying my laptop with 3-4 fingers plus the thumb instead of with two hands or on my arm close to my body. It was quite hard due to the weight at the beginning but after a couple of months it’s now easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things to try out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take stairs, not elevators (and don’t rush). This applies to all sports of course; it’s great for your legs and your breath.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice your balance by staying on one foot when you’re waiting, e.g. in a queue. Try putting each of your socks/shoes while standing on the other foot. You can also try not holding the bar in the bus or subway (be careful though).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Look at buildings with a climber mind: how would you climb it? Try to find holds and cracks that would help you. This can help exercise your route reading.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out there are a lot of fingers exercises you can do almost everywhere. The channel &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-7E1nG01ymuypsBm5E6aNg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tykato Fitness&lt;/a&gt; on YouTube has a lot of good exercises for climbers that you can do almost everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15190" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:23:02.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18772" CreationDate="2018-03-19T21:29:25.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For what you could do to attract birds without a feeder, I would suggest a birdbath, and we have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/birdbaths&quot;&gt;few questions on them already&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, the concern of it being spread by rodents is valid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Density of infected nymphs—the principal determinant of Lyme disease risk—varied significantly from year to year, fueled mostly by large fluctuations in total nymph density, which in turn depended mostly on fluctuations in abundance of acorns, mice, and chipmunks. &lt;strong&gt;Interestingly, though chipmunk densities are generally lower than mice, their numbers were the best predictor of total nymph density in the subsequent year, likely reflecting their inferior grooming skills.&lt;/strong&gt; Overall, the results found that &lt;strong&gt;acorns were the best predictor of Lyme disease risk—stemming from their crucial role in supporting white-footed mice, chipmunks, and likely other small animals, which in turn provide large reservoirs for B. burgdorferi.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1457014/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A New View on Lyme Disease: Rodents Hold the Key to Annual Risk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Peromyscus spp. (white-footed mouse) in the northeastern and mid-western USA, and other rodents (tree squirrel) in the western USA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/indirect.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Diseases indirectly transmitted by rodents&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T21:29:25.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1060" CreationDate="2018-03-19T21:58:15.510" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I started bouldering hard I would crimp and pinch &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;: open doors by pinching the knobs with you finger tips; pick up things by crimping them on the edges (even if you can get a full open hand hold on it); hang of the trim of door frames; lean off what ever you're standing next to by your finger tips, etc. There's also finger tip pushups. Basically, never use the palms of your hands when pushing or holding anything and always engage your finger tips. I don't boulder as much anymore, but I still have the habit of pinching almost everything I touch. I've actually had to consciously relax my grip a little in recent years, but that's mostly because my kids were complaining about me &quot;poking&quot; them when I picked them up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-19T22:03:25.367" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T22:03:25.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-19T23:34:47.730" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read an article somewhere, about a family who got stuck in the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were able to start a fire, and heat rocks.&#xA;The hot rocks were brought into the car, and of course the cold rocks were placed back into the fire and swapped on regular intervals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13700" LastActivityDate="2018-03-19T23:34:47.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18777" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18778" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:04:07.260" Score="4" ViewCount="815" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of&#xA;  flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider&#xA;  aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a&#xA;  harness suspended below a fabric wing.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragliding&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Impetus for the Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some years ago, a young and colorful colleague of mine described a paragliding adventure in Colorado in which he went too high, passed out, and inadvertently  landed in a tall tree.  He was stuck in the tree for 18 hours before he extricated himself, unscathed.  Why 18 hours, and exactly how he got down, I don't remember.  It is also possible that he enhanced his story a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What skills should one learn and practice on the ground or close to the ground before taking off?&lt;/strong&gt;  Tree down-climbing?  Navigation?  Recognizing when one has exceeded safe altitude?  Other?  What does one do to prepare the right muscles for the physical exertion peculiar to this sport?  Are there courses which teach all this, and, if so, how long does this preparation take? And, PS, does the story of my colleague sound plausible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:31:18.500" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T08:54:56.800" Title="What skills should one learn before attempting paragliding?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;paragliding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18777" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:25:19.200" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first steps before flying start with learning the gear and going over the procedures (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bigthermal.com/learn/paragliding/paragliding-school-beginner-course/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you start what is known as &lt;strong&gt;kiting or ground handling&lt;/strong&gt; where the you get the wing up into the air and use the controls to steer it and learn how to handle it while staying on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;True mastery of the sport starts with learning to control the wing on the ground. Unlike with a rigid wing aircraft, before we can begin to even think about taking off, our wing must first be “built” and placed overhead in just the right position. While many aspects of flying might come natural to new pilots, kiting is a skill that has no real comparison to anything we learn at a young age (even flying a regular kite). So new muscle memories must be developed from the ground up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These are the ground handling exercises that you will dive into right away:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gear inspection, prep and layout&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Pre-inflation body position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Forward inflation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Light wind “taxiing”&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Reverse wall building&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Reverse inflation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Reverse kiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Forward kiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wing shut down&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Emergency procedures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sobobaparagliding.com/kiting/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Groundhandling can be trained anywhere when wind blows, short grass and almost flat is preferred terrain. Ideal wind strength is 4-6 m/s without gusts. With less wind, front launch should be trained, despite its use at thermic take off places is limited, few times a year you will need it. If there are obstacles between you and wind, wind gets broken and good only for advanced training. I found it good to train groundhandling all the time wind was good. Even for 10 minutes before or after soaring/flying. All the actions should be trained to level, where you do not think about an action required, but act correctly without thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.joyparagliding.com/efficient-paragliding-training-2-practical-training/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most paragliding is done by taking off from hills, but kiting/ground handling can be done on a flat soccer field (I have seen it done many times). These exercises teach the skills needed while the trainee is still on the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as exercises go, there are a lot of times when the &lt;strong&gt;pilots hands are up high pulling down as that is how the paraglider is steered.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Rimetea_%283990535809%29.jpg/800px-Rimetea_%283990535809%29.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Paraglider&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can find, upper body strength does matter,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's beneficial to have good upper body strength while flying your wing. The more you fly and handle your wing, the stronger the muscles in your arms will become. This increases and improves overall flexibility, mobility and range of motion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thisadventurelife.com/healthbenefitsofparagliding&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but it is also about technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paragliding is about finesse and serenity, not strength and adrenaline.&lt;/strong&gt; We work to build your skills and knowledge, in order to help you exercise good judgment as a pilot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eagleparagliding.com/?q=node/33&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address your questions of whether the situation described is plausible, consider that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=paraglider%20stuck%20in%20tree&amp;amp;cad=h&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paragliders get stuck in trees all the time&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;STATE emergency service volunteers have helped to rescue a paraglider who stranded himself eight metres up a tree in the Gold Coast Hinterland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/ses-rescue-paraglider-stuck-in-tree-on-mt-tamborine-gold-coast/news-story/3e55dd742e38c1d38799dd4bf3675298&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, while rare, paragliders have gotten high enough to pass out from lack of oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ewa Wisnerska, 35, &lt;strong&gt;was sucked 32,000 ft into the air — so high that she lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and ice formed over her body.&lt;/strong&gt; Hospital staff say the paraglider suffered severe frostbite from which she almost lost her ears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The adventurer said it was a miracle that she survived: &quot;You can't imagine the power. You feel like nothing, like a leaf from a tree going up,&quot; she said. &quot;I can't do anything. It's raining and hailing and I'm still climbing — I'm lost.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;She regained consciousness mid-air about one hour later. &quot;I wanted to fly around the clouds but I got sucked up 20 metres (67ft) per second into it and spiralled,&quot; she told The Sydney Morning Herald.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Her ordeal was recorded by a global positioning beacon and a radio attached to her equipment.&lt;/strong&gt; The swirling clouds released Miss Wisnerska from their grasp and she landed safely 40 miles from her launch, suffering frostbite to her face and with ice inside her lightweight flying suit — but otherwise unharmed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1542962/Paraglider-survived-in-storm-at-32000-ft.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T04:28:26.683" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T04:28:26.683" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18779" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18780" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" Score="0" Body="Questions about plastic kayaks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:55:16.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18781" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18782" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" Score="0" Body="Questions about fiberglass kayaks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T02:55:28.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18785" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18786" CreationDate="2018-03-20T05:09:35.110" Score="17" ViewCount="2124" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;inversions&lt;/a&gt;, going up mountains will bring you into lower temperatures as you get higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the rule of thumb for how the temperature decreases with altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T16:30:19.763" Title="What is the relationship between altitude gain and temperature decrease when mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18785" CreationDate="2018-03-20T05:09:35.110" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is that it &lt;strong&gt;depends on the moisture held in the air&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;moist air changes at a rate of 3&amp;deg; Fahrenheit per 1000 ft of vertical / 0.6&amp;deg; Celsius per 100m.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dry air changes at a rate of 5.4&amp;deg; Fahrenheit per 1000 ft of vertical / 1&amp;deg; Celsius per 100m.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As moist air rises, it cools with height at a rate of 3°F per 1,000 feet (not nearly as fast as the dry-air rate of 5.4°F per 1,000 feet). Eventually clouds develop, and precipitation wrings moisture from the air. At the summit, the air is now both warmer and drier than air of the same altitude that has not climbed the mountain. But as the air passes over the summit and flows down the other side of the mountain, it compresses and warms at 5.4°F per 1,000 feet (now following the dry-air rate), creating a much warmer, dryer wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=ntLj1N4N8ZgC&amp;amp;pg=PA32&amp;amp;lpg=PA32&amp;amp;dq=%22than%20air%20of%20the%20same%20altitude%20that%20has%20not%20climbed%20the%20mountain.%22&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=xz1aeuI34j&amp;amp;sig=kpJ29QZOVIZcro_u2jiKkVzRvrI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjAsYamjvrZAhUP_WMKHbKaCrIQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22than%20air%20of%20the%20same%20altitude%20that%20has%20not%20climbed%20the%20mountain.%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Discover Nature in the Weather: Things to Know and Things to Do&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=vyE6DwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT153&amp;amp;lpg=PT153&amp;amp;dq=relationship%20of%20altitude%20and%20temperature%20freedom%20of%20the%20hills&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ks4oDdNgu1&amp;amp;sig=Y1DfvFHuLwU07DXcHyoKglHoiGc&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwimz6H-iPrZAhVR22MKHc2gDuYQ6AEIRjAC#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=altitude%20and%20temperature%20freedom%20of%20the%20hills&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt; , they use an estimate of 3.5&amp;deg; Farenheit /2 &amp;deg; Celsius per thousand feet to estimate the freezing level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that if you know your elevation, the elevation you are going to and the temperature where you are, then you can use those pieces of information to estimate the temperature at the elevation you are headed to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, if base camp is at 11,000 ft and the peak is at 13,000 ft, then it will be approximately 7&amp;deg; Farenheit / 4&amp;deg; Celsius colder at the peak. This could be useful for calculating whether the snow will be frozen on the way up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T16:30:19.763" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T16:30:19.763" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18777" CreationDate="2018-03-20T08:54:56.800" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know where you live, but I am pretty sure that if you want to do paragliding, you are required to take a course and get a license. So I would say if you really want to do it, find a paragliding school, and they will teach you all you need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think any specific skills are required. While landings in trees do happen, they are considered crashes, and are really not an everyday occurance. I think the only thing you should think about is your general fitness level. For a take off, you should be able to run a hundred meters or so. Nothing extreme though, I have seen lots of old paragliders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T08:54:56.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13641" CreationDate="2018-03-20T11:11:24.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend often goes out with her sister who is the geocasher.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;By looking in a different way, she often finds the ones her sister does not.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going down on her knees (even belly) to look from the bottom up. Standing on tip-toe or climbing on available higher points. Reaching in narrow openings (be careful if there are dangerous snakes in your area) and by using a light or a magnet at the end of a stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often it is not these tricks but just a fresh look at the place that cracks the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T11:11:24.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18789" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18792" CreationDate="2018-03-20T12:44:32.783" Score="5" ViewCount="382" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to do a 3-day hike combined with multiple via ferratas this summer in the Brenta Dolomites in Italy. I haven't done the big research yet, but from looking at the (hiking) map I can see that I will need to cross a couple of (what looks like) very small corners of a glacier. I estimate the crossings to be no longer than a few hundred meters. How serious those glacier crossings could possibly be? Is it likely that there would be cracks big enough to fall in at the edge of a glacier? Can there be snow covered cracks in July/August at around 3000 meters? Is it likely that the ice would be steep at the very corner of a glacier? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not have any glacier crossing experience beyond stepping onto some in touristy galcier watching spots (in Canada, Island). And I do not want to bring too much unnecessary equipment. But I could get crampons, I will have a harness, hiking sticks, at least one other person with me, and I can bring a 20-meter-long rope. I would absolutelly not want to carry an ice axe though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will of course do more research before I go, and I have sufficient experience with hiking and via ferratas. So what I would like to know, is really just an estimate on how challenging such a short galcier crossing could possibly be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T14:54:04.427" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T20:54:34.097" Title="Crossing small corners of a glacier when hiking in summer" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;dolomites&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18789" CreationDate="2018-03-20T14:45:52.327" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that it is going to depend on how steep the glacier is. If it is pretty flat, then you won't need the ice axe and crevasses are highly unlikely. This wouldn't be any harder than walking on a snowfield.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If on the other hand the glacier is steep and parts of the glacier are moving at different speeds, then you will have to watch out for crevasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cracks do tend to from at the edge of glaciers especially at the top where they are called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergschrund&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bergschrunds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The later in the year, the more melted out the cracks will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T14:45:52.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2018-03-20T16:36:01.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use my shop vac to get most of the moisture out of my bcd. I attach the hose to the exhaust outlet on the shop vac, remove the lower dump valve and the inflator hose from the bcd, and hold the shop vac hose to the inflator hose hole in the bcd. Once the shop vac is running, the bcd inflates, and air and moisture come out the lower dump valve hole. I occasionally insert a rag in the lower hole to soak up any moisture that collects there. Once I can't feel any moisture collecting in the bottom of the bcd, I hang up the bcd with the lower dump valve cover still removed, and let the bcd air dry for a few days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my wetsuit, I rinse it out in the bath tub, and then put it into my washing machine, set the washer on spin dry, and start the spin cycle. After the spin cycle is done, I hang up the suit to finish drying. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15212" LastEditorUserId="15212" LastEditDate="2018-03-20T16:42:19.960" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T16:42:19.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18789" CreationDate="2018-03-20T20:54:34.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I traversed my first glacier when I was 5 years old in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. For the most part, if you're following an established trail, then you likely aren't going to be venturing far enough onto the glacier to be met with any serious danger. The crossings will likely be like hiking in spring snow. Chances are you're going to be following a very well used and defined trail trampled down by the many hikers before you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, whenever venturing into glacier terrain it's wise to familiarize yourself with safe glacier travel practices, and to be able to identify glacial features. Crevasses for example (large and deep cracks in the ice) are a serious danger on glaciers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glaciers are in a constant state of flow, like a very slow moving river. When a glacier flows over a bulge, it stresses the ice which can cause crevasses to open up at the surface. These crevasses can be hundreds of metres deep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow can blow over the crevasse opening, creating a snow bridge and concealing the crevasse. Often these snow bridges are strong enough that they can be safely crossed, but when people fall into crevasses it almost always because they are unknowingly walking over a snow bridge, and it breaks beneath them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bringing a 20m rope for glacier walking would be a wise precaution. If there are only two of you tied to either end of the rope, then it's recommended you tie a few knots in the rope between you to act as stoppers to help slow or stop a fall if one of you falls into a crevasse. If you're hiking with poles, you can use them to probe the snow ahead of you for hidden crevasses &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most appropriate people to direct your questions to would be the people who maintain the trail. They will be able to tell you what the conditions are like, and what the risks are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T20:54:34.097" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18735" CreationDate="2018-03-20T21:05:08.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You aren't going to get an edge while you're scraping down the slope. What you need to do is get your board pointed down the slope so you can turn and cut a new edge. You will gain some speed attempting this, but essentially what you need to do is get up and get your board under control before you can turn and get your edge back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're on your butt, try to get your board under you and pointed down hill, once your weight is over your board, stand up and lean into your new edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T21:05:08.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-20T21:37:01.267" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everybody seems to be addressing survival tips; so I want to instead focus on restarting that car to get back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While all cars/trucks behave differently, its important to understand how diesel vs gasoline engines work. But generally speaking, in severe cold you need to cover the cars radiator to maintain heat within the engine; perhaps with something more insulating than just cardboard. A lot of people actually insulate the entirety of the engine bay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people will desperately start small fires under the engine (not exactly recommended) but I would suggest preparing yourself for the possibility you may need to boil a pot of water to pour over the top of the engine to get it started. The key is heat; keep your engine and battery warm. Fuel lines can also freeze up, This immediately makes me think of the straight vegetable oil modifications which send engine coolant directly to a heating coil in the fuel tank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diesel fuel will gel at low temperatures. Adding a small amount of gasoline will mediate this; but will only do so much and may not necessarily work on direct injection vehicles. (old trucker trick)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, traction is very important in snow and ice. One trick I like to use is carry a length of rope to tie my tires up in just in case it becomes a dangerous situation.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15219" LastActivityDate="2018-03-20T21:37:01.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18795" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-21T01:51:38.220" Score="11" ViewCount="455" Body="&lt;p&gt;The laces on my hiking boots broke years ago, and instead of going out of my way to buy a replacement pair, I replaced them with some lengths of paracord I had kicking around, albeit with the intent of eventually getting proper laces. I never got around to it, and the bright yellow and pink cords are still working great, giving no indication they're ever going to wear out. Now whenever I tie up my boots, I wonder what is it about boot laces or shoe laces that makes them so much more preferred than your average cord?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T14:12:59.780" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T19:24:11.340" Title="What makes shoelaces so special?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18796" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18797" CreationDate="2018-03-21T06:04:42.620" Score="5" ViewCount="392" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes in my travels in Nevada, I would come across white pvc pipes standing up in the middle of nowhere sticking out like sore thumbs. They looked like this (the red arrow points to another one further up the hill)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lcNYVl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lcNYVl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly are these posts marking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T06:17:12.663" Title="What are the white pvc pipes in the Nevada desert for?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18796" CreationDate="2018-03-21T06:04:42.620" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/IM2016-023_att1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mining claim markers&lt;/a&gt; that mark the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_claim#Mining_claim_(United_States)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;edges of the claim&lt;/a&gt;. The ones in the picture are legal, because the tops are capped. If the tops were not capped, it would be legal to pull them out and set them on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;8.  After November 1, 2011, any durable plastic pipe that is not removed pursuant to subsection 7 may be removed and placed on the ground immediately adjacent to the location from which it is removed to preserve evidence of its use as a monument for the lode mining claim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-517.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CHAPTER 517 - MINING CLAIMS, MILL SITES AND TUNNEL RIGHTS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that they are &lt;strong&gt;required to be capped is that birds and reptiles and bats and other creatures may fall into the pipes, and then are not able to get out.&lt;/strong&gt; This is also why it became legal  to pull them out and set them on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least one source that I found estimates that there are 3.4 million of the pipes and they kill over a million birds annually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The U.S. Bureau of Land Management estimates there are more than 3.4 million of the white polyvinyl chloride pipes sticking out of the ground across the West — more than 1 million in Nevada alone in a 2011 survey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Darin Schroeder of the American Bird Conservancy estimates the PVC markers cause the death of more than a million birds a year nationally. He said small cavity-nesting birds mistake the openings for an ideal home but once inside are doomed by the smooth sides of the pipe with a narrow diameter that keeps them from climbing or flying out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pvc-pipes-staking-west-mine-claims-killing-birds/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth pointing out that both the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/02/26/blm-capping-open-pipes-mining-claim-markers-deadly-birds/80990956/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BLM, the mining companies and bird societies&lt;/a&gt; are working on mitigating the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T06:17:12.663" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18798" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18799" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Nevada." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T06:19:59.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18795" CreationDate="2018-03-21T11:04:19.227" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/aglets.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aglets&lt;/a&gt;, shoelaces being easy to find and in the right lengths, the smooth exterior and if you have the right kind, the ease of tying and staying in their knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a hobby knot tyer, (and member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers) I use mountain boot laces to try out the knots I am working with, rather than paracord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, I know enough people who make their own laces out of cord of the right size and with a smooth enough surface for the shoes they are used in.&#xA;Reasons to make their own:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Longer lasting laces.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Needing non standard lengths.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Needing non standard diameter laces.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Needing two different lengths due to having an insole or two very different feet.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Wanting a colour or design which is not available in their (local) shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as the ends are finished in a way that works, they are happy with their laces, often so happy that they never go back to shop bought ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I do agree with using other readily available string and might do it one time, I do not think braiding your own is useful. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://crafts.stackexchange.com/a/2628/1388&quot;&gt;my answer here on Arts and Crafts Stack Exchange.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One 'knot' that is very useful for making (temporary) shoe laces out of other string is the whipping to finish the ends. Here the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/commonwhipping/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Whipping on the animated knots site&lt;/a&gt; (others are available.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The site I linked to in the first word of this answer is that of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ian Fieggen, who has a great site about shoe laces,&lt;/a&gt; their knots and whatever else you may need to know about them.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-03-21T11:40:15.053" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T11:40:15.053" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18802" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-21T17:03:52.390" Score="5" ViewCount="1464" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing for a few months and my gym sells old rental shoes at a discounted rate. I bought some as a cheap way to get started. I always wear socks when I climb but I've noticed the majority of people don't and I read that it's a bad idea to go sockless with rental shoes because of athlete's foot and such. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd love to see what all the rage is about climbing without socks, but want to know if there's a way I can clean my &quot;new&quot; shoes first in order to avoid athlete's foot and all the other fun stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15231" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T22:32:11.973" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T22:32:11.973" Title="How can I clean my newly acquired (used) climbing shoes in order to avoid athlete's foot?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18803" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20497" CreationDate="2018-03-21T17:24:25.773" Score="4" ViewCount="379" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading the answers at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14606/can-i-place-a-dutch-oven-directly-into-next-to-a-camp-fire&quot;&gt;Can I place a Dutch oven directly into/next to a camp fire?&lt;/a&gt; and recalling a recent TV episode about forging iron (coal fire) where they said the coals were hotter then the flame.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked around the web, but am not finding anything that clearly shows what ranges of temperature I might expect to find in a normal campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What temperature do different parts of a wood fire produce?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:41:13.503" Title="What temperature do different parts of a wood fire produce?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-21T19:00:13.607" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Siberia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, &lt;strong&gt;clean roads in winter are used by traffic&lt;/strong&gt;. Minor ground tracks get covered by snow and impossible to use in first weeks of winter. If you're driving down a highway in winter, it means it's been cleaned by tractors, and this only happens in important roads. So at least minimal traffic must be there, even in remote areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're alone, the danger is that in days of frost, below -25°C..-30°C, traffic decreases from few hundred or thousand cars per day to a few cars per day, and probably none at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, in such frosts, between cities or villages just go in two or three cars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On Burning Tires&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heard anecdotes of people getting stuck in such conditions, but on major highways, and being saved. Some of the stories mention them having burned almost entire car: gasoline, seats, tires, etc. And usually they did this within a couple of hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;strong&gt;burning any stuff outdoors&lt;/strong&gt;, as Sergey Gulbin suggests above, &lt;strong&gt;is barely useful&lt;/strong&gt;. It won't keep you warm long enough. Everything gets burned soon, and still there's no by-passer, and you're doomed. Burning wood is problematic too: live trees burn poorly, dry trees and logs on the ground were wet in autumn and now have a lot of frozen water in them. Tourists do use them, but with help of other fuel, and definitely not in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, if you try keeping small fire outdoors over long time, in such frost, you surely get nose and toes frostbitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to mention poisonous smoke, and that extracting gasoline from the tank and burning it is a stupidly dangerous act.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;edit:&lt;/em&gt; Extra note: car body is made of metal which conducts heat easily, and in extreme cold is a bad shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What to do&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prevention measure #2&lt;/strong&gt; have a truck drivers radio if possible. Then getting help will be very easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above things mentioned, I'll point out the key measure: shelter. Winter  tourists go hiking for a week in -20°C and come home unharmed thanks to tents, sleeping bags and tourist gas cylinders to heat up food, melt snow, and boil water. Since gas is finite, they still have to gather some wood, but for one night or emergency, one cylinder is more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So have things to make shelter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) either a minimalist tent or 2) a big enough piece of hard textile and ropes. 3) at least a lighter, or small gas cylinder and burner. 4) maybe a winter sleeping bag, if you have space for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If snow is deep, digging a shelter is quite easy. Make a pit and an entrance downwind, then cover the pit with the textile/tent, leaving small hole for ventilation. If snow is shallow, use terrain features as protection from the wind, and probably put some snow above the tent to serve as extra insulation. (Snow depth depends a lot on region, some have just centimeters, while others have 1 meter by the middle of the winter, when dangerous frost may happen.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then make it noticeable to the bypassers that you need help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding probably fixing the car, as Knuckleballerr suggests, I'd say it's safer to make a shelter first, then have a safe place to retreat if you can't fix it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15232" LastEditorUserId="15232" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T19:16:16.163" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T19:16:16.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18805" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-21T19:54:57.567" Score="60" ViewCount="36185" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it warmer to sleep in a car or in a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose that our old internal-combustion-engine car breaks down in a remote place at -30°C, -40°C, or -50°C, and the engine won't run at all.  Suppose we're travelling with a single car, but we did bring full camping gear, including winter sleeping bags and a good double walled dome tent that we can squeeze into together with all passengers.  We also have some candles to make heat.  It's getting dark and we will spend the night hoping for a passer-by tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Faced with the choice is sleeping in our broken-down Toyota or in a tent, what would be warmer?  We may be able to bury the tent partly below the snow.  Assume no wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18740/566&quot;&gt;My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-03-24T11:13:28.780" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T17:16:30.520" Title="Is it warmer to sleep in a car or in a tent?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-21T20:01:36.030" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The car, mostly because you can use the heater.&lt;/strong&gt; You will want to make sure that the exhaust is clear to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and &lt;strong&gt;only run it for a short periods at a time&lt;/strong&gt;. This also helps keep the engine warm, as it is much harder to start an engine when it is really cold out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the the engine quit working, like say you hit the oil pan and froze up,&lt;/strong&gt; you will still want to stay inside, since the car is already warm as opposed to setting up the tent and then having to try and warm it up with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18374/8794&quot;&gt;body heat and candles.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the car will be dry inside, while the outside may have snow and ice since its winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going outside to set up the tent will expose you to more cold than simply remaining in the vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your vehicle will also be more visible and most people would assume that is where you are. If you were camping in the woods, they might assume that you had hitchhiked out of the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last note, from personally having slept in vehicles below freezing before, be prepared to scrape frost off both the outside and inside of the windows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you’re stuck in your car and immobile, first, call for help. Don’t overexert yourself and don’t leave your car and begin walking for help. Typically, you have a better chance of being found if you remain with your car, which may also provide the best shelter from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, be sure the exhaust pipe is free from snow and roll down a window enough to vent the car and prevent carbon monoxide buildup. Run the car for short 15-20 minute intervals to warm up and then turn it back off, using blankets, a sleeping bag, hand warmers and the body heat of others in your car to stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.allstate.com/survive-a-night-in-your-car/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your car starts and has fuel, use it for heat. Cover the bonnet so that as little heat as possible is wasted - but always make sure that the exhaust is clear. Note: Do not go to sleep with the engine running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.halfordsautocentres.com/advice/news/how-to-sleep-in-your-car&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T13:27:26.597" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13078" CreationDate="2018-03-21T20:12:37.640" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used a standard &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Palomar&lt;/a&gt; knot before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pass a loop through the eye of the hook.  Tie the loop into a standard overhand knot.  Pass the hook through the loop.  Tighten the loop and knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no rule that says the loop HAS to be at the end of the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T20:12:37.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-21T20:29:48.920" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest using both the car and the tent together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A car will lose heat fastest through the windows, so use the tent to cover them (and the top). The windows are a thin single layer of glass, while the panels trap a layer of air between the metal outer and a lining that is a better insulator than glass. The panels also block radiative heat loss from the interior. Lower panels tend to have noise absorbing pads covering some of their area, and these have some insulation value. Even a tent big enough for 2 should cover the windscreen and front windows with a couple of layers of fabric and you can get in through the back doors; a 3-person dome would go right over the top of a small car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This approach has another advantage: it will attract attention. A car could pass before you can react if you're huddled inside a tent to keep warm, but in difficult conditions a driver would be likely to stop for something so  out of the ordinary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2589" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T16:43:08.503" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T16:43:08.503" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13078" CreationDate="2018-03-21T22:31:14.767" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might be able to use an alpine butterfly knot, they can be tied in the bight and are very stable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flyfishing.co.uk/general-fly-fishing-discussion/254018-alpine-butterfly-knot-dropper-loop.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.flyfishing.co.uk/general-fly-fishing-discussion/254018-alpine-butterfly-knot-dropper-loop.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15161" LastActivityDate="2018-03-21T22:31:14.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-21T23:46:08.797" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't say with certainty about which would be better, but I can speak for the survivability of spending a night in a tent at nearly -30°C(acutally -20°F/-28°C). As a boy scout, my troop and I once shared a large canvas tent while winter camping in Idaho and we were all blissfully unaware of how cold it actually was outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the morning, our leaders told us that the outside temperature was -20°F, which they measured late at night by checking the thermometer in one their trucks. There were probably 4 boys in the tent. The leaders slept in a separate tent. I slept in a zero degree synthetic mummy bag and though I remember being a little chilly, it wasn't the worst camping experience I have ever had. I have also spent a few nights in car and have often found that not very comfortable temperature wise or otherwise, but I can't remember if I had my zero degree bag on those occasions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15236" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T05:47:47.170" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T05:47:47.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13222" CreationDate="2018-03-22T00:15:33.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We just had a rabid raccoon killed that was stumbling around in the day, by a Fish and Game warden yesterday. Importantly, he told us, remember that the animal's blood that spills on the ground also has rabies. We have been instructed to leave it open to sunlight for days before letting our dogs back into that area of the yard. Now reading the post above by @ab2, I will make sure we leave it longer as we have snow on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there is not yet a necropsy on our raccoon, the warden said he knew it was rabid because it had a porcupine quill stuck in its mouth and they would only attach a porcupine when suffering from rabies. The poor thing also had an eye and mouth corner that were festering badly. It would be better to trust your gut to odd behavior and treat it as rabies for safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15238" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T00:15:33.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18802" CreationDate="2018-03-22T03:27:14.853" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just spray them with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lysol.com/disinfectant-spray/disinfectant-spray/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lysol disinfectant spray&lt;/a&gt;. That should take the care of both the smell and kill the fungus. This is the quick and simple solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right that most people don't climb with socks mostly for better control, unless they are using rental shoes, in which case they use socks to avoid athletes foot. We had a whole bunch on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1859/why-go-without-socks-with-climbing-shoes?noredirect=1&amp;amp;lq=1&quot;&gt;answers on that topic&lt;/a&gt; and they answer it quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also another &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3668/how-to-clean-rock-climbing-shoes&quot;&gt;bunch of answers&lt;/a&gt; on how to clean rock climbing shoes that are also well worth reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T03:27:14.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18814" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18815" CreationDate="2018-03-22T05:51:06.173" Score="1" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the more common knots in climbing is the figure eight on a bight (being tied on a bight means that it is tied without using the ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How exactly would one tie this knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T19:26:30.787" Title="How to tie a figure eight on a bight?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18814" CreationDate="2018-03-22T05:51:06.173" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;First you take the bight and bring the end down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aQJQ1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aQJQ1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you take the end and cross it over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1YuAp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1YuAp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then bring it back around underneath the main strand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O8iSK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O8iSK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally take the end through the top loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QpCkw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QpCkw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and there you have it. Before using you would want to dress it and tighten it down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see a video of the process for tying this knot, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4UhPGC1_Cc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;see the one here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T19:26:30.787" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T19:26:30.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18817" CreationDate="2018-03-22T05:55:37.803" Score="3" ViewCount="1200" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note, I am not asking how to tie three different types of knots, but rather one knot that goes by three different names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its a knot that can be useful in building anchors especially at the top of fixed lines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How one would tie this knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T14:57:16.423" Title="How to tie a super eight / double figure eight / bunny ear knot?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18816" CreationDate="2018-03-22T05:55:37.803" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This one is almost identical to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18814/how-to-tie-a-figure-eight-on-a-bight&quot;&gt;figure eight on a bight&lt;/a&gt;, with one crucial difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get to the final step of the figure eight on a bight, instead of pushing the end of the bight through the loop you take another bight of the bight and push that through the loop, then flip the end of the first bight over the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qJYYT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qJYYT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like so,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BBuiA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BBuiA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QfxOM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QfxOM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you were going to use this for an anchor you would clip one carabiner through each of the loops. This is also why some people refer to it as a bunny ears knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mdfY7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mdfY7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This knot works really well when fixing a rope to a two bolt anchor, and is easier to untie than a regular figure eight after being weighted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T05:55:37.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18818" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-22T06:47:49.043" Score="10" ViewCount="880" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been an avid lover of the outdoors for all of my life, camping in quite varied terrain, but so far in all these locations I've been able to use the usual LNT cat-hole methods to take care of human waste. This year however I'm planning to make several trips where I'll need to use a &quot;wag bag&quot; to pack out my waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have some basic knowledge from reading, but never actually have used wag bags, so I'd love to hear some first-hand wisdom from those who have used them. I'm at the &quot;I don't know what I don't know&quot; stage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some useful things to know about how to best use wag bags or similar waste pack-out solutions?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few potential issues I can think of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not making a mess (getting all of &quot;it&quot; in the bag...maybe not actually a problem?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping the bag from getting ripped/punctured once used&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Controlling odors&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any way to minimize the weight?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any problems with animals bothering the used bags?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other helpful tips...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1908" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T05:37:20.063" Title="Tips for using a &quot;wag bag&quot; to pack out human waste" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4879" CreationDate="2018-03-22T09:07:50.637" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Alta Vista hut is at 3260 meters above the sea level. That means you would need to do all those hight meters in one day. While not undoable, as we can see from the other comments, you have to be quite a beast to accomplish it. I personally would never plan anything more than 2000 height meters for a day. But if you hike, you should know your own limits yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As hiking goes, the hike itself is fairly easy, you don't need any particular experience or equipment for it. Just bring (lots of) water and food for the trip. Keep in mind that the hut does not serve any food whatsoever, well, they do sell some overpriced candies, that's it. You can cook though, and the water is sort of OK for drinking there, at least after boiling it first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe you have done your research, but in case you did not: you will need a permit to climb to the summit. Permits are free and easy to apply for online, but the amount of them is limited, and they run out really fast. If you stay in the hut, you are allowed to go to the summit the next morning. The hut fills up pretty quickly too, but there always are cancellations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And what concerns altitude sickness, I would not be too worried about that. At this altitude (what matters is the altitude you sleep at), there is very little chance you will get altitude sickness. And if you do, it is really easy to descent, even at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T09:07:50.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-22T12:28:40.657" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15942/camper-van-conversion-sleeping-width-wise/15945#15945&quot;&gt;slept many nights in a homemade conversion van&lt;/a&gt; From experience getting up at dawn, it usually feels warmer outside the van then in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are probably scientific words for it; but the metal gets cold and &quot;sucks&quot; the heat away from your body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a tent, &lt;strong&gt;AND IF IT IS SAFE&lt;/strong&gt; to set it up where you are, and if you have a good insulator between you and the ground.  I would pick the tent if warmth was the only concern.  Additionally it will be easier to get comfortably stretched out in the tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T12:28:40.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18818" CreationDate="2018-03-22T13:26:46.560" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For making the bags, here is what I have done in the past when I worked for an outdoor organization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a sheet of wax paper, a brown paper lunch bag, a zip lock and baking soda. When putting the bags together you,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put a scoop of backing soda inside the lunch bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold up the wax paper and place that and the lunch bag inside the ziplock until ready to use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to use,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unfold the wax paper and deposit the brown stuff onto of it aiming for the middle. The wax side needs to be up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sprinkle the baking soda onto of the brown stuff to help control the odor.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roll up the wax paper and place it into the lunch bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the lunch bag into the ziplock and seal tightly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On one course where we had lots of people and were close to the road, we would store the wag bags in 5 gallon pails to haul them out. In more remote settings, you just double bag the wag bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To address some of your other questions,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As long as its mostly solid its not a real problem to get it all in the bag. Giardia on the other hand...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nothing special about keeping the bags from ripping.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This really isn't something that wild animals are going to be interested in getting into.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any toilet paper can go into the bags as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T05:37:20.063" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T05:37:20.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18795" CreationDate="2018-03-22T14:49:57.640" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have tried paracord, and don't like it.  True paracord is kernmantle construction, with a braided sheath and linear core.  The sheath wears too fast.  The hard braided nylon cord works well. You may want to buy a variety of sizes.  1/8 is hard on hands.  3/16 is too fat for some eyelets.  5/32 is my preferred cord.  You can sometimes get cords in really interesting colours which make it easy to find your boots in a pile by the door.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy aglets at some fabric/sewing notion stores.  Crimp them on with pliers.  Other ways to keep the end from fraying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the cord tightly with duct tape before cutting it. (This works well for larger ropes too. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Melt the cord instead of cutting it. This often results in a hard blob that won't pass through eyelets.  Squeeze flat before it hardens.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dip the end of the cord in varnish.  (This works better if you thin the varnish first.) Depending on the surface treatment of the cord you may need to use an oil base varnish. (Some repel water.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ditto using paint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dip the end in the basin of a candle.  (Wears quickly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T14:49:57.640" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-22T18:51:10.880" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should stay in the car, just sleeping on the ground will suck a ton of body heat.  Even if you do have a cot, most tents won't keep heat nearly as well as a car, since most car's do have some amount of insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make sleeping in the car a bit more palatable, you can cover the car with loose snow if available (use a floor mat as a scoop); snow is actually a decent insulator.  Make sure you remove the snow from around the exhaust so you can periodically run the car's heat without succumbing to carbon monoxide (Just run it till you get warm and turn it off to preserve fuel)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd be better off using the tent fabric as a blanket(s) and using the tent poles to hang a message on in case you get snowed in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a side note, its always good to keep a gallon of distilled water in the car for emergency situations.  Not only can you drink it in an emergency, but it can be used to temporarily fill your radiator to get you to a safer location.  (In a real emergency you can go all &quot;Red Dawn&quot; and use your urine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a small heater using an empty metal container (soda can), a piece of paper (for a wick) and a fuel source (such as alcohol, a spare quart of motor oil or even hand sanitizer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15255" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T18:51:10.880" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18816" CreationDate="2018-03-22T19:18:48.020" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double Figure 8 Loop (&quot;Bunny Ears&quot;)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Double figure eight is tied like a figure eight on a bight, except instead of finishing the knot by pulling the bight through the loop, fold your bight into a second bight, pull the second bight part way through the loop, then loop the end of your first bight over the whole knot to finish it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the best resources online for learning how to tie knots is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8loopdouble/index.php/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animated Knots by Grog&lt;/a&gt;. Visit their site to watch step by step animations on how to tie knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can watch a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/_DPYEPxtjF0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video tutorial&lt;/a&gt; on how to tie the Double Figure Eight on Grog's Youtube Channel as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T19:38:25.353" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T19:38:25.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18825" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18826" CreationDate="2018-03-22T19:50:23.517" Score="4" ViewCount="324" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I wanted to learn how to tie certain knots, or learn about new knots and what they're used for, what are some good resources to look up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-25T06:04:38.570" LastActivityDate="2019-12-07T11:29:55.027" Title="What's a good resource for learning to tie knots for climbing?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18825" CreationDate="2018-03-22T19:50:23.517" Score="10" Body="&lt;h1&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animated Knots By Grog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arguably the best resource &lt;strong&gt;online&lt;/strong&gt; for knot tying is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animated Knots by Grog&lt;/a&gt;, it's used by virtually every avid knot tyer I've known. They have excellent step-by-step animations for tying hundreds of common knots for rock climbing, sailing, rescue work, fishing, etc. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/user/AnimatedKnots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video tutorials&lt;/a&gt; for each knot, and they also have an amazing &lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.animatedknots.knots&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mobile app&lt;/a&gt; that you take with you for times when you're out on an adventure and forget how to tie a knot (which I've done fishing on a number of occations).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-22T20:26:36.037" LastActivityDate="2018-03-22T20:26:36.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18704" CreationDate="2018-03-22T19:50:51.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are doing outriggers, then do not plane the boat.  At those speeds, catching a pontoon on an outrigger can either rip it off, or twist the boat hard enough that occupants go flying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to keep the boat stable, then the pontoons have to be IN the water, not above the surface. They don't have to be submerged, but should be reasonably close to their maximum cross section.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There used to be a brand of canoes that had 4&quot; foam floats just under the gunwale.  Useless of course, and they didn't give any floation until the gunwale was 4 inches from the water. (Worse than useless:  They moved the shaft of the paddle 4 inches further from the centerline, decreasing paddling efficiency nd increasing the torque turning the canoe)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A v-bottom hull tends to have low primary stability, but great secondary stability.  A flat bottom hull the opposite.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easy to tip the boat some, but as you tip it, the part in the water becomes less like a log and more like a plank, so stability increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good canoes are shallow v bottoms.  It makes it easy to lean the canoe to get higher performance turns.  Also makes the bottom more rigid with less material making the canoe lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with v-hulls is why triple v hulls are popular. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit added after question revision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveat:  I have zero experience with Starcraft.  We have a lot of Lund aluminum boats that sound similar.  They strap nicely on the support struts of a Cessna 180 (a.k.a. Far North Pickup Truck) The most common size is 12 feet long by around 4.5 feet wide. Everyone uses them with 9.9 hp Evinrudes. (You don't need a license for a boat under 10 h.p.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience with these boats is that they are virtually un-tipable.  I've certainly seen many people standing in them casting.  In fly in fish camps,the usual use is 1 guide, and two fishermen.  I have never seen one with pontoons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok.  You want pontoons.  I would suggest that you build the pontoons as a frame that is then attached to the boat.  There are several options for storing the pontoons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  The pontoons telescope out.  The main frame is a pair of tubes, the pontoons are on tubes that slide inside.  I think this would be reasonable to do with schedule 80 2.5&quot; PVC pipe.  When not in use, the pontoons hug the gunwale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the pontoons on both sides share the same tube, the maximum extension is about half the width of the boat.  Note however my earlier comments about them needing to be in the water.  This makes the tubes run at a slant.  The interior ends of these tubes are going to be a PITA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  The pontoons are hinged, and lock vertically when not in use.  Not sure how to best make a locking hinge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this position they will catch the wind, but probably not a big deal.  They will make getting in and out of the boat sideways on a dock difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Like B the pontoons are hinged, but flip all the way over and rest on the opposite gunwale when not in use.  This makes the pontoons in use a very wide platform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T21:25:09.100" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T21:25:09.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18825" CreationDate="2018-03-22T20:16:14.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;(In this answer I concentrate mostly on practical knots to be used for situations where lives may depend on it. Decorative work has quite different sources and rules.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no one method that suits all.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For me it is books, still pictures. Although I love the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animated Knots by Grog&lt;/a&gt;, they are not the best for me.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For old fashioned rope I go to the Ashley Book of Knots, (also known as ABOK) and the knots in it are mentioned as ABOK #xxxx, in which the numbers run up into the 3000's.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For modern ropes I go to books about knots in modern rope, of which I own at least 10.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For fishing line, I will go to books about tying Fishing knots.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other people learn the best from life teachers.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;For outdoors sports, in which often your life depends on the knots you tie, your best teacher is the guy/girl who has been teaching for the sport with good results, best if there are several teachers and each able to do more than one teaching approach.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It is certainly good to repeat the learning from books, sites or videos, but an important part is where the teacher checks your work, correct any mistakes before you get them planted into your brain.&#xA;And a very important part of being taught knots is when and where to use them, and how, and maybe more important, when not, and how not, to use the knots you know.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As back-up teaching methods, there are many videos on Internet.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Many of them good, not all though.&#xA;But more important than the basic video being good, it needs to be one you can follow, are willing to take the time to watch and watch again and on and on.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A video which you only want to watch once will likely not get the knot in your head well enough to have it ready to tie in an emergency. And you might miss one vital step making the knot one that is not to be trusted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several good knot sites beside Grog's. &#xA;Several forums and groups. (It used to be Google groups, it is now Facebook groups.)&#xA;And loads of people who post their own information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, and have been tying knots since I was a child.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But I am mostly doing decorative work, so not the best for out of doors survival kind of knots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2019-12-07T11:29:55.027" LastActivityDate="2019-12-07T11:29:55.027" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18829" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18830" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" Score="0" Body="Questions about frogs" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T04:53:38.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18832" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18833" CreationDate="2018-03-23T06:40:41.767" Score="3" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a method of finding north by aiming two sticks at a star and then tracking the star's movement to find which way is north. You can read the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13938/8794&quot;&gt;full description here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is the a debate in the comments (with 6 upvotes) about whether or not it works the exact same way in both hemispheres specifically in reference to this  to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9lsWl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image&lt;/a&gt; which demonstrates the relationship between the movement of the star and the direction one is facing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Note that in the southern hemisphere, North and South will be reversed. – &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3414/dotancohen&quot;&gt;dotancohen&lt;/a&gt; Sep 19 '16 at 5:48&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13937/how-can-i-find-north-from-the-stars-without-recognizable-constellations#comment33933_13938&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, stars are going to rise in the east and set in the west but what about the movement left to right? Does that stay the same in both hemispheres?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T16:44:30.340" Title="Does the two sticks and a star method of finding north work the same way in both hemispheres?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18832" CreationDate="2018-03-23T06:40:41.767" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: It's the same in both hemispheres.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the explanation simple consider someone driving &lt;strong&gt;south&lt;/strong&gt; at night across the equator in Africa . The person sees a star ahead and it's moving to the &lt;strong&gt;right.&lt;/strong&gt; As the person crosses the equator it will still be moving to the right, &lt;strong&gt;not suddenly stop and start going to the left&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think where people get confused is in relation to the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider this scenario. You are standing outside in Glacier National Park (&lt;strong&gt;northern hemisphere&lt;/strong&gt;) at noon &lt;strong&gt;facing south,&lt;/strong&gt; from your point of view the sun is going to be traveling across sky &lt;strong&gt;towards the right.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare that to standing outside in Torres del Paine National Park (&lt;strong&gt;southern hemisphere&lt;/strong&gt;)  at noon &lt;strong&gt;facing north,&lt;/strong&gt; from your point of view the sun is going to be traveling across the sky &lt;strong&gt;towards the left.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both of those situations are exactly as predicted by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9lsWl.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;diagram&lt;/a&gt;. In this case the sun is &lt;strong&gt;moving the opposite way,&lt;/strong&gt; because you are &lt;strong&gt;facing the opposite direction.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were facing north in the northern hemisphere, the sun would be behind you and the stars you could see at night would be moving to the left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this to say that it does work the exact same way in both hemispheres. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-24T16:44:30.340" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T16:44:30.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-23T08:30:49.450" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless the car can provide heat (either engine or independent heater), tent is a better choice - car is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; designed to keep the heat inside; tent is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Car is mostly metal and glass, both poor insulation materials. They will get cold in no time and then will cool down the air inside. Note that the car's windows are single-pane. Windows in buildings are not comparable, as they have air between the panes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the tent's two layers of fabric may seem like not much heat protection, it's the air between them that's providing the insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have slept in tent on snow and it was fine. I also slept in a car in about 5°C (in a sleeping bag) and was woken up by the cold in very early morning and had to start the engine. A relative of mine often went skiing and slept in a tent pitched right in front of their car (they now have a car with a heater and sleep in the car since then).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15261" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T08:30:49.450" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-23T11:13:31.090" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you can still use the car's heating (which usually presumes the motor still works), you're definitely better inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be told both from experience, and science-based.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've once slept in a car at slightly-below-zero before. Half an hour and you're done. On the other hand, sleeping an entire night at sub-zero in a tent curled around a young woman is not only tolerable, but quite comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as science goes, a tent will have a heat transfer coefficient of about 4-5 for each layer of fabric (so somewhat below 4 if you count them both), but the layer of resting air between the two walls &lt;em&gt;significantly&lt;/em&gt; reduces the overall figure, to about one half. Heat lost is due to radiation, convection is (practically) zero, assuming you're not sleeping on the naked ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The car's windows will have a heat transfer coefficient anywhere from 6 to 8, and the chassis, although somewhat insulated, will not be much better since the metal is an excellent thermal bridge (with transmission coefficients in the 50-60 range). You have two sources of heat loss here, radiation &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; convection. Metal is awesome for convection. Not so awesome if you want to preserve heat, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8804" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T17:16:30.520" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T17:16:30.520" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-23T13:05:02.947" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question says that you have a good set of camping gear. A properly set up tent, with the right gear can be quite warm. Much better then a car. A car will lose heat quite quickly. Running it, specially in the snow, can be deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A proper set of gear will keep you not only warm but comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a vast difference between a thin walled pop-tent, that is designed to be used in the spring and summer, and a proper setup (including a ground mats, bags and barriers). If all you have is the wrong kind of tent, your car may do better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said, if your talking about an emergency situation, where you don't have a proper set of gear, then a tent could really suck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T17:15:13.757" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T17:15:13.757" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18740" CreationDate="2018-03-23T14:02:10.853" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer, my car broke in extreme cold in Siberia many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many things were already said, I just want to share my own experience from living in rural Siberia for 5 winters in a row.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We do not travel in Siberian winter, instead we run from A to B, we do quick short well planned runs. Advice: know the map very well, know which direction and how far is the next town. Very good advice: let others know your plans, so when you are not arrived in time, they will send help knowing you are in trouble. Maybe Russians are good planners because if you do not plan well you die in winter in this country, so plan and let your friends know your plans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you stuck near 30 km of town without help/phone coverage, start walking after one-two hour of wait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice: use a big car. This may sound simple, but bigger cars are really much less prone to failures, I mean REALLY. Large 4+ liter motors are so much more reliable, basically they do not fail all of a sudden ever, suspension and tires are also very strong for larger cars. Recently Siberian roads are flooded with what locals call a &quot;big jeep&quot;, most prominent and popular one being Toyota Land Cruser. Also you can store much more gas tubes, food, cloth inside the big car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real problem we have in winter is not &quot;car broke&quot; but rather &quot;cannot start engine&quot; this problem is the real killler, even the best, new and reliable cars can be hard to do a motor start when it is under -30 C outside, be prepared for this scenario most of all, have gas heater to warm the motor from down under, try not to stop your engine ever in the wild, have bigger batteries, better &quot;coolant&quot; (use of plain vodka for coolant is very common), better engine oil, more fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expect help from people when they arrive. Siberian drivers may not look gentleman, but very willing to help in such situations, also almost every local driver can fix cars to some extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was already told in other answers that in cold winter the snow cover is vast, and if you can use your car, then the road is either cleaned routinely or used frequently enough to be safe, having said that, there are nights, mornings, Sundays and especially Sunday nights and Sunday mornings, so long wait is still possible. Also there are snowless winters, especially late November and early December in some rare years are snowless, but can already be freezing, but again, most of the time if you can proceed by road on a working car for long periods then the road is clean because it is active and others will come soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now back to distances, yes, there are roads in Siberia where you can be located about 100 km from the nearby human life, BUT those roads are federal roads, with frequent or at least regular federal traffic, smaller roads are shorter, and you can just do a long walk back or forth when in danger. There are distant roads but those are rather &quot;off roads&quot; and taking them is a special kind of extreme sport close to Everest climbing you do not just &quot;travel&quot; them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very popular measure is to install a separate interior heater, that runs on the same fuel, basically burning it safely inside the inhabitable area of the car, you can install one in any big city (300K+ inhabitants). Other thing is using gas tubes, blankets, cloth, food and alcohol and wall/window insulation to keep bodies warm within the car. All together those stuff in a big car turn a car into a home, which can safely be alive for days. Also many people install real small stoves in their cars, especially in trucks and vans, but also sometimes in &quot;big jeeps&quot;, to burn wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for flare rockets and other similar devices popular in the West to do a SOS thing, in Siberia there is a big chance that it will not help even when being noticed by other human beings, I do not know anyone who ever used this, or helped anyone using this, or knowing any actual story about using such a thing. Maybe we just do not have enough flares in this country for people to recognize it in a SOS way. Normally if in Russia someone notices such a signal they will think &quot;people are celebrating something&quot; or at best: &quot;military business here&quot;, I do not think a regular person seeing such sight will immediately think that someone is in trouble and will hurry to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15269" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T14:02:10.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18795" CreationDate="2018-03-23T19:24:11.340" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main distinguishing attribute of shoelaces is that they are manufactured to be of a specific length that is intended to be compatible with standard shoes. Changing the length of rope-like object (i.e. paracord, shoelaces, string, yarn, etc.) tends to be difficult without either spending a significant amount of effort securing the new end (whipping, aglets, etc.), or degrading the structural integrity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also material differences; paracord is designed with tension being the primary concern, while shoelaces have more varied stresses. And paracord tends to have a circular cross section, while shoelaces come in both circular and flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14641" LastActivityDate="2018-03-23T19:24:11.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-23T21:21:32.687" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question supposes that you have winter camping gear. It would be warmer and more comfortable to set up in the tent. You have already specified that the tent could be partially buried (most winter tents I'm familiar with, this is part of the normal setup in any case). You can't set your equipment out properly in a car, and it is not designed for winter camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This of course supposes that you really do have effective winter kit. I have been on roughly a dozen winter camping trips, which have reached temperatures lower than -30°C (I think the record was -42°C). We slept in tents for all these exercises, and were outdoors for three nights; each time, there was nothing but our kit to keep us warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what we did; some of this advice is dangerous, and for recreational camping I would suggest simply not camping at such low temperatures, but the Canadian Army (well the Infantry, this isn't a requirement for the rest) seems to think its troops should be effective at all temperatures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the best sleeping bag available; for us that meant two -20°C down filled sleeping bags (while some might not think that makes sense, it is very versatile).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If possible, invest in a Gore-Tex sleeping bag cover; this is quite expensive, but with a bit of tarp you can literally embed yourself in a snowbank and sleep.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use an air mattress.  The best ones in my experience are not pretty, they look like they are made out of what looks like bicycle inner-tube, and provide about 6-12&quot; of lift; this provides very good insulation against the ground. Also ensure you use the air-scoop (a feature some air mattresses have), or a hand pump: you can't mouth-inflate an air mattress in the dead of winter if you want it to roll up in the morning, and/or not be full of ice after a few uses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't have much opinion on the tent; it should be a winter tent; the ones we used were highly flammable. Tents capacity are generally assumed to be shoulder-to-shoulder; in the winter a full tent is very helpful. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heating [this is where things get dicey]: - Candles are quite risky in my opinion, a Coleman lantern is much better; it throws reasonable heat and provides excellent light, you can carry it around outdoors. It is a good investment in the event of a power failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A second method of heat, which is quite dangerous, is the use of a Coleman stove, which we would actually light indoors! (although by protocol you are definitely not supposed to!). If you are not able to stand comfortably in the tent, and you are not really proficient in the use of your stove such that you can get a flare-up under control, then light the stove outside (or you won't have a tent). The stove can not be left on unattended, so it is just used to heat the tent initially.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lantern can be left on all night but should be turned down. This &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; produce carbon dioxide and monoxide, not enough to be life threatening, but enough that you may feel a bit hungover first thing in the morning. Also be aware that under very low temperature conditions, filling the stove and lantern is a frostbite risk, so be careful not to get the fuel on you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try not to wear much clothing when you sleep: you want to have enough clothing to be comfortable but you don't want to risk sweating; at some point you'll need to get out of your tent and what once was effective winter clothing will now be compromised. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A final note; it is best to camp when the temperature is very stable, beneath freezing: -20°C is safer than 0°C. More deaths happen where the temperature fluctuates around the freezing mark. This is because people underestimate the severity of the temperature, and they will get rained on and then then the temperature will drop beneath freezing. If the temperature is close to the freezing mark, it may be better to stay in your car unless you have rain kit in addition to your winter kit, even so it is a PITA.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have a break down of temperatures, my only advice at -50°C... you will die without a proper setup, if your car is dead... get out and set up quickly (again, assuming you have the kit). Otherwise there is plenty of advice already here in the other answers regarding what you could do to survive longer in your car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15275" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T17:13:56.403" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T17:13:56.403" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16616" CreationDate="2018-03-24T09:31:20.837" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Brunton Truarc 3 compass is ajustable for declination WITHOUT the need of a screwdriver like tool.&#xA;Just grab the clear vial with your left hand index under and thumb over to prevent it from moving while you turn the bezel ring with your right hand and set the declination value for your locality or for the area where you are going if it is different from your home town.&#xA;That's all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15283" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T09:31:20.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16496" CreationDate="2018-03-24T10:14:45.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;When working with map AND compass, the declination should always be taken from the grid north (GN) since you align the compass orienting lines (red or black lines on the bottom or the bezel of the rotating capsule) with north-south lines of the map grid.&#xA;The reason why these line are slightly skewed from true north (the sides of the map) is that longitudes lines (meridians) are not parallel but rather all converge to the same two points wich are the geographic north and south poles and when trying to represent this with a projection from a sphere to a flat surface (Transverse Mercator or other) a slight distorsion is inevitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15283" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T10:14:45.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-24T20:39:18.637" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will go hunting rabbit in a few weeks and I'm planning to tan the hide, but I don't know how.also will be nice if it explains how to make soft leather as well; as I will have multiple hides&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15134" LastEditorUserId="15134" LastEditDate="2018-03-26T14:38:56.843" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T14:38:56.843" Title="How to tan a rabbit hide to make a fur and/or leather" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;tanning&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2018-03-26T14:33:40.740" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18589" CreationDate="2018-03-24T21:33:54.910" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cotton when wet can get quite cold which in turn will make you very cold or get hypothermia. Denim in my experience holds a lot of water which, like cotton, will get cold and may give you hypothermia. Also, the extra water slows you down causing fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15134" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-24T23:02:20.860" LastActivityDate="2018-03-24T23:02:20.860" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18846" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-25T12:06:28.570" Score="5" ViewCount="1176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to buy a kodiac canvas tent but they don't come with stove jacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not being handy at all, is there any company or store type where I could take the tent to and they could put the stove jack in for me. I know cabela's sells tents with stove jacks but they are way way out of my price range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15296" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:01:25.620" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:01:25.620" Title="Install a stove jack onto a canvas tent without one" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-25T19:12:45.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done enough crazy camping in the UK to know how best to get chilled to the bone in a mild climate.  Assuming you do not have sleeping bags and you have a single-skinned tent then the car is best because you can run the engine every time you wake up frozen, unless of course you're in this pickle because you ran out :) I will not run the engine while I'm asleep in the car and anyone who does this in drifting  snow is dicing with death. In the tent you can spoon with your buddy and/or your dog but a one-skin tent always sucks beyond belief.  If it rains then you just have to get back in the car!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A two skinned tent is routinely better than a car if you can pack enough heather or, better, a plant called Bedstraw under your points of contact with the ground - the major way you lose heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15299" LastActivityDate="2018-03-25T19:12:45.033" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18852" CreationDate="2018-03-25T22:59:11.153" Score="5" ViewCount="246" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I took my girlfriend with me on a random 40 minute ride to stop on the side of the road to stargaze near a farm. It was a lot of fun being away from the suburbs. I've never been camping before but I'd like to get away just her and I as far as I can from civilization. Also information about equipment would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15301" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T12:00:32.343" Title="Where is the farthest I can get from civilization while staying in florida?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18846" CreationDate="2018-03-26T01:33:39.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with using a a stove inside a tent that is not designed for one, is that it will lack the fire retardation treatment on the canvas, and therefore be more liable to catch on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A: These tents are not fire retardant and should you choose to install a stove Jack somebody could be seriously injured. I guess we care about people. That's what's wrong with us :-) there are plenty of tents out there with stove kits. I'm sure you'll find a perfect fit for your needs.&#xA;  Was this answer helpful? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A: Unfortunately, due to Fire Hazards, we would not recommend it. However there are small electric heaters that would probably be a safer choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A: For liability purposes we do not recommend adding a stove jack. I'm sorry for the bad news.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A: The manufacturer does not recommend using any combustible heat source for liability reasons. A wood burning stove requires a air vent and any modifications to the tent void the warranty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.competitiveedgeproducts.com/Kodiak-Canvas-Tent-6051-Six-Person-10-x-10-Ft-Tent_p_12.html?utm_source=GoogleCPC&amp;amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;amp;utm_campaign=product&amp;amp;dfw_tracker=11389-12&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Competitive Edge Customer Service&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T01:33:39.533" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18850" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18880" CreationDate="2018-03-26T07:05:03.243" Score="4" ViewCount="369" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes in the United States private land won't be marked clearly or there won't fences along the lines or maybe there aren't any &quot;no trespassing&quot; signs. Especially in the western parts with big open spaces this can be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or sometimes the land can be public, but the rules can be different depending on the who owns the land and whether its say a Wilderness area or a National Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the easiest way to tell who owns the land?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T17:32:38.747" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T23:31:21.357" Title="How to avoid trespassing in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18850" CreationDate="2018-03-26T07:05:03.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This has been a problem for quite a while, it used to be that one needed really good paper maps to be able to tell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now there are &lt;strong&gt;chips for GPS units that show the ownership of the land on the map (there are also apps for phones) with an overlay of the property types and boundaries.&lt;/strong&gt; That way people can know where the property lines are and can &lt;strong&gt;avoid trespassing and are better able to access public lands.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These were mostly designed with hunters in mind (sometimes hunting areas are limited to public land or vice versa) but they could also be useful for hiking and backpacking in areas where there is private land mixed in with public.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different makers of these chips (basically memory cards) / apps what you are going to want to search for to find them is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=land%20ownership%20gps%20maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Land ownership gps maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=hunting%20gps%20maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunting gps maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a now quite a few of these applications by a number of different companies. Its worth pointing out that the coverage can vary by area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T07:05:03.243" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18848" CreationDate="2018-03-26T12:00:32.343" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the southern part of the state, a section of the Florida Trail passes through Big Cypress.  From what I remember, it's about a 20 mile stretch of trail where you won't see many others.  Though it has been a while since I've been (12 years?), it was very remote (as FL goes) and I cannot imagine that it has changed much.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping in this area is seasonal, with much of it being flooded during parts of the year.  During other parts of the year, it can be difficult to find water.  There is a ranger station on the trail at the Oasis Visitor Center (on US41) at south end of the preserve which can provide detailed information on trail conditions and hazards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Address: 52105 Tamiami Trail, East Ochopee, Florida 34141&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Phone: 239-695-120&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Map:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/maps.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/maps.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've not done much camping, you should consider sticking to established campgrounds.  Otherwise, you can easily get yourself into trouble and find that you do not have cell phone coverage.  There are numerous campgrounds (some primitive, but still car accessible) in the area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you also mention star-gazing, this area gets bonus points since the north end of Big Cypress is frequented by both the Palm Beach and Broward County astronomy groups as a &quot;dark sky&quot; site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sfaaa.com/component/content/article?id=89&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.sfaaa.com/component/content/article?id=89&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T12:00:32.343" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18850" CreationDate="2018-03-26T12:13:29.220" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most states of the US, if there isn't a sign telling you to keep out, or a physical barrier like a fence, you are OK to go there, assuming you were legal where you started from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course not all private land is posted with &lt;i&gt;No Trespassing&lt;/i&gt; signs.  That means you can end up on private land without even knowing it.  Different states have different rules, but generally in that case you are not in trouble.  The land owner can ask you to leave though, and you have to comply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this may sound tricky, it's really not much of a big deal in practice.  Before you go hiking somewhere, you really should be familiar with where you intend to go and what land you will be on.  The biggest problem I've run into out west is not accidentally ending up on private land, but having my way blocked by a private enclave that is not shown as such on the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T12:13:29.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-26T15:00:56.310" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Neither.  You need to change your perspective.  Both the car and tent will &quot;leak&quot; heat, as neither one has very good insulation, even if you are using a 4-season tent.  Think of both as a form of shelter.  Your shelter protects you from the elements such as wind and rain; it keeps you dry.  Your sleeping bag or blankets or layers of clothing is what will keep you warm.  When planning a sleeping bag purchase, remember that the temperature rating on the sleeping bag indicates the temperature at which you will survive in the bag; for a comfort rating assume 10 to 20 degrees warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the winter, wind and water are your two enemies.  If getting out of your car to set up your tent means you will get wet, stay in your car.  If you can safely set up your tent and stay dry, then set up your tent so you can stretch out comfortably in your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15310" LastEditorUserId="15310" LastEditDate="2018-03-26T15:06:43.793" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T15:06:43.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18850" CreationDate="2018-03-26T17:12:04.553" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am very partial to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gaiagps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GaiaGps&lt;/a&gt; on my phone.  They offer  a public land layer that gives you &lt;a href=&quot;https://help.gaiagps.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003524607-Public-Lands-Overlay-Legend&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a color coded overlay&lt;/a&gt; of various land ownership types.   It has been very helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.gaiagps.com/updated-public-lands-in-gaia-gps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://blog.gaiagps.com/updated-public-lands-in-gaia-gps/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15313" LastActivityDate="2018-03-26T17:12:04.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18856" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-26T19:12:05.740" Score="4" ViewCount="96" Body="&lt;p&gt;I lost out on the Mt Whitney lottery--dates I was looking for now say R--does that mean I am out of luck or will some slots be available later, like in the April 1 access date?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15314" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-26T20:01:14.820" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:37.680" Title="What does status R mean regarding trail permits on the Mt Whitney lottery calendar?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18856" CreationDate="2018-03-26T19:23:53.897" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it means that you are out of luck for that day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;After the Mt Whitney Lottery, any remaining dates may be reserved on the website www.recreation.gov beginning at 10:00am Eastern Time on April 1st. &lt;strong&gt;When searching for an available date, the letter &quot;R&quot; on the reservation calendar indicates that date is full.&lt;/strong&gt; Reductions in group size and canceled space will be released for web reservations at a random time within 24 hours of cancelation. A reservation is not final until you have successfully completed checking out the shopping cart and paid reservation fees in full.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5150055&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The full legend of what the letters stand for on the calander is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A: Available for online reservation (click to book entry date)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;a: Available for online reservation with earlier arrival date&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;L: Accepting Lottery Application (click to apply for the lottery)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;W: Available at the Facility&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;R: Reserved&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;C: Closed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;X: Not available&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;N: Not available&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recreation.gov/permits//r/entranceDetails.do?arvdate=06/06/2018&amp;amp;contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=72201&amp;amp;entranceId=315840&amp;amp;pGroupSize=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:03:37.680" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:37.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13976" CreationDate="2018-03-27T19:07:03.307" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would recommend a notebook and a pencil. Excellent battery life, works well in all weather, backup options somewhat limited though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T19:07:03.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18862" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19998" CreationDate="2018-03-27T19:26:51.217" Score="10" ViewCount="264" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bogs on my Lemmenjoki and Hammastunturi map are marked as either easy or hard to traverse. What conditions should I expect from both terrain types in summer (mid August)? Does easy mean one can walk more or less like on dry (albeit springy and wet) land or is some special gear (bogshoes?) needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15154" LastEditorUserId="15154" LastEditDate="2018-03-27T19:56:11.357" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T23:24:36.313" Title="Finnish maps: bogs easy vs hard to traverse" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;finland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18863" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-27T21:51:48.483" Score="6" ViewCount="472" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18862/finnish-maps-bogs-easy-vs-hard-to-traverse&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; asks about bog-crossing grades of difficulty, and special equipment like &lt;strong&gt;bog shoes&lt;/strong&gt;. What are bog shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-27T22:30:19.930" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T16:11:23.300" Title="What is bog shoeing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;bogshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18863" CreationDate="2018-03-27T21:51:48.483" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Modern bog shoes are special footwear made for bog walking, or bogshoeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bogshoeing is essentially snowshoeing through marshlands. It's popular in Finland, and Estonia where they have large bogs that comprise over 20% of the country's area. Traversing these bogs is difficult or impossible without using bog-shoes, which are similar in appearance to snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bog shoes make otherwise inaccessible wetlands accessible by foot, the shoes prevent the hiker from sinking into the bog, and from causing potential damage to the environment. They have been used for many years for crossing bogs, and are now becoming a draw for tourists to visit large marshlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://image.slidesharecdn.com/bogtourismbusiness-130201061141-phpapp02/95/bog-tourism-business-soomaa-estonia-16-638.jpg?cb=1359700560&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SwmDl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bog Shoeing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.visitjurmala.lv/images/catalog/155450e206eb911a5aa0085f080a72ce/000/000/031/s1_3112.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZRLL5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Click images for sources.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-03-27T22:25:54.070" LastActivityDate="2018-03-27T22:25:54.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18865" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-28T02:21:55.663" Score="6" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last month, in February, my husband was walking on a trail in the woods in Massachusetts, alongside a fresh-water lake. The temperatures had been fluctuating a lot over the winter, so some areas were solid ice, others had partial ice, and others had free-flowing water, with some swirling current. There were rocks interspersed in the water and along the sandy edges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a section of one edge of the water he saw a raised, ramp-like structure. It had a bumpy top with some jagged edges. It was open on the sides underneath the risen section. It looked like ice and matched the mottled gray colors of the icy area surrounding it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was unable to get close to it, so he couldn't see the exact markings or texture. He only got one picture of it, from about 25 feet away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give you a broader view of the water, I've added the second picture, which is the same lake from around the bend. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this, and how was it formed? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cCYrPl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cCYrPl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/smYd3l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/smYd3l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT as of March 29, 2018:&#xA;I don't know if it will be helpful, but I found a third picture. This too is of the same lake, but around a different bend from both the first and the second. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TZInF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TZInF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T20:12:10.050" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T20:12:10.050" Title="What is this raised, icy-looking structure, found at the edge of a partially frozen lake?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18865" CreationDate="2018-03-28T03:01:40.600" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its just the result of pressure on the ice pushing the slabs up like that. It could also have been a solid non melting object underneath like a rock,  but I can't see one in the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice will do all sorts weird things under pressure like &lt;a href=&quot;http://lakeice.squarespace.com/pressure-ridges/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pressure ridges&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_shove&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ice shove/heaves&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://lakeice.squarespace.com/spring-tectonic-cracks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;spring tectonic  cracks.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since its melting, it would seem that the pressure is coming from ice sliding back down into the lake. During the winter a lake can freeze and then drain underneath, leaving the slant you see in the second picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T03:01:40.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18867" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-28T03:10:37.040" Score="4" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find this bug while hiking the Toiyabe Crest Trail in Nevada. It was probably 2 inches long and at an elevation of somewhere around 6,000 feet or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I7dsI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I7dsI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did decided that I didn't want to camp anywhere close to the thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what kind of bug this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T05:58:21.027" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T14:47:03.410" Title="What is the rather large bug with a green body, black stripe down the middle, 8 orange legs , two large antenna and large chompers?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18867" CreationDate="2018-03-28T05:08:16.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;camel spider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, they became famous on social media when the US invaded Iraq in the middle east where they are more common, and the troops started taking pictures and sending them home. Apparently they are also found in the SW USA, which I didn't know. Good news is they aren't venomous, they just have really nasty jaws that can rip and shred flesh. They're known to &quot;chase&quot; people, but really they're only trying to hide in the shade of people's shadows. If one comes after you, just stop moving and it will stop too, it's just trying to use you as shelter from the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;From wikipedia:&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifugae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6OUyb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T14:47:03.410" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T14:47:03.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18867" CreationDate="2018-03-28T06:45:23.130" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like a Vinegaroon (&lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; a camel spider), at least that's what my dad called them. Common in the desert SW. They pinch and bite but I don't think they are venomous. They do spray vinegar at you, hence the name. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T06:45:23.130" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18805" CreationDate="2018-03-28T15:18:53.937" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is it depends.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag and insulated pads is the same.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vehicle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind proof and water proof. But it is not going to be raining at -30°C.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glass and metal are not good insulators.  Glass is less insulation.  Glass suffers from radiant heat loss. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More surface area for more heat loss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up off the ground so you are insulated from the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A good winter tent is water proof.  Not totally wind proof.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Typically less volume compared to a vehicle so you can better share&#xA;each others heat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not a great insulator but a double wall tent is certainly better than&#xA;glass.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More comfortable to sleep in a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can pitch the tent in a chosen spot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Situation&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;I think situation will dictate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the car is on a ridge without protection that would favor the tent.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is good natural shelter near by that would favor the tent.  Tree canopy and hill to block wind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High wind will favor the car unless there is natural shelter you can&#xA;get to with the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snowing it would favor the car as you don't want to get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Getting dark favors the car.  It takes time to pitch a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rescue probably favors the car if the tent is not visible from the&#xA;road.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go with the car. Push it to better shelter if that is an option. I would use the pads on the windows (inside or out or both) if you can hold them in place.  Then cover the roof and windows with the tent.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again it depends. If you have proper sleeping bags you are going to do OK. A nice tent like a climbing tent then I think I would go with the tent in most situations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T15:18:53.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18871" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18874" CreationDate="2018-03-28T16:34:05.693" Score="15" ViewCount="10277" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a North Face Big Shot backpack that I purchased around 2003. It was a great general purpose backpack that I used for day hikes, rock climbing, and traveling. Unfortunately time and the abuse I've inflicted on the pack have taken their toll and the pack needed to be replaced. I've replaced it with a REI Trail 40 pack since I didn't like the current evolution of the North Face Big Shot pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm curious if I've gained or lost any space with my replacement pack. While I know I can try to cram as much stuff into both packs to see if one pack fits more, I'd prefer to have something more quantifiable than an &quot;X shirt increase.&quot; So what is the best way to get a proper volume measurement on an old pack? I tried to google the older pack but I kept finding newer versions of my pack. The different newer versions all hovered around 2,000 cubic inches, which is quite a bit smaller than the 3,000 cubic inch volume I seem to recall. My memory isn't perfect though so maybe my old pack really is smaller than I recall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a pic of my old pack for reference. While I currently want an answer for this specific pack I'd prefer a more general solution. Also while I'm sure it would be the most accurate I don't know if I'd be able to handle the math needed to calculate the volume based on the complex curves and angles that make up most packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1rZpZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1rZpZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;North Face Big Shot pack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T18:53:17.527" Title="What is the best way to figure out the size/volume of an old pack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2018-03-28T16:43:33.497" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to fill the backpack with something and and then measure the volume of that filler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would probably be easiest to &lt;strong&gt;to stuff the backpack full with t-shirts until you can't fit anymore, then take them out and stuff them into a shoe box which is a nice cubic shape.&lt;/strong&gt; Then you multiply the height x width x length to get the cubic size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am also seeing  ping pong balls, beans and small plastic balls used, where one fills the backpack with them, dumps them out and then calculates the volume of the filling. &lt;a href=&quot;https://geekprepper.org/backpack-sizes-cubic-inches-vs-liters/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;At least one site&lt;/a&gt; claims 20mm plastic balls are the standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-28T17:08:36.973" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T17:08:36.973" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2018-03-28T17:04:36.717" Score="22" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put a garbage bag in the pack, with the open top of the garbage bag sticking out of the pack.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pour water into the garbage bag one liter at a time, keep track of how many liters of water you use. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use Google to convert the number of liters to any measurement you prefer. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Empty the water from the garbage bag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. You might want to do this outside or in a bathtub. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt; There have been some concerns in the comments about the backpack holding a full load of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;/a/18739&quot;&gt;Why are backpacks sized in liters?&lt;/a&gt;.  While it is unlikely that a backpack will be filled with water, it is likely it will be filled with school books, tools or canned food, all of which are roughly equivalent or greater in density to water. It would be a poorly designed backpack that is not able to carry weight equal to its volume of water without failing.  While I do suggest volume testing occur someplace water-safe, if you really have fears the bag will not survive the test, I can't see taking the pack to school or the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-02-03T18:53:17.527" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T18:53:17.527" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2018-03-28T17:22:03.857" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's zero industry standardization for calculating the volume of a bag, and there are numerous factors that affect the total volume - like how many pockets/compartments are in the bag and, and the overall non-uniform shape of the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most companies just do an approximation by stuffing a bag full, then measuring its length, width, and height and doing a simple calculation for volume (L x W x H = V), and rounding to the nearest Litre/5 Litres &lt;em&gt;(1,000cm&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; = 1 Litre)&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can quickly measure the approximate volume of your bag by stuffing it with pillows or a sleeping bag, then taking your three measurements with a tape measure. You don't have to be exact, because not a single bag on the market is, which is why you can fit more stuff in some brands of 30L bags than you can into other's.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your picture I'm guessing that's a 20-30L bag. Odds are you'll measure the volume of your bag and it'll come out to some odd measurement like 26.87L, in which case your bag would probably have been marketed as either a 25L bag, or a 30L bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can take the time to try and figure out the &lt;em&gt;exact&lt;/em&gt; volume of your bag, but what is that really going to benefit you aside from satisfying your curiosity? All that matters is how much stuff you can fit in it. The sizes in Litres are just meant to help you get you into the ballpark of what you're looking for in size when shopping for bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2020-01-27T20:41:46.147" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T20:41:46.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18865" CreationDate="2018-03-28T17:43:39.333" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me it looks like the first bit or a small version of what we call in Dutch '&lt;a href=&quot;https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruiend_ijs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kruiend ijs&lt;/a&gt;' (stacked drift ice).  The corresponding English Wikipedia page is '&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_shove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Shove&lt;/a&gt;' which seems the result rather than the action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This happens when there is a big surface of ice which gets broken up in strong winds. If the wind is from the same direction for a while, the ice from the lake or part of the sea will all move to one end, pushed on by the ice behind it, while the water in the break freezes up again and the whole of the lake stays frozen if it stays cold enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cases where the ice is broken up already, because of the weather or because of icebreakers, the build up can be even faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ice becomes an unstoppable force if there is enough with a strong wind behind it and in all cold winters in the Netherlands there are warnings for some lake side roads. (And the villages and individual houses but those do not come over the national radio.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T15:38:15.053" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T15:38:15.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18850" CreationDate="2018-03-28T23:31:21.357" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to avoid trespassing, you should know positively where you are.  The easiest way to do this is with a high quality GPS with a public lands map package such as those offered by OnX Hunting Maps: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onxmaps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.onxmaps.com/&lt;/a&gt;.  Relying on fencing, fence style, and other notices might work for well-traveled areas, but if you are off-trail, on a waterway, or other entry to private land that isn't usual, you may inadvertently enter private land.  This can get especially confusing in areas where public lands are used for private grazing as often the grazing permit holders try to make public lands look private, which is bad for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, you will have a land ownership idea in mind, such as traveling a national forest, BLM parcel, or other public land.  By knowing the boundaries and double-checking with your GPS, you can determine when you are passing out of land you know you have a right to be in.  If you aren't sure where you are or where the boundary to the public land is, then stay where you are sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially important when hunting or fishing, as sometimes heightened penalties apply to trespassers engaged in this activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a relatively large parcel of land next to a public piece of land and I am continually dealing with trespassers.  Many are harmless, but some are not such as people accessing hidden pot growing operations, so my response is generally pretty gruff and often I am armed until I know which category people fall into, so expect to be treated as a potential threat until proven otherwise when you are found on someone else's land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping property completely posted is often difficult due to weather removing signs and people simply ripping them down.  Fencing is also sometimes down for a few weeks before I notice.  The onus is on the traveling party to know where they are and whether or not they have a right to be there in most of the Western United States.  There are different requirements for civil and criminal trespass and generally criminal trespass laws require someone to remain after being asked to leave and/or proper signage.  Civil trespass may not require such a heightened burden, but most people won't sue you for civil trespass if you haven't caused any damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11094" LastActivityDate="2018-03-28T23:31:21.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3097" CreationDate="2018-03-29T04:50:26.997" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a final addition to the other answers: Google really can be your friend. See if any reviews or blog posts about the brand's material are available, and pay particular note to anything by pros. They may be sponsored, but they're not going to use equipment that seems unsafe to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-30T05:07:10.057" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T05:07:10.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18882" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-29T06:25:45.200" Score="8" ViewCount="331" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I saw a podcast of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCf-KJOxKAU&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alex Honnold with Rich Roll&lt;/a&gt; where Alex speaks about deliberately eating up and gaining weight before going on an Antarctic expedition (I'm assuming this is because of the climate as well as his lack of body fat as a climber). Made me wonder if this is a tactic used by trekkers as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case I'm going on long hikes (10 days or more), is it advisable to eat up and deliberately put on more weight before the treks? I'm a fit male who has very less fat percentage. Eating more to put on might be a way to offset the loss of weight that'll happen over longer treks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: This is not a hypothetical question. I'll be hiking for around 2 months in the Himalayas and it'll be a long strenuous two months. I am expecting to lose some weight for sure. I'm wondering if I can offset this with some weight gain before I head off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T07:01:56.277" Title="Should one deliberately eat more and put on weight before going on long treks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18882" CreationDate="2018-03-29T07:01:56.277" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the circumstances, in fact people going for Mt. Everest will deliberately gain weight beforehand to offset the coming loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Gain weight: It's advisable to gain an extra stone in weight, as you can expect to lose up to 20 per cent of body weight on Everest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/30/everest.features3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=YuXlDAAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT209&amp;amp;lpg=PT209&amp;amp;dq=gain%20weight%20before%20climbing%20everest&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=nh3zYfLoOy&amp;amp;sig=Tb2KlMckbONFHHi7JJzPWueYq3A&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjh-o7L9pDaAhUO1WMKHfG_Ci84HhDoAQhUMAc#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=gain%20weight%20before%20climbing%20everest&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.equinox.com/theheroesproject&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;two&lt;/a&gt; , &lt;a href=&quot;https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/climbing/mount-everest7.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;three&lt;/a&gt; , and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-advice-from-climbers.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;four&lt;/a&gt; other sources that say about the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as hiking goes, this is called &quot;calorie debt&quot; where instead of eating enough calories to maintain your weight, you are eating less and using body fat to make up the difference. This enables one to travel lighter since you are carrying less food and therefore less weight. The idea is that it's not a permanent thing but rather you replenish yourself from time to time along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is a point where adding extra weight to yourself makes you more slower and more liable to injury. Its also not possible to store up all of the weight needed for a two month trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Google, a pound of body fat has about 3,500 calories which is around how much a person burns in a day of hiking. So as a &lt;strong&gt;very, very rough estimate&lt;/strong&gt; you could carry maybe 10 days of food in body fat depending on the person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time it is hard to replenish stored energy reserves and if you start depleting them, you will end up getting weaker instead of getting into better shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this could be useful, but at the same time, one doesn't want to depend on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T07:01:56.277" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4263" CreationDate="2018-03-29T09:12:59.663" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For such a trip put the knife in your backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should not become separated from the backpack, if you do, in the area you are traveling survival will not come down to access to a knife - a pocket of  $US will be far more useful. When backpacking, the idea of getting separated from your backpack should be so frightening that is something that you just do not let happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only reason to carry something on you is if your going to need it quickly or easily without taking your back pack off. Camera is an obvious one, Bear spray comes to mind. Winter travel I would put gloves and hats in pockets so I could put them on without stopping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would you need a knife in a hurry? Self Defense - hope your trained and know the local laws. Unless its changed recently, personally I would not want Police in Peru to find a knife on me. I am comfortable I could explain away a folding knife in a backpack, but one in my pocket... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T09:12:59.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18886" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18897" CreationDate="2018-03-29T14:09:36.413" Score="4" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I get to travel a lot in the richly biodiverse &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ghats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;western ghats of India&lt;/a&gt;. While hiking, one of the most difficult tasks I face is to identify birds that I come across. I'm not a professional or even amateur bird watcher. However, my curiosity to know more about the birds that I come across makes me wonder if there is a handy resource which allows for identifying birds on the go. I own the &quot;Birds of the Indian Subcontinent&quot; field guide. This however is a super heavy book which is impractical to carry on a hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The alternative would be to click a pic and come back and research on the same. I would like to know what the members here do when it comes to identification of birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I'm not looking for google as a possible solution. I want to know if there are field guides which are handy to carry. Or is it all based on click-come-back-and-identify?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T18:44:41.537" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T01:44:26.260" Title="Possible resources to identify birds while outdoors (preferably in the Indian subcontinent)?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;western-ghats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18886" CreationDate="2018-03-29T14:59:49.387" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There several apps for phones that would help a person,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.cornell.birds.ebird&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eBird by Cornell Lab&lt;/a&gt; (This one is supposed to be &lt;strong&gt;worldwide&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birds.of.india.cogaagurriebrmbg&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birds of India&lt;/a&gt; Specifically for birds in India&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.audubon.org/app&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon Bird Guide App&lt;/a&gt; (Limited to North America)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merlin Bird ID App&lt;/a&gt; (North America and Europe, will also help identify the bird from a picture)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Websites,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://chirag.freeshell.org/birds/identify/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird Identification Guide (India)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whatbird.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WhatBird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiabirds.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;indiabirds.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that you could look for small easy to carry books for the region you are going to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the members on this site are really good at tracking down what species an animal is or what type of object something is, so if you take a picture and write a question here, I bet we could figure it out after the fact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T17:08:17.453" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T17:08:17.453" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18888" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18944" CreationDate="2018-03-29T17:19:25.530" Score="17" ViewCount="48801" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard this multiple times from different people that while buying a hiking shoe, always go for one size larger than what fits you perfectly. The most recent one being a local store where I went to check out some shoes. The logic seems to be as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiking shoes might be worn with multiple layers of socks in cold environment (personally have never tried this).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While walking on downhill trails, one's feet will slide a bit inside the shoe and there're chances of the toes touching the end of the shoes and thereby causing discomfort/injury (can attest to this).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have personally faced the second issue where the shoe fits perfectly and has great comfort on level/uphill trails but on a downhill trail, my toes would end up painful due to the slight shift of my feet inside the shoes (this is despite the shoe being tied properly and securely). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a trend followed by all the hikers? Or is this a pure comfort based choice? Also, please add in any additional reason why one would go for a larger shoe size when it comes to hiking shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional (interesting?) info:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last time I bought my hiking shoes, the person there made me stand on an inclined plane and jump up a couple of times (so as to allow my feet to shift). The logic being, while on a trail you would often come across inclines and the backpack would force your weight down and shift your feet a bit inside your shoes. And after this small experiment, if my toes hit the front of the shoes, I had to go for the next size. That was the criteria the person used to judge the size of the shoes I had to buy. (The laces were tight all the time and there was absolutely no way you could just slide your feet inside the shoes unless you did the jumps)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T17:40:54.827" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T10:04:28.293" Title="Should one buy a higher shoe size while buying hiking shoes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18888" CreationDate="2018-03-29T17:28:11.633" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I prefer my hiking bootsto fit so perfectly that I can only wear thin socks inside. Tighten the laces and the feet do not move inside, also not going down hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At work I have to wear (steel) toecap boots and because of the lack of available boots in my (smaller women) size I have had several which required at least two pair of thick socks.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I almost always had sore feet at the end of the working day and often blisters because my feet kept moving around in the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My hiking boots (brand Ecco) are quite soft, not the very sturdy mountain boots some people use which always require two pairs of socks because the leather is so hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, it depends on your feet, your walking and the boots/shoes available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T18:27:33.323" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T18:27:33.323" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18888" CreationDate="2018-03-29T17:35:15.420" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can depend on the person but it is something that is suggested fairly often,,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many people prefer hiking boots that are a half or full size larger than their normal shoe size. This helps accommodate thicker hiking socks without discomfort. If possible, try on your boots with the socks you'll be wearing when you hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierratradingpost.com/lp2/hiking-guide/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking Boot Fit and Break-In Tips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like my boots to fit well both with doubled up socks and with a single pair as I will do both styles, although more often I use two to prevent blisters. If your boots were too small, then you will not have the option to add another pair. Its also worth noting that your feet will swell with lots of walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, boots that are too large can lead to your toes slamming into the front of the boot and that will lead to blackened toenails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would try the boots one with both a single and double pairs of socks when looking to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T17:35:15.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2018-03-29T18:48:37.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have some dry-bags handy, seal them up full of air and check how differently they fit in each bag respectively. It won't give you an exact measure, but it should be a good enough (and easy enough) way to solve your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15329" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:59:25.873" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:59:25.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5701" CreationDate="2018-03-29T18:56:27.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll say full boot (more comfortable, and you don't need to buy booties), open toe (for water and sand to drain), solid (more sturdy against accidental strikes), and on the shorter end of the models.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found length to be specially important for maneuverability when snorkeling near riffs. Plus it's easier to put on/off, and it's not a burden during the whole trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15329" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-29T19:16:49.360" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T19:16:49.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18772" CreationDate="2018-03-29T19:01:09.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the water, you could also have an area with dry sand/pebbles for dirt baths. Birds do like them (I see them do it often where I live), and it's an actually effective &quot;washing method&quot;. If it's very wet where you live, they will likely appreciate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15329" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T19:01:09.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16105" CreationDate="2018-03-29T19:12:17.187" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The harsh truth is that if you are hiking long-enough distances, carrying heavy-enough packs YOUR BACK WILL SWEAT. Accept it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, what can you do to REDUCE AND MANAGE IT? Some backpack designs help (e.g. external frame packs), and you can wear a &quot;softshell&quot; (if it's cold and not raining) over a merino/synthetic base layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But no matter what YOUR BACK WILL SWEAT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So take that pack off your back often, let your back dry out, and enjoy your trip :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15329" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T19:12:17.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2018-03-29T20:53:15.087" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option is to take the backpack to an outdoors store like REI or LL Bean and compare it to backpacks that list their volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15330" LastActivityDate="2018-03-29T20:53:15.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18886" CreationDate="2018-03-30T01:44:26.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I highly recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waterfordpress.com/products/pocket-naturalist-guides.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pocket Naturalist Guides&lt;/a&gt; from Waterford Press. I have no affiliation with the company, and I don't purchase directly from their website. I'm recommending them because we use them for birding and learning about nature both in the backyard, and in our travels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think they easily meet your criteria. They're folded to give you a good amount of information in a small space. They're only approximately 3 in x 8 in, and open to about 22 in. They're extremely lightweight, not more than a few ounces. They're laminated, so they're durable, and water-resistant.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have pictures of the birds, with names and short descriptions. These aren't in-depth like your larger field guide, but can definitely assist you with identification, and give you something to research more when you get home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guides cover areas all over the world. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waterfordpress.com/india-birds.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; includes 140 birds in India. On the back it has a map and some pointers as to where to find some excellent birding areas. Here are some pictures of it from that source page. Click on them for a larger view. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g20Ou.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g20Oum.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Folded India Bird Guide Front&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G23FP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G23FPm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Unfolded from front&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20z8W.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/20z8Wm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Unfolded other side&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T01:44:26.260" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18888" CreationDate="2018-03-30T04:55:09.810" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it's a very personal thing, there are a few simple guidelines for trying on boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/expert-advice/how-to-fit-walking-boots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;late in the day&lt;/a&gt;, when you've been walking around, and your feet are already sweaty and swollen. Your feet will naturally go up a size when active, and this represents your default when hiking. Boots tested in the morning with fresh feet will suddenly seem too small when you've been hiking for a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear the socks you intend to hike with. The proper fit of your boot should take this into account. I prefer one thin sock and one thick sock (two socks &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1013/is-it-better-to-wear-one-pair-or-two-pairs-of-socks-while-hiking&quot;&gt;will rub each other, instead of your skin&lt;/a&gt;, reducing the likelihood of blisters). Bring your socks to the shop with you and wear them while testing. If you forget, a good shop will usually have a few test pairs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try out different terrain and force. The salesperson already did some of this, but many good shops will have a little artificial hill with cobbles for you to walk up and down (often like &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/DnMpoKu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ydTMM--lunc/WBqxjA8Q2lI/AAAAAAAAOwU/pgScj466dVAQ4cXvbXhWXYMYA4NkLgxxgCLcB/s640/boot.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;). You'll get an idea for how your feet slide around inside the boots, and if you need more toe space or a different shape of boot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to wear a heavy load too, to get a feel for how the boots perform under a real-life scenario. If it's an outdoors shop, their rucksack section will have weights for testing the bags - borrow some, or bring your own from home (I know my local shop keeps &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/styles/content/public/2014/05/05/phone_books_waste.jpg?itok=09tGkF3A&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;stacks of old telephone books&lt;/a&gt; taped together, for exactly this purpose). Remember that the rucksack with weight will change your center of gravity, which will affect how your feet touch the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, you're trying to emulate the real-world hiking experience as closely as possible without leaving the shop. After all, you don't want to realise you made a terrible choice when you're twenty miles from the nearest help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9308" LastEditorUserId="9308" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T11:19:52.630" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T11:19:52.630" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18772" CreationDate="2018-03-30T13:17:32.397" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plant Plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds are drawn to various plants for various reasons. Off the top of my head:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To gather nesting material - small twigs or fluffy seeds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a nesting location - good cover or protected location&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To eat insects that are attracted to the plants - flowering plants will be covered in insects which myriad birds eat - even when they are commonly known as seed eaters birds will look for the protein in insects. Heck, insects are a huge part of even a hummingbird's diet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To eat the seeds. This might feel like little more like putting out a feeder (which is undesirable), but in this case there won't be the massive quantities being dumped out at once. The plants will ripen their seeds over time and they may be of no interest to many rodents anyway.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T13:17:32.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18900" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-03-30T15:12:46.533" Score="-1" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the possiblity of getting rabies bitten by a street dog in Berlin. By street dog I mean the dog of a homeless person. Is there a high chance of rabies from that. I must say that I didn't provoke the dog. I don't know what provoked it, it came all of a sudden from behind barked for 3-4sec and bit me.  I know Germany is rabies free. But I assume since it is a street dog. I am not sure if the vaccines were provided to the dog. In such a case what should I do. The doctor who I contacted said Germany is rabies free and refused to give me anti rabies vaccine. What should I do in such a case , I am unable to find another doctor, and I am not sure how do I go about finding another doctor here. I am very new to the place and language is huge problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15331" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T19:51:32.580" Title="What is the possiblity of getting rabies bitten by a street dog in Berlin?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2018-03-30T21:24:40.763" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="132" CreationDate="2018-03-30T15:36:16.927" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;An &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2017/jun/01/picaridin-repellents-help-us-cope-biting-black-flies-skeeters-and-tick/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; in the Spokesman Review claims that the best solution for biting flies is a combination of Permethrin to treat clothing with Picaridin to treat skin and gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supposedly the Picaridin is more effective than DEET against the biting flies and the Permethrin will add an additional layer of protection against insects such as mosquitos and ticks which may land on clothing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, this &lt;a href=&quot;https://extension.umaine.edu/ipm/ipddl/publications/5108e/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Post&lt;/a&gt; from University Of Maine Cooperative Extension also states Picaradin and Permethrin are effective for flies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4173961/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;references&lt;/a&gt; to the efficacy of lemon eucalyptus oil for repelling biting flies, but with a less effective duration against Mosquitos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T15:36:16.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18900" CreationDate="2018-03-30T19:51:32.580" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In answer to the question in your title, &quot;What is the possiblity of getting rabies bitten by a street dog in Berlin?&quot;: the possibility is zero, since (as the doctor correctly told you) Germany is rabies-free. For more details on Germany's rabies-free status, you may wish to read the answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/17778/8887&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/17767/8887&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In answer to your final question, &quot;What should I do in such a case?&quot;: you should do nothing other than getting on with your life, since Germany is rabies-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2018-03-30T19:51:32.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18903" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18908" CreationDate="2018-03-31T08:09:06.760" Score="9" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how to actually put a title to this one here.&#xA;But, the question is, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do those high altitude porters haul heavy stuff (pretty heavy) on their back and with support by means of a strap on forehead? Doesn't that hurt the neck?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T21:24:02.323" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T05:29:20.453" Title="Higher weight carrying using forehead?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18904" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18905" CreationDate="2018-03-31T09:38:47.980" Score="5" ViewCount="399" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948/how-to-carry-a-bicycle-in-a-canoe/9255#9255&quot;&gt;How to carry a bicycle in a canoe?&lt;/a&gt; includes the image below.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Asnhb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Asnhb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Adult recumbent trike sitting in a 17 foot canoe, the canoe is on land&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following question was &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948/how-to-carry-a-bicycle-in-a-canoe/9255#comment48456_9255&quot;&gt;asked in a comment,&lt;/a&gt; and to give it a decent answer, I am posting it as a new question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Serious question - can you sit on the comfy trike saddle while in the water or is it too high and top-heavy? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T17:41:40.917" LastActivityDate="2018-03-31T17:41:40.917" Title="Can you sit on the comfy trike saddle while the canoe is in the water?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18904" CreationDate="2018-03-31T10:38:36.737" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes and No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are challenges: While the trike does sit with all 3 tires on the the bottom of the canoe, it only fits in this one position, facing forward in the front half of the canoe. You can get two people and two bicycles in canoe, but with a trike one person is probably the limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can just barely see it in the photo, but the front canoe seat is between the trike saddle and the peddles. While you could sit in the trike saddle there is not a good place to put your feet. The canoe seats are an intricate part of the structure.  Removing the canoe seat would require some structure redesign.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you did redesign the canoe structure so the there was a place for your feet. You could definitely sit on it and paddle. I normally travel on the rail trails and rivers near Pittsburgh PA with this combination. Me in the back paddling and the trike sitting in front. That big comfy seat blocking a good part of my view.  So I often stand up in the canoe and paddle it like a standing paddle board. Standing is much more top heavy then sitting in the trike saddle would be, so no it would not be to high and top heavy.  Yes there would be an increased risk of tipping over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoe seats are not equal distances from the ends.  The front seat sits closer to the center so there is leg room for a forward facing occupant. This is why the trike only fits in one place.  You may notice in the other photos at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948/how-to-carry-a-bicycle-in-a-canoe/9255#9255&quot;&gt;How to carry a bicycle in a canoe?&lt;/a&gt; when I have the bicycle in the canoe, it is in the center and I sit in front seat facing backwards, essentially turning around and driving it backwards.  There are multiple considerations for one person in a canoe, a few are outlined in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7101/what-is-the-most-effective-means-of-paddling-a-canoe-against-the-current-under&quot;&gt;What is the most effective means of paddling a canoe, against the current, under a bridge?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next challenge is steering; unless you are fighting strong winds or currents, the most effective place to paddle is near the back, but far enough forward to keep the bow in the water (&lt;em&gt;varies with load&lt;/em&gt;). Paddling the canoe effectively while sitting on the trike in the front of the canoe, would be unpleasant/difficult.  The trike would need to be farther back to make paddling and steering more pleasant and effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next challenge is getting in and out of the canoe. Unless you are at a dock and/or have assistance, the standard landing/launching with one person is to have the back of the canoe out in the water, with the front on land.  You climb in the front walk down the center of the boat and push off after settling your self in the back. With the canoe afloat, it would be very difficult to get to the seat from either end, climbing over or around the seat or handle bars would be difficult in good conditions, a little wind or current and you would definitely get wet. The canoe in the picture is 17 feet long, you could beach sideways (and I have) but it requires a large launch, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7239/what-are-the-navigation-considerations-on-the-monongahela-and-youghiogheny-river&quot;&gt;many of the launch points on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers are to small for this&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget extra flotation, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13889/how-much-flotation-does-a-canoe-need&quot;&gt;How much flotation does a canoe need?&lt;/a&gt; if/when you flip the canoe over, if the trike is strapped in (as it should be) the canoe and the trike will sink together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few other challenges, but overcoming them requires rebuilding the boat so it is not a canoe. a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanoe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scanoe&lt;/a&gt; might be wide enough in the rear to place the trike far enough back to be functional. By the time you get this working, you would be better off starting out to build a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6971/is-a-canoe-bike-a-viable-mode-of-human-powered-amphibious-transportation&quot;&gt;canoe bike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-03-31T11:08:47.423" LastActivityDate="2018-03-31T11:08:47.423" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18903" CreationDate="2018-03-31T17:31:49.860" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, tumplines do have advantages over a regular backpack, and that includes being able to carry more weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;African women have been found to carry loads of up to 60 percent of their body weight on their heads more economically than army recruits with a backpack of an equivalent weight. Nepalese porters with a tumpline have been found to be 60 percent faster and 39 percent more powerful than their clients carrying modern packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Method rather than fitness level explains why. When used properly, tumplines &lt;strong&gt;evenly channel weight down the strongest part of the body.&lt;/strong&gt; They require good posture and don’t allow for the sloppiness that can be hidden with a hip belt and shoulder straps. They also &lt;strong&gt;don’t restrict lung expansion&lt;/strong&gt; in the way that pack straps can, allowing for deeper and more even breathing, &lt;strong&gt;something that is especially important at high altitudes&lt;/strong&gt; where climbers are at risk of hypoxia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/tumplines/537306/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yvon Chouinard who is one of the most famous American climbers/mountaineers/ uses a tumpline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On an expedition to Tibet I turned on a few friends to the tumpline and, whether they had back problems or not, they felt less tired at the end of the day. They noted the biggest advantage at high altitudes, where lung expansion is totally unrestricted. You can breathe with a smoother rhythm and breathe deeper without shoulder straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2011/08/on-tumplines/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yvon Chouinard's Blog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will note that the sources I read say that it takes some time to get used to and has to be done properly, but they do allow one to carry heavier packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T05:29:20.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11607" CreationDate="2018-04-01T11:02:46.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packer%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Packers knot&lt;/a&gt;, also known under several other names.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a Thump knot or Figure of Eight knot tied around the standing end, tighten the standing end and tie it in a half hitch around the end sticking out of the Thump knot. (I learned it with and extra thump knot in the end of the string so the half hitch has less tendency to slip off.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In thin stuff this is a knife knot, but in proper rope or good quality string, you can make a slipped Thump or Figure of Eight and undo that when you want to undo the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/brRMm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/brRMm.png&quot; alt=&quot;schematic pic of how to tie the knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Picture from the Wikipedia page&lt;/em&gt;, public domain, full disclosure &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Packers_knot.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/butchers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thump knot based instructions&lt;/a&gt; (from our home supplier, Grog's animated knots.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-04-01T11:29:45.053" LastActivityDate="2018-04-01T11:29:45.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16763" CreationDate="2018-04-01T12:55:38.390" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have string or rope around which is handy, start with that. You can go out to buy lines when you are a bit more experienced and know what you want and need in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best string or rope I have ever found to try out knots is shoe and boot laces.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They are easy to tie, relatively easy to untie from almost every knot, hard wearing and nice to handle.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And they come with aglets, helping in feeding through the ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For practical knots I usually go for the thickest size mountain boot lace. &#xA;They are the size that fits my hands, they might be a bit thin for some people.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you make your own training piece of string, remember to finish off the ends well. Taking a page of the shoe lace book might help, by putting a narrower stiff end on. (Imitating &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/agletrepair.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;aglets&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you know the basic shape of the knots you will need to use in serious situations, like in climbing where your life is going to depend on it, you have to have trained in the rope you are going to use for the purpose. The actual rope is best in that case but shorter ends for just learning have their uses as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And when you are going to use laid rope, you should be familiar with how that rope handles. Which is rather different from the way braided rope and string handles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each knottyer I know has his/her own 'trained' piece(s) of string with which he/she is trying out new knots, teaching others and doing bits of showy knot work when people are watching.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Each person will tell you why this is the best string. The only thing they have in common is that the user has used it many times, is very familiar with how it behaves and is happy to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-04-15T09:47:43.483" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T09:47:43.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18912" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18915" CreationDate="2018-04-01T17:19:26.443" Score="9" ViewCount="2534" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent much of today cycling around quiet country lanes in South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, and saw at least 6 dead badgers on the road. I saw a few others earlier in the week on different lanes (similarly quiet).  One or two wouldn't have surprised me, but I ride this area a lot, and have never seen so many (even taking into account that this was a longer ride).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is there some reason for badgers to be getting hit by cars at the moment?  Do last year's young disperse in spring, or something like that, allowing not-exactly-natural selection to take its course? Or are they looking for mates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T16:02:51.150" LastActivityDate="2019-04-05T20:11:06.367" Title="Is there a reason for seeing a lot of roadkill badgers in the spring?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;badgers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2018-04-01T17:44:17.553" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seems to be a lot of bad/obsolete info on this thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been using my Android phone for Backcountry navigation for 5 plus years now. I use an app that lets me create an offline map and I put the phone in airplane mode when I'm in the wilderness. My battery lasts two and a half days before I have to recharge it, which is easy to do with a solar charger or a backup battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And by the way, what Google calls &quot;high accuracy mode&quot; is simply a trick to get you to share all of your data with them. It is proven to be less accurate for location than the GPS alone. And the GPS in your phone probably has access to Satellites that a stand-alone GPS does not have access to, such as Russian GPS satellites. So your phone is going to be at least as accurate as any Standalone device and probably more accurate. Not to mention when you create an offline map you're getting the latest map data, not something that's two or three years old or however long it's been since you updated the maps in your stand alone GPS device. So the only real advantage of a standalone GPS device is the supposed ruggedness. But if you actually check these things out, many of them aren't waterproof anyway. Plus, they have smaller screens, lower quality graphics, and less features than a good Wilderness app. I personally use MyTrails, but there are others out there if you want to pay for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just remember, whether you're using a standalone GPS or your phone for your GPS, that electronic device can and will probably fail someday. You should always bring a paper map and a compass, and learn how to use them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15341" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T02:59:13.617" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:59:13.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18912" CreationDate="2018-04-01T19:16:46.480" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm afraid there is a good chance it will be human intervention. Badger culling. It is a grey area of illegal. Some farmers will kill badgers and to hide their actions, dump them on the roadside to make it seem like roadkill. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastActivityDate="2018-04-01T19:16:46.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18912" CreationDate="2018-04-01T19:19:04.900" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its a combination of the &lt;strong&gt;male badgers out looking for mates&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Springtime is the most perilous time for wild animals, says Whelan. “&lt;strong&gt;A lot of male badgers are killed in spring because they’re out looking for females.”&lt;/strong&gt; It is more of a problem if a female is killed: “If around four or five female badgers are killed in a particular area, it can significantly reduce the population.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/roadkill-why-splatter-matters-to-science-1.2980966&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and &lt;strong&gt;that the females have recently had their litters in January-March&lt;/strong&gt; so there are more young around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can mate at any time of the year. Around 80 per cent of mature females are fertilised in February/March, immediately after the birth of their young, but individuals continue to mate through the year, to another peak in August/September, when some yearling females also come into oestrus (heat) and breed for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consequently, &lt;strong&gt;all the young are born between mid-January and mid-March&lt;/strong&gt;, after which they can emerge from the sett to the warmth of the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/naturallyscottish/badgers/breeding.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T02:47:19.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18917" CreationDate="2018-04-01T20:18:23.673" Score="2" ViewCount="651" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would amsteel blue rope be appropriate for use in anchor building for climbing or mountaineering? I expect it's not very abrasion resistant so it wouldn't be good up against some rock or an edge. But could it be used in something like a T-slot or as a runner in space?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15342" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T17:07:56.043" Title="Is amsteel blue appropriate for a use as a runner?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2018-04-08T20:27:50.160" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18916" CreationDate="2018-04-02T03:17:39.000" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Amsteel blue is a dyneema cord that size-for-size is just as strong as steel cable. It'll hold. In terms of abrasion resistance, dyneema happens to be superior to nylon rope when it comes to wear and tear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two factors to consider when using dyneema: It has a lower melting point than nylon (which means it's more prone to breaking when knots are tied in it); and, it doesn't hold knots as well. You're going to have to learn new knots to tie that will hold in dyneema cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would work well enough as a throw away rap anchor if you can learn how to tie it, but I wouldn't suggest investing in it specifically for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T17:07:56.043" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T17:07:56.043" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18918" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-02T06:51:09.957" Score="7" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most backpacking backpacks have both a big main compartment and a &quot;brain&quot; which goes over the top of the main compartment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yAEYzm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yAEYzm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/134072/osprey-atmos-ag-65-pack-mens&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When packing, which gear should go into the brain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T06:06:07.947" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T06:06:07.947" Title="When backpacking, what gear should go in the brain(top most compartment) instead of the main compartment?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18918" CreationDate="2018-04-02T06:51:09.957" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic rule of thumb is that your &lt;strong&gt;small, often accessed items&lt;/strong&gt; should go into the brain of the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water purification (iodine, tablets etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compass/GPS&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small camera&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small notebook&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pencil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunscreen&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is that if something goes into the main compartment it is much harder to access therefore the items that you are going to be using frequently should go into the brain of the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, some of these things can be used enough to warrant moving them to pockets for even easier access, but most of the time, the brain is where they should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From an organizational standpoint, it also helps if you put things into the same compartments each time, to make it less likely that you will forget where you put something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T06:51:09.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13829" CreationDate="2018-04-02T09:03:15.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to clarify, short, stiff fins are often preferred by body-surfers (and I believe body-boarders, although I don't body-board) for several reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The swimmer usually has only a handful of kicks to accelerate and take off on the shoulder of the wave. Softer fins have a slight 'lag' in the acceleration phase, and put less pressure on the legs, but at the cost of less peak power. For the few kicks while 'taking off' on the face, the swimmer puts in every bit of power they have.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once on the wave the fins are used (in combination with the leading arm and body) to direct along and up and down the wave, often kicking at the same time. A soft fin is deformed (including torsional forced) by the strong forces of the wave, giving less directional stability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a more minor point, many body-surfers want fins which float in case they get ripped off. Rubber floats and is more rigid, silicone sinks and is more pliable. The shape of the fin however also contributes to pliability.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, if you have a weak kick and weak ankles, start with soft fins of medium length. If wishing to body surf big waves rather than ocean swim, you will eventually wish to move to short stiff fins, but build up with mid length soft fins first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15347" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T14:41:38.767" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T14:41:38.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17243" CreationDate="2018-04-02T09:17:52.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While bunching up (see the answer by @Charlie Brumbaugh) works most times, it might be useful to have a method at hand that is less bulky for storing purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/chainsinnet/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chain Sinnet&lt;/a&gt;, which is a slip knot into which you pull a loop and repeat.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When you fold your tarp or tent and find several lines together (making the bunches inconvenient as it makes too much of a bump) you can chain them together, by pulling all lines together into the loops and going on till the complete lengths are used. The final move of a chain that is in danger of getting undone is to pull the last end through the loop. But when putting the tarp in storage I would leave it without that last move to help in undoing when you use the tarp again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shortening while using the tarp, the Chain Shortening will work, but best when the line is used.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In that case you will need to fix the end of the chain, by pulling the end through or by tying an extra bit of string around the loop and the rest of the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T09:17:52.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18912" CreationDate="2018-04-02T09:48:20.983" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's another aspect of human intervention as well as Dynadin's answer. Last weekend the clocks went forward an hour in the UK, so humans are up an hour earlier, and it's common for there to be an increase in roadkill as a result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15348" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T09:48:20.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17446" CreationDate="2018-04-02T10:15:55.420" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Crabs are scavengers, so their pincers are always to be considered evil sources of infection. You can use fluoride (if you act promptly); find the mouthwash with the highest fluoride content, and force it into a cut/wound with a syringe. Needle not required. After 5 minutes, rinse the wound with sterilized water and apply a proper bandage. If you have not brought mouthwash, you can use toothpaste, which can be easily diluted with sterilized water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that fluoride is not intended for use inside wounds, so the wound &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; be rinsed with water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, liquor with &gt;=35-40% alcohol concentration will kill bacteria quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;India’s rural areas are notorious for their lack of proper and prompt healthcare, so you’d be wise to pack blisters with a wide-spectrum antibiotic as well. Similar to the fluoride, you can create a fast-acting antibacterial solution by extracting the powder from the capsules, mixing them with room-temperature sterilized water, and applying a thin paste to the cut/wound - then wrap a bandage around it. Simply eating a capsule will not bring a high enough concentration of antiobiotic to the wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15349" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T10:15:55.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19473" CreationDate="2018-04-02T10:59:23.357" Score="4" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got back from some time skiing, during which I wore a backpack to carry my off piste gear and water, etc. I saw many of the ESF (École du Ski Français) instructors wearing front mounted pouches rather than backpacks, and thought they looked like a really good idea for days when you don't have much gear and want easy access/a hassle free time on chair lifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried to find these things for a while now and got absolutely nowhere; I can't even find a picture of one being worn to show what I mean. Does anyone have any idea what these are called and where I might get one (or take a look to decide if it's worth it)? They had three straps, one going over a shoulder and two around the body, were of smallish size and were black. I'm afraid that's really all I've got to go off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15350" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T13:13:38.323" Title="Where to find the front worn bags/pouches that ESF instructors wear" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8439" CreationDate="2018-04-02T11:56:34.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The GPS receiver in recent tablets and phones is actually quite good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a Nexus 7 Android tablet for outdoor navigation, and it works very well.  Tablets generally allow you to shut things down more than phones.  A phone may always be looking for a cell signal, for example, and thereby wasting power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a app called &lt;i&gt;Backcountry Navigator&lt;/i&gt;, but surely there are a number of apps out there that do similar things.  The point of these apps is to allow you to download maps ahead of time.  Then when you're outside, the tablet doesn't need any external connection, like cell service or WiFi.  In fact, you shut those off to conserve power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been quite impressed by the GPS in my Nexus 7 tablet.  It actually seems to be better, and is certainly easier to use, then dedicated GPS units only a few years older.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main advantage of the tablet is the decent screen.  That allows you to see enough of a map at useful detail at one time.  I have found that the battery is easily enough for a all-day hike.  I keep the GPS running all the time, with the BCNAV app recording the trail, but the screen off.  I only turn the screen on for short periods of time when I want to look at the map.  Otherwise, the tablet is in my pocket and does a remarkably good job of tracking location even though the antenna is right up against my body.  This uses up about half the battery on a &quot;all day&quot; day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all tablets are equal.  I once used a tablet that was &quot;free&quot; due to some promotion by Verizon.  It was terrible at tracking while in the same pocket.  It also charged much slower when back in the car.  Battery life wasn't as good, and it was impossible to turn off the cell radio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a tablet that has a wide area map at multiple detail levels, a GPS to show you where you are, and a app to show you the track you have been on is definitely nicer than a paper map and compass.  However, in a serious situation, like needing to find water spots in the desert, I wouldn't rely on it as the only navigational aid.  In that case, I'd bring a map and compass as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going out for several days, then don't leave the tablet on all the time recording your track.  You can live without that.  The battery of a decent tablet will last many days if you only turn it on occasionally to look at the map and get a GPS fix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility, especially since you mentioned the desert, is to bring a solar charger.  These can be small and light.  A 20 to 25 square inch panel should provide enough power to greatly extend battery life, if not top it off occasionally.  You can strap it to your pack and charge the tablet while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get a panel with a rechargeable battery built in.  The panel charges it's battery separately, then the battery can be used to charge the tablet later, even when there is no sun.  One extra lithium 18650 cell doesn't really weigh that much or take much space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T11:56:34.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18928" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18929" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" Score="0" Body="Questions about badgers" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T16:02:59.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18918" CreationDate="2018-04-02T16:58:12.670" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The top pocket is a good place for things you don't expect to need, but must be quickly/easily accessible &lt;em&gt;in extremis&lt;/em&gt;, by touch alone, without opening your sack: things you must be able to get at without soaking the rest of your stuff or losing it in a gale, and that you might need before you can find shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my top pocket, I usually have (when not on my person):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small first-aid kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compass &amp;amp; whistle (attached together by cord)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;personal locator beacon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;torch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;spare batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beware that the top pocket is usually less waterproof than the main body, so consider using small drybags for the stuff you put there.  Also, it's more exposed to impact, so some items may need protective cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T17:13:32.760" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T17:13:32.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18931" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18932" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" Score="0" Body="Questions about bogshoeing" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T21:28:24.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18933" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18934" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the Dolomites" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" LastActivityDate="2018-04-02T21:28:48.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18935" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18936" CreationDate="2018-04-02T21:54:46.593" Score="6" ViewCount="390" Body="&lt;p&gt;In September of 2017, for nearly two weeks, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/feu-fire-kenow/feu-fire-images-04&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kenow Wildfire&lt;/a&gt; raged through a swath of Canada. Its largest impact was on the Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. More than 38,000 hectares, (94,000 acres), of land, including 70% of the forested area in the Park, were completely destroyed by what was called &quot;extreme fire behavior.&quot; According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/waterton-kenow-fire-pincher-creek-evacuations-1.4285153&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CBC News&lt;/a&gt;, the full total, including the park and its surrounding regions in British Columbia, was approximately 42,000 hectares, (103,784 acres).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a few questions about the Kenow Wildfire here on the site. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17260/how-many-animals-have-been-found-burned-to-death-in-the-kenow-fire-area&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; was seeking information as to how many animals had been found deceased in the area of the fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a comment under that question which mentioned eventual benefits to animals after this type of fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I just finished reading on the Parks Canada website that the animals that return to the park after a fire really benefit from the blaze. It's almost like a reset button. The long term effects of forest fires are really healthy for both the plant and wildlife. – ShemSeger Sep 30, 17 at 5:21 &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That comment made me curious about a few things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there studies and other sources which corroborate what the Parks Canada website said?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If so, where are some and what types of things do they say?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is meant by &quot;really benefit from the blaze?&quot;  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What has to happen for such a severely damaged area to be considered &quot;reset?&quot; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What constitutes enough &quot;long term effects&quot; to make it &quot;really healthy for both the plant and wildlife?&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously, every forest fire is different, but if there really is a benefit to the returning animals, is there an approximate time when this area will be recovered enough to provide this benefit?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T04:46:17.293" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T04:46:17.293" Title="Is there a benefit for animals who return to the area of a deadly forest fire after the fire is out?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18935" CreationDate="2018-04-02T22:14:57.383" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to United States Forest Service, fire has a number of benefits for the wildlife including more nutrients in the ground, more open spaces, there are some plants that need fire to spread and it helps control invasive species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fire offers many benefits to wildlife and plant species. First and foremost, a fire is a natural process, unlike mowing or logging. &lt;strong&gt;Fire returns nutrients to the soil quickly&lt;/strong&gt;, versus the years it takes for grass clippings, dead leaves, and logs to decompose and provide nutrients. In fact, it's not uncommon to see new growth within a few days of a fire!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire also opens up dense areas&lt;/strong&gt; and helps maintain meadow habitats. Several animal species use these open areas for food and shelter. Birds such as bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks require open grasslands for feeding and resting. Mammals such as moose, deer, and rabbits rely on the new growth produced after a fire for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fire also benefits several plant species&lt;/strong&gt; such as the endangered sandplain gerardia and wood lily, both which need fire to reproduce and grow. The endangered Delmarva fox squirrel and red-cockaded woodpecker rely on fire to maintain their pine forest habitats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fire also helps &lt;strong&gt;control non-native invasive plant species&lt;/strong&gt;. Non-native invasive plants are plants that have been introduced from another part of the world, and have &quot;taken over&quot; their new habitat. No matter where you live, chances are there is some type of invasive plant in your neighborhood. Here in the Northeast, common invasive plants include purple loosestrife, Japanese knotweed, common reed (aka Phragmites), and honeysuckle. Controlled burning can remove these invasive species from a particular area, allowing space for native plants to grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/northeast/refuges/fire/firewildlife.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was also a more in depth study also done by the Forest Service which tracked the benefits to animals in areas that had been touched by fires. Whether or not fire increased or decreased the number of animals depended on the species of animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deer and Elk&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Deer summer-fall use (annuity value 1. 9) declined&#xA;  the first year after fire, but then increased to levels&#xA;  approaching 2.5 times the control through the rest of&#xA;  the 20-year evaluation period&lt;/strong&gt; (fig. 3). Deer winterspring&#xA;  use also declined immediately following fire,&#xA;  returned to the control level for a few years, and then&#xA;  increased to levels exceeding 10 times that of the control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For both trap periods, &lt;strong&gt;deer mice increased the first&#xA;  year after fire, then declined to the level of the control&#xA;  at 7 years.&lt;/strong&gt; After 7 years, there was another increase to&#xA;  2.5 times the control level in the summer, and 6 times&#xA;  the control level in the spring. Annuities were 1.8 and&#xA;  3.3 for summer and spring, respectively&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Total bird&#xA;  numbers (annuity value 0.71) increased the first year&#xA;  after fire, then decreased to below the prefire level for&#xA;  the remainder of the evaluation period&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_rm/rm_gtr052.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found another study which went through and listed the benefits for each species and it looks like &lt;strong&gt;some species benefit and others do not, depending on the species and type of fire.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pedersen et al.&#xA;  (2003) modelled effects of fire and concluded that small&#xA;  fires may benefit sage-grouse, but large fires (&gt;10% of the&#xA;  spring-use area) occurring at high frequencies (17 years&#xA;  between fires) could result in their extirpation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fire is important to pronghorn because it&#xA;  creates the desired density of grasses and forbs and&#xA;  improves quality of forbs for foraging (Yoakum 2004).&#xA;  Fire can also maintain shrub cover at desirable densities&#xA;  and heights for pronghorn&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At the species level, however, &lt;strong&gt;western&#xA;  bluebirds benefitted from severe- and moderate-fire, whitebreasted&#xA;  and pygmy nuthatches benefitted by moderate-fire,&#xA;  but mountain chickadees were negatively affected by any&#xA;  fire.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TechManual16-01FINAL.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you wanted to know what the timelines were, I would suggest the charts starting on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_rm/rm_gtr052.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;page 5 of this study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for more information, I would suggest these resources,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fire.ca.gov/communications/downloads/fact_sheets/TheBenefitsofFire.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Benefits of Fire by CalFire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://smokeybear.com/en/about-wildland-fire/benefits-of-fire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Benefits of Fire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pacificbio.org/initiatives/fire/fire_ecology.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire Ecology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/how-forest-fire-benefit-living-things-2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How does a forest fire benefit living things?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T00:47:17.647" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T00:47:17.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18937" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18938" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" Score="0" Body="Questions about paragliding" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T04:41:24.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18918" CreationDate="2018-04-03T05:50:35.753" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the other answers mention, the brain compartment usually ends up becoming the knick-knack / catch-all pocket, for small items items that get frequently used. There are, however, several caveats to be aware of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As @Toby Speight mentions, the top pocket is generally prone to more exposure from the elements.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Items in the brain tend to get knocked around a bit, whether from low hanging branches or flopping the top pocket over when accessing the main compartment. That this pocket is usually not filled to capacity exacerbates this issue as &quot;contents may shift during flight.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While each of the individual items, such as electronics and snacks, might be light, these items are often quite dense. The cumulative mass of a phone/ gps/ map/ compass/ bars/ journal/ sunscreen/ first-aid kit/... can add up quickly, resulting in a pack that is severely top heavy. That contents in this pocket tend to shift can making for interesting moments when hiking through more adventurous terrain. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an alternative philosophy, many large backpacks have features that allow for the quick conversion of the brain into a lumbar pack. If you're interested in exploring short side hikes off your main path, consider loading the brain as a self-sufficient day pack with food, water, and a couple layers. If the desire for side exploration strikes, you need only unclip the brain, stash your main pack in an animal (and human) friendly manner, and then go explore that side trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I often like to go on backpacking trips with an aim towards fly fishing. As such, I store my fishing equipment (nippers, clamps, floatant, fly box, reel, ...) in the brain, along with a few necessities. If I spy an intriguing stretch of water, I then can quickly stash my main pack (pulling out and separately stashing my bear canister that has already been packed with any attractants) and then head to the water with just my rod and the brain from my pack, knowing that I'll have everything I need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For another example, most backpacks built for climbing have a single main compartment and a brain. The main compartment tends to get wedged with cams and ropes and other climbing detritus, so the brain compartment gets loaded with everything that shouldn't get crushed (e.g., lunch, sunglasses, camera). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T05:50:35.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18940" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19036" CreationDate="2018-04-03T08:41:21.830" Score="12" ViewCount="758" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've come across a lot of articles talking of breathing techniques while running. However, I've not come across any which talks of breathing techniques for tough hikes (tough in terms of inclination and distance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any breathing guidelines/methods that help during tougher, high inclination, long duration hikes?&lt;/strong&gt; (I'm assuming a high &lt;em&gt;altitude&lt;/em&gt; hike might end up having simlar breathing techniques along with the requirement of slow ascent for acclimatization) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On one of the hikes in the himalayan foothills, one of the locals told that they synchronize their steps with their breath and that helps them to keep going on for long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15262/correct-breathing-while-bouldering&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; question talks about breathing while bouldering. It addresses specifically the issues faced while bouldering (beautiful answer as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T15:07:41.283" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T15:07:41.283" Title="Effective breathing techniques for high inclination, tougher hikes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18943" CreationDate="2018-04-03T09:39:45.233" Score="6" ViewCount="1387" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the obvious advantages of longer strides and reach, does a higher center of gravity make it more difficult for taller people to walk the slopes of a mountain? Or in other terms, do shorter people find it easier due to a lower center of gravity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can imagine, a shorter person will have a lower center of gravity and thereby lesser issue with balancing. I'm not good at physics but it seems that a lower center of gravity would allow for a better time on the slopes of a mountain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T20:56:39.033" Title="Is it easier for shorter people to walk the slopes of a mountain due to a lower center of gravity?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18942" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-03T10:52:32.967" Score="9" ViewCount="263" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any resource provided by the Georgian government or by any other agencies about the camping in Georgia? I would like to know about the rules and safety aspects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any resource on these would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3355" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T11:22:59.427" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T17:57:22.600" Title="Resources for camping in Georgia (country)" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;georgia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18941" CreationDate="2018-04-03T11:50:01.330" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, center of gravity is not a issue between a tall and short person.  That is because the rest of the body scales too.  The center of gravity &lt;i&gt;relative to the body height&lt;/i&gt; stays the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine a stool.  If you make the legs longer but keep the same footprint, then it would be easier to topple.  However, if you enlarged the footprint the same amount as the height, then it would not be easier to topple.  It's not just the height of the center of gravity that matters, but that height relative to the footprint or base size.  A taller person doesn't just have a higher center of gravity, but also a longer stride, and the ability to extend the feet farther out from the point directly below the center of mass.  The two effects cancel.  A taller person is not less stable than a shorter one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, not all things scale linearly.  All else being equal, smaller animals use more quiescent power than larger ones &lt;i&gt;relative to their weight&lt;/i&gt;.  For example, for a mouse it's no big deal to run up a wall.  The mouse uses enough power just to stay alive that the additional power of running up a wall is not that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a typical human, though, the extra power of hiking up a steep hill is significant.  Let's do the math of a example to see what the numbers look like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say the human weighs 200 pounds, which is about 900 newtons.  Typical power just sitting around at a comfortable temperature is about 50 W.  As a sanity check on that, let's consider the often-quoted 2000 cal/day a human needs to eat to balance energy used.  That's actually 2000 kcal in physics terms, which is 8.368 MJ.  Over 24 hours, that comes out to 97 W.  Considering that's a whole day average, about half that just sitting around seems plausible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far we have 50 W quiescent power, and 100 W average daily power.  Now let's look at what it takes to hike up a hill.  Let's say that means going up a 15% grade at a 30 minute per mile pace, just to pick something.  That means for every mile horizontally, the hiker went up 792 feet, which is 241 meters.  Times the 900 N weight, that is 217 kJ in potential energy.  Divided by the 30 minutes it took to expend that energy yields 121 W.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is the actual output of the body.  The body is not perfectly efficient in producing that 121 W.  I don't know what the efficiency is, but that 121 W output must mean at least 150 W expenditure, probably more like 200 W.  Of course the body still has to keep itself alive, so the total energy expenditure is 250 W.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, hiking up this example hill means the body is using up 5 times the power compared to resting.  It should be no surprise that feels like a lot of work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference for a smaller animal is that the resting power per unit mass is higher.  The physics of going up a hill is still the same, although the speed should also be scaled to the body size to be fair.  Both these effects combine to make the difference between sitting around and going up hill much less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T20:56:39.033" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T20:56:39.033" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18888" CreationDate="2018-04-03T11:51:24.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of factors you should be considering when sizing your hiking shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LONG DISTANCE HIKING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long thru-hikes, it is very common to go up a size, because after a few days of battering on the trail your feet will generally swell. People who don't allow for this may have to resort to drastic remedies!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Fnra.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Fnra.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;KEEPING YOUR TOES HAPPY ON STEEP DESCENTS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For shorter walks it shouldn't be necessary to size up to protect your toes, provided the shoes are properly designed and fitted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@flith gives excellent advice about how to try shoes in the store, so I won't repeat it here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next issue is the design of the toe-box. For some reason, many manufacturers produce shoes that are not really foot-shaped, with narrow toe-boxes. Unless you have very narrow feet, these will cause issues when you are descending. You can see the contrast between the well designed shoe on the left, with the toe-cruncher on the right:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IlN10.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IlN10.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying on shoes with a toe-box that is too narrow, you will be tempted to size up to get more space. But the better solution is to find a shoe with a more generous toe-box:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/as9sx.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/as9sx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the final issue is the stability of the shoe on your foot. This is a function of the volume of the shoe over your forefoot, and of the design of the lacing system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Individual foot-volume varies widely depending on the height of your arch, etc, and different brands tend to fit different types of foot. It really is worth going to a store that offers a wide selection and properly trained fitters so you can find a brand with a last that suits you. For example, I've never found a Salomon shoe that fits me while Merrell's tend to fit OK. Other people have the opposite experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are looking for a fit where your foot doesn't slide forwards when you are facing down a steep slope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ADAPTABILITY FOR DIFFERENT SOCKS, INSOLES ETC&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're going to be using the shoe in a wide range of conditions, you may want to size on the generous side so you can use different sock arrangements or insoles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example I tend to use a single thin lining sock in the summer, a thicker waterproof sock for severe winter conditions, and a more protective insole when I'm walking on sharp rocks for any distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give me this flexibility, I try to buy the largest size that will fit. If the last suits my foot and the lacing system is well designed, I don't have any trouble adapting to all the scenarios I need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T14:10:32.623" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T14:10:32.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18945" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18948" CreationDate="2018-04-03T12:01:27.720" Score="10" ViewCount="382" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often see Mangrove and Cypress swamps on T.V. and I think it might be fun to explore one in a canoe. My wife thinks we might get eaten by Alligators if we try it. I have no knowledge about alligators, so I suppose the best solution is to find a Mangrove and Cypress swamp that does not have Alligators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there Mangrove and Cypress swamps in the United States that don't have Alligators (or Crocodiles)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:32:19.463" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:41:43.863" Title="Alligator free Mangrove or Cypress swamps in the US?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;alligators&gt;&lt;swamps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18946" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18953" CreationDate="2018-04-03T14:24:17.960" Score="13" ViewCount="1006" Body="&lt;p&gt;In spring conditions it often happens that the upper layer of snow warms up and small pieces of it roll down leaving traces behind them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like in this picture I have found in the Internet: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4mtlo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4mtlo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;rolling snow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that there is a solid base layer of snow below, is it a sign of increased avalanche danger? E.g. if you compare two similar mountain slopes (same altitude, same exposure, same inclination) in the exact same conditions (same season, temperature, time of the day), does the slope with rolled down snow pieces has a higher avalanche danger?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T17:59:50.227" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T17:59:50.227" Title="Are rolling snow pieces a sign of increased avalanche danger?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18947" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-03T14:40:28.210" Score="6" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found some scats that looked a lot like those of a pine marten or otter at 600-700m in the Lake District, UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scat was full of white claw-shaped items, possibly bone, and was 10-15cm long and curled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The terrain was fairly barren with just grasses and near an exposed ridge, 500m higher and 1km in horizontal distance away from mixed woodland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately I didn't take a photograph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm very new to trailing and tracking, having only picked up a few pointers from friends so sorry for any missed details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2356" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T07:35:12.393" Title="What UK carnivores might I find up mountains?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18945" CreationDate="2018-04-03T16:21:58.250" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mangroves no,&lt;/strong&gt; because if  you compare this map of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=47427&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;distribution of mangroves&lt;/a&gt; to this map of the distribution of alligators in the United States,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mCGKg.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mCGKg.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rangemapx.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;there aren't any places with mangroves that don't also have alligators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, there are places on this map of &lt;strong&gt;cypress swamps that extend farther north than the range of alligators&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hsfJu.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hsfJu.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/middleton-map-north-american-bald-cypress-swamp-network-warc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The range of American Crocodiles is even more limited than that of American alligators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kvr8h.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kvr8h.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crocodylus_acutus_Distribution.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T05:23:04.653" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T05:23:04.653" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18949" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19092" CreationDate="2018-04-03T16:26:15.323" Score="4" ViewCount="247" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18945/alligator-free-mangrove-or-cypress-swamps-in-the-us&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, how dangerous are alligators to people out canoeing in say the Everglades in Florida?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am sure there is some danger because from time time you here about people winning &lt;a href=&quot;http://dailyoftheday.com/darwin-award-of-the-day-f-that-alligator/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Darwin awards&lt;/a&gt; by going swimming with alligators&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What precautions should one take if canoeing in places with alligators?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:46:16.273" Title="How dangerous are alligators to people canoeing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;alligators&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2018-04-03T16:29:36.573" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other excellent answers, you should be aware of the dangers of the infamous Scottish midge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I destroy the Scottish tourist industry, in most places and seasons midges are absent or a minor irritation. But in the wrong place and time they can be horrendous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Know your enemy, and go prepared with sufficient protective clothing and repellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have twice seen people who needed medical treatment for toxic shock when they underestimated the seriousness of a midge attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on Skye I woke to find that my green tent had turned brown - the entire surface was covered in a seething mass of midges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv8w8HTqtl8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is the reality of a midge attack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-04-06T12:16:16.287" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T12:16:16.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18951" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18957" CreationDate="2018-04-03T17:08:19.003" Score="7" ViewCount="585" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18945/alligator-free-mangrove-or-cypress-swamps-in-the-us/18948#18948&quot;&gt;answer here&lt;/a&gt; I would be exploring a cypress swamp in the Mississippi valey north of the 35th Parrell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I canoe in a lake or on a river, I always have a pretty good idea where I am, and my entrance and exit points are pretty easy to identify.  I have no idea about what it is like inside a cypress swamp.  What is the risk of getting lost? If there is a significant risk, are there any locations or attributes that make it less likely I will get lost? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:32:11.943" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:32:11.943" Title="What is the risk of getting lost while canoeing in a cypress swamp?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;lost&gt;&lt;swamps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18951" CreationDate="2018-04-03T17:28:18.153" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say that the risks would be fairly significant, due to how things are going to be fairly flat and the banks wills have lots of vegetation, both of which will limit the amount of distance you can see. Also, in any areas like that, things will start to look the same after a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tricks I would recommend for avoiding getting lost are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stop and look behind you from time to time, this way that path back doesn't look unfamiliar when heading the other direction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring a GSP with tracking ability and a map overlay. That you can tell where you have been to make it possible to retrace your route, and the map will show where you are in relation to the start/end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mark the start and end on the GPS beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring printouts of Google Earth in the area you are going to. These can be quite a bit better than a map.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T17:28:18.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18946" CreationDate="2018-04-03T17:58:31.557" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, rolling snow when the temperatures warm can be a sign of an impending wet avalanche.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rolling balls, and point releases all indicate wet unstable snow.&lt;/strong&gt; It is worth noting that direct sunlight leads to a rapid temperature increase especially on southerly and westerly slopes even when the air (shade) temperature stays below zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mountaintracks.co.uk/blog/5-red-flags-avalanche-danger&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;THE 5 RED FLAGS OF AVALANCHE DANGER&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Baseball size snowballs can be seen rolling down a sunny slope.&lt;/strong&gt; This indicates surface warming and possible wet snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wyo4news.com/news/outdoorsman/avalanche-warning-signs-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Avalanche Warning Signs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roller balls and pinwheels on steep slopes and under rock bands are a sign that you are nearing the point of collapse and an avalanche.&lt;/strong&gt; If temps stay above freezing for 24 hours or more, the next step would be point releases that fan out and entrain more wet snow as they descend. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.powder.com/stories/the-safe-zone/backcountry-essentials-wet-slides/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wet Slides Backcountry Essentials: The spring giant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;here are many clues that Loose Wet avalanches are likely. Monitor the snowpack surface for a layer of wet, slushy snow more than several inches deep. Water may be visible between the ice grains. On small, very steep test slopes, the surface layers will slide easily. &lt;strong&gt;Fresh roller balls–little snowballs–falling off trees and cliff bands indicate that the snowpack surface is getting weak.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://avalanche.state.co.us/forecasts/help/avalanche-problems/loose-wet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Colorado Avalanche Information Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T17:58:31.557" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18954" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18955" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" Score="0" Body="Questions about alligators" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T18:04:51.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18940" CreationDate="2018-04-03T22:17:16.610" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Petzoldt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paul Petzold&lt;/a&gt;, the founder of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School)&#xA;was a big proponent of &lt;strong&gt;rhythmic breathing.&lt;/strong&gt; The idea is that it helps one conserve energy and better utilize the air at higher altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He described it as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;in which &lt;strong&gt;the rate of breathing controls the speed of movement rather that the reverse&lt;/strong&gt;. Conscious rhythmic breathing coordinated with body movements conserves much energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, when walking on level ground, one might take three steps with an in breath and three with an out breath. If the grades steepens a little, &lt;strong&gt;this down not mean that one starts puffing or that the heart begins to thump. Just shift gears,&lt;/strong&gt; Breathing remains the same, but now two steps are taken with an in breath and two with an out breath. If the trail steepens even more, shift to one step with each inhale and one with each exhale. &lt;strong&gt;In this way the heartbeat remains almost constant bu the hiker slows down or speed up according to the number of steps taken with each breath.&lt;/strong&gt; The output of energy remains the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rhythmic breathing conserves energy, increases endurance, sets a good pace, and discourages the run-and-stop method practiced by beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rhythmic breathing &lt;strong&gt;is an absolute necessity in high altitude&lt;/strong&gt; where one does not carry auxiliary oxygen and might risk lack of judgment, have hallucinations, or even suffer brain damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=OXOkevR7A0QC&amp;amp;lpg=PP1&amp;amp;vq=rhythmic&amp;amp;pg=PA131#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=rythmic&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The New Wilderness Handbook (131-132)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paul Petzold used rythmic breathing on the first attempt of K2 by an American team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A decade later, he returned for what would be his last ascent. Aided by four former students and trained instructors, Petzoldt took two or three steps with each measured breath, &lt;strong&gt;practicing the rhythmic breathing method he developed in 1938 when he took on K2.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/09/news/mn-20604&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe this is the same technique that was mentioned by the locals you talked to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T22:17:16.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18951" CreationDate="2018-04-03T23:39:32.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a leg up as far as canoeing experience is concerned, but there's a definite risk of getting lost, especially the first time you're doing swamp canoeing. The terrain is different from other types of waters you've traveled, but according to my friends who have done swamp canoeing, there are things that you can do, both before you go, and during your trip, which will make it easier and more fun. This advice is based on their travels, not my own, but I believe it's pertinent and hope it's helpful.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you've picked your specific spot, check with local people who have navigated it before. Ask where the landmarks are, to help keep yourself oriented. Ask where the pitfalls are, such as areas of deeper drop off or a higher concentration of vegetation or other marine growth or rocks which might surprise you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's a well-documented area for swamp travel, look for a guidebook which you can study beforehand. If it will fit in your gear, take it with you. Take a smaller map too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know you'll have reliable GPS service, take the GPS with you. Program it beforehand, including stops at areas you may want to pull out along the way, either for safety or for sightseeing. Even if you have a GPS, take a compass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check weather forecasts before you go. If fog or stormy weather arises, it will make it harder for you to see where you are, especially since swamps are generally dark and murky already. Even if you're experienced in canoeing in difficult weather, this type of situation is different, so you might want to choose a time where the forecast is for clear skies. When the sun shines down into the swamp, you can see even subtle changes in the terrain under the water, which are helpful. Time of day is easier to measure by sun also.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're alone, let someone know where and when you'll be going. Check in with them when you get back, so they don't worry!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a camera! The swamp areas will give you glimpses or wildlife in, out, and under the water which you may never see in other areas where you canoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-03T23:58:11.923" LastActivityDate="2018-04-03T23:58:11.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18959" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-04T06:13:39.630" Score="5" ViewCount="894" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking up some things for some of our recent questions when I saw this line in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/safety.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;safety guide for Everglades National Park&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vultures are attracted to the rubber on vehicles&lt;/strong&gt; and have been know to cause severe damage to windshields, sun roofs, and windshield wipers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example caused by turkey vultures in central Ohio, USA, in summer 2016.  They completely ripped up the gasket seal around the canvas top on this Jeep, as well as leaving behind plenty of other &quot;evidence.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AkwIx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AkwIx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found guesses as to why they do this, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/files/sp-black_vulture_vehicle_damage_brochure.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;certain chemicals in the rubber&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npca.org/articles/1628-vulture-vandals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;practicing tearing&lt;/a&gt; at dead meat, but no solid, conclusive studies seem to have been done on this that I could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any &lt;strong&gt;conclusive results&lt;/strong&gt; as to why vultures do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:49:07.300" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T16:49:07.300" Title="Why are vultures attracted to rubber on vehicles?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="18960" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-04T06:18:40.653" Score="3" ViewCount="426" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question comes from a circle of thought processes, so bear with me a moment...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The skunks are waking up from hibernation, and after smelling so many sprays, one can't help but wonder &lt;em&gt;(theoretically)&lt;/em&gt; what would happen if skunks were to suddenly go extinct? While discussing this with an animal control officer, and the potential negative impacts of skunks being removed from the ecology, he mentioned that one thing skunks do is help control bird populations by eating eggs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skunks coming out of hibernation also happens to be the same season geese are returning from the south, and there are quite a few mating pairs looking for nesting spaces. I know of an island in a lake not far from here where geese lay tonnes of eggs every year, right on the ground. Such an island would be a feast for a loose skunk, but anyone who's crossed paths with a mad goose knows that they aren't a bird to be trifled with. I wondered: Would a goose be deterred by a slow, lumbering skunk? Or would it go full angry goose mode and try to attack it to save it's nest? If it did it would probably get sprayed. In which case, how would the goose come out of that situation? Could the spray from a skunk be enough to kill a goose or other animals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T23:34:51.093" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T10:00:19.237" Title="Can skunk spray be fatal to geese or other animals?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;geese&gt;&lt;skunks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18961" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18962" CreationDate="2018-04-04T15:44:05.247" Score="52" ViewCount="10136" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to hike to the base of this tree (circled in red in the photo). That's a hillside full of full grown trees beneath it, and it looks like over a full tree's height sticking up above the other trees. It's got to be enormous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O6i9G.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O6i9G.png&quot; alt=&quot;enormous tree circled in red&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do I get a GPS location of this thing on a hillside far away from me? I could probably hike to the tree, but as soon as I enter the forest, I'll lose all visibility of this specific tree. Are there apps that could help me with getting a GPS location for a distant object? Maybe some kind of surveyor app?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other ideas on how to get there, other than using a GPS location?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit: Other information that helps to frame the problem&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This tree is near the edge of a rain forest reserve of approximately 500km² in Costa Rica. So getting to this spot through the forest will necessarily be winding and steep, if not altogether physically impossible (for me, at least).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The only available views of the object are from kilometers away with a residential area between.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Noting the two factors above, moving in a straight line towards the tree along a bearing is not an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15359" LastEditorUserId="15359" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T00:07:06.730" LastActivityDate="2018-04-07T04:57:37.470" Title="How can I get a GPS location for this tree on a distant hillside?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-04T16:39:25.543" Score="68" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different ways to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using GPS, compass and Google Earth.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get the GPS coordinates of where you can see the tree from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5164/taking-and-using-bearings&quot;&gt;bearing with a compass&lt;/a&gt; to the tree from that location and write it down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move to another location a decent distance away from the first where you can also see the tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take another bearing with a compass and write that down along with the GPS coordinates.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Import the GPS locations to Google Earth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From the two locations, use the line tool to redraw the bearings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find the GPS location where the bearings cross.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the GPS to navigate to the location found in the step above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a screenshot of what this method would look like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3h4Gx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3h4Gx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Triangualting a position with Google Earth&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Method using just a GPS.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a guess of how distant the tree is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With the map on the GPS orientated towards the way one is facing, point the GPS at the tree and move the cursor out equal to the guesstimated distance and mark a waypoint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigate to the waypoint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt; - The following methods probably won't work for your situation after you updated the question with more information, but they might work for someone else with a similar problem, so I am leaving them here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using GPS and compass.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mark a waypoint at your current location with the GPS.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set the GPS to navigate to the waypoint you just set.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a bearing to the tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Begin walking toward the tree keeping the bearing to the waypoint directly opposite (180 degrees) to the bearing you took to the tree. This means that you will walk in a straight line directly towards the tree. (This technique is known as taking a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18970/8794&quot;&gt;back bearing and is more fully described in another Q&amp;amp;A&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method using just a compass.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a bearing to the tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow bearing until you arrive at the tree.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T02:33:42.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T02:33:42.587" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18963" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18964" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" Score="0" Body="Questions about skunks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T17:39:18.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18945" CreationDate="2018-04-04T17:43:56.103" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking a literal definition of &lt;a href=&quot;https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US&lt;/a&gt; and not restricting the answer to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;continental US&lt;/a&gt;, there is a mangrove swap on &lt;a href=&quot;http://kakoooiwi.org/history-of-heeia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heeia&lt;/a&gt; in HI and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Reptiles_of_Hawaii&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of reptiles in HI&lt;/a&gt; does not include crocodiles or alligators. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;http://traveltips.usatoday.com/mangrove-bay-tours-puerto-rico-63718.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;9 mangrove areas&lt;/a&gt; in Puerto Rico and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reptiles_of_Puerto_Rico&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of reptiles in PR &lt;/a&gt; does not include alligators or crocodiles (although I found some conflicting news reports).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T17:43:56.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18945" CreationDate="2018-04-04T20:01:10.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see that Charlie has already shown that there may be a few cypress swamps that don't have alligators if you go far enough north and inland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, being in a canoe gives you considerable protection.  Alligators aren't going to attack the canoe somehow.  In the unlikely event that one will get curious and come too close for your comfort, you have paddles that you can use to convince the alligator that it's time is better spent elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all said, if you capsize and end up in the water, it can be dangerous and you have to be very vigilant.  Even then, it's not guaranteed you see the alligator in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T20:01:10.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-04T21:11:01.987" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take two compass bearings from two known GPS coordinates but different azimuths. Then just use the formula to calculate their intersection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.edwilliams.org/avform.htm#Intersection&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aviation Formulary -- Great Circle Navigation Formulae -- Intersection of two radials&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to compute the latitude, lat3, and longitude, lon3 of an intersection formed by the crs13 true bearing from point 1 and the crs23 true bearing from point 2:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;dst12=2*asin(sqrt((sin((lat1-lat2)/2))^2+&#xA;                   cos(lat1)*cos(lat2)*sin((lon1-lon2)/2)^2))&#xA;IF sin(lon2-lon1)&amp;lt;0&#xA;   crs12=acos((sin(lat2)-sin(lat1)*cos(dst12))/(sin(dst12)*cos(lat1)))&#xA;   crs21=2.*pi-acos((sin(lat1)-sin(lat2)*cos(dst12))/(sin(dst12)*cos(lat2)))&#xA;ELSE&#xA;   crs12=2.*pi-acos((sin(lat2)-sin(lat1)*cos(dst12))/(sin(dst12)*cos(lat1)))&#xA;   crs21=acos((sin(lat1)-sin(lat2)*cos(dst12))/(sin(dst12)*cos(lat2)))&#xA;ENDIF&#xA;&#xA;ang1=mod(crs13-crs12+pi,2.*pi)-pi&#xA;ang2=mod(crs21-crs23+pi,2.*pi)-pi&#xA;&#xA;IF (sin(ang1)=0 AND sin(ang2)=0)&#xA;   &amp;quot;infinity of intersections&amp;quot;&#xA;ELSEIF sin(ang1)*sin(ang2)&amp;lt;0&#xA;   &amp;quot;intersection ambiguous&amp;quot;&#xA;ELSE&#xA;   ang1=abs(ang1)&#xA;   ang2=abs(ang2)&#xA;   ang3=acos(-cos(ang1)*cos(ang2)+sin(ang1)*sin(ang2)*cos(dst12)) &#xA;   dst13=atan2(sin(dst12)*sin(ang1)*sin(ang2),cos(ang2)+cos(ang1)*cos(ang3))&#xA;   lat3=asin(sin(lat1)*cos(dst13)+cos(lat1)*sin(dst13)*cos(crs13))&#xA;   dlon=atan2(sin(crs13)*sin(dst13)*cos(lat1),cos(dst13)-sin(lat1)*sin(lat3))&#xA;   lon3=mod(lon1-dlon+pi,2*pi)-pi&#xA;ENDIF&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The points 1,2 and the (if unique) intersection 3 form a spherical triangle with interior angles abs(ang1), abs(ang2) and ang3. To find the pair of antipodal intersections of two great circles uses the following reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15360" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T22:42:56.757" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-04T23:09:38.327" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Three ideas.  (I'm assuming that you don't have access to a helicopter, since that would make getting to the tree's location and finding its coordinates completely trivial.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring a friend along and wear highly-visible clothing.  Have the friend stay at a vantage point from where the tree is easily visible.  Walk in the general direction of the tree, making sure that the friend can still see you (hence the highly-visible clothing).  When you get near the tree, have them guide you towards it.  When you reach the tree, take its GPS reading and send that to the friend so that they can hike up to the tree themselves.  Alternatively, have the friend be the one wearing the highly-visible clothing and hiking towards the tree, and you be the one guiding them towards it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Point a laser rangefinder at the tree, noting the distance it gives to the tree and the angle it's pointed at (remember that you'll have to take into account the vertical as well as the horizontal angle that it's pointed at).  You can then use these measurements to calculate the exact location of the tree (yay trigonometry).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If doing so is legal, paintball the tree.  Walk to the tree that has paint on it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15362" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T23:09:38.327" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-04T23:41:42.153" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First thing I would try is to see if I could pick the tree out on Google Earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://earth.google.com/web/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://earth.google.com/web/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many locations, especially near mid-sized or larger towns and cities, even the tree canopy is modeled in 3D.  If your tree is located in such a place, it would be easy to pick out and retrieve the coordinate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15364" LastActivityDate="2018-04-04T23:41:42.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18970" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18971" CreationDate="2018-04-05T02:32:08.440" Score="2" ViewCount="2949" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when navigating with map and compass one will take a &lt;strong&gt;back bearing&lt;/strong&gt;, i.e. a &lt;strong&gt;bearing taken directly opposite&lt;/strong&gt; to the direction one is travelling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When and why would one want to do this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T02:32:08.440" Title="What is a back bearing when navigating with map and compass?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18970" CreationDate="2018-04-05T02:32:08.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes &lt;strong&gt;landmarks that you are travelling from, are much easier to take bearings to than what you are travelling towards&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in southern Utah near Bryce Canyon, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinder_cone&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cinder cone&lt;/a&gt; that rises several hundred vertical feet above a relatively flat forest. &lt;strong&gt;Taking a bearing to the cinder cone is easy&lt;/strong&gt; since it rises well above the forest. Navigating &lt;strong&gt;away is harder&lt;/strong&gt; since there aren't any landmarks in front of you to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it would be possible to t&lt;strong&gt;ake a bearing from your position back to the cinder cone&lt;/strong&gt;, and thereby be able to tell &lt;strong&gt;whether or not you are on course&lt;/strong&gt; or have strayed to the right or left of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hkRdz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hkRdz.png&quot; alt=&quot;back bearing with a compass&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the calculations go, if you are &lt;strong&gt;on course the back bearing should be 180 degrees to your direction of travel.&lt;/strong&gt; So if you had started out on a course of 270 degrees, then the back bearing should be 90 degrees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you can also use the forward direction with your compass to navigate, but it can be &lt;strong&gt;nice&lt;/strong&gt; to be able to take a back bearing in a situation like this and &lt;strong&gt;confirm that you are on the same heading&lt;/strong&gt; as when you started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T02:32:08.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-05T08:27:06.863" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;OpenStreetMap wiki describes a technique called &lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Recording_GPS_tracks#Aimed_straight_segments_method&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;aimed straight segments&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a GPS device or app that can record a trace and show it on the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start from a location where you can see the tree from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Choose some object that appears directly downwards from the tree, it could be e.g. a mailbox or similar. For greatest accuracy, you could use a string and a weight to accurately judge &quot;directly downwards&quot;. Closing one of your eyes can help also.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk to that object. Your GPS device will draw a line that will point to the object.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat starting from another point that is further away. Ideally it would be at 90 degree angles, e.g. if your first point is to the south from the tree, next point could be to the east.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Load the GPS traces to PC and find the intersection point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15369" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T08:27:06.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18947" CreationDate="2018-04-05T14:39:38.650" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pine Martens aren't native to the Lake District as yet - you need to go further north to find them (and then in small numbers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will most likely be one the more common mustelids - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stoats&lt;/a&gt; will happily (and greedily) take rabbits, which I believe are your bones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a photo/dimensions of the scat, I have to offer the most likely answer here.  And yes, the Stoat looks small compared with the Rabbit, but it's fully capable of dragging it's prize many metres to a feeding spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorDisplayName="user12449" LastEditDate="2018-04-08T07:35:12.393" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T07:35:12.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18977" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18978" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" Score="0" Body="Questions about swamps" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:33:14.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18945" CreationDate="2018-04-05T18:41:43.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alligators won't bother you. They will chill out on the floor of the water feature in question and patiently wait for you to pass by. I've skied on the Mississippi River before, as well as in other riverine regions in the South, and have as such spent considerable time bobbing in the water, waiting for the boat to circle back and pick me up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also spent quite a bit of time kayaking and canoeing in similar areas as what you mention, with almost no interaction with alligators. I've seen them sunning on the beach or on a log (for very small specimen), but other than that, they have always left me alone. They are the most chill creatures. Nothing like we humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T18:41:43.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1275" CreationDate="2018-04-05T19:14:18.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always bring a pair of lightweight shoes or closed toe sandals when backpacking. I find that having a different pair of shoes to put on once I get to camp makes a world of difference to my feet. It lets my feet relax and gives both my feet and my boots more time to dry the sweat out. I also use these for crossing wide streams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to pack extra shoes, the next best thing is to take off your boots and just &lt;strong&gt;wear your wool hiking socks&lt;/strong&gt;. The socks will give some protection to your feet and they actually grip slippery rocks better than the rubber soles of shoes or sandals. If the stream bottom is sandy or muddy just cross in bare feet - socks won't help in those cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other side of the stream, wring out the socks and hang them on the outside of your pack. Dry your feet off well and let them air dry until they no longer feel clammy. This is a good time to apply any necessary treatment to your feet (friction blocker, mole skin, athletic tape, talc, etc) as they will be clean and dry. Put on dry socks and your hiking shoes and continue down the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you encounter another stream just put on the socks that are already wet for crossing the stream and repeat. Be sure to dry those socks out well on the outside of your pack and at camp so that you can still use them for hiking if needed. They'll get caked with dirt when you walk up the bank of the other side of the stream so you'll probably want to wash them out well in the last stream you cross so that they're cleanish for later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for my pack, I always have everything in my pack in either ziplock bags or trash compactor bags. Be sure to put your hiking shoes in a bag before crossing the stream and put them in your pack so that you have two hands and so they don't get wet should you fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2452" LastEditorUserId="2452" LastEditDate="2018-04-05T19:20:02.477" LastActivityDate="2018-04-05T19:20:02.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-06T00:26:37.577" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You’ve consistently maintained that you want to get the gps location of that tree, and you’ve said that the displayed view is the only one available and eliminated any method that uses a second line of view, including google earth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you’ve restricted yourself to the one line of view, you would have to get an accurate range, compass bearing, and elevation angle to the tree of interest and then compute the relative location and add it to the location you took the bearing from. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try a good drone with a GPS and a pair of binoculars and get the GPS location that way. It’s also possible you’ll merely have 2 sets of GPS coordinates to visit so you can pick up the drone as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite your protestations and limited faith in satellite photos, I think you’ll find that if you enter the coordinates you compute into Google Earth and find an anomalous piece of the forest canopy very near to them taking the GPS location of that anomaly as a second GPS waypoint for your trek might be productive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, this trek can’t depend on locating the tree solely by GPS. As an early post pointed out, GPS position accuracy is under forest canopy in hilly terrain is not what it is on open flat terrain. Your GPS position may be 15m or more in error. If, as you’ve alluded, you believe the canopy is so dense that you could be 50 feet from this tree and not see it from the ground, you might want to plan to walk a spiral search pattern that guarantees it will appear within your sighting distance. On the other hand, if you believe you won’t be able to tell when you’re standing next to it, and without climbing it you won’t know if it’s the right one, then you must intend to climb the tree so be prepared to climb two trees, and use the first to find your preferred tree. If you don’t intend to climb the tree and it won’t look any different from the ground, then this is a fool’s errand anyway, just walk 100m, hug the nearest tree, and return. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15379" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T00:26:37.577" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18960" CreationDate="2018-04-06T05:02:46.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;: It has happened &lt;strong&gt;once to a dog&lt;/strong&gt; and it is possible that it could happen to birds but I can find no instances of it happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rare cases, skunk spray can have more effects than just smell on a dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In rare instances, Heinz body anemia, methemoglobinemia, and hemoglobinuria may occur a few hours to 24 hours after exposure (ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Antox: Unpublished data, 2011).5 In these cases, the thiols in the skunk spray cause oxidative damage to hemoglobin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although there are no reports of a cat developing methemoglobinemia from skunk spray, feline red blood cells are more sensitive to oxidative damage than are the red blood cells of other species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dog escaped from the house and when the owner found the dog the next morning, the dog smelled strongly of skunk spray and was tremoring. The dog was brought to an emergency clinic more than 12 hours later. Nearly 100% of the red blood cells studied contained Heinz bodies. Results of laboratory testing confirmed methemoglobinemia. The dog had a seizure and died. The owner requested cremation and did not authorize the release of histopathologic and other diagnostic findings. &lt;strong&gt;To our knowledge, this is the only death related to a skunk spray in a dog.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/skunk-spray-toxicosis-odiferous-tale?id=&amp;amp;sk=&amp;amp;date=&amp;amp;pageID=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skunk spray toxicosis: An odiferous tale&lt;/a&gt; (Emphasis mine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was also a study done on this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BACKGROUND:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A captive Red Panda developed a regenerative anemia with Heinz bodies after being sprayed by a skunk. A definite cause-and-effect relationship between skunk musk and oxidative erythrocyte damage has not been reported, but it was suspected in one reported case of a dog with Heinz body hemolytic anemia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CONCLUSIONS:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In vitro, skunk musk causes Heinz body and methemoglobin formation in canine, feline, and Red Panda RBC, supporting the clinical association between Heinz body hemolytic anemia and skunk spray exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24033800&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skunk musk causes methemoglobin and Heinz body formation in vitro.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as birds go, it is possible for them to get  Heinz-body hemolytic anemia from &lt;a href=&quot;http://science.sciencemag.org/content/220/4599/871&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ingesting crude oil&lt;/a&gt; but I found nothing on them being sprayed by skunks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T05:02:46.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18940" CreationDate="2018-04-06T10:21:38.963" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you and I belong to the same geography for trekking/hiking, I think I can add 2 cents to this. I typically follow a similar pattern from what Charlie answered above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically avoid going slow on short sections of highly inclined trails. For such ascends what I do is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid breathing in by mouth, breathin always through nose, breath out always through mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breath in, take 2 steps in close to 2 seconds, then take 4-5 steps as I breath out in a controlled manner for about 3 seconds. I feel like my lungs  want me to breath out quicker, but I hold. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pause a bit, a bit shy off a second. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works amazingly well, takes a bit of toll on shins though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a longer inclined ascend (Best example would be last 30% of the climb of 'Kulang' in AMK trio), I do this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid breathing in by mouth, breathin always through nose, breath out always through mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Breath in, take a could of steps, pause a bit, a bit shy off a half a second, then take a couple steps as I breath out in a controlled manner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pause a bit, a bit shy off a second. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the same breathing pattern while ascending Mt. Kanamo last season. Its not a tough mountain to climb, absolutely non-technical peak. &#xA;People usually set up the summit camp (At about 4600 m) after a couple of hours of hike from village (Kibber, used to be world's highest village) and then start early in the day for summit which sits at 5974 m (officially, but on both attempts my GPS ticked 6025 m). The ascend part didn't trouble me whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T10:21:38.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-06T16:46:24.347" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This technique allows you to find the coordinates of the tree from wherever you took your picture, with nothing but a GPS, compass, and topographical map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a position where you can see the tree highlighted against the sky, take a bearing to the tree. Also, find your current location using GPS. Then, you can draw the ray from your position to the tree on a topographical map. &#xA;On every point p along this line, calculate the ratio&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;r = (elevation(p) - elevation(you)) / distance(you, p)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the tree is highlighted against the sky, it must be near point p with the largest value of r.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8608" LastEditorUserId="8608" LastEditDate="2018-04-06T16:51:36.797" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T16:51:36.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18986" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-06T20:29:20.980" Score="10" ViewCount="1286" Body="&lt;p&gt;When learning how to set climbing routes on artificial walls, setters are often told to set route difficulties according to a &quot;bell curve&quot;.  An example of this is mentioned on &lt;a href=&quot;http://routecrafting.blogspot.com/2010/10/just-another-climber-just-another-route.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the origin of this &quot;bell curve&quot;?  Is there any science behind it, or is it just a dogma?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Since there seems to be some confusion, let me rephrase my question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Has anyone compiled statistics about the distribution of climbers' grades?  If so, can I find these statistics somewhere?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15388" LastEditorUserId="15388" LastEditDate="2018-04-06T22:26:53.793" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T00:41:26.773" Title="Origin of the &quot;bell curve&quot; for rock climbing route setting" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;route-setting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18986" CreationDate="2018-04-06T21:11:38.180" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bell curve in the post you have referenced is simply just a visual representation of some statistics; Namely, the number of climbers the gym serves, that are able to climb at any specific climbing grade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may look slightly different at each gym, but if you were to add up these numbers yourself and plot them, you could create a similar representative curve and would find some similarities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a sports science perspective, the largest gains come early on in a sport, so most people don't stay in the absolute beginner zones very long. Since most people aren't elite climbers, you can guess that the intermediate area will have the highest numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example of a simple bar graph, with the blue line representing the bell curve. Hope it helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F5V2c.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F5V2c.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bell Curve Expample&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2018-04-06T21:23:32.003" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T21:23:32.003" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18986" CreationDate="2018-04-06T22:52:05.640" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bell curve simply measures your median level of climbing ability in your gym. The &quot;science&quot; behind it is simply to cater to your customers, you need to set routes to attract the biggest demographic to your gym, which for most gyms is in the easy to intermediate range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At my local wall, one of the ways we would determine the &quot;median&quot; of our climbing demographic was during our &lt;em&gt;Everest Challenge&lt;/em&gt; event. Hundreds of people would climb day and night to climb the elevation of Everest on the wall, and track which ropes they were climbing, and how many times they climbed them. At the end of the event it was easy for us to look at the data to see which ropes were climbed the most, and determine which grade most people were climbing. The route setters would then know which grade of routes they needed to set more of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I set routes for years at my university gym and for competitions. I can tell you it's easy to set easy routes, and easy to set really &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt; routes, but to set intermediate routes inside that curve at the level where the majority of your climbers abilities are - is quite difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll give you an example: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Easy route&lt;/strong&gt; = Bunch of big jugs close together in a ladder up the wall, there you go kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hard route&lt;/strong&gt; = A few garbage holds that are hard/hurt to grab and move off of; or, a series of &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; strenuous moves that the average person can't piece together without lots of core strength, training, and a lot of screaming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Intermediate route (your bell curve routes)&lt;/strong&gt; = trying to balance between easy and hard, without giving the stronger climbers the ability to dyno through half your route, bypassing many of the holds and ultimately reducing the difficulty rating of the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ultimate challenge in setting intermediate routes lies in &lt;strong&gt;forcing beta&lt;/strong&gt;. It's almost like a chess game, where you're trying to plan ahead in order to force your opponent to make the moves you want them to make. Forcing moves in a climbing route at an intermediate level is the hardest part of route setting, and takes a lot of experience, skill, and imagination. I would spend hours working on a single move in some routes, making it almost impossible to pass that section without using the &lt;em&gt;exact&lt;/em&gt; beta I had intended them to use. The move wouldn't be that complicated, but if you didn't use it your balance would get thrown off to the point you could keep a grip on your other holds. Ultimately though, someone always manages to find a different beta to bypass a section, even if the move is more strenuous than the prescribed beta, and causes them injury in the process. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I would do to force people to think about their footwork is use garbage holds like two-finger pocket holds in places where stronger climbers would normally cut their feet and campus through cruxes. I figured the threat of blowing a tendon would be incentive for them to change their climbing style, and actually spend some time figuring out the beta I had intended for them to use. Alas, instead of using their heads to solve the problem using a series of less strenuous moves, they would shove their fingers in the pockets, pull hard and shred flesh trying to dyno past half the holds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;curve&quot; for each gym is going to vary place to place, and will be determined by the demographic of climbers that frequent the gym. Each gym may employ its own method for determining how many of each grades need to be set, some will simply be at the mercy of whomever sets the routes and the style of climbing they favour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-04-06T22:52:05.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18961" CreationDate="2018-04-07T04:57:37.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another answer describes a good method for triangulating a position from two or more viewpoints.  This is a method you could use if you have only &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; viewpoint, but also have access to a topographic map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, the tree is clearly visible because it projects from the limb of a hill.  This is a significant topographic feature which should be easy to identify on a map.  Many maps intended for hiking have contour lines to indicate the steepness of the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On such a map, plot the position of your viewpoint (obtained by GPS), and from there, the bearing of the tree - not forgetting to account for magnetic deviation.  Limbs of hills along this line exist where the contours run parallel to the bearing line; your tree will be near one of those spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the contour lines, you can also deduce your viewpoint's elevation and those of candidate locations.  Divide the elevation difference of each candidate location by the distance to it, to obtain an estimate of its relative visual height.  The correct location will be the candidate with the greatest visual height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-07T04:57:37.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18992" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="18996" CreationDate="2018-04-08T03:46:41.640" Score="6" ViewCount="657" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got my first handgun and had previously bought a safe that we had used for other things. The safe is a made by first alert, and is the 2087F. It says in the manual, which I've thankfully kept, that the safe is not designed to store medication, firearms, ammo, etc. My question is, what does this warning actually mean? I know that fireproof and water proof safes don't actually stand up to major fires; everything in it will only last for about an hour before the internal temperature rises. This seems like even gun safes would have the same problem, and any ammo would eventually go off anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So assuming that I did store my Glock in this safe, with a couple of hundred rounds of ammo, what is the worst that could actually happen? Would I wake up up at 3am to a few hundred rounds going off simply because of the airtight seal? Is that even possible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry if that's a lot of questions. I'm genuinely curious though, if there is any real danger at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15401" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T14:48:03.440" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T15:22:05.180" Title="Storing hunting firearms and ammo in a safe not designed for them?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2018-04-08T10:32:50.757" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're in Britain, you can either provide GPS coordinates in latitude and longitude as normal, or an &lt;a href=&quot;https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/beginners-guide-to-grid-references/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey grid reference&lt;/a&gt; which is easily obtained from the maps normally used in Britain.  The OS grid is essentially a transverse-Mercator projection, but is not the same as UTM.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably mountain-rescue teams would prefer OS grid coordinates, because they will refer to OS maps for their own navigation.  However, I expect they also have GPS units which can perform the conversion automatically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An OS grid reference formally consists of two letters, identifying a general regional grid, followed by six digits (three for eastings, then three for northings) which identify a location within that grid to within 100m.  The grid squares marked on OS maps intended for hiking (eg. Landranger series) are normally 1km square; road maps often have 10km squares instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There should be a legend on each map explaining how to construct a full grid reference from the map, as well as the local relationship between &quot;grid north&quot; and the magnetic and true norths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T10:32:50.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4184" CreationDate="2018-04-08T11:09:29.430" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the EU (including the UK), SMS to the general emergency number (112) appears to be widely supported technically, but several countries I checked appear to require pre-registration.  It's not clear whether that means SMS from unregistered numbers would be rejected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK, the British Transport Police have an SMS shortcode: &lt;strong&gt;61016&lt;/strong&gt;.  This is intended for incidents occurring on public transport, but in a pinch you could use it to report other types of emergency.  Unlike SMS to 112 or 999, this is available to anyone and does not require pre-registration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that the BTP operator will need to relay information about your emergency to the appropriate service before help can be dispatched, and this might incur some unpredictable delay.  For that reason, I suggest attempting to &lt;strong&gt;make a phone call to 112 or 999 first&lt;/strong&gt; - due to special provisions in all cell towers, it may connect even if your phone can't make a standard call.  Include as much information about your circumstances and location as possible in the initial message.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:09:29.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4184" CreationDate="2018-04-08T11:24:19.280" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although the question specified using no equipment beyond a standard mobile phone, I think it's worth pointing out that VHF and UHF radio signals can typically be heard over greater distances than a phone signal, and shortwave signals even further.  If you are planning to travel into remote areas with little or no phone service and with an elevated risk of requiring rescue, investing in a suitable radio or emergency beacon would be wise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this purpose, the easiest solution is probably an emergency beacon.  When activated, the signal can be picked up by ground stations and satellites which continuously listen for such signals, and ships and aircraft often keep a listening watch on these frequencies as well.  Rescue teams can then home in on the signal once alerted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest problem with emergency beacons is that they are often &lt;em&gt;accidentally&lt;/em&gt; activated, which obviously places an unnecessary drain on emergency services' resources.  If you get one, ask about how best to avoid this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good option is to obtain an amateur-radio licence (which requires some study and taking an exam) and a portable radio of that type.  Some of these radios are capable of transmitting on international emergency frequencies, just like beacons do, as well as radio amateur operators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:24:19.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18992" CreationDate="2018-04-08T11:40:08.183" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most firearms regulations (and certainly best practices) require the firearm itself and its ammunition to be protected by separate, independent locks.  Gun safes typically help you meet this requirement with a locked compartment for the ammunition within the main safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern ammunition is pretty stable, so there's no real danger of it firing unexpectedly under normal conditions.  If it's a portable safe, there's some danger of dropping it and shocking the ammunition that way.  Ammo boxes are built to provide some protection against accidentally firing loose ammunition, and some gun safes may also provide this type of safeguard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would advise you to consult your local gun club or shop for more detailed advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:40:08.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15982" CreationDate="2018-04-08T11:44:23.090" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use Barbour wax on the bottom half of my sleeping bag, bivvi bag and fabsil gold on my tent outer and both on most clothing, Depending on what you want to water proof always test first.i always roll sleeping bag up in tent never out side is a pain but keeps it dry. perhaps getting a tent with a built in ground sheet would solve this problem.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15403" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T11:44:23.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6222" CreationDate="2018-04-08T12:19:59.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers have covered the local fauna pretty well, but what about flora?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only common venomous plant in the UK is the &lt;strong&gt;common stinging nettle&lt;/strong&gt;, easily recognisable by its triangular, serrated leaves.  This has fine hairs on its stem which, when brushed, pierce the skin and inject a mild venom.  The resulting pain and swelling can be eased by rubbing it with dock leaves or dandelions, which often grow nearby, or applying an antihistamine cream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, allergic reactions to nettle stings are rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very similar in appearance is the deadnettle, which is actually a variety of mint and does not sting.  The easiest distinguishing feature is that the deadnettle has small white flowers on top, while the stinging nettle does not flower.  Like all mints, the deadnettle has a square stem, and this is another distinguishing feature.  However, the characteristic scent of some mint species is not shared by the deadnettle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also many plants which have thorns, including thistles, brambles, hawthorn, and roses.  These are not difficult to identify, and not especially dangerous beyond the obvious hazard of sharpness.  With due care they can be bent back to make a safe path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T12:19:59.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="18999" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-08T14:33:24.013" Score="11" ViewCount="942" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiring from a normally good company, I realised as I was putting them on that I have been given two left snow shoes. Other than the strapping direction and the 'L' on each they seem very nearly symmetrical so... Does it actually matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was already where I wanted to use them so I did, without any obvious problems... Is it even worth going back to get one swapped for the rest of the hire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11233" LastEditorUserId="11233" LastEditDate="2018-04-08T18:33:19.713" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T20:06:44.833" Title="Does it really matter which snow shoe goes on which foot?" Tags="&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18999" CreationDate="2018-04-08T15:49:23.570" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snowshoes will fit on either right or left foot, most people recommend facing the binding buckles toward the outside of your feet as it keeps the buckles from coming into contact with one another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://yukoncharlies.com/frequently-asked-questions/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is there a right and left shoe?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While both snowshoes will fit on either right or left foot, we recommend facing the binding buckles toward the outside of your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoe size is a key factor in getting the right amount of flotation. Generally, the heavier the person or the lighter and drier the snow, the more snowshoe surface area is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can follow the snowshoe chart &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/how-to-choose-snowshoes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-04-08T23:32:21.767" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T23:32:21.767" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19003" CreationDate="2018-04-08T16:03:12.840" Score="20" ViewCount="381" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reposting this from a Facebook discussion. It's a picture taken from a retail store where they have attached a pin-tag through the rope to prevent theft; a common practice at this location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My gut reaction is to avoid it like the plague, but I have a tendency to treat the rope like it's sacred. Has anyone seen this elsewhere? Would you climb on it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pDE7c.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pDE7c.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rope in the Store&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T23:21:33.593" Title="Compromised Ropes in Retail Stores" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19238" CreationDate="2018-04-08T23:04:38.917" Score="8" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a work trip to Portugal later this month and I intend to attach a short trekking/backpacking trip in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serra_da_Estrela&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Serra da Estrela&lt;/a&gt;.  I have around 62 hours.  Will I need snowshoes for my hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serra_da_Estrela&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Serra da Estrela&lt;/a&gt; is a mountain range up to 2000 metres high.  Nearby &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guarda,_Portugal#Climate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guarda&lt;/a&gt; is Continental Portugal's highest city (1000 metres high) and has an average April temperature range of 4.6–12.4°C, which would mean 1000 metre higher up should be around -2–6°C, but that doesn't tell me about the microclimate of areas such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/184507688&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Covão da Amatade&lt;/a&gt; (1440 m), the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/532632579&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Covão dos Conchos&lt;/a&gt; (1640 m), or the area in-between (trail passes over 1800 m).  These things are very local and depend on many factors.  Is anyone familiar with the area in different seasons and could tell me if I should expect to need snowshoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T21:23:36.023" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T21:23:36.023" Title="Should I expect to need snowshoes in the Serra da Estrela in April?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;spring&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19001" CreationDate="2018-04-08T23:21:33.593" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ewww. I'm guessing they punch pin tags through $700 gore tex jackets as well? And condoms? Even if the amount of damage is minimal, it's still something I would rather not do to my rope. Some climbers do use a needle and thread/dental floss to make small whippings on the rope to indicate that the rope ends are approaching. However, there is a large difference between carefully easing a sharp needle through the rope and a retail worker, chugging along at minimum wage, shoving one of those generally ragged and burred pins through the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you mention, the amount of damage is probably not severe. Similarly, storing the ropes in a vat of motor oil or sewage would probably still be safe. This doesn't mean that any of those are best practices and speaks more to the great extent that manufactures go through to make sure their products are safe. Furthermore, I don't recall the UIAA having a rope testing category for standard falls with a security tag through the rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the very least it shows a lack of respect for the end user (my making money is more important than your safety). There are so many other ways to prevent shoplifting a rope. For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even moderately alert retail staff. Ever have someone walk by at the crag and stuff your rope into their pocket without you noticing? Neither have I. It isn't exactly an object that lends itself easily to shoplifting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using a cable-type security device through the center of the coil, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://americantheftprevention.com/Cable-Wraps-amp-Keepers/Cable-Locks-c20/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of these&lt;/a&gt;. While it would be possible to uncoil the entire rope and free the rope from the cable, it is mighty hard to imagine that someone wouldn't notice. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using adhesive magnetic sensor tags on the packaging/hidden away inside the coils of the rope. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping ropes inside a locked cabinet/display case or behind a counter. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the establishment is unwilling to alter their practices, I would strongly urge you to contact the manufacturers of the ropes. Having worked specialty outdoor retail, this would be the sort of thing that a reputable manufacturer would drop a dealer for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-04-08T23:21:33.593" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18986" CreationDate="2018-04-09T00:26:18.003" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This piece of advice is commonly given to new routesetters, and should generally be taken as a reminder of best practices rather than scientific dogma. For example,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most climbers don't onsight 5.13 and V12. While you should try to set routes for these climbers, you should remember that the bulk of your clientele (=profit) comes from climbers in the 5.10-5.11 range. This obviously varies from gym to gym and is something that management / the head routesetter should have more detailed statistics for.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While you might be 6'5&amp;quot; with a massive wingspan, or 5'0&amp;quot; with small fingers, you shouldn't set with a requirement for a specific body type. While the occasional reachy/dyno problem or scrunched crimp ladder isn't bad to set per se, the danger is having too many problems set in a way that becomes &amp;quot;you must be this tall to get on the boulder.&amp;quot; Always try to set in a way that accommodates different body types. For example, alternatives for feet or forcing body positions, rather than a problem simply requiring the climber to be tall and make a large span.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm reminded of a drill that Steven Jeffrey (a relatively famous route-setter) would take new setters through. This can also be a good mental exercise to run through when setting. He would have them initially set a ~V8 route and critique it. Then, having committed to that particular movement and set of bolt holes, they would have to turn their problem into a V3 by only changing out holds and not the location of the holds. If this proved impossible, then it means that the original v8 contained a shut-down move that was height dependent and therefore was a bad problem for the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;An Alternate Viewpoint&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some sense, indoor gyms should take their cues from outdoor climbing. While the insane mega-projects stand out more sharply in our memory, the typical route at the typical climbing destination isn't truly that hard. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt; offers a breakdown by grade (not even total number of ticks at each grade) for each climbing area in its database.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, you may have heard of the Dawn Wall in Yosemite. However, most routes in Yosemite are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; 5.14d:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88s2e.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88s2e.png&quot; alt=&quot;Yosemite Grades&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, most routes in the Red River Gorge are not as hard as God's Own Stone (14a):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/duAgH.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/duAgH.png&quot; alt=&quot;Red River Gorge Grades&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and the Crown of Aragorn (V13) is significantly harder than most of the problems in Hueco Tanks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lMXZ5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lMXZ5.png&quot; alt=&quot;Hueco Tanks Grades&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can repeat this exercise for almost any famous climbing area with feared projects and find similar distributions of route difficulty. Those closest I've been able to find to an exception is Rifle, CO. Even at this famed paradise for 5.13 climbers, there still 56 5.10s and 25 routes 5.9 and under:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E776u.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E776u.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rifle Grades&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that all of these distributions were simply the number of routes by grade in the database, &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; the total number of ascents per grade. If we looked at a plot of number of ticks vs grade, we would expect all of these distributions to shift dramatically to the left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T00:41:26.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19005" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-09T06:28:50.750" Score="9" ViewCount="493" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a requirement where I want to tie a knot with the two ends of a cord where the length of the loop can be adjusted using either of the ends. (The knot has to be present on both the ends of the cord)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to use this to hang my compass/whistle (or any other smaller objects) around my neck while I go outdoors. While fixing the length of the cord would work in most of the cases, using an adjustable knot allows for the cord to be used by multiple people without retying or using a different length cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15391" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-11T12:48:28.043" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T17:20:28.247" Title="Knot for adjusting the length of a loop using both ends of a cord" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19005" CreationDate="2018-04-09T13:16:41.203" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;double fishermans&lt;/a&gt; can be adjusted for length by pulling on each knot and sliding them along the strand. You can also adjust the tail lengths and increase the number of turns to improve the appearance and use up extra slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T13:16:41.203" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18999" CreationDate="2018-04-09T20:06:44.833" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most styles of snowshoes are symmetrical, and will work on either foot, but some bindings are designed to be right or left handed, meaning that they are easier to operate with one hand or the other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lace up bindings can be worn on either foot without any problem, but snowshoes equipped with buckles and straps on one side of the binding are easier to operate on the respective feet they are designated for &lt;em&gt;(ie. right-handed buckles on the right foot, left-handed buckles on the left foot)&lt;/em&gt;, which puts the buckles and straps to the outside of the feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also however some styles of snowshoes that are &lt;strong&gt;asymmetrical&lt;/strong&gt;, specifically engineered to provide clearance over the adjacent shoe, these shoes are meant to be worn on specific feet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gvsnowshoes.com/caches/images/b6c4c22f62a0181b784cf3d8ac5f250e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Left Foot Running/speed snowshoe:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gvsnowshoes.com/caches/images/b6c4c22f62a0181b784cf3d8ac5f250e.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jpqwQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://www.gvsnowshoes.com/caches/images/b6c4c22f62a0181b784cf3d8ac5f250e.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71aeIcEr2cL._SL1500_.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Right-foot snowshoe:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DLeZal.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DLeZal.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;asymmetrical snowshoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, your snowshoes will still work for you regardless of which foot you put them on, but they will work better, and you'll have an easier time putting them on and walking if you put them on the feet they're setup to be on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-04-09T20:06:44.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19008" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-09T21:13:30.067" Score="9" ViewCount="306" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will go hiking in 2 weeks. Are there any exercises for preparing for it, as last time I carried my pack on a hike for the whole day, my back started to hurt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15134" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T01:27:07.263" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T02:58:26.913" Title="Are there any exercises that will strengthen my back to prepare for a day hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19008" CreationDate="2018-04-10T10:48:43.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;2 weeks is not alot of time to prepare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to do squats and rows. And box-step-ups with a load on your back (gradually increasing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My scheme looks like this:&#xA;3 times per week I do 5 sets of 5 reps of squats, and every other training I do rows (5x5) or box-step ups (8x3, per leg).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4220" LastEditorUserId="4220" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T13:50:20.720" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T13:50:20.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18581" CreationDate="2018-04-10T11:23:44.997" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Read the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18585/3602&quot;&gt;accepted answer by Rory Alsop&lt;/a&gt; for a comprehensive answer. This is just an addendum addressing the point that caused my original confusion and according to a discussion between DJClaywort and Rory as well as Wikipedia, does not seem to be undisputed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There seem to be two definitions of close-hauled in use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sailing as close to the wind as possible.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Closer to the wind is the &quot;no-go zone&quot;, meaning the boat will lose speed and eventually stop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As close to the wind to get maximum upwind speed component.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Being as close to the wind as possible (as in 1.) may direct you closest upwind, but the speed gain from being a little farther away from the wind may still increase your upwind component.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/vectors/u3l1g2.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;unrelated graph&lt;/a&gt; illustrates identical vertical components (equiv. to upwind speed) at different angles/&quot;total&quot; speeds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am refraining from judging these definitions, as I am not a sailor and two apparently seasoned sailors disagree. Personally I guess there is no &quot;correct&quot; answer, this could depend on different &quot;schools of sailing&quot;, location, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For posterity I am citing two arguments made in comments that were helpful to me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I am sailing for optimum upwind speed I and everyone I know would&#xA;  call that [2.] 'close hauled'. I could sail closer to the wind&#xA;  (pinching) but I don't as I would lose speed. It's 'as close as I can&#xA;  get' without losing speed. If i was pinching I would still call myself&#xA;  'close hauled', but I would not have to be pinching to be 'close&#xA;  hauled'.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18581/what-is-the-purpose-of-being-close-hauled-when-sailing-upwind#comment46774_18585&quot;&gt;DJClayworth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] close hauled, as described by the RYA, and as we always taught&#xA;  is that part where you are as close as you can be [...]. Optimum&#xA;  upwind speed is not fully close hauled in most boats - you'll want to&#xA;  be a few degrees off, which may or may not be at close reach.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  - &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18581/what-is-the-purpose-of-being-close-hauled-when-sailing-upwind#comment46776_18585&quot;&gt;Rory Alsop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T11:23:44.997" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19014" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-10T12:47:44.653" Score="9" ViewCount="2933" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have these hiking shoes that have metal hook type of eyelets. Since I frequently go to the leech infested areas of the western ghats in India, I'm forced to use salt on my shoes to prevent leeches from climbing onto me (and it works pretty well). But due to salt, the metal hooks seem to be rusting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way I can prevent the rust while still exposing the hooks to salt? &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1404/can-oiling-keep-tools-from-rusting&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; post talks about using oil as a possible solution to prevent rusting. But obviously with shoes it would be impossible to do. I'm thinking if there is a chemical coating that could help me with this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T04:44:40.180" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T04:44:40.180" Title="How to prevent metal eyelets from rusting?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19014" CreationDate="2018-04-10T15:34:20.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the simplest solution would be to wear ankle-high gaiters and &lt;strong&gt;salt the gaiters instead of your boots&lt;/strong&gt;. This way you will get even added protection from the gaiter, and spare your expensive boot from the inevitable abuses of applying chemical treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://varuste.net/tiedostot/1/kuvat/tuote2/500/11817190.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nQM0U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://varuste.net/tiedostot/1/kuvat/tuote2/500/11817190.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;sup&gt;click image&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also try using &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mosquitohammock.com/AntiLeechSocks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anti-leech socks&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mosquitohammock.com/AntiLeechSocks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DeCeCm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Anti Leech Socks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oil treatments are designed to displace salt, which is the opposite of what you want, you want the salt there to deter the leeches, treating you boots with oil would prevent the salt from sticking (even if you spot treat your boots, it may drip or bleed). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing you could do for boots if you're treating them with salt, is &lt;strong&gt;clean the salt off your boots after your hike&lt;/strong&gt;. In Canada we use a lot of salt on the roads to eliminate ice, this salt ends up on your vehicle, and if you don't clean your vehicle regularly, the salt eats away at your fenders and undercarriage like crazy. Regularly cleaning the salt off denies the salt the opportunity to start a chemical reaction. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T19:13:25.557" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T19:13:25.557" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19008" CreationDate="2018-04-10T15:44:31.873" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not going to strengthen much in two weeks.  But you can get your back and shoulders used to weight and fit of the pack.  I would go for as many short to long hikes as you can and would not overload the pack as you don't want to strain your back.  Take a few short hikes with a full weight load at about the 1 week mark to see how things feel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T15:44:31.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19017" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19018" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to Portugal " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T16:39:54.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19014" CreationDate="2018-04-10T20:45:21.180" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I bought my first pair of walking boots, I was told to buy a jar of vaseline and use that on the hooks of the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can apply it very precisely and it is very likely not to run off and spread over the boot. (Not sure how it reacts when it gets hot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-04-10T20:45:21.180" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19008" CreationDate="2018-04-11T00:58:35.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Core exercises.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your abs are the bowstring to your back, if you have weak abs, you'll feel it in your back first. Wearing a heavy bag puts added stress on you back, which engages you abs, but we as homo-sapiens are lazy by nature (which is why we evolved to walk upright), so when we put extra stress on our backs, we tend to compensate by adjusting our posture so our frame takes most of the load, instead of the muscles, this is especially true when we're tired from hiking all day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you go on your hike, make sure your bag is adjusted properly for starters, then while you hike, just be conscious of keeping you abs engaged. Don't over do it, don't flex like crazy, just a little tummy tuck will be enough to spare your low back a lot of grief.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Planks and pushups are good exercises to help build core strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Posture.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're suffering from upper back pain, then your posture is usually to blame. Being hunched over watching the ground while the straps of your bag pull on your shoulders is one way to get a serious ache between your shoulder blades. Again, make sure you bag is properly adjusted and that most of the weight is being carried by your hip belt, and ensure your bag is properly balanced so it isn't pulling you over backwards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-11T19:38:28.987" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T19:38:28.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19021" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-11T09:13:12.543" Score="9" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of years ago, we hiked up &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.in/search?q=amedikallu&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwidooKl8LHaAhWBqI8KHWSaDl8Q_AUICygC&amp;amp;biw=1920&amp;amp;bih=964&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;to a place&lt;/a&gt; in the western ghats during the month of December (end of it). Which is actually the end of winter in the Indian subcontinent. The biggest problem we faced (unanticipated) was the shortage of water. The streams there had already dried up. The forest guide took us deep into the forest and due to his native knowledge, he knew where to find water (it was a super slow moving 5-6 inches deep stream, so it hardly made any running water sound). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Makes me wonder if there are features or things I can look for in a thick tropical forest that can guide me towards a stream of water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1617/finding-water-in-the-dry-wilderness&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; question speaks of finding water in dry wilderness. However, I'm looking specifically towards thick rain forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T04:43:57.847" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T04:43:57.847" Title="How to find water in thick tropical forests?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19008" CreationDate="2018-04-11T09:45:56.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always remember that when you carry a backpack, it's the whole of your upper body that has to take the weight. If the weight is only on the shoulders, you will eventually end up with with a painful back or shoulders irrespective of how strong you are. For this, the first thing is to make sure you are carrying your backpack properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a backpack that has a hip belt. Offloading a bit of the backpack weight on the hip helps to reduce the strain on the upper body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack the backpack such that the heaviest items are closest to you. The farther the heavier items from your body, the more the strain on you (the center of gravity shifts away from your body and thereby adding more strain on you).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tighten the straps such that the weight gets distributed properly beween your shoulders/chest and hips. Do not overload any of these.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The straps should not be loose. If your shoulder straps are loose, the bag will move away from your body and will pull you backwards. Adding a lot of strain on your back muscles. If your hip straps are loose, the bag will keep sliding down and will cause your shoulders to take all the weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Posture can be compromised either due to habit (eg sitting for long in front of a computer), or due to a wrongly fitted backpack. So make sure you consciously monitor your posture while you hike with your backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, some of the exercises that can help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Planks (engages your abs and glutes).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crunches (engages your abs).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leg raises (engages your abs and hamstrings).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Negatives/pull-up holds (helps your shoulders).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is to strengthen your core (mostly your abs) to allow for your body to not offload the whole weight on the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-11T09:59:38.167" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T09:59:38.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18992" CreationDate="2018-04-11T15:22:05.180" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.silvercore.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silvercore&lt;/a&gt; instructor said you should never store ammunition in an airtight or near-airtight safe, so that may be a contributing factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If ammunition detonates in a fire or some other unintended scenario it can create a sudden and intense increase in pressure. If there is nowhere for that pressure to quickly vent your safe becomes a bomb and could explosively fail at the weakest point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T15:22:05.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19005" CreationDate="2018-04-11T17:20:28.247" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @Mike's excellent answer I'd like to suggest replacing the barrel knots of the double fisherman's with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/blakes/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;blake hitches&lt;/a&gt;. If properly dressed and set this will prevent the loop from sliding back to full length when under load, whereas the double fishermans slides a lot quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T17:20:28.247" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19025" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-11T17:56:43.820" Score="12" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there backpack types/systems that would allow to both conveniently carry snowshoes and ice tools? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always find that packs with good ice tool attachment system simply have no place for snowshoes. In the scenario when you walk in crampons or micro-spikes, the only place for the snowshoes is on top of the pack blocking the access and also making your profile wide. When the rope is thrown into the mix, this makes for a logistics disaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not an uncommon scenario though and there must be a solution. Nevertheless ski-mountaineering packs for example have good attachment for skis/snowboard, but are usually too small, climbing packs have no room for snowshoes etc.. Perhaps there is a category of packs for the application or there are features that help to identify possible candidates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More details about the pack requirements:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Day-trips, not extended expeditions. Current pack Millet Axpel 42, a couple of Petzl ice tools + ice axe, MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes, 50m Petzl rope, crampon bag, ice screws. Lots of things to be kept outside the pack. Winter conditions can be very cold and windy, so have to carry a serious down jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A PROPOSED ANSWER, LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that in a climbing specific pack, the single most important &lt;strong&gt;extra feature&lt;/strong&gt; that helps carrying snowshoes, ice tools, rope etc. as described above, is &lt;strong&gt;long compression straps with reversed buckles&lt;/strong&gt;; see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.travelerted.com/2015/direttissima-50-backpack-outdry-review/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;for example&lt;/a&gt; or some &lt;a href=&quot;https://photos.app.goo.gl/t6RhDwFvn0RVlU8P2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photos I made for this purpose&lt;/a&gt;. When configured this way, the compression straps can be lengthened and wrapped around the pack to attach snowshoes, pickets and what not. To my knowledge at least two companies (Gregory and Mountain Hardwear) make packs with reversed buckles and many other do not. Not sure why and what the downside of reversed buckles is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other such features are having a side access to the pack (because the top is blocked by the rope) and two lid straps so that the lid buckle doesn't get blocked when the snowshoes are attached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15426" LastEditorUserId="15426" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T13:11:02.763" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T13:11:02.763" Title="Backpack for both ice tools and snow shoes" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="436" CreationDate="2018-04-11T19:24:46.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the best, but not the cheapest solution is to get a GPS with a hunting map overlay. These will show all sorts of things like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunting area boundaries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Public lands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Private land open to hunting (Walk-in areas)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Who owns what private land. This can be useful is you have permission from one landowner, as the map will show what land that landowner owns. It can also be useful when asking for permission.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See some of the different options &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=hunting%20gps%20map&amp;amp;oq=hunting%20gps%20map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T19:24:46.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19027" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-11T19:58:35.640" Score="3" ViewCount="403" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am taking part in a 100K event later this year, and the organizers have made available a .kml file of the route downloadable from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wyevalleychallenge.com/the-challenge/the-route&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. This is great, but I want to view this route on a UK 1:25000 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, the kind that Bing Maps presents, when you choose Ordnance Survey as your display option. As is, I can only view the route in Google Maps which lacks much of the information than an OS map provides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can compare Google Maps displaying the .kml route side-by-side with Bing Maps displaying the OS map, but is there a way of pulling the .kml file into Bing Maps? Or is this functionality available elsewhere?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15428" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-11T20:29:52.620" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T23:37:53.580" Title="How can I view a route from a .kml file overlayed on an Ordnance Survey map?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19028" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19030" CreationDate="2018-04-11T20:07:09.333" Score="5" ViewCount="914" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just recently returned from a course where we utilized a static rope to construct a top-rope anchor from a top-accessed ledge: the system was like that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11382/15427&quot;&gt;described in this answer&lt;/a&gt; - the resulting configuration of the rope being a &quot;V&quot; with an additional line running from one of the apexes turning the static configuration into an &quot;N&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual anchor legs are accomplishable via a number of means; however, when establishing the instructor tether, I am unsure of what knot is acceptable when going over the ledge and transferring to the pre-setup rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, one leg is wrapped around a tree (I climb in the Southeast) and is secured with a Bowline (not enough for a tail). The length of the rope is run down to ledge and back to another anchor point (in this case a tree), creating the &quot;V&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I've typically done is used doubled cordellete around the tree (redundancy) with an Overhand on a Bight. A locking carabiner is put through that Bight and the final leg is tied to that using a clove &lt;em&gt;hitch&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y761z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y761z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://howtoclimbharder.com/basic-safety-in-rock-climbing/basic-climbing-safety-basic-belays/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it appropriate to use the tail (on the right; as an example) of the adjustable hitch for my instructor tether? If not, how would you configure your use of the natural anchors to provide you with a tether for managing the site?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15427" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T00:29:57.820" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T17:39:50.320" Title="How to use a static rope as a tether at the anchor of a top rope climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19027" CreationDate="2018-04-11T20:29:33.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that what you are looking for is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.brock-family.org/gavin/google-earth/osmaps.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gavin Brock's Ordnance Survey Map KML Overlays for the UK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Same one found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gelib.com/ordnace-survey-maps.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.charlesclosesociety.org/KMLFILE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any of these should put an Ordnace Survey overlay into Google Earth and then you could combine that with the .kml file you already have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-11T20:29:33.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19028" CreationDate="2018-04-12T00:12:50.050" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what I have done in the past and have demonstrated for others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attach &lt;strong&gt;yourself to the tether with a Gri-Gri and tie backup knots beneath you to prevent a catastrophic failure&lt;/strong&gt; of the Gri-Gri losing its grip and you sliding all the way down the rope. Its unlikely that the Gri-Gri would fail, but you still want to tie the knots in case and as good practice. The point of tieing the knots is that if the Gri-Gri were to slip, the knots would stop you from sliding past them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a simple figure-eight on a bight or an overhand on a bight will work (make the bights good and large).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Gri-Gri makes it really easy to go up and down the rope as you need and it means you don't need to constantly adjust knots in the rope. The backup knots are really easy to tie and they shouldn't get weighted, making them easy to untie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T03:05:16.663" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T03:05:16.663" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19025" CreationDate="2018-04-12T09:22:20.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe you should search for backpacks that are specifically marketed for snow-shoeing/ backcountry skiing and check if they allow carrying ice tools as well. I haven't tested it myself, but it looks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snowshoemag.com/2010/12/26/the-osprey-kode-30-backpack-a-snowshoers-backcountry-best-friend/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Osprey Kode 30&lt;/a&gt; could be a good fit for you. Well, at least if you don't require a bigger bag. Also, the post seems a bit old, not sure if they still sell those backpacks. In any case, from my experience most of backcountry skiing backpacks do offer a possibility to attach ice tools in one way or another, but I have no idea if they are any good for carrying snow shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T12:57:40.613" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T12:57:40.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19032" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19033" CreationDate="2018-04-12T09:46:11.483" Score="45" ViewCount="12939" Body="&lt;p&gt;When buying stuff I have never cared whether a specific thing is a female or a male model. All I care about is the fit. Since I am tall, a lot of female oriented equipment, e.g. skis, wouldn't even come in my size. The clothes, on the other hand, I would usually choose from the female section, because despite them sometimes being too short, they would better fit my body shape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about the backpacks though? I believe that till now I have always had unisex/male bags. But when recently searching for a new backpack, I have noticed that the backpack section in the shop suddenly became very gendered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe there could be some useful differences in female oriented backpacks, such as the location of the chest strap. Are there any other advantages? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also noticed that those bags seem somewhat small. Is it possible that female oriented backpacks would be too small for me, a 178cm-tall person? (5'10&quot;). Should I even be considering those backpacks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T23:15:17.190" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T02:42:05.870" Title="As a tall female should I be looking at male or female backpacks?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T11:03:49.883" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked a lot with a lot of female trekkers. And I've never seen women trekkers having any problem with any unisex/male backpacks. Most of the manufacturers keep the chest straps adjustable so that one can adjust the position of those. So I would say it makes no difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since a hiking backpack is meant to distribute the weight among your chest, shoulders, core and hips, the backpack fit matters. And this would matter independent of the gender. Some have a longer torso, in which case the shoulder straps will have to be loose to allow for the hip belt to sit on the hips. For those with smaller torso, the shoulder straps will have to be tighter to allow for the hip belt to sit on the hip (I'm assuming an average person and not someone with a ridiculously small torso). The above adjustment would remain the same for both genders (this should address your too-small-for-a-tall-person concern).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel the reason for the gender based difference is mostly sales driven than comfort driven. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I'm a male who has worn the &quot;female specific&quot; backpacks as well. Made zero difference for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T11:03:49.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19034" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-12T11:21:36.270" Score="12" ViewCount="807" Body="&lt;p&gt;On some of my Himalayan treks I've seen people who wear shorts or wear single layer of clothing and shiver due to the cold weather (most of these people live in a tropical climate). When I've asked what they've been up to, the answer I've &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; received is that they are getting their bodies used to the cold weather. While I personally have felt this is foolishness (and I always end up wearing multiple layers), are these people really onto something? Does it help to help to expose yourself to the elements thereby help your body to get used to the cold weather in a short period of time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, is there a way one can prepare beforehand to get used to the cold weather? (based on  a comment, maybe take cold showers everyday?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T23:55:45.250" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:51:55.853" Title="Is it possible to acclimatize to a cold weather in a short time?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T13:09:01.150" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should buy female backpack. Women have narrow shoulders. So women's backpacks are adapted to narrower shoulders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you can buy any backpack but the quality of product consist of small improvements. You might not notice difference immediately but you will see it after longer hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T13:09:01.150" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18940" CreationDate="2018-04-12T13:58:35.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adapted from my answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15262/8443&quot;&gt;Correct breathing while bouldering&lt;/a&gt; with slight modifications for dealing with differences between bouldering (more stop-and-go, brief high intensity moves) and high inclination hiking (more steadily challenging, with longer stops when one does take a break).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In various sports and even day-to-day life, breathing techniques make a difference in performance. Generally, you want to breathe in your nose and out your mouth, and &lt;strong&gt;breathe deeply, steadily, and with your breathing muscles relaxed&lt;/strong&gt;. Deep, steady, relaxed breathing can be especially difficult during exercise. You may need to adapt your rate of breathing depending on your activity level. Nonetheless if you can breathe deeply and steadily (rhythmically) that will help maintain performance and stay relaxed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important not to hold your breath because you put a lot of strain on yourself that way, and you can injure yourself more easily. Regarding particularly strenuous movements when you really have to haul your weight around, Ben C. noted the torso tension that can naturally be produced in weight lifting by holding one's breath, but weight lifters will also train to breathe through lifts for the sake of their long-term health and performance. One way to achieve the positives of both regularly breathing + holding your breath is to &lt;strong&gt;time your motions with your exhale or inhale&lt;/strong&gt;. This is common in martial arts and yogas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can familiarize yourself with controlled breathing by practicing it with push-ups or other simple movements. Here's an example routine: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While breathing calmly and with a resting heart rate, enter push-up position &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Begin each push-up movement with an inhale or exhale. Go down with an inhale, go up with an exhale (or vice versa, up to you, or perhaps mix it up and move on inhale before noon and move on exhale after noon). Each breath begins slightly before the motion, as if the motion follows the breath / the breath leads the motion. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continue exercising this way until your breathing and heartbeat is in an excited state. At that point, relax and try to return to a resting state as soon as possible. Lay down, sit, stand, pace - whatever you need, but especially &lt;em&gt;breathe&lt;/em&gt; with your entire lungs (from chest to belly) - to return to a calm, comfortable breath and heart rate. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once you're back at a resting state, begin the practice again. As for how many times to go through this cycle, that's up to you, but I recommend you do fewer 'reps' in each session but have more frequent sessions (eg. only go through the cycle 3 times in a session, but have practice sessions many times a week). You can also mix up the exercise with push-ups one day, squats another day, a climbing activity another instance, taichi another instance, etc. &lt;em&gt;As noted, this kind of practice can be integrated into everday-day activities - something as simple as opening a door or picking up &amp;amp; putting down a bag can be an opportunity to practice synchronizing breath and movement.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This routine of controlled excitation then relaxation is used by professional athletes (and was mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4997/what-exercises-can-you-do-before-scuba-diving-to-improve-your-air-consumption&quot;&gt;a TGO.SE Q&amp;amp;A about scuba&lt;/a&gt;) as a way to  develop more control over your breath, greater lung capacity, and importantly, more relaxed breathing during times of stress and exercise. As this aids in the performance of martial artists, yoga practitioners, and olympic athletes, I think it will also aid you in climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A specific example of how this would be applied in tougher hikes&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you begin and work through the hike, maintain a rhythmic, deep breath that uses your entire lungs, from chest to belly. When you move in a way that takes extra 'umph', make sure you synchronize the movement with a strong exhale or inhale. You should do this for all movements if possible (e.g. synchronizing a set of X amount of steps with each breath) but especially for moves that take extra energy or courage. You would begin a movement with eg. inhaling - a moment after your inhale begins you would begin the movement - with the inhale and the intended movement completing around the same time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throughout the hike, try to keep steady breathing that uses your entire lungs (and accordingly, you'll need steady or smooth movements to match that). You'll find you need to keep your body more relaxed and your motions more rhythmic. The 'relaxed' part is probably the most difficult, because you may tend to tense up muscles in use and put more strain than needed on the main muscle you're using. A key to relaxing is putting minimal tension on muscles - only enough to do what needs to be done - and also working with your entire body to make efficient, balanced movements to 'distribute' muscle tension and keep you most relaxed overall. To do this, try to pay attention to your muscle use. Ask yourself, where am I tense? What muscles am I using, and which ones do I &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to use? If you find a part of your body tense that isn't actively being used, see if you can let go of the tension with an exhale, or try to move it around and loosen the muscle up a little (this can even be done while still in motion). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Posture is also very important for relaxed breathing and its benefits during hikes, and posture comes with numerous other benefits of efficient biomechanics. Even during breaks, &lt;strong&gt;posture is important so your lungs can take full and deep breaths, and so that you aren't unnecessarily straining muscles.&lt;/strong&gt; Spread out! Open up! Don't get crunched. There are various websites on ideal posture for hiking which you can Google Search, but the important takeaway is &lt;strong&gt;pay attention to your body and let your own muscles recommend the fine-tuning&lt;/strong&gt;. Again, practice it more often than not and practice it in everyday life to make it work in a time of need: Where am I putting my weight? Am I putting energy or tension into muscles I don't need to? Can I use my skeleton to provide support I'm currently getting from tense muscles? This fine-tuning will save you lots of energy and stress over the long haul.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T14:11:44.520" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T14:11:44.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T14:28:09.273" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me the first and foremost concern would be comfort and carrying capacity. Everything else is only considered after those 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently went shopping for backpacks with my girlfriend and we noticed a couple of things regarding gendered models. Mostly there where no real differences between male and female versions.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We looked at several brands and found that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pink (and other &quot;girly&quot; colors) were usually not available as color for the male model and the mottled camouflage look wasn't always available with the female models.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The size range for female models started 1 or 2 sizes lower than for males. Male versions tended to have at the top of the range 1 or 2 additional extra large models.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The default configuration of the straps was often set for narrower shoulders, wider hips and/or a lower positioned breast-strap(s) on the female models. But they all could be adjusted to fit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end my girlfriend happened to pick a male model and I ended up with a female version, just because those were the ones we felt most comfortable with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Handy tip: When trying them on in the shop put a weight (comparable to what you would carry when trekking) in the backpack to get a better feel for how the straps tug when the thing is loaded. Can be quite different from the unloaded feel. You may have to look around a bit in the shop to find something of suitable weight for the test.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A really good shop will have some sand-bags lying around for just that purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6102" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T14:28:09.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19021" CreationDate="2018-04-12T14:56:24.620" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question. As you noted the guide had native knowledge of that environment which helps a lot. In my local environment (temperature / boreal forest) I'd be decently equipped to find water in a local forest that is new to me because even if the exact area is new it is not completely &lt;em&gt;unfamiliar&lt;/em&gt;. I have a general feel of the terrain and indicators, and I have a habit of checking topogaphy maps (if not also bringing them with me) before venturing into a new area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My local environment is more like rainforest (~1m precip/yr) but what I'd look for actually overlaps a lot with the question you linked to: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1617/finding-water-in-the-dry-wilderness&quot;&gt;Finding water in the dry wilderness&lt;/a&gt; I'll zoom in on the two primary guides to water I'd refer to in a new area:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water loving plants and environmental indicators&lt;/strong&gt;. This is both large scale and small scale, for water sources large and small. &lt;strong&gt;On large scale&lt;/strong&gt;, certain trees and forest types have a tendency to grow in wetter areas, so if you can see these creatures in the landscape they may &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indicator_plant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;indicate&lt;/a&gt; where you can find water. In my neck of the woods, sparse patches of mainly evergreen forests and some of the following hardwood species indicate wet spots: Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), Black Birch (Betula nigra), Red Maple (Acer rubrum). As you wander riverside areas, what forest types do you see most often (forest type as in, 3 most common species in the area)? Are there any you &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; see &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; near wet areas? &lt;strong&gt;For small scale&lt;/strong&gt;, I'm talking about specific plants that retain lots of moisture. You really need to know these plants in advance, or &lt;em&gt;at least know what plants are toxic and indicators of local environmental quality&lt;/em&gt; so you avoid harm while exploring plants you're not sure about, and as in any case, where you get sustenance from is susceptible to environmental quality problems. In my neck of the woods I know wild grape vines can contain water and clumpy mosses can be uplifted and squeezed to drain their moisture; neither of these sources provide a lot of water, but it is good to know they're there and in areas that I see good environmental quality indicators and no bad ones (eg. no input-intensive farms nearby, various &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_quality#Environmental_indicators&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;water quality indicators&lt;/a&gt; looking good). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Topography.&lt;/strong&gt; Water flows downhill and accumulates in valleys and depressions. You can head downhill and you will eventually find water (even if it's the ocean!) A major challenge with this is reading the larger landscape and not getting stuck in local variations of the overall landscape. For example, to actually go downhill you may have to go up for a bit, or if you just follow the closest downhill path you may end up stuck in a higher area and not going in the actually easiest direction for lower elevation. &lt;strong&gt;If you have or can get a general perspective of the landscape, you are much better off!&lt;/strong&gt; Knowing the general trends of topography and where rivers span is very valuable. A topographic map and compass are precious in this case, and even if you have neither, being familiar with the overall topography is a huge asset as it tells you what general directions you can reliably go in to find important features (roads, rivers, low spots) rather than 'shooting in the dark'. If you're in the woods and have none of that familiarity, you can try to see particularly high or low areas from openings in canopy or vantage points you can find, and go from there making best guesses about topography.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major challenge in both of these cases is limited visibility due to forest thickness. In that case local topography can be hard to gauge and you really need some familiarity with overall topography trends beforehand. Otherwise you are much worse off, but still trying to use the guides already mentioned is better than wandering aimlessly in search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course, &lt;strong&gt;an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure&lt;/strong&gt;. Bringing a topography map can make this process &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; easier, and bringing enough water can make this process unnecessary. And even if you find water, you'll sure want to have at least sufficient containers (or ability to make them) if not also purification methods available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T15:07:45.113" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T15:07:45.113" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18720" CreationDate="2018-04-12T14:58:25.100" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a drysuit.  These insulate,  are far warmer than a wetsuit and are an additional source of buoyancy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two varieties,  neoprene &amp;amp; 'membrane'.  Typically neoprene is cheaper so your first drysuit is neoprene then you move on to membrane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To cut to the chase:  membrane means there's little insulation,  but there's hardly any evaporation so it's much warmer on the surface than a neoprene drysuit -- such as on a RIB motoring at speed back from a dive.  All insulation is gained by your multiple layers of underclothes.  This is great as you can change your undergarments to suit the conditions -- don't forget to adjust your weighting as you need more weight to counteract the additional buoyancy of the insulation.  Membrane also doesn't 'squeeze' so doesn't change it's buoyancy characteristics during a dive as does a wetsuit or neoprene drysuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &quot;cheat&quot; in the winter and use a (Santi) heated vest fed from a dedicated large 18AH battery through an E/O connector into the vest.  You won't be warm,  but you're certainly not shivering,  especially important if you're decompressing.  Also use drygloves with decent inner gloves,  two (or three) layers of socks and a thick hood.  Did a 100 minute dive in a 2 degree lake this winter and only boredom got me out of the water -- I had 5 layers on top: a thermal vest; thermal T-shirt; the heated vest;  a long-sleeved rash-vest;  a thick winter insulated long-sleeved top (Fourth Element Arctic Expedition).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also use the same membrane drysuit in warmer condtions;  it's great at 24 degrees with a thin layer of insulation.  In fact I regularly practice with my drysuit in a 32degree heated pool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If buying a drysuit,  make sure it's fitted with large pockets on the sides.  Also make sure the suit exhaust dump is on the side of the arm,  not the front (which some manufacturers seem to think is easier to get to,  not realising that you don't touch the valve during a dive - once you set it to wide open).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's the solution to excess hydration:  a &quot;P&quot; valve -- the second most valuable invention in diving after the demand valve!  There's nothing worse than having to cut short a dive to keep the drysuit dry inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things to consider about drysuits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There's drysuit training courses.  There's not much to learn but you &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; practice with them as there's issues with buoyancy.  The difficult bit is the top 10 metres.  It's soon mastered (tip,  leave the dump open!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most shops will throw in the drysuit course for free if you buy the suit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You don't need a 'ticket' to buy a drysuit so don't pay another dollar in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fit is everything.  Well,  after being dry!  You must be able to stretch upwards,  crouch into a ball,  stand up and reach your spine with your hand from over your shoulders (for valve shutdowns),  lay down and bend your knees at 90 degrees (the standard flat diving position);  make sure there's enough space for your thick winter undersuit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're not a standard size consider made-to-measure but make sure that &lt;em&gt;they&lt;/em&gt; measure you so if it doesn't fit,  it's their responsibility&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expensive drysuits aren't necessarily better than cheaper ones:  some brands are very overpriced&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zips: back or front.  Front's more expensive but way more convenient.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zips: plastic zips break and leak more easily than metal zips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots or socks:  I much prefer socks with separate rock boots as I can keep the muck away from my suit after walking across sand or carpark.  Socks means the suit can be turned inside out for speedy drying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Socks+rockboots stop gas migration to your feet,  so you don't get that floaty-feet feeling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy a decent bag and ensure you fold the suit up properly every time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry the suit thoroughly after every dive or it will stink (I hang mine up in the garage)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a &quot;HangAir&quot; which is a big hanger with a fan to blow air into the suit for drying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cuffs and neck seals:  neoprene is warmer and more comfortable,  but tears easily and is hard to replace.  Latex or silicone seals stretch more and and easier to don and doff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Premium suits have user-replacable neck and cuff seals (Scitec Quick Neck) (Kubi glove rings)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Membrane dries much quicker than neoprene&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inflation nipple: use a standard BCD type so you can use the same hoses (there's some other types - CENJ - which aren't compatible)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;P-valves can be easily fitted after you've bought the suit.  Once fitted they can't be easily removed (glue)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buying one second hand can be good value but be very careful about fit and leaking.  You need a guarantee from the person selling it that it won't leak and it will fit.  Be warned,  you could be throwing away a huge amount of money on a suit that leaks and doesn't fit.  If I were buying one,  I would only do this on a sale-or-return basis -- I've seen far too many friends buying teabags.  The only real way of finding out if it leaks is to do a long dive with dry underclothes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Second-hand suits are not worth much unless they're in very good condition with a guarantee/warranty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T15:42:14.020" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T15:42:14.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17170" CreationDate="2018-04-12T15:11:58.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best free outdoor range that I found was in Garden Valley. The range is free to use, however donations to the local gun club that maintains the site are encouraged. Personally I donate a few bucks every time I go, and pick up extra brass/trash as an additional contribution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is located on the side of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Garden+Valley+Range/@44.0696249,-115.9370427,1368m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sGarden+Valley+Range!3m4!1s0x54af37970fe3dfd3:0xf5270d0eeb68679f!8m2!3d44.0695602!4d-115.9363241&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Banks Lowman Rd.&lt;/a&gt; across from the airport. You can see some pictures of the range with the Google Maps link. There are essential three sections. The 50 yard and 100 yard ranges are joined. There is a separate shotgun range as well on site that I haven't used. There are covered shooting areas with plenty of benches. During peak times it can get fairly busy, but I've never had a problem getting a spot to shoot. At roughly an hour drive away the range is a bit farther than I'd prefer, but the range is nice enough and the drive pleasant enough, I don't mind driving out to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T15:11:58.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19041" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19045" CreationDate="2018-04-12T15:19:04.560" Score="8" ViewCount="1244" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people move to a new area or go hunting far from home. What standard methods and techniques should a person use to find out where they can shoot or sight in firearms?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for things to try if a basic web search fails to turn up something that fits your criteria for whatever reason. Answers involving specific web resources are acceptable, but I'm looking for more than &lt;a href=&quot;http://lmgtfy.com/?q=shooting+ranges+near+me&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lmgtfy.com&lt;/a&gt; style answers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T04:58:42.537" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T04:58:42.537" Title="How should you find out about local shooting ranges in a new area?" Tags="&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19028" CreationDate="2018-04-12T15:29:17.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems like a dangerous setup for using a static rope. If the top right anchor fails as you are weighting the instructor tether, the instructor could fall a meter or so. On a dynamic rope, this is no problem, but on a static line, this could be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is enough tail left, I would probably connect the instructor tether to the center point, leaving a little slack between the clove hitch on the top right anchor and the eight on a bight (or whatever knot floats your boat) knot that connects the instructor tether to the center point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T17:39:50.320" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T17:39:50.320" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19041" CreationDate="2018-04-12T15:48:07.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often, public versions of these ranges are also operated/regulated by the same agency that regulates hunting/fishing/game harvest in the area.  When I moved from Alaska to Michigan, I found that while Michigan only has a few public shooting ranges operated by the state (5 perhaps?, and none in my area), they do provide a listing of private shooting ranges in state on the DNR's (Department of Natural Resources) website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15435" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T16:17:45.307" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T16:17:45.307" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19034" CreationDate="2018-04-12T15:51:16.403" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;For these kinds of issues I like to look at how militaries handle it, since they are heavily invested in optimizing personnel performance in a wide range of climates and conditions. Some anecdotes from looking into that in the past, I don't have a citation for now: it is more difficult to acclimate to cold than to warm temperatures, and people adapting from warm to cold are more likely to have their immune system weakened and more health problems than people adapting from cold to warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an OK reference: &lt;a href=&quot;http://550cord.com/army-physical-fitness-training-fm-21-20/Ch12.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interactive Military Training Tools &amp;amp; Software&lt;/a&gt;  There are 3 main takeaways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Acclimation in general (for any extreme climate) is more rapid with &lt;strong&gt;moderate activity&lt;/strong&gt;. However, because your body is already strained with acclimation, I think you're better off also making sure to &lt;strong&gt;get sufficient rest, hydration, and nutrition (maybe even better than normal) to help your body handle the added stress&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&quot;Hypothermia develops when the body cannot produce heat as fast as it is losing it.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;During exercise in the cold, people usually produce enough heat to maintain normal body temperature. As they get fatigued, however, they slow down and their bodies produce less heat.&quot; For this reason I would not recommend exposing yourself to high heat loss in very cold environments (i.e. don't wear shorts and a T-shirt); &lt;strong&gt;conserve heat with smart clothing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;Frostbite is the freezing of body tissue.&lt;/strong&gt; It commonly occurs in body parts located away from the core and exposed to the cold such as the nose, ears, feet, hands, and skin.&quot; &quot;Also, people often overdress for exercise in the cold. This makes the body sweat. The sweat dampens the clothing next to the skin making it a good conductor of heat. The combination of decreased heat production and increased heat loss can cause a rapid onset of hypothermia.&quot; Again, &lt;strong&gt;smart clothing is important here for preventing loss of warmth in body tissue do to exposure to wind or moisture/sweat.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Physical acclimation&lt;/strong&gt; takes time but it can be enhanced by moderate activity and helping boost your body's ability to adapt to stress (through basics like sleep, hydration, etc.) Therefore it is probably &lt;strong&gt;not a good idea to spend the day underdressed&lt;/strong&gt; as this will only add stress and increase your risk of temperature-related injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Psychologically&lt;/strong&gt; myself and others do find short-term controlled exposure to stress can help acclimate us to stress itself. For example, exposing yourself to stressful temperatures with the intention of remaining calm during exposure, only for a short time (longer if you can remain exercising and not fatigued) before incurring any injury. This helps the mind acclimate to stress, but the body still needs time to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acclimatization#Humans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;physically acclimate&lt;/a&gt; to extreme temperatures, adjusting metabolism and other features. If you do 'stress test' yourself regularly with extreme temperatures, this may have physical effects on your ability (including time needed) to acclimate to extreme climates (a la Whim Hoff), but I'm not aware of any rigorous evidence of that. Keep in mind, in general, being more physically fit reduces the time you need to physical acclimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For short expeditions&lt;/strong&gt;, psychological acclimation may be more important than physical acclimation. Still, during the expedition, it doesn't make sense to sacrifice too much physical capacity just to gain more mental capacity when you will be putting your body through a lot of physical stress already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-04-15T10:32:21.293" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T10:32:21.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19041" CreationDate="2018-04-12T16:24:04.527" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often times it makes sense to ask the locals by asking at gun shops or outdoor gear shops like for example Sportsman's Warehouse or Cabela's. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other good resource would be the managers of public land in the area, sometimes the BLM or Forest service will have designated areas and sometimes areas will be closed to shooting during certain times of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also seen in Nevada where towns will have a designated free public shooting range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are basically looking for is a place with,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good backstop to keep the bullets from going way past the target&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Out of the wind to make it easier to sight in .&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decently flat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not in an area where people/animals are likely to wander between you and the target. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T16:24:04.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T16:48:51.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find it funny that no answers so far have covered the biggest difference in the female torso. Namely, breasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rucksack shoulder straps designed for the male body are always either straight or have a simple curve, following the relatively flat shape of the male body.  They're designed for a flattish chest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rucksacks targeted at women (assuming they're proper rucksacks and not some fashion statement) have a definite cutout around the breasts.  The padding on the straps starts in a similar place on the top of the shoulders, but then curves further outwards round the shoulders before coming back in again below the breasts.  This is very easy to see when you place men's and women's rucksacks against each other.  If you have relatively small breasts, you may well be fine with a man's rucksack.  If you have relatively large breasts though, you will definitely notice the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back length used to be an issue for women's rucksacks.  With even midrange packs having adjustable backs now though, this has pretty much stopped being a problem. Some manufacturers still have fixed-length backs, but there are enough good adjustable-back packs that there is no real problem finding something to fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T16:52:57.057" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T16:52:57.057" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19034" CreationDate="2018-04-12T17:12:52.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 12 years ago, I moved from Britain to Finland, just in time for one of the coldest Februaries on record for Helsinki.  Most days were -20°C, with some at -25°C, once the moderating influence of the nearby Baltic Sea was removed by it freezing over (which it does most years).  Finnish offices and homes are fantastically well insulated and heated, but I still had to go outside to travel between them, to shop, and to explore the city.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had, however, planned ahead sufficiently to bring appropriate winter clothing - not quite of Arctic standard, but much warmer than you'd normally wear in Britain (unless hiking in the Highlands during winter, perhaps).  That meant a fleece jacket under a weatherproof one, long-johns under my trousers, double socks and gloves, and a turtleneck scarf which overlapped a woolly hat over my ears.  I already habitually wore soft, waterproof hiking boots, and continued to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, my employer entertained visitors from a customer - who also happened to be from Britain - that month, and they were much less well prepared.  They wore standard urban winter clothing for the southern half of England, which has a considerably milder climate than Helsinki.  That meant a weatherproof jacket, a woolly hat, and a pair of gloves - that's all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My employer ended up having to guide them to a local clothing shop to supplement their equipment, since they were &lt;em&gt;absolutely miserable&lt;/em&gt; every time we went outside, despite their hotel being only a few hundred yards away.  Meanwhile, I was entirely comfortable in my slightly-overkill choice of clothing, even though it was fully 15-20 degrees colder than weather I'd previously considered &quot;wintry&quot;, and I'd had less than a month to acclimatise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By contrast, on the few occasions when I've visited a &lt;em&gt;warm&lt;/em&gt; country, I've found myself overheating very easily, despite wearing as little as I felt was compatible with modesty and avoiding sunburn.  For that reason among others, I don't go south for my holidays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my advice is: &lt;strong&gt;it's easier to adapt to a cold climate than a hot one.&lt;/strong&gt;  If you feel cold, just put on more clothes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T17:12:52.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T18:31:51.033" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For your case, I would say, you should look at both male and female backpacks (as well as any unisex models). Your health, well-being and comfort should be your primary concern. And as you mentioned, your personal circumstances put you slightly farther away from the statistical median. So it is quite possible that either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1.) A good female backpack design could be adapted for large breasts and spare you any hassle on long treks. Breasts are delicate organs and being extra vigilant (or just too picky) by looking into as many backpack options as you can, is harmless at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2.) If you however find out that a backpack designed for a male chest is comfortable enough and given its larger capacity (or any other perceived benefit over female models) is to your liking, then you should go ahead with that one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a personal note, and from my experience, I would like to use this opportunity and suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(A.) If at all possible, try walking for 10 minutes with the chosen backpack loaded with some weight similar to your usual &quot;payload&quot;. (e.g. borrow from a fellow hiker)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(B.) Do not go for big (&quot;male&quot;) capacity, just because you can. Your knees will thank you, in long run, on trekking sessions longer than 3 ~ 4 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(C.) Some &quot;girly&quot; and, generally speaking, very bright colours can improve your visibility in case of a rescue operation or wildlife encounters. This point may sound laughable in Western or Central Europe, but in Bulgaria, where I come from, few people get lost every year, to a level that a rescue operation is required. Also Bulgaria and Romania still have natural presence of European brown bear in the wild, albeit very small and (regrettably) diminishing in Bulgaria. So although the chance to encounter &quot;dangerous&quot; fauna close to trekking routes is very small, it is not zero. And it is a good idea for humans to appear more visible to the wildlife (not to stumble upon animals by surprise).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15439" LastEditorUserId="15439" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T12:07:05.287" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T12:07:05.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19049" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-12T18:39:25.903" Score="20" ViewCount="6986" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had a few &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-browed_bulbul&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;white browed bulbuls&lt;/a&gt; visit us recently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of them seemed to have a peculiar interest in the chillies that grew in one of our pots (I believe these are bird's eye chillies [no pun intended]. They are really hot). I wasn't able to see if it was actually eating up the chillies, but for sure it was tearing them down from the plant. Do birds eat chillies? Do they feel the same heat as we do? (obviously there's no direct way of knowing, but any scientific study done on this?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GBWy6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GBWy6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Eyeing the chilli?&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kt2xI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kt2xI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Plucking a chilli&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T19:06:28.013" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T01:33:53.083" Title="Do birds eat chillies? Do they feel the chilli heat?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5391" CreationDate="2018-04-12T18:44:54.563" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Might help if you were more elaborate with &quot;trekking&quot;, &quot;fast-paced&quot;, and &quot;away from food&quot;.  You didn't even mention terrain, experience, group or individual, seasons, etc.  That could be anything from a large day pack to a full loaded backpack, depending on what you really have in mind, how much experience you have, the terrain, etc.  Most people carry food while backpacking (everyone should), and it's a bad practice to head out with less than you'll need, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To the backpacks.  No, I would never recommend someone buy a backpack based on &quot;comfort&quot;, and I and my family have bought 16+ backpacks and done dozens of backpacking trips over the past 30 years.  What you find &quot;comfortable&quot; in the store may turn out to injure you in the field or fall apart on you.  When you first put on a pair of sandals, they'll be pretty comfortable, but you shouldn't go backpacking in them.  A good pair of boots won't be nearly as comfortable in the store, and may need break-in before you actually want to wear them much, but they're a much better choice for backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A backpack first has to be fit for purpose (which is why you need to define those terms some more), second has to fit you and be fitted to you, third has to be durable/fixable enough to get through the trip, and then has to be something you like and can afford.  I'd recommend nailing down what kind of trip you're really planning, after talking to people experienced in that kind of trip, then go to a good reputable shop, tell them what you're doing, and see what they recommend.  If you can, go to multiple stores.  Lookup what the manufacturers recommend for what you're doing.  Then choose your pack.  If at all possible, have it fitted to you in the store by someone who knows what they're doing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15440" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T18:44:54.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19049" CreationDate="2018-04-12T19:06:03.413" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Yes they eat them, No they don't feel the heat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tiny Bird’s Eye Chili originated in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines, and surrounding countries, but they can now be found all over the world. &lt;strong&gt;They are presumably called Bird’s Eye Chili because of their small round shape and because they have been spread by birds, which are not affected by the heat of the peppers.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/medium-hot-chili-peppers/bird-s-eye-chili-peppers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chili peppers produce the pungent vanilloid compound capsaicin, which offers protection from predatory mammals. &lt;strong&gt;Birds are indifferent to the pain-producing effects of capsaicin and therefore serve as vectors for seed dispersal.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the present study, we describe the cloning of an avian vanilloid receptor ortholog from chicken sensory neurons. While functioning as a polymodal integrator for noxious stimuli, the avian channel fails to be activated by capsaicin, thereby providing a molecular explanation for insensitivity of birds to “hot” chili peppers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867402006372&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Molecular Basis for Species-Specific Sensitivity to “Hot” Chili Peppers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have shown that the plants use their natural heat as a chemical weapon to selectively deter hungry predators who are poor at spreading seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Birds, who scatter seeds far afield in their droppings, appear to be immune to the fiery flavour of chilli.&lt;/strong&gt; But mammals, who are less efficient at spreading the plant's seeds, find the taste unbearable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To find out whether it was the burning sensation that deterred the mammals, cactus mice, packrats and curve-billed thrashers were captured and, in laboratory tests, offered three types of fruit - wild chillies, a mutant chilli similar in appearance to the wild variety but lacking the capsaicin punch, and hackberries, a cherry-like fruit found in the wild in Arizona.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rats and mice ate the berries and non pungent chillies, but ignored the wild chillies. In contrast, the birds ate all the fruits and were not put off by the capsaicin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1335366/Why-birds-find-chilli-peppers-so-cool.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why birds find chilli peppers so cool&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like its a good thing that birds don't feel the heat, because the birds will eat the peppers and then spread the seeds to other places. Its also cool to note that hotness serves as a deterrent mammals who presumably are not as good at spreading the seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T14:23:21.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T19:20:14.783" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having worked in the industry for over 10 years, I can give the following insight. A persons' height is not the deciding factor but rather their hip to shoulder back measurement. You can be a tall person with long limbs but short torso for example. Any good outdoor show should be able to assist you. I am 6' 3&quot; for example with a long back, I use Extended Length back packs for my frame. I have friends the same height as me that find they can use a pack designated for a woman that fits perfectly. Get fit for your pack by a professional that can give you tips and education in latest innovations within the industry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15442" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T19:40:40.710" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T19:40:40.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18581" CreationDate="2018-04-12T20:03:50.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to illustrate this question with some detail on particular types of ship or boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The classic image of the Age of Sail is a tall ship with three masts, each festooned with square sails hanging from yard-arms.  This &quot;full ship rig&quot; was used on vessels as small as HMS Bounty, up to comparatively vast line-of-battle ships, galleons, and the famous tea-clippers of the mid 19th century.  It provides the maximum sail area for a given height of mast, along with some flexibility for trimming and manoeuvring the ship with the aid of the wind.  As long as the wind is in a favourable direction (run or reach), a square-rigged ship can outrun any other sail type, all else being equal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as other commentary notes, the square sail is very bad for sailing &lt;em&gt;into&lt;/em&gt; the wind.  The reason for this is the lateral stays, which run either side of the mast to help keep it upright, but physically limit the angle to which the yards can be braced round.  &lt;strong&gt;This is the origin of the term &quot;close hauled&quot;; the lee braces would be hauled as tight as possible in order to get every last quarter-point of upwind course.&lt;/strong&gt;  Even with this, many ships made so much leeway that their actual course through the water was roughly perpendicular to the wind, especially in bad weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: full-rigged ships did have a number of jibs, staysails, and a fore-and-aft &quot;spanker&quot; on the mizzen (rearmost) mast.  These could be hauled much closer in than the square sails, but were insufficient in total area to make the ship sail upwind by themselves.  They were provided mostly for trimming the ship and aiding turns; backing the jibs was essential for completing a &quot;tack&quot; while the square sails were blown back against the masts!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a great deal of trade planning and naval tactics of the time relied on travelling with the wind, rather than against it.  Rounding Cape Horn in the &quot;wrong&quot; direction was extremely difficult, though a well-handled naval frigate could do so with reasonable confidence in a suitable season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As trade patterns changed though the late 19th and early 20th centuries (due largely to the introduction of steamships), sailing ships often changed rigs to include fewer square sails and more fore-and-aft sails, resulting in large ships carrying barquentine, brigantine and even schooner rigs.  Schooner rig refers to any case where the main sails on all masts are fore-and-aft, there is more than one mast, and the foremast is not taller than the other(s); there were schooner-rigged ships with as many as six or seven masts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This had two important advantages for such ships: first, they could now sail closer to the wind and therefore had more flexibility in choosing trade routes; and second, fore-and-aft sails could be handled by fewer men, saving money and thus helping to keep the ship profitable.  The downside was that they were no longer quite as fast when sailing downwind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smaller ships and boats began using fore-and-aft rigs much earlier, because their duties were not compatible with sailing down the reliable trade-winds or even waiting for the wind to change in their favour, hence efficiently sailing upwind was very important.  Since I actually have experience sailing these (principally a rather worn-out Mirror dinghy), I can describe what happens when sailing close-hauled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The description in Wikipedia of &quot;as close to the wind as allows the sail(s) to generate maximum lift&quot; is technically correct, but possibly misleading.  Many boats are fitted with tell-tales on the sail to indicate when they are correctly trimmed and producing maximum lift; when sailing upwind, a common technique is to steer by these tell-tales (with the sheet hauled in tight) instead of trimming the sail by them as usual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What must be remembered is that with the sail almost parallel to the boat's axis (as is usually possible with a fore-and-aft rig), the lift it produces &lt;strong&gt;is mostly sideways&lt;/strong&gt; and only slightly forwards.  That strong sideways force must be countered by the crew hanging off the weather gunwale to keep the boat upright, and by the keel or centreboard resisting any tendency to drift to leeward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the fact that the boat is moving forwards shifts the apparent wind direction forwards, so you are technically sailing even closer-hauled than your heading relative to the true wind would suggest.  This is a large part of the reason why you lose speed when trying to point higher - but you can often take advantage of a gust, which will tend to move the apparent wind back towards the true direction, by pointing higher during it.  This requires quick reflexes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The age and condition of the sail also matters; canvas tends to stretch over time, spoiling the sail's intended shape and making it less efficient.  Our Mirror's sail had seen significant use when we bought the boat (the numbers had all fallen off due to the glue being contaminated with sand), and we never replaced it, so it must have been quite distorted.  We also had no tell-tales, but it was quite noticeable that one part of the sail would start to invert before the rest when we tried to &quot;pinch&quot; too much, and it was possible to steer by that.  We certainly wouldn't have won any races in that boat, even against other Mirrors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many newer and more sophisticated boats have sails made of Terylene - yes, the same material used in the waterproof layer of reusable nappies.  The main advantage, I understand, is that it doesn't stretch as much as canvas, so holds its shape better.  They are easily identifiable by the loud bang the sail makes when it fills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An interesting variation on upwind technique is seen with traditional Norfolk wherries, of which only a few are still in sailing condition.  These boats are specialised for carrying cargoes up and down the narrow rivers of the Norfolk Broads region - without the aid of horses and towpaths, and while dodging other river traffic to boot.  I was privileged to ride on one under sail some twenty years ago, and it made quite an impression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBsFYttx48M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The wherry is characterised by a very large and tall gaff sail&lt;/a&gt; to reach the undisturbed air above the surrounding vegetation, and in that video you can see how narrow most of the rivers it has to sail down are.  Most of the time, it is possible to simply sail down the river while trimming the sail to suit, but occasionally the wind blows directly down a river reach, and then it is necessary to tack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In such a narrow river, conventional tacking would see the wherry spending most of its time changing course.  What they do &lt;em&gt;instead&lt;/em&gt; is to tack across the river one way, building up speed in the process, then point the boat directly up the river and use the momentum gained.  A few seconds later, they'll tack across the other way, making use of a huge rudder to maintain precise control, and repeat the process.  Carefully timing these manoeuvres is also required to pass other traffic safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15392" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T20:03:50.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19055" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-12T21:02:07.707" Score="3" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in USA and I am looking for &quot;high end&quot; ($100 or more) telescopic fishing rods for surf/beach fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specs I need are :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;- 12 ft (or more), &#xA;- Lure weight up to 8oz/250 grams (or more), &#xA;- Extra Floating guides (if possible) &#xA;- Action is &quot;medium-heavy&quot;.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Online or physical shops in USA generally don't sell such rods. For Ex., Cabela's sells a low-end one for $20. Bass Pro shops does not sell any. Amazon USA sells some from Daiwa, but they are a bit short of my specs. Moreover, they cost about $200 &amp;amp; most of the cost is due to overseas shipping. Thus, in most cases you essentially get a 50-100$ rod for about $200. I'd like to spend more on a better quality rod &amp;amp; less on shipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for rods from brands like DAM (Germany), Daiwa (Japan), Tubertini (Italy) etc. but could not find any dealers which sell them in USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any American or international dealers who can ship them to USA at &quot;reasonable&quot; prices ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15445" LastEditorUserId="15445" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T18:03:00.857" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T18:03:00.857" Title="Where in USA can I buy high end telescopic surf rods for fishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-12T21:24:01.477" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Try them on&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like you are asking this question because you are buying a backpack online. In that case, I would suggest two things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you don't backpack much, or if you don't backpack with much weight, just buy whatever pack looks nice and is cheap; it will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you do backpack much, especially with heavy weights, then your pack choice is very important and you need to try it on. Make sure you bring ~30 lbs (or whatever weight you are likely to be carrying) to put in the pack at the store to see roughly how comfortable it is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the main comfort related difference between male and female packs would be two-fold: shoulder width and accommodation for the breasts. Shoulder width is one of the most important aspects of pack usage; you need the pack to rest on the meaty part of the shoulder, but not too close to the neck. This is where you could get in trouble if you are a tall, but thin, woman. Pack straps too far to the outside will seriously stress your shoulders after a couple hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the only way to tell if the shoulder straps are just right (and that your breasts are properly respected by the straps) is to try it on. So go to a store and see how it feels!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15446" LastEditorUserId="15446" LastEditDate="2018-04-12T23:45:05.333" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T23:45:05.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19027" CreationDate="2018-04-12T23:37:53.580" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can convert to GPX eith with Chris h's suggestion above or &lt;a href=&quot;http://gpx2kml.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://gpx2kml.com/&lt;/a&gt; will convert Kml to gpx and back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I really like Viewranger, is a great phone app that will allow you to have GPS navigation with your route overlayed onto an OS map. I'm guessing that you're after a more desktop approach though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3554" LastActivityDate="2018-04-12T23:37:53.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19041" CreationDate="2018-04-13T00:49:16.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could visit your local police department and ask if they can recommend a public range. This is somewhat more likely to get you a range that caters to handguns than rifles, but it's worth a try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3458" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T00:49:16.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19034" CreationDate="2018-04-13T02:34:35.607" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roald Amundsen, the arctic explorer, would stand by his open window without a shirt from the time he was 11 or 12.  Myth or fact?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal experience, living in a climate with big changes between summer and winter:  The first cold days of winter seem bitter.  At -10C I would have toque, mitts, polypro, windbraker.  By winter's end this was mild, and I'd think nothing of going to get a sled of wood (100 m each way) in t-shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either the Swiss or the Scandinavians did some research where they paid college students to sleep on a wooden deck above a glacier in fall with just a sheet. Temps were in the single digits by morning.  My recollection of the report was that no-one got much sleep the first night or two.  By night 3, their metabolism had ramped up enough that they were comfortable -- well as much as you can be sleeping on a wood deck.  Can't find it now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guys who work in the commercial winter ice fishery on Lake Winnipeg, have hands constantly wet from handling the nets and the fish.  Yes they wear gloves, but that's mostly for grip, (fish are slippery)  and to slow the heat loss some.  But they put their hands &lt;em&gt;IN&lt;/em&gt; the water to warm them up, and to melt the ice that forms on/in the gloves.  So zero degree water is considered warm to the wind and sub freezing temps in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  People who spent the first two years of their lives in hot climates tend to develop more sweat glands than do people in chilly climates.  Sweat glands never completely shut down, so to some degree they never adapt as well.  For reverse reasons, polar folk don't do well in humid tropical climates.  I'm appalled at even the thought of a Toronto summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, yes I think being shivering cold does adapt you to a colder regime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  At near freezing temperatures humidity has a big effect.  Fog seems much colder than clear air, which feels somewhat colder than dry air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind is critical.  Even a light breeze has a very large effect.  Wind chill calculations don't do justice to that first 5 kph.  A good wind parka is more significant in my experience than a good fleece in staying comfortable, expecially if you are engaged in aerobic activity.  E.g.  A wind parka over polypro underwear is sufficient, where two fleeces is not when snowshoeing across rolling hills in central Alberta at -20 C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sun is critical.  The presence/absence of sun is equivalent to about 10 C in terms of how I dress for working outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-09-14T13:44:17.030" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T13:44:17.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19032" CreationDate="2018-04-13T02:42:17.657" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I worked with a girls high school for a while.  We used standard Serratus packs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As another answer pointed out, the critical dimension is the distance from the shoulder to the hip bones.  Girls at the school ranged from about 80 pounds to about 160; from ones that could play Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, to Brunehilde in Die Walküre   We had to keep small packs in stock for girls that were short torsoed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many packs now have a means where you can choose where the shoulder straps attach to the body of the pack,  usually by unthreading the Y and running a main support strap under more or fewer bands on the pack. While a PITA to do, this made it possible to fit the pack properly to the kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-04-15T02:42:05.870" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T02:42:05.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19025" CreationDate="2018-04-13T02:48:23.733" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look for a pack where the ice axe is on the side of the back.  Strapping snowshoes to the back of a pack is fairly trivial:  usually I rig a loop at the bottom of the pack about 4&quot; in diameter.  Run the tails of the shoes through the loop, and a bungie cord areound the body of the pack hooking into the toes.  (I'm using Ojibway style wood and babiche snowshoes)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If using the current metal tubing style, instead of a loop at the bottom just use a short lanyard with a mini-biner on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used to run cross country team orienteering.  Everyone had to have snowshoes, but you didn't have to wear them.  Depending on the day, snowshoes would be taken off/put on 6-8 times a day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T02:48:23.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19063" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-13T17:25:03.640" Score="6" ViewCount="104" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many beaches where I want to do surf fishing (from shore) are almost flat for many feet into the sea. Some of the beaches have a steep slope into the sea. I hope to catch striped bass, perch or anything else other than sharks and stingrays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I thought of getting waders to increase my casting range. With waders, I could walk a few feet into the shallow water and cast further into the sea at low or high tide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a good idea to use waders to increase casting range ? Instead of that, should I get a very long ( say 14 feet +) rod to cast further ? Should I get both long rod and waders ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15445" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T11:29:21.527" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T11:29:21.527" Title="Beach fishing - Should I get waders or long rod to cast further into the sea?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11014" CreationDate="2018-04-13T17:25:38.287" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm reiterating and expanding on highlights from other answers and adding a cautionary anecdote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, as noted in a comment, please confirm with local environmental protection agencies if you are permitted to enter these bogs. Regardless of their answer, know that these are inherently quite sensitive environments and your wading will disturb them. Will they bounce back? Certainly possible. Will whatever chemicals you inevitably introduce to them alter the ecosystem? Undoubtedly to some extent. How much / does it matter? Thus why I say ask the local agency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now regarding these areas being sensitive, that is part of their beauty (and their danger...we'll get into that in next paragraph), and for that reason I highly recommend Erik's advice about using a canoe to explore these areas. I read the comments there and recognize how canoeing could seem like a less intimate experience than wading around. However, as noted there, you can take the best of both worlds: canoe to explore a broader area, and park it on shore to wade around in shallower, safer spots you want to get more up close to. The added benefit of canoeing, as Erik noted, is it will cause less disturbance. You can cover quite a bit of ground, or simply float in place, and will not be making much noise or disturbing the water, soils, and various creatures. You will feel much more intimately connected to the place when it is in its usual state and not all turbulent, mucked up, and quieted down out of fear from disturbance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding disturbance and actually wading in northern bogs: Chris and Russel gave good advice about bringing a long sturdy stick, being prepared to drop any heavy items from you, and prepping your bag to float. Know what threatening creatures might live there; in that neck of the woods it's probably not much, but moose can be serious and you will be like a fish in a barrel if one wants to attack while you're wading. Not likely, but tragically possible. The main danger to you I want to emphasize is how &quot;quicksand&quot; like these bogs can be, and I speak from personal experience working in these areas. What appears as land is often thick mats of mossy material, perched on roots or floating. You can, and almost certainly will eventually, find your foot going through the mat and into the water below it. That hazard, and the hazard of muck (on shore and under water) getting your feet stuck, is exacerbated by the fact that struggling can make it harder to get unstuck. Worse yet, in some places bog muck can be deep enough for you to sink into mud so low that your head is no longer above water; that muck is like deep water but with such thick sediment that you can't easily move through or extract yourself from it. You can loose your other footing, and wiggling or trying to push free you can accidentally deepen and compact the hold the muck has on you. To escape the worst of that kind of situation, you'd need, as I once did, a rope to pull you out of it from above the surface while your legs remain relaxed. When I experienced that in muck on a surface near a bog (not even wading in water at the time!), I was rescued by a colleague and rope after calmly-then-not-calmly struggling to get myself out of the muck for a few minutes, and when being pulled out by rope I actually had to detach one of my hip-high waders and retrieve it after since it was stuck. Not all bog grounds are that bad, but they can be deceiving. Keep that kind of situation in mind as a possibility when you consider wading or even walking around in these areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that aside, these are hauntingly beautiful places. I recommend canoeing again because it's simply a much more relaxing way to experience the serene environment. I do like bushwhacking and swamps make for great bushwhacking. When I do so I try to stay out of the water and take slow, careful steps, and try to be calmly prepared for the ground or tree I'm relying on to give out. That said, it can be a wonderful experience. I hope you enjoy, safely for you and the swamp creatures!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T17:25:38.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19034" CreationDate="2018-04-13T18:01:52.807" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will depend a lot on the individual. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people may be able to acclimatize quickly, others will not. In parts of Western Canada the temperature is regularly +30°C in the Summer and -30°C in the winter, so the people here have to adapt to both extremes every year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How effectively you adapt to the climate often depends on your upbringing. Your body learns to adapt to its environment pretty well while it's developing, so kids raised in an environment will have a much easier time adapting to that environment than an adult who moves from one environment to another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be possible for some people to train their bodies to adapt to a colder environment at a quicker rate, but in my opinion freezing your butt off in shorts to adapt to the cold quicker is less about adaptation and more about relativity. A classic example is the kid who complains about the house being cold. Their tough-love daddy sends them outside in the freezing cold for a few minutes, then when they come inside the house suddenly feels a lot warmer than it did before they went outside. Your friend might think he's adapting to the cold, but really he's just freezing himself to the point that when he puts his good layers on they feel way warmer than he remembers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to help control your body temperature is to watch the number of calories you consume. Food is like fuel on the fire, if you're cold, eat more, if you're too hot, don't eat as much; your body will allocate the calories appropriately. I eat way more in the winter than I do in the summer. There's lots of times in the summer where I won't eat at all because it's too hot, but this may be because my body has adapted to converting a lot of calories into body heat in the winter times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a cold climate dweller, and an ice climber, I don't try to fight the cold, I defend against it, if I'm cold, I dress up or eat something and move around to warm up. No one I know indulges in any kind of &quot;exposure&quot; or &quot;temperature&quot; training foolishness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T19:16:36.910" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T19:16:36.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19055" CreationDate="2018-04-13T18:36:04.750" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a very specific answer but I can share that I've noticed friends who are big on (fly) fishing purchasing direct-from-maker for high end or specialized equipment, whether domestically or internationally. They find an example of what they're looking for and reach out to the source to see where it came from and if one can be ordered, and go from there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you been able to find any examples online of what you're looking for, better yet with any contact info whatsoever associated with it? That's probably the place to start from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:36:04.750" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19067" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19068" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" Score="0" Body="Questions about animal tracks or tracking animals" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" LastActivityDate="2018-04-13T18:43:51.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19063" CreationDate="2018-04-13T23:59:13.970" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has been a while since I actually did fishing on a beach, but when I do, it is always with someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We usually get there early enough so we can get some bait for fishing (sea worms from under the rocks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For getting your line farther out into the ocean, you could go with either suggestion you mentioned. I could suggest getting a longer rod, as you  would have better balance and movement than going into the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless, I would like to throw out a third possibility to you. If you are fishing with a friend, get him to hold onto your rod  as he points it in the direction you would like to cast, keeping the bail open while you &lt;strong&gt;throw the line out by hand&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What? Throwing the line out by hand!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the slack part of you line and place yourself several meters away from your companion and start circling the end of your line over your head with the weights and baits. As the speed of your line turns faster, you should be able to detect an increasing buzzing sound around you. When the speed of your &quot;lasso&quot; is at its maximum, simply let it go in the direction you would like your line to travel in. Believe me this little trick will get your line much further out than any 14 foot rod. It works wonders. On occasion, I have done this without a friend, by simply placing my rod handle into a holder which I anchored into the sand. However I find that a friend holding your rod works better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ldZ2U.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ldZ2U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lasso&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cast your line out like a cowboy uses his lasso!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your distance will be amazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T11:28:22.020" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T11:28:22.020" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19072" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-14T20:02:52.770" Score="3" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a telescopic surf fishing rod of about 14 feet length &amp;amp; lure weight up to 250grams/8oz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it better if a telescopic surf rod has less segments or does it not matter ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.waveinn.com/nautical-fishing/tubertini-blaster-telesurf/1326660/p&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;14ft, 4 segments &amp;amp; 6 guides&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;This one is &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01A13ZKYQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;14 ft, 7 segments &amp;amp; 6 guides -&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;This one (from an obscure USA company) is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ticaamerica.com/index.php?option=com_k2&amp;amp;view=item&amp;amp;layout=item&amp;amp;id=30&amp;amp;Itemid=267&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;14ft, 4 segments, 5 guides&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15445" LastEditorUserId="15445" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T04:56:43.387" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T04:56:43.387" Title="Telescopic surf fishing rods - Are less segments better?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19072" CreationDate="2018-04-14T20:14:02.887" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like most things its a tradeoff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More segments,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smaller collapsible size,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More eyelets to run the string through&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be more expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fewer segments,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fewer parts to break&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fewer weak joints&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know for sure that more segments in a fly fishing rod make for a better one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T23:57:45.923" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T23:57:45.923" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14505" CreationDate="2018-04-14T23:21:08.503" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently witnessed something I’ve never seen before, so I asked the same question, and my search brought me here. I live in Minnesota, and we have a medium size pond at the back of our property that provides a home to geese and ducks in the spring and summer. We just got hit by a freak blizzard, and 30-degree temps, which started causing the pond to re-freeze. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From observing the 20 plus Canadian geese, and several ducks, &lt;strong&gt;it clearly appears there is some sort of “team effort” to create open water channels in the thin ice to prevent freezeover.&lt;/strong&gt; The geese and ducks continue to travel the same path to keep the channels they create open. This is most likely to keep open access to food, but it is being done with purpose. Very entertaining, and remarkable to see!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LcS3m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15457" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-14T23:58:21.713" LastActivityDate="2018-04-14T23:58:21.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19014" CreationDate="2018-04-15T02:49:16.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wash the eyelets with soap and water (tooth brush) follow with a solution of TSP. (tri-sodium phosphate)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let dry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apply zinc chromate primer with small brush or Q-tip (cotton swap on a stick)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 coats of Water based polyurethane varnish.  Renew every 30 days of wearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Use care with the ZnCr2O5 paint -- it's BRIGHT yellow, and errors in application will look, well, odd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zinc chromate is a general purpose metal primer.  Chromium is highly toxic (as bad as lead) so it's harder to find.  It isn't not strong.  It acts as a binder chemically bonding to metal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failing this, mix up a batch of epoxy.  Thin with a drop or two acetone, and carefully coat the cleaned metal with that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, next pair of boots get ones with plastic eyelets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T16:13:58.307" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T16:13:58.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19008" CreationDate="2018-04-15T02:58:26.913" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Backaches are part of life with backpacking until you have a pile of experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Causes&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Compression.  You are carrying more load than you are used too.  This squeezes your vertebrae together.  This usually isn't the cause unless you are older, or you are carrying excessive loads.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Twist combined with compression.  The usual cause.  Back is very strong if you keep it in a straight line (for a somewhat odd value of straight)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're adding a load to your back.  This tends to pull your shoulders back, and arch your back in the opposite direction you are used too.  Your abdominal muscles compensate -- or try to.  If they succeed, you have sore abs, but no sore back.  If they fail you have really sore abs and a sore back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fixing it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work on your abs.  Situps, crunches, oblique crunches.  Two weeks is pretty marginal.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear your pack with a facsimile of your load for the trip.  Try getting out for an hour a day.  2-3 hours on weekends.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear the shoes you will wear on the trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Practice walking as if with a stick up your butt. This will reduce the twisting that happens on your back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Preventing it:&#xA;Google 'making my pack lighter'   If you can shave 10 lbs off your pack, you will enjoy your trip a lot more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-04-15T02:58:26.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19077" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-15T16:19:51.987" Score="5" ViewCount="150" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know whether it is mandatory to have a guide for the Milam Glacier trek in Uttarakhand, India? What about permits?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15460" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T08:17:41.413" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T09:16:28.267" Title="Do I have to have a guide for the Milam Glacier trek in India?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;permits&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19078" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-15T22:14:44.597" Score="4" ViewCount="4752" Body="&lt;p&gt;DEET is very toxic to dogs. How can I use DEET-based sprays and not poison my dogs? (my dogs often lick me, and they can get poisoned)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T20:03:13.397" Title="How to use DEET bug sprays if I have dogs?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19078" CreationDate="2018-04-15T23:24:20.210" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would spray the DEET on your clothes in places where the dogs won't lick, such as the top of a hat. I would also suggest trying to avoid using DEET by wearing long pants and sleeves to avoid the number of mosquitos trying to bite you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also worth pointing out that since this is a known problem, people have developed mosquito repellents that are designed to be safe for use around dogs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cats are a different story entirely and sometimes dog safe doesn't mean cat safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/keep-insects-off-your-dog-safely&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; and this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/articles/protect-pets-mosquito-bites&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth listing the symptoms of DEET poisoning,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Vomiting &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Diarrhea &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Redness of eyes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Face irritation &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Drooling &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Red and inflamed skin &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Inflammation of the stomach &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Burning eyes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wagwalking.com/condition/deet-toxicity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET Toxicity in Dogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T02:22:53.917" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T02:22:53.917" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19077" CreationDate="2018-04-16T05:20:41.727" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Milam glacier falls under the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanda_Devi_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve&lt;/a&gt; limits. In case you want to enter a national park limits, you will need a permit from the forest department. Additionally, since parts of NDBR fall under the protected areas act, you'll need a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.immihelp.com/nri/protected-restricted-area-permit-india.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;protected areas permit&lt;/a&gt; to enter the Milam glacier section. The PAP can be obtained from the MHA, Dehradun. The other option is to &lt;a href=&quot;http://forest.uk.gov.in/contactus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;contact&lt;/a&gt; the forest department of Uttrakhand and see if you can get the permit from some other source. Ideally only a PAP should cover both the protected areas permit and the forest department permit. If not, you'll have to additionally get the forest permit from Joshimath or Dehradun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the national parks in India mandate a guide as this would prevent the tourists/trekkers from wandering off the set trails. I do not see why this would be any different in NDBR (Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve) as this is a UNESCO world heritage site. Most of the guides for the NDBR are located in Joshimath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option is to directly contact a trekking agency in Joshimath and allow them to arrange for both the guides and the permit for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, please note that the national park is open only between May and October. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T05:47:24.120" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T05:47:24.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19077" CreationDate="2018-04-16T09:16:28.267" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did this trek in 2012 on a guided tour organized by IndiaHikes. There was a large flood in 2013 in Uttarakhand which, from what I've heard, affected the trek significantly and made it harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to your question, a few pointers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The trek itself was relatively easy back in 2012. If I was more familiar with trekking in India, I might have done it without any guides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The basecamp for the trek was at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Munsyari,+Uttarakhand+262554/@30.0634849,80.2381324,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x39a6dc8d1ea9276d:0x5748adfabe56734!8m2!3d30.0715174!4d80.2373401&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Munisiyari&lt;/a&gt;. We took the &lt;a href=&quot;https://indiarailinfo.com/train/-train-new-delhi-kathgodam-shatabdi-express-12040/17134/664/951&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shatabdi train from New Delhi to Kathgodam&lt;/a&gt; railway station. Leaves at 6:00 and arrives at 11:40. From Kathgodam, we stayed a day at Nainital (cabs are available right outside the station. 1.5 hrs approx. to Nainital).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We took a cab from Nainital to Munisyari which was nearly a 8 hour, gruelling ride (~265km). There are also buses from Nainital to Munisyari which are cheaper though uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We stayed at &lt;a href=&quot;http://hotelpandeylodge.com/trip-spots/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pandey Lodge&lt;/a&gt; which is quite popular among both local and foreign tourists. You don't have a lot of other options, really. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The actual trek is about 14 days if you want to go all the way to the glacier head. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need permission to reach the glacier. Our tour guide had already arranged them so it wasn't a problem. However, I've read a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.enewsdesk.in/2017/04/28/milam-glacier-trek-closed/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; that tourists are currently being denied permissions because of damaged tracks, though the accuracy of the news source seems dubious. You'll probably have a better idea if you call the hotels in Munisiyari.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether you can do it on your own, I would ask: how familiar are you with India in general and Uttarakhand in particular? You need permission to enter the glacier head in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. From my experience of dealing with Indian bureaucracy, it can be hard to navigate unless you're familiar with India.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15466" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T09:16:28.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19083" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19084" CreationDate="2018-04-16T10:52:34.823" Score="8" ViewCount="4068" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently watching the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBS0v29rACQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;IFSC world cup&lt;/a&gt; held in Meiringen. One of the interesting observations that came across (made by the commentators) in the semis was that the routes were much easier for a shorter climber than the taller ones. And in the finals, the routes for the women turned out to be much easier than the ones set for men. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is there a standard followed when it comes to international sports competitions regarding the routes set? Are there minimum difficulty levels that need to be matched by the route setters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T12:47:14.313" Title="What is the minimum grade of the routes set in the IFSC world cups?" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;route-setting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19083" CreationDate="2018-04-16T11:57:28.747" Score="9" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Regarding Grading&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's a very common question for people new to competition climbing. Route setting for competition is in general quite different than for &quot;regular&quot; gym routes. Route setters at comps have several, sometimes conflicting requirements, which also vary depending on the round (quali, semi, finals):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Create spread&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Nothing more unnerving than having competitors tied and needing to resort to previous round to resolve the ranking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;New and diverse problem types&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You don't want to do problems that the competitors do every day and you need to have difficulties for all kinds of body types to prevent an advantage for one. Often at comps special holds or such that aren't yet commercially available are used.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spectacle&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You have a live audience to capture and on a bigger scale, promote the sport. It is especially important in finals, that's why often finals are a bit easier and potential more straight forward than quali/semi. In an ideal final, all these points are fulfilled  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Suspense: The winner is decided on the last boulder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tops: Every problem is topped at least once to showcase every move.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Circus: A great climbing problem isn't necessarily great to watch. That's part of why you see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBS0v29rACQ&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=7679&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;huge dynamic moves&lt;/a&gt;, 360° campussing, ...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this means that there can't be any strict rules. There is a big team of route setters at work and to try and fulfill all of the above points (and probably more I am not aware of/didn't think about now). Their routes also aren't set in stone: They obviously set their routes in advance, but they adapt routes in between rounds to adjust them to how the competitors are performing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also modern style (well it's true for a while) competition bouldering is focussed on big volumes. Sure there is always a slab in there, but you see almost no steep, crimpy, teeth grinding boulders. That's partly for spectacle and setting uncommon problems, partly to prevent finger injuries. Meaning they are hard to compare to &quot;normal&quot; boulders. You probably expierenced that in a gym too: Big unconventional routes don't necessarily fit in your personal route ranking, because they might not suit you. That's generally true, but much more so in those kind of routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is no such thing as a minimal grade in comps. Setting comp routes is an experience base art and a kind of &quot;shadow-competition&quot;, trying to get the perfect set of routes to the wall to cater the competitors and watchers needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note about lead&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most points also apply there, but as there is just one route and one attempt per competitor, it's even harder to set right. And it's even more obvious that you can't grade them, as they usually start of significantly easier than they end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Regarding standards&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not aware of either a written standard (at wold / IFSC level) or a fixed course syllabus to become a route setter. As far as I am aware, it still works in the usual way for emerging sports: You start off locally, get experience, get to know relevant people, get the knack of it and have fun. Then you start setting local competitions and show your prowess, get to know more people, go national and by that time it's just a question of whether you are willing to keep up the probably huge work effort to keep setting at that level. If you do, you're name will probably pop up as chief route-setter at a world cup eventually.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yes I am aware - that was really &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; helpful ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T12:47:14.313" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T12:47:14.313" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19034" CreationDate="2018-04-16T14:24:38.787" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Research has established that humans adapt well to heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adaption to cold is a more controversial topic, but according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861193/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this literature survey&lt;/a&gt; any benefit from cold training is small and unreliable, varying from individual to individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wouldn't bother making the attempt - focus on developing an effective clothing system instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T22:40:37.660" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T22:40:37.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19087" CreationDate="2018-04-16T14:52:34.963" Score="8" ViewCount="582" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any gender-specific climbing (or other) harnesses? For example a chest harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T14:58:28.640" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:40:05.080" Title="Are there gender-specific climbing harnesses?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19086" CreationDate="2018-04-16T14:58:13.887" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, men and womens climbing harnesses are different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A number of styles are specifically designed for a women’s physique, with unique fit and comfort characteristics built in. Be aware that a men’s version of a harness will not fit the same as a women’s version. Women–specific aspects include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shaped waistbelt.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Increased rise.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reduction in the leg–to–waist ratio.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/climbing-harness.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;REI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Women generally tend to have &lt;strong&gt;smaller, higher waists than their male counterparts, but larger hips and thighs, plus women’s hips usually sit at a different angle to men’s.&lt;/strong&gt; Female-specific harnesses take all these things into account, and sometimes they look a bit more girly, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Consequently, women’s harnesses tend to have a bigger distance between the waist belt and the leg loops than men’s harnesses, which allows them to sit comfortably around the waist, rather than the hips. A harness that fits properly around the waist means you’re less likely to be flipped upside down if you fall; women have a lower centre of gravity than men so generally, if your waist belt is higher the more balanced you’ll be when you’re hanging from the rock – just don’t go too high or you’ll be flipping head-first instead!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epictv.com/article/who-needs-women%E2%80%99s-specific-harness-anyway&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Who Needs A Women’s Specific Harness, Anyway?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For many women, men's harnesses work just fine. However, women's climbing harnesses address a few anatomical differences between the sexes. Women with smaller waists and bigger thighs may need a harness designed with these proportions in mind. Also, women with longer rises (the measurements between the crotch and waist) might do well with a women-specific harness because the leg loops are designed to be farther away from the waistbelt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierratradingpost.com/black-diamond-equipment-iris-rock-climbing-harness-for-women~p~78057/questions/221677~what-is-the-difference-between-mens-and-womens-harnesses/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sierra Trading Post&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing not mentioned in any of the above is that in some situations like long snow routes where you can't unrope, an alpine harness makes it easier for females to pee because they can undue the leg straps and leave the waist buckle completed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, they do make unisex climbing harnesses which are basically just buckles and straps as those will fit climbers of either gender.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T15:03:23.253" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T15:03:23.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19088" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19106" CreationDate="2018-04-16T15:00:46.773" Score="17" ViewCount="4498" Body="&lt;p&gt;After rappelling near waterfalls, or during the rain,&#xA;the harness often becomes wet and hard to remove -- particularly for inexperienced people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I instruct someone in how to remove the harness,&#xA;without touching them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard people, in particular women participants,&#xA;(reasonably) complain about their personal space and about bodily contact,&#xA;when someone else has removed their harness for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T16:29:05.380" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T16:29:05.380" Title="How to instruct someone how to take off a climbing harness?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19088" CreationDate="2018-04-16T15:07:50.123" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;Been there, done that, it's far more worrisome when you have to show them how to put the harness on and then have them test that it's tight enough. And like &lt;strong&gt;you said, you really don't want to touch them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple solutions is to &lt;strong&gt;show them how you take your harness off, and have them mirror your actions and go through the steps slowly.&lt;/strong&gt; I will point to what they need to do, or if they have someone else with them, who they are more comfortable with like a sibling or parent, have them assist the person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-18T01:39:40.120" LastActivityDate="2018-04-18T01:39:40.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19088" CreationDate="2018-04-16T15:19:37.040" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would take more time but when they are dry at the top have them remove the harness on their own for practice. Tell them when they get to the bottom they should remove the harness when given the signal to do so.  If they need help an instructor is also at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="1934" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T21:35:02.613" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T21:35:02.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19078" CreationDate="2018-04-16T16:26:13.557" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick search found this on a vet site: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Picaridin is another common active ingredient in insect repellents&#xA;  made for people. Though it appears to have a wide margin of safety&#xA;  when used on dogs, there are no products specifically licensed for use&#xA;  on dogs that I am currently aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/keep-insects-off-your-dog-safely&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/keep-insects-off-your-dog-safely&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you love your DEET, mix it with bitter apple, sold in pet stores to discourage chewing.  This will reduce the amount your dog gets from licking you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essential oils (Mint, rosemary, lemon...) are also skin irritants to dogs, and they are only somewhat effective on people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it feels gross, one thing that works is lard.  The mosquitos will continue to do touch and go landings, but won't bite.  Works well on flies too.  Any long staying greasy material will work.  Warning:  Some (Nivea is one) make sunburn worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I talked to a guy who was working on the Limestone Point power line up the east side of Lake Winnipeg.  Bugs were awful.  And Manitoba is hot in summer.  So the guys wanted to work without shirts.  Slathered themselves with motor oil.  All the bugs did Touch and Go landings except the no-see-ums.  They'd land and stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T20:03:13.397" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T20:03:13.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18949" CreationDate="2018-04-16T16:33:18.313" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Treat them respectfully, but there's no reason to be afraid of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excerpt from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kayakguide.com/Kayk-Alligators.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.kayakguide.com/Kayk-Alligators.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I Feel Safer Paddling by Alligators than Driving&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing most of my paddling in Florida, I've encountered hundreds of alligators of all sizes on the water. And the bottom line is that I've had many more close calls driving than I've had paddling around alligators or &amp;quot;gators&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crocodiles are a different situation altogether. They can be much more aggressive than their alligator cousins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:46:16.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19093" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:28:22.193" Score="6" ViewCount="562" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a light gore-tex jacket. The pocket zip has detached from shell. The jacket is not ripped. Does anyone know how to &quot;repair&quot; it? Are there agencies in US who can do it for me? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15471" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T14:25:45.463" LastActivityDate="2020-11-23T01:55:29.820" Title="How to repair a jacket whose pocket zip has detached from shell?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19086" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:40:05.080" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From a male friend I heard that a wrongly designed or wrongly adjusted harness did hurt his private parts when it came under stress the first time.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In this case not permanent because he was wise enough to test the harness while still on the ground, but as he is likely to abseil it could have happened when he was committed on the way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He also told us about working in a harness for a whole shift, somewhere in the middle of an abseil inside a narrow part of a building, no way to get out for the breaks. In that case you will want the best fit and extra attention on comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So not all males can use all harnesses, they have to be adjusted right for the person and the job the harness has to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:40:05.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19096" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:44:25.233" Score="4" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of the dinosaur tracks that people find in the outdoors, there are &lt;strong&gt;two main types, true tracks and natural casts&lt;/strong&gt; (there are also undertracks and infills but these are  harder to see).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the difference between these two types of dinosaur tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-24T15:57:43.350" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T15:57:43.350" Title="What is the difference between a dinosaur true track and a natural cast?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;dinosaurs&gt;&lt;fossil-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19095" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:44:25.233" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easy way to think of this is that &lt;strong&gt;tracks left in concrete sidewalks are true tracks&lt;/strong&gt; while pouring &lt;strong&gt;plaster of paris into animals tracks left in mud would results in a cast.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the dinosaur tracks were made in materials that turned to stone and were then preserved as true tracks, and sometimes the tracks were made in soft materials and then filled in with other materials that turned to stone and the only the cast is preserved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard diagram explaining this is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0k8TZl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0k8TZl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Diagram of  true dinosaur tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://paleo.cc/paluxy/ovrdino.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further reading I would suggest these resources,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://paleo.cc/paluxy/ovrdino.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An Overview of Dinosaur Tracking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://allanmccollum.net/allanmcnyc/reprints/natural_casts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural Casts of Dinosaur Tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/science/trackways/trackways2.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fossil footprints through geologic time&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nhm.uio.no/english/research/projects/dinotracks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dinosaur tracks&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/zion/learn/nature/fossil-footprints.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Footprints to Fossils&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the track in my other &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16972/what-species-of-dinosaur-made-these-3-toed-6-inch-long-tracks&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; is a natural cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T17:50:24.530" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:50:24.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19097" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19098" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" Score="0" Body="Questions about dinosaurs" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T17:51:25.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1317" CreationDate="2018-04-16T18:20:46.383" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hockey players have the same problem and will use specialized products, but many find rubbing the lens (inside and out) with shampoo works just as well and is much less expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15472" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-04-16T18:27:06.793" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T18:27:06.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19100" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19205" CreationDate="2018-04-16T19:18:49.430" Score="5" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of bird identification app or books or websites, is there anything similar for dinosaur tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get that identifying dinosaur tracks is hard, if I remember correctly there are only three known sets of T-Rex tracks in the world, and it looks like many tracks are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eubrontes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;unidentified&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still it would be cool if there were resources for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-24T15:57:31.160" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T14:51:51.303" Title="Are there resources for identifying dinosaur tracks?" Tags="&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;dinosaurs&gt;&lt;fossil-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19088" CreationDate="2018-04-16T20:33:22.270" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not really about instructing people how to take the harness off, but rather about respecting the personal space of clients. I suggest having an instructor demonstrate the steps to take off the harness when the harness is put on and again when the client is about to remove the harness. This requires having a spare harness, but just like on the airplane, the instructor probably does not need to be wearing the harness and instead only needs to show the steps. After demonstrating how to remove the harness, the instructor can then tell clients that if they are having problems, they can ask for help from either a friend or the instructor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the instructor is asked to help, he should explain the steps again and where he is going to touch the individual and then confirm that the client is okay with that. For sit harnesses, the touching should be limited to the waist as most harnesses allow people to step out of the leg loops without loosening them. For chest harnesses, there may be a buckle at the sternum strap, but most I have seen have either a carabiner or a rope, neither of which should involve physical contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-04-16T20:33:22.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19102" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19105" CreationDate="2018-04-17T01:33:27.493" Score="82" ViewCount="26900" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it actually useful to ration food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between eating a little bit of food at an interval and eating enough to be full at once? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm getting the same amount of calories/nutrition** regardless of when I consume it, so who cares? Why not just eat whenever you're hungry to the point of satiety?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that an overly-simplistic view?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** &lt;em&gt;I suppose there could be a difference in the percentage of nutrients absorbed. If I get too much of a nutrient, perhaps my body will excrete it, so, in that case, it's better to consume it periodically when your body needs it.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scenario is being stranded somewhere not knowing when rescue will come - so generally no activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15475" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T18:16:34.813" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T19:37:32.233" Title="Is it actually useful to ration food?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-17T02:26:25.923" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is that yes it does make sense to ration, see the stories of the men who &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;survived the Essex&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mutiny on the Bounty&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://nypost.com/2014/10/11/how-the-chilean-miners-men-survived-for-69-days-beneath-the-earths-surface/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chilean Miners&lt;/a&gt; or many countries during wartime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a mathematic point of view, one rations when does not have enough food for the timeframe between now and a resupply. If you eat enough to be full all the time, you will run out of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When one is backpacking, one wants to make sure that there will be enough food to finish the trip and while that may not mean eating less than needed, you do want to keep an eye on how much is left to make sure you don't run out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my experience backpacking with fewer calories than needed, there are some tricks to make it easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's easier to sleep on an empty belly than to hike on one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eating your food reduces the weight you carry and will speed you up so don't stop eating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can make sense to speed up the pace, you are going to burn calories regardless of what you do, and getting back to the trailhead in less time reduces the number of calories required.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer here is that if it didn't work, I don't think it would have been used to such an extent historically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T02:26:25.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-17T03:51:19.093" Score="102" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several reasons why I think rationing is useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Morale&lt;/strong&gt; - If you eat all your food on the first day you won't have anything to look forward to. If you eat a little bit twice a day you can look forward to your next morsel instead of regretting eating all your food. Meals become a break in the monotony and something pleasant you know will be coming. Being able to focus on your next &quot;treat&quot; might be the thing that keeps you from total despair. Also if nothing else it gives you something to do for a few minutes every day...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forcing Efficiency&lt;/strong&gt; - Sure you will put the same amount of calories into your mouth regardless, but your body may not extract the same amount of calories. Unlike water the human body has long term storage capabilities for food/energy. By reducing your calorie intake you force the body to burn those energy reserves, and maximize utilization of the calories you consume. Furthermore this signals to the body that it should hoard its food reserves and seek to maximize the calories it extracts from food.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comfort&lt;/strong&gt; - You can become accustomed to living moderately to mildly calorie deficient. The hunger is always there but it is easy to push it to the background. When you literally don't have anything to feed your body this is much harder. That's why people who truly don't have any food resort to desperate measures like eating &lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080130-AP-haiti-eatin.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dirt cookies&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thrive vs Survive&lt;/strong&gt; - The amount of calories you need to survive is less than the calories you need to thrive. Sure there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/usda_food_patterns/EstimatedCalorieNeedsPerDayTable.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;generic calorie intake recommendations&lt;/a&gt;. This is the recommendation for people to thrive. To meet basic survival needs you need less calories than what you'd need to thrive in the same circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not Everything Is Stored&lt;/strong&gt; - Read (and up-vote) the two other answers that mention water soluble nutrients and proteins. There are some vital substances that your body has no effective way to store. You need to keep consuming them, even in small quantities, to survive since that is the only way to keep them in your body.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accountability&lt;/strong&gt; - People are great at rationalizing things. If you ration your food you won't end up sliding down that slippery slope where you eat &quot;just one more wafer thin mint&quot; until you run out of food. By having an explicit plan in place you know that you can eat X food per day. Think of this like credit cards. No one forces you to overspend but the temptation is there and clearly a significant number of people succumb to that temptation. Now imagine you're sitting in a cave, hungry with nothing to occupy your time. What are the chances hunger and boredom are going to cause you to rationalize a reason to eat just a little bit more if there is no accountability. The accountability aspect is even more crucial when you're part of a group. This is why setting explicit rations is better than soft metrics like &quot;eat when hungry but not too much.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have any official sources to back this up, but I have some experience rationing food. My cousin and I spent several months cycling around Europe with little money and consequently not much food. By the end of the trip I had lost significant weight, but overall the trip was quite enjoyable. It is interesting though when I reflect on my memories food has an unusually strong imprint. Meals that would have been unmemorable normally are seared in my memory. I'm sure that is due to the constant and inescapable hunger. I think if we hadn't rationed, the trip either would have been much shorter, or more driven by hunger during our fasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T15:33:07.730" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T15:33:07.730" CommentCount="18" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19088" CreationDate="2018-04-17T08:04:53.213" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have anything to add for the specific requirement of removing ones harness, the live-demonstration/mirroring recommendations in other answers should do just fine. I want to address a slightly more general point:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...] without touching them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should become blatantly clear from what follows (and shouldn't be a debatable point anyway), but to be safe: If anyone does not want to get touched, you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However &lt;strong&gt;invading the personal space of your climbing partner is not optional&lt;/strong&gt;. Before climbing you always do a proper partner check and that involves checking manually that biners are locked, harness sits tight, ... That's even true for top-roping. If we are talking about leading (high first bolts) or bouldering, the need for touch becomes even more blatant due to spotting. If the climbers hip gets above your shoulder height, the point of initial contact in case of a fall is the hip. Is this potentially awkward? Sure. Is it better than falling directly on your tailbone from ~2m? I think so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important point is to &lt;strong&gt;explain early and clearly why and in what situation&lt;/strong&gt; it is necessary to touch or get into the others personal space. It needs to be abundantly clear that it is a safety necessity. Then &lt;strong&gt;ask individually when the situation comes up&lt;/strong&gt;. The consequence is, that if someone legitimately feels uncomfortable about it, you either need to get someone else to do the partner check, or in case of spotting, you just can't do the climb. In general if you can't bear your belayer to touch your harness and hold your behind/back/... in case of a fall while spotting, you might want to rethink whether you want those persons to belay you - they do hold your live in their hands when doing that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T08:28:27.027" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T08:28:27.027" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-17T14:07:03.003" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many nutrients that your body cannot store, or not in decent extra amounts.  Water, salt, potassium, vitamin C, etc.  You will rapidly excrete these, and then greatly feel the lack of them when you are fasting for days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can to some extent gorge yourself on macronutrients (fat, carbs, protein) because these will be stored as body fat fairly efficiently.  However, if you are planning to be functional during your famine, it is no good being overfed for a couple of days then weak with hunger for several more.  You can reduce your energy consumption quite considerably from ad libitum levels without feeling unwell.  Why do we feel weak when we still have fat stores to draw on?  Because it takes time to get into ketosis to fully access those stores, and the process wastes some energy, and in times of famine we have evolved to feel tired so as not to waste energy dancing or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15484" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T14:07:03.003" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-17T14:31:01.003" Score="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from the previously mentioned micronutrients, your body doesn’t really store protein in any significant way, so in order to ‘repair’ your body you need a relatively constant stream of protein (or rather, amino-acids). Nothing bad happens if you fast for a short while, but it does mean you will obtain amino acids from breaking down your own muscle which will cause issues in the long run. If you would eat all your food at once, you would likely not even use all of the protein for repair but rather convert it to energy (fat). And that is if you could even digest all of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, you can also not store essential fatty acids other than in your stomach after eating. Again, nothing bad happens immediately if you run out but over longer periods it can affect many things such as hormone levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is that your body can only effectively use its own fat reserves if it has some food to initiate the process (that’s the dumbed down version, you can read more on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle?wprov=sfti1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle?wprov=sfti1&lt;/a&gt;)&#xA;If you don’t have food then using your own fat reserves also means breaking down your muscles to initiate the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All good reasons to ration food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T14:40:32.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T14:40:32.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-17T15:44:17.900" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I've always understood to be the rationale, and doesn't seem to be directly addressed with the other answers, is that the human body adjusts its metabolism to its resources. If you gorge on all your food, you're signalling to your body that there's plenty of food. If you eat only a little bit a day, you signal to your body that it should go into starvation mode. This means not only burning fat reserves as noted in other answers, but also reducing metabolism (note that this means that keeping warm is an important part of survival). This is especially useful in cases like the Chilean miners; there was very little activity they could do to help their rescue. Survival came down simply to staying alive long enough for others to get to them. In a case like that, signalling to your body that minimizing calorie use should be prioritized way above remaining strong and active is going to help your survival chances. On the other hand, if you're in a situation where strenuous physical activity is needed to survive, but you don't have much food, you're in a double bind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14641" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T15:44:17.900" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19100" CreationDate="2018-04-17T16:59:51.740" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are there resources for identifying dinosaur tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dinosaur tracks are called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trace fossils&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Trace fossils are classified in various ways for different purposes. Traces can be classified taxonomically (by morphology), ethologically (by behavior), and toponomically, that is, according to their relationship to the surrounding sedimentary layers. Except in the rare cases where the original maker of a trace fossil can be identified with confidence, phylogenetic classification of trace fossils is an unreasonable proposition. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil_classification&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two Wikipedia articles linked above, make for interesting reading, but the short answer to your question is, no there is no resource categorizing them, as in most cases there is no evidence indicating what animal actually left the prints. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study of dinosaur tracks is included in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichnology&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paleoichnology&lt;/a&gt; which covers all the trace fossil types.  It would seem the best reference would be an Ichnology text book, I googled around and did not find anything was freely available and looked like it would work as a reference.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few dinosaur tracks that are identifiable. There are even some parks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley/dino-tracks&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dinosaur Valley State Park&lt;/a&gt; where a few types of tracks can be viewed, with very clear references for a very limited number of species. I do not believe these qualify as &quot;resource&quot; as the OP seems be looking for more of a field guide for identifying tracks (&lt;em&gt;Trace Fossils&lt;/em&gt;) found in non-developed areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-04-18T12:43:07.397" LastActivityDate="2018-04-18T12:43:07.397" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19111" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19112" CreationDate="2018-04-17T19:59:03.603" Score="6" ViewCount="258" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love free climbing but have never climbed with ropes. While reading through &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1384/what-does-it-mean-to-cross-load-a-carabiner&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, I realized I would never have thought of these scenarios, but due to the answers on that post, the physics in question makes sense. But this left me with a question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How would one achieve a triaxial connection if loading a carabiner in this way is dangerous?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-18T00:12:00.830" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T21:18:29.117" Title="What's the proper way to establish a triaxial connection with carabiners?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19111" CreationDate="2018-04-17T20:53:08.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want one point and multiple things to connect to it, then what you do is create a master point with rope or cordellete and attach your carabiners to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually the master point is a a overhand knot on a bight and the carabiners attach to the loop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That looks like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KF5TI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KF5TI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mountain_climbing_equipment_in_Mirabad_-_Nishapur_01.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the other situation mentioned in the linked question where the sling goes around the tree, one would use a longer sling to go around the tree and then hook a carabiner to just one loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T20:53:08.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1961" CreationDate="2018-04-17T21:34:14.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we dive here in Florida, we often want to know which direction the current is going.  The track of your boat doesn’t help much because it is caused by a combination of wind and current. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To isolate the effect of the current, try tie in one end of a string to a float and the other to a lightly weighted object.  &lt;strong&gt;If there is current the object will lean in the direction of the current.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The float, however, must have a low profile so that the wind pressure on it is minimized (e.g. a piece of flat styrofoam) then the direction that the object leans on the string will be due primarily to the direction of the current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15488" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-17T21:38:03.680" LastActivityDate="2018-04-17T21:38:03.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19088" CreationDate="2018-04-18T10:36:15.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you see them struggling ask for permission to help before touching. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While helping try and maintain a professional distance away. There is a big difference between getting up close and personal to fiddle with the buckles and doing it at 3/4 armlengths away. When handling the buckles around the waist and legs you can squat down which is less invading than bending over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you need to check the harnesses limit the actual touching to the tie off points on it. Emphasize in advance why it is important that the harness is checked properly, maybe with a bit of a horror story of what could happen if it's not properly fitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15492" LastActivityDate="2018-04-18T10:36:15.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16143" CreationDate="2018-04-18T12:01:55.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to use GPS signals that would give you the desired accuracy.&#xA;You can use either DGPS or a SBAS (WAAS in the US) for an accuracy of meters.&#xA;For a centimeter level accuracy you would need an RTK o PPP device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt you can get the desired accuracy in less than two minutes since the startup of the device unless you have a data connection to obtain the GPS almanac (I guess you could use a satellite Internet service).&#xA;Once the device has located the GPS satellites, it should be pretty fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a farm setting a SBAS system is usually the most cost-effective option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2718" LastActivityDate="2018-04-18T12:01:55.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19049" CreationDate="2018-04-18T21:53:32.867" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Parrot food ( some brands) contains dried hot peppers. And I give the cores from hot peppers to the parrots ; they love the seeds. Peppers do not seem to burn their lips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2018-04-18T21:53:32.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19118" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-19T06:14:19.973" Score="2" ViewCount="1030" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountain lions are rarely seen by humans, but their tracks can be much easier to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one find and identify mountain lion tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T00:07:47.190" Title="How to find and identify mountain lion tracks?" Tags="&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19118" CreationDate="2018-04-19T06:14:19.973" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;easiest time to find them is just after a fresh snowfall&lt;/strong&gt;. Optimum conditions are enough snow for the tracks to be clearly visible without preventing one from driving back roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way people and especially hunters will find tracks is to drive the back roads in the morning just after a fresh snow &lt;strong&gt;looking for tracks crossing the road where they are most visible.&lt;/strong&gt; One wants to get up early and be the first one on the road since car tracks make it difficult to find them and it gets much harder once the snow starts melting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible but much harder to find them in the dirt or dried mud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to distinguish between mountain lion and dog tracks (which look similar) is that &lt;strong&gt;mountain lions can walk with their claws retracted, dogs cannot&lt;/strong&gt;. Full grown mountain lion tracks are also &lt;strong&gt;larger than dog tracks&lt;/strong&gt; and cat tracks are generally &lt;strong&gt;wider&lt;/strong&gt; than dog tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will also sometimes also see &lt;strong&gt;tail drag marks&lt;/strong&gt; where their tail brushes the snow. Bigger mountain lions will have bigger distances between tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture of a mountain lion track, note the &lt;strong&gt;absence of claw mark&lt;/strong&gt;s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJvtJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJvtJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cougar_track.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For further reading on this subject,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canine vs. Feline Tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bear-tracker.com/cougar.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.naturetracking.com/mountain-lion-tracks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Lion Tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mountainlion.org/CAL_ch4.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar: The American Lion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T06:14:19.973" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19120" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-19T07:08:05.653" Score="3" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some background:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in the western part of state of Maharashtra, India. The city of Pune is located on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccan_Plateau&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deccan Plateau&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Deccan plateau itself is huge. The western section of the plateau has a vertical drops of ranging from about 900 to 1800 ft. for about 1600 km. This section is what known to world as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ghats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Western Ghats&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, there are trails from villages located on Deccan plateau to the lower  places, popularly called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konkan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kokan&lt;/a&gt;. &#xA;In Maharashtra there are 250+ such routes that are documented, and about 100+ which aren't documented. Before the development age, some of these were used for trade and commute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My observation:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;What I have observed is due to lack of development in economy almost 75% of villagers still frequent these routes down the mountain, be it for trade, or be it for travelling. The road transport is there, but these foot-trails are still the shorter (and free, of course) way of commute. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point is, these routes are not limited to trekking/hiking only!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Are there such routes in the part of the world where you live? I agree that those route may not be used for trade these days, but do people use these routes for commuting by foot? I don't want to consider such paths that are converted into motor-able highways/freeways/roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-06-22T10:56:13.487" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T10:56:13.487" Title="Are trades routes and/or mountain routes still used?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2018-04-19T13:11:03.403" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1317" CreationDate="2018-04-19T07:38:15.057" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A small travel-size shaving foam (not gel), is an inexpensive alternative to relatively pricey anti-fogging treatments. Single towels can be found in car wash vending machines for about $1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nz9Xj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nz9Xj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Towel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQrrx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VQrrx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;foam&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apply small amount of foam inside and outside of lens. Using a soft, lint-free towel and using a circular motion, fully cover all exposed lens area with foam and then  wipe clean. Do not touch the lens with your fingers. Skin oil will breakdown protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can carry these items with you for reapplication when necessary. I cut the towel in half, and tuck the foam and towel into an inside pocket of my jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T07:38:15.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19122" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-19T08:39:14.600" Score="6" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently planning to bare shaft tune a bow. The problem is that I don't have a cutting machine for arrows. These are rather expensive and so it doesn't quite make sense to obtain one for private use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be a reliable way to cut arrow shafts at home? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit: talking about high performance carbon arrow shafts here. ;)&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T06:08:05.310" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T06:08:05.310" Title="How to cut an arrow shaft" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-04-19T12:50:50.080" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;One aspect not discussed much in other responses is that the body actually has a fairly limited capability to process food at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your gut is a conveyor belt that never stops, not a production line where it does each step properly before allowing it to move on. If too much comes through, you can't process all of it before it passes out of you again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I eat all the food I need for a week in one sitting, most of it will pass through me only partially digested and critically, won't be edible afterwards, effectively wasting the vast majority of its value. (I'll also probably throw up, but that's pretty much the same result)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An extreme example of course. But to a degree, eating smaller volumes of food at intervals will digest more efficiently simply because your stomach acids and digestive tract have less to deal with and can devote more 'attention' to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you need to stretch your efficiency, you waste food if you eat more than you can properly digest at a time, so consuming less in each sitting will allow you to make better use of each meal and so stretch your reserves for longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15504" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T12:50:50.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19125" CreationDate="2018-04-19T15:31:44.800" Score="3" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/19118/3076&quot;&gt;this question about how to identify mountain lion tracks&lt;/a&gt; just now, and noticed the remark at the end of the accepted answer about the lack of claw marks. I am a cat owner, so the lack of claw marks makes sense. But that led me to wonder: &lt;strong&gt;what animals would have a track that is similar in size and shape to a mountain lion such that the absence or presence of claw marks would be the most notable distinguishing feature?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-25T22:14:34.673" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T22:14:34.673" Title="What animals have paw prints similar to a mountain lion such that the absence or presence of claw marks are the most reliable distinguishing feature?" Tags="&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19124" CreationDate="2018-04-19T15:40:08.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is members of the dog family of animals as they are the other type of animals with paws that a similar in size&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wolves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;coyotes (have to be a really big coyote or very small mountain lion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;domestic dogs (the bigger varieties i.e not Chihuahuas)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A full grown mountain lion will leave bigger tracks than those of any of the animals listed above but not all mountain lions are full grown. Also, tracks in snow get bigger when they melt, and so a dog track may look bigger than it really is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear tracks are widely different from both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T04:11:47.020" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T04:11:47.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19118" CreationDate="2018-04-19T16:46:44.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For assistance in identifying them, I've added some photos that I took.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture I took recently of a mountain lion track on a log that crossed a stream.  The knife is 4.2&quot; long, so the paws are about 4.2&quot; wide, which is typical of an adult cougar.  The larger paw was planted first followed by the smaller paw imprinted over it.  Notice no claw marks and the two indentations at the bottom of the pad.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sg8k1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sg8k1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another mountain lion print I found last fall, in a different part of the nearby mountains.  No claws, the print is asymmetrical, there are two indentations visible on the bottom, and it is roughly 4&quot; wide.  This was alongside a stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gKGqv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gKGqv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14654" LastEditorUserId="14654" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T00:07:47.190" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T00:07:47.190" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8269" CreationDate="2018-04-19T17:59:56.313" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often go solo backpacking in mountain lion country.  I've had an encounter with one before.  It was night and it was lurking around about 50 feet from my campsite.  I noticed it after turning on my headlamp and looking around.  It must have been curious.  I scared it off by growling and yelling at it.  Earlier that evening I think I scared it, as I startled some kind of large non-deer animal near the trail.  It may have followed me to my camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take precautions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I carry several weapons with me.  I live in an open-carry state, and&#xA;also I bring an aluminum ice-axe and large fixed-blade knife and&#xA;whistle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring your dog if you can&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit with your back to a large tree&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleep in a tent, this will reduce likelihood of an attack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be wary when bending over or kneeling, such as when cooking or pitching tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be alert of your surroundings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;stay alert, don't over do it on the whisky LOL&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wear a headlamp and occasionally use it - mountain lions have golden eyeshine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They like to hunt around zone boundaries, such as where a meadow meets a forest or where they can overlook a stream zone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are somewhat rare, and very reclusive and afraid of man.  Chances are you are safe alone.  DO NOT RUN from them.  Stand your ground and yell.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14654" LastEditorUserId="14654" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T15:20:34.713" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T15:20:34.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19122" CreationDate="2018-04-19T18:28:16.310" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on how handy you are you can build your own simple jig for very little money. There are several YouTube videos that explain the basic process/jig. One I found that seems cheap, and efficient is here &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROhJ0-US-pk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;. The guy demoing the rig even appears to have carbon shafts like you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic concepts that the videos tend to share is a fixed cutting wheel, some sort of aligning/mounting surface, and a way to measure the arrow. In the video this is accomplished by screwing a Dremel tool onto the jig's base plate. Two L-brackets are screwed onto the base plate at whatever distance is comfortable. In back of the L-brackets a cut-off yard/meter stick is glued to the base plate. Finally a block is screwed onto the base plate at the length you want to cut your arrows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To use this jig you first trim the shaft down until it is close to the size you want. Then you place the nock against the block, and slide the arrow back against the L-brackets rotating the arrow as needed to complete the cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind improvised arrow cutting solutions do not have many of the safety features of a commercial product. Use these at your own risk. Misuse or carelessness could cause serious injury to yourself or your equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively for a quick and dirty solution you might just try a small pipe cutter and some sandpaper. &lt;strong&gt;It is unlikely this will result in optimal cuts&lt;/strong&gt;, but for the truly budget conscious this might be an option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2018-04-19T18:39:21.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-19T18:39:21.677" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19130" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-20T07:34:15.310" Score="6" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using the Victorinox Swiss knife for a long time now. One thing that has baffled me is the saw blade on most of their multi-tools. The saw is around 2-3 inches long (depending on the model). I've tried multiple times to saw a piece of wood (or even a thick piece of stick), and I've failed to use this for any meaningful sawing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AURRr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AURRr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can understand the other tools - the small knife (for cutting an apple), the big knife (for cutting another apple?), the reamer (for punching holes), the scissors, the bottle openers et al. However, the saw seems an overkill which is not even usable in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone used the saw on the swiss knife for anything? Or is it for some other use altogether?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T17:11:16.037" Title="What is the use of the saw blade on a swiss knife?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;swiss-army-knife&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19130" CreationDate="2018-04-20T07:57:16.717" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its for sawing though small branches. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W10hLbZOYw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video here&lt;/a&gt; of someone doing it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tNJGW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tNJGW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Has anyone used the saw on the swiss knife for anything?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I've used it to saw though small branches :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T07:57:16.717" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11642" CreationDate="2018-04-20T07:57:39.753" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Russell Steen said, you might like the looks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But that aside, I see them as throwing knives that have a somewhat comfortable handle. If you try throwing knives with plastic handles, the handle might break. Paracord does not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14665" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T07:57:39.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19133" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-20T16:07:18.063" Score="13" ViewCount="426" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to rock climbing, I also go to the gym for strength training with free weights and machines. I know some muscle groups are crucial to rock climbing, such as arms, back and core. I also know there exist some &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fitnessandpower.com/training/workout-routines/opposite-muscles-workout-build-muscle-and-strength-by-working-the-agonists-and-antagonists-in-one-workout&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;antagonist workouts&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. Practicing these &quot;antagonist workout&quot; can be help maintain a healthy posture. I wanted to know more systematically which muscles are important, and what are the most efficient workouts and antagonist workouts. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15084" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-07T10:02:18.697" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T10:02:18.697" Title="Which gym workouts are beneficial for improving rock climbing skills?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19133" CreationDate="2018-04-20T18:02:48.523" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There a few muscle groups that are heavily used while climbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lats: The side muscles of your back. Also termed as wings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Biceps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forearms (one of the first to tire out).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calves (for most of your tiny toe holds, these play a crucial role).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Core (these are more like a link between the whole body).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are literally hundreds of exercises for each of the above mentioned ones. However, I'll state the basic and the foundational ones for each of these. There are variants and different exercises that can't be covered comprehensively in a single answer (I'll be posting only body weight exercises).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Workouts that help you strengthen your lats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull-ups, chin-ups and pull-up, chin-up holds. These allow you to train your lats to take the weight of your entire body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull-up variants - Typewriter pull-ups, muscle ups et al. (There are lots of them).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bar hangs - helps to strengthen your grip strength. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Workouts for biceps and forearms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Push-ups and push-up variants (diamond, archer, typewriter et al)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For calves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heel raises&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Squats and variants of squats (helps with your thigh muscles as well).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For core:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plank and plank variants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leg raises.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crunches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elbow lever.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from all these, some of the key things in climbing which are often neglected by non-professional climbers are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flexibility. Without flexibility you struggle big time on problems. Most of the times, it's more the flexibility than the strength that gets you through. As a climber, you'll have to use your body to retain tension. Strength alone can't get you through this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrists and finger strengths: Most of us part time climbers do not spend enough time on strengthening our wrists or fingers. Static holds like elbow lever, advanced techniques like tucked planches, and exercises like pullups and bar hangs help with the wrist and to some extent finger strengths. However, developing finger strength is much longer a process. Crimps, pinches, pocket holds are difficult and scary initially. There are static holds that you can use like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.beastmaker.co.uk/products/beastmaker-2000-series&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; that help with the finger strength. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: In case you want to do &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBS0v29rACQ&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=7679&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dynos&lt;/a&gt;, you'll need dynamic strength as well. These are more related to the explosive power that you'll have to develop once you are more comfortable with static moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-20T18:21:43.160" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T18:21:43.160" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19130" CreationDate="2018-04-20T18:14:44.283" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother used to work as decorator, (which included placing new glass in windows) and his Swiss knife saw blade has helped him several times while working on scaffolding. No need to go down and get a proper saw to cut the wood to hold the new glass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And he has used it for many small jobs, just because it was the tool at hand and he remembered that it was there.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most people seem to forget that they have the saw as part of their knife and go to get a saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T18:14:44.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19111" CreationDate="2018-04-20T21:18:29.117" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use a triple butterfly knot, some call them &lt;em&gt;alpine butterfly loop knots&lt;/em&gt; or simply &lt;em&gt;multi-loop knots&lt;/em&gt;. They can be tied with single loops, double loops, and triple loops. No collection/rigging plate needed and simple to tie. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oc2Pj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oc2Pj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;photo courtesy of dave@Layhands.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T21:18:29.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11720" CreationDate="2018-04-20T21:45:22.003" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've owned these stoves for years, and am surprised you've got a problem after just one incident. The first thing to know, is that they can be dismantled and re-assembled relatively easily - so if you're feeling adventurous, you can take stuff apart and investigate - but be careful to have a clean surface, and not lose any small bits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But before all that, have you tried winding the flame control all the way round, beyond the MAX flame point? Doing so should push a fine wire inside the pre-heat tube through the jet, unblocking it in the process. Do it several times, light it, and do it several more times. And tap the whole thing as you go, to knock out any particles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And one more thing - are these stoves still available somewhere? I live in the UK, and would just love to buy another one, as my (cannibalised/rebuilt) example is on its last legs. No other high altitude stove compaers, in my view!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pete&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15520" LastActivityDate="2018-04-20T21:45:22.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19140" CreationDate="2018-04-21T07:26:27.213" Score="10" ViewCount="319" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Recently, there has been a bird sitting in the mesquite tree outside my window, singing. This bird comes in the middle of the damn night. Once 3am, once 5am, and now around midnight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is peculiar about this bird is that it makes so many different sounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recorded a video of its calls coming from my window:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eHusuJlkXa8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eHusuJlkXa8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this bird?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15522" LastEditorUserId="15522" LastEditDate="2018-11-22T04:14:10.233" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T04:14:10.233" Title="What kind of bird is outside my window?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19139" CreationDate="2018-04-21T08:49:36.167" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bird you are listening to is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_mockingbird&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;northern mocking bird&lt;/a&gt;. I am not sure why it’s making the calls in the middle of the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mockingbirds in general are known for their intelligence and their ability to learn new calls. That’s why you’ll mostly hear it making a lot of different types of calls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After some research I found the following reasons why a mockingbird would sing at night:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The one singing is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdwatching.com/stories/mockingbird.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;unmatched or bachelor&lt;/a&gt; and is desperate to find a mate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/Why-do-mockingbirds-sing-at-night&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lights of the city&lt;/a&gt; and the hormones activate the mockingbird to think it's already morning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't come across any scientific study to back either of these claims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-21T15:20:01.237" LastActivityDate="2018-04-21T15:20:01.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19142" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19144" CreationDate="2018-04-22T14:25:24.620" Score="5" ViewCount="386" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in all seasons and weathers. I love the old adage there is no bad weather only bad gear. My Kahtoola &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/918/12656&quot;&gt;microspikes&lt;/a&gt; are excellent when there is hard ice on the trail. Turns a sheet of ice into a sidewalk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But terrible things happen in slushy conditions. Then the wet snow sticks to the bottom, accumulating to about six inches, and then it's &lt;strong&gt;like walking on bowling balls&lt;/strong&gt;. The stuff knocks off pretty easily but rough terrain can be ankle-busting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just aborted a hike when I got to a steep section with about a foot of packed ice under an inch of wet slush. It was too slippery for hiking boots, and too slushy for microspikes. As the snow melts here in New Hampshire, particularly on the trails up in the White Mountains, there are a few months with conditions like this, melting stuff on top of a winter's accumulated pack. What's the right gear for that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12656" LastActivityDate="2018-04-22T16:35:26.883" Title="Gear for slush-over-ice" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19143" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-22T14:46:29.150" Score="4" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to track the path when I cycling or hiking (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/26850573_1624153720973312_3992558580985513182_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&amp;amp;oh=578976e5f19cb9166831837ca5bc1205&amp;amp;oe=5B70D2FA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;). Now I use my phone for this purpose which is totally inconvenient because of the battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I looking for something which can track my path&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally, without any display.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With a big enough battery.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ideally, with an ability to put some marks on the track.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to google, but it looks like Garmin watches have too many options. And spot 3 requires some annual plan which probably an overkill for me. Also, I don't need heart rate tracker/cadence/whatever sensors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any types of gps devices that fulfill these criteria?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15526" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-25T22:14:41.000" LastActivityDate="2019-02-12T16:09:25.233" Title="Looking for a simple gps tracker with long battery life" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2019-02-13T08:23:14.523" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19142" CreationDate="2018-04-22T16:25:20.850" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow shoes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not just any snow shoes, but those with metal edges and crampon-like teeth below the foot. They increase your traction on slush a lot and if you encounter ice on the top or get deep enough for ice contact, the metal will provide you with traction. This traction on ice is obviously very limited by the non-ideal force transfer from your feet to the snow-shoes, but for limited steepness it works. For steeper slopes with ice, there is no alternative to crampons (with antibott (plastic at the bottom to make snow fall off)). I deep slush it is very strenuous to walk with snow-shoes, but the same is true with hiking boots - so I assume you are used to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-22T16:35:26.883" LastActivityDate="2018-04-22T16:35:26.883" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19143" CreationDate="2018-04-22T20:52:58.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For one day a phone will do it. Most android phones allow GPS in flight mode and there are plenty of apps that will log tracks offline (I use one called IPbike as a bike computer with data and WiFi turned off, for example). Some allow you to select how often to get your position, to save battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative is an old non-mapping GPS. I've got an old etrex that does about 20 hours off a decent set of alkaline batteries. It records tracks (but you need a serial port to get them onto a PC). For navigating you would need to use it with a map, though it can display a route for you to follow, and a bearing to the next waypoint&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-04-22T20:52:58.807" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19146" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19161" CreationDate="2018-04-23T00:41:27.417" Score="5" ViewCount="246" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this is my local pond that I like to bring my kayak down to and fish off of.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vNJEp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vNJEp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I get some worms:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What hook setup should I put them on?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where should I look to fish with the worms in this pond?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note that my fishing time is a weekend morning from 8-11am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15527" LastEditorUserId="15527" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T18:31:05.753" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T20:41:25.277" Title="Would worms work well in this pond for trout or bass?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19149" CreationDate="2018-04-23T08:51:23.020" Score="10" ViewCount="717" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to take some photographs of Kingfishers in the United Kingdom. How do I find them, get close to them, etc?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cdutB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cdutB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Common kingfisher&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E2%99%82_Common_Kingfisher_(Alcedo_atthis)_Photograph_By_Shantanu_Kuveskar,_Mangaon,_Maharashtra,_India.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T08:03:53.553" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T00:30:16.013" Title="How can I photograph a kingfisher in the United Kingdom?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;photography&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19148" CreationDate="2018-04-23T08:51:23.020" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Turns out this is actually quite difficult. Apart from the scarcity a major issue is that Kingfishers in the UK are a &lt;strong&gt;Schedule 1 protected species&lt;/strong&gt;. This essentially means it's illegal to go anywhere near their nest, etc. If you can find somewhere not near a nest then great but this is going to be difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You’ll need a licence if you can’t avoid disturbing birds listed in&#xA;  Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 when they’re:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;nest building&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;rearing young&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You’ll need to apply for a licence to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;disturb wild birds to survey for science, education and conservation    work&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;disturb wild birds for photography&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You should also report your actions taken under these licences to&#xA;  Natural England following the guidance on the report form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/schedule-1-first-application&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Applying for a schedule one license is (purposely) very difficult. &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any nest locations are closely guarded secrets or under 24 hour surveillance. I saw one thread on a photography Facebook group that basically told one person asking that &quot;No one is going to tell you this information&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that said UK right of way seems to trump this. So if you're on a right of way (footpath) etc. then you can observe the birds from there. But if you &lt;strong&gt;set foot off the footpath&lt;/strong&gt; then you'd be breaking the schedule one restrictions, so this is going to make it difficult to find a good location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note the restriction on &lt;strong&gt;not disturbing the bird&lt;/strong&gt;. This seems purposely open ended.  You could argue that you're not causing a disturbance by simply photographing them. You might be on shaky ground here unless you're in a good hide, etc. as I would guess even scaring the birds would count as disturbance. But then how do you hide if you can't leave the path!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/3070/t/22675.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A good thread on the subject here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably your best bet to photograph a kingfisher is to visit a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/kingfisher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB reserve&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other schedule one protected birds include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avocet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Bittern&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Eagle, white-tailed  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Eagle, golden&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Goshawk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Owl, barn&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Peregrine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Redwing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/schedules/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Full list here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T00:30:16.013" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T00:30:16.013" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19151" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-23T10:55:29.367" Score="18" ViewCount="508" Body="&lt;p&gt;There exist a plethora of different camping fuels, each with their own &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline&quot;&gt;advantages and disadvantages&lt;/a&gt;. Depending on your cooking equipment (mainly the used stove/burner) and the environmental conditions it is generally quite important to know which fuel to buy and use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is made a lot harder by the many different names that are used all over the world for the same fuel types - and aggravated by the fact that some of the translations actually do use the same terms, but to describe entirely different fuel types.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the different names for the most common camping fuel types in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;English (US, UK, CAN)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;French&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spanish&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The goal is to provide a list of translations that allows prospective campers to look up which terms to use in the area they're planning to go to ensure they'll actually get the right fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;: E.g. German knows the term 'Petrol' but it means something completely different than petrol in US or UK English - and if you were to try to burn Petrol in your petrol stove, you would have a &lt;em&gt;bad time&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;TM&lt;/sup&gt; (and vice versa)...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-06-24T13:04:53.850" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:30:25.533" Title="How are camping fuels named in different languages and geographies?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19151" CreationDate="2018-04-23T10:56:05.847" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Below a list of common camping fuels and their translated names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please do leave a comment and/or edit this answer if you think there are errors or if you can fill the gaps or provide more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note that some of the listed substances are not frequently used as fuel, but I think listing them can be useful to avoid misunderstandings.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;Propane/Butane/Isobutane Gas&lt;/em&gt; (universal)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;Gas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Propane/Butane/Isobutane&lt;/em&gt; are chemical compounds and as such the terms are more or less universally used in the same sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Butane - 4 Carbon Atoms, Boiling point 0°C, (isoButane −11.7 °C)&#xA;Propane - 3 carbon,  Boiling point -40°C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that isobutane/propane mixtures are the most common fuel type for canister stoves (e.g., Jetboil stoves, MSR Pocket Rocket, Optimus Crux, Snow Peak GigaPower, ...). Most of these manufacturers also produce their own branded canisters (e.g., Jetboil's JetPower, MSR's IsoPro, Optimus's Energy Fuel, ...), which are generally interchangeable up to 1) form factor/sizing and 2) slight variations in the ratio of isobutane/propane. Some are even produced in the same factory and just branded differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most manufacturers use a standard Lindal B188 self-sealing valve and are interoperable; the two common outliers are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingaz.com/uk/c-538-cartridges-cylinders.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Campingaz&lt;/a&gt;, which uses a clamped self-piercing connection, and Coleman Propane Fuel (16oz green bottle) which has a much larger thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&amp;gt; In short, if it looks like it will attach to your canister stove and lists isobutane/propane as the contents, it should work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;White Gas&lt;/em&gt; (US English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;White Gas&lt;/em&gt; AKA &lt;em&gt;Coleman fuel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;CAN English: &lt;em&gt;Naphtha&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German: &lt;em&gt;Reinbenzin / Rohbenzin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Australia/New Zealand : White Spirit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;Лигроин / нафта&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Chemical Name Naphtha, 5-6 Carbon Atoms, Boiling point 30°C-90°C)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gasoline&lt;/em&gt;/&lt;em&gt;Gas&lt;/em&gt; (US English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;Petrol&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German: &lt;em&gt;Benzin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;India: &lt;em&gt;Petrol&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;Бензин&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4-14 Carbon Atoms, Boiling point 85 °C )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is still put in most cars. Comes in a rather wide variety of octane-content, leaded / unleaded and some variants come with oil-additives (for two-stroke engines). --&amp;gt; Take note of what your stove can handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kerosene&lt;/em&gt; (US English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;Paraffin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German: &lt;em&gt;Petroleum / Petrol / Lampenöl&lt;/em&gt; (lit. '&lt;em&gt;lamp oil&lt;/em&gt;')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;India: &lt;em&gt;Kerosene&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;Керосин&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(10 - 16 Carbon atoms, boiling point 150-275°C )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rarely used as cooking camping fuel. Most often used as fuel for lamps, e.g. in vintage &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?q=oil%20lantern&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwiqjsXCmJDrAhUSP-wKHRxwDdUQ2-cCegQIABAA&amp;amp;oq=oil%20lantern&amp;amp;gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQQzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgQIABBDOgYIABAHEB5Q91NY2VZgzlhoAHAAeACAAZIBiAGvApIBAzIuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&amp;amp;sclient=img&amp;amp;ei=tQExX-rfFJL-sAec4LWoDQ&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;oil lanterns&lt;/a&gt; and other similar devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://hazard.com//msds/mf/baker/baker/files/s6588.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mineral Spirits&lt;/a&gt;, Stoddard solvent&lt;/em&gt;  (US/CAN English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;White spirit&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;AU/NZ English: &lt;em&gt;Mineral turpentine&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German: &lt;em&gt;Terpentinersatz / Testbenzin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;Уайт-спирит&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;( So-called turpentine substitute. Petroleum distillate, 7-12 carbon atoms )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Denatured) Alcohol/Ethanol&lt;/em&gt; (US English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;UK English: &lt;em&gt;Meths / Methylated spirit(s)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;German: &lt;em&gt;Brennspiritus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;French: &lt;em&gt;alcool à brûler&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swedish: &lt;em&gt;Rödsprit&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Norwegian: &lt;em&gt;Rødsprit&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Icelandic: &lt;em&gt;Raudsprit&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Portuguese: &lt;em&gt;álcool de queimar&lt;/em&gt; / &lt;em&gt;álcool desnaturado&lt;/em&gt; / &lt;em&gt;álcool 95%&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dutch: &lt;em&gt;spiritus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;India: &lt;em&gt;spirit&lt;/em&gt; / &lt;em&gt;alcohol&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;технический спирт&lt;/em&gt; / &lt;em&gt;денатурат&lt;/em&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mark-ju.net/juliette/meths.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rare according to this page&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Mostly Ethanol ( C₂H₅OH ) with poisonous additives )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally burns with a barely visible, blue flame. Used as fuel for the traditional Trangia stoves, and also for most DIY &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thesodacanstove.com/alcohol-stove/how-to-build/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;soda can stoves&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;Methanol&lt;/em&gt; (US/Can English)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Methyl alcohol&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Russia: &lt;em&gt;метиловый спирт&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;метанол&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-16T14:30:25.533" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:30:25.533" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2018-04-24T05:46:04.533" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16972" CreationDate="2018-04-23T16:14:50.853" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The shape of that track reminds me of an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopod&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ornithopod&lt;/a&gt;. There can be some confusion as to how to identify specifically &lt;em&gt;which&lt;/em&gt; ornithopod might have made that track (&lt;a href=&quot;https://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=PMC3551957_pone.0054177.g011&amp;amp;req=4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Manus track preservation bias as a key factor for assessing trackmaker identity and quadrupedalism in basal ornithopods&lt;/em&gt;, Castanera D, Vila B, Razzolini NL, Falkingham PL, Canudo JI, Manning PL, Galobart A - PLoS ONE (2013)&lt;/a&gt;), but there is a much more clear method for determining what order the animal belonged to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The well-preserved track of a large Ornithopod, a plant-eater should lack distinctive claw marks.  The ends of the toes should be more blunt and rounded in appearance.  The toes tend to be quite wide and the foot proportions are different.  For example, the foot may be much wider.  The wider pes as a proportion of overall foot length gives the track a “u shape”.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DtySu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DtySu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2017/06/17/theropod-tracks-and-ornithopod-tracks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Via Everything Dinosaur&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr: I would assume an herbavore, specifically of the clade &quot;ornithopoda&quot;, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanodontia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;iguanodontia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edit:&lt;/em&gt; I found another paper discussing tracks very much like the ones you found: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.academia.edu/230512/Tridactyl_dinosaur_footprints_from_the_Morrison_Formation_Upper_Jurassic_of_northeast_Wyoming&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tridactyl dinosaur footprints from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of northeast Wyoming&lt;/em&gt;, John R. Foster &amp;amp; Martin G. Lockley (2008) Ichnos, 4:1, 35-41, DOI: 10.1080/10420949509380112&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T16:27:37.970" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T16:27:37.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19155" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-23T17:07:47.333" Score="45" ViewCount="13119" Body="&lt;p&gt;My inlaws have about 40 wooded acres in the Mid Atlantic region. They are nice woods but the amount of dead wood on the ground is astounding. For the most part it makes walking through similar to a jungle. You're just trampling on dead branches and trunks EVERYWHERE. They bought it several years ago and it's evident no one has been clearing it quite possibly for decades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to make the woods a little more walkable because I use them for hunting and would also like to blaze a trail for ATVs, bikes or just walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, I am a whitewater kayaker also and a tree in the water can be deadly for kayakers -- which doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Fish love dead trees in the water as they feed on it. When you remove a log from a river, you make it safer for humans but you do harm other species in the ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That makes me wonder whether there are any downsides to removing dead trees from the woods. Yes, it makes it cleaner and prettier -- but does it upset or imbalance the ecosystem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T17:36:11.400" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T15:06:08.570" Title="Can removing dead wood harm the ecosystem?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18538" CreationDate="2018-04-23T17:10:26.733" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Elephants are a major threat in two situations (not that they are not a threat in other situations):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The herd has calves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The elephant is a single male tusker.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first scenario, the protective instincts of the herd can cause the herd to  be aggressive. In the second scenario, single males are known to be temperamental (especially during mating seasons, also called as &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildlifesos.org/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-musth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;elephants in musth&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to look out for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All elephants have tell tale signs of aggression - Wide open ears, stiff tail (a swinging tail is a happy elephant), trumpeting. This means the elephant is not OK with your presence. In such a situation, the elephant can charge at you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Elephants have a mock charge. The mock charge is to scare you away from its territory. In a mock charge, the ears will be fanned out and the trunk will be mostly swinging around. However, the elephant will stop and turn around and mostly run back to have a second look at you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case of a real charge, the ears get pinned back and the trunk is either rolled up or curled inwards as it runs towards you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now once an elephant is charging (either mock or real), there's only one thing you can do - stand your ground and make a lot of noise. Running or climbing trees is of no use. Elephants can outrun a human and can tear down trees with ease.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option is to use firecrackers to scare the elephant away. This is a common non-lethal practice used by the forest officers in India when they come across aggressive elephants in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case the irritation of the elephant doesn't turn to a charge, you should back away slowly keeping the elephant(s) in sight all the time. Elephants have a poor eyesight when compared to their sense of smell and listening. So it's always a good idea to be downwind if possible to an elephant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE:&lt;/strong&gt; Most of what I've written comes from the personal experiences I've had with Asiatic elephants in the South Indian rain forests. I've been volunteering for an annual forest survey for the last 5 years with the forest department where we try to map the mammalian count to assess the overall health of the forest. I've had two mock charges at me (along with the forest officer and the anti-poaching officer) by a tusker in the last 5 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T17:21:39.947" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T17:21:39.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-23T17:35:16.913" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer seems to be that it depends,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Birds, small mammals, and other wildlife use snags for nests, nurseries, storage areas, foraging, roosting, and perching. Live trees with snag-like features, such as hollow trunks, excavated cavities, and dead branches can provide similar wildlife value. Snags occurring along streams and shorelines eventually may fall into the water, adding important woody debris to aquatic habitat. Dead branches are often used as perches; snags that lack limbs are often more decayed and, may have more and larger cavities for shelter and nesting. Snags enhance local natural areas by attracting wildlife species that may not otherwise be found there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/living/snags/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Importance of Snags in Your Neighborhood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although dead wood might seem expendable in a forest or&#xA;  may even be regarded as unsightly, it serves an important&#xA;  role in supporting wildlife and assisting ecological processes.&#xA;  Dead wood may be in the form of snags (standing, dead trees),&#xA;  dead limbs, or logs. All provide habitat to numerous animal&#xA;  species and play an important role in nutrient cycling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://woodlandstewards.osu.edu/sites/woodlands/files/imce/0018.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dead Trees as Resources for Forest Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Felling a tree for whatever reason alters wildlife habitat. The effects can be beneficial or detrimental, planned or haphazard. Some people believe leaving dead trees in the forest to rot is a waste of resources. However, dead trees offer both shelter and food to many wildlife species. Dead limbs and trees are a natural and desirable part of wildlife habitat. The existence of numerous species depends on the presence of dead trees. A fallen tree becomes infested with fungi and insects. As the tree decomposes, nutrients are recycled into the soil and a microhabitat favorable for the growth of new tree seedlings is often created.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://extension.psu.edu/dead-wood-for-wildlife&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dead Wood for Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, one of the biggest removers of dead wood is &lt;strong&gt;wildfire&lt;/strong&gt;, and that has &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18935/is-there-a-benefit-for-animals-who-return-to-the-area-of-a-deadly-forest-fire-af/18936#18936&quot;&gt;definite benefits for wildlife&lt;/a&gt;. So like with most things its a trade off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T17:35:16.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-23T17:36:48.473" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer this from a perspective of what we follow in some of the areca nut and coconut farms that I've grown up in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The areca nut and coconut trees shed their branches often. These are similar to the dead wood that you are speaking of in the woods. These too are a nuisance when it comes to walking around. So what we do is to move these to the base of the trees instead of them being scattered everywhere. Two reasons why we do this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The dead branches help to retain moisture in the soil around the base of the trees (they act as a cover, holding back the moisture from soil).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These eventually turn into fertilisers for the trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the dead woods, this would be similar. To add to it, each trunk of a dead tree you come across might be hosting its own mini biosphere. The insects feeding the dead trunks/branches would be feeding the birds. Which in turn might be prey for the larger prey animals. Having said that, these changes are really difficult to observe. Even for a scientist, unless she/he carries out an extensive survey, they might not notice the subtle changes that are the results of the removal of dead/decaying trees. The effects might be seen many years later or they might not be seen at all (the ecological balance might get restored due to some other factor for all you know!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in short, removing the dead branches/trunks from the forest might not be a great idea. Instead displace them from your trails (need not be to the base of the trees as some trees might suffer due to excessive moisture). Move them around rather than removing them completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T17:56:00.613" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T17:56:00.613" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19159" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19160" CreationDate="2018-04-23T18:03:04.693" Score="8" ViewCount="5737" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to use live worms for fishing in a local pond, but i don't know where to put the bobber on the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a regular ball shaped bobber and a taller, skinnier one. Where/how to i put them on the line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the two bobbers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MuhzR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MuhzR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;without the string and hook&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AG9ok.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AG9ok.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15527" LastEditorUserId="15527" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T18:11:25.660" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T18:16:16.803" Title="Where do I attach a bobber?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19159" CreationDate="2018-04-23T18:10:00.220" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bobber will hold the string a certain distance below the surface of the water. Putting the bobber onto the string 5 feet from the end will result in the hook with the bait being just 5 feet below the surface of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How far you want up the string them depends on the type of fish and the body of water, but you don't want it so long that the hook has enough string to be resting on the bottom with slack as then if the fish bites, you won't see it right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to attach the bobber to the string depends on the bobber, but usually there are hooks on either end that you wrap the string around and then clamp the bobber so that the string can't come off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, the top bobber is a slib bobber, and it works by running the string through the bobber with a knot tied above to keep it from going up the line too far. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catchingcrappie.com/slipbobber.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://roundvalleyfishing.com/2014/10/04/shore-fishing-101-slip-bobbers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom bobber is a clip on, what you will want to do is push the round button on the top down,and wrap the line around the hook that will be exposed as well as the one directly on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T18:16:16.803" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T18:16:16.803" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19146" CreationDate="2018-04-23T19:02:56.223" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For bass fishing, what i use is referred to as a Texas rig, which also happens to be where i live so i'm partial but i also feel like it is one of the better ways to fish with a rubber worm. They are done like so, a slip sinker (aka a worm helmet) is threaded onto the line before the hook, then...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The hook is then inserted into the head of a worm for about one-quarter of an inch and brought through until only the eye is still embedded in the worm. The hook is then rotated and the point is embedded slightly into the worm without coming out the opposite side&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between what i do, and this image is in the very bottom picture their hook comes back out and the tip is then put back in, when i set them up i don't let the hook come back out the other side. I find it is better to leave it about halfway through, this reduces the chance of snags and that way when you set the hook it pops out the side and usually results in good mouth placement as long as you set the hook at the right time and don't wait for them to swallow it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4Os2.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4Os2.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to use these because they are generally weed free, meaning it is difficult to get snagged on weeds and submerged trees etc. Which for bass is where you want to be fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The most popular rig used when fishing the plastic worm is the Texas Rig. To use this rig you simply place a bullet weight on the line above a 4/O worm hook. (hook size will be dependant on the size of worm you are using). The weight will slide freely on the line. Impale the tip of the hook back into the body of the worm so that it is &quot;weedless.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bass love cover and submerged tree and similar. So if you can find a spot like that on your pond you are wanting to fish then you're set. It may help to ask around although people don't like to give up their spots. It also helps to take pictures at different times of the year when the lake is low or high, this will help you to know what is below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as using the worm rig it takes a bit of practice but is a pretty simple idea. I feel like this article sums it up pretty well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cast the worm towards some sort of shoreline cover or structure and&#xA;  let it fall to the bottom. You will be able to tell when it has&#xA;  reached the bottom when the line goes slack. Pay close attention to&#xA;  the line as it falls because frequently the bass will hit the worm as&#xA;  it descends.    Once your bait is resting on the bottom, reel up the&#xA;  slack line and give the tip a couple little twitches. If this does not&#xA;  produce a strike, begin to slowly hop the worm along the bottom or&#xA;  over the structure you are fishing. It is not necessary to move the&#xA;  rod tip a great deal to produce an effective movement of the worm.&#xA;  Generally I do not move the rod more than 6- to 8-inches. Granted, the&#xA;  amount of movement needed will be determined by the type of area you&#xA;  are fishing.    During your retrieve it is very vital to pay attention&#xA;  to your line. Should the line go slack all of the sudden chances are&#xA;  the worm is in the mouth of a bass. It is also very common for the&#xA;  line to begin to move sideways. This occurs when a bass picks up the&#xA;  bait and swims perpendicular to the direction of your cast. Should&#xA;  this occur reel up any slack line and set the hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bassresource.com/beginner/plastic_baits.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Article Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feeling for these changes in the line is the trickiest part and takes a little practice but this is one of the best ways to fish for bass in my opinion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked article also talks about several other variations of ways to set up the worm and is worth a read, the Texas rig just happens to be the one i know best and use personally. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carolina rigs are similar to a Texas rig but also utilize a a swivel to stop the weight and a lead before the worm as shown below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yc9tG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yc9tG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a Texas rig if there are a lot of weeds and plants, if it is flats and mostly gravel and sand i lean toward a Carolina, however it is rare that i fish the latter when going for bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When i use real worms i thread them onto the hook (generally a smaller hook) and if your good you can thread them partially up onto the line, then bring the hook out and back in much like you would a rubber worm. I like to do it this way because is leaves less unhooked tail to be bitten off or stolen, but you can still use them much the way you would with a fake worm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2018-04-23T20:41:25.277" LastActivityDate="2018-04-23T20:41:25.277" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19163" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19164" CreationDate="2018-04-24T06:07:58.377" Score="1" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the genera of dinosaurs is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tyrannosaurus&lt;/a&gt;, which includes the famous T-Rex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do the tracks of this type of dinosaur look like? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T05:31:54.723" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T05:32:05.703" Title="What do Tyrannosaur dinosaur tracks look like?" Tags="&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;dinosaurs&gt;&lt;fossil-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19163" CreationDate="2018-04-24T06:07:58.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off, the tyrannosaurus dinosaurs are in the suborder &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropoda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Theropoda&lt;/a&gt;, and were &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipedalism&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bipedal&lt;/a&gt;, which is a fancy way of saying that they walked on two feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They had &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T_Rex_Leg_Bones.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;three toes and one dewclaw.&lt;/a&gt; The ones found in British Columbia were over &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a10933/tyrannosaurus-trackways-reveal-a-dinosaurs-walk-17016027/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2 feet long and over 5 feet between tracks&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, these tracks are incredibly rare with discoveries in,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 track &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.upi.com/T-rex-tracks-preserved-in-New-Mexico/61201247494170/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1983 in New Mexico&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 track in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/1939-tyrannosaur-footprint-montana.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Montana in 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 track and another partial track in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.upi.com/T-rex-tracks-preserved-in-New-Mexico/61201247494170/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Mexic in 2009&lt;/a&gt; on the same ranch as the one in 1983.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;7 tracks in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a10933/tyrannosaurus-trackways-reveal-a-dinosaurs-walk-17016027/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Columbia in 2011.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;3 tracks in &lt;a href=&quot;http://westerndigs.org/tyrannosaur-tracks-discovered-in-wyoming-reveal-dinosaurs-speed/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wyoming in 2016&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth pointing out that being more specific than this is hard, with some tracks being either from a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotyrannus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nanotyrannus&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;T-Rex&lt;/a&gt; and they aren't even certain if those are two different types of dinosaurs or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotyrannus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nanotyrannus&lt;/a&gt; is a juvenile &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannosaurus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;T-Rex&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as pictures go,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From New Mexico,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zY7Ch.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zY7Ch.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tyrannosaurus track&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philmont_Scout_Ranch_Tyrannosaurus_footprint.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From British Columbia&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvYyy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lvYyy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103613&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Wyoming &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T6y6E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T6y6E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://westerndigs.org/tyrannosaur-tracks-discovered-in-wyoming-reveal-dinosaurs-speed/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are still looking for more information, I would suggest this research paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103613&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A ‘Terror of Tyrannosaurs’: The First Trackways of Tyrannosaurids and Evidence of Gregariousness and Pathology in Tyrannosauridae&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T05:32:05.703" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T05:32:05.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19133" CreationDate="2018-04-24T06:58:26.557" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ricketyship's answer gives a great outline of training the climbing specific muscles, so I would like to add several other points (especially as the question asked about antagonist training). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, the ability to generate and modulate tension is a key skill in climbing (particularly bouldering). Arguably the best exercise for training the ability to &quot;flip the switch&quot; and try hard is heavy deadlifts (3 rep or 1 rep max). For reference, the climbing coach &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trainingbeta.com/weight-lifting-guidelines-with-steve-bechtel/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Steve Bechtel&lt;/a&gt; considers a 2 rep max deadlift at 2X bodyweight for men and 1.5X bodyweight for women a guideline for high performance climbing. Properly executing a heavy deadlift requires almost every muscle from fingers to toes and has a large neurological component. Lifting large weights, however, does pose risk---get instruction on proper form before going heavy!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for &lt;a href=&quot;http://nicros.com/training/training-articles/antagonist-muscle-training-to-prevent-injury/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;antagonist workouts&lt;/a&gt;, one of the largest problems to avoid would be &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pMJdql-QJk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climber's Back&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, i.e., the common hunched over position with forward rotated shoulders adopted by many climbers. To a large extent, this can be countered by stretching and mobility exercises, but working on building your chest (e.g., pushups) doesn't hurt!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After finger injuries, shoulder and wrist injuries are the most common in climbing. Doing exercises focused on strengthening and stabilizing these joints would be another excellent use of a non-climbing day at the gym.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trainingbeta.com/media/is-ys-ts/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;I's Y's &amp;amp; T's&lt;/a&gt; are a common exercise for shoulders and &lt;a href=&quot;http://trainingforclimbing.com/training-the-wrist-stabilizers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wrist extensor&lt;/a&gt; exercises and reverse wrist curls for wrists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T06:58:26.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-24T07:40:14.417" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you clear too much, then the opened areas won't regrow that well, either because of trampling (continued easier access), or because of lack of nutients from the decay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The overall ecosystem can be damaged because of lack of micro habitats for insects and other lower elements of the food &amp;amp; pollination chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard it said, in the opposite, that some areas used to have native management that would clear some areas of dead wood (e.g. spring fires) to maintain particular level of usage (old cowboy films of riding through the trees are now overgrown areas, apparently). Other slow growing areas areas have become ravaged by accidental fires with limited/slow regrowth (just been to Patagonia where it was a significant issue - they have no natural fires/lightening).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, take it slow, careful and steady.  It takes a very long time to get a natural forest back (maybe 3-4 generations of 2-300 year old trees ?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T07:40:14.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-24T07:47:52.363" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're building up a huge fire hazard.  Normally fires would've cleaned that out, but fire suppression for 40 years has left you with a lot of fuel. Which may make for a really bad fire.  Destroying forest, as well as structures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing that dead wood will be taking out nutrients from the ecosystem (as well as costly in labor and time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://knowyourforest.org/sites/default/files/documents/Reducing_Fire_Risk_full.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reducing Fire Risk on Your Forest Property&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places, they group all the extra wood in a few locations, so when it does burn, it burns in one place vs. everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wildland_Fire_in_Ecosystems_15-1-2.png/600px-Wildland_Fire_in_Ecosystems_15-1-2.png&quot; alt=&quot;Color-coded map of the different types of wildfire by location in the United States&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr042_2.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to look into carbon-sinking that wood, instead of just letting it stack up, or removing some/all of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15539" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T12:16:18.223" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T12:16:18.223" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2018-04-24T08:00:55.027" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are popular in Denmark as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favorite use is pickling the non-flowered flower buds - for this, one has to pick the flower buds right before they open - then pickle them, like you would a cucumber..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer the comment below: I would pickle the flower buds (and a cucumber) in order to preserve it, for use outside of its rather narrow season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15540" LastEditorUserId="15546" LastEditDate="2018-05-07T13:55:50.903" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T13:55:50.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-24T08:09:33.613" Score="19" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can removing dead wood harm the ecosystem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a word &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;. Dead wood forms an important base to any wooded ecosystem. If you think of a food pyramid for a wooded area it'll look something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3fBIX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3fBIX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tritec-inc.org/science-units/energy2013-KeyToLife/lee.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dead wood in this process plays an important role as: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food for a lot of primary consumers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food for decomposers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Habitat and shelter for &lt;strong&gt;primary&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;secondary&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;tertiary&lt;/strong&gt; consumers (even some apex predators will use dead wood depending on where you are, e.g. weasel, etc.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recycling of material for producers (compost, mulch, etc.); possibly via a decomposer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The decomposers provide an important role in recycling energy back into the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you remove this dead wood you remove some primary source of food for a low level of the pyramid and also some habitat for others. Note; the lower in the chain the removal happens the bigger the affect higher up as only 10% of the energy is transferred upwards. Without food there will be less primary consumers. Without habitat the higher levels increase competition for what resources remain and numbers decline. The nett result is less of everything and a less healthy ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The dead wood is like the glue that holds this ecosystem together.&lt;/strong&gt; A neat wood is an unhealthy wood. Woods should be cluttered!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the impact will depend on how much wood you plan to remove. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK it's actually common for wood managers to cut wood and leave it to rot specifically to increase the amount of dead wood as it will make the habitat more healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19167/2766&quot;&gt;other answers&lt;/a&gt; talk about &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ecology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire ecologies&lt;/a&gt;. These are common in areas like Australia and California where the wildlife have evolved to deal with regular (moderate) wildfires. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In these areas wood is cleared out periodically by the fires. So the pyramid has evolved without the large amounts of dead wood that are common in more temperate forests. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to repeat these points but tl;dr: Ultimately in respects to harm to an ecosystem, the wild ecosystem should be maintained in as wild a form as possible. If this involves large amounts of dead wood then leave it. If this wood is cleared (naturally) clear it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T14:16:05.367" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T14:16:05.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19172" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19173" CreationDate="2018-04-24T09:29:51.640" Score="17" ViewCount="1419" Body="&lt;p&gt;When climbing single pitch routes, it makes sense to carry as little as possible while actually on the route, as almost every eventuality can be easily dealt with by simply lowering back to the ground and your pack. At the opposite end of the spectrum, alpine and mountaineering objectives almost mandate climbing with (or hauling) a backpack due to the extended nature of such routes and the vagaries of alpine environments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In between these two extremes, we have multipitch rock (or ice) climbs, say 2-6 pitches in length, like many of those at Tahquitz, Devil's Tower, Red Rocks, Eldorado Canyon, and Yosemite. Such routes are short enough that taking everything up the route seems excessive, but long enough that having additional equipment along can be beneficial (e.g., food, water, extra layers, etc). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you decide what to bring along on such a route? What factors go into your decision? Once you've decided what to bring along, what are good strategies for carrying it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-24T22:39:51.087" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T14:17:41.733" Title="What extra gear to take up a multipitch climb?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19172" CreationDate="2018-04-24T09:29:51.640" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two main schools of thought: the &amp;quot;fast and light&amp;quot; / &amp;quot;light is right&amp;quot; / &amp;quot;rope, rack, shirt on your back&amp;quot; camp and the &amp;quot;be prepared&amp;quot; / &amp;quot;safety first&amp;quot; crowd. When taken to extremes, blindly following either ethos can lead to trouble. Like most everything in the mountains, it comes down to experience on similar routes, judgement, acceptable risk tolerances and even willingness to suffer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, these are some of the things I consider when racking up at the base of the climb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;The Descent&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will you rappel straight back down the route when finished, or is there a long walk-off descent? If rappelling, then there is usually little need to take your approach shoes up the route with you. If there is a walk-off, then you will most likely need to take your shoes up the route with you (note that some walk-offs are not necessarily unreasonable to do barefoot, provided they are relatively short and have reasonably non-jagged / non-pokey terrain). Shoes are usually dealt with by simply clipping them off a rear gear loop on your harness---note that having lightweight, low top approach shoes or trail runners instead of high top hiking boots will make this &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; less annoying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;How long will the route take?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither routes nor climbing parties are created equal. Leading at your limit might take upwards of an hour for a single pitch, while a strong climber might lead the exact same pitch in fifteen minutes.  More than almost any factor, the amount of time you spend off the ground and away from your pack will dictate what you take with on the route. For an extreme example, Alex Honnold soloed Freerider in under 4 hours, while a more average party would probably take a portaledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be realistic in your estimates, and don't forget to account for time spent at belays getting racked up for the next pitch. One rule of thumb would be to figure between sixty and ninety minutes to lead and follow a pitch for a party climbing a route that is within their abilities (but not trivially easy) with good rope management and organization at belays. Tack on some extra time if climbing with a party of three.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you climbing with a longer rope / willing to simul-climb short sections in order to link pitches? Are you comfortable running it out over easier terrain, or do you like to sew pitches up, frequently placing gear? Does the route have complicated route-finding and require building gear anchors at hanging belays, or is there a line of bolts leading to a bolted anchor on a ledge? Is the route a straightforward jug haul/hand crack, or is it delicate slab climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to account for descent time! Doubly so if the descent is intricate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it starts getting dark or weather starts building, do you have the margin to accelerate your pace and quickly fire the rest of the route, or is the climbing difficult and already at your limit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;How committing is the route?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the route easy to retreat off? If it gets towards dusk, can you just pull the plug and rap back down to the ground off of fixed anchors? Or is the only feasible way off the route to top it out and take a walk off descent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;How long until dark?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the absolute easiest pieces of gear to take up a multipitch route is a small headlamp. A bad situation can become truly epic, if not fatal, in the dark. Rappelling into the darkness towards an unknown anchor is a nightmare and the type of mistake you generally don't repeat. A headlamp is easily carried by either clipping or girth hitching it to a gear loop. Some truly small headlamps (e.g., the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/CLASSIC-headlamps/ePLUSLITE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl e-LITE&lt;/a&gt;) can even stash neatly in a pants pocket or the zippered pocket found on some chalk bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;What's the climbing like?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nature of the route can make a large impact on how much extraneous gear you're willing to take up a route---off-widths and chimneys are annoying with a mess of extra gear clipped off your harness and downright frustrating with a backpack. While this can be somewhat mitigated by intelligent racking or clipping a backpack off a sling to trail behind you, it is an annoyance that is best avoided if at all possible. In contrast, a 5.7 hand crack or ridge scramble might be almost as easy with a pack on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;What's the weather like?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though it is currently a sunny day, always keep in mind that the weather could (probably?) change. Red Rocks, Nevada, is infamous for winds that come whipping down the canyons in the evening and the Rocky Mountains commonly generate afternoon thunderstorms on days that start with clear skies. Will you have a clear view of approaching weather? Would you be able to retreat if you see darkening skies? If the weather did turn, would it just mean being a little bit cold and wet, or would it be an emergency without extra layers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider slightly overdressing, e.g., wearing technical fabrics, pants instead of shorts, and perhaps even an unzipped thin jacket. While it might be overkill if the weather stays nice, it can make the difference if there is inclement weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some wind / rain jackets can stuff into a pocket and have a carabiner loop for clipping it to your harness; you can also find a small stuff sack for the same purpose. Alternatively, you can tie a jacket around your waist---make sure to tie a good knot and &amp;quot;twist&amp;quot; the jacket up to avoid having a large flap of fabric in your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Food and Water&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to tank up on water and eat a snack before starting a route in order to minimize on the amount you need to take with. Snacks can easily be stashed in pockets, while a water bottle is usually clipped of a rear gear loop (soft-sided water bottles are quite nice for this). Make sure that you're clipping into something structural on a water bottle---that strip of plastic on a classic Nalgene bottle is just a leash to keep you from dropping the lid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider whether you will be climbing in the shade or sun and how hot and dry of a day it is (remember that these can change over the course of the day!). Consider sharing a water bottle if you won't need that much water on the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the topic of food and water, give some forethought to the other end as well. Try to take care of business before starting up the route (always follow &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/seven-principles-overview&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; principles!). On some popular routes, this is such an issue that you can almost route find by sniffing your way to the next belay ledge...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Rope Bag&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No. If you're climbing with a pack, you can just dump the rope in there. Otherwise, learn how to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/the-perfect-backpack-coil/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;backpack coil&lt;/a&gt; a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Other Equipment&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some people won't go anywhere without a knife, and they can potentially be useful for cleaning up tattered messes of webbing at anchors and dealing with stuck ropes...just no &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtg7raPDYo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vertical Limit&lt;/a&gt; moments! If you do carry a knife, chose something small and light, either stashing it in a pocket or clipping it off a harness. Consider something purpose built towards climbing like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Packs-and-accessories/SPATHA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Spatha&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trango.com/p-235-shark-nut-tool.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trango Shark Nut Tool&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.buckknives.com/product/redpoint-knife/0750FAM01/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buck Redpoint&lt;/a&gt;, and consider doing something to ensure the knife doesn't accidentally come open (a small wrap of climbing tape can work well). If you don't carry a knife, be aware that it is possible (if tedious) to cut a rope &lt;a href=&quot;http://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/how-to-cut-a-rope-without-a-knife/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;without a knife&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider bringing some extra anchor material (~7mm cord or 9/16&amp;quot;--1&amp;quot; webbing) and a few rap rings / &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mallions&lt;/a&gt; / leaver biners for improving rap stations. Try to avoid adding to &amp;quot;rat nests&amp;quot; by removing older tat if you feel its necessary to leave some of your fresher anchor material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bring along a few extra pieces of climbing equipment in case effecting a self-rescue becomes necessary. An extra cordalette, a prusik/tibloc, and a couple extra carabiners can be miraculous with a little training and ingenuity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Route Information&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, try to avoid carrying an entire guidebook up the route with you. Some options include taking a picture of the route description with a digital camera, photocopying the relevant pages, studying the route beforehand and committing the description and topo to memory, and even ripping the relevant pages out. This will also depend on the nature of the route, e.g., line of bolts vs trad route with intricate route finding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So how do I carry all this crap?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, it depends on how much crap you're taking with you! From least amount of extra gear to most, the options would be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you only have a couple extra items, say approach shoes and a headlamp, just have everyone clip them to their harnesses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have the follower climb with a small pack. A small lightweight pack or stripping down a climbing pack (remove top lid / framesheet / waistbelt) will work; clipping the waistbelt around the rear of the backpack can do wonders for making climbing and accessing harness gear loops easier. Consider keeping a few items clipped to the leader's harness to share the load. This works if you need, say, a couple liters of water, a few bars, headlamps, and a thin jacket each.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a small leader's pack and larger follower's pack, perhaps by having a water bottle, headlamp, and jacket in each pack, with extra layers and shoes in the followers pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Resort to hauling a pack or haulbag. A method of last resort as this ups the complexity and time taken, but can be necessary if the climbing is truly difficult. One special circumstance would be a route that is generally reasonable to climb with a pack, but features a crux off-width/chimney pitch. Rather than struggling to climb this one pitch with packs, consider hauling a pack through this section. It will definitely be more enjoyable and might even be faster.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Other tips&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If doing a (long) walk-off descent without backpacks, consider loosening the leg loops on your harness (if possible) in order to make walking easier. Furthermore, try to shorten everything on your harness as much as possible--for example, re-rack cams off the thumb loop instead of the sewn sling. The cumulative effect will lead to less &amp;quot;gear bounce&amp;quot; as you walk and help reduce equipment getting hung up on bushes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When done with a climb, consider whether you brought enough extra gear and plan your next climb accordingly. Note that often times, the correct answer is &amp;quot;learn to organize gear and move more efficiently&amp;quot; rather than &amp;quot;bring more stuff next time.&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T16:08:41.137" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17335" CreationDate="2018-04-24T21:26:33.343" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;My 2 Cents: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter camping requires two pads, one inflatable and one foam. The reason for this is that not having any pad at all looses a lot of heat into the ground if you are camping on snow. Even the warmest bag will be uncomfortable without a pad camping on snow. While inflatable pads are really nice, they all eventually fail, particularly in the presence of crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can survive the night with any of the standard selection of foam pads. A good inflatable pad plus foam pad will extend the range of your sleeping bag and provide comfort vs survival. In my experience people underestimate how much heat gets lost into the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other advantage of having a foam pad is that you can use it quickly during the day during rest stops. Being able to sit without losing heat makes a big difference as the day goes on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Managing two pads is kind of a pain, those large elastic straps with the Velcro ends help in keeping them both under you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2018-04-24T21:26:33.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19177" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19178" CreationDate="2018-04-25T06:02:20.733" Score="2" ViewCount="2153" Body="&lt;p&gt;What does moose scat/poop look like and how can one distinguish it from the other similar scats namely deer and elk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-25T20:40:22.827" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T20:40:22.827" Title="What does moose scat/poop look like?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;moose&gt;&lt;scat-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19177" CreationDate="2018-04-25T06:02:20.733" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest distinguishers of moose scat from elk and deer are size and color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moose scat is significantly bigger than either deer or elk scat &lt;strong&gt;around the size of a very large grape and usually reddish brown&lt;/strong&gt; instead of black like deer or elk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice both the size in comparison to the boot tracks and the reddish color,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xX6Qll.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xX6Qll.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Moose Scat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snowpoop.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison elk scat, (deer would be smaller still)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FNWIFl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FNWIFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Elk scat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elk_pellets.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T06:02:20.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19179" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19181" CreationDate="2018-04-25T16:07:41.747" Score="9" ViewCount="1209" Body="&lt;p&gt;While reading through &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18846/3076&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; about adding a stove jack to a canvas tent originally lacking one, I wondered about the feasibility of making an existing canvas tent fire retardant. Is it simply a matter of adding an additional material or chemical layer to the canvas, or is the process of making the canvas fire-retardant a component of the canvas-making process itself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, is it possible to send a non-fire-retardant canvas tent back to the manufacturer to be made fire retardant, or is it going to be that the customer would need to purchase another tent that is fire-retardant from the start? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In general, how are canvas tents made to be fire retardant?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:02:02.837" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:59.550" Title="How are canvas tents made to be fire retardant?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-25T16:29:35.160" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some insects are carnivores and feed on other insects that feed on wood. Species that feed on dead wood are often different from species that feed on living wood, but these carnivores often feed on both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a result, removing dead wood would decrease the number of carnivorous insects (by reducing the food base). This may make life easier for the species that feed on living wood (complex to predict but looks possible). This is how the university professor has taught us during summer practice in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, it may not be necessary to keep the dead wood in amounts one cannot pass through the forest, but having everything very nice and clean can, indeed, do harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6514" LastEditorUserId="6514" LastEditDate="2018-04-30T07:33:30.733" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T07:33:30.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19179" CreationDate="2018-04-25T16:54:55.563" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are treated with chemicals to be fire retardent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire retardant canvas tarps are &lt;strong&gt;treated with substances that lessen flammability.&lt;/strong&gt; They are not exactly resistant to flames. When fire comes in contact with these tarps, they can delay or stop its spread. Fire retardant canvas tarps are nature friendly. They produce less waste material because they are made of natural fibers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tarpsplus.com/fire-retardant-heavy-duty-canvas-tarps.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are chemically treated fire retardant fabrics? Well, &lt;strong&gt;they are fabrics that have been coated with a fire resistant chemical.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, there are more than 175 different types of flame retardants, according to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI). These types of chemicals are divided into classes including: brominated, chlorinated, phosphorus-containing, nitrogen-containing, and inorganic flame retardants.  Flame retardant chemicals are also known as PBDE’s or polybrominated diphenyl ethers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.herculite.com/blog/fire-retardant-fabrics-what-to-know&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its possible to buy sprays to treat canvas, but from what I can see its not exactly recommended as compared to buying pretreated canvas. It adds both weight and cost to a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:59.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19182" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19228" CreationDate="2018-04-25T17:40:19.543" Score="4" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;When canvas &lt;strong&gt;gets wet and then dries,&lt;/strong&gt; it shrinks. Sails get wet from rain and from spray, and it was even &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18477/why-did-wetting-down-canvas-sails-increase-the-speed-of-a-sailing-ship&quot;&gt;done on purpose&lt;/a&gt; to increase the speed of sailing ships.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For canvas tents, this has to be taken into account when building the frame as otherwise, you can end up with a tent that is too small for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Were/are there any similar considerations on sailing ships?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:01:54.347" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T18:23:33.397" Title="How did/does shrinking canvas effect sailing ships?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4566" CreationDate="2018-04-25T18:43:15.620" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The normal &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/more-wl/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hiking trail network&lt;/a&gt; is meant to be used, in a rough translation from the German specifications, &quot;during the snow- and ice-free time&quot;. Trails are generally not cleared, it would be a huge effort considering &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=ech&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;layers=ch.swisstopo.zeitreihen,ch.bfs.gebaeude_wohnungs_register,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege&amp;amp;layers_visibility=false,false,false,true&amp;amp;layers_timestamp=18641231,,,&amp;amp;lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;how many there are&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are official &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=de&amp;amp;land=winterhiking&amp;amp;route=all&amp;amp;bgLayer=pk&amp;amp;layers=Winterhiking&amp;amp;season=winter&amp;amp;resolution=500&amp;amp;E=2631750&amp;amp;N=1189000&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;winter hiking trails&lt;/a&gt; which are cleared, and generally marked with pink signs. (The second tickbox on that map shows you official snowshoe trails, which are of course not cleared of snow.) But they don't form a continuous route across the alps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2018-04-25T18:43:15.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19185" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19186" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" Score="0" Body="Questions about things made out of canvas like tents or bags" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T01:03:12.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19188" CreationDate="2018-04-26T02:37:18.410" Score="8" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have long carried a backpacker's solar water heater on our trips.  The bliss of warm -- nearly hot -- water in quantity for washing one's filthy self is worth the small extra weight -- especially when a packer is carrying all our gear up the first day -- the day of maximum elevation gain and minimum fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our heater is similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.com/ip/5-Gallon-Super-Solar-Sun-Backpacking-Camping-Hiking-Outdoor-Shower-Heats-Water/39805109?wmlspartner=wlpa&amp;amp;selectedSellerId=2542&amp;amp;adid=22222222227027556581&amp;amp;wl0=&amp;amp;wl1=g&amp;amp;wl2=c&amp;amp;wl3=54698439671&amp;amp;wl4=pla-90025315031&amp;amp;wl5=1014895&amp;amp;wl6=&amp;amp;wl7=&amp;amp;wl8=&amp;amp;wl9=pla&amp;amp;wl10=113134860&amp;amp;wl11=online&amp;amp;wl12=39805109&amp;amp;wl13=&amp;amp;veh=sem&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, but is a different, earlier brand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heater works very well when the ambient temperature is roughly 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) and heats cold stream water to about 100 degrees F after a few hours lying on a sunny rock.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have never used the heater in cold weather, and, &lt;strong&gt;looking ahead to a major power failure this winter (we are overdue), we wonder if we could get warm water when the ambient T is in the 20s (F) by laying the heater on our sunny patio table (cleared of snow), and on top of an insulating sleeping pad.&lt;/strong&gt;  Assume no wind. The only time we used the heater at home was in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2012_North_American_derecho&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;derecho&lt;/a&gt; of June/July 2012, when the ambient temperature was in the 90s; it worked well then, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you think a patio table makes this Q off topic, assume a winter trip, a flattish rock brushed clear of snow, insulated sleeping pad, and water taken from a flowing stream.  No wind.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T02:54:46.153" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T02:58:44.497" Title="Can a backpacker's solar water heater produce warm water when the ambient temperature is in the 20s (F)?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19187" CreationDate="2018-04-26T02:58:44.497" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The water temperature will warm up until the heat gained is identical to the heat lost. At 20F, with a thin layer of plastic between the water and outside air,  its unlikely the equilibrium will be much above freezing, certainly it would be optimistic to expect a warm shower. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind the reason it is 20F is there is not enough energy in the sun to make it warmer, so you will not get anywhere near the temperature increase you see ( 50 degrees ) in summer .  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user5330" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T02:58:44.497" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2018-04-26T03:03:09.267" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you pitch a tarp right it is the best 4 season shelter for 4 people. A square tarp with 4 corner pegs and 4 42&quot; (11 dm) corner poles and a chimney center pole is the best 4 season shelter. Tight to the ground all the way around on cold windy days all 4 sides open on hot days, All cooking done inside on a solid fuel cook stove weighing no more than 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg). Each man sleeps in a bug proof bivy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15549" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T10:50:04.077" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T10:50:04.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19190" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-26T04:52:19.780" Score="0" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been in a dilemma, whether to opt for gymming or to go out to play some sports in my free time. Both seem to be potential components to improve your health. But which one must one prefer over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My opinions:&#xA;In Outdoor sports you get to do whatever you want, however you want and you are always out there on the ground/field connected to nature..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, in Gym you follow the same set of repetitions in a closed compact (mostly) place in an AC room and plus if you just break off from going to gym for few days you feel tired and stuffs like that. Whereas in outdoor sports one plays to his/her limit everyday, continues the same the other day with new enthusiasm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is to ask that which would be a better options if one has to choose between Outdoor sports and gymming, basically for staying fit and building stamina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14682" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T06:16:44.707" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T06:16:44.707" Title="Gymming v.s Outdoor sports, which is better?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ClosedDate="2018-04-26T08:13:56.717" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10838" CreationDate="2018-04-26T04:52:56.580" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was a big fan of roof-top tents (and still am!) but they do have their numerous disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the fact that they are elevated. I don't necessarily think it's much safer, but they give you more privacy I think. You feel a bit separated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It provides an always flat surface, with a mattress which is a great bonus compared to a ground tent. Also, the ground doesn't need to be level, you can just use a log or your maxtrax to level the vehicle. Then you're all set to open your RTT. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As many disadvantages they have, there are some &lt;a href=&quot;https://overlandsite.com/overlanding/rooftop-tents-vs-ground-tents/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solutions to these&lt;/a&gt;. However, that also means spending more money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15550" LastEditorUserId="15550" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T05:32:47.757" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T05:32:47.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19192" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19193" CreationDate="2018-04-26T05:03:15.013" Score="3" ViewCount="1181" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one were to come across mountain lion tracks, how would one estimate the size of the lion making the tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, is it possible to tell the gender of the mountain lion(s)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T06:10:32.317" Title="How to estimate the size and or gender of a mountain lion from its tracks?" Tags="&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19192" CreationDate="2018-04-26T05:03:15.013" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two things that can help one estimate the size,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Size of the individual tracks themselves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The stride length (distance between tracks on the same size)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The size of the tracks will stay the same no matter how an animal is moving, however, when an animal runs, the stride &lt;a href=&quot;http://mammals-locomotion.com/walking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;length will increase&lt;/a&gt; so it's not as good an indicator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as determining the gender goes,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adult males&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track width 4-5 inches (10-13 cm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;String length &gt; 40 inches (100 cm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adult females&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track width &amp;lt; 3.5 inches (9 cm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;String length &amp;lt; 40 inches (100 cm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Numbers from &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wgfd.wyo.gov/WGFD/media/content/PDF/Education/WY_MTNLION_ID_INFORMATION.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Lion Education And Identification Course&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://westernwildlife.org/cougar-outreach-project/cougar-identification/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar Identification&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other important distinction is that females will travel with kittens while males are more solitary except for mating. Juvenile males can be the same size as an adult female.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For pictures here are some of a melted out track (we were probably 6-7 hours after the lion went through) of a smaller mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7uYOll.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7uYOll.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and same track going up a hill,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yjcGfl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yjcGfl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T06:10:32.317" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T06:10:32.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19190" CreationDate="2018-04-26T05:31:37.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoor sports vs Gym training is not actually a one against the other. Many a times they are complementary to each other. Having said that, each has its own advantages which might be difficult to achieve in the other form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of outdoor sports:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the outdoor sports actively target the whole of your body than specific parts of your body. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outdoor sports which do not require specific equipment (eg football, volleyball, running) are way more easier to participate in than a gym workout (which might require weights in case of weight training and machines in case of machine training).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Being close to the nature might keep you more motivated as compared to a  closed environment of a gym (this is a personal choice though).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of gym workouts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can train specific muscles and improve the strength of those specific parts. This is especially beneficial for rehab scenarios.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case you are a beginner who is not too confident with your physical abilities, building strength is much easier in a gym where you have a much controlled setting. Machines for example help you develop a good form while doing certain movements. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather proof. You need not worry about the weather being too hot or too cold outside. Unfortunately this is a reality that can prevent you from outdoor sports.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do a bit of calisthenics (which doesn't require a gym and could be outdoors as well). I hike a lot which would in a way act as an outdoors sport and  used to be a volleyball player in my younger days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I've realised is, my workouts in gym (calisthenics in this case) actually benefits my outdoor pursuits. And overall, both in different ways help you to stay fit and have an active lifestyle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the comment, how does one complement the other (some of the scenarios):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explosiveness. With outdoor activities like sprinting, you need explosive abilities. These can be trained in a gym. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Muscle training for climbing - You can train for lat strength, biceps et al in gym which helps you in the actual outdoor sport.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Running/hiking - Helps you to build overall stamina and endurance. This in turn feeds back to your abilities to improve your gym capacities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swimming - this helps you with your breathing which is one key component for any physical activity (including gym activities).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some resources that can help you see how different activities benefit from gym activities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.triathlete.com/2017/01/training/swim-strength-training-exercises_72771&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gym activities for swimming&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.active.com/running/articles/14-running-specific-strength-training-exercises&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gym activities for running&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T06:01:29.967" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T06:01:29.967" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19195" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-26T06:04:42.930" Score="11" ViewCount="4267" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people will keep notes or things they see in the outdoors or keep a  journal and paper getting wet and then wrecked is a big problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other obvious use is printing maps off from the internet like the free USGS topo maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to keep one's notes or journal or printed maps from getting wrecked by rain or water in general?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T01:27:14.587" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T08:05:57.590" Title="How to keep paper from being damaged by water in the outdoors?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T06:04:42.930" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution to this problem is &lt;strong&gt;waterproof paper.&lt;/strong&gt; You can get it in notebooks, journals, legal sized for printing maps or documents etc. I have also seen at least one organization that had their instructor manuals printed on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some waterproof paper can be used with pencils, regular pens, and waterproof pens, while some only work with pens. The advantage of a pencil is that it won't freeze up in cold weather. Also, regular pens won't work when the paper is wet, but pencils will.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside, of course, is that they come at a higher cost than regular paper, but at the same time not having to keep them out of the weather more than makes up for it in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find these by just searching for &quot;waterproof paper&quot;, the best ones I have seen are the Rite in the Rain &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.riteintherain.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;products&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T06:04:42.930" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T07:59:17.290" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it comes to printing, there are printable vinyls for both laser and inkjet printers. Some inkjet inks run badly in the wet whatever the substrate, while others show little or no deterioration. Even on paper I intend to keep out of the rain, I prefer laser printing for outdoor use as it can try a little damp without being completely wiped out, and doesn't stain other items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of the vinyls (and many of the plastic waterproof &quot;paper&quot; products) is that they don't fold like paper. Also they're not recyclable or biodegradable and no use for starting fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I print gpx routes on openstreetmap mapping using a site called inkatlas, and just use normal paper, but in heavy rain in my toptube bag (on the bike) some water gets in the seams. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T19:10:25.543" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T19:10:25.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T12:16:14.540" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;One option is to laminate your paper. Normal lamination pouches aren't ideal. You need special pens for them, and they always fail at some point (usually when you need them). There are matte lamination pouches which are made for writing on. You can write on them with normal pencils (the only writing device that always works). The advantage is, that you can use it with any type of paper/printer. The disadvantage is, you need (access to) a lamination device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-26T22:20:38.303" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T22:20:38.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19199" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T12:20:10.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Waterproof Smartphone, there are several models with different tolerances available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Electronic sources like, free USGS topo maps off from the internet, can be downloaded straight to the phone. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notes can be made in text or voice recorder apps&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Older original paper documents can be scanned or photographed &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before paper there was clay, papyrus, wood, slate and parchment, After paper there are electronics. The paper is medium for transporting recorded data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally I beleive you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19579/where-are-the-stack-exchange-data-dumps&quot;&gt;download all the questions and answer from TGO&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T12:20:10.580" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T12:49:09.670" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the risk of stating the obvious...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... just not letting your paper get wet in the first place is by far the easiest and cheapest solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How you might ask? These solutions worked well for me in the past:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a &lt;strong&gt;map pouch&lt;/strong&gt; for maps, papers, notes etc that you'll need to read often, but not edit/write on. There exist &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?client=opera&amp;amp;hs=Bh3&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=704&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=1&amp;amp;ei=CMnhWq6pKqaVmgWFpqCADQ&amp;amp;q=map%20pouch&amp;amp;oq=map%20pouch&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i67k1j0l2j0i7i30k1j0i8i30k1.611.611.0.783.1.1.0.0.0.0.117.117.0j1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.116....0.-_HOkikBarE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;plenty of options&lt;/a&gt;, most are water proof and transparent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use any combination of &lt;strong&gt;plastic bags / dry bags / dry boxes&lt;/strong&gt; depending on how water-proof the content must be. Personally I always bring some mini dry bags to store my notebook and the toilet paper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For paper that needs to be read &lt;em&gt;and written&lt;/em&gt; in rainy conditions I mostly used larger transparent plastic bags, that I could sort of put my hands inside and just write while my notebook/papers were still inside the bag (with the bags opening going to the side, not up). This is a bit improvised and doesn't work well in windy conditions, but did the trick on the rare occasions I had to take notes while out in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T12:49:09.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-26T13:07:41.000" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say &quot;it could,&quot; but it would only be appreciable if you removed all the dead logs from all 40 acres (and even then, it's debatable how much of a real impact it would have; sure some bugs might die, but there's plenty to take their place, and some bunnies may need to move, but you wouldn't be damaging the ecosystem). Clearing out some deadfall to make trails wouldn't have any significant (or likely even detectable) impact. I would be more worried about the ecological impact when lightning strikes a tree and the whole wooded lot goes up in flames due to the overabundance of fuel, which given that description, there's likely lots of low-hanging branches, which increases the risk that a small ground fire will turn into a crown fire (jumping from the tops of the trees) and then you lose the whole stand. Much better to properly maintain and clear some of that out if you can, both so it can be better enjoyed by people, but also to reduce the risk of a bad fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15556" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T13:07:41.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-26T14:20:08.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some state run programs that will help in OPs specific location. These programs will help, at a minimum, by getting OP in contact with the Dept of Forestry. Even if these programs aren't the exact fit, they should turn up some leads to get local expert help to OPs question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These programs will also help OP manage the habitat quality and wildfire risk. OP benefits by cost sharing and getting expert help and nicer land, the people benefit by having more habitat for the local wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dof.virginia.gov/costshare/whip.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dof.virginia.gov/costshare/whip.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is a voluntary program which&#xA;  offers private landowners cost-sharing to install practices to improve&#xA;  wildlife habitat. You don't have to be participating in any USDA&#xA;  program. All you have to do is own or have control over the land. The&#xA;  program is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation&#xA;  Service (NRCS).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dof.virginia.gov/fire/intro-forest-prot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.dof.virginia.gov/fire/intro-forest-prot.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) is charged with the&#xA;  protection of the forest resources from fire. The principle goals of&#xA;  the Forest Protection Program are to prevent injury or loss of human&#xA;  life, minimize property damage and protect resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The VDOF has a well-defined and organized forest protection team, with&#xA;  every member of the Department having fire responsibilities. The&#xA;  ability to adapt to emergencies enables a small formal fire&#xA;  suppression force to limit annual fire losses to an average of less&#xA;  than 8200 acres (10-year average). This low average is accomplished&#xA;  through coordination with local fire departments, forest industry,&#xA;  federal agencies, other state agencies and VDOF organized volunteer&#xA;  fire crews.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The activity falls into six components:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Forest Fire Suppression&#xA;Forest Fire Prevention&#xA;Prescribed Fire Management&#xA;Law Enforcement&#xA;Woodland/Urban Interface Initiative&#xA;Non-Fire Emergency Readiness and Response&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a national program &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;NFPA's Firewise USA™ program teaches people how to adapt to living&#xA;  with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together and take&#xA;  action now to prevent losses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1934" LastEditorUserId="1934" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T13:09:04.063" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T13:09:04.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T14:49:07.417" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ideal solution for maps is laminating them with acetate sheets. While managing without bubbles is somewhat of an acquired skill, it doesn't require a machine. They'll be nearly indestructible at the cost of being somewhat more difficult to fold. Best of all you can write on them easily with a permanent marker and wipe it off later with alcohol. (Fine point Sharpies and prepackaged sterile wipes work well.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[ On a side note you ought to be using permanent inks or pencil regardless, because water based inks don't fare well after a swim. ]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short notes you can put on the back or side of the map. Long form writing like a journal is best done out of the rain. If you need to do it regularly in the rain I'd get used to carrying a poncho or light tarp and a couple of bungie cords to allow instant shelter. Important information, like research notes, should be taken down on separate papers and transferred into the journal or notebook later in the safety of a reliable shelter like a tent or cabin. Don't be the guy who drops a notebook out of three waterproof bags into a puddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as protecting regular paper goes I'm fond of sandwich and freezer bags. Clear sandwich bags make a pretty decent &quot;field expedient lamination device&quot; for any information handed to you on small card stock that you may need to read in the rain. Freezer bags work well for notebooks. Both are a lot cheaper than specialty pouches and the fact that you discard them after saves wear and tear. Wrap the bag containing your book with a shirt or towel for extra protection and keep it inside the waterproof bag in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want a memo pad that can be kept out of your pack the waterproof paper ones aren't awful. They do work and give you some protection against being submerged, but they're much less pleasant to write on than paper. Short of being required to take notes at a sprinkler research facility I'd opt for a hard-shelled waterproof case and regular pad. The biggest advantage of the waterproof pads is being flexible enough to be comfortable in a pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T14:49:07.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19100" CreationDate="2018-04-26T14:51:51.303" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are resources, but be aware that it is rather difficult to get a definitive answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a digital book published by the Earth Sciences department of the University of Bristol with a section on identifying track makers: &lt;a href=&quot;http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Tracks/default.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Tracks/default.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a page at the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, and notice specifically the section near the bottom on identifying tracks: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/science/trackways/trackways4.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/science/trackways/trackways4.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a page on the Smithsonian site about identifying dinosaur fossils, with a section dedicated to tracks: &lt;a href=&quot;https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibits/backyard-dinosaurs/faq.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibits/backyard-dinosaurs/faq.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all of these, you'll notice a trend that identification can be extremely difficult. The reason for this is because we are having to extrapolate from a skeleton what a complete foot would have looked like, in addition to the fact that dinosaur tracks are rarely perfect molds. However, there is ongoing research into modeling the tracks of extant species with respect to their skeletons, and a lot of headway has been made using this technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T14:51:51.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2018-04-26T15:23:12.597" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Late to the show, but I'm not entirely convinced by the current answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, we can't really talk about 4-season tents without considering the activity and conditions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term &quot;4-season&quot; can mean anything from a tent that can cope with a bit of snow like the Hilleberg Red Label series, to full-on expedition tents like the Hilleberg Black Labels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And when SectionHiker is talking about &quot;too heavy or too hot&quot;, his context is long-distance walking in New England conditions. If you're doing a different activity in a different place, your definitions will change. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a climber, I didn't mind carrying a bomber, comfy tent for a few hours to set up a basecamp - a couple of kilos was &quot;light&quot;. Now that my focus is long-distance mountain walking my definition of &quot;too heavy&quot; has changed radically - nowadays I would shoot for a quarter of that, even in the UK winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And &quot;too hot&quot; means very different things to someone who walks in Sweden vs someone who walks in Arizona. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if &quot;a true 4-season tent&quot; means a tent that would work for everything between the Mojave in June to a winter ascent of Denali, the answer is obviously no. But if you're talking about a shelter for a walk that might involve a steamy valley and an inch or two of snow by a chilly glacier, the answer is very much yes. But you have a number of workable options, and the right choice for you will depend on a wide range of factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second, skills and equipment selection are as important as your choice of shelter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For someone with experience, a 9oz/250g flat tarp or a 12oz/350g pyramid tarp could match any 5lb/2.5kg Hilleberg Red Label for performance and safety in moderate winter conditions. And they would easily adapt to provide excellent summer shelter as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to pull this off requires:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good judgement of conditions &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skillful site selection, guying and pegging&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The right choice of sleeping system and optional additional bivy protection etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And it also requires a different attitude to comfort and exposure to&#xA;nature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are no free rides. With modern materials you can push lightweight shelters into some pretty hairy conditions, but only if you know what you are doing and are prepared to compromise on comfort. Or you can enjoy the comfort and safety of a Red Label Hilleberg, but at the cost of lugging 3-4 times the weight. And there is a spectrum of solutions in-between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As always, the right answer depends on your application, skills and preferences&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as always with questions of gear selection, the real answer is that it depends. It depends on your activity, the range of conditions you'll encounter, your skills and experience, and your personal preferences, dislikes and tolerance of risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish I could offer you some kind of easy answer, but that would be dishonest. Even seasoned walkers struggle with their choice of shelter, and with how their shelter integrates with their other equipment selections. Most keen mountain walkers are continuously refining their systems as their experience develops. If you ask a more specific question we could offer more specific advice. But more generally I would urge you to join the online communities that gather around your field of interest and begin the long process of building your knowledge and experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T15:23:12.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19133" CreationDate="2018-04-26T15:41:34.613" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Taking a slightly different tact here, I'm going to recommend 3 exercises (or types of exercise), rows, squats and Turkish get-ups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rows&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the rounded shoulder postural issues you see in strong climbers I believe is from disproportionately strong lats. Climbers love pull ups, and I've known several who trained pull ups (and pull up variations) in the gym as well as campusing up every overhanging route they could find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The forward, rolled shoulder posture issue is generally a sign of a tight chest (mainly seen in your typical bench bross, office workers and office working bench bros) and weak upper back, particularly the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhomboid_muscles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rhomboid muscles&lt;/a&gt;, which help to pull the shoulders back and stabilise the scapula.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to reverse this, and help protect your shoulders is full range of motion rows (inverted rows are great for this) or a favourite of Dan John, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.t-nation.com/training/reawaken-your-rhomboids&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;batwings&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Squats&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;But I climb!&quot; I hear you cry, &quot;Why do I need to work my legs?&quot;. It's true, it's not immediately obvious, and I have heard the ideal climbing physique described as the upper body of a silverback gorilla and the legs of a stick insect, and this does fit the typical image of a climber that most people seem to have, but I think there's a couple of reasons to include them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, you do need leg strength to climb. The ability to pull yourself up by your arms will only carry you so far, how do you tackle climbing on crimps on a slab when you can only get a couple of fingers on the hold? How about standing up from a rock-over move? You need leg strength!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, a couple of years back Alex Puccio, arguably one of the best boulderers in the world, had to pull out of the bouldering world cup after suffering a severe knee injury, during a slip while warming up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squats help keep the knees healthy. Several years back, I was dropped by my climbing partner from around 8m up. I hit the floor, feet first, dropped into a squat and rolled onto my back to absorb the impact and suffered only a bit of muscular soreness the next couple of days. I attribute this entirely to consistently including &lt;a href=&quot;https://bretcontreras.com/a-set-of-goblet-squats-per-day-keeps-the-doctor-away/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;goblet squats&lt;/a&gt; in my training program. I suggest you do the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Turkish Get-ups&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the main issues I've seen with climbers (and boulderers) is shoulder issues. When we slip, we don't always do the (usually) smart thing and let go, we can clamp down on the hold, which can shock load the shoulder joint and cause issues (spoken from personal experience).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strongfirst.com/the-turkish-get-up-a-clinicians-perspective/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turkish get-ups&lt;/a&gt; are a fantastic exercise for strengthening the entire shoulder girdle (as well as being a &lt;a href=&quot;https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/movement-medicine-breaking-down-the-turkish-get-up&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;generally awesome full body exercise&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though definitely not gym specific advice, one of the main issues I see with new climbers (particularly men) is too much reliance on brute strength and upper body power, and not enough on technique and footwork.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to become a better climber, learn to use your feet more. If you learn to use your feet and legs more (leg strength can help here), then you're being more efficient, using less energy and tiring your upper body less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen big guy climbers who can barely manage 5 pull ups able to easily lead 7a sport climbs because of excellent footwork and body positioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15558" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T15:41:34.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19213" CreationDate="2018-04-26T18:07:51.547" Score="7" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading about off-roading just now, in particular best practices for conservation and safety, and I ended up on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_(crossing)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page for fording&lt;/a&gt;. But that page deals mostly with either natural fords or man-made crossings that are deliberately below water level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose you are in a situation where you have to cross a stream in the back country, and suppose there are an existing set of tracks through the stream (I am a firm believer in never crossing a body of water unless there are clear tracks from previous crossings, so as to prevent upsetting the delicate ecosystem of the stream). What is the best method to take to get your vehicle across the stream 1.) in the safest way possible, and 2.) with the least amount of impact to the stream ecosystem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T22:44:32.693" Title="What is the proper way to ford a shallow body of water in a back country situation?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-26T18:29:45.547" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stone paper, you can find notebooks made of it on Amazon. they have brought out a range for chefs to use in kitchens is how I heard about them. Seem to be well reviewed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15560" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T04:01:42.223" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T04:01:42.223" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19210" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-26T20:09:52.260" Score="13" ViewCount="1285" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was camping at around 1500m in the Italian Alps, and around midnight I heard howling that sounded very much like a wolf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there are wolves in the area (a friend of mine was lucky enough to see one), but they are rare. On the other hand, the shepherds in the high pastures often use large dogs to protect their flocks at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to differentiate between the howling of a wolf vs a large dog?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2020-09-24T08:31:54.640" Title="Is it possible to differentiate between a dog howl and a wolf howl?" Tags="&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6337" CreationDate="2018-04-26T20:57:38.277" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've always had a three-season tent and have comfortably camped in and outside the range the OP specified (50 F to 23 F or 10 C to -5 C).  The only time we were really uncomfortable was at 4 F (- 15 C), and that was partly because we were camped on snow, which melted and then froze so it was like sleeping on a lumpy, narrow, hard mattress.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others said, it is easy to cool down a tent that is too warm (except in blazing sun).  If the tent is not warm enough, you put on more clothes.  In the&#xA;4 degree F case, I was cold even wearing my parka inside my sleeping bag.  I think an extra insulating pad would have helped a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our three season tents have always been fine in a strong wind, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if your range is as stated in the Q, a sturdy three season tent is OK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T20:57:38.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19210" CreationDate="2018-04-26T22:37:30.993" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, but it may require equipment, which is not just the human ear.  The publication quoted below is from &lt;a href=&quot;https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1/9738/Waller_BP_2016_A1b.pdf?sequence=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Montana State University&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;Disentangling canid howls across multiple&#xA;species and subspecies: Structure in a&#xA;complex communication channel&lt;/em&gt;.  (It is not clear whether this work is part of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://researchdata.ands.org.au/canid-howl-project/756858&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canid Howl Project&lt;/a&gt; which welcomes contributions of howls and analysis from non-scientists.)  This work identified 21 howl types and &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;analysed a database of over 2,000 howls recorded from 13 different&#xA;  canid species and subspecies.........[They] found that different&#xA;  species and subspecies showed markedly different use of howl types,&#xA;  indicating that howl modulation is not arbitrary, but can be used to&#xA;  distinguish one population from another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This requires equipment.  They did note one qualitative trend, which may be noticeable by the human ear, although I don't think they said that explicitly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One qualitative trend noticeable from the exemplar 209 howls (chosen&#xA;  as those nearest to the cluster centroid) is that the smaller species&#xA;  (red wolf, coyote, New Guinea singing dog, domestic dog, golden&#xA;  jackal) favoured howls that ended with a sharp drop in frequency,&#xA;  whereas larger species (arctic wolf, eastern timber wolf, European&#xA;  wolf, Mackenzie Valley wolf) used howls with much less frequency&#xA;  modulation, particularly at the end of the howl (Figure 4), although&#xA;  this may be an artifact of the lower fundamental frequency used by&#xA;  larger species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the purposes of the OP, an answer that comes from personal experience, using nothing but the human ear, would be more useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-04-28T14:45:37.750" LastActivityDate="2018-04-28T14:45:37.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19208" CreationDate="2018-04-26T22:44:32.693" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will answer in reverse order: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) the least impact to the stream ecosystem, presuming you intend to cross, is to use the preexisting track. First, this restricts disturbance to an already disturbed place (kind of like walking on the trail, not next to it). Second, you aren't going to need to break ground to another part of the stream, again limiting new disturbance. (But, did that track heading off just a bit back there lead to a bridge or safer place? Check the map.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Safety. Since somebody else managed to get across, it is conceivable that you can too (avoid places where tracks go in but none come out!). But, conceivable is not a clear yes. You need to determine for yourself if it is safe for &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; to cross &lt;em&gt;now&lt;/em&gt;, as opposed to &lt;em&gt;them&lt;/em&gt; back &lt;em&gt;when&lt;/em&gt;. So:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the current water depth, do you need a snorkel (and have one)? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the bottom like (rock, gravel, sand, mud, big holes), and is it possible that it has changed since the last crossing, such as being washed out in a flash flood?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What do the entry and exit look like, and do you have approach and takeoff angles that can handle it (and don't forget how deep the hood might go in the water on a steep entry)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you rate your abilities (previous experience), your group's abilities (if multiple vehicles), and your rescue gear (winch, traction devices, mechanical knowledge and tools if you stall out the engine with water)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did you actually walk the proposed crossing to check it out?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If all else fails, how close to civilization are you, and how good are your communications (cell, radio, PLB)? You did leave a proposed itinerary and return time with someone back in civilization, didn't you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Is it safe?&quot; is ultimately about risk assessment giving the whole system a good look. If you are alone, and it was deep when you walked it, and has tree snags, and you are out in a vehicle you borrowed from a friend without any equipment, there is no shame in turning back and leaving it for another day. There is no shame in turning back in a well-equipped group if it just doesn't seem like a good risk.  Even if you just feel uneasy, reconsider going - our brains have millions of years of evolution trying to keep us alive with vaguely uneasy feelings so listen to them! A little healthy paranoia goes a long way at times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have fun, tread lightly, and be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2018-04-26T22:44:32.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="854" CreationDate="2018-04-27T06:16:07.197" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;After six years of asking this question, now I am answering my own question purely based on my experience and how I introduced myself and my family to camping. I see this is a very common question and people who have never camped before get confused how to start doing it. I remember my state and thus I feel it might help sharing my experience here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took baby steps and happy I did it that way. We had our 4 month old daughter the first time we went camping. After some research, we booked one night in a cabin, in a campground that offered almost all the amenities that you can think of. It had a proper (but shared) kitchen, our cabin had heater and beds etc. In this first trip, we got to see the campground, other people and how they camp and also realized what we needed for future trips. Right next to our cabin, we saw a couple with a one year old come and stay in their tent. Looking at them, we decided to camp in a tent next time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next time I went for a night in a similar campground, with all amenities but I booked a tent site. Putting a tent together is easy, it may seem complex but if you can easily do it in like 20 minutes or so. I should have tried it at home before but I just learnt it at the site. Tent was up in about an hour or so but it was almost about to fly - went to the extremely helpful campground office folks - they told me to buy the real stakes (not the ones you get with the tent itself) and lent me a hammer. They were so helpful, the in-fact came to our site and helped me do it right. I want to mention this incident here because there will be things that you learn, but there will be help available or options on the campground. This again is a slightly luxurious campground, which I intentionally chose being new to camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next time I went with a larger group of friends, this time I was the only one who had camped ever and this time it was super comfortable. On this occasion, we booked a campsite which didn't have the luxuries but we did fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that now I am an experienced camper and I enjoy it a lot. Also, every time I go I forget something ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, I would say if you are camping with the kids for the first time, maybe you can do one night in a campground close to your home. I am planning for the same with my second kid, who is just one year old, in a campground which is 15 minutes drive from my home. If things don't go well, I can always drive home anytime. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camping has been a great experience and I would suggest either go with someone who has experience in it or else take baby steps, slowly ease into it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="199" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T06:16:07.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19215" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19219" CreationDate="2018-04-27T07:19:49.783" Score="12" ViewCount="2601" Body="&lt;p&gt;I always read that if a self inflatable mat feels too hard we should blow extra air in it (with the mouth) to make it softer, more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My 7.5cm thick Vango Adventure feels way too hard after blowing extra air in it though, and even theoretically it makes no sense to me: more air = more air molecules packed together = harder not softer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way, and if so what is the way to make a self inflatable mat a bit less firm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15563" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T21:23:12.570" Title="Self inflatable mats: the more air, the more comfortable?" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19215" CreationDate="2018-04-27T07:27:31.457" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Extra air works if the reason it feels too hard is that you're compressing the filling (these mats have an open, springy foam inside). But of course there's a point where adding air makes it firmer even though the air moves so you're supported over a larger area. Just add with old-fashioned air mattresses, you need to optimise them for your own use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can choose not to blow into it. You can close the valve when it first fills out, and you'll have less air in there than if you left it a few minutes with nothing on top. You can allow it to inflate itself with a sleeping bag on top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T07:27:31.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19195" CreationDate="2018-04-27T07:52:45.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best solution is to not use classical paper. There are a lot of alternatives nowadays and you've already received a lot of them through the other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the reason why I write yet another answer is that I have the ultimate solution for your problem as a whole: &lt;a href=&quot;https://getrocketbook.co.uk/products/everlast-rocketbook&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Rocketbook Everlast&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/FL2aOGwm3Ak?t=56&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;explanation video&lt;/a&gt;). I use it for myself at work, privately and of course while being out there as my field notes. It's really awesome!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T08:05:57.590" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T08:05:57.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19215" CreationDate="2018-04-27T09:42:02.190" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the thickness of the mattress and the ground below it. With a very thick mattress and a level ground, it's the opposite: Less air is softer/more comfortable.** The thinner the mat or the less even the ground (e.g. roots), the bigger the chance that you &quot;touch&quot; the ground (i.e. only compressed foam in between) - usually that happens at your hip (highest load) or wherever the protruding feature (e.g. root) is. In that case more air means more load distribution over the mattress and thus more &quot;ground-clearance&quot;, meaning you are less likely to &quot;touch&quot; the ground. So while the mat is stiffer, it is still a lot softer/more comfortable than &quot;touching&quot; the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** That's obviously an oversimplification: There is an optimal point in this case. At some point less air will also feel less comfortable. When that point is reached is individual, as with regular mattresses too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T09:57:37.177" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T09:57:37.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19215" CreationDate="2018-04-27T11:16:14.613" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need the right balance of air pressure.  Both too much and too little can reduce comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be seen by thinking about the limiting cases.  With no air, you're directly on the ground.  If you could put very high pressure into the mattress without it exploding, the mattress would itself be hard, and you're effectively back to being on hard ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want something in the middle.  The best for distributing your weight over the most body area is when the lowest point on you body just touches the ground.  That is usually the hip when lying on your side.  With the hip not quite touching the ground, you don't feel the hard ground, but the mattress is selectively squished and conforms to your body up to the depth of the mattress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've got one of those inflatable pads that's maybe 1 inch or a little more thick, and I have found the above works just like the theory suggests.  I usually over-inflate the mattress when setting up the tent, then let a little air out when I lie down.  I do this while lying on my side since my hip in that position is the first thing that touches the ground when the mattress is under-inflated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T11:16:14.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19226" CreationDate="2018-04-27T10:07:33.213" Score="27" ViewCount="3658" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is common way how to transport personal belongings while swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am talking about scenario when I need to cross a lake by swimming. I would like to take my stuff (wallet, cell phone, shorts, t-shirt) with me in some waterproof sack or something like that. What is the correct/recommended gear for this job?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I try to search for &quot;swimming bag&quot; or similar, I find only results related to fancy bags for carrying stuff to/from swimming training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify my question. I know there are waterproof bags on the market. My question is more about what is the best gear (or class of gear) according to experience of somebody who actually try that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15566" OwnerDisplayName="matousc" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T08:41:10.540" Title="How to transport personal belongings while swimming long distance?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4548" CreationDate="2018-04-27T13:55:47.113" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 3 to 7-mile trail run every day is a bit for most dogs.  It wears down their cartilage over time.  I wore out a couple of labs doing fewer miles than that.  At age 8 they had joint problems.  I just stay with 1 mile walk a day now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider a dalmatian coach dog.  It is bred for running with the coach.  They are also bred to accompany, protect, and warn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-28T20:59:51.660" LastActivityDate="2018-04-28T20:59:51.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19221" CreationDate="2018-04-27T14:03:46.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Search on &quot;dry bag&quot;.  Look for one with a tether and tow it.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://ortliebusa.com/product/ultra-lightweight-ps-10-drybag/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ortlieb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also there are some waterproof packs.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seallinegear.com/packs-duffles/urban-backpack&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I don't know anything about this brand - it is just an example.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T14:20:49.580" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T14:20:49.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19221" CreationDate="2018-04-27T14:04:30.533" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Until you got to &quot;shorts and T shirt&quot; I'd have said a waterproof belt bag.  I've used them kayaking (on the rare occasions when it's warm enough to go without a drysuit or at least dry-cag in the UK) and for swimming in the sea/lakes/rivers.  They'll hold a decent wallet, phone and keys without much effect on your swimming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, avoid trying to take more than that, but I assume you've considered that already.  I wouldn't want anything bigger fastened to me, but would instead use a good roll-top drybag and tow it with an easy-to-release line. I have a tow-line belt for kayaking (things like recovering beginners' boats in flat water) so would try that, or a line held in one hand.  A loop over one shoulder goes against my whitewater-trained instincts but would be quite sensible in placid water.  The dry bag should be packed so it floats but not too full of air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that there are special tow floats (bright to make you more visible). Some have dry storage. That's what the experts use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T08:41:10.540" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T08:41:10.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9573" CreationDate="2018-04-27T14:20:49.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been feeding several Ravens for over 8 years the same family every year.&#xA;They love me and I love them. Here is a list of foods that my Ravens love.&#xA;Meat Raw or Cooked, they love dairy any pasta with cheese or eggs in it. Tons&#xA;of peanut butter sandwiches, raw hot dogs, and their personal favorite Pizza. I have witnessed them eating some black oil sunflower seeds I put out for the other birds but they don't seem to take any of the peanuts that I put out for the bluejays. They are a little fussy with seafood's but I have tucked it into&#xA;a quiche that they really like as well. Perhaps they are just spoiled rotten or really like my cooking. Either way I promote them to stay in my life and backyard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15567" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T14:20:49.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19221" CreationDate="2018-04-27T14:35:25.943" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are these types of dry-bags that float and are combined with a leash and waist band. They are often marketed as primarely a &quot;safety buoy&quot;, as they provide you with visibility, which is definitely a nice thing if there are boats around. Many of them just have a small pouch for keys/wallet/phone, but there exists variants with much more capacity. Keywords are dry bag or tow float.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Havtaske01.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Havtaske01.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;Swimmer with tow float&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Havtaske01.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;by Danielle from wikimedia commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T16:47:08.057" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T16:47:08.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19227" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-27T15:27:23.340" Score="3" ViewCount="63" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my holiday planning, I've been trying to perform what I thought was a simple task, but which turned out to be more complicated than I'd thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a given geographical location, defined either as a place-of-interest or as a delineated area on the map, I would like to find user-submitted pictures whose tag matches a certain keyword. For instance, I'd like to find pictures tagged by users with the word 'rainbow', and whose location is within a certain location that I can define within an online mapping system such as Google Maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Flickr and Panoramio used to be able to allow searching by keyword (picture tag), and one could then simply zoom in to the desired location in order to be left only with relevant results. However, Panoramio is of course now offline, and Flickr seems to have dropped this feature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I currently do is to zoom in on the desired area with Google Maps, then bring up the Photos layer from the bottom of the screen. The downsides are of course that I have to go through pictures manually, since there is no search function for them; and that I am limited to rectangular regions of interest as opposed to being able to define a polygonal area, which you would need in order to delimit, say, the valley of a river, or the outline of a national park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tips from GPS/geolocation/GoogleMapsAPI enthusiasts would be much appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15532" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T18:43:07.283" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T18:43:07.283" Title="Finding user images based on keywords/tags and precise map location" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19182" CreationDate="2018-04-27T17:44:24.777" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no similar issues with sailing ships.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sails are never designed to fit tightly within any kind of frame. To be effective they must be able to change shape and position, something that is done with lines (called sheets). Most sails are fastened to solid objects only on one or two sides (occasionally three) but in all cases those solid objects can flex or change position relative to each other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example the mainsail of a normal single-masted sailboat is attached to the mast at the front, and the boom at the bottom. The boom is pivoted where it attaches to the mast, and also the attachment point can be moved up and down the mast, and the sail can slide up and down the mast and along the boom.. This absorbs strain due to changes in wind pressure (as well as allowing control of the sail shape), and is more than enough to cope with any changes in size due to shrinkage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-04-27T18:23:33.397" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T18:23:33.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19215" CreationDate="2018-04-27T21:23:12.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;An underinflated mat means you're on the ground. A firm (enough)a mat means you're not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The greater air doesn't make the &lt;strong&gt;mat&lt;/strong&gt; softer, it makes the sensation of the ground under the mat softer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2018-04-27T21:23:12.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19231" CreationDate="2018-04-28T01:54:25.250" Score="11" ViewCount="10639" Body="&lt;p&gt;The young of cats are called kittens or cubs, depending partly on how large the cat is, and apparently partly on informal custom.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitten&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, kitten&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The word &quot;kitten&quot; derives from the Middle English word kitoun, which&#xA;  in turn came from the Old French chitoun or cheton. Juvenile big&#xA;  cats are called &quot;cubs&quot; rather than kittens; either term may be used&#xA;  for the young of smaller wild felids, such as ocelots, caracals and&#xA;  lynx, but &quot;kitten&quot; is usually more common for these species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far, clear.  But take a look at the name for the young of cougars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The young of mountain lions are often called &lt;strong&gt;kittens.&lt;/strong&gt;  This seems an odd choice for the young of such a large cat.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cougars are the largest of the small cats. They are placed in the&#xA;  subfamily Felinae, although their bulk characteristics are similar to&#xA;  those of the big cats in the subfamily Pantherinae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainlion.org/CAL_ch2.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar: The American Lion&lt;/a&gt;, a publication of the Mountain Lion Foundation says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Newborn mountain lions enter the world as buff brown balls of fur&#xA;  weighing slightly more than a pound. Biologists call them kittens&#xA;  or cubs either is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This article then proceeds to call them kittens throughout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sciencing.com/baby-cougars-8582162.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sciencing&lt;/a&gt; calls them cubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a &lt;strong&gt;scientific basis&lt;/strong&gt; for choosing kittens over cubs, or vice versa, for the young of cats?  The extremes are clear: a baby tiger is a cub; a baby domestic cat is a kitten.  But in the middle -- is there a scientific rule or just personal preference? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-11-04T20:13:36.360" Title="What determines whether the young of a cat is called a kitten or a cub?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19230" CreationDate="2018-04-28T03:38:29.890" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on whether the cat is a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Panthera&lt;/a&gt; (cubs) or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felinae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Felinae&lt;/a&gt; (kittens). This &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Panthera&lt;/a&gt; is the big cats,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The British taxonomist Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising the species lion, tiger, jaguar, and leopard on the basis of cranial features. Results of genetic analysis indicate that the snow leopard also belongs to the Panthera, a classification that was accepted by IUCN assessors in 2008.&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18146/is-the-correct-term-canada-goose-or-canadian-goose&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and Felinae is basically everything else. A not quite complete description is that Panthera cats roar while Felinae cats purr, but that not entirely accurate as the snow leopard is unable to roar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In big cats- - lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars- - a length of tough cartilage runs up the hyoid bones to the skull. This feature prevents purring but also gives the larynx enough flexibility to produce a full- throated roar- - 114 decibels' worth in the case of one lion tested. The sound can be loud enough to be near a human's pain threshold. Purring ability, rather than size or behavior, is one of two chief distinctions between the two main genera of cat, Felis and Panthera. (The other difference is that the eyes of the former have pupils that narrow to vertical slits.) These genera are sometimes called &quot;the purring cats&quot; and &quot;the roaring cats,&quot; respectively, although among the latter only the lion roars habitually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1995/Questions-and-Answers-About-Wildlife&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitten&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, cubs refers to the offspring of the big cats, while either can be used for the offspring of the purring cats, but kittens are more commonly used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for why it is not consistent, I would just like to point out how people use both &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18146/is-the-correct-term-canada-goose-or-canadian-goose&quot;&gt;Canada and Canadian Geese.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-04-28T03:38:29.890" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10838" CreationDate="2018-04-28T14:35:43.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I drove a Toyota FJ Cruiser RTT for 14 days through Australia, 5300km from Sydney to Darwin (see pic below).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantages:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;speed to set up (5min to open, 7min to close), &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not as much dirt as when in the floor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;less bugs, even when there were millions of flies and ants outside&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more comfortable to mount and dismount when wet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's very sturdy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;protected from wild animals - not just snakes and crocs, but also annoying possums/raccoons, dingos/dogs and feral cats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roof space is very very reduced, and the weight you can place on the limited space is also limited&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More exposure to wind and noise when inside the tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I felt the car was less stable with all the weight on top. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I needed longer distances to brake and felt the bouncing forward&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I couldn't drive safely as fast as it would be without the RTT&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjebL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjebL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rooftop tent open&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15572" LastActivityDate="2018-04-28T14:35:43.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19233" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-28T15:04:44.190" Score="8" ViewCount="2097" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I and our adult children have inherited a few acres in the middle of a forest in the mountains of North Carolina and would like to set up a semi-permanent campsite.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, this would allow us to camp there with minimum preparation but still have minimal impact on the site and not attract vandalism from passers-by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15573" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-04-30T01:16:40.713" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T20:28:24.203" Title="How to design a semi-permanent campsite for short trips into the woods that won't attract vandals when we're not there?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19233" CreationDate="2018-04-28T18:25:43.203" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you are going to build a sturdy structure, you cannot be confident that you will escape vandalism over the long term whether by homo sapiens or some other species.  You will also have to be prepared for normal maintenance.  Even a sturdy structure is not absolute proof against vandalism or people breaking in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best option, proof against vandalism, but something of a PIA, is packing everything you need in a closet at home in a highly organized manner, including clothes and things like toothbrushes, and haul it to the site each time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also want to investigate &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10838/roof-top-tents-vs-conventional-tents&quot;&gt;roof top tents&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum:&lt;/strong&gt;  I should have made my answer clearer when, or shortly after, I posted it.  &lt;strong&gt;You cannot make a &lt;em&gt;semi-permanent&lt;/em&gt; campsite proof against trespassers, squatter, or vandals.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as you improve your campsite, passers-by (the OP's phrase) will use it.  Some, maybe many, users will be respectful of the site, but eventually someone is going to litter, cut down a tree or otherwise deface or make a mess of your site.  At a minimum, they will trample down vegetation and make a path you don't want.  All you can do is minimize the hassle of assembling and packing stuff for your visits.  Enlisting a neighbor to watch your site will warn you when your site has become a mess.  Campsites in parks don't stay clean by themselves! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T20:28:24.203" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T20:28:24.203" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19233" CreationDate="2018-04-28T19:00:12.240" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What to sleep in?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Any building will be inviting vandals, so I would just level out a part of the plot with easy access for your car or a camper van.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Instead of having a building you can bring a tent or a camper van, RV or a trailer that is ready to camp in.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In (parts of) Europe it is also quite common to see a small trailer that holds a tent, which you fold out into a roomy tent big enough to sleep 4 or even 6 people. The beds are part of the structure and there is some space for the essentials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A base for your nights!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That flat area can be just dirt if the dirt in your plot is going to work for that, it can also be tiles or concrete slabs you put in, cut wood or if allowed in the area, a slap of concrete you poor on the plot.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Or you can make and maintain a lawn to camp on or around if you are willing to put in the time for mowing it and the tent (or vehicle) will not be on it enough to do damage.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Of all above the concrete slap will have the most impact but is also the best collecting all that drips from the vehicle so you can collect that and take it off site if needed.&#xA;If you are in an area where forest fires are common or very dangerous, I would not make a fire pit but use a fire container which you can put in your car when you leave, either a BBQ or a fire cage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to make the going out effort free?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you want to stay in a tent or several small tents, you can have all of the gear packed in a trailer or a couple of duffel bags which you can put in the back of your car.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A trailer, camping van or RV are always ready to go.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And the fold in trailer tent is basically ready to go, although you might prefer not to store the extra's inside long term.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drive on or not?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The less easy the access to the plot, the less likely someone will come and make use of it, (either as you would or as a vandal) but the less easy it will be for you to arrive and leave. So it will be a trade off.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Consider parking a bit farther out and walk your gear in over a narrow path compared to driving onto the site.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If the site is a bit farther from an access road you may have to walk your gear in. In which case a small cart with wheels suitable for the ground might be a very valued part of your kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Facilities!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are just camping there once in a long while, you can dig a latrine or bring out all human waste as well as all your (kitchen)waste.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But if you do go there often, you might want to consider a 'loo' structure where you can easily collect the human waste to take off, (which can be a tent like structure) or build a system that does not need the taking away of waste, compost loo's come to mind but are likely not the only suitable structure.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Using a camping vehicle you might have a waste water system doing it for you.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Waste water that is true water might be allowed to get into the ground or through the ground into a natural stream in/near the plot, but only if it is clean of chemicals and disease. A shower (behind a screen for privacy) can be rigged with a bucket or watering can, over a small tiled area for foot safety, as long as no unwanted chemicals are used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T18:26:23.143" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T18:26:23.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14994" CreationDate="2018-04-29T07:55:30.447" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my perspective a col is a dependent  gap or linked space that divide the apex of a  a hill&#xA;while pass is a stretch of lowland dividing two independent or isolated hill. Its very possible for each of this two hill to have a col space dividing their apex!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15577" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T07:55:30.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19002" CreationDate="2018-04-29T11:17:21.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might help in places, but you'd be taking them on and off regularly as the snow is mostly patchy, and it doesn't address the bigger problem of meltwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The highest part of the Serra de Estrela, roughly the part south of road EN 232 that runs west-east through Manteigas, does still have substantial snow in April.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When approaching the highest part, it becomes apparent there is still substantial snow:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rAByv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rAByv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Above Vale do Conde&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Above Vale do Conde.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, that is not the worst problem.  It was a warm and sunny day when I was there.  I believe the stream in Vale do Conde is normally ankle-deep and easily crossed.  When I was there, the entire valley was flooded with meltwater.  Worse, I had not prepared for river-crossings, and had brought neither stream-crossing footwear, nor my fording pole.  I tried to ford barefeet, but turned around when I reached the actual bank after 5 metre of knee-deeping wading through the flooded part, only realising the actual stream had become waist-deep.  The aborted attempt resulted in many thorns in my bare feet, ouch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EZ7oS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EZ7oS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flooded Vale do Conde&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Spring flood in Vale do Conde, forcing a detour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, I ploughed through the snow upstream, hoping to find a way to cross.  Eventually I found a rock lying over the stream, that I could scramble across.  I did sink through the snow, so perhaps snowshoes would have been helpful here, but the snow was intermittent so I'd have had to take them on and off frequently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iovau.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iovau.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Snow in Vale do Conde&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Snow at the detour in Vale do Conde.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back on the trail, the trail was alternately covered in deep snow, or covered in meltwater.  In this case the meltwater was shallow enough to walk through with my boots without getting my feet wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I0D6I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I0D6I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wet trail in Vale do Conde.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Above Vale do Conde, back on the trail, the trail is very wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Viewing the highest mountain, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_%28Serra_da_Estrela%29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Torre&lt;/a&gt;, in the distance, I could tell that there was a lot more snow yet to come.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tKMS7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tKMS7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View to Torre.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;View to Torre, the highest parts of the Serra de Estrela, where people are still skiing (nearly 2000 metre elevation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to delays, I reached no further than Covão dos Conches this day, and camped there illegally, as I was unable to reach the campground at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Cov%C3%A3o+d%27Ametade&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Covão d'Amatade&lt;/a&gt; which was another 2–4 hours of hiking away (probably less than 2 in good conditions, but the steep trail down was tricky when I hiked it in heavy rain and half covered in snow).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gu5Bz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gu5Bz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Covão dos Conches&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The reward: Covão dos Conches, entrance to Middle Earth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following morning, the weather was poor.  This was the stretch where snowshoes would have been most useful, as I walked through the snow continuously for a couple of hours.  However, it was entirely passable without snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0LsPY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0LsPY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Whiteout at Barros Vermelhos&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Whiteout at Barros Vermelhos.  Snowshoes might have helped here, but it was passable without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More photos from the hike, including the period before and after I reached any snow, in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/s/aHsmgCRAsz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;full album on Flickr&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T11:17:21.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19221" CreationDate="2018-04-29T17:55:23.223" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;River swimming is very popular in Switzerland and has led to the development of exactly the kind of dry bag you are looking for called &quot;Wickelfisch&quot;. It's a dry bag you roll up and tow.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wickelfischusa.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://wickelfischusa.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11680" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T17:55:23.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-29T19:41:52.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some Western European countries there has done plenty of research and evidence that a lot of the forest maintained as production forests and cleared of undergrowth and dead wood have lead to regional extinction or endangerment of certain species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many species specialise and have specialised on dead wood for eating, nesting or other dependancies. A lot of forest maintenance (with increased ecological considerations) here now tries to re-establish dead wood both standing up and laying down.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;examples:&#xA; - bats and birds breeding in natural cavities in trees.&#xA; - Fungi!&#xA; - beetles specialised on dead wood.&#xA; - small vertebrates and invertebrates using falling braches and logs on the forest floor as shelter to hide under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/forest-deadwood-1/assessment-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European Environment Agency&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deadwood (coarse woody debris) is a proxy indicator for biodiversity,&#xA;  since it is a habitat for a wide array of organisms including&#xA;  vertebrates, invertebrates, lichens, bryophytes and fungi. Deadwood&#xA;  decomposition plays a key role in the recycling of nutrients and&#xA;  organic matter, as well as in providing a wide variety of&#xA;  (micro)habitats for plants and invertebrates, particularly insect&#xA;  species and other organisms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2090" LastActivityDate="2018-04-29T19:41:52.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19241" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-04-29T21:56:03.987" Score="11" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last night, I had to climb a tower at work. When I reached the top platform (about 40 feet up), and turned my back to close the swinging gate behind me, I was whacked on the back of the head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, I was wearing a hard hat and was not knocked off my feet. It did hurt, though - without the hard hat it would have been worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What hit me? A bird. I saw it gliding away as I looked around to see &quot;what hit me&quot; (literally). It was probably an owl, as this was after dark. We also have seagulls in the area, and it's possible it was one of them, too. I wasn't being overly observant at the moment, obviously, as I don't know which one it was - it was a good-sized bird, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realized then that the other time a similar occurrence transpired it had to be a bird, too - possibly the same feathered &quot;friend.&quot; I had thought somebody had hit me with a rock or a dirt clod (but nobody was around; I looked at the ground below me, rather than outwards, where I would have no doubt seen a bird, as I did last night).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The platform is small and when the plant is in operation, very noisy and vibrates. I am almost 100% certain there is no nest up there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why did this bird attack me? Both times it/they whacked me on the back of my head, hitting my (plain white) hard hat. They were sharp blows that hurt, even with the hard hat protecting my noggin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: why would this/these bird[s] attack me? For fun? Because I was in their airspace? Or what? I have never molested them. I have shone a flashlight on them a couple of times as they sat in their tree. They have never swooped down on me as I was walking in the area, only when I'm about 40 feet above ground level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This occurred in Marina, California, a quarter mile east of Monterey Bay (between the Bay and Highway 1).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do owls (or seagulls) have something against white hard hats, or people climbing up on platforms?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2573" LastEditorUserId="2573" LastEditDate="2018-05-04T14:18:38.637" LastActivityDate="2018-05-04T14:18:38.637" Title="Why was I attacked by a bird (twice)?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19241" CreationDate="2018-04-30T11:58:04.323" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You almost certainly got close to a nest.  The behavior you describe fits various raptors when intruders get close to a nest.  There very likely is a nest up there somewhere.  If the nest isn't on the tower, then it is in a nearby tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bird being a owl wouldn't be my first thought.  A seagull is even more unlikely.  Since you're only &amp;frac14; mile from the coast, a osprey would fit.  However, various hawks and falcons exhibit the same behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ospreys would nest right on top, perhaps on the roof so that you can't see the nest from the tower.  Falcons would usually go for a niche, like a shelf just under the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look really carefully with binoculars from the ground.  Consider avoiding having people go up the tower during nesting season, although you haven't said what the purpose of the tower is and how realistic such a restriction might be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T11:58:04.323" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2018-04-30T14:43:20.760" Score="1" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Finnish Gap Fire&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option, besides the great answers already posted, is a Finnish gap fire, or Rakovalkea gap fire:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8j5QG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8j5QG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The finished project&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll need a hand axe to carve notches into the logs to make them stable (kind of like a partial log cabin wall). Here's the directions from the site: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bushcraftdays.com/how-to-build-a-finnish-rakovalkea-gap-fire/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How To... Build a Finnish Rakovalkea Gap Fire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The component parts are two logs and various green sticks for supports and wedges. I flattened one of the logs in preparation for cutting out a groove in which to start the fire, keeping all the chippings for getting the fire going later. The log was not wet, exactly, but it was slightly damp owing to the heavy rain we have had recently. I could have left this experiment for the summer but thought that if I could get a damp log going then that would be a more realistic test for the UK environment. This type of fire is normally used in dry arctic environments where dead standing pines are abundant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pXqU9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pXqU9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot; Create a flat surface on one log&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the log was flattened I carved out the channel. This is the dangerous bit, so cut the channel out with small cuts and with the log on the ground or well off to your side. I left flattened areas off to the sides but on reflection I think I should have made the channel the full length to maximize airflow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wyEVU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wyEVU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Axe out a channel&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the underside of the log with the channel I axed out two grooves for the support poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1E6B3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1E6B3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Under the log with the channel axe out a groove at each end&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The support poles help to stop the log from rolling off to one side. I think if they were big enough they must help when the log is resting on snow to keep it secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X9ILV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X9ILV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bottom log set up&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the log that I was going to place on top I just flattened one side of it so it would rest securely on top of the bottom log. Again, on reflection, as the log was damp I should have made multiple cuts in this area with my axe to increase the surface area of the log and let the flames catch hold better. I came across this method when researching the Raappanan tuli candle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QM1Hj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QM1Hj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flatten out along a section of the top log&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carved two wedges that were to be used to vary the gap height between the two logs. These also proved useful as tongs later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/euHfR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/euHfR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Green wood wedges for adjusting height&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On one of the poles of green wood I carved a point and dug it into the ground beside the set up as support. I made this extra long as I was setting this up on soft earth (on the potato bed my wife had just dug over, in fact, but as it’s not been planted yet no potatoes were harmed in the making of this fire, and as I keep telling her ash is good for the soil).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aP0K8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aP0K8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;One sharpened pole for support&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I slimmed down the end of another green stick and hammered a nail into it. One end of the stick is dug into the ground and nailed into the top log (diagonally opposite to the vertically upright green pole)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QqBa3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QqBa3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nail pole support&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the basic set up without any tinders in the middle. All in all (not including foraging the wood) this set up took me about 15 minutes to do. I have read that with the much larger set ups (full body length) someone with good axe skills can set one up in an hour or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gr28Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gr28Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Basic set up without tinder&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get the fire going I used a mixture of waxed wood shavings, cotton wool balls smeared in Vaseline, and a lot of dry larch twigs. I did try and find some pine or spruce resin but to no avail. Resin is traditionally used along with pine fat wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MueUE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MueUE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Filled with tinders&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lit the whole thing with just a couple of matches and in a few seconds the whole set up was alight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oIgp3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oIgp3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All images and quoted text from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bushcraftdays.com/how-to-build-a-finnish-rakovalkea-gap-fire/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How To... Build a Finnish Rakovalkea Gap Fire&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T14:43:20.760" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19155" CreationDate="2018-04-30T14:59:26.053" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Harm, upset, or imbalance are three levels.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Need to weigh impact versus usability.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You're just trampling on dead branches and trunks EVERYWHERE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There has to be a balance somewhere.  Limited trails still limits the use and in a way you are concentrating impact to a smaller area.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People clear land all the time and don't create an imbalance.  Ranchers even introduce domestic animals without creating an imbalance.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave some areas pristine to preserve the local wild life.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick some explore areas that you clear debris.&#xA;You could even have a few larger slag piles that could be used by bugs and critters.  Yes it has impact but less impact than burning the wood. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick some trails.  Maybe clear debris 10 foot either side. It lets you see a lot more.  In good weather you can walk off the trail to spread the impact.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't ride the ATV when the ground is soft and it will have more impact. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just cleared 5-10 acres you would make it much more usable and not a significant impact in my opinion.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My buddy has 300 acres and he cleared like 1/2.  You can explore the whole property and still see the nature.  We also have some critters you want to see coming.  If you are going to hunt it you need some site lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if you have hunting leases up there.  They try and strike a balance on usability and preserve nature.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring in a bulldozer clearly has more impact than clearing by hand.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dig a small pond could improve the ecosystem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-04-30T15:06:08.570" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T15:06:08.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19246" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19252" CreationDate="2018-04-30T17:11:03.707" Score="8" ViewCount="639" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the morning on day 1 of my multi-day hike I opened up a one liter plastic bottle of water and drank half the contents. I stored the bottle in a loop on the outside of my pack and promptly forgot about it. A number of days later, sweating and thirsty I remembered the water bottle, but I worried that I might get an upset stomach if I drank the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was I right to be worried? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How long can I trust the purity of water in a water bottle after it has been opened and exposed to a person's mouth?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11504" LastEditorUserId="11504" LastEditDate="2018-04-30T18:04:27.270" LastActivityDate="2018-05-10T01:58:18.753" Title="How long can I trust the purity of water in a water bottle?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19246" CreationDate="2018-04-30T17:35:46.103" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Did you backwash?   Even if so several days.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep a jug by my bed that often goes more than a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If bottle was clear and hanging on your pack the the sun would kill bacteria.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki solar waster disinfection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T16:13:43.697" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T16:13:43.697" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19248" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19251" CreationDate="2018-04-30T18:43:38.113" Score="10" ViewCount="7114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping that this isn't the beginning of a trend, but over the past week I have discovered an alarming number of dead hummingbirds on my property. For reference, I live in a suburban area on the western coast of California, and the birds that I've been finding have green feathers, some of which also have beautiful, shimmering red feathers around their necks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This started about 5-6 days ago, when I found the first bird laying dead on its back on a lawn chair that was up against the couch. I didn't think much of it at the time, but then a couple days later, I found another two dead hummingbirds within about 15-20 feet of where I found the first one, this time on the ground. I'm no expert on birds, but a cursory inspection of their bodies revealed no obvious cause of death: no lacerations or anything that I've come to expect when the neighbors' cats make a catch. They were simply lifeless. There are windows around my house (including where I found them), so maybe they ran into them at some point when I wasn't around... But that's never happened before, or at least it's never killed a bird who's done it. (On rare occasion over the years, I've witnessed larger birds attempting to fly through them, bumping off and flying away without apparent injury.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For each of the birds, I brought them inside and tried to provide them with sugar-water in an attempt to resuscitate them, just in case I was missing out on some subtle signs of life (I'd found a hummingbird in poor shape in my garage once a number of years ago, and this technique seemed to help it get back on its feet before I released it), but at no point did any of them revive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point, I've already disposed of the birds by placing them in the wild brush out behind my house, to let nature do its own thing with them. But now that I mull it out more in my mind I'm wondering if the deaths could be linked. In all the years I've lived here (a matter of decades), I've never come across the corpse of a hummingbird, so discovering three in such short succession is quite a surprise. I wonder if it could be caused by some recent change in the local environment, but wouldn't have a clue as to what that'd be. Is there something that I should be doing with these birds should I find more, or someone who I should communicate this knowledge to? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15587" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:12:21.567" Title="Finding dead hummingbirds on my property" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3631" CreationDate="2018-04-30T19:52:20.637" Score="0" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Swedish Fire Log&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet another option is what is known as a Swedish torch or Canadian candle (especially if you have a chain saw available). This type of fire is much more useful as a camp stove as opposed to a heat source. It burns slowly, releasing most of its heat upward (toward the object being cooked). Here's the directions from the site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.freshoffthegrid.com/swedish-fire-log/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make a Swedish Fire Log&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aNnHr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aNnHr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cooking with a Swedish fire log&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A Swedish Fire Log – also referred to as a Swedish Torch or Canadian Candle – is a highly efficient campfire for cooking. First developed by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War, this type of campfire requires just a single log and can be made even when the ground is wet or covered in snow. It is also a quick and easy way to cook food while camping, especially if you have limited wood to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gtvbq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gtvbq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;top-down view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Benefits of a Swedish Fire Log&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While there are countless ways to make a campfire, the Swedish Fire Log offers some distinct advantages – especially for cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Efficient Use of Wood&lt;/em&gt; –&lt;/strong&gt;  By carefully arranging the wood from a single log, the Swedish Fire Log produces a directional flame that burns from the inside out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flat Surface for Cooking&lt;/em&gt; –&lt;/strong&gt; Placing the end of the log face down gives you a flat surface on the top for cooking. Depending on the size of your log, this surface can easily accommodate a water kettle, dutch oven, or cast iron skillet. [Note: We used a camping dutch oven with legs to allow airflow to the fire beneath it]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Quick, Usable Flame&lt;/em&gt; –&lt;/strong&gt;  Because the flames of a traditional campfire are hard to control, it is usually best to wait until it burns down to embers before cooking. This can easily take over an hour. The Swedish Fire Log concentrates the burn of the fire, allowing you to cook over a focused flame within 20 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Keeps Fire Off of the Ground&lt;/em&gt; –&lt;/strong&gt; Even with dry wood, it can be difficult to make a traditional campfire when the ground is very wet or covered in snow. The Swedish Fire Log method keeps the fire up off the ground to start, preventing vaporized water moisture from putting it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Self Feeding / Self Ventilating&lt;/em&gt; –&lt;/strong&gt; Unlike most campfires that need occasional tending, the Swedish Fire Log is completely self-sufficient once properly lit. As embers burn at the top, they fall down into the log, burning it from the top down. Air is continually drawn in through the slits on the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/faQoL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/faQoL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tools needed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;h3&gt;Swedish Fire Log Variations&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are a couple of different methods of making a Swedish Fire Log depending on the tools you have available. Here are your options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chainsaw a Whole Log&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YGLux.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YGLux.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;chainsaw a whole log&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find or cut a suitably sized log with flat, level ends on either side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the log standing on its end, use a chainsaw to cut slits into the wood. Depending on the width of the log, this can be done in either quarters or sixths. [Note: Most chainsaws have crosscut blades, so cutting along the grain might be difficult. Use the bucking spikes as a fulcrum to get better leverage].&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do not cut all the way through. Leave few inches at the bottom, so the log remains a single unit so it is easier to transport and will maintain its structure while burning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Axe a Whole Log&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ki2g2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ki2g2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;axe a whole log&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find or cut a suitably sized log with flat, level ends of either side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With a splitting axe or maul, split the log into quarters or sixths. [Note: It's okay if your splits aren't perfectly symmetrical].&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reassemble the log and keep the pieces together by using a metal coat hanger or bailing wire.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Assemble Pre-Split Wood&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H9f12.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H9f12.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;assemble pre-split wood&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find pre-split wood of roughly equal height with flat, level ends. Thankfully, most pre-split firewood is cut to uniform lengths.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arrange the split wood on its end, so it forms the appearance of a log, bark side facing out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a metal coat hanger or bailing wire to secure wood at its base.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ciAJV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ciAJV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cut edges with a hatchet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rough up the interior edges of the wood with a hatchet. These rough edges will catch embers as they fall down inside the log and help it start faster. You don't have to do the entire log, just the leading edge that faces the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ELkv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ELkv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Starting the fire&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Now that you have your fire log ready, here's how you get it started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gather kindling (dry sticks, fatwood) &amp;amp; tinder (birch bark, dry grass, paper).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Insert kindling in the center of the log. Don't over stuff or put kindling towards the outside of the log, as this will restrict airflow. A nice small bunch in the middle is all you need.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Place tinder and a small amount of kindling on top of the log in the center. Light the tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The embers from this small fire on top of the log should fall down inside and catch the other pieces of kindling. After a short period of time, the logs themselves will catch fire and the fire will continue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All images and quoted text from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.freshoffthegrid.com/swedish-fire-log/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make a Swedish Fire Log&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2018-04-30T19:52:20.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19250" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19257" CreationDate="2018-04-30T22:13:32.230" Score="12" ViewCount="2048" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inflatable life vests and PFDs that I have seen so far are meant to be inflated in emergency (either by mouth or CO2 cartridge). I didn't use them myself but they don't look like they could be deflated and then reused (or at least I think they were not designed with that in mind).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any vests that are suitable for reusing multiple times (on one trip, so without access to services, heavy tools, etc.)? Bonus points for mouth inflation, sturdiness and low weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify my intentions: I'm planning to use it for packrafting, so I would inflate it on the shore, not if I happen to fall into the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15154" LastEditorUserId="15154" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T10:04:02.177" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T17:43:21.077" Title="Are there reusable inflatable life vests (or PFDs)?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;packrafting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19248" CreationDate="2018-05-01T00:46:09.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a bird expert, much less a hummingbird expert.  I can only say what I would do if faced with dead hummingbirds on my property with the knowledge I have just gained by looking into your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would read the section on Hummingbird Sleep on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/sleep.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;World of Hummingbirds.com&lt;/a&gt;, and then follow the links to Hummingbird first aid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hummingbirds when sleeping enter into a state called torpor, when they appear dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour for a hummingbird to&#xA;  fully recover from torpor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weak hummingbirds may not survive torpor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The site has a link to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/firstaid.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hummmingbird First Aid&lt;/a&gt;, and the message is that it is extremely difficult for anyone but an experienced rehabilitator to render effective first aid.  But there are some things you can do, according to the link.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice is for one person to undertake the first aid that is safe for a neophyte to do, and another person try to get experienced help.  In my area, I would call my vet and the Wildlife Rescue League of Northern Virginia and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://hummingbirdrescuecenter.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hummingbird Rescue Center&lt;/a&gt; in San Diego.  I found the HRC quickly by googling hummingbird rehabilitation, and also found a few promising rehabber links in my area, but nothing that focused on hummingbirds.  the San Diego Center should be able to direct you to rehabbers in your area, (if there are any.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to &lt;strong&gt;why&lt;/strong&gt; you are finding dead hummers for the first time after years of no dead hummers, I suggest you call your vet, whatever is the equivalent of the Rescue League in your area, your state's Fish and Wildlife agency and the San Diego Center. My feeling is that they will want to rule out torpor first, but the Fish and Wildlife agency should be interested in the possible use of poisons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T00:46:09.237" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19246" CreationDate="2018-05-01T05:44:11.577" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are way over thinking it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presuming the water in the bottle was properly clean, potable and microbiologically safe to begin with, and you're a normal healthy human, the water in the bottle will be OK virtually indefinitely. A few days of a backpacking trip? No question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a bunch of sticks, leaf matter, or bugs, etc in the water, you can sterilize it and drink it within a day or two just fine. But if you let it sit and stew you might develop a problem, but if a problem develops it will not mater whether you drank some of it or not first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disease causing organisms generally need to be present in their hosts to multiply, or you need to ingest a good number of their spores/cysts. Neither of those conditions are likely to occur in your situation and transform your water from safe to unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T05:44:11.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="12957" CreationDate="2018-05-01T07:15:45.897" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I forgot to post what we ended up doing here, so I'll do that now (better late than never)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, we slept two nights in &lt;a href=&quot;https://hoettingeralm.at/english/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hottinger Alm&lt;/a&gt;, which is really close to Innsbruck. We took the &quot;Nordkette” to Hungersberg, and from there we walked to Umbruggler Alm, had lunch, and continued on to Hottinger Alm. It's uphill, but the stop along the way made it reasonable. A few hours walking altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We made two short side trips to Bodensteinhutte (which has facilities, i.e. food) and to Achselboden Hut (which doesn't). We walked back to Innsbruck via a gentle biking path, stopping on the way to have lunch at Arzler Alm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this was done with my son on my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing we did, which wasn't in Innsbruck, was to do two trips from  Pertisau (we took a train+bus to get there). On one day we bicycled to Gramai Alm (we rented bicycles and a carriage for our son) and on another we walked to Pletzachalm. This area is even easier to walk with kids, because the trails are paved, so you can even take them with a stroller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="483" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T07:15:45.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19254" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-01T10:59:16.060" Score="39" ViewCount="2699" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I want to go to some contry, with no specific region in mind yet, I often have trouble to get good topographical information for hiking beforehand.  I usually find it rather difficult to discover by quick Googling, especially if I don't speak the local language.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in many countries, at least in Europe, there is some kind of official institution which publishes map data and/or series of detailed topographic maps covering the whole country (or most of it), suitable for outdoor purposes.  Often these instututions are related to surveying, cadastral registration, or the military.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are these official institutions per country, and what do they provide? If there is no such institution, what is the de-facto standard map provider in that country (which means: (almost) full coverage, organized series, used by &quot;everyone and the alpine association&quot;, etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;This is a self-answered &quot;big list&quot; question, discussed &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1191/15579&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  If you have something to add, please edit the CW answer.  Stick to the official institutions or their de-facto alternatives -- &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; just every publisher producing maps.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="15579" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T20:49:54.217" LastActivityDate="2020-09-01T23:00:53.737" Title="&quot;Official&quot; providers of topographic maps per country" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;resources&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19254" CreationDate="2018-05-01T10:59:16.060" Score="26" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Europe&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Austria&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bev.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=713,1604790&amp;amp;_dad=portal&amp;amp;_schema=PORTAL&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (BEV, &amp;quot;Federal bureau for metrology and surveying&amp;quot;) publishes the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amap.at/BLATTKM50/Blattuebersicht_KM50.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ÖK50&lt;/a&gt; series in scale 1:50000, covering the whole country.  Each map has a four-digit code, and for each (blue) ÖK50 map, there are two (green) ÖK25 maps in 1:25000 for the east and west half carrying the same number (&lt;em&gt;XXXX-Ost&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;XXXX-West&lt;/em&gt;).  The maps are available in larger bookstores.  Marked trails and huts are indicated on the maps.  There's an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.austrianmap.at&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;online viewer&lt;/a&gt; for all their data.  The alpine association (ÖAV) also has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.at/portal/berg-aktiv/karten/uebersichten/alpen.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;series&lt;/a&gt; of hiking maps for the alps, produced in cooperation with the BEV and the German alpine association (see Germany).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belgium&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ngi.be/NL/NL0.shtm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nationaal Geografisch Instituut&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;/&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ngi.be/FR/FR0.shtm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Institut géographique national&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; has &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ngi.be/NL/NL1-1.shtm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;multiple series&lt;/a&gt; of non-congruent, numbered maps covering the country, called &lt;em&gt;topo10&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;topo20&lt;/em&gt;/&lt;em&gt;25&lt;/em&gt; (blue), and &lt;em&gt;topo50&lt;/em&gt; (red).  The latter two include marked trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denmark&lt;/strong&gt;, including Faroe Islands and Greenland (also Sweden): &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scanmaps.dk/?___store=website_engelsk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ScanMaps&lt;/a&gt;. Many different scales, ages and media as well as customized, personal maps printed and sent to you.&#xA;The official government institution for Geo-data links to this (commercial) site for printed maps. Topographic, Digital maps are available for download as TIFF images (for free); resolutions 1:25.000 - 1:1.000.0000 at &lt;a href=&quot;https://download.kortforsyningen.dk/content/geodataprodukter?field_korttype_tid_1=439&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kortforsyningen.dk&lt;/a&gt; (site is unfortunately only in Danish)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finland&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maanmittauslaitos&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (MML, &amp;quot;National land survey&amp;quot;) doesn't itself provide a series of paper maps, but their data is &lt;a href=&quot;https://asiointi.maanmittauslaitos.fi/karttapaikka/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;available online&lt;/a&gt; with tools for buying on-demand printed and PDF maps.  Furthermore, they provide for free high-resolution scans of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/e-services/old-printed-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;old printed map series&lt;/a&gt;.  There is, however, the GIS company &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.karttakeskus.fi/about-us/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Karttakeskus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, who have a series of numbered and congruent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.karttakauppa.fi/en/products/productgroup/2062/outdoors&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topographical maps&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;maastokartta&lt;/em&gt;) in 1:50000 and 1:25000, covering the country.  In outdoor shops you'll find &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.calazo.fi/product-category/kartat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Calazo&lt;/a&gt; maps, which cover some national parks and famous trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;France&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ign.fr/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (IGN) publishes &lt;a href=&quot;https://ignrando.fr/boutique/cartes/randonnee-france.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cartes de randonnée&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://ignrando.fr/boutique/cartes/randonnee-france.html?ign_serie=1217&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Serie bleue&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; of 1:25000 maps of all regions.  Marked trails are indicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Germany&lt;/strong&gt;: There is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topografische_Karte#Amtliche_topografische_Karten_in_Deutschland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official system&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;em&gt;Topographische Karten&lt;/em&gt; (&amp;quot;topographical maps&amp;quot; -- TK, or nowadays DTK for &lt;em&gt;Digitale Topographische Karten&lt;/em&gt;) in several scales with congruent and numbered sheets, but it is somewhat decentralized.  The interesting scales, TK25 and TK50, are managed and published by the respective federal states' surveying agencies.  They can be bought at the state agencies (eg. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lgln.niedersachsen.de/geodaten_karten/topographische_karten_uebersichtskarten/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Niedersachsen&lt;/a&gt;; sometimes, printed on demand) or at bookshops.&#xA;For hiking in the German alps, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.de/Huetten-Wege-Touren/Karten/Kartenuebersichten/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;series of maps published by the alpine association&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Greece&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.gys.gr&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Γεωγραφική Υπηρεσία Στρατού&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  (Γ.Υ.Σ., &amp;quot;Hellenic Military Geographical Service&amp;quot;) does have a website (optimized for IE 6 :)) with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://eshop.gys.gr/OA_HTML/ibeCZzpHome.jsp?language=US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;shop&lt;/a&gt; where maps of different scales can be bought. As far as I understand, there is a grid of numbered 1:5000 topographical maps over the whole country, and some other named maps in more usual scales are available; for selection, they have an &lt;a href=&quot;http://web.gys.gr/GeoSearch_EN/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interactive map&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hungary&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ftf.bfkh.gov.hu/portal_en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Department of Geodesy, Remote Sensing and Land Offices&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; has official &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ftf.bfkh.gov.hu/portal/index.php/termekeink/terkepek&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topographic maps&lt;/a&gt;, but they are not free (and their site has an invalid certificate). &lt;a href=&quot;http://turistautak.hu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;turistautak.hu&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is a non-profit portal which has a community-sourced &lt;a href=&quot;http://terkep.turistautak.hu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interactive map&lt;/a&gt; with marked trails and other outdoors info. When looking for printed maps, the series by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cartographia.hu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cartographia&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.map.hu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Szarvas térképek&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; are the most widely used ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iceland&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lmi.is/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Landmælingar Íslands&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;the National Land Survey of Iceland, doesn't itself publish maps,&#xA;but have their data &lt;a href=&quot;http://kortasja.lmi.is/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;viewable online&lt;/a&gt;.  However, there are printed hiking maps with blue cover, which you will&#xA;find,&#xA;outdoor shops and tourist infos.  They are published by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bmm.is/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mál og&#xA;Menning&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, a book shop in Reykjavík.  These maps don't cover the whole&#xA;of Iceland, but only some &amp;quot;interesting&amp;quot; regions (eg. Laugavegur), in varying scales (usually 1:50000 or 1:100000), and show marked trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ireland&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osi.ie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ordnance Survey Ireland&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is Ireland's national mapping agency. They are the responsible authority for all maps relating to Ireland. They offer &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osi.ie/products/tourist-leisure/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;road maps&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osi.ie/products/professional-mapping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;professional mapping data for businesses&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osi.ie/products/tourist-leisure/#adventure&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;maps for the outdoors&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Italy&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.igmi.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Istituto Geografico Militare&lt;/a&gt; (IGMI, &amp;quot;Military Cartographic Institute&amp;quot;) has several series in different scales, which one can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.igmi.org/geoprodotti&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;view and buy&lt;/a&gt; from their website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Luxembourg&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://map.geoportail.lu/communes/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Le Géoportail National Du Grand-Duché De Luxembourg&lt;/a&gt; provide the various maps for Luxembourg. You can find them in various scales, such as &lt;a href=&quot;http://map.geoportail.lu/communes/Luxembourg/topo_20k?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:20000&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://map.geoportail.lu/communes/Luxembourg/topo_250k?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:250000&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://map.geoportail.lu/communes/Luxembourg/topo_5k?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:5000&lt;/a&gt;. You can print the maps and modify them them online. The maps are available in English, German, French and Luxembourgish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Netherlands&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kadaster.nl/-/topografische-kaart&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Topografische Kaart Nederland van het Kadaster&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;The maps are readily available in 1:25000 and 1:50000 scale, as the basic map and with specialist additions like for cycling or walking, (also) from other publishers. Other scales are available as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Norway&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://kartverket.no/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kartverket&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, the Norwegian mapping authority, doesn't provide a (paper) map series, but all their data is &lt;a href=&quot;https://kartverket.no/en/data/Open-and-Free-geospatial-data-from-Norway/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;available online&lt;/a&gt;, including a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.norgeskart.no&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map viewer&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;However, there are two series published by &lt;a href=&quot;https://nordecakonsument.com/vare-kartserier/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nordeca&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, which are &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.dnt.no/maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recommended by DNT&lt;/a&gt; (the Norwegian alpine association) and available their stores. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://forhandlere.nordeca.com/norge-serien&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norge series&lt;/a&gt; covers the country in scale 1:50000, while &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kartbutikken.no/turkart-serien&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turkart&lt;/a&gt; are developed in cooperation with DNT and come in several scales for &amp;quot;interesting regions&amp;quot;.  The latter include marked trails and huts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Spain&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cnig.es/buscarArtsMenu.do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Instituto Geográfico National&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (IGN) publishes a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cnig.es/buscarArtsMenu.do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mapa Topográfico Nacional&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; series in two scales, MTN25 and MTN50. Each MTN50 map has a number (&lt;em&gt;X&lt;/em&gt;) and is divisible into 4 MTN25 maps (&lt;em&gt;X-1&lt;/em&gt; to &lt;em&gt;X-4&lt;/em&gt;). Both series are &lt;a href=&quot;http://centrodedescargas.cnig.es/CentroDescargas/catalogo.do?Serie=MAMOV&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;also available in electronic form&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sweden&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lantmateriet.se&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lantmäteriet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is the &amp;quot;official&amp;quot; mapping agency. They provide 1:50000-scale topographic maps (&lt;em&gt;Terrängkartan&lt;/em&gt;) for most of the country, except the mountains in the northwest which are covered by the 1:100000-scale &lt;em&gt;fjällkartan&lt;/em&gt;. There also some smaller-scale maps. However, their production of paper maps will cease this summer. 50k and 10k-maps are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lantmateriet.se/kartutskrift&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;available as PDF&lt;/a&gt;, and the data corresponding to the 50k maps is available as open data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Switzerland&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Swisstopo&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, the Swiss federal office of topography, provide multiple (numbered and congruent) series.  For one, there are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/products/maps/national&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;national maps&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/content/swisstopo-internet/en/home/products/maps/national/lk25/_jcr_content/contentPar/tabs_copy_copy_copy/items/dokumente_publikatio/tabPar/downloadlist_copy_co/downloadItems/273_1466760668856.download/blueb25.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:25000&lt;/a&gt; (&amp;quot;brown&amp;quot; series) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/content/swisstopo-internet/en/home/products/maps/national/lk50/_jcr_content/contentPar/tabs_copy_copy_copy_/items/dokumente_publikatio/tabPar/downloadlist_copy_co/downloadItems/273_1466760668856.download/blueb50.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:50000&lt;/a&gt; (&amp;quot;green&amp;quot; series) covering the whole country.  Switzerland has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en&amp;amp;topic=ech&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;layers=ch.swisstopo.zeitreihen,ch.bfs.gebaeude_wohnungs_register,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege&amp;amp;layers_visibility=false,false,false,true&amp;amp;layers_timestamp=18641231,,,&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;huge network of waymarked hiking trails&lt;/a&gt;, so swisstopo also publishes a &amp;quot;yellow series&amp;quot; of &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/products/maps/leisure_maps/hiking_maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hiking maps&lt;/a&gt; in 1:33333 and 1:50000 scales, which use the 1:50000 base map with the hiking trails marked in colour. Unfortunately, swisstopo itself does not publish a 1:25000 series showing the hiking trails, but various third party providers do. Such maps can generally be found at local bookshops and tourist offices.  The whole data are also viewable for free &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;online&lt;/a&gt;, including option to download a tile for offline use and extensive geoinformational data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UK&lt;/strong&gt;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; publishes &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/maps.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;two series&lt;/a&gt; covering England, Wales, Scotland and Isle of Man: &lt;em&gt;Explorer&lt;/em&gt; in scale 1:25000 (numbered &lt;em&gt;OL&lt;/em&gt; + digits), and &lt;em&gt;Landranger&lt;/em&gt;  (just digits) in scale 1:50000.  Their sheets are not necessarily congruent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/ordnance-survey-of-northern-ireland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; cover the country at 1:50000 (&lt;em&gt;Discoverer&lt;/em&gt; series) and popular recreational areas at 1:25000 (&lt;em&gt;Active&lt;/em&gt; series).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harveymaps.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Harvey Maps&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is an alternative mapping provider offering 1:25000 and 1:40000 maps of the main hiking areas. OS and Harvey maps differ in style and both are widely sold in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;North America&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Canada&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/9767&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Topographic System Maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;United States&lt;/strong&gt;: The official publisher of topographical maps in the United States in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;United States Geological Survey&lt;/a&gt;. They have both 15 and 7.5 minute maps as well as &lt;a href=&quot;https://nationalmap.gov/historical/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;historical topographical  maps&lt;/a&gt;. It is possible to &lt;a href=&quot;https://store.usgs.gov/map-locator&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;download&lt;/a&gt; the maps for free, or some outdoor shops will sell the paper maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Oceania / Australia&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Australia&lt;/strong&gt;: while the government has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/business-and-industry/science-and-technology/maps-and-mapping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dedicated webpage&lt;/a&gt; with several resources, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hemamaps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;HEMA maps&lt;/a&gt; is the provider used for navigation and orientation. It frequently appears as the maps to be used in insurance polices and car-rental agreements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;New Zealand&lt;/strong&gt;: The government in the form of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Land Information New Zealand&lt;/a&gt; supplies &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz/land/maps/topographic-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topographic maps&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz/land/maps/aerial-imagery-and-orthophotography&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;aerial imagery and orthophotography&lt;/a&gt; and a range of cadastral information. The current map series is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz/land/maps/topographic-maps/topo50-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Topo50&lt;/a&gt;, on a scale of 1:50,000, which covers the main islands of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. Larger scale maps in the form of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz/land/maps/topographic-maps/topo250-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Topo250&lt;/a&gt; (1:250,000) are also available. Maps in digital format are freely available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licensing, and are available to download &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.linz.govt.nz/land/maps/linz-topographic-maps/map-chooser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  Large public libraries often contain collections of the more recent topographic maps as well as some older forms for free perusal and photocopying. Paper maps can be purchased from most book-stores and information points, as well as many outdoors stores. Some organizations, particularly hunting clubs also provide digital maps for free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;South America&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Peru&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/peru/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/peru/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-09-01T23:00:53.737" LastActivityDate="2020-09-01T23:00:53.737" CommentCount="11" CommunityOwnedDate="2018-05-01T10:59:16.060" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19256" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-01T11:51:09.920" Score="7" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a present I was recently given a Pelican Odyssey 100X. Before getting that I had fished using a neighbor's regular kayak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is fishing from the shore the same as fishing off of a kayak, and is kayak trolling a good way to fish?(Which lures are recommended for trolling?) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be fishing for bass/pickerel in a local pond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically just trying to become a decent fisherman.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15527" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T15:29:44.270" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T18:31:30.083" Title="How to fish from a kayak?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19250" CreationDate="2018-05-01T11:58:32.450" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, pretty much every Inflatable PFD is designed like this.  To give some indication, have a look at this model: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mustangsurvival.com/en_US/products/flotation/inflatable-pfds/elite-38-inflatable-pfd-auto-hydrostatic-MD5283.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mustang Elite 38&lt;/a&gt; and its &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mustangsurvival.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-Mustang_US-Library/default/dw8c57ccff/mustang/owners-manuals/HT1175_MD5283_OwnersManual_28AUG2015.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;owner's manual&lt;/a&gt;.  (Note: this answer is not intended to be an advert, just an illustration of the concepts.  I needed a specific model to be able to point out these features.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take note of the fact that in the photos, there is a mouth tube on the side, in addition to the CO2 cartridge.  This allows you to add air after inflating, or to inflate completely without using the CO2 at all.  On page 7 of the manual, we read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;To deflate your inflatable PFD, reverse the oral inflation tube dust&#xA;  cap and insert it into the valve (Fig. 8). The dust cap will not lock&#xA;  the valve in the deflate position so it is necessary to hold it in&#xA;  place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Gently squeeze your inflatable PFD until all air or CO2&#xA;  has been&#xA;  expelled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Return the oral inflation tube dust cap to its stowed position on&#xA;  the oral inflation tube (Fig. 8).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we see that the tube can be used to deflate the PFD, and allow it to be put back in its flat and folded configuration.  Pages 11 to 13 show us how to re-pack the PFD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the CO2 cartridges are one-time.  Once the nozzle is punctured, the cartridge will release all of its pressure.  Likewise, the trigger mechanism is broken in the act of pulling the cord, and if you have an automatic one, there is a tablet that will dissolve in water releasing the spring-loaded trigger, and thus need replacing.  Most brands sell re-arming kits, and some dealers will do the re-arming for a nominal fee.  Instructions are on pages 8 through 10 of the manual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, I think the strongest evidence that these things are designed for re-use, is the simple fact that all manufactures recommended annually testing them.  Starting on page 16:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;HOW AND WHY TO TEST YOUR PFD&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Inflate your PFD and try it out in the water to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Make sure it floats you:&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Comfortably (When worn properly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Adequately for expected wave conditions&#xA;  (Body shapes/densities affect performance)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Make sure it works:&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;A flow of bubbles should not appear (see &quot;Inspecting your inflatable PFD&quot; on page 14 for leak tests)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;It should inflate quickly and easily&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Learn how it works by:&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Activating the CO2 inflation system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Rearming the CO2 inflation system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Using the Oral inflation tube&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Followed by instruction for how to do so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've owned at least one for several years, and each has been inflated multiple times, although so far only once in the water, and not using the CO2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having provided this answer, I absolutely do not recommend an inflatable style for your intended use-case.  These are good for fishermen or sailors who desire more freedom of movement of their arms to handle nets, poles, sheets, winches, what have you.  Foam-kapok style PFDs are often a little bulky or restrictive, and a folded-up inflatable is far less so.  Further, these users only expect to inflate the PFD if they happen to fall overboard, and will subsequently lay still until their colleagues haul them back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wear this while inflated, it will be extremely bulky and very restrictive of arm movements.  Further, rivers are full of sharp rocks and tree branches.  While inflatable PFDs are made for rough wear, they are not puncture-proof.  Finally, even though the test procedure suggests leaving it inflated for 24 hours to ensure it remains fully inflated, these do loose some air over time, and all the bouncing around will accelerate that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find yourself a high-quality foam-kapok Type III designed especially for your activity, and try it on for comfort before purchasing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T17:43:21.077" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T17:43:21.077" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19248" CreationDate="2018-05-01T12:07:11.880" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know how this works in California, but here in Massachusetts, the Fish and Wildlife folks might want to know about it.  Something unusual is going on.  Maybe there is some disease going around.  Maybe there is something locally that is poisoning the birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do there seem to be sufficient blossoms around for the birds to feed from?  Do you notice anything different about flowers in your area than previous years?  What about the existence or lack of humming bird feeders in your area?  Was there a recent unusual weather event?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, the people from the right state agency probably want to know about such a unusual occurrence, or maybe already know about this particular problem.  If you don't know how to get hold of the right state people, try asking local people involved in conservation.  Is there a Audubon sanctuary near you?  A birding club?  These people might know about the issue already, or they can probably tell you how to contact the appropriate state people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T12:07:11.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19254" CreationDate="2018-05-01T12:11:04.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Denmark, including Faroe Islands and Greenland (also Sweden): &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scanmaps.dk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ScanMaps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many different scales, ages and media as well as customized, personal maps printed and sent to you. Site is in Danish, but you can change to English.&#xA;The official government institution for Geo-data links to this (commercial) site for printed maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Topographic, Digital maps are available for download as TIFF images (for free); resolutions 1:25.000 - 1:1.000.0000 at &lt;a href=&quot;https://download.kortforsyningen.dk/content/geodataprodukter?field_korttype_tid_1=439&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kortforsyningen.dk&lt;/a&gt; (site is unfortunately only in Danish)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15546" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T12:11:04.970" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19260" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19278" CreationDate="2018-05-01T15:27:29.417" Score="5" ViewCount="969" Body="&lt;p&gt;A buzzard seen nearby has been continuously attacking people for over a year now. As far as I know this isn't normal behaviour, especially not outside breeding season. Please correct me if I'm wrong. While not 100% sure this is the same animal it surely looks like it because it is always in the same place (let's say plus/minus 100m), the style of attacks is always the same (from behind, usually just flying over a person's head but sometimes effectively scratching them, sometimes severely), and simply because according to biologists I talked to such attacks are fairly rare and it would be exceptional if a whole bunch of them behaved like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another story: years ago we had a male common blackbird in the garden which without any obvious reason started to produce it's alarm sound from sunrise to sunset, almost non-stop, without any evidence whatsoever of any danger (no predators to be seen, no humans, not a single of the many other birds of all kinds of species sounding alarmed). This lasted for about 2 weeks then it stopped for unknown reasons - one possibility being the bird died. In any case, this again isn't exactly standard behaviour. I've been around blackbirds my entire life but never have witnessed something like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So just like people can develop mental problems, both cases always led me to think those birds had mental problems. Would that be a feasible explanation? Or is that not regarded as a proper diagnostic for bird whereas it is for humans? Are there other known cases, possibly studies? Could the cause of such behaviour be genetic, a virus, bactaria, parasite perhaps? Or just some disfunction with hard to track cause (again, like for some humans)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T15:28:06.770" LastActivityDate="2020-04-26T12:15:48.090" Title="Is it possible for birds to develop mental problems?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19260" CreationDate="2018-05-01T16:15:31.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, of course birds can suffer mental illness. Sure, it isn't as studied as it is in humans; it's a lot more challenging to ask birds what they're thinking, but there isn't anything unique to humans or mammals that makes them susceptible to mental illness. The brain of any animal is organ like any other, i.e. a bag of meat, and it can suffer problems just like any other organ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One example that comes to mind is in the case of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/penguin-suicide-werner-herzog/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;antarctic penguins&lt;/a&gt;, some are observed wandering away from the group, and away from food, to their death. When the penguins are brought back to the group by researchers, they just head back out to their doom once again. We don't know why these suicidal penguins do what they do but people are trying to figure it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also many cases of caged birds getting stressed and ultimately engaging in self-harm behaviors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, whether your particular buzzard is mentally ill, or is attacking people for other reasons, can only be speculated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T20:13:14.073" LastActivityDate="2018-05-01T20:13:14.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19262" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-01T17:13:35.390" Score="4" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading through are other &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/packrafting&quot;&gt;packrafting&lt;/a&gt; questions it looks like it would be a neat activity, especially since there are quite a few beautiful alpine lakes that would be neat to float across and they would be far enough in that packrafts are probably the only option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We already have a question asking about using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19250/are-there-reusable-inflatable-life-vests-or-pfds&quot;&gt;re-inflatable PFD&lt;/a&gt; for packrafting, but what should one look for in the actual raft?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-05-01T17:44:28.853" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T13:10:59.713" Title="What features should I look for in a packraft?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;packrafting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 3.0" />
  <row Id="19263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19262" CreationDate="2018-05-02T00:22:47.897" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with most of the gear the decision what (and if) to buy will depend on your use-case and what trade-offs are you willing to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use-case:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What environment are you going to use the packraft in? Is it calm water or rapids?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How are you going to carry the raft (are you biking, hiking or sth. else?).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much time do you want to spend rafting vs. hiking/biking?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What dangers for the equipment do you expect to come accross? (launching from abrasive shore, regularly hitting stones/boulders, branches, or maybe nothing)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much do you want to carry on the raft? (weight, volume, awkwardness (bike?))&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What level of comfort do you want? Or what additional features do you want to have? (inflatable seat, spray-deck, number of tie-outs, storage options, straps)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What inflation type do you prefer? (by mouth, inflation bag or some pump)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now tradeoffs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More resistance, buyoancy and extra comfort will generally increase weight and/or price (usually both).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The easier the environment (flat water, no dangers), the less features and resistance you will need. For harsher waters you will of course need skills and experience (and more safety equipment), but I can't help you with that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The shorter the time you spend rafting the less features/comfort you will need.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are biking, you can carry heavier rafts, but you will also need more sturdy and bigger rafts to carry the bike.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to inflate/deflate your raft often, then using an inflation bag will make it easier and quicker then using mouth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to cross some lakes or slow moving class rivers that happen to block your trail, then very light, not very durable* and otherwise featureless models like supai flatwater canyon (0.67kg or 24 oz) or kylmit (1kg or 2 lbs 3 oz) should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to navigate higher difficulty class rivers, you will need to go for the more sturdy and heavy models. Expect to carry about 3+ kg raft and all the other necessary gear. You will also need to decide if you want a self-bailing model or use a spray-deck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the scenario you may also need a paddle, some safety equipment, a drybag for your backpack, a neoprene suit etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* they are still much more abrasion and puncture resistant than inflatable PVC toys, since they are made of fairly strong fabrics. If you want to research your options with the PVC inflatables, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://apaddleinmypack.wordpress.com/slackrafts/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;slackrafting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15154" LastEditorUserId="15154" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T13:10:59.713" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T13:10:59.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19264" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-02T02:35:03.823" Score="0" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning on doing a around 2 week hike and bring all food with me. I would walk around 25-30 km a day. To major constraints here are the weight and cost of the food. I have made the following plan for one days food:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Product, weight, kcal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rice, 500g, 1760&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soy granules, 250g, 675&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chocolate, 50g, 275&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Raisins, 150g, 500&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nuts, 150g, 905&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:&#xA;- Seasoning&#xA;- Vitamins, other supplements&#xA;- Coffee&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This adds up to around 4100 kcal per day and 1.1 kg. For a two week hike around 16 kg. I will be able to resupply water often during the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any opinions on this meal plan and how would you change it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15597" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T09:56:57.580" Title="Food to bring on long hike" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2018-05-02T10:47:13.673" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19265" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19266" CreationDate="2018-05-02T03:46:23.407" Score="6" ViewCount="413" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could someone use a steam juicer to desalinate water? The juicer is used on a stovetop and the steam rises to the fruit in the top basket and the juice collects in the middle pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it might work but does anyone have any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T04:44:03.693" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T04:44:03.693" Title="Could a steam juicer be used to desalinate water?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19265" CreationDate="2018-05-02T04:43:56.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it can as what you would do is use heat to turn the salt water to steam and then collect the steam and turn it back into liquid water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It works on the same principle as a regular distiller, and if you really wanted to you could get a purpose-built water distiller but a steam juicer will work as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yesterday a friend and I got to looking at a steam juicer a&lt;strong&gt;nd realized that they can be used as an improvised small still&lt;/strong&gt;.  The size we have would distill somewhere around a ½ gallon at a time.  Larger ones would do more.  This could be used to distill water for batteries, to &lt;strong&gt;desalinize sea water&lt;/strong&gt;  or to make small batches of alcohol for medical use&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://preparednessadvice.com/water_purification/improvising-a-still-from-a-steam-juicer/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T04:43:56.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19267" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19276" CreationDate="2018-05-02T05:06:25.563" Score="5" ViewCount="16209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Solitaire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Desert Solitare&lt;/a&gt; by Edward Abbey, and in it, he mentions that he was using bull snakes (bull snakes are non-venomous) during his time as a park ranger to help control the mouse population around his trailer and to &lt;strong&gt;keep rattlesnakes away&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I am certain that bull snakes would help keep the mice under control, is there any evidence that they &lt;strong&gt;keep rattlesnakes away?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-02-02T15:09:20.860" Title="Do bull snakes keep rattlesnakes away?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19264" CreationDate="2018-05-02T09:51:31.490" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot will depend on your personal (or rather your body's) preferences, and without experience it is hard to know how your body will react to given diet during hiking. Dry-testing it beforehand is not very informative, unless you try to do a few days long hike with all the food and equipment that you plan to carry for 14 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some principles to think about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The more kcal/per day you want, the more you will need to carry, and as a result you will need to burn more calories. I doubt that on such a long trek you can avoid energy deficiency. This is not a big deal, and you can still feel well-fed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The more fat there is in your diet, the more calorie dense it will be. Proteins and carbohydrates give you around 4000 kcal/kg, fat 9000 kcal/kg. The only way to get average above 4000 is to increase amount of fat*.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You may find that ingesting a lot of fat makes you feel bad. They can have laxative properties, and they just doesn't seem appealing (maybe it's just me - try eating a spoonful of lard with no bread or anything). So you will find that there is a limit to average calorie density of your food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you reduce the amount of food compared to your everyday diet, your are likely to get constipation. Luckily, larger amounts of fats somewhat help here, but add some fiber to your diet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finally cooking - if you plan to cover that much ground each day, then you probably don't want to spend a lot of time cooking and cleaning. If you want some hot meals, try to aim for food that requires only a little bit of boiling. If you use gas stove, this should help you to save some weight by reducing fuel consumption.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thoughts about your list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;more than 1 kg per day is a lot. I find that I can't eat that much when hiking, even though I don't get enough calories. Add these 16 kg to your normal gear and walk for a few hours to check if you can carry that much. I have seen a ballpark figure of one pound per person per day, which works in my case  (my setup is 0.5kg/day), though may not work for you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If by rice you mean normal rice, then I would find some replacement that is easier to cook and clean after. Depending on your preferences and location you may be able to find rice flakes, instant potatoes/potatoe flakes, buckweat flakes, maybe some sort of pasta, etc. Test them beforehand, you may not like the taste. Take fat that you can mix with these carbs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nuts are a good source of fat and protein and can be eaten on the trail, so good choice. Chew them well though, otherwise they will not be digested.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would increase the amount of fat by sacrificing soy granules and raisins (or proteins and simple sugars in general).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would carry a bit of fiber that I can add to my meals depending on how my body behaves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;add some extra salt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*or ethanol, but this makes hiking challenging&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15154" LastEditorUserId="15154" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T09:56:57.580" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T09:56:57.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19233" CreationDate="2018-05-02T12:06:20.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19236/4079&quot;&gt;great answer by Willeke&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19235/4079&quot;&gt;reasonable answer by ab2&lt;/a&gt; in addition to the points they suggested, I have a suggestion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a used travel trailer in your area (e.g., Craigslist) buy it, and move it to the property, and leave it there. This makes your base camp.  Leave the door unlocked; if someone wants in, the lock is not going to stop them, and they won't need to break anything to get in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid RV's with an engine.  They can be difficult to move and or recycle when when you want to upgrade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T20:10:57.130" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T20:10:57.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19270" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19272" CreationDate="2018-05-02T14:20:51.383" Score="13" ViewCount="7694" Body="&lt;p&gt;I feel like I would find a hydration bladder extremely useful. Especially so when going on via ferratas or multipitch climbs. But even when doing simple hikes it would allow me to have a sip of water more often. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My problem is, however, that I am extremely picky about the water taste. Even in fresh water I always notice its taste. And I always put extra effort when washing my reusable water bottle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason, I am afraid that I might not be able to wash a hydration bladder well enough for it not to acquire a specific smell/taste. I have tried drinking from a friend's hydration bladder a couple of times, but I couldn't handle the way water tasted/smelled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: if I had a hydration bladder, would I be able to keep it clean enough (without extraordinary effort) for it not to render water undrinkable for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-05-04T12:02:36.327" LastActivityDate="2018-05-04T12:02:36.327" Title="Can a person picky about water taste use a hydration bladder?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19270" CreationDate="2018-05-02T14:54:50.273" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty picky about the taste of my water, I grew up high enough in the mountains that our tap water wasn't chemically treated, they simply filtered the spring water coming out of the mountains, and let gravity bring it the rest of the way into our homes. The first time I tried bottled water I thought it was disgusting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been using a camelbak for quite a few years now, and I can tell you it isn't the bag that is going to affect the taste of your water as much as the water you put in the bag will. Cold clean water fresh out of a mountain stream tastes just as delicious through the straw of my bag as it does out of a cup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This much is true for my old camelbak, but newer bags will sometimes have that &quot;fresh&quot; plastic taste until you've had a chance to flush it out. The cheaper bladders have it worse than the nicer ones in my experience too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping your water bladder clean and not letting old water sit in it for days and weeks between hikes helps prevent a stale taste from developing. You can get bladder cleaning kits for cleaning out your bladder and hose (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8065/cleaning-the-sipper-pipe-of-a-hydration-pack/8074#8074&quot;&gt;Cleaning the sipper pipe of a hydration pack&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer to your question is, &quot;yes, picky people &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; use a hydration bag.&quot; It's the water you put into your bag that's going to make the difference. If you're really picky about the taste of you water, you can flavour it to mask whatever taste you don't like, you simply need to be diligent about cleaning the bag out afterwards, or at least flushing it out with clean water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T17:33:01.890" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T17:33:01.890" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19270" CreationDate="2018-05-02T14:58:47.407" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found lemon juice and baking soda works quite well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also found that different brands of bladders have more or less plastic taste to them. If all else fails you could look into using a disposable bladder such as the Polar Cenote, they come individually or in multi packs and are reasonably priced. If your going to be using it a ton though, disposable may get expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I use mine, I always fill it with as much ice as it will hold, then fill the rest with fresh cold water. This helps it stay really cold and fresh tasting to me. It seems like when the water starts getting warm is when you taste the bag a bit more. Keeping the empty bag in the freezer also helps to hold off funky tastes and bacteria growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do go this route here are a few different options for cleaning so you can find one that suits you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Reservoir cleaning tablets: no measuring needed. Just pop in a tablet specifically formulated to remove deposits that can build up in&#xA;  your hydration system over time. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Baking soda: an all-around cleaner that’s effective against odors. Platypus recommends ¼ cup of baking soda in ¾ cups of water per liter&#xA;  of volume in your reservoir.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Household bleach: kills bacteria and viruses. Platypus recommends using 2 to 5 drops of unscented household bleach per liter of water.&#xA;  Note that you can combine bleach and baking soda together for a more&#xA;  thorough cleaning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Lemon juice: helps neutralize really strong odors. Platypus recommends using ¼ cup of lemon juice per liter of water. It can also&#xA;  be combined with bleach and/or baking soda, but you need to point the&#xA;  reservoir opening away from you because lemon juice and baking soda&#xA;  produce a fizzy reaction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Denture-cleaning tablets: Though not specifically made for a hydration system, these are used by some people as inexpensive&#xA;  alternative cleaning tablets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-clean-a-hydration-bladder.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-02T22:45:16.507" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T22:45:16.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19270" CreationDate="2018-05-02T15:49:01.860" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually store my* Platypus empty, and don't fill it until I'm about to leave, in order to minimise the length of time that the water's sitting in it before I use it; I find that waiting until as late as possible in the preparation process to fill it greatly minimises the plastic taste in the water.  Thoroughly rinsing it out at the end of a hiking trip also helps, both to get rid of any remaining plasticky water and to help cut down on stuff growing on it that could also make the water in it taste funny.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also find that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most of the plasticky taste seems to come from the hose leading from the bladder to the mouthpiece, rather than from the bladder itself.  Blowing air into the mouthpiece after taking a drink to force the water in the hose back into the bladder (apologies if this sounds disgusting) helps the water's taste a great deal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going along with the above, taking more frequent drinks minimises the length of time that the water spends in the hose, and, thus, also improves the taste of the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I get used to any plasticky taste surprisingly (to me) quickly.  Especially if I'm thirsty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Technically, it's not &lt;em&gt;mine&lt;/em&gt; (I'm pretty sure my grandma owns it), but it's the one I always use, and am in charge of, when I go hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15362" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T15:49:01.860" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19246" CreationDate="2018-05-02T15:58:53.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless you have a weakened immune system, you're worrying too much.  I've been in your situation several times, and never once gotten sick from my own water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it didn't make you sick the first time you drank from it, it won't make you sick now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're still worried about it nonetheless, or if you &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; immunosuppressed for some reason, I would suggest investing in a Steripen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15362" LastActivityDate="2018-05-02T15:58:53.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19267" CreationDate="2018-05-03T00:52:01.597" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullsnake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;quote from Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The idea that bullsnakes occasionally eat rattlesnakes is sometimes given as a reason for humans not to harm bullsnakes when encountering them in the wild, although a better reason is the bullsnake's role in controlling warm-blooded vermin such as rodents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this may occasionally happen, the truth is &lt;a href=&quot;https://havesnakeswilltravel.com/bullsnakes-vs-rattlesnakes-by-bryon-shipley-rattlesnake-researcher/betty/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bull snakes don't really affect rattle snake population&lt;/a&gt; apart from competition for the same food:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A thorough search of the literature and discussions with researchers who study both snakes has revealed next to nothing that supports the idea that bullsnakes eat rattlesnakes.  Bullsnakes are primarily consumers of warm-blooded prey.  In one instance, the body of a small rattlesnake showed up in the gut of a bullsnake, but no information exists on whether the ingested rattlesnake was already deceased or even what species it was.  It is possible that a young bullsnake may eat a lizard, but no rattlesnake population could be significantly affected by bullsnakes.  The natural mortal enemy of rattlesnakes is, in fact, the kingsnake. &lt;strong&gt;Additional information, Nov. 27, 2013:&lt;/strong&gt;  An article I ran across says that it happens, but rarely and largely opportunistically.  In the particular study, looking at the guts contents of over 1000 bullsnakes, 2 rattlesnakes were found.  This is 0.5% of the entire list of prey items found.  We don’t know if the rattlers were constricted alive and eaten or scavenged, unfortunately.  The take home lesson is still that even eating one or two rattlers during its lifetime, for a bullsnake, this consumption rate is too small to exact any population control over rattlesnakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer to your question is essentially no they don't really keep rattle snakes away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T00:52:01.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19260" CreationDate="2018-05-03T10:33:48.390" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule, all evolved beings (the ones with a brain) can end up with mental health issues. There are multiple resources which document these. Pet birds are known to get depressed and pluck their feathers. Birds are known to show aggressive behaviors as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of the reasons for why they might develop these, there could be multiple reasons. Stress, loss of companions, not finding companionship during mating season, loneliness, trauma et al. Many of the pet birds can end up with issues due to neglect and abuse as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some of the resources that talk about these: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petmd.com/bird/behavior/how-tell-if-your-bird-unhappy-or-stressed-and-what-do&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Identifying depression in birds.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150909-many-animals-can-become-mentally-ill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link talking about how animals and birds can have mental issues.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petfinder.com/pet-care/bird-care/birds-physical-mental-needs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aggression in birds.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.beautyofbirds.com/featherplucking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plucking feathers&lt;/a&gt; (a few disturbing images, beware).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-07T07:04:23.343" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T07:04:23.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19270" CreationDate="2018-05-03T14:10:21.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd highly recommend a soluble cleaner, like VWP cleaner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QiTDY.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QiTDY.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's commonly used by homebrew enthusiasts, it is suitable for cleaning any foodsafe containers with hard to reach places (flasks, water siphon pipes, bottles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just need to let it soak for a few hours, and then rinse it out with water.  It will eliminate any odours and residues, even stubborn bits.  It left some of my heavily tea stained flasks looking like new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It only requires a couple of teaspoons of powder to make a 5 litre cleaning solution, so one tub should last you a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are probably other brands with a similar product, but that is the one I'm familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15616" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T14:10:21.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19270" CreationDate="2018-05-03T18:31:53.630" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most hydration bags, including CamelBak, are made from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/packs/reservoirs/R04006--Crux_3L_Reservoir?color=eba5e1389e7c43e2804e7505cf6941ec&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;polyurethane&lt;/a&gt;. Even if you clean them well before using, they may impart a &quot;plasticky&quot; aftertaste or smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.platy.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Platypus&lt;/a&gt; bladders are made from Nylon/Polyethylene (the same stuff that water bottles are made out of)--they're a bit more expensive, but your water will just taste like water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15617" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T18:31:53.630" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19282" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-03T18:37:54.657" Score="9" ViewCount="1623" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in an area with a lot of lakes/ponds, with many paths around them. Many humans and dogs enjoy walking on these paths. However, the Canada geese have recently set up shop on the lakes. They don't appear to be nesting on the paths, but sometimes they will walk onto/right next to them and stand there for long stretches of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to know how to safely move through an area where there are several Canada geese present--not blanketing the path, but standing nearby and alert, perhaps on either side. The brush next to the paths is often too thick for a person to move through, and the geese don't tend to show much desire to move. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I minimize my chance of getting attacked?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15618" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-03T20:59:52.843" LastActivityDate="2019-10-08T16:02:26.967" Title="How do I safely move around Canada Geese?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19282" CreationDate="2018-05-03T18:47:06.320" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like geese attacks are far more common in the spring when they are defending their nests. Realistically, you just want to treat them like any other wild animals and &lt;strong&gt;give them enough space&lt;/strong&gt; and just wait until the nesting season is over when they are far less aggressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guidelines for protecting yourself from  a geese attack that I have found are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stare down your attacker. They will learn from your body language that you are a threat. Canada geese have excellent vision and will be able to perceive where you are looking and how you are reacting to them. Do not close or squint your eyes. Do not turn your back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Slowly back away. Don’t turn your back, or stop looking at the goose. Using your peripheral vision be aware of obstacles in your pathways.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Do not act hostile, remain neutral in your demeanor. Do not hit, kick or swing at the goose. This will only agitate them more, and may even bring the female off her nest to support her spouse in the attack. If you remain neutral, you are less of a threat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If the goose flies towards your face, duck or move away at a 90 degree angle to the direction of the flight still facing the attacking goose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ohiogeesecontrol.com/what-to-do-when-a-canada-goose-attacks/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What to do when a Canada goose attacks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T18:47:06.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19285" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-03T19:51:47.670" Score="5" ViewCount="961" Body="&lt;p&gt;When setting up a rowing frame on a raft or boat, there are three main ways to attach the oars to the frame: oar locks, oar rights, and pins &amp;amp; clips. Which is the best system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Oar Locks&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/94cedl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/94cedl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nwrafting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Double-Oar-Locks.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;nwrafting.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Oar Rights&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2L38tl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2L38tl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorplay.com/Tom-Grant-Oar-Rights&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OutdoorPlay.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pins &amp;amp; Clips&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1cn1Sl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1cn1Sl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pins &amp;amp; Clips&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorplay.com/nrs-oar-pins-and-clips-set?custcol_size=286&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OutdoorPlay.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T19:53:55.897" Title="Rafting - Oar Locks vs Oar Rights vs Pins &amp; Clips?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19285" CreationDate="2018-05-03T19:51:47.670" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask three different raft guides and you'll get three different answers---gnarly rivers have been rowed on all three setups and it ultimately comes down to personal preferences. That being said, each system has distinct (dis)advantages that I'll discuss, which can be useful to know when first starting out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Oar Locks&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The classic technology since time immemorial, oar locks allow for the greatest level of finesse when rowing. Since the oar is free to rotate axially, you can &amp;quot;feather&amp;quot; the oars by rotating your wrist. This allows for precise modulation of power, being able to better feel subtle currents in the water, and rotating the oar blade horizontally in a sculling motion when bringing it forward for the next power stroke (reducing wind and water resistance). On the flip side, you &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to control the blade angle with your wrist on every stroke. When precision is at a paramount, oar locks are generally superior---for example, virtually every drift boat is equipped with oar locks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simple, generally inexpensive, little to break on an expedition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unmatched level of feedback and input control. Allows for sculling, feathering, and draw strokes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to &amp;quot;ship&amp;quot; the oars (pull inboard) for avoiding obstacles or achieving better ergonomics if you want to row standing up for a spell.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the downstream oar comes in contact with a rock, the oar gets pushed inboard at the same speed the boat is traveling downstream. While still problematic, this tends to be slightly less violent and there is a reduced chance of breaking an oar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The blade angle has to be controlled on &lt;em&gt;every single stroke&lt;/em&gt;---the only thing keeping the blade vertical in the water is wrist strength and skill. This can become quite difficult in heavy and violent whitewater---there is always the chance that the one absolutely-must-make-a-move stroke will just slice through the water and do nothing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On long stretches of flat water, keeping the oar aligned on every stroke can be fatiguing for the wrist muscles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally more difficult to learn. Also consider what happens if the primary oarswoman gets knocked out of the boat in a rapid or is injured and an inexperienced passenger has to &amp;quot;take the sticks.&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since the oar can twist and move in and out, they tend to give the oarsman less of a handle to hold onto, so there is arguably a slightly greater chance of the captain going overboard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Pins &amp;amp; Clips&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In comparison to oar locks, pins &amp;amp; clips fix the blade at a vertical angle and are similarly held at a fixed location along the length of the shaft. This ensures that every stroke will be aligned for maximum power (especially in heavy whitewater), but eliminates the ability to feather the oar blades or even easily ship the oars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No extra effort to align the blade on each stroke. Especially beneficial in violent whitewater, where you life might depend on the next stroke.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to learn and use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Because the oar is so stabilized, they can almost provide a handle for the oarswoman to stabilize herself with.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quick reset if an oar is knocked loose or broken.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No ability to feather oars or do other advanced strokes---less ability for &amp;quot;finesse&amp;quot; when rowing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No ability to ship the oars.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fiddly to get the clip aligned &lt;em&gt;just right&lt;/em&gt; with with the blade, as well as locating the clip along the length of the oar for optimal rowing ergonomics.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hose clamps holding the clip in place have a tendency to loosen, allowing the oar to twist, necessitating routine maintenance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the downstream oar gets pinned in a rock, the clip tends to bind, causing the oar to violently pop free or even break the oar or flip the raft.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people argue that there is a higher chance of repetitive motion injuries, as the oar handles are always moving in the exact same plane.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Oar Rights&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oar rights combine many of the pros and cons of oar locks and pins &amp;amp; clips. Some people feel that they are the best of both worlds, while others feel that they are the worst of both worlds. They gain some of the finesse and feel of oar locks (by using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrs.com/product/14041/convertible-oar-right&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;convertible oar rights&lt;/a&gt;  or pulling the oars inboard several inches) and some of the stability of pins &amp;amp; clips, keeping the blade vertical for powerful strokes. On the flip side, they aren't as stable as pins &amp;amp; clips and don't allow for the fine control of oar locks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More stability in rough water when compared to oar locks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More finesse than pins &amp;amp; clips, especially when using convertible oar rights.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can ship the oars (just like with oar locks).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collisions between a downstream oar and a rock tend to behave like oar locks, rather than the violence of pins &amp;amp; clips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually less expensive than pins &amp;amp; clips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to learn and use than oar locks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easiest to get realigned if an oar pops out of position mid rapid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can't immediately feather the oars like with oar locks, necessitating either flipping up the oar right on stretches of flat water, or rowing with strange ergonomics by pulling the oars inboard past the oar right.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not as stable as pins &amp;amp; clips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More expensive than oar locks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Convertible oar rights can convert themselves at the worst possible moment. Similarly, the sleeve on oar rights can work itself loose and slip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with pins &amp;amp; clips, require tweaking and adjustment to get the blade properly aligned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T19:51:47.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11632" CreationDate="2018-05-03T21:59:44.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;European version:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://chwolf.org/woelfe-kennenlernen/monitoring/spurenbeobachtung&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Diagrams (also with measurements in the [German language] text)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildernesscollege.com/wolf-tracks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;English description including photo of direct register trot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;single prints cannot be distinguished from large dog prints.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Here in Germany, I'm pretty sure we still have more Newfoundland and St. Bernards' dogs than wolves - although the wolf population grows by about 30 % / year right now)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;distinction needs several 100 m of track: that's the scale where you can be pretty sure a dog isn't going all that straight (i.e. meanwhile gets another idea and explores something in another direction).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wolves have two modes of trotting: direct register (geschnürter Trab) and side trot (schräger Trab). Dogs typically side trot, although the swiss page linked above says that they can do  the direct register trot, and may do so e.g. in deep snow. Wolves do both types of trot, &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;but if there's a long straight direct register track, that's a  wolf track. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Disclaimer: So far, the only wolves I've seen were in Canada [other than in zoos], and in terms of tracks, I'm aware only of dog tracks...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-05-03T21:59:44.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19241" CreationDate="2018-05-04T02:43:22.907" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, you saw it gliding away. And it didn't return to resume an attack. Which makes me think that the contact was not intended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very likely a night hawk or a nightjar; they do not really care about the obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15625" LastActivityDate="2018-05-04T02:43:22.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19282" CreationDate="2018-05-04T20:04:27.140" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your description of the area and given that it's springtime, it seems entirely possible the geese are nesting in the brush on either side of the path.  In that case I would avoid attempting to go around them by leaving the path and instead stick to the path or areas of good visilbility as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was once surrounded by angry geese and managed to get out the situation my moving very slowly and deliberately while clapping my hands in front of me. The geese slowly backed off and let me through. I would think a similar approach would work for less aggressive geese who just happen to be setting up shop in the middle of the path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was walking on a paved walkway along a river, I had headphones in and was looking down at the path as I went, when I rather suddenly became aware that I was virtually surrounded by angry geese. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were 5 or 6 large male geese spread around me on all sides, with their wings raised and beaks open, hissing angrily. Just beyond them were groups of juveniles and females, both on, off and all around the path. I froze on the spot and looked back the way I had come, it looked just about as hazardous as the path forward, somehow I'd strolled right into the middle of the flock.  Taking in the scene I realised that if these animals were smart enough to attack at once, they would probably win the fight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the path I had followed looking just as hazardous as the one ahead, I decided to keep going on my current direction of travel. I very slowly &#xA; stood up very straight, extended my arms in front on me and started to clap loudly, and I combined that with very slow, deliberate steps in my direction of travel. What I found was that the male geese slowly backed off as I approached, maintaining their attack posture and hissing the entire time, while the females and juveniles slowly shuffled off the path and kept themselves somewhat behind the males.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This approach matches some of the steps outlined in the other answer, in terms of keeping an eye on the geese, appearing threatening, and not backing down or turning away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2018-05-04T20:04:27.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6139" CreationDate="2018-05-05T00:05:58.613" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;get some bifenthrin concentrate,mix double the recommended strength in your garden sprayer, and spray all around your camera! this stuff will prevent wasps for weeks! It works by attacking their&#xA; nervous system. It doesn't kill them instantly, but they will eventually die!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15630" LastActivityDate="2018-05-05T00:05:58.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19296" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-06T19:02:25.363" Score="3" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to travel along the Alaskan highway this summer (end of June until mid July). I'm not an extremely experienced camper and have only once spent a night outside of a camping ground so far. My greatest bike ride so far was from Zürich to Bern (145km/90m) which I managed in a single day, so I expect to be able to do around 80-100 km each day. So I think I should be able to make it to Vancouver in less than a month. I've read a handful of blogs from people who did it, so the idea isn't quite as outlandish as it first seemed. I'm mostly looking for information about camping spots, emergency situations, necessary equipment, further sources of information and just general tips and tricks. Here's what I've planned so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 CHF = 0.98 USD&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly from Basel to Whitehorse and from Vancouver to Basel - totaling at around 1500CHF (including bike).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I plan to spend around 1000CHF for the entire trip (25k total).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have a city/mountain bike hybrid that is made to be easy to fix.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I plan to carry around 3-4kg in a backpack and maybe 4-5 in saddlebags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I think I'll only pack as much food as necessary and stock up along the way. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I should be able to reach some form of settlement every 2 days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I speak fluent English and some French.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Temperatures seam pretty bearable at 11° degrees in July.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm going to be alone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm planning to sleep in a tent most of the times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'll probably stay as close to the road as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here're some of the stuff I am worried about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a better Forum for trips like this?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wild animals (bears, buffaloes, elk), which precautions are necessary? Are they known to attack unprotected travelers? Do they keep off the road?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are the prices somewhat reasonable? In Switzerland you get robbed along the highways.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is the road kept in shape for bikers? Do I have to watch out for reckless drivers?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there a danger of highway robbery?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How quick do emergency services respond?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is camping along the highway even legal? Alternatively, are there enough camping grounds? Online research has been inconclusive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it even safe to travel alone, or should I look for a friend to join me?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there cellphone coverage up there? Is there a way to get Internet?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These are just some of the worries of the top of my head, I'm sure there are more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So are there people who have done similar things? I'd love to get in contact. Where should I look for more Information? I'm mainly looking for the exercise and some scenery. Canada seams to most suited for this, but if there are other places for a novice I'm open for suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15637" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-07T06:52:35.093" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T06:52:35.093" Title="Biking from Whitehorse to Vancouver" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2018-05-07T20:37:57.620" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19297" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19299" CreationDate="2018-05-06T19:46:21.250" Score="7" ViewCount="418" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Miami, Florida. I have been attempting to catch fish in a canal near where I live with a light rod, 8lb test mono line, and size 6 and 8 hooks. I have primarily been using night crawlers as bait but have also tried several jigs and crankbaits. When fishing worms I use a float about 1.5 - 3 feet above the hook with enough split shot to make the float vertical in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I drop my line near the edge I can usually get baby Mayan Cichlids to bite. Other than that though I have not had any luck, not even bites no matter where I cast or what time of day I go. I have seen schools of fish swim right by my bait without even attempting a bite. Sometimes when I am bringing my line in as it drags across the surface of the water a baby Florida garr will chase it and attempt to eat my  worm but other than that I have not had any action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One rare time I casted into the opening of a boat shed and almost as soon as the bait hit the water an adult Mayan Cichlid took it. This was a rare and singular event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But all that to say, what am I doing wrong? Could my 8lb line be spooking fish or do some fish not have any interest in worms? Maybe using a float is not an effective way to target fish that hang out near the bottom? I know it is hard to say if you are not actually there to see it yourself but I am hoping for some general tips for this type of situation from seasoned anglers. I want to catch some fish that are bigger than the palm of my hands!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T11:30:40.447" Title="Fish aren't biting, how to get more bites?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19297" CreationDate="2018-05-07T14:16:08.667" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would be good to know if you are certain that there actually ARE fish bigger than the palm of your hand in the area. But let's assume that there are. Whenever I come across suspicious fish that won't bite anything, I try two different tactics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first and almost always the best is to use live bait - fish, not worms - of some sort. If you see schools of minnows or mullet or something, catch a few. Then hook one on a relatively small hook with no weight or anything else. Lob that near some structure and let it swim about. The hook and the injury will make the fish stand out even if it manages to get back into a school of other bait fish. Predators will zero in on it immediately. The method of hooking can differ depending on the species of bait, but I typically go for something behind the dorsal fin. I've also seen them hooked through a lip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I can't get live bait, I'll go &quot;small&quot; with a lure - especially around docks that get a lot of fishing pressure. Big fish (30&quot; striped bass, fore example) will often cruise around docks in the Northeast, but will rarely take much notice of a lure. BUT if I take a small &lt;a href=&quot;http://merricktackle.com/newproducts/vision.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2-3&quot; clear rubber minnow&lt;/a&gt;, throw it on a small belly/worm hook, and toss it in front of one of these, these same fish will often move in and suck it up nonchalantly. Big fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastEditorUserId="3995" LastEditDate="2018-05-09T11:30:40.447" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T11:30:40.447" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19300" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19302" CreationDate="2018-05-07T17:23:40.360" Score="8" ViewCount="5539" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find abandoned sunglasses fairly frequently, right now the snow shoe and cross country trails are melting, and all of the sunglasses that were lost during the winter are now visible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't find them often enough to carry a sunglasses case just for this scenario, but would like to know how I can protect them when I don't have a case, as one can often clean them up and make them useful again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a good way of improvising protection for sunglasses without a case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-08T09:28:29.933" Title="How to protect sunglasses without a case?" Tags="&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19300" CreationDate="2018-05-07T18:04:23.753" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any sturdy box big enough to hold them would work, also when the box is a lot bigger.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can fill the empty space with something soft, like a piece of clothing you happen to have handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smaller (but still big enough) your box is, the more snug your pair of glasses will sit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a sturdy box you can put your glasses in any kind of bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you do not have a box handy, you can also just fold the glasses in a hanky or an other soft piece of cloth you have on you and put it in an outside pocket of your coat (as long as you do not lean against that pocket) or in your shirt pocket, (again when you keep it free from outside pressure) or in a suitable pocket or area of your bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your only box option is rather weak, you can still use it but more like a soft case, fill the open area with something soft and keep the box from getting too tight in whatever space you want to transport it. The filling of the box needs to keep the glasses whole, a weak box itself can not do much of a job.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always use sturdy glasses cases but I have seen my father who prefers the soft case his glasses came in, in combination with his shirt pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-05-07T18:14:58.757" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T18:14:58.757" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19300" CreationDate="2018-05-07T20:06:31.883" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;A clean sock will protect them from scratches with no need for fasteners and it takes a fair bit of pressure or impact to actually damage glasses (bending them slightly is another matter). Once wrapped they can go in the top of your pack or any pocket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-07T20:06:31.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19300" CreationDate="2018-05-08T09:28:29.933" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For the scenario, no backpack, no nothing, just a short hike and you find your treasure shining in the sun.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a piece of grass that won't break easily and can be bended without breaking in segments&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put one arm of the glasses through a belt loophole on your jeans.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;close the glasses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wrap the grass over the arms of the glasses to prevent them opening up and tie it up so it won't get unbound easily.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;continue walking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually when something hangs from your side it can hang there safely without bumping into much/scraping through much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For the scenario you're in the desert, there is no grass, but again you have nothing because you're on a short hike:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put them on your hat. Usually glasses will nicely slip over the hat and the tension will keep them there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For the scenario that you're hiking on a well walked trail&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find the glasses. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry glasses in hand or on belt loop/hat as described above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find a bottle, usually there's trash everywhere from non caring people even though they should clean up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut open the side of the bottle with a knife or a sharp rock/pointy stick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slip glasses in bottle, optionally add some leaves to prevent rattling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15646" LastActivityDate="2018-05-08T09:28:29.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19304" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-08T14:01:50.160" Score="18" ViewCount="2627" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking in early summer I often come across patches of old snow. Till now I have managed to cross those by cutting my steps in the snow or walking around. And whenever I had my hiking sticks with me I was really happy. I believe microspikes could be of great aid in those situations as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YpWvp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YpWvp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would they also be useful on ice in summer? I mean small ice fields or non-serious glaciers. Are they in any way comparable to crampons? Do people in general walk on glaciers wearing microspikes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-08T14:40:06.410" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T12:52:42.457" Title="Can microspikes replace crampons when crossing ice in summer?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;crampons&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;microspikes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19304" CreationDate="2018-05-08T14:35:02.940" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on how steep your ice patch is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crampons are really good when you have steep slopes and you need to do some real front pointing. Crampons are good for mixed climbing as well. They are also heavier than microspikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Microspikes make a good choice when the slopes are less steep. And when your needs for grip are not that severe. From my experience, they are not as durable as crampons. Some of the spikes just break off if you use them on rocks constantly (thereby reducing the grip as well). Also note that micro spikes can't really dig deep into ice. It's more like a chain you would put on your wheels to give you additional traction. And yes, for lesser glacial patches, microspikes are good and are used by people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-08T14:50:29.973" LastActivityDate="2018-05-08T14:50:29.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19304" CreationDate="2018-05-08T14:35:24.520" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends, if the snow is pretty level and you don't need the front points on the crampons to get up things, then yes microspikes can be a good substitute as they are certainly lighter and don't require specialized boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will never be a full substitute for crampons, but they should fit your purposes better than crampons would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For bigger glaciers I would say that it would be unusual to use microspikes instead of crampons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-05-08T14:40:39.667" LastActivityDate="2018-05-08T14:40:39.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19304" CreationDate="2018-05-08T15:52:37.920" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absolutely &lt;em&gt;yes&lt;/em&gt;. I don't leave my home without them (well, another model than the one you linked) if there is any chance of hitting snow/ice during a hike. For such hikes, they always, at any time of the year, sit at the bottom of my pack, right next to the survival sheet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had at least two occasions where they transformed a stupendously dangerous situation into a happy, adrenaline-ridden stroll. One of which was in late August on the return from a lightweight climbing trip - &lt;em&gt;nobody&lt;/em&gt; would have expected ice there, but it was on the shadowed side of the mountain, and &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; ugly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They don't weigh that much (at least compared to my body weight ;) ), and even if we are not talking life-or-death situations, they still can mean the difference between taking a large, uncomfortable detour or plowing along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's pretty obvious that there are limits; you would rather have the &quot;real deal&quot; with you if you have to do very steep upwards climbs where you would really need the front teeth of crampons. Obviously, if you know that you will be facing crampon-level ice, then bring your crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if and when I have to unpack them &lt;em&gt;unplanned&lt;/em&gt;, then while putting them on I do a good hard amount of thinking whether I wish to continue or turn back, simply because I might not know what conditions are around the next corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would they also be useful on ice in summer? I mean small ice fields or non-serious glaciers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they (well, good models) work just fine on ice, that's what they are made for. With my favourite model (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.edelrid.de/de/sports/steigeisen/6-point.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edelrid 6 Point Grödel&lt;/a&gt;), I can just walk on blank, mirror-like ice as if it were a normal road. Doesn't even take much more effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are they in any way comparable to crampons? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, until it gets steep. They basically only lack the front- and side-facing teeth (depending on model), and obviously they may be a little less robust overall, but for straight steps, it's more or less the same. For level walking, they are more comfortable for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Do people in general walk on glaciers wearing microspikes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen people on glaciers with Nikes. People will wear everything. :-( Don't be that guy. But do have microspikes in your backpack just in case, to do a safe level crossing of a glacier, maybe. If you're sure that there are no holes, and all that...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the Edelrids I mentioned are a very old model, so please do not simply buy them because of this mention; there may be much better alternatives available these days. On the other hand, it might be a good sign that they are still sold - they are very tough. I like the fact that they are one contiguous steel platform and not just a few spikes connected by a chain. They stack quite nicely and do not use that much space in the pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="9349" LastEditDate="2018-05-09T12:52:42.457" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T12:52:42.457" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19308" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-08T19:58:24.520" Score="1" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a backpack that is about fifteen years old. The interior surface becomes a little sticky from the deterioration of the coating or material. How to repair this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-09T18:55:09.080" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T18:55:09.080" Title="How to repair backpack inside surface?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2018-05-09T06:45:27.467" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19309" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-09T02:55:17.663" Score="13" ViewCount="5220" Body="&lt;p&gt;Excluding parking the car in the shade or carrying the kit in person, what are some solutions to handle emergency car kits in the heat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;medications&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;ointments&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;creams&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;adhesives&lt;/strong&gt; are the ones to worry about, but I'd like to ask for any experiences and suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other details that also came to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How often to rotate in these conditions?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the best material for storage or even as &quot;extra layers&quot;?&lt;/strong&gt;  (e.g., a thick bag, container or cooler) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where is the best place to store?&lt;/strong&gt; In the car's interiors like the glove compartment or underneath the seats? Or in the trunk? (I've read different opinions about the car trunk being the hottest/coolest area.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Southern California so the temperatures can get pretty record-breaking, particularly in the summer. I recently started volunteering at my local park and trails so I've been very curious for answers to better educate and prepare myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15620" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-09T15:11:17.217" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T14:10:37.207" Title="How to deal with keeping a first aid kit inside a hot car?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;hot-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19309" CreationDate="2018-05-09T06:03:31.007" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two main tricks for storing things in a car in hot temperatures are,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to keep the car as cool as possible,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Park in the shade.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a reflective windshield shade to reflect some of the heat that would otherwise be absorbed and heat up the inside of the car.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep the things inside of other things and keep them out of direct sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coolers work well, I have used rubbermaid containers for this in the past.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The interior will be cooler than the trunk, at least from the experiments I have seen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as how often to rotate, that will depend on how serious the failure of a particular component is. For instance, it would be far more critical to replace an epi-pen after exposure to really high heat than band-aids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T06:03:31.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19309" CreationDate="2018-05-09T12:01:45.730" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping things against the floor with insulation on top is often the best approach for keeping them cool. This could be under the front seats or in the spare wheel compartment, but many modern cars have compartments under the boot (trunk) floor. The tops of these compartments provide some insulation from the worst of the greenhouse heating, but the kit itself should be insulated. A sealed bottle of water or two can fill the remaining space and reduce the rate of temperature rise; spare water is close to a first aid item in hot places anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid rotating items out of this location into another place, as you could then end up ruining all your stock. I've found better quality (expensive branded) adhesive dressings (plasters/band-aids and tapes) to survive temperature extremes better than cheap ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For temperature-sensitive medication there's not a lot you can do, but this should help with ointments and adhesive dressings. There is of course a trade-off with accessibility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-09T12:01:45.730" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19314" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-09T17:30:51.070" Score="4" ViewCount="286" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Mountain Hardwear Trango 3.1 (a four-season tent) that lost the hooks on its rain fly. They simply became unglued from the inside of the fly a little while back. For those not familiar with this particular tent, the inside of the rain fly has about a dozen plastic hooks that it uses to attach to the poles of the tent to hold it on in all sorts of bad weather. The hooks themselves are connected to a bit of fabric which is in turn connected to the fly. In this case, the hooks are still connected to their fabric pieces, but the fabric became disconnected from the fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what happened, though my suspicion is that I let the tent get too hot and the glue lost its hold. This happened a few years ago and fortunately I was able to find and collect all of the pieces that fell off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I want to reattach them for an upcoming trip (in about a month, so I have plenty of time) and then re-waterproof the fly as the waterproofing is coming off as well (presumably for the same reason that the hooks came off, though it probably doesn't matter). Waterproofing is easy enough, but I'm not sure the best way to reattach the hooks. According to the MH website, the fly is made of &quot;70D Nylon Taffeta 1500mm PU/SIL&quot;. Any thoughts on the best way to firmly reattach the hooks, or, more accurately, the fabric that the hooks are connected to, to such a material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14946" LastActivityDate="2019-05-18T19:04:12.507" Title="Reattaching Tent Rain Fly Hooks" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19316" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-10T01:34:01.557" Score="2" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of mittens is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stroud&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Les Stroud&lt;/a&gt; wearing? Is there a name for them? I'm interested to find out about them and what it costs for a pair. &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bOgM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;mittens&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-05-10T01:34:01.557" Title="What kind of mittens is Les Stroud wearing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19246" CreationDate="2018-05-10T01:58:18.753" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, don't worry. At least in the US, and presumably a number of other countries, there are organizations that set the safety standards pretty high. As a result, IMHO, we've become much more suspicious of food that's not dangerous. You can backpack with unrefrigerated foods (like cheese and eggs) for a while, and they're still fine, but the safety folks would have to take deep breaths from a paper bag if they found out. ;)  So...don't tell anyone, but I've left water in a bottle for months, drank it, and was fine. Now, I believe I have a pretty sturdy immune system, but I bet you're fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-05-10T01:58:18.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19321" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19323" CreationDate="2018-05-10T13:57:24.370" Score="5" ViewCount="266" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there hope for a repair on this bow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samick Outlander American flat bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ihQeH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SWPGH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bow inscription&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ihQeH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ihQeH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;split in the bow&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-10T14:39:35.553" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T11:16:05.090" Title="Is it possible to repair this flat bow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;long-bows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19309" CreationDate="2018-05-11T10:15:20.313" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are good answers regarding where to put it and how to best protect it. I'll add a few insights to those excellent answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Separate the insensitive stuff from the sensitive stuff. Bandaids, compresses, burn-gel, dest. water, antiseptic, some NSAIDs - these things usually withstand heat well. So, epi-pens and other medication (you can ask at the pharmacy for this information) put in a separate bag, store the same place&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get a thermometer that is like &lt;a href=&quot;http://greenfingeredhydroponics.co.uk/minmax-thermometer-864-p.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this.&lt;/a&gt; - preferrably analogue, with min/max readings. Put it inside the bag with the sensitive stuff. This way you can tell what needs replacement when. Maybe you can have a spare bag of stuff that has been exposed to too high temperature. When you really need an epi pen, you are likely not going to do any damage if the alternatives are &quot;no epi pen&quot; or &quot;old and exposed epi pen&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cave at lector:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;I am not a medical professional&lt;/strong&gt;, but this is what the manufacturer says in this specific case (epipen):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Expired adrenaline autoinjectors are not as effective when used for treating allergic reactions and should not be relied upon to treat anaphylaxis. However, the most recently expired adrenaline autoinjector available should be used if no in-date device is available.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is usually the case for most medicines - they become less effective but not harmful. (again, do check the specifics yourself, if you use a strangers advice in a life or death situation, the liability is on you...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T10:15:20.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19321" CreationDate="2018-05-11T10:18:33.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; Yes it is. Send Samick an e-mail (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.samickusaarchery.com/contact-us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here for the US&lt;/a&gt;) and explain your problem (with pictures) to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to repair this bow, but only by a professional. So either talk to the manufacturer (recommended) or a &lt;strong&gt;professional&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;(!)&lt;/strong&gt; bowyer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The crack actually looks a little bit more horrible than it really is. Your bow (or 'modern bows' in general) are made from a stack of different materials like glas, certain kinds of wood and so on. The layers are basically really well glued together under high pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What the bowyer needs to do know is just to repeat this whole process. Mainly they'll put in specialised glue, heat and pressure to get your bow up and running again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And again, don't do this by yourself! Send it in. Also don't trust any hobby bowyer. If this is not repaired just perfectly it can get really really dangerous for you, the target (can be ignored if not hunting) and people standing beside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further information is provided within the comment section of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwBmE5IviXA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this YouTube video&lt;/a&gt;. You can use &lt;a href=&quot;https://dbase.tube/youtube-search-in-comments?v=dwBmE5IviXA&amp;amp;term=samick%20Samick&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; to find all the Samick related ones, like for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3 -4 month 55 lb samick sage bottom limb snaps after a session&#xA;  shooting 20 arrow . Everything text book .. .. have to see what&#xA;  happens&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2018-05-11T11:16:05.090" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T11:16:05.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19309" CreationDate="2018-05-11T14:10:37.207" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider splitting the kit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put dressings, scissors, hemostat, tape ... in one for non perishables.  I like using a fishing tackle box.  Athletic tape, antiseptic powder, saline solution, and bar soap all hold up in the heat pretty well. In a car accident with major problems you are not worried about ointments. Airway, bleed, stabilize, and get professional medical help.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ointment and other perishables a small box or even a bag and store under the seat. Or a thermos - like a coffee thermos. Look at Klean Canteen insulated food canister. Rotate out as needed.  I would check every 6 - 12 months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T14:10:37.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19325" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-11T16:03:16.223" Score="10" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;A naive estimate of one gallon bucket a second is 60 gal/min for a well staffed and equipped line, but is there any data on how much water can be moved by bucket in less than ideal conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically how much the number of people per distance effects the speed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8348" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-11T17:43:05.440" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T20:18:15.190" Title="What is the expected flowrate of a bucket brigade?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19326" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-11T16:17:39.493" Score="19" ViewCount="4727" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are heading out on our first family camping. We tested out our sleeping bags in the living room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two kids ( ~2 &amp;amp; ~5 yo) wanted to share one adult sleeping bag. I'm expecting that it will end in a fight before long, but if it doesn't:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it a bad idea to let two small siblings share an adult sleeping bag?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My quick googling about if one should have children sized bags or not brought up issues such as overheating and suffocation, neither one of had I ever worried about before! I thought maybe there is something else that I hadn't thought of... so anything less than obvious would be appreciated.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15660" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-11T20:09:22.140" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T09:55:39.777" Title="Two kids sharing a sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19325" CreationDate="2018-05-11T16:31:27.333" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what we know of back when a bucket brigades were the fire fighting method of choice,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before the mid-1800s, the most common way of fighting fires in the nations cities and towns was the bucket brigade, made up of volunteers. When a fire was spotted, the cry of &quot;throw out your buckets&quot; would be sounded, and a bucket brigade would be formed, two lines of people stretching from the town well to the fire to deliver as much as &lt;strong&gt;sixty gallons of water per minute.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=j7727Z6DbZEC&amp;amp;pg=PT199&amp;amp;lpg=PT199&amp;amp;dq=bucket%20brigade%20gallons%20per%20minute&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=QGD_o2A4En&amp;amp;sig=LYekeGcLN4OXpXKztBZZjuGLP24&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiQ553vh_7aAhXK6oMKHYBaDjwQ6AEIVTAH#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=bucket%20brigade%20gallons%20per%20minute&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A colonial fire bucket holds approximately 3 gallons of water and weighs 25 pounds when filled. A human bucket brigade &lt;strong&gt;working at top speed would struggle to deliver 100 gallons of water per minute.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/blogs/archivists-mailbag/could-bucket-have-saved-st-pauls-chapel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, I would say that the people back then had practice doing this, and most people today would not. Over &lt;strong&gt;longer distances I would expect the speed to decrease&lt;/strong&gt;, simply because there are more moving parts to slow it down and you can only &lt;strong&gt;go as fast as the slowest person.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On other thing, I was part of moving several hundred pounds of copier paper down one flight of stairs by passing them from person to person, and the other big limiter is the speed of the people on the ends of the chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-14T20:18:15.190" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T20:18:15.190" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19326" CreationDate="2018-05-11T19:06:31.630" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I happen to have a 5 and 3 year old. I can think of reasons for not letting them sleep in the same sleeping bag, but none of them are because it wouldn't work in theory. If your two kids would actually &lt;em&gt;sleep&lt;/em&gt; together in one bag, then I'd say it's a great idea. They'll stay warmer at night and that's one less bag for you to pack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your only concern with suffocation is if they go too deep inside the bag. I remember trying to spelunk all the way to the bottom of my adult sized sleeping bag when I was a kid; if you got stuck down there then you could get in trouble. The easy solution is to leave the bottom open. Most sleeping bags have a double zipper on them. The other thing you could do is fold the sleeping bag in half, folding the foot of the bag up underneath your kids. This will reduce the volume of the bag so they can't get swallowed by it, and it will add some extra warmth and comfort beneath them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-05-12T09:55:19.353" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T09:55:19.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19326" CreationDate="2018-05-11T22:13:42.687" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd probably wonder about the quality of sleep they will get. This depends a lot on the sleeping bag itself, how warm it is, if it comes with a zip, what the outer temperature is, etc., but also, on the width (the inner circumference). Imagine they shared a bed: how wide would it need to be so they both get a good night's sleep? The bag circumference ought to be at least twice the width of the bed. They should be able to lie comfortably next to each other, with a little extra room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Special bags for kids are shorter to economize on weight (if they need to carry the bag), but also in cold climates, it can be difficult for a child to warm up their leg area in an adult sleeping bag, because of the extra empty space. Other than that, I do not see a problem with a kid in an adult bag (though I'd be careful with the 2-year old). At the worst, the extra leg area can be tied up from outside with a string, so the kid cannot &quot;sink&quot; into it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I might embrace the idea of kids sharing a bag but still pack another bag, just in case. Perhaps they change their mind quite early into the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11752" LastActivityDate="2018-05-11T22:13:42.687" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19331" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19333" CreationDate="2018-05-12T07:24:26.663" Score="5" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- A single pitch climb&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Top roping only, belayed from below&lt;br&gt;&#xA;- Limited number of helmets (assume only 1 for a climber/belayer pair) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it more important for the belayer to be protected from falling rocks, or for the climber to be protected from hitting the rock face?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I understand that it would be best practice for all involved to be wearing a helmet.  This is for the case of not everyone having a helmet, apportioning protective gear where it will be most effective or needed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T08:13:04.483" Title="Is a helmet more important for a belayer or a climber?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-12T07:58:23.603" Score="9" ViewCount="851" Body="&lt;p&gt;For car camping near the snow line, is there anything that can safely be used as a heater while sleeping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, how large would ordinary hot water bottles need to be, to comfortably emit heat for the entire night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like electric heaters are unfeasible unless there is mains power available (as even a truck battery would struggle to run a space heater for a quarter of an hour), and gas heaters are obviously unwise inside a sleeping space (due to exhaust). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone tried using a portable gas hot water system (located outside), to circulate hot water to some kind of radiator inside the sleeping space? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14188" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T14:22:11.170" Title="Hot water system as a heater for car camping?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19331" CreationDate="2018-05-12T08:13:04.483" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;To appease the (correctly) security minded: Just don't forget the second helmet ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends on the specific situation in the crag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is there potential rockfall from above the routes?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If there is nothing above the routes (cliffs, flat above, ...), then that's not a problem. If there is steepish terrain above, possibly with a path or animals up there, then it is definitely a risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are the routes themselves crumbly?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the belayer protected somehow?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;E.g. below an overhang or protruding (massive) rock feature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Top-roping? Given in your case.&#xA;Belayer has lots of freedom to move, e.g. can get away from the wall and/or line vertically down from the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many scenarios for single-pitch routes it is generally a judgment call whether to wear a helmet or not. Again, it is always recommended to do so, but it's not like suicide if you don't, if the factors above are positive and the crag is very used. Having said that, I still didn't answer the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general the belayer is &quot;more important&quot;. Imagine a &quot;mild&quot; accident of a rock causing a bleeding wound and concussion: The climber will fall, can then be lowered and treated (even if unconscious, that's possible, while shit). The belayer will probably let go of the rope and cause the climber to fall -&gt; you have a concussed belayer and a likely severely injured climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When in doubt, don't climb without the helmet - if you still climb, give preference to the belayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T08:13:04.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19326" CreationDate="2018-05-12T09:55:39.777" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We do this all the time. It's fine. Just leave the bottom open. It will help them feel more secure and safe especially if they sleep in the same bed at home sometimes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no risks, and no dangers, but there you do want to leave it &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T09:55:39.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19332" CreationDate="2018-05-12T12:37:15.460" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the outdoors, the way to deal with cold is not to heat the environment, but to insulate yourself.  You say &quot;snow line&quot;, so it appears you aren't asking about anything particularly cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just get a proper sleeping bag rated for the temperature.  Since you are car camping, you can bring some extra supplies like blankets.  Get a sleeping bag rated for the normal or a bit above normal temperature, then add a blanket for the unusually cold nights.  It's a lot easier to throw a blanket on a sleeping bag to deal with lower temperatures than to open the bag and stick one leg out, or whatever, to deal with higher temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T12:37:15.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19332" CreationDate="2018-05-12T14:24:33.273" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It’s decently common to use a nalgene water bottle inside of a sleeping bag to help stay warm during the night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you go to bed you fill the water bottle with water warmed over a stove and place it inside the sleeping bag. It is certainly possible to use boiling water but then you will want to wrap the bottle in something to avoid burning yourself. (There are at least 6 other answers on this site plus other internet places plus my experience of people using boiling water in Nalgene bottles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt that any larger heated water systems for camping exist, water is just to heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-12T20:48:27.527" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T20:48:27.527" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19332" CreationDate="2018-05-12T19:53:33.870" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hot water bottles work great for keeping you warm at night in your sleeping bag. They shouldn't be relied on for warmth though, if you're consistently cold then you should get a warmer bag, or learn how to set up a proper sleep system. Hot water bottles are great for getting your bag warm for you when you first crawl into it, especially while car camping, because you don't have to pack it on your back. When car camping, you can bring as many creature comforts as you want as long as you have room for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to attend an annual winter survival training camp when I was in scouts. We definitely kept a couple hot water bottles on the sled that we filled with boiling water right before crawling into our sleeping bags. Your average hot water bottle was good enough to keep you warm in the night, and in the mornings you had liquid water to boil again for your breakfast while everyone else was melting snow and trying to thaw out their water bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a plethora of tent heaters available on the market, the gas heaters are safe for indoor use, and pose a greater threat to you tent (melting the nylon) than they do to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-05-12T19:53:33.870" CommentCount="22" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19341" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-13T14:10:54.933" Score="7" ViewCount="5267" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm here hunting turkey in Virginia and I keep hearing unidentifiable sounds that I'm pretty sure are not turkey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the most common one is something like a monkey (chimp) cackling/laughing. It's usually 16 equally pitched notes in a 4/4 beat: ka-ka-ka-ka times 4. It's probably a bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you know what animal this could be? Can you provide links to examples of the sound?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-13T17:49:02.293" LastActivityDate="2020-09-10T17:58:09.613" Title="Wild animal in Virginia that sounds like monkey cackling/laughing?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15812" CreationDate="2018-05-13T20:08:15.367" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in that neck of the woods and have camped in the Kettle Moraine many times. The area you indicated gets very little use, as you go a little further North closer to Mauthe Lake and Long Lake it's much busier. Both of those lakes have large established and often full camping sites, with frequent pull-in type camping units. Ranger activity through the area you plan on is virtually nonexistent, just keep it quiet and you can camp overnight anywhere. During the summer months you may see other people but even then they would be few and far between. Starting a campfire may be pushing it though. But that stretch is really under utilized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15668" LastEditorUserId="15668" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T22:00:25.740" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T22:00:25.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19341" CreationDate="2018-05-13T20:28:11.990" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Grey squirrels make a surprising range of sounds, including quite a loud one sometimes called barking, but repetitive and rather like a cackling at times. &lt;a href=&quot;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhf72o0L8cw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt; collects a few of them; you might want to skip to about &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/Uhf72o0L8cw?t=219&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3:40&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Gray Squirrel&lt;/a&gt; is the same species as we have (introduced) in the UK. They make these alarm calls from in trees (sometimes high and not easily seen) so give the impression of birds until you catch them in the act. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-01-08T09:43:51.550" LastActivityDate="2020-01-08T09:43:51.550" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19346" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19349" CreationDate="2018-05-14T07:23:22.340" Score="27" ViewCount="7545" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was going through the REI website for some of the products and I stumbled upon this one here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/107934/y-y-vertical-classic-belay-glasses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Y &amp;amp; Y VERTICAL Classic Belay Glasses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The product punchline says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Stop wrenching your neck to keep an eye on your climber. The Y &amp;amp; Y Vertical Classic Belay Glasses feature metal frames and high-quality prisms that allow you to look straight ahead while belaying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have anybody used this one?&#xA;What purpose does this product serve? How is this supposed to work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that I can read the user manual and get on with it, but I'd prefer get a word from someone with a hands-on experience with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T06:51:16.133" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T06:51:16.133" Title="What is the point of belay glasses?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19351" CreationDate="2018-05-14T07:34:40.333" Score="7" ViewCount="1320" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to upgrade a bag to have hip belts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so what should I look for in identifying a good product to fill this niche?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/rucksacks-c19/rucksack-accessories-c133/eagle-creek-quick-snap-strap-p3339&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; but a hip belt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would prefer not to have to sew, but this does not have to bear any weight, so I'm hoping that is not an issue. My main concern is to be able to clip easy-access storage onto the new belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="130" LastEditorUserId="15134" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T20:12:42.657" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T15:35:05.427" Title="Can you attach a non-load bearing hip/waist belt to an existing bag?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19346" CreationDate="2018-05-14T07:57:07.630" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, there is not much more to it than what you citation already says: It deflects your field of vision upwards, i.e. you can keep your head level, look into the glasses and you will see upwards. I could only use them twice, and I stopped pretty quickly, because the weird field of vision confused me. However there's tons of people using it and those that lent it to me, said that some discomfort in the beginning is normal and you will adjust quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the purpose: Staring up at the climber a long time will provoke a stiff/painful neck, which is prevented by not having to tilt your head to look up.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As to how it works: It's a glass prism constructed such, that light entering at ~60deg up (perpendicular to the surface) is reflected first at the bottom, then again at the entry surface (total reflection) and finally leaves the glass towards your eyes (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belay_glasses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;see the Wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-14T16:01:19.427" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T16:01:19.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19346" CreationDate="2018-05-14T09:14:07.093" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like it says in the other comment, these glasses are to be used when belaying so that you don't have to tilt your head up. The lenses are made of a prism-shaped glass that bends the light in such a way that you see what is happening up while looking straight in front of you. They help to avoid neck pain, and they also make it easier to always keep an eye on the climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in theory the glasses are a great idea for people who climb often, or have to belay for a long time, or have problems with their neck. I see a lot of old folks wearing them, so might be especially appealing for older people. I believe the main reason those glasses are not that popular is that they used to be really expensive. I remember them costing around 200 euros a few years ago. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also tried belay glasses myself. And while most of my friends who have tried them really liked them, I couldn't stay for longer than a couple of minutes while wearing those glasses myself. Of course, it might be a matter of getting used to the feeling, but I was getting dizzy, and decided it was better for the climber if I took those glasses off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my verdict would be that in theory the belay glasses sound like a great idea, and most people seem to like them well enough, but you should try them out yourself before deciding to buy. Even trying them out in the shop could be informative enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14576" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T13:34:30.553" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T13:34:30.553" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19346" CreationDate="2018-05-14T09:51:47.380" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Belay glasses are (in Europe) so common that they are basically now part of the &lt;em&gt;standard&lt;/em&gt; gym/crag equipment, just like an autolocking belay device. In some places, it can be rare to see someone &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; a pair on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary benefit is &lt;strong&gt;comfort&lt;/strong&gt; for the belayer: you have a much more relaxed neck position. This isn't an &quot;old person&quot; thing, it's just more comfortable to be looking straight ahead than craning your neck up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The secondary benefit is &lt;strong&gt;safety&lt;/strong&gt;: a belayer who can comfortably watch their climber is more likely to watch them during the entire climb without looking away to relax their neck. This means the belayer can give a much better belay: they can see the climber ready to clip, about to fall, etc. This means fewer short clips or hard catches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note, I'm discussing mostly &lt;em&gt;lead&lt;/em&gt; climbing, where it's important to watch the climber closely. For top-roping, the benefit is slightly lower since you can get away with &quot;feel&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One tip: I usually keep the belay glasses around my neck (or lower on my nose) for the first few clips, where I can see the climber directly. I then put the glasses on quickly around the third clip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T09:51:47.380" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19347" CreationDate="2018-05-14T12:01:43.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bags that are long enough and sturdy enough to take a hip belt probably already have them. The belt needs to couple well to the frame/load if it's going to take any weight so you need more than just sewing skills. This doesn't mean it's impossible, just hard, and the best source of materials might be a hip belt off an old rucksack. The only reason I could see to want to add a hip belt is for a challenge, unless the pack is &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; special. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A stabilising &lt;em&gt;waist&lt;/em&gt; belt doesn't take any significant weight, but would be much easier to add. This can be as simple as two pieces of webbing with an adjustable buckle. Waist belts are often attached to the same points as the bottom of the shoulder straps, so stitching or knotting a belt there should work (it would probably ride up if just clipped).  You could cut a webbing belt in half, seal the ends, and tie it on, for example, though I'd put a few stitches in to get the angle about right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it's mainly storage you're after: backpacks that lack hip belts are often comfortable over a separate belt, either with built-in pouches like those sold for running/cycling/cameras, or with extra pouches threaded on.  Such a belt could be hung from the backapck to keep them together, using a couple of lengths of paracord to the bottom of the shoulder straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T15:35:05.427" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T15:35:05.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19352" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-14T12:06:55.723" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-05-14T12:06:55.723" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T12:06:55.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19353" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-14T12:06:55.723" Score="0" Body="Used for questions around modifying bought equipment to satisfy your outdoors need." OwnerUserId="130" LastEditorUserId="130" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T11:22:43.427" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T11:22:43.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19354" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-14T15:58:24.223" Score="14" ViewCount="1682" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty comfortable with my technique to stay hydrated, but I am curious about estimating how much liquid is actually involved. I generally am just concerned with getting rid of it, but occasionally (especially when drips become a steady trickle) I wonder at how much I can make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess if I weighed the easier outputs and inputs and did calorie math to account for my breath I could get something, but that sounds like a lot of (unappealing) work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weighing clothes twice might give me a lower bound, but working in plastic wrap (to avoid drip and evaporation loses) isn't pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a casual way to estimate sweat? Preferably usable in the field with minimal prep-work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8348" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-14T21:48:50.310" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T21:48:50.310" Title="How to estimate the volume a person sweats?" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19354" CreationDate="2018-05-14T16:16:06.893" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;You basically have it, the formula is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;  Your Weight at start&#xA;- Your Weight at end&#xA;+ Weight of water consumed&#xA;- Weight of water urinated&#xA;---------------------------&#xA;= Water lost via sweat&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you divide the water lost via sweat by the amount of time to find your sweat rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Water lost via sweat/time spent exercising = sweat rate.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this will depend on the person and on the weather conditions, and a scale isn't practical for the field, but at the same  time knowing your sweat rate under certain conditions will help you determine how much water you need to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ksi.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1222/2015/04/Sweat-Rate-Calculator.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweat   Rate    Calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2015/11/calculate-your-sweat-rate.aspx#axzz5FUbUkjRG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Calculate Your Sweat Rate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extreme/Heat_Illness/Sweat%20Rate%20Calculation.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweat Rate Calculation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-14T21:48:12.370" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T21:48:12.370" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19354" CreationDate="2018-05-14T16:27:08.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt it's possible to get a sensible answer with realistic equipment, as removing evaporation will make you sweat more. So weighing your clothes while tightly sealed would give an overestimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to get a rough idea might be to weigh clothes on a fairly still, humid, overcast day, using those same clothes to dry yourself. A gym session would be a decent substitute. This might be a good time to wear cotton so it absorbs the sweat. Weighing &lt;em&gt;yourself&lt;/em&gt; would be interesting (combining sweating with respiration and other losses) but most scales aren't accurate enough - try changing your stance while on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to respiration (and urine production) don't forget that different energy sources use water differently, and the use of these sources changes over the course of prolonged exercise as well as with the starting state of your glycogen stores. Glycogen in particular stores a fair bit of water with it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T16:27:08.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19341" CreationDate="2018-05-14T22:05:45.003" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try listening to the sounds/songs/calls on these two pages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would bet on the second one bird. But, the first one is worth listening to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first one on this page labeled &quot;song&quot;:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first two on this page labeled &quot;Wuk&quot;:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastActivityDate="2018-05-14T22:05:45.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19358" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19385" CreationDate="2018-05-15T01:59:24.477" Score="6" ViewCount="288" Body="&lt;p&gt;In season 3 episode 1 of Survivorman, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stroud&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Les Stroud&lt;/a&gt; uses a guitar and a can of some consistently shaped chips made from potatoes of an unknown brand &amp;lt;cough&amp;gt;Pringles&amp;lt;/cough&amp;gt; to make a trap for mice or squirrels. My question is, since he has made snares for rabbits before, why doesn't he use any of the guitar strings to make snares for rabbits?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rf9an.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-29T17:25:09.037" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T17:25:09.037" Title="Could Les Stroud have used guitar strings for rabbit snares?" Tags="&lt;trapping&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19359" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19360" CreationDate="2018-05-15T02:25:43.217" Score="7" ViewCount="423" Body="&lt;p&gt;In season 3 episode 2 of Survivorman, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stroud&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Les Stroud&lt;/a&gt; explains that red snow will make you sick. He also says that he doesn't know why it makes you sick. What's in it that makes you sick?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/novOL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T03:43:35.227" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T12:30:54.880" Title="Why does red snow make a person sick?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19359" CreationDate="2018-05-15T03:43:16.313" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_snow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Watermelon snow&lt;/a&gt; is caused by algae called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydomonas_nivalis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chlamydomonas nivalis&lt;/a&gt;. Apparently, it has laxative effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As Giersch and National Park representatives explain, the red pigment in the algae helps to protect its chloroplast from the sun’s radiation, allowing it to take in more heat. As the algae absorbs the sun's heat, it causes the snow around it to melt, feeding the algae with water and allowing it to continue thriving as it settles into deposits in the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That being said, NPS representatives strongly advise against any temptation to taste the sweet-smelling ice, as scientists warn that watermelon snow can cause disruption to your digestive system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/watermelon-snow-glacier-national-park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Science Explains Why the Snow Is Turning Rosy Red at This National Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Scientists, however, warn us not to eat watermelon snow because of its laxative effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=0PpLg9mBJ8AC&amp;amp;lpg=PA48&amp;amp;ots=c4fvxg8q7s&amp;amp;dq=watermelon%20snow%20laxative&amp;amp;pg=PA48&amp;amp;hl=en#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=watermelon%20snow%20laxative&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Song of the Alpine: The Rocky Mountain Tundra Through the Seasons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, it's usually concentrated in areas and I have never had a choice between watermelon snow and no water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T12:30:54.880" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T12:30:54.880" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19346" CreationDate="2018-05-15T13:09:53.397" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other excellent answers, it's worth noting that many belay glasses have a slight (~1.25x) magnification effect, which sometimes makes it easier to work out small details on the rock when giving beta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T13:09:53.397" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19363" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19382" CreationDate="2018-05-15T13:31:11.157" Score="5" ViewCount="488" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a mapcase made of clear plastic (PVC &lt;em&gt;I think&lt;/em&gt;).  It has a roll top held shut with velcro.  Both sides of the velcro were attached by some sort of welding process but one of them has completely come off.  I've tried reattaching it with hot glue, which seemed OK at first, but didn't survive one use.  I've tried pressing the plastic to the backing of the velcro with a heated tool, but despite the hot plastic smell there was no adhesion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only is it my most waterproof mapcase, ideal for inkjet-printed maps in the rain, but it attaches to the handlebar bag of my bike.  Replacements don't seem to be available, and it's perfect for riding to a hike, something I quite like to do. But with the velcro missing the maps simply fall out (it's at the bottom).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to sew through the plastic unless I absolutely have to: it will breach the waterproof section, and I don't appear to have anything that I could use to seal the holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mcl2A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mcl2A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;damaged mapcase&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the left, a strip of velcro that's firmly attached;  In the middle, the remains of the weld; on the right, the velcro that came off.  The weld (which shows up as a white rectangle) is textured in the side that touched the velcro, and smooth on the other side, suggesting that any melting was very controlled, and possibly delivered through the velcro (which has an edge of just fabric).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T19:58:57.567" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T14:40:01.930" Title="How can I repair a mapcase (reattach Velcro)?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19347" CreationDate="2018-05-15T16:32:34.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you just want extra load carrying space then you can buy suitable belts from military suppliers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;you can either get plain belt and separate padding which you can slip onto the belt, which is best if you want to use simple loops or you can get complete units which often have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOLLE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MOLLE&lt;/a&gt;  type strips on the outside which needs compatible pouched but is very versatile and also works well with anything with a pocket clip etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rNyz5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rNyz5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For small items like torches, fist aid kits, compact cameras etc, these work pretty well and there is a huge range of pouches available and will take a fair amount of weight and it keep small, frequently used items compartmentalised and accessible. If you add a yoke which clips to the D rings on the top edge you can carry quite heavy stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having an entirely separate belt also gives you a bit more flexibility in many situations as you can leave your main pack off but still keep belt mounted items handy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2018-05-15T16:54:31.977" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T16:54:31.977" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19256" CreationDate="2018-05-15T18:31:30.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Expanding on my comment&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing from a kayak is not really that much different from fishing from any other watercraft. You have less space to work with, like fishing from a Personal Water Craft, but it's certainly doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to do a serious amount of fishing from your kayak, or plan to be out for very long, or plan to be in rough water, there are some great add-ons you can get for your boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b6BdD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b6BdD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southtexaskayak.com/kayak-fishing-attachments/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;South TX Kayak&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But honestly, though, in most situations, all you really need is your kayak and your rod. You can use a stringer tied to a cleat on the boat to keep the fish you catch, or you can convert one of the storage compartments or even an ice chest to a live well by filling it with water. Other than that, just get out there and have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zVBRg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zVBRg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southtexaskayak.com/kayak-fishing-attachments/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;South TX Kayak&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2018-05-15T18:31:30.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19366" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19375" CreationDate="2018-05-16T05:19:25.320" Score="10" ViewCount="11119" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently there was a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/Texans-Mistake-Bobcat-Kittens-for-House-Cat-Kittens-Several-People-Bitten-482103262.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;story&lt;/a&gt; about some people in Texas who brought three bobcat kittens home and then called animal control after the bobcats bit them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also happened once in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/01/19/Neighbors-mistake-giant-California-house-cat-for-a-bobcat/1601453218699/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;California&lt;/a&gt; where a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maine Coon cat&lt;/a&gt; was mistaken for a bobcat, and once in &lt;a href=&quot;https://pilotonline.com/life/wildlife-nature/mary-reid-barrow/article_d0b4c3e4-fa12-11e6-bc3f-1fb2bc05e392.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Virginia&lt;/a&gt; with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_cat&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bengal cat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one tell the difference between bobcat kittens and regular house cat kittens?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T18:03:28.107" Title="How to tell the difference between bobcats and house cats?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bobcats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19367" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19388" CreationDate="2018-05-16T05:28:21.700" Score="7" ViewCount="325" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen some barn cats that were claimed to be the offspring of female barn cats and a male bobcat (they had bobbed tails).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felid_hybrid#Attempted_or_unconfirmed_hybrids&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; says that there is circumstantial and anecdotal evidence for this, but the note says that the source for that information is unreliable, and the date on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felid_hybrid#cite_note-3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; is 1975.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any more recent scientific evidence on whether bobcats can breed with house cats?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T18:16:58.343" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T01:50:32.103" Title="Is there scientific evidence of bobcats breeding with house cats?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bobcats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19368" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19376" CreationDate="2018-05-16T07:50:41.950" Score="15" ViewCount="31163" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard that pouring boiling water into a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nalgene.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nalgene&lt;/a&gt;-style bottle is either completely fine or definitely going to kill you. Which is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any scientific studies demonstrating exactly what happens when you pour boiling water directly into a Nalgene, and how bad this could be for a person?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume we're talking about a sturdy BPA-free plastic Nalgene-style bottle (not necessarily that brand), available today from outdoor retailers designed for (amongst other things) outdoor sports. You fill it with boiling water (from a stream, snow, faucet), then close the bottle to let it cool. You will drink the water later once it's drinking temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastEditorUserId="671" LastEditDate="2018-05-22T11:00:08.947" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:42:15.043" Title="Is pouring boiling water into a plastic Nalgene bad for you?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2018-05-16T09:13:23.530" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just coming back from a climbing weekend where I manage to bring my camera around the rocks: I've added a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.peakdesign.com/product/clips/capture/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;peak design clip&quot;&gt;peak design clip&lt;/a&gt; at the back of my harness and a simple strap. The clip allow quick and easy manipulation of the camera, and the strap is only to assure not dropping the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this configuration, the camera is exposed, therefore I wouldn't advice to lead a hard route because in case of fall, the probability to break your camera would be quite high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is how it looks (sorry for potato image quality, the good camera is on the picture...):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IHWzY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IHWzY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a couple of usage, I'd add this method is really nice because it is really quick to be ready to take pictures. The downside is that it is not that easy to clip back as you don't see what you are doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15491" LastEditorUserId="15491" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T08:50:06.533" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T08:50:06.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2018-05-16T11:56:10.593" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nalgene (probably a trademark, not sure what the generic plastic name is) is not a good material for a water bottle intended to be used in the back country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nalgene gets brittle over time, even without abuse.  I once accidentally dropped a full quart water bottle onto the ground, and it shattered.  I had a different bottle develop cracks and leak into a pack.  These incidents were maybe 20 years ago, and I haven't used Nalgene since.  I think that boiling water accelerates this process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nowadays, there are many things you buy anyway that come in bottles of the right size and material to use outdoors.  The common #1 recycling plastic (PETE?) seems to work well.  It's light and tough and cheap.  I keep a few empties handy.  Even if you have to deliberately go get one, it's easy find juice or whatever that comes with the bottle.  The juice+bottle doesn't cost much more than one of those fancy water bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, don't even put anything hot into such a bottle, let alone boiling.  High temperatures makes the plastic shrink and deform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T11:56:10.593" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2018-05-16T12:57:47.610" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two different kinds of Nalgene bottles. The originals were soft, sort of white/translucent, and designed for lab work. You absolutely could pour boiling water into them - and much worse. I certainly did it all the time - just don't screw the lid on tight until the whole thing cools a little, or pressure differential will be hard on the bottle. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/2104-0032&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A site selling them&lt;/a&gt; describes these as HDPE. A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermofisher.com/ca/en/home/life-science/lab-plasticware-supplies/reusable-plasticware/laboratory-bottles/wide-mouth-bottles.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;summary page on that site&lt;/a&gt; says they are fine to 120C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ac3yb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ac3yb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These days all the cool kids have Nalgene bottles that are clear and rigid. I wouldn't expect you could pour boiling water into those. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nalgene.com/product/2178-2027/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nalgene website&lt;/a&gt; says they are made from Tritan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBWLG.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QBWLG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T12:57:47.610" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19372" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19366" CreationDate="2018-05-16T13:30:04.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bobcats have short stubby tails.  The typical house cat has a tail almost the length of its body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bobcats have a specific color pattern.  House cats have all kinds of colors and patterns due to the human selection and lack of natural selection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T13:30:04.960" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19373" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19374" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" Score="0" Body="Questions about bobcats" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T15:23:19.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19366" CreationDate="2018-05-16T17:32:55.220" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The domestic cat and the bobcat look completely different, so it would be fairly easy to distinguish them. The bobbed tail cannot be relied on by itself, as there is a domestic breed of cat called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_cat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Manx&lt;/a&gt; that has a naturally bobbed tail, as well. However, this breed is a bit rare compared to all of the other breeds of domestic cat, which have a naturally long tail, so it does make for a good first rubric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than a bobbed tail, Manx cats look identical to their domestic brethren [&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_cat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;][&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;]:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/axMlv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/axMlv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Manx cat and domestic cat, for comparison&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bobcats, on the other hand, look more like their cousin, the lynx [&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;][&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt;]:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pw2Sd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pw2Sd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bobcat and lynx, for comparison&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also the component of size. Bobcats start life larger than domestic cats, and grow to a larger size in adulthood, with bobcat kittens weighing approximately 125 grams when measured at a few days old [&lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.2307/1377245&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5&lt;/a&gt;]. Contrast that to the weight of domestic kittens at around the same age being about 100 grams [&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/birth-weight-and-postnatal-growth-of-purebred-kittens/9CA2D69FF16E06A8BB9C9702FAD2C825&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding Maine Coon kittens, yes, they have similar ears to bobcats, but it would again be difficult to confuse them, because of the other facial features (they lack the &quot;mutton chops&quot; that bobcats and lynx have) and the elongated tail [&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;7&lt;/a&gt;][&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bpzoo.org/rescued-bobcat-kittens/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;8&lt;/a&gt;]:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kXJXQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kXJXQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bobcat kitten and Maine Coon kitten, for comparison&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_cat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_cat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.2307/1377245&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Breeding Habits of Bobcats in Utah, Jay S. Gashwiler, W. Leslie Robinette, Owen W. Morris, Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 42, Issue 1, 20 February 1961, Pages 76–84&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/birth-weight-and-postnatal-growth-of-purebred-kittens/9CA2D69FF16E06A8BB9C9702FAD2C825&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moik, K., &amp;amp; Kienzle, E. (2011). Birth weight and postnatal growth of pure-bred kittens. British Journal of Nutrition, 106(S1), S32-S34. doi:10.1017/S0007114511003333&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bpzoo.org/rescued-bobcat-kittens/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bpzoo.org/rescued-bobcat-kittens/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2019-12-30T18:03:28.107" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T18:03:28.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2018-05-16T17:34:48.097" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most Nalgene bottles are designed to be able to stand up to boiling water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Today, many hikers and others recognize the distinctive appearance of Nalgene-branded bottles. Its laboratory pedigree is still suggested by the markings, in hundreds of millilitres, of the volume contained. The materials resist stains and odors absorption, &lt;strong&gt;and can be filled with boiling water.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Screw-in filters, which allow the user to &lt;strong&gt;add coffee grounds or tea, pour boiling water over the contents,&lt;/strong&gt; seal the lid, and brew the beverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Another widely available Nalgene Outdoor product is a 650 ml (22 fl oz) &quot;All-Terrain&quot; or &quot;bike&quot; bottle. The bottle itself is &lt;strong&gt;made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE)&lt;/strong&gt;, and its screw top has two moving parts: a drinking nozzle that seals until snapped open by pulling on it, and a hinged Lexan dome, that when closed both snaps the nozzle closed and protects the nozzle against contamination. &lt;strong&gt;Unlike traditional Nalgene containers, this item can be damaged and potentially ruined by filling it with very hot water.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalgene&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true that Nalgene bottles used to have BPA, but Nalgene phased out those products in 2008.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On the same date, Nalgene announced it would phase out production of its Outdoor line of polycarbonate containers containing the chemical bisphenol A (BPA).[12] Nalgene subsequently adopted Tritan, a BPA-free copolyester made by Eastman Chemical, as a substitute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalgene&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and at the same time it looks like even the non BPA free bottles did not leach significant amounts of BPA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hundreds of studies have been conducted since this time and have shown that&#xA;  under normal use conditions (anywhere from freezing to a hot day), BPA does not&#xA;  leach from the polycarbonatein detectable amounts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This confirms other studies that show BPA does not&#xA;  leach from polycarbonateplastic in doses that will&#xA;  cause harm, even under the most extreme conditions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sbi.oregonstate.edu/education/su09interns/Dornath.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T17:34:48.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2018-05-16T18:15:20.040" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nalgene is owned by Fisher Scientific. They do lab bottles, recreational bottles, and lab equipment.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boiling water is a probable exposure.  If bad thing happen the lawyers would be putting out warnings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not 100% but a product listed to be dishwasher safe is likely to be safe at boiling temperature.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Accoring to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thegreenguide.com/the-buzz-about-nalgene-bottles/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; Nalgene currently uses Eastman Tritan copolyester sans any trace of polycarbonate.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eastman.com/Literature_Center/T/TRS245.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; data sheet the melting temperature is 500 F.  I do not find operating ranges.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/lab-plasticware-supplies/lab-plasticware-supplies-learning-center/lab-plasticware-supplies-resource-library/care-use-nalgene-labware.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;autoclave&lt;/a&gt; - 120 F.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No more BPA but with PBA products there is information it will leach at a higher rate at higher temperature.  There is some fear other products in plastic are not good for you but have not yet been discovered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sold by Nalgene but you can buy coffee presses for their bottles.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rakuten.com/shop/unbeatablesale/product/LBMT23841/?scid=pla_google_unbeatablesale&amp;amp;rmatt=tsid:1012713%7Ccid:1044318206%7Cagid:54961314927%7Ctid:pla-296875930549%7Ccrid:247118889534%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:12515185266742989887%7Cdvc:c%7Cadp:1o5%7Cmt:%7Cloc:9027671&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwre_XBRDVARIsAPf7zZg52Gz5mtB0FSXA4eB5SPreCzVl9cSQk49dc9zLkQHQWacbkiqeH50aAuc7EALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one press&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxkxKehxwg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Video of boiling water test&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-05-16T18:50:40.227" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T18:50:40.227" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19378" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19381" CreationDate="2018-05-16T23:10:45.637" Score="6" ViewCount="410" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had a mummy style sleeping bag, with 100% Dacron polyester fill, for the better part of 20 years.  The comfort rating is -5 degrees F.  I hadn't used it in approximately 10 years.  When I used it earlier this year it got down to around 35 degrees F and I was extremely cold whereas I had never been cold at this temperature, or colder, in this bag before.  I understand that as we age our physiology changes and we can get cold easier, however what I'm wondering &lt;strong&gt;is if it's possible for a sleeping bag to lose some of it's insulation benefits with time&lt;/strong&gt;?  I've found a lot of information regarding temperature ratings and how an individuals physiology needs to be taken into consideration, but I'm having a hard time finding any information on how the comfort rating of the bag itself can change with time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T10:28:26.047" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T13:44:38.243" Title="Does a sleeping bag comfort temperature rating increase with time?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19378" CreationDate="2018-05-16T23:42:50.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes a bag will lose loft with time.  Loft = insulation.  Your best bet is to store in a large bag or hanging in a cool dry place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-05-16T23:42:50.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19380" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19409" CreationDate="2018-05-17T04:43:49.267" Score="6" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;lot of outdoor gear&lt;/strong&gt; has warnings like the following,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;while sometimes it says &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;may contain chemicals&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep this questions from being too broad, I am going to &lt;strong&gt;limit it to just fuel canisters&lt;/strong&gt;. While there are carcinogens produced by operating a canister stove, a campfire will also produce them and I am unaware of any canister fuels that lack the warning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;strong&gt;how much should I worry/care about these warnings?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-19T02:44:32.797" Title="How much should I worry/care about the &quot;Known to the State of California&quot; warnings on fuel canisters?" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19378" CreationDate="2018-05-17T09:33:20.557" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can generally assume that sleeping bags will lose some of their loft/insulating effect over time, which essentially boils down to a decrease of their capability to keep you warm - thus &lt;em&gt;increasing&lt;/em&gt; the comfort temperature level. (Meaning that you'll only be comfortable to a not-as-cold-as-before temperature.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loft is affected by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compression&lt;/strong&gt;, especially over longer periods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always store your sleeping bag uncompressed between trips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When packing, don't roll or fold your sleeping back, but stuff it in somewhat 'randomly'. This prevents creases to appear, where the same filling material is compressed over and over again, thus damaging it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wetness/Moisture&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your bag dry, air it out frequently (in dry conditions).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't wash it unless absolutely needed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally down sleeping bags are affected worse by this than synthetic fillings (that's what I was always told at my local store), but the upside is that down still is by far the best insulator, meaning lighter and smaller bags for the same insulation/comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T13:44:38.243" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T13:44:38.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19363" CreationDate="2018-05-17T14:40:01.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like you said, there are probably a hundred classes of adhesives available today, each one totally unsuitable for the things the others excel at.  So we need to take a diagnostic approach here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need flexible, which rules out many types of adhesives, including CA (Super glue), epoxies and resins, polyurethanes (Gorilla glue and I think hot glue is in this category), and many others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have one of your surfaces being non-porous.  This rules out PVA (white glue) and Aliphatic (wood glue) and a few others which rely on &quot;creeping&quot; into the surfaces before curing to acheive full adhesion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what's left?  To be honest, not much, but I still haven't ruled out rubber based adhesives.  This class includes rubber cement, contact cement, the Liquid Nails brand, and their relatives.  Of these, I suggest some type of contact cement.  Go to your favorite hardware store and read a few labels, I expect you will find one that matches your criteria.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://home.howstuffworks.com/uses-for-contact-cement.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; may help a bit as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note the usage directions:  Apply the cement to both surfaces, allow to dry for a short time while still separated, then place the surfaces together with pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am perhaps only 70/30 confident that contact cement will work for you.  But I am 95/5 confident most other things will &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; work.  Good luck, and tell us how this turns out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T14:40:01.930" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19384" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-17T15:30:12.650" Score="7" ViewCount="1090" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's pretty common to use 1 oz Nalgene bottles to &lt;strong&gt;hold the spices&lt;/strong&gt; in a spice kit for backpacking as they are waterproof and the right size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88PAfm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/88PAfm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;1 oz Nalgene bottles&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://freundcontainer.com/312189-1-thermo-scientific-nalgene-1-oz-natural-hdpe-plastic-wide-mouth-bottles/?promo=shopping&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw9zFxPeM2wIVCbnACh3ZkgEUEAQYBSABEgKU7PD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem comes when trying to &lt;strong&gt;label the bottles&lt;/strong&gt;, as permanent markers or even cow id tag markers will rub off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best solution I know of is to wrap the bottles with masking tape and then write on that but the problem is that once it gets wet the tape comes off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better solution for &lt;strong&gt;permanently labeling these&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T17:52:29.970" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T18:21:38.813" Title="How to permanently label Nalgene bottles?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19358" CreationDate="2018-05-17T15:50:17.200" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's absolutely no reason why a guitar string can't be used for rabbit snares. In fact, I've seen rabbit snares which match the same thickness and quality as the guitar strings (these were illegal poacher traps that we dismantled). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you need to catch a rabbit is a snare that the rabbit can get into but can't get out of. The bass strings would be much easier to prepare a snare with, while the treble ones might be a bit more difficult to work with to prepare the snare (more slippery and less malleable). Apart from that, no other reason why they couldn't be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to why he doesn't use, it might depend on how good the rabbit population is in that area and how big they are too (guitar string is limited in length after all).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T15:50:17.200" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19384" CreationDate="2018-05-17T16:18:18.963" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clear repair tape over the top of a good marker pen will protect it indefinitely up to hand washing (a dishwasher will soften the glue of some tapes). Make sure to wrap the tape right round so it sticks to itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a such a bottle for washing up liquid, that's been labelled like this for 20+ years (though idle for much of that time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more expensive solution is a label tape printer, such as those made by Brother. I label kayaking gear with my contact details using one of these, sometimes with tape over the top, sometimes not, and have also labelled water bottles and put them through the dishwasher repeatedly. For wet use the more expensive self laminating tapes work much better than the cheaper ones with the print on the surface. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T16:18:18.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19387" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-17T16:35:24.363" Score="9" ViewCount="1687" Body="&lt;p&gt;I parked my camper at a full hookup campsite, I plugged in my 30 Amp cord to the 30 amp plug but did not get power. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The campground owner checked the plug with a simple polarity checker and everything looked fine (&lt;em&gt;more problem solving excluded for brevity&lt;/em&gt;), when we checked with a voltmeter there was only about 30 volts, but the sites before and after my site had 120 volts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the short term, I plugged into a different nearby box that was ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately an electrician was called. I believe he found that there was a loose connection at the neutral wire, from the main feed.  A fellow camper said he had heard that can cause 220 volts instead of 120 volts to go through the outlet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done some research and find there are several types of &quot;surge&quot; protectors available, with widely varying ($30 - $250) prices and features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the real concerns when connecting to camp site power supplies, and what features do I really need to look for (if any) in protective products?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full hookup = water, sewer &amp;amp; electric.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update as Bounty is posted&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I have continued to look for an independent comprehensive list of electrical risks associated with campers/rvs connecting to camp power supply, and have found the following issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Qualified (&lt;em&gt;apparently&lt;/em&gt;) answers in blog posts that are not exhaustive. example: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rvtravel.com/category/rv-living/rv-interior/electrical-power/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Category: Electrical power at rvtravel.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overview of specific code requirements in specific area. example &lt;a href=&quot;https://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/issues/61/electrical-installations-in-caravancamping-parks-caravans-and-motor-caravans/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chief Engineer Geoff Cronshaw reminds us of the requirements of BS 7671:2008+A3:2015&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A multitude of manufactures of protective products, who only list issues related to protection provided by &lt;strong&gt;THEIR&lt;/strong&gt; product. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best answer, will focus on risks specific to camp sites, where electricity is being delivered &lt;strong&gt;WITHOUT protection from local code enforcement&lt;/strong&gt;, and address concerns without regard to country (i.e not US or UK specific). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-05-20T12:11:49.020" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T12:32:37.257" Title="Electrical supply at camp site, what are the risks?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19367" CreationDate="2018-05-17T17:36:02.790" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sadly, No.&lt;/strong&gt;  The Pixie Bob is the primary candidate for bobcat/domestic cat interbreeding, but, according to the website of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tabaxipixiebob.com/pixiebob.php5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Tabaxi Cattery&lt;/a&gt;, which is a breeder of Pixie-Bobs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pixie Bobs are a domestic cat breed with a resemblance to Bobcats,&#xA;  which originated in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Pixie Bobs are not genetically related to Bobcats and this has been&#xA;  proven via DNA testing&lt;/strong&gt;.  Bobcats were not used as breeding stock in&#xA;  establishing the beautiful, wonderfully personable Pixie Bob breed,&#xA;  and reputable Pixie Bob breeders have not (and will not) use Bobcats&#xA;  in their breeding programs.  You may notice some Pixie Bob breeders&#xA;  touting their Pixie Bob cats and Pixie Bob kittens as being descended&#xA;  from &quot;original Northwest lines&quot;.  Since the breed originated in the&#xA;  Northwest, all Pixie Bobs are descended from &quot;original Northwest lines.  (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to an article &lt;em&gt;Eight Cat Breeds with Wild&lt;/em&gt; Roots in the website of &lt;a href=&quot;http://mentalfloss.com/article/51250/8-cat-breeds-wild-roots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mental Floss&lt;/a&gt;, all domestic cat breeds with wild roots derive from only three wild cats: the African Serval, the Asian Leopard Cat (which gave rise to the Bengal breed), and the Jungle Cat (Felis Chaus).  The Bengal was used in the breeding of several wild-looking cats, such as the Toyger.  (I don't know how authoritative Mental Floss is.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, all domestic cats (felis catus) are descended from wild ancestors, principally Felis sylvestris lybica. &lt;a href=&quot;https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-care/origins-cats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Cat Care&lt;/a&gt; says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Genetic analysis has demonstrated that the DNA of modern day domestic&#xA;  cats throughout the world is almost identical to that of Felis&#xA;  sylvestris lybica, clearly showing that it is this species that gave&#xA;  rise to our domestic cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading in a reputable journal that Felis chaus may have contributed to Felis catus, but I cannot track down a reference now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T01:50:32.103" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T01:50:32.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19389" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19390" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" Score="0" Body="Questions about microspikes&#xD;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T19:34:16.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19391" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19392" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" Score="0" Body="Questions about packrafting" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T19:34:37.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19384" CreationDate="2018-05-17T23:27:09.867" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inverted Braille&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat the point of a nail or scribe and make small indentations in the thick plastic (lid?), using Braille characters.  Color the indented dot with a permanent marker, as the mark is indented the marker will tend not to wear off. With a little practice you will be able to read them in the dark as well.  Normally only a single letter will be required per spice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;S for Salt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P for Pepper&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dP0O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dP0O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;First version French braille code c1824.jpg, By SteveStrummer [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visionaware.org/info/everyday-living/essential-skills/reading-writing-and-vision-loss/all-about-braille/1235&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;All About Braille&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-05-17T23:32:37.707" LastActivityDate="2018-05-17T23:32:37.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19394" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19397" CreationDate="2018-05-17T23:59:23.627" Score="4" ViewCount="807" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XacMl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In season 3, episode 5 of Survivorman, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stroud&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Les Stroud&lt;/a&gt; mentions the value of throwing cow dung, or any variety of others,  on a fire to drive away insects. And he has &quot;no idea why.&quot;  Why does this work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T02:03:33.867" Title="Why does burning dung drive away insects?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19395" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-18T00:07:20.757" Score="15" ViewCount="2209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made plans to do some hiking in the mountains of Nevada this weekend. I'll have someone there nearby and a hospital is an hour drive away. We thought it would be fun to uncover rocks and even dig the soil to try and see if we can get lucky finding gold nuggets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But now I'm really starting to wonder, how dangerous is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Venomous snakes, scorpions, spiders, and lizards seem to be of most concern. With many thousands getting bit by these venomous creatures each year in the US. And then there's also the unlikely event of a bobcat, wolf or coyote attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of something like this happening, the hospitals could end up billing me tens of thousands of dollars. And my insurance likely won't cover this. The hospital bills could either bankrupt me or destroy my credit for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I being overly cautious to worry about this, or is this something that could potentially happen? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would you guess the probability is of being bitten or attacked in the Nevada desert for every 1 hour of walking around a mountain, uncovering rocks and digging in the soil?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15688" LastEditorUserId="15688" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T19:23:23.160" LastActivityDate="2018-05-20T17:26:47.233" Title="How dangerous is it to rummage the ground in the mountains of Nevada desert with venomous creatures out there?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19384" CreationDate="2018-05-18T00:32:23.577" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I mark all my stuff with an engraver. All my Nalgenes have my name engraved right on the front under the Nalgene logo. You could engrave whatever you want on the front then do marker over top. The marker may rub off the smooth plastic, but not so much out of the engraving. Even if all the ink washes away, the engraving is still there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/WEN-21B-Electric-Engraver/dp/B00176MRSY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wgNYh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T00:32:23.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19394" CreationDate="2018-05-18T01:15:57.870" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For mosquitoes, it probably works the same way DEET does, mosquitoes have the ability to smell and they really don’t like certain smells to the point that they will go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, more recent evidence shows that DEET serves as a true repellent in that mosquitoes intensely dislike the smell of the chemical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time inhaling smoke isn’t very good for humans either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other things like citronella candles that you can burn that will also keep the mosquitoes away and be far more pleasant smelling than burning cow poop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no idea about whether it would keep other insects away such as ticks away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T02:03:33.867" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T02:03:33.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19395" CreationDate="2018-05-18T01:46:04.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last summer I did a yo-yo of both the Toyaibe Crest and the Ruby mountains while also summitting both Mt Wheeler and Boundary Peak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountains aren’t particularly dangerous,  other than the big summits I did there really wasn’t any times where I was particularly concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snakes are less of a concern in the alpine areas and the other wild animals get hunted enough to make them wary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Watch out for livestock, because its remote they have less experience with people and that makes them more dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Because it’s a desert you have to worry about running out of water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Humans are far more dangerous than any wild animal and most of Nevada is really remote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of that said, I wouldn’t worry too much, just be careful and start out slow. Be careful pulling over rocks since critters can underneath them and stay out of the abandoned mines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You’re going to die regardless of whether you go or not, so don’t let the risks of what might happen keep you from never going hiking at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T01:58:03.123" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T01:58:03.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19395" CreationDate="2018-05-18T06:34:56.347" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it &quot;severely dangerous&quot;? Maybe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there risk? Absolutely&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to say first off that you seem like you have little to no hiking/outdoor experience, and whatever answers me or other users give you here are NOT a substitute to knowing and understanding the hazards and risks yourself. Hiking is usually a pretty safe activity, but you can easily get into a bad situation if you don't know what you're doing. We should not be your only source of information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, here are some general things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can't count on cell reception in the wilderness (if you have&#xA;Verizon, you may have better but still not reliable coverage) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staying hydrated is a &lt;strong&gt;high&lt;/strong&gt; priority. Heat and&#xA;high elevation make it harder; Nevada mountains have both&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back, that way if don't come back someone'll know to look for you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most deaths in the wilderness happen because the person didn't realize they were in a survival situation until it was too late. 'Well I've gotten this far / it's just a bit further' are also major causes of fatalities. &lt;strong&gt;If you're in a bad situation, just go back&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Animals can be dangerous, but knowing how to react helps&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most deaths/injuries/rescues are not animal related&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A sedan/station wagon/crossover can't handle a jeep trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This list is not exhaustive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I infer correctly, the area you plan to go to (&quot;mountains in the Nevada desert&quot;) sounds pretty remote, and you are somewhat inexperienced. If this your plan, I would suggest not doing it. Instead go somewhere less remote the first time (What is remote? Distance from a paved road is a good general test of remoteness)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;What would you guess the probability is of being bitten or attacked&#xA;  in the Nevada desert for every 1 hour...?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you're inordinately worried about animal attacks. I mean the hospital bill for breaking your leg is just as high. And a bit of perspective here, &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; people go into the desert every year and don't get injured. I've spent a lot of time in the wilderness and it's honestly not as scary as you might think&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is know how to be safe, be prepared, don't go alone. My friend and I used to do something Charlie specifically warned you not to; our motto was 'live to explore another day', it should be yours too&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15690" LastEditorUserId="15690" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T08:59:40.047" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T08:59:40.047" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19384" CreationDate="2018-05-18T08:35:57.360" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;High end colored tape like used for marking climbing gear or nail polish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.findtape.com/Pro-Tapes-Pro-Gaff-Gaffers-Tape/p199/?vid=4080&amp;amp;bc=F&amp;amp;c=US&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw8_nXBRAiEiwAXWe2yVjuliOgAX9gCIwCF0SoTSQjXBoRx-J-IeMMQNnA7dlYfHOYhm3NsxoCpZIQAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gaffers tape&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nail polish is just a paint can get in a lot of colors and small quantity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T11:46:23.877" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T11:46:23.877" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19395" CreationDate="2018-05-18T12:06:38.330" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;About the only real danger of the ones you mentioned is a scorpion under a rock you just picked up.  They do hide in crevasses under rocks during the day.  Just be aware that there might be a scorpion under any rock, and pick it up accordingly.  For example, if it's a fist-sized rock, don't pick it up by wrapping your hand around it.  If in doubt, kick the rock out of the way first, or move it aside with a stick or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your other concerns, they are either unrealistic, very unlikely, or downright silly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes are too large to hide under small rocks you can pick up with your hand.  There might be a rattlesnake &lt;i&gt;behind a rock&lt;/i&gt; obscured by a bush where you don't notice it.  That is something you need to be careful of, but not &lt;i&gt;under&lt;/i&gt; a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bobcats and coyotes simply don't attack people (assuming normal, not rabid, etc).  If there is a bobcat nearby, you won't see it.  If you do see one further away, it will keep track of you and stay out of your way.  Bobcats are too small to see humans as prey.  Coyotes might let you get within 50 feet if you're lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On very rare occasions, mountain lions do attack people.  However, this is almost always where civilization has encroached on their range, and where they have gotten at least partially used to humans.  Mountain lion attacks do happen in the hills around Los Angeles, for example.  It's not going to happen in the Nevada back country where the cat has its natural prey and a fear of humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I consider myself very lucky to have seen a mountain lion in the wild twice, even though each time was just a few seconds.  But, I've spent many days in the deserts and other wild places of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's funny that the you didn't even mention the most relevant two dangers at all, which are dehydration and hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only bring water, but something to replenish electrolytes.  I use Gatorade powder, but there are lots of strategies.  This has been discussed a lot here, so I won't repeat it.  Go do a search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might think hypothermia is a silly thing to worry about in the hot desert, but it's more likely than anything you mentioned.  If you're at high enough elevation, all it can take is a thunderstorm (often accompanied by hail) and wind.  If all you've got is a wet cotton shirt, you can be in trouble in moderate temperatures and wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even worse, if something happens so that you end up spending a night out, hypothermia is a real concern.  Nights can be surprisingly cold in the desert, especially at elevated altitude.  Clear sky allows for lots of radiational cooling.  Couple that with a thunderstorm, some wind, and you can be in serious trouble with just a cotton T shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for finding gold nuggets under rocks: Not gonna happen.  It doesn't work that way.  I'm not even going to bother explain this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also think about permission and impact on the environment.  Rolling over a few rocks by the side of the trail is probably OK in most places.  However, going off trail and re-arranging the landscape may not be.  Prospecting for gold may require a permit.  Actually removing gold may be illegal, although this is mute since you're not going to find any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T12:06:38.330" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19387" CreationDate="2018-05-18T12:27:38.720" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest danger is a broken ground wire, and some leakage path from the hot to the chassis of your camper.  That puts the whole chassis of the camper at high voltage.  That's actually no danger to you if you're in it, but is a danger when you are connected to ground outside and touch the chassis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even then, any competent installation will have circuit breakers with ground-fault interrupters.  Most likely these are required by code for power that is used &quot;outside&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The system is designed so that any one failure won't cause a danger.  There have to be two or more failures of the right kind for that to happen.  The probability of something getting to the point of being dangerous is therefore remote.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T12:27:38.720" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19404" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19405" CreationDate="2018-05-18T15:31:53.483" Score="8" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started reading Petzl's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/News/2018-5-16/Tech-tips-for-mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tech tips for mountaineering&lt;/a&gt;. While on the section for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crossing-a-bergschrund-on-a-snow-slope?ActivityName=Mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crossing a Bergschrund&lt;/a&gt;, specifically in the part for &lt;strong&gt;Belaying a leader&lt;/strong&gt; we have the following warning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning&lt;/strong&gt;: the leader will fall below his belayer without a directional anchor. VERSO and REVERSO cannot be used in this case. The second can belay from his harness with a Munter hitch or using a body belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted... mountaineering is not really my thing, but I'm still curious:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why would belay devices like the Verso and Reverso useless in this scenario?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2199" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T16:01:12.130" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T11:18:13.090" Title="Why is a Reverso not useful when belaying a first that's crossing a Bergschrund?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19404" CreationDate="2018-05-18T16:07:58.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is specific to all tuber type belay devices. The important factor is not the Bergschrund, but the direction of pull in case of a fall. The scenario describe is not falling into the Bergschrund, but down the slope past the belayer. It's the same problem if you belay from your harness in a multi-pitch, that's why you always clip the rope into a quickdraw placed on the belay anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tube style belay device needs a high, ideally 180° angle between the loaded strand of rope towards the climber and the breaking strand in the belayers hand. That's why the base position is holding your arm down besides your legs when belaying. If there is no redirection of the rope on an anchor/protection between the belayer and the climber, the two strands will end up parallel pointing down, and the breaking force of the tuber will be approximately zero.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yes, in theory you could hold the breaking strand upwards, but that's against what you normally do (and reflexes matter) - so don't do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same strategy as with multi-pitch climbing as explained above is banned in the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The leader's rope does not go through the belay point, as it would be torn out in case of a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clipping the rope into a biner/quickdraw on the anchor is definitely a bad idea due to the doubling of the forces. However you can totally put the belay directly on the anchor to prevent that. And if you have a solid ice screw or dead man anchor in the snow, that will hold just as much as a bolt (or more) anyway. However again, a tuber wouldn't be suitable due to breaking direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different argument: Unless you need to abseil (long distances), you don't need a tube belay device when mountaineering. Most of the time you wont need to belay, and if you do you can just use a Munter/rock horn/body to belay. Even if you need to abseil, you can do that with just carabiners too. In mountaineering, weight counts a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-22T11:18:13.090" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T11:18:13.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19380" CreationDate="2018-05-18T17:48:55.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should not consume the canisters or warning labels while in California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously they are not actually very helpful, since they have neither the chemicals nor specific risks. &lt;a href=&quot;https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The list&lt;/a&gt; of possible chemicals is pretty long and varied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know what you are using (&lt;a href=&quot;http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0197.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a component of gasoline&lt;/a&gt;) there are specific fact sheets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the OSHA acceptable exposure limits are in ppm for a short term exposure, in well ventilated spaces with small sources like one would expect for camp stove use you are pretty unlikely to surpass that. Though there is no certainly safe dose of most chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8348" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T17:48:55.390" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19102" CreationDate="2018-05-18T19:25:50.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the simplest answer is also the best in this case. This should work for (what I presume is) the majority of rationing cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Q: Why are you rationing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A: Because you do not have enough food and need to survive until you&#xA;  get more. Once you run out of food you will have no option to ration,&#xA;  as then your only choice is to fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that the &quot;do not have enough food&quot; part is key here to make sure we are on the same page. If you have enough food but are not eating it, then you're dieting, not rationing. Maybe this is not correct given the technical definitions of the words, but I think this fits with most peoples' view of what it means to ration: to limit the use to avoid running out entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I have 3 days worth of food but I think I might not be able to get any more food for 6 weeks, then the math is simple. I can...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;eat normally for 3 days (I'll assume 3 square meals per day), then hope that I can go &lt;em&gt;completely without food for 5 weeks and 4 days more without dying&lt;/em&gt;, or&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;not eat for a few days (assuming I'm initially healthy, otherwise skip this initial fast), then eat half of what you consider a normal meal once every two days, then hope that you can go &lt;em&gt;completely without food for a few days more without dying&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3 days * 2 times less food per meal * 2 days between eating * 3 times&#xA;  fewer meals per day&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;= 36 days worth of rationed food instead of 3&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would you rather start a 39 day fast while starting in your normal, healthy state of body or a 3 to 6 day fast in a less healthy, starving state of body? You &lt;em&gt;probably will&lt;/em&gt; die in the first scenario since you likely cannot survive 5 and a half weeks of zero nutrition. Yet many people all over the world are used to eating several times less food than you or I &lt;em&gt;every day as a normal part of their lives for their entire life.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you risk death from having zero food, we are told by the experts (I use that term loosely, but I would rather heed the advice than risk death) that you will die within a few weeks of eating nothing. &lt;em&gt;A few weeks.&lt;/em&gt; People do not starve to death from a few weeks of severe malnourishment when they eat a tiny amount, rather, they live long, unhealthy lives for months or years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can stay alive for a long time in an unhealthy state of starvation as long as you keep eating small amounts of food, but once you stop eating altogether (which is what will happen when you run out of food from eating it to soon) the timer to a 100% certain death starts counting since people generally survive only a few weeks without eating anything no matter how much they bulked up first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the rationing question becomes this...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Choose one: Do you want certain death in a few weeks, or do you want to live a malnourished, unhealthy life for a lot longer and maybe (or maybe not) die in months or years?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Caveat (warning)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are do not know how long you will need to ration, you need to make sure you do not &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;over&lt;/strong&gt;-ration&lt;/em&gt;. You can die from starvation even while you are still eating sparingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people have died from hunger or thirst even when they had more food or water available. They rationed so hard they died before using all their supplies. Please don't die of thirst when you still have water left. How much is the right amount? It's hard to say, and either way is a gamble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are stuck in a dry mine, the middle of Antarctica without a heat source, or in a prison cell after a prison is abandoned, then I am sorry for you. Otherwise, food and water can be procured in the vast majority of locations on Earth, even harsh ones. Ration softly and spend your remaining days as a race to learn to extract food and water from wherever you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1023/is-the-rule-of-3-proven-for-food?rq=1&quot;&gt;this other outdoors.SE question&lt;/a&gt; where the amount of time one can survive with zero food is discussed a bit more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-05-18T19:37:32.233" LastActivityDate="2018-05-18T19:37:32.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19408" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-18T21:11:02.317" Score="4" ViewCount="469" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently found the hollofil mummy bag I used in my teens, about 30 years ago. At the time it was quite a warm bag, only usable when it was very cold out.  It's been stored &quot;randomly stuffed&quot; into a stuff sack for all that time, in another bag in a garage (so protected from dirt, direct moisture, and the worst of temperature extremes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are answers for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15657/down-sleeping-bag-stored-in-sack-for-years&quot;&gt;restoring a down sleeping bag&lt;/a&gt; and advice on restoring loft to synthetic and down bags stored for shorter periods, but is it feasible to restore the loft on this bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15698" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T08:50:42.950" Title="Can the loft of a synthetic bag stored for years be restored?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19380" CreationDate="2018-05-19T02:44:32.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the time, the &quot;Known to the State of California&quot; warning is an incantation to ward off lawyers.  That's not true for fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;White gas/Coleman fuel/whatever-it's-called has significant amounts of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene#Health_effects&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;benzene&lt;/a&gt;, a known carcinogen, in it, as does kerosene; other hydrocarbon fuels will have trace amounts.  Benzene is destroyed during combustion, but the vapors from unburned fuel are a hazard.  Make sure you close the fuel bottle tightly when it's not in use, handle the fuel outdoors or in a well-ventilated area, and make sure your stove is burning cleanly (it should produce a blue flame indicating complete combustion; a yellow flame indicates that the fuel isn't being fully burned).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a great example of why that warning is a problem: the occasional real hazard (such as benzene in fuel) gets lost in a sea of empty statements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2018-05-19T02:44:32.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19408" CreationDate="2018-05-19T06:55:25.567" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing worth a try is if you have a tumble drier (clothes drier) that will do cold or at least cool. The last 10-20 minutes on the timer is often cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-19T06:55:25.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19412" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-20T00:01:03.743" Score="7" ViewCount="1570" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who frequents valleys, I was unhinged to learn of &lt;a href=&quot;http://imh.utmb.edu/about-us/associate-members/dax-cowart-jd&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dax Cowart's calamity&lt;/a&gt; beneath. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What types of alfresco terrain ought I most beware?  It obviously can happen only in small hollows in the land (that I'll call &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/glen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dale&lt;/a&gt;), but how small?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please see the titled question. I know that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-reasons-why-propane-is-heavier-than-air&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;propane is denser than air&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In July 1973, Cowart, then a pilot in the Air Force reserve, and his father were visiting a tract of land that his father was thinking of purchasing. The land lay in a small valley and, unbeknownst to the Cowarts, a gas leak had caused the valley to become filled with propane gas. After surveying the land, the Cowarts returned to their car, and the sparking of the ignition set the gas on the floor of the valley ablaze, severely burning both men. According to Cowart, &quot;I was burned so severely and in so much pain that I did not want to live even in the early moments following the explosion. A man who heard my shouts for help came running down the road, I asked him for a gun.&quot; He said, &quot;Why?&quot; I said, &quot;Can't you see I am a dead man? I am going to die anyway. I need to put myself out of this misery.&quot; In a very kind and compassionate caring way, he said, &quot;I can't do that.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterword: I learned of this on p. 63 of &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0199549265&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Better Never to Have Been&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (2008 1 edn).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-20T23:48:29.700" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T08:11:41.163" Title="How can I guess if an outdoor expanse contains flammable gas?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19412" CreationDate="2018-05-20T01:18:45.487" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way to tell an area's at risk of a gas explosion is it smells like gas. Another good way is posted warnings of flammable gas, like you might see on a propane tank. These are way more valuable than any analysis of which terrain might make a better gas trap. Gas explosions can happen an any terrain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true terrain can trap hazardous gasses. But if you have reason to believe gas is present in an area, you should just treat the entire area as dangerous. If there's no reason to believe a gas leak is present in an area, then don't worry about buildup. (Your house is a much better trap than any topography, do you worry this much when you're at home?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not sure what gas smells like, contact your local gas company. Many gas companies give out example scratch and sniff cards (I'm assuming you're in the US)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15690" LastActivityDate="2018-05-20T01:18:45.487" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19412" CreationDate="2018-05-20T01:35:49.640" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is rare. I have a BS in chemical engineering, worked in natural gas transportation, and went to fire school at Texas A&amp;amp;M. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural gas&lt;/a&gt; is mainly methane.  It is odorless and colorless. It is lighter than air and disperses fairly rapidly.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanethiol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mercaptan&lt;/a&gt; (odor) is only added when the natural gas goes into retail distribution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Propane&lt;/a&gt; is also odorless and at the retail level mercaptan is typically added. Propane is heavier than air and will pool but still disperses fairly rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is odd to transport propane by pipe. Propane alone is not naturally occurring. It is a byproduct of a lot of processes. Mainly it gets pulled out of gasoline as propane has too much vapor pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, it could have been natural gas and was misreported. I know from working in oil and gas industry that details are often wrong. An editor could have thought propane was more descriptive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A leak in a high pressure gas line is loud.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally to answer the question propane is odorless. You are not going to smell it. You would be short of breath on high concentration (according to a link in a comment it would not cause shortness of breath). To have a mixture that does not cause asphyxiation, still be flammable, and far enough away not to hear the leak is unlikely. Clearly it can happen but is rare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's more common to be killed by the blast that can go maybe a mile. I know of windows that were taken out a mile away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pksafety.com/bw-micro-clip-xl-mcxl-xwhm-y-na.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwuYTYBRDsARIsAJnrUXAiteYMSj6iqXZnMDR6n2OLbKO5E121QITGPDMUBpRVcICbJQdVOCcaAmldEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;equipments&lt;/a&gt; to sense flammable gas and asphyxiants (e.g. CO and CO2). Some oil and gas companies require these to be used when working in the field but they are not OSHA required. A guy I water skied with had his on and it sensed the CO2 while he was at the back of the boat pulling in the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sure you don't want to test for flammable gas with a spark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There has been at least one similar &lt;a href=&quot;https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96090&amp;amp;page=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;incident&lt;/a&gt; since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I take back asphyxiation and ignition.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.propane101.com/aboutpropane.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; propane only burns in mixture between 2.15 and 9.6%.  I figured that number would like 2 - 40%.  I doubt 10% would cause asphyxiation but just a guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-21T05:11:26.270" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T05:11:26.270" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19415" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19418" CreationDate="2018-05-21T01:37:00.307" Score="7" ViewCount="263" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason I'm asking this is, I currently have a pair which I purchased from KMart for around $30 AUD, I've been using them for a while but I found they do not have proper griping on steep and uneven surfaces. I recently did a hard trail and found it very difficult with those shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for &lt;strong&gt;shoes&lt;/strong&gt; that would be good for &lt;strong&gt;bush walking&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;medium to hard&lt;/em&gt;) and some minor &lt;strong&gt;rock climbing&lt;/strong&gt; in &lt;strong&gt;Australia&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I finally bought these:  Columbia Vapour Vent Hiking shoes from Adventure MegaStore. Hope to try them out soon :) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventuremegastore.com.au/products/20783-columbia-mens-vapour-vent-hiking-shoes-black-white&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.adventuremegastore.com.au/products/20783-columbia-mens-vapour-vent-hiking-shoes-black-white&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15198" LastEditorUserId="15198" LastEditDate="2018-06-26T00:02:10.603" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T00:02:10.603" Title="Shoes for hiking and minor rock climbing in Australia?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19416" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-21T05:13:47.783" Score="17" ViewCount="312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I work in ecologically sensitive areas in NZ and my ropes routinely get soiled.  I have been asked by the Dept of Conservation to clean and disinfect my ropes to minimise the chances of accidentally spreading microorganisms, spores etc. from one site to another.  In NZ &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eavm.nz/index.php/products/antiseptic-disinfectant/sterigene.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SteriGENE&lt;/a&gt; is regarded as the best treatment for general items (footwear, tools etc.).  As SteriGENE does not penetrate soil it needs to be used after most/all the soil has been removed (and that is not a problem).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will using SteriGENE on ropes damage them in any way?  According to the manufacturer at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eai.co.nz/sterigene/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SteriGENE&lt;/a&gt;: &quot;Independent laboratory testing demonstrates no corrosion or deterioration of the following materials, even after long-term repeated immersions: Rubber compounds, Plastics, Fibreglass, Stainless Steel, Mild Steel, Aluminium, Copper, Brass and other materials found in clinical practice, in particular synthetic floors, instruments and devices.&quot;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts appreciated&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15708" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T15:22:54.633" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T04:06:13.127" Title="Can I use SteriGENE broad spectrum disinfectant on abseil rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19417" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-21T05:44:08.910" Score="10" ViewCount="4347" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I use ear plugs to block out noise or will my ears need to pop because of the altitude? I don’t want to get sick by using the ear plugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15709" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-05-21T22:38:14.887" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T18:53:44.520" Title="Can I use ear plugs while ascending or descending a mountain?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19415" CreationDate="2018-05-21T06:35:46.463" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For walking on rough terrain and scrambling in hot conditions I've found hiking shoes or approach shoes to work very well. That is after all what they're meant for. They're a bit tougher and heavier than trainers, and I suspect that the ones you had were essentially trainers styled like walking shoes (despite the label; I've had some like that from shoe shops). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a couple of brands. The more expensive ones had exactly the same sole as a pair of hiking boots I also have, but cut lower at the ankle (KSB). I've had a few pairs, over the last 25 years, of a cheaper brand (HiTec)  that happens to fit me very well. The KSBs and most of the HiTecs have been waterproof/breathable. Brand is less important than fit and sole quality. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably need a proper outdoor shop, but the shoes you're sheet should be among the cheaper ones they sell. Most outdoor shops these days have a test ramp, a steep slope with climbing wall holds attached. Most will also be able to offer advice. Your budget seems perfectly sensible with UK pricing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T06:35:46.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19417" CreationDate="2018-05-21T06:49:12.670" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Earplugs are usually not 100% vacuum sealed. Even if you have custom-made ones that more or less seal (I have 2 pairs) they usually still lose the seal a bit occasionally. Certainly when you swallow, chew, yawn or do something different that moves something in your head. Combined with the extremely slow speed you’re ascending or descending (compared to an airplane or car) you really don’t have to worry about that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T06:49:12.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19417" CreationDate="2018-05-21T07:05:12.973" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ear popping is due to the difference in the pressure between the outer and the middle ear. Popping of ear occurs at high altitude to allow for the two pressures to equalize. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, there's no correlation between ear popping and altitude sickness in the first place. So, in case you are worried about AMS due to the non-popping of ears, it wont happen. Second, as Sebastiaan has already pointed out, the plugs aren't fully sealed. They wont hold the pressure as you ascend while hiking. Hence, you will have to pop your ears even if you wear your plugs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, the plugs wont harm you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T07:05:12.973" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19417" CreationDate="2018-05-21T08:39:33.417" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ear plugs won't help your ear from popping, because they are not build to hold the pressure as you are ascending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14743" LastActivityDate="2018-05-21T08:39:33.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19426" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19480" CreationDate="2018-05-22T00:34:15.433" Score="4" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;The maps of the trail at &lt;a href=&quot;http://anchoragecoastaltrail.com/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://anchoragecoastaltrail.com/index.php&lt;/a&gt; are not well suited for printing. Even the &lt;a href=&quot;http://anchoragecoastaltrail.com/coastaltrail/site_files/editor_files/image/file/Full_page_photo.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;printable map&lt;/a&gt; is pretty much illegible. Are there perchance higher quality maps available online that I might be able to print out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-22T14:07:59.587" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T05:58:11.433" Title="Printable maps of the Tony Knowles coastal trail" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;alaska&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19426" CreationDate="2018-05-22T11:41:37.177" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know that trail, but check OpenStreetMaps.  That database has become pretty good in recent years, even for trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paper maps are a good failsafe, and bringing a paper map and compass is a good idea.  However, a interactive map with live GPS input is really nice to have.  There are various tablet apps out there that allow you to download maps ahead of time.  Out in the field, you don't need any WiFi or cell connection.  In fact, you deliberately shut these off to conserve power.  The app uses the stored maps and the GPS built into the tablet to show you where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use Back Country Navigator on a Android tablet, but there are a number of options out there.  BCNav gives you a wide choice of map sources to download, several of which are focused on trails but are derived from the OpenStreetMap database.  If you will be in a National Forest, definitely download the National Forest maps for the region you will be hiking in.  I've found cases where every map out there was wrong on some obscure trails in a National Forest in Colorado, except for the National Forest map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T11:41:37.177" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19417" CreationDate="2018-05-22T15:37:30.257" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The need for your ears to pop results from a pressure differential between the middle ear and the atmosphere. The middle ear is technically outside your body (e.g., the bones in the middle ear and both sides of the ear drum are covered in skin) because it is connected to the outside via the eustachian tube. The eustachian tube is usually closed so the pressure in the middle ear doesn't respond to changes in atmospheric pressure (e.g., due to changes in elevation or altitude). When the eustachian tube opens (for example when you clear your sinuses or chew) the pressure equalizes rapidly and you feel your ears pop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the external ear canal is perfectly plugged and then the atmospheric pressure changes there will be a small pocket of air with a different pressure than the middle ear once the eustachian tube open and equalizes the middle ear pressure with the atmospheric pressure. This pressure differential/force between the external ear and middle ear could cause pain and a feeling of fullness like your ears still need to pop. The exact impact will depend on the volume of your middle ear, the volume of the ear trapped behind the plug, and the pressure difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When an audiologist performs tympanography, they create an artificial increase in the pressure in the external ear. This is a sizable 10-20 Pa change in pressure, but still less than going from sea level to the top of Everest. The changes in elevation/altitude/pressure encountered while hiking/climbing are small compared to the pressure differences encountered in an unpressurized aircraft (aircraft can climb at well over 1000 ft per minute where as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi4iR4clDGs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alex Honnold&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ADOK6LD70w&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dan Osman&lt;/a&gt; can only climb at 100 ft per minute), so if ear plugs are safe in unpressurized airplanes, they should be safe for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/hearing.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FAA&lt;/a&gt; recommends ear plugs while flying. The military uses foam ear plugs (and sometimes ear plugs and muffs) in unpressurized air craft. The ear plugs do not form an air tight seal so therefore the outside pressure changes should not be a problem. If you experience discomfort like you ear not being able to pop, you can simply remove and then reinsert the plug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are really concerned, or have experienced problems in the past (e.g., while flying), some companies sell &lt;a href=&quot;https://cirrushealthcare.com/pages/faqs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;plugs designed for flying&lt;/a&gt; (there may be other manufactures also and I have no experience with this product or relationship with the manufacturer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-05-22T18:53:44.520" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T18:53:44.520" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="231" CreationDate="2018-05-22T18:55:39.357" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this is a bit late, but having had a lot of experience with leeches makes me believe I can add some value here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salt works for both avoiding and for removing leeches. The method to apply is take a good amount of salt onto your palm, add a few drops of water to just make it a bit of a paste, and then, &lt;em&gt;marinate&lt;/em&gt; the sides of your shoes and the top portion with this paste. Leeches won't climb beyond the salt line. You can apply the salt &lt;em&gt;paste&lt;/em&gt; on your legs and socks as well. Reapply if the paste washes off as you cross streams or if it is raining. Most try to apply dry salt on legs and the salt doesn't stick and falls off. Hence many do not know how effective salt is for prevention. Most know salt as a leech removal agent (which it is as well).  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tobacco - &lt;strong&gt;Does not work&lt;/strong&gt;. At best, this forms a super smelly companion for you. Your trekking shoes, pants and socks will be smelly for a really long time after this. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deet works. This needs to be reapplied in case of a rainy trek.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leech socks - super uncomfortable. Partially effective. The effectiveness depends on how tight one ties the knots at the upper end of a leech sock. Also, these do not prevent the leeches from climbing on to you. They just make the leeches leave your feet alone and climb higher up (any warm place that they can find).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Antiseptics like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1440&amp;amp;bih=745&amp;amp;ei=sGMEW9uJBIecvQTt8JL4BQ&amp;amp;q=Chloroxylenol%20dettol&amp;amp;oq=Chloroxylenol%20dettol&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i22i30k1j0i22i10i30k1j0i22i30k1j0i22i10i30k1j0i22i30k1l4.2097.4616.0.4951.7.7.0.0.0.0.142.742.0j6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.6.741...0i67k1.0.rr6JQsjXv-M&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dettol spray&lt;/a&gt;. These help to get rid of the leeches that have already climbed on to you. Spraying these will also keep the leeches away for a small amount of time (the spray tends to get washed off easily). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slaked lime paste (lime paste) - &lt;strong&gt;Does not work&lt;/strong&gt;. At best, it'll burn your skin a bit :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said this, if you are wading through a thick jungle, you will end up with leeches on your body from the plants around you. So none of these methods will help. The above mentioned methods are only for leeches that climb up from the ground. For those that are on the leaves and bushes, your best bet is to use a deet spray or dettol spray to get them off you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I've tried all of the above methods. I'm a frequent visitor to leech infested forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-22T18:55:39.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19432" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-22T13:22:04.300" Score="9" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a wild Red Eared turtle laying eggs in our yard. What can we do to keep animals from getting to their eggs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had a turtle to lay eggs about two weeks ago and the next morning, something had dug the eggs up and eaten them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12179" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T14:12:21.633" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T18:59:37.877" Title="How to secure wild Red Eared turtle eggs from predators?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19432" CreationDate="2018-05-23T12:54:22.073" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;My research has shown that a common technique used to protect turtle nest to build a &lt;strong&gt;nest cage&lt;/strong&gt; over the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A nest cage is basically just a wire/mesh cage without a bottom/floor that will prevent predators from accessing/digging up the eggs, while still allowing for the normal climate and weather (e.g. sunshine) to reach the nest - meaning don't build a solid wooden box.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The cage should be &lt;em&gt;anchored&lt;/em&gt; and the sides dug in such that it can't easily be moved/turned over by a predator.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wiring should be small enough to prevent predatory access, but big enough to &lt;em&gt;allow the turtle hatchlings to pass through&lt;/em&gt; (depends on species of turtle of course).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found this &lt;a href=&quot;http://wiatri.net/Inventory/WiTurtles/Volunteer/Images/ProtectingTurtleNests.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PDF here&lt;/a&gt; that explains the procedure and shows some pictures also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T12:54:22.073" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19432" CreationDate="2018-05-23T14:35:21.370" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of considerations here, so getting educated is the first step in responding to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Red Eared&lt;/a&gt; sliders. There could be positive and negative effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contact your local conservation department. They'll know how to proceed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the species is native, you might want to protect it from domestic animals. On the other hand, if you protect it from their normal predators, you might save the clutch of a mother who chose a poor location (or not), negating natural selection, and nurturing generations of turtles that don't choose good locations, thus saving a clutch to weaken the species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the species is invasive, it's competing with native species, and may drive them to extinction within your range. Would you want to fertilize kudzu in the southern U.S., or protect rabbits in Australia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are they a turtle that prefers to return to the site where they were hatched? In that case, it might be better for this clutch and the species at large if a conservation group could move the eggs to a more suitable location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, assuming you want to build a nest cage, that would keep out many types of predators, and that might include the one you're dealing with. But, you don't know what you're dealing with. Conservationists can help you with that. If you have your own trail cam, you might be able to see what the predator is. You need to know what it is in order to combat it successfully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, getting educated before acting is the most crucial first step in order to act for the best outcome for the environment as a whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T14:35:21.370" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19441" CreationDate="2018-05-23T16:27:40.873" Score="18" ViewCount="13168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found the remains a of a porcupine in the woods, with nothing left but quills and hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UAn9Bl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UAn9Bl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Porcupine quills and hair&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As porcupines are pretty well protected by their quills, what &lt;strong&gt;types of animals would be capable of killing them?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T16:43:00.003" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T19:32:15.580" Title="Which animals would kill porcupines?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;porcupines&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19435" CreationDate="2018-05-23T19:45:23.313" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;What animals can kill a porcupine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Porcupines are covered with quills that painfully stick into almost any predator that tries to attack them. For this reason, porcupines do not have to fear being eaten by very many animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Three animals, however, has figured out how to eat porcupines. Bobcats, cougars and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Fisher_(animal)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fishers&lt;/a&gt; have learned that a porcupine has no quills on its stomach. So one of these predators will sometimes kill and eat a porcupine by flipping it onto its back and biting into its vulnerable belly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whateats.com/what-eats-a-porcupine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What eats a porcupine?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wolves in a pack can do this to porcupines. Once it has been turned over, the game is up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quora.com/What-animals-can-kill-porcupines-and-how-do-they-do-it-How-can-they-get-past-the-quills&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What animals can kill porcupines and how do they do it? How can they get past the quills?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some mountain lions, in fact, seem to be especially fond of porcupines—perhaps they like the taste, perhaps porcupines are just easy prey, but whatever the reason, some cougars clearly seek them out. In fact, mountain lion predation of porcupines can be so intense, that its been speculated that they’ve wiped out local porcupine populations throughout the west. For example, Sweitzer et al. (1997) reported that a small population of 80 porcupines in Nevada was reduced to less than 5 animals in just three years—and that the primary reason was predation by mountain lions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/12/28/mountain-lions-versus-porcupines/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Lions Versus Porcupines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="14870" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T17:49:21.483" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T17:49:21.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19435" CreationDate="2018-05-23T20:28:28.933" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/food-chain-porcupine-36155f4d6fda952a#&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of Michigan, Dept. of Zoology&lt;/a&gt;, porcupines are preyed on by lynx, bobcats, mountain lions, wolves, wolverines and great horned owls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm surprised this reference doesn't mention the fisher, which I thought was the best known porcupine predator. I was also surprised to learn that wolves prey on porcupines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third thing that strikes me as odd is the number of references to pumas and bobcats...with no mention of the lynx. In fact, the lynx's range probably overlaps the porcupine's range more than any other member of the cat family; pumas and bobcats ranges into grasslands and deserts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trivia: Great horned owls are also the only predators that routinely prey on skunks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, your question obviously focuses on the common porcupine, which ranges across temperate and northern North America and Eurasia. However, other species of porcupines are found in South America and Africa, and they have many predators. If you check YouTube, you can probably find a video of a leopard dying of wounds inflicted by a crested porcupine it attacked. Snakes have also died after swallowing porcupines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15722" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T20:28:28.933" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19443" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19444" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" Score="0" Body="Questions about porcupines" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T21:36:41.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19435" CreationDate="2018-05-23T22:08:53.027" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Dogs&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to the question of &lt;em&gt;what kills porcupines&lt;/em&gt; can be highly dependent on location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in southeast Alaska porcupines regularly make their way into or near towns, villages, residential areas, recreational areas, and trails, so interactions with dogs can be common in areas where people frequent. Sometimes the porcupine is killed (I know one dog that has killed porcupines multiple times), but most encounters I've heard of end with the porcupine uninjured and the dog owner with a $400 vet bill if the dog has to be sedated to remove quills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Source: The dozens of dogs and dog owners I know (including myself).&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15724" LastActivityDate="2018-05-23T22:08:53.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19448" CreationDate="2018-05-23T22:53:18.040" Score="3" ViewCount="650" Body="&lt;p&gt;They say that on average 400-500 miles is a good bet for running shoes, but for myself it's only about 300-350 miles before the aches of worn out shoes start to occur.  It seems that shoes are one of those items that you definitely need to spend some more on to get anything that is going to last.  I imagine that the same is true for hiking boots but have not gone through enough of them them to speak from personal experience.  What I'm wondering is &lt;strong&gt;how many miles should one expect to get out of a pair of hiking boots in the $100-$120 USD price range?&lt;/strong&gt;    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-05-23T23:31:31.123" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T17:35:51.547" Title="How many miles should one expect to get out of a good pair of hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19447" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-24T05:36:51.710" Score="3" ViewCount="485" Body="&lt;p&gt;More than once, I have come across a porcupine in the woods sleeping on the ground during the daytime instead of in a tree. They keep their nose tucked down and their long hairs provide some degree of camouflage.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can tell they are sleeping because once they do wake up, they will scurry off very quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why would they sleep on the ground&lt;/strong&gt;, where they are far more vulnerable to things that want to eat them, &lt;strong&gt;instead of in a tree?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T06:09:45.097" Title="Why would porcupines sleep on the ground during the day?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;porcupines&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19446" CreationDate="2018-05-24T05:48:16.473" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is wildly dependent on your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gait_(human)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gait&lt;/a&gt;, the terrain the temperature and climate in which you hike, your ability and rigor at cleaning and taking care of the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will likely be some brands that will last longer on your feet, but that is not necessarily only the price range that determines this. There are some &quot;shoe laboratories&quot; that will analyse your gait and find the right shape and type of shoe for you - but the availability of such where you are is unknown to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO 300 miles (~500 km) for the pair sounds a bit short. That's only 50 short-ish 6-mile (~10 km) jogging trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T06:38:29.813" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T06:38:29.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19447" CreationDate="2018-05-24T06:09:45.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Porcupines are den animals, and rarely venture far from their dens. Trees are where they find food, but they seek shelter in little hidey-holes wherever they can find them. Most of the time, their dens are on or near the ground. They'll den in hollowed out logs, stumps, gaps in rocks, etc. Sleeping in trees makes them easy targets for feliform predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T06:09:45.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19446" CreationDate="2018-05-24T06:38:54.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of factors from my own experience are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronation_of_the_foot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pronation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; - I over-pronate slightly, so the outside of my heel gets worn down more quickly than the inside.  When it wears past a certain point, I find myself rolling my ankle more than usual and end up buying new boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sole material&lt;/strong&gt; - The softness of the sole material has a large impact on the longevity.  Soft &quot;comfort&quot; soles of course wear out a lot faster than harder soles.  This of course is why running shoes wear out quickly.  Of course, the downside is that harder soles can be a little less comfortable, but that's something you'll need to weigh up for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd agree that 300 miles (30 decent walks) are on the low end of what you'd expect.  I'd advise you to take a good look over your worn-out boots and identify where they've worn out the most, then buy something that addresses those points.  Or take an old pair into a reputable store and ask for guidance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T06:38:54.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19446" CreationDate="2018-05-24T07:22:15.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Terrain makes an enormous difference. I have a pair of light boots that have lasted me nearly 10 years and probably over 1000 km with many more to go (normally with a backpack, quite often over 10kg). I used to have the shoe version - identical except for the height of the ankle - as well. The sole was quite worn after a few hundred km and the only reason they got anywhere near 1000 km was that it was for lots of little walks, for which anything would do. My bag then was rarely over 5kg. The difference is that the ones that wore fast were used almost always on paved surfaces, while the long-lasting pair are used on the typical mix of hiking terrain: some rock/paving but lots of dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've always found sole wear to be the limit, and can get away with almost any shoes so long as they fit properly. If you find you need a more specific sole, then wear will become much more of an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T07:22:15.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19452" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-24T13:19:38.117" Score="19" ViewCount="1215" Body="&lt;p&gt;The defining feature of a climbing rope (arguably) is its dynamic properties, i.e. it stops your fall gradually to decrease the peak force. Not exceeding a fixed peak force is a/the integral criterion in the norming procedure of climbing ropes. It is clear, that hard falls deteriorate the rope long-term, i.e. it loses some of this ability to break gradually and thus needs eventually needs to be retired. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I am not interested in this long-term effect, but the immediate effects after a fall. Even if the rope behaved like a perfect elastic and linear string, there would be a characteristic time after elongation until it is back in its &quot;initial&quot; state. However a climbing rope is not perfectly elastic (and definitely not linear), e.g. in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cline/Climbing/fall.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this fall experiment&lt;/a&gt; during the &quot;second bounce&quot; the breaking phase starts lower than on the first (rope still elongated).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long does it take until a climbing rope is (approximately) in its initial state after a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By initial state I mean same length and same breaking characteristics. And by same I mean equal except for the long-term effects the fall has on the ropes characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am aware that there is most likely no single answer, i.e. it depends on factors like rope, fall factor, climber weight, ... &amp;mdash; but I am interested in any (hard) information on the magnitude for any scenario that could happen when climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Motivation:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is this phrase among friends that &quot;whatever doesn't hold you at least brakes&quot; (loosely translated, sounds better in its original variant :P ). That's obviously mostly fun, but I'd still be interested whether it has some truth or is totally counter productive, i.e. the elongation on the failing protection causes less dynamic breaking on the second pro, thus net higher forces than if the failing pro wasn't used in the first place..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T21:14:29.473" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T21:14:29.473" Title="How fast does a climbing rope recover its dynamic properties after a fall?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19455" CreationDate="2018-05-24T14:22:34.090" Score="13" ViewCount="13127" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just recently, a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/05/22/eagle-snatches-fox-holding-rabbit-in-mouth-in-dramatic-images.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;photographer was watching&lt;/a&gt; some foxes hunt rabbits. One of the foxes caught a rabbit when a bald eagle swooped down grabbed the rabbit and pulled both rabbit and fox into the air. The fox let go and the eagle took the rabbit..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That brings up the question of &lt;strong&gt;how much weight can a bald eagle carry?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T19:48:07.353" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T19:48:07.353" Title="How much weight can a bald eagle carry?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bald-eagles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19452" CreationDate="2018-05-24T14:30:59.833" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black Diamond did a study on this, and &lt;strong&gt;even after 24 hours of resting,&lt;/strong&gt; there was still a noticeably increased load on the second fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Allowing the rope to rest 24 hours still resulted in a 2nd drop load of 11% greater than the first drop&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-do-ropes-need-to-rest-between-falls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;QC LAB: Do ropes need to rest between falls?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They concluded,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Loosening your knot, or letting the rope rest prior to a fall reduces the impact load on the top piece of gear by a small amount. However, using a different rope for each burn or switching ends of the rope would provide a greater benefit. And of course the best way to keep the forces on the top piece of gear to a minimum is to not fall in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-do-ropes-need-to-rest-between-falls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;QC LAB: Do ropes need to rest between falls?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want more information, I would suggest reading the whole &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-do-ropes-need-to-rest-between-falls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-24T19:48:27.117" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T19:48:27.117" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19453" CreationDate="2018-05-24T18:06:42.053" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&amp;amp;articles_id=343&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alaskan Fish And Game&lt;/a&gt; department, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;The wings of an eagle need to support the eight to 12-pound bird as&#xA;  well as whatever the bird is carrying, and best estimates put the&#xA;  lifting power of an eagle at four or five pounds. ...&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as the article continues, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Lift is dependent not only on wing size, but on airspeed. The faster&#xA;  a bird (or plane) is flying, the greater the lift potential. An eagle&#xA;  that lands on the beach to grab a fish, and then takes off again, is&#xA;  limited to a smaller load than an eagle that swoops down at 20 or 30&#xA;  miles an hour and snatches up a fish. That momentum and speed gives&#xA;  the bird the ability to carry more weight.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may or may not explain &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trails.com/arts/amazing-bird-records.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazing Bird Records&lt;/a&gt; for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;greatest weight-carrying capacity&lt;/em&gt;: bald eagle lifting a 6.8 kg (15 lb)&#xA;  mule deer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T18:06:42.053" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17479" CreationDate="2018-05-24T21:36:31.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard of a snowy owl in Pennsylvania.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was walking down a corridor in a college domitory and saw a stuffed snowy owl in a room.  The kid there said the owl dropped dead in a field in Pennsylvania.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In years where many snowy owls migrate farther south than usual they have sometimes been seen as far south as Hawaii, the US gulf states, and Bermuda. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, Idaho doesn't seem so far south that there would be any need to wonder what other type of owl could be so large and so white as the one you saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Project SNOWstorm site claimed that 2017-2018 would see a big irruption of snowy owls into the USA, and they certainly tagged and fitted transmitters on a bunch of them during the season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.projectsnowstorm.org/posts/snowstorm-at-4/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.projectsnowstorm.org/posts/snowstorm-at-4/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.projectsnowstorm.org/posts/snowstorm-at-4/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I don't see much of a reason to doubt the identification of your sighting as probably a snowy owl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15738" LastActivityDate="2018-05-24T21:36:31.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19458" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19459" CreationDate="2018-05-25T01:51:11.853" Score="6" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several weeks ago, I read an article in &lt;em&gt;The Economist&lt;/em&gt; about the Elfstedentocht, a 120 mile long Dutch ice-skating race. The race is held only in years when the canal ice is strong enough to safely hold the 15,000 or so participants -- 300 serious competitors and about 15,000 amateurs. It was last held in 1997. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The &lt;em&gt;Economist&lt;/em&gt; article is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/02/15/what-climate-change-means-for-the-netherlands-olympic-skaters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, but I do not subscribe to the on-line &lt;em&gt;Economist&lt;/em&gt;, and have used up my three freebies. If you have not, you should be able to read the article.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An in-depth description of the race can also be found in this conference paper from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/organization-unique-non-profit-volunteers-8459&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Project Management Institution&lt;/a&gt;. It's free and quite fascinating! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfstedentocht&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, Elfstedentocht&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are often points along the route where the ice is too thin to&#xA;  allow mass skating; they are called &quot;kluning points&quot; (from West&#xA;  Frisian klúnje meaning to run on skates over a carpet), and the&#xA;  skaters walk on their skates to the next stretch of good ice. &lt;strong&gt;In 1997&#xA;  ice-transplantation was re-introduced to strengthen weak places in the&#xA;  ice, for instance under bridges.&lt;/strong&gt;  (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is &lt;strong&gt;ice-transplantation&lt;/strong&gt;, and what are its limits?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T23:31:21.583" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T23:31:21.583" Title="What, exactly, is ice-transplantation as used to reinforce ice for the Elfstedentocht?" Tags="&lt;iceskating&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19458" CreationDate="2018-05-25T02:47:51.873" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. A large piece of ice is cut from a place where it isn't needed and moved to another place. This is done with for example chainsaws and axes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually the part right under a bridge is the last part to freeze and those spots are very weak. To transplant ice there means to put some more adequate ice there (at least 15 cm thick) so it can be skated on. If the water under the bridge already froze but isn't good enough/thick, it is removed first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other places with for example a lot of wind, ice can be added to reduce water movement. This will make it freeze closed faster too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you get the benefit of having the actual ice there but it also helps in getting the local temperature lower so natural ice forming is sped up. There is always only a small window where it is actually cold enough for having the Elfstedentocht or ice-skating significant lengths on natural ice in general, so boosting the natural freezing process by artificially reducing the temperature further helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not exactly sure about its limits. Of course it is quite a massive operation so only suitable for relatively small parts. Once the ice is frozen re-attached to the existing ice, I don't imagine there is a large difference in quality though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2018-05-25T02:59:44.100" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T02:59:44.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19460" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-25T15:47:13.117" Score="7" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in building a small Lincoln-log style cabin (more like a shed, &amp;lt;200 square feet) in hardiness zone 4/5 of northeast USA. Available timbers are mostly red spruce, some eastern hemlock, a little bit of white and red pine, and precious little cedar. My question is about the timing of construction. Below I'll pose a few different questions, but they all amount to &quot;&lt;strong&gt;What are the timing considerations for construction of a Lincoln-log style cabin?&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When should logs be cut for the cabin? I know Spring is generally a bad time for logging due to mud and sapflow making it more likely that both felled and standing trees will be damaged more than necessary. Other than the details of logging, can trees be turned to logs at any time of year for use in a log cabin? In general the logging itself is something I'm comfortable with in terms of timing and all, but just about every part of the process after that is where I'm not sure about timing I should aim for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long should the logs be left to dry before they are hewn and fit together with notches? Can processing logs begin pretty much immediately upon them being cut, or (more likely I'd guess) do the logs need to sit (stacked or on the ground, in shade or sun) for some (2, 6, 12) months?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And what period can the processing take place over? For example can all the hewing, notching, fitting, etc. be finished over the course of a summer or even a year, or is there any particular time frame it should be done within? I imagine it's a work in progress for its entire lifetime, but maybe there's some critical timing with things like roof and floor completion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any info or resources I could look into for guidance would be appreciated. The standard of quality for this one is pretty low as it's an experiment (basically, sturdier than a tent), but I'd still like to try and do it right and learn the process correctly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-05-25T16:41:25.873" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T16:41:25.873" Title="Timing on building a small log cabin" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19416" CreationDate="2018-05-25T16:00:29.610" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I visit a lot of caves in the Canadian Rockies, and there are similar concerns with transporting microorganisms from cave to cave, as well as diseases such as white nose syndrome in bats. For the amount of organisms you're going to pick up on your nylon rope, it should be sufficient to clean your ropes thoroughly in a bath with Dawn soap. The soap will kill most microorganisms, and so long as you're getting all the soil off your ropes you shouldn't have any concerns. Physically transporting mud on your boots and clothes from one location to another is a far greater concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it comes down to it, there's an argument to be made about compromising the integrity of your ropes with chemical treatments not specifically designed for safety ropes. If they push the matter, you can get something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://sterlingrope.com/store/work/accessories-swag/rope-care/rope-wash&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling rope wash&lt;/a&gt; just so you can tell them you use specialty rope cleaners. Either way, they should be satisfied to see a squeaky clean rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that can be done to control the transfer of microorganisms, is to dedicate gear for specific areas. In some caves for example, there are rappels where we will fix custom lengths of rope in the cave. They'll spend their entire usable life in the same cave, which completely eliminates the possibility of cross contamination. This of course comes with the financial commitment of investing in multiple ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The government of British Columbia has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/wildlife-health/wildlife-health-documents/white-nose_syndrome_decontamination_standard_operating_procedures_march_2017.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Standard Operating Procedures&lt;/a&gt; (SOP's) for decontaminating caving gear. The SOP's are specific to the fungus &lt;em&gt;Pseudogymnoascus destructans&lt;/em&gt; (Pd) which causes White Nose Syndrome in bats, but may be effective against other organisms as well. There are some treatments that do not require chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Soaking in disinfectant containing at least 0.26% ammonium quaternary compounds for 10 minutes. There is currently much debate&#xA;  about what products available in Canada can be used at this&#xA;  concentration, as most manufacturers do not provide safety information&#xA;  regarding mixing their products at this strength. Until further&#xA;  guidance can be provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and/or&#xA;  the Canadian White Nose Syndrome Interagency Committee, we recommend&#xA;  you employ caution with whatever chemical you end up using. Some&#xA;  possible concentrates that you may consider dilution include: Zep Aqua&#xA;  San, Virkon, Aseptol2000, etc. Two brands of disinfecting wipes sold&#xA;  in Canada have the minimum concentration of ammonium quaternary&#xA;  compound required to kill Pd (≥0.26% quats): Clorox and Lysol&#xA;  disinfecting wipes. MSDS:&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/downloads/msds/wipes/cloroxdisinfectingwipesfreshscentjwcanadafca.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/downloads/msds/wipes/cloroxdisinfectingwipesfreshscentjwcanadafca.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rbnainfo.com/MSDS//CA/CA%20-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.rbnainfo.com/MSDS//CA/CA%20-&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;  %20LYSOL%20Disinfecting%20Wipes%20(all%20sizes,%20all%20scents)%20-%20English%20(Feb%202012).pdf Due to the uncertainty that still&#xA;  surrounds the safety and efficacy of Canadian fungicidal products, it&#xA;  is recommended that you use the hot water method (below) when&#xA;  possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Soaking in 10% bleach (1:10 or one part bleach to 9 parts water) for 10 minutes (approximately half cup bleach in a litre of water).&#xA;  The MSDS is at:&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iaprisonind.com/downloads/msds/IPI-ChlorineBleach10.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.iaprisonind.com/downloads/msds/IPI-ChlorineBleach10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Submersing in water at a temperature of at least 550C for &gt;20 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Steam-cleaning of large pieces of equipment may be used where other methods are impractical but its efficiency has not been tested.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;New as of April 2016 – four new products are now recommended for inclusion in decontamination procedures: ethanol (60% or greater),&#xA;  isopropanol (60% or greater),  STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR&#xA;  MINIMIZING WHITE NOSE SYNDROME TRANSMISSION, MARCH 2017 isopropyl&#xA;  wipes (70%), or hydrogen peroxide wipes (3%). The latter two wipes&#xA;  have been found effective against Pd on contact and do not require&#xA;  soaking. Use of ethanol and isopropanol requires at least one minute&#xA;  of soaking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.eavm.nz/msds/SteriGENE-Clear-Concentrate-SDS-EAVM-Revision-No-4-14-10-2015.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSDS for SteriGENE&lt;/a&gt;, it's dangerously corrosive when concentrated. There may be a diluted mixture that is suitable for your ropes, but I'd probably explore other options for decontaminating my safety line first. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-12T04:06:13.127" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T04:06:13.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19460" CreationDate="2018-05-25T16:21:51.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of timber gets harvested in the winter, especially now that you can harvest timber from the comfort of the heated cab of a harvester. Falling trees in the winter does the least amount of damage to the trees, the ground, and surrounding vegetation, it also makes it easier to haul the logs out because they just slide across the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cold helps with the curing of the wood too. The moisture content in the tree is low to begin with, and it dries out slow as you wait out the rest of winter and ease into the warmer months. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T16:21:51.297" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19463" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19464" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" Score="0" Body="Questions about bald eagles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T16:52:30.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19465" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19467" CreationDate="2018-05-25T17:25:00.677" Score="19" ViewCount="2591" Body="&lt;p&gt;Exploring the woods of the Adirondack Mountains, this gelatinous blob was found near the edge of standing water on a logging road. The entire length of this thing is probably just under 10 inches and it seems to be about an inch thick (didn't measure). The road was used about a year ago, maybe more, and has existed for quite a while. The puddle doesn't really drain, so it's there most of spring and whenever there's a lot of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qWSJn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qWSJn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;woods gloop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's not much human activity around this spot. Upstream of it is more forest for many miles. Of course being a logging road and a place where a photo was taken, there is some human influence and potentially petrochemicals introduced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could this blob be? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first guess is poop but that doesn't seem to be the case because from what I've seen with dog poop it gets liquefied and dispersed by rain and water, not turned into globs like this. Beyond that, I have a hard time making any concrete guesses. A mountainous jelly fish? Maybe some kind of bio-chemical reaction from a few different 'ingredients' in the puddle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T01:35:22.323" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T01:35:22.323" Title="What is this blob found at the edge of a puddle on a forest logging road?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19465" CreationDate="2018-05-25T19:04:30.627" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pool of water they are in is called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernal_pool&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;vernal pool&lt;/a&gt;.  Amphibians and other woodland creatures take advantage of these temporary pools while they last. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not having anything for scale in the picture, they appear to be salamander eggs similar to those shown on &lt;a href=&quot;https://oaklandnaturalareas.com/2016/04/18/this-week-at-bear-creek-shrimp-clams-yes-plus-plenty-of-spring/salamander-eggsot0001/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ao261.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ao261.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T19:04:30.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8619" CreationDate="2018-05-25T19:13:18.583" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, shampoo can help wash ticks out of your hair.  That's why it's always recommended to shower soon after returning from an activity where you may have collected ticks. Ticks typically won't attach themselves for many hours after landing on your body.  ( I've heard that they won't attach for 24 hours but not sure I believe it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a shampoo container eucalyptus and spearmint, both of which are natural repellents.  Is it foolproof?  No, but it helps. You must still perform a visual inspection and take all other precautions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once a tick attaches itself to begin feeding, only a physical removal will work.  At this point, shampoos and soaps won't do a thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15747" LastActivityDate="2018-05-25T19:13:18.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19470" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19471" CreationDate="2018-05-26T00:52:40.560" Score="8" ViewCount="199" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume that the victim is a healthy rational adult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've chanced on snakes while trekking in nature. So I was stunned to read about &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-44253586&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this tragedy&lt;/a&gt; where:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not realising she had been attacked, the woman began breastfeeding her child. Both died before they could reach a hospital.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I correct to infer that lethal snakebites can yet be painless and slight? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T02:59:14.293" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T02:59:14.293" Title="How can an adult be bitten by a snake without feeling it?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19470" CreationDate="2018-05-26T01:24:16.460" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, the bite of a common krait (&lt;em&gt;Bungarus caeruleus&lt;/em&gt;) can be painless.  It is a venomous snake found on the subcontinent of India and is also known as the Indian krait.  Kraits are nocturnal, therefore instances with humans most often occur at night and therefore the snake may also not be seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KOeBX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KOeBX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_krait&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common krait (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T04:52:31.217" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T04:52:31.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19093" CreationDate="2018-05-26T13:04:10.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that many drycleaning/laundry agencies (where you drop off your clothes and pick them up later, not laundromats) will do small repairs/alterations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T13:04:10.173" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18926" CreationDate="2018-05-26T13:13:38.323" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;     waist packs for travel&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't quite what you are looking for, but may be functional enough for your purpose.  Padded ones are often used by photographers.  In use, you commonly have them on your bum for walking, and slide around to the front for access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As another option, check out forester's vests.  These are much like a photographer's vest, but with larger pockets.  They usually come in eye searingly bright colours.  Most forestry supply and safety supply stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a volunteer ski patrol we had waist packs.  The pros had a larger pack, about a 25 liter day pack.  I never noticed how they rode the chairlift with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T13:13:38.323" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19474" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-26T20:49:28.243" Score="3" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I find free electronic topographic map that cover the entire West Coast Trail in Canada? I'm trying to print them and bring them for my thru hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T18:55:46.733" Title="Where can I find free electronic topographic map that cover the entire West Coast Trail in Canada?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14634" CreationDate="2018-05-26T21:32:08.770" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many articles on the Internet now recommend putting the stringer (or clips on a stringer) through the lower lip or bottom of the mouth, not through the gills. A gill stringer not only injures the gills but also impedes &quot;breathing&quot;, i.e. moving water into the mouth and through the gills; also, don't put the clip through both lips, for the latter reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you use a stringer with individual spaced clips for each fish, with ball bearings to allow the fish to move freely (rather than sit upside down, for example), the fish can live and stay fresh throughout the fishing day.  Keep the fish in shade (e.g., under boat) and/or weight down to 5 or more feet to keep cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15752" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-26T22:53:05.597" LastActivityDate="2018-05-26T22:53:05.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19479" CreationDate="2018-05-26T23:19:04.090" Score="5" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was up at Presque Isle (Erie PA) today and the water level was a foot or more higher than I when I was up there in the summer last year. I kind of surprised as I did not think it would be subject to significant changes in water level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much can the height of the lake fluctuate over a year?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What time of the year is usually highest and lowest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-27T01:22:36.423" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T01:22:36.423" Title="Lake Erie / Presque Isle Water Level" Tags="&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19477" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19478" CreationDate="2018-05-26T23:25:28.287" Score="4" ViewCount="102" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16535/wildlife-canoe-trails-in-or-near-western-pennsylvania/16702#16702&quot;&gt;canoe trail at Presque Isle&lt;/a&gt; today, and there were large fish splashing in the shallows all over the place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We learned from a passerby that it was carp mating season, and the splash was two carp mating (&lt;em&gt;there are a lot and they were all busy in the morning&lt;/em&gt;).  It was a rather spectacular event, worthy of a second visit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When are the start, end, and peaks for the carp mating season at Presque Isle?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-27T01:08:38.003" LastActivityDate="2018-05-29T15:29:14.703" Title="How long is the carp mating season at Presque Isle?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19477" CreationDate="2018-05-27T01:08:16.127" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt that there are specific dates, other than late spring to early summer. It also depends on the water temperature, and I am sure that fluctuates from year to year slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carp spawn in late spring to early summer, over aquatic vegetation.&lt;/strong&gt; They may choose a shallow, weedy bay. After rains have swelled their home river over its banks, they may move into flooded fields to deposit eggs on submerged plants. The splashing of their spawning commotion in shallow water can often be seen and heard&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/GalleryPennsylvaniaFishes/Pages/CarpsandMinnows.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carps and Minnows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bowfishing -- which can be done with a compound or crossbow -- is legal in Pennsylvania only for carp and suckers. Fish can be taken day or night year round except in approved trout waters during the closed season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best fishing, though, &lt;strong&gt;lasts just a few weeks in the spring,&lt;/strong&gt; Campbell said, when fish move into shallower water to spawn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_508426.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bowfishing still a niche sport in Western Pennsylvania&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It's part of the carps' courtship,&amp;quot; said Lorantas. &amp;quot;You'll hear them or see them splashing about in the shallows and swimming in circles when water gets about &lt;strong&gt;63 degrees. That usually lasts until the water's close to 80.&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/hunting-fishing/2008/06/29/Reconsidering-the-common-carp/stories/200806290207&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reconsidering the common carp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carp spawn in shallow, weedy water in the spring. After spawning time, they may be found almost anywhere. Large river systems provide excellent carp habitat, but many lakes support resident populations of trophy carp. &lt;strong&gt;It's easy to locate carp in the spring, when they often leap from the water in the throes of their spring spawning urges.&lt;/strong&gt; Later in the year, look for current breaks in rivers - carp are bound to be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.roughfish.com/common-carp?page=6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Species Profile: Common Carp, Cyprinius carpio&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;http://presque%20isle%20peninsula%20beach%20erosion%20control%2C%20erie:%20Environmental%20Impac/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; says its June when the water is between 15-20 Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-05-29T15:29:14.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19476" CreationDate="2018-05-27T01:22:13.640" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The water levels of the Great Lakes fluctuate at different time scales to different forces. Very short-term water level changes, viewable in the interactive charts above, are caused by wind and storms. These short-term (hours to days) effects can be dramatic, and can cause the lake levels from one side of the lake to the other to vary by several meters for a short time. Each of the Great Lakes has an annual rise and fall cycle driven by the timing of precipitation, snow melt, and evaporation. &lt;strong&gt;In general, the lakes are at their lowest levels in the winter and highest levels in summer or fall. The range in annual rise is from 11 to 20 inches.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/wlevels/#observations&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Lakes Water Level Observations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a chart &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/dashboard/GLD_HTML5.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; where you can seen some of the data for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lake Erie also has short-term seiches, where the wind will push the water up on one side of the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lake Erie is particularly prone to wind-caused seiches because of its shallowness and its elongation on a northeast-southwest axis, which frequently matches the direction of prevailing winds and therefore maximises the fetch of those winds. &lt;strong&gt;These can lead to extreme seiches of up to 5 metres (16 ft) between the ends of the lake.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche#Lake_seiches&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake seiches&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T01:22:13.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19426" CreationDate="2018-05-27T05:58:11.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found an image of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail available at:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mappery.com/maps/Tony-Knowles-Coastal-Trail-Alaska-Map.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mappery.com/maps/Tony-Knowles-Coastal-Trail-Alaska-Map.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is exactly the same as the &quot;printable map&quot; that you linked to, but much higher quality, so you can actually print it out and use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T05:58:11.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19387" CreationDate="2018-05-27T09:46:06.127" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am not an Expert&lt;/strong&gt; the following is the result of a basic knowledge of electricity and extensive research, specific to this issue. &lt;strong&gt;I welcome constructive review and suggestions&lt;/strong&gt; there is a lot of complex considerations and I have tried to balance brevity with concise and accurate descriptions.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When using electricity provide through a commercial power grid (&lt;em&gt;i.e. plug into an existing supply, or shore power&lt;/em&gt;) There are several electrical supply events that can cause damage to your equipment, harm or even kill you. All commercial power grids supply AC (Alternating Current) power, there are 4 primary attributes of AC supply, changes in any of those attributes can cause issues.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=hb61-3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Polarity &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_polarity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Volts &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Amps &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampere&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frequency &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Further reading&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two significant divisions in (the US) RV/Camper Surge/EMS protection market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amperage:&lt;/strong&gt; 30 Amp VS 50 Amp. The more electrical draw the more amperage is required to run it. Supply and demand should be balanced. In the United States  three options are commonly provided, each uses a different style plug. A supply point may offer only one, any combination of two, or all three.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;15 - 20 Amp (normal household plug, small 3 prong, 120V = 2,400 Watts)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30 Amp (large three prong, 120V = 3,600 Watts)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50 Amp (large 4 prong, 240V, split-phase = 12,000 Watts)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is important that your protective device has the same amperage rating as your campers expect draw. A 30 Amp circuit provides a single 120V supply, while a 50 Amp Circuit provides two 120V supply, giving the RV 240 Volts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adapters are available, i.e. with the correct adapter a 30 amp power cord can be used on a 20 Amp or 50 Amp supply. Using an adapter can cause part or all of the protection to be ineffective, this varies by surge/EMS/product.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yhy1Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yhy1Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3 option pedistal box&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the above pedestal image we can see three separate outlets. From left to right they are 50 amp, 30 amp, and 20 amp. Each receptacle has its own dedicated breaker sized for that particular outlet. This gives the RVer the choice off choosing whichever outlet they need to best match their RV's electrical service.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rvtechmag.com/electrical/chapter3.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source, image and quote&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Single VS Multiple:&lt;/strong&gt; Some surge/EMS/products needs to be replaced. after protecting from a single event, others will reset and can protect from multiple events. Single use devices have a lower initial cost. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was unable to locate a single comprehensive list of potential risks. The points below are harvested from lists of protections provided by different manufactures. I only found 3 manufactures, I think my search tools are limiting results to the United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amperage:&lt;/strong&gt; In this context it might be thought of as &quot;Ampacity&quot; how much electrify is being used, and will it damage the supply lines?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ampacity is defined as the maximum amount of electric current a conductor or device can carry before sustaining immediate or progressive deterioration. Also described as current rating or current-carrying capacity, ampacity is the RMS electric current which a device or conductor can continuously carry while remaining within its temperature rating. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampacity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: This is mostly a concern where usage is more than the supply will tolerate. As an example if the supply pedestal is wired to deliver 30 Amps and you use an adapter to plug your 50 Amp RV into a 30 Amp pedestal, then turn on all the lights, TV, and AC units, you will probably draw more then 30 Amps and &lt;em&gt;optimally&lt;/em&gt; the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_breaker&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;circuit breaker&lt;/a&gt; in the pedestal will break the connection, power to your RV will stop and you will need to turn something off before resetting the breaker. If the breaker didn't interrupt the flow, electrical lines could melt causing a fire and loss of electrical supply lines.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: I did not find any RV protection surge/EMS/products addressing this issue. Your Camper/RV's own circuit breakers should protect from internal issues, while supply issues are only a concern for surge protection events which all surge/EMS/products do address. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Surge Protection&lt;/strong&gt; Protect from voltage spikes.  There are at least &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector#Primary_components&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;half a dozen different components used in devices, often in combination.&lt;/a&gt; most offer little or no protection for longer durations of high voltage, protecting only from quick short spikes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: Primary lighting strikes or other weather related events. Electrical devices can fail, personal injury mostly related to fire secondary to device failure. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: All surge/EMS/products offered Surge protection, the following specifications are important when considering a surge protector. &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Joule rating: How much energy the device can absorb before failing.  Considerations are complex, and beyond the scope of this answer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clamping Voltage: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector#Clamping_voltage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Also known as the let-through voltage, this specifies what spike voltage will cause the protective components inside a surge protector to divert unwanted energy from the protected line'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Max Spike Current: (&lt;em&gt;I am going to need to come back to this later&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reverse Polarity:&lt;/strong&gt; The hot and neutral wiring is reversed, this is the result of a physical connection being incorrectly hooked up.  The reversal can occur anywhere in the supply line after the transformer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: Physical electrical shock can occur to people, I don't find any mention of risk to equipment. A real time change would require a physical change up the supply line, like the repair of issues elsewhere in the campground.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products indicate the fault, others will indicate and shut down power until corrected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High/Low Voltage:&lt;/strong&gt; Appliances like Air Conditioning use a specific amount of watts, if the voltage changes, the watts stay the same but the amperage through wire changes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The most frequent condition is low voltage at the campground pedestal. You may arrive at your campsite early and check your pedestal voltage with a voltmeter and find it within tolerance. However, once other campers arrive and start to fire up their air conditioners the voltage is likely to drop. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rvtechmag.com/electrical/chapter13.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rvtechmag.com/electrical/chapter2.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;There is some tolerance, plus or minus 10%, but if the voltage goes higher or lower than that you can damage your equipment.&lt;/a&gt; Potential for injury is related to secondary effects, like fire from over heating wires due to voltage drop. Voltage can vary for a number of reasons, increased load as campground fills is one. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products indicate the fault, others will indicate and shut down power until corrected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High/Low Frequency:&lt;/strong&gt; Hertz (Hz) is the the rate at which AC (alternating) power cycles. It is determined by the speed (RPM) of the motor generating the electricity at the power station. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In North America all electrical power is 60Hz while in Europe and most of the rest of the world electrical power runs at 50 Hz. Hz is basically a counter of how many electrical pulses or waves occur in one second. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rvtechmag.com/electrical/chapter5.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A 50 Hz motor operating on 60 Hz will attempt to rotate at a 20% increase in speed. The load will become 1.23 (1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2) or 1.73 times greater (173%) than on the original frequency. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ksb.com/conquer-the-clog/conquer-the-clog/pump-solutions/50hz-v-60hz/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: The risk of damage to electrical devices varies greatly; it can range from poor performance, to no impact, to increased risk of total failure and burnout. The only cause of change I could find was the speed of generator/alternator rotation at the supply point. Personal injury potential would be secondary to fire from electrical failure. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products do not monitor frequency, others will monitor and shut down supply. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Time delay reset:&lt;/strong&gt; When a surge/EMS/product stops the flow of power between the pedestal and the camper/RV, and the supply power issue is immediately corrected the surge/EMS/product may delay providing power to the camper/RV for some period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: Rapid on and off supply can be hard on some devices, devices like Air Conditioners are particularly impacted and need up to 2 minutes off before being powered back on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Delay times vary by surge/EMS/product, some have adjustable delay times. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accidental 240V:&lt;/strong&gt; Much like Reverse polarity, accidental 240V comes from mis-connecting two wires someplace in the electrical supply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q73qU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q73qU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;120/240 split supply&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you put a voltmeter across lines L1 and L2 you'll see 240 volts. But if you test L1 to N or L2 to N you'll see 120 volts. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rvtechmag.com/electrical/chapter3.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source, image and quote&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: The risks are the same as any increase in voltage (device failure, fire, etc) but most surge only protection to does not occur until 300V. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products don't monitor, some monitor and display, some monitor and shut down supply.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ground, Neutral, Home &amp;amp; RV&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overview&lt;/strong&gt; Open Ground and Open Neutral are are one of the most difficult areas to understand and describe. Firstly; Homes and Camper/Rvs are wired differently and subject to different codes.  Secondly; there are a bunch of variables. Thirdly; issues can be transient (&lt;em&gt;come and go&lt;/em&gt;). Fourthly; I am not an expert, this is a summery of some of what I have learned in my research. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In many references that are not RV specific Neutral and Ground are used interchangeably as synonyms.  In an RV this is not the case, the two are very distinct connections with different risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both conditions can be due to a broken/disconnected wire, a loose connection or they may develop sporadically from any number of causes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;all RV electrical systems are wired with their Ground and Neutral buses floated (un-bonded from each other). There’s lots of good reasons for this, most specifically that it’s an NEC and RVIA code requiment that the safety ground wire never carries any load current, and there can be only one Ground-To-Neutral bonding point in any distributed electrical system in the USA. Now, when you’re plugging your RV into power from a building (your garage outlet) or campground (pedestal outlet), your RV has its Ground and Neutral buses “bonded” (connected) together externally as part of the service panel’s earthed safety ground system. Again, lots of reasons for this, but the fact is you can only have a single G-N bonding point according to the National Electrical Code and RVIA building codes. &lt;a href=&quot;http://noshockzone.org/generator-ground-neutral-bonding/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If the Star Point of Unbalanced Load is not joined to the Star Point of its  Power Source (Distribution Transformer or Generator) then Phase voltage do not remain same across each phase but its vary according to the Unbalanced of the load.&#xA;  As the Potential of such an isolated Star Point or Neutral Point is always changing and not fixed so it’s called Floating Neutral. &lt;a href=&quot;https://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/impact-of-floating-neutral-in-power-distribution/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Selected References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/open_neutral.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open Neutral&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rvtravel.com/campsite-power-pedestal-safety-open-ground-danger/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open Ground&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://noshockzone.org/generator-ground-neutral-bonding/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;When A Portable Generator Won’t Power Your RV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://beamalarm.com/Documents/120_vac_in_your_rv.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;120 VAC in your RV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/Electrical/Basic%20Electrical%20Info/Protecting%20the%20RV%20Electrical%20System.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UNDERSTANDING, MONITORING, AND PROTECTING THE RV ELECTRICAL SYSTEM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/impact-of-floating-neutral-in-power-distribution/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Impact of Floating Neutral in Power Distribution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://help.championpowerequipment.com/article/1JizBJgMrL-what-does-floating-neutral-on-my-generator-mean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What does &quot;floating neutral&quot; on my generator mean?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ibew139.com/floating-neutral&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Case of the Floating Neutral&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open Neutral:&lt;/strong&gt; The Neutral wire is the path for electricity that is doing work, to complete it's circuit.  Normally an open or floating neutral results in no electrical flow.  &lt;strong&gt;BUT&lt;/strong&gt; Depending on the electrical supply in your campground, it can also cause fluctuations in voltage between 1 and 240 volts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: No power, high or low voltage, devices not working, devices working on incorrect voltage leading to device failure. Personal risk is related to fire secondary to device failure. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products don't monitor, some monitor and display, some monitor and shut down supply.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Open Ground:&lt;/strong&gt; This is the path for potential electrical energy that is not doing work. Your home is grounded by a grounding rod and metal pluming. Your RV is insulated (not grounded) by the rubber tires, plastic leveling blocks, plastic garden hose water supply. Metal landing leg and/or jacks touching the ground &lt;strong&gt;DO NOT&lt;/strong&gt; provide a reliable ground path. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Risk: An Open or Floating Ground, means the third wire (ground) is not connected, this is your fail safe. Your RV may develop &quot;Hot Skin&quot; and you may feel a slight tingle when touching the side of the RV. The difference between tingle and death are very close.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you do feel a tingle it means there's at least 30 volts AC on the chassis and body of the vehicle. And as little as 30 or 40 AC volts through your heart can cause it to go into fibrillation. &lt;a href=&quot;https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/Electrical/Basic%20Electrical%20Info/Protecting%20the%20RV%20Electrical%20System.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protection: Some surge/EMS/products don't monitor, some monitor and display, some monitor and shut down supply.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T12:32:37.257" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T12:32:37.257" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19483" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-27T16:05:22.037" Score="17" ViewCount="3556" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always heard that moss grows on the north side of a tree.  Presumably, this is because conditions on the north side, at least in the northern hemisphere, tend to get less sunlight and are damper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I've seen moss on just about any side of a tree with the right conditions.  Additionally, the research I've found states moss is frequently found on the north side but not absolutely.  Therefore, I'm wondering if there are any plants the can be relied on for orientation and where (globally) can they be found?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T01:54:08.983" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T21:46:08.640" Title="Are there any reliable plants to use for navigation?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19483" CreationDate="2018-05-27T18:36:26.883" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt there are specific plants, but in general, yes, plants can be indicators of direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Northern Hemisphere, for example, snow will stay longer on the north facing slopes and pile up on the downwind sides of hills. This leads to more vegetation in general on the north slopes as there is water for longer leading to more plant growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/@38.396234,-112.375278,2430m/data=!3m1!1e3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Maps picture&lt;/a&gt; to illustrate. Notice how the top of the picture (the &lt;strong&gt;south&lt;/strong&gt; facing slope to the creek) &lt;strong&gt;has less snow and fewer trees than the north facing side?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/64dlvl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/64dlvl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some plants also do better in cooler conditions and so are found more frequently on the north facing slopes. Other plants need more sun and so are found more frequently on the south facing slopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Toiyabe Crest, the height of the sagebrush would differ depending on the orientation of the slope, more water meaning taller sagebrush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Local conditions can overrule the general ones and I doubt there are any global plant indicators but, at the same time, they can be useful indicators of direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3503" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T15:56:14.153" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T15:56:14.153" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19483" CreationDate="2018-05-27T19:30:06.060" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a book-length answer, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Navigator-Tristan-Gooley/dp/0753541882/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1527448934&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=the+natural+navigator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tristan Gooley, The Natural Navigator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gist seems to be that plants are influenced by many factors: altitude, prevailing wind, soil type, shade etc. so any rule will at best apply under certain conditions, and even then have exceptions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of Gooley's examples is that the leaves of broadleaved trees tend to be larger and darker on the northern, shadier side - but he then immediately gives an example of a tree where it's the other way round, as the north side catches a lot of reflected light off a nearby office building.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's roughly the level of navigational accuracy you can expect from other plant-based &quot;compasses&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2018-05-27T19:30:06.060" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19486" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-28T04:53:30.693" Score="3" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a rope of 10 m which supports 3 kN (300 kg) strength. I will abseil with it as a single rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to know what is the recommended knot to use when attaching the top with my anchor's carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific rope in question is an uncertified 10mm kern-mantel accessory cord from a company called XINDA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15758" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-29T08:47:41.247" LastActivityDate="2018-05-29T09:16:07.520" Title="Knots when abseiling with single rope" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3518" CreationDate="2018-05-28T06:03:15.917" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;ok it is possible to repair your jet boil with a multitool and piece of tape! Mine stopped working and I had no other way of getting anything hot, so here’s what I did..... under the burner ring and heat shield there is a circling which holds the heat shield and plastic base to the gas valve, remove this with multitool, remove burner head by unscrewing it, this allows the heat shield and plastic to be removed then the lighter can be lifted free. The ceramic sleeve was broken so I put some tape around this to insulate, then I cleaned the end of the lighter mechanism which is brass using the file on the multi tool. Finally reassembled and it works a treat. I will be doing a more permanent repair on the insulation at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15759" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T06:03:15.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19483" CreationDate="2018-05-28T07:09:47.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are plants that move parts of them in north-south direction.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is a plant called &lt;em&gt;Lactuca seriola&lt;/em&gt; that turns its leafs in the direction of the north-south axis. It is common in many regions of the world, both native or non-native.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Other plants that show this behaviour are &lt;em&gt;Silphium laciniatum&lt;/em&gt; (leafs in north-south axis, &lt;em&gt;Tanacetum vulgare&lt;/em&gt; (Leafs towards south).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15760" LastEditorDisplayName="user15760" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T07:33:10.627" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T07:33:10.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19486" CreationDate="2018-05-28T07:16:51.600" Score="8" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Safety disclaimer first&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have a rope of 10 m which supports 3 kN (300 kg) strength. I will abseil with it as a single rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit addressing the new info about the rope:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Please don't use this rope for abseiling&lt;/strong&gt;. It is not certified and it is marketed with a random selection of catch-words, no actual information about it properties except the diameter and supposed strength (which is useless in the absence of a specified procedure of how they arrived at that number).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old disclaimer without specifics as the rope (still true, but more general):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I assume it is a static (&quot;low-stretch&quot;) rope. With 3kN it is hardly a climbing rope (EN1891) - I am only aware of cords rated at such a low strength. If it is rated after intended load as often done in &quot;industry&quot; compared to peak/breaking load in climbing that aspect would be fine. If it is rated by max/peak/breaking load, then 300kN is not enough. The knot will further decrease this, meaning you won't have enough safety margin. In any case the question still remains: Is such a rope suited for the abseil you are setting up (rock contact)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Actual answer to which knot to use&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said the goto knot around here is a figure of eight. One reason is the same as for it's use to connect your harness to the rope: It is simple and easy to control. It also means, you don't need to introduce a new knot to a beginner. And it is reasonably simple to undo.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There's also the aspect of decreased strength of the rope when knotting it. That's not an issue with &quot;normal&quot; climbing ropes. Even the worst knot in that aspect won't bring the strength so far down, that it gets problematic. In general the smaller the radii in a knot, the more strength reduction (so &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Doppelter_Palstek.jpg/300px-Doppelter_Palstek.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bowline&lt;/a&gt; is better than &lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Double_Figure-Eight_Loop.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eight&lt;/a&gt; better than overhand, all on bight). This is a gross over-simplification, knots are extremely complex and this won't hold true in all cases, it's just a rule of thumb. And again, simplicity to tie, inspect and untie are more important (that's why bowline isn't used for this around here - nothing wrong with using that though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-05-29T09:16:07.520" LastActivityDate="2018-05-29T09:16:07.520" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19490" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-28T09:12:50.773" Score="4" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to have a look in other aiming methods and tried to start off with &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stickbow.com/features/shooting/gap.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gap shooting&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. However, I'm not quite sure whether to leave both eyes open or one eye closed. What is the right thing to do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T13:07:21.180" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T13:55:23.213" Title="When using &quot;Gap aiming method&quot; do I leave both eyes open?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19490" CreationDate="2018-05-28T13:43:34.987" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When gap shooting or shooting a bow in general, there are a couple of advantages to keeping both eyes open. One is that having both eyes open gives you some amount of depth perception, so you can see how far your target is from you. Another is that with both eyes open there's less tension in your face, so your whole body can be more relaxed, and that should help you aim better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the Archer's Bible,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;A type of sighting akin to the instinctive method, one that makes use of a &quot;space picture,&quot; is called &quot;gap shooting.&quot; In this method the archer looks at the target and nothing else but is still conscious of seeing the amount of space between the arrow tip and the target. The size of this space or gap becomes a measure of the angle of elevation, and the archer either consciously or unconsciously uses this measure for a distance.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T13:55:23.213" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T13:55:23.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19483" CreationDate="2018-05-28T17:40:55.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, plants cannot be relied on &lt;em&gt;globally&lt;/em&gt; for directions. But they can give you hints sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing plants can tell you is in which direction the sun typically shines from. This isn't especially useful to you all the time when navigating, because in most situations you don't have to ask the plants where the sun is, you can just look up and see for yourself. The sun has been used for navigation for thousands of years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where you can't always see the sun, like in tall dense forests, the plants typically point straight up towards the canopy, or in all directions so they can gather as much ambient light as they can, so they aren't exactly useful in those situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On days where it's clouded over with dark clouds, you may go days without seeing the sun. In this situation you could use the growth on the ground to help you determine from which direction the sun typically shines. Some species of flowers for example move like solar panels so their faces are always directed towards the sun. Even on a cloudy day they'll be doing their best to track where the most rays are coming from. Some species of flower can even remember from which direction the sun rises, and at night re-orient themselves to face the direction they know the sun will rise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not going to find many plants that can be consistently relied on to help you navigate, but they can help you avoid getting turned completely upside down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T21:46:08.640" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T21:46:08.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2018-05-28T17:46:14.527" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used the Wheelie for several years now. I've walked up in all kind of conditions, like over mountains, on dirt roads etc. It's my way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My last project was called Restless-WalkMore in 2017. It was 9000 kilometers up and down the North Cape, in mostly winter and harsh conditions! This cart is a jewel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15763" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-28T20:48:23.417" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T20:48:23.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19474" CreationDate="2018-05-28T18:55:46.733" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This guide is a general preparation and has good resources to save on a phone or something else, like phone numbers and general info, it also has a map, not detailed, but it does: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/-/media/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/WET4/visit/PDF/2018-wct-guide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Download Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a better PDF from Parcs Canada to download and you can zoom using your electronic device (note: it is over 5mb):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/activ/~/media/62A0D8B48F4448F9B46C2BB8A0E092BB.ashx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail map for West Coast Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T18:55:46.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="366" CreationDate="2018-05-28T19:22:05.777" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trotlining is popular in the southern U.S. for catfish.  It’s reminiscent of more commercial techniques and is a passive means of catching fish, where one sets out temporary rigs of rope along a several hundred foot area and then baits hooks every few meters, so that there are ~25-50 hooks in the water.  Then it’s left for some number of hours and checked to see if it’s caught any fish.  After fishing, the trot line is hauled up to avoid boats, swimmers or divers from getting caught in it inadvertently.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15764" LastActivityDate="2018-05-28T19:22:05.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3563" CreationDate="2018-05-28T22:38:16.820" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made a hiking &quot;wheelbarrow&quot; out of an old external frame backpack by bolting a pair of swoop handle bars to the top, and a Monty BMX wheel to the bottom. It was pretty awesome, I made it for an older gentleman who wanted to come backpacking with us but had a bad back, so couldn't carry a pack. He hardly had to push his bag either, because all the scouts we were taking on the trip wanted to take turns driving it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like the two-wheel design of that thing linked above, because it'll bounce around too much side to side. My one wheel bag could steer through the roughest terrain and even go over large rocks and logs with ease with that fat Monty tire. Unfortunately though, the AL frame of the backpack wasn't sturdy enough to take a serious beating with a full load, we had to reinforce it on the trail by lashing a couple of steel spikes to support the fort of the wheel where it attached to the frame of the bag, and we discovered that the push bag wasn't ideal for keeping your sleeping bag dry when it came to creek crossings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a good alternative to carrying a bag if your back can't support a bag, but you'll have other challenges along the way, like crossing plank bridges through marshes, or scaling over obstacles like fallen logs, big rocks etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-05-29T14:37:57.377" LastActivityDate="2018-05-29T14:37:57.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19500" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-28T23:32:29.577" Score="5" ViewCount="294" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought that Les Stroud was about to make a taut line hitch. But at the end he did a couple of things a little different. What is this knot? Does it hold better than a taut line hitch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gejjr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ay3JG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2018-05-29T15:36:14.303" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T20:30:13.413" Title="What knot is this that starts off like a taut line hitch but ends differently?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19503" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19505" CreationDate="2018-05-29T15:58:04.697" Score="5" ViewCount="1338" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have the good fortune of having sparrows around my house.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feed basmati rice + big bowl of water to sparrows. I sprinkle basmati rice and other grains in the balcony. The sparrows flock once in the morning and another time around the afternoon/early evening and finish the rice and leave. &#xA;Recently I began putting the rice in a blue bowl so that the rice/grains don't get swept off by the wind etc. Strangely enough the rice in the bowl remains untouched. They are not eating out of the bowl/box but they eat the rice sprinkled around the bowl.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is : Why aren't they eating out of the clean bowl.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is blue color of the bowl scaring them away?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will try to add pictures later on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15767" LastEditorUserId="15767" LastEditDate="2018-05-29T16:17:58.757" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T20:22:06.790" Title="Sparrows eating grains strewn on floor but not the grains in a nice bowl" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8908" CreationDate="2018-05-30T00:06:37.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/867980/gear-aid-elastic-shockcord-7-ft?CAWELAID=120217890000763511&amp;amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;amp;CAAGID=15877497040&amp;amp;CATCI=aud-129902659960:pla-297455113613&amp;amp;cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C404_10405%7C8679800001%7Cnone%7C2e245ce1-4103-41dd-a1b3-5fa35e6a41f5%7Caud-129902659960:pla-297455113613&amp;amp;lsft=cm_mmc:PLA_Google_LIA%7C404_10405%7C8679800001%7Cnone%7C2e245ce1-4103-41dd-a1b3-5fa35e6a41f5%7Caud-129902659960:pla-297455113613&amp;amp;kclid=2e245ce1-4103-41dd-a1b3-5fa35e6a41f5&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw9LPYBRDSARIsAHL7J5niYZkm__yT80REIPx_tbS2vAK6QYvZy7mqTUUV3dG0uHf5CxCrYvYaAmaREALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shock cord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking to replace it, many retailers list it as a shock cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15770" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T00:06:37.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19503" CreationDate="2018-05-30T00:50:37.753" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different birds in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sparrow family&lt;/a&gt;. In Massachusetts, USA, I think what we technically have most of is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_sparrow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;House Sparrow&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/taxonomy/Passerellidae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; has a whole sparrow list with their sounds. Your profile indicates that you live in California. There are lists &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whatbird.com/birdexpert/statecolorsize/3/275/306/birdexpert.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/MTYbirdsSOSP.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; of the most common sparrows and small birds in California. Some California &lt;a href=&quot;http://ca.audubon.org/conservation/californias-climate-threatened-and-endangered-birds&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sparrow and related species&lt;/a&gt; are threatened or endangered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have at least 30 sparrow-looking birds on any given winter day, and many more in the summer. We also have many other birds, like blue jays and cardinals, and lots of squirrels. For that reason, we have many different shapes of feeders!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why aren't they eating out of the clean bowl?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Our experience exactly matches what many experts say, that house sparrows and other birds in that family are mostly ground feeders. They enjoy bushes too, where they can hide while they eat. Infrequently they use a hanging feeder, but they don't like it when the feeder moves in the wind. In their natural habitat, the food they like, including grains and insects, are pretty much strewn around, or close to, the ground. We also have a lot of luck throwing seeds in the bushes, which is also part of their natural eating and nesting habitat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although many can be drawn to feeders, especially open platform feeders, most sparrows prefer eating on the ground, especially near trees, shrubs, or a brush pile, where they can make a quick getaway. Feeders might attract half a dozen sparrows in a yard where a good ground-feeding area would attract dozens. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/blog/2014/01/21/attract-ground-feeding-sparrows-without-subsidizing-house-sparrows/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sparrows don't have the body or head shape to comfortably pick through a pile of seeds, so when given an opportunity, they'll likely choose the seeds they grab while hopping. I also don't know about the depth or type of edges of the bowl you're using, but they may not feel steady and secure. I haven't tried feeding them from a bowl, so I don't want to give what could be wrong advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is the blue color scaring them away?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;My initial reaction was that color was likely irrelevant. However, some studies show clear differences among these birds, and blue is a preferred color among sparrows, so I doubt that's the problem in this case. In fact, if you put out a blue tray or other type of feeder, you may even see more!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most in-depth studies I found were conducted in England. Results showed that given the choice of different colors, the sparrows' two favorites are green and blue, especially in summer. In the winter, some birds preferred silver, most likely because of the way they perceive color, which is different and more sophisticated than humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315500/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Colour preferences of UK garden birds at supplementary seed feeders&lt;/a&gt;, published in 2017 by the U.S. National Institute of Health, is long and technical, but really fascinating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary aim of our research was to investigate the effect of feeder colour on the feeding preferences of wild birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To explore the effect of colour on the number of visits by birds, we recorded bird visit rates to 8 different coloured feeders at three sites on 78 sampling days during the winter/spring of 2014/15 (November 2014 to May 2015).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The colors were red, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, silver and black. They monitored several species of backyard visitors, including sparrows. Their research showed that sparrows preferred green, with blue a very close second. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315500/figure/pone.0172422.g002/?report=objectonly&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a detailed graph, separated by birds and by their chosen color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The highly respected &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Royal Society for the Protection of Birds&lt;/a&gt; reported on a similar study by the British Trust for Ornithology in &lt;a href=&quot;https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/ask-an-expert/previous/feeder_colour.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Do different colored bird feeders attract different birds?&lt;/a&gt;. They used more colors and a broader group of birds. Their findings varied among the species, and the types of food they ate. Nevertheless, it's interesting to note that many of the backyard visitors preferred blue feeders in the summer, and silver in the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In trials carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology, 12 different coloured feeders were used with a variety of food types to investigate feeder colour preferences in birds. Their popularity was measured and recorded by the amount of food consumed from each feeder. Further studies showed that for seed, blue feeders proved the most popular during the summer and that silver coloured feeders were popular all year round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T20:22:06.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19506" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T02:21:52.853" Score="5" ViewCount="63" Body="&lt;p&gt;As it is the time of year when carp spawn and are in close to shore, I have been seeing people along the lakeshore with archery equipment, bow fishing for carp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were to already have a bow and arrows, what &lt;strong&gt;additional equipment would be needed to go bowfishing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T11:13:29.960" Title="What additional equipment is needed for bowfishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bow-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19507" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T02:26:56.763" Score="1" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are pictures of bobcats &lt;a href=&quot;http://om/search?as_st=y&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;as_q=bobcats%20on%20cactus&amp;amp;as_epq=&amp;amp;as_oq=&amp;amp;as_eq=&amp;amp;imgsz=&amp;amp;imgar=&amp;amp;imgc=&amp;amp;imgcolor=&amp;amp;imgtype=&amp;amp;cr=&amp;amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;amp;safe=images&amp;amp;as_filetype=&amp;amp;as_rights=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbing on top of really tall cacti&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://bigcatrescue.org/bobcat-on-cactus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the one story&lt;/a&gt; I read says that the reason the bobcat climbed the tree was to get away from a mountian lion who was trying &lt;s&gt;give it a hug&lt;/s&gt; eat it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would a &lt;strong&gt;bobcat climb a cactus if it wasn't being chased by a predator?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T02:26:56.763" Title="Will bobcats climb cacti when not in fear of their lives?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bobcats&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19508" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T04:30:13.237" Score="3" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;space blankets&lt;/a&gt;, you can get reusable tarps with a reflective coating on one side. For the most part, they are just like regular tarps with grommets for tie downs and are big enough to sleep under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would the reflective coating make any difference in insulation as &lt;strong&gt;compared to sleeping under a non-reflective tarp?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T01:35:54.210" Title="How much of a difference in insulation will a reflective tarp make?" Tags="&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8908" CreationDate="2018-05-30T05:55:22.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;On backpacks intended for cycling (including some generic commuting/school bags) this is often described as &lt;em&gt;helmet storage&lt;/em&gt;, even if those backpacks have no other cycling-specific features. Bike helmets are often damp with rain or sweat, and are single bulky items that won't escape from the net. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T05:55:22.857" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19510" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T09:37:22.050" Score="17" ViewCount="5658" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have made camp for one or more nights in a pristine wilderness.  It may be desert, tundra, or a forested environment.  At a suitable distance from camp, I have dug a nice cathole (toilet-hole) and done my business.  Now it's time to sleep.  Should I close my cathole and dig a new one tomorrow, or do I leave open and reuse my cathole and wait until I depart before closing it?  Maybe an open cathole is more likely to attract animals, but multiple catholes leave more traces than just one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="3225" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T05:28:43.077" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T10:54:39.600" Title="Should I close a cathole (toilet-hole) at night?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19510" CreationDate="2018-05-30T10:04:41.317" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;I follow the idea of leaving as less a trace as possible. So what I do is to reuse the cathole. The problem with multiple catholes is how much damage it does to the landscape (especially if the ground is covered with grass). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And anyway, it goes without saying that once you are done with your business you'll put some soil into the cathole to reduce the smell and thereby reduce the possibility of animals getting attracted :). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T10:04:41.317" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19510" CreationDate="2018-05-30T10:13:38.463" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on Rickeyship's feedback, I'm changing my answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Environmental Context&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer depends on your environment, so try to find out what makes sense in the context of where you'll be. My original answer works well in the woods of Missouri where your droppings will be subsumed into the environment, and you can make your catholes undetectable. However, if you're in a fragile environment, or an environment where droppings take longer to process, that approach would be problematic. Ricketyship gives the case of the western ghats as one such example. The arctic might be another, if I were to guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the fragile environments, follow his advice of a single, larger cathole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But overall, I think the right approach is to know the environment you're entering, and determine what the right answer would be in that particular context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Original answer&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your cathole shouldn't leave a trace - that is, shouldn't be visible to anyone after use. So in that regard, maybe work on making your covered catholes invisible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I use them, and when I've read about them, they're always small and only big enough for one use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Properly made, closed catholes shouldn't attract animals. Open ones might, but I've never left a used one open. One thing I've done that was helpful was to dig one before gong to bed so that I can use it first thing in the morning without need time to locate and dig one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a cathole shouldn't damage the environment. So, save the top layer, whether grass or sticks and leaves, and put it back. Your droppings and toilet paper are fertilizer, and will become part of the earth quickly, benefitting the environment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2018-05-30T10:49:16.770" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T10:49:16.770" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19506" CreationDate="2018-05-30T11:13:29.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although probably not necessary, polarized sunglasses are extremely useful to spot the fish - especially on a sunny day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T11:13:29.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19514" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19523" CreationDate="2018-05-30T05:44:48.247" Score="3" ViewCount="1369" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this guy right under my window, huddled in a corner and bleeding a lot (for a crow) from his leg. You can see that the leg is sort of twisted backwards on these two pics, and you can see where he was bleeding.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGOcHl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wGOcHl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9PvAl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c9PvAl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Me and my family held him down and sprayed antiseptic on his wound and most of his leg, which he didn't mind too much. Over the next two days, he managed to stop bleeding and seemingly recover, becoming much more active and lively. The thing is, he can't fly. But he was constantly hopping on things to try to get outside of the garden (though he didn't fear us, he just wanted to get back to his parents, presumably).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2FqTZl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2FqTZl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z7Hy6l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z7Hy6l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing that I'm worried about is whether his family is going to accept him back if we send him out again. We sent him out already once, and a neighbour found him huddled in a corner just like the last time, so he brought him home (though the crows sounded angry at him as he was doing so).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My grandmother disregarded our plan and put him out again in the morning while we were asleep, and the cawing woke me up. What I really need to know quickly so I can make a proper decision (whether to try to bring him back into the garden, which is very much near the nest, or whether to let him take the chances out there) is whether his family is going to abandon him for not being able to fly and for having an injured leg. I am PRETTY SURE (I'm not absolutely 100% sure that it was him but I'm decently sure) I saw a crow feeding him directly with my binoculars. However, I also saw that another fledgling that looked similar was flying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is, if he can't fly and if he has a limp in one leg, will he survive? Will his family teach him how to fly, or will they abandon him for not knowing how to fly yet? The area where we live has a lot of stray cats, so that's the big problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks, I hope someone can help me figure out the best decision. The reason we wanted to keep him in the garden a bit more is to feed him and wait until he can learn to fly in a safe environment that cats are more unlikely to enter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15775" OwnerDisplayName="Robo" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-30T14:26:39.923" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T01:17:56.300" Title="How can I help an injured crow fledgling with a hurt leg?" Tags="&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;crows&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19514" CreationDate="2018-05-30T08:39:26.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you release him now he probably dies very soon either due to starvation or due to cats killing him. If you have the time you could nurture him back to health. In the animal world it often happens that parents only care for their offspring as long as it can't provide for itself. So if you nurture him back to health and release him when he is ready this would give him the best chances of survival. I left behind an injured bird last summer and I still regret this decision. I mean you could just provide the bare minimum, which is food, water and shelter and his chances of survival are much better than when you release him now...and after all animals are generally very grateful and won't forget your help which could be seen as rewarding..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18358" OwnerDisplayName="CuriousIndeed" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T08:39:26.667" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19510" CreationDate="2018-05-30T16:30:23.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution to this and especially when you have multiple people in a group and so want to limit the number of holes, is to use &lt;strong&gt;a single hand width trench instead individual catholes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You start by making one &lt;strong&gt;cathole that is wider than long, and as it is used, you fill in and the dig to one one side using the diggings to cover up as needed.&lt;/strong&gt; When you move on, you completely fill it in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be no wider than a normal cathole and my understanding is that this is Forest Service's preferred method for larger groups instead of everyone digging individual catholes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T05:24:18.623" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T05:24:18.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19518" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T18:38:18.180" Score="6" ViewCount="829" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone was telling me that elk were solely plains animals before they were driven to the Rocky Mountains. They mentioned the account of Lewis and Clark and that they said there were no elk in the mountains and only saw them on the plains. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since Lewis and Clark only went through one section of the west and were not exactly biologists I could see how they might get things wrong. On the flip side they were one of the first to write an account of the west while it was pristine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So was there evidence of elk in the rocky mountains? Were they really driven off of the plains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14099" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-06T16:32:44.467" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T16:32:44.467" Title="Were elk solely plains animals before the Europeans came?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19518" CreationDate="2018-05-30T19:11:19.050" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: No, they were found all over North America before the Europeans arrived&lt;/strong&gt; and are being &lt;strong&gt;reintroduced&lt;/strong&gt; into the Appalachian mountains. I can see them preferring the plains instead of mountains in the absence of hunting pressure, but I haven't found any evidence that they were absent from the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, herds of elk are much easier to spot in open plains as compared to forests, that might have something to do with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eastern elk once ranged statewide, but colonization and exploitation by European settlers eventually led to the species demise. &lt;strong&gt;Prior to the arrival of European immigrants, elk were found from northern New York to central Georgia. Pennsylvanias largest elk concentrations are believed to have been in the Allegheny Mountains.&lt;/strong&gt; Elk, or wapitis as they were called by native Americans, were doggedly pursued wherever they could be found in colonial Penns Woods. They were chased with dogs, jack-lighted, tracked whenever snow provided a trail, and shot on sight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elk were exterminated in southeastern Pennsylvania and rare west of the Allegheny River and in the Blue Ridge and Cumberland mountains by the opening of the nineteenth century. By the late 1840s, they were gone in the southwestern Pennsylvania and from the Pocono Plateau. By the 1850s, what remained of Pennsylvania's once mighty elk population was limited to sections of northcentral Pennsylvania, predominantly in Cameron, Elk and McKean counties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Elk/Pages/HistoryofElkinPA.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;History of Pennsylvania Elk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Before the arrival of Euro-American settlers in North&#xA;America, elk (Cervus elaphus) were the most widely&#xA;distributed species of deer on the continent&lt;/strong&gt; (Murie 1951;&#xA;Gunderson 1976). Its geographic range extended from&#xA;southern Canada to northern Mexico and from the Pacific&#xA;to Atlantic coast (Wyman 1868; Bailey 1896; Stone&#xA;1908; Murie 1951). By the mid-1800s, however, numbers&#xA;of elk were declining in the eastern United States. Baird&#xA;(1852) stated, “At the present time, in the eastern parts, it&#xA;[elk] is only found in a few counties of Pennsylvania . . .&#xA;where indeed their numbers are decreasing day by day; a&#xA;few are known to exist in . . . western Virginia; it is only&#xA;as we proceed farther west that they present themselves&#xA;in numbers.” The primary cause of the extirpation of elk&#xA;in the eastern United States was market and subsistence&#xA;hunting&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&amp;amp;httpsredir=1&amp;amp;article=1908&amp;amp;context=icwdm_usdanwrc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Historic and Recent Distributions of Elk in&#xA;Nebraska&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;North American &lt;strong&gt;elk, or wapiti, were once plentifulin the Rocky Mountain National Park area. As Euro-Americans settled the Estes Valley&lt;/strong&gt;, they hunted elk intensively, sending much of the meat to market in Denver. By 1890 few, if any, elk remained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;History of Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T19:11:19.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19520" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19549" CreationDate="2018-05-30T19:24:09.980" Score="8" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a long sailing trip in Netherlands. I would like my family to be able to contact me in case of an emergency, but we'll be outside of mobile network range most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along the German coast, the DP07 network can send out your messages on VHF against a fee, but does something similar exist in Netherlands? It seems that Scheveningen Radio used to be a thing, but I can't find any information on other private VHF stations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: I went there and it had solid 3G coverage at all times, including along the western Northern Sea coast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15790" OwnerDisplayName="Eugene Pankov" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T12:53:21.343" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T12:53:21.343" Title="Contacting a yacht on IJsselmeer (Netherlands)" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;the-netherlands&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19520" CreationDate="2018-05-30T21:16:34.713" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are probably looking for is a &lt;strong&gt;satellite two way messenger&lt;/strong&gt; like an &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561269&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;inReach&lt;/a&gt; or to rent a satellite phone. The two way messenger will allow you to send  both text messages and coordinates, and the inReach at least can be set to send up a message with your position every so often, and then your family will be able to track your route online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want a PLB as they are only good in an emergency and from a purchasing standpoint, a satellite phone will be much more expensive. Depending on how often you plan to do this would be the deciding factor in purchasing a two way messenger or renting a sat phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-30T21:16:34.713" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19522" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-30T22:54:42.093" Score="7" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nevada State Parks have the most numerically precise characterisation of hiking trails I have yet seen.  For example, see this &lt;a href=&quot;http://parks.nv.gov/forms/Valley_of_Fire_Map_1_SE_HWY_162_NET_otln_reduced_2014-02-10.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;map and list for Valley of Fire State Park&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://parks.nv.gov/forms/Beaver_Dam_State_Park_NET_1_wtn_otln_reduced_2014-02-09.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one for Beaver Dam State Park&lt;/a&gt;.  For each trail, they report numbers on length, typical grade, maximum grade, typical cross slope, maximum cross slope, typical tread width, minimum clearance width, surface firmness (typical and worst), and surface stability (typical and worst).  If it wasn't for omitting measurement uncertainty I'd even describe it as a scientific measurement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bljzG.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bljzG.png&quot; alt=&quot;Valley of Fire Trails&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://parks.nv.gov/forms/Valley_of_Fire_Map_1_SE_HWY_162_NET_otln_reduced_2014-02-10.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Valley of Fire trail map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of those properties are reasonably intuitive to understand (although it was the first time I saw a table like this).  The legend gives some attempt at visualising that all but two trails are &quot;not firm&quot; and &quot;not stable&quot;, but doesn't actually define what it means.  The private company Beneficial Designs, which has made those signs, sells the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.beneficialdesigns.com/products/surface-measurement-accessibility&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rotational Penetrometer&lt;/a&gt; for $4895, and claims that numerical estimates of surface firmness and stability are &quot;required in trail signage&quot;, and states that more information is available on request, but doesn't actually define what the numbers on surface firmness and stability mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T05:54:45.460" Title="How are trail surface firmness and surface stability defined?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19514" CreationDate="2018-05-31T01:17:56.300" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The source for this answer is an article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pacificwildlife.org/info/Online%20Docs/foundababycrow.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Found a Baby Crow ?&lt;/a&gt; on the website of an organization called Pacific Wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not a bird expert by any means, and certainly not a crow expert.  Everything I say is from this article; the only experience I have with crows is observing them in our neighborhood for years.  So I can say from my observations that they are intelligent and cooperative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To summarize the article&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crows are social and accept adult and baby crows from outside their extended family.  Baby crows need to learn foraging and predator avoidance from adult crows, and need to learn how to behave among other crows.  Thus, my suggestion that you might adopt the crow as a pet would deny the crow his natural social life with other crows.  Would you want to be adopted by a group of giant corvids, however well they fed you?  It is, of course, better than starving or being killed by a predator, but is not ideal.  The article states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Healthy crow fledglings can be introduced to &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; crow pod and will&#xA;  be accepted, fed and protected as one of their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article describes how to return the baby to its family or introduce it to potential adopter crows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ideally, you should return the baby to the family of origin.&#xA;  Alternately, you can find another established pod of crows. To return&#xA;  a baby to its family or to &quot;foster&quot; it into a new family, follow these&#xA;  procedures: The best arrival time at the scene is early or late&#xA;  morning. The birds are active then, and you will want the baby to have&#xA;  the full day to get established and to get the number of feedings that&#xA;  it should have before dark. When you arrive at the site, hold the&#xA;  bird’s body gently in your hands leaving the wings free. Raise and&#xA;  lower the bird in your hands to encourage it to flap the wings. This&#xA;  will usually cause the baby to vocalize and will attract the attention&#xA;  of resident crows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The resident crows will respond right away to the bird's cries and&#xA;  come down to investigate. When you have the attention of the family,&#xA;  toss the baby into a tall thicket or into a tree. They usually land&#xA;  sideways and hang by one leg as if they are stranded. Don't panic.&#xA;  They right themselves in a few minutes and will shortly communicate&#xA;  with the other crows. The family will adopt the baby and all will be&#xA;  well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems from your question that you have observed that other crows are interested in this baby.  Try this procedure, but watch what happens.  If the crows adopt him, problem solved.  If they reject him, you have a pet crow.  You are part of nature, and I think it is admirable you are taking an interest in someone who might have died on your doorstep.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T01:17:56.300" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19524" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-31T02:08:28.960" Score="8" ViewCount="776" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/management/upload/1998_Draft_WMP.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1998 Draft Wilderness Management Plan&lt;/a&gt; proposes to set aside large parts of Grand Canyon National Park as wilderness.  However, despite large areas being declared &quot;Wild&quot; in the park backcountry management and wilderness areas in Kaibab National Forest (such as the Kanab Creek Wilderness and the Saddle Mountain Wilderness) and in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (such as the Mount Trumbull Wilderness and the Mount Logan Wilderness), no part of Grand Canyon National Park is currently designated as a federal Wilderness area.  This contrasts with Zion National Park, where almost the entire park is part of the Zion Wilderness or the LaVerkin Creek Wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happened?  Why is no part of the Grand Canyon declared as a Wilderness Area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T02:54:08.577" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T12:29:56.807" Title="Why is there no Wilderness Area within Grand Canyon National Park?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19525" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19530" CreationDate="2018-05-31T05:51:11.540" Score="5" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to sunglasses, you can get &lt;strong&gt;clear&lt;/strong&gt; safety glasses that claim &lt;strong&gt;&quot;Blocks 99.9% of harmful UV rays&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. The advantage of clear safety glasses is that they can be worn both during dusk and after dark when there are millions of tiny bugs trying to fly into your eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It made me wonder how essential is the darkness/tint of a pair of regular sunglasses, and &lt;strong&gt;how good clear safety glasses are at protecting your eyes from the sun?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T20:29:46.687" Title="How essential is the darkness/tint of a pair of sunglasses to protecting your eyes?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19522" CreationDate="2018-05-31T05:54:45.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually firmness of a surface is measured in terms of the work that needs to be done to move across the surface (in other terms, the displacement of your body that occurs due to the force applied). Stability is the amount of soil/ground displacement that occurs due to the force applied. This is one of the main factors why synthetic running tracks are used in place of natural running tracks. Firmer the surface, lesser is the force needed to move across the ground and hence, better the speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, given that the manufacturer of the tool has given very little information about what they do, I believe they might be measuring how much force is applied on the ground and how much of the soil gets displaced due to it. If we have a larger displacement of the soil around, you'll need a lot more force to move forward as the ground is absorbing and dissipating most of your force, thereby reducing the work done by you. The more the force needed to move across, lesser the firmness of the surface. This is the same reason why hiking up a desert dune is much more tiring than up the slopes of a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: However, this does not mean that the hardest surface is better for your body in general to walk on. The strain on your ankles, knees and hips due to a walk on a concrete surface is much more than on soil. Any surface that is firm also needs to take some of the impact of your walk. Else, the impact shoots up your body and can be painful (same reason why hopping across boulders of a river bed is more painful than walking on the softer banks of a river).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T05:54:45.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19527" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19528" CreationDate="2018-05-31T05:55:45.163" Score="3" ViewCount="321" Body="&lt;p&gt;Right now the irrigation ditches and ponds have lots and lots of mallard ducklings, sometimes multiple families to a single pond. The way to tell is that there will be too many ducklings for one family in a pond, and they will sort of be grouped up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BeaMLl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BeaMLl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that mother ducks will not tolerate strange ducklings around their own, but &lt;strong&gt;how do they tell the difference between their own ducklings and unrelated ones?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T06:14:18.700" Title="How do mallard mother ducks tell their ducklings from others?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19527" CreationDate="2018-05-31T06:14:18.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the birds identify their young by calls. This is a survival trait in birds which allows them to locate their young when they are out of sight. Same applies for ducks as well. As far as I know, the imprinting mechanism (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dogonews.com/2014/5/15/imprinting-causes-baby-ducklings-to-believe-that-a-man-is-their-mother&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;can lead to some hilarious behaviour&lt;/a&gt;) that works for the ducklings doesn't have a big effect on the parent to child relationship. In animals, the smell and calls play a major role in parents recognising their offsprings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T06:14:18.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19500" CreationDate="2018-05-31T06:40:49.290" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems related to the knot that I use to tighten a tarp ridgeline that is often referred to as a 'prusik'.  I can't remember how I first came across the method but it's very useful for maintaining tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15777" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T06:40:49.290" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19525" CreationDate="2018-05-31T09:16:25.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The dark tint isn't required for UV blocking. That's not to say it's not a good thing to have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many plastics have strong UV absorption, and some safety glasses have an additional coating.&#xA;For blocking UV lasers &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187155321500081X&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this has been tested&lt;/a&gt;, though UV laser glasses are often a pale straw colour. Many safety glasses &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clear-Safety-Glasses-Goggles-Laboratory/dp/B0063GACU8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;actually have UV protection&lt;/a&gt; anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.safetysupplies.co.uk/trolleyed/protective-eyewear/uv-safety-glasses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UV-blocking clear glasses&lt;/a&gt; designed for their anti-UV properties above other functions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the visible component of light that also contains a lot of UV is often intense enough to be uncomfortable, and to cause eye strain. This is a good reason for sunglasses to be dark.  For cycling in particular I use safety sunglasses, which are a good combination of mechanical/dust protection and light blocking (visible and UV). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T20:19:15.613" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T20:19:15.613" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19510" CreationDate="2018-05-31T10:54:39.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knowing roughly how many times it will be used, it should be deep enough for at least that. After each use, foliage and earth should be put in to cover5 faeces. At this point, since it's covered effectively, forget it until the last time it's used, then fill it properly so it looks like nothing happened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15778" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T10:54:39.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19532" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19538" CreationDate="2018-05-31T11:29:15.833" Score="6" ViewCount="243" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing extremely high mountains requires a long time (weeks together) to acclimatisation to the altitude.&#xA;Is it possible to reduce this time by adding sleeping in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude tent&lt;/a&gt; to the preparation trainings? Is altitude tent something worth buying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T18:08:20.767" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T18:08:20.767" Title="Is altitude tent helpful in preparation for climbing 7000-8000m mountains?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19535" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19541" CreationDate="2018-05-31T15:13:57.307" Score="24" ViewCount="6743" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are caught out in the rain without any rainwear, raingear and nowhere to hide out, how can you minimalize the damage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen things like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;holding a bag over the head&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;wearing a plastic bag on the head&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;keeping the head down&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously planning ahead would be ideal, but...:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What methods are there to avoid general wetness when you're caught off guard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6665" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T18:24:08.297" Title="Caught in the rain without rainwear or raingear" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19532" CreationDate="2018-05-31T15:27:42.047" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It take a few weeks to &lt;em&gt;fully&lt;/em&gt; acclimatize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say the tent simulates 5000 ft.  In 3-6 weeks you should be acclimatized to 5000 feet.  You have a stronger starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to 10,000 it would still take your body about 3-6 weeks.  Starting from 5000 it would be a little less than starting at 0 but not 1/2.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It lets have a higher base camp.  Say you want to climb 20,000 you could have a base at 15,000 versus 10,000.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of people climb without altitude training.  Mt Rainier is 14,000 feet and a majority of people in WA live at sea level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fully acclimatize is for major peaks - like 20,000+.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see your title is 8000 m so yes it should help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T15:35:58.550" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T15:35:58.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19535" CreationDate="2018-05-31T17:22:47.630" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, if you're caught off-guard, you won't have anything with you that offers direct protection, such as: raincoat, poncho, garbage bag, tarp, or any other portable shelter. It also means that you won't have any tools along that might help you build a shelter, such as a pocket knife. Some might have one, some not, but let's assume you don't. Some of these options will reduce your wetness, but not eliminate it. Some of these are not quick solutions and wouldn't be fast enough to help for a quick downpour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, you'll need to quickly consider your environment, and look for what is available. The possibilities will differ greatly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;City/Suburbs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;alcove of a building, or hopefully you can go inside (you're probably not thinking of this environment, but for completeness)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if there is a building, find the wall which is most out of the wind. Stand against the wall, as flat against the wall as possible, and you will be out of the worst of the rain. It will work with big trees as well, but trees mostly have branches which will either help or hinder (drops.) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;under an evergreen of some kind. If there's lightning, be careful here. Definitely avoid the taller trees in that case, but that may not be enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a cave would be great&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a cliff might help, either because it's overhanging, or because the wind is blowing the right direction&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gather dead branches to build a quick wickiup, and cover it with leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if it's a genuine survival situation, use your hands to break boughs from evergreens and make a shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will be environments where there's no good solution if you're caught off guard. These might include open plains, desert, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T16:24:32.230" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T16:24:32.230" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19532" CreationDate="2018-05-31T18:02:02.073" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer - The answer is purely based on research. I've personally only been up to 6400m and have never used an altitude tent to acclimatise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background of altitude acclimatisation:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With increase in altitude, the barometric pressure decreases. This means, there's less amount of air. However, the percentage of Oxygen in itself remains the same (21%). This implies that there's lesser air to breathe, and in turn, lesser Oxygen to intake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To mitigate this, the body produces more red blood cells to absorb more Oxygen (also the reason why blood gets thicker at altitude). This is one of the ways body mitigates the thinner air in the atmosphere at altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The science of altitude acclimatisation itself is ill developed. There are hundreds of studies but nothing is set in stone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Altitude tents (Hypoxic tents)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypoxic training is very common among athletes. However, there's a very important difference between hypoxic training as compared to altitude acclimatisation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to hypoxic tents, the air thickness remains the same but the percentage of oxygen is reduced. This is a way to simulate the lesser Oxygen that's found at higher altitude. However, this is not the same as high altitude. At altitude, the air itself is thinner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Theoretically, a hypoxic tent should be simulate the same effect as a high altitude stay. However, there are quite a few studies that suggest otherwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When transported to 4300 m (HH), subjects who were preacclimatized in NH had a minimal benefit (e.g., no or &amp;lt;1 mm Hg decrease in PETCO2 or AMS prevalence of 50%–64% instead of 80%–100% in nonacclimatized subjects). In addition, the NH preacclimatization did not induce any reduction in the acute performance decrement observed during the first 24 h after arrival at 4300 m. These results highlight a specificity of the HH condition and an (unresolved) indirect influence of the barometric pressure. Moreover, the findings show that the ventilatory acclimatization can be effective in NH, but not in HH, and that the light ventilatory and AMS benefits retained in HH for the NH preacclimatized groups did not translate to performance benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://journals.lww.com/acsm-essr/Fulltext/2013/04000/Evidence_for_Differences_Between_Hypobaric_and.10.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, HH stands for Hypobaric Hypoxia (Altitude based reduction in oxygen) and NH (Normobaric Hypoxic, tent based reduction in oxygen).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also a study of if at all the acclimatisation that was gained using altitude would be retained by using tent based acclimatisation (The reverse of what you are asking). And here's an excerpt from the study:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These results demonstrate that HA acclimatization-induced improvements in ventilatory and hematologic responses, AMS, and cognitive function are partially retained during RA after 12 days at SL whether or not NH treatment is utilized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28705998&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;RA stands for reduced altitude, SL stands for sea level, HA for high altitude &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sources are interesting as these mention that the hypoxic tents might actually not cause any improvement in acclimatisation or retaining of acclimatisation that's gained using actual altitude. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To conclude, it's really hard to say that Hypoxic tents will help you to acclimatise any better than being at a higher altitude. The science and the studies are divided themselves. There's no concrete yes or no as of now on this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a few links for further reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nicolekelleher.com/2011/07/25/do-altitude-tents-really-work-setting-the-stage-to-answer-a-tough-question/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Interesting take on how some react to altitude tents and some don't (read responders section)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1784286/do-altitude-tents-work&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altitude training for athletic improvements.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T18:02:02.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19540" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-05-31T21:34:34.807" Score="6" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;While bears are located all along the Appalachian trail, in most sections they are rarely seen. During &lt;em&gt;prime&lt;/em&gt; season there is enough use of the trail that hikers are often aware of problematic areas. This is especially true at shelters. Mice, raccoons, and other smaller animals are much more bothersome. My understanding is that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://theultimatehang.com/2013/03/19/hanging-a-bear-bag-the-pct-method/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT bear hang method&lt;/a&gt; is designed to keep bears from getting your food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there modifications that should be made to a PCT hang to prevent rodents and small animals from getting the food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not worried about bears, but are worried about small animals, how should you hang your food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="1942" LastEditDate="2018-05-31T23:05:37.777" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T02:33:06.607" Title="Hanging food on the appalachian trail" Tags="&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19535" CreationDate="2018-05-31T22:58:39.873" Score="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Strip off.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your skin is waterproof. Assuming it's warm (because if it wasn't, you'd have proper gear, right?) then you're not going to freeze, especially if you're walking. So take off everything you can afford to be seen without (because getting arrested for flashing is a downer) and stash it in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the sun comes out again, you can air dry as you go, or you can sacrifice some item of clothing as an impromptu towel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done substantial amounts of summer walking in the UK wearing only a pair of shorts, most notably on the West Highland Way in Scotland where it rained sideways 4 days out of 6. If your work rate is high enough, you stay warm from the inside in spite of the water running off your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2018-05-31T22:58:39.873" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19540" CreationDate="2018-06-01T00:38:33.290" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When at a shelter, there're usually short strings with a tuna-type can to prevent the rodent from accessing your food bag. One can use those instead of hanging the food. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://marksatwalk.blogspot.com/2009/11/mice.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;picture from 'Marks AT walk' journal&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9q9Ya.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9q9Ya.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;anti-mice hanging rope&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When tenting, rodents are less of an issue and the PCT hang with enough distance between the branch and your food bad seems to be sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A cuben fiber food bag also seems to hold against rodents even at ground level in my experience &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/bear_bag.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;and others&lt;/a&gt; (the quote used to be about the non hybrid cuben fiber originally if I recall correctly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The material is even rodent resistant-&#xA;  &quot;On several occasions I've seen mice check out my DCF food bag and eventually give up. &lt;strong&gt;I let one persistent mouse chew on it for the entire night&lt;/strong&gt;- by morning he had done some &lt;strong&gt;minor damage but did not get into my food&lt;/strong&gt;.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to empty your side pockets from food if you prefer not having holes in your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1902" LastEditorUserId="1902" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T02:33:06.607" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T02:33:06.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19543" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19544" CreationDate="2018-06-01T03:11:11.200" Score="5" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going on a 2-day backpacking trip. I have a CamelBak that I haven't used in 4 years. I saw zero mold in it, it smelled fine. I flushed it a few times, including the lines and mouthpiece, with near boiling hot water. Then I filled it with tap water. I drank a little, it tasted fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should it be safe to use? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15783" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T11:00:30.843" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T11:00:30.843" Title="Camelbak safe to use after cleaning for the first time in 4 years?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19543" CreationDate="2018-06-01T03:26:59.787" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Honestly, you should be perfectly fine to use it. If there was no mold after storing it and before cleaned it out, I wouldn't worry about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camelbak's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/customer-service/help-center/care-cleaning/product-cleaning/how-to-clean-reservoir&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official cleaning instructions&lt;/a&gt;  say it safe to use even if you had gotten mold inside of it after following their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camelbak.com/en/customer-service/help-center/care-cleaning/product-cleaning/how-to-clean-reservoir&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;instructions&lt;/a&gt; (although it still might be stained).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T03:26:59.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19547" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19591" CreationDate="2018-06-01T05:57:11.123" Score="4" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a hydration bladder with a screw on the drinking hose, and the problem is that given enough time it will come unscrewed and then leak inside my backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried tightening it as hard as I dare, (everything is made of plastic) and it still eventually comes loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could live with a permanent solution, since its fairly uncommon to have to remove the hose, and yet I would prefer something that can be undone if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I keep the hose on my hydration bladder from unscrewing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T14:58:28.297" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T00:57:03.340" Title="Keeping the hose on a hydration bladder from unscrewing?" Tags="&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19520" CreationDate="2018-06-01T09:06:27.620" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked up the GSM coverage &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kpn.com/4g/dekkingskaart.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; from KPN - the former state telephone company - and virtually all of the IJsselmeer is covered according to that on 4G.&#xA; Can't tell from experience though but I'd gather you'd be in range on nights anyway. The IJsselmeer is large but not huge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15788" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T09:06:27.620" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19535" CreationDate="2018-06-01T09:38:49.313" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can quickly cool down when it's raining out, in particular when the rain is horizontal and it's 4°C outside.  You say there's no shelter anywhere near.  Then walk as fast as you can to somewhere not near.  I infer yours must be a day trip, for surely you're not out on a multi-night backpacking trip in a cold &amp;amp; wet climate without any raingear or night shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Locate the closest shelter, be it a bus stop, a pub, your car, or even a house if you trust strangers and they trust you.  Even if they don't invite you in, you might hide under a ledge.  Walk to such shelter as fast as you reasonably can, be it one, two, or three hours march.  The wet-cold spiral is real and bad for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. It amazes me how often I see people in England out in the rain without proper rain protection.  This is England, it rains.  I don't recall seeing the same in Netherlands, Sweden, or Norway.  In the USA too, right on the peak of Mt. Marcy, I remember seeing hikers without any rain gear caught out in heavy rain.  A sure way to catch a cold or worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T09:38:49.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15604" CreationDate="2018-06-01T12:01:59.100" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany there is the so called &quot;Saufeder&quot; a spear especially for wild boars. Today you use it if a boar is shot but not dead for example. If your hunting dog is near the boar and you don't want to use your rilfe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15789" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T12:01:59.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11289" CreationDate="2018-06-01T12:04:52.520" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are a trained shooter and you manage to get the bullet into the right area the caliber is not too important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15789" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T12:04:52.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13492" CreationDate="2018-06-01T12:07:17.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany for example it is because you want to protect the animal from suffering from a bad shot. But there are countries in Europe which allow bow hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15789" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T12:07:17.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5290" CreationDate="2018-06-01T12:34:03.340" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We walked throughthe Samaria Gorge in Crete last month, and there were several bridges crossing the stream there simply made from halved logs - two longitudinal beams crossing the gap with transverse beams to walk on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has the advantage of being made from locally sourced materials, removing the need to carry heavy timber from the nearest road (which in that case could be up to 8km away, as the trail is 16km long)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photos can be seen on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.west-crete.com/samaria-gorge-photos.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; at west-crete.com - I can't include them here for copyright reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3645" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T12:34:03.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19560" CreationDate="2018-06-01T13:57:06.793" Score="11" ViewCount="936" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I have been very fortunate in our long distance hikes - we've never been rained on except for our last day on the way out. So, while we have rain jackets that we pack, we've never packed rain pants or anything like that. We do have waterproof (Gore-Tex) boots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently we were day hiking in the rain and our pants got so wet that our socks started wicking moisture out of the pants and into our boots. So we need a way to fix this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like gaiters or rain pants are the two fixes for this. Our pants are quick dry so I'm not as concerned about them getting wet.  Gaiters seem like something we could wear all day if the weather seems iffy (under our regular pants but over the boots and socks) while rain pants would be something we put on when the weather starts to get bad. Is one of these a superior choice? Are there other alternatives we should consider?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15791" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T02:06:49.087" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T19:06:22.327" Title="How to keep socks from wicking rain off pants into boots" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19555" CreationDate="2018-06-01T14:34:26.367" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't need the full rain pants, then gaitors should do the trick. I would wear the gaitors over the top of all of your other layers, and just wear them when you need to, as otherwise you will get wet from your own sweat. They are also useful if you have to go through vegetation after it has rained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, you can get really light rain pants, and they would keep your pants and socks from getting wet and you probably wouldn't need gaitors at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal strategy is to use rain pants first and if it is really, really raining then use gaitors as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T02:10:50.967" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T02:10:50.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5290" CreationDate="2018-06-01T15:29:27.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to go really basic: use two logs, maybe 15-20 cm/6-8 inch across each, and tie them together with a number (&gt;=2) of (large, heavy duty) cable ties. Dig the ends into the ground a bit to prevent high water from carrying them off. Even under relatively difficult conditions the bridge can be crossed by shuffling across sideways, each foot touching both logs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first saw this method of bridge building at a military demonstration and thought it was quite brilliant. It will last years and years as long as nobody decides to sabotage it, and even then repairs are simple. And a single log of the required size can be carried down a trail by one or two people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T23:49:29.470" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T23:49:29.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15527" CreationDate="2018-06-01T16:57:11.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on your fitness, and the size of your child, you can carry your child into their 4th year, but by that time you're typically having to worry about camping supplies also. I'm in the middle of trying to plan for my 4.5 YO and I wanted to pack into a lake at 6.5 miles (10.5 Km), over elevation that was fairly gradual, but I don't think this will work for her. Comparatively, my oldest daughter, when she was 4.5, could easily hike over 10 miles (16 Km) in a day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In truth, I can carry the 4.5 YO, but I can't carry her AND camping supplies. I may just choose to go tot he high-mountain lake with her, and fish... although that would mean a 13 mile hiking day for me... with a not-so-light pack :-(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15794" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-06-01T18:45:40.910" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T18:45:40.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19555" CreationDate="2018-06-01T19:02:44.973" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not perfect but double sock.  First layer (liner) is a smooth thin sock designed to slide.  Outer sock is the thicker insulation layer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aCiWN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aCiWN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;liner sock&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T19:02:44.973" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19555" CreationDate="2018-06-01T19:42:17.063" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;GoreTex Gaiters are what I've always worn, and I've never had a problem with wet socks before. The GoreTex is nice and light, and breathes so you don't overheat or get very clammy underneath. You can get different sizes of gaiters from gaiters that barely cover you ankles to gaiters that go all the way up to your knees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another route you could go is to get &lt;strong&gt;waterproof socks&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Rocky Socks&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Sealskinz&lt;/em&gt; socks are 100% waterproof but are still breathable, so you never have to worry about wet feet when you're wearing them. With the waterproof socks you can also wear whatever footwear you like. Even if you wear a light dayhiker that isn't waterproof, your feet will still stay dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gaiters for dry socks, also an option: Full body jumper rain suit.&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0MLkA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0MLkA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T19:06:22.327" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T19:06:22.327" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19525" CreationDate="2018-06-01T20:29:46.687" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blocking UV and reducing visible light intensity are separate functions, and the latter can actually reduce the former; glasses that are opaque to UV but completely transparent to visible light will mean that pupils will be constricted in direct sunlight, reducing UV exposure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14641" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T20:29:46.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19535" CreationDate="2018-06-01T22:49:40.143" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience as a cyclist is that getting wet doesn't matter (because skin is waterproof): what matters is getting cold. So the goal is to stay warm enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your warmth is affected by your exercise (producing heat) and insulation/clothing (retaining heat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep warm, keep exercising: if you stop and take shelter (when already soaking) then you'll get cold[er]. It may be better to keep on keeping on (even in the wet) until you reach an indoor shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In dry weather you might keep your jacket unzipped (to stay cool and avoid sweating); if you're drenched in rain, staying cool and sweat-free is less important, instead you might zip up to keep warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastActivityDate="2018-06-01T22:49:40.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19563" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19585" CreationDate="2018-06-02T00:31:20.990" Score="8" ViewCount="3074" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is one of those instances where I need answers that are written as if you were speaking to a 5 year old. I don't know a whole lot about fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My uncle likes to go fishing on the long island sound mostly but it's getting to be too much of a drive at his age. The majority of fish I remember him catching were porgies and other fish of that size. We're not talking huge fish and his gear reflects that. Rods and spinning reels. Lures, weights, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some local lakes, rivers, creeks that have trout stocked by the NJ Fish and Wildlife division, bass and other fish. These are much easier for him to get to but most of his fishing has been in the same area out on a boat. When I think about freshwater fishing I get a picture of someone in waders with a fly fishing rod which would be too much of a shift in gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main fish is large mouth bass and trout from what I can gather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can his ocean fishing gear (rods, reels line mainly) be used for trout and bass fishing in lakes, streams and rivers? If so I'm guessing at least the hooks, lures and other stuff that gets tied to the end of the line would need to be different as well as bait. IF this can be done can you make suggestions for a versatile setup to get him started fishing in NJ lakes and streams without getting into fly fishing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15797" LastEditorUserId="15797" LastEditDate="2018-06-03T03:50:19.953" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T14:47:10.500" Title="Can ocean/saltwater fishing gear be used for freshwater/lake fishing?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5290" CreationDate="2018-06-02T10:50:51.047" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Swiss have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schwyzer-wanderwege.ch/images/pdf-dokumente/Holzkonstruktionen.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;detailed documentation on this&lt;/a&gt;. You might not understand the German but the sketches are fairly clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two things you might want to know: the introduction says the type &quot;A&quot; ones should be designed by a competent engineer, but the type &quot;B&quot; ones are easy to build.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any sketch labelled with the word &lt;strong&gt;ungünstig&lt;/strong&gt; is a counter-example of how not to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one in 10.4.1 on page 73 (page number 66) looks simple enough to build. Take two tree trunks, plane one side, rough up the surface a bit (they suggest with a chainsaw) and fix the thing in place with iron staples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General disclaimer: check the liability situation in your state or country. In Switzerland, whether you're an engineer or not, if you build a bridge then you assume &quot;builder's liability&quot; and if someone injures themselves due to negligence on your part you can be sued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user3245" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T10:50:51.047" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19563" CreationDate="2018-06-02T13:14:31.220" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Should work fine if he is set up for smaller fish.  Even a set up for large fish would work but you would need to put a light line on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Saltwater reel is designed to withstand the corrosive effects of salt.  It works fine in fresh water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for bait and lure it will depend on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/fishbrochurecentral.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fish&lt;/a&gt;.  A local tackle shop can help you out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your uncle knows his gear.  Ask him if he thinks it will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T13:14:31.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19563" CreationDate="2018-06-02T16:04:49.430" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will be fine. There is no issue going from salt to fresh. Usually saltwater gear includes lines and tackles that are supposed to catch bigger fish deeper in the ocean so you should probably try the smallest lures. The line will be quite visible but if you are inexperienced it will not be much of a problem - I usually fret over line visibility but I don't think it matters more than having gear in the water at the right place at the right time (luck). The poles are stiffer than fresh water poles, but again if you have no reference point and are just learning to throw - stiffer is just as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="13536" LastEditDate="2018-06-04T16:15:51.737" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T16:15:51.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19567" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19570" CreationDate="2018-06-02T21:43:17.100" Score="9" ViewCount="1797" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last year I went to Washington state and I visited Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, and North Cascades National Park.  I enjoyed all three of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just saw a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; and was looking at the number of annual visitors for all of the U.S. national parks.  I noticed that Olympic National Park got 3.4 million visitors last year and Mount Rainier got 1.4 million visitors.  I was shocked to see that North Cascades only got 30 &lt;em&gt;thousand&lt;/em&gt; visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would North Cascades National Park receive so few visitors compared to Olympic and Mount Rainier?  They are all about 2 hours away from Seattle.  Not only that, but North Cascades National Park is free - it does not have an entrance fee, unlike Olympic and Mount Rainier, which makes it even more puzzling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, North Cascades National Park is the &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; national park in the contiguous United States that is not on an island to receive fewer than 150,000 visitors last year.  Why is that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastEditorUserId="13081" LastEditDate="2018-06-02T21:53:43.673" LastActivityDate="2020-02-04T22:24:47.890" Title="Why does North Cascades National Park get so few visitors?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19567" CreationDate="2018-06-02T22:51:07.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few possible reasons are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is relatively hard to get to.  It's not near a major&#xA;HWY/Interstate and HWY 20 can be closed for up to half the year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There aren't a lot of attractions, like geysers in Yellowstone or&#xA;Clingmans Dome in the Smoky Mountains, that can be easily reached by&#xA;car.  Many of the attractions require a good deal of strenuous hiking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There aren't a whole lot of attractions in the same general vicinity.&#xA;One would not be able to leave some family members behind shopping as&#xA;one could if they wanted to hike the Tetons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With it being free the attendance records could be low.  I'm not sure&#xA;if there would be another reliable way to track attendance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T22:51:07.063" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19567" CreationDate="2018-06-02T22:55:29.777" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because Mt Rainier is way cooler.  It is not only the largest peak in WA it stands alone.  Seattle sees it in all its majesty when it is not cloudy.  You can see Rainier from as far north as Bellingham on a clear day.  From Bellingham you don't see North Cascades National Park as it is behind Mt Baker.  With Mt Baker, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest,  Ross Lake, and Winthrop North Cascades National Park has competition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked up the peaks in North Cascades National Park and I have climbed several of them.  Never went though a gate to get counted.  Sahale and Shuksan were two of my favorite climbs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the best 8-10,000 ft day climbs are in North Cascades National Park.  Very popular with climbers but most National Park visitors are more recreational.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-06-03T20:38:49.830" LastActivityDate="2018-06-03T20:38:49.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19567" CreationDate="2018-06-02T23:13:01.090" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;After doing some more research, I found out that &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cascades_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Cascades National Park&lt;/a&gt; is a subset of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Cascades_National_Park_Complex&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Cascades National Park Complex&lt;/a&gt;.  The Complex consists of three units:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;North Cascades National Park (further divided into a North Unit and South Unit)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ross Lake National Recreation Area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lake Chelan National Recreation Area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/nearly-1-million-visitors-stopped-by-north-cascades-park-complex-in-2016/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seattle Times article&lt;/a&gt;, the Complex received a total of 979,578 visitors in 2016.  North Cascades National Park received 28,646 visitors, Ross Lake NRA received 905,418 visitors, and Lake Chelan NRA received 45,514 visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes sense that the Ross Lake NRA received most of the visitors to the North Cascades National Park Complex.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Route_20&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Cascades Highway&lt;/a&gt; - one of the country's scenic highways - goes through Ross Lake NRA and none of the other Complex units.  From what I've heard, the majority of visitors to parks mostly just drive and don't do much hiking.  In addition, the North Cascades Visitor Center is located in the Ross Lake NRA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, according to my national parks guidebook, there are no roads that go into the North Unit of North Cascades National Park (or the Lake Chelan NRA), and only one unpaved road (Cascade River Road) goes into the South Unit.  It says that North Cascades National Park is the least accessible unit of the Complex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastActivityDate="2018-06-02T23:13:01.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19571" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-03T11:36:25.923" Score="5" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to climb &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/mount-kazbek/154019&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Kazbek&lt;/a&gt;, from the Georgian side, in August, but I am not really keen on the idea of booking a whole package all the way from Kazbegi. I've read elsewhere that you can hike to the meteo station (the route is well-documented) and hire a guide for a much cheaper price from there to reach the peak. How true is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15803" LastEditorUserId="16619" LastEditDate="2019-08-25T19:51:19.543" LastActivityDate="2019-08-25T19:51:19.543" Title="Climbing Mt. Kazbek - Hiring a Guide from the Meteo Station" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;georgia&gt;&lt;caucasus&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19567" CreationDate="2018-06-03T13:21:17.190" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to all three, and am not surprised by your statistics.  While the North Cascades are certainly pretty and have their own appeal, there just isn't anything well known and iconic there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mt Ranier, is, well, Mt Ranier.  It's a magnificent-looking single peak, well know, and can be seen from the populated area on the east side of Puget Sound.  Everyone knowns about it, and those who live in the area have seen it.  You can get to lots of scenic places with a car.  For example, you can drive to Paradise Ranger Station, and after a short stroll look down on a glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Olympic Peninsula is also special, and well know for what makes it special.  Again, the area is well-served by roads.  You can see a lot just from a car.  You can tour the rain forest along the coast, and can drive to the top of Mt Olympus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The North Cascades are &quot;just&quot; another bunch of pretty mountains with nothing particularly outstanding.  Much of what you can drive thru isn't even in the actual park.  If I remember right (it's been a long time, and things could have changed too), the main campground at Ross Lake isn't even in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to go hiking thru the back country, the North Cascades have a lot to offer.  I remember hiking up one of the local peaks with a lookout on top, and didn't encounter another hiker on the 10 mile or so round trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the vast majority of visitors don't come to a these parks for that.  They want to drive thru some spectacular scenery with the kids and grandma, maybe participate in a ranger-led program, and roast marshmallows over the campfire in the evening.  Mt Ranier and Olympic simply have more to offer in that regard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-06-03T13:21:17.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3855" CreationDate="2018-06-03T20:16:59.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/permits.htm#CP_JUMP_5479119&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, collecting items from national parks is prohibited, with 2 exceptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Collecting, rockhounding, and gold panning of rocks, minerals, and paleontological specimens, for either recreational or educational purposes is generally prohibited in all units of the National Park System (36 C.F.R. § 2.1(a) and § 2.5(a)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two exceptions to the general prohibition. Limited recreational gold panning is allowed in the Whiskeytown unit of the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area in California, in accordance with regulations at 36 CFR § 7.91.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second exception involves some Alaska park units, where surface collection by hand (including hand-held gold pans) and for personal recreational use only, of rocks and minerals (except for silver, platinum, gemstones, and fossils) is allowed in accordance with 36 CFR § 13.20(c). Shovels, pickaxes, sluice boxes, and dredges may not be used to collect these items. If collecting these resources is likely have a significant adverse impact on park resources or visitor enjoyment, the park superintendent will prohibit or restrict collection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found the item collection policies of all 8 national parks in Alaska.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denali National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/leavenotrace.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave the backcountry as you found it; do not take home rocks, artifacts, antlers, animal remains or flowers as souvenirs. Feel free to eat edible plants and berries for personal consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gates of the Arctic National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/gaar/planyourvisit/leavewhatyoufind.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is illegal to remove most natural objects, including plants and flowers, as well as cultural artifacts from any National Park Service lands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Natural objects of beauty or interest, such as antlers or fossils, should be left for others to discover and enjoy. Antlers also provide an important calcium source for small mammals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gates of the Arctic has been inhabited for thousands of years. Decendants of ancient residents still use the land and its resources to lead a subsistance lifes. Any items that you find such as traps, tools, firepits, etc., that appear recent, may be parts of historical or prehistoric cultural sites. Please do not disturb things that are even potentially cultural or historic structures or artifacts. Please report such sites to park staff so they can be surveyed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Glacier Bay National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/management/lawsandpolicies.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not destroy, injure, or remove plants, rocks, feathers, occupied shells or other features. Only the collection of the following is permitted: unoccupied seashells, all edible berries and fruits, edible mushrooms, and clams or mollusks taken in accordance with state regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The harassing, injuring, or killing of any wildlife is prohibited. Help wildlife remain wild by never feeding any animal, including squirrels and gulls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or otherwise disturbing cultural and archeological resources is prohibited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Katmai National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/backcountry-regulations-and-suggested-best-practices.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nuts, berries, and unoccupied seashells can be collected for personal use. Collecting artifacts, rocks, antlers, or other natural and cultural resources is prohibited. Collecting fossils on state or federal lands is prohibited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kenai Fjords National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/collecting-and-harvesting.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can I mine for gold?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recreational gold panning is permitted in park rivers and streams. Disturbance of soil or subsurface areas is prohibited, so the use of shovels, picks, explosives, sluice boxes, suction dredges, etc. is not allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;May I collect rocks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recreational rock collecting by hand (no tools) is permitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;May I collect mushrooms, nuts, berries, etc.?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, small quantities of these items may be collected by hand for personal use. No tools are allowed, and commercial harvesting is prohibited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is hunting, fishing, and trapping allowed in the park?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing is allowed in accordance with state laws. Hunting is not allowed. Trapping is not allowed. Subsistence hunting is not allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kobuk Valley National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/kova/planyourvisit/things2know.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave any natural items or artifacts just as you find them - bring home pictures instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lake Clark National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/lacl/learn/management/lawsandpolicies.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing historic artifacts, fossils, antlers/horns, skulls, plants, rocks, etc. is not allowed. Leave them for the next visitor to discover and enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wrangell-St. Elias National Park&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/management/gold-panning-and-collections-regulations.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;web page&lt;/a&gt; says the following (see the web page for more details including what quantities are allowed):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Berries, mushrooms, and plants may be gathered for personal use. They may not be sold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Driftwood, seashells, and dead wood for firewood may be gathered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plants and minerals may be gathered for traditional ceremonies done by Native Americans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recreational gold-panning and collection of small rocks is allowed. Visitors may not use metal detectors or hand tools to dig in the ground. Rocks may not be sold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Silver, platinum, gemstones, and fossils may NOT be collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Antlers and horns may NOT be collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Threatened &amp;amp; Endangered species may NOT be collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cave formations may NOT be collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Archeological items may NOT be collected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-03T21:18:44.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19577" CreationDate="2018-06-03T23:39:06.557" Score="18" ViewCount="4480" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm fascinated by bats. I love to watch them fly around, although I've never seen more than a few at a time where I live in a suburban area in Massachusetts, Northeastern Unites States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd love to see them in large numbers in their natural habitat, and it seems that Texas is a good choice for that. Texas has a few areas of &lt;a href=&quot;https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/bats/bat-watching-sites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;established bat colonies&lt;/a&gt;, the most notable species of which is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_free-tailed_bat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mexican Free-tailed bats&lt;/a&gt;. Apparently at certain times of the year there are more than a million of these bats living in a specific region of Texas at the same time. Tourism is high when there's a possibility of seeing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In August of 2017, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/hurricane-harvey-facts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hurricane Harvey&lt;/a&gt;, did almost unprecedented damage to Texas and neighboring states. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many local conservation groups, scientists and concerned citizens worked hard for months to salvage as much of the habitat and as many bats as possible. I was told that large conservation organizations from all over the world joined with them. Why would they do that?  Devoting so many human and financial resources seems like a lot unless bats are important for reasons other than tourism.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's so important about bats that conservationists from all over the world want to save them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-13T18:48:57.467" LastActivityDate="2019-03-13T18:48:57.467" Title="What are the benefits of saving bats?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;bats&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19575" CreationDate="2018-06-04T02:21:19.957" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're part of the ecosystem. If they go away, it creates an imbalance that can't be fixed. Simple example, they eat huge numbers of mosquitoes. Kill the bats, and you free the mosquitoes to multiply as they please. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T02:21:19.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19575" CreationDate="2018-06-04T04:58:14.010" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bats eat hundreds of mosquitos per bat every night, which is amazing for human peoples and the principle reason people hang up special made bat houses. Bat guano (poop) also creates habitats for other species. There are entire ecosystems in caves that exist only because of bats. In those ecosystems bats are the only creatures leaving the deep dark regions of the caves and returning each day. When they're out at night they fill their bellies, and when they're hanging out during the day they're dropping their guano to the ground where many creepy crawlies pick through it, sustaining thriving populations. If the bats die off, then that supply chain is severed, and there's a chance that the entire cave will die, because suddenly nothing is replenishing the food supply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-06-04T21:54:26.353" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T21:54:26.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15949" CreationDate="2018-06-04T06:11:27.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One tip I’ve found helpful is to make sure you leave your crampons out of your tent overnight, so starting out they’re the same temperature as the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15808" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T06:11:27.187" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19575" CreationDate="2018-06-04T11:53:41.180" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could ask what the importance is of any species or related group of animals.  They all have their place in the ecosystem, and there will be consequences when any of them disappear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the particular case of bats, they are quite beneficial to humans.  They eat a good fraction of their body weight in flying insects every night.  They are also the only pollinators for some plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bats have been in decline recently due to a fungus.  This fungus has decimated bats in much of North America.  Hurricanes have occasionally hit parts of Texas for thousands of years, and bat colonies must have been damaged as a result before.  Certainly the bats would eventually rebound, as has doubtlessly happened many times in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps people felt that the hurricane damage together with the fungus was a tougher hurdle for the bats to recover from.  The fact that these colonies have become somewhat known almost certainly helped people decide to go out of their way to help the bats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The decline due to the fungus is quite dramatic and real.  Until about the late 1990s, we used to see bats regularly flying around our house in the evening here in north-central Massachusetts.  We even put out some bat boxes to give them more nesting options.  Unfortunately, bats have become a rare sight lately.  Now most evenings in the summer I can look at the sky for five minutes or more and not see a single bat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T11:53:41.180" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11496" CreationDate="2018-06-04T15:14:37.587" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most recurves and selfbows I have shot behave best with an arrow that is close to or at 10GPP.  My definition of behave though is related to performance related to hunting - I want a heavier arrow to have more kinetic energy downrange.  I shoot no less than 9GPP, the lighter arrows just have to much string twang for me and makes me nervous.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd start with 10GPP and then work my way up or down depending on your arrow flight and penetration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T15:14:37.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15604" CreationDate="2018-06-04T15:22:05.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One other reason not already stated is some states provide hunting seasons specifically for 'primitive' gear.  For example, Alabama allows hunting for whitetail with bow and arrow or spear starting in mid to early October, and gun season doesn't start until mid to late November.  Therefor, you can get in the woods earlier.  And, with a spear, one could argue that depending on your method of hunting, it would require less practice with the weapon (but a whole LOT of stalking practice).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T15:22:05.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19575" CreationDate="2018-06-04T17:09:55.867" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to the excellent answers already posted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bats act as prey for larger birds like hawks, falcons, &lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/kantemo-bat-cave-hanging-serpents-snakes-yucatan-mexico-video/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snakes&lt;/a&gt; et al. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bats (the larger ones known as flying foxes) help in seed dispersal as they eat fruits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-06-04T17:09:55.867" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19563" CreationDate="2018-06-04T19:30:53.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes they will work but may not be ideal from a professional standpoint, for recreational fishing that you are not overly serious about it will work fine. The major difference is that generally speaking saltwater rigs (poles, reels and line) are a lot heavier gear for larger fish, however if he was fishing specifically for smaller species you should be okay either way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned both trout and bass, both of which require different tactics if specifically fishing for one or the other. One of the best known ways to fish for largemouth bass is with a rubber worm used in a texas rig or other variations. Which there is a plethora of information on all over the web. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fly fishing is popular for fishing for trout but that can indeed be caught other ways as well. Using real worms aka nightcrawlers is one of the best live baits when trout fishing especially in rolling high water rivers where a fly would get swept away or be unnoticeable amongst the current and splashing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In lower clear water a piece of worm rather than a whole worm works well. When lake fishing it is advised to use a whole worm but with the hook passing though it several times so that it is in more of a bunch rather than a long strand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More on each of those &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/more-freshwater/1999/12/worms-trout&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A saltwater poles will work with either of these methods but like i mentioned, if they are the heavier variety they are not as ideal as a pole made for fishing these ways as the feel with be different. Heavy poles you don't feel as much feedback through, such as the bottom of the river or lake or the light taps of a fish testing your bait. The hookset with also be different and may require a bit of practice to perfect. A heavy pole has a heavier hook set and can potentially pull the hook and bait right out of the fishes mouth if you're not careful, although this is pretty easy to avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The side of the pole near where the reel mounts should say whether they are a medium or medium-heavy pole. Most likely a Medium according to what you have said about his previous fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2018-06-05T14:47:10.500" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T14:47:10.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-04T23:16:45.097" Score="4" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you know where I can get a 20-shot magazine for a 1917 303 MKIII Lee-Enfield rifle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I currently have a 10-shot magazine.  I have searched the internet and  I've seen a picture of one but have not seen one for sale. I am looking in Texas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15812" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T01:47:56.993" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T01:47:56.993" Title="20-shot magazine for Lee-Enfield?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="13" ClosedDate="2018-06-05T07:57:54.780" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19575" CreationDate="2018-06-05T15:35:20.817" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Biggest reason for people: &lt;strong&gt;pest control&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One bat can eat between 600 to 1,000+ mosquitoes and other flying pests per hour!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Loss of bats to WNS alone results in &gt; 5 million lbs. of insects going uneaten!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bats provide upwards of $50 billion annually in pest control services!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bats are also a vital part of the environment!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bats provide a vital nutritional link between a cave ecosystem and the&#xA;  environment outside; often the base of the food chain. Bat guano supplies the only food source for cave-dwelling micro-organisms and invertebrates, which become a food source for fish, salamanders and other large animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to mention the ecosystem impact of eating all those insects!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/landowners_guide/resource_dir/acrobat/bats.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Michigan DNR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cuga/planyourvisit/upload/correct-wns-brochure.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Park service&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2018-06-05T17:27:35.257" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T17:27:35.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19590" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19619" CreationDate="2018-06-05T15:49:57.043" Score="3" ViewCount="1382" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to all of the ducklings currently around the area, one will also see mallard ducks without, (the mallards would run the duck with a red head off if they had ducklings).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qr50gl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qr50gl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mallard and red headed duck&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lots of other animals such as foxes will eat ducklings, &lt;strong&gt;are there any statistics as to how many ducklings survive.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be more specific according to my comment below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My assumption is that there are duck pairs that had ducklings and then lost all of them, as in the picture. I would say between hatching to able to fly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T15:30:50.807" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T15:49:59.317" Title="Are there any statistics on how many mallard ducklings survive?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19547" CreationDate="2018-06-05T16:43:41.013" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked into it a bit more and I would recommend trying a &lt;strong&gt;light coat of plumber's tape on the threads of the hose connection.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pipe thread tape, or 'plumbing tape' is made from Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). A non-toxic and stable synthetic fluoropolymer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.electrotape.com/teflon-tape.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3kGld.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3kGld.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hydration bladder hose wrapped with thread tape&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to wrap it the same way as the you tighten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PTFE, It is also used in non-stick coatings on kitchenware so for a non-heated application I would say it would be just fine to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-15T00:57:03.340" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T00:57:03.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19592" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-05T17:09:45.770" Score="7" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;More and more I see discarded freeze dried packages abandoned in the woods. The ones I have seen are made out of plastic and are foil lined and so don't decompose the way that oatmeal packets would for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find this highly irritating both because of the litter and am wondering if there a more ecologically friendly alternative packaging for freeze-dried food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-06T03:05:35.443" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T03:05:35.443" Title="Are there any biodegrable freeze dried packages?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19535" CreationDate="2018-06-05T18:11:57.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A waterproof map made of a rubber-like paper. I keep one in my backpack for going to the library. It is very small and light-weight when folded and very big when opened up. This is much more durable than a garbage bag. Trails Illustrated have them. They can also serve as something to sit on if really need to do so, and the area is wet. They dry fast, as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14756" LastEditorUserId="14756" LastEditDate="2018-06-05T18:24:08.297" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T18:24:08.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19384" CreationDate="2018-06-05T18:21:38.813" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you carry more than one of these. If that is the case, then put them all in a large zip-lock bag. That should protect whatever labeling system you use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to put a small piece of paper inside the bottle itself with a label that shows through the mostly transparent bottle, and then fill it with the spice. I would doubt that the paper or any marker ink would affect the spices or pose any harm to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user14513" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T18:21:38.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13618" CreationDate="2018-06-05T18:53:06.853" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The previous answers (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13625/6401&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13624/6401&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;(now deleted)&lt;/sup&gt;), unfortunately, exhibit why a simple google search doesn't always work. Two seemingly experienced SE users coming to two different conclusions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So is this an elderberry or is it pokeweed?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where the extra work on the back end (and, honestly, front end) pays off. An initial google image search shouldn't be a stopping point, but it certainly can give us these great search terms to do more research!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Let's examine pokeweed vs elderberry:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;American Pokeweed&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Phytolacca americana&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sources of info: &lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=pham4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/phytolacca_americana.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Forest Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/single_weed.php?id=112&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;University site&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key descriptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Growth Form&lt;/strong&gt;: Large (up to 10+ feet tall), bushy, herbaceous&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leaves&lt;/strong&gt;*: Alternate, simple, entire, lanceolate, thin, 7-15 inches long, 4-7 inches wide, green on top &amp;amp; lighter below; long petioles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stems&lt;/strong&gt;: Smooth, red/purplish (or still somewhat green), partially hollow, rigid to flexible / not strong, up to 5cm (~2 inches) diameter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flowers&lt;/strong&gt;: white/greenish/pink/purple, 5 sepals, no petals, 10 stamens, grow in long clusters along pinkish &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raceme&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;racemes&lt;/a&gt;; May - October&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fruits&lt;/strong&gt;: long clusters of small (&amp;lt; 0.5 in) purple/black berries, usually many berries per cluster, berries on short stems from raceme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Habitat&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;open or edge habitats, especially those where birds are able to roost. It is found at forest edge, in fence rows, under power lines, pastures, old field, forest openings, and other similar areas. It is sometimes a garden or yard weed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Range:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9xyRQm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9xyRQm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Elderberry&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Sambucus spp.&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Well, first, we have to narrow this down to some species that might be living in Pennsylvania. Let's try &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Sambucus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BONAP&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/nameSearch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;S. canadensis&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;S. nigra&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;S. racemosa&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Narrow our sources: Wikipedia (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_canadensis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_racemosa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;), USDA (&lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SANIC4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SANI4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SARA2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;), &lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/sambucus-canadensis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;University site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key descriptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Growth Form&lt;/strong&gt;: Large (up to 10+ or 20+ feet tall, depending on species), treelike, deciduous shrub, &lt;em&gt;woody&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leaves&lt;/strong&gt;*: &lt;em&gt;Opposite&lt;/em&gt;, pinnately compound, serrated leaflets 4-12 inches long&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stems&lt;/strong&gt;: Grey bark that might develop furrowing or sometimes soft with pithy center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flowers&lt;/strong&gt;: large &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corymb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;corymb&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panicle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;panicle&lt;/a&gt; (depending on species) of tiny (~5mm) white flowers with 5 petals each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fruits&lt;/strong&gt;: drooping clusters of tiny (3-5 mm) purple/black berries; produced in late autumn&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Habitat&lt;/strong&gt;: both wet and dry soils, primarily in sunny locations&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Range:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ByRXkm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ByRXkm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Next Step:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now we know some characteristics to look for, so &lt;strong&gt;Let's examine your plant a bit closer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Purple stems (that look somewhat droopy and therefore likely not woody)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thin green leaves that are simple (not compound), alternate (not opposite), and appear to be smooth along their margins (i.e., &amp;quot;entire&amp;quot;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Black fruits along short stems coming from long (not drooping/branched) purple raceme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems like pokeweed to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let's check alternative related species:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Phytolacca&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BONAP&lt;/a&gt;, American pokeweed is the only real candidate in Pennsylvania.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's do one last quick &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Phytolacca+americana+site:.edu&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;#imgrc=oWhbp1zg75NIvM:&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;google search&lt;/a&gt; with our (pretty definitive) scientific name ... we'll narrow our search with &lt;code&gt;site:.edu&lt;/code&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do we find?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lJwOcm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lJwOcm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/photo.aspx?ID=5596&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of South Florida&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt; Your plant is definitively American Pokeweed &lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Also, based on our researched elderberry descriptions, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13624/6401&quot;&gt;@David's&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s869J.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;picture&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; an elderberry, but I'll leave it up to you to figure out what it is :p)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Takeaways:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Google image search is great, as long as you go into it knowing the right characteristics to look for and which characteristics could be deceptively duplicated in seemingly-similar species&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't stop at the &amp;quot;close-enough&amp;quot; image. Do your homework. For plants, the best characteristics to narrow/refine species are: Growth Form, Woody vs Herbaceous, Simple vs Compound leaves, Alternate vs Opposite leaves, Leaf Margin characteristics, Flower/Fruit presence/arrangement, Range, Habitat, etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*See &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lib.du.ac.ir/documents/10157/60743/Plant+Identification+Terminology+Glossary.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot; (Harris &amp;amp; Harris, 2001) for definitions of plant characteristics&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2020-11-22T20:59:47.787" LastActivityDate="2020-11-22T20:59:47.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19592" CreationDate="2018-06-05T20:10:00.360" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first difficulty is technical: keeping such food dry requires a moisture barrier, or it will absorb water from the air. There aren't many materials that will do that, and biodegradable plastics, or the waxes in waxed paper, don't biodegrade very well (if at all on the ground). Other degradable plastics won't last the expected long shelf life. That's not to say it's not possible, but the second difficulty means there's no real market for a more expensive biodegradable solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This second problem is human: the people who care about not littering would take their rubbish home either way, and those who don't care won't pay a premium for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, one solution doesn't fit all: waxed paper might be the best solution in some cases as it's cheap and can be burnt (in fact used as a firelighter), but if campfires are forbidden it has little or no benefit. It would however be a good material if making your own dehydrated meals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-06-05T20:10:00.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19597" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-06T05:56:15.010" Score="5" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I guess I might be asking for too much but I'm trying to find a very breathable, light, packable waterproof jacket. I'd like to be able to hike in ~75F rain while remaining relatively comfortable for less than 9 oz. in weight. I want to be prepared for something like a 15 minute pour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been researching jackets for a couple days and I think I'm further from making a decision than when I started. I have an amazing 17 oz., 4-season hard shell already so I don't want anything like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my research I've found that reviews generally cover experiences in cooler weather, but that doesn't help me since I'll be doing a multi-day hike in warmer weather. The reviews also tend to conflict. Any input would be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As of mid-2018, some good choices with pit zips appear to include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Montbell Versalite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Marmot Essence&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Patagonia Nano-Air&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Outdoor Research Helium II (no pit zips)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus a bunch more that I read about, in addition to all the ones I'm sure are out there and didn't see. Is there any gear that would check these requirements?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15824" LastEditorUserId="15824" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T00:39:08.250" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T00:39:08.250" Title="Warm-weather UL breathable packable waterproof jacket" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="16" ClosedDate="2019-03-07T10:00:56.927" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10155" CreationDate="2018-06-06T08:39:26.760" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always go for shelter then water. Then food because you can survive three weeks without it and only three days without water if you're lucky&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15827" LastEditorUserId="33" LastEditDate="2018-06-06T22:05:34.250" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T22:05:34.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19599" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19600" CreationDate="2018-06-06T18:21:20.540" Score="11" ViewCount="8160" Body="&lt;p&gt;During rifle season, hunters are required to wear blaze orange (some states also &lt;a href=&quot;https://wtop.com/maryland/2018/04/maryland-hunters-can-now-wear-pink-thanks-to-two-sisters/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;allow bright pink&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard that &lt;strong&gt;deer and elk are color blind to blaze orange, is there scientific evidence to back this up?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-02-29T16:29:44.330" Title="Are elk and deer colorblind to blaze orange/pink clothes?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19599" CreationDate="2018-06-06T18:59:50.587" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Humans have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichromacy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trichromatic&lt;/a&gt; vision.  Deer, Elk (wapiti) and some other animals have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichromacy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;dichromatic&lt;/a&gt; vision.  It's not that deer and Elk can't &quot;see&quot; oranges and reds, they just perceive them differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an explanation from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.polkcountyiowa.gov/conservation/education/ask-a-naturalist/mammal-questions/deer-color-blindness/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polk County Iowa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deer Color Blindness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Are deer are color-blind? Is this why hunters can wear bright orange&#xA;  clothing and the deer don’t seem to notice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, deer have a form of color blindness. All mammals have a retina&#xA;  located in the back of the eye that consists of two types of light&#xA;  sensitive cells called rods and cones. Rods function in the absence,&#xA;  or near absence, of light and permit vision in darkness. Cones&#xA;  function in full light and permit daytime and color vision. Deer have&#xA;  more rods (nighttime cells) and fewer cones (daytime and color cells)&#xA;  than humans. Therefore, deer have better nighttime vision than humans&#xA;  but poorer daytime and color vision. Deer lack red cones so they can't&#xA;  distinguish between green, yellow, orange, red or brown. All of these&#xA;  colors appear as shades of yellow. So the blaze orange color hunters&#xA;  wear appears yellow, as does almost everything else to a deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elk have similar vision as deer.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.elk101.com/members/university/elk-hunting-knowledge-chapter1/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; site,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When it comes to sight, elk aren’t endowed with precise vision. In&#xA;  fact, they see around the human equivalence of 20-60. Additionally,&#xA;  they don’t see the full color spectrum humans do. Elk vision is&#xA;  dichromatic, which means their world is seen in two colors, not&#xA;  trichromatic like our vision. There is a whole science to ungulate&#xA;  vision, but to keep it simple, just know this. Elk don’t have a red&#xA;  cone like humans, so the upper end of the color spectrum appears&#xA;  yellowish to elk. They aren’t color blind, but they don’t see color&#xA;  the way we do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus, it's speculated that deer may have the ability to perceived ultraviolet light better than humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In August 1992, a group of leading deer researchers and vision&#xA;  scientists gathered at the University of Georgia to conduct this&#xA;  landmark study....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our study confirmed that deer possess two (rather than three as in&#xA;  humans) types of cone photopigments allowing limited color vision. The&#xA;  cone photopigment deer lack is the “red” cone, or the one sensitive to&#xA;  long wavelength colors such as red and orange. These colors aren’t&#xA;  invisible to deer, but rather are perceived differently. Deer are&#xA;  essentially red-green colorblind like some humans. Their color vision&#xA;  is limited to the short (blue) and middle (green) wavelength colors.&#xA;  As a result, deer likely can distinguish blue from red, but not green&#xA;  from red, or orange from red. Therefore, it appears that hunters would&#xA;  be equally suited wearing green, red, or orange clothing but&#xA;  disadvantaged wearing blue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The results regarding the UV capabilities of deer were equally&#xA;  fascinating. Our results confirmed that, unlike humans, deer lack a UV&#xA;  filter in their eye.  In humans, this filter blocks about 99 percent&#xA;  of damaging UV light from entering the eye.  It also functions much&#xA;  like a pair of yellow shooting glasses and allows us to focus more&#xA;  sharply on fine detail. The trade-off is a loss of sensitivity to&#xA;  short wavelength colors, especially in the UV spectrum.  Because deer&#xA;  do not have a UV filter, they see much better in the UV spectrum but&#xA;  lack the ability to see fine detail. This helps explain why deer often&#xA;  move their head from side to side when they encounter a hunter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.qdma.com/hunters-guide-deer-vision/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T18:59:50.587" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19599" CreationDate="2018-06-06T19:00:04.260" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't take any credit for already knowing this, all my information comes from an article from Penn State University, entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2015/the-eyes-have-it&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deer-Forest Study: The eyes have it!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the information in this article appears to contradict the claim at first glance, for example it begins with &quot;Day or night, a deer’s vision is excellent. This is good if you’re a deer but bad if you are a hunter. So how do deer see the world?&quot;  As you read on however, there are some details that clear things up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relevant facts are that deer eyes have a higher cone-to-rod ratio than humans, and the rods are sensitive to different wavelengths than humans, in particular more sensitive in the blue-violet end of the spectrum, and even into the UV, and less sensitive in the red end.  Quoting the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deer are essentially red-green color blind (like some people). Deer can distinguish blue from red, but not green from red. Red, orange, or green all look the same to a deer. Because deer lack a UV filter in their eye, their sensitivity to short wavelength colors is enhanced in the UV spectrum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you remember your rainbow R-O-Y-G-B-I-V, to a deer it is more like X-B-I-V-UV where X is some color combination only a deer would understand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus it is not accurate to say &quot;deer can't see orange&quot; (which is not what the question claims, but I have heard said) but rather that what is obviously orange to a human, is just dim-dull blob to a deer.  As a hunter, you would hope this makes you look similar to the dim-dull fall vegetation around you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T19:00:04.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19602" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-06T19:18:03.183" Score="4" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's extremely common to mandate that rifle hunters in the United States wear fluorescent orange, some states are now changing the laws to also allow fluorescent pink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://wtop.com/maryland/2018/04/maryland-hunters-can-now-wear-pink-thanks-to-two-sisters/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; (April 3, 2018) I found on how Maryland changed their laws said,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s no joke, however, that Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Virginia, New York and Wisconsin allow hunters to wear pink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Maryland Department of Natural Resources wrote in a letter to lawmakers that “there has been no nationally recognized study completed … on the effectiveness of this daylight fluorescent pink as a safety color.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have there been any &lt;strong&gt;studies done on this at all, even if not nationally recognized?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T22:29:11.307" Title="Have there been any studies done on how fluorescent pink compares to fluorescent orange?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19603" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19604" CreationDate="2018-06-06T20:46:08.947" Score="3" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;As indicated in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19602/have-there-been-any-studies-done-on-how-fluorescent-pink-compares-to-fluorescent&quot;&gt;Have there been any studies done on how fluorescent pink compares to fluorescent orange?&lt;/a&gt;, fluorescent pink is becoming accepted as a new safety color for hunting. Given that we have a color that already works, are there advantages that outweigh the disadvantages of either that would drive this addition?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T21:18:30.047" Title="What are the pros and cons of introducing new safety colors for hunting?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19603" CreationDate="2018-06-06T21:18:30.047" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From everything I have read, its &lt;strong&gt;mostly about giving hunters who would prefer wearing pink to orange the choice to do so&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before taking a hunter safety class in October 2016, sisters Paige and Brooke Simonsen, from Easton, stocked up on pink hunting clothes. &lt;strong&gt;Then, they found out that Maryland law did not allow hunters to wear any color besides blaze orange.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Our instructor mentioned that other states &lt;strong&gt;have pink and we only have orange, and we wanted to change that so we went to Senator (Addie) Eckardt,&lt;/strong&gt;” Paige, 12, said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The legislation, which passed in both chambers Monday night, adds “daylight fluorescent pink” as an alternative color for hunters. The legislation is based in part on the Simonsen family’s research.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wtop.com/maryland/2018/04/maryland-hunters-can-now-wear-pink-thanks-to-two-sisters/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;in Wyoming,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sen. Affie Ellis, who sponsored the bill adding pink, said her motive for adding the color was not about providing a way for some hunters to look fashionable or “sexy” but &lt;strong&gt;simply to give hunters a choice that is safe during the hunting season.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-to-allow-hunters-to-wear-fluorescent-pink-attire/article_45ab81d5-6e15-548a-b394-d589e726d138.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth pointing out that the &lt;strong&gt;point of wearing blaze orange/ pink isn't to signify that you are a hunter, but that you are not an wild animal&lt;/strong&gt;( if you have horses/mules they need to be wearing something as well) and even if you are not hunting its still a really good idea to wear blaze orange in the woods during hunting season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the con side, people might not realize right away that pink is as legal as orange, but they aren't going to mistake it for a deer for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19602/have-there-been-any-studies-done-on-how-fluorescent-pink-compares-to-fluorescent&quot;&gt;If pink works&lt;/a&gt; as well as orange, and some hunters would prefer pink, I don't see a reason not to allow them to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-06T21:18:30.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19590" CreationDate="2018-06-07T07:47:19.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;In a stable population any breeding pair will, during the course of their lives, successfully raise two young who successfully breed themselves.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there's no such thing as a stable population, so you can only talk about long term population stability. In the UK the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/mallard/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mallard conservation status&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/uk-conservation-status-explained/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;amber&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However given that there seem to be an extra &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bto.org/birdtrends2010/wcrmalla.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;15,000-30,000 breeding pairs&lt;/a&gt; over 20 years ago the practical answer is &amp;quot;slightly more than 2&amp;quot; in their lives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-08T08:12:49.210" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19606" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19614" CreationDate="2018-06-07T16:21:35.363" Score="21" ViewCount="5942" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a thru-hike or section hike, people frequently hike 15-30 miles per day. New hikers are typically encouraged to start at around 8 miles per day, though, and work their way up, to give their bodies time to adapt, and avoid injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the time required to reach 15+ MPD will vary by person, but that's not a very helpful answer for planning resupply points. I haven't been able to find any &lt;em&gt;estimates&lt;/em&gt; of how many days it will take the &lt;em&gt;average&lt;/em&gt; thru/section hiker to reach X miles per day, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen plans for new runners, to start at X miles per day, and work their way up to Y miles per day. Would something similar make sense for backpacking? If so, what would be sensible values?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's my rough guess, to illustrate what I mean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 1: 8 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 2: 8 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 3: 10 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 4: 10 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 5: 12 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 6: 12 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 7: Zero day to rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 8: 14 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 9: 16 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 10: 16 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 11: 18 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 12: 20 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 13: 22 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 14: Zero day to rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day X: {previous day + 2 miles, with zeros once a week}&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, something like this is just an estimate for planning, and each person would need to adjust it to their specific fitness level, pack weight, trail conditions, etc; and then listen to their body while hiking to know their actual limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15338" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2018-06-10T01:02:52.963" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T01:02:52.963" Title="How many days does it take to reach hiking X miles per day?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19606" CreationDate="2018-06-07T16:36:24.677" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will depend so much on the individual.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your numbers are aggressive.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should do some training and start at more the 10-12.  And finish at like 14-16.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your legs, heart, shoulders, and lungs all get stronger.  But they also get tired.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done a number of 50 milers and did not see much improvement in a week.  Last day could hump out 14 miles but pack was empty and it was down hill.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes we finished the week stronger but fatigued.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T18:34:57.420" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T18:34:57.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19606" CreationDate="2018-06-07T16:37:17.217" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it works like you think it works. If you're trying to build your distance, you might do 8 miles one Saturday, then the next weekend do 8 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. The next, 10 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. Or more if you feel up to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mixing training and a through hike is a recipe for bad things to happen, from fatigue to blisters to actual emergencies. Once trained the through hike should be evenly paced (12-15 miles per day, using &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naismith's rule&lt;/a&gt; to make allowance for climbing, and with occasional rest days, for example based on heavy loads). On a route with good access to towns and no time (or money) pressure you could start with much less training, but without recovery you can't really expect to progress much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those running programs typically run 3x per week, though some will put a very short run on some (almost) rest days if the main runs are quite long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="9956" LastEditDate="2018-06-08T05:22:12.390" LastActivityDate="2018-06-08T05:22:12.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19606" CreationDate="2018-06-07T16:47:05.433" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its going to depend on the person and the terrain, from experience it takes about &lt;strong&gt;5 days to week to really hit your stride, but that will depend per person and some people take much longer to really get going.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing you are missing here is that y&lt;strong&gt;ou will be able to go faster and further during the hike,&lt;/strong&gt; because like a rocket, &lt;strong&gt;you are consuming your food as you go.&lt;/strong&gt; There have been trips of mine where it was 12 miles the first day and 20 on the 10th mostly due to this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your example, at the start of the week you are going to load up with between 14 and 17.5 lbs (2-2.5 lbs per day) of food. On the 7th day you will down to 2-2.5 lbs of food and that makes a large difference in how fast and far you can hike. Then you will load up again and go slower, but slightly faster now that you are better in shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, neither days nor terrain are equal, some days you can expend the same amount of energy and cover less terrain simply because of the difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T17:43:51.557" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T17:43:51.557" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18679" CreationDate="2018-06-07T17:39:48.153" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the poor-quality of the photos (and my limited knowledge of Singapore insects) it would be very difficult to definitively ID this to species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, based on the shape and size, you're very likely looking at a species of &lt;strong&gt;ladybird beetle&lt;/strong&gt; (aka ladybug; family &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinellidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coccinellidae&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, I think this is a member of the subfamily &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilocorinae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chilocorinae&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are shiny color and usually have no spots or patterns on their wing covers. Their bodies are in round helmet shapes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To show you an example species from this subfamily, here is a picture of &lt;a href=&quot;http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/phoenix/ChilocorusSpeciesOfIndia/Chilocorus%20key/html/chilocorus_nigrita.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chilocorus nigrita&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m4xpA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m4xpA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.natureloveyou.sg/Minibeast-Beetle/Chilocorus%20nigrita/Main.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.NatureLoveYou.sg&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Formal Description:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Length 3.2-4.0 mm; width 2.9-3.9 mm.... Elytra black, shiny, with fine punctations. Ventral side including legs and inner margins of elytral epipleura orange yellow to yellowish brown, outer margins of epipleura pitchy brown to black  [&lt;a href=&quot;http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/phoenix/ChilocorusSpeciesOfIndia/Chilocorus%20key/html/chilocorus_nigrita.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Range&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/phoenix/ChilocorusSpeciesOfIndia/Chilocorus%20key/html/chilocorus_nigrita.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; suggests that this specific species is common in India but also found in Malaysia, but the image above was actually taken in Singapore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try to narrow to a specific species via &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-entomological-research/article/review-of-the-species-resembling-chilocorus-nigrita-coleoptera-coccinellidae-potential-agents-for-biological-control/39D9C7D7391A537ECFFA15F4F2D5A4F5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Booth (2009)&lt;/a&gt; or the ID key found &lt;a href=&quot;http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/phoenix/ChilocorusSpeciesOfIndia/Chilocorus%20key/html/chilocorus_nigrita.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Booth, R.G., 1998. A review of the species resembling Chilocorus nigrita (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): potential agents for biological control. Bulletin of entomological research, 88(4), pp.361-367.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T16:02:56.693" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19612" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-07T18:01:41.770" Score="3" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can any tell me the name of this fishing lure or where I might find a distributor?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MqjPp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15834" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-07T19:04:27.877" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T19:04:27.877" Title="Name of this northern pine fishing lure?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19606" CreationDate="2018-06-07T19:36:29.263" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors, but for the Appalachian Trail there are a lot of hikers so it can give us pretty good insight into the time it takes for the average thru hiker to reach maximum mileage per day. Map Man (Steve Shuman)  conducted an analysis of 240 successful north bound Appalachian Trial thru hikers who kept a journal (so not quite average, but I am not sure how keeping a journal affects mileage per day) from 2001 to 2010: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/44&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/44&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He broke the trail into 11 unequal sections. The mileage per day was: 10.1, 12.0, 14.0, 15.9, 16.8, 16.8, 16.1, 15.5, 11.4, 12.5, 14.7, 14.7. It appears the mileage per day increases through the 5th section (up until Harpers Ferry), stays level until the 9th section which is the start of the White Mountains of NH. There are a number of reasons to expect the mileage to drop in NH (views, side trails, ruggedness of the trail, resupply options, limited camping). Some of the initial increase in mileage may be due to the terrain starting tough in Georgia and becoming gradually easier as you move through the Smokies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The analysis says the average hiker reaches Harpers Ferry in 80 days, so give yourself 11 weeks to hit peak mileage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T19:36:29.263" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2018-06-07T21:03:00.043" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a solution! I have a Frost River Arrowhead Trail (roll top) canvas backpack that was posing the same sweaty problem when taking it on hikes.  You can find several makers of beaded (wooden) motorcycle seat cushions online.  They’re the perfect size and some come with 4 small bungee chords at the corners.  This worked superbly for my backpack and allows air to flow between the Pack and Your back.  The only down side - only comes in black.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Cr2q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15838" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-06-09T18:32:22.680" LastActivityDate="2018-06-09T18:32:22.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2018-06-07T22:34:16.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back before frameless and internal frame backpacks, there was a time when external frame backpacks were all the rage. They are heavy, sometimes uncomfortable, and can break in spectacularly difficult ways to repair, but provide much better ventilation. You can still buy external frame backpacks (e.g., the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kelty.com/sanitas-34/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kelty Sanitas&lt;/a&gt; is a 34 liter external frame pack). You can also buy just &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpsoutdoorz.com/products/packs/hunting-packs/commander&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the frame&lt;/a&gt;. Potentially better would be to go with an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-purpose_Lightweight_Individual_Carrying_Equipment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ALICE frame&lt;/a&gt; if you can find one or make your own &lt;a href=&quot;https://lifehacker.com/5892205/make-an-external-backpack-frame-with-3-of-pvc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://lifehacker.com/5892205/make-an-external-backpack-frame-with-3-of-pvc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-07T22:34:16.213" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19606" CreationDate="2018-06-07T23:10:57.380" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Months not days.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking is a sport. Like any sport, you need to train your sport-specific muscles over &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;months&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; before you start getting really serious. If not, instead of getting progressively stronger, you'll just injure yourself on the first day and you won't recover. Unlike most other sports though, if you injure yourself hiking then you're most likely somewhere with no access roads and no phone signal, which means being over-ambitious is literally risking your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest concern is ankles. Boots are heavy, and they require a different gait from shoes. You need to start with maybe 5 miles in boots, and build it up slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've currently got personal experience of this. I'm in a walking group where we walk 8-15 miles every other weekend, but we usually do &quot;civilised&quot; areas so we mostly wear trail trainers. I've been doing serious walking since I was a kid, so I thought I knew the score. But last year we did a few days walking where I needed boots, and I found that my ankles had weakened enough that the extra work from walking in boots has given me chronic tendonitis in both ankles. The first day of the holiday I was sore and thought I just needed to work through it, the second day I was in real pain, and the third day I could barely hobble. The physio reckons I'll be back to normal after a few months, but it's a long slow recovery process&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Legs generally and quads specifically will also need some work. Going up and down hills need different muscles from on the flat, so make sure your training walks have hills. Downhill can give you knee problems too, so once again work up to it slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there are your shoulders and back. Carrying a pack for a day is physically hard on your body, so you need to let them get used to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's your physical training. Hiking also needs you to learn skills too. How good are you at navigating with a map and compass? How good are you at figuring out where you are on the map, when you're actually lost? Can you recognise poison ivy, or whatever local harmful plants there are? Can you tell by eye which areas of marshy ground are likely to be solid, and which are just water? How fast can you pitch your tent? How good is your tent pitching in gale force winds and rain? Can you pack your rucksack for best balance? All this is easy enough to learn, but it takes time to get those skills up to scratch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then there's your gear. You need some miles on your boots before you start, so they're worn in (and so you find if they really do fit). You need to check your tent in bad weather, because if it's prone to collapse in strong winds then you either need extra guy ropes or a new tent. If it's an older tent, it may need reproofing. So might your waterproof jacket and overtrousers. Can you get a good night's sleep on one mat, or do you need two? Is your sleeping bag right for the conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more I list out, the more I hope you see that it's not just a case of &quot;start on Monday, be awesome by Friday&quot;. The people you're hearing about are keen hikers who are &lt;em&gt;already&lt;/em&gt; good with all this, who are just starting a long walk. Even if you're experienced, starting carrying a pack is hard work at first, which is why you start more slowly. As someone who's completely new to walking though, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;you must not attempt this&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. You will be endangering your life, the lives of the people you're with who will need to help you, and the lives of the emergency services personnel who will need to retrieve you from wherever you get injured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please do get yourself walking. It's amazing fun. And when you know enough to not be too dangerous, by all means get yourself out on trails with a pack. Start with days, then weekends, and stretch it gradually. And when you're ready, get yourself onto that epic trail you've been working up to. But not today, because you aren't ready.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: The OP apparently does not need &quot;new walker&quot; advice, because he already has some experience. Maybe he's OK, but I've seen a number of people get into trouble in the hills because they didn't know enough to be safe. I'm keeping my post in place, because it is still an appropriate answer to the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastEditorUserId="6481" LastEditDate="2018-06-09T21:42:50.300" LastActivityDate="2018-06-09T21:42:50.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19590" CreationDate="2018-06-08T14:53:38.243" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is indeed data on mallard duckling survival, which in retrospect is not that surprising given the number of wildlife biologists and the interest of fish and game departments in the number of ducks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One recent paper, &lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.21256&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Duckling survival of mallards in Southland, New Zealand, &lt;/a&gt; Erin J. Garrick et al, in The Journal of Wildlife Management, contains the following in the abstract: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In 2014, we investigated mallard duckling survival on different pastures relative to a suite of characteristics pertaining to the adult female, clutch, brood, weather, and habitat. We monitored 438 ducklings from 50 radio‐marked females to 30 days post‐hatch. Duckling survival was unaffected by pasture type but increased with duckling age, the presence of ephemeral water, and with greater distance from the nearest anthropogenic structure. Survival was lower for broods of second year (SY) females than for broods of after‐second year (ASY) females, in areas with more dense cover, and when ducklings moved, on average, greater daily distances. Cumulative 30‐day duckling survival ranged from 0.11 for ducklings of SY females without ephemeral water present to 0.46 for ducklings of ASY females with ephemeral water present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that is only for the first 30 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 'Survival of radio-marked mallard ducklings in south Dakota', Joshua D. Stafford and Aaron T. Pearse, Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(4) 585-591 (2007), the abstract contains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Survival of ducklings to 30 days was 0.42 at Oakwood (95% CI, 0.13-0.67) and 0.77 at Mickelson (95% CI, 0.42-0.92).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.americanornithologypubs.org/toc/cond/106/3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;'Factors affecting survival of Mallard ducklings in southern Ontario'&lt;/a&gt;, S.T. Hoekman et al., CONDOR 106(3) 485-495 (2004), they say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mean 30-day duckling survival across sites was 0.40 (range 0.07-0.50).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, the odds don't look good for ducklings...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastEditorUserId="3955" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T15:49:59.317" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T15:49:59.317" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19620" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-08T16:01:55.100" Score="2" ViewCount="1901" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I hunt for rabbits with slingshots do I have to ask land owners or could I go into a forest away from people and hunt there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15841" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-29T17:24:55.310" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T17:24:55.310" Title="Where can I legally go hunting for rabbits with a slingshot in the UK?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;slingshots&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19631" CreationDate="2018-06-09T17:37:26.903" Score="7" ViewCount="9149" Body="&lt;p&gt;A baby black bird fell in my baby's pool and I think he was there about 30 min. I took him from the pool and put him under the sun for 3-4 min to dry and then left him under the tree where there is shade. He can't fly and he doesn't do anything. Is there anything I can do for this bird? &#xA;Temp. is 85 right now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15855" OwnerDisplayName="Sami" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-10T17:57:26.910" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T16:08:30.777" Title="How should I rescue a baby bird, including when it's wet?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19524" CreationDate="2018-06-09T17:49:09.297" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be a lot of in-fighting between government agencies about who gets control over the Grand Canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a long time, the National Park Service remained somewhat unenthusiastic about seeking to put its land in the NWPS. It was not until 1970 that some national park areas were first included in the NWPS, and progress since then has been rather modest. The agency’s footdragging extended to successfully resisting a lawsuit brought by the Wilderness Society to force completion of the studies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While in recent years the agency has been somewhat more energetic in pursuing NWPS designations for its lands, still today, such large and relatively wild parks like Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Canyon include no NWPS areas, even though NWPS units are often found on nearby land managed by other agencies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; To some extent, wilderness advocates outside the agency are responsible for this slow progress. They have not placed a high political priority on including park areas in the NWPS, because they are already generally protected by both agency policy and agency regulation.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://elawreview.org/articles/volume-44/issue-44-2/legal-wilderness-past-speculations-future-2/?hilite=%22Grand%22%2C%22Canyon%22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness designation Grand Canyon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15668" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-09T20:08:34.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19628" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-09T19:45:54.123" Score="9" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many folklore tales of animals being used to predict weather.  Just a few examples from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.almanac.com/content/can-animals-predict-weather-animal-proverbs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Farmers Almanac&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When cats sneeze, it is a sign of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the mole digs its hole 2½ feet deep, expect severe weather; if two&#xA;feet deep, not so severe; if one foot deep, a mild winter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bats flying late in the evening indicates fair weather.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not been able to find much evidence to back these tales that I have come across.  However, although not necessarily a prediction, the relationship of a cricket's chirp to temperature does seem to show how in tune animals can be with weather conditions.  In fact, this relationship is also known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear%27s_law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dolbear's law&lt;/a&gt;, named after the American physicist Amos Dolbear, who published an article on the subject called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jstor.org/stable/2453256?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Cricket as a Thermometer&lt;/a&gt;. It is expressed as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tf=50+(N60-40/4) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where Tf is degrees in Fahrenheit &#xA;and N60 is chirps per minute&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is generally believed that Dolbear observed the snowy tree cricket to come up with his equation.  The formula is believed to be accurate to within a degree or so for the field cricket.  Generally speaking, the relationship is believed to hold true because as temperature rises, the cold blooded cricket's metabolism will also rise, providing more energy for muscle contractions and thus for chirping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there observable behaviors to look for in animals that can be a harbinger of changing weather conditions?&lt;/strong&gt;  For example, say you are on a 2-3 day hike with no way to access weather forecasts and somehow you forgot to check the forecast before leaving.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-07-28T21:46:03.307" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T16:12:20.857" Title="Are there any animal behaviors that can be used to predict weather conditions within a 24 hr time period?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2018-06-09T20:30:29.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe something like this could help: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ventragear.com/shop/mainframe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ventragear.com/shop/mainframe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrNXE.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BrNXE.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LXGgI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LXGgI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have not test that, so I cannot really tell if is it good or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15566" LastActivityDate="2018-06-09T20:30:29.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19625" CreationDate="2018-06-09T23:15:10.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer will focus on the generalities of common American backyard &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/bird-species/songbirds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;songbirds&lt;/a&gt;, because I haven't had experience with any other type of bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rescuing a baby bird is a great thing! There are plenty of songbirds whose parents are fine if you touch their babies, which is good to know when rescuing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You did exactly the right thing in the right order. Young birds are especially susceptible to body temperature changes, so drying in the sun and protecting in the shade was perfect!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, leaving it near to where you found it was very important. If it was fully formed but didn't have a lot of feathers, it was probably a nestling, who either fell out of the nest or was pushed out by another bird or predator. It's mainly helpless but a parent will usually look for it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it had feathers and wings, but was unable to fly, it was probably a fledgling. They're ready to leave the nest (fledge), but need to learn life skills, like eating and flying. Depending on the breed, a parent will spend up to two weeks out of the nest teaching it. That parent will go quite far to find a separated one, like yours. Sometimes what we think is an orphan or lost bird is actually under the watchful eye of a nearby parent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At our last house we had a pool, and we found young birds in there way too often. Some say those birds aren't falling, they're going in purposely because they see their reflection in the water and think they're about to meet up with another bird!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband would gently scoop it out either with his hands or a pool net. We'd sit on the ground with it, get a paper towel and gently pat it down until its feathers started to fluff up. If it was tipping over, we kept it on the ground between our feet, up against a lawn chair, or in a bed of paper towels while it got its bearings. Once dry, if it still couldn't stand, we'd prop it up gently under a tree with a cutout cardboard tent. It gave shade and protection, but left room open in case it was able to fly out, or a parent came to get it. Sometimes once they were dry and got over the shock, they would fly a little bit at a time, and finally over our fence and away! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, sometimes they would pass away, and I would cry, but know we had done our best. Sometimes my husband would find one already deceased in the water and never even tell me about it because it made me too sad!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm really glad your bird was re-claimed by its parents! Thanks for caring!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some helpful links:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/baby-birds-out-of-the-nest?&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baby Birds Out of The Nest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/i-found-a-baby-bird-what-do-i-do/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I found a baby bird-what do I do?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-02/what-to-do-if-you-find-a-baby-bird-on-the-ground/7806518&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What if you find a baby bird on the ground?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thebirdfoodstore.com/2016/05/10/how-to-identify-a-nestling-from-a-fledgling/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Difference between Fledgling and Hatchling&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/news/when-you-should-and-should-not-rescue-baby-birds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;When you should, and should not, rescue baby birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-10T17:55:55.483" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T17:55:55.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19633" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19636" CreationDate="2018-06-10T13:23:12.310" Score="4" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any sort of mini heater that can be powered from a powerbank to be used in a tent (or anything similar)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15853" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T15:29:22.773" Title="How do I heat up my tent?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2018-06-11T22:43:45.433" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19625" CreationDate="2018-06-10T14:54:17.533" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try calling &lt;strong&gt;animal control&lt;/strong&gt;, the local &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Humane Society&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spcai.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SPCA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &#xA;Depending on where you live, there may be a network of bird rehabilitation specialists who care for abandoned, sick, or injured birds with the ultimate goal of releasing them back to the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I lived in New York City I found an injured juvenile robin in a city park. I called the local animal control hotline, and they gave me the address of a website that listed about a dozen local citizens who rehabilitated birds in their homes. I brought the bird to one such specialist. Sadly, the bird was too sick to rehabilitate, but I called the same specialist about a year later and brought her a different bird, which she was able to successfully rehabilitate and release to the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15659" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T14:54:17.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19633" CreationDate="2018-06-10T15:53:16.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you mean by powerbank something that weighs 200g and has a capacity of 20000mAh and by heat more than a candle worth of warmth, then the answer is no. A 20000mAh powerbank, which is a pretty big phone charger, can source 100 Watts for an hour (ignore for a second that it cannot safely discharge at that rate). &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18374/5836&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; tells us a candle produces 77 Watts, so a powerbank is like burning a candle for 75 minutes. Space heaters are around 1000W, so you could run a space heater for 6 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if 100Wh was enough for your heating needs, powerbanks are designed to discharge at around 4A (20W), so you would only be able to produce a little heat for a longer time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T15:29:22.773" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T15:29:22.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19633" CreationDate="2018-06-10T17:30:25.720" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did not realize a powerbank was a phone charger.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even a car battery at 6 amps (that would last like 8 hours) is about 70 watts.  A person puts off about 100 watts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even a car battery would not be much of a heater.  Heat is an intense form of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you would get about 5 watts from a powerbank and run 8 hours.  Even high capacity is 10 AmpH and the voltage is 3.7. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have battery powered electric blankets.  That is probably a better option as a tent is not not a good insulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-06-10T17:30:25.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19638" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19639" CreationDate="2018-06-11T03:47:18.780" Score="26" ViewCount="11133" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the best way to repel flies and bugs when hiking in summer? Where I hike is not really humid (southern California) but it's hot on summer days and a lot of insects and flies gather around me when I hike or sit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My hiking is not heavy, usually ~7miles in the sun, and there are not dangerous mosquitoes but they are extremely annoying and always on my face and bare hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15858" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-06-13T14:39:35.520" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T12:56:35.917" Title="How to fight bugs when hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T04:50:20.093" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.consumerreports.org/products/insect-repellent/repel-lemon-eucalyptus-291710/overview/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;repellent&lt;/a&gt; that contains 30% Lemon Eucalypus Oil and have found it to be effective against flying insects.  According to testing done by consumer reports, it is also effective against ticks (despite this being an &quot;off label&quot; use).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does not contain DEET, (which can melt certain plastics and rubbers and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2314296/can-deet-kill-your-gore-tex-jacket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ruin&lt;/a&gt; your $500 hardshell), though it is not quite as effective.  As pointed out in the comments, it is poisonous if ingested, so it is important to avoid drinking it.  However, it is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/prevent-mosquito-bites.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;approved&lt;/a&gt; by the EPA as safe and effective when applied to the skin as intended.  The main downside of this product is that it can cause some irritation and itching, though it isn't too bad in my case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also treat your clothes with Permethrin (also used as a pesticide) to deter insects from biting through them.  It kills insects that linger on treated clothing for too long, works for several washings after being applied to clothing and is effective against both flying insects like mosquitos as well as ticks.  (I have not tried it myself.)  Ticks apparently do not bite immediately, so if they get on your clothing it should kill them before they have a chance to bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T21:24:29.067" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T21:24:29.067" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T06:02:12.947" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are proven ways using commercial bug-repellents sprays and lotions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd consider non-commercial, DIY ways using Eucalyptus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eucalyptus oil: If you are carrying Eucalyptus oil, you can rub a few drops of oil on your forehead, neck and nose. Such oil on skin-scratch or a pimple may make burning sensation, but there is no harm. In such a case, you can use your buff or a handkerchief with a few drops of Eucalyptus oil on it, and use it cover your face, neck and/or elbows (If you aren't with a full-sleeves attire).&#xA;I have heard (but haven't tried) that Soyabean oil, Cinnamon oil does the same, but I can't imagine you hiking with me as I am smelling like a Soyabean all the way :)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eucalyptus leaves: If you aren't carrying Eucalyptus oil, well, then find a Eucalyptus tree. Get some leaves from the tree, squash them and rub them over your backpack, hat/cap, shoes, clothes, etc. Bugs and Mosquitoes stay away! I have tried this, and this works.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is another way but that doesn't guarantee the effectiveness in all conditions. Camphor is another repellent with a bearable/tolerable smell unless someone is allergic to it, I have seen people who start sneezing for hours when they sniff a camphor ball/tab, while some people (including me) love the smell! If you are of the latter category, keep camphor tabs/balls in a handkerchief and tie it your backpack, and on hat. Looks funny, but works. May not work that well when its raining all the way, but otherwise it works. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might be aware of some products like DEET, which is anyway an artificial, commercial product. I typically defer from using it because even though its a proven product, it has a strong smell. It's harmful for some fabrics and rubber products, and pets (and animals) suffer badly if they sniff/lick anything thats heavily sprayed with DEET.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: Based on some data provided in a comment by &lt;strong&gt;Qudit&lt;/strong&gt;, it's recommended to use Eucalyptus oil for its effectiveness based on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/insect-repellent/buying-guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;consumer report&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T14:41:52.317" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T14:41:52.317" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19641" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-11T12:22:03.760" Score="7" ViewCount="381" Body="&lt;p&gt;There as been the claim that European and North American wolves behave differently, especially when it comes to encounters with humans. This was brought up in a comment in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7584/how-to-camp-in-wolf-country&quot;&gt;this question on a wolf encounter in Bulgaria&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The claim seems to be that European wolves are more aggressive than their brethren across the pond.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true? Are there measurable differences? What are the differences and can they be explained?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T16:36:52.683" Title="Behavioural differences between European and North American Wolves" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T18:10:41.637" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few tricks in no particular order:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long sleeves and wearable netting for your face&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tiger Balm behind your ears (smell keeps bugs away from your face)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bug spray on your clothing (around your collar, ends of sleeves, in your netting) stays there longer than on sweaty skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid flavored soaps and shampoos a few weeks before the trip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cover your skin with mud&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cool down your body temperature (a lot of bugs are attracted to heat)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay calm (some bugs are attracted to the CO2 we breathe out, staying calm reduces the amount)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear light-colored clothes (white is best) as dark tends to attract some bugs and also dark absorbs more heat which also attracts bugs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stand near the people who follow the advice above and far from those who don't&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Know your bugs. Being stuck in a swarm of bugs is less mentally painful if you know these bugs don't sting. And mental pain is bad because panic and stress get you breathing harder and creating more of the above-discussed CO2&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The smoke of a camp fire can help keep some insects and animals at bay&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, no matter what you do, you will be bitten and stung. A few more tricks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't scratch, ever. Scratching once can turn a mosquito bite from a half-hour thing to a many-day thing because you're ruining the clean little needle whole and turning it into an infection-prone tear. Wrap with clean dry fabric to avoid scratching during the night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Otherwise leaving the skin uncovered helps prevent moisture from setting in and gives the &quot;wound&quot; plenty of access to oxygen, two things which help speed up &quot;convalescence&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove any dart, dirt or debris and clean gently (again to avoid infection)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sooth with after-bite ointments, ice, submerge in cold water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="131" LastEditorUserId="131" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T12:56:35.917" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T12:56:35.917" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19645" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19646" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" Score="0" Body="Questions about ducks" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T18:30:00.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T18:34:49.797" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live and play in Florida, and I feel you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, don't be afraid of insect repellant. It's not a total solution but it can really help. Coat your clothes in it, then spray a little on your self. The ones made with DEET are very effective, though they can discolor some clothes and will harm some plastics and rubbers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next use oil. A &quot;layer&quot; of olive oil will stop the bug bites. It will also stop the gnats and other annoying insects. Just smear some on, your exposed skin and off you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long, thin cloths work wonders. Most annoying insects can't bite through any clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, just ignore them. At a certain point, it just becomes better to ignore them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once bitten&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will get bitten, here are a few things you can do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pee on it. Yep, Pee on it. Most stings will be soothed and stop hurting and itching if you just pee on it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Benydril - Take a little at night. It will help with any overnight itchies. The wound will still be there but, it won't keep you awake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use ammonia. For the same reason pee works, ammonia will too. I am not advocating taking a bath in it, but pouring it on an ant bite, bee sting, or mosquito bite makes it stop itching and hurting almost instantly. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Calamine lotion can work wonders too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As always you can choose to just ignore it. Provided the bites are not that bad you should be able to &quot;mind over matter&quot; the situation away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T18:34:49.797" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T19:42:49.130" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The barrier method is the only method that is 100% effective...and then only when used properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long pants tucked into high socks. Gloves (light weight, you get used to them faster than you would think). Long sleeves tucked into your gloves or with a cuff tight enough that there are no gaps. Shirt should overlap pants enough that there are no gaps. Ideally you would have a net to cover your head, but if you don't want to look too different from a normal hiker you can get away with sunglasses for your eyes and a headband/scarf/handkerchief/&quot;Buff&quot; to cover your ears and a high-ish necked shirt. (Prefer a larger &quot;Buff&quot;/handkerchief/etc. over a small one, since it can be rearranged to cover your face and nose, too, if you go through a particularly bad area, and then back to a headband when you no longer need as much protection.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clothing works best if it is somewhat loose (except around the cuffs), even for insects which will bite through clothing, if the outer layer is far enough from your skin they will not be able to reach you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus, this will somewhat protect you from other common hazards, such as casual contact with poison ivy and most sunburn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastEditorUserId="12833" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T13:17:35.400" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T13:17:35.400" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T19:50:52.453" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Repellants containing DEET are the most effective and the only method I've been happy with.  It is a harsh chemical but does NOT need to go on your skin.  Spray 95%-100% DEET on the top and bottom of your hat brim, your backpack shoulder straps or the neck and shoulders of your shirt and socks. This works for me most of the time.  When it doesn't I put on a head net.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also most flying bugs can be out hiked in my experience.  It seems like &gt;3 miles per hour is just enough to keep the cloud of mosquitoes just behind you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T19:50:52.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-11T20:28:18.440" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say what you're wearing. The best solution can be covering yourself with light-colored lightweight breathable clothing. You might be reluctant to cover up on a hot day, but with the right kind of clothing, it shouldn't make you too much hotter. Not only can this be an effective way to avoid bug bites and the annoyance of bugs, but it also can be a good protection against sunburn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always wear long pants and often long sleeves and spray my pants, shoes, and socks with permethrin (which lasts a few washes). Here in Kansas, I've found tens of dead ticks in my shoes after a hike, some of which would have been sucking on my ankles without the permethrin. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaiters&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gaiters&lt;/a&gt; also can be effective for keeping the ticks and chiggers away from your ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US military uses permethrin-impregnated uniforms coupled with skin-applied DEET to repel insects, which together are extremely effective. Both &lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103713&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231556/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;permethrin&lt;/a&gt; may have mild toxic effects in humans, especially if used &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3513590/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;together&lt;/a&gt; over long periods. Research is still ongoing. &quot;Natural oils&quot; and other such remedies may also have such toxic effects, which have not been studied. However, the threat of tick-borne and mosquito-borne diseases must be part of the cost-benefit analysis. Know what tick-borne and mosquito-borne diseases are common in your area and what their impact on your life could be. In the US, the CDC is a good source (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/TickborneDiseases.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tick-borne diseases in the US&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPs3q.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPs3q.png&quot; alt=&quot;Tick-borne diseases in the US&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15863" LastActivityDate="2018-06-11T20:28:18.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19652" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19658" CreationDate="2018-06-11T23:01:56.687" Score="-3" ViewCount="628" Body="&lt;p&gt;So, this is likely a very very dumb question but I came across &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9999/how-to-react-to-an-aggressive-boar&quot;&gt;this question about wild boars&lt;/a&gt; while researching boar hunting and I was wondering if an axe would be at all useful against a boar if it was the only weapon/tool you had to use? I know that when hunting boar spears and bows have been used in the past but I can't find anything on how effective an axe might be. Because of the tough hide, I am assuming the axe wouldn't do much but, could it be used to at least distract the boar long enough to run for the nearest tree? I have no hunting experience at all, so like I said at the beginning this could be a very dumb question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15864" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T00:34:18.747" Title="Fending off a boar with an axe?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;boars&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-12T00:02:01.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option if you don't want to go the bug spray or full body cover route could be one of the battery powered thermocell products. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are designed to be used in a stationary place (and are incredibly effective in normal use), but I can attest that it also works reasonably well when carried around - just with presumably a much smaller sphere of influence. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would also have the benefit of providing some protection to the others in your group (if any)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13766" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T00:02:01.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19654" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19659" CreationDate="2018-06-12T03:54:06.883" Score="2" ViewCount="1716" Body="&lt;p&gt;When shooting it is a good idea to wear eye protection, most ranges and shooting competitions require them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two basic kinds, clear plastic, and amber/yellow tinted ones. From what I have seen the UV protection is identical on both types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons of each?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T11:20:01.533" Title="What are the pros and cons of clear vs yellow tinted shooting glasses?" Tags="&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19677" CreationDate="2018-06-12T03:58:05.723" Score="4" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;The local shooting range requires eye protection, when I look on Amazon there are &quot;shooting glasses&quot; in the hunting section, and then there are &quot;safety glasses&quot; in other sections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can tell, there isn't much of a difference between the two, they both protect from UV and are made from plastic, is there an actual difference (besides marketing) between the two?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-13T22:56:24.560" Title="What is the difference between &quot;shooting&quot; and &quot;safety&quot; glasses?" Tags="&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-12T05:09:05.693" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a hat with an insect mesh covering which covers your head and neck right down to the chest and same around the back so you don't have to spray a repellent on your face. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aussiedisposals.com.au/bush-hat-with-netting&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bush hat with netting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15868" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T05:09:05.693" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19652" CreationDate="2018-06-12T06:31:24.413" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most useful thing you can do with an axe in case of a boar attack is &lt;em&gt;throwing it into the bushes and climbing the nearest tree&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to melee with a charging boar is a bad idea&lt;sup&gt;TM&lt;/sup&gt;, regardless of what kind of weapon you are carrying. This mostly includes guns also, as a charge by a boar will not give you enough time to do much of any thing before contact...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I.e. if you want to be safe in the face of wild boars, think of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;prevention&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; instead of &lt;em&gt;defence&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example as suggested by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/dos-and-donts/animal-advisories/wild-boars&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be calm and move slowly away from the animal.&lt;/strong&gt; Do not approach or attempt to feed the animal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep a safe distance and do not corner or provoke the animal&lt;/strong&gt; i.e. by using a flash while taking pictures of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you see adults with young piglets, leave them alone.&lt;/strong&gt; These are potentially more dangerous because they may attempt to defend their young.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-06-12T08:38:32.360" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T08:38:32.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19654" CreationDate="2018-06-12T07:35:47.010" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to article &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.safetyglassesusa.com/benefits-of-copper-orange-amberyellow-brownbronze-lens-tints/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Benefits of Copper, Orange, Yellow And Brown Lens Tints&lt;/a&gt; and from my own experience, but with cycling solar glasses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Copper, orange, yellow/amber and brown lens tints make an environment appear brighter and are commonly used in low-light conditions. These lens tints significantly block blue light and enhance contrast and depth perception making them helpful for overcast, hazy and foggy conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas the clear plastic ones are regular eye protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's not really a pro/con stiuation, in my opinion, but it depends on the circumstances which ones to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12492" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-06-14T11:20:01.533" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T11:20:01.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15100" CreationDate="2018-06-12T08:29:07.850" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As background, I've hiked the Kungsleden in 2014 (my second hike, and first self-organized), as well as both marked trails and cross country in Norway and Iceland. To add to the risks already mentioned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not underestimate the general, less obvious hazards in tough terrain. For example, both in Iceland and slightly off trail in Kungsleden I encountered overgrown streams. What looks like a mossy path between thick bushes (and easier to walk) might turn out to be hollowed-out gound, and stepping on it can end half a meter lower than it should have. That's something you can't really prepare for just by reading online articles, you learn from experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone gets injured by something like that, a remote area without marked trails could become a serious problem - even if you have a satellite phone, describing the position while inexperienced with navigation could be hard. On a marked trail, that's a lot easier, mentioning the previous and next hut/waypoint makes you easy to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of a marked and maintained trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no (or easy) fording (less risks, no fording shoes necessary)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hazardous terrain is mostly laid out with planks, eliminating a lot of less obvious risks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;navigation (even with basic map/compass skills) is easy, as well as communicating your position in case of emergency&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;others will be around to help out if necessary - both hikers you meet on the road, and hut staff&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in case of bad weather (which can happen often and quickly) there are some huts to take shelter and dry your things. Hiking in wet&#xA;boots for a week is not really pleasant.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you are inexperienced and have a lot of things on your mind - save yourself a lot of trouble and risks, take a marked and maintained trail for the first hike. You have less to prepare for, less that could go wrong, and there are others around who could help out. The Kungsleden is still very beautiful, there's a reason it's famous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how crowded the Kungsleden is (or was 2014):&#xA;Make sure you don't go there when Fjäll Raven Classics happens. That's hordes of good-weather tourists going from Kebnekaise to Abisko in a short while, definitely not enjoyable. Besides that time, it's not that frequent you meet someone.&#xA;We went from Abisko to Vakottavaare, and after we got south of the Kebnekaise, it got a lot quieter. Might be useful for you - someone around for the first days, in case something went wrong, then less company when you've got a hang of it.&#xA;Even if that's still too crowded, take another trail, there are more choices in the region, like Padjelantaleden. But going off trail for the first hike seems reckless to me. Once you got the basics covered, you can aim for the more remote areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As side notes: &#xA;Even on Kungsleden, there was no cell phone coverage except for the Kebnekaise basecamp area. Satellite phone might be nice to make calls, but for emergencies, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) might be better. I'd say it's overkill for the Kungsleden (see navigation), but off-trail it should be essential.&#xA;For the training hikes, include some steep ascends. By my experience, that's where boots fail first. Do it every two weeks with full weight, and your body gets used to it, that makes it a lot easier on the hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15870" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T08:29:07.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19620" CreationDate="2018-06-12T08:46:38.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;do I have to ask land owners or could I go into a forest away from&#xA;  people and hunt there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;, you always need the land owners permission to hunt/fish or even to leave designated footpaths. So yes you do need permission to hunt. Bear in mind that virtually all land in the UK is owned. This may be a farmer or an NGO like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Trust&lt;/a&gt; (The largest land owner in the UK). There are some common lands and these typically have restrictions on what is permitted on them written into local laws. Often these &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By-law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bylaws&lt;/a&gt; will not allow hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabbits are not a protected species in the UK. Through rabbits are currently in a serious decline due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/infectious-disease/rabbit-haemorrhagic-disease&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabbit haemorrhagic disease&lt;/a&gt;. So hunting rabbits is not restricted. There is a rabbit season but this is not enforced. Many land owners consider rabbits a pest and treat them as such. Bear in mind that some practices (hare coursing for example) are considered &quot;Blood Sports&quot; and are banned as a separate activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slingshots are not classed as firearms in the UK and have no restrictions (per say). But a slingshot can be classes as an &quot;offensive weapon&quot;, in fact virtually anything can be classed as an offensive weapon in UK law depending on the circumstances. Providing you can clearly demonstrate that you are using the slingshot for hunting and do not carry when not hunting (your going to struggle to explain to the police why you have a slingshot in a built up area, etc) you should be fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're going to struggle to get a clean kill with a slingshot. I wouldn't think of it as an ideal hunting weapon (for rabbits at least, I've seen it used for small game birds like pigeon but they're less robust than a rabbit). You may want to consider a reasonably powerful air rifle to hunt rabbits instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-06-13T13:59:34.870" LastActivityDate="2018-06-13T13:59:34.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-12T10:59:36.377" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having tried all known expensive remedies to little effect, here is one that was recommended by a friend:&#xA;equal parts of tap water &amp;amp; apple cider vinegar plus a few drops each of rose geranium and lavender oil, place all ingredients in an atomiser;  This is perfectly safe for use on pets against ticks &amp;amp; fleas (it works) and more importantly the ONLY thing I've found works against the &lt;strong&gt;Scottish midge&lt;/strong&gt; a ferocious wee beastie (particularly bad this year).  It got so bad the other week, I was stood in the garden with a net curtain wrapped around my head whilst the dogs did their thing...slowly as usual  (not gotten round to mixing my potion for this season)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We get loads of other flying things, horse flies, mossies, hornets and it helps with those too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15871" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T10:59:36.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19652" CreationDate="2018-06-12T13:55:25.317" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not going to distract with an axe and then climb a tree.  You got to the tree or not before the hog got to you.  Hogs are usually in brush without a lot of trees you can climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An axe is a formidable weapon.  You  would need to time the charge but you can break flesh.  If it does latch on to you then strike the hind quarters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would certainly want more than an axe but I would take that over nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I certainly would not hunt boar with an axe. Most boar (and feral hog) hunting is with an assault rifle or small deer rifle. For defense my weapon of choice is a shot gun with light shot then stack a bigger shot behind the first two. The light shot will take out their eyes so they can't see you. If they keep coming keep shooting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They do not attack often.  Piglets are what you need to stay away from as mama will defend her piglets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ran the numbers a boar can get up to 30 mph but that take 1000 meters to get up to speed and they are just not likely to attack from that distance. So more like 20 mph.  That is 30 ft / second.  Can get off 3 shots from an automatic rifle or pistol in 1 second and 2 from a manual shotgun.  A body shot from 30 feet is an automatic from good marksman and head shot from a top marksman.  I was going out for target practice at my friends 300 acres and it turns out some other people were hunting and scared one to me. I dropped to my butt clicked off 2 and dropped him.  Not a chance in hell I could have climbed a tree in that time even if there was tree.  I would take my chances with an ax over no ax.  Another time my buddy that is better marksman and hunter than me dropped a boar attacking my dog with a shotgun in two shots without even blinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T19:24:15.883" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T19:24:15.883" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19664" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19665" CreationDate="2018-06-12T15:40:48.650" Score="8" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the term for that phenomenon when someone in wilderness start experiencing a strange situation? When,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They aren't certain that they have lost the route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They may or may not be walking on a trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They keep on reaching the same place after a certain walking time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what it is called, or even anyone of us has experienced it. But, I have had a taste of what happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In less than a couple of years ago, I was on a solo trek, a region that wasn't known too well (I must admit) to me. See the images from the GPS track that I was logging. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #1 below: Its my location at 3:27 pm, had walked for about 8.74 km, heading in the right direction&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gpZ7C.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gpZ7C.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #2 below: Its my location at 3:37 pm, had walked for about 9.25 km, heading in the right direction&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r56cx.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r56cx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #3 below: Its my location at 3:43 pm, had walked for about 9.55 km&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6WcGx.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6WcGx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #4 below: Its my location at 3:54 pm, had walked for about 9.96 km, headed the wrong way!&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3xbip.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3xbip.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #5 below: Its my location at 4:34 pm, had walked for about 11.54 km, headed the wrong way, but sooner would realise that!&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bs1z7.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bs1z7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image #6 below: Its my location at 4:52 pm, had walked for about 12.29 km, finally in the right direction&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TfT2j.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TfT2j.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few points to note:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Had been walking for last 2 days back then, resting in the night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Season when it has been already raining for over 3 months, so forest is thick and green&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Was alone, wasn't fully aware of the region, but had sense of direction (barring this duration when I was lost)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Was not hacking my way in the forest, trail was faint, but was there!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Visibility was clear, to about 100 m, no fog or blizzard although it was raining. Trail is in tall forest, and the plateau is flat, highest in the region, so there is no hump/hill or other feature as a landmark&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-06-13T12:05:00.997" LastActivityDate="2018-06-13T12:05:00.997" Title="Getting lost and circling a trail in a loop?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19664" CreationDate="2018-06-12T15:48:17.830" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe this is called walking in circles :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens is that is that without a compass or GPS, you tend to head to one side instead of going straight. Eventually you will complete the circle and head back around the other way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have ever turned the tracking mode on a GPS and then left it in your pack, while navigating without it in a dense forest without reference points, the effect will become apparent. It's all but impossible to walk in a straight line without a point of reference or a navigation device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;All those signals have very small errors,&amp;quot; Souman says. In general, that leads people in a random, meandering path, Souman says. But occasionally, the errors in a particular direction build up, leading us to walk in circles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When people can see where they're going, however, it's a different story. Souman and his colleagues also tracked volunteers as they walked without blindfolds in two unfamiliar environments: a forest in Germany, and, thanks to a junket arranged by Kopfball, in the Sahara desert in Tunisia. In the forest, people again walked in circles--but only on cloudy days. When the sun was visible, they could walk in a more or less straight line for several hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/08/why-we-walk-circles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why We Walk in Circles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, human trails will go straight, but animal trails will wander, that might have something to do with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, I have seen plenty of people who were so worried of getting lost that they never went anywhere in the first place. This is a good reminder that getting lost isn't the end of the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T15:48:17.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19638" CreationDate="2018-06-12T20:23:44.467" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to DEET and permethrin, which were mentioned in other answers, there are a couple other insect repellent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/insect-repellents.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;possibilities&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picaridin (also known as icaridin)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects for up to 8 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be applied to skin or clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does not damage fabrics, surfaces or materials&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Considered more effective against flies than DEET&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IR3535&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects for up to 8 hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be applied to skin or clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can damage plastics (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-guide-bug-repellents/repellent-chemicals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastActivityDate="2018-06-12T20:23:44.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2018-06-13T10:09:38.790" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Providing you're not setting this up too high, a good cheap alternative is to &lt;strong&gt;pop down your local climbing wall and ask if they have any old rope&lt;/strong&gt;. Climbing walls throw out rope all the time. Depending on how friendly you are with them you might just get several tens of meters for &lt;strong&gt;free&lt;/strong&gt;! It's not safe for climbing on any more, but it should be adequate for a swing and if/when it breaks you can just go back for more!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind it will likely stretch quite a bit, but this shouldn't be too much of an issue for a swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T14:08:36.883" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T14:08:36.883" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19672" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19680" CreationDate="2018-06-13T16:29:33.743" Score="7" ViewCount="441" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, there was a raccoon &lt;a href=&quot;https://people.com/pets/mpr-raccoon-climbs-minnesota-ubs-building/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbing a 20 plus story building in Minnesota,&lt;/a&gt; today it made it to the top and was caught in a live trap for transport to back to the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It brings up the question, &lt;strong&gt;why would a raccoon climb a building in the first place?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:58:36.873" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:58:36.873" Title="Why would a raccoon climb a building?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;raccoons&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6279" CreationDate="2018-06-13T18:09:59.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bring one change of dry clothes to change into when you are in your overnight cabin, all the way from top to toes and from the skin out, and make sure you have enough layers to be warm when there is no heating/fire in the cabin. Include slippers or other indoor shoes, so you can leave your wet boots near/outside the door where they belong. (And keep these clothes dry, even more than the clothes you intend for out of doors use, so you can be dry and warm once the hiking for the day is done.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep that set of clothes for the evenings/nights and do use your day clothing even when still damp/wet from the day before. That way you will have warm, clean clothing when you arrive for the next night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring twice the socks you expect to need, so you can change into clean socks when you feel like it. Socks do not take much space and dry socks in reasonably dry shoes are so much more comfy than soaked socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with the other answers, proper waterproofs, maybe even a rain jacket and a poncho over the top (and your pack) to keep the rain off the coat and the top of your waterproof trousers.&#xA;Keep the water off your backpack but also keep everything in it within plastic or waterproof bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do bring more to eat than you would usually do, specially if you are going into an area where you can not easily buy more. Snacks and emergency food supplies you would usually eat while hiking, but also something you do not really fancy but that holds a lot of calories. For me it is a Kendal mint cake - way too sweet to snack on, but it will be there when I get in trouble and need it. (And I will not eat it 'because it is nice'.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As I was told on guided hikes, if you arrive with an empty pack, you did not bring enough to eat. Take more 'tomorrow'. (Except that you may not be able to stock up every day and need to bring more for the whole week.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Being outside in cold weather you need more energy, and being active you need more energy than at home, so bring lots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-08-22T17:17:08.783" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T17:17:08.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2018-06-13T20:19:00.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My first reaction is Hempex, which looks like and feels like traditional hemp rope, but is made of polypropylene. Or of course the same kind of rope from other manufacturers. &#xA;It is widely available in several sizes, not cheap but long lasting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has the advantage of being easy to splice to get your eye, holds knots well and is water and rot proof (at least more than hemp rope.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not a climbing type rope but a ship type rope and is used extensively there. The unspecified polypropylene rope mentioned in one of the other answers may as well be hempex, but can be one of several other kinds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-06-14T15:57:26.510" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T15:57:26.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19655" CreationDate="2018-06-13T22:34:47.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety glasses&lt;/strong&gt; would presumably meet some &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.safetyglassesusa.com/what-does-ansi-z87-1-2010-certified-mean/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;safety standard&lt;/a&gt;, for example impact resistance, and the standard so meet would be cited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shooting glasses&lt;/strong&gt; might offer some impact resistance (or other protection...), but wouldn't have to meet the standard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7951" LastEditorUserId="7951" LastEditDate="2018-06-13T22:56:24.560" LastActivityDate="2018-06-13T22:56:24.560" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19672" CreationDate="2018-06-14T02:38:40.550" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as the raccoon goes, there really isn't a whole lot out of the ordinary taking place in this story. It's basically a raccoon doing raccoon things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Raccoons are inquisitive animals and very capable climbers. While I've never seen one climbing a skyscraper, I've regularly spotted them climbing or on upper areas of multistory buildings. Raccoons, especially smaller onces, can climb on brick walls like they're walking across flat ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Raccoons are notorious for taking up residence in homes' attic spaces. We're never going to know exactly why it climbed the building, but the critters regularly explore around and look for food, and this one happened to try exploring a skyscraper. Raccoons need to eat, they need to nest, they need to avoid predators, such as coyotes and humans. Perhaps the building's dumpsters were fiercely guarded by a larger rival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only somewhat out of the ordinary aspect is that the raccoon was observed in the daytime, as they are normally nocturnal. However, it's not that far out of the ordinary, as raccoons are well adapted to urban areas, and their biological rhythms can change to be more suitable for an urban existence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This story is really a study in viral media rather than anything to do with raccoons. An animal that happens to look cute just happened to be doing this at a time where someone saw it, where they just happened to take a picture and post it on the internet, and that posting just happened to be seen by someone who just happened to have wider connections to make it onto the news, and so on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because raccoons are cute and mischievous, but are not very often seen, it seems as though they regularly pop up in funny news story, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://globalnews.ca/news/3906064/raccoon-ttc-subway-bloor-station/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;when a subway line was shut down after a raccoon casually boarded the train&lt;/a&gt;, or more sadly when &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/10/how-a-dead-raccoon-got-a-sidewalk-memorial-and-became-a-hashtag/?noredirect=on&amp;amp;utm_term=.d0300da5e875&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people found it funny to make a memorial to a raccoon's corpse after it laid on the sidewalk for a day.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T02:38:40.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3740" CreationDate="2018-06-14T08:08:15.020" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A difference on the side of the rifle would be that polar bears live in more open environments, so they're easier to see coming. A difference on the pepper spray side could be that these open plains can be windy, limiting the range and precision of the spray. So I figure the different approach might have more to do with environmental factors than bear specific ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T08:08:15.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19672" CreationDate="2018-06-14T08:56:35.627" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tl;Dr it was scared up the building by accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44465587&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BBC coverage&lt;/a&gt; explains what happened quite well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Evan Frost and Tim Nelson, journalists with Minnesota Public Radio&#xA;  (MPR), documented the raccoon's nerve-wracking journey on Twitter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;One of my colleagues spotted the raccoon on, kind of the ground&#xA;  floor, sitting on a ledge on Monday - it looked like a brown lump,&#xA;  almost like a cat sitting there,&quot; Evan Frost told the BBC in the early&#xA;  hours of Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;We went out there at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning and saw it was a&#xA;  raccoon. Two workers in the building got out a couple of long planks -&#xA;  sort of making a kind of ladder for it.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But that initial rescue failed - and &lt;strong&gt;ended up scaring the animal&#xA;  upwards.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It spent much of Tuesday going up and down the building's floors,&#xA;  occasionally napping on ledges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before its final ascent to the roof, it had been slowly making its way&#xA;  down, as an anxious audience watched on into the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;It was heartbreaking to see yesterday,&quot; Tim Nelson told the BBC on&#xA;  Wednesday. &quot;We couldn't imagine how this would end well for him&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T08:56:35.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19682" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19701" CreationDate="2018-06-14T17:26:24.010" Score="9" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do people living in middle mountains (500-1000 m.asl) have any measurable advantage against lowlanders when it comes to acclimatization? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there measurable differences in blood cells density? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read some article stating that about 25% of people can exhibit first symptoms of mountain sickness on 2500m, for the other 75% it's about 4500m. Are there any studies comparing that rate based on what height the people live? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-14T17:27:22.030" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T17:32:31.023" Title="Is there any measurable effect on acclimatization rate for people living in middle mountains?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19683" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19689" CreationDate="2018-06-14T18:02:44.690" Score="3" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been considering a folding bike, it would be multipurpose, for short rides of 10 miles or less. I think I want multiple gears, as it may be used as part of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9256/how-to-tow-a-canoe-with-a-bicycle&quot;&gt;Canoe&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948/how-to-carry-a-bicycle-in-a-canoe&quot;&gt;Advventures&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My primary motivation is decreased storage and transporting space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping for some attributes. There are a lot of variables in the inexpensive folding bike market, wheel size, where they fold, how the connections are tightened, frame height and it's relation to seat post length and handlebar placement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am specifically not asking at the Bicycle sister site, as I want what they consider a &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bso&quot;&gt;BSO&lt;/a&gt; i.e. too cheap to be a real bicycle, hence not worthy of a good answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T13:33:50.667" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T02:51:37.163" Title="What attributes should I look for in an inexpensive multi-purpose folding bike?" Tags="&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19683" CreationDate="2018-06-14T19:44:16.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're cost motivated, then you don't need to look at anything else other than the price tag. Cheap bikes are cheap, so it doesn't really matter what they come with as long as they work. If you're really concerned about quality, then don't buy cheap. If you want to shop around for something decently good and still reasonably priced, then shop second-hand and try to find a good deal on a used folding bike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you get into the department store cheap end of the spectrum, the bikes are almost disposable. They come with the cheapest parts that are next to impossible to tune even when brand new, and aren't worth replacing with the same part when they fail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick a price range, then buy inside that price range. Your first bike is always your benchmark bike, if it doesn't work for what you need it to, then you can always trade it in for something better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T19:44:16.097" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19500" CreationDate="2018-06-14T19:53:21.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This knot appears to be one referred to as the tarbuck knot, named for its inventor, see for example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbuck_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbuck_knot&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.craigmarine.info/accessories/fishing_equipment/Tarbuck-climberKnot.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.craigmarine.info/accessories/fishing_equipment/Tarbuck-climberKnot.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is intended to be able to absorb sudden loads, which is useful for climbing, especially in stranded, synthetic type ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note: adding as community wiki, as the correct answer was found by another user, but that answer was deleted for reasons of moderation.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2018-06-14T19:53:21.357" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2018-06-14T19:53:21.357" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19686" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-14T21:16:35.383" Score="6" ViewCount="833" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've read that it is bad to use treated wood for a trailer bunk for a pontoon boat because the chemicals would react with the metal and cause problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am going to put plastic slides on the bunk, would it be ok to use treated wood then, since the metal would not actually be touching the wood?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-29T23:16:49.540" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T13:27:36.933" Title="Treated wood for a trailer bunk for pontoon boat" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19686" CreationDate="2018-06-14T22:31:49.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem is that the chemicals in the treated wood are corrosive to metal, especially when wet. Beyond, the boat, it might not be so good for your trailer either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two most popular chemicals for wood pressure treatment are alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) and copper azole (CA), which are both active corrosion materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only two corrosion protection systems are recommended for use with these pressure treatment chemicals: hot-dip galvanized steel and stainless steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://galvanizeit.org/hot-dip-galvanizing/how-long-does-hdg-last/contact-with-treated-wood&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;In Contact with Treated Wood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not only do ACQ and CA lack corrosion-inhibiting chromium and arsenic, they have much higher concentrations of copper than CCA — not a bad thing to ward off most fungal growth, but just awful if you happen to be a less noble metal than copper. Also, some ACQ and CA formulas contain ammonia; those are even more corrosive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Copper actually isn’t corrosive in a dry, inert environment, but what deck is never wet?&lt;/strong&gt; And when water contacts ACQ- or CA-treated wood, it lifts copper ions from the preservative. As the copper-tainted water seeps onto metal hardware, a galvanic reaction causes the hardware to corrode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deckmagazine.com/design-construction/fighting-fastener-corrosion_o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fighting Fastener Corrosion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find any evidence either for or against whether it reacts with plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your other (more expensive) option is to use redwood instead, that is also rot resistant and lacks the corrosive chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T23:17:11.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19683" CreationDate="2018-06-15T06:57:07.443" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first problem with folding bikes (which to some extent they share with electric bikes) is that the things that make them special are quite hard to get right. This is in contrast to a standard diamond frame, where a workable bike can be made using the cheapest components from a reputable manufacturer. Some of the extra failure modes of folding bikes are quite dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second problem (partly as a result of the first) is that good folding bikes hold their value second hand. This means that the usual advice for getting good value doesn't work as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some things you can look for though - components such as gears  and brakes from a manufacturer that you can actually find (a lot of cheap bikes use shimano, who make components at all price points). Otherwise when something like a cog breaks or wears out, the whole bike will need replacing (and they're more likely to break). And make sure to deal with things like loose frame hinges immediately as they put a lot of stress on the frame. If you're tall, most folders won't fit, and those that do require extra components (like extended seat posts) that you won't be able to buy for a one-size-fits-none with non-standard parts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage you have over commuters is that you're less likely to be concerned about folding/unfolding speed or greasy components touching other things. Reviews will help, including checking that one you're thinking of hasn't had problems of falling to bits. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're very likely to end up spending a lot more and quite soon, even more so if you're slightly heavy or ride on rough roads. And I say this as someone who rides and often recommends cheap bikes for short journeys. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly I'd suggest your cheap option is the cheapest non-folding bike you can find, and take the wheels off for transit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-06-15T18:06:43.117" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T18:06:43.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19683" CreationDate="2018-06-15T18:01:59.337" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;BSO stands for Bicycle Shaped Object.  Or department store bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bicycle people are not down on them for being cheap.  They are down on them for low value.  Even at $100 it is not a good value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Characteristics of a BSO is not just cheap parts but non standard parts. When they do break (which won't be long) it will be hard to replace the part.  Some times they do not even honor standards.  It might have a non-standard bottom bracket or head set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also safety. BSO is just not as strong. If it fails you can get hurt.  You have lot more leverage on a folding with long seat tube and handle bars to the frame. It takes more stress than a full size bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with a bike that has standard parts and standard sizing of components.  It can be the cheapest Shimano, SRAM ... groups.  If components are not stamped with a known manufacturer then no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In bikes there a value point where the cost of ownership optimized.  As you spend more initially the cost of maintenance goes down.  Then you get to a point the components are for weight / speed and more expensive parts and the cost of maintenance goes up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a regular bike where is that max value is debatable but some where around $600 - $800 retail. For me max value is to find a bike that was $1200 new and pick it up used for $400.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know as much about folding but that sweet spot will likely be more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Folding same thing look for standard components.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without a triangle folding bikes have more flex.  Then on top of that hinged parts have flex. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Internal gear hubs are more common for clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How compact is a factor. The more it folds the more opportunities for weak points. Speed of folding. With some assemble required it is typically a stronger set up for the same price range. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some fold side to side and some fold front to back.  Fold back has less side to side flex but it is also more in the more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get on the bike and see how it fits. Flex it and look for play. If you can notice play in any of the hinges just flexing with your hand then no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bromptom is one of major manufacturers and they start at $1200. I am sure there are some good value bikes less than that - just a data point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said if you want a folding BSO go to Wallmart for $200 and see how long it lasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On storage hang from the ceiling frees up floor space&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is S &amp;amp; S couple. It is an add on the full frame lets the triangle be disassemble. If has all the pluses of a full size bike and the coupling is nearly as strong with no flex. They assemble in like 30 minutes and tools are required.  You also need to be able to tune the bike as take apart and put it back together can mess with the tuning. This is more for a person that wants to put a bike on a plane. They are higher end expensive bikes.  Not what you are looking for but I thought it was worth mentioning. &lt;a href=&quot;https://salsacycles.com/bikes/archive/2015_vaya_travel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;vaya travel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is a single speed mountain bike. Preferable with a rigid ford. Shocks are really bad on inexpensive bikes and wear out quickly. Because of the sloping top tube it is more narrow. Pull the seat tube, tires, and handle bar and spin the fork 180 so the camber is towards the frame. Single speed as easier disassembly and less cables. Can just loosen the handle bars and spin them or go all the way and remove the fork.  A full size single speed mtn is going to out perform even a high end folding bike.  More comfortable and reliable.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/faUDS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/faUDS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Niner&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That is high end bike I picked up $900.  It was not stolen - he had the original paper work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-06-15T23:30:24.727" LastActivityDate="2018-06-15T23:30:24.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19683" CreationDate="2018-06-16T19:05:18.433" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many different folding bikes out there, do an images search if you are not convinced yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you look for, besides availability and price, is size and fit, good fitting folding clasps and screws. And if your folding bike has several options to adjust it to your size that they do get to the required size without losing sturdiness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do a search on folding bikes for sale second hand in your region and then do check out a few which are in your budget range.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Where I live a usable second hand folding bike can be picked up for €50, (which is about $US 60) but the top of the range folders go for about €100 less than the shop prices.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;How much you pay in your area is likely depending upon the commuter folding bike market as well as on the new folding bikes in the local shops.&#xA;You can of course also buy from the shops and paying the new price for a new bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you go to check out the bike, test the frame on sturdiness. When the folder is unfolded and the clamps or screws to keep the bike in the ready to ride configuration are as tight as they should be, there should be no play in the connections.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If there is, forget about the bike and look for the next.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with all bikes, it should fit you, be able to be set to your measurements and preferred sitting position. The more options to adjust, the more expensive the bike will be within its brand. But cheaper brands are not always less good than more expensive brands. And if you are very tall and overweight, even the most known and expensive brands might not suit you, as someone I knew found out while a sturdy build cheaper one might.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the other answers here tell you that cheaper folding bikes are all hard to get repaired, my personal experience with a non too expensive folding bike is that is has not needed any repairs in 10 years and then I replaced the battery driven lights, in the 8 years since I have had no cost at it at all. I even still ride the first set of tires and tubes.&#xA;I did pay about $300 for the bike when I first bought it, 3 speed, internal hub and back-pedal break, but there were also versions with more and different speeds and breaks.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Now there are even more different options and many cost less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they might call it a BSO, but in my view, it did what it was asked to do. (Except that I did not get the adjustment options I would have loved.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you really want a cheap(ish) folding bike, look around, new and second hand, and accept that the bike might last only 5 years rather than 50. You might be surprised though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-06-17T10:45:06.730" LastActivityDate="2018-06-17T10:45:06.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19691" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19723" CreationDate="2018-06-16T21:36:00.637" Score="7" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know many fish so I am trying to get names of fish as I catch them. Can you tell from these pictures what type of fish this is? Unfortunately, I gut hooked this one. It was caught in a river in South Florida.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7XueKl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7XueKl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/adecZl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/adecZl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q6Zcpl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q6Zcpl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EoW2K.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EoW2K.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-20T17:57:27.410" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T17:57:27.410" Title="Name of this freshwater fish with diamond shaped spots and a single top fin, caught in a river in South Florida, USA" Tags="&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19692" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19693" CreationDate="2018-06-17T00:00:32.620" Score="4" ViewCount="675" Body="&lt;p&gt;The common &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_sparrow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;House Sparrow&lt;/a&gt;, Passer domesticus, is one of the few birds not protected under federal law in North America, because it's considered a non-native species. However, it currently lives in virtually every state, many of them year round. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the history of the introduction of this bird to North America? Why were they brought there? From where did they come? Into what States or regions of North America were they introduced? Was there one period of introduction, or did they take place at different times? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-17T17:12:37.560" LastActivityDate="2018-06-17T17:17:22.600" Title="When and why were House Sparrows originally brought to the United States?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19692" CreationDate="2018-06-17T00:59:56.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the first sparrows where brought over in 1851, to &lt;strong&gt;control insects,&lt;/strong&gt; and because they would have been &lt;strong&gt;familiar to people coming from Europe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When Europeans first arrived in the Americas, there were Native American cities, but none of the species Europeans had come to expect in cities: no pigeons, no sparrows, not even any Norway rats. Even once European-style cities began to emerge, they seemed empty of birds and other large animals. In the late 1800s, a variety of young visionaries, chief among them Nicholas Pike, &lt;strong&gt;imagined that what was missing were the birds that live with humans and, he thought, eat our pests. Pike, about whom little is known, introduced about 16 birds into Brooklyn.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, when the first birds were released in Brooklyn, New York, in 1851, they were legally protected.  However, as they became more abundant, and people began to see them as pests, they lost their protected status.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Passer_domesticus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animal Diversity&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conservation Status&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When  first introduced into the United States in 1851, house sparrows were protected from predators and fed.&lt;/strong&gt;  However, populations expanded enormously in North America and they were soon considered a nuisance species. Since the 1960's, with the changes in farming to larger, single crop farms, populations have declined. They are not, however, seen as threatened and are not included in most Canadian and U.S. regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-the-most-common-bird-in-the-world-113046500/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Story of the Most Common Bird in the World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reasons given for introduction were to establish wildlife familiar to European immigrants, or to control insect infestations.&lt;/strong&gt; However, in agricultural areas, an average of 60% of the House Sparrows' diet consists of livestock feed (corn, wheat, oats, etc.), 18% cereals (grains from fields and in storage), 17% weed seeds, and only 4% from insects. Urban birds tend to eat more commercial birdseed, weed seed (e.g., crabgrass), and human scraps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sialis.org/hosphistory.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;House Sparrow History&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;English house sparrows were first brought to New York around 1850. At the time, the city was facing a serious quandary: The snow-white linden moth was defoliating Manhattan Island, devouring its fruit trees and its leafy elms. &lt;strong&gt;City planners hoped that the sparrows would see the linden moth larvae as an all-you-can-eat buffet&lt;/strong&gt;. And they did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/the-truth-about-sparrows/?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Truth About Sparrows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was just one, introduction at one time, there were quite a few different &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sialis.org/hosphistory.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;introductions over the years&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more reading,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/the-truth-about-sparrows/?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Truth About Sparrows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sialis.org/hosphistory.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;House Sparrow History&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/house-sparrow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;House Sparrow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1945&amp;amp;context=icwdm_usdanwrc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The earliest House Sparrow introductions to North America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-the-most-common-bird-in-the-world-113046500/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Story of the Most Common Bird in the World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jstor.org/stable/40168051?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Introduction, Spread, and Present Abundance of the House Sparrow in North America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/life/bird-watch-a-history-of-the-bothersome-house-sparrow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BIRD WATCH: A history of the bothersome house sparrow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-17T17:17:22.600" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8160" CreationDate="2018-06-17T20:44:02.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it can happen. I took a trip to the Amazon during and after the time when the river rises and turns the rain forest into a lake. After the water reseeds, sea animals get stuck in pools in trees. When you walk through the jungle they sense/feel your body heat and drop out of the trees on unsuspecting prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15893" LastActivityDate="2018-06-17T20:44:02.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19695" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19696" CreationDate="2018-06-17T22:55:05.597" Score="6" ViewCount="1219" Body="&lt;p&gt;Growing up in the Midwest, USA I have heard of being able to hear corn grow on a quiet night.  I believe I may have actually experienced this at one time while waiting for some co-workers in the middle of a cornfield on a calm, hot and humid July day.  There was a very faint sound like broken glass rubbing together.  There is actually some research to back up acoustics associated with corn growing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Material breakage is a lot like a microscopic earthquake: the sudden&#xA;  release of internal stresses sends sound waves radiating in every&#xA;  direction,&quot; Cook explained. &quot;We're using special sensors called&#xA;  piezoelectric contact microphones to monitor the sounds emitted by&#xA;  corn stalks just before failure. This helps us understand the failure&#xA;  process more clearly.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://phys.org/news/2016-11-corn.html#jCp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Can you hear corn grow?  Yes!&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other plants that grow just as fast or faster than corn, but I've never heard of actually being able to hear of any other type of plant grow.  &lt;strong&gt;Are there any other plants that can be heard while they are growing?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T02:40:58.663" Title="What plants can be heard when they are growing?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19695" CreationDate="2018-06-18T02:40:58.663" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the two species, that you can actually hear grow are &lt;strong&gt;corn&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;rhubarb&lt;/strong&gt;, other plants also make sounds when they are growing, but in frequencies that humans can't hear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today, the cornfields of Nebraska and elsewhere in the world actually make sounds of growing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This “forcing” is so successful that you can actually hear the rhubarb growing if you go into the sheds. The buds cracking open is what makes the sound, and there is said to be a constant creaking during growing season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2017/can-hear-plants-grow/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Can you Hear Plants Grow?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76xEkEXI2a4&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youtube video&lt;/a&gt; with the sound of corn growing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5HrnZXya5M&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youtube video&lt;/a&gt; with the sound of rhubarb&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plant physiologists have known for several decades that plants emit sounds (Milburn and Johnson 1966). A bigger part of these ‘crackling’ or ‘whispering’ sounds are of transpiratory/hydraulic origin and are therefore related to the circulation of water and air within the plant as part of the transpiration process (Sandford and Grace 1985). The frequencies of the loudest acoustic emissions (the so-called cavitation pulses) lie mostly in the &lt;strong&gt;ultrasonic range, depending on the species-specific characteristics of plant tissues&lt;/strong&gt; (Mayr and Rosner 2011).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/215961/216413&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;‘Whispering’ plants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more reading,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://knowledgenuts.com/2013/08/09/rhubarb-grows-so-fast-you-can-hear-it/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rhubarb Grows So Fast You Can Hear It&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/215961/216413&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;‘Whispering’ plants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/27802-plants-trees-talk-with-sound.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sound Garden: Can Plants Actually Talk and Hear?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/52237/are-there-plants-that-produce-audible-sound&quot;&gt;Are there plants that produce (audible) sound?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ndt.net/article/ewgae2004/html/htmltxt/l12laschimke.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Acoustic emissions from transpiring plants - new results and conclusions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T02:40:58.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19697" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19698" CreationDate="2018-06-18T06:06:16.353" Score="1" ViewCount="235" Body="&lt;p&gt;In hunting/shooting, you will often see the term MOA (which stands for minute of angle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is an (MOA) minute of angle when it comes to shooting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T06:06:16.353" Title="In shooting, what is a MOA (minute of angle)?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19697" CreationDate="2018-06-18T06:06:16.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;minute of angle is a measure of an angle&lt;/strong&gt;. It is &lt;strong&gt;1/60th of a degree&lt;/strong&gt;, 1/21600th of a circle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often times you will see this in&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scope increments, 1/8 of an MOA is more precise than 1/4.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scope vertical adjustment range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The ticks on a mil-dot reticle scope are usually given in MOA.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The size of the dot on a reflex or red dot sight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The accuracy of a firearm, smaller or even sub-moa is better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to distance, &lt;strong&gt;one MOA corresponds to 1.047 inches per 100 yards&lt;/strong&gt;, so 1 inch at 100 yards and 3 inches at 300 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be useful to know when sighting in if you are 2 inches low at 100 yards, you need to move the scope up 2 MOA for 8 increments on a 1/4 MOA increment scope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MOA can also be used for ranging targets with the right scope, a 12-inch prairie dog will be 12 MOA tall at 100 yards and 6 MOA at 200 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T06:06:16.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19682" CreationDate="2018-06-18T17:32:31.023" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When one talks of adapting to an altitude, what also matters is how fast one is ascending. The critical part to note is that having a higher haemoglobin level does not mean one is better equipped at alititude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically it's safe to climb around &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/recommended-rates-of-ascent&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;300m per day&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming to the question of living at altitude and the possible advantages of acclimatisation as against lowlanders. There are many studies which compare people living at a higher altitude as against those living in the plains. There are also studies that compare the physiological adaptation of different highlanders. And the interesting part is that Tibetians, who live at an altitude of around 4500m have lower Hemoglobin levels than those living in the Andes!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tibetan males had a significantly lower mean hemoglobin concentration of 15.6 gm/dl compared with 19.2 gm/dl for Aymara males, and Tibetan females had a mean hemoglobin concentration of 14.2 gm/dl compared with 17.8 gm/dl for Aymara females. The Tibetan hemoglobin distribution closely resembled that from a comparable, sea-level sample from the United States, whereas the Aymara distribution was shifted toward 3-4 gm/dl higher values  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9696153&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One factor that was found which allowed Tibetians to have a good adaptation to altitude was the rate of ventilation and the rate at which oxygen was getting delivered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In addition, Tibetans may have a second biological adaptation, which expands their blood vessels, allowing them to deliver oxygen throughout their bodies more effectively than sea-level people do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0224_040225_evolution_2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarise:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Adapting to altitude depends not just on hemoglobin content.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Given that the studies show that highlanders themselves have different ways of adaptation, mid-highlanders would surely have a higher density of hemoglobin or a possible higher rate of ventilation (the rate of this might not be linear).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rate of altitude gain decides how much your body will adjust to the altitude.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Studies mentioned in the links provided show that lowlanders do adapt to higher altitudes by both ventilatory and hemoglobin content changes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Links for additional read:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/104/45/17593.full.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tibetians vs US sea level study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4532538/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Studies on higher exercise capacity of highlanders.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://academic.oup.com/ps/article/86/7/1384/1623369&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Tibetian chickens have adapted!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T17:32:31.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19702" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-18T21:42:13.753" Score="1" ViewCount="2491" Body="&lt;p&gt;I buy live shrimp at a bait shop on the weekends and use most of it but I always have some left over that I have been throwing out. Is there a way to save recently dead shrimp in the freezer to preserve them as bait for 1 to 2 weeks, until I go fishing again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly would I need to do, and is there a risk of it making the freezer smell?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-18T21:53:27.483" LastActivityDate="2018-12-22T22:01:09.493" Title="How to store fresh dead bait shrimp for a short period of time?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;storage&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19703" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19770" CreationDate="2018-06-18T21:51:32.730" Score="6" ViewCount="413" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related Q (especially its link to inversion): &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18785/what-is-the-relationship-between-altitude-gain-and-temperature-decrease-when-mou&quot;&gt;What is the relationship between altitude gain and temperature decrease when mountaineering?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is concerning the commonly used rule of thumb that an increase in elevation of 1000 feet will, on average, decrease the temperature by 3.3 to 5 degrees F (3.3 for moist air, 5 for dry). Some sources differ slightly in the exact numbers, but 3.3 and 5 are what I have seen most often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that local conditions on a mountain can trump this rule of thumb. Trying to understand this better, I found some examples of temperature &lt;em&gt;increasing&lt;/em&gt; going up. I am wondering if this is a common occurrence or a rare one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How closely can we trust this rule of thumb? Said another way: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;How often&lt;/em&gt; does reality deviate sufficiently from this rule of thumb to reduce its usefulness?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My specific example&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I camped on Cascade Mountain in the Adirondacks at about 1500 to 2000 feet (460 to 610 meters) higher elevation than nearby Lake Placid. The temperature at Lake Placid was 37 F (3 C). One of the forest preserve stewards told me the next morning that she expected the temperature on the mountain to be below freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a huge elevation difference and perhaps not a great sample, but I am hoping to use it to help understand the conditions I was in and better prepare for future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mountain was wet below the tree line, so I would go with the lower change estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Temp difference: 3.3 x 1.5 = 4.95 = approximately 5 F &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; 3.3 * 2 = 6.6 F, so...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Estimated temp: 37 - 5 = &lt;strong&gt;32 F to&lt;/strong&gt; 37 - 6.6 = &lt;strong&gt;30.4 F&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Estimate: 30 to 32 degrees F at my elevation. 27 to 29 F (about -1 to -3 C) if we use the 5 degrees per 1000 feet estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it did not feel below freezing and I never noticed anything frozen or frosted, am I correct to assume that the rule of thumb was not accurate in our case and that it was not actually at or below freezing? &lt;em&gt;I still am not sure how often the inaccuracies/inversions actually happen and am wondering if I can assume that it was the case in my situation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words: &lt;strong&gt;what is the likelihood that the rule of thumb is not accurate? Is the likelihood high enough that we should always take the estimate with a grain (or more) of salt, or is the likelihood low enough that I should trust the estimate more than my gut based on how I feel?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-06-19T17:22:45.043" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T15:09:54.213" Title="How accurate is the 3.5 - 5 degree F temperature drop per 1000 feet rule of thumb?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19702" CreationDate="2018-06-18T21:52:55.853" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just place them in a &lt;strong&gt;ziplock bag and freeze them until you go fishing again.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth point out that people going fishing with frozen bait, and I doubt it would smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;single most widely available bait in Florida is the Frozen Shrimp.&lt;/strong&gt;   Many bait shops bag and freeze any shrimp that die in their live shrimp holding tanks at a discounted price.  Other frozen shrimp come strait from a distributor, these frozen shrimp range in quality from freshly frozen to shrimp that have been frozen and thawed many times (reducing the quality of the bait)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floridashorefishing.com/live-or-frozen-shrimp-for-bait&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Live or Frozen Shrimp for Bait&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don’t catch my own shrimp, but I do buy them sometimes. W&lt;strong&gt;hen I have some leftover, they too go into plastic bags and get frozen&lt;/strong&gt;, unless they are jumbos. Those go in the frying pan! The same thing applies to frozen shrimp as it does to every other frozen bait; keep them cold until you put them on the hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://guide.sportsmansguide.com/tips/a-quick-guide-to-freezing-bait-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Quick Guide To Freezing Bait&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-18T21:52:55.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19705" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19906" CreationDate="2018-06-18T22:08:00.813" Score="6" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any weather, or at least temperature, archives for mountains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that this information is very spotty, that it is not recorded for many mountains. In searching for this data, however, I have found weather services which &lt;em&gt;forecast&lt;/em&gt; weather for mountains at various elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though obviously recorded temperature is better, it would be useful if there was at least an archive of the predicted temperature. That would be better than nothing, assuming these mountain weather forecasts are somewhat reliable, which is something I do not know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any temperature archives for mountains?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T20:28:19.477" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T02:52:01.387" Title="Mountain weather archive" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20130" CreationDate="2018-06-19T05:36:24.083" Score="6" ViewCount="1101" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the older fairy tales is &lt;a href=&quot;https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-ugly-duckling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Ugly Duckling&lt;/a&gt; where the one oddball of the bunch is considered ugly by the other ducks but turns out to be a swan at the end of the story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/WILD_Goose_Egg_Addling_Protocol.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;read&lt;/a&gt;, Canada geese can't tell the difference between real and dummy eggs (dummy eggs are used to control the population), but I highly doubt that a duck would actually raise a swan since from the research I did for this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19527/how-do-mallard-mother-ducks-tell-their-ducklings-from-others&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, any unrelated ducklings will be chased off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it realistic that duck would raise a swan?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-22T23:28:13.637" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T21:11:44.483" Title="Is it realistic that a duck would raise a swan?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19708" CreationDate="2018-06-19T16:23:35.573" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen on TV ducklings being 'raised' by cats, Cuckoos being raised by small singing birds and people in zoos using birds of some breeds to brood eggs of other species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if a swans egg happens to be in between the eggs of a duck and she does not notice it when it is newly there, it is very likely that she will not take any action against the egg.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When the egg comes out with her there, she will accept the chick as one of hers, whatever the looks and size.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might even be possible to slip a young cygnet in with the ducklings around the time of coming out of the egg without the duck noticing and taking action. But it has to be at the right time, when the mother instincts of the duck are to accept all coming out of the eggs in her nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In nature it is however rather unlikely for a swans egg to get into a ducks nest. It will take some real action and neither swans nor ducks will want to move the eggs. There are animals that steal eggs, but they do that to eat them, not to store them in an other nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T16:23:35.573" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11799" CreationDate="2018-06-19T16:49:22.890" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No better than 3 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt;, probably more like 6 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt;, and they aren't very effective past 75 yards because they quickly loose velocity and start tumbling end  over end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A smooth bore firearm is simply never going to demonstrate the same level of accuracy as a rifle and will never excel at distances much past 100 yards with 75 yards and closer being the weapon’s ideal zone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lofigunandgame.com/extolling-the-virtues-of-the-smooth-bore-slug-gun/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Extolling the virtues of the smooth bore slug gun&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Slugs are better now. To 75 yards they have become extremely accurate. My current favorite is Brenneke's K.O. , which has an attached plastic wad that works like the tail of a badminton bird to keep the the slug flying straight. Stores around here stock huge piles of K.O.s prior to deer season and sell them for very little. At 75 yards they will shoot 1 ½&quot; to 2&quot; groups all day, which was unheard of when I started deer hunting. At 100 yards they usually print 3&quot;-4&quot; groups but the K.O., like any smoothbore slug, often loses stability somewhere between 75 and 100 yards and one may tumble far off target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2012/07/smoothbore-slugs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smoothbore Shotgun Slugs: Then and Now&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A smoothbore &quot;slug gun&quot; with rifle sights will usually shoot groups in the 3&quot; (6 MOA) range at 50 yards/meters, making them satisfactory deer hunting weapons at short range. An occasional example will do better, and some do worse. Their effective deer hunting range is limted by their accuracy, but the slug itself is dangerous to other hunters at far greater distances, an important point to keep in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_slugs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shotgun Slugs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shotguns aren't usually used for their accuracy, but at the same time whitetail deer (probably the most common application for slugs) have a kill zone &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chuckhawks.com/kill_zone_game_animals.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 inches in diameter&lt;/a&gt;, so you should be fine with a shotgun out to 100 yards with 6 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; (which of course will depend on your gun and the conditions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-19T16:49:22.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19712" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19733" CreationDate="2018-06-19T20:34:10.083" Score="8" ViewCount="427" Body="&lt;p&gt;When wild camping, the general advice I've heard is to pitch up late and leave early. However, what times are considered &quot;late&quot; and &quot;early&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thought is that sunrise and sunset would be sensible definitions, but this doesn't seem overly practical in the UK or Northern Europe, at least in the summer months. For example, in the Lake District (UK) in June, sunset is around 22:00 and sunrise around 04:30, but it will only be &quot;dark&quot; between the start/end of (civil) twilight roughly ~45 minutes later/earlier. As you head further north into Scotland (or Northern Scandinavia), the amount of darkness will continue to decrease, and eventually disappear completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst I accept this will be subjective to some extent, it should be possible to get a reasonable consensus as to what times would be typically considered acceptable for &quot;late&quot; and &quot;early&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15703" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T21:58:35.183" Title="How late/early should you pitch up/leave when wild camping in the UK/Europe?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19713" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-20T05:04:26.043" Score="2" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ducklings are getting much bigger very quickly, to the point that it's almost hard to tell the mother duck from the ducklings, (mother duck in back of procession)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hU31U.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hU31U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bunch of big ducklings&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much &lt;strong&gt;bigger&lt;/strong&gt; are these ducklings going to get &lt;strong&gt;before they start flying&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-10-28T17:43:46.503" Title="How big do ducklings get before they can fly?" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19714" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19715" CreationDate="2018-06-20T05:06:09.550" Score="1" ViewCount="399" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19661/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; made me wonder how a slingshot would compare in power to an airgun, especially as for that location, without a license you are limited to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15912/8794&quot;&gt;12 ft-lbs of energy&lt;/a&gt;. For hunting with firearms, more energy means that you are more likely to get a clean kill, and a minimum level is often mandated by law in the United States for hunting a species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked for data, but there really isn't much especially as compared to airguns and it probably depends on the person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one &lt;strong&gt;calculate the energy of a slingshot projectile&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T05:06:09.550" Title="How to calculate the energy of a slingshot projectile?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;slingshots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19714" CreationDate="2018-06-20T05:06:09.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to do this, you need the weight of the projectile and its velocity. The way to measure the velocity is to use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_chronograph#Modern_chronograph&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;modern gun chronograph&lt;/a&gt;, you shoot the projectile through the to screens and it will measure the velocity for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you take the weight of the projectile and plug it into the equation,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;(weight in grains * velocity in feet per second squared)/450240 &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pyramydair.com/article/What_is_Muzzle_Energy_August_2003/5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Equation Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or you could plug the numbers into an online calculator like any of these&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.airgundepot.com/airgun-calculators-article.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Airgun Calculators&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/energy.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Foot lbs of energy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shooterscalculator.com/bullet-kinetic-energy.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bullet kinetic energy calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and get the result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ft-lbs of energy aren't everything when it comes to getting clean kills but as a comparison between one projectile and another, it's probably the easiest to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T05:06:09.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19717" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19729" CreationDate="2018-06-20T05:19:39.103" Score="9" ViewCount="968" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, bees will split from a hive, and a bunch of them (including a new queen bee) will swarm, and move to build a new hive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fMJ9Rl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fMJ9Rl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swarm of bees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, there is an &lt;strong&gt;awful lot of bees&lt;/strong&gt; huddled together around the new queen, they aren't doing much, just clustered the tree branch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Exactly how dangerous is a group of swarming bees?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T17:11:23.193" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T10:30:30.750" Title="How dangerous is a swarm of bees?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19718" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19736" CreationDate="2018-06-20T08:12:31.197" Score="7" ViewCount="1045" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to buy an ultralight sleeping bag, that would be warm enough for sleeping in the Alps in summer comfortably. I would be sleeping in a tent on a sleeping mat. I would probably be staying at around 2000, max 2500 meters. And I would expect I could be out there in between June and September. According to my research on the Internet, the lowest temperatures at that time and altitude should be around 0°C, possibly a couple degrees below, but most likelly a bit above. How warm do I need the sleeping bag to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, I believe my question can be subdivided in the following subquestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I safelly assume, that it will not get much below 0°C in summer in the Alps at around 2000 meters altitude?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much warmer will it be inside a tent? (very small two-person tent, two layers, no heaters)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sleeping bags have temperature ratings for three categories: comfort, limit and extreem. Should I look at the lowest value of &quot;comfort&quot; temperature if I want to be able to sleep without feeling cold?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I have bought a sleeping bag, and would like to update the question with my experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have decided to go with the ultralight (and expensive) option in the end. My new sleeping bag is rated +4°C comfort, and -1°C limit. I have tested it on a few trips in the mountains during this summer. When sleeping on warm summer nights at altitudes around 1500m, it was actually too warm. No surprise there, and not a problem either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trip I took was in the end of September, when the nights were fairly cold already. I am not sure about the exact temperature, but it must have been in between 0 and 5°C. I was sleeping at around 2400. I must admit, I was a bit worried, but the only time I was cold was while cooking dinner outside of the tent. The sleeping bag combined with a cotton sleeping bag liner was certainly enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-11-19T09:23:02.857" LastActivityDate="2018-11-19T09:23:02.857" Title="How warm should a sleeping bag be to sleep in summer in the Alps comfortably?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19718" CreationDate="2018-06-20T10:58:31.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Can I safelly assume, that it will not get much below 0°C in summer in the Alps at around 2000 meters altitude?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say that very broadly this assumption will hold, but the question is what you will be betting on it. There can certainly be situations where it gets colder, although this is probably quite unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it getting colder means that you would be uncomfortable for a single night, or be forced to maybe wear all your clothes inside the sleeping bag that is suboptimal but (in my eyes) a small risk. However, plan to bring very limited/light-weight gear and plan spending a longer time in exposed/difficult terrain then the risk will be a different beast altogether. We would have to know more about the exact trip that you are planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How much warmer will it be inside a tent? (standard, small, no heaters)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This of course depends on the tent, how exposed you will pitch it, the prevailing weather/wind and also it's occupants. My experience is that a full 3-person double-wall tent will easily be heated to a couple of degrees warmer than the outside temperature. How big the difference will be is however hard to predict.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sleeping bags have temperature ratings for three categories: comfort, limit and extreem. Should I look at the lowest value of &quot;comfort&quot; temperature if I want to be able to sleep without feeling cold?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This varies a lot depending on the manufacturer of the sleeping bag. After all what does 'extreme' mean exactly? That you'll survive but with both arms and legs frozen off? Manufacturers will always try to come up with the most exiting numbers to sell their products, so don't put too much faith in them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion here is to go to your trusted local outdoors store and talk to them about the sleeping bags they have. They should be able to recommend one that fits your needs. The shop in my home town for example does their own sleeping bag grading, allowing you to compare sleeping bags of different manufacturers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T10:58:31.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19718" CreationDate="2018-06-20T13:58:43.343" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;1) You can expect &lt;strong&gt;the lowest Jun-Sep temperatures will be above 0 °C most of the time.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sos112.si/slo/tdocs/ujma/2017/016-028.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coldest temperatures&lt;/a&gt; on Kredarica (2515 m, in &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontheworldmap.com/slovenia/slovenia-location-on-the-europe-map.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slovenian&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://selfguidedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/trekking_walking_slovenia_alps_self_guided_tour-870x480.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alps&lt;/a&gt;) in 2016:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jun: -1 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;July: -2.1 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;August: -3 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;September: -2.9 °C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yr.no/place/Slovenia/Other/Kredarica/long.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10-day forecast for Kredarica&lt;/a&gt;: The lowest morning temperatures between 21st and 29th June will be from -3 to +8 °C and this is colder than usually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) You can be much warmer in &lt;strong&gt;a tent,&lt;/strong&gt; because it prevents against wind, which can be strong in Alps at times. It also prevents against moisture (dew).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) For these temperatures, I would buy &lt;strong&gt;a sleeping bag -5 °C Comfort.&lt;/strong&gt; You can find such a bag that weighs about 1.5 kg. Speaking from experience. Temperature ratings on sleeping bags can be overrated by more than 5 °C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-06-23T13:28:44.603" LastActivityDate="2018-06-23T13:28:44.603" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19721" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19735" CreationDate="2018-06-20T15:59:44.570" Score="2" ViewCount="402" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stallions will kill &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/15684/8794&quot;&gt;unrelated&lt;/a&gt; foals, but I have heard that male mountain lions will kill their own kittens, ostensibly to bring the females back into heat so they can breed again. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://sciencenordic.com/solving-mystery-bear-cub-killings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bears will do this&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any scientific evidence of male mountain lions killing their own, related kittens?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T16:32:00.770" Title="Do male mountain lions kill their own kittens?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19691" CreationDate="2018-06-20T17:56:56.167" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove_snapper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mangrove snapper&lt;/a&gt;, (there are quite a few different names of snapper) and I am making the identification on two things, the pattern of diamond shaped spots and the top fin being whole and not split into two fins..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this picture of a mangrove snapper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h54Mj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h54Mj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.texasbbqforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10580&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T17:56:56.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1502" CreationDate="2018-06-20T22:59:33.267" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountain lion hunting is legal in the western parts of the United States, with the exception of California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding licenses and quotas, there are three types,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tags, with limited numbers availiable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Over the counter licenses with quotas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unprotected, no license necessary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The taking of large males is prioritized by both hunters and the wildlife departments and as far as I know kittens or females with kittens are protected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as methods go it can be split between hunting with dogs and without, dogs make it much easier to track them and to identify the gender of the lion once it is treed. Sometimes states allow one method but not the other or will split them into different seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far a whether the numbers are declining it is true that hunters nearly wiped them out at during the early past of the last century, but now populations of mountain lions are spreading back out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;St. Louis - Cougars are again spreading across the Midwest, including in Wisconsin, a century after the generally reclusive predators were hunted to near extinction in much of the region, according to a new study billed as the first rigorous statistical look at the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://archive.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/cougars-spreading-across-midwest-study-shows-hn5pd03-159061635.html/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Study finds increasing number of cougars in Midwest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;While the distance the Connecticut cougar traveled was rare, we found that cougars are roaming long distances and are moving back into portions of their historical range across the Midwest,&amp;quot; LaRue said. The study confirmed the presence of cougars from Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska to the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/20953-mountain-lion-comeback.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Mountain Lions May be Staging Comeback&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;John Kanta, a South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks biologist, said the department thinks the big cats returned to the Black Hills, 8,426 square miles of rugged mountains in western South Dakota, in the 1950s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About 25 years ago that population began to expand so much that young mountain lions began spreading in all directions. Kanta said most wandered westward, toward good habitat in the Bighorn Mountains and other steep ranges. Some struck off across the prairie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kansas.com/sports/outdoors/article110088707.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is Kansas becoming overrun with mountain lions?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But such news isn’t quite the surprise it would have been just a while ago, for more and more cougars have lately been probing former range from Indiana to Arkansas. Almost all the explorers are young males driven out by older ones with prior claims on the territories back home. This is the main reason no resident populations are known to have been established east of Nebraska…yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2013/03/21/where-will-cougars-show-up-next/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Where Will Cougars Show Up Next?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-20T22:59:33.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19725" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-21T01:13:15.347" Score="2" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11049/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; about how raccoons were introduced into Germany, and after the other questions on this site about the harm caused by non-native species,(grey squirrels, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19692/when-and-why-were-house-sparrows-originally-brought-to-the-united-states&quot;&gt;house sparrows&lt;/a&gt;, etc), it made me wonder what it the effects of raccoons were especially since there is some  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon#Distribution_in_Germany&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;debate&lt;/a&gt; on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do raccoons affect the environment in Germany?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:58:01.507" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:58:01.507" Title="What are the effects of introducing raccoons into Germany?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;raccoons&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19726" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-21T06:38:57.957" Score="3" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to buy a one-man packraft, capable going some wilder stuff. For the beginning I would like to try it with a &lt;strong&gt;used one&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I look for when buying a &lt;strong&gt;second hand&lt;/strong&gt; packraft?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11684" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-22T15:27:59.090" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T15:27:59.090" Title="What to look for when buying a second hand packraft?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;packrafting&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2018-06-22T15:54:18.123" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19727" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19732" CreationDate="2018-06-21T12:26:58.140" Score="6" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;While Planning a hike in &lt;strong&gt;Western Ghats, India&lt;/strong&gt; by studying Satellite Images, I came through various identifications for a forest area like National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On studying further I came across some more terms and areas, and read that it is illegal to venture in some of them, but I wasn't able to find any valid documentation on the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the terms I have come across are (There might be more terms/areas I haven't come across):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wildlife sanctuaries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Biosphere reserves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reserved and protected forests&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conservation reserves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Private protected areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Conservation areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the difference between the above mentioned areas and what is the law about hiking/camping through these areas? Here I am asking the question with respect to Indian forests/protected areas.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7964" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-02T00:29:13.780" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T10:16:48.177" Title="What's the difference between defined Forest areas and laws with respect to hiking/camping through them in India?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;western-ghats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19717" CreationDate="2018-06-21T17:09:06.313" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A swarm (used in the technical sense to mean that clump you show in your question) is about the least dangerous formation in which you can encounter bees. Their bellies are full (they eat before they swarm) they have no hive to defend, and you are basically not of interest to them. Beekeepers literally gather swarms into buckets to put them into new hives. (Keep in mind, though, that they are familiar with bee behavior and can evaluate the &quot;mood&quot; of a swarm better than you can, so don't get too close.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarming_(honey_bee)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A swarm of bees sometimes frightens people, though the bees are usually not aggressive at this stage of their life cycle. This is principally due to the swarming bees' lack of brood (developing bees) to defend and their interest in finding a new nesting location for their queen. This does not mean that bees from a swarm will not attack if they perceive a threat; however, most bees only attack in response to intrusions against their colony. Additionally, bees seldom swarm except when the position of the sun is direct and impressive. Swarm clusters, hanging off of a tree branch, will move on and find a suitable nesting location in a day or two. Encountering a bee swarm for the first time can be alarming. Bees tend to swarm near their hives or honeycombs, so if a swarm is visible then a nest is nearby. Swarms are usually not aggressive unless provoked, so it is important to keep a good distance from swarms in order to avoid provoking them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at them, take a picture, leave them alone, you saw a cool thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes, I have met a swarm, one actually set up on a warm sunny day in some old beekeeping equipment (including hives with not-quite-enough-frames) of my father's that we were keeping in a shed. There was a lot of crazy around all of that, but nobody got stung.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-06-21T17:16:48.013" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T17:16:48.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19712" CreationDate="2018-06-21T19:43:09.507" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you are talking about the practice of &lt;strong&gt;dashing off into the woods to sleep in secret wherever you happen to be while traveling&lt;/strong&gt;. I have heard this called &quot;wild camping&quot; before. &lt;em&gt;Not to be confused with camping on hiking trails where you are allowed to camp anywhere&lt;/em&gt;, which I assume you are not talking about because the advice there is generally the opposite of what you have stated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the reasons that I have seen for making camp late and breaking it early when wild camping in this manner are all variations of &quot;I don't want people knowing I'm there.&quot; Often because it is illegal, or because you are leery of crime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Some questions to ask yourself, to determine your needs and capabilities&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you able to set up after dark? Either because you can see enough, or because you have light - but then the light source could attract unwanted attention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much traffic will the area have? Are you likely to be spotted dashing off into the trees because vehicles are zooming past more than once per minute?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How badly do you want (or need) to stay undiscovered?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there are more questions you could answer to further develop your personal answer to this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer may also change depending on the site. Does the brush offer such good concealment that you could set up without anyone nearby noticing, or is your activity going to be obviously waving tall grass or bushes about and attracting attention, or possibly your movement be noticeable through the tree line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;When to set up or break camp&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the time should depend on many factors, but there are a few concrete things that we can say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If there is hardly any traffic&lt;/strong&gt; nearby and you are very unlikely to be seen by passers, &lt;strong&gt;then any time&lt;/strong&gt; is likely fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it is possible that you might be seen, or &lt;strong&gt;if it is of utmost importance to not be discovered&lt;/strong&gt; (ie: you're in a place where it's illegal, punished harshly, and the law is enforced strongly), then you really have &lt;strong&gt;no option but to make/break camp in the dark&lt;/strong&gt;, and preferably without shining light.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the situation is somewhere in between&lt;/strong&gt; the previous two points, as is likely, then waiting until no traffic is in sight to dash off into the trees or bushes to set up quickly, and staying still until dark, is probably sufficient and you would &lt;strong&gt;just wait as late as you are willing&lt;/strong&gt;. And then the opposite &lt;strong&gt;for morning: as early as you are willing&lt;/strong&gt;, which could be after sunrise (stay still after sunrise if so), pack up quickly when no traffic is in sight and dash back onto the road when it feels safe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Important safety concerns&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of wild campers being discovered and waking up to everything from wild animals nearby, to pleasant landowners wanting to be hospitable sharing coffee and a hot breakfast with the camper, to waking up with a gun in their face held by angry landowners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where it's illegal, the obvious expectation is that you'll either be forced to move &quot;anywhere but our town, just get out of here&quot;, or arrested; however, I have heard of polite wild campers getting police to leave them alone, and even of police telling the camper where a safer place to camp is and sometimes even checking on the camper in the night to make sure they are safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Take this with a grain of salt&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read up a lot about this practice, and I have been tempted to try it out, but so far I have kept my camping to areas where camping is permitted, such as designated camp sites or in government parks where you can camp anywhere. Your mileage may vary a lot. Be careful!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-06-21T19:53:11.490" LastActivityDate="2018-06-21T19:53:11.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19727" CreationDate="2018-06-22T08:44:05.253" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;I am no expert in this field, and I must admit that I had to go through various  documents (PDFs) that I had archived over a period of time, but was too lazy to understand them fully. I usually refer to sections that I want to know about.&#xA;And I have never memorised this information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing, it's never too clear for any veteran trekker in India to know how these terms differ from each-other. I consider myself no better than an amateur-ish trekker, so I and many of us follow one rule of thumb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Although, people have access to Forest Laws through various resources, people take them very lightly. Indian forest laws are documented in a proper way, but authorities apply them as per convenience.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ever since Sahyadri Tiger Project is taken seriously, the administration of these laws in certain containable regions is looking very impressive, and a thing to be glad about. So, the whole point is, don't go by my answer directly while deciding on whether or not to enter a protected area, ask the local people/officials, and then proceed.&#xA;Authorities here do not hesitate to bend the laws against us right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two aspects to this whole thing:&#xA;1. Typically in particular interest of Wildlife&#xA;2. Typically in interest of Forest as an ecosystem&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's looks at the first way to start with, referring to &lt;a href=&quot;http://envfor.nic.in/legis/wildlife/wildlife1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sanctuaries:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To understand the legal definition of a Sanctuary: &#xA;Chapter IV, section 18 states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;18. Declaration of National Parks. –&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) The State Government may, by notification, declare its intention to constitute any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters as a sanctuary if it considers that such area is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural, or zoological significance, for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, the next section states (more conveniently, and practically as well):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) The notification referred to in sub-section (1) shall specify, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of such an area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For access rights: Chapter IV, section 27, 28, 30, 31 and 32 clearly state the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;27: Restriction on entry in sanctuary -&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) No person other than,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (a) a public servant on duty;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (b) a person who has been permitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden or the authorised officer to reside within the limits of the sanctuary;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (c) a person who has any right over immovable property within the limits of the sanctuary;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (d) a person passing through the sanctuary along a public highway, and&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (e) the dependents of the person referred to in CI. (a), (b) or (c) shall enter or reside in the sanctuary, except under and in accordance with the conditions of a permit granted under section 28.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) Every person shall, so long as he resides in the sanctuary, be bound&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (a) to prevent the commission, in the sanctuary, or an offence against this Act;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (b) where there is reason to believe that any such offence against this Act has been committed in such sanctuary, to help in discovering and arresting the offender;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (c) to report the death of any wild animal and to safeguard its remains until the Chief Wildlife Warden or the authorised officer takes charge thereof;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (d) to extinguish any fire in such sanctuary of which he has knowledge or information and to prevent from spreading by any lawful means in his power, any fire within the vicinity of such sanctuary of which he has knowledge or information; and&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (e) to assist any forest officer, Chief Wildlife Warden, Wildlife Warden or police officer demanding his aid for preventing the commission of any offence against this Act or in the investigation of any such offence.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(3) No person shall, with intent to cause damage to any boundary-mark of a sanctuary or to cause any wrongful gain as defined in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), alter, destroy, move, or deface such boundary-mark.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(4) No person shall tease or molest any wild animal or litter the grounds or sanctuary.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;28: Grant of permit. –&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  (1) The Chief Wildlife Warden may, on application, grant to any person a permit to enter or reside in a sanctuary for all or any of the following purposes, namely:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (a) investigation or study of wildlife and purposes ancillary or incidental thereto;&#xA;      (b) photography;&#xA;      (c) scientific research;&#xA;      (d) tourism;&#xA;      (e) transaction of lawful business with any person residing in the sanctuary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) A permit to enter or reside in a sanctuary shall be issued subject to such conditions and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;30. Causing fire prohibited. –&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  No person shall set fire to a sanctuary, or kindle any fire, or leave any fire burning, in a sanctuary, in such manner as to endanger such sanctuary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;31 Prohibition of entry into sanctuary with weapon. –&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  No person shall enter a sanctuary with any weapon except with the previous permission in writing of the Chief Wildlife Warden or the authorised officer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;32. Ban on use of injurious substances. –&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  No person shall use in a sanctuary, chemicals, explosives or any other substances which may cause injury to, or endanger, any wildlife in such sanctuary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;National Parks:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To understand the legal definition of a National Park: &#xA;Chapter IV, Section 35:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;35. Declaration of National Parks. –&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) Whenever it appears to the State Government that an area, whether within a sanctuary or not, is, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geo-morphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to be constituted as a National Park for the purpose of protecting &amp;amp; propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment, it may, by notification, declare its intention to constitute such area as a National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furtherly to sum-up the access rights:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(6) No person shall destroy, exploit, or remove any wildlife from a National Park or destroy or damage the habitat or any wild animal or deprive any wild animal or its habitat within such National Park except under and in accordance with a permit granted by the Chief Wildlife Warden and no such permit shall be granted unless the State Government, being satisfied that such destruction, exploitation, or removal of wildlife from the National Park is necessary for the improvement and better management of wildlife therein, authorises the issue of such permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(7) No grazing of any livestock shall be permitted in a National Park and no livestock shall be allowed to enter except where such [livestock] is used as a vehicle by a person authorised to enter such National Park.&#xA;  (8) The provisions of secs. 27 and 28, secs.30 to 32 (both inclusive), and CIS, (a), (b) and (c) of [Sec.33, 33A14] and sec.34 shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to a National Park as they apply in relation to a sanctuary&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reserved Forests:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chapter I, Section 2.: &quot;Definitions&quot; state,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“reserve forest” means the forest declared to be reserved by the State Government under sec.20. of the Indian Forest Act, 1927&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, surprisingly, Section 20 falls under section that talk about Sanctuaries.&#xA;It was all about your access rights, now take a look at what rights Authorities hold. When it's about Authorities access over a person under a kind of reserved land, no section seems to be segregating the statements.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In a nutshell, it is obviously a long section, but I'll just quote the first sub-section so that you get the gist of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chapter VI: Prevention and Detection of Offences: It states,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;50. Power of entry, search, arrest and detention. -&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Director or any other authorised by him in this behalf or the Chief Wildlife Warden or the authorised officer or any forest officer or any police officer not below the rank of a sub-inspector may, if he has reasonable grounds for believing that any person has committed an offence against this Act,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (a) require any such person to produce for inspection any captive animal, wild animal, animal article, meat, [trophy, uncured trophy, or any specified plant or part or derivative thereof] in his control, custody or possession, or any licence, permit or any other document granted to him or required to be kept by him under the provisions of this Act;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (b) stop any vehicle or vessel in order to conduct search or inquiry or enter upon and search any premises, land, vehicle, or vessel in the occupation of such person, and open and search any baggage or other things in his possession;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  (c) seize any captive animal, wild animal, animal article, meat, trophy or uncured trophy, or any specified plant or part or derivative thereof in respect of which an offence against this Act appears to have been committed, in the possession of any person together with any trap, tool, vehicle, vessel, or weapon used for committing any such offence and unless he is satisfied that such person will appear and answer any charge which may be preferred against him arrest him without warrant and detain him.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Provided that where a fisherman, residing within ten kilometres of a sanctuary or National Park, inadvertently enters on a boat not used for commercial fishing, in the territorial waters in that sanctuary or National Park, a fishing tackle or net no such boat shall not be seized.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lets look at what Forest Laws says about it all:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://envfor.nic.in/legis/forest/forest4.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Indian Forest Act 1927&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reserved Forests&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chapter II:Reserved Forests:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Jumping to section 26 which is about &quot;Access&quot; that are in interest of a trekker/hiker, it states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;26. Acts prohibited in such forests.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) Any person who&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (a) makes any fresh clearing prohibited by section 5, or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (b) sets fire to a reserved forest, or, in contravention of any rules made by the State Government in this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest; or who, in a reserved forest&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (c) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons as the Forest-officer may notify in this behalf,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (d) trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (e) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging any timber;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (f) fells, girdles, lops, or bums any tree or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, the same;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (g) quarries stone, bums lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes, any forest-produce;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (h) clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other purpose;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (i) in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the State Government hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or snares; or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (j) in any area in which the Elephant's Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879), is not in force, kills or catches elephants in contravention of any rules so made, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both, in addition to such compensation for damage done to the forest as the convicting Court may direct to be paid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (a) any act done by permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or under any rule made by the state Government; or&lt;br&gt;&#xA;      (b) the exercise of any right continued under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 15, or created by grant or contract in writing made by or on behalf of the Government under section 23.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(3) Whenever fire is caused willfully or by gross negligence in a reserved forest, the State Government may (notwithstanding that any penalty has been inflicted under this section) direct that in such forest or any portion there of the exercise of all rights of pasture or to forest produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Village Forests:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chapter III:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;28. Formation of village-forests.-&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) The State Government may assign to any village-community the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forest, and may cancel such assignment. All forests so assigned shall be called village-forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) The State Government may make rules for regulating the management of village forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community to which any such assignment is made may be provided with timber or other forest-produce or pasture, and their duties for the protection and improvement of such forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(3) All the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall (so far as they are not inconsistent with the rules so made) apply to village-forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: Devrai may be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Protected Forests:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chapter IV:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;29. Protected forests.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare the provisions of this Chapter applicable to any forest-land or waste-land which, is not included in a reserved forest but which is the property of Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest produce of which the Government is entitled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(2) The forest-land and waste-lands comprised in any such notification shall be called a &quot;protected forest&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: Kalsubai - Harishchandragad Forest&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;International Union for Conservation of Nature:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a broader scope, you may want to check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iucn.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Union for Conservation of Nature, (ICUN)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The official link to: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about/protected-area-categories&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IUCN Categories&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks in India belong to IUCN Category II &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr To answer your &lt;em&gt;real&lt;/em&gt; question, I'll cite some examples:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion, in India:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can visit a national park: The kind of access like,   &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you must have a guide with you or not, or  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can walk/hike or you must have a vehicle and a driver arranged by national park authorities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you must stay in authority-provided shelters/camps or you can't stay for night at all&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;are all varying with respect to places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: Sanjay Gandhi National Park?&#xA;It's also interesting to know how the two Acts that we referred to align with each other. For example, Sanjay Gandhi National Park.  It's a National Park, right? But, there are some villages along the boundaries which had not been rehab'ed elsewhere. So, people living in those villages have a valid access to a certain region around their village INSIDE the National Park. If you read the Forest Act carefully, you will be tempted to consider this 'certain region' as a Protected forest, because we (those who do not live in those villages) are also allowed to enter it with a fee paid at the entrance. Beyond that certain region, we are not allowed any access, which I am tempted to consider as a Reserved Forest. So, maybe we can have a live example of a Protected and a Reserved forest inside a National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the state of Maharashtra, there are some cases where you can visit/hike/trek through a wildlife and/or a bird sanctuary which is NOT considered under Sahyadri Tiger Project, with or without prior permission. For example, you can trek/hike up to Bhimashankar (which is in Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary) without an advance permission, and/or advance payment. But, when you visit Karnala Bird Sanctuary you have to pay and register your details at the gate, however no prior indication of arrival is required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In state of Maharashtra, you can not &lt;em&gt;officially/legally&lt;/em&gt; visit/hike/trek through any section of forest that is considered under Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, example: Chandoli National Park, Koyna Tiger Reserve.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In state of Maharashtra, there are some cases where you can &lt;em&gt;officially/legally&lt;/em&gt; visit/hike/trek through a restricted section of forest that is considered under Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, but is also a separate wildlife sanctuary, with a guide. Example: Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the state of Maharashtra, there are some cases where you can visit/trek/hike through a section of forest which is a reserved forest but is not a National Park or a sanctuary, but is considered under a hotspot under Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, with or without a guide. Example: Forest of Amboli.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This all said, I have came across people in India, who call a certain region as a Buffer region to a National Park. In some cases, the buffer region is allowed to be ventured into with no security check, in many of the cases this region can be accessed by informing the officials and a payment. But, I haven't seen any references of this 'Buffer' region in both the Acts that I have referred so far.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T10:16:48.177" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T10:16:48.177" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19712" CreationDate="2018-06-22T11:26:53.883" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;With regards to the UK: &quot;wild camping&quot; is simply camping somewhere which is not an &quot;organised&quot; camp site. It is a right in Scotland, where the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which was introduced in 2005, sets out the rights of access and the right to camp throughout Scotland. The Act established a legal right to wild camp anywhere in Scotland so long as campers follow a few guidelines. Camping must be lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in one place. Campers must act responsibly, cause no pollution and leave no trace.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In England and Wales there is no right to camp in the wild without the express permission of the landowner. There are some areas where wild camping is fairly common and tolerated. For example, in the Lake District and Snowdonia above the highest field boundaries, there are large areas where the camping is accepted, providing reasonable precautions are taken, and campers must be out of sight of all roads and human habitation. But it's still not a right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dartmoor is a little different because you have a de facto right to camp and the national park does encourage responsible wild camping although some areas which are live firing ranges will have access restrictions at times when firing is planned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advice is to camp high up, pitch late and strike camp early, and to definitely leave no trace. Early and late is best thought of as unusually early or late, when people are less likely to be around rather than at a fixed time, so use common sense depending on location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the Lake District National Park website has information on wild camping at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/where-to-stay/wild-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/where-to-stay/wild-camping&lt;/a&gt;, so it's not exactly a &quot;risky&quot; activity!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2018-06-22T21:58:35.183" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T21:58:35.183" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14092" CreationDate="2018-06-22T14:53:29.840" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;After finally purchasing a lighter trigger (3-4 lbs), I can say that &lt;strong&gt;yes, it does help one be more accurate.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's much easier when you don't have to pull as hard, and the cleaner break makes it it much less jumpy when you go to pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also more enjoyable when you don't have to pull the trigger through a creaky break, and you notice it every single time you shoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-22T15:33:42.180" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T15:33:42.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19721" CreationDate="2018-06-22T16:32:00.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: They will kill unrelated kittens, and may not be able to tell the difference.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Females usually do not allow the male to approach the kittens as&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;he may kill them because he does not recognize them as his own offspring&lt;/strong&gt;. When a resident male is killed and a new male arrives in the vacant territory, he may kill all the kittens that he finds because they are not his offspring and because once the young are destroyed, the female will be more likely to breed again, producing&#xA;his offspring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hww.ca/assets/pdfs/factsheets/cougar-en.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar factsheet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adult male cougars do not participate in kitten rearing. Indeed, adult males sometimes kill kittens when they encounter them, a behaviour that may be part of the male cougar reproductive strategy. Killing kittens sired by unrelated males can increase the reproductive success of the infanticidal male by providing an opportunity to breed with the female sooner&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Causes of kitten mortality have been less well studied. In populations where kittens were&#xA;monitored, most deaths are a result of natural causes such as starvation or infanticide by males&#xA;(Logan and Sweanor 2001, Cooley et al. 2009). In most North American states and provinces,&#xA;including Alberta, hunters are not permitted to shoot spotted kittens or females cougars travelling&#xA;with spotted kittens&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wildlife-management/documents/WildlifeMgmtPlan-Cougars-Nov2012B.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Management Plan for Cougars in Alberta Wildlife Management Planning Series&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breeding males and females spend only a short time together after which time they separate, with the male playing no role in the rearing of young.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kittens (also called cubs) weigh just over a pound at birth. Until they are two weeks old the kitten’s eyes and ears are closed. Kittens have blackish-brown spotted coats, which serve as camouflage to help conceal them from other predators, including adult male cougars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://westernwildlife.org/cougar-outreach-project/biology-behavior/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cougar Reproduction and Maturation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage as states above is that by killing unrelated kittens, the males have a better chance of passing on their own genes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T16:32:00.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19718" CreationDate="2018-06-22T19:09:35.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warnings and Caveats&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone sleeps different. Some people sleep much warmer than others while others sleep incredibly cold. You can try and determine this in your house or better your backyard, but you really won't know until you are sleeping while hungry, exhausted and in the actual weather you are dealing with. Humidity effects people differently and so does altitude. The temperatures you have experience most recently also affect how you sleep. Just because you are a warm sleeper at -10 does not mean you will be a warm sleeper at +10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be ultralight in a critical piece of gear like a sleeping bag means to know your body. There is nothing stopping you from buying an ultralight sleeping bag, but if you don't know how you sleep, you need to buy an ultralight bag with warmth to spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, while I always want to be safe, I also want to be usually comfortable. Some areas have very consistent temperatures and the very rare incredibly cold night. In these areas I plan on being comfortable most nights and figuring out how to survive the once a season cold night (e.g., is it an area I can hike to lower elevation or the safety of town or can I do jumping jacks all night long). Other areas every night is essentially the coldest it gets. For these areas I never want to get close to the safety limit since I will never be comfortable. I would describe the Alps as being pretty consistent in temperature in the summer meaning you should expect to actually experience the extreme low on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can I safelly assume, that it will not get much below 0°C in summer in the Alps at around 2000 meters altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Alps are a big region, but that seems like a reasonable lower limit of expected temperatures. If I had did not have an escape plan, I would want to make sure my system would allow me to be safe, but slightly unconformable at that temperature. Lacking an escape plan, beyond get up and hike, I would probably want to sleep with all my cloths on and in a tent down to -10C. If I can check the weather and choose days and campsites, and don't mind canceling a trip because it is cold, 0C is probably fine as a low limit of sleeping safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How much warmer will it be inside a tent? (very small two-person tent, two layers, no heaters)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This depends on a number of factors (wind, tent, number of people, sleeping bags, etc. This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bigskyfishing.com/camping/sleeping-bag-temperature-ratings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; claims 20 degrees F, but I wouldn't count on that much of an improvement. It is also worth noting that sleeping bag ratings assume a pretty optimal tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags have temperature ratings for three categories: comfort, limit and extreem. Should I look at the lowest value of &quot;comfort&quot; temperature if I want to be able to sleep without feeling cold?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.prima-outdoor.com/extract-from-the-en-13537-european-standard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EN 13537 standard&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of values. The extreme temperature is essentially the lowest temperature that an average women can survive. This is a very cold night. Even though women sleep colder than men, this is still a very cold night for a man.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Limit temperature&lt;/em&gt; applies to a man sleeping curled up and not feeling cold. This is by no means a comfortable night, but generally is far away from risks for the average man. If I was an average man and didn't have any thing but a light set of cloths, a tent, and a good sleeping pad, and had an escape plan, I would probably want the limit temperature to be around 0C. With a light weight puffy jacket, I might be willing to go warmer depending on how often cold nights happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Comfort temperature&lt;/em&gt; is for the average woman sleeping in a relaxed position and feeling comfortable. For an average man who is willing to curl up and has a light puffy jacket, this is probably too warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-22T19:09:35.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19740" PostTypeId="7" CreationDate="2018-06-23T14:42:30.890" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange&lt;/b&gt; For people who love being outdoors enjoying nature and wilderness, and learning about the required skills and equipment. It's built and run &lt;i&gt;by you&lt;/i&gt; as part of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://stackexchange.com&quot;&gt;Stack Exchange&lt;/a&gt; network of Q&amp;amp;A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about outdoor activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-06-23T14:42:30.890" LastActivityDate="2018-06-23T14:42:30.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19741" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19718" CreationDate="2018-06-23T16:24:31.100" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ultralight and to sleep without feeling cold are inconsistent.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultralight mean to be as light as possible with sacrificing comfort.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be comfortable then go with the comfort rating.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tent is not much warmer.  It protects you from wind, rain, and snow.  The rating is basically based on being in a tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On colder weather you can extend the bag with a vapor barrier liner.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know bags are expensive but if you want a travel bag and a mountain bag consider two bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-06-23T21:33:14.713" LastActivityDate="2018-06-23T21:33:14.713" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19742" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19743" CreationDate="2018-06-23T19:19:01.290" Score="22" ViewCount="5407" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qcoZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7qcoZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;(click to enlarge)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I acquired a bunch of camping gear from a friend who moved out of the country. There was one of these hockey puck shaped disks, half grey half black, remaining in the cooking gear, but I have not a clue how to use it, and the friend is out of contact for a few months. I tried holding a lighter to it, expecting it to be some kind of cooking charcoal pellet, but it didn’t catch on fire. How do I use it? Or is it for something else entirely? I googled and googled and can’t figure out what it is used for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3947" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-06-24T13:12:26.273" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T22:12:43.407" Title="I have a firestarter disk, but it won’t light. How do I use it?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19742" CreationDate="2018-06-23T21:43:31.137" Score="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a grindstone.  The two halves would be different fineness.  Your friend probably had this in his cooking kit to sharpen knives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't look like it has anything to do with starting fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a device that looks very similar to yours.  It's clearly for sharpening:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cxn2q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cxn2q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a snippet from the web site of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sharpening Supplies&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T22:12:43.407" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T22:12:43.407" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19742" CreationDate="2018-06-24T02:55:41.713" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Olin Lathrop states it's a grindstone, and would be used to sharpen, or &quot;file&quot; things. It that's the case, then you would not use it to start a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's part of a fire starting kit. I say a part, because fire starting kits usually have something like flint, that you would strike against something like a steel part.  Flint can come in many colors but it's usually black or brown, and not gray. Also, the shape is generally not that uniform, and it's usually nowhere near that big.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your 100% sure that it's a fire starting device, then it's probably flint. Though I would sooner think it's a grindstone, or even just a weight to keep the paper napkins in place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit of bonus advice. Never try to light something on fire if you don't know for sure what it is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-06-24T14:23:46.330" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T14:23:46.330" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19742" CreationDate="2018-06-24T02:57:31.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;[Edit]I believe Pharap's comment is correct. Also, magnesium would not be used for the striker. There are some firestarter kits that supply a magnesium compound to be used as &lt;em&gt;fuel&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[original reply]&#xA;The piece you are missing is usually called a striker. It would be a stick or rod, often of magnesium. You (ahem) &lt;em&gt;strike&lt;/em&gt; the striker on the stone to make sparks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15923" LastEditorUserId="15923" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T00:57:13.140" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T00:57:13.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19717" CreationDate="2018-06-24T03:14:12.197" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, for us as normal, everyday people there is no really good way to tell how dangerous a swarm is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19729/15787&quot;&gt;Kate Gregory&lt;/a&gt;, has mentioned, usually a swarm is the most docile a bunch of bees as there ever was. But there is one fact that trumps all that: we people are stupid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With normal bees and normal people it would take something like 1,100 bee stings to kill. Granted, it would suck long before that, but for normal bees a normal adult can withstand 10 stings per pound of person. Of course, if you're allergic it could take a lot less. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even &quot;killer bees&quot; or &quot;Africanized bees&quot; still take that many stings. The &quot;killer&quot; bees are just far more likely to attack, and attack as a larger swarm then &quot;normal&quot; bees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, angering the swarm of bees is a bad idea, and you should just stay clear. You are far more likely to be hurt &quot;acting a fool&quot; around the bees than to be actually hurt by the bees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The swarm itself is not very dangerous, but like many things in nature,  not respecting the situation could get you into some real trouble. Your best bet is to remember what our mothers all told us, &quot;If you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you&quot; and move on. If you don't want the bees there then call a beekeeper or pest control depending on your own personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/honey-bee-research/docs/bee-stings-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/honey-bee-research/docs/bee-stings-safety/&lt;/a&gt; is a good read&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="8236" LastEditDate="2019-04-25T10:30:30.750" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T10:30:30.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19702" CreationDate="2018-06-24T03:31:43.167" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eat them. Nothing wrong with eating them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shrimp are shrimp and there fine to eat as long as they are alive (or at least recently dead) when you start to cook them. I wouldn't want to cook shrimp that have been dead for 12 hours in the sun, but live shrimp kept in a bait well or cooler should be quite good. And they make for an awesome snack while (before) you clean your catch, or a decent consolation while you mope over not having a catch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for freezing them, they won't be alive anymore but they should still work as bait. Whatever you do though don't cook or eat the frozen shrimp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T03:31:43.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19742" CreationDate="2018-06-24T03:48:59.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a sharpening stone. Very nice, but unless you're &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; good at sharpening knives, etc, by hand you'd be better off with a ceramic rod sharpener, which is sufficiently easy to use that even a complete dodo like myself can put a wicked edge on a knife with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've got an old-old-old Smith's ceramic rod knife and scissor sharpener that works really well. It looks like the more up-to-date version is the model 50185, which you can find many places, including &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0051OYT2U&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3500" LastActivityDate="2018-06-24T03:48:59.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19751" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19765" CreationDate="2018-06-24T19:55:16.877" Score="5" ViewCount="227" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef next year. I've not yet been certified, but I plan to do it soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my only scuba experience is the certification course, do I need to worry about the trip not being beginner-friendly enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there things I should look for in the trip description to tell me if the trip is beginner friendly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11847" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T13:54:33.880" LastActivityDate="2018-07-16T09:52:45.077" Title="Scuba diving right after passing certification" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19752" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19753" CreationDate="2018-06-24T23:17:16.223" Score="10" ViewCount="2489" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend said she heard there's a species of bird that hibernates during the winter. I was surprised because I've only heard of birds that either migrate to warm weather as it gets cold; or stay active and behave normally if they're designed to thrive in cold temperatures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know some hummingbirds go into a state called &lt;a href=&quot;http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2006/04/09/hummingbirds-and-torpor/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;torpor&lt;/a&gt;. Their metabolism slows down and they lower their body temperature to conserve energy. A variety of animals do it, but it's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thoughtco.com/hibernation-and-torpor-whats-the-difference-1140760&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;different from hibernation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there scientific proof that a species of bird goes into genuine hibernation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If so, I'd like to know the general characteristics, including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the species name?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where does it live?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When does it hibernate and for how long?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of areas does it hibernate in, such as den, tunnel, under trees? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other information, especially a picture, would be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's more than one known species, I can split this up into separate questions so it won't be too broad. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;New species, and traits of existing species, are discovered over time, so I'm asking for data as of June 1, 2018. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T01:36:58.480" Title="Do any birds hibernate?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19752" CreationDate="2018-06-25T00:24:44.977" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the RSPB, which @muru found spelled out at the bottom of the linked page below as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, there is one species of bird that does truly hibernate.  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/ask-an-expert/previous/hibernation.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB website&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-poorwill&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;common poorwill&lt;/a&gt;, which lives in the western US, hibernates through the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This small relative of the nightjar is found in western states of the&#xA;  USA such as California and New Mexico where it inhabits open areas of&#xA;  low vegetation and rocky outcrops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a nocturnal hunter of insects, the poorwill would struggle to find&#xA;  enough food to survive  during the cold winters. When faced with harsh&#xA;  weather and little food, this unique bird hides away in rocky crevices&#xA;  and hibernates through the winter, emerging in spring when the&#xA;  temperature has risen and more insects are active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website goes on to explain that no UK bird hibernates.  Instead they migrate, or engage in &lt;em&gt;colonial roosting&lt;/em&gt;, which is huddling together for warmth.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The wren has been documented to share a nest box overnight with up to&#xA;  60 other wrens!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One species in the UK, swifts, goes into torpor, to conserve energy for a short cold period, such as a cold night.  Most of the research on torpor has been done in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T01:36:58.480" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T01:36:58.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19754" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19769" CreationDate="2018-06-25T01:43:54.840" Score="5" ViewCount="924" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three main types of canoe paddle materials,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wooden paddles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plastic paddles with aluminum handles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Newer composite materials (fiberglass, carbon)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the pros and cons of each type of paddle material for canoeing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T02:24:42.177" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T02:24:42.177" Title="What are the pros and cons of plastic and aluminim vs wood vs composite paddles for canoeing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19755" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19757" CreationDate="2018-06-25T01:47:23.863" Score="6" ViewCount="1885" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a question about how to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19702/how-to-store-fresh-dead-bait-shrimp-for-a-short-period-of-time&quot;&gt;store dead bait shrimp&lt;/a&gt;, both answers suggest that you can simply eat the bait shrimp, but one says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As for freezing them, they won't be alive anymore but they should still work as bait. Whatever you do though &lt;strong&gt;don't cook or eat the frozen shrimp&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of curiosity why wouldn't you want to eat the frozen shrimp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T00:06:07.507" Title="Why couldn't you eat frozen bait shrimp?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19756" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19760" CreationDate="2018-06-25T02:21:55.520" Score="6" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an interest in sextants and how they work, mostly from reading the Horatio Hornblower novels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that sextants are still sold, and while I am sure that are not nearly as precise as GPS is nowadays it would still be a fun project to learn how to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should a beginner look for when purchasing their first sextant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T09:44:34.607" Title="What should a beginner look for in a sextant?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19755" CreationDate="2018-06-25T03:35:53.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Live shrimp are just that, alive. You can use the fact that they are alive to determine that they are reasonably safe to eat. However frozen shrimp do not have that built-in check. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The FDA and other agencies will &quot;police&quot; commercially available frozen shrimp, but they don't do anything for bait shrimp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frozen bait shrimp are usually the dead, dying, or otherwise discarded live bait shrimp. It's not uncommon for a bait shop to sell live shrimp, then take all the dead &quot;floaters&quot; and sell them as frozen shrimp. Again, quite safe for bait, not so good for eating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bait shrimp you freeze yourself has a similar issue. If you're eating the live bait shrimp, then you know, for a fact, how old and what condition the shrimp are in. If you happen to have a bait-well full of dead shrimp and freeze it, (again that's fine for bait,) you have no idea &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; the shrimp died. Moreover, if you &quot;collect&quot; frozen shrimp between trips, you probably didn't bother to mark the freeze date or freeze the shrimp quickly, or a bunch of other things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In essence, live shrimp you take from the bait-well and boil or try, you know the state of. Frozen (bait) shrimp has been rolling around in the freezer for an unknown amount of time. Well better that one just be bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you could eat the frozen shrimp if you take great care in freezing it. But again, that's not usually what happens.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/crustaceans/shrimp/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/crustaceans/shrimp/faq/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://floridahillbilly.com/eating-bait-shrimp/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://floridahillbilly.com/eating-bait-shrimp/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="2283" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T00:06:07.507" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T00:06:07.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19758" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-25T03:47:59.940" Score="5" ViewCount="498" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bet the first thing that came to your mind, was...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;because humans are evil and hurt animals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;because we're bigger than birds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;because we are louder than birds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;because of all of the above&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not an owner of a bird. I only admire them. However, I know in myself that I am not an angry, upset, jittery or violent person. I smile at people, strangers and I say hello to people - and yes, sometimes animals like dogs and cats. But when I come across equally as caring and gentle as I can with birds, they fly off. They simply don't trust anything or anyone. Yet when they are in captivity, they just about melt in your hands. Which is why I won't own one as a pet in a cage. I believe that is cruel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why should birds, in general&lt;/strong&gt;, not the prey-like ones because they will attack in the wild, &lt;strong&gt;be afraid of people trying simply to be kind to them?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More on the emotions of birds &lt;a href=&quot;http://theconversation.com/laughs-cries-and-deception-birds-emotional-lives-are-just-as-complicated-as-ours-69471&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15930" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T21:49:40.920" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T21:49:40.920" Title="Why are birds so nervous around humans?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19758" CreationDate="2018-06-25T04:13:03.180" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are bigger, and bigger things eat you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really that simple. Go to a park in town, and many birds will be very friendly towards humans. Go to a beach and seagulls will be more than happy to get very close. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple fact is we are bigger, that's scary. That's really all there is to it. But if the birds become used to humans, then they're not scared of us at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T04:13:03.180" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19756" CreationDate="2018-06-25T04:46:27.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Low cost, or flash. Or make your own, they are &quot;easy&quot; to make. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When learning how to use one (there is a reason they are still sold) it doesn't have to be precise. You just need something to practice with. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.popsci.com/make-sextant-from-junk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.popsci.com/make-sextant-from-junk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are very easy to use and very easy to make. If you are just looking to learn, these really simple ones should get you started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T09:44:34.607" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T09:44:34.607" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19751" CreationDate="2018-06-25T05:06:18.323" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no ‘formal’ way to find out.&#xA;However, rest assured you’re not alone in your situation. Many many people only dive rarely just when the opportunity presents itself and most diving operators, unless specifically aimed at a more experienced audience, will be able to accommodate you. You could contact some operators for ease of mind though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T05:06:18.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19762" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19767" CreationDate="2018-06-25T05:13:06.123" Score="2" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired mostly by this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6174/brick-wall-rating&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, where a person was asking what the climbing rating of a brick wall was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to all of the varied climbs in nature with the many different rock features and types, brick walls seem like they would be much more uniform (especially in vertical angle) and have to be built to certain standards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would make one brick wall harder to climb than the next?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T05:31:01.403" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T11:39:14.957" Title="What would make one brick wall harder than another?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-grades&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19758" CreationDate="2018-06-25T05:23:14.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of this is the natural instinct, birds that didn't fear humans got wiped out in earlier times, natural selection selects for birds that avoided getting eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today in urban places the ducks or Canadian Geese who have been fed by humans have less fear and can even become &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/25/canada-geese-attacks-population-aggressive/550135002/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;aggressive towards humans&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the birds you meet in the wild have no idea that you don't mean  to hurt them, don't take it personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T05:23:14.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19758" CreationDate="2018-06-25T07:35:01.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have any specific reference or source for this reason, but I believe it to be valid, myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like with some/most humans, specific shapes (think spider), trigger reflexes to avoid or keep distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think, when most herbavores can see both of our eyes, it triggers a 'predator alert' (because most predators are bifocal, and the eyes are placed in a plane in the face, not on both sides of the head).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;just my two cents' worth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15546" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T07:35:01.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19751" CreationDate="2018-06-25T07:38:32.143" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your certification is to be PADI, and you go to a certified PADI diving shop/centre, you will be fine, I'm very sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The instructors will most probably ask for your log book to assess your level of skills, and they will only offer to take you on dives, that you are certified for, and not try to push you into doing stupid or crazy stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15546" LastEditorUserId="15546" LastEditDate="2018-07-16T09:52:45.077" LastActivityDate="2018-07-16T09:52:45.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19762" CreationDate="2018-06-25T09:42:42.450" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is an (international) standard for making brick walls or even bricks. While it's true that (most) brick walls have a 90 degrees angle, all the other features can be fairly different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a list of just a few things that can differ in between brick walls:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;size of bricks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;texture of bricks (rough, smooth)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;amount of mortar in between bricks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how well the gaps between bricks are filled with mortar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;any wall damages/ cracks/ brick parts missing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's just from the top of my head, I am sure wall experts or experienced wall climbers could name a few more. (: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="14989" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T11:39:14.957" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T11:39:14.957" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19751" CreationDate="2018-06-25T13:30:09.630" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can tell you that no liveaboard operator will go on trips where they do not provide for diving opportunities for people on entry and advanced levels.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All dives will be with a buddy and most likely there will be a divemaster familiar with the areas you will be diving to assist you with any issues you may experience and lead you on all dives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how long the trip is you are booking, you could even do your Advanced Open Water course with them while you are on the liveaboard.  But this should not be required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally my suggestion is that you contact a few companies doing day and multi-day liveaboard trips and finding out what the costs are, what sites you can dive with an entry level certification. You could also ask them what they would charge you to combine your Open Water and/or Advanced Open Water certification with your liveaboard adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T13:30:09.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19754" CreationDate="2018-06-25T14:04:54.457" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wooden paddles are heavier but have a very nice feel to them, they can be expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flex in plastic blades can mean you lose power and the blades can flutter under heavy load. Aluminium paddle shafts aren't that nice to hold in the long run, especially in the cold. These tend to be the cheapest option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carbon blades are usually light, stiff, and usually really nice to handle if you get good ones but you'll be paying for what you get. Easily 10 times the price of a plastic/aluminium paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a personal note, Carbon/Carbon-Aramid are my preference for kayaking, but wood for open boating, there's just something comforting about wooden paddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T14:51:16.173" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T14:51:16.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19703" CreationDate="2018-06-25T15:09:54.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;: The rate is accurate &lt;strong&gt;unless you have an inversion&lt;/strong&gt;, in which case it is completely inaccurate as the &lt;strong&gt;temperature will actually increase above a certain altitude.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With increasing height, air temperature within the troposphere and mesosphere drops uniformly with altitude at a rate of approximately 6.5 degrees Celsius per 1000 meters - known as the environmental lapse rate. &lt;strong&gt;However, sometimes this normal overall decline is reversed.&lt;/strong&gt; A point or layer at which the temperature increases with height is called inversion or inversion layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Temperature inversions frequently occur in anticyclones, but are also common in depressions when air in the middle troposphere subsides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wxfacts/Inversions.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weather facts: Inversion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Given the right conditions, &lt;strong&gt;the normal vertical temperature gradient is inverted such that the air is colder near the surface of the Earth.&lt;/strong&gt; This can occur when, for example, a warmer, less-dense air mass moves over a cooler, denser air mass. This type of inversion occurs in the vicinity of warm fronts, and also in areas of oceanic upwelling such as along the California coast in the United States. With sufficient humidity in the cooler layer, fog is typically present below the inversion cap. An inversion is also produced whenever radiation from the surface of the earth exceeds the amount of radiation received from the sun, which commonly occurs at night, or during the winter when the angle of the sun is very low in the sky. This effect is virtually confined to land regions as the ocean retains heat far longer. In the polar regions during winter, inversions are nearly always present over land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inversion (meteorology)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At Fairbanks the inversion strength peaked on Saturday morning, right under the ridge axis, with a &lt;strong&gt;temperature difference of 60°F between the surface (-19°F) and 3000' above ground (+41°F).&lt;/strong&gt;  This is essentially a tie with the strongest inversion ever measured by radiosonde in Fairbanks; the record inversion was just 0.1°C stronger in December 1956.  Here's the so-called skew-T diagram.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ak-wx.blogspot.com/2018/02/extreme-inversions.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deep Cold: Interior and Northern Alaska Weather &amp;amp; Climate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that it is normal for temperature to decrease with an increase in altitude, so most of the time the estimated rate will be correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T15:09:54.213" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19093" CreationDate="2018-06-25T17:00:34.437" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sew it back on and tape the seam. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stitching GoreTEX is the same as stitching any other material, the difference is you want to use Tenara thread, and you waterproof the seams on the inside of the garment after by ironing on GoreTEX seam tape. You can get any seamstress to repair your zipper, they'll probably tape your seam for you as well. If you want to do it yourself, you can purchase seam tape from multiple sites online including ebay and amazon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T17:00:34.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19751" CreationDate="2018-06-25T18:06:48.460" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A common way of getting experience is to join a local club and go diving. Of course this depends on where 'home' is,  but the only way to get experience is to get under water and go diving.  Even diving in pools, lakes, quarries and the like will mean you get to sort out your core skills:  buoyancy, finning and trim.  Not to mention practising all the skills from your course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most clubs will welcome you with open arms.  You will need to do some research on the best clubs to join;  this can be on the basis of how much you &quot;like&quot; the club and spend a night or two with them to get a feel for the people and the facilities available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in colder climes,  then find a club with regular pool nights. Whilst it's nice to sit around in a bar talking about diving and drinking beer/whatever,  it's not gaining experience!  You need a wide variety of people in a club with a range of experience;  from recreational to technical.  You need some instructors in the mix too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware of the Local Dive Shop (LDS) who are after selling you lots of courses.  Whilst courses are an essential part of diving,  you must have plenty of time to practice and assimilate these skills before you go on to the next level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same goes for buying kit.  We all love looking at diving bling,  but be careful of what you buy as you don't know what's good and what's bad (I've very little of my initial purchases left as virtually all of it was wrong for my current diving -- most of the kit was unsuitable!).  The LDS is an essential part of diving but they are most definitely not all created equal -- their primary purpose is to sell stuff even if it's not right for you (i3 BCD anyone?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again;  get diving. Find buddies either in a club or online.  There's lots of different dive forums to use.  Oh,  and beware of the internet &quot;divers&quot; who frequent some of those forums,  especially the ones who don't!  Whilst there's a lot of helpful info out there,  there's also a lot of not so good advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for commercial dive trips,  as long as you're honest and up front with them for your experience -- even if very limited -- they will be able to buddy you up with someone suitable.  You will need your certification card,  PADI's a good enough agency to get started with. Cannot stress how useful it is to find your own friends or shop/club to go diving with for practising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-06-25T18:12:36.913" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T18:12:36.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14569" CreationDate="2018-06-25T18:28:21.933" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main 'special equipment' is to have an O2 analyser and use it.  You should also have waterproof tape (Gaffa tape) and marker pen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cylinders should be O2 cleaned according to local regulations (every 15 months in the UK).  Regulators don't need to be specialist O2-compatible devices (for example the green ones sold for twice the price of normal regulators).  Note that some (expensive) titanium regulators are not recommended for use with 100% oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mark up your cylinders with tape on the cylinder neck with the analysed O2 percentage to one decimal place and the date. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some agencies require the MOD (Max. Operating Depth) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;MOD = (1.4 / O2_fraction) - 1&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  MOD of 32% in metres:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;MOD = (1.4 / 0.32) - 1&#xA;    = 4.375 - 1&#xA;    = 33.75 metres&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-07-17T09:12:41.883" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T09:12:41.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19774" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-25T18:50:06.970" Score="4" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;If an individual walks with a pronounced duck-footed (splayed) gait, and is actively trying to correct this, is there any harm for the individual to begin rock climbing. I feel like a lot of edging during rock climbing puts your feet in a pretty extreme toe-out position and therefore may exacerbate the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T21:05:41.373" Title="Is it okay for a duck/splay footed individual to rock climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19705" CreationDate="2018-06-25T21:06:57.970" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;At least in the US you can do this to various degrees depending on the mountain. For example, there is a weather station in Telluride CO at 9950 ft that you can search back at least 2 years&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KCOTELLU11#history/s20160625/e20160625/mdaily&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KCOTELLU11#history/s20160625/e20160625/mdaily&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Mt Washington NH there is a weather station at 6266 ft that you can search back around 45 years&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMWN/1973/6/25/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&amp;amp;req_state=&amp;amp;req_statename=&amp;amp;reqdb.zip=&amp;amp;reqdb.magic=&amp;amp;reqdb.wmo=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMWN/1973/6/25/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&amp;amp;req_state=&amp;amp;req_statename=&amp;amp;reqdb.zip=&amp;amp;reqdb.magic=&amp;amp;reqdb.wmo=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to know which mountains have weather stations and how long they have been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-25T21:06:57.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19777" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-25T22:29:04.933" Score="4" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sun Dolphin manufactures one or two 10' sit-on-top kayaks for under $350.00. I know they would be suitable for a day of recreational paddling on a calm lake or river. But could they reasonably be used (with or without modifications) for a solo camping trip of 2-3 days with the same lake/river conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15947" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T03:45:42.067" Title="Purchasing a sit-on-top kayak" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19778" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19780" CreationDate="2018-06-26T02:10:06.160" Score="2" ViewCount="1574" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.venturekayaks.com/kayaks.php?kayak=Easky%2015&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Venture Kayak Easty 15&lt;/a&gt; and it has developed a flat spot on the bottom center just below the foot rests. What is the best method to return the bottom of this kayak back to its original convex form?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15949" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T15:27:50.160" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T15:27:50.160" Title="Restoring a deformed kayak hull" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19778" CreationDate="2018-06-26T11:40:57.983" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you have oil canning. It's a standard problem with plastic kayaks, usually caused by excessive tension in straps when loading onto roof bars or long term storage on bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various solutions exist, mostly they involve heating the affected area and putting pressure on the inside to restore the shape. You can use a heat lamp or a bright sunny day as a heat source but make sure you don't leave it unattended, especially with artificial heat sources, as letting it get too hot can ruin the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T07:25:49.473" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T07:25:49.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19777" CreationDate="2018-06-26T11:48:09.137" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no reason why a boat of this type could not be used for short expedition type trips, assuming you stay within the capabilities of the boat and paddler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As boats of this type don't usually have watertight hatches you need to consider a couple of things, importantly&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Securing your gear to the boat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensuring your dry gear stays dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10' boats don't tend to be especially fast in the water, so don't expect to be going long distance, but they should be perfectly capable otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most boats also have a design weight range, consider this when purchasing as it affects how much gear you're able to take on your expedition. An overloaded boat will wallow and be unstable. Larger boats tend to have a higher weight limit, as 10' is reasonably small you may find you're limited for gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-06-26T12:54:22.897" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T12:54:22.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19782" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-26T13:11:26.220" Score="10" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;An inversion in weather terminology is when the temperature actually rises with altitude, instead of decreasing like it usually does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18785/what-is-the-relationship-between-altitude-gain-and-temperature-decrease-when-mou&quot;&gt;lapse rate&lt;/a&gt; can be useful for calculating temperatures at higher altitudes but will be thrown off by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19770/8794&quot;&gt;inversions&lt;/a&gt;, it would be good to know when inversions are likely to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What weather signs would be good indicators of a weather inversion?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-26T13:30:17.837" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T01:10:58.277" Title="What conditions would make a weather inversion likely?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19783" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19793" CreationDate="2018-06-26T13:13:18.313" Score="5" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;Penny stoves are usually built from two soda cans and they look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4aIOYm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4aIOYm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penny Stove&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R%C3%A9chaud_%C3%A0_alcool_canette_1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;with some variations between the builder and so on. The basic idea is you have the &lt;strong&gt;bottoms of two soda cans stuck together with one inside the other&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem I have always had is that when I go to put the cans together, it is hard to do so without having one of them split and then you have to start over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When building a penny stove, &lt;strong&gt;how can I keep the cans from splitting?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-19T05:19:10.737" LastActivityDate="2020-01-19T05:19:10.737" Title="When building a penny stove how do you keep the cans from splitting?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19784" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-26T16:14:12.730" Score="9" ViewCount="1209" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the downsides of an alcohol stove is that the alcohol is all but invisible when it burns, and so the danger is that you won't realize its going and burn yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard that adding &lt;strong&gt;regular table salt&lt;/strong&gt; will make the flame light orange, if that is so &lt;strong&gt;how much&lt;/strong&gt; would one need or are there any other common chemicals one could add?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T13:24:40.370" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T18:04:50.033" Title="What can I add to alcohol to make the flame visible?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19785" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21889" CreationDate="2018-06-26T16:35:04.567" Score="22" ViewCount="7281" Body="&lt;p&gt;My question is motivated by the earlier question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6753/how-to-quickly-warm-a-tent&quot;&gt;How To Quickly Warm A Tent&lt;/a&gt;, which generated a lot of interest, and one of the best comments ever on TGO:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All I could think about after reading your other half's post, was what&#xA;  my wife would think, if after a night of her puking, my primary&#xA;  concern was about her letting in the cold air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In decades of backpacking, we have never even considered warming the tent with anything but two 100 watt heaters, i.e., ourselves.  Our backpacking is confined to spring through fall, in the Sierra or Rockies, often above the snow line.  It doesn't get super cold -- the coldest we have ever experienced is 4 degrees F (minus 15.5 degrees Celsius), and we each regretted not having an extra sleeping pad. However, our water bottles have often frozen solid (outside the tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is:  &lt;strong&gt;Can someone sketch the conditions under which an artificial device to heat a tent makes objective sense, as measured by, e.g. expedition practice?&lt;/strong&gt;  By expedition practice, I mean expeditions in extreme cold, for example but not limited to, polar regions and very high altitude.  (Exclude tents for car camping, tarps, and three sided set-ups.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked question does not provide an answer to &lt;strong&gt;this&lt;/strong&gt; question.  The accepted answer to the linked question says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Basically you should never find yourself in such a situation under&#xA;  normal circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;with which I agree.  The kicker is &lt;em&gt;normal circumstances&lt;/em&gt;, and I am asking about circumstances which are not normal or are on the fringe of normality.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-22T02:07:01.887" LastActivityDate="2019-06-23T15:08:48.617" Title="Under what conditions does heating a tent artificially make objective sense?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-06-26T17:18:30.293" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say there &lt;strong&gt;really aren't any&lt;/strong&gt;. Even a hypothermia patient would get wrapped in a hypo wrap and the stove would be used to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19376/8794&quot;&gt;boil water to go into Nalgene bottles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problems with running a heater inside of a tent include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Catching the tent on fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carbon monoxide poisoning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are heaters that are meant for use inside tents, but you are asking about backpacking and so their weight rules them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to use your stove to warm up inside a tent, boil water and use that in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19376/8794&quot;&gt;hot water bottles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-26T18:47:33.307" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T18:47:33.307" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-06-26T17:52:07.350" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general rule I use is if your tent needs to be heated to be comfortable, then you're &quot;doing it wrong&quot; and should have gotten a better tent. There isn't really any weather (especially backpacking, where weight matters more than it does when unpacking from a car) where the correct tent and sleeping equipment can't be made pretty cozy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &quot;I told you so&quot; is not gonna keep you warm. So really the only time that you would artificially heat a tent, is when you have the wrong tent. The best way to go about it is old school bed warmers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a rock, place it in the fire, when it gets hot enough, move it to the tent. Make sure to place it on something that can take the heat. It wasn't uncommon for bed warmers to be made of metal, so you should be OK placing your hot rocks on something similar. Try to keep it off the tent walls and floor. Other &quot;poly-what's-it&quot; materials would similarly melt away. But putting rocks in your frying pan should work ok. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your sleeping bag you might even be able to place them right in the bag with you (don't actually touch them). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oldandinteresting.com/bed-warmers.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bed Warmers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-06-23T15:08:48.617" LastActivityDate="2019-06-23T15:08:48.617" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-06-26T19:44:59.877" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many adventurers have a stove on them, though not necessarily for the purpose you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk/bushcraft-how-to/obtaining-water-from-snow-and-ice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Obtaining Water from Snow and Ice&lt;/a&gt;&quot; by Dryad (who offer bushcraft and wilderness courses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most mountaineers, and explorers travelling in cold environments,&#xA;  carry modern stoves which use liquid fuels such as Unleaded Petrol,&#xA;  Propane Gas, or Coleman fuel in order to melt Snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you're in an arctic tundra or on top of a mountain, and you are in a tent with a stove on hand. Is using the stove to heat the tent a good idea? That depends...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some tents are designed to be used with heaters. But,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The tent is not going to be nearly as good at holding in heat as your sleeping bag. And if you brought the appropriate bag, you should not need a heater.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using the stove uses up your fuel. So either you are dooming  yourself to not have enough fuel to melt the water you need, or you are bringing extra fuel - a lot extra, way more than it takes to melt some snow. Extra fuel is extra weight. Weight is usually kept to a minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the specific stoves I link below says it uses 2 liters of fuel for 8 hours of use. I'm not sure how that compares to others, but for that particular stove heating would cost you 2kg (~4 pounds) per night heated. That is nearly 30 pounds per week, not including the stove's weight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning:&lt;/strong&gt; There are potential dangers with heating your tent, even if you use stoves and tents that were designed to be used together. You need to guarantee that you do not catch your tent on fire, and also that you do vent the gases well enough that you do not poison yourself. Even if you account for that, you need to be vigilant, as a blockage in your vent (eg: snow) could kill you. (credit @Gabriel C. for safety suggestion)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the only three situations where heating the tent make sense (and only 2 of them are a necessity) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if you can, and doing so would be easier and make you more comfortable. This is more a want, a luxury, than a need.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if you are in a place which is so ridiculously, brutally, insanely cold that it is difficult to get warm enough without heating. I'm not even sure if this would be a thing, but I'm raising it as a possibility. The people who have the experience to confirm or deny this would be very few and far between.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;if you are improperly prepared. Essentially, you are in an urgent, or even emergency, situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It makes sense when you are treating yourself to luxuries.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe you were willing to haul the extra fuel. Maybe you have a large party or hired porters. Maybe you brought solar panels for your devices or a passive solar heater (both of these things some people do bring on the type of hike you described).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever the reason is that you are able, assuming you are able, now you don't want to cover your head at night, you want to get out of your bag in the morning to the luxury of warm air, and you want a place to retreat to in order to relax in a warm place when it is cold outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, when people ask &quot;What do I need or not need to bring on such and such a trip?&quot; we keep telling them &quot;Whatever you are comfortable leaving behind, do without, and bring the rest if you are willing to pack the weight.&quot; Well, some people refuse to car camp or even to RV camp if they cannot bring their hair drier, so I imagine &lt;strong&gt;there are people who would desire the luxury of a warm tent, and for them heating the tent makes sense&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you say otherwise, I will tell you that having a tent at all is not necessary. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you want this luxury, here are some random links to items made just for this which I found with a quick Google search:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.explorationtents.com/tent-heaters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A 29 pound oil stove. Fuel use is listed as 8 hours per 2 liters.&lt;/a&gt; If your group wants to carry the extra 40+ pounds, enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B06XD91GN8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This winter tent on Amazon even comes with a chimney and a stove!&lt;/a&gt; More than 70 pounds though, not including fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://arcticoventent.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An all-weather tent with option for additional heater which is sold separately.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Because it's a beyond-frigid -135 degrees out!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowest_temperature_recorded_on_Earth&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Record low temperatures on Earth in the coldest places have gotten to approximately -135F (-95C)!&lt;/a&gt; I assume very few people go to the spots where this has happened, but there are some very brave adventurers out there who might want to experience the coldest our planet has to offer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you say, &quot;But I could build a snow cave, and I could do it the &lt;em&gt;correct&lt;/em&gt; way so that it would be very much warmer inside!&quot; Perhaps. And the common claim is that no matter how bad it gets outside, if you've done your snow cave correctly you can enjoy a balmy 32F (0C) inside. But would that still hold true if it's a freaking -135 degrees out??? I don't know, but I would not bet my life on it. This might deserve another question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say that the snow cave can come up to freezing temperature though. Now what? You've made the cave when it's perhaps &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; -50 or -100 out. Will your body heat raise the temperature fast enough for you? Maybe. If not, you might say &quot;I'll just use something to help with the warming a little bit, maybe crack open a hand warmer to help raise the temp until it gets there.&quot; But now we're back to warming the &quot;tent&quot;. &quot;Oh right, so I'll just keep it in my pocket so it warms me.&quot; Fine, you're not technically warming it, you're warming yourself, but that's a fine line. I could also say that the mere prospect of making a snow cave to raise the temperature is itself a case of warming your tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what if you get there and find that the material is not conducive to creating a snow cave? Or, someone might complain saying &quot;I asked about a tent, not a cave.&quot; (though I could say &quot;Just put your tent inside the cave.&quot;)...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So let's leave the cave idea behind for a moment and talk again about just a normal tent on its own. So you want to try to survive, comfortably, one of Earth's record cold nights in a tent. Sometimes people double-up on bags. So let's say you get the extreme coldest rated bag available on the market, two of them actually so you can stack them, and a good bivy bag to go over the dual sleeping bags. And dress yourself very warmly, as warm as is reasonable for sleeping. Now you're in Antarctica during its winter, where it is literally night time all day long for days straight. Can your warm setup keep you warm enough through that night, where it gets down below -100F or -90C at least once?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the super frigid arctic scenario so far, &lt;em&gt;maybe&lt;/em&gt; you could be comfortable with the ridiculous setup in the previous paragraph. I'm not sold on the idea that you could though. At this extreme, I don't think conventional estimations would be very accurate. But even if you could be comfortable inside your sleeping bag, it might be easier at this point to warm your tent a little. At that huge a temp differential, a little bit of heating will go a long way. Just remember to keep your heater itself warm enough that you can start it. Still, at this point it might be easier to do a little bit of heating anyway than to just keep piling on more layers. Also, eventually you will probably want to come out of those sleeping bags and move around your tent during this Antarctic winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found supposed evidence of sleeping bags that are rated down to the record temperature, but I found them on forums where people were expressing skepticism about them. I'm not sold on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a quick search for coldest sleeping bag, I found some that seem more trustable rated at -40F and -60F. Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wiggys.com/minus-60-degrees/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://featheredfriends.com/snowy-owl-expedition-down-sleeping-bag.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;another&lt;/a&gt;. They are the body form-fitting type, so I'm not sure how well they would stack. But if you could fit one into another thing that was -40F or -60F, even if I was wearing a good coat and multiple other good layers under that, and had a bivy over the dual bags, I still would not want to trust my life to that at -135F if it was my first time trying to endure that. I would bring body warmers to use inside the bag for a short stay, but for a longer stay where they won't last long enough, I think I would want something to warm the tent. However, that then raises other considerations, such as what do you warm the tent with since many fuels might freeze at that temp? Is it safe to bring a tank of propane on such a trip? The jury is out on this one, but I still believe it fits your criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I just realized another point when reading about obstacles that cold weather sleeping bag makers need to consider: the mere act of breathing in the very cold air from outside your bag. You cannot just keep rebreathing the same air again and again; it needs to circulate. At -50 maybe you can get away with minimal air heating by clever design that exchanges heat during air circulation, but &lt;em&gt;at -135 even a lot of heat-exchanging with the warm air that's leaving the bag will still leave the air very cold as you breathe it in. Heating the tent will greatly help here and might be your best choice.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, for someone wanting to set the world record for camping out in the coldest weather, every little bit helps and heating the tent would make objective sense.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Emergency! You're not fully prepared!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For whatever reason, you are not fully prepared. You are using everything you've got, and it's not warm enough. Maybe a freak ice storm, or you didn't plan ahead; whatever, you're out and you're cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this situation, you do whatever you can to stay warm. I recently had a situation like this. I had two tarps with me, and no tent, so it was slightly different. I had one tarp on the ground, a small fire next to it, and the other tarp over top with one edge going over top of the fire. That is, I had an indoor fire in order to provide enough warmth. You could modify this for a tent though, especially in an emergency situation where you're willing to cut holes in your tent to accommodate a fire in the floor and an exhaust hole in the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, I can tell you that if I felt my life depended on it and I was using a tent, I definitely would rip a hole in the bottom of the tent to put it around a fire. It would be similar to the experience that I did have, mentioned above, except in a tent. I would be warming my tent based on objective reasoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about the safety hazard of an indoor fire, as you should be, or if you don't want to risk ruining your tent, you can keep the fire outside and use other things to warm the inside. Possibly other dangerous heating tools (ex: camping propane stove, gel burner, etc.) inside, or better yet just heat other objects, such as rocks, and bring them in (carefully! don't ruin your bag or tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or use something to redirect heat from an outdoor fire into your tent: some kind of reflector, or a tarp to redirect warm air flow, or whatever you have. All of these methods are either too dangerous or unwieldy to use for warming your sleeping bag, so it needs to be the tent itself that is warmed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have hand/foot/body warmers, like the chemical ones for example, then you should just use them in your bags at this point so you don't have to heat the whole tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caveat on the emergency&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in this emergency situation, it might be easier, safer, and keep you warmer if you just go outside your tent and huddle close to your heat source. You can adjust your body's distance from the fire to keep yourself warmer than you would be inside the slightly warmed tent, so at that point abandoning the tent might be wiser than heating the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, I have spent time curled up around tiny fires for warmth. Also, I keep one of those little emergency ponchos in my emergency gear, and I have used them to trap the heat from a fire: I started a tiny fire, put the poncho on, kneeled down by the fire and positioned the poncho so that it covered the fire and trapped warmth inside the poncho with my body and made me a lot warmer. In fact, the poncho example is specifically a case where I abandoned the cold tarp-tent to get warmer, and once my wife realized how much better I was doing she came out to join me too, so it is right up your alley as a counter-example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when it gets cold enough, you can actually be hot on the side of you facing a fire and cold on the other side of you. In this situation, you could be better off with the tent ripped open at the bottom and put around the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, when heating a tent artificially makes objective sense literally comes down to &quot;Because I want to&quot; (ie: point #1), and &quot;Because I need to&quot; (ie: point #3 and maybe #2).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to, you are willing to sacrifice something else for the luxury; that's what gear choice all comes down to, balancing by sacrificing in one area to gain in another.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to, you don't have much choice. It's way freaking super cold, or for whatever other reason your gear is not sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T15:59:16.027" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T15:59:16.027" CommentCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-06-26T20:49:18.473" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you do not count putting a hot water bottle in a sleeping bag as heating a tent (although it will eventually heat the tent), it only makes sense to intentionally heat a back packing tent if three conditions are met.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You need extra heat. There is no reason to heat a tent if it is already hot outside&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have a form of heat for which the risks from the heating process are less than the risks from the cold. Heat involving combustion often involve flames and tents, back packing gear, and backpackers do not generally react well to flames. Heated rocks can explode and/or melt tents and burn backpackers. With heated water there is a chance of a leak result in hot water (which will eventually become cold water) soaking gear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You lack any form of insulation. Typically in cold conditions a backpacker will be between insulating layers. A sleeping pad on the bottom and a sleeping bag on the top. In extreme conditions there may be additional layers inside and outside the sleeping bag. There is then a large pocket of air and a tent/fly. The tent material essentially provides no insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under normal heat loss scenarios, you want to put the heat source between you and the insulation and not the insulation between you and the heat source. As the assumption is that heating a tent requires the heat source to be outside the insulation, heating the tent only makes senses if there is no insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T20:49:18.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19791" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-26T21:38:31.010" Score="7" ViewCount="543" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question was prompted by my answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19785/under-what-conditions-does-heating-a-backpacking-tent-artificially-make-objectiv&quot; title=&quot;when does heating a tent make sense&quot;&gt;Under what conditions does heating a backpacking tent artificially make objective sense?&lt;/a&gt;. In my answer, I mention the possibility of hiking across Antarctica during the winter to experience the harshest cold that our planet has to offer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are on this Antarctic winter hiking trip, and you are chasing the cold. You know that the record cold is approximately -135F (-95C), and you are expecting you probably will encounter close to that, and you need to prepare for the possibility of a new record being set so you want to be safe down to a few degrees below that in case of emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To assist in keeping safe, you build a snow cave. Though emergency snow caves are often not done correctly, let us assume that you did construct one correctly on this trip (ie: top of door below inner floor to trap heat, properly placed ventilation, doorway plugged up, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Normally, I hear people say that a good snow cave can keep the inner temperature at a pleasant freezing (32F, 0C) temperature even if the air outdoors is crazy cold. Would this still hold true at -140 degrees? At what point is it just so freaking cold that even a snow cave cannot be kept warm?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of snow that is insulating you does obviously matter. Let's say you dig into a small embankment, so part of it is more than a few feet thick. For the front of it where you dug into the bank and had to then patch up the front of your cave, I would personally assume a few inches at most, as I have read about safety concerns of cave-ins when people craft thick walls. If you are not concerned about such a cave in danger, then feel free to assume thicker if that is truly what you would do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume that there is a modest wind. Enough that heat does not linger well around objects, but not enough to worry about the integrity of the snow cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, &lt;strong&gt;what is the minimum temperature at which a properly constructed snow cave can no longer be expected to maintain a constant 32F/0C temperature without artificial heating?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T09:06:27.193" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T17:11:24.247" Title="What is the most severe temperature that a proper snow cave can protect you from?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19791" CreationDate="2018-06-26T21:55:03.420" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: -148 °F including windchill has been survived inside of a snowcave.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went looking for cases of people surviving extremely low temperatures while inside a snow caves, and it looks like the record is held by the climbers who did the first winter ascent on Denali.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On February 28, 1967, Dave Johnston, Art Davidson, and Ray Genet became the first climbers to stand on Mt. McKinley’s 20,322-foot summit in winter. On the descent, the weather turned, &lt;strong&gt;and they dug a tiny snow cave above 18,000 feet&lt;/strong&gt; and hung on for six days and nights, barely able to sit up in what they wondered would be an icy grave. T&lt;strong&gt;he windchill dropped temperatures as low as -148 Fahrenheit,&lt;/strong&gt; and their teammates lower on the mountain assumed the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;After six days, the men were able to descend&lt;/strong&gt; – just barely. Davidson’s account of the climb and descent, Minus 148 Degrees, was published in 1970 and instantly became a mountaineering classic. In 2013, the 100th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. McKinley, Mountaineers Books published an anniversary edition of Minus 148 Degrees with a new prologue and afterword updated with details of more recent winter attempts on McKinley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/11/climber-art-davidson-on-the-1st-winter-ascent-of-denali-adventure-and-surviving-minus-148-degrees/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climber Art Davidson on the 1st Winter Ascent of Denali, Adventure, and Surviving ‘Minus 148 Degrees’&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The full story is in the book, &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B004MR5584&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minus 148 Degrees&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While that at least means that -148 ° F is survivable by some people, other people have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/17/us/two-climbers-may-have-survived-because-of-positions-in-snow-cave.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;frozen to death&lt;/a&gt; inside snowcaves at much higher temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T17:11:24.247" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19783" CreationDate="2018-06-26T23:18:28.427" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.instructables.com/id/Alcohol-Can-penny-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.instructables.com/id/Alcohol-Can-penny-stove/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We now need to crimp the edge of the base can so it fits inside the&#xA;  top can, with your pliers go around the edge of the can, grip about&#xA;  5mm of the can in the pliers and twist to pull the edge in, complete&#xA;  this every 5mm or so all the way round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W6ia5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W6ia5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;crimping edges of lower penny stove can&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried something like this years ago. I seem to recall having similar problem to yours, breaking the cans and being frustrated. I think I did something similar to the above, bending the can. I also tried cutting a slit along the side of the can so that I could sort of &quot;fold&quot; it in slightly, though that could make it difficult to keep it sealed. I don't remember for sure what I went with in the end, but if I were to do it again I would follow the above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-06-26T23:18:28.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19782" CreationDate="2018-06-27T00:50:45.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When spraying herbicides a temperature inversion can cause the droplets to be suspended above the ground and transported horizontally causing damage to other crops.  This &lt;a href=&quot;https://myfarmlife.com/crop-care/spot-temperature-inversion/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;myfarmlife.com&lt;/a&gt; web site has the following seven conditions that may indicate a temperature inversion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Clear skies overnight (no clouds)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Calm (wind &amp;lt; 3 mph)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Closer to sunrise or sunset&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dew present&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Horizontal smoke patterns&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Dust hanging over a road&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Ground fog in low-lying areas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T01:10:58.277" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T01:10:58.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19795" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19796" CreationDate="2018-06-27T01:43:02.373" Score="10" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go on for a multi-day hiking ( say, 7 or 8 days), my leg muscle will get painful in the middle of the hiking ( say, at the 4th day). Usually the muscle pain will take 5 days to heal, but I still have a lot more hiking days in front of me, so I can't take rest!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And neither I can do post-hike recovery like massage etc in the middle of sparse-populated mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When going for a multi-day hiking, what I can do to recover from muscle pain, when and if I still have a lot of hiking days ahead of me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9814" OwnerDisplayName="Graviton" LastEditorUserId="9814" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T10:15:44.113" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T12:18:59.707" Title="How to recover from muscle pain during the midst of a multi-day hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19795" CreationDate="2018-06-27T08:57:23.263" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, lets talk briefly about the underlying issue, before addressing your specific question:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you get serious muscle pain (taking 5 days to go away is serious), you should adjust your hiking. Apart from the general measures, like adjusting distances and trying to get weight off your pack, for longer hikes like this you also need to think about rest days. In youth mountaineering courses I was taught a concept that's mainly geared towards injury prevention which loosely translates to &quot;mid-week-low&quot;. It is pretty well observable, that in the middle of a longer trip there is an over-proportional decrease in the general disposition on that day, which also increases injury risk on it. If you are &lt;strong&gt;doing an activity for more than 5 days, a rest day is very important&lt;/strong&gt;. A rest day doesn't mean you need to sit around all day, doing nothing but lying in the sun and maybe some stretching (though there is nothing wrong with that either), but you need to give your body a longer time of lower exertion. Maybe just do a much shorter distance that day, walking slower, taking time for extended rests. It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as it is a lot less intensive (and you enjoy it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that's all good and nice, but what do you do if you nevertheless are in the situation, where your muscles ache a lot. Sorry to disappoint, but &lt;strong&gt;once you are at this point, you likely wont get rid of the pain while continuing the hike. The only real remedy is rest.&lt;/strong&gt; Massaging helps, either by yourself or from a potential hiking partner. If the aches are really bad, I personally don't stretch - it seems to make it worse. If you can shorten the distance, obviously adjust them down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again what's &lt;strong&gt;important is prevention on the go&lt;/strong&gt;: If you feel pain developing while walking, take a rest (i.e. before it gets bad). Massage and lightly stretch the muscle. Important: We are not talking about flexibility training here - you neither need to stretch very hard nor for a prolonged time, listen to the feedback your body provides. Then you need to adjust pace. I know it's hard, especially if you have a set goal and/or hiking partners, that get slowed down. There is no point ignoring the problem and then potentially having to abort the hike entirely. If they don't have any problems and have reserves, maybe you can off-load some of your weight - that goes a long way. It might take a bit of guts to ask (if they didn't offer already), but there's really no shame in it. Maybe they are even relieved, because they hesitated to propose it themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T08:57:23.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19795" CreationDate="2018-06-27T12:18:59.707" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had good experience with protein drinks (e.g. 80% whey protein powder) drunk in the evenings during multiple-day hikes.&#xA;The next day, my legs would feel as good as new.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, prevention and rest days are just as important as written in imsodin's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15523" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T12:18:59.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-27T13:24:03.817" Score="3" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;The alcohol used for cooking is poisonous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Denatured alcohol, also called methylated spirit (methylated spirits in Australia and New Zealand) or denatured rectified spirit, is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, bad tasting, foul smelling or nauseating, to discourage recreational consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Denatured alcohol&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it is used for fuel and is poisonous and clear, is there a &lt;strong&gt;standard way of marking the containers&lt;/strong&gt; (which it seems are often improvised form water bottles), so that nobody drinks the stuff?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-04T13:02:08.097" Title="Is there a standard way of marking cooking alcohol containers?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19800" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-27T13:27:19.200" Score="8" ViewCount="2591" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quite a few fishing regulations say something similar to this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Don’t dispose of fish entrails or other byproducts into any body of&#xA;  water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/RulesRegs/Brochure/fishing.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2018 Colorda Fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish &lt;strong&gt;die in the water&lt;/strong&gt; all of the time, &lt;strong&gt;what is the reasoning behind not disposing of fish guts in the water?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Related to both &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4982/is-it-really-necessary-to-gut-a-fish/8833#8833&quot;&gt;Is it really necessary to gut a fish?&lt;/a&gt;&quot; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14626/how-do-i-gut-a-fish/14627#14627&quot;&gt;&quot;How do I gut a fish?&quot;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T23:13:58.783" Title="What is the reasoning behind not disposing of fish guts in the water?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10507" CreationDate="2018-06-27T16:24:34.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can do exactly what you want: use your body to melt snow for drinking water without reducing your body temperature, yielding water with a negligible threat of hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are prepared, then you have enough insulation available to overheat yourself, even if you are not currently using it all. If you do not have that, then you were not properly prepared for your environment. And you are asking how to use body-melted snow for water without having it make you too cold - so &lt;em&gt;combine those two things!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Put on more insulation than you need.&lt;/strong&gt; Heck, put it all on! &lt;strong&gt;Let yourself start to get hot&lt;/strong&gt;, but not so hot that you sweat - avoid getting wet!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now you need to cool yourself down. Don't do it by taking your layers off. Instead, &lt;strong&gt;use your excess heat to melt the snow. Put your bottle of water inside your insulation&lt;/strong&gt; in a layer close enough to your body that it can get plenty of heat and close enough that it will cool you down faster than you are warming. If you cannot cool down fast enough and you are thirsty enough, then go ahead and &lt;strong&gt;melt some directly in your mouth&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you are no longer thirsty and your water bottles are topped off, &lt;strong&gt;remove the extra insulation and start regulating your temp normally again.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The credit for this should go partly to the comment by @RussellMcMahon where he commented on another answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Most efficient: Add more insulation, then eat snow to maintain desired&#xA;  temperature. Getting too hot? Eat more snow. Had enough to drink?&#xA;  Reduce insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not producing free heat from nowhere, violating entropy; rather, you are better using the heat that is on its way out of your system anyway. It is essentially a heat exchanger, which is technology used in normal household heating systems to recapture heat so that it does more work for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may have a limitless amount of water for your trip doing this if it melts the water fast enough (try it before you risk your life to it), but &lt;em&gt;don't forget to bring enough food!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T16:33:32.080" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T16:33:32.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19803" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-27T21:46:07.483" Score="4" ViewCount="291" Body="&lt;p&gt;The book &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0898866871&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minus 148 Degrees&lt;/a&gt; is written about a winter climb of Denali in which a rapid weather change forced the climbers to seek refuge in an emergency snow cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The title is a reference to the claim that the wind-chill temperature was negative 148 degrees F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What was the actual temperature (as opposed to the &lt;em&gt;wind-chill&lt;/em&gt; temperature) during this event?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not own a copy of the book and cannot find the answer to this, but I assume someone somewhere must know. If we at least have wind estimates we could work backward to estimate the temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did find an interview with the author of the book in which the interviewer mentions something about negative 40 degrees, but the author neither confirms nor denies this, and it could well be a typo in which 140 was intended, which might be likely as -148 degree wind chill from -40 degrees appears to require nearly hurricane wind speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T12:38:16.980" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T12:38:16.980" Title="What was the temperature without windchill for the climbers that &quot;Minus 148 Degrees&quot; is written about?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19800" CreationDate="2018-06-27T23:02:16.903" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really does seem to depend on where you are.  As you mention some states do not allow for the disposal of fish in water.  For example from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_diseases/yellow-white-grub.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minnesota Department of Natural Resources&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Disposal of unused portions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unused or uneaten portions of fish should be buried or disposed of&#xA;  with household waste. Fish entrails should never be discarded back&#xA;  into the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, from the state of &lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/high_lakes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although fish entrails are biodegradable, a respectful alpine angler&#xA;  will never discard them in lake shallows where they can be seen by&#xA;  others. Pack out viscera in a zip-lock bag, &lt;strong&gt;or dispose of them in&#xA;  water at least 25' deep&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, in many areas disposing of fish guts in the water is considered dumping.  This is especially true where there are many visitors to these areas that may smell or see the remains.  However, if you're in an area of deep water, where the public will not notice the remains, then putting the fish guts back into the water, after puncturing the air sac, will add beneficial nutrients for other animals.  These additional nutrients may be especially beneficial in an alpine lake as one may find in Washington state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-06-27T23:13:58.783" LastActivityDate="2018-06-27T23:13:58.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19803" CreationDate="2018-06-28T02:39:59.180" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From an ad for the book on the website of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://amcstore.outdoors.org/minus-148-degrees&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AMC Store&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In 1967, eight men attempted the first winter ascent of Mount&#xA;  McKinley, now known as Denali. They faced winds in excess of 150 miles&#xA;  per hour and temperatures more than fifty below zero. The windchill&#xA;  temperature reached –148°. Three team members reached the summit only&#xA;  to be trapped at more than 18,000 feet by a six-day storm. In an ice&#xA;  cave less than a thousand feet below, their teammates waited&#xA;  helplessly until all hope ran out, and the three above were left for&#xA;  dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.onlineconversion.com/windchill.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Online Conversion.com&lt;/a&gt;, two formulas are given, one used pre-2001 and the other post 2001.  The conversion gives&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Old Wind Chill minus 67.42 F   and New Wind Chill minus 122.69 F&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Old Wind Chill number is obvious nonsense, but the New Wind Chill is post 2001, so would not have been available to Davidson. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The windchill calculator on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weather.gov/epz/wxcalc_windchill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the National Weather Service website&lt;/a&gt;, says it cannot calculate windchill for a windspeed of greater than 110 mph.  Plugging in 110 mph, one gets a windchill of minus 147 F for a T of minus 70 F.  But this calculator uses the new formula.  Ah well, let's see if the book is available from my local library.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T09:45:55.117" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T09:45:55.117" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="494" CreationDate="2018-06-28T09:57:50.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;According &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua#Climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;to Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world, since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, non-technical means just that.  It is still difficult and dangerous, as mountains always are.  It's nearly 7 km (6,961 metre) above sea level.  It's an expedition that may take around three weeks not including acclimitisation time.  There will be very little oxygen, even if you acclimatise at 5,000 metre for weeks you'll still suffer from altitude sickness.  Cold weather exposure is common and kills people every year.  Don't underestimate the mountain just because you may not need ropes or axes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you consider weather and oxygen conditions on Aconcagua to be to harsh for your list, then there is no definitive list, for the impact of weather and oxygen is gradual.  What mountain does or doesn't need mountaineering experience is relative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T09:57:50.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19807" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:17:53.210" Score="1" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15406/are-the-goldtip-and-easton-spine-declarations-amo-ama-or-astm&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; asks &quot;Are the Goldtip and Easton spine declarations AMO/AMA or ASTM??&quot;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is the difference between AMO/AMA and ASTM  spine declarations and what difference does it make?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T13:17:53.210" Title="What is the difference between AMO/AMA and ASTM spine declarations?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19808" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19810" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:19:16.920" Score="10" ViewCount="2353" Body="&lt;p&gt;From this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19792/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, -148 &amp;deg;F has been survived inside a snow cave, and this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19803/what-was-the-actual-temperature-for-the-climbers-that-minus-148-degrees-is-wri&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; is asking for the unadjusted temperature, which leads me to wonder how much the wind chill would matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have your cave built properly, you should be out of the wind, except for the holes necessary for ventilation (some air will get through snow, but after time an ice layer will form inside the cave and need to be scraped away).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much does the &lt;strong&gt;wind chill matter if you are inside a snow cave?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T14:02:00.023" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T22:18:50.887" Title="How much difference does wind chill make if you are inside a snow cave?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19808" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:33:30.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;None,&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which is why having one is nice for survival. Wind chill comes from wind over exposed skin, unless your snow cave is badly built - there will be no wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that wind chill is also a non applicable factor if you are not exposing skin. Wind chill is calculated / modeled directly from tests with humans and exposed skin - the value literally does not apply to non-exposed skin. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; among others, state that &quot;[Wind chill] is determined by iterating a model of skin temperature under various wind speeds and temperatures using standard engineering correlations of wind speed and heat transfer rate.&quot; Wearing protective layers that shields you from wind makes the assumptions behind the wind chill calculations very off the mark. Now, without a doubt and for absolute certain, you will &lt;strong&gt;feel colder&lt;/strong&gt; and you will get frost bit &lt;strong&gt;sooner&lt;/strong&gt; but the concept of a wind chill temperature only applies to bare skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="13536" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T22:18:50.887" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T22:18:50.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19808" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:34:53.880" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;The concept of wind chill does not apply in this situation. Wind chill talks about perceived temperature due to additional heat loss due to convection. Meaning without wind, the &quot;heated&quot; air will stay around you much longer, thus &quot;insulating&quot; you a bit, while in high wind any heated air will get swept away immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a properly built snow cave you have no wind. Sure there will be some air exchange through entrance/breathing holes, but diffusive. Air holes mustn't be big enough for wind to get through and the entrance should be built wind proof (position, snow walls, stuffing your pack into it, ...). This air exchange is relevant to the temperature difference you reach to the outside, but it is not wind chill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T14:04:14.230" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T14:04:14.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19811" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19812" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:34:56.710" Score="3" ViewCount="412" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a method of finding north with a watch described &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/6684/8794&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So you point the hour hand of your watch at the sun. Halfway between your hour hand and the noon mark is south.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How accurate is this method of finding north?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T18:20:01.537" Title="How accurate is the method of finding north with a watch?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19811" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:34:56.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR&lt;/strong&gt;: Its accurate at solar noon which probably won't correspond to noon on a watch and is inaccurate otherwise without more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasons for it not corresponding to noon on your watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Failing to account for Daylight Savings Time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The difference between &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_time_vs_standard_time.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar time and the time zone&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going east or west within a timezone (solar noon is 16 minutes later on the western border of Wyoming compared to the east)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasons for needing more information,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The sun's speed across the sky is not constant, its faster at solar noon and slower at dawn/dusk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Equation of time&lt;/a&gt;, depends on the time of the year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all of that said, it is possible to find north using the sun with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar compass&lt;/a&gt; and can be more accurate in areas with lots of iron, but in order to use one you need to know,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set the &lt;strong&gt;sun's declination for that day, obtained by means of tables&lt;/strong&gt;, on a scale attached perpendicular to the time dial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set the &lt;strong&gt;latitude&lt;/strong&gt; on a scale in the alidade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set the &lt;strong&gt;approximate local time&lt;/strong&gt; on a dial that rotates on a polar axis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar Compass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These inaccuracies are also why it is difficult to tell time other than solar noon &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15422/i-have-a-compass-but-no-watch-how-can-i-tell-when-it-will-get-dark&quot;&gt;with a compass&lt;/a&gt;, the direction of the sun's shadow can't directly be correlated to a time without more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T13:34:56.710" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19813" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19816" CreationDate="2018-06-28T13:38:02.657" Score="2" ViewCount="352" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19783/when-building-a-penny-stove-how-do-you-keep-the-cans-from-splitting&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, I have had better luck with the smaller energy drink/V8 juice cans than standard 12 oz pop cans. The other &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10363/what-is-the-most-efficient-diy-alcohol-stove-for-narrow-pots/10421#10421&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; on the site mentions both beer and Redbull cans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a &lt;strong&gt;recommended type of can for building a penny stove?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T17:36:34.330" Title="Is there a recommended type of can for building a penny stove?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19814" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19815" CreationDate="2018-06-28T14:19:20.080" Score="5" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;My husband and I scuba dive together often, and he really wants to get the chance to scuba dive with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cuttlefish&lt;/a&gt; (and why not they are super cute!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can involve night diving. What dive sites are good locations to dive with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cuttlefish&lt;/a&gt;? - happy for any world wide destinations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-03T13:11:02.567" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T13:11:02.567" Title="What are good dive sites to scuba dive with cuttlefish?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;dive-sites&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19814" CreationDate="2018-06-28T14:42:37.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like they are all around the world, except for American waters, with special concentrations in Whyalla Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are widely distributed according to species. For example the European common cuttlefish is found all along the eastern Atlantic from Scandinavia to South Africa and the Mediterranean. Most other species, such as the flamboyant cuttlefish, are found in Asian waters and in Australasia. They are not found in American waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dive-the-world.com/creatures-cuttlefish.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Diving with Cuttlefish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can spot the tiny flamboyant cuttlefish in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and northern Australia. Its incredible color patterns vary from black to yellow to purple to white, making it a favorite among photographers and macro lovers. It “walks” on the seafloor rather than using its mantle to swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can only find the giant cuttlefish, the world’s biggest, on the southern coast of Australia. Adults can weigh over 22 pounds (10 kg). One of the most spectacular times to see them is during the annual mating aggregation in Whyalla. Thousands of animals populate the shallow waters from mid-May through July each year, first spawning and then dying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://scubadiverlife.com/marine-species-cuttlefish/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marine Species: Cuttlefish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although Cuttlefish can be found elsewhere, &lt;strong&gt;Whyalla is the only known place on earth where thousands aggregate to reproduce.&lt;/strong&gt; In 2016, the annual estimated population was more than 177,000 Cuttlefish!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s an amazing show. They change colours to attract each other or to camouflage with the nearby rocks and algae. Snorkellers and divers can dip in the middle of them. They don’t care and stick around as if no one was watching. They’re too occupied with their mating rituals to bother about stalkers. I had never seen Cuttlefish from that close before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myfavouriteescapes.com/giant-cuttlefish-whyalla/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tips to See Thousands of Giant Cuttlefish in South Australia (Whyalla)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every year between the months of May and July thousands of Giant Australian Cuttlefish find their way to Whyalla for their mating rituals along with hundreds of divers that will go up to catch them in the act each year!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://divingadelaide.com.au/whyalla-cuttlefish-dives-with-diving-adelaide/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cuttlefish Dive Sites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T14:42:37.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19813" CreationDate="2018-06-28T15:11:34.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The all time best for my money has been the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.totalwine.com/beer/lager/euro-pale-lager/heineken/p/3380123?s=1606&amp;amp;igrules=true&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;12oz Heineken Keg Can&lt;/a&gt;. If cut correctly, the parts are much easier to slide together securely. Unfortunately, these cans can be pretty difficult to get a hold of these days, as mostly regular straight sided cans are distributed now.&#xA;If you can get them, instructions &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.roguehangar.com/hunt/CampList/AlcoholStoves/PennyStove/Penny%20Ultralight%20Alcohol%20Backpacking%20Stove%20web%20site%20archive/stoveinstruct.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7eVHh.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7eVHh.png&quot; alt=&quot;12oz Heineken Keg Can&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second best I've experienced, while not a penny stove (still alcohol burning) is the style made from a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDMJs0lvlNw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cheap aluminum water bottle&lt;/a&gt;, much easier to work with than flimsy soda cans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UsnMl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UsnMl.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bottle stove&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T15:11:34.970" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19813" CreationDate="2018-06-28T17:36:34.330" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While not a traditional penny stove, I built &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbHHQrh9m58&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tetkoba's Capillary Hoop Stove&lt;/a&gt; out of 3 cans of Red Bull like he did. It took a lot of force to push the hoop inside the main body, but it never split. It's quite sturdy fully assembled, so the Red Bull cans get my approval.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T17:36:34.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19819" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19820" CreationDate="2018-06-28T18:00:01.210" Score="5" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/About.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Philmont Scout Ranch&lt;/a&gt; in the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, USA, this August. I am planning on using the Eureka Timberline 4 tent, which weighs about 8 pounds. I am doing a 7 day trek and would like to know if this would make sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T23:17:43.917" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T01:33:02.147" Title="Would it make sense to backpack with an 8 lb tent at Philmont Scout Ranch?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19819" CreationDate="2018-06-28T18:12:54.527" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whether an 8 lb tent makes sense depends on a couple of things,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are the only one using it then no, if you can split the weight between 4 people probably yes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whether for your budget you can get a lighter tent, the lighter you go the more expensive it will be, at some point it won't be worth it on your budget.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at that tent I would suggest getting something lighter for backpacking with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-06-28T19:05:27.160" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T19:05:27.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19811" CreationDate="2018-06-28T18:13:46.517" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not completely reliable but good enough for emergencies. It may give you north-east or north-west, but it will not give you south instead of north if you do it right. A compass used by an inexperienced person might send you 180 degrees off. See the last bit of this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the watch method is not good enough to find the north in an area where there are many options, like in an open field or in a forest with many roads that might go north, it has its uses and it is worth learning for emergency use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 'watch' method or just learning to read the shadows will help you when you are out in the wilds without a proper compass and you want to walk roughly one direction or when you are in a place where you know that the road you are on runs north-south or east-west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The watch will work with any watch with a twelve hours system, an hours hand an a reliable 'twelve' spot.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Learning to read the shadows will work without any tools, like when your only watch is a digital one or when your watch has stopped working. But it does depend on your ability to read the shadows.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will never be sure to get the proper north from reading the shadows and early and late in the day it will be worse, but it will help you not walking in circles when you pay attention to the shadows, as long as there is enough sun to get shadows to read.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And when walking in a (city) park and reaching a simple straight road from walking off road, knowing which way the road runs, a quick look at the shadows will often be good enough to confirm your direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And having trained for using your watch and/or reading the shadows in a 'safe' area, you will have a life skill that will help you when you ever get in a real difficult situation, where you are without proper tools (like lost your compass and your GPS ran out of power,) to get back to a place where you can work out where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And while a good compass will give you the true north, I have seen several people using the tail end of the needle so they see south as north. Second checks with the sun (if visible) or shadows (if the sun is strong enough) will help to avoid that mistake. (And even with a good compass you will have to allow for a few degrees off the true north.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-06-29T18:20:01.537" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T18:20:01.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19819" CreationDate="2018-06-28T19:00:10.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, that is way too heavy (and large for 2 Scouts). You would be better off just using what Philmont offers, which are about 6 pounds the last I knew. Call and verify availability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would be even better getting a lighter one if you can afford it, but they get more expensive the lighter you go. I like the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo for backpacking, but it's $325. Their outfitter version is an extra pound but cost about half that (I have 2 of those for Scouts to use). However, they are currently out of stock. Those also require the use of trekking poles (i.e., not freestanding).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T19:00:10.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1722" CreationDate="2018-06-28T22:46:40.277" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put her in the back so you can fish! Let her be the control freak. My hubs loves it, he gets first cast!! Best of luck! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15970" LastActivityDate="2018-06-28T22:46:40.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19826" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19827" CreationDate="2018-06-29T00:27:34.107" Score="6" ViewCount="1115" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have got this annoying issue when bouldering: a sheared callus on the small finger:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l1LtU.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l1LtU.png&quot; alt=&quot;torn skin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to tape this and continue climbing (with extra caution). I am not an expert in taping, and any tape I apply always gets crumpled up and quickly tears away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I apply tape so it doesn't come off easily while I am bouldering?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T01:21:33.303" Title="How to tape torn skin to continue climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;injury&gt;&lt;tape-gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19826" CreationDate="2018-06-29T00:45:11.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Been there done that, I would just wrap a smaller width piece of climber's tape around the finger and then take extra care to smooth the end down as usually, that's where it starts to come unraveled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would make sure to try and get most of the tape around the middle piece of your finger in between the joints as otherwise when you bend your finger it will also start to make the tape come loose as well as making it harder to bend your finger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T00:45:11.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19826" CreationDate="2018-06-29T01:21:33.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that the best way to handle calluses ripping off is prevention.  Once one rips off, it is often painful to climb on even if you tape it properly.  If you do need to tape, wrap tightly with a narrow piece of tape around the finger and make sure the loose ends are on the back of your finger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For prevention, before climbing, check the skin on your hands for rough edges and small flaps of dead skin that are likely to rip off.  You can use nail clippers to remove the flaps; cuticle cutters are better as it is easier to avoid cutting off healthy skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you remove any flaps, sand any rough areas until they are smooth.  You can use a nail file, sandpaper or a nail drill (i.e. an electric nail file made for use in cosmetics) for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important not to sand more than necessary as your calluses serve as padding for the structures inside your hands.  This is especially true on overhanging jugs.  I have gotten sore hands that forced me to take a few days off before from excessive sanding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T01:21:33.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19830" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19831" CreationDate="2018-06-29T01:44:22.513" Score="8" ViewCount="1201" Body="&lt;p&gt;At any given time in our yard, we have at least 20 birds, up to the same number of squirrels, 15 or so chipmunks, and a few rabbits. Our many feeders and birdbaths are mostly under big trees and next to large bushes, although many of the birds and other things feed more out in the open. Needless to say they're very noisy, and it's a gorgeous cacophony!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, all of a sudden, it will get eerily quiet out there, and when we look out, almost everyone will have disappeared into the trees or bushes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within a few minutes, a hawk comes through. It doesn't stop, but there have been times it will swoop down and grab something vulnerable, usually a chipmunk, or baby bunny, that hasn't taken cover in time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little while after the hawk is gone, everybody comes out again and resumes their regular routine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm curious as to how they know the hawk is in the vicinity. Do some of them see it and somehow communicate that to the rest? Do those who see it hide and others follow suit by hiding even if they don't know why? Does it emit a sound that we can't hear? Is it a smell? In the yard, we've only ever seen one hawk at a time, so it doesn't seem like they feel surrounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it was just a few birds or animals it would be easier to understand, but I'm referring to a variety of sizes, species, speech patterns, nesting behaviors and feeding behaviors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T01:55:50.073" Title="How do songbirds and small animals know when there's a hawk in the immediate vicinity?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19830" CreationDate="2018-06-29T01:55:50.073" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;All it takes is &lt;strong&gt;one of the birds to notice and give the alarm&lt;/strong&gt; and then the other birds join in. Even the &lt;strong&gt;chipmunks and squirrel&lt;/strong&gt;s will listen to the birds and then &lt;strong&gt;pass the message along.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Birds' lives are so filled with danger that they're on alert at all times, just to stay alive. Luckily, they have several tactics to avoid becoming the next meal for a cat or hawk. One, of course, is to fly away, a good choice, but not always possible. Another is to call in a troop of other birds to set up such a clamor that the predator is driven from the neighborhood. But in cases where the threat is too close and too dangerous, &lt;strong&gt;birds freeze in hiding while making soft, high-pitched sounds that serve as a warning to other birds.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In our own backyards, the birds likeliest to call out high-danger warnings are robins and chickadees, and &lt;strong&gt;many wild creatures recognize such calls&lt;/strong&gt;. Catbirds, sparrows, finches and nuthatches dash for safety when they hear a robin's barely-audible-to-humans &quot;seet-seet&quot; sound, because they know a bird-eating hawk is hunting nearby. &lt;strong&gt;Even chipmunks, red squirrels and woodchucks heed these warnings&lt;/strong&gt;, running on their short legs for cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.startribune.com/bird-warning-calls-work-across-species/394116161/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird warning calls work across species&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Studies in recent years by many researchers, including Dr. Greene, have shown that animals such as birds, mammals and even fish recognize the alarm signals of other species. Some can even eavesdrop on one another across classes. Red-breasted nuthatches listen to chickadees. Dozens of birds listen to tufted titmice, who act like the forest’s crossing guards. Squirrels and chipmunks eavesdrop on birds, sometimes adding their own thoughts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Studying the phenomenon, he documented a “distant early-warning system” among the birds in which the alarm calls were picked up by other birds and passed through the forest at more than 100 miles per hour. Dr. Greene likened it to a bucket brigade at a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/science/decoding-the-cacophony-of-birds-warning-calls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;When Birds Squawk, Other Species Seem to Listen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chipmunks make these calls, too, Greene noticed. He was astonished that mammals and birds — biological families as different as mice and magpies — would share this early warning system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;We've got these complex communication networks,&quot; Greene explains, &quot;and it's not just one species yakking to members of its own kind. It's all these different species — and not just birds, but mammals as well. And they're all sharing information.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/2015/09/03/434400838/warning-calls-decoded-squirrels-take-up-bird-alarms-to-foil-the-enemy&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Squirrels Mimic Bird Alarms To Foil The Enemy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how the first bird knows, it seems to work mostly by sight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T01:55:50.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14569" CreationDate="2018-06-29T06:20:06.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;special equipment&quot; needed for Nitrox most likely refers to the M26 tank valve fitting, which in certain European countries replaces the classic 5/8&quot; DIN valve for cylinders that are for use with Nitrox (oxygen clean, etc). They are much larger and so a DIN regulator first stage cannot be screwed in, meaning you need special regs for Nitrox too. However most of the world ignored M26 and continues to use the same DIN valve (with or without an insert) for both air and Nitrox. Adaptors between the two standards are available, expect to pay around £20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3422" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T06:20:06.133" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18474" CreationDate="2018-06-29T13:23:22.987" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#80&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;, the minimal (obligatory) daily water loss for an adult is at least &lt;strong&gt;1 liter (~1 quart),&lt;/strong&gt; which includes losses by the urine, feces, insensible perspiration and breathing (but not sweating). So, if you are sweating minimally, you would need to drink about 1 liter of water per day to keep yourself well hydrated. You can know you are well hydrated, when you do not have any symptoms of dehydration (dry mouth, thirst, strong yellow urine, &lt;a href=&quot;https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/17223.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;poor skin turgor&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About rationing water (only some theory at this point)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you are a 70 kg with &lt;a href=&quot;https://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;60%&lt;/a&gt;, that is 42 kg (liters), of water in your body. Death can occur when you lose &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nature.com/articles/1601897&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;20%&lt;/a&gt; (~8 liters) of the body water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lose 1 liter of water per day and drink 1 liter each day, 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water would keep you well hydrated for 7.5 days. After that you will continue to lose 1 liter of water per day, you'll become progressively dehydrated, but you could survive for the additional &lt;a href=&quot;https://metro.co.uk/2010/01/21/miracle-rescue-of-kiki-week-after-haiti-quake-44215/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;8 days&lt;/a&gt;, so 15.5 days in total.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drink 0.5 liters per day from the beginning, it seems you will develop a negative balance of 8 liters of water in 16 days, so basically the same as in the above scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, when you become dehydrated, &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=eakFLQfJVl0C&amp;amp;pg=PA70&amp;amp;lpg=PA70&amp;amp;dq=oliguria+dehydration&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=j1CM3D7_iy&amp;amp;sig=3tIInWMCUvHYaufMIyKJ8vA__BI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=oliguria%20dehydration&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;you lose progressively smaller amounts of water&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt; and this could make you survive a bit longer when you start to ration water from the beginning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as a result of rationing water, the toxic waste products (urea) will start to build in your blood. It's then the question about the balance of harms of the buildup of urea in your blood and benefits of the sparing of water by your kidneys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question &quot;How much water should I ration myself each day?&quot; can be answered only by showing several convincing reports of how someone did it successfully (news reports...). I'm not sure if I know one. And, they don't usually do any &quot;human trials&quot; on this topic...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practically, you would probably lose more than 1 liter of water per day because sweating occurs even if you sit in a shade, especially in summer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T17:12:59.580" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T17:12:59.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19778" CreationDate="2018-06-29T19:55:47.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless it’s so asymmetrical that it’s noticably making you turn I’d strongly suggest not worrying about it.  At recreational kayak speeds I doubt it’s adding measurable drag, especially with a rockered hull like that which is made to behave itself in a variety of water not set flat-water speed records.  The great joy in a boat like that is you just paddle it you don’t have to fuss over it—the oilcanning, or the scratches either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you’re determined to fix it first just try leaving it belly up in the hot sun for a day and see if it fixes itself (don’t store it that way for years on end sunlight is the enemy of plastic boats).  Another option is lay it in soft sand on the beach on a warm day, hull right side up, supported evenly with sand, then dig a hole under the flat part, fill the interior of the hull over the flat section with enough warm sand to gently encourage it back into shape (use plastic bags if you don’t want the mess) and let it sit that way, ideally until the sun goes down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T19:55:47.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19777" CreationDate="2018-06-29T20:25:21.020" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just wanted to second the comments above about keeping your gear dry.  If it’s within your budget, good-quality drybags will be good for this and all future adventures.  But extra-large ziplock bags, kitchen trash compactor bags, or just ordinary trash bags closed and handled carefully (put inside duffels to protect them from rocks etc) will work.  Does your expected weather make a wet sleeping bag a comfort issue or a hypothermia issue? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding canoe vs. kayak: The main virtue of a kayak is its ability to lay low beneath wind that would blow a long high-sided canoe off course and survive waves / wind chop that would swamp any open boat.  They’re also a little more intuitive for a novice to steer.  If you know your route is flat and calm a canoe may be a great choice, you can pack luxuriously and spend your time paddling not packing and unpacking in little bags.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding price:  You may also consider a used touring kayak with hatches and a rudder that you sell after the trip, or when you want to upgrade, for exactly what you paid ($500-$1500).  Kayaks that already show moderate wear and tear don’t seem to further diminish in value very quickly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all of these cases consider storage and transport.  A 10’ boat is easier to contend with off of the water, and will get there eventually.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding sit on tops vs. sit-inside:  Sit on tops offer a safety benefit in warm water and moderate wind in that if you capsize they don’t flood, you just scramble back on.   A sit-inside kayak is moved less by wind but merits plenty of practice getting back in and pumping it dry after capsize unless you are absolutely certain you’ll stay so close to shore you can just swim to the bank with it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-06-30T03:45:42.067" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T03:45:42.067" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19774" CreationDate="2018-06-29T21:05:41.373" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/paraclimbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/paraclimbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People with some pretty extreme physical impairments find ways to rock climb and also accomplish their other rehabilitation goals.  If I were you / this person I would ask whatever physiotherapist is guiding them in their rehab but unless specifically contraindicated, the general strength flexibility and fitness demanded and encouraged by climbing is likely greater benefit than harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-06-29T21:05:41.373" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19841" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19842" CreationDate="2018-06-29T23:22:28.490" Score="19" ViewCount="4428" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I have heard this saying a lot and would like to know if and why this is true because the leaves are upside down now and I have always been confused by this because some have told me nay and some yay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-01T00:18:05.547" LastActivityDate="2018-07-01T00:18:05.547" Title="Why do upside down tree leaves mean rain" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19841" CreationDate="2018-06-30T00:47:18.540" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is the old saying, &quot;When leaves show their undersides, be very sure rain betides.&quot;  From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.farmersalmanac.com/can-leaves-predict-a-storm-3195&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;farmersalmanac.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The leaves of deciduous trees, like maples and poplars, do often to&#xA;  turn upward before heavy rain. The leaves are actually reacting to the&#xA;  sudden increase in humidity that usually precedes a storm. Leaves with&#xA;  soft stems can become limp in response to abrupt changes in humidity,&#xA;  allowing the wind to flip them over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, yes there seems to be some truth to this depending on the tree you are observing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T00:47:18.540" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18888" CreationDate="2018-06-30T10:04:28.293" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers are right about reasons to choose or not to choose bigger footwear. However, if you already know what kind and number of socks are you going to use with your new boots, I recommend trying them with those socks when purchasing. Trying is a lot easier than guessing how many sizes to add in order to fit your socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11125" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T10:04:28.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-06-30T11:23:43.337" Score="7" ViewCount="289" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're going to an area in France where the expected daytime temperature will be 30°C or higher. We use a light brown (beige) coated cotton tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a8rie.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a8rie.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wildebeast Mt. Chinamba&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have to decide whether to put it up in the morning or evening shade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize this is opinion based, but since I have no idea even of the criteria that I would use to make this decision, my question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the criteria I can/should base this decision on&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm specifically thinking about sleeping conditions; if we are on the camp site during the day we will find a place with shade.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Food we will (try) to keep cool by putting it in the shade covered with wet towels (not necessarily in the tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hottest part of the day will be in the afternoon, some time after the sun is at its highest point. Let's say 15:00 CEST.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shade will be from trees; not mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-07-01T08:36:45.147" LastActivityDate="2018-07-01T14:58:03.843" Title="Criteria for putting up a tent in morning or evening shade" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19844" CreationDate="2018-06-30T18:45:36.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just got back from the French Alps and while I was in a camper van, the others were in tents. There are a few things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Will the sun light/heat wake you in the morning? This is a function of you, the tent, and the time of year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can you ventilate the tent well enough to cool it before bed and/or overnight? Consider mosquitos etc. as well as the tent's vents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example: My preference is for morning shade when in the tent, because I'm easily woken by the rising temperature in the morning (and the light, but an eye mask can deal with that). If you're going in summer the days are long and the sun rises early. Where we were there was mountain shade until about 7am, so evening tree shade was more possible, and that was what I aimed for in the van. We also had a couple of nights sleeping in the open. Morning shade gets you a bit more sleep then. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-06-30T18:45:36.890" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19846" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-01T12:24:45.103" Score="3" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be hiking the Laugavegur trail alone and have been looking for good hiking maps (1:50 000) online. My google searches yield no good results. Where do you even begin to look?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15985" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-01T12:53:16.570" LastActivityDate="2018-07-01T12:53:16.570" Title="How to find good hiking maps for the Laugavegur trail in Iceland?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;iceland&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2018-07-04T19:27:08.350" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19844" CreationDate="2018-07-01T14:58:03.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most people on vacation spend their afternoons and evenings outside their tent, going to sleep after dark, but they get up when it's already light. So evening shade doesn't really matter, but morning shade buys them maybe as much as an hour of sleep. Tents in sunlight get hot fast. For the typical scenario therefor: morning shade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's what I do when kayaking in the summer in the Alps anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-07-01T14:58:03.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19852" CreationDate="2018-07-02T01:24:35.310" Score="6" ViewCount="437" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Malaysia, the country I'm from, almost nobody puts up bird feeders. I have just bought a bird feeder from overseas, but the birds don't seem to know what the feeder even is, as they may not have never seen one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I encourage them to know to eat from the feeders? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My feeder is a tube feeder (I think? I'm so new to this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOC6O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOC6O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bird feeder lighter version&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the garden I have is about 11ft by 6ft as shown:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EgHpk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EgHpk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lighter version of lawn picture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15987" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-06T20:38:28.067" LastActivityDate="2018-07-07T00:08:03.837" Title="How can I help birds know how to feed from feeders?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19849" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-02T12:38:11.977" Score="2" ViewCount="418" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some terms may not be global, inline descriptions for questionable terms&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A motorhome is RV with an engine (&lt;em&gt;as opposed to a camp trailer that is pulled by another vehicle&lt;/em&gt;).  Many people will tow a small car behind it to use for running around when the RV is parked at a campsite.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently there are 3 basic approaches to towing the car&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 tires on the ground, with a towbar connecting the car to the RV&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tow dolly, a small trailer like device that the front tires of the car sit on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A full size car trailer that the entire car rides on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the first two it is not possible/recommended to backup with the car attached. You can backup with the full car trailer, but at the camp ground it is big extra thing to put someplace. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 'wheel lift' or 'stinger' is a device on a tow truck that picks a car up by the tires.  There are several manufacturers in the US that makes ones that &quot;hide&quot; under the back of a pickup, cost start around $4,000 for a brand new stinger. A car being towed on stinger, can be backed up just like a trailer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By putting a hidden stinger on the back of a motorhome, you could backup without disconnecting the towed car AND not have anything extra to put someplace at the campground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question:&lt;/strong&gt; A stinger on the back of a Motorhome seems like a wonderful solution to many of the hassles of towing a car.  Why can't I find any examples (lots of googling) of it being done? If it is not possible/practical why? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RV Classes&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;for clarity&lt;/em&gt; of question) There are 3 basic &quot;classes&quot; of motorized RVs, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recreational_vehicles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia has an article with details&lt;/a&gt;, there are execptions and variables, but for the purpose of this question, the below is a guideline&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Class A - This is purpose built on a heavy truck chassis. The exterior may resemble a bus, or camp trailer, the drivers area is an intricate part of the &quot;home&quot;.  The truck chassis is not near any load limits.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Class B - A complete van, as you would purchase from a local dealer to haul stuff, has an RV built inside it.  The exterior will look like a delivery van, possibly with special paint, custom windows, and possibly a raised roof.  The Drivers area easily access the camper area.  As built it may or may not be near load limits of the vehicle. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Class C - A marriage of the other two classes, A normal van is ordered from the Manufacture (i.e. Ford) but without a complete van body.  The body stops just behind the driver's seat. The RV builder builds a camper on the bare frame back of the van. The exterior will look like someone grafted a camp trailer on to a van.  Access between the drivers area and the camper may be difficult. As built it will most likely be very near the chassis load limit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the above Classes, the &lt;strong&gt;Class C&lt;/strong&gt; would not be a good candidate for a stinger, it would be near it load limit, while not impossible. it would be improbable. The &lt;strong&gt;Class B&lt;/strong&gt; would be a good candidate for the stinger, but owners of them use them as both a camper and for casual running around, they would not have a interest in towing a car.  &lt;strong&gt;Class A&lt;/strong&gt; these are the most expensive, and the largest, they are very capable of towing heavy loads, and can easily support the extra weight of the stinger and car. The Class A is the most likely to have car towed behind it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T12:59:13.167" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T12:59:13.167" Title="Can you put a tow truck stinger on a motorhome (RV)?" Tags="&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19849" CreationDate="2018-07-02T13:10:16.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One reason not is tongue weight.  Over 60% of the vehicle weight is on hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A truck is designed to take a load in the bed so there is extra capacity.  Most tow trucks are double rear wheel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On an RV the frame is already loaded to near capacity.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-07-02T13:10:16.797" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2018-07-02T14:39:33.893" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bluewaterropes.com/faqs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BlueWater Ropes says&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Marking pens are fine to use on ropes as long as they are water based laundry markers. Years ago solvent based markers were the norm. Some of the solvents used in these old pens could reduce the strength of the sheath strands marked. These days most pens are water based so this is not as much of an issue as in years passed. We recommend a &lt;a href=&quot;http://global.sharpie.com/en-GB/rub-a-dub-reg%3B-laundry-marker-sp-00035&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sharpie “rub a dub” laundry marking pen&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theuiaa.org/documents/safety/Notification_about_the_marking_of_ropes_by_climbers.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA says&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tests done by the UIAA Safety Commission and some rope manufacturers have shown that marking ropes with liquids such as those provided by felt-tipped pens can damage them; even with those markers, sold specifically for marking ropes. The test results have shown a decrease of up to 50% of the rope strength, more correctly: of the energy absorption capacity of the rope (expressed by the number of falls in the standard test method in accordance with the UIAA Standard101).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Therefore the UIAA Safety Commission warns against marking a rope with any substance that has not been specifically approved by the rope manufacturer of that rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-can-i-use-a-sharpie-to-mark-the-middle-of-my-rope.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond thinks it's not likely to cause any harm&lt;/a&gt;, though they didn't make ropes at the time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;so I had my crack crew of engineers grab a few cords, mark them up with a Sharpie, and pull them in the tensile tester. As expected, the ropes always broke at the knot—the Sharpie's middle mark seemingly having no effect on the strength of the cord during this test.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I don't think Sharpies or any other permanent markers have really been proven to actually damage nylon—short-term or long-term. However, I can't recommend them for use on rope either because the manufacturers will not and cannot guarantee that the marker will always be free of possibly harmful chemical ingredients. In other words, they can change the formula on a whim and none of us would be the wiser.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2018-07-02T21:39:36.123" LastActivityDate="2018-07-02T21:39:36.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19848" CreationDate="2018-07-02T19:17:33.550" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Malaysia has &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Malaysia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;781 species of birds&lt;/a&gt;, but most are not feeder-oriented, which would explain why people don't put up many feeders in your area. There are some, though, and they've probably seen feeders in their travels. Types and location of feeders and foods will bring them to you! Once you have an established group at your feeder, your yard will be a favorite spot and you'll need to order more feeders!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr24(6)16/28.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Attractiveness of Birdfeeders to Birds in the Garden, Malaysia&lt;/a&gt;, which studied 15 local species, five were the most attracted to birdfeeders. They were the Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), Yellow-vented Bulbul&#xA;(Pycnonotus goiavier), Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus), Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have any of those, it seems that you'll have the greatest chance for success. Others will probably come, but tailoring your feeding habits to these will give you that feeling of success as a beginner!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Research what types of foods your birds like most. According to a number of sources, the Malaysian version of those birds eat seeds, fruit, and insects. Their preferred seeds are millet, which comes in many colors and sizes. In fact, it looks like that's what's in your feeder, although I can't quite tell. If so, that's excellent! They do like &lt;a href=&quot;http://themichellefactorsencond.blogspot.com/2012/10/sunflower-seeds-kuaci.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kuaci&lt;/a&gt;, which is similar to sunflower seeds, but it's not their 1st choice, as it is with the American and European versions of the same bird. A seed blend including both is a good way to go. Their favorite fruit is papaya, and for protein they like mealworms. &lt;a href=&quot;https://globaltradx.en.ec21.com/Love-Bird-Seeds--Millet--10088034_10099954.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; shows a good basic diet. (It's a Malaysian vendor. I have no affiliation, it was just the best way to show you everything in one place.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/types-of-bird-seed-a-quick-guide/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; has a good list. Buy in bulk because once your birds are established, steady provision of food will keep them! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to choose feeders tailored to the needs of your birds. You should try more than one kind. Fill them with seeds. At the same time, sprinkle a lot of the same food on the ground around the feeder. If you have plants or bushes, put the feeder near them, and sprinkle the same food in, underneath, and around them. Many birds are shy or scared at first, and don't know what predators are around. They'd rather eat in the bushes until they feel safe in your yard. Whatever lawn, yard or patio you have, sprinkle the same seeds all around. The purpose is to attract the birds to your yard, then make sure that when they find the feeder, what's in it will taste the same. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water near the feeders is very important. You can use a birdbath, or a dish, no deeper than 2 inches. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be patient, and try not to get discouraged. Birds often take up to two weeks or longer to recognize a new feeder. Even birds who are used to feeders take a while to like a new one. We have 15 feeders, and when we add one, even if it's the same size, shape, and filled with the same food, they ignore it for a few days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some birds are ground feeders, and won't ever spend much time on the feeder. This is mostly the bigger birds, because their bodies are too awkward to stand on the feeder and grab the food. They'll still hang around though, because you'll be feeding them on the ground. Some birds prefer feeders placed on the ground, according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr24(6)16/28.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this source&lt;/a&gt;. The theory is that some are more comfortable stationary than on feeders that are blowing in the wind.     &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot more excellent detailed information in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8585/how-to-encourage-birds-into-the-garden-of-a-rented-house/8589#8589&quot;&gt;this question and answer&lt;/a&gt; which is already on our site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good additional sources:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wbu.com/get-started/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird Feeding Basics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sciencing.com/do-birds-bird-feeders-6570820.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How do birds find feeders?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com/the_zen_birdfeeder/2011/03/hanging-new-birdfeeder-rule-of-twos.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hanging New Birdfeeders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pet-cockatiel.com/Dboard/viewtopic.php?t=10872&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Malaysia Bird Forum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.themalaysiantimes.com.my/attract-birds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Malaysian Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-07T00:08:03.837" LastActivityDate="2018-07-07T00:08:03.837" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19683" CreationDate="2018-07-03T02:51:37.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hi James in my experience the way to buy a cheap bike that isn’t a piece of junk is to buy an old bike, possibly a very old bike, put on new tires and tubes, grease anything squeaky (this may involve learning how to / paying someone to disassemble it) and enjoy it.  Steel, if not rusty, holds up very well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ride it gently.  Don’t hammer up every hill or hit every pothole.  If off road pick your line and take your time and hop off and walk whenever in doubt.  You have a lot of influence over what breaks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People who own yachts often buy folding bikes and never use them.  I’ve found Dahon Mariners with Shimano componenty in great condition for under $100.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m a big fan of 20” (bmx size) wheels, they seem to be the sweet spot of cheap plentiful tires, durability, acceptable rolling resistance for pavement and smooth dirt, small folded size.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shiny new BSO’s really are a thing, avoid them.  Old stuff that’s still working comes with the benefit of survivorship bias, and comes from an era when things were made to be maintained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T02:51:37.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19975" CreationDate="2018-07-03T13:10:18.500" Score="6" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a couple of weeks my buddy (husband) and I will be doing a few dives on the UK's Jurassic coastline, in Swanage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's said if the vis (visibility) is good here you can often see seahorses, as they are doing well in the neighbouring bay at Studland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;British water is infamous for it's vis, and not always positively - &lt;strong&gt;where are some good dive sites globally to dive with seahorses?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Include in this, a depth of 25m (82 feet) or less, for shore dives only (around 15m (50 ft) from land).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-25T06:54:43.000" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T07:44:16.733" Title="Where are good dive sites to scuba dive with seahorses?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;dive-sites&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19784" CreationDate="2018-07-03T14:56:57.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several methods, one is adding water.  The thinking is this: the alcohol should be at about 75% alcohol, and denatured alcohol sold in the US already has some water in it, or other compounds depending on its intended use (or of the means by which it is denatured).  So, if you're not good at math, add H₂O and experiment.  Otherwise, use the actual alcohol content percentage and factor in the amount of water to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other remedies including using red Heet, which is something I do not advocate, because it burns sooty, and results in toxic gases.  Toluene or acetone (nail polish remover) can be used, as that is what we added in chem class with the alcohol burners.  However, we weren't cooking food with it, and also, we had vents to remove the poisonous gases given off.  And who wants to carry a bottle of toluene on a camping trip anyway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This came up once as we were considering a scout trip using the stoves.  But they are not allowed to be used per BSA policy.  The reason - there are two, and the water addresses only one of them - is that the blue flames are extremely difficult to see.  This is addressed by the addition of water or other flammable substances.  However, alcohol stoves are generally easily tipped over, and nothing can prevent this.  In the end, we scrapped the idea altogether - but not before a bit of experimentation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word of caution: anything other than a clear blue flame means incomplete combustion.  This will cause soot to accumulate on the pot/pan.  Be prepared for a bit of cleaning, or apply liquid soap on the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-07-04T14:15:24.153" LastActivityDate="2018-07-04T14:15:24.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19798" CreationDate="2018-07-03T15:02:44.223" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would use a red, yellow, or green bottle - and never a blue, white, or clear bottle, no matter how you labelled it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red is typically used for gasoline.  Kerosene is stored in blue.  Diesel is stored in yellow.  And combustable oil is stored in green containers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know, blue containers is also used to store potable water, so I would avoid blue.  In the end, red, yellow, or green - and then properly labelled - would be my recommendation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cheatography.com/davidpol/cheat-sheets/fuel-cans-color-codes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fuel Cans Color Codes Cheat Sheet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T15:02:44.223" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-07-03T16:45:22.840" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Never in place of sleeping bags and pads, or even extra dry clothes, but maybe as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it’s a weather situation where you need the heat to avoid hypothermia, reliability might be your critical determinant.  So one answer to “the conditions under which an artificial device to heat a tent makes objective sense” might be “when the reliability of your heater exceeds the reliability of your other methods” a circumstance which wouldn’t usually happen at the outset but might somehow develop in the field.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulating layers plus body heat are a pretty reliable system:  The insulation has no moving parts, no fuel, few opportunities to break catastrophicallly etc.  And under normal conditions the body generates heat.&#xA;But I can imagine a situation in which:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)the bulky lightweight insulators get soaked with water, catch fire, or are simply lost to wind/current/animals etc. while some of your heavier more compact gear is not.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And/or&#xA;2)  the human is already so severely hypothermic they are not generating heat.&#xA;In that situation the true redundancy provided by a totally independent warming system which functions by completely independent principles might be valuable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my sense is you would never choose a heater over a sleeping bag/clothes/good tent as your “Plan A” but you might choose a heater as a backup system (especially if you can for all intents and purposes build it out of field-proven things you have with you like stove-heated hot water bottles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-24T12:19:37.527" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T12:19:37.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19798" CreationDate="2018-07-03T17:16:04.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Standard&quot; would be to only use containers specifically designed and marked for the type of fuel it is holding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of reasons; safety, legal and physical to not repurpose used containers to hold fuel. I won't go through them, as you are not asking about the implications of this, you are asking for the standard.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard is to purchase the size container of the fuel you need.  If that container gets empty and &lt;strong&gt;IF&lt;/strong&gt; it is refillable, refill and re-use the container specifically designed and marked for the type of fuel it is holding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T17:16:04.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19798" CreationDate="2018-07-03T18:38:08.797" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is to not use a repurposed water bottle. Further, use completely different types of containers for fuel and water so you can't mix them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in the day (the 1970's) when white gas stoves were popular (yes, the still are - I have one and it works great), there were aluminum fuel bottles. And, people generally used Nalgene bottles (or big metal canteens) for water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, I knew somebody who thought that using the aluminum fuel bottles for water was really cool. But, he also used them for white gas, operating under the assumption that (1) he would buy different colored bottles (red for fuel, bare metal for water), and (2) anyway you could tell the difference by smell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All was good until one night, while winter camping, he needed a drink of water. The 'water' and 'fuel' bottles feel the same on the outside. It was dark, so he couldn't tell them apart by color. And it was cold enough that the vapor pressure of the gas was really low, so an opened fuel bottle really didn't smell like anything. It wasn't until he had taken a nice big mouthful of liquid that he realized he had grabbed a fuel bottle instead of a water bottle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to spit the fuel out before swallowing it. Unfortunately, the spray of fuel all over the inside of his tent raised other safety questions (Have you ever seen a down sleeping bag completely disappear in a giant ball of flame? I have, but that is another story.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only use Nalgene for water. I only use aluminum fuel containers for fuel. Never the two shall meet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2018-07-03T18:38:08.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20053" CreationDate="2018-07-03T18:39:22.767" Score="5" ViewCount="524" Body="&lt;h2&gt;What can we do to bring water loss &lt;em&gt;from breathing&lt;/em&gt; down to the &lt;em&gt;absolute minimum&lt;/em&gt; possible?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Techniques or devices useful to adventurers with no frequent water access is what I am looking for, such as hiking or biking across a desert for longer than is reasonable to carry or find sufficient water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water does not necessarily need to be reclaimed by drinking. Any answer for which water that would be otherwise lost due to breathing but is in your body keeping you healthy instead is a good answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See also&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/264/is-drinking-urine-safe&quot;&gt;&quot;Is drinking urine safe?&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (Short answer: No) Urine is another one of the biggest sources of bodily water loss, and you can distill it back into pure water with a small amount of resources and a sufficient heat source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food for thought&lt;/strong&gt;: I recall that in the story &quot;Dune&quot; the people on that desert planet had access to wearable water reclamation equipment which reclaimed almost all of their water, not only from breathing but other sources as well. Dune is science-fiction, but it does make me wonder if such technology is actually available in reality; is there any easily portable equipment that can reclaim a significant portion of breath water in the same way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is inspired from reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19836/12799&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; to a question about water rationing and death from dehydration. From that question, and reading up on the topic elsewhere, it appears a reasonable portion of water lost per day can be due to water vapor lost in your breath. This can even be a significant portion of water loss in some environments, such as cold dry air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T18:55:34.503" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T01:59:41.343" Title="Reclaiming water lost from breathing" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19798" CreationDate="2018-07-03T21:51:36.057" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always use a fuel container. They are marked and designed for fuel.  Never use improvised water containers for fuel. There are various sizes available in retail shops and online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1TOXT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1TOXT.png&quot; alt=&quot;MSR fuel bottle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GzODU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GzODU.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-07-04T13:02:08.097" LastActivityDate="2018-07-04T13:02:08.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19861" CreationDate="2018-07-04T02:34:25.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;So with the disclaimer that this answer is not based on experience with any actual field-proven practices or tech, and posted in the hopes of contributing to idea generation by people who like to invent and test new gear: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breath is saturated (100% humidity) and the moisture content of air at different temps varies (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/maximum-moisture-content-air-d_1403.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/maximum-moisture-content-air-d_1403.html&lt;/a&gt; ) so there is reason to believe one could reduce moisture loss from the body (and thus reduce necessary water consumption) by either humidifying the air inhaled, or recapturing the air exhaled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One method might be to figure out a way by which the moisture you breathe out migrates into the air you breathe in.  I think this happens when breathing through a scarf in cold weather:  the exhaled moisture condenses on the cold fibers of the scarf, and this condensate moistens the incoming air.  One might conceivably optimize this via some membrane that wicks moisture from your exhaled breath into the path of inhaled air while preventing you from rebreathing the bulk of the exhaled carbon dioxide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another might be to use that moisture to dampen the skin—reducing sweat if not actually making it possible to reabsorb, although this would likely be undesirable in cold weather.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third would be to trap it (condense it or absorb into some hydrophilic material) and release it later.  If you assume available science-fiction energy source, this last method could work—you could capture all vapor with a tiny refrigerator coil, kill bacteria with ultraviolet or remove it with reverse osmosis, and eliminate volatile compounds (stank) with a carbon filter.  The question is are their circumstances in which it’s practical:  Cool desert-morning air flowing past a heat exchanger on a bike frame might be one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22714078&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article on nih.gov pubmed&lt;/a&gt; indicates water loss ranges widely due to exertion and weather, from 7 to 70ml/hr. So your setup needs to be pretty light and/or your trip pretty long before it’s better than just carrying additional water. But the “heat exchanger” could literally be a crumpled beercan or length of thinwalled aluminum tube so I don’t think it’s out of the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note also that the water loss calculation is based on moisture out minus moisture in, so humidifying the air you breathe in really would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think humidifying breath for cold weather activity is the killer app for this. Stumbled on this 1957 report on arctic face masks for US military &lt;a href=&quot;http://dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/149222.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  This suggests other design criteria for this device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-07T01:59:41.343" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T01:59:41.343" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19865" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19875" CreationDate="2018-07-04T08:17:11.200" Score="12" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was hiking in Switzerland yesterday and came across a small river which holds very little water on most days (or even none) and grows a lot after rainfall. The day before yesterday it rained for the first time in weeks, so the river held a lot of clear non-smelly water. I was wondering if it was safe to drink the water after a long time without rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for this: I once lived in a house which got its water from a natural spring. Every so often we had to boil the water because after long periods of drought the first rain washed a lot of chemicals from a nearby road into the spring. The water then smelled and looked fine to drink but contained small particles of rubber and oils from cars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no road near the river in question, but maybe the forest could accumulate similar contaminants (human waste, dead animals, etc.) and wash them downstream with the first rain after a drought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/2/where-in-the-alps-is-it-safe-to-drink-the-water-without-filtering&quot;&gt;This question&lt;/a&gt; is about drinking water in the alps, but does not address the issue with contaminants that might not be visible/smellable in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2005.02554.x&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This paper&lt;/a&gt; mentions on multiple occasions the problems of contaminated water after rainfall in urban areas. Maybe there is an equivalent for situations in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15372" LastEditorUserId="15372" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T07:34:16.117" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T19:30:32.270" Title="Is it safe to drink rain water from a stream after a long drought?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19866" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19867" CreationDate="2018-07-04T09:40:07.857" Score="15" ViewCount="478" Body="&lt;p&gt;On longer dives, let's say over an hour long, the air from the cylinder becomes rather dry and can cause a dry throat - what are possible ways to have a drink when scuba diving? Are there alternatives to drinking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-07-04T14:12:30.753" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T15:15:34.107" Title="What are possible ways to drink on a long scuba dive?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19866" CreationDate="2018-07-04T10:30:04.513" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no experience in this but It seems logical that you can drink while underwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/can-you-drink-while-underwater-like-bottle-water.255396/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This thread seems to confirm that&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly you should use a soft pouch as a container with a straw.&#xA;This keeps pressure equal and prevents seawater from flowing in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-04T11:15:42.100" LastActivityDate="2018-07-04T11:15:42.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19868" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-04T21:28:15.670" Score="10" ViewCount="730" Body="&lt;p&gt;We will be in Peru visiting Machu Pichu (altitude 7,972 ft or 2,430 m). Then we'll go down to the jungle (essentially sea level) for 4 days and then to Cuzco (altitude 11,152 feet or 3,399 meters).  Will it take less time to re-acclimatize? Will we have to &quot;start again?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15990" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-07-06T13:31:03.823" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T06:22:54.517" Title="Does body need to re-acclimatize after a few days out of altitude?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19868" CreationDate="2018-07-05T00:26:07.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;On your itinerary -- sea level, Machu Picchu, low altitude, Cuzco -- you do not have to start from scratch in acclimatization after four days at low altitude, &lt;strong&gt;but you are far from acclimatized to Cuzco&lt;/strong&gt;, even if you were fully acclimatized to Machu Picchu.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The acclimatization you attained going to Machu Picchu will help, but over 11,000 feet is &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; different from under 8,000 feet and, in fact, not everyone will acclimatize to 11,000 feet, especially if they have only a few days.           &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to Cuzco first, and become well acclimatized to Cuzco, you may have no trouble going to Machu Picchu after four days at low altitude.  &lt;strong&gt;The reverse is not true:&lt;/strong&gt; i.e., Cuzco requires further acclimatization -- &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whereverwriter.com/prevent-altitude-sickness-cusco-machu-picchu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; gives a survey of the problems you may encounter, and some steps to take, &lt;strong&gt;not all of which I recommend.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In particular, the advice to take Tylenol or another pain killer for headache is bad advice.&lt;/strong&gt;  Painkillers could mask the onset of High Altitude Cerebral Edema, which is life-threatening.  Cuzco is low for HACE, but HACE is not unknown at that altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best advice is to allow at least two days to travel from the jungle to Cuzco, and follow all the usual advice about keeping well hydrated, cutting out alcohol completely, and not getting overtired.  Diamox has apparently helped people in &lt;strong&gt;certain specific situations, but this is a prescription drug and should be taken only on the advice of your doctor. Don't take other people's word, even if it has helped them, and don't get any from friends.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-07-05T11:00:09.780" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T11:00:09.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19868" CreationDate="2018-07-05T13:23:48.263" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wiki defines Acclimatisation as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, etc), allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I take that since you asked this question you are already aware of what Acclimatization is, but &lt;strong&gt;&quot;start again?&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; asks for above definition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on your itinerary, which will commence at Machu Pichu (altitude 7,972 ft or 2,430 m), its usually safer to spend some time acclimatising before getting at 7972 ft altitude. I am assuming that you have already planned for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the next higher altitude you are planning to get to, I'd strongly recommend getting fully-acclimated to 7972 ft, spend a night around that altitude if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll naturally feel way better in the jungle once you descend. Now if you are planning to stay in the jungle (essentially sea level) for 4 days as you say, you don't &lt;em&gt;entirely&lt;/em&gt; loose the acclimatisation that you have already attained, but with certain precautions. Avoid Alcohol consumption, avoid any medication for headache, hydrate properly, keep doing something rather than laying lazy. With this you'll actually let your body recover from whats lost (or craved for) at higher altitude. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Precautions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid alcohol consumption&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep hydrating yourself&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go easy on diet, don't hog all that you see. (This actually happens to me when I descend from a higher altitude trek)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid headache and other pills for no reason. If there is discomfort, seek attention, be open to the fact that further plans to climb higher may go for a toss based on professional advice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Balance adequate sleep/rest and exercise in your schedule&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Will it take less time to re-acclimatise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It ideally should, but its highly based on the routine that you follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Will we have to &quot;start again?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, unless you spend a very long time sitting idle with no routine and random diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen and followed a pattern of load-ferrying up the higher camps, purely for acclimatisation purpose. When you spend a night at altitude, the best thing that your body will get at lower altitude is the quality sleep.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, a schedule for acclimatisation for a high-altitude climb would be similar to this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 0: Reach Base camp (Which is higher than where you normally live), spend a couple of days: camping, packing stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 2: Hike up the mountain to another camp, dump some stuff that you've carried and that will be required for further stages of expedition, and Return to Base Camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 3: Hike up the mountain with almost no load, pick-up stuff that was dumped at camp 1, load it all the way to camp 2 and return to camp 1 for sleep-over.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 4: Descend to Base camp, rest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 5: Carry a heavier load this time to Camp 1, assume that you aren't descending to base camp till the end of expedition, unless necessary. Stay at camp 1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 6: Carry load to Camp 2 and sleep-over at camp 2.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 7: Carry load to camp 3 / Summit camp and return to camp 1 for sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 8: Ascend to camp 3 / Summit camp and sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 9: Descend to camp 1 and stay there for 2 days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 10: Recovery&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 11: Recovery&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day 12: Ascend to summit camp / camp 3, and sleep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attempt Summit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I shared this itinerary, because it involves a lot of time spent at lower altitude for recovery after having gained a considerably higher altitude and being fully acclimatised. I have known people who followed this (or similar) &#xA;itinerary and with no problems whatsoever managed to get to the top of a 7075 m (or 23211 ft) high bad-ass mountain, with a base camp set to about 4,800 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: I've stayed my life at sea level (Mumbai), and I've hiked up to world's highest village connected by a motorable road (Komik, at 15k ft), starting at about 7k ft (Pooh village), then came to a town at 6.5k ft and stayed there for a week and then travelled to a place at 11k ft in a day by road, and then went up a mountain top at 20k feet with no problems whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-07-09T06:18:28.127" LastActivityDate="2018-07-09T06:18:28.127" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19868" CreationDate="2018-07-05T14:28:51.140" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a Dr but it seems to me the body would declimitize as fast as acclimatise.  So you would lose 4 days of acclimatisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kanootours.com/bolivia/trekking-climbing#fitness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MOUNTAIN CLIMBING &amp;amp; TREKKING BOLIVIA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For example we have seen well acclimatized people arrive in La Paz,&#xA;  then take a trip down to the Pampas &amp;amp; Jungle in Rurrenabaque, which is&#xA;  around 300 meters,  then return wanting to climb a mountain but find&#xA;  they are struggling to be at the altitude of La Paz.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Something to note though, and a mistake some people make, is that you&#xA;  have to make sure yout don't go to lower altitudes during this&#xA;  acclimitization period as you will start to declimitize as your blood&#xA;  cell count readjusts back to its previous levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-09-04T06:22:54.517" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T06:22:54.517" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19873" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-05T15:49:40.320" Score="5" ViewCount="2338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am, ahem, &lt;em&gt;itching&lt;/em&gt; to camp on the Bruce Trail (Ontario, Canada) in July. I have two kittens at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I use as mosquito repellent? I am afraid to use the ubiquitous DEET-based spray as it poisonous to cats (and my kittens are fairly small, so it doesn't take much).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T22:42:05.483" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T22:51:01.027" Title="Cat-safe mosquito repellent?" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;&lt;repellent&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19879" CreationDate="2018-07-05T16:12:14.820" Score="4" ViewCount="1179" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have been using older water filter bottles with charcoal filters. These are easy to drink from a combination of squeeze the bottle and suck will quickly fill your mouth with a swallow of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are planning to upgrade to sub-micron pore filter bottles.  After much research it seems like the two midrange dominate products are the Sawyer (0.1 micron) &amp;amp; Lifestraw (0.2 micron), both have a product that incorporates their filter into their purpose build bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on who you ask and what you believe they both have either vastly different or nearly the same, life expectancy and filtering ability. Leaving that aside and just focusing on getting the water from the bottle, through the filter and into your mouth; are there significant differences? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference between 0.1 microns and 0.2 microns is double (or half) what impact does it have on being able to get the water through?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. In most cases we have pre-filtered the water with a Camco 20 micron filter, into the fresh water tank of the camper.  Or we are using tap water from our local municipality.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-07-06T14:07:24.550" Title="Usability difference between 0.1 micron 0.2 micron filter bottles?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19865" CreationDate="2018-07-05T17:26:52.030" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reality is that if there is a trail, there will be human waste improperly deposited near that trail. Recent heavy rain will wash this waste into the stream. Also, stream beds are where gravity naturally deposits anything that can be moved by gravity. Stream beds are nature's &#xA;garbage collectors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the factors that make urban streams risky after drought apply in the wild. There may be much less of a risk compared to urban streams, but rain after drought is likely to be a high risk time to drink from a stream without filtering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2018-07-05T17:26:52.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19873" CreationDate="2018-07-05T21:52:50.557" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One strategy is to use whatever repellent you want, but, if it harmful to cats, thoroughly shower and wash your hair and change into uncontaminated clothes after your trip and before you get home.  Wash the contaminated clothes at a friend's house or at a Laundromat, put them in an uncontaminated bag and throw the contaminated bag away.  That is, take no contaminated clothing, skin, hair or other objects home.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a lot of trouble -- true, but these are &lt;strong&gt;kittens&lt;/strong&gt; and worth a lot of trouble. My only reservation -- will you do this as fanatically as necessary for the kittens? ab2, aka cat lover&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit in Response to Comment from @Wigwam:&lt;/strong&gt;  OOPS!  You need to check out how easily the skeeter repellent washes out. &quot;This is good advice, but know that you can't easily wash permethrin out of clothes. When professionally treating clothes, permethrin can survive dozens of washings. But if you DIY from a bottle you buy at Wal-Mart, that can survive 5 or 6 washings.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Addendum:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  See the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22979/4079&quot;&gt;answer of @Alexander,&lt;/a&gt; which, IMO is the simplest and most elegant and most foolproof way to safeguard the kittens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-08-27T13:48:53.850" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T13:48:53.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19877" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19880" CreationDate="2018-07-05T22:07:59.717" Score="7" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was planning on a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch this August but it closed the back country for the rest of the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My troop already has group tickets on a flight to Colorado with Delta. I was just wondering if anyone would know a good place to go in that area, that would be a passable replacement for Philmont?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="15830" LastEditDate="2018-07-07T09:37:54.977" LastActivityDate="2018-07-11T23:32:08.750" Title="Philmont closed - any good places to go instead?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19873" CreationDate="2018-07-06T11:13:07.913" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As one of the minority of the population that cannot use DEET (it makes my &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-true-that-the-deet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;skin burn&lt;/a&gt;!) I use plant-based solutions.  There are several options on the market that use either citronella or geraniol or a combination of both, and I find they work well enough for my needs.  Plus, in addition to being safe for dogs and cats, some people are using them intentionally on their pets as flea repellents.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onlynaturalpet.com/holistic-healthcare-library/fleas-ticks/53/the-natural-approach-to-flea-control.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mapleholistics.com/blog/citronella-essential-oil-pets/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, although irrelevant to the question, is the increasing concern that just as we humans created staph that resists our antibiotics, we are also creating &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-21519998&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mosquitoes that resist DEET&lt;/a&gt;.  So switching to a different repellent could help in more ways than one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your hike, and the safe return to your kittehs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-07-06T14:50:02.423" LastActivityDate="2018-07-06T14:50:02.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19874" CreationDate="2018-07-06T14:07:24.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leaving that aside and just focusing on getting the water from the bottle, through the filter and into your mouth; are there significant differences?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water flow as I have experienced myself between Sawyer (0.1) and MSR (0.2) fibrous filters wasn't significantly different. I have seen a big difference between ceramic and fibrous filters though, ceramic having poorer flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that unless it is actually the filter material and not just a chemical trap, activated charcoal by itself doesn't do much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On pore size, the abilities of 0.1 and 0.2 micron filters are almost exactly the same. Cysts and bacteria won't go through both, and viruses &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; go through both. The only advantage you get from 0.1 micron filters is a reduced chance of the odd bacteria going through. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wqa.org/learn-about-water/common-contaminants/bacteria-viruses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt;'s some additional info.&#xA;Then again, that's in ideal conditions, out of the box. With use, the pores could get slightly bigger and more bacteria might get through. So starting from 0.1 micron makes that process longer and less problematic. If viruses are a problem where you visit, make sure to use a chemical treatment in addition to mechanical filtering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just never let your filter cartridge freeze. Remaining water expanding could potentially widen the gaps and make the filter unsafe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-07-06T14:07:24.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19877" CreationDate="2018-07-06T20:51:19.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our crew deviated to Lost Creek Wilderness SW of Denver and Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness near Aspen (bear canisters required, which they picked up at an REI on the way). The only issue they had was the Scouts had bags good enough for Philmont (40F) but not higher elevations, but the leader didn't discover this until they were already at Maroon Bells. Oops. Thus, they just base camped in West Maroon valley and did days hikes for a few days so they were close to &quot;escape&quot; if necessary. Still had a great time, but if they had known the equipment issue beforehand they would have just done a loop in Lost Creek, which is similar elevation to Philmont, instead of just an overnight to acclimate. This was mid June so nighttime temps were cooler on avg than in August but you can hit below freezing any night of the year above 10k in CO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also suggest the Wind Rivers near Pinedale but that's a decent drive from Denver. It's my favorite spot so far. I went there yet again to watch the eclipse on the Continental Divide. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, if you want to hit something in CO/WY then make sure everyone is prepped for temps as low as 20. Also stay alert to &lt;a href=&quot;https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Inciweb&quot;&gt;Inciweb&lt;/a&gt; for wildfire info as you may need to deviate again! CO had a low snow year so things are pretty dry and there are fires all over the state. The Winds had pretty decent snow so they should be OK until Aug or so. I could offer some route suggestions if you want to go to any of these areas just let me know how tough you want and how many days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW, any backpacking in CO/WY will be superior to Philmont. What you miss is all the programs at the camps (and the extra expense LOL). You'll need to learn to do a proper bear hang without the advantage of having the cables in place for you already. One other skill you need is how to find good campsites for a group. In some places it's a challenge to find a nice spot for 1 tent let alone 4-6 so you need to know how to read topo maps well for clues and pick out tips from trip reports you can find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, is your crew larger than 10? That will throw a wrench in things since most wilderness areas don't allow more than 10 without a permit. You could split up into two smaller crews if you have enough adults and hike a loop in opposite directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2018-07-06T20:51:19.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19881" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19883" CreationDate="2018-07-07T03:32:32.057" Score="7" ViewCount="784" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18939/12972&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; to &quot;what gear should go in the brain (top most compartment)&quot;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the brain compartment usually ends up becoming the knick-knack / catch-all pocket, for small items items that get frequently used&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I noticed that the zipper of the &quot;brain&quot; compartment almost always faces backwards, towards the wearer and the straps, rather than forwards towards the other zippers and pockets on the front of the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically when I take my pack off, I set it down or against a tree, with the straps facing away. This allows me to open the pack and grab something out of the main compartment, and it makes it easy for me to access whatever water bottles or other equipment I've clipped to the outside of the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But with everything else facing up, the brain compartment zipper is facing down. All of the &quot;small items items that get frequently used&quot; will fall out if I open the brain compartment zipper while the pack is in this position. So I end up having to turn it upside down to get things out of the brain compartment. The pack is usually heavy enough to make this rather inconvenient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a long time I've been wondering about the purpose of this design. What am I missing? Are people able to get stuff out of the brain compartment by reaching backwards while wearing the pack? I know that as for me, my arms are not nearly flexible enough to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I asked the owner of the local military surplus store and he said that the reason for this design is so that the brain compartment zipper doesn't come open when the wearer of the pack is crawling through underbrush. I'm having trouble believing that most backpackers spend enough time crawling through underbrush to make this an important design consideration. Does anyone here have a more believable explanation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y4GXG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y4GXG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Packed backpack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12972" LastEditorUserId="12972" LastEditDate="2018-07-08T02:37:08.760" LastActivityDate="2018-07-08T02:37:08.760" Title="Why do almost all backpacking packs have top compartment (&quot;brain compartment&quot;) zippers facing backwards?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19873" CreationDate="2018-07-07T13:59:17.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Conside using Picaridin which has similar effectiveness as DEET, but with fewer risks. I would of course try to avoid overexposing your cat to it due to thier grooming behaviors, i don’t think incidental contact with you after outdoor activities will pose a strong risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found some references here that it should be safer for cats:&lt;a href=&quot;https://novacatclinic.com/how-can-i-protect-my-cat-from-mosquitos/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://novacatclinic.com/how-can-i-protect-my-cat-from-mosquitos/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve also heard that there are no published scientific studies to back this up with more concrete evidence based proof. This is likely because Picaridin is a much newer product on the market, only approved for use in the U.S. in 2005 and europe in 1998. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would definitely continue to avoid DEET and Permethrin due to known toxicity in cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastActivityDate="2018-07-07T13:59:17.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19881" CreationDate="2018-07-07T18:19:33.657" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I don't have a definitive answer, I do have a few anecdotal / personal experience reasons to prefer the zipper across the back. In order to keep terminology consistent, the &quot;back of the pack&quot; will refer to the side against the wearer and the &quot;front of the pack&quot; will refer to the opposite, non-strap side. I'll also be focusing on a typical top loading pack, with a main top-loading compartment and a floating top-compartment / brain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the main compartment needs to be accessed, the top lid gets flopped out of the way towards the main backpack straps. If the zipper on the top lid was on the front, then contents of the brain compartment would rest directly against the zipper in this orientation. In particular, consider what happens if you flop the top compartment out of the way without it zipped up---almost everything  falls out. With the zipper on the back, there is a lower likelihood of losing everything. With some practice, you can even just pinch the closure shut and flop the top compartment out of the way without losing anything or wasting time doing and undoing the zipper. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the main body of the pack isn't fully loaded, the top compartment tends to slump towards the front of the pack, as the attachment point to the back panel is generally higher up. If the zipper ran across the front, then all of the contents would be resting directly against the (perhaps not completely closed) zipper. In contrast, with the zipper running along the back, contents rest against the stitched seams and would need to bounce up and out of the opening left by a partially undone zipper. I have accidentally set off down the trail after a break with the top compartment half undone, only to find that all of the contents are still inside a mile down the trail. Had the zipper been on the front side, I would not have been so lucky. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zippers are somewhat fragile, especially when compared sewn seams---for example, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JvmAktLvFg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this clip&lt;/a&gt; of how easy it is to break into zippered luggage. Having equipment resting directly against a zipper can potentially do similar things, hence trying to place the zipper (even a fully closed one) in a position where gear is less likely to rest directly against it. This ties in with points 1 and 2. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zippers don't deal well with sand &amp;amp; dust. Typically, most people don't like to lay their back panel &amp;amp; straps in the dirt, so placing the zipper along the back of the top compartment reduces the chances of it getting thrown in the dirt. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zippers also need some weather protection---a standard zipper will let in a surprising amount of water in a rain storm. The easiest way to do this is with a small storm flap covering the zipper, necessitating that it runs along the front or back of the compartment. This is also why zippers tend to run along the compartment somewhere towards the bottom of the compartment. Some manufacturers (e.g., Arc'Teryx) have some packs where the zipper runs across the top of the compartment, but use a more expensive waterproof zipper. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the zipper across the back of the top compartment, you can access items without even break stride by simply slinging the backpack on one shoulder. If you do this with, e.g., your right arm through the left should strap, the zipper on the top compartment will be directly in front of you for easy access. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2018-07-07T18:19:33.657" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19884" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-07T19:39:14.857" Score="2" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm seeking recommendations on the best places to camp in Western MA. Preferably not busy campgrounds, and with access to good hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8039" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T04:23:27.667" Title="What are the best camping sites in Western Massachusetts?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19884" CreationDate="2018-07-08T12:51:05.370" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All public campgrounds in western MA are going to be &quot;busy&quot; on weekends in the summer.  In fact, I wouldn't even try finding a campsite later than afternoon on Friday or on Saturday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for hiking, look at maps to see what the hiking opportunities are by each campground you are considering.  A good place to start is with the state-wide trails map.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mass-trails.org/map/ma.html#map=10/42.38746/-72.83798&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mass-trails.org/map/ma.html#map=10/42.38746/-72.83798&lt;/a&gt; is zoomed in on the western part of the state.  Zoom in more, and you'll see individual trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, that web site was created by a member of our Town of Groton Trails Committee.  It was modeled after our very successful interactive trails map that he also created, expanded to the whole state.  The data is harvested from OpenStreetMap, but displayed in a trail-centric way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After some poking around on that map, you'll see there are many many hiking opportunities all over MA.  Even in just the &quot;hill towns&quot; area (from the NY border east to the edge of the Connecticut Valley), there is a wide range.  This includes the popular AT and areas around Mt Greylock, to much more obscure woods walks and other local hikes of all types of terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off-road vehicles are allowed in some places, like many of the trails in October Mountain State Park.  As a hiker, you might want to avoid those areas.  There are still plenty of trails what won't have dirt bikes and the like on them (at least not legally).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-07-08T12:51:05.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19886" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-08T13:16:19.347" Score="2" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday  I went to the beach when I get in the water everything was fine the water not cold the sea very clear. Then I started feeling little stings at all my body.I thought it was  my idea. When I went home I saw all my body it was full of little stings they don't hurt  but I want to scratch them. Pls tell me cause I don't know what are these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15998" LastActivityDate="2018-07-08T13:16:19.347" Title="I feel little stings in the sea" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2018-07-12T08:48:57.573" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19889" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-08T22:45:50.940" Score="3" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;I mostly climb at a rock climbing gym, and I can climb for hours until my forearms run out of gas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when I climb outdoors, usually the reason I have to stop is because the skin of my palms and especially my fingers become red and sensitive, meaning whenever I touched a rock the pain is so bad that I am not able to continue climbing despite I still have a lot of gas in my forearms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought about avoiding warming up on V0~V1s because I want to save my skin for harder climbs, but at the same time I feel like skipping warmups is asking for injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried wearing gloves but it just didn't feel right and according to the videos on YouTube of people who climb outdoors, no one wears it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone tell me how to solve this? Currently I feel climbing indoors is more enjoyable because I can actually fully exhaust my muscles, but I read at so many places that climbing outdoors is supposedly to be more fun and cool, and I really want to experience that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the material of the gym holds more skin-friendly? I don't recall myself running into skin problems when I first started to climb in the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T22:36:21.087" Title="Climbing outdoors makes the skin of my palm red and sensitive" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19891" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-09T05:16:38.197" Score="5" ViewCount="585" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a recent camping trip, I was having great difficulty sending messages with a Garmin InReach. I was in a woods with a moderately thick canopy overhead, but next to a small river so I could step out into the clear to get at least some view of the sky. Even in the semi-clear, the connection to the Iridium satellites was very spotty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have scoured the web looking for advice about how to best hold the InReach for optimum transmitting power, and there’s nothing out there. Not even basic advice of whether it’s best to hold it horizontally or vertically oriented. Other factors, like the distance it is held away from the ground, may affect it as well (extrapolating from ham radio antenna theory).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, does anyone have knowledge (either from experience or from radio theory) that could help out with making the InReach more effective at reaching its satellites?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16004" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T02:46:52.787" Title="How best to hold/aim a Garmin InReach for satellite messaging?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19891" CreationDate="2018-07-09T06:57:30.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I cannot find the exact specs of the type of antenna they use I can only speculate.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My guess is that the antenna is either unidirectional or placed along the length axis of the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the antenna is not (completely) unidirectional it should work best when the device is laying on it's back.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This way the radio waves will definitely radiate upwards out of the device.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And besides that, it's meant to be used being held in such a position anyway.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2018-07-09T06:57:30.443" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6580" CreationDate="2018-07-09T09:37:48.347" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The German Alpine Club (DAV) tested several permanent marker pen inks (Edding 3000, Retract 11 and Staedtler Lumocolor) and found no reduction in rope strength in static tests. So I would feel pretty safe in using one of them, despite the fact that they are not specifically sold as &quot;rope markers&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roughly translated &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.de/Bergsport/Sicherheit/FAQs/?article3782ee01-2150-f817-102b-37bc0fd04cd7=5b80afa4-bad7-873d-126f-31bae1e5aaae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;from German&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It makes sense to mark the middle of the ropes. Many rappelling and lowering accidents might habe been prevented by this. Marking the middle with tape makes little sense as the tape is not very durable and might slip. Additionaly, it might get stuck on the prussik when rappelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using the inks Edding 3000, Retract 11 and Staedtler Lumocolor, no relevant reduction in strength could be found in static testing. They can be regarded as adequate to mark the middle of ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2005/4/8-13%20%28dialog%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Longer Explanation&quot;&gt;longer Explanation&lt;/a&gt; for those who speak german.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Edding company even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2009/3/print/12-17%20%28dialog%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;promised&lt;/a&gt;  the DAV that the name of the pen would change if the composition changed, so that the 3000 pen should be safe for the forseeable future. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2018-07-10T08:46:04.853" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T08:46:04.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19891" CreationDate="2018-07-09T15:33:59.100" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;next to a small river so I could step out into the clear to get at least some view of the sky&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's really the bare minimum for good signal. This will have much more impact than how you hold it. If you can go to a clear high ground not too far away, it will help. If not, there isn't much to do but try until you get good signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-07-09T15:33:59.100" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19895" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-09T19:45:16.213" Score="3" ViewCount="440" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in eager search for any suggestions in terms of a personal sleeping bag liner we use for winter in our zipped together sleeping bags and for our summer tour we’re we mostly stay in huts. We cannot really use single sleeping bag liners, due to some condition. So we either need sleeping bag liners that are for 2 people. Or we use zip-together liners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However it doesn’t seem to have such a thing on the market. All I find is half a blanked half an liners. But I need an liner for 2 people :/ &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11707" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T14:56:53.547" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T07:09:06.217" Title="Two person sleeping bag liner for sleeping bag/staying in a hut?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19896" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19899" CreationDate="2018-07-10T02:49:39.080" Score="14" ViewCount="2229" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone had good experience using an ordinary drugstore oral thermometer in the backcountry in winter weather, and getting trustworthy readings?  I made the experiment (on a night that was around 30F/0C and windy and I felt subjectively chilly enough to be thinking about the possibility of hypothermia) but didn’t get readings I believed (they were implausibly low).  The thermometer was digital and my assumption was the ambient air temp ruined its calibration or simply chilled the body of the device.   Before I repeat the experiment with the old-fashioned glass and dyed alcohol kind, curious if people here have had practical success in measuring body temp credibly enough to actually help self-diagnose beginning stages of hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS thank you to the many great answers to questions elsewhere on this site regarding symptoms for diagnosing hypothermia in yourself and others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-10T07:14:37.417" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T03:37:18.100" Title="Using a thermometer for hypothermia diagnosis in backcountry?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19895" CreationDate="2018-07-10T03:48:23.137" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you mean sleeping bag liners? If so, I've never seen a 2-person liner although they seem to exist. Consider buying two and going to a tailor/seamstress to get it modified. It shouldn't be expensive at all. I get lots of gear modified/fixed and after finding the right person, it costs me peanuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-07-10T12:36:32.187" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T12:36:32.187" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19884" CreationDate="2018-07-10T04:23:27.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is on the eastern side of “western”, but Tully Lake in Royalston MA has tent-only camping (hike/paddle in, no vehicle access) and trails beside a small gem of a lake.  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/places-to-stay/tully-lake-campground/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/places-to-stay/tully-lake-campground/&lt;/a&gt;.  It’s also the site of a great trail run / mountain bike / paddle relay triathlon each October which draws plenty of lycra and carbon fiber but also blue jeans and aluminum camp canoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T04:23:27.667" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19896" CreationDate="2018-07-10T06:31:50.630" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Diagnosing hypothermia requires a special thermometer, as most over-the-counter thermometers are not accurate below 34.4 °C (93.9 °F). Additionally, local body temperature variations means you need to use a rectal, esophageal or bladder thermometer, which you probably aren't going to want to use in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you had that, there is variation from person to person and day to day in their body temperature, and so the relationship between temperature and danger isn't clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're better off knowing the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;symptoms of hypothermia&lt;/a&gt; and basing your decisions on what symptoms you observe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="9985" LastEditDate="2018-07-13T03:40:06.213" LastActivityDate="2018-07-13T03:40:06.213" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19900" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19903" CreationDate="2018-07-10T10:42:58.727" Score="9" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;Setting aside the benefits of cardiocavascular exercise in general, what are the risks to hikers/climbers with high blood pressure at various altitudes?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an upper ceilling/threshold that HBP sufferers are recommended not to ascend above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the prevalence of HBP in Western Society and the popularity of mountain hiking tour packages, this question seems a good fit for TGO SE with applicability beyond me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-11T08:16:34.710" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T09:05:53.990" Title="What is the impact/risks of high altitude walking on individuals suffering from High Blood Pressure?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19896" CreationDate="2018-07-10T15:23:01.370" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a great question.  There are many different kinds of measuring body temperature, from oral/anal digitals, temporal/infrared digitals, glass, strips, non-contact infrared, and ear thermometers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, any battery-operated thermometer is useless when the batteries run out.  This can happen when the batteries wear down, but it can also happen when they are cold.  On the other hand, alcohol and mercury based thermometers are delicate, and the mercury ones are very accurate (if hard to come by).  Also, the digitals tend to be big and bulky, and when you're looking to lighten the load on an outdoor excursion, this isn't what you want.  What's more, hypothermia is a condition of the core, not of the head.  So an oral thermometer of any type will not be particularly helpful.  Anal thermometers are, well, not very convenient to use, and would be difficult to keep sanitary, especially for communal use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our group, we have adults and children (we are boy scouts), and so anal readings are categorically ruled out, but, we do keep several thermometers that can be used orally or for the armpit.  We also keep oral strips on hand.  We rarely use them, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are stickers or paper-based ones, but, my doctor tells me they're good for measuring high temperatures, not so good for measuring low temperatures.  Keep and use them if you suspect fever, that reduces need to use the more delicate thermometers, which have sanitary, breakage, and loss considerations.  Also, you can keep a ton of them and they compact well and weigh less to nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, if you suspect hypothermia or hyperthermia, the last thing you want to do to someone (you certainly won't be able to administer to yourself, you won't have your wits about you) is to be poking and prodding with a thermometer.  If you have the slightest thought about hypo/hyperthermia, assume it has set in and then administer first aid, regardless of what any thermometer might read.  As mentioned in the previous answer, knowing the symptoms is much more accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my 4 decades of camping and in marching in parades, I've overseen over a hundred cases of hypothermia or hyperthermia, and in not a single case did we worry about temperature: we just treated for it and moved on.  Even in a health lodge where there are quality thermometers around to take accurate readings, we simply treated regardless.  There isn't more you can do if the thermometers confirm what you already suspect, whether it is hypothermia or hyperthermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really wanted to experiment, you'll need to spend big bucks - around $1000 - and buy or borrow a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.heitronics.com/en/infrarot-messtechnik/produkte/high-end-radiation-thermometer/transfer-radiation-thermometer/trt-ii/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heitronics infrared thermometer&lt;/a&gt;, which they make scientifically accurate.  This can be used to confirm what you already suspect, but the cost just isn't worth it, unless you are a doctor or a hospital where confirmation is necessary.  We once treated a man for hypothermia when it turned out he was drunk.  No harm in that case, but there could be other conditions - like hypo or hyperglycemia, or other conditions, which can be ruled out with expensive equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when you're in the outdoors, best to stick with knowledge and intuition, treat, and if possible, get to a doctor to rule anything else out if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-07-12T10:32:17.173" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T10:32:17.173" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19889" CreationDate="2018-07-10T22:36:21.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outdoor rock is more abrasive and wears your skin off much faster than the plastic holds in the gym. For example: The rock I climb mostly is considered to be the &lt;em&gt;oldest&lt;/em&gt; stone in the Canadian rockies. It is old, weathered, and in places feels like holding onto sharks teeth or a saw blade. It makes your flesh thin in a hurry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you are experiencing is not unusual, especially if you are a boulderer who has trained in the gym and is looking for a challenge in the outdoors. Hard climbing, especially inclined climbing where your weight is being borne by your hands and fingers will eventually make you tender wherever you are holding the rock. We've got group pictures from bouldering trips with everyone in a circle showing off their red and raw finger tips. It happens, and there's doesn't seem to be a callus thick enough to prevent the rock from wearing through to near the tender dermis of your finger tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After enough climbing outdoors though, you will learn how to grab holds different in order to avoid wearing your skin away as much. Different types of stone are less abrasive than others, sandstone for example is like climbing on pillows compared to karst. Don't skip your warmups, just learn how to take a hold without it taking much of your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-07-10T22:36:21.087" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19900" CreationDate="2018-07-11T07:13:42.273" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livestrong.com/article/218859-the-effects-of-high-altitude-on-blood-pressure/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LiveStrong&lt;/a&gt; article;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;In general&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Living at or &lt;strong&gt;traveling to high altitudes can raise a person’s blood pressure, depending on the rate of ascent&lt;/strong&gt; and the amount of time spent at the high altitude. The International Society of Mountain Medicine describes &lt;strong&gt;high altitude as 5,000 to 11,500 feet above sea level&lt;/strong&gt;. At higher altitudes, the body works harder to process oxygen. This stress can cause high blood pressure. But the more time a person spends at the higher altitude, the better acclimatized the body becomes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;However, it also states that&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Prolonged exposure to high altitudes &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; have a p&lt;strong&gt;ositive effect on&#xA;hypertension, or high blood pressur&lt;/strong&gt;e. In his book &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Medicine for&#xA;Mountaineering: And Other Wilderness Activities&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; Dr. James Wilkerson&#xA;writes that &lt;strong&gt;extended exposure to high altitudes may inhibit the&#xA;progression of hypertension in some hypertensive individuals&lt;/strong&gt;. Dr.&#xA;Wilkerson also notes that many non-hypertensive individuals experience&#xA;the opposite effect, that is, an increase in blood pressure when&#xA;exposed to high altitudes.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the Institute for Altitude Medicine state that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Some persons with HBP, however, develop lower blood pressure on&#xA;ascent to high altitude.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Response&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the November 2009 issue of the &amp;quot;Journal of Travel Medicine,&amp;quot; Dr. Timothy O’Brien and colleagues reported on a study that found &lt;strong&gt;a group of black mountaineers experienced a drop in their systolic blood pressure numbers as they climbed to high altitude&lt;/strong&gt;. Systolic pressure is the amount of force placed against the body’s arterial walls when the heart contracts. It is designated by the top number in a blood pressure reading. However, the systolic pressure of white mountain climbers increased as they ascended. The cause of the racial differences is unknown and may not apply to all individuals. The authors speculated that the observed differences seen in this small study may have been due to differences in genetics, hypoxic stress, diet and exercise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Journeys to High Altitude—Risks and Recommendations for Travelers with Preexisting Medical Conditions&lt;/em&gt; (Kelly Mieske BSc  Gerard Flaherty MB, MRCPI, MSc  Timothy O'Brien MD, PhD)  &lt;em&gt;First published: 03 January 2010&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There is a significant amount of individual variability in the effects of altitude on blood pressure&lt;/strong&gt;. In the majority of people there is a small alpha adrenergic–mediated increase in blood pressure proportional to elevation gain,21 the effect of which is not clinically significant until above 3,000 m.2, 22, 23 However, in some people, there is a pathological reaction to high altitude which results in large blood pressure increases.5, 22 A work by Häsler and colleagues24 suggests racial differences in the blood pressure response to altitude&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-07-11T10:26:26.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19900" CreationDate="2018-07-11T07:44:07.200" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;High altitude walking is danger for everyone especially for people suffering from High Blood Pressure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acclimatization to high altitude changing blood viscosity and causing blood flow disorders. So people with cardiovascular disease has greater risk on high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastActivityDate="2018-07-11T07:44:07.200" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19877" CreationDate="2018-07-11T23:32:08.750" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You did not mention what you planned on doing.  Was it strictly backpacking in the backcountry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One option would be Whittington Center which is near Philmont.  There is hiking and camping in basically the same sort of environment though I'm not sure it would be enough backcountry for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option is heading north from Denver.  Just about all of Colorado is under fire restrictions but at least some of the northern part is only level 1 so camp stoves that can be turned off are okay.  Your troop is probably more than 10 people so Wilderness Areas are no good.  Check out the Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest in the Hahns Peak/Steamboat area or Arapaho National Forest around Poudre Canyon.  The last one you can hike to the remains of a couple different WWII era airplane wrecks.  That would be memorable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-07-11T23:32:08.750" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19705" CreationDate="2018-07-12T02:52:01.387" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find decades of data for thousands of weather stations (in the Western US, Alaska and Hawaii) here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wrcc.dri.edu/Climsum.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western U.S. Climate Historical Summaries&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can select the stations from a map or search by name. There are quite a few in mountainous areas &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15690" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T02:52:01.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8335" CreationDate="2018-07-12T14:48:26.683" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have generally used this term when thinking about definitive care. If you or someone you are with gets injured can you get them to an ambulance within 1 hour?&#xA;YES - You are in the front country&#xA;NO - You are in the backcountry (and should be prepared to be independent if any situation should arise)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other definition can get you into a grey area and are really not helpful in describing exactly what is happening. I've been to places that can actually change depending on the season (ie: the top of Mt. Washington, NH) The summit of Mt Washington is actually the front country in the warmer months because there is a road up there. When the road is closed...you're in the backcountry. You can find beautiful campsites with a lot of facilities but if you can't get to an ambulance within an hour...you're in the backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also something to think about...if you are hiking for less then an hour, you still might be in the backcountry because if you or your friend gets injured it will take WAY MORE then an hour to carry them out. If you're hiking on a trail I would venture a guess that anything more then 15 minutes in could be considered backcountry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16019" LastActivityDate="2018-07-12T14:48:26.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19908" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19909" CreationDate="2018-07-12T22:10:37.103" Score="6" ViewCount="5474" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hear it both ways some will say a feels like temperature or a heat index. I want to know if there is a difference between the two and if so what is it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks in advance &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T18:27:41.650" Title="Heat index vs feels like temperature" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19908" CreationDate="2018-07-13T06:23:35.363" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;One-liner: Wiki thinks its the same. Although Wiki is not always perfect about information it posts, the justification there make sense to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looked up at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heat Index wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, it says, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The heat index (HI) or humiture is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is also known as the &quot;felt air temperature&quot;, &quot;apparent temperature&quot;, &quot;real feel&quot; or &quot;feels like&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting other source such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weather.gov/ama/heatindex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;weather.gov&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.  This has important considerations for the human body's comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional information for those who don't know that this term means, quoting from the same source again,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When the body gets too hot, it begins to perspire or sweat to cool itself off.  If the perspiration is not able to evaporate, the body cannot regulate its temperature.  Evaporation is a cooling process.  When perspiration is evaporated off the body, it effectively reduces the body's temperature.  When the atmospheric moisture content (i.e. relative humidity) is high, the rate of perspiration from the body decreases.  In other words, the human body feels warmer in humid conditions.  The opposite is true when the relative humidity decreases because the rate of perspiration increases.  The body actually feels cooler in arid conditions.  There is direct relationship between the air temperature and relative humidity and the heat index, meaning as the air temperature and relative humidity increase (decrease), the heat index increases (decreases).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wpe9N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wpe9N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks &lt;strong&gt;Ken Graham&lt;/strong&gt; for the source: For those who prefer values of temperature in degree Celsius, please refer the table &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weather.gov/ffc/hichart&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-07-13T18:13:18.027" LastActivityDate="2018-07-13T18:13:18.027" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2018-07-14T10:28:30.753" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I moved to Germany in 2018 and had a chance to talk to a few fishermen. I asked them what should I say to a fisherman when greeting him and they told me “Petri Heil”, so I suppose they still use it, but may be not all of them. I live near Luxembourg border, so may be this is a regional thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16025" LastActivityDate="2018-07-14T10:28:30.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19911" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-14T18:06:49.323" Score="1" ViewCount="428" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother and I are planning to get PADI, (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.padi.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Professional Association of Diving Instructors&lt;/a&gt;), certified. The e-learning course in July, 2018 is $180, which isn't super cheap. Can I buy one and re-use it for the two of us? Will most dive schools accept that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11847" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-16T09:51:05.207" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T09:47:58.030" Title="Can I reuse the PADI Scuba Diving e-training for another person?" Tags="&lt;training&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19913" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19917" CreationDate="2018-07-14T22:19:40.930" Score="2" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was recently a storm near me. T was a lightning storm and I was wondering if it really is true about it only hitting tall things or if it is really just an old wives tale. If it is true why is it that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T03:02:48.983" Title="Where does lightning strike" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19914" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19918" CreationDate="2018-07-15T00:05:13.790" Score="8" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, USA. It would be in July or August. We'll be spending two days, with a night in a hotel in one of the surrounding towns. (We haven't chosen that spot yet!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our group includes able-bodied hikers and climbers; and people who need wheelchairs, walkers and canes. The park is large, with several different types of terrain, so we think it's a good choice for a mixed group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's mostly a mission to see and record as many types of birds as we can, including ocean birds; and report the data to an environmental conservation group. We also want to just explore and have fun! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the more able-bodied will have the best viewing opportunities, and the freedom to be adventurous. They'll take turns helping the the rest of us, but we'd like to be as independent as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which road has the best accessible areas to see the most birds? We want to be in the woods, by the ocean or both. Handicapped parking would be nice, but is not necessary if it would limit our opportunities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where are there flat, or mostly flat, trails? What about wooden or gravel trails that wheelchairs can handle? The itinerary is customized for the wheelchair bound, but they can stop at nice places on a trail while the device-aided walkers venture farther. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are accessible lookouts along the roads, but we want to go deeper into the park to experience nature and fulfill our birding mission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to be off-topic by just asking for opinions, but in our situation experience would be very helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There must be good information somewhere with guidelines and directions or maps.  I'd appreciate those too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;`&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-15T16:52:55.237" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T19:45:45.813" Title="Where are some accessible flat areas for handicapped birders in Acadia National Park in Maine, USA?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19915" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19951" CreationDate="2018-07-15T06:23:32.450" Score="7" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to learn some history about rock climbing. I know initially rock climbing was purely an outdoor activity, and according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2179276/guy-quit-his-job-and-became-climbing-gym-pioneer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; in the 1990s indoor climbing gyms started to spring up in America and eventually indoor climbing became very popular. I know rock climbing gyms are frequently crowded, and there are more and more climbing gyms popping up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is when did indoor rock climbing become popular with the mainstream of rock climbers -- i.e., with outdoor rock climbers.  Was it the early 2000s? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-07-15T20:23:48.500" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T01:59:06.907" Title="When did indoor climbing gyms start to become popular?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19913" CreationDate="2018-07-15T10:15:51.633" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightning likes to take the path of least (electrical) resistance. Air has an extremely high electrical resistance, so lightning will strike just tall objects so it doesn't have to travel as far through air to get to the ground (even things we think about as insulators, like wood, conduct electricity much better than air)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get to the point of your question: Lightning doesn't &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; strike tall things, but it does strike them preferentially. If there's nothing tall around (like in the middle of a lake for example), it will still strike&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15690" LastActivityDate="2018-07-15T10:15:51.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19913" CreationDate="2018-07-15T11:04:32.363" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightening strikes from a point of excess electrons (negatively charged) to a path to a deficit of electrons (positively charged).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule, lightening usually strikes from the clouds to the ground, but occasionally, the opposite can happen as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not always the case that the tallest object will be struck.  The path which offers least resistance to ground will be struck, and that may not necessarily be through the tallest object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason is that the tallest object might be in the path along which lightning finds to be a less attractive path to ground, or an alternative path than the tallest object might be closer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a hypothetical example, if there was a rubber tree that stood 100' tall, next to a live tree which stood 50' tall, the taller tree has less of a chance of being struck, because it is negatively charged (has excess electrons), while the shorter tree is positively charged (has a deficit of electrons) thereby creating a better path to ground.  Thus, the live tree - while shorter - is the more dangerous place to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason, tall objects are &quot;grounded&quot;.  This means, there is material at the top of a tall object - like a building - connected to the ground by means of a wire or structure.  What will happen is lightning will find the route to ground to be more attractive by going through the wire or structure, rather than through the building.  That is why the building you may be in can be struck, and you won't be hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few parallel examples in life which illustrate this phenomenon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One is the example of a person parking their car in a parking lot.  Two cars parked next to each other present an opportunity for either to be broken into - or stolen.  The car which offers the best opportunity to be broken into for its contents will be the mark - and that could be both cars.  The car which offers best opportunity to be stolen will be the mark - and that will usually be one car.  If you have a convertible, best not park next to another convertible, since both cars are more attractive to a thief looking for cars or contents.  Best is to park close to the store, or near a security camera.  If you drive a Mercedes, best not to park next to a Ford Pinto unless you park close to the store.  The safe bet is to park close to the store.  A thief will find an easier mark, just like lightning will choose a path of least resistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other example is oddly apropos to this group: How does one outrun a bear?  The answer is: you don't have to outrun a bear, you need only run faster than the person next to you.  The slower person will be more attractive to the bear than you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/lightning/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SEVERE WEATHER 101 - Lightning FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-07-15T11:04:32.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19914" CreationDate="2018-07-15T14:25:00.233" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an avid birder in and around Acadia National Park. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acadia National Park is one of the most accessible national parks in the system when it comes to major locations and their accessibility. Therefore locations right off the Park Loop Road can provide excellent birding opportunities. I would suggest these locations in and around the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sieur de Monts Springs- warblers, flycatchers, woodpeckers, sparrows, great location with very easy walking trails that are even wheelchair accessible and in the Wild Gardens of Acadia located in the Sieur de Monts area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wonderland Trail - coniferous forest to the ocean. Easy walking trail, not ada accessible but very easy. Kinglets, Chickadees, Warblers, Shorebirds, Waterfowl&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seawall Picnic Area - great coastal spot for waterfowl and shorebirds. With a scope it becomes even better.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eagle Lake Carriage Roads - cracked stone road, very flat in and around the beginning near the Eagle Lake Carriage road entrance. Mixed woods and lake species. Wheelchair accessible&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16030" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-15T15:26:25.380" LastActivityDate="2018-07-15T15:26:25.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17955" CreationDate="2018-07-15T18:25:59.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it looks easy and it's not secretly &quot;helped&quot; it usually means every condition and material must be just right.For example I tried to make fire with bow-drill but the type of wood generated no sawdust to catch the spark,and it only got hot.Pay close attention to everthing that's described in a method,and you will have more success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16032" LastActivityDate="2018-07-15T18:25:59.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19921" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19922" CreationDate="2018-07-16T04:27:21.647" Score="8" ViewCount="4524" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have the specs of a pretty interesting carabiner. It's made from titanium, it's lightweight and strong. These seem to be great attributes, but there are two caveats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is pretty expensive ($50). Maybe that's typical of weight bearing carabiners; I can understand that people do not want to cheap out on a vital piece of gear like that.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It does not explicitly say it is &quot;weight bearing&quot;. It's made by some Japanese or Korean company, and they don't have US customer service.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smart thing to do here is to not use it as a weight bearing carabiner; better safe than sorry. Nonetheless, I will still share the specs with the community here with the hopes of mapping out its ideal use case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Product Specs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Material: Titanium (Grade 5)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Length: 2.24 in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Width: 1.5 in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thickness: .24 in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight: 1.02 oz&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hardness: Nitriding heat-treatment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCKn8.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCKn8.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This titanium carabiner really does seem to be built impeccably well, but I'm not sure why its product description omitted whether or not it's &quot;weight bearing.&quot; Judging from the specs, should we simply infer that it is weight bearing? If not used for weight-bearing, what is the ideal use case for such a quality production carabiner? Is it simply vanity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-16T15:12:34.753" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T15:47:41.237" Title="Titanium Carabiner: what is its ideal use case?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19921" CreationDate="2018-07-16T06:19:23.513" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;The important specification is how strong it is and this information seems to be missing.  This is included on all climbing rated carabiners for both proper loading (along the long axis) and when it is cross loaded across the gate.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should never use a non-rated carabiner for a critical application.  Most likely, there is a reason why it is not rated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elaborating on comments by Chris H, this carabiner looks like it has several problems for load bearing applications.  Load bearing carabiners are typically shaped so that the rope will slide close to each end of the spine when the carabiner is loaded.  This concentrates the force along the spine rather than on the weaker gate side of the carabiner.  This is why &quot;D&quot; and &quot;asymmetric D&quot; shaped carabiners are often used for climbing.  A related problem is that it appears that it would be easy for the rope to slide across the gate which would significantly reduce the strength of the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue is that the total width of the metal near the hole looks like it is less than on other parts of carabiner.  This would create a weak point that would fail under high loads.  Climb rated carabiners do not have holes like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This carabiner also seems to be much more expensive than any climb rated carabiner I have seen.  You can buy a non-locking climbing carabiner with a wire gate like that for 6-7 dollars or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given its price, there's no reason to use this carabiner over a proper climb rated carabiner.  The important thing is that the carabiner is rated to bear the load required.  Its cost is irrelevant to assessing its suitability for a particular application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing carabiners are also usually made from aluminium (or sometimes steel for anchor carabiners).  Perhaps titanium would also be a suitable material but I have never heard of a climbing carabiner being made from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2018-07-16T21:18:22.110" LastActivityDate="2018-07-16T21:18:22.110" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19911" CreationDate="2018-07-16T09:03:04.227" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say here no. Most diving bodies have moved to an online learning course, instead of books etc, however this course will be how you certify. It will certify one of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steps for learning to dive are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An amount of classroom learning - this is usually on top of learning online as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An amount of confined diving - this is where you learn the skills, usually in a swimming pool or shallow / restricted open water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open water diving to test what you learnt in confined diving. This is usually 4 dives over a day or two (depending on where you are).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fee may or may not include your gear rental as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did not certify with PADI (I am SSI) but dive with plenty of PADI divers and my instructor can train people in both. I paid almost $500 for my SSI training with gear rental and costs for entering an inland dive site for my Open Water dives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Online courses can be linked to your diver log, and also your medical information so this is another reason why you need one each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To date in 2 years of diving I have spent almost $11,000 in buying my own gear, certifying for different aspects of diving, and trips and holidays to go diving for myself and my husband. It's not a cheap sport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-16T09:12:49.490" LastActivityDate="2018-07-16T09:12:49.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19924" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19927" CreationDate="2018-07-16T19:21:22.397" Score="5" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Note: I'm a total noob in fishing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen some so-called &quot;&lt;em&gt;pre-rigged sets&lt;/em&gt;&quot; with a hook and a float attached onto some line and wound around a piece of plastic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLNhv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLNhv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pre-rigged fishing set&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They usually come with some &lt;strong&gt;~7m&lt;/strong&gt; (20ft) line. Which brings me to my question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What am I supposed to do with that line?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is not long enough for use by itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Joining it with the rest of my line would make a nasty knot, which would interfere with casting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut it and splice just above the bobber?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;???&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16031" LastEditorUserId="16031" LastEditDate="2018-07-21T12:46:35.217" LastActivityDate="2018-07-21T12:46:35.217" Title="What are these fishing things called &quot;Pre-rigged sets&quot;?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19921" CreationDate="2018-07-17T02:41:18.800" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;All useful [climbing] carabiners will have a rated weight, engraved on them, usually in kN (kilonewton).  Even non-climbing ones should have a rated weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the picture, and the description, I would use that one for decoration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not meant for climbing, it's too awkwardly shaped and the &quot;clip&quot; part looks way too flimsy, not to mention the lack of rating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for camping, I wouldn't use it, but you might be able to hang a flashlight or something from it. Again I would rather buy a $2 one at the drugstore than use that one, due to its shape and weak looking clip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For showing off, I guess it could be good. But like a decorated sword or ornate cane, it's really just not that useful.  My best guess is that it's made for glampers, but really even they should know better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-07-17T08:36:19.833" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T08:36:19.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19924" CreationDate="2018-07-17T02:44:59.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's for cane poles and the like. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-cane-pole?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-cane-pole?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You literally tie the line to a stick and drop it in the water. Really great for kids, quick fishing, fishing off of bridges, river fishing from overhangs, etc. Honestly, it's a lot of fun, the largest drawback is that you can't fish from the shore but have to be over the water. But that's easy enough to do in costal areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T02:44:59.083" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19913" CreationDate="2018-07-17T03:02:48.983" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;@Wigwam's answer is a pretty good explanation, but I thought I would add to it a bit more &quot;common&quot; one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First lightning is extremely powerful, and it does not need to hit you to totally mess you up or kill you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lightning will hit just about anywhere, though it likes to take the &quot;best path&quot; to the ground. That's not technically true, but like any electricity, it's trying to get to the place with the most difference in electrons. However, on a planetary scale, that's usually the ground (if your standing on the ground, it's different if you're in the air).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tall things offer a better path to the ground than the air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metal offers a better path to the ground than other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans are a crappy conductor but were not the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you're stuck outside in a thunderstorm, you don't want to be the tallest thing for miles, nor do you want to be near the tallest thing for miles.  Other then that your pretty safe, EXCEPT, that many buildings and man-made structures have lightning rods (metal rods that are well grounded by a large wire or strap) and will actually attract lightning. Remember you don't have to be hit by lightning for it to suck. So you don't want to be around those either. Best advice is to stay out of the rain and stay away from obvious targets. If there is a lot of lightning in your area go inside. If you can't go inside, pick small trees and bushes over tall trees to stay dry under, and don't do silly things like huddle under a cell tower. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T03:02:48.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19908" CreationDate="2018-07-17T03:23:43.340" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone that lives in a high humidity and high-temperature area, I can tell you for certain that &quot;feels like&quot; and &quot;heat index&quot; is very much the same thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's an insanely important number because, at 90 degrees Fahrenheit in 40% humidity, you can feel very comfortable, but at 90 degrees in 95% humidity you can wish you were dead. (90 degrees Fahrenheit is about 32 degrees Celsius.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this also affects how you stay hydrated, and how you try to cool your body. In lower humidity, you can just sweat and drink a lot, but in higher humidity, the sweat doesn't evaporate as well so is less effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mostly it's attempt to quantify a comfort level. But they do mean the same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-07-17T06:32:17.027" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T06:32:17.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19896" CreationDate="2018-07-17T03:37:18.100" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;100% no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best case scenario your going to get is an anal thermometer. You have to be pretty high up in management to use one of those on your self properly. Oral, infrared, or &quot;stick on&quot; thermometers are nearly useless unless you're trying to confirm a fever. Even then, they really only indicate &quot;do something&quot; and not an actual problem. Core temperature is what needs to be measured, and while there are other options an anal thermometer is the most portable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that to use an anal thermometer you actually have to be bare-assed. So you may feel cold and be wondering about your situation while you are all dressed, imagine what that will mean you get out of your tent, and drop your pants down to your birthday suit and stand there, butt end up for 30 seconds or so to get the reading. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your alone and think you may be suffering from hypothermia, the best bet is to warm your self with a low, but steady heat. Hot rocks work very well and seek immediate first aid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're with others, tell them right away and seek immediate first aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never use a thermometer to determine if you have hypothermia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T03:37:18.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19911" CreationDate="2018-07-17T08:49:17.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;PADI wouldn't allow you to share the material;  almost certainly there's a non-sharing clause in the licence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However this is moot as the background reading material is only part of the course.  There's classroom training using PADI's presentation materials and videos,  above-water training by your instructor,  plus under water training in confined water and open water.  At the end of the course there's a written exam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I'm not particularly impressed with the e-learning solutions as these aren't particularly flexible and aren't long-lived when compared with a book.  For example if you want to review your notes a year later you will probably need to pay for another year's e-learning.  You also can't scribble notes on e-learning material and you can share a book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T09:47:58.030" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T09:47:58.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19866" CreationDate="2018-07-17T09:03:50.437" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydration is a very bad thing when diving and can lead to DCS (Decompression Sickness) as the blood thickens.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the most important scuba devices is a Pee Valve which allows you to urinate under water when wearing a drysuit.  Most importantly it means that you don't deliberately avoid drinking before diving,  so you don't enter the water dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst it's possible to drink underwater -- using something like a CamelBak bladder or pouch drinks -- you're unlikely to need to drink for recreational-length dives (under 60 mins) if you're not dehydrated in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also water's colder than the body,  so you won't be sweating.  Agreed,  with open circuit,  you will be breathing out moisture but this doen't appear too much in reality.  My dives are normally in the 90 to 120 minute range and I don't feel overly dehydrated when surfacing -- although I do look forward to a cup of tea on the boat!  I measure this by the simple fact that my pee valve gets a lot of use even on the long decompression stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extremely long dives,  such as extreme depth or caving where dive times of several hours is common,  tends to be done using Closed-Circuit Rebreathers (CCR) which means you breathe moist gas.  For the longest of these dives an underwater 'habitat' is used where you can pop your head up out of the water to eat or drink -- think big upturned bucket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pee valves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Due to anatomy, pee valves are pretty straightforward for males who will simply don a &quot;self-adhering male external catheters&quot; condom/catheter which is glued in place during the dive and plumbed into the pee valve pipe (example;  Rochester/Bard Wide Band).  These are basically thick condoms that are extremely sticky when rolled on.  They have a pipe on the end to which the pee valve pipe is connected.  The pee valve itself has a one-way valve to prevent water flowing backwards as the pressure increases with depth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In use they're great.  It's only the first time that feels odd;  thereafter it's pure comfort underwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Post dive use of medical adhesive remover (such as Apeel spray) makes the removal process painless.  Personally I never dive without plumbing in as it completely ruins a dive if one doesn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Females have to use other methods such as a &quot;SheWee&quot; device to plumb into or use nappies/diapers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-07-20T14:02:28.073" LastActivityDate="2018-07-20T14:02:28.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19933" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-17T10:14:26.513" Score="9" ViewCount="5692" Body="&lt;p&gt;No decompression diving (No stop diving) refers to &quot;diving that you can always ascend directly to the surface without stopping, yet without significant risk of decompression sickness&quot; (according to PADI Open Water Manual). A traditional way to plan a dive is to use a dive table (e.g., see the picture below). For example, if I have a 20-minute dive at 20 meters, then I'm in Pressure Group G, meaning that there's is G amount of nitrogen in my body, thus limiting the duration of my next dive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, my question is that, for example, if I want to do a 40-meter dive with air, why is my no decompression limit capped at 9 minutes? I would only have G amount of nitrogen in my body. However, if I dive at 20 meters for 45 minutes, I could have U amount of nitrogen! The amount of nitrogen in my body determines the No Decompression Limit, is that right? If so, why can't I dive til I have G amount of nitrogen in my body at 40 meters? Thanks everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1WF8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1WF8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16046" OwnerDisplayName="JetLag" LastEditorUserId="16046" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T02:46:11.080" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T07:37:55.863" Title="No Stop Limit for Recreational Scuba Diving" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19915" CreationDate="2018-07-17T11:28:15.023" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_wall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article on Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The earliest artificial climbing walls were typically small concrete faces with protrusions made of medium-sized rocks for hand holds. Schurman Rock in Seattle, WA is believed to be the first artificial climbing structure in the United States, constructed in 1939.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The modern artificial climbing wall began in the UK. The first wall was created in 1964 by Don Robinson, a lecturer in Physical Education at the University of Leeds, by inserting pieces of rock into a corridor wall. He went on to found DR International Climbing Walls in 1975, of which he is still Chairman and Executive Director. The first commercial wall was built in Sheffield, traditionally England's centre for climbing due to its proximity to the Peak District.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first indoor climbing gym in the U.S. was established by Vertical World in Seattle, WA in 1987&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That first commercial climbing wall in Sheffield, UK referred to (The Foundry) opened in 1991.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UK climber &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Livesey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pete Livesey&lt;/a&gt; is often credited with making use of indoor climbing walls to train and then take part in the increase in climbing grades in the 1970s when there were certainly many climbers starting also to use indoor climbing walls for training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various UK climbing walls I visited at various locations were certainly popular when I started climbing in 1985.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T11:28:15.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19933" CreationDate="2018-07-17T12:10:28.677" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The amount of nitrogen in your body is only part of it. Nitrogen is absorbed quicker by your lipid, or fat, tissues at greater depths. The cut off point for a non-deep PADI qualified diver is 30m. There is a course to go deeper, down to 40m, as the absorption rate increases. This can cause various effects including nitrogen narcosis. I will add nitrogen narcosis can happen at any depth, it is specific to the diver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should also add that going down to 40m will result in a safety stop on the way up. You won't simply be able to drop down to 40m then ascend straight away. You'll need to have a 3-5 minute stop at 5m. Satety stops are considered manditory on any dive deeper than 30m by most agencies. Any dive computer you dive with will want you to do a safety stop on any dive deeper than 10m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also also, general rule of thumb is do your deepest dive first, when you have the least amount of nitrogen in your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3673" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-19T13:13:51.887" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T13:13:51.887" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19936" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19984" CreationDate="2018-07-17T13:22:59.927" Score="3" ViewCount="607" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some friends and I were thinking of doing a one day hike somewhere in Minnesota. I have looked online for places but nothing I have found really gives me a sense of the place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My requirements are that it needs to be within an hour or two of Minneapolis but that time is a little flexible, is a six to eight hour hike, unpaved for much of it, and either woods or water views work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help will be much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you in advance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-24T23:23:57.040" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:15:45.973" Title="Where are some good places for a day-hike within an hour or two of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19915" CreationDate="2018-07-17T14:58:16.460" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I was able to find, while there were climbing halls from as early as 1974**, indoor climbing really took off after plastic bolt-on climbing holds were started to be made in the late 80s. Artifial movable holds meant that climbing gyms could change routes easier and more frequently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, it probably was in the 90s when climbing gyms started to appear, and the sport has been growing ever since. And it certainly will continue growing with climbing added to the olympics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** While there were climbing walls in the 60s already, the first climbing hall is considered to have been in Bolzano, Italy, opened in 1974. I believe it is still in operation, or at least was some 6-7 years ago when I was visiting it. While most walls inside it were of the modern(ish) kind, it still contained a piece of the old wall made from rocks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T14:58:16.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19915" CreationDate="2018-07-17T17:26:36.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would argue it was June 12th 1988, even though there were only a few indoor gyms in existence at that point. On that day, Patrick Edlinger floated up the outdoor artificial climbing wall built on the side of the Cliff Lodge in Snowbird Utah at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.deseretnews.com/article/7193/CLIMBING-COMPETITORS-CUT-TO-TOP-15.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first international sport climbing competition held in the US&lt;/a&gt;. On Edlinger's death, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/sports/patrick-edlinger-a-trendsetter-for-sport-climbing-dies-at-52.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Phil Powers said&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Before that moment, in America, sport climbing was cheap; it was not really respected, and it seems to me that after that moment, sport climbing became something we can respect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some video about the competition is available: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WesviDhxKw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WesviDhxKw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While sport climbing competitions had been held before (e.g., the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/about-ifsc/what-is-the-ifsc/history&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;competition on the cliffs of Torino Italy&lt;/a&gt;), the competition at Snowbird changed the game by being on a long route on artificial holds and not allowing climbers to preview the course. Outdoor competitions typically favor locals who know the rock and routes while artificial routes can be tailored for a range of difficulties, cool moves, and easy accessibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-07-17T17:26:36.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19921" CreationDate="2018-07-17T18:47:30.277" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignoring the valid criticisms on the design of this particular unit, the chief virtue of titanium is the strength to weight ratio.  In principle you can cut the weight by half or so compared to a steel one. (not checked)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This link: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.makeitfrom.com/compare/6061-T6-Aluminum/Grade-5-Ti-6Al-4V-3.7165-R56400-Titanium&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.makeitfrom.com/compare/6061-T6-Aluminum/Grade-5-Ti-6Al-4V-3.7165-R56400-Titanium&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compares Ti alloy to an aluminum alloy.  I think for a carabiner the factor that matters is tensile strength which runs about 4 times great.  Ti is denser, so you don't end up cutting the weight by any factor of 4.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ti has a density of 4.4 g/cm3 compared to 2.7 for aluminum.  So that factor of 4 (figured on cross section) turns into a factor of 2.5 by weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The base metal price is also about 4 times as great.  While Ti is hard to machine, it's not THAT hard.  All things considered a Ti 'biner shouldn't be $50 except for snob appeal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen guys going out for a tech climb, like half dome or Ship Rock and they are starting some something like 80 carabiners.  If you can save 2 oz each on 80 widgets, that's 160 oz = 10 pounds.  Not important?  Look at the price difference between a 24 lb bicycle and a 14 lb bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second reason for using titanium gear is bragging rights.  &quot;I'm cool because I can afford the very best.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one point when external pack frames were still in, you could get a welded aluminum frame for $30 and a titanium frame of similar design for $300.  The latter saved you something like 6 oz.  I didn't see the point, myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T15:47:41.237" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T15:47:41.237" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19940" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-17T22:13:01.083" Score="6" ViewCount="2901" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an older coleman two burner camp stove, and I am having problems keeping it burning.  It will generally light right up, but the flame seems low and it won't stay burning beyound a couple minutes.  If I shake the bottle while the burner is going, it burns pretty well, but once the bottle gets about half empty even that starts to fail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed that I had two different styles of coleman propane tanks, one came with a white thread protector, and had an all metal construction, the other had a black thread protector with a black plastic base.  The can with the white thread protector seemed to work slightly better, but I can't find anything indicating that there is any difference between the two styles of cans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The burners all seem to be relatively clean and free of any obstructions.  The regulator is obviously getting gas through it, because it does burn.  I'm not sure what else I should be looking at.  I would like to try and keep this stove functional rather then replacing it, as I got it from my dad, and its the same stove we took camping through all my childhood camping trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't see a model number on the stove anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;As far as I know I am using the regulator/hose that came with the stove. No after market adapter or hose. The stove has its fair share or scratches, but all surface/finish imperfections, nothing that I would expect to affect the function of the stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;External:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZdnPg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZdnPg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside of lid:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4BkJc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4BkJc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burners with stove assembled:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThIC6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ThIC6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burners close up:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crEsP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/crEsP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/To1yQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/To1yQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tSHQZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tSHQZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regulator:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R4ZGU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R4ZGU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DdYRY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DdYRY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gz3yn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gz3yn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/86VUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/86VUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mh01L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Mh01L.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1KZMm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1KZMm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have both tanks handy, but these pictures from the web show the two different tanks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black top tank:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCr5N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCr5N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;White top tank:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FUKcO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FUKcO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took the regulator apart.  All of the seals look good, nothing looked clogged or broken.  The one spring in the assembly looked fine, still provided tension and returned.  There were a couple of brass valves that were spring loaded, but didn't appear to come apart anymore.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16050" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T16:04:55.567" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T09:29:09.143" Title="Coleman Propane Stove not staying lit" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;propane-tank&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19947" CreationDate="2018-07-17T23:34:42.903" Score="3" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were recently driving through Berlin Hew Hampshire, and saw these small islands in the river for several miles.  There was not a good place to stop and take a picture of them, but they show clearly in Google Maps.  The looked to be about 8 or 10 feet across.  The seemed to be made of stacked rocks about the size one man could lift.  Most of the islands have trees or brush growing on them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these wikipedia articles mention the islands &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androscoggin_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Androscoggin River&lt;/a&gt; nor &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin,_New_Hampshire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Berlin, New Hampshire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what they are or why they exist? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zObYo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zObYo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;androscoggin river&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google map &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/cSkGwx9DnkP2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://goo.gl/maps/cSkGwx9DnkP2&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T09:13:57.750" Title="Small Islands in Androscoggin river, Berlin NH" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19921" CreationDate="2018-07-18T01:29:06.630" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Titanium doesn't rust (or at least, doesn't rust in the timeframe that this gear is typically used for) so this could be a good piece of kit for a surfer or diver. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could hang keys or a waterproof phone pouch on your clothing somewhere or hang your phone on your windsurfer or hook your waterbottle on your waveboard harness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use it somewhere a lot of sweat is involved, like a gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, many of the items on &quot;ten best carabiners&quot; lists (for example &lt;a href=&quot;http://hiconsumption.com/2017/02/best-edc-carabiner-keychains/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiconsumption.com&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.carryology.com/utility/6-built-to-last-keychain-carabiners-for-everyday-carry/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carryology.com&lt;/a&gt;) are made of titanium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you shouldn't do, as mentioned in all the other posts, is hook &lt;em&gt;yourself&lt;/em&gt; on it. &lt;em&gt;It is not for trusting your life.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T01:29:06.630" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19914" CreationDate="2018-07-18T05:51:20.040" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can also expand the list of accessible routes, and the distance traveled along them, by using a more capable wheelchair.  Products such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gogrit.us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GRIT Freedom Chair&lt;/a&gt; while designed for outdoor recreation by fit wheelchair riders, are also much easier for able bodied friends of the wheelchair rider to help push, due to their long wheelbases and larger wider wheels.  They are also more stable on uneven terrain.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://whirlwindwheelchair.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whirlwind Roughrider&lt;/a&gt; is another example.  Group members who have limited walking capability who do not typically use wheelchairs in daily life in part due to social stigma, may actually find their safety vs falls enhanced, and their functional mobility significantly improved by this type of wheelchair.  This is especially true in the company of trusted friends/family who would be more than happy to help push in order to have the benefit of that persons company. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-19T19:45:45.813" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T19:45:45.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19944" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-18T06:30:29.960" Score="9" ViewCount="566" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have experience with self-assessment of early stages of hypothermia, in the context of the other subjective experiences that may come with solo wilderness adventures?  In my experience, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep deprivation, endorphins, adrenaline, feelings of elation/euphoria in the presence of wild nature can obscure the described symptoms, and thus cloud the decision to rally to reach the planned stopping point, or make camp immediately and warm up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there distinct telltale signs that occur before impaired judgment becomes a significant factor? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you everyone for posting general hypothermia diagnosis / treatment notes such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;and specifically regarding use of a thermometer (consensus:  don’t use a thermometer to diagnose hypothermia in the backcountry) &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19899/15978&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19899/15978&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T15:08:57.050" Title="Self-diagnosis of hypothermia onset" Tags="&lt;hypothermia&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;&lt;solo-backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19945" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-18T06:55:33.470" Score="17" ViewCount="2718" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did my first via ferrata this weekend and noticed there were often long vertical distances separating the cable anchors. At times this length was around 10m. This meant that a fall before reaching the cable anchor, if both cables were clipped onto the cable, would mean you'd plummet 10m + the length of the lanyard into the rocks below. This would result in severe injury or death. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the advice I have read seems to say that both carabiners must be attached to the cable at all times, but surely, if it's safer to do so, why not clip one of the carabiners onto the metal rungs of the route and have the other clipped onto the cable? This seems like common sense to me but I'm surprised it isn't mentioned anywhere. Is this practice frowned upon? Or is there something I'm not understanding? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16051" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T16:26:27.047" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T08:46:45.943" Title="Is clipping onto the rungs of a via ferrata bad practice?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19945" CreationDate="2018-07-18T08:11:42.007" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you understand what you're doing and why, do what is safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all (probably obvious): you should never fall on a via ferrata, so don't do anything risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second: even a 10m + lanyard fall should not be fatal &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; you use a proper modern via ferrata set - those are designed to rip open in a controlled manner to absorb the fall energy. A well-designed via ferrata should not have ledges in the fall zone, but I'd also say that 10m vertical distance without an anchor is not acceptable given that via ferrata sets are tested only on a 5m fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, clipping one of your carabiners into closed rungs seems a reasonable measure to reduce the fall length, and advisable in places where a via ferrata is not well designed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible reasons not to do it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;conceptually, the rungs are not safety equipment, they exist to make the ascent easier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it slows you down and leaves you more frequently holding on with one hand on a vertical section, which increases your risk of falling as you become more exhausted. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it complicates what you have to do and imposes more choices on you, which increases the chance that you'll make a dangerous mistake, e.g. you're in the process of moving one carabiner from a lower to a higher rung when you notice the other carabiner is holding you back because it's up against a cable anchor. Your attention now focused on the second carabiner, you reach down to unclip it while the first one is still unclipped in your other hand...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastEditorUserId="369" LastEditDate="2018-07-19T11:00:47.620" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T11:00:47.620" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19941" CreationDate="2018-07-18T09:05:35.240" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are &amp;quot;Boom Piers&amp;quot; they are man made island used to divide the river for multiple paper company's use of the river to transport logs.  They extend about 8 miles&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“The way to get their product here was to put the wood in the water and float it down,” explains Paul ‘Poof’ Tardiff, a historian and columnist for the Berlin Daily Sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that wood, however, had different owners. Big players like the Brown Company and International Paper needed to access what was theirs. So they came up with a plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“They had to divide the river cause they both had the right to use it,” says Kelly. “So they built these islands of rock out of hemlock framing, and divided the river.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the 1890s, these companies started building piers: rectangles of different sizes, but generally around 10 feet wide, made of hemlock timber. They were then filled in with rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQ6sA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eQ6sA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Constructing a Boom Pier&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Constructing a Boom Pier, circa 1893. They were built on the frozen river, then sunk during the flaw.&#xA;CREDIT COLLECTIONS OF GREATER RUMFORD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, COURTESY WWW.MAINEMEMORY.NET, ITEM #80701&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading &lt;a href=&quot;http://nhpr.org/post/boom-piers-how-berlin-nhs-islands-stream-came-be#stream/0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Boom Piers: How Berlin, N.H.'s Islands in the Stream Came To Be, By TODD BOOKMAN • AUG 16, 2017, nhpr.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T09:13:57.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19945" CreationDate="2018-07-18T13:48:06.383" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason is simple: You are not supposed to fall on these climbs, in any case. Falls will in most cases be very bad indeed, no matter where you clipped in. Your security line is basically made so that you don't fall 1000 meters, and so that the rescue team has an easier time finding you and cleaning away the mess. The &quot;real&quot; security comes from being able to grab the steel line (or the lanyard itself) for stabilizing yourself, and for having dedicated steps, ladders etc. so you don't have to rock climb, thus opening up those routes to non-climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is strictly different from sport climbing where falling is most times factored in and usually not a problem - those routes where a fall must be avoided at all cost do exist (i.e. only very few, brittle spots to push in a friend or something like that), but are the exception. While this kind climbing is built around making falls safe, via-ferrata-climbing is built around avoiding falls at all cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I treat the lanyard as insubstantial. If I have the feeling that I cannot go on without falling, I will turn back, even though I have the lanyard. It may give me a little psychological boost, so I go just a bit further than without, but it is absolutely a minor part. One reason for this is that you can fall only once with your lanyard, after that it is worse than useless. This means if you bring yourself beyond your capabilities, and survive your first fall, even without incurring substantial damage, you're in extreme danger afterwards, with no security at all anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if those ferratas were made with enough bolts to clip into them, instead of the line, this would be a logistical nightmare - both when creating the line (a huge amount of effort to place more bolts, also for actually finding proper places to put them), and for clipping all the time. A long way between two bolts is a service to the user of the via ferrata, as it means not having to clip so often. If this frequency were significantly higher, people would just not clip in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastEditorUserId="9349" LastEditDate="2018-07-19T18:33:43.160" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T18:33:43.160" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19933" CreationDate="2018-07-18T13:57:13.213" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a &lt;em&gt;rough&lt;/em&gt; rule of thumb,  a dive at 45 metres is a ratio of 1:1 where every minute at that depth requires one minute of decompression stops.  Therefore every dive to 45 metres is a decompression dive,  which by definition is a &lt;em&gt;technical&lt;/em&gt; dive and not a recreational dive,  as covered by the RDP (Recreational Dive Planner).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To this one must add that dives to 40 metres (130 feet) and below are generally considered outside of recreational diving as you must have redundant gas supplies, be prepared to do decompression stops,  normally using accelerated decompression techniques (e.g. oxygen rich mixes in stage bottles) and you must be able to handle the narcosis possibly using helium in your back-gas mix.  Most importantly any uncontrolled or rapid ascent from &gt;40 metres (130 feet) is almost certain to end in serious injury and a trip to the pot (recompression chamber).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The NDLs (No-Decompression Limits) are reached in a non-linear fashion where depth dramatically reduces the NDL.  With the &lt;em&gt;rough&lt;/em&gt; rule of thumb of 1:1 at 45 metres, it's 1:2 at 60 metres (e.g. 1 minute on the bottom gives 2 minutes of deco)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way,  all dives below 30 metres (~100 feet) on the PADI RDP require a mandatory 3 minute decompression stop (which they call a &quot;safety&quot; stop).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T14:13:45.670" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T14:13:45.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19945" CreationDate="2018-07-18T16:09:22.467" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rule with Via Ferrata is to &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; have at least one point of safety clipped in at all times. Many people have fallen to their deaths while unclipped from their safety lines in order to pass an anchor, or to pass another individual. You have two lanyards so you can pass an anchor while always having one clipped to the line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it would not necessarily be considered taboo to clip to the ladder rungs, which is actually how ladders are climbed when no safety line is present, it is not the best practice for a couple of reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clipping into the ladder rungs slows you down, as you're spending more time clipping each time you move up a step or two, this is not ideal when you're moving with a group, or simply when mountaineering in general. You also put yourself at greater risk of taking a fall, because you're spending more time fiddling with your gear than you are hanging onto the secure ladder rung. &lt;strong&gt;You’re much safer hanging onto the rungs with both hands than you are trying to move your one biner each time you take a couple steps.&lt;/strong&gt; There’s also the matter of whether or not your biner on your lanyard is large enough to clip to the rung of the ladder. Some rungs are not much larger than the cable itself, but others might be too large to fit the biner over, or it might be a tight fit, which could cause you to struggle with each clip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, you’re much safer to hang onto the ladder with both hands than you are to clip each rung on your way up. Clipping the rungs of the ladder may provide the illusion of greater safety because your fall potential is lower if you were to take a fall, but this is only true if you’re clipping &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; lanyards to the ladder, because if you’re only clipping one and leaving the other on the cable, then as soon as you unclip from the ladder, your last point of protection is down by the last anchor anyways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaving both lanyards clipped to the safety line while you climb is the best and safest practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-18T18:03:47.687" LastActivityDate="2018-07-18T18:03:47.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19915" CreationDate="2018-07-18T23:43:58.760" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a more data driven approach, here's a google trends graph for the popularity of searches for &quot;climbing gym&quot;, &quot;indoor climbing&quot;, &quot;climbing center&quot;, &quot;climbing centre&quot;, and &quot;climbing wall&quot;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&amp;amp;q=climbing%20gym,indoor%20climbing,climbing%20center,climbing%20centre,climbing%20wall&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;google trends&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/idie4.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/idie4.png&quot; alt=&quot;trends&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing too illuminating, outside of an interesting biannual cycle (peaking in the middle of the winter and the middle of the summer). Interestingly, there also seems to be a taper in interest from 2004--~2008 and remaining relatively constant over the last decade, which also jibes with looking at trends for just &quot;climbing&quot;. Also of interest is the regional variation in preferred search term. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going back further, we can look at google's nGrams analytics, which looks at the prevalence of a term appearing in books. For the same search terms, we get the following trends: &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=climbing%20gym%2Cindoor%20climbing%2Cclimbing%20center%2Cclimbing%20centre&amp;amp;case_insensitive=on&amp;amp;year_start=1800&amp;amp;year_end=2008&amp;amp;corpus=15&amp;amp;smoothing=3&amp;amp;share=&amp;amp;direct_url=t4%3B%2Cclimbing%20gym%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bclimbing%20gym%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BClimbing%20Gym%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cindoor%20climbing%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bindoor%20climbing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIndoor%20Climbing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BIndoor%20climbing%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cclimbing%20center%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bclimbing%20center%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BClimbing%20Center%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cclimbing%20centre%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bclimbing%20centre%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BClimbing%20Centre%3B%2Cc0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;google nGram&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C1gyN.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C1gyN.png&quot; alt=&quot;ngram&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Of interest are the large spikes c.1900, 1930, and 1950 for the term &quot;climbing centre.&quot; Clicking through to some of the relevant texts, this appears to be used in classic British mountaineering literature as a term for what we might now refer to as &quot;climbing areas&quot; or &quot;climbing destinations.&quot; If we ignore these spikes as spurious data, the remaining trends seem to jibe quite well with the general climbing narrative: a rare few gyms appearing in the postwar era, but with a major explosion beginning in the late 80s to a nadir c.2001. That there is a distinct peak followed by a taper in appearances since the new millenium seems to confirm the initial decrease in interest in the above google trends chart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the truly old appearances for &quot;climbing wall&quot; seem to be for gymnastic training, for example the 1867 &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=ndVNAQAAMAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA232&amp;amp;dq=%22climbing%20wall%22&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwiV0bbT7KncAhXmq1QKHRZ7BW4Q6AEINTAC#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22climbing%20wall%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Handbook for Athletics and Gymnastics&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; contains the following image, predating the &lt;a href=&quot;https://latticetraining.com/products/lattice-board/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lattice board&lt;/a&gt; by 150 years. Note that it suggests &quot;campusing&quot; as an exercise a full century before Wolfgang Güllich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wa24g.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wa24g.png&quot; alt=&quot;old climbing wall&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2018-07-19T01:59:06.907" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T01:59:06.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19891" CreationDate="2018-07-19T02:46:52.787" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used a Garmin inReach for many miles, and &lt;strong&gt;your location will be more important than how you hold it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deep canyons with throw off the GPS Signal and sometimes being under thick trees will prevent the signal from going through the first time. I have also had trouble when under trees plus a tarp with a shiny reflective side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good thing is that the inReach will flash when a message doesn't go through, and while I have had to wait for the inReach to try again, I have never been unable to send or receive for an extended period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth pointing out that the less things between you and the sky the better, and higher ground with less obstructions is also better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T02:46:52.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19895" CreationDate="2018-07-19T07:09:06.217" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is more about hygiene/comfort when sleeping in huts and not about warmth, you could just go with a &lt;strong&gt;duvet/blanket cover&lt;/strong&gt;. After all they are essentially shaped like very big bag - and coming in all sizes you should easily find one that is big enough to be used by 2 people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-07-19T07:09:06.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19924" CreationDate="2018-07-20T15:21:29.813" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have spend plenty an afternoon, sitting along the local shipping canal or one of the fishing ponds in the area, when I was a child.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If I was lucky there was a three part cane fishing pole and if I was unlucky I got the use of a bamboo one piece 'pole' which was a bean stick if not in use for fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie the end of the string to the top of the pole, the purpose made one had a loop for that, the bean stick ones required a bit more tying skill.&#xA;The roll the line from the holder till you can hold the pole and holder comfortably and walk to the water, roll the rest of the line from the holder and attach bait to the hook, move the top of the stick out over the water and  lower it till the float floats and wait till it dips or till you run out of patience, pull out, attach new bait and repeat. At the end of the day you would roll the line on the holder again and bring it home that way, to be used an other day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all the years of fishing I managed to get one carp, and that scared me out of wanting to try again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others in our area had a little more luck with the ready made lines but most people who were serious about angling would not use the ready made ones, those were for the kiddies and sometimes the partners (mostly wives) who did not really want to fish but wanted something to show why they were there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLNhv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This kind of line&lt;/a&gt; and set-up is not for serious fishing, it is really a kiddies starting set and needs a pole to use it. (Although some people did use it with just a bit of wood to hold it in hand and pretend not to be fishing when the licenses were checked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a comment to an other answer there is a link to an other kind of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.intertoys.nl/p/werphengel-op-kaart/1136833&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fishing starter set&lt;/a&gt;, which is a simple but not basic pole with a winder, string and tackle. While still mostly a play thing, it is way over the one in the question. I would not expect this one to be used in serious fishing, adviced ages are 6 to 12 years, pole lenth 1.55 meter, but they do look like the poles serious anglers use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-07-20T15:21:29.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19944" CreationDate="2018-07-20T18:08:13.667" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been in the early stages of hypothermia before, and I can tell you from experience that when you're in the early stages of hypothermia, you're convinced you're okay and that nothing is wrong; as in shivering and shaking uncontrollably while trying to convince the people around you, &lt;em&gt;&quot;Oh I'm fine, I don't feel cold at all I don't know why I'm shaking so much...&quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your judgement is one of the first things to go when you're hypothermic, having been through it I can say it's a real eye opener, and a humbling experience, because after the fact it's obvious to you that you were experiencing the textbook symptoms, but in the moment you were oblivious. Once you get into the beginning stages of hypothermia, your chances of self-diagnosing its onset are slim, and it would be foolish to be arrogant enough to suppose you could have the capacity to recognize when you were hypothermic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fight against hypothermia begins with &lt;strong&gt;prevention&lt;/strong&gt;. When I'm out in the wilderness, I'm very aware of what conditions can lead to the onset of hypothermia, and work to prevent it before it ever has a chance to set in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key ingredients for hypothermia are &lt;em&gt;wet&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;wind&lt;/em&gt;, doesn't matter how warm it is outside. If you ever find yourself exposed in the wilderness while wet and you feel yourself starting to get cold, then you need to take care of yourself immediately, especially if you're solo. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must be conscious about regulating body heat while you're in the wilderness, and you do this mostly by layering your clothes, and wearing layers that do not hold moisture (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;Does cotton really kill?&lt;/a&gt;). Keep your body warm, but never so warm as to make yourself sweat and get your clothes wet. If you end up wet for some reason like falling into a creek or getting caught in an unexpected rain storm and feel yourself starting to chill, then your priority immediately becomes an effort to get warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Movement is often enough to keep your core temperature up, but if you're soaked to the bone, or exposed to the wind and you're losing heat faster than you can generate it, then you need to stop and do something about it. If wet, get out of the wind, take off your wet clothes and wring out as much water as possible. You want to let them dry as much as you can while you're not wearing them. You'll find it easier to stay warm wearing less and being dry than you will wearing wet clothes, even if the only dry thing you have is your skin. Do jumping jacks, run on the spot, do push ups, etc. Anything that will get your heart rate up. You may even consider starting a fire to help dry your clothes and keep yourself warm while they dry. You're level of exposure and distance to a warm place are factors in determining your level of risk and need for a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a good breathable wind/waterproof jacket like Gore-Tex, then you can get away with continuing on while your mid-layers are still damp, &lt;em&gt;so long as you can stay warm enough without shivering&lt;/em&gt;. As long as you keep moving and generating heat, your body heat will actually be enough to slowly dry your clothes inside you jacket, at the very least it should be enough to keep you warm while you keep moving and get yourself to a warm place where you can properly dry out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line is if you're debating in your head whether you should stop and get warm, or keep moving and risk getting colder, then you should probably stop sooner than later while you still have to mental capacity to make life-saving decisions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-07-20T18:08:13.667" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19944" CreationDate="2018-07-21T02:31:41.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One simple check that I have used is to touch your thumb to your other fingers.  If you can no longer touch your thumb to your pinkie finger (which usually is utterly trivial when warm) and if it is difficult or you can't do it at all, you should definitely think about warming up.  I have gotten cold to the point that I couldn't, but it was at a base camp with a cabin+fire that I could use, so it didn't get serious.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rationale is that when you get cold, you start losing dexterity of your fingers, and touching your pinkie finger and thumb is a pretty good barometer.  The other answer is far more comprehensive, but this is an easy test that I do when out in the cold as a first check that takes no real effort.  You usually lose finger dexterity before some of the more serious symptoms set in (or in my experience that it what happens to me). &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2013/11/survival-skills-how-identify-and-treat-hypothermia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; site mentions this test and some of the more classic signs as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2018-07-21T02:31:41.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19957" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-21T22:00:25.980" Score="6" ViewCount="561" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found this rock on a river bed in north GA while snorkeling. I can not identify it. &#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y6lwcl.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears to be granite with crystal growing inside. There or deep holes and pockets on bothe sides and rather smooth on the edges. The crystal is a white also. A knife can not scratch most of the sides just a small amount. It also can scratch surfaces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16061" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-29T05:14:55.667" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T01:15:38.000" Title="Found in a river in north Georgia USA. What type of rock is this?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19962" CreationDate="2018-07-22T09:14:47.443" Score="2" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;My medical kit already has some MRE style clean water bags, purification tablets, as well as OTC anti-diarrheal pills at the ready. However, now, I am researching what options there are for hydration in a life-threatening scenario (severe dehydration, possibly including prolonged diarrhea or vomiting). I want to include such a product in my medical kit in case I or someone I encounter while hiking has life-threatening dehydration. While I must concede that much of the bio-chemistry is way over my head, I would still like to think I have compiled a reasonably well-informed list of products. I tried to find not only the hi-tech premium products but also products more on the thrifty-side. Here are the products I researched in order of most expensive per unit gram:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ceralyte&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://ceraproductsinc.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ceraproductsinc.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Market: medicine, military&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price: 100g for $23.00 (10x 10g sticks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price per unit gram: $0.23&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DripDrop&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://dripdrop.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://dripdrop.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Market: military, firefighters and athletes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price: 84g for $9.99 (4x 21g sticks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Price per unit gram: $0.12&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pedialyte Powder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://pedialyte.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://pedialyte.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Market: pediatrics, health enthusiasts?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price: 272g for $27.00 (24x 8.5g sticks)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price per unit gram: $0.10&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gatorade Powder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gatorade.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gatorade.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Market: athletes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price: 588g for $15.00 (12x 49g sticks)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price per unit gram: $0.03&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pedialyte and Gatorade are not marketed as emergency hydration products; Pedialyte has a disclaimer on their website that their hydration powder is only suitable for mild to moderate diarrhea. That being said, the low-end products are quite a bit cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps this is just a classic case of &quot;you get what you pay for,&quot; but I'm wondering if it's considered over-kill to buy military/pharmaceutical grade hydration powders for a hiking kit (72 hour bag). I'd like to hear from anyone with experience using any of these products. Are the high-end products like Ceralyte and DripDrop really heads and shoulders above cheaper products like Pedialyte Powder and Gatorade Powder? Better enough to warrant the price premium as shown above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastActivityDate="2018-07-22T16:45:36.390" Title="Emergency use hydration products - effectivness vs cost" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19960" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19963" CreationDate="2018-07-22T10:27:10.770" Score="4" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to go to the Yellowstone park and other parks in the north-west (e.g., Glacier park); I'll be there for a couple of weeks in the late summer and we will sleep in tents in campgrounds part of the time. I have been excited about that for a long time: this is a dream since I was a kid watching documentaries on the Italian public TV. However, as that time is approaching I am having thoughts about bears and the like. Am I likely to meet dangerous animals while camping? Here I have some related questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How likely is that I would meet bears at this time of the year?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How likely it is that I meet wolves or mountain lions or other carnivores at this time of the year?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What other animals should one be aware of, in order to have a happy and accident-free vacation? (e.g., poisonous snakes, deer/wood-ticks)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How should you behave when you meet them?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know more or less what I could expect: I will be going there with two Americans; we are planning to stay on the beaten track; and my wife's dad is a hunter from Minnesota, so he will get us prepared a little bit. However, I do not have firsthand experience and I would like to have advice with this regard from experienced people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T21:11:18.957" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T21:11:18.957" Title="Possible dangerous animals in north-west natural parks of the US in late July" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;yellowstone&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19961" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21729" CreationDate="2018-07-22T14:59:06.173" Score="6" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a big fan of zinc oxide products for minor outdoor injuries, e.g. zinc oxide tape for blisters on feet, or products like Sudocrem for sunburn and so on. They certainly seem to help the healing process. But how exactly does it work? By this I mean, how does it trigger or enhance the body's natural healing process, and is there anything additional I can do maximise the effectiveness of zinc oxide products?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3422" LastActivityDate="2019-03-02T03:43:52.223" Title="How does zinc oxide work?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19958" CreationDate="2018-07-22T15:10:54.373" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't say I have any experience on these specific products, but I do have quite a bit of experience of diarrhea in an environment where you need to manage it yourself. I was fortunate enough to travel with some very knowledgeable people in that respect - they are studied pharmacists with lots of experience. Where it mattered, they had all the tools and pharmaceutics with them - there was definitely no bias towards low-tech solutions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to hydration they simply carried pre-mixed &quot;WHO-powder&quot; with them. This is a mixture of salts that you can get from any halfway decently equipped pharmacy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In grams per liter (common name in brackets added by me):  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sodium chloride (salt): 2.6&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glucose, anhydrous (sugar): 13.5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Potassium chloride: 1.5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trisodium citrate, dihydrate: 2.9&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For early stages of dehydrated a imprecise solution of just salt and sugar is fine according to WHO, but in case of prolonged diarrhea this formula should be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extensive research has been done on this formula and it is widely used. Any commercial products may have additional benefits, but in terms of rehydration this is the solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/fch_cah_06_1/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/fch_cah_06_1/en/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-07-22T16:45:36.390" LastActivityDate="2018-07-22T16:45:36.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19960" CreationDate="2018-07-23T03:19:14.763" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a Glacier National Park local, as in I can see the park from my house, and my house is on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.crowndiscoverycenter.com/media/map-of-waterton-glacier-international-peace-park.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map&lt;/a&gt; that they hand out at the gate for Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Very Likely.&lt;/strong&gt; In fact, it's unlikely that you &lt;em&gt;won't&lt;/em&gt; see a bear. There are bears &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt;. You will be investing in a bottle of bear spray, but the bears in the park are lumbering oafs following their noses to their next snack, just don't leave any food laying around and do as advised by park officials when it comes to bears, you will be given &lt;em&gt;plenty&lt;/em&gt; of flyers about how to handle bear encounters. Last bike ride I went on this summer in Glacier I saw 4 bears. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Very unlikely,&lt;/strong&gt; your odds of being struck by lightning are probably greater. &lt;strong&gt;Cougars&lt;/strong&gt; are stealthy and hate human contact, they'll get out of your way long before you have a chance to spot one. That being said, there are rare incidents where old, sick and starving cougars will come out of the woods in desperation and hunt dogs and cats, etc. There was an incident in Waterton a couple summers ago where a 16 year old gird got scratched by a cougar that had been harassing people on one trail, but the cougar wasn't well, and was put down on the trail by a ranger. &lt;strong&gt;Wolves&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;will not&lt;/em&gt; go anywhere close to where people are. This is cattle country, and wolves still carry a bounty. If you see a wolf outside a park you can make an easy $500.00 bucks if you shoot it (on the Canada side at least). I've lived here over 30 years and I've never seen a wolf in the wild (but I've been bit by a coyote). You may see wolves in Yellowstone, because they have gone through great efforts to reintroduce them there, but your odds of encountering one are probably still slim.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There aren't any poisonous &lt;strong&gt;snakes&lt;/strong&gt; in the mountains, but there are rattlers in the plains. &lt;strong&gt;Ticks&lt;/strong&gt; are always a thing, just check each other over after a hike in the woods. Even if you find an attached tick all you have to do is pull on it moderately until it lets go, but don't rip them right off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Behave like a human.&lt;/strong&gt; Your default for any encounter is to stand together as a group and make lots of noise. The human voice is the number one deterrent for all animals in the wild. If the animal doesn't move, or is taking a fighting stance, then back away slow until the animal understands you don't want to fight and it'll eventually take off. If the animal doesn't take off, and decides to come closer, this is when you get mean and whip out the bear spray/bear bangers, you last resort is to fight it off caveman style with a rock to the tip of the snout. I will disclose that bears in the national parks aren't afraid of casual encounters with people, and will ignore you for the most part because their accustomed to tourists getting out of their cars to take pictures of them, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T16:09:40.280" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T16:09:40.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15877" CreationDate="2018-07-23T03:49:26.257" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Others have focused on materials and structure. This answer just tries to supplement that info by focusing a bit on fire building as a &lt;em&gt;process&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have mentioned that your initial source (e.g. a match) needs tiny tinder to ignite.  A small fire of burning tinder can ignite larger wood (kindling).  A medium-size fire of kindling can ignite logs.  That much is pretty understandable, even for someone who has never tried to light a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, very dry, dead wood ignites easier than damp or green wood. (A hot fire can ignite damp - even wet - or green wood by first drying it out.) And different kinds of wood burn differently: some catch fire easily and burn quickly; others catch fire less easily and burn longer (and perhaps hotter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A common mistake for a novice is to build what looks like a fine structure, with tinder, kindling, and logs, as if it were a finished building - a log cabin of sorts, or a large teepee.  That &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; work, with experience, but it can also fail. And it's not the right way to &lt;em&gt;learn&lt;/em&gt; to start a fire (IMHO).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's important it this: &lt;strong&gt;Pay attention to whatever fire you have already&lt;/strong&gt;, starting with your match. Feed &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;IT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, according to its size and its available fuel and oxygen (e.g. wind) - that is, the fuel and oxygen that it has access to in immediate proximity/contact. Fuel and air that is not right next to the fire (e.g. flame) doesn't count.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this means in practice is that it's not about what your structure looks like. It's about what's happening in the immediate vicinity of the fire itself - the part that's actually burning. That's all that counts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fuel that is not burning is not really part of your fire. It doesn't matter whether it is sitting in a pile next to your fire or it forms a giant structure around your fire, waiting for your fire to get to it. If it ain't burning it ain't part of your fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make things simple, let's assume that all of your fuel is good, dead, very dry. You've prepared, ahead of lighting, a pile of tinder, a pile of kindling of various sizes (e.g. stick diameters), and a pile of logs of various sizes. You're ready to add fuel to whatever fire you have at any moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If your fuel is not super dead and dry then you will need more heat to catch it on fire, and you will need to build your fire up more slowly.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build a &lt;em&gt;small&lt;/em&gt; fire structure. One that will accept your match fire, to light tinder, and with a small amount of small kindling ready to be lit from the burning tinder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light the tinder and immediately pay attention to the resulting fire. If it burns well, add a bit of tiny kindling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; add fuel that the small fire is not eager to burn. Be &lt;em&gt;ready&lt;/em&gt; to add fuel to your fire. But don't add fuel until your fire asks for it. Your fire will tell you when it's hungry for more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yep. Smothering your fire with too much fuel is like clogging your mouth with too much food to chew and swallow. And that's a common mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fastest way to eat a sandwich (including swallowing) is to take small bites and swallow them before taking more. Jamming lots of food in your mouth just clogs things up. Same with fire fuel: feed your fire only as much as it seems to be accepting and catching on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just keep paying attention to how your fire's burning, and feeding it to make it bigger. A bigger fire can ignite more fuel and bigger chunks of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much fuel do you add at any time? Just whatever works - only as much as will actually catch fire. Add one little piece and see if it catches, then repeat. Give the fuel you've already added a chance to burn well, before adding more. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Remember:&lt;/em&gt; You're adding fuel only to get &lt;em&gt;more heat&lt;/em&gt;, to increase the size of your fire. You're not adding fuel for its own sake. If fuel you add doesn't catch fire then take it off. If it catches slowly, wait till it gets going good before adding more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire needs heat, fuel, and oxygen, and it can only use them in balanced amounts. You start with a very small amount of heat, so you add only a small amount of fuel at first.  You add more fuel progressively, as the fire can handle it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Successful use of a large, pre-built structure doesn't contradict this. In that case, the large amount of big fuel is not used by the fire initially, and it is kept far enough away from the actual fire (e.g. flame) that it does not prevent access to sufficient oxygen.  The disadvantage of this approach, especially for a novice, is that it is hard to adjust your fire as it burns.  In effect, with this approach you've planned for a specific burning / fire development. If the fire does not actually burn as the structure would expect, then you have to start taking it apart and re-building it progressively.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the idea, but here's something important in terms of adjusting your fire: &lt;em&gt;wind&lt;/em&gt; - specifically, wind that you provide and regulate by &lt;em&gt;blowing&lt;/em&gt; on your small fire, to help it grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the simple &lt;strong&gt;secret to blowing on a fire&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Blow from below, not above.&lt;/em&gt; To do that, put the &lt;em&gt;side&lt;/em&gt; of your &lt;em&gt;head on the ground&lt;/em&gt; or very near to it. The lower your mouth is to the ground, the better. (Don't blow into the wind, obviously.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Purse your lips and blow slowly, steadily, and long. Then turn your head away from the heat and smoke, and inhale. Repeat... Long, steady breaths, not sudden or powerful breaths. The power, for the fire, is in the long, steady supply of fresh air, not in the strength of a quick gust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You act like a &lt;em&gt;blowtorch&lt;/em&gt;, and the result has the effect of a blowtorch. Think blacksmith bellows for a fire that heats iron. No bellows, no wrought iron.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your fire is very tiny (little heat), blow &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; gently or not at all. As it gets a little larger (hotter), you can blow more strongly. This is a very effective way to get your fire burning hotter and larger faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Yes, you can also fan a fire with a hat, pot, etc., but the wind you get from this is nowhere near as strong, consistent, and lengthy as an exhalation. Its only advantage is that it seems easier, but it's generally a weak method of supplying oxygen.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9985" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T03:49:26.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19641" CreationDate="2018-07-23T16:36:52.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can speak for Italy, but bare in mind two things. First, I am an economist, interested into wolves because of side projects (i.e. the connection between the increase in the wolves population and local tourism) and sheer passion for nature. Second, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_wolf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Italian wolf&lt;/a&gt; is different from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_wolf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eurasian wolf&lt;/a&gt;, which is more common in Europe, while the former is mostly in Italy, and in part on Swiss and French Alps.&#xA;To my knowledge, the danger to humans, from Italian wolves, derives mostly from two interrelated aspects: (i) proximity to towns; (ii) hybridization (&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0086409&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;see here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240686273_Black_coats_in_an_admixed_wolf_dog_pack_is_melanism_an_indicator_of_hybridization_in_wolves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for evidence of hybridization in Italy). Because of those two factors, a higher percentage of local wolves might be less afraid of humans and, thus, more prone to come in contact with them. Besides that, I am not sure I have heard of average differences in behaviors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T16:36:52.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19966" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-23T17:05:34.577" Score="6" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friends and I are 4 years experienced hikers, and next year we want to go for a 5000 m (16,400 ft) mountain. What are the best options regarding the complexity of the trail and how beautiful the view is?&#xA;We live in Germany, Munich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16074" OwnerDisplayName="sgerodes" LastEditorUserId="1854" LastEditDate="2018-07-24T11:13:17.377" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T05:19:06.913" Title="What are the simplest 5000 m mountains to hike?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19966" CreationDate="2018-07-23T17:48:00.067" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for close to home, I'm thinking about &lt;a href=&quot;http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=10445&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Ararat&lt;/a&gt; (Turkey), &lt;a href=&quot;http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=10467&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Damavand&lt;/a&gt; (Iran), &lt;a href=&quot;http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=10381&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elbrus&lt;/a&gt; (Russia) although this last one has glacier travel to contend with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you have to go to south America for easy 5000m peaks. Or Kilimandjaro in Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T17:48:00.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19936" CreationDate="2018-07-23T18:00:20.480" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that you could go for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://superiorhiking.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Duluth area&lt;/a&gt; and in particular for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitduluth.com/parks-and-trails/hiking-trails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;superior hiking trail&lt;/a&gt;, depending on you goals. It is a historic touristic area, with plenty of nature, on the lake, and with some nice hills (usually not the forte of Minnesota to my knowledge; I do not live in the US, but I have been going there for years because of family reasons). Duluth is about 2h30' from Minneapolis, if I am not mistaken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastEditorUserId="16063" LastEditDate="2018-07-23T18:18:01.837" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T18:18:01.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19945" CreationDate="2018-07-23T20:57:47.127" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always used the rungs for clipping in, and was taught so by the guide too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never heard of any reason to not do it; yes, it slows you down, but clipping into horizontal steel cables also slows you down.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As my life might depend on it, I'd always have a minimum of one clipped in, even if I take a minute for a ladder instead of 20 seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13805" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T20:57:47.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19868" CreationDate="2018-07-23T21:16:51.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The stress on your body will be the same, and it will take about the same time again to acclimatize, as others already explained.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I wanted to add some other information: different people react very different to quick height gains, and not everybody has an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We went (only last month) from Lima &lt;em&gt;directly&lt;/em&gt; to Lake Titicaca (&gt;3800m), &lt;em&gt;without acclimatization&lt;/em&gt; (in a plane). None of our group had any issues, and we were able to walk for hours, some of it uphill, in Puno (well, huffing and puffing, sure, but no other issues).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From local guides I was told that only about 20-30% of people coming to Puno have headaches and other lighter issues, and about 1 in 20 gets really sick (yes, we also saw some people vomitting on the street and rolling in pain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; recommending to ignore the elevation issues; but &lt;em&gt;understand the risk&lt;/em&gt;, and don't overreact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. funny when the pilot says 'Please take your seat, we are now beginning our final &lt;em&gt;ascend&lt;/em&gt; to Juliaca airport'...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13805" LastActivityDate="2018-07-23T21:16:51.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19966" CreationDate="2018-07-24T01:32:59.450" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing that comes to mind to me is Kilimanjaro.  It's almost 6,000m and my evaluation of it would be class 2 (I haven't seen any proper rating of it) and that only on the final ascent, getting there was easy (except for the altitude) class 1 trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have far more experience than I did when I tackled it.  We didn't manage to summit because of the ice--no big deal by night, glacier equipment required by day and we had neither the equipment nor the training for that.  We were too slow, the sun caught us just short of the secondary summit and we basically crawled the last little distance to it.  More recent pictures show that global warming has done major changes, I don't know if the ice is still a problem or not.  Without that problem I'm sure the two of us that didn't turn back from the altitude or cold would have made the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  I didn't realize the grading wasn't universal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="381" LastEditDate="2018-07-24T20:44:20.710" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T20:44:20.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19972" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-24T01:36:19.497" Score="1" ViewCount="128" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am hoping for more than anecdotal evidence about the negative effects on black bears of the human scent -- ranging from &lt;em&gt;meh&lt;/em&gt; to &lt;em&gt;Yecch&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by two anecdotes I have to offer:  (1) I was sniffed by a black bear in my sleeping bag.  The bear reminded me, even as I was rudely awakened. of a wine taster.  Several &lt;em&gt;Snuffles&lt;/em&gt; (intake) followed by several explosive &lt;em&gt;Snorts&lt;/em&gt;.  Fortunately, I was judged inedible. The bear wandered off.  (2) A bear grabbed my pack from beside my sleeping bag, ripped it open, removed and eviscerated several packages of freeze dried food, but stopped at a barrier of filthy clothes, under which one package remained unscathed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there evidence of the off-putting-ness of the human aroma more compelling than anecdotes similar to these?  I am asking specifically about black bears, but would welcome answers about other predators at or near the top of the food chain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T14:58:53.620" Title="Is there any evidence that black bears (or other large predators) are indifferent to, or acutally repulsed by, the scent of humans?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2" CreationDate="2018-07-24T01:37:10.550" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in 1987 I bicycled over Fluela Pass in Switzerland. A young man chose to ride with me for a time and had me try water from a fresh Alpine stream. It tasted good and did not smell. More than 24 hours later I began to not feel well, feverish, tired, not hungry/but hungry. Four hours have having dinner I had gastrointestinal problems, every 20 minutes for about 3 hours. I wanted to die. It started as vomiting and ended up as diarrhea. I blamed my dinner; wonder if it was the water, after all?? It took days to get my strength back, but I continued biking.... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16073" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T01:37:10.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3778" CreationDate="2018-07-24T07:22:05.463" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In theory, it should not be a matter of painters' will and disposition on the day they are painting the waymark. There are well established symbols and colors combinations. See for instance this &lt;a href=&quot;https://360gardalife.com/it/sport/289/segnaletica-in-montagna&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;, concerning Italy. For a more complete &quot;Italian waymarks guide&quot; refer to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cai.it/index.php?id=831&amp;amp;L=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CAI (Club Alpino Italiano)&lt;/a&gt; documentation, click on &quot;segnaletica&quot;--only in Italian. Waymarks from other countries on the edge of the Alps should not be much different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T07:22:05.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19855" CreationDate="2018-07-24T07:54:17.070" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seahorses are found all over the world where they :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Diving with Seahorses: seahorses inhabit coral reefs and sea grass beds. They have been recorded at depths as low as 0.5m and as deep as 75m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dive Report: Seahorses are mainly found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, and prefer to live in sheltered areas such as sea grass beds, estuaries, coral reefs, or mangroves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Global dive sites include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Indonesia - Wakatobi Dive Resort&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;West Papua - Raja Ampat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Papua New Guinea - Milne Bay&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Solomon Islands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sulawesi - Lembeh Strait &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;United States - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.puravidadivers.com/dive-blue-heron-bridge-phil-foster-park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue Heron Bridge&lt;/a&gt;, Foster Park, Florida&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divereport.com/animals/seahorse/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dive Report - Seahorses&lt;/a&gt; - gives a whooping list of dive sites for seahorses and a multitude of other marine life you can find alongside them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dive-the-world.com/creatures-seahorses.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Diving with Seahorses - dive the world&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.uw360.asia/best-places-dive-pygmy-seahorses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5 of the best places to dive with seahorses - uw360asia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-07-26T07:44:16.733" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T07:44:16.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19976" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-24T13:17:10.307" Score="5" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the most debated issues concerning wilderness, in Italy, is the reintroduction (or bizarrely large increase in the population) of animals almost extinguished till recently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While in most cases the artificial reintroduction of wild animals seems to be a metropolitan legend that finds easy spread because of ancestral fears, as it is the case of wolves and bears (the first ones reappeared because of the protection enjoyed by central authorities, while the latter ones reappeared because of both migration from alpines countries and protection as well), there are a few real and well-documented cases, such as the strong increase in the population of boars, that is apparently caused by the hunters' national agency that yearly releases boars that should then be hunted down for sports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to have a sense from you people of how frequently wild animals' populations increase artificially, and what the usual causes are (I expect that often the cause is the species protection, but--as in the case of Italian boars--this is not always the case).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T03:41:19.223" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T03:41:19.223" Title="Artificial reintroduction of wild animals: how frequently does it happen, and what is the purpose?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19972" CreationDate="2018-07-24T14:58:53.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For certain, bears noses are good enough to smell humans, whether that is a deterrent or a sign that unsecured food might be nearby probably depends on the state of bear-human relations with areas like Yosemite where bears are used to humans being different from places with hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=141aDwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT54&amp;amp;lpg=PT54&amp;amp;dq=bears%20people%20scent&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=BwvPobIPo5&amp;amp;sig=V39HmsE2xa2e6lmzInVeirIsC_o&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwjb5rLV_bfcAhUHxYMKHd2dANk4FBDoATAAegQIABAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=bears%20people%20scent&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunters hunting bears&lt;/a&gt;  (or any other big game) will take care to hide their scent from bears, as otherwise the bears will simply leave the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the other parts of your question, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18312/do-black-brown-grizzly-or-polar-bears-ever-prey-on-humans&quot;&gt;bears have been known to hunt people&lt;/a&gt; and there is also a &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/26645/can-lions-sense-menstruating-women/32065#32065&quot;&gt;Skeptics question&lt;/a&gt; about whether lions and polar bears  can sense menstruating women (yes for lions and polar bears, apparently not for black bears).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T14:58:53.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19978" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-24T15:13:21.107" Score="3" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a scenario in which you go in the forest or next to one, how are you supposed to craft a containers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the web-ressources I can find for filtering water thanks to the multi-layer rocks (from fine sand to charcoal/rocks) will need a container. Either something metallic, a can, or a simple bottle cut in half. But you don't find that far away from human presence. &lt;em&gt;Well, you might with all the debris left by our specie, but for the sake of the question let's assume you are somewhere you can't find it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To boil water to purify it, you also need a container. Most of time, it's assumed you have a metallic pot, but blacksmithing isn't a step you'll take before achieving to have clean water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same for cooking tutorials : &quot;take your fish, put it in the pot, easy peasy&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So my question is :&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1/ How do you craft a container that can be use for filtering water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2/How do you craft a container that can be heated to boil water and cook?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;3/ This one is a bit off topic here, but where can I find some ressources about survival from scratch and not &quot;survival from scratch but only if you already have a a supermarket next door&quot;&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT :&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comments and vote cast are the proof I haven't been clear. I'm not looking for method to purify or filter water. I'm looking for a way to &lt;strong&gt;craft&lt;/strong&gt; the container needed for thoses actions &lt;strong&gt;and cooking&lt;/strong&gt;. And these &lt;strong&gt;without going to a supermarket&lt;/strong&gt; or taking something in my house that I got in a supermarket&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16076" LastEditorUserId="16076" LastEditDate="2018-07-24T15:51:59.133" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T15:51:59.133" Title="How to craft container for cooking and filtering/purifying water" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ClosedDate="2018-07-24T23:01:08.453" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19976" CreationDate="2018-07-24T15:32:50.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It happens fairly often, and usually the purpose is to reintroduce the animals to places where they used to be but were wiped out. This is know as species reintroduction/restablishment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Species reintroduction &lt;strong&gt;is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population.&lt;/strong&gt; Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control. For example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of elk or deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term &quot;reestablishment&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_reintroduction&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Species reintroduction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_reintroduction#Reintroduction_programs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;long list&lt;/a&gt; of the animals that have had this done, and there are organizations like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/Initiatives/EasternelkInitiative.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npca.org/articles/880-9-wildlife-success-stories&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;government agencies&lt;/a&gt; that have initiatives set up to do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T15:32:50.630" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19944" CreationDate="2018-07-24T17:23:15.697" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mental changes are generally hard to detect and have other common sources like blood sugar, hydration, altitude and strenuous exertion, but these are what I use to track my mental state when I'm by myself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A change in how much I care about discomfort&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I find myself thinking &quot;This icy wind isn't really that bad after all&quot; I'm probably wrong. If some clothing goes from feeling damp to feeling clammy it isn't just in my head. Thinking &quot;Don't be silly it's 50 degrees out just because there is a little wind doesn't make it cold&quot; is silly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being grumpy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If my mood deteriorates rapidly with no obvious cause I try to consider an environmental cause if I notice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being less adept&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly if adjusting gear that normally is effortless takes a couple tries or two hands when it normally takes one is a sign.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often play with something in my hand and store it in an not conveniently accessible spot in my pack. If I start to drop or fumble it putting it away correctly involves looking things that would probably make me feel better, like extra clothing, snacks or water. Of course if I'm even sorta off putting it away properly probably feels like too much hassle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being less clever&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often keep a little walking hum going and when it seems like too much of a bother to come up with the next line I take a second to consider if something is bothering me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly if my thinking narrows to a simple loop &quot;just keep swimming&quot; or the like it is past time to consider making a change, and it may take a long time before that thought inserts itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being uncertain or worrying&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If with no new facts the plan I set out on seems more daunting or precarious than what I planned for I take it as a sign I'm off peek and I ought to take a sheltered break as soon as practical to re-evaluate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8348" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T17:23:15.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2018-07-24T20:19:07.990" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Italy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild camping in Italy is actually not directly &lt;a href=&quot;https://fringeintravel.com/legge-sul-campeggio-libero-in-italia-regolamenti-normative-e-divieti/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;regulated&lt;/a&gt; (the link is only in Italian, sorry). In general, if camping is not forbidden, then it is legal; laws concerning camping are usually deliberated by local government (e.g. region, country, town). I remember vaguely, from my studies of private law, that the civil code (and thus an ensemble of national laws) that it is possible also to camp in farm fields--if you do not damage the crop, and even without authorization from the field owner, but at the moment I do not remember the reference law that applies to this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastActivityDate="2018-07-24T20:19:07.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19982" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-25T06:05:33.027" Score="8" ViewCount="760" Body="&lt;p&gt;Our tent was featured as ants free thanks to protective grids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However ants just ate holes in the wall material. Some research shows this is not unusual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WWrxk.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WWrxk.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which tent wall material do I need to prevent ants from eating it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This happened near Gorge du Verdon in South France.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16079" OwnerDisplayName="J. Doe" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-27T14:58:38.903" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T16:47:53.463" Title="How to check whether a tent is prone to ants eating holes in tents?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;ants&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19983" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-25T06:47:54.073" Score="2" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;Near &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Camping+de+la+Brise/@43.455801,4.4362948,15z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x0:0x856f56606e617f03!5m1!1s2018-08-05!8m2!3d43.455801!4d4.4362948&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping la Brise&lt;/a&gt; in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France, mosquitos are quite hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which areas around the sea tend to have the least mosquito population? Which characteristics (climate, habitat etc.) does a spot need to have in order to be preferred by them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-30T02:10:30.740" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T07:01:47.947" Title="Mosquito free areas closest to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France?" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;&lt;france&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19936" CreationDate="2018-07-25T13:07:31.647" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for anywhere that's a close drive away from the Twin Cities, I would recommend checking out some of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dakota County&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.threeriversparks.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Three Rivers Distrct Parks&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/parksTrails/LebanonHills/Pages/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lebannon Hills Regional Park&lt;/a&gt; is a personal favorite of mine, and a hike around all the lakes within the park will be a solid day hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, most of the best unpaved trails out there-at least the ones that are upwards to two hours way-are going to be located North of Minnesota. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.visitduluth.com/parks-and-trails/hiking-trails&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lake Superior trail&lt;/a&gt; tends to divide itself into multiple pathways allowing you to either take a light easy hike or a more moderately intensive hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are fine with some smaller trails as well, I would recommend taking some time traveling a bit north of Duluth to take a short walk around &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g43583-i22371744-Two_Harbors_Minnesota.html#20896654&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silver Creek Cliff&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theoutbound.com/minnesota/hiking/hike-to-the-fifth-falls-of-the-gooseberry-river&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fifth Falls&lt;/a&gt; located at Goosebury Falls. Both are pretty short hikes, but both are worth the trip! They are not very well known compared to the main waterfall area in Goosebury falls, so they do not get visited by very many people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little closer away to the Twin Cities is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iceagetrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Age Trail&lt;/a&gt;, in St. Croix Falls. The total trail is 1,200 miles, stretching all the way through Wisconsin. The length of the trail, however, crosses into a lot of popular state parks, so there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://wisconsin-explorer.blogspot.com/2016/09/hiking-ice-age-trail-st-croix-falls.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;segmented trails&lt;/a&gt; you can do in a day's hike. If you have time after the hike, I would also recommend checking &lt;a href=&quot;https://midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/outdoors_recreation/outdoors_towns/taylors_falls_minnesota.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Taylor's Falls&lt;/a&gt; located across the riverside. It's a popular rock climbing spot and has some &quot;Bottomless&quot; potholes that offer an interesting view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traveling a little down South East, you can head towards Red Wing and check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00160#homepage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Frontenac State Park&lt;/a&gt;. This park has two loops on the North and South end of the park. I would recommend getting there early if you want to go to this park, because by mid-day, a lot of people tend to fill up here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traveling a little to the South West side, towards Mankato, is a lot of different trails across the Minnesota River. My favorite spot to visit is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00235#homepage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minneopa State Park&lt;/a&gt;. The trail crosses the popular Minneopa falls and is also close to the famous Bison Drive Road, where you can take a driving tour to see buffalo(That is, if you are lucky enough to see them out of hiding!). If you have some time, I would also recommend checking out Dairi King, about half an hour away from the park. They have some awesome slushee floats!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16047" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T13:07:31.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19985" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19996" CreationDate="2018-07-25T13:47:25.207" Score="9" ViewCount="721" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was searching around after a new hiking tent, when I noticed a specification called &quot;unisex&quot;, I know that something is &quot;unisex&quot; if it's suited for all genders. Though it makes me wonder, how on earth isn't a hiking tent suited for all genders? After a bit of digging, I realized that some might argue that a princess tent is a &quot;girl tent&quot; or whatever. But on hiking tent, isn't that information completely redundant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Water-Resistant-Unisex-Outdoor/dp/B01M7YRK7R&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example of unisex tent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;To add to the conversation about the &quot;unisex tent&quot; being especially common in the UK, here's a listing from a swedish manufacturer (Found down in the productspecification). It's still in Europe, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.com/shop/fjallraven-abisko-lite-1-F53301-sand/?sku=7323450206901&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swedish unisex tent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16082" LastEditorUserId="16082" LastEditDate="2018-07-26T08:47:47.657" LastActivityDate="2018-07-27T06:35:08.457" Title="What is the defintion of a &quot;unisex tent&quot;?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19944" CreationDate="2018-07-25T15:53:37.307" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;: Despite a comment I made earlier about how I too would like to hear about ways to test for hypothermia, I should stress that relying on this could be potentially dangerous and should be a last line of defense, not first. That is, always assume that you could be even if your test is negative, instead of assuming that you are not until it is positive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) &lt;strong&gt;Bring a watch&lt;/strong&gt;, and estimate ahead of time how long certain activities should take. Time yourself doing them, and if it takes too long just assume you are compromised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) &lt;strong&gt;Bring a radio&lt;/strong&gt;, and periodically (often) check in, preferably with the same person each time. Let them know ahead of time that they must tell you if they feel like you are reacting slower, or if you seem confused or otherwise weird. Cell phones can work if you are guaranteed good coverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Long version&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once noticed, because of a nearby clock, that it was taking way longer to do things than it should have. It was taking 10-20 minutes to do something that should have taken 1-2 minutes. I immediately abandoned what I was doing and tried to remedy the situation that was causing my decline. I might not have noticed if it weren't for my time keeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the above situation was not hypothermia, but it was a different situation that can have a few similar symptoms, such as confusion, slowness and loss of time. Still, it makes me wonder if a watch could be a useful tool (again, last-line defense) for noticing some mental effects of hypothermia. Estimate ahead of time how long it should take to do certain activities, and time yourself. If it takes you 10 minutes to get out your pot and fill it with snow or water when it should not have, then immediately abandon your quest and seek help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the advise: &lt;strong&gt;Use a watch and keep track of the timing for your activities.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the above was not hypothermia, I was not going to post it as an answer. But I just realized I have another anecdote that is more closely related to hypothermia...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This next one is a negative, a warning that you might not detect it, rather than a positive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have recently started driving with my windows down and my arm outside the window while it rains. I have realized it's actually kind of nice to feel the wind and the rain. The rain stings at high speed when driving on the highway, but all along the rainy drive, it felt good, even invigorating, and I did not suspect any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the last two times I did this, &lt;strong&gt;I did not notice until after&lt;/strong&gt;, once I was done with the drive and sitting in a building trying to do other activities, that my arm and hand that was exposed to the wind and rain was not performing as well. When manipulating something with both hands, the one was not doing as well as the other. Or when trying to open a jar or bottle, &lt;strong&gt;I could not get the cap off using that hand&lt;/strong&gt; unless the cap was already loose. When I touched the bad arm/hand with my good one, it felt cold to the touch of the good hand even though it felt fine by itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My situation was not dire, but it was still concerning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's transfer this over to a case that is exactly in line with your question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of just the one arm exposed to rain and high winds, still having a good arm to test it against, what if I were instead standing out in a hurricane or blizzard such that my entire body was subjected to this? My entire body could get cold and not work well without me even noticing, just like my arm, but I would not have a known good part for comparison if I was by myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is scary. Be warned, and be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back to the time keeping I mentioned above, I have read about high altitude mountaineers bringing lists of simple math problems and timing how long it takes them to solve the list of problems. In fact, I recently read about a few guys who decided not to do a climb they were about to do, because it took them twice as long as it normally took them to do a bunch of simple subtractions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is going to be &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; going solo. But if you insist on being solo and still want some of the benefits of having someone to help judge you, perhaps you could &lt;strong&gt;bring a radio and periodically talk to someone, preferably the same people each time you check in, and they can tell you if you sound weird, slow, or confused.&lt;/strong&gt; Make sure they understand their job before you even start your journey and check-ins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The radio idea also has the benefit that you can keep in touch with people and it can provide a morale boost. Obviously, if the area has excellent cell phone coverage then a phone call can serve the same purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T15:53:37.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19988" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-25T20:26:48.490" Score="3" ViewCount="408" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thelocal.se/20180725/extreme-risk-swedish-wildfires-could-spread-to-south-of-the-country&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forest fires in Sweden&lt;/a&gt;, many Swedish counties have issued a total fire ban, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lansstyrelsen.se/vasterbotten/krismeddelande-i-sidhuvudet/2018-07-20-skarpt-eldningsforbud---strong-fire-bans-on-lightning-of-fires.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;such as Västerbotten&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lansstyrelsen.se/jamtland/krismeddelande-i-sidhuvudet/2018-07-16-eldningsforbud-i-lanet.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jämtland&lt;/a&gt;.  In most cases, this includes camping stoves, and therefore has the potential to strongly impact any outdoor recreation unless backpackers are happy to skip hot meals.  In Dalarna this ban will last until at least 1st of October.  Information is available on the website of the respective counties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Swedish counties of Dalarna, Jämtland, and Västerbotten all border Norway, which is seeing record heat and drought as well.  Therefore, I would expect bans to be in force in Norway as well.  Where can I find information on current fire bans in Norway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-07-25T20:44:06.563" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T21:01:11.030" Title="Where can I find the current status regarding fire bans in Norway?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19990" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="19991" CreationDate="2018-07-25T20:54:13.597" Score="4" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've attached a picture, I got this used backpack (Dana Design Arcflex Astraplane) and I'm trying to figure out the straps on this thing. I noticed there are two strap adjusters on the top.. are they redundant and I just use one? Or there's something I'm missing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tZsQw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16084" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-25T20:58:03.737" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T22:27:54.430" Title="How do I weave the backpack shoulder straps when there are two strap adjusters?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19990" CreationDate="2018-07-25T21:00:59.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok, I think I figured it out, the guy before me did a weird thing so it confused me. But I think one is for the shoulder strap and the other for the lid of the bag. I included a pic, please let me know if someone thinks it goes differently. (The picture is looking down from the top)&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LblJ4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16084" LastEditorUserId="16084" LastEditDate="2018-07-25T22:27:54.430" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T22:27:54.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19988" CreationDate="2018-07-25T21:01:11.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was about to write a long essay on how strange the Norwegian rules regarding rights-of-every-man and the department of safety and readiness but I realized you are just asking where to find the information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is usually not a judgement that is made at the nation level - it is made by each municipality or city council. So you'll normally expect to find it at the website of the city or municipality. Example 1: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oslo.kommune.no/brannvern-ildsted-og-feiing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oslo&lt;/a&gt; and Example 2: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fyresdal.kommune.no/aktuelt-fraa-fyresdal-kommune/totalforbod-mot-open-eld&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fyresdal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you were to say: &quot;Hey, all this is in Norwegian, and by the way there is no common way of finding the exact information, on one municipality I have to click the &quot;Aktuelt&quot; (Recent) button and scroll... This is impossible for a foreigner to keep track of!?&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have to say, &lt;strong&gt;yeah - that seems to be the case.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T21:01:11.030" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19990" CreationDate="2018-07-25T21:02:10.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You would only want to use one of them at a time. With that said there are a couple of possibilities here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is another strap that you have missed that goes to the second point (this is the most likely option)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There was a strap that used to go there but was cut off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would double check the backpack for other straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T21:02:10.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19982" CreationDate="2018-07-25T21:22:16.860" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never had this problem.  I never even worried about this problem -- and I worry about everything.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you google &lt;em&gt;What kind of ants eat through tents&lt;/em&gt;, you will find that other people have had your problem, for example in Texas and Africa.  There are also many hits about ants who just saunter in, rather than chewing their way in, and tips to get rid of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The response that sounds most practical is from &lt;a href=&quot;https://michellecalderon.theworldrace.org/?filename=so-you-have-ants-in-your-tent&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Michelle Calderon&lt;/a&gt;, posting on the website of World Race; she used &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;duct tape&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to deal with ants in Africa -- Zambia, I think.   (As someone once said, if you can't solve your problem with duct tape, you aren't using enough duct tape.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Briefly, she and her friends used duct tape to remove the ants from their tent and their ant infested belongings, and then they duct-taped the inside and the outside of the holes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So the way the ants get in is they chew holes through your tent. I had&#xA;  eight new holes in my tent courtesy of the ants. I duct taped both the&#xA;  inside and outside of the tent to repair the holes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She describes her technique in detail, with pictures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This suggests that getting a tent made of double sided duct tape may work, but, mon dieu!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-07-25T21:22:16.860" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19985" CreationDate="2018-07-26T00:24:32.617" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like a &lt;strong&gt;combination of  keyword stuffing&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;people in the UK apparently wanting unisex products&lt;/strong&gt;. It might be like labeling things that don't normally contain gluten as gluten-free for the extra exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example of &lt;strong&gt;keyword stuffing&lt;/strong&gt; in titles consider,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coleman Water Repellent Instant Tourer Unisex Outdoor Pop-up Tent available in Green - 4 Persons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coleman Weatherproof Galiano Unisex Outdoor Pop-up Tent&#xA;See Size Options&#xA;Coleman Weatherproof Galiano Unisex Outdoor Pop-up Tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yellowstone Waterproof Fast Pitch Unisex Outdoor Pop-Up Tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regatta Waterproof Malawi Unisex Outdoor Pop-Up Tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easycamp Unisex Cyrus 200 Tent, Aqua Blue, One Size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the &lt;strong&gt;UK&lt;/strong&gt; is concerned, I search &quot;unisex tent&quot; on both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk in the Sports &amp;amp; Outdoors section.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;amazon.com -&gt; &quot;Showing results for &quot;unisex tent&quot; in Toys &amp;amp; Games. Search in Sports &amp;amp; Outdoors instead.&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;amazon.co.uk -&gt; Lots and lots of tents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also supporting this theory are these results searching amazon.co.uk for &quot;unisex&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kingfisher &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; Olham Rubber Steel Shaft Camping Tent &lt;strong&gt;Mallet&lt;/strong&gt;, Black&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;JOOWEN &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; Two Tone Cotton Twill Unstructured &lt;strong&gt;Baseball Ca&lt;/strong&gt;p Adjustable Dad Hat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Under Armour Undeniable 3.0 Md &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; Sport &lt;strong&gt;Duffel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gelert &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Wind Blocker&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NGT &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Stainless Baiting Tool Set in Sleeve&lt;/strong&gt; (4 Piece), Green, One Size&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mora &lt;strong&gt;Unisex&lt;/strong&gt; 163s &lt;strong&gt;Spoon and Bowl Crook Carving Knife,&lt;/strong&gt; Natural&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mallets, knives, windblockers and duffel bags don't seem to be specific to one gender, I don't see why a tent would be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-26T18:25:13.507" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T18:25:13.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19985" CreationDate="2018-07-26T00:35:31.773" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My guess, backed up by the definitions for &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;unisex&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/214732?redirectedFrom=unisex#eid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oxford English Dictionary&lt;/a&gt; is that this is a attempt by manufacturers and sports shops to show that they recognize that women too, hike and backpack and need tents.  They are trying to overcome an image of backpacking being only for homo saps with a Y chromosome.  Coming soon at a hardware store near you: unisex clamps, unisex hammers and unisex saws.  (Homebuilders will be in deep trouble if unisex electrical connectors come into fashion.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the OED, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;unisex&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A 3. adj Designed to be suitable for either sex; not peculiar to one&#xA;  sex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;B 3.  n  3. Also with capital initial. The state or condition of being&#xA;  sexually neutral or indeterminate; the quality of being equally&#xA;  suitable for both sexes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OED gives several examples, of which the most pertinent is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1969   Sunday Mail (Brisbane)  11 May 24/8   It's unisex where men and&#xA;  women have abandoned the old ‘vive la difference’ school of thought in&#xA;  dressing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Substitute &lt;em&gt;recreation&lt;/em&gt; for &lt;em&gt;dressing&lt;/em&gt;, and you have the &quot;logic&quot;, however weird, behind &lt;em&gt;unisex tents&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still in question, who started this idiocy about unisex tents, and where?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-07-26T00:55:39.113" LastActivityDate="2018-07-26T00:55:39.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18862" CreationDate="2018-07-26T11:09:55.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok so I do't have excessive first hand experience at crossing bogs - but did find an couple of interesting reads which may help to answer some of your questions. From researching, bogs are not that simple a thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can gather from these articles - the easy / hard rating may be to do with how wet / dry the bog is. A bog is basically decaying vegetation etc in areas where it is very poorly draining, so the water collects, but is not always surface water. There are shrubs, grasses, exposed earth interjected between watery areas. Drier weather would lead to a drier bog, in theory, but poor draining areas may not be consistently better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Bogology.org:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ombrotrophic (meaning ‘rain-fed’) bogs get all their moisture from precipitation (rain, snow etc.).  This means that any change in the hydrology of the bog is directly related to climate – mainly to precipitation but also to temperature because that affects how much of this water evaporates. Fens on the other hand, receive water from groundwater flow, as well as from precipitation and so climate is often not the main factor in their evolution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crossing a bog:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick to walking across a peat bog is to pick your way across by linking up the firmer spots that will hold your bodyweight while avoiding the wetter spots where you will sink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sections of bog that are completely under water should be circumvented because you can’t determine what’s below the surface. The same holds for areas with fine grained mud particles that look like chocolate mousse because you’re likely to sink into them rather deeply. While it is possible to step in partially submerged areas, it’s best if you can see grass or heather sticking out of the water around you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best footing is found in areas of sedge grass and heather that are visibly dry or mounds that are covered with them and provide firm footing. Hopping from one mound to another is common practice. Drier, fluffier looking areas of exposed peat can also be counted on to hold your weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the Mountain Saftey UK website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take your time crossing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explore all available routes and choose your steps wisely&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking poles with baskets can assist, as they'll distribute your weight more evenly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When crossing in poor visibility, keep a track of your intended route - leap-frogging may be your best technique - even if visibility is ok, as it's easy to lose track of your direction in such situations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding special gear (boots):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you walk across a large bog, there’s a good chance that your shoes/boots and feet will get wet. But if you’re walking across open country that has bogs, chance are that your shoes/boots and feet will already be wet before you attempt to cross a bog! Under these circumatances, your best course of action is to wear a pair of shoes or boots that will dry as quickly as possible and not hold in water when they get wet (avoid gore-tex lined footware.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding Shoes - googling bog shoes brings up a brand name Bog footwear (who do indeed sell rubber boots of various kinds) however bogshoes do exist and are similar to snowshoes (see below) which can be used to traverse the wetter areas - where there is standing water these may become a bit cumbersome, and you may need to remove them for drier areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OW3UO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OW3UO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bogshoes&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image courtesy of visitestonia.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-hike-across-peat-bogs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sectionhiker - how-to-hike-across-peat-bogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainsafety.co.uk/HS-Bogs.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Saftey - Bogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bogology.org/what-we-do/bogs-and-climate/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bogology.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.visitestonia.com/en/why-estonia/reasons-to-come-to-estonia-for-bogshoeing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Visit Estonia Bogshoeing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T23:24:36.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="19999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19983" CreationDate="2018-07-26T14:31:31.187" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Iceland&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not the answer you wanted of course, but there are very few places in the world where you don't find mosquitoes and the others are considerably further away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;New Caledonia, French Polynesia, The Seychelles, Antarctica.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While not in France, the first two of these are special collectivities of France, and the first three are French speaking. The last doesn't really have that holiday climate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosquitoes exist everywhere else, from the tropics to the Arctic. Anywhere there's water to lay eggs in and animals to feed from. Large amounts of standing water tend to encourage more mosquitoes and dryer areas have fewer, but for completely mosquito free areas you're quite limited. In choosing the Camargue for a camping trip you've set yourself up for a fail on this front, it's perfect mosquito territory, you'd be better off just about anywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;n.b. That doesn't mean these areas don't have biting insects (midges etc), they just don't have mosquitoes.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T07:01:47.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16239" CreationDate="2018-07-26T15:27:45.490" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the sake of completeness I would like to add that flying might actually be the cheapest option for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it sounds like an amazing adventure, walking takes a lot of time, and you still need to eat, at least sometimes you might want to sleep indoors, you might need to take a bus or a ferry every now and then. If I would have very little money, I would choose to hitch-hike, but I guess it is not for everyone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Busses and trains could be cheaper for moderate distances, especially if there is a direct connection. But Georgia is not exactly close, and probably not that well connected to the UK. So you would need to change a few busses and trains on your way, which on its own could again be a great adventure, especially if you would stay longer in places. But maybe that's not what you are after. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option, which you haven't mentioned, would be using car sharing websites, such as blablacar. Some rides offered there are for pretty long distances. Could be worth checking it out if you absolutely want to go overland. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However it is hard to find any other means of public transport that would be as cheap as some of the flights offered. I have seen flights to Georgia for 30-50 Euros from places like Bukarest (Romania) or Vilnius (Lithuania). In case you do not have direct cheap flights from the UK, maybe you would be able to get to Lithuania, Romania or some other country with good connections cheap enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But yes, walk! Have an adventure of the lifetime! Only you really don't need to hire a boat, there already are ferries and a tunnel with a train.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-27T19:39:07.070" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T19:39:07.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20001" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20051" CreationDate="2018-07-27T03:35:05.867" Score="7" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in an area where packing in all your water is the only option.  For longer hikes when it's warmer one bladder won't hold enough.  Does anyone make a practical way to connect two together so you have only one feed hose that will draw from two bladders?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T20:57:42.310" Title="Fittings to connect together two hydration bladders" Tags="&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20001" CreationDate="2018-07-27T04:15:41.783" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, pretty sure there isn't one but you do have a couple of options,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just bring two bladders and switch to the other when empty.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are 6 liter MSR dromedaries that I have used for when you need to pack water in larger amounts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are double hydration bladders with two chambers, but it seems like the idea is to keep water and electrolytes separate, not to double the capacity.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I always bring a Nalgene bottle along as well, in case the bladders get holes in them (this is also best practice from what I have read about hiking in the Grand Canyon).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-29T19:08:18.207" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T19:08:18.207" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19985" CreationDate="2018-07-27T06:35:08.457" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Existing answer already give good reasons why there might be an unisex tag even though it's factually irrelevant. There is one much less involved reason: Shop templates. The linked Fjällräven shop also sells clearly gender-specific stuff, not just tents. So due to those items fields for gender are already present lowering the threshold to include it for items, where it isn't really necessary (it's there anyway). If they'd had to purposely add it to templates and databases, they might still do it due to the reasons given in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19995/3602&quot;&gt;Charlie's&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19996/3602&quot;&gt;ab2's&lt;/a&gt; answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-07-27T06:35:08.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19982" CreationDate="2018-07-27T13:28:03.803" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is one tent material that will prevent ants from cutting through, unless you want a ridiculously heavy kevlar tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All classic materials are definitely not sturdy enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know of one solution that can solve the problem: coat the tent with permethrin. Not exactly nature-friendly (toxic to many wildlife species, especially beneficial insects like bees) and I don't know what effect it might have on waterproofing coatings like urethane and silicon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-07-27T13:28:03.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20006" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20021" CreationDate="2018-07-28T18:35:32.530" Score="7" ViewCount="776" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found the bull hitch really great for tying my paracord to secure to an object, like a stick, branch or other long object. The reason I like it is that compared to other hitches like the girth hitch, it will not come lose. (for instance, the girth hitch will be tight and snug while tension is applied, but if you push up toward the hitch, it will become loose)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To my surprise, the bull hitch isn't that common; or at least the online literature on it is rather scarce. Using a search engine query will bring up mostly &quot;cow hitch&quot; content -- which is not the same. So for reference I have painstakingly used paint to show how to tie the bull hitch assuming a closed loop. Numbered steps accompany the picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start by finding a portion of the closed loop to serve as your bight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold the bight down over itself to form two circles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull cord so that the left-hand circle is bigger than the right-hand circle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn the big circle about 90° and push it over so that it encloses the small circle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring the big circle back around to the front so that it matches the picture&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Begin to fold the two circles in on each other, back to back&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The result should be as this picture, both circles folded forwards 90° (view from the side to make sure the loops are correctly aligned)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With loops formed, slide object into loops. Then pull down on the rest of the cord to tighten the hitch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To increase the snugness of the hitch, bring the bottom horizontal part up and form and &quot;X&quot; shape like shown. (this is what keeps the hitch from loosening or sliding around)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IfSGX.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IfSGX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; With the steps of the closed loop case as articulated above in mind, how can I achieve the same hitch but using the ends of a cord? I would appreciate it if someone could also doodle the steps or some other visual representation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T22:16:22.033" Title="How to tie a bull hitch using end(s)?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20008" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20010" CreationDate="2018-07-29T00:07:24.263" Score="3" ViewCount="1802" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live in Massachusetts, Northeastern United States. It's late July, and our temperatures this month have ranged between 70°F (21°C) and 90°F (32°C). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mourning doves, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_dove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zenaida macroura&lt;/a&gt;, live here annually for many months. Lately some look a bit disheveled. They have fewer feathers, and some of their feathers are smaller, thinner, and more fluffy, especially on the back ends of their wings and body. They seem healthy, and we haven't seen physical damage either close-up or with binoculars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, we found a large amount of feathers matching the sizes and colors of those of the dove. They were dispersed throughout a small evergreen bush and on the ground. We assumed a bird had been caught by an animal. My husband searched the area for a body or bones, but didn't find anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend told me that the birds in this family molt, shedding feathers and replacing some of the older feathers with new ones. I've never heard of this, but it could make sense, according to that evidence. Is it true that doves go through a molting period? If so, what triggers it? Do both male and females do it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our mourning doves live in the United States and Mexico. They're part of a large family of doves called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Columbidae&lt;/a&gt;, found in many countries. In case this is a characteristic of doves in general, I'm not limiting the question to a specific breed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These pictures are an example of what type we have, and were taken in our yard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VeybL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VeybL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;On feeder&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9tY4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9tY4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;On tree branch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T01:52:11.593" Title="Do doves go through a molting time of shedding and replacing their feathers?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20001" CreationDate="2018-07-29T01:03:59.347" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do would be to simply bring two water bladders and switch the hoses over your shoulder after the first is emptied. Alternately, you could try routing two hoses over your one shoulder. Many bags also provide the option of routing the hose over your left &lt;em&gt;or&lt;/em&gt; right shoulder, if your bag is like this then you could try routing one hose for each bladder over both shoulders. Trying to rig two bladders together sounds like a wet mess waiting to happen to in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-30T14:51:36.543" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T14:51:36.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20008" CreationDate="2018-07-29T01:39:32.717" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, doves do molt.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/5220970&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This United States Geological Survey (USGS) study&lt;/a&gt; of 8,141 adult mourning doves in North and South Carolina, USA found that substantial numbers complete molt in September with some data showing northern mourning doves completing primary molt a month later.  They also found that mourning doves shed primary feathers at a rate of 1 per 14 days and that female molt always proceeded male molt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/the-basics-feather-molt/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt;, in general, molting occurs when the feather becomes worn or damaged since the feathers are considered a dead structure.  Molting can occur more than once a year and can be timed so that there are more healthy feathers prior to migration, or due to the high energy demands of molting, to avoid the demanding nesting season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This image shows older worn feathers with &quot;buffy tips&quot; in contrast with new feathers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/484SN.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/484SN.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-blast-of-dove-season.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-blast-of-dove-season.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-07-29T01:52:11.593" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T01:52:11.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19957" CreationDate="2018-07-29T15:32:14.743" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the rock is granite, the white inclusions are almost certainly quartz.  The OP ruled out ab2's original suggestion of calcite with his scratch test, the results of which he edited into his question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would take an expert eye to identify the rock as granite from the photograph the OP provided.  However, if the OP found it in northeastern Georgia in Elbert county, it is probably granite.  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/granite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Georgia Encyclopedia&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tucked away in the northeastern Georgia Piedmont between the Savannah&#xA;  and Broad rivers lies the city of Elberton, also known as the granite&#xA;  capital of the world. Currently, more than 150 sheds and manufacturing&#xA;  plants turn rough blocks of granite extracted from 45 area quarries&#xA;  into finished memorials, markers, and mausoleums. These granite&#xA;  products are subsequently shipped to customers all over the world. At&#xA;  least one monument or marker made from Elberton's granite has been&#xA;  placed in all fifty states; the granite is also found in several&#xA;  foreign countries. In recent years Elberton's stone industry has&#xA;  produced an average of 250,000 granite markers and monuments annually.&#xA;  In all, a total of 280 separate companies operated businesses in&#xA;  granite production or related services in Elberton in 2003.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason why one cannot identify it as granite from the picture is that it does not show the characteristic speckled pattern of granite -- speckling from large crystals.  See the photos in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zmescience.com/science/geology/how-to-identify-granites/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geology ABC — How to identify granites&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP has done just about everything the link given by @Jan Doggen says he should do.  I have two suggestions for the next step. (1) Try to break off a piece of the supposedly granite part with a rock hammer and see if the interior has the characteristic speckling of granite.  Downside: this ruins your find.  (2) Take your find to one of the many granite companies in Elbert County and ask.  Downside: They may be impatient with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for putting it back where you found it, IMO, overkill of Leave No Trace, particularly if you found it in Elbert County.  The entire county is sitting on granite, it is extensively quarried and sent around the world. If you will display it and will often admire it, take it; BUT...put it back if you will put it in a closet and forget it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T15:32:14.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20013" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-29T17:06:26.933" Score="27" ViewCount="9233" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone share any experience re-using ordinary PETE disposable water bottles until failure, as a lightweight and low-cost alternative to dedicated water bottles/bladders?  How long did they last and how did they break (ie cap lost ability to seal tightly, pinhole leak developed in the bottle where it was creased, etc?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PETE safety info: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-07-30T17:22:38.863" LastActivityDate="2020-05-08T20:14:03.130" Title="Reusing disposable water bottles vs. buying dedicated bottles" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;&lt;water-bottles&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-29T17:46:40.343" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with using the cheap bottles is that if they break, you can be in serious trouble. A quick price check says that 32 oz nalgenes go for around 10 bucks and 2 liter hydration bladders for around the same, so are you really saving that much money for the extra trouble?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen Nalgene 32 oz bottles (which is pretty much the standard for outdoor groups) last 20+ years, while the reusable ones just get crushed after a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Companies will also put their logos on Nalgenes and give them away and so they can be free or bought second hand. I have also found a few out in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reusable bottles do weigh less, but you have to compare that benefit to how would it be if they break. On short trails, or ones with plenty of places to resupply, they would make more sense. On long hikes in the desert, where you can be most of a day between water sources, not so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite simply, water is one of the most essential things you are carrying, don't skimp on the cost (especially when it's under $25).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2018-07-30T15:20:18.950" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T15:20:18.950" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-29T19:44:29.477" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;A reasonable compromise is any pop bottle -- one designed for carbonated beverages.  They are several times as strong as the water bottles.  I've never managed to break one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a polyethylene conventional water bottle that fits a pocket in my pack.  I also carry a 2 liter pop bottles for times when I will be away from water for the bulk of the day. (Ridge walks, extended passes.)  I've done whole trips with the 2 liter staying empty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The PE bottle has the convenience of the pop-up top.  The pop bottle has a screw cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some water bottles have a popup cap.  If you search you may find one that matches the standard pop bottle thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the downsides of a pop bottle:  The risk of loosing the cap.  If you can't find a popup cap, you can make a leash for it using thin high strength braided nylon line.  Secure one end to the cap by drilling two holes in the cap, running the line in one, out the other.  Tie it, and put a drop of shoo-goo or silicon seal on it.  Tie the other end to the neck of the bottle, leaving about 3-4 inches of slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For winter travel, put a pair of socks over the bottle.  I used to run all-day orienteering contests in winter.  I made up 2 liters of coffee with lots of milk and sugar, put a pair of old work socks over the bottle, and had at least warm coffee at the end of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sports drink bottles will also work.  They aren't quite as tough as the bottles for carbonated beveragges, but they have a wider mouth which makes them easier to fill and clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T19:07:10.310" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T19:07:10.310" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19944" CreationDate="2018-07-29T19:55:30.270" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's reasonable to identify stages up to the start of shivering.  But shortly after that judgement goes out the window.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If  you are traveling in a group, set up a buddy system.  Each person has a buddy and you monitor the other party for symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for the 'umbles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fumbles -- fine motor coordination.  Trouble with zippers.  This can also be caused by numb fingers and cold forearms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mumbles -- mumbled speech.  Can also be caused by cold cheeks, but listen to the content.  Listen for disconnected statements, non-logical thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stumbles -- loss of major motor coordination.  You've got troubles here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Low blood sugar can cause similar symptoms. Fortunately the cure is the same.  Feed the victim sugar, hot sweet liquids and warm them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything gets better with practice.  When I worked at a school with an strong outdoor program EVERYONE -- staff and students alike -- took or ran two classes in hypothermia per year.  The fall one was on cold weather hypothermia, the spring one on cold water hypothermia.  Each talked about the nature of the hazard, symptoms to look for, and what to do about it.  The lessons were about an hour, followed by a test that kids had to score 80% or better on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Senior boys and staff had a stiffer course, with more emphasis on spotting symptoms in other people, and gaming out scenarios.  (It's really easy to start with a single case of hypothermia, stop to deal with it, and now you have half your group showing symptoms.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All emergencies are easier (but not easy) to deal with if you prepare, plan, and practice.  If you have memorized the initial responses, they can carry you through while you finish panicking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practices:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go outside on a sub freezing day dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt.  Dump a bucket of water over your head.  Have a set of tasks to do while you are cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go through a knot ladder (two poles set 3 feet apart where you have to undo a knot or hitch in front of you then re-do it behind you.  Common in scout camps)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pound a few nails into a board.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;create shavings for making a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drive a screw into a board.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;do up the zipper on a garment you aren't wearing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is easy, then you aren't cold enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes this is dangerous.  You should have a monitor per 'victim'.  You should have access to a warm space, with food and hot beverages after.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The activity should be one that requires the person to stand and walk around.  After drop (cold blood from limbs hitting the core resuming use of chilled muscles) can be serious.  When treating serious hypothermia, you try to warm up the core while keeping the limbs cool, so you can get a head start on the afterdrop.  This is for cases where the victim has lost consciousness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On canoe trips I have been out on rainy blustery days.  I felt fine, but all the work was being done by my trunk muscles.  I was borderline chilly -- goose bumps.  Started to rain, and I was starting to shiver lightly.  We hit the shore, and started gathering wood to build a fire.  I stumbled out of my canoe on cold legs.  Two minutes later I was shivering violently -- so much so that I couldn't control my hands enough to light a match.  The shivering fit passed in a few minutes, as further moving around got me warmed up.  Since then I've kept a kit in my PFD pocket that has a chunk of fire starter several wooden matches and a striking surface wrapped up in a square of aluminum foil.  I can get a fire going in 1 minute after hitting the shore.  Even shivering I have enough motor control to break branches off of the bottom of spruce trees to add to the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T15:08:57.050" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T15:08:57.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15063" CreationDate="2018-07-29T20:32:43.297" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In regards to seaworthiness of SOT vs Sit In kayaks, it depends...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically a SOT, because you are sitting on top of a air cavity of some depth, will have a higher center of gravity and in that sense be more tippy than Sit inside. Initially the SOT will feel more stable because its like a big surfboard compared to a sit inside sea kayak, which is narrower, but when a sit-inside goes, it goes suddenly. It has little reserve stability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do swamp or flip a sit-inside sea kayak, (and are unable to roll it back, which takes considerable strength and skill, )attempting  re-entering a sit-inside, often full of water, can be difficult. A SOT can just be climbed back on (by most fit people anyway) like a surfboard  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some specific hull shapes, available only in sit in sea kayaks (  e.g. Icelandic) , seem tippy at first, but stiffen up when leaning, and have good reserve stability. This type of sea kayak can offer more control in terms of maneuvering  it begins to become unstable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So given a unexpected wave, I think you are more likely to find yourself in the water when you paddle a SOT, because of the higher center of gravity, the lack of secondary stability, and the less optimal hull shape of SOT in regards to controlling the kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But given that you suddenly find your self in the water, I think you are a lot less likely to be able to get safely back into the Sit Inside than the SOT, especially if you paddle solo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16100" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T20:32:43.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-29T20:39:08.480" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I reuse &quot;single-use&quot; plastic bottles many, many times. Generally, they do not break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big advantage of many outdoor-use plastic bottles, however, is that the lid remains tethered to the bottle. So, if there's some risk in losing a lid &amp;ndash; such as when kayaking or backpacking &amp;ndash; I'll use one of those. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that I think of it, I should experiment with ways of making lid tethers... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T20:39:08.480" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17428" CreationDate="2018-07-29T22:14:19.893" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There were two large steel water tanks on these foundations back in the 1960's.&#xA;The tanks were rectangular. I used to play in these woods as a child and remember the tanks as being very rusty and military looking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16102" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T22:14:19.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20006" CreationDate="2018-07-29T22:16:22.033" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bull hitch is just a cow hitch (aka girth hitch) with an extra round turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring the working end over and around the bar then over itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T0QIP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T0QIP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make a turn around itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cDXIP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cDXIP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y6ZuC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y6ZuC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring it behind the bar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y68IF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y68IF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring it over the front of the bar...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OLNnz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OLNnz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...and down through the round turn.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pmLjr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pmLjr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;6&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull tight and dress.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zcN33.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zcN33.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-07-29T22:16:22.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T07:02:09.033" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;So far, I've always used PET bottles, and they never failed during a hike. Replaced them after each tour for hygienical reasons, but that's it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The primary reason I prefer them over my Nalgenes is the weight. For the weight of one 1L Nalgene, I could fit 7,5L into 5 single-use ice tea PET bottles (they were square-shaped, easier to stow, and thin walled). I crumpled them to save space, compressed half-empty bottles, and none of those showed any sign of possible leakage across a 4 week Iceland hike. Similar with thicker multi-use bottles on 2-week trips, no problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, PET bottles often have &quot;ribs&quot; to handle overpressure - those can expand, squeezing a bottle or having carbonated drinks in them won't cause leaks or break the bottle. There are &quot;hydraulic press&quot; videos on youtube that demonstrate how much pressure those bottles can withstand. In contrast, having carbonated water in a Nalgene created quite a mess the last time I tried, because the bottle itself is rigid, and any overpressure will try to get out of the only movable part, meaning the lid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15870" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T07:02:09.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T11:06:45.937" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a true outdoors hiking scenario but thought I could share my experience with reusing single use bottles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I drink lots of double concentrate squash, I prepare 3x 1 litre bottle of diluted squash before work each day, throw them in a should bag or back pack and carry them 3 miles to work and back like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They bottles themselves will last me for a very long time, but the caps wear out after about a month of being opened and closed ~20 times a day each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never had any other source of leaks other than loose caps.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16104" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T11:06:45.937" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T13:26:48.840" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer may not be the answer you're looking for, nor related to the outdoors, but&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Do not reuse PET bottles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PET is a very porous type of plastic and it may become more porous with each use. The problem with these pores is that you cannot clean them fully. Soda, saliva and whatever will get stuck in these pores and they are a haven for bacteria. Don't think that the dishwasher helps. Heating up some types of plastic, especially a plastic like PET, is generally a bad idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm making it sound a lot worse than it is. A lot of people reuse PET bottles with no issue and there are governmental recommendations about cleaning PET bottles online (a quick googling brings up a page from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_02_16.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong&lt;/a&gt;). However, a water bottle made of a more permanent plastic is safer to use and probably not all that expensive, so I don't see a point in reusing PET bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16105" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T13:26:48.840" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T13:49:29.180" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the bottom of the plastic bottle should be a number.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;#1&lt;/strong&gt;, PET bottles leach &lt;strong&gt;antimony&lt;/strong&gt; (a metallic element, Sb, atomic number 51) into the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over time and with sunlight exposure, more antimony leaches out of the plastic and it is harmful, and PET water bottles are recommended only for 1-time use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other plastics can also be harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably some kind of stainless steel water bottle is the safest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.babygreenthumb.com/p-122-safe-plastic-numbers-guide.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;See this for a comparison of the different types of plastics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16106" LastEditorDisplayName="user16106" LastEditDate="2018-07-30T14:08:02.763" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T14:08:02.763" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T15:04:34.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reusable water bottles have a higher failure rate than other containers, but they are reliable enough for short trips, and bringing 2 or 3 in case 1 fails should be reliable enough even on medium-length trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Citation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I go through a &lt;strong&gt;lot&lt;/strong&gt; of bottles of water, I would estimate &lt;em&gt;thousands of them per year&lt;/em&gt;, as I am supporting a family of 6 on a daily basis and some other people intermittently and everyone in the family drinks a lot of bottled water with some of us trying to reuse them when we remember to do so. Therefor, the high rate of failures I note below is partially due to the volume of bottles used being much higher than your normal person or family. Also, we are not careful with them, so they take a beating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;First, don't buy the super cheap reusable plastic bottles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beware of the super cheap, plastic, reusable bottles, as some of them are junk and should be expected to break on the first or second outing if not handled with extreme care. I am not even considering the ones that you can get for a buck or two on the discount shelf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Disposable water bottle failure&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had disposable water bottles fail for me &lt;em&gt;many&lt;/em&gt; times and in various ways. Leaks due to improper sealing at the cap, leaks in any random place due to tears or tiny holes, catastrophic tears that immediately empty the container, etc.. There are a variety of ways they can go bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say disposable bottle failure rate per bottle for &lt;em&gt;non&lt;/em&gt;-reused bottles is way less than 1%. But I do reuse a lot of them, sometimes for a week or two. When heavily reusing, I would estimate that the failure rate is greater than 1%, but I don't keep track and cannot specify how much greater. Probably less than 10% though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reusable bottle failure&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have also used a lot of permanent, reusable water bottles, and we have had problems with those as well. Some of the problems are the same or similar: leaks due to bad seals at the cap, catastrophic destruction from bottles tearing or crushing, and tiny holes in some of the flexible plastic containers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I would estimate that the failure rate for the permanent bottles was lower than the failure rate for the disposable bottles. Disposable bottles are not made to be quite as tough, so they fail more often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My conclusions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what the upper limit is on my reuse of disposable bottles, as I don't keep track, but more often than not I replace them because I was in a situation where I could just grab up another new one, not because the old one broke. That is anecdotal evidence that they can usually be reused a bunch of times without failing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going out for an ultra-light trip for a weekend, reusing disposable water bottles should be fine. I have done this, and I have reused the same water bottle for a week or two. If you are going out for more than 1 day, I would &lt;em&gt;highly recommend that you bring at least 2 of them&lt;/em&gt;, even if you plan to be able to refill them often, just to be safe in case one does malfunction. Though malfunctions are not common, they happen at least enough that I would not risk being out with only 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do not need ultra-light, I would recommend a permanent steel bottle. I have had malfunctions even with them, but it is far less often. I have had leaks at the seals even on metal bottles, and I have dented and punctured them. However, dents and punctures in steel bottles is usually due to some form of damage that would have obliterated some lesser bottle. Even when dented, they still work great as long as they are not leaking; I had a steel bottle I used for a while even with a  big dent in it. Be careful though of points in dented steel bottles being sharp enough to cut through your pack, or even cut you, if the ends of the dent are bent sharply enough. My preference is the ones you can also cook in, not the drinking-only ones that have paints on them and might be lined with other materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another benefit of bringing 2 disposable water bottles instead of 1 reusable one on a trip is that, even though each disposable is more likely to fail on its own, I would say that having multiple disposable bottles all fail on 1 trip is probably less likely than having the 1 reusable bottle fail. So 2 or 3 disposables is likely more reliable than 1 reusable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The failure rate is low enough when reusing disposable water bottles that you can do it for days, often even weeks. But the failure rate is high enough that it would be unwise to trust your hydration to only 1 of them. If the trip is longer than a day, bring at least 2, and if the trip is for weeks, bring even more than 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T15:04:34.300" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-30T19:29:50.900" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;My reason to not buy bottled water is that it often takes several times as much water to make the bottle as the water it contains.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when you buy a bottle of water, for whatever reason, you should at least re-use the bottle a few times to get the most out of the water used to make the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should always think whether your re-use of a bottle is safe and suitable for your situation, but when staying in build up area or in an area which is well supplied with places to buy/refill your bottles, re-using water bottles for a few times is safe and brings down the waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is of course better to use a bottle which will not add to the waste pile, and when you are done with whatever plastic bottle it should end up in recycling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T19:29:50.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20028" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-30T19:58:55.647" Score="9" ViewCount="750" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rains are doing all sorts of things to the landscape in Waterton-Glacier National Park this summer. All of the trails in the park appear to serve as water ways for rain runoff, and the rain appears to be doing more running overground than soaking into anything. The forest floor is covered with charcoal, which is getting washed into the creeks and lakes, making the waterfalls change colour after a rain, and washing out pathways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides producing &lt;a href=&quot;https://photos.app.goo.gl/zvPrn7LaTdny3SWd9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dark waterfalls&lt;/a&gt; that smell like a bucket of water poured into a campfire, do forest fires do anything else to affect water run off? Is there something about having charcoal on the ground that impedes the soil's ability to absorb rain water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Forest fire runoff after a heavy hail and rain storm, the water was clear just before the rains:&lt;/sup&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JeO9L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JeO9L.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Before the fires this waterfall used to turn &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.narcity.com/ca/on/toronto/travel/this-pink-waterfall-is-canadas-coolest-hidden-gem&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pink&lt;/a&gt; after heavy rains.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T04:39:47.570" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T16:02:58.883" Title="How do forest fires affect rain run-off?" Tags="&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20028" CreationDate="2018-07-30T20:09:00.037" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically it increases the runoff in a number of ways, less soil cover in the form of vegetation, ash blocking the water from being absorbed, and in some cases a hydrophobic water coating can be left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion;&lt;/strong&gt; water runoff may increase and cause flooding; sediments may move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs putting endangered species and community water supplies at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/science-technology/fire/after-fire&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;After the Fire, U.S. FOREST SERVICE&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The fire burns the litter layer and part of the humus layer. &lt;strong&gt;Therefore stones on the surface become destabilized.&lt;/strong&gt; In mountain areas it is often the case that a stone starts rolling during a fire. The worst consequences of a fire however occur after the fire: the &lt;strong&gt;lack of cover from ground and tree vegetation allows rain drops to hit the soil directly.&lt;/strong&gt; Due to this soil structures are destroyed and erosion and washing out take place (Fig. 1). The bare soil dries out quicker and its surface becomes impermeable. The rain tends to flow off the surface eroding rills and gullies into the soil. (Marxer 2003).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The impermiability of the soil depends on the temperature of the fire (higher temperatures mean greater destruction of the soil structure) and f&lt;strong&gt;rom the production of ash&lt;/strong&gt; (greater quantities of fire material and more intensive fire produce more ash (Fig. 2)), which &lt;strong&gt;then physically blocks the soil pores&lt;/strong&gt; (Letey 2001). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.waldwissen.net/waldwirtschaft/schaden/brand/wsl_erosion_nach_waldbrand/index_EN&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Erosion and surface drainage after forest fires&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In severe, slow-moving fires, the combustion of vegetative materials creates a gas that penetrates the soil profile. &lt;strong&gt;As the soil cools, this gas condenses and forms a waxy coating.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  This c&lt;strong&gt;auses the soil to repel water&lt;/strong&gt; – a phenomena called hydrophobicity. This hydrophobic condition increases the rate of water runoff. Percolation of water into the soil profile is&#xA;  reduced, making it difficult for seeds to germinate and for the roots of surviving plants to obtain moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hydrophobic soils do not form in every instance. Factors contributing to their formation are: a thick layer of litter before the fire; a severe slow-moving surface and crown fire;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://extension.colostate.edu/soil-erosion-control-after-wildfire-6-308/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Soil Erosion Control after Wildfire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.colorado.edu/geography/geomorph/geog_5241_f13/lectures/fire_oct16.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Increased Runoff and Floods Following Wildfire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2015/rmrs_2015_pierson_f001.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Assessing Impacts of Fire and Post-fire Mitigation&#xA;on Runoff and Erosion from Rangelands&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.readyforwildfire.org/After-a-Wildfire/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What to expect after a wildfire.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-07-30T20:09:00.037" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20031" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20032" CreationDate="2018-07-31T04:29:17.960" Score="4" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to fishing and I don't know how these things work. Do I need to add some weight to make them sink or fishes will come at the top to bite them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen some videos where they use some weight and some of them just start fishing with the lures, what's the difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16108" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T05:58:30.820" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T00:42:10.953" Title="How do fly fishing lures work?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20031" CreationDate="2018-07-31T04:50:36.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For fly fishing, there are two types of flies, wet and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wet flies are designed to sink and bitten by the fish underwater, while the dry lures are designed to sit on top and the fish will come up and bite them. If you are really lucky the fish will leap out of the water to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short version of how they work is to you cast them out and then gently reel them back in on still water (ponds and such) or cast them upstream on flowing water and the reel as they come back down the stream to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to add weight, just switch to the other type of fly if you would rather fish below the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T05:03:17.347" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T05:03:17.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20033" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20035" CreationDate="2018-07-31T09:04:29.483" Score="45" ViewCount="14959" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been feeding the local birds at the exact same spot at the local park for quite some time now. Unfortunately for me, today as I was minding my business as usual, a bee decided to sting me. It stung me and flew away, but not for long. It brought back another bugger with it, and they kept trying to sting me. What can I do to evade them? Or is there any way I can pacify them without injuring myself and getting myself stung again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15843" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T17:10:54.170" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T22:16:44.073" Title="How do I evade or pacify a bee?" Tags="&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="19" FavoriteCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-07-31T10:14:38.237" Score="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bees are pretty sensitive to movements, so if you see some moseying around, then try to move slowly and smoothly and they should ignore you.  Swatting at them or waving them away will likely send them into Alarm mode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bees won't usually sting you out of pure spite.  The chances are that you accidentally hurt it or gave it cause for concern without even knowing.  This could have been stepping on it, or squishing it in a fold in your clothing, or just batting it away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once bees release the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.perfectbee.com/learn-about-bees/the-science-of-bees/how-bees-use-pheromones/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;Alarm&amp;quot; pheromone&lt;/a&gt;, all you can really do is vacate the immediate area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alarm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The complexity of pheromones in bees is illustrated well by the two types of alarm pheromone, which can be distinguished by which glands release the pheromone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the Koschevnikov gland: This gland is near the sting shaft and is released when a bee stings. The release of the alarm pheromone is a defensive reaction to alert nearby bees. This alarm pheromone smells like bananas. If you are unfortunate enough to be stung, you may wish to leave the area as you tend to the sting, because alarm pheromones are being received by other bees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the Mandibular glands: This consists of 2-heptanone and is used as an anaesthetic and to paralyze intruders, after which bees remove the intruder from the hive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note here the pheromone that's most likely to relate to you smells like bananas, so if you're eating one, it might be a good idea to drop/dispose it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T19:00:34.810" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-07-31T10:25:31.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to complement my 3 litre hydration bladder with one or two 1.5 litre plastic bottles in dry climates, where carrying 3 litre of water may not be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when I first hiked on multi-day trips in areas where water filtration is essential, I realised that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.steripen.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Steripen&lt;/a&gt; does not enter the relatively small opening of those bottles.  Therefore, I bought a proper bottle with a larger opening, at a non-profit store in a U.S. National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T10:25:31.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-07-31T11:28:26.307" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you got near a wasp nest.  These can be hard to spot, especially the ones that are in the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to avoid getting stung more is to move away, than can mean up to 10 meters, especially if you have already been stung.  Some wasps and bees release pheromones when they sting, which alert others to the intruder and cause more of them to sting you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, there must have been a nest nearby.  You can try to go back to the area you were stung and look for the nest.  Don't stand where you were stung.  Hang back a safe distance and look for the bees/wasps buzzing around.  After a few minutes, you should be able to visually follow the activity to a concentration point.  That could be a small hole in the ground, or a cavity in a tree.  It doesn't need to be a large obvious nest hanging from a tree branch.  The type of nest and location depend on the species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T11:28:26.307" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-07-31T13:05:00.170" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen plenty of science nature shows where bees are pacified with smoke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually bees die after 1 sting.  They don't sound like bees, and I don't know if that works on anything else&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't know how you would produce said smoke without carrying around one of the smokers that the professionals use.  (sounds inconvenient)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't wear blue.  I have watched many science shows that demonstrate that they sting blue greater than 2x other colors.  A blue and white cloth on a stick was stuck into a hive and the blue one had many stings and white just a couple.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing a bee keepers outfit must prevent stings since they use it, but for normal people its probably impractical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13700" LastEditorUserId="13700" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T14:01:03.140" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T14:01:03.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20040" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20047" CreationDate="2018-07-31T13:56:24.780" Score="4" ViewCount="3967" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some places in the western United States, game fish are stocked into lakes via planes for fishing (every so often lakes will freeze to the point that it kills the fish).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard stories of backpackers coming upon lakes where the planes missed and there being lots of &lt;s&gt;bear food&lt;/s&gt; fish on the shore, but even if the drop goes perfectly, it still seems like a rough ride for the fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any statistics on how many fish survive being restocked via airplane?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T22:07:58.537" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T23:23:29.393" Title="What is the survival rate for fish restocked via airplane?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20041" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-31T13:58:50.743" Score="2" ViewCount="78" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20031/how-do-lures-work&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, if someone was just starting out fly fishing, would dry flies (float on top of the water) or wet flies (sink below) be easier for a beginner to use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that wet flies are easier, but it has been a while, and I haven't showed a new person in a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would wet or dry flies be easier for someone just learning how to fly fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T20:09:44.887" Title="Would dry or wet flies be easier for a beginner fly fisherman?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20042" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-31T13:59:55.690" Score="4" ViewCount="1422" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most national parks in the United States, campfires are prohibited above certain elevations (9,600 ft for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildregs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt;,10,000 ft for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierrawild.gov/wilderness/ansel-adams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ansel Adams&lt;/a&gt; with exceptions).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a good thing because after a certain height the trees don't grow fast enough for campfires to be sustainable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that this applies to campfires in the backcountry, not established campsites which have their own rules about wood gathering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How exactly is the &lt;strong&gt;maximum elevation for campfires determined?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T02:25:26.810" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T02:25:26.810" Title="How is the maximum legal altitude for campfires determined?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20043" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-07-31T14:18:52.573" Score="7" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only seen parasols being used in movies, cartoons and other artistic media, but extremely rarely in real life. Somehow it feels like I would look ridiculous with one in hand walking around the town while the sun is scorching. But I'm willing to ignore the supposedly negative public reaction (I'm unsure, because I've never seen anybody talk about how they perceive people carrying parasols during sunny days) if it means I'm gonna have a much easier time under the sun's heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With embarrassment out of the way, what kind of parasol is the best for carrying in the somewhat busy city streets (to avoid discomforting others) and parks where there's plenty of space around you? What color? Knowing that white reflects the heat and the light, and black absorbs them, which color would be optimal? Are there parasols with aluminium or plastic foil plating to increase the reflective effect? Or can I just use a regular umbrella instead of finding a true parasol? Are parasols even effective against the heat and UV rays?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, how do I attain the ultimate parasol experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16114" LastEditorUserId="16114" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T14:42:09.587" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T21:32:55.287" Title="Is parasol a good gadget to stay cool walking around the city and parks?" Tags="&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20043" CreationDate="2018-07-31T14:31:24.853" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A parasol being used in the city is likely to annoy people when they either get stabbed in the face by one of the ribs, or have to take avoiding action to prevent said stabbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is generally why people don't really use them any more.  I guess that people are more accustomed to seeing umbrellas when it's raining, so don't mind so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have to have one, then get one that blocks light and gives you shade.  Black wouldn't transmit the heat to you - if anything, it'll just make the shade part a little warmer to hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or just use a hat like most other folks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T14:31:24.853" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20043" CreationDate="2018-07-31T14:54:18.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Parasols might be out of style in most countries, but they are still fairly popular in some Asian countries, where people try to get as little tan as possible. E.g. Japan and China. So I suppose they must be protecting from the sun, and possibly also from the heat. Almost all parasols I have seen were white or had other fair colors, which makes sence, since lighter colors reflect sun better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T14:54:18.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20028" CreationDate="2018-07-31T16:02:58.883" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Yes&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Charlie's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20029/12052&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; is excellent, but to append some technical information from my background as a civil engineer may be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When evaluating stormwater impacts for a site, there's generally 3 key criteria: runoff rate, water quality, and groundwater recharge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Runoff rate is what it sounds like and is a function of the time of concentration, which refers to how long it takes a drop of water to travel from the most hydraulically distant point in a watershed (meaning what takes the most time) to some common low point (i.e. an inlet, a river, or some other receiving water body). The time of concentration is heavily impacted by the surface condition that the water passes over. Moving through thick grasses means that a drop of water has to keep changing it's path and thus has a longer time of concentration. Conversely, were water passing over an area of bare ground without any grass or other vegetation (such as after a fire), it will move much more quickly. The time difference can be drastic, some sites I've worked to develop have had the time of concentration reduced from 45 minutes to just 6 minutes; this means that water is hitting the receiving water body much faster than normal and thus causing much higher peak flows unless we design control basins to delay that flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next criteria, water quality, is obviously impacted as you've demonstrated with your picture of a waterfall running black. Typically, water quality is improved by letting it infiltrate into the ground, slowing it down to permit sediment and fines to settle out, or some other method, but none of those techniques are available when water's moving fast with a high sediment load, hence, waterfalls that smell like extinguished campfires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last criteria, groundwater recharge, also suffers for most of the same reasons that the other two do: The water is just moving too fast to practically infiltrate into the ground. It's possible that the charcoal fines are impact the soil media to make it less permeable, especially if aspects of the fire 'compact' the fines into the media, such as vaporizing into the soil media and condensing therein as described in Charlie's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to all these issues, the reduced time of concentration means that the moving water has a lot of energy, which will increase the likelihood of ruts and gullies forming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12052" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T16:02:58.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20040" CreationDate="2018-07-31T17:03:16.980" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The web site &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.utahfishfinder.com/articles/flying-fish.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UtahFishFinder&lt;/a&gt; claims a 99% survival rate (assuming the fish hit the water). I presume height of drop could influence it. They drop the fish anywhere between 50 and 150 feet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once he's over the desired lake, the pilot evaluates his approach and exit, plane speed, windage and altitude, and lines up with the lake. While over the lake, he triggers one or more of the toggle switches on the plane's instrument panel. This opens the compartments, allowing the water and fish to drop into the lake below. The fish fall between 50 to 150 feet, depending on how close to the lake the pilot can fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of their small size, this process of dropping doesn't hurt the fish (it's like a high diver diving into a deep pool of water). The survival rate of these fish is around 99 percent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At &lt;a href=&quot;http://glennairalaska.com/projects/flyingFish.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glenn Air Alaska&lt;/a&gt; they fly higher, up to 250 feet. The survival rate is nearly the same, at 98 percent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Years ago, Glenn and Martinek had the hatchery crew videotape the aerial operation and learned that dropping the fish from 250 feet produced a 98 percent survival rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Two-hundred-and-fifty feet is just right,&amp;quot; Glenn said. &amp;quot;The water atomizes. The fish are in the air just long enough to orient themselves so that they hit the water head first and not long enough that the freefall dries out their gills.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.westerncanadiangamewarden.com/stocking.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Canadian Game Warden&lt;/a&gt;, do not specify a drop height. The success rate in their studies is over 85 percent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) stocks native cutthroat trout in high altitude lakes with airplanes. Four specialized pilots fly modified Cessna 185 airplanes and stock around 300 lakes ranging in altitude from 10,000 to 12,000 feet. Several hundreds or even thousands of fish are dropped at a time. The airplane is equipped with a custom built trout tank, named “Bass-O-Matic”. DOW studies show that over 85 percent of the tiny fish actually survive the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2006/may/01/trout-raining-from-the-skies&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Airplane Owners and Pilots Association&lt;/a&gt; published a piece on Maine Game Wardens, indicating&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Department biologists using scuba gear have had trout dropped around them and observed as the fish hit the water and swam away. The biologists report that most of the trout easily survive their aerial drop without injury or harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm not sure I'd volunteer to be under a fish drop, but it would be an experience.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared with loading the fish up on mules, like in the old days, the shorter plane hop to high alpine lakes likely means fewer fish die on the way, more than making up for any losses during the drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit - the BBC has just posted a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-45362423/why-a-plane-is-dropping-trout-into-a-lake-from-above&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; of a drop by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. They state that 95% of the fish survive the journey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T23:23:29.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20042" CreationDate="2018-07-31T19:13:31.640" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never run into this regulation, but then I use the national/provincial forests and not the parks.  But if I speculate:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Subalpine areas have very low biological productivity.  3 foot high trees can be a century old.  Impact of wood collecting would be extreme. If this were the reason, then you would find that the elevations tend to be upper treeline +- some distance.  E.g. if treeline is at the 6000 foot level on the south face, and 4500 on the north (typical values for Alberta mountains) then setting it at 4000 feet keeps the fires out of alpine country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any sort of camping at high elevation may be discouraged.  The type of people who want a campfire tend to be non-minimalist campers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T19:13:31.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20049" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20050" CreationDate="2018-07-31T19:38:12.620" Score="9" ViewCount="590" Body="&lt;p&gt;Friend and I had this discussion, and came to no conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking in the mountains.  Crossing a range through a pass.  Peaks on either side are a good thousand feet higher.  Are you at serious risk of getting hit by lighting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More generally:  If you are walking a ridge line, and see a storm developing, how far below the ridge line do you need to be to be reasonably safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Since asking this question I've been doing more reading.  Unless the  the mountain is sharply above you -- better than 45 degrees, you only have a very moderate amount of protection.  45 degrees is steeper than the angle of repose -- 37 degrees -- the angle you can stack loose rock and not have a slide.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So the 'best answer' is correct.  There is no safe path.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still: only about 15-20 people a year die from lighting strikes, mostly fishermen.  So the real question becomes:  How big is the whole risk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While strikes 6-10 miles away from the base of the thunderstorm have occurred, most of the ground strikes are under or very close to the edges of the storm base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we take the LD50 radius of a lightning strike at 50m then it requires a storm with 133 strikes per square kilometer to land one near you.  A storm with a 10 km diameter would need to deliver about 10,000 strikes. to zot a person under it's immediate footprint.  That's several hours at one per second.  The storms I have experienced in the mountains are both shorter than that, and seem to be limited to a few strikes per minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Net conclusion:  Avoid the really high risk places, and enjoy the show.  Overall moving toward safety is better than staying put.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been unable to find stats on how much higher your risk is standing vs the lightning position (squat in a ball)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall on a per trip basis, I would rank risks largest to smallest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Accident traveling to the hike&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche (low 30's per year, North America)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing accidents (low 20's per year, North America)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightning (mid to high teens per year, US)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wildlife attack (a few per year)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't take into account the relative frequency of the activity.  Fishermen have a higher rate because they are willing to fish in the rain. And there are a lot more skiers and snowmobilers at risk of avalanche than of people walking the high country, or doing technical rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T13:25:43.507" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T13:25:43.507" Title="Is it generally safe to hike a pass in a thunderstorm?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20049" CreationDate="2018-07-31T19:56:46.703" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pass is safer than the peaks on either side of it, but less safe than not hiking over the pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I did my Instructors course for Summit Adventure, hiking over a pass during a thunderstorm  would have been considered extremely unwise, and the procedure would have been to either not cross or to get the heck off if you were on top and saw a storm coming. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I did the Uinta highline trail last summer, there was basically a pass to cross every day, and plenty of thunderstorms. I just waited the storms out in the valley below rather than risk it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to have enough leaway in your planning that you don't have to cross the pass right then and there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Same for ridgelines, you want to be heading down if a thunderstorm rolls in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for estimating what taller points are more likely to be hit, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://what-if.xkcd.com/16/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What If XKCD&lt;/a&gt; on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T07:52:53.337" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T07:52:53.337" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20001" CreationDate="2018-07-31T20:52:18.323" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can imagine that there's nothing of the shelf available but this is nothing a little DIY can't fix.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Go to your local hardware or pet supply store and find a small aquarium  hose T or Y fitting that matches the inner diameter of your bladder hose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply cut the hoses of your bladders and attach the two bladders to the T fitting, then attach one of the hoses with a drinking end to the T fitting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The hoses should be fine with just a friction fit but you can add two small zipties per connection for extra safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: This solution requires a willingness to void your warranty&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="2820" LastEditDate="2018-07-31T20:57:42.310" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T20:57:42.310" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20042" CreationDate="2018-07-31T23:20:42.670" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer is from personal experience and personal observation in Yosemite and the other parks of the Sierra.  (I wish I had time to research this answer properly, but I don't right now.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The altitude above which fires are prohibited is what I call &lt;em&gt;continuous timber line&lt;/em&gt;, which is probably not an official or scientific term.  It is the altitude at which woods give way to scattered small islands of trees in a sea of granite.  This transition is quite abrupt.  May Lake in Yosemite, for example, is surrounded by woods, but a few hundred feet above May Lake there are only small scattered islands of smallish trees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are expanses of granite with few trees well below 9,600 feet in places in the Sierra, but these are islands of granite in a sea of trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only yahoos would cut branches off living trees or (shudder) cut living trees down.  Park regulations call for collecting only downed wood, of which there is plenty below timber line.  Two good follow-up questions might be whether timberline is moving up as the climate warms and whether the Park Service is investigating prohibiting campfires other than in official campgrounds because of the increasing danger of forest fires.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-07-31T23:20:42.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19861" CreationDate="2018-08-01T00:39:58.020" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In cold weather a simple thick scarf over face and nose is effective and reducing exhaled water by between a quarter and a half.  On inhaling, the scarf is chilled.  On exhaling, some of your breath moisture condenses.  On your next inhale some of the wet scarf moistens and warms the incoming air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the scarf ends up a frozen mass from the water vapour frozen.  Acrylic scarves are easier to beat the ice out of and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing, in cold weather, about 1/4 of your energy is used to evaporate water to keep your lungs from turning into dust. (ok, hyperbole...)  This calc based on effectively 0 absolute humidity in -10C air, and 100% humidity in your lungs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The energy use is going to be similar in a hot desert, but in this case it is acting in your favour.  You need to get rid of surplus heat.  If you don't lose it from your lungs, you have to sweat instead.  Water lost by dripping off your face onto the ground isn't going to cool you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask instead, how you can reduce the heat you pick up from the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T00:39:58.020" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19628" CreationDate="2018-08-01T00:46:10.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two of my three dogs &lt;em&gt;hate&lt;/em&gt; thunderstorms.  (The third dog is a bit simple.)  I can tell by their behaviour one to three hours before a storm hits that they want to go back to the house and stay inside.  Given canine hearing I suspect that they are hearing distant thunder.  They are discriminating.  Rumbling from the local coal mine, jets flying overhead don't bother them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T00:46:10.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19508" CreationDate="2018-08-01T01:35:54.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have one, and have used it for years.  As a warmth device it works primarily as a air movement blocker -- you would get the same effect from a chunk of plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a ground sheet it's wonderful:  Silver side up, the low-e effect of the aluminum means that no dew condenses on it. This seriously reduces the amount of water your sleeping bag picks up squirming around under the stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never used it as a sky tarp.  It's only about the size of a standard double bed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Silver faced tarps are used to insulate tree seedlings on reforestation projects.  Generally silver side up.  Since they are substantially more expensive (but much heavier) than a Canadian Tire tarp, I suspect that the people using them have good reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the air exchange under a secured tarp of tree boxes and under a tarp pitched for a snooze in the bush are substantially different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, my opinion:  Not enough difference to matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T01:35:54.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20056" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20057" CreationDate="2018-08-01T04:03:56.740" Score="4" ViewCount="514" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the different names for camping stove alcohol and where can I get such a fuel?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Note, this is not about white gas (aka &quot;Coleman&quot; fuel).&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T18:40:34.833" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T17:20:52.917" Title="What are the different names for and sources of alcohol for my stove?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20056" CreationDate="2018-08-01T04:11:46.697" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are four common types of stove alcohol: &#xA;&lt;em&gt;methanol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;ethanol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;denatured alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;isopropanol&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;You can usually find them in hardware stores and (but not always) in camping stores.&#xA;You can also get it as gas line antifreeze in automotive stores but be careful to read the label because antifreeze also comes in several other forms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Methanol&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Methanol is also commonly known as &lt;em&gt;methyl alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;methyl hydrate&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;wood alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, or &lt;em&gt;carbinol&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;It is toxic if consumed. &#xA;It burns cleanly in an alcohol stove but has the coolest flame (least heat output).&#xA;It is colorless.&#xA;Some brands of methanol are &#xA;Heet (&lt;em&gt;yellow&lt;/em&gt; bottle), Pyroil, Recochem and TurboPower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ethanol&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ethanol is also commonly known as &lt;em&gt;ethyl alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;ethyl hydrate&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;bio-ethanol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;grain alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, or &lt;em&gt;drinking alcohol&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;It is in alcoholic beverages. &#xA;It burns cleanly in an alcohol stove.&#xA;It is colorless.&#xA;While many products are sold as ethanol, they usually have additives (see next).&#xA;Except maybe in Brazil, it is difficult to buy cheap forms of pure, liquid ethanol.&#xA;One brand is Everclear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Denatured alcohol&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Denatured alcohol is also commonly known as &lt;em&gt;methylated spirits&lt;/em&gt; (&quot;meths&quot;), or &lt;em&gt;denatured rectified spirit&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;It is actually just ethanol with additives (such as methanol or isopropanol) to make it taste bad and toxic if consumed. &#xA;It burns cleanly in an alcohol stove.&#xA;It is often dyed purple.&#xA;Some brands of denatured alcohol are &#xA;Barrettine, Bio-Flame, Bird, Crown, Diggers, Eco-Feu, Econol, EkoFuel, Flying Tiger, Klean-Strip, La Hacienda, Mangers, Moko, Mylands, Nu-Flame, Parks, Polylab, Rain-X, Recochem, Rosak, S-L-X, Startex, Sunnyside, SupaDec, Vango and Vivek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Isopropanol&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Isopropanol is also commonly known as &lt;em&gt;isopropyl alcohol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;propan-2-ol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;2-propanol&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;IPA&lt;/em&gt;, or &lt;em&gt;rubbing alcohol&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;It is somewhat toxic if consumed. &#xA;It burns with a hot flame but leaves a dirty residue.&#xA;It is colorless.&#xA;Note that it is sold with differing percentages of purity (70%, 95%, etc), having water added.&#xA;Some brands of isopropanol are &#xA;Chemtools, Diggers, Kleen-Flo, Heet (&lt;em&gt;red&lt;/em&gt; bottle), Pyroil, Recochem, TurboPower and Uline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;Some wiki pages: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Methanol&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ethanol&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Denatured_alcohol&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Isopropyl_alcohol&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ethanol_fuel&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage-can_stove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beverage-can_stove&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T17:20:52.917" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T17:20:52.917" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-08-01T08:41:03.090" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I usually buy one single-use bottle and keep it until losing it. One bottle I had for around a year, it was a PET bottle. Another one I've now used for almost a year and replaced it just because it was a bit unstable and - might have been my imagination - got smelly faster. Or maybe I just wanted a change. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I remember about an even older bottle is that I couldn't remove the dents  any more after a while of use, so you would be looking for a stable bottle. I've not had any plastic bottle break, but that might just have been luck. I use these bottles almost daily, but do not maltreat them otherwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heard, but don't know much about particles of plastic leaking into the water, but don't see how this is different for new bottles compared to used ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About cleaning: I half fill them, shake them strongly, and repeat that two to three times. With this, they don't develop any smell/taste for two days at least (but depending on the bottle). The only thing that needs occasional special cleaning is the cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16126" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T08:41:03.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20013" CreationDate="2018-08-01T09:02:31.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;During my years in school my mum always reused ordinary water bottles to give me and my brother. Never had any issues with them breaking or something similar. But after some time they'd get somewhat dirty on the inside, which made me stop use them and instead buy a designated water bottle, which was way easier to clean on the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16127" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T09:02:31.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20060" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20066" CreationDate="2018-08-01T13:46:24.907" Score="3" ViewCount="1531" Body="&lt;p&gt;More states in the US are decriminalizing switchblades, yet there are many other methods of opening a folding knife with one hand such as studs on the blade or groove to make it easier to open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not talking about the ones that have double edged blades but rather standard folding knives such as this one,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tc7P5m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tc7P5m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Benchcla.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where &lt;strong&gt;the only difference is how you open the knife with one hand.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used a regular folding knife in the outdoors for whittling, skinning animals, cutting marshmallow sticks etc for years, and I am happy with my current one, but &lt;strong&gt;would there be any advantage&lt;/strong&gt; of a folding knife with a &lt;strong&gt;switchblade method of opening?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T13:51:28.470" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T14:40:05.343" Title="Is there an actual advantage of switchblade folding knives over any other method of opening a folding blade with one hand?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20061" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21047" CreationDate="2018-08-01T13:47:40.303" Score="7" ViewCount="649" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my research so far into making cold brew coffee in a Nalgene while backpacking, I have found there to be two types of filters, cotton ones called &quot;coffee socks&quot; and mesh ones that screw onto the top of the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the idea of cold brewing because I fairly often don't bring a stove, and I prefer the taste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the pros and cons of a &lt;strong&gt;cotton coffee sock vs a screw on top mesh filter&lt;/strong&gt; for making &lt;strong&gt;cold brew coffee while backpacking&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-08T20:39:20.353" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T20:39:20.353" Title="What are the pros and cons of cotton vs mesh filters for making cold brew coffee in a Nalgene water bottle?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;coffee&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20062" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20068" CreationDate="2018-08-01T13:49:41.167" Score="5" ViewCount="668" Body="&lt;p&gt;Often times in city parks people will use the trees for slacklining, the problem comes when they use trees that are not big enough, and given enough time and users this can be unhealthy for the trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that there are different kinds of trees, but a general rule of thumb would still be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How big should the trees used for slacklining be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T15:10:25.423" Title="When slacklining between trees, how big should the tree trunks be?" Tags="&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20041" CreationDate="2018-08-01T14:16:20.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest taking the target species, season and location into account as the deciding factors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started with wet flies because I was targeting bass and panfish in a small inland lake during the summer.  The lake was just a convenient place to fish and a muddler minnow was productive.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your convenient place is a nearby trout stream in the spring when the midges are emerging, then go with a dry fly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want to learn how to cast, then tie a piece of yarn on the end of your line and go to an open field; no water is necessary.  I am currently using this method in my back yard with my baitcasting setup.  Though, I'm using a lure with no hooks on the line instead of yarn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T14:16:20.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20060" CreationDate="2018-08-01T14:22:11.580" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The point of the switchblade is how fast you can open it without needing any particular skill or practice. If you were &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G833lONSao&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;that kid&lt;/a&gt; with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_knife&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;butterfly knife&lt;/a&gt; then the difference is negligible, but for anyone else, if the speed of availability is an issue then a switchblade would be your best choice after fixed blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T14:22:11.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20060" CreationDate="2018-08-01T14:33:44.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Switchblades with the button-activating blade are just easier to open with one hand and require very little in the way of distracting thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that you can concentrate more on what your other hand is doing (say, holding down a rattlesnake) without having to spend effort in fumbling for the release mechanism on another kind of knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With wet hands or wearing gloves, a fumble can mean you drop the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, I don't think a switchblade is that appropriate for outdoors use (mechanism would probably gunk up pretty quickly), but you asked for a reason....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorDisplayName="user12449" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T14:40:05.343" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T14:40:05.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20062" CreationDate="2018-08-01T15:10:25.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think there can be a definite answer to this question: it all depends on how much tension there is on the slackline. And the slackline tension depends on a few factors, among which there are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the length of the line &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the width of the line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how much the line is actually tensioned&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;body weight of the people walking on the line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what the people are doing on the line (just walking or acrobatic tricks/jumps)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the type of the line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are quit a few factors in the calculations. The only general advice I have seen on the internet, is that trees should have at least 30cm in diameter. I guess this should be good enough in most cases, but from my personal experience I would argue that for simple walking on a short (&amp;lt;=15m) line, trees with a much smaller diameter could be used without harming them as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless of the tree diameter, it is, however, a good idea to use tree protectors. It could be either specialized gear that comes with the slackline, or just a piece of fabric to put in between the line and the tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To check the actual line tension one could use a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.balancecommunity.com/knowledge-center/tools/calculators/tension-calculator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tension calculator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T15:10:25.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20070" CreationDate="2018-08-01T16:54:17.087" Score="16" ViewCount="4363" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking about getting a Kayak, I am very comfortable paddling my canoe with a single paddle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My motivation is that I can canoe silently with a single canoe paddle that does not need to break the water with each stroke &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_paddle_strokes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;See Indian stroke &amp;amp; J Stroke&lt;/a&gt; it is very quiet&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaks always seem to use the double ended paddles, but I wonder if I could use a single Canoe paddle instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T17:02:13.230" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T12:42:13.787" Title="Can I use a Canoe Paddle with a Kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2018-08-01T17:01:58.210" Score="17" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Yes, but you might want to use a short paddle.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the difference between a canoe and a kayak in practice is only the seat, and people do swap out kayak seats for canoe saddles in playboats, you'll find that you're much closer to the water and a standard length canoe paddle is a bit awkward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also have less freedom of body movement as a result of the seating position meaning that cross bow strokes are harder, though that might not matter to your style of paddling as they're quite aggressive strokes in a closed boat. It can also make it a little harder to get the paddle fully vertical, depending on the width of your chosen boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your other options:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Indian and J-strokes can easily be done with one blade of a kayak paddle, leaving you the freedom to use the other end of the paddle as well if desired for kayak style paddling. K1 (Kayak) is faster if you need to get somewhere more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above you could take out the kayak seat and fit a saddle to convert your K1 to a C1. This eliminates the bulk of the above mentioned problems, though you'll need to choose a boat with a larger cockpit to be able to get the kneeling position set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T11:45:39.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-08-01T17:04:27.510" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bees feed on the sweet nectar of some flowers. So this bee could be attracted to fragrances that smell sweet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch out for your perfume or deodorant smell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shampoo or even air freshener for house/car that stuck to your hair or your clothes perfume might be irresistible for your new little friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16133" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T17:04:27.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20073" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20074" CreationDate="2018-08-01T17:38:27.470" Score="5" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently came across an article discussing Omura's whales, which I had never heard of, off the coast of Sri Lanka. I was positive I then read something saying they got up to 125 feet long, longer than Blue whales at 110 feet - but now I can't find that reference, so I'm wondering if I misread it. Does anyone know if Omura's can be bigger than Blues?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15368" OwnerDisplayName="CrossRoads" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-03T19:12:15.353" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T19:51:19.917" Title="Which is bigger, as in longer, Omura's whale or Blue whale?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20073" CreationDate="2018-08-01T17:55:19.330" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blue whales are larger by quite a large margin so it looks like whatever you read was wrong. In fact, the Blue whale is the largest recorded mammal, and the Omura's is one of the smallest whales. Interestingly, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omuraswhale.org/about-omuras-whales/#background&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Omura's&lt;/a&gt; was not established as its own breed until between 2003 and 2006. Previously it was grouped with a species that included dwarf or pygmy sized whales. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Omura's whale is among the smallest of the rorquals&lt;/strong&gt; – only the two species of minke whale, the common and Antarctic, which reach 9.75 and 10.7 m (32.0 and 35.1 ft) in length, respectively, are smaller.[16] Of the eight specimens taken during Japanese whaling in the Indo-Pacific, the five females ranged in length from 10.1 to 11.5 m (33.1 to 37.7 ft), while the three males ranged from 9.6 to 10.0 m (31.5 to 32.8 ft). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omura%27s_whale#SIze&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;blue whale&lt;/strong&gt; (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whale parvorder, Mysticeti.[5] At up to 30 metres (98 ft)[6] in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tonnes (190 short tons),[6] &lt;strong&gt;it is the largest animal known to have ever existed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-03T19:06:25.740" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T19:06:25.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20073" CreationDate="2018-08-01T18:11:36.277" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Omura's whale is definitely smaller in length than the blue whale.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/about-cetaceans/lesser-known-species/omuras-whale&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New Bedford Whaling Museum&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Length as an Adult: &lt;strong&gt;Male Omura’s whales are approximately 33 feet&lt;/strong&gt; (10&#xA;  meters) and females are about 37.7 feet (11.5 meters). This is one of&#xA;  the few whale species in which the females are larger than the males. (emphasis added).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newborn blue whales are smaller than mature Omura's whales, but not by much.  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/education/cetaceans/blue.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Marine Mammal Laboratory&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blue whales can grow to be about 100 feet (30.5 meters) in length and&#xA;  may weigh around 160 tons. &lt;strong&gt;Newborn blue whales are about 23 feet (7&#xA;  meters) long and roughly 30 tons and can add 200 pounds a day!&lt;/strong&gt; &#xA;  (emphasis added.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a vast amount of information on Omura's whales at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omura%27s_whale&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Omura's whale, Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.omuraswhale.org/about-omuras-whales/#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Omura's Whale Project&lt;/a&gt; site is also excellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-03T19:18:36.313" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T19:18:36.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20043" CreationDate="2018-08-01T18:46:50.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP asks: &lt;strong&gt;How do I attain the ultimate parasol experience?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, get a beautiful parasol, one that Madame Butterfly would be proud to carry.  Second, develop your evasive techniques, raising and or tilting the parasol when you are headed for a close encounter.  Third, remember that on scorching days, many people will envy you.  You are a trend-setter: as hot days get hotter and more frequent, parasols will come into fashion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You, with a parasol that you can control, are less of a nuisance on a city street than a very slow-walking person laden with enormous packages sticking out fore and aft, left and right.  You are positively benign compared with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/03/13/first-the-dockless-bikes-now-you-can-hop-on-a-scooter-at-a-sidewalk-near-you/?utm_term=.62d328caaa79&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;motorized scooters and dockless bikes&lt;/a&gt; left at random places on sidewalks.  You are esthetically far superior to (most) people who fight the heat by taking off most of their clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to remember: you will get significant UV rays by reflection from below, so you may want to put on sunscreen in addition to carrying the parasol.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T21:32:55.287" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T21:32:55.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2018-08-01T19:56:32.903" Score="7" Body="&lt;h1&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use a canoe paddle without issue, kayak paddles are simply more efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They actually make adapter grips so you can convert your two piece kayak paddle into a traditional style canoe paddle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.austinkayak.com/products/1247/Hobie-Paddle-T-Handle.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hobie Paddle T-Handle&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N7952.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N7952.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dMRnD.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dMRnD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T19:56:32.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7964" CreationDate="2018-08-01T21:52:24.850" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibly the easiest camping stove to maintain &amp;ndash; and very easy to make &amp;ndash; is the alcohol stove (aka spirit burner). It's just some form of cup with ventilation &amp;ndash; no pressure, no pipes, no nozzles. It burns methanol (aka denatured alcohol, methylated spirits, wood alcohol, methyl hydrate, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T21:52:24.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20079" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-01T22:31:08.047" Score="1" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love camping and backpacking and have always wondered if it would be better to use a hammock instead of a tent.  I want to know if a hammock is a viable replacement for a tent if you don’t care how many people you can fit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is better for hammock camping what are the things to consider when choosing what to use for a hammock camping system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it isn’t better what makes a tent better or is it just that the tent is better in some situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="15957" LastEditDate="2018-08-01T22:41:44.253" LastActivityDate="2018-08-01T22:41:44.253" Title="Hammock sleeping" Tags="&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2018-08-02T07:47:36.007" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2018-08-02T07:06:58.280" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yes–historically single bladed paddles were common&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Alaska, kayaks varied greatly by region and evolved over thousands of years into many shapes and styles. Single bladed paddles were often the primary type depending on the form and function of the kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Xhx9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Xhx9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;Southern Iñupiaq kayak, early 20th century. (Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-128941)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;em&gt;Kayaks of Alaska&lt;/em&gt; by Harvey Golden:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As with their kayaks, the paddles made and used by the Unangan,&#xA;  Yup'ik, and  Iñupiaq peoples are very diverse. Many different shapes&#xA;  and sizes occur, and often a hunter would carry two or even three&#xA;  types, each one being particularly suited for certain hunting/paddling&#xA;  conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Try it out&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to a calm pond or lake with a friend and give it a try. Compare with a double bladed paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been experimenting with various paddle shapes. I carved an Unangan &lt;em&gt;x̂aasi-x̂&lt;/em&gt;, a double-bladed paddle, and found it to be comfortable and efficient. Just recently used it on a 130 mile sea kayak trip without using the typical, European style paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My next project is a single bladed paddle. I often sea kayak without the rudder. A single bladed paddle may be useful when the kayak is weathercocking strongly in high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, your canoe paddle could serve as a backup paddle in a pinch if you don't own two double bladed paddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15724" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T07:06:58.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16272" CreationDate="2018-08-02T09:00:15.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have the rep to comment directly on David Scarlett's answer.&#xA;His (very clever!) method for tying a figure-of-eight and cow hitch can be slightly modified to turn it into a double figure-of-eight, which will be slightly smaller and neater.&#xA;I am not an expert, but I would also expect this to be a slightly stronger knot overall, though strength alone is unlikely to be a deciding factor for any of the knots mentioned here.&#xA;To tie, form an normal figure-8 with long loop as David describes; pass that through the tie-in loops, then back through last pair of loops of the figure-8, and over your body; this loop ends up forming a third loop around the end of the knot that is away from the body. Shorten the loops and dress as normal.&#xA;Obviously, it's crucial to practice and understand any knot you're using and to learn how to recognise that it is well tied before using it in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having mentioned this, I'd add a counterpoint which I haven't seen anyone else mention, but which bears consideration before using any tie-in method that involves passing the loop over your body, which is that it may be inescapable in an emergency situation. If you're leading inexperienced seconds on a multi-pitch or otherwise committing route then you're probably better off using a different method - ideally one that gives you more flexibility to improvise a rescue if the need arises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16140" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T09:00:15.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-08-02T09:36:43.170" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's difficult to know, without a picture of the offender, whether you were stung by a bee or a wasp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While wasps typically look different, some (see Yellowjacket) are quite similar in coloring and shape, the main difference being that bees typically have fuzz, while yellowjacket wasps are smooth; not exactly an easy distinction to make in the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contrary to many of the other answers, most bees do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; die after stinging. In fact only Honey Bees, the most common species of bee, die. This is due to their stinger becoming detached, ripping out part of their digestive tract and muscles with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other bee species however can sting multiple times without issue.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It's possible the bee you found were &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halictidae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweat Bees&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Halictidae&lt;/em&gt;). This species of bee is attracted to perspiration (hence the name) and the bees could have been attracted by sweat if it was a hot day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have said, the best course of action is to leave. It's possible you accidentally irritated the bee without noticing, e.g. by stepping on it, accidentally swatting it, or trapping it in your clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note: If you know for a fact it was a bee, treat the sting with some baking soda. Bee stings are acidic, and wasp stings are basic (alkaline), so baking soda will help with bee stings, while vinegar will help with wasp stings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16143" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T09:36:43.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20084" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20085" CreationDate="2018-08-02T11:26:10.363" Score="23" ViewCount="8235" Body="&lt;p&gt;Next month, my kids and I are enrolled in a canoe building workshop in the Lake District of the United Kingdom.   At the end of the 4 days we will have a 17ft canoe weighing between 16 and 22 kilos.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our return journey is over 200 miles using mainly motorways.  We have a mid-size MPV vehicle with built in roof rails and attached Thule roof bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the best practice for attaching and securing an open canoe to the roof of a vehicle?  Is it the same as a kayak (which has similar questions here on TGO SE?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never transported any outdoor equipment on the roof of a vehicle previously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="3686" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T12:20:42.737" LastActivityDate="2018-08-05T01:15:55.087" Title="What is the best practice to secure a 17ft open canoe to the roof of a vehicle?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-02T12:27:46.383" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;More canoes are destroyed by flying off a car than are wrapped around rocks. (Western Canoe Company factoid)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best is if you have roof racks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Secure mid point of the canoe to the back of the roof.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;B: Secure the stern of the canoe to the rear bumper, preferable as close to the corners as possible.&#xA;C: Secure the other end of the canoe to the front bumper.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More detail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Rope&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't cheap out.  Use nylon rope.  It has a bit of stretch to it so that it doesn't go from tight to floppy with the relaxation of 2 mm.  1/4&quot; (6 mm) or 5/16&quot; (7.5mm) is sufficient.  It can be twisted or braided.   Polyester rope has very little stretch.  Sisal and manilla rope change dimensions if they get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Ratchet straps&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These work well too.  If you have long lengths of ratchet strap in the wind, they vibrate like crazy.  Put about 1 half twist to 1-2 feet to reduce the vibration if you find it annoying.  Ratchet strap hooks aren't as flexible for attaching to either the canoe or the car.  In some cases you can use a rope loop at one or both ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like the camlock straps.  I've had those loosen up on me on several occasions.  I have more rope than ratchets, so the rest of these instructions deal with rope.  Adapt to your situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Midpoint&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;With roofrack&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Run a line with several turns around the crossbar, using a knot like a pipe hitch, double catspaw, or prussik.  The idea is you don't want the rope to slide on the cross bar.  Wrapping the bar with wrinkly duct tape or hockey tape may make this easier.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat on other side. At this point you have two ropes attached to the roof rack crossbar in a way they can't slide.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One rope should be short enough to not reach all the way across the canoe. Put a bowline in the end.  Run the other rope through the bowline, pull hard and tie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat the above steps for the other cross bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;No roof rack.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to keep the gunwales from scratching your roof.  Canoe stores sell foam blocks for this.  You can also take a pool noodle, cut into 1 foot chunks, slit one side to the hole in the middle, and clip this around the gunwale. I have also used life jackets.  PITA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Open the car doors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Run a loop of rope through the body of the car and over the roof.  Put two loops that are the width of the canoe apart, (A figure 8 knot tied on a bight works well) OR tie a series of knots (figure 8) a few cm apart so that there are knots around the gunwales when you put the canoe on top.  Tie this rope loop firmly. (Same technique as above, put a loop in one end, run the other end through, pull and secure.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have a rope with a high traction surface.  Treat the rope like you did the cross bars, and tie  to it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having knots in the rope on either side of the door opening so that the whole loop cannot shift once the door is closed is a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Stern.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secure to the car's corners.  Some cars don't really have a bumper.  You may need to go underneath and secure to the frame.  If you will be doing this a lot, you may want to add tie down eyes on whatever you do have at the corners.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not tighten this yet.  Get snug though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Bow&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wind force on the canoe is going to try to push the canoe back.  If the bow is in front of the bumper, then, if you tie to the bow, you just pull back more.  Canoe slides, and ropes go slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead use the bow seat as your tie point.  Tie to a corner of the car, take a turn around the seat, go over the canoe, take a turn around the seat on the other side, and down to the corner.  The idea is that the turns around the seat keep the the rope from sliding forward, and the loop over the bottom of the canoe takes most of the strain off the seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bumper is unusable, open the hood (bonnet) secure lines to some part of the frame, and run out under the sides.  There is going to be strong forces on these lines.  Take care that you don't damage your car.  The hood is latched only at the centre.  You want to run the ropes in a way that doesn't pull up on the corners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Adjustments.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point the front ropes are vertical or sloped back toward your windshield.  If they are sloping forward, you need to move the whole canoe back on your car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tighten the ropes. Roof, bow, stern.  If you are using foam blocks or noodles, you want to see them squish.  If using a roof rack, pluck the ropes.  Play music on them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often once you get going, things loosen up.  Drive 10 km, and stop and check.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Cautions&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had canoes turn on my roof, due to the canoe sliding back, and loosening the front lines.  This will put a substantial sideways force on the car.  If it happens rapidly, you may have an interesting time.  The smaller your car, the stronger the effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a canoe try to escape when the front line broke (sharp frame)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop and check at 10 km, 30 km, and every time you stop for to 'rest' and buy petrol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing, I'm impressed with a 4 day workshop that can produce a 22 kg 17 foot canoe.  This sounds fragile.  That's a light canoe even made from modern composites.  Run these directions past your instructor.  He may have additional comments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-04T18:55:59.837" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T18:55:59.837" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19754" CreationDate="2018-08-02T12:46:14.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used wood, fiberglass and Mohawk paddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preference is for wood.  A good blade can be made of ash or spruce.  The latter will have a thicker shaft that may be uncomfortable for small hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wooden paddles will break.  In 30 years of canoeing I've snapped about 6.  Once in a rapid.  That got exciting, while I fumbled for our spare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wooden paddles will split from abuse.  Sand wedged into the tip can open up the grain, which then creates a small crack that grows.   A square ended paddle can be easily protected with a bit of aluminum sheet metal and 4 rivets.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood paddles need the occasional light sanding and a coat of marine spar varnish.  If you don't put tip protectors on them, linseed oil the tip a week before the first trip of the season.  This will slow down the splitting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used a bent shaft fiberglass paddle for a day.  My overall impression was that it had no soul, and I found it heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mohawk paddles have an aluminum shaft and ABS blade and grip.  Talk about no soul.  However they are light, and close to indestructible. Lots of rental fleets use them for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One downside of aluminum shaft paddles:  The aluminum rubs off as a very fine powder staining your hand black.  Spray painting the shaft with a metal enamel eliminates this problem, and makes your paddle stand out from the crowd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other choice factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A longer narrower blade is somewhat more efficient, but requires a different motion.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A beavertail (round tip) is quieter, and easier to not splash yourself.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A wider blade makes it easier to move a pile of water in a hurry.  A shorter paddle is less likely to catch the top of a wave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I preferred to have two paddles:  A shorter paddle (about 4' 8&quot;) with a large wide blade for rapids and stormy lakes, and a longer paddle (about 5' 2&quot;)  with a longer, narrower blade for cruising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T12:46:14.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20087" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-02T14:05:49.867" Score="8" ViewCount="733" Body="&lt;p&gt;In movies, sometimes the character will put an ear to the ground and then hear people moving a long ways away &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/hDkvpZRZ_rE?t=16&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this actually work in the wild at all or is it just insufficient for anything short of a &lt;s&gt;horde of orcs&lt;/s&gt; herd of buffalo?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-29T01:22:12.667" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T19:16:25.550" Title="Does listening with an ear to the ground actually work?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-02T15:53:05.813" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is difficult, since every boat/ vehicle combination is unique and so there is no one &quot;silver bullet&quot; method for rigging that will work for all.  However, there is one principle that I apply to each rig I do, that allows me to adapt to almost any scenario: prevent motion in all six directions- Up, Down, Left, Right, Forward, Backward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vehicle itself pretty much takes care of Down.  One or more straps tossed over the boat and secured to the roof (or possibly run through the door frames and tied inside) solves Up, and with a little tension, begins to resist Left and Right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For forward and backward and to finish off left and right, I typically do V-shaped harnesses with the point of the V at the bow and stern, and tying off to where ever I can find on the vehicle.  This has included running boards, bumpers, bases of rear-view mirrors (be careful with this one- in fact, I don't actually recommend it) trailer hitch receivers, and even the under carriage.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just have to ensure that the angles of these harnesses are opposite the direction of movement you want to check, i.e. a rope that runs forward prevents Backward, but not Forward (you can't push on a rope).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T15:53:05.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-02T16:00:26.040" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have to contend with 100km+ winds with my 17.5ft canoe, so I've tried pretty much every method of attaching a canoe to a roof you can conceive, and the one that works the best is this one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yakima.com/keelover&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/foC2Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yakima.com/keelover&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;keelover&lt;/a&gt;. It uses four brackets to hold the gunwales so the craft doesn't slide side to side or front to back, two boat straps to hold the canoe down on the roof rack, and one on each the bow and stern to prevent the canoe from twisting and torquing on the roof rack. If you want to to be &lt;em&gt;extra&lt;/em&gt; secure you can use two straps front and back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used the foam blocks, and every method of strapping and tying a canoe down to roofs and racks with ropes and ratcheting straps. The keelover out performs them all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-08-03T16:28:17.307" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T16:28:17.307" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19754" CreationDate="2018-08-02T16:58:35.900" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went back to plastic and aluminum, because I kept breaking carbon and fiberglass (with carbon shaft) paddles, but by far most whitewater paddlers prefer either of those options. They're super light and super stiff, giving maximum power for minimum effort. Carbon is a little lighter than fiberglass even, but often a bit more expensive. The amount of abuse they can('t) take is about the same. For water where you don't get smashed into rocks the lighter carbon or fiberglass paddles seem like even more of a favorite. Wooden paddles are a curiosity on white water. They're heavy, for the same money you've got a much easier to handle aluminum and plastic paddle. They look great and authentic and feel great in your hand, they're just not the best for paddling, generally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, my advice would be to start learning with aluminum and plastic, and see if you want an upgrade by the time you developed a feel for it. You'll also know how long you want your paddle to be and how large the blade should be for you. By that time you'll probably want an upgrade. If not to carbon then maybe to a more advanced plastic and aluminum paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T17:03:46.160" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T17:03:46.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20091" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20093" CreationDate="2018-08-02T18:11:35.013" Score="4" ViewCount="203" Body="&lt;p&gt;Background: About 8 years ago I bought a rather cheap tent (about 100 €) for up to 4 people. It's quite large, you can stand upright in it's centre and there's an awning almost as deep as the sleeping compartment. I used it like only two times, then stored it for six years at my parents because I moved to a big city and neither had space nor need for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few weeks back I had need for it and took it with me on a one-night trip. Back in the day I stored it well enough, neither mold nor musty smells to be seen/sniffed. Still, shortly after we put it up, it started to rain for a short time and the tent almost instantly was drenched and started to drip. Also, the next morning even the dew had penetrated and it dripped a little bit inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leading to my question: Is it worth the hassle to try to waterproof the tent again? I am aware it would be a huge amount of work. Still, I am a bit appalled by the idea to throw away an otherwise intact tent which wasn't used that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16150" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T19:57:24.847" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T19:57:24.847" Title="Restoring waterproofing of tent - worth the hassle?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-02T18:15:28.057" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Position the canoe centered between your cross bars.  You can use foam padding (e.g. pool noodle) between the crossbars and gunwales if you want to protect your gunwales.  With stout cordage using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;truckers hitch&lt;/a&gt; knot or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strapworks.com/Metal_Cam_Straps_p/cs1p.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cam Straps&lt;/a&gt;, tie the canoe to the cross bars.  Tie the bow and stern to the outside corners of the vehicle.  This prevents the canoe from rotating from a crosswind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check the tension of all the knots after 5 or 10 miles, then every time you stop afterwards.  The trucker's hitch knot or cam straps are easy to adjust during these stops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a pic:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o5LlQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o5LlQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T18:15:28.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20091" CreationDate="2018-08-02T18:46:54.490" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP asks our advice because &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;.... I am a bit appalled by the idea to throw away an otherwise&#xA;  intact tent which wasn't used that much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is really a question of how far down the trail of leaving no trace you should feel obliged to go.  Throwing away the tent leaves a trace; buying a new tent -- buying anything -- leaves a trace.  &lt;strong&gt;But still, one can carry anything to absurdity, which would be the case in re-waterproofing this tent&lt;/strong&gt;.  (The OP does not mention cost as a factor.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two suggestions.  (1) Give the tent to someone with the warning that it has no waterproofing. It may be fine for desert car-camping. (2) Spend time picking up litter from the roadside or some other environmental cleanup project, and/or contribute some money to an environmental fund.  I am sure you can more than compensate for the discarding of the tent with your sweat and/or your checkbook. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T18:53:12.627" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T18:53:12.627" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20033" CreationDate="2018-08-02T21:02:11.297" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in a park. Bees are attracted to flowers and bright colors. Yellow jackets tend to be attracted to plastic cups,soda cans and the scent of sugars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bee keepers generally use smokers and Bee keeping suits but you seem to be asking for more practical tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neutral none bright cloths, Maybe a leather jacket to cover your arms and upper body. Spray scent neutralizers like what you would find in a hunting store to neutralize your body smell from sweet stuff like soda pops. Neutralizing or None scented detergents to removes smells from your cloths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most things we use on a daily basis for our enjoyment are scented with fragrances that bees also enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vinegar mixed with water as a spray may also help. PS vinegar mix with rubbing alcohol can also help with poison ivy contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all else fail try a bottle of OFF insect repellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helps you discourage them from visiting you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't like the scent odds are they won't either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16155" LastEditorUserId="16155" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T21:17:49.963" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T21:17:49.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20095" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-02T21:33:53.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canoes are easier than kayaks because the gunwales provide four nice contact points on the roof rack bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first step after getting the boat on the rack is to position it in the best location compared to the front and back of the car. This will depend on the relative sizes of the boat and the car. First find the rough center of gravity, where an equal amount of weight is in front of the front bar and behind the rear bar. You do this by pushing up on either end until the force required seems roughly equal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably want to move the boat further back from this point. The main disadvantage to having too much of the boat over the front windshield is that it blocks your view more than necessary. (It's also worse for aerodynamics) But you don't want to move it so far back that it will fall off before you tie it. Also, the more of the boat that is sticking out behind, the more likely you are to hit something with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now attach a strap over the boat on each of the rack bars. You can do this with rope, but webbing straps are faster and also easier to get tight. You can use either a strap with a buckle to form a loop or a ratchet type strap. All you are trying to do is get the strap under the bar on either side, and then tightly over the boat, which holds the boat firmly down on the rack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Add some twists to the strap where it rests against the boat. At highway speeds this will reduce the noise from the strap vibrating against the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now go to either end of the boat and try to move it, side to side, up and down. The straps should be tight enough that the whole car moves, not the boat relative to the rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just going a few miles in the city, many people who do this frequently will stop there. But I also secure the bow and stern to the car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have attached the back of the boat, you may not be able to open the hatchback or trunk (boot), so load that first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can use ropes or straps at the bow and stern. I have a set of four ratchet straps, so I use the remaining two. If you use rope, tie a trucker's hitch, which helps to get it tight. Find something sturdy at the end of the boat to attach your strap. And you'll have to find an attachment point near the bumper of the car. Ideally your car will have tie-down loops under the car at either end. I match the bow and stern ropes to the number of tie downs. If there is one, I do one strap and if there are two, I make a triangle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you get going, check your straps after a few miles, and occasionally after that. Some kinds of straps can stretch when they get wet, so re-check if it rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16153" LastEditorUserId="16153" LastEditDate="2018-08-02T21:44:57.750" LastActivityDate="2018-08-02T21:44:57.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9097" CreationDate="2018-08-02T23:29:37.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nemo says their beams are 7-9 PSI&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://shield.nemoequipment.com/explore/technology/airsupported-technology/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://shield.nemoequipment.com/explore/technology/airsupported-technology/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should be very easy to improvise a connection that will not leak.  Get any pump rated for that pressure (it will be for a thing like an inflatable boat not a bicycle) which is of a size you can stand to carry, and find someone with a workshop in the garage or basement.  My guess is with some off the shelf pump and maybe o-rings from a faucet you’ll be good to go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further note regarding pumps:&#xA;Keep in mind that this kind of inflatable has two phases of inflation:  phase one where the air goes in without any resistance (0 psi over atmospheric pressure) then phase two where it’s almost full and you need to force the last bit in (to 7-9 psi over atmospheric pressure).  It’s this last phase where it gets structural strength.&#xA;During phase one you want rapid airflow, pressure can be very low, virtually anything will work.  Your lungs could do it but then you introduce moisture and bacteria so best avoided.  A bellows, a bag that you squeeze would work.  Whatever.&#xA;During phase two you need enough pressure but not too much.  You could use eveb a tiny bike pump or even squeeze bulb for this last little bit if you were patient and careful not to overpressure.  If you know how the inflatable beam is supposed to feel you could just rely on squeezing it to keep from overpressuring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-04T02:38:07.593" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T02:38:07.593" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20100" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-03T02:17:55.397" Score="12" ViewCount="744" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got into a 'discussion' with the vice principal of the school I work at.  He was worried about the dangers inherent in our fairly extensive outdoor program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I pointed out to him that an analysis of the previous year's infirmary logbook showed that we had far more lost school days from basketball than we did from snowshoeing despite that the entire school snowshoes, and only about 1/3 have anything to do with basketball.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Prove it&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there I got stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Edit in response to comment: My VP considers the outdoor program far more lethal -- chance of dying.  So comparing injuries in the infirmary log struck him as specious. Yet this is not borne out.  Kids die playing hockey and football.  Not many.  Kids die in avalanches in school outings.  Not many. I'd like to get a handle on the relative risks.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Edit 2: Charlie, below has some interesting articles, and some of these are similar to the ones I found in  my groveling.  The problem is that few take into account the number of practicianers.  One article comments that falls are the leading cause of ER room outdoor pursuits treatments.  And if you dig further you find that more hikers were injured or killed than mountaineers.  But there are a lot more hikers, so if there was equal hazard you would expect more incidents. )&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found tantalizing tidbits:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For the young teen male, there is about 1 fatality per 5 million downhill ski days. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most dangerous sport is high school foot ball: Much more dangerous than either college or pro ball. (This made sense to me: High school kids are growing, clumsy; high school coaches aren't as well trained, fewer assistants.)  Hockey came close.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I found a lightning strike density map for Alberta.  The highest density strike zone runs 4 strikes/km2/year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway:  &lt;em&gt;Some&lt;/em&gt; insurance company I'm sure has collected these stats:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone has written a report on the relative risks of various outdoor pursuits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g:  In absolute numbers more people die in climbing accidents than are killed by lightning in the mountains.  But overall there are a lot more hiking days than there are climbing days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many people drown per million canoeing days?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are your chances of coming to a sticky end cross country skiing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avalanche deaths per million days back country skiing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For each individual activity there are mitigations:  E.g.  Don't be on ridge tops during lighting storms.  Take an avalanche safety course, carry the radio thingies, and practice using them.  Learn how to right your sailboat.  Know the signs and treatment for incipient hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OTOH  What is the relative risk between the pass and the peak on either side for lightning? In another question and the reading it caused me to do, it isn't safe to cross a pass.  Certainly more dangerous than crossing the street, but compare to crossing the Bakersfield freeway (8 lanes each way) How risky is it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I figure that insurance companies that underwrite various flavours of adventure companies have some more concrete numbers than this.  What do they use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of either a stats heavy report on various outdoor pursuits, or a more general book on risk management in the outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-08T03:10:17.777" LastActivityDate="2018-08-08T03:10:17.777" Title="Relative risks of various outdoor activities?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;risk-managment&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-03T03:10:01.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting how everyone is carrying upside-down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have two 5m fibreglass kayaks (based on Zegal Greenlands) that we carry on the roofrack - right-side up. I have made two strong rectangular plywood boxes for each kayak, and each has a substantial, form-fitting EVA foam insert that the kayak sits in. These sit under the internal bulkheads in the kayak, and I use rated straps to hold them down - very firmly - and a lead rope to the front bull-bar. (The kayaks sit somewhat behind the front of the car - which is a significant 4WD.) &#xA;Yes, there must be some lift generated by the hulls, but the proof of the system is 5,000km traveled on a recent holiday - including days on very rough tracks in the north-west of Australia -  with no movement!&#xA;This system allows me to slide the kayaks onto their holders (which are quite high), and access the storage hatches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLSLr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLSLr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Single Holder&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3dKD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3dKD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Boats on 4WD&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T03:10:01.703" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20100" CreationDate="2018-08-03T03:49:57.377" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is some data on this but mostly it's the really broad type that aren't &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18462/8794&quot;&gt;particularly useful&lt;/a&gt;, and its scattered all over the place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on what type of data you look at, rock climbing has a lower rate of injuries per hour spend climbing than Nordic skiing, but a higher fatality rate per participant. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2127176/ranking-worlds-toughest-outdoor-sports?sf50702063=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also depends on the participant, being young and male leads to a way higher injury and fatality rate. &lt;a href=&quot;https://skyaboveus.com/climbing-hiking/Whats-Killing-Americas-Hikers&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the resources I have found so far,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tetongravity.com/story/adventure/your-chances-of-dying-ranked-by-sport-and-activity&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Your chances of dying ranked by sport and activity.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outsidebynature.com/main/2014-backcountry-fatality-statistics/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2014 Backcountry Fatality Statistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bluepeteraustralia.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/managing-fatalities.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Death by adventure: could you manage a fatal accident in the outdoors?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080610.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;New CDC Study First To Present National Outdoor Recreational Injury Estimates&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.1580/07-WEME-OR-152.1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Estimates of Outdoor Recreational Injuries Treated in Emergency&#xA;Departments, United States, 2004–2005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/mountaineering-accident-statistics/658474&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountaineering Accident Statistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stephabegg.com/home/projects/accidentstats&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Mostly-Graphical Presentation of&#xA;Mountaineering Accident Statistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Books&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Off the Wall, Death in Yosemite&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Over the Edge, Death in the Grand Canyon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also how organized outdoor adventures have less risk, more requirements for medical training (Wilderness First Responder certifications are pretty standard), instructor training, safety assessments, and generally being much more risk averse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;&amp;lt;rant&amp;gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the VP is also &lt;strong&gt;missing the point&lt;/strong&gt;  of the outdoors. The point of taking people who have never been rappelling or rock climbing or hiking in experiential education is not to keep them from any and all harm but to teach them, and risk is a part of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stoves and boiling water are a definite cause of injury in the backcountry, but you still need to let the participants cook for themselves in order for them to learn how.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you deny people the ability to experience risk (even with all of the necessary precautions) you stunt their growth as a person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201404/risky-play-why-children-love-it-and-need-it&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Risky Play: Why Children Love It and Need It&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/risk-not-letting-kids-risky-things/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Risks of NOT Letting Your Kids Do Risky Things&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/06/helicopter-parenting.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helicopter Parenting May Negatively Affect Children's Emotional Well-Being, Behavior&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;&amp;lt;/rant&amp;gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-03T21:24:20.743" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T21:24:20.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20104" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20105" CreationDate="2018-08-03T16:15:47.580" Score="3" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the comments of the accepted answer to this longstanding question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5987/water-filters-why-sand-and-rocks&quot;&gt;Water filters - why sand and rocks?&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;the makings of a debate started, but no definitive consensus was reached. I'm going to do my best to make an attempt to summarize each side:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;For&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in a survival situation with only murky water available and whether&#xA;help is coming or not remains uncertain, an improvised filtration&#xA;system of rocks, sand and charcoal can make the water safer to drink (conceding it doesn't &lt;em&gt;purify&lt;/em&gt; water)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Against&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in a survival situation, it may be more constructive to devote time&#xA;and energy to getting home. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additionally, there is no way to know that there was not a recently&#xA;decomposing animal (or other bacteria source) on the very sand you are using which would&#xA;introduce even more harmful contaminants into the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see the logic in both sides of the argument, and I think there is an implicit distinction between filtering and purifying. With that in mind, when is it warranted to filter water in a survival situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, is the only use case to filter debris before boiling it over a fire to make it truly safe to drink? Or is improvised water filtration with sand, rocks and charcoal a waste of time and energy altogether?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T02:27:03.283" Title="When is improvised water filtration warranted for survival?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20104" CreationDate="2018-08-03T16:27:54.810" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the timeframe,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dehydration will kill you within days, giardia takes much longer to develop and can be treated once you are out of the backcountry. People have died because they didn't want to drink muddy water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are going to be a long time out from getting back, keeping healthy is important because getting stomach bugs/diarrhea  will really hurt your energy levels.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In normal situations though, you want to have something to purify the water to avoid getting sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T16:27:54.810" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2018-08-03T18:29:32.587" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on the activity.  Depends on the time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summer on the trail:&lt;/strong&gt;  Water.  I don't bother with anything else.  Salted nuts are part of my lunch and there is a salt shaker with supper.  Since in my hiking country stream crossings are rarely more than an hour apart, water is convenient.  A 500 ml bottle is fine. If you were in serious sweat country, I'd give consideration to a drink with electrolytes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Addendum: Last trip included a ridge walk.  We use a 2 liter pop bottle per person in addition to our 500 ml bottle.  Most days the pop bottle was empty in our pack.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Winter Snowshoeing.&lt;/strong&gt;  Water is much less available.  I used to organize cross country orienteering contests, so would often spend all day putzing about setting controls for meets that were far enough in the future that my tracks would vanish.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I would take 2 liter pop bottle full of hot coffee with lots of milk and sugar. This was nested in spare clothing in my day pack for insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dogsledding.&lt;/strong&gt;  We usually traveled 2 or 3 per sled, with half the people at any given time up front breaking trail.  For these trips we carried 6 quart thermoses that we filled at breakfast with juice crystals (faux juice) made at double strength with boiling water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In use, you would fill the cap or a cup with snow, add hot juice and turn it into double the volume of warm juice, or into a slushy if you preferred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In camp, all trips:&lt;/strong&gt;  I like my morning coffee, made at near expresso strength, and 2 mugs with lots of brown sugar and plastic powdered creamer.  In the evening I drink hot chocolate, or a mix of powdered coconut milk, powdered milk, and if I'm really decandant and can afford the weight (canoe trips, weekend trips, sled trips) a splash of vanilla extract.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry some extra soup and juice packets to use for rainy day lunches.  Lunch on rainy days can be done two ways:  Add a layer, eat as fast as you can, take off a layer and go; or add a layer, make a fire, make up soup or a hot beverage, have lunch, get warm, and go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(All of my trips are in wilderness areas that permit fires. Last trip (Willmore Wilderness, north of Jasper) once we were a day from the trail head, we saw 2 sets of shoe prints, but many sets of wolf, bear, moose, and a few cougar. Very lightly used country.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All trip meals tend to be soupy.  This is both for rehydration, and it makes the pots easier to clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are into performance endurance racing, the standard faux juice is too sweet, running about 10% sugar.  You want a solution around 5-7%.  This is absorbed fast by your gut. Depending on the weather you can tune this.  Hot weather (sweating due to environment) you want less sugar.  Cooler weather (almost all sweat due to exertion) you can use more sugar.  Fill your camel hump with the right level of glucose (not plain sugar) and you can postpone depleting your liver's glycogen and delay hitting the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note however:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found running trips with teens that, without flavouring, many kids will fail to drink enough, become chronically mildly dehydrated, with the attendant mild headaches, grumpiness, and lack of energy. To help keep them hydrated: Served hot chocolate with breakfast, dilute faux juice at lunch, and strong sweet tea after supper, as well serving soup as part of supper.  In most cases all of these were served at about twice the dilution you would find in 'civilization'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, they drink when really thirsty, and will gradually  start drinking enough, but that takes a week.  Meanwhile at every stop, you have to remind them to drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-02-24T15:10:34.487" LastActivityDate="2020-02-24T15:10:34.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19784" CreationDate="2018-08-03T19:25:35.907" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-colored-fire-p2-602196&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make Colored Fire (Ask an Expert)&lt;/a&gt;&quot;, while the article is intended for fireplaces and not cooking amongst the recommendations is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;borax&lt;/a&gt; which is not very poisonous (in some countries it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; used in food, while in others it is banned - so don't drink it or spill it on your food). This will produce a yellowish green flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If edibility is extremely important and a waste of good alcohol your least concern consider adding a bit of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_beverage#Alcohols_used&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sambucca or Vodka&lt;/a&gt;. Both add a blue flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also suggested is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/12155-Making-an-alcohol-flame-VISIBLE/page2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;adding a tiny quantity of white gas&lt;/a&gt;, but test your mixture before unleashing it on the Scouts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another point: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.briangreen.net/bbb/2011/09/making-denatured-alcohol-user-friendly.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;adding green food coloring&lt;/a&gt; makes it easier to measure and helps ensure that no one confuses a bottle of it for water. It &lt;strong&gt;does not&lt;/strong&gt; affect the color of the flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16165" LastActivityDate="2018-08-03T19:25:35.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1859" CreationDate="2018-08-03T19:56:00.593" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this is &lt;strong&gt;highly dependent on your feet&lt;/strong&gt;.  Maybe with more experience, this will change for me - but I have bony, clammy, wide but low volume paddle feet.  So unless I can't get a shoe highly tailored to my foot I need the sock to soak up side-to-side space (even if my toes are very tight after going down a half size). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16166" LastEditorUserId="16166" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T20:36:37.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T20:36:37.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20109" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20110" CreationDate="2018-08-03T21:40:36.243" Score="5" ViewCount="613" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen cairns while hiking in mountains and they are usually easy to distinguish from natural rock piles.  However, I am a bit confused by what makes a duck and what distinguishes it from a cairn or a natural rock pile.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; entry for cairns indicates that ducks are cairns that have &quot;beaks&quot; pointing in the direction of the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, this &lt;a href=&quot;https://survivallife.com/mark-trails-like-pro/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;survivallife.com&lt;/a&gt; webpage says that ducks are smaller than cairns and can be made from as few as three stones.  This would seem to make ducks much more difficult to distinguish from natural rocks piles.  So, &lt;strong&gt;what is the best way to distinguish between a cairn, a duck, and a natural rock pile&lt;/strong&gt;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-04T20:36:16.863" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T21:25:46.357" Title="How can I distinguish between rock pile types cairn, duck, and natural?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20109" CreationDate="2018-08-03T22:00:41.847" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cairn -&gt; many rocks piled up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duck -&gt; 3-4 rocks stacked on top of each other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Natural -&gt; Small rocks don't stack directly on top of each other, gravity tends to spread them out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, they usually aren't necessary, except in places with lots of fog such as the White Mountains of New England, and their construction is usually frowned upon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14168/whats-the-purpose-of-the-huge-amount-of-stone-piles-on-the-trails-in-gran-canar&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for an example of people putting up way too many of the things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-04T21:25:46.357" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T21:25:46.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19784" CreationDate="2018-08-04T06:37:52.780" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can try a non chemical way to add visibility to an almost invisible flame: a small metal net layer on top of the flame that the flame will go through and after just a few seconds will be incandescent and glow red / orange&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dRTxS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dRTxS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;retina rompi fiamma &quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;there are already made devices, I cant find a proper translation, in Italian they are called “retina rompifiamma” or “spargi fiamma” literally flame breaker, their intended use is to evenly distribute heat to the cooking pan above but will glow and maybe sort out your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16167" LastEditorUserId="16167" LastEditDate="2021-05-28T18:04:50.033" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T18:04:50.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20112" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20145" CreationDate="2018-08-04T11:10:25.347" Score="8" ViewCount="497" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kayaking is a lot of upper body and core strength, with an amount of lifting as well. Outside of the good weather kayaking season - winter months for Sit on Tops for example - what are good ways to train for the next good weather season?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume this means it's not possible to kayak easily over the winter, include gym equipment and alternatives to a gym. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-08-05T19:16:24.463" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T01:54:31.343" Title="Training for Kayaking out of season" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20114" CreationDate="2018-08-04T12:59:31.523" Score="7" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bee hotels or houses are supposed to allow solitary bees the chance to lay eggs - however there seems to be some controversy, that they only attract pests?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the decline of bees globally, do these hotels actually work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51XtZPqlpzL._AC_SY400_.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bee hotel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T13:57:19.627" Title="Do Bee Hotels/Houses actually work?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;bees&gt;&lt;garden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20113" CreationDate="2018-08-04T13:57:19.627" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This study (&lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122126&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;‘Bee Hotels’ as Tools for Native Pollinator Conservation: A Premature Verdict?&lt;/a&gt;) conducted on nearly 300 be hotels over three years in Toronto, Canada suggests that more introduced bees and wasps were present in the hotels than native bees.  Figure 2 below shows that native bees made up approximately half of the sites occupied and brood cells.  Figure 3 below shows that bee hotels placed in residential gardens were the only habitat studied that had a relative abundance of native bees greater than introduced bees/wasps or native wasps.  In fact, the relative abundance of native bees in a hotel in a garden area approximately doubled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122126&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;‘Bee Hotels’ as Tools for Native Pollinator Conservation: A Premature Verdict?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lFEjj.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lFEjj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fig 2. Presence and abundance of bees and wasps over all sampling years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A. The number of sites occupied by native bees (NB), introduced bees (IB), native wasps (NW) and introduced wasps (IW) over three years at over 600 bee hotels set up through out the city of Toronto and the surrounding region. B. Comparison of the number of sites occupied by NB and the other groups competing for nesting space combined (AO). C. The total number of brood cells produced in bee hotels per year by native and introduced bees and wasps, and D. shows a comparison between native bees and the remaining groups combined. Lower-case lettering indicates significant differences and in all graphs hereafter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122126&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;‘Bee Hotels’ as Tools for Native Pollinator Conservation: A Premature Verdict?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b3eFc.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b3eFc.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fig 3. Mean relative abundance of bees and wasps at all site types over all years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lower-case lettering indicates significant differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These structures may also facilitate predation, disease and parasitism with so many species in close proximity to each other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if one want to set up a bee hotel it appears that a residential garden may be the best location.  Additionally, it is important to have the size and length of the tubes the appropriate size for the type of bees one is trying to attract.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T13:57:19.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20115" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-04T16:51:41.103" Score="8" ViewCount="741" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we venture into the wilderness, we bury our solid human waste (or may even have to pack it out in some places).  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7898/when-is-it-not-ok-to-leave-feces-behind?rq=1&quot;&gt;basic guideline is&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;em&gt;not leave faeces anywhere where it can be discovered or uncovered in the future&lt;/em&gt;.  Yet along the popular &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Kaibab_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Kaibab&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Kaibab_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;South Kaibab&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_Angel_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bright Angel&lt;/a&gt; trails in Grand Canyon National Park, pack animals walk down the trail and up again, while the animals (which are non-native) leave their solid waste in the middle of the trail.  As a hiker, I find this a very unpleasant experience, in particular when I'm tired and hot heading for the rim in the afternoon.  Why are the outfitters operating the pack animals permitted to leave the trail in such an unpleasant state, when the rest of us are doing our best to leave no trace?  Some sort of &lt;a href=&quot;https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/columbustelegram.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/00/000c3fff-8065-5cba-94d4-1d589063b13e/55b2663f47fa0.image.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;diapers&lt;/a&gt; (as in, any piece of cloth that would hold the solid waste for disposal elsewhere) might work, or at least a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/14/dog-owners-urged-use-stick-flick-method-instead-poo-bags/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;stick and flick&lt;/a&gt; method to move the manure off-trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-08-06T13:30:57.123" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T22:10:51.327" Title="Why aren't the mule trains outfitters required to clean up after their animals?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13793" CreationDate="2018-08-04T16:58:10.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water resistance:  Yes it affects washability.  Water can't wet the surface.  Soap helps.  Gortex type coatings can get clogged pores, especially if not well rinsed.  Read the owners manual with care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coatings:  I washed a urethan coated nylon tarp.  The force of the water hitting the non-coated side started the coated side peeling.  After that I had to pitch at at least 30 degrees so that leaking water would cling and run down the slope.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frame:  I've yet to see one that had a removable frame.  Mind you I haven't looked carefully. The original army cots required some dissassembly with tools to remove the frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  There is no reason I can see to use a coated fabric.  A medium weight nylon by itself should be sufficient.  You want it to breath anyway.  This may be a non-issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  If you can't find one, look at making one. 1&quot; PVC pipe and furniture corners.  Nylon with grommets set in it every 6&quot;.  The nylon wraps around the frame and is laced on bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  You may be able to wash one with a non-removable frame using a pressure washer at the car wash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, cots lack portability.  Certainly difficult to backpack.  If portability is a concern, consider hammocks as an option.  Not everyone's cup of tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T16:58:10.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9352" CreationDate="2018-08-04T17:03:58.673" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen these or very similar pics before.  Did you ask on another site?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't tell from the pix if there is mortar or just mud holding the stones together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a similar question it turned out there had been a bridge upstream that was taken out by either flood or ice dam.  The materials were spread for several miles down stream.  Some stonework was still intact in chunks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rebar I think is recent:  Someone using a chunk as a convenient way to dry socks around the campfire.  The rectangle of rocks looks much more ephemeral than the stone work in the other pix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T17:03:58.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20056" CreationDate="2018-08-04T17:17:06.133" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Martin's answer is good.  Adding a few tidbits:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most alcohol stoves will burn other alcohols.  Denatured alcohol usually refers to ethanol with an agent added that makes it undrinkable.  The 3 carbon alcohols (propanols) also burn well.  Iso-propanol is often marketed as rubbing alcohol.  Read the label:  Often comes as 70%, 90% and 99% alcohol.  Higher alcohols may have problems at low temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional sources:  Lacquer thinner is frequently a methanol blend. Try paint supply stores.  Should be available in 5 gallon pails or 45 gallon drums.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Race cars run on pure methanol, and they use it in quantity.  If you have a local track you would be able to get reasonable prices on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alcohol used to be used as anti-freeze, before the glycols were in common use.  May still be available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T17:17:06.133" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20104" CreationDate="2018-08-04T17:26:16.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A sand filter won't take out bacteria, but will take out larger critters like giardia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything that makes the water clear will increase the penetration distance of sunlight.  UV is tough on bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mud is not particularly harmful.  You can boil muddy water and drink it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(On the Athabasca and Slave rivers the current is strong enough to suspend coarse sand in the water.  At rest stops you can hear the sand hitting your canoe.  Our routine on these rivers was to dip a cup of water and set it on the bottom of the canoe to settle.  Blow the floaties (bugs, sticks, natural detergents...) off the top, drink the top 3/4 of what was left, swirl and discard the sand and silt, and start a cup for your next drink.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T17:26:16.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20084" CreationDate="2018-08-04T18:43:02.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;So the standard solution to this (a good quality rack with foam pads on the crossbars, cam straps, plus a bow and stern line) is a great example of the following basic engineering principles which require no math and can be applied to a great many practical life situations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Failure Modes/Effects Analysis (FMEA):  basically think through what might go wrong and take more precautions for failures that might kill someone vs. failures that would just scratch paint, dent roofs, damage the boat, etc.  Specifically, do not let the canoe come loose from the car on a freeway for any reason.  If it’s bouncing around destroying your paint that’s your risk to accept, just make sure it can’t come completely free and cause a high-speed accident for the people behind you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Redundancy / avoiding single-point failure:  one way of achieving safety is to have more than one system in place.  The classic example is a twin engine aircraft:  two completely separate engines which are not connected to each other at all and even have their own separate gas tanks provide a real margin of safety.  However there is only true redundancy if the systems are independent.  For example two ropes tying the boat to the rack provides redundancy to a rope breaking but not to the rack coming off the car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Six degrees of freedom:  Solid objects in ordinary life move exactly six ways no more no less.  They translate three ways (forward and backward, left and right, up and down) and they rotate three ways (roll, pitch and yaw).  So for each way it might want to move, something (a rope that pulls on it, a bar that pushes on it, something grippy that keeps it from sliding) needs to stop it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leverage:  it takes less force to pull on the end of a lever than it does to pull somewhere in the middle.  So for example if the canoe is trying to pitch up and down or yaw side to side because of wind, a rope at the end will have less force on it than a rope close to the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Human error” is often avoidable:  use of ropes introduces opportunities to do something wrong with your knot tying.  It’s harder to screw up using a cam strap.  This point is debatable and will depend on your personal familiarity with knots.   Cam straps like ropes must be checked to verify they are in good condition.  Closely related:  inventing  new things is risky, it’s hard to anticipate everything that can go wrong.  If you can use something off-the-shelf that someone else already tested a lot, that’s usually much safer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Making products is hard and you often get what you pay for:  built into the price of a good rack from a top brand are things worth happily paying for like materials, workmanship, manufacturing quality control, engineering, testing.  It’s so worth it.  I’ve loved the Yakima and Thule racks I’ve owned, amortized over years of use their cost per trip was minimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all of these come together in the standard solution:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a good rack, and strap the boat to it using foam pads that not only protect the boat but also provide friction that keep the boat from sliding around when the straps are tight.  In addition use bow and stern lines, each in a triangle from one point on the boat to some point on the corners of the car, to keep the boat from yawing or pitching in the wind, and provide independent redundancy that keeps the boat at least attached to the car even if the rack fails somehow.  Take advantage of the experience of the boatbuilder instructors who have probably done this a lot to come up with a great solution for bow and stern lines for your particular car (ways of wrapping around the bumper to hard points underneath, or bringing a strap through the gap beside the hood to attach to some hard point under the hood).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-05T01:15:55.087" LastActivityDate="2018-08-05T01:15:55.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20115" CreationDate="2018-08-04T19:57:30.027" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlike human visitors, Equines (horses, mules, and burros) must have their feet cleaned and be on a special diet several days prior to venturing on to the trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feed: Clean trailers, hooves, coat, mane, and tails prior to entering the park. Feed stock weed-free forage or processed feed a few days before the trip. To prevent introducing non-native plants in the park, use only certified weed-free forage— hay, straw, and mulch. Proof of certification tags required. Forage may not be taken beyond trailheads. Use pelletized feed, hay cubes, and grain products in the backcountry. Do not leave feed on the ground; use a feedbag or tarp. Pack out unused feed. Grazing not permitted. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/private-stock.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally Equines are only allowed on specific trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could not find any requirements for people to have clean shoes nor modify their diet prior traveling the trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are comparing apples to oranges, unless you happen to be vegan on a certified weed-free diet, without bowel control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I have been searching for officail documentation about cleaning up mule droppings.  I have not found anything that specifically says what the clean-up expectations are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like the trails you mention are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trails_in_Grand_Canyon_National_Park#Corridor_trails&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;corridor trails&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A corridor trail receives the highest hiking and stock use by visitors to the park and mule use by park concessionaires. To accommodate this, the National Park Service regularly patrols and maintains corridor trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would imply that the droppings are cleared regularly but not necessarily at the time of deposit. It seems reasonable that some clean-up occurs, as without some removal there would more than you describe. This clean-up would be more likely off peak tourist times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References for cleanup: (from comments provided by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20115/why-arent-the-mule-trains-outfitters-required-to-clean-up-after-their-animals#comment51973_20115&quot;&gt;Jan Doggen&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Xanterra has a small crew that attempts to clean up mule waste on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lately, they've been spending more time rebuilding trails than shoveling droppings. &lt;a href=&quot;https://azdailysun.com/news/few-neutral-on-canyon-mules/article_06b1071d-ee3f-5ae4-87a9-db016f84e7b6.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each year, the park receives numerous complaints regarding trail conditions and mule waste on the trails. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2010/03/grand-canyon-national-park-officials-want-keep-mule-rides-canyon5534&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T16:32:16.463" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14197" CreationDate="2018-08-04T20:56:03.313" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The shape of the ring matters.  If someone has stepped on it it will be flatter on that part and won't pinch the lid to the barrel rim as tightly.  Check that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the seal rubber is old it gets rigid.  It can also get nicked.  If grit gets into the either on the seal or in the groove where it seats it can leak.  I almost lost a camera due to a strand of grass caught between the lid and seal on my pelican case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rubber is old, you may be able to purchase a new seal from the maker.  These barrels are reused in some industries, and so people will refurbish them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had better luck with drybags such as Sealine.  Both MEC and REI handle them.  Much easier to deal with in the canoe, easier to portage since they have straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T20:56:03.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13202" CreationDate="2018-08-04T21:18:51.627" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been inquiring about lighting safety in general, and the more I read the less certain I am about anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  While boating incidents are a big fraction of lightning deaths, and deaths of fishers are over twice as great as of beach bums, there's a confounding factor:  Fishermen spend more time on the water, and are not dismayed by cloudy weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  The actual ground strike density is fairly low.  Alberta Forestry has a lightning detection system that is about 90% efficient at detecting ground strikes, and plotting them to an error of about 1/2 km.  Peak strike densities run about 4 per km2 per year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Strike density is not what you would expect.  The foothills an hour's drive from the mountains have over twice the strike density as the mountains themselves.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Height isn't as big a win as you think.  All other things being equal the protective cone is only about 30 degrees wide:  That is, a 100 foot high tree will have few strikes within 50 feet of the base.  A thousand foot high cliff will have few strikes within 500 feet of the base.  In mountains, average slopes aren't that steep.  (I'm trying to get data from Alberta's detection network to see if there is strike clustering on ridges compared to passes.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E:  In terms of risk the U.S. typically has 15-20 lightning deaths a year.  For comparison some 7000 people a year die slipping on the soap in their bath. *  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(As a commenter points out, most people bathe more frequently than they experience thunderstorms. Absolute risk: chance of an event happening.  Relative risk: chance of an event happening with other constraints.  The absolute risk of bathing is much lower than the absolute risk of thunderstorms.  The risk per bath or per storm shows bathing  safer.  If you compared risk per bath vs per audible strike, it gets murky.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;F:  The shoreline may not be safer.  Given the partial attraction to taller objects, the fringe of trees around a lake may get more strikes than the lake itself.  So you want an even spread of lower trees a few hundred meters away from a stand of taller trees.  This discussion on reddit's askscience &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1mm794/when_lightning_hits_a_large_body_of_water_how_far/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1mm794/when_lightning_hits_a_large_body_of_water_how_far/&lt;/a&gt; suggests that strikes have to be very close (20-50 feet) to have a dangerous effect.  You &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be safer paddling near the shore rather than going onto the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;G:  Consider the following scenario:  You're out for a day paddle, and are about an hour away from your cottage.  Storm comes up, lightning crashes, and icy rain is pouring out of the sky.  You go to shore, but you are still wet, and rain keeps you wet, and the wind's evaporation cools you more, and now not moving and not generating heat.  You cool off.  You start to shiver.  So the question then is:  Does being on shore reduce the risk of harm by lightning more than it increases the risk of serious hypothermia?  In the outdoors we often have to make this decision of relative risk of alternative actions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;H:  I have been caught by thunderstorms canoeing, and have gotten off the lake post haste.  Associated with these storms are often very strong winds.  I consider the wind to be far more dangerous than the lightning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does not mean ignore thunderstorms, but overall I consider the risk (Probability of death or serious harm) to be inflated.  Does not mean that you shouldn't avoid the hazard when reasonable to do so.  LOTS of things in outdoor pursuits have an element of danger.  The risks however are as much from the weather in the rest of the storm as the lighting -- wind can capsize your canoe, drive you onto a lee shore, or blow you far from shore to where the water is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; rough.  Rain can be blinding.  The combination cold enough to induce hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One time on Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan, we saw a squall line coming at us.  We made for shore and beached in dead calm, unloaded the canoes, and started to set up camp.  We brought the canoes up on shore.  10 minutes after we landed we had 3 foot breakers pounding the rocks.  Our camp was chosen in a hurry, and was a ridge of rock about 50 feet wide, and 8 feet off the water.  It was a spit sticking out then paralleling the lake.  The wind picked up one of canoes and carried over the spit into the water behind.  This was a 26 foot voyageur canoe weighing some 280 lbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall if the choice was to go out in stormy weather or sit inside waiting for your next heart attack, I suspect that sitting inside is the higher risk activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T13:04:38.947" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T13:04:38.947" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20124" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8918" CreationDate="2018-08-04T21:47:29.703" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't worry about padding anything.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I worked as the outdoor equipment manager for St. John's Cathedral Boys' School.  We had 120 kids in the school with a 3 week canoe trip at the end of each school year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing about paddles:  Don't walk on them.  The leading causes of paddle breakage was either being stepped on, or putting a canoe down on them.  The next cause was breaking when trying to pole free when stuck in a rapid or on a gravel bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wooden paddle maintenance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the season let it dry for 2-3 weeks.  At the end of that time, give the tip a coat of linseed oil, making sure it soaks into the frayed fibers on the tip.  If the shaft is rubbed free of varnish from contact with the gunwale, coat that too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In spring give the whole paddle a coat of marine spar varnish on any parts that are scraped and dull.  I prefer a satin or matt finish instead of a gloss as it gives better grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most houses are too dry for long term paddle storage.  This is true especially in northern climates in winter.  Dry wood is more brittle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep my paddles in the rafters of my open beam covered porch.  A garage works well too.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the school we kept the paddles in an unheated shed, stored in bins by length.  Each bin was a box about 10&quot; wide by 2 feet deep, and had a 2x4 frame about 4 feet off the ground.  Paddles were stored tip down in the bit with the handles between the 2x4s above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a split in the blade, drill a 1/16&quot; hole right at the top end of the split.  This will reduce the split from continuing up the blade.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a long split (5&quot; or more) drill 1/16&quot; holes about 1/2&quot; away from the split 1/2 inch apart on either side.  Using baling wire lace the paddle from the bottom much like a shoe, except that alternate crossings will be on opposite faces of the paddle.  With each pass use a pair of pliers to pull the wire as tight as you can.  If you have a lot of paddles to fix, having a jig so that you can clamp the paddle in a vice with the blade at right angles to the vice jaws will hold the paddle still while you pull, as well as holding the crack closed.  I've seen wired paddles go through 3 more seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A crack in the shaft just above the blade is terminal.  If you have 6&quot; or so of shaft between the blade and the crack start, you can wrap the shaft with braided nylon mason's line (about 1/16&quot; nylon braided cord).  Wet the cord overnight and wind it tightly. (Tie one end to a wall and you can lean your weight on the cord while winding the paddle)  Tie off, let dry for 2-3 days and put 6 coats of spar varnish on it.  This also makes for a nice grip.  The winding should start several inches before and span to several inches after the crack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are maintaining a fleet's worth of wooden paddles, having a hole drilled thorough the shaft just below the grip makes it easy to hang  hang a 2x4 at just over head height with 2.5&quot; finishing nails every 10&quot; along the bottom edge,so that the nail shaft is horizontal.  You can varnish the area by the hole, then hang that on a finishing nail  Once you get them all hung, you can do them fast with a spray gun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T21:47:29.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8119" CreationDate="2018-08-04T22:05:40.440" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stage 1.  You come around the corner and see the strainer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backwater.  The technical term is a backferry.  You want to move slower than the water.  Move the stern over a bit in the bank you want to land on.  Net result if you are any good, and the current isn't too bad is that you move sideways across the river.  Google &quot;backferry&quot; on youtube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not a trivial skill.  Your steering actions are reversed, and because most canoes are used stern heavy, steering is much harder.  The bowsman has a much more important role.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice backferrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practice it a lot.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(It's useful for more than saving your life from a strainer.  I use it all the time in rapids to change lanes, buy time to figure out a route, give my bow time to rise over a wave.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stage 2:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok.  The backferry isn't working.  You know you are going to hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hit it sideways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are going to hit something, lean downstram. Lean toward what you are going to hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is counter-intuitive.  You tend to shy away from the impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose that you are drifting into a strainer sideways.  At the moment of impact you have water rushing under you canoe, dragging the bottom of the boat downstream.  You also have water striking the side under the water line.  That water travels down under the boat dragging that side down with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The contact point on the obstacle is above this, so the tendency is for the boat to roll upstream.  Once that gunwale is under it fills very fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when you are drifting down on the strainer get ready to kiss it.  The person padding on the strainer side leans out as far as he feels secure.  The person on the river side stays in the middle.  Both people make sure their feet are unencumbered.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On contact get out on the strainer as fast as possible. If you have bow and sternline rigged try to take and end with you.  Do not let keeping the end slow you down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the canoe has no weight in it the drag from the current drops a lot.  Light tension on the lines can counter the roll.  Now you have time to think.  At this point, you can portage the canoe over the strainer into the water below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Strainers kill&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T22:05:40.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5890" CreationDate="2018-08-04T22:15:23.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Find an old aluminum external frame pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove the bag and discard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lay the barrels crossways on the frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut wedges that match the curve of the barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fasten the wedges to the frame.  (There is a certain amount of cut and try to this, depending on the frame)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have a frame that you can quickly lash two barrels to.  A variation on a diamond hitch works well for the lashing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  I prefer using a 70 litre sealine.  It has straps already, and full of food weighs close to a hundred pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-08-04T22:15:23.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5575" CreationDate="2018-08-04T22:27:42.810" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ethanol is usually sold as &lt;em&gt;bio-ethanol&lt;/em&gt; in Canada, although, strictly speaking, it is really &lt;em&gt;denatured alcohol&lt;/em&gt; (i.e., it has an additive to prevent people from drinking it). While you can get it from Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Lowes, Rona, Ace Hardware, and Walmart, it is generally more expensive than &lt;em&gt;methanol&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that &lt;em&gt;methanol&lt;/em&gt; (aka &lt;em&gt;methyl hydrate&lt;/em&gt;) burns just as well in alcohol stoves. &#xA;You can get 946ml bottles of methanol from Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Home Hardware, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and Rona.&#xA;You can get 500ml bottles of methanol from Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, and Rona.&#xA;And, of course, it's cheaper to get 3780ml containers. I recommend getting small bottles to carry on trips and large bottles for refuelling the small ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For other names, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20056/what-are-the-different-names-for-and-sources-of-alcohol-for-my-stove&quot;&gt;What are the different names for and sources of alcohol for my stove?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-03-08T23:13:19.747" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T23:13:19.747" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20112" CreationDate="2018-08-04T22:42:27.540" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are canoe and kayak versions of the indoor rowing machine. Essentially, instead of sliding back and forth, pulling an oar, to simulate rowing, you are sitting/kneeling in place, pulling/pushing a stick, to simulate paddling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example product images and product pages: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aIUtl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aIUtl.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vasatrainer.com/product/kayak-ergometer-kayaking-ergo/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://vasatrainer.com/product/kayak-ergometer-kayaking-ergo/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9VDhg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9VDhg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.kayakpro.com/speedstrokegym/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.kayakpro.com/speedstrokegym/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZIrMW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZIrMW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddlesporttraining.com/kayak-paddling-adapter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.paddlesporttraining.com/kayak-paddling-adapter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vWwKS.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vWwKS.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://stroke2max.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://stroke2max.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k6dgP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k6dgP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paddleone.com/produits/paddleone-k/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.paddleone.com/produits/paddleone-k/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-08-06T20:37:54.047" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T20:37:54.047" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19708" CreationDate="2018-08-05T00:43:04.150" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you suspected, in general it's not realistic that a duck would raise a swan, especially in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;INCUBATION:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A swan's egg is much bigger than a mallard's, so the mother mallard (hen) is not physically equipped to incubate it.&lt;/strong&gt; She can't cover it enough to heat it, and isn't strong enough to turn it over for even warmth. It also raises her up off the ground so her own eggs don't get the covering they need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the last egg is laid, the female mallard starts to incubate. She sits very tightly, and her brown plumage blends her perfectly to the background. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-do-ducks-nest/mallard-ducklings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The incubation period is different, with the swan's being longer.&lt;/strong&gt; Mallard eggs are incubated for approximately 28 days, swan eggs between 35 and 42. Once the hen takes off with her ducklings, the swan eggs would be left alone. The cygnets either wouldn't hatch or would die after birth. The mallard hen almost always incubates her eggs alone. With the swans the duties are shared, including both the pen (female), and the cob (male.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The duck eggs only need one parent, while the swans need both.&lt;/strong&gt; The drake (male duck) leaves the nest shortly after it's built, and the hen incubates on her own. The swans are incubated by both parents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Important imprinting communication takes place during the embryonic phase, and it's different for the mallard than the swan.&lt;/strong&gt; The ducklings communicate with the hen, and they initiate it. The cygnets communicate with both parents, and the parents initiate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Duck communication:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shortly before hatching, the nearly developed embryos produce clicking and peeping sounds inside the eggs. Known as &amp;quot;pipping,&amp;quot; these vocalizations help synchronize hatching among different members of the brood. The hen responds by making soft clucking sounds to her unhatched ducklings. These early communications are a crucial part of a process known as imprinting, in which the ducklings learn to recognize their mother's voice. This ensures that the brood will follow their mother when it's time to leave the nest.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/understanding-waterfowl-the-amazing-egg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swan communication:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even from quite early on in the incubation period, the developing embryo will be able to hear sounds inside the egg from the outside world. It is believed that the pen (female) and cob (male) make a number of sounds during the nesting period that they use to start the imprinting process of their offspring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the cygnet is born, the mother and father make a number of sounds the baby swans use to programme themselves to audibly recognise their parents. Each swan produces its own unique sound, rather like humans have their own unique voice. The pen has a slightly higher pitched sound than the cob.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swanlife.com/baby-swans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AFTER HATCHING:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The hen leads the ducklings to the water about 10 hours after hatching.&lt;/strong&gt; They can swim and feed themselves, but she needs to teach them what to eat. The down of newly hatched mallards is not waterproof, so the hen warms them with her waterproof down for a few days until they grow their own. She also protects them from other ducklings. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-do-ducks-nest/mallard-ducklings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ducks do not tolerate stray ducklings close to their own brood, and females kill small strange young they encounter.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The cygnets spend many more hours in the nest than the ducklings, and both the peg and the cob take them to the water.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swanlife.com/baby-swans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;It’s on their second day that the family will take their first all important swim.&lt;/a&gt; As with ducks, the cygnets need the parents to keep them warm in the water while they grow the proper plumage. However, young cygnets will get tired of swimming and climb on the pen or cob's back for a rest. (See picture below)  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swanlife.com/swans-first-three-months&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Although usually about 3 weeks, this can last up to 3 months.&lt;/a&gt; Ducks don't do this. Even if a hen tried to help a cygnet, it would be too big and heavy for the her, and it may fall off and drown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ducklings stay with the hen for at least 2 months before they can fly. During this time she's very protective.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She also protects her ducklings from attacks by other mallards. Ducks do not tolerate stray ducklings close to their own brood, and females kill small strange young they encounter. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-do-ducks-nest/mallard-ducklings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cygnets stay with their families for a longer period.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the cygnets hatch, swan parents live with their young for six to nine months. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141204-the-truth-about-swans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;After the mallard ducklings have flown, the hen wouldn't assume the responsibility for the cygnet for those extra months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all these factors in play, you can see why the story was just that, a story. Interestingly, I spoke at length with the Director of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trumpeter Swan Society&lt;/a&gt;, a conservation organization in Minnesota. This is one of the most common questions she gets, because people who've read the book want to know if it could be true. She said she uses these calls as a way to get people excited about swans and ducks, to encourage conservation efforts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She did say that in rare cases, but only in captivity and with a tremendous amount of work on the part of breeders or people who raise these birds, it has been successful. However, it's not the same as trying to it with chicken and geese, which can work because they're closer in physical and behavioral traits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swan pen and cob giving tired young cygnets a rest:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/stfdb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/stfdb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Swan family with cygnets&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://kids.britannica.com/kids/assembly/view/76509&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources for information referenced here and for additional information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-do-ducks-nest/mallard-ducklings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Mallard Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/understanding-waterfowl-the-amazing-egg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Waterfowl Conservation Center-Mallards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Ornithology, All About Mallards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan/lifehistory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Ornithology, All About Swans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swanlife.com/swans-first-three-months&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swanlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141204-the-truth-about-swans&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BBC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trumpeter Swan Society&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T21:11:44.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16317" CreationDate="2018-08-05T10:45:05.853" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A kayak has the general advantage that with practice when tipped over one can roll back up. For this reason I'd say it's preferable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, even with this advantage, if you're planning to go onto a lake far from the shore alone you will probably want to learn how to get yourself back into a boat if you do fall out and it fills with water, regardless of which boat you choose. You'll probably want to have a good idea of how long this takes, and how much gear you should be wearing to stay warm while attempting this. This is the problem with doing anything solo: you need a way to get out of any situation you could possibly get into. My advice would definitely be to not go out solo on your first big trip. If there's another boat nearby the risks of paddling a lake fall away almost completely, since worst case scenario they'll just drag you to shore, and you get a lot of valuable insight by just talking to this other person who has probably done this before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, to make this answer a bit more useful, I'd say in general single person kayaks are all around the most comfortable way of paddling. The boat is very nicely balanced because of how low you sit in them, and the double sided paddles are very efficient at translating the energy you put into them into forwards motion. Single person canoes always look awesome when I see them go, but that's because I respect how much skill goes into paddling it. Switching sides with the paddle all the time is annoying, making J-strokes to prevent you from having to switch sides wastes energy, and on top of that there's the balance issue with them sitting higher up. If you're looking for a fun challenge this might be it, for utility I'd prefer a kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two person kayaks often have a slightly higher top speed than single seater ones, but two or three person canoes typically don't because of how wide they need to be to achieve the same stability. Canoes can be a great option if you're looking to go with multiple people per boat plus a lot of gear, because the amount of space you have (for properly packed gear which is going to get wet) is huge, but if you want a one person boat I would suggest just making your gear fit into a kayak, you'll go a longer distance easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-08-05T10:45:05.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1130" CreationDate="2018-08-05T11:09:09.840" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to do axe or machete work with a knife bring a big fixed blader, like the ones made by Ka-bar, Glock or (as a sort of lower limit on the size and weight) Mora, to name a few. Folding knives are typically not up to the abuse, and if you have one that is up to it you can get so many more years of enjoyment out of that great knife you have if you don't use them for this. An alternative I've personally fallen in love with is a small plate steel hatchet that I can use as a knife (mine is a model sold under different brand names that don't have as much as their own website including &quot;Mcgyver&quot;, and the sheath is crappy by the way). If chopping is going to be most of what you do that's an option. You don't want serrations on a chopping blade. (A sawback is debatable, but definitely no serrations on the front.) Serrations are for cutting rope. They're a fine feature on for instance a folding blade you want to among other things cut rope with, not on a chopper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knives are lighter and handle easier than full sized axes, so using them safely is mostly a manner of common sense. Don't position your second hand or your thumb in such a way that you could conceivably cut into it. If you find yourself in such a position, reposition. (Or if you're cutting just do it very carefully, but chopping is not really a thing that can be done very carefully.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For splitting wood batoning is a very useful technique. You basically hammer the blade through a piece of wood. (Along the grain, you cannot use this to for instance cut down a tree, because there's no way to do it along the grain! So it's for splitting only.) You use a second piece of wood as a hammer, it's pretty cool. But again: sturdy fixed blade knife, you don't want pieces of blade flying around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-08-05T11:09:09.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16317" CreationDate="2018-08-05T19:02:27.827" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Speed versus comfortable pace of life&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaks are faster, if you actually have somewhere to go kayaks are the better option. If you want to watch the world go by with your dog sitting in the front then you want a canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Cargo&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes are generally bigger, you can take more stuff. In a kayak you'll have to learn to pack light with mostly smaller items. Even a big sea kayak can take a relatively small amount of cargo when compared to an open boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Big water&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaks handle rough water better and you have better control. Whether rapids or coastal waters you'll be better off in a kayak. Flat water and big lazy rivers are the natural home of canoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;In summary&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would advise learning both to a moderate standard, there are transferrable skills from each that will give you greater understanding of the other. Then decide which you would prefer to use for your journeys as it is ultimately a matter of personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T07:08:14.323" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20115" CreationDate="2018-08-06T04:49:26.550" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok the confusing term here I think is diaper. Which for me translates to nappy. Which means big nasty plastic lined item.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're referring to Manure catchers, these are items designed to short term hold some horse waste - think carriage horses on a wedding carriage and you don't want the waste dropping to spoil pictures etc. Or horses being used on busy streets. They're really for use in towns and cities. From experience on a two hour trek my horse could go at least twice, trekking on main roads and fields most people get used to seeing muck on roads around a horse yard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often these are made from plastic or vinyl with leather straps, which clip onto the saddle. So in doing this there may be requirements to changing existing gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be rather difficult to use based on the fact you have a lot of additional straps, and they tend to hold one poop at a time, so based on the above you'd be looking at a possible 1 stop to empty per mule per hour. Not all horses like items around their tail either (you can get saddle hooks that stop a saddle sliding forward on a horse with shallow withers) so bare the creatures comfort into consideration as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in assuming they have a number of creatures, using these could add considerable time to their treks. They would need to be regularly emptied which would take time. Also consider that horses wee a couple of gallons at a time, so leave a big puddles where they go, we can't and shouldn't try and hold this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially equine waste is great for the earth, it's a fertiliser. Like any animal waste you find on a trail, horse, dog, fox, rabbit - it's poop and it will go away. As stated by @JamesJenkins in his brilliant answer the diet they have is different to humans. Plus there is no guarantee it would collect everything. It's probably be more cost effective to buy a shovel, or a manure scoop and rake, which can move manure easily and pop it off the main trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fwrNi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fwrNi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Manure Catcher&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-08-06T05:17:31.460" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T05:17:31.460" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20141" CreationDate="2018-08-06T14:22:59.063" Score="4" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have several paper Ordnance Survey maps, but I don’t know how to easily access the back of the sheet without ripping or damaging my map while trying to unfold a very large area of paper. Are there any tips or tricks to help preserve the life of my map and keep it easy to read when I’m on the move?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16176" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T16:32:43.650" Title="How do you access the back of a large paper map?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8550" CreationDate="2018-08-06T15:26:44.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://theuntrammeledwild.com/2015/05/18/7-tarp-shelters/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog post&lt;/a&gt; has two crazy complex tarp pitches, for a 3x3 meter tarp, that are fully enclosed. I have never tried either, but they look promising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Summit Wedge&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cPxFL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cPxFL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Laavu&lt;/em&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ROx5T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ROx5T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/square-tarp-pitches/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Low Tetra&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; also seems like it might work&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdXSG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdXSG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T15:26:44.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20139" CreationDate="2018-08-06T15:38:27.407" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfold the map when you are home and then re-fold so the part you need is on the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to access both sides while out on the one trip, you may find a way to fold so that both parts are easily accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those trips where you have to use both sides of the map I would suggest to find a spot out of the wind to flip your map with the other side out.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Some people have the solution to have more than one map. Keep one in pristine condition at home and use the other(s).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T15:38:27.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20139" CreationDate="2018-08-06T16:32:43.650" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The laminated OS maps at least won't get damaged, but they're still troublesome in the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I used to go to Dartmoor a lot, I had 2 maps, one folded to north sheet, and one to south. That's the best way to go if you need to use more than one map,even though on any given hike I only needed one, as repeated folding even in benign conditions weakens the folds (and Dartmoor is always damp which hastens the wear) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-08-06T16:32:43.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20143" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20144" CreationDate="2018-08-07T05:48:23.677" Score="5" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently had a tour to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladakh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ladakh&lt;/a&gt;,  a region in India's &lt;em&gt;Jammu and Kashmir&lt;/em&gt; state.&#xA;The plan included a visit to (and camping at) lakes &lt;em&gt;Pangong Tso&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Tso Moriri&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Tso Kar&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These lakes are saline. Is it because these are Endorheic, or is it because of the kind of the rock these lakes are closed in (surrounded) by?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For someone, it may be simple enough to reason, but I am not entirely certain that it's saline because it is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Endorheic&lt;/a&gt;. For example, not all Endorheic lakes in the Himalayas are saline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional information:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I guess 'Tso' means a lake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tso_Moriri&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tso Moriri&lt;/a&gt; is located at an altitude of 4,522 m (14,836 ft)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangong_Tso&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pangong Tso&lt;/a&gt; is located at an altitude of 4,350 m (14,270 ft)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tso_Kar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tso Kar&lt;/a&gt; is located at an altitude of 4,530 metres (14,860 ft)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T22:56:09.467" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T22:56:09.467" Title="What makes some of the lakes in the Himalayas saline?" Tags="&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20143" CreationDate="2018-08-07T06:05:58.657" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In all of these cases it's because they are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Endorheic&lt;/a&gt;, which is a fancy way of saying that they have inputs but no outputs. The salt that is carried down by the precipitation is trapped in the lake with no where to go and so over time, the lakes become saline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Endorheic lakes are usually in the interior of a landmass, far from an ocean in areas of relatively low rainfall. Their watersheds are often confined by natural geologic land formations such as a mountain range, &lt;strong&gt;cutting off water egress to the ocean.&lt;/strong&gt; The inland water flows into dry watersheds where the water evaporates, leaving a high concentration of minerals and other inflow erosion products. &lt;strong&gt;Over time this input of erosion products can cause the endorheic lake to become relatively saline&lt;/strong&gt; (a &amp;quot;salt lake&amp;quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Endorheic lakes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Salt lakes form when the water flowing into the lake, containing salt or minerals, cannot leave because the lake is endorheic&lt;/strong&gt; (terminal). The water then evaporates, leaving behind any dissolved salts and thus increasing its salinity, making a salt lake an excellent place for salt production.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salt Lakes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freshwater does contain a little salt, eroded from rocks and soil.&lt;/strong&gt; Even though salt constantly washes into freshwater lakes, &lt;strong&gt;it also flows out at the same time&lt;/strong&gt;, eventually making its way into the ocean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Great Salt Lake is different from other inland lakes because it has no outlets to the ocean. Three rivers empty into the lake, but the only way water can exit the lake is by evaporation. When water evaporates out of the lake, it leaves most of its salt behind, just like in the ocean. In fact, the chemistry of the Great Salt Lake is similar to the ocean, except that it’s even saltier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/the-great-salt-lake/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Great Salt Lake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't specific to the Himalayas, there are quite a few lakes around the world that have this condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T06:05:58.657" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20112" CreationDate="2018-08-07T07:08:43.447" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without spending a fortune on a kayak ergo there are still useful exercises. These will tend to use body weight and and/or minimal equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the effort in kayaking comes from the core, so a good all round core routine will be an important part of any land-based training. &lt;em&gt;Canoe and kayak&lt;/em&gt; magazine published a set of core exercises for paddlers a few years ago (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canoekayak.com/skills/core-exercises-for-paddlers-part-i/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;part 1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canoekayak.com/skills/core-exercises-for-paddlers-part-ii/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;part 2&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need a few strength exercises, such as bench rows (only needing a bench and a dumbbell). With access to a gym you may be able to do pulley rows; a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.technogym.com/gb/cable-stations-dual-adjustable-pulley.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pulley machine&lt;/a&gt; is also good for the very important rotator cuff. Or there may be a lats and traps machine. This is designed to be used with a chest pad; as a kayaker I prefer to use it without, but with lighter weight, and work the relevant bits of my lower back. Don't neglect your legs completely - they're an important part of your connection to the boat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various guides online &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bodyresults.com/s2paddling-strength.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here's one&lt;/a&gt; that concentrates on body weight exercises. There are also several books dedicated to the topic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to maintain or even improve your flexibility; at least stretch properly after a strength session. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General fitness of course has to be maintained by whatever means you like. Apart from usually being open all year round, swimming has the extra advantage that it's a necessary skill for water sports so worth practicing. It's also less biased to legs than running or cycling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is very close to being an all round strength and fitness programme, so if you're into training in company a circuits/core class plus some cardio and a few shoulder exercises should be very useful (but I have neither the time nor the personality for gym classes so can't be more specific). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T07:08:43.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20146" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20153" CreationDate="2018-08-06T22:58:03.543" Score="6" ViewCount="1200" Body="&lt;p&gt;We found this snake in our backyard today. It was stuck in a mesh we use to protect a small fish pond from falling debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just wondering if it's dangerous. My kids play in the area where it was found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is well over a meter in length. It is black on top with a whiteish / silverish belly. I didn't notice any patterns (but maybe we just didn't look carefully enough).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The house is in a wooded area of Fairfield County, CT USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The snake wasn't injured or harmed. The mesh was removed and it was taken deep into the woods and released near a lake.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/QUhVRfX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/QUhVRfX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black snake in bucket&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/cNBwKDf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/cNBwKDf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Black snake on rocks&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14711" OwnerDisplayName="Michael_B" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2020-12-21T16:01:23.500" LastActivityDate="2020-12-21T16:01:23.500" Title="Found a black snake in my backyard. Is it dangerous?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20146" CreationDate="2018-08-06T23:24:26.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snakes_of_Connecticut&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia, List of snakes of connecticut&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whatsnakeisthat.com/category/region/northeast/connecticut/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WhatSnakeIsThat&lt;/a&gt; listing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems it most likely is one of these 3 based on the back color:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coluber_constrictor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Racer (Coluber constrictor)&lt;/a&gt; - 20 to 60 inches, white, light tan or yellow belly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantherophis_alleghaniensis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis)&lt;/a&gt; - 36-72 inches with a black and white checkerboard belly, doesn't sound like the right belly coloring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_redbelly_snake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northern redbelly&lt;/a&gt; - 12 inches and a red belly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diadophis_punctatus_edwardsii&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Northern Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii)&lt;/a&gt; - 15-24 inches at longest, red ring and red belly on body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd guess Black Racer/Eastern Racer among those 3 as they can grow to 1 meter and can have a light underbelly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the source pages, none of those are poisonous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16184" OwnerDisplayName="greggles" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-07T22:14:50.087" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T22:14:50.087" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20149" CreationDate="2018-08-07T11:36:34.763" Score="9" ViewCount="446" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an American who moved to the UK 2.5 years ago but didn't start doing a lot of outdoor activities until early this year (here, specifically, as the job that moved me over was very demanding at first.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such, I'm trying to find &lt;em&gt;documented and reliable&lt;/em&gt; information on Etiquette for hiking and scrambling that might not be the same as the US. Here are some specific examples, but a well written article from a reputable source that discusses discusses overall etiquette would be better than answers to these specific questions. Does anyone have such an article they could point me to? (Article could mean blog from a reputable source, vblog, podcast, magazine article, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) In the states, we frequently say &quot;on your left&quot; and then pass on the left when we mean to overtake. This is true for bikers, hikers, parents with strollers, etc. Plenty of people, especially in areas with lots of novices, don't know what you're talking about, but it's a widely accepted practice. I've noticed almost no one in the UK announcing a plan to overtake, but is there an actual preference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) In the states, cyclists and hikers should yield to horses and cyclist should yield to hikers (even though most hikers who also mountain bike will yield, knowing how much more difficult it is on the cyclist to start and stop, the established etiquette is frequently sign posted.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Priority for oncoming traffic of the same type. I've always heard that uphill hikers/scramblers should have priority over those going downhill. I was recently told this was not true in the UK and that people moving downhill should have priority. This was based on anecdotal evidence though of a crowd of people getting annoyed with a group who insisted on priority moving past a group of nervous children coming down a loose rock slope on Snowden in the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15099" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-08-24T14:02:11.290" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T14:02:11.290" Title="Hiking/Scrambling Etiquette? (UK Specific)" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20148" CreationDate="2018-08-07T12:13:02.970" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not very different but here are a few things that might help&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Coming up from behind, a greeting is more common than a warning. I'm often on a bike and if I'm gaining on a hiker or horse rider (on a bridleway where all are allowed) I'll call out &quot;good morning&quot; in a friendly voice (tone of voice especially important around horses and loose dogs/children). This may be followed by &quot;mind if I pass?&quot; or even &quot;mind if I pass when it's a good place?&quot; on narrow paths or when there are kids on bikes/in trailers. The same applies when hiking fast or running on a path. On some paths, bike commuting or out for a run, if the greeting doesn't get me noticed, I'll call a bit louder &quot;coming through on the left&quot;, or &quot;bike on the right&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Giving way (to use the UK term) is the same, with horses also having priority over cyclists. But plenty of people ignore this or don't know. I've noticed that casual walkers get further from the road in the UK than in the US, where more than about 1/4 of a mile from the car park you only see people geared up for hiking; in the UK you can be 4x as far and see people in flipflops. Slower people generally let faster ones go through despite technical priority, even people mountain biking on &lt;em&gt;foot&lt;/em&gt;paths (where it's not allowed).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Uphill generally has priority (also when driving on narrow surfaced roads, offroading may be different as stopping is easier going up). However most people would say that getting nervous kids to a place where they feel safe trumps that. Talking is generally the solution, as many people going up will be glad of a breather, and it's often easier on steep stuff to step aside to a stable position when going up. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fairly typically for the UK not much is written down.  For example the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/group-finder/areas/devon/groups/totnes/walks-programme/good-practice-guidelines-for-walk-leaders.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ramblers' Association guidelines for walk leaders&lt;/a&gt; mentions nothing of much use.  The closest we have to anything definitive is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;countryside code&lt;/a&gt;; the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ramblers.org.uk/advice/rights-of-way-law-in-england-and-wales/basics-of-rights-of-way-law.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ramblers' interpretation of parts of this&lt;/a&gt; is helpful. Scrambling in particular tends to fall in the gaps between climbing (lots of written guidance and best practice, skill and kit required) and hiking (anyone can do it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some activity-specific guides which are worth a ride even if you're just using the same space:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bhs.org.uk/safety-and-accidents/safety-advice-and-information/common-incidents/cycles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;British Horse Society&lt;/a&gt; have some guidance on horses and bikes sharing space (with a focus on the road, but covering bridleways as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;British cycling have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/skills/mtb/article/izn20170817-Mountain-bike-How-to-behave-on-mountain-bike-trails---Trail-etiquette---Trail-Smart-0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; with some guidance which gives a nice insight into the general etiquette of sharing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a nice summary, with some other aspects I hadn't considered &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wonderfulwellies.co.uk/hiking-etiquette-101-the-12-trail-rules-you-should-know/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.  This is written from an international perspective but is all in agreement with UK practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-08-07T14:18:56.777" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T14:18:56.777" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20150" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-07T13:36:41.157" Score="3" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://petapixel.com/2018/08/02/photographer-spots-mother-duck-with-giant-brood-of-76-ducklings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recent story&lt;/a&gt; of how one mother duck kept adopting more ducklings that weren't hers and eventually ended up with &lt;strong&gt;76 ducklings&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is called &quot;brood amalgamation&quot;, &lt;strong&gt;how common is it among ducks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:46:18.377" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T16:46:18.377" Title="How common is it for a mother duck to adopt ducklings?" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20146" CreationDate="2018-08-07T18:45:06.117" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Northern Water snake , check in Wiki. Black with light belly ( one of the common colors ) , still , harmless unless you are a fish. Based on my experience , he will be back as long as there are fish in the pond. I get Green Water snakes ( also black but don't live in northern states). I have a couple ponds with fish so I have had to kill a few snakes; chasing them away does not work. I don't kill snakes unless they eat my fish. I killed a cottonmouth only by mistake because he looked so much like a Green Water snake. I have very carefully cut a copperhead from the same type of netting. Also a Racer ( not poison but he drew blood- funny video) , then I removed the netting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T18:45:06.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20146" CreationDate="2018-08-07T18:45:42.097" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I cannot identify the snake myself, I would still like to partially answer your main question of &quot;Is it dangerous?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-experts can easily misidentify snakes, and even experts can misidentify them if they are not close enough to get bitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if properly identified as a non-venomous snake and deemed non-life-threatening, a snake bite can still be quite harmful and leave you with a nasty infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;In-depth&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should always treat a snake, as well as other animals of similar danger, as though it is a threat to you no matter what anyone you talk to says about it. There are multiple reasons for that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some animals, snakes included, have &quot;copy-cat&quot; species which are supposed to fool you.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, venomous snakes follow a set of coloring patterns and are identified by that. Even other animals can generally tell the difference between venomous or poisonous animals and non-venomous ones. But some animals are masked, blending in by using the coloring pattern of a different species specifically to fool animals, and by extension us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went to a venomous snake exhibit recently where someone was fooling people using this very trait to show them how they cannot trust their identification skills if they are not an expert. Even if you are an expert, we were told that some snakes cannot be distinguished for sure unless you are close enough to be bitten. She would show pictures of snakes and then bring out the real snakes, and some of them were nearly indistinguishable from the type they were mimicking; most people failed to identify them correctly even given pictures to reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sometimes creatures are moved by humans so that it might not even be a native to your area.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have 2 anecdotal bits of evidence for this right from my own area. I am fortunate enough to live in an area that has no dangerous venomous or poisonous creatures. I assume this is due to the long, cold winters. Yet the following two cases happened in my area...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, a friend of mine was bit by an unknown bug. He started swelling but thought little of it since we have no dangerous poisonous creatures native to here. Eventually he had to go to the hospital, and his treatment was delayed since doctors did not know what the source of his problem was. Eventually they figured out it was a spider bite from a spider that hitched a ride from down south. By that time, he head was swollen enough that he was not recognizable, but they did manage to save him. By the time I saw him a week later, he still had a huge bump in one spot on his head and looked awful. All because &quot;we don't have dangerous poisonous/venomous creatures in our area&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, it was in the news recently in a nearby county that a man was woken from his sleep in the middle of the night by a non-native snake falling on him. &quot;What the ----!?!&quot; you might ask... snakes falling on people in their sleep??? It turned out that he was in an apartment, and the neighbor who lived above him had a pet snake which had escaped its cage in the night, slipped between some floor-boards to get to the room below, and fell on the unsuspecting man while he was sleeping. Who would think they'd have a foreign snake fall on top of them in their home? Creepy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, point is, it might not be local.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Even if it is local and properly identified, it could be more dangerous than you believe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been instances of people being severely hurt or even dying when they did not receive an anti-venom because the species of snake was thought to be non-venomous or only mildly venomous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, even if not venomous, snake fangs can still mess you up by infection. I once was bit by a snake but thought nothing of it, because &quot;the snakes in this area aren't dangerous.&quot; Over the next couple of days the area around the bite got worse. After that, the top layers of skin started falling off and it looked awful and didn't feel good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to handle the snake&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Is it dangerous?&quot; depends just as much on how you handle it as it does what species of snake it is. I am not an expert snake handler, but I will share with you what I taught my son.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter how fast you think you are, you are not fast enough to ensure the snake cannot bite you. Many snakes can execute their strike and bite you before your reaction can even start to move your hand away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If wearing boots and protective leg covering (what constitutes sufficient leg covering varies with the size of the snake and its bite), I will hold the snake down behind its head with my foot, close enough that it cannot wrap its head around to byte at me, then I will grab it at the back of its head with my hand. The snake does not have enough slack to bite my hand because of my foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option: I use sticks to hold the snake in place safely until I can either move it with the sticks or grab it with my hand. Again, grabbing it by hand is something I only do if I can guarantee the snake cannot bite me because of how it is held down. This might not work well with larger snakes; I would probably try it with a medium sized snake like the one you had, but I would not get within striking distance if I did not feel the snake was safely held down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snake too large to collect by these means I probably would not try to handle myself. If they are big enough, their strike distance might be too far or their constriction might be dangerous by itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a snake that I cannot get at with my boot or a stick - the one in your picture looks like it might be oddly placed - I would try to use sticks to pull it out of whatever awkward situation it is in so that I could use my normal tactic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also buy special snake handling tools that assist you with moving snakes without touching them with your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Recap and Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-experts can easily misidentify snakes, and even experts can misidentify them if they are not close enough to get bitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if properly identified as a non-venomous snake and deemed non-life-threatening, a snake bite can still be quite harmful and leave you with a nasty infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not trying to scare you away from dealing with snakes. Despite what I have said, my son and I still catch snakes as a hobby. Rather I am warning you to be cautious even if you believe it safe; do not be careless in any encounter with any snake. If you grab it, make sure it is not able to strike at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T18:45:42.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19130" CreationDate="2018-08-07T20:09:02.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whenever I get a multi-tool knife now, I skip over the ones which do not have the saw. I do not understand why you can get one with screw-drivers, hole-punchers, and &lt;em&gt;even corkscrews&lt;/em&gt;, that would then not also have a saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used the tiny saw on my multi-tools, including the Victorinox Swiss type you have, many times. They get through saplings and small branches way better than trying to whittle through it with the knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have whittled through them with knives as well when no saw was on hand. That can be done, but it takes longer, is less efficient, and does not leave as nice an end on the wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The appropriate size range is small, yes. Wood too small, you could just snap it off, or small/green you can bend it and make a simple knife cut through the weakened part. Too large, then the saw will not get through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We need to remember what these multi-tools are for. &lt;strong&gt;They are not for fully replacing our larger tools of the same type. They are for quick use to avoid getting the larger tool out (or going to fetch the larger tool), or for emergency use when you do not have any larger tools.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I either don't have a proper saw or don't want to keep getting it out and re-packing it dozens of times, then I am going to try to void using any tools at all, breaking sticks with my hands or feet. Not even a knife is completely necessary here. If I have a knife, that slightly increases the reasonable size I can process. The tiny multi-tool saw does the same thing again; it slightly increases the size of wood I can process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have tons of wood of the size you can process easily with your hands and a knife, then the tiny saw is not necessary for you. If you have less wood options and would like to slightly increase the size of wood in your &quot;easy to process&quot; range, then the saw does that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's not way super useful, but it's a &quot;Why not?&quot; I would much rather have that saw than a corkscrew or leather hole punch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, if you can find a multi-tool that includes a knife and saw both larger than the normal multi-tool, say double the size, then that would be awesome. The saw would be much more useful. Let us know if you find such a thing. But even if not, the tiny saws on our conventional multi-tools are still better than no saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-08-07T20:09:02.337" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20155" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20156" CreationDate="2018-08-07T20:24:04.580" Score="3" ViewCount="376" Body="&lt;p&gt;The little pocket-knife multi-tools sometimes come with tiny saws on them. Those saws are somewhat useful but extremely limited in the size wood they can be used for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any multi-tools available which include bigger tools, including a saw big enough to be very useful compared to their tiny cousins, which are still small enough to be pocket size or possibly just a little larger?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these pocket-knife-saws are only 2 or 3 inches long. The sticks they are useful for are barely out of hand-breaking range. If we had a multi-tool that doubled that size, say 5 or 6 inches at least, that would be immensely more useful, opening up a much wider range of sticks/branches it was appropriate for, and it could still fit in many peoples pockets or on a belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up buying a pocket chainsaw in response to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20156/12799&quot;&gt;Charlie's answer&lt;/a&gt;. The pros and cons are large, so I'm sharing the results with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pro: The pocket chainsaw packs down very small and is not heavy. I decided to keep this as the saw of choice for the kit in question. Con: I bought a decent one, yet the pocket chainsaw does not seem to be nearly as good as a normal saw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I shopped around, read product descriptions and customer reviews and watched videos of various pocket chainsaws being used. I  bought what looked like one of the better ones which multiple people were swearing by, and it even comes with a lifetime guarantee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tested this saw on some 4-6 inch trees and branches. I was able to cut them up, which I couldn't have without a saw, but it took way longer and was more tiring than the same work with a normal saw. And it was very jarring; the cutting teeth stick out more and rattled my body with every stroke, leaving me sore. And the cutting motion and handles were awkward and left me with nasty long-lasting blisters on my fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would not recommend this pocket chainsaw as being better than a conventional pruning saw, bow saw, or other hand saw by any means, but it is a great addition for the purpose intended in this question. The pocket saw has drastically increased the range of wood I can cut with my tiny outdoor kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T17:08:33.750" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T17:08:33.750" Title="Are there any large knife/saw multitools for pocket or belt use?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20155" CreationDate="2018-08-07T20:33:05.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You for large saws that also fit in a pocket, it looks like the best solution is a &quot;pocket chainsaw&quot; which is basically a chainsaw blade that you pull back and forth with your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gF8lsl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gF8lsl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/pocket-chainsaw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are dedicated folding saws,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tbyi3l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tbyi3l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mowers2go.co.uk/garden/forestry-equipment/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and also large folding saws, some that are the same mechanism as say a folding knife, and some that are like are regular saws, but the frame folds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BQt1Ol.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BQt1Ol.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://uncrate.com/boreal21-folding-saw/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-08T03:35:01.747" LastActivityDate="2018-08-08T03:35:01.747" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5575" CreationDate="2018-08-08T11:22:59.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I couldn't find a Canadian Tire, I bought &quot;rubbing alcohol&quot; in a pharmacy. Works as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6220" LastActivityDate="2018-08-08T11:22:59.213" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="492" CreationDate="2018-08-08T18:39:12.097" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The consensus around the people i travel with is varied and the best answer to this is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;it depends&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keep the water in&lt;/strong&gt; - Keeping the water in does add thermal capacity but it's not as good as ice.  Water absorbs about 1 BTU/lb/F.  When all the ice has melted the cooler will start warming immediately, the water will absorb heat at that rate.  I would call &quot;Cold&quot; somewhere below 45F, so 1lb of water will absorb about 13 BTU's while it's warms up from 32F.  When ice melts, it absorbs about 144BTU/lb(enthlapy of formation) at a constant 32F temperature so keeping the water in the cooler gives another 9% thermal capacity before the cooler reaches 45F.  There are a couple of factors that may lessen this 9% such as the ice will melt a little faster since it's sitting in a bath of water(the heat transfer from the remaining ice to the inside cooler wall &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; be higher when bathed in water) but it depends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you will have cooler soup when you leave the water in.  If this is your food cooler, i don't think it's worth keeping the water in.  If it's your beer/drinks cooler than i don't think it's a bad idea to leave the water in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drain the Water&lt;/strong&gt; - Well for one, you avoid making cooler soup.  Also the ice &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; last a longer time for a couple of reasons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat transfer from the ice to the cooler wall &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; decrease.(Warm air will displace the water however the effect minuscule, even really hot 90F, humid 90%RH, air will add about 0.04 BTU/lb of water displaced. Considering ice absorbs around 144BTU/lb it's about a 0.03% impact so i'm going to ignore that effect). Water has a huge thermal capacity and conductivity compared or air. Heat transfer from the ice soaking in water to the cooler wall is relatively perfect convection and conduction from the ice to inside of the cooler wall. Especially if the water is moving at all, like sloshing around on a boat or in a car. Air on the other hand, is a very poor conductor and has pretty terrible thermal capacity compared to water on a volume basis(a pound of air takes up about hundred gallons while a pound of water is only a pint).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much longer the ice will last depends on the cooler, conditions and some really complicated heat transfer theory.  Making an educated guess that draining the water would increase the insulating ability from the ice to the outside by a 0.5 r-value.(if anyone is interested and able to come up with a full scale transfer model of the inside of a cooler please do, i would love to refine this estimate) A typical 1 inch foam cooler(think $25-30 cooler) with an r-value of 5, the ice will last about 10% longer draining the water.  However if you have a 2-3inch rotomolded cooler(think $300+ cooler) than you looking at only a 3-5% increase in ice lifetime.  That's less than the 9% increase you get from warming up the cooler soup!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't worry too much about exactly how much longer you can keep things cold since it really don't make a huge difference.&lt;/strong&gt;  I subscribe to the drain the water theory since it assures my cooler is always getting lighter and i don't have a cooler full of soupy water.  Lugging around a warmish brew of old food and beer water effin sucks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. I'm relatively confident in my numbers but if anything i have here is orders of magnitude wrong than please post and update.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16191" LastEditorUserId="16191" LastEditDate="2018-08-08T18:46:52.273" LastActivityDate="2018-08-08T18:46:52.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20155" CreationDate="2018-08-08T21:49:56.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another ultracompact possibility is one or more good quality blades from a coping saw, either with small pegs/rings that allow you to hold and tension the blade and cut using two hands, with a folding frame the parts of which you make and bundle with the blades, or with the intent to use found materials (tree branches etc) to improvise frame.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rTV3D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;(Image from rockler.com) Note:  just the blades — frame pictured for reference.  For inspiration I recommend an image search for “bushcraft buck saw”.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YJELo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A less compact but easier project might be a handle for a reciprocating saw blade (which ideally would cover the blade when stowed).  It could pivot but it could also just be repositioned and held in the assembled position by tightly wrapped cord and used gently.  Blades are available in a range of sizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XVEvM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also found this (to buy or copy):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdNAV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hdNAV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-10T03:39:02.457" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T03:39:02.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20163" CreationDate="2018-08-09T08:15:09.300" Score="12" ViewCount="950" Body="&lt;p&gt;I occasionally place slings on rock spikes as trad climbing protection. If the spike is not very tall or thick the slings can become easily dislodged as the rope passes though the quickdraw/carabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a better technique to hold the sling in place? I have considered using a clove hitch but this isn't always possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mainly use dyneema slings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T09:55:02.663" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T14:22:53.290" Title="What is the best way to place a sling on a rock spike so that it's prevented from lifting off?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20162" CreationDate="2018-08-09T09:10:59.633" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some ideas, with the usefulness depending on the terrain and rock quality and the terrain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hold it down with an upside-down nut:&lt;/strong&gt; Place a nut below the spike and clip it to the sling. The nut needs to pull down on the sling so that the sling won't move. The nut will only need to resist being pulled upwards slightly since its only purpose is to prevent the sling from moving.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tie it off&lt;/strong&gt;: On some spikes, you might be able to tightly tie a knot in the sling, so that it is held firmly by some feature of the rock (e.g. a crack, or some kind of protrusion) which prevents it from slipping off. A simple overhand knot works well is many cases. &lt;em&gt;Note: do not use a &quot;self-tightening&quot; knot such as a girth hitch to tie the sling around the spike. If there is no feature of the rock that prevents the sling from going up (such as protrusions or horizontal edges), these knots will tend to slide upwards and not down again and, thus, actually increase the chance of the sling sliding off!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weigh it down&lt;/strong&gt;: Clip some heavy-ish equipment (e.g. carabiners, hexes) to the sling, so that its weight counters the movement from rope drag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use fuzzier PA slings:&lt;/strong&gt; Dyneema slings are often slippery. If all else fails, a slightly fuzzy (i.e. not brand-new) and wider PA sling will provide more friction with the rock and might better resist movement if the rock is somewhat rough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T14:22:53.290" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T14:22:53.290" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4874" CreationDate="2018-08-09T09:31:40.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing that jumps out at me here is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have a bunch of alpine draws on my left gear loop, and cams on my&#xA;  right&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've recently stopped doing this. I now mix my gear and draws up, so &lt;strong&gt;both sides has some gear and some quick draws&lt;/strong&gt;. This allows me to access a piece of gear and a draw with a single hand, no need to change hands on the hold or do the awkward trying to reach the right side with my left hand manoeuvre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T12:54:14.587" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T12:54:14.587" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8855" CreationDate="2018-08-09T12:50:19.743" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another alternative that may be appropriate to areas where sport routes and trad routes do not coincide is to top rope while mock leading. You have your belayer put you on belay for a top rope set up, while also belaying you on lead. Obviously, they can mostly free-spool the lead rope and focus on keeping you from decking via the top rope, but you still get the experience of placing pro and having to clip in and everything else. If your top rope is a dynamic rope and the route is long and ledge-free, you can even fall test the lead placements without too much risk, although you get into the fun game of eyeballing how much top rope slack will let you load the anchor without decking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T12:50:19.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4874" CreationDate="2018-08-09T15:37:58.933" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a big part of speeding up is scouting the route from the ground (or knowing the area) and modifying your gear to the area in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are climbing at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Creek_(climbing_area)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indian Creek&lt;/a&gt;, you need a lot of one size cam, with a biner on the end. You place, clip, and go. There are probably so many you are going to rack on both sides. You never need to extend anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up climbing in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105798167/the-gunks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gunks&lt;/a&gt; where all the routes wander and go over these little roofs that cause rope drag from hell. Where you are a Gunks climber, the first thing you do when you get a new cam is cut off the sling and replace it with an extendable 1/2 shoulder length sling. That way you can rack with a regular cam length sling but rapidly extend it to a quick draw length sling and only have to worry about a single biner. I also keep a bunch of shoulder length runners with a single biner like &lt;a href=&quot;https://stephdavis.co/blog/extending-cam-slings/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Steph Davis&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HON66.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HON66.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the route looks really crazy you might even need to extend a piece with a double shoulder length sling. There is no really good way to deal with that, but different color clings and having them go the other way helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Places like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Tree_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;J-Tree&lt;/a&gt; are a real challenge because sometimes the cracks are splitter like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105721624/bird-of-fire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird of Fire&lt;/a&gt; and sometimes they slant or wander all over the place like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105722065/illusion-dweller&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Illusion Dweller&lt;/a&gt;. Since most of the routes are short, you can sometimes plan ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T15:37:58.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20173" CreationDate="2018-08-09T15:54:15.410" Score="30" ViewCount="6984" Body="&lt;p&gt;The situation:  you are backpacking and are above timberline.  Streams are ubiquitous, you are well equipped so exposure is not a problem, the entire party is uninjured and healthy.  But a large, rapidly expanding forest fire sprang up well after you left the trailhead, and your route down is blocked.  You have some food, but you will be on short rations if you have to take a long detour to get down.  (See option 2, below.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you (1) activate your PLB (see definition of PLB at the end of the Question); (2) climb up to a pass and try to identify a fire-free way down on the other side of the pass, and activate your PLB only if you cannot find what looks like a safe way down from the pass.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option (2) seems to me to be clearly the best, but are there dangers to doing this?  (The climb up is well within your capabilities.)  Under what conditions would Option 1 be best?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17158/how-long-after-a-forest-fire-can-you-safely-re-enter-a-forest&quot;&gt;See How long after a forest fire can you safely reenter a forest?&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit in Response to Comment:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thefreedictionary.com/personal+locator+beacon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;em&gt;a [portable] emergency radio locator beacon ..... capable of providing homing signals to assist search and rescue operations&lt;/em&gt;.  Many hikers and backpackers routinely carry a PLB to ensure rescue if they get in a life threatening situation, e.g., alone with a broken hip days from the trailhead.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-11T15:39:03.840" LastActivityDate="2018-08-11T15:39:03.840" Title="What to do if you are above timberline and your descent is cut off by a large forest fire?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20167" CreationDate="2018-08-09T16:18:47.200" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are not threatened there is no reason to activate your PLB.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/749/how-bad-do-circumstances-need-to-be-before-activating-a-plb&quot;&gt;How bad do circumstances need to be before activating a PLB?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a forest fire, there may be people who are actually at risk for their lives, activating your PLB where there is no real risk to your party, may cause the diversion of resources, that result in loss of life to others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably you registered at the trailhead, and you have a friend who knows where you are.  There should be aircraft in the area soon attempting to identify your location and risk level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt; I am pretty sure the likelihood of the registry burning before the rangers have a chance to retrieve it, is extremely low. Posted this follow up question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20176/&quot;&gt;Will the Trailhead Registry burn in a forest fire?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-08-10T11:48:03.363" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T11:48:03.363" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20167" CreationDate="2018-08-09T16:25:12.023" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Option 2 is better, as activating your PLB will divert resources that could be used to fight the forest fire, and put other people in unnecessary danger&lt;/strong&gt; (PLBs aren't a get out of danger free card).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fires rarely go above tree line,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpine tundra areas in the [Colorado] San Juans rarely burn because, according to Korb, they are typically sparse in fuel, and cool night temperatures bring increasing humidity which makes them wetter in than lower elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/07/colorado-416-fire-raises-wildfire-uncertainties/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and even then would be no where near as intense as below treeline where there are trees to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that fire tends to spread downwind, so hiking upwind is the better option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, people can hike farther on short rations much longer and farther than they might think and even if you all but run out, you can still go quite a long ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="9766" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T21:08:49.447" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T21:08:49.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20167" CreationDate="2018-08-09T16:44:06.327" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;A forest fire moves fairly rapidly (like 6-10 mph).  Once it consumes the vegetation it goes out.  If you stack a fire pit at best it will burn for a day.  Just wait a day or two and walk out.  Yes there will be some smoldering trunks and roots.  In a large remote fires hot shot crews will protect home by home and let the fire pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-08-09T20:02:56.093" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T20:02:56.093" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20167" CreationDate="2018-08-09T17:49:22.087" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question answers itself - &quot;above timberline&quot; indicates very little, if any, fuels for the fire, so the best option (assuming no life-threatening issues) is to stay put. As others have mentioned, forest fires move rapidly, so you'll be able to descend at some point. Also fires are heavily monitored by a wide variety of wildland firefighters, so you may run into staff or be seen from the air (in a clear area that is typical of being above the timberline) by survey or fire-related aircraft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Descending into an area freshly burned can be very dangerous, however. A number of experienced wildland firefighters are struck (often fatally) every year due to &quot;snags&quot; - &lt;strong&gt;trees that have been weakened by the fires&lt;/strong&gt; and are prone to falling without any warning or sound. If you must venture into a burned area, keep your head on a swivel and do not linger, for any reason!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T17:49:22.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17158" CreationDate="2018-08-09T20:10:51.677" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to caution against returning to recently burned areas for recreational purposes.  Give it a year or two for vegetation to return.  Traveling, even by foot, could cause irreparable damage when the rainy season comes.  Even without your help, the root structure is severely weakened.  Paths made on hillsides can quickly become water channels that promote erosion and slow the healing of damaged land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9952" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T03:38:28.133" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T03:38:28.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20173" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20167" CreationDate="2018-08-09T22:40:03.513" Score="13" Body="&lt;h1&gt;RETREAT&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your option 2 is best, but having said that, rescue crews will want to know you're out there sooner than later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the option 1 you described, you would be activating your PLB, then waiting for rescue above the treeline. Fire doesn't go very far above treeline, but smoke, ash, embers and heat do. Just because you're above the treeline doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be safe from the fire, you just won't likely get burned to death, but death by flames isn't the only way to die in a forest fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/feu-fire-kenow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kenow wildfire&lt;/a&gt; burned 38,000 hectares of forest last summer, the ash from the fire was piling up in my back yard 50km away. Air quality was so bad that we had to stay indoors with all the windows closed, and the sun was blotted out for weeks. If you are on a mountain directly above a blazing forest fire, your odds of dying from &lt;strong&gt;smoke inhalation&lt;/strong&gt; are pretty good, but breathing in a hot &lt;strong&gt;breath of superheated air&lt;/strong&gt; is what usually kills people trapped by fire.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation you described is the exact reason why parks require people to buy backcountry permits to go backcountry camping. Park staff need to have a record of how many people are deep in the backcountry, so they know in a situation like a forest fire how many people they need to evacuate. If you're going to a spot where they don't require permits, then make sure someone knows where you are, or at the very least leave a note on your vehicle indicating where you have gone and when you expect to return.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the backcountry and discover a fire, you must report it &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt;, especially if you are above the fire and it has you cut off from your escape route. &lt;strong&gt;You're best chance of surviving a fire is to reatreat!&lt;/strong&gt; If you are on top of a mountain, this means &lt;em&gt;getting off the mountain&lt;/em&gt;. Do not hang out on the rock and expect you're going to be safe, you need to get off that mountain as fast as you can, if you know of an alternate route, take it. Rations are the &lt;em&gt;least&lt;/em&gt; of your concerns when running from a wildfire. You can survive days without food and water, but you &lt;em&gt;will not&lt;/em&gt; survive breathing in unrelenting plumes of smoke or superheated air. (One caution with descending a mountain is to choose your route wisely; if you get ledged-out on the decent you can get yourself in just about as much trouble as being stuck in the path of a fire.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, your first course of action should be to call for help, if you have no means of contacting Emergency Crews, and no way to evade the fire, then use your PLB. Rescue crews will want to know that you are out there. The problem with using your PLB is that once you deploy it you typically need to hang around in one spot in order for rescue crews to find you. If you're in the smoke however, it's unlikely they will ever find you, so deploying it is not going to help you get found unless you can get out of the smoke to somewhere open and visible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T22:40:03.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17158" CreationDate="2018-08-09T22:52:13.200" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now that parts of the Park have been reopened, I've learned that there are several answers to this question. In the case of &quot;when is it safe&quot;, the answer is essentially, &quot;when the fire is out&quot;. There will still be hazards however: There may be hot spots, or hot coals smoldering underground. Falling trees and rock slides are a hazard, as the fire will also burn the top layer of hummus, which make the ground vulnerable to erosion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of a National park, there are other considerations other than the safety of people entering the park. As the natural growth recovers, the soil is vulnerable to invasive species. Patrons entering the park with dirty boots could introduce an invasive plant that could completely take over the whole park, so controlling the regrowth, and giving it an opportunity to do so uninterrupted is beneficial.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is at least one other reason the park officials have kept the park closed as long as they have as well: &lt;strong&gt;Archaeology.&lt;/strong&gt; Burning off the top layer of soil apparently makes it much easier to find ancient Indian artifacts! Artifacts such as arrow heads and glass beads are being found all over the burnt areas of the park just laying on the ground. Archaeologists have been sifting through the ashes gathering up as many as they can find, and they have been able to identify hundreds of ancient camp sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-08-09T22:52:13.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20176" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-10T11:45:17.253" Score="4" ViewCount="350" Body="&lt;p&gt;I posted an answer for a recent question about a forest fire that started after your hike began, that said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Presumably you registered at the trailhead, and you have a friend who knows where you are. There should be aircraft in the area soon attempting to identify your location and risk level. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20168/4079&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A comment was posted in response&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The trailhead registry will probably burn in a forest fire. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20167/what-to-do-if-you-are-above-timberline-and-your-descent-is-cut-off-by-a-large-fo/20168#comment52074_20168&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience the trailhead registry is usually elevated on posts in a mostly cleared area. The paper register form is inside a closed boxed, that should protect it from the rain and any fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that in the event of a new forest fire, the forest rangers would check all the trailhead registries in the area to assess for hikers at risk.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling images found mostly what I expected.  I searched and did not find any thing one way or the other about what the likelihood of the registry burning before the rangers had a chance to retrieve it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: In many cases hiker must register at the ranger station, or through some other means (electronic).  This question is only about paper registry at the trailhead location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-08-11T23:46:19.033" Title="Will the Trailhead Registry burn in a forest fire?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17158" CreationDate="2018-08-10T12:13:52.143" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;With training and while accompanied by experienced people, &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt; can safely enter the burned area of a forest fire, while the fire is still burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an entire career field dedicated to the practice it is called 'Wildland Firefighting' and in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/fire/careers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US alone about 10,000 people are employed by the National Forest service&lt;/a&gt; Additionally there are multiple private firms that hire and train seasonal workers for the job.  The vast majority of these people are on the ground, ahead and &lt;strong&gt;behind&lt;/strong&gt; the fire line.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have been a Wildland Firefighter, and have entered multiple forests during a fire. The highest risk is not in the burned area, it is the area ahead of the fire, where all the dry fuel is.  While there are some risks in the burned area, it is much safer than, the area full of dry fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As pointed out in the existing answers, the public is &lt;em&gt;mostly&lt;/em&gt; prevented from entering the burned area to protect the area, not the people.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T12:13:52.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20176" CreationDate="2018-08-10T13:57:20.680" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They probably will burn, see this one for example,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.14ers.com/photos/laplatapeak/mRLapl_201.jpg?lastupd=20180205&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/glacier-trailhead-kiosk/619444&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also wood has a higher ignition temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes they are in metal boxes on metal posts, but quite often they are wood or metal boxes on top of wood posts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They don't always have paper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The paper doesn't always have space for new entries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;People forget to sign them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;People forget to mark that they are out of the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People enter at one trailhead and leave by another.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all in all, they are not a perfect source of information on who is in the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-11T23:46:19.033" LastActivityDate="2018-08-11T23:46:19.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19130" CreationDate="2018-08-10T17:11:16.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find those mini saw blades very useful when trying to make repairs to gear or improvise with found objects (not necessarily tree branches)— for cutting notches in a piece of wood to hold cord or wire, for hacking through a plastic drum or car bumper or motorcycle fender, for (slowly) making a long cut in a panel too tough for a knife.  You can also notch around the perimeter of a fairly thick dry branch as a means of breaking a piece at a certain length by bending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T17:11:16.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18622" CreationDate="2018-08-10T22:20:35.317" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don’t know of anything off the shelf that is a magnetic connector but there is a thing called a “cable pass-through” or “cable gland” that you could use to pierce the netting and pass your cable through while sealing it from insects.  Go to an electricians shop and describe what you’re up to.  Alternatively if you don’t mind ugly, you could hand stitch or glue a patch of camp mattress foam into the netting with a slit in it that would allow you to push your wire through while keeping out the bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IkGO2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IkGO2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-10T22:47:54.990" LastActivityDate="2018-08-10T22:47:54.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9256" CreationDate="2018-08-11T00:09:34.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just wanted to add another in the category of a frame with wheels strapped to one part of the boat, and a hitch strapped to the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I strongly recommend wheelchair wheels, the axles of which fit in a ½” or 12mm hole (depending on your country) and handle the side loads of a trailer without needing support on both sides of the wheel. Pneumatic tires give the best performance by a significant margin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the hitch, a sloppy fit between a bolt and a thick walled tube or pipe allows pivoting and a few degrees of roll (for turns) and pitch (for hills) without too much rattle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYb88.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DYb88.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jj20Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jj20Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6B85r.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6B85r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T09:53:08.453" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T09:53:08.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6466" CreationDate="2018-08-11T19:58:55.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is maple sap, I'd try plain ol' soap and water, since it is not oily like pine or fir. Oil and solvent based cleaners often fail on aqueous crud. I haven't had to deal with maple sap, but I've had to deal with tools contaminated with mouse excrement, which stubbornly refused to come off with toluene and acetone. Dish washing soap (and water) did the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16208" LastActivityDate="2018-08-11T19:58:55.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20184" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-12T15:30:09.430" Score="18" ViewCount="18916" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am going on a 10 mile hike and the book says the hike is 10 miles out and back, how many miles will it be total?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16209" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-12T19:27:56.550" LastActivityDate="2019-09-14T01:39:33.770" Title="What does &quot;out and back&quot; mean in terms of understanding the length of a trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20184" CreationDate="2018-08-12T15:35:40.813" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out and back is the same as total. The 10 mile trail might be 5 miles out and 5 miles back, for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take a different route back, the numbers might not be the same. For example you might go out, around the base of something, up the far side, down the near side, then rejoin your original trail to come back to the trailhead. Maybe that would be 5.5 miles out (to the peak) and 4.5 miles back (from the peak.) But the total is what you are told.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's said that way for two reasons: first, If I said it was a 5 mile trail I would need to clarify whether that's 5 miles each way for a total of 10, or a total of 5. Second, they are telling you the shape - it's &lt;strong&gt;either&lt;/strong&gt; an &quot;out and back&quot; route or a &quot;loop.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T13:45:02.293" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T13:45:02.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2018-08-12T17:00:19.903" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes but try a traditional Greenland kayak paddle&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You absolutely can although as mentioned above you are sitting closer to the water and may therefore need a shorter paddle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, as your seated posture is different (if you really want to take advantage of the narrow kayak hull it’s best to be low and “locked in “ to the hull with your thighs) you may find the paddling ergonomics vary enough that you may not see the benefit of all your muscle memory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also sit in a canoe-seat posture in a kayak, which gives you your strong familiar paddle ergonomics but raises your center of gravity and wind profile substantially.  if the kayak is wide and stable this may serve you well, you will have a canoe-like craft which has lower freeboard so it will catch less wind, and better protection from chop (especially if you use a spray skirt).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, a kayak paddle gives you the ability for instantaneous, instinctive brace strokes (strokes to keep you upright if tipping) on either side of the boat without having to move the blade over your body.  That’s part of what allows you to paddle a more narrow, more tippy hull in rough water with great confidence.  In turn, the narrow hull pierces the wind and chop, and the low-seated paddler hides from the wind.  This is great for the ocean of course but it’s also great for a long day exploring a lake where breezes can kick up short steep waves before you get back home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also really enjoy learning a new paddle (just as you apparently have embraced learning skills with the canoe paddle).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend at least trying Greenland paddles (pictured—-full length and “storm” length which is paddled much like a canoe paddle), they are equipment designed by subsistence hunters and can be paddled very quietly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you’re shopping for a kayak: Borrow a few or find a shop that lets you demo gear before a final purchase and spend enough time in higher performance hulls to get past the initial feeeling of instability, before deciding on the amount of tippiness that fits your needs.  I for example love fast boats but in practice want to be able to take a photo or eat a sandwich so I stay with touring hulls vs either racers or recreational boats.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G6MVV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G6MVV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://greenlandpaddlebook.com/Paddle_Gallery.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://greenlandpaddlebook.com/Paddle_Gallery.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T20:04:26.870" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T20:04:26.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20187" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20196" CreationDate="2018-08-12T17:47:53.793" Score="8" ViewCount="861" Body="&lt;p&gt;An entrepreneur is planning a campsite-hotel in Romania, &lt;strong&gt;with a full outdoor gourmet restaurant attached, with an outdoor kitchen.&lt;/strong&gt;  There will be no cabins or other living structures, only tents and tepees. This campsite-hotel//restaurant should be attractive to people without much, if any, outdoor experience and allow them to live and eat outdoors without worrying about their safety from European brown bears. Living outdoors will be beyond the comfort level of many of the customers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;European brown bears are a danger in Romania, however docile they may be in other parts of Europe.&lt;/strong&gt;  See this article from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-romania-bears/romania-police-track-bear-after-latest-deadly-attack-idUSLNE88I02E20120919&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reuters&lt;/a&gt; and this article from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.romania-insider.com/bear-attacks-central-romania/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Romanian Insider.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need to enclose an area &lt;strong&gt;at least&lt;/strong&gt; 50 meters by 50 meters (164 feet by 164 feet) or 0.6 acre.  For many reasons, I do not consider electric fencing as an option. It needs to be a physical concrete-pole fence. Metal will rust and/or will need to be painted regularly, and wood will be too weak probably. The area contains apple trees, and vegetables will be planted inside the area.  There will be at least two enclosed areas, one for sleeping and one for eating.  Parts of the fence will be behind bushes, so people will not feel confined, but they will know it is there for their protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What height does the fence need to be, and possibly any other parameters? Not sure if spikes at the top would be of any use? Likely the fence will need to be quite strong, with concrete poles smaller distance apart then the size of a bear, so he can't pass between by breaking the weaker material between the poles.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is this feasible at all, or will bears break through anything, and climb over any fence?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answers started going in the wrong direction, talking about locking away smelly food. Please focus on answering the question about parameters of the fence, not suggesting other solutions. There will be just too much smelly things inside to lock away: a large outdoor kitchen, restaurant, cafe, full-size freezer, not to mention growing vegetables and keeping chicken for eggs and goats for milk and meat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prevent obstructing the view and looking like a prison, I want to construct this as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-ha&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ha-ha wall&lt;/a&gt; but on a slope, here is a cross section (1):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Aha_arch_ogrod%C3%B3w.svg/800px-Aha_arch_ogrod%C3%B3w.svg.png&quot; alt=&quot;ha-ha wall on a slope cross-section&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9884" LastEditorUserId="9884" LastEditDate="2019-07-14T02:09:17.550" LastActivityDate="2019-07-14T02:09:17.550" Title="how high does a fence need to be to prevent European brown bear to climb it?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="24" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-12T19:03:59.010" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you look at zoos they have like 12-15 feet (4–5 metre) of cement.  If you are going to lay that many poles might as well pour a fence but it will not be cheap.  You could probably build a small log cabin for less money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T09:52:05.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T09:52:05.677" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20232" CreationDate="2018-08-13T00:50:39.547" Score="3" ViewCount="1175" Body="&lt;p&gt;We found a few things which we think are cocoons on a tree at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/wachusett-meadow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mass. Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary&lt;/a&gt;, on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wachusett.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Wachusett&lt;/a&gt;, in Princeton, Central Massachusetts, USA. It was last week, mid-August. The tree stands alone on the lawn by a dirt road, without any other tree or bush on either side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's by a stonewall which has a bench for sitting and wildlife viewing. We usually go there once a week, but this time it had been two weeks. The cocoons were big enough to be highly visible, so I'd expect we would have noticed them before, but I can't guarantee it, so I don't know their age. They varied in size, so perhaps they weren't all built at the same time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have curled up and killed any leaves that are inside, so they're brown. They're attached to the tree by elaborate netting. The tree has berries, and each cocoon is woven such that there are berries inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside each are a lot of tiny black dots. There are also black bugs which look and walk like inchworms, though much smaller. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's living in those things, and what will they grow into?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I apologize for the poor quality pictures. They were taken with a small phone in a hurry, in a mottled mix of sun and shade.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This shows all the tiny black dots. There are a few of the black bugs too, the most visible of which is on the lower left side:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ee77O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ee77O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture is discolored and blurry because it was looking up from underneath and the sun was above. All of those skinny things are the black bugs: &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCBrG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RCBrG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next two are on a different section of the tree:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fkYPy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fkYPy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BUngS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BUngS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a good view of the netting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/reZVA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/reZVA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This section is underneath the existing cocoons, closer to the base of the tree. The leaves show some evidence of damage and holes, so something has likely been eating them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tUhwd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tUhwd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is most of the whole tree. I posted it to show the size and shape. Unfortunately, all the cocoons are on branches to the right, so they aren't in the picture!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0qj02.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0qj02.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T23:48:06.360" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T23:48:06.360" Title="What is growing in these cocoon-looking structures found on a mountain in Massachusetts, USA?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;worms&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20190" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20499" CreationDate="2018-08-13T09:01:17.767" Score="4" ViewCount="306" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an old Plano plastic tackle box that I am trying to clean up. It has these places on the underside of the lid. I’ve tried a few different things to clean it up to no avail. This box has been stored in attic and in unheated area for 25 plus years. Any guess as to what it is and how to clean it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GwACa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GwACa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16217" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T20:51:55.490" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:49:23.483" Title="Cleaning top inside of old Plano tackle box" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-13T12:03:24.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lacking clear evidence/reports that the Eurasian Brown Bear is actually a problem anywhere I am issuing a frame challenge in suggesting &lt;strong&gt;just stop worrying about bears&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want a passive bear-defence mechanism such as a non-electric fence it would need to be built exceptionally sturdy and rather high. This means a high initial investment and probably considerable maintenance costs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From my current experience in hiking/trekking/camping in Europe bear safety is not a topic that is often talked about. Even in some areas where the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2vbrjr/bears_in_europe_14601600/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;map you linked&lt;/a&gt; shows permanent bear populations (e.g. northern Sweden) bear safety is not an issue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, your outdoor-seeking campers might well not like it very much to spend their tranquil camping days behind a massive fence. So unless the area to be fenced off is very large - large enough for the fence to be somewhere out of site (meaning &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; higher costs!) - the presence of the fence could likely &lt;strong&gt;decrease&lt;/strong&gt; the appeal of your camp ground instead of increasing it. This is &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; true if the bear-safety aspect is not something that potential campers are worrying about (which in my experience is not the case in Europe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If&lt;/em&gt; you are absolutely set on a fence, then I think the only viable option is an &lt;strong&gt;electric fence&lt;/strong&gt;, similar to what is used for cattle/horse pastures. These come in different strengths/voltages and I can't tell you which you would need. But I know that electric fences are used regularly and successfully to protect camps in heavy bear areas.&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; Note that an electric fence is a &lt;em&gt;deterrent&lt;/em&gt; rather than an impregnable barrier - but they are affordable, can be built (comparatively) low to the ground and the batteries last for months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;: For example &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davidbittner.ch/en/about-me&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this guy&lt;/a&gt; spent months and months photographing the biggest species of brown bears on Kodiak island. He used electric fences to protect his camp sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T13:57:42.043" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T13:57:42.043" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2018-08-13T14:31:33.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife just got into diving and had this same problem.  The solution for us was to uncap all openings and then attach a small fan to blow air through the BCD.   The problem is mating the fan to the BCD.  I solved this problem with a couple of rubber bands and cheapo disposable plastic grocery bag (we call them WalMart bags).  Do this after rinsing the inside of the BCD with clean water and vinegar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut the handle off the bag with scissors.  Cut the seam out of one corner in the bag so the hole is bigger than the BCD hole.  Put a couple of rubber band wraps around the bag and slip it onto the BCD hole.   Obviously, use other rubber bands to attach the other opening around the fan.  I happen to have a couple of old computer fans but a hair dryer on low (No heat!!!) would also work.  Let it run a couple hours, rotate the BCD to another position every 30 minutes or so to get the internal water out of small pockets.  You should feel air blowing out the other BC openings.   Small leaks in the bag are no problem, you should adjust the rubber band or get a new bag if there are bigger leaks.  The rubber bands have to be tight enough so you don't blow out a corner of the bag due to air pressure.  If you have problems, add another rubber band or another loop in the current rubber band.  Lower air pressure also works, so turn the fan down.  You don't need high volume, just constant air flow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water will evaporate quickly if it is spread out over a surface inside the BCD, it will take days if there is a pool of water collecting in some corner.  This is why the BCD is rotated occasionally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16220" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T14:31:33.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-13T15:00:38.410" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The existing answers, should be considered. But given that the OP wants to know how high to build a fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know from &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11126/will-black-bears-actually-follow-you-up-a-tree/11161#11161&quot;&gt;experience&lt;/a&gt; that bears can climb 20 feet (&lt;em&gt;6 meters&lt;/em&gt;) without diffuclty in seconds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say the lowest height to be safe is probably around 100 feet (&lt;em&gt;30 meters&lt;/em&gt;) but that is just to get the bear bored from climbing.  In which case they would probably just dig under it, if they really wanted in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Said another way: There is &lt;strong&gt;NO&lt;/strong&gt; max height that will keep a bear from climbing over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T15:00:38.410" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6377" CreationDate="2018-08-13T15:20:13.393" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plain water is certainly the best choice, but it can be awfully boring. If I need something else I usually bring some single serve drink mixes, either crystal light or the Walmart branded ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, some of the single serve drink mixes are available with caffine/b vitamins. Not the best thing for hydration, but when your camping and don't feel like making coffee they can be a nice alternative. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16050" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T15:20:13.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-13T17:14:59.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Turn your fence into a cage.  If you have a 50×50 m² area, surround it by a 4 metre high fence,  and fence the roof as well.  That's 4×50×4 m² = 800 m² of fencing for the walls and  50×50 m² = 2500 m² for the roof, 3300 m² of bear-proof fence in total.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that sounds unpractical, rethink your business idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T17:14:59.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-13T17:53:04.707" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;While caging animals is slightly different than keeping animals out, it probably provides the best evidence for specifications. Animal enclosures need to be secure, because animals frequently attempt to escape enclosed spaces. I have never heard of a large animal attempting to break into an enclosed space. Sure, bears try and steal food from cars and sheds etc, but jumping a fence to get to food that is 25 m away seems different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://lionstigersandbears.org/standards-of-care-new/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;standard of care&lt;/a&gt; for large animals (including bears) says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the upright members should be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at least 1-5/8 inch schedule 40 steel pipe (2-3/8 inch at the corners),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at least 8 feet high (most of the LTB enclosures are 12 feet high),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sunk in concrete to a depth of 18 inches, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no more than 10 feet apart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, the chain link fencing should be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;made of at least 9-gauge chain link (large animals are quite capable of destroying fencing weaker than that), including fasteners of the same gauge;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;with schedule 40 steel pipe placed horizontally at 4-foot intervals or where the animals are likely to exert pressure, beginning at ground level (so the fencing cannot be pushed out).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, unless the fencing is at least 16 feet high, it should have a chain-link roof with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cross-members of schedule 40 pipe, again at 4-foot intervals, or in the shape of a truss.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... Some sort of perimeter fencing is absolutely necessary as a back-up in case an animal escapes its enclosure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... each perimeter fence should itself be at least 8 feet high, and built to the same standards as the interior fence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some more details methods and alternatives listed in &lt;a href=&quot;http://lionstigersandbears.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/housing1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;appendix b&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those of us who use metric sizes, conversions approximately.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Upright members 1-5/8 inch (41 mm) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pipeflowcalculations.com/tables/schedule-40.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;schedule 40 pipe see this page&lt;/a&gt; 2-3/8 inch (60mm) at corners.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;8 feet (2.44 meter), 12 feet (3.66 meter)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;18 inches (460 mm)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Chain link fencing gauche 9 (wire 2.9 mm diameter) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pyromation.com/Catalog/W03.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;See this PDF file.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;4 feet, (1.22 meter)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Unless the fence is 16 foot (4.88 meter)high it needs a roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T19:25:47.793" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14017" CreationDate="2018-08-13T19:42:46.163" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have electricity available and are willing to spend some money: I have seen divers use small electric blowers for boots and gloves.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;These seem fine for a BCD as well. Hang it above the blower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T19:42:46.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20198" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-13T20:05:02.617" Score="3" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a bunch of hair jigs inside an old tackle box that has been stored in attic. Several of them appeared unopened, but there was a yellow powdery substance in bag. Anybody know what substance is and have they seen it before?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/05K7F.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/05K7F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16217" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-13T20:09:37.480" LastActivityDate="2018-08-13T20:09:37.480" Title="What is this yellow powder substance in a bag with yellow hair jigs?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20199" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-14T07:52:27.437" Score="3" ViewCount="202" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowepro.com/uk-en/photo-sport-bp-300-aw-ii-black-lp36890-pww/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LowePro Photosport BP 300  AW II&lt;/a&gt; backpack for hiking and a camera. The old model of this bag had the proper straps to fix the tent but in the new model (which I have), I don't know how do I fix a tent the bottom of the bag (or anywhere else).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Old model of the bag:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JACFT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JACFT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My bag:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yta4A.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yta4A.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16163" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T07:32:24.857" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T07:32:24.857" Title="How to fix camping tent properly on LowePro Photosport BP 300 AW II" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20201" CreationDate="2018-08-14T13:55:04.893" Score="9" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the techniques while  navigating in the outdoors is known as &lt;strong&gt;contouring&lt;/strong&gt;, what does this mean and when would it be useful?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T19:41:57.837" Title="What does contouring mean in the context of navigation/orienteering?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20200" CreationDate="2018-08-14T13:55:04.893" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Contouring means to &lt;strong&gt;follow the contours of the land&lt;/strong&gt; to your destination, trying to &lt;strong&gt;stay at the same elevation&lt;/strong&gt; as you work your way around the hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this example you would walk up the hill, and upon reaching the given height, stay at that level while walking towards the destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bufwQ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bufwQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, in places without trails, you will &lt;strong&gt;know the elevation of your destination&lt;/strong&gt; (this can be very useful for &lt;strong&gt;small destinations like abandoned mines or petroglyphs&lt;/strong&gt;) and the &lt;strong&gt;easiest way to stay on track is by elevation&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course an altimeter is crucial to finding the correct elevation, and for staying at that elevation, but in a pinch it is possible to stay at the same elevation by eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T15:08:08.190" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T15:08:08.190" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20199" CreationDate="2018-08-14T14:37:48.447" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good carrying spot for long, bulky items is to put it under the backpack lid (the flap over the top of the pack) placed sideways, parallel to the shoulders. This actually has some advantages over carrying on the bottom of the pack, because the weight is over your center of gravity, rather than behind and beneath it, which would have a tendency to lean you backwards. The main disadvantage is that you have to remove the top-mounted item anytime you go into the pack's main pocket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find any good non-copyrighted images, so here's a link to a page with some examples (scroll down to the 'Floating Lids' section):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/backpacking-external-attachment-guide-how-to-carry-gear-on-the-outside-of-a-backpack/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sectionhiker.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6477" LastEditorUserId="6477" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T14:40:03.310" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T14:40:03.310" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20200" CreationDate="2018-08-14T19:41:57.837" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is really dependent on language, I think. Being from a French-speaking part of the world, I can definitely say that even in orienteering/mountain traveling, the meaning of contouring would imply simply going around a feature, not necessarily at a fixed elevation. I could contour around a forest or a hill. The translation of &lt;strong&gt;contourner&lt;/strong&gt; is quite literally &lt;em&gt;go around&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even if we stay in the English language, following the glossary on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quantockorienteers.co.uk/info/new-to-orienteering/glossary-of-orienteering-terms&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;, the definition of contouring (staying at roughly the same elevation on a slope) would fit under the term &lt;strong&gt;traversing&lt;/strong&gt; where I'm from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-08-14T19:41:57.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20204" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20207" CreationDate="2018-08-14T22:23:31.500" Score="4" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to setup a solar charged/battery storage system for an RV/small camper environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially with one solar panel, one matched battery pair; but also allow the battery(ies) to be charged from 120VAC and/or auto alternator when available.  I expect to add additional batteries and solar panels matched appropriately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I expect to use only 12VDC powered devices in the RV, so no need for an inverter.  I do not expect to try to power lots of gear at once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see lots of solar/battery setups, but none seem to include recharging by 120VAC and auto alternator in addition to solar, nor 12VCD loads exclusively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any special requirements for wire sizes depending on run length from solar panel to batteries?  to charge controller?  etc?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16229" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-14T23:06:47.673" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T13:23:40.803" Title="Setup for solar powered battery generator" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20206" CreationDate="2018-08-15T04:47:00.657" Score="11" ViewCount="2065" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen a survival kit that has been spoken well of by many reviewers: the SERE Air Force Survival Kit. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival,_Evasion,_Resistance_and_Escape&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SERE&lt;/a&gt; stands for: survival, evasion, resistance, escape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a rather small kit fitting in roughly the size of an altoids tin box. In the kit there are the basic things that are axiomatic to survival such as: compass, first aid, signal mirror, flints and so forth. Then one item that stood out was finger lights with Velcro straps. It was just kind of glossed over in the reviews I saw, and I also could not get much info elsewhere on the internet. All I know is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one is red light (visible)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one is infrared (for use with night vision)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I thought perhaps it would be useful for putting it over your finger as you pointed at a map in a dark environment. While this makes sense, I'm not sure the space and weight these items take up in the kit would be justified if it provides merely more convenient map reading (with all due respect to map reading). Here is a picture of the SERE kit with the lights in the red circle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9DXB0.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9DXB0.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, they look good and well engineered, and I assume as a GI product the purpose is not to just roleplay as iron man. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; Perhaps it is the Velcro strap and notion that the lights go on our fingers that confuses me the most; what is the advantage of this? What is the typical use case for such a device? Perhaps we can also Velcro it to a small twig or something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T05:47:07.680" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T05:47:07.680" Title="SERE Surival Kit includes velcro finger lights, but why?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20205" CreationDate="2018-08-15T05:46:53.500" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The point of the velcro is to hold the light onto your finger, and the extra length makes it possible to use with gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These have several advantages,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Originally designed for pilots, the popularity of these simple-to-use lights have made them required tools for ground forces, battle tank, medical personnel and logistics staff. Anywhere &lt;strong&gt;hands free light is needed&lt;/strong&gt;, the finger light has found a home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Affixed to the top of the users &lt;strong&gt;index finger with the included Velcro strap&lt;/strong&gt;, the operator can easily switch the light ON or OFF with their thumb via the units side toggle switch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The finger light is ideally suited for operations &lt;strong&gt;requiring minimal light or situations where preserving night vision&lt;/strong&gt; while navigating, tracking, map reading, or other close work is critical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lifesupportintl.com/products/flashlights-strobes/finger-light-mk1/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; (Emphasis mine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finger lights&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These tiny thimble-like tools turn a pilot's fingertips into flashlights, enabling him to read maps and flight plans inside the cockpit when flying at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/xplanes/outf-nf.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, since pilots would be used to using these in the cockpit anyways, it makes sense that their survival kit would have the same type of flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T05:46:53.500" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20204" CreationDate="2018-08-15T07:40:07.783" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/how-to-choose/solar-charge-controller/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Charge controllers&lt;/a&gt; are your friend here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good charge controller will monitor the circuit such that the battery gets the appropriate charging current at all times. This allows you to set up all your charging circuits independently, each with its own charge controller hooked up to the battery, with the load circuit running through one of the charge controllers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running the load circuit out this way acts to prevent you from overdraining the battery, as that is another function the charge controllers have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T09:41:55.670" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T09:41:55.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20208" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20220" CreationDate="2018-08-15T12:01:06.940" Score="4" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am putting together my first multi-day winter expedition and am looking for some advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During Dec 2018 to February 2019 I am planning a solo traverse of the Cairngorms in Scotland, camping wild or using bothies if the conditions deteriorate too far. The route will either be from Clova to Aviemore or the reverse, Aviemore to Clova and capturing between 9-14 Munro's en route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for some advice or guiding thoughts for those more experienced in the region in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Plan in General&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The route will be two main legs split by a re-supply in Braemar (the half way point)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Northern leg will definitely include a summit of Macdui and a descent into the Linn of Dee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Southern leg route is undecided&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am ex-military and confident map reader in all conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have completed multi-day hikes before but always using mountain huts and with good re-supply&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am not planning any ice-climbs or route-finding through dangerous gullies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I plan to break mid-way in Braemar to re-supply and let Mountain Rescue and family know I am safe before the second leg of the journey&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will be using 4 season equipment and carrying an ice axe and crampons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will be taking some photography equipment including an SLR and a spare batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the journey I may do the return journey as well&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will be a step up in terms of ability, self-sufficiency and comfort zone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Questions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts or comments appreciated, specifically;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any avalanche black spots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any spots unsuitable for a tent due to known high winds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additional safety advice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Suggested Munro route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3686" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T10:19:14.297" Title="What are the primary considerations for a solo traverse of the Cairngorms in winter snow?" Tags="&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;scotland-munro&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20204" CreationDate="2018-08-15T13:06:44.870" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a setup like this in my VW campervan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vehicle was originally equipped with a charge controller that receives input from both the vehicle alternator and a 240V mains hookup and charges either the main or leisure battery as necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fitted solar panels - with their own charge controller.  These were purchased from a closing down sale (Maplin) so I can't necessarily recommend the same make.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This charge controller is typical in that it connects directly to the leisure battery terminals.  Thus sits in parallel with the other charge controller.  In my case the solar panels are not permanently wired (at least not yet), they are connected only when the vehicle is stationary.  The leisure battery happily charges from either charge controller and each charge controller is protected against reverse feeding current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the wiring and fuse sizes, my solar panels came with specific instructions regarding these.  I would suggest that all panels would do the same.  Different panels have different current output and so would have different requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For wiring length, all guides that I have seen just recommend keeping the length of wire from the panel to the controller as short as possible.  This will minimise voltage drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T13:23:40.803" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T13:23:40.803" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20210" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-08-15T13:13:18.910" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For questions regarding encounters with bees outdoors.  Including protection from and treatment of bee stings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T16:03:40.820" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T16:03:40.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20211" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-08-15T13:13:18.910" Score="0" Body="For questions regarding bees, of any species." OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-08-15T18:16:33.480" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T18:16:33.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20212" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-15T13:55:25.427" Score="1" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trailheads at some national parks like Yosemite or some wilderness areas will have quotas, with a certain number of permits per trailhead available per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the permits are split between those that can be reserved in advance and those that are available at the ranger stations for people to walk in and get the day they leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How are the &lt;strong&gt;numbers of backpacking permits available per trailhead determined?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:46:02.640" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T16:46:02.640" Title="How are backpacking quotas per trailhead in US national parks determined?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5867" CreationDate="2018-08-15T14:17:03.627" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest no toe strap. I have a double toe strap on mine and the toe strap keep tightening on my big toe after I wear the for a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16231" LastActivityDate="2018-08-15T14:17:03.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1154" CreationDate="2018-08-15T15:38:59.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Grand Canyon National Park employ a waiting list for unreserved permits.  If you have a week, you have a very good chance of getting a permit even on campgrounds in the corridor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We visited Grand Canyon National Park in May 2018.  We applied in December 2017 for overnight permits at the Cottonwood Campground, but did not get any.  The morning after we arrived, I presented myself at the North Rim Backcountry Office, which opens daily at 08:00.  After waiting¹ while the ranger was issuing permits to groups ahead of me in the queue, I added my name to a waiting list.  On day 2, we presented ourselves again at 08:00, and by now my name was on top of the list, as everybody else either had obtained a permit, or had dropped out as they had to leave, or had been removed from the waiting list for not being there at 08:00.  We obtained permits for two nights at Cottonwood, hiking in on day 3, hiking out on day 5.  In other circumstances, we could have hiked from Cottonwood to the river and back, but it was going to be 40+°C that day so we settled for a lazy day at Ribbon Falls, which was quite brilliant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/151583840@N02/43173230144/in/album-72157696826132374/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ribbon Falls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/151583840@N02/28954272147/in/album-72157696826132374/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Upper Ribbon Falls&lt;/a&gt; (total solitude — trail on Openstreetmap but not on NGS map or USGS map)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upper Upper Ribbon Falls — mystery spot on NGS map, no clue how to get there and whether it's possible to hike or if it requires climbing, but a double night on Cottonwood is essential to get there either way for ordinary hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently, many people visit the Grand Canyon (which is effectively much larger than it appears on the map) for only 3–4 days.  With such a tight schedule, our plan would have not worked.  If you're there for a week and willing to present yourself at the backcountry office each day at 08:00, first to register at the waiting list, then to stay on the waiting list, and then to get your permit for maybe 1–2 days later, then you're quite likely to succeed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹The daily wait at 08:00 is the biggest downside, as this disables any early start day hikes.  You have to be there every day at 08:00: first to add your name to the waiting list, then to stay on the waiting list, and ultimately to get your permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T07:57:54.297" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T07:57:54.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8200" CreationDate="2018-08-15T18:51:20.627" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My municipal water added Chloramines, and I have heard it is corrosive and not just to steel. One of the city workers, as he was out in the street flushing the underground pipes through the fire hydrant, told me he didn't think they thought it out very well, that &quot;people may have to replace their plumbing sooner.&quot; He was also using a neutralizer because this water would run into the bay and be bad for the fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the water sources in my town are mixed with ground water, and others are very good sources of water. I experimented using both of those to see if sediment would remain when it dried on its own. It was off-white, slightly yellow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wondered about build up in my yard so I searched online and found an article that's a bit more concerning. The article said combining iodized salt, cooking, and Chloromines could create new chemicals that might be dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found somewhat corroborating statements on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wwdmag.com/contaminants/chloramines-found-cause-leaks-copper-pipe-systems&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; about adding chloramines to water causing damage to plumbing. If so, then where else are the dissolved metals going to go? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16234" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T01:26:45.447" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:26:45.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20217" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-15T22:15:55.480" Score="4" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any experience they can share with actual use of a hands-free kayak bilge pump?  I’m curious about foot-operated/electric/other, purchased or custom built, anything that lets me keep both hands on the paddle.  My performance / reliability benchmark is the standard foam covered hand operated piston-style pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any comments welcome but specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How did your system do at emptying the majority of water from a fully flooded (post-wet-exit / skirt blowout) cockpit in reasonable time (actual stats, or just your qualitative assessment of how long it took vs how long you could reasonably keep the swamped boat upright)?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How many times could it perform the above function (in terms of battery life, leg fatigue, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have you had the opportunity to use the system as a matter of convenience, or actual safety (for example has it actually allowed you to keep both hands on the paddle to stabilize a flooded boat in unsteady water, or when conditions made rafting up with another boat tricky)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How did it do at the different but also useful task of getting the kayak close to completely dry, over whatever time period?  (My thought at justifying the weight of this system is that the few liters of water that typically make their way into my boat weigh a corresponding few KG).  Did your system drain the whole boat (including behind bulkheads) or just the cockpit?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What maintenance challenges did you experience?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T01:48:13.333" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:48:13.333" Title="Does a hands-free kayak bilge pump exist that is as speedy and reliable as a hand pump?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20112" CreationDate="2018-08-16T01:54:31.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first began kayaking I found a winter of swimming and rock climbing helped me get through the sore-arms stage, where I had felt stuck, to the plateau of leisurely paddling for hours at a level of exertion that felt more like backpacking.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said I feel the best way to train is to find a thing you are excited to do, and will therefore actually do most consistently, rather than the thing which most perfectly resembles kayaking.  Virtually anything that makes you move trains your core, and at the end of whatever session of whatever it is you’ve found you can always throw in some light bodyweight exercises while you’re already warmed up, wearing comfortable clothes, and needing a shower.  If you’ve found a thing you love to do you’ll find yourself in that state more often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T01:54:31.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20208" CreationDate="2018-08-16T10:19:14.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nice walk. I have done it many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avalanche black spots are not really an issue on the Clova leg, Driesh, Mayar etc assuming you are taking Jock's Road but as you enter Callater section of Jock's road then you can get into some avalanche areas and the glen deepens. If you are taking the summit route then Avalanche issue only really apply on descent but the area is more prone to cornicing then avalanche in my experience.&#xA;In the northern Section I would suggest Luibeg to Macdhui via Sron Riach. As a well defined ridge it is fairly clear of avalanche issues. Once on the plateau avalanches are less of an issue. Coming off the plateau and heading towards Aviemore the risk increases but if you descend via the ski area it is less of a problem and there is a cafe for coffee!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In high winds you have the irony that if you take the 'safe' route through the Laraig Ghru then you have an increased risk of avalanches due to the steep sides and breaking cornices triggering avalanches if there has been sustained winds building the cornices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with any winter walking, assess and change your route as conditions dictate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are walking the high ground then you may have to camp due to the lack of bothies but if you have a shovel (and I suggest you should in case of needing to build a snow hole) and can build a snow berm then your tent should be OK.&#xA;I have had a tent collapse on me due to weight of snow in the Cairngorms and a Vango flysheet that broke due to getting wet then freezing when I was packing it away. However this was the 80s and it was a cotton tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise Bothies are best. Luibeg bothy is a must before hitting the Cairngorm massif proper. Hutchison hut is fairly good as well and easy to find and I would suggest Corrour if you plan on covering both sides of the Laraig Ghru. Personally I hate crossing the Laraig Ghru as you lose all that hieght and have to climb back up again. Fords of Aan refuge is basic but easy to find. The Shelter Stone is great but a pig to locate in the snow and can be difficult to climb into and out of the coire in winter conditions. I prefer Bothies over tents simply because you can get up, walk about and stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on your actual route and the weather.&#xA;Good luck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11681" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T10:19:14.297" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20217" CreationDate="2018-08-16T12:34:14.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's been some time, but at our canoe club our sea kayaks were outfitted with one of two systems (others I have no experience with):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A hand pump mounted in the deck like this:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n9ygM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n9ygM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;sup&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukseakayakguidebook.co.uk/outfitting_sea_kayaks/article_seakayak_outfitting_pumps.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: UK Sea Kayak Guide Book&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A simple tube-like pump with two unidirectional valves mounted on the foot rest. It constantly pumps with every pushing action against the footrest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages (+)/Disadvantages (-) for the hand pump:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Upward/downward pushing motion to one side, you can't paddle at the same time. That last issue can be overcome by having someone else pump (see first note at bottom).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(+) Large volume (fast)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(-) Relatively costly&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(-) Another object on your deck (obstruction/damage)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the foot pump:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(-) Low volume (slow)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(+) You can keep paddling while pumping&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(-) Maybe some more wear because you're constantly pressing your feet against it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Of course) we never canoed alone at sea (at least 3 people). That means you could always do an X or H 'rescue', in which a rescuer pulls the capsized boat across his deck (cockpit facing down) and tilt it left/right side so that almost all water could be drained. What remained for the pump was max 10 litres. This made the choice of pump type irrelevant, and emptying that amount took 30 seconds/3 minutes with both systems)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(&lt;em&gt;And that's also why I still mentioned a hand-operated pump, although you're not looking for one&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would never use an electric one; that's one more possible failure point (corrosion!).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Both systems require the same effort for construction/maintenance IMO. Nothing special there: maybe make a hole yourself, screw some things together, apply silicone, do some polyester construction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When traveling with a group for a days/weeks long trip, one additional loose hand-operated pump with a long hose is always a good idea. Make sure it's reachable for every group member (on your deck).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have never been in conditions that made rafting up with another boat impossible. Especially when you're with a group, you can make a raft under pretty rough conditions. We have done that with 5 Beaufort on open sea (long waves). Watch your fingers though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We only had boats with bulkheads; doing otherwise is not wise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-08-16T12:46:46.523" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T12:46:46.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="726" CreationDate="2018-08-16T13:15:15.117" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One more piece of gear worth considering, if you plan to do solo trips or group trips in conditions that might separate the group, are inflatable sponsons—-long narrow inflatable tubes stowed compactly alongside the cockpit rim, secured in advance to the hull or rigging.  You can inflate these in an emergency from inside or alongside your boat, making the boat much more stable for any of the reentry methods you mention.  I wouldn’t use this instead of a paddle float (as cheap and compact a piece of gear as that is, not much downside to carrying one) but the sponsons are a nice backup in that they are secured to the boat and can’t be left in camp, lost in the surf, or lost to wind while attaching to the paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T13:15:15.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20223" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20224" CreationDate="2018-08-16T13:47:00.993" Score="7" ViewCount="1136" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the more useful knots for climbing is the &lt;strong&gt;Purcell prusik&lt;/strong&gt; (related to but not a regular prussik), which can be used as an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20225/how-use-a-cordelette-as-an-adjustable-tether-for-rock-climbing&quot;&gt;adjustable tether&lt;/a&gt; or for ascending a rope among other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one tie it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-27T13:38:34.753" LastActivityDate="2019-03-27T13:38:34.753" Title="How to tie a Purcell prusik?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20223" CreationDate="2018-08-16T13:47:00.993" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: You want to keep the double fisherman's knot close to the opposite end, but offset slightly, this gives you maximum adjustability while being able to use the far end as a prusik as well if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two ways I have done this, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tie a normal prusik (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/338/how-do-i-tie-a-prusik-knot&quot;&gt;described here&lt;/a&gt;) around something and then pull the end of the cordelette through. A stick might work, I have always just used my arm and then pull the end through with my hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/43VIS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/43VIS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tying a Purcell prusik&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty with this technique comes from getting the prusik over your wrist as it has a tendency to tighten.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other is to tie a prusik on a bight and then pass the end of the cordelette through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XHO7E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XHO7E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should then look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IKe12.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IKe12.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there you add at least one extra loop to each side, although I usually do two, and then pass the end through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zKAjj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zKAjj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/purcell/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;animated&lt;/a&gt; demonstration of this, and a good description of how it is tied and used &lt;a href=&quot;http://swiftwaterrescue.com/technical-rope-rescue/trr-skill-purcell-prussik-building/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;Result&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ulOb.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-25T16:30:51.723" LastActivityDate="2019-03-25T16:30:51.723" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20225" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20226" CreationDate="2018-08-16T13:51:01.197" Score="4" ViewCount="574" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when clipping in people who are rappelling, or setting up anchors in some places from above or showing people how to get onto a fixed line, I need an &lt;strong&gt;adjustable tether&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often carry a &lt;strong&gt;nylon cordelette&lt;/strong&gt; for just such a purpose, what knot should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-16T22:16:45.640" LastActivityDate="2019-04-01T22:36:07.327" Title="How use a nylon cordelette as an adjustable tether for rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20225" CreationDate="2018-08-16T13:51:01.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution to this is a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20223/how-to-tie-a-purcell-prusik&quot;&gt;Purcell Prussik&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, that looks like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/87sJo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/87sJo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Purcell Prussi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a &lt;strong&gt;cordelette tied into a loop with a double fisherman's, and then looped back with a prussik to itself.&lt;/strong&gt; See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20223/how-to-tie-a-purcell-prusik&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for how to tie one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I need more slack, I reach up and pull the prussik towards myself, if I need to go shorter I push it up towards the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important that the &lt;strong&gt;loop with two strands goes to the climber&lt;/strong&gt;, as otherwise, you &lt;strong&gt;won't be able to adjust the knot&lt;/strong&gt; without climbing back to the anchor when it is fully extended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to note is that the &lt;strong&gt;double fishermans won't go through the prussik,&lt;/strong&gt; so you want it as close to the side that goes to the anchor as possible but not directly on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, note that this s&lt;strong&gt;hould only be used with a cordelette made out of nylon&lt;/strong&gt; cord and will not work with a cordelette &lt;strong&gt;made from dyspectra/dyneema&lt;/strong&gt; or webbing as it will &lt;strong&gt;likely slip&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to shorten one, you can tie a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18814/how-to-tie-a-figure-eight-on-a-bight&quot;&gt;figure eight on bight&lt;/a&gt; on the part of the cordelette that goes to the anchor and clip the bight to the anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Close up of the prusik,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ulOb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8ulOb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Purcell Prussi&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those doubting this as an acceptable solution,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The testing conducted on Purcell Prusiks was by no means a comprehensive examination. However, the testing conducted certainly suggests that a Purcell Prusik constructed out of 6mm cord with a 3-wrap prusik hitch &lt;strong&gt;meets the recommended lanyard performance guidelines of being able to withstand a fall factor 1 event with acceptable levels of MAF and no observable degradation of the lanyard.&lt;/strong&gt; The testing also demonstrates that the &lt;strong&gt;margin over and above that&#xA;  minimum performance criteria is approaching the 50% level at fall factor 1.5.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Purcell Prusik used as a lanyard can certainly be considered a worthwhile alternative to the traditional daisy chains and other personal restraint lanyards available in the marketplace.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.itrsonline.org/PapersFolder/2006/Gibbs2006_ITRSPaper_PurcellPrusiks-LanyardsPartII.pdf?fbclid=IwAR14u2YpjisSCnhhPgj1-AA7ylg_qB8tnDvzR0_o8vi54PY52zaMPtfHobo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DROP TESTING ON PURCELL PRUSIKS: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THEIR CAPABILITIES AS A POSITIONING LANYARD IN RESCUE AND CLIMBING&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same guys did a study on daisy chains as personal anchors and &lt;a href=&quot;http://caves.org/section/vertical/nh/53/RiggingForRescue-DaisyChains-2005.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;they broke at much lower fall factors&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:36:07.327" LastActivityDate="2019-04-01T22:36:07.327" CommentCount="22" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20227" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20229" CreationDate="2018-08-16T14:07:36.630" Score="3" ViewCount="1536" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is part of the chest strap of an Altura Morph backpack/pannier that I use for commuting.  I've lost half the strap and one of my bikes can't take a pannier rack so I use backpack mode on that bike.  That tends to be the bike I use in the rain; with a wet waterproof jacket the shoulder straps slide around in the absence of a functioning chest strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a cheap bag, so I'd like to repair it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The part is question is plastic, a slotted tube with the dimensions shown in the first picture:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GlkFf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GlkFf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Strap part&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This part slides up and down a stiff track on the shoulder strap, like a wire wrapped in fabric, so the chest strap height can be adjusted:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sPtwq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sPtwq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be prevented from easily coming off the end of the track, but some damage to that region of the left shoulder strap means the left half of the chest strap went missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I can buy a replacement I can easily make a new chest strap from spares I have, but I've no idea what to search for.  My guess is that it's generic but most of my other kit is quite old and I haven't seen one on anything else.  I could make something or buy a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Adjustable-Backpack-Sack-Bag-Webbing-Sternum-Buckle-Clip-Strap-Chest-Harness/762986305?iid=182678613682&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;generic replacement strap&lt;/a&gt; but this was quite a nice design that stayed in place unless it snagged on something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-16T14:56:29.403" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T01:46:45.017" Title="What's this backpack part called and how can I get a replacement?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20228" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20187" CreationDate="2018-08-16T14:25:37.567" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bee keepers in central B.C. will use old school busses as portable bee yards. Each hive base is bolted to the floor, and a tunnel leads outside.  They use a solar electric fence charger to charge the skin of the bus. This allows them to either move them from crop to crop in the fruit areas, or follow the fireweed bloom up the mountain in burned areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your best bet would be two fold:  Put up an 8 foot wooden fence, using surplus telephone poles as the posts (here available for 80 cents canadian per foot in 35 foot lengths) and conventionals rails and battens (vertical planks).  This is to reassure the campers.  Outside the wooden fence run  wires at roughly 2 foot intervals, supported on insulators.  Make the poles about 2 feet taller than the boards, and run a wire along the top of the posts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electric fences are easily shorted to ground.  Even a grass stem is sufficient. A string trimmer is a quick way to trim the vegetation back away from the bottom wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before committing to a full version of this, make a smaller one, and test it by putting something that that bears love. (Rotting fish, carrion, honey, shampoo, bacon...) and seeing if the bear is successful at getting inside.  There is a risk that the bear associates your site with food and visits frequently, but if you are creating a 'safe haven' spot for campers, you create a spot that is attractive to bears anyway.  Bears have large territories.  You would need to run this test for months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear response depends on local activity.  In parks like Yellowstone, there are no bad consequences for bears that approach humans and their food.  They become a nuisance.  In regions that are hunted, they are very wary.  In true wilderness situations (Canada's north) they are unfamiliar with people, and will challenge you.  There you need to convince them that you are a threat.  I recently took a trip in Willmore Wilderness.  We saw bear tracks daily, but no scat.  My dog however reacted to something, and was spooked.  We were all eyes for that kilometer.  Bears reek.  I suspect he caught a whiff of one a km upwind or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  the standard bear attack prevention/response was to wear bells and carry red pepper spray.  The joke making the rounds was that you could tell grizzly bear scat from brown bear scat by the presence of undigested bells, and a whiff of cayenne...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-08-19T13:34:05.790" LastActivityDate="2018-08-19T13:34:05.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20227" CreationDate="2018-08-16T14:56:17.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like this piece goes by 3 different names,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://global.itwnexus.com/content/pipedoc-sternum-slider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sternum Slider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dZJN9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dZJN9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://global.itwnexus.com/content/pipedoc-sternum-slider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.woojinplastic.com/products/index/category:sternum-system&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Piping Clip&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.woojinplastic.com/products/detail/467/category:sternum-system&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tu8zg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tu8zg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.duraflexgroup.com/productDetail.aspx?id=541&amp;amp;sort=backpack&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wing Clip&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also try contacting the manufacture, since these parts don't seem to be extremely common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-16T14:56:17.200" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20230" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20231" CreationDate="2018-08-17T01:09:56.000" Score="3" ViewCount="66" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both poison ivy and poison oak can cause a red rash on the skin due to an allergic reaction to the chemical urushiol in their oily sap.  I've heard people say that they are allergic to either one or the other before but not both.  It seems to me that since the chemical responsible for the reaction is the same in both plants one should be susceptible to both or neither at all.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it possible to only be allergic to one&lt;/strong&gt;, and if so, how is this possible?     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T01:29:48.570" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:42:12.210" Title="Is it possible get a rash from poison ivy but not poison oak?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;poison-ivy&gt;&lt;poison-oak&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20230" CreationDate="2018-08-17T01:29:32.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/itchy-skin/poison-ivy-oak-and-sumac#symptoms&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Academy of Dermatology&lt;/a&gt; its the same oil in both poison ivy and poison oak along with sumac,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What you see and feel on your skin is caused by urushiol (you-ROO-shee-all). Urushiol is the oil in poison ivy, oak, and sumac. You find this oil in all parts of the plants — the leaves, stems, and even the roots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/itchy-skin/poison-ivy-oak-and-sumac#symptoms&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there are a couple of possibilities, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They incorrectly identified a harmless plant as one of the harmful ones and didn't get the reaction they were expecting. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One gave a  much smaller amount of oil and they didn't react to it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reactions get worse the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ivarest.com/about-poisonous-plants/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;more you are exposed&lt;/a&gt;, the first plant wasn't nearly as bad as when they were exposed the second time to the other plant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, I really don't think this is an experiment that's worth testing, especially as subsequent exposures lead to worse reactions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T01:42:12.210" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T01:42:12.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20189" CreationDate="2018-08-17T05:01:30.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;We went back today and spoke with the naturalist, Cindy, who's part of a team that cares for that property which includes hundreds of acres. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are webbed nests filled with hundreds of caterpillars of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_webworm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall webworm moth, (Hyphantria cunea)&lt;/a&gt;. The caterpillars are tiny and hairy, and at the early stage can be any dark color. There's an outer fur that gets longer and more fluffy as the caterpillars grow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The life cycle begins when adult moths emerge from cocoons which have been in wet ground for the winter. They come out usually in June and July. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The adult fall webworm is a nocturnal moth. The wings are bright white (usually with dark spots) and the wingspan is 3 to 4 cm. The body is hairy and the bases of the front legs are orange or bright yellow.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/4h/foresthealth/insects/fallwebw.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They then lay hundreds of eggs on the underside of the leaves of their chosen tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The egg mass of Hyphantria cunea is almost iridescent green in color. The egg batch contains 400-1000 eggs. The eggs are usually deposited on the undersides of leaves in the spring. The egg mass is lightly covered with scales from the female's abdomen. &lt;a href=&quot;http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/moths/fall_webworm.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The eggs hatch in about a week, and the caterpillars start to eat the leaves and create webs to enclose their feeding area. They like hundreds of different tree varieties, including fruit trees when available. The tree in the picture in the question is a black cherry tree, and, as you can see, the webworms have made sure to enclose the berries into their webs. As the caterpillars (larvae) get bigger, they extend their nests.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In mid-July the eggs hatch and the caterpillars begin to spin out an extensive silken web. The webworm encloses whole clusters of leaves at the ends of branches and feeds on the leaves within their tent, expanding the web downward toward the trunk and capturing more leaves as the colony expands. &#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/insects-arachnids/nuisance-moths/webworm-caterpillars&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the caterpillars are full grown, they drop out of those webs and pupate through the winter in small cocoons located in dead leaves or dark moist areas around the tree base, and emerge as new moths the following spring!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because they're woven around the foliage rather than the bark, webworm nests do not usually damage the tree branches. The foliage will regenerate as the season goes on. The tree in the picture is proof of that. Cindy said last year's nests were on the side of the tree which looks perfectly fine now.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conservation organizations, and many local arborists, do not recommend pesticides or any chemical management. The moths are important in controlling pests that are bad for other flora and fauna, and the webworms are food for many natural enemies of other pests. If you have mature webs in your yard, and don't mind the way they look, wait until they're empty and knock them down. Try not to do that until you know the caterpillars are all out. If stressed, they do a dance which indicates danger, and this may interfere with their growth or ability to survive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really don't like them, as many homeowners don't, try to watch for early signs of the web in the spring and knock them down while they're still small. Pick off any leaves that have started to deteriorate. That stops the spread in the tree and eliminates the worms while they're still very young. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/moths/fall_webworm.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; has excellent information of all the life stages of this moth including great pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T05:01:30.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20233" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-17T13:10:58.347" Score="5" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week I have been cycling through my home country (Netherlands), mostly camping on so called &quot;nature camping sites&quot; (&lt;em&gt;natuurkampeerterreinen&lt;/em&gt; in Dutch). These are quite minimalistic camping sites, mostly located in nature/forests, with only very minimalistic facilities like a few showers/toilets, but with spacious plots which provide some quietness/privacy. As wild camping is forbidden in the Netherlands, this feels like the closest (legal) alternative to camping out in nature**&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;foundation&lt;/a&gt; which manages an overview of these sites, which is convenient for planning trips. I have been searching for similar foundations/organisations/overviews for other western European countries (Germany, Belgium, France, ...), but didn't manage to find any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if these exists for other (western) European countries?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that some European countries (like Sweden, Norway, Ireland, ...) allow wild camping, and although that potentially sounds nice for the future, I am for now mostly interested in camping sites which provide at least a toilet/shower/water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** &lt;em&gt;There is one alternative called &quot;pole camping&quot; (&quot;paalkamperen&quot; in Dutch), where you are allowed to camp for free within a 10 meter radius around some pre-designated spots marked by... a pole.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DRKI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DRKI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.logerenbijdeboswachter.nl/natuurkampeerterreinen/de-vlagberg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source, Dutch only&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/prb7T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/prb7T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.logerenbijdeboswachter.nl/natuurkampeerterreinen/de-dennen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source, Dutch only&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16245" LastEditorUserId="16245" LastEditDate="2018-08-17T14:07:09.373" LastActivityDate="2018-08-18T18:05:09.390" Title="Nature camping sites in (western) Europe" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6736" CreationDate="2018-08-17T13:26:44.843" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://drinkwaterkaart.nl/waar-kan-ik-gratis-water-tappen/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; which has a map listing all public fountains, some examples of how the fountains look can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://drinkwaterkaart.nl/voorbeelden-van-watertappunten/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. But most Dutch people tend to be friendly, so if you ask them if you can &quot;borrow&quot; a few liters of water, they tend to laugh and be very helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16245" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T13:26:44.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2018-08-17T14:43:17.213" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Heat up the creosote covered pan. This softens it. Then pour some denatured alcohol on it and scrub it off. I used a scotch bright pad to scrub with the alcohol, and then wiped the now liquid creosote off with a rag. It will make the rag black and perhaps ruined but it will come off slick and easy. Do this in a well-ventilated area!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16246" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T14:43:17.213" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20237" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20238" CreationDate="2018-08-17T20:00:51.023" Score="2" ViewCount="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to hike from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Moosilauke&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt Moosilauke&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumney,_New_Hampshire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rumney NH&lt;/a&gt;. From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/explore/us/new-hampshire/rumney&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;all trials map&lt;/a&gt; it looks like I can take the &lt;em&gt;Carriage Road Trail&lt;/em&gt; almost all the way to some sort of extension to the &lt;em&gt;Three Ponds Trail&lt;/em&gt;, but it does not look like there is an easy way to connect the last half mile from &lt;em&gt;Breezy Point Rd&lt;/em&gt; to what I am hoping is a trailhead. Then from the southern trailhead it looks like I would have to walk 6 miles on Stinson Lake Rd to get to Rumney.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to connect the Carriage Road Trail and the Three Ponds Trail?&#xA;Can I avoid the road walk on Stinson Lake Rd?&#xA;Is there a better route?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T21:01:58.817" Title="Hiking trails between Mt Moosilauke and Rumney NH" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20237" CreationDate="2018-08-17T21:01:58.817" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I can see on USGS Topo maps and aerial imagery, you definitely need to walk on Breezy Pt Rd and NH118 to cross Baker River before getting on Three Ponds trail. Can't see any apparent crossing/bridge anywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for a trail from Stinson Lake south to Rumney, I can't find any reference anywhere about that. I took a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=1&amp;amp;layers=066a3f90953f4a01a941e2cefa883ae1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this parcel data&lt;/a&gt; and it seems there might be a lot of privately owned land all along that corridor. Lots and lots of small parcels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That might be why no north-south trail crosses that area. If Rumney as a terminus can't be changed, I'm afraid walking Stinson Lake road might be the only option. Unless you have nothing against bushwhacking - but inflicting yourself 6 miles of that would be uselessly masochistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-08-17T21:01:58.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20240" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-18T14:39:15.200" Score="5" ViewCount="550" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 1963 12ft StarCraft boat, and one of my corner caps needs a replacement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to find one, either new or used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it affect the stability of the boat, or is it only for looks?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9zZL1m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9zZL1m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;corner cap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15112" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-21T03:37:15.347" LastActivityDate="2018-08-21T12:21:01.690" Title="How can I find Corner Caps for my 1963 12ft StarCraft boat?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20241" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-18T15:49:29.150" Score="9" ViewCount="1024" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any effective repellent against deer flies (&lt;em&gt;Lipoptena cervi&lt;/em&gt;)?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It should be safe for humans as well as dogs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All related information I could find is about a different deer fly (&lt;em&gt;Chrysops&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user8074" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-08-19T09:35:05.313" LastActivityDate="2019-07-17T13:48:18.987" Title="Is there any effective repellent against deer flies (Lipoptena cervi)?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20233" CreationDate="2018-08-18T18:05:09.390" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made a community wiki answer out of this, so anyone can add their findings. My original question was about nature camping sites which do provide some minimal facilities like toilets/showers/water, but perhaps it is useful to broaden this a bit to include locations where you are (legally) allowed to camp, for those interested in pseudo wild camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The definition of a &lt;em&gt;nature camping&lt;/em&gt; is rather vague, but for me it includes camp sites where you can quietly experience nature, without too much luxury like swimming pools, sauna's, stores, wild parties, ... Perhaps this has to be refined later...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prevent having lists with hundreds of camp sites per country, it is probably best to limit this to websites/resources which provide an overview of multiple camp sites, like the ones which are currently listed for Denmark and the Netherlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: [XX] indicates the language(s) of the website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belgium&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bivakzone.be&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bivakzone.be&lt;/a&gt; [NL] : bivouac areas where you can camp for free within a 10 meter radius around the pole indicating the site. No showers/toilets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denmark:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://udinaturen.dk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://udinaturen.dk&lt;/a&gt; [DK] : overview of free tenting areas (&lt;em&gt;Frit teltningsområde&lt;/em&gt;), with additionally some small and large camp sites (&lt;em&gt;Lille Lejrplads&lt;/em&gt; /  &lt;em&gt;Stor Lejrplads&lt;/em&gt;, I guess not all qualify as a nature campsite). Overview managed by the Danish Nature Agency.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;France:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/&lt;/a&gt; [NL/EN/DE/FR] : ~13 minimalistic nature camping sites, with toilets/showers/water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Netherlands&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/&lt;/a&gt; [NL/EN/DE/FR] : ~130-140 minimalistic nature camping sites, with toilets/showers/water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.logerenbijdeboswachter.nl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.logerenbijdeboswachter.nl&lt;/a&gt; [NL] : camping sites managed by the Dutch state forest management (&lt;em&gt;Staatsbosbeheer&lt;/em&gt;), with options for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Pole camping&quot; (&lt;em&gt;&quot;Paalkamperen&quot;&lt;/em&gt; in Dutch): places where you can camp for free within a 10 meter radius of the pole indicating the site. No toilets/showers, some have a groundwater tap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Normal camping sites (also listed on www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl), with easy online reservation system.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;- &#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16245" LastActivityDate="2018-08-18T18:05:09.390" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2018-08-18T18:05:09.390" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3592" CreationDate="2018-08-19T08:13:26.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally use a Canson mixed media sketchbook in the 5.5x8.5 size (140 x 216 mm), two sturdy mechanical pencils with long, extendable erasers, a Sakura Field Kit watercolor set of 48 colors, and a set of 3 water brushes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try to sketch at just about every stop, but use a timer on my watch to make sure that I don't get distracted for too long and I actually get to wherever I'd like to go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of my art supplies are in their own pouch, or on some occasions, in their own individual hip bag. Never let that stuff get to the bottom of the bag, or you'll never see it again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16256" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-08-19T09:16:12.510" LastActivityDate="2018-08-19T09:16:12.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16499" CreationDate="2018-08-19T17:44:52.560" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look, I know exactly where to see a bison's herd in Yellowstone; I was there a few days ago. By the Norris Canyon Rd, direction to Canyon Village, after Nez Perce Lake. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &quot;wildlife exhibit&quot; area on the side of the road. &#xA;You park there and pretty much at whatever time of the day you can see a herd of bison that uses to hang there for water and grass.&#xA;Note the fact that they created a &quot;wildlife exhibit&quot;, which is signaled by a metallic road signal planted on the ground and comes with some asphalted park space on the side of the road, suggesting that we are talking about a habitual long-standing roaming area for bison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16063" LastActivityDate="2018-08-19T17:44:52.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20246" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20241" CreationDate="2018-08-19T18:55:28.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like lemon eucalyptus extract has some effect,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is concluded that the use of a repellent based on &lt;strong&gt;lemon eucalyptus extract&lt;/strong&gt; (tested in 2004-2005) will protect humans from Deer ked bites, but just on those &lt;strong&gt;parts of the skin where the repellent has been applied&lt;/strong&gt;. The smell of lemon eucalyptus is not enough to keep those blood suckers away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://eurekamag.com/research/020/236/020236419.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Deer ked Lipoptena cervi (L.) - a blood sucker expanding its range&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a paywalled study on the bugs,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using human targets, we explored the cues the deer ked uses for host selection. We studied which part of the host body deer keds target and if body colour and temperature affect their choice. In our experiments, deer keds landed more on dark and red clothing than on white clothing. Moreover, deer keds mostly attacked the upper body parts and preferred the back side of the body over the front side. Finally, deer keds preferred the warmest areas of the host.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-entomological-research/article/experiments-on-the-ectoparasitic-deer-ked-that-often-attacks-humans-preferences-for-body-parts-colour-and-temperature/368C7399621DF2B0DB03D7FA49B195A5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Experiments on the ectoparasitic deer ked that often attacks humans; preferences for body parts, colour and temperature&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, given that you are in Finland, do note that there are repellents specific to deer flies like this &lt;a href=&quot;https://scandinavianoutdoor.com/autan/gear/small-accessories/hirvikarpasstop/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt; which I found by Googling &quot;lipoptena cervi repellent&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-19T18:55:28.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20247" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-20T01:17:53.297" Score="26" ViewCount="8804" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are animals such as pigs and elephants that &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallowing_in_animals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wallow&lt;/a&gt; in mud which possibly serves as protection from sunburn.  There are also some plants such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aloe vera&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Aloe vera&lt;/em&gt;)  and &lt;a href=&quot;https://altnature.com/jewelweed.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jewelweed&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Impatiens capensis&lt;/em&gt;) which are believed to help soothe burns which may help after a sunburn has already occurred.  &lt;strong&gt;Are there any natural materials that one could find and use in the wild to naturally protect against sunburn?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T01:54:00.490" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T17:28:12.973" Title="Are there any natural materials found in the wild that can be used as an effective sunscreen?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-20T05:26:48.547" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you said yourself: mud. Or cotton as Gabriel answered, or wood, or leaves, or bark, or anything that stops light from reaching your skin. Is there any natural material that without any processing can be applied as a cream, is nearly invisible in the visible spectrum yet stops much of the UV-rays? Not to my knowledge. Which is why we have to make it. But most natural materials will block most of the UV-rays. This is also one of the main reasons why there is no natural sunblock. A tree is protected from UV light by its bark, it doesn't need to produce a near invisible cream that blocks UV-rays. And since most natural materials block much of the UV light they will protect you from sunburn and skin cancer. Often better than commercial sun cream, as you probably already know from wearing clothes. They just don't do it while letting most of the visible light hit your skin and while letting you look like you're not covered by anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-08-20T05:26:48.547" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-20T11:38:52.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most white substances are usually good. As a bush assumption you can assume that reflectance in visible range means reflectance in UV range. You can grind rock against rock and mix with spit or water. The active components of sunblock are usually pretty common minerals. Rutile, Zinc oxides etc. The organic ones have a tendency to be banned for toxicity after a few years after introduction... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-08-20T11:38:52.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2018-08-20T11:44:16.603" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unless the black stains bother you for visual reasons, let them be. Wash the pan off with normal dishwashing methods. This will take care of the stickyness and most contamination from pan to clothes/fingers etc and having a black layer on your pan does not harm its performance. In fact, where I am from, sporting a shiny clean kettle will get you a few scornful laughs, and people will complain about the food / coffee not tasting as it should =P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-08-20T11:44:16.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-20T15:27:57.497" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on what level of processing makes you feel something is no longer natural.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical Sunscreens use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_oxide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zinc Oxide&lt;/a&gt; as a UV blocking agent, as it is photo-stable and creates a nearly invisible layer (when using the highly-processed nanostructure form of the mineral). Zinc Oxide is naturally formed as both the mineral Wurtzite, and the mineral Zincblende. One or both of these 2 minerals could be powdered and rubbed onto the skin for a somewhat ineffective sunscreen. Alternatively, you could look up one of the hundreds of recipes for homemade lotion, and add the powdered mineral to it to make your own sunscreen. You won't get the same level of protection as commercial sunscreen, but you will avoid the under-researched effects of the aforementioned nanostructures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify, the reasons Zinc Oxide nanostructures are so common in commercial sunscreens are the FDA GRAS status (you can eat Zinc Oxide safely per FDA rating), and the lack of pigmentation that non-nanostructured Zinc Oxide would leave on the skin after rubbing in the sunscreen (goes on white, rubs in clear type of thing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16260" LastEditorUserId="16260" LastEditDate="2018-08-21T17:26:02.227" LastActivityDate="2018-08-21T17:26:02.227" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20240" CreationDate="2018-08-20T17:40:50.647" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google leads to me to the parent company &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.starcraftmarine.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Manufacturer)&lt;/a&gt; of your boat, contacting them would be the first best step&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on your photo and description you have a 12 foot boat, designed for an outboard motor. The item you are calling a &quot;corner cap&quot; would help hold the transom of the boat to the sides of the boat and spread the forces applied by the engine.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally the handle shape in the piece makes it easier for a person to lift/carry the back of the boat.  If you have a trailer, you probably do not need to worry about the handle shape as part of the design.  Alternately you can mount a carry handles to the transom separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answering your questions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I find Corner Caps for my 1963 12ft StarCraft boat? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contact the Manufacturer and/or search used boat sources &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does it affect the stability of the boat, or is it only for looks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It helps keep the transom (back of the boat) attached to the sides of the boat when the boat is powered by an engine.  If you are going to put a motor on the boat, you need something there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-08-21T12:21:01.690" LastActivityDate="2018-08-21T12:21:01.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-20T19:09:55.857" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A quick Google search reveals that carrot seed oil has an SPF of 40 and raspberry seed oil has an SPF of 30. The reliability of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.activebeat.com/your-health/10-protective-natural-sunscreens/?streamview=all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt; is not established.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just FYI &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.phcog.com/article.asp?issn=0973-1296;year=2009;volume=5;issue=19;spage=238;epage=248;aulast=Kapoor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here's&lt;/a&gt; a formal study of herbal sunscreens. One of the products tested claimed to be carrot seed based but another person &lt;a href=&quot;https://gwens-nest.com/diy-sunscreen-myth-busted/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;evaluated&lt;/a&gt; the ingredients and discovered zinc oxide which probably contributed largely to the SPF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6357" LastActivityDate="2018-08-20T19:09:55.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-21T01:35:34.457" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wood ash&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;   As @Monster said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;anything that stops light from reaching your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP her/himself suggested mud.  All you need to get wood ash is a campfire, which you probably want anyway, in the OP's scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.survivopedia.com/survival-uses-of-wood-ash/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survivopedia&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;em&gt;9 Survival Uses of Wood Ash&lt;/em&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Natural Camouflage&lt;/strong&gt;   This is kind of a no-brainer but there may come a time when you just don’t want to be seen. You may be hunting or&#xA;  you may be waiting for human predators to invade your space. Whatever&#xA;  the reason, wood ash is a quick, natural camouflage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On a similar note, sunburn can be lethal and if you don’t have any sunscreen, rub wood ash on your skin to block the sun’s rays.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this isn't a silky cream, but wood ash is portable.  You can easily carry several days worth, or more, unless you are hiking in short shorts and a sleeveless shirt.  Obviously wood ash will be harder to obtain above timberline or in a desert, exactly the places where you need sunscreen the most.  But even above timberline there are often scattered trees and scattered downed wood, and deserts may have some woody scrub.  Wood ash is stickier than mud, particularly if it is deposited over a layer of campfire grime from a smoky campfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveats: (1) Make sure the wood ash is cold before applying it to your skin. (2) An anonymous editor made the point (which I have in turn edited) that fresh wood ash mixed with water is caustic, and should &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; be applied near your eyes, and may irritate your skin.  Old wood ash will weather to a carbonate.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-21T21:27:10.323" LastActivityDate="2018-08-21T21:27:10.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-21T03:42:44.260" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mucous from the marine animal &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arkive.org/mushroom-coral/heliofungia-actiniformis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mushroom coral&lt;/a&gt;, is a natural sunscreen, which is designed to keep the coral itself from burning in the sun. The mushroom coral is only found in coral reefs in certain parts of the world, so it might be hard to find in the wild. According to a historian, &lt;a href=&quot;https://sarah-angleton.com/tag/bear-grylls/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear Grylls&lt;/a&gt; is said to have used it to rub some mucous on himself and then put the coral back in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be some validity to this, as outlined here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/microsites/biodiscovery/05human-impact/sunscreen-for-corals.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/microsites/biodiscovery/05human-impact/sunscreen-for-corals.html&lt;/a&gt;.  It also describes the coral's ability to produce a substance to try to protect itself from the sun, although it doesn't specifically mention a way for people to use it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16265" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T00:43:28.950" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T00:43:28.950" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8686" CreationDate="2018-08-21T15:56:04.137" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this sufficient reason to conclude that the rope is indeed legitimate for aid/rescue use? Can it carry more than 2000 kg as specified by the NFPA 1983?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, but almost. If your statement was&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is this sufficient reason to conclude that the rope &lt;strong&gt;WAS&lt;/strong&gt; indeed legitimate for aid/rescue use? &lt;strong&gt;COULD&lt;/strong&gt; it carry more than 2000 kg as specified by the NFPA 1983?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is that a rope with unknown history is not legitimate for aid/rescue work. It is unlikely that the rope is some sort of weird knockoff where someone tried to pass it off as certified when it is not. There is always the chance of someone deceiving you, and when you don't know the history that chance is greater, but I wouldn't worry about that. What I would worry about is the rope is not new and you do not know what it was used for. It may have been used in an environment that has degraded the rope but does not show visible signs of wear. Maybe the previous &lt;em&gt;owner/user&lt;/em&gt; intended to make a rug out of it and never got around to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I highly suggest buying a new rope and storing it with a detailed rope usage log to prevent this in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-08-21T15:56:04.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-21T20:30:26.560" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Red Ochre&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red Ochre is a natural earth pigment found in clays that are rich in iron. It's been used for thousands of years by cultures around the world as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/3568&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;natural sunblock&lt;/a&gt;. It's also the same pigment used in ancient cave paintings. Native American Indians &quot;war paint&quot; was often worn as a sunblock, and was made out of ochres. Being a clay makes it easier to prepare it into an applicable paste, but it's essentially mud on your face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T14:30:04.877" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T14:30:04.877" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18610" CreationDate="2018-08-22T15:08:18.290" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One specific thing point not otherwise covered is seams: seam sealant may need renewing, and seam tape may well have fallen off or be about to. I resealed one before the first time I used it, and some more seam tape failed that trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T15:08:18.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-08-22T17:50:55.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my humble opinion, there is no condition where heating a tent makes &lt;em&gt;objective&lt;/em&gt; sense. The impracticality of heat generation usually means that travelers who would benefit or need heating the most (circumpolar travelers) are the ones who will most probably skip it. In that sense, the decision for all cold weather travelers becomes entirely subjective as it will be a matter of choice, not of necessity (I'm pretty much echoing Aaron's conclusion here).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only true burden to heating a tent over a long period is fuel considerations. Of course, if you're carrying a wood stove, you can resupply in the wild and don't necessarily need to carry the fuel with you so I'll ignore that resource. Anyway, as soon as you reach about 55-65° north depending on the area being continental or rainy oceanic climate, you'll begin having a harder time finding trees. We're left with two choices: Carrying fossil-fuels (non-renewable during the trip) or batteries and solar power (which are far from the best in the extreme cold). Both are a heavy additional load. The usual choice will be to do without and just carry better sleeping gear. Cost-benefit will far surpass heating the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for high-altitude climbing, it's just not going to happen. The steeper the slope, the more gravity works against you. Pulling a sled uphill is the worst thing I've ever done. I'd never consider it again. Minimizing weight then becomes one of the most important criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So to summarize, the colder it gets, the less you can rely on an easy fuel source. The longer you travel, the worse carrying fuel becomes. So the only reasonable condition in which heating a tent becomes practical is if you're traveling in a lower latitude forested region and don't need to carry your fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-08-22T17:50:55.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20267" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20268" CreationDate="2018-08-22T23:40:34.827" Score="5" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several decades ago, we were three days from the trailhead with no food.  Let's not get into why that happened, please.  It is too embarrassing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had to slog through snow for two days, but on the third day we walked into spring greenery.  Everything looked delicious, but we didn't know what was OK to eat, so we ate nothing until we got to civilization late on the third day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a field guide (that doesn't weigh much) to edible plants?  &lt;strong&gt;Ideally, the guide would come in multiple volumes (although volumes makes it sound heavy!) that cover particular areas.&lt;/strong&gt;  For example, there might be a guide to edible plants in the Sierra Nevada, another one for the Rockies, and so on.  What level of specificity makes sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our experience was before on-line anything, but even now on-line would not be much help because most interesting places have no cell-phone reception&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T01:03:11.200" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T00:51:06.200" Title="Is there a backpacker's guide to edible plants that is very light?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20267" CreationDate="2018-08-23T00:40:01.170" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are multiple guides to edible foods, it looks like you would be most interested in would cover all of North America and if you are wanting to go light, there are pocket guides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found quite a few including,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0071368272&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible Wild Plants and Herbs: A Pocket Guide&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1402767153&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.waterfordpress.com/Products/series/pocket-naturalist/edible-wild-plants/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Edible Wild Plants&#xA;A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar North American Species&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found these by looking for &quot;edible plant guides&quot; and if you want the lighter ones, and &quot;pocket guide&quot; to your search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a few online lists,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/surviving-in-the-wild-19-common-edible-plants/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Surviving in the Wild: 19 Common Edible Plants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.skilledsurvival.com/popular-edible-plants-flowers-usa/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;11 Best Wild Edible Plants Found In The USA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://matteroftrust.org/14760/62-edible-wild-plants-that-you-didnt-know-you-can-eat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;62 Edible Wild Plants That You Didn't Know You Can Eat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There aren't a huge number of edible plants, so the lists should be good starting points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T00:51:06.200" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T00:51:06.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20269" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20276" CreationDate="2018-08-23T11:32:59.160" Score="6" ViewCount="543" Body="&lt;p&gt;A common improvised dust mask is taking a bandana and tying it over your nose and mouth. I'm asking this question because I'm wondering what else one could add to this set up if anything. First, I'd like to say I'm not knocking the classic cotton bandana dust mask at all; in fact, I appreciated its simplicity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the use case or hypothetical scenario, we can assume it could be anything from pm 2.5 ridden smog that the wind blew over from a nearby city or factory unexpectedly. Or it could be a dust storm kicking up in a desert setting. It could be any number of things. To my knowledge, a cotton bandana would only offer limited protection in these hypotheticals. I'm hoping there is a way to improve it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, we would research the area and bring gear accordingly. However, suppose we were caught off guard but we still wanted to make the best dust mask we could to protect our lungs. Going with the pm 2.5 issue again, this would normally require a specific, professional-grade mask. I don't hope to improvise anything better than that of course, but maybe there is a way to improve over the cotton banada? The cotton bandana can serve as a baseline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One Idea I had:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only idea I had using materials that an outdoorsman would conceivably have on him would be to nestle some &lt;strong&gt;activated carbon&lt;/strong&gt; (useful for filtering among other things) in between the folds of the bandana. If it could somehow be secured there, would that not help a little with the pm 2.5 or other harmful particulates?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; If my idea doesn't sound plausible, is there any way at all to improve upon the cotton bandana using reasonably common outdoorsman supplies? Or are we 100% doomed to suffer the full extent of pm 2.5's microscopic wrath without a professional-grade mask? What about for the case of a natural desert dust-storm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastActivityDate="2018-09-29T18:18:09.643" Title="How sophisticated a dust mask can one hope to improvise?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20267" CreationDate="2018-08-23T12:43:21.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are ebook applications for all smart phones. Adding a memory card to most phones is inexpensive and weighs less than the dust on your clothes.  There is plethora of ebooks on edible plants. A quick search on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=edible+plants&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smashwords (&lt;em&gt;no DRM&lt;/em&gt;) finds 1400+&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have a post &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/873/what-are-some-ways-devices-that-i-can-use-to-charge-my-batteries-in-the-wilderne&quot;&gt;What are some ways/devices that I can use to charge my batteries in the wilderness?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T12:54:06.950" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T12:54:06.950" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20272" CreationDate="2018-08-23T14:57:44.637" Score="0" ViewCount="1353" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is the regular &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20223/how-to-tie-a-purcell-prusik&quot;&gt;Purcell Prusik&lt;/a&gt;, which can be used for adjustable tethers or create foot loops for ascending a rope, but it is also useful to know how to tie it with &lt;strong&gt;only one end of the rope instead of a loop.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This knot is useful for tightening lines holding tarps out for example, how would one tie it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-23T23:36:17.907" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T18:16:10.020" Title="How to tie a Purcell Prusik from a single end?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20271" CreationDate="2018-08-23T14:57:44.637" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: This knot works better in smaller diameter cords, but its easier to demonstrate with larger ones so that is what is in the pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start with you go over the top of the rope and then do 2-3 coils back towards the what will be the closed loop before bring it back over where you started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FWt5am.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FWt5am.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you go underneath the main line,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dp8ZW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dp8ZW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you coil again 2-3 coils in the direction of the closed loop making the coils on that side match the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3uTb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D3uTb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After it is all dressed nicely it should look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bDq3N.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bDq3N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;advantage&lt;/strong&gt; of this knot for adjusting tie down strings on tarps and tents is that &lt;strong&gt;you can slide the knot towards the tent to get it tight and then the prusik will hold it in place.&lt;/strong&gt; It's fairly easy to untie because only one end of the prusik has tension on it, you can just undo the unweighted side and then the other will come right off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that it's the coils towards the closed loop that will take the weight, sometimes its worth putting 4-6 coils on that side and only 2 on the unweighted side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T14:57:44.637" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20274" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20247" CreationDate="2018-08-23T17:28:12.973" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The white dust, technically &quot;bloom&quot;, found on the trunks of aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees has been used as a sun block. Some trees have more than others. Rubbing a hand on the bark and transferring the dust to your skin does noticeably leave a whitened area so I'm inclined to believe it is some help. There are numerous species of Populus, so it might be possible to find other trees with similar benefit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T17:28:12.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20267" CreationDate="2018-08-23T17:58:31.937" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer, yes.  There are thin or even pamphlet sized guides to wild edibles.  I doubt you would find any practical use with those.  They simply don't have anything but the most well known plants and they often skimp on pictures and description or how to prepare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Longer answer, if you seriously want to learn about wild edibles you will end up with many books. You will find that they feature different plants and the ones that overlap sometimes have information that is contradictory and many of the pictures not much help because it is a different season.  I carry several ebooks on a kindle and often a paperback guide.  I will routinely look through all of them trying to ID a plant.  And in the end I'm still emailing photos to a mentor when I get home.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best advice is to look for someone giving wild foraging classes locally and taking the class and asking what books they use for your area.  Meetup is a good place to start, but you can just search the web for wild foragers in your state.  Taking a guided edible plant walk will put you light years ahead where you would be with a book alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T17:58:31.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20269" CreationDate="2018-08-23T18:11:48.877" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, carbon might be your best bet. I would not bet my life on such a thing if I had not already practiced it though. Carbon is used to filter purify both water (your typical Brita water filter) and air (re-breathers for divers' air), so the potential is there. Farther down I discuss how I would approach this since I have made filters before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard claims that simply wetting the  bandana can improve its filtering ability. I have never seen anything to lend great credibility to this, but it makes sense. It probably would not improve by much though, as all it would take is 1 small spot to dry up for the air to go through that spot instead. Maybe if you kept soaking it frequently, but then you would need to be stationary and constantly dipping your face into a lot of water. This does not sound like something I would bother to try except in an emergency in which I was stuck in one place anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as crafting something, yes, good carbon would be the first thing many of us would think of. I will warn you from experience though, as I have been doing a lot of playing around with this kind of survival crafting; you need to be careful or you could just make matters worse for yourself by inhaling the carbon dust, ash, or other fire byproducts. I accidentally did this recently and got a face and breath full of stinky fire byproducts and did a lot of coughing for a few minutes. Maybe you could improvise a dust mask for... never mind. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;If you want to go the carbon route&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Obviously you need a source of carbon&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am going to assume that you are sourcing your carbon from the wild rather than bringing activated carbon with you on your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, make sure you actually have good carbon for this. Simply taking the black stuff out of a fire is not going to give you the best charcoal. You need to make sure that you drive off as much of the non-carbon chemicals as you can from the wood. I won't go into details, as that would be an answer to a different question (&quot;How do I make good charcoal?&quot; could be a good TGO.SE question if not already asked, or you could Google that). But I will say, since many charcoal tutorials don't, that if you want as pure carbon as you can get, make sure you burn it hot. Different chemicals come out at different temperatures, so you can have what looks like great charcoal that could still be reduced closer to pure carbon if it comes from a low-temp fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Preferably &lt;em&gt;activated&lt;/em&gt; carbon (though not necessarily)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you get as good quality charcoal as you can, calling it &quot;activated carbon&quot; is still questionable at this stage. Different people mean different things when they say activated carbon. Usually it is considered activated when you have processed the carbon by increasing the size of the pores within it. There are various ways of doing that to activate your carbon, most of which are not applicable to the situation you describe. Again, I will gloss over the step of activating and suggest that is another question (&quot;How can I activate my own carbon?&quot;). Even if you do not activate your carbon, that doesn't mean it is useless for your situation. Activating it just makes it work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It should be powdered carbon&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So let's say you have made good charcoal and want to use it as your source of carbon in your mask. Generally, carbon is ground into powder so that the gas or liquid to be filtered and purified can move through it. In the situation you describe, you should just make it into the finest dust that you are capable of. When I have done this in the past, I have set the charcoal out on a flat surface and broken it with a stick until it was small pieces, then squished the small pieces with the end of the handle of my knife. If that doesn't get it small enough, I just try to find whatever nearby seems like it will work best to get it into a powder. If you have good stones for grinding, that could work; preferably &lt;em&gt;non&lt;/em&gt;-porous stones so it doesn't get caught in the stone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Now to make the device...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now you have your filtration/purification vector, the carbon, but you still need to get it into a form that will actually work for you. This is where your situation is going to start diverging from my experience unfortunately, as I have done this to filter water for drinking but not air for breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I did this in the past, I would use paper if I had it, or the biggest leaf I could find, fill it with the pulverized charcoal, poke some tiny holes in the bottom, and start slowly filtering water through it. Even the muddiest, nastiest, dirtiest water came through looking clean as bottled water out the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For you, though, we need to get it over your mouth and the air moving through it...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to attempt this, I would fold the bandana over once or twice if it's big enough, to add more layers to help keep charcoal out of my mouth. I would mix some water with some dirt to make some mud and make a circle of mud on the bandana. Not thin, runny mud, but rather thick mud that will hold its shape well, to make a little circle wall about the size of my mouth opening. Fill it with the carbon (crunched, good quality charcoal), and put something on top of it to hold the charcoal in. My first guess is a leaf with little holes poked into it, though I'm not sure how well that would work... I (and you) would have to experiment a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once all that were made, I would hold it up to my mouth and seal the edges with more mud so that air cannot go around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;My thoughts on this device&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there is a forest fire nearby and the smoke is choking you out - this is not the time to be wasting on crafting the thing I just described. You would be much better off just getting yourself out of the forest fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a dust storm kicks up - if you had no advance warning, you have no time to make this. If you do have advance warning, hopefully making this device is not your best option available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all you have is the bandana and your other normal gear and you want to make this, it will take hours. If you want really good quality charcoal in the setting you describe, you generally don't make it and use it same day, rather you make it (in the fire) and use it next day after it has thoroughly cooled. So it will take an hour to a day just to get the charcoal if not already available, then gathering the other resources and crafting it takes a while too. It might sound simple, but it's not. The water filters I make are more simple than this, and I usually have to make a few attempts as parts break during the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would guess that it would take me at least a few hours the first time I tried to craft this and have it ready to use, and that is if I had all the pieces on hand ready to start putting them together. After making a few practice ones, and if I can get it first try without having to redo anything, then maybe less than an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And even then, this is just an educated guess since, again, I've done water filters but not air filters. Carbon is used to filter air too. Activated carbon is one of the materials that can be used to make diving re-breathers, so we know this is possible. But in the situation you describe, this would definitely &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; be the first thing I tried, and it might be the last.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update: First attempt was not successful&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried this out today. For the first attempt, I did not go all-natural. Instead, I used a disposable water bottle for the base, similar to the answer by Restless Adventurer. That should have made it easier, yet I still ran into problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The major problems with the device I made:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very difficult to breathe out. I would make a looser seal next time so air can escape around my mouth instead of trying to force it through the carbon filter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In was easy, but only because the carbon shifted out of the way and the air went &lt;em&gt;around&lt;/em&gt; the carbon instead of through it. Next time I would try to use something to hold the dust in place better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some of the dust came out into my mouth and lungs. Very unpleasant.&lt;/strong&gt; Again, hold it in place better with something that the particles won't go around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the above changes, I fear that the air might have much difficulty coming in to inhale as well. Might need to make the powder layer less thick, though it already wasn't thick to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not dismiss this mask idea entirely, but it is not looking promising. I would not bother trying in survival scenario unless I had lots of time to tinker and could use the results in a controlled environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-09-29T18:18:09.643" LastActivityDate="2018-09-29T18:18:09.643" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20269" CreationDate="2018-08-23T18:20:05.020" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of plans using 2 liter plastic bottles for improvised &quot;gas masks&quot;.  Note that they would not stop gasses but instead filter out particulates like from a dust storm, collapsed building, forest fire, pepper spray, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic gist is to cut a U shaped face hole or mouth/nose hole in the bottom of the 2 liter with the cap side pointed down.  The cap area can be stuffed with whatever filter material you can find.  There are numerous different instructions of varying degrees of sophistication.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T18:20:05.020" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20278" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-23T22:09:48.320" Score="3" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have found that almost any place that is interesting to hike, and especially backpack, does not have cell phone reception, or at best lousy cell phone reception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To which I say &lt;strong&gt;hallelujah!&lt;/strong&gt;  I do not want to be in touch with the world when I am hiking.  I do not want to keep au courant with my e-mail on the trail, or find out what the latest mess is on and near that Hill 21 miles from my house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder what percentage of good hiking and backpacking territory has lousy or no cell-phone coverage.  &lt;strong&gt;So that there is a chance that this question can be answered, I ask about coverage in the US National Parks.  That is, I am using the National Parks as a proxy for the greater great outdoors.&lt;/strong&gt;  However, if anyone has information that is not confined to the US National Parks, that would be welcome. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T22:30:55.370" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T23:01:13.937" Title="Are there any credible estimates of how much of the US National Park System does not have cell phone reception? If so, what do they conclude?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cell-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20278" CreationDate="2018-08-23T22:25:58.883" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe what you are looking for can be found here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cellularmaps.com/parks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cellular Coverage in National Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which has cell phone coverage maps for a number of National Parks in the US. It depends on the park and has no percentages, but its probably the best one can get. I will note that based on my experience in RMNP, there are more areas with coverage than shown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does note,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Most cellular coverage in national parks is provided by cell sites outside the borders of each park.&lt;/strong&gt; Such service is limited by topography and elevation. This means using cell phones along rivers and valley trails may be impossible, while standing in a high location with a great view may provide excellent coverage.  Some park lodges and commercial facilities offer Wi-Fi which can also be used for Voice and Text communications.  These facilities are provided by park concessionaires and not by the Park Service itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cellularmaps.com/parks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everybody is happy with this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier and other iconic parks, environmentalists are pressing the National Park Service to slow or halt construction of new cellular towers within park boundaries. They say the NPS is quietly facilitating a digital transformation with little public input or regard to its mission statement — to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article191682394.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wire the wilderness? As cell service expands, national parks become the latest digital battlegrounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the bottom line is that you really can't depend on cell service in National Parks for safety and as the coverage can be rather spotty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-23T23:01:13.937" LastActivityDate="2018-08-23T23:01:13.937" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20269" CreationDate="2018-08-24T03:49:38.910" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Working answer: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of truly irritating particles (bad enough that the breath-moistened bandana ain’t cutting it):&#xA;Poke many small holes in bottom half of a disposable water bottle.   Pack bottle tight with porous / fibrous / granular material.  Put mouth over the bottle opening and breathe like a snorkel.  Improvise nose plug.  Exhale by opening mouth.  If you can’t breathe enough, pack less tightly or use coarser particles/fibers.  If you’re still breathing too much of the irritant, pack more tightly or use finer particles/fibers.  Possibly moisten.  Ideally practice this sometime in the actual terrain where you travel, with some irritant source like a smoky campfire blowing in a steady direction / dust kicked up deliberately that you can escape at will.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Full answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’d like to suggest a means of dividing this problem into pieces, in the hopes people so inclined can use comments to suggest solutions to the particular pieces they understand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of sealing to airway (within following categories):&#xA;Tube in mouth so that lips provide seal, in conjunction with nose plug (style of snorkel/scuba/bong)&#xA;Covering nose and mouth, sealing against skin (style of respirator)&#xA;Covering face, sealing to face (style of gas mask)&#xA;Covering full head, sealing to neck (style of emergency fire evacuation mask)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of allowing the passage of inhaled air sufficient for a given level of exertion &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of exhaling w/o co2 buildup&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of immediate removal to prevent suffocating if clogged&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of blocking a certain appropriate percentage of a certain size particulate, via possible mechanisms including:&#xA;Holes too small for particle.&#xA;Sticky passages that adhere particles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other possible features:&#xA;Reduction in noxious gasses &#xA;Eye protection&#xA;Completely hands-free use&#xA;Filter purging / cleaning &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible means of testing efficacy w/o injury &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-24T03:55:15.020" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T03:55:15.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20281" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-24T08:31:08.453" Score="7" ViewCount="575" Body="&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend and I are currently a month into a 3-4 month trip in Europe and are finding it quite challenging to find suitable gas refills for our van. The gas runs both the cooktop and the fridge. &#xA; We have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingaz.com/uk/p-23531-r-907.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Campingaz R907&lt;/a&gt; cylinder and are out of gas in Poland, en route to Romania, Bulgaria and Montenegro where we plan to spend most of the next 2 months. We will pass through the eastern parts of Slovakia and Hungary today/tomorrow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were under the impression that Campingaz was easily available throughout Europe, but that doesn’t seem to be in case in any of the countries we plan to be in in the immediate future. We are wondering what our options are as &#xA;Is it possible to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;buy a different brand of gas cylinder that will fit the regulator we have (15mm screw in)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;change the regulator to one that is going to be more conducive to the gas cylinders that are available in the countries we are heading to? If this is possible, can we do this ourselves? Can anyone suggest names of stores from which we could buy the required equipment please? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16280" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-08-25T01:53:32.967" LastActivityDate="2018-08-25T01:53:32.967" Title="Buying Campingaz in Eastern Europe" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20281" CreationDate="2018-08-24T11:26:57.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try this Camping Gaz store locator for Poland: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.campingaz.com/PL/t-retailerlocator.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.campingaz.com/PL/t-retailerlocator.aspx&lt;/a&gt;. It might help (and you can use Google Translate if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T11:26:57.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20281" CreationDate="2018-08-24T14:30:23.007" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your bottle will just contain &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_petroleum_gas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LPG&lt;/a&gt;. The problem you may have is the connector for filling up. This is non standard across countries and so you may require an adapter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;adapters: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/gas-cylinder-adapter.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/gas-cylinder-adapter.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;stations in romania: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mylpg.eu/stations/romania/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mylpg.eu/stations/romania/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;how to refill: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/eyRwM2WJm6I&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/eyRwM2WJm6I&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;more info: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjFiJbfxWg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjFiJbfxWg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-24T23:35:51.007" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T23:35:51.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20284" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-24T17:24:51.450" Score="1" ViewCount="141" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume I am completely naïve of boating concerns, that I know the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are things that float and carry stuff across the water called boats.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A boat needs something to make it move. Some have motors, some catch wind in sails, some you move yourself with paddles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the things I should know (or do, or get, etc.) before clumsily rushing into boating?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what I don't know, so please point me in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A commenter has suggested that the answers would be different for the different types of boats. As such, I am making questions for the types outlined above, and answers here should be about generic information which applies to all boating in general (I assume there is a lot of overlap), and can link to those other questions as well. So see also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20293/beginning-paddle-boating&quot;&gt;Beginning paddle boating&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please treat this as a gateway for beginners who don't know what questions to ask to start with and as a lynch-pin to link together any other relevant Q&amp;amp;As on the site. In fact, linking in any other Q&amp;amp;As on the site which really should be read by the beginning boater would be great.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-08-27T15:18:45.593" LastActivityDate="2018-08-27T15:18:45.593" Title="Beginning boating" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2018-08-24T22:11:49.087" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2018-08-24T17:36:17.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fishing creel bag works great for small game like rabbits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/white-river-fly-shop-creel-bag&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/white-river-fly-shop-creel-bag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16283" LastActivityDate="2018-08-24T17:36:17.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20287" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20291" CreationDate="2018-08-25T09:32:05.600" Score="6" ViewCount="679" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Biology SE I have just asked &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/q/76974/27918&quot;&gt;Could being exposed to excess UV in the arctic lead to a human eye color change? If so, what is the mechanism?&lt;/a&gt; but comments there questioned weather Arctic hiker Robert Swan's eyes did actually change color due to exposure to UV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even 32 years ago people spending all day in brightly lit snowy areas did usually use eye protection of some kind, if not for UV at least to reduce the brightness of all the reflected sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to double check here; does this in fact happen? Has someone's eye color actually changed due to exposure to excessive UV in sunlight, especially because of the ozone holes at the poles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if there's a source specifically about Robert Swan's hike and eyes 32 years ago, that would be great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Original source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbsnews.com/news/expedition-antarctica-cbsn-originals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Expedition Antarctica: A father and son's journey to save the planet&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2EPVv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2EPVv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hikers Barney and Robert Swan, Antarctica&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;above:&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;This winter, Barney and Robert Swan became the first explorers to ever trek to the South Pole surviving exclusively off of renewable energy.&quot; Robert (the elder) is on the right. From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbsnews.com/news/expedition-antarctica-cbsn-originals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Credit: SHELL-Technical Partners&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="12619" LastEditDate="2018-08-25T09:49:35.750" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T02:15:13.523" Title="Has extended exposure to sunlight and UV in the arctic or antarctic ever caused someone's eyes to change color?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20288" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20289" CreationDate="2018-08-25T17:33:03.837" Score="13" ViewCount="378" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the last years, there were a few occasions when companies would put out recalls on their climbing gear due to manufacturing defects. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://warranty.bdel.com/CarabinerRecall/Landing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond recalled some improperly riveted carabiners&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/de_DE/recalls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;they have a list of all their product recalls since 2000&lt;/a&gt;. Usually, I read about any recalls in climbing magazines, but it is easy to miss new ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I don't own only Black Diamond gear, I wonder: Are there any sources that list all product recalls of major climbing gear manufacturers over the last few years?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T10:21:47.523" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T14:32:10.370" Title="Is there a good way to be kept up-to-date with climbing gear recalls?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20289" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20288" CreationDate="2018-08-25T19:47:24.650" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think one of the most comprehensive lists is maintained by the UIAA: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theuiaa.org/safety-standards/recalls/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.theuiaa.org/safety-standards/recalls/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT3: It seems to be working fine again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT2: Currently there are no entries present for 2017 and 2018. After contacting them, they told me that the database is under construction and due to technical reasons the data from this period cannot be displayed right now.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/s&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastEditorUserId="8697" LastEditDate="2019-03-01T11:00:26.343" LastActivityDate="2019-03-01T11:00:26.343" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5448" CreationDate="2018-08-26T11:35:17.713" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's some advice about sleeping in a bivvy bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not close the bag when you sleep. Leave it open and use the mosquito net, then the air you breathe can get out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it is really cold leave it open a little bit and wear a cap or balaclava.&#xA;I have been using a bivvy bag for 17 years in all weather conditions, from +25&amp;#8451; down to -15&amp;#8451; (77&amp;#8457; - 5&amp;#8457;), sometimes even more and less than these temperatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16292" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-08-27T23:53:16.883" LastActivityDate="2018-08-27T23:53:16.883" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20287" CreationDate="2018-08-27T00:23:58.503" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This did indeed happen to Robert Swan, who is the first man in history to walk to both the South and North Poles. His eyes turned from dark blue to light blue on his trek to the South Pole, which began in November of 1985 and ended at the Pole in January of 1986. (His trip to the North Pole was in 1989.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are very credible sources, but the best one is Mr. Swan himself! After those two journeys, he co-founded a non-profit organization called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.2041.com/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2041 Foundation&lt;/a&gt;, the mission of which is to inspire people to care about preserving Antarctica. (The organization still takes people to Antarctica, in case you want to book a trip!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Robert's a passionate environmental advocate and spends most of his time as a motivational speaker and educator. In the TED video on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.2041.com/robert-swan/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;his biography page&lt;/a&gt; of the 2041 website, he describes his journeys in detail, and also shows pictures. The video itself can also be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.2041.com/robert-swan/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. It's 16 fascinating minutes long!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His description of the trip that caused his eyes to change color begins around the 4th minute. He mentions having many of his body parts freeze, including his eyes. He continues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something happened to me on that 70 day journey in 1986 that brought me here, and it hurts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My eyes changed color. In 70 days through damage, our faces blistered out and the skin ripped off, and we wondered why. When we got home we were told by NASA that a hole in the ozone had been discovered above the South Pole and we'd walked underneath it, the same year as it had been discovered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ultraviolet rays down, hits the eye, bounce back, fried out the eyes, ripped off our faces.&lt;/strong&gt; It was a bit of a shock, and it started me thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Farther down on that page is a video from one of his other talks. I haven't watched it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gave some of the same information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NASA published a report from its Office of the Chief Scientist, entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nasa.gov/ames/ocs/2015-summer-series/robert-swan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Robert Swan, Leadership on the Edge&lt;/a&gt;. It includes one of Robert's hour long video presentations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that report:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Robert Swan, OBE is the world’s first person to walk to both the North and South Poles. He earned his place alongside the greatest explorers in history by accomplishing this feat by age 33. His 900-mile journey to the South Pole, ‘In the Footsteps of Scott,’ stands as the longest unassisted walk ever made on earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During Swan's Antarctic expeditions, his team survived near-death encounters as the oceanic ice melted prematurely due to climate change. &lt;strong&gt;His eyes also permanently changed color due to prolonged UV exposure under the hole in the ozone layer.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many of the news articles and other journals seem to have quoted that report, or quoted someone else who quoted that report.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Shell Corporation, who partners with Robert in his efforts to harness sustainable energy sources for the future, interviewed him in preparation for his second trip to the South Pole in 2017. They used the word &amp;quot;bleach&amp;quot; to describe what happened. The article, entitled &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.shell.com/inside-energy/powering-a-polar-adventure.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Powering a Polar Adventure&lt;/a&gt; looks back on his previous trips, to both the South and the North Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His 1985 journey to the South Pole bleached his eyes and burned his face because of a hole in the ozone layer above the continent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't find anything about other specific people who experienced that phenomenon, although ongoing research into the damage done by the holes in the ozone layer proves extensive damage done to eye health and visual ability, and there are references to the radiation from lack of ozone affecting pigment.   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ozone-hole.org.uk/12.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ozone Depletion&lt;/a&gt; is one of many reports on eye disease and damage. It and other articles are clear that as the depletion of the ozone layer increases, so do cataracts, blindness and cancers of the skin around the eye and the eye itself. Damage is also done to the cornea, lens and retina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T02:15:13.523" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20292" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24751" CreationDate="2018-08-27T07:19:39.690" Score="8" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I feed the local birds quite a lot, and am wondering about the possibility of contracting any avian-related illnessess. How often is it for us to come across a disease-ridden bird anywhere, as well as specifically in Malaysia?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15843" LastEditorUserId="15843" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T03:20:55.367" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T08:10:32.120" Title="How common are avian diseases?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;malaysia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20293" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20315" CreationDate="2018-08-27T15:12:48.593" Score="4" ViewCount="344" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume I am completely naïve of boating concerns, that I know the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are things that float and carry stuff across the water called boats.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A boat needs something to make it move. Some have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paddles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think that some of the popular small boats that might be easy to start with use paddles. And paddling seems safer and easier to understand - just push against the water - so let's assume boats that use &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paddles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KnRXb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KnRXb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the things I should know (or do, or get, etc.) before clumsily rushing into paddle boating?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T14:48:28.083" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T14:48:28.083" Title="Beginning paddle boating" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20296" CreationDate="2018-08-27T15:18:03.450" Score="15" ViewCount="3409" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of hazards that can kill electronic products (water, impact).  We want to take a few ebooks with us (i.e. plant &amp;amp; animal identification, directions, trails info, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume non-DRM ebooks.  While it is possible to purchase one copy and share it between multiple devices, there may be legal issues. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am thinking either a micro SD card or thumb drive, would be optimal but I don't know.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short of having copies of everything on every device, what is the storage medium that will be least likely to fail and most transferable between similar devices?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T13:50:44.927" Title="Safest way to carry ebooks outdoors?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20390" CreationDate="2018-08-27T15:26:35.940" Score="1" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume I am completely naïve about boating concerns, that I know the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are things that float and carry stuff across the water called boats.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A boat needs something to make it move. Some have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sails&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sailboat&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sails seem like they might require less effort than &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20293/beginning-paddle-boating&quot;&gt;paddles&lt;/a&gt; and don't have the fuel or other complications of motors, so let's assume sailboats for this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the things I should know (or do, or get, etc.) before clumsily rushing into sailing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-01T17:17:56.247" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T22:08:38.277" Title="Beginning sailing" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20294" CreationDate="2018-08-27T15:31:41.697" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just get a waterproof case for whatever electronic device you have the books on and then a waterproof/impact resistant USB flash drive for the books.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SD cards are more breakable and prone to getting lost or misplaced than USB flash drives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick price checks says you can get a&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Water proof to 200M through the use of a EPDM waterproof seal&#xA;  Protected from vibration or impact damage through the use of a molded shock damping collar&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233805&amp;amp;ignorebbr=1&amp;amp;nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&amp;amp;cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Memory+%28USB+Flash+Drive%29-_-N82E16820233805&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwwo7cBRBwEiwAMEoXPNAWxNKf3OLvFZUMsXKVHL1cNxaMdt4RGqOywYTebpUr_HguzgfzAhoCegMQAvD_BwE&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For around $20, so that seems like the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T13:50:44.927" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T13:50:44.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20294" CreationDate="2018-08-27T17:46:03.253" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a waterproof smartphone and it works as an E-book reader.&#xA;I think there are also waterproof tablets, which will give you a bigger screen.&#xA;I do not know whether there are waterproof dedicated e-book readers, but there might be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both phones and tablets usually take SD cards, although not all will take all sizes so you need to be sure you have the right size for your phone or tablet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look for an older model, 'last year', you will get a machine that is way better than you need for just an e-book reader, but for a modest price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-08-27T17:46:03.253" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20288" CreationDate="2018-08-27T18:47:05.027" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use these sites for general product recalls (categorized by use), although I think they are maintained by the same group:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recalls.gov/cpsc.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.Recalls.Gov&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Consumer Product Safety Commission&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For other recall resources, refer here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usa.gov/recalls&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Protect Yourself from Recalled Products&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to government-kept list of recalls, I would also keep an eye on the manufacturer and distributor of your equipment.  Some manufacturers - notably foreign ones - might not keep their recalls up to date with the US government, or their recalls might not be of a safety nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/recalls.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond recalls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You didn't specify, but my links presume you are US-based, but other governments should have their own managed lists as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FYI, the CPSC mentioned in this article is the host of the above two links for recall lists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/gear/recall-this-the-real-danger-behind-climbing-gear-recalls/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Recall This: The Real Danger Behind Climbing Gear Recalls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-08-27T18:47:05.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20299" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-28T02:03:00.727" Score="4" ViewCount="471" Body="&lt;p&gt;How does neoprene perform as a base layer for winter sports?  Is it a way to be warm while remaining sweaty, as opposed to wicking sweat away?  What are its disadvantages?  What are best practices for how to use it as a layer?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By neoprene I mean typical neoprene wetsuit material (foamed neoprene, closed cell, typically with a fabric backing, typically 2mm to 8mm in thickness) assuming it will be covered with a wind-blocking shell and probably other insulating layers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By winter I’m personally most interested in the 0F to 32F (-20C to 0C) range &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve used it winter kayaking a couple of times (a 2mm sleeveless “farmer John” wetsuit in conjunction with fleece layers and a goretex drysuit) when I didn’t believe I could manage layering just right to avoid sweat.  It worked better than sweaty wool or fleece, and generally seemed like a decent option.  But I have limited total experience (a few trips of a couple hours’ length).  Curious what experience other people have had.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T22:20:24.747" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T22:43:03.517" Title="Neoprene as a base layer for winter activities?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20300" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-28T10:20:36.550" Score="11" ViewCount="2552" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have bought a down sleeping bag that comes with two bags: one for storage and one for packing. The packing bag is not as small as it could potentially be, and it is shaped like waterproof bags, where you close it by rolling the top part and then clipping the two sides together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I can manage to initially pack the bag pretty tight, I have noticed that it expands quite a bit, taking any free space in my backpack. While it is not a big issue when hiking, I would prefer to be able to keep it as tight as possible at least for the time I am taking flights, as there luggage dimensions could be crucial. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is there a way to keep the sleeping bag packed as small as possible for at least a short period of time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T09:33:46.053" Title="How to prevent sleeping bag from expanding in its bag" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20300" CreationDate="2018-08-28T10:38:45.740" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Get a special bag for the sleeping bag.  Your special bag should have compression straps.  If it's also a dry bag, it should ideally also have a valve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have bought the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Compression%20dry%20bag%20PS10%20with%20valve%20and%20belt/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;compression dry bag PS10 with valve and belt&lt;/a&gt; from Ortlieb.  It's like other dry-bags, but with a valve and compression straps.  I use it as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open the valve.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insert the sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roll up the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the compression straps to compress it as far as possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close the valve.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the closing of the valve, the sleeping bag can not expand.  This way, not only does my sleeping bag stay dry even if I fall into a river, but it also compresses much smaller than I could otherwise get it to compress, due to exactly the problem you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can work for other dry bags as well, but my sleeping bag bag is by far the largest dry bag I have and the only (large) one with a content that wants to expand, although I imagine it would work for down jackets as well.  I used to have the sleeping bag inside its own stuff sack, then the stuff sack inside a dry bag, but recently I've dispensed with using its own stuff sack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get a regular stuff sack, you can save money and weight, as the compression straps will be enough to compress the packed sleeping bag even after it's been closed, but on a water- and airtight dry bag the valve is a big bonus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T09:33:46.053" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T09:33:46.053" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20299" CreationDate="2018-08-28T11:31:37.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Neoprene is not a good idea - unless circumstances dictate it necessary.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't breathe well, it has a tendency to gnaw. It has a relatively high friction towards other textiles, so you'll have to work harder to move. And it doesn't isolate as well as alternatives, though it has some isolating properties. It is rough and tough, so I think it will be slightly uncomfortable over time as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="13536" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T11:42:43.317" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T11:42:43.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20300" CreationDate="2018-08-28T13:16:30.963" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just put some straps around the packing bag (plastic clasps to not damage your bags). You probably have those lying around already ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8yrs1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8yrs1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;sup&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even (large) rubber bands can work, though they will have to re replaced for the next trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-08-28T13:52:32.637" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T13:52:32.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20305" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20307" CreationDate="2018-08-28T14:26:36.223" Score="4" ViewCount="1216" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this question, I focus on the fall exposure component. While I understand the perception of danger will vary from person to person, I'm having trouble characterizing mountain exposure. I can see where when you reach YDS (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite Decimal System&lt;/a&gt;) 3rd class, it's evident that overall steepness usually makes the path exposed in some way, but at 1st and 2nd class ratings, how do we define exposure? I'll be asking a few questions here but they all aim to aggregate the attributes of a hike or scramble that would make it exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the mere presence of a drop-off on one side enough to consider&#xA;that particular section exposed even if walking on mostly level&#xA;ground?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does the footing have any impact, like loose scree on a long steep&#xA;talus (let's say over 35°)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How long or steep does a slope have to be to become exposed? I have Greg Slayden's &lt;a href=&quot;http://peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=315164&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Columbia trip report&lt;/a&gt; in mind where he mentions the constant steepness being overwhelming.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is a narrow path traversing a slope that ends further below at a&#xA;drop-off considered exposed?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is inspired by my recent experience with Alan Kane's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/fr/product/5048-163/Scrambles-In-The-Canadian-Rockies-3e-%C3%A9dition&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies&lt;/a&gt; guide. It seemed to me that what constituted exposure was strangely defined or that I didn't understand the concept. For example, I found the slabby ridge up the classic Mt. Rundle quite exposed at its narrowest point (and that's at the most a 2nd class hike), but didn't find the 3rd class moves up Mt. Temple to be that dramatically exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T16:46:30.630" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T16:46:30.630" Title="What constitutes mountain exposure when hiking or scrambling?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;scrambling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20305" CreationDate="2018-08-28T14:40:14.480" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Exposure is more a feeling that there is nothing below you in the event of a fall rather than a steepness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A trail that was level as it winds its way around a mountain but has a 1500 ft drop off on one side would be considered exposed, while Class 3 moves up a slope might not be depending on the person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture of the narrows on the Long's peak trail,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.hcn.org/events/photo-contests/pc-2016/national-parks/longs-peak/@@images/ee7e381d-854f-4685-8a03-a3bccb4d3e6a.jpeg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hcn.org/events/photo-contests/pc-2016/national-parks/longs-peak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Notice how the trail is mostly level, and yet there is a dropoff right there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or see this one of the trail to Angel's landing with a railing,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Zion-AngelsLandingEdge.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Zion-AngelsLandingEdge.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't depend on the footing or the length of the trail because you can have good footing or a very short section of exposure. There are rock climbs where you go from no exposure to what looks like an infinite amount of blue sky below in the space of a couple moves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T00:57:16.653" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T00:57:16.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20305" CreationDate="2018-08-28T15:09:08.853" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Mountain Exposure&quot;&lt;/em&gt; is a very broad term. Simply defined, it means you are exposing yourself to some risk of injury or death in the outdoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your level exposure while climbing is determined by how unprotected your climb is, which is summed up by how likely you are to sustain injury if you took a fall. On vertical climbs, the availability of anchors or placements for trad gear, and the availability of good holds constitutes protection; the lack thereof determines exposure. On hikes, the steepness of the slope, and ground cover determine exposure. You're much less likely to go tumbling to the bottom of a slide covered in thick willows than you are on a barren talus slope. The willows can stop and even cushion your fall, whereas you can cartwheel all the way to the bottom of a steep talus slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term is not exclusive to falling. Mountain exposure encompasses exposing yourself to the elements as well. Wind, weather, temperature, the sun; there are many levels of exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking or climbing in good weather however, your level of risk of sustaining a serious injury or dying in the event of a fall is what constitutes your level of exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T15:21:42.100" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T15:21:42.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20308" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20309" CreationDate="2018-08-28T18:46:35.867" Score="8" ViewCount="482" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently heard the term &quot;Outdoor Influencers&quot; relating to certain groups of people, including conservationists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently some people have negative feelings about their activities, because they make it harder for people to enjoy wild and natural outdoor areas.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, some people feel that their activities increase the enjoyment of those same areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Who are the group entitled &quot;Outdoor Influencers&quot; and what do they do? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-22T00:52:56.533" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T00:52:56.533" Title="What group of people call themselves &quot;Outdoor Influencers&quot;, and what do they do regarding natural areas of land?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20308" CreationDate="2018-08-28T18:59:30.883" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically it's people with large social media followings who use their influence on those platforms, especially Instagram, to influence people to visit outdoor places, buy outdoor things and support outdoor causes. Their Instagrams of beautiful vistas have brought attention to environmental issues — and foot traffic to unspoiled wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.racked.com/2018/8/27/17719792/outdoor-influencers-leave-no-trace-bears-ears&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How the rise of Outdoor Influencers is Affecting the Environment&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor influencers are a relatively new phenomenon, and their rise is largely attributable to Instagram. Adam Buchanan, who started the first influencer marketing program at Columbia Sportswear, says he thought of the idea while camping in the La Plata Mountains in Southern Colorado.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It looks like most of the complaints come from them posting pictures with geotags and then massive herds of people showing up to those locations to take the same picture.&lt;/strong&gt; These people are afraid that all the attention will draw too many people to areas that are not able to handle the extra traffic without sacrificing the integrity and privacy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.racked.com/2018/8/27/17719792/outdoor-influencers-leave-no-trace-bears-ears&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;same source&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the one hand, there’s the notion that posting content on the outdoors inspires others to get outside (see: #OptOutside, et al.). On the other, there’s the very real fear that posting photos of hidden hikes and hot springs invites an influx of visitors these places lack the resources to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Geotagging can also get specific, and that’s where the real issues start. “We’re having a lot of problems with people geotagging hidden or sensitive places,” Boué said, adding that these places don’t always have the infrastructure to handle a lot of new visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its sort of how the story of the man who had to cut his arm off brought more users to that specific canyon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except for Ralston himself, Utah officials hadn’t performed a single rescue in Blue John or the surrounding canyons between 1998 and 2005. But after Ralston published a book about his ordeal in late 2004, and especially since last January’s release of 127 Hours, starring James Franco as Ralston, the canyon has seen a jump in rescues. Since June 2005, more than two dozen hikers have been reported missing in or near Blue John. Most of them, like Richards, were trying to retrace Ralston’s route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1892686/tourist-trap&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tourist Trap&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The part that people seem to feel positive about is when the Outdoor Influencers use their platforms to raise awareness for important causes to protect these lands.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kate Boue, who was one of the first to be coined an Outdoor Influencer, has said that they have a social responsibility to use their Instagram power for good, meaning to help protect the land, so we can enjoy it more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, she posted a picture from inside of a sporting goods store with a simple sign that said Protect Public Land. The picture got 3,000 likes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She included this message:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“You can either share a picture of yourself standing on a really cool summit and say, ‘Oh look, a really cool summit,’ or you can post that same picture and say, ‘Did you know that the Land and Water Conservation Fund supports our public lands with $900 million in potential funding each year? But it’s expiring on September 30, so we need you to take action,’” she said. “And then your pretty mountain picture just ended up getting a thousand signatures on a really important issue.”  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.racked.com/2018/8/27/17719792/outdoor-influencers-leave-no-trace-bears-ears&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T23:26:22.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20300" CreationDate="2018-08-28T21:40:43.090" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going back more than 40 years, the answer is to have an air (and water!) proof portion of the packing system. I still use a black plastic garbage/garden trash bag liner inside the manufacturer-provided stuff sack. Then I can sit on the bag, forcing air out (and making the end product more rectangular rather than cylindrical for better packing) and seal the trash bag with a twist tie. No air goes in, so no expansion. No water gets in so comfy nights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T21:40:43.090" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20299" CreationDate="2018-08-28T22:43:03.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;By a strange coincidence, your Question and the September/October &lt;em&gt;Technology Review&lt;/em&gt; arrived today, with an article titled &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611730/super-suit/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Super Suit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When divers carry out rescue missions in frigid waters, standard&#xA;  wetsuits offer less than an hour’s protection. The Navy and&#xA;  researchers who work in polar waters have long sought ways of&#xA;  extending that survival time. Now a pair of MIT engineering professors&#xA;  and their students have come up with a simple and effective way of&#xA;  treating a conventional wetsuit so that it protects people three times&#xA;  longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The process works by simply placing a standard neoprene wetsuit inside&#xA;  a pressure tank autoclave no bigger than a beer keg, filled with a&#xA;  heavy inert gas, for about a day. The effects then last for about 20&#xA;  hours, far longer than anyone would spend on a dive.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article does not say how well this suit would work for non-diving applications, nor when it might be on the market, nor anything about its likely cost.  They do say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;....the process could be used to make wetsuits that are no more insulating&#xA;  than normal but much thinner, allowing more comfort and freedom of&#xA;  movement.&lt;/strong&gt; (emphasis added)**&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is something to bear in mind, although you can't buy one at REI in the immediate future. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-08-28T22:43:03.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20312" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20313" CreationDate="2018-08-29T07:30:07.650" Score="5" ViewCount="1197" Body="&lt;p&gt;Exactly that... I've done some searching and it looks like a catch-22 situation: To be able to move there you need to do commoning already. But to do commoning, you need live there already. (Hmm... do you? I guess you could live outside New Forest but although your animals would be outdoor most of the time you'd need somewhere for them to shelter...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note since some are confused about what a New Forest commoner in the United Kingdom&lt;/strong&gt; is, here is a quote from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20313/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; by Liam&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those that are interested in what a commoner is, it is basically someone who has the right to gaze sheep, horses, cattle in the New Forest boundary. It was an institution created by William the Conquerer in the 11th Century.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6a4kql&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Commoners of the New Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16294" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T19:03:20.113" Title="How do you become a New Forest commoner?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;legality&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20312" CreationDate="2018-08-29T08:17:35.807" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know the New Forest well, I used to live in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Ringwood/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x48738532aac62175:0x9a4a68f19c60b8b?sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwjB2o_-6JHdAhXIA8AKHSB-C0cQ8gEwD3oECAoQCw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ringwood&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To become a commoner you essentially have to buy some land that comes with the right to common on the new forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Commoners are those who occupy land or property to which privileges&#xA;  known as ‘rights of common’ are attached, which includes the right to&#xA;  graze stock on the Open Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that the New Forest is one of the most expensive places to live in the UK, this doesn't come cheap. A house with common land privileges in the New Forest is likely going to come with a price tag in the millions of pounds. There is a problem with commoners not using their right to common. It's become a status symbol to be &quot;a commoner&quot;, but the London bankers who buy these kinds of properties rarely have any interest in the upkeep of the traditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those that are interested in what a commoner is, it is basically someone who has the right to gaze sheep, horses, cattle in the New Forest boundary. It was an institution created by William the Conquerer in the 11th Century.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6a4kql&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Commoners of the New Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T08:37:04.983" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T08:37:04.983" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20314" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20316" CreationDate="2018-08-29T08:47:01.273" Score="4" ViewCount="215" Body="&lt;p&gt;This plant was seen in Cyprus a few days ago and my girlfriend was wondering what it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is anyone able to identify it please?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJgox.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fJgox.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/859Ol.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/859Ol.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eRsX6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eRsX6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T17:36:32.240" Title="Identifying a plant seen in Cyprus" Tags="&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20315" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20293" CreationDate="2018-08-29T10:18:10.733" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The very first thing the novice needs to know is where you want to go.  There are several types of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/paddling&quot;&gt;paddle (or Oar)&lt;/a&gt; powered boats.  Each boat style has places they excel at and have shortcomings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedalo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paddle Boat&lt;/a&gt; has center paddle (like an old steam paddle boat) that is powered by pedalling.  It is only practical on small lakes with little wind. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Row Boat&lt;/a&gt; there are several variations with the standard beginner model being 8 to 12 feet long and 4 to 5 feet at the beam (wide), with a mostly flat bottom.  It is normally powered by one person using two oars, while sitting facing the aft (back) of the boat.  It is the most stable of the one to three person paddle powered boats. It can handle rough open water, but is not as maneuverable as some other boats, and the rear facing seating makes a poor choice for rivers with rapids. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/kayaks&quot;&gt;Kayak&lt;/a&gt; a small (usually one person) boat powered by double bladed paddle.  The boat of choice for the most extreme water, class 4 rapids and open ocean. There are several style variations. Training and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11290&quot;&gt;Helmets&lt;/a&gt; are suggested for boaters on moving water. Also appropriate for calm water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondola&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gondola&lt;/a&gt; Long narrow boat. Powered by a single paddle at the rear.  For carrying passengers and/or freight on calm narrow waterways. Limited usage outside of special areas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/canoes&quot;&gt;Canoe&lt;/a&gt; Long narrow boat, powered by a single paddle with one blade, from a sitting or kneeling position. Normally holds 2+ passengers and gear.  Appropriate for calm to moderately rough or white water. Combined with alcohol and no life jacket often in the news for fatal accidents. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddleboarding&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PaddleBoard&lt;/a&gt; Essentially a surfboard the you can sit or stand on and paddle. Currently popular on calm water.  This is more of swimming accessory then a boat. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20325&quot;&gt;frothy white areas on the water (whitecaps)&lt;/a&gt; get back in your car and go home. These can be managed with training and experience but for the novice can be fatal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly and most important &lt;strong&gt;always&lt;/strong&gt; wear a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11479&quot;&gt;life jacket (personal floatation device)&lt;/a&gt; from before you put the boat in the water until after you and the boat are out of the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I have updated the boat type links from wikipedia to our tag if we have one.  These should be updated as new tags are created&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T12:51:43.997" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T12:51:43.997" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20314" CreationDate="2018-08-29T13:18:18.047" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carissa_macrocarpa&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carissa Macrocarpa&lt;/a&gt;, commonly known as Natal plum, or another related species. If one searches for common plants in Cyprus, it does come up easily. I am guessing that the climate in Cyprus is very similar to its native south african Eastern Cape and that's why it's been introduced as a landscaping plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But just as with the introduced and now invasive &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;giant hogweed&lt;/a&gt; it is somewhat of a hazard, although to a much lesser degree, as the whole plant is poisonous except for the fruit (as long as they are ripe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some of the prominent identifying features:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Characteristic spines/thorns &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;White flowers &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Large oblong/egg shaped&#xA;fruit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glossy leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P5Flu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P5Flu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-08-29T17:36:32.240" LastActivityDate="2018-08-29T17:36:32.240" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20318" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20500" CreationDate="2018-08-30T00:41:44.537" Score="3" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning on getting a bipod for my rifle, in the hope of being more accurate and able to hit targets at longer ranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What features should I look for in a rifle bipod?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T14:51:15.773" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T14:51:15.773" Title="What to look for in a rifle bipod?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20319" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-30T00:48:47.927" Score="2" ViewCount="67" Body="&lt;p&gt;The are two main types of fly fishing flies, wet (sink underneath) and dry (float on top).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were trying to learn how to how tie the flies yourself instead of buying them, &lt;strong&gt;would one type be easier to start with&lt;/strong&gt; rather than the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T16:45:48.977" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T20:05:01.380" Title="If you are starting to tie your own fly fishing flies, what types would be the easiest to start with?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;fly-tying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20320" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-30T01:06:14.617" Score="1" ViewCount="167" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bags often have a recommended stuff sack size given either in dimensions or volume i.e. 6 x 11 inches or 5 liters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the recommended size for how small it can get for backpacking or is it more the size of what one could store the bag in?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put it another way, does the recommended stuff sack size fall on the more or less stuffed end of the spectrum?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T01:13:34.353" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T01:38:17.220" Title="How stuffed is a sleeping bag stuffed in its recommended stuff sack size?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20321" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-30T01:31:44.737" Score="1" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I remember correctly, someone proposed that the problem of wild horses over populating in the western United States would be to let the mountain lions control the populations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Would mountain lions actually eat the wild horses,&lt;/strong&gt; and if so, would this be enough to control the wild horse population?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T18:27:54.390" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T18:27:54.390" Title="Will mountain lions eat wild horses?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20320" CreationDate="2018-08-30T06:57:32.627" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I owned multiple (down) sleeping bags that came with their own specific compression bags. I assume these compression bags are chosen by the manufacturer to 'fit' the sleeping bags in question (as to how they might evaluate this I have no idea - I would assume it's mostly just a question of how easy it is to stuff them in there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When putting the sleeping bag in these compression bags, and after compressing them, the sleeping bag is pretty much as small &lt;em&gt;as you can feasibly get it&lt;/em&gt; just by using your hands and some attached straps. If I would sit on it I might maybe compress it some 10% more, but that is a hassle and not worth the little space saving for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottom line:&lt;/strong&gt; on the sleeping bags that I've used (and owned) the original manufacturer-supplied compression bags were on the rather small end, i.e. high compression, of the spectrum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T06:57:32.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20323" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20324" CreationDate="2018-08-30T09:44:41.830" Score="1" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;Within the mountains (and other wilderness areas) of Västerbotten and Norrbotten in Sweden, there is a lot of cultural heritage, with Sami huts (&quot;kåta&quot;) like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16066/566&quot;&gt;Måskåsj-gammen&lt;/a&gt; or like this one between Sjisjka and Tjåurek:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTgWn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTgWn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sami hut about 4 hours hiking west of Sjisjka&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Sami hut between Sjisjka and Tjåurek, 18 June 2011.  Photo by myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The January 1983 edition of the magazine &lt;em&gt;Västerbotten&lt;/em&gt; describes the Ljusfjällskåtan as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vi kom att så att säga stöta samman direkt, fast&#xA;  utan att mötas, i byggnader som jag beskrev. Enoksson har byggt den största kåta jag sett (undantaget kyrkkåtor i Norrbotten), Ljusfjällskåtan, åt Vilhel­mina norra sameby (en s k kassakåta, efter same­&#xA;  byns gemensamma kassa), vilken liksom hans egen&#xA;  stuga uppe i Remdalen var särdeles välbyggd. Den&#xA;  senare ägs nu av Gotthard Larsson i Grytsjö, som&#xA;  är ordförande i samebyn och en av dem jag intervju­ade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which means:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We came, one could say, to meet without actually meeting, in buildings that I described.  Enoksson has built the largest sami hut I have seen (except church huts in Norrbotten), Ljusfjällskåtan, for Vilhelmina North sami village (a so-called &lt;em&gt;kassakåta&lt;/em&gt;, after the villages shared &lt;em&gt;kassa&lt;/em&gt;), which just like his own hut up in Remdalen was especially well built.  The latter is now own by Gotthard Larsson in Grytsjö, the president of the sami village and one of the people I have interviewed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This pagagraph is not very clear in describing what a &lt;em&gt;kassakåta&lt;/em&gt; is or was.  How would I recognise one, and what was its purpose?  Google Search comes up only with two articles from this magazine (including the cited one), and otherwise results are completely irrelevant (as the word can also be translated as an adjective meaning something like “horny for getting rich quickly”).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit after return from hike:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail to Ljusfjällskåtan branches off from the trail between Ransarn and Vardofjäll, itself rarely used (judging from the guest book at Ljusliden, probably less than 20 hikers per year) but easy to find.  Approximately midway between Ransarn and Vardofjäll, a very rarely used (probably less than 1 hiker per year) route branches off westward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail is invisible for most of the way.  It is marked by cairns, but the cairns are too far apart to be visible from one another, in particular in the forest, so cross-country navigation is essential to find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hR5Y0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hR5Y0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trail to Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trail approaching Ljusfjällskåtan from the east&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qT28p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qT28p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trail to Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trail approaching Ljusfjällskåtan from the east&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About 4 km from where it branches off the main trail, is Ljusfjällskåtan.  I agree with the January 1983 article in &lt;em&gt;Västerbotten&lt;/em&gt;, this &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; the largest goahti I have ever seen apart from the church buildings in Norrbotten.  I don't know how frequently or rarely it is visited.  Some vandals have scratched their name into the wall, but only twice.  Both left a date: one from the 1950s, and one from the 1980s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fKQ4p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fKQ4p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ljusfjällskåtan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OBFIk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OBFIk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ljusfjällskåtan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remarkably, the outhouse was open and stocked with a full but completely yellow roll of toilet paper.  We're all adults here, so I looked down into the hole and it was completely clean, with no visible or smellable sign it had ever been used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A five minute walk away is the modern equivalent &lt;em&gt;Renvaktarstuga&lt;/em&gt; (which means something like reindeer warden's cabin) that reindeer herders use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LBQCz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LBQCz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Near Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Reindeer warden's hut near Ljusfjällskåtan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route past Ljusfjällskåtan continues westward to ultimately connect with the (faint) trail between Remdalen and Åtnikstugan.  Above the treeline it is occasionally visible as a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezFOM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezFOM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trail west of Ljusfjällskåtan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trail west of Ljusfjållskåtan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dxLCg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dxLCg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trail at Båvloe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Trail at Båvloe, west of Ljusfjällskåtan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More photos of the area available &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/s/aHsmtiM9Yi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;through Flickr&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-10-03T21:09:12.630" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T23:14:06.660" Title="What is a kassakåta?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;huts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20323" CreationDate="2018-08-30T11:12:09.663" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think a better translation would make the meaning obvious. &quot;Kassa&quot; here means &quot;fund&quot;. ie a &quot;kassakåta&quot; is a hut funded by the village, not by an individual or a family.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T11:12:09.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20325" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-30T12:40:29.317" Score="15" ViewCount="12382" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard someone talking about whitecaps and how they could be dangerous for boating but I am not sure I understand, what they were talking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are whitecaps and why should I be concerned about boating with them? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T15:31:57.597" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T20:29:47.097" Title="What is a 'Whitecap' and why should I be concerned about boating in them?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20320" CreationDate="2018-08-30T12:46:01.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The recommendation is mostly so people buy the correct aftermarket stuff sack size. If I go to buy a stuff sack (we have, me and my partner, a combined 7 or 8 sleeping bags), I actually test the stuffing myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can follow the recommended volume and try to buy a stuff sack with the corresponding value but I found that the listed stuff sack volume is usually uncompressed, so it is its maximum (I have the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorresearch.com/ca/fr/gear-and-accessories/gear/compression-and-stuff-sacks/c/or-compression-and-stuff-sacks?nav_gear_categories_stuffsacks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoor Research&lt;/a&gt; models in mind). If your sleeping bag has an advertized stuffed volume, this makes things slightly easier but if you look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/fr/product/5002-382/Sac-de-couchage-Versalite--12-%C2%B0C&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MEC's specs&lt;/a&gt; for sleeping bags, here a -12°C Western Mountaineering model, they recommend a 20L compression sack for a 8.1L compressed bag. That's most probably too large a size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For down models, I usually try to aim for somewhere between 1.5 to twice the volume. No more. Synthetics needs a bit more volume for the initial stuffing before compression. As long as it is not overly hard to bunch the sleeping bag in the uncompressed stuff sack, it will work just fine and you'll get the best compression possible. With a too large stuff sack, you'll bottom out the straps before you're done compressing. For example, I have 10L and 15L OR stuff sacks where one of my sleeping bags fits perfectly in the former while I can't completely compress it in the latter. The bag probably compresses to 5-6L. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try to squeeze until I can't possibly cinch the straps anymore, even using my full weight. This works fine with my oldschool, heavy, and bombproof stuff sacks but with the ultralight models that are most common now, I'm always in fear of ripping it apart, which I've seen happen countless times when I worked retail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T12:46:01.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20327" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-30T13:19:05.420" Score="6" ViewCount="474" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen 'Single-oar sculling' on Gondola's and in crowded harbors (i.e Asia).  From what I have seen on TV it looks like it is mostly an attempt to combine higher sight lines (paddle while standing) and paddling in a narrower path (&lt;em&gt;i.e. the power stroke can be inside the beam of the boat, unlike a row boat that has oars extending several feet to each side&lt;/em&gt;)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Single-oar sculling is the process of propelling a watercraft by moving a single, stern-mounted oar from side to side while changing the angle of the blade so as to generate forward thrust on both strokes. The technique is very old and its origin uncertain, though it is thought to have developed independently in different locations and times. It is known to have been used in ancient China,[4] and on the Great Lakes of North America by pre-Columbian Americans.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculling#Single-oar_sculling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wEvpW.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wEvpW.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sculling&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sampan-01.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In recreational boating you normally expect to have less traffic and are less desirous of spending all your paddle time standing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any current usage of 'Single-oar sculling' in recreational boating?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T23:03:43.363" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T10:43:15.363" Title="Does 'Single-oar sculling' have any use in recreational boating?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20325" CreationDate="2018-08-30T13:40:38.990" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;White caps are named for the white caps at the top of waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;White caps are sign that the wind is picking up and that the weather conditions are getting worse and look like this at low wind levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VKW25pH1FS8/maxresdefault.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKW25pH1FS8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/beaufort.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beaufort scale&lt;/a&gt; these start happening at between 7-10 knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its even more dangerous if you are in a canoe as the wind can flip you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wind and Waves – Whitecaps are a clear sign of dangerous conditions on the lake. Waves can overturn your boat (especially canoes), make it difficult to turn, prevent you from holding course, and slow or stop your progress. Wave conditions can be especially chaotic and dangerous in shallows and along shoals, cliffs and rock bluffs. Waves in open water can be much higher than those in protected coves or behind islands. Read “On Lake Champlain, The Wind Rules” (page 74) for further guidance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lakechamplaincommittee.org/explore/lake-champlain-paddlers-trail/safety/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Planning a Safe Trip&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Simply put, rough water is water that is breaking in white caps or any scenerio where the body of water your in inhibits the control you have over your vessel, like slamming your boat around to the point where somebody or something could easily be thrown off, or soaking your engine and electronics in a manner that could leave you stranded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/waves.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Safe Boating in Bad Weather&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T13:40:38.990" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20325" CreationDate="2018-08-30T16:01:15.107" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As well stated in another answer, whitecaps (the white tips of waves) are a visual indicator of local wind speed over the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just wanted to add emphasis that whitecaps, as an indicator of wind, will often appear before the local formation of the sort of short, steep waves (aka “wind chop”) that can be challenging for canoes and kayaks paddled by people who are accustomed to flat water.  So even if such waves are not yet present the whitecaps are an indicator that waves may be developing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when relatively small these waves can be treacherous when coming from behind the paddler, due to the tendency of the canoe/kayak to unintentionally surf (gain speed on the face of the wave) and then broach (turn suddenly parallel to the waves) which, along with an unpracticed reaction from the paddler, can contribute to tipping.  A paddler heading into the wind may experience exertion but no particular challenge with stability only to discover when they attempt to turn around that they are fighting to keep the boat upright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has a good &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_wave&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article &lt;/a&gt;about how waves develop (whether in a breeze on a pond or in a storm in the pacific the basic elements are similar—-wind speed, the distance the wind has travelled over the water, the time the wind has been blowing)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T20:29:47.097" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T20:29:47.097" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20327" CreationDate="2018-08-30T16:33:44.530" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;One time I've seen it done is by the steersman of a dragon boat when going straight. It only adds a little thrust but an experienced helmsman can help novices along a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T16:33:44.530" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20327" CreationDate="2018-08-30T20:16:34.867" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's mostly a lost skill (in the UK) for forward propulsion, though I have seen older fishermen use it for moving small dinghies around. I've played around with it a little myself and it's fairly easy going once you get the rhythm. &lt;em&gt;The primary advantage over rowing is that you can see where you're going&lt;/em&gt; which becomes significant in busy waterways. It's otherwise considerably slower and feels less efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For kayaking and canoeing there's a similar stroke primarily for lateral movement under the heading of &lt;a href=&quot;https://paddling.com/learn/kayak-sculling-draw-stroke/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sculling draw&lt;/a&gt;, though that's a pull rather than a push stroke, coracles are also powered in a similar manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T20:16:34.867" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20384" CreationDate="2018-08-30T22:22:32.073" Score="7" ViewCount="333" Body="&lt;p&gt;The source, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6a4kql&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Commoners of the New Forest&lt;/a&gt; referenced by @Liam in his answer to the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20312/how-do-you-become-a-new-forest-commoner&quot;&gt;How do you become a New Forester Commoner?&lt;/a&gt; implies that for the New Forest to become a mature forest would be a bad thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is vital that the tradition of commoning is maintained, as without&#xA;  the [grazing] stock, the forest would soon become a very different&#xA;  place. The ponies and cattle are the ‘architects’ of the land, feeding&#xA;  on the gorse and brambles that would otherwise become overgrown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Without this grazing, the scrub would develop into mature forest,&#xA;  reducing the ecological value of the area and affecting the&#xA;  recreational activities visitors enjoy across the forest today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand why it is beneficial to keep brambles in check, and although I have never encountered &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/gorse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;gorse&lt;/a&gt;, it sounds unpleasant to walk through.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But what do the authors of this article mean when they say a mature forest would reduce the ecological value of the area and affect (presumably reduce) the recreational value of the land?&lt;/strong&gt;  Although I am not religious, religious is the only word I can find to describe the experience of hiking through a mature forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T00:08:09.200" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T19:22:19.163" Title="Why is it undesirable for the New Forest to convert to a mature forest?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20321" CreationDate="2018-08-30T22:35:59.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Would they eat wild horses?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Yes, and they do.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;Would they control their populations?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;No, not really.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that there were 30 - 60 million bison roaming North America before westerners came to the continent should be an indicator of how well predators here are of &quot;controlling&quot; populations. Granted, wolves and bears probably preyed more on bison than cougars did, though there are early accounts of cougars riding the backs of bison. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The summer diet of large male cougars consists mainly of large mammals, including moose, deer, and where available: feral horses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing with cougars is that they are solitary predators, they don't live in prides like African Lions, and they have huge territories they defend from other cougars, so comparatively, they aren't killing &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; many horses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cougars are also hunted themselves, and their populations are controlled, because like any other predator: they like easy prey. Given the opportunity to choose between a feral horse running wild, or an old captive horse stuck in a fenced field, chances are they'd go for the horse that couldn't run away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a balance in nature between predator and prey. They amount of available prey determines the population of predators it can support. If there are too many predators, then the food source dwindles to the point where the predators starve, hence why many predators are territorial, they defend a territory sufficiently large enough to sustain themselves, and defend it from other predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there were a sufficiently large enough population of cougars to control feral horse populations, then there would be a lot more conflict between ranchers and cougars as well, which in turn would result in the culling of cougar populations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer is &lt;strong&gt;&quot;Yes&quot; cougars can and do take down feral horses&lt;/strong&gt;, but they won't take down enough to solve the problem ranchers have with feral horses; That problem being that feral horses destroy fields of crops, damage fences, and eat the feed intended for the herds of domesticated horses and cattle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What will happen with the horses, if left on their own, is that a balance will be achieved. More horses means more potential food sources for cougars and other predators, but it also means more competition for the other animals that eat the same food as the horses. The horse population will grow as much as the availability of food and predation will allow. The problem with the horses is that they are an &lt;em&gt;invasive species&lt;/em&gt;. Native ungulates may have difficulty competing with horses, which would result in a decline of native species. The cougars and other predators may be able to help balance the overall population of prey, but they wouldn't target the horses specifically unless they were an easier prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T22:35:59.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20332" CreationDate="2018-08-30T23:02:10.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like it would be a combination of loss of the way it has been and of the beneficial effects of grazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grazing can have both positive and negative effects, and can benefit certain species at the expense of others so its all a balancing effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cattle are thought to provide biodiversity benefits in woodlands &lt;strong&gt;when grazed at low density since they eat dense vegetation of a low digestibility and break up vegetation mats with their hooves.&lt;/strong&gt; This opens up the ground layer vegetation and is thought to be beneficial for tree regeneration as well as &lt;strong&gt;leading to a greater variety of vegetation types and associated invertebrate and bird assemblages.&lt;/strong&gt; Because of these perceived benefits there is increasing interest in the use of cattle as a tool for nature conservation management in woodlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/impacts-of-large-herbivores-on-woodlands/impacts-of-large-herbivores-on-woodlands-survey-of-cattle-grazed-woodlands-in-britain/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Impacts of large herbivores on woodlands - Survey of cattle grazed woodlands in Britain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Over the last century human activities have&#xA;  moved away from using woods for their food and&#xA;  livelihoods. The loss of woodland management&#xA;  allowed many sites to become neglected, overgrown&#xA;  and shady. &lt;strong&gt;This led to a serious decline in many&#xA;  species that require disturbance and more open&#xA;  conditions&lt;/strong&gt;, including rare lichens and ground flora.&#xA;  Wood Wise – Woodland Conservation News Autumn 2012&#xA;  Dunwich Forest ponies Steve Aylward&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Overstocking of woodland grazers can cause&#xA;  a loss of plant and animals species and prevent&#xA;  natural regeneration, through soil compaction and&#xA;  overgrazing. &lt;strong&gt;But balanced regimes with appropriate&#xA;  grazing pressure can increase habitat diversity,&#xA;  support important wildlife populations and&#xA;  encourage natural regeneration.&lt;/strong&gt; A lack of grazing&#xA;  often allows more aggressive plants to outcompete&#xA;  and dominate sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/mediafile/100263349/pg-wt-2014-woodwise-2012-autumn.pdf?cb=435a97b193f048419903e8a34c51ea8a&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Woodland grazing – introduction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Several papers report examples of successful use of livestock in forest management in terms of controlling woody understorey vegetation, &lt;strong&gt;with benefits to tree growth and in some cases, ground flora.&lt;/strong&gt; In Britain, stock could potentially play a similar role in helping to eliminate competing vegetation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The literature is unanimous in that for grazing to be successful it must be applied at a suitable livestock density, and duration of grazing and grazing season be appropriate to the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.conservationevidence.com/individual-study/743&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Individual study: A literature review of the effects of sheep and cattle grazing in plantation forests&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;disappearance of grazing&lt;/strong&gt; from much of British lowland heathland over the last century is thought to be a major contributory factor in &lt;strong&gt;the loss of health vegetation by allowing succession towards woodland.&lt;/strong&gt; The reintroduction of grazing is hindered by the small amount of available information on grazing management methods or on the responses of lowland heath vegetation to grazing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320796001176&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grazing of lowland heath in England: Management methods and their effects on healthland vegetation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its also worth pointing out that most of these mention that there isn't a lot of study on these the effects of grazing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-30T23:08:02.193" LastActivityDate="2018-08-30T23:08:02.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20327" CreationDate="2018-08-31T00:17:17.330" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know of a sailboat owner/restorer who has made a point of installing yuloh fittings and uses the yuloh (specialized oar for sculling) preferentially over the outboard motor when possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diMB6Ix9jTQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diMB6Ix9jTQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She's a sailmaker by trade, but her use of her Nordic Folkboat definitely falls into the &quot;recreational&quot; category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;In recreational boating you normally expect to have less traffic&quot;&lt;/em&gt; - well, maybe for certain values of &quot;normal&quot;. Just because you might spend significant amounts of time outside of crowded waterways doesn't mean that you won't encounter them, especially if you're traveling between different coastal locations with your boat, and especially if your home port happens to require you to negotiate shared fairways for several minutes at a time at the beginning and the end of your day's outing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastEditorUserId="13735" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T00:22:23.277" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T00:22:23.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20337" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-31T00:47:59.767" Score="4" ViewCount="169" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some forests in the Western United States will have been logged at different times and by different methods i.e. clearcut vs selective logging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As time goes by, the trees will grow back but this results in different environments and amount of wildlife as well as some areas being easier to hike with less deadfall on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are their historical maps of when a forest in the US was logged?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:37:14.203" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T20:59:46.527" Title="Are there US Forest Service maps of historical logging?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20338" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-31T00:52:59.763" Score="16" ViewCount="1813" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are canoeing on a lake and the wind suddenly starts blowing to the point where there are whitecaps, what is the best direction to head to get off the lake?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would it be the shortest way back to the shore or would one take the direction of the wind into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="13703" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T02:25:49.643" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T18:01:54.013" Title="If you are canoeing on a lake when whitecaps start happening, what is the best direction to get off the lake?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20338" CreationDate="2018-08-31T02:49:46.120" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Downwind.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first time I got caught in open water with whitecaps was when I was 13. We were on a multiday canoe trip and the winds picked up on the last day when we had to cross the lake. Instead of crossing where we had camped, we decided to go downwind until we were directly across from where we wanted to be, then we crossed. The hope was that the winds would recede later in the day, so we stayed closer to shore, making headway while waiting them out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Riding the white caps downwind was easy, if you got going the right speed you could surf some of the waves as they caught up to you, and you didn't have to worry about water splashing into the canoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddling across the wind wasn't as much fun, but it's doable if the waves aren't too big, you keep your craft parallel to the waves and rock at the hips when you ride up and over them. You don't want to lean into the wave when it hits the side of your craft, you want to rock your canoe slightly away from it and level out going over the top. If you don't rock your canoe with the waves, then the white caps are more likely to break over the gunwales. If the waves are &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; big, then you run the risk of a large enough wave capsizing your canoe. In the event of overly large waves, you should ride them down wind as much as you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddling up into the wind is the fastest way to drench the person in the bow and slowly swamp your canoe. The waves come at you much more rapidly, and as you break each wave it splashes water up and into the canoe. Your paddler in the bow gets jarred in the seat with each wave you break too, and depending on the wave size and how fast you get paddling, you can even bounce them out of their seat sometimes. This is true no matter how slightly you're heading into the wind. Water breaking over the gunwales is the first indicator that you need to steer downwind a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which way you choose to go depends on how big the lake is, how far you are from shore and how big the waves are. Waves start capping long before they get really big, but the longer they are capping, and the bigger the lake, the bigger the waves are going to get, so it's best to get off sooner than later and wait the winds out. If upwind is the fastest way to shore, and you can afford to take on a litter water, then go into the wind and get of the lake quicker, but downwind is always easier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately this is a judgement call that needs to be made considering all the circumstances in the event of white-capping, including the experience of the paddlers. An experienced pair of paddlers can go out in virtually any weather conditions, whereas I've seen novices capsize in perfectly calm and still waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T14:57:43.333" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T14:57:43.333" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20340" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-31T10:28:22.343" Score="19" ViewCount="3381" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am stealing &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20338/if-you-are-canoeing-on-a-lake-when-whitecaps-start-happening-what-is-the-best-d&quot;&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh's question&lt;/a&gt; about &lt;strong&gt;canoeing&lt;/strong&gt; on an open lake, because for &lt;strong&gt;kayaking&lt;/strong&gt; you would get different anwers, and it's important to distinguish those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are kayaking on a lake and the wind suddenly starts blowing to the point where there are whitecaps, what is the best direction to head to get off the lake?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would it be the shortest way back to the shore or would one take the direction of the wind into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume a one-person kayak with the cockpit covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-13T18:22:29.767" Title="If you are kayaking on a lake when whitecaps start happening, what is the best direction to get off the lake?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20340" CreationDate="2018-08-31T10:58:36.877" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Conditions in which you can handle the boat depend on the style of boat and the paddler&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The range of what defines a &amp;quot;covered cockpit kayak&amp;quot; includes play boats from under 2 meters to over 5 meter touring and racing boats. A considerably greater variety than &amp;quot;open canoe&amp;quot; covers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Paddlers range from total novices to the highly experienced or internationally competitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one end of these scales you're going to have serious difficulty travelling upwind at all under these conditions, at the other end of the scale you're unlikely to really notice until conditions become significantly more adverse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Advice for each combination of boat and paddler varies. One thing you will notice is that kayaks tend to turn nose into the waves, making upwind an easier option than you might expect.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way off for a short boat will always be downwind, these boats are designed to surf. They'll catch a wave and you can ride it to shore. They really struggle to climb waves and you won't make much progress if you turn into the wind and waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crosswind requires some skill at handling your boat in waves, but if you drop the edge towards the incoming waves and let it turn up the wave and ride down the back it's not too bad. The chances are anyone needing this advice will be in a stable enough boat that there's not a massive problem but should generally be avoided. Taking waves straight side on should also be avoided, however as already mentioned, your boat will naturally turn up into the waves as long as you keep it upright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Upwind could be your better bet in longer touring boats, racing boats or sea kayaks. The boat will naturally turn this way and it won't cause any difficulties with handling. However these boats can also surf, so a good paddler should be able to take a quick ride out by going downwind. Anything above the 4 meter mark is unlikely to be slowed by small white horses, smaller touring boats will get wetter, but the point of the covered cockpit is to allow you to stay out in considerably more adverse conditions than open boats can handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In summary:&lt;/strong&gt; A competent kayaker in a suitable boat doesn't actually need to head off the lake at the point where white horses are starting to form, however beginners should take an exit that suits their abilities and their boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The plural of anecdote isn't data:&lt;/em&gt; As a general rule once the white horses start appearing I treat it like a resistance session and dig in. I'm usually in a polo boat which isn't designed to handle at all in big water, however I'm also not your average recreational paddler. I advise beginners to stay away from areas where the waves tend to build when the wind picks up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Storm in a teacup&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Don't try this at home!&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jIJsz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jIJsz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;West Res Storm Ciara&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking of this question as I was out on the lake on Sunday morning, the image is the output of the weather station on our base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since we don't get conditions like this very often, I took the opportunity to test both long and medium boats. (I don't fit well in the small boats, and in these conditions I wasn't going to take anything unfamiliar.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The sea kayaks (P&amp;amp;H Delphin) were great both up and downwind, surfed nicely with the wind behind us (skeg down), coming off the surf at speed onto the crosswind leg with limited space was less fun, but they were also no problem at all upwind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Polo boat (EXO XP3) 3metres low volume. This is not a boat I'd normally recommend anyone take under such conditions, it's fundamentally a flat water boat. Downwind it was a handful in the surf, constantly trying to broach (no skeg of course) and preferring to be half submerged if at all possible. In big water you want to keep your nose up and on this boat any lift under the tail the nose goes down (feature not a bug). Coming onto the crosswind leg it started behaving itself. Upwind it tends to sit level and let the waves roll over the top. That's not actually a problem and it paddles nicely even half underwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is as much an example of the difference between closed kayaks and others&lt;/strong&gt; such as sit on tops, open canoes and paddleboards. Only a closed kayak could be used even under our controlled conditions in the storm. Any other type would have washed up battered on the lee shore in fairly short order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-13T17:15:13.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20340" CreationDate="2018-08-31T11:31:22.523" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, &lt;em&gt;if the wind suddenly starts blowing&lt;/em&gt;, realize that this is a case of bad planning.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You should never find yourself in the middle of an open lake when the weather patterns may lead to powerful winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it's too late now, and you have to make a decision where to paddle to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;em&gt;This answer focuses on longer type kayaks (5m), because I've never used shorter ones for trips; they just don't 'have the mileage'. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20341/15958&quot;&gt;Separatrix's answer&lt;/a&gt; addressing shorter boat types&lt;/em&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer, in contrast with an open canoe, is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Upwind&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing gives you more stability than steering you nose into the wind. As long as you keep pointing into the wind, you won't have issues with balance, even when the waves roll over your deck.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A second advantage is that the closer to the windward lake side you get, the lower the waves will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longer answer is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;It depends&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are &lt;em&gt;other&lt;/em&gt; factors to take into account, and that may make you decide differently:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distance to shore&lt;/strong&gt;. If upwind to the shore is much farther than other directions you may chose differently. Note that your speed will be low upwind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shore structure&lt;/strong&gt;, specifically: are there exit points, can you climb on shore? If the shore you are pointing to has heavy rocks, concrete blocks, lots of reeds, or tangled bushes, it will be hard to get out of your boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kayak type&lt;/strong&gt;. If you're in a sea kayak, it will tend to lift up on an incoming wave. A race type kayak would cut straight into the oncoming waves, and they would wash over your deck completely. That's not really an issue for an experienced paddler, but you get really wet (cold?).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat type also determines how well you will be able to diagonally cut through the waves. A sea canoe can just 'corkscrew' through the incoming waves and an experienced sea canoeist may just like that...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never try to steer parallel to the waves though; even in a sea canoe that's hard, unless the waves are really long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_wave&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wave height and length&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. The larger and deeper the lake, the longer the waves will be (distance between wave tops). Long is good. Wind pushing against the waves across long stretches (a long &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetch_(geography)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fetch&lt;/a&gt;) will give larger waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And the usual: experience, fatigue, but that's not very specific to this situation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it's a short burst of wind, like the downdraft under a rain cloud or an incoming weather front, you may choose to 'ride it out'. Steer your nose into the wind and paddle enough to stay in place (save energy). You may want to lower your arms (paddle closer to your deck) to catch less wind on the blades.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are with more people, decide together. Do not split up (generally). Take care to listen to the people least secure or experienced.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When kayaking on large lakes, take the same precautions as when you are at sea in large estuaries: go with a minimum of three people, take flares with you, use maps, plan your trip etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2020-02-13T18:22:29.767" LastActivityDate="2020-02-13T18:22:29.767" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20343" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-31T13:12:34.523" Score="6" ViewCount="387" Body="&lt;p&gt;The inflatable sleeping pad I bought last year is leaking air and I'm debating the wisdom of taking a replacement to Alaska in September. When working, it's more comfortable than a foam pad. But I worry it will provide no insulation when deflated. I have also never used a camping air mattress below 50 Fahrenheit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a risk of hypothermia from a leaked inflatable pad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When working properly, do inflatable mattresses provide sufficient insulation for cool / cold temperatures?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16323" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T02:16:53.840" Title="Hypothermia risk from deflated sleeping pad" Tags="&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20344" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20337" CreationDate="2018-08-31T13:42:11.667" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US prior to about 1900, there was little control over logging.  Around 1900 the practice of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/restoration/reforestation/overview.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reforestation&lt;/a&gt; began gaining tracktion, with more oversight and controls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forest that have never been logged are called &quot;Old Growth&quot; or &quot;Virgin&quot; forests. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_old-growth_forests#United_States&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia has a list of US Old Growth Forests&lt;/a&gt; these will have never been logged (&lt;em&gt;I am going to ignore selective harvesting as healthy management practice for simplicty&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a partial answer, it is relatively easy to find one of the few areas that have never been logged. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience being under the canopy of a forest area that has not been logged in ~50 years is very &lt;strong&gt;similar&lt;/strong&gt; to old growth.  I think the key you are interested in is mapping logging in the last 50 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question intrigues me, so I have been looking for maps of logging, and I am not finding any.  Here is a guess on why they may not exist.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Road and topography are relatively stable, these maps are easy to find.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Logging is much like farming, it is always occuring and transient in impact&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Decisions to log a specific area are complex and mostly relative to very local considerations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is not a single clearing house for the information. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There might be Reforestation maps and I found some like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/USA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;globalforestwatch&lt;/a&gt; I currently live in an area with very little comerical logging so I can not speak to the accuracy of it or others. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T14:39:27.053" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T14:39:27.053" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20345" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-08-31T14:05:08.310" Score="6" ViewCount="199" Body="&lt;p&gt;The practice of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tickling fish&lt;/a&gt; in an attempt catch and eat them has a long history, and is often mentioned in passing in some circles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was going to focus building a single skill, I wonder if making nets or hooks and line from native material might be a better choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality is fish tickling a dependable way of feeding yourself in a survival situation? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T15:06:23.657" Title="Is fish tickling a reliable survival skill?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20343" CreationDate="2018-08-31T14:30:47.697" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would not be wise to take a &lt;strong&gt;leaking&lt;/strong&gt; inflatable sleeping pad on any trip where you actually &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt; a sleeping pad, and cannot hike out and replace it easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pad is already leaking.  You have to weigh the probability and consequences of the leak getting worse, maybe much worse, on your Alaska trip vs the cost of replacing the pad now.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia at 50 degrees or so is unlikely if you have warm clothes, a change of warm clothes, rain gear, a sleeping bag rated for significantly colder than 50 degrees F and a tent.  I doubt you will get hypothermia even with a completely deflated pad. And you can always put on more clothes, or spread some clothes under you in your bag.   The only caveat about hypothermia at night at 50 degrees F or so is that if it is likely to rain continuously for several days, but that is a different question. There is another caveat, by &quot;below 50 degrees&quot; you didn't mean below 40 degrees, did you? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for comfort, you will be much more uncomfortable if your inflatable pad seriously deflates than if you used a foam pad.  Also, if you are really uncomfortable with the foam pad, get tireder than you normally do; that often guarantees a sound sleep on anything!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, unless you are on an extremely tight budget, I recommend that you replace the leaking pad.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to your last sentence is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, but again, bear in mind that 50 degrees F or so is not really cold.  I've used an air mattress when the water bottle outside the tent froze solid, and I was perfectly warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Not completely frivolous aside, see the movie Alpha for inspiration.  20,000 years ago people didn't have inflatable or foam pads, and managed to sleep well.  We should be able to do anything they could do!) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T14:46:04.813" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T14:46:04.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20351" CreationDate="2018-08-31T14:48:25.847" Score="1" ViewCount="935" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible to catch fish with a hook and dental floss, and the flies can just be stored stuck in the brim of a hat or very small tin and then one improvises a rod from a stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage of taking dental floss is that it could be used for flossing in addition to catching fish but how does it compare strength wise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T16:43:59.507" Title="How does dental floss compare to fishing line in a survival situation?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20349" CreationDate="2018-08-31T15:46:40.043" Score="33" ViewCount="6361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always assumed that if my Canoe will float, and the waterway ultimately reaches an ocean it is legal to travel on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked around for documents that said it clearly one way or the other. Surprisingly I did not find anything helpful in this Wikipedia Article &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_law_in_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Water law in the United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did find this article &lt;a href=&quot;http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/caselaw.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Review of the Relationship of&#xA;Federal and State Law Regarding Rivers&lt;/a&gt; but not the sure how neutral of source it is.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question, assumes the access to the waterway is gained via a legal point of access. Crossing private land without permission, is not implied or part of this question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US is it legal to travel on any river/creek the my canoe will navigate? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T09:09:19.773" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T09:09:19.773" Title="In the US is it legal to travel on any river/creek my canoe will navigate?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20348" CreationDate="2018-08-31T16:09:33.287" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All waters no&lt;/strong&gt;, some places like National Parks require permits, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/boating-and-rafting.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dinosaur Monument&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/riverpermits.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyonlands&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also differs state by state, in some states the water belongs to the public but not the stream bed, so floating is fine but using an anchor is trespassing. In other states the public has a right to the water and the sides to the high water mark, so one can get out and wade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Wyoming, landowners own the streambed. Anyone may float across private land on navigable water, but the streambed is the property of the owner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Idaho, the state controls the waterways to the ‘Ordinary High Water Mark’ (OHWM); the land submerged below the ordinary high water mark of streams and rivers within the state are held by the Idaho Public Trust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livewaterproperties.com/how-stream-access-laws-affect-landowner/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Stream Access Laws Affect a Landowner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T16:09:33.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20338" CreationDate="2018-08-31T16:26:59.440" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors to consider in a situation like this, so there will never be only one best answer but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case you have 3 issues, wind, waves, and distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wind&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind usually causes more problems than waves.  Most canoes will tend to turn broadside to the wind if left to their own devices so your paddling will have to correct for this in addition to moving you forward. If the wind is strong enough, the corrections can overwhelm forward progress and you will get pushed downwind.  Generally heading straight into the wind requires the least corrections but is the slowest going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waves are usually not as big an issue as wind unless you are on some pretty big water but generally your canoe is most stable when going straight into the waves. This may be wet and will certainly be slow going, but if your main concern is stability, head straight into the waves.  Waves coming from behind will tend to broach your canoe, which is turn it broadside to the waves.  It generally takes a lot of experience to keep a broached canoe upright in waves with any height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distance&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The safest place is generally land (there are exceptions) so if you can get to land that should be the first option to consider. You may have to wait out the conditions or walk back but this is usually the safest option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="578" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T16:26:59.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20347" CreationDate="2018-08-31T16:43:59.507" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it comes to survival gear in wilderness scenarios, one needs to consider A) the utility of the equipment, and B) how difficult it is to find or craft the equipment from materials in the field. Using this framework to consider dental floss and fishing line as survival gear, the main uses that are difficult to craft in the field are as general-use low-impact rope, or as fishing line. In both cases tensile strength is important, and resistance to decay is another factor. Lastly, storage / weight is an important consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I presume fishing line easily surpasses floss in tensile strength, but it may not be as easy to store loads of it. I don't have data on this though, perhaps a better answer will come along with some. Anyway, given my experiences with bushcraft and minimalist camping, I would opt for fishing line as a more reliable substitute for rope than floss, and as a more adequate...fishing line...than floss. Think of what you need rope for: lashings of all kinds, providing a supporting surface to hang things from or rest things upon, stitching things in a pitch. In all those cases, I'd rather be working with fishing line than floss, as fishing line feels sturdier and less prone to fraying or decay. Then comes the use of line for actual fishing: safe to say fishing line would work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for dental hygiene, items which serve this function are relatively easy to find or craft in forests (yellow birch twigs is the local example which comes to mind), and in any case this is a low priority need in a survival situation. So, floss doesn't score much points in this comparison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T16:43:59.507" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20332" CreationDate="2018-08-31T17:02:15.603" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is all about &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_succession&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forest succession&lt;/a&gt; and natural resource management goals. Both are implicit in your question, forest succession defining new forest converting to mature forest and management goals define what's desirable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the goal is to have arable land, room to settle (build and live) on, and room to keep livstock, then early succession forest or rather grassland is much preferable to mature forest. This is because early succession stages of forest tend to be more palletable to livestock and are far easier to plow or deforest if need be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for more desirable to recreation, that depends on the kind of recreation one hopes for. You and many others appreciate being in a mature forest as a pinnacle of experiencing the outdoors, but in areas known for their picturesque rolling grasslands and roaming herds of livestock, earlier stages of the ecosystem's succession may be much more desirable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, note the difference between wilderness versus land managed with varying degrees of intensity. Grazing is one management regime, and it is probably a historic/long-term one, so it may be kept out of tradition and its benefits the area has come to enjoy. The combination of livestock and forestry is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvopasture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;silvopasture&lt;/a&gt;, which is an an ancient form of agroforestry. Silvopasture can have significant benefits for agro-ecosystems and farmers' businesses. Managing stages of succession is a key component of many agroforestry systems, and so here we may simply see a case of land managers preferring to keep their agro-ecosystem at earlier stages of succession, allowing them to continue enjoying the uses of land best suited to those earlier stages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T17:17:55.217" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T17:17:55.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20343" CreationDate="2018-08-31T20:08:26.283" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most backpacking sleeping pads are insulated, some are even down-filled. When they're deflated they lose a lot of their insulating properties. This can be detrimental in cold weather, because when you're laying down most of your heat loss is by conduction through the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take your mattress to go camping in the cold, it will give you cold spots if it deflates.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When camping in extreme cold it's recommended to use &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; pads: an insulated air mattress over a closed cell foam pad—this system is what the expeditions on Mt. Everest sleep on—the combination of the two provides you with the best insulation against the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-09-01T18:38:00.020" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T18:38:00.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20338" CreationDate="2018-08-31T22:36:12.917" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was always taught that it is best when possible to &quot;three quarter&quot; the waves, whether your intended direction of travel is up or down wind -- either way this avoids most splashing, and the boat will float over surprisingly large waves. It also allows you better control, as the wave is less likely to &quot;catch up&quot; to your forward speed and broach you, as it can in a following sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;&amp;gt;\&amp;gt; &amp;gt;      or     &amp;gt; &amp;gt;/&amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; \ &amp;gt;             &amp;gt; / &amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; &amp;gt;\&amp;gt;             &amp;gt;/&amp;gt; &amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; &amp;gt; \             / &amp;gt; &amp;gt;&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;not:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;&amp;gt; &amp;gt; &amp;gt;         and especially not:   &amp;gt; | &amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; &amp;gt; &amp;gt;                               &amp;gt; | &amp;gt;&#xA;-----                               &amp;gt; | &amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; &amp;gt; &amp;gt;                               &amp;gt; | &amp;gt;&#xA;&amp;gt; &amp;gt; &amp;gt;                               &amp;gt; | &amp;gt;&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying to go directly up or down wind, you can alternate directions every so often, moving in a zig-zag pattern to get where you are trying to go. (IIRC it is better to turn in a trough than a peak, but don't quote me on that!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll see if I can find a reference; I expect this is from Boy Scouts, but I can attest it works quite well in practice. (especially with practice!) A beneficial side effect is that if the wind is in the same direction of the waves, (as it most often is on a lake) you can balance the tendency of your paddling to turn the boat with that of the wind, resulting in very strong strokes with reduced need for j-stroking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29558/29558-h/29558-h.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Boy Scout Handbook, 1911, pg. 178&quot;&gt;Boy Scout Handbook, 1911, pg. 178&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When it is necessary to cross the waves in rough water, always try to&#xA;  cross them &quot;quartering,&quot; i. e. at an oblique angle, but not at right&#xA;  angles. Crossing big waves at right angles {177} is difficult and apt&#xA;  to strain a canoe, and getting lengthwise between the waves is&#xA;  dangerous. Always have more weight aft than in the bow; but, when&#xA;  there is only one person in the canoe, it may be convenient to place a&#xA;  weight forward as a balance; but it should always be lighter than the&#xA;  weight aft. A skillful canoeman will paddle a light canoe even in a&#xA;  strong wind by kneeling at a point about one third of the length from&#xA;  the stern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11044" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-08-31T23:01:16.777" LastActivityDate="2018-08-31T23:01:16.777" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20340" CreationDate="2018-09-01T00:52:15.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As said elsewhere “It depends”—-on the paddler’s fitness and skill, the geography of the lake, and whether the equipment (boat and clothing) make capsizing inconvenient or dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, paddling into the wind and waves requires greater fitness and less skill (you must maintain a pace and minimze rests to make headway, but it is easy to keep the boat oriented to the wind, and the wave action will not tend to tip the boat).  Paddling downwind requires less fitness but greater skill—-at best you can deliberately surf, at worst you must be able to stay upright when you unintentionally surf and then broach (turn sideways).  Paddling across the wind requires both fitness (you may have to paddle one side exclusively) and skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The geography of the lake means not all water is of equal danger.  Waves form in response to “fetch” (length of water over which wind is blowing) so you may not need to actually reach shore to get to a part of the lake away from large waves.  You may even be sheltered from wind by hills etc.  Closely related, the shore on which the waves land (the lee shore) may be more or less safe to land on depending on the wave height (caused by wind speed, fetch, and time) and whether it is sandy, rocky, etc.  You may have to be very close to shore to see the very real danger of concussion (which may lead to drowning), spinal cord injury, fracture, sprain that can result from abruptly “dumping” waves on sand, or interacting with rocks, even with relatively small waves.  It is entirely possible to paddle to a lee shore only to realize there is no safe place to land (although usually in a lake you can at least abandon the boat and swim in).  It also matters where exactly will you be on land and is that a means to safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally whether the paddler is wearing a PFD and is dressed for immersion without hypothermia, and whether the boat has appropriate flotation and rescue gear (pump, paddle float) determines whether a capsize is inconvenient (you’ll float a while but even if you can’t get back in you’ll be blown to shore eventually) or fatal (you will get hypothermic, lose the ability to self-rescue and eventually to swim, and then drown).  That might influence your decision to avoid or enjoy the tippier downwind run to shore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T00:52:15.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20348" CreationDate="2018-09-01T01:04:57.900" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in the answer provided by Charlie Brumbaugh, many states use the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) to define the limits of state control.  The images below from the American Water Works Association publication entitled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.awwa.org/Portals/0/files/legreg/documents/WOTUSReportFinal.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Understanding the Proposed Definition of the Waters of the United States&lt;/a&gt; help illustrate what this means:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/trL2d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/trL2d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TCx6T.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TCx6T.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T01:04:57.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20348" CreationDate="2018-09-01T01:45:59.097" Score="23" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't violate Zebra Mussel restrictions!!!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exploreminnesota.com/travel-ideas/five-ways-to-enjoy-minnesotas-10000-lakes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lots of lakes&lt;/a&gt; in Minnesota, and many of them are connected by streams. Its is great to paddle between them in a canoe, you can go tens of miles through dozens of lakes if you have the time and back strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, some lake have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/zebramussel/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;zebra mussels&lt;/a&gt;, and some don't. Minnesota DNR has restrictions about moving boats from some lakes to other lakes based on the presence of zebra mussels. Its technically illegal; though as a canoer there is basically no chance you would get caught, and I don't imagine the penalties are very steep even if you do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same restrictions due to mussels probably apply to many states. I know they used to in Colorado, but I think they've lost by now and pretty much all the lakes in the Front Range are invaded. Anyways, watch out for mussels, and please don't spread them through carelessness and apathy.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15446" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T01:45:59.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20327" CreationDate="2018-09-01T03:28:17.610" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There’s apparently a version of single-oar sculling performed lying on one’s back in a low, flat boat custom built for the purpose of stealthily approaching waterfowl:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.liveoutdoors.com/hunting/166851-scull-boats-waterfowl-stealth-hunting/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.liveoutdoors.com/hunting/166851-scull-boats-waterfowl-stealth-hunting/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T03:28:17.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20348" CreationDate="2018-09-01T05:58:49.313" Score="15" Body="&lt;h1&gt;No.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water use, like everything else in the US, is a patchwork of Federal, State, and Local regulations plus quasi-legal muscle. Multiple overlapping laws and agencies can apply at each level. Here's some examples in my home state of Oregon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Oswego Lake&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Oregon &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/537.110&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ORS 537.110&lt;/a&gt; flatly states &quot;All water within the state from all sources of water supply belongs to the public.&quot; and Weise v. Smith (1869) upheld that &quot;Every person has an undoubted right to use a public highway, whether upon land or water, for all legitimate purposes of trade and transportation.&quot; Case closed, anyone can use waterways, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Lake Oswego Corporation likes to claim it owns &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswego_Lake#Ownership_and_access&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oswego Lake&lt;/a&gt; and the Lake Oswego City Council claims it can bar anyone entry. While the corporation does own the lakebed, the Oregon Attorney General says they don't own the water, it's owned by the public and the public has a right to access. Lake Oswego Corporation says that only applies to &lt;em&gt;navigable&lt;/em&gt; waterways and according to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resources_Development_Act_of_1976&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Federal Water Resources Development Act&lt;/a&gt; the lake is not navigable. Police have made it clear they consider the lake public and are not going to pursue charges against anyone using the lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This whole mess is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ojd.state.or.us/records/sccalendar.nsf/b29dd44d01dffea088256c91005b3a5b/d976b0e71bfa229b882581b7007eb2bf?OpenDocument&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;currently being adjudicated by the Oregon Supreme Court&lt;/a&gt;. If you're interested in the legal issues surrounding public waterway use in the US, that case will provide ample reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rogue River&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_River_(Oregon)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rogue River&lt;/a&gt; lies entirely inside Oregon, portions are managed by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forest_Service&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Forest Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bureau_of_Reclamation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Bureau of Reclamation&lt;/a&gt;, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Land_Management&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Bureau of Land Management&lt;/a&gt; (BLM). Each have their own rules. For example, the Wild section of the Rogue River is managed by BLM and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/permits-and-passes/lotteries-and-permit-systems/oregon-washington/rogue-river&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;requires a permit during certain parts of the year&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6551" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T05:58:49.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20327" CreationDate="2018-09-01T10:43:15.363" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My brother learned it in sea scouts and used it then to bring in the small boat alone, while the others took care of the sail and tidying up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Later in life he used it in a boat which was too wide to row alone, in cases of outboard motor failing and some other cases where arrival time was improved based on knowing how to move a boat forward alone on man power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T10:43:15.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20362" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-01T19:30:10.283" Score="2" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is said you not only need to keep food at least 30-100 meters away from the tent, which is easy do to, but you also can't sleep in the same clothing which was worn while eating, which can be very problematic or impossible to follow if you make a mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am concerned about European brown bears.  See my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20187/how-high-does-a-fence-need-to-be-to-prevent-european-brown-bear-to-climb-it&quot;&gt;earlier question&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say hiking in relatively warm weather in only shorts and T-shirt. Cooked in that clothing. Do I have to undress to being naked and put on another T-shirt and shorts to sleep in? What if I only have 2 pairs and mix them up, forget to change in the morning and eat breakfast in the sleeping clothing, and suddenly I am left with no spare clothing which I haven't eaten in, so I must sleep nude or become bears breakfast myself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if I have underwear, does that need to be changed too and keep cooking and non-cooking underpants?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's so easy to mess this separate clothing thing up, I can never tell used clothing from clean, always mix them up and forget to keep clean in the clean bag and dirty in the dirty bag, never can manage to keep them apart. What if during changing the cooking-clothes will touch the non-cooking clothes and suddenly both are contaminated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you use your cooking clothes only for cooking, and hike in the non-cooking clothing? This would require getting naked before and after eating. Not very practical, and not very pleasant especially in colder temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if the clothing is managed perfectly, still my breath can smell like food, so does this clothing changing thing even make sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9884" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-01T22:53:57.947" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T20:01:55.407" Title="How to deal with changing clothing which was used while cooking as not to attract a bears?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;bear-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20362" CreationDate="2018-09-01T20:15:31.830" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest solution would be to have a designated set of clothes to cook with and then just hang/store them with the food. See this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16169/what-precautions-should-i-take-when-cooking-smelly-food-in-an-area-with-bears?rq=1&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; and answer. Keeping the food off of your clothes and not swiping your dirty hands on your pants helps too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, you can try less smelly food and keeping it off of your clothes and trying to camp where bears are less likely to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Precautions also depend on how used to people the bears are and how many of them there are, switching to different clothes is more cautious than a lot of people would do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T20:15:31.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9566" CreationDate="2018-09-01T23:36:19.323" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hehe, I love Sue's comment.  I use a disposable plastic plate that's outside on our porch along with a few smaller rocks in it that I got from the yard as my &quot;ghetto bird bath&quot;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, one way to provide water for the birds that won't cost you any money, is to get a cup of water from the kitchen and pour it where puddles would usually collect outside for the cheep cheeps to drink...I do this at the end of our driveway where I've seen the cheep cheeps bath before and it works. I saw a cheep cheep drink water that I had poured there five minutes earlier on a 100 plus degree day in Minnesota and it made me feel good that I could help them. : ) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16332" LastActivityDate="2018-09-01T23:36:19.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20366" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20389" CreationDate="2018-09-02T09:06:41.160" Score="1" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20293/beginning-paddle-boating/20315#comment52541_20315&quot;&gt;recent comment&lt;/a&gt; said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For kayak I’d say “usually 1-2 person” as tandem kayaks are very common. 3 person kayaks are rare but not unheard of, example Pamlico 160T has a third mini-seat for a child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am traveling on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7239/what-are-the-navigation-considerations-on-the-monongahela-and-youghiogheny-river&quot;&gt;local bike trails and rivers&lt;/a&gt; I about see the same number of tandem bikes as I do tandem kayaks.  Maybe a few more tandem kayaks, but not enough that I would say they are usual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand in the same area, maybe half or 1/3 of the canoes I see are one person white water canoes, with the rest being 2 to 3 person canoes.  I have never really counted any of these so maybe it is all personal perception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How common are tandem kayaks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-30T23:51:48.743" LastActivityDate="2018-09-30T23:51:48.743" Title="How common are tandem kayaks?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20362" CreationDate="2018-09-02T09:29:23.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect but have not found supporting references yet, that to a bear you smell more like a person then you do the food you are cooking. General cooking smells are not going to make a bear anymore likely to want to get close to you then, any other time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some areas where there are high bear populations which have very specific requirements for food storage &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9634/proper-food-storage-against-black-bears-on-a-long-e-g-14-days-trip-partly-i&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;See related question&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; but none that I have found mention anything about changing clothes after cooking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Changing clothes is not required, different places have different concerns.  If there are concerns the local national park will have guidelines for food storage, find those and follow them.  If the guidelines do not specifically mention changing clothes, then don't worry about it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T09:34:40.807" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T09:34:40.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20368" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-02T09:40:45.513" Score="2" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;Excluding hybrids it seems like there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bears&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eight species of bears.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which are most and least likely to injure or kill a human?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18312/do-black-brown-grizzly-or-polar-bears-ever-prey-on-humans&quot;&gt;Do black, brown/grizzly or polar bears ever prey on humans?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9035/is-any-subspecies-of-black-bear-more-or-less-aggressive-than-another&quot;&gt;Is any subspecies of black bear more -- or less -- aggressive than another?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T18:03:26.953" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T18:03:26.953" Title="What species of bear are most and least dangerous to humans?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20369" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-02T15:23:05.687" Score="14" ViewCount="1611" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of a reasonably simple means of using household items to objectively measure the insulating value of a sleeping pad, in a way that accurately predicts that aspect of performance in the field?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would imagine that this would involve creating some of the field conditions (for example compressing the sleeping pad by a realistic amount)—-what would those conditions be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This could be valuable either if it was able to produce absolute measurements (assigning an R-value under a certain set of conditions that would be the same as one measured by a manufacturer’s lab) or only relative measurements (Pad A is about twice as good as Pad B)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My goal here is to contribute to actual comfort and safety in the field.  I’d like to devise something either so simple people could test their own setup, or if not, then to enable some individual who is so inclined to measure a bunch of common gear and post results.  This is motivated both by appreciation for truly well made commercial products which deserve recognition, but also spotting where very cheap alternatives attain the basic safety and function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T22:39:19.367" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T16:19:03.097" Title="Is there a simple at-home test to objectively measure the insulating value of a sleeping pad?" Tags="&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20369" CreationDate="2018-09-02T15:42:59.467" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to test a sleeping pad's insulation yourself at home, then the way to do that would be to try sleeping outside your house in and see how they work. That is worth doing because you might sleep differently from the next person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, it seems like there is no simple way to retest for the R-value assigned by the manufacturer as that requires equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See how Thermarest measures the R-value of their pads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically, R-value is a measure of thermal resistance; the higher the R-value, the more thermally resistant the material or structure is. This isn’t just used to measure sleeping pads. It’s used by engineers and scientists to measure everything from windows to fiberglass. Our team believes that it’s also the best way to measure the insulation of our pads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We measure every mattress design in our on-site cold chamber, kept at a cool 4C (39F). Inside this thermally-sealed container, a mattress is placed between two metal plates. A section of the bottom plate has been turned into a large sensor and is kept at a steady temperature with a measured electrical current. A mattress that provides a lot of insulation will help keep the bottom plate warm and, as a result, the sensor will require less electricity (energy) to maintain its temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://thermarestblog.com/r-value-meaning/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;R-value: The meaning behind the number&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A sleeping pad's R-value measures its capacity to resist (hence the &amp;quot;R&amp;quot;) heat flow. The higher a pad’s R-value, the better you can expect it to insulate you from cold surfaces. The R-values shown on REI.com product pages are provided by the manufacturers and range from 1.0 (minimally insulated) on up to values of 11.0 or more (very well insulated).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/sleeping-pads.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Choose Sleeping Pads&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that there is not an agreed upon standard of how to measure the R-value,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently there is no standardised method of testing R values which means each brand might have their own method of testing which yields its own results. These results can be misleading, and as customers this makes it hard to compare mats manufactured by different brands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpkit.com/support/stickies/sleeping-mats-and-r-values&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why don’t we use R values?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and some use temperature ranges instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some manufacturers, like Big Agnes and NEMO, don’t use R-values. They opt instead to simply specify a temperature range their pads are suited for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gearx.com/blog/knowledge/hikingcamping/how-to-choose-a-sleeping-pad/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to choose a sleeping pad.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T15:42:59.467" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20369" CreationDate="2018-09-02T16:58:51.920" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is not clear whether you are motivated mainly by scientific curiosity or mainly by a desire to ensure comfort in the wild.  My answer assumes the latter.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer adds only one point to Charlie's excellent answer, and refutes one of your reservations to his answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A stringent test as to whether your pad is good enough for all (or almost all) of the conditions you will encounter in the wild, is to spend a night outside on it &lt;strong&gt;in the snow&lt;/strong&gt;.  Of course, if you live in Florida, this is impractical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you can camp out on your terrace or backyard in the snow, you will need only one night to &quot;rate&quot; your pad.  Note that you may be adequately insulated from the snow, but that does not mean that the snow is adequately insulated from you.  If you wake up and find yourself immobile, sunk into a shallow, icy grave, because the snow has melted and refrozen under you, your pad is not adequate for snow camping, but is probably adequate for anything  down to about 15 to 20 degrees F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from a one-year fling with inflatable pads, we've used simple, inexpensive 3/4-length Ensolite pads and have been perfectly comfortable, even without a tent, in the high teens, except for one awful night on snow at four degrees F (in a tent).    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T20:48:48.910" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T20:48:48.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20385" CreationDate="2018-09-02T17:17:42.107" Score="11" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never had a stamina or ache problem with rowing a row-boat or paddling a canoe, although my limits have declined with age.  However, my arms and shoulders tired very quickly the few times I tried kayaking recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Either my technique was wrong, or my kayaking muscles were rudely wakened from a life-long sleep and protested, or both.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read the answers to the question suggested as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20112/training-for-kayaking-out-of-season&quot;&gt;a duplicate to this Q&lt;/a&gt; and do not find the answers &quot;solved my problem&quot;, although the answer of @Chris H coupled with the rope exercise suggested by @Blade Wraith gave me some ideas to follow if my muscles are at fault.  (Note -- rowing machine will not help; I have no problems with the rowing motion.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However, I wonder if my technique is at least partly at fault.  Perhaps I elevate my arms too much.  The problem is really with unremitting work with my arms elevated much of the time.&lt;/strong&gt;  (I have no problems paddling a canoe.) &lt;strong&gt;Advice ?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-03T21:35:53.577" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T04:47:54.007" Title="Is it likely to be my technique or my muscles that cause my arms and shoulders to ache so soon after I start kayaking?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7446" CreationDate="2018-09-02T18:12:01.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This answer is a work in progress&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is focused to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6948&quot;&gt;bike and canoe combination&lt;/a&gt;.  Only legs I have traveled by bike and/or canoe are listed. No Warranty on the information is implied here, it represents my findings at the time each piece was written. The bike trail is generally rails to trails, the trail generally well above the river (flooding concerns in narrow areas) or is separated from the river by private property.  Access points listed are public, a few private access points are available, but the causal traveler should assume only those listed are viable.  While you can often see one from the other, the trail and river are generally not physically accessible to the other by the causal traveler.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigation considerations on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youghiogheny_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youghiogheny Rivers&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potomac_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Potomac&lt;/a&gt; Rivers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The entire course of this journey has bike paths paralleling or in very near proximity to the river. The section of trail at Ohiopyle is the Great Allegheny Passage &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atatrail.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.atatrail.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Legs for day journeys: bike up (5 mph), canoe down (2 mph).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ohiopyle to Confluence ~ 11 Miles, some class one rapids.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Confluence to Markleton  ~ 12 miles, class I-III &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Markleton to Rockwood ~ 6 Miles &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rockwood to Meyersdale ~ 12 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Meyersdale to Mason-Dixon Line ~ 11 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mason-Dixon Line to Frostburgh ~ 6 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frostburgh to Cumberland ~15 Miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ohiopyle to Confluence ~ 11 Miles, some class one rapids.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this writing, I believe this is the only section of trail where a canoe may travel west on the river. All water craft must exist the river at Ohiopyle, there is a water fall shortly after the sign below.  The launch is easily visible from the river and the trail.  It ends the &quot;middle Yough&quot; segment of the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d0ua6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d0ua6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Not sure why this displays sideways&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both Ohiopyle and Confluence are popular areas, with food and services for trail users.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At mile marker 67 on the trail there is picnic park, only accessible by the trail or river. There is a beach access, practical for launching easily visible from both trail and river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next launch is Ramcat, about 2 miles before Confluence. There is a car parking area, it is heavily used by both commercial and casual river users. Easily visible from both trail and river.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Confluence has multiple parking areas and kayak/canoe launches, on each side of the river. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.recreation.gov/camping/outflow-camping/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&amp;amp;parkId=73487&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outflow Camping Area&lt;/a&gt; has an area for walk in trail users (no reservations) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The left bank launch is down the grassy area, at the mile marker 61, in the image below. The dam supporting the Youghiogheny River lake is a few hundred feet up stream.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point the bike trail stops following the Youghiogheny River.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nXYq9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nXYq9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Confluence launch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Confluence to Markleton  ~ 12 miles Includes Pinkerton Tunnel&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At Confluence the Casselman river joins the Youghiogheny, and the bike trail follows Casselman.  There are a couple of miles of river that look very canoe-able.  Farther up the trail crosses the river several times, on my visit I didn't see anything that was obviously fatal to a loaded canoe, but visibility was not good, the water was a chocolate brown and moving fast.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arriving at Markleton (no services) I find a boat launch with a sign talking about kayaking the Casselman river. I learn there is a launch at Fort Hill, about 6 miles down river (I did not see it from the trail).  Google shows it across the bridge on Fort Hill Rd (low traffic, easy access from trail). The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/1590/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AWA list this section of river as class II-III&lt;/a&gt;. Locals tell me the section between Markleton and Fort Hill is the fastest section of river. They report having completed this and most of the river in an open canoe (2 paddlers). I suspect I may never try this section, alone in my 17 foot canoe with a bike in it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dn6RN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dn6RN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Casselman River Launch map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Markleton to Rockwood ~ 6 Miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multiple services in Rockwood, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat launch in Rockwood is about 100 feet down river from the bridge (left bank), no parking at the launch.  The parts of the river I could see were class one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a commercial campground ($10, Husky Haven) on the Meyersdale side of Rockwood, very visible from the trail &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rockwood to Meyersdale ~ 12 Miles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Address for the Rockwood trailhead 123 Rockdale Rd, Rockwood PA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stretch of bike trail between Rockwook and Garret is very natural, with little human development. The trail is wide and smooth.  Garret is about 7 miles from Rockwood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is trail parking at Garret, A few hundred or a thousand feet down stream from Garret is the last boat launch on the trail to the Casselman river. All of the river parts I saw from the trail were class one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Trail between Garret and Meyersdale, has some farm country, it less wide and often has two tracks that mean one wheel of trike is on grass.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meyersdale has a nice parking area, with a small gift shop and museum.  There are signs talking about services in town, but I did not explore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Meyersdale to Continental Divide ~8 mile (not yet traveled)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Work in progress pending more research&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T23:05:41.670" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T23:05:41.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20362" CreationDate="2018-09-02T19:31:42.993" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I agree with the answer of @Charlie Brumbaugh about having a dedicated set of clothing to cook with.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;strong&gt;I also agree with @James Jenkins that you smell more like a person than the food you are cooking.&lt;/strong&gt;  (Evidence: I was sniffed from toe to head by a black bear about an hour after dinner and rejected as inedible.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your set of cooking clothes can be marked with an industrial black marker, which is basically a thick black pen, whose marks will fade only very slowly with repeated washing. Google &lt;em&gt;Industrial Black Marker&lt;/em&gt;.  Marking your cooking clothes should solve the mix-up problem.  (I'll give you an url if googling does not work for you.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Context for the OP's Question and Why his Practice is not Usual:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I give the context for the OP's question, because readers may get the wrong idea about the level of precaution needed in normal situations&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not someone heading off for a recreational backpacking trip.  You own or manage a commercial camp and have a moral and legal responsibility to keep your customers safe. Your camp is in an area where European brown bears are at least perceived to be a danger to humans, and you need to keep your customers, most of them not at all outdoorsy types, not only safe, but worry-free, or your venture will not attract customers.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thus you are, from the perspective of most recreational backpackers, going overboard on precautions.&lt;/strong&gt;  I can speak from personal experience only about black bears in the Sierra and the Colorado Rockies; there your precautions would seem -- sorry to be impolite -- weird.   I cannot speak with such authority about Canada or Alaska, but I would be very surprised to hear that people routinely change clothes in bear country after cooking.  They may put their cooking, eating and food storage area 100 meters away from their tents --- or further -- and never take midnight snacks back to their tents but I can't see them doing more than that.  But they do not have your moral and legal exposure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In answer to your question about food on your breath: relax.  Frankly, even with your responsibilities, I think you are overthinking.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-02T20:01:55.407" LastActivityDate="2018-09-02T20:01:55.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20343" CreationDate="2018-09-03T01:15:31.567" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't mention what temperatures you expect to encounter.  From experience temps of -5 to -10 C [ 23 to 14 degrees F] are 'safe' but unpleasant without a sleeping pad.  You end up putting most of your clothing underneath you.  You end up turning over frequently, as the ground side gets cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done this at colder temps making a several inch bed of spruce boughs.  This works down to temps of -30 [ minus 22 degrees F) or so, assuming you have a reasonable sleeping bag for those temps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-03T02:16:53.840" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T02:16:53.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20338" CreationDate="2018-09-03T01:32:46.327" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much depends on wave size. A sudden strong wind will kick up small white caps on a short reach.  Not much to worry about.  Give the wind 10 km or so of water to run over and it doesn't much wind to kick up large waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes generally are loaded stern heavy.  If you travel downwind, you can get to the point where waves are breaking around the steersman.  The bow weathervanes downwind, and is very difficult to point to a quartering run to shore.  If you are going to paddle on windy waters, learn to trim your canoe to make it more controllable in wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When going into the wind there is a size of wave where the bow is in the crest, the middle is in the trough, and and the bow can't rise fast enough to keep water from coming in over the bow.  This is why you often will quarter (meet the waves at a 30 to 60 degree angle) This is often a useful technique in haystacks on rapids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having waves directly on your beam is very unsettling, and requires practice, and a really solid low brace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hazard also depends on how heavily loaded you are.  Bill Mason in one of his films is out on one of the great lakes playing in the surf.  But it's an empty canoe, and he's better than most of us.  Anyway, a lightly loaded canoe rises to the waves faster.  Day tripping vs weekend trip vs month long expedition will give very different results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally even with a couple weeks stuff, on small lakes, the being able to control your canoe in the wind is a more serious problem than the white caps are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to work with a school that sent voyageur style canoes (21-26 feet long 6-9 people per canoe) all over Canada.  These canoes are more heavily laden than tandem canoes are, drawing 6-9 inches of water and having about a foot of freeboard in the middle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our group's safety manual specified:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With significant whitecaps, travel was to be within 1/2 km from shore. &lt;em&gt;(Option to get to shore quickly if conditions got worse)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the wind was blowing off shore, travel was to be closer to the shore than the whitecaps. &lt;em&gt;(Off shore winds can push you further off shore to where both wind and waves are much larger)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the event of a squall or sudden wind, head to shore,  quartering if wave size warranted. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An experienced (senior) staff member acts as sweep, watching for trouble, and making sure everyone gets to shore.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We traveled on some serious water:  Superior, Reindeer, Wollaston, Athabasca, Great Slave, as well as many lakes that were &quot;only&quot; large enough to not have a visible far shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain lakes are even more dangerous, as you can see less sky, and the winds are far less constant.  I have been on Lake Abraham (N. Saskatchewan River) and have had winds go from 30 kph headwinds to calm to the same speed as a tailwind in the space of minutes.  Going into the wind we were confident.  Shore was close, and you could see the waves break.  Once it became tail wind, we went to shore and waited it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T11:05:18.210" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T11:05:18.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20320" CreationDate="2018-09-03T01:38:17.220" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You stuff it into a bag that fits it reasonably.  To small and it's a lot of work to stuff it.  To large, and you don't have room for your other stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer to use a bag that easily fits my sleeping bag.  Then the remainder of the volume carries spare socks, fleece, rain jacket.  (I still use an external frame pack, so the stuff stack is readily accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Do NOT store your sleeping bag in it's stuff sack.  Repurpose a box, or a pillowcase or old hockey back.  You want the bag to have close to it's full loft when it's hibernating between trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T01:38:17.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11085" CreationDate="2018-09-03T02:17:33.287" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the distinction of tack vs. gybe is a little hinky when referring to a kite boat moving into the wind since the kite would pass over the boat... something that a sail on a mast will never do. I see no reason why a kiteboat couldn't turn into the wind while the kite passed directly overhead. As for closest approach to the wind with a kiteboat, I have no good idea, but am really curious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see a couple big obstacles with kiteboats on the blue water: &#xA;- Dealing with variable wind conditions. Multiple sized kites? How to bring down a kite that is too big when the wind gets strong?&#xA;- Putting up a kite on a 100M line when lightning storms are in the area. Having a mast in the air is a little scary when the lightning strikes, but trying to duplicate Ben Franklin seems pretty risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't get me wrong. I think this is a really cool technology, and I would love to scooting around the world pulled by a big kite, but I think that dream is a few years off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16341" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T02:17:33.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20369" CreationDate="2018-09-03T04:36:47.790" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to see how good the pad itself insulates, then try sleeping in cooler/cold weather (snow not needed) where air can circulate beneath you. The open bed of a full size pickup truck works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the pad doesn't insulate well, then you should/will feel the cold steel. The sleeping bag beneath you will be compressed, yielding precious few insulative air cavities, so warmth under you is due the pad, not the bag (always better to be on the ground in cool/cold temperatures...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3655" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T04:36:47.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20369" CreationDate="2018-09-03T14:40:46.547" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other than sleeping a night outside on it, there is no way to test whether it will be comfortable in the wild for you, however...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A simple test for its insulating properties would be to get 3 1 litre/gallon jugs, leave one cool, and allow it to adjust to ambient temperature, then heat up Two 1 litre/gallon jugs (amount doesn't matter so long as they are all the same). its important to not have boiling water as anything over about 60 degrees C has a chance of damaging the roll mat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the roll mat and wrap it round on of the heated jugs once, any excess length do not wrap it round again, you should secure it away from the jug. and pop a thermometer in each, and leave the other unwrapped&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then leave them alone, checking back every half hour or so, the expose water is your control so you can see how quickly the water will cool without the insulation and then you can see how quickly the insulated one will cool. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the amount of time it takes to cool down reflects how insulating the matt will be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;be advised though the &quot;truest&quot; way to test it would actually be to not wrap the jug at all, instead leave both jugs on the ground with the mat under just one as the jug would be you in real life. but this would men that the temperature would change much more similarly so you may not feel reassured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then take several different mats and re-run the test, and then if you do it with enough mats you'll have a decent basis to go on in order to compare them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This test is only for your reassurance, any roll mat underneath you so long as it is waterproof, is a lot better than none. but as other have already suggested the only true test is to sleep outside on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if you have all that data... then you may as well publish it, then continue doing so and become a camping mat tester blogger. but you're overheads on shipping, items, water bill and electric bill to heat up that water might be prohibitive...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16181" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T14:40:46.547" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20372" CreationDate="2018-09-03T14:53:42.770" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pulling on a kayak paddle uses a lot of arms and upper back, so any exercise in the gym they utilisies those muscles will be of benfit to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rowing Machine&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not being patronizing but this is obviously your best bet, it exercises ALL of the correct muscles. but if oyu don't have one and don't like the gym...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rope Workout&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a decent length of thick rope, (about 4cm diameter, and about 10 metres long is good). Loop it around a post so you have an end in each hand, now raise and lower each hand opposite the other quickly, as if hitting a big drum. this is a great arm and back workout&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=658VcTBuovQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=658VcTBuovQ&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will hate me for suggesting this the first time you do it, but this has the added benefit of improving your grip strength more than the Rowing machine will, so you hand won't fatigue as quickly when holding the paddle&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16181" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T14:53:42.770" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20345" CreationDate="2018-09-03T15:06:23.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you were looking for a single skill in general then i would suggest Wild Food, finding plants that you can safely eat in the wild is definitely the best option i know its not quite as exciting as tickling a fish but it will serve you a lot better in the wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fish Tickling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish tickling is not great when your outdoors in general in my opinion. You end up spending a lot of time with your hand in the water, which may not be a problem in high summer but doing so in winter for most of the world will be a bad plan if not dangerous, and you need to be 100% about that fish and not doing other things&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning to make line and hooks on the other hand means you can set up a net/trap/line, and then go about your day improving your shelter or boiling water etc. then come back later and see if you caught a fish&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16181" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T15:06:23.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20332" CreationDate="2018-09-03T15:40:08.787" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This started out as a comment but turned out too long, sorry if it reads that way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gorse is indeed a pain to walk through, as are brmables, Mature forests tend to have a large amount of gorse and brambles and other scrub on the forest floor, and the same reasons why we humans find it uncomfortable to walk through is the reason wild animals do as well. Mature forests also tend to have fewer varieties of small flora than new forests. as the aforementioned scrub blocks the light that otherwise reaches the ground from indeed reaching it, meaning wild flowers etc don't tend to grow. that is mostly what is meant by reduce the ecological value of the area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for recreation, walking through a new forest or indeed THE New Forest is quite pleasant, you can see deer and many other examples of wildlife, and see and smell the variety of plant life. its part of the reason camping is so popular in the New Forest so again a Mature Forest lose those attractions for the same reasons&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again cannot stress enough, Brambles and gorse are a pain!!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16181" LastActivityDate="2018-09-03T15:40:08.787" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20332" CreationDate="2018-09-03T19:01:02.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the English say, the New Forest is not new and it is not a forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is how it has been for centuries and that is how the locals and powers in the area want it to stay.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And that is the whole reason it is undesirable to let it grow into a mature forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The open parkland structure of the New Forest is no better but also no worse than mature forest, it is just the choice of the people of the area.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In England, mature forests are rare, too many people, to much pressure and not enough space to let forest alone for centuries, the same happened in other areas with a huge people pressure over a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-09-04T19:22:19.163" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T19:22:19.163" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20372" CreationDate="2018-09-03T23:06:50.333" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short of seeing a video of your technique, here is some general advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A very common but poor technique in the forward stroke is where you keep your torso relatively still and repeatedly push and pull your arms in opposition. It will lead to tired arms sooner or later. Your arms are much weaker than your core muscles so the key to efficient forward paddling is to keep your arms relatively still (not dramatically flexing and straightening) and use the power of your trunk by rotating your whole body with each side of the paddle stroke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the videos and articles below may differ in some details on their advice, they all agree on the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grip the paddle with your hands just wider than shoulder width apart, the position that would feel natural for push-ups and pull-downs.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit up tall in the cockpit, leaning slightly forwards.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold the paddle in front of you with your arms slightly bent.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rotate your body about your spine so one hand and paddle blade is forward.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spear the the paddle blade completely into the water.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simultaneously, push on the foot peg on that side and rotate your body about your spine, keeping the shaft parallel to your chest. This will pull the boat towards and past where you placed the blade.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lift the blade out of the water.&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat steps 5, 6 and 7 on the other side.&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more aggressive, powerful variation is to do &quot;high angle&quot; paddling, have your arms far in front and hold the pushing elbow high.&#xA;A more relaxed, touring variation &amp;ndash; probably what you need &amp;ndash; is to do &quot;low angle&quot; paddling, have your arms close to your chest and keep the pushing elbow low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some short videos:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz00070X04o&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mike Aronoff&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCyikqdIhmY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tim Gallaway&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfx-QDuHKQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gordon Brown&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI48azR7gqM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Werner Paddles&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdghrGXC944&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eric Jackson&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2fGKNFEURw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ken Whiting 1&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvi7rIlsNRY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ken Whiting 2&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35yooFbRg2g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nigel Foster&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kayakpaddling.net/2-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Michele Ramazza&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_0G9GPi8D0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SportsceneTV&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCd7vIHbj1s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anna Levesque&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some articles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usawildwater.com/training/fwdstroke.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Five Immutable Rules of the Kayak Forward Stroke&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kayakpaddling.net/2-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Good kayak paddling technique&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/racersedge/Images/Marathon%20Kayak%20Padding%20Technique.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marathon Kayak Paddling Technique&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flatwaterkayaking.com/how_to_paddle_proper_kayaking_techniques.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to kayak with the right paddling technique&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some long video classes from champion paddlers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqXIF4ToUcE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ivan Lawler Racing Kayak Technique Masterclass&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLT0l2qf3AQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oscar Chalupsky Surfski Clinic&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-09-28T04:47:54.007" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T04:47:54.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20386" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-04T03:31:35.343" Score="7" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;Forest fires seem to be more numerous and larger, and the forest fire season is getting longer.  Some of these fires are caused by arson.  For example, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/08/09/arson-charges-against-suspect-californias-holy-fire/948126002/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USA Today&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The man suspected of igniting the Holy Fire in Southern California was&#xA;  charged on Thursday with three counts of felony arson, among other&#xA;  offenses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Carr Fire, another large 2018 fire, was caused accidentally by a spark from a motor vehicle.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/us/carr-fire-week-wrap/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CNN&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... on one road near Redding, California, when a tire failed last&#xA;  month on a trailer and its rim scraped the asphalt, the result was&#xA;  catastrophic for an entire region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The sparks that shot out July 23 from that minor incident, California&#xA;  fire officials said, ignited what is now the sixth-most destructive&#xA;  wildfire in state history.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Improperly attended campfires have caused major forest fires, although my limited search did not turn up a campfire as the cause of a major forest fire in 2018.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the past few years, what have been the immediate causes of major forest fires in the US and Canada?  Suggested breakout: arson, vehicles, campfires, other human causes, lightning, other natural causes (if any). Canada and the US should probably be listed separately.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Several years&quot; is intentionally vague; it depends on what data is available.  Let's say several years means two to ten.  &quot;Major forest fires&quot; is also vague.  I suggest Class F and Class G fires, or perhaps just Class G fires, as defined by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nwcg.gov/term/glossary/size-class-of-fire%C2%A0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The National Wildfire Coordinating Group&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◦Class E - 300 acres or more, but less than 1,000 acres;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◦Class F - 1,000 acres or more, but less than 5,000 acres;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;◦Class G - 5,000 acres or more**&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone has a better definition for a major fire, please use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I am not asking about what may be the ultimate causes such as climate change or fire management policies.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-04T03:44:59.110" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T21:59:04.450" Title="What are the immediate causes of the large forest fires that have ravaged the US and Canada over the past several years?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;forest-fires&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20387" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20400" CreationDate="2018-09-04T10:19:32.910" Score="10" ViewCount="174" Body="&lt;p&gt;When there is no snow cover on the glacier and crevasses are visible, no need to really worry about crevasses.&#xA;But what about when there is a layer of snow on top of glacier, hiding crevasses, and you want to set up a bivouac, how do you ensure that you are not laying on a snow bridge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought about first staying away of places where crevasses are likely (like explained in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7026/12554&quot; title=&quot;How to detect a crevasse on a glacier&quot;&gt;this post&lt;/a&gt;), and then probing the snow layer with an avalanche probe, but maybe there exists better techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12554" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T16:36:37.990" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T16:37:41.667" Title="Bivouac on glacier: how to be sure not to stand on a crevasse?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20386" CreationDate="2018-09-04T12:33:59.040" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the significant causes of fires being major or large is fire suppression.  The initial cause of the fire is incidental.  They are major because the amount of fuel available is high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Forest fires are natural events, forest evolution grew to depend on them happening at intervals and being allowed to burn without interference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To partially address the forest service will often have &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_burn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;controlled burns&lt;/a&gt;, but it is not always sufficient, and larger fires will occur&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wilderness managers need a way to quantify and monitor the effects of suppressing lightning-caused wildfires, which can alter natural fire regimes, vegetation, and habitat. Using computerized models of fire spread, weather, and fuels, it is now possible to quantify many of the hidden consequences of fire suppression. Case study watersheds in Yosemite and Sequoia–Kings Canyon National Parks were used to simulate where fires might have spread if they had not been suppressed, and what effects those fires would have had on fuels. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2012_miller_c001.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Managing forest fires is a complex task with many variables, if or when to suppress them is outside of the scope of this answer.  But if you have a lot of fuel in the forest it will be a bigger fire when it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I realize this might not be the answer you are looking for &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Note that I am not asking about what may be the ultimate causes such as climate change or fire management policies&lt;/strong&gt;.&quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T12:33:59.040" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20366" CreationDate="2018-09-04T20:18:34.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tandem kayaks are extremely common. That said, some degree of qualification is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike &quot;solo&quot; and &quot;tandem&quot; canoeing, the terms &quot;single&quot; and &quot;double&quot; are used. (They can be abbreviated to S and D -- allowing the D-kayak to also mean &quot;divorce-kayak&quot;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Double sea or touring kayaks are very popular, especially at kayak rental shops or kayak guiding outfitters. There are several reasons: It is easier to manage two people in one boat than in two boats. Double kayaks are slightly wider than single kayaks and are thus more stable &amp;ndash; good for beginners. Double kayaks often have a center hatch where larger items, or a small child, can be kept. I'm a sea kayak guide and when I'm leading tours of inlets, most of our clients are in doubles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;K2 and K4 &amp;ndash; the abbreviations for two-person and four-person kayak  &amp;ndash; are events in flatwater racing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Double whitewater kayaks exist but, like your tandem bicycles, are not at all common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-09-04T20:18:34.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20295" CreationDate="2018-09-05T00:04:09.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Search for sailing certification courses near you. If you live in the US the most known certifications are those offered by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ussailing.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;US Sailing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://asa.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Sailing Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. I recommend getting started with small boats (as opposed to keelboats), because you will learn quicker about the external forces (including your weight) acting on the boat. That's a matter of preference though. Both keelboats and small boats are a lot of fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides official courses, I will say that most sailors are eager to share their knowledge, so try to find a sailing community near you or consider starting one once you have learned the skill elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8610" LastEditorUserId="8610" LastEditDate="2018-10-12T22:08:38.277" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T22:08:38.277" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20386" CreationDate="2018-09-05T00:16:35.280" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/02/21/1617394114&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This report&lt;/a&gt; from the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America says that in the years between 1992 to 2012 humans were the cause of 84% of wildfires and 44% of the total area burned. Additionally, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Human-started wildfires were dominant (&gt;80% of ignitions) in over 5.1&#xA;  million km2, the vast majority of the United States, whereas&#xA;  lightning-started fires were dominant in only 0.7 million km2,&#xA;  primarily in sparsely populated areas of the mountainous western&#xA;  United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/fire-insects-disturbances/fire/13145&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Natural Resources Canada&lt;/a&gt;, humans cause slightly less than half of the wildfires while lightning accounts for nearly 67% of the total land burned.  The fires caused by lightning are usually more remote than those caused by humans and are therefore more likely to be left to burn longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were to want to do a more exhaustive study of recent wildfires and causes this &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wildfires#Canada_and_the_United_States&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; web site would be a good starting point.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T00:16:35.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20392" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20393" CreationDate="2018-09-05T00:16:56.563" Score="8" ViewCount="286" Body="&lt;p&gt;We've often heard that moose are most active in the early morning or late in the day, around dusk, and are usually near a natural water source. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every year, we travel a few hours away to areas that are known for significant moose populations. We choose the “right” time, and “best” spots. We stay on a road or trail and wait, but have very rarely caught a glimpse of one in its natural habitat, and when we do, there are often trees between us and the moose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've always wanted clear pictures of moose, and I'm jealous of people who get them! I also study animals online, and use videos and pictures to learn. We'll never be able to protect animals if we don't understand them, so we need documentation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a very sad story recently about a group of people at the edge of a lake watching a moose swimming toward them. After he got out of the water, they gathered to take close-up photos and videos. They scared him, and he went back into the water, became exhausted and eventually drowned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People talk a lot about the real need to protect ourselves from moose and other wild animals, but it goes the other way too, meaning we need to protect them from us. This incident made me think there must be many times we scare an animal, even to death, but it's not so obvious, so we don't realize it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some ways to be more respectful of the animal's private space, to just let him go about his daily activities without scaring him, and still get good pictures?  How can we balance our desire without putting him in a dangerous situation where we may inadvertently cause him irreparable harm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T01:10:49.860" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T17:48:24.243" Title="How can we be the most respectful to a moose when photographing it up close?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;moose&gt;&lt;photography&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20392" CreationDate="2018-09-05T00:52:11.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ideally you would want the moose, or whatever wildlife you're photographing, to not even know you are there.  Some ways to achieve this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have an appropriate telephoto lens so that you can keep your distance from&#xA;the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be still and patient so that the wildlife does not see any movement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Camouflage clothing and staying downwind may also help keep you from&#xA;being noticed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know the area the moose are regularly in, a trail camera may also be an option but you may not get the photographs you're looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T17:48:24.243" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T17:48:24.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20394" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-05T02:47:16.820" Score="4" ViewCount="1418" Body="&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend seems to think it’s OK to store his open container of roe on the top shelf of my refrigerator next to all of our food what do you think about this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16349" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T03:51:55.567" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T03:51:55.567" Title="How to store roe (fish eggs) at home in a refrigerator?" Tags="&lt;storage&gt;&lt;bait&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20394" CreationDate="2018-09-05T03:22:15.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I have seen, you want to keep the eggs &lt;strong&gt;away from oxygen to keep them good so you should probably put a lid on the container.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unlike other baits that harden over time, salmon eggs get softer, making it more difficult to keep them on the hook. The solution? Vander Mause recommends storing the jar upside down. That way, the oil in the jar creates an airtight barrier behind the lid, keeping egg-ruining oxygen out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/2015/10/egg-%E2%80%99em-on-teach-this-old-bait-some-deadly-new-tricks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why You Should Be Fishing With Salmon Roe Year-Round&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also freeze them see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pautzke.com/from-the-bait-lab-egg-storage-101/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From The Bait Lab: Egg Storage 101&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pautzke.com/learn-proper-long-term-egg-storage-no-freezer-burn-no-dehydration/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn Proper Long Term Egg Storage: No Freezer Burn! No Dehydration!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pautzke.com/freezing-spawn-sacks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freezing Spawn Sacks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T03:22:15.193" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20372" CreationDate="2018-09-05T09:24:54.643" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can train through this, but don’t miss this opportunity to use the information from your muscles to improve your technique as much as you can while your complaining arms give you the incentive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience kayaking does have a sort of breaking-in period during which a bunch of muscles that don’t typically get used in a specific way gain strength and gripe about it.  After a few good trips you reach a plateau in which arms and hands are no longer the limiting factor, you really are doing the main work with your core, and your range in a day becomes more a function of general conditioning (/rest/nutrition on that day).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the excellent answer from Martin F above, I would emphasize the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—go out and paddle (with whatever form) until you get good and sore.  Then at that point really focus on torso rotation and pushing the boat with your feet.  It’s easier when you’re tired/sore because your core will not be as fatigued as your arms and will give you immediate pleasant feedback that you can move the boat while sparing your arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—in particular focus on a short power stroke that happens ahead of your hips.  Most of the forward propelling force really comes from an amazingly short part of the time the blade is in the water pretty soon after you plant the blade.  A lot of what you do with your arms is guiding it cleanly in and out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—experiment with how loosely you can hold the paddle (especially with your top hand) until you’re on the verge of dropping it (you will instinctively grip tightly if the wind/water is actually in any danger of taking it from you).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—a drill I find useful is to make yourself paddle without bending your elbows.  Seriously lock your arms straight out like an old horror-movie monster and figure out how to move the boat, even if it takes a couple of minutes to go anywhere at all.  What you realize is that a big torso rotation and a very short very powerful stroke soon after you plant the paddle really does move you.  Then add a little arm bending but as little as you can.  Revert to this drill now and then as you find yourself drifting back into relying on your arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—try a bunch of paddles and buy your own even if you don’t own your own kayak.  It makes an enormous difference.  I like my hefty wooden Greenland paddle (carrying it on land it’s a heavy piece of lumber, in the water it’s buoyant and bears a lot of its own weight).  Among European paddles, carbon fiber shafts and blades eliminate work spent holding up the paddle instead of moving the boat and will spoil you for ever wanting to paddle with rental gear.  Bent shafts save some people’s wrists, wing paddles add undeniable speed and range (at the cost of versatility of control strokes).  I personally refuse to feather my paddle (rotate the blades relative to one another), mostly because I’m used to a Greenland and don’t want to get confused on my brace strokes but I don’t  accept that outside of a race the aerodynamic benefit outweighs the ergonomic drawback of adding even the small twisting motion.  The point is experiment and find what you love.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;—finally to answer your original pre-edited question, find anything you like to do that works your arms and hands whether it’s rock climbing or baking bread.  It’s about lifetime habits there’s only so often most of us can force ourselves to train.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T09:35:32.353" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T09:35:32.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20397" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-09-05T12:22:42.057" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T12:22:42.057" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T12:22:42.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20398" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-09-05T12:22:42.057" Score="0" Body="For questions seeking identification of fish encountered in the Great Outdoors.  Please give as detailed a description as possible." OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T15:37:10.687" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T15:37:10.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20392" CreationDate="2018-09-05T15:40:41.770" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, if you're closer than 30 metres, then you're too close, get a telephoto lens and shoot from far away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see a moose, then the absolute best way to get a good look is to learn how to &lt;strong&gt;hunt&lt;/strong&gt; the animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunters spend countless hours, days, and sometimes weeks tracking their game before hunting season even starts. They are experts on their habitat, their habits, their preferred foods, their behaviors and everything else that will help them find the animals in the wild. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to learn how to find any animal, research how to hunt it, and use the same techniques to go out and shoot it with your camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of tutorials on youtube on how to call in a Moose, one good one is by a guy who calls himself the &quot;Moose Whisperer&quot; he thoroughly details how to get moose to come to you. &lt;em&gt;(There is no actual hunting in this video, it's mostly just of him talking, no gory details, and he finishes of by showing some footage from when he called in some moose for a photo shoot.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/C-FWimC1X7g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to call a moose - The Moose Whisperer.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T02:42:27.273" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T02:42:27.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20387" CreationDate="2018-09-05T16:37:41.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probing is the best and only guaranteed technique for safely locating crevasses. Knowing how crevasses form will help you identify areas where crevasses are more likely to be, but you can't be certain a crevasse is directly below you if it is not already obvious from above ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T16:37:41.667" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20386" CreationDate="2018-09-05T17:06:26.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Drought.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ef6f11c8c36b42c29e103f65dbcd7538&amp;amp;mobileBreakPoint=300&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BC Wildfire Service has an interactive map&lt;/a&gt; that shows every reported fire in BC and it's suspected cause. Most of them are ignited by lightning, but it's the unusually dry season, high temperatures and wind that are the cause for the spread of the wildfire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back home on Kootenay Lake we used to sit out on the deck and watch lighting hit the mountains accross the lake. You'd occasionally see a tree flare up, then burn out as the rains came and extinguished it. One of the problems with the past couple fire seasons is that the smoke plumes coming off of the big fires have been generating their own lightning, and there hasn't been enough relative humidity or rain to control the spread of the fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was backcountry camping with my family a couple weeks ago when the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/securite-safety/pnlw-wlnp-feu-fire-2018&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boundary Creek fire in Waterton/Glacier National Park&lt;/a&gt; flared up. We were camped in a bay eating our supper when the dark plume of smoke went overhead, it was shortly after we noticed it that park crews swept through the camp and told us we had to evacuate because they had just discovered a new fire 5km away from us. It had grown from 20 - 700 hectares in size in just a few hours. They suspect lightning to be the cause, but it was the winds that caused the fire to spread so quickly that day. Fortunately, we had rain that weekend, and 20mm of rain fell only couple days after the fire flared up, which helped bring the fire under control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fires aren't necessarily more numerous in the sense of more fires are being ignited. The problem is that the conditions the past couple years have been favourable for fires, so once one is ignited, it burns out of control instead of flaring up and burning out like they do when there is more humidity and rain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T21:59:04.450" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T21:59:04.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20403" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-05T18:17:31.080" Score="7" ViewCount="823" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some people say it is just a term some people use for wilderness survival, but some people say it is not survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What actually is bushcraft?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-05T18:21:09.620" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T18:21:09.620" Title="What is bushcrafting?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20403" CreationDate="2018-09-05T18:17:31.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bushcrafting: also known as wilderness skills or primitive living. Many people less familiar with the skills associate it with wilderness survival because of similarities and overlap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is any truly official definition of bushcraft, but if you ask Google &quot;define bushcraft&quot; you get the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;skill at living in the bush&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wilderness survival skills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the skill gained by or necessary for living in bush country&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though different people may define it different ways, the common theme among bushcraft practitioners is that they are people who practice the skill of relying on natural resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example: While a typical minimalist hiker might bring 10 pounds of food, a tarp and some cord to tie it up for a shelter and maybe some tent stakes - a bushcrafter might instead forego the cord and stakes and make their own cord from plants and stakes from wood, might bring half as much food and forage to get the rest from the forest, and they might even forego the tarp and use natural resources to protect against rain or wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some bushcrafters are known to walk out into the wilderness with minimal tools, sometimes with nothing but the clothes on their back, and to make due by living minimally and/or making whatever they need. For this reason, many people connect bushcrafting with survival. If your idea of survival is any activity which is related to making sure you survive, then grocery shopping at Wal-Mart is urban survival, but I think most of us can agree that usage is much too loose. Similarly, many bushcraft practitioners will say that their skill is not necessarily a survival skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowimpact.org/whats-the-difference-between-survival-bushcraft/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a great article about the difference between survival and bushcraft&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quote from that article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Important distinctions here are those of duration and adversity.&#xA;  Wilderness Survival is about methods and psychology for dealing with&#xA;  unexpected and adverse circumstances that threaten our lives outdoors.&#xA;  More often we are talking about a relatively short period in which we&#xA;  either return to safety or perish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;From the above definitions for bushcraft, one of the operative words&#xA;  is “living”. This implies a long-term strategy and not necessarily an&#xA;  unexpected situation, or an immediate threat to life.  The longer&#xA;  duration implicit in the term “bushcraft” also sheds light on another&#xA;  important distinction – the knowledge of natural resources and their&#xA;  sustainable use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, a definition is in the eye of the beholder. To-may-to, to-mah-to. But many of us prefer to keep the distinction that for people not stranded on an uninhabited island bushcraft is not survival, rather it is living by nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How this compares to other outdoor activities&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just like other outdoor activities, bushcrafting is often merged with other activities. The below comparisons assume a bushcrafter who is specifically practicing their craft as opposed to, for example, &quot;bushcraft-hiking&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Typically, hikers travel light by balancing minimalism and functionalism in what they carry and they cover a lot of average daily distance. After all, the point of hiking is to walk long distances.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is common for bushcrafters to be much less mobile than other outdoor activities, especially compared to hiking. Bushcrafting requires a lot of time searching for materials, more time setting up and taking down camp, etc.. If you are practicing hardcore bushcrafting (but not minimalist living), then you likely cannot hike or will at least have an extremely low average daily distance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Car camping (inc. campers/RVs):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Car campers often bring everything, sometimes even the kitchen sink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bushcrafters generally bring little to nothing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;About the only similarity here is that car campers and bushcrafters are both usually making a semi-permanent camp and are not necessarily living minimally.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild camping (ie: camping in a wild location not designated as a camping spot, such as in the wilderness of a state park):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Probably the most similar. The only differences are in the level of naturally sourced resources.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Minimalism (as pertains to any other category [eg: minimalist hiking]):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimalists tend to perform their activity with as little as possible. For example, a minimalist weekend hiker might bring nothing but a bottle of water and a protien bar or two for a two or three day hike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bushcrafting goes extremely well with minimalism. Bushcrafting allows the minimalist to be even more minimal in what they bring, and many bushcrafters are minimalists.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bushcrafting is a great compliment to all other &quot;The Great Outdoors&quot; activities and can enrich each of them. Bushcrafting in its purest form need not be counter to other activities, except car camping and possibly speedy hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bushcrafting is not necessarily minimalism&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bushcrafting might involve originally bringing a minimal amount of tools, but even that is not strictly necessary. Some bushcrafters will bring knives, saws, axes, or more, sometimes more than another non-bushcrafter camper nearby, but the bushcrafter brings these tools to aid in crafting things out of scavenged resources. Once people get good at bushcrafting, many of them do enjoy going minimalist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An expert bushcrafter might be able to go out into the forest with nothing and make their own knife and ax. So they went out with minimal gear, but now they have more than they went in with, so you decide if you want to consider that minimalism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Examples of pure bushcrafting&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the following examples people often consider wilderness survival, but if an emergency victim in a survival situation does these things, then they are likely either not maximizing their survival rate or they are very unprepared. Usually, emergency survival does not turn into bushcrafting unless you are lost or stranded in the wilderness for a long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hardcore bushcrafter might go out into the wild with nothing but their shorts and maybe a shirt for a month long trip. Here are some examples of some things they might do which would be considered bushcrafting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make a knife out of stone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make an ax out of stone and wood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make shelter out of plants and wood using previously made tools&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make tools out of stones (to produce sparks) or wood (&quot;rubbing sticks&quot;) for starting fires&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make a bunch of cordage out of plants&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make containers out of cord and/or plants to help contain or carry crafted tools or other resources&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make a fishing line or net out of previously made cord to catch fish to eat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make a bow with wood and previously made cord to hunt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make food, tools, shelter (if big) out of hunted animals&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, a lot of these activities are essentially living the way some primitive cultures used to live, or how they still do live in some cases. This is why some people call it &quot;primitive living&quot;. There are multiple primitive living channels on YouTube which cover these activities and more. Possibly the most famous one is about a man in Australia who goes out with literally nothing but the shorts on his waist and works up to having primitive tools, buildings, pottery, forges, and even iron, all done silently... he never talks in any of the videos: that channel is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Primitive Technology&lt;/a&gt; (note: he doesn't stay out there the entire time - he breaks from it to come back to civilization then goes back out to continue where he left off).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the above points are already getting a bit advanced, but some bushcrafters go even beyond these types of activities and essentially get into recreating various primitive advancements. For the following list, these activities are not really done except by those who stay at one semi-permanent camp and are willing to put in a lot of time and effort into the activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;find or make clay and make pots to hold anything, especially water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;find sources of metal and make metal tools&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make brick or concrete for more permanent structures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple caveats: 1) By the time you make brick or concrete and make a shelter out of that, you have essentially just made a new permanent home. At this point, you might want to call your place a homestead instead of a bushcraft camp. 2) I know of at least one person having gone out with nothing and worked up to the point they were smelting small amounts of iron, but I am not aware of anyone who has successfully taken the last step as part of their bushcrafting and ended up with a usable iron tool when they started with nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Is all that stuff really common?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the things I mentioned are almost universally accepted as part of bushcrafting, but many of them are not actually very common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to cover the breadth and scope of bushcrafting, but the vast majority of bushcrafters are likely not firing clay pottery, not feeding themselves by hunting successfully with bows they have crafted naturally, and definitely not making concrete shelters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crafting blades from stone or starting fires by the friction between two sticks are much more common activities, as are feeding yourself by plant identification, fishing, and trapping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few tools that many people take into the wild with them because of those tools' vast usefulness even if they plan to craft a lot of what they need. This almost always includes a knife, which is the most likely tool you will find on anyone who brings only 1 tool. Also common are axes, as any wood thicker than a few inches quickly becomes very difficult to use without a good sawing or chopping tool. Also common are tarps, as good dry shelters take a lot of time and are not easy to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;See also:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14963/how-do-you-make-a-stone-axe&quot;&gt;How do you make a stone axe?&lt;/a&gt; for an example TGO.SE question&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15002/what-materials-can-be-used-to-make-cordage-in-forests-of-the-adirondacks&quot;&gt;What materials can be used to make cordage in forests of the Adirondacks?&lt;/a&gt; for another one, including an answer by me (which I need to update and improve)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Google &quot;bushcraft skills&quot; to find vast amounts of information and tutorials&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Search bushcraft on YouTube to find tons of people demonstrating their skills and bushcraft opinions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T18:17:31.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20405" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-05T19:29:15.343" Score="3" ViewCount="218" Body="&lt;p&gt;The skills mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20403/what-is-bushcrafting&quot;&gt;&quot;What is bushcrafting?&quot;&lt;/a&gt; sound useful but potentially destructive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does bushcrafting relate to the &quot;leave no trace&quot; principles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T00:03:17.757" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T00:03:17.757" Title="How does bushcrafting relate to the &quot;leave no trace&quot; principles?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20405" CreationDate="2018-09-05T19:29:15.343" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following points for &quot;leave no trace&quot; are taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/learn/7-principles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lnt.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Plan Ahead and Prepare&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is not much difference here between bushcrafters and non-bushcrafters, except that a bushcrafter might claim that they are always more prepared just by being a bushcrafter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bushcrafters might need to trek back into the bushes at times to get the resources they need, or to perform other actions that violate the spirit of this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;LNT.org's description of this point also says &quot;Good campsites are found, not made. Altering a site is not necessary.&quot; Many bushcrafters will disagree with this. Though not necessary in most situations, many bushcrafters enjoy altering camp to suit their needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Dispose of Waste Properly&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Pack it in, pack it out... Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6-8 inches deep.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, bushcrafting does not necessarily need to violate this, but the spirit of bushcrafting (ie: &quot;be one with nature&quot; and &quot;do as nature does&quot;) is somewhat counter to this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you are doing for bushcrafting, you might generate a lot of waste, possibly too much to pack out. On the upside, the waste is usually all natural, as the waste is generally literally plants, pieces of wood, and stones. There should be no harm in disposing of these materials in the wild, and they can even be safely buried with no harm to nature anywhere you would also use a waste cathole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people have a &quot;do as the animals do&quot; mentality and might leave their waste unburied. This is not specific to bushcrafting, but since the &quot;one with nature&quot; feeling is often higher for bushcrafters it might be more likely. If you encounter anyone like this, you can remind them that even many animals bury their solid waste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Leave what you find&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the biggest offender. All other leave no trace points a bushcrafter can choose to adhere to by making compromises. But most bushcrafting activities are mutually exclusive with &quot;Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them.&quot; and &quot;Do not build structures, furniture, or dig trenches.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of bushcrafting generally requires you to not leave stones and plants as you found them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though temporary bushcrafting shelters are often quite natural and often blend in, they are still structures made by moving the resources around an area. And some bushcrafting activities require digging holes or trenches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Minimize Campfire Impacts&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bushcrafters are likely to not use a stove, but the &quot;use a stove&quot; part of this LNT point is more a very strong suggestion than a requirement, as evidenced by the sub-points about wood fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The parts of this LNT point about how to have a wood fire are mostly in line with common bushcrafting practices. There are some fire techniques more common among bushcrafters which are not in line with the strict text of this LNT point, but they generally can be done in the spirit of LNT. A fire hole, for example (sometimes called a &quot;Dakota fire hole&quot;) can be done such that it leaves a trace similar to a pair of catholes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Respect Wildlife&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once again, this is mostly in line with common bushcrafting thought, at least on the surface. The sub-point specifically about not approaching wildlife might be an issue for someone who is about to use an animal or its byproducts as part of their craft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would view this as similar to hunting, except that it is generally more respectful of the animals than common modern hunting and might not even result in their death depending on what you need (eg: a feather, honey, dung, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Be Considerate of Other Visitors&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point mostly in line with common bushcrafting practice. In fact, many bushcrafters will specifically engage in stealthy camping practices such that other people might not even notice them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The part of this LNT point most likely to be violated is concerning the noise. Natures sounds might not prevail temporarily if you are making some stone tools.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, Leave No Trace and Bushcraft get along quite well, and most LNT points can be adhered to with a little bit of compromise. Bushcrafting has some minor points on which activities may deviate from LNT, but they are often done sparingly and with respect to nature (or at least they should be), so are often in LNT spirit. The only major point of LNT that is necessarily opposed to bushcrafting in an irreconcilable way is the &quot;Leave the stones and plants how you find them&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What this means to bushcrafting when practicing leave no trace is a priority:&lt;/strong&gt; bushcrafting must necessarily be limited if you are also trying to practice leave no trace. In areas with sparse resources, you might not be able to practice leave no trace. In areas with a large abundance of resources, you can probably harvest a few resources without risking the ire of strict LNT adherents, but you will need to limit the craft to what you can do with those few resources. No large mud huts, no large kilns or forges, no harvesting which leaves behind a noticeable patch of stem bases, no cracking a bunch of rocks open for tools, etc..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What this means for pure, deep bushcrafting over a very long term in a specific region:&lt;/strong&gt; Leave no trace is not viable. Lots of rocks will be moved around, broken apart, possibly piled up. There may be holes and trenches in or near camp. Plants need to be harvested in a respectful, sustainable manner but the harvesting may still be very noticeable. For very long term, there is likely to be at least one semi-permanent structure made of stones, wood, and/or mud. There might be other large, visible signs of living such as kilns or tiny dug streams or ponds. It depends on the magnitude of what the person is doing, but it could be quite a mess in and near base camp, and even with a minimalist bushcrafter without all that at best there will still likely be some busted rocks and patches of harvested plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-09-05T19:29:15.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20408" CreationDate="2018-09-05T23:33:03.923" Score="6" ViewCount="202" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20393/5547&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20392/how-can-we-be-the-most-respectful-to-a-moose-when-photographing-it-up-close&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; I asked about how to photograph moose without scaring them, one of the possible suggestions was a &quot;trail camera.&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is a trail camera? How does it differ in the ability to photograph animals than any other camera I may already have? Does it have to do with size or shape, lens size or type, or other features that are unique? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T02:18:16.670" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T02:18:16.670" Title="What features of a trail camera make it easier for photographing animals than other cameras?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;photography&gt;&lt;trail-cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20407" CreationDate="2018-09-06T00:54:49.177" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trail cameras are &lt;strong&gt;motion sensitive cameras that are secured to trees or other objects to capture animals or people passing by on a trail.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XJxed.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XJxed.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.com/product/hunting/optics/cameras/trail-cameras-accessories/pc/104791680/c/104752080/sc/104243580/i/103867380/stealth-cam-px-ng-mp-trail-camera/2248235.uts?slotId=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have attachments for the straps and lights for a flash after dark, some will infrared pictures as well and video  and they are set up to trigger the pictures by motion, usually animals moving by although you have to be careful as branches moving in the wind can do it as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You end up with pictures like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/49/13/7149130e5e7ea4468b22263a3082477e.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568086940486578775/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://deerlab.com/?ACT=25&amp;amp;f=first-trail-camera-photos__large.jpg&amp;amp;fid=2&amp;amp;d=47&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://deerlab.com/blog/first-trail-camera-photos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T15:19:15.630" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T15:19:15.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16317" CreationDate="2018-09-06T11:21:41.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A big part of this is &quot;which canoe? which kayak&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long paddle in a white water kayak is a pain.  They are slow.  Ocean kayaks are much faster but are less than nimble to turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find the position in a kayak uncomfortable, and painful after about an hour or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canoes also come in whitewater versions, with a fair amount of rocker, and full bow and stern, and flat water versions that slide like grease over a calm lake.  And countless compromises in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another part of the equation, &quot;How long?&quot;  How long are you going out for?  White water kayaks can be used for a weekend trip, but access to your gear is awkward.  A 14-15 foot solo canoe can easily carry supplies for a month.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My choice?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd go with a canoe, with a somewhat vee bottom (better secondary stability) fairly straight keel line (If I want to turn it, I'll lean it.) somewhat flared ends.  For long trips, 15 feet, for short ones 14 feet. (That extra foot is in the middle -- makes a big difference to cargo capacity)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, since you aren't into white water, a straighter design may be more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many places that sell canoes will also rent them.  Many canoe clubs have a fleet of loaners.  And you can swap time on weekend trips.  Paddle a bunch of canoes, and keep notes as to their characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T11:21:41.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20411" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20416" CreationDate="2018-09-06T11:42:30.877" Score="15" ViewCount="1076" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am in process of immigrating from Russia to Canada.&#xA;While I've fallen out of... Well, everything that includes movement... I have plans to resume wilderness trips after I finish immigration processes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I'm not sure about what law states in Russia, but the fact is, you can get to rural area, go to any forest, and start gathering whatever you like (I mean mushrooms and berries), cut down trees for a hovel or fires and generally just do anything. Same with bodies of water - you can get on the boat and fish just about anywhere. Not sure about hunting, never tried it (and don't want to).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm talking about general areas, not protected territories, and &quot;personal&quot; scale (fishing poles and spinnings, maybe nets, not dynamite). The things is, Russia has a lot of rural population that lives like they would before the idea of conservation existed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, before I became a couch potato, I greatly enjoyed being in the wild, in a described way, and I feel like what is described as &quot;camping&quot; in &quot;civilized&quot; world is too civilized for my tastes - while driving a car to a well-equipped spot, with parking, toilets and designated spots for tents can be a fun family activity, I would really miss more &quot;wild&quot; activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I'm not sure that in Canada you can just walk some 20 km to a lake in a forest, cut down some firewood and fish up you dinner without breaking any laws (and I wouldn't want to break any - I understand that conservation is important and wouldn't want to hurt nature).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what (legal) options are available in Canada for some camping trips that don't involve designated camping spots (or involve them in some manner that doesn't make it a &quot;like in a hotel, only in tent&quot; type of thing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To clarify, I will first try to settle in Ottawa (Ontario), though if that doesn't work out my next target is Calgary (Alberta). Russia is big too, I'm not averse to traveling up to 24 hours to a &quot;base of operations&quot; before going on the actual trip, at least on vacation. On long weekend the road probably shouldn't take more than 4 hours. That makes any province open game, I believe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16354" LastEditorUserId="16354" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T15:52:04.650" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T09:24:06.590" Title="What are lawful wilderness activities in Canada?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16143" CreationDate="2018-09-06T12:28:17.550" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ten feet isn't unreasonable, although it's right at the edge of day to day accuracy.  I used a Garmin 60c along with aerial photographs to create an orienteering map.  I had an overall accuracy of about 5 meters, coupled with a 8 meter differential between photo and GPS caused by the 40 meter difference in elevation between floodplain and highlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ten feet from a cold start in under two minutes isn't reasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Enable WAAS.  Some of the error in GPS is due to ionization state of the upper atmosphere.  (More ions, slower radio)  This tends to be a large scale phenomena so by comparing the calculated GPS position, to a real location, you can figure out a correction.  This correction is broadcast.  This routinely gets errors down to under 3 meters -- 10 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  I found when using a GPS for making trail and cross country maps that it would take about half an hour to really lock in.  The longer it had been since I last used the GPS the longer it took.  If it had been off only a day, it took only a few minutes.  I also found in woods that sometimes moving just a few feet would improve my accuracy.  I suspect line of sight to the optimum satellite constellation was blocked by a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: The constellation of satellites in the sky makes a difference.  Bunched satellites or too close to the horizon are worse than having a wide spread set over 30 degrees above the horizon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D: Some of the errors vary over long periods (~1 hour)  So the relative error of two fixes made close together in time can be quite small.  I used this to good effect by having locations where I could get an accurate map fix (Benchmarks, road intersections, power pylons)  Go to the location, take a waypoint, go to my new spot, take a waypoint.  The difference was repeatable to 1-2 meters, if the time difference was under 10 minutes.  (For orienteering having small local relative errors is more important than absolute accuracy.  You want to know which side of the road a landmark is.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E:  Remember that the error is statistical, and has a Poisson distribution (long tail)  When the GPS error is 3 meters, that means that half of the time, the difference between measure and actual is 3 meters or less.  The other half of the time it can be more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;F:  In mountains and urban locations, you can get reflections.  These can move your fix by a couple of kilometers.  Conditions for this in the mountains aren't common, but if your fix makes no sense, wait a few minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;G:  A caution:  Most of the US Topo maps and Canadian topo maps have contour information derived from stereo aerial photographs.  The Canadian maps can have a horizontal absolute error in contour line placement of up to 90 meters, north/south and half that east west.  This can result in the GPS telling you you are at the top of the cliff when you plot your location, while the reality places you at the bottom.  Benchmark placement, however is very accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;H:  Forget the phone.  Fine for finding street routes, not much else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this thread on Robotics.SE:  It talks about various differential GPS techniques that can get sub 1 meter accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://robotics.stackexchange.com/questions/4312/low-cost-centimeter-accurate-satellite-positioning-gnss-gps&quot;&gt;https://robotics.stackexchange.com/questions/4312/low-cost-centimeter-accurate-satellite-positioning-gnss-gps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T12:28:17.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20411" CreationDate="2018-09-06T13:15:56.663" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really depends on which province you are moving to and how far you are willing to go from urban centers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, stay away from any private property. While my activities can sometimes bring me to cross some private land, I am only passing through on foot and there will be no trace of my presence. Using motor vehicles, cutting wood, gathering edibles is never a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On public land, there are different options. My experience is in the province of Quebec where in all provincial parks, the activities you describe are prohibited. In faunal reserves, where the main goal is hunting and fishing, outside of hunting season, pretty much everything can be done as long as you are not spending the night. There is usually logging activities anyway so conservation isn't a big concern. Logging patches are great spots to gather berries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is public land without specific statutes. Those are pretty much open game. Unless you are going across the 4000sq. meters of someone's lease, it's open to the public, but from what I understand, it has to be a temporary use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Public land that's not a park or reserve of some sort is not easy to find close to large urban centers. For example, in Quebec, there is almost none south of St-Laurent river. North, it's usually 2h away, or more. Last weekend, I drove 1300km north close to the 52nd parallel and the destination was still a nature reserve with strict regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best advice is to look for legislation specific to the province you are moving to and stay away from private land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://mern.gouv.qc.ca/publications/territoire/portrait/carte_territoire.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a map&lt;/a&gt; of public land VS private land in Quebec. You'll notice it's all very heterogenous. Light blue is public, beige is private.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the question of aboriginal rights. First Nations have rights that supersede other citizen's. This might make things more complicated in some areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-09-06T16:10:39.037" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T16:10:39.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20414" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-06T13:34:18.530" Score="7" ViewCount="922" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an old six-reed inflatable camping mattress -- one of the ones with six long parallel chambers that you inflate with lung power. It looks similar to this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Yv7B.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Yv7B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;airbed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chambers are sealed with the typical pop-up soft plastic nozzles commonly seen on inflatable water toys -- something like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CssUr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CssUr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;nozzle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These nozzles don't have a one-way valve flap on the inside, so when the stopper comes out, the chamber deflates very quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This mattress has served me well for (very) occasional use over several years, but it gave me an unpleasant surprise this summer. Although the nozzles look fine, the stoppers now seem to be suffering from a lack of friction: even without someone lying on the mattress, they work themselves out within an hour or so and the mattress deflates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various experimental treatments I've been considering (roughening the stoppers with sandpaper, treating them with solvents, covering them with clingfilm, etc.) but first I'd like to know whether anyone else has experienced a similar problem, and whether they've found an effective cure for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The mattress in question is currently in another country and I won't be able to get at it again to evaluate suggested fixes until December, but I will be grateful for any suggestions that I can try out when I do finally get the chance.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2021-03-04T21:42:47.330" Title="How can I fix an airbed valve that pops open?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20415" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20420" CreationDate="2018-09-06T16:12:33.693" Score="13" ViewCount="798" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trail cameras are setup up on trails to take pictures of wild animals when you aren't around. The problem with that is that other people may find them and may be tempted to steal them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I prevent a trail camera from growing a pair of legs and walking away?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T02:18:26.093" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T02:18:26.093" Title="How to keep a trail camera from being stolen?" Tags="&lt;theft&gt;&lt;trail-cameras&gt;&lt;cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20411" CreationDate="2018-09-06T16:57:09.307" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Ontario, the relevant terminology is &quot;Crown Land&quot;. This is land that is not owned by any private entity, and is essentially free for use, however there are some rules.  Most of the province is crown land, and from Ottawa you can access it quite readily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regards to fishing, fishing in any body of water (Except privately owned/stocked facilities) requires a fishing license. These are very cheap (under $20 a year for a &quot;conservation&quot; license) and include rules about what species can be harvested and in what quantities. The province is broken into regions and the rules may vary between regions. All of this information is easily available from whereever you obtain your license. You can do so online, but might prefer to hit a local fishing shop in Ottawa or the region you will be fishing in to chat and get some local knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For camping, I believe you can camp anywhere on crown land, but there may be set-back requirements from roads.  I am not sure about cutting of trees to build a shelter, I believe any structure must be temporary in nature, a simple wood cabin may be still be considered permanent.   However, realistically any action of enforcement is going to be complaint based. If your activities aren't extreme and aren't bothering anyone, you could easily get away with building a simple structure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find full details for Ontario crown land usage on the Ontario Government website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ontario.ca/page/fishing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ontario.ca/page/fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ontario.ca/page/camping-crown-land&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ontario.ca/page/camping-crown-land&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ontario.ca/page/crown-land&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ontario.ca/page/crown-land&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T16:57:09.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20419" CreationDate="2018-09-06T17:00:02.027" Score="16" ViewCount="5239" Body="&lt;p&gt;The roadside in our semi-rural area is relatively litter free.  With very few exceptions, it can be easily picked up with one hand, and is not gross.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But one litterer is getting to me.  He (or she) tosses out V8 juice cans (tangy) with depressing regularity over a 300 or so foot stretch across the road from my neighbor's property.  This probably happens in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a good, and comfortable, lookout point on my neighbor's property which commands the entire stretch, and more, of V8-Juice-Guy's littering.  I have seriously considered sitting there with a camera and catching V8JG in the act.  With her permission, of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drawbacks to this plan: (1) I'd have to get up too early; (2) crushing boredom and (3) ticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now I wonder if a trail camera or a similar camera could do the work.  The camera would have to capture the scene in daylight and give enough detail to get the license plate of a car going at 30 to 50 miles per hour.&lt;/strong&gt;  (50 mph would be reckless on our road, but some people are reckless.)  &lt;strong&gt;And clearly identify the act of tossing out the V8 juice can with the specific car.&lt;/strong&gt;  There is not much traffic on our road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As to what I would do with the information if I got it:  I am not sure.  There are obvious downsides to doing anything&lt;/strong&gt;.  However, people have jumped to the conclusion, without any evidence in this question -- in fact, with evidence to the contrary in this question -- that I will use the information to get embroiled in a time-consuming and thoroughly unpleasant criminal prosecution or civil suit.  I repeat:  I haven't decided what I would do with the info, if anything.  The intelligent first step is to write the litterer a polite letter asking him to stop. But, as I said in the original version of this question, I don't want to discuss my options until/if I get the information.  &lt;strong&gt;Please confine answers to how I can get the information with an automated set-up.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum on Legal Issue:&lt;/strong&gt;  Littering is illegal in Virginia.  Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://law.justia.com/codes/virginia/2006/toc3301000/33.1-346.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Code of Virginia 33.1-346&lt;/a&gt;.  As for whether photographing a litterer in the act is itself illegal, I will get advice from the Fairfax County (VA) Police if I decide to go forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T23:45:50.667" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T23:45:50.667" Title="Can I use a trail camera to identify a roadside litterer?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;litter&gt;&lt;cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20417" CreationDate="2018-09-06T17:08:24.477" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this should work, trail cameras are used quite frequently to catch people littering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We know this because a hidden camera caught it all on tape. Juneau police used the footage to find the woman, Janessa Sanbei, and fine her for littering -- one of five tickets issued this spring after the installation of surveillance cameras at popular illegal dumping sites across the capital city. It's a new solution to the old problem of litterbugs along remote country roads, and Juneau officials say it's working.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/juneau-trash-cams-catch-litterbugs-red-handed/2012/06/26/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Juneau trash cams catch litterbugs red-handed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Officer Dustin Burke, of the Oneida Police Department, is helping to coordinate the purchase of several trail cameras, which will be placed at the most-popular dump sites. The cameras are wireless, and usually used to track game. Now, they will provide round-the-clock surveillance – a way to catch and prosecute violators, but also a deterrent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/scott-co-eyes-roadside-cameras-to-fight-litter/94589377&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scott Co. eyes roadside cameras to fight litter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just set it up to take the picture and turn the flash off so that people don't see it and get annoyed and since its going to be in a populated area see this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20415/how-to-keep-a-trail-camera-from-being-stolen&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; once it gets some answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T17:08:24.477" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20417" CreationDate="2018-09-06T18:40:05.307" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally would rather just set an action camera to record over the timespan the litterer usually comes by. Consumer trail cameras don't usually have great definition - worse than action cameras anyway - and the tossing might go unnoticed while with video, you'll grab several frames per second. You could be able to get the car, the littering, and the plates without much effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-09-06T18:40:05.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20415" CreationDate="2018-09-06T20:01:54.580" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;For many cameras, there are locks or lock boxes available. Google for &quot;lock trail camera&quot;, and you will find plenty of offers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other measures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;fix the camera in a tree high enough you need a ladder to reach it, so people cannot just &quot;accidentally&quot; take the cam. They would have to bring a ladder as well, I guess most thieves won't invest that effort.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;use a cheap cam which is not worth the hassle (and in case it gets stolen, your financial loss is small)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;install them only in a place and direction where it is more likely to take just pictures of animals, not people. If one tries to use it for catching people doing illegal or antisocial things (like described &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20417/can-i-use-a-trail-camera-to-catch-a-roadside-litterer&quot;&gt;in this question&lt;/a&gt;), then those people may feel encouraged to remove the cam.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there is no 100% guarantee your camera won't get stolen either, but I guess more drastic measures like a burglar alarm or a GPS tracker are quite impracticle to use and install, and probably won't be worth the extra money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16012" LastEditorUserId="16012" LastEditDate="2018-09-07T09:29:59.707" LastActivityDate="2018-09-07T09:29:59.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20414" CreationDate="2018-09-07T02:39:38.093" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stick a cork in it.  Or a rubber stopper.  Or a wooden dowel (wet or waxed).  See what you can find you might luck out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You got me curious though and I’ve been googling.   Sounds like your best bet may be replacing the valve with a valve from some other inflatable (something broken or discarded or just so cheap you don’t mind).  This makes sense to me, many plastics do change over the years.  Link and pictures below. Maybe not worth buying the can of glue unless you’ve got other projects.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other good thing about that strategy is if you’re going to replace it you can try other things first without worrying too much about destroying it:  sandpaper, simply cleaning with alcohol, high friction layer in between (a piece of balloon).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCwJm7MJWho&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCwJm7MJWho&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still from the video, and the product pictured:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ifuhz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ifuhz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2un1S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2un1S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-09-07T02:39:38.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20422" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20428" CreationDate="2018-09-07T13:11:15.040" Score="6" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;For Austria but not Italy there is awesome &lt;a href=&quot;http://bergfex.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://bergfex.com&lt;/a&gt;,&#xA;for Italian summer hiking but not winter ski-touring, &lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://opentopomap.org&lt;/a&gt; would do the job, but what about ski-touring in Italy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any online maps of ski-tour trails of Italy (Aosta Valley, Cogne)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16365" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T23:16:20.577" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T23:16:20.577" Title="Online maps of ski-tour trails of Italy (Aosta Valley, Cogne)?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;italy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20411" CreationDate="2018-09-07T13:45:13.397" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many activities one can do on Crown Land in Canada. The price of permits and particular rules will change from province to province.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example in British Columbia one may participate in the following activities: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/natural-resource-permits/christmas-tree-permits&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Christmas Tree [Cutting] Permit&lt;/a&gt; (It is free)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/licences/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Angling Fishing License&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/recreation/fishing-hunting/hunting/regulations-synopsis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunting and Trapping&lt;/a&gt; is permitted. In BC in addition to annual fees and permits a few courses must be undertaken before starting out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goldrushnuggetbucket.com/blogs/gold-panning-news/70827909-prospecting-tips-in-british-columbia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Recreational Gold Panning&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g154922-c201141/British-Columbia:Canada:Guidelines.For.Camping.In.Bc.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in BC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/canada/british-columbia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tips-on-spring-foraging-don-t-venture-to-b-c-s-provincial-parks-1.4082191&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Foraging Wild Food Stuffs&lt;/a&gt; (Stay out of provincial parks, regional parks, private lands and Native Indian Reserves) Stick to Crown Land for foraging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/land-use/crown-land/crown-land-uses/residential-uses/residential&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Remote residential licences of occupation&lt;/a&gt; is available for uses that are not permanent or where there are specific restrictions or management objectives. A licence is normally issued for a term of 10 years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/land-use/crown-land/crown-land-uses/residential-uses/residential&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crown land for residential purposes&lt;/a&gt; may be sold and if so will be offered at fair market value of the land.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2018-09-07T21:35:54.997" LastActivityDate="2018-09-07T21:35:54.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20424" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20489" CreationDate="2018-09-07T14:43:29.920" Score="21" ViewCount="1682" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canoes and Kayaks have a lot in common, and for the most part I can look and say that is a Canoe and that is a Kayak.  But I have been seeing some vessels that blur the line between them.  It seems there is a newer category of canoe kayak hybrid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something that makes a Canoe stop being and Canoe?  Where is the line between Canoe, Kayak and Hybrid?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I don't know that the line can be defined, an answer explaining why the line is not definable is acceptable, if that is the case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T01:40:32.413" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T13:18:31.947" Title="What is the difference between a Canoe and a Kayak?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20425" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20427" CreationDate="2018-09-07T15:10:57.027" Score="9" ViewCount="639" Body="&lt;p&gt;This year beginning of May 2018 we with my friend visited &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Grande_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Valle Grande&lt;/a&gt; in Italian Alps. Begging from 1500 meters there was snow, on the high of 1900m there was pretty deep snow and it was actively melting. Another challenge was weather, starting from 3pm rain/snow started and held until early morning.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We entered from the city &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/28859+Trontano+Province+of+Verbano-Cusio-Ossola,+Italy/@46.1187043,8.3157394,13.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4785f193867c96e9:0x116c259e2c42323c!8m2!3d46.1220946!4d8.3324432?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trontano&lt;/a&gt; and turned back after Passo Ragozalle. On the high of ~1800m we were going very slowly like 2km per day because of deep snow. We didn't meet people for four days, and we didn't meet any human footprints. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZUYoJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZUYoJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;return way&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DdwQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5DdwQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Shelter door ~1900&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJPPb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJPPb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;morning snowstorm&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our strava:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;first day &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563566556&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563566556&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2nd &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563568319&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563568319&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3rd &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563568894&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563568894&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4th &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563569472&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563569472&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5th &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563570010&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.strava.com/activities/1563570010&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Questions:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it dangerous to repeat this trip? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a. The max high on this trail is 1980 meters and we got it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;b. The next thing was to go by ridge on 1900-1500m. Is it avalanche risk when snow 1m deep melts?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;c. Thing after this is canyon/ravine on 800m. I know there are dangerous signs &quot;sudden rise in water level&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it's not deadly dangerous what tools would you recommend us(like ice axe)/courses or to take professional mountaineers with us? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16368" LastEditorUserId="16368" LastEditDate="2018-09-07T15:24:15.893" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T20:38:07.417" Title="Is it dangerous to go to Mountains when snow is melting?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20424" CreationDate="2018-09-07T15:25:20.227" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general answer is: A canoe is a boat designed or refitted to be paddled with a one sided paddle, usually while sitting on either a raised bench or one or both of your knees. A kayak is a boat designed or refitted to be paddled with a two sided paddle, usually while sitting on a seat on the floor of the boat. They're approaches to using different muscle groups. The main power of a kayaker comes out of rotation of the upper body, while in canoeing there's more of a front to back movement involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The definition can be blurry, which is where we need to differentiate what kind of kayaking and canoeing we're talking about. In competitions and general sports paddling the paddle is the main defining feature. If you take a freestyle kayak, take out the seat and put in some foam knee supports instead you've converted it to a canoe, you're now eligible to compete in the c1 class instead of the k1 class. (The 1 is the number of people in the boat.) The hull shape and such are completely secondary, and canoes can have closed decks. The international canoe canoe federation describes it as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blockquote The difference is relatively simple; it’s related to athlete’s position in the boat and the type of paddle they use to propel the boat. In a kayak, the paddler is seated and uses a double-bladed paddle pulling the blade through the water on alternate sides to move forward. In a canoe, the paddler kneels and uses a single-bladed paddle to propel the boat forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-kayak-difference&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canoe-kayak difference&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other fields there can be exceptions to the rule, as in the case of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20069/can-i-use-a-canoe-paddle-with-a-kayak/20080#20080&quot;&gt;this Alaskan paddler&lt;/a&gt;. The boat design is from a long line of designs known as kayaks, and it's entirely suited to being paddled with a kayak paddle, but it can also be paddled with a single paddle, while being seated on the floor of the boat like normal for a kayak, but while getting much of the paddle power from a front to back motion like normal for a canoe. This type of boat in short was designed to be usable in different ways. In the end the only real rule seems to be: Q What do you call a paddler using features of both kayaking and canoeing? A: Whatever they want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-09-09T09:12:35.043" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T09:12:35.043" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20425" CreationDate="2018-09-07T22:00:23.593" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several things that can be more dangerous in the mountains when the snow is melting,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There can be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18946/are-rolling-snow-pieces-a-sign-of-increased-avalanche-danger/18953#18953&quot;&gt;increased risk of avalanche danger&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snowbridges over crevasses can be melting out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bergschrunds widen up and pull away from the rock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In bolder fields the rocks trap the heat and then melt out around them, and this can leave airpockets you can fall through near them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boulders in boulder fields can readjust and reset after the winter and may be unstable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The snow melt can run out underneath the snow, leaving large tunnels open that may or may not hold your weight. This especially applies to snow bridges over streams.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Melting snow will slow you down, making travel times longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;All of the snow melting will increase the water levels in the streams and rivers and can make stream crossings extra treacherous.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all this can lead to a more dangerous situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-07T22:00:23.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20422" CreationDate="2018-09-07T22:28:00.183" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdooractive.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.outdooractive.com&lt;/a&gt; has a lot of skitour trails in the Alps, and at least a few in the area you mentioned. AFAIK, they share their database with www.alpenvereinaktiv.com, which is actively supported by the german alpine club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16012" LastActivityDate="2018-09-07T22:28:00.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20429" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20438" CreationDate="2018-09-07T23:46:57.637" Score="4" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought I knew every pest in our woods and on the trail to Great Falls National Park, and had been bitten by all of them, but I have never encountered &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/chigger-bites&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;chiggers&lt;/a&gt;. Not in our woods, not on hikes to and in Great Falls National Park, not in Shenandoah.  I have always thought of them as denizens of the deeper South. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, today the arborist who is taking down a large dead tree in our woods said he been badly bitten by chiggers yesterday.  He said it was worse than the worst case of poison ivy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I looked up chiggers, and saw that they are in Northern Virginia.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chiggaway.com/ChiggerCountry.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chigger Map of the United States&lt;/a&gt;.  If so, they have been keeping a low profile in Great Falls.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are chiggers having a good year here because we have had enormous amounts of rain this spring and summer?  Or are they more numerous because they are moving north?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If masses of chiggers have moved permanently into the northern Virginia woods, &lt;strong&gt;how can I protect myself against them?&lt;/strong&gt;  I always wear long pants and long sleeves anyway; do I need to do more?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T19:54:47.897" Title="Are chiggers moving north, and if so, how do I protect myself against them?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20431" CreationDate="2018-09-08T00:43:50.910" Score="4" ViewCount="1670" Body="&lt;p&gt;At a local park I've seen hiking/mountain biking trails marked with a green circle, blue square, or black diamond representing easy, intermediate, and hard trails.  I've only ever seen this while hiking in this location and wonder if it is displayed for the mountain biking rather than hikers, although the system seems to hold true when hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came across this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nationalparks.fi/traildifficultyclassification&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nationalparks.fi site&lt;/a&gt; which has a similar system for hiking trails with a blue circle for easy, pink square for intermediate, and black triangle for demanding with a short explanation of elevation gain and terrain type for each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a similar system used in the United States for rating the difficulty of hiking trails?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-08T01:09:32.117" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T01:09:32.117" Title="Is there a standard hiking trail difficulty rating system in the United States?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20430" CreationDate="2018-09-08T01:07:30.457" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short &lt;strong&gt;no for hiking trails&lt;/strong&gt;, the closest one will ever get to a standard difficulty rating are the first 3 classes of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite Decimal System&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, there are many different scales of measuring difficulty,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shenandoah's Hiking Difficulty is determined by a numerical rating using the following formula: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Elevation Gain x 2 x distance (in miles). The product's square root is the numerical rating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/how-to-determine-hiking-difficulty.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Determine Hiking Difficulty&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our trails difficulty ratings are generally based on trail condition, steepness of grades, gain and loss of elevation, and the amount and kinds of natural barriers that must be traversed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These ratings mean different things depending on if the trail was designed for foot use, for horse use, for bike use or for wheelchair use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/recreation/hiking/?cid=stelprdb5103006&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Willamette National Forest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1976 he proposed a theory to help backpackers plan trips and calculate their energy needs while on the trail in his book, Teton Trails. His theory states that one energy mile is equal to the energy required to walk one mile on flat terrain. He also said that you need to add two energy miles for every 1000 feet of elevation gain. In other words, if you hiked one mile while climbing 1000 feet, you would've used the equivalent of three energy miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/about-us.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Explanation of Hike Difficulty Rating&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ava.org/Trail_Ratings.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Volkssport Association&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/outdoor-activities/difficulty-ratings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outdoors.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nwhiker.com/HikeEval.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hike difficulty calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of this has to do with subjectivity behind the ratings and part of it with how different the trails can be. For that matter hiking the same trail in the opposite direction can be way different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T01:07:30.457" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20432" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-08T09:12:53.770" Score="3" ViewCount="111" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are a couple (34,38) looking for a three days hike in Chamonix area.&#xA;We are interested in a hut-to-hut hike, thought about Vanoise national park or Mont Blanc area, looking for something of medium difficulty.&#xA;Traveling on mid September.&#xA;Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16374" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T10:59:54.133" Title="3 days hut to hut hike Chamonix area mid september" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;huts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20432" CreationDate="2018-09-08T10:59:54.133" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &quot;Tour de Mont Blanc&quot; is a famous trek around the whole Mont Blanc massive. My wife and me walked it some years ago, accommodation was partly in huts, partly in some &quot;Gîtes d'étape&quot; or cheap hostels. I am sure you can just pick a 3 days section out of the tour which has the difficulty you prefer. You can find comprehensive information about the tours and the huts &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.autourdumontblanc.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on this web site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16012" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T10:59:54.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20434" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20439" CreationDate="2018-09-08T12:23:57.530" Score="4" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given we are in a non-life-threatening situation, splitting logs is often beneficial.  However, I feel things get murkier in a survival situation. I have brainstormed about this for a while, here is the best I got:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival: Wood Splitting Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;increase surface area exposed, especially useful if wood is scarce in the current environment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better burn since its drier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;less smoke would not give away your position as easily as an unsplit, wetter round (assuming goal is evasion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival: Wood Splitting Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a lot of effort for a questionable benefit, maybe the person is better off just sliding a large unsplit round into the fire little by little&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;potential for injury, (probably not a big risk factor, but it's another moving part nonetheless)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;minimal smoke could be a disadvantage in terms of visibility to rescuers (assuming we want to be seen)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it worth the effort to split logs in a survival situation? Ideally, I would like to have a clear-cut (excuse the pun) answer, but if it depends, maybe we can walk through some basic conditions. Also, let me know if my logic was on-par in my lists above; maybe there are other considerations I didn't think of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Further Clarifications&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Survival time-frame: uncertain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is help coming?: uncertain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;friendly/unfriendly territory: friendly, not evasion&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other concerns: availability of wood, and other concerns will be optional. These may be important in some situations, but in the interest of simplicity I will allow the answerers to stipulate their own assumptions on things like this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-08T14:09:20.267" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T20:12:38.840" Title="Suvival: logs/wood, split or not to split?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20434" CreationDate="2018-09-08T14:04:47.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Splitting logs takes energy and skill.  If you are unskilled, a survival situation is a bad time to play around with an axe for a nonessential reason.  If you don't have much food, and do not have anything to hunt with, and are a neophyte at making hunting implements (e.g., snares, traps), or are in a place without much game, then save your energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are skilled at log splitting and are a skilled hunter in an area with plentiful game, then I see no downside to splitting logs for a hotter fire.    If you need a smoky fire for rescue, build a second fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-09T20:12:38.840" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T20:12:38.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5737" CreationDate="2018-09-08T14:50:01.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The national parks, such as Jasper are pretty sticky about trail use, especially on popular trails.  (Jasper's skyline trail has a party every 15 minutes both ways when I did it.  Never again.) At the time, the regulations allowed non-campsite camping but had a minimum requirement (500 m?) that you had to be off the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jasper has a different permitting process for lesser used parts of the park. E.g. the North Boundary Trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Provincial parks:  In Alberta we have two provincial parks, Willmore, and Kakwa that do not have a permitting process at all.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition there are Recreation Areas -- mostly regions that are too rough to log economically, and not pretty enough to be parks -- that don't have a permit process except at some improved campsites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Canada forests are provincial -- no national forests -- so regulations vary by province, but generally crown land is open access, but you need to have due regard for forestry, oil, and mining operations there too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the very rare occasions where I have run into a warden or wildlife officer they have been polite and understanding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T14:50:01.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20424" CreationDate="2018-09-08T15:21:27.317" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A canoe is a boat designed to be best paddled with a canoe paddle, a kayak is a boat designed to be best paddled with a kayak paddle.  You can propel a kayak with a canoe paddle, or vice versa, or fit either one with a sail, or a motor, or oars, or a pole, or throw a sea anchor as far as you can and reel it in—but as far as putting the name on the boat I’d say it’s which propulsion method (canoe style or kayak style) is the one for which the boat has been best designed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paddle and associated body position have implications for the boat design and give rise to the most visible distinguishing characteristics, principally the height of the sides of the boat and (closely related) whether the deck is covered or not, but also how slender / tapered the hull can be and still be stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A canoe paddler sits or kneels with their body’s torso relatively high and holds the paddle close to vertical.  A kayak paddler sits low with a paddle at a much lower angle to the water (the exact angle may vary between long distance touring and racing/other extreme performance situations).  What that posture means is a canoe can have high sides without interfering with the paddle stroke.  What high sides means is that the craft can handle larger waves before it needs to be covered to keep water out.  A kayak, with its low sides, is typically covered by a deck to keep the water out, and the paddler sits inside through a hole in the deck, often further sealed by a spray skirt, or in a well in the fully enclosed deck (“sit on top kayak”).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paddler height has implications for the stability of the boat, and thus a kayak with its low-seated paddler can typically have much less width (either narrower at its widest point, or with pronounced “hips” and a fine bow and stern rather than being wide along most of its length).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, the two-bladed paddle makes it much easier to make instantaneous, intuitive “brace” strokes on either side of the boat to stay upright if tipped, making even further instability practical for most paddlers (achieving this with a canoe paddle—rapidly bringing the paddle across the boat as needed—requires more skill and dexterity).  It’s also possible for a skilled paddler to paddle an even more narrow hull that cuts even more efficiently through wind and surf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Low seat height, enclosed deck and ability to brace stroke on either side instantly make kayaks the more common choice for extreme whitewater although certainly whitewater canoes (typically fitted with flotation) do exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lack of a fixed deck, tall sides and width that is maintained for much of the length of the hull make canoes the more common choice for conveniently hauling lots of heavy, bulky gear (/harvested game)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, another side effect of the kayak paddle is many people find it a much shorter learning curve compared to a canoe in terms of learning to control the direction of the boat, especially as the seated position allows the feet to be used with a pedal-operated rudder.  This has given rise to an enormous number of recreational and fishing kayaks, with wide hulls which are much more stable, although lacking some of the advantages of traditional kayak hulls for cutting through wind and waves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-09T00:01:49.580" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T00:01:49.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20438" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20429" CreationDate="2018-09-08T19:49:31.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had them a few times in the Upper Midwest as far back as approximately 35 years ago.  They thrive in warm and moist conditions, therefore I'd think that having abundant rainfall would be a more likely cause for encountering them more often this year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wearing long pants, tucked into long socks, and long sleeves will help but they can still crawl on your cloths until they find a bare patch of skin.  If sitting or laying down in grasss, placing a blanket down first will help put a barrier between you and the pests.  Insect repellent that has DEET in it or clothing treated with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-21893/lice-treatment-permethrin-topical/details&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;permetherin&lt;/a&gt; are also preventative options.  Oils made from citronella, tea tree, jojoba, geranium, or lemon grass may also help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, chiggers are actually an arachnids.  They may also be called red bugs, mower's mites, harvest mites, harvest bugs, or harvest lice (hence the use of permetherin as a preventive measure as it's also used on head lice).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/prevent-treat-chigger-bites#1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;webmd&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vC8oj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vC8oj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://cincinature.com/2010/05/chiggers-trombiculidae/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://cincinature.com/2010/05/chiggers-trombiculidae/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo note: &lt;a href=&quot;https://bugguide.net/node/view/56694&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;They are tiny ~0.1 mm to 16 mm in length&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-08T19:49:31.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20434" CreationDate="2018-09-09T10:22:20.710" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL:DR&lt;/strong&gt; Other than what splitting is required for making kindling, there is little benefit to splitting wood in most short term survival situations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stealth&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A several of the points in your question, are about stealth and remaining undiscovered. As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20435/4079&quot;&gt;ab2 say's 'Splitting logs takes energy&quot;&lt;/a&gt; that energy is partially expressed as sound that travels long distances. There is no practical method for splitting wood stealthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tools&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Splitting wood requires a special splitting maul and or splitting wedges.  While you can split fire wood with a hatchet or ax, it works about the same as driving a car with a flat tire, you can do it, but not for long nor very effectively.  Green (&lt;em&gt;freshly cut wood&lt;/em&gt;) is particularly difficult to split without the correct tools.  The tools are heavy, you will not be carrying them long distances in a survival situation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes practice to effectively split wood, you are probably going to need to split some wood to make kindling to get the fire going.  In a survival situation you will have other priorities for your skill building time.  Other than kindling, splitting larger wood while learning the skills can result in damage to the tools and injury to yourself, either of these are potentially fatal occurrences in a survival situation, big risks for little benefit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Limited resources&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A piece of wood will release the same heat energy when burning without regard to being split.  Unsplit wood burns slower and longer, split wood burns faster and hotter. The act of splitting does not add or remove potential heat energy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why split wood?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Split wood burns easier and drys faster, than wood in the round.  But dry time is measured in months, so has zero impact in a here and know survival situation. Once the fire is going, burning easier means the potential heat is released faster for a hotter fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even if the pieces of wood aren’t too big, splitting them makes it easier for the wood to catch fire. The bark is actually fire retardant and the inside will burn more quickly. But, let’s be precise: wood itself does not burn. When the wood is heated to 450 degrees Celsius, it releases gases that burn. When all the gases are burned, what is left is Charcoal, which is actually flammable. You don’t have to cut the wood for it to burn, but cutting facilitates the burning process because the inner wood is exposed when the log is split, and it has more gas containing resin. Also, chopped logs burn better because they dry more thoroughly when they’re not fully wrapped in the bark. &lt;a href=&quot;https://woodhandler.com/why-do-you-have-to-split-logs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13751/how-much-wood-can-the-average-person-expect-to-chop-in-a-day/13752#13752&quot;&gt;How much wood can the average person expect to chop in a day?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13756/what-is-the-energy-difference-between-green-and-seasoned-fire-wood&quot;&gt;What is the energy difference between green and seasoned fire wood?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13337/how-to-stash-firewood-without-it-getting-wet/13346#13346&quot;&gt;How to stash firewood without it getting wet?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-09T10:40:26.363" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T10:40:26.363" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20440" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20441" CreationDate="2018-09-09T17:17:21.360" Score="15" ViewCount="3338" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw an article about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.greenmountainclub.org/the-long-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long Trail&lt;/a&gt;, a 272-mile trail through the Green Mountain range in Vermont, USA. &#xA;It's famous for being the oldest hiking trail in the United States, having been built between 1910 and 1930. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.greenmountainclub.org/the-long-trail/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Green Mountain Club&lt;/a&gt;, which is referred to as the organization which has protected and maintained it since the beginning: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Long Trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border as it crosses Vermont’s highest peaks. It was the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail, which coincides with the Long Trail for 100 miles in the southern third of the state. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Built by the Green Mountain Club between 1910 and 1930, the Long Trail is the oldest long-distance &lt;em&gt;hiking trail&lt;/em&gt; in the United States. (Emphasis mine.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpacker.com/trips/long-trails/long-trail&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;A different souce&lt;/a&gt; lists it as the same number of miles, and the same area. However, it calls it a &quot;&lt;em&gt;hiking path&lt;/em&gt;&quot; in Vermont, then the oldest long-distance &quot;&lt;em&gt;backpacking trail&lt;/em&gt;&quot; in the United States. (Emphasis mine.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Long Trail is a 272-mile long-distance &lt;em&gt;hiking path&lt;/em&gt; in Vermont, which runs the length of the state. It is the oldest long-distance &lt;em&gt;backpacking trail&lt;/em&gt; in the United States, finished in 1930 by the Green Mountain Club.  (Emphasis mine.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since that source made a distinction between types of trails, I'm curious what that means. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless I'm mistaken, &lt;em&gt;hiking path&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;hiking trail&lt;/em&gt; are pretty much the same. What interests me is why one source would also call it a &lt;em&gt;backpacking trail&lt;/em&gt; . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this instance, does &lt;em&gt;backpacking trail&lt;/em&gt; mean something different from &lt;em&gt;hiking trail?&lt;/em&gt; If so, what's the difference? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it just a matter of semantics? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T00:05:00.777" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T17:45:15.257" Title="Is there a difference between a hiking trail and a backpacking trail, including if it's the same piece of land?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20440" CreationDate="2018-09-09T17:33:46.320" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there's a lot of overlap, a trail that can't possibly lead to anywhere to stay the night is unlikely to be called a backpacking trail, as backpacking implies multi-day trips carrying sleep gear etc. (not necessarily tents/bivis, as it could be hut-to-hut for example). If wild camping is forbidden this would include most trails that aren't suitable for hiking to a campsite, mountain hut or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; trail is a broader term, so doesn't imply that one can't use it for backpacking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However terms are often used loosely, even by those who should know better (like the authorities that administer wilderness areas). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T17:33:46.320" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20440" CreationDate="2018-09-09T18:54:15.783" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking is a superset of backpacking.  A &lt;i&gt;backpacking trail&lt;/i&gt; can be used for hiking, since that's how you move along the trail while backpacking too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any trail specifically stated to support backpacking would be understood to:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Be long enough that sleeping out at least one night actually makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;li&gt;Allow camping along the trail, or at least at enough places along the trail to allow for hiking a reasonable distance with a pack between nightly camping stops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-09-09T18:54:15.783" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20444" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20445" CreationDate="2018-09-09T21:06:57.447" Score="6" ViewCount="328" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand how &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEH-iS3zIcQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;noodling&lt;/a&gt; for flathead catfish can be hazardous for the human.  This activity has resulted in bloody knuckles, broken wrists and even &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.edmondsun.com/news/local_news/man-dies-while-noodling-near-arcadia/article_ec838b08-7bb0-536a-8442-fc6185d56f2d.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;death&lt;/a&gt;.  These hazards do not even include those from snapping turtles, poisonous snakes, or lacerations from unseen submerged objects. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, this method of fishing is only legal in 15 states with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wsaw.com/video?vid=488450241&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wisconsin&lt;/a&gt; recently making it legal.  The Wisconsin link video mentions the possibility of adopting seasons and bag limits to help protect the catfish populations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is noodling more detrimental to catfish populations than fishing with a rod and reel?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T01:44:23.833" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T01:44:23.833" Title="Is noodling more detrimental to catfish populations than fishing with a rod and reel?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20444" CreationDate="2018-09-10T00:57:44.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes, because of which catfish are taken and when.&lt;/strong&gt;  Specifically, because it targets the mature catfish when they are guarding their nests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with this technique is that &lt;strong&gt;noodling targets large, mature blue and flathead catfish while they are spawning.&lt;/strong&gt; During their spawning times, these catfish hunker down in dens, crevices, and holes and aggressively protect their nests. It’s at this time noodlers stick their hands near the nests creating a reaction strike from the fish. At this point, they are grabbed by the fisherman and removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wideopenspaces.com/heres-missouri-thinks-noodling-catfish-bad-idea/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Missouri’s biological concerns are that handfishers, who go for the biggest fish they can wrestle from riverbanks or hollow logs, &lt;strong&gt;will take too many sexually mature fish from their underwater nests.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6763659/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/missouri-legalizes-bare-hand-fishing/#.W5W9j-hKiUk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the second season, though, the MDC pulled the plug on the experiment, due to concerns that noodling could harm catfish populations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;When noodling occurs is at a point in time when the females are laying eggs in cavities and then the males are coming behind them and protecting those nests&lt;/strong&gt;,” said MDC Regional Fisheries Supervisor Christopher Kennedy. “So anytime we interrupt that process that nest has a very high percentage rate of failing and it could have &lt;strong&gt;dramatic impacts on your populations&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/stories/post/how-the-catfish-noodling-craze-washed-over-america&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How the Catfish Noodling Craze Washed Over America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it does have more impact on the fish populations, and I suspect that its one of those things that got onto TV and then turned into something of a craze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T00:57:44.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20446" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20447" CreationDate="2018-09-10T01:49:17.663" Score="2" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found this on my living room wall. I live on the ground floor with lots of plants right outside the window. Have spotted a similar looking bug outside on the road near the area too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d6iS6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bug in the living room&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cxVpO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;same bug outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16383" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T01:54:17.340" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T13:54:13.053" Title="What bug is this?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;singapore&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20446" CreationDate="2018-09-10T02:05:06.803" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_leatherleaf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tropical leatherleaf&lt;/a&gt; slug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Tropical Leatherleaf (Laevicaulis alte) is found in both urban and forested areas. The animal is brownish, usually with darker speckles, and has a pale line on its back. It is not known whether it is native or not, though scientists think it is most likely introduced. It can grow to about 4cm long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2012/12/terrestrial-freshwater-snails-slugs.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Terrestrial &amp;amp; Freshwater Gastropods (Snails &amp;amp; Slugs) of Singapore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Tropical Leatherleaf (Laevicaulis alte sensu lato, tak nang) is a flat, brown slug which often hides its tentacles. It is well adapted to the dry lowlands, hiding underground at daytime, and feeding on your plants at night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://dokmaidogma.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/on-slugs-and-snails/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;On slugs and snails&lt;/a&gt; (Definitely check the picture here which matches yours quite nicely.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also an &lt;strong&gt;album of pictures&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/85102-Laevicaulis-alte/browse_photos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and a video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFsp_xo1ufw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T13:54:13.053" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T13:54:13.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20448" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-10T02:13:55.547" Score="2" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a question about how noodling compares to regular fishing for the effect on fish populations, but after reading about it, I am failing to see what the advantages to the humans are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, why would sticking your arm in a hole to catch a fish and hoping to get a fish and not a snapping turtle/beaver/muscrat/poisonous snake be advantagous over using a fishing pole?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T13:56:18.630" Title="What advantage would noodling have over fishing with rod and reel?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20449" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20475" CreationDate="2018-09-10T09:41:06.593" Score="3" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several famous long distance hiking trails in the USA, connecting the Mexican border to the Canadian border.  The most famous ones are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/a&gt; (PCT) at 4,279 km and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Continental Divide Trail&lt;/a&gt; (CDT) at 4,989 km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Europe has some well known trails such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_du_Mont_Blanc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tour de Mont Blanc&lt;/a&gt; (170 km) or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungsleden&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kungsleden&lt;/a&gt; (440 km), but those are much shorter and easy to complete in a single vacation.  Europes &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_long-distance_paths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;network&lt;/a&gt; of long-distance trails is mostly through much more populated areas (in particular as the 40% of Europe within Russia is excluded), but does include long, wild stretches in the north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.norwayendtoend.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norge på langs&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Norway end to end&lt;/em&gt;) is 2,700 km, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/turistforeningen/files/6df56f7315c200764d8f8098113b0f58d97bd2c0.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;E1 in Norway&lt;/a&gt; is 2,105 km, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Norway/trails-Grenses%C3%B8mmen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grensesømmen&lt;/a&gt; trail is 1,619 km, all including large stretches that are very wild with up to weeks between road crossings.  Although shorter than &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDT&lt;/a&gt;, completing any of those in a single season is certainly no easy task (some do it on skis, which allows for a longer season) and requires substantial preparations.  Yet for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, the long-distance routes in Northern Europe are far less known than the ones in the USA.  Although I haven't hiked stretches of either &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDT&lt;/a&gt;, I've hiked parts of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_European_long_distance_path&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;E1&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Norway/trails-Grenses%C3%B8mmen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grensesømmen&lt;/a&gt; where I would meet no other hikers for several days in a row, and I'm not sure that would happen anywhere on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PCT&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CDT&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is it that the long-distance hiking routes/trails in the USA are so much more famous than the ones in northern Europe?  Is it a matter of marketing, just like how &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; is more famous than &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rago_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rago&lt;/a&gt;, or are there more fundamental reasons for it, such as more trail maintenance (probably), more accommodation/shops (probably not), or a more spectacular scenery (debatable)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T13:58:50.097" Title="Why are long-distance hiking trails in the USA so much more famous than in Europe?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20448" CreationDate="2018-09-10T10:27:12.317" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I gather noodlers can get into places you're not likely going to get your bait into with a rod and reel.  For example, many of the online videos show them submerged under log jams or under rock overhangs.  In some of the videos they say that they can feel the fish before they are actually able to pull them out.  This also makes me believe that these fish wouldn't be to aggressive going after any bait that isn't right in front of them.  For some, I guess the benefits outweigh the potential dangers, or perhaps it's just the thrill of catching the fish in their own domain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T10:27:12.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20449" CreationDate="2018-09-10T10:51:01.950" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd say borders are the main reason such trails aren't famous. Well nowadays with free movement within EU, borders aren't an issue. But that is just quite recent history. Also lack of common language can discourage people from hiking across country borders. Before Euro also lack of common currency. Individual countries themselves are not that big (compared to USA).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the most famous hiking trail in Europe is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camino de Santiago&lt;/a&gt; of which the main part of 800 km is in Spain, but do extend much further and divide into multiple routes all ending in Santiago de Compostela.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14115" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T10:51:01.950" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20452" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-10T11:41:38.127" Score="3" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was at an event this weekend and noticed that many of the portable canopies had weights on the legs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Canopy has stakes and rope tie downs, but often the soil is not appropriate for these (&lt;em&gt;to hard or soft&lt;/em&gt;).  Adding leg weights to my camping supplies seems like it might be a good idea.  I googled around and found multiple commercial and homemade solutions. Commercial solutions starting at about 5 pounds (2.26kg) and going to about 40 pounds (18kg).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you figure out what how much leg weight you might need for a canopy? Does adding sides to a canopy increase or decrease the amount of weight needed? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume Canopy size 10 foot x 10 foot (3 meter x 3 meter)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:08:05.040" Title="Portable canopy leg weights, how heavy?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20448" CreationDate="2018-09-10T13:45:38.740" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For adventure seekers, catching a big catfish with a rod and reel may not get the adrenaline flowing as wrestling a 100 lb (45 kg) catfish in its native environment with the possibility of losing that match and drowning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That, and have you seen the price of heavy duty fishing tackle these days?  ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastEditorUserId="11800" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T13:56:18.630" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T13:56:18.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20454" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-10T13:52:43.950" Score="4" ViewCount="1351" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a pair of waterproof pants abandoned on the trail, they were fine except for several large rips that the previous owner had tried to fix with ductape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lKllW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lKllW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I patch these rips?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:38:51.500" Title="How to fix tears in waterproof pants?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20455" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-09-10T14:27:00.583" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For questions about the process of taking photographs outdoors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/cameras&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;cameras&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;cameras&lt;/a&gt; for the photographic equipment&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T15:06:33.670" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T15:06:33.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20456" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-09-10T14:27:00.583" Score="0" Body="For questions about the process of taking photographs outdoors. " OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T15:06:29.040" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T15:06:29.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20454" CreationDate="2018-09-10T14:31:09.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Duct tape works as a temporary repair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Get rid of the duct tape glue.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  remove the duct tape.&#xA;B:  trying various solvents, remove any residual glue.  You can try solvents first on the duct tape itself.  Solvents to try include alcohols, mineral spirits/varsol, naphtha (camping fuel), gasoline, ether, butane, acetone and various propritary gunk removers.  Acetone in particular may disolve the waterproof coating.  Experiment on a lower cuff.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that most of these are flamable, some explosively so.  (Ether, acetone)  Do this outside, away from spark and flame.  You have been warned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Wash the garment to remove remaining solvent.  An extra cycle without soap will reduce soap residues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Rinse the area with isopropyl alchohol 99% and blot dry with paper towels.  This will reduce residual grease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Method 1 Use repair tape&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Most camping stores carry repair tape.  This is rip-stop nylon with an adhesive back. Put a magazine, or slick finish ad in the garment so that any exposed stick bits can't glue the leg together. Apply the tape to the tears.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found that ironing it down helps the adhesive stick better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: On the internet you will find various recipes for DIY seam sealer made from a solvent and silicon seal. Make up a batch of this, and using a foam paint brush run a tiny bead along the edge of your patch.  This reduces the chance of the patch lifting. Turn the garment inside out, and do the same to the inside edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  If the garment is single layer construction (Your pic makes it seem lined...) you may want to apply the patch from the inside.  The tear will be more visible from the outside, but the colour of the patch will show less. If the garment is lined.  You may also want to patch the lining the same way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Method 2. Sew up the tear&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turn the garment inside out. Sew up the gash.  This will shorten the fabric there by about 1/2, so it will have a pucker. Use two passes: A straight stitch about 1/4&quot; from the edge to fasten the tear, then a zig-zag stitch with one side off the edge of the fabric will bind the loose edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apply liquid seam sealer to the inside edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Method 3. Sew on patches&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have access to someone who is good with a sewing machine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Scrounge some fabric similar in weight and colour to the garment.&#xA;B: Cut patches from the fabric.&#xA;C: Sew patches in place.&#xA;D: Seal edges and stitching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will give the best looking repair, but will at minimum cost you a nice bottle of wine for the seamstress/tailor&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Method 4. Commercial garment repair.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many dry cleaners/clothing cleaners will do repairs, often for very modest fees.  Get them to sew up the tears, and then apply seam sealer as above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T14:31:09.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20452" CreationDate="2018-09-10T14:45:25.200" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sorry, but this is a 'how long is a piece of string' question.  Variables:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Size and shape of the canopy.  (Yes, sides will require greater weights)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nature of the site (exposed, sheltered)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speed of the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, all is not lost:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are car camping, having a set of buckets in the car is an easy way to deal with this.  Most sites will have a water supply, and you put somewhere between 1/3 and full buckets and use them as weights.  You also create a water supply for quick fire suppression.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For backcountry use, the last thing you want is more weight.  One approach is to take any moderately tough fabric (worn out nylon pants work well for this) and sew a loop to an edge.  This loop can be tied to an anchor point on the canopy, and anything local can be placed on the attached fabric.  Rocks, logs, packs, children engrossed in video games, hibernating bears, petrified dogs...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My usual variation on this is to leave 4-6 foot chunks of small diameter (3/32 to 3/16) nylon rope tied to strategic points then tie these to above heavy objects. You will need to practice a bit for using rocks, as a smooth rock is difficult to tie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another variation, depending on the canopy frame is to use a single tiedown from the centre of the frame.  Sometimes you can use an existing object in the camp for this.  Stumps work well.  Fire pits with grate work well if you aren't going to make a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T14:45:25.200" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4187" CreationDate="2018-09-10T15:18:34.757" Score="4" Body="&lt;h3&gt;National Forests&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the U.S. you have a huge system of national forests.  Many of these have extensive trail networks.  Many have parts that are too rough for economic logging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Go remote&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Places that are far from a major urban area are far less likely to be used at any time of year.  Most people will be reluctant to drive more than a few hours for a 1 day event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Take more time and go deeper&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One report on Jasper Park said that of all visitors that got out of their car other than for a  ski-resort never got more than a mile from their car.  There are only a scattering of trails in Jasper that have much use that are more than 10 km from the trail head.  (The Skyline trail is a notable one.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience with Willmore Wilderness (Just north of Jasper) is that  90+ percent of all encounters have been within 15 km of the Rock Lake trailhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Time shift your day.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By default people get up travel to the trailhead, and start their walk.  This means starting mid morning for a nearby location.  If you arrive at the trailhead at first light you're several hours ahead of the Rush Hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did the opposite, and due to various delays arrived at the trail head at 3 p.m.  We met one party coming out, and saw one party fetching water from a stream for their camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Time shift your trip.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you do, you may be able to score points by working on the holiday, and taking time off in lieu during the following week.  This works particularly well for ski resorts, as midweek lines are a fraction of what weekend lines are.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Space shift your trip.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  In Alberta Calgary and Edmonton have different weeks off for spring break.  Since many families time their winter holidays for this, it results in overcrowding nearby vacation spots.  However, an Edmonton family willing to travel a bit further can hit one of the Calgary popular sites during a time when Calgary is still in school.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  Some holidays are different in Canada vs the U.S. Canada has the August long weekend.  Our Thanksgiving is the 2nd Monday in October; You have Memorial Day, We have Queen Victoria's Birthday a week or two earlier.  You have the 4th of July.  We have Canada day on the 1st of July.  If you live near the border you may be able to take advantage of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Take advantage of the off seasons.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending how tough you are/how well equipped you are many places have an off season.  Canyonlands is hot in August, and can be bitter cold in winter.  West coast parks can be very wet.  Spring melt and the uncertainty of fall freezeup can be daunting. These can also be spectacularly beautiful. Instead of canoeing in August, try it in October, as the shorelines are fringed with ice.  Hike the alpine country in fog and mist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T15:18:34.757" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20452" CreationDate="2018-09-10T15:59:02.900" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NaWn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1NaWn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a great application of my favorite engineering analysis tool which is the luggage scale / fish scale (the cheap handheld spring scale that tells you with surprising accuracy how much your suitcase / sturgeon weighs).  Find someone with the same canopy dimensions you have, who is having success in the same weather in which you want to use it (walls matter in wind) and ask if they mind if you weigh the weights they are using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all seriousness this is one approach to engineering that can be very useful for refining performance of equipment used in adverse conditions:  rather than build a theoretical model (calculate wind loading etc) you use cheap, easy to use, rugged, portable, imprecise-but-accurate measuring tools to quantify a bunch of examples of what is observed to be working in the field (and ideally some that are not working) and use that to make your decision, whether or not you completely understand the theory by which it works. The strength of this approach is it accounts for factors you don’t understand and don’t know to look for, the weakness is the data is only relevant for the exact conditions under which it was collected until you start to develop a theory for how the different factors interact.  The number and precision of measurements you need and the urgency of developing a theoretical understanding varies with the severity of the consequences (canopy falling on your picnic vs. climber falling).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-10T20:08:05.040" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:08:05.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20425" CreationDate="2018-09-10T16:02:27.820" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh's answer is fairly comprehensive about the dangers.  I will address some ideas on how to deal with this sort of trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Avalanche Hazard.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Take an avalanche safety course.  It will teach you something about how to recognize possible danger zones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: Take a set of avalanche beacons, probes, and shovels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: When in a high hazard area travel far enough apart that losing more than one member in a slide is unlikely.  Turn your beacons on transmit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Storm hazard&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Take equipment that will allow you to camp without a hut.  This means winter rated tents, and probably better sleeping bags than if you are planning on using heated huts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Spring storms can make you immobile for some time.  Carry two days extra food, and stove fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;High water hazard&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Travel during nice weather or obtain pictures of the region before you go.  Examine streams to see if they have history of serious high water.  (A local mountain stream, Mumm Creek is dry or a trickle in summer.  However it has a flood plain 100 m wide scoured clean of vegetation.  Clearly it has serious floods at least every few years)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Plan alternate routes that will eliminate major stream crossings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Carry or be prepared to cut walking sticks to aid in stream crossings.  Note that conventional walking poles are mostly for balance and won't support your weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Carry a rope for rigging a line across streams to aid in crossing.  You may use this rope on high angle slopes too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E:  Be prepared for the entire group to be wet up to the waist, and for at least one person to be immersed in the stream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;F:  When crossing a stream, undo your waist buckle.  You do &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; want to be struggling with this if you fall while crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Snow travel.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Use snowshoes.  The metal and neoprene ones work well in spring conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: Change your day up.  Camp early.  Half the party, carrying minimum stuff then breaks trail for the start of the next day's travel.  Traveling without a pack is much easier and faster.  This trail will set overnight and be easy walking the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Use a buddy system.  Everyone has a partner.  Partners look out for each other.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Learn to recognize hypothermia.  Wet spring snow + wind + fog is prime hypothermia weather.  Game out situations of what you would do if you discovered you had a victim.  Factor hypothermia checks into your buddy system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E:  Everyone carries a whistle.  Agree on a whistle code.  The one my groups use is:&#xA;* One long &quot;where are you&quot;&#xA;* One short &quot;here I am&quot;&#xA;* Two longs &quot;Come to me&quot;&#xA;* Two shorts &quot;I'm coming&quot;&#xA;* Three longs &quot;I need help&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that in summer you want whistles that do NOT sound like marmots or pikas.  This caused enough confusion one trip that the ones were changed to fours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Navigation&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Carry both printed maps and have maps loaded on your GPS.  Visibility may often be limiting.  Having two GPS's isn't a bad idea.  Carry sufficient batteries.  Maps and GPS should be carried by different people so that the loss of a pack doesn't mean you're lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Unless you are experienced with glacier travel stay off the ice.  This is another area where I recommend taking a course.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Communication&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  I have a Garmin Inreach.  This allows me to send and receive text messages anywhere in the world.  My wife can send me a daily weather forecast for the region I'm in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  A sat phone is another option, but is expensive to rent and to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Safety mindset.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spend time gaming out scenarios.  If you are leader part of you must be constantly assessing hazards, and what-ifs.  Talk about these in the evening.  They are more real right after, and your group can fill in the situation from what they observed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T16:02:27.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20369" CreationDate="2018-09-10T16:19:03.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simulate the setup as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use several 1 gallon milk jugs as your 'person'  In the middle jug, put a hole in the cap, and insert a temperature probe.  (Many multi-meters come with a temperature probe too.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fill the jugs with hot water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lay your sleeping bag on the mat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put the jugs in the sleeping bag and zip up the bag. Bunch the bag up close to the jugs to reduce convection effects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Record the temp inside and outside the sleeping bag every X minutes (1/4 to 1 hour)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On a spreadsheet enter the inside and outside temps.  Calculate a third column that is the difference between inside and outside.  Calculate a 4th column that is the drop in temp during the interval.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall the drop in temp / difference in temp should be close to constant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The notion here is that the jugs will compress the pad to a similar degree as you would, the sleeping bag insulates the tops of the jugs much as the sleeping bag would insulate you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat this several times for each pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T16:19:03.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20463" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-10T17:05:11.397" Score="4" ViewCount="893" Body="&lt;p&gt;This a question about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_(TV_series)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;outdoor survival show Alone&lt;/a&gt;. The teams are allowed to choose &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.history.com/shows/alone/articles/gear-list&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10 items from a list of 40&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently season 5 has aired as of this writing, I have never seen the show, but wonder what items that teams most often choose to bring, from the list of 40? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T21:37:28.820" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T00:27:20.717" Title="What top 10 items did the teams on the TV survival show Alone most frequently choose?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20464" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-10T18:09:21.860" Score="1" ViewCount="227" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fingernail clippers are super helpful in outdoor situations. This is my number one always in my pocket survival tool.  But they have a tendency to come apart, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Nail-Clippers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;there are even videos showing how to put them back together,&lt;/a&gt; all to often when the come apart the little pin gets lost and I need to purchase a replacement, which is fine if I am not miles from civilization when it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to keep your fingernail clippers together? &lt;em&gt;(I wanted to say &quot;keep in one piece&quot;, but they are one device with 3 snap together pieces)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T03:24:29.100" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T14:16:38.623" Title="How to keep your fingernail clippers together?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20241" CreationDate="2018-09-10T19:11:54.783" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cannot speak to your specific species, but I have found that any form of grease:  lard, margarine, butter, engine oil, transmission oil, is effective against at least horse flies, black flies, sand flies and whatever deer fly infests Canada's north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will continue to do touch and go landings, but won't bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't think this will work for your dog wholesale, but it may help for inside ears,and top of nose, and around eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T19:11:54.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19865" CreationDate="2018-09-10T19:30:32.270" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have spent somewhere around 1000-1200 nights in the Canadian Rockies, Prairies, boreal forests and tiaga.  I rarely have used either a water filter or sterilizer tablets.  Nor have people on our trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have we had stomach troubles?  Some. Nausea, gas, frequent and runny stools. Usually stopped within 2 days of telling people to clean their cups after eating.  (As backup for this, staff, who were less likely to lend or borrow a student's cub were far less likely to get ill.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Nechako we were tracking upstream in farm country.  Stopped for lunch.  Drank the river.  Around the next corner found a dead cow on a gravel bar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once group on the Chislata found so many dead salmon in river that the water tasted fishy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, are you safe?  Probably not.  But I would spend more time worrying about sudden snow storms, breaking your ankle,  or being attacked by a mountain goat in rut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T19:30:32.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2018-09-10T19:43:40.067" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After reading the &quot;you're doing it wrong if you need to&quot; I'll take a contrarian view:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've camped several times using an outfitter's tent -- canvas walled, barely liftable dry, and barely dragable wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are often equipped with an non-flammable thimble for use with a wood burning stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What conditions have I used these:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hunting.  If you have been tramping through wet scrub birch all day peering through the fog for your mountain sheep, being able to come back to a spot that is warm and dry makes for a pleasant end to the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Based camp exploratories in winter with junior high aged kids.  While we usually slept by the fire, we had one such tent rigged up with lines inside.  This made it easy for the kids to have dry mittens, socks and footwear the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done major dogsled (2 week) in winter.  And we were glad to get an occasional night in a trapper's cabin.  This isn't strictly speaking a tent, but the idea is the same.  This allowed us to get sleeping bags completely dry.  If you read accounts of arctic exploration the frost content of the bags builds continuously through the trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reasons not to are good ones too.  Carrying a stove + fuel, and ensuring that you didn't smother yourself in CO2 or poison yourself with CO is difficult, and usually wouldn't warrant the payload.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to do it with a wood fired appliance to me makes all kinds of sense in wet or cold weather if the area allows that degree of wood use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T19:43:40.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20454" CreationDate="2018-09-10T20:38:51.500" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sew it back together and tape the seams.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Working with Goretex or any other type of waterproof material is the exact same as any other type of fabric. The only difference is that you &lt;em&gt;tape&lt;/em&gt; the seams after you're done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With those rips there you could simply stitch them closed with a broad and tight zigzag stitch, and then seal it with one strip of seam tape on the back. If the rip is pretty shredded you may need to buy a Goretex patch, or cut a patch of some other waterproof material and seal everywhere you sew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For what it's worth, you could forgo the taping and call it good just stitching them back together, I've done this a number of time with my Goretex gaiters. It won't be perfectly waterproof, but it'll still breathe the same and repel water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:38:51.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20470" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20478" CreationDate="2018-09-10T20:43:51.320" Score="6" ViewCount="17435" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw the footage of the fatal diving accident of Yuri Lipski. One thing I wonder is what really happened. He doesn’t seem to try to inflate his Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) to get back up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Did he have a failure ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Link to the video of his fatal dive, please be warned that this can be disturbing: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/MLltlAS1tUE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yuri Lipski’s Fatal Diving Accident Footage (YouTube)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I read the comments below the video, they seem to be speculative. I was hoping that there was some source of information I am not aware of or a proper investigation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3641" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2021-01-21T15:33:01.110" LastActivityDate="2021-01-21T15:33:01.110" Title="Why didn’t diver Yuri Lipski inflate his buoyancy control device?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5959" CreationDate="2018-09-10T20:47:29.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have twice had problems with this in working with groups in emergencies. The group mistakenly reading decimal minutes as DMS, adding in unnecessary delays in reaching the group. In conversations with lifeflight personnel they say they can use any format, but prefer DMS. All the groups that I work with on policies I insist on them using DMS for that reason. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16389" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T20:47:29.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20472" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20490" CreationDate="2018-09-10T20:55:39.993" Score="5" ViewCount="733" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like most climbers in my area, I use a rope bag to avoid having to reflake the rope after every climb.  The downside of this is that the rope gradually aquires twists and after enough climbs, the rope can become twisted enough that it occasionally catchs in the belay device while lead belaying.  This is a problem since that can take a few seconds to fix which results in insufficient slack for a moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution is to remove the twists from the rope after every 5-10 climbs.  This is easy to do by pulling the whole rope through an anchor after rappelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that sometimes I forget to do this and have to deal with the twists while belaying.  It is more problematic with a GriGri on a thin rope but can still be an issue with an ATC on a thick rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good techniques for dealing with twists while belaying?  A method that allowed me to stop the twists from jamming in the belay device while continuing to belay normally would be ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rope were extremely twisted, I would stop the climber and flake it, but I have never had it get so bad that this was necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T20:52:04.377" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T20:52:04.377" Title="Dealing with twists in a rope while belaying" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20472" CreationDate="2018-09-10T21:08:03.327" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If this happens, you want to stop the climber and try and untwist by flicking the rope out with your non brake hand without releasing the braking strand. You can also try flicking the loops out with your brake hand so long as it stays behind the braking plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly though, this should be less of a problem since you aren't dealing with munter hitches, and if you flake it out correctly before climbing and remember to get the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11075/how-to-get-kinks-and-twists-out-of-a-climbing-rope&quot;&gt;twists out afterwards&lt;/a&gt;, this should be less of a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-10T21:08:03.327" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20440" CreationDate="2018-09-10T22:56:06.693" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The second source you cite comes from a website maintained by a corporation calling themselves &lt;strong&gt;Backpacker&lt;/strong&gt; Magazine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a person expects to go &lt;em&gt;backpacking&lt;/em&gt;, it would seem to me that they would be disappointed if they went on any ol' &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; trail and felt as though the only function for their backpack was to make the hiking more strenuous.  Might as well load it up with bags of sand.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Of course, the entirety of the practice known as “backpacking” has a much larger field than it being an augmented form of hiking.&lt;sup&gt;†&lt;/sup&gt;  I myself, and some other people I know, take backpacks with us often — I often bring mine even when I use my automobile.  But, from my experience, that's not someone who likes to label or identify themselves as a wilderness &lt;em&gt;backpacker&lt;/em&gt; — or, as the Backpacking Magazine website states,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Backpacker magazine inspires and empowers our readers to Get Out More—to enjoy the world outside more often. As the authority on escaping to the backcountry, (…) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backpacker.com/page/advertise-with-backpacker-magazine-and-backpacker-com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By advertising a path as one which appeals to backpacking, you are announcing to your readers that they can hike such a path to go away from the established amenities long enough to require taking a backpack, which may include food and water, temporary shelter, a folded easel, or photography equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short:  it's a marketting gimmick, more or less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;footnotes:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;sup&gt;†&lt;/sup&gt; There is such a thing as “urban backpacking”.  This is why, though a “backpacking trail” does imply it also being a trail suitable for hiking, or possibly riding, simple ‘backpacking’ is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; a subset of &lt;em&gt;hiking.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12641" LastEditorUserId="12641" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T17:45:15.257" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T17:45:15.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20449" CreationDate="2018-09-11T02:14:39.877" Score="7" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the more densely populated areas of Central Europe these long distance trails just seamlessly blend in with regional or local trails, so while the whole, say, 2690 km of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationaler_Bergwanderweg_der_Freundschaft_Eisenach%E2%80%93Budapest&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EB Eisenach - Budapest&lt;/a&gt; may not be well-known, e.g. its westernmost 170 km is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennsteig&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rennsteig&lt;/a&gt;, a very famous regional trail in Germany which is moreover very old: it used to be a commercial trade route and according  (no chance to be lonely there short of a November storm in the clouds) to Wikipedia has been known under this name for about 700 years. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of the regional and even long distance trails are famous as century-old historical trade or pilgrim routes and connections between cities. Which points to a very different origin of those famous trail compared, to more or less recent recreational/dedicated hiking trails such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_Adria_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpe-Adria&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungsleden&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kungsleden&lt;/a&gt; on the one hand and e.g. rescue trails like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Fuca_Marine_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Juan de Fuca&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;West Coast&lt;/a&gt; Trails (famous, North America, regional). And in consequence, they are woven into the local network of roads and paths:  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personally, being at home in that dense Central European network of hiking trails, forest paths, roads and field tracks we have in the German hills, so far I have hardly ever considered &quot;doing&quot; such a regional or long distance hiking trail - although I've been on lots of them: as we have a full network of trails and paths the way I approach this over here is that I grab a map, think from where I want to hike to where and then decide to follow this trail from here to there, then turn on that one, then... and so on. In consequence, names of these trails are very much a side note to me.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In contrast, Canadian &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Fuca_Marine_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Juan de Fuca Trail&lt;/a&gt; had just a few access paths that one could take to get to the close by road (its original purpose was helping shipwreck survivors to get out of the forest), and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantario_Trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Matario Trail&lt;/a&gt; (of local fame, I was in a group of a few people, but we did not meet anyone else) basically stretches between two access points with the only diversion being canoe portages. The bottom line is that for these trails, there decision is pretty much to hike them completely or not at all. So if you go hiking there, you do the Mantario Trail, whereas you may do the Rennsteig, or do part of the Rennsteig and then turn somewhere as you like. Remember, the original purpose of the Rennsteig was to give access to various towns. And this was achieved by the Rennsteig being a through-hiking trail along the crest of the Thuringian forest plus various side trails leading down the valleys to the towns (thus achieving the connection climbing up and down only once pretty much between any two of those towns).   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;And nowadays regional tourism offices make that there are so many named trails that really it is easier to remember just where to go without the name. Just looked it up: on Sunday I actually crossed &lt;a href=&quot;https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#route?id=8274518&amp;amp;map=7!49.9322!7.7615&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Limes trail&lt;/a&gt; while on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#route?id=7171109&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Luther Trail&lt;/a&gt; (both listed as a European long distance trails).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that sense I'd say that regional marketing in Central Europe has lead to such a proliferation of trails that the importance of the individual trails is much diluted (with the exception of maybe a very few very famous ones). I think this is good, as I'm talking about a region with &gt; 200 inhabitants/ḱm² which even on that vast number of trails and paths is definitively not going to be lonely on the average Sunday. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another consequence is that the old trade trails and some of the long distance trails sometimes run along major highways (or at least their original route is now a major highway) and they even cross large cities due to the historical routes they follow. But I have to admit that crossing &lt;a href=&quot;https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#route?id=2129520&amp;amp;type=relation&amp;amp;map=12!52.488!13.4701&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Berlin on foot along the E11&lt;/a&gt; does look like a dreary piece of work to me even though they reasonably kept to parks. For me that is certainly a reason to cherry-pick only the nice parts of a trail and not consider doing the whole thing. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="14115" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T13:58:50.097" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T13:58:50.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20464" CreationDate="2018-09-11T03:18:41.800" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Did some experimenting, and it looks like its only possible for them to come apart when the lever is up, so all you should need to do is &lt;strong&gt;store it in the down configuration&lt;/strong&gt; and if you needed the extra security, &lt;strong&gt;keep them that way with a rubber band.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes a little bit of force and coordination to get them apart if you really want to, so rattling around in your pack shouldn't be a problem. We always had a  &lt;strong&gt;pair in the first aid kit&lt;/strong&gt; and it was just in a ziplock with the other tweezers and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T14:02:51.763" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T14:02:51.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20472" CreationDate="2018-09-11T05:08:20.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One quick way to deal with twists in a rope if you're single pitching is to switch ends on the rope you're climbing with. When it's your turn to climb, instead of tying into the same end the last climber was on, you can pull their end while they are untying until your end is just off the ground. Let the twists out while it's hanging and then tie into the end you were just belaying with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately, you need to flake out the rope between pitches, or figure out how to flake your rope while belaying. Rope management is an important skill to learn when you want to be more efficient while multi pitching and trad climbing, especially when you start double roping or twin roping.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you forget, or neglect to flake out the rope before a climb, then it is advisable to communicate to your climber to stop climbing, tie off the belay, and then flake out the rope beside you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tie off the belay, so you can work hands free if you need to:&lt;/em&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A8q7W.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/A8q7W.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T02:53:22.960" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T02:53:22.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20470" CreationDate="2018-09-11T07:03:35.297" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is always difficult commenting on what exactly happened and what was going through someone's mind. And in the end it is speculation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a good chance that he was overloaded and as he descended he started to panic which causes many physical and psychological changes such as perceptual narrowing. All of these leads to you making irrational decisions, like removing your own regulator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end the biggest killer is lack of knowledge and lack of experience. In technical diving we do a lot of planning and research before we dive a new site and we setup a lot of redundancy in our gear so that no single failure causes problems. When we use new equipment we first test things in a pool and shallow dives. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T11:14:00.673" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T11:14:00.673" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20479" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-11T14:02:07.093" Score="3" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these small corroded canisters on top of a mountain in Nevada,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dTA3C.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dTA3C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dvojj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dvojj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were about 3 inches long and some had a metal post inside that has green corrosion on them. I think they are trash from when the nearby survey marker was put in 1944.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T14:36:59.117" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T15:46:10.417" Title="What are these small corroded canisters on top of a mountain in Nevada?" Tags="&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20479" CreationDate="2018-09-11T15:55:31.470" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A quick note that if you ever hike in areas where you might wander into any place that may have been a bombing range, please familiarize yourself with the concept of unexploded ordinance:&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordnance&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordnance&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That’s probably a battery.  Some have a metal post and shell that might outlast other components after a few years / decades in the elements.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can check dimensions against this list of standard battery sizes:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TaJpT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TaJpT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This cross section from &lt;a href=&quot;http://iamtechnical.com/alkaline-cell&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://iamtechnical.com/alkaline-cell&lt;/a&gt; shows the right materials for those colors of corrosion and the right general configuration.  The shape of the steel(?) can in this picture isn’t a perfect match (what you found has no pronounced button) but that may not have been a feature of every battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can’t say w certainty but that’s my guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional note (thanks James Jenkins) that the color of the corroded can may indicate an electroplating / other plating on steel, but could also mean a completely different metal.  Similarly the amount of copper in “brass” ranges from sixty-something to ninety-something and this will affect corrosion color&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T15:46:10.417" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T15:46:10.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2018-09-11T18:36:36.990" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To improve the simmer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove one of the corrugated rings in the dome. Install the kerosene jet, but burn gasoline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This results in a smaller flame at all levels, including simmer. Works great for small pots like the toaks titanium ones. Don't over pump to compensate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16394" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T19:55:33.710" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T19:55:33.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20482" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-11T19:07:35.210" Score="5" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I visited Yellowstone National Park, I learned that there was one river that flowed over the &lt;strong&gt;exact point where the massive supervolcano would erupt fro&lt;/strong&gt;m (if it ever does), OR where fault lines / tectonic plates abutted and where the park’s “Big One” earthquake epicenter exists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have completely forgotten &lt;strong&gt;what that spot is called&lt;/strong&gt;, but it had a name. I think it was at a point in the river called the “xxxxx Rapids” or “xxxxx Falls.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can’t recall which river it was, but I am actually &lt;strong&gt;asking what the name of that exact spot&lt;/strong&gt; is. Online research reveals nothing, but this site has a helpful map of the park’s rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.secretyellowstone.com/historical-cultural-scientific/rivers-streams-lakes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.secretyellowstone.com/historical-cultural-scientific/rivers-streams-lakes&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14885" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-11T19:54:53.667" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T12:44:31.540" Title="What Is the name of the supervolcano or earthquake epicenter at Yellowstone National Park?" Tags="&lt;yellowstone&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20482" CreationDate="2018-09-11T23:46:37.487" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe you are thinking of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellowstone Caldera&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-09-11T23:46:37.487" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20482" CreationDate="2018-09-12T00:00:48.763" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yellowstone National Park sits over the &lt;a href=&quot;http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/hot-spot-volcanoes-hawaii-and-yellowstone-lesson-9&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellowstone Hotspot&lt;/a&gt; which is the cause of all the geothermal activity at the park.  The name of the supervolcano is called the Yellowstone Supervolcano.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how anyone would know that exact spot where the next eruption will occur, but this study (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/22/9/article/i1052-5173-22-9-4.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Future volcanism at Yellowstone caldera: Insights from geochemistry of young volcanic units and monitoring of volcanic unrest&lt;/a&gt;) published by the Geological Society of America show three NNW trending lineaments hypothesized for future volcanic activity, as shown in the image below, that may help define where to concentrate future monitoring.  There are numerous faults withing the Yellowstone Caldera as shown on this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cccarto.com/faults/yellfaults/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yellowstone Caldera Faults website&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dMWo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3dMWo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Map of the Yellowstone area showing our hypothesized foci of future volcanism in relation to the main National Park infrastructure, roads, and surrounding towns. The numbers 1, 2, and 3aa refer to the three intracaldera fault-controlled lineaments as discussed in the text. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/22/9/article/i1052-5173-22-9-4.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/22/9/article/i1052-5173-22-9-4.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T00:00:48.763" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20485" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-12T03:35:15.113" Score="12" ViewCount="8415" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a trail is listed as 1500m of elevation change, what &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; does that mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if the trail goes up 500m, then down 200m, then up 100m, then down 300m, then up 400m, is that considered a 1500m (500+200+100+300+400) elevation change trail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or would it be 500m elevation change, since the end is 500m above the start?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T03:49:22.687" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T15:36:03.080" Title="How is elevation gain and change measured for hiking trails?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20485" CreationDate="2018-09-12T03:45:32.657" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You almost have it, you don't count the downhills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In running, cycling, and mountaineering, &lt;strong&gt;cumulative elevation gain&lt;/strong&gt; refers to the &lt;strong&gt;sum of every gain in elevation throughout an entire trip.&lt;/strong&gt; It is sometimes also known as cumulative gain or &lt;strong&gt;elevation gain&lt;/strong&gt;, or often in the context of mountain travel, simply gain. &lt;strong&gt;Elevation losses are not counted in this measure.&lt;/strong&gt; Cumulative elevation gain, along with round-trip distance, is arguably &lt;strong&gt;the most important value used in quantifying&lt;/strong&gt; the strenuousness of a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulative_elevation_gain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cumulative elevation gain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in your example, it would be 500+100+400 = 1000m of elevation gain but a change in elevation of 500m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes on say the Keyhole route up Longs Peak there is very little difference between the elevation gain and elevation change since you are going up the whole time. Personally, when I do it, I focus on just once hill at a time and so the difference in that situation is negligible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T03:48:43.837" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T03:48:43.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20417" CreationDate="2018-09-12T11:48:20.817" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A trail camera is unlikely to work.  They are motion activated, so will snap pictures of every car passing by.  However, you don't just want the picture of the car, you need to show the litterer in the act of tossing the can out the window.  The chance of a trail camera taking a shot at just the right moment is slim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there's also the problem of distance or location.  You say the act can occur anywhere within a 300 foot span.  A trail camera picture of a car 300 feet away isn't going to show much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, memory cards have gotten so large that you can simply capture video or streaming frames for a hour or two, then sift thru this later to find the few relevant seconds.  High resolution is better than a high frame rate in this case.  5-10 frames per second should be enough to capture the object in flight.  Something with at least HDTV resolution (1920 x 1080) is probably necessary, but more could be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might even set up multiple cameras from different angles.  The frame showing the object being tossed might not identify the car well, but with multiple frames you can show it was the same car captured in more detail in other frames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T11:48:20.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20482" CreationDate="2018-09-12T12:33:46.537" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers address the name part of your question, here I just speak about the location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is going to occur in what is now Yellowstone National Park.  &lt;strong&gt;CUBIC MILES&lt;/strong&gt; of Earth will ejected &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervolcano&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;the volume of deposits for that eruption is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles)&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, this is &lt;strong&gt;Hundreds&lt;/strong&gt; of times more then the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens&lt;/a&gt;.  Every person and animal in Yellowstone park at the time will die.  Most of the people in Western Wyoming, as well as parts of Montana and Idaho will also instantly die.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Life as we know it in the United States and possibly the world will be altered by the climate change from debris in the sky, changes that will last beyond the lifespan of anyone who survives the initial event. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Read more here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170724-would-a-supervolcano-eruption-wipe-us-out&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location is North Western Wyoming. It is not a point, it is a large area measured in miles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T12:44:31.540" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T12:44:31.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20424" CreationDate="2018-09-12T13:06:15.990" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;tl:dr;&lt;/strong&gt; The difference between &quot;a canoe&quot; and &quot;a kayak&quot; is the seat.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For competition purposes the difference between canoeing and kayaking is how you propel the boat. This appears to be the factor that's causing you confusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various competitive classes of canoeing and kayaking, most of them have 3 parts to the name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Discipline: Sprint, Slalom, Polo, Rodeo etc.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are fairly self explanatory and I won't go into them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And you get a letter and a number e.g. K1 or C2.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The letter is whether it's canoe or kayak. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The number is the number of people in the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C1 has 1 person canoeing, K4 has 4 people kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The only technical difference between a canoe and a kayak is how you paddle it:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;kayak&lt;/strong&gt; is paddled seated, feet forward, with a double bladed paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;canoe&lt;/strong&gt; is paddled kneeling, one knee for sprint otherwise on both knees, with a single bladed paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wish to convert your kayak into a canoe, you take out the seat and fit a saddle. Competition boats are usually harder to modify as they're fundamentally built to be one or the other, but white water boats with larger cockpits are easily swapped back and forth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another classification that mostly used for recreational canoeing rather than for competition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OC - Open Canoe&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This covers your more familiar &quot;Canadian&quot; style canoes where 1-3 people can be seated on thwart seats with single blade paddles. On moving water shorter versions are often paddled from the competition style kneeling position for better control. It also covers &quot;Hawaiian&quot; style outrigger canoes which can be used competitively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T13:18:31.947" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T13:18:31.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20472" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:05:00.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is part of rope management. Your situation sounds like a common one where you are belaying a leader from the ground with a rope out of a rope bag that b has not been flaked prior to the climb. Lots of climbers do this all the time. I suggest two things. The first is to monitor how many kinks you run into on a climb and when things start to get problematic, deal with it (i.e., flake the rope) at the end of the climb. The second is to constantly be checking the free end (behind the break decvice) of the rope. As the climber approaches a clipping stance, give the free end a shake and make sure there are no twists (if there are keep shaking the twist down the line).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T14:05:00.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20464" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:16:38.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of alternative nail clipper designs. Some of these look better for carrying, and probably prevent the problem, but they may not work as well in a survival situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a typical pair of clippers, I suggest taping them so the lever cannot swivel and the cutting edge is covered. That said, they also sell (or you can make), keychain/belt loop cases for nail clippers (e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.etsy.com/dk-en/listing/504217168/fingernail-clip-keychain-finger-nail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.etsy.com/dk-en/listing/504217168/fingernail-clip-keychain-finger-nail&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T14:16:38.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3467" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:19:23.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have extra fuel, extra water, and a spare frypan you can also use the double-pan technique. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put the water in the frypan and then your pot in the water. The water in the frypan will buffer the temperature of the stove a bit more and if you turn off the stove it’ll buffer the cooling as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s hugely wasteful of gas and water though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3699" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T14:19:23.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20493" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:33:08.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For questions about camera equipment, its protection and use outdoors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/photography&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;photography&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;photography&lt;/a&gt; for the process of taking pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T21:50:17.997" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:50:17.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20494" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:33:08.207" Score="0" Body="For questions regarding the use of camera equipment outdoors" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-12T22:01:01.793" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T22:01:01.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20470" CreationDate="2018-09-12T14:37:14.390" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The significant part of the Blue Hole is a cave dive — and at significant depth. It may be that he got disoriented due to darkness and nitrogen narcosis and thus did not know where he was. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cave diving and wreck diving, you’re taught not to use your BCD to bail out unless you absolute know what’s overhead. The reason being it’s very easy to get trapped in an underwater cave or structure or cables with an inflated bcd. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yuri was a dive instructor so I rule out inexperience [as far as his ability to operate his basic dive equipment; he may have been contextually or situationally inexperienced].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3699" LastEditorUserId="3699" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T17:20:32.390" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T17:20:32.390" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20417" CreationDate="2018-09-12T15:41:12.590" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming deterrence is your goal, I’d ask your neighbor if you can first put up a “DON’T LITTER - UNDER VIDEO SURVEILLANCE” sign. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That may be enough by itself to deter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if not, you can set up the camera later and the perp won’t have any counterclaim of violation of privacy if you catch them in the act. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3699" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T15:41:12.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18803" CreationDate="2018-09-12T21:41:13.503" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Finding a clear answer to the temperatures of a wood burning fire will be difficult because each type of wood will burn at different temperatures. Softwoods are going to burn hotter than hardwoods because they are less tense. An AAAS research project found that the mean temperature of pine was about 505 degrees Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important consideration is aluminum vs cast iron dutch ovens. Aluminum ovens, with a melting point around 660 degrees Celsius, have the potential to melt especially when touching hot coals, whereas cast iron ovens won't with a melting point of over, 1200 degrees Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aaas.org/abstract/flame-temperatures-wood-burning-fires-hardwood-vs-softwood&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aaas.org/abstract/flame-temperatures-wood-burning-fires-hardwood-vs-softwood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onlinemetals.com/meltpt.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.onlinemetals.com/meltpt.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9732" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:41:13.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20498" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14606" CreationDate="2018-09-12T21:43:15.887" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cast iron dutch oven's can even be burnt in a fire to clean them out. Aluminum dutch oven's, however, can melt when placed in a campfire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9732" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:43:15.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20190" CreationDate="2018-09-12T21:49:23.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is likely caused by soft baits eating the plastics. Older plastics weren't made to resist the solvents that make soft baits soft and squishy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bassmaster.com/tips/charlie-hartley-right-way-store-soft-plastics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bassmaster.com/tips/charlie-hartley-right-way-store-soft-plastics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.carolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=14260&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.carolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=14260&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9732" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:49:23.483" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20318" CreationDate="2018-09-12T21:51:39.003" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is important to match your intended shooting height to the bipod that you select. Additionally, the longer that you are shooting the more stable the attachment between the rifle and the bipod need to be. Additionally to properly load up the bipod you want feet that will grip the surface that you are on instead of allowing the bipod to walk forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9732" LastActivityDate="2018-09-12T21:51:39.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20479" CreationDate="2018-09-13T12:34:56.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20480/4079&quot;&gt;answer by mmcc&lt;/a&gt; is mostly correct. They are probably parts of an old electrical device battery.  But the round case is not steel.  Steel (&lt;em&gt;ferrous metals&lt;/em&gt;) rust (&lt;em&gt;oxidize&lt;/em&gt;) like the narrow strap with a rusty brown color.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-ferrous_metal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Non-ferrous metals&lt;/a&gt; oxidize in different ways. The green inside is a typical oxidation color of copper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The canister is some type of non-ferrous alloy, I have some guesses at what it might be, but they are just guesses.  If there are (or were) 6 canisters connected together it would be for a 12 volt battery. Though 6 volt was more popular around 1944. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I Googled around for a battery museum that might have images of popular batteries from 1944, but those searches did not go well, leading mostly to artillery battery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am guessing that someone is going to come along and be able to say, what kind of battery it was and what specific use it served, but it might be a while.  I look forward to reading their answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T12:34:56.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20503" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20504" CreationDate="2018-09-13T13:57:58.933" Score="5" ViewCount="308" Body="&lt;p&gt;When fishing in catch and release areas, one needs to be able to unhook the fish and return them to the water unharmed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What tool(s) would be useful for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T15:09:49.000" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T16:03:28.003" Title="What tool(s) would be helpful for unhooking fish?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20503" CreationDate="2018-09-13T13:57:58.933" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best tool I have found for this is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemostat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hemostat&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GksPK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GksPK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0002JEZ4Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are long and thin, enabling you to reach in and get to fishhooks that are deep inside and can be locked onto the hook. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also really easy to carry them when fly fishing, you simply clamp them onto your fishing vest and then they can be opened with one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are way better and lighter than plyers and will stay locked to the hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-07T16:03:28.003" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T16:03:28.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20505" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20506" CreationDate="2018-09-13T16:07:59.233" Score="5" ViewCount="3298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have raised cross bar on my SUV roof as the image shows:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G6SPE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;car roof&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I also got a couple 15ft. long Thule ratchet straps for tie-down canoes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now my question is, can I tie down ski and snowboards on the roof without a ski holder? How safe is it on high way? Any good setup examples?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any instruction or tip is welcome. I am not skiing enthusiast so I prefer not to invest in a ski holder. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-09-13T16:11:32.417" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T16:32:52.163" Title="Can I tie down ski/snow board to my roof rack like a canoe?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20505" CreationDate="2018-09-13T16:32:52.163" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this should work. You may want to pad your roof rack so they don't scratch each other and make sure they are strapped tightly but other than that it should work fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just orientate them in line with the vehicle and make sure the straps are tight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T16:32:52.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18169" CreationDate="2018-09-13T17:18:58.570" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have temporarily solved the problem by rubbing the sticky part with talc. But this protection leaves a bit of talc around, and must be repeated every few days. Luckily I don't use the backpack for long trips. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is far from being the best solution, but at least allows me to use the backpack (I don't want to throw it away).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14748" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T17:18:58.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17209" CreationDate="2018-09-13T20:38:20.733" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The site &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.archive.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Archive.Org&lt;/a&gt; has copies of magazines that had internet versions.  A search for &quot;Rock and Ice&quot; produced a magazine called Rock and Ice Climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22Rock%20and%20Ice%22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock and Ice results&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a possibility that your article could be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T20:38:20.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17209" CreationDate="2018-09-13T21:11:09.337" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are indeed libraries which have print or microfilm copies of those publications. San Francisco Public Library has a Periodicals floor where they can be accessed. They appear to have issues since 1995 (&lt;em&gt;Climbing&lt;/em&gt; magazine) and 1998 (&lt;em&gt;Rock and Ice&lt;/em&gt; magazine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are services which provide online versions of back-issues of these magazines, too. One such service is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rbdigital.com/service/magazines&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RB Digital Magazines&lt;/a&gt;, which again one can access via their online San Francisco Public Library membership.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That particular library provides services and membership (library cards) to anyone who shows up in person at a branch with proof of residence in the state of California. One doesn't have to be a San Francisco resident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the San Francisco library provides these materials and online access, the answer to your question is &quot;Yes&quot;, what you're asking for exists, and if this particular library doesn't suit you, I'm sure the same materials and services could be found at other libraries too. San Francisco is particularly modern and well-funded, so, libraries with similar budgets or endowments would probably be the best places to try. So, I'd suggest investigating public libraries in major cities, or, campus libraries at larger universities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T21:11:09.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20503" CreationDate="2018-09-13T23:53:52.050" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh's answer is definitely the way to go for smaller fish such as panfish or trout.  However, for bigger fish such as northern pike or musky I go with a longer (12-16&quot;/~30-40 cm) pair of needle nose pliers as seen below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uGyLr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uGyLr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo source: www.ebay.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I prefer to use either the middle option, with the slight bend, or straight option on the right because the more curved option on the left can put your wrist in an awkward position if they decide to try to roll.  Many times I'm able to just reach over the side of the boat with these and never even have to touch the fish.  As an added bonus I do not need to get my fingers anywhere near their teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-13T23:53:52.050" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20463" CreationDate="2018-09-14T00:07:44.177" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://survivalskills.guide/alone-gear-list/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Survival Skills Alone Gear List&lt;/a&gt;, the most frequently chosen were sleeping bag (100%); ferro rod (100%); fishing kit with line (96%); 2 quart pot (91%), knife (89%); ax (87%), saw (85%), food (77%).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that there's a significant drop before the rest, which include gill net (45%); paracord (43%); 12x12 tarp (34%); Bow and 6 arrows (34%); multi-tool (26%); wire (26%); bivy bag (17%); water bottle (15%); frying pan (11%). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That site sets them out two ways. One is a graph, and the other is a breakdown of each year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Voe7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Voe7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Graph&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IY7aq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IY7aq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Top part of list&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/orfqb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/orfqb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bottom part of list&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-15T00:27:20.717" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T00:27:20.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20485" CreationDate="2018-09-14T01:00:50.293" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three different ways of describing elevation gain/change for hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;least useful&lt;/strong&gt; &amp;ndash; and sadly a very common &amp;ndash; method is simply to subtract the starting elevation from the ending elevation. This should be called the &lt;em&gt;net&lt;/em&gt; elevation gain and mathematically is identical to the sum of the gains, 1000m in your example, minus the sum of the losses, 500m, yielding a net gain of 500m. Since many hikes are round-trip hikes, returning to the starting point, the net gain for the entire hike is always zero. The lazy guidebook writer or trail website contributor will use this method but it has limited value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;most useful&lt;/strong&gt; method is to provide the &lt;em&gt;total gains&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;total losses&lt;/em&gt; for any hike. For a one-way hike, your example has a total gain of 1000m and a total loss of 500m. For a round-trip &amp;ndash; and assuming the return trip follows the same route &amp;ndash; your total gain is 1500m and the total loss is 1500m. Yes, the overall net gain is zero but you have gone up and down a lot. Trail descriptions that go to the trouble of summing all the ups and downs are very beneficial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of &lt;strong&gt;intermediate use&lt;/strong&gt; is the &quot;wikipedia&quot; method that Charlie cites: &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; quote the total &lt;em&gt;gains&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;ignore&lt;/em&gt; the total &lt;em&gt;losses&lt;/em&gt;. For a one-way hike, your example has a total gain of 1000m. For the return trip, assuming the same route, you now need to sum what were losses (500m) but are now gains. So your round-trip has a total gain of 1500m. The only use for this method that I can think of is for backcountry skiing where the uphill is hard work and the downhill is all fun and games.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if the net gain (1000m) and total gain (500m) are both given, then the total loss (500m) is found by simple subtraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-09-14T18:05:48.503" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T18:05:48.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14129" CreationDate="2018-09-14T07:30:05.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It could be a sugary secretion that some insects produce and that has fallen from the trees. It is usually called &quot;honey-dew&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16407" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T07:30:05.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20514" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20515" CreationDate="2018-09-14T14:02:47.887" Score="1" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;After tying on a new fly when fly fishing, you need to trim the excess string.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As this needs to happen every time, what tool(s) would make the job easier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T04:26:23.097" Title="What tool(s) would be useful for trimming fishing line?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20514" CreationDate="2018-09-14T14:02:47.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need something that works with a pinching motion and is on a lanyard for easy access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fingernail clippers will work, and there are also fishing specific clippers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2wPkEm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2wPkEm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.com/i/132357156121?chn=ps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knives would require two hands and scissors like on a multitool need to be opened with both. Clippers on the other hand are easy to work with just one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T14:02:47.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20514" CreationDate="2018-09-14T17:27:44.223" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why not just use these.  Most people hat a set of these with them all the time  ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mN3I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mN3I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://depositphotos.com/19297835/stock-photo-man-clenches-or-grinds-his.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T17:27:44.223" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20517" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-14T18:54:21.120" Score="1" ViewCount="80" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for hiking trails in Zion National Park in Utah, USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5-8 miles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moderate skill level (prefer not too easy, but not too strenuous)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prefer no more than 2000 feet of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20485/how-is-elevation-gain-and-change-measured-for-hiking-trails&quot;&gt;total elevation gain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Great views of the park&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No amenities required (don't need restrooms or camping facilities)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prefer nothing paved&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Currently (September 2018) open&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've researched several guide books, and all the trails I've found are either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Currently closed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too short&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too easy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too strenuous&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can include which shuttle stop to use, that would be great as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-14T19:02:26.107" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T19:02:26.107" Title="Hiking trails that meet specific criteria in Zion National Park (Utah, USA)" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20470" CreationDate="2018-09-14T20:40:02.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a bit more research and Omar Tarek, the man who recovered Yuri’s body had an article in Spiegel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article mentions that Omar believes that there were three issues&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;he had too much lead, 12kg apparently&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;his vest burst open, he tried to add air when it was full (rather than dropping his belt)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;ultimately he probably had oxygen poisoning which usually leads to convulsions and dropping the regulator&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also it is very likely that:&#xA; - since he was on air, he probably suffered increasingly from narcosis after 30m&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://m.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/the-blue-hole-in-the-red-sea-is-the-deadliest-dive-site-in-the-world-a-844099-2.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://m.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/the-blue-hole-in-the-red-sea-is-the-deadliest-dive-site-in-the-world-a-844099-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3641" LastEditorUserId="3641" LastEditDate="2018-09-14T20:46:54.763" LastActivityDate="2018-09-14T20:46:54.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20519" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2018-09-15T03:24:56.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to drop this here for others researching this. I've been climbing on and off for 7 years starting in my late 20s. Seasonally I get out of shape, then train up for fall trips. So, I have dealt with both increased injury risk due to age as well as going from out of climbing shape to some sorta shape multiple times over. Please take this is as both anecdotal and coming from someone who isn't young and didn't start young :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, I think it's important to understand that your body and you do not agree on the definition of an &quot;easy&quot; route. After you train sufficient volume your arms will almost never feel pumped; usually just progressively more tired. I find this to be the case after warm up even for very strenuous problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often what we want to be doing and what we &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be doing when climbing are not the same. Progressing in climbing requires more than just practice. It requires training and rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should I do before climbing to increase the amount of time I can&#xA;  climb before my forearms start hurting?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Build a better base. I understand you want something on the spot, and warming up is that thing, but you are getting pumped on &quot;easy&quot; problems. You should focus on volume. Start by climbing AND down climbing every V0 in the gym. Then every V1. Then every V2. In that order. This volume is crucial and exactly how trainers ramp up newbies for marathons and cycling centuries; you need to put in the miles and forget the intensity for now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should I do when my arms get pumped and I want to continue&#xA;  climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take as long a break as necessary to get back to a spot where your arms aren't super tight. In my experience, when my forearms are super pumped, they do not stretch/extend well AT ALL. If I tried to do push-ups like another here suggested I would probably tear something; my wrists would not bend back that far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there a certain point where I should stop climbing because of&#xA;  pumped arms, instead of pushing through?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get the pump down I would recommend going to much easier climbs or call it quits on the climbing. For me, climbing with my forearms in this hyper-tense state puts me at risk for strains and tendinitis. Build the base!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16409" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T03:24:56.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20520" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20521" CreationDate="2018-09-15T12:04:14.323" Score="7" ViewCount="431" Body="&lt;p&gt;We know that you &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11680/starting-a-fire-with-a-battery-what-are-the-fundamental-guidelines-for-safety&quot;&gt;can start a fire with a battery.&lt;/a&gt; the better prepared you are the easier it is going to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not prepared and all I have in my pockets is my car keys, which includes a keyless entry fob that has a '3v Lithium Coin Cell Battery'  is it possible to start a fire with this battery?  All I have is the metal key ring, finger nail clippers, and a couple of other keys on the ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a tiny screwdriver to get the battery out, so I am going to have to use a rock to break the key fob.  I suspect that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1417/is-there-a-way-to-light-a-fire-in-the-wild-using-rocks&quot;&gt;banging two rocks together would be a more effective fire starter,&lt;/a&gt; but I might be wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I start a fire with  my key fob battery?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T18:48:27.993" Title="Start a fire with key fob battery?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20520" CreationDate="2018-09-15T13:51:43.783" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;With just the right equipment in a laboratory setting, you can use the energy in a key fob battery to cause a spark.  You can then use that to start a fire under the right conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;However&lt;/b&gt;, that's not going to happen in any realistic back country conditions.  The voltage and current capability of a key fob battery are just too low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason you can sometimes use a car battery for starting a fire is because a car battery can deliver a massive amount of current.  When shorting the battery with a small wire, the contact point gets so hot that some of the metal is vaporized, causing a spark.  Sometimes small amounts of molten metal are also shed off.  A key fob battery just doesn't have the oomph to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, it's not easy to start a fire with just a electric spark unless you have ignitable vapor.  A few drops of stove fuel on tinder, then letting that vaporize for a few seconds can work, but trying to light solid tinder directly is very difficult.  The reason this is sometimes successful with a car battery is due to the molten metal resulting from the high current, not the spark itself.  With a car battery, you can even get small wire to glow, and then melt.  A key fob battery isn't capable of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-09-15T13:51:43.783" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20522" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20525" CreationDate="2018-09-15T15:43:54.910" Score="9" ViewCount="520" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is going out primarily to those who have been climbing for 20yrs +&#xA;Back in the day, helmet use was optional and not particularly popular.&#xA;These days, things seemed to have taken a dramatic change.&#xA;Do you always use a helmet? Do you only use a helmet on Trad Climbs? What about sport climbs or indoor walls?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for both pros and cons on wearing a helmet, please.  I am also interested in when and why helmet wearing became the norm.  Was the transition gradual, or was there a person or event that prompted the change to helmets?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I own a helmet, wear one, but at times climb without one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16414" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:37:30.503" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T07:45:16.487" Title="When did wearing a helmet become the norm for climbing?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;helmets&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20523" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-15T20:39:11.380" Score="2" ViewCount="326" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am aware that the statistics regarding a 40ft climbing fall, which result in &quot;decking-out&quot; are not favorable. I survived such a fall only recently. Major injuries seem to have only been a broken &amp;amp; fractured right leg (above and below the knee). This being said, I am sure that there is a lot more unseen/non-diagnosed damage to my body, including a concussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will be going for more tests, these will not necessarily be related to my bone breakages, to hopefully find out what other damage occurred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have the knowledge or experience to help me start my own self-diagnosis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16414" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-16T23:47:17.653" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T17:56:38.570" Title="Internal (unseen) damage from a 40ft climbing fall" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="14" ClosedDate="2018-09-16T19:19:34.320" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20523" CreationDate="2018-09-15T22:09:55.000" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mostly non-medical answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in the United States (US) and you have health insurance.  You can be relatively sure that the medical and legal communities both agree there there is very little risk of significant medical issues requiring more testing, then you are recieving.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google 'medical testing based on malpractice concerns' and you will find millions of articles talking about the number of tests doctors order to prevent getting sued.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trauma perspective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_medical_technician&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EMT&lt;/a&gt; with a volunteer fire company that had, what has been listed as one of the 10 most dangerous roads in the US, I have seen a lot of trauma.  There are no absolutes, but in general, the bad things might happen, have fairly observable symptoms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could you have had some strange physical stress, the has weakened some blood vessel, that could rupture at any moment causing you to die from internal bleeding in minutes; yes, you could.  But realistically &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurysm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;those type of bleeds (aneurysm)&lt;/a&gt; happen from organic issues (life &gt; death) much more commonly.  Otherwise healthy people die from these all of the time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not be overly concerned with self diagnosis, focus on the what the medical staff are telling you, things like blood clots following a lower leg fracture are big risks. Don't let worry about the very low probably, overlooked risks distract you from addressing the very high probability risks of recovering from your diagnosed injuries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T17:56:38.570" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T17:56:38.570" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20522" CreationDate="2018-09-16T05:26:21.760" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should always wear a helmet when climbing outdoors due to the risk of rockfall.  The only downside to wearing a helmet is that it is slightly less comfortable than climbing without one, but this is a small price to pay for potentially saving your life or that of your climbing partner.  I always wear one outside and would not let anyone who was not wearing a helmet belay me since they would be more likely to drop me if they were hit by a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Helmets are also useful if you are climbing a route and do not notice the rock outcropping above your head until you bang your head into it as I do on occasion :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A recent event that occurred at one of my local crags illustrated the importance of wearing a helmet.  The climber in this incident dislodged a dinner plate sized rock that was several inches thick and it hit his belayer on the head.  Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet and survived despite being knocked unconscious.  The climber was saved from decking by a attentive bystander who had the presence of mind to grab the rope.  (This also suggests that it may be a good idea to belay with an assisted braking device in addition to wearing a helmet but that's a separate topic.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for when wearing a helmet became the norm, I would say that it isn't really.  Where I climb, I see roughly the same number of people without helmets as those who are wearing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T05:26:21.760" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20526" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-16T12:39:38.717" Score="2" ViewCount="547" Body="&lt;p&gt;My inexpensive nail clippers are chrome plated steel.  All the keys on my key ring are brass or some other non-ferrous metal (I checked with a magnet).  The nail clippers have that small nail file built in.  I have read a few blog posts that talk about using a nail file as the steel for starting a fire, and I wonder if it is possible with the small nail file in the nail clippers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We already know that &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20521/4079&quot;&gt;the battery in my key fob is not going to work to start a fire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I start a fire with the file in my nail clippers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T21:33:15.763" Title="Start a fire with nail clippers?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20523" CreationDate="2018-09-16T15:30:07.950" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doctors are not omniscient.  They miss things.  Some are sedentary, and they don't understand how important a full recovery is to an athletic person.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone, when going to a doc, needs to think through what to ask his doc, and know how to ask -- or insist -- effectively.  We are not giving the OP medical advice here; we are suggesting how to manage his visits to his docs effectively.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) &lt;strong&gt;if you suspect concussion, drop everything and go to a doc, an ER or a walk-in clinic sooner than ASAP.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) When you visit your docs, bring someone with you who knows your situation well, is outspoken without being abrasive, and can advocate for you.  Such a person is called a Patient Advocate and, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npsf.org/page/patientadvocate&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Institute for Health Care Improvement&lt;/a&gt; can be a professional PA or a family member or close friend.  The Institute says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A time of illness is a stressful time for patients as well as for&#xA;  their families. The best-laid plans can go awry, judgment is impaired,&#xA;  and, put simply, you are not at your best when you are sick. Patients&#xA;  need someone who can look out for their best interests and help&#xA;  navigate the confusing healthcare system–in other words, an&#xA;  advocate.....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An advocate is a “supporter, believer, sponsor, promoter, campaigner,&#xA;  backer, or spokesperson.”......  An effective advocate is someone you&#xA;  trust who is willing to act on your behalf as well as someone who can&#xA;  work well with other members of your healthcare team such as your&#xA;  doctors and nurses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An advocate may be a member of your family, such as a spouse, a child,&#xA;  another family member, or a close friend. Another type of advocate is&#xA;  a professional advocate. Hospitals usually have professionals who play&#xA;  this role called Patient Representatives or Patient Advocates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T15:30:07.950" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20520" CreationDate="2018-09-16T18:44:25.140" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bit more than a comment on Olin's answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done an experiment, and no, you can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a brand new CR2025&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some steel wool to make it easier; this is a nice firelighting filament with bigger batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a tissue&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I shorted the cell using the steel wool, held in a pad of tissue to provide tinder and keep the heat in.  It got fairly warm for a couple of minutes, even through the tissue, but when it cooled and I opened the tissue it wasn't even blackened.  If I couldn't get close with the contents of a house and garage at my disposal, you're not going to be able to do it in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-09-16T18:48:27.993" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T18:48:27.993" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20526" CreationDate="2018-09-16T20:49:15.907" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes if one of these tiny replaceable flints from a gas welding torch lighter lives on the chain of your nail clipper as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flints are so small this is reasonable.  Apologies couldn’t find a picture that showed scale but the flints themselves are about the length of the eraser on the end of a pencil but smaller diameter (the whole spark striker—-the wire and cup device pictured—-fits in your hand it’s about can-opener size).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks ab2 for the suggestion in your Bunsen lighter comment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as an attachment method, perhaps a lanyard made by enclosing the whole thing in a section of heatshrink tubing, 3/16” / 5mm diameter or so, to be peeled off for emergency use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you’d need to test this with your particular file, there are some made of such soft steel cut to such a dull edge you might be polishing the flint as opposed to making any sparks.  It is also possible (as another answer indicates) that the clipper is made or plated with a material that will not spark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gsd9D.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gsd9D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dtl6Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dtl6Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-20T21:33:15.763" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T21:33:15.763" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20522" CreationDate="2018-09-16T22:27:00.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Download.aspx?id=629&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BMC history of helmets&lt;/a&gt; puts it at 1996 with the introduction of the Petzl Meteor helmet which was a combination of a hard shell and foam helmet. This matches my recollection of when things became popular. There is also a little evidence in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/no-brainer-helmet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-09-16T22:27:00.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20532" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20540" CreationDate="2018-09-16T23:27:32.587" Score="6" ViewCount="643" Body="&lt;p&gt;Someone suggested using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00NG2O4ZQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Safety Spark Bunsen Burner/Laboratory Lighter with 5 Flints&lt;/a&gt; to start tinder for an emergency fire.  I don't currently own one so can't try it.  I have used them to light flammable gases and they are great for that.  Logistically I am not sure they would work well to light tinder to start a wood fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone see a way to make it work?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dtl6Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dtl6Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T01:29:04.940" Title="Can you start a wood fire with a Spark Bunsen Burner/Laboratory Lighter?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20533" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20542" CreationDate="2018-09-17T11:28:48.550" Score="7" ViewCount="2832" Body="&lt;p&gt;My rucksack has a small pocket on the hip belt, but I can’t think of anything useful to keep in it while day hiking. &lt;strong&gt;What types of things is such a pocket intended for?&lt;/strong&gt; If there is no common purpose for such a pocket, what are some things I could keep in it that would be useful?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16176" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T16:06:05.643" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T13:46:02.433" Title="What could I keep in rucksack hip pocket?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-17T11:50:37.690" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the size of the pocket, so here are a few very different ideas for small things you might want to get at without stopping (for long):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many I've seen would take a small phone or compact camera. I've used them to support the lens tripod mount when hiking with a SLR and long zoom lens, to reuce the load on my neck. Similarly a GPS (like an etrex) fits in there, though I carry mine on the shoulder strap for better signal and access. A compass is handy if you don't want to carry it round your neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When travel-backpacking (as opposed to wilderness hiking), this can be a good place to keep tickets, passports and money.  Again the phone or source of music if you want one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When moving fast (speed hiking or trail running) energy snacks can go in there for access on the go. Quick access to water would be needed too (Camelbak or bottle in a belt holster).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you like to whittle, a folding knife can go in there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smokers may find them quite handy too (though hopefully not in the wilderness). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One unusual but very useful item: a mirror in the hip pocket of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.deutergb.co.uk/products/family/kid-comfort-ii/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;child-carrying backpack&lt;/a&gt; to check if the child is awake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T15:33:47.210" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T15:33:47.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20536" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-09-17T13:45:14.673" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T13:45:14.673" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T13:45:14.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20537" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-09-17T13:45:14.673" Score="0" Body="Questions about Rabbits.  Small mammals of the family Leporidae." OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-17T15:04:01.410" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T15:04:01.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-17T14:40:16.127" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stuff happens when least expected.  You day hike could turn into an overnight stay quickly and unexectedly.  Be prepare for that situation.  Use that pocket to hold an emergency item such as, but not limited to, an extra lighter and/or tinder, space blanket, folding knife, hand sanitizer, water purification tablets, or anything else that would be helpful during an overnight stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T14:40:16.127" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-17T16:32:57.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my 2-3 days outings backpack (45L), I wasn't sure what to put in the hipbelt pocket. Then I noticed my &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5025-090/Ultralight-Waterproof-3-First-Aid-Kit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;0.3 Adventure Medical Kit&lt;/a&gt; fits in there quite nicely. It's really just the basics like bandages, gauze, and plasters but those things can be dealt with a backpack on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before that I had a pocket chain-saw in that pocket but I stopped carrying it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-09-17T16:32:57.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20532" CreationDate="2018-09-17T16:38:30.387" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The technical answer is simply: yes. But that answer would be deceiving, so...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Can it be done?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes. It throws out some decent sparks. The device works by scraping a tiny piece of flint over steel. In that regard, this should be no different than any other flint &amp;amp; steel fire lighting, with the exception of the awkward cup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See later section for the evidence of this device being used to start wood fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;Should&lt;/em&gt; it be done?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the results of my tests, I would say no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible, given perfect tinder, but even then it is unwieldy. You could remove the small piece of flint from the moving arm-piece and try to strike it differently, but the flint is so tiny that would also be awkward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see no reason to use this unwieldy device for something it was not designed for. If your concern is being prepared, just spend $5 for a ferro rod and have that on hand. Its sparks should be easier to use, and they are much better sparks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;But I just mean, like, what if zombie apocalypse comes and this is all I have?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, for some reason, you actually are forced into a situation where you have to use this, and only this, then put most of your effort into processing some really good tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're truly concerned, buy a ferrocerium rod (aka: ferro rod, flint rod) &lt;em&gt;now&lt;/em&gt; and duct-tape it to the side of that thing. When the apocalypse happens and that device is all you have, remove the ferro rod you've duct-taped to the side of it and use that instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ok fine, but still, out of curiosity, let's try anyway.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I went ahead and bought one to try this out. It was a great excuse to say I need to go light a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Test 1: Char-cloth tinder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I suspected, this was fairly easy with char cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially it seemed to not be working when I held the char cloth over the cup of the device, and its failure surprised me. I think that the sparks were not hot enough to create an ember by the time they were exiting the cup, despite being hot enough to see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that initial failure, I tried keeping the char cloth inside the cup, as close to the origination point of the sparks as I could. As expected, the char cloth then caught the sparks and held an ember without too much difficulty. The worst part is keeping the char cloth in place, as the striker keeps pushing it out of the way and sometimes making it fall out of the cup. It also rips the char cloth up, so you need to be careful of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the char cloth had an ember, the rest was fire starting 101: the char cloth was used to light grass and wood shavings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently I forgot to take close up pictures before I did this first test. Sorry. But here is a video of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/_q9SxNyUZjw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;Wood fire lit by bunsen burner spark lighter&quot;&gt;Wood fire lit by bunsen burner spark lighter and char cloth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Test 2: Natural tinder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be completely true to the context of your question, I thought it best to do a test which used nothing but naturally sourced materials, with the exception of the device itself obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had to dry out some materials to use for this. I manually tumble-dried some dandelion seed fluff in a clear plastic trash bag by hand. I had some half-decent quality dried grass and wood shavings, and I dehydrated it for a few minutes so it was better for fire starting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a close up picture of what I used:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOTlu.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DOTlu.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dandelion seed fluff takes a spark fairly easily and it often flares up quickly, but it dies out very fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a link to a video of the test, but full disclosure!: 1) The fire that started did not catch fully and went out after a few seconds. 2) The video makes it &lt;em&gt;look&lt;/em&gt; super easy, but I cut out multiple unsuccessful attempts before it finally flared up into a tiny fire and a couple unsuccessful attempts to re-light the kindling after the fire died out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/7iI5jKaFkhY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wood fire lit by bunsen burner spark lighter with all natural tinder and kindling&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite the fire not successfully lighting fully, &lt;em&gt;a flame was achieved&lt;/em&gt; which is definitely more than enough to start a fire, so I am calling the test itself a success. Yes, it is not easy, but &lt;strong&gt;you can definitely light a wood fire with a bunsen burner flint-spark lighter using good quality all natural tinder and kindling&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What next?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To then go the next step and use that lit tinder to start a fire, you would do it the traditional way, no matter whether you used charcloth or some other tinder. So anything past initially sparking your tinder is answered by all the other &quot;How to start a fire?&quot; questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T01:29:04.940" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T01:29:04.940" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18168" CreationDate="2018-09-17T16:52:15.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, both are synthetic fibre fill. They are likely to be very similar, but there isn't a lot of technical info on composition and performances for those materials. Even on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primaloft.com/insulation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the manufacturer's website&lt;/a&gt;, you can't find spec sheets for Primaloft. At Salomon, &lt;a href=&quot;https://drms3v40st3o6.cloudfront.net/images/pdf/especificaciones/eng_salomon_specs_exo_technology_14-15.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; is the most detailed info I could find, which says close to nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside from doing the research yourself and contacting Primaloft and Salomon for technical data, or actual employees chiming in with insider info (that might actually be locked behind a NDA), I am fairly sure your question cannot be answered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even vendors that get regular representative visits won't be able to extract that info out of them. The reps very rarely have technical answers past their marketing spiel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an overarching problem too: nothing guarantees that any one of those jackets will work for you in the temperature range you describe. Some people need extra insulation for the same conditions. My partner needs 10°C extra sleeping bag rating compared to me in order to sleep comfortably in cold weather. That's why a lot of insulating garments don't provide a temperature range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-09-18T18:16:57.923" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T18:16:57.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-17T17:48:10.297" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use my hip pockets mostly for holding &lt;em&gt;snacks&lt;/em&gt; or other &lt;strong&gt;items that I want regular and immediate access to&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I go out on a hike I pack both hip pockets full of granola bars and other goodies, then I don't have to stop on the trail when I want a quick snack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep my &lt;em&gt;keys&lt;/em&gt; in the hip pockets on the small mountain biking bag I carry every day, as well as a couple &lt;em&gt;tools&lt;/em&gt; for making small adjustments on my bike while I'm riding. I'll also keep one or two food bars in there just in case of a snack attack. Other things you can keep in there can include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pocket knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;compass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small headlamp/flashlight  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;extra batteries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;small point and shoot camera&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;chapstick&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hand sanitizer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pretty much any item you would normally keep in your pants pockets, but don't want to pack them full while hiking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're needs may vary depending on your activity, but the intent of the hip pockets is to keep the small items that you are going to want to be able to have quick access to without stopping and taking off your backpack.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-09-18T04:41:53.327" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T04:41:53.327" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-18T04:23:51.317" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keep condoms in that pocket. Seriously. Besides the obvious, a condom is useful if you need to keep your phone, keys (including electronic buttons), or anything else small, dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instructions for use: put small item inside the condom &amp;amp; tie the loose end in a knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13785" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T04:23:51.317" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20514" CreationDate="2018-09-18T04:26:23.097" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like nail clippers for any mono line, and specialty scissors for braid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16050" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T04:26:23.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20546" CreationDate="2018-09-18T05:51:56.770" Score="4" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe it to be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypore&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;polypore&lt;/a&gt;, but was unable to identify the exact type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bD9r5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bD9r5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3gLj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l3gLj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Image 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16428" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-18T15:19:11.760" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T15:19:11.760" Title="Plant Identification: White Mushroom or Fungus found in Indiana" Tags="&lt;mushrooms&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20545" CreationDate="2018-09-18T06:14:49.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those look like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;oyster mushrooms&lt;/a&gt;. They are the right size and color and have the right type of gills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pleurotus ostreatus, is a common edible known for its oyster-shaped cap. One of the first things you should look for when trying to identify this mushroom is the presence of decurrent gills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Decurrent means that the gills are attached to and run directly down the stem. Take a look at the close up to the right. Can you see how they run into and down the stem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/oyster-mushroom.html#sthash.QC6ks2yh.dpbs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oyster Mushroom Identification&lt;/a&gt; (Definitely check the pictures out as they look very close to yours.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more sources with very close pictures see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_ostreatus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://foodal.com/knowledge/paleo/morels-and-wild-mushrooms/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://foodal.com/knowledge/paleo/morels-and-wild-mushrooms/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/wild-mushrooms-what-to-eat-what-to-avoid&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/wild-mushrooms-what-to-eat-what-to-avoid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/foraging-for-oyster-mushrooms-zbcz1411&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/foraging-for-oyster-mushrooms-zbcz1411&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that while oyster mushrooms are edible, eating the wrong mushrooms can kill you so I would take these to a local to be absolutely certain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T06:14:49.053" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-18T08:35:58.027" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Along with all the other answers, I would add toilet paper (in a waterproof bag obviously). Nice to keep it handy, when you need to go you don't want to have to unpack your entire bag to find it buried at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16430" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T08:35:58.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19945" CreationDate="2018-09-18T08:46:45.943" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as you can safely clip into the cable, prefer that as it's the safety equipment on a via ferrata and lets you move faster and in a more ecomfortable way.&#xA;But of course safety first, do what is safer in given circumstances, especially that it can give you a confidence boost to do a harder part of ferrata.&#xA;But as other said, do not take a fall into account. Rest before harder section, plan/visualize movements, execute efficiently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally clip into rungs when cable is too far away to comfortably reach and clip into for a short person like me (example: some parts of Bälmetentor via ferrata in Switzerland are like that).&#xA;I've never seen more than 3-4 m distance between rope anchors on a via ferrata in a vertical climb, I would definitely clip into rungs if it was 10 m or even 5-6 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16429" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T08:46:45.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20549" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20550" CreationDate="2018-09-18T13:59:09.347" Score="0" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two types of rifle scopes when it comes to which focal plane the reticle is etched on and they are called first or second focal plane scopes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the difference between the two types and why would one choose one over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T17:59:26.947" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T17:59:26.947" Title="What are the pros and cons of first vs second focal plane rifle scopes?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20549" CreationDate="2018-09-18T13:59:09.347" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The technical difference is on which focal plane the reticle is etched on,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;at the focal plane between the objective and the image erector lens system (the First Focal Plane (FFP)), or the focal plane between the image erector lens system and the eyepiece (the Second Focal Plane (SFP)).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescopic_sight#Reticle_focal_plane&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the practical difference is that a &lt;strong&gt;FFP reticle&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;will increase in size&lt;/em&gt; when you increase the magnification on a variable magnification scope while a &lt;strong&gt;SFP reticle&lt;/strong&gt; will &lt;em&gt;stay the same size.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This mostly comes into play when you have a scope with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescopic_sight#Mil-dot_reticles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mil-dot reticlee&lt;/a&gt; for ranging targets/game. If you have an SFP scope, then it will only work at one magnification, while an FFP scope will stay constant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, at 25 yards I need to aim 2 inches/8 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; high. With an FFP scope, I can aim 8 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; high regardless of the magnification power my scope is set to while if I had an SFP scope, I would be stuck at trying aim 2 inches high at that looks different at depending on the magnification power the scope is currently set to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The disadvantages of the FFP scope is that because of the reticle getting larger with more magnification you lose some precision compared to an SFP scope and secondly that they usually cost more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T13:59:09.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20551" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-18T18:22:32.270" Score="6" ViewCount="394" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m looking for a bag to help carry my bow. Not that hard in huge forums to find some good suggestions but the think is I’m looking specifically to carry a compound bow without &lt;strong&gt;exposing any of the parts of that bow.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in NY and it’s &lt;strong&gt;illegal to carry bows without them being out of sight&lt;/strong&gt; so slings and packs that strap the bow to it are no good for me. I’m not looking to take the thing hunting; just to range and back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16432" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-18T19:01:57.313" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T08:15:21.380" Title="How can I carry my compound bow in a backpack without showing any parts of it?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20552" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-18T18:52:40.703" Score="6" ViewCount="528" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has the characteristics of lemon balm / mint, with square stems, but it doesn't have the lemon / mint smell. Also, its leaves seem to be more rounded, where lemon balm leaves have more of a pointed tip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vIclD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vIclD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16428" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:34:20.757" Title="Plant Identification: Is this lemon balm?" Tags="&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20553" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20551" CreationDate="2018-09-18T19:01:04.963" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a couple of options,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A soft case for your bow, put the bow inside the case and strap the whole thing to your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A bow case with backpack straps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A bow case with a padded shoulder sling (these are more common than ones with backpack straps).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T19:01:04.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20551" CreationDate="2018-09-18T19:40:43.077" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're simply looking for a bag to transport your bow in, then go shopping for a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.ca/category/cases/1298&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;compound bow bag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. There is a large selection of bags available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.ca/category/cases/1298&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZtBGs.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bow Case&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're specifically looking to invest in a backpack that you can strap your bow too, then you can look for a compatible &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B074CR75ND&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;bow cover&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to conceal your bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B074CR75ND&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MMXv3.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bow Cover or Sleeve&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you just want to get to the range without getting fined or arrested, perhaps it is sufficient to &lt;strong&gt;wrap your bow&lt;/strong&gt; in a sheet or put it in a black garbage bag and stuff it into the top biggest backpack you have, or strap it to the outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure the guys at the range who have to abide by the same laws as you will have plenty of suggestions. It's always best to ask the locals when it comes to local laws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-09-18T19:40:43.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20556" CreationDate="2018-09-18T23:56:28.480" Score="5" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;When coming back from a day of hiking and eating I often notice that the top of the straw of my water bottle is dirty on the inside.  I've come across quite a few options to clean the inside of the straw with tools such as brushes, pipe cleaner, or a dishwasher. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when on a multi-day hike, with only the equipment you can carry in your pack, these implements will likely not be on hand.  In the past, I've drawn some water up the straw on the cleaner side and blew the water out on the more dirty side.  This does help some but what I'm wondering is if there a more thorough way of getting the inside of the straw clean without the typical household items?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This questions assumes you didn't pack any replacement straws or little brushes, as shown below, specifically for this purpose.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gQlmc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gQlmc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.com/nalgene-straw/s?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;page=1&amp;amp;rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Analgene%20straw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-19T00:14:59.170" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T15:17:24.070" Title="What is a good way to clean the inside of a water bottle straw while on a multi-day backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20555" CreationDate="2018-09-19T00:14:23.580" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would make an improvised &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.com/s/&amp;amp;keywords=bore-snake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bore snake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; with a &lt;strong&gt;piece of string or fishing line&lt;/strong&gt; and a &lt;strong&gt;small piece of clean cloth&lt;/strong&gt; and pull the piece of cloth through the straw just like you would a gun barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone should have at least some string and something like handkerchief which you might have to cut down to size in order to fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option would be to try and find a small straight stick and push a piece of cloth through but I think the bore snake idea would work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T00:14:23.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20557" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-19T08:41:53.567" Score="5" ViewCount="1052" Body="&lt;p&gt;For some reason I have had multiple encounters with mountain lions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my 20's while camping in a somewhat remote campground near the continental divide in CO I woke to a large mountain lion laying outside our tent but half on top of me. Guess it was getting warm. I was able to get out from under it then listened as it got up and walked around the tent. When it got to the side where the tent had a window I looked out and saw it was a good sized lion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was only one other group in the camp ground that early spring. We never went back there. Lucky to be alive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since that time, I have been stalked 3 times when hiking off trails and seen cats multiple times while on trails. This has freaked me out enough that I'm especially afraid to bring my dog on hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would cats be so drawn to me (or my dog)? I wasn't menstruating or carrying food usually and had at least one other person with me. I miss hiking so much, but am afraid I won't be able to protect my dog and others near me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do you suggest as prevention? Gun laws are so strict.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16434" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-19T17:47:35.343" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T23:19:17.767" Title="Hiking and camping with medium size dog and keeping safe from mountain lions" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20557" CreationDate="2018-09-19T17:47:20.310" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, the most legal proof solution is to hike in a group and or with a dog. While really small dogs do get preyed on by mountain lions from time to time, the dogs used for treeing mountain lions are not necessarily very big especially when compared to a mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also consider a solid wood walking stick and pepper spray, although pepper spray has its own set of legality issues and that information is harder to find and can be more restricted than firearms in some states in the U.S.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/459/what-do-you-do-if-you-see-a-cougar/469#469&quot;&gt;What do you do if you see a cougar?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15286/when-back-country-camping-how-do-you-avoid-being-attacked-by-a-mountain-lion-in&quot;&gt;When back country camping, how do you avoid being attacked by a mountain lion in your sleep?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/716/is-bear-spray-effective-against-other-animals&quot;&gt;Is bear spray effective against other animals?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8269/solo-backpacking-in-mountain-lion-country&quot;&gt;Solo-backpacking in mountain lion country&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T17:47:20.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20560" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20564" CreationDate="2018-09-19T17:47:35.817" Score="3" ViewCount="1186" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent question got me wondering if there are Takedown Compound Bows.  I Googled around and found several longbows, (recurves, etc) that can be taken down for travel.  But I did not find any compound bows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there Takedown Compound Bows?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T03:45:40.550" Title="Are there Takedown Compound Bows?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20561" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20551" CreationDate="2018-09-19T18:01:22.990" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I carry my compound bow in a backpack without showing any parts of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of good answers suggesting alternatives, and a comment or two about hazards, of these choices. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you can purchase a TV Moving Box, online or from the local moving company and truck rental place.  They are designed for flat screen TV's  These are available in different sizes starting at about $25.  Put your bow in it and carry it like it is a flat screen TV. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately: you can purchase a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20560/are-there-takedown-compound-bows&quot;&gt;takedown bow&lt;/a&gt; that would be easier to pack, but I don't think that is what you are looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately: You can get an Army Duffle Bag, with shoulder straps, it is effectively a large backpack. It should hold your bow, arrows and other gear, while functioning as backpack. Amazon sells them &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01N170CCX&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;new for about $50&lt;/a&gt; with several surplus stores selling used ones for about $20&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-20T08:15:21.380" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T08:15:21.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20560" CreationDate="2018-09-19T18:01:26.520" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibly, but I highly doubt it. The thing is that it's not that easy to &lt;a href=&quot;https://compoundbowpro.com/how-to-restring-a-compound-bow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;restring a compound bow&lt;/a&gt; and most people would probably pay someone else to do it for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recurve bows are much easier to restring yourself and they do make &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takedown_bow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;takedown version&lt;/a&gt; of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In theory one could do this by simply disassembling a regular compound bow with allen wrenches but it's probably not worth the trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T18:01:26.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20560" CreationDate="2018-09-19T23:57:39.930" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's an old video of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg-w7O4b8K8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fred Bear Borsalino take-Down compound bow&lt;/a&gt; being taken down and put back together.  There is also a Fred Bear TRX 32 take-down compound bow on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fred-Bear-TRX-32-Compound-Take-Down-Bow-70-RH/362433542955?epid=6006464084&amp;amp;hash=item5462b8fb2b:g:070AAOSwlgNbIAG4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ebay&lt;/a&gt;.  I didn't see any of these during a quick look at their &lt;a href=&quot;https://beararchery.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;, so I wonder if anything like this is currently in production. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-09-19T23:57:39.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="716" CreationDate="2018-09-20T05:53:09.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers sum it up great for the most part: it will work on other mammals if you have a chance to use it. It's pretty strong stuff, and while I could imagine something like a bull elephant in musth shrugging it off, in general it will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will not work on birds though, as many a mailman using pepper spray against defensive geese and turkeys has found out. They don't have the right receptors. That's how peppers evolved to be hot in the first place, it shoos off any large browsing mammals with a digestive tract capable of digesting the seeds, but allows the fruit to be eaten by birds that spread the seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other animals like crocodiles and sharks (although using bear mace underwater doesn't sound like the greatest idea to begin with) from what I can find fall closer to the bird side of the comparison, and bear mace will not work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a final legal notice: bear mace is really strong stuff. You should never feel discouraged to use what you have in a serious self defense situation, but under all other circumstances do not use it on humans in any way. It's formulated to stop the closest thing this world has to movie monsters, it's bad stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-09-21T07:44:24.183" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T07:44:24.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20425" CreationDate="2018-09-20T15:38:26.287" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All in Charlie Brumbaugh's answer is true. &#xA;However, SLOW melting over a long time is often some of the safest conditions you can travel in. It can smooth out weak layers in the snow, that would have been avalanche prone. Those layers can stay there as triggers for avalanches for many weeks -- rather some months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Norway we often have problems with these buried weak layers. They may have come after a winter storm (I don't mean &quot;a snowfall&quot;, but a storm in the meaning of &quot;strong wind&quot;.), and they just stay around and never go away. The only things that remove them in the end, is a heavy rainfall, or melting of snow down through the layer. We say at the end of the winter season, when the snow is moderately warm, &quot;Ah; at last we can go and do some steep skiing, this year too.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, again: Just after the heavy rainfall, it is best to stay in town and drink cappuccino for a day or two. And in Norway, there is so much focus on dangers from weak layers in the snow, &quot;cold-snow-avalanche-danger,&quot; that a lot of people head straight into danger every year when the sun is boiling down into some cul-de-sac or similar structure sucking up what it can of incoming radiation. There seems to be at least one day each year when someone gets frustrated with me, as I don't want to walk into the warmest part of some mountainside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12904" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-22T20:38:07.417" LastActivityDate="2018-09-22T20:38:07.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20522" CreationDate="2018-09-20T15:44:27.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google Trends Shows consistent searches for &quot;Rock Climbing Helmet&quot; since at least 2004 &lt;a href=&quot;https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&amp;amp;geo=US&amp;amp;q=rock%20climbing%20helmet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Trends for &quot;Rock Climbing Helmet&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Agreed that rockfall is always a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like to wear a helmet any time I lead climb, because of the risk of damage to the back of the head if you get your leg trapped behind the rope and are flipped upside down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9429" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T15:44:27.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20568" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-20T16:00:47.520" Score="7" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have heard great things about diving in the Red Sea.  However,  Egypt's not the most stable and safe place to visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the alternative locations for diving in the European side of the Mediterranean where there's similar diving experience?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thinking pretty fish,  abundant life and good visibility.  Have dived in France and Spain where these are &quot;OK&quot; but not the amazing colourful experience which the Red Sea's purported to be.  Oh and wrecks.  We all like diving in wrecks,  especially those covered in life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have any suggestions for pretty fish in the Med?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not many answers;  could we expand this question to:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Where is the 'prettiest' place in the Mediterranean to dive with lots of fish and interesting things to see?  Is it better in the west or east,  south or north?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-12-24T07:29:53.517" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T15:26:00.417" Title="Is there anywhere to dive in the Mediterranean that's like the Red Sea?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20526" CreationDate="2018-09-20T19:50:04.490" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nail Clipper file is very likely made of stainless steel, which cannot produce spark. Same analogy in stainless knife vs. carbon steel knife. Even it is high carbon steel under the chrome, you have to break the coating off first (could take forever).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can certainly use the file to scrape ferro-rods to get sparks and start fire but you can  do it with other material for the flint, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T19:50:04.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1417" CreationDate="2018-09-20T20:56:27.750" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you will need a special kind of rock.  The spark is a tiny bit of burning iron struck off the source of iron by a really hard rock.  So if you are only using rocks then you will need 1 iron rich rock and one harder rock.  Iron Pyrite (fools gold) and quartz would be one combination.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Common practice is use steel as the iron source (high carbon knife or a dedicated steel striker) instead of a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tinder is very important.  An iron spark is very short lived and not very hot (800 F) compared to what you get using a fire steel or ferrocerium rod (2000+ F).  There is almost nothing in the wild that will take that cool spark and catch fire.  Nor will cotton balls and lint work even with the addition of denatured alcohol to the material.  The standard practice is to catch the spark in char cloth nested inside the tinder bundle.  Fold the bundle over the smoldering cloth and blow until it bursts into flame.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15862" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T20:56:27.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20575" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20557" CreationDate="2018-09-20T22:11:56.790" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt that there is anything about your body chemistry that is a cougar attractor.  But, if you are a petite person, a lion will see you as easy prey.  And, if the stalking occurred at dawn or dusk, know that that is prime hunting time for cougars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A reference that I cannot now find advised people not to hike in cougar country in a group smaller than three people.  The source cited statistics for California that suggested that cougars avoided groups of three people.  Of course, there are so few cougar encounters that the statistics have large error bars. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to know how to &lt;strong&gt;stop attracting&lt;/strong&gt; cougars, not how to react &lt;strong&gt;if attacked&lt;/strong&gt;.  So I won't go into how to defend yourself against a cougar attack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hike in a group of three, and especially if each person has a dog, cougars should give you a wide berth.  Wild animals have good reason to avoid encounters in which they might get hurt -- there is no 911 for animals to call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to hike in a group, then my suggestion is to research the area(s) where you were stalked by contacting the relevant authorities.  Describe what happened, when and where, and ask if your experience was unusual and if so, to what they attribute your being stalked.  They will know the area and maybe even individual cougars.  Your experience may be local in space (a smallish area with one or more problem cougars) or local in time (the problem cougar(s) may have died) -- we can't know from the information you have given us.  &lt;strong&gt;If stalking is not rare in the areas you hiked, then you have to find another area or hike in a group.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last point: stooping over or kneeling makes you look like easy prey.  Stay erect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really final point: The snuggling is mind boggling.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-20T22:22:05.143" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T22:22:05.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20576" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20557" CreationDate="2018-09-20T23:19:17.767" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sorry, don't have any references handy. But from what I've read (including ranger stories), cougar attacks on humans are very rare. And from what was described as stalking, is just plain watching. Either from curiosity, or making sure you aren't a threat. If they were planning an attack, they would be a lot more stealthy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, cougar attacks on pets is more common. Keep your dog on leash or trained to walk right by your side. And as someone else already suggested, carry a wooden staff to fight back with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2018-09-20T23:19:17.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20533" CreationDate="2018-09-21T13:46:02.433" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My hip pocket is wide enough that it can handle a smartphone turned sideways. I store mine here inside one or more ziplock bags to keep it dry. Storing it here raises the risk of damaging the device if you fall the wrong way, but overall the convenience is worth it for quick photos or directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3497" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T13:46:02.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20580" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-21T14:31:10.753" Score="8" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see lots of mention on sailing forums about standing on the bow and &quot;pumping&quot; the sail on a sunfish or other small boat to get going under your own power.  However, I can't seem to find any videos or detailed descriptions of what this means.  How does one &quot;pump&quot; one's sails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11832" LastEditorUserId="11832" LastEditDate="2018-09-21T15:00:29.863" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T17:54:27.527" Title="How to &quot;pump&quot; my sail to go upwind or when becalmed?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20581" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20580" CreationDate="2018-09-21T15:13:07.250" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You literally make long strokes of the mainsheet.   It is done from the stern standing.  It is best with a small tail wind.  Doubt it would work with a head wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-09-21T15:50:41.597" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T15:50:41.597" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20580" CreationDate="2018-09-21T16:12:06.350" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're essentially &quot;paddling&quot; the air with your sail. I go windsurfing in Waterton Lakes National Park, it's quite gusty there, so I've been caught a few times riding a gust out into the lake when all of a sudden the wind dies and I have to pump to get myself back to shore. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do this by catching as much wind as you can in your sail, letting the wind take it a little even, and then abruptly sheet in, &lt;strong&gt;mimicking a short gust of wind&lt;/strong&gt;. You use your boom as an oar, and &quot;pump&quot; in order to get a little bit of forward motion going. You see Olympic wind surfers do it a lot in low wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a video of some windsurfers pumping their sails in light wind: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/cs3FIjvz3BE?t=6m41s&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youtube - Rio Replay, RS:X Sailing.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The process would be similar on a small boat, but how effective it works for you may vary depending on your vessel and how well you can work the boom with a pumping action, be it by grabbing the boom or trying to pump by pulling on the ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-09-21T17:20:35.237" LastActivityDate="2018-09-21T17:20:35.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19524" CreationDate="2018-09-23T12:29:56.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a direct answer, but keep in mind that the protections in a National Park or National Monument are already fairly strong.  A Wilderness designation doesn't add as much there as it would in a National Forest or on BLM land, for example.  It is therefore not seen as a high priority to create Wilderness areas within a Park or Monument.  Advocacy groups that often push for Wilderness designation get much more result for their effort when spent on areas under threat of logging, road building, cattle ranching, and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider that Yellowstone, for example, has been protected quite well just by being a National Park.  The activities that have occurred in the back country of Yellowstone wouldn't have been much different if they were in a Wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T12:29:56.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20586" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20555" CreationDate="2018-09-23T15:17:24.070" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Solution 1:  Make a tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I played the flute I made what amounted to a shepherds crook with an almost closed loop on one end.  Thread the corner of a rag through it, and draw it through the body of the instrument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could do the same, but instead of 1/10&quot; brass rod, you would use bailing wire, and instead of a cloth rag, I'd suggest either a scrap of sponge, or a scrap of 3M scotchbright pad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note:  Both of these materials will pick up dirt and crud from the tube, but will be difficult to get completely clean themselves.  If you are only using water, this isn't a problem.  If you use something with sugar in it, then there is the possibility that mold can grow on your cleaning apparatus. Rinsing thoroughly is in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution 2: Pipe cleaners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Available at any craft store (Michaels) or some dollar stores are pipe cleaners. Originally meant for smokers to clean their pipes, they are more generally useful. Basically a stiff wire with synthetic bristles sticking out in all directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I am not a fan of non-cleanable surfaces.  I had a contigo coffee cup that required rinsing immediately after use (I use both milk and sugar in my coffee) Failing to do this resulted in a bad taste.  After boiling the lid in bleach, salt water, stain remover, hydrogen peroxide, I was able to get some blobs of green-black slime out of it, and removed the taste.  A month later, despite trying to rinse as soon as I got home each day, the taste was back. I've discarded the cup, and now have a Thermos brand one that can be taken apart when needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution 3: Different water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Discard this water bottle and get one that doesn't use a straw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solution 4:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ignore it.  It's just dust and dirt.  You probably get as much dirt on any veg you pull from your garden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T15:17:24.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20485" CreationDate="2018-09-23T15:36:03.080" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use total elevation change -- where down is also counted as well as up.  I find that downhill (especially steep downhill) also slows down horizontal travel, so when estimating time for a trail, I count 1000 ft elevation change &lt;em&gt;up or down&lt;/em&gt; as the equivalent of an extra mile horizontally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an oversimplification.  Down doesn't slow you as much, generally, and you substitute sore knees for out of breath.  Exception:  Steep descents on irregular footing -- slopes of large scree are an example -- can be slower going down than going up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Indeed there is a 'magic slope' a couple percent grade, going down, that seems to be just enough to overcome friction, and you cruise seemingly without effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To count total elevation change:  Count the number of contour intervals your route crosses or touches.  This will be an underestimate.  Even a 100 foot interval hides a lot of topographic nuance.  However contour counting is quick, and it's fairly consistent, which is all you really care about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-09-23T15:36:03.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20588" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-09-24T10:44:30.397" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-09-24T10:44:30.397" LastActivityDate="2018-09-24T10:44:30.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20589" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-09-24T10:44:30.397" Score="0" Body="For questions regarding dive sites.  Locations that are particularly favoured for scuba diving." OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2018-09-25T00:17:02.497" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T00:17:02.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20590" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-24T14:08:40.537" Score="6" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19524/why-is-there-no-wilderness-area-within-grand-canyon-national-park&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, there are people advocating that most of the Grand Canyon National park be designated as Wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly would change in the allowed activities (some say it would prevent motorized rafts) or in how the park is managed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-29T01:23:08.877" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T01:48:05.170" Title="What exactly would change if most of the Grand Canyon was designated as wilderness?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20522" CreationDate="2018-09-24T15:08:33.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't yet been climbing for 20+ years, but from my 8-or-so years experience of climbing in European and Asian countries I can tell that helmets did not become a universal norm yet. It all depends on the type and on the location of the climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not personally know anybody who would wear a helmet when climbing indoors. Neither have I seen anybody wearing a helmet when bouldering, regardless of whether it is indoors or outdoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, helmet seems to be seen as essential in multipitch climbing, as well as on via ferratas. And that is mostly due to the increased risk of rock fall that comes with alpine environment and multiple groups of people climbing one above another. I have personally seen a belay device fly past me while on a multipitch climb. Another time it was a giant rock, which luckily did not hit anybody on that wall, because no helmet would have helped with that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor sport climbing, however, seems to be a bit of a grey area with regard to helmets, at least in the places where I climb. Unless a wall is known to have rock falls, most/many people choose not to wear a helmet, because it is seen as unnecessary. And if somebody is wearing a helmet, it is usually the belayer. Which, I would argue, kind of makes sense, because falling rocks knocking out a belayer is a bigger danger than a climber hitting his/her head when falling. Well, at least the consequences are usually less fatal.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-09-24T15:08:33.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20593" CreationDate="2018-09-24T16:14:10.760" Score="4" ViewCount="1453" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE&lt;/strong&gt; the following is while the camper is unoccupied and stored in my back yard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Propane/CO detector in my camper started going off randomly a few weeks ago. I thought it was from some random issue that I had caused invertably. I pushed reset and everything was fine for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then a couple to a few days later I would find it going off again.  Now it will not reset. I have ordered a new one, after validating there is no GAS leak or CO issue.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comments in reviews for a similar model suggest the expected life is 5 years, but some indicate less then a year. &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B005GSFUWE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;product link on Amazon.com&lt;/em&gt; )MTI Industries 35-742-WT Safe T Alert 35 Series Dual LP/CO Alarm - Flush Mount, White&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know in the old days many CO detectors had a life of one event. If it went off, you had to replace it, no reset. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that my fumes from mowing with my old lawnmower are getting into the camper, and causing some of the alerts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the life expectancy of Propane/CO detector?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do trace amounts of propane or CO impact the life expectancy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T21:43:05.353" Title="What is the life expectancy of Propane/CO detector?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20592" CreationDate="2018-09-24T16:22:52.150" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the device but 5-7 years seems like the max with some as short as 2 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The gas sensors in CO alarms have a limited and indeterminable life span, &lt;strong&gt;typically two to five years.&lt;/strong&gt; The test button on a CO alarm only tests the battery and circuitry, not the sensor. CO alarms should be tested with an external source of calibrated test gas, as recommended by the latest version of NFPA 720. &lt;strong&gt;Alarms over five years old should be replaced&lt;/strong&gt; but they should be checked on installation and at least annually during the manufacturers warranty period.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_detector&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carbon monoxide detector&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Carbon monoxide alarms have a limited life, &lt;strong&gt;typically 5 to 7 years (some even less).&lt;/strong&gt; Most people don’t realize they need to replace a $25 - $75 item after several years. Many manufacturers will state the limited life span somewhere in their manual; however, it’s usually not prominent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fayengineering.com/articles/carbon-monoxide-has-your-carbon-monoxide-alarm-expired&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you wonder if your carbon monoxide detectors are worn out, they probably are. CO detectors &lt;strong&gt;only have a five to seven-year life&lt;/strong&gt;. Listing a build date or an expiration date on the label is a fairly new phenomenon. If there’s no date on yours and you can’t remember when you bought it, you’re probably due for a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.familyhandyman.com/smart-homeowner/when-to-replace-a-carbon-monoxide-detector/view-all/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;When to Replace a Carbon Monoxide Detector&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, it looks like yours definitely needed to be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-24T16:22:52.150" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20594" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20610" CreationDate="2018-09-24T21:52:25.343" Score="4" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As seen in the picture, this sail boat is sliding over ice rather than sailing through water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If I were to try this ice sailing, would I need to follow boating regulations?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This might not be the same for all locations. I am in the United States, but really if anyone can just show a precedent that any areas have had to deal with this and has decided whether or not this counts as boating, that would let us know if we need to be careful of running afoul boating regulations in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T10:30:26.613" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T10:30:26.613" Title="Does &quot;Ice Sailing&quot; Count as Boating?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20595" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-24T22:38:26.220" Score="19" ViewCount="4827" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am currently stuck in the wilderness, and I have been out here for a while. I want to focus light. There are various reasons for wanting to do this, with the two biggest reasons being for vision and for fire starting. It does not need to be anything fancy, not even to help with the vision: my eye sight is just barely too bad to make out the north star easily, so a slight magnification would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are there any resources that I can forage or anything I can create while in the wilderness for focusing light similar to a glasses lens or a magnifying glass?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Available resources&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My glasses for my poor eyesight are either lost or smashed to pieces. All of my clear bags have long since been punctured, and I have no other clear containers for holding water in, otherwise I might try to use water to focus the light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am assuming creating glass from sand is not an option since I have seen backyard tinkerers with the proper academic knowledge and decent tools fail to create good glass. If you think this is an invalid assumption, then feel free to challenge me on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T19:29:24.243" Title="Are there any natural materials that can be used as a magnifying lens (or to craft one)?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-24T22:59:42.197" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's possible to do it with &lt;strong&gt;ice that has been shaped into a convex lens.&lt;/strong&gt; The ice needs to be clear and fairly large like 5 inches across. Obviously this won't work in the summer, and the cold temperatures won't help either, but it does look like it can be done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/how-to-make-fire-from-ice_n_1215707.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How To Start A Fire Using Magnifying Glass Made Of Ice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seeker.com/how-do-you-start-a-fire-with-ice-1765625127.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Do You Start a Fire With Ice?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primitiveways.com/fire_from_ice.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Starting Fire With an Ice Lens&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/rb/rbfirefromice3a.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire from Ice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lifehacker.com/5891201/build-a-fire-with-a-slab-of-ice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Build a Fire with a Slab of Ice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the above links are for starting a fire with a magnifying glass made from ice, would be interesting to see if there are other materials that can do this as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-24T22:59:42.197" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20597" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20598" CreationDate="2018-09-25T04:29:02.903" Score="39" ViewCount="13742" Body="&lt;p&gt;In recent news reports that all seem to be saying the same things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jakarta Post &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/09/23/indonesian-teenager-survives-49-days-adrift-in-guam-waters.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indonesian teenager survives 49 days adrift in Guam waters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;NPR: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/2018/09/24/651061753/19-year-old-survives-49-days-at-sea-after-floating-hut-drifts-to-guam&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;19-Year-Old Survives 49 Days At Sea After Floating Hut Drifts To Guam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Guardian &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/24/indonesian-teenager-survives-49-days-adrift-at-sea-in-fishing-hut&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Indonesian teenager survives 49 days adrift at sea in fishing hut&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The teenager only had a few days worth of supplies and survived by catching fish, burning wood from his hut to cook them, &lt;strong&gt;and sipping seawater through his clothes to minimize his salt intake&lt;/strong&gt;. (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other reports mention running out of cooking gas for a small stove, and a week's supply of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; Is there any known technique to survive by drinking sea water for many weeks &quot;desalinated&quot; using clothing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can imagine using wet clothing as a cooling mechanism for use in a solar still, but I'd never heard of using clothing as a filter. I'm thinking that the early reports have been substantially mis-translated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9924/12619&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; make it clear that you'd have to dramatically reduce the salt content of sea water to get any kind of hydration benefit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-30T00:51:53.890" LastActivityDate="2018-09-30T00:51:53.890" Title="Ways to desalinate water when &quot;lost at sea&quot;?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20597" CreationDate="2018-09-25T05:58:02.623" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Salt dissolves in water so will pass though a normal filter or cloth. You can try that with a coffee filter at home. So there's definitely an error in the article.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A still (i.e. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;distillation apparatus&lt;/a&gt;, whether &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;solar&lt;/a&gt; or fire-heated) is the only easily improvised way to desalinate water, but the article I read said he caught and ate fish - that will provide some water, and if there was any rain to catch even some of the time that would be a huge help. He had some water with him at the start as well. Later reports have increased the estimate of how much water he had with him, and mentioned rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that, as has often happened before, the article said something like &quot;survived by drinking seawater&quot; when it should have said &quot;survived &lt;em&gt;despite&lt;/em&gt; drinking seawater&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T18:20:27.320" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T18:20:27.320" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T07:53:59.340" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can recover a source of glass, you should be able to melt it using a charcoal fire with bellows to force air and increase the temperature. You'd need a mould, for which clay would be good. This can be worked into shape, smoothed, and dried before casting the glass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This requires real glass, not plastic as is commonly used in spectacles , and not laminated (many car windows). Thermoplastics have a lower melting point but would be very easy to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The resulting lens should be able to start a fire, but getting anything like the right form or surface quality for use as a magnifier or corrective lens is probably too much - for that you'd need to polish it (though jeweller's rouge is made from finely ground rust, so it's not completely impossible to improvise a polish).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T07:53:59.340" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T10:43:32.233" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Taking into account that we do have an &quot;ice&quot; answer already)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one magnifying lens that is fast and easy to get and that does have an optical quality that actually helps vision as a magnifying glass are in fact drops of water. But that's for the &quot;home-made field microscope&quot; application of a magnifying glass. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you consider starting fire by sunlight, you expect conditions where it may be easier to get directions during day via the sun rather than during the night via stars. I.e. either find south if you still have (local) time, or east-west from shadow if you don't have local time (slower - and precision depending on how much time you are willing to spend for this). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starting a fire, depending on latitude and weather conditions, the quality of the lens may be far lower. And it may be an option to have a rough mirror: it may be far easier to collect sun from a much larger area by aluminum/rescue foil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T10:43:32.233" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20601" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-25T11:05:17.473" Score="5" ViewCount="3989" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/617/do-bunnies-eat-their-droppings&quot;&gt;rabbits eat their droppings (cecotropes)&lt;/a&gt; and I have heard of feeding rabbit droppings to pigs.  Rabbits are vegetarians. There droppings do not have the same consistency or negative secondary factors as carnivores or omnivores (i.e. people, dogs, cats, etc). In essence rabbit poop is partially digested plant material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation, finding and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7218/what-is-the-easiest-way-to-prepare-a-rabbit-snare-with-minimal-tools&quot;&gt;catching rabbits can be done,&lt;/a&gt; but it's not easy. Finding and picking up rabbit droppings, would be a lot easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can a person safely eat rabbit droppings? If yes is there any nutritional value in it? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: this question is only about the fecal droppings NOT the cecotropes.  Cecotropes are NOT easy to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T02:19:16.697" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T02:19:16.697" Title="Can I eat Rabbit Poop?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T11:25:05.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Though, this probably won't help making a fire, but ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I'm short sighted by myself, I'm using &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/OydqR_7_DjI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this simple technique&lt;/a&gt; to focus my eyesight, if I'm out of my glasses. It works pretty good at night, but you need to have a general clue where to look before you apply it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one I use, is creating a kind of resizable diamond by putting thumb and index fingers together, then connect both hands (kind of 3mm-by-3mm square hole)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one used in video, is a small hole created by one single finger closed to the palm itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, in fact, any small hole would help, but the fingers are readily available and, more than that, are adjustable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16451" LastEditorUserId="16451" LastEditDate="2018-09-25T11:48:12.240" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T11:48:12.240" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20597" CreationDate="2018-09-25T13:13:24.360" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can place an empty cup in the middle of a lightly filled bucket of sea water. You then place a plastic bag over the bucket, with a stone in the middle so it has a dip in it over the cup. The sea water evaporates,  reforms on the plastic bag (without any salt in it)  and then drips into the cup. Slow but far better than drinking sea water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16453" LastEditorUserId="8610" LastEditDate="2018-09-25T15:53:49.820" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T15:53:49.820" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T13:29:30.873" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to demigod's answer:  grab a chunk of cardboard, or a sheet of bark, and punch two small holes spaced at the separation between your pupils.  Wear this as though they were goggles.  Due to the magic of optics :-) ,  you won't have a great field of view but what you can see will be in near-perfect focus.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to firestarting, forget about using solar heating unless you can find a big chunk of obsidian and a near-spherical rock to grind a concave mirror.  Use direct friction techniques to start your fire.  See for example, this  &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00CWQ9GIM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bow  &amp;amp; peg&lt;/a&gt;  tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3687" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T13:29:30.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T13:51:47.047" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As has been mentioned in other answers, for vision, a pinhole device, similar to what is used for pinhole cameras, is your best bet.  Short of water (which you have already ruled out), that's about the only natural option you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For fire though, you have multiple options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't discount making your own glass.  Yes, it's hard, but you don't need high quality glass for a simple focusing lense for starting a fire, it just has to be reasonably clear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice has been mentioned already.  This is pretty much your best option in really cold climates.  Shaping a usable lens out of ice is not trivial, but it's not super difficult either.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mirrors are also an option.  If you have some aluminum foil or, better yet, a mylar survival blanket, you can put together a convex reflector to focus the light.  You could also just make a solar oven though if you only need the fire for cooking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This will probably sound utterly stupid, but you could make a lens out of sugar glass.  Same general principals as for regular glass, just lower temperatures and therefore slightly easier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't discount other methods of creating a fire.  Friction-based fire making is covered in survival training for a reason, it needs almost nothing and it works reliably (if you practice).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13902" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T13:51:47.047" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2018-09-25T16:06:47.073" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Recovering from Pump&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You already mention you shake out your arms. I read an article suggesting an improvement on the standard &amp;quot;shake out each arm by your side&amp;quot; technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;em&gt;Slowing the Pump Clock&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://trainingforclimbing.com/slowing-the-pump-clock/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; Eric Hörst describes a technique called &amp;quot;G-Tox&amp;quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a more effective method for accelerating forearm recovery, however, that I call G-Tox. It involves alternating the position of your resting arm between the normal dangling position and an above-your-head position&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He recommends spending 5 seconds with your arm above you then 5 seconds with it by your side.&#xA;An additional article &lt;em&gt;Effectiveness of “Dangling Arm” and “G-Tox” Recovery Techniques&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://trainingforclimbing.com/effectiveness-of-dangling-arm-and-g-tox-recovery-techniques/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt; by Luke Roberts attempts to test the technique:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is concluded that performing the g-tox technique during recovery from rock climbing does accelerate forearm recovery in comparison to the traditional dangling arm shake-out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a 2-minute recovery period, climbers using the dangling-arm recovery method experienced a 2% gain (recovery) in hang grip strength, while climbers using the G-tox experienced an 18% increase in grip strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12948" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T16:06:47.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T16:13:20.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's also possible to start a fire using &lt;a href=&quot;https://nerdist.com/learn-how-to-start-a-fire-with-a-plastic-bag-and-some-water/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a plastic bag filled with water&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If by any chance you stumble open some waste of people that left it behind, or you happen te have kept that one sandwich bag of yours, you could use the lens-like properties and start a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16459" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T16:13:20.960" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20595" CreationDate="2018-09-25T17:48:03.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A clear mineral crystal can be worked to a lens shape with enough time and effort.  Quartz, sapphire and ruby are likely candidates. Ruby lenses were common on wand style barcode reader pens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even some salt crystals are routinely used as lenses and optical windows in certain applications (lasers, IR and UV systems).  Many of these salts and those you may crystallise or find will likely have a problem with moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16461" LastActivityDate="2018-09-25T17:48:03.887" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20594" CreationDate="2018-09-26T00:28:39.253" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unlike driving, with boating there are not a lot of regulations that will get you in trouble with the authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number 1, would be a launch permit.  This varies by body of water, but essentially this is permission to move your craft between the public road to the public body of water across a piece of land.  Normally the land is owned by the State or local government, and the launch permit helps to pay for that facility. You probably need this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Number 2, is things to keep you from dying, like a life jacket. This varies by state.  I am not sure if a life jacket is going to help or hinder if you break through the ice (maybe a different question?).  The people walking on the ice are probably not wearing them, it is going to come down to personal preference and historical local knowledge about enforcement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The numbers on the sail are registration numbers, to my knowledge they are &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20612/what-do-the-numbers-a-sail-boats-sail-represent&quot;&gt;like the boats serial number.&lt;/a&gt;  They have little or nothing to do with licensing. Kind of like every car has a serial number, but not every car has license plates or registration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a whole bunch of rules that apply locally; no wake zones, speed limits, restricted area, etc.  There is also a bunch of stuff designed to keep you and others alive; right of way, passing, safety equipment, etc.  But the number of people on the water without a clue is so significant that in practice and the amount of enforcement is so low, that it really comes down to people just using common courtesy and good sense. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If I were to try this ice sailing, would I need to follow boating regulations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Probably yes;&lt;/strong&gt; the only things that really applies is paying for your access to the water/ice (Launch Permit) and things that keep you and others alive. They are all pretty reasonable, you want to do them not because they are regulations, but because they are the right thing to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-26T10:05:35.493" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T10:05:35.493" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20597" CreationDate="2018-09-26T02:05:39.287" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: This is not safe. This is not well tested. This belongs here, not on the other question. This is weak evidence in collaboration for the drinking seawater claim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On request by Seth Robertson:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dr. Bombard made the attempt to sail across the Atlantic in a 15 foot boat called L'Hérétique to prove his claim that a castaway in the Atlantic could survive indefinitely at sea starting with no food or water. Particular quote:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Now he had been at sea for 9 days and subsisting on up to 1½ pints of seawater with the liquid squeezed from the fish he caught each day. The seawater he said would satisfy thirst provided a person did not wait until dehydrated before starting to drink it. He must start drinking seawater from the moment he is cast away.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The doctor clearly thought he had an explanation for body chemistry as to how the body could extract and dump the excess salt from seawater, among all his dietary analysis that he did beforehand. Unfortunately this source doesn't copy it for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I read the encounter right, there was no rain until 13 days in, but several points describe humidity in the air. He goes to great lengths to ensure there is no seawater on the topside to evaporate and leave solid salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: Chichester, Sir Frances, &lt;em&gt;Along the Clipper Way&lt;/em&gt;, 1966 Chapter 3, pp. 19-34 SBN 345-02103-7-125 (SBN isn't a typo. That's what it says.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's some trouble with the attempt resulting in this being decidedly &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; a controlled experiment. On one hand, we would expect the fish he ate would be providing all the water he needed. On the other hand, he lost 50 pounds on the entire crossing. By the ordinary way of estimating if he's losing weight he's not getting enough water to live on in his food, raw fish or not. But 1½ pints of fresh water wouldn't make up the difference. He had rain starting on day 13 that provided plenty of fresh water from that point. This throws the weight number kinda off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From time to time I hear another impossible sounding survival-at-sea story. For some reason a disproportionate number of these include the same idea of slowly drinking seawater. I can't imagine how it's really supposed to work. If the raw cooling is worth the salt, than bathing in it would work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have cross-confirmed that Bombard's claim exists and a contemporary peer review resulted in a counterclaim. I can't read it though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somebody else's summary provides a rather implausible explanation for how the salt extraction works: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;What does for many castaways is that once adrift and with all fresh water exhausted, it’s only in a state of acute desperation that they turn to sea water (or urine). By now severely dehydrated, the kidneys can’t handle the sudden accumulation of toxins and an agonising death soon follows, supporting the mariner’s lore that drinking seawater was fatal.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://apaddleinmypack.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/lindemann-and-bombard/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://apaddleinmypack.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/lindemann-and-bombard/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except we know that's wrong. The kidneys can't extract salt into urine more concentrated than the blood. But Dr. Bombard couldn't have known that. It's barely possible that there's something else going on here that really permits this to work, quite possibly only for certain people. But if so, nobody's got a clue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T02:05:39.287" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20612" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20657" CreationDate="2018-09-26T10:01:29.157" Score="4" ViewCount="823" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many but not all sailboats have numbers displayed on their sail, what do those numbers mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a general answer, not one specific to the random example image below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20594/does-ice-sailing-count-as-boating&quot;&gt;example image from recent question&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yBpdv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T21:12:26.437" Title="What do the numbers on a sail boats sail represent?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20613" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20615" CreationDate="2018-09-26T10:26:09.750" Score="15" ViewCount="2724" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ocean water has about 35 Grams of salt per liter.  For the human body salt content in body fluids is about 9 Grams per liter.  See related question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920&quot;&gt;How much sea water can I safely drink?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it is best that your fresh water only contain very trace amounts of salt, water that is equal or less than 9 grams of salt per liter can help maintain your hydration level (&lt;em&gt;trying to simplify a complex concept&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many desert animals get all most of their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160926-the-creatures-that-can-survive-without-water-for-years&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hydration from food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If stranded at sea, and I eat a lot of fish flesh.  Will it have a low enough salt content to help keep me hydrated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T13:47:08.773" Title="Can I get fresh water from ocean fish flesh?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20522" CreationDate="2018-09-26T11:35:06.263" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Helmet Policy&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some climbing centers and organisations mandate helmet usage even indoors for younger or novice participants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.im/media/188027/safetyinoutdoored201011_1_-4.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Safety in Outdoor Education Policy for Schools &amp;amp; Youth Groups for the Isle of Man states&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All participants on outdoor crags should wear helmets and it is recommended that those leading on artificial inside walls also wear them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That policy was listed in the 2008 policy document.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The UK's The &lt;a href=&quot;https://scouts.org.uk/media/927506/Chapter-9docx.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scout Association POR (Policy, Organisation and Rules)&lt;/a&gt; state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rule 9.34 Climbing and Abseiling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a. Climbing helmets must always be worn by all those climbing or abseiling on natural features, except in the case of 9.34c.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;b. Climbing helmets need not be worn by those climbing or abseiling on artificial walls provided the activity leader is satisfied that the climber or abseiler has sufficient skill not to react unpredictably. Novices must always wear helmets, except in the case of 9.34c. The use of helmets for climbing using auto belay systems must be determined by the activity risk assessment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;c. A Sikh wearing a Turban may choose to climb or abseil on natural features and artificial climbing walls without a helmet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This rule was in the POR from at least 2011.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2018/04/12/helmets-rock-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boys Scouts of America appear to have a similar rule&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;When not to wear a helmet — Auto Belays&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a demonstrable risk to climbers wearing a helmet while using an auto belay as there is the possibility of straps getting caught on a hold as they descend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adventure Activities Licensing Authority [AALA] [Board Meeting; 8th October 2013]&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hse.gov.uk/aala/meetings/081013/081013-paper.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;reports that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;July 2013 - A 9 year old girl was descending a climbing wall in a shopping centre when her helmet got caught on one of the holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An earlier &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoor-learning.org/Portals/0/IOL%20Documents/AALS%20Log/2009-Present/201109%20Indoor%20Climbing%20Wall%20near%20asphyxiation.pdf?ver=2017-06-28-153201-070&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AALA report from 2011&lt;/a&gt; details a similar incident:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A 6-year-old girl nearly asphyxiated whilst on an indoor climbing wall. She was wearing a harness and helmet and was attached to an inertia wire. Having lost her foot and hand holds, she twisted on the wire and the plastic adjustment strap at the back of her helmet caught on one of the projections, suspending her weight by the chin strap. It took staff members and members of the public several minutes to climb up and release her, by which time she was blue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The report concludes with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It may be better to discontinue using helmets on climbing walls and towers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12948" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T07:45:16.487" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T07:45:16.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20613" CreationDate="2018-09-26T11:54:48.220" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say you lose 2 liters of water per day. To replace 2 liters of water by eating fish, you need to eat, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/15269?man=&amp;amp;lfacet=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;qlookup=raw+pacific+cod&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;format=Abridged&amp;amp;reportfmt=other&amp;amp;rptfrm=&amp;amp;ndbno=&amp;amp;nutrient1=&amp;amp;nutrient2=&amp;amp;nutrient3=&amp;amp;subset=&amp;amp;totCount=&amp;amp;measureby=&amp;amp;Qv=25&amp;amp;Q330902=3.0&amp;amp;Qv=26&amp;amp;Q330902=3.0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2,500 g of cooked Pacific cod&lt;/a&gt;, which, besides water, also contains 500 g of protein and 3.4 g of sodium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consuming 3.4 g of sodium (8.5 g of salt) per day is not that much; some people consume it on a daily basis. I calculated (from &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=krLSCQAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA373&amp;amp;lpg=PA373&amp;amp;dq=kidney%20urine%20concentration%20ability%20seawater&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ZBnVktECYW&amp;amp;sig=yJ7xaF3POeo_UjRyTnoATKszmy8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=kidney%20urine%20concentration%20ability%20seawater&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) that this amount of salt can result in about 240 mL of water loss by urine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bigger concern is protein, which is broken down into urea, which is excreted through the kidneys and drags some water with it in a similar way as sodium does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 gram of protein yields the amount of urea that needs 8 mL of urine to be excreted (see the source below). Consuming 500 g of protein from fish would therefore result in 4 liters of urine. So, consuming 2 liters of water by eating 2,500 g of fish leaves you with 2 liters of negative water balance solely due to urea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if my calculation is roughly correct, &lt;strong&gt;eating only fish will make you even more dehydrated than eating and drinking nothing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#135&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Urea, a major end product of metabolism of dietary proteins and amino&#xA;  acids, requires water for excretion by the kidneys. Renal excretion of&#xA;  1 g of urea nitrogen (2.2 g of urea) requires 40 to 60 mL of water.&#xA;  Thus, if a person consumes 63 g of protein the volume of water&#xA;  required increases by 0.4 to 0.6 L/day above the basal osmolar&#xA;  excretory requirement of 0.5 and 0.75 L/day in younger and older&#xA;  individuals, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add, I found this on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seeker.com/what-can-you-drink-when-stranded-at-sea-1765377198.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seeker.com&lt;/a&gt;; not sure how reliable it is, but it sounds plausible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Drink the aqueous fluid found along the spine [cerebrospinal fluid] and in the eyes of large&#xA;  fish. Carefully cut the fish in half to get the fluid along the spine&#xA;  and suck the eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-10-18T13:47:08.773" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T13:47:08.773" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20616" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-26T14:44:47.987" Score="4" ViewCount="368" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a question about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20597/ways-to-desalinate-water-when-lost-at-sea&quot;&gt;desalinating water&lt;/a&gt; while stranded at sea, and another that asks if you can get &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20613/can-i-get-fresh-water-from-ocean-fish-flesh&quot;&gt;desalinated water from eating fish&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, even if you could get desalinated water from fish which, &lt;strong&gt;how likely is it that one would be able to catch enough fish to keep from starving?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of stories of castaways on the ocean who starved or resorted to cannibalism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T22:35:17.263" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T22:35:17.263" Title="If you are stranded at sea with a basic set of fishing equipment, how reliable of a food supply are fish?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20617" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20670" CreationDate="2018-09-26T15:14:38.857" Score="7" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have lots of these hawthorns in my neighborhood (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lebanon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Lebanon&lt;/a&gt;) but I am afraid to eat from them. Are they safe ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bLBM1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bLBM1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P7mWl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P7mWl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16476" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-02T14:49:20.650" LastActivityDate="2018-10-02T14:49:20.650" Title="Are these yellow orange hawthorns edible?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20619" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20635" CreationDate="2018-09-26T16:35:42.280" Score="6" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;A comment on a different question suggests that an ice yacht (or &lt;em&gt;iceboat&lt;/em&gt;), a boat made for going over ice instead of through water, is not merely a water boat with skates strapped on for ice, but that they are custom built for their purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Britannica.com says &lt;strong&gt;iceboating is &quot;sailing or racing on ice in modified boats.&quot;&lt;/strong&gt; Several sources say they are &lt;em&gt;boats on thin blades or runners&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the structural differences between boats which move through water and &quot;iceboats&quot; or &quot;ice yachts&quot; which move over ice?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A detailed engineering explanation is not needed. Merely a full laymen description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-26T19:13:14.413" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T18:36:01.413" Title="What are the differences between boats and &quot;ice yachts&quot;?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20620" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21735" CreationDate="2018-09-26T17:20:54.557" Score="9" ViewCount="841" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of quite old Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Flicklock trekking poles.  After much use and abuse the tip on one of them has finally gotten bashed in (the carbide tip has either broken or been pushed back completely inside the plastic mount and although still usable the pole is now nowhere near as secure when in contact with rock).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I managed to remove the busted tip by following the instructions &lt;a href=&quot;https://andrewskurka.com/2016/trekking-pole-replacement-tips-buyers-guide-instructions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; which suggest dipping it in boiling water then wrenching it off with pliers.  It did actually come off surprisingly easily once heated (but before that I couldn't budge it at all).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also secured a Black Diamond &quot;Flextip Replacement - Long&quot; (well actually a pair, and small &quot;trekking&quot; baskets).  Black Diamond don't provide any useful instructions, and the site linked above just says: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To secure the new tips, tap them on a hard surface like concrete a&#xA;  half-dozen times. Do not use glue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but I'm dubious about this: I can easily imagine the new tip disappearing into the next sucking Scottish quagmire it encounters if not firmly fixed to the pole.  I'm guessing the original tip was glued on by some sort of thermal-sensitive glue; hence the boiling to release it.  The site linked above also mentions &quot;old glue residue&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What sort of glue should I use to fix these?  Obviously something which will let me repeat the boiling trick if/when the next time the tip wears out would be ideal, but my Google-fu isn't having much luck identifying such a thing.  Or does the just &quot;tap them on&quot; approach actually work in practice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The photo here - from left to right - shows the old broken tip, the tipless pole and the new &quot;Flextip replacement - Long&quot; I want to fix on the pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ODpab.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ODpab.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tipless trekking pole with old worn out tip and new replacement tip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16425" LastEditorUserId="16425" LastEditDate="2018-09-29T17:01:35.917" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T14:41:21.187" Title="What sort of glue (if any) to use to fix replacement tips onto carbon fibre trekking poles?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20620" CreationDate="2018-09-26T18:00:34.463" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a &lt;a href=&quot;http://thistothat.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; that give advice on gluing different materials.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For gluing plastic to metal, it states, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;LePage's Metal Epoxy&#xA;J-B Weld&#xA;Faststeel Epoxy Putty if you have gaps to fill&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Clamping can make the difference between success and failure here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Whenever you are gluing metal it's a good idea to clean it first with&#xA;  steel wool or sandpaper. (Rust never sleeps.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There are so many kinds of plastic its hard to give advice here that&#xA;  applies to them all. If possible try a small test in an area that&#xA;  doesn't show.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some plastics have a smooth surface finish that can be sanded off with&#xA;  a 120 grit sand paper, for better adhering properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is assuming that your poles are metal and not carbon fiber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T18:00:34.463" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20601" CreationDate="2018-09-26T18:13:05.893" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one story of someone doing this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You see rabbits are animals that chew their cud. Unlike ruminant animals-cows-they don't have divisions or multiple stomachs. You see, a rabbit on first pass excretes little balls of hi-energy, vegan wrapped enzymes.  The rabbit, a few hours or days later, returns and eats round one, and on second pass thru the stomach it becomes poop. Rabbits eat their round one veggie balls and/or their neighbours. Rabbits are highly communal animals. Anyhow, with the aid of his trained eye, Grandpa and I collected and added these rabbit poops to our soup mix, one of the most enzyme rich foods known to man. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.douglasmckinnonesquire.com/blog/one-pot-rabbit-poop-soup&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quick and Easy One Pot Rabbit Poop Soup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And supposedly rabbit poop cures hangovers, see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theasterisktoday.com/articles/cure-your-hangover-the-cowboy-way/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theasterisktoday.com/articles/cure-your-hangover-the-cowboy-way/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand rabbits can get worms,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rabbits consuming fresh grass or greens might consume tapeworm eggs. Obeliscoides cuniculi, a stomach worm, causes appetite and weight loss if your rabbit carries a lot of them. Pinworms (Passalurus abiguus) are among the most common worms infecting bunnies. Rabbits might also pick up roundworms, or ascarids. Wild rabbits are prone to additional types of worms, but these rarely affect domestic bunnies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://animals.mom.me/treat-worms-rabbits-10733.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it really doesn't seem like a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T18:13:05.893" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8974" CreationDate="2018-09-26T21:56:17.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wear socks &lt;em&gt;over&lt;/em&gt; your shoes (as well as your usual socks inside your shoes, of course). This is a fairly well-established technique (see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rollercoaster.ie/Discussions/tabid/119/ForumThread/141519864/Default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1197520/socks-over-shoes-for-the-ice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), and its effectiveness has been &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/socks-over-shoes-stop-ice-slips-otago-uni-study&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scientifically demonstrated&lt;/a&gt; by Parkin &lt;em&gt;et al.&lt;/em&gt; (2009).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;References&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Preventing Winter Falls: a randomised controlled trial of a novel intervention&quot;; Parkin L, Williams SM, Priest P; &lt;em&gt;NZ Med J.&lt;/em&gt; 2009 Jul3;122(1298):31-8&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2018-09-26T21:56:17.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20631" CreationDate="2018-09-26T22:24:22.490" Score="8" ViewCount="875" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go out in a canoe onto a large lake and stay out for the entire weekend. I have checked the whether and determined that it will definitely be excellent weather and very calm all weekend long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am concerned about a few things: being hit by another boat, drifting to shore where animals could mess with me, or having them swim out to me, or tipping while sleeping despite calm weather forecasts. And of course I might be overlooking something else dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it safe for me to sleep in my canoe with it adrift on the lake?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in the answer in general, but I would first consider doing it on the great lakes in northeastern USA, starting with Lake Ontario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T05:31:12.910" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T16:29:28.860" Title="Can I sleep in my canoe with it adrift on a commonly used lake?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20629" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20630" CreationDate="2018-09-26T23:45:18.853" Score="4" ViewCount="117" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently told that many of the clothes we wear are made up of materials that are dangerous to marine wildlife, and the undersea environment. I'm curious as to whether or not it's true. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know marine animals perish from getting entangled in man-made things like nets, scuba diving gear, traps, remnants of broken boats. Sea animals can choke on man-made objects in the water that look like food but aren't. Fish which have had hooks in their mouths can suffer permanent damage, or death, even if the hooks are no longer there. Other man-made dangers exist, but I haven't heard of this one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is not about the clothing items, meaning the risk of getting tangled up or eating them. It's about materials used to make the clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this does happen, which materials are they, and how do they cause the damage to wildlife and the undersea environment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in the United States. I'd be very interested to hear if this is a worldwide problem, but if that's too broad, the answers can include any number of areas as long as The United States is one of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T01:45:56.227" Title="How do some of the materials in the clothing we wear endanger marine life and the undersea environment?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20629" CreationDate="2018-09-27T01:45:56.227" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much of our clothing, particularly outdoorsy technical clothing, is made of plastic (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;nylon is a plastic&lt;/a&gt;). The plastic in our clothing is largely inert, but it is subject to mechanical wear and tear. Every time you wash your plastic clothing small bits of bit are broken off, and are distributed throughout the environment. How far they go depends on how your waste water is managed. These small bits of of plastic are called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;microplastics&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Microplastics are now ubiquitous in the oceans. One concern is that they are being swept up at the bottom of the food chain in plankton and filter-feeders. From the wiki link:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It can take at least 14 days for microplastics to pass through an&#xA;  animal (as compared to a normal digestion periods of 2 days), but&#xA;  enmeshment of the particles in animals' gills can prevent elimination&#xA;  entirely.[50] When microplastic-laden animals are consumed by&#xA;  predators, the microplastics are then incorporated into the bodies of&#xA;  higher trophic-level feeders. For example, scientists have reported&#xA;  plastic accumulation in the stomachs of lantern fish which are small&#xA;  filter feeders and are the main prey for commercial fish like tuna and&#xA;  swordfish.[59] Microplastics also absorb chemical pollutants that can&#xA;  be transferred into the organism's tissues.[60] Small animals are at&#xA;  risk of reduced food intake due to false satiation and resulting&#xA;  starvation or other physical harm from the microplastics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an area of active research and the actual harm to wildlife and particularly to humans is still being debated. Whether end-consumer clothing is a significant source of microplastics compared to fishing gear and industrial sources is also hotly debated. I can tell you that I've stood on a remote beach on Molokai in the Hawaiian islands and seen hundreds of yards of beach covered like a mosaic with tiny bits of plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T01:45:56.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20627" CreationDate="2018-09-27T02:33:35.573" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the specific question of drifting on the Great Lakes, doing so is effectively suicide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, there's the matter of traffic.  The Great Lakes are a major shipping lane, with upwards of a hundred lake freighters, numerous ocean-going freighters, barge traffic, and other ships traveling at all times -- not counting small private vessels.  There's a very real risk that your canoe will drift into a shipping lane and be run down, without the other vessel ever being aware of your existence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, there's the weather.  The Great Lakes are not known for their calm temperament -- every year, boaters drown when storms abruptly form or blow in.  If you're asleep, you're not keeping a weather watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, there's the surface condition.  The Great Lakes are large enough to get ocean-like waves: even if the weather is calm where you are, it's quite possible for high waves to roll in from some other part of the lake.  A drifting canoe is almost certain to turn broadside to these waves and capsize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourth, there's the size.  Lake Ontario has places where you can wake up to find yourself 25 miles from shore; the other lakes are even bigger.  Can you picture yourself paddling that far, possibly facing adverse winds, rough seas, and ships so big they can't even see you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to sleep in a drifting canoe, do it in a pond where you're not facing these hazards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T02:33:35.573" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20632" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-27T08:24:22.683" Score="5" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20615/4079&quot;&gt;Can I get fresh water from ocean fish flesh?&lt;/a&gt; I learned that the water I can get from eating fish has a low enough salt content that it will hydrate me, &lt;strong&gt;BUT&lt;/strong&gt; the high protein count will cause increased urination to purge urea and leave me dehydrated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many land animals get all or most of their water (hydration) from eating plants.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If stranded at sea, can I balance my hydration by eating ocean plants?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T13:08:59.563" Title="Can I get fresh water from ocean plants?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20633" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20636" CreationDate="2018-09-27T08:40:00.063" Score="5" ViewCount="1983" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking into portable desalination hand pumps. and I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000F395X0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one one Amazon for $959&lt;/a&gt; it says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the Katadyn Survivor 06 is the world's smallest hand-operated desalinator and can easily fit into an emergency kit. It removes bacteria, viruses and other contaminants, and can make 1 ounce of drinking water in less than two minutes (nearly 2 pints per hour) with an average pump rate of 40 strokes per minute. This compact, lightweight unit is designed for one to two person use in liferafts or a ditch bag. It's a trusted device used by the US Navy, US Coast Guard, US Air Force and is essential equipment for any offshore cruising vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In separate area it says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;enough for a life raft with up to 1-6 people&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably great for the first day or two, but I would expect that filter has finite amount of sea water it can filter.  The Amazon page does not say anything about filter lift nor offer options to purchase replacement filters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The device mentioned was the top hit on my google search, this question is about desalination filters in general, not this specific example in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much sea water will I be able to desalination with a portable pump before it stops working? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T12:25:30.423" Title="Portable desalination hand pump filter life?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20632" CreationDate="2018-09-27T09:43:43.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can you keep yourself well hydrated, by consuming &lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; ocean plants?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Theoretically, yes, but you would need to consume a big amount of them.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll use the same reasoning as in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20613/can-i-get-fresh-water-from-ocean-fish-flesh/20615#20615&quot;&gt;Can I get fresh water from ocean fish flesh?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you lose 2 liters of water per day and want to replace 2 liters of water by eating ocean plants, you need to eat, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11445?man=&amp;amp;lfacet=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;qlookup=kelp&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;format=Abridged&amp;amp;reportfmt=other&amp;amp;rptfrm=&amp;amp;ndbno=&amp;amp;nutrient1=&amp;amp;nutrient2=&amp;amp;nutrient3=&amp;amp;subset=&amp;amp;totCount=&amp;amp;measureby=&amp;amp;Qv=25&amp;amp;Q327957=2.0&amp;amp;Qv=20&amp;amp;Q327957=2.0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2,500 g of raw kelp&lt;/a&gt;, which, besides water, also contains 40 g of protein and 5.8 g of sodium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to excrete the excessive 5.8 g of &lt;strong&gt;sodium&lt;/strong&gt; (14.7 g salt), your kidneys need to excrete about 420 mL of urine (calculated from &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=krLSCQAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA373&amp;amp;lpg=PA373&amp;amp;dq=kidney%20urine%20concentration%20ability%20seawater&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=ZBnVktECYW&amp;amp;sig=yJ7xaF3POeo_UjRyTnoATKszmy8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=kidney%20urine%20concentration%20ability%20seawater&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guyton/Hall physiology&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Drinking 1 liter of seawater &lt;em&gt;[35 g salt]&lt;/em&gt;...would provide a total&#xA;  sodium chloride intake of 1,200 mOsm. If maximal urine concentration&#xA;  ability is 1,200 mOsm/L, the amount of urine needed to excrete 1,200&#xA;  mOsm would be...&lt;em&gt;1 liter.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To excrete &lt;strong&gt;urea&lt;/strong&gt; produced from 40 g of protein your kidneys need to excrete 40 x 8 mL = 320 mL of urine (calculated from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#135&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Urea, a major end product of metabolism of dietary proteins and amino&#xA;  acids, requires water for excretion by the kidneys. Renal excretion of&#xA;  1 g of urea nitrogen (2.2 g of urea) requires 40 to 60 mL of water.&#xA;  Thus, if a person consumes 63 g of protein the volume of water&#xA;  required increases by 0.4 to 0.6 L/day above the basal osmolar&#xA;  excretory requirement of 0.5 and 0.75 L/day in younger and older&#xA;  individuals, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you get 2,000 mL of water from kelp, which triggers a loss of 740 mL of urine (420 mL due to salt + 320 mL due to urea from protein), you get 1,260 mL of net water, which means &lt;strong&gt;consuming kelp can contribute to hydration.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T13:08:59.563" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T13:08:59.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20619" CreationDate="2018-09-27T09:46:23.533" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Early ice-yachting was done with converted boats, but that is rare now. There is a  class designed for unstable ice that can sail in water if needed, and in the Netherlands blades are still added to small boats in the event of a cold enough winter to allow ice racing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From @Willeke: Link in Dutch, with a lot of history and some photos: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ijsschuitengouwzee.nl/index.php/home/intro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ijsschuitengouwzee.nl/index.php/home/intro&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in general, the hull of a boat is not suited at all to racing over ice (or sand, in the case of land yachts) so usually the body of an ice yacht nowadays is little more than a reinforced frame with aerodynamic panels (sometimes the panels are optional!) And outriggers with blades. The bottom is usually flat, or with only a slight chine, and the top is usually designed to minimise wind drag from the pilot, who lies down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is actually a huge variety in designs - the speed-record setting ones tend to be very long, asymmetric with one long outrigger, an asymmetric sail or wing, and a capsule for the pilot. For course racing they are a lot shorter for manoeuverability, symmetric and with an open cockpit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the Wikipedia page on the most common racing class, the DN class, is very obviously not a boat, but is a custom design for the sport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Dn_p_400.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you compare with Wikipedia's Land Sailing page, you can see that these have more in common than water craft:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/LandYacht.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T18:36:01.413" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T18:36:01.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20633" CreationDate="2018-09-27T11:57:02.730" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.katadyn.com/downloads/katadyn/manuals/desalinators/manual_survivor06_en.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;user manual&lt;/a&gt; on the website of the fabricant, and interesting comments in the product page on Amazon.&#xA;While I found no direct answer to your question, a sentence from the user manual is interesting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During prolonged emergency use, pump the unit for at least 10 minutes each day to keep seawater from stagnating inside the unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it seems that, &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, you can use it for several days in row. Also note that is is not a filter in the sense of &quot;a device which separates solids from fluids&quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;). It is based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reverse-osmosis&lt;/a&gt;. Actually, only 10% of the water goes for drinking, the rest is sent back to sea with a higher salt concentration. Very few salt/dirt will stay in the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this product needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yearly inspection by fabricant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Storage and after-use maintenance (not trivial)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also notes that the clean water production is of max 0.890 l/h. So to provide 6 people with 1.5 l a day, you'll need to pump for about 10 hours, at 40 strokes/minute. It’s not easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, for this size and type of tools, you will get similar limitations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is definitely a useful survival tool that might save your life. But you need money to buy it and time and discipline to maintain it. If the risk you are facing are not so big, you could consider buying something &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B004TOAELS&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will produce only about max 1-2 liters a day, but this might be enough to compliment the water bottles you had time to take with you while escaping your sinking boat. Also, as you're not pumping like a demon, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20613/can-i-get-fresh-water-from-ocean-fish-flesh&quot;&gt;you have more time for fishing&lt;/a&gt;. Moreover, it needs no maintenance, so the likelihood of it being ready for use when needed is higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, when stranded at sea, the probability of it being the end of my life is high, drinking water or not. I would prefer to spend my last hours fishing, swimming and looking at the horizon than pumping compulsively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16491" LastEditorUserId="16491" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T12:25:30.423" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T12:25:30.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20633" CreationDate="2018-09-27T11:58:42.260" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can't &quot;filter&quot; dissolved salt from seawater.  Either the description you found is dumbed down for the masses, or just plain wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to separate seawater into concentrated brine and fresh water by &lt;i&gt;reverse osmosis&lt;/i&gt;.  If managed properly, RO membranes last a long time.  This is nowadays the standard way to make fresh water on ocean-going ships.  The RO membranes aren't really used up or clog somehow.  They can last years if the rest of the system if functioning properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, that assumes that the seawater is clean by the time it gets to the RO membrane.  This is usually done with ordinary filtration.  Such filters do clog over time, since they trap particles.  In commercial systems, there are periodic automatic backwash cycles to wash the accumulated crud from the filters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hand-pump RO units for emergency use don't need to work for long periods of time.  Such emergencies last 10s of days at most.  It seems reasonable that they could be designed so that a single fresh front-end filter can last the duration of any reasonable emergency.  You then replace the filter after the emergency, and are ready for the next one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T11:58:42.260" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20620" CreationDate="2018-09-27T14:38:21.937" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have Komperdell all-carbon trekking/skiing poles on which one of the points got loose. Since I preferred Black Diamond baskets, I punched the second tip off the other pole and replaced both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used good old regular two-part epoxy that can be bought in those dual syringes, like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/armor-coat-quick-setting-epoxy-adhesive-28-4-ml-0671442p.html#spc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;. Just pour some epoxy in the tip and jam the pole in. It will lubricate the pole and it might want to pop out of the tip, so I had fixed the tip in a vise and spent about 5 minutes pressing the pole downward in the tip to make sure it was set at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can happily say that the tip repair/change is still holding over 8 years later. Epoxy is probably a totally permanent solution although if those poles ever break, I will try to punch the tips off, just to see if it's possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T14:38:21.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20639" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20642" CreationDate="2018-09-27T14:58:14.130" Score="9" ViewCount="6421" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what black dots mean on an OS Explorer map?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of them on the map of Kinder Scout in the Peak District (UK).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the black dashed line is a footpath, I am asking about the round black dots (there are a line of them going from Kinder Low to Madwoman Stones).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the image below, they go from Kinder Low (633m) to the top right edge of the map:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C4Jcb.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C4Jcb.png&quot; alt=&quot;OS Map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15161" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T08:41:00.487" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T02:36:09.357" Title="OS Map Symbols - Black Dots" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20640" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20641" CreationDate="2018-09-27T14:59:35.783" Score="52" ViewCount="8515" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a video of a seal sucker punching a kayaker with an octopus,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/mGXdpdp.gif&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/9j317u/seal_slaps_a_kayaker_in_the_face_with_an_octopus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose the seal wasn't exactly trying to hit the kayaker, but why would it be &lt;strong&gt;flinging the octopus around above the surface of the water?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-30T00:52:20.903" LastActivityDate="2018-09-30T00:52:20.903" Title="Why would a seal be flinging an octopus around above the water and then slapping a kayaker with it?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20640" CreationDate="2018-09-27T15:18:46.363" Score="50" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sea Lions and Fur Seals are known to eat octopus, but they're a bit difficult for them to eat as is. They're one of many creatures that fling food out of the ocean to tenderise, stun, kill, or rip food off of their prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to: &lt;a href=&quot;https://theconversation.com/tackling-the-kraken-unique-dolphin-strategy-delivers-dangerous-octopus-for-dinner-75222&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://theconversation.com/tackling-the-kraken-unique-dolphin-strategy-delivers-dangerous-octopus-for-dinner-75222&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During these events, dolphins were observed shaking and tossing octopus around at the water’s surface. In some instances, the prey was gripped in the teeth before being slapped down onto the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This likely helped both to kill the octopus and to tear it into smaller, more digestible pieces. In other instances, the octopus was tossed across the surface of the water before being recaptured and tossed again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also for light reading: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/63693-seal-smacks-kayaker-with-octopus.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.livescience.com/63693-seal-smacks-kayaker-with-octopus.html&lt;/a&gt; - which states similar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the study authors, octopus suckers can still grasp and stick even after the octopus is dead, making swallowing a whole octopus a dangerous endeavor. However, tossing and shaking the octopus can damage the tissue and make the suckers less dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T15:18:46.363" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20642" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20639" CreationDate="2018-09-27T15:26:54.727" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/documents/resources/25k-raster-legend.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey legend&lt;/a&gt;, those are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BOUNDARIES&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Civil Parish (CP); England&#xA;or Community (C); Wales&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See page 6 of the legend under boundaries. There are no other small black dots on the legend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T02:36:09.357" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20627" CreationDate="2018-09-27T16:08:13.863" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It’s certainly not “safe” by any typical definition but I’m assuming you mean “safe” by the standards of a canoe trip on a big body of water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I think regarding going to sleep in your canoe, like going on the trip at all, you need to identify and manage the risks.  How well you do that determines your safety.  Sleeping sounds like a very large / possibly prohibitive risk management challenge.  Any time you do something unusual, you are operating without the data provided by large numbers of other people.  So you have to exercise more diligence up front in anticipating and addressing risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you can generally put risk in three buckets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Risks to other people, including risk of needing a rescue that puts others at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Risk of death or permanent serious injury to yourself (you can think of this as a risk to other people, ie your loved ones who are affected by your death or disability, or to your community which may be deprived of your ability to contribute)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Risk of personal discomfort and inconvenience.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything involving a public waterway involves all three.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally your alert human mind is a big part of your system of managing risks, as well stated in another answer.  So if you are taking that element out of play, you had better devise an extremely robust system of managing those risks.  It may involve sea anchors, excess flotation, a companion to keep watch while you sleep, radar, lights and reflectors (including possibly radar reflectors although efficacy data on those is weak), choosing very carefully where you attempt to sleep, etc.  You may go through the exercise and come to the conclusion that you can’t responsibly do this.  You may also look at a given itinerary and decide either that sleeping is safe, or that the itinerary is unsafe asleep or awake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T16:29:28.860" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T16:29:28.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20644" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20645" CreationDate="2018-09-27T18:00:01.107" Score="7" ViewCount="467" Body="&lt;p&gt;My research thus far has acquainted me with a kind of trade-off: one can try to minimize the amount of contamination (from bacteria/parasites) or one can try to minimize the amount of particulates that could clog the filter. I concede there are many factors to consider, but it essentially boils down to this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;faster moving water has less contamination risk from bacteria/viruses as it's constantly being diluted, &lt;em&gt;however&lt;/em&gt; faster water tends kick up more sand/silt particulates which over time can pose a legitimate clog hazard to the filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things to consider would be depth and temperature. If we go too deep we would encounter contamination from bacteria living on the nutrient rich bottom, but if we go too high, the higher temperatures enable bacteria/parasites to grow. Here is a cool picture illustrating this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q0K9O.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q0K9O.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.katadyn.com/en/ch/water-know-how/types-of-contamination&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to have the best of both worlds; such that we both minimize the risk of contamination and clogging? I would imagine we'd have to put more effort in to it, so an assessment of whether or not it's worth the effort might be informative too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-09-27T18:13:29.080" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T19:12:21.720" Title="Water filters: is there always a tradeoff between longevity and safety" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20644" CreationDate="2018-09-27T18:13:13.607" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the water is muddy or there are swimmers, then the usual solution is &lt;strong&gt;to prefilter before treating.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A handkerchief is usually sufficient for filtering out all of the visible swimming bugs and sand/dirt although it won't filter out any of the things that will make you sick. Then you can treat/filter to kill the giardia/bacteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the precautions necessary depend on the area you are in and how severe the risks are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T18:13:13.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20644" CreationDate="2018-09-27T19:12:21.720" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In moving water put it in a bucket and let it settle for 12 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In still water the top layer is solar disinfected.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solar disinfection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T19:12:21.720" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20592" CreationDate="2018-09-27T21:43:05.353" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I ordered the new detector linked in the question, when it arrived I read the directions and learned about the 30 day reset window for end of life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Propane/CO detector in my camper started going off randomly a few weeks ago. I thought it was from some random issue that I had caused invertably. I pushed reset and everything was fine for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then a couple to a few days later I would find it going off again. Now it will not reset. I have ordered a new one, after validating there is no GAS leak or CO issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the detector has come to the end of it's life (specific signal slightly different from alarm) if you push reset, it will reset and work for 3 days.  This can continue for up to 30 days.  The strangeness with going off as described in the question, is the device working as designed for end of life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I changed the device I found it had a manufacture date of Aug 2011, or about 7 years ago. I purchased the 2012 model year camper used, so got about 5 years of life out of the Propane/CO detector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-09-27T21:43:05.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20648" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20651" CreationDate="2018-09-28T05:25:47.730" Score="0" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If a saltwater angler goes out on a boat, how much could we expect that person to catch during a typical day?&lt;/strong&gt; I would like to set some personal expectations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if the variables are against you (eg: bad spot), the lower bound would be 0. But if you get it right (see the linked question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/20649/12799&quot;&gt;What are the variables that will significantly affect saltwater fishing success?&lt;/a&gt;), what is a good, or maybe upper bound, that we can expect?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we have an estimate based on good anglers (eg: records or sports champions), that would help us know what &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; to expect, which is useful, and I suspect that info might be easier to come by, but all I can find is records for the largest fish caught, which really is not helpful here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I fish to eat, I am interested in total weight, so I don't really care if it is a single 20 pound fish or 20 single-pound fish. If that information is not available, then whatever info is available is acceptable as long as it is useful for me to make estimates to set my expectations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It doesn't need to be exact at all; very rough estimates are fine as long as they are useful. If location matters, assume Atlantic ocean, off the eastern coast of the United States of America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T16:54:15.250" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T18:00:43.333" Title="How much fish can a saltwater angler catch per day?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2018-09-29T09:57:13.900" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20650" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-09-28T11:14:23.343" Score="7" ViewCount="1421" Body="&lt;p&gt;From slivers caused by chopping wood, thorns from plants, or bee stings there have been times when out in the woods when a pair of tweezers would come in handy and none where on hand.  Are there are materials found in the outdoors that could be used to remove such foreign objects embedded in ones skin when fingernails and teeth will not do the trick?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T00:10:46.910" Title="How to improvise a pair of tweezers in the wild?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20648" CreationDate="2018-09-28T14:24:56.713" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First there are legal limits, these vary by species and the legal body with control over the body of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second physical (without regard for the law) catch limits are boundless.  The right bait and tackle in the correct area, you could catch multiple fish, each weighing hundreds of pounds each. In this case physical exhaustion would be the limiting factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the wrong gear and/or the wrong location.  You could fish and never catch anything (never as in die of starvation or old age). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20655/when-fishing-in-the-ocean-off-the-us-coast-at-what-point-do-fishing-laws-stop&quot;&gt;When fishing in the Ocean off the US coast, at what point do fishing laws stop?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-09-28T18:00:43.333" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T18:00:43.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20650" CreationDate="2018-09-28T15:07:59.697" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.edmundoptics.com/f/bamboo-tweezers/11655/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bamboo tweezers&lt;/a&gt; before.  They're normally made by gluing two flat pieces of bamboo togther with a wedge in between, but with skill and suitable thread you could lash the blades together with a wooden wedge.  They can take a surprisingly sharp point or edge, but it wears fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However you'd need a knife to make them. The chances are if I had a knife I'd have tweezers, given that all my penknives, even my keyring one have tweezers. I always have at least that keyring knife on me, but rarely have another sort of knife -- and if I do, I've probably got a first aid kit with tweezers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need a source of bamboo, which isn't exactly common in the wild in many countries.  It might be possible to use wood but you'd need one that's both reasonably hard (to get an edge) and fairly flexible.  Ash might work, perhaps starting from a fork in a branch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; I've had a little play with my last suggestion of (green) ash. Starting with a fork of twigs about 8mm in diameter a few minutes of whittling gave me tweezers that were capable of picking up a single hair. They were a little stiff and in trying to make them more flexible I broke the joint, but not right through. This was actually an improvement. Not having a splinter or sting for testing, I managed to pluck a couple of hairs. The tips could do with being harder - a little heat would help and even a few hours drying made a big difference. While I used secateurs for the initial cuts (I was in my own garden) the shaping was all done using a small sheath knife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONDse.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONDse.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tools/materials&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;tools/materials&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2YLCk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2YLCk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;first pass&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the first version, a little stiff to hold steady (with my left hand that's recovering from an injury)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qhfp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qhfp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;final version of ash tweezers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final version; after breaking the outside of one half and reshaping the tips these tweezers pluck hairs successfully.  They'd certainly do thorns and would be as good as many first aid kit tweezers for splinters (which is to say not great, and not as good as Victorinox)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-08-17T19:35:46.043" LastActivityDate="2019-08-17T19:35:46.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20660" CreationDate="2018-09-28T18:00:01.453" Score="5" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are fishing in the ocean off the United States Coast.  At what distance from shore do US fishing laws no longer apply?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The US Coast Guard &lt;a href=&quot;https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/us-maritime-limits-and-boundaries.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;listes, boundaries at 12, 24 and 200 Miles.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Maritime limits and boundaries for the United States are measured from the official U.S. baseline, recognized as the low-water line along the coast as marked on the NOAA nautical charts in accordance with the articles of the Law of the Sea. The Office of Coast Survey depicts on its nautical charts the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24nm), and exclusive economic zone (200nm, plus maritime boundaries with adjacent/opposite countries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think one of them applies to fishing, but I am not sure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T16:22:53.557" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T16:22:53.557" Title="When fishing in the Ocean off the US coast, at what point do fishing laws stop?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20612" CreationDate="2018-09-28T21:12:26.437" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;One word: Racing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The numbers themselves usually don't mean anything. Usually, the number is essentially &quot;how many sails of this model have been produced before this one&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the first boat will have sail number 1, the 1000th will have sail 1000. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all boats will come with numbered sails. However, &lt;strong&gt;racing&lt;/strong&gt; sailboats will always have them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The numbers are then used to identify boats in races.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After some time, the sail number and the boat become the boat's identity, so when replacing sails the buyers usually specify the number so it can match their old worn out sails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sail numbering has virtually nothing to do with watercraft registration, that is dependent on the hulls, and is usually identified with stickers affixed to the hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-09-28T21:12:26.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20597" CreationDate="2018-09-29T06:53:03.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a summary of the Bombard voyage in &lt;em&gt;Surviving the Extremes&lt;/em&gt; by Kenneth Kamler, MD, who started his explorations into extreme environments through climbing.  On one of his Everest trips in 1996 he treated Makalau Gau and Beck Weathers for severe frostbite.  Kamler says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....Alan Bombard, a voluntary castaway...in 1951 crossed the Atlantic&#xA;  in a rubber raft without supplies of food or water.  He set out from&#xA;  the Canary Islands and drank nothing but seawater during his first&#xA;  seven days adrift. Once he began catching fish, he ate and drank them,&#xA;  alternating the fluid he extracted with small amounts of seawater.  He&#xA;  landed in Barbados sixty-five days later....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Earlier, Kamler said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A person with no water intake at all will lose consciousness in three&#xA;  to four days and die in seven to ten days.  A person who drinks&#xA;  seawater will also die within seven to ten days but will remain&#xA;  conscious almost to the end. This is because the body naturally loses&#xA;  a little salt every day.  If you limit the amount of seawater drunk to&#xA;  a pint a day, salt buildup will be slow, and body cells will absorb&#xA;  water.  After about a week, however, the salt accumulation will&#xA;  overwhelm the kidneys, and they will shut down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kamler discusses Thor Heyerdahl's Ra II expedition, which because of a mishap, had to jettison much of its fresh water.  They were sailing in an area of the ocean whose salt concentration was less than 3 percent, so they added one liter of sea water to two liters of freshwater and survived, with some hallucinations.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kamler also discusses how to wring water out of fish fillets and turtle meat using a shirt.&lt;/strong&gt;  He mentions Lynn Robertson, a nurse adrift with five other people, who gave &lt;em&gt;rehydration enemas&lt;/em&gt; to herself and her family from the first, undrinkable collection of rainwater on their collection tarp, which was salty and containted bits of disintegrated rubber from the tarp.  &lt;em&gt;Rectums have membranes that extract water&lt;/em&gt;  This is how seabirds extract fresh water from seawater.  Another source of food and water is from the seabirds that alight on the raft as a resting place, and from the life that collects under the raft, from barnacles to crustaceans to fish.  These attract larger fish, which follow along. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Within a week or two, a marine ecosystem will develop -- a food chain&#xA;  linked linked to the boat, literally within reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-09-29T06:58:12.693" LastActivityDate="2018-09-29T06:58:12.693" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20655" CreationDate="2018-09-29T20:00:43.027" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;200 nautical mile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=884&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; seems to be the most clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a concept adopted at the Third&#xA;  United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982), whereby a&#xA;  coastal State assumes jurisdiction over the exploration and&#xA;  exploitation of marine resources in its adjacent section of the&#xA;  continental shelf, taken to be a band extending 200 miles from the&#xA;  shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-09-29T20:00:43.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20662" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20668" CreationDate="2018-10-01T01:52:52.957" Score="7" ViewCount="737" Body="&lt;p&gt;Locally Search and Rescue doesn't charge but what happens if you're in an area where they do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They obviously have your name and address but it doesn't seem fair to bill the person who was prepared rather than the one who wasn't and it doesn't feel like a good social policy, either--it would make it unlikely you would summon help for a stranger you encounter in the wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T19:57:04.657" Title="Who gets the bill if you activate a PLB to help someone else?" Tags="&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20664" PostTypeId="7" CreationDate="2018-10-01T07:50:09.287" Score="0" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;Specific issues with outdoor activities&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;Actual problems, situations or questions that you’ve encountered&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-10-01T07:50:09.287" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T07:50:09.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13480" CreationDate="2018-10-01T11:52:43.103" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, do not activate a PLB unless there is an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is already a standard for signalling to a helicopter whether or not you are in need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/mtn/securiteenmontagne-mountainsafety/programme-program/~/media/DD1DC347FB444E02BD21BA2D41E7A07D.ashx?w=484&amp;amp;h=302&amp;amp;as=1&quot; alt=&quot;help needed?&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/mtn/securiteenmontagne-mountainsafety/programme-program/res-sar.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Parks Canada Mountain Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in need for help: raise both arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to signal that you are not in need for help: raise one arm and lower the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not move/wave your arms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the helicopter is looking for you and you wave &lt;em&gt;no&lt;/em&gt;, they can return to their base and inform your loved ones that you are OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the helicopter sees you waving &lt;em&gt;yes&lt;/em&gt; they know you are in trouble, regardless as to whether it's you they're looking for or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T11:52:43.103" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20667" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20673" CreationDate="2018-10-01T12:35:17.550" Score="6" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are large areas of the ocean that are essentially lifeless, often called &lt;a href=&quot;https://earthdata.nasa.gov/user-resources/sensing-our-planet/an-ocean-full-of-deserts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ocean deserts.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am traveling the ocean, and not familiar with potential sea life in the area, can I tell from clues on the surface that I am in an Ocean Desert?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I need special instruments to identify an Ocean Desert, what are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T22:43:29.340" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T22:45:53.310" Title="How to recognize an ocean desert from the surface?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20662" CreationDate="2018-10-01T13:49:47.360" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost always the victim gets the bill, but as mentioned in commentary, it depends on locality and sometimes fault.  Local rules always apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, in the US, some state authorities will assume the rescue costs except in cases of negligence of the victim.  This is true even if the victim did not seek help - and this is one reason help is sometimes delayed by the victim, as they fear a large bill later on.  But that can cause their problems to worsen over time, and in some cases, can cause others (eg, witnesses) to become endangered as they, themselves, engage in assist.  To mitigate that, states or localities (even the feds) may contract out with certain rescue operators.  But if a person seeks help either by themselves calling, or a witness calls for the victim, or even receives unsolicited help from unscrupulous emergency workers, then sometimes an emergency crew not contracted by the authority may perform the rescue, and in this case, the victim is nearly always the recipient of aid and bill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the victim required help as a result of negligence from another or from property neglect of the authority, then the state will assume some or all of the rescue costs.  And this is not always the case right away: sometimes, the victim gets the bill, but then has to go through legal channels to reverse this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases of insurance in the US, if a person is sick, their health insurance is the primary payer.  In cases of accident, then, the party at fault is always the primary payer.  In cases where the other party is not identified or has no or insufficient insurance, the victim's insurance covers the costs.  That is why insurance is always exchanged in accidents: it's not only about who's covered but also about which insurance company will pay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a rescue operation, whether it is police, national guard, or professional crews, or a mixture therein, they are part of the &quot;injured parties&quot; - they have incurred costs as well.  They want those costs recovered as well, and fully expect that insurance companies will do that.  They usually don't deal with insurance, so the bill goes directly to the victim.  Many times, upon receipt of that bill, fault hasn't yet been legally established, which is why the victim usually gets the bill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you are on private property, things can change dramatically.  While the victim is still usually the bill recipient, the landowner - not being the government anymore - is also a party to a suit where cost recovery is at issue.  And if the property owner is not careful about safety, they can be equally liable.  The reason for disparity has to do with sovereign immunity.  The federal government almost always enjoys &quot;absolute&quot;, and occasionally &quot;qualified&quot;, immunity, which essentially means you can't sue them.  States can also enjoy a limited degree of immunity as well; and counties and municipalities receive no such protection at all, thus, the reason for having permits and proof of insurance and indemnity waivers you have to go through, even to just have a picnic.  So, your search and rescue operation is, by defacto, covered by your own insurance which you presented when you reserved your time on county or municipal land, but, not when you reserved your time on state or federal land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interesting articles and sources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/when-hikers-need-help-who-foots-rescue-bill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;When hikers need help, who foots the rescue bill?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/pay-for-search-and-rescue.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Who pays for search and rescue operations?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1892621,00.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Get into Trouble Outdoors — Who Pays for the Rescue?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1986496/search-and-rescue-public-service-not-exactly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is Search and Rescue a Public Service? Not Exactly.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2018-10-01T19:57:04.657" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T19:57:04.657" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20617" CreationDate="2018-10-01T19:21:39.720" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO, it looks like typical Eurasia yellow Hawthorn. All hawthorn are edible and they do carry some cyanide in the seed like crab apple. As long as you don't swallow 100 pounds of seeds you should be fine. Found similar tree here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dreamstime.com/crataegus-yellow-berries-green-leaves-romania-hawthorn-fruits-contain-antioxidants-have-property-acting-image108044699&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.dreamstime.com/crataegus-yellow-berries-green-leaves-romania-hawthorn-fruits-contain-antioxidants-have-property-acting-image108044699&lt;/a&gt; Looks like we are looking at same plant here. Article also stated various health benefit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, based on personal experience, wild hawthorn could be tart as hell....... Pit them and try make punch or jelly with them with a lot of sugar. Otherwise it will be too sour to enjoy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2018-10-01T19:21:39.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20671" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-02T01:43:24.490" Score="5" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;Handheld desalinators operating on the principle of reverse osmosis are available for emergency use in lifeboats.  Sometimes they appear for sale unused in their original packaging at a very steep discount because they have been replaced at a scheduled interval by their owners (merchant marines, navies, etc).  Is there any reliable means to assess the condition of the device and determine if it is reliable enough either for convenience (reducing the quantity of fresh water carried) or for possible life-sustaining use?  Checking the condition of mechanical parts (pivots, levers, body) and of any seals (no cracks) seems straightforward, but what about the reverse osmosis membrane itself? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Inspired by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20633/portable-desalination-hand-pump-filter-life&quot;&gt;Portable desalination hand pump filter life?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-10-02T15:07:11.050" Title="How reliably can you assess the condition of a reverse-osmosis desalinator?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20672" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-02T01:58:26.950" Score="7" ViewCount="739" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes there are sources of water which are slightly contaminated with salt, such as coastal wells or pools of rainwater in rocks near the coast, or water containers with pinhole leaks which have been stored in proximity to seawater (e.g. aging Dromedary bags in a kayak).  In these cases, is the subjective taste adequate to warn me when water has become too salty to drink safely?  Is there another means?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find the following answer regarding the danger of drinking seawater to be compelling: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/9924/12619&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; I would like to know at what point these issues become decisive and the water should be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-02T04:33:30.857" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T14:37:44.107" Title="How can you identify whether brackish water is too salty to drink?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20667" CreationDate="2018-10-02T03:43:19.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;To some extent, this is mapped out, but the easier way to &lt;strong&gt;tell is by the color of the water.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ocean deserts are characterized by less plankton and thus &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyll&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chlorophyll&lt;/a&gt;. Therefore, the water in an ocean desert will be bluer and less green than the water in an area with plenty of nutrients and oxygen and plankton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since nutrients are the limiting factor in algae growth, the more nutrients the more productivity. First how do we know how much productivity there is? There are several ways of measuring this. First, in general, the higher the productivity in an environment, the greater the abundance of life. So one way of measuring productivity is to quantify the mass of living organisms---say organisms per cubic meter, for example (square meter if you’re talking about land). Since animals usually move around, this is most effectively done with plants. In the ocean this means counting algae cells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A new and easier way of estimating oceanic productivity is by satellite measurement. Satellites can measure ocean color. &lt;strong&gt;The greener the surface ocean water, the more algae, therefore the higher the productivity.&lt;/strong&gt; Thus global maps of productivity such as the one below can be produced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the ocean is more productive in temperate zones. &lt;strong&gt;This also explains why the tropics have that pretty clear blue water.&lt;/strong&gt; There’s not much life in it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ci.coastal.edu/%7Esgilman/770productivitynutrients.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Productivity and Nutrients&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over time, areas with less mixing show reduced productivity, less phytoplankton, and so less chlorophyll. Polovina said, &lt;strong&gt;“Regions that have the lowest level of chlorophyll are akin to biological deserts&lt;/strong&gt;; there’s less energy propagating up through the food web.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://earthdata.nasa.gov/user-resources/sensing-our-planet/an-ocean-full-of-deserts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An ocean full of deserts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And Jeff Polovina, at a National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Hawaii, has been watching by satellite as that &lt;strong&gt;greenery in the middle of the ocean is fading away&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The regions that are showing the lowest amount of plant life, which [are] sometimes referred to as the &lt;strong&gt;biological deserts of the ocean,&lt;/strong&gt; are growing at roughly 1 to 4 percent per year,&amp;quot; Polovina says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87959035&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Outlook for Oceans Bleak as Sea 'Deserts' Grow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More reading&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seasonal-hypoxia-pacific-ocean-climate-change&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Ocean’s Low-Oxygen Dead Zones Are Getting Worse, Just Like Wildfires&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/04/how-can-we-stop-the-spread-of-ocean-dead-zones/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How can we stop the spread of ocean dead zones?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/201505226-is-the-sea-really-blue?ocid=fbert&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is the sea really blue?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/global-maps/MY1DMM_CHLORA/MYD28M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chlorophyll &amp;amp; Sea Surface Temperature&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://oceanleadership.org/exploring-an-ocean-desert-scientists-study-life-in-the-remote-south-pacific-gyre/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exploring An Ocean Desert: Scientists Study Life in the Remote South Pacific Gyre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8129/a-decade-of-ocean-color&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Decade of Ocean Color&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T22:45:53.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20672" CreationDate="2018-10-02T04:05:41.867" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just taste it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920/how-much-sea-water-can-i-safely-drink&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_(medicine)#Normal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;normal saline&lt;/a&gt; matches what you have in you at 9 grams of salt to a liter of water (this is 9 times as much as Gatorade). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever try to drink the stuff, its way too salty to be enjoyable (and is normally given intravenously for dehydration). So if the salty water is too salty to drink, that means you shouldn't. Some salt is okay and even beneficial but &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6319/how-can-i-tell-if-i-am-dehydrated-or-have-low-electrolytes-need-salt-etc&quot;&gt;too much or too little is a problem.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T14:37:44.107" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T14:37:44.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20675" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20676" CreationDate="2018-10-02T05:48:23.360" Score="10" ViewCount="936" Body="&lt;p&gt;Deaths from the &quot;brain eating amoeba&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naegleria fowleri&lt;/a&gt; are fairly rare but each is highlighted in the press, as headlines containing &lt;em&gt;brain eating&lt;/em&gt; beget clicks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it's not yet understood why this fresh water amoeba is a pathogen and ends up in the brain specifically; molecules in neurons may be structurally similar to molecules the amoeba is sensitive to and moves towards (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri#Pathogenicity&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.6b00197&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any guidelines to help reduce risk of exposure to, or infection of Naegleria fowleri when dealing with exposure to fresh water ponds, lakes, or rivers for recreation or even just washing-up ones self? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T12:00:51.303" Title="Guidelines to reduce risk of exposure to, or infection from Naegleria fowleri? (brain-eating amoeba)" Tags="&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20675" CreationDate="2018-10-02T05:55:59.557" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is what the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/swimming.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&lt;/a&gt; say&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;only certain way&lt;/strong&gt; to prevent a Naegleria fowleri infection due to swimming &lt;strong&gt;is to refrain from water-related activities in warm freshwater.&lt;/strong&gt; Personal actions to reduce the risk of Naegleria fowleri infection &lt;strong&gt;should focus on limiting the amount of water going up the nose.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/swimming.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see their pages on &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/prevention.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prevention &amp;amp; Control&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;General Information&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So short of staying out of the water and if in the water keeping it out of your nose, there is little you can do, but the CDC does point out that it is very rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There have been 34 reported infections in the U.S. in the 10 years from 2008 to 2017, despite hundreds of millions of recreational water exposures each year 10. By comparison, in the ten years from 2001 to 2010, there were more than 34,000 drowning deaths in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/prevention.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-02T06:06:43.613" LastActivityDate="2018-10-02T06:06:43.613" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20671" CreationDate="2018-10-02T14:02:47.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can test it at home.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make you own salt water by adding 35grams of salt to a liter of water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Desalinate the water to a new container, and measure the salinity with a hydrometer.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/density-effects/measuring-salinity/question-set-using-hydrometer-determine-density-and-salinity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one of lots of google hits, as example&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also be able to taste the difference.  Be aware there could still be a flaw in the osmosic barrier that allows an occasional; bacteria, virus, etc through as well as trace amounts of salt.  Even if you can't taste or measure the salt with a hydrometer there may still be some.  You may or may not want to use a secondary purification process that would not normally be required with reverse osmosis&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9920/how-much-sea-water-can-i-safely-drink&quot;&gt;How much sea water can I safely drink?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-02T14:02:47.213" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20671" CreationDate="2018-10-02T15:07:11.050" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many recommend send for inspection yearly.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.katadyn.com/downloads/katadyn/manuals/desalinators/manual_survivor-35_en.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;katadyn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factor that into the price and decide if it is still a good deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;IMPORTANT: For your safety, we require that an inspection be completed&#xA;  once a year. Our regional service centers are trained to perform all&#xA;  necessary quality checks or you can return the unit to Katadyn for&#xA;  inspection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-10-02T15:07:11.050" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19933" CreationDate="2018-10-03T00:08:59.217" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Answering the specific question: why does a shorter but deeper dive leave a lower residual nitrogen limit than a longer shallower dive.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Common gas absorption decompression models such as Buhlmann work on the principle of several gas &quot;compartments&quot; which absorb inert gasses (e.g. nitrogen, helium) at different rates and these represent the speed that gas is absorbed in different tissues.  In the case of Buhlmann there's 16 compartments from fast to slow (roughly but not exactly equating to blood absorbing faster than,  say,  bone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you do a deep bounce dive,  the fast compartments will on-gas very quickly,  but the slower compartments won't.  The deeper the dive,  the greater the pressure,  so there's a greater inert gas pressure which will &quot;fill&quot; the compartments.  i.e. the fast compartments &quot;fill&quot; faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the recreational dive planner is for &quot;No Decompression&quot;,  you cannot allow any of the compartments to &quot;fill&quot;,  otherwise you'll get gas bubbles when you ascend or will have to hold a decompression stop.  With the PADI RDP and all other minimal/no decompression planners,  the fast compartments will control the bottom time as they'll have too much inert gas to release during the 9 metre/minute ascent (safety stops aren't included in this calculation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a shallower dive,  the fast compartments still 'fill' but not as much as with a deep dive as the pressure is lower.  In this case they can off-gas during the standard ascent.  However there's been a longer bottom time in which case the slower compartments will control the bottom time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your surface interval residual nitrogen (inert gas) timings are controlled by the slower compartments.  In a shallower dive these are off-gassing on the surface but more slowly than the fast compartments,  hence the greater residual nitrogen group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A deep dive in comparison never allowed the slower compartments to fill,  so there's only a small amount of residual nitrogen to off-gas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side note:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technical divers regularly dive well beyond the limits of the RDP,  for example 30 minutes at 40 metres.  They're constantly on-gassing during the bottom phase of the dive and need to come up and stop for long durations according to the plan - over 60 minutes of decompression is required if diving to 40 metres on air,  during which the diver cannot ascend to the surface without serious risk of DCS!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be considerably reduced if nitrox (e.g. 28%) is used for the bottom phase and oxygen is used for decompression (in this example reducing the decompression obligation to less than 20 minutes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus technical divers need to be able to plan the dive (which will include consideration for equipment failures,  narcosis,  gas selection and requirements),  have the right equipment (multiple cylinders containing adequate gas for the plan),  and have the skills to dive that plan (e.g. following the plan and holding a decompression stop)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're interested in this topic,  it's taught to all technical divers by all agencies and is explained very well in books such as &lt;code&gt;Deco for Divers (Powell, Mark)&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-10-03T07:37:55.863" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T07:37:55.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20681" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-03T05:45:04.007" Score="1" ViewCount="1325" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to run a hose from a tap to my campsite. I have a drinking water rated hose, but I'd like to know whether brass splitters and hose fittings (sold as gardening items) are safe -- I believe brass can contain lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in Australia if that makes any difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the sort of item I mean: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-3-way-brass-manifold_p3130735&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-3-way-brass-manifold_p3130735&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;edit&lt;/em&gt; Since asking this question I have found out a bit more:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No Australian garden fitting is allowed to contain lead, according to a Holman representative. But I am pretty sure that this is not true.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;According to a Gardena representative &quot;[their products] are not recommended for use with potable water. There are specific brass pipe fittings that are made from dezincification resistant brass (DZR) for this use. You will find the marking &quot;DR&quot; on these fittings&quot; DZR brass still contains lead, but because the Zinc is not leached as easily, more of the lead stays in the metal too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16522" LastEditorUserId="16522" LastEditDate="2018-10-06T05:53:23.117" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T04:24:07.950" Title="Lead free brass fittings on potable water hoses" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20681" CreationDate="2018-10-03T05:55:28.487" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like yes garden hose connectors are not regulated to the same level as say interior hoses,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One section which may be neglected however, is the home’s garden hose. While seeming miniscule, if not addressed, the garden hose can still be a source of lead exposure; it is, after all, often used for bathing pets, watering plants, and taking the occasional drink while outdoors on a hot day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://grunerbrass.com/2014/01/garden-hose-fittings-may-be-neglected-when-making-a-home-lead-free/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garden Hose Fittings May Be Neglected When Making a Home Lead-Free&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but at the same time, people want lead free garden connectors, and adding &quot;lead free&quot; to your search should bring up the correct items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T05:55:28.487" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1322" CreationDate="2018-10-03T16:41:17.427" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The US Code of Federal Regulations says (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/261.10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;36 CFR 261.10&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The following are prohibited:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(a) Constructing, placing, or maintaining any kind of road, trail,&#xA;  structure, fence, enclosure, communication equipment, significant&#xA;  surface disturbance, or other improvement on National Forest System&#xA;  lands or facilities without a special-use authorization, contract, or&#xA;  approved operating plan when such authorization is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(b) Construction, reconstructing, improving, maintaining, occupying or&#xA;  using a residence on National Forest System lands unless authorized by&#xA;  a special-use authorization or approved operating plan when such&#xA;  authorization is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though it's harder to find the applicable code section, multiple Forest Service notices about illegal structures (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/santafe/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD565515&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this notice about illegal conical stick structures&lt;/a&gt;) say the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Violators are punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for&#xA;  individuals and $10,000 for organizations, imprisonment for not more&#xA;  than six months, or both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire ring and a few logs do not constitute a structure or a significant surface disturbance. In some areas (heavily used, ecologically sensitive, or high fire danger) the Forest Service will prohibit constructing new fire rings, but elsewhere, these are not LNT but they aren't illegal either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camp benches border on being structures. An isolated camp bench may not be illegal; start setting up a bunch of them, and the resulting amphitheater will certainly run afoul of 10(a). A long-term wooden shelter is definitely not OK, violating both (a) and (b). Simple survival shelters (e.g. lean-to) are supposed to be dismantled and the materials dispersed when you leave the site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know this has been many years since the question was first asked, but the answer that has been marked as correct is dangerously bad advice, both legally and ethically. Saying legality doesn't matter and suggesting that you skirt possible problems by hiding from others is the kind of &quot;how much can I possibly get away with&quot; attitude that is responsible for widespread and lasting damage to our public lands. On your own land, do what you please. On public land, leave no trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16524" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T16:41:17.427" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20323" CreationDate="2018-10-03T23:00:53.630" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have actually quoted the right answer already. I missed it the first time I read your post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;same­[-]byns gemensamma kassa&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;collective funds of the Sami village&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My translation, check google for a laugh).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14753" LastEditorUserId="14753" LastEditDate="2018-10-03T23:14:06.660" LastActivityDate="2018-10-03T23:14:06.660" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20686" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-04T14:40:18.683" Score="2" ViewCount="532" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am currently in Denmark without access to a car. During the weekend I use the bus to go to some remote coastal place in order to fish. It takes 1 hour to reach that place. I carry one rod with me and some food/tackle inside a backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because coolers are really heavy to carry by hand, when I catch a fish, I release it. However, sea trout is really tasty here in Denmark, so I would like to be able to bring one with me back home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I read online, the best way to preserve a fish is to gut it immediately and throw it in a cooler packed with ice. Another option is to keep it alive as long as possible, but the fish will have to die before I leave, which means it would have to be dead inside my backpack for at least an hour that I need to reach home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me it sounds that I need to buy a cooler no matter what. The weather these days is 15C/59F. I usually spend 5-6 hours fishing. Could I preserve my fish fresh by buying one of these bag coolers they sell online, for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00314DM6Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone tried these types of bag coolers before? How was your experience? What other options do I have?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16530" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-05T18:49:27.730" LastActivityDate="2018-10-06T21:16:38.100" Title="Can I preserve a freshly caught fish with a soft bag cooler?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20686" CreationDate="2018-10-04T14:56:13.427" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That soft cooler with blue ice it should be fine.  During the day store it in the shade if you can.  You could even store a sandwich and drinks on the way there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search Amazon for blue ice freezer pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gut it before packing it.  Pack fish in a sealed plastic bag.  If you skin the fish then I would do it there also.  Pack a smaller volume requires less cooling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-04T20:24:31.393" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T20:24:31.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20686" CreationDate="2018-10-04T15:26:31.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are going with a cooler in your scenario, I would get a soft sided cooler with wheels &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B006HFB7UY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Random Example on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;  I have one at home that folds up nicely, the example I used has a hard insert. I would keep the fish alive as long as possible, related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14634/how-long-can-fresh-water-fish-live-on-a-stringer&quot;&gt;How long can fresh water fish live on a stringer?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish are fairly hardy, and may stay alive for prolonged times, You can take them out of the water, freeze them and they may still be alive when you defrost them. &lt;a href=&quot;https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/1661/fish-coming-back-to-life-after-being-frozen&quot;&gt;Related sister site post&lt;/a&gt; you could try brining them home alive in the cooler, they may flop around a bit and startle others on the bus, it is questionable if this is humane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An hour for a freshly dead animal is not long.  You could go completely without ice, as long as you kill and gut the fish just before you leave.  Using ice or something cool is a good choice though.  If there is a store nearby where you can buy bagged ice that works, alternately get a cold six pack of beverages, put them in the cooler with your fish, then put the fish and the beverages in the refrigerator when you get home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T15:26:31.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17101" CreationDate="2018-10-04T21:48:29.067" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would a gunshot echo in a cave...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends on the cave.  To echo a sound wave needs a smooth surface to reflect off of.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most caves aren't giant smooth caverns but are relatively convoluted or tight passages with random shapes to the walls, ceilings and floors which will randomly reflect the sound and quickly attenuate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shock front of the 'bang' will travel a way,  but it too will be attenuated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of a muffler / silencer from an engine exhaust.  No smooth surfaces and little noise made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within a cave it's hard to hear other people even a short distance away as they make their way through the cave,  especially if there's tight passages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T21:48:29.067" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7435" CreationDate="2018-10-04T21:56:06.190" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=Mendips&amp;amp;ie=utf-8&amp;amp;oe=utf-8&amp;amp;client=firefox-b-1-ab&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mendips&lt;/a&gt; with an organised group.  Could do a morning session in the dry &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatchurch_Cavern&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Goatchurch Cavern&lt;/a&gt; and an afternoon session in the wet but superb &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swildon%27s_Hole&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swildon's Hole&lt;/a&gt;.  Around there there's loads of other places including &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidcot_Swallet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sidcot Swallet&lt;/a&gt; with the well-named Lobster Pot (easy to go in and a struggle to get out!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of organised companies doing those trips.  I've used &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caveclimb.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.caveclimb.com/&lt;/a&gt; who provided excellent guide/instructors.  Obviously there's loads of other similar companies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-04T23:01:33.570" LastActivityDate="2018-10-04T23:01:33.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20691" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20681" CreationDate="2018-10-05T03:52:22.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you suspected, brass hose fittings are known to contain lead, which can cause severe health problems of many types. It doesn't take a lot of lead to be dangerous, and some studies even find lead poisoning in children who drink out of hoses while playing in the yard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several sources say not to drink from a hose with brass fixtures, even if the hose itself is rated as safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be especially concerned in your proposed set-up, because even if you shut it off, residual water can sit in the top horizontal section of the fixture. That water has more time to be affected by the lead in that section, before making its way down through the other lead-containing brass fittings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A number of studies emphasized that even hoses marketed as safe to drink from only include the hose. The brass fittings are studied separately, something many people don't realize. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2010/06/do-you-suppose-it-s-safe-to-drink-from-a-hose/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Consumer Reports&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is it safe to slurp from a garden hose? I recommend that you don’t... The brass fitting on the ends of the hose are also likely to contain lead.  Based on some testing we did a few years ago, water left standing in the hose can absorb worrisome amounts of lead and turn your first gulp into a health hazard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2017/08/02/is-it-okay-to-drink-from-the-garden-hose/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, United States&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dr. Allan said some hoses are made without harmful chemicals, and are marked as such. He said the hose fixture matters as well. Brass fixtures, for example, release lead which will contribute to health risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://theberkey.com/blogs/water-filter/is-your-garden-hose-safe-for-drinking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is your garden hose safe for drinking?&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mind the Fixture&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Most of the outdoor fixtures are made of brass. The brass is unregulated, and most of the time it contains lead... be always mindful of the fixture and if you have the money, change it regularly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backyardboss.net/is-it-safe-to-drink-water-from-a-garden-hose/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backyard Boss&lt;/a&gt; also says that toxins can be present in the fittings, and the only way to be really safe is to just skip drinking from the hose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In conclusion, it really isn’t a good idea to drink from a garden hose... it may also pick up extra toxins or pollutants through your garden hose or fixtures and fittings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The State of California in the United States has very strict regulations regarding the safety of drinking water, listed in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986&lt;/a&gt;. Brass hose fittings are not regulated, even though they've been found to contain significantly unsafe levels of lead in many studies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unlike residential plumbing fixtures, which must comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, the brass fittings on hoses are not regulated, even though 30 percent of those tested in the study were found to exceed safety limits for lead. &lt;a href=&quot;https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/sipping-from-the-garden-hose-think-again/?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In California itself, however, brass hose fittings have to be marked with a warning. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LVsT7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for a hose nozzle with the warning attached. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;California Proposal 65:&#xA;The brass in this product contains lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer or birth defects or reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I strongly suggest seeking a safer product. Now that you're armed with respected information, you won't fall prey to someone trying to tell you it really doesn't matter. Check local or online garden supply companies. Find safe-minded gardening organizations, many of which are parent groups, and ask what they're using. Building supply stores can work too, just be firm and tell them not to sell you a brass product.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-10-05T03:52:22.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20686" CreationDate="2018-10-06T21:08:20.703" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You shouldn't even need a cooler, or ice. A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leeda-LEEDA-BASS-BAG-H0031/dp/B009G29IK6/ref=cts_sp_1_vtp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bass bag&lt;/a&gt; should be enough. You wet it and as the water evaporates the fish is kept cool enough, allegedly!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14753" LastEditorUserId="14753" LastEditDate="2018-10-06T21:16:38.100" LastActivityDate="2018-10-06T21:16:38.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17955" CreationDate="2018-10-07T02:11:03.050" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bet most folks have a piece of cotton based clothing on them personally...or hair...hair is extremely flammable...it kills me on the survival shows where they try to make a fire and one of the persons has long hair and they never cut some of it to use as tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16535" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T02:11:03.050" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20694" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-07T10:49:20.020" Score="8" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;My neighbour has an ornamental cherry tree that has died. It is still standing but presumably a dead tree becomes increasingly hazardous and should be felled. I am wondering whether, were I to offer felling it in exchange for taking the firewood, whether the wood would need to be stacked to dry or would be dry enough - given that the tree is dead and a dead tree can't draw water - to use for burning indoors this season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm presuming that this question is a good fit for TGO because wood is wood, whether it's sourced domestically or in the wild, and when finding a dead tree in the wild, it may be helpful to know whether it's a good or poor candidate for burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2588" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T20:37:26.797" Title="Is a tree that has been standing dead for a year dry enough for firewood?" Tags="&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1614" CreationDate="2018-10-07T11:00:16.307" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;1 liter per two hours of hiking.  If camping overnite add 1 liter.  If over 90F add 1 liter.  Also good idea to hydrate before hike and to take water filter along in case other water is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16536" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T11:00:16.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20694" CreationDate="2018-10-07T12:34:07.707" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The dead wood will certainly be dryer than it was when the tree was alive.  However, whether it's dry enough is uncertain.  Cut it and see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could offer to cut the tree in return for the wood.  Worst case, you store the cordwood under a tarp for a while.  You'd probably have to do this anyway.  Unless you have something very unusual, you're not going to be able to use a entire tree of firewood immediately anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1854" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T12:34:07.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20694" CreationDate="2018-10-07T13:14:35.247" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe you could start by burning the thinner branches before moving on to the bits that are thick enough to need splitting, but it probably hasn't dried enough, without much surface area and that covered by bark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cherry is desirable for woodworking though - the trunk probably has some value. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T13:14:35.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20694" CreationDate="2018-10-07T16:44:37.110" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done lots of heating via firewood, and while wood from a standing dead tree is pretty dry, once it has been sawn into lengths there is so much more surface area that you can then dry it out much more completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wood from standing dead trees that have been cut down and stored for a while as whole tree trunks will still have moisture inside that will dry out once cut to length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, it doesn't take all that long, so if you were to cut and stack it now, it should be good to use this winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-07T16:44:37.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20560" CreationDate="2018-10-08T03:45:40.550" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While an answer shows that takedown compounds have existed in the past, it's almost certain that they will never return.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, hunting compounds have opted to go for very short ATA(Axle to axle) lengths. This makes for a shorter bow, often 34&quot; or less. Much less awkward than a 64&quot; to 68&quot; recurve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern compound limbs are very highly stressed even when not drawn, much more highly so than recurves, but for largely the same reason.&#xA;A bow press must be used to relieve that stress before the bow can be disassembled.&#xA;Bow presses are mostly large benchtop tools that are much less portable than the bow itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with a portable bow press, the cable and string system is a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; more complex than a recurve. Mistakes in cable routing, or a cable coming loose can easily destroy a bow, so there's substantial risk in reassembling the bow improperly if you don't take the time and have the right tools. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Altogether, takedown compounds are not worth the trouble with modern highly stressed compound designs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8393" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T03:45:40.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20701" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-08T12:45:06.463" Score="6" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would anyone know how to identify a good location to catch Cray Fish at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Don,_Yorkshire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;River Don&lt;/a&gt;? &lt;br/&gt;&#xA;I live in Doncaster (UK) and so the River Don would be ideal to catch the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_crayfish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Signal Crayfish&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the license application, I am required to enter a GPS grid reference on my fishing location. Not very practical before you find a good fishing mark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16539" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T12:58:14.600" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T12:58:14.600" Title="How to identify a good location to catch Signal Crayfish near River Don" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20702" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-08T22:55:43.860" Score="3" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://everesting.cc/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everesting&lt;/a&gt; is an activity where the goal is altitude gain of 8848 m or more by repeatedly going up and down a selected route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is most often attempted by biking; however, hiking/running is practiced too. The whole process takes 20-30 hours; however, the time seems to be less important than the feat itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to understand how to choose a route which makes this possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rules (described on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://everesting.cc/run-rules/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;, but I added a few of my own) are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Total elevation gain, 8848 m&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only natural scenery: no roads or stairs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No bicycles, chairlifts, buses, etc; no abseiling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Must travel the same route back and forth repeatedly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No sleeping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Resting, eating and drinking are allowed; no restrictions on resupplying along the way&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The spirit of the challenge implies that your route should be mostly altitude gain, followed by descent on the way back - not a &quot;10 m up, 10 m down&quot; type of trail&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I wonder, first of all, which elevation gain is best for one leg of the challenge (assuming I can find any route I want, within reason)? I imagine that 3 times 3000 m would be inconvenient because of temperature differences, and 89 times 100 m would be a burden for the brain. What other factors should I take into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, which altitude profile should I use? Make it too shallow and you should travel a big distance; make it too steep and it becomes hard to go down. Should the angle be uniform, or is it better to have flatter sections along the steep ascent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2018-10-08T23:01:43.150" LastActivityDate="2018-10-08T23:01:43.150" Title="Which altitude profile and height is optimal for Everesting by hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20703" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20708" CreationDate="2018-10-09T13:46:14.170" Score="67" ViewCount="16957" Body="&lt;p&gt;I enjoy hiking, but I'm not very well-versed with the general expectations other people have about noise, especially serious hikers. I generally do trails that take between 3-6 hours, usually up hills/mountains (depending on your definition) on the Appalachian Trail. Often those trails are popular enough that if it's a nice day, I'll see another group every 10 minutes or so, and if there's an overlook at the top there may be a good 8-15 people up there at any point, usually a mix of casual hikers like me and others just passing through on their way up/down the Appalachian Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the groups I've gone with enjoy singing while hiking, or while resting at the top, and a couple of times I've brought an instrument (clarinet) along, to play both during the hike and at the summit. I do enjoy playing like that, but I don't want to bother people unnecessarily; I don't really have a good understanding for how far the sounds carries, or how other hikers, especially serious ones, feel about the music. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume that the instrument is being reasonably well-played (i.e. gentle tone, not squeaking/squealing, with not so many missed notes as to be distracting), because otherwise I'm sure the answer can't be anything besides &quot;Please stop&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any general etiquette or expectations about playing/making music on hiking trails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also linking &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4633&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; tangentially-related question on whether playing musical instruments while hiking is sufficient to keep away animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Well, this was more contentious than I was expecting; answers range from &quot;Hearing music on the trail can be enjoyable&quot; to &quot;Don't even make a sound&quot;. I appreciate the feedback from the people of the latter opinion, and I am not ignoring their statements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surely, though, there must be a balance, between allowing people who don't want to hear anything that would betray the presence of humankind in the area to enjoy themselves, and allowing people who like music (or especially, in my case, the feeling of playing gentle music in nature) to enjoy themselves as well. At the least, if I play again, I will endeavor to remove myself or my group from other people, to ask anyone nearby if they mind, and in any case to not play for long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless: if anyone (in the last year) hiked past someone playing snippets from hymns, Disney, and Broadway on a clarinet in the Shenandoah Nat'l park, and found it annoying, I apologize.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT 2, in response to close-votes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question was about etiquette - a set of arbitrary, (at least originally) opinion-based, rules that are followed by a majority of people. It's inseparable from people's opinions, but surely it's a useful thing for new hikers to learn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Does mild vinegar taste good?&quot; is hardly a useful question for a stackexchange. &quot;Do most people enjoy drinking vinegar?&quot; is an important question for a new chef to know the answer to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15018" LastEditorUserId="15018" LastEditDate="2018-10-11T20:55:34.850" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T19:09:10.403" Title="Etiquette of playing musical instruments on popular hikes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19940" CreationDate="2018-10-09T13:49:18.787" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am guessing the OP either found the problem or bought a new stove, as this question is a couple months old.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common (in my experience) cause is the collection of dust and/or bugs in the gas tubes and burners.  When the propane bottle is full it has slightly more pressure and can overcome developing issues. As the supply of fuel gets lower, the pressure drops slightly, and the flow of gas decrease. The pressure is very low in both cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Occasionally (depending on construction) you can disassemble the gas pipes and use a can of air (&lt;em&gt;as you would for cleaning a computer keyboard&lt;/em&gt;) to blow out the debris. If not your you best option is replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same thing happens occasionally to the gas log fireplace device in my home over the summer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-10-10T09:29:09.143" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T09:29:09.143" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T14:17:37.233" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not familiar with any general etiquette too. But I would say if someone is hiking on a popular trail, they can't expect silence and/or not to hear other people. &lt;br&gt; I can only speak for myself but I would like to hear music now and then while hiking &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16266" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T14:17:37.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T14:49:02.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;My input is if it is loud enough they cannot easily carry on a conversation then it is too loud. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a crowed peak maybe one song as a celebration then shut it down. If you get an applause then one more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the trail if they can walk by then never a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A crowed lookout I would say no.  Pick a more secluded spot to sing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T15:10:55.273" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T15:10:55.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T14:50:53.497" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just &lt;strong&gt;don't play your music with the aid of any electronic speakers&lt;/strong&gt;. People sing and talk and laugh as they hike and that's fine, its when they start &lt;strong&gt;blaring music on their waterproof bluetooth speakers&lt;/strong&gt; that it starts to get annoying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just note that it will make you less aware of your surroundings, I have seen plenty of people not realize that I was hiking right behind them because their music was too loud and they weren't paying attention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-09T15:35:42.870" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T15:35:42.870" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T16:00:00.813" Score="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only speak from experience, but I'll share what I have seen. The following paragraphs are ordered from least desirable to most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In every case where people have been &lt;strong&gt;playing music on a speaker&lt;/strong&gt; of some kind (including phone), people on the trails around them show signs of being annoyed. I believe this is acceptable behavior in some other countries which is why I mostly see foreigners (and inexperienced hikers) engaging in this breach of etiquette.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen several trumpets and even a trombone being played on trails. This has been met with annoyance as &lt;strong&gt;brass instruments&lt;/strong&gt;' sound can travel a long distance and disturb the natural sounds that hikers expect. As for the trombone, people were mostly confused because of how unusual it was (he was playing jazz tunes awaiting some girl who was hiking toward him so he could propose. It was really weird.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Woodwind instruments&lt;/strong&gt; are less likely to make people upset, mainly because they have softer tones and the sound doesn't travel very far. &lt;strong&gt;String instruments&lt;/strong&gt; are similarly more acceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instruments that people probably won't mind, or might even enjoy, hearing on a hike are those that are associated with the cultural heritage of the outdoors (think pioneers, cowboys, etc.). &lt;strong&gt;Harmonicas, wooden flutes, violins (particularly if playing fiddle music), and acoustic guitars are usually acceptable for trails&lt;/strong&gt;, so long as you aren't too loud, getting in people's way, or making a spectacle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any instance you want to play an instrument on a trail, I would not start playing anywhere people are already gathered. Find a spot where you are alone and then you can start playing. That will give people the option of stopping to listen to you if they want, or continue on. If you start playing near where people are already hanging out, you are forcing them to move or confront you if they aren't interested in your music.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: People had some questions about other instruments/music, so I'll touch on those specifically. @IMil asked (probably jokingly) about bagpipes. The thing is, I've actually heard people playing the &lt;strong&gt;bagpipes&lt;/strong&gt; while camping a couple times. I don't think they count under the umbrella of American outdoor traditional instruments, but they certainly do in Scotland. I think it is novel enough that people won't be too upset to hear the bagpipes for a bit, just as long as you aren't playing Amazing Grace on repeat for 3 hours. Besides, if you can't play bagpipes outside, where on earth can you play them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for &lt;strong&gt;singing and whistling&lt;/strong&gt;, those are definitely part of the outdoor tradition. As with all the other instruments, you still need to read the room. If people are giving you the stink eye, it's probably time to take a break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14963" LastEditorUserId="14963" LastEditDate="2018-10-11T15:27:04.590" LastActivityDate="2018-10-11T15:27:04.590" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T16:13:34.790" Score="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I, and the people I hike with do not appreciate music on the trails. If you want music use headphones. We try to hike the least popular trails to avoid encountering blaring music. We are out in nature to experience nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6357" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T16:13:34.790" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1214" CreationDate="2018-10-09T19:52:07.527" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a website called &lt;strong&gt;Run Repeat&lt;/strong&gt; that bills itself as &quot;#1 Sports Shoe Review Site&quot;. It does meta analyses of shoe reviews. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the search &lt;a href=&quot;https://runrepeat.com/ranking/rankings-of-wide-hiking-boots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rankings-of-wide-hiking-boots&lt;/a&gt; is a list of high ranking models of hiking &lt;strong&gt;boots&lt;/strong&gt; that are available in standard and wide widths. It is &quot;based on reviews from 195 experts and 9,986 users&quot; (as of Oct 2018). The &lt;em&gt;brands&lt;/em&gt; that appear in the top 20 models are as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ariat.com/search?q=hiking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ariat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.zamberlan.com/shop/search/wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zamberlan&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Salomon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowaboots.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lowa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://obozfootwear.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oboz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vasque.com/USD/hiking-footwear#feature=Widths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vasque&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.danner.com/catalogsearch/result/?sortId=relevance&amp;amp;q=wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Danner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hanwag.com/search/?q=wide&amp;amp;ms=true&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hanwag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.asolo.com/en/products&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Asolo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merrell.com/CA/en_CA/search?q=Wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merrell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you search for hiking &lt;strong&gt;shoes or sandals&lt;/strong&gt; on the same site, these brands appear on the top 12 models list:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chacos.com/US/en/search?q=wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chaco&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://obozfootwear.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oboz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merrell.com/CA/en_CA/search?q=Wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merrell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vasque.com/USD/hiking-footwear#feature=Widths&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vasque&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.danner.com/catalogsearch/result/?sortId=relevance&amp;amp;q=wide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Danner&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.keenfootwear.com/hiking/?prefn1=width&amp;amp;prefv1=WIDE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Keen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that when asking for wide-fitting boots/shoes in a store (or on an outdoors advice site) one often hears comments such as &quot;&lt;em&gt;brand_x&lt;/em&gt; tends to have wider models&quot;. While some of those brands may have boots that exist in wider versions you will often find that only the standard widths are actually available and that, while they &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; be slightly wider than average, the offerings are simply not wide enough for those of us who have wide feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have very difficult-to-fit feet, and can afford it, you have the option to get &lt;strong&gt;custom-made&lt;/strong&gt; boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.limmercustomboot.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Peter Limmer and Sons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johncaldenboots.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;John Calden Boots&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tecnicasports.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tecnica Sports&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first two offer hand-made leather boots while Tecnica offers customizable liners (like some ski boot brands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T03:12:21.273" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T03:12:21.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20429" CreationDate="2018-10-09T19:54:47.897" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being a hunter in the south, there are times of the year where you can't avoid them without proper precaution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some swear by a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar a day, which I do.  I also spray the openings to my clothing with permethrin (sawyer brand).  Permethrin will last on clothing through several washes and can be applied well in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16550" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T19:54:47.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-09T22:45:55.720" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Being noisy in public is generally annoying for people around you, regardless of what kind of noise it is. (Exceptions apply, e.g. sporting events where being noisy is expected)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Playing an instrument on hiking trails is a specific case of &quot;being noisy&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the main reasons people are on trails in the first place is to get away from noise and people. While it may be perfectly legal and tolerated by fellow hikers, I doubt you will find a single person who &lt;em&gt;wants&lt;/em&gt; you to play music on the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16553" LastActivityDate="2018-10-09T22:45:55.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-10T00:36:48.010" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would you start playing the clarinet on a bus? It's also noisy, somehow. People also wouldn't expect complete silence. Would you be the one to guarantee there is no possibility of silence at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Public places are just that: public. There are people and if you play music, everyone is &lt;em&gt;forced&lt;/em&gt; to hear it. If you pee on the ground, everyone is &lt;em&gt;forced&lt;/em&gt; to smell it. If you litter, everyone is &lt;em&gt;forced&lt;/em&gt; to walk around garbage. From where I'm from, etiquette regarding outdoor activities is very simple: try to minimize what you subject other people to as much as possible. If I can pee in a far away place where the smell won't bother anyone, that's where I'll go; if I can carry my garbage with me, I will; if I can play an instrument being absolutely sure I'm not upsetting someone, then that's OK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is: can you be sure? Do you know what's the mean distance your instrument reaches? People around you might enjoy your playing, but do people 500m from there feel OK about it too? How can you be sure? There are also animals around - do they love it? I'm positive most animals don't care about where I pee, but I'm also sure littering won't do them any good. Are you &lt;em&gt;sure&lt;/em&gt; you're not disturbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think my position has become clear: I'm totally against any kind of outdoors musicality. I often climb big walls where I'm supposed to sleep three, four days on the wall, and some friends sometimes bring ukeleles. I hate it. I tolerate it because usually the other two guys enjoy the music and I'm in a smaller number, but I hate it. I hate to see people playing instruments or hearing loud music on trails. I think it's an absolute lack of respect for the others and for your surroundings. The safest way to be respectful is to be clean, to be silent, to be invisible - to walk and climb as if you were a shadow. I'm positive you'll sense that acting this way you'll cease to be a tourist and start being a part of the landscape. You will be more attentive and feel nature more intensely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S.: I'm a grumpy person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T00:36:48.010" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20715" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20719" CreationDate="2018-10-10T03:59:06.937" Score="9" ViewCount="1797" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend found this caterpillar while hiking in the woods on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wachusett.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wachusett Mountain&lt;/a&gt;, in Central Massachusetts, United States, in the first week of September. It was on a fallen log under the leaves of a deciduous tree, but she didn't know the exact name of the tree. She only saw one. It appeared to be just over an inch long. It was close enough to touch, but she didn't want to in case it would sting or cause skin problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen anything like it! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most unusual feature is a row of four white fur-looking tufts growing out of its back not too far from the head. I used &quot;tufts&quot; for lack of a better word since I don't know the real term. They look like toothbrushes to me! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The body has black and yellow stripes. It has some small yellow circular areas on the black stripes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The head is bright red with tiny black eyes. There are also a few bright red spots on the back toward the tail. The two antennae are black, and the tail is brown. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pretty much the entire caterpillar is covered with white furry-looking spikes, including some in the front of the head that look like whiskers. There are black spikes dispersed along the body. These are longer and there are fewer of them than the white ones. There are no spikes coming out of the tufts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this fascinating caterpillar? What will it grow into and when? Is it poisonous or in some way irritation to skin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vG85m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vG85m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T17:30:32.313" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:05:10.090" Title="What is this black and yellow-striped caterpillar with four toothbrush-looking tufts of hair along the top?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;&lt;moths&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5833" CreationDate="2018-10-10T12:04:35.477" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even though some people do wash their ropes in washing machines (inside a bag), I would never do that myself. And REI does not seem to recommend &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/rope-care.html#how-to-clean-a-climbing-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;that&lt;/a&gt; either.&#xA;I have myself washed a rope by hand in a bathtub with a special rope washing detergent (e.g. one from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mytendon.cz/en/rope-cleaner-0-5l&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tendon&lt;/a&gt;), and the results were great. According to REI, a mild soap could be used for this purpose as well, but I guess I just don't like taking risks with life saving equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For even better results you might want to try a special rope washing brush, e.g. one from &lt;a href=&quot;https://rockrun.de/products/beal-rope-cleaning-brush?utm_source=google.de&amp;amp;utm_medium=Channel&amp;amp;utm_campaign=Google_DE&amp;amp;ref=SFDR_186924126&amp;amp;variant=2388716716041&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwxvbdBRC0ARIsAKmec9aYQeie3R_b25Pi5sItrwu3ZP2KCZdboPZMj2ad1aCSCBXSfns0ngkaAs33EALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beal&lt;/a&gt;. It might also save a bit of time. As I have done all my washing with hands only, I cannot tell how much better/easier it would be. My rope was clean enough after just swirling it around in the bathtub, and running it through the hands a few times. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should make sure not to use too hot watter (max 40 degrees, which is about the body temperature). After washing the rope, you should dry it unfolded in a warm dry spot without direct sunlight, and also not directly next to heaters either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final advice would be not to wait with rope washing too long. Climbing on a rope with no dirt in it is not only nicer, but it also prolongs the life of your rope. Dirt parts rubbing against threads within the rope do weaken them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T12:04:35.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5833" CreationDate="2018-10-10T19:34:19.783" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to get your ropes clean in a hurry, use a rope brush:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1LNYm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1LNYm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the result after pulling your rope through one of these brushes twice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gnMD3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gnMD3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fill your tub with cool to luke warm water, then make the water a little soapy using a bar of soap and flake your rope in it to soak for a while. After your rope is drenched, use you hands to clean off any extra soil, and then start pulling your rope through the brush. Each pull will produce a cloud of dirt in the water, and the water will just get blacker and blacker as you go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend getting help with pulling the rope. Your arms get tired in a hurry when you're doing it by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T19:34:19.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20715" CreationDate="2018-10-10T23:18:33.243" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgyia_leucostigma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;White Marked Tussock Moth&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The long, spiky tufts of hairs give fair warning to anyone or anything that tries to touch this species' larva.  The caterpillar is covered with them and the chemicals that are transferred onto skin when touched &lt;strong&gt;can cause an allergic reaction in humans resulting in redness, irritation and welts.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also has four tight tufts of yellowish-white hairs  that look like 'pom poms' on its dorsal side near the bright red head.  These hairs are &lt;strong&gt;barbed&lt;/strong&gt;, making them &lt;strong&gt;difficult to remove from skin.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=White-Marked-Tussock-Moth&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;White-Marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the grown moths look like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zd7po.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zd7po.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orgyia_leucostigma.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Orgyia-leucostigma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;White-marked Tussock Moth&#xA;Orgyia leucostigma (J E Smith, 1797) &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/article/20130508/news/130509798&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learning more about the White-Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/post/white-marked-tussock-moth-caterpillar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The White Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-10T23:18:33.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-12T13:10:23.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following @CarlLange in his original comment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ultimate trail etiquette would be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.leavenotrace.ca/principles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; ethics. If you read the &lt;em&gt;Be Considerate of Others&lt;/em&gt; section, you'll find relevant info (emphasis added by me):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack stock.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Let nature's sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rest is up to you to determine if your playing goes against those &quot;rules&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T13:10:23.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20568" CreationDate="2018-10-12T13:50:43.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Malta, or more precisely Gozo, a small island right next to the main island, is a very well liked destination for divers within the EU. Friends of mine go there regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16150" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T13:50:43.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20703" CreationDate="2018-10-12T19:09:10.403" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago, I went on a hike with the scouts, and came upon a beautiful overlook atop a cliff.  The sun was setting, a gentle breeze was blowing, and it was really serene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We admired the sight for awhile, and soon enough, we heard someone playing the bagpipes.  This thing bellowed across the valley, and it was truly the most beautiful thing we'd ever heard.  I get that the pipes are not everyone's cup of tea, and to some they sound like cats in heat.  But this wasn't that - it was serene and solemn, and lasted maybe 5 minutes before that was that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess, then, it can depend.  It depends on the music, the instrument, the mood of the people whose paths happened to have crossed at that moment, and the purpose of both parties meeting.  In our case, it was a positive moment; but I would imagine that if there was anyone offended, that offense lasted only a few minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would guess that some instruments might be more offensive than others, and a clarinet isn't likely to be very offensive to many people.  Neither might a harmonica, acoustic guitar, flute, or fife - all of which I've seen people bring.  I've also seen banjos, trumpets, and bugles, and they, too, have their place as well.  Personally, I don't like the banjo, and the only time I've heard trumpets and bugles were for solemn purposes - except that as a scouter, I've seen many a scout bring trumpets and bugles to practice - and therein lay the cats in heat.  But these aren't typically found on a hike, and if they are, well, you're likely to hear them at dawn, dusk, or deep in the evening, and most people don't hike around those times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also guess that playing an instrument in the vicinity of a hunter is liable to get you angry comments.  And, if you were playing near homes, or near another group, who may be annoyed at &quot;yet another&quot; group playing instruments - there's the mood factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have every right to bring and play an instrument if you are on public lands - that much is enshrined in the constitution.  That doesn't mean people won't be offended, and so my advice would be to bring it if it suits you, but be mindful that people may not want to hear it, so, if you have any consideration for those around you, then limit your playing time - unless you're asked for encores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-10-12T19:09:10.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20723" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20735" CreationDate="2018-10-13T13:45:24.200" Score="5" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find myself in possession of an extra set of everything &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunfish_(sailboat)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sunfish&lt;/a&gt; minus the hull.  I was wondering if any of this gear would fit any other models of small craft, or if I absolutely need a bona fide sunfish hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11832" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:22:19.223" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T03:22:19.223" Title="Will a Sunfish mast and rigging fit any other dinghy models?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20723" CreationDate="2018-10-13T15:02:51.367" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't see why it wouldn't.  Any small sailboat that had a place for stepping the mast and that already had centreboard or leeboards should work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveats:  I had a 1 week course in sailing using sunfishes, and I've read up on sailing since.  I am far from an expert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considerations:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the mast step is lower down, relative to the cockpit, then you may have to duck further when the boom swings over.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The mast step needs to be compatible.  If the mast is too small, it would be fairly easy to cut a bushing or 'donut'to fill the gap.  If too large, you could make a larger step and fasten to the hull.  Note that hull surgery has its risks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the length of the boat from the step to the transom is shorter you may have to re-rig where the boom sheets attach to the boom for hauling in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the boat is significantly larger than a sunfish, it won't sail as fast in mild wind. -- unless it's also narrower&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will likely have to recut or replace the mast stays. They won't be the right length.  If you use a rear mast stay, the boom has to clear it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion:  Look for a sailing dingy that is about sunfish sized.  Check the mast step to see if that part of the boat will be compatible or modifiable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T19:22:42.663" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T19:22:42.663" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20725" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-14T05:57:15.630" Score="0" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm very new to camping. In fact..I'm trying to prepare for my first camping. One thing that I can't find answer even after googling and searching this site is..how people travel with camping stove and its fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like storing propane in a car is somewhat dangerous, especially when it is hot outside. I plan to camp in a desert in summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to travel in a car with camping propane?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's the safety guideline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8376" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T05:48:32.080" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T05:48:32.080" Title="How do people carry camping propane in a car when traveling?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;propane-tank&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2018-10-14T08:12:24.803" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20590" CreationDate="2018-10-15T01:48:05.170" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is hard to predict what exactly would change if most of the Grand Canyon was designated wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is hard to predict because the exact wilderness regulations differ based on many things related to the history, local politics, national politics, economic activity, etc. of the protected area. It is possible something like motorized rafts would be prevented, but not guaranteed. For example, the Boundary Waters Area Canoe Area Wilderness has exemptions on some large lakes allowing motor boats to be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, wilderness areas are more restrictive about the types of activities that are allowed, compared to National Parks or National Forests. Typically restrictions are based on technology, and the technologies that are allowed are those that were historically used in the area prior to passage of the Wilderness Act. But precisely which activities those are is a political question that affects the specific regulations that would be written into the designation of the Grand Canyon as a wilderness area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These things are reflected in wilderness area signage. Some signs list activities prevented in all wilderness areas, resulting in mismatches between signs and locations. For example, a sign at a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness entry point says hang gliders are not allowed. But why anyone would take a hang glider into the BWCA is a mystery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T01:48:05.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20694" CreationDate="2018-10-15T02:46:44.933" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try and see.  Standing dead poplar burns very well, as does standing dead spruce.  Standing dead birch produces a short burst of flame from the bark, and then smoulders with little heat and extremely irritating smoke.  Alder is nearly as bad.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I heat with wood burning about 6 cords a year. I burn mostly poplar, but I split anything I can't pick up by the end with one hand, and dry it for 2 years under cover from rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T02:46:44.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20681" CreationDate="2018-10-15T03:42:50.607" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Various sources say 5 to 10 micrograms/deciliter of blood is the usual point of concern.  In adults symptoms show up at around 60.  Children are developing so the lower 5 is recommended as their max level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Half life of lead in blood is about 40 days -- may be longer in children because some is absorbed by bone, then released as bone is remodeled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the average adult has 5 liters of blood, or 50 deciliters of blood.  At 5 micrograms / dl an adult would need have 250 micrograms or .25 milligram (mg) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard in the U.S. is that the water supply can have no more than 15 ppb lead.  That's parts per billion.  15 micrograms per liter or 1.5 micrograms per deciliter.  (Canada's is 10 micrograms/dl)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That means that an adult has to drink 20 liters of water to top up his blood supply with lead.  If drinking from a maximally allowed toxic fitting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The science news article below mentions running a tap all out for 10 minutes, then letting it run at a trickle for 3 days.  This with most common water supplies will cause the carbonate in the water to form a film on exposed lead in the fitting. This drops the leached lead level by a factor of 10 or so. (varies depending on the water)  You can take this same approach with your brass manifold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Canada I can get a free water test.  Pick up a bottle from my local health clinic, fill it from my tap, and drop it off.  I get a chemical analysis about 3 weeks later.  In my house I take the water from a brass tap in my laundry room.  I have lead soldered plumbing through out the house.  My reports read:  Below limits of detection. More reading finds that common tests can detect 1 ppb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest buying a fitting, running some water through it, and having it tested.  You can buy mail in kits if your local health board doesn't do the test.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's marginal, then use a water filter to grab the lead.  Put this on one tap used for cooking and drinking.  Lead is not absorbed through the skin to any great degree, so bathing and showers are fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to kids drinking out of garden hoses:  Every kid I've seen drink from a hose, lets it run until the water is cold.  The stagnant high lead water is gone before he drinks it.  I wouldn't worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OTOH the organics from the hose...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/lead-free-faucets-are-anything&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/lead-free-faucets-are-anything&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T03:42:50.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20681" CreationDate="2018-10-15T04:24:07.950" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check with a recreational vehicle supply store, they should have hose fittings such as tees and wyes (perhaps plastic rather than brass) that are safe for potable water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T04:24:07.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20734" CreationDate="2018-10-12T00:45:35.737" Score="5" ViewCount="496" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40050483&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everest climbers worried about oxygen bottle theft&lt;/a&gt; which says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What can you do when thieves break the locks of the tent and take away&#xA;  oxygen bottles, food and even cooking gas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which suggests that the people climbing Everest are locking their tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, the locks are not protecting their supplies.  Perhaps the broken locks could indicate the tents have been raided, but the raiders could just as easily have cut a hole in the tent.  I really think the climbers should be inventorying their supply whether or not tampering has been indicated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the purpose of locking tents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12516" OwnerDisplayName="emory" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T09:17:12.930" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T11:51:56.120" Title="Why do people lock their tents at Everest Base Camp?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20731" CreationDate="2018-10-12T07:25:19.647" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There could be a number of reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When picking a tent to raid, a thief will probably pick an unlocked tent over a locked one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Seeing someone enter a tent and leaving with supplies doesn't look suspicious at all. As a witness, I would not intervene. Seeing someone slash the tent horror movie style, on the other hand...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If all you have to do is enter the tent, it gives the thief (somewhat) plausible deniability if caught in the act.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The opportunity makes the thief. An unlocked tent might just look too tempting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Anders" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T11:51:56.120" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T11:51:56.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20731" CreationDate="2018-10-12T08:50:20.703" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will translate this to a more general discussion: why bother to add protection to a system that can easily be bypassed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anders already pointed out good reasons for this. Another reason may be persecution and insurance protection: I myself recently had to learn the hard way that if there is no obvious sign that someone opened a room/garage (I would say also a tent) without having permission (broken windows, broken lock, broken door), in German law this is called &quot;simple theft&quot; - like if i put my bike in the city center, without a lock, and with a sign &quot;Dear thief, take it if you want&quot;. The insurance company will not pay for this. Only if there is a visible sign for someone entering by force, German law will call it &quot;especially aggravated theft&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you transfer this and the answer of Anders to Information Security: you can almost never completely protect a system - you have to create hurdles to make it more difficult for intruders to get what they want. And in case of insurance claims, the insurance company wants to see that you at least &lt;em&gt;tried&lt;/em&gt; to protect your values.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Tobias" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T09:20:09.227" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T09:20:09.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20731" CreationDate="2018-10-12T09:03:41.260" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tent locks (or security awareness, or organisational policies, or anti-virus, or any security control) are not a perfect solution, so why use them? Flip the question around: what would happen if you did not use a lock (or awareness, or policies, or AV)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any security control (that includes tent locks) aims to &lt;strong&gt;reduce risk&lt;/strong&gt;. The hope of a control is simply to reduce the inherent risk at a cost that does not exceed the difference between the inherent risk and the residual risk (the risk after the control is applied). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The control makes sense if either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the residual risk is at a level that we can accept and that the cost of the control does not exceed the delta between the inherent and residual risks, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the delta between the inherent and residual risks has greater value than the cost of the control&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Controls do not, and never will, eliminate risks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Everest scenario, the impact of supply theft is death or mission failure (we do not ascend). The cost of a lock is almost nothing in both cash and weight. More secure means of preventing theft will be heavier, and weight in a climbing scenario has a cost that at some point cannot be borne (pun intended).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the options are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use a lock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;do not use a lock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the impact of theft, what justification would you have for not using a lock, even if it was not a perfect control?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also note that a lock is a &quot;&lt;strong&gt;preventative&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; control. Inventorying, as you suggest, is a &quot;&lt;strong&gt;detective&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; control. Detective controls would not prevent mission failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="schroeder" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T07:39:15.607" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T07:39:15.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20723" CreationDate="2018-10-15T12:38:03.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a 'bonafide sunfish hull', but there is not a lot of standardization across manufactures for small sail craft.  Many parts are custom built for each make/model.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different boats require different amounts of sail, for most sunfish style boats the amount of sail should be fine. The issues will be making everything else work.  You should not expect things to 'just work', much like cars parts that do identical things, they are slightly different for different manufactures, even if made by the same third party. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rudder and tiller assembly most likely will NOT fit any other boat unless you also change the mount on the boat.  Even across different years, Sunfish rudders have different rudder mount system (&lt;em&gt;3 types I think&lt;/em&gt;).  If you have the rudder and the mount from the old hull, you can put the old mount on the new hull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The daggerboard is a piece of wood, if it fits it will work, if not you may or may not be able to modify it to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mast is either going to fit in to the tabernacle of another boat or not.  This would be the hardest thing to modify.  If it does not fit, I would not try to modify, look for a different hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hardware, like the main sheet cleat, are mostly generic. You should not have any problems installing them on any boat.  Be aware that some of the small sail boats like the sunfish (including the sunfish) have the hardware installed before the boat is completed.  You may have to add inspection ports to be able to actually change the hardware. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I documented some &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/search?q=user%3A4079+sunfish&quot;&gt;sunfish repairs and updates in these posts&lt;/a&gt; they should give you some more insight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T14:56:36.127" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T14:56:36.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20723" CreationDate="2018-10-15T12:39:46.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I don't have much exposure to Sunfish specifically, I'm going to give a generic answer for boats of this type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unlikely unless they're borrowing parts from someone else.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You've got a freestanding unstayed mast, that implies a hole through the upper deck down to the lower hull. The diameter of this would have to match the equivalent hole on your selected hull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The balance of the rig would have to be approximately the same. In practice means the distance between the mast mount and the daggerboard should be approximately the same or it'll unbalance the handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rig size and hull weight should be approximately the same or you'll over or underpower the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Daggerboard, these are again a tight fit. If it's a plank of a certain size, then it could be cut down to fit another boat. If it's too small then it's a no go. It needs to be big enough to fill the hole and stop too much water getting up, while small enough to move easily. Centreboards tend to be a very specific shape, usually too different to be transferrable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rudder is a rudder, but they tend to have unique spacings between the mount points. You may be able to replace the mount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that's left is ropes and pulleys, the basic mechanics are much the same on all single handers of this type. You could be ok, but some lines may be too short for the equivalent job on another boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T13:05:06.647" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T13:05:06.647" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20737" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-15T13:09:47.260" Score="1" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I moved to NY and I am finding hard time to get accustomed with the weather. I have never experienced temperature below 15℃ back home! So, its quite a challenge. Expectedly, the winter wears that I brought from home hardly provides any protection. Given that the winter season has just started to kick in, I would like to get few suggestions about proper winter gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jackets: Since temperature here gets down to -10℃ to -15℃ (14 deg F to 5 deg F) to I was looking for proper jackets to withstand this weather. I think zipped hoodie type jackets are better, as within the office its warm. So, I need to remove them again. I bought a jacket from here, a few days ago. It is not at all useful. Well, the jacket was not thick or layered. It was the best that the store could offer. Since it was still warm (in September) that time, they didn't have any stock of good jackets. So, will prefer some specific jacket links (like Amazon etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I will be wearing the clothes for daily life activities. Like commuting from home to office. I don't need to wear a formal attire in my office. This is also not intended for hiking or sports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 2: Removed other parts. Only recommendations about daily life jackets for -10℃ to -15℃ will be good enough. I am not looking for a formal wear. I am looking for zipped hoodies or similar things. Perhaps its not the best place to ask..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16590" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T20:49:36.457" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T12:23:36.443" Title="Winter wear in New York" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-15T13:34:48.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome!&#xA;I’m sure others will have many detailed answers, but the best suggestion I have is to put all of your cotton socks away until the summer.  Blends of wool and synthetic (Smartwool is the famous brand, I happen to like Darn Tough, but there are many) exist which are thin and comfortable but make a big difference in your warmth and comfort.  Feet almost always sweat a little and so in cold weather, socks which keep you warm when damp make a huge difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T13:34:48.467" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-15T13:57:56.353" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should be looking at more than jackets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long underwear is nice but if your office is heated you may get too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cold feet at a train stop or bus stop is miserable.  I recommend some winter boots and leave a pair of shoes at the office.  Wear a pair of wool socks over your office socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even with a hood I recommend a stocking cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gloves or mittens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that look for arctic jackets.  They will have a hood and long enough to cover your butt.  Amazon has a lot of choices and for the most part you get what you pay for.  A good jacket is $200 - $300.  If that is too much look for used stores.  Learn the major brands like Patagonia, North Face, Arcteryx, REI, and LL Bean.  Used often just give all coats the same price regardless of brand as they don't know the brands.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-15T23:37:12.400" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T23:37:12.400" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-15T17:58:17.613" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will see NYU and Columbia students wearing nothing but shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals on all but the coldest days. Assuming you are talking about NYC, a typical commute probably involves no more than 10 minutes outside on pavement that is generally clear of snow and ice. Frostbite any hypothermia is generally not a concern in NYC since you can almost always get inside someplace to warm up a little and an Uber is only minutes away. The biggest issue is staying dry. A good rain jacket is a must (a cheap poncho is fine as are waterproof breathable jackets). For footwear, you are going to want either a pair of boots (hiking, snow or rain) or trail runner/sneakers that you don't mind getting wet. If you go with sneakers, having a dry pair of socks, and possibly shoes, to change into is nice once you get to your destination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any type of hat (from thin 100 weight fleeces up to down hoodies) or even head bands or ear muffs is nice, but not a requirement. Same goes for gloves. I suggest staying away from long underwear (especially bottoms) since once you get inside, you will be too warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in NH and around town, I used to be a t-shirt/shorts/sandals person regardless of the weather. I used to happily sleep in my 20F sleeping bag down to 0F, I get cold easy now and prefer my 0F sleeping bag when it gets to be 20F. For NYC winters, I am happy with a pair of long pants (typically cotton chinos), a cotton button down (picture the cover of an LL Bean catalog). I then have a 100 wt fleece beanie and gloves and an old Gore Windstopper fleece. If it is wet, I wear a rain jacket also. If it is really cold, I break out the wool sweater (as I said, picture the cover of an LL Bean catalog).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You sound like you get cold easy and have never experienced cold weather. I suggest replacing the fleece jacket with a puffy jacket and the hat and gloves with insulated  versions. Just check out an LL Bean (or EMS, REI, mountain co-op) catalog (or chose a major manufacturer (e.g., Northface, Patagonia, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear) and buy whatever suits your fancy. If you are trying to save money, you can hit up a thrift store and buy similar things. Basically, any fleece, down, or synthetic insulated jacket from ultralight to heavy weight will be fine. You should avoid things like 8000m outifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T17:58:17.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20741" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-15T19:57:41.500" Score="7" ViewCount="1778" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have more than a decade of experience in outdoor recreation, environmental education, and backpacking. I am now thinking about starting a small business offering backpacking guide service to people who are interested in backpacking but have no experience. The business would be formed in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would run small trips on weekends in which I would plan and manage all logistics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be some of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in starting such a business?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in hearing ideas about all aspects, including equipment, marketing, whether a market exists, pricing, liability, product offerings, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T02:02:21.127" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T02:02:21.127" Title="What are some challenges to starting a small business that runs backpacking trips?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20741" CreationDate="2018-10-15T21:01:22.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A list of all the possible challenges I can think of at the moment,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insurance, specifically liability insurance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical training for you and any employees, the standard certification is Wilderness First Responder.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Government permits, commercial trips can require a special use permit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Purchasing gear (as a guide you should be able to get prodeals, but it's still expensive.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Food planning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Marketing, a trip can be expensive in the eyes of the participants and yet barely cover your running costs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Expenses, typically people get into this line of work because they enjoy it, not to make money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more, but those are the big ones I can think of at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of outdoor businesses are non profits or make money through foundations or at the very least ask for donations on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my personal experience, most people who do this type of work live very simply and quite often out of a vehicle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T05:59:58.067" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T05:59:58.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-15T21:16:17.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the recommendations on jackets, so I won't repeat them, but no one so far has mentioned layering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When hiking in very cold weather or visiting Boston in the winter, I layer a Patagonia top (they have several different weights, and I am sure other makers do too) under a down parka or fleece jacket and over a light weight top suitable for indoors. Layering will extend the season during which you can wear the jacket or parka.  Layering works for hands (gloves under mittens), feet (silk or nylon socks under wool socks) and legs (wind resistant over-pants over light woolen or fleecy pants).  One of the most effective items per unit weight to use in layering is panty hose.  This is an obvious choice for women, but may not fit your image. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend a woolly or fleecy hat that covers your ears and a neck gaiter (a cylindrical tube that covers your neck.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will eventually acclimate to the cold, and you may even eventually become like the students @StrongBad describes and wear shorts and sandals on the coldest days, but you may not.  And even if you do acclimate, you will be miserable until you do.  And don't ignore the fact that in the worst weather, you may have to hike a fair distance because nothing is running, or wait a longish time for the Uber to appear.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T21:16:17.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20741" CreationDate="2018-10-15T21:40:12.650" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Liability is the biggest concern.  You should have like an LLC to reduce the risk of sued personally.  You should have lawyer draft a waiver that will (hopefully) stand up in court.  Insurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another concern is customer satisfaction.  A new backpacker that has no experience is not likely to have a good experience.  An experienced backpacker waiting on a beginner is not going to have a good experience.  You can have partner that allows for a split but that is more cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to have something unique or rare:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If it is a secluded water fall it is only secret until the first trip&#xA;with GPS.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A climbing guide would work if routes are hard to know / find.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a license they cannot easily obtain like operate a raft on a regulated river.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A llama trip is unique (and they don't have to carry as much).  A one day trip to a peak they can see from the road with a gourmet lunch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Base camp that requires a 4 x 4 is unique but now you have more cost.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A river guide can work as they don't want to buy a boat. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A private base camp (you buy property next to a Nation Forest or&#xA;Park) could work.  You could set up small (secured) kitchen and&#xA;dining table and provide meal services. It would need to have have&#xA;access to fresh water. If you are strong enough you could hump in the&#xA;food if you don't need to carry a kitchen. Learn to make a lot of&#xA;your own camp food. A spot that has a number of day hikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Want to backpack but have no experience is not that compelling and has a relative small barrier to entry.  They can just start with a 2 mile hike to a camp with fire pit.  Consider combining it with training (like 3-5 evenings) followed by a starter trip.  Offer advanced trips only to those that have completed the introductory course or someone you know and trust will vouch for them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest you work for an an existing guide service for like a year to learn the business. Even if the guide service is not something you know - like work the dock for a river guide.  You can volunteer with the Boy Scouts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personal chefs make a living.  A personal guide may work.  Only take families and existing groups.  To cover your costs you would need to take in like $300 a day and $15 a person per day.  You would need to charge more if you supply their personal gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see it hard to make a living off or even worth your time on a beginner backpacking service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T20:38:00.337" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T20:38:00.337" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-15T23:25:20.507" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;I recommend you prepare for colder than -15C/5F&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lived in southern NY for a while, and I would like to suggest from experience that you prepare for colder than -15C/5F. While that may be the typical range, it is normal to have a handful of days colder than that scattered about the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be prepared to deal with the occasional -20C/-5F to -23C/-10F days. And, if you venture up into the northern parts of the state, you should be prepared for the possibility of some days even colder than that. I remember encountering occasional temperatures below -29C/-20F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The record cold temperatures for various cities in NY reach down into the -30s and -40s. The very coldest record for NY, from a quick Google search, appears to be in the -45C/-50F area in Old Forge... of course, you are not likely to encounter -50 if you are not doing much outdoor winter activity, but it is worth noting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What to wear&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Layers work well.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how cold it feels and what the weather forecast looks like for the day, put on one or more of the following. You can even pile it all on top of each other in many layers for the worst days...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The colder, the more layers. Thermal pants or sweatpants either instead of or over top of under-pants, and then jeans or work pants on over top of that. That is 2.5 layers over the lower half.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Larger, thicker socks over top of normal socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;T-shirt, and a thicker thermal shirt, and a sweat shirt or work shirt, and a light winter jacket. If it is very windy or the coldest of days, I'll add a hoodie in there under the light jacket, and I will either replace the light jacket with a heavy winter jacket or wear the heavy jacket over the light one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the colder days, at least 1 pair of gloves. During the bad days, one of the small, thin pairs of gloves that you can pick up cheap from Wal-Mart, and larger, thicker gloves over top of that, and sometimes a big pair of mittens on over top of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If your exposure is limited, many people bring much less.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just walking a few blocks away or if you are driving in a heated vehicle, you can get away with a lot less. Many people go out to start up their car, turn on the heater, and go back inside while their car warms up. Then they go out not properly dressed for the weather, because they will only be exposed to it for a minute or less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you forego too much because you expect not to be exposed for long, sometimes you might get stuck in the cold and be miserably cold. Sometimes the snow dumps quick while you're in somewhere, and you come out to a pile of snow that needs to be removed from your vehicle, and that can freeze you if you came underdressed because of your car heater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bring more than what you think you need.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should keep an extra shirt or two, or a blanket, or something in your vehicle. Leave it there through the winter in case you need it when you did not expect to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the vehicle you are driving or riding in breaks down or encounters more snow than it can drive through or it just slides off the road; in any of those situations you get stranded in the cold for a while. Maybe 5 years ago or so the state throughway received so much snow that many vehicles on that highway got stuck for a while, a few days if I recall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I keep 1 or 2 extra sets of clothes, a snow shovel, and a cold weather sleeping back in my vehicle just to be safe. Most of it &lt;em&gt;has&lt;/em&gt; been used in winter emergencies multiple times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;White-out&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the visibility in NY gets to zero during the really bad snow storms; NY gets white-outs. When I say zero, I really mean zero. Sometimes you cannot tell where the side of the road is, you cannot read any signs, and you cannot even see the vehicle in front of you on the road unless its lights are on and you are less than 10 feet from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This severity of white out is not common, but most winters we get at least 1 of them. When this happens, if you are out in it, you need to make sure you are extremely careful, and if you are driving then drive extremely slowly. If you expect these conditions, it affects the clothing you should bring; bring everything I mentioned above in case you get stuck in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That all might sound excessive, but the point is just to make sure you have multiple layers available, at least 1 more than you feel like you need. When you get too cold, put more on. When you get too warm, take some off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also suggest you keep some food available in your vehicle, and I rotate bottles of water in and out of it to keep unfrozen water available. I have had to use both when stuck in the snow while driving the worst days in NY.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The winters in NY are much worse than most people farther south are used to, but they are easily tolerated with a little bit of preparation and save travelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-10-15T23:25:20.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20746" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20753" CreationDate="2018-10-16T01:34:09.330" Score="59" ViewCount="13731" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to try winter camping. What are some common mistakes first-timers make when trying to camp in the cold?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be camping in temperatures between 0 and 32 Fahrenheit (-17 to 0 degrees Celsius). The climate would tend to be dry and cold, temperatures consistently below freezing, unlikely to encounter anything but snow as precipitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 4-season tent and a 0°F synthetic bag that is old, so it's more like a 32°F (0°C) bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T12:21:41.850" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T12:21:41.850" Title="What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="15" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T05:32:23.140" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have the luxury, take a bunch of stuff you're not sure you'll need. A winter hat can be great for sleeping, especially if that bag is not a mummy. An extra fleece blanket is very nice, or even just a big dry towell if nothing else is available. A warm sweater that's not getting wet during the day is nice, and some extra layer between you and the ground. It's mostly the night I would worry about. You probably know roughly what to expect from the day, and you can always find ways to warm up. But barely sleeping because you keep waking up cold is just really uncomfortable. So try to overestimate what you'll need, stay on the safe side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything else is probably pretty dependent on what you're thinking of trying. Do you have any details about the trip in your head?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T05:32:23.140" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20741" CreationDate="2018-10-16T08:06:43.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A market definitely exists, but that also means you already have quite a bit of competition. There are both small local guide companies that do this, and big companies with a national, or even international scope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in real estate, location is everything. To make a go of it you'll need a large base of potential clients, and the easiest way to get that is to lead trips into famous areas of great natural beauty, national parks for example. If you want to lead trips into more obscure areas you'll have many fewer potential clients, and you'll need to do a lot more marketing, specifically targeting the clients who'll be attracted by that sort of trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, if you are leading trips that cross into government managed land (national parks, and national forests for example) you'll have to jump through a lot of legal hoops to be approved as as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/subjects/concessions/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;concessioner&lt;/a&gt;. Just as an example, you'll probably have to be certified as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_First_Responder&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness First Responder&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T08:06:43.147" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20750" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20773" CreationDate="2018-10-16T08:50:23.617" Score="8" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I scuba dive a lot I tend to see a lot of people swimming in open water, some seem to choose to have a regular wetsuit, and some seem to use an apnea wetsuit. Fresh or salt water, I've seen a mix in both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apnea wetsuits are neutral buoyancy, whereas regular neoprene wetsuits are positive buoyancy. What would be the benefits of the one suit over the other for swimming, if any?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T08:20:38.410" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T08:20:38.410" Title="Open water swimming, apnea or regular wet suit?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20751" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-16T10:18:37.197" Score="8" ViewCount="2140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to connect 12lb leadline (lead removed for knot) to a 6lb flurocarbon leader but when I tie them with a double uni knot the flurocarbon breaks when pulling it tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried a couple of times and it breaks with very little effort, I can't break the line without it being knotted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not too sure why it's breaking but it breaks at the part of the knot that is tightly coiled. Is there a better knot I can use with line this fine? I have used the technique of threading the fluro through the middle of the braid and tying an underhand knot on larger braids but it's too hard to thread with braid this thin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm using sufix 832 leadline, and Seaguar blue label leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16599" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-21T00:37:42.143" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T15:25:36.800" Title="Why does my flurocarbon leader keep breaking when tied with a double uni-knot?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T10:20:27.030" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some common mistakes, definitely nothing close to exhaustive, so feel free to edit (I'll make it a community wiki if appropriate). If the point is about what you should do, the mistake is not doing it ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Underestimating the sleeping pad,&lt;/strong&gt; You need a well insulated pad. There are various designs, but while R-Value isn't an absolute measure, it still is a good starting pointer: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17335/what-is-a-good-r-value-for-a-four-season-sleeping-pad&quot;&gt;What is a good R value for a four-season sleeping pad?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;With a too thin pad you will be miserably cold on the bottom (well all over with time) no matter how good your sleeping bag is.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forgetting to bring a second set of (under)clothing.&lt;/strong&gt; Bring a second set of your baselayer clothing and store them completely watertight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not having sufficient variety of gloves for different purposes or not using them accordingly&lt;/strong&gt;. Working gloves (mostly for digging the shelter) will get drenched eventually. Very warm gloves when you are &quot;not doing anything&quot;, i.e. you don't need to touch snow (well, not more than occasionally) and you don't sweat. They are your backup gloves and should never ever get wet. Then I usually bring even a third pair that is used in between: I am not building stuff, but maybe cooking, walking, ... - they might get a bit wet, but not like when working.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not using layering for clothing.&lt;/strong&gt; I mean you should always do this outdoors, but in the cold it's just a necessity. You will need to adjust your clothing often due to activity level and/or temp/wind changes. You can't get cold but you also can't sweat, because you will get cold - so adjust early and often.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forgetting to check their cooking gear at such conditions.&lt;/strong&gt; Gas might not work or very badly at such low temps. I even had issues once lighting the gasoline when preheating the stove at ~-20degC. There's solutions, that's not really the point I want to make here, the point is, you don't want to find out whether it works when you are hours away from a warm place in the dark. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="14641" LastEditDate="2018-10-16T21:40:10.163" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T21:40:10.163" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T10:40:04.037" Score="55" Body="&lt;p&gt;Common mistakes, some of which I've made:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unfamiliarity with equipment&lt;/strong&gt; - this isn't specific to winter camping of course, but if you've used all the gear before in milder conditions, then there's obviously less that's new to you.  So if you're using a different tent to summer, make sure you've spent a night in it before the winter, so that you know where all the internal pockets are by feel, for example.  Or use it in winter, but close to home/transport, so that you have an escape when you realise you're missing something vital.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equipment freezing&lt;/strong&gt; - if you usually leave your boots in the tent porch, you might want to bring a carrier-bag to keep them warm in the tent (inside your sleeping bag in extremis!) without smearing mud everywhere.  Similarly, you probably want to keep your water-bottle (and any other freezable liquids) in your inner tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking fuel&lt;/strong&gt; - you'll need up to twice as much fuel as summer - even more if you need to melt snow or ice to obtain drinking/cooking water.  Make sure you take plenty; it's pretty miserable in winter without hot food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're using gas, avoid butane (which completely liquefies at around -0.5°C, depending on altitude) - butane/propane mix is a better choice (down to around -15°C/+5°F or so).  You might need to keep your fuel inside your tent, or even your sleeping bag - but only if you're confident it won't leak; going hungry is preferable to being poisoned!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever fuel you use, make sure you know how it behaves at the temperatures you might encounter, and insulate it appropriately.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt; - as for cooking, you'll need more body-fuel to maintain your warmth and to carry the heavier load than summer.  If you've done a lot of winter day-trips, you'll be used to taking a bit extra in your pockets, but might not realise how much more you're eating when off the hill.  On a backpacking trip, you can't afford to get into energy debt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snow&lt;/strong&gt; - depending on your tent design, snow may settle on it, and cause the outer to touch the inner; in very heavy, wet, snow, it could even collapse your tent.  In such conditions, you might need to get up every few hours to clear it.  Snow can also reduce ventilation under the flysheet, leading to problems with condensation, and (at least theoretically) with CO₂ build-up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ground conditions&lt;/strong&gt; - frozen ground can be hard to get pegs into, or deep snow might require broad pegs (&quot;sand pegs&quot;) if you can't clear it to ground level.  Make sure you know what kind of ground to expect, or take a selection of pegs for different conditions.  Use a sleeping mat; in cold conditions, I've even used an ordinary closed-cell mat underneath the tray groundsheet and an inflatable pad inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Daylight&lt;/strong&gt; - depending on your latitude, days may be much shorter than they are in summer, so you'll have less time to reach your destination, or will have to make camp by torchlight.  Make sure you have plenty of batteries or fuel for your light - and remember that batteries are less effective at low temperatures.  I carry a set of AAA lithium cells¹ as spares for my head-torch - they cost two to four times as much as alkaline cells, but they work better in the cold, weigh less², and last longer (shelf life and in use).  When the cheap alkalines are done, I have a backup I know I can trust.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹ &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_battery&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lithium-iron&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; primary cells - not to be confused with &lt;em&gt;lithim-ion&lt;/em&gt; rechargeables&lt;br&gt;&#xA;² A rare treat: winter gear that's lighter than summer gear - relish it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="5411" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T12:06:29.747" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T12:06:29.747" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20741" CreationDate="2018-10-16T11:35:20.787" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What would be some of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in starting such a business?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frankly, none in particular - by which I mean nothing is really standing out from the rest. Everything will be new to you, from legalities to general know-how (routes etc.) to finding a steady supply of customers, how to handle it when you are ill, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or in other words: the first step will be the most difficult one. Go and find out which prerequisites you need to offer your service (do you need to file something with your local city or something like that, do you need to acquire some kind of certificate), fulfill those, and then just start doing it. See how the competition is doing it (but don't bother worrying too much about them, try to have a healthy, good-natured relationship). Whenever you have no customers lined up on a weekend, work on other aspects (map out new routes, work on your website, work on local/regional advertisement and so on).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start slow (not too many events too soon), easy (trips that are trivial for yourself) and maybe do a few private trips for friends&amp;amp;family first to get some free experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you only want to do it on weekends, I assume you are keeping your regular job, so there should be little risk involved. Obviously, find out what risks are there regarding liabilities (in case of accidents, errors on your part, bad weather, illness and so on), but that should be quite manageable; more of a chore than a difficult obstacle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9349" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T11:35:20.787" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20755" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20766" CreationDate="2018-10-16T13:58:39.500" Score="9" ViewCount="602" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation is it actually efficient to eat edible plants?  Assume late spring to early fall in a temperate climate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have plenty of questions about where to find &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/edible&quot;&gt;edible plants&lt;/a&gt; and how to identify them, but I have read that one would expend more energy in gathering them than it would be worth and that the &lt;strong&gt;energy would be better spent trying to get back to civilization.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I remember correctly, nuts are energy efficient enough to be worth gathering, but berries are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any &lt;strong&gt;evidence&lt;/strong&gt; to back this up one way or another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T03:37:31.803" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T15:22:25.957" Title="In a survival situation is it actually efficient to eat edible plants?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20756" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-16T14:00:26.717" Score="1" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most hearing muffs/earplugs have a noise reduction rating of between 22 to 35 NRR.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OSHA says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Impulse Noise: The standard states that exposure to impulsive or impact noise should not exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a table of firearm decibel levels &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caohc.org/UserFiles/file/Shot%20of%20Prevention%20extra%20handout.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; the full-size rifle cartridges listed ranged from 166.5 decibels to 158.9 decibels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were to shoot at an indoor range, what is the minimum noise reduction rating one should use to protect one's hearing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T04:51:07.357" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T04:51:07.357" Title="What NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) should one look for in hearing muffs/earplugs for indoor shooting?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20757" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-16T14:07:09.973" Score="7" ViewCount="149" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went and applied grangers DWR treatment to my waterproof cycling jacket and put it in the dryer for a few minutes to set it. After my first couple rides, it appears there are a few small spots where it is wetting out immediately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I simply wet the jacket and apply more DWR? Should I dry it in the dryer again? Or do I need to wash and re-proof?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="429" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-20T00:28:45.767" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T21:48:13.110" Title="I didn't apply enough DWR treatment to my jacket, can I just add more?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T15:13:45.413" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to the already-good other contributions:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Wearing cotton clothing&lt;/strong&gt; is a common mistake.  When cotton gets wet (from sweat or external sources), it doesn't quickly get dry, and that cold moisture close to your body conducts heat away.  To underscore another answer's point even more, &lt;strong&gt;layering&lt;/strong&gt; is also important; use non-cotton layers wherever possible.  Have at least one layer that's a good windbreak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being reluctant to &lt;strong&gt;change clothes&lt;/strong&gt; is a common issue: First time winter campers might not want to do this because they may be already cold and think it'll be colder exposing their skin to that cold air for the short time needed to change, but the extra warmth from fresh dry clothes is impressive.  You can also try changing inside a sleeping bag to mitigate the effect.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also found that people tend to overlook the warmth value of &lt;strong&gt;silk long underwear.&lt;/strong&gt;   It's not super cheap, but it's warm, compact, and lightweight, and the extra happiness you can get from being warm makes winter camping a lot nicer.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Failure to account for battery performance degradation at lower temperatures&lt;/strong&gt; is a common error that leaves people without enough spare batteries for headlights etc. (which you use more as there are more hours of darkness).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Failure to stake out the tent for ventilation&lt;/strong&gt; is a common error.  It seems counterintuitive, but make sure you use those ropes that hold a gap between the rainfly and tent body to allow for ventilation (and to some degree, a layer of air insulation).  You will produce water vapor in your breath at night and if that's allowed to build up you'll feel cold and clammy in the morning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not having enough traction underfoot&lt;/strong&gt; is another common error. You can buy  YakTrax, ice spikes (which are similar to crampons but many fewer spikes and less sharp), or crampons.  Good ankle support can help avoid rolled ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dehydration&lt;/strong&gt; is a common issue because the air is drier and you need to drink more to stay hydrated, especially when doing active outdoor physical activities.  Even basic camping (setting up the tent, fire-building, cooking, etc.) uses more physical exertion than you might do at home.  Drink plenty of liquids, and include some salts/electrolytes in the mix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overlooking sun protection&lt;/strong&gt; is another common issue.  In the winter you have not only the sun from directly above, but reflecting from the snow.  Have good eye protection and consider still using sunscreen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cooking in the tent&lt;/strong&gt; can kill you with CO (or fire).  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/120/6212&quot;&gt;Don't do it&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do consider putting a bottle of hot water in the sleeping bag with you at night.  If you don't have hot water, at least liquid water.  Then it's more likely to stay liquid until the morning.  Don't fill water bottles completely if they might freeze; leave about a third of the bottle empty for expansion that doesn't bust the bottle.  If you have options, choose insulated-wall bottles instead of single-wall plastic.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you went unprepared and are freezing in wet clothes, and think you might be suffering from hypothermia, &lt;strong&gt;avoid going to sleep&lt;/strong&gt; and if you reach that later stage when you feel much warmer, don't take off your clothes as a result. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, I think a common mistake is &lt;strong&gt;underestimating how much fun and how much of a positive learning/growth experience winter camping can be.&lt;/strong&gt;  Do it enough times and it also provides psychological immunity to long power/heat outages from winter storms at home.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6212" LastEditorUserId="6212" LastEditDate="2018-10-21T19:38:32.240" LastActivityDate="2018-10-21T19:38:32.240" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T16:50:45.883" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of my overnight camping involves backpacking with minimal gear and hiking several miles into the campsite, so I'll answer the question from that perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The primary thing is to stay dry. I'd rather endure 10F dry than 40F wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring spare gloves, socks, insulated hat, and undergarments, because they will get wet just from perspiration. At night, dry your things by the fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear proper insulated socks. My preference is wool.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear water resistant boots with good treads that don't slip in the snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a water proof outer layer like a poncho. The one I carry can unsnap into a square shape and has grommets on the corners, so it can easily double as a tarp if needed when combined with cord.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dress in layers. Even in freezing temperatures, I get warm and sweat when I'm actively hiking or working, so I may shed all the way down to sweat pants, tee-shirt, and long sleeve shirt. Of course, as soon as I stop for a break, I get cold fast, so I always have my full outfit handy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When choosing a camp site, consider that higher elevations will be more windy. Also determine from which direction the wind is blowing, before you setup camp. Not only does wind cause chill factor, but it impedes your efforts when trying to start a fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't worry too much about the temperature rating of the sleeping bag. If you get cold during the night, then one option is to stuff clothes or a trash bag full of dry leaves into the sleeping bag with you. That poncho I mentioned earlier can also be draped over the sleeping bag as well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is no point in backpacking a bulky sleeping pad when you're surrounded by plenty of insulating material in the woods. A couple of leaf filled trash bags also work as an insulating sleeping pad. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For an overnight trip, don't forget to pack at least two liters of water regardless of the temperature. You still need to keep hydrated even when it's cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What I've described above is a minimalist approach. If you're the lead planner for a group hiking/camping trip, then carefully consider each individuals's experience level, health, and comfort needs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16601" LastEditorUserId="16601" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T20:50:00.333" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T20:50:00.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11214" CreationDate="2018-10-16T16:59:09.377" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes. I recently spent over a year living off-grid and used a smaller tent inside a larger one to conserve heat in the smaller one. The inner tent was my sleeping area while the extra space inside the outer tent was used for storing non-essential gear and items which needed to be protected from exposure to the elements. For short camping trips, using 2 tents is not very practical, and you'd probably do better to just put a blanket or other insulating cover over a single tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to use some sort of barrier between the tent poles and the floor of the larger tent, such as bits of cloth or even styrofoam pressed over the pole tips. I used a tarp with an emergency blanket laid over it and set up on top of the blanket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer tent does not provide a great deal of insulation, but it does reduce air-flow between the outside world and the smaller tent. This can greatly reduce heat loss, especially on a wet or windy day. Since your body puts off heat naturally and the inner tent retains heat more efficiently, it can become toasty inside the inner tent. If you have a camp heater, it can be used in the outer tent to keep temperatures up without making the inner tent stuffy or over-warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trick for conserving heat is to put a blanket on the floor of the tent (even if you are only using a single tent) to act as a barrier between the ground and your sleeping space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16603" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T16:59:09.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19221" CreationDate="2018-10-16T17:48:41.510" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am searching for the same sort of thing. I live in a village on a rugged, sparsely populated stretch of coast in Mexico. I have a lot of ocean to explore if I can address two safety concerns:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will be on my own. There's no one on shore, and minimal boat&#xA;traffic, so no one would see me and offer help if I needed it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the people in boats aren't expecting anyone in the water, so they won't be on the lookout to avoid running me over&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Solution&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I found a bunch of high-visibility bags, that provide flotation, by searching for &quot;swimming tow bag&quot; on Amazon. I'm going to try this one &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://a.co/d/8yohzon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;swim buoy bag/backpack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;visible color &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it appears to have separate compartments for air and&#xA;stuff. If you have just one compartment and you were to open it while&#xA;in the water, the bag would lose some or all bouyancy unless you&#xA;refill and close it just right &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;detachable backpack straps (handy for swimming somewhere and then walking)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16606" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T17:48:41.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T19:04:10.477" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Winter outdoor recreation can be a place where the margin of error is a lot smaller than in warm-weather/typical camping season. Winter stuff also just takes a lot more overall energy to do &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt;, meaning that energy management (and learning how to do things when you are cold and tired) is key. With that in mind, two mistakes I have not yet seen mentioned in other answers and I think are important to avoid:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mistake #1: Failing to leave specific details about your trip plan with one or more &quot;in case of emergency&quot; (ICE) contacts.&lt;/strong&gt; For many people, it's more fun and less effort to just run out the door, but making a trip plan and leaving with ICE contacts can make it much easier to get help if something goes wrong on your trip. To avoid mistake #1, you should collect the following information in a document of some sort:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Names and contact information for people going on the trip.&lt;/em&gt; By contact information I mean details for any means of communication they will bring with them (cell phone number, email, radio callsign, etc.). If you are going solo (which I do not recommend for beginner winter trips, unless you are sleeping out in your backyard), this will be just your contact information, but is still important to document.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Names and contact information for official resources relevant to your trip.&lt;/em&gt; For example, if you are camping at a state park, what is the phone number and hours for the office there?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Directions about where you will be over the course of your trip and how exactly you plan to get there.&lt;/em&gt; These should be specific enough that your ICE contact (who may not be as familiar with the area as yo), can still effectively communicate your likely location to search-and-rescue officials in case you become injured and call for help (or become overdue and they have to trace your planned steps to come find you). Providing the actual document can also help such officials plan a search.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Notes about &lt;strong&gt;when&lt;/strong&gt; you will be where, and &lt;strong&gt;when&lt;/strong&gt; anyone in the outside world should consider you &quot;overdue&quot; and come looking for you to make sure you're not in deep trouble.&lt;/em&gt; For example, I specify where I intend to sleep (and make every effort to follow this plan when picking my campsites) and when intend to leave/move to a new area. Specifying who should come looking for you (neighbor, family member, friend who knows the camping area, search and rescue people, etc.) and how to contact them (for example, through a State Park office phone number) will make things easier for your ICE contact(s).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Notes about what type of gear and skills you and your trip companions have.&lt;/em&gt; For gear, will you have or not have a first aid kit? Extra cellphone and flashlight batteries? A car packed to the brim with sleeping bags and pads? Food just for the day versus food for a week? etc. For skills, note whether anyone has first aid training, previous winter camping experience, general camping experience, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, once you have collected the above information, give it to at least one person (if not multiple people) who cares about your well being and has the capacity to be semi-alert to communication from you throughout the trip (in case you deviate from the plans and can communicate when and how the changes happened) and has the capacity to be fully alert and able to communicate with you and/or a search crew around your stated overdue/cut-off times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The above recommendation is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; meant to be scary or otherwise discourage you from going winter camping.&lt;/strong&gt; I love winter outdoor activities, including winter camping, and think that if you are interested in it now, there is a very good chance you will enjoy it, too. The above recommendation (to avoid the listed mistake) is intended to do two things: (A) force you to think through all of these details ahead of time, so that you can plan a trip that is sensible and safety-conscious before you even step out your door, and (B) increase the chances that someone can come help you out of a jam if you do manage to make a mistake in spite of all of the advice given here. (B) increases the likelihood that you'll be able to go winter camping again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mistake #2: Pushing yourself to do/learn too much all at once on a single winter camping trip.&lt;/strong&gt; Making this mistake decreases the chances you'll have fun and want to go again (the least worst case scenario) and increases the chances something will go dangerously wrong (the worst case scenario). To avoid this mistake, you should realize that it is perfectly acceptable (and highly recommended) to engage in training and testing opportunities related to winter camping, before you head off for a backpacking campsite with the overnight low forecast to be 15*F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of skills to learn for being comfortable outdoors in the cold. You can practice them in smaller, safer ways than trying to learn them all at once on a winter camping. This way, when you do try to use them all at once on the camping trip, you'll have to think about each individual skill less, because you can rely on the practice you got with them previously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving parts and how to practice them before winter camping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do you know how to layer properly when you are moving and when you are standing around?&lt;/em&gt; On a cold day, if you walk briskly around a park (or a neighborhood, or the block around your workplace), then stop and sit for a little while this is a great way to test out your understanding of how to layer clothing and how to adjust it for different types of activity levels. In winter camping there are times when you will be active (setting up camp, hiking around) and passive (sitting for meals, sleeping) and you can practice the basics for how to switch your clothing between these activities without going actually camping. (When I lived close enough to work to walk, in the winter my daily commute was how I tested out a wide range of layering methods for myself.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Can you make food and heat water in the cold with your cooking and water storage gear?&lt;/em&gt; Verify your local laws, but most parks are ok places to take your winter cooking gear and use it on picnic tables, etc. So pick a day (or a lunch hour) on a chilly day to test out your gear, take notes, and repeat the practice several times. (You can do this on a warm day, too, if you're using completely different gear than you have experience with.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is your sleeping gear warm enough?&lt;/em&gt; Do you have a yard you can sleep in? Do you have a friend with a yard? Do you have a campground that you can car camp at? These are all places to practice sleeping out overnight that give you a much larger margin of error for testing your gear and your skills. You can learn: whether your sleeping pad (or pads) is warm enough, is your tent comfortable to spend 9 hours in, where can you put your headlamp so you can find it in the dark, how annoying is it to get out of your sleeping gear and go to the bathroom? And you can do it in a place where, if the answer is &quot;not warm enough&quot; you can just walk back into your house, take a hot shower and go to bed safely and try again another time. If you test out your gear for the first (or even the second) time when you're a 3 mile + hike away from the car at a location that's a 3 hour drive from home and at least 40 minutes from the nearest camping gear store, well, you're making things a lot harder on yourself if you discover any errors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Are any people interested in coming with you likely to enjoy themselves?&lt;/em&gt; If you've got a friend who's intrigued, doing test runs can also help you get a sense for each other's experience and limits, and develop good habits to keep an eye on each other. For example, I have a friend who really dislikes the cold, but enjoyed outdoor recreation and time spent with me and our other camping friends enough to try cold weather camping on several occasions. Knowing what my friend was like on short walks in the cold meant on camping trips I could distinguish between friendly griping about the &quot;ridiculous&quot; temperatures that signaled minor discomfort and the passive aggressive sniping that showed up once towards the end of a winter backpacking trip when my friend had actually started slipping towards being in trouble internal temperature and available energy-wise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;How do you (personally) mentally and physically respond to being cold and tired?&lt;/em&gt; Much like the previous point, except focused specifically on you. I get excessively (embarrassingly) cranky when my feet are cold and wet, even if the rest of me is perfectly warm and dry. This is somewhat dangerous if I'm paying more attention to my uncomfortable feet than to things like where I'm going, what time it is (how much daylight is left) and whether I've been eating and hydrating properly. After learning this about myself, I figured out the gear and habits that will prevent me getting to that point through dayhikes in local parks, so I didn't have to cope with that issue on camping trips where I couldn't just scrounge up an extra pair of dry socks and grocery bags.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5367" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T19:04:10.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T20:18:47.067" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have camped for a month in March/April in Alaska. The biggest problem that we had was managing moisture of clothing, and bedding. Things slowly get more moist, largely from breathing and you eventually have trouble keeping warm. Having a way to dry things out at some point would really help. Otherwise being very careful with ventilation  will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16609" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T20:18:47.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-16T20:42:30.103" Score="11" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Don't underestimate condensation.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other answers have mentioned sleeping mats. The problem is that if you're camped on cold ground, you've got a cold groundsheet, and that's going to get condensation on it. Even if you've got a sleeping mat, that's not much help if your clothes get wet while you're moving around in the tent. Or when your sleeping bag inevitably falls slightly off the m mat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestion for sleeping mats is always a Z-Lite or similar underneath, and something on top for comfort. With a tent floor which could be damp, I suggest getting 3 Z-Lites for a 2-man tent and line the floor with them. They weigh next to nothing, and their structure means any condensation isn't trapped underneath as it is with regular flat mats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also on condensation, the outside of your sleeping bag is going to get damp anyway, as your evaporating sweat hits the colder outer layers of the bag. You need to be serious about airing your sleeping bag wherever possible, otherwise the damp is going to work its way through and you're in for progressively less comfortable nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T20:42:30.103" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20755" CreationDate="2018-10-16T21:24:01.537" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;People make lots of claims. You can find all kinds of suggestions when you research this, some of it even from people who are considered experts. In the end, all you can do is use some basic logic and look at some real, anecdotal events.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long term survival, if you can attempt to get back to civilization, that is always recommended. People often suggest that you sit tight and wait for help if it is a survival situation, but that only applies until dying of starvation sounds more likely than being rescued.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of Geraldine Largay, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/missing-hiker-geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-maine.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;who got lost on the Appalachian trail&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Multiple agencies and volunteers joined the hunt, with searchers on&#xA;  foot, on horseback and in helicopters. She was less than a mile from&#xA;  the trail, close enough that searchers probably passed near her&#xA;  without realizing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were searching for her but could not find her. She stayed put since she had a bad sense of direction, but before the end if she had just walked in a random direction she may have had a roughly 50% chance of hitting the nearby trail. &lt;strong&gt;Obviously, she should have tried to get back.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another high profile case in which someone would have died had they not self-rescued, but in this case where he &lt;em&gt;did&lt;/em&gt; self-rescue and survived because of it, is the case of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aron Ralston&lt;/a&gt;. You've probably heard of him. He is the guy that we don't like to think about because&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(spoiler because it's gruesome)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt; he had to cut off his own arm with a dull knife to save himself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If he had continued to wait for rescue, he would have perished like Geraldine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More support comes from watching survival experts (albeit self-proclaimed generally) try to survive in the wilderness and starving. Many have died.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can watch this for yourself (starving, not dying) on the TV show &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_(TV_series)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alone&lt;/a&gt;, in which contestants try to be the longest to survive alone in the wilderness. The contestants receive periodic medical checkups, and people have been pulled medically for being too badly starved. One season was won this way, and the winner was on the verge of being pulled medically as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alone is an interesting source for examining your question, as there have been several plant expert survivalists on the show. They have shown us that if you are an expert in locating and identifying plants and if you combine this with some other food, such as a few fish, that you can survive for a long time, much longer than if you were to sit still and conserve energy. But even then, they slowly lose mass and would probably eventually die, especially once winter reduces their food supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not recall if anyone has ever survived on 100% edible plants on the show, but some of them do survive on predominantly plants. There are a few people who do plants, including sea kelp, and bugs or slugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other evidences as well, including actual survival, which back up this assessment based on Alone, but I think this one is sufficient as it shows us dozens of actual accounts and you can see the survival first hand on video.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the case of Geraldine Largay and similar cases, it seems highly inadvisable to avoid self-rescue forever, no matter how uncertain you are: eventually you need to at least attempt to rescue yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the survivors in Alone, it is evidence that edible plants can prolong your survival, but it is also evidence that the vast majority of people will not survive indefinitely that way. The plants could help you wait longer in the hopes of being rescued in place, but even so eventually you still need to fall back eventually on self rescue if enough time passes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-10-16T21:24:01.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20755" CreationDate="2018-10-16T21:34:51.307" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I looked first at bears to get a handle on this question, because it is well known that bears get a significant part of their caloric intake from berries. &lt;strong&gt;I should have looked first at berries!&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.verywellfit.com/blueberries-nutrition-facts-calories-and-health-benefits-4109926&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blueberry Nutrition Facts&lt;/a&gt;, one quart of blueberries has 340 calories. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume that the lost person of the Q expends 4,000 calories per day trying to get unlost.  Let's also assume that he or she started out, like most of us, a little bit too well fed, so some of his caloric requirements are met by body fat.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In one month of being lost (probably a large overestimate), assume 2,000 calories per day of body fat are mobilized, 62,000 calories for the month,  which is the equivalent of 18 pounds.  (One pound of fat has about 3,500 calories.  Ignore mobilization efficiency.)  Unless the person started out extremely thin, losing 18 pounds is not a serious problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that month, the person has to eat 2,000 calories per day of berries to make up his 4,000 calorie per day requirements. &lt;strong&gt;That is 6 quarts of blueberries per day.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How long does it take to pick 6 quarts of blueberries?  According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stewartsberrypatch.com/u-pick&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stewart's Berry Patch&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;An experienced picker can generally pick about 8 - 10 pounds of&#xA;  blueberries in an hour. This is the equivalent to filling two plastic&#xA;  4 litre ice cream buckets. In order to pick this many berries in an&#xA;  hour, one needs to be using both hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This, of course, is on a berry farm, where the berry bushes are extremely close together and bred for high yield.  But it suggests that if you hit a dense patch of blueberries, you can easily pick 2,000 calories worth in a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But the catch is:&lt;/strong&gt;  There will be bears in that berry patch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer to the question is:  if you are in an area with abundant berries, you can easily survive for the length of the berry season, (possibly without loss of weight) &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; you can survive the bears.  If you are in an area with only scattered berries, you probably cannot get  2,000 calories per day (6 quarts per day) from berries, and will need nuts and even more holes in your belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt;  The original version of this answer used data about grizzly bear caloric requirements, black bear berry consumption and human caloric requirements to get an answer of 10 quarts (2.5 gallons) of berries per day for 2,000 calories per day, as opposed to the more direct calculation of 6 quarts per day.  I estimated an error bar of a factor of 2, and the direct calculation (above) was 60% of the baroque calculation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used the following data:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/foraging-a-foods/67-berries-a-critical-food.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The North American Bear Center&lt;/a&gt;:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bears around Ely [Minnesota] gain weight most rapidly during July and&#xA;  August when berries and hazelnuts are abundant.  When the berries run&#xA;  out in September, there is little else to eat. The bears usually&#xA;  enter dens in September or October.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animalanswers.co.uk/animals/how-much-do-grizzly-bears-need-to-eat-to-survive/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Animal Answers&lt;/a&gt;, grizzly bears eat about 20,000 calories a day. The answer from The North American Bear Center (link above) estimates that black bears eat about 30,000 berries a day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a rough grizzly/black bear calories per day to berries per day conversion, the person has to eat roughly 3,000 berries per day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.howmuchisin.com/produce_converters/blueberries&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Produce Converter&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The size of these berries ran between .25 to .5 inches in diameter. We&#xA;  found that a 1 pound container (450g) holds about 3 to 3.5 cups or 195&#xA;  to 210 fresh blueberries. For a 1 quart measurement you would need to&#xA;  purchase about 1.5 pounds which equals about 4.25 cups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So 300 blueberries need a one quart container.  3,000 blueberries thus occupies 10 quarts or 2.5 gallons. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T00:59:03.223" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T00:59:03.223" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20767" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-16T23:47:28.230" Score="8" ViewCount="1128" Body="&lt;p&gt;My question is prompted by the answer of @Aaron to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20755/in-a-survival-situation-is-it-actually-efficient-to-eat-edible-plants&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;; his answer referenced &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/missing-hiker-geraldine-largay-appalachian-trail-maine.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Geraldine's Largay's death on the Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ms. Largay was hiking alone on the AT in Maine.  She got lost off-trail in a wild section and remained at a water source rather than attempting to self rescue, possibly because of her poor sense of direction.  Searchers came very close, and she was only a mile from the AT itself, but she was found only after she died.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If one is in a similar situation, complete with poor sense of direction, what is an efficient and likely effective way to probe the area in an attempt to self rescue?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume below timberline, a temperate climate, and no GPS or PLB or similar devices.  Ms. Largay had a water source, which was an impetus to stay put, but let's assume at the time you got lost you were not within sight or sound of water.  Assume you are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; in a desert.  Also assume that there is no visible high hill from whose top you might get your bearings.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T07:13:16.163" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T13:39:31.407" Title="What is the most methodical way to try to get yourself unlost? (Assume below timberline in a temperate climate)" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;lost&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20756" CreationDate="2018-10-16T23:56:09.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Despite what the extremely smart and dedicate (and if I say so myself good looking) individuals in the US military say is the maximum safe exposure, more noise reduction is always better to the extent that it does not hamper situational awareness or impact operational readiness. As a recreational shooter, this means more is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big issue is that in the past decade we have become aware of what is called hidden hearing loss (i.e., hearing loss that audiologist cannot measure, but screws up listening in complex and noisy environments that people encounter every day). This hearing loss occurs at noise doses that were once thought safe by everyone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest everyone invest in a high quality pair of custom molded musician ear plugs. Foam and gel ear plugs generally provide less protection then custom molded ones and are harder to fit properly. NRR values are completely useless since everyone's ears are different and no one fits plugs correctly anyways. Custom molded plugs get around a lot of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the custom molded plugs, I would highly recommend using double protection where you wear ear muffs on top of the plugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;strong&gt;Edit to possibly placate the down voter&lt;/strong&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OSHA allows a 140 dB peak level for impulsive noises. With 30 dB of attenuation, this puts you at 170 dB peak level. This is less than any gun you are going to find at an indoor range. OSHA allows for 90 dB for 8 hours with a 5 dB trading ratio for continuous noise. Assuming you are shooting for 1 hour, this means 105 dB without protection and 135 dB with 30 dB of attenuation. This is an average level so would require lots of people firing to keep that level constant. Again, the safety standards probably say you are fine with any type of reasonable protection. The EU uses a 3 dB trade, so depending on how long you shoot, you might get a full noise dose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is that regardless of what the rules allow, you should attempt to keep your noise dose as low possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[DISCLAIMER: &lt;em&gt;Strongbad speaks for himself and the views expressed in this answer are not endorsed nor approved by his employer&lt;/em&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T00:32:42.590" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T00:32:42.590" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20767" CreationDate="2018-10-17T00:13:51.777" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most cases, and certainly in this one, &lt;strong&gt;you want to go downhill&lt;/strong&gt; following water if at all possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downhill will take you to civilization in almost all cases, as humans have tended to settle in the valleys and not on the mountaintops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going downhill &lt;strong&gt;will also help one find more water&lt;/strong&gt;, as streams get bigger the farther downhill you want to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing one could do is to use the sun to find directions and just go in one direction instead of wandering in circles - but this has its own problems, and the sun can be blocked by clouds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing is to not give up and to remember that ultimately you are responsible for your own safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-03-09T13:39:31.407" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T13:39:31.407" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20771" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20772" CreationDate="2018-10-17T05:05:32.337" Score="2" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20756/what-noise-reduction-rating-should-one-look-for-in-hearing-muffs-earplugs-for-in&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, firearms make different levels of noise depending on the firearm in question and the choice of ammunition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What factors cause one firearm to be louder than another?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T19:02:11.327" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T09:26:28.370" Title="What factors lead to one firearm being louder than another?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20771" CreationDate="2018-10-17T05:05:32.337" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of different factors that would result in less noise,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smaller cartridges – e.g., .22 rimfires instead of bottleneck rifle cartridges like .308 Winchesters (140 dB vs 167 dB)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Longer barrels as the noise is farther away from your ear and there is less pressure at the muzzle due to more space for the gas to expand. (2 dB going from 14.5&quot; to 20&quot; in one example.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Subsonic ammunition as bullets that break the sound barrier create a sonic boom, while subsonic ammo does not. (depends on the cartridge)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/AIS-Recreational-Firearm-Noise-Exposure.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Single shot actions&lt;/a&gt;, semi-autos have moving pieces that make plenty of noise in their own right and they open the action to load the next round and noise comes from that as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Barrel attachment: A &lt;a href=&quot;http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/08/07/muzzle-brakes-sound-test/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;muzzle brake will increase the perceived noise&lt;/a&gt; (some up to 9 dB) and reduce the recoil while a suppressor will reduce the noise the shooter hears.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these make more of a difference than others, with cartridge choice having the biggest impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T19:04:21.937" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T19:04:21.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20750" CreationDate="2018-10-17T09:08:26.403" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Positive buoyancy is useful in a swimming wetsuit as it reduces drag by lifting the swimmer in the water. Less swimmer in the water, less drag to overcome, so the swimmer can be faster for the same effort. Swimming wetsuits will also have a smooth covering to further reduce the drag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typical triathlon wetsuits will also control the buoyancy in different places to aid the swimmer. For example, some Huub wetsuits are available in 3:5 and 4:4 buoyancy. 3:5 uses 3mm neoprene in the chest and 5mm in the legs, giving the legs additional buoyancy to stop them from sinking. The 4:4 wetsuit uses 4mm neoprene in the chest and legs, designed for more horizontal swimmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16616" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T09:08:26.403" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11220" CreationDate="2018-10-17T09:54:57.953" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knives come in all shapes and sizes.  Knives are also &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; optimal for cutting your way out of a net or fishing line:  use a line cutter such as the Trilobite Line Cutter (others are available).  These contain blades which are shielded and won't be considered a &quot;weapon&quot; except for hand luggage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need a knife to cut a rope,  a shorter and stout blade is best without a pointed tip.  It's difficult the point of a giant 'sword' strapped to one's calf that represents a snag risk -- unless you're after stabbing something underwater!   Short, stout blades such as the Underwater Kinetics Remora are easy to keep on one's person and will easily cut through 20mm rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using these smaller cutters means that you don't have issues with officialdom nervous of people carrying large 'weapon' like blades.  As usual, when flying all 'sharps' have to go in the hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry three at all times:  two Trilobites,  one on my wrist-mounted compass bungee,  one on my waist belt,  and a Remora in my pocket.  I use the Trilobite quite frequently to cut away netting and fishing line.  The Remora's been used to prove that I can cut thick rope underwater,  such as freeing a shot line,  etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T10:10:13.000" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T10:10:13.000" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20775" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20783" CreationDate="2018-10-17T10:13:26.147" Score="2" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard people suggesting to drink water when you are seated after a tiresome activity. They usually ask to avoid drinking water while standing upright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that have an actual scientific reasoning, or is just baseless advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could slam me for it being easy to google, and I have googled for it. But when we talk about trekking, climbing, swimming, cycling, etc... its a different situation. As a trekker or cyclist I'd be mad at me sitting periodically to get a sip of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T05:47:38.373" Title="Drinking water while standing vs seated" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19571" CreationDate="2018-10-17T12:14:54.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;On Meteo there are many others climbers. So you can join some other group of people :-)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Hiking to Meteo is easy except for the Gergeti glacier (rolling stones, water, cracks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For ascending/climbing you will need a crampon, ice axe, headlamp, helmet and something to melt snow for drinking water. A good idea is to start around 3 am because descending is dangerous when glacier is melting and stones are moving&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And important for your safety: do not hike alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16619" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T21:45:03.630" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T21:45:03.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20737" CreationDate="2018-10-17T12:23:36.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A new jacket isn't going to solve your problems, you need to dress differently in cold climates.&lt;/strong&gt; Living in the cold always involves a trade off between staying warm and overheating. Especially when commuting it's important to have a jacket that is easily removed or ventilated. For short periods of time the most comfortable jacket is going to be the one which blocks the wind best. Hoodies are cotton and absolutely awful at stopping air moving through them; just about any nylon windbreaker would be warmer. For all-winter wear you'll want something more like a ski jacket which combines an windproof shell with insulated lining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being new to cold winters there are a couple of hints that will help you adjust. The first thing to seriously consider is wearing a hat. The head really is a significant source of heat loss, and a regular knitted cap will dramatically increase your comfort. Even better it's easily removed and stuffed in a pocket when you transition through warmer areas like a train. You can even leave the house with it in pocket so it's available if you suddenly need to be outside for a while.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thin pair of gloves is also essential. It doesn't sound like contact frostbite (caused by handling cold materials) is going to be an issue in your case, but things like pumping gas and walking around can be miserable with cold fingers. One of my worst outdoor experiences was actually carrying a bottle of Snapple a few blocks during a record cold streak when I'd left gloves at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, for casual wear fleece is extremely warm and comfy provided you heed the previous warning about wind chill. It's much warmer than cotton while having the same kind of crush and toss casual vibe as a hoodie. You may want to experiment with both: a winter jacket for wind and long periods outside, and a fleece top for late autumn and in-and-out of the car or building winter days. (Generally you need to remove a ski jacket as soon as you enter a building and at least unzip it in a car. I find with fleece you can tolerate 10-15 minutes indoors or driving with the heat at a reasonable setting.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T12:23:36.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20778" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20755" CreationDate="2018-10-17T12:33:33.823" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of long quality answers.  This is the short simple version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are either berries or not, if there are berries, &lt;strong&gt;and you know they are safe&lt;/strong&gt;, eat them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your sitting and waiting to be rescued, you might as well spend your time eating the nearby berries if they are there. There no reason not to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are traveling and there are berries stop and eat them, you need to rest anyway, and there is no better way to rest then eating berries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Berries exist therefore they provide nutrition. A non-nutritious berry would not support the animal distributing the seeds, an evolutionary dead end...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider berries are mostly fluid (i.e. water) berries are the flavored water of nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above is very berrie centric answer. But it really doesn't matter, if you are not moving, and near a known safe food source, you should eat it. Humans evolved as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunter-gatherers&lt;/a&gt; with some still following it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hunting and gathering was humanity's first and most successful adaptation, occupying at least 90 percent of human history.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13385/when-to-know-its-worth-to-start-with-agriculture&quot;&gt;When to know it&amp;#39;s worth to start with agriculture?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T15:22:25.957" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T15:22:25.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20779" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-17T14:04:52.260" Score="8" ViewCount="1002" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was backcountry camping recently in the Canadian Rockies and there was a sign that said “please don’t urinate around the campsite, it is attracting bears”. Of course, following LNT principles, I used the pit toilets, but it made me wonder if the sign was just to scare people into peeing where they should or if it had some truth to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought grizzlies tend to avoid people (unless food is involved) hence why you should make noise when hiking in bear territory. Are bears really attracted to human urine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6236" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-17T14:41:06.587" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T17:35:50.557" Title="Are grizzly bears attracted by human urine?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;grizzly-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-17T14:09:57.797" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Underestimating how hard it is to walk in the snow&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done quite a lot of summer hiking and decided to go in winter on a track I knew well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The track was layered with about a meter of snow. It was not a dangerous one, topographically speaking (no risk to fall off a cliff or something) but we clearly underestimated how tired we would be walking in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We ended up stopping mid-track and get back. It was less risky than to hope to reach our target and it was the right decision: we knew what to expect (who knows how the snow would be further on), had a clear track in front of us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3568" LastEditorUserId="3568" LastEditDate="2018-10-22T08:53:16.320" LastActivityDate="2018-10-22T08:53:16.320" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20779" CreationDate="2018-10-17T14:38:09.470" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Yes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bear’s sense of smell is seven times stronger than a bloodhound. If you’ve ever smelled coffee, alcohol, or yesterday’s beetroot salad in your urine, bears can smell every donut and drip of hot sauce you’ve eaten from miles away. There’s no understanding why, but bears ogle over human piss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.outdoortechnology.com/2015/05/27/5-ways-attract-bears-campsite/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Urine has salt in it, and animals know that and will lick it off rocks or tear at stumps that have been peed on to get to the salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biel said the cumulative data indicated that the Logan Pass herds weren't normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;They're hanging their hats on available salt; urine, antifreeze, sweaty pack straps,&amp;quot; Biel said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/outdoors/2017/08/21/studying-goats-bears-and-peoples-urine-glacier-national-park/548767001/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you pee, goats follow. An icon of Glacier National Park’s rocky and steep landscape, the mountain goat has a strong hunger for salt. This leads the furry animals to natural mineral licks and also hiking trails, in search for the salt left by human urine&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gearjunkie.com/glacier-national-park-goats-bears-pee-study&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-17T17:35:50.557" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-17T19:44:52.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most cruitial mistake you could do with winter camping is God forbid lose a toe or get a frost bite on toe or fingers. Take into account that when you will not be moving, you would need much more warmer clothes. I would say Fingers and toes are most vulnerable in cold conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason, I would suggest to go with at least -10 extra rated equipment for conditions that you expect. I myself have invested in -40F rated sleeping bag and -40F rated mittens because I know if something bad happens, I can bunk in my bag and get recharged. It actually helped once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first winter camping turnout almost dangerous as we encountered 70+ miles cold winds. We couldn't make it to our destination site and put up camp in a make shift spot. Winds were still blowing but I was glad I had -40 bag and slept great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14561" LastEditorUserId="14561" LastEditDate="2018-10-18T13:55:07.710" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T13:55:07.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20775" CreationDate="2018-10-18T05:47:38.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No scientific basis. For it to be so, drinking would have to process differently standing up than sitting down. But if you sit upright then the upper body (where the water is being processed) is no different than if you were standing. So any effect must be from the waist down. But that would be an issue of general circulation most probably, rather than anything to do with drinking water. Note however that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16630" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T05:47:38.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20784" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20785" CreationDate="2018-10-18T09:48:18.427" Score="3" ViewCount="192" Body="&lt;p&gt;This morning when out on one of my usual walks I discovered an Amphibian / Lizard on the path - I did not take a picture as it had clearly been attacked at some point, it was not alive at this time, my guess is a heron may have had a try at it. - the location was alongside a river about 15m / 50ft from the rivers edge, which was accessible via damp grasses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The creature had a long tail, was dark in colour, with white-ish spots covering it's body on it's sides and back, it was approximately 4-5 inches / 10-12 cm in length. It had legs, so not a slow worm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of the few types of UK Amphibians or Lizards which could this possibly be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-10-18T12:41:23.440" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T12:41:23.440" Title="What type of Amphibian / Lizard is this?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20784" CreationDate="2018-10-18T09:48:18.427" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This was after some research most likely a Great crested newt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Great crested newt, Triturus cristatus.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  A European Protected Species, the great crested newt is dark brown with a row of white spots on its head and body. The male is smaller than the female and will develop the large and distinctive waved crest along its back during the breeding season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amGwk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amGwk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other newts common in the UK much more varied in colour:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Palmate newt, Lissotriton helveticus.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  This is the smallest native newt in the UK. Males are an olive-brown colour, females can be yellow to olive-brown. Males also develop a low, smooth dorsal crest during the breeding season. Palmate newts have an unspotted pinkish throat and yellow bellies with small black spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Smooth newt, Lissotriton vulgaris.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  This is the most widespread newt in the UK. It is smaller than the great crested newt, but very similar to the palmate newt. However, the males have a much more developed wavy dorsal crest than the palmate newt during the mating season. Both sexes also have dark spots on their white throats, which palmate newts do not. The female lays individual eggs, wrapping each one in the leaf of an aquatic plant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the colourings it was not one of the few UK lizards that we have, as all are much more colourful or lighter browns (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.froglife.org/info-advice/frequently-asked-questions/lizards-identification/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lizards: identification&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/amphibians&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amphibians - Woodland Trust&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T09:48:18.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-18T13:56:20.030" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Haven't seen this one yet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be tempting, but &lt;strong&gt;don't pitch your tent under a snow-covered tree&lt;/strong&gt;, unless you're prepared for that snow to fall on you. Speaking from (youthful) experience here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16633" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T13:56:20.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-18T14:39:37.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something I learned ... while layering is absolutely necessary in general, wearing &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; of your layers into bed isolates portions of the body and keeps your body's heat from being available to warm itself.  Get your night-time heat from your sleeping kit first and wear less than full clothing: only what's necessary (socks, hat, shirt/sweater/something around shoulders, etc.).  The comments about ground insulation are also a big deal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16634" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T14:39:37.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20788" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20790" CreationDate="2018-10-18T15:13:54.917" Score="1" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a massive alligator in Florida that lives near a golf course, and he is estimated to be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.si.com/golf/2018/10/17/chubbs-alligator-returns-florida-golf-course&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;largest alligator in Florida history&lt;/a&gt; assuming the estimations of his size are correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Estimating his length seems fairly easy, but how would they &lt;strong&gt;estimate his weight?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-18T22:10:47.493" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T22:10:47.493" Title="How is Chubby the alligators weight estimated?" Tags="&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;alligators&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20788" CreationDate="2018-10-18T21:38:22.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chubbs, the alligator in the question, is 15 feet long, according to the OP's link.  OP's source and mine: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.si.com/golf/2018/10/17/chubbs-alligator-returns-florida-golf-course&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sports Illustrated&lt;/a&gt;.  According to this source&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The state's [Florida's] biggest alligator on record is 14 feet long and 780&#xA;  pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article does not say if the previous record holder (PRH) had recently ate or pooped, which might make a non-trivial difference, if the OP desires great accuracy and precision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm glad the OP asked for an &lt;strong&gt;estimate&lt;/strong&gt;, not a &lt;strong&gt;measurement&lt;/strong&gt;, otherwise one would have to sedate the alligator and suspend him (most likely a him) in a sling attached to a spring balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a zeroth order approximation for Chubbs, one would take (15/14) x 780 and get 836 pounds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course Chubbs, if he had the exact morphology of the (PRH), would be larger in all three dimensions.  This would give a first order approximation of (15/14)cubed x 780 = 959 pounds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To refine that number, one would look at the largest diameter (or circumference) of both alligators and adjust accordingly.  Maybe Chubbs (named after a local golfer, and not his figure) is svelte relative to the PRH -- or obese.   You should be able to get a reasonable approximation to the ratio of diameters from photos, the photos normalized to a 15/14 length ratio.  I don't advise using a measuring tape on an unsedated alligator.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then the estimate of Chubbs's weight would be (15/14) x [D(Chubbs)/D(PRH)]squared x 780.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For any other alligator, use the same method with a reference alligator as close as possible in length and shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-10-18T21:46:38.000" LastActivityDate="2018-10-18T21:46:38.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-18T22:33:46.297" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do not underestimate the cold. &lt;i&gt;Ever&lt;/i&gt;.&#xA;I suggest you go with a group, preferably people who are experienced.  You should also try camping in autumn so you can begin to understand what winter will be like (&lt;em&gt;hint&lt;/em&gt; it will be much colder).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going by yourself, try going in progressively colder conditions so you can learn and hopefully mitigate any unforeseen problems.  Make sure you know the way out, no matter what time of day or night.  Make sure there is a way out anytime you need.  There is no shame in leaving early - your personal well being (and those with you) is the top priority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider going camping with a scouting group.  There is generally a wealth of experience and knowledge with, not only the adults, but the scouts as well.  As a scout I've camped in a tent in -40C without any problems.  During times like that more than half the scouts at the site (competition camp, so many groups camping at the same time over the entire site) left through the night because they determined their gear was not appropriate for the temperature as it was not supposed to hit -40C (without windchill). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GEAR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A sleeping bag that is rated appropriately for winter, and then some.&#xA;A mummy bag that is rated for -40C works well (unless your winters&#xA;only hit -5C) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Others have mentioned insulation pads for under your sleeping bag.  You won't need anything ridiculous.  The snow itself is insulating along with a good sleeping bag you will be alright.  Thicker pads will of course insulate better.  If you are going in by car, take a thick one, if you are hiking everything in, take a thinner one.  What you don't want is an air mattress.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An appropriate tent for winter (others have already mentioned the pegs).  When picking a spot, if you know it will not be warm enough to melt... you can always build wind banks with the snow (dig your tent down a little).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A couple extra sets of dry socks / underwear [never go to sleep wet or damp, always dry off]&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Like others have said, know your camping fuel and your stove.  You don't want your fuel freezing in the pipe lines or in the canister.  I've found Naptha (&quot;white fuel&quot;) tends to work well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chocolate, granola, nuts and other high calorie foods (high sugar content is good for the quick fix you may need).  Moving around in a snow filled environment takes a lot more energy (and moving around if you don't have somewhere warm to sit is important to keeping warm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plenty of liquids:  Even though it is the winter, you will expel a large amount of liquid (breathing, urinating, sweating...).  Warm liquids are best (since it serves to keep you warm at the same time as hydrate!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Appropriate clothing (outerwear and inner).  Learn about how to dress to keep dry (rolling around in the snow melts it, gets your outer shell wet and.. if the water reaches inside your winter jacket you will want that jacket off, and a change of dry clothes on).  Learn how to make gaps of air between  your clothing.  Wearing clothing in layers without the air will not keep you warm (those air pockets are in a way insulation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I know mittens aren't cool, but bring them anyways.  Your fingers grouped together will keep your hands warmer than gloves. Bring extra, as they have a tendency to get wet.  Your body will protect it's core by cutting circulation to your hands, feet etc first (so hands and feet feeling cold for longer than a few minutes is something to be concerned about, as your body is beginning to conserve heat)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wearing a touque that covers your ears is important.  Your ears will likely get frostbitten first (though that 80% of your body heat is lost through your head myth is just a myth)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots: bring ones with liners that you can change (and bring extra liners).  Dry socks with damp/wet boots will just result in more damp/wet socks.. and extend to cold feet (bad in the winter) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other: important&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia is extremely dangerous. Read up on it. Understand what it is, how to recognize it and how to deal with it.  It isn't one of those things that isn't there, then suddenly is... it can creap up on you.  If you are feeling a little cold, try walking in the snow for a few minutes - it is not easy and you'll warm up fast.  Just remember, sweat is also your enemy.  Once you cool down after doing physical activity that sweat along with the cold temperatures outside will drop your temperature too much, and you again risk Hypothermia (dry clothes is important if you are sweaty.. change as needed)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frostbite is also a danger.  It generally takes a little time to happen as well (extreme temperatures can result in frostburn quickly to exposed skin as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your country you may have two temperature sets.  In Canada you will have your regular temperature and your temperature with windchill.  Heed both of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16639" LastEditorUserId="16639" LastEditDate="2018-10-22T05:10:09.457" LastActivityDate="2018-10-22T05:10:09.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-19T01:51:41.040" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been various wonderful points about the proper use of equipment (tents, pads, gloves), and other hints. One thing I didn't see is the advice to anticipate the cold. What I mean by that is being able to anticipate temperature changes before they happen. In general, staying warm is easier than warming up (much like staying hydrated). I just takes some awareness to be able to do so, because the temperature outside (and your body temp) can change quite quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I was camping with some friends of mine, and noticed that the sun would go down in about 15-30 minutes. I decided to put on some of the layers I had packed, including my heavy coat. About half an hour later, everyone else had cold hands and was beginning to put their clothing on. Mine was already warmed up and my overall body temperature was perfectly fine. The end result was that I was able to take my gloves off and work on some fine details without an issue, while others were struggling to put on heavier gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that case it was the sun going down that caused the temperature change, but there are many different things - such as changing wind, sun, or other weather conditions - that can quickly change the temperature. Paying attention will allow you to anticipate or react quickly to those conditions, making your experience all the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12666" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T01:51:41.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8409" CreationDate="2018-10-19T06:45:06.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One obvious activity that will appeal to many (but not all) outdoors people is watching the local wildlife. The sort of voyage in the question can't be far from shore, so watching for birds and cetaceans is a good way to spend time on deck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you'd have field guides (which may also be interesting reading) and binoculars (not necessarily a pair for every person, but not spread too thin). A more knowledgeable member of the crew can often make this more interesting for the others by interpreting the field guide, and checklists may appeal as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night, you're likely to be away from light pollution so at least in calm conditions there's a lot to see in the night sky. A star chart (possibly as an app that doesn't need data) and those same binoculars are all you really need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people may also be interested in weather observations and natural navigation cues. Another couple of books will go a long way there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These will never please everyone, because they all involve looking out from the boat at the natural world, but if the voyage is going well that's what many people will want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T06:45:06.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8409" CreationDate="2018-10-19T09:56:24.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This very much depends on what sort of voyage it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Learning the skills required to handle the boat would be a classic. Specifically learning navigation and standing watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used to spend a lot of time playing cards and doing decorative knotting as teenagers on longer voyages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're on a small crew vessel, scrubbing the decks doesn't take much time but there's always cooking and cleaning to do, along with minor repairs and maintenance. Wooden sailing boats especially need fairly steady maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can fish if you have the personality for it, but a good book is always a favourite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T09:56:24.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20650" CreationDate="2018-10-19T12:13:24.757" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thread is often used for plucking eyebrow hair - perhaps this would work on slivers too. Assuming you were clothed, you could probably get hold of some thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can view a great guide with text and video at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Thread-Your-Eyebrows&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wikihow.com/Thread-Your-Eyebrows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16640" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-10-20T13:44:30.287" LastActivityDate="2018-10-20T13:44:30.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20796" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-19T15:10:26.730" Score="8" ViewCount="1047" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm heading out this weekend, and the temperature is expected to drop below freezing, with a 20% chance of rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two tents, a lightweight 2-person, which I primarily use for backpacking, and a medium weight 3-person, which I use for car, canoe and short trek camping. Both tents are have two layers (inner-outer tent style, as opposed to single wall).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not concerned with weight, and have an appropriate sleeping bag and clothing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which tent would be warmer under these conditions?  It's a toss up between the smaller volume, which would heat up faster, and the heavier fabric which would retain heat better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3879" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-19T19:36:46.670" LastActivityDate="2018-10-20T18:17:04.430" Title="Would a lightweight 2-person tent or medium weight 3-person tent be better for near freezing weather?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20796" CreationDate="2018-10-19T16:10:49.370" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, different tents aren't incredibly warmer than others. As @paparazzo said in the comments, even winter tents aren't designed to keep warm, just shelter you from the elements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your last paragraph, which is how you're basing your choice, makes two questionable assumptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's a toss up between the smaller volume, which would heat up faster, and the heavier fabric which would retain heat better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents lose heat (or gain cold) from conduction. Sure the smaller volume translates to a smaller contact area but all other factors being equal, it won't make a noticeable difference at freezing temperatures. The heavier fabric won't have a big effect either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real criteria you should look at is how good the tents are at blocking wind drafts. The tent which has the fly that goes the closest to the ground, and the tent that has the least amount of mesh will insure a &quot;warmer&quot; tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is also a chance of snow, take the sturdiest of the two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T16:10:49.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20796" CreationDate="2018-10-19T16:24:50.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freezing is not that cold.  If it is a quality 2 person tent with a good rain fly then I might go that direction.  Mine is mesh but the rain fly seals almost all the way down.  I camp it all the way down to 20 but my other tent is a 4 season tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is your lightweight considered a 3 season tent? Then I would go lightweight. Many lightweight tents are considered 3 season.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weight and size does not bother you then the medium weight tent is the safer bet (assuming similar quality).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-10-19T16:24:50.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20799" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20804" CreationDate="2018-10-19T17:54:46.620" Score="4" ViewCount="992" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering a thru-hike next summer of the Continental Divide Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a reasonable budget for covering the time from starting to finishing the hike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7357/how-much-does-it-cost-to-thru-hike-the-appalachian-trail&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; has an answer for the AT, but I assume CDT is different due to less infrastructure on the trail to spend money on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-21T19:03:53.547" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T19:03:53.547" Title="What is a reasonable budget to solo-hike the Continental Divide Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20799" CreationDate="2018-10-19T21:21:26.540" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;General guidelines are going to be all over the place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't know how far you are going to hike a day or how many down days you are going to take.  The US length is 3,100 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is your food tolerance?  Are you willing to eat the same meal up to several servings in a row (single serving is significantly more expensive)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you willing to eat spam on the day you do a re-supply?  Can you make some of your own trail food?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you going to do a stay over at the re-supply where you can gorge or do you want to take a day off on a peak for the scenery?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you going to pre-mail to pick ups or buy as you go?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You cannot mail fuel so for that you need a store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even cooking your own food cost could easily swing from $10 to $20 a day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many restaurant meals do you budget?  How many hotel?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan for 12 mile days but end up with 14 mile days you will have about the same calories.  Question is did you budget properly for 12 mile days.  If you have too much food you can leave it in a free box.  If not enough then supplement in a store.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plan your route for the first month and price it out.  Plan your stops.  Call into some of the stores and get some prices.  Price camping fees.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does part of the route allow wood fires that you don't need fuel?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not going to easily get the detail on the Internet but get some maps and plan out the first month.  You could use that as a monthly budget.  But you do need to account for the higher you get your resupply stops will be more scarce and more expensive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more you plan the better you can control cost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-20T00:55:23.633" LastActivityDate="2018-10-20T00:55:23.633" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20796" CreationDate="2018-10-20T08:58:07.123" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already said, tent are not made to protect from the cold. Even expedition tents are created to protect from the wind or the snow, but not to keep warmth (well, a little, but not mainly). For exemple, a good tent will have aerations to help against condensation, and that will impact the temperature inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the difference in weight between two different tents would be way more efficient if used in objects actually made to keep you warm: puffy, sleeping bag, etc. 500g of down is enough to keep you warm at freezing temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastActivityDate="2018-10-20T08:58:07.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20796" CreationDate="2018-10-20T18:17:04.430" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Approaching this from a slightly different direction, and assuming you're on your own or with one other person and therefore fit in either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're in your sleeping bag you'll be almost immediately warm enough (if your sleeping bag and mat are sufficient). The times you get cold are getting changed, and if you (or your clean kit) get wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's wet (rain or snow), you may benefit from the extra space of the larger tent to allow you to get in without getting anything important wet. I know my barely-2-person light tent, in the wet, is tricky in that respect. You either shed your rain gear standing right outside and get rained on, or drip into the inner as the porch is tiny. Either can contribute to getting cold. A 2-3 person tent I have (cheaper and heavier) has enough room to sit on the ground in the porch, with the outer door shut, while removing waterproofs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-10-20T18:17:04.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20799" CreationDate="2018-10-21T13:13:19.010" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did the CDT this year (5 months, 2700mi, NoBo). In this answer, I will focus on budget while on trail (not budget to buy gear or transport to get on trail).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;General advices (some answering to paparazzo advices):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Food on trail&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I counted 10-12$/day for food. I was cold soaking and eating often the same meals (ramen, dried refried beans, tuna, nutella, skittles and other sweets). Lots of hikers (including me) eat mostly junk food, because it's the most convenient way to have your daily calories (easy to get, easy to prepare, cheap).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire stove are a no go: it's very often forbidden due to forest fires (in my case, I would say it was forbidden 70% of the trail, and really frown upon for 15 other percents).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want to eat healthy or varied, that will be way more expensive as you will have to prepare in advance and do mail drops. Mail drops might be required for some resupplies, but I would advise to wait to be on trail to send them, so that you can put what you really need in it. Here are the one you might want to consider as those 'towns' are not good to resupply (no store or store way too small):&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doc Campbell's, NM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pie town, NM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ghost Ranch, NM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Twin Lakes, CO (there is a general store good enough if you stay on junk food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;South Pass city, WY&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Towns and lodging&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I slept in town at almost every resupply: shower, laundry, resupply, eating, good bed. Some people were only passing by.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you hike with other people (I started alone but met people on trail and was never alone in town), a night in town will be between 15-20$ and 40$ (depending on the size of your group and the location - Colorado is more expensive than Idaho). I shared room with between 2 to 5 other persons while on trail; the most I had to pay was 40$.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Towns are great, but there are many ways to spend money there, like restaurant. Count between 10 et 15-20$ a meal, depending on what and where you eat. McDonald's are often cheap, and for 7$ you can leave with a full stomach and plenty to drink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You will want/have to take zeros days. I took 16, some took only 5, others took 25.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can share laundry with others hikers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Gear and gear replacement&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I used 4 pairs of shoes, 2 underpants. The new shoes were sent to me to Post Offices along the way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can buy Darn Tough Socks: those are really good, and there is a life warranty. It's quite easy to find a store while on trail and replace them for free when they have holes. I replaced them 5 times (one time I had burnt one of them in a campfire, and it was still ok to replace it!).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You might have to buy additional gear alog the way: better fleece if you're too cold, bear spray (not mandatory but really, really advised) while in grizzly country. I had to buy a new mattress as my air mattress was too worn out to wistand all the trip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Orientation and planification&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Guthook CDT is the reference for orientation and planning. 40$ the package for all 5 sections.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are plenty of alternates, some officials, other only on Ley's map or invented while on the field. The official length is 3014 miles as of 2018; the actual average length is about 2700mi. It can go as low as 2500mi if you take all the shortcuts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't plan to much in advance: plan for the first month, no more. After that your body and your needs will change greatly, so you will have to plan accordingly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Budget per month&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say, for one month:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;350$ of trail food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;200$ to sleep in town if you sleep there every time you resupply (5 nights at 30$ + 1 or 2 rest days)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;250$ of town food (restaurants, beers)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;60$ of miscellanous (mostly laundry, mailing boxes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;150$ of gear replacement (mostly shoes, but also other stuff broken or lost)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So about 1000$/month on average. You can go with way less (like 5 or 600$) if you do it without any comfort (no overnight in town, no fancy food, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the average amount advised for a thru-hike. It's the same than for the AT or the PCT, because even if the trail is different our needs will stay the same. It might be easier to reduce the costs on the CDT because less towns means less temptations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reducing the costs&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spent about 1000$/month (5000$ total) without concerning me about how much I was spending (I new I have enough), so my guess would be that's a good &quot;comfort&quot; budget. If I had had to reduced that amount, I would have spent less time in town (less overnights, less restaurants, and less beers). Don't try to go with cheap gear that you don't know, it could backfire. Nevertheless, some items can be cheap and still good and lightweight:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my fleece was 10$.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;my rainjacket was 5$ (yes). Dri Ducks from Frogg Toggs is 20$ and very good for that price.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't rush yourself to buy the best items in every category: go out, experiment, try some DIY if you can. That's the best way to cut the budget for the gear before the trail, and while on trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastEditorUserId="12266" LastEditDate="2018-10-23T14:32:54.357" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T14:32:54.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14602" CreationDate="2018-10-21T15:17:05.600" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting a gel coat to harden properly is &quot;Glassing 101&quot; stuff. You need to eliminate oxygen for a complete cure but covering it with sheet goods (cellophane, etc.) is certainly not the only way, and in your case not the best way. If you want to maintain the smooth surface you worked to create, just spray it with PVA mold release&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt;. It's labeled for such use. That will even cure a gel coat with NO wax in it (you said your's was supposed to have wax). I've used it to cure poly fiberglass that didn't cure completely.&lt;br /&gt;I've not tried it but a liquid spray wax is supposed to work just as well, and I don't see why it would not.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;* E.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westmarine.com/buy/evercoat--pva-polyester-curing-agent--593774&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.westmarine.com/buy/evercoat--pva-polyester-curing-agent--593774&lt;/a&gt;, or Google PVA mold release documents for use on curing gel coats.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16657" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-10-22T10:51:34.373" LastActivityDate="2018-10-22T10:51:34.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20807" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-22T13:58:26.470" Score="16" ViewCount="3563" Body="&lt;p&gt;Calorie debt is when you are using more calories than you are eating and making up the difference from stored reserves of body fat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes people will do this to save on the amount of weight carried and then replenish when back at civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some &lt;strong&gt;good foods for recovering from calorie debt?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-22T19:12:00.580" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T15:41:05.230" Title="What are some good foods for recovering from calorie debt?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20807" CreationDate="2018-10-22T14:46:10.337" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if it's only for a day or so, you'll need to rebuild your glycogen stores (though many light packable foods are starchy and will top these up quite nicely).  That requires carbohydrates, including simple sugars (and not just one type as there are different receptors).  Fat stores will also need to be rebuilt, especially over longer periods, but burning glycogen can lead to significant weight loss (as it's accompanied by quite a lot of water in storage); this can make it look like more fat has been burnt than is really the case.*&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's quite a lot of medical literature on this sort of topic; one example I've been reading recently&lt;sup&gt;†&lt;/sup&gt; is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852829/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Restoration of Muscle Glycogen and Functional Capacity: Role of Post-Exercise Carbohydrate and Protein Co-Ingestion&lt;/a&gt;.  The title of that paper makes it clear that (in addition to many and varied carbs) protein is required, and in general difference macronutrients are processed through different pathways so a range allows the body to absorb more energy more quickly.  That would be particularly important if you've only got a day or two before moving on again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's always the factor that sheer quantity is important, and both availability and palatability may not be what you'd like.  Sugary drinks are an effective way to increase calorie consumption when you feel full or don't feel like eating large portions.  Fatty foods are energy-rich, but they're rather satiating under normal circumstances (which appears to be less of an issue when severely depleted&lt;sup&gt;‡&lt;/sup&gt;).  They may however be a good way to end a meal if you find them tempting, even if you feel full easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, avoiding foods that are very high in water content and fibre is a good idea.  This isn't the time for soup or salad.  When trying to get patient's weights back up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southernhealth.nhs.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=75164&amp;amp;type=Full&amp;amp;servicetype=Attachment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hospitals have guidelines&lt;/a&gt; that include &quot;full cream milk&quot;, &quot;extra nutritious snacks (e.g. cheese and biscuits)&quot;, and &quot;add grated cheese&quot;.  It's not in the source I've linked, but I've also seen recommendations to add extra-rich custard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're only in a town for a few hours, but you know resupply options are good, you can get a head start by consuming some reserve food an hour or two before arriving in town. This assumes you have reserve food that's not being kept strictly for emergency use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* To the extent that after a hard ride on a hot day people told me I'd lost weight since the previous evening, despite plenty of food and drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;†&lt;/sup&gt; This was in relation to some rather tough (for me) distance cycling over 3 days, and is &lt;a href=&quot;https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q/57612/7309&quot;&gt;covered in a question at bicycles.se&lt;/a&gt;, though with a different emphasis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;‡&lt;/sup&gt; The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minnestoa Starvation Experiment&lt;/a&gt; during late WWII looked at the effects of prolonged calorie restriction on otherwise healthy individuals.  We can't assume that the results of this study apply directly to a calorie debt built up over days rather than months, but they found that during the recovery phase &lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1097-4679%28194801%294%3A1%3C28%3A%3AAID-JCLP2270040103%3E3.0.CO%3B2-F&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;normal satiety cues were suppressed&lt;/a&gt;, a conclusion that many of us can agree with after prolonged exercise significantly in excess of calorie intake. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8040513&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Other studies&lt;/a&gt; also report that bingeing follows prolonged food shortages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-08-17T15:46:41.143" LastActivityDate="2019-08-17T15:46:41.143" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20746" CreationDate="2018-10-22T18:58:00.573" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your boots are likely to be wet (i.e. in anything but the very coldest of powder conditions) you need to have them in your sleeping bag with you (in a dry-bag) to avoid the agony of trying to get them thawed out in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, wet boots will freeze solid overnight, even inside the inner, once the outside temperature gets below about -8 Celsius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar care needs to be taken over water bladders and bottles. Never fill them more than 75% and if it's really cold you'll need to keep a bottle in the bag with you for the morning (or be thawing snow and wasting fuel).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My winter sleeping bag is only rated to about -8 Celsius but I also sleep in a half-weight down jacket, thermal tights, balaclava and extra pair of socks. I would have this spare clothing in any case, so why not wear it and save on the weight of the sleeping bag which is only used for sleeping in? It also makes, cooking outside, getting up in the night to answer calls of nature, or enjoying a bit of stargazing, tolerable. I also take a pair of plastic sandals on all camping trips because I don't want to be getting my big boots on and off to nip out of the tent (plus used for river crossings).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the temperature is not too far below freezing then you will have condensation problems with forming ice falling off the inner onto your sleeping bag and/or condensation on the ground sheet. I use a lightweight, breathable bivvy/sleeping bag cover if that is the case. If it's very cold this should not be a problem and ice can simply be brushed off the bag before packing away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8036" LastActivityDate="2018-10-22T18:58:00.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20811" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-23T00:13:31.437" Score="5" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many years ago, I was reading a book in which the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chamonix-guides.com/en/history&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chamonix guides&lt;/a&gt; of the 1940s and 1950s were featured.  It could have possibly been &lt;em&gt;Annapurna&lt;/em&gt; by Maurice Herzog, but I just don't remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Several sentences in the book implied that an older climber -- one who made repeated trips to altitude over a period of years -- acclimatized quicker on subsequent trips than younger, relative newcomers to altitude.&lt;/strong&gt;  (I remember the term &quot;older climber&quot;.) This was a personal observation, and was not expanded upon.  But this was probably written in the 1950s, and the mechanisms of acclimatization have received much scrutiny since then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any evidence to refute or support this hypothesis?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can think of several possible explanations for this observation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) It is true that repeated trips to high elevation change the physiology of the climber to make acclimatization easier, quicker, more complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Climbers who repeatedly go to altitude develop conscious and unconscious habits that aid acclimatization (e.g., religiously staying hydrated when possible, getting enough sleep, avoiding alcohol, knowing when to retreat to refresh themselves, when to stop and when to continue.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Climbers who repeatedly go to altitude grow accustomed to the discomfort of acclimatization and ignore the discomforts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) None of the above.  The statement flatters older climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And other explanations are also possible, including the fact that even if the hypothesis is true for Alpine altitudes, no European mountain approaches the high Andes or Himalayan altitudes.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt; Note by older, the author (whoever he was) probably meant climbers in their 30s or so, not really old climbers.  At the time of the Annapurna expedition (1950), &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Lachenal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Louis Lachenal&lt;/a&gt; was 29, as was Lionel Terray and Gaston Rebuffat. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Lachenal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Maurice Herzog&lt;/a&gt; was 31. On a modern note, Ed Viesturs climbed his 14th 8,000er, Annapurna, at 46, without supplemental oxygen.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-10-23T01:26:42.983" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T08:40:28.950" Title="Is there evidence to support or refute the hypothesis that frequent trips to high altitude aid acclimatization?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20812" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-23T13:55:50.027" Score="3" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a question about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7357/how-much-does-it-cost-to-thru-hike-the-appalachian-trail&quot;&gt;cost of through-hiking the AT&lt;/a&gt; and another about the cost of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20799/what-is-a-reasonable-budget-to-solo-hike-the-continental-divide-trail?noredirect=1&amp;amp;lq=1&quot;&gt;through hiking the CDT&lt;/a&gt; but not one about the PCT which is the other big trail in the United States.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the estimated cost of through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail&lt;/strong&gt; (it's going to vary, but even ranges would be useful).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-23T17:39:29.407" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T22:10:06.790" Title="What is the estimated cost for through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20813" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-23T14:09:43.067" Score="5" ViewCount="661" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I just moved to Buena Vista, CO and want to know how necessary it is to have an SUV with AWD to get to trailheads. We’d prefer a sedan or hatchback for better fuel efficiency, but don’t want to miss out on lots of hiking opportunities — or spend a lot of time hiking up roads to get to trails.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16665" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T16:38:20.200" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T19:27:21.983" Title="How necessary it is to have an SUV with AWD for trailheads in Collegiate Peaks, Upper Ark River Valley?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20814" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-23T15:24:56.443" Score="1" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, I'm more used to methods described &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_blazing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our task this past weekend was to use dots to remark a trail, but the method of placement was opposite to what I'm used to: the dots were placed inward toward the path - only one dot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I questioned the wisdom of such placement, but the ranger was adamant: one dot placed facing the trail in a perpendicular fashion.  He affixed the first marker to be sure his point was made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So he seemed to be following advice more or less offered &lt;a href=&quot;https://survivallife.com/mark-trails-like-pro/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there ever a good reason to place markers facing the trail, rather than facing the direction of walk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about height and distance - how far apart should blazes be posted?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2018-10-23T18:31:48.943" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T18:52:46.890" Title="What are directional, height, and distance guidelines for marking trails?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20814" CreationDate="2018-10-23T18:52:46.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is the National Park Guidelines to your questions,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blazes are placed on trees or posts, &lt;strong&gt;slightly above eye level so that hikers can see them easily when&#xA;  traveling in either direction.&lt;/strong&gt; In areas where the trail receives &lt;strong&gt;winter use, blazes are placed higher so they&#xA;  are visible above the snow.&lt;/strong&gt; Blazes should be &lt;strong&gt;within &quot;line of sight&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;—when standing at a blaze marker, the&#xA;  hiker should be able to see the next one. Blazes should be placed on trees that &quot;strike the eye.” One well&#xA;  placed blaze is better than several that are poorly placed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Blazes should be continuous—even along road segments and other unmistakable parts of the trail. Blazes&#xA;  should be placed immediately beyond any trail junction or road crossing—even if there is a directional&#xA;  sign. A second blaze (for safety) should be placed within another 50 to 100 feet. Otherwise, it is &lt;strong&gt;not&#xA;  desirable to have more than one blaze visible in either direction at any one time. However, exceeding 100&#xA;  yards between blazes is not desirable.&lt;/strong&gt; Striking a balance so as not to &quot;over-blaze&quot; or &quot;under-blaze&quot; is the&#xA;  key. (An exception to the continuous blazing policy occurs in ROS primitive areas where blazing is not&#xA;  generally allowed.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/noco/learn/management/upload/nct_ch7.rev.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for whether to do parallel or in line with the direction of travel, the important this is that they be seen in both directions, otherwise one could follow the blazes out and then not back again. Sometimes one blaze would be enough and could be parallel but in others two would be needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T18:52:46.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20817" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-23T20:09:02.093" Score="4" ViewCount="166" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live in a suburban town in Massachusetts, Northeast United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We keep a lot of bird feeders stocked all year with things birds and animals like, excluding meat and fruit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, October 23, 2018, we woke up to find almost all the feeders knocked over. Some were pulled out of the ground, and two were pulled down from the wire attaching them to a tree branch above. As you can see in the third picture, whatever it was did not climb the tree to get to the food on it which is not very high up, and did not disturb the bird bath by that tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'd like to know what animal would do this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've watched raccoons tip over small feeders, but have never seen the larger feeders brought down, especially all at once. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing we can think of is a bear. They're uncommon in our town, but are getting more prevalent, possibly due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16935/is-it-likely-that-decimation-of-its-suburban-forest-habitat-would-cause-a-black&quot;&gt;local habitat loss&lt;/a&gt;. Massachusetts only has one breed of bear, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;American black bear, Ursus americanus&lt;/a&gt;, so that's what it would be. We didn't find scat or footprints. (The ground is probably too frozen for footprints.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some before and after pictures: (I love the blue jay in flight in the second picture!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IdRQ3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IdRQ3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Before 5277&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xEWIb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xEWIb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Before5270&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJaUF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LJaUF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;After from tree side 5277&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6d5zc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6d5zc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;After Facing towards tree 5238&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NE05c.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NE05c.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;After standing back 5225&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T22:12:48.680" Title="Did a bear knock all my bird feeders down?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20817" CreationDate="2018-10-23T20:15:51.213" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears will definitely go smashing bird feeders to get to the seed and they are the only thing big enough to pull your feeders over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, bears (and other wildlife) are readily attracted to back yards because of the presence of bird feeders. Bear nuisance complaint records reveal that at certain times of the year, &lt;strong&gt;bird feeders are involved in over 80% of the bear problems around homes&lt;/strong&gt;. The situation often escalates to other unnatural food sources such as garbage cans, barbeque grills, and compost piles as bears become bolder and more acclimated to people. Such activities are not in the best interest of the bears or the homeowners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/94709.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bears and Bird Feeders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently the only good solution is to remove the feeders, although you could put up electic fence around them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-23T22:12:48.680" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20819" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20820" CreationDate="2018-10-24T01:13:33.993" Score="5" ViewCount="297" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to winter camp in a 4-season tent but am interested in alternatives to mummy sleeping bags. I want to avoid that shape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What alternative sleep systems do people use that are appropriate for winter camping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expected conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self-inflating sleeping pad with foam core, R value = 4&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Daytime temperatures below 32F/0C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nighttime temperatures bottoming out around -15F/-26C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Precipitation, sometimes heavy, almost always snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moderate winds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-24T22:57:00.040" LastActivityDate="2018-10-24T22:57:00.040" Title="What is an alternative sleep system if I don't want to use a down mummy bag for winter camping?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20819" CreationDate="2018-10-24T02:06:34.227" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you need extra insulation with a regular sleeping bag you can,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear long johns, a sweatshirt and a stocking cap to bed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hot water bottle in your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your extra clothes inside the sleeping bag so there isn't any empty space.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go to bed earlier before it gets real cold and stay in longer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said -15F/-26C is not all that cold, you will find plenty of non mummy sleeping bags that are rated to -20F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-24T16:29:53.187" LastActivityDate="2018-10-24T16:29:53.187" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20821" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20822" CreationDate="2018-10-24T05:59:58.513" Score="30" ViewCount="3931" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently we were climbing up a glacier with the ice at an angle of around 80°. We were placing the ice screws angling slightly upwards with respect to the slope of the ice wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, one from our team, who stays in Norway said that the screws should always be angled downwards such that the weight is taken completely by the threads of the screw and not by the ice patch surrounding the ice screw. Apparently, this is how he was taught by a guide while climbing up a frozen waterfall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For us, it felt natural to angle up the ice screws so that in case of a fall, the screw held on to the ice (similar to angling the pegs of a tent away from the tent). The claim that the weight of a fall should be taken completely by the ice screw and its threads seems a bit risky to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is the claim correct? What's the general practice? Does the practice vary for a waterfall climb (as damaging the ice there could potentially lead to a whole slab of the waterfall falling off?)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-10-24T07:38:26.470" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T13:31:49.497" Title="At what angle should an ice screw be screwed into the ice?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;&lt;ice-screws&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20821" CreationDate="2018-10-24T06:10:08.407" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the resources that I can find say that it should be done with the &lt;strong&gt;screw tip pointing up&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;the hanger below&lt;/strong&gt; with up to a twenty-degree angle from horizontal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_283/MTM3NjU0Njc0Mzc4NDY2OTc1/screwanglejpg.webp&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Contrary to what you might think, the &lt;strong&gt;best angle for the screws is slightly upward, meaning the hanger is slightly lower than the teeth in the ice.&lt;/strong&gt; This counterintuitive method is better &lt;strong&gt;because the holding power comes from the threads themselves&lt;/strong&gt; and not from a “snow picket” effect, meaning you don’t get any mechanical advantage having the shaft of the screw levered against the ice (Fig. 2).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-this-bomber-ice-anchors/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Build Bomber Ice Anchors&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;More surprising were Harmston's findings about screw angle. &lt;strong&gt;As it turns out, screws hold much better when they're angled in the direction of the falling force, as in the second scenario above.&lt;/strong&gt; Perhaps needless to say, this is not intuitive. Much of the force is then resisted by the threads rather than the girth of the screw itself. This isn't a small difference either: an ice screw placed at a downward angle is as much as twice as strong as a screw placed at an upward &quot;negative&quot; angle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/z43w9x/gear-physics-the-thin-protection-of-an-ice-screw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gear Physics: How Ice Screws Keep Ice Climbers from Falling to Their Deaths&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Limited testing by Chris Harmston of Black Diamond and Craig Luebben about 10 years ago &lt;strong&gt;showed that ice screws with the hanger end angled down (negative angle) up to 20 degrees were stronger&lt;/strong&gt; than screws with the hanger parallel to the ice or angled slightly up (positive angle). A negative angle does not, however, increase the strength of the threads; rather, it decreases the chance that the ice will blow out from under the screw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(This article links to &lt;a href=&quot;http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Harmston.1999.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the actual 1999 research report by Chris Harmston&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/should-i-angle-ice-screws-down/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Should I Angle Ice Screws Down?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was once thought necessary or beneficial for ice-screws to be place horizontally or with the hanger up for optimum hold. &lt;strong&gt;However, it has since been found experimentally that a screw place with the tip angled up often holds as well or better.&lt;/strong&gt; This surprising result is thought to be due to the previously underestimated role of the threads in holding the screw in place. However, horizontal placements are usually recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_screw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you would want to angle the tip up into the ice with the hanger pointing down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T13:56:08.933" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T13:56:08.933" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20823" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-24T11:59:44.793" Score="5" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;We went climbing on a glacier recently. There was one issue which I couldn't find a solution to. While belaying from below (on the first pitch), it was pretty much impossible to protect self from rockfall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rocks falling to the left or right side of me would still bounce off the ground and there was no way to know where they would land up. There were quite a few rocks that zoomed past our faces after bouncing. And being a belayer, it was even more difficult as I had to focus more on the climber than on the possible rocks that bounce off the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question - what other safety/protective gear is there around to protect one from rockfall? A helmet provides limited protection only to one's head. The limbs, chest, even neck are left exposed for a possible rock bouncing off a surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The rocks were falling from around a height of 40-50m and had significant momentum that would make them bounce up to 5m from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-10-24T13:48:19.130" Title="What rockfall protection equipment are there other than helmets?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;risk-managment&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20824" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20823" CreationDate="2018-10-24T13:48:19.130" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two things you can do,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before climbing, look up the glacier and see which areas have had rockfall in the recent past and then avoid them. Rockfall will leave some rocks in the area that didn't make it all the way down, and vertical streaks caused by the rocking rolling down the glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start earlier, before the rocks start to warm up and pop loose. Most of the time what happens is that the ice is holding the rocks in place and then as the sun comes up it melts and the rocks go flying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that there isn't much you can do and any possible gear would be more weight that would make you slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-24T13:48:19.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20826" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20828" CreationDate="2018-10-25T09:17:43.713" Score="27" ViewCount="5349" Body="&lt;p&gt;At the end of November we are going an a 3 day canoeing trip with multiple obstacles where we have to get the canoe out of the water. As it is really cold at this time, we don't want to get wet boots/gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any techniques or gear that can help us get out of the canoe without getting wet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11684" LastEditorUserId="2283" LastEditDate="2018-10-27T21:58:46.793" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T16:28:09.343" Title="How to avoid getting wet when exiting a canoe onto shore?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;&lt;wet-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-10-25T11:11:47.103" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of environment is the trip in? If you can find straight shores designed for mooring boats getting in and out dry should not be a problem. If the shores are all shallow and beach like the simplest solution would be to bring some rubber boots that can get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It you can give any more details about what you're worried about, what your skill levels are, how many of you there are in what kind of canoe etc I can expand this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T11:11:47.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-10-25T11:43:55.670" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting out is not the hard part. It is getting in and going again without getting wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get out: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the beach is large enough come in sideways, lean away from shore to as you beach.  when the canoe touches bottom on the shore. sit upright and you should be well grounded and close enough to step from canoe to shore while staying dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the landing is narrow, move people as far back as practical, beach the front (bow) and then walk to the front to get out.  If two people, the one in the back stabilizes while the one in front gets out. then the when out the front person drags the front of the canoe farther on shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get in reverse above, but as you are moving from stable shore to rocking boat, it takes a bit more practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to go to a local lake and practice before your trip.  Bring a change of clothes, just in case. This skill is best learned where getting wet and cold is not going to have a huge impact on the rest of your day or trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, roll up your pant legs before getting in or out, to keep them dry. Your bare leg dries faster then your pants.  I usually wear water shoes that dry quickly if they do get wet rather then trying to wear heavy boots that will stay dry.  Remember you may be swimming in whatever clothes and shoes you are wearing, so plan for both events. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I keep a change of shoes and socks (&lt;em&gt;&amp;amp; clothes &amp;amp; towel&lt;/em&gt;) in my dry storage, in the canoe.  In the event that I need to walk out (and/or for camp) I have dry shoes and socks appropriate for land, that will be dry even if the canoe is capsized. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T12:25:30.333" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T12:25:30.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-10-25T13:42:54.763" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The guys in New Zealand make thermal underwear made from polypropylene -  different material to the stuff that the fancy brands use.  It's cheap, and it stays warm even when - not if - you get wet. Spent a couple of hours in a freezing NZ stream in a leaky wetsuit and two layers of that stuff:  not a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;James Jenkins is right about bare legs = good, and heavy boots = bad , as I found out walking in Wales (UK).  Boots are great until the water gets in - and it will - because then it can't get out and they take ages to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16682" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T13:42:54.763" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20830" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20842" CreationDate="2018-10-25T14:02:24.217" Score="4" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ice screws need to be sharp to be placed into the ice, and just like anything with an edge they will get dull over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would &lt;strong&gt;one know when to sharpen an ice screw,&lt;/strong&gt; and once they do need to be sharpened, what &lt;strong&gt;is the correct technique&lt;/strong&gt; to do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T21:48:20.757" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T16:15:37.307" Title="How and when to sharpen ice screws?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;ice-screws&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-25T16:23:37.113" Score="7" ViewCount="1204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a candle lantern housed inside what I think is an aluminum frame. I'm concerned it will get hot enough to melt fabrics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I safely use it inside a tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I suspend it from the tent ceiling somehow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to fall asleep with it lit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16585" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T19:31:31.890" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T08:54:09.467" Title="How can I safely use a candle lantern inside a tent?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20813" CreationDate="2018-10-25T16:28:32.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;AWD (All Wheel Drive) is available in many small cars and 'cross over' vehicles. You don't need to choose an SUV to have it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that Four Wheel Drive (4WD or 4X4) is different then AWD. If you don't know which you need, than choose AWD. (Why would be a separate question and answer) Think of it like the difference between manual and automatic transmissions. It takes special training and experience to correctly operate a manual transmission and/or 4WD.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a couple of vehicles picked that might work for you, a consideration for off road use is ground clearance.  Big vehicle usually = more ground clearance. For the most part in real life with AWD, more ground clearance = higher speeds across obstacles, like potholes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go slow and drive around big holes or obstacles you can take your small 'cross over' most places a full size SUV will go.  Exceptions are deep mud, and anything higher (or deeper) than you ground clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big help that AWD gives is power to more of the tires on the ground. There are lots of options and differences, but in general a two wheel drive car, might really only have power going to one (front or back) tire which has the least traction. This can mean while turning around at the trail head, if you get a drive tire on a slightly slopped wet grassy area, you could get stuck.  With AWD you have power going to &lt;strong&gt;at least&lt;/strong&gt; one front and one back tire.  Drastically lower the chances of getting stuck.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even a two wheel drive car can go most places where it has traction and ground clearance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no absolutes, and many, many different options.  AWD is like insurance, a great option that provides peace of mind. With care and caution you don't need it, most of the time.  But those times that you do are well worth the upgrade. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How necessary it is to have an SUV with AWD for trailheads in Collegiate Peaks, Upper Ark River Valley?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not necessary at all. If you can't get there with 2 wheel drive, don't try to get there with AWD.  When in doubt stop and go back. AWD (used conservatively) drastically reduces the chances you will have to get towed or walk home.  Keep in mind most tow insurance (i.e. Auto Club) will not cover &quot;off road&quot; recovery. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T16:28:32.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20832" CreationDate="2018-10-25T16:29:20.877" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay after some more research,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't leave it unattended (this would include sleeping).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't let it touch flammable materials.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be careful touching it when its burning as you could burn yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Suspending it looks like a good way to go, just remember not to bump it with your head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T17:33:30.347" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T17:33:30.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20832" CreationDate="2018-10-25T17:11:06.063" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need a large tent if you want to have anything safely burning inside.  The small, sleeping-only tent as most summer backpackers carry along won't do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nomads have been having fires in tents for aeons and aeons, and still do.  They usually also forced pack animals to carry their stuff, for it was and is heavy.  It is a matter of survival in cold climates.  We today have (can afford) higher safety standards than in the past.  You need a large tent.  Your tent should have a chimney (opening at the top), so that any smoke and other exhaust gases can safely be expelled.  There exist dedicated stoves with chimneys that connect through a tent roof.  For an example of an enclosed stove, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=helsport%20lavvu%20stove&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Image Search for the Helsport Lavvu Stove&lt;/a&gt;.  With such a chimney, a fire inside a dedicated stove is safe.  However, that provides heating rather than light.  Perhaps some models have a window so you can use the light and watch the fire?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yWYqp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yWYqp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lavvu stove&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/p/Helsport-Finnmark-Lavvu/1867&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UK Campsite&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For heating you would want a closed stove, but if your tent is sufficiently large and ventilated, people do make open fires too:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://cdn.discover-the-world.com/app/uploads/2018/06/swedish-lapland-icehotel-wilderness-dinner-inside-lavvu-rth-800x600-c-default.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;fire in tent&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.discover-the-world.com/blog/ultimate-swedish-comfort-foods/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;discover the world&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I imagine the tent in the picture may have the door open (perhaps the photographer is standing in the door), for this is part of a commercial tourist company so they won't want to take any risks.  The reflected northern lights is edited in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A candle lantern such as you describe should be substantially lower risk than the open fire in the picture described above.  However, such tents are much heavier than the typical backpacker/trekking tent that summer hikers carry along.  The solution is rather suitable for a winter base camp for a large group than for a lightweight summer/autumn hike.  If you are winter trekking with a group of people in terrain suitable for pulling a sledge, you can carry a lot more gear than when relying on backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a more modern family luxury alternative, I grew spending my summers camping in large tents like this, with petrol-powered lamps suspending from the ceiling or standing on a table.  Us kids were told to be very careful around them, to not touch it and &lt;em&gt;certainly&lt;/em&gt; not topple it, but I don't think they're really a big fire risk when handled carefully.  Apparently, some companies market this as &amp;quot;glamping&amp;quot; nowadays, but I don't really see any difference from the vacations of my childhood.  To answer your other question, we certainly never fell asleep with the lantern still switched on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.tentfactory.nl/wp-content/gallery-master/2016/03/24/uploads/o_1aejvstvk12gr14at1m281miraqjg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;large tent&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tentfactory.nl/ingerichte-bungalowtent-huren/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tentfactory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For camping in a small backpacker's tent when you need light but not heat I would rather recommend battery-powered lights.  Modern LEDs are very efficient so the weight of batteries you need to carry is really not that bad.  For a solo trip where you must carry everything on your back, a good sleeping bag is probably the more sensible alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-01-05T08:54:09.467" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T08:54:09.467" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17215" CreationDate="2018-10-25T17:13:45.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of any overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I'm obligated to go with the last bit of information I was ab le to glean from the manufacturer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hello Digger,&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Thank you for sending the pictures. I've had a couple of people here look at it and they are still saying it is a Cascade. However, the only way we can be 100% sure is if the pack is sent into our warranty center. If you would like to I can provide a prepaid label to have it sent in for identification.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Anna K.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not gonna send it in, so there you are...wish I could credit this &quot;solution&quot; to JanSport...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14078" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T17:13:45.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-10-25T19:59:23.847" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from waders, there's not much you can do to guarantee your feet will stay dry. No matter how high your waterproofing goes it won't help when you fall on your side from a rock shifting under foot (it's a rare exception that it doesn't happen to &lt;em&gt;somebody&lt;/em&gt; each trip, and you need to be prepared for that somebody to be you). A method a lot of people employ is the wet shoe / dry shoe strategy, where you bring a pair of shoes that you plan on walking through water in and another pair that you only wear in the campsite. I prefer quick draining athletic shoes for my wet shoes and warmer waterproof hiking boots for my camp shoes, but preferences vary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One important consideration is the material your canoe is made from. If it's a sturdier material like aluminum or fiberglass it might be acceptable to ram it onto the shore far enough that you can step out directly onto dry land, and launch similarly with a push start. With light weight canoes such as Kevlar you more or less have to step out into the water, as grinding the bottom of the canoe over any material risks leaving gouges in the hull. Of course this is highly dependent on the type of shoreline you expect to disembark from, steep drop-offs make it easier to pull the canoe right up to the shore without any scraping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16686" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T19:59:23.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21017" CreationDate="2018-10-25T20:39:51.993" Score="9" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bought a 30 year old classic Coleman's canvas ten cheap (it's Canadian cousin actually). It is in great working condition, water proofing and zippers etc. and I thought convert it to a hot tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, it has been sitting in the attic for 25 years so it have a strong moldy smell. I tried rinse, sun-dry and marinated it in baking soda, no luck. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other method/product I should try to rid the smell? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-25T21:31:46.900" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T21:25:33.307" Title="How to get rid the mold smell in old canvas tent?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;canvas&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20813" CreationDate="2018-10-25T20:41:27.343" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In over 40 years of getting to trailheads across the US, I've used a variety of vehicles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) Classic 1970's era rear wheel drive US-made station wagons. These sufficed to get a load of people and gear up forest roads in good road conditions (no major ruts, some washboarding) and good weather conditions (mainly summers, no thick layers of mud). Examples include up to Mt. Khatadin, up into many ranges in the Rockies (Wind Rivers, Sawtooths, etc.). Generally reasonably trafficked forest roads, low chances of being stuck out there for any length of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) 1988 VW Golf, front wheel drive hatchback, manual transmission. By virtue of a stiffer suspension, shorter wheelbase, and the front wheel drive, this vehicle went up steeper/rockier/more rutted roads than I would ever have taken a classic station wagon. I happily took it into much-less traveled areas with a reasonable expectation that I could get back. Some roads were bad enough that I actually searched (with no luck) for a vendor of a skid plate, but I never scraped anything off the bottom. Limited ground clearance, but better than the old wagons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) 2003 Honda CR-V with on-demand all-wheel-drive, manual transmission. Several inches more ground clearance than the Golf. All wheel drive helped on mud and snow/slush. (Note on AWD: on-demand means that a front wheel has to slip before any power gets transferred to the rear - you can feel it kick in. Full-time AWD, such as Subaru, means power to all the wheels all the time, so you don't have to start to slip to get power to all wheels.) I never got the CR-V stuck, even in multiple inches of mud/standing water that managed to snag a 4x4 F-350 here and there (may have just been luck and the line picked through the water/mud). Not quite enough ground clearance on several trips, each time taking out the evap filter - not a major issue but did cost some $$ to get it reattached. Definitely a step up from the Golf though, and it got me even more places, including some that I probably should not have taken it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) 2018 Toyota TRD Off Road 4x4, automatic transmission. 3+ more inches of ground clearance (stock) than the CR-V. Full 4x4 including low range and locking rear differential. Other off-road goodies like crawl control for difficult terrain. No concerns at all yet taking it places the CR-V would really not have liked. Manual shift mode for the transmission means I don't miss a full manual and still have the control I want. Much higher payload rating, available volume, and towing capacity. Seating room is larger, cab is much quieter than the CR-V at highway speeds. Lots of nice safety features. So far it hasn't gone anywhere it should not have, since I haven't found a forest road that it should not go on yet, even in a variety of weather conditions. Gas mileage is not as good as the CR-V though. Considered worthwhile tradeoffs as interest has shifted more towards longer trips through remote areas, not so much just getting to trailheads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you can get to the trailheads in any number of vehicles, depending on conditions and your risk appetite. With snow/ice/mud/rocks as anticipated common driving conditions, these days I would recommend at least an AWD vehicle, with many to choose from (remember to check on clearances!). Full 4x4 is not necessarily needed, but does offer more peace of mind (whether that leads you further astray or not is either a feature or a bug). Further, either 4x4 or AWD will make life in the Rockies a bit nicer just getting to the store or to work in the winter.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2018-10-25T20:41:27.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-10-26T02:07:12.457" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding to previous answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If shore slope is shallow then beach head-on, otherwise come in sideways.  For head-on approach, keep weight back to lift the bow, then shift weight forward after beaching.  Use your paddle to give an extra leg of support, and use it as a push pole so that your walking forward doesn't un-beach the boat.  Walk forward staying in the middle (along the keel line).  You should be able to step onto dry land, then pull the canoe in a bit more and steady it so your mates can get out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16691" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T02:07:12.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20830" CreationDate="2018-10-26T08:22:34.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There exist specialized tools which can assist sharpening. However those generally only work well with a specific brand/type of screw, since the angles of the screw's teeth differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(One example is &quot;Lim'Ice&quot; from Petzl, see video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzN7l4JxxpA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzN7l4JxxpA&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some shops also have a commercial sharpening service.&#xA;If a screw is really dull, you can improve it with a diamond file (or even a regular one) by working carefully and following the existing angles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to when... it depends. I sharpen my screws when they are visually damaged or when I notice that a screw takes too much effort to set and drive in. It's a trade off between the need to have sharp screws on lead and the risk that I make matters worse by botching the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more you practice the better you get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The better you are the more often it is worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T09:12:01.193" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T09:12:01.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20843" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-26T09:17:14.997" Score="4" ViewCount="245" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question was prompted by the advice to &quot;follow the existing angles&quot; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20842/3602&quot;&gt;this answer on sharpening ice screws&lt;/a&gt;. I have heard the same advice when it comes to resharpening knives. Of course, there may be considerations to not do that, but for a beginner and a suitable knife, it's a good starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, how do I do that? I can't really measure the angle, after which I could improvise a guide or at least manually control how I hold the knife/tool from time to time. And just eyeballing it seems quite imprecise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tips and tricks or techniques to following an existing angle when sharpening?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently I wasn't sufficiently clear: I have a knife that I do not know the original angle nor do I know the ideal angle. I want to follow the original angle and thus either need a sharpening technique that allows to do that or a method how to more or less measure the preexisting angle. I am not looking for ways/tools that allow to keep a specific angle while sharpening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T21:11:47.020" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T21:11:47.020" Title="How to follow an existing angle when sharpening?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;&lt;ice-screws&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20843" CreationDate="2018-10-26T13:50:03.820" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you want is a &lt;strong&gt;guide in a knife sharpening kit&lt;/strong&gt; that will hold the knife in place and the &lt;strong&gt;stones at the correct angle.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mine looks like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dtWWI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dtWWI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;you can see the angle marking on the left side of the holder (they are on both sides).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way it works is like so (pictured without the knife for clarity),&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K9q4n.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K9q4n.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guide rod keeps the stone at the same angle to the blade while allowing one to move the stone back and forth to sharpen the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good kit will have multiple stones to do major and minor fine-tuning to the sharpness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T13:50:03.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20843" CreationDate="2018-10-26T15:46:49.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A number of kits have guides for angle.  I happen to like the Sypderco but it is not cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VxDRH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VxDRH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;TRI-ANGLE SHARPMAKER&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully you can get angle from the manufacturer.  40 degrees is common (20 each side).  30 degrees is also common.  Even a combination of 30 degrees followed by a 40 degree micro bevel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a stone you could just cut a guide using cardboard.  Consistent is more important than exact if you are close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sine(20) is like 3:1  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLDlC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HLDlC.png&quot; alt=&quot;20 degrees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sine(15) is like 4:1&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T15:46:49.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20813" CreationDate="2018-10-26T15:47:49.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been an obsessive eastern peakbagger for almost a decade. That means a lot of the summits my partners and I now visit are lost extremely deep in the woods of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Quebec. Most of the summits I now climb are bushwhacks the entire way from the trailhead, and those trailheads are often along logging roads and trails that can vary in quality depending on how recent the logging has been in that particular area. Here's my experience with different types of vehicles in the backroads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First case: KIA Forte Hatchback&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had been content with my daily driver for a few years, having been blocked by a washout &lt;a href=&quot;https://flic.kr/p/VB2jvC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;only once&lt;/a&gt; (having to add 20km to the hike) and that was just because of the specific configuration of that washout. The main advantage to driving a FWD car with low clearance is that it will make you a proficient backroads driver. I had no other options other than finesse and wheel placement and this is more important than clearance only. That KIA has gone farther than some people with SUVs are willing to go. You can push a car pretty far without damage but where FWD cars will fail is when the road gets muddy and slippery or so rough that the rear wheels getting stuck in potholes will actually hinder the front wheels' grip. This summer I went through a really worn trail and at some point there was about 4 feet of air under the car in between the wheels on a badly eroded hill. You will certainly build confidence the more you drive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second case: Modded Nissan XTerra&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last year I bought a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FCTbv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;used Nissan XTerra&lt;/a&gt; with skid plate, 3” lift kit, and 31” tires. This is a really good offroad SUV with full 4X4 capabilities. It goes through anything. It turns out though that I never use the X. It costs too much gas money so I usually carpool with someone else if we’re going really deep. We usually convoy to the trailheads and if the road gets too rough for the least capable vehicles, we then pool up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Third case: Crossovers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have ridden in 3 different vehicles owned by other people. One of my friends has a Jeep Wrangler and while we can go pretty much anywhere with that, it’s as costly as my X to run. Another two of my friends each have last generation Subaru Outbacks, and this is the model that has impressed me the most. We have driven uphill (10%+ inclines) on completely washed out roads where nothing but watermelon-sized river rocks remain with minimal rubbing. Those vehicles are stock, no mods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is one of my other friends who has a Subaru Crosstrek. That small crossover SUV is probably the most capable in its class. It has such good ground clearance straight out of the factory you can go really deep on disused roads without worry. If you get the version with the CVT and X-mode, it will go through horrible stuff easily. You can even get lift kits (&lt;a href=&quot;https://lpaventure.com/collections/crosstrek-2018/products/lp-aventure-lift-kit-subaru-crosstrek-2018&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://lpaventure.com/collections/crosstrek-2018/products/lp-aventure-lift-kit-subaru-crosstrek-2018&lt;/a&gt;). It has roughly the same gas mileage as other hatchbacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So most definitely you don’t need to buy a full-on SUV. Some decent crossovers exist that can do the job and for the majority of trailheads, a regular car would do just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T19:27:21.983" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T19:27:21.983" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20843" CreationDate="2018-10-26T15:56:04.927" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For me, I'm fairly experienced at sharpening knives by eye.  If you don't have access to a guide, which is not something that immediately comes to mind when you're packing for a hunting or camping expedition, it's a good idea to learn how to do it by eye.  For some cases, such as butchery and knife restoration, a guide is essential.  Also know that sometimes, a blade has been poorly sharpened if there is a sort of rounded bevel, so any method I recommend, or any gauge, will result in a futile attempt to find the original angle.  Also, poor technique could have lead to some parts of the blade being sharpened at one angle, and other parts of the blade sharpened at a different angle - this happens most often when an inexperienced person uses a machine to sharpen the knife.  This can also occur when an inexperienced person sharpens a rounded blade, where the long flat side has one angle, but the rounded part and/or tip have another angle.  Again, if this is the kind of knife you've got, you need to abandon the idea of preserving the original angle, and instead, choose what's best for the knife you've got.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not knowing your skill level, or of your uses, I would offer advice as I do for any beginner learning to sharpening a knife without the use of a gauge:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First determine the kind of blade you have.  If you have a hollow ground blade, then you have two options (which may be the same, depending on who sharpened the blade last).  You can use the blade spine as your gauge (this will allow you to sharpen at the manufacturer's intended angle), or, you can use the current angle which may be different than the manufacturer's angle.  In this case, it may have changed for various reasons, from deliberate changes to ignorance on how to sharpen.  You'll need to decide for yourself which angle you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do not have a hollow ground blade, then you have a flat blade face.  In this case, you'll probably be using the last sharpener's angle - the basis of your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now that you know whose angle you'll be using (last sharpener's or manufacturer's), you need to determine how to find it on the sharpening stone.  This takes practice and skill, but the idea is to use the long edge of the blade.  There are two methods you can use.  Both require a very flat and smooth surface, like a super fine stone or piece of glass.  One method uses paper, the other uses lampblack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paper method: Lay the blade down flat on the stone/surface; lift the spine slowly so that the knife rolls over the knife spine until the blade eventually is flush with the stone.  Use a piece of paper and try to slide it between the blade and stone.  If it slides easily, you haven't found the angle yet.  If you lift slowly, then, the very moment the paper can no long slide underneath the blade is the angle you want.  Be careful, if you lift too much, the paper won't slide, but you'll end up with the wrong angle.  Once you find this angle, then, this is the angle you'll use for the oil or water stone.  You might want to use a coin or some object to place under the spine to gauge how much to lift to achieve the angle you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the lampblack method, use a lit candle.  Run the knife blade through the flame.  This will impart soot onto the blade edge.  Be sure not to let the blade get hot, this will ruin the blade's temper.  Slide the blade across a smooth surface, as if the surface is the sharpening stone.  Slide only once using a best guess as to the angle.  When you slide, look to see if there is any lampblack left on the blade's bevel.  If there is, you didn't get the right angle yet.  If there is lampblack on the very edge of the blade, it suggests you need to lift the spine a little; conversely, if there is lampblack on the part of the bevel away from the edge, it suggests you lifted too high - lower it next time.  If either case happens, run the knife through the candle again, and repeat until you get the angle.  Always know the angle you use before you slide across the surface, so that you know that is the angle you need, or you need to lift or lower the spine in repeated attempts.  Use only a candle or a match; using a clean flame will not only NOT impart any soot, but it could heat the blade such that it ruins the temper.  Best to practice with a junk knife first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the record, the paper method is not always the best; with very small bevels, or imprecisely cut paper, or a rough surface, can all produce wrong results.  However, a narrow bevel and poor eyesight can fool the lampblack method as well.  Hollow ground knives will be notoriously difficult to determine the original angle, and a gauge will probably be needed.  Beginners trying to sharpen (expensive) hollow ground knives are best to use the manufacturer's intended blade angle, or use a guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T15:56:04.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20830" CreationDate="2018-10-26T16:15:37.307" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's easy to tell when your screws &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to be sharpened, because they don't cut as well and get increasingly difficult to place, but with proper maintenance your screws should &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; get to that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best practice is to &lt;strong&gt;sharpen your tools and gear after every climb&lt;/strong&gt;, even if it doesn't really need it. You don't need to go overboard, but the most serious climbers like &lt;strong&gt;Will Gadd&lt;/strong&gt; will always go over their gear with one or two strokes of a file when putting their gear away. At the very least, gently run your file over each edge to take of any small burrs that aren't obvious from a quick visual inspection. If you wait until your tools are dull before you sharpen them, then you're going to have a difficult time getting them sharp again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; to sharpen your screws, you can purchase specialty ice screw sharpeners, but most people just use a flat file, each screw tip gets filed from two different angles. There are plenty of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-CQbOM35oY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;videos online demonstrating the technique&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T16:15:37.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20580" CreationDate="2018-10-26T17:54:27.527" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're truly becalmed, you'll likely get better results by sculling than trying to pump the sail. By hauling the tiller back and forth you can use your rudder to paddle. Start slowly and as you feel forward momentum increase you can increase your sculling rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither of these methods are as effective as breaking out a paddle however. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16694" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T17:54:27.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18588" CreationDate="2018-10-26T18:23:05.210" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forester provides the answer earlier in the text&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming a steady wind speed and direction, no obstacles to avoid, and progress to windward not in excess of that needed to make one's destination on the opposite tack, there is no such thing as an optimal moment to tack. In the passage cited, however, the obstacle is the pursuing vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That French captain knew his business. &lt;strong&gt;Mathematically, the best course&#xA;  to take when trying to close on a ship to windward was to keep the&#xA;  ship being chased right in the wind's eye&lt;/strong&gt;, and that was where the&#xA;  Hotspur now found herself again, relative to the Loire, while the&#xA;  latter, resuming her former course, close-hauled, was twenty or thirty&#xA;  yards nearer to her in the direction of the wind. A gain of twenty or&#xA;  thirty yards, repeated often enough, and added to the steady gain&#xA;  resulting from being the more weatherly ship, would eventually close&#xA;  the gap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Hotspur tacks more readily than the Loire, recovering her speed sooner, so holding a tack longer gives advantage to the Loire which is both faster through the water and more weatherly we're told. Hornblower delays his tack in this passage in order to perform it under the trickier conditions of a passing squall knowing that when the Loire attempts to tack in the squall it will be still trickier for her!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16694" LastEditorUserId="16694" LastEditDate="2018-10-26T19:28:00.597" LastActivityDate="2018-10-26T19:28:00.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20851" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-27T03:56:31.500" Score="5" ViewCount="157" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a setting for a tabletop RPG game. This place is located high on the mountains and it is cold. There is a village in this place and their is and inn who's only room is on the basement of a hut (the hut is something like this &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloch%C3%A1n&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloch%C3%A1n&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that there is a basement dug under the hut what would the temperature be of that hole? Would it be the same temperature as it is outside or would it be warmer? If it is warmer and given that the temperature outside can be around 35 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 7 Celcius), would it be warm enough that you wouldn't need to use warm clothes there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16700" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T12:54:02.503" Title="Is a hole in a cold place warmer?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20852" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20851" CreationDate="2018-10-27T07:20:49.770" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The ground is a good insulator though it takes time to warm the soil closest to the heat source. A lot of heat will be lost from the top, but I assume there's a ground-level floor at the top of this room. If it's quite full of people, it will warm up fairly quickly, and stay that way. Any plausible source of light (candles etc) is also a source of heat, and will contribute. If it's reasonably dry, and there isn't too much wind, I would expect a group packed into such a room to be able to remove outer layers, though not to dress as for the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even an above-ground hut with a poorly fitting door warms up quite noticeably with a group filling it, such that if you've hiked uphill to it you'll need to act against overheating. Yours should be better insulated and therefore warmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T07:20:49.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20851" CreationDate="2018-10-27T09:18:08.447" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;On average a hole will be cooler.  Wine, root, and cheese cellars are all used for preservation (cool). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A cellar will even out swings so on a cold night it may be warmer and during the day it will be cooler.  Expect the average temp to be a few degrees cooler than the air.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the air is 35 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit then expect a few degrees less.  If it is insulated then a body might heat it up a few degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T09:18:08.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20851" CreationDate="2018-10-27T10:42:45.380" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on many factors including the following regarding the soils encountered - assuming you finds soils high up on this mountain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;heat capacity&lt;/strong&gt; of the soil: it's ability to store heat with moist soils having a higher heat capacity or ability to store heat per unit of temperature rise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;thermal conductivity&lt;/strong&gt; of the soil:  it's ability to transfer heat with conductivity generally increasing as grain size becomes finer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The degree of temperature change in the basement would be dependent on it's depth with a deeper basement experiencing less seasonal change in temperature than a shallower on.  The graph below shows this trend at 2, 5, and 12 feet below the ground surface for an average moist soil (in the Northern Hemisphere).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7fTU.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F7fTU.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;builditsolar.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see on this graph, with a ground surface temperature of 42 degrees F an average moist soil at a depth of 5 feet would be around 52 degrees F.  Of coarse though, much of this heat would be lost in an open drafty basement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-10-27T10:49:04.413" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T10:49:04.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20851" CreationDate="2018-10-27T12:54:02.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Note:  Doesn't this belong on Worldbuilding??)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question is inherently unanswerable as you are missing a key factor:  The season.  Look at that chart in wanderweeer's answer--note how the temperature swings up and down with the seasons, the deeper you go the less the swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your basement is always going to be pulled towards the average temperature of the region.  While his chart shows this to be 62 degrees that depends on where you are.  Here's a map for North America, unfortunately labeled in C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bVmc8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bVmc8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ground temperature map of the US&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T12:54:02.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20821" CreationDate="2018-10-27T13:31:49.497" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Finite Element Analysis&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jjgeng.com/html/body_ice_screw.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Screw Analysis&lt;/a&gt; by John Gregel shows computer models of the stresses applied to an idelaized screw in differing strength ice blocks at three angles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;+15° hanger higher than tip / ‘downwards’ in Charlie Brumbaugh’s answer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0° horizontal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-15° hanger lower than tip / ‘upwards’ in Charlie’s answer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It shows the most obvious difference with a 13cm screw in what he calls medium strength ice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7jl5o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7jl5o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;13cm ice screw at +15°&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;13cm ice screw at +15°&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rh4mH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rh4mH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;13cm ice screw at 0°&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;13cm ice screw at 0°&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1sLrW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1sLrW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;13cm ice screw at -15°&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;13cm ice screw at -15°&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He concludes with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As the above figures show, placing your ice screws at a negative angle&#xA;  will reduce the stress in both the ice screw and the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Petzl&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly Petzl still (May 2018) recommend horizontal placement:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrHkO.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrHkO.png&quot; alt=&quot;Petzl ice screw placement diagram&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Image from &#xA;Technical notice for Laser Ice Screws &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0681r0000078ZffAAE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;G0003700D&lt;/a&gt; [1.74 MB PDF]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12948" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T13:31:49.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="682" CreationDate="2018-10-27T14:08:52.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hike in Arizona, which is super snakey!!! An easy deterrent is to hike with wooden sticks (I make mine from yucca or agave stems) and tap in front of you as you walk. 99.9% of snakes will get out of the way or let you know they are there (rattlesnakes) long before you reach them due to their incredible ability to sense vibration. I have been doing this for 10+ plus years and that along with some common sense like tapping logs and large rocks prior to stepping over them etc. has served me well! Snakes are beautiful critters!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16702" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-27T21:29:41.017" LastActivityDate="2018-10-27T21:29:41.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20859" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-27T18:16:28.627" Score="5" ViewCount="95" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard from a friend that some bees exhibit &lt;a href=&quot;https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/study-bees-went-silent-during-total-solar-eclipse/4611028.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;behavioral changes&lt;/a&gt; during a solar eclipse event. I'd like to know what the changes are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently there's a cycle that starts as the eclipse begins, enters a different phase during the eclipse and another phase as the eclipse wanes. When the whole event is over, they go back to normal behavior. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this true? If so, what are the actual behavioral changes at each phase? Does the species matter? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, I'm looking for information from reliable scientific sources, but trustworthy anecdotal evidence is acceptable too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the question from being too broad, I'm limiting it to North America. However, if the same behavioral changes are evident in other parts of the world, answers about those are fine with me, and I can remove the limitation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-10-28T23:39:53.443" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T14:00:28.430" Title="What behaviors in bees change just before, during and after a solar eclipse?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;bees&gt;&lt;eclipse&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20860" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-28T04:37:46.370" Score="3" ViewCount="570" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dm9ba.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wish to get rid of these wasps. I am not sure what they are trying to do. Are these wasps creating a hive? Or is there something from the A/C they are collecting to create a hive somewhere else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16706" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-18T19:56:15.310" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T02:34:43.213" Title="Why are there so many wasps attached to this air conditioner?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20862" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-28T19:16:04.153" Score="6" ViewCount="1334" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fvddD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;the skull in question&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hi there! First time poster here. 8 months ago I found a deer head in the woods. At the time it was less than 24 hours dead. So I put it in a tub and buried it in the woods. Dug it back up a few days ago. The tub had filled with water at some point and the skull was clean (ish) but stained brown. So I threw it on my back porch in a container of dish soap and h2o2. But the color is still the same. I’ve been replaced the peroxide occasionally and trying to clean off some bits of remaining flesh. I’m considering putting it in a stock pot and simmering it with the peroxide to really whiten it. Downside is that I have no access to an outdoor heating element so doing it inside could get gross fast. Any advice? Also picked up a doe skull yesterday on a hike. It also still has flesh attached to it. Should it get simmered? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I live in an apartment. So I can’t hang up skulls outside, use a hose, or heat them outside as I have no outdoor property outside my porch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16710" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T20:16:09.177" Title="Skull soaking in hydrogen peroxide for days still brown" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7454" CreationDate="2018-10-28T20:31:59.640" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you live anywhere near an ocean harbor, there's not a better rope for a swing than good old 3&quot; halyard, double braided nylon (mooring lines for ships) Search the yard to find a pile of it coiled up and then ask around for permission to take it.  Even a river docking will have it.  We always put a big knot at the bottom and then single half hitches spaced up the line a few feet apart.  Sometimes we would have every knot occupied and then all drop at once into the bayou.  Amazing we never got killed or hurt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16711" LastActivityDate="2018-10-28T20:31:59.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20864" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-29T05:00:27.627" Score="8" ViewCount="1231" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm using a natural feature such as a boulder or a lump of rock as part of an anchor by tying a static rope around it, what are the best knots to use? I'm thinking that there would be different knots: one for when the feature is used at the end of the rope, and one where the feature is tied using a loop of rope&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I use a figure-eight at the end of the rope and an alpine butterfly if I'm tying from the middle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5374" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T21:25:05.113" Title="When making an anchor with static rope around a boulder, what knot should I use" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20865" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20867" CreationDate="2018-10-29T06:46:36.890" Score="51" ViewCount="24432" Body="&lt;p&gt;My cat gets a rabbit every other week or so. He usually eats the whole thing himself but I was wondering if I should try and cook it for myself. Is there even enough meat on them to make it worth the effort? If I had to guess they probably weigh about 1lbs (cat weighs 15lbs). Would it be legal in the state of Washington?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qKD2A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qKD2A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;boots&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16714" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-10-29T14:46:56.823" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T10:06:03.820" Title="Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20864" CreationDate="2018-10-29T07:48:39.290" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your current choices are good.&#xA;For a fixed loop in the middle of a rope, an alpine butterfly is a solid choice. I can think of alternatives, but no really better ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a loop at the end of the rope, a figure eight (assuming a trace eight) is plenty strong even in that configuration, even if it is not optimal for a tight loop around a large object like a boulder. &lt;em&gt;Just don't clip a carabiner to the loop itself though!&lt;/em&gt; fig eights can roll. And for the same reason, make sure that the free strand comes out in the same direction as your loaded strand, or the load will try to roll the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;i.e like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; ___&#xA;/###\&#xA;|###|&#xA;\   /&#xA;  8&#xA; ||&#xA;  |&#xA;  |&#xA;  (you)&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;   __   &#xA;  |##\ /&#xA;  |## 8&#xA;  |##/ \____ (you)&#xA;   --   &#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatives might be to simply tie a bowline or a clove hitch (with a generous tail) around the load bearing strand. This will make your loop into a noose, which might or might not be a good thing depending on circumstances. It will also make it more obvious that clipping into the loop is not a good idea. (Though there have been tragic accidents where someone has clipped the loop formed by a larksfooted sling)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway I would be more concerned by the boulder itself, whether it was solid enough, it there were sharp edges and so on than by which knot you used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T07:48:39.290" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20865" CreationDate="2018-10-29T11:27:05.513" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, but most people would not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our cat would do the same thing as yours, when we lived in the country. Sometimes the rabbit was just as big as the cat. We never cooked our cats kills, but I know neighbors who did and they generally made a type of rabbit stew out of them. There are lots of recipes on the internet for rabbit stew like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/rabbit_stew_with_mushrooms/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://honest-food.net/german-rabbit-stew/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/old-fashion-rabbit-stew-86093&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. I recommend using lots of vegetables in the stew. It makes it seem tastier, at least to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes rabbit stew tastes excellent. That I have eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rabbits are quite small you can always put them in your freezer until you have enough for a banquet!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem legal as your cat killed its own prey out of instinct and  I truly doubt you trained it to kill rabbits. Our cat more often than not brought them home and put her kills at the front door as trying to say: &quot;look what I brought home!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="3277" LastEditDate="2018-10-29T14:17:23.920" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T14:17:23.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20859" CreationDate="2018-10-29T14:00:28.430" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was a study that found that during totality, the bees stopped buzzing suddenly without any gradual slowdown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The researchers found that while the insects were happily buzzing throughout the day and during the partial phases of the eclipse, th&lt;strong&gt;e bees went quiet the instant that the total eclipse occurred in their location&lt;/strong&gt;. Of the 16 monitoring locations the group set up in Oregon, Idaho and Missouri, they identified only a single buzz during totality, compared with a symphony of droning sounds most other times of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“We &lt;strong&gt;expected there would be a gradual decrease in the number of buzzes as it got darker and darker, but we didn’t see that&lt;/strong&gt;,” said Candace Galen, a biologist at the University of Missouri and lead author of the study, which appeared Wednesday in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. “&lt;strong&gt;At totality, they just stopped&lt;/strong&gt;. It was very surprising.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/science/bees-eclipse-buzzing.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Moon Eclipsed the Sun. Then the Bees Stopped Buzzing.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, see&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/busy-bees-take-break-during-total-solar-eclipses-180970502/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/busy-bees-take-break-during-total-solar-eclipses-180970502/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencenews.org/article/what-bees-did-during-great-american-eclipse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.sciencenews.org/article/what-bees-did-during-great-american-eclipse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://earthsky.org/earth/bees-stopped-buzzing-during-aug2017-total-solar-eclipse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://earthsky.org/earth/bees-stopped-buzzing-during-aug2017-total-solar-eclipse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T14:00:28.430" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20865" CreationDate="2018-10-29T16:29:42.500" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on several sources related to parasites that can be found in rabbit meat, as noted in other answers in this post, it is difficult to correctly diagnose whether a rabbit has been infected or not without using a microscope of tissue samples during necropsy. That also includes the following worm types: ringworm (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/bacterial-and-mycotic-diseases-of-rabbits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dermatophytosis&lt;/a&gt;); &lt;a href=&quot;https://honest-food.net/on-trichinosis-in-wild-game/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;trichinosis&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/parasitic-diseases-of-rabbits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;larval worms, or tapeworms&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/parasitic-diseases-of-rabbits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pinworms&lt;/a&gt;; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/animpest/v1227.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;roundworm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While those particular worms can be located in either the liver, intestines, colon, and/or feces (as either eggs, larva or adult worms), they can infect other organs (such as roundworms migrating to the brain or eyes of a host, or ringworm appearing on the skin) making diagnosis via visual indicators difficult without transmission should proper PPE not be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other parasites/bacteria/diseases of rabbits include, but are not limited to: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/parasitic-diseases-of-rabbits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;coccidiosis (two different types); walking dandruff (&quot;can cause mild dermatitis&quot;); encephalitozoonosis&lt;/a&gt;; and, most notably, tularemia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When preparing a rabbit for consumption, it is recommended that you wear gloves and proper clothing since &lt;a href=&quot;https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/rabbit/rabbit-safety-health&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tularemia&lt;/a&gt; can be transmitted through contact of the skin, especially blood. (Several sources include: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbtulare.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link1&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/rabbit-fever-zmaz87mazgoe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link2&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/generalized-conditions/tularemia/overview-of-tularemia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link3&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://healthfully.com/dangers-eating-wild-rabbit-8459597.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link4&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/bacterial-and-mycotic-diseases-of-rabbits&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link5&lt;/a&gt;). While indication of tularemia in rabbit meat can be seen in the liver, it is recommended that you cook the meat to a min. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/fdd/fdd_fs_wild_game.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;160 F / 72°C if cooked from fresh.&lt;/a&gt;. Cooking the meat to that internal temperature can also deal with internal worms (though it is recommended that you remove the intestines, taking care not to damage or rupture the organ in the process).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Given that some of these infections can be transmitted to other animals, such as cats, take care to keep up with regular vet checks to monitor and maintain the health of your cat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16722" LastEditorUserId="13624" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T10:00:23.963" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T10:00:23.963" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20872" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20873" CreationDate="2018-10-29T20:30:27.683" Score="7" ViewCount="359" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outfitterssupply.com/Stove-Jack/productinfo/WT%20O117/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stove jack&lt;/a&gt; allows you to safely extend a stovepipe through the roof or&#xA;wall of your tent. Our stove jacks are constructed of fire proof&#xA;17-ounce [0.48 kg] silicone-coated glass material (18&amp;quot; x 18&amp;quot; [46 cm × 46 cm]) with a solid&#xA;silicone ring. Stove jacks are temperature rated up to 700°F (400°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More photos &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=stove%20jack&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwie_sqlvKzeAhVSmK0KHfNuAvUQ_AUIDigB&amp;amp;biw=1910&amp;amp;bih=942&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hS8fj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hS8fj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question: Why are stove jacks NOT normally made of metal?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A. Metal would be difficult to transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B. Metal would conduct heat to the flammable tent fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C. Something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BGLKN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BGLKN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wintertrekking.com/community/index.php?topic=2958.0&amp;amp;fbclid=IwAR2guNC_iRHfyMi6wxIiiCJl8ODFhOJ_R-NIra8YDQTw2zQ0ZyLeod0HTtM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16728" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T15:51:40.180" Title="Why are stove jacks NOT normally made of metal?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20872" CreationDate="2018-10-29T20:48:03.910" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;To keep your tent from burning.  Making the stove jack out of metal, would conduct heat to from your stovepipe.  This could cause your tent material to start to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outfitterssupply.com/Stove-Jack/productinfo/WT%20O117/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;If you look at the description in your link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our stove jacks are contructed of fire proof 17-ounce silicone-coated glass material (18&quot; x 18&quot;) with a solid silicone ring. Stove jacks are temperature rated up to 700°F (400°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This material would be fire resistant and is also a poor conductor of heat (unlike metal) which would prevent your very hot stove pipe from accidentally setting your tent on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T03:00:50.420" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T03:00:50.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20875" CreationDate="2018-10-29T21:06:19.450" Score="7" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it still considered a 'figure 8' knot when you dress it so the loop is perpendicular to the rest of the loop?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03mhF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03mhF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;sideways figure eight knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yRleY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yRleY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;normal figure eight knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16730" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T21:23:45.957" Title="Figure-8 Followthrough Question" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20874" CreationDate="2018-10-29T21:23:45.957" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;strong&gt;regardless of how as you dress it, that is still a figure 8 knot.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not going to matter either, because once the knot is weighted, it will be pulled into the same configuration regardless of the angle the loop is dressed to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, the top picture will look like the bottom once force is applied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-29T21:23:45.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20865" CreationDate="2018-10-29T21:29:49.453" Score="23" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TLDR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear gloves! &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Discard the rabbit if there are white spots on the liver &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a meat thermometer and make sure your meat is cooked through to 165 F / 74 C.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My copy of Joy of Cooking contains this advice about small game (of which rabbit is an example)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Never handle any wild meat without gloves because of the danger of tularemia infection &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Always make sure the meat of wild animals is sufficiently cooked because any warm-blooded animal may be harboring trichinosis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tularemia&lt;/a&gt;, sometimes called rabbit fever, is a bacterial disease which spreads through skin contact, but is killed by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorhub.com/how-to/2013/02/25/rabbit-hunters-take-note-steps-to-avoid-tularemia/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;heat above 160 F / 71 C&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/rabbit/rabbit-safety-health&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Missouri Department of Conservation&lt;/a&gt; suggests looking for symptoms of tularemia on the liver of the rabbit &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While eviscerating the rabbit, check the liver for numerous white&#xA;  lesions about the size of a pin head. If you find these, the rabbit&#xA;  should be discarded and not eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/prevent.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trichinosis&lt;/a&gt; is caused by roundworms and is also killed by heat above 160 F / 71 C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not been able to find any other disease risks online specifically for rabbits, but other general advice meat safety advice from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.avma.org/public/Health/Pages/Disease-Precautions-for-Hunters.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Disease Prevention for Hunters&lt;/a&gt; includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If there are any old wounds on the carcass, and especially if there is pus present, meat in this area should be removed and discarded. A&#xA;  large area of tissue around the wound and pus pockets should also be&#xA;  cut away with the wound, even if the tissue looks normal, because it&#xA;  can still harbor infection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If any abnormalities are seen in the chest or abdominal cavity of the carcass, consider disposing of the entire carcass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If any of the intestines have an abnormal smell or discharge, or if pockets of blood are seen in the muscle unassociated with the&#xA;  bullet/shot/arrow wound, the flesh should be considered unfit for&#xA;  eating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The abdominal cavity should be cleaned, dried and cooled until the meat is processed. During warm weather (over 65° F, or 18.3 C), bags&#xA;  of ice should be placed in the body cavity to hasten cooling. The&#xA;  carcass should be protected against flies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Any uncooked game should be promptly frozen, refrigerated or disposed of properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11394" LastEditorUserId="13896" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T09:58:13.980" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T09:58:13.980" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20751" CreationDate="2018-10-30T03:04:55.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be cinching so tight that it is cutting or pinching the line. Whenever I need to attach two lines I use a blood knot. Fast, simple, effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NvgOg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NvgOg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blood Knot image&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://swittersb.wordpress.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://swittersb.wordpress.com/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a video of how to tie:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q06QKib1AEQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q06QKib1AEQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16714" LastEditorUserId="16714" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T03:32:37.673" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T03:32:37.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20878" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-10-30T13:03:08.510" Score="11" ViewCount="1402" Body="&lt;p&gt;Small warning: This question comes from a germophobe point of view, so please keep this in mind while giving an answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love hiking, but I'm worried of what kind of germs (read virus, bacteria and any parasite) you could get from touching things in the ground. The list of things are normal, natural objects like stones, sticks, leaves (dry or not), etc. My particular worry are rodent-transmitted illnesses like leptospirosis and hantavirus, since these transmit through the urine and feces of rats, and I don't know if the objects I get from the ground are contaminated or were at some point exposed to contamination. In addition, it has to be considered that hands or skin touching the objects might be cut, the hands might touch mouth, nose, eyes or ears, and also what happens if one eats afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For additional context, when I say hiking, I mean hiking in USA Northeastern forests, in public state parks, on one of the trails (not outside the trails). My hikes are not particularly long, certainly not more than a few hours and do not involve the use of shelters or public bathrooms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, what are the chances that a human can get sick of any rodent-transmitted illness by touching natural objects while hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16735" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T21:43:34.247" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T21:43:34.247" Title="What are the chances to catch rodent-transmitted illnesses while hiking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20862" CreationDate="2018-10-30T13:04:10.477" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use towels soaked in hydrogen peroxide and wrapped in plastic set in the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cowboyway.com/HowTo/WhitenBone.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; shows the method being used on an old cow skull.  For whitening, I don't think that you need any dish soap or extra water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should boil the other skull to help get the bits off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T13:04:10.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20878" CreationDate="2018-10-30T13:29:10.057" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very slim to be almost nonexistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, I have not gotten any disease from touching/eating things while hiking.  I am typically hiking in the midwest on and off trails.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diseases from rodents are not something to be concerned about. First, while they are moving along leaving urine and feces about, they are not covering everything.  So that reduces your risk of exposure.  A further reduction is that not all rodents will be carriers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second consideration would be the number of cases of the disease each year. The US had &lt;a href=&quot;https://g.co/kgs/NoAVwf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;27 cases&lt;/a&gt; of leptospirosis and the CDC has recorded &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/surveillance/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;just over 700 cases since 1993 as of Jan 2017&lt;/a&gt; of hantavirus. Considering that there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.statista.com/statistics/191240/participants-in-hiking-in-the-us-since-2006/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;over 44 million hikers in the US&lt;/a&gt;, many of which are east of the Mississippi means that the chances of getting these diseases are very small. (A further point being that I would imagine that most people get the disease from handling rodents rather than secondary contact)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This suggests that your chances are incredibly slim for contracting any diseases from rodents by just going on hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, you should be concerned with lyme and other illnesses that are transmitted via mosquitoes and ticks. But that can be mitigated with proper clothing and insect repellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorDisplayName="user16724" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T17:11:07.500" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T17:11:07.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20862" CreationDate="2018-10-30T14:55:26.580" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7114/how-to-clean-bones-found-outside/7115#7115&quot;&gt;How to clean bones found outside?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The over the counter H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;0&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; isn't going to do the job with a skull that discoloured. You need to get some stonger stuff. Over the counter hydrogen peroxide is diluted, it's only about 3% pure. Taxidermists use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.taxidermyarts.com/p-558-40-volume-hydrogen-peroxide.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;40 volume hydrogen peroxide&lt;/a&gt;, it's far stronger than the drug store stuff, and will produce the results you want. There are also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.taxidermyarts.com/p-557-basic-white.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;other products&lt;/a&gt; you can use in conjunction with the 40 volume that will turn your skull bleach white. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-10-31T20:16:09.177" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T20:16:09.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16937" CreationDate="2018-10-30T15:47:01.067" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Rig a topping lift&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I realize this is an old question and my answer may be over-engineered, but here it is anyway:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could rig a topping lift: a line attached near the aft end of the boom and run through a block near the top of the mast. When you need to paddle, ease the sheet and haul the topping lift to raise the boom up and forward out of your way. This has the added advantage of scandalizing the sail so if an unexpected breeze catches while you're paddling it will have less effect than if it were down and allowed to fill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16694" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T15:47:01.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1711" CreationDate="2018-10-30T20:49:43.020" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The iNaturalist app is also a good source for identifying plants.  Taking a picture, it will help provide some suggestions as to what you are seeing.  As an added bonus, you can use it to identify other plants and animals as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.inaturalist.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T20:49:43.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20885" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20888" CreationDate="2018-10-30T21:55:15.930" Score="8" ViewCount="117" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping that this is the right place to put this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going four wheel driving on a sand island for a couple of days this weekend. I drive a Ford Ranger truck (ute in Australia).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, should I drive with the a load in the back or should I avoid a load? I can see advantages to both but, due to my lack of experience, I don't have a definitive answer. Hoping someone here can clear this up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16733" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T23:10:05.220" Title="4wd Truck laden or not on sand" Tags="&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20885" CreationDate="2018-10-30T22:44:52.483" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You want to be light with big tires with tread.  The idea is to float.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look up Baja 500.  None of those vehicles are weighted down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6728" LastEditorUserId="6728" LastEditDate="2018-10-30T22:50:40.143" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T22:50:40.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20885" CreationDate="2018-10-30T23:10:05.220" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;For pickup trucks on snow/ice, the conventional wisdom is to throw some weight in the back (sand or cat litter) to add weight on the rear axle, increasing friction and making it less likely to go into a spin as the rear tries to go faster than the front. (And, should you have no traction, the sand or cat litter is right there to help). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On sand, you really don't need to worry about going into a full-blown spin without really trying - there would still be a lot of lateral drag on the rear tires even if they shimmy a bit. My experience in sand is that you generally need way more throttle than you might think as you try to push through the sand, and your problem is too slow and just bogging down. More weight results in more sinking into the sand, needing more throttle. Then you need so much torque to get going again that you just spin wheels and sink in further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can be alleviated to some extent by lowering tire pressures, increasing the tread area on the sand. Again, generally, you can't lower pressures enough for the sand to become slippery before they pop off rims (even with bead locks), and you continue to need more throttle than on pavement. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, my experience is mainly dry sands/dusts of the American southwest. Watching way too many videos from Australia seems to indicate that beaches, although damper or wetter, really aren't that different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2018-10-30T23:10:05.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20889" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20890" CreationDate="2018-10-31T00:47:06.793" Score="4" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some users &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20865/can-i-eat-the-rabbits-my-cat-catches&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; seem to think that the animal in question is a pika and not a cottontail rabbit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one tell the difference between a pika and a cottontail rabbit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T00:47:06.793" Title="How to tell the difference between a pika and a cottontail rabbit?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20889" CreationDate="2018-10-31T00:47:06.793" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pika&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/American_pika_%28ochotona_princeps%29_with_a_mouthful_of_flowers.jpg/615px-American_pika_%28ochotona_princeps%29_with_a_mouthful_of_flowers.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_pika_(ochotona_princeps)_with_a_mouthful_of_flowers.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rounded ears&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No tail&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short limbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lives at high elevations, commonly &lt;strong&gt;above or around treeline&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makes chirping noises.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protected species&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cottontail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern cottontail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Sylvilagus_floridanus_14136.JPG/640px-Sylvilagus_floridanus_14136.JPG&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sylvilagus_floridanus_14136.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Large hind feet&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long ears&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powerful rear legs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;White &lt;strong&gt;underpatch underneath of the body&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lives in meadows and forests&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Common game animal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The animal in the other question has long ears, a visible tail, a white under patch and is in an area inhabited by humans, clearly making it a rabbit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T00:47:06.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20891" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20895" CreationDate="2018-10-31T11:09:46.813" Score="8" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;A simple explanation would be great. &#xA;I am reading a manual for digital compass and there is a paragraph with the following words:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The SpeedPuck automatically detects when a sailor is trimmed to a&#xA;  heading then provides the header/lift indication. When the device&#xA;  detects that the sailor is trimmed at a heading the trim angle is set.&#xA;  Then header/lift indication is given off of that trim angle. Once a&#xA;  tack or a jibe is detected the indicator resets and nothing is&#xA;  indicated until another trim angle is set. Each bar segment represents&#xA;  3 degrees of wind shift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really understand what header/lift indication is. If only someone could explain plain simple words, that would be great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16751" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-10-31T17:36:01.803" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T18:09:09.253" Title="What is head/lift indication in a digital compass on a sailboat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20892" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21102" CreationDate="2018-10-31T14:10:50.310" Score="4" ViewCount="574" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outfitterssupply.com/Stove-Jack/productinfo/WT%20O117/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stove jack&lt;/a&gt; allows you to safely extend a stovepipe through the roof or&#xA;  wall of your tent.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hS8fj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hS8fj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern-day stove jacks appear to be made of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.liteoutdoors.com/product/stove-jack-material/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;silicone fiberglass&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1yIr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1yIr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it's my guess that silicone fiberglass is a relatively recent invention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What kind of material was used to make stove jacks in winter tents before the invention of silicone fiberglass?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16728" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T21:59:05.160" Title="What kind of material was used to make traditional stove jacks?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20865" CreationDate="2018-10-31T16:13:36.623" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for the legality of it, be sure to check with your local authorities. A man in Texas got a visit from a game warden for illegally taking wildlife when a dove flew into his window. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/dont-eat-the-birds-that-fly-into-your-window/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Texas Monthly&lt;/a&gt; Washington state hunting guidelines state that pygmy rabbit hunting is &lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/smallgame_trapping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;closed&lt;/a&gt;, and they are a &lt;a href=&quot;https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00275/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;threatened species&lt;/a&gt; so please do be careful in this respect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16755" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T16:13:36.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20891" CreationDate="2018-10-31T17:34:39.340" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's start with the terms lift and header.  Suppose I want to go &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt;, whichever direction that happens to be.  If the wind is coming from &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt;, then I can't do it, at least not on wind power alone.  What I can do is sail slightly to the left of &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt; for a while, then tack slightly to the right of &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt; and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A change in the wind direction that makes it easier to go &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt; is called a lift (perhaps due to its effect on the crew's spirits, but that's just me editorializing).  Conversely, a change in the wind direction that makes it harder to go &lt;em&gt;that way&lt;/em&gt; is a header (probably a reference to the wind changing to be ahead of you, but that's a question for another SE.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now on to your compass.  It is difficult to tell from your quote alone, and I have never used this sort of device myself.  However, the idea I am getting is that somehow the programming inside the compass is able to determine if a lift or a header has occurred, and provide the helmsman some sort of signal as to that event, so as to allow him to adjust trim accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2018-10-31T17:43:48.143" LastActivityDate="2018-10-31T17:43:48.143" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20897" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-01T12:38:17.970" Score="0" ViewCount="793" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20894&quot;&gt;recent question.&lt;/a&gt; If I want to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a boat, what are the shortest and longest possible crossing sites?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where crossing = going from one continent to another where there is no land bridge (&lt;em&gt;i.e. You can walk from North America to South America&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first thought about going from Southern tip of South America to Antarctica, this is around 600 miles (1,000KM).  Not sure if that would 'count' as crossing the Atlantic the Pacific, both or something else.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T16:12:24.290" Title="What are the shortest and longest crossing points of the Atlantic?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20898" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20899" CreationDate="2018-11-01T14:25:18.120" Score="5" ViewCount="1609" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've rendered my &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sangean.eu/products/product.asp?l=2&amp;amp;cid=5&amp;amp;mid=225&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sangean MMR-88 DAB radio&lt;/a&gt; (alias Sangean Survivor DAB+) unusable by selecting &lt;em&gt;System&lt;/em&gt; → &lt;em&gt;Software Upgrade&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The display says &quot;PC wizard..&quot; and the radio is unresponsive. I've tried pressing and holding the power button for a couple of seconds, hoping that this would cause a hard reset, but that's not what happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I make my radio work again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16761" LastEditorUserId="16761" LastEditDate="2020-06-14T16:26:08.420" LastActivityDate="2020-06-14T16:26:08.420" Title="Sangean MMR-88 DAB radio stuck at &quot;PC wizard..&quot;" Tags="&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20898" CreationDate="2018-11-01T14:25:18.120" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution was to remove the battery from the battery compartment at the bottom of the radio. This turned off the radio. After turning the radio on, it's responsive again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mind that for this to work, the radio mustn't be connected to another power source with a USB cable. Meaning you should unplug the radio before removing the battery so it actually turns off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This trick is not described in the part of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sangean.eu/support/download/Manual/V1/20170307_3A81aQ1000040_MMR-88DAB_GB_V1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;manual&lt;/a&gt; that talks about software upgrades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16761" LastEditorUserId="16761" LastEditDate="2018-11-01T14:51:56.270" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T14:51:56.270" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20900" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-01T14:57:41.070" Score="2" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20894/how-much-can-kayaking-across-the-atlantic-cost&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt;, if one were to go on a three-month rowing trip across an ocean, is there an estimate of how much the food would be needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's certainly possible to give an estimate when backpacking, but rowing would be different and while I am sure that it would depend on the person, it should still be possible to get an idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is an estimate of how much three months of food for a single person rowing across an ocean would be needed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T18:54:11.477" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T18:54:11.477" Title="How much food is needed for three months of food when rowing across an ocean?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20897" CreationDate="2018-11-01T16:12:24.290" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is pretty easy to work out from online maps - I make the shortest distance 2520km from the Cape Verde Islands to Sao Jose, Brazil, or 2844km from Cap Skirring, Senegal if you want to go mainland-mainland. The longest would be going North-South - roughly 15500km from Greenland to Antartica...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3645" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T16:12:24.290" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20903" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-01T17:28:19.530" Score="4" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone tell me which caterpillar this is? Its body looks black and it has &#xA;hairs that are white and black, with a little bit of brown. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was on a utensil which was kept in a dark place. I watched it come out from the cocoon on the left after my mother poured water on it, then it tried to climb the walls of the utensil.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Punjab in the northern part of India, which is in Asia. &#xA;It was about 5cm long but i couldn't measure the actual length. Now it is gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But i will try to find another one of these around my home. If i can i will put a picture of it on this site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJwhq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vJwhq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;caterpillar in a metal pan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And it came out of cocoon so is it even a caterpillar? I think caterpillars make cocoons to become moths and butterflies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15801" LastEditorUserId="15801" LastEditDate="2018-11-04T18:43:41.753" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T18:43:41.753" Title="What is this just-hatched black caterpillar with white and black hairs, found in India?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20891" CreationDate="2018-11-01T18:00:37.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When going upwind, a header is when there is a wind shift towards your bow, which would make you deviate further from your original heading provided you don't adjust trim. A lift is the opposite. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catamaranvega.com/vega/sailing/10/lesson10.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt;'s a nice illustration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After checking out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.velocitek.com/pages/speedpuck&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the product&lt;/a&gt;, I think I understand what it does:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you've been on a certain heading for enough time, the instrument detects you're trimmed on a tack and if it detects a slight deviation from that heading, it will indicate this as a wind shift on the display.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you tack or gybe, the instrument resets its wind shift indicator and waits to calculate your new heading on the next tack before starting to give you wind shift values again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind, this is all based off GPS data, so if you actually adjust your trim slightly, it might show it as a wind shift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-11-01T18:09:09.253" LastActivityDate="2018-11-01T18:09:09.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20905" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20932" CreationDate="2018-11-01T23:15:03.870" Score="4" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard of single track hiking/biking trails being &quot;groomed&quot; before to keep them in good condition for users.  The use of shovels, rakes, and possibly chainsaws to keep the trails free of debris are likely to be used on shorter trails but may not be very efficient for trails that are miles long.  These tools may also not be sufficient to fix rills caused by heavy rains. What other equipment is used to keep single track hiking and biking trails in safe condition for users and does the equipment differ for each trail type?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T00:45:48.643" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T17:33:33.960" Title="What equipment is used to &quot;groom&quot; single track hiking and biking trails?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20907" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-02T00:05:35.243" Score="4" ViewCount="619" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to tie both cables together, but without a knot, kind of &quot;join&quot; them as if glued together side by side, no knot in the cable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cable is quite thin, and I'm using fishing line, the knot has to really grip it so it stays tight. Cable has a plastic casing, like a bicycle lock, so it has flexibility and give, the fishing wire can squeeze it to grip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's kind of like joining 2 extension cords, without knot in the cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knot has to be self-tightening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knot has to self-tighten by pulling on a single side, too small to pull 2 simultaneously.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knot will never be untied.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0BmMY.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0BmMY.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T02:40:53.440" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T18:33:02.173" Title="How to join 2 cables together with fishing line without putting knot in cable?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20908" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-02T10:13:32.363" Score="5" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;About a month ago, my youngest son found a dead rabbit in the woods while camping and brought me to the spot to show it. The rabbit looked like it had just died and didn't show any obvious cause of death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even though denying it, I made him wash his hands since I suspected he might have touched it (despite me having told him to never touch dead animals found in the woods).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He later admitted having petted it briefly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any diseases that could have been transmitted through the brief fur to skin contact? Any ones that I still need to worry about?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in The Netherlands, more specifically in the province of Zeeland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5652" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T13:41:48.890" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T13:41:48.890" Title="What diseases can be transmitted through skin contact with a dead rabbit?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;&lt;the-netherlands&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20909" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-11-02T10:15:34.620" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T10:15:34.620" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T10:15:34.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20910" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-11-02T10:15:34.620" Score="0" Body="Questions related to The Netherlands. Only use this tag if The Netherlands are relevant to the question, not if something merely happens to take place in The Netherlands." OwnerUserId="5652" LastEditorUserId="5652" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T02:29:01.273" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T02:29:01.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20908" CreationDate="2018-11-02T13:41:36.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the title question, there are a number of diseases you can get from wild rabbits,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zoonotic diseases specifically associated with rabbits include &lt;strong&gt;pasteurellosis, ringworm, mycobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis and external parasites.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabbits can transmit bacteria through bites and scratches. One of the common agents involved is Pasteurella multocida, a bacterium that resides in the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract of rabbits. Human infection is generally characterized by local inflammation with occasional abscess formation and ascending infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://iacuc.wsu.edu/zoonoses-associated-with-rabbits/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zoonoses Associated with Rabbits&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding ticks and fleas,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but the species of fleas and ticks typically found on rabbits rarely bite humans, and the risk of transmission of zoonotic disease from rabbits to humans via such bites is considered low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/files/2008/04/M2-Rabbits-DVM.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zoonotic Diseases Of Rabbits&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a longer list of diseases &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/files/2008/04/M2-Rabbits-DVM.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; including Mange, Rabies (possible but never recorded) and Tularemia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, it would seem that the risk is rather low as people hunt and handle rabbits from  time to time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T13:41:36.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20912" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-02T14:01:42.847" Score="0" ViewCount="690" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that rabbits shouldn't be eaten in the summer because they have ticks and parasites on them at that time and that one should wait till after it freezes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you have to abide by hunting seasons, but some like jackrabbits can be hunted all year long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20908/what-diseases-can-be-transmitted-through-skin-contact-with-a-dead-rabbit&quot;&gt;can get diseases from rabbits&lt;/a&gt;, is the risk unreasonably high in the summer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T18:46:05.393" Title="Can wild rabbits be eaten in the summer or is the risk of disease too high?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20912" CreationDate="2018-11-02T14:15:12.560" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The idea of avoiding them in the summer is that you can get fleas from them.  After the weather turns colder, the fleas freeze off and you won't have the problem.  So the risk from the rabbit itself isn't unreasonably high, just that the rabbit is more likely to have the parasites in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an anecdote, the show MeatEater had the host Steve Rinella shoot a jackrabbit while hunting Sage Grouse in Wyoming.  The rabbit ended up having fleas due to the weather still being warm.  [Unfortunately, I am not able to link to the episode]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some tips for checking to see if your rabbit is infected.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/general/small-game-field-care-tips-2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/general/small-game-field-care-tips-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The easiest way to determine if a rabbit or the fleas on a rabbit are a vector for Tularemia is to examine the animal’s liver. If the liver is dotted with white spots, discard the rabbit and wash thoroughly with strong soap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorDisplayName="user16724" LastEditDate="2018-11-02T18:46:05.393" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T18:46:05.393" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14604" CreationDate="2018-11-02T14:28:46.013" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;How long are you staying by the riverside?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this a day trip, you don't need to do any special preservation methods.  You can put them on a stringer and keep them in the river until you are ready to go home.  If you are concerned about the cleanliness of the river, you don't need gut them immediately.  Keeping them in a creel or a bucket of water in the shade is fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have gone fishing for a day and kept the fish in bucket of cool water.  And cleaned them after getting back from the lake/river without any ill effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to gut and fillet the fish, keep them out of the sun and cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is longer than one day, salting or drying the fish would work.  But I would suggest a different approach altogether.  Cook them up and eat them immediately!  Fresh fish is a great meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, if you are concerned with the cleanliness of the river water, are you sure that you want to eat the fish that you get out of it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-02T14:28:46.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20917" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-02T22:27:33.500" Score="2" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently watching something on Outdoor television about survival in the woods. The only reason I am asking, is because I am planning on an excursion out there equally as far. Someone went into Yosemite, and kept hiking, then lost for days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16437" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T23:57:31.157" Title="What are some tips to setting up a refuge if I am lost in the woods" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20917" CreationDate="2018-11-03T00:30:40.827" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I never got lost in the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Before leaving&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tell someone where you are going, when, with whom, what is your expected itinerary when they should expect you, and when they should start worrying and sending search parties&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prepare your trip a minimum: know where shelters are, water supplies, trail head, alternative exits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;During your hike&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid hiking alone if you can&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a map, compass, and knowledge of how to use it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have extra food and warm clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If you get lost&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you can't make heads or tails of your position (e.g. if you loose your map), if possible stay put and wait for rescue. Your friends should send a search party after they start worrying that you didn't make it back when you said you would&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you have a supply of clean water. If you can't find one, rivers are usually at the bottom of valleys, and small streams are running down hills/mountains slopes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a tent, set it up. If you don't setup an emergency shelter with what you have: branches, leaves, your space blanket. It should shelter you from wind and rain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have any way of signaling your position, use it&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a space blanket, position it so it is visible from the sky or from a distance. Open areas (i.e. not dense forests) make that easier.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid splitting your group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Light a fire if it's safe to do so&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Measure your food, and estimate how long until the search starts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;To avoid getting lost&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the area is hilly, getting to a height to get an overview of the area can help you figure out where you are&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is a river it often ends up at a city (you should know that before leaving, too)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you still have a compass, and know which direction the road is, you can try to aim for that (you need compass navigation skills, it's not obvious to follow a direction in a dense forest, nor to estimate distance)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T00:30:40.827" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20907" CreationDate="2018-11-03T06:44:34.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If tape is not an option and it has to be fishing line I'd recommend some version of the round lashing, or steigersjorring in my native Dutch. It's normally used to connect wooden poles, for instance to use them in a tower higher than the longest pole. The version I think would form the strongest connection here is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://nl.scoutwiki.org/Steigersjorring&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Dutch method&quot;&lt;/a&gt;, where you start in the middle of your line, and at every wrap around you secure your previous work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LOdEf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LOdEf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dutch-Flemish method&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that picture was drawn to make the process of making the lashing clear. When actually making it you want to make sure your lines all tidily line up next to each other without any space in between. If there is room for them to slip later your lashing will not hold well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that version doesn't work because you keep getting your ends mixed up and tangling (making small knots is hard) the French-German methode further down the same page or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/lashround/index.php#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;version I find when googling in English&lt;/a&gt; could be worth trying. They start at the end of the rope, so there isn't quite as much to keep track off at the same time. But especially for that last one you might need to tie it off with some extra clove hitches or constrictors to make sure the fishing line does not slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gk3rG.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gk3rG.png&quot; alt=&quot;French-German method&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/lashround/index.php#ScrollPoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar English-American method can be viewed at animated knots by grog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given how thin fishing line is you are probably going to end up with quite compact lashings. Make at least two or three of them along the length of the overlap between the cables for the best connection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding an actual droplet of glue at the end securing the fishing line to itself and the cable as well as helping the cables stick to each other might actually be worth it as well, if this is meant as a permanent connection. A thing that can help as well is ramming some elongated object between the poles and the lashing, like a lucifer shaft. The goal is to tighten the lashings by pushing the slack out of it. But this will add a bit more girth to the overall combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T18:33:02.173" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T18:33:02.173" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20917" CreationDate="2018-11-03T15:31:13.913" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I have never been lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First thing is, don't panic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going on an excursion, you will have most of what you need already (ie shelter, fire starter, food, etc).  You don't really need to build a refuge if you get lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Accidents and weather are your main concerns. Having a first aid kit, and knowing how to use it are key. Also having proper clothing for the time of year is key.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a quote that I remember attributed to Daniel Boone when asked if he ever was lost:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I was never lost, a might bewildered for a few days but I never was lost&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key message was that you aren't lost if know how to find your way.  When I am in the woods, I try to keep general track of which direction if I can't remember where I am.  Something like, &quot;there is a road to the north going in that direction will get me to where I can easily figure out where I am.&quot;  Keep it simple, features that are significant and broad enough that you will notice them. Rivers and roads are typical for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have a good GPS or system on your phone. If you don't want to buy one, there is a service called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onxmaps.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;onX Maps&lt;/a&gt;. They have an app that allows you to use your phone as a GPS with very good maps. It can be used without cell signal as well.  This does not replace a map and compass, which you should have as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One last thing, would be practice. You should be familiar with the different skills and know that they work.  Reading about matchless fire starting is one thing, but actually try it on a trip. If this is a major excursion, do some smaller ones to get ready.  Particularly if you are concerned that you might get into trouble. Put yourself into situations where you don't have to worry if things don't go well.  Seeing someone on TV start a fire with two sticks isn't the same as doing it yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T15:31:13.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20922" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20917" CreationDate="2018-11-03T17:42:06.463" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;/strong&gt;  I have never been lost in the woods.  I have mislaid myself a few times above timberline, but after I climbed to a local high point, I found myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The OP asks specifically about building a shelter in the woods.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are some tips to setting up a refuge if I am lost in the woods?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, I am &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; going to comment on avoiding getting lost, or mandatory supplies to carry on any hike, or emergency supplies if there is any chance at all you will get lost.  Other answers have covered these points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it would be easier to answer this question if you gave us an idea what you plan to take with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing is to scout around and try to find running water.  Following a stream downhill will often lead you to a trail, which can lead you to a trailhead.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20928/i-am-lost-i-found-a-trail-which-way-do-i-go/&quot;&gt;I am lost, I found a trail, which way do I go?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, take care to not go too so far afield of the point where you realized you were lost that you cannot get back, because that is likely to be closer to where you &lt;strong&gt;should&lt;/strong&gt; be, and to be closer to where people will start looking for you if you told someone where you were going. And, build your shelter well before dark. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a spot that is (a) dry and, as I said above, if possible, (b) within clear sight of running water.  You got lost once, you do not want to get lost again on excursions to get water.  Finding an opening in the canopy where you can get sun part of the day is also wise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second thing is to figure out, if you can, whether you are close to the route you have told someone you are going to follow.  If YES, follow the stream to see if it gets you to a trail or even to a trailhead.  Make sure you know how to get back to where people will be looking for you.  If NO, or if nobody knows where you were going, curse and berate yourself for being careless for a few minutes, and then follow the stream down.  Eventually, it will lead you to a trail or a trailhead, or (sob!) turn into a waterfall over an impassable cliff.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop following the stream well before dark, or if the weather looks ominous, so you have ample time to find a good spot for your shelter and build it.  (See above for the spot you want.)  Now for the shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best spot is, as we said, within sight of running water.  You also want a spot near rocks and downed wood for a fireplace and a fire.  Then, forget about any regulations or inhibitions about cutting live wood.  (If you don't have a knife, preferably one with a saw blade, do what you can with a sharp rock.)  Evergreen boughs are your friend.  They will insulate you from the cold ground, and they will provide some shelter, albeit imperfect, from rain or snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had to build a shelter, so I would have to fumble and experiment, but it seems obvious to heap your evergreen boughs against a large rock or wedge them between two rocks or trees for support and to criss-cross them in two layers to make them as impervious as possible against rain or snow.  You can also stuff ferns or long grass, if available, between the boughs for added protection.  Arrange your fire so that several large rocks can radiate heat into your shelter.  Make your shelter low and small.  Do not build a fire in your shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer assumes that you have almost no equipment; if you have a large plastic garbage bag or a spare poncho, they will be of great help in building a shelter. If you don't have matches, it is very unlikely you will be able to build a fire, unless you have previously successfully practiced.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are lost in winter, and there is a lot of snow on the ground, you should ask a separate question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize that this answer has left it vague when you should try to get unlost and when you should hunker down and wait for rescue.  &lt;strong&gt;But that is not what you asked.&lt;/strong&gt;  All I will say is that it depends on the weather, how much you know of the terrain, how far you went from the last time you knew where you were, your route-finding skills and your physical condition.  Whatever all these &quot;depends on&quot; are, it will be good to sit down and think through your situation before actually doing anything.              &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-05T23:57:31.157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T23:57:31.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20923" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20961" CreationDate="2018-11-03T17:43:16.073" Score="4" ViewCount="416" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently acquired a sailboat and noticed a small protrusion under the starboard side of the hull in front of the keel. Does anyone know what this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat is a 1976 hunter 25. I have not put it in the water yet. The head is about directly above in the cabin. The toilet was replaced prior to me acquiring the boat so there is a porta toilet there now, no plumbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hull is fiberglass. The top part looks as if it's wood, and the bottom I can't really tell. There is only one of those protrusions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Port side view with protruding feature and keel in behind it:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JQKoU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JQKoU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Port side view with protruding feature and Keel in behind it&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Side view of hull with protruding feature:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h5EON.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h5EON.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;side view of hull with protruding feature&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;View from bottom of hull with protruding feature:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aw2kO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aw2kO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;view from bottom of hull with protruding feature&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16778" LastEditorUserId="16694" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T23:04:58.673" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T23:04:58.673" Title="What is this protrusion on the bottom of the sailboat?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19602" CreationDate="2018-11-03T22:15:15.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This article, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.colourblindawareness.org/colour-blindness/types-of-colour-blindness/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Color Blind Awareness&lt;/a&gt; shows how people with normal vision and those with one of the three forms of color blindness see various colors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scroll down to the colored pictures&lt;/strong&gt; and you will see that people with Deuteranopia (unable to perceive green light) and Protanopia (unable to perceive red light) see pink as grayish (Deuteranopes) or (bluish) (Protanopes). People with normal color vision and Tritanopes (unable to see blue light) see pink as pink. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article summarizes: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Protanopes are more likely to confuse:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Black with many shades of red&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dark brown with dark green, dark orange and dark red &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2.[sic]  Some blues with some reds, purples and dark pinks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Mid-greens with some oranges        &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Deuteranopes are more likely to confuse: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mid-reds with mid-greens&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Blue-greens with grey and mid-pinks&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bright greens with yellows&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pale pinks with light grey&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mid-reds with mid-brown&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Light blues with lilac&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People with one of the forms of color blindness are not necessarily completely blind to one color, just less sensitive. Someone with a mild case of Protanopia, for example, will have no trouble seeing a red light, but you might not trust him to select a power tie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much of a safety problem could this be for fluorescent garments and signs?&lt;/strong&gt;  According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://nei.nih.gov/health/color_blindness/facts_about&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Eye Institute&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As many as 8 percent of men and 0.5 percent of women with Northern&#xA;  European ancestry have the common form of red-green color blindness&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Elsewhere this article (same link) states: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Protanomaly is an X-linked disorder estimated to affect 1 percent of&#xA;  males&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two conditions on the first statement that could bring it into accord with the second:  &quot;as many as...&quot; and &quot;... of Northern European ancestry..&quot;  Still, one would be happier if the discrepancy were explained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could not find anything about fluorescent pink as opposed to merely pink, but if 8% of male hunters -- and drivers -- have even a bit of trouble instantly recognizing pink, wear orange.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-03T22:29:11.307" LastActivityDate="2018-11-03T22:29:11.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20917" CreationDate="2018-11-03T23:40:39.440" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your lost for days, setting up a refuge is the last thing you want to do. People make themselves a camp and sit there and die. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Her cell phone couldn’t get a signal. Instead of continuing to hike she stayed put. For 26 days she wrote in a journal until she died quietly of exposure and starvation. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.freep.com/story/travel/2016/07/23/appalachian-trail-geraldine-largy/86992994/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your going hiking where the possibility of getting lost for days exists, you should have a shelter with you for the nights, and sufficient knowledge and supplies to get yourself home.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/243/what-should-i-do-when-im-lost&quot;&gt;What should I do when I&amp;#39;m lost?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16987/how-often-are-missing-people-found&quot;&gt;How often are missing people found?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17540/in-what-situations-is-it-irresponsible-not-to-carry-a-plb-or-satellite-messenger&quot;&gt;In what situations is it irresponsible not to carry a PLB or satellite messenger device?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10889/how-to-plan-a-day-hike&quot;&gt;How to plan a day hike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6625/bare-essentials-for-2-3-day-hike&quot;&gt;Bare Essentials for 2-3 day Hike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13385/when-to-know-its-worth-to-start-with-agriculture&quot;&gt;When to know it&amp;#39;s worth to start with agriculture?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. I am not a big fan of PLB devices, but I include the reference for those who are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7352/4079&quot;&gt;this post&lt;/a&gt; there are few, if any places in the US (excluding Alaska) where a road is more then 20 miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-11-04T00:03:27.007" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T00:03:27.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20926" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20927" CreationDate="2018-11-03T23:56:40.943" Score="3" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been a few Atlantic and Pacific row boat crossings.  Poor weather is a significant risk.  While it might be nice to row with the wind at your aft (&lt;em&gt;back of boat&lt;/em&gt;), it might also be nice to have calm water and no wind for the entire trip. Assuming you have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20900/how-much-food-is-needed-for-three-months-of-food-when-rowing-across-an-ocean&quot;&gt;enough food&lt;/a&gt; can the doldrums be predicted well enough to allow for an ocean crossing all in calm weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage, which refers to those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm. The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sailing ships for periods of days or weeks. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doldrums&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T02:24:06.740" Title="How predictable are the doldrums?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20926" CreationDate="2018-11-04T00:50:03.867" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The latitudes in which they occur is predictable, the effects which range from calm to storms are not,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Known to sailors around the world as the doldrums, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, (ITCZ, pronounced and sometimes referred to as the “itch”), &lt;strong&gt;is a belt around the Earth extending approximately five degrees north and south of the equator.&lt;/strong&gt; Here, the prevailing trade winds of the northern hemisphere blow to the southwest and collide with the southern hemisphere’s driving northeast trade winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/doldrums.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What are the doldrums?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The expected weather &lt;strong&gt;is variable light or calm winds, alternating with squalls and thundery showers.&lt;/strong&gt; This band of pressure moves North and South on a daily basis according to the seasons and it can &lt;strong&gt;be very difficult to predict exactly where the ‘Doldrums’ will occur&lt;/strong&gt; with any meaningful accuracy until a few days before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://clipperroundtheworld.com/race/race-directors-reports/the-doldrums-corridor-rule&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that the zone of high pressure in the North and South also ‘breathe’ and cumuliform clouds are constantly moving and regenerating around the equator. The doldrums are continually metamorphosing, working one way on a particular day, and another the next. As such, &lt;strong&gt;it’s hard for the sailors to predict its extension and its density&lt;/strong&gt; before plunging into it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They generally position themselves between 8°N and 3°N, going from the African coast to up to 35° West at times as it contracts. &lt;strong&gt;However, the worst thing about the doldrums remains its unpredictability.&lt;/strong&gt; It stretches, becomes longer, retracts or expands without warning: the sailor knows when he’s beginning to enter it, but not when he’ll escape it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/16027/the-doldrums-explained&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The unpredictability of the weather, either no winds or potential hurricanes, &lt;strong&gt;made the Doldrums one of the least favorite sailing lanes&lt;/strong&gt; back when all that ships had to power them across the ocean &lt;strong&gt;was their sails&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wfmz.com/weather/what-are-the-doldrums_20160526093006289/16505818&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in general, it doesn't sound like this is a pleasant place to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T02:24:06.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20928" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20929" CreationDate="2018-11-04T09:15:53.133" Score="50" ViewCount="18098" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I am lost in the woods, and I find a trail or a road, how do I decide which way to go? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Autumn Veatch was 16 years old in 2015, when her grandparents small plane crashed in the North Cascade Mountains.  It was two days of hiking before she found a trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Just ahead, spanning the small river is a mystical-looking bridge made of logs. To either side of it, heading in opposite directions, is a well defined, trampled down trail. &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B01AMCFTTW&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Getting Out Alive: The Autumn Veatch Story&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding a trail or a road, is only the next step in a journey to survive, how do you decide which way to go? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-04T23:55:41.593" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:54:00.713" Title="I am lost, I found a trail, which way do I go?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="11" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-04T09:45:31.887" Score="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;Settlements tend to be near water like rivers, lakes or oceans and the larger the body of water, the more likely there are people. A small stream is likely to join another at some point. This is why going downstream (or merely going down if there is no stream) is the safest bet if there are no other clues. Even if you're not actually on a mountain, it's more likely that streams of water will join each other than that they will split. So you should follow the trail in the direction of the stream going down as much as possible. Some situational awareness will probably come into play as well, it’s unlikely you will have absolutely no idea of the surrounding settlements. If you know you’re near an ocean where this stream might end up, or near a river that this stream might join, that would make it even easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an added note, of course this is not exact science. This is about making a choice in a situation where you have two options and one of them is more likely to get you safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T06:59:42.153" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T06:59:42.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-04T15:11:08.557" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;In many parts of life, you have to play the percentages.  The &lt;strong&gt;likelihood&lt;/strong&gt; is higher that going downstream will lead you to a trailhead or some other sign of civilization than it is for going upstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the comment that &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;....as long as you stay on the road, you will find civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may be true of a road, but it is often not true of a trail.  Many trails have one end at a trailhead and the other end at a glacier or waterfall or a high lake or a sheer cliff.  Examples:  trail leading from Tenaya Lake to Pieywack Cascade in Yosemite (waterfall, high precipitous cliff) or the trail (actually a ghastly four wheel drive road that turns into a trail) leading from Camp Dick to the St. Vrain Glacier (Indian Peaks Wilderness, Colorado).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you choose incorrectly, you may spend an extremely uncomfortable, even fatal night out.  Several years ago, a couple stumbled into our camp near the latter trail, lost, wearing shorts, no food, little water, only light jackets, hiking upstream when the trailhead was less than a mile downstream.  If they had continued, they would have spent a night out in freezing rain on their way to the glacier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you have a choice, go downstream unless you have a good reason to think the correct choice is upstream.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T15:11:08.557" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-04T17:02:02.970" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trails show less use the farther from the trailhead one goes&lt;/strong&gt; because fewer people walk the trail all of the way to the end and most turn around far more quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The odds are that going downhill will lead one back to civilization, but in the odd exceptions where this is not true such as when one needs to go uphill to reach the trailhead, trail usage will be the much clearer sign as to which way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, note that you may not be lost and reach a trail and be confused as to which way to go which is &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14916/why-would-one-aim-off-when-navigating-with-a-map-and-compass&quot;&gt;why people aim off&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-05T17:32:16.267" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T17:32:16.267" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20905" CreationDate="2018-11-04T17:33:33.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just have experience in maintaining Hiking trails: You usually work in groups, and if the location cannot be reached using any motorized veicles, we distribute our tools among ourselves (nobody has to carry a full set of every tool). For the maintaining existing trails following tools are very handy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The most important tool in my opinion is some kind of combined hoe/axe: They come in all different forms and styles depending on where you're located. In german there is the &lt;em&gt;Wiedehopfhacke&lt;/em&gt;, and another similar style popular in the US is the &lt;em&gt;Pulaski&lt;/em&gt;. They are great for bringing your path back into shape and moving a lot of material as well as cutting roots, bushes or small trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Wiedehopfhacke.jpg/800px-Wiedehopfhacke.jpg&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Wiedehopfhacke&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Head_of_Nupla_PA375-PASG_Pulaski_Axe.jpg/1920px-Head_of_Nupla_PA375-PASG_Pulaski_Axe.jpg&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; alt=&quot;Pulaski&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For cutting branches you can use pruning shears/loppers, hatches/billhooks and handsaws.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is a lot of gravel in the soil, a light pick can also be advantageous.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are usually sufficient for most of the work. Sometimes you also have to bring stakes and timber to repair or improve stairs or for securing slopes with a lot of loos material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know that you're going to have to move a lot of dirt, you might also want to bring a shovel, and if you're going to have to remove a lot of fallen trees (for instance after a heavy storm) you do might want to bring a chainsaw with fuel/oil/sharpening equipment, maybe also some ropes for moving them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a time consuming task and it is best done in groups, especially if you're in a remote location. It is usually also a good idea to carry a tarp for storing the tools at the location if you're working there over multiple days and do not have any motorized means of transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8697" LastActivityDate="2018-11-04T17:33:33.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20933" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22578" CreationDate="2018-11-05T02:39:34.997" Score="3" ViewCount="952" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a new hunting rifle, and one of the features I keep seeing advertised is &lt;strong&gt;5R rifling where there are 5 lands and grooves instead of 4 or 6.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supposedly this makes the barrel more accurate because the lands oppose a groove instead of each other thus deforming the bullet less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have yet to see any solid evidence to back this up one way or another, and some say that the difference is marginal if at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there &lt;strong&gt;any good evidence or tests that 5R rifling is better than the traditional 4 or 6 land rifling?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-15T01:23:56.240" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T17:04:44.143" Title="Is 5R barrel rifling more accurate than 4 or 6 groove rifling?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8509" CreationDate="2018-11-05T03:31:48.157" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Placement of the eyes on either side of the head widens the field of vision making it difficult to sneak up on the prey animal. It limits the area of binocular vision but comes with clear benefits. Tipping the head allows the bird to focus their vision on a specific location/item.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/veterinary-science-and-veterinary-medicine/bird-vision&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Science Direct - Bird Vision&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16781" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T03:31:48.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-05T14:42:15.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience: Note some visible and audible features of the point where you found the trail. Pick a direction. Count your paces to 100 and count the number of times you reach 100. Check behind you every 100 paces, more often on curves and turns that block your view short of 100 paces. Make note of any convergent trails behind you and keep track of which trail is yours. These points will will help you trace your route back to your starting point when you decide to go in the other direction. Count paces and note convergent trails in the other direction. Go twice as far in the other direction. Repeat as necessary until you notice a good reason to abandon your&#xA;original starting point. Start the process again with a new count from this new starting point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16783" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T14:42:15.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-05T14:56:21.060" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some good answers about trails that I am not going to expand on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For roads that are not heavily used like logging roads These may extend many miles into the forest, with multiple branches, all ending in dead ends.  There can be 10's or 100s of miles (or kilometers) of roads.  Often there will be a locked gate at the entrance to these areas, preventing vehicle access except during active logging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in answers about trails, downhill is a good choice, but roads may cross many valleys or travel long distances in them, so downhill may not help on roads.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Decisions are mostly made at intersections.  The most travelled road is usually evident from the width (wider) and lack of vegetation.  At &quot;Y&quot; intersections normally you want to choose the base of the &quot;Y&quot;, traffic tends to enter and exit from a single main road.  Logging roads are built one segment at a time over decades, they have cut offs to different directions, with the major traffic flow expected to coming from or going to the main road. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be power or pipe lines crossing the road you are travelling.  These can seem like a short cut, but if they show little traffic compared to the road you are on, avoid them.  These routes often include areas impassable by foot or vehicle, maintenance is conducted by accessing from different side of the impassable area. If it was really the shortest point to nearby civilization there would be more traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20938/&quot;&gt;What is the longest dead end road on US public land?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. There may be multiple locked gates. When you come to one, keep walking, there may well be another locked gate farther on towards the main road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-11-05T16:17:17.510" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T16:17:17.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20950" CreationDate="2018-11-05T15:00:46.593" Score="7" ViewCount="6031" Body="&lt;p&gt;What should I do if I am in a tent, have been sleeping, and was woken up by the sounds of some large animal quite close to the tent? Just hearing some branches broken by presumably something large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point I don't know what animal it is, but presumably it can be either a brown bear or a wild boar. Maybe a wolf. Not sure if its possible to differentiate between them without seeing it, just by the sounds of walking, broken branches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also don't know exactly how close is the animal to the tent, and if its thinking about charging the tent or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main question is: do I stay in the tent, or go out to investigate / pepper spray, try to scare the animal off? If staying in the tent is preferred, keep quiet, or make noise? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if I am to go out, I would make noise, but if I stay, should I keep quiet, hoping to make the animal think that the tent is just an uninteresting, inanimate object? I have no food in the tent and changed my outer clothing after cooking, so I have no reason to believe the animal will find my smell interesting. Unless un-brushed teeth after eating meat some hours earlier may be a problem (no meat residue in the teeth).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the only things I have are: pepper spray (260 gram / 9 oz can, Sabre or UDAP) and a flashlight. No guns or anything like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The territory I am asking about is Europe, where there are brown bear only (no black bears), but they are not Grizzly, just European brown bears. This is for example about Scandinavia or Carpathian Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is NOT about Russia and super-hungry bears in Siberia, this is a territory with relatively available sources of food, like fruits on trees around, so the animal would not be so desperate for food to seek humans as prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9884" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T02:49:03.640" Title="What to do if woke up in a tent hearing a bear/boar or something else close by?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20938" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-05T16:16:07.310" Score="5" ViewCount="1379" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20936/4079&quot;&gt;answer at; &lt;strong&gt;I am lost, I found a trail, which way do I go?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; It claims &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...logging roads These may extend many miles into the forest, with multiple branches, all ending in dead ends. There can be 10's or 100s of miles (or kilometers) of roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am hiking on public land in the US, and find a road, just how far might I walk in the wrong direction, before getting to the dead end and needing to turn around and go back? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without considering all the dead end branch roads, how long is the longest dead end road on or crossing, US public land?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Clarify:&lt;/strong&gt; Where dead end = ends in the forest without any services or civilization, at the end or along the route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T12:32:23.730" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T17:05:19.297" Title="What is the longest dead end road on US public land?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;lost&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-05T19:37:21.243" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do when lost is to climb a mountain (well probably not all the way to the peak but you want a ridge) to acquire your location. Generally speaking anyway. This won't apply everywhere, but most places on attaining a high ridge you can visually reacquire your location enough to determine which direction civilization is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once having done so, the best move is to make towards the closest civilization; note this is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; as the crow flies but as the terrain is. On acquiring a trail, it will not typically be at a tangent to the direction you want to go unless you got step 2 wrong above. Take the direction that leads more or less towards the civilization you already know is there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok yeah sometimes you can't get the ridge close enough to see which way to go in a reasonable amount of effort; however the one place I know where aiming for the civilization you can see is a bad idea is such that the ridge is where you want to be in the first place. So yeah. Downhill is good unless that takes you to desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it's just not solvable though. Lost in the Panament range is simply bad news. I recall actually reassessing or walkout ability every fifteen minutes, and that on a road we knew where it went.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the plane crash scenario that started this off, your best bet is to get a good Mayday off before going down and stay with the plane.  If that's just not doable, you can probably forgo the climb ridge-acquire as you started from a plane with (hopefully) a much better vantage point and can take the information down with you. Oh, and you have a map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T19:37:21.243" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20940" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-05T20:26:46.040" Score="65" ViewCount="23168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm taking inventory on my tree farm. The temperature today is -7 °C with a light breeze. Windchill of -10 °C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I figure that there are lots of people who have this problem. Writing a journal, describing observations, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do people who work in the outdoors take field notes, or write things down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Additional information.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is NOT the writing implement -- at least so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is fingers being too cold to function.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what I've done so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt;  Partial protection for writing hand. I've found I can wear a fleece mitt liner and still write.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fingers still get cold, but I have about 15 minutes per session between times I have to thaw out fingers. This is the current solution. It's between 1/3 and 1/2 the normal speed of taking inventory, plus more frequent breaks and job shifts.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt;  Clipboard and pencil&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While I can wear a mitt on the clipboard hand, bare fingers quickly go numb writing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt; Used my iPhone with dictation enabled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only will record 30 seconds at a time, then you have to touch the mic button again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transcription is ragged: Count becomes account, 4 becomes for 2&#xA;becomes 2. But not consistently.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The phone shuts down when the battery gets cold. (About 20 minutes at -7 °C)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt; Just make an audio recording.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hard to review.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phone still has cold problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach&lt;/strong&gt; Keep moving to stay warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do this. But it's more of changing jobs to warm up. Go mulch trees with gloves on while fingers thaw, scout for firewood, play with the dog, and go for coffee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The plot is about 8 acres (3 hectares) — 400 feet (120 m) wide by 800 feet  (240 m) long. I have 20,000 trees in that space more or less, ranging in size from 3 inches (8 cm) to 15 feet (5 m). Counting is a lot of 'museum pace' strolling, combined with standing. (The step counter on my phone says I do between 8,000 and 15000 steps a day. Inventory days are on the low end of this.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach&lt;/strong&gt;  Write the message out in snow, then take a picture. (&lt;em&gt;added in response to one answer&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cold temperatures don't always occur with snow cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow cover is cluttered with tractor, sled, deer, and dog tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On an overcast day, contrast between letters and snow is limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Amount of text for each block is a bit much for a medium such as snow. Go outside and write with your gloved hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HGE17 AshMtnCard 216  7'-9'  T15 80%&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's my abbreviation for Block Haida Gwai East, lot 17, Cardinal columnar mountain ash, count of trees present, height range of 7 to 9 feet (2 to 2.5 m), pot size of nursery trade 15 gallon (60 l), and fraction salable. The information is dense. You will note in the pix below that even a day after the snow, it's not a blank canvas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt; Take a series of photographs, then work at the house with the pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Counting is difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height estimate is difficult.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Species identification in a broad picture is difficult between some pairs.  E.g. white spruce and balsam fir, high bush cranberry, and amur maple.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If taking multiple pictures of a row, identifying the overlap point is tricky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a popular question, and there are good answers here for people with various similar problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally inventory takes about three afternoon sessions of 3-4 hours. During that time I move a few feet between blocks for a block estimate, or walk the length of a block once for each species for a mixed block, or walk a block twice stopping at each tree for a tallied block.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are samples of what I'm inventorying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YeLrf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YeLrf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Block of 720 mixed spruce, pine, larch, fir, maple&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grow in mixed blocks. This decreases pest problems, and often allows pots to be spaced closer. This block is a mix of spruce, larch, birch at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5wNtU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5wNtU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Amur maple, balsam fir, high bush cranberry&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further up the block, both birch and fir are still present, but the other two species are amur maple and high bush cranberry. Can you tell me the heights of each?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mL83u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mL83u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Northwest Poplar and either black spruce or balsam fir&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two blocks one of northwest poplar and black spruce, and one of northwest poplar and balsam fir. These trees were transplanted only weeks before so are quite uniform in size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9MfUd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9MfUd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spruce tree with measuring stick&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the larger trees I measure each one individually and run a tally. The stick is 8 feet (2.5 m) long. It is still tricky to estimate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KwXLN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KwXLN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Dogwood of various sizes&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a block of young dogwood in styroblock, next to a block in #2 pots. Each block is 15 trees. I need to count the blocks, examine trees to estimate salable, dead, and runts that may become salable later. Dead is taken off the count right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T08:42:27.090" Title="How do you take field notes at below 0 °C, without freezing fingers?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;" AnswerCount="22" CommentCount="18" FavoriteCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20941" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20946" CreationDate="2018-11-05T20:28:10.493" Score="1" ViewCount="98" Body="&lt;p&gt;When comparing dynamic ropes (single ropes) for climbing, which properties do really matter? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking about weight per meter and price, maybe diameter for very special belay devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to use the rope indoors, and something like 80/20 for toprope/lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="16784" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T14:36:12.880" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T19:32:07.953" Title="What are the most important numerical features to look for when comparing climbing ropes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2018-11-05T23:36:33.160" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20942" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Journal keeping, field notes, observations, photo notes.  Our memories are imperfect.  How do you make a record in the wilderness when your favoured tools are in the save and dry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20943" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" Score="0" Body="Making notes while in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T20:28:41.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-05T20:34:42.097" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I worked at a salebarn in the winter we had this problem and &lt;strong&gt;the solution was multiple pens inside your shirt pocket under your coat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pens will work for a while then get too cold at which point you switch it out for a new  warm one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also look into the mittens that have gloved fingers inside, you can pull just the top off to write while most of your fingers (all except the tips) are still covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-05T20:34:42.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-05T21:21:16.090" Score="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a pencil.  They do not freeze and can be easily sharpened.  You might also use a grease pencil; they can write on metal, plastic, wet, oily, or waxy surfaces as well.  These don't always afford the finest points, so if this is a concern, consider a fine-tipped sharpie, but, Sharpies are still susceptible to cold and wet weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&#xA;Now that you've edited your question, I can offer a little more advice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a wearable video camera, like what cops use, or a mounted Go-Pro kind of thing.  Then survey your inventory and review the video clip later when it is warm.  This might mean twice the time, which can be expensive for you (time is money...) but you might delegate the video review to someone else.  The nice thing about this is you might catch something you might not have seen IRL.  Also, it can provide proof for auditing purposes, depending on the reason for the inventory review (eg, are you looking for signs of damage from weather or animals; or maybe you're looking for vandalism, disease, or theft?  Are you providing proof for purposes of sale, auction, insurance, or property value?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use gloves with cut-off fingers, so only the finger tips are exposed.  Wear a jacket with deep pockets, and in those pockets, keep hand warmers.  You can use refillable Zippo ones that you can get from the camping section at Walmart or Target; or you can use the disposable ones you can get also from Walmart and Target, or at most chain pharmacies.  With these gloves and hand warmers, you can use any writing implement - pencils, markers, sharpies, smartphones/tablets, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT2:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You've got a lot to survey, a drone with video capability might be helpful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastEditorUserId="12938" LastEditDate="2018-11-10T16:27:25.510" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T16:27:25.510" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20941" CreationDate="2018-11-05T22:27:26.583" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;It depends...&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What matters depends on what kind of climbing you plan to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Length matters&lt;/em&gt; if you’re climbing (and/or rappelling) routes longer than 25 meters. In some areas, a 80m rope is essential, in others a 50m will do just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Impact force matters&lt;/em&gt; if you climb on marginal protection. (Ice, hard trad, aid)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Diameter matters&lt;/em&gt; if you put the rope to heavy use, since a fatter rope takes more wear. Also the diameter must be compatible with your brake. Thinner is easier to feet through a belay device, but might take more practice to belay safely with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;number of UIAA falls matters&lt;/em&gt; if you work hard on redpointing. I.e if you fall a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Weight matters&lt;/em&gt; if you want to push your grades. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dry treatment matters&lt;/em&gt; on multi-pitch climbing and is vital on ice. Not so important for sport crafting though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What also matters a lot is how the rope handles. (Though that is not clear from technical specs). Some ropes become twisted and tangled easier than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Edit after additional information in question)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For indoors use, get a short (50m will be enough at almost any gym) durable (ie not too thin, 10-10.2 mm perhaps) rope. Don’t bother with dry treatment, obviously. &#xA;Indoor training tends to be more intense than outdoor cragging, so a high number of uiaa falls is good, albeit not a deal breaker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T19:32:07.953" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T19:32:07.953" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20923" CreationDate="2018-11-05T23:23:04.820" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It used to be the direct discharge for the head into the water.  Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/direct-discharge-head-illegal.185226/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blog about a boat similar to yours, asking if it is illegal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was not unusual in the era of your boats manufacture to discharge raw sewage into the water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Legality varies, but currently it is NOT a popular choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adding a holding tank to old boats is difficult, a common solution is to swap in a porta toilet (toilet and holding tank combined).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are doing significant repairs, you may want to remove 'protrusion' and re-fiberglass to make that area smooth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T18:29:44.413" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T18:29:44.413" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T01:15:50.053" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;One time, during a winter research project, it was only after after a full-day ski to the study site that we realized that none of us had a pen or pencil.  So we wrote the numbers in the snow with a twig and took a picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realize this doesn't directly answer your question, but it made for an entertaining story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16788" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T01:15:50.053" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-06T01:25:01.027" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've heard said that if you are lost in the woods, the best solution is to stay where you are until help arrives. The same logic may apply even if you find a path since you don't know which direction to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/if-you-get-lost&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/if-you-get-lost&lt;/a&gt; (also &quot;follow a drainage or stream downhill&quot;, but it could be dangerous)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/if-youre-lost-in-the-woods-stay-put-says-outdoors-expert/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/if-youre-lost-in-the-woods-stay-put-says-outdoors-expert/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16789" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T01:25:01.027" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20937" CreationDate="2018-11-06T01:54:27.993" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The majority of bear attacks are the result of surprise encounters, particularly involving a mother with cubs.  In a surprise encounter, the bear is acting defensively, and wants to eliminate a potential threat.  Predatory attacks are &lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; rare, particularly where you're located.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears have an extremely sensitive sense of smell.  There's a story I've heard of a bear that broke into a backcountry cabin in Yellowstone and raided the food cache - it reportedly bit into all the cans &lt;em&gt;except&lt;/em&gt; the peas.  Their senses of hearing and sight, however, are similar to that of a human.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put all this together, and it's likely that the bear already knows you're there (a surprise encounter is unlikely), and either finds you uninteresting or already knows to avoid you.  From there, you could take Jon Custer's advice and go back to sleep (ok, I probably wouldn't be able to either!)  If it were me, I would talk to the bear in a low voice, &lt;em&gt;let it know that I'm there and that I'm a human&lt;/em&gt;, and odds are it will go away on its own.  Since the bear knows you're there, it's unlikely to be startled, and you've prevented the most likely bad outcome. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean, fight for your life if it gets predatory, but that's highly unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to bears, what you're describing is probably not as dangerous a situation as it may feel like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most bear attacks happen when a bear is startled (it already knows you're there)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're not inviting a feeding response, like if you were a hunter with a fresh kill.  It should be noted that bears are omnivores, and can be attracted to all food smells, not just meat!  You should absolutely keep all food items unavailable to bears.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bears can be curious and inquisitive, but generally take all opportunities to avoid humans&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A bear attacking a sleeping human in a tent is so rare as to elicit national news coverage when it happens.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recommendation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Listen, take stock of what the animal is doing, it may walk off on its own once it realizes that it has nothing to gain by remaining in your camp.  From the animal's perspective, a human camp might be so unusual that it's already wary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the animal doesn't go away on its own, talk to it from your tent. Eliminate the possibility of surprise if you do choose to go outside to investigate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Listen and assess.  Are you in an area where animals might be habituated to humans and see campsites as a food opportunity?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the animal knows you're there and isn't leaving, stepping out of your tent is probably a good idea.  At this stage, more information is better anyway.  Avoid making sudden movements or sudden loud noises while you're getting out of the tent, and definitely bring the pepper spray (wait to take the safety off until you're out of the tent!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assess.  What's the animal, and how many are there?  How is it reacting to your presence?  Are there cubs?  Is there a building or vehicle you can (slowly) retreat to? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the animal is not bothered by your presence at this point, you didn't want it to be there to begin with.  It might be habituated to humans, and you don't want it to be in your camp - for your sake, and also for whoever will camp there in the future.  Talk to it, stand your ground, raise your arms so it can smell that you're human.  If needed, shout, clap, do whatever you need to do - you don't want this animal where you're sleeping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You raise a fair point - this is all bear-specific, and I hope it's still helpful.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I've spent time (Montana and Alaska) wolves are present, but wolf attacks just don't happen.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wild boars I know nothing about (though I have a coworker who calls bears &quot;fuzzy pigs&quot;).  Perhaps a boar will charge a human on sight, this one's out of my wheelhouse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16788" LastEditorUserId="16788" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T21:08:18.073" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T21:08:18.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T02:03:55.653" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some pens that are made for extreme conditions such as the uni-ball PowerTank Retractable Ballpoint pen.  I've never personally used one of these but it has many positive reviews on &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001B0B04S&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt;.  There is also a freezer test performed on this pen with the following results:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4k2b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4k2b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://officesupplygeek.com/pen-review/uni-ball-power-tank-ballpoint-pen-pt-3/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OfficeSupplyGeek&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T02:03:55.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T02:11:49.160" Score="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have previously used a tape recorder and nowadays, a smartphone or tiny handheld microphone. Then I simply speak my observations and findings in a way I know I will be able to easily tabulate when I am inside once again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is too windy to use an outer microphone, usually putting it below clothing layers will do fine. If it's muffled, I later boost the audio in Audacity -- it doesn't need to be production-quality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is also useful when it is too windy to write on paper, or too snowy + windy to see what you are writing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9875" LastEditorUserId="9875" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T02:30:28.447" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T02:30:28.447" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T04:01:19.230" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use Noodlers Polar Ink. It is specifically designed to work down to very low temperatures and has been tested in Antarctica.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yy8MU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yy8MU.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.gouletpens.com/2017/01/noodlers-polar-ink-goes-to-antartica&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://blog.gouletpens.com/2017/01/noodlers-polar-ink-goes-to-antartica&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The inks are also &quot;bulletproof&quot;, that means they are very permanent and don't fade or wash out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16793" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T04:01:19.230" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20937" CreationDate="2018-11-06T04:37:03.710" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it happened to me it was a black bear ( USA- WY, a state park). I was on hands and knees as it was a small tent , so looking straight into his/her eyes at about 10 ft. I shown a flashlight on it and quietly ( to not startle it) said &quot;Shoo&quot;, not many other choices. I think my 22 cal hand gun would have just made him angry. The good news is it had opened the cooler chest and was very interested in the contents ;I then noticed a second bear walking away with food in its mouth. I had not put the chest in the car trunk because the local ranger had promised the bears had not yet come out of hibernation. After several more &quot;Shoos&quot; he SLOWLY walked away.  Lessons -1- Always put food away. - 2- Don't automatically believe the ranger.-3- Don't sleep in a tent in bear country. 4- Bears will eat about anything except tomatoes ( although he bit them). 5- Get a 357 cal.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T04:37:03.710" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-06T08:14:37.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you pick a direction at random and the go back and forth covering twice as big a distance every time before you turn around, you will walk about 4 times as much to your destination compared to a case where you picked the right direction from the start. If you pick a direction and stick to it, you'll only have to cover the distance once, but there is a 50% chance to pick the wrong direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This looks like a waste of effort if one assumes that &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; directions eventually lead to help, but in that case the trail is likely frequented and you're not really in danger in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7982" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T08:14:37.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T08:43:25.140" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fisher Space Pen. Writes down to -30F and won't leak no matter what (say, from altitude changes going up a mountain.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spacepen.com/about-us.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.spacepen.com/about-us.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(And I have no connection to them other than being a satisfied user.  At a desk I consider gel ink pens to be superior, but nothing beats a space pen for reliability--if I'm carrying a pen it's a space pen.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T08:43:25.140" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-06T10:26:42.227" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the ducks with ducklings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there are no ducks travel downhill towards water until you find ducks with ducklings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow them downhill to water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have water and food and can light a fire, stay with the plane.&#xA;They WILL be searching for you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be in a position to signal them with a smoky fire.&#xA;Do your utter utmost not to set the plane on fire.&#xA;Aviation spirit helps heaps. You can light a fire with avgas and anything that makes some sort of spark. &quot;Stuff&quot; from planes is liable to be suitable. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you MUST travel to survive, take avgas and some spark making stuff if at all possible. Stop at the nearest location to the plane where you are liable to be able to survive. Make a fire and feed it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ducks make good eating. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;__________________________________________&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone noted that people who stayed in one place have died. This is true. However, having an overdue  crashed aircraft nearby,  and having avgas and a means to make sparks improves the attractiveness of staying put. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never heard a search and rescue spokesman say - He/she did all the right things and helped us greatly by  changing position constantly. I have on numerous occasions over decades heard an S&amp;amp;R spokesperson say good things about people who stayed in one place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6686" LastEditorUserId="6686" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T10:32:01.193" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T10:32:01.193" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T10:56:44.250" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pencils. Pencils are also approved by the Bundesmarine (German Navy). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember how pencils just worked when we stood outside in the rain and in the snow at temperatures around 0°C, and us recruits practicing morse codes. Unfortunately I have no other quotation for this, except myself (Signalbetriebsdienst class of Winter/2004 at Bremerhaven).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paper was the bigger problem. Once wrote down, the notes stood there. But it wasn't really easy to not rip the wet paper apart while writing. It's best if you're equipped with both hard and soft ones. Use the soft ones within bad conditions and when the paper is wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baustifte/Zimmermannbleistifte/Carpenter's Pencils are usually in the HB range, though they have a big diameter core. If you want to draw on stone or other materials, use one of these, or a standard pencil with very soft core (2B or softer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, especially when you sport soft pencils, it's a good idea to have multiple of them ready to use, such that you don't have to sharpen them when you can't afford it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8271" LastEditorUserId="8271" LastEditDate="2018-11-06T12:25:03.300" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T12:25:03.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20959" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-06T15:04:03.343" Score="4" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__3pBpXA8Vs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; of a cub trying to follow the mother bear up a steep snowbank and then rolling back down at first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People are saying that it's a cute video but that the drone that filmed it got too close the bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are guidelines for how close one can get to an animal to prevent harassment, &lt;strong&gt;what are the guidelines for drones?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T06:34:25.767" LastActivityDate="2018-11-12T14:58:44.177" Title="When filming wild animals with a drone, how far away does the drone need to be?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;photography&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T15:23:50.973" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I write software for a company that supplies an application for field engineers to use to collect field data with a hardened android tablet. I expect you could use a text editor in a hardened android tablet to take notes. The value of this is that the notes can then be exported to a desktop (our software transmits it to a cloud server) and you won't have to worry about transcription errors, losing the paper, or having the paper become unreadable. There are gloves with wire embedded in the fingers to allow you to work on touch screens with them on. Or you could look for a tablet with a stylus, though a stylus typically needs electrical contact with the skin (mentioned as the gloves may have a broad contact area. But a stylus can be used with gloves like that).  Sure it is a lot more expensive than paper and pen but the cost of losing a piece of paper and having to do the work over is high also and you only have to enter the data once. Paper leads to transcription errors, values in wrong fields, etc. Not saying you should look for something like we produce but you might look into a .pdf form you can fill in and then store and print. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16801" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T15:23:50.973" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20923" CreationDate="2018-11-06T15:47:45.767" Score="7" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Depth sounder transducer&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the transducer for your depth sounder. You should be able to find a cable running from that transducer inside the vessel to the depth sounder display (assuming it's operational).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that this is installed directly below the head it would appear that a through-hull that had probably formerly been an intake for the head was repurposed. I would estimate that the installer used that wooden block to position the transducer to point straight down in order to get an accurate depth reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a picture of a similar piece of equipment:&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OE8sE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OE8sE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Cruz-Pro D60 transducer and cable&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16694" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T15:54:57.140" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20959" CreationDate="2018-11-06T15:47:49.143" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will depend on your location and the animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rules for how close to get to an animal aren't just to prevent bothering the animal but also to help ensure the safety of the people.  An animal may charge if you get too close and feels threatened.  In the case of bears and other predators, the animal has to be dispatched if it attacks a person.  Preventing these situations is ideal for all parties involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the drone, it will depend on where you are.  As mentioned in the comments, drones are prohibited in national parks and monuments.  States will also have different rules.  So those rules and regulations are a good start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond those considerations, I would say trying to not disturb animals with the drone would be a good guideline.  If the animal flees from the drone, don't chase it.  Be respectful and minimize your impact.  Individual animals are going to react differently so just maintain your distance and try to avoid disturbing them too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T15:47:49.143" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T16:05:23.720" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Approach:&lt;/strong&gt; Audio recorder with speech-to-text software&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Issues:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Audio recorder must work at freezing-cold temperatures&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recordings must be processed afterwards by speech-to-text software&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transcribed notes must be reviewed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16802" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T16:05:23.720" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T16:22:17.280" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the complexity of the notes, you may not have to sightwrite them. So, wear a warm but roomy coat, pull in your arms, and take your paper and pencil notes that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12491" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T16:22:17.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T16:49:40.100" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prepare a form for the information you collect.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make the blanks big.  Fill in the form by grasping your &quot;pencil&quot; in your gloved fist.  Use an over-sized writing utensil (so your fist doesn't cramp).  Revert to bare fingers when necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blanks for numbers are easy.  So are checkboxes.  If there is text you need to write, try to create options ahead of time so you can just enter A, B, C, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might &quot;waste&quot;/use more paper, but that cost will be offset by the man-hours saved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6247" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T16:49:40.100" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T16:55:50.043" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;To address the issues you're having with audio-based solutions, keep the phone inside your clothing and use a &amp;quot;hands-free&amp;quot; headset (wired).  This will stop the phone dying due to a cold battery, which incidentally I've never had trouble with on a range of Android phones.  With the right software you should be able to record when the microphone button on the headset is pressed (but I don't know of anything for iPhones as I've never had one.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do use the phone, I suggest you keep an audio file and  pass it through dictation software later, then you can refer to the audio file if there's confusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However a fat pencil and the minimum gloves you can get away with are probably a more robust solution. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/socks-gloves-mitts-hats-c151/mitts-c153/windy-convertible-mitt-p6226/s26074&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flip mitts&lt;/a&gt; over those gloves will allow you to warm back up again when you've got a longer break, but the inner gloves should be selected to be sufficient for reasonably long periods; in particular they should be windproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far is the need to have a workflow such that your writing (i) is minimised, and (ii) can be big.  So tick-boxes or boxes for numbers where possible -- that should get you a long way in your inventory case.  A customised notebook with laser-printed (not inkjet in case of damp) pages is helpful in many situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-04-21T10:17:30.183" LastActivityDate="2021-04-21T10:17:30.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T17:14:24.717" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most answers seem to assume the writing implement is the problem, but the asker specifically states that his comfort is the problem. I can think of two solutions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, figure out how to simplify your inventory. Consider writing in ways that don't require a large amount of dexterity -- I would consider tally marks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need more detailed notes, consider how you can heat your hands with thinner gloves. You could do fingerless heated gloves, or shove a handwarmer in the palm of the glove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5529" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T17:14:24.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T17:31:10.847" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;-10°C (14°F) is not that cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you keep moving a thin &amp;quot;glove liner&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;running glove&amp;quot; should be warm enough for a while. The glove liners are thin enough where a regular #2 pencil will do fine. Then put on a pair of &amp;quot;Over Mitts&amp;quot; over the liners when you don't need to write.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're using a waterproof field notes book, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're using dot tally to reduce how much you have to write?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Society of American Foresters has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eforester.org/Main/Community/Join_a_Working_Group/Main/About/Working_Groups.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forum on their website&lt;/a&gt; for Inventory questions. Maybe ask in there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11419" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-04-23T08:42:27.090" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T08:42:27.090" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T17:36:31.880" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was hunting, I found that the best way to keep my fingers warm, while still allowing me to free them for delicate manipulation (loading a magazine, etc) was to wear &quot;convertible gloves&quot; - that is, fingerless gloves with a mitten pouch that could be slipped over your fingers when not writing. Additionally, adding a chemical hand-warmer to the mitten section makes warming your fingers back up relatively quick. You'll have to shop around for a pair that is quick to convert to finger-less and back to mitten, so you can cover up between turns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option is to keep your pen and clipboard on a lanyard so you can pocket your hands with handwarmers between notes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T17:36:31.880" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20971" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20864" CreationDate="2018-11-06T21:25:05.113" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree, these are good answers.  If I tie in to my harness with a figure-8, it must be solid!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll add one more - My personal preference in this case would be a tubular webbing sling, or pre-sewn runner.  I like how they distribute the force, and if you girth hitch with a runner, there's no knot to worry about getting wrong, or untie after it's been loaded!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a backup.  Always a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16788" LastActivityDate="2018-11-06T21:25:05.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20972" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-06T22:05:56.247" Score="7" ViewCount="531" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm curious about some general guidelines, that may represent a probability although not necessarily certainty, especially when combined with other factors, about choosing the best source of emergency drinking water from multiple available in the general area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if I'm stranded or lost, would it be a safer bet for potability to look for very small streams draining vegitated hillsides or from a nearby larger stream to which it drains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T22:26:30.190" Title="Drinking surface water heuristics" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20972" CreationDate="2018-11-06T22:47:16.153" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, you should have some sort of portable water purification system.  There are quite a few on the market that are small and portable which should be included in your survival kit.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/c/water-treatment?ir=brand%3Asteripen&amp;amp;r=category%3Acamping-and-hiking%7Cwater-bottles-and-treatment%7Cwater-treatment&amp;amp;origin=web&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here is a link for various options available via REI just as an example.&lt;/a&gt;  Barring these, getting the water to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rolling boil for a minute will work&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would go for the small stream, particularly a fast moving one.  If you can find the spring that the stream starts from can be good or where it is going over rocks.  My understanding is that the risk of getting sick from this water is lower (but should be done with caution).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also be aware of other methods of collecting water that would be safe to drink.  You can collect dew and condensation with a tarp or plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://inhabitat.com/harvest-water-from-the-air-with-fog-dew-collectors/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://inhabitat.com/harvest-water-from-the-air-with-fog-dew-collectors/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or manually collecting it off of leaves should also be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Melting snow and ice is another option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk/bushcraft-how-to/obtaining-water-from-snow-and-ice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk/bushcraft-how-to/obtaining-water-from-snow-and-ice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorDisplayName="user16724" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T17:28:12.513" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T17:28:12.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20972" CreationDate="2018-11-06T22:52:19.880" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general: the smaller and steeper the stream the better. The two main things you don't want to have upstream from your drinking spot are still water, which is a breeding ground for insects and insect borne diseases, and feces, which can be dropped anywhere but is less likely to be present the smaller the creek is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can follow a stream to its source coming out of a mountainside you're golden, this water was filtered by the soil and is usually very clean. But you have to try and be realistic in looking for it. Going uphill costs a lot of energy. And when you're lost and looking for civilization in particular you often want to be heading down to the valley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain water is also very clean, clouds are relatively bacterium free. The problem with rain is collecting it. Even in the wettest of torrents leaving a glass out for a day nets you just one glass of water. Normal rainfall is more like a few millimeters to a few centimeters. You'll have to use tarps and such to collect rainfall from as large an area as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow and even glacier ice are often relatively unsoiled as well, being rain water that has been sitting on the ground surrounded by itself. But you want to melt and drink it rather than eating it, that will cost you too much body heat. In very cold conditions melting can be tricky, requiring fire or alternatively a shelter being warmed by body heat and lots of patience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places you can dig for water, most notably the deepest parts of dry riverbeds and the lowest points of dune landscapes near the sea. (Not on the beach, the ground water is salt there.) How clean it is depends on local conditions. While this water has been somewhat filtered by the soil it also sits relatively still in a place where gravity slowly collects pollution and such. The more deserted the landscape the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then there is the possibility to go for a dirty water source, or even green leaves, and making drinking water using a solar still. Describing how to make one is a bit out of scope for this answer, but it's relatively easy provided you have some form of a clear plastic sheet available and the sun shines. The amount of water it brings you is pretty small though, and especially when you're on the move a readily drinkable source is preferable. There's also the option to build a filter by taking something like a bucket, making a small hole in the bottom and filling it with layers of sand, rocks and if you have it charcoal (from your campfire). It's not as good as the dozens of meters of clean soil on top of a natural spring, and it's not as clean as a solar still, but it's something, and it's relatively fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastEditorUserId="12959" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T22:26:30.190" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T22:26:30.190" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-06T23:59:21.033" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question made me wonder how Robert Falcon Scott wrote his final diary entries on his trip to the South Pole in 1912.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This article, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/feb/03/captain-scott-antarctic-diary-online&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Guardian&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Scott of the Antartic's final diary published online&lt;/em&gt; says with certainty that Scott's diary entries on the journey to the South Pole were written in pencil.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Readers can, from today, pore over the pages of &lt;strong&gt;faded pencil&#xA;  handwriting&lt;/strong&gt; that make up one of the most famous diaries in the world –&#xA;  Captain Robert Scott's journal of the final months, days and hours of&#xA;  his doomed 1911-1912 expedition to the South Pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The British Library has launched an online facsimile of the complete&#xA;  last diary alongside extensive extracts from the two earlier volumes. (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.historychannel.com.au/this-day-in-history/robert-falcon-scotts-final-diary-entry/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;History Channel on Foxtel&lt;/a&gt; describes Scott's final entry:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On 29 March 1912, &lt;strong&gt;in a weary pencil script&lt;/strong&gt;, Scott wrote the final&#xA;  entry in his diary: “Last entry. It seems a pity, but I do not think I&#xA;  can write more–R. Scott–For God’s sake look after our people.” &#xA;  (emphasis added)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The interior of Scott's tent was undoubtedly below zero C.  This was Antarctica in March, and one of the colder Marches. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nature.com/news/1999/991109/full/news991111-7.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nature News&lt;/a&gt;, in its article &lt;em&gt;Scott's Icy Death&lt;/em&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the last entry in Edward Wilson's diary is a poignant: &quot;Turned in at&#xA;  -37° [F]&quot; [-38 C].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilson and Scott, with Bowers, were in the same tent.  Wilson's final entry was a day or so before Scott's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another source from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126864.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the British Library&lt;/a&gt; mentions Scott picking up a pen, but the reference to a pen was probably a literary expression, not a factual description of what Scott used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-09T13:15:02.833" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T13:15:02.833" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20976" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-07T01:48:52.423" Score="9" ViewCount="1938" Body="&lt;p&gt;A thin, heat-reflective sheet (aka “space” blanket) is a popular outdoors emergency item, having a number of uses. See&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/space-blanket.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/gear/space-blanket&lt;/a&gt; and&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gotimegear.com/blogs/survival-gear/do-cheap-emergency-blankets-work&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gotimegear.com/blogs/survival-gear/do-cheap-emergency-blankets-work&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I’m bivy camping &amp;ndash; that is, I’m clothed, inside a bag liner, inside a sleeping bag, on top of a sleeping pad, and inside a bivy sack &amp;ndash; what then is the optimum location for a shiny survival blanket, for the purpose of keeping me the warmest?&#xA;Assume two possible sizing situations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A narrow, or single-width, sheet that I can lie over or under (not both).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A wide, or double-width, sheet that I can fold over so I can lie inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, you have tested, or know of tests involving, multiple orientations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                                        ← 9&#xA;Bivy sack →    _____________________ &#xA;              /                     \   ← 8&#xA;Sleep bag →  |   x x x x x x x x x   |&#xA;             | x                   x |  ← 7&#xA;Bag liner →  | x     _________     x |&#xA;             | x    (         )    x |  ← 6&#xA;             | x   (  Clothed  )   x |&#xA;             | x   (   Body    )   x |&#xA;             | x    (         )    x |  ← 5&#xA;Bag liner →  | x     (_______)     x |&#xA;             | x                   x |  ← 4&#xA;Sleep bag →  |   x x x x x x x x x   |&#xA;             |                       |  ← 3&#xA;Sleep pad →  | ===================== |&#xA;             |                       |  ← 2&#xA;Bivy sack →   \_____________________/&#xA;                                        ← 1&#xA;The ground  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you understand the above schematic cross-section, then you can see that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sizing situation one has &lt;em&gt;nine&lt;/em&gt; possible orientations, numbered 1 through 9, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sizing situation two has &lt;em&gt;five&lt;/em&gt; possible orientations: 1-9, 2-8, 3-8, 4-7, 5-6&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T19:18:20.240" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T19:18:20.240" Title="Best way to use “space” blanket to boost heat when bivy camping" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20977" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-07T05:03:05.647" Score="6" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a hiking trail recently, I overheard some people talking about going &quot;catskiing&quot; as part of a winter vacation from school. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, that doesn't mean skiing with or by means of a cat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is catskiing? How is it done and in what situations? Does it require a special type of skis?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T23:50:54.010" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T23:50:54.010" Title="What is &quot;catskiing&quot;?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20977" CreationDate="2018-11-07T05:39:27.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cat skiing is a type of guided skiing where the skiers go up the mountain in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowcat&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;snowcat&lt;/a&gt;, which is a tracked vehicle with an enclosed cabin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.catskiing.ca/what-is-catskiing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What is cat skiing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mustangpowder.com/whatiscatskiing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mustang Power&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.powderhounds.com/Cat-Skiing.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cat Skiing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T05:39:27.743" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20979" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-07T05:53:10.947" Score="19" ViewCount="6312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just 3d-printed what's supposed to be an ear-shatteringly loud emergency whistle (120 dB at one meter).  However, it's apparently somewhat sensitive to printing conditions, because some people report their whistle doesn't make any sound at all when blown.  Clearly, I need to test mine before I encounter an emergency situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I test my whistle without causing people to call Search &amp;amp; Rescue (or the police)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T19:30:35.080" Title="Where can I test an emergency whistle?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;whistles&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20979" CreationDate="2018-11-07T06:15:23.420" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;You just &lt;strong&gt;need a place where blowing a whistle wouldn't be out of the ordinary.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps a city soccer/football field would work as people blow whistles there. Or if you could find an outdoor area where you know there won't be people around within hearing distance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A distress signal is given in 3s, so one blast shouldn't be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do note that &lt;strong&gt;you should definitely be using ear protection,&lt;/strong&gt; this &lt;a href=&quot;http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Acoustic/isprob2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;calculator&lt;/a&gt; says that if its 120 decibels at one meter then it would be 140 decibels at 4 inches and 140 decibels is more than enough to cause pain and puts you &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpinehearingprotection.co.uk/5-sound-levels-in-decibels/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;at risk of permanent hearing damage.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T17:10:34.110" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T17:10:34.110" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20979" CreationDate="2018-11-07T07:18:52.343" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Very indoors, shut up tight, and at a suitable time of day.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in a house (as opposed to a flat), and it has reasonably good insulation and tight-fitting windows, the high-pitched sound of a whistle will be significantly attenuated. The noise level is comparable to a burglar/car alarm siren, and they're fairly common. If you've ever heard an inside siren (only) going off from outside you'll get an idea of the attenuation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then if possible find a room or closet with no outside walls or windows, go in and shut the door. I'd use my downstairs cloakroom or even the cupboard under the stairs (the former has an extractor vent to outside which I know let's sound in). &lt;strong&gt;In such a confined space it's even more important to wear ear protection.&lt;/strong&gt; Then a quick blow should be enough. I suggest rinsing it out in a cup of water and testing again while you're there, to ensure it works in the wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your house a shares a wall with neighbours, try to do it while they're out. By this point, people in their own homes will barely notice, and it shouldn't be annoying to people outside, except right outside your house.  You should still aim for a time when you won't disturb people - in the middle of the day presumably&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're still worried, wait for lots of background noise - perhaps when the neighbours are cutting their grass. This will mask the sound as their nose is emitted outside, will make it less annoying as you're adding little to an existing noise, and will make the location of the source almost impossible to detect (a short blast remember). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-07T17:19:46.607" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T17:19:46.607" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2018-11-07T07:33:54.940" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no fixed answer to this question. The solution depends on what type of a geography we are referring to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most answers say that going downhill is a good solution. But the reality is, in a forested area, if you blindly go downhill on a trail, you might not reach anywhere. For all you know, it might be going downhill for a while and then climbing up another hill to take you away from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an area where you are above the treeline - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The solution is to go downhill on the trail. This has a higher probability of survival as the water sources and possible civilizations lie in the valleys.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep markings on the trail for you to trace back in case things go wrong.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a forested area - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get to a higher ground. Climb up a tree if you know how to. The only way to know which direction is more favourable is to see which way the valleys are.This might mean that you need to go  out of the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make markings on trees as you try to find a source of water. The assumption here is that you are leaving the trail to find water which can guide you down to a valley.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Follow the water source downstream. The trail is not the solution, trails do not guarantee that they go downhill, water does.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most of the situations where you are lost, the solution is to stay put and survive. This works only when there are people who know that you are lost and there's a search and rescue on the way. Hence, in case you are sure that people would come searching for you, you might want to stay near the trail and try to survive instead of choosing a random direction to walk in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T07:33:54.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20976" CreationDate="2018-11-07T10:12:02.540" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Space blankets are good insulators. They prevent your body heat from escaping due to radiation and convection. They however do not prevent conduction based heat loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given this, the best place to use a space blanket would be around your body. This would mean that the heat radiated from your body is reflected back and the warmth is retained. In most of the emergency situations this is what is done. However, in your situation, using the space blanket inside the sleeping bag wouldn't be a great idea. The reason being &lt;em&gt;space blankets are non-breathable&lt;/em&gt;. Hence, you'll end up with a lot of condensation within your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation, using the space blanket around the sleeping bag, or around the bivvy sack itself would theoretically reflect back any heat escaping from the sleeping/bivvy bags (and hence is the best possible option for you). But this in itself would be pretty minimal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the same reasoning, using the space blanket as a single width sheet, under or over at any layer wouldn't add much of a protection as there's little heat to reflect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2066" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T10:12:02.540" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-07T17:07:21.633" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would suggest a pair of good waterproof winter gloves instead of mittens. These will keep your hands warm and protected from wind and still allow for enough dexterity for writing with a pencil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T17:07:21.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20986" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20991" CreationDate="2018-11-07T17:40:35.920" Score="11" ViewCount="616" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning an adventure, and realized that while I will have one able bodied paddler, I will likely have two canoes of load.  In thinking about it, I have imagined several scenarios where this might come up, so presumably there are proven solutions.  My google search was not productive though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This adventure requires a canoe for its inherent benefits so while re-configuring the connections as needed is an option, changing to a different type of boat is not an option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This first thing I thought about was, lashing them side by side, either closely connected or separated by long spars, that would make an outrigger type set up.  I dismissed this as closely connected would make paddling challenges, while separated would make steering challenges (&lt;em&gt;if you have ever seen a catamaran try to make a tight turn you understand)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I am thinking, loosely connect bow to stern:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For calm water, tow with the powered/paddled canoe in front. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For moving water, paddled canoe in back. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The calm water solution has little to no issues, that I can see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moving water solution, limits you to the speed of the current (probably ok) and lets you &quot;steer&quot; the front canoe by back paddling and turning the back canoe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the bow to stern connections can be managed on the water by a 'moving clothes line' type connection.  The unpowered canoe would have a static connection that could be moved from the front to rear of the powered canoe, from the rowing position (aft of canoe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This solution would &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; be used on fast water like classified rapids. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there proven solutions or proven failures, for one paddler to manage two canoes at the same time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-11-28T14:56:29.873" Title="How would one person control two canoes?" Tags="&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20986" CreationDate="2018-11-07T18:00:30.977" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;For calm water towing would work. For short stretches of even the gentlest rapids the best approach would be to tie up one boat, paddle the first down (or pole up), tie it up and walk back for the other. Continuous white water on a solo expedition (presumably far from civilisation as well, or you wouldn't need to carry so much) seems like a bad idea, even with a single boat.  So your plan to avoid it is good. With two boats, you're unlikely to be able to self rescue without the loss of a boat - or both if they're tied together. So if the water is rougher than you expected (perhaps due to unexpected rainfall unsptream) you'll need to either paddle the boats one at a time or wait it out, depending on what the issue is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be a very tricky middle ground, which should make you very wary. Your choices leave you forced to choose positive or negative water speed before a stretch of water, unless you manage to overtake or be overtaken, which takes width and depth in a reasonably straight line and on some rivers wouldn't be possible at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prompted by a recent trip on sections of flat but flowing river: without a deep wide channel a single boat could easily be steered towards the main channel, but a second boat would end up beached in the shallows.  Controlling the second boat from the first would take a lot of additional effort and slow you down a lot, even if you didn't actually get it stuck.  This indicates the difficulty caused by water that's not even fast enough to be called class 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-28T14:56:29.873" LastActivityDate="2018-11-28T14:56:29.873" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20979" CreationDate="2018-11-07T19:30:35.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It doesn't matter.  Blowing a whistle is not an emergency signal: emergency signals have a certain sequence.  Be sure to use your hands to close your ears (index fingers pressing ear canals closed).  If the whistle works, you'll still notice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frankly, outdoor shops have working emergency whistles probably cheaper than what your printer materials cost.  So there is not much of a point in printing one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16829" LastActivityDate="2018-11-07T19:30:35.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20937" CreationDate="2018-11-07T23:24:42.807" Score="2" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I assume you take the usual precautions of having food &amp;amp; other smelly stuff at an appropriate distance in bear country.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A friend once insisted on a tour to also put the backpacks up a tree because of wild pigs, but I've never heard of that being necessary (I live in a region with &lt;em&gt;lots&lt;/em&gt; of wild pigs). While wild pigs are omnivourous, they do not consider humans as prey. They are dangerous if upset (e.g. if they snap their teeth they're about to charge you - this is a problem e.g. for a hunter called to a traffic accident involving a wild pig, and they also don't like dogs), but by lying around sleeping you'll not upset them. If they sniff and grunt around your tent, they are in a happy mood. In that case, I'd think the largest danger is a pig stumbling over your tent line and, being startled, stepping onto your tent. They have a very acute sense of smell (and hearing) and will be aware of you long before sleeping you realizes they are around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;woken up by the sounds of some large animal quite close to the tent? Just hearing some branches broken by presumably something large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You may be interested to know that small animals around the tent/tarp can sound &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; large - particularly if you are not yet accustomed with the nightly sounds/habits of local wildlife.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So the grunting wild boar may very well (most probably) turn out to be a hedgehog on closer inspection. During my first night outdoors in Canada, I found a curious porcupine quite annoyingly loud. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;All in all, I usually hold it with @JonCuster's advise and turn to sleep again.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;One exception so far was a fox (attracted by residual food smells) in Hungary that was not as shy as I'd have liked it to be. There after some thinking that I have no idea what &quot;rabies vaccination&quot; is in Hungarian I actually got up and chased it away before getting back to sleep. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, if you think it may be a large predator, you'll probably not be sleepy... In that case, I don't see anything wrong in silently/calmly getting up and shining some light on the matter - so you can learn who causes what noise. If you don't want to find out who it is and just want it to leave the vicinity, then silence is of course counter-productive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not sure whether you find this thought reassuring, but I also assume that predators in hunting mode after a sleeping victim usually take much care to be very silent. If they are snuffing around noisily, they are probably just curious and possibly after food, but not the type of food that is alive and can run away.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2018-11-15T17:16:56.093" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T17:16:56.093" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20986" CreationDate="2018-11-08T08:49:35.323" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lash them together in parallel with spars such that there's a wide enough gap down the middle that you can paddle in the centre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you say, you're not going to be making tight turns, but you are in full control of both boats which is the more significant aspect. You also gain massively on stability, especially if you have other (non-able bodied) persons. This setup is suitable for use on moving water and has been extensively tested on the River Wye at Symonds Yat. You always have to look out for these guys coming through when you're playing on the rapids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rigid structure has advantages over a rope tow as you don't get the jerk and slack as the rope comes tight then relaxes which makes paddling hard work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No matter what you do, trying to paddle two canoes worth of stuff single handed, you're setting yourself up for some tough paddling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bC8Bu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bC8Bu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Canoes lashed together&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://wyedean.co.uk/canoehire/centre-day-canoeing.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wyedean Canoe Hire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-11-08T08:49:35.323" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20993" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-08T11:36:21.693" Score="2" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I'm still learning about beach fishing and trying different rigs. Been using the pully rig on one rod with big baits (bluey, squid/worm wraps etc) and now and again on the cast the hook releases from the breakaway lead clip on the cast. Changed over to an &quot; imp&quot; I think it's called with the plastic clip and same thing happened on a few occasions. Anybody suggest ways of stopping this or what maybe causing it? &#xA;Many thanks in advance for any help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16836" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-11-08T13:57:14.387" LastActivityDate="2018-11-08T13:57:14.387" Title="Pully rig hook release problem" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;beach&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="20998" CreationDate="2018-11-08T18:26:49.077" Score="3" ViewCount="127" Body="&lt;p&gt;When using a flasher type fish finder, a hard bottom is displayed as a wide red band on the screen indicating a good return signal. The wide red band in the picture below covers between 10 and 12 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exactly where is the bottom?  10 feet?  12 feet? or in the middle at 11 feet? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zqTnH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zqTnH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Flasher display&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-11-08T19:44:54.677" Title="Fish Flasher - Reading Bottom" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;ice&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20996" CreationDate="2018-11-08T19:44:54.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bottom is at 10 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a diagram showing what things are showing.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jKFpv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jKFpv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This image points out what you are seeing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of links of for help in reading what the finder is showing you.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2005-02-04-abcs-of-understanding-flashers-fish-finders-for-bass-fishing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2005-02-04-abcs-of-understanding-flashers-fish-finders-for-bass-fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.vexilar.com/blog/2014/08/28/how-to-ice-fish-with-a-vexilar-flasher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.vexilar.com/blog/2014/08/28/how-to-ice-fish-with-a-vexilar-flasher&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other colors below the bottom are coming from echos from your transducer going through the ground a little ways before bouncing back to you.  The hard red implies to me that you have a hard bottom with little silt.  If it was more like the above image, there is a little bit of muck and things at the bottom (or it could be plants).  Something that doesn't bounce sound waves very strongly (like rocks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-08T19:44:54.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="20999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-08T23:30:36.800" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think of the basic triangle - you need warmth, dryness, and wind-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OP's question does not mention being wet but does reference the cold AND the windchill.  So limit the wind with some kind of windproof shield.  Here's a generic  &quot;outdoor clipboard&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OHsAt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OHsAt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;From https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/BfYAAOSwUV9WmRPZ/s-l300.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the plastic lid keeps rain off, but will also act as a wind shield.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It will not really act to hold warmth though because of the large opening&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastActivityDate="2018-11-08T23:30:36.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21000" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21001" CreationDate="2018-11-09T02:17:08.670" Score="6" ViewCount="354" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05w5mm4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is a one minute video of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Kingfisher&lt;/a&gt; bird standing on a tiny reed swaying in the wind. It's from the BBC Network in England. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/iNIwtqC.gif&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For much of the video, especially the beginning, the bird doesn't seem to be moving its head, but the body is moving back and forth on the reed. Even when it moves its head a bit, the body still appears almost independent, and its feet don't move from their original position.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I initially thought it was fake, that the picture of the head had been manipulated to stay still while the body moved, at least for parts of it. It's obviously real, though, but I still don't understand the mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does a Kingfisher literally sit on that tiny moving reed without moving its head, and why? Is it asleep? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-09T22:52:58.113" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T22:52:58.113" Title="How can a Common Kingfisher bird balance on a tiny swaying reed without moving its head?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21000" CreationDate="2018-11-09T03:08:01.843" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is called &lt;strong&gt;gaze stabilization&lt;/strong&gt; and birds do it to keep one thing in focus even while their body is moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is head stabilization in&#xA;birds? When the body of a bird&#xA;is held in the hand and rotated or&#xA;moved in different directions the&#xA;head often appears ‘locked in space’&#xA;or glued to the spot, and does not&#xA;move with the rest of the body. To&#xA;maintain this stable position the bird&#xA;has, of course, to make complex&#xA;compensatory movements of the&#xA;neck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(09)00668-X.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bird head&#xA;stabilization&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thanks in part to a large number of vertebrae and muscles in their neck, birds can hold their head in place even when their body’s in motion.&lt;/strong&gt; According to David Lentink, an assistant professor at Stanford University who studies biological flight, this adaptation helps birds stream high-resolution visuals when moving quickly through complex terrain. “They keep their head absolutely horizontal at all cost because that way they have the most reliable information, which they have to stream at high rates,” he says. “When you’re maneuvering like crazy . . . you need a perfect vision platform.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gaze stabilization in birds is complex and still poorly understood,&lt;/strong&gt; Lentink says. But what we do know is that &lt;strong&gt;it’s controlled in part by visual input and the vestibular system,&lt;/strong&gt; a sensory system in the inner ear in charge of balance and spatial orientation. Like a three-dimensional level, the vestibular system (which other vertebrates have, as well) governs spatial orientation, and it’s critical for keeping the head steady.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/news/for-birds-steady-head-key-incredible-focus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;For Birds, a Steady Head Is the Key to Incredible Focus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5633612/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Head Stabilization in the Pigeon: Role of Vision to Correct for Translational and Rotational Disturbances&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=p1SUzc5GUVcC&amp;amp;pg=PA249&amp;amp;lpg=PA249&amp;amp;dq=birds%20gaze%20stabilization&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=eTlD1STXu7&amp;amp;sig=FPnMXrgpsy8GsWXhDVvIy9dJsAM&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwiprMXEq8beAhWXn4MKHZjbAuE4ChDoATADegQIABAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=birds%20gaze%20stabilization&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vision, Brain, and Behavior in Birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T03:19:56.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18169" CreationDate="2018-11-09T06:44:30.233" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a Deuter bagpack which had similar problem.  I kept the bag in hot sun (covered in old cloth so that no fading happens) for few days and then washed it with detergent with a nice scrub on the sticky parts.  Now its like new...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16854" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T06:44:30.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21004" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-09T10:24:10.380" Score="4" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a down jacket and noticed that some down is leaking, especially if I am wearing a wool sweater underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everytime I wear my jacket with my (dark, which makes the down very visible) wool sweater, I notice anywhere between 20 and 50 filaments stuck on my sweater. I assume this is because of static.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The jacket is not 1 month old yet. Is it normal that I still notice some leakage from now and then (even when not wearing wool underneath)? Do people not usually wear wool with down jackets?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16855" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2018-11-10T12:13:32.227" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T12:13:32.227" Title="Down is escaping my jacket, especially over a wool sweater" Tags="&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-09T11:58:06.977" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let me suggest that some acclimatization may help (though I'm not sure how practical this is). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was personally rather astonished how much we can actually adapt to cold weather: I spent a winter in Winnipeg (office job, no outdoors job). Nevertheless, whereas I had been freezing on the bike in windproof + light fleece pants/jacket in November in +5°C rain, in March when it got warm to &quot;only single digit negative temps (°C)&quot;, I was biking in just summer outdoor pants/T-shirt + fleece, no gloves, no cap/scarf and feeling very comfortable.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;First conclusion: fall/early winter is going to be the most miserable time in the year because you're not yet accustomed to the low temps - still it is probably impossible to do this in any other season.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to  &lt;a href=&quot;https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19890013690.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hanna Kaciuba-Uscilko and  John E. Greenleaf: Acclimatization to Cold in Humans, NASA Technical  Memorandum  101011, p 18&lt;/a&gt;, local cold adaptation (hands) is possible as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was proved that people who habitually expose their hands to cold-for example, &#xA;  Eskimos (Miller and Irving, 1962), Arctic Indians (Elsner, Nelms, and Irving, 1960), fishermen (LeBlanc, 1975; Krog et al., 1960), workers who fillet fish (Nelms and Soper, 1962), and lumbermen (LeBlanc et al., 1976)- respond to local cooling of the hands with much less pronounced cutaneous vasoconstriction, and with more rapid onset of vasodilation than occurs in unacclimatized men. Thus, they tolerate cold-stress better than men unadapted to cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it may be possible for you to prepare for that inventory by deliberately exposing your hands to cold beforehand. &#xA;(Biking, I find that it takes my hands, ears and nose get cold for about 3 days to a week with the first frosts in fall until they &quot;remember&quot; how to heat themselves at those temps. But then, I find cold adaptation much easier than heat adaptation. And my impression are that people are very much not the same in that respect.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whether it is worth while obviously is for you to decide. However, you may also want to take into account that it may not be &quot;only&quot; a question of being uncomfortable but that working in cold environment is associated e.g. with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574417/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;increased incidence of rheumatoid arthritis&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, keeping your fingers warm is only possible if your body core is warm. You could try whether  warmer parka/long johns helps as well (parka is probably easier to get on/off). Also, there's a rumor that not only overall food status but protein in particular is important for non-shivering thermogenesis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thoughts about gear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From your post, you're able to do things in not-too-thick gloves, so maybe 1+1+3 shooting gloves would be a consideration?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'd probably try to have as much pre-printed as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As kids we used to have mittens with a line (so they wouldn't get lost when taken/falling off). &#xA;A similar line with a very roomy mitten may allow you just put your hand in and out of the mitten without hassle. You you have to expose the fingers only for writing down your Mountain ash line, but they're in the warm while counting the pots.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This line of thought directly leads to the invention of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muff_(handwarmer)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;muff&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. A &quot;traditional&quot; one for warming your writing hand while not writing (which would also have space for a heating pad).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strike&gt;maybe you could make a more specialized one yourself that accomodates&lt;/strike&gt; look around whether you can get a suitable &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pogie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pogie (2)&lt;/a&gt; which is roughly a mitten that has the pencil sticking out, so you can keep it on while writing.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2019-12-11T13:40:09.047" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T13:40:09.047" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21004" CreationDate="2018-11-09T14:09:22.643" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down will inevitably pierce through thin fabrics (an thicker ones too, just less frequently). It's in the nature of quills to do so and even if very fine, there are quills nonetheless. The lighter the denier of the fabric or the looser it's woven, the easier the down will get through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short of having a garment that is lined with something that slows this process, your only option is to prevent the down from going all the way through when you notice it by plucking it back inside through the jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe the wool shirt is attracting the down when it's already out, but it shouldn't actually be causing more down to go through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T14:09:22.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21009" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-09T18:01:58.007" Score="21" ViewCount="3612" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, any tent gets hot when in plain sunlight, so I wouldn't stay in it (and can't imagine why anyone would) + I'd rather be outside my tent when the weather's nice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really understand this &quot;UV resistance&quot; thing. &lt;strong&gt;Why is it so important?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16860" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-09T18:11:26.877" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T23:53:57.940" Title="Why should a good tent be UV resistant?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21009" CreationDate="2018-11-09T18:07:28.093" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;A tent's UV resistance isn't for you, it's for the tent. High-energy UV rays will break down many synthetic and natural textiles over time. UV resistant fabrics are not as susceptible to this breakdown, and will last longer with repeated exposure to sunlight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UV resistant fabrics are great if you're looking for long-lasting gear that will be used in exposed, sunny areas, like above the tree line on a mountain. If you're doing occasional camping in a shaded forest, it may not be as much of a selling point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11403" LastEditorUserId="11403" LastEditDate="2018-11-09T18:12:43.637" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T18:12:43.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21009" CreationDate="2018-11-09T18:08:13.527" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's because the sunlight will damage the tents fabric over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UV damage occurs when long term exposure to the sun damages the fabric and thread of your tent or rain fly.&lt;/strong&gt; The fabric will become thin and brittle. If you tent or rain fly seems to rip for no reason or with very light pressure, this could be the reason. The outside of the fabric will often appear to be a much lighter color than the inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://rainypass.com/2015/05/uv-damage/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;UV Damage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ultraviolet damage to tent fabric is caused by excessive exposure to sunlight. &lt;strong&gt;While our fabrics are UV resistant, any synthetic fabric is susceptible to ultraviolet degradation.&lt;/strong&gt; UV damage will cause nylon and polyester to become brittle and tear easily. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eurekacamping.com/blog/article/tent-care-tips&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tent Care Tips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While UV resistance won't totally prevent the damage, it will slow it down. This is also why its a good idea to keep gear out of sunlight when storing and if possible when in the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T18:08:13.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21012" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-09T18:49:51.543" Score="6" ViewCount="574" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whistles are often used for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20979/where-can-i-test-an-emergency-whistle&quot;&gt;emergency signalling&lt;/a&gt;, it would be good to know how far that signal can travel and still be recognized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of factors that would affect the distance, so how far would it travel under optimal conditions and then one could figure that real world conditions would be less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As starting point,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The world record unaided human whistle was recorded at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/loudest-whistle&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;125 decibels at 2.5 meters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sport referee whistles &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dutchreferee.com/the-decibels-of-popular-referee-whistles/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;go up to 127 decibels&lt;/a&gt; recorded at 2 meters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-09T21:19:41.403" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T14:31:54.973" Title="Under optimal conditions, how far could an emergency whistle be heard?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;whistles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21000" CreationDate="2018-11-09T21:35:34.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You asked two questions: How does it balance, and why does it do this? Charlie answered &quot;Why does it do this?&quot;, and he did so quite well, especially since, as his sources suggest, even the biologists do not completely understand it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how it balances...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does indeed appear at first to defy gravity. The birds center of mass is moving relative to the platform it is standing on, and it looks like it is moving in the &lt;em&gt;wrong&lt;/em&gt; direction, since the head and neck are extending out away from the direction of movement of the twig (indeed, they would have to in order to keep the head still relative to the environment).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, after watching that animation play through many times I have convinced myself that the bird is indeed moving other parts of its body to compensate. It does move its legs, its belly, and other body parts at times in order to compensate for the motion and thereby balance itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does not look like it, but the body motion is there. It is just very difficult to see unless you are specifically looking for it, and even once you spot it the balancing motions are very, very small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is like when we stand in one place, we have to keep adjusting our bodies constantly to not fall over. We do it without even thinking about it. This is even more amazing in the case of the bird since it has to not only stay upright but do so against the motion of the twig; however, the mass of the neck and head is probably very, very small proportional to the mass of the rest of the body which is doing the balancing, and that would mean that the rest of the body does not need to move much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that seems to be how the bird is balancing on the twig while keeping its head like that. At least, I have convinced myself as much by watching that animation replay too many times. ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T21:35:34.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21009" CreationDate="2018-11-09T23:53:57.940" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is for two reasons. By far, the primary concern is that UV rays will make the textiles deteriorate over time. UV resistant textiles will last a lot longer, and deteriorate less from only sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also a minor concern for the people inside, but only if they will be spending considerable amounts of time in the tent in direct sunlight. Similar to how its possible to get a sunburn through thin clothing if you are out long enough, a small amount of UV rays will pass through a non-UV resistant tent and reach the people inside. Usually this isn't a concern, but if you spend all day every day in the tent without sunscreen, then you would have the potential to get tanned or burned&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16863" LastActivityDate="2018-11-09T23:53:57.940" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14611" CreationDate="2018-11-10T02:16:27.677" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would largely agree with the previous response. However, most &lt;a href=&quot;https://birdbathsforsale.com/submersible-bird-bath-heater/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bird bath heaters&lt;/a&gt; (a site I`m affiliated with) today do not get hot enough to melt plastic. If you have a plastic or resin bird bath, you can add an electric heater without worrying about it melting. This is because most heaters will keep the water warm up to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So, not hot enough to melt plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another factor omitted in the requirements above is, aside from the temperature of the heater, the safety of the materials. Stainless steel is one of the safest materials to use for anything that will come into contact with humans or wildlife. As such, it is a good choice for a bird bath heater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you are looking for durability, make sure the cord has a chew guard to prevent it from being gnawed by animals. A chew guard is usually stainless steel coiled around the electrical cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 5-year warranty may be somewhat difficult to find, but one year is pretty standard. For extra safety, I would recommend also getting a water-tight cord lock&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16864" LastEditorUserId="16864" LastEditDate="2018-11-10T18:02:17.873" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T18:02:17.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="623" CreationDate="2018-11-10T18:02:30.117" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is actually an international standard for this: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Convention_on_International_Civil_Aviation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation&lt;/a&gt;, and in there &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaa.gov.ng/media/1233/icao-annex-12.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Annex 12 – Search and Rescue&lt;/a&gt;, appendix 2 &quot;Ground-air visual signal code&quot;. Quoting it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2.1. Ground-air visual signal code for use by survivors&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1173S.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1173S.png&quot; alt=&quot;Ground-air visual signal code for use by survivors&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[…]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2.3. Symbols shall be at least 2.5 metres (8 feet) long and shall be made as conspicuous as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note 1.— Symbols may be formed by any means such as: strips of fabric, parachute material, pieces of wood, stones or such like material; marking the surface by &#xA;  ramping, or staining with oil.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note 2.— Attention to the above signals may be attracted by other means such as radio, flares, smoke and reflected light.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it would be the &quot;V&quot; for the case of the castaway, or &quot;X&quot; as the more urgent distress signal if there is indeed a need for medical assistance. And if (s)he sees the aircraft rocking its wings (or at night, flashing its landing lights twice), that's a good sign … it means the pilot saw and understood. (Specified in the same Annex 12 document as linked above.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8435" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T18:02:30.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20838" CreationDate="2018-11-10T21:25:33.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy pure clove oil from a health food store. It comes in small, brown glass bottles of 10-20 ml or so. Add the whole contents to a half litre spray bottle of cleaning liquid, ie detergent. Shake vigorously and spray around the interior. &#xA;I have used this in damp storage containers and the smell disappears in minutes. I have to repeat it if the container gets damp again as the mould spores are impregnated in the surface and germinate immediately. I use a an electric fan while I am spraying to help spread the spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16868" LastActivityDate="2018-11-10T21:25:33.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21019" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-11T00:12:18.780" Score="1" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20189/&quot;&gt;question from August 13, 2018&lt;/a&gt; asked what type of caterpillar was living in a cocoon on a tree at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/wachusett-meadow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mass. Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary&lt;/a&gt;, on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wachusett.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Wachusett&lt;/a&gt;, in Princeton, Central Massachusetts, USA.  According to an expert consultant, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20232/5547&quot;&gt;accepted answer&lt;/a&gt; identified it as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_webworm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea&lt;/a&gt;. (It turns out that the proper terminology for the structure is web or nest. The cocoon is something the animal spins and lives in after it leaves that nest.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A comment on that question suggested it was a tentworm instead. The referenced tentworm would most likely be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_tent_caterpillar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum)&lt;/a&gt; (also called treeworm by many sources). It's found all over North America, and parts of Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I tell the difference by observing the web/nest? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These pictures were taken in Mid-August during an active phase of the webworm caterpillar activity. The caterpillars are at the ends of the branches of a mature tree with berries. The tree itself was posted to show its bark and shape. It didn't include the nests because they were at the ends of the branches.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fgoFl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fgoFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X7NPe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X7NPe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Facing left tight group dead leaves&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LVb02.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LVb02.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close up with berries and thin strands of net&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BPYoJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BPYoJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;End of branch including side of house&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b1VY2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b1VY2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Whole tree, cocoons are at ends of branches&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T00:53:26.180" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T01:02:29.930" Title="How can I tell the difference between a Tentworm caterpillar and a Fall Webworm caterpillar by observing the web?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17134" CreationDate="2018-11-11T16:40:42.773" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with cotton for base and insulating layers is the fact that it tends to absorb moisture this can be a problem in both cold and hot conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold conditions it greatly decreases the insulation provided by your clothing as water has high thermal conductivity and it fills up the air spaces between fibres whcih normally trap air and greatly contribute to insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally in hot weather, especially humid conditions this trapped water can form a barrier which actually traps water vapour and reduces the cooling effect from sweating. There is also the fact that cotton becomes stiffer when wet and can get very uncomfortable and cause skin problems due to constant dampness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To some  extent the difference between hot and cold conditions depends on whether conduction of evaporation is  the dominant mechanism of heat transfer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In cold weather there is a big difference between body temperature and outside temperature so anything which reduced the insulation of clothing will make a big difference. However in hot weather this temperature difference is less so the evaporation of sweat is much more significant as this can still provide significant cooling even if the air temperature is close to skin temperature. However if you clothing is soaking up sweat and holding onto it the evaporation is on the outer surface of the clothing not your skin. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that some cotton fabrics especially fine tightly woven ones  like gaberdine and ventile can be very good as shell layers precisely because the fibres swell and hold onto water when they get wet and provide adequate if not total water resistance while and have good breath-ability when dry as long as they are cut fairly loose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Equally fine cotton can be good in hot dry conditions where getting saturated with sweat is much less of an issue. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually one of the best base layer materials is merino wool it wicks moisture nearly as well as synthetics, is comfortable and warm even when wet and dries quickly. It also tends to work better in the long term than most synthetic base layers and can remain wearable for days on end without washing. In fact lightweight merino wool works pretty well even in hot weather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So its not so much that cotton actively warms or cools you but the way that it reacts to moisture. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8820" LastEditorUserId="8820" LastEditDate="2018-11-14T11:10:34.883" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T11:10:34.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21019" CreationDate="2018-11-12T01:07:10.707" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few clearly observable differences between the nests of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_tent_caterpillar&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum)&lt;/a&gt;, often called tentworm and treeworm, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_webworm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea&lt;/a&gt;. The most obvious are the location on the tree and the shape; the timing of building and using the tent; whether or not the caterpillars are seen on the outside of the nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's centered in the crook of a tree near or including the trunk, and spinning out in more of a triangular shape, it's a tent caterpillar nest. If it's on the ends of branches, growing more in a broad shape as it encompasses more leaves, berries and branch ends, it's a fall webworm. If it's active in the late winter and early spring, ending around May, it's a tent caterpillar. If it's active beginning in May and lasting through the summer, until around September, it's a fall webworm. If there are caterpillars on the outside of the tent, it's a tent caterpillar. If the caterpillars spend all of the time in the nest, it's a fall webworm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Details:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Location on the tree:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent caterpillar:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Tent caterpillar nest begins in the crook of a tree, either at a junction of branches or a junction which includes the tree trunk. As they grow, they spin the nests outward along the branches, often in a “V” shape. Their nests don't extend far, or include the skinny branches or branch ends. The web is highly concentrated especially at the junction, making it look whiter and not as transparent as the webworm. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Webworm:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fall webworm tent always begins in leaves at the tips of branches and gradually extends down the branch toward the trunk, gathering more small branch ends as it grows. It stops short of large branch junctions or the crook of the tree, because the abundance of food, which includes leaves and berries, are found on the outer reaches of the branches. It has a looser weave than the Tent caterpillar, and the contents are easier to see.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timing and life cycle:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tentworm:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The female tentworm moth emerges from her cocoon at the base of a deciduous  tree in late June. She then lays a mass of a few hundred eggs around a twig. The eggs spend the winter there, with the caterpillars emerging in the spring, generally April or May. The timing coincides with the growth of new leaves, which are their staple diet. They spin their web from the crooks of the trees, often in a triangular shape along branches. They don't go far or gather leaves inside. They leave the nest in approximately six weeks, and form cocoons. Approximately 2 weeks later, in late June, the moths emerge. They only live long enough to mate, and lay eggs for the next cycle. For the female, that's about 48 hours. (The male can live up to a week.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Webworm:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fall webworm moth spends the winter in a cocoon, and lays the bulk of her 1,000 eggs beginning in late May or early June, which, with a small overlap, is when the Tent caterpillars leave their nest. Rarely, webworm eggs are laid as late as August. Eggs are deposited on the undersides of leaves at the ends of branches, never on the trunk. The caterpillars hatch almost immediately, and spin their nests around the leaves and berries, encompassing more small branches with leaves and branches as they grow. Tents can spread out as far as two or three feet. The majority of the larvae become fully mature by September, and drop out of the nest. They form cocoons at the base of the tree, and overwinter there. Then the next cycle begins!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caterpillar tent behavior:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tent caterpillar:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tent caterpillars use their nest for protection and warmth, but since there aren't any leaves in there, they emerge a few times a day to eat.  They also bask in the sun on the outside of the tent. When it's cool or dark, they retreat into the nest, so your best bet for seeing them is at the height of a nice day.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fall webworm:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fall webworm caterpillars stay in the tent and eat the leaves and berries around which they've spun the web. As they grow they extend their nests, but they spend their time inside. There are a lot of them and they're very busy, so they're certainly visible, as you can see in the webworms in the question. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aprairiehaven.com/?page_id=7868&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prairie Haven&lt;/a&gt; has an excellent timeline of the Eastern tent caterpillar, with pictures taken at each phase, including the dates.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pictures in the question are definitely fall webworms. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources for the above and further information, and pictures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/insects/caterpillars/eastern-tent-caterpillar.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Missouri Botanical Garden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thoughtco.com/eastern-tent-caterpillar-1968197&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tent Caterpillars-ThoughtCo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-and-plant-advice/help-pests/tent-or-web-making-caterpillars&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Morton Arboretum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7111.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New York State Department of Conservation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tent_caterpillar_group.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Eastern tent caterpillar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_webworm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia Fall webworm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aprairiehaven.com/?page_id=7868&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prairie Haven&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/fall-webworm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Penn State College of Agriculture, Entymology Department&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/fall-webworm/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Texas A&amp;amp;M Department of Agriculture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T01:02:29.930" LastActivityDate="2018-11-18T01:02:29.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2018-11-12T11:11:51.073" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;With suitable preparation, photography can be more useful than you currently realise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trick is to make yourself some props to communicate the data you need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For species identification, make a set of &quot;cards&quot; (use plastic, really - panels cut from the side of 5-litre containers work well for me), with one or two large letters on each.  Now choose the appropriate one (or more) to place prominently in each photo to indicate the species.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can use similar tokens for tally indicators - perhaps use different coloured tokens to indicate one, five, ten, twenty, ... as much as you need.  Use the tokens just like coins in your photo to add up to the number to indicate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For numbers and measurements, it's possible to make a similar card with a rotating pointer riveted or bolted on to it.  You could also adapt your existing measuring stick by painting alternate contrasting bands (of known length) onto it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might like to look at how archaeologists photograph their sites (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art501691&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;) to see techniques that could be adapted you your own purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2018-11-12T11:11:51.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20959" CreationDate="2018-11-12T14:58:44.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seems there is a lot of research done. I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://theconversation.com/a-guide-to-using-drones-to-study-wildlife-first-do-no-harm-57069&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; which cites &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30318-9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a lot&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;a href=&quot;http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/2/20140754&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interesting&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178448&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;resources&lt;/a&gt;. I could not retrieve precise numbers. They published a &lt;a href=&quot;http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.001&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;code of best practice&lt;/a&gt;, but they say also that &quot;It advocates the precautionary principle in lieu of sufficient evidence, encouraging researchers to recognise that wildlife responses are varied, can be hard to detect, and could have severe consequences.&quot;. Also, if I were to apply the precautionary principle, I would consider that animals have a better hearing than humans do, and are more aware of their surroundings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2018-11-12T14:58:44.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21026" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21310" CreationDate="2018-11-13T13:36:59.187" Score="7" ViewCount="530" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm tall but rather small-boned, and my XL drysuit has always been marginal on the wrist and neck seals, which are neoprene with a smooth lining, rather than the more common latex.  This is much more comfortable, and not prone to perishing, but isn't quite as stretchy. The rest of the drysuit is the normal gore-tex fabric (and a little baggy even over winter layers). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got away with the marginally loose fit on the wrists by using some strips of latex wrist seal over the top as rubber bands. Since losing a bit of weight even this doesn't work and all the seals leak noticeably.  They're in good condition; it's clearly just looseness.  A rather silly swim on Sunday demonstrated that it doesn't keep me as dry as it should.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what I'd like to do is cut a small V of material out of each seal and rejoin it.  The existing seals clearly have a join in them so it must be possible with the right materials.  This join appears to be stitched and glued and have a reinforcing/sealing tape glued over the top, as seen in the photos:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FFWj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1FFWj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Outside of wrist seal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;Outside of wrist seal, showing reinforcing tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/muH88.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/muH88.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;inside of wrist seal&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Wrist seal turned inside out -- the stitching can just be seen on the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interestingly the tape is only present over the seams that stretch round the wrists/neck, and not on the other neoprene-to-neoprene seams&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T09:32:00.350" Title="How can I adjust a neoprene wrist/neck seal on a drysuit, by cutting and joining?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21027" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21030" CreationDate="2018-11-13T15:28:32.703" Score="1" ViewCount="555" Body="&lt;p&gt;What type of boat might this be? Or what category of boats would it fall under? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ll9vk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ll9vk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16892" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-13T15:58:59.907" LastActivityDate="2018-11-13T15:58:59.907" Title="What type of boat is this with a single mast and a square sail?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="15" ClosedDate="2018-11-13T22:29:35.797" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21027" CreationDate="2018-11-13T15:53:52.777" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a military Cogue/Cog/Koggen with fore and aft archery towers. Cogues are the only medieval single mast square rigged sailboats of this style.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-11-13T15:53:52.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21029" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21034" CreationDate="2018-11-13T15:57:32.533" Score="6" ViewCount="102" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a cut in the ankle of my boot (see pic).  I'm concerned that any glueing/patching will not hold due to movement and flexing while walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the proper method of gluing and patching that will hold and remain watertight?  Which glue?  Which patch material?      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jOvkb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jOvkb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Boot with cut&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T14:28:35.837" Title="Yellow Overboot Repair" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21027" CreationDate="2018-11-13T15:58:36.790" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;strong&gt;cog&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A cog is a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were clinker-built, generally of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia. &lt;strong&gt;This vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigged single sail.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(ship)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cog (ship)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Modell_der_Bremer_Kogge_von_1380.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modell_der_Bremer_Kogge_von_1380.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-13T15:58:36.790" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21029" CreationDate="2018-11-13T16:02:21.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could use a combination of stitching, to stabilize the cut edges, with a generous application of Freesole or Shoe Goo both outside and inside. Both are flexible enough to hold and the stitching will help prevent shearing at the cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gearaid.com/blogs/learn/repair-cracks-and-leaks-in-your-rubber-boots&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt;'s a nicely illustrated guide from Aquaseal (another brand of repair goo). They omitted the stitching, but I'd personally err on the safe side and make the repair more bomber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-11-13T20:08:33.407" LastActivityDate="2018-11-13T20:08:33.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21032" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-13T19:08:19.030" Score="2" ViewCount="132" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thirty odd years ago there was a fad for shoes generically called snow joggers.  It was a super lightweight boot in appearence -- usually 6-8&quot; tall, but with a very light construction throughout.  They were somewhat wide to accommodate more socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They had essentially no ankle support -- or maybe the amount of support of a canvas top runner.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a fashion item they were cheap.  Typically about $20, and they would last a year or two -- about the same as pair of Walmart sneakers.  Tops were made of nylon fabric, probably a little lighter than pack cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even at the time they came in different styles.  At one extreme were &quot;Moon boots&quot; with a thick layer of foam insulation. These were not considered 'snow joggers'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most were two ply fabric with about 1/4&quot; of Thinsulite.  Any insulation on a boot makes it much harder to dry.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They were easy to dry around the campfire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They were light -- light enough to jog behind a dog sled all day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They were tall enough that you didn't need gaiters to keep the snow out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They were cheap enough that if you melted on drying it, you didn't cry too hard.  (I told people on my trips, &quot;don't buy black -- you can't see it toast&quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't find the equivalent now.  Everything is either a boot, is designed to provide lots of support, is heavy, and clunky to jog in; or is a duckboot, with in effect a 10 or 12&quot; boot dipped 3 inches into rubber; or is stuffed with undryable foam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorel makes a large line of very clunky footwear. Great for standing around at -40.  No good for running.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various running brands make what they call winter running shoes, but they don't keep the snow out, and are not sized for extra socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting stores have winter boots but again, they tend to be heavy, expensive and hard to dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure they must exist, I just don't know the right name.  Every time I use 'boots' I get stuff that is heavy.  Every time I use moccasin I get stuff that amounts to indoor slippers.  Every time I search for 'snow joggers' I get puffy things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-11-21T15:34:32.730" LastActivityDate="2018-12-21T16:02:00.413" Title="What do you call what amounts to a modern hybrid between a sneaker and a high top moccasin?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3116" CreationDate="2018-11-13T19:44:19.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From experience, traveling under a full moon works well.  Warning:  The shadows are inky dark.  You will still need a torch or headlamp, but in the open you can turn it off.  I have done winter trips by dogsled where we camped after 10 p.m. in December.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You actually want to be out during a waxing gibbous moon -- between first quarter and full.  This puts the moon in the sky before the sun has set.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not as high latitude as you, but even here at 54 N winter makes for long twilights.  Camping at sunset still gives you well over an hour of reasonable twilight for setting up camp.  If you can get a routine that allows you to break camp in the dark, start traveling at first light, and make camp at the end of twilight, you can make the most of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything takes longer in the dark.&#xA;Everything takes longer when it's cold.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Day trips aren't bad.  You can follow a broken  trail on snowshoes just by starlight.  We had ultra marathon team snowshoe races that started at 5 a.m. and the last teams often didn't get in until 10 p.m. (75 km for senior boys)  At the time of the long race, in late February sunrise was around 8:30, sunset around 5:30, so most of the last team's race was run in twilight or darkness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For overnight dogsled trips (1-12 days) our routine was fairly high impact and so only can be done in areas that are lightly used.  We ran 2 people per sled with with 4-5 dogs pulling the load.  At night the routine was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop.&#xA;Unload night lines&#xA;Unharness dogs and attach to night lines.&#xA;Unload sled&#xA;Select a fire spot.&#xA;Two people cleared/packed fire site.  2 people fed dogs.  6 people cut wood.  Dog people joined wood cutters when done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campsite people built fire, started buckets of snow to melt.  Fired up coleman lantern to give working light and use as beacon for the wood cutters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We would cut about a cord of wood into 3-4 foot long chunks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time enough wood was cut (about 1.5 hours) water would be hot.  Come in, find your pack to sit on, make yourself a cup of hot cocoa, hot juice (flavoured sugar), or coffee.  Meanwhile supper was on the edge of the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people would change footwear at this time, taking off their day footwear and putting on their campwear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supper would happen.  After supper getting everything really dry would take another 2-3 hours depending on the day.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between 9 and 10 most people would move 2-3 logs to the space by their sleeping bag, and crash for the night.  No tents, just sleep with your head toward the fire on a foam pad on a tarp.  Some people are good at waking up when the fire is almost out (I'm one...) and throwing another couple of logs on.  The hot choc bucket was left near the fire.  sometimes people would wake up, go take a pee, and grab a cup of hot something.  Often a few others would ask him to fill up their cups too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the morning we'd start moving about 6 -- a couple hours before it was light enoough to easily see.  Build up the fire, make breakfast.  The half that was breaking trail on snowshoes would set off at first light, while the other half took apart the camp, packed, harnessed (don't forget the night lines...) and set off about an hour later.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Morning was harder:  The dogs are really full of zip first thing in the morning and you do not want to steer a sled through trees that you can barely see.  So while we were willing to push into darkness in the evening, we wanted decent light to set off in the morning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trail breakers needed enough light to navigate.  Following an existing trail, especially if broken, in the dark is ok, but if the trail is not obvious wait for light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-13T19:44:19.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21029" CreationDate="2018-11-14T07:53:36.983" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;(de-)vulcanization&lt;/strong&gt;, at least for boots made from proper vulcanized rubber (some cheaper variants are made from vinyl for example - in this case this suggestion won't work).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming your boots are made from proper vulcanized rubber you can use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanization&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(de-)vulcanizing &quot;glue&quot;&lt;/a&gt; and patch. It's not actually a glue, but a devulcanizing compound that will partially dissolve the rubber and the patch you apply, and after dissipating the two will be melded together properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's how you fix bicycle tires and inflatable boats &lt;sup&gt;1)&lt;/sup&gt;- and if done properly the fix is just as strong afterwards as the material was before. My suggestion is that you buy a bicycle tire fixing kit and give it a try - they probably cost you some 5$ max.&lt;sup&gt;2)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To figure out if your boots are the right kind of rubber apply some tiny quantity to the area around the rip and wait some minutes (as per instructions of the repair kit). If the rubber starts to soften/dissolve your good to go ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1)&lt;/sup&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/fhf03/how_do_vulcanizing_tire_patches_work/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a good explanation of how bicycle tire repair works using vulcanization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2)&lt;/sup&gt; If the patches for the tire kit are too small you can buy inflatable boat fixing kits in outdoor stores that sell these boats. They come with bigger patches that you can cut to size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-11-14T14:28:35.837" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T14:28:35.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21035" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-14T09:04:25.873" Score="3" ViewCount="379" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be travelling for a couple of days to remote regions of Laos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to take some kind of &quot;emergency&quot; food if nothing is around (or nothing trustworthy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People with a sweet tooth have the perfect solution: Granola bars. But I really don't like them - pretty much like any of this swee-ish stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like dried sausages or Beef jerky goes the right direction but it lacks carbs - particularly some form of bread - without that I still feel hungry and these things do not work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some things that include crackers (tuna salad or chicken salad) but crackers are too salty, to less carbs (same as chips) and set up my stomache rather than feeling full afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Germany there are things like Pumpernickel: This (&lt;strong&gt;together&lt;/strong&gt; with some sausage) would come close: It can be densely packed, exists even in canned (in military) has high energy and you feel full afterwards. The problem is that US people don't like it that much so it's hard to get in the US (particularly in small packages, not to mention canned version).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most ideal would be some pizza-, burrito-, sausage- whatever stuff that is highly densely packed, durable and available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'd be looking for would have the following properties:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Savory taste: Pizza, burrito, Burger, Hot Dog etc but also Salami&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Readily available in the US&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nothing that requires preparation or hot water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Includes bread or at least some meaningful carbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is densely and &lt;strong&gt;seperately&lt;/strong&gt; packed (each portion), like a granola bar&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is durable and good for a long time, even in hot or wet conditions (like canned food)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any idea if something like this exists?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16894" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T22:40:57.877" Title="Which emergency food for backpacking (meat-like Granola bar?)" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21035" CreationDate="2018-11-14T11:10:31.043" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rusk&lt;/a&gt;, which is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twice-baked_foods&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;twice-baked bread&lt;/a&gt;, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melba_toast&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Melba toast&lt;/a&gt; in the US (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=melba%20toast&amp;amp;num=100&amp;amp;newwindow=1&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi_maPK3tPeAhXJalAKHejDCCIQ_AUIDigB&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=919&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;images&lt;/a&gt;) is cheap, light, has a long shelf-life and mainly contains carbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various flavored variants may be available. A package can contain sub-packages with 4-10 pieces or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look for higher calorie value, look for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscotti&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;biscotti&lt;/a&gt; or other variants with nuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-11-14T13:19:25.890" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T13:19:25.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18573" CreationDate="2018-11-14T12:29:56.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Rash vest/shorts&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are technically a baselayer for wearing under a wetsuit, but are often worn during the warmer months as the only layer for watersports. They're less restrictive, dry reasonably fast but designed to keep you warm when wet. Available in various weights from lightweight non-UV resistant to heavyweight thermals. Watch out for that UV resistance on cheap products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cost wise the cheapest would come in at slightly below the cheapest wetsuits, but expensive gear should only be about 3-5 times that base price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is probably the best option given your description.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Thermal baselayers&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again available as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chillcheater.com/baselayers-and-undersuits?___store=default&amp;amp;p=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;watersports specific&lt;/a&gt;, these are a step up from a rashie. More expensive but warmer, often valid as sole equipment down to quite low temperatures and liable to cause overheating if it's not cold enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chillcheater.com/fabrics/aquatherm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aquatherm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a fairly expensive option. It acts initially as a waterproof layer but once water gets inside it behaves much as neoprene does. Aquatherm gives you more freedom to move than wetsuits due to being a much thinner material. Competitive kayakers swear by this stuff for winter training. Expensive but cheaper than a high quality wetsuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T12:29:56.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21035" CreationDate="2018-11-14T15:28:01.373" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would go with a mix of foods, with dried meats as you mentioned, plus small packages of nut-heavy trail mix. Trail mix is high in starches and protein, quite filling especially mixed with meats. I can get 250g resealable packets of decent trail mix at the dollar stores here (in Canada). Good trail mix will have no added sugars or salt, so it shouldn't be too sweet as long as it is heavier on the nuts rather than fruit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throwing in some crackers as well might be a nice idea but they take up a lot of space vs their calorie count. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dried fruit, like mango or apple, can also be filling when combined with proteins, and is often available in small resealable packets. Maybe too sweet for your tastes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are all foods I like to keep on hand in my vehicle and when camping/travelling for potential emergency situations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also guess the further you get out of cities and into smaller villages the more likely you are to find reliably safe and delicious food, but that is pure conjecture on my part having never travelled in Laos. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T15:28:01.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19628" CreationDate="2018-11-14T16:12:20.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kind of.  Most things associated with animals end up being old wives tales.  The phenomena don't really have anything to do with weather or the climate at all. i.e. Cows laying down in fields means rain, the width of the strip on woolly bear caterpillers predicts the severity of the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other things can give an indication of current conditions.  For example, birds flying low means that a storm is coming.  This is due to the changing pressure of storm systems.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://phys.org/news/2013-11-birds-weather-adjust-behaviour-barometric.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://phys.org/news/2013-11-birds-weather-adjust-behaviour-barometric.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are links to other proverbs on animal behavior in relation to the weather:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.almanac.com/content/how-birds-predict-weather#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.almanac.com/content/how-birds-predict-weather#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.almanac.com/content/can-animals-predict-weather-animal-proverbs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.almanac.com/content/can-animals-predict-weather-animal-proverbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So animal observations can provide some extra information, so that along with other observations can give a small sense of weather.  Many of the proverbs came about through observation before we had good weather forecasts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T16:12:20.857" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21035" CreationDate="2018-11-14T16:29:57.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Today, there are wide variety of bars that can meet many tastes.  Otherwise, a package of nuts can be a good food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though there is also the ultimate emergency food, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pemmican&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many recipes for this online.  Here is a good example one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.themeateater.com/hunt/general/pemmican-the-original-hunters-trail-food&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.themeateater.com/hunt/general/pemmican-the-original-hunters-trail-food&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Basic Pemmican Recipe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All ingredients are mixed in equal ratios so it’s easy to adjust for&#xA;  quantity&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1 lb venison jerky&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1 lb rendered bear fat or substitute with wild boar fat, beef suet&#xA;  etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;½ lb dried cranberries, blueberries etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;½ lb  pine nuts or substitute with cashews or walnuts&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Drying meat is a simple process that can be done in the oven or a&#xA;  dehydrator. But instead of using plain dried meat, you can also use&#xA;  jerky. The salt cure will increase shelf-life and add flavor. Try&#xA;  using this recipe.  Whether you are using jerky or plain dried meat,&#xA;  you must have a very dry product to make pemmican properly. You want&#xA;  jerky that cracks and crumbles when bent. Grind the dried meat or&#xA;  jerky into a rough powder. You can use a food processor to do this&#xA;  quickly. Do the same with the dried berries and nuts. Next, you’ll&#xA;  need to mix the dry ingredients with rendered (cooked and liquefied)&#xA;  fat. Here’s Steve’s method for rendering bear fat. You can substitute&#xA;  duck fat, pork fat or beef suet for bear fat. Once the pemmican is&#xA;  well-mixed, you’ll need to pour it into a mold to set up. Muffin pans&#xA;  or cookie sheets work well for this. After the pemmican has rested,&#xA;  remove each piece from the muffin pan or cut the pemmican into blocks&#xA;  on the cookie sheet and then package pieces individually with a vacuum&#xA;  sealer to keep them clean while out in the field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T16:29:57.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21041" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-14T16:43:00.657" Score="4" ViewCount="958" Body="&lt;p&gt;Magnet fishing is where you take a magnet and go fishing for metal objects (usually trash) in ponds, canals or lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this would be fun and would a good way to clear out some of the garbage from the canals, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How strong of a magnet would one need?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2018-11-29T14:43:59.423" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T14:43:59.423" Title="How strong of a magnet is needed for magnet fishing for assorted metal objects?" Tags="&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;magnet-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21035" CreationDate="2018-11-14T16:46:27.460" Score="0" Body="&lt;h1&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pemmican&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pemmican was a high energy food used by the Native Americans, who introduced it to the early explorers and fur traders in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no specific ingredients for pemmican, but it's basically meat/fat, berries, and whatever else you have on hand, but there are plenty of different pemmican recipes you can find online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The virtues of pemmican are that it's a rich food source, and it keeps for a long time. Properly prepared it can be preserved for years at room temperature.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T16:46:27.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21041" CreationDate="2018-11-14T18:49:41.057" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your clarification (&quot;up to small knives&quot;) a 10mm diameter by 5mm thick rare earth magnet would work. I've got some and they'll lift my Swiss army knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I'd go for a bit bigger, and buy one with a hole (cheap on ebay) to make fastening easier. I tested a 10x5 with a hole, lifting a small sheath knife.  it can easily lift it by the (slightly extended) tang or one of the rivets on the sheath.  It could take the weight attaching to the blade through the leather sheath but tended to slide to a rivet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3QjX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/G3QjX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;(apologies for the motion blur -- it's effectively a pendulum)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was doing this, I'd use one (or two back to back) from an old hard drive -- the voice coil magnets are strong and can often be obtained for free. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing to remember is how fast the force falls off with distance. A magnet that will pull itself to a knife from a few centimetres away is likely to break your line if it finds a car. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-15T09:15:08.047" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T09:15:08.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21041" CreationDate="2018-11-14T22:18:23.613" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The practical answer is &quot;&lt;strong&gt;Much less than you can easily get from a decent magnet.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; My original, more technical answer is left below since it is the answer to the question as asked, but the useful answer is...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get a magnet much stronger than needed to pull up objects such as your knife example. You can lift much more using a small, cheap magnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a magnet on Amazon.com which is actually advertised as a magnet-fishing magnet. It is listed as having a 500-pound pull-force, is only a few inches across, weighs only a few pounds, and it even comes with an eyebolt already in it so you can easily tie to it for magnet-fishing. It cost about $50, but there are weaker ones for cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, at 500-lb-pull, I wonder if your biggest problem will be trying to get objects unstuck from it when you want to remove them from the magnet. So going with a cheaper, weaker one is probably a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Original, more technical answer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Will a magnet with a 10 lb pull force lift a 10 lb object?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Not necessarily. The pull test is a laboratory test under ideal lab&#xA;  conditions. It is the breakaway force required to separate a given&#xA;  magnet from a flat 1018 steel plate. See attached MDFA Pull Test&#xA;  Standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When lifting an object with a magnet, many factors can affect the&#xA;  ability of the magnet to lift a given weight. These factors include:&#xA;  surface finish of magnet &amp;amp; object, flatness of magnet &amp;amp; object,&#xA;  coating on either surface &amp;amp; acceleration of lifting motion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://buymagnets.com/faq/#faq27&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: buymagnets.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you need a magnet will a pull force that is greater than the weight of objects that you want to pull up, especially since your objects will not always be flat steel lying horizontally. However, it is probably safe to assume the above-mentioned tests were performed in air, and that the magnet would likely hold more under water. Still, as a rule of thumb, I would go with the tests to be safe and get a magnet with a pull force greater than the maximum weight you would like to be able to capture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to pull an object out of the muck at the bottom, that could be a lot harder. Depending on what an object is covered in at the bottom of the water, you might not even be able to pull it out if you were down there and tugging on it directly, so this is highly variable, too much for me to go into. Consider what it is like when you get a foot trapped in the mud or in the muck at the bottom of a pond or similar. If you had a long pole to jam down and release some pressure, that might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to attract objects without having to touch them directly (ie: at a distance), that requires a lot, lot stronger magnet. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.millersville.edu/physics/experiments/023/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnetic force is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance&lt;/a&gt;, meaning that the pull drops drastically even at very short distances. So you will need to be essentially dragging the magnet right over top of the object, making contact with it. If you want to avoid direct contact and snag something even if you miss it by an inch, or worse yet a few inches, then get a very much stronger magnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Can I buy a magnet by pull weight?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did not know much about buying magnets, and whenever I have bought one at a store before I have always just held it up to something and said &quot;Yup, feels strong enough for what I want.&quot; But it appears that you can indeed buy them by pull weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling &quot;buy magnet by pull weight&quot; produces magnets for sale with pull weight identified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the second hit for me on the Google query is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.com/ip/10E784-2-4-lb-Pull-Ring-Magnet-Pack-of-2/920810201?wmlspartner=wlpa&amp;amp;selectedSellerId=1122&amp;amp;adid=22222222227090033963&amp;amp;wmlspartner=wmtlabs&amp;amp;wl0=&amp;amp;wl1=g&amp;amp;wl2=c&amp;amp;wl3=202256728754&amp;amp;wl4=pla-328817125368&amp;amp;wl5=9027254&amp;amp;wl6=&amp;amp;wl7=&amp;amp;wl8=&amp;amp;wl9=pla&amp;amp;wl10=101593696&amp;amp;wl11=online&amp;amp;wl12=920810201&amp;amp;wl13=&amp;amp;veh=sem&amp;amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5sCNv_LU3gIVs41bCh2HfAxmEAQYAiABEgLzbvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a 2.4-pound-pull magnet&lt;/a&gt;  from Wal-Mart that comes in a pack of 2 for $2.14.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything beyond that is probably beyond a simple TGO answer and would require a question on engineering.SE, and they might close it as too broad since it would depend on the buoyancy of the object if it is not solid steel/iron all the way through, and depth that you are fishing at since buoyancy involves not just the mass/volume of the buoyant object but also that of the medium it is weighed in, and water weighs more the deeper you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So it sounds as simple as deciding what the heaviest object is that you want and buying a magnet of at least that &quot;pull-weight&quot; strength. So for small objects like knives a very cheap 1-pound pull-weight magnet sounds more than plenty.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2018-11-15T21:18:17.997" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T21:18:17.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21035" CreationDate="2018-11-14T22:40:57.877" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Emergency food is tricky because it should keep really well,though in your case it's not so important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For planned consumption I make a savoury flapjack - oats, cheese, a little egg, spring onion, chillies, nuts/seeds. I'm not sure of the keeping properties so reckon on a couple of days at room temperature, a week in the fridge, or freeze (which allows making big batches). Plenty of recipes online though I prefer to use less egg and more cheese. Making it requires access to an oven. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-11-14T22:40:57.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21041" CreationDate="2018-11-15T01:14:21.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After doing more research,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look for fishing magnets that have an attachment for rope (usually an eyebolt) they start from approximately 100 lbs (45kg) and go all the way up to 1,200 lbs (544kg) with values around 3-400 lbs being the most common from what I could see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing mentioned when learning about this is that the values stated are under ideal conditions which would be thick, flat and dry metal with no mud. Lakes are not ideal conditions and the items are often rusted and or curved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not that you are going to be regularly pulling out 300 lbs things, but rather that more attraction helps in the less than ideal circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I am reading 4-500 lbs is plenty just don't get it stuck to metal things like bridge trusses above water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T01:14:21.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20061" CreationDate="2018-11-15T01:25:32.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From left to right, Nalgene 1 liter bottle, mesh filter, cotton sock filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R1s2f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R1s2f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cotton coffee sock,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lighter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Folds up really small&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harder to clean as the grounds will stick to it and get stuck inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be used with fine coffee grounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Metal mesh filter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Takes up more room, the easiest way to carry it would be to leave it screwed into the bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to clean the grounds out of as you can dump them all out. The Nalgene lid needs to be cleaned as well unless you like grounds in your water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Works best with coarse grounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had the coffee sock for a while, it folds up nice and small and is really light, but the grounds stick to the cotton and its a pain to clean. I just got the metal filter that screws into the top of the bottle and its much easier to clean. It's heavy enough that I might not take it by myself, but on a group trip, it would probably work pretty well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-04T01:48:54.603" LastActivityDate="2019-04-04T01:48:54.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21049" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21055" CreationDate="2018-11-15T06:31:38.293" Score="3" ViewCount="807" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to rappel off of 10mm dynamic rope. The rope will be fed through both sides of the ATC device (parallel). Is it safe to use a 4mm cord for my French Prusik auto-block knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a similar question [1] but it only refers to ascending, while I am asking about descending. Note that my question covers using a Prusik around 2 parallel ropes, while with ascending the Prusik would be around a single rope (based on what I've heard from others on this thread).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/5116/3452&quot;&gt;What&amp;#39;s the minimum diameter cord to use when climbing a rope using a prusik&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3452" LastEditorUserId="3452" LastEditDate="2018-11-16T17:08:26.893" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T17:08:26.893" Title="is it safe to use a 4mm cord for French Prusik auto-block friction hitch when rappelling off parallel 10mm dynamic rope?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21050" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-15T11:26:45.997" Score="9" ViewCount="799" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never seem to find the perfect way to dress for sweat inducing activities in cold weather. By sweat inducing activities I mean mostly activities in the mountains, especially hiking uphill or ski touring. By cold weather I mean weather that would normally require a jacket, or at least a thick jumper. If that is too wide of a description, let's say I mean between 0°C (32°) and 10°C (50°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I normally do is choose materials that breathe well. So no hard shell or puffy jacket, but instead some sort of warm fleece hoodie or a windstopper. Naturally, I avoid anything made of cotton, and use (technical) synthetic clothing instead. I make sure to cover my neck, as I am much too prone to getting throat colds and similar problems. I also make sure to bring warmer clothes for later, and a change of t-shirt/long-sleeved shirt that I wear as a base layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this effort seems to work just partly: I am still sweating more than I would e.g. in summer. At the same time I am still getting cold when a cold gust of wind catches me. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything else I could be doing/doing differently? Are there some magical technical clothes that I am missing?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-02T00:33:20.073" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T05:01:40.590" Title="How should I dress for sweat inducing activities in cold weather?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-11-15T11:53:22.873" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Layers&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no magic to this, it's mostly about thin layers and windproofing. When you're working hard you strip some layers, when you slow down you put them back on again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're warm enough for standing around in the cold, you'll be too warm while active. If you're about right for being active you'll be too cold standing around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A thick jumper or big fleece hoodie may be too much investment in a single layer for the activities you're doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also a snood scarf (available branded as Buff), I swear by these things on the bike in winter. It keeps the draft out from round your neck while not being as awkward as a scarf.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T11:53:22.873" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-11-15T12:20:59.970" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's worth reading Andy Kirkpatick's article on the 'Softshell' principle (&lt;a href=&quot;https://andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/the_best_softshell_in_the_world&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Best Softshell in the World&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heart of this clothing is its polyester micro pile interior which is, considering its weight, high volume but low density and hydrophobic, meaning it’s warm for its low weight, but also retains very little moisture, meaning there isn’t a lot for sweat or moisture to cling to. The micro pile surface is a perfect wicking surface as the actual surface contact is minimal. This means that when the fabric is damp it feels dry because the body is able to dry the micro pile ‘spikes’ almost instantly and even if the moisture level gets too high that the body’s unable to dry these spikes, it will still be able to warm the wet tip to body temperature, giving the illusion that they are dry (remember that the actual body contact with these spikes is much lower than the actual surface area of the top).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outer wind and water-resistant shell of the jacket helps to maintain the stable micro climate within and as moisture is wicked out from the interior surface it is picked up by the shell, which absorbs it like blotting paper, wicked out across the surface of the fabric so it can be transferred into the environment very quickly. When the top becomes uncomfortable, either due to the environment overloading its insulation or when totally saturated, then it’s time to put on a secondary full weight soft shell, or traditional outer layers. And this is the beauty of the piece, it’s so effective that although it’s technically only soft shell that combines a base layer with a windproof top, combined it’s able to stand up to some incredibly grim conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once your activity level drops and you throw on more layers this type of clothing goes on performing, because it not only keeps your skin comfortable but it also acts as a kind of citadel, your last defence layer, meaning even if wind and moisture does cut through your outer defences you still have this layer to stop it dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your insulation is robust enough to take the ingress of showers without you feeling wet then waterproofing can be sacrificed in order to hit your breathability target. By replacing the words ‘waterproof and dry’ with ‘weather resistant and comfortable’ you get a much better idea what you’re looking for. Windproofing is the most important aspect, as no matter how robust the insulation is, the slightest breeze will rob you of any of its warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally this type of clothing should be used next to the skin, the reason being that that way you can vent it most effectively, meaning you can maintain your comfort level most effectively. If climbing in hot conditions you may want to either carry, or wear underneath your top, a very thin base layer, as this gives you something to wear when it’s roasting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This clothing is a perfect high performance base layer to be worn under a thicker soft shell as its warmth is equivalently double the weight in fleece due to its ability to create this stable core microclimate. It’s also a great component in a traditional base layering system as its slick shell reduces binding between the layers making movement much easier. The hood can be worn under a helmet, creating a vital windbreak in stormy weather giving great visibility without the need of a huge hood or balaclava.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of all the types of clothing on the market today, the one that truly represents what soft shell should be about is the shelled micro pile jacket. This type of top has been around now for over a decade, with Marmot being the first company to introduce such a piece with their Driclime pullover. The reason this type of top is so perfect is because the equation between weight and performance is so high with these pieces, although often now thicker than a base layer, actually replacing base, mid and shell, even in active sub zero conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The current examples of this type of clothing include Rab Vapour-Rise and Buffalo (various lighter and heavier Pertex and micro-pile or thicker pile combinations.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T12:26:14.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21049" CreationDate="2018-11-15T14:14:51.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say no. 4mm is just too small. That's really accessory cord at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering it's only about the ability of the cord to constrict on the rope and block, the diameter is always a tradeoff between having lots of grabbing power and being easier to loosen after having been loaded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two general rules where I'm from:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;70% diameter of your climbing rope (so for a ~10mm rope that'd be 7mm prusik)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;half diameter + 1mm (so 6mm this time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It comes down to general preference then but keep in mind with cold or numb hands, the smaller the cord, the harder it is to loosen from the rope. 4mm is asking for trouble on that front for no good reason. On a smaller rope, sure, the tightness is a least of two evils, but on a bigger rope, it's unneeded. We haven't touched on the resistance of smaller diameters either or other factors which the other question covers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T15:37:43.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21049" CreationDate="2018-11-15T16:13:42.170" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a significant difference between using an autoblock for rappelling/lowering and a Prusik for ascending. In the ascending case, the Prusik typically goes around a single strand of the rope while when rappelling, the Prusik goes around both strands. This means you could theoretically, get away with a thicker cord when rappelling. Another difference is that if the autoblock is below the rappel device, then the loads are substantially different since there is friction from the rappel device and the chance of shock loading the system is very different. When the Prusik is below the rappel device, there are additional issues with unloading the Prusik since there is a lot less space to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no doubt that a 4mm cord in pristine condition would provide sufficient holding strength on two strands of 10mm rope to support your weight and any shock loading. I would worry about wear and heat build up with such a thin cord. I also think it would be a nightmare to manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Overall, I think the answer is yes you can do it and it will provide additional safety over no autoblock, but if you can use a more common diameter cord (6mm or 7mm), I would go with that.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T16:13:42.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21056" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21062" CreationDate="2018-11-15T18:07:08.760" Score="1" ViewCount="1651" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two types of magnets sold for magnet fishing,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B073XMBQLP&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Single sided&lt;/a&gt; with an eyelet on the top and the magnet directly below, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B073Z4J5T8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double sided&lt;/a&gt; with the eyelet on top of the circle and the magnets facing both directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons of each type of magnet for magnet fishing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3660" LastEditDate="2018-11-29T12:46:15.223" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T12:46:15.223" Title="What are the pros and cons of single vs double sided magnets for magnet fishing?" Tags="&lt;magnet-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-11-15T19:11:33.630" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Between 0 and +10 °C I'm often (usually?) still in T-Shirt when active (depending also on weather: sunny vs. fog + wind etc.) and still may sweat a lot. If it's too cold for T-Shirt, I use a loose long-sleeve shirt of light but pretty wind-tight fabric or a tight thermo-shirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I accept that I'll be sweating uphill/when working and bring not only a jacket and sweater for breaks/bad weather/the way back down but also a 2nd T-Shirt. I don't change layers for a single gust of wind, but I may be putting things off (or on) at the beginning after maybe 10 min or if the weather changes (including getting into or out of the wind). As for breaks, if I'm in the sun, I may decide to first let the T-Shirt dry a bit, or in the fog to immediately put on the jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot comment on the neck: I'm not much into wearing scarves etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-11-15T19:11:33.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21059" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21114" CreationDate="2018-11-16T06:13:19.627" Score="13" ViewCount="311" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just relocated from north Germany into the south of Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last weekend I went hiking for the first time and visited the top of a hill close to Heidelberg. It was spontaneous and I was fascinated, and surprised by the time it took me (mostly because all was so new and exciting, but still).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the highway driving with my car I can see that the hill I just hiked on is connected in a chain with other hills. Since I really enjoyed my first hiking trip, seeing the hill chain made the idea arise to hike along that chain for a multiple day trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm used to walking for longer distances a few times, even up to like 30KM on kinda even areas, but I've never done a multiple day trip in a hilly area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My problem is, I never did something like this before and don't know anyone who did a trip like this before (or at least no one I am aware of having done it). All I could figure out myself so far that I would absolutely need to take with me would be warm clothing, a tent, a sleeping bag and of course provisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am planning to start on a Friday morning/noon and be back in Heidelberg in the afternoon/evening of Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I feel quite sure that what I considered so far will be too little preparation for a 3 day trip, and probably cause me to abort my trip earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also I feel like there might be dangerous situations I could be facing that I'm not aware of, and have no idea how to prepare for them yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing such a trip alone, as described above, what are the mandatory items I should have with me to be able to finish my hiking trip? And what are the situations I should definitely be prepared enough to face, either because they happen often enough that it is good to know about it, or situations that are dangerous enough that it would be careless to not be prepared for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5785" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-11-16T20:28:55.073" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T22:43:16.330" Title="What should I consider when planning my first multiple-day hiking trip on hills?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21059" CreationDate="2018-11-16T07:19:39.360" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normally when people ask about their wild plans I tell them to be cautious and to build up to it. But your plan sounds pretty fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weigh your backpack, keep it below 15 kg if at all possible. An idea could be to plan your route to include shopping stops just before making camp. (If using camp grounds the camping store is a neat if often slightly more expensive option).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Distance: with no prior hiking experience 3*20 km is probably around the upper limit. That's &quot;only&quot; 4 to 5 hours of walking per day, but it will feel like plenty. You could do almost double that on the first day, but that will make getting any distance on the other two harder. For a first try at the concept it might even be more fun to go for less distance than that, try to enjoy it rather than create a hard challenge. Especially since you're doing a hill landscape rather than a flat hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The better you plan your route, the less likely you are to get lost and make extra kilometers. Don't rely on a route description or route markers alone, have some form of a map to help find your way back to the route. This can be your phone if you're confident in the battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have an escape option. Knowing the location of a few bus stops along the way is good, but just bringing a charged smartphone is almost foolproof in and of itself. Even if you manage to break your leg in a forest where nobody else hikes you can still find your location and call someone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have clothing for slightly wetter and colder weather than you're expecting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't make it much more complex than that. Have fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12959" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T07:19:39.360" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21056" CreationDate="2018-11-16T10:23:25.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's going to be about your approach to the problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The doublesided magnet is going to be good for dragging, the single sided more for dangle and swing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have a bridge or pier over the water that you're fishing down from, the single sided will do nicely. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're standing on the bank and want to fling the magnet out and draw it back to you then you would be better off with the double sided magnet, as the single sided would be on its edge and not make good contact with anything in the water. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-11-16T10:56:45.413" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T10:56:45.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21063" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-16T16:50:27.213" Score="12" ViewCount="2197" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I have an odyssey van with some minor changes (bed, cabinets, etc.) can I sleep in that in the same way I'd sleep in an RV at National Park Campgrounds (in the USA)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I.e., I know that many say &quot;you can't sleep in your car&quot;.  But I assume that means you can't do other than designated RV sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm going to Accept the answer that has the most &lt;strong&gt;&quot;official&quot; citations&lt;/strong&gt; (links to rules, etc.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="489" LastEditorUserId="489" LastEditDate="2018-11-17T19:31:05.920" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T20:21:01.020" Title="Can a van be used for sleeping in National Park campgrounds in the US?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21063" CreationDate="2018-11-16T16:54:29.900" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The prohibition on sleeping in a car is to prevent people from parking in the parking lots or pull outs and sleeping there and in effect camping outside of designated camp sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you park at a designated campsite that you pay for, nobody is going to care if you sleep in your car or outside or how your vehicle is set up and frankly its none of their business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact there are small vans that can be rented as RVs for exactly that purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't run the engine while sleeping as there is a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage of setting up a van to sleep in is that outside of the National parks there are plenty of places where you can just sleep in the van at pullouts or parking lots if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at the rules in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campingfaq.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yosemite&lt;/a&gt;, the only time you would have problems with this is if you had a tent only site and slept in the vehicle in the parking lot. Otherwise you are good to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-17T20:21:01.020" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T20:21:01.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21065" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-16T17:34:37.910" Score="3" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hopefully this is acceptable. I figure this could be relevant as my bug out bag is essentially what I would bring on a camping trip (first aid, fire starters, some food, shelter materials, mess kit, survival knife, cordage, etc.) but my 'camping bag' is more of a stand-by for emergencies. So you can use substitute &quot;bug out bag&quot; with &quot;camping pack&quot; if you feel so inclined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How do you manage larger survival bags?&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Since I don't use it every day and don't really have time to drill with it or whatever people do, I have an Excel spreadsheet so I can remember exactly what I have and where it is (not to be used in an actual emergency)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also looking for improvements to current design (I know what works for some, may not work for others)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Noticeable flaws with my design? (aside from complexity)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it generally better to have a modular system (such as mine) or multiple packs for different purposes? Money is a factor else I'd have seperate bags (24 hr, 72 hour, camping, urban get home, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's supposed to be a general bag, mainly a 72-hr SHTF pack but can also double for camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my spreadsheet, I have info such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Categories and subcategories (e.g. Water: Purification or Water: Storage)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brands/Models/Description/Features/Directions (e.g. Snugpak Jungle blanket, 24&quot;x36&quot; rated to 36 deg F, polyester, compressed to 6&quot;x6&quot;)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Item weight (in 0.00lbs) so I can track the overall net weight of the bag (using a postal scale)  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Expiration dates if applicable and a field that tells if item should be replaced soon (I have set to 90 days), plus another sheet that notifies if items expire within &amp;lt;1 year, &amp;lt;6 months, and &amp;lt;90 days which I aim to compress to one spreadsheet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Item $ cost (for personal reason)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Location within bag (I'm reworking this but maybe have a picture of the bag with each compartment labeled by a number, maybe with a color and buy the colored dots used for yard sales to I know where each item goes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Retailer (with link if applicable) where I purchased said item (for replacement or additional feature descriptions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit overkill but so far works. Does anyone else do something like this? Aside from not doing it, and I know most people don't do this, I'm looking for improvements/alternatives to make it easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Current Setup:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm using two bags: A 5.11 Tactical RUSH 24 main bag with the RUSH tier system attaching a 5.11 MOAB 10&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bags are attachable to each other to create one large pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One bag is more of a 24-hr pack, the other is a compliment to make it into a 72-hr pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16904" LastEditorUserId="16904" LastEditDate="2018-12-18T13:45:55.590" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T14:52:42.347" Title="Best practices for physical and inventory management of a ready pack/bug out bag" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;storage&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21066" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21065" CreationDate="2018-11-16T18:46:13.847" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are overthinking this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First: The dates on food, don't mean they are expired, they are the date the manufacture wants to you buy a new one if you haven't eaten it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are Dates for Food Safety or Quality?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manufacturers provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality. Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/food-product-dating/food-product-dating&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second: One EMP and your excel sheet is useless.  Depending on your tolerance for risk, plan regular hands on check and inventory.  This might be monthly, quarterly or annually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thirdly: You want stuff that is going to be there when you need it. If you have items that need to be changed every 3 months, how much value will they be if you have to count on them for an event that happened the day before your planned to change them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fourthly: Your Excel sheet is crutch that might cost you your life.  You need to &lt;strong&gt;KNOW&lt;/strong&gt; where your supplies are, you need to be able to find and identify them in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally speaking to scope. It doesn't matter if it is a Bug Out Kit, or an emergency preparedness kit.  One day your going to be outdoors with just what you have. It doesn't matter why you built, just that you have it with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/18220/4079&quot;&gt;What types of food make for good emergency rations that I can store in a car?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T18:46:13.847" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21065" CreationDate="2018-11-16T19:13:21.877" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience when people are trying to inventory personal gear with a checklist or spreadsheet it comes from inexperience with using the gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It you use it enough you will know which gear you need and which is just extra weight and what gear you might need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the start a checklist can be useful but after a while you will have a mental one because you know what gear you have used and therefor need and then any extra gear can be left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just store it in the same place in your backpack to make it easier to remember where you put it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T19:13:21.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18220" CreationDate="2018-11-16T19:44:18.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep MREs (You can find cases for around $6-8 a meal, ~1500-2000 calories). They last marked 5 years at around 60 degrees F, longer in the cold, less in the heat but they have been proven to still stay fresh. Keep out of the sun, low, and in an insulated place like below the cargo floor load deck/spare tire area or center console area. Replace every 3-5 years for optimal freshness if desired (if you live in a place where you car can get 100-120 deg F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also use dried emergency ration bars. These are okay, dried, powdery, but cheap, have decent energy density, and takes no prep work.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultimate-Survival-Technologies-5-Year-Emergency-Food-Ration-Bar/122858544&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I buy these from Walmart&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Since from Walmart, they are widely found, cheap ($5 for 3600 cal block), 5 year advertised shelf life, and vacuum sealed. I'd bet they're good for way more than 5 years even in the heat. Just make sure the pack doesn't get punctured.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Powerbars are good or something even more dried like Nature Valley bars. If you can rotate stock, you have a greater tolerance for extreme heat and foods with moisture. If you don't want to rotate, I'd suggest drier options (nuts, dehydrated fruit, candy, or the stuff I mentioned). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16904" LastActivityDate="2018-11-16T19:44:18.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21069" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-17T14:00:51.990" Score="4" ViewCount="194" Body="&lt;p&gt;When outdoors with my hammock, I prefer to set everything up with a pair of nylon tree straps. It gives things a more secure feeling and I've heard it's better for the trees too since the cordage won't be biting into the bark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trouble is I am at times confronted with trees that have a diameter that does not match the length of the nylon straps. That is to say, after I finish wrapping around the tree my end loops are spaced apart a lengthy, cumbrous distance from each other. And if I ratchet-back a wrap, the end loops are closer of course, but the straps dangle down too much. That makes the subsequent hammock setup process more difficult than it needs to be. No matter what knot/fold voodoo I try to invoke on the nylon straps, nothing seems to help. It's supposed to look something like this (note that the end loops are very close to each other, this is ideal):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W1BFR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W1BFR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an outdoor hack of some sort that I can bring to bear here? Or are my options limited to bringing multiple sizes of nylon straps (some longer, some shorter)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-17T18:56:14.040" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T17:07:29.267" Title="How to tie nylon straps to trees of unknown diameter" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21063" CreationDate="2018-11-17T15:18:48.540" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know you asked about national parks, but I thought I would add my experiences which are at state and city/county parks as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time the rule against sleeping in your car is to protect wildlife. If your sleeping in your car in a designated campsite for &quot;RVs&quot; then there should not be a greater impact by your van then a &quot;streamliner&quot;. However, if your sleeping in your car at a parking lot, or, especially in primitive camp sits, the park services could get very upset. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a general rule of thumb, you can think of your van as an RV and sleep in it just like you normally would an RV. If you are in an area where RVs are not allowed then you can be asked to leave, or in some cases face hefty fines. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing to consider is usage. They will get very angry if you are sleeping in your van to avoid the in/out rules, capacity rules, or wildlife protection rules. For example, sleeping in your Van so that you can stay 16 days (14 at the campsite and 2 at the parking lot) will not go over well. Neither will sleeping in your van at a primitive campsite. They will likely have a problem with you sleeping in your van if you have the engine running all the time or are not properly disposing of waste. But if your at a campsite you reserved, in the time frame you observed, not trying to skirt around rules, and just using the van like an RV you should be fine. There are always exceptions though, so you best bet may be to call ahead and check with the ranger station.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T15:18:48.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21069" CreationDate="2018-11-17T18:55:47.503" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The straps I have multiple places to hook the carabiner on one end,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ASi70.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ASi70.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You take the other end loop around the tree and then use the end with all of the places to hook to connect to the hammock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T18:55:47.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21072" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21074" CreationDate="2018-11-17T19:49:05.387" Score="2" ViewCount="707" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The classic advice given to backpackers trying to limit the weight they have to carry is “Pay attention to the ounces, and the pounds take care of themselves.” &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brooks Landon &lt;a href=&quot;https://english.uiowa.edu/people/brooks-landon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;M.A. Ph.D.&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read&lt;/em&gt; (Great Courses) &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0452298601&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(2013)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How's the quoted sentence true &lt;strong&gt;in reference to backpacking specifically?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pounds cause most of the mass and physical burden. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2018-11-20T19:56:52.180" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T17:23:59.713" Title="Does “Pay attention to the ounces, and the pounds take care of themselves” make sense when planning backpacking gear?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21072" CreationDate="2018-11-17T20:13:31.727" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does make sense to watch the weight of your gear and go for lighter gear when possible. A few ounces here and there will add up to pounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, it is also possible to be penny wise and pound foolish and in my experience at least, this is far more common, you will see overweight hikers and climbers buying titanium gear for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I once had another backpacker with his gut hanging over his belt inform me that his water shoes were 4 ounces lighter than mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Realistically, this is just a saying and not an ironclad rule. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T20:13:31.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21072" CreationDate="2018-11-17T20:41:24.030" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several expressions akin to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pay attention to the ounces, and the pounds take care of themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most famous saying is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ascribed to Lord Chesterfield in 1747 by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/take-care-of-the-pence-and-the-pounds-will-take-care-of-themselves.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Phrase Finder&lt;/a&gt;.  (There were 240 pence (pennies) to the  pound sterling.) The statement means &quot;to be thrifty and not to squander money&quot;, and was memorably updated by Sen. Everett Dirksen, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senator_Everett_Mckinley_Dirksen_Dies.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;commenting on how federal spending tended to get out of control&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;a billion  dollars here, a billion dollars there, and pretty soon&#xA;  you are talking about real money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ounces or pennies or a mere billion dollars, the principle is the same: look at the cost or weight of every item you buy or take with you on a backpacking trip and try to pare down the weight or cost and your wallet will be fatter and your pack lighter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some backpackers (and racing sailors) cut the handle of their toothbrush in half to save weight, but you don't have to be that extreme.  Some mountaineers make one of their water bottles do double duty as their pee bottle when they are tentbound, but IMO, that is going much too far.  Carry extra clothes so you can change into dry clothes, but don't worry about dirty clothes. Repackage food to eliminate glass and cardboard.  Take a tiny travel sized tube of toothpaste (preferably already partially used) -- or no toothpaste at all, just floss -- your teeth won't drop out in a couple of weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything you take should be essential, according to your standards, and everything should be scrutinized: (1) do I really need X?  (2) do I really need this much of X? (3) Can I repackage X to eliminate weight?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-17T22:41:06.330" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T22:41:06.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21075" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-17T21:43:32.227" Score="8" ViewCount="1928" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spent one night outside, at -28 degrees F, in an -40 arctic bag. I had no tent, only a small poly tarp between the snow and my bag. I stayed fully clothed but barely slept due to being so cold all night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would a tent have kept me warmer?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16910" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-18T01:41:46.457" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T10:28:39.003" Title="Will I be warmer in my sleeping bag inside or outside of my tent, when winter camping?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2018-11-17T21:47:05.547" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tent will definitely be warmer because it keeps the wind away. As you are sleeping your body produces heat and a tent helps keep that warmer air around instead of it blowing away in the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said, tents don't provide a huge amount of insulation, and so perhaps a better sleeping bag is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-17T21:47:05.547" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21078" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21080" CreationDate="2018-11-18T23:04:04.053" Score="4" ViewCount="1739" Body="&lt;p&gt;Keeping the cooler out of the sun and the lid closed as much as possible are some obvious ways to keep a cooler cold longer.  There seems to be some truth that adding &lt;a href=&quot;https://stuffexplained.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/adding_salt_to_ice_in_a_cooler/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;salt to your cooler&lt;/a&gt; can help it stay cold longer, although this may not be a good idea if the food in the cooler comes in contact with the salt water.  Are there any other tips that can be used to keep it cooler longer such as the ice type, different packing strategies, etc?    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Assumptions&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The cooler will be filled with food and beverages.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The outside temperature will be above freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The cooler is a 50 qt.(47.3L) cooler as shown, or similar to, that&#xA;below.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Photo source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.coleman.eu/co.za/p-26195-50qt473l-cooler-red.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;coleman.eu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2y6sb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2y6sb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T07:52:53.817" Title="What methods can be used to keep a cooler cold longer?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2018-11-19T01:00:31.480" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have a men's bag, the -40F rating is probably the limit rating, but it might be the extreme rating. If it is the extreme rating then sleeping in -28F, it does not surprise me that you were cold. Even if it is the limit rating, you could still be cold if you did not have the proper pad on the ground, if it was windy, or most importantly are a below average sleeper in terms of warmth. At those temperatures even a slight difference in basal metabolic rate can result in feeling cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also consider what you wear in the bag. Additional clothing can compress the bag and therefore decrease warmth. The bag also needs to fit you well. If it is too big or too small, it will be colder. There is also the issue of moisture. If you cloths are wet this can decrease the insulation of the bag. You may want to use a vapor barrier at those temperatures. You do not want to breath into the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coupling all of those things, a tent will provide some warmth, but if you were uncomfortably cold at-28F, it is not going to make you comfortable at -40F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-11-19T01:00:31.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21078" CreationDate="2018-11-19T06:55:15.700" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either obtain ice, or freeze ice packs (the latter are common in the UK, and many campsites will freeze them for you, often for a fee). Larger ice packs will keep partially frozen for 24 hours at moderate outside temperatures, while smaller ones can be tucked in the spaces in a nearly full cool box. If using ice, I prefer to keep it in a wide necked water bottle as not all containers are waterproof. Another solution is to nearly fill a (disposable) water bottle with water and freeze it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both ice packs and ice in containers stay frozen a little longer than loose ice, because there's an extra thermal barrier between them and the outside world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Traditional cooling&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Shade is good, but not if its an enclosed space like a tent, or if it ceases to be shade at the hottest part of the day. Choose wisely. Tree shade is often good, or underneath a vehicle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An old method is a wet towel over the top of your container, especially if there's a bit of a breeze. You may want to arrange it so the towel hangs into a dish of water to keep it wet unattended. Evaporative cooling is quite effective (similarly you can cool down drinks by wrapping them in wet cloth and leaving them in the breeze).  This is applicable in a vehicle too - an open window or cold air vent blowing over the wet towel would help, or strapping the towel round it and putting it in the bed of a truck (it will dry pretty quickly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sitting the cool box in shallow running water is another traditional trick - just so long as it doesn't leak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Packing tricks&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;You don't want to let ice or ice packs touch your salad or fruit, as they will spoil. However these don't need to be kept as cold. Neither do most drinks. Pack those round the outside and in the middle, pack the things that do need to be kept cold (meat, dairy) and your ice packs/containers of ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a vehicle, additional insulation is fairly easy to arrange.  Pack the cool box in between tents/kit bags, and you'll find that by the time you get there the outside of the cool box is quite a bit cooler than ambient, demonstrating that the surrounding materials insulate this.  On a warm humid day, you can get condensation between the coolbox and the things surrounding it, so be careful; you might not want to place you sleeping bag there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-19T10:16:57.553" LastActivityDate="2018-11-19T10:16:57.553" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2018-11-19T07:13:41.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes, a tent would have kept you warmer.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tents block the wind and thus will eliminate wind-chill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While insulation of a tent is not good, it will still allow your escaping body heat to be trapped inside the tent and raise its temperature by a couple of degrees. This will already make quite a difference.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest difference, however, is that you should have used a proper, &lt;strong&gt;insulated sleeping pad&lt;/strong&gt;. You mentioned that there was only a tarp between you and the snow: this means that your sleeping bag was compressed where your body weight was pressing on it and you had almost direct contact with the snow. You &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; a good insulated pad to combat this; there is no sleeping bag in the world warm enough to prevent that kind of energy loss in direct contact with the ground/snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, please note that your &lt;strong&gt;sleeping bag rating&lt;/strong&gt; is to be taken with a grain of salt, especially the lower end 'extreme' range: after all, what does 'extreme' mean? You barely survive but with arms and legs frozen off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also the question on &lt;a href=&quot;/q/1284&quot;&gt;How are sleeping bag temperature ratings determined?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-05T10:28:39.003" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T10:28:39.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2018-11-19T11:35:08.923" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;a leeboard or daggerboard is a necessity when sailing a canoe. Outriggers serve a completely different function. A leeboard or daggerboard is a hydrofoil that opposes the downwind vectoring forces generated by the sail. Unless you never want to sail upwind or even across the wind, you should look into a leeboard setup. I sail a canoe with a rather large 8sm sail and have not found outriggers necessary, although i do some serious hiking. Unless you are sailing a canoe in conditions that are beyond its capabilities ( i.e.- surf, breaking waves, gale force winds, overloaded, etc.) outriggers arent really necessary, While an underwater foil such as a leeboard is neccessary to reach any point of sail other than running or being pushed sideways downwind. Canoe sailing is too much fun. Have fun and be safe&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16919" LastActivityDate="2018-11-19T11:35:08.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21083" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-19T18:31:12.463" Score="3" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve been seeing an increasing number of vacuum insulated water bottles and was wondering would a plastic(single walled) or a vacuum insulated water bottle be better for...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyday (going from home to work and back)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exercise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-20T18:31:38.203" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T19:32:22.743" Title="Single walled plastic vs vacuum insulated water bottle for hiking and everyday use" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21083" CreationDate="2018-11-19T18:50:58.793" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have 3 scenarios for usage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Everyday (going from home to work and back)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpacking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Exercise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of these have any reasonable need for vacuum insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck. The gap between the two flasks is partially evacuated of air, creating a near-vacuum which significantly reduces heat transfer by conduction or convection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vacuum flasks are used domestically to keep beverages hot or cold for extended periods of time and for many purposes in industry. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_flask&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is nothing in your questions that would justify needing vacuum insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want you fluids to stay in a specific temperature range longer then go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you don't need it, and it would not be better unless temperature change moderation is your goal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-19T18:50:58.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21083" CreationDate="2018-11-19T19:39:26.283" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vacuum insulation adds significant weight and bulk. Compared to a stainless steel water bottle, already a heavy option, it will weigh almost twice as much (because of the double wall, and probably a thicker cap). My 0.5 litre steel vacuum flask is almost as big as a 1 litre water bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a steel water bottle to compare, but here are the best figures I've got:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 l aluminium bottle (Sigg) : 145 g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 l plastic bike bottle (Zefal) : 105 g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.6 l aluminium bottle (Sigg, actually a fuel bottle): 113 g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.5 l steel vacuum flask (Thermos): 286 g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.5 l disposable plastic bottle: 9 g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So compared to the lightest option you're carrying 280 g extra just to keep 0.5 litres of water cold (if you could obtain chilled water in the first place). That's one thing at the gym, another on the trail. Or to use an aluminium bottle, you could carry 20% more water, in less space, for the same weight. Either way that's a fraction of a hiking day's requirements. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not saying I wouldn't hike with a vacuum flask - but that would be a hot drink on a cold day-hike. I've even carried one on a bike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-20T19:32:22.743" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T19:32:22.743" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21086" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-20T12:22:37.100" Score="50" ViewCount="10896" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did not use to think of geotagging photos as a leave-no-trace issue.  In fact, one slogan says &lt;em&gt;leave only footprints, take only photos&lt;/em&gt;.  Yet the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/blog/new-social-media-guidance&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/a&gt; Social Media Guidance states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tag thoughtfully&lt;/strong&gt; – avoid tagging (or geotagging) specific locations. Instead, tag a general location such as a state or region, if any at all. While tagging can seem innocent, it can also lead to significant impacts to particular places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This to avoid visitors loving nature to death (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/20/national-parks-america-overcrowding-crisis-tourism-visitation-solutions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Crisis in our national parks: how tourists are loving nature to death&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, The Guardian, 20 November 2018)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to quite successfully choose to visit places that get very low visitation, yet are quite spectacular.  In 2017 I hiked for 2 weeks on Iceland and met only one other hiker.  In 2018 I hiked for 10 days in central Norway/northern Sweden and met no other hikers.  Also in 2018, I hiked all day along the Grand Canyon North Rim with canyon and river views, yet I met no other hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases, I have uploaded geotagged photos on the internet without giving much thought about what the potential impact my geotagging may have.  I tend to quietly assume that places that are quiet now will be quiet later.  Am I inadvertently threatening the solitude of the beautiful and quiet places I have visited, such as Lónsöræfi, Þjórsárver, Kinnarodden, Fajana de Franceses, Ljusfjällskåtan, Glenthorne Beach, or Tuweap?  Or are they likely to remain quiet in any case, with visitors flocking in ever greater numbers to more famous places in the area instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some places are already so busy, that I can't think that my geotagging will add any visitors (such as Lofoten or anything within a 10 minute walk from a popular trailhead in a popular U.S. National Park or Monument).  Other places are so remote and quiet, that I can't imagine they'll ever be busy (remote corners of Laponia WHS come to mind).  Yet other places have strict visitor limits in place already, so an increase in popularity should mostly lead to more disappointed tourists (I've experienced that only in the USA and Canada, but it's being discussed in parts of Iceland, although not in any place in Iceland I've hiked).  But perhaps there are also places where I should be more careful in advertising their beauty?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What criteria should I consider in whether or not to geotag photos online?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T14:08:49.300" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T14:08:49.300" Title="When should I avoid geotagging?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;photography&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-20T13:16:40.403" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;My general experience is that the problem is really that most tourists are focused in some very tiny but extraordinary popular areas. For example I have seen places in the Rockies where you need to book your camping place slots months in advance... But if you simply visit the next valley over (literally, distance was probably some 5-10km) you can walk for a week without meeting another soul. The same in Scandinavia... If you're walking Kungsleden for example you might encounter 100 people a day - go to any of the side trails and they will often be abandoned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The popularity of already popular tourist destinations has certainly increased with the advent of social media and the readily available digital pictures. However, in my estimate this is rather one of these 'the rich get richer' (or here: the popular get more popular) situations...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think that there is any immediate danger for the remote places you visit and then tag in pictures - unless you do some stunning shots of a really extraordinary place and they go viral.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-11-21T07:25:52.990" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T07:25:52.990" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-20T14:36:47.183" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems likes this is mostly an issue of scale, in well-traveled areas where lots of people go it's not going to make a lot of difference, while remote areas that could possibly see lots of sudden traffic, it would not be a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also was one to be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20308/who-are-the-group-entitled-outdoor-influencers-and-what-are-their-activities-r&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;outdoor influencer&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; with thousands and thousands of followers rather than an average person, the effects could be that much more severe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the one hand, there’s the notion that posting content on the outdoors inspires others to get outside (see: #OptOutside, et al.). On the other, there’s the very real fear that posting photos of hidden hikes and hot springs invites an influx of visitors these places lack the resources to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Geotagging can also get specific, and that’s where the real issues start. “We’re having a lot of problems with people geotagging hidden or sensitive places,” Boué said, adding that these places don’t always have the infrastructure to handle a lot of new visitors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.racked.com/2018/8/27/17719792/outdoor-influencers-leave-no-trace-bears-ears&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are any number of small specific things in the outdoors that are preserved because not many people know about them, geotagging hurts that preservation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T14:36:47.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16248" CreationDate="2018-11-20T16:34:24.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Boot Fitter Here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can tell you that Gore-Tex can and will keep your feet dry and last the lifetime of the boot, if:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the Gore-Tex was &lt;strong&gt;intact&lt;/strong&gt; at point of sale, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the boot fits properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But here is the thing: 99.9% of people wear boots that don't fit them properly, even if they are the right size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boot is in any way not fitting properly, as you walk the boot will crease in places it is not supposed to, thus placing pressure on the membrane and pinching it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot that goes into making a boot fit well, and it is rare for anyone to have a pair fit them without much adjustment.  The most basic ways to check the fit are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you have more or less a thumb width of space in front of your longest toe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Press down on the bottom lace; you should feel no space between the boot and your foot. Any space here will cause the boot to crease while you walk and very quickly damage not just the Gore-Tex but also the boot, causing both seams and leather to split over time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most boots have way too much &lt;strong&gt;volume&lt;/strong&gt; for the average foot, and if you're wearing the wrong thickness socks, the fit will be worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To improve the fit, add volume reducers/extra insoles, wear thicker socks, and/or add liner socks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16923" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2018-11-20T17:14:17.363" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T17:14:17.363" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20892" CreationDate="2018-11-20T17:58:15.660" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was at the Remington Carriage Museum last night and was noticing the stove jack on an old covered wagon that was heated by a wood stove. It was made out of a large square piece of sheet metal. As has been mentioned here already, canvas is far more heat resistant than nylon, so a metal stove jack was apparently sufficient to prevent your canvas tent or covered wagon from catching fire. I imagine when they started using nylon for tents that they quickly discovered the sheet metal wasn't sufficient anymore and had to use different technology. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://neighbors.denverpost.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=14693&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kaGjs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2018-11-21T15:59:48.187" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T15:59:48.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2018-11-20T20:45:31.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You will always be warmer in a shelter of any sort than you will be out against the raw elements of winter.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would be surprised how much warmth a tent can provide, but they still aren't the best shelter in the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow is an incredible insulator, so when there's and abundance of snow, it makes sense to make use of it when making your shelter. When tenting, you want to dig a pit to set your tent in, and pile the snow up around the pit to help break the wind. If it snows while you're sleeping, the snow accumulating on your tent will act as a blanket, and keep your tent that much warmer. This is of course if you have a tent that can hold the extra weight of the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter shelters that are much better than a tent include digging a snow cave, piling up a Quincy, constructing an igloo, or making a trench shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm winter camping I usually only bring a tarp with me, which I use to make a trench shelter. They're the easiest and quickest snow shelter to build: Dig a trench big enough for you to lay in; lay big sticks across the trench; lay your tarp over the sticks, then pile snow on top of your tarp. I've spent more than one night at 10 below zero in a trench shelter laying &lt;em&gt;on top&lt;/em&gt; of my sleeping bag because it gets so warm inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As has been mentioned in other answers, your choice in sleeping pad makes a significant difference in staying warm when sleeping on the ground during the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2018-11-20T20:45:31.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-21T07:54:34.170" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a saying in Arizona &quot;If you like our wildness, go away&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm of a different mind.  By going into nature, and coming out of it wishing it to be protected, we do a service to it.  How can we know how important nature is if we don't go into it?  If you geotag a location, and more people see that it's a nice spot, there will be more effort to keep it the way it is.  This will help to stop things like clear-cutting or mining from happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, Charlie Brumbaugh's answer brings up a good point:  There are already rules in some places.  We should probably follow them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an answer, get in contact with the local wildlife people.  What are their actual concerns?  They might want more tourists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14613" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T07:54:34.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-21T12:21:31.817" Score="33" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are on a photo safari where you take pictures of endangered big-game animals (elephants, rhinos, lions, etc.), do not geotag your images. Poachers are known to check the geoinformation from such pictures in order to locate the territories of these animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;http://time.com/91323/stick-to-foodstagramming-poachers-may-be-following-your-safari-pictures/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;, signs like this can be found in wildlife reserves in South Africa:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HdR4p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HdR4p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sign&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another situation where you should avoid geotagging is if you are taking a picture which shows you engaging in some activity in a place where this activity is prohibited. But you would of course never camp, fish, hunt, climb, drive, or build a fire at a location where it isn't explicitly allowed, would you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3519" LastEditorUserId="18296" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T08:09:27.210" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T08:09:27.210" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21032" CreationDate="2018-11-21T15:31:52.530" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have not found anything yet, but have two partial solutions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Sneakers + gaiters.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this I need to buy sneakers in at least 1 full size larger, and go extra wide.  My intent is to go in wearing two pairs of thick socks.  The gaiters keep snow out of the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally the sneaker part is a simple canvas high top that will be easy to dry around the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;DIY moccasins.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are various plans around the internet.  While most of the plans are for the traditional leather, I don't see any reason that I couldn't use nylon coated nylon pack cloth for the lowers and uncoated for the uppers.  The biggest issue here is how fast the sole wears out, and the lack of traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T15:31:52.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21069" CreationDate="2018-11-21T17:07:29.267" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recognize those straps and that cord! &#xA;My favorite situation is when the tree diameter will let me wrap the straps around one and a half times. I start with the middle of the tree strap closest to wear the hammock will be and bring both ends around so that there is one loop on the right side of the tree and one on the left. I then loop my cord through each strap loop, and that leaves me with a large loop in the cord completing the circumference of the tree and starting my hammock knot there. If you like to use the strap in your knotting (looping the cord behind the strap), I forego that with this method and simply loop the cord behind the other side of the cord that is stretched between the strap loops. I'm careful to keep the length of cord on the tree on TOP of the straps to help protect the tree. I hope that's not too confusing, I couldn't find any photos, but if I find one, I'll add it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trees where the strap doesn't fit all the way around, it ends up being a similar method, where the loop of the cord completes the circumference of the tree, but when I'm car camping or have additional materials, I'll try to put some cardboard or something under the cord that's touching the tree to keep the cord from digging in. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For trees that a JUST shorter than the straps, you can let the straps hang off a bit kind of like they're starting to in the photo you shared. I find that works well for rough bark trees (even when they hang off a full 7 inches), but there has been some slippage for smooth bark trees. So for the smooth ones, I prefer to wrap around even when there's only a few inch overlap on the strap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember, the best protection for tree bark is a larger surface area putting pressure on the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all of that is too much trouble, you can always buy a different strap. The other poster suggested one with multiple loops along the way and I believe those tend to be longer and I think they're usually under $10 a strap (or you could easily make them if you have access to a large sewing machine). I haven't bought straps like that yet as I'm pretty happy with my straps and my method, but when/if they finally fail, I'll probably go that route. The one complaint I commonly hear about those straps is that there's twice the material so they weigh twice as much, but if you're not an ultralight backpacker, I'm sure it's fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One final note, as I looked around the internet for images of people who do it my way with excess strap, I noticed most people just put the strap through one of the loops and basically create a larks head. My definitely more secure. They're way is definitely faster. Though I have spent at least two night securely tucked in my hammock amid 30 mph wind storms, so maybe I'm biased.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15993" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T17:07:29.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-21T17:22:03.577" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with most of the posters here. You're probably not going to have a hugely detrimental effect unless one of your photos goes viral and then it's a balance between encouraging people to get out and love nature and the effect that LOTS of people doing that at once will have. Generally remote areas are mostly safe from that as most people can't up go take a three-day hike at a moment's notice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as was mentioned with the Rhino, DO NOT geotag any endangered species - plants, animals, fungus, or lichen! If you see something really cool, maybe give it a quick google before posting and when in doubt, ask the management authority (though I can only speak to US authorities here). If it's federal land, ask the National Park Service or the Forest Service, for States, the Department of Natural Resources or State Fish and Wildlife agencies are good. Rangers at both levels tend to be really nice people that will be thrilled to talk to someone who just wants to help (as opposed to yell at them for something out of their control). For more local areas, try your county Extension agent (Extension programs are run through the State's land grant University), and they should at least be able to point you in the right direction.&#xA;Also, I imagine most of these people who you call will have a good beat on the land you photographed and have an opinion on whether geotagging could be detrimental. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seriously though, I know it sounds lame, but you wouldn't believe how many people steal endangered plants. It really bums me out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15993" LastActivityDate="2018-11-21T17:22:03.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21098" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21108" CreationDate="2018-11-21T22:31:33.787" Score="11" ViewCount="550" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books/about/Escape_Routes.html?id=8aK50swPDqAC&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Escape Routes&lt;/a&gt; by David Roberts.  This is a collection of 20 articles ranging from a winter ascent in Iceland to the first descent of a river in Ethiopia, the Tekeze, a major tributary of the Blue Nile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of crocodiles on the Tekese, which runs through a deep canyon, 7,000 feet at its deepest.  Roberts and his companions (founders of Mountain Travel Sobek) had to hike down 1,100 feet to get to the place where they could put in their rafts. So it doesn't seem like they could get far away from the river, particularly since they had 8,000 pounds of equipment.  They were making a film for Mungo Park, an online adventure magazine funded by Bill Gates in the mid-1990s.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roberts talks a good deal about the crocodiles in the river, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On other Ethiopian streams, the guides had had boats bitten by crocs. &#xA;  Sure enough, by our fifth day, the occasional croc was charging a boat.  Our&#xA;  response was to throw baseball-sized rocks (which we loaded up every&#xA;  morning) at the beasts. A week down the river, Bart Henderson drily&#xA;  mentioned that his boat had just dealt with our first &quot;four rock&#xA;  croc&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But every evening, they had to camp by the river, and they also pulled into the river bank at other times for photography.  &lt;strong&gt;Roberts says nothing -- nothing at all -- about how they protected their camp and themselves from the crocs while ashore or getting ashore.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They noticed that there were no habitations along the river, although people lived high up the surrounding cliffs and came down to cultivate the river banks because of lack of rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An inhabitant explained that the lack of dwellings beside the river was because of &quot;the shaking sickness&quot; -- malaria.  He said his people could live with the crocodiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last few sentences of the article kill the possibility that crocs cannot move fast on land:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The boat floats past a big croc on shore, who looks asleep. Suddenly&#xA;  the reptile spots the boat and charges towards the camera, running&#xA;  like a tailback across the stones, plunging into the water and&#xA;  swimming hard for Steve's offending lens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is:  &lt;strong&gt;How does one deal with crocodiles when there is no option but to camp on the shores of a croc infested river?&lt;/strong&gt;  The article does not give even a hint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T19:43:58.807" Title="How do you protect yourself against crocodiles when you have no option but to camp on the banks of a croc-infested river?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21101" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21698" CreationDate="2018-11-22T18:28:04.390" Score="5" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a couple of small piles, about 3 inches across on my mom's back deck on the outskirts of Terre Haute, Indiana in the US. The pieces are firm but flexible as if they are plant matter, not sure if it's scat or discard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My mom has a crab apple tree in the yard. The piece I picked up did have that leathery feel of dried apple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kkmo8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kkmo8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;closeup of one pile&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sTLXd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sTLXd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;both piles in view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The home is in the outskirts of Terre Haute, Indiana US. The area has deer, raccoons, possum, fox squirrels, rats, mice and chipmunks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Her yard has several gardens of ornamental plants. She has a couple of bird feeders out as well. They are a few feet away from the back edge of the deck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The piles are closer to the back door and away from the edges of the deck. There's no garbage outside at all, the bins are kept in the garage which faces the front of the house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The deck itself is about one foot above the ground and is about twenty feet long alongside the house and about twelve feet across. One side is right up against the house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She was curious about what animal may have left the piles. I was curious as to whether or not they are scat or just left over roughage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16936" LastEditorUserId="16936" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T01:39:50.240" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:55:23.347" Title="Animal Identification from &quot;leavings&quot;" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;scat-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20892" CreationDate="2018-11-22T21:59:05.160" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I fished around and found a few pictures where I am suspecting no stove jack is even used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This here is a picture of medical tents in Washington during the civil war and from what I can see there are more than a few tents with what looks like stove pipes coming through the walls. Of course the photos are not very clear but I can't see any indication there is a jack of any kind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There might be a good reason to not use a stove jack and that's if you used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://luxe-hiking-gear.com/products/tent-protector-pipe-sleeve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sleeve&lt;/a&gt; instead. Those are made of metal and the insulation is provided by air between the chimney and sleeve, and the sleeve acting as a heat sink/dissipator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jKnR4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jKnR4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Medical tents (source: Library of Congress)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T21:59:05.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21059" CreationDate="2018-11-22T23:05:02.283" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many things are similar to a day-hike, like having good shoes and check the weather forecast for example. For more details, you might find &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10889/how-to-plan-a-day-hike/10890#10890&quot;&gt;the answers to this .SE post about planning a day hike&lt;/a&gt; useful.&#xA;For multiple day trips, consider the following in addition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;planning&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have mentioned Heidelberg, I would like to point you to the site &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wanderbares-deutschland.de/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.wanderbares-deutschland.de&lt;/a&gt; (I'm not affiliated). This portal collects hiking tours in Germany, you can search by region and difficulty. They list useful information like the symbol/marking of that tour, description of the trails (bituminised or natural), height profile, recommended stages, touristic highlights, etc. Hence, I guess it might be useful for your planing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;sleeping&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You did not mention your ideas regarding the nights, hence I will go a bit into detail here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, please notice that in some German states camping offside official camping sites might be illegal or only allowed after asking the land owner's permission. So, if you plan anything like this, get familiar with the rules in the area you want to go to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the season, there could also be hunting in the forests, which might be annoying, scaring or even dangerous. You surely don't want to be mistaken by a hunter as a boar on your way to the bush during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I can really recommend the experience to sleep outside (with the proper equipment!), you could also consider sleeping in youth hostels or pensions. Besides the comfortable bed and the hot shower, this had the advantage that you would need to carry less baggage (sleeping bag, tent). You could have a decent breakfast and dinner there and fill up your water bottle, get food for the day. Hence, no need to carry around cooking equipment and much less food and water. This will make the trip much easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;dangerous situations&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think most dangerous is either to lose your way or to get hurt (sprain your foot for example).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prepare for this, know your map and how to read it. &lt;strong&gt;Do not rely on your cell phone only, there might be areas with bad or no mobile reception.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Hence, I recommend to share details of your tour with a reliable(!) friend or family member. Agree with them that you let them know when you have reached this day's destiny (or where you are, if not) - and make sure they call the police / emergencies if you did not call in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get an idea what you would do if you have to abort the trip. Would you know how to reach the next station of public transport and are they running at the weekend? Could you get to the next street/village and call a taxi or similar? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first on-my-own trip was from Darmstadt to Heidelberg in five days - and even if I had blisters and a sickening smell that was one of the best things I ever did. I hope you will make a similar experience - minus the blisters ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8817" LastActivityDate="2018-11-22T23:05:02.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16499" CreationDate="2018-11-23T00:26:18.287" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's just about seeing bison but doesn't need to be yellowstone nor in the US, there's also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/elkisland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elk Island national park&lt;/a&gt; just east of Edmonton. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They keep plains bison as well as wood bison and are involved in conservation efforts particularly for the wood bison and thus do put considerable effort into making sure they don't crossbreed (neither with cattle nor wood x plains bison - which happens more easily than crossbreeding with cattle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The park is tiny compared to yellowstone (which makes it easier to find the bison): less than 200 km². You may consider it not truly wild, though: the park is completely fenced both to keep the populations pure and as a disease barrier (brucellosis + tuberculosis). IIRC, they also vaccinate the bison. Due to the fence, the bison population is rather dense, and it is regulated artificially (e.g. by taking out parts of the wood bison herd and shipping them to the north to reinforce the population around lake Athabasca).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IIRC, the south part of the part with the wood bison doesn't have roads (but hiking paths). But the north part has a road lengthwise and also a so-called bison loop. I saw lots of wildlife (of course including bison) already from the road. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note: according to wikipedia, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison#Evolution_and_genetic_history&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;many bison ranchers in the US try to get rid of residual cattle DNA in their bison, and nowadays typically only about 1 % residual cattle DNA in the tested DNA.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T00:26:18.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21105" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-23T01:45:49.147" Score="14" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a medical bag together, which has a red cross velcro patch on the front of it. Anyone who looks at it will immediately know that the bag contains medical supplies. However, I'm making an additional bag for hiking/bugout which will hold spare rations and things that don't spoil for awhile; it's basically the size of a medical bag. I wanted to put a velcro patch on the front that conveys that the bag contains food/rations. Is there already a conventional patch that is widely used, and is easily understood by others, that conveys this? I've never been in the military, so sorry if this question comes off as uneducated. My Google Fu has returned no valid examples of what such a patch should look like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15401" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T09:52:34.210" Title="Is there a universal patch that signifies Food/Rations?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;signage&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21105" CreationDate="2018-11-23T08:16:00.740" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've never seen such a label convention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems reasonable that just using a label with the word&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;FOOD&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;clearly spelled out it should suffice in most circumstances.  You may need to adjust if you're in an area where other languages are spoken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to think about adding some kind of pictogram to back this up, possibly something universally known like an apple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T08:16:00.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21105" CreationDate="2018-11-23T08:44:13.927" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;In other contexts a knife and fork icon (or fork and spoon e.g. on UK motorway service signs) is widely used, but I'm a little reluctant to propose it here, as it could equally mean cutlery, or more generally (and perhaps more plausibly) food preparation equipment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fPeaCs.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fPeaCs.png&quot; alt=&quot;knife and fork icon&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be appropriate to combine with a coffee cup (hot drink) icon, and/or a raindrop/tap over a drinking glass (drinking water) if those are in the same bag (certainly I'd expect an emergency food bag to do something about drinking water requirements).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCtML.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCtML.png&quot; alt=&quot;Icons made by Dave Gandy from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC 3.0 BY&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ViSbN.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ViSbN.png&quot; alt=&quot;https://thenounproject.com/term/drinking-water/237768/&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My examples are chosen to be reasonably licensed and reasonably clear.  They're not necessarily the best for what you need (and Imgur's resizing is being unhelpful, hence the mix of sizes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T09:52:34.210" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T09:52:34.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21098" CreationDate="2018-11-23T10:00:12.820" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I were in such a situation, and not alone, my best bet would be rotating shifts of sentry. When its about camping, the whole problem escalates when everyone is asleep, or more evidently when someone is doing the dishes after dinner, or things like that.&#xA;Though you stand chances that you can outrun a crocodile on land, the risk is maximum in initial attacking moments. Remember, they are quicker than we can imagine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick a place which is at least a 50 m away from river&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick a place which is not very nearby sliding tracks/marks of crocodiles, I can't think of a safer distance in numbers, its debatable, but longer the better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As a basic camping habit, do not throw extra/waste edibles around the place where you are camping, this goes without saying irrespective where you are camping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;People I know who have apt knowledge about crocodiles have always warned about the schedule one follow. Do not make a schedule/pattern of certain tasks you do when you are camping for a longer time. Example, do not fill water from the same place twice, do not do the dishes at the same place nearby campsite. Crocodiles are smart, and they can ambush based on this kind of deterministic pattern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have/want to fish, fish from an elevated bank. Do not doze off while fishing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a companion with you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T10:00:12.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-23T13:06:55.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it heavily depends on how one such place is administered.&#xA;There is a thing called 'footfall in nature' and unfortunately with a poor administration of people coming in it is likely to do more harm than good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, as an individual, I do not geo-tag anything that I find undisturbed. You might feel that I am a self-centred guy who want people to stay away from such hidden but beautiful places. If you feel that way, you are right about me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on a decade-long experience in trekking in Western Ghats of India, looking at the current situation, I feel the less the people venture into nature, the better it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Case 1:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/maharashtra-after-two-deaths-devkund-bans-trekkers-and-tourists-till-september-9/story-It2upCMGWQ4JPmBaoPSHSJ.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Devkund trek banned for trekkers for the entire season&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devkund_Waterfall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Devkund&lt;/a&gt; is a very scenic waterfall about 100 km away from two major cities of India. It lies the region which is an integral part of a major irrigation and hydro-electricity project in the state. A decade ago when I went there for the first time, we were only 6 people at the place. Recently, I saw the same place with about 1000 people, dancing around, playing loud music, littering everywhere, consuming alcohol like there is no tomorrow. &#xA;This change is worst for a fragile ecosystem. Although local residents are making decent money out of the whole thing in the trending season, authorities have no fallback plan to control the amount of footfall affecting the region. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only fallback plan they could think of is: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/missing-pune-trekkers-found-dead-at-maharashtra-s-devkund-police-want-to-stop-trekking-in-the-area/story-kVTNABYWUQ9AbF3lMH0ZTM.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Police want to stop trekking in area&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Case 2: Seasonal trekkers venturing out like frogs in rain.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/kalyan-trekker-slips-from-peb-fort-dies/articleshow/59730092.cms&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Death toll rises during monsoon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In monsoon, on a particular trek usually a 1000 to 2000 trekkers are present on a given day. Most of them are not aware of 'Leave No Trace', most of them are hooligans. This situation is majorly due to Poor administration at places, uncontrolled formations of commercial trekking groups WITHOUT any regulation and compliance check. Every Tom-Dick-Harry forms a trekking organisation based on Facebook and Instagram, gathers a hundred people based on his/her experience of 10 treks last season. Geo-tagging, GPS tracks is their primary plan. On an average a group usually bring about 100 clients. They are hardly 4-5 people guiding(?) 100 people up the mountain. This is a recipe for disaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the optimistic hand I see thing this way:&#xA;I never go out on a plan to discover one such place, which will elude people. I know my region well based on a decade-long (short) trekking experience, and yet I had to explore leaving a well-marked trail to get to some of the magical places. Those remain magical (not literally) because there aren't any hooligans visiting those places in hundreds of numbers at a time. I'd rather suggest not to disclose the location by any means.&#xA;Trekkers, who are experience enough, who have worked hard enough to know the region well, they will eventually get there, just like I did :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in a nutshell, as long as I am in India, I'll avoid geo-tagging purely because authorities and administrators fail miserably to control how many people visit the place, and basically how disciplined the visitors are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2019-02-14T06:43:02.533" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T06:43:02.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21111" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-23T17:43:01.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you geotag a place that is easy to get to, you may have a detrimental influence.  However, if you geotag a place that takes a long hike to get to, especially off-trail, multiday, and uphill, you are likely to have only a zero to very small impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I base this conclusion on our experiences in the California Sierra -- even Yosemite -- and the Colorado Rockies, where we could go days without seeing anybody, even in the distance, if we were off-trail and a thousand or more feet above the trailhead.  Even more modest hikes attract few people beyond an obstacle that looks difficult (but is not). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A comment from a local quoted in the chapter &lt;em&gt;The Moab Treehouse&lt;/em&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2444455.Escape_Routes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Escape Routes&lt;/a&gt; by David Roberts is pertinent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The legacy of secret-keeping is what gave us Glen Canyon Dam.  &quot;The&#xA;  Place No One Knew.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Canyon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glen Canyon&lt;/a&gt; was a magnificent complex of branching canyons in Utah and Arizona.  It was little known -- not remotely as famous as the Grand Canyon, hence the title of the book &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B0007EB5QM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Place No One Knew&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; by Eliot Porter.  The Grand Canyon was saved from being inundated by a dam because of widespread public outrage, but Glen Canyon, known only to a very few, was not.  Boating on Lake Powell near the tops of the largely submerged canyons is, for many, a poor tradeoff.  Edward Abbey wrote a novel &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Wrench_Gang&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Monkey Wrench Gang&lt;/a&gt;, whose target was a thinly disguised Glen Canyon Dam.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-24T16:46:38.287" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T16:46:38.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21112" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-23T19:33:35.160" Score="2" ViewCount="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally use weather.gov and/or weather.com for weather forecasts. Neither provides UVI (or at least I can't find it). Also, I rarely go outdoors, so I don't have an intuitive sense of when I get get away without sunscreen. I hate both sunburns and sunscreen, so I have a dilemma when I do need to go outside for extended periods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling finds a few resources, but they mostly provide a UV max, i.e. at noon. Doesn't help if I'm going out for an extended period in the morning/afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good sources of hourly-ish UVI forecasts? Alternately, are there detectors I can buy to estimate how long it will take me to burn?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16941" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T00:09:23.247" Title="Where can I find good UVI forecasts?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21113" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21135" CreationDate="2018-11-23T20:42:48.287" Score="2" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently wanted to climb that mountain because I literally love pushing myself and it looks fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Information about me&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I am a 15.9 year old male teen (14-12-02)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I live in İzmir Karşıyaka (30 meters above sea level (MASL) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The walking distance to my school is 1.9 Kilometers and I always go there and come from there on foot  with my somewhat heavy backpack. (I have always gone to the school on foot in my life) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Iron deficiency anemia (not very strong but I don't drink tea so I think its not a big problem also I don't use anemia pills anyway) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have not even climbed a single gravel pile in my life&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Field&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I will go to the Kayseri by bus on The Summer &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before climbing Erciyes I will stay at the local village Yahyalı a few days (1330 MASL) for making my body adjust itself&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Plan&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grab the leather and fur coat (sheep) and dress thick (also not forget the feet and the legs) and wear some gloves and some good boots &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tuck in the layered clothes for making an air seal&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Have Nokia N8 as an mirroeles compact camera (or an C1300D DSLR) and the Vibe P1 Turbo for the altimer ler (climb recorder) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a small backpack with water and food&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Climb to the summit of The Erciyes &lt;strong&gt;Alone&lt;/strong&gt; (3917 MASL) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Possible Problems\Outcomes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I get frostbite... &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;My parents won't let me do it&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The heavy, sheep  leather and fur coat of my grandpa eats  all my energy&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I literally slip/fall&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phone literally freezes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I Suffocate&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Questions&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How much water should I bring? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;what should be the weight of my backpack plus the coat? (I may get an full sized tripod too) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;will I make it without dying or getting parts of my body amputated or permanent organ damage ? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;does the standard rate of tempeture decrease of 1 degrees celcius every 200 meters hold up there? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Will my phones freeze? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is my plan decent? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16942" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T22:56:00.223" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T19:12:09.447" Title="Can I theoritcally climb The Mount Erciyes in the summer?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;free-solo-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21059" CreationDate="2018-11-23T22:19:43.340" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm used to walking for longer distances a few times, even up to like 30KM on kinda even areas, but I've never done a multiple day trip in a hilly area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One important differences between (multiple) day tours and a multi-day hike is &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;that you need to keep enough strength to do all the setting up of camp and cooking. I.e., you don't want to arrive exhausted - that would be sure way to have a very miserable experience (you'll get cold and miserable, and it will take you ages to warm up your sleeping bag so you can actually sleep). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And you're going to carry considerably more weight in your backpack. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both aspects can vary in their extent, depending on how exactly you plan your tour. If you plan to stay at official campgrounds and even to get a warm meal at a pub, that will make things much easier compared to doing a completely self-reliant tour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few more thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water is usually unproblematic in Germany: you'll be sufficiently close to/passing villages so you can ask for tap water at least 2 times per day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As long as you're reasonably comfortable reading a topographical map, that's all the navigation equipment you need for the Odenwald. If you're uneasy about direction, you can bring a compass. But even in fog, the Odenwald has a very dense net of roads, so you'd not loose that much time to get to a point where you reliably know where you are, and the topography is easy (hills and valleys with villages in the bottom)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You may be surprised how much food you'll need staying outdoors all day. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And how much clothing you'll want to keep you warm sitting in camp in a November evening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also (until you're sufficiently experienced to know your slepping needs well enough) we're in season 4 in terms of the sleeping bag now. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Both are essential for not getting cold and miserable. If you get cold, you won't be able to sleep (that's good: it our natural protection against freezing to death). But without proper sleep, and probably more of that than usual because of the unusual excercise and being outdoors all the time, you'll be even more miserable and cold...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Good news is: this time of the year the night is sufficently long to allow you to sleep long - even if you wake up a couple of times because of strange noises or the ground being hard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Putting up a tent to stay overnight officially requires permission of the land owner (the difficulty in Germany is to find out whom you need to ask), source for Odenwald tours: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lexsoft.de/cgi-bin/lexsoft/justizportal_nrw.cgi?xid=5782775,16&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hessisches Waldgesetz&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;However, some regions now offer a few so-called trekking camps (Trekkingplatz) where you are allowed to put your tent in the forest - usually you can book a site via internet. For the ones I'm aware of, not in November though (hunting season, forestry season, and trying to lower the permanent stress level for wildlife during winter). In the Sächsische Schweiz you can stay in a Boofe - not even carrying a tent :-)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Open fire in forests + 100 m surroundings outside official fire/BBQ places are a big no-no unless you have a permission by the forester (and I'd say currently it is still rather dry after the draught this summer). This &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a consideration if you're planning to start your wild camping experience this time of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;This time of the year really isn't the traditional season to get into (wild) camping. I'd say, it comes with a good chance of putting you in about the most difficult weather conditions for camping we have here: slightly above 0°C, constantly wet/raining and windy. It is basically impossible to stay dry in these conditions, and that makes keeping warm a major task (the more so, if you plan without hot food because of the no-fire-in-the-forest-rule*). It is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; easier to have fun camping with reliably freezing temperatures.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odenwald&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Odenwald&lt;/a&gt; (and many other German regions) you're never really far from civilization.  In other words, in case you need to get out, e.g. because you wake up at 2 am finding your tent is leaky and you're really soaked, you'll be within less than 5 km and most of that on drivable forest paths which do not pose any particular difficulty even for hiking out during the night from some kind of place/village with mobile phone connection where you phone for a taxi to bring you back to your car. Unless a considerable number of mistakes add up, you may be totally miserable, but unlikely to end up in a really dangerous situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(Wild) camping tours can be lots of fun, even in November weather :-)&#xA;But wouldn't it be a shame if you  totally miss out on that fun because your first experience is absolutely miserable? Consider starting &quot;softly&quot;, with other people, after trying out your equipment in a rainy night at home, or after doing a long day tour that includes having dinner outdoors, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Btw, I'm just 125 km away from HD and I'd be willing to join forces for a tour. I'd suggest a day tour first, though) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* Forest fire is no problem in such conditions. But fire (even a cooker) may put you into a &quot;big trouble&quot; category if you get caught wild camping - plus it increases the probability of being caught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2018-11-23T22:43:16.330" LastActivityDate="2018-11-23T22:43:16.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21112" CreationDate="2018-11-23T23:23:23.223" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Check out sunburnmap.com.  Just enter your city and you can get results such as this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g9Ego.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g9Ego.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.accuweather.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Accuweather.com&lt;/a&gt; also has some hourly UV forecasts.  You need to click on the hourly forecast for your location and scroll down to the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="15664" LastEditDate="2018-11-24T00:09:23.247" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T00:09:23.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21026" CreationDate="2018-11-24T00:59:31.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A YouTube search for “neoprene neck gasket repair” yielded some hits such as this one in which the guy uses a heat gun to remove the tape on the seam: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/MtEODsp1JO8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/MtEODsp1JO8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advantage of gluing a purchased neck gasket which is the right size over the old one, instead of resizing it, is that you’re not trying to make a seam where the gasket is under stress (stretching over your head).  It’s hard to get as good a seal on weathered, contaminated material in your kitchen on the first try as it is with new material in a factory the 1000th time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said people do some pretty extensive repairs with Aquaseal and a little extra material on the outside.  I’d say it depends on what are the consequences for your intended use:  do you become hypothermic miles from shore alongside your sea kayak unable to drag yourself in your water-filled suit back into the boat, or do you become mildly uncomfortable and have to head to the car earlier than you’d like?  That kinda drives what risk you take with your gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2018-11-24T02:47:50.130" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T02:47:50.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21113" CreationDate="2018-11-24T01:32:53.417" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Categorically, no.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)  As ab2 said, you need experience.  You need to learn how much you can do (note that hiking endurance isn't very related to how one performs in sports--my nephew is 10 years younger than I am, plays multiple sports frequently but I, who have never played sports, can go much farther than he can) and how you handle altitude.  I routinely hike in areas 2,400m to 3,000m above sea level, we live 800m above sea level.  I see plenty of people up there who can't handle the altitude.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2)  What ab2 missed is the nature of the climb itself.  His advice would be appropriate if it were simply a hike on a reasonable trail.  However, that is not the case--you are climbing on &lt;strong&gt;loose&lt;/strong&gt; volcanic rock.  This is a skill you obviously do not have and even with experience this isn't exactly the safest thing to be doing.  (Personally, this alone would make me reject it on safety reasons.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3)  Even worse than the loose rock is that you can't reach the summit without mountaineering skills and equipment, something else you obviously do not possess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4)  Your proposed clothing is unsuitable.  I say this without needing to know anything about how warm your coat is because no possible coat is acceptable.  The problem is the temperature will be changing as you go up, and as the day progresses, for this much of an ascent you must have multiple layers of clothing so you can add or remove as you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the hazards you mention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping your phone from freezing is simple enough--carry it inside a warm layer of clothing.  I've been hailed on, my phone in my shirt pocket didn't care.  However, unless it's in airplane mode (which means no GPS) you're very likely to run your battery out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slip/fall--given what you describe vs what you're facing I would say the only question is how badly you fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suffocate--no danger of that, but if you pushed on despite altitude sickness symptoms you're getting into the range where it could be life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frostbite--I'd be more worried about not making it down in time and getting stuck overnight and getting hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Since you still don't seem to realize what you're facing:  While I haven't found any pictures of what the mountaintop itself is like I have found multiple people who have rated it as class IV.  Thus I grabbed an image of a class IV route--this is simply the first hit from Google, not selected to be a hard example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74D57.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74D57.png&quot; alt=&quot;Class IV path&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="381" LastEditDate="2018-11-25T04:50:41.423" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T04:50:41.423" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21086" CreationDate="2018-11-24T11:22:29.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vox recently &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/31/18047386/geotagged-instagram-nature-harm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;answered your question here&lt;/a&gt; - the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itjc14Fm-gs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube video&lt;/a&gt; is worth checking out&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Horseshoe Bend used to be a little-known roadside view of the Colorado&#xA;  River in Page, Arizona. But if you look at yearly satellite images of&#xA;  the trail that leads to the river, you can see the spot undergo a&#xA;  pretty dramatic transformation. In 1992, the trailhead is an empty&#xA;  dirt patch — and in 2018, it consists of two adjacent parking lots&#xA;  overflowing with cars and buses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This spot went from a local secret to a viral tourist destination. The&#xA;  main culprit for that uptick? Instagram.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The social media platform is reshaping the ways we buy things: our&#xA;  clothes, our food, our products — and, via geotags, it’s also playing&#xA;  a huge role in helping people decide where they want to travel.&#xA;  Horseshoe Bend is now one of many hidden natural treasures across&#xA;  America that have become too popular for their own good. And these&#xA;  spaces that become popular after being geotagged often require&#xA;  extensive redesign to protect visitors and the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Digital popularity is resulting in physical changes in what these&#xA;  places look like — and it’s raising serious concerns about how crowds&#xA;  and construction can damage the natural landscape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16944" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T11:22:29.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21098" CreationDate="2018-11-24T19:43:58.807" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've already gotten excellent advice!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My research offers a few additional suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before going, if possible, find some local people in the area and ask for advice. They generally know a lot more than we who are camping for the first time, and might be happy to share! This can be especially helpful if you can be flexible in choosing your spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crocodiles can be intimidated if you stare at them. If you see one, including on land, keep a safe distance and stay still and stare, holding a steady gaze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's a croc or alligator on land, let it know that you're watching it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a safe distance, stare at it and never take your eyes off of it - it may be intimidated and not come any closer.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/how-avoid-crocodile-attack-top-2783264.amp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few sites, including  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divethereef.com/Guides/CrocGuidelines.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this,&lt;/a&gt; recommend avoiding camping near crocodiles during their breeding time, which is September to April. Like many other animals, they're extra protective when tending to their young ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, you can't always build your itinerary around this season! It's just something to be aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some crocodiles only eat once a week, and some can go as long as several months,  so it's possible to be safe for some days. However, that's not a great barometer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that the crocodile can go for about a week (in some cases months) without a meal means he doesn’t have to hunt as frequently as other animals. Still, if a meal comes along daily or several times a day they will take advantage of it. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.crocoworld.com/crocodile-feeding/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you've been told, there are ways to be safe and enjoy your camping trip, but vigilance is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-11-24T19:43:58.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21121" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-25T00:21:01.437" Score="9" ViewCount="481" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an MSR Elixir 2 tent bought 5 years ago and used three nights since (a shame I know). In any case, it was used for 4 nights camping in Spain in dry conditions and was an amazing tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few months ago went camping and it started raining. We set up the tent but stayed in a shelter next to our tent until it was time to hit the sack. After I opened the tent, there was quite some water all over our gear. It wasn't a pool but it wasn't something where we would want to spend the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent is a double wall tent, been stored in dry conditions for the last 4 years of non use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, my questions are as follows, if someone has any experience with this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is it possible that this can be caused because of condensation?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; No one was in the tent since we pitched it until we went back into the tent so somehow it feels odd that the condensation would form in such an amount.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The fabric seems to be leaking when I put it under water at home. Is this normal?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I live in an apartment and don't have the opportunity to do the hose test, but I took the rain fly into the shower and opened the shower. After a while the fabric started being most on the inside and forming tiny bubbles of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;During the testing I did to the tent, it seems that when I'm pouring water over the tent and the rain fly is touching the pole of the tent, water seems to go through at these spots in large quantities.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Is this normal for a tent? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only owned canvas tents before so unfortunately I have nothing to compare to, but would like to know how you handle these conditions as now I'm afraid to take the tent for my next hike. I emailed the manufacturer but haven't received a reply since August&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: 1st of December 2018&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I managed to find a place to set it up on the roof of my building. I watered it with a watering can and used 10 of those. There was still water in the tent (a bit less than the last time but last time it was exposed in the rain) but it seems that all the water comes from the mid column (the tent has 2 main poles and a smaller pole across that holds the rainfly). All the water seemed to have come in one location and was in the middle of the tent. The rest of the tent was perfectly dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could cause this? Could it be that there is something structural to the tent or is it worth just to give it up? I mean, I haven't had a tent like this before and don't know if this is normal to happen in other tents as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OVi12.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OVi12.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Water inside the tent itself&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9Qsb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T9Qsb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Water inside the tent itself 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kBty5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kBty5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Water on the inner mesh tent&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16948" LastEditorUserId="16948" LastEditDate="2018-12-01T17:27:02.560" LastActivityDate="2018-12-01T17:27:02.560" Title="Tent in the rain" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;rain-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20319" CreationDate="2018-11-25T04:16:28.560" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest fly to tie is probably an egg pattern. The fly requires a hook, high tensile thread, head glue and either a marker or a small amount of flash. This fly may take ~20 minutes the first time tied and can take &amp;lt;5 minutes after tying ~5 flies. It’s a great fly to begin with as you do not need to worry about a multitude of materials and managing sometimes fragile feathers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16949" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T04:16:28.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21125" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-25T06:24:33.900" Score="5" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently preparing for 3 weeks of Trekking in March in Nepal (Lukla / Cho La Pass / Everest Base Camp...). One thing my guide told me to bring is a Fleece jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm confused by the wide range of prices. What are objective quality metrics for Fleece jackets?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I looked at them, I saw that the thickness of the product is one difference. Likely, thicker means warmer, but it seems not to be connected directly to the price:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/Regatta-Thompson-Herren-Schwarz-Herstellergr%C3%B6%C3%9Fe/dp/B003AOAEV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1543125887&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=flie%C3%9Fpullover&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Regatta Thompson Herren Fleece Jacke&lt;/a&gt;: 15 EUR; Outdoor-Fleece, 240g, 100% Polyester&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/Patagonia-Herren-Better-Sweater-Fleecejacke/dp/B00OZGUSFM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1543126019&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=fleece%2Bpatagonia&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Patagonia Better Sweater Herren Fleecejacke&lt;/a&gt;: 96 EUR; 339g/m² =&gt; 449g; 100% Polyester&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/Russell-Collection-Fleece-Jacke-R-870M-0-Farbe/dp/B007Y11JRQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=sports&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1543126265&amp;amp;sr=1-4&amp;amp;keywords=fleecejacke&amp;amp;refinements=p_72%3A184747031%2Cp_36%3A2000-99999999&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Russell Herren Sweatjacke Full Zip Outdoor Fleece R-870M-0&lt;/a&gt;: 15 EUR; 100% Polyester; 320g/m² =&gt; 424g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/Acteryx-Herren-Delta-Jacke-Black/dp/B00PI0RPQO/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1543126802&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=arcteryx%2Bfleece&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arcteryx Delta RT Fleece&lt;/a&gt;: 99 EUR; 100% Polyester; 281g&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6392" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2018-11-25T21:23:57.647" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T10:35:52.537" Title="What are quality differences between Fleece?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;everest-base-camp&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21126" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-25T17:48:40.280" Score="3" ViewCount="5365" Body="&lt;p&gt;The second one from left to right is the only one I'm currently plugging. Is it alright not to close the other three? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TjHbz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TjHbz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;holes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The boat hull is MAKO 86 23 feet . The boat is not currently sinking, but every 10 minutes I can hear the bilge pump pumping water (Like a jar of water) outside the boat. This is all new to me. I only know is that the second hole must be plugged before going to the water, but what are the other three for? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is an outboard , center console and it also has a living well. I never use the living well. It always empty. The one I plugged each time I go into the water is the bilge drain. If not plugged the boat would sink. The other three I believe are called thru hull fittings. The other three I don’t understand the usage of them, I'm also suspecting that water is coming through them into the boat causing the bilge pump work every few minutes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16950" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-26T21:42:45.640" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T03:43:23.530" Title="What are those other three holes in the boat's transom?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21127" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-25T18:02:10.980" Score="3" ViewCount="286" Body="&lt;p&gt;Salmon is an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/anadromous-fish.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anadromous&lt;/a&gt; fish, that means it is born in fresh water, it spends most of its life in the sea and it returns to fresh water to spawn. I was wondering when fishermen fish salmon. I guess they aim for adults (more meat), right? But do they catch adults when they are in seawater or in freshwater (i.e. while climbing up a river to spawn)? Which is the best moment in order to have a better catch? And which is the best moment in order not to endanger the species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16951" LastEditorUserId="16951" LastEditDate="2018-11-26T00:00:52.940" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T18:49:27.803" Title="Is Salmon caught in the seawater or freshwater? Which is the preferred way, and the most ecological way?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fish&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21125" CreationDate="2018-11-25T21:59:06.240" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some (maybe not all) aspects are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insulation per weight ratio&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;While your observation &quot;the thicker the warmer&quot; is true in general, there are fleeces that are warmer for the same weight and thickness than others. Unfortunately, there's normally no objective measure given for that feature in product descriptions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stretch&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;While simple fleece fabrics are built on a base fabric that does not stretch at all, more expensive ones are woven in a way that makes them stretch. This allows the clothes to be tailored more close-fittingly while it still can follow the wearer's movements. A more body-fitting jacket provides better insulation for the same fabric &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; saves on fabric and hence weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stability&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Cheap fleece fabrics are more susceptible to &quot;pilling&quot;, i.e. the fibers tend to clump together into small spherical fuzz under repeated frictional load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cut and features&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The cut of specialized alpine gear is typically optimized for this usage. For example, alpine clothing typically does not have seams on top of the shoulders pieces since they can be irritating or lead to chafing when wearing a heavy backpack. Since this construction requires more pieces of cloth and is harder to sew, cheaper jackets might opt for simpler constructions.&#xA;Also gear by more expensive and alpine-specialized brands may have nice features like pockets that are placed in a way that they are not blocked by your backpack straps, zippers that can be used with gloves and similar small advantages. It is not said, that a cheap piece of clothing won't have such features, but sometimes more by chance than by design.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you will of course also pay for the brand name on the more expensive gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T21:59:06.240" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21125" CreationDate="2018-11-25T22:58:46.213" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisture_vapor_transmission_rate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Breathability&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;I bought a really cheap fleece before a combat medic course in 2017, so I could wash it a high temperature without feeling a big loss if I destroyed it. It looked great. But it was like a raincoat. It was horrible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have realized that I need two different fleece jacket. A decent looking for normal daily use, and one with really high breathability for serious outdoor use. For extra insulation, just another layer is one way to go. For example add a mesh layer under the normal long wool underwear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suggestion: Take a look at the Norrøna page for midlayers, study the difference between their products, and transfer the ideas it gives you to general use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12904" LastEditorUserId="6392" LastEditDate="2018-11-26T10:35:52.537" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T10:35:52.537" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21125" CreationDate="2018-11-25T23:59:40.490" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you buy Patagonia or Arcteryx you are paying, at least in part, for a status signaling label. Patagonia is sometimes derisively referred to as Patagucci. That said, I do own some Patagonia clothing and I've found it to be durable and functional. They also arguably have sourcing arrangements that reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing. Similarly, Arcteryx is sometimes referred to as the 'Cult of the Dead Bird', but all of my outdoor sports minded friends who've laid out the money for Arcteryx have been satisfied with the performance of their clothing, if not the price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be able to find some general retail outdoor clothing that will be perfectly functional, but dirt cheap. However, the lower the price point, the more chance there will be that the manufacturer has cut corners in the construction somewhere. You aren't going to the top of Everest, but there is a chance you could be outside several days in snow and high winds. You don't want to worry about your clothing failing under those conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't sure about being able to evaluate construction quality, but have friends who are alpinists, or at least regular hikers, you might get them to go shopping with you. Also, your trekking service may be happy to recommend specific models that they know to be fit to the purpose. However, they may not lead you to the best bargains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2018-11-25T23:59:40.490" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21127" CreationDate="2018-11-26T00:02:12.390" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many fishermen catch them during the spawn because they know where they are going to be.  They catch them as they are going upstream to spawn.  As many types of salmon die after spawning, they are usually healthier going upstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you catch the fish doesn't matter ecologically speaking. Limits on the number of fish caught are in place to help protect the species. Aside from overfishing, the main problem is the health of the rivers. Dams and other modifications can prevent the fish from reaching their spawning beds. Pollution also can prevent fish from successfully spawning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorUserId="231" LastEditDate="2018-11-27T18:49:27.803" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T18:49:27.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21127" CreationDate="2018-11-26T14:03:32.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;which is the best moment in order not to endanger the species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pacific salmon only spawn once in their life.  At the point when they have spawned they are generally not considered eatable. There is no moment to catch them and &quot;not to endanger the species&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Salmon change color to attract a spawning mate. Pacific salmon use all their energy for returning to their home stream, for making eggs, and digging the nest. Most of them stop eating when they return to freshwater and have no energy left for a return trip to the ocean after spawning. After they die, other animals eat them (but people don't) or they decompose, adding nutrients to the stream. Unlike Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon do not die after spawning, so adults can repeat the spawning cycle for several years. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-do-salmon-change-color-and-die-after-they-spawn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source usgs.gov&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21131/4079&quot;&gt;Schleis says in there answer&lt;/a&gt; fishing limits help protect the species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T14:03:32.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15100" CreationDate="2018-11-26T15:09:57.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to Kungsleden and hiked a few days in Sarek until we had to turn back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main hiking experience is with hiking in Israel, so Sweden and especially Sarek is a whole different game for me.&#xA;It really overwhelms oneself to experience wild nature like that, and it can be physically and mentally challenging. I would say that the mental part is something that is really hard to practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had to go back after we had a few &quot;strikes&quot;. My friend got sick, we had to cross a stream while it was raining and got soaked and I was really worried we won't arrive in time to the exit location. This led me to cancel the whole thing and turn back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever plan to hike Sarek, start with a part of the Kungsleden first, just so you know what you're dealing with. &#xA;You don't nessecarily need a guide, but at least have a friend you can trust.&#xA;And please, get a satellite messenger. The garmin inreach mini is a perfect choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And to answer your main question, someone drowned this year in one of Sarek's streams. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16954" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T15:09:57.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21113" CreationDate="2018-11-26T19:06:20.063" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what I have read, I would say the part of your plan to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Climb to the summit of The Erciyes Alone (3917 MASL)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;is a no go with your experience and gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.goereme.net/erciyes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;route description&lt;/a&gt; is accurate the climb/hike starts at 2750m after a drive and a couple of chair lifts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ywsm0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ywsm0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your gear should be fine to get you there in the summer. It is then a 2.5 hour hike to PARMAK KAYA at 3700m. There is apparently a visible path with a moderate grade. From there you would have a nice view of the summits. Your gear would not be too much of a problem, but lack of experience and age would worry me. You would probably want to go with someone else, preferable someone with more experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From PARMAK KAYA to HÖRGÜC KAYA 3820m there are a number of obstacles requiring navigating a steep snow field and loose gravel slopes with constant danger of rock fall. This is the first summit. You might be able to make it there. As long as you can keep moving your cloths will be plenty warm. You do not mention anything about footwear, but you are probably going to need heavy boots to be able to kick steps and you may want/need an ice axe for balance. Given your experience this is probably a no go. With someone how knows what they are doing and reasonable boots, you could probably do this. That said, it is a serious climb and there could be many reasons that would force you to turn back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get to the summit 3917, there is a section of real rock climbing on what appears to be loose rock with some serious potential for a slip to result in a very big fall. Note the ice axes, helmets, and clothing for comparison purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6njvz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6njvz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the climb might be protected by a rope ladder, but from the descriptions I have seen, not all of it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iQ7q5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iQ7q5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The descent is the same as the ascent, so you need to be able to go both up and down. There is no way I would take an inexperienced person on that route without having first hand knowledge of the climb and descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, the hike to PARMAK KAYA sounds and looks awesome. I would suggest trying to find someone with a little more experience and giving that a shot. You should be able to get lots of photos and stoke your desire to do more climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2018-11-26T19:12:09.447" LastActivityDate="2018-11-26T19:12:09.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21121" CreationDate="2018-11-27T07:24:28.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1) Is it possible that this can be caused because of condensation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How wet your gear and tent floor was? If it's just slightly damp on the outside then this is perfectly normal in wet air conditions (think foggy, wet air or long moderate rain, close to 100% humidity). The tent is designed to allow air (and moisture in it unfortunately) to circulate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's anything above slightly damp then the tent probably leaked slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2) The fabric seems to be leaking when I put it under water at home. Is this normal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I don't know a tent that's going to stop a direct, slightly pressurized water stream from a shower :). What you describe sounds like normal behaviour to me. As long as you don't observe the water dripping down from the outer fly onto the inner during a rain you're fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to redo the test I'd pitch the tent in a park / forest and use a watering can to pour water on different spots of the tent and check for leaks. That way you get a stream of water that falls driven by wind and gravity - closer to what rain is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3) During the testing I did to the tent, it seems that when I'm pouring water over the tent and the rain fly is touching the pole of the tent, water seems to go through at these spots in large quantities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, this unfortunately is normal. Rain fly leaks really quickly if something is touching it from the inside. This is why it's very important to pitch the tent correctly and make the rain fly taut. If you expect heavy wind or rain it is also a good idea to use the guy lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15120" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T07:24:28.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21121" CreationDate="2018-11-27T09:29:05.077" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't say what you are experiencing is normal - my Helsport tent has been in use for at least 20 years (for weeks and weeks) and it is still working perfectly. Although, depending on the original quality of the tent I have to say that it is sadly &lt;em&gt;possible&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Test again&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regretfully the tests you did in the shower aren't telling us to much. While they are certainly not a good sign, it could still be that due to its construction/geometry/... the tent is still quite functional while showing poor water-proofness in shower conditions. It could still be that what you experienced was due to some other effect (condensation could be the issue, the tent could have been set up wrong, ...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; The only possibility to really check it is to properly &lt;strong&gt;set the tent up outside&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;test it&lt;/strong&gt;, either in the rain or using a garden hose, watering can, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to proceed&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your test shows that the tent is actually &lt;strong&gt;leaking&lt;/strong&gt;, there are several ways to proceed from there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the leakage is not too severe you can try to re-apply the &lt;strong&gt;impregnation&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This can be done on your own by buying a product and doing some runs in your washing machine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alternatively most good outdoor stores will have a 'tent service' or similar, where they will send in your tent to re-impregnated for a fee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the leakage is not due to impregnation, but along the seams you can buy special &lt;strong&gt;seam sealant&lt;/strong&gt; and try to seal the seams yourself.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most outdoor stores will sell this and application is rather easy - pay attention to the type you buy (or ask the staff) because it will depend on the tent fabric (if I recall there are silicone and other variants).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Last but not least... your tent fabric and/or coating could simply have degraded to a point where it is no longer salvageable. That would be a pity after only 5 years and rare use - and for me personally reason for at least some angry letters to the manufacturers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regardless on how you want to proceed, the staff at your trusted outdoor store should be able to help you out. If worse comes to worst they can maybe recommend a replacement that will hold up better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2018-11-27T15:03:08.733" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T15:03:08.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21126" CreationDate="2018-11-27T14:43:00.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the information available in your current question. There should be hoses attached to the three 'holes' you don't regularly plug.  Inspect all the hoses from all the 'holes', repair or replace as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the 'holes' should be where the bilge pump ejects water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other two 'holes' could/should be for water intake and output for the live well (&lt;em&gt;fresh water to keep fish alive when you catch them&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be able to identify the bilge ejection port, while the boat is on the trailer, use a garden hose to put some water in the bottom of the boat and turn on the bilge pump.  Never plug this hole, you will burn out your bilge pump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the other two, are for the live well, and that you are not able to track them visually to confirm.  You probably need to take your boat to a boat mechanic to problem solve and address. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T14:43:00.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20986" CreationDate="2018-11-27T16:14:26.980" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Towing doesn't work well.  The trailing canoe will tend to swing wildly from side to side. This is a chronic problem when towing a swamped canoe to shore.   This may be affected by how the trailing boat is loaded.  Try loading it stern heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another effect with towing:  the towed canoe will not have the same behaviour in the wind.  In a cross wind it will either drift faster or slower than the tug canoe.  When it reaches the limit of the tow rope it will start changing your course.  This will be very hard to correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lashing catamaran style with a space between wide enough to paddle may work, but it will be very slow.  You will have the drag of both hulls, plus the drag from the constricted space between.  Note that in waves, you want the ends taking the waves to be closer together than the other end.  Otherwise passing waves will peak and slop over the gunnels.    This may work if you use something like a tiny gas trolling motor.  A 1 hp trolling motor with a low speed high torque prop will go an amazing amount of time (days) on a jerry can of fuel.  See Patterson's &quot;Dangerous River&quot; about his trips up the Nahanni&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a distance between the boats about equal to the beam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest that you look at a larger canoe.  The difference in carrying capacity of an 18' expedition canoe compared to a 15' solo canoe is astounding.  That extra 3 feet is in the middle, and is effectively doubling the usable displacement.  I have heard of trappers using a 20 foot canoe to carry their year's supplies in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would probably want to go with kevlar construction to have a reasonable weight to deal with on portages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Load the canoe so that you can paddle from the stern.  Control is easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T16:14:26.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20826" CreationDate="2018-11-27T16:28:09.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When a canoe has one end on shore,it's unstable.  It helps if one person squats with knees on either side of the bow while the first person steps in.  At the end, the bowsman steps into the canoe and pushes off at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Approaching shore, try for a spot with few rocks, and hit the shore moving at about 1/2 speed.  Bowsman steps out onto the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other trick I've used on very shallow shorelines:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put a sizable log in the water perpendicular to shore as a makeshift dock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put one or more rocks as stepping stones into the water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These two techniques don't help landing, but when you are landing for camp, you will have a fire soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third option is to get a pair of divers boots.  These are neoprene -- wet suit material, with a reasonable sole.  Buy one size larger than your normal size and wear a pair of thick wool socks inside them.  They will not keep your feet dry, but warm wet feet are quite tolerable.  In Canada Mountain Equipment sells their own brand for these.  Start here:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5021-652/Moque-Boots-Low&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5021-652/Moque-Boots-Low&lt;/a&gt;.  Neoprene socks inside oversize runners also work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-27T16:28:09.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21144" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-28T13:01:27.193" Score="5" ViewCount="1710" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a season of skiing in rental boots of all sorts, I want to buy my own pair. My options are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a local shop in a country where there's no snow and the prices are so high,  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;online deals that are cheaper, and I could order a few pairs and try them on, keep the best fit, and return the rest.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some advise that it has to be heat molded, so a local shop who would do that is the way to go, where some others say wearing it is enough to get the foot shape molded into the liner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to know what temperature the liners need to mold the shape, and is it really necessary for the commercial heat molding process or is it just another way of ripping buyers off?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-12-12T22:19:52.320" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T22:19:52.320" Title="What temperature is needed for heat molding ski boot liners? Isn't body temperature enough for that?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21144" CreationDate="2018-11-28T13:49:38.443" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Body heat isn't enough (caveat: of course there may be liners for which it is, but not typically). but that doesn't mean you need a &quot;commercial heating device&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Intuition liners (no affiliation, they're just the only pair of molded liners I own) recommend &lt;a href=&quot;https://intuitionliners.com/fitting/home-fitting-instructions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;cooking&quot; with rice in socks preheated in a microwave&lt;/a&gt;. Probably a gentle method, but I wouldn't know whether I wanted to go to the trouble (and I don't own a microwave). However this doesn't give an estimate on temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &quot;cooked&quot; mine in the oven at 80degC. A quick google search provides lots of tutorials with people going as high as 140degC. In the end you need to step into them with thin socks (that's another topic) and you don't want to burn yourself, so I'd rather go a bit lower temp and longer exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A definite answer will depend on the exact model you have. Most likely you won't find the information supplied by the vendor. However it's no rocket science: Read some instructions online (there's other important stuff apart from the cooking to take care of) and select a cooking method that seems reasonable to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-11-28T13:49:38.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21146" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-28T21:46:19.193" Score="3" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;In going on an elk hunt, how much space do I need to store the quarters and meat for transportation home?  Obviously this depends on the size of the animal but how much cooler space should I plan on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-11-29T15:55:38.363" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T16:04:03.710" Title="How much cooler space is required for transporting an elk?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;elk&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21146" CreationDate="2018-11-28T21:50:18.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Per this video, it is recommended to have about 170 qts (160.88 litres) of cooler space for one elk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yt7WL87Cng&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Many Coolers to Get Your Elk Home, Randy Newberg explains&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also use a medium sized freezer in your trailer instead of buying coolers.  A cow elk filled up just about half of a 10 cu ft (0.28m cubed) freezer and kept things cool just fine.  This also allows you to hook up a generator to it in case you have issues with getting ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16724" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2018-11-29T11:56:10.600" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T11:56:10.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19936" CreationDate="2018-11-29T14:50:22.893" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It will be tough to find a full six to eight hours of hiking on unique trails that close to the cities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00280#homepage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whitewater State Park&lt;/a&gt;. It's located in the river bluffs area in southern Minnesota, should be less than a 2 hour drive from Minneapolis. There are quite a few long trails that follow along the bluffs over the Whitewater river. The DNR website lists it as having 10 miles of hiking trails, if you walked the entire perimeter of the park along the trails it would likely take between 2-3 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16967" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T14:50:22.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21146" CreationDate="2018-11-29T16:04:03.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your going to want to debone it to pack it most efficiently into the coolers, otherwise the quarters are going to be too big and awkward to fit into the coolers and they are really heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once deboned, place 20-25 lbs of meat into double bagged garbage bags for easier handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From experience, something like a single 150 to 200 quart cooler will be enough, but you won't be able to lift the cooler. If you got two coolers it would probably take two full size adults to lift them. You could also put the bags in and take them out one at a time for easier handling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-11-29T16:04:03.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21150" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-29T22:12:10.650" Score="4" ViewCount="288" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live on 10 acres (very small, I know) but we have got a deer and I was wondering how to bring more deer in. I am looking for advice on land management to achieve this. Some stat: we live in Michigan, one side (of the woods) meets up to a field, the other side has a trail separating my neighbors woods and are woods, the other side meets up to a pond on my other neighbor property. thank for every thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16964" LastEditorUserId="16964" LastEditDate="2018-12-04T16:22:37.250" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T13:28:15.800" Title="How should I manage my woods to attract more deer?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21150" CreationDate="2018-11-30T03:39:42.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Deer are browse feeders.  They nibble on shrubs during the winter.  You want to keep the forest clear enough of trees that shrubs do well.  In our region (Alberta) dogwood and alder are the big ones for deer browse, but most willows, high bush cranberry, snowberry are also palatable for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideal deer cover is a mixed wood with some conifer, some hardwood, some big stuff, lots of little stuff.  Needs to be open enough that deer can flee predators easily, closed enough to provide shelter from winter wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Deer are under maximum stress most years in late winter:  Snow more than a few inches deep requires significant energy to move through.  Running in snow is unpredicable, and is stressful on joints.  Nutrient content of buds declines through the winter.  Buds and twigs dry, making deer eat more snow for water.  Snow that takes heat to warm up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there has been a thaw/freeze, the snow may have a crust that cuts deer legs when they break through.  Here in Alberta coyotes, being 1/3 the weight, and twice the paw size can stay on the crust when deer are breaking through.  Deer population drops dramatically on those years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10 acres is enough that you can manage it for firewood.  Here, I  can harvest a cord per acre per year indefinitely on poplar woods.  That should also hold true for other fast growing hardwoods like silver maple.  Oaks and red/sugar maple maybe half that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try phoning your local county extension agent or horticulturalist.  Many areas have some form of Wood Lot management association that shares workshops on replanting, safe use of chainsaw, selective cutting.  Or Google &quot;wood lot {name of your state or province}&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want deer, put out a salt lick.  Not legal during hunting season in many locales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-12-02T20:30:22.510" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T20:30:22.510" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21126" CreationDate="2018-11-30T03:43:23.530" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 23 foot hull might be capable of using an inboard motor, in which case two of the holes could be for cooling water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boats are usually designed to be maintained.  You should be able to get to the inside face of the transom fairly easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T03:43:23.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21153" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21078" CreationDate="2018-11-30T03:56:37.483" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;When car traveling we freeze pop bottles mostly full of water (2&quot; header air space) A 2 liter (2 quart) bottle takes a fair amount of time to thaw; it doesn't spill and make things soggy; and you have drinkable water in camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trick:  when you can, wrap the cooler in sleeping bags.  This will triple or so the insulation and cut down the warming time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything that can be frozen should be frozen -- and not just a bit, use the deep freeze to get it down to -20 or so.  That way it's a source of coolth for a while too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have things that shouldn't freeze as well as things that should, cut a slab of styrofoam or use several layers of bubblewrap.  Put the frozen stuff in the bottom, then the insulation, then the salad stuff.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cabbage and members of tht family (kale, brussel sprouts, kale, boc choi) will tolerate several degrees of freezing.  Apples will tolerate to about 29 F.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep it out of the wind, out of the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drinks in plastic soda bottles can be frozen and used like ice for cooling everything else.  Booze can be transferred to soda bottles and chilled either to freezing (wine, beer) or until very cold (spirits)  Do not use the really thin plastic water bottles for this.  They will break when frozen.  Beer acts oddly on opening if sufficiently cold:  As the gas comes out of solution, the rest of the bottle freezes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T03:56:37.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2018-11-30T04:08:43.123" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm taking a different tack.  I have slept both in and out of a tent on many winter nights, and I will not use a tent unless there is significant wind or precipitation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the problem:  The tent will keep most of the air from moving, but that air loads up with moisture from your sweat, your breath, and any damp clothing that came in with you.  The net result is that you are now insulated with moisture laden air, which doesn't work nearly as well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you don't feel yourself sweat, you lose around 200g of water a night through 'insensible perspiration'  Assuming cold temps (below 0 C) you lose  water to keep your lungs from turning into dried leaves.  You increase the humidity of the air you inhale to about 90% R.H. at 37 C.  When you exhale you lose about 44 mg/liter of air you exhale.  12 one liter breaths per minute = 720 * 44 mg = 30 g /hour.  May be more than that depending on how much your metabolism has sped up due to the cold.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That moisture has to go somewhere, and at below zero temps, air doesn't hold much of it.  You wake up with frost lining the tent, and your sleeping bag full of water vapour saturated air, likely with some amount condensed as frost on the inside of your sleeping bag.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a case for a tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  It's constructed with vents near the top and bottom so that it can act as a chimney.  It needs to do several air changes an hour to keep up with the moisture release of the occupants.  In this case it's likely no warmer than outside.  If you are using it as a storm tent above timberline, you need to be able to control this air exchange.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  I have used canvas wall tents and a sheet metal stove.  These are the cat's meow for winter camping.  The floor is &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; cold, but from knee height up, it's warm and &lt;strong&gt;DRY&lt;/strong&gt;. Lines rigged near the peak turn clammy socks and mittens crisply dry by morning. No more beating the frozen boot to accept your foot in the morning.  They don't lend themselves to human powered travel  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Historical note:  During the Klondike Gold Rush, dog mushers would buy silk tents.  Silk was about a third of the weight of canvas, and it was reasonable to pack a 20 pound silk wall tent, and sheetmetal stove made from a 5 gallon kerosene can. But they were well-to-do.  The fare for a passenger riding out from Dawson was $600)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I am in an area that permits it I will cut a bunch of spruce branches, or dogwood or alder twigs and make a pad about 3 inches thick to put my foamies on.  This both makes the foamies better insulators, but also acts as a sink for snow on me, my footwear etc, so I don't lie on it and melt it.  If the twig bed can compress some, the foam pad molds to you better, and the breeze has less access to that space between sleeping bag and pad.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual limit in winter camping is how good your sleeping pad is.  If I'm anticipating really cold temps, I will bring two sleeping bags, one sized to fit over the other -- the outer often just a cheap box cut summerweight bag.  I will also bring two of the half inch thick closed cell foam pads.  Most of the condensation happens on the inner surface and inside the outer bag.  In the morning strip the outer bag off, and stuff the inner bag quickly to try to expel most of the warm wet air as before it can condense.  Compress the outer bag too, but before packing it, shake as much frost off of it as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation underneath is important.  I have a knee length heavy duty parka that I used on dog sled expeditions.  It was made from nylon pack cloth, with a heavy weight wool blanket cloth lining, and wolf fur rimmed hood.  I would use it on top of my foam pad under my sleeping bag.  That gave me an extra bit of insulation there.  If there was a breeze running at night, I would sleep on one edge of it, and arrange the rest to block the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there are light breezes I will set up a tarp to block the wind.  Preferred location is 45 degrees off the wind, facing the fire.  This is the sweet spot for minimum smoke, and maximum wind protection.  Heavier winds mean I'm away from the fire, under a spruce tree, with the tarp set to minimize wind speed.  This will mean I have more condensation in my bags in the morning, and a less comfortable night.  Ditto precip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But most nights I just set up by the fire.  I cut enough wood to keep the fire going all night.  this way my nose stays warm and I don't get my bag soggy from condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T23:19:47.707" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T23:19:47.707" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21072" CreationDate="2018-11-30T04:19:36.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Little things add up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you need a set of batteries a day for your GPS or is 3 sets enough for a week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take food out of boxes.  A plastic bag is 6 grams.  A box is 40 grams. -- about an ounce.  Repeat for 21 meals, that's a pound and a half.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's in your repair kit?  I found last full check I did I had ladderlock buckles incompatible with my present gear.  How many safety pins do you really need?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's lots of lists of this sort of stuff.  Some people are fanatic about it.  I heard of one guy who took the extra 4&quot; off his boot laces.  Another who cut out the liner of his running shorts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can go too far.  Another guy used a cheap $2 use once special rain jacket.  And it rained the whole week.  Fortunately for him, I had a small roll of duct tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generalization:  For longer trips you need better gear. Sometimes better=lighter.  Usually better=tougher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind how long you are going to be miserable if something doesn't work.  I bring 2nd pair of footwear with me.  Twice I've had to loan my 2nd pair to someone who brought the wrong footwear with him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we got normal weather, and I've worn everything in my pack, I figure I've cut it too fine.  I should have 1 layer more than I expect to need.  What do I do if someone in the party twists an ankle on a rainy windy pass, and we are moving at 1/3 speed the rest of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can cheap out for low probability events if you have a way to endure it.  E.g. I might not bring my rain gear for a trip in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyonlands_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyonlands&lt;/a&gt;, but resign myself to waiting it out huddled under my tent fly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My repair kit has more stuff in it for a large group than for a small group.  Peel and stick mosquito netting to fix holes in tent netting.  1 each of every type of buckle on every pack.  (Doing a week with a broken waist buckle isn't fun) A sewing awl.  A weekend trip, I won't bother with the roll of duct tape.  For a 3 week canoe trip, I brought 5 small rolls of duct tape.  Group was 25 kids and 5 adults.  (Voyageur canoes)  Every paddle, bailer, pack, gear had a stripe of coloured tape on it.  Made sorting out the gear at portages infinitely easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first aid kit is somewhat group-size dependent, but more trip-length dependent.  I carry enough anti-biotics (broad spectrum ampicillin and check if anyone in your group has allergies) to treat one individual for the length of the trip.  Burn dressings for 1 individual for the trip, or to next resupply point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You find that 'expedition grade' stuff is a lot less fragile, and often somewhat heavier that the super light stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The less you carry, the lighter your load, but also you are less capable of dealing with the unexpected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Take care of the pennies then the pounds (British money) will take care of themselves.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but also&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Some are penny-wise but pound-foolish.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-11T17:23:59.713" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T17:23:59.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-11-30T04:34:22.573" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Part of this is learning to pay attention to what your body is doing.  I had a friend on a dogsled trip who was soaked when we reached camp:  He could wring water out of his polypro underwear.  Me, I was dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But he was a phys ed major and thought nothing of sweating.  Me, I hate feeling sweaty.  So  he would happily sweat away, and I would be unzip, rezip, take toque off, put mitts on, add a layer, take off a layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing I found that &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; taught me:  It was a fairly light weight acrylic turtle neck shirt made of coarse acrylic.  Because it was coarse it didn't wick at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Ewww&quot; you say.  &quot;You feel wet&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes you do.  But at the first feeling of wet, you unzip to dry out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trick, &quot;To stay warm, keep cool&quot;  Try for  just a bit chilly.  This gives you some margin for warming up before sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Baggy clothes.  I don't like anything to be tight.  If I'm jumping about, I want my clothes to flap.  This means when I'm more active, I'm also getting more ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pants go OVER boot tops, not inside.  This gives you ventilation in the legs, and keeps snow out of the tops of your boots.  I like wind pants with vent zips at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often just a wind layer is enough.  This sounds crazy.  Try it.   And sometimes you can go without a shirt at surprisingly cold temps, if the air is calm and you have sun.  (You can also get a wicked sun burn this way in a very short period of time from snow reflection.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T04:34:22.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21157" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-11-30T07:07:08.073" Score="9" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently purchased a new western mountaineering sleeping bag (Puma MF) from Moosejaw. Long story short, I found that the bag was manufactured more than 4 years ago, in 2014, the price tags have faded to yellowish color, and the storage sack (not the compression sack) smells like an old library book.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, the fact that the bag is 4 years old despite being new throws me off a bit due to the high price hence the high expectation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The indecision is whether I should return the sleeping bag? The main concern here is the old bag will have a shorter lifespan and provide worse insulation than a recently manufactured counterpart. Please let me know whether my concerns are unfounded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16971" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T19:23:10.773" Title="Is an old but new down sleeping bag as good as a recent and new one?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21157" CreationDate="2018-11-30T10:02:28.143" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the bag was compressed most of the time during the storage it may provide less insulation than a recently produced one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is, if the bag has caught mildew, you might not be able to get rid of the smell. Or, if the smell goes away after washing, it may develop again. Check for mildew (&lt;a href=&quot;https://assets.sectionhiker.com/wp-content/uploads/thumbskeep/2013/12/Black-Mildew-Spots-on-a-Bivy-Sack.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image&lt;/a&gt;) - if there are any small black or similar dots anywhere, I would return it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2018-11-30T13:06:45.763" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T13:06:45.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-11-30T23:58:46.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wool. That is as simple as it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inner layer needs to be thin and light, but still wool. Merino wool is common. It breathes like nothing else, keeps you warm, and doesn't absorb water. It'll get wet, but it won't get wet as cotton does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Add layers to comfort - add windshell / rainshell if circumstances require it - otherwise pick a softshell fleece or wool sweater. I like all my layers to have zip/buttons halfway down the chest - and then use neck and head for regulating temperature. open up if it is getting hot, zip it up if it is getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And remember, you'll &lt;em&gt;always&lt;/em&gt; be clammy from prolonged activity, no matter what high-tech-astronaut-approved-million-dollar-super-breathing-gear you are wearing. if you are going to rest, and the rules of propriety allows it, strip off the inner layer, replace it with a dry one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2018-11-30T23:58:46.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21150" CreationDate="2018-12-01T00:55:03.890" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First decide want you want to do. Here in East TX wooded areas , the deer come in and eat about anything , no matter how small the area. This severely limits what can be grown. If we want deer , a few handfuls of corn from time to time, will bring a plethora of deer. This is partly because local deer hunters go to places like Colorado to hunt deer. I mean you need to decide if you want a diverse woodland or a deer park, you can't have both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2018-12-01T00:55:03.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21078" CreationDate="2018-12-01T01:15:21.457" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You get much more cooling per pound from dry ice than water ice. However ; 1- It can be dangerous. 2- You must buy it and it may not be readily available, 3- It is much colder than ice and will freeze anything in contact, so, 4- wrap it in insulation ( foam, towels , etc.). I placed it ( with heavy towel wrap) in the bottom of the ice chest and then placed items that would not be damaged by freezing ( meat, butter, etc) nearest it. As I remember it lasted more than 3 days in a conventional ice chest as shown , obviously it depends on sizes and weights. It worked very well , to some degree because I got it for free at my job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2018-12-01T01:15:21.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21050" CreationDate="2018-12-02T05:01:40.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Timing is key.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of times, your outdoor activity will involve more intense parts (for example, going up is more intense than going down).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove a layer before starting an intense activity, put it back as soon as you stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T05:01:40.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21165" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-02T15:05:01.123" Score="2" ViewCount="618" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a good way or method of finding unpaved roads? Any map, where I can tell which road is asphalted, and which isn't?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have looked at wikiloc, and there are some trails for my country listed (Austria), but I was wondering if there is a way to &quot;filter&quot; for such roads in google maps, google earth or something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most countries finding off road roads is just a matter of driving around, but I am located in Austria, and it seems here there are less such roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-12-04T14:05:52.700" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T15:23:29.693" Title="Finding out if a road is paved or not" Tags="&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21167" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21168" CreationDate="2018-12-02T17:41:49.907" Score="6" ViewCount="540" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have old snowshoes which were fine for hiking in TGO when I was younger, but they are too large now for comfortable walking in TLO (The Little Outdoors), by which I mean walking up and down an unplowed 300 foot driveway and stomping down snow to make a firm surface for birdseed to supplement the birdfeeders. We expect a snowy winter here, which means a lot of trips down to my car at the bottom of the driveway and up with mail, groceries and other stuff.  I also want the snowshoes to be very easy to put on and take off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What features should I look for in a snowshoe that is adequate for the tasks described above?&lt;/strong&gt;  I am 5'9&quot;, weigh 135 pounds and am unusually strong for my age, which I am not going to tell you. However, I am not strong enough to enjoy postholing down a long driveway or to stomp down the driveway comfortably in my old 30 inch long Sherpa snowshoes, which are a pain to put on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The logical question is &quot;why not get the driveway plowed?&quot;  It may come to that, but I would prefer not to, mainly because I do not want to drive down and up a steep, narrow, icy driveway with a 15 foot drop on one side and because, well, because.  Also, a plow really messes up a gravel driveway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum to make Q more TGO-ish:&lt;/strong&gt;  Such a snowshoe would be useful for hiking on snowy trails for people who do not want to manipulate (pedipulate?)  large snowshoes.  I'd probably use them to take short hikes in Great Falls National Park or on the trails at Scott's Run and Difficult Run. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-12-02T21:52:26.863" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T21:52:26.863" Title="What features to look for in a small snowshoe for getting up and down a long driveway and around the yard during what may be a snowy winter?" Tags="&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21167" CreationDate="2018-12-02T19:17:12.497" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;At your weight and height I would look for 23&quot; snowshoes. When in doubt about size, it is usually best to lean toward the small size. Smaller snow shoes are easier to walk in, particularly in wetter or crustier snow. For powder you can easily attach floats to the back of the snowshoe to make it bigger and more supportive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MSR makes nice ones. Particularly the Revo, with metal teeth on the sides and bottoms for better grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16983" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T19:17:12.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21157" CreationDate="2018-12-02T19:23:10.773" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should consider water repellency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down does not hold heat once it is wet. Unlike synthetic fillings. This is particularly true of older down products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real innovation in down technology over the last few years has been the introduction of durable water repellent (DWR) down fills. Down with this treatment tends to repel water and is warmer when damp or wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your year is right on the cusp of whether the down in the bag has been treated for water repellency. Read the specs, that should tell you. If the down is not water repellent, you might want to try to return it and get one that is for the same money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16984" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T19:23:10.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21170" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21167" CreationDate="2018-12-02T20:44:07.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on the type of snow you get.  Ojibwa regarded snowshoes as 'disposable' You made them for the current conditions, used them for a week or a month, or a winter, and threw them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy wet snow, like you get in Eastern Canada, you can get by with a small snowshoe.  The 30&quot; x 8&quot; sherpas are just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out here in western Canada when I weighed 150 pounds, I used 60&quot; x 12&quot; Faber ojibwa style snowshoes. And many times I wished for 72's.  Even with that size, I would sink in over a foot.  OTOH I've done orienteering in plastic 18&quot; snowshoes when we had about 8 inches of snow.  No floatation at all, but it bridged the gopher mounds and sticks, gave me grip crossing beaver ponds, and saved a lot of wear and tear on my ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wet snow allows you to use a coarse mesh:  Dry snow needs a finer mesh.  Sugar snow is the worst.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using traditional ash and rawhide (babiche) and are using them in wet snow, pay attention to the varnishing.  They should be done in spar varnish (more flexible, breathes) not a hard varnish.  In dry snow you don't care.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are buying used snowshoes check the bottom side for wear, either on the neoprene for modern ones, or partially broken babiche on traditional ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Opinion here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think a smaller snowshoe will help.  Your present ones may be a pain, but they are at least packing a trail for you.  Generally I've found that going over a trail twice will leave a trail that will set overnight.  You will get a better trail if you have 2 people go over it twice, or if you haul a sled.  Sled can be empty.  It just smooths out the bumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T20:44:07.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21165" CreationDate="2018-12-02T20:50:37.730" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most countries have a national mapping service.  In the U.S. it's the U.S. Geological Survey.  In Canada it's the national topographic service.  In the UK it's the Ordinance Survey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google is great for many things, but once you get less farm roads, their coverage is poor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have other problems too:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many of those roads are going to be private.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some are created by the current land user for their own use.  E.g. forestry companies. And they may not allow the public in.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On government land roads may be created but only used by emergency vehicles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you need to your research at various levels:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Find a region that looks interesting due to lack of villages, towns.&#xA;B:  Find out who owns it.&#xA;C:  Find out if they allow your use.&#xA;D:  Find out if they have maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2018-12-02T20:56:20.633" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T20:56:20.633" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21078" CreationDate="2018-12-02T21:53:21.803" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freeze as much of the contents as practical eg bottled soft drinks, spare water. &#xA;You can freeze water in a bladder such as Platypus or Camelbak (with lids rather than hoses ideally) - don't fill completely, leave a gap then squeeze air out, leaving only a small air pocket at the filling hole. Or just half fill and freeze, then fill up with cold water shortly before packing in the cooler to make sure you have something liquid to drink without having to wait for everything to thaw!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need several coolers (eg packing to go away on a long trip or to holiday destination), try to keep one cooler for frozen stuff and one for the fridge stuff - adding even a few warmer things from the fridge will start to thaw frozen things faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, put the whole cooler in the deep freeze beforehand. I also use this as a packing tip - you can check how much stuff will fit in the cooler, then just put the whole thing in the deep freeze ready to take out and load in the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't get it in the deep freeze but have plenty of ice packs, use some to pre-cool the box down then swap out for fresh (ie frozen) ones before packing with food and drinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastActivityDate="2018-12-02T21:53:21.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-03T01:14:57.647" Score="5" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;We prefer watching animals from a distance, to try and cause them the least disruption. Every so often I've seen an animal in a distant part of a large area that doesn't appear to feel right. For instance, it may be limping a little bit, or missing an area of fur, which could indicate injury. Some animals that fight with each other, especially during mating season, can cause great harm, which is often obvious. Other times the damage is less obvious. Many times it's just natural changes that are part of being a wild animal.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if we saw something drastic, like bleeding, crying, having trouble standing or running, or being picked on by other animals, I'd immediately report it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm more confused if I feel that something doesn't seem right but am not sure. I'm particularly sensitive to animals, and can worry more than necessary. I've left places wishing I'd spoken up, but have just assumed that the rangers will see what I saw as they tend to their inhabitants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I don't have real evidence that an animal's in trouble, should I just leave it alone and assume the park rangers will handle it? Is it more helpful to at least report it, even if I might be over-reacting? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this question, I'll focus on animals that permanently reside in an area which is fully-staffed with people who closely monitor them. There are many of those places world-wide. If that's too broad, I could use an example such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;America's National Park System&lt;/a&gt;, where a  standardized strict animal care system is in place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-09T22:43:31.070" LastActivityDate="2018-12-09T22:53:39.587" Title="When should I report a potentially injured-looking animal to authorities in a large, monitored, wildlife area?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;etiquette&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21175" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21173" CreationDate="2018-12-03T01:47:41.533" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In a National Park, unless the animal was harmed by a human, it seems like the park service isn't going to do anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“The rule of thumb is that if human activity causes an animal to become injured or orphaned, we may intervene. If not—if it’s something that happened naturally—then we don’t,”&lt;/strong&gt; says ecologist Doug Smith, who oversees Yellowstone’s wolf and avian management.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160523-when-to-rescue-wild-animals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;To Rescue or Not, That is the Question With Distressed Animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Death and violence and injury are a part of the wild outdoors, its how the cycle of life goes. If the Rangers were to prevent the wolves from eating elk then the wolves might go hungry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the same article above, there is the story of the tourist who brought a buffalo calf inside because they thought it would freeze and then the rangers had to put the calf down when it wouldn't return to its herd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outdoors are not a zoo and if people want the national parks to be a wild place, then people need to temper their expectations to what actually happens in the wild, not some fantasy world where the animals live in peace with one another&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T01:47:41.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21165" CreationDate="2018-12-03T03:48:31.380" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing you might try is &lt;a href=&quot;https://gaiagps.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gaia GPS&lt;/a&gt;. With a free account you can explore OpenStreetMap, which tends to have good coverage of and metadata about dirt roads. And with a paid account you can access an Austria-specific topo map made by &lt;a href=&quot;https://basemap.at&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://basemap.at&lt;/a&gt; which may have better coverage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I work at Gaia)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16986" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T03:48:31.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21078" CreationDate="2018-12-03T07:52:53.817" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When we go camping I generally use this technique to pack the cooler(s). Generally, a cooler like the one shown will last more then a week, if done correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First in goes a layer of ice, on the bottom. Very thin, you want a lot of ice, but you don't want to give up too much space to it. So maybe an inch of big ice cubes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next goes in frozen meat and such. Things that are frozen but that will need to thaw before you can cook/eat it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pack ice around those items, filling in the extra space. On top of that goes items that shouldn't be frozen, but need to be kept cold. Things like lunch meat. Packing ice around those. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then at the very top goes things that are nice to keep cold, like drinks. Ice should cover those as well but that should bring you to the top of the cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some things to consider though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan your meals out. 1 layer or section a meal, so you don't have to &quot;rummage&quot; through the cooler.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the lid closed. Only open it when you have to. Take out drinks, several at a time. Take out all the food you need for a meal at once.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack food in bags or containers so that it can be in water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Really consider what you need or want for food. For example, apples don't need to be cold. Hamburgers, only the meat and cheese need to be kept cool. Water doesn't need to be kept cool. And so on. Favor meals and foods that don't need the cooler in the first place. That means you won't have to open it as much.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you need a lot of drinks then take a separate cooler for that. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the water in the cooler, it will help keep things cool.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the cooler in the shade. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be aware of heat generators. For example, meat heats up when decomposing (it will start as soon as it's thawed). So will veggies and most anything else. These things in a tight space can create a lot of heat (compared to ice which makes very little heat).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to avoid lots of airspace. Pack things loosely, but not with a lot of air around them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T07:52:53.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21178" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21181" CreationDate="2018-12-03T11:27:30.133" Score="46" ViewCount="10668" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming firewood can be found, but it's likely to be damp, how can I best be prepared for getting a fire going? This is for a light hiking situation, so I'm not going to carry a sack full of kindling, but am prepared to carry a fairly generous supply of tinder/firelighters/equipment. We can assume that there's deadwood (standing and fallen)  and green wood but there's been some recent rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8204/2529&quot;&gt;How to light a fire with wet firewood?&lt;/a&gt; is mainly about car-camping and pre-split wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/1097/2529&quot;&gt;Are there any specific techniques that should be used when starting a fire in the rain?&lt;/a&gt; is closer but assumes that you've got matches and little else, while I'm interested in preparing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T07:04:08.997" LastActivityDate="2020-10-18T16:05:23.227" Title="Given limited space and weight what should I carry to get a fire going with damp wood?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="24" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9356" CreationDate="2018-12-03T14:53:09.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am fairly sure I have seen this documented by Mark Grommers of PACI.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On this page &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/knots.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.paci.com.au/knots.php&lt;/a&gt; you can download the document 01_knots.pdf (password is given on the webpage). In v5.3b (16th Oct 2017), on page 37 and 38 there are two variations of the offset overhand bend for joining two rappelling ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first takes one working end around inside the knot a second time, the second (p38) takes one end a double turn around the lower part of the knot, ending up with a formation that looks very much like what you have 'invented', a combination of a double and single overhand. This variant is specifically highlighted for use in ropes of differening diameters, using the thinner rope to make the double turnand making sure it is underneath the thicker rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mark does a much better job of explaining and illustrating this than I can here. He lays claim to both but acknowledges the idea for the second came from Dan Lehman in 2015. &lt;em&gt;When&lt;/em&gt; in 2015 is not clear, so maybe you have a claim here, and &quot;Shem Lock&quot; might be the official name in future. Maybe you could get in touch with Mark to discuss shared attribution, linking to this page as proof of date of your discovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T14:53:09.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T15:08:15.717" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I have always carried is cotton balls mixed with petroleum jelly stored in a film canister. It's small and light, the cotton makes it easy to light and the petroleum jelly gives it quite a bit of heat. Just be careful not to get the jelly on your fingers when doing this, as otherwise, you can burn them pretty easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of other things like cotton balls that could be used instead, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13372/is-dryer-lint-worth-using-as-a-fire-starter-even-if-its-also-a-pollutant&quot;&gt;dryer lint&lt;/a&gt; is the obvious example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, try and get the driest wood you can and once the fire is going, use it to dry the wood out before you put it on the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T04:21:11.913" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T04:21:11.913" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T15:20:11.683" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bring &lt;strong&gt;skills&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skills are by far the lightest and most useful thing to carry.&#xA;They are, however, also rather difficult and time-consuming to acquire (as compared to, say, some tools that you can simply go and buy in a shop). Here are some quick suggestions (thank you commenters):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Collect the lowest deadwood branches still attached on evergreen trees, they will be drier than most.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shave off the moist bark of branches, as it often holds more moisture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Split small branches/logs with a knife (called batoning) to get to the dry inner wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Create &quot;feather sticks&quot; to get to the dry inner wood and increase the surface area of the wood, which helps drying and lighting it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure to build the best possible fire you can with the right mix of fuel/air.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry each piece of wood before feeding it into the fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, for the situation you describe I'd carry a pack of &lt;strong&gt;fire starters&lt;/strong&gt; - the kind you use to start your coal BBQ in the summer. There is a wide variety, but most all of them are cheap, take fire in any weather and once burning are hard to extinguish. And if they can set fire to coal they can dry+light some damp sticks/kindling without problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I like the eco-friendly fire starters made of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?hl=en&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=1&amp;amp;ei=VEkFXLTRKo-orgTr8aS4DQ&amp;amp;q=wood%20wool%20firelighters&amp;amp;oq=wood%20wool%20fire&amp;amp;gs_l=img.3.0.0j0i24l3.21533.24176..25641...0.0..0.131.1622.0j14......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i10j0i8i30.mS9bNHDgVrQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wood wool and paraffin (or similar)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you still need a &lt;strong&gt;fire making kit&lt;/strong&gt;. The following is a place to start (thank you for the good suggestions in the comments):  lighter (kept dry in sealed container, or a 'storm proof lighter' designed to light in any condition), stormproof matches, magnesium/flint stick, a knife to baton wood and create sparks, and perhaps duplicates of some of these for good measure (e.g. two lighters).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-10-14T07:49:59.300" LastActivityDate="2019-10-14T07:49:59.300" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17045" CreationDate="2018-12-03T16:01:12.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A constrictor knot might be a good option. If you get it really tight, it might need to be cut off, but because of the way the outer wrap goes over two inner ones at one point, you can usually do this safely without risking cutting the item(s) it is tied around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See:&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/constrictorend/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.animatedknots.com/constrictorend/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T16:01:12.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T16:51:35.463" Score="66" Body="&lt;p&gt;A healthy set of firelighters and some &lt;strong&gt;woodworking tools&lt;/strong&gt;. An axe and saw are a must along with your pocket knife. Failing that, a knife and hand axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With fire lighters, you will struggle to light sodden twigs. You might get something small going but this will burn out as your chemical fuel disappears - revealing that your twigs were not really part of the fire's main body. You've probably experienced this before. There's a few answers here that suggest you can light wet tinder with chemical firelighters - yes you can, but it is rarely successful in my experience. When a fire is needed for survival and you have a limited supply of firelighters, I absolutely would not recommend wasting them like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you will find is that larger logs that were felled a while ago that are not rotten are dry in the middle. With a saw or a serrated blade, you should be able to cut off foot long sections of a log. If you are able to split a 4&quot; diameter log parallel to the grain, you can retrieve the dry wood within. With a knife you can scrape this away into a nice pile of perfect tinder. A small one handed axe will split this with no bother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have plenty of tinder, a few logs split into quarters/eighths (to maximise dry wood surface area) can be placed around it along with some firelighters. A tepee shaped fire works well for maximising dry surface area - your split logs will only burn from the inside if wet. Once this starts to burn nicely, you just need to keep adding split logs onto the fire, dry side down.  Eventually your fire will reach critical mass and you can start burning the damper wood around without fear of it putting your fire out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This approach is slightly non intuative as it skips the normal dry wood approach to firebuilding : start with small stuff and work your way up. &lt;strong&gt;Instead, if the wood is sodden, start with the largest pieces of wood you can reasonably cut and start processing them.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to get a good knife (presumably you have one already), an axe and a saw. One handed axes are cheap and cheerful, easy to transport, rarely of poor quality. I would do a bit more research for a saw and suggest something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://uk.knivesandtools.eu/en/pt/-silky-bigboy-360-10-medium-black.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQiAxZPgBRCmARIsAOrTHSZGc_PfPHTqVL7mT2sFa7uare4wpr2u_DAIochFzorA0iTd4u_WgjcaAlnjEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this with a folding blade&lt;/a&gt; for ease of transport over a bow saw or something equally awkward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Experience: 12 years of camping in Scotland where everything is wet all year round. Even in the drier summer months (a relative term), evening dew soaks into everything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16218" LastEditorUserId="7990" LastEditDate="2018-12-04T09:10:44.410" LastActivityDate="2018-12-04T09:10:44.410" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T17:28:59.693" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other fine answers here, I'd like to add another skill I recently learned about to help with wet weather fire building. It's called the &lt;strong&gt;upside down fire&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can view how-to videos on youtube.com &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08TMg8Fp5Vg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFG52W48kE0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic gist of the fire is that you start by laying out larger more damp pieces in the bottom of your fire lay, as you build up you build with smaller wood until you are working with your dry kindling just under your tinder pile. Most of the examples I've seen end up looking like a teepee fire on top of a raised platform.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens is the heat and flame from above will cause the wood underneath to dry and by the time the flame burns down through the current layer the layer underneath is ready to catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been able to try it yet myself in wet conditions but I will say using this fire lay in dry conditions created a great smokeless fire until it ran out and I had to start throwing wood on top. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12295" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T17:28:59.693" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T19:03:40.400" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have always found it easy to just carry a few tea lights. PUt them under a wet teepee of small kindling, and it will light, eventually. Size up slowly, remembering that the wood needs to dry and then to light. If it's actively raining you may need to &quot;cover&quot; the fire a bit with a tarp or large leaves, but the idea is the same. The slow-burning tea light will eventually dry out the smaller kindling enough to light it. The smaller stuff drying then igniting the next size up. Just make sure to go very slowly and it should work just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="8236" LastEditDate="2018-12-04T11:50:50.117" LastActivityDate="2018-12-04T11:50:50.117" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-03T20:35:24.600" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I have always used over the years is plastic.  One grocery plastic bag melts down to about a teaspoon of highly flammable and water resistant fire starter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some tips:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for tiny dead twigs, still on the tree / bush for the driest tinder available.  My favorite is dead twigs on still standing brush under a tree with a thick canopy.  Another favorite is the tiny dead twigs at the bottom of a pine tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a tinder (the tiniest sticks) and a supply of gradually thicker twigs you can get a fire started with the plastic.  Be very careful as burning plastic will drip and stick to skin causing an awful burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In over 3 years making outdoor fires in a relatively wet climate of northeast US this has always been my fallback 'cheater' way to get a fire started without bringing dry fuel with me.  Only the very heavy, day long rainfalls have stopped me from getting a fire burning.  In that case, if I was planning to be on a hiking trip or something I would consider kerosene or a propane solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16993" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-12-03T20:45:24.263" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T20:45:24.263" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2978" CreationDate="2018-12-03T22:57:20.390" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are a somewhat healthy individual and not camping in an avalanche zone, you probably do not need to worry about suffocation. With enough accumulation, your tent will collapse, at which point you will wake up and most likely think you are being abducted by aliens; it will be completely dark, there will be an unnatural amount of pressure on your body (from the snow), you will not be able to move (you will be trapped in your mummy bag), and there will be a cold wet piece of material on your face (the tent). I am pretty sure there would have to be something seriously wrong with you to be able to sleep through having a cold wet tent on your face; it really is unpleasant. If the collapsed tent persists long enough, eventually there will be a C02 build up which will cause you to wake up gasping for air. Note that CO2 is not CO and is not deadly in the same way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After you wake up, you will likely scream and panic for a few moments (remember you think you are being abducted by aliens). Then you will realize what is happening and you will begin to extract yourself from your sleeping bag and tent. This generally isn't all that hard since the tent often keeps some of its structure. Once you are out of your tent, it will be a race to find your gloves and boots (and possibly pants) before hypothermia/frostbite sets in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your tent sheds snow really well, it is possible to end up in a deep hole with snow going up the walls, but again suffocation is not really a concern. Eventually the CO2 levels will rise and your body will do the thing it normally does during high CO2 levels (gasp for air). At this point you need to dig yourself out and clear off the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do during heavy snow fall is to wake up every couple of hours and shovel off the tent and around from the entrance. You can keep the snow on the sides as it will provide warmth like a snow cave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-12-03T22:57:20.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-04T11:51:29.793" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of additional thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A metal pencil sharpener with a large hole (often only available as a two-hole sharpener). Great for turning twigs into shavings. More surface area should mean they dry faster (once you have an initial bit of tinder going) and catch more easily. Shavings will blow around in even a light breeze though, so think about using pack, body or whatever comes to hand to provide a wind break while getting fire established.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I swear by Baddest Bee Fire Fuses. Basically short pieces of cotton cord soaked in wax. They are small, light, easy to add to a firelighting or first aid kit, inherently waterproof (probably not up to being buried or submerged for ages, but certainly can be dunked). You pull the end apart to make it fluffy so it will take a spark, then the wax takes over and provides a good amount of heat to get kindling going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a video here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hucYQijUCqo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hucYQijUCqo&lt;/a&gt; but in that he shows using a whole long fuse. I tend to use them in about 1 to 1.5 inch lengths and then leave them in the fire, I don't expect to hold it while it's burning. Pretty sure I bought some which were shorter to start with, as I don't remember cutting them down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a couple in various places eg every first aid kit, even have two coiled up in the end of my Bear Grylls flint/steel firelighting tool (not my favourite flint and steel, but bought to review and to have a spare).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another good alternative to fire fuses would be something like Live Fire which is essentially a tiny tin of waxy fuel. I keep a &amp;quot;sport&amp;quot; sized one of these (the smallest) as an absolute backup in case I really must light a fire for actual survival eg for signalling or to stay warm while waiting for rescue with an injured member of party. I think they are a bit pricey to light fires which are purely recreational. I might even balk at using them to light a fire every night of a multi-day hike just for cooking on. But personally I would probably carry a stove rather than rely on fire as my only option for cooking, although I will often do a bit of both (stove for water boiling, fire for everything else if I can). You can use the lid to put them out so you only use up what you need until fire is established. You could probably re-use the tin by filling with suitable non-liquid &amp;quot;fuel&amp;quot; such as beeswax, petroleum jelly (could melt in warmer summer weather), possibly even alcohol gel (but I would use a ziplock as backup to catch leaks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &amp;quot;pocket bellows&amp;quot; is a telescopic metal blowpipe which goes from a few inches (short enough for typical tobacco tin firelighting kit) to about 45cm. Great for blowing on a reluctant fire without getting too much smoke in eyes and lungs - and a fire made with wet wood will tend to be very smoky at first. Also really useful if you are trying for the teepee approach as you can reach in and blow where you need to in the middle of the fire. I prefer the kind with a rubber part to hold so it does not get too hot, but you can go minimalist if you need to really save every gram.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastEditorUserId="8247" LastEditDate="2020-10-06T08:42:22.593" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T08:42:22.593" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21165" CreationDate="2018-12-04T13:36:10.713" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer for the OP:&lt;/strong&gt; You live in Austria and you drive a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Qashqai&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nissan Qashqai.&lt;/a&gt; There are &lt;strong&gt;no unpaved roads in Austria&lt;/strong&gt;, your vehicle is not appropriate for 4x4 Trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Roads, paved (% of total roads) in Austria was reported at 100 % in 2009, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. &lt;a href=&quot;https://tradingeconomics.com/austria/roads-paved-percent-of-total-roads-wb-data.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Answer for everyone else:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off road car trails, also called 'four wheel drive trails' or '4X4 trails' are subject to local laws and customs which can very greatly by area.  Additionally these trails can have unknown obstacle that can be problematic for a single vehicle traveling alone. (my images below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than looking for trails themselves, look for groups of people who use those trails.  Then hit the trails with the people who know them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google '4x4 club {your location}' and contact who you find.  Using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=4x4+club+austria&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;4x4 club austria&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; I quickly found these resources&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jeepclubaustria.at/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Der Jeep® Club Austria&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.off-road.com/trails-events/feature/europe-4x4-club-page-12788.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Europe 4X4 Club Page off-road.com&lt;/a&gt; (Currently lists 3 other clubs in Austria)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GkBFh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;My TJ on Rocks&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZcSbH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;My TJ second shot&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IVHZF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rick stuck&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T15:23:29.693" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21165" CreationDate="2018-12-04T13:59:18.577" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The key to this is local knowledge&lt;/strong&gt;, the best way to get local knowledge is to get in contact with local people or clubs and associations that specialise in that sort of activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While maps may show trails, they may not show whether the trail is publicly accessible, passable by vehicles, or just completely boring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try facebook (other social media also available) to find suitable local groups and make contact with other enthusiasts in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-12-04T13:59:18.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21194" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21165" CreationDate="2018-12-04T14:36:44.830" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have taken a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.basemap.at/application/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the basemap&lt;/a&gt; published by the Austrian government. While my knowledge of German is very ancient, I was able to glean some info from &lt;a href=&quot;https://basemap.at/downloads/Legende_basemap.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the legend&lt;/a&gt; and GIS layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After looking at orthophotographies (aerial imagery) superimposed on the basemap, I feel confident that most minor roads symbolized as a wide white line with light grey outlines are paved. Any road/path that is a single narrow grey line is unpaved or even regrown (you can see in my screen capture at lower right, there is a path with ruts and grass centerline).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PPMAn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PPMAn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jpb5L.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jpb5L.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This should be a good base to start from but if you want more precise information, I would suggest looking towards &lt;a href=&quot;https://opendata.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;Open Data Stack Exchange&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2018-12-04T14:36:44.830" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-04T15:04:42.643" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Locally one of the forms of firestarter our hardware store sells amounts to coarse sawdust mixed with candle wax. Break a piece in half to get a rough edge to start.  You can make your own from old candle stubs and shredded paper. Paper towel works well too.  While most of the mass can be a ball, leave an edge out to make lighting easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do the wax in a double boiler, using a can for the wax.  &lt;strong&gt;Do not use the Master of the Kitchen's pots for this.  Getting all the wax out is difficult.&lt;/strong&gt;   Vaseline and cotton balls work too, but they are messy if they escape in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On trips I have a few 'fire starter packets' in my rain jacket pocket.  Each one consists of a stick of the above, broken in half, and 4 strike-anywhere matches.  That is wrapped in a square foot of aluminum foil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In use, once I have some twigs collected, open the foil and set on the ground.  Strike one match against another. (the other 2 are spares)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The foil reduces heat loss to the ground while the fire is small. It reflects radiant heat back, and it keeps the wood out of contact with wet ground.   It will get burned when the fire is larger, although check for unburned bits before you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started making these when coming in to shore after a day of canoeing in wet weather.  With the legs being largely motionless, they get chilled.  As soon as you get moving, a rush of chilled blood hits your body core.  I found I had about 3 minutes of shore time before I started shivering hard enough not not be able to strike a match.  While the shivering passes in  about 15 minutes, I'd rather not lose that time before having a fire and a hot beverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the process:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pull canoe up enough to not go anywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grab partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;go to nearest spruce tree, break off a handful of under twigs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tell partner to get more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unroll packet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Light matches,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;light firestarter,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;put crushed twigs on top of bundle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stack twigs and bigger wood as fast as we could find it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once the fire is started, you can add wood while shivering.  You can collect wood while shivering.  Once the shivering starts to slow, and the fire is getting big, get the coffee pot out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-10-18T16:05:23.227" LastActivityDate="2020-10-18T16:05:23.227" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-04T15:57:25.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to hand-make some of the tinder suggestions made here (which are all great suggestions, the cotton-and-jelly and paraffin lint balls are all time tested), you can buy cedar shavings firestarters commercially online, they're just cedar shavings and paraffin, cheap in bulk.  People use them often to start home heating fires.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16998" LastActivityDate="2018-12-04T15:57:25.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21197" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21198" CreationDate="2018-12-04T23:31:51.827" Score="3" ViewCount="845" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gore-tex, and other waterproof breathable fabrics are often coated with a durable water repellent (DWR) finish that helps prevent the fabric from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/bead-up-dont-wet-out-how-to-wash-your-waterproof-jacket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wetting out&lt;/a&gt;. It is not uncommon to hear people complain that their &lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/why-does-rain-gear-wet-out/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rain jacket has wet out&lt;/a&gt; and is now leaking. While obviously if the fabric is so worn it is compromised, or if the seams are not properly sealed, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8201/when-rain-jackets-wear-out-do-they-soak-through&quot;&gt;rain jacket will leak&lt;/a&gt;, but what if the jacket is in relatively good shape by the DWR is &lt;em&gt;compromised&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the absence of a DWR and the presence of dirt, oil and other contaminants on the outer layer, does a Gore-tex jacket become more permeable to outside water seeping in or does it become more like a non-breathable waterproof fabric? In other words, in the absence of a DWR finish, if I prevent overheating and sweating and ventilate the jacket to mitigate the effects of perspiration, will it still keep me dry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T00:57:15.627" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T01:34:54.907" Title="How do breathable fabrics like Gore-tex and DWR (Durable Water Repellent) work?" Tags="&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21197" CreationDate="2018-12-04T23:39:28.877" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the absence of the DWR, it would still be waterproof, but not breathable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The DWR coating is to keep the rain off of the layer of Gore-tex but does not provide the waterproofing. Once the DWR coating wears off, the Gore-tex is no longer able to work and then the person's sweat starts building up inside and you will get wet from that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early Gore-Tex fabric replaced the inner layer of PU with a thin, porous fluoropolymer membrane (Teflon) coating that is bonded to a fabric. This membrane had about 9 billion pores per square inch (around 1.4 billion pores per square centimeter). &lt;strong&gt;Each pore is approximately 1/20,000 the size of a water droplet, making it impenetrable to liquid water while still allowing the more volatile water vapour molecules to pass through.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The DWR prevents the main outer layer from becoming wet, which would reduce the breathability of the whole fabric. However, &lt;strong&gt;the DWR is not responsible for the jacket being waterproof&lt;/strong&gt; - this is a common misconception. &lt;strong&gt;Without the DWR, the outer layer would become soaked, there would be no breathability, and the wearer's sweat being produced on the inside would fail to evaporate, leading to dampness there&lt;/strong&gt;. This might give the appearance that the fabric is leaking when in fact it is not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T01:34:54.907" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21199" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-05T06:26:42.650" Score="5" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in a city in Ontario, Canada. If city coyotes are not showing signs of aggressive behaviour the city does not normally do anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My concern in my area is that this is a pack of at least 5 coyotes, near an active play park. I have seen them active during the day while small children are playing close by (20 to 40 yards away).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What can be done in order to ensure a child or anyone else doesn't get hurt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17003" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T16:28:06.370" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T10:01:14.590" Title="Are urban coyotes a danger to small children?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;coyotes&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-05T08:21:07.147" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot has been covered already, I'll add the thing I find most of use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Knowledge about flora and geography where you hike.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone answered &quot;Skills&quot; which is fundament, of course - but they won't help you if you do not know the vegetation types around where you hike. Where I hike (Norway) I know which bushes burn well. I know which roots burn well. I have seen people draw long and stringy roots up directly from a bog, and then just go and light them on fire with a single match. Stuffed full of etheric oils they were, caught fire like a basin of gasoline. I know birch bark is an excellent firestarter, I know that the lowest branches on a spruce is likely going to be dry to use as tinder - I know pines are a good source of fuel as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ask someone who has been hiking in your area for advice, and the rest you have to solve with experience. Bring warm clothes and some patience, it might get trying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="18063" LastEditDate="2019-10-14T15:04:00.977" LastActivityDate="2019-10-14T15:04:00.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21201" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-05T12:37:26.570" Score="9" ViewCount="449" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of taking a bearing the &quot;official&quot; way, why not just see what degree mark corresponds to on the direction I want to go (in real life or on a map), and follow that degree mark? That is, why do I need to go through aligning edge of compass, rotating the bezel to align the meridian lines, rotating body so compass needle aligns with orienteering arrow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification: Assume point B is exactly NW of point A. If I want to go from point A to point B on a map, I'd be tempted to do as follows: Orient map so magnetic north on map corresponds to north on compass (needle), then see where point B is in relation to point A (at compass bearing 315). Then, I'd pick a landmark in that direction, head to it, and then repeat. My point is at no point in this process did I need a compass with a baseplate or travel arrow and I never needed to rotate my bezel to align to meridian lines, etc. So I'm stumped about why I need to go through all of those steps. I do fully understand that those may be good skills to have for other more complex needs down the road... just wondering if I'm missing something in my simple approach to issue at hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17007" LastEditorDisplayName="user5761" LastEditDate="2019-01-29T00:16:55.323" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T00:16:55.323" Title="When using a compass, why not follow a degree mark without rotation?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21150" CreationDate="2018-12-05T13:16:50.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bit of googling seems to indicate that Michigan has the second largest deep population in the US at around 1.7 million.  There is about one deer for every 5 or 6 people in Michigan.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The chances that there is really only a single deer visiting your property is very low.  You might have only seen one at a time, but there are likely several of them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before actually trying to encourage local deer to spend more time on your property, research the issues and decided if this is really what you want.  Often the idea and the reality are drastically different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.deerdamage.org/page/problems-and-issues&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deer Problems and Issues&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deer / Car Collisions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Health Concerns&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Property Damage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Environmental Impacts&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next consider that you only own 10 acres which is not going to support any number of deer alone, these deer will also be visiting your neighbors.  Some of of whom are almost certainly hunters.  How is your family going to react, when your neighbor shoots the deer you have been feeding; in their front yard, and then proceeds to butcher it while your family looks on? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If after considering the implications, and you really do want to encourage deer to visit your property, all you need to do is provide food, more food = more deer. You can plant things like fruit trees, and shrubs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://homeguides.sfgate.com/kind-bushes-can-plant-deer-like-eat-93449.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What Kind of Bushes Can I Plant That Deer Like to Eat?&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Roses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydrangeas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Evergreen Azaleas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is a short list, there are many more. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T13:28:15.800" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T13:28:15.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21201" CreationDate="2018-12-05T14:45:00.553" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're talking about aligning the map, and no, it's not strictly necessary if you're sure of where you are and where you're going next. You certainly don't need to be that accurate about aligning it, &quot;I can see the Sun and it's within an hour of noon so that's South&quot; is good enough for most purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However it's a useful skill and while learning to navigate with a map and compass you should learn it just in case you do reach a situation where you need to be more accurate. If you're going to that much effort, you should have a route plan written up that shows the bearing you want to be taking at each change of direction. Again, not strictly necessary, but nice to have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can just follow a pre-calculated compass bearing, that's remarkably hard to do. What's better is to check the bearing, note a landmark on the horizon in the right place, and walk towards that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of aligning the map is so that you can look around you and compare it to the map to be sure of your location. There should be a forest to my left, a mountain peak to my right and the river alongside me. It allows the map to be your primary navigation tool with its much more descriptive information about where you are, rather than using the compass and trusting the numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-12-05T14:53:20.507" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T14:53:20.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21205" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21201" CreationDate="2018-12-05T17:07:55.553" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are times when accuracy counts.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A map will tell you where there is a dangerous or sensitive area, like highways (where you might miss a pedestrian crossing), cliff, body of water, private property, hunting area, protected habitat, industrial complex, high security area, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By approximating by eye, you could miss a trail that properly takes you around such hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along this vein, there could be ambiguous sightings, and it's not easy to discern where you are with respect to one landmark or another.  A compass can help you make a better determination of where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conversely, compasses work on magnetism.  There are places where environment can affect the effectiveness of a compass, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15157/can-a-compass-be-thrown-off-by-its-surroundings&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;; or, you lose or break your compass.  In these cases, it is advisable that you have a backup plan to be able to read a map without a compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, this may seem like a cop-out, but, by foregoing accepted practices for orienting a map, you lose a skill that you may eventually need.  Also, that sets a bad example for those in your group.  It is like asking &quot;why do I need a floatation device if I already know how to swim&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T17:07:55.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15417" CreationDate="2018-12-05T17:31:22.080" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your travel to Scotland has probably passed, hope you had a good time.  You are in the land of my favorite single malts: glendronach, oban, and glenmorangie - and therein lies my answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use ethyl alcohol in a pinch.  That is, any high-proof potable spirit, generally anything 75% or more alcohol.  Rum, for example, is often used for flambé, and any 151 proof or better is typically used.  Any rums, whiskeys, tequilas, gins, etc are expensive compared to vodka, so, vodka or grain alcohol would be the cheap option to go with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid using dirty alcohols, like isopropyl, they can be sooty and toxic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nice thing about using ethyl alcohol is that when you're done, well, it doesn't have to go to waste: Slainte!  But with methyl alcohol, the best you can do is use it for a hand sanitizer (isopropyl), or, burn it off otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, when you are in an area where use of methylated spirits might be available, but you are not aware of your location's regulations on manufacture or use, using that spirit could prove dangerous, whereas liquor store spirits is always safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T17:31:22.080" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2978" CreationDate="2018-12-05T21:27:00.673" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Camping in a snow cave requires a small vent at the top and bottom to allow some fresh air in and CO2 out.  Unless your tent was covered when you get it, you will have enough fresh air through the night. I suspect that this three-season tent would be crushed by the snow before it got covered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your cheap tent is likely to have bug netting on the inside.  During a snowstorm spindrift will blow into your tent.  You will be cold and wet.  Four-season tents do not have netting that cannot be sealed with another flap.  Four-season tents have high quality poles to help prevent collapse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastActivityDate="2018-12-05T21:27:00.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21209" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-06T04:06:06.097" Score="3" ViewCount="213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just seen a documentary in which a guy trekks through some rugged terrain while he has his cargo on a donkey. It's a pretty cool and versatile animal overall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some pros and cons of trekking with a donkey? The obvious disadvantage is having to keep a donkey (unless you can rent one some places) but are there any other? E.g. can they eat brush along the way or would you need to bring food for it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-06T05:27:43.760" LastActivityDate="2018-12-06T18:02:42.553" Title="Trekking with a donkey" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21210" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21209" CreationDate="2018-12-06T14:42:37.873" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trekking with a pack animal is not something to be undertaken lightly.  If it is private property the land owner will define requirements and likely provide the animal, usually with a guide/handler.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is public property, there are rules that very drastically by location. But in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unlike human visitors, Equines (horses, mules, donkeys, and burros) must have their feet cleaned and be on a special diet several days prior to venturing on to the trails. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Feed: Clean trailers, hooves, coat, mane, and tails prior to entering the park. Feed stock weed-free forage or processed feed a few days before the trip. To prevent introducing non-native plants in the park, use only certified weed-free forage— hay, straw, and mulch. Proof of certification tags required. Forage may not be taken beyond trailheads. Use pelletized feed, hay cubes, and grain products in the backcountry. Do not leave feed on the ground; use a feedbag or tarp. Pack out unused feed. Grazing not permitted. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/private-stock.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally Equines are only allowed on specific trails.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where an animal must carry its own food, it quickly becomes problematic for length of adventure. Depending on the animal and the terrain, a pack animal who is only carrying their own food, will have a max range of 5 to 10 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21211/4079&quot;&gt;What is the feed limit for various pack animals?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-06T15:05:27.300" LastActivityDate="2018-12-06T15:05:27.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21211" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-06T15:04:47.390" Score="1" ViewCount="192" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia lists these &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_animal#Diversity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;common pack animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yak&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reindeer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Goats&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water buffaloes &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Llama&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Equines including horses, donkeys, and mules&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dogs (&lt;em&gt;packing and sledding should have different values&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each animal has a weight it can carry normally described as a percent of its body weight, and food requirement that can also be described as a percent of its body weight. An animal who is carrying only its own food reaches a limit, where it can only trekk so many days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several years ago I found a list that showed these values, and described it better then I have here.  But my google skills are failing me on this.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-06T15:24:38.307" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T22:09:04.677" Title="What is the feed/day limit for various pack animals?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21201" CreationDate="2018-12-06T15:10:54.987" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The old style pocket compasses worked just like that.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem:  If you use a compass without using that arrow -- just using the degree marking on the dial, your error will about triple.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you hold a compass at waist level look down at it, and look up, you won't be looking the same direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can increase the accuracy by first pivoting your whole body so that the arrow is at right angles to your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can increase it again by holding the compass at nose level so you can just lift your head an inch or two to shift from compass to world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why they make sighting compasses.  These are ones with a mirror so you can read the needle AND look at the world at the same time.  In theory you can get within about 2 degrees with these.  In practice, 3-4 is the best I can do, since my eyes will no longer focus both on something that near and a distant object.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Orienting the map is a way to check assumptions.  Remember that all maps lie.  Better maps have fewer and smaller lies.  Most of the lies are ones of omission.  They 'forget' to tell you about something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With an oriented map, you can see how map features correspond to real features.  More than once I have mis-identified valleys, and caught that with an oriented map.  Directions on the map correspond to the same direction in the real world.  You don't have to do a rotation in your head.  You check 3-4 landmarks.  &lt;em&gt;(If that valley is Tonquin Creek, then to the right of it is Mount Baldy.  Baldy has a long ridge sloping to the west... wait.  That mountain looks like a flatiron.  Baldy is more pyramidal.  Ok.  Then that mountain as to be Persimmon.  Which means that valley is Berland Creek, which means we overshot.  Damn!)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-06T15:10:54.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21213" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-06T17:18:13.123" Score="4" ViewCount="438" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pretty strong magnet for magnet fishing. The problem that I am running into when taking it places is that I need a way to isolate it from my wallet/phone/compass inside my backpack as otherwise they could be damaged by the magnetic field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current solution is to roll it up inside several socks, is there a better way of doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-02-04T19:43:02.637" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T22:19:19.933" Title="How to isolate a strong magnet from things it could damage in a small backpack?" Tags="&lt;magnet-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21209" CreationDate="2018-12-06T17:54:58.083" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Donkeys are not cars or bicycles. They have minds of their own, and they are considerably stronger than you. If you are going to use a donkey for trekking, you had better know enough about managing them so that you know what to do when they stop dead in the trail and refuse to proceed. Or, when they find a convenient tree and proceed to scrape off all their pack bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a dark note, pack animals are subject to the same accidents on the trail that people are, but nobody is going to provide a helicopter to rescue one and take it to a vet hospital. Everyone I know who travels the backcountry with a pack animal (donkeys included) carries a firearm with them, and is mentally prepared to euthanize the animal and bury it, should the need arise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Donkeys will find browse along the trail, but for this reason they are prohibited from some areas because they are hard on the local plant life. In general you will need to provide at least supplementary fodder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can definitely go trekking with a donkey, but you really need to spend some time apprenticing with someone who already knows about their care and management in the backcountry. Consider working with a llama instead of donkey. You'll still need training, but I've been told by outfitters that they are much more tractable than donkeys, and don't have as much of an impact on the local vegetation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2018-12-06T18:02:42.553" LastActivityDate="2018-12-06T18:02:42.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21213" CreationDate="2018-12-07T01:26:51.987" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no magnet you can lift that is strong enough to damage a cell phone, so don't worry about your phone, apart from physicial damage e.g. dropping it on your phone. You may need to be careful the phone doesn't violently thrash into the magnet, but other than that, electrically phones are virtually unaffected by magnetism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your wallet, chip cards are also not affected, so just rely on those and a little cash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, you really don't need to do anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T01:26:51.987" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21173" CreationDate="2018-12-07T07:41:09.810" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the species, park rangers and other wildlife officials may be very interested to know that it has been spotted. For example: the monk seal in Hawaii. If found on shore, it is so endangered that a NOAA (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.noaa.gov/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration&lt;/a&gt;) official will come out and set up a perimeter so people won't disturb it until it goes back out to sea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest checking on what the endangered species are in the area where you will be hiking / camping, and then have the local number to call in case you spot one. But never approach it. If you have a GPS device, note down the location and let a ranger know you saw it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Particularly important to my field is if there is a beached whale. Report it immediately to a local NOAA office (or any NOAA number you can find online) and ask them whether or not you should approach it to aid in keeping it wet or who is in your area to assess whether or not an attempt should be made to reintroduce it to the ocean. If the animal is too far gone, the decision to euthanize it as humanely as possible (shots similar to horse tranquilizers) under direct control of an exotics veterinarian may be best. Even if the whale has already died, the opportunity to do a necropsy could be important to local NOAA offices, so a report would be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-09T22:53:39.587" LastActivityDate="2018-12-09T22:53:39.587" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21217" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-07T07:52:01.030" Score="9" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone recorded animal sounds while trekking the Annapurna trail (Nepal) or in Ladakh (India)? If so, where are the richest acoustic areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-12-07T08:49:31.983" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T08:49:31.983" Title="Nepali / India bioacoustics hiking" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;nepal&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15498" CreationDate="2018-12-07T11:19:33.110" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;1,5 year old question, but I do not see this trick which I (also) use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make the car and its content look shabby and uninteresting (that is more 'extreme' than the earlier suggestion &lt;em&gt;avoid leaving hints of something valuable being in the car&lt;/em&gt;): dirt and a few old rags or newspapers make you car shout out &lt;em&gt;this person has no valuables&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T11:19:33.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21173" CreationDate="2018-12-07T14:48:34.203" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two very good and accurate answers existing here, by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21216/4079&quot;&gt;Kerri&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21175/4079&quot;&gt;Charlie Brumbaugh&lt;/a&gt; not disregarding their points at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you wonder if you should contact someone, do it!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Calling with information gives the authority the option to make the decision. You should never physically interact with the animal.  But a phone call has no potential for negative impacts to you or the animal.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T14:48:34.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21224" CreationDate="2018-12-07T18:39:25.137" Score="6" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is specific to the hot water tank in an RV.  In my case it is 6 gallons, propane heated and insulated with the only exterior contact the access panel, as seen in most standard RV's in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard as it is to believe hot water can actually freeze faster than cold water. How it happens is not fully understood, but undeniable it does happen. See related posts on physics.stackexchange &lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/32989/27815&quot;&gt;What is the status of Mpemba effect investigations?&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/122742/27815&quot;&gt;Hot water freezing faster than cold water&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hot water can in fact freeze faster than cold water for a wide range of experimental conditions.  This phenomenon is extremely counterintuitive, and surprising even to most scientists, but it is in fact real. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The RV is currently winterized and located outside in temperatures that are freezing and below. I am leaving from a frozen area, traveling hundreds of miles through freezing areas, and arriving in a warm area (Florida USA).  I must flush the fresh water system and top off before departure.  Which means my hot water tank will be full.  I can either leave it unheated with cold tap water (from my home, temp unknown but not ice) OR I can start the water heater and bring it up to temp before leaving.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the plumbing and the fresh water holding tank are inside the RV. We will be stopping occasionally and heating the inside of the RV, so no concerns about the pipes or fresh water tank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Driving with propane heating on (air or water) is possibly illegal and definitely unsafe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I travel through freezing areas with hot or cold water in my RV hot water tank?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-07T21:35:37.360" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T16:24:45.237" Title="Should I travel through freezing areas with hot or cold water in my RV tank?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21222" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21221" CreationDate="2018-12-07T19:34:12.487" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This seems like a contradiction, if you are worried about freezing, then it would be better not to have any water in the tank/pipes where it could freeze and cause problems, and if not then it really doesn't matter whether or not it was hot or cold to start with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as long as the journey is, it probably won't matter as the hot water will cool down to the same temperature as the cold tap water anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T19:34:12.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21221" CreationDate="2018-12-07T19:47:55.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;it doesn't matter, your pipes will freeze long before the tanks will.  At best the Mpemba effect buys you another hour before freezing sets in, however your pipes will simply not take an hour to freeze in freezing temps, so the effect will be very minimal.  The solution for long duration freezing temps is to install a re-circulator pump, if your RV is too old to have a battery heated water tank.  Another option is to wrap the pipe in heat tape and insulation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17026" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T19:47:55.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21221" CreationDate="2018-12-07T23:34:23.433" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ideally the hot water tank should be plumbed in a manner in which it can be drained without affecting the rest of the system. Typically this means either nothing comes out of the hot water taps when it is bypassed or cold water does. Your best bet would be to flush the system at home, then drain the hot water tank, and then drive with an empty hot water tank. If you need hot water while traveling, you can either fill the tank, heat it, use what you need and then drain the system. While this wastes water and propane it will prevent freezing. The other option is to periodically stop and reheat the water. A hot water tank is pretty well insulated and the water will not require frequent reheating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T23:34:23.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2018-12-07T23:35:57.080" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm suprised nobody has mentioned &quot;Feather Sticks&quot;.  As described above, split some smaller branches by &quot;batoning&quot; but then on the exposed (dryer) internal corner, carefully shave down at varying angles to create a &quot;feather stick&quot;.  The finer the feathers the more likely they are to catch.  Bundle a few together and you'll soon have a fire going!&#xA;Another good tip is to practice this stuff at home before you actually need it of course! :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17028" LastActivityDate="2018-12-07T23:35:57.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21201" CreationDate="2018-12-09T15:24:10.607" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's quite a bit to unpack in your question, beginning with some basic terminology. Because maps are two dimensional projections the north on a map is &lt;em&gt;grid north&lt;/em&gt; and not &lt;em&gt;true north.&lt;/em&gt; This should be obvious if you consider lines drawn north from any two points will be parallel, rather than intersecting. Ordinary navigation requires a transform from grid north to &lt;em&gt;magnetic north,&lt;/em&gt; which is what the bezel dance is accomplishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with you that it's time consuming and onerous. Much worse is the fact that it forces people to develop operating the compass as a skill, rather than actual navigation. The compass with baseplate is meant to spare you having to carry a protractor to read bearings off of the map along with the arithmetic to transform the bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason you don't orient the map and read a bearing with a compass is accuracy. An initial error of a couple degrees results in a very large displacement if you travel any significant distance. Ending up hundreds of meters left or right of your target is hardly efficient. In some terrain it can be very difficult to recover from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following a magnetic bearing well is a skill in itself. In fairly open terrain the system you suggest of picking a landmark and heading towards it works well. In dense terrain you introduce errors every time you step around an obstacle. Alternating left and right deviations minimizes your distance off azimuth, but doesn't address the fact that early errors are more significant. Obstacles are never uniform sizes either, so with experience you may walk left around two small ones then right around a larger one. In the end it comes back to accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your destination is a shopping mall, then orienting the map and eyeballing an azimuth will likely work. You're close to civilization to begin with and the parking lot is a huge target. Even if you miss it, odds are good that you'll be able to see it from wherever you end up. Similar arguments can be made for really huge landmarks like lakes and mountains. In fact, if your destination is linear like a road or coastline you should deliberately choose an azimuth that is wide of your target, because you'll know whether to turn left or right when you get there. (It's a lot easier to navigate to a road then turn left and walk down it to your destination than going directly there.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In dense or featureless terrain accuracy is more important because errors are more difficult to recover from. The same applies at long distances. It's not uncommon for people to continue blindly shooting azimuths to trees not realizing that they're already lost, or the next best thing to it. (Equally as bad, walking to the wrong tree at least once in the process.) If you pull that when you can't see any landmarks you'll be stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most common casual hiking scenarios are somewhere in the middle. You can't afford to shoot from the hip, but you don't need complete precision either. You may carefully navigate long legs of the trip and wing it for short sections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2018-12-09T15:24:10.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21227" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-10T11:10:37.137" Score="9" ViewCount="271" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Norway, Sweden, and Finland, there are resident bears, but they rarely go near people, nobody practices the kind of bear safety that is necessary in parts of North America, and this does not lead to problems.  The only problems I've heard about involved people with dogs, often while hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the situation in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/719/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Virgin Komi Forests World Heritage Site&lt;/a&gt;, including the Yugyd Va (Clear Water) National Park?  Do I nead to hang my food and/or use bear boxes, or can I act like I'd do in northwestern Europe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2018-12-10T14:58:24.900" LastActivityDate="2019-12-15T20:03:15.457" Title="How serious is bear safety in the sub-polar Ural / Komi Republic / Yugyd Va?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;bears&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21231" CreationDate="2018-12-10T15:01:39.567" Score="4" ViewCount="515" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep looking for &lt;strong&gt;better ways of protecting my hearing when shooting,&lt;/strong&gt; and it looks like wearing both plugs and muffs is recommended for indoor shooting (centerfire gunshots range from 160-170 decibels).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you look at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/shipyard/ship_breaking/ppe/general_ppe/hearing_protection.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OSHA recommendations&lt;/a&gt;, one will notice that they say that doing so only adds,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Note: &lt;strong&gt;5 dB&lt;/strong&gt; can be added to the NRR of the most protective device when using both earplugs and muffs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that earplugs often have a NRR of 32 decibels and muffs 22-28 decibels, &lt;strong&gt;why is doubling up not more effective?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wouldn't the noise be reduced by 22 decibels by the muffs and then 32 by the plugs instead of just 5 more decibels?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-05T00:08:24.913" LastActivityDate="2020-01-05T00:08:24.913" Title="Why is doubling up with plugs and muffs when shooting not more effective?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21229" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21237" CreationDate="2018-12-10T16:22:04.313" Score="9" ViewCount="1589" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm keen on learning more about different woods and how they burn in particular in the context of bushcraft. There is a lot of existing literature on all the different woods out there. I started to read up on the subject and quickly found that it's rather daunting. What I was able to gather was: &lt;strong&gt;There are &lt;em&gt;so&lt;/em&gt; many wood types and there is a lot of variability in how they burn.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(for example: Hazel burns well, but Alder tends not to burn so well, and it just goes on and on)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In good time, perhaps I will make sense of it all. In the mean time, I hope that I can find some other general rules to follow until I have the proper experience to know for myself. I'm familiar with the hardwood/softwood dichotomy, but I'm hoping there is more to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tells or heuristics I can use when evaluating a wood I am unsure of to gauge how well it will burn? By how well it burns, I mean things like burn-rate, smoke, ect. This way, even if I'm unsure of the exact wood, I can at least have a vague idea of what to expect from it. Or are woods just too heterogenous to generalize their burns? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Further Clarfications&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let's try to hold environmental factors constant, clearly wood that is wet from a recent rain is different than if the wood is just naturally more moist&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;other physical properties of the wood are fair-game, like: water content, hardness, structure, ect&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16036" LastEditorUserId="16036" LastEditDate="2018-12-10T16:42:45.347" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T01:41:18.840" Title="Different woods and how they burn/what if we are unsure of the wood?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21229" CreationDate="2018-12-10T16:54:28.493" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my particular area (Alabama, USA), I can mostly tell how well something is going to burn by the hardness of the wood, the density of it, and the general ratio of late to early growth in cut sections.  If I cut wood, say a branch, with a saw or something where I can see the rings in the wood, I can look at the amount of late season growth (more solid wood) vs. early season growth (darker, typically less dense, sometime even porous to the eye).  You can use a knife or in some woods even your finger nail and tell which rings are soft early season wood vs. harder/denser late season wood.  The ratio of late season to early season is a good indicator of burn rate in hardwoods at least, and probably softwoods like pine and spruce and cedar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I do know how to identify the trees in my area, so that may factor into my general knowledge, but based on that knowledge here are a few examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Oaks are a very hard wood, very dense, and typically heavy for their general size per piece.  Red oaks actually have more porous early growth rings than white oaks; white oaks have sealed rings.  I looked this up to verify (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/&lt;/a&gt;), but have experienced this whilst making selfbows from oak.  Red oak isn't anywhere near as strong as white-oak, and it's less dense as well in general.  Not to say red oak won't make a good fire, it's what I burn as my predominate firewood at home and in the woods.  But, white oak will burn hotter longer in my experience.  It's just not quite as easily found around me, and it's harder to process with bushcraft tools.  Any smoke from oak is typically white, and is a bit acrid to the pallet if you cook over it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hickory is hard and heavy as well, though not as heavy as Oak typically is.  But, it burns very well, and provides a good flavor for meat with a nice amount of white smoke unless it gets real hot, then no smoke.  Makes a good selfbow too - but it does absorb water from the atmosphere more readily than other woods.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maple burns well, not as hot as oak but it's not nearly as dense either - you can tell just lifting it in hand - it's fairly light.  But, it provides a mild white smoke that provides a good flavor to meat if cooked over it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We have a lot of Chinese Privet around, and it is very dense for it's relatively small stature.  It burns well with little white smoke.  I haven't cooked over it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pines burn cooler and a lot smokier, with a thick black smoke, both due to being less dense I think, but also because they have resins in them that smoke a lot.  If you mix pines in with oak, you can get a fire hot enough to burn some of that smoke off.  I won't cook over pine as it will leave a turpentine taste on your food, and blacken it if you can't get the fire hot enough.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I forgot smell.  If I can smell turpentine or rosin or some other kind of chemically smell, I can typically expect black smoke, which isn't good to cook over (see pine above).  I don't burn much cedar since only eastern red cedar is native to my AO.  But, I suspect at least eastern red cedar would burn poorly with a lot of smoke - although it smells WONDERFUL when cut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastEditorUserId="11316" LastEditDate="2018-12-10T17:11:22.853" LastActivityDate="2018-12-10T17:11:22.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21228" CreationDate="2018-12-10T18:19:31.073" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/extra-protection-wearing-earmuffs-and-1218&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; linked by @topshot, it is because of two factors,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound is being conducted by your bones around the hearing the protection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They don't act as two separate devices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;principal reason is the bone-conduction (BC)&lt;/strong&gt; limits to attenuation, which are also illustrated in Figure 1. The BC limits &lt;strong&gt;represent sound that effectively flanks or bypasses the HPD&lt;/strong&gt; to directly stimulate the middle and inner ears of the wearer. Another limitation on the performance of dual protection is that the &lt;strong&gt;plug and muff interact mechanically with each other&lt;/strong&gt;, and thus do not behave as two completely independent attenuators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/extra-protection-wearing-earmuffs-and-1218&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Extra Protection: Wearing Earmuffs and Earplugs in Combination&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-10T18:19:31.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21229" CreationDate="2018-12-10T18:39:49.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Question said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hazel burns well, but Alder tends not to burn so well&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good and well very based on many variables... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As a solid fuel, Alder kiln dried logs are a good choice. However, because the tree grows quickly this means that it’s often not as dense as more popular firewoods, but it provides a pleasant, sweet aroma and burns well nonetheless. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.logsdirect.co.uk/blog/burning-alder-as-firewood/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hazel – good, but hazel has so many other uses hopefully you won’t have to burn it! &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildeye.co.uk/firewood.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Let's try to hold environmental factors constant, clearly wood that is wet from a recent rain is different than if the wood is just naturally more moist&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All wood is naturally moist.  With time it loses that moisture, the loss of moisture transitions the firewood from green to seasoned.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/13756/4079&quot;&gt;What is the energy difference between green and seasoned fire wood?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firewood choice mostly comes down to two points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it seasoned?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is available in my area?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point 1 = If you want less smoke and high heat; always pick seasoned wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point 2 = It really doesn't matter what the best species of wood is, if it is not available locally for your fire.  It is often &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;illegal and generally unsafe to move firewood (dontmovefirewood.org)&lt;/a&gt; Kiln dried wood removes many concerns about transportation, but increase the cost and carbon footprint, decreasing it's appeal for many users.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question does not say what benefit the firewood is intended to provide.  That is the final key factor in making a choice: Heat, cost, easy of splitting, ease of starting, flavor (smoking), scent, clean burning.  Each type of wood is going to have attributes that make it more appropriate for a specific choice in a particular location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-10T19:08:58.980" LastActivityDate="2018-12-10T19:08:58.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21234" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21235" CreationDate="2018-12-10T19:02:15.887" Score="21" ViewCount="8200" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to cook and or heat using &quot;cow chips&quot;? &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_dung&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure&lt;/a&gt; is and has been used to fuel fires where firewood is not available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ruminant manure constituted an important factor in American settlement on the Plains, providing fuel for heat and cooking in the near total absence of wood or coal &lt;a href=&quot;http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ii.007&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any safety concerns with using cow droppings as fuel?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-10T22:34:31.490" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T17:07:37.960" Title="Is burning cow pies (dried cow manure) safe?" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21234" CreationDate="2018-12-10T19:58:45.343" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is apparently not safe&lt;/strong&gt;, among the poor today who have to use it as they have no alternatives, it leads to all sorts of health problems.&#xA;It is also a worse polutant than burning wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the reverse side of the environmental equation, &lt;strong&gt;raw biomass is known to emit a number of particulates as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).&lt;/strong&gt; Burning solid biomass directly contributes to reduction in air quality, often to a greater degree than oil or other hydrocarbons. &lt;strong&gt;Burning animal waste creates more dioxin and chlorophenol pollutants than burning wood does.&lt;/strong&gt; This is particularly harmful when it is burned indoors without venting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PAHs are well-known carcinogens having the potential to damage DNA and cause birth defects. Dioxins are derivatives of PAHs and are known to be highly toxic to fish and wildlife.&lt;/strong&gt; A dioxin level as low as 0.5 micrograms/kilogram (about 0.0000005% by mass) are lethal to some species. Chlorophenol is also an aromatic compound. It is commonly used in pesticides, herbicides, and disinfectants. It is one of the primary components of mothballs. Chlorophenol is less toxic than the above compounds, with lethal doses in the range of 600 milligrams/kilogram or about 50% by mass. Long-term exposure to relatively high levels can lead to damage to red blood cells and to the immune system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://biofuel.org.uk/solid-biofuels.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The burning of biomass in the developing world for heating and cooking results in high indoor particle concentrations. Long-term exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) has been associated with increased rates of acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1262769/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Combustion of dried animal dung as biofuel results in the generation of highly redox active fine particulates&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to health experts, the smoke released in the burning process contains hazardous gases. Studies show that by inhaling these, people suffer from diseases. There are specially made chulhas or stoves for using of dung cakes. Usually these cakes consist of groundnut husk; paddy straw is also used. When the cakes are burnt, dangerous gases are released, which is then inhaled by people. .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.deccanherald.com/content/232244/those-dung-cakes-could-harmful.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study by Jadavpur University's School of Environmental Studies says the region's groundwater is contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical which gets into paddy through contaminated water. Cattle that feed on contaminated paddy husk and water produce dung that is likely to contain arsenic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Researchers say while the dung is burnt in kitchen, as much as 25 per cent of the arsenic in fumes could be absorbed by the respiratory tract of people and lead to diseases such as persistent cough and chronic bronchitis. The arsenic particles in the air might also settle on food and water and contaminate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/cow-dung-smoke-could-cause-arsenic-poisoning--4002&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cow dung smoke could cause arsenic poisoning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Note&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2010 there was an effort to create and distribute better stoves to avoid these problems but while better, it seems that they still had safety problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But “clean” is a nebulous term. Of those 28 million cookstoves, only 8.2 million — the ones that run on electricity or burn liquid fuels including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethanol and biogas — meet the health guidelines for indoor emissions set by the WHO. The vast majority of the stoves burn wood, charcoal, animal dung or agricultural waste — and aren’t, therefore, nearly as healthy as promised. &lt;strong&gt;Although these cookstoves produce fewer emissions than open fires, burning biomass fuels in them still releases plenty of toxins. “As yet, no biomass stove in the world is clean enough to be truly health protective in household use,”&lt;/strong&gt; says Kirk Smith, a professor of global environmental health at the University of California at Berkeley and the leading health researcher on cookstoves&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/these-cheap-clean-stoves-were-supposed-to-save-millions-of-lives-what-happened/2015/10/29/c0b98f38-77fa-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html?utm_term=.03412a4f057e&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;These cheap, clean stoves were supposed to save millions of lives. What happened?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T01:28:31.130" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21236" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21201" CreationDate="2018-12-10T21:49:11.003" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Magnetic declination! True north, magnetic north, and grid north point at different things.  The map you are looking at is referencing true north, or maybe grid north, while the compass is pointing to magnetic north.  If you are in Greenland your map (oriented to magnetic north) will be 46 degrees to the west of true north.  So if you start walking at 45 degrees from magnetic north you will actually be heading north and not to the northwest.  You will never reach your destination. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EV7cX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EV7cX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastActivityDate="2018-12-10T21:49:11.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21229" CreationDate="2018-12-11T01:41:18.840" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's hard to be absolutely certain without a specific goal for the firewood, but there are some generic things to look for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sap:  Sap-rich woods usually produce a lot of smoke, often black or dark grey in color due to incomplete combustion of the terpenoids in the sap.  Classic examples include cedar and pine.  Dried twigs from sap-rich woods can make good tinder if prepared properly to increase surface area, and the twigs can make OK (but not great) kindling, but large fires made of sap-rich woods are generally bad for cooking and also bad for your health (the combustion byproducts aren't generally toxic, but the particulates can cause long-term respiratory issues like COPD if you breath in lots).  The smoke from some such woods can be very effective at keeping insects away though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Density:  The denser a wood is, the harder it is to start, but the hotter and slower it will burn.  Oak, apple, and cherry are all good examples of woods that burn long and hot, they make good fuel, but are sub-par for kindling and essentially unusable for tinder unless completely dry and started with a something like a magnesium fire starter.  Especially dense woods that don't float are a special case here, they're often extremely difficult to start even with a fire that's burning well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water: Wet wood burns with lots of white 'smoke' which is actually steam.  New growth often is wet enough to burn like this too.  If you can't find dry (seasoned) wood, start a fire using whatever the least wet wood you can find is, and use it to dry out other wood to use as fuel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heartwood versus sapwood: Some species of tree have a marked difference between the inner and outer wood, usually showing as a difference in colors.  In such trees, the heartwood (the inner wood) burns a bit differently from the sapwood (the outer wood), but the difference is often not enough to matter for most purposes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Things that look like wood but aren't: Bamboo is the easiest example, with palms being another.  These aren't technically wood, and they generally don't burn very well, often producing a lot of smoke (just like grass does), but they can be hard to tell from actual wood.  They do still burn though, so if you can find lots of bamboo for some reason, don't hesitate to use it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also some more specific advice I can give:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Certain trees should just be avoided because burning them is a safety hazard.  A classic example of this is eucalyptus.  The oil in the eucalyptus trees that gives them their distinctive smell has an insanely low autoignition temperature, and may cause eucalyptus logs to literally explode when burned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid burning woody plants that aren't obviously trees unless you can reliably identify them and know it's safe to do so.  There are a number of plants that when burned produce exceedingly dangerous smoke.  Various toxicodendron species (commonly called poison ivy in the US) are a good example of this, the oil they produce that causes dermatitis on contact with human skin can survive the rest of the plant burning and end up in the smoke, which can make inhaling the smoke lethal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Always&lt;/em&gt; check your wood for plants or fungus growing on it, and don't burn it if you find any.  Some fungi will release spores when heated (and the spores can be toxic), and some plants contain toxins that can survive burning and end up in the smoke (for the same reasons mentioned above about burning other plants).  Other growth like this also impacts how the wood itself burns, usually resulting in inferior fuel wood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13902" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T01:41:18.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21238" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21239" CreationDate="2018-12-11T17:28:38.300" Score="10" ViewCount="2002" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in summitting Breithorn this winter (late January) using crampons and an ice axe. I am in excellent physical shape but I do not have much alpine experience. I have seen mixed reviews about whether or not I should hire a guide, but most companies do not offer tours in the winter. I am curious why this is the case and if I should even think about summitting Breithorn in the winter, and if I should even consider doing it by myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17046" LastEditorUserId="17046" LastEditDate="2018-12-11T17:35:51.320" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T21:08:38.103" Title="Summitting Breithorn in the winter?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21238" CreationDate="2018-12-11T18:07:03.390" Score="27" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I do not have much alpine experience&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing the Breithorn in the winter is a much different matter than in the spring or summer. Any 4,000 meter peak in the alps is subject to arctic weather conditions with high winds and temperatures far below freezing. There is also going to be very deep snow, so unless you know how to ski or snowshoe, you are going to have a rough time even getting to the real start of the climb. If you've never tried to travel on foot in 2 meters of soft snow, you have no idea of how slow and exhausting it is. On top of that, a 35 degree slope is going to have significant hazards from avalanche. Until you have enough experience to evaluate the local avalanche forecasts and compare them to the conditions you actually see, you should be very conservative in your winter travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the Breithorn is considered the easiest 4,000 meter peak in the alps, but it still involves glacier travel and somewhat steep (35 degree) snow slopes. That makes it an excellent choice for a beginner (with a guide if you're a real beginner) in season (spring and summer). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-11T23:36:25.280" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T23:36:25.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21238" CreationDate="2018-12-11T18:07:47.813" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a  general rule, I think it unwise to attempt, solo, for the first time, the sort of climb that one has no experience with, especially if it carries the potential for a serious accident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have winter against you, ice against you, inexperience against you, and possibly an unknown reaction to 4,164 meters against you.  Solo? No, not unless your meaning of &lt;em&gt;do not have much alpine experience&lt;/em&gt; is an extremely modest understatement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for hiring a guide, it is likely that a company will be able to find a guide for you, even if they do not regularly offer tours in the winter.  You will be hiring a private guide and it will be more expensive than the summer tour.  The reason that the companies do not offer regular tours is probably  because there are not enough tourists who are able to climb a mountain in winter conditions.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Planning-hikes-tours/Breithorn-ascent&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Breithorn Ascent&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This tour is a perfect way to get a sense of high Alpine air for the first time but only for surefooted and experienced mountain hikers accompanied by a mountain guide. The tour includes climbing a glaciated four thousand-metre peak, and this is not to be underestimated &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•The overall difficulty of the tour is given as “L” (easy)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•A mountain guide is recommended&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Warning: glacier crevasses&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Crampons, climbing harnesses and helmets can be rented in different&#xA;  sport shops in the village&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This description and caveat is for a summer tour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-12-11T23:13:49.570" LastActivityDate="2018-12-11T23:13:49.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21144" CreationDate="2018-12-12T07:18:31.560" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;An oven works fine to heat such liners.  Materials and temperatures vary but if you go too high you will significantly decrease the life of the foam.  Many ovens fluctuate greatly so filling pillow case with sand, stones, beans, rice and put them in or over the boots will help warm the boot slowly and evenly.  Preheat the oven a few degrees more before putting the liner or boot in, then turn it down,  you don't want the radiant heat melting the foam or plastic.  The best way to heat it is get a sous vide cooker, a large vessel of water like a cooler, put the item in a garbage bag  and put it in the heated water, leave it for at least 10 minutes but not too long or hot as it will start to weaken the foam.  Sous vide cookers are reasonably priced and great for cooking so many things.    Personally unless there is a specific spot that is uncomfortable, just let the liner wear in naturally.  Most people get too large of a boot their foot slides forward causing issues.  If you do try to mold the liner use acrylic, polyester or some sort of thin, non-cotton sock as moisture can transfer a lot of heat. Its best to leave the foot in for a while so it cools into position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it comes to most any footwear and especially ski boots and hockey skates, NOTHING is better than a custom foot bed.  They typically run about $200.  Alternatively you can buy a tube of silicone caulk and corn starch, mix them together apply them to the arch area of the insole at  wrap it in plastic wrap put it in the shoe and then put your foot in and walk around in it.  The silicone will spread and conform.  There is a chance the plastic might break or silicone may leak out.  Don't put too much in, you can add more later if its not good enough.  Regardless if you have high arches, flat feet or what ever, making or paying for a custom foot bed is easily the first thing you should do.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17049" LastEditorUserId="17049" LastEditDate="2018-12-12T07:26:38.790" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T07:26:38.790" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21242" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21244" CreationDate="2018-12-12T14:46:52.690" Score="7" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;I put up a bird feeder in my backyard over the summer and have been enjoying taking care of the birds. Unfortunately, sometime in the fall a hawk decided to start hanging around my yard. I shoo him away but he knows where the food is at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially I didn't think much of it -- circle of life and all that -- now I have a two-tiered bird feeder. Unfortunately after a few weeks of him hanging around all the little birds have stopped coming, now I just have an angry hawk who perches on my backyard fence and a bird feeder I never have to fill. I figure I need to shoo the hawk away, but how can I semi-permanently (I don't want to kill the hawk) achieve this? He's more than happy to come back the second I go back inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit to address Sue's questions, I live in a new housing development without mature trees just outside of Wichita. We have one blue spruce that is reaching about 15' but that's the only real shelter. The bird feeder is hanging from a very young oak in the back yard about 40 feet from the spruce (HOA says no bird feeders in the front yard); I'd say it's out in the open even though it's hanging from an existing tree. The hawk likes to perch on our fence which can be anywhere from 10' to 70' from the bird feeder depending on where he's sitting. I haven't noticed a pattern of when he decides to visit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5529" LastEditorUserId="5529" LastEditDate="2018-12-12T22:18:21.673" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T12:44:54.087" Title="What can I do to get garden birds back after hawk has made my bird-feeder his hunting ground?" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21243" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-12T15:23:13.630" Score="4" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly a preface:  all training's good and especially overhead training where the environment's so unforgiving.  Plus lots of practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where around the world are dive locations where you &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; have the cave diving certifications to dive?  For example in Mexico or Florida.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What level are these requirements, if any,  what is the legal status of these qualifications?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;N.B. &quot;Must have&quot; meaning that you can't access the site without showing a card to the &quot;guardian of the site&quot; or it's an actual legal requirement.  For most places around the world there's no such thing;  you can just jump in and take responsibility for your own actions,  i.e. you're suitably trained and experienced for the dive being planned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T06:25:24.460" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T14:34:47.930" Title="Where in the world do you need a cave diving certification to dive?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21242" CreationDate="2018-12-12T15:27:02.723" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The hawk will leave after its food source is gone.  It may not be after the small birds you are feeding, but it may be after the rodents that eat the birdseed that falls to the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T15:27:02.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21238" CreationDate="2018-12-12T17:27:53.907" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't try it. The (walking) mountaineering season is over, there is now too much snow in the high mountains and it definitely will not get easier till January. You have to wait until the Summer when the snow starts to get more compact. An early date for a 4000s ascent is June.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering now you either need skis that carry you over soft powder or a much steeper wall where the snow will slide down before it gets a significant builtup. But then you are into ice climbing and the standard Breithorn route is far from this ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2018-12-12T17:27:53.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21246" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21265" CreationDate="2018-12-12T19:56:25.857" Score="-3" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a December time vacation destination in USA. A meadow type terrain. Somehow flat vast lush and green area and if possibly has wild flowers and rivers around that'd be ideal. Does anyone has a suggestion or recommendation of where should I look at?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do lush green meadows, preferably with blooming wild flowers and running water, exist in the US anywhere in December for a hiking or camping trip, and if so where?  We are willing to travel.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15858" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-13T19:03:36.560" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T22:44:04.420" Title="Lush meadows December time" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21243" CreationDate="2018-12-13T06:36:22.073" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Straight up the Answer is almost certainly NO, since unless there is some way of restricting access to a site, any person can put on dive gear and go dive without any experience/training. I am not aware of any countries with laws prohibiting scuba diving in any form except for reward (commercial gain). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more acceptable answer is, whenever you enter any overhead environment most divers/dive clubs/dive schools will require you to have appropriate training and experience.  In the Light Zone, which is defined as linear 40m taking depth and penetration distance into account, the requirements are less strict and less enforced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several organizations teaching Cave diving courses and they normally offer a few levels depending on how far you wish to penetrate and the time you will spend underwater. On a basic level you will have a Cavern course(lightzone), Basic Cave and Advanced Cave course. But there are many variations and add on courses, like using underwater propulsion vehicles, decompression diving, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All over the world you will find interesting overhead diving  that requires more advanced training, if this is something that interest you speak to people that knows the areas you are interested in and that knows cave diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some dive boats/tours/centres will have their own requirements based on local laws/recommendations/experience, so as ever check before you go! (Aravona)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Let me just add that there are people doing dives on their own without training and without building up their experience gradually, this is not something I recommend at all. Many divers have lost their lives doing dives past their limits and their knowledge/experience. Spend the time to find a good instructor and learn the theory, the skills/drills and do the dives gradually. In the end you will be safer and have more fun.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has a good section on cave diving and lists a number of cave diving spots all over the world. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_diving&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WIKIPEDIA - CAVE DIVING&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3529" LastEditorUserId="3529" LastEditDate="2018-12-13T21:55:03.343" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T21:55:03.343" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21249" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-13T09:14:38.870" Score="4" ViewCount="351" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are the stitches on Adidas shoes' foot (out sole) part for decor only, or do they &lt;strong&gt;have a purpose for more durability&lt;/strong&gt; via sewing and gluing? (see on linked image, foot part with white stitches) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am asking this, because I would like to purchase it for long walk sessions on concrete terrain,&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to &lt;strong&gt;buy one but only if it is durable.&lt;/strong&gt; I think, that if they are indeed sewn, that would give more durability to it along with being already glued.  &lt;img src=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71YzWsv3aBS._UX500_.png&quot; alt=&quot;shoe with white stitches on outsole&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Answer: Okay, so I went to a store and checked it, it is actually sewed. It is a bit hard, but one can feel the thread from the inside of the shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17057" LastEditorUserId="17057" LastEditDate="2019-01-23T07:55:41.090" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T07:55:41.090" Title="Do the stitches on Adidas shoes' foot (out sole) make the shoes more durable for walking?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21250" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-13T12:55:21.780" Score="4" ViewCount="81" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to go for a week on skialp tour with kids (3 adults, 3 kids ~8 years old) this winter (end of December to January). I would like to go from hut to hut as some kids are too small to stay in a tent. We already have experience with ski touring, winter tent camping and high altitude mountaineering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm unable to find any routes\hut descriptions. Only advertisements from mountaineering companies offering a week tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T07:20:26.210" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T07:20:26.210" Title="Are there any ski touring routes in the Austrian\Swiss Alps suitable for kids?" Tags="&lt;children&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;alps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21252" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-13T19:10:25.850" Score="31" ViewCount="5267" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by a real accident, in which a young, healthy and experienced hiker I knew was found dead from hypothermia ridiculously close to civilization. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The assumptions behind it: a hike in winter conditions in a temperate climate zone (Europe), can be below or above the tree limit. The hiker plans to sleep in serviced lodges, or to go up and down on the same day, so has no tent or cooking equipment along. It is not too far in the wilderness - if the hiker calls a rescue service and can somehow submit exact coordinates, rescuers can reach the hiker in time. The hiker has no experience building a shelter out of branches, or some kind of iglu-like construction. The hiker envisions an easy walk along a marked path, but the weather turns problematic (e.g. a snowstorm, or fog) and he or she loses the way. Cell phone coverage might exist, but is likely to be patchy and weak, and probably without mobile Internet or reliable GPS. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw that there are questions &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7679/how-can-i-survive-multiple-days-in-cold-environment&quot;&gt;about&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/27/keeping-warm-in-an-emergency&quot;&gt;actions&lt;/a&gt; one could take, but I would like to ask for a list of items one would have to carry to prevent hypothermia and death, and have a reasonable cost (most people I know cannot afford a satellite phone, for example). This would include items which make it easier to find one's way again, to communicate with rescuers, to prevent hypothermia in the short term (like the energy bars mentioned in the linked question) and to preserve enough body warmth (or maybe there is a heater option?) to survive for a whole night, if needed. Also, the package should be small enough to allow for an enjoyable hike when everything goes well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T15:41:16.207" Title="What gear should I carry along for winter emergencies?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;winter&gt;" AnswerCount="12" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3148" CreationDate="2018-12-13T19:51:56.320" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sheep's wool, especially the comercially sold hiking variants like Icebreaker*, is the least warm options out of all standard wools. If it has to be sheep's wool, take homeknit, from feltable wool. A cable design will be warmer, since it has more wool in the same size. But it is probably better to look into other animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on a budget, I would suggest alpaca, which is much warmer at the same thickness. The downside is that it is also much heavier. Llama performs basically the same as alpaca, but is rarer to find, so not worth chasing. Camel is good. A better, very light choice would be cashmere, which fluffs up to considerable warmth even at thin weights. But the one that beats them all is the yak. Get a yak sweater if you want to stay really warm. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other wools will not give you anything special for hiking. If you can even get mohair in thick gauges, it won't be warmer than sheep. Angora is OK, but not better in warmth, weight, price or user friendliness. Some absolute exotics like vicuna are expensive because of their rarity, I haven't tried them, but I can't imagine their functionality being proportionate to their price tag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Silk is not really warm. It can create a good underlayer, but it's closer to standard polyester in its qualities, more likely to make you sweat than to keep you tempered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay away from the usual plant based fabrics - cotton, kapok, linnen, ramie and juta. None of them provides good warmth or wet performance. Also don't use synthetics, including all kinds of acetate, viscose, milk and soy, even if the label says &quot;natural&quot;**. Without going into philosophical discussions about natural vs. nonnatural, they are not as warm as the other materials I discuss here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leathers won't warm you per se, but they will keep wind out, which is quite valuable. They can make a decent outer layer, but most people nowadays would choose other options. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outermost layer I would suggest is not leather, but something filled with down. It is not strictly fabric, but you cannot beat down for insulation, not with artificial fabrics nor with other natural materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A last paragraph: you say &quot;wool is heavier&quot;. If the weight of sheep's wool is already a concern for you, I assume that you either have not tried it (and so are not familiar with natural fabrics) or are looking for something that is just like artificial or synthetic fabric, just warmer. To make it perfectly clear: such a beast doesn't exist. Natural fabrics are very different in weight, body climate, washing, drying, coloring, and skin feel. Before you invest too much money, make sure you know what you get and that you can live with its downsides. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* This is not just a general &quot;handmade is always better&quot; snob attitude. First, they tend to use rather thin fabric as opposed to rustically knitted clothes. Second, they almost always sell machine washable nonitchy wool, which is made by removing the microscopic hairs sticking out of raw wool. Sadly, these samie hairs are great at trapping additional air, making traditionally processed wool much warmer at the same yarn weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** Nowadays marketing loves to call them &quot;natural&quot;, as in &quot;natural bamboo socks&quot; but the standard terminology is to use &quot;artificial&quot; for anything made from oil, &quot;synthetic&quot; for fabrics which have been chemically synthesized from natural materials, and &quot;natural&quot; for fabrics created with non-chemical processing of natural materials. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastEditorUserId="506" LastEditDate="2018-12-13T20:02:31.863" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T20:02:31.863" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T20:23:17.340" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have spent significant time in the backcountry in the winter. Last year I did an early season through hike of the Continental Divide Trail, spending months living in the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a list of some items I'd recommend bringing if you're going on a casual hike in the winter. You should not bring all of these at once. Consider the conditions, your objective, your risk tolerance, and your experience when choosing which of these are appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof &amp;amp; windproof outer layer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm mid layer&lt;/strong&gt;: Ideally something like a fleece that works when wet. Down is okay if there's no chance of it getting wet. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Moisture-wicking base layer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long pants or tights&lt;/strong&gt;: They don't need to be waterproof unless conditions are &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; bad.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunglasses:&lt;/strong&gt; ⚠️ Snow blindness is no joke.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long warm socks:&lt;/strong&gt; I got frostbite on my ankles once because I was wearing ankle socks. You're probably smarter than me on that front. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof mittens&lt;/strong&gt;: I wouldn't bother bringing any gloves that aren't waterproof into the backcountry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Scarf, buff, or neck gaiter:&lt;/strong&gt; If the wind picks up, you're going to want something to cover your face. It doesn't need to be too bulky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gaiters&lt;/strong&gt;: Wet feet can escalate into a serious problem. If you expect to be walking through loose snow for more than 8 hours, gaiters are a very good idea. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ResQLink Personal Locator Beacon&lt;/strong&gt;: Satellite phones are expensive. The next best thing is a PLB. Keep it in an outside zippered pocket of your backpack. Should you find yourself in a life or death situation, this can send out a distress signal via satellite and quickly summon help. (~$200, no monthly fee)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Microspikes&lt;/strong&gt;: If there's any chance of encountering icy conditions, bring some microspikes. They're small and light. If you aren't on high angle slopes they're as good as crampons. ($60)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;High calorie snacks:&lt;/strong&gt; Pick something that isn't going to freeze into a solid mass (e.g. potato chips, crackers, bread)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foil blanket&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sleeping bag, ground pad, and bivy sack&lt;/strong&gt;: Even if you don't plan on spending the night, these may be worth bringing in case you get stranded somewhere.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Headlamp&lt;/strong&gt;: ⚠️ Always always always bring a headlamp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Camp stove, tea, hot chocolate&lt;/strong&gt;: The ability to heat water and/or melt snow may be the difference between a dangerous situation and a relatively pleasant situation. Stop for a hot beverage if morale is starts getting low. :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Map and compass&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Offline maps on your smartphone&lt;/strong&gt; ⚠️ (e.g. Gaia GPS (Fair disclaimer, I work at Gaia GPS))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extra socks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12699" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T20:23:17.340" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T20:34:47.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The safest concept is to always plan for the worst case. Of course, best practice varies according to context. Whether you're going solo or in a group, the equipment will change. Same goes for the different seasons. But generally, plan for slightly more than what you expect; i.e. if you're going on a day-trip, carry at least enough to overnight outside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your particular case, a solo hiker in the winter, it becomes somewhat of a tradeoff. In a group, for a day-trip, there should always be someone carrying a sleeping bag in case someone gets injured and immobilized. That is alongside an emergency kit. It adds up quickly in bulk and weight, but when you can divide it among a group, it's easier to manage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carrying a sleeping bag becomes slightly cumbersome for one person on a day-hike, so it's usually replaced by an insulated parka. If you can keep your core warm, you can last a while. Anyway, the parka usually gets used if taking longer breaks, provided the hiker doesn't overdress to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for an emergency kit, it doesn't need to be that large. A means to start a fire and a good quality space-blanket already cover the most essential pieces of equipment to overnight in cold weather. Those take up almost no space in a pack and there is no reason not to carry them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally do solo-hike in -25°C weather regularly and my 32 liter pack is pre-made, hung in the gear-room. It's a bit overkill as I carry a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/medical-kits/mountain/mountain-series-fundamentals.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;way too large first-aid kit&lt;/a&gt; although it's more in case I need to help others. Strapped on the side is a thin 5mm EVA sleeping pad which is part of the E-kit. Then the rest is clothing, which usually consists of upper and lower waterproof outer layers, a down parka, two pairs of insulated gloves (in case one gets waterlogged), multiple pairs of polypropylene liner gloves, a pair of spare liner socks, plus 2L of water, some dry snacks (nuts, fruit bars, cheese), etc. I know I could overnight with that gear. It wouldn't be comfortable, but enough to stay warm. Bear in mind, this is all gear that I carry but almost never wear. It weighs about 8kg, which is not too much, and I consider it training weight so I keep the muscle memory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The most important part of the puzzle though is not necessarily what I carry but what I know about using it&lt;/strong&gt;. Any serious outdoorsman/woman should consider taking wilderness safety/first-aid courses and practice/revise their knowledge regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T13:47:52.107" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T13:47:52.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T20:38:01.990" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;First: buddies. Solo activities are inherently riskier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not that's out of the way, what kit is practical? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Extra insulation and extra wind/waterproofing&lt;/em&gt;. This may be just one item, but it's more likely to be a foil blanket, extra mid layer, and survival bag. If you stop moving, you stop generating as much heat, so you need insulation. The extra mid layer, fleece or similar can be used simply for comfort, while the foil blanket is light and can be worn under the outer layer of clothing or over the top. This can be left with a casualty if you go to get help. The bright orange survival bag is also a signal that shows up well against snow or vegetation. If another hiker sees a survival bag, they're likely to go and check.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When kayaking in the winter I carry something slightly better than a survival bag but also bright orange - a small group shelter, which can also be wrapped round an individual. I have a foil blanket as well. I also keep a foil blanket in my compact first aid kit for distance cycling, when space and weight are at a premium (except in the height of summer).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When winter kayaking and often when winter walking, I carry a &lt;em&gt;thermos of hot drink&lt;/em&gt;. It's not meant strictly for emergency use, but tends to be started after the toughest part of the day and finished at the end of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As well as slightly more snacks than I expect to want, there's &lt;em&gt;something to eat in my emergency kit&lt;/em&gt; (a long life snack bar of some sort). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not unknown for me to grab my entire kayaking emergency bag for a day hike in winter. That adds a first aid kit, head torch (useful if delayed until after dark) and light stick (a casualty is much easier to return to after dark if they've got a light source, and it's very comforting). There's other stuff in there that's less useful for hiking, but it doesn't weigh much and I prefer to keep the kit intact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ability to get exact coordinates &lt;em&gt;and send them to someone useful&lt;/em&gt; is important. SMS can still often get through with a patchy signal, as it should wait until it can connect, but recently we had more luck with a messaging app that sent as soon as it got a data signal (not an emergency, but good practice for one - two members of one of our two kayaking groups didn't do as much river as their boats did, but communication reunited then with most of their kit without excessive hanging around on river banks). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T20:38:01.990" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21257" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21263" CreationDate="2018-12-13T20:46:35.900" Score="8" ViewCount="640" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently looking for a couple of things for a Nepal trekking trip. Two things are a good hardshell and a thick fleece jacket. I once had a super cheap fleece + hardshell which I could &quot;zip in&quot;, meaning that I could combine both to one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching for hardshells and fleece jackets for trekking, I only found &quot;Schöffel ZipIn&quot;. Why is this concept so rarely used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6392" LastEditorUserId="2066" LastEditDate="2018-12-21T10:48:17.787" LastActivityDate="2018-12-21T10:48:17.787" Title="Why are zip-in (fleece + hardshell) jackets so rare?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T21:01:01.217" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;As usual, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;skills&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; are the lightest and most effective thing one can carry. From how to bushcraft useful things from natural materials, to clever ways to satisfy needs like signaling or navigation, to keeping a healthy state of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless, some useful items greatly increase chance of success / reduce chance of suffering. The less skills, the more reliance shifts to items. Because items aren't always reliable, can weigh down a hike, and sometimes call for special skills anyway, much better to start with skills! Now onto the items, a kit I've carried in very remote, very cold woods through good and bad:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think in terms of elements, and in terms of marginal benefit. For example, carrying an axe is nice if you need a lot of wood, but it's very heavy and could be improved or worked around with a knife, downed debris, or even a folding saw. Therefore an axe has little marginal benefit - carry a knife instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary of Gear (the TL;DR if you want to skip details)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I lay all this gear out on a table it is not much. A zip-lock bag of fire stuff rolled up; my water bottle/cup in a belt-pouch or backpack; a trauma kit with water purification tablets in another belt-pouch or backpack; tarp-poncho in its own pouch plus a zip-lock with rope and some bush-shelter-odds-and-ends all stored in a backpack; basic navigation/signaling tools and a knife in my pockets/belt. I should weigh it but I'd guess it's all under 5lbs not counting liquid water and clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Fire&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Redundant, rugged, and lightweight. Starting a fire with numb feet and fingers is not fun and it is easy to lose clear thinking during this process. Carry a light water-tight container (e.g. used zip-lock bag) with items discussed in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21178/given-limited-space-and-weight-what-should-i-carry-to-get-a-fire-going-with-damp&quot;&gt;Given limited space and weight what should I carry to get a fire going with damp wood?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Storm proof matches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at least two lighters, better yet if one is designed to be 'storm proof'&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fire starters (e.g. eco-friendly ones made of wood wool and flammable wax)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flint and magnesium stick&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fixed-blade knife, probably at least 3&quot; blade, the sharper and closer to full-tang the better&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra knife. &quot;Two is one and one is none&quot; - and you do &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; want to need to improvise a cutting tool in the cold winter woods!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some sort of flashlight. I generally have a headlamp and a crank-light. I keep this with my fire-kit or somewhere else more handy, as usually it's something I grab when I'm settling down in place at least for a few minutes to adjust to approaching night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This entire bag can weigh very little. Before I go out I double check there's plenty of matches, at least a lighter, more fire starters than I think I'll need for a few days out there, and a flint stick. Then I stuff it in the bottom of my pack - if I'm starting a fire I can empty my back and stay put for a bit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Water&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best to go out hydrated, carry water in yourself. Also carry a liter to start a hike with. Some people like carrying a single 1L container, others multiple small pouches, I don't think that matters. What matters is that you have &lt;strong&gt;a container you can boil water&lt;/strong&gt;, preferably without poisoning yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a nested hard plastic container + steel cup. I also carry ~6-12 &lt;strong&gt;water purification tablets&lt;/strong&gt; in my first-aid kit - very light, rarely used, but you'll be glad you have them if you need them. Lately, I've added two 1L pouches (usually empty) with a Sawyer Mini water filter in my 'daypack' or whatever outfit I have with me in the woods. I left the filter and pouches out of this post at first as it's more for weekend trips than day hikes, but it's so light and useful, it's good to have in the kit and at least one occasion I've been happy to have it on a casual hike turned longer exploration/adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Shelter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your clothing is the key here, and layers are the key to that&lt;/strong&gt;. You should be able to go from sauna to frozen outdoors with the clothes you carry on your back or tied to your pack or waist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'd wander in very cold remote woods I'd wear: thermal pants and top, rugged pants, insulated overalls, 2 thin-ish warm tops, insulated wind-breaking jacket, scarf/shemagh, bandanas in my pockets/pack, balaclava, beanie, thin gloves with dexterity, thick wind-breaking water-resistant mittens, thick and/or 2 pairs of socks, insulated water-resistant boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This pile of clothing will make a big difference if you simply curl up in a ball under some natural shelter. If you are improperly dressed, your situation is much worse. But also don't let your clothing encumber you too much, and be careful not to sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, for a day hike you don't want to carry a whole tent or whatever, but some basic components save you a lot of trouble if you are forced to overnight. I am a huge fan of carrying a lightweight tarp, better yet &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/743069/outdoor-products-packframe-poncho?CAWELAID=120217890000784189&amp;amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;amp;CAAGID=15885660520&amp;amp;CATCI=aud-553371945779:pla-445321096520&amp;amp;cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C404_157881%7C7430690029%7Cnone%7C5a018bb1-6144-4ff0-8712-e9f41967a836%7Caud-553371945779:pla-445321096520&amp;amp;lsft=cm_mmc:PLA_Google_LIA%7C404_157881%7C7430690029%7Cnone%7C5a018bb1-6144-4ff0-8712-e9f41967a836&amp;amp;kclid=5a018bb1-6144-4ff0-8712-e9f41967a836&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAo8jgBRAVEiwAJUXKqIcVqdkGDCRY5Qs3yywANLuVlWj2amKHuO2QiY4s_1ZpOKrFHYo3ZhoC7kkQAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;a poncho-tarp&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. That plus &lt;strong&gt;plenty of rope and duct-tape&lt;/strong&gt;, and if you can bare it carrying &gt;6 tent stakes and some carabiners can help too. With that pound or two of gear, and your tough knife from the fire-kit, you can construct pretty solid make-shift shelters in just 2-4 hours if you are below the treeline. A cheaper or additional option to tarp poncho is a heavy duty large garbage bag like those used in construction; wrap up part of your kit in it for water protection, and you can use that garbage bag as a tarp, bucket, bed-bag, poncho, and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Navigation and signaling&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to keep it simple with &lt;strong&gt;a good compass (which includes signaling mirror) and topographic map&lt;/strong&gt;. I'd also have &lt;strong&gt;an emergency whistle&lt;/strong&gt; on me somewhere. Working in the woods I now carry a radio and/or GPS emergency beacon (an InReach device) but I didn't used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;First-aid&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pick-up a light-weight trauma kit and keep that in an accessible part of your pack. Accessible so that you can access it quickly while panicking and injured, and in a simple place to describe so you can communicate its location to someone else in distress if needed. For intentionally longer trips, different/more first-aid is called for, but for day trips a trauma kit will do. Maybe a basic manual booklet too, some kits come with that. Better yet - really to the point of necessity - is familiarizing yourself with the kit and getting first-responder training to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Add some good cold-weather camping snacks to first-aid in case you get hungry out there, and remember to restock snacks before the next trip :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2018-12-18T00:29:50.627" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T00:29:50.627" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T21:15:11.733" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To start with, there is no such &amp;quot;list&amp;quot; which can adequately cover your question- every trip is different, every scenario is variable, and winter is such a broad period that regions have completely different challenges (&amp;quot;winter&amp;quot; in the Northern Hemisphere happens in a different part of the calendar year than it does in the Southern Hemisphere, and January in the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies varies drastically from March in the same location varies drastically from the Western Slope 100 miles West). Additionally, hypothermia can easily be suffered in July or August (at 2000m elevation, in July temps can be under 10C at night, even start dropping in the 10-15C range by dusk).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only constant item you will always bring with you is your brain; that may sound flippant or impudent, but I mean it quite sincerely. Going into the wilderness without proper knowledge and education is the first potentially life-threatening mistake you can make (you referenced not knowing how to erect improvised shelter). Next, if you lose your head and start to panic, you will be in a world of hurt; education is the foundation here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you taken a Wilderness First Aid course? Are you aware that, if you require assistance by a Search and Rescue team, it can take over an hour just to transport you 0.75km (0.5mi)- not counting the time it takes to call them, SAR to organize and respond, response time, travel time to you, patient evaluation, patient package for transport, handoff to EMS personnel, transport to hospital? Do you know how to handle an injury in the backcountry and the exponentially complex nature of something as simple as a blister which wasn't managed properly when you are in the backcountry versus front country (e.g. your house)? Do you have a proper first aid kit and know how to use it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next is basic survival skills. This doesn't have to be an expensive class by any means. There are usually groups which will teach basic skills in wilderness survival and how to keep warm and dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for gear, backcountry medicine and survival is 90% improvisation, so a good class will teach you goal oriented skills and how to improvise with the items you always carry. ab2 referenced trekking poles and I agree; I always walk with them (when I was a guide one of the guys on my team used to call them &amp;quot;wussy wands&amp;quot; and I love the term- especially since he now uses them). They will reduce strain on your back, knees and ankles and they are incredibly versatile- splints for instability in limbs/joints, improvised shelter building, etc. a base list might include (but is not limited to):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aforementioned trekking poles&#xA;emergency blanket (the heavy duty kind such as those made by SOL, not the cheap limar &amp;quot;space&amp;quot; blankets)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cravat (x4)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SAM splint&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire starter (flint and steel and nesting material- practice and know how to use them)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signalling materials (I like the Silva Ranger compass with mirror and sighting slot, Storm(tm) whistle, and the flint and my fire building material is also for signalling)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation tools (manual, NOT your phone or GPS, and know how to use it- the compass serves double duty here, and carry a map of the region in which you a traveling)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First Aid kit; a real one- no off the shelf first aid kit I've found is sufficient or effective. They're usually &amp;quot;150 parts&amp;quot; 145 of which are useless in the backcountry, or made for x number of people for y number of days and are way overpriced and full of a bunch of junk you won't use, missing stuff you need, and have a little first aid book which won't do you much good in an emergency (&amp;quot;let me see, you're bleeding out...bleeding..bleeding...ah! 'uncontrolled bleeding, what to do' page 18, 72, 101...okay..give me a minute to look that up...&amp;quot;). Take a WFA or WFR course, know how to use it and what to do.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may sound like a lot and very expensive (and some may say overkill for a day hike), but the listed items actually aren't that substantial in size/weight and a day hike is something which seems like a simple activity which doesn't require more than shoes and a water bottle, but it can quickly become life threatening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Permit me to relate an anecdote here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of students of mine were enjoying a day hike on a trail just outside Boulder, Colorado (about 30 minutes from the hospital) when, about 1.5mi (~2.4km) in they encountered a young lady on her way to the trailhead to call for help (they were in a canyon and reception was spotty). She said her friend had &amp;quot;fallen&amp;quot; and was hurt so, having recently completed their Wilderness First Aid course, had their first aid kits with them and went to check on her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The patient had fallen 20ft (6m) from a rock and was in pretty bad shape. The two young ladies requiring assistance were on a simple day hike in July in a well known area close to town, and were taking a short break on an overlook to take in the view when the patient slipped and fell. it took 13 hours to get her to the hospital. They had no first aid training, no first aid materials (just hiking shoes, snacks and water) and no survival materials (shorts and t-shirts for summer weather). Worst of all, no training of any kind and so no ability to improvise with what they did have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luckily, the friend did have her cell phone, kept her wits about her, and knew enough to make sure her friend was breathing and went for help. They just got lucky in that some trained and well prepared people were on the trail ready to render assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My apologies for not making the connection on the use of my anecdote clear- the point of the anecdote is to drive home the importance of training and the difference it makes to have someone with training versus being without, and illustrate how complicated it can be even with training. The reason for that one in particular- even though a summer example- is that the question was directly related to a day hike close to the front-country and people often minimize the necessity of being prepared with a solid first aid kit, but that it is a potentially fatal mistake to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for cravats, their inclusion in my list is not a typo- in my opinion, they are the most underrated yet versatile item you can carry in your pack- build a shelter, stop bleeding, make a splint, improvise and you can come up with hundreds of uses. The reason for four is that, with four, I can effectively splint and package any limb fully and completely. Can I do it with less- sure, I don't actually &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; any, but they take up so little weight and space that, at $0.89, why wouldn't I carry four?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding off the shelf first-aid kits, I have yet to find one which I wasn't, in the end, having to replace so much of the contents that I ended up using it for just the bag. They are made to make money- the contents, while great at home, are neither the quality nor are they of the type that I need in a good kit. I don't need a set amount of items, I need to change my kit depending upon which activity and duration I am doing. I need to change a dressing on a wound every 24 hours in the backcountry. Assuming I need to be prepared to handle wounds which may require a 3x3 gauze pad and a roller gauze to dress (not counting irrigation and infection mitigation), if I'm on a twelve day trip in the desert and I get a 4&amp;quot; laceration on my shin falling while setting up a rock climbing route on day two (happened to me), how much gauze do I need to be prepared with to manage that wound and prevent infection? Chances are, I won't have to dress it the entire time (in fact, I shouldn't if I don't have to) and bandaging, so long as it's clean, may be reused so I may not need to account for every day but, if I see signs of infection, I need to change it more often and keep it covered longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, I was also one of the trip guides, so I'm carrying a larger kit due to the fact that I'm prepared not only to take care of at least 3 wounds for myself, but at least 3 from trip members (they are carrying their own too, but I need to be able to have materials ready at hand). Even so, For just this one wound, I have a pair of nitrile gloves, 3x3 gauze, roller gauze, povidone iodine wipe, and alcohol wipe for each for 11 days x1.5 (for infection) when I leave. A lot? sounds like it, but I'm not interested in cancelling a trip because I wasn't able to manage a simple wound. I also have that x5 (I've got enough for several wounds remember), plus material for a major bleed event, splinting material, sting/allergen material, signalling and TIH mitigation, etc. Sounds like my FA kit is as large as my trauma kit on the Engine in my station, but it isn't, it's broken into a few small kits, 3x3x4/5/6, placed in the voids in the top of my pack. For shorter trips or day hikes, it gets smaller based upon duration of trip and activity, all fits in a single small bag. No off the shelf has more than a couple of gloves, a couple gauze pads, maybe 1 or 2 roller guaze.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't get into wound cleaning and management here. I'm not teaching a wound class, so I won't get into the data on the benefits of wounds being left open and moist versus covered and dry, closure vs non, how to use povidone iodine and alcohol, when absolutely NOT to, what to use for irrigation and how, etc. I can't cover how to properly recognize wound infection, the seriousness of it in the backcountry (4, 8, 10, 18 hrs are the times to watch for it initially), highest risk areas of the body, etc. There is a lot there (few hours of class), not will I try- that's a hands-on class, and takes a lot of time. Thus, take a class in backcountry medicine and learn what you need to know to mitigate these things, how to manage them, and what it takes to actually treat and manage a wound, and you quickly begin to see off the shelf first aid kits in a whole new light (at least, I do- they are heavier and bulkier than mine, and lack the equipment I need to manage even a single wound in the backcountry).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been my experience that, the longer our trips get, the lighter we try to make our packs but the heavier our first aid kits, by necessity, will get. Can an argument be made that it's all overkill, totally unnecessary and  you can get by with much less? Sure. It's called confirmation bias. Everyone has their own opinion on these things, and I'm not claiming to be an expert, I'm answering from my own experience from 30 years of recreational, guide, military, and rescue experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13734" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T20:51:38.597" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21199" CreationDate="2018-12-13T21:40:20.963" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stay away from them, don't let your kids play outside after dusk by themselves and make sure they are being kids (i.e.- being loud and obnoxious) and keep all food near and around your home inaccessible (including trash cans- use bear country discipline to reduce food reward associated with people smell). Generally, Coyotes are cowards and will avoid humans (your dog is most likely to be a target). That said... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;City Coyotes are sill a wild (vs domestic) animal and, like any animal in the wild, they have three goals, and three goals only: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Eat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't get eaten&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make more of themselves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything which doesn't further one of those three goals they do not put energy toward (if you think about it, all animals do that, even humans...we just tend to complicate matters). Likewise, anything which threatens their ability to facilitate or maintain these three things will be protected against. Coyotes, while not the bottom of the food chain, are by no means apex predators and so are on constant watch and protect themselves at all cost. They don't even hunt like other predators- one will either act injured to lure prey to them, or playfull to get prey (such as a domesticated dog) to give chase then the pack pounces to make the kill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans, while a source of food for &quot;City Coyotes&quot;, are also a threat to them, and will generally tend to avoid humans. So do your best to limit how much they associate people with food to keep them from wanting to be around people and you increase safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, coyotes are a known carrier of rabies, a disease spread through contact with saliva (not a bite, simply saliva coming into contact with the skin and finding a portal of entry to the body- cut, pimple, scab, etc). It is a neurological disease which, upon entering the body, travels through the nervous system to the brain. Symptoms develop once it reaches the brain and, once the virus reaches the brain, it has a 100% mortality rate. DON'T ATTEMPT TO FEED OR PET THEM AND SEE A DOCTOR FOR A RABIES SHOT IF ONE LICKS YOU. Rabies can be transmitted in the saliva of an animal for several weeks postmortem depending on decay rate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13734" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T21:40:20.963" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T21:51:03.327" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second Edit:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks for all the upvotes.  I just want to clarify one thing: I don't think I've done a good job in answering the OP's question.  I think cr0's answer is &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; better for winter hiking.  This little kit that I've put together is my 3-season emergency kit.  Consider it the &lt;em&gt;start&lt;/em&gt; of an emergency kit for the winter.  [Also, since I have a fair amount of medical training, I usually carry a more comprehensive first aid kit (not pictured below), especially when hiking in groups.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never done hut-to-hut winter hiking like the OP is describing.  All of my winter hiking has been backpacking, where I've essentially got my shelter on my back whenever I'm not in it.  This little kit I've got is what I use for day-hikes in spring, summer, and fall.  If I were doing winter day-hiking in the environment the OP is asking about, I would add to my pack pretty much exactly what cr0 says.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, echoing cr0 again, having these items is not the same as knowing how to use them.  You can get yourself into real problems even with these items.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Original post&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a pic of a small emergency kit I put together (plus the knife, compass, and whistle that were part of the 'normal' gear).  Granted, this was for a summer (August) hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.  However, getting lost above treeline the weekend I was there could have easily killed someone from hypothermia.  So, even though this is my typical emergency kit that I carry with me (and I could make work given my experiences), it might not suit your needs for winter hiking.  If I were doing more winter day hiking, I think I would bulk up my kit.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*see below for more details of the trip and the thought behind this kit&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OpZGz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OpZGz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;emergency pack&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waterproof bag to hold it all&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Protects the kit, plus you could gather water in it.  In theory, if&#xA;you can hold water in a container, you can boil the water.  But, I've&#xA;included some water treatment pills in the little pill holder.  Also,&#xA;nice little non-weight-bearing carabiner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heat Reflective Poncho&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Better than nothing.  Wet is way worse than cold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water / weather proof matches&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can't really see from the pic, but these are the type that&#xA;&lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; burn even in stiff winds and / or if they've gotten wet.  Even so, they are in a water-'proof' container&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tinder / Water (treatment)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wax-infused cotton tabs for the tinder.  Iodine water treatment pills&#xA;(which I sealed inside of bits of a plastic straw to water-'proof').&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;390 kcal 'Meal Replacement' Bar&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I had to punch a hole in the foil wrapper to let out some packaged&#xA;air; I resealed with duct tape.  Fits inside of the soap holder /&#xA;first aid kit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First Aid Kit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Contains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another whistle &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signal mirror &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohol prep pads &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;band-aids &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;gauze pads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;duct tape&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Paracord&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I think I did about 30 feet.  It's never enough, but it might do. &#xA;Worst case, it burns, too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All together, it weighs 14 ounces (about 0.3-0.4 kg) and is about the size of 2/3 of a Pringles can.  I keep saying water-'proof' because, in my experience water is so damn hard to keep out!  Ain't nothing waterproof, I don't care what they say!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;first edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*Further details: This was a trip where I (a reasonably experienced and trained backpacker) took my friend and his teen-aged daughter to backpack up to shelters, drop gear, and day hike up to the summit.  Each one of us had our own kit; the point of this kit was that this was the backup kit for us when we day-hiked from the shelters to the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A general note about weather in the White Mountains, even in August: It was nasty! (50+ mph winds; rainy, misty, nasty weather; just above freezing at the Hermit Lake shelters where we stayed, which was below the tree line).  In fact, the weather was so bad that a AT thru-hiker (super inshape dude) we shared the shelter with literally could not walk against the wind up on the ridge.  After my group decided to abandon the ascent, he tried, failed, and met back up with us.  So, even  though it was one of the hottest months in a very hot year, it was very dangerous weather where I &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; I could have used this kit to save myself, but I am damn glad that I did not have to!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastEditorUserId="17065" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T14:55:05.943" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T14:55:05.943" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21257" CreationDate="2018-12-13T22:05:20.250" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to work at Eastern Mountain Sports (a New-England, USA, based chain of outdoor goods).  Granted, I haven't worked there in over 15 years, but I know what you are talking about.  It was very popular early 2000's up to about 2010.  Whether due to fashion or pricing (like Gabriel C. has suggested), I also don't see too many combo jackets any more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sad about the demise of this trend, though.  I'm glad it's going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Zip-in feature is nice when you are in a casual setting, but, from a performance stance, you are leaving a huge strip of your torso uninsulated (or under-insulated) if you use the zip-in feature.  My old jacket caused 2-3 inches (6-8 cm) of a gap where the insulation of the fleece stopped, and the zippers of the two layers went together.  2-3 inches might not sound like a lot, but, given that this was a strip running the whole length of the center of my torso, I &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; used the two pieces as one combination jacket when I was doing anything 'for real' outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was also a problem of people mixing the brands.  Even though almost all zippers in the USA come from YKK, exact lengths and sizes could vary enough to make mixing brands not 100% easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I vastly prefer to have a separate fleece under my wind / water shell, so I don't mind that this trend seems to have died out.  If you want one lined jacket for everyday use, go for it.  But I really think that the performance of two layers is better than the compromise that was the zip in fleece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T22:05:20.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21264" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21281" CreationDate="2018-12-13T22:38:05.533" Score="4" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking at youtube videos and I want a pack basket for backpacking. I don't want to weave one myself, and ones that are made by a professional can be $200. I saw some videos where people made them out of modified trash cans with stuff from a hardware store. Is there a better way to make one myself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: A pack basket is appealing to me because of my previous experience with a roll top bag that has straps. It held a lot but I enjoyed the utility of throwing anything into a container-like structure. The depth of one compartment allowed me to fit odd shaped items into it. The feeling was like having an extension of my own self and not like I was using a tool. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17035" LastEditorUserId="17035" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T21:08:20.757" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T21:08:20.757" Title="How can I make a pack basket for a backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;diy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21246" CreationDate="2018-12-13T22:44:04.420" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have some luck in Florida.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://flawildflowers.org/whats-in-bloom/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Florida Wildflower Foundation&lt;/a&gt; list some things still in bloom.  I'd say poke around on their site; especially the links to South Florida parks.  It you're going to find anything in the continental US that's lush, green, and has wild flowers, that's the best bet I'd have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, you might have more success if you are willing to split the requirements.  Find your meadows outside, but conservancies or botanical gardens might be the best places to view wildflowers, even in Florida.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T22:44:04.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-13T23:01:38.050" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that the OP said Europe, the advice should always include seeking local advice because there are a wide variety of conditions in Europe driven by the effects of the Gulf stream that can be significantly different to the conditions in North America. There are areas that have similar continental weather, but the mild oceanic aspects in winter can really make a difference (especially in UK/Ireland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also important to decide if the kit is about overnight survival, or about about incident response. They have different imperatives.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A survival bag is very worth while for both overnight and casualty incident response. Is should be sturdy enough to protect from wind and rain (or sleet/wet snow). You should try it out, just getting the whole body out of the wind will make you feel warm, just like stepping inside a cabin/hut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some spare clothing (or maybe light weight sleeping bag for benightings) is also good, along with gloves/hat/scarf. A bit of emergency rations should also be taken - I take marzipan (you can't eat it all at once - try it!). A torch is very useful for overnights and signalling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then it's back to getting local advice, and while you are at it, tell them/someone where you are going and expect to be back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3837" LastActivityDate="2018-12-13T23:01:38.050" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19652" CreationDate="2018-12-14T00:34:18.747" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;RE: Fending off a Boar with an Axe. Sure, you &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; do that. BUT... chances are high that you will likely not incapacitate the Boar enough immediately since you may not penetrate deep enough with the blow to deliver an immediately incapacitating blow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: An aggressive Boar will use their tusks and attempt to gore you in the area of your femoral artery (inner thigh). IF they successfully manage to target this area, you will likely bleed-out very rapidly and likely die from the blood loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IF you're going to have to go toe-to-toe with a pissed-off Boar, and all you had was a Hatchet... I'd probably try like hell to land strong blow to the base of his neck, hoping to damage the CNS (Central Nervous System) for a rapid incapacitation.  I'd have to imagine the head would move too much as he was approaching to be a target that you'd be able to effectively score a hit on it in the heat of the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17067" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T00:34:18.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-14T00:42:50.783" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some good answers here from some people with solid experience in mountains in the winter. However, these answers seem to slant extremely heavy on gear. Sometimes it's reasonable to do a day hike in winter in the mountains in a lightweight style, but you do want to be carrying the crucial things in your lightweight kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing to do is to try to get a weather forecast that is as up to date as possible. If there is the possibility of rain rather than snow, then you want to have a plan for how to deal with getting wet, or to avoid getting wet. If the conditions are forecast to be very bad (extremely cold, extemely windy), then just don't go; don't get locked into a mentality where you have to go because it's your day off from work, or whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll assume that the situation being envisioned here is one in which only snow, not rain, is likely. Then there is basically a very simple and lightweight set of gear that you need, to avoid the situation described in the question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A PLB. It's simple and lightweight, and if you're really stuck, it's a life-line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A GPS unit that is not a phone, i.e., that doesn't depend on access to the cell phone network.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A map with an appropriate coordinate system marked in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A compass.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for the person who died in the incident you described, basically the life-saving steps that probably would have worked would have been to consult the GPS, find coordinates, locate himself on the map, figure out the heading to get to the nearby mountain hut, and then use that compass to move along that heading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event that he can't do the above, e.g., because of injury, an emergency backup is to activate the PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T00:42:50.783" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13162" CreationDate="2018-12-14T01:39:40.927" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy a &lt;em&gt;meat bag&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://store.kifaru.net/meat-bag-p28.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this one&lt;/a&gt;. They work great for anything from rabbits on up to a whole deboned mule deer.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;When you get home, you rinse'em, then run'em thru the clothes washer with scent-free detergent. I'd be surprised if they even weighed an ounce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17067" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T14:46:56.067" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T14:46:56.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11388" CreationDate="2018-12-14T01:58:51.780" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds like you'll want 8x42mm Binos. They have a wider FOV than 10x42's and are easier to hand-hold steady. Especially when you're huffing and puffing during the hike-in and want to raise them up quickly to inspect something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also a little easier to get them on target of the thing you want to inspect. Learn to take quick note of other physical landmarks for visual reference near where you want to look, before you raise up the Binos to your eyes, in order to guide you back in to the thing you want to inspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tuck supporting hands against your cheek bones. Eye-cups onto your brow. Tuck-in your elbows into your rib-cage when supporting them as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it depends on the terrain more than anything. If the terrain opens-up, you'll want the 10x's (or greater! Lotta guys who glass a lot swear by 15's).  If you're looking across longer distances with them, you'll need a tripod. They are magical when on a tripod. You see movement like crazy since there is no shake from your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17067" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T01:58:51.780" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9954" CreationDate="2018-12-14T02:24:14.213" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rational reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get to go in there BEFORE the Rifle season begins so they are less pressured!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your shot opportunities at your spots are close distance anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With bow you will usually be able to take at least two shots before they bolt, since it's so much quieter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting a bow kill (from the ground) gives you way more bragging rights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: when you miss, it often can happen that you'll lose the arrows as they dive under the soft earth and oak leaves. A good carbon fiber arrow and broadhead is EXPENSIVE!  For me they are like around $17 bucks a pop!  So be sure you take that into consideration in your planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17067" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T02:24:14.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2018-12-14T04:54:50.600" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car fast.  Or... I really like how comfortable it all is... Or, I just like how connected to the mountain makes me feel-- why rush down to the lift line when you can make such nice turns!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17068" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T04:54:50.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19866" CreationDate="2018-12-14T06:40:17.997" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For very long dives in cold water,  such as deep caves,  an underwater habitat is used during decompression.  Effectively these are like lift bags where you can put your head above the water to eat, drink, talk, etc.  Larger habitats enable one to climb out of the water whilst still under pressure,  especially important if it's very cold and you've many hours of decompression to complete.  For extreme depth dives, &gt;200m,  the decompression obligation could be 10 hours or more.  With this duration in the water,  keeping warm becomes essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cave divers use habitats which are anchored to the bottom and sometimes can even be raised/winched up to match the decompression profile. Flexible, portable habitats are more commonly used than solid ones,  simply due to the logistics and costs of getting it in place.  Habitats can also be 'floated' against a suitable height cave ceiling,  for example a large (airtight and strong) bag which is filled with air from a cylinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on conditions,  the diver would probably need to continue to breathe from their rebreather as the 'air' in the habitat would contain too much CO2 from  occupant's exhaled breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T15:15:34.107" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T15:15:34.107" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21279" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21242" CreationDate="2018-12-14T12:44:54.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;By putting out food, you're feeding the prey. Encouraging the prey is effectively putting out food for the predator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing to remember is that this is not a stable situation. If there's no prey for a while the predator will move on, then the prey, the birds you want, will come back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Give it time, sometimes you'll have sparrows and blackbirds, and sometimes you'll have a hawk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T12:44:54.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21280" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-14T13:50:58.290" Score="2" ViewCount="1021" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a couple of questions showing that in dry times a flare can start forest fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15978/4079&quot;&gt;Is there a safer way to use a flare in a wooded area?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/15967/4079&quot;&gt;What is the risk of starting a forest or wildland fire with a flare gun?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most flares will start easily when wet and even burn underwater.  So would seem a tempting fire starting tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am wondering about in wet times, if a flare would be effective for starting fires.  Flares burn pretty hot 1,600 °C (2,900 °F) and I suspect that might actually make it more difficult to light a fire with wet wood/kindling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have some related questions, but they don't address flares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/13781/4079&quot;&gt;Is it possible to use a flint and steel with wet tinder?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21178/4079&quot;&gt;Given limited space and weight what should I carry to get a fire going with damp wood?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8204/4079&quot;&gt;How to light a fire with wet firewood?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I wrote this question I was thinking about road flares, that are mostly fuel and no launch system or propellant. It was not until some new activity that the possibility of using an airborne signal flare that I even considered the possibility.  It seems like each of the answers have existing have specific types of flares in mind.  Answers should probably includes specifics about the type of flare they discuss. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T16:55:40.400" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T02:20:35.460" Title="Is a flare a good fire starting tool?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21264" CreationDate="2018-12-14T15:57:49.437" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are going to go backpacking, get a system your back is going to be happy with.  $200 is not unreasonable.  I mention several options below, but these are mostly canoe trip use -- portaging is a relatively small part of the trip, and enduring an uncomfortable pack for a 30 minute walk may distract you from the mosquitoes.  Backpacking on the other hand, you are wearing the beast for hours at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with a search for DIY backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have built food boxes from scratch for canoe trips.  Mostly 1/4&quot; plywood, with internal corner braces.  They were waterproof except for the lid, but weighed over 20 pounds empty, and 140 pounds full.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are problems with repurposed items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many containers work well when supported from below, but are not designed to be supported from the side.  They gradually deform under load.  The Rubber-Maid style totes made of flexible plastic fall into this category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A weak container that's fine on the floor may not be strong enough to hold straps.  Give some thought to how straps attach to the container.  Anything you can do to spread this load will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other containers are strong enough, but don't fit your back well.  This can be compensated by building up parts of the container with layers of closed cell foam (sleeping pad) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 5 gallon pail can work.  It's a bit short for most people's backs, You may want to cut the bottom off another pail and use it to extend the bottom.  You can replace the lid with a threaded lid.  Available from Lee Valley Tools, and various survival stores.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Olives are shipped in barrels of various sizes.  Generally they have some taper at both ends, and have a screw on lid.  The 10 gallon size is about right.  Check with places that use lots of olives -- subway, pizza places, greek restaurants.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are commonly used by canoeists to keep gear dry.  While the strapping systems work, they aren't comfortable to carry long distances. But on most trips under 10% of the canoe trip is spent portaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option:  You can sometimes find old external frame backpacks at used outdoor equipment places.  I've seen people lash 2 5 gallon pails with screwtop lids to a frame.  This is far more comfortable, but still compare unfavorably to modern backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T15:57:49.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21257" CreationDate="2018-12-14T16:03:51.333" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are a hassle to use.  On every trip I've been on, I've adjusted layers a dozen times a day.  The last thing I want to do is to take apart my liner from my shell.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's much better to have separate layers.  This also allows you to mix and match more, and when one wears out, it can easily be replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  I have a MEC expedition wind parka, and several different weights of fleece.  Summer trips I will carry lightweight polypro underwear, a medium weight fleece, and the jacket.  Winter, I'll carry a heavier set of polypro, a heavier fleece that has a hood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T16:03:51.333" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21234" CreationDate="2018-12-14T16:17:39.000" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Smoke has it's hazards.  For 30 years I cooked over open fires for about 6 weeks a year.  It's irritating as heck, but I don't have obvious problems.  That may be about as good as the 2 pack a day smoker at age 65 saying, &quot;Hasn't kilt me yet&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Burning any form of biomass works better if the material is dry.  Damp material uses a lot of energy to evaporate water.  The resulting lower temperatures make for incomplete combustion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ANY form of stove can improve the situation by creating some form of focused draft.  A chimney can move the smoke far enough away from the cook to reduce his exposure by orders of magnitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the settling of the American west, cow chips and road apples (horse...) were used for cooking as there was little else to burn.  Collecting this stuff was a job for kids.  Stuff that wasn't dry, but was solid enough to pick up could be put in a canvas slung under the wagon to dry.  You find similar use by aboriginal tribes that lived on plains or steppes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you are collecting and where, there may be risk of parasite transfer.  I don't know that the tape worm that infects cows also infects people, but I'd expect it to.  There are doubtless bacteria in meadow muffins that will leave you unhappy too.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off the top of my head I would consider this aspect to be the higher hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T16:17:39.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21221" CreationDate="2018-12-14T16:24:45.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot depends on how the water system in your RV works.  Some RV's really aren't made for winter use.  Others are designed from square one to be usable at cold temps.  These will have heat tapes on the plumbing, well insulated water and sewage storage tanks, and drain systems that are easy to access.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have mentioned, the pipes are the first things to freeze.  But if you have taps where opening the tap starts a pump, then they may be set up that water drains back into the tank when you shut the tap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need to worry about traps in your water disposal system and the sewage tank freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line:  The hot water tank is the least of your worries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T16:24:45.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21234" CreationDate="2018-12-14T17:07:37.960" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dried cattle dung is somewhat safer than wood in so far as it produces fewer sparks and therefore is less likely to set the surroundings on fire. This is especially important if you have an open fire inside a dwelling, e.g. in Mongolian yurts before the 20th century. Nowadays yurts always have an iron stove, so this is less of a concern. But people in the countryside still burn dried cattle dung (&quot;argal&quot; in Mongolian) because it is often easier accessible than firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Argal is actually somewhat associated with healthy country life, sung about in songs, and was even used by the Great Khans in the past:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The house was all covered inside with cloth of gold, and there was a fire of briars and wormwood roots--which grow here to great size--and of cattle dung, in a grate in the center of the dwelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Wilhelm of Rubruck at the court of Möngkhe Khan, &lt;a href=&quot;http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17074" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T17:07:37.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-14T18:07:39.753" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This query started with a local accident.  Yeah.  We get so many of these.  I was moved by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;James Kim story.&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;em&gt;For the want of a nail...&lt;/em&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Have a 406MHz ELT&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Every big player from the Royal Navy to Emirates wants a &lt;em&gt;world-class&lt;/em&gt; global locator beacon system that works anywhere. However, the infrastructure cost of a worldwide system is &lt;em&gt;simply too high to sustain two systems&lt;/em&gt;. And one system would necessarily have a lot of spare capacity.  So lucky us, we get to use the same system as the Air Force.  The 406 MHz system has protocols for the ELT to acquire your GPS coordinates and transmit them direct to satellites, along with your unit's serial number. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;406 is officially called CoSPAS-SARSat, and is a joint US-&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Soviet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (really) system, which has been upgraded to support GPS. Several other nations came on board, and all their SAR satellites are networked. This system is run by governments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They (the responsible government SAR branch*) will know who you are before they rescue you, &lt;em&gt;if you register the unit&lt;/em&gt;. They will have already tried your phone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cost of a unit is $250-ish, &lt;strong&gt;and there are no costs after that&lt;/strong&gt;.  Even the rescue is free in most cases. It's bad public policy to charge people for rescue, because fear of the costs could get them killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nomenclature note: When an &quot;Emergency Locator Transmitter&quot; is packaged into a handheld unit, it's called &quot;Personal Locator Beacon&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A flaw in the 406 system is the inability to send non-emergency messages, this drives people into technically inferior systems like SPoT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more serious problem is they are not reliable in extremely adverse geography like a slot canyon.  The unit has to be able to see a chunk of the sky. &lt;em&gt;But nothing else will get a signal either&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backup system?  You could try failing over onto an Iridium phone or SpOT, but that system is largely inferior.  I would consider a second 406. An old 121 MHz beacon is helpful once the air patrol is in line of sight or if a passing jetliner happens to be monitoring 121 MHz, as they sometimes do. But 406 PLBs include that, so a spare 121 would come into play after a 406’s battery ran down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bring what you need to hunker down and await rescue&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, your emergency supplies should be all about keeping you alive until the weather is good enough for SAR to operate and reach you.  You should have everything you need to &lt;em&gt;survive&lt;/em&gt; the next night or two, or longer, depending on the weather forecast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since that is so dependent on local conditions, I can't advise.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* by &quot;local SAR branch&quot; I mean the worldwide system looks at the location, delegating to the country who then delegates to the competent local authority, so it could be CalFire, CHP if you're in a freeway junction, airport rescue if the location is inside the fence, Russian Coast Guard,  etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastEditorUserId="14830" LastEditDate="2018-12-14T20:25:17.743" LastActivityDate="2018-12-14T20:25:17.743" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21287" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21291" CreationDate="2018-12-14T22:27:22.997" Score="13" ViewCount="3181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by a space blanket being included in emergency winter kits, I wonder if there's any rigorous study about whether these things actually work and in what ways to best use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my own experience, they do make nice reflectors. For example, making a tarp-leantoo and a long fire, a space blanket really helps warm the shelter. Same thing as a ground reflector, sleeping with one curled around me from underneath seems to reduce chill from the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, wrapping myself in one as shown on most packaging, as emergency insulation, did not work well. I tested this simulating an emergency situation in autumn, with a leantoo and sleeping bag nearby as safety backup. I wore thermals and a jacket and had mildly wet socks after a day hiking, as if in an emergency situation and 'sheltering in place' after some problem on a trail. I'm not sure if it helped or hurt for survival chances: the material was very noisy and fragile which made it difficult to use and rest in, it let chilling wind in and was not easy to secure around me, and worse yet (though maybe I was doing something wrong) it collected condensation inside and made me feel clammy and wet. I felt I'd have been better off curled up without it! If I recall correctly I gave up in the middle of the night as I kept waking up with chills and a moist clammy feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are these things really meant to be used for, and how effective are they for those purposes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T20:11:41.213" Title="Do emergency space blankets actually work?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21287" CreationDate="2018-12-15T06:12:55.160" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do they work? Yes...but you need to know why...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The Key, Like Most Things, Is Understanding How They Work&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The material on “space” blankets was actually developed by NASA for the purpose of use in space to protect astronauts from solar heat, and they’re very good at it. In a wilderness setting, they do have limitations with must be mitigated though. They are made of a thin plastic film with an ultra thin layer of vaporized aluminum and reflect low relatively low heat (radiant and convective- the are non-conductive and will melt if exposed to fire or electricity).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What Are Their Weaknesses?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since they are made of aluminum (or aluminium if you are English), they don’t “breath” and so will not permit moisture to escape. By design, since they don’t breath, they will increase humidity so, if you are wearing wet clothing when you are wrapped up in them, you are adding to the moisture in the micro-environment which you are creating (thus feeling clammy after getting in with wet clothes). Increasing humidity can actually be a good thing so long as you keep it under control (try to have dry insulation in it) as it may reduce the amount you will sweat...unless there is a breeze. Having a blanket style is a big challenge here as, no matter what you do, you will face the challenge of warm air and moisture leaving, cold air replacing it, cooling your and moisture (imagine trying to stay warm all night in the same conditions with your mummy bag unzipped all the way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are, in the end, plastic and aluminum. Only this plastic is thinner than your kitchen wrap and the aluminum thinner than your kitchen foil. Together, they are much stronger than the two but that is still relative and they will tear pretty easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How Can I Make Them Work?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the most of them, you need to be as dry as possible when you start. This is tough since the point is to be an “emergency” blanket and you may be wet to begin with. You need to weight the benefit of your wet clothes- are they too wet to be effective as an insulator currently? They are probably too wet to be effective in the blanket. Your wet clothes may serve better as a barrier between the ground and you in the blanket, than actually on you- this is a judgement call though, and there is no hard and fast on it. Some may read this and say “Bullshit! Never take your clothes off!! You’re always better off with them than without them!” to which I say- I haven’t yet encountered an “always” scenario in the backcountry unless it was to keep the red stuff in the body and keep the patient warm and breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before you get hung up on the concept of laying on wet clothes with an emergency blanket over you, allow me to clarify. I do not recommend the blanket style (remember the open sleeping bag concept). I prefer the bivvy style, specifically those made by Survive Outdoors Longer (SOL). They have a tarpaulin-like outer layer which provides a bit of strength to reinforce the thing, the seams are sealed to ensure adequate insulation from wind and rain, and they work excellently for patient transport and evac with the added benefit of having only one opening for hot-cold air exchange- just like your sleeping bag; I picked one up at REI for about $5. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C5GG0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C5GG0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, make sure you keep in mind that they don’t make you warm, they simply reflect whatever heat you put out, and hold in the moisture in the air- and they reflect external heat away so you will not be warmed by the sun when in them (their very specific design is to prevent that). If you’ve been out on a hot day and tried using one and got hot in the sun that isn’t proof that “Oh look! The sun did make it hotter!!”, you were warmer already, the ground under you was warmer, the air around you was warmer when you put it on- the sun didn’t make it warmer inside it because, you know...science. Like a sleeping bag, if you’re cold and wet when you get in it, you’re going to stay cold and wet for a while unless you do something to change it. They don’t do anything to change the laws of physics, so convection, reflection, conduction and radiation are still going to affect how you lose or retain heat, you just need to understand how they function in order for them to work to your advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13734" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T06:12:55.160" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21292" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21302" CreationDate="2018-12-15T13:43:04.060" Score="13" ViewCount="821" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is your opinion: Does it make sense to train rock climbing wearying a weight vest or a small backpack carrying a small amount of weight (let's say 1-3kg or 2-6.5lb) to mimic the actual weight you carry with you outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why am I asking this question: Depending on what you are doing outdoors, you carry a substantial additional amount of weight, in particular for trad and alpine climbing, e.g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10 quickdraws do weight ca. 1kg&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a set of cams with additional gates easily more than that&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;additional layers of clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, it makes a huge differences to carry an additional 2kg or 4.5lb of weight with me, in particular in overhanging terrain or if powerful moves are required. My prior therefore would be, yes it makes definitely sense to take this into account during your training. &#xA;But I wonder because I seldom see climbers actually practicing with additional weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I remember Adam Ondra saying that most people should not do weighted bouldering etc. because you will get used to climber slower (and there is a higher risk of injury). But does this this also apply to a small (realistic) amount of weight you will face while performing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14150" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T11:35:15.180" Title="Train climbing with additional weight?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21287" CreationDate="2018-12-15T18:16:07.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've got a (waterproof) outer layer, that can be used to retain the blanket, by wearing the blanket under the coat. If you don't have a waterproof layer, the foil blanket will keep the worst of the rain off your torso. They do work reasonably well worn over a breathable waterproof layer, as the condensation ends up trapped between the waterproof and the foil. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In or with every kit of mine that contains a foil blanket is some duct tape, which can also be used to keep it wrapped round you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One reason I carry one when cycling in winter, or kayaking in almost any season, is that someone who's cold but basically uninjured (a mechanical in bad weather or a swim followed by a slow kit recovery) can wrap it round their body under their outer layer and carry on. That's not true of the bags, or group shelters, which I carry winter kayaking or hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foil blankets are so small and light that you can carry one when you don't have room for anything else (e.g. in a saddlebag). They're also disposable - or more usefully give-away-able.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, they're not designed for sleeping, so the rustle shouldn't be an issue. Sitting on the ground leaking against something with the blanket wrapped round your knees as well as your torso, it balances heat retention and water vapour more effectively than lying down with it wrapped round you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2018-12-15T18:32:12.283" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T18:32:12.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21287" CreationDate="2018-12-15T21:45:43.183" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they do. Their task is to reflect as much of the heat radiation of your body back to it, while also inhibiting heat convection and conduction as good as possible without becoming bulky. They are great at this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, how helpful they are for you &lt;strong&gt;depends on your concrete situation&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Short term treatment of mild hypothermia or hypothermia risk&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a situation where the person in question is only exposed to the cold for a limited time. Examples could be an injured person, somebody who got wet, persons who have been in the cold for a longer time when help/a warm shelter is close. In this case, the blanket should help to raise the body core temperature or at least aid maintaining it for a limited time span. This is actually where the space blankets excel, because things like moisture management do not play an important role during that duration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the hypothermia training I received while working with refugees landing on greek islands after rough boat rides on the Mediterranean sea in fall/winter, the space blankets were essential tool for exactly this usecase. If the person you want to treat has wet clothes, the advice was to put the blanket &lt;a href=&quot;https://solidarityteamplatanosblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12549051_10205732680745285_169163011009143308_n.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;below the clothes&lt;/a&gt;. As with all warming items, you also want to cover the head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @WilderBurn mentions in their answer, the blankets do not produce heat themselves. This is why they can only be a supportive treatment for more severe hypothermia and other means are necessary in this case as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Long term hypothermia prevention&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The case you described in your question is different - you are interested in what helps you survive a complete night in the cold, and maybe even allows you to sleep more or less comfortably. While the heat retaining properties of the blanket are still nice and helpful in this situation, it comes with a number of downsides which you also experienced: it captures water inside, it is noisy, it is hard to keep in place and it is not very durable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation, probably the lacking of breathability would concern me most. Even if your clothes are completely dry, you sweat out some water during sleep. The amount depends on how warm you are, how much you move and other factors, but it can easily reach 200ml or more - imagine pouring a glass of water in your sleeping bag or over your clothes. This is a problem which you could only solve with ventilation, which of course takes away many of the advantages of the blanket. However, you can still use it as a reflector to lie on, behind a fire (careful, it could melt and I don't know if they are flammable) or as a makeshift tarp keeping rain out and some of your warmth in. If you want to wrap yourself in it depends on the environmental conditions you are in - if its really cold or raining or I am wet anyway I wouldn't care about the downside, if I am good without it I would just use it as an insulation pad or save it for later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While emergency space blankets work well at what they are designed to do, they are not designed for what you used them. They might be better than nothing in a survival situation like you describe, however there are better alternatives (e.g. the bivy style blanket suggested by @WilderBurn, real blankets with one reflecting side, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_SpaceBlankets.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the suggestions by this site&lt;/a&gt; or other emergency gear)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2018-12-15T21:45:43.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21292" CreationDate="2018-12-16T01:52:33.510" Score="7" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbers in a climbing gym may not necesserily be training for climbing natural rocks - some are probably just training to become better at indoor climbing, or are doing it for recreation alone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people probably do not want to be encumbered with their outdoor climbing gear. They might figure that as long as there are still some routes left in the gym that are reasonably challenging to them, they are having enough of a training effect without having to bring their gear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people might think that it is more important to train your coordination etc. rather than your muscles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These at least are the reasons why I do not take additional gear into the gym. But I have to admit that I am a real low-level climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17074" LastEditorUserId="17074" LastEditDate="2018-12-16T01:58:15.923" LastActivityDate="2018-12-16T01:58:15.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21296" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21301" CreationDate="2018-12-16T16:22:01.853" Score="6" ViewCount="1306" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking in western Sweden in October this year, I came across a bunch of feathers on my trail:&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z2wlJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z2wlJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;feathers on trail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me it looked like the leftovers of a small to medium bird of prey, which was seemingly eaten by a different animal. Here is a closeup of some of the feathers:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wcYtQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wcYtQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;feathers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The longest feather is about 18 cm long. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What bird could this be? Is there a possibility to guess/know what has happened to it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T23:35:39.960" Title="Bird identification from feathers - brown-black feathers, medium size, West Sweden" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21292" CreationDate="2018-12-16T17:09:12.423" Score="8" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Does it make sense to train rock climbing wearying a weight vest... ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To expand a bit on what Jan said: it depends on why you're &lt;em&gt;training&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back when I was a solid gym rat, some of my climbing was to learn technique.  Some was to build strength.  Some was to practice.  Some was for flexibility.  Some was to build endurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The more hard core folks that were at the gym mixed it up (which is where I got my lessons from).  The ones that used the vests did not do so all of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll also point out that what I felt comfortable doing in the gym was way above my comfort level out in the real world.  (Nevermind the inherent difficulties of matching gym ratings to real-world ratings.)  But, when I was starting to lead trad, just learning how to manage the weight and all of the things that would dangle and move was a thing you had to learn to deal with.  I do know some folks that will practice in the gym with their gear on them.  (Not many, and they were happy to accept the strange looks they got.)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally never bothered training with a weight vest.  Who knows; maybe that would have been the thing to help me with my outdoor confidence.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2018-12-16T17:09:12.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-16T22:13:44.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of good and valid points in the existing answers, but I'd like to add a few points from a Central European perspective, and for situations that are as described i.e. the serviced lodges are not seen as a nice find in a tour that was set up as winter camping. For alpine tours I'd probably take some more gear (see lists from the other answers). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Main message: &lt;strong&gt;someone who is up and walking&lt;/strong&gt; (i.e. not drunk/drugged, not unconscious or otherwise immobile after an accident, and not soaked after falling into a river/lake etc., and did not loose the clothing that was basically adequate for the tour) &lt;strong&gt;usually does not get hypothermia unless they are exhausted/hungry and tired.&lt;/strong&gt; (often accompanied also by being dehydrated)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So, avoid exhaustion.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And IMHO the most important thing to carry (that is different from summer gear) is: bring &lt;strong&gt;more food&lt;/strong&gt; and make sure you eat and drink regularly. Enough = sufficient to keep you well fed through the night in case you don't reach the hut for whatever reason.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;BTW: I've found diluted juice (possibly with hot water at the start) a very good ration for the first part of a tour. Or putting sugar into the hut tea. Also, very cold weather can be deceptive in that you may not realize how much water you actually loose (by breathing) - but this is rarely reached in a temperate climate (I wouldn't call an alpine mountain climate temperate).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Realize how much &lt;strong&gt;reserves/safety margin&lt;/strong&gt; are needed. E.g. having a working knowledge of how mich strength it costs to hike a distance that would be an easy stroll in good conditions if there's half a meter of snow with a crust that doesn't carry you but instead has you break in at every single step. Or a driving rain at +2°C against you for hours and hours.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Know when to turn. Turn half an hour before. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Winter tours, particularly if solo, should be decidedly on the easy side to leave sufficient safety margin for bad conditions and/or accidents (even if you just find someone who had an accident) or the odd loop of 3 hours in the fog.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Misjudgment that makes a tour miserable in summer can be decidedly dangerous in winter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are some vicious cycles that you should know and recognize (a buddy can help with that). One very typical in winter day tour is IMHO &quot;I don't want to take a break - I'll be getting cold&quot;. This is IMHO a sign that a break is &lt;em&gt;overdue&lt;/em&gt;. In my experience at this point both eating and drinking have usually been neglected for quite a while. Knowing that stopping would make you cold means that you're already slightly exhausted.  Unless you're used to being outdoors all day it is easy to underestimate how strenuous this can be in winter weather. Exhaustion means that both the risk of accidents increases a lot (plus you're much less able to cope with that accident) and hypothermia lurks around the corner even without accident.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Similar to the vicious cycle above is realizing that, say, your fingers/hands are cold - and being reluctant to warm them up, say, under your armpits, because even opening your jacket a bit (possibly stopping and turning your back against the wind) will make you cold. Or realizing your feet are cold, but you are too tired = exhausted to start jumping around. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the raingear which is in the kit all year round, bring a set of thermo underwear (shirt + long johns weight basically nothing and improve insulation a lot, putting it on even in shitty weather will pay off soon in terms of warmth), additional wooly cap + mittens. Make sure your layers are large enough to go over each other.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In addition, the stuff I bring for &quot;intended&quot; use includes at least one additional layer that will keep me comfortable during longer breaks and outdoors after the strenuous tour is over (again like in summer). But then, people tell me I carry crazy amounts of stuff - but are somewhat more often than just occasionally quite happy if I lend a fleece or gloves or ...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Compared to the answers that are more on the wilderness side, I bring much less first aid stuff in Central European &quot;day-tour regions&quot; - all you need here is typically to keep someone who had an accident from getting much worse until help comes - which may be more than an hour, but in most regions you don't need to plan for surviving days until found. The one thing that differs for the winter vs. summer day tour kit is again insulation and possibly food/drink.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mobile phone coverage, btw. is something that can be checked beforehand online. If the mobile phone is to be the rescue device, I keep it in an inner pocket and don't use it for normal navigation to keep the battery fresh and warm. Having the mobile phone's GPS find the location at the start of the tour is a good idea though - it will then take much less time to update the position if needed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2018-12-16T22:13:44.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-17T00:43:50.957" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd add a space blanket to each person - one of those thin mylar foil things worth a couple dollars.  They're not heavy, and while they're not perfect its better than being caught in the cold with nothing warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're not a coat but they are waterproof, so will stop you getting more wet in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why one per person?  Because its no use having all your stuff in the bag of the strongest person, when someone else gets lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T00:43:50.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21296" CreationDate="2018-12-17T06:38:59.103" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like a female capercaillie to me. What killed it could be anything. Because the feathers seem pretty much intact I'd suspect a bird of prey like a goshawk. Here is a picture of a female capercaillie, the tail feathers match up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Tetrao_urogallus_-_Eurasian_Capercaille_-_Tj%C3%A4der.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_capercaillie&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western capercaillie&lt;/a&gt;.  the bird is found across Eurasia, and definitely in Sweden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17058" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-12-17T14:22:17.987" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T14:22:17.987" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21292" CreationDate="2018-12-17T18:46:57.783" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Adding weight is an extremely efficient way to strengthen core, leg and back muscles - and also your fingers, depending on what kind of training you are doing. I have been training with extra weight for quite a while, and I think I can add something to the discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people interested in climbing 5.13 will end up finger boarding and campusing. This type of training places a lot of strain on tendons and muscles, being actually not recommended if you're not a regular 5.12 climber. If you are, however, you're bound to climb stuff that requires crimping on small holds. Even the most basic fingerboard training will improve your overall finger strength by an unbelievable amount, but it comes a time when it simply doesn't work anymore. What do you do? Well, you start grabbing smaller and smaller holds, until you injure yourself because you were not strong to be doing that anyway. Besides, that route you want to climb has no tiny holds as the ones you're grabbing, so why train on them? What the route does have is a long sequence of not that bad crimps, from which you must place pro or even rest, and you're absolutely comfortable climbing each individual section, but can't link them all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation above is very common, and a good sign that you should try adding a little weight to your static finger training - this will make your fingers stronger without changing the size of the holds, and therefore will not concentrate strain in a single section of your fingers. It will also make you stronger so that you can start training on smaller holds in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the added weight described earlier is static. Why would I want to climb with weight? Well, suppose your project has a lot of long moves and it's required that you cut you feet lose from time to time. The strength needed to get them back to the rock comes from your &lt;em&gt;core&lt;/em&gt;, and training your core by just climbing is very hard - basically because your arms get tired first (even on a roof!). Well, if you tie some weight to your feet, the strength needed to raise them is much, much higher, specially due to increased torque. This will guarantee your core muscles will get beaten earlier than your arm muscles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you're interested in endurance training, why not simulate that 11th pitch to the summit, where you're absolutely destroyed and pumped? Climbing a large number of moves with a weight vest will place more strain in your arms, and each move will feel three times as hard. The objective here is to hold big holds (mind that holds that are big for some people might be tiny for you), without placing too much strain on your tendons, but increasing muscle abuse. This is also a good way of simulating the weight of climbing equipment, as you wrote in your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an advice, take weight training carefully. If your interest in it is just about simulating climbing with the equipment and harness, then this is not enough. Weight training should be reserved for more specific problems, like the ones I described above, and should be only pursued by climbers with some experience in grade (above 5.12) and time (2+ years). Also, it should never be done more than twice a week (even most professionals follow this rule), and should be reserved for the middle of your practice: never in the beginning, never in the end. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it is interesting that in you gym you don't usually see people climbing with weight vests: in my gym we usually have to fight to get to the weight closet first!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T18:46:57.783" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21287" CreationDate="2018-12-17T20:11:41.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They have zero insulation value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have near perfect IR reflectivity and are vapour tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is unlike most things you have used.  Since they are dirt cheap (in the flimsy emergency form, use a couple and find their limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Test 1: On a cold windy day have someone spray you with water, then wrap one of these around you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will discover that the area where the blanket is warms in a hurry.  Anywhere the wind gets in is still chilly.  This is due to the wind blocking ability mostly.  A piece of plastic tarp has the same effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Test 2:  Take off your shirt, and let the blanket be next to bare skin.  On the windy side of you where the wind is putting it in direct contact, you get cold -- by conduction to the outer surface.  Any place it's not touching you is reasonably warm.  Radiant reflection combined with a layer of still air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another worthwhile emergency item is a plain large garbage bag.  Turn it into a pullover vest by cutting the corners off and a head opening.  Pull over your head, over wet clothing, and tuck into your pants getting the bottom edge as far down as you can.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavier grade ones make very nice ground sheets for sleeping under the stars.  Put them down silver side up.  The emmisivity of the silver layer means that they don't radiate their heat into space.  No dew on them.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T20:11:41.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21304" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21385" CreationDate="2018-12-17T22:05:43.423" Score="6" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a woodpile, protected from wind and precipitation, under the eaves of our house.  Earlier, perhaps a month earlier, I several times saw two chipmunks emerging from, and going back into the woodpile.  I also saw a chipmunk drink from a puddle very close to the woodpile.  I have not seen them for perhaps a month, nor have I seen any chipmunks at all for that time.  I assume they are hibernating.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But, how likely is it that they are hibernating in my woodpile?  And if so, where are they likely to be -- ground level or several log-heights off the ground?&lt;/strong&gt; I have never seen chipmunk traffic into and out of the woodpile in other years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We expect a lot of snow this winter, and if it does snow a lot, it is very likely that we will have a multi-day power outage. I don't want to dismantle their winter refuge from over their heads, but I don't want to freeze either.  We have another woodpile farther from the house, and I may just move some of it into the Mud Room inside the house.  But I'd rather not.  Advice on keeping both the chipmunks and us warm and happy during a power outage? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-20T23:15:15.383" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T03:25:34.343" Title="Do chipmunks hibernate in woodpiles, and, if so, how do I avoid disturbing them when taking wood from the pile?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21305" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21211" CreationDate="2018-12-17T22:09:04.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For horses I've seen various numbers but 125 to 250 seems to be the range.  This depends on the breed, the difficulty of the terrain, and the length of the trip.  Horses need a lot of time to graze.  You can carry hay (required in many parks) or you can carry grain to supplement grazing.  Advocates for the lower number point out that the load is always on the same parts all day, unlike a person who shifts about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dogs carrying, about 1/3 of their body weight.  Dogfood is calorically denser, but dogs don't graze.  You won't find that number in the trail guides, but I did see it in the accounts of a man who used sled dogs in winter, and used them as pack dogs when there wasn't enough snow to slide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dog sledding, much again depends on the terrain and the snow conditions.  During the klondike where most of the travel was on the Yukon River (flat) pulling 600 pounds with a team of 6 large dogs was common.  Under really good traveling conditions, a team could haul two sleds.  You'd unhook at a portage and make two trips over the portage.  Must have been interesting bringing a team back without a sled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one point in my life I trained dogs for freight races.  We could put 7 milk crates of frozen wet sand (about 900 lbs) and still go at a pace that the musher couldn't run fast enough to keep up -- at least for a few miles on broken trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs don't like unbroken trail.  (Exception: if they are very familiar with the route, they will do an unbroken trail.  And there are exceptional lead dogs...) Usual routine is to either have at least 2 of the party break trail on snowshoes, or to break trail the day before, move up to the end of the trail and repeat.  Sleds don't slide well at very cold temps, even the modern HDPE sleds.  New snow is stickier than old snow.  Temperatures just below freezing can put you in situations where the compression of the runners melts a film which is incredibly slippery -- and flash freezes back to ice, glueing you the the trail if you stop.  Water bodies often have water on top of the ice, forming a layer of slush under the snow.  This works about as well as hitting a tar patch on a hot summer day.  And the dogs don't like getting their feet wet.  One musher told me a story of hitting 8 inches of overflow, and as soon as the sled stopped the entire team came back and perched on the sled to get there feet out of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Llamas are ~80 pounds carrying capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can load a travois ('A' frame triangle with narrow end on animals front shoulders) with about 2-3 times what you can carry if you have suitable terrain.  (Fairly open, reasonably level or rolling) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While goats I guess could be used for packing, they are little.  I think it would be very aggravating to pack them up in the morning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans:  The usual number given is 1/3 of body weight.  In practice having run expeditions I would put it at 1/2 of lean body mass.  This gives you about the same number for skinny fit people, but prevents overloading those with a BMI of 30.  This is also why 14 year old boys can carry proportionally more weight than their scoutmaster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T22:09:04.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9489" CreationDate="2018-12-17T22:13:57.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's the same shape as Ashley's &quot;Knotted Strap Hitch&quot;, #1696 page &lt;a href=&quot;https://archive.org/details/TheAshleyBookOfKnots/page/n293&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;294&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That hitch is intended to be tied with both loops around the hitched object and with both ends loaded, not as a two-loop loop knot with a running end and a standing end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a loop knot, it wouldn't be named a &quot;hitch&quot; even if it were of any use in any real-world application, but, this is a name for this knot, when used as a hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13735" LastActivityDate="2018-12-17T22:13:57.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21304" CreationDate="2018-12-17T22:24:40.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If animals like chipmunks or packrats nest in woodpiles, it's much more typical for them to be down low, closer to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would also depend on how it is stacked, if its bigger logs with bigger holes between the logs, then they are less likely to be there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just taking off the top should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-18T01:35:14.413" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T01:35:14.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21308" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21309" CreationDate="2018-12-17T22:33:41.973" Score="6" ViewCount="318" Body="&lt;p&gt;Questions like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21252/what-gear-should-i-carry-along-for-winter-emergencies&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21287/do-emergency-space-blankets-actually-work&quot;&gt;two&lt;/a&gt; have made me wonder about my own answer in the first linked question.  I have to admit, I haven't 'tested' the kits I put together.  I have some wilderness survival training (primarily from when I was a kid in the BSA), but that was more than a couple of years ago.  (Quite a few more than a couple, tbh.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If an emergency kit or procedure isn't adequate -- whether for backpacking or restarting an airplane engine in flight, one would prefer to find that out before an actual emergency; this means testing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came close to testing my emergency kit when I took a day hike and seriously pushed it to far and too long. However, small problem -- I didn't have the kit with me! Luckily, I made it back to my car before it got too dark to safely proceed. I have since been religious about checking I have the kit with me on even easy hikes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm tempted to head out camping, set up a base camp with my normal tent and supplies, then move myself 50 yards off with just my day hiking bag and emergency kit and see how well it works.  (Of course, I'd wait 'til spring on account of you know, not being crazy.)  I figure if I can avoid the necessity or even temptation of heading back to my base camp, it's a successful test.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this is not a completely realistic test, because there is no emergency, and thus no panic or confusion leading to poor judgment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a better way -- more realistic and/or harsher -- to test an emergency kit?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose I could look for a class (I'm from MA, so I'd start with the AMC, I think).  If nothing else, between this question and my thinking about doing the test, I can already see two things I'd add to my kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-12-17T23:56:32.467" LastActivityDate="2018-12-25T10:32:49.087" Title="What is an efficient and effective way to test an emergency day-hike kit?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21308" CreationDate="2018-12-18T01:08:42.670" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two ways to test gear like this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do it in a situation where it won't matter.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go without a sleeping bag for a night with it still in your backpack. Use a space tarp instead of your real one. Leave the GPS in your pack and navigate just by eye. Go fishing with dental floss etc. Deliberately fast while in camp. Start a campfire in the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do outdoor things long enough and you will inevitably run into bad situations&lt;/strong&gt; either by poor decision making or being a victim of circumstances. Things like,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forgetting 1/4 of the food in the truck.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking the wrong turn on a trail and being lost for a whole day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having to descend 1,000 ft of vertical talus in the dark with just a headlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cutting steps with a rock instead of an ice ax.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding out that your bivy sack really isn't waterproof.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 inches of snow while under an open-sided tarp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forgetting to pack up your tarp and not realizing it till the end of the day then taking one more day to get back to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not bringing water shoes on a trail with a stream crossing every quarter mile.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Falling through snow bridges that were fine on the way up the hill but not on the way down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of those were not particularly fun things, but on the other side, there is a confidence that comes from having survived them and it shows that just because one is uncomfortable, it does not mean that one is in immediate danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T01:08:42.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21026" CreationDate="2018-12-18T09:32:00.350" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I finished the job last night, using &quot;Black Witch&quot; glue and reinforcing tape.  It looks good so far - the join is like a less tidy version of the seam in my first picture, as I erred on the side of generosity with the glue.   The seals, which are made of 2&amp;nbsp;mm neoprene are now tighter by about 1&amp;nbsp;cm (wrist) and 2&amp;nbsp;cm (neck).  As I stretch the wrist seals over my hands they appear to behave the same as the original seams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the process, based the instructions for the glue I used:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut a dart out of the seal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glue the cut edges together keeping the seal flat (like patching an inner tube: coat both faces to be glued, allow to go tacky, stick together).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Blind stitch the cut edges together (the glue instructions say the edges should be clipped together for a hour but I wanted seomthing more permanent as can be seen on the original seals)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Coat the reinforcing tape and the seal around the join with glue.  Allow to dry for several hours. The instructions call this a primer coat. I worked it well into the stitching.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply another layer of glue to both surfaces, wait 2 minutes and stick together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After that had dried fully I worked a little more glue into the edges of the patch and the back of the seam.  This may not have been necessary.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I plan to dust it with talc before packing it away to make sure it doesn't stick where it shouldn't, but have left it spread out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should get a test in a couple of weeks, but I'm quite confident, at least that it won't fail suddenly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(apologies if my terminology is a little wrong - I'm far from an expert in fabric crafts)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T09:32:00.350" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21292" CreationDate="2018-12-18T11:35:15.180" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really depends what you are training for. If it is for a limit read point in sports climbing we are typically taking about pre placed gear anyways, so you only carry your harness.&#xA;If we are taking about alpine climbing there is a lot more weight involved but this will be typically compensated by staying way below your personal feed point limit.&#xA;So this leaves us with short multi pitch routes that have a very sports climbing like character. Here it might make sense to train with a bit of extra weight as you are carrying some gear on difficult routes. But on the other hand, these are again compensating a bit on difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Training with weights typically is only done for increasing max strength. However, this is really training then on a system board or similar, not climbing a route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T11:35:15.180" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21065" CreationDate="2018-12-18T14:52:42.347" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe this is an obvious thing, but does your BOB &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; to be completely prepacked?  (Or even, is it?)  I.e. do you expect to need to grab this bag and have less than 60? 30? 10? seconds to get out the door?  How much different would it be to have a packed bag of essential gear with open containers ready (but empty) to grab perishables / other kits?  When I was a working EMT-P, we needed kits that we could grab in literally seconds.  This required checking them before &lt;em&gt;every&lt;/em&gt; shift.  Which might be the kind of problem you now feel you're up against: how often do I check that gear is where I want it, repack for improvements / replacements, throw away expired consumables, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you expect that you will have even a few minutes to supplement a basic kit, you can have most common necessities (clothing, duplicate gear) pre-packed in a designated bag and then add in the exact additional things you plan on needing.  Depending on your available living / storage space, one solution might be to have a designated, partially pre-packed BOB in the center of a well-organized, easily-accessible, and suitably-laid-out collection of survival / camping gear.  This gives the benefit of having your emergency gear as part of your normal 'checking on / using camping gear' routine.  Do you have a closet or wall you can designate as your camping gear space and organize accordingly?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will change the constraints of needing to have a list of consumables you have to remember to check; the checking becomes part of your normal routines.  This also means that your BOB doesn't need to be prepacked for every contingency (which may also be complicating your decision process).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T14:52:42.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21296" CreationDate="2018-12-18T23:35:39.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Credit goes to @ATJN for identifying the bird as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_capercaillie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)&lt;/a&gt;, which is the largest member of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/grouse-family/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;grouse&lt;/a&gt; family. I know you primarily asked for the identification, but I'm adding some things about the bird in case you or others are interested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of sub-species in Europe and Asia. Sweden has a large native population who live there year-round. It's also on the migration route of some of the species, so seeing them there tends to be easier than in other places. That would correlate to where you saw it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their habitat is old forested areas, which have mature large trees, with years of development of dense ground vegetation underneath. They prefer trees in the conifer family, including pine and others, with the abundant low growth being wildflowers and berries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.beautyofbirds.com/westerncapercaillies.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beauty of Birds&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Western Capercaillie is adapted to its original habitats - old coniferous forests with a rich interior structure and dense ground vegetation of Vaccinium species under a light canopy. They mainly feed on Vaccinium species, especially blueberry. They use the open spaces when flying. As habitat specialists, they hardly use any other forest types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of possibilities of what it fell prey to. As with many animals in the woods, humans are the biggest threat. Although it's protected under the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981&lt;/a&gt;, making it illegal to touch, that doesn't stop people from doing so. It may have been hunted for sport or food, especially if it was near a trail, which is a vulnerable place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its animal predators primarily include golden eagles, hawks and red foxes, although I found mention of wild boars, crows, brown bears, and a few others. In Sweden, the Capercaillies are a large part of the diet of the Golden Eagle, so that might be a good guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.birdsinbulgaria.org/birds.php?l=en&amp;amp;semeystvo=60&amp;amp;vid=109&amp;amp;type=bird&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Birds in Bulgaria&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Sweden, Western Capercaillies are the primary prey of the Golden Eagle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Numbers of small predators that predate capercaillies (e.g. Red Fox) have increased due to the loss of large predators who control smaller carnivores (e.g. Gray Wolf, Brown Bear).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like there might be some dark scat (animal droppings), although I can't see it that clearly. It can help you identify the predator. Also, I can't tell if there's a whole skeleton there. Some animals will eat the meat and leave the bones behind. Others drag or carry the skeleton away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-18T23:35:39.960" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21315" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21319" CreationDate="2018-12-19T03:36:14.923" Score="12" ViewCount="368" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously by anyone's definition, you need to reach the top to successfully climb a mountain, but after hiking to the top of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Peak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guadalupe Peak&lt;/a&gt;, where the peak is at 8,751 ft, but with a prominence of only 3,029 ft, it seems like most of the 'work' was done by just getting into the parking lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then through further reading about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.redbull.com/us-en/colin-obrady-50-highest-points-in-united-states-record-interview&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;50-state high point challenge&lt;/a&gt;, I read that &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britton_Hill&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Britton Hill&lt;/a&gt; in Florida is only 345 ft, with the parking lot just 66 ft from the 'summit'. Does that mean that accomplishing the feat of reaching the peak of all 50 summits in a record time could drastically be reduced by merely moving the starting point (parking lot) closer to the summit? What is the actual definition of 'climbing' a mountain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13452" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-19T22:40:54.490" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T22:40:54.490" Title="What counts as climbing a mountain?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21315" CreationDate="2018-12-19T04:29:41.273" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the time it just means that you got to the top under your own power from the standard trailhead and if you want to be more specific, you give the route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plenty of mountains will have different routes to the top of varying difficulty and length and other than the ones with roads to the top, if you walk/hike/climb/ to the top, then that counts. I backpacked +125 miles before climbing King's peak in Utah and on the way up to the summit I met plenty of day hikers.  Half Dome would also be a good example of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as moving the parking lot, it's technically possible but since plenty of the high points are in wilderness areas so that's not happening anytime soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T04:29:41.273" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21315" CreationDate="2018-12-19T12:44:47.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on context as well as more objective criteria. Example: If your &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Jacques-Cartier&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first mountain&lt;/a&gt; is 1270m but you got the bus to 800m where the road ends, you've still climbed your first mountain (not me by the way, my first was &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowfell&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bowfell&lt;/a&gt;, too long ago to remember the details). You might look back and think it was nothing much, you might have already climbed more prominent hills, but it's still significant. Prominence itself is only tangentially related to ease of access or total climb, because it's about land, not roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2018-12-19T14:00:29.310" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T14:00:29.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21252" CreationDate="2018-12-19T15:41:16.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;First off there GPS works everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In situations where one can get lost and as a result of that end up spending time out in the cold, probably the best way to prepare is by up-scaling your chance of finding your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cellphone with pre-downloaded maps.  The Cycle-maps from OpenStreetMap is used in many apps - pick whichever app you like.  But ensure that the maps for the region in which you will be is pre-downloaded.  This is the key.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Battery.  A power bank specifically for emergency situations will go a long way.  To make the phone battery last longer in areas where there is low or no cellphone reception switch to Flight Mode.  GPS (which is receive-only, does not transmit anything) works even in flight mode.  Note:  In remote areas the transmitters in the phone will automatically ramp up their output while beacon-ing and searching for signal, so Flight Mode is really a must.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that a normal magnetic compass is useful as a backup, but it seems the skill to place yourself on a map using only a map, compass and what you can see around you, is becoming a scarce skill.  Compass work is a skill worth learning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then of course the 5-Cs and 10-Cs of survival.  Correctly combining proper layers, padded jackets, and an emergency bag can keep you from freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Wet is NOT the biggest risk as stated by other people.  Wetness can lead to Cold when combined with wind though, but it is the cold, not the wetness that is the problem (With proper layers you can be wet and warm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8248" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T15:41:16.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21315" CreationDate="2018-12-19T16:14:45.773" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a peakbagger, I often have that sort of conversation. First you need to define your terms. What constitutes a mountain, a summit, a high point - all those matter. I have &quot;climbed&quot; high points in farm fields that are on such flat areas that we can't even know for certain where it's actually highest. That's why I'm very bored by the idea of county or state highpointing. Ignoring anthropogenic borders and using physical attributes of summits makes much more sense to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One interesting way to truly climb a mountain that I have tried is to go for a &lt;strong&gt;sea-to-summit&lt;/strong&gt; climb. This is easier on coastal peaks. For example if we're sailing somewhere, I always try to summit any island we anchor near to. That ensures I climbed all possible elevation gain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are crazy endeavours in sea-to-summit climbs, like doing Hawaiian island summits from the coast or climbing &lt;a href=&quot;http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=566&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mount Fairweather&lt;/a&gt; which rises straight out of the Pacific Ocean (that would be an insane trip). Generally this is out of the realm of practicality for most people so even flying in on the glaciers two thirds of the way to the summit will count as an ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual benchmark is to start from the surrounding valleys. For a classic mountain that rises from every side, this is usually where the trailheads are and no one would deny counting an ascent from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2018-12-19T16:20:10.267" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T16:20:10.267" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21321" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20087" CreationDate="2018-12-19T18:59:50.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there is a herd of buffalo you will hear them sooner by listening at the ground, then in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BUT&lt;/strong&gt; only if there is lot of them, making a large impact.  A single animal or even a few is unlikely to have enough energy to transfer sound any distance in the earth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In a solid, the particles are even closer together and linked by chemical bonds so the wave travels even faster than it does in either liquid or air, but you need quite a lot of energy to start the wave at the beginning. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/572-sound-on-the-move&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source (sciencelearn.org)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related sister site question &lt;a href=&quot;https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/28858/45610&quot;&gt;Do trackers hold their ears to the ground?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-19T19:16:25.550" LastActivityDate="2018-12-19T19:16:25.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21324" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21308" CreationDate="2018-12-20T07:57:35.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A downside of your plan is that emergency stuff doesn't have to be comfortable while your planned base camp probably is. If you're spending a safe but miserable night a short walk from your camp, do you have the willpower to not get in your nice warm sleeping bag in a nice dry tent? How are you with lack of sleep? Are you going to do something silly the next day because your emergency bivi kept you awake (this is part of the test, but also a consideration in how/when you test it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest that it's more important to become familiar with the kit in various situations than to rely on it all at once. So test your fire kit in the dark, in the rain, in both. Test your emergency shelter in rain and wind, even if it's in your garden (I plan to do this when I make a tarp + bike shelter tent, for example, though that's not an emergency shelter). This system leads to more smaller tests than one single overnighter, and in turn to greater familiarity with the kit. It gives you the chance to make changes and retest without a huge time commitment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-12-20T07:57:35.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6949" CreationDate="2018-12-20T12:38:25.367" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other people already have mentioned here. In general, it is a disadvantage to be tall. If you look at height-performance profiles in rock climbing, they are generally downward-sloping (meaning the taller you are, the lower you performance &lt;strong&gt;on average&lt;/strong&gt;). See the following graph I created (the first graph look at male climbers while the second considers females):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Q6n1.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Q6n1.png&quot; alt=&quot;Height and Climbing Performance among male climbers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7fh8d.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7fh8d.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Height, Body Mass Index and Climbing Performance Among Female Climbers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has been derived from a large sample of mostly regular climbers but not necessarily elite climbers (registered at the climbing website &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.8a.nu/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;8a.nu&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have looked into the role of height &lt;a href=&quot;http://climbstat.blogspot.com/2018/12/height-and-rock-climbing-performance.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://climbstat.blogspot.com/2018/12/being-tall-and-carrying-more-weight-are.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; which seems to be mostly due to the larger weight of taller climbers.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.davemacleod.com/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dave MacLeod&lt;/a&gt; writes about the topic of height in his nice book &lt;em&gt;9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes&lt;/em&gt;. He points out, in addition to other arguments which already been made, that taller climber develop an unfavorable slower and more static moving style.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14150" LastEditorUserId="14150" LastEditDate="2018-12-21T09:28:17.727" LastActivityDate="2018-12-21T09:28:17.727" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21308" CreationDate="2018-12-21T21:31:46.077" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Testing&quot; an emergency kit is an interesting idea.  Most of the things in an emergency kit should be foolproof.  What you should be testing isn't the kit but the skills and situations covered by your kit.  Testing that a tarp is in fact a tarp is relatively pointless unless you are verifying that your kit has what its supposed to.  What you really want to do is have a checklist of scenarios that you have prepared for. In the case of the  basics of Fire/Water/shelter- Can you build a shelter with what you have?  Can you build a fire?  What happens if its wet?  What will you do if you have a minor cut?  A major cut? (I can't tell you how many people consider a few band aids a first aid kit).  What you prepare for will dictate what should be in your kit. Maybe keeping storm proof matches in a waterproof bag is what you consider sufficient.  Maybe you've decided to add a waterproof tinder like a diethylene glycol pack. (try dumping a bucket a water on your fire and see if you can relight it)  That's the only way to test your kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17026" LastActivityDate="2018-12-21T21:31:46.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21328" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-21T23:40:41.233" Score="5" ViewCount="622" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.com/shop/fjallraven-polar-20-reg-F62728-burnt-orange&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fjällräven POLAR -20 REG&lt;/a&gt; has the following specs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;850 EUR&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1650g and 25cm x 40cm volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN/ISO: -12°C comfort, -20°C limit, -42°C extreme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;95/5 Down; 800 cuin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The MARMOT - Never Summer seems to be comparable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;297 EUR on Amazon&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1450g and 22cm x 46cm volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN/ISO: -12°C comfort, -20°C limit, -42°C extreme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down; 650+ cuin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT - Kryos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;485 EUR &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2335g and 29 cm x 25 cm x 23 cm volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;EN/ISO: -10°C comfort, -18°C limit, -39°C extreme&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;90/10 Down; 800+ cuin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also look similar. The Fjällräven sleeping bag has a bit of fur on the top, but besides that and the difference in fill power and weight I don't note a difference. And as the EN/ISO rating is the same, I think the difference in fill power does not matter. (Right?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is Fjällräven 285% of the price of Marmot? Is there any other quality difference I can't see? (Reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/3037/6392&quot;&gt;Is buying an expensive sleeping bag better?&#xA;&lt;/a&gt; didn't help)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6392" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-02-17T12:42:25.110" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T12:42:25.110" Title="Why are Fjällräven sleeping bags so expensive?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21328" CreationDate="2018-12-22T07:55:56.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with many brands you pay a premium for the name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of that is because the brand has a good reputation and will make sure that all they sell are up to brand standards, part is that they guaranty their products to perform as given for the products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the extra money will go to special features which may or may not show, like fur or a better class of zipper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And it may be that you are comparing sleeping bags that not really match the same specifications, but the differences mentioned in some comments should still not justify the price difference unless one of them was a top known brand and the other not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I have always chosen for a cheaper brand or unbranded item that performs as required, not paying the big brand premium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-12-26T20:51:51.367" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T20:51:51.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18372" CreationDate="2018-12-22T21:29:50.383" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another tested bait with very good results is fresh chicken breast with garlic powder. Also, in my opinion Sargo become more active when sea is dome &amp;amp; rough , weather is dull and takes air mostly in rock bottom. Lastly, use circle hooks to avoid hooks break from Sargo strong &amp;amp; sharp teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastEditorUserId="17112" LastEditDate="2018-12-22T21:40:04.987" LastActivityDate="2018-12-22T21:40:04.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21331" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-22T21:51:13.380" Score="3" ViewCount="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could you please provide information regarding the tools (hook, swivels, hooks, main line, line for hooks, floaters, stoppers etc) and right distances &amp;amp; dimensions among each tool needed to create a Pater Noster rig suitable for Sargo &amp;amp; Bass?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2018-12-23T13:39:32.017" LastActivityDate="2018-12-23T13:39:32.017" Title="Pater Noster Rig" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19702" CreationDate="2018-12-22T22:01:09.493" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another solution is to add salt and leave them to absorb as  much as they can for 3-4 hours. Then, store in the fridge. Following this procedure, the shrimps become more touch, and it is difficult for a fish to remove from the hook easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastActivityDate="2018-12-22T22:01:09.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21333" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21351" CreationDate="2018-12-23T20:01:57.717" Score="1" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because of illness in my family, I cannot travel far from home for awhile, and have to be able to return quickly if necessary.  However, I will be in Boston at the end of February visiting MIT and would like to have the illusion that I am in TGO for one or two half-days, (a) preferably, but not necessarily, actually in Boston or Cambridge; and (b) preferably but not necessarily accessible by the T. (Do they still call the rapid transit the T?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am very familiar with the area around MIT, but it has been years since I was anyplace in the Boston/Cambridge area outside of the MIT/Boston Commons axis.  By &quot;the illusion that I am the TGO&quot; I mean, at a minimum, that the sounds and sights of traffic are at least greatly muted and there is no-one walking in high heels. Walking along the Charles or in the Public Gardens/Commons is pleasant, but it is unmistakably in the city.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2018-12-24T01:40:28.797" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T19:14:38.407" Title="Are there any outdoorsy hikes accessible from the T in the Boston area, preferably (but not necessarily) actually in Boston or Cambridge" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21333" CreationDate="2018-12-24T04:06:38.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ll let you do the mapping but you’ve got a couple of good options.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arnold Arboretum&lt;/a&gt; is walking distance from Forest Hills Station (directions by different methods, including Forest Hills Station are provided &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/directions/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), and while it’s more of a very large park and you’ve got to get off the main paved paths for any solitude, it can be done.  For real wilderness &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mass.gov/locations/blue-hills-reservation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Blue Hills Reservation&lt;/a&gt; in Milton is more of a schlep with multiple transfers but the fire tower view from the summit is impressive and some of the trails feel quite remote. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-26T01:39:45.240" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T01:39:45.240" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21336" CreationDate="2018-12-24T13:11:30.307" Score="6" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;We purchased a small potted live Christmas tree.  We want to plant it outside.  The ground is not frozen, can we plant it the day after Christmas or do we need to wait until spring?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each year millions of trees are killed for this winter holiday, we are trying to restore life not take it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-27T19:22:56.033" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T19:22:56.033" Title="When to plant a potted live Christmas tree?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21335" CreationDate="2018-12-24T21:24:07.783" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thanks for buying a live tree! We're in Massachusetts, and had success under the direction of a horticulturist. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree must be inside for the least possible amount of time, no more than a week or two, so don't buy it too many days before Christmas, and plant it as soon as you can after the holiday. Too much time in a warm dry room will cause difficulty adjusting to its natural conditions. It may even sprout new growth that will die once you put it out, compromising the entire tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our tree was dug up the day before we got it; stayed in our 3-season room with daytime temperatures in the 50s F, nights in the 30s F; and transplanted out on the 11th day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You only need sufficient thawed ground and sun in the place you're going to put it, even if other areas are frozen. Even if the ground freezes after you've prepared the hole, you can still plant the tree, using the dirt you dug up. Many people dig the hole earlier in the season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.freeplants.com/live-christmas-trees.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caring for and planting live Christmas trees&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Try to plant the tree immediately after the holiday hoopla has ended. The tree should not be stored above ground during the winter if it can be avoided. It’s not a good idea to store it in your garage either, as it is likely to dry out in there. The best place for live Christmas trees is to be is planted in the ground, even if the ground was frozen as soon as the hole was dug. Just set the tree in the hole and backfill the hole with the loose soil you saved in your wheelbarrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/christmas-trees/plant-your-christmas-tree.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Replanting a Christmas Tree&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When you decide to replant a Christmas tree outside after the holidays, you also need to accept that you will not be able to enjoy the tree indoors as long as you would a cut tree. This is because indoor conditions can put a live Christmas tree at risk. Expect that your Christmas tree will only be able to be in the house for 1 to 1½ weeks. Any longer than this, you reduce the chance that your Christmas tree will be able to adapt to conditions outside again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All trees are susceptible to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thoughtco.com/minimize-tree-transplant-shock-1343516&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Transplant Shock&lt;/a&gt;. The tree has already been transplanted when you get it. Further transplants increase the stress, so the entire process must be done carefully. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ours was a four foot tall blue spruce, and came with the roots in a burlap bag. These instructions from our horticulturist worked perfectly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While inside: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the rootball intact in its original burlap (If yours isn't in burlap, the same instructions are fine. Just gather the roots together.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put it in a tub with a diameter just a few larger than the rootball&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water it every few days from the top, keeping the rootball moist but not soggy or sitting in a lot of stagnant water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep it in a cool room if possible. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't use hot Christmas lights, and only leave them on for short periods of time&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For planting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Before purchase, dig a hole at least 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plant the tree outside within 10 to 12 days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Set it into the hole with the rootball level with the ground&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backfill the hole with its own dirt and some light mulch or shredded leaves&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't water the hole, the dirt, the rootball, or the tree during planting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't water the tree at all until about 3 months from Christmas, at the end of March&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some pictures. The first two are in the house. The second two are the prepared hole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BmjgZm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BmjgZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Full tree in bucket&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QtZiZm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QtZiZm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Close up of root ball&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QLE92m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QLE92m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Hole&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KiTPKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KiTPKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Another image of the hole&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2018-12-27T05:01:06.520" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T05:01:06.520" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21308" CreationDate="2018-12-25T10:32:49.087" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;By far the best way I've found to test your setup, is to get out there and &lt;em&gt;test&lt;/em&gt; your setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should go without saying that this needs to be done in a metered manner; don't bite off more than you can chew and &quot;hope for the best&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the long distance hiking community these are frequently called &quot;shakedown hikes&quot; and represent a sort of real-life expectations test of your gear in that form that a 2,500 mile hike is really just a lot of 3-5 day hikes strung together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you've the time, shakedown hikes can really help you narrow down the problems you've made in your personal selections of gear and equipment, and also allows you to familiarize yourself with your kit before being too far away from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to emergency situations and emergency preparedness, I'd focus more on getting your expectations and experience through courses and training before hitting the trail. Depending on the environment you're heading into this could range from something as simple as contacting a local ranger station close by to your intended area for the big ticket items to think about, or as in-depth as taking multiple courses in wilderness first aid/responder/EMT, a course on ice climbing, courses on backcountry snowshoeing and cross country skiing, etc. in and around the environments you'll be traversing through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally find that for longer treks, a book or two written by someone who has done something similar have been extremely helpful for all experience levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope that helps, let me know if you have follow-on questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16938" LastActivityDate="2018-12-25T10:32:49.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21333" CreationDate="2018-12-25T19:53:09.500" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mass.gov/locations/middlesex-fells-reservation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Middlesex Fells&lt;/a&gt; is a great location just north of the city.  It's fairly T-accessible and is as close to TGO as you'll get in metro Boston.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mass.gov/doc/middlesex-fells-reservation-trail-map/download&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail Map and info&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16034" LastActivityDate="2018-12-25T19:53:09.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="406" CreationDate="2018-12-26T00:00:49.093" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally have backups for my backup. My survival pack includes Zippo w/ Fuel and extra flints, Magnesium/Flint w/ Striker, Fire Piston w/ Tinder, Hurricane Matches, Disposable Bic, Magnifying Lense, with extra flint and strikers incorporated within several items. Ultimately it's best to be prepared. And the weight isn't a problem, for me anyway. Also prep yourself in old school friction fire building, seeing as one could lose their pack in any number of ways. My favorite is the Bow Drill as it tends to be the most effective, though there are a few different old school methods. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll stick to fire building tools and refrain from delving into other tools need along with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17119" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T00:00:49.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21341" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21364" CreationDate="2018-12-26T01:44:21.543" Score="2" ViewCount="344" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have a recommendation for a mountain hike to catch the sunrise and is within driving distance of Vancouver, BC, (&amp;lt; 2 hours)? What are winter conditions like? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17120" LastEditorUserId="17120" LastEditDate="2018-12-28T23:58:37.187" LastActivityDate="2018-12-28T23:58:37.187" Title="Vancouver Sunrise Hike Advice?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;sunrise&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21342" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21409" CreationDate="2018-12-26T05:09:46.977" Score="6" ViewCount="479" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm on holiday near Sechelt right now, and have been hiking the trails and powerline right of ways.  On several occasions I've come to the end of one trail, and can see the start again on the other side of a stream.  Wading the stream is a piece of cake.  The ravine on either side is often choked with blackberry canes.  The dogs and I are NOT impressed with this, and at times I've backtracked a mile to find another route as being faster than doing 50 yards of canes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do other people deal with these beasts?  Machete?  Weedeater?  High explosive air strike?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-31T17:16:33.453" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T07:39:46.620" Title="How do you deal with blackberry bushes on the west coast when bushwhacking?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21335" CreationDate="2018-12-26T05:41:36.583" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trees that grow in cold climates have a chilling requirement -- a certain number of hours below a certain temp that they must have before they break bud.  If they don't get enough chill, they don't leaf out in spring.  This is a protective mechanism so that the tree isn't sucked in by a mid-winter thaw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the tree was grown locally, then it will probably NOT have enough chilling hours by Christmas.  Most trees don't have enough for their local climate until around end of February.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you need to get it back out in the cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a warm climate, where the ground isn't frozen, plant it now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the ground is frozen, put it outside out of the wind, out of the sun and bury the root ball in snow.  You can also save bags of dried leaves for this purpose in fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know where you are going to plant it, predig the hole in fall.  You can either keep enough dirt inside to finish planting it, or keep the hole filled with leaves and covered with a scrap of plywood, then place the tree in the hole, rebury with leaves, and plant properly when the ground thaws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do NOT let the tree dry out inside.  Keep in a cool room (below 65, or better below 60 F) and keep inside for only a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people put on the patio.  You can decorated it still -- LED lights won't warm it up enough to matter.  Water it by keeping snow or ice cubes on top of hte root ball.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T05:41:36.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21345" CreationDate="2018-12-26T06:49:07.990" Score="4" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering taking a few skiing lessons soon (never skied before), and the amount of specialized gear seems to be a lot. I hike a bit, and have good merino socks, which are great for warmth as well as dryness, and go well with hiking boots. However, all ski socks seem to be knee high. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does someone know if I can make do with the calf-length socks in downhill skiing boots for the duration of the lessons, or if it is strongly recommended that I get a pair of specific ski socks instead? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-01-02T21:27:18.547" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T21:50:55.893" Title="Winter hiking socks (calf-length) for beginner downhill skiing" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;socks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21344" CreationDate="2018-12-26T10:51:04.003" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You most definitely do not need specialized socks. If your socks suit you when hiking, chances are good they will for skiing as well. And as you said merino should also be good for warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the length: The important thing is, that the upper end is outside/above the ski boot. If the end is inside, that's a point of friction and especially on your shins, that's problematic. So if your calf length socks go to just below the knees, that's fine - best to test with the skiing boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T10:51:04.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21342" CreationDate="2018-12-26T12:57:39.007" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going around is the best solution.  You can wack your way through with a machete, but it is not easier.  The vines are really long, you would need to cut a tunnel, where you cut both ends, it is a lot of work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you cut them, you are cutting a long fairly stable thorn covered vine, it becomes two no longer stable thorn covered vines, one of which is most certainly going to reach out and grab you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when picking black berries (&lt;em&gt;very good eating&lt;/em&gt;) most people do not chop their way into center to get the berries in a wild patch.  It just not worth it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My Grandparents had a blackberry patch and they would maintain a path to the center, but it was a labor of ongoing work.  As I recall they used planks that they could pickup and drop on the new growth then walk on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2018-12-26T20:02:14.590" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T20:02:14.590" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21347" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21348" CreationDate="2018-12-26T16:53:52.893" Score="16" ViewCount="3571" Body="&lt;p&gt;While there have been some accomplished climbers who have done this in the Himalayan peaks, alpine style remains relatively rare in the Himalayas. Most climbing is done in the expedition style with large groups. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a fundamental reason this is so? Can a moderately experienced climber, who might summit solo or in 2-person teams in European/American peaks, attempt the same in the Himalayas? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-26T22:20:37.093" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T01:47:36.967" Title="Why is the &quot;alpine style&quot; of climbing not as popular in the Himalayas?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21347" CreationDate="2018-12-26T17:08:09.663" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TLDR:&lt;/strong&gt; Because its much harder that way and the extra altitude of the Himalayas makes it that much more difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Alpine style refers to &lt;strong&gt;mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter, equipment, etc. as one climbs,&lt;/strong&gt; as opposed to expedition style (or siege style) mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain which can be accessed at one's leisure. Additionally, &lt;strong&gt;alpine style means the refusal of fixed ropes, high-altitude porters and the use of supplemental oxygen.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_style&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine Style&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the Himalayas are at extremely high altitude where supplemental oxygen is all but required and extra time is needed to acclimatize having a series of camps makes sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been &lt;a href=&quot;https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/spanish-climber-kilian-jornet-scales-mt-everest-alpine-style-speed-record/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;done&lt;/a&gt; but its not the most common option for a reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T17:08:09.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16523" CreationDate="2018-12-26T17:22:06.647" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cub scouts and boy scouts are now accepting girls in their programs. As your daughter is 3 or around 4 since this was posted she would have to join cub scouting and you can be there with her as a parent or a leader if you wish. It's an option and when she's old enough to move up to boy scouts you can move up with her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17123" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T17:22:06.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21333" CreationDate="2018-12-26T19:14:38.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;At closest, your options are probably Hammond Pond in Newton (right off the green line) or Arnold Arboretum in Forest Hills (right off the orange line). Hammond pond is more of a walk a little down the trial, turn off and find a secluded spot and sit and relax. As the area is really small and surrounded by roads, it would be hard to get lost so you could wander around the woods off the trails for an afternoon if that is what you want. Arnold Arboretum is much bigger and you could conceivably spend an afternoon on trails (or you could find a secluded spot and sit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little further out, but still inside RT 128, are Quincy Quarries/Blue Hills Reservation, Middlesex Fells, and Lynn Woods. You can definitely spend 1/2 a day wandering the trails in these parks. Middlesex Fells and Blue Hills are more T accessible than Lynn Woods. All would be easy (and reasonably affordable) to get to via Uber (or T and then Uber) Of the 3 I like Lynn Woods more, but that is probably because I used to bike there as a child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Places like Walden Pond, Hopkington State Park (the start of the Boston marathon), and others are outside RT 128, but still inside I495. They are pretty hard to access by the T, but an Uber would be expensive, but easy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2018-12-26T19:14:38.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21347" CreationDate="2018-12-27T01:41:49.333" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;alpine style remains relatively rare in the Himalayas&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually, as far as I can tell from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP51&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;current climbing literature&lt;/a&gt;, alpine style climbs in the Himalaya are relatively common these days. Expedition style climbs (at least the only ones that attract any attention) are now mostly for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventureconsultants.com/expeditions/seven-summits/everest/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;paying customers with guides&lt;/a&gt;. I suspect there are also still private alpinists doing hybrid climbs in the Himalayas, but they don't get covered much in the climbing press.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The highest Himalayan peaks (8000 m) are roughly twice the height of the highest peaks in the Alps or North America outside of Alaska and the Yukon (4000 m). The additional altitude makes a huge difference: Climbers can typically acclimatize to 4000 m in a matter of days. Acclimatizing to 6000 m takes weeks, and even alpine style climbers generally have to have support teams or porters to get all the food and gear to a base camp where they do their acclimatization. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_high_altitude_on_humans&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbers don't acclimatize to altitudes over 8000 m, they slowly die&lt;/a&gt;. Climbers can get fatal altitude related conditions like cerebral edema at 4000 m, but the higher you go the more common these become, even with supplementary oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Can a moderately experienced climber, who might summit solo or in&#xA;  2-person teams in European/American peaks, attempt the same in the&#xA;  Himalayas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is too broad to be answered because &quot;moderately experienced&quot; is vague. Is a climber who can climb the Hornli ridge on the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, or the Gouter Hut Route on Mt. Blanc, without a guide, a moderately experience climber? They probably could qualify for a guided climb of Mt. Everest, but they'd be doing it expedition style. How about a climber who's done all the big North faces of the Alps? They might very well be invited on an alpine style climb in the Himalaya.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2018-12-27T01:47:36.967" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T01:47:36.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21358" CreationDate="2018-12-27T07:38:02.887" Score="7" ViewCount="1496" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the practical aspects of using good quality hiking boots (e.g. ones shown below) for climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S6nVo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S6nVo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Arguably, an outdoor enthusiast might be involved in various sorts of activities from hiking and camping to climbing to mountaineering. Now suppose said enthusiast is not keen on having specialized gear for every single sub-activity. Can a solid pair of hiking boots serve all purposes? Especially on a backpacking/camping trip where one carries all one's gear on one's back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that paired with crampons or snow-shoes, and the right pair of socks, they are fine for cold and higher altitudes. What about moderate outdoor rock-climbing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2018-12-27T19:43:11.117" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T22:23:50.680" Title="Using hiking boots for amateur rock-climbing" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21328" CreationDate="2018-12-27T08:01:50.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is not unreasonably more expensive. Besides just higher profit margins, there are a lot of other factors going into the price besides &quot;cost of goods&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chief among these factors is the higher and more specialized/qualified labor costs, leading to higher construction quality and durability. There is also field testing - more of which costs much more. The same argument applies to the individual raw material suppliers - there are premium and budget qualities and suppliers for most materials. This recursively adds up to the final price. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specifications you copied do not say anything about the quality of the outer fabric (how breathable and water proof), the kind of stitching, zippers, additional padding at the chest, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is similar to how a similarly specced laptop from Macbook-Pro/Thinkpad T or X series/Elitebook will cost a lot more than a budget one, even by the same manufacturer (Lenovo Thinkpad T vs Ideapad). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practical terms, if the intended use is only occasional, the cheaper variant might suffice. If however, one wants the item to perform equally reliably when it is a few years old, the more expensive is a better variant. For instance, something made for long-term regular military use at high altitude will necessarily be of significantly higher quality (and thus, more expensive) than something to be used by a hobbyist using the gear for a week every year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said, without a personal inspection of the goods, it is still possible you're being ripped off. Or there's a discount or clearance sale. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a counter example, look up &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gipfelclimbing.com/product/siachen-sleeping-bag-40-c/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Siachen sleeping bags (-40 celsius) by Gipfel&lt;/a&gt;, an Indian manufacturer, costing over EUR 350. Being an Indian manufacturer (with a lower cost base), one would expect it to be a lot cheaper than the EU based ones. But this is still more than the MARMOT. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T08:01:50.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2018-12-27T08:37:16.347" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compared to even the most basic climbing rig, shoes are small and light so not carrying them doesn't really help with your load. Climbing kit is expensive, with or without shoes, but shoes are much more personal than some kit that can be borrowed or shared, so you may be able to save some money. The thick sturdy soles of boots are almost the opposite of climbing shoe soles, which allow your foot to conform to the rock. This will seriously limit what you can climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, most of my climbing was done in boots - and it was very basic. You can certainly have a go, to see whether climbing is something you want to commit time and money to doing properly, but don't expect to progress very far. For me this worked well, as I found that I enjoyed other activities more before climbing cost me very much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T08:37:16.347" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2018-12-27T16:52:11.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;That type of boot is pretty standard for hiking and mountaineering and they work fine for climbing up to a point. I have done plenty of 3rd class ascents in boots like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For going up talus fields or piles of large boulders they work great, as soon as you need to smear or hold onto very small ledges, they don't work so well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is that they work well for broken terrain and up to Class 3 ascents, but as soon as you need a rope on rock, climbing or approach shoes would be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T16:52:11.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2018-12-27T19:40:29.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering boots are made for rock climbing - in addition to hiking, walking/climbing with crampons, ... This means there is a compromise between multiple purposes, while dedicated climbing shoes are just for climbing (if you can walk comfortably in your climbing shoes, they are too big or specifically not performance oriented).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the hardest climb I did in mountaineering boots was a French 5c (alpine style, i.e. using any means to ascend). That's an extreme example, but depending on your experience and circumstances (how well is the climb protected), climbing up to UIAA V/French 4c is typically done in mountaineering boots. If there are longs stretches of climbing harder than UIAA IV/French 4a, you'd typically use climbing shoes. While climbing shoes are indeed not very heavy, they definitely are relevant if your on a multiday mountaineering endeavor, where you are happy about every peace of gear you can leave at home.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And roped up or not is pretty much independent of whether your climbing in boots or climbing shoes. I can't imagine a situation where you use climbing shoes but no rope, but there's plenty of situation where you climb with mountaineering boots with or without roping up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR: Climbing shoes are better, but mountaineering boots are perfectly fine for easy climbing. If you get hooked by rock climbing (you will ;) ), you'll want to get dedicated climbing shoes though (your climbs will become less and less easy).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-02-13T21:50:29.160" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T21:50:29.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2018-12-27T21:40:03.970" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;For &lt;em&gt;easy&lt;/em&gt; climbs you have quite a good chance to be OK with hiking shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important property for a shoe to be usable for climbing is, that you have to be able to stand on contact points so small that only a part of your toes' length fits on them. To achieve that, you have basically two possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You take a flexible, very tightly fitting shoe with a thin rubber sole where you can stand on small pieces by actively exerting force with your toes and the arch of the foot. This is the climbing shoe approach.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a quite heavy shoe with a sole that is stiff enough to not flex when you stand on a small edge at the very tip of the shoe. In that case the force to stand on small items comes from your ankles. Hiking boots which are at least partially crampon compatible typically have such stiff soles. Also, this type of shoe was the normal climbing shoe before the invention of specific rock climbing shoes. Of course you will not be able to stand on super-tiny edges and your mileage may vary depending on the type of rock but for easier climbs and the occasional climbing or scrambling section on a hiking tour you will be quite fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both shoe types have in common that their sole has a pronounced rectangular front edge which allows to step on rather small edges with good precision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other types of shoes, such as trainers or gym shoes will be much worse compared to those, since they have a thick, but very flexible sole (causing not very precise feeling for the things you stand on) and if chosen at a wearable size are reaching too much over the front of your toes, such that you neither have a defined front edge to stand on nor a good force transmission to the sole, so it will be very strenuous for the toes and muscles in the arch of the foot to stand on small features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize: if you want to take it serious and can afford the extra money, pack weight and space, go for genuine climbing shoes. For easy climbing or some occasional climbing section on your hike, your hiking shoes should do OK. Normal sports shoes will perform much worse, so taking those will be a waste in money and energy -- the latter both while carrying them and while climbing with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-02-13T20:38:09.287" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T20:38:09.287" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2018-12-27T23:00:44.443" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You mention &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; boots but you show what are more like &lt;em&gt;mountaineering&lt;/em&gt; boots. The difference between the two types of boot have implications regarding their use for certain types of climbing: Hiking boots will have slightly softer soles (possibly with rounded edges), allowing &quot;smearing&quot; or gripping sloping flat rocks. Mountaineering boots will have stiffer soles with sharper edges, allowing you to catch onto tiny rock edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2018-12-27T23:00:44.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21360" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21361" CreationDate="2018-12-28T02:52:42.257" Score="5" ViewCount="199" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/p/BqLrb1_Fm4u/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;instagram post&lt;/a&gt; by Colin O'Brady (just hiked across Antarctica) shows his compass needle looking fairly level, but I can't see enough else to know if he's holding it level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A significant fraction of all compasses are used where the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_dip&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic dip&lt;/a&gt; is quite large. Where I grew up it was way over 60 degrees, and yet I remember my compass needle being level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do the needles of simple magnetic compasses remain level, instead of see-sawing with magnetic dip? Do they stay level even near the poles? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t7okZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t7okZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_Magnetic_Inclination_2015.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-28T03:02:14.803" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T19:35:52.510" Title="How do simple compass needles remain level instead of see-sawing with magnetic dip? Are they flat even near the poles?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21361" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21360" CreationDate="2018-12-28T03:01:48.327" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is that the manufacturers know about this problem and have taken steps to correct the problem caused by the variance in the dips as you move up and down the earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be done in one of two ways, either balancing a compass for a specific zone, which will limit the compass's usefulness to that zone, or a special global compass that has enough movement to work anywhere regardless of your position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any practical magnetic compass must show the horizontal component of the local magnetic field line to be precise. To accomplish this without having to manually compensate for the natural tilt in the magnetic lines, &lt;strong&gt;compass manufacturers usually use the weight of the needle or card to account for the vertical component of the magnetic field.&lt;/strong&gt; This is referred to as magnetic zone balancing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suunto’s globally balanced needles use a construction where the needle and the magnet tilt independently of each other. This allows the needle to stay parallel with the compass capsule while the magnet tilts with the vertical component of the earth magnetic field without pulling down the needle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.suunto.com/en-us/Support/Compasses-feature-index/Understanding-balancing-zones/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Understanding balancing zones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In order to get an accurate reading from a compass, the compass needle needs to be &amp;quot;balanced&amp;quot; in the capsule, so it does not drag on the top or bottom of the capsule.&lt;/strong&gt;  But, because the horizontal and vertical components of the earth's magnetic field vary considerably in different locations, a compass needle that &amp;quot;balances&amp;quot; perfect in North America will drag or stick in South America.  As a result of these magnetic variances, the compass industry has divided the earth into 5 &amp;quot;zones&amp;quot;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecompassstore.com/whatisglobne.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What is a Global Needle?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1616/is-a-compass-generally-accurate-in-only-one-hemisphere-or-both/1620#1620&quot;&gt;compass used in the Northern Hemisphere&lt;/a&gt; won't work in the Southern unless it uses a global needle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T19:35:52.510" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21362" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21363" CreationDate="2018-12-28T03:06:31.837" Score="5" ViewCount="217" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Outside Online article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2365661/colin-obrady-how-fuel-solo-unassisted-antarctic-crossing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Fuel for a Solo, Unassisted Antarctic Crossing&lt;/a&gt; starts with &quot;Colin O’Brady thinks it’s possible—but just barely—to haul enough calories to traverse the continent. Here’s how,&quot; It mostly discusses &quot;human fueling&quot; (calories) but later says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;That means starting out with a sled weighing 375 pounds (Worsley’s, in contrast, weighed 330 pounds). Unlike Worsley, he’s not bringing cigars or a bottle of Royal Brackla Scotch whiskey to toast his progress. In fact, he admitted, “I’m not bringing a second pair of underwear.” That ruthlessly pragmatic approach contrasts with the swashbuckling tradition of polar exploration pioneered by the British—but this particular challenge, O’Brady believes, simply doesn’t allow any margin for whimsy. The starting load of food was about 245 pounds, &lt;strong&gt;with another 55 pounds of fuel, which is needed to melt the necessary five liters of water daily&lt;/strong&gt;, and 75 pounds of equipment and clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Antarctic hikers mentioned below looked at using photovoltaic cells to convert solar power to electricity and store it in batteries (or thermally) for melting water and charging electronic gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Question:&lt;/strong&gt; How did O’Brady charge his electronic gear? Solar? Conversion of thermal power from burning fuel to electricity somehow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUcOH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUcOH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Antarctica hikers Barney and Robert Swan&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;above:&lt;/strong&gt; &quot;Robert and Barney Swan towing sleds topped with solar panels across Antarctica.&quot; From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbsnews.com/news/expedition-antarctica-cbsn-originals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Credit: SHELL-Technical Partners&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Borrowed from &lt;a href=&quot;https://space.stackexchange.com/q/30284/12102&quot;&gt;What technology assistance did NASA give to hikers to the South Pole using renewables-only?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="12619" LastEditDate="2018-12-28T03:22:40.163" LastActivityDate="2018-12-28T03:30:55.627" Title="How did O’Brady charge his electronic gear while hiking across Antarctica?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21362" CreationDate="2018-12-28T03:30:55.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;He did it with solar panels,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sunlight, which shines 24 hours a day in the summer, O'Brady says, &quot;is weird and disorienting but I actually kinda like it,&quot; since it allows him to charge his solar panels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46687892&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US man finishes solo race across Antarctica&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To charge electronics, like the satellite phones that are their lone link to the potentially life-saving human world beyond, they place solar panels inside the tent, which capture enough light in the 24-hour sun of Antarctic summer days to charge through nylon walls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2018/12/explorers-colin-obrady-louis-rudd-race-south-pole-antarctica/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Explorer crosses South Pole in epic race across Antarctica&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes sense as there is plenty of light and it's a passive system that doesn't require attendance the same way that burning fuel would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-28T03:30:55.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21341" CreationDate="2018-12-28T05:55:16.197" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several peaks on the north shore have broad 360 views that should include nice sunrise views.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, Holyburn in Cypress, First Pump on the way to Mt Seymour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Winter conditions for both are usually packed snow (as many people use those trails), so micro-spikes at least, or snowshoes if there was a recent snowfall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperature in winter are rarely below -15C during the day, but watch the forecast before going, obviously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both trails are 30-45 minutes from downtown Vancouver, have parking at the trailhead, and are considered a easy to moderate day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen the sunrise from either of those, but I'd say you should have a nice view of the sun rising above the mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that you need winter tires (those are legally mandated) to drive the roads that goes up to Seymour and Cypress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Then it entirely depends on your definition of driving distance. Jasper is in driving distance, if you have time :) )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2018-12-28T05:55:16.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21365" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-28T13:00:13.387" Score="3" ViewCount="587" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just recently fletched new arrows and I decided to put them a little more downward than usual. I thought (with my particular fletching rig) I would get more helical twist into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I ended up with an arrow having about 1,5 &quot; between the nock and the feathers. Is that okay? Or to generalise my question, how relevant is the distance between nock and fletching? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T09:59:01.737" Title="How relevant is distance between nock and fletching?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;arrows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21366" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-28T14:20:01.420" Score="4" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that cold weather can be dangerous, especially if one is not in proper winter wear. But I came across a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/uXEBsSBs6TM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; whereby a person is seen digging ice for water and bathing in an icy, mountainous environment. What is the science/technique behind this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17138" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-28T16:32:59.740" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:25:29.380" Title="Bathing outdoors in low temperature, high altitude environment" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21368" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21391" CreationDate="2018-12-29T04:40:44.877" Score="4" ViewCount="600" Body="&lt;p&gt;One summer evening we drove to Race Point, the farthest tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. We were told there was a lighthouse at that spot, and wanted to see the light shine through the darkness, as it signaled to the boats out in the ocean.  Some people there were calling it a light station. Is that the same thing as a lighthouse? If not, what are the differences? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for substantial and detailed information about the meaning of and purpose for each. I know lighthouses come in many different sizes and shapes. I'm talking about any structure that serves that purpose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some history would also be appreciated, if possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-02T18:32:56.637" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T18:32:56.637" Title="What are the differences between a lighthouse and a light station in terms of the specific purpose?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21368" CreationDate="2018-12-29T07:38:23.817" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lighthouse is one of the buildings in a light station and has the actual signaling light while light station refers to all of the buildings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;light station comprises the lighthouse tower and all outbuildings&lt;/strong&gt;, such as the keeper's living quarters, fuel house, boathouse, and fog-signaling building. The &lt;strong&gt;Lighthouse itself consists of a tower structure&lt;/strong&gt; supporting the lantern room where the light operates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lighthouse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T07:38:23.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21371" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21374" CreationDate="2018-12-29T14:41:34.470" Score="8" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have hives that are close to a field that gets sprayed each year, any help to protect my bees would be nice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16964" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2018-12-30T05:13:58.390" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T01:54:03.503" Title="What is the best method for protecting my bees from pesticides?" Tags="&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2996" CreationDate="2018-12-29T21:44:06.840" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is nothing wrong with burning rhododendron, as long as it is seasiond, it burns hot and fast, so you will need a large pile or mix with other longer burning logs,  it's tangled nature makes it sometimes difficult to harvest, it's is commonly burned in areas where it is plentyfull and invasive. In green wood, it has traces of toxin however when dried it is quite safe to burn &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17145" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T21:44:06.840" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21371" CreationDate="2018-12-29T21:48:37.533" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like there isn't much you can do because most of it depends on the farmers. With that said,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The farther colonies are away from fields or orchards that are treated with pesticides, the better chance the bees have against pesticide poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Establish apiaries at least 4 miles from crops being treated with toxic materials and subjected to drift.&lt;/strong&gt; However, if your apiary &lt;strong&gt;is already located in an agricultural area where pesticide use is high, moving your bees&lt;/strong&gt; may be the best insurance against future pesticide kills since preventing honey bees from foraging on pesticide-contaminated flowers is almost impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &lt;strong&gt;moving is impossible, covering colonies with a well-ventilated screen to restrict honey bee flight during peak foraging hours may be your only course of action.&lt;/strong&gt; However, this method has dangerous side effects and could lead to higher mortality than would have occurred from pesticide exposure. Colonies may have difficulty controlling their hive temperature when confined and can easily overheat, so care must be taken. Providing water inside the screen will allow the bees to reduce temperatures. Do not keep the colony covered for more than two days. Covering the colonies with large wet burlap sacks and providing them with shade is another method for preventing overheating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bees.caes.uga.edu/bees-beekeeping-pollination/pollination/pollination-protecting-pollinators-from-pesticides.html#Recovery&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Protecting Pollinators from Pesticides&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not leave unmarked colonies of bees next to orchards or fields. &lt;strong&gt;Post your name, address, and phone number in printing large enough to be read at some distance in all apiaries&lt;/strong&gt; so you can be contacted readily to move the colonies when hazardous sprays are to be applied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover honey bee colonies with wet burlap for two or three days to protect them from the initial hazards of an insecticide.&lt;/strong&gt; Such covers should be put over the hives during the night before the crop is treated and should be kept wet during use. This method works; however, most beekeepers find it impractical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://beesource.com/point-of-view/joe-traynor/how-to-reduce-bee-poisoning-from-pesticides/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Pesticides&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't move the bees to a safe location, it looks like your best bet is to contact the farmers and ask that they notify you before they apply their pesticides so you can try and keep the bees at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-29T21:48:37.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21387" CreationDate="2018-12-30T18:33:53.663" Score="12" ViewCount="456" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing anchors usually have 2-3 redundant protection points, which distribute weight. So if one point breaks, this will not be a catastrophic failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what should I do in practice if this happens? (this has never happened to me)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothetical situation: I (let's call me &lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;) have finished leading a pitch; I have built an anchor of 2 solid or 3 less-than-solid points, and I am belaying 2 persons (&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt;) top-roping 10-20 m below me. Suddenly, one of the persons (&lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt;) loads the rope, and one of the anchor points is destroyed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the anchor still works (1 or 2 points left):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What should I do?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What should I instruct &lt;strong&gt;B&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;C&lt;/strong&gt; to do?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If we cannot communicate (e.g. too much environmental noise), what to do?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T18:24:26.283" Title="What to do when one point in a climbing anchor breaks?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19686" CreationDate="2018-12-31T13:27:36.933" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe your question begins with a false premise, that using treated wood has some advantage and one possible negative on a boat trailer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is true that that wood treatments will interact badly with some metals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But also consider, there is not much wood on a boat trailer.  Any untreated wood on your boat trailer is going to have several years of useful life.  There are also rubber parts with a similar life span, not to mention oxidization to the metal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your trailer is going to need maintenance. Replacing untreated wood as it ages, is probably one of the least expensive and time consuming maintenance tasks, you will have.  Adding treated wood, is going to increase risk to more expensive and difficult to address issues.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider, how much of the time that wood will actually be exposed to the weather, for the longest times of the worst weather, there is going to be a boat over the top protecting the wood and the trailer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T13:27:36.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21378" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2018-12-31T14:18:29.567" Score="7" ViewCount="2259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm collecting ideas on this topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm using a DIY alcohol stove made of a soda can. I have seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbAtntXPL24&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=70&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a guy refilling the same stove&lt;/a&gt; using this, but he doesn't explain where he found it, or how he built it: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QsWif.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QsWif.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;what metal does it use for the tip (it should resist oxidation)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;how did he seal the metal tube with the plastic one (the sealing should be heat resistant)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optional: I use 500ml coca cola bottle to store the alcohol (small and super resistant). A cheap/light solution that would work with that would be perfect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't hesitate to share your trick and ideas here!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: the question isn't &quot;is it dangerous?&quot;, but &quot;how do you do it?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6022" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-01-02T13:47:43.010" LastActivityDate="2019-01-17T21:20:18.570" Title="How do you refill your alcohol stove while it's burning?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;alcohol&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21378" CreationDate="2018-12-31T15:23:03.673" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't, adding liquid fuel to stove with a live flame is never recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related meta post &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1215&quot;&gt;Do we want a post notice for questions where people are using equipment in ways that are clearly incorrect or dangerous?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Believing the stove to be out of fuel, she tried to pour more denatured alcohol into it from a large container that exploded, shooting burning fluid and flames onto her daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“We recreated the accident conditions in a ‘fire lab’ and the results were scary to say the least,” Barrett said. “The most dangerous aspect of denatured alcohol is that you can’t see it burning if you are in daylight conditions. In fact, my client and the rest of her group did not know why she was getting burned for a few seconds because they could not see any flames on her. It was not until the flames from her shirt burning became visible, that they realized that she was ‘on fire.’”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wickedlocal.com/x1506804307/Concord-attorney-warns-of-danger-of-denatured-alcohhol&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source; Concord attorney warns of danger of denatured alcohhol&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T15:57:41.747" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21378" CreationDate="2018-12-31T17:02:36.220" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going with &quot;it's too dangerous, so don't do it&quot;.  I have two manufactured alcohol stoves, and both contain warnings against refill while hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, my answer is &quot;You don't&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pictured (I can't see the video) suggests a squeeze bottle with a plastic tube running into a reservoir where the alcohol is supposed to be while flames are clearly showing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My first concern would be the squeeze bottle.  Although a flame requires heat, fuel, and air, a flame is not likely to go up through the tube and into the squeeze bottle, ready to ignite, since there is no air in the tube, and cold(er) fuel is being pushed out of the tube.  Also, liquid fuel doesn't really burn - its vapors burn.  So, there's nothing flammable in the tube.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or is there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens at the moment you decide you've added enough fuel?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can keep the same squeeze pressure so that there is zero net pressure on the squeeze bottle: no positive pressure which would push more alcohol out of the tube; or negative pressure which would suck in alcohol from the stove or flaming vapors abouve the fuel line.  Probably, nothing would happen, except the end of the tube - having passed through the flames - would also ignite.  What's your plan to put this out safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can apply positive pressure on the squeeze bottle, ensuring nothing gets sucked back; but now you have a stream of flammable (and flaming) fuel at the end of the squeeze bottle.  Also, if you apply too much positive pressure on the bottle, you can potentially create bubbling in the reservoir of alcohol, and those bubbles could exit the stove creating a severe fire hazard around you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also apply negative pressure on the squeeze bottle, but this seems more dangerous: the outside of the tube has flames, and now, you're sucking in vapor and flames into the tube and, subsequently, the bottle.  Potentially more dangerous is supplying too much negative pressure, and siphoning all the (hot) alcohol from the reservoir back into the bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There doesn't seem to be any safe way out of this, as all options lead to a flaming tip.  Even if you decided one method was safer than the others, there's no guarantee you could maintain that every time, nor could you guarantee everyone could do it.  Perhaps, you have a specialized steel filter placed inside the tube; this absorbs heat and prevents blow-back into the bottle with errant negative squeeze.  Nevertheless, you have a tip of flaming alcohol at the end of the tube, and this is inherently dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line is that with any method you choose to fill up, per the photo, it would require delicate dexterity to maintain the precise amount of pressure on the bottle to not cause accidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One possibility is to have an external reservoir available outside the stove proper.  A sort of &quot;L&quot; pipe which leads to the bottom of the reservoir, and the other end with a funnel shaped end leads sufficiently away from the stove apparatus as to not allow the vapors to ignite, and allows to pour fuel into the funnel.  The problem with this is that in pouring, you create more vapors that could be ignited; and if the stove were nearly out of fuel (instead of just a little bit out of fuel), the vapors in the tube and funnel are now flammable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So an external pipe assembly does not make much sense.  Besides, it's probably going to be cumbersome to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this work - and danger - seems  overpriced compared to a simpler solution: put the stove out, refill, and relight.  It's not like a pressurized canister, so it's should be easy to accommodate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12938" LastActivityDate="2018-12-31T17:02:36.220" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21381" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21393" CreationDate="2019-01-01T10:55:16.983" Score="0" ViewCount="2705" Body="&lt;p&gt;The original Timberland classic 6-inch boots were made 40 years ago for the cold, wet and mountainous terrain of New England. They were innovative footwear for their time, but now have become mostly a fashion symbol. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They still retain their tough characteristics. So while now there are a wide variety of hiking boots available, I wonder if these classics are still usable on tough terrain? They don't have Vibram outsoles, cushioning midsoles, or goretex outers. But they do have solid grippy outsoles and a tough exterior that can take a beating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to note that various army boots have a build more similar to the Timberlands than typical hiking boots; and soldiers seem to do long trips in unpredictable terrain carrying backpacks in them just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Apdfb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Apdfb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: Yes, I know they are expensive to use outdoors, and I am not proposing someone buy these for the express purpose of hiking, but suppose someone already has an old pair which is in good shape but no longer &quot;fashionable&quot; (discolored, somewhat creased, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2019-01-01T12:45:43.490" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T19:15:50.547" Title="Timberland classic 6 inch boots for mountain hiking/trekking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21342" CreationDate="2019-01-01T16:39:56.563" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answer so far:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;James is correct -- when possible go around.  Move between clumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crossing powerline ravines, it can help to go up or down stream to wooded terrain which shades them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you must pass -- usually a short stretch to connect existing clear areas --&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Bring leather work gloves.  While welding gloves are a bit excessive, having ones with more cuff than the common glove will save your wrists.&#xA;B:  Wear a heavyweight nylon or canvas jacket.  Tips of thorns can often penetrate this, so having something thick underneath may help. Along with this, your lightweight nylon wind pants don't cut it.  Military surplus battle dress uniform pants are a cotton synthetic blend that are tough as nails, and being a blend don't stay wet as long as jeans do. &#xA;C:  Pair of bypass pruning shears.  These allow a more finessed approach and have fewer ends swinging about.&#xA;D:  Wear eye protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a known patch to deal with, it may be worth experimented with a small gas operated hedge trimmer if just clearing access.  Stihl sells a &quot;clearing saw&quot; which is in effect a weed eater on steroids with a head designed for the abuse it gets with thick stems and rough terrain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This level takes the fun out of hiking however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing so far, it's worth traveling 5-20 times as far to avoid the critters, just from a time perspective, and not counting the price in blood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-01-01T16:39:56.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21381" CreationDate="2019-01-01T18:40:43.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is really down to a matter of taste, fit, and comfort. These days through hikers doing long distance hikes like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest trail mostly go for light weight hiking shoes that are closer to running shoes. Other folks like the foot support provided by more substantial hiking boots. Some folks like Gore-Tex in hiking boots, others hate it and prefer simple leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tread in the pictured boots looks fine, assuming the rubber is sufficient grippy. They look heavier then I'd wear, and I'd suggest you at least try on a lighter boot or a hiking shoe, but if that's what you have, and they fit comfortably, go for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2019-01-01T18:40:43.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21304" CreationDate="2019-01-02T00:22:30.210" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your profile, I think your chipmunk is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_chipmunk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus&lt;/a&gt;. They're the most &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/common-eastern-chipmunk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;common chipmunk species in Virginia&lt;/a&gt;. That's what I have too, so this answer is based on the behavior of that species.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't deprive yourself of heat, especially in a blackout! If possible though, leave at least a few inches of dense wood and brush in that area. Chipmunks don't sleep in the wood pile, and they only give birth in underground tunnels, which are anywhere from 10 ft to 30 ft deep, so you can't physically hurt them. The covered areas are very important though. The chipmunks already chose them to hide the holes which lead to those tunnels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chipmunks select wooded banks, log heaps, stone piles, broken rocky ridges, or rubbish heaps as sites for their tunnels and nest chambers. &lt;a href=&quot;https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/eastern-chipmunk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're quite vulnerable to hungry winter predators, and they have their babies down there, so they're protective of their tunnel entrances. The safety factor is probably why your chipmunks who came out for a drink stayed close to their tunnel entrance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Once the chambers have been completed, the chipmunk uses dirt to plug the working tunnel. As a result, the new entrance, which is usually located under stonewalls, fallen trees or rocks, goes unseen by predators.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/mammals/chipmunks/about&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chipmunks gather food as far into the fall or winter as possible. Seeing some pop up for water in the late fall is common, even if you haven't seen much other recent activity. They also come up a few times during the winter looking for more food. (See my pictures below.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/mammals/chipmunks/about&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chipmunks don't truly hibernate&lt;/a&gt;. They go into a state called torpor, where their body temperature and metabolic rate are significantly lower, in order to survive the colder temperatures and long periods of time without food. They sleep deeply, but they spend a fair amount of time awake, often very busy. The tunnels I mentioned have different chambers, including food storage; waste and shells from eaten food; bathrooms; and birthing/nesting areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like you, we try to strike a balance with our animals, but don't feel bad about using what you need. Technically, you can't dismantle their house, you can just leave it a bit more vulnerable, and sometimes confusing. If you lose your power, the underground chipmunk will be more comfortable than you are! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a girl (she was pregnant) who came up through 2 feet of snow in late February of 2017. The hole was in front of our brush pile. She worked so hard to get up, then decided she didn't like it at all! In the one on the farthest right she has all four feet in the air. There was nothing to eat in the area so she went running back to her hole! &#xA;She turned around, ran back to the hole, and down she went! The pictures are blurry because she was moving! Click to see a larger version. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AdgNJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AdgNJs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Peeking out from in front of the bush&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i7XOD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i7XODs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Front feet up&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6O0Q9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6O0Q9s.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;She&amp;#39;s out!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sLDjK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sLDjKt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Doesn&amp;#39;t like the snow under her feet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZL7d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZL7dm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Turned around going back&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-04T03:25:34.343" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T03:25:34.343" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21376" CreationDate="2019-01-02T09:06:40.330" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;tl;dr: you shouldn't need to do anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of building redundancy is exactly for this scenario. Sometimes anchors fail. &lt;strong&gt;If you've built your belay correctly&lt;/strong&gt; then losing one anchor in a 3-point belay should have no effect on you or your partners. Just carry on belaying. This is exactly why you must balance your anchors correctly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about all your anchors failing then why are you belaying here at all! If you're forced into this scenario (which seems very unlikely unless you're leading a brand new pitch on the Eiger), add more anchors (5+) and certainly don't belay 2 people at once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What should I instruct B and C to do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing. What would be the point?! Let them carry on climbing as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;So if one point breaks, this will not be a catastrophic failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a little wrong: the point of redundancy is that if one piece fails, &lt;em&gt;nothing happens&lt;/em&gt;, at all. Catastrophic or not. You should be able to continue without having to do anything, because trying to place gear or lower off on one piece of gear is dangerous. If you have any level of doubt on a piece of gear, you should be backing it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T18:24:26.283" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T18:24:26.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21376" CreationDate="2019-01-02T12:16:56.043" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I technically agree with Liam's answer, I think there is two reasons why I would act differently: Purely for psychological reasons (personal peace of mind) and to keep redundancy consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First let me constrain the scenario: I assume you haven't made a major mistake. One piece is out, so one could argue you made some kind of mistake - but that's ok, mistakes happen, having a system to catch them is the important thing, and that's what we are discussing. A major mistake would e.g. be using the same rock feature for two points and the one point failed due to that feature being loose (or loosened by the leverage of the camming device). In short: Lets assume there is no reason to doubt the two remaining points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now there also wasn't any reason to doubt the point that failed - still it did. So I'd try to add another point, to have a three-fold redundancy again. Now I know that argument is probably flawed if you consider the likeliness of two simultaneous failures. On the other hand there's also no reason to believe the failures are necessarily independent. Maybe it's a different type of rock than you are used to, you have a bad day (dismissing that as &quot;you must not be climbing in that case&quot; as often done is dangerous, this is not a binary condition), ... - essentially you just missed something that also applies to the remaining two points. In that spirit you would now adjust (lower) your trust level to those anchors and add another one.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;None of these are any &quot;hard arguments&quot;, it's very much up to the specific situation and as soon as you are at a safe point again, try to evaluate that situation and your reaction to it. Not to blame yourself, but to learn and maybe find something you can improve when you encounter this situation again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And let me make a tangential point that will probably be a bit annoying due to being pedantic and knowingly misinterpreting words (because I am sure someone will misinterpret them), but I feel rather strongly about it, so I am doing it anyway:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You should always be worried about all your anchors failing. Even the best placed anchor can fail. There is no such think as safety, you are always managing a risk.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Now this has no immediate practically applicable implication, but I believe it's a very important mindset to reduce and accept risk successfully. Because if you are belaying two seconds on self-placed gear and are not aware, that there is a risk (maybe a slim one, but still), you are way more likely to make a mistake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of this is just an opinion piece which is purely backed by having seen a few mistakes. And then when addressing the involved party, always in a neutral manner inquiring about why they did it this way (maybe there is a reason I am ignorant of - another mindset I like :) ), I got dismissed with some excuse along the line of a general &quot;I am doing it safe, no need to think about it&quot;, which is plain dumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-18T12:04:33.970" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T12:04:33.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21378" CreationDate="2019-01-02T12:58:08.400" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;This is dangerous&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the most dangerous thing about it - is that it gives the appearance of not being dangerous. Don't refill a lit alcohol stove without being aware that it could become a fireball that will consume your facial hair, your tent, your skin, your travel mates and/or your/their visual acuity for perhaps life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure. It might work once. Or twice. But it will fail, and when it does, it will be spectacular because you will be feeling comfortable beside your dog, inside your tent, with an open and full bottle of alcohol in your hand and in the next second you won't be none of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T12:58:08.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21368" CreationDate="2019-01-02T15:19:12.447" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, I would like to give a definition of a smaller term, that of just &quot;light.&quot;  For this, I turn to the U.S. Coast Guard.  In this brief PDF of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://wow.uscgaux.info/Uploads_wowII/130-05-06/usaidstonavigationsystembooklet23dec03.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aids to Navigation System&lt;/a&gt;, we get a couple helpful quotes right on the first page:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These aids may be anything from lighthouses, to minor &lt;strong&gt;lights&lt;/strong&gt;, daybeacons, range &lt;strong&gt;lights&lt;/strong&gt;, and sound signals, to lighted or unlighted buoys.  (&lt;em&gt;emphasis added&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beacons&lt;/strong&gt; are aids to navigation structures that are permanently fixed to the earth’s surface.  They range from lighthouses to small, single-pile structures and may be located on land or in  the water. &lt;strong&gt;Lighted beacons are called lights&lt;/strong&gt;; unlighted beacons are called daybeacons.  (&lt;em&gt;emphasis added&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus The actual signal device is called simply a light.  The light can be affixed to a house, or more likely within a tower or cupola added to a house, which we then call a lighthouse.  More often today, however, lights are put on antenna-like structures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where there are such lights, they tend to get unofficial names from the local boating public.  For example, although you won't find it on any chart nor any official publication, but the light that marks a certain bend in the Ohio River (near my former home) is the Dayton Light.  It is somewhat near Dayton, KY, but on the Ohio side, and not directly across from Dayton.  But everyone calls it Dayton Light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for Light Station, I do not at all doubt either Wikipedia nor Charlie in the prior answer, that this term describes the entire grounds and complex around a light.  However, I usually associate this term with some degree of official-dom, such as the Coast Guard or one of its predecessors like the Life Saving Service or Revenue Cutter Service.  I had a harder time finding references for this.  The closest I could come is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.history.uscg.mil/Landmarks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a list&lt;/a&gt; from the U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office.  (If you expand the &quot;R&quot; Race Point is listed.) &#xA; Since most lights have been automated, few if any of these Light Stations remain active, so the Historian links to the National Park Service for those that have been preserved as landmarks.  That link is dead, but I did find some additional information doing &lt;a href=&quot;https://npssearch.nps.gov/search?query=light%20station&amp;amp;affiliate=nps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a search&lt;/a&gt; on NPS's site.  (Race Point is not included here, because it appears it was turned over to a private 501c3, not the NPS.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T15:19:12.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21376" CreationDate="2019-01-02T15:50:25.163" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I disagree with the other answer. If you are anchored to 2 &quot;solid&quot; pieces and one fails, you are now in a non-redundant state and your goal should be to resolve that situation as quickly and safely as possible. If you are belaying a single climber that you can easily communicate with, try and convince them to stop climbing without weighting the rope (e.g., place a piece and clip in) while you tie them off and attempt to rebuild redundancy into the anchor. If you cannot communicate with them, maybe you can belay one handed and rebuild redundancy into the anchor with the other. The extra redundancy does not need to be beautiful, equalized and not allow for extension. The goal is to prevent death. even an extra piece of gear would be nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When belaying two climbers that you cannot communicate with, there really is not much you can do. The safest thing to do is to wait until you can communicate with the climbers (potentially when they reach the anchor) and then rebuild redundancy into the anchor. Hopefully you can do this before they clean the last piece of gear, since if the anchor fails, that is all that is keeping you from taking a long ride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, simultaneously belaying two climbers is an advanced technique that limits your ability to deal with unforeseen circumstances (e.g., it is much more difficult to escape the belay when there are two climbers). Things only get worse if you cannot communicate and/or there is a potential for a fall. I would try and avoid that situation, and if it is unavoidable, I would really try and avoid belaying off a two-piece anchor in that situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T15:50:25.163" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21381" CreationDate="2019-01-02T19:15:50.547" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you go with boots designed in the 1970's and 80's you get the comfort as was available in the 70's and 80's and if that is acceptable for you, why not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many people still hike on shoes which were basically designed much earlier and which will still do the job, if with less comfort but more support, or whatever other reason they see in using the older boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But before you set out on a long trip, well in advance, walk in the boots and (then) test them and yourself on the kind of terrain you will walk in your trip, with the kind of load you will carry.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;City walking in boots, using them for work even standing up all day, is not the same as relying on them on a steep hill in rough ground. And unless walked in properly for the kind of terrain, blisters are a given.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be a good solution to wear your old, almost done in, boots and bring these as a spare pair, if you can afford the weight and space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2019-01-02T19:15:50.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21396" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21397" CreationDate="2019-01-03T15:13:20.047" Score="3" ViewCount="296" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I look for a new hunting rifle, I see that some have fluted barrels, such as the Mossberg Patriot for example and some do not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the advantage of a fluted barrel be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-07T19:01:18.813" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T19:01:18.813" Title="What is the advantage of a fluted barrel on a hunting rifle?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21396" CreationDate="2019-01-03T15:13:20.047" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A fluted barrel has two advantages,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;flutes make the barrel lighter&lt;/strong&gt; and thus easier to carry for long periods while hunting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More surface area means that the barrel cools down faster&lt;/strong&gt;. As barrels heat up they lose their accuracy to a degree. Normally while hunting this isn't a big deal, but when sighting in or practicing this needs to be taken into account.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall this seems to be more common on hunting rifles where a lighter rifle is easier to hunt with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-03T15:13:20.047" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9256" CreationDate="2019-01-03T19:03:19.667" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For anyone interested in building their own bike trailer:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just wanted to add to this thread the following resource for cargo-hauling bicycle trailer design and basement/garage fabrication.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is not a canoe-specific link, but much of this is relevant to towing a canoe, kayak, or any other heavy object that demands reasonable performance from a trailer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bikecart.pedalpeople.coop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://bikecart.pedalpeople.coop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-01-03T22:15:24.243" LastActivityDate="2019-01-03T22:15:24.243" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21401" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21420" CreationDate="2019-01-04T20:23:58.480" Score="8" ViewCount="656" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cross-country ski in the winter, usually not more than 2-3 hours, but it can get quite cold, -15, -20°C, and I'm often on a frozen lake exposed to wind that rapidly rips the heat out of anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In those conditions, I cannot simply leave a bottle in an outer pack -- they freeze, particularly once they are half empty, and it is easy to end up with a good proportion unusable.  I like to take ~1-1.5 liters and consume most of it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I'm travelling light, there isn't much to put in a pack except water, so nothing to insulate it with.  Even if I throw in an extra fleece, this is not enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best solution I've found is to wear a camelback style reservoir beneath my outer layer in a flimsy drawstring backpack.  However, the hoses on those freeze very easily, and even with it under a jacket I have gotten enough ice in the line to make it hard to use, etc.  It's also a bit awkward, and I dread having the bag or the hose burst or leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone have any better ideas?  It would be great if there were something palatable I could add to the water to lower the freezing point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3286" LastEditorUserId="3286" LastEditDate="2019-01-04T20:34:29.770" LastActivityDate="2019-02-15T15:59:22.543" Title="Keeping water from freezing while cross country skiing" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-04T20:40:00.033" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both sugar and alcohol will, of course, lower the freezing point somewhat (but may add other issues, particularly the alcohol, and sugar really doesn't help much - see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/10623/how-to-calculate-how-much-sugar-to-use-as-antifreeze-in-drinking-water&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best bet is likely a thermos (HydroFlask, any of a number of other similar items) which will keep the water close to the original (tap, inside room, warm) temperature for quite some time. Downside is that it weights a bit more than a Nalgene bottle, but not dramatically more. My Hydro Flask, used mainly for coffee (work or play) has a good positive seal and has never leaked on me (yet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastEditorUserId="3955" LastEditDate="2019-01-04T20:57:21.640" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T20:57:21.640" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21344" CreationDate="2019-01-04T21:50:55.893" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some walking socks have different grades of wool and/or different construction around the foot compared to around the shin and calf. A ski boot will (or should) fit close around the shin and calf. A sock that is rough can rub the shin until it bleeds. (I have seen the effect. An able, but not good, skier skied too far on his first day. He rubbed his shin raw. He could not ski for the rest of his one-week holiday.) Think about you normal blister prevention rules, avoid having rough material rubbing your skin. You want the sock to stick to the skin and any rubbing to happen between sock and boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend skiing socks, although I expect that some other types of sock would be suitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11099" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T21:50:55.893" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-04T22:56:09.337" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can hardly avoid drinking water freezing in this temperatures when in a backpack. So this leaves you with basically two solutions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep it in an inside pocket, which is probably not very comfortable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a small thermos bottle. It is not exactly ultra light but every time out mountaineering in cold weather I really valued something warm to drink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Since it is only 2-3 hours, drinking sufficiently on the car or cabin before you leave and not drinking while out skiing.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-01-04T22:56:09.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21405" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21413" CreationDate="2019-01-05T01:11:16.483" Score="1" ViewCount="323" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last spring, we went to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mysticaquarium.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mystic Aquarium&lt;/a&gt; in Connecticut, United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't like places with captive animals, unless they're work is essential for the survival of life on the planet. We may visit some that are caring for rescued or injured animals until they can go back to the wild; and some that are providing life-long loving care for animals who can never be released. The facilities must be governed by organizations with strict rules. They must have a global conservation and education mission.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Aquarium seemed to meet our criteria, until we came to an exhibit that disturbed us. They were selling &quot;paintings&quot; by animals, each with a profile of the &quot;artist.&quot; The penguin made multiple colored footprints. A beluga whale made one with long brushstrokes. Apparently they hold the paintbrush in their mouth, but I'm not sure of the procedure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We worry that the paint is toxic in the long run, even if doesn't seem to be at the moment. We worry that the whole activity is unnatural to the animal, might be frightening or otherwise disruptive, especially if they go back to the wild. Penguins do walk in their natural habitat, but they don't use paint and are not forced to walk on a piece of paper. I doubt whales do anything remotely related to putting a brush in their mouths and creating &quot;art&quot; in the ocean!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had an uneasy feeling that the animals were just being used as entertainment without enough attention paid to their care. We expressed our concern about the the painting activity to an employee, who told us that creating this &quot;art&quot; is not only safe, but actually beneficial to the animals. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that a proven fact? If so, what are the benefits? Are there also dangers such as those I mentioned, or others? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d4ocH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d4ocH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Penguin footprints with picture of penguin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/poarr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/poarr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Closer view of that penguin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b4Zk5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b4Zk5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Beluga picture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lQ7qB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lQ7qB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Closer profile of the whale&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-11T00:12:35.570" LastActivityDate="2019-01-11T00:12:35.570" Title="Is there proof that it's good for animals in captivity to do activities such as painting?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2019-01-09T04:16:18.553" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21406" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-05T04:02:15.160" Score="5" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use warmer water to begin with (even hot. possibly tea if you don't like drinking hot water)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a thermos or an bottle insulation sleeve (typically made of neoprene, it will help a bottle stay warmer for a bit longer)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bring more water, since as you noticed, when the bottle is less full that's when it freezes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you notice that your water gets really cold, put it under your outer layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T04:02:15.160" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21407" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21411" CreationDate="2019-01-05T06:26:07.820" Score="6" ViewCount="275" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 120cm nylon runner that I want to use to tether me to an anchor bolt while cleaning the anchor. The runner has a small fray (pictures below). Is it safe to use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TC4vE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TC4vE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;I am pointing to the fray here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0g4CJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0g4CJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;close up #1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3sMmx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3sMmx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;close up #2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3452" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-05T20:16:35.177" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T20:00:27.190" Title="Is it safe to use a nylon climbing runner/webbing that has a small fray?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21408" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-05T07:13:56.233" Score="5" ViewCount="762" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to girth-hitch nylon webbing through my harness tie-in points and then shorten the webbing via an overhand loop (assume it is too long) and clipping the &lt;em&gt;non-bight&lt;/em&gt; part to the bolt in the rock? I am wondering if the knot can come undone in this case. I understand the knot would not come undone if the bight was clipped in, but my question is about when the &lt;em&gt;non-bight&lt;/em&gt; part is clipped in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Picture below:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t5Sza.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t5Sza.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;example&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/20225/3452&quot;&gt;Purcell Prussik&lt;/a&gt; is a better option if I have a cordelette, but let's assume that I don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3452" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-05T20:17:53.813" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T08:04:52.503" Title="Can an overhand loop be used to shorten nylon webbing as a personal anchor?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21342" CreationDate="2019-01-05T07:39:46.620" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My absolute favorite tool for getting through blackberry canes is a serrated curved blade.  There doesn't seem to be a great English name for this tool - it's sometimes called a Japanese gardening knife, gardening sickle, Japanese sickle, or similar. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GXIdF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GXIdF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Japanese gardening sickle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting through blackberries is still work - but this is the best way I've found, makes it easy to cut and move the canes one-handed. Best of all, the serrated blade can be used to grab and flick the canes without needing to grab them directly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After starting to cut my way in, I'll usually step on canes, and slice them off at the bottom. If they're especially large, the tool can be used to cut them smaller or move them out of the way. As they're cut, they'll tend to lay down, and you can walk over them. A huge mass of blackberry can originate from just a few canes in a small clump. It's not fast, but not painfully slow either. In a half-hour, you can make it a few hundred feet or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hesitate to bring this up since it's off-topic - but since nobody else has mentioned it - himalayan blackberry (&lt;em&gt;Rubus armeniacus&lt;/em&gt;) is a nasty and common invasive plant in these parts. Volunteers spend thousands and thousands of hours grubbing it out and removing it as part of trail maintenance and land restoration. No land manager is going to cry over it, especially if you're brushing out an existing trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taken literally, leave no trace principles say that a baby English holly sapling found in the woods should be left alone. In the Pacific Northwest, that's not good stewardship. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11824" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T07:39:46.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21408" CreationDate="2019-01-05T09:01:26.233" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should worry about the opposite: An overhand knot on nylon webbing will get really tight and hard to undo once no longer in use. That's why I rather use a figure-eight in this scenario (double bowline would be even better for undoing, but a bit more cumbersome to tie). This setup is somewhat standard practice for abseiling here in Switzerland, where you tie a 120cm sling to your harness, make a knot at about 2/3 length and attach your backup (prusik) to your harness, the braking device (e.g. tuber, eight) to the lower loop of the sling (same position as in your image) and the biner for self-securing in the outmost loop of the sling (undone when abseiling, attached when at belay-station). So plenty of anecdotal evidence that they definitely don't slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you don't trust that: Would a failure be catastrophic? No! The loop would just extend to it's full length, you are still clipped into the &quot;main&quot; loop so you wouldn't get disattached. That's also why this setup is ok even with dyneema slings. Again anecdotal evidence says by not shockloading, they just pull tight (and in case of the narrow slings very annoyingly, potentially almost irreversibly tight). Tests have shown that under high stress, they do creep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tldr:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It won't come undone, it will get really tight. And even if it did (it does not), that wouldn't be a catastrophic failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to breaking of the nylon webbing (not in the question, but just to be thorough):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The rule of thumb is to assume a knot weakens the nylon by 50% (common climbing knots lie below that). A nylon sling as a loop typically has 22kN breaking strength, i.e. 11kN on each strand (as a ring is always equally loaded, as long as you don't fix your biner with a clove hitch or something). Now one strand has a knot in it, meaning now the breaking strength of the knotted strand is 5.5kN and the weakest strand breaks first, so 11kN for the entire sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T08:04:52.503" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T08:04:52.503" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21407" CreationDate="2019-01-05T09:11:44.877" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Retire that sling. Use it for some handicraft work at home or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly: If in doubt about a piece of gear, don't entrust your live to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing a more detailed analysis without seeing it in real live is hard, but here are two arguments apart from the doubt one (which is enough) that come to mind:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It looks like there is a discoloration right on the left of the fray. That's a sign of UV influence, which reduced strength a lot.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It looks a bit like there was some dirt within the fabric - however that's really stretching what you can (cannot) see on these images. If it were there for some time (not just from the last trip), that's bad too.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These might be totally false and your sling more or less fine, but again there is a fray and you have doubt, so retire it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T09:11:44.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9207" CreationDate="2019-01-05T20:37:59.010" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This style of welding is the standard method of repair for holes and splits in plastic hulled kayaks, though I've seen much neater jobs. Some manufacturers leave extra material around the cockpit so there's spare of the right colour for welding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Welded plastic can never be as strong as the original hull. It's generally considered that once a boat has been repaired in this way it's no longer suitable for high grade rivers and will be sold off cheap to beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not aware that there is any plastic repair possible that maintains the original strength of the hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-01-05T20:37:59.010" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21405" CreationDate="2019-01-05T23:49:32.777" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are certainly folks who would say that the entire idea of keeping marine animals in captivity and on exhibit is bad for the animals. However, if you are willing to accept keeping them in captivity, then providing them with &lt;a href=&quot;https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/animal-enrichment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;enrichment activities&lt;/a&gt; is probably good for their mental health. Admittedly, painting is not a natural activity, but it probably beats swimming laps around a concrete tank 16 hours a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the penguins at least, the &quot;painting&quot; consists of dipping their feet in non-toxic finger paint and then letting them walk across a piece of paper. Not much training and no coercion involved. I suspect it's just a fund raising gimmick, but then keeping whales and penguins fed and provided with salt water isn't cheap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T20:53:56.163" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T20:53:56.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21414" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-06T06:06:24.793" Score="8" ViewCount="1311" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard two terms 'back country camping' and 'front country camping' but I don't know what the difference between the two is.  How are they different. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17177" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-01-07T18:07:07.427" LastActivityDate="2019-01-07T18:07:07.427" Title="What is the difference between back country camping and front country camping?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21414" CreationDate="2019-01-06T06:26:30.600" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Front country is when you go camping in an established campground that is usually reached by car. While backcountry camping is when you go camping in the backcountry getting to the non established campground by foot or horseback carrying your stuff with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this would be an example of a front country campground with a fire ring and picnic table and a car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.yosemite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pines-campground.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yosemite.com/lodging/camping/lower-pines-campground/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and this would be an example of a backcountry campsite which I backpacked many miles into and there were no human created fixtures of any sort besides the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qJnif.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you can have camps that fall between such as designated backcountry tent campsites in National Parks with provided bear storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-06T06:38:11.743" LastActivityDate="2019-01-06T06:38:11.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21414" CreationDate="2019-01-06T14:58:53.080" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charlie has given you an excellent summary of the difference between the two, focused on the difference in exertion and time to reach them, and the amenities to be found at each. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another important difference:  &lt;strong&gt;front-country camping gives you very little, if anything, of the feeling of wilderness&lt;/strong&gt;.  You are in a campground with many other people, usually within sight of their tents and cars and food, and within sound of their conversations and whatever noise they are making.  You have very little privacy, often no privacy.  If you have forgotten something essential, you just hop in your car and go to the nearest store, which is usually pretty close. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In backcountry camping, it is not unusual for there to be no one at all anywhere near your campsite especially if you are on a little-used trail or have left the trail and are hiking cross-country.  If you hike cross-country, you may see nobody at all for days once you have left the trail. There is nobody to help you if you need help, and nowhere to get whatever you forgot.  &lt;strong&gt;You are in wilderness&lt;/strong&gt;, and know it from the vast silence, broken only by the singing of coyotes, the magnificent vistas empty of human presence (and litter), and the night sky with more stars than you have ever seen before, unobscured by artificial lights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You need experience to do backcountry camping safely&lt;/strong&gt;, which you acquire gradually.  First do some front-country camping to make sure you thoroughly understand your equipment.  Then, go one day in along a trail, then, several days along a trail, then some modest cross-country backpacking.  &lt;strong&gt;You probably should go with a group on your early trips.&lt;/strong&gt;         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-01-06T16:18:05.897" LastActivityDate="2019-01-06T16:18:05.897" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21408" CreationDate="2019-01-07T13:50:45.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is perfectly fine. Not ideal perhaps, but perfectly fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One caveat though: Never climb above the anchor when clipped in with a static sling. &lt;em&gt;Especially&lt;/em&gt; a knotted sling. And if you do - do not fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a famous video from dmm demonstrating what a dropping weight can do with a knotted sling. &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/27293337&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://vimeo.com/27293337&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But take that with a grain of salt. Your body is not a steel ball. Still, a fall onto a static sling hurts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So TL;DR version: Shortening the sling as in your pic is fine. Climbers do this every day. In any situation where the knotted sling is bad, an unshortened sling is at least equally bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2019-01-07T13:50:45.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-07T13:56:10.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a hydration pouch, if body heat keeps the reservoir ice-free, the best option is to simply blow into the tube so water retreats into the reservoir after each sip. It sounds annoying but I had a leaky mouth valve that drenched my shirt for over a year and the process became a reflex after some time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for water bottles, there is no panacea. You could try an insulating &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/en/water-bottle-parka-1/p/2426960001222&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bottle parka&lt;/a&gt; although it only slows down the freezing process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermos bottles are annoying because they themselves becomes incredibly cold on the outside and they tend to be heavy. Not my choice unless it's for hot beverages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross-country ski on groomed trails is mostly in the past for me and I had never tried to find a solution to the freezing bottles problem, but I have never been a fan of using hydration pouches in the winter for any activity. I know blowing in the straw works from experience, but I use Nalgenes with parkas on my pack waistbelt as soon as temperatures go below freezing and simply deal with the slow loss of liquid water. My constatation though is that the extra Nalgene (inside a parka) that I carry in the backpack close to my back doesn't freeze and actually becomes warmer from body heat, even in -10°C to -20°C. The fact that it's buried in my down parka certainly helps on that front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T14:19:14.317" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T14:19:14.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-07T14:18:40.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you bring a smaller water bottle it will fit into something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B076JGFNPL&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; which you can wear under your coat so your body heat will keep it warm. Some downsides are that it is slightly less comfortable than putting the bottle in your backpack, and you can’t carry a lot of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastActivityDate="2019-01-07T14:18:40.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21423" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21426" CreationDate="2019-01-07T22:18:28.903" Score="12" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a novel. The main character recently (six months ago) lost her arm above the elbow. She's attending a summer camp, and I'm wondering if, with proper planning (and probably a mountain of release forms), it would be possible for her to join in on rappelling? Is there a way to tie the ropes, or some special equipment that would let her control the rope, either with just one hand, or using what's left of her other arm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;She's fourteen, if that matters, and the bluff being used is one the camp's been using for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I've read &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5545/rappelling-with-an-injured-arm&quot;&gt;Rappelling with an injured arm&lt;/a&gt; but felt it didn't answer my question for two reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) My main character, strictly speaking, is no longer injured. She's had time to recover from the car crash and is perfectly healthy, other than the fact that she's missing an arm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) More importantly, that scenario seems to be about what to do when you need to get down a rock cliff while injured. This being a planned activity, precautions can be made well ahead of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17190" LastEditorUserId="17190" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T19:58:27.330" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T06:45:25.220" Title="Rappelling with only one arm" Tags="&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18748" CreationDate="2019-01-08T00:09:47.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a little late in answering, but thought I would answer in the event you were still feeding your local Corvids.  As Olin said, they are intelligent and amazingly so.  That is important when trying to woo them to a feeding area because they will stay away if something has made them feel at risk (pets, wind chimes, clanging objects like ladders or loose metal structures).  They remember everything and communicate any important information to others for the sake of preservation. They can recognize individual people through facial recognition and will connect people to individual behaviors, good and bad. So if you boisterously throw peanuts at them and accidentally hit a couple of them, be assured all the crows in the vicinity for months, even years, will know and you will instantly go from nice lady with yummy peanuts to the lady who uses peanuts as weapons (as my youngest son found out).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, they will also communicate if your yard has the goods. I, personally, didn't have any luck with conventional, hanging feeders.  I would get one or two crows that would come get food from them, but you could tell it was kind of awkward for them.  They will eat from hanging feeders, but if they have more favorable access to food nearby they may choose to opt out of your hanging feeders.  They will get food from anywhere they can access, even if that means using &quot;tools&quot;; however, if they land on the feeder and it starts shaking or swinging violently from their weight, they will tend to just stay away from it.&#xA;So, to make your yard enticing, you need to clear out any &quot;noise makers&quot; and take some extra care if you have dogs that use the yard.  Some say if you have dogs you will never get the crows in your yard. But, I disagree (I am not sure about any other pets, though).  You can, but it takes some dedication and some work.  I have two Great Danes and have been able to get the crows into my small, fenced yard. There are two hours, twice a day, that I do not let my dogs out at all. Regardless of any other schedule we might have at my house, our dogs are not allowed in the back yard from 9am to 11am and from 5pm to 7pm each day.  It only took a few days for the crows to notice I was placing food in the back yard (I wanted to move them from the front so I could observe them better), but it took them close to a week to be confident the dogs would absent from the yard after I filled their plates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are VERY easy to condition, so it is really important to hold a routine.  Try to feed them at the same time each day, in the same place - especially when it is cold out.  On cold days, they generally have a sentinel that will sit where he can see the food.  As soon as you put it out, he alerts the others in the roost to come eat. The more consistent you are, the more consistently they will show up.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for feeders, I don't use conventional hanging feeders.  Not that there is anything wrong with them, I just have better results with non-hanging feeders. Crows like eating from the ground, so spreading some unshelled peanuts on the ground will pull them in rather quickly. For food you want off the ground, you can get the platform feeders on posts. Try to stay away from things that sway too much when they land on them, like the hanging feeders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I did. I built a simple, flat, pergola type structure that they love. The platform (made of lattice) is about 2ft x 2ft and it's about 3 feet off the ground. We just concreted in 2 4x4 posts with another 2x4 (3ft off the ground) connecting them. We then centered and secured a piece of 3x3 lattice on top of the 2x4, cutting out notches in the lattice to fit around the 4x4 posts. We bordered the lattice with small boards to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but just the lattice would have worked fine. The 4x4 posts were cut to 5 feet in height and my husband built a &lt;em&gt;kind of&lt;/em&gt; flat, A-framed little roof to cover the lattice area so their food didn't get wet in inclement weather.  So, all in all the whole thing is barely over 5 ft tall. I had to train my dogs to stay away from it, because they kept eating the nuts.  But, now the crows (and squirrels) love it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get the Reynolds bakeware disposable pans with lids from the store and use those to put their nuts in.  When they start getting worn out or ripped up, I just throw them away and grab a new one.  No washing necessary! I say &quot;ripped up&quot;, by the way, because I have one crow who would throw a fit if the pan was empty and he would throw it off the platform.  So I put a big rock in it and his attempts to get the pan up tore the pan. Ahh, gotta love them. The rock also works when it is windy, to keep the tins from flying off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned bird baths.  During the summer they LOVE baths!  Same thing as with food, just make sure they feel safe and they will usually come.  I have a typical stone bird bath, but I have seen people do small kiddie pools and all sorts of things.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't worry about any other wild life.  When it comes to those things, my rule of thumb is to let them all work it out.  Crows will coexist rather nicely with everyone, but just like us there are disagreements and they will chase each other or fight.  We haven't lost any of our wildlife here because of the crow population. I still get roughly the same numbers of birds and squirrels as I did before.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the fun stuff. For food, they will eat pretty much anything. But, they have preferences.  They generally like unshelled nuts over shelled.  They will pick the unshelled far more often over the shelled.  I put out walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, and peanuts. My area doesn't have unshelled nuts very often, so most are given shelled.  But, they almost always have unshelled peanuts, so I give those out regularly.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I also give them cut up hot dogs about once every few days.  The go crazy for that. I have also given them raw corn, raw cilantro, raw broccoli, and raw strawberries. Whatever you give them, just try to stay away from anything with seasonings and I stay away from breads.  Basically nuts, berries, and meat. Yum! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope that helps!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17189" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T00:09:47.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21425" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-08T04:11:45.590" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother gave me an old rod that I think she just found and I need help identifying it. There are some pictures below. The whole group of pictures is  &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/a/kXeqhqW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its only identifying marks is a sticker that seems to read&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;George Hine Production Co,&#xA;&#xA;Santa Monica, California&#xA;&#xA;The Harnell&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a two piece rod, 9'2&quot; when assembled. It seems to be a baitcasting rod since the eyelets are close to the body unlike the eyelets on spinning reels. The handle measures 23&quot; from the the top where the handle meets the rod blank to the butt of the cork. The reel seat area is about 4&quot; and screws down, maximum open area for a reel to slide in there is about 2-3/4&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of rod is this? I only own a single rod (i'm only a casual fisherman) which is the Fenwick HMG with a Daiwa BG2500.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping this rod would be good for Salmon fishing on the American River and maybe surf fishing (or is it too short for surf?)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What reel should I get to go with this? I am thinking something with the round baitcaster form factor to match the vintage feel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also it needs a new tip, can I just use any tip from a tip repair kit? I measured the rod blank to be 7/64&quot; at the tip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly it seems there is at least one eye missing (the biggest one) and needs a new eyelet and winding. What can I use as a replacement eye and where do I learn to wind like this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1g4SFm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1g4SFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Leaning on wall&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WVM7m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WVM7m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Front face of label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K8nwa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K8nwa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Left side of label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9bhZM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9bhZM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Right side of label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m5Dlh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m5Dlh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Side view of wooden part&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NmtRym.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NmtRym.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Area of rod with silver loop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17188" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-10T00:46:56.970" LastActivityDate="2019-01-10T00:46:56.970" Title="Need help identifying a vintage George Hine Production Co Rod" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21423" CreationDate="2019-01-08T07:16:23.553" Score="11" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yes&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we assume that this is a summer camp setup where experienced (ish) instructors set up and oversee the rapell, sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A one-armed person would face two major difficulties. Setting up the rapell (is tying knots and loading rope into brakes/rapell devices) and handling the brake during the actual rapell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a summer camp, I assume that the kids wouldn't be trusted to set up a rapell by themselves anyway, so that is not a problem for your story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the actual rapell, a one-armed person would have trouble handling a more advanced assisted-braking type device (where you would need one hand to control the device and another to hold the rope). A simpler device (tube style or figure eight) however would work just fine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, while rapelling, you attach a prussik loop to the rope as a backup, which would be manageble (once set up by an instructor) with one hand.&#xA;However, if I was the instructor here, I would use what is called a &quot;firemans belay&quot;. That is simply someone standing at the bottom holding the ropes being ready to pull on them (engaging the brake) if the rapelling kid loses control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, a chest harness with a carabiner clipped to the rope might be a good idea, helping to keep the rapelling kid upright.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be for an instructor to rapell with the kid. Both hanging from slings connected to the same rapell device. That is how you do it when you have to bring an injured climber down from a cliff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T06:45:25.220" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T06:45:25.220" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21423" CreationDate="2019-01-08T07:53:45.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done it with a broken arm in plaster, but that was nearly 30 years ago when I was a similar age to your character. We always used figure of 8 descenders in those days and had a safety belayer with a second rope (standard practice for kids). In this case I believe the instructor/belayer was at the top. My immobilised arm (in a cast from bicep to palm) was useless even for things like fastening the harness so I needed a bit of extra assistance getting set up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T07:53:45.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21432" CreationDate="2019-01-08T17:17:41.293" Score="2" ViewCount="2945" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're planning to walk / run the entire 275 miles (443 km) of the A5, from London to Holyhead. On Page 5 of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/uploads/3/2/9/2/3292309/the-official-highway-code-with-annexes-uk-en-12-04.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Official Highway Code&lt;/a&gt;, it states that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pedestrians MUST NOT be on motorways or slip roads except in an emergency&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...but as the A5 is made up of single and dual carriageways, does that mean it's legal? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think I've ever seen someone walk along an A road before (except for in an emergency), so it feels wrong to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17195" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T19:51:14.247" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T21:25:31.897" Title="Is it illegal to walk on single or dual carriageways in the UK?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21430" CreationDate="2019-01-08T17:39:14.910" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's not a motorway, it's not illegal. It might however be dangerous or very ill-advised (think of the fumes you would inhale all the way). &#xA;I live near the A1 and would not consider walking any distance along it except in an emergency, the vehicles are way too close and way too fast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8247" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T17:39:14.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21430" CreationDate="2019-01-08T19:50:34.907" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A motorway is very strictly defined and will always be named M&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt; or A&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt;(M). There are A roads sometimes called expressways that look a lot like motorways but they don't have hard shoulders and their signs have a green, not blue, background.  They may however have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.roadwise.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/sign_no-pedestrains.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;signs forbidding pedestrians&lt;/a&gt;.  This might be an issue in places like the Shrewsbury bypass (but you could take the old route through the town); in Milton Keynes there's a path running alongside, the other side of a fence - use it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As someone who sometimes cycles on big dual carriageways (there are places where there isn't a realistic alternative, such as the A40 near Monmouth) I'm not sure it's a pleasant or smooth idea. You'll be likely to end up running on the grass verge in places and those are right then they look.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Single carriageway A roads can be worse for cycling on than dual carriageways but are probably better for walking or running.  Once you're in north Wales, there's actually pavement alongside the A5 for much of its length (I've walked a little bit of it near Cerrigydrudion and I think it runs from there to Betws-y-Coed at least)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to walk/run against the flow of traffic so you can see it coming and step to the side if necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-01-08T21:25:31.897" LastActivityDate="2019-01-08T21:25:31.897" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21371" CreationDate="2019-01-09T01:54:03.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To tag onto Charlie's answer - I will say it depends on the pesticides in use. I will give a specific example of the application of Neem Oil. (Source: I was raising honeybees to pollinate my large pumpkin patch.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neem oil is sometimes utilized along with sodium bicarbonate to both treat various blights, as well as treat pests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neem oil works in a couple ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It can suffocate pests that become coated in it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will repel 'munchers' that would otherwise dine on the treated plants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Organic neem oil would be hazardous to my bees if I applied it during the day while they were active as I could suffocate them inadvertently. By applying it late in the evening after my blooms had closed and the bees were less active, I successfully treated my pumpkin plants (within a hundred yards off my hives) and caused no ill effects to my bees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short, I would attempt to contact local farmers and coordinate with them as best as possible. This may involve you learning with pesticides they intend to use and researching their effects on your colonies - and presenting an agreeable solution to the local farmers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11943" LastActivityDate="2019-01-09T01:54:03.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21436" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21445" CreationDate="2019-01-09T16:09:30.153" Score="6" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found these tracks just a couple of days ago on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/beaches/praia-da-ursa.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ursa beach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; near &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_da_Roca&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cabo da Roca, Portugal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. I'm not familiar with the fauna of this place and the only possible candidate I've found for now is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eliomys_quercinus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Garden Dormouse&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, but these tracks do seem too big for such a small animal and I'd expect a dormouse to keep close to the trees and bushes, not running between the stones on the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is - whose tracks are these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/38%C2%B047&amp;#39;30.4%22N+9%C2%B029&amp;#39;32.7%22W/@38.7917976,-9.4926141,124m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d38.7917766!4d-9.4924048&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exact location of the tracks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/84BB8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/84BB8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Relative size&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kCvhg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kCvhg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-01-12T12:10:02.780" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T16:21:43.663" Title="Are these tracks on the sand in Portugal dormouse tracks?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21439" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21440" CreationDate="2019-01-10T17:22:45.400" Score="15" ViewCount="772" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a hike a while back, I was going up the less favored side of a large hill. Due to recent geological activity, the hill side had sort of cracked/split creating a 5-10 foot wide pathway along the hill. I was ascending up this path. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About doing about 3/4ths of the path, I found myself &quot;trapped&quot; in the middle a scree patch. The scree patch had initially been moderately steep, but further on it was a lot steeper. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I was tired, I sat down for a bit before things got harder, and on trying to get back up, it was essentially impossible to assume any kind of standing position - I simply slid down on trying to stand up. This was despite solid hiking boots. The scree was too small for the lugs to get a grip on, and the angle too steep. Since it wasn't cold, I tried with my boots off. The grip was much better but my feet just couldn't stand the sharp scree - blame the years of wearing slippers indoors for a soft sole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that point, my only recourse was to assume a prone position on the ground and literally crawl across the scree patch to the side of the path, where I could use some of the tree trunks to hold on to, and to support my feet against. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After getting off, I found out the path I took was used very rarely by 1 of the goat herders and she goes up the hill barefoot (with her real tough soles, from always walking around barefoot on hard ground). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is, is there a better/real strategy for navigating bad/steep unexpected scree patches? I would really like to avoid having to crawl up on a hill if at all possible... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T18:29:48.620" Title="Strategy to ascend steep scree slope" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21439" CreationDate="2019-01-10T18:05:38.293" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing scree is a skill all on it's own. The trick is to have good balance and have a good feel for the ground, and gradually transfer your weight from one foot to the other, almost like walking on thin ice, you don't want the scree to &quot;break&quot;. If you can plant your foot just right, and ease your weight on to it, then you can often manage to progress without swimming too much. Where people often go wrong while climbing scree is trying to attack the ground too aggressively with their feet, and they end up taking more than twice as many steps as they need to. You need to move slowly and with control on scree, or else the ground will just take off from beneath you. To get a stable foot plant, go toes into the scree, and keep your foot as flat as possible to try and sink your foot in deep enough to find purchase, and slowly transfer you weight to your foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said I have been on &quot;virgin&quot; scree that is extra fine and extra loose on slopes steep enough that you feel like you're wading through deep snow. In those situations, I find it helpful to shovel away as much of the extra loose scree as I can using my alpine axe or a walking stick before putting my weight on it. When possible, it's best to navigate around it or move up on more stable ground, but I know there are situations where there are no other options but to move through the scree.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-01-11T03:20:10.840" LastActivityDate="2019-01-11T03:20:10.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21213" CreationDate="2019-01-10T21:19:36.613" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To keep this answer focused, let's set the discussion aside, whether a permanent magnet can be strong enough to damage electronics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Physically speaking, you cannot shield magnetic fields -- you can just &quot;dilute&quot; them. To prevent magnetic field strength from being too high at the place of magnet sensible stuff you have two possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put distance between the magnet and the things to be protected. Your approach with packing the magnet into some socks is exactly that. Since the field strength decreases roughly proportional to the square of the distance to the magnet, even a small increase in distance has quite some effect.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magshield.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; you can reduce the magnetic field strength by putting it behind an iron plate or into an iron container to separate it from the sensible stuff. This will dilute the magnetic field lines more effectively than just putting spatial separation between them. However, at least with the iron container, you will of course have the problem of getting the magnet out of the container. If you take the iron plate approach, you might put the magnet close to your backpack's outer wall and use the plate as a separator towards the rest of the pack's content.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2020-02-03T21:16:14.063" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T21:16:14.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21442" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21444" CreationDate="2019-01-11T05:30:45.090" Score="17" ViewCount="2207" Body="&lt;p&gt;We were out on a night hike.  A helicopter showed up, by behavior it was search and rescue, looking not too far away from our group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might have simply been doing training, but if it was a real mission, how would we communicate to it that we are not who it's looking for?  The terrain offered little in the way of landing sites if it mistook us for it's objective they would have wasted a decent amount of time.  No cell service, if their light had locked onto us we couldn't have simply told 911 the chopper had the wrong target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-11T06:41:15.180" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T16:50:56.707" Title="How do you wave off a search and rescue helicopter?" Tags="&lt;communication&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21442" CreationDate="2019-01-11T07:53:58.030" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charles Brumbaugh's answer is correct if a helicopter rescue is underway and you need to warn an approaching helicopter that it should abort the approach due to some problem you have spotted. (From Charles's second linked document: &quot;Should the helicopter move in close before you are ready, or you see a problem, face the helicopter, cross and uncross your arms above your head in a wave-off signal.&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer Loren Pechtel's question, where you see a rescue helicopter and you need to signal whether you need help or not: raise both arms (forming the letter Y) to indicate &quot;Yes&quot; for &quot;I need help,&quot; or stretch one arm up and one down (imitating the letter N) for &quot;No&quot; or &quot;I do not need help&quot;. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal#Mountain_distress_signals&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;'Mountain distress signals' on Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an image to illustrate this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EP6IB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EP6IB.png&quot; alt=&quot;Standard Yes and No ground-to-air signals&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T16:43:41.870" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T16:43:41.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21436" CreationDate="2019-01-11T09:26:58.793" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.icnf.pt/portal/turnatur/resource/doc/ap/pnsc/pr7snt-roca-folh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This Cabo da Roca guide&lt;/a&gt; offers three options: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a badger&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_mongoose&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an Egyptian mongoose&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a weasel&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Badger is quite big and, according to East Surrey Badger Protection Society, &quot;The front paws of an adult badger range from about 4.5 cm to 6.5 cm across for a large boar&quot;. The print is also different - see, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bees-ymca.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/tn_Hutton%20Roof%20Crags%20March%202017%20%287%29.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for mongoose - I couldn't find any proper image of Egyptian mongoose footprint but &lt;a href=&quot;https://is2-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple32/v4/83/54/fa/8354fa32-ca59-c544-0d9f-5df54d8c46ee/source/480x360bb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;. The book &quot;A field guide to the animal tracks of Southern Africa&quot; does have a bunch of other mongoose species' footprints and these are always 4 front fingers and, sometimes, the 5th finger that's located to the side, while footprints in question are more like 3 + 2 pattern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pestdetective.org.nz/image?Type=clue&amp;amp;ID=625&amp;amp;Parent=127&amp;amp;Clue=15&amp;amp;Culprit=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pestdetective&lt;/a&gt;, this is what weasel tracks look like:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PMWGD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PMWGD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Weasel footprint tracks&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a weasel track in a sand dune:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YN5xP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YN5xP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;a weasel track in a sand dune&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bear-tracker.com/weaseltracksandsign.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bear-tracker.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These footprints do seem similar to the ones in question, so I'd suggest that the answer is: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;the tracks belong to a weasel&lt;/strong&gt; or, since it is hard to be sure, to a &lt;strong&gt;Mustelidae&lt;/strong&gt; family member.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorUserId="3207" LastEditDate="2019-01-16T16:21:43.663" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T16:21:43.663" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21442" CreationDate="2019-01-11T13:24:50.590" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ignore the helicopter and it will go away.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some existing answers about signals you don't know already, and most people are unlikely to remember should the need arise. Trying to use a signal your are not fluent in, is not going to be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search and rescue helicopters are looking for people who are in distress and need help.  Those people will be trying to communicate their needs to the helicopter.  If you ignore it (&lt;em&gt;continue; walking, setting up camp, etc.&lt;/em&gt;) it will be very clear that you don't need help, and they will move on. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T16:36:37.640" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T16:36:37.640" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21449" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-11T17:15:45.367" Score="11" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you're sailing upwind (in close reach) and there comes a stronger blast of wind, how should a skipper behave?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One approach is to turn away from the wind because modern yachts are constructed so that weather helm occurs in stronger wind and the skipper wants to prevent the boat from going into the wind and because the true wind accelerates, so the angle of apparent wind changes and moves more to the back, making the yacht sail more downwind than before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other is to turn towards the source of wind because the closer they get to the no-go zone, the slower will the yacht sail and on the edge of no-go zone yacht sail almost upwards, without the lean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17210" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2021-03-10T00:59:59.640" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T00:59:59.640" Title="What to do with a yacht when a stronger wind blast comes?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21449" CreationDate="2019-01-11T19:48:24.547" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your concern is regarding broaching, then the two actions you take are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;allow the head to come towards the wind, reducing the sideways force. This can be instant.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if needed, slacken the main, depowering the sail. Unlike in a dinghy, where this can also be an instant move, in a yacht this is a bit slower.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But unless the wind suddenly increases and you have no chance to reef, this is not really a concern in a modern yacht. Your keel is actually very effective. Regarding reefing, your planning for that day or that leg of a trip should include wind strength and reefing sails accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In reality a yacht skipper should be continually using the wheel to steer to wind and wave conditions, in the same way a dinghy skipper should use the tiller and sheets continually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Weather helm is designed in as a safety feature - it unpowers the sails. After the gust you can simply return to your original heading. If you don't mind increasing your list, you can always keep on the original heading through the gust - depends what your crew/guests feel comfortable with, really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-01-12T12:08:57.910" LastActivityDate="2019-01-12T12:08:57.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21454" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21457" CreationDate="2019-01-12T19:37:35.987" Score="57" ViewCount="12711" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having read about the recent foot traverse of Antarctica by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_O&amp;#39;Brady&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Colin O'Brady&lt;/a&gt; I was wondering which means the polar explorers of former, pre-GPS times used to determine that they had reached the North or South Pole. Obviously, you cannot use a compass since it would guide you to magnetic north or south and not to the pole itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what means did they use or (to make it a bit more open) could they have used?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2410" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-01-15T08:08:56.420" LastActivityDate="2019-01-15T15:22:41.600" Title="How do you know you have reached North or South Pole without GPS?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21454" CreationDate="2019-01-12T20:01:29.073" Score="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;Amundsen's  team used a meter on their sledges to get close (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15773/what-is-dead-reckoning-when-navigating-with-a-map-and-compass&quot;&gt;dead reckoning&lt;/a&gt;) and then sextants to confirm the position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/AntarcticSun/features/images2/tent_observation.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Using Amundsen's diary, Roland Huntford (in The Amundsen Photographs) describes the photo as &quot;Shooting the sun at the South Geographical Pole. Amundsen (left) is holding a sextant. Helmer Hanssen (right) is bending over the artificial horizon, which is a tray of mercury. Amundsen is lining up the direct image of the sun with its reflection in the surface of the mercury.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/igy1/polesurvey1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amundsen's original South Pole Station&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When their sledge meters indicated they should be at the right place, they stopped at the location marked &quot;Sledge&quot; on the map at right (from The South Pole) to determine their position more accurately from sun shots. Amundsen then sent three men out on sledges at 90° intervals. Each went about 10 statute miles; in this way he assured that his party had encircled the Pole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At Polheim the team took a series of hourly observations for a 24-hour period to confirm their location&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/igy1/polesurvey1.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amundsen's original South Pole Station&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For the next three days the men worked to fix the exact position of the pole; after the conflicting and disputed claims of Cook and Peary in the north, Amundsen wanted to leave unmistakable markers for Scott.[139] &lt;strong&gt;After taking several sextant readings at different times of day, Bjaaland, Wisting and Hassel skied out in different directions to &quot;box&quot; the pole;&lt;/strong&gt; Amundsen reasoned that between them they would bracket the exact point.[140] Finally the party pitched a tent, which they called Polheim, as near as possible to the actual pole as they could calculate by their observations. In the tent Amundsen left equipment for Scott, and a letter addressed to King Haakon which he requested Scott to deliver&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People still use sextants today, and they are still the best way to find latitude/longitude without GPS so it seems like is what one would use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="17219" LastEditDate="2019-01-13T19:09:03.997" LastActivityDate="2019-01-13T19:09:03.997" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21454" CreationDate="2019-01-13T06:15:54.773" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a time-lapse photo of the sky directly overhead at night. The moving stars will form circles in your photo, and if the center of the circles is directly overhead, you are there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17215" LastActivityDate="2019-01-13T06:15:54.773" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21454" CreationDate="2019-01-13T11:52:27.560" Score="52" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll expand a bit on how one would use a sextant to locate the north or south pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic arrangement needs a horizontal reflective plane, for which Amundsen used a pool of mercury. A precisely weighted mirror could work also, but a pool of mercury is more robust and doesn't go out of calibration. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextant&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sextant&lt;/a&gt; measures the angular distance between two visible objects, in this case between the sun and its reflection in the horizontal surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This angle is twice the elevation of sun above the horizon. If you are standing at exactly the north (or south) pole, sun will remain at the same elevation all through the day. There will be a small linear change due to earth's orbit around the sun, but no cyclic 24-hour change because you are on the earths rotational axis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, you can take multiple measurements over the day and draw a graph. Even though sun remains at the same elevation, it will still move in a circle around you, so each measurement corresponds to a different direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the elevation graph is flat, you have found the pole. If it however resembles a sine wave, you can use the information to move closer to the pole. The direction where the sun's elevation is lowest is towards the pole, and the distance to the true pole can be calculated from the difference between lowest and highest elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15369" LastEditorUserId="15369" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T19:22:54.493" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T19:22:54.493" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21442" CreationDate="2019-01-13T12:17:48.197" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20170908112714/www.bergrettung.at/Verhalten-bei-Hubschraubereinsaetze.843.0.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;used to be&lt;/a&gt; an article on the homepage of the Austrian mountain rescue service concerning behaviour during helicopter rescues, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2002/3/33-38%20%28downwash%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;originally published in &lt;em&gt;Berg und Steigen&lt;/em&gt; 3/02&lt;/a&gt; (a professional periodical on mountaineering safety, but in German).  This article was written by actual rescue helicopter crew and contains a section about helping in the search phase:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Die Schwierigkeiten beim Auffinden eines Notfallortes aus der Luft&#xA;  werden von Personen am Boden leicht unterschätzt. [...] Die oft&#xA;  vorhandene, eigentlich unverständliche Zurückhaltung und Passivität&#xA;  vieler Bergsteiger beim Anflug des Rettungshubschraubers erschwert die&#xA;  Suche nach dem Notfallort in vielen Fällen. Auf Grund unklarer Angaben&#xA;  in der Notfallmeldung ist es nicht selten notwendig, größere&#xA;  Abschnitte einer Bergflanke oder einer Wand nach dem Unfallopfer&#xA;  abzusuchen. Dabei ist es für die Hubschraubercrew extrem hilfreich,&#xA;  wenn eine Person/Personengruppe beim Anflug des Hubschraubers durch&#xA;  klare Zeichen zu verstehen gibt, ob sie Hilfe benötigt (beide Arme&#xA;  gestreckt hoch für Y aus YES) oder eben nicht (linke Arm hoch, der&#xA;  rechte tief für N aus NO). Aus 20 Metern Höhe ist schwer zu erkennen,&#xA;  ob eine liegende Person verletzt ist oder gerade ein Sonnenbad nimmt,&#xA;  ob der im Seil sitzende Kletterer sich vor der Schlüsselstelle ausruht&#xA;  oder Hilfe benötigt. Ein klares Zeichen mit den Armen beseitigt alle&#xA;  Zweifel. Nebenbei bemerkt zeugt fröhliches Winken beim Überflug eines&#xA;  Rettungshubschraubers von einem freundlichem Wesen und einer guten&#xA;  Kinderstube, ist im konkreten Fall eines Suchfluges aber eher&#xA;  verwirrend und unnötig!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My translation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The difficulty in finding the location of an emergency from air is&#xA;  often underestimated by people on the ground. [...] The usual,&#xA;  actually unintellegible reservation and passivity of many mountaineers&#xA;  at the approach of a rescue helicopter makes the search of a location&#xA;  difficult in many cases. Due to unclear information at the emergency&#xA;  call it is often necessary to search large parts of mountain flanks or&#xA;  walls for victims.  Therefore, it is extremely helpful for helicopter&#xA;  crews, if a group of people signal to the approaching helicopter with clear signs&#xA;  whether they need help (both arms raised for Y as in yes), or not&#xA;  (left arm raised, right down, for N as in no).  From 20 meters above&#xA;  ground it is difficult to see whether a lying person is injured or&#xA;  taking a sunbath,  or whether a climber sitting in their rope is&#xA;  resting or  in need of help.  A clear sign with your arms eliminates&#xA;  all doubt.  Besides, a cheerful waving during the flyover of a rescue&#xA;  helicopter shows a friendly nature and good manners, but is rather&#xA;  distractive and unnecessary in the concrete case of a search flight!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This explicitly advises you not to be shy, and use the N sign to dismiss the helicopter.  Furthermore, it warns you against a &quot;friendly wave&quot;, which one might be tempted to give, but can actually mislead a seaching crew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides, the article is also very helpful about what you should do in case of an actual emergency -- even if remembering all these things about instructing a landing helicopter can be a bit much to remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="15579" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T16:50:56.707" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T16:50:56.707" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20104" CreationDate="2019-01-14T02:27:03.283" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Always...Yes ALWAYS boil the water after filtration, Assuming that you have the materials to do so. Does not matter how &quot;clear&quot; the water appears...Boiling is still necessary in circumstances where chemical purification is not avail. As many before me have said. you do not want a stomach problem while you are trying to survive. Filters can be created in many ways with little materials needed...A simple empty plastic bottle or can will suffice, small gravel, charcoal from your fire and sand,(Do a Google search/youtube search,There are many videos on making such a filtration system using only those 3 items, small gravel charcoal and sand).&#xA; Even if there is no heat source/fire avail, putting the filtered water in a clear plastic or glass container and leaving it in the sun for a day will help in removing any bacterial contaminates,(but possibly not ALL contaminates). I suggest that if you use this method, that you not seal the container, instead using a piece of cloth or wadded grass to seal the container will allow the water to &quot;breathe&quot;.&#xA; I am not making this comment simply out of any need or desire to look knowledgeable, I am making this comment because I have BEEN in the survival position many times...mostly due to circumstances of my own choosing. I make periodic 6 to 9 month sojourns into the wild because I enjoy the solitude and the challenge. My longest experience was on the Mn Canadian border for a period of just over 9 months...through a very cold and bitter winter. These trips are always made with only the supplies and material that I carry on my back...so I am well enough versed in the art to have not had anything happen that I was not able to handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14714" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T02:27:03.283" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21461" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-14T15:47:35.943" Score="6" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a novice sailor (at best) and natively German-speaking, so the question might contain incorrect use of sailing terms and further misconceptions - thanks for any pointers in comments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In high wind it's clear: You lean out over the side of the boat to help keep it upright. In lower wind, there seems to be two counteracting effects regarding speed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More heel (not/less leaning out): Second hull has no/less water contact -&gt; less friction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less heel (more leaning out): More effective sail area towards the wind (better angle).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these statements even correct? And if they are, which is more important? And/Or are there other (more important) effects I didn't think of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T17:56:03.517" Title="How much heel is optimal on a small katamaran in low wind?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21461" CreationDate="2019-01-14T17:45:31.673" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you mentioned, a vertical sail gives you more power, so where possible that should be your goal, but the drag caused when heeling is enough that for most catamarans you want to minimise it as much as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So aim to keep the windward hull just out of the water in calm seas, and a little higher in rough seas, in order to avoid a rough ride. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the wind is very light, and by this I'm thinking 2-3 knots, you may want both hulls in the water, just to get a vertical sail and maximise effective sail area, or possibly even a slight heel to windward, which can feel odd, but avoids some of the lift losses from air spilling over the top of the sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a look across various boats to see if there was a consistent recommended heel angle... And there isn't. The 30 or so I looked at range from 8 degrees to 33!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-01-14T17:56:03.517" LastActivityDate="2019-01-14T17:56:03.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-01-15T18:41:18.507" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a solution in itself, but pushing the &quot;unusable&quot; point somewhat further: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carry the bottle (preferably in thermo sleeve, and with warm/hot water at the beginning of the tour) &lt;strong&gt;upside down&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This way, the ice mostly starts forming near the bottom of the bottle instead of first thing closing the opening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, once you notice that ice forms, it's time to drink the still-liquid part fast before it is frozen as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's also some compromise between having a larger bottle (so more water = more heat capacity) per surface vs. two smaller bottles with one wrapped in the clothes in the backpack for much better insulation (be sure that it doesn't leak, though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-01-15T18:41:18.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21465" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21468" CreationDate="2019-01-15T17:48:47.167" Score="6" ViewCount="604" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was snowboarding. I liked it very much, and I got used to it very quickly, as I was skateboarding before. The only thing I did not understand was how to slow down. People tried to explain to me, but the only thing I could understand was that I needed to somehow turn the board horizontally. I tried to do it, but I just fell. I’m going to go snowboarding again next week and I would appreciate if someone clearly explained to me how to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16729" OwnerDisplayName="Ver Nick" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T08:20:44.850" Title="How do I slow down while snowboarding?" Tags="&lt;snowboarding&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21465" CreationDate="2019-01-15T23:06:31.167" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like Jon Custer said, move your board so it's level (board not not pointing downhill) and then &lt;em&gt;lean into the slope&lt;/em&gt;.  I.e. you want someone downhill of you to be able to see some of the bottom of the board.  (You can do this facing either upslope or downslope.)  Think of it as trying to use the snow piling up under your board as the brakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the devil is in the details.  You have to lean enough so that the front edge doesn't catch and you go flying down hill, but you don't want to lean so much that you fall into the hill.  In theory, you can learn to bend your ankles to pitch the board to help ensure the edge doesn't catch and you don't fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll also add that I never mastered any of the above with a good amount of skill.  I fell.  A lot.  And then I took up snowshoeing instead.  :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-01-15T23:06:31.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21470" CreationDate="2019-01-16T00:32:05.793" Score="8" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;On Amundsen's polar expedition they had,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Of instruments and apparatus for the sledge journeys we carried two sextants, &lt;strong&gt;three artificial horizons&lt;/strong&gt;, of which two were &lt;strong&gt;glass horizons with dark glasses,&lt;/strong&gt; and one a mercury horizon, and four spirit compasses, made in Christiania.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/amundsen/roald/southpole/complete.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The South Pole&#xA;An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the “Fram”, 1910–1912&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21455/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; the team using the mercury artificial horizon, but &lt;strong&gt;what is a glass horizon?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-16T01:25:50.647" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T10:55:50.703" Title="What is a glass artificial horizon?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21465" CreationDate="2019-01-16T03:58:03.900" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are basically two ways to go slower while boarding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, point more across the slope, rather than down it. Easier said than done, sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, washing off speed by letting the board move slightly sideways, rather than nosefirst. This is the equivalent of snowplough. Let's say you're regular-footed, and riding heelside, so you're travelling to your left, across a slope which is going downhill in front of you. You roll your heels back, causing the edge of the board to dig more sharply into the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then push slightly with your right foot and twist your body left. The board is now turned slightly left from its previous angle, but still travelling in the same direction. The extra friction from the edge scraping in the direction of travel causes you to slow down a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17250" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T03:58:03.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21465" CreationDate="2019-01-16T08:20:44.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic concept is to dig your edge into the snow. This has already been described by other answers. What is missing in these answers is the concept of weight distribution. The more weight you put in your front foot during a carving turn, the more the board will go downhill in proper carving line. If you put more weight on the back foot, the board will start to slide/scrape over the snow and slow you down. To come to a complete halt, put even more weight on your back foot to get the board orthogonal to the downhill line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note... You can achieve similar effects by turning your upper body and let the board follow. However, this means that your body is twisted and an unexpected bump will throw you off balance. Thus I strongly recommend to work with the feet&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T08:20:44.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21467" CreationDate="2019-01-16T10:17:26.183" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd suppose, that the glass horizon is the one that uses a well-polished glass as a reflective surface. The quote from the answer you've mentioned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The basic arrangement needs a horizontal reflective plane, for which&#xA;  Amundsen used a pool of mercury. A &lt;strong&gt;precisely weighted mirror&lt;/strong&gt; could&#xA;  work also, but a pool of mercury is more robust and doesn't go out of&#xA;  calibration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The device could be seen at the website of &lt;a href=&quot;http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/42231.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Royal Museums Greenwich&lt;/a&gt; where it's described as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A circular brass case on three levelling feet covered with a blackened&#xA;  glass plate serving as mirror.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, other glass artificial horizons exemplars could be found in the mentioned museum collection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wLeG8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wLeG8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastEditorUserId="3207" LastEditDate="2019-01-16T10:55:50.703" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T10:55:50.703" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2019-01-16T11:54:46.513" Score="-6" Body="&lt;p&gt;the real reason you shouldn't go climbing mountains barefoot is that you can't walk back to get medical attention if you cut your foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;for indoor climbing try a pair of sock-shoes, there are a few brands available online &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17255" LastActivityDate="2019-01-16T11:54:46.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21472" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-17T14:38:30.240" Score="14" ViewCount="3167" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last weekend I spent a night in an igloo. The event was organised by professionals (it was a company retreat) and during the night there was always one of the guides awake making rounds and checking on the people in the igloos. They also made sure that the entrances stayed clear (there was some heavy snowfall).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For oxygen, the method the guides used was to put a small candle inside every igloo: their reasoning being that should the candle go out, the people in the igloo would have to be evacuated because the oxygen was getting low (so that was what they were checking on regularly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How real is the danger of suffocating in an igloo with an open entrance, but without air holes in the cupola?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How real is the danger of suffocating should the entrance (and any potential air holes) be covered by heavy snow fall in the night?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd be interested in an estimate of how much time can pass before you should start to be worried...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And maybe as a follow up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How often would one have to check for clear entrance / air holes in case where there is no person staying up all night?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume an igloo for 3 people (maybe 2m diameter), built with a 'siphon' style entrance of maybe 50cm diameter (i.e. the entrance makes a bend that is the lowest point of the igloo, thus trapping the warm air inside).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: This is a safety-critical topic, &lt;strong&gt;please back up your answers&lt;/strong&gt;. At the very least reports of experienced mountaineers / guides, even better actual research data or accident reports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-09-17T13:07:35.700" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T08:16:58.007" Title="How real is the danger of suffocation in an Igloo?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;igloos&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21473" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21472" CreationDate="2019-01-17T16:00:37.997" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a real danger, especially as the night goes on. Snow has plenty of air in it, and is somewhat breathable, but the moisture from your breath and the heat you generate is going to starting melting the snow and then freezing, so that there is an ice shell on the walls and ceiling. This is especially a problem in snow caves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, so long as you have an unblocked entrance and clear air holes, you should be fine. The snow that is falling will be more breathable than the snow the igloo is made out of. Just make special care to build the entrance in such a way that it takes quite a bit of snow to fill in, and remember to keep your shovels inside, in case you need to dig your way out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-17T16:00:37.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21474" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21378" CreationDate="2019-01-17T21:20:18.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand that you may want to do this if it is really cold out and or the fuel is really cold. It would allow you to keep the flame burning without risk of not being able to relight it, because of temp or some other environmental condition. To answer your question without berating you about safety. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bottle does not matter as long as it is not dissovlable by the contents, you could use a ketchup dispenser.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The tube is brass or copper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fit is friction fit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck and enjoy the outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17265" LastActivityDate="2019-01-17T21:20:18.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21472" CreationDate="2019-01-17T23:38:42.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not as real as the danger of death by exposure and hypothermia while outside the igloo. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your risk of asphyxiation in a snow shelter depends largely on its size, and the number of people inside it. People have been living in igloos for hundreds if not thousands of years, and not just for one night or two at a time, but as permanent dwellings also. Igloos wouldn't make a very good home if you were at risk of asphyxiating in them every night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen figures claiming that at rest an average person can breath with 1m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; of air for 8-10 hours before all the oxygen is consumed. The average igloo is 3-4m across, which would give you about 7-16m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; of air, so even without ventilation you should technically be safe overnight, but things like elevation, snow density and even your V02 max will be a factor, so proper ventilation is always advised when constructing a snow shelter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've spent countless nights sleeping in snow shelters of all varieties, and I build my own igloos. The trick to building an adequate shelter is balancing the size of your shelter and the amount of ventilation. Smaller means warmer, larger shelters take longer to get warm. Too much ventilation and your shelter won't retain any heat either. I usually put the ventilation hole close to my head, and make it just big enough that I can feel the fresh air on my face, but not so big that it makes me cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freshly fallen snow is a welcome addition to your snow shelter, as it provides excellent insulation. Your concern with the falling snow cutting off your air supply is minimal. It's common to block the entrance of your igloo for added insulation, and it's easy to poke your vent hole open again with your ski pole, If you're like me you wake up often enough in the night that you have plenty of opportunities to open your vent again if it's snowing and you're concerned about it. All in all you're going to be fine overnight in an igloo as long as it's built right and doesn't collapse on you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T22:24:08.700" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T22:24:08.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21476" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21478" CreationDate="2019-01-18T02:58:34.127" Score="8" ViewCount="961" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering about the &quot;cross country like&quot; aspects of Alpine Touring gear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am in Ontario Canada, where hills as small as 75 meters can be referred to as &quot;mountains&quot;. I'm a relatively experienced cross country skier, but I like the idea of being able to clip in and use alpine turns on steep downhills (even short ones). In addition, any touring I do locally is going to be on ungroomed trails, and snow that is only 20 to 40cm deep, and covering relatively short distances (2 to 3 hour day trips).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does Alpine Touring gear perform in situations where you are traversing long flats, and climbing and descending short hills of varying steepness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you achieve good glide using a &quot;kick and glide&quot; technique, is it reasonably conformable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are skins absolutely required for climbs or can one get away with the herringbone technique?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any other reasons I might be missing that would make me regret Alpine Touring skis for this application?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T10:10:22.370" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T22:37:00.073" Title="Can you &quot;kick and glide&quot; and climb without skins in Alpine Touring ski gear?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21449" CreationDate="2019-01-18T03:44:22.027" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Generally, hold your course&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there isn't a directional change and the wind doesn't exceed your vessel's ability to carry it under your current sail configuration, don't change a thing. Benefit from the puff. If the puff is sustained, you may be able to point slightly higher (if that's desirable because your objective is further to windward than your course-made-good) and still maintain your best speed through the water if you are already at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if you're carrying too much sail for that amount of wind easing the sails to dump the excess air is indicated. If it is more than a mere burst, but a sustained increase, and an increase in excess of your vessel's current configuration, shorten sail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16694" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T03:44:22.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21476" CreationDate="2019-01-18T05:22:44.723" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can, but how well you glide will vary depending on your skins. Some styles glide better than others, and you will glide more with a shorter skin opposed to a full length skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a 2km approach to where I go backcountry skiing most of the time. Most people skin in the whole 2km on the flat, but I've been skiing the approach in the past couple of years with a bit of kick wax on my bases. It's leaps and bounds better than skinning the whole way on the flat. And the wax doesn't stick to the glue on the skins. The trade off is your skis aren't as fast on the descent, and you have to thoroughly clean off all the sticky wax before you can hot wax your skis, but after one run on fresh snow most of the kick wax is pretty much scraped off anyway. The herringbone will help you up hills to a degree, but it's pretty awkward with the AT setup, and downright miserable in deep snow. When it gets deep and steep you're going to want your skins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're mostly on flat or rolling terrain, I would not recommend Apline Touring skis, you will regret the decision pretty quick, they're too heavy, cumbersome, and uncomfortable for that type of terrain. AT's are meant for climbing and descending tall steep mountains. Where you are planning on skiing, you would be far better off getting a Backcountry/Off-Track Touring setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry Touring skis are the hybrid between classic skiing and telemarking. The boot are very similar to sturdy hiking boots, and you can get them for 75mm toe bindings or NNN. The skis are like lightweight alpine skis with full steel edges, you can get them waxless, or with wax bases and use short skins. You should check them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&amp;amp;biw=1212&amp;amp;bih=1077&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=1&amp;amp;ei=_WFBXMSmBb2x0PEPo--esAU&amp;amp;q=off%20track%20touring&amp;amp;oq=off%20track%20touring&amp;amp;gs_l=img.3..0i24.3689.3689..4380...0.0..0.107.107.0j1......1....1..gws-wiz-img.hRF-ochk0L4#imgrc=lgoZYxviTvLbeM:&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Offtrack Touring Ski boots:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GMkz7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GMkz7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vsy9b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vsy9b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2020-12-01T22:37:00.073" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T22:37:00.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1649" CreationDate="2019-01-18T10:47:14.810" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Desert hiking material is key to hiking in the desert. Generally, hiking materials are commonly made of polyester or nylon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While this may be a good choice for some hiking conditions, it’s not recommended for desert hiking for obvious reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All desert hiking shirts/materials you need should be made of cotton only or cotton and polyester, or cotton and nylon. And also, desert socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real reason why cotton material is advised is that cotton has the ability to not allow the evaporating moisture gathered during the hiking process to escape. This moisture gathered helps to keep you cool.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jwofu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jwofu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cotton&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;While polyester and nylon only fabrics for desert hiking does otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some facts about cotton that you need to know;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It’s comfortable to put on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It resists the build-up of static electricity&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It absorbs water and as well breath (main reason it’s good for desert hiking)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton clothing can withstand heat but can be easily ruined by continuous exposure to sunlight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17249" LastEditorUserId="5" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T16:02:34.473" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T16:02:34.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21476" CreationDate="2019-01-18T19:55:28.097" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't tried it myself, but I know of someone who sometimes waxes the entire base of his AT skis with grip wax instead of putting his skins on. It works perfectly fine for exactly the same conditions that would work with cross-country skis, so a gentle uphill will work. His first descent might be a bit slower, but the wax often disappears by the end of the day. The only issue is that you can't easily or efficiently kick with AT boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have experienced crazy spring conditions where it was 25°C in early march in the Northeast. The snow was so waterlogged that, because of surface tension, I guess, even on slight downhills and flats during ski-out, we needed to kick and glide to gain any forward movement. It definitely works if you can get some grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the herringbone, forget it. The fact that the toes are hinged with no restriction of motion for the skis makes it super difficult and unwieldy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to cover great distances with an AT kit though. Every winter I go to the Groulx Mountains early February to open a trail to the plateau on frozen streams  and it's an almost 20km day-trip out-and-back. But if I'd bring my expedition cross-country kit, I'd shave a lot of time on the ascent and save tons of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Now for the meat of the answer:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want some downhill capabilities, I feel you'd be better served by light plastic or heavy leather telemark boots (think &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aventurenordique.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/c/scott-excursion.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scott Excursion&lt;/a&gt; or Scarpa T3) on a really sturdy Voile 75mm binding setup. For that you need robust skis that can take the pressure of cable bindings and boots, so a bit more than true cross-country skis. Voile has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.voile.com/voile-hypervector-bc-skis.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;great skis&lt;/a&gt; with a grip pattern in the kick zone that can descend well but are light enough that doing long distances isn't a grind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-01-18T20:19:03.507" LastActivityDate="2019-01-18T20:19:03.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21483" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21487" CreationDate="2019-01-19T19:31:43.837" Score="9" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the Genshtab (Генштаб) Soviet military maps, I can read that &lt;a href=&quot;https://nakarte.me/#m=13/64.85280/58.07682&amp;amp;l=T/C&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this ford through the stream Вертный&lt;/a&gt; has a stony bottom, a depth of at most 4 dm, and a width of 29 m (under typical circumstances)¹.  That is indeed fordable.  It also indicates that the flow velocity is 0.6, but I can't find anywhere what unit the velocity is in.  I've found an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/pdf/soviet.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;English language legend&lt;/a&gt; as well as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.realbiker.ru/Map/TopoSymbols/Gidrografia1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;more detailed Russian language legend&lt;/a&gt; — screenshot below — but neither appears to describe the units.  I would expect it to be km/h, but it might be m/s, which is a factor 3.6 different.  What unit is it in?  I'm starting to learn Russian but I don't understand enough yet to find this information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zdE6b.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zdE6b.png&quot; alt=&quot;Genshtab legend&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure the quantity is speed and not total flow, because &lt;a href=&quot;https://nakarte.me/#m=13/64.85488/59.53302&amp;amp;l=T&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this small mountain stream&lt;/a&gt; (15 metre wide, 0.5 metre deep) has 2.5 speed units, whereas &lt;a href=&quot;https://nakarte.me/#m=12/67.03524/52.42264&amp;amp;l=T&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this river downstream&lt;/a&gt; (1310 metre wide, 10 metre deep) has 0.4 speed units.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&lt;sup&gt;These maps are awesome… where else in the world can you find such detail on topographic maps? Sorry, that's not my question here but I just wanted to say that :)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-01-19T21:54:58.817" LastActivityDate="2019-01-20T09:42:02.627" Title="With what unit are river flow speeds indicated on the Genshtab Soviet military maps?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20757" CreationDate="2019-01-19T19:58:42.030" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe that I would try one or two inconspicuous spots where it appears to be wetting the exterior. Those spots may be resistant to your treatment for some reason. Try a spray waterproofing locally on those. The different formulation may penetrate better. If it doesn't work, you haven't ruined the jacket. You can always use the spray on boots or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17271" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-19T21:48:13.110" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T21:48:13.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21012" CreationDate="2019-01-19T20:17:36.223" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Practically, I don't know how far, but a lower pitch will generally carry farther. Also, one's hearing works better if the sound pattern is unusual or personally known to the listener. (A loved one's voice across a crowded party.) Fog horns are low pitched to reach farther. A ululating sound pattern is often used to catch one's attention. I like the sports type whistle with a free-traveling ball inside to warble. Also consider listeners: as we age our hearable frequency range shrinks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17271" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-19T21:52:22.983" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T21:52:22.983" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21486" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13602" CreationDate="2019-01-19T20:26:31.857" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From experience, self-lighting treated charcoals give a bad flavor to the food, as do liquid lighters. I used to use a stack in a metal chimney to light. Always use the freshest and very dry charcoal if possible. The flavor might be better depending on the type of wood its from. Smaller pieces will light faster and give more heat quicker. Large ones will burn longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17271" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-01-19T21:46:23.280" LastActivityDate="2019-01-19T21:46:23.280" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21487" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21483" CreationDate="2019-01-20T09:42:02.627" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's meter per second. See the more detailed legend explanation at &lt;a href=&quot;ftp://ftp.easytrace.com/other/symbols25k.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this huge pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The text means &quot;Arrows that show rivers' flow direction (0.2 is a speed of the flow in m/s)&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tWO3t.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tWO3t.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2019-01-20T09:42:02.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21488" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-21T03:10:17.707" Score="7" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;Under a windproof shell mitten, is an insulating liner mitten significantly warmer than an insulating liner glove made of the same material and thickness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a different question from &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7116/are-mittens-warmer-than-gloves&quot;&gt;Are mittens warmer than gloves?&lt;/a&gt;&quot; because that question is about mittens vs. gloves that &lt;em&gt;aren't&lt;/em&gt; inside a windproof shell mitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some facts (I think):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When exposed to the atmosphere, mittens are warmer than gloves because a mitten has less surface area to conduct heat or release water vapor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wind strips away the layer of warm moist air from next to the skin, speeding up conduction and evaporative cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Insulation works by trapping air (a very slow conductor) close to the skin and slowing down convection within that layer of air -- that's why the walls of buildings are lined with fiberglass batts instead of left empty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wind makes insulation less effective by forcing air through the gaps, causing convection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speculation based on that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Liner mittens and gloves equally do the job of trapping air next to the skin and limiting convection. Inside the windproof shell mitten, either one works at maximal effectiveness. Because there's no material between the liner and the shell to prevent convection, and because the shell doesn't prevent conduction, we can assume the air inside the shell is about the same temperature as the air outside. But the shell &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; minimize evaporative cooling by minimizing the surface area that's exposed to the wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems the only difference between the liner mitten and the liner glove is that the glove has more surface area for conduction with the air inside the shell mitten. But is that conduction even significant? It's a confined environment inside the mitten, and the fingers of the liner glove are usually in contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17279" LastEditorUserId="17279" LastEditDate="2019-01-21T04:13:32.397" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T21:17:52.320" Title="Are liner mittens significantly warmer than liner gloves?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14348" CreationDate="2019-01-21T06:32:32.243" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would probably suggest a Kukri Machete. I don't have one of those myself yet but thinking of buying one. They are a bit bent which means you don't have to bend your wrist to get a &quot;straight hit&quot; Here is a review I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://knifetribe.com/best-kukri-machete/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://knifetribe.com/best-kukri-machete/&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Not sure if they are the best but you can easily google for more reviews etc. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17280" LastActivityDate="2019-01-21T06:32:32.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14348" CreationDate="2019-01-21T07:14:04.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;You're gripping the handle too high.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the problem you are describing from a similar situation arising in HEMA (historical european martial arts) sword fighting. There I use a Viking &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatha&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spatha&lt;/a&gt;, the handle of which can look similar to what your machete looks like. And I actually had to fight with blisters at the very same spot you're describing in the past. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, how to solve this...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look at your grip on the handle you notice that the handle is actually longer than your hand/grip. There is some space at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to your pictures, you're gripping the handle at the very top, with the excess sticking out the bottom. While this seems to be an intuitive way to do it (I've seen many people make this mistake, myself included), there is little benefit to it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're not getting full use out of the length of your machete.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your fingers are actually closer to the action, so it's not safer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're not profiting of the additional control the 'pommel' will grant you (meaning you will have to hold harder as needed otherwise).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The excess handle at the bottom can dig into your wrist.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;strong&gt;try to grip the handle at the bottom, with the 'pommel' (rounded thicker part) snugly against the bottom of your hand&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I.e., instead of like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;================\XXXX___/\&#xA;================ XXXXX    |&#xA;================/XXXX---\/&#xA;                 XXXX&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;grip the handle like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;================\___XXXX/\&#xA;================    XXXXX |&#xA;================/---XXXX\/&#xA;                    XXXX&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The &lt;code&gt;=&lt;/code&gt; part is the blade, the &lt;code&gt;X&lt;/code&gt;s are your hand.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-01-22T03:18:03.770" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T03:18:03.770" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21491" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-21T08:59:37.573" Score="4" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do Robins like the mixed seed bird food I can buy from the garden centre? What bird feeder should I use for Robins and Tits?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17281" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-27T18:25:28.697" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T18:25:28.697" Title="Bird seed for Robins and Tits" Tags="&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;robins&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21488" CreationDate="2019-01-21T09:40:42.377" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think, that whether you have a shell mitten or not, the main argument is the same - inside a mitten, you have one space for a whole hand, so small distant parts like the fingertips could get missing heat from the palm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience - when my hands get cold in both shell and liner gloves/mittens, I usually try to make a fist inside a mitten to warm the fingers and it doesn't work that well with the gloves, because cold fingers are trapped inside their own cold glove fingers - so, when the warmth is really important, the mittens are hard to beat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2019-01-21T09:40:42.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21491" CreationDate="2019-01-21T10:14:15.363" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pretty much any, the bird feeds you get from the garden centres are normally very informative, you can see what to feed different birds for different seasons. If you get a multi-feeder, so basically a pole you can hang different types of feeders on you can accommodate a range of birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can however get Robin specific feeders, take a look here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/suet-feeders/i-love-robins-feeder.html?mediacode=T17PPC0036&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JXiBRCpARIsAGqF8wXzeB6WqY0aK4ySdUO_MDNR0KrMhSTSoB3KHIDj9iWr7Z6XdpflCoIaApkfEALw_wcB&amp;amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB bird feeders&lt;/a&gt; - they have a natural diet of protein-rich mealworms, energy-rich seeds and soft fruits. So you can put out peanut paste coconut shells, mealworms, half an apple etc without needing a feeder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tits will use a variety of feeders, from peanut to seed, so whatever you set out for a robin should be fine. Take a look at this related answer: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14880/best-food-to-attract-blue-tits&quot;&gt;Best food to attract blue tits&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2019-01-21T10:14:15.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21494" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-21T14:37:14.767" Score="5" ViewCount="620" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if the forearm grab/hold (both people holding each other's forearms) provides more grip/strength then the normal wrist to wrist grab (similar to traditional handshake) if you are trying to pull someone - let's say hanging from a height.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j5XWdm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;two hands clasped together palm to palm&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J30El.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hands clasped around the others forarms&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the second picture I'd like to clarify that both people are holding each other's forearms. Asking this question because I started wondering as I've seen both versions on TV and was wondering if the 2nd one is even viable in any situation or it's pointless compared to the 1st one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17282" LastEditorUserId="17282" LastEditDate="2019-01-21T20:49:06.707" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T11:55:46.483" Title="Forearm Grab Grip Strength" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21495" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21494" CreationDate="2019-01-21T17:36:58.310" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The position that the first picture represents provides a more natural hand position, with a lot less strain for the wrist. Also, you are holding a thinner part of your partner's body (the hand) which is more ergonomic and therefore, easier to grip than a wide forearm (picture yourself trying to grip a small baseball or a big basketball, which is easier to hold?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second picture (forearm grip) is the exact opposite. The unnatural hand position and the awkward wrist strain equals a more difficult hold, partially loosing the ability to grip with the ring and pinky fingers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the first kind of hold frees the wrist, allowing more mobility, which might be useful in order to lift someone using an angle that is not straight up (let's say you are laying down on top of a cliff, perpendicular to the fall)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the only case I would see the second one being more effective would be when both of you have terribly sweaty palms and the contact of both of them together increases the sweating. But generally, I would say the first one is the best one, for the reasons stated above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I didn't find that info in the internet, I'm just talking from personal experience (rock climbing and aerial silks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17284" LastEditorUserId="17284" LastEditDate="2019-01-22T07:22:57.213" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T07:22:57.213" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21496" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-21T20:46:44.283" Score="2" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;Conditions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I live near a wide &lt;em&gt;(~1000ft or 300m)&lt;/em&gt; and fairly deep river across from the area where I work.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This area is slightly earthquake prone -- near a fault line that has had multiple magnitude 7+ earthquakes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;While there is a bridge nearby, if that bridge were to collapse, the next bridge is another 14 miles (23 km) away... the one after that is another 30 miles (48 km).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The area is a major city region, often with clogged highways even in good weather, and no disasters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are probably close to 100,000 people who commute over this river.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a large earthquake were to hit again, it could take out my local bridge.  Assuming that I am escaping on foot, reaching the next bridge is a significant trek.  I live less than 2 miles from this river, so it's the shortest way home (by far).  There are no ferries in this area, either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the scenario where I have to rush home to my family after a disaster, what is the best way to cross the river in winter (note: the river rarely freezes, but it is often around 32 F / 0 C in the winter)?  Is the risk too great to try to cross the river (i.e. risk hypothermia from full submersion)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A related topic is here:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7422/river-crossing-in-winter&quot;&gt;River crossing in winter?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this related topic, it mentions about how to handle your feet, but not your clothes.  Do I strip down and bag the clothes?  Do I invest in a lightweight blow-up raft and telescoping paddle?  Do I get a cold water wetsuit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something I considered is that if I travelled far enough outside of the city, I could probably hitch a ride, but the traffic might be terrible, or the bridges (if still standing) might be closed due to damage or rubble, thus rerouting traffic very far around (and ultimately away from my home and family).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A helpful table (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/coastal_communities/hypothermia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bBuWH.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bBuWH.png&quot; alt=&quot;water temperature survival time&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The river flows at an average surface rate of 2.5 mph (4 kph) -- a little slower than walking speed.  The gage height varies greatly.  As low as 7 ft (2.2 m) and as high as over 30 ft (9.2 m) during heavy periods of rain. The yearly average appears to be around 17 ft (5.2 m).  Temperature data puts it between 10 C and 1 C during the winter months (occasionally with surface freezing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to enter the river.  I need to overcome the river in a very rare emergency situation, ONLY.  How do I reduce my risk and minimize the time to get to the other side of the river?  I assume that nearly all solutions will require &quot;hours&quot;, but I want to avoid &quot;days&quot; (i.e. waiting for the national guard to setup travel routes and clear the roads).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17285" LastEditorUserId="17285" LastEditDate="2019-01-24T04:31:53.593" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:08:02.253" Title="What is the best way to cross a wide river in winter?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21496" CreationDate="2019-01-21T21:57:20.637" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From how it sounds, the river is too deep to walk through. I strongly advise against trying to swim through it in winter - if you are not well trained, well equipped and know the river very well, this is very likely deadly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, I advise against using some makeshift equipment or a blow-up raft. The river will likely become deadly after an earthquake strong enough to take your bridge out, even if it is slow and peaceful during normal times. This is due to possible waves during aftershocks, but mostly because of rubble and other things swimming downstream. There might also be a broken power line or underground power cable, maybe even running through the bridge you mentioned, submerged in the river.  Furthermore, you don't know how the riverbed might have changed due to debris or the quake, which could lead to very dangerous currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the question is very general and broad, I would suggest to stick to what the authorities ask you to do in that case. The last thing disaster control wants to take care of in that situation is the guy who thought it would be a good day to try to swim through the river. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2019-01-21T21:57:20.637" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21499" CreationDate="2019-01-21T21:54:06.610" Score="6" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;My bindings are already adjusted to my shoes, what is not adjusted yet is the release setting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can tell, the optimal release setting is fairly simple and depends on height, weight, age and skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also seems, that this setting is adjusted by twisting a single screw on the binding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a valid reason (besides insurance) to not do this myself? Is there actually more to it, than following tables online?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My binding looks like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kUOYf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kUOYf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" OwnerDisplayName="user1721135" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T17:43:04.413" Title="Is it a good idea to do ski binding settings yourself?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21498" CreationDate="2019-01-21T23:42:03.157" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your settings are mostly personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adjusting your DIN settings is not a complicated procedure. It's not uncommon for ski resorts to provide public benches with screwdrivers chained to them so people can adjust their bindings on the hill. I've been adjusting my own settings since I was a child.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no shortage of charts, youtube videos, etc. online showing you how to set your bindings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.evo.com/guides/how-to-choose-ski-bindings-and-din-setting-chart&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NbSFG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The settings are there to help you prevent injury. If you're a novice skier you want your skis to pop off easy so you don't break a leg, so you need lower settings. When you get more advanced, you don't want your skis popping off while you're skiing hard or fast, so you need higher settings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't know how to set your bindings, start with a low number, or find a range that matches your abilities from a chart like the one above. Each time your skis pop off while skiing within your abilities go up a number or two at a time until they stop popping off so easy. If you want to geek out and figure out what your perfect number should be, there are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dincalculator.com/#/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;many resources&lt;/a&gt; to help you figure that out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-01-22T15:41:53.170" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T15:41:53.170" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21494" CreationDate="2019-01-22T11:50:05.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first is not recommended, the reason being that the hold is only as strong as the weaker person's grip. If that grip fails then the other is in practice holding only their thumb. You're not going to be picking someone up by their thumb. It's also dependent on wrist and bicep strength to hold the hands in a valid position to load the grip. You'll this on TV because it's very bicep dependent and good for showing off the build of your actor. As a general rule, never use it outside providing token support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second gives the combined grip strength of both persons. If one fails then the second would still have a firm grip on a solid part of their person. It allows better bracing of your feet and pulling against lat and core strength rather than just arm strength. It fails against the first only in terms of flexibility of support, but that is also one of its strengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You can test this with the assistance of another person, load each as much as you can then have one person release their grip and see what happens.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-01-22T11:55:46.483" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T11:55:46.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21012" CreationDate="2019-01-22T14:31:54.973" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest, as opposed to the optimal, approximation is to assume the inverse square law holds such that there is a 6 dB drop in the pressure for every doubling of distance. If we assume that the whistle needs to be 35 dB to be heard outside in this &quot;optimal&quot; scenario, the pressure needs to drop by 90 dB (or 15 doublings of distance). 2^15*2.5m is about 82 km. If it is really quiet and you have excellent hearing, maybe you could handle another 6 doublings or 5000 km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors that will affect the actual distance. With the right thermal layers, the atmosphere can act as a wave guide allowing sound to propagate 1000s of kilometers. While this seems far fetched, it is pretty common underwater. Wind, acoustic absorption, and scattering, will likely shorten the distance. Less acute listeners may need a whistle to be louder than 35 dB, especially if there is any background noise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I touched on a number of these concepts in my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16521/how-far-from-a-road-do-i-need-to-be-to-not-hear-the-traffic/16527#16527&quot;&gt;answer about highway noise&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T14:31:54.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21488" CreationDate="2019-01-22T21:17:52.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found the best luck with a combination of having gloves with an attached pull-over cover or shell that creates a mitten to hold in heat from the multiple layers of fabric between each finger. If only there was a way to keep the thumb in with the rest of the hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T21:17:52.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="457" CreationDate="2019-01-22T21:24:12.293" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal problem with hammocks in general is my hips aching after an hour or so. I sleep on my side when in a bed, instead of my back, meaning I wouldn't be sleeping in a comfortable position on a hammock, thus preventing sleep and then tiredness in the morning. Camping provides no guarantee that you will find a place long enough to put a hammock that doesn't fold in on itself, either, leading to hip and back problems. Stiff hips would make the hiking harder the following day. If having your feet elevated to reduce swelling is more important than sleeping on your side, then it may not be as bad of an idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastActivityDate="2019-01-22T21:24:12.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11859" CreationDate="2019-01-22T22:20:08.340" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have multiple people one option is for one person to simply use their hand while others get you to safety ASAP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will not be at all a definitive answer, but here is one data point regarding getting to shore quickly rather than attempting repair:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three friends and I chartered a six meter RHIB (rigid hulled inflatable boat, wasn’t a Zodiac brand but similar) with two large outboard engines for sport fishing off the coast of Mozambique, operated by two men who had the skills to launch off the beach through the surf.  In the process of attempting to land a large dorado we somehow managed to gash one pontoon with a multi-barbed lure.  The operator’s response was not to attempt a repair to the hull but rather to slow the leak by pressing on it hard with a bare hand, while running the engines full throttle to get us back to shore.  We were a couple of KM offshore but we had calm seas and made it to the beach before any loss of stability, if I remember correctly they timed it so as to keep us on plane almost until we hit the sand, yet without a violent collision.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I welcome any comments as to whether this represents good or bad general practice (not whether it’s good practice for six humans to get their asses handed to them by a fish, but whether the subsequent response was the best that could be made of the situation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-01-23T14:57:55.103" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T14:57:55.103" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11859" CreationDate="2019-01-23T07:03:07.943" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Obviously the best result you will get by using a proper patch kit for inflatables, likely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?q=vulcanizing%20rubber%20patch&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;hs=Jiu&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwi5u7yOqIPgAhXNCuwKHfH_D6UQ_AUIDigB&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=704&amp;amp;dpr=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vulcanising rubber patch&lt;/a&gt; similar to what you're using to fix bicycle tyres. If you know what your'e doing you can apply those to an inflated boat in a pinch - it being in the water makes it a bit more difficult, but not terribly so &lt;em&gt;given the whole is above the water line&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, should you not have the proper repair kit at hand here are a bunch of &lt;strong&gt;improvised ways&lt;/strong&gt; to plug the hole. Here is a list of what I have used in the past:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plug the hole with your finger. This will give you a good seal you might be awkward to get to shore. Mostly feasible if there are multiple people in the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Duct tape - works pretty well actually, best applied in long straps in a kind of 'star' pattern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a pinch I have used a combination of chewing gum and the sticky wrappers around Coke PET bottles. This actually fixed a maybe 4x4mm hole well enough for us to finish a 2-3 hour river tour in an inflatable boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Medical tape can work well - best in combination with something small and 'spongy' to plug the actual hole, with the tape adding pressure and holding it in place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used all of the above to some success - most of them plugged the holes well enough that we could continue our 2-3 hour river trips with maybe one break for topping of air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you're wondering what I'm doing to end up on broken inflatables so frequently... I live in Bern, where &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?q=aareb%C3%B6%C3%B6tle&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;hs=ZDa&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=0ahUKEwjR98XGqoPgAhXhwAIHHTlxBusQ_AUIDigB&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=704&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;floating down the river in an inflatable boat&lt;/a&gt; is of the most beloved summer activities. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T07:03:07.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17537" CreationDate="2019-01-23T08:54:01.897" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It needs a handle that can be securely held by the size hand of the user.The blade won't be useful if one can't keep hold well enough. Also since it is small it will be easier to cut with it if it is very sharp.That way less leverage is required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17271" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T08:54:01.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21513" CreationDate="2019-01-23T10:29:16.443" Score="32" ViewCount="8891" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I'm primarily asking about caving, this is a problem that exists in any activity that moves through the landscape: walking, cycling, kayak touring, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A natural tendency when on the move is for the fastest members of the group to end up at the front and for the slowest to trail behind, and eventually lose sight of those in front.  Then there's potential for different parts of the group to make different navigational decisions and become completely separated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I, as a group member, prevent this fragmentation, and help the group stay in touch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T22:28:16.127" Title="How do I keep my group together?" Tags="&lt;groups&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-23T10:29:16.443" Score="50" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good rule I was taught as a teenager is that &lt;strong&gt;each person must keep contact with the person &lt;em&gt;behind&lt;/em&gt; them&lt;/strong&gt;.  Importantly, &lt;em&gt;don't try to keep up with the person in front&lt;/em&gt; - if they are following the rule, it's up to them to slow down or stop so that they maintain contact with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will naturally constrain the group to the speed of the slowest member, and ensure that no-one gets left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a &quot;group member&quot;, you'll need to (temporarily) step up to a &quot;leadership&quot; role to instruct your peers in this rule before you start.  After that, it's important to set a good example.  This can be reinforced by periodically asking the person behind you to report the status of everybody further back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, this technique also works well for road vehicles travelling together, when traffic lights or other obstacles can affect part of the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-24T09:06:06.427" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T09:06:06.427" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-23T11:58:00.410" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for hiking, it's mostly about group discipline and communication. From my experience, I find the following actions to be effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put someone strong and fast to the end of the group - they should watch for anyone else not to lag behind. If someone can't keep the group pace, this last group member should notify others, and then the decisions are to be made about reducing the pace, taking some load off the lagging member etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch for the front member - if they're too fast, then don't hesitate to tell them to slow down. If they can't keep the slower pace - put someone else to the front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you, as a group member, see that the group is spread, then call for others so that faster would halt and wait for the rear ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mind, that in different terrain and weather conditions you could allow different 'safe' distances between the front and the rear group members.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T11:58:00.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17537" CreationDate="2019-01-23T14:50:14.860" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I'm unsure on what exactly is a small/mini knife for you I'm going to propose something nonetheless:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Get a Swiss Army Knife.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ej8CI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ej8CI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They come in &lt;a href=&quot;http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V5f2EUC3_ZA/VKoROxJgBRI/AAAAAAAAASU/j_YwxQtRFF4/s1600/SAK%2BSizing%2Bchart.PNG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;all kinds of different sizes&lt;/a&gt;, so you should be able to find one that fits your idea of what a 'mini' knife is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore you can pick among countless different models with all kinds of extras. You can thus &lt;strong&gt;tailor&lt;/strong&gt; the knife exactly to what 'normal day usage' means for you - e.g. look through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Swiss-Army-Knives/cms/swissarmyknives-main&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;range of models&lt;/a&gt; here for a version that is equipped with the tools that you think will come in handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example: some tools that I have found very useful in the past in an 'every day' setup: cork screw, cap opener, can opener, toothpick tweezers, scissors, various screwdrivers, awl, ... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-01-24T07:28:30.980" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T07:28:30.980" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-23T15:15:15.510" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I very much recommend formally asking the group’s permission for you (or someone else the group designates) to tell them what to do as needed in order to keep the group together.  Everyone tends to shrug and agree, and then that breaks down the momentary hesitation to say anything when the group is starting to split up.  It’s much easier to prevent than fix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once that understanding is in place you can employ whatever tactic you want (putting one of the more capable team members in the “sweep” position at the end of the group, with the explicit agreement that they are empowered to set the group’s pace based on what they observe, seems to work well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The concept is simple it’s the social aspect of execution in the moment (telling an older / more experienced / more grouchy person what to do) which causes hesitation so this upfront agreement really helps.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T15:15:15.510" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16407" CreationDate="2019-01-23T15:15:28.357" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, there are no specific ice axe test requirements in Russia.&#xA;I didn't find any GOST standard for an ice axe as well.&#xA;So, if your ice axe isn't UIAA certified &lt;strong&gt;you can just guess about whether it's reliable or not&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3207" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T15:15:28.357" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-23T15:38:54.237" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;simple solution is to put the slowest person in the front of the group.&lt;/strong&gt; This does two things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As long as no one passes, the group will &lt;strong&gt;naturally stick together.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It &lt;strong&gt;encourages the slowest person to speed up,&lt;/strong&gt; as being in front causes pressure to go faster.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the same time, a little spreading out is not a bad thing, because it allows the group to see who is the slowest and who might need extra help. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a trip that I was one where because the leaders were so careful to keep everyone together that it wasn't till much later that we realized how out of shape certain members were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T15:38:54.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21519" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-23T16:03:49.013" Score="4" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a few items: FireSteel, Hatchet, etc. that have a small paracord size hole at the base. I was looking to add a length of paracord so I can easily loop it over branches, tentpoles, etc. Do any of you have a technique for doing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17286" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T01:51:44.407" Title="Knots for bases of equipment" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21519" CreationDate="2019-01-23T16:44:38.943" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several knots that can satisfy your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common knot for making a loop of cord is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;double fisherman's knot&lt;/a&gt;. This is what most people use when tying cord for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;prusiks&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalakov_thread&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;abalakovs&lt;/a&gt;, etc. The disadvantage to this knot in paracord is you're not likely to get it untied. You'll probably end up having to cut it off if and when you want it off. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another knot to use would be a single or double &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/flatoverhand/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flat overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;. It's much easier to tie, as well as easier to untie, and it'll hold up well enough just for hanging your tools. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T16:44:38.943" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-23T20:12:27.380" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've led quite a few groups through one of the biggest caves in Canada, and I've received leadership training from the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides through the Alpine Club of Canada. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keeping your group together starts with establishing leadership.&lt;/strong&gt; It's the responsibility of the leader to ensure that no one gets separated from the group. Every trip or excursion sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada has a designated trip leader, even if all members in attendance are of equal ability, the trip leader is still respected as the designated leader for that trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever I'm leading on a hike or in a cave, I always ensure that I'm out front, and check my shoulder occasionally to make sure the whole group is keeping up. It helps to have the slowest, or whomever you feel needs the most help close to you. This helps you set a pace that the whole group can keep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With large groups it's helpful to have a second leader who takes up the rear, then you can know that the whole group is with you when you can see that person, otherwise, headcounts are helpful. I guided a group of 17 kayaks on a river this summer, and headcounts helped me out a lot. I had one leader in the front and one in the back, and I would float back and forth between the two. There were a couple times doing my count I came up one person short, and discovered the leader taking up the rear had unknowingly passed a boy at a fork in the river, and got ahead of him before the confluence. The boy kept falling behind because he was cold, so I ended up towing him for the rest of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also helpful to establish periodic check points; predetermined places where everyone regroups. In the cave I guide most frequently there are multiple rappels along the way, so it's easy to establish checkpoints because everyone has to wait at the top of the rappel for their turn on the rope, and we don't proceed until the last person is at the bottom of it. Even with checkpoints though, sometimes it's prudent to stop the group impromptu when the leader notices people are falling behind, and continue on again when everyone regroups. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the suggestions above only work &lt;em&gt;if you've established a leader&lt;/em&gt;. It's like herding cats if you've got people up front that don't take direction from anyone, so make sure you establish leadership and protocols at the beginning of the trip. If you don't, and you get half way through a trip and people are getting spread out too far, it may be prudent to stop the group and suggest that some order be established. I've spoken up more than once to offer suggestions to other leaders when I've recognized that a group, or member of the group was struggling with a climb, hike or other excursion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-01-23T22:17:57.857" LastActivityDate="2019-01-23T22:17:57.857" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21496" CreationDate="2019-01-24T05:29:34.567" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are the ideas I've come up with so far...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reasonable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pay for a helicopter emergency service to go directly to the house.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have an emergency GPS beacon at home to alert a variety of emergency services to my family's exact location, if trapped--assumes the phone lines are either down or overwhelmed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Join a neighborhood safety organization to get local families to check on one another in the event of a disaster, expediting help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Less reasonable:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stash a paramotor (to fly home) at a safe location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stash a dirt bike (to weave through traffic or go off-road) at a safe location.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stash a Sea-Doo at a safe location (how will I get it to the water w/o a vehicle?).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get far enough outside the disaster zone to catch a ride and pay them to go the long way around (over a working bridge), to a point where I could walk the rest of the way (many unknowns and might still take a very long time).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incredibly dangerous (and stupid):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep an inflatable boat and oar in the trunk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep a cold weather wetsuit in the trunk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Parkour over the metal bridge spans (which are taller than the water is deep).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep and use a rope to span the broken part of the bridge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Every solution is situational.  Each solution has upsides and downsides depending on the exact circumstances of the emergency, the availability of help, the condition of infrastructure, the amount of time available, and cost/training/feasibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please poke holes in these ideas.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17285" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-24T16:09:54.093" LastActivityDate="2019-01-24T16:09:54.093" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21523" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-24T05:55:53.610" Score="8" ViewCount="267" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are best methods for non-medically-trained personnel to remove a small cockroach from their own or someone else’s ear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T00:28:31.297" Title="Best field remedy for small cockroach in the ear" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;tropic&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21523" CreationDate="2019-01-24T06:12:57.203" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few drops of baby oil (light nontoxic mineral oil) to suffocate the cockroach, then blunt tweezers or alligator forceps to carefully remove it once dead and motionless, if it is visible and easily grasped without rupturing the body of the roach or damaging the ear (don’t dig around blindly in the ear with any object).  To prevent injury one should strongly consider saving removal until medical attention is available.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Posting my own answer here just because it was such welcome knowledge when demonstrated to my friend who needed it, please comment or answer as well)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was learned in response to an incident in southern Philippines in which a small (20mm x 5mm) cockroach flew seemingly accidentally into the side of my friend’s face then crawled rapidly into his ear.  Water, rum, cigarette smoke, corn oil and attempts to remove the unharmed roach with a tweezers were unsuccessful and counterproductive, my friend (who grows corn and cassava) is a pretty tough guy but was getting increasingly unhappy (“it’s so loud!”).  We drove him to a clinic, woke up the doctor, half awake he drowned the roach with a few large drops of mineral oil seemingly instantaneously, then fished out the now motinless slippery slightly bloody creature in less time than it takes to type this, charged us about $4, and went back to sleep.  My friend literally bounded off of the exam table and around the room with relief and joy, and I carried a tiny bottle of mineral oil with me for the next year until I moved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS here’s a link &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/6/6/17429138/cockroaches-crawling-inside-ears-infections&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/6/6/17429138/cockroaches-crawling-inside-ears-infections&lt;/a&gt; confirming that it’s better to do this than fight with a live roach (they’re pretty well evolved to fight in tunnels) but further that its important to clean ear canal thoroughly afterwards as the dying roach may vomit/excrete bacteria and fungi.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum in Response to Comment:&lt;/strong&gt;  A commenter (@James Jenkins) wondered how &lt;em&gt;baby oil (light non-toxic mineral oil&lt;/em&gt; could suffocate the roach, where &lt;em&gt;corn oil&lt;/em&gt; could not.  I had the same question and I followed it up with another doctor in the same region. Apparently a very low-viscosity mineral oil (baby oil as opposed to corn oil or water) somehow wicks in to the tiny passages that constitute a roach respiratory system (more on amazing roach HVAC system here &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.notesonzoology.com/cockroaches/process-of-respiration-in-cockroaches-invertebrates/1989&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.notesonzoology.com/cockroaches/process-of-respiration-in-cockroaches-invertebrates/1989&lt;/a&gt;). So I’m unclear on the precise reason for why baby oil works but I was very sure to find out what was the standard practice (ordinary baby oil). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-01-26T00:28:31.297" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T00:28:31.297" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21526" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-24T13:08:05.923" Score="6" ViewCount="255" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm an international hitchhiker and I've never been sure what kind of shoes to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do the vast majority of walking on roads, carrying 15kg or so. Sometimes I'll be off-road in the same shoes. I've walked up to 30km in one day though 10km or so is more typical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I generally look for hiking shoes from any name brand that are on clearance, but I find they never last a full year. I've read that paves surfaces wear out hiking shoe soles faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But is that going to happen also with walking shoes or any other kinds of shoes anyway? Or do other types of shoes have soles that last a lot longer on concrete and asphalt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comfort is pretty important, but for me durability is more important. The longer I travel the less money I have left to replace worn-out shoes, so I want something that will last.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know you get what you pay for but after a point it's hard to know whether you're paying for quality or marketing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm currently in Taiwan where there's more budget options than back in Australia but I'm still not sure about the quality. Brands such as Lotto, Goodyear, and Quechua.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what should I look for? Walking vs hiking vs other? Specific sole types/designs/materials? Something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="451" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T15:16:10.637" Title="How to choose shoes for long-distance urban walking for durability first then comfort?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;walking&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21496" CreationDate="2019-01-24T13:45:51.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regardless of the water temperature, trying to swim across a river after an earthquake that brought down a bridge is a probably not a good choice.  Underground septic and sewer systems will be damaged, likely contaminating the river for hours to days.  Commercial storage facilities for fuel and chemicals are will potentially also contaminate the river water.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.matsugov.us/news?task=download&amp;amp;collection=file_upload_x&amp;amp;xi=0&amp;amp;file=file_upload&amp;amp;id=20374&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Drinking Water &amp;amp; Septic Systems after earthquake (PDF)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per your question, you are in developed area, with a navigable river. In the winter the water is near freezing but seldom frozen.  Per your self-answer money is not a significant hurdle for arranging the crossing. You have listed a moderately swift current 2.5 mph (4 kph) which likely implies there are no dams on the river (&lt;em&gt;i.e. loss of dam during the disaster is not a consideration&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the natural disaster that brings down a bridge, local communications will likely be disrupted. It will be difficult to know if other bridges are still functional, so attempting an overland journey on foot to one of them is not practical in the first few hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Depend on the greed of your fellow city dwellers who own boats. A river that size would be expected to have many boats.  Some of those boat owners are going to realize a water taxi is a great idea, particularly if more then one bridge is down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go the other way by car. Drive away from the city center by the easiest route.  When you are past the area of high impact (&lt;em&gt;no significant damage&lt;/em&gt;) take the long way home.  At 50 miles from the epicenter of the quake normal travel speeds should be expected. If you drove East 50 miles leaving the city, drive north 50 miles, drive west 100 miles (crossing the river), drive east less than 50 mile to get home.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep a bicycle at work, used bikes are inexpensive.  On good ground you can make good speed, on bad ground you can easily carry it. In congested areas you still make good speed.  7 miles per hour is an easy speed to maintain, so a bridge 30 miles away is an easy 4 or 5 hour ride. If you bike regularly, speeds of 20 miles per hour plus are reasonable, you potentially get home in 4 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also keep in mind, in an urban/city environment where there is no power and/or communications (cell service is likely out as well), all payments need to be cash, ATM's don't work, credit &amp;amp; debit cards can not be validated or charged. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-02-10T10:33:33.860" LastActivityDate="2019-02-10T10:33:33.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21529" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-25T01:35:04.037" Score="14" ViewCount="366" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traditional marine advice says that, if one falls into cold water, it is better to stay still rather than try to swim (unless the shore is so close that you are absolutely able to make it) to extend the survival time because heat loss is greater when swimming than staying still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have also heard that, in cold water, people need to swim FAST in order to keep warm and prevent hypothermia by generating more body heat, and slowing down means trouble. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These two are contradictory sayings. Is there any scientific research confirming which is true? Does it make a difference if one is a marathon swimmer who is trained to swim 6 hours or more in 15 - 16°C, compared to a swimmer who only swims in warm (&gt;24°C) pools or sea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17309" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-01-31T21:34:10.510" LastActivityDate="2019-02-01T11:23:57.130" Title="Why is traditional marine advice to stay still, rather than swim vigorously, if fallen in cold water?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21531" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-25T02:04:06.300" Score="6" ViewCount="481" Body="&lt;p&gt;You often want to identify different flora and fauna while hiking. Since I have my smartphone with me either way, I would like to have an app to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which apps tackle the described use-case and also do they work offline? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2019-01-25T06:52:29.303" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T15:55:12.820" Title="Is there an app to identify flora and fauna" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21529" CreationDate="2019-01-25T02:23:30.757" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because swimming takes energy that your body could be using for heat and instead uses it for movement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The more energy you use in cold water, the more your body cools off.&lt;/strong&gt; If you cannot climb out of the water, conserve body heat by remaining as still as possible and reducing the amount of your body exposed to the water. Protect your critical heat loss regions: the head, sides, armpits, and groin. Do not swim unless shore, a raft, or an overturned boat is nearby. &lt;strong&gt;Swimming accelerates heat loss.&lt;/strong&gt; Remaining still in the water increases your survival time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/coastal_communities/hypothermia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Swimming may give a feeling of warmth but it accelerates muscle cooling&lt;/strong&gt;. The body may produce more heat when swimming but it is also more quickly lost from the arm and leg muscles. Once these muscles cool, swimming becomes more difficult or impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iws.ie/emergency-situations/hypothermia-what-to-do.355.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that if you have a life jacket, then the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_escape_lessening_position&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heat Escape Lessening Position&lt;/a&gt; is recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-25T02:23:30.757" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21534" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21535" CreationDate="2019-01-25T11:27:51.857" Score="5" ViewCount="490" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the Garmin website, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/blog/garmin-refreshes-its-popular-handheld-gpsmap-series-introduces-larger-display-galileo-support-and-expanded-battery-life-with-tracking-up-to-one-week/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin GPSmap 66&lt;/a&gt; includes an &lt;em&gt;SOS beacon&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These devices include an LED flashlight and SOS beacon that can be used to signal for help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are thin on details, and Google Search just turns up the exact same formulation on different websites.  What does this SOS beacon actually do?  Is it anything like a PLB, is it an audible/visible alarm, or something different from either?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-25T15:00:25.880" LastActivityDate="2019-01-25T15:00:25.880" Title="What does the Garmin GPSMAP 66 &quot;SOS beacon&quot; function do?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21534" CreationDate="2019-01-25T15:00:07.983" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/598455#overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt; and how it is talked about, it's &lt;strong&gt;probably just a strobe mode&lt;/strong&gt; for the flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://static.garmincdn.com/en/products/010-01918-00/g/Utility-in-adverse-environments-SOS-Beacon-1-GPSMAP66st_SS_9013-96398143-dfd2-43cd-a404-4f8ca45314b2.png&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The built-in &lt;strong&gt;LED flashlight/SOS Beacon&lt;/strong&gt; is a great backup if needed in an emergency for added piece of mind when you’re away from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-GPSMAP-66s-Handheld-GPS-P5696.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-25T15:00:07.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21523" CreationDate="2019-01-25T16:07:38.020" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would follow the advice of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid/basics/art-20056709&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mayo Clinic&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Remove the object if possible. If the object is clearly visible, pliable and can be grasped easily with tweezers, gently remove it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is somewhat contentious advice since the general guidance for ears is to insert &lt;em&gt;nothing smaller than your elbow&lt;/em&gt;. It is very easy to perforate the ear drum with tweezers and this would be much more dangerous in the field than leaving the bug to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Try using oil for an insect. If the foreign object is an insect, tilt the person's head so that the ear with the insect is upward. Try to float the insect out by pouring mineral oil, olive oil or baby oil into the ear. The oil should be warm, but not hot. Don't use oil to remove an object other than an insect. Don't use this method for a child if ear tubes are in place or if you think the eardrum may be perforated. Signs and symptoms of a perforated eardrum are pain, bleeding or discharge from the ear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again you need to be careful and make sure the ear drum is not perforated. The goal is not to suffocate the insect, but rather to float it out. Of course, if the insect stubbornly refuses to float, it will eventually drown/suffocate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-01-25T16:07:38.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21537" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21538" CreationDate="2019-01-25T16:18:51.790" Score="5" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;While researching a driving trip to Alaska, I came across an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.akleg.gov/basis/aac.asp#13.04.265&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alaskan motor law&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;13 AAC 04.265. Antispray device &#xA;  &lt;br/&gt;(a) No person may drive a motor&#xA;  vehicle unless it has a device which effectively reduces the wheel&#xA;  spray or splash of water or other substance to the rear of the&#xA;  vehicle. &#xA;  &lt;br/&gt;(b) The device required in (a) of this section must be&#xA;  installed and maintained so that the device placed behind a wheel&#xA;  extends downward to a distance of 14 inches from the surface of the&#xA;  ground when the vehicle is standing on level ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The description in b) make it appear that it applies only to large vehicles.  A regular passenger car or SUV usually does not have a ground clearance of 14 inches from the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: Does this law apply to passenger cars/SUVs or large trucks? &#xA;And if it applies to passenger cars, do built in &quot;mud flaps&quot; such as those on Subaru Outbacks (see pic) qualify?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntIVD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntIVD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Outback wheel well&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastEditorUserId="11800" LastEditDate="2019-01-25T18:47:59.937" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T09:39:25.657" Title="Driving in Alaska - Antispray device" Tags="&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;alaska&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21537" CreationDate="2019-01-26T00:38:32.760" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to live in Washington state. There are similar regulations there. As Charlie says in his comment this is &quot;legalese for mud flaps&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For passenger cars it is integral to the cars design. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about a logging truck or semi without a trailer.  All those large tires (eight+) on a wet rainy and/or muddy road. The truck is in front of you and there is no mud flaps nor anything over the top of the tires.  A large plume of dirty water flying off the tires (&lt;em&gt;Rooster Tail&lt;/em&gt;), with the occasional piece of gravel. That is what the law is intended to prevent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may also see it on 4 wheel drive trucks with over size tires, where the tire extends wider then the truck body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This video starts with a pace car (sports car) driving in the rain. The rain kicked up stays relatively low and dispersed. Starting at about 1:12 in the video a you see formula 1 race cars driving in the same conditions with rain kicked up much higher. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPfiTPO09To&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPfiTPO09To&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next video shows a sand racer kicking up sand. It also provides good visuals &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhsct3YavxQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhsct3YavxQ&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Alaska law of 14 inches is actually not very restrictive.  In many other locations it must come much closer to the ground and cover more then just the back as in these images.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YdIrx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YdIrx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;encompassing &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKV6j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yKV6j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;1959 GMC&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your vehicle it is fine just like it is.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some after market larger mud guards available &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.weathertech.com/subaru/2018/outback/mudflap-no-drill-digitalfit/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(&lt;em&gt;example:2018 Subaru Outback MudFlaps&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; if you are going to be doing a lot of dirt road travel they may help keep your vehicle a bit cleaner and limit rock marks in your paint. But they are optional not a legal requirement, beyond what you have from the factory. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source Wikicommons &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dump_semi-trailer_truck.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1959_GMC_Cabover_Semi_Truck_(17130960637).jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-01-26T09:39:25.657" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T09:39:25.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21519" CreationDate="2019-01-26T01:51:44.407" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently use a series of a slipped buntlines and slipped overhand knots tied off with a chain sinnet to attach random gear to my backpack. Its much easier than it sounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to tie a buntline&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbV54.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbV54.png&quot; alt=&quot;Buntline Image Taken from https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/slipped-buntline &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key to a good buntline hitch is to properly set the knot. It forms a very compact clove hitch on the standing end when tied correctly. Doing &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/slipped-buntline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one slipped&lt;/a&gt; will hold just as well and basically fall apart when needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In step 3, simultainously pull the slipped bight on the right while bringing both parts (top and bottom) of the clove hitch tightly together. You can do this well away from the thing you're attaching it to and then 'slide' the whole knot down to cinch it against your equipment/loop/etc... When set correctly, its very secure (my goto for virtually everything).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tying it to your equipment&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll take a 2 foot piece of paracord and tie either a normal buntline (if I don't want it to come off) or a slipped buntline through the hole on the equipment I want to attach. I've even done this with accessories like hats by taking a small &quot;bunch&quot; of the material and tying the buntline around that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Attaching it&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take the working end and run it over your limb/through your loop/hook/webbing/etc... and do an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhand_knot_with_draw-loop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;overhand knot with a draw loop&lt;/a&gt; as depicted below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pd1j.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pd1j.png&quot; alt=&quot;overhand knot with a draw loop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pull this bight/draw loop tight and hold it with one hand/thumb while finishing it off with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/chainsinnet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chain sinnet&lt;/a&gt;. A chain sinnet is basically where you take the rest of the working end and pass a bight through the current drawn loop/bight, pull it tight, move your fingers to hold that knot tight and repeat until you have no more working end left.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has a few advantages for finishing off things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pulling the end releases everything quickly and nicely &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Uses up the rest of your rope in a neat and clean method &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Securely finished the end in a quick and repeatable manner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you get used to this system of knots, you'll be able to hang any gear on almost anything securely, quickly and without much thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use this same system (together with a trucker's hitch most of the time) for all knot tying/securing situations. Never failed me yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3222" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T01:51:44.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21541" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21547" CreationDate="2019-01-26T13:27:18.387" Score="1" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having just bought my first pair of skis, I am unsure how to best stack them in the default side-by-side position in which they are alligned at the tip and at the tail ends. I thought the bindings' stoppers would intertwine and protrude into the other one enough so the skis are flush, tips aligned. But instead, I can only get them to look something like this:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xj5xh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xj5xh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/inMRD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/inMRD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ij4Hp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ij4Hp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They don't sit any cozier if I reverse which ski &quot;mounts&quot; the other. Also, I can slightly force one of the skis further, but there is no &quot;click&quot; that would indicate the black levers are secured to one another (as I expected).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had this problem with rented skis before. The way they fit into each other now, it just means they often break loose during transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might the ski shop have misaligned/badly fitted the bindings, or am I just too inexperienced with equipment to know how to properly align my skis? Any suggestions would be appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15532" LastEditorUserId="15532" LastEditDate="2019-01-26T16:23:17.363" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T16:57:46.217" Title="Skis constantly misaligned while stacked" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21529" CreationDate="2019-01-26T17:26:06.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are swimming or vigorously treading water, two things will happen that make you colder:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;significantly increased rate of blood flow out to the moving muscles in the arms and legs, which are long and thin and have a lot of surface area to dump heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;increased heat transfer from your skin to the water, because a constant flow of new cold water will replace the still water immediately next to the skin which has already been warmed by your body.  This will happen anyway but happens faster if you are moving.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that whether this is a good or bad thing depends on how cold the water is and how much heat you’re generating.  An Olympic swimmer training in a pool might prefer something on the lower end of normal pool range (i.e. still not very cold). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m honestly not sure in an open water race whether it’s a performance issue, a comfort issue, a safety issue or just something athletes say to psych themselves to go hard. It could be that when you’re swimming hard, the endorphins numb the perception of cold.  There’s a chance these effects are non-linear, and the difference in heat loss between floating/swimming is large, but moderate/fast is smaller, and if the difference in heat generated rose with speed in a non-linear way there could be some speed at which the lines of those graphs cross and speed is favorable.  If I find a link I’ll post it. But there may not be a rule of thumb; it may depend on exact water temp, race length, and physiology of the individual. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But an ordinary person in a dangerous survival situation would not want this enhanced cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-02-01T11:23:57.130" LastActivityDate="2019-02-01T11:23:57.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21531" CreationDate="2019-01-26T20:02:05.333" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lens.google.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Google Lens&lt;/a&gt; is Google's technology for &amp;quot;searching what you see&amp;quot;, including plants and animal. Since it relies on Google's service, &lt;strong&gt;doesn't work offline&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Identify plants and animals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find out what plant is in your friend's apartment, or what kind of dog you saw in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's available on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Google Lens standalone app (&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.ar.lens&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Android 6.0+&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Google Assistant (&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googleassistant&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Android 5.0+&lt;/a&gt;): &amp;quot;Look for the Lens icon in your Assistant.&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Google Photos (&lt;a href=&quot;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Android&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos/id962194608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;iOS 10+&lt;/a&gt;): &amp;quot;Look for the Lens icon on &lt;strong&gt;your photos&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on my experience in identifying my dog, photos of insects, and flowers, it might not always be too accurate, though the suggested results with their visual representation sometimes helped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Disclaimer: not affiliated with Google, just a happy user of it.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5828" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-01-26T20:02:05.333" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21544" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-01-27T02:27:40.870" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the roller blading groups (50+ people) I've been in in Florida and NYC they have a sweep at the back whose job it is to make sure the slowest person is always with the group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone goes as fast as they like, but the leaders have a pre-planned route and take breaks at designated rest stops and wait for all group members to arrive (the sweep). Then they set out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not everyone needs to know the route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend rest stops at pretty areas, or where paths diverge, or places with seating or water. You can use walkie talkies for group leaders to keep in touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8574" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T09:47:06.543" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T09:47:06.543" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21545" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24967" CreationDate="2019-01-27T11:57:34.440" Score="6" ViewCount="725" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am wondering how to estimate the needed motor power for boating upstream on big rivers like, for example, Danube. (mean the bottom to middle part, i.e. where the Danube is wide and &quot;slow&quot;?).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be more exact, let say having an 12' (3.6m) long &lt;em&gt;jon boat&lt;/em&gt;, fully loaded with lets say 800lb - how much thrust is needed for going upstream (even with slow speed - but upstream) i.e. having enough power to &quot;beat&quot; the river's current).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The practical merit of the question is: will it be enough to use some electric (12V) trolling motor e.g. with 30lb or 55lb thrust?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not need some rocket-science based calculations, enough some rule-of-thumb based estimates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;EDIT&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of the comments trying be more precise:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I haven't any motor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;and I haven't any boat (yet)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I can't &lt;strong&gt;try&lt;/strong&gt; it. (What, of course, would be the obvious solution if I had any boat.) :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, I haven't defined any exact river. This question is in the idea-gathering phase - when trying to do &lt;strong&gt;first&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;rough&lt;/strong&gt; estimates of the needed gears and or possible solutions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything what I currently know (more or less precise) is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I need to move against the current of some rivers (more different rivers, not only specific one). Mostly only for straight river-crossing, but not limited.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will never use the boat on high-velocity rivers - only on slow &amp;amp; calm waters. e.g. &lt;strong&gt;let say, the max. velocity of the current where I will use the boat is 4 km/hour&lt;/strong&gt; (aka approx: 1.11m/s or 2.16 knots)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;also, if the wind against will be too strong - will not use the boat. (I'm not sure about this, how to define it more precisely as &lt;em&gt;calm wind&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My (custom made, riveted) boat dimensions will be: max. 3.0 up to 3.6m long and the beam will be approx. max. 0.8 to 1m wide (it is not defined exactly yet).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It will be (sure) flat bottom &amp;amp; straight nose boat - aka like an common &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_small_jon_boat_(johnboat)_in_a_red_pickup_truck.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;jon boat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The total weight of the boat+motor+batteries+persons+other will be approx. 250 (max.300) kg only. The above 800lb was only for safety. :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For some reasons (smallest as possible, lightweight motor) I must to use electric motor. (trolling motor)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I will have enough batteries (and also 2Kw electric generator) already onboard...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, is possible to have a jon boat with electric motor under the above conditions? How to estimate the needed motor size (type, power, thrust, etc..) :D. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17264" LastEditorUserId="17264" LastEditDate="2019-02-01T06:44:44.177" LastActivityDate="2020-04-20T04:46:04.950" Title="Flat bottom boat trolling motor power" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="21" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21541" CreationDate="2019-01-27T16:57:46.217" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, they didn't do anything wrong (they probably didn't do anything at all). The stoppers purpose is not to stack the skis, it's to stop the skis if they become undone from your boots and slide down the slope. That they help with attaching the two skis together is certainly a nice (and expected) feature, but it's not their main purpose. I had skis which couldn't be &quot;stacked and attached&quot; by the stoppers at all (too short, too much camber). And from memory all skis I've had weren't aligned perfectly when &quot;stacked by stoppers&quot;. There's no such thing as aligning/fitting bindings for stacking, you fit their length and release settings to your boots and person (size, weight, ability, ...). If you have very wide skis, they might actually have to &quot;fit your stoppers&quot;, such that they are wide enough - however that's still not about stacking. So no need to worry, if you can stack them at all, that's nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T16:57:46.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21548" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21549" CreationDate="2019-01-27T17:29:21.643" Score="3" ViewCount="391" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been piling up carabiners, cordelette loops, webbing, ATC devices, Gri-Gri, etc., and it is all now hanging from my harness. This adds a considerable amount of weight and becomes a bit unwieldy. For context, I typically set up top ropes, and rappel down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the most sensible way to unload some of the stuff now clipped to my harness, and what is the best way to keep it together inside my climbing backpack for easy access?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15411" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T13:33:13.530" Title="What needs to be clipped to the climbing harness, and how to carry all additional gear?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21548" CreationDate="2019-01-27T18:03:20.217" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Anything that needs to be accessed quickly needs to go on your harness, this would include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Belay devices.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personal clip in gear.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A couple of slings and carabiners&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, you can sling your alpine draws over one shoulder, along with doubled up cordelettes, and if you use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gear.com/black-diamond-equipment-padded-gear-sling/p/6815129?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrv7p_MSO4AIVIB-tBh1v5QV5EAQYBCABEgL7zvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt; gear sling&lt;/a&gt;, then you can place your extra cams and gear on that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are just walking to the top, then I would put the rope into a rope bag, clip any extra gear to the harness or sling so its all connected. When you get to the top you can just pull the harness or sling out of the bag and be ready to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-27T18:03:20.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21550" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21526" CreationDate="2019-01-28T05:36:58.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best source for information on brands is still asking someone who has already tried them. Knowing in advance how a brand new untried product will perform is very difficult. You can try examining the new product and using your own judgement about the quality. If a brand has been good in the past, perhaps you can trust it.I look to see if it is still manufactured in the same place as before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17271" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T05:36:58.207" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21548" CreationDate="2019-01-28T13:33:13.530" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that you're top-roping, very little needs to be on your harness when you're actually on the route.  In fact, one of they joys of top-roping is the freedom from all this clutter!  Everything else can be stashed in your pack - I normally clip it all to a short sling, so that I can quickly grab it and find what I need at any time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For seconding a route, the requirement is similarly low, except it's a good idea to carry a nut key somewhere out of the way (I clip mine to the back).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On lead, you need just about everything (though you might be selective - e.g. leave behind the micronuts if you obviously won't use them, or take only even-numbered sizes to save weight), and then the knack is to have a system that you know by feel (e.g. I carry nuts on my right gear-loop, ordered from smallest to largest, and extenders on the left gear-loop; nut key and belay/abseil device round the back, and slings over the shoulder).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T13:33:13.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21553" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21554" CreationDate="2019-01-28T13:57:05.563" Score="3" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to know if it is better to use super glue to stable beads as stopper on the main line instead of rubber stoppers. Main line could be monofilament or fluorocarbon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help will be appreciate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T14:24:59.030" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T14:42:59.637" Title="Super glue on fishing line" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21553" CreationDate="2019-01-28T14:42:59.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Super-glue is not water resistant. Better use epoxy. From  &lt;a href=&quot;https://powermodo.com/is-super-glue-waterproof-lets-find-out/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page :&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Actually, super glues are not waterproof, at best they can be said to&#xA;  be water-resistant and will survive the occasional splash or brief&#xA;  soak in water and still retain its bonding properties. This is chiefly&#xA;  due to the fact that, the bond joint in a super glue will weaken and&#xA;  break apart if it is constantly immersed or dipped in water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17332" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T14:42:59.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21555" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21556" CreationDate="2019-01-28T15:15:39.593" Score="10" ViewCount="984" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alpine slings are usually 60cm long and while they can be slung over one shoulder, it's much easier to carry them on your harness at 1/3 of the size in an alpine quickdraw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would one shorten them up into an alpine quickdraw?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T16:19:34.650" LastActivityDate="2019-01-31T12:52:14.447" Title="How to shorten alpine slings into an alpine quickdraw?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21555" CreationDate="2019-01-28T15:15:39.593" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple way is to pass one of the carabiners through the other,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RykWY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RykWY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;then clip that carabiner to the slings on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cm5Lu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cm5Lu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you pull both carabiners tight to dress the whole thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sw700.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sw700.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To undo , you unclip any two of the strands from one carabiner and pull. This can be useful because you can reach up, clip in with one carabiner, undo two strands from the second and then pull and the sling will be ready to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xykrn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xykrn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T15:15:39.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7958" CreationDate="2019-01-28T15:52:36.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To avoid leaks from stove after disconnecting the bottle, you could buy a self clearing stove like Primus Omnifuel or Optimus Polaris, etc. These stoves have ON and OFF marks on the bottle position needed to draw fuel (ON) or air (OFF) from the bottle. To clear the fuel line just reverse the bottle to off, 1-2 minutes before you need the flame to stop. All remaining fuel from the line will be consumed, the remaining pressure in the bottle helping with that. This requires some anticipation of course. Not sure if this trick can be used with a MSR bottle and pump, as I never had a MSR stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the excellent blog &lt;a href=&quot;https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/03/stove-of-week-primus-omnifuel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adventures in Stoving&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;To turn the stove off, one again rotates the fuel tank around the axis&#xA;  formed by the valve into the &quot;OFF&quot; position.  In the &quot;OFF&quot; position,&#xA;  the dip tube, which would normally be in the lowest portion of the&#xA;  tank, submerged in fuel, now points upward and just draws air.  This&#xA;  air now flows out through the valve, clearing the fuel line and&#xA;  depressurizing the fuel tank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When buying O-Rings for the fuel bottle, be sure they are the most flexible type which resists to hydrocarbons and oils, that is Nitrile rubber. The type to avoid is Viton, since this will become more inflexible to cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.polymax.co.uk/blog/nitrile-vs-viton-what-is-the-difference/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nitrile vs Viton rubber&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Viton® seals are prone to failure below -15°C in dynamic applications,&#xA;  as they become inflexible and hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But remember to change them often, I would say once a year, as Nitrile is more easily degraded by ozone :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Nitrile vs Viton® is not resistant to degradation from weather and&#xA;  ozone exposure. Designed to resist most oils and lubricants, more&#xA;  importantly petroleum based lubricants, these seals have other&#xA;  benefits, such as superior abrasion and tear resistance, making them&#xA;  suitable for heavy duty industrial applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17332" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T15:52:36.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5453" CreationDate="2019-01-28T16:00:22.363" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I burned the priming pad on my Primus Omnifuel (2011 variant) very easily in just a few primings. I would say it's a dense cotton, no way could be fiberglass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17332" LastEditorUserId="17332" LastEditDate="2019-01-28T16:34:39.397" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T16:34:39.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21545" CreationDate="2019-01-28T18:08:51.680" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a couple of references.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://1source.basspro.com/index.php/component/k2/195-boat-rigging/476-how-to-choose-the-right-trolling-motor-for-your-boat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This one&lt;/a&gt; has a chart that says the &lt;strong&gt;minimum&lt;/strong&gt; thrust for a 12 foot boat is 30lb, it says 50lb for 17 foot boat, and 101lb for a 22 foot boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.formulaboats.com/blog/much-horsepower-need-boat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This speedboat artcle&lt;/a&gt; says, you should have &lt;s&gt;at least&lt;/s&gt; 20 Horse Power for your 800 pound boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rule of thumb is based on weight alone, and says you should have between 40 and 25 pounds of weight for each horsepower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From experience I can tell you that I can paddle both a Canoes and Row Boat faster then most trolling motors can move a similar boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would &lt;strong&gt;never &amp;quot;rely&amp;quot; on a trolling motor for movement, particularly on a river where either/both current and wind can easily overcome small motors.&lt;/strong&gt;  Even with a gas motor, you should have oars or a paddle as backup and not go out in conditions where you are not able to safely return by manual power (&lt;em&gt;row/paddle&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An additional consideration, is judging remaining power. It is relatively easy to gage liquid fuel, batter power less so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;River Specific Rule of Thumb&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is not one, and if you find something don't rely on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You clarified that you will have a generator and batteries present, even if you don't have an electric motor. So the electric motor seems like an optimal plan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a lake the only variable to account for is wind.  On a river you have a current, and you either have a dam or you don't have a dam. The lake is broad open body of water where the wind is relatively predictable. A river is a narrow winding body of water in a valley where the wind changes drastically in moments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The current can change without warning. If there is a dam upstream, the operator can open the spillway at anytime increasing the current significantly.  If there is no dam, then a flash flood anyplace upstream can alter increase the current where you are. Combined with wind considerations, make for a risky venture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally If there are any bridges across the river, you are unlikely to be able to motor under them with a trolling motor. Terrain changes can cause similar issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See related, attempts to overcome river challenges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/7101/4079&quot;&gt;What is the most effective means of paddling a canoe, against the current, under a bridge?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16937/4079&quot;&gt;How to manage the sail of a sunfish when paddling?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I looked for an outboard motor with an integrated generator and there are a couple of DIY projects, but no off the shelf solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T19:24:02.643" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21560" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-28T19:58:41.437" Score="3" ViewCount="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which is the best knot to use as a stopper in the upper &amp;amp; lower part of a beads T - Holes? Also which knot is preferable for the horizontal line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g9PaC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastActivityDate="2019-01-28T19:58:41.437" Title="Fishing beads T - holes" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8926" CreationDate="2019-01-28T23:36:07.253" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are devices exactly for this scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example Edeldrid has the &quot;Ohm Assisted Braking Device&quot; in their product range:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/117728/edelrid-ohm-assisted-braking-device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rei.com/product/117728/edelrid-ohm-assisted-braking-device&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Great for indoor and outdoor use, the Edelrid Ohm Assisted Braking&#xA;  device increases the amount of rope friction so that a lighter-weight&#xA;  belayer can hold a heavier lead climber without difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It clips to the first bolt like a normal quickdraw, but adds friction in the event of a fall so that the lighter climber doesn't get pulled up so high and the climber doesn't fall as far. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRnN2tmItqQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRnN2tmItqQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8WfdM.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8WfdM.gif&quot; alt=&quot;short snippet from the video&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15441" LastEditorUserId="8060" LastEditDate="2019-01-29T08:05:43.683" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T08:05:43.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2019-01-29T18:31:07.367" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found calendula cream to work well. It's the Neosporin alternative if someone is allergic to the active ingredient in it. Being a cream, it is also a bit cooling, so that may be what helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17022" LastActivityDate="2019-01-29T18:31:07.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21565" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-30T15:47:06.780" Score="5" ViewCount="332" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that eating bananas is one way to turn yourself in to a mosquito magnet. The potassium in the bananas apparently attracts them to whomever eats them. Whenever I meet someone who says they always get eaten alive by mosquitoes I ask them if they eat a lot of bananas. The answer is usually yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other foods attract mosquitoes to you? And what foods can you eat that will repel them instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2019-03-05T16:58:22.787" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T16:58:22.787" Title="What foods attract mosquitoes to your body, and what can you eat that will repel them?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21565" CreationDate="2019-01-30T18:07:28.623" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;BBC program &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0c13hfk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Twinstitute&lt;/a&gt; did a test on food to repel mosquitoes, alongside a test to repel mosquitoes by using a mobile phone app.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The result of the test was that neither method did much if anything to repel mosquitoes. &#xA;If you are in the UK you should be able to see the program in the first half of February 2019 on the iPlayer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Possibly it will be available in Youtube as well/later, I did not find it yet.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2019-01-30T18:07:28.623" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21565" CreationDate="2019-01-30T19:53:32.823" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure, potassium (and salt) secreted by the skin will attract mosquitoes.  However, it's a step removed (ingesting food -&gt; nutrient absorption -&gt; physiology -&gt; mosquitoes) and there are so many variables, so I can't give a direct answer to the correlation of food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-mosquitoes-detect-people&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;research&lt;/a&gt; suggests that mosquitoes sense mammals based on the carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) they exhale.  So if you're in a state where you emit less CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; you would be less prone to bites.  When burning mostly fat (as opposed to carbohydrates), people tend to produce less CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; for the same amount of oxygen consumed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tangentially, this is supported by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/6142961/Sweet-smelling-sweat-keeps-mosquitoes-at-bay.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; which mentions research on ketones applied to the skin repelling mosquitoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastActivityDate="2019-01-30T19:53:32.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21555" CreationDate="2019-01-31T12:52:14.447" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to make them even more compact (especially for longer slings), you can hold onto the biners, and twist one a couple of times, then continue twisting in the same direction and clip one biner onto the other.  Be careful not to put so much twist on them that it imprints.  (For storage, it's probably best to untwist and store them flat.)  Also, I find the dyneema material's thinness helps to keep the sling manageable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pictured is actually a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/830934/mammut-contact-sling-dyneema-80&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mammut 120cm sling&lt;/a&gt; (full strength - 22kN) with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/113465/black-diamond-neutrino-wiregate-carabiner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Neutrino&lt;/a&gt; wiregates (24kN on axis and closed, 7kN off or open)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uC044.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uC044.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;120cm dyneema sling as quickdraw, twisted for compactness&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-01-31T12:52:14.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21570" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-01-31T18:44:23.680" Score="1" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a climbing rope (Maxim, 11mm) that I bought back around 2008-2009 (so it's about 10 years old now).  It has never been used, it's been stored properly, and the sheath and core appear to be in good condition.  It's like new ... just 10 years old.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this old rope safe to use for top-rope climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="57" LastActivityDate="2019-01-31T18:44:23.680" Title="How long can a new climbing rope be safe?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2019-02-01T16:50:41.820" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21526" CreationDate="2019-01-31T20:18:51.103" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If durability and walking on pavement and other hard surfaces are your primary concerns look for hand made leather sole boots or shoes. These will be expensive but very durable and can be repaired and resoled for much less than buying new. They can last decades. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they are a poor choice for climbing trails or rough terrain, and the soles will wear faster when wet. A cobbler can put rubber over the leather to help with this somewhat, but you would probably be better to carry a separate pair of hikers for those conditions if practical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good leather shoes or boots can sometimes be found cheap second hand, since they do last a long time, but it takes some luck to find the right fit and all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2019-01-31T20:18:51.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21572" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21573" CreationDate="2019-02-01T14:30:52.660" Score="3" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I view OS maps for the UK online for free?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to see both the Landranger and Explorer maps if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15161" LastActivityDate="2019-02-16T00:30:32.910" Title="Free online UK maps" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21572" CreationDate="2019-02-01T14:30:52.660" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, go to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bing.com/maps/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bing.com/maps/&lt;/a&gt; and select &quot;Ordnance Survey&quot; in the drop-down in the top right corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The zoom level you select will show either the 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 map you will see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15161" LastActivityDate="2019-02-01T14:30:52.660" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21580" CreationDate="2019-02-01T18:35:12.703" Score="6" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is prompted by reading &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Dive&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ferreras&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pipin Ferreras&lt;/a&gt;.  It is a story of a world-class competitive free diver, in the subclass of free diving called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-limits_apnea&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;No Limits&lt;/a&gt;.  According to the second link:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;No-limits apnea is an AIDA International freediving discipline in&#xA;  which the freediver descends and ascends with the method of his or her&#xA;  choice.[1] Often, a heavy metal bar or &quot;sled&quot; grasped by the diver&#xA;  descends fixed to a line, reaching great depths. The most common&#xA;  ascension assistance is via inflatable lifting bags or vests with&#xA;  inflatable compartments, which surface rapidly. The dives may be&#xA;  performed head-first or feet-first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is, the no-limits free diver descents by gravity, speeded up by heavy weights, and ascends by a blast of air filling a balloon-like thing, jetting him/her up to the surface.  The whole journey from surface to 200 or so meters under water to back to the surface takes a few minutes.  The diver holds her breath during the entire journey.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the book, it is clear that the No Limits Free Diver trains extensively on land and under-water to attain competitive levels.  However, it is not clear to me (a sometimes snorkeler and an infrequent but certified PADI diver) exactly what forms of athleticism are needed for this activity.  (Not that I am considering it for even one picosecond!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To put it crudely, and perhaps unfairly, the no-limits free diver is a passenger; they are attached to a line and taken down by gravity, not by their own efforts; and they ascend along the same line by holding onto (or perhaps wearing) air bags which have been inflated by a blast of air.  They do, however, turn on the blast of air themselves. &lt;strong&gt;But in no-limits, they do no work to descend or ascend.&lt;/strong&gt; They do, of course, have to get used to extreme pressure under water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in contrast to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant_weight_apnea&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;constant weight free diving&lt;/a&gt;, where there is no mechanical assist in descent or ascent: the diver does the work on descent and ascent.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What does this question reveal that I do not understand about the athleticism of no limit free diving?&lt;/strong&gt;       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-09-01T14:04:18.240" LastActivityDate="2019-09-01T14:04:18.240" Title="What degree and/or type of athleticism is required in no-limits free diving?" Tags="&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21576" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-01T21:07:14.883" Score="4" ViewCount="458" Body="&lt;p&gt;This video for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fE5KzvOZRk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Portable Soup&lt;/a&gt; (aka Pocket Soup) from James Townsend popped up in my feed.  If you don't know (like I hadn't until I saw the video) Pocket Soup is basically a shelf-stable ultra-reduced stock.  It pretty much looks like leather, stores in a tin, but dissolves into boiling water in minutes.  In this video on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU8Tw8L3-2Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;spring soup&lt;/a&gt;, James cooks all of his dry goods and foraged greens and only adds the Pocket Soup at the very end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm intrigued enough that I'm now halfway through the process; if it works half-way as well as Townsend suggests in the soup video, I think this will be a really nice addition to camping menus.  Using an electric crock-pot, it's dead easy to make.  Mostly, I've been letting it cook or steam while I've done nothing.  (I haven't started the drying process yet, so I may yet change my mind on exactly how easy it is.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sadly, I didn't get the right cut of meat, so I cheated and added gelatin packets.  I don't think that will affect things for the worse.  (In fact, maybe purified gelatin will make it more shelf stable?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to my not-so-rigorous research (i.e. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_soup&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the wikipedia article&lt;/a&gt;), it seems to have been stable even in fairly hot climates.  But, given that the wiki article seems to be based on historical documents (and I have no idea how faithful to the original recipe James's version is), and it doesn't sound like there is any contemporary examinations of shelf-life of the gelled stock / leather, I am curious about how shelf stable the Pocket Soup will be.  In particular, I wonder about temperature and melting the leather chunks into a blob.  The wiki article mentioned that one cook rolled the pieces in flour; I'll probably try corn flour.  I imagine this will help with any sticking, but not any melting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the things that has me worried is that there is no salt added.  When I think of long-term, shelf-stable foods, I usually assume that they have been cured or salted.  James's recipe uses no salt in making the leather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you have experience with making / using Pocket or Portable Soup, have you noticed any shelf-life problems or temperature problems?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;P.S. For anyone who is interested, I'll report back in a few days after my gel has leathered and I've had a chance to try the reconstituted soup.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;P.P.S. I'm about to start making the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29u_FejNuks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mushroom Ketchup&lt;/a&gt;, mostly so I can get the mushroom powder James uses in the spring soup video.  I'll report back with any insights I have on that, too.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-02-01T21:07:14.883" Title="how shelf stable is pocket (portable) soup?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21577" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-02T10:36:50.550" Score="5" ViewCount="244" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent question about travelling with dried food where the recipe did not include salt caused the OP some concern.  As far as I know salt just dries out food.  So if you get the food completely dry with out salt, salt is not needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Salting is used because most bacteria, fungi and other potentially pathogenic organisms cannot survive in a highly salty environment, due to the hypertonic nature of salt. Any living cell in such an environment will become dehydrated through osmosis and die or become temporarily inactivated. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salting_(food)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in an outdoor survival situation trying to dry food for traveling, getting it completely dry would be difficult. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smoke is normally easier to generate then salt in the great outdoors. For the sake of this question, lets assume that I happen to have both a ready supply of salt and smoke.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a preservative what are the pros and cons of Salt Vs Smoke?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-02-05T15:41:17.273" Title="Salt Vs Smoke as a preservative" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21575" CreationDate="2019-02-02T16:17:44.333" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The abilities required are developed through practice and mostly focus on three areas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;increasing the oxygenation capability of the body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;retraining autonomic apnoea responses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;minimising the metabolic requirements through lowering heart rate etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Resisting the increasing pressure is, surprisingly, not as much of an issue as you may think. Yes, getting used to equalising pressure across the eardrum is a bit more extreme than that you experience during flight, but it's the same process, and the crushing pressure on the chest as air in the lungs is compressed needs to be dealt with, but this is not something you can &quot;toughen up&quot; physically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, meditation, breath holding, and relaxation are the key training elements, so that metabolism is lowered as much as possible, and to learn how to cope when CO2 levels are extreme - as the body's autonomic reflexes tend to react badly to this (rather than lack of O2, it's increased CO2 which makes us try to breathe or panic.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-02-04T17:39:58.303" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T17:39:58.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21581" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-03T12:31:45.303" Score="3" ViewCount="368" Body="&lt;p&gt;My GPS (Garmin extrex 20) will not connect to my computer anymore (via USB), and therefore I cannot access the GPX folder of the device where Geocaches are saved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a solution, I would like to save Geocaches on the SD card and plug that into the GPS device. The problem: there are some Geocaches remaining on the memory of the GPS and I cannot seem to find how to delete those. Any idea is appreciated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12171" LastActivityDate="2019-12-13T04:03:55.670" Title="Is it possible to delete Geocaches from a Garmin etrex without plugging it into the computer?" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21582" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-04T11:08:31.420" Score="7" ViewCount="3310" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of places where salt can easily be found at or near the surface.  Notably Salt Lake Utah, but there are also other &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lick_(disambiguation)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salt lick&lt;/a&gt; places of note.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would I recognize a natural salt lick if I saw one?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would I need to just stumble across one, or are there signs that will lead to one? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-02-04T12:23:51.800" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T17:22:27.897" Title="How to find natural salt licks?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21582" CreationDate="2019-02-04T11:38:03.610" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although I checked your link, I am not sure how exactly you would personally use a salt lick (based on the images from the mineral lick wiki article). There might be certain signs that can give away a salty environment: plants that thrive in a such a place, dried edges of water streams/ponds where the salt becomes visible (the ground is covered with a thin layer of white salt). This occurs, of course, in cases of extreme salinity, like for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Salt+Hill+Nature+Reserve/@46.5447954,25.1078989,15.04z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x474afe47ac08ff25:0x8263ef5dd69870a8!2sPraid+537240,+Romania!3b1!8m2!3d46.5553429!4d25.1272723!3m4!1s0x474afe2e9b9b4021:0x4149ef9467771a8d!8m2!3d46.5424305!4d25.1182812&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this salty valley near Praid, Romania&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ra9uj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ra9uj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T11:38:03.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21582" CreationDate="2019-02-04T13:40:43.110" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Animals gathering there (while 'eating').&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would have to distinguish the reason for them gathering (probably by moving closer, thereby scaring them away, then investigating the reason). Not very effective, because they can gather for many other reasons (water, other food, social).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A complication is that these places may be hidden. I remember &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/why-do-hundreds-macaws-gather-these-peruvian-clay-banks-180955719/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a salt lick visited by parrots in the Peruvian jungle at the Tampopata river&lt;/a&gt; - without prior knowledge you would not see it. It was not an open place like in your picture but an overgrown clay cliff that they clung to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yuxr5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yuxr5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;Credit: Lonni Friedman, FlickrCC&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if you suspect there are around, don't hesitate asking local people ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-02-04T13:47:43.870" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T13:47:43.870" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-04T15:22:32.733" Score="3" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;What wild edible plants can be found in southern and eastern China?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have combed through various search queries but keep finding information on North American flora.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any good resources available that would aid my research or is it a matter of (rather dangerous) experimentation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17364" OwnerDisplayName="A Lambent Eye" LastEditorUserId="17364" LastEditDate="2019-02-04T17:54:29.910" LastActivityDate="2019-02-04T17:54:29.910" Title="How can I identify wild edible plants of southern and eastern China?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;foraging&gt;&lt;resources&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2984" CreationDate="2019-02-05T05:08:15.390" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best rule of thumb... keep a fire 6 to 9 feet (2-3 metres) away, and put a barrier/wall of some sort on one side so that the heat bounces back into your shelter. However, I'm always asked... &quot;what about a group survival shelter&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm including an image of an emergency group shelter that I teach my scouts how to build for cold-weather emergency survival. Basically, a tarp on the ground, an emergency blanket on the tarp, a wool blanket on top of the emergency blanket, a sleeping bag, an emergency blanket on the roof, and then another tarp for the final top layer. With a fire ring in the center, the heat bounces off the emergency blankets and creates a sort of oven; the scouts stay toasty warm even during sub-zero midwest winters. The key is to have each group member take a one-hour fire watch during the night to keep the fire going with a nice steady (low) burn. The fire CANNOT get too big because that could send off embers onto a sleeping bag or the tarp. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next... the lashings have to be tight so the shelter doesn't collapse in the event of strong winds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done this quite a few times with a make-shift bivvy (two survival blankets, a wool blanket, and sleeping bag stuffed inside... I was very warm despite the -30°C wind-chill. You just have to keep the shelter ceiling low enough so as to not cause too much space to heat up, which can cause a lot of heat to dissipate quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IAYFQ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IAYFQ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Emergency Group Shelter&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17367" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-02-05T11:35:35.003" LastActivityDate="2019-02-05T11:35:35.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21588" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21577" CreationDate="2019-02-05T15:27:14.740" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Smoke contains phenols which are antioxidants, and anti-microbial.  This reduces fat going rancid, and bacterial growth on the surface. Smoke also contains formaldehyde, poisonous to bacteria and people alike. Don't make a steady diet of the top millimeter of smoked food.  Organic acids (like acetic) lower the pH further making life as a bacteria difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the smoke doesn't penetrate the whole way through, this doesn't protect the interior of anything much over 1/2&quot; thick.    Smoke is a byproduct of creating a low heat environment to dehydrate the food.  It also creates a tough environment for flies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation you want to get the meat/fish as dry as possible.  This reduces the chances of part of the interior of a thicker section going bad, and gives it a better chance of still being edible if it is exposed to water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One advantage of smoke: You can see where it is, thus, you can see what is being exposed to the warm air.  You can see the temperature of the smoke -- hotter air rises faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In traditional pre-refrigeration culture, meats were often brined before smoking.  This reduced the smoking time, as you only had to dry it to the point where the brine was concentrated enough to kill existing bacteria and fungi and embedded parasite cysts.  Since you didn't pull all the water out, the meat didn't become hard as a rock.  If you stinted on the time brining (brine didn't reach through the whole chunk) you could get something that was good on the outside, and would rot inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This form of preservation required that you keep the product dry.  Get a flitch of bacon wet, it could dissolve enough salt out of the surface that the surface would then mold or rot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-02-05T15:41:17.273" LastActivityDate="2019-02-05T15:41:17.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21589" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-05T17:17:19.147" Score="3" ViewCount="323" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm doing downhill (alpine) skiing on the piste. The slopes I'm on range from blue (easiest) to black (hardest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been taught something called &quot;the basic position&quot;? (described below)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I know if I am doing it correctly?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any training exercises I can do to improve it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been taught that &quot;the basic position&quot; is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bend knees and hips, keep your poles into your field of view and press down on your downhill ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When turning you stand up but also push forward. And then press on the new downhill ski. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming I'm missing a few aspects to this definition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have also done a couple of exercises, the only one I remember is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Point downhill with your uphill hand and put your other hand on your hip&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most others involved holding both your poles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17369" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-06T13:44:41.767" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T16:05:35.130" Title="What basic body position should I be in during a downhill ski run?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21589" CreationDate="2019-02-05T21:34:19.587" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what you describe as being taught, the basic position seems to align with the concept of being relaxed and in an &lt;strong&gt;active stance&lt;/strong&gt; as opposed to being stiff and static. This makes it so you can respond to changes like bumps and ridges more adquately and in turn retain more control than if you were being jolted around and unable to absorb stresses in flexed joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You know that you've assimilated this when skiing becomes smoother and less stressful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no particular training for this as it's about being confident, engaged, and in control. Just keep on your mind to remain relaxed. At some point, this becomes reflex and the learning is over for this component. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mechanicsofsport.com/skiing/basic_mechanics/stance.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; explains it very well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A stance is generally thought of as a set position, but in skiing we are always changing direction and speed and do not stay in the same positions for very long. This means that our stance must constantly change, so it is best explained as a variable position that changes depending on variables like direction, speed and the angle of the slope, with other elements added when necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same concept is present in many sports, a great example being mountain biking where active stance is very similar to downhill skiing. Even cross-country skiing requires such a stance when negociating fast turns and downhills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't go into the many other aspects of skiing as they are gradually added as skill increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info, check &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-ab&amp;amp;ei=cf1ZXISoIevU5gKPybr4Aw&amp;amp;q=downhill%20skiing%20stance&amp;amp;oq=downhill%20skiing%20stance&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30l3.2045.2481..2585...0.0..0.160.522.5j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i19j0i203.UFkCApndovw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;articles on the subject&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-02-05T21:34:19.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21589" CreationDate="2019-02-06T00:04:27.677" Score="3" Body="&lt;h1&gt;What is the basic position?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic position seems to be simple yet effective stance to help with various aspects of skiing. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mechanicsofsport.com/skiing/basic_mechanics/stance.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mechanics of Sport stance page&lt;/a&gt; explains the aspects that were described above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Bend knees and hips&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Be able to absorb bumps through the legs and allow the body to flex. This means that the knees must be bent, as well as all other joints. There should be no joints that are straight as they must all be able to move in both directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;When turning you stand up but also push forward&quot; and &quot;keep your poles into your field of view&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Put the bodies weight in the right position. This comes mainly from the waist leaning the body forwards or sideways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the body leaning slightly forward to put your weight over the middle of the skis (and making it able to flex in both directions), looking forward with your arms out to the sides slightly in front of you with the elbows slightly bent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;press down on your downhill ski&quot; and &quot;Point downhill with your uphill hand&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The upper body also needs to be positioned so that our weight is transferred to the downhill/outside ski, and to the middle of the ski lengthways. ..., and to the downhill side a bit to put our weight over the downhill ski (lateral weight distribution).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a good stance, such as the basic one, allows you to perform more advanced aspects of skiing such as parallel turns. Which was described in the question. And a shorter more accurate description is:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When traveling across the mountain face you start the turn by extending upwards and leaning forwards moving the hips over the downhill ski. Then you move your weight to both skis, moving the skis inline with your body (facing downhill). Then you put all your weight on the downhill ski bringing it on its edge so that you turn into the fall line. Finally you revert back to the traversing stance by bending your knees and pointing your body back downhill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which mostly comes down to starting in the 'traversing stance', changing into the 'straight forward stance' and then changing again into the 'traversing stance'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mechanics of Sport have a better description, but the basic position is mostly just:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Having bent ankles, knees and hips, so that you absorb bumps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skis should be hip width apart.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When going straight forward:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put same weight on both skis.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Position body so your centre of gravity is over the middle of the skis. This means you should lean forward when going downhill, and slightly backwards if you're going uphill.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When traversing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put weight on the down hill ski.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Move your upper body so that it is inline with he skis, which means your body will be twisted slightly toward the fall-line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lean forward to put weight in the middle of the skis.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17369" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T00:04:27.677" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21589" CreationDate="2019-02-06T09:49:19.490" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is important between position and turning technique. I am going to focus on the position you want to have while going straight, without actively breaking, accelerating or turning - i.e. a &quot;neutral&quot; or &quot;basic&quot; position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all I agree with @Gabriel C. that you should have an active stance. For me this means having body tension, but not being stiff as well as being able to bend and/or straighten your knees when necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, it is important to have your weight to the front (when skiing on prepared piste). The further your weight is to the front, the more control you have on how your skis behave. You can experience this yourself: try leaning back, and you will see how your skis start to flutter. Lean front, and they will be much more steady. I have seen a lot of beginners that lean to far back, especially when they start to panic. This makes the situation worse, because the skis react worse and worse to their attempts to control them. It might need some confidence to lean forward in a way that would cause you to fall without skis, but just try it out!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To achieve the combination of these, it makes sense to bend your knees a little bit (allows you to react to bumps and the like) as well as your hips (allows you to lean forward so you get your weight to the front and control over your skis). It is important not to bend your knees too much though - this would cause your backside to be very low and to the back and can be a difficult position to recover from, depending on the strength of your thighs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this illustration I shamelessly stole from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mechanicsofsport.com/skiing/basic_mechanics/stance.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; you might want to check out as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cWOU6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cWOU6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore (assuming you use carving skis), leaning slightly uphill and putting more weight on the uphill borders of your skis will straighten your course and give you more speed. For turning, I would just push my downhill ski slightly forward and change weight to the downhill edge. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am unsure if I have more weight on one of the skis in the &quot;neutral&quot; position, but I think I distribute it quite evenly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T09:49:19.490" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21593" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21664" CreationDate="2019-02-06T12:07:32.347" Score="10" ViewCount="461" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am climbing for quite a while now and would consider myself a beginning-intermediate climber. I feel my technique has significantly improved over the last year. I am very heavy (1,80m and ~100kg) and have large hands for my size, which makes me struggle very often on smaller holds. Even in the level I climb at the moment there are many holds I cannot use which my peers climbing at a similar level utilize without any problems. While I am aware that technique is much more important than strength I feel like my lack in finger strength (in proportion to my weigth) is one of the most important limiting factors to my climbing at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would usually agree with &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/814/3143&quot;&gt;this answer&lt;/a&gt; stating that &quot;The best training for climbing, is climbing.&quot; However, I feel like lastly I made very little progress on my finger strength. I tried to use a hangboard once since these seems to have very little injury risk even for beginners, but was not even able to hold the widest part - I ended up hanging from a big section of the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Should I just keep on climbing, or does it make sense to train my finger and grip strength in addition?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which of the methods mentioned in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/547/3143&quot;&gt;What hand and finger exercises help with climbing?&lt;/a&gt; are especially suitable for beginner / intermediate climbers?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T15:54:04.777" Title="Should I do exercises for finger strength as an intermediate, heavy climber?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;exercises&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21589" CreationDate="2019-02-06T14:53:15.940" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't think it is possible to explain how to do this in words. Peilonrayz makes a good crack at it, but even as a skier I get confused by this.  It's like trying to tell someone how to tie their shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;The following applies to any physical skill.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Show me&amp;quot; is far better than &amp;quot;Tell me&amp;quot;   Search for downhill skiing tutorial on youtube.  Watching a new physical activity really helps.   Not just one.  Watch a dozen different ones.  Some you may want to rewatch. Youtube has an option to play at half or quarter speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mirroring it as much as you can helps too.  Close your eyes and try to 'feel' what it will feel like helps. (Pre-visualization)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Skiing specific tips:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Biggest mistake most people make is leaning back.  Imagine a banana in your skiboot between your shin and the front of the boot.  Keep your weight forward so that you are squishing the banana.  This feels very risky, and seems counterintuitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try this right now:  Stand up.  Bend your knees a bit. Close your eyes. Now can you feel weight on both your heel and toe?  Put more weight on your toes.  Play with that, moving your weight from toe to heel.  Push it to the point where your heel lifts up just a bit.  Go back to where your toes lift up a bit.  Keep your eyes closed, otherwise you are judging your lean with your eyes.  That shift of weight between heel and toe is a big part of controlling the sky.  Too many people put weight on their heels.  Needs to be more on the toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;The ski matters&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general a shorter ski is easier to work with. If you are having trouble try a ski 20 cm shorter. A shorter ski however is slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general a softer ski (easier to bend) is easier to work with.  Turns happen in part to weight shifting, in part to changing the bend in the ski.  At low speeds it's only your weight forcing the bend.  More weight on left ski, ski bends more.  Edge is now a section of a circle. At higher speeds you have G forces (acceleration, centripetal...) to do this too.  So as you become more of a speed freak, you want a harder ski.  (On the other hand if you like moguls, and tiny tree trails, you may want to stay with a soft ski -- easier to turn.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vids that can help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yfFGDuJ2g0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yfFGDuJ2g0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcLEgI_vtZQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcLEgI_vtZQ&lt;/a&gt; Progression from side slip.  Illustrates how weight shifting changes the shape of the ski.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/user/elatemedia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/user/elatemedia&lt;/a&gt; good set of videos.  Scroll down and start from the bottom up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Shift - period speeds a video up, shift - comma slows it down. Voice gets unintelligable below .5 speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Want to that action again? K backs up 10 seconds.  left arrow 5 seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T16:05:35.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21526" CreationDate="2019-02-06T15:16:10.637" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two approaches you can take:  Wear heavier shoes that wear longer, or wear lighter/cheaper shoes and replace as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested that you wear shoes out.  I typically get about 500 miles on a pair of runners used on gravel roads.  I can get about 60 miles out of a pair of 'water socks' (1 mm thick rubber soles, mesh top)  I never wear out the bottom of a shoe.  The top falls apart or the inner soles fall apart long before the sole wears out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of your wear issue may be how you walk.  Go outside and walk barefoot.  Close your eyes and 'feel' how you walk.  Try walking that way in shoes.  This is really hard at first.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the sole is wearing out, then get a shoe with a replaceable sole.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tips:  Sho-goo is similar to silicone seal, but dries harder.  You can use to to rebuild worn areas on shoes.  A tube can double the life of a pair of shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wear out the heels, you can get heel plates.  They used to be metal, but I think now you can get hard plastic.  You will click a bit when you walk. Plates are easy to replace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine has a pair of Mexican sandals made from tires.  He wears them constantly.  No signs of wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own preference right now is Merrell 'Ventilators'  But I have wide feet.  Any of the trail shoes or walking shoes should work, but one caution:  Better grip on wet rocks = softer sole material.  You are looking for a harder sole material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T15:16:10.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-06T15:19:11.143" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer is going to be: depends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I started climbing, I was in a similar height / weight bracket as you are.  However, my finger strength was fairly decent for a novice.  I did install and use a fingerboard, but I never used it too much.  I have friends who swore / swear by finger exercises, but I found a less-is-more approach worked for me.  One of the reasons why I think the less-is-more worked for me is that I started climbing &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; regularly in the gym.  Three days a week with very few missed days.  My fingerboard usage was limited to just casual hangs and pull ups after my runs on non climbing days.  (Side note: I started running to lose weight to climb easier; make of that what you will.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, back to the answer: If you are climbing very regularly, adding in light work on a fingerboard is not a bad idea, but should not be strictly necessary.  If you are not able to get to a gym on a regular basis, adding workouts that include fingerboard (or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/gear/review-our-top-5-hangboards/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hangboard&lt;/a&gt;) work is probably a good idea.  If you have the room, and are willing to shell out the dough, you may want to shift from a fingerboard to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/gear/review-progression-board/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;progression board&lt;/a&gt;, at least according to the review author.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T15:19:11.143" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-06T15:28:48.043" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answering your question directly - yes it make sense to train finger and grip strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: would you like to improve climbing skill or finger and grip strength?&#xA;Improving finger and grip strength will add just a little to your climbing skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You first target should be to have 80kg weight for your hight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spend 15-20 min on physical exercises after climbing. For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pull-ups on inclined ladder(left and right hand on different steps, move the lower hand to the step above the upper hand). When you reach a top you can go down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pull-ups on sloper holds. Find two sloper holds on climbing wall and try to make 1-2 pull-ups on it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hanging on the horizontal bar (you can challenge your friend and make it as a game who can hand longer)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pull-ups in the following sequence 1-2-3-4-5-6... If you do it with your friends then you will have a short break while someone else doing pull-ups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;exercises for the abs: raise your hand and legs while lying on your back on a horizontal surface(touch your toes with your fingers)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to climb simple bouldering on inclined wall without legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Play a game &quot;add one&quot; in a group of 3 - 5 people: start with and 3 large holds. Every person add just one hold. Who survive longer winning a game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11662" LastEditorUserId="11662" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T08:38:51.063" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T08:38:51.063" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21512" CreationDate="2019-02-06T15:41:04.997" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had this as a constant issue when I worked in a school with a strong outdoor program.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;General things&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As group size increases problems increase faster. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The distance between the first and last person is larger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The spread in ability/speed is likely to be larger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have increased chances of equipment problems.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Problems travel downhill, downstream.  Someone breaks a pin holding their pack strap on, they stop or slow down.  Eventually they are last.  One canoe gets wedged on a rock, eventually they are last.  (maybe some stop above them.)  One person gets a blister from new boots, they slow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The back of the line has to have some way to stop the front of the line.&#xA;The front of the line has to have way to find out where the back of the line is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to have an adequate leadership cadre.  In the school I was at, our rule was generally 1:5 for anything overnight, 1:8 for day trips.  We had to have one competent outdoor leader per 5 students.  That said:  A senior student who had been there at least two years was counted as 'half a leader' Ones who passed our qualifications tests, and were approved by the staff council were counted as a full leader. (School was a boarding school.  We knew these kids quite well)  Adult staff were not considered leaders in any program during their first year.  All trips had to have a mininum of 3 leaders.  (This came up on a trip where one other staff and myself had a group of 10 grade ten boys.  What was our plan if either of us got hurt.  Leave the injured staff in the hands of the kids?  Send two kids out for help (15 miles to the trailhead, 30 more to pavement.))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all leaders have a set of maps, agree on rendezvous points if there is a separation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Hiking&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slow people in front.  In extreme cases, start them off 10 minutes early.  They MUST travel with a leader.  Instructions to stop if the trail branches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slow person with a pacer.  Individual behind the slow person encourages and gives tips. Sometimes a slow person is better at keeping up than at being first.  Put him behind the pacer, and get pacer to very slowly increase the pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Designated sweep.  This is a responsible (and strong) individual who is last, and makes sure that people don't evaporate off the back end of the line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buddy system.  Pair or in some cases triple up individuals.  Position is binding all day.  Must always know where buddies are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Group leader generally travels at just sight range of front of group.  So with a 25 person group, he may travel about position 8-10.  When I ran trips about once an hour I would work my up to the front of the line, then drift back chatting for a bit with each person and looking at them to see how miserable or happy they were.  Since it's a lot easier to go back than go forward my favourite position was to be where I could just see the first person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;System of whistle signals.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two long blasts from behind.  Stop the front of the line.  Acknowledge with two short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two long blasts from front.  Where are you?  Acknowledge with two short.  Used when you weren't sure how far back the other end was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One long blast from behind.  Proceed.  Ack with two short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Four long blast from behind.  Proceed, but slower.  Ack with 4 short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used fox40 whistles which are very loud, but unfortunately sound a lot like marmots.  Hence all the 2 toots.  Note:  The traditional pea whistle will freeze in  cold weather with the pee (usually a cork ball) sticking at a point where in makes little more than a whimper.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two others we had in our list, but didn't use normally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three long blasts:  &quot;Come to me!&quot;  Two shorts &quot;I'm coming&quot;  Three blasts is a distress signal.  We tried not to use it unless necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Canoeing&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On lakes we had designated lead, point and sweep.  No one went ahead of the lead, further from shore than point, or fell behind sweep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small rivers were harder.  A large river, one with sight lines of half a mile or more, were treated like lakes. Small rivers where 50 yard visibility was common were much harder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Worst case was a 12 canoe brigade.  If a canoe gets wedged on a rock, you can get a pile up. Too much current to stop, not enough room to go around. We never had this actually happen, but we talked about it a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On rivers we traveled in groups of 4 canoes.  A group generally traveled in yelling distance, although everyone had a whistle to get attention.  Usually the 2nd most experienced or skilled person would lead.  He was  unlikely to get in trouble, and able to say if this was beyond the group's skill.  It also meant that there was someone at the bottom of the rapid to collect the garage sale if someone dumped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last canoe had a highly skilled person too.  He was the one who would have to dodge wedged canoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Groups traveled about 5 minutes apart.  When we got to the next lake or long reach we would pause and regroup.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Small rivers with dangerous rapids&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  We never had this come up.  The rapids were far enough apart we could regroup.  We talked about doing it though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a set of high visibility flags -- say 1x2 feet that you could hang on shore.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In addition to the flag, use a ribbon.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Red ribbon -- manditory portage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yellow ribbon -- track or line.  Anytime tracking is an option, so is a portage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orange ribbon -- Scout rapid first. If we scouted a rapid the  usual first canoe would go with everyone else watching. The sweep would give a running commentary, and suggest alternatives.  Sometimes, sweep would go second to show an alternative if first canoe bungled it.  Sometimes sweep would say.  &quot;I don't like it.  Portage.&quot; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Dogsledding.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Group was split in half with one half going ahead on snowshoes breaking trail.  The mushers broke camp, and would set out an hour later.  We treated the two groups as being independent, sometimes not seeing each other all day.  More commonly the dogs would catch up in a bit over an hour.  Mushers would halt, and then catch up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the terrain was rough, mushers would have to park a sled and help the guy in front or behind get up the hill/over the creek bank, around the deadfall.  On occasion, breakers would have to come back and help the sleds.  Sometimes two of the breakers would stay with the sleds full time if the terrain was really rough. On rare occasions the breakers got too far ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping the sleds in a group wasn't a problem.  Dogs will go faster if there is a team in front of them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-02-19T22:28:16.127" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T22:28:16.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21599" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-06T16:20:10.523" Score="2" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am about to start a long backpacking trip through South America, and I would like to take as little weight as possible. I have the rest of my stuff more or less sorted out, but I am a bit at a loss of what kind of pants I should get. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to have versatile pants, that could be worn while traveling, but would also be suitable for hikes. As the trip will be long, pants should be quite durable, not too heavy, not too long drying, and suitable also for warm/damp climates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, jeans would be durable, suitable for every day wearing, but they dry too long, weight too much, and are the last thing I want to put on in tropical countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I plan to travel in between Amazonian Jungle and Patagonia. I do not expect to find something perfect for all conditions, but I assume I could get some sort of pants that would be fine in hot weather, and could be used in colder weather when combined with e.g. underpants. I am not planning to use them on snow or as rain protection, but they should be fine for most of other conditions, I'm afraid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When travelling in Asia I had simple cotton pants from EDC. Those were fitting almost all my requirements, except of durability. They faded within a couple weeks, and were completely broken in a couple of months. I guess this is because they were intended for being used in the city. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not, however, want to get hiking pants, as I am extremely sensitive to most kinds of synthetics that are used for making hiking pants. Some I might be able to tolerate just for a day on a hike, but would not want to wear every day. In addition to that, my legs are quite bulky, and I find most of the hiking pants are made to have quite a tight fit, and stretch weirdly over my thighs.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I am considering now is climbing pants. I guess they could be durable enough, and would for sure be good for sporty activities. My only problem is that they are usually quite colorful, so might be not exactly perfect for wearing on the street. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I have any other/better options?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T19:02:35.637" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T19:02:35.637" Title="What type of pants would be durable and suitable for outdoors in all kind of climates?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21545" CreationDate="2019-02-06T17:03:22.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a reference, see Patterson's &quot;The Dangerous River, Adventures on the Nahanni&quot; book.  He would prospect for gold, and had a camp a good ways up the river.  His boat was in effect a 30 foot long 5 foot wide flat boat.  As I recall he had two motors, a 3 hp and a 1 hp motor. The 3 hp was for ascending the river.  The 1 was used for putting about using a smaller boat from his base camp.  He would carry all his supplies for the year which included both food, gear, mining stuff.  There was a reason for having a 30 foot boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caution:  I read this book some 30 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sanity check on canoe forums suggests that 2-3 hp kickers will get a canoe up to the speed that it planes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T17:03:22.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21601" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-06T17:23:50.877" Score="2" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently there was a news article about a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-06/denver-colorado-jogger-strangles-mountain-lion-in-trail-attack/10785108&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Colorado jogger who was attacked by a mountain lion&lt;/a&gt; and killed the mountain lion with their hands (ie, no weapon).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the effective ways, with no weapons, to defend against a large cat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there anatomical differences which create vulnerabilities for large cats?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional notes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The solo backpacking question does not address the specific questions I listed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I talked with a friend who is a surgical vet, and he thought going for thumbs in eyes, and  then thumbs on the trachea would be a good first line strategy. This strategy will result in bites but if administered early in an attack, risk is somewhat mitigated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another friend, who was a special forces member, killed several dogs, but had weapons (in one case just a stick which was used to smash the skull).  He is intrigued and researching the matter.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was able to find an article which talked about the anatomical vulnerabilities of dogs, as well as their instincts.  But that didn't address cats.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not looking for hiking advice, I am asking about killing predatory cats with bare hands.  In the instance mentioned, it has been released that the victim was able to suffocate the cat. There is no mention of blinding her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will probably edit this out later, but on my property I have had large cats, and seen them. One paced a neighbor out for his morning jog.  I have also had feral dogs, which I and others encountered, and I eliminated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17040" LastEditorUserId="17040" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T01:36:30.553" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T01:36:30.553" Title="no weapons Fighting large cat with bare hands" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21601" CreationDate="2019-02-06T22:06:52.897" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sound like in this case, they were able to strange it. 80 lbs is not very big for a mountain lion, that would either be a juvenile or a smaller female mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The vulnerable places would be throat or eyeballs, its not like a bear where you can play dead, you have to fight back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as tools go almost anything would be better than bare hands, such as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;hiking stick/trekking poles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;knives&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;pepper spray&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;firearms&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice axes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs are also useful, mountain lions will avoid most dogs and run up trees to get away from them, this is quite frequently how they are hunted in the western US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T22:06:52.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21603" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21599" CreationDate="2019-02-06T23:06:35.243" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some light polycotton travel/hiking trousers. Rohan Bags are the originals (as far as I know) but I've had something similar from Craghoppers as well. They don't feel nearly as synthetic as the lightest fully synthetic ones I've got, but dry much faster than pure cotton, and seem reasonably hard wearing. I tend to buy the zip-off versions so they can convert to shorts. I actually use them for non-hiking travel as well, because all the pockets (some zipped) are useful when you want to keep a few things on your person. Some even have internal pockets, effectively a money belt. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fit tends towards relaxed, more like combats than something really fitted. As for colours, I've got a navy pair and a dark grey pair (Craghopper).  The latter are several years old and are only now showing signs of fading after heavy use (they're comfortable enough for everyday wear when it's too warm for jeans and I don't want to be in shorts). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-02-06T23:06:35.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21604" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-07T03:04:03.197" Score="6" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am reading &lt;em&gt;Three Among the Wolves&lt;/em&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&amp;amp;objectid=11813393&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Helen Thayer&lt;/a&gt;, who is best known for walking and skiing to the North Magnetic Pole accompanied only by her husky, Charlie. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a subsequent trip, she and her husband spent nearly a year observing the behavior of three wolf packs in three different parts of Canada.  This question is about the pack observed &lt;strong&gt;on the ice&lt;/strong&gt; of the Beaufort Sea, to the northwest of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuktoyaktuk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tuktoyaktuk&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;in winter.&lt;/strong&gt;  (In spring, the wolves move back to land.)  This pack of wolves scavenged off the kills of polar bears.  As Thayer says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Polar bears, the primary hunters, killed the prey [the seals] and then&#xA;  ate mostly the fat. Wolves and foxes then shared the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the National Geographic Society's article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/scavenger/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Scavenger&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, scavengers are the janitorial staff of the ecosystem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Scavengers play an important role the food web. They keep an ecosystem&#xA;  free of the bodies of dead animals, or carrion. Scavengers break down&#xA;  this organic material and recycle it into the ecosystem as nutrients.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even more startling than wolves as scavengers, was the incident Thayer describes -- wolves as recipients of the largesse of a polar bear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...The bear thrust his head into the seal hole...He hauled out a&#xA;  thrashing seal, crushed its head, and without stopping to eat, walked&#xA;  to the edge of the ice and stared into the water.  The three&#xA;  wolves....[rushed] to the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bear ate none of this kill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On reading the first quote, I postulated that the bear ate only the blubber because it was more efficient to capture another seal, rich in blubber, than to pick at the meat; the wolves were simply filling a niche by scavenging the bear's leftovers, as were the arctic foxes who also followed the bears on the ice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it is harder to explain the bear's behavior in the second quote.  This seems like pure altruism on the part of the bear (which seems unlikely), or an isolated incident.  So, my question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Has this &quot;altruistic&quot; behavior been reported in other sources for polar bears -- or for any large predator with respect to scavengers -- and if so, what benefit does the polar bear (or other large predator) gain from it?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum:  Possibly pertinent fact&lt;/strong&gt; prompted by comment by @Chris H: The pack of wolves on the sea ice numbered eleven, one of whom had an injured paw.  There were at least six polar bears nearby.  The wolves waited respectfully for the bears to leave their kills before darting in.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T15:17:21.880" LastActivityDate="2019-03-02T06:26:28.067" Title="Why would a polar bear give away his kill?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;&lt;polar-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21599" CreationDate="2019-02-07T07:13:22.740" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When faced with many different conditions, the main requirement you need to fill is &lt;em&gt;versatility&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My favorite pants, by far, are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.com/men/trousers-shorts/trekking-trousers/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ones from Fjällräven&lt;/a&gt;. They do what most good outdoors/trecking pants do these days:&#xA;they dry very quickly, they are lightweight and comfortable to wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, in addition, they come with some very useful perks that I have dearly missed in other trousers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most Fjällräven trousers come with a bunch of really &lt;strong&gt;useful pockets&lt;/strong&gt; - something that seems to be going out of style on some other brands. There are always some pockets that can be closed by zip or button - while traveling I found this really useful to store valuables and other things you don't want to lose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Fjällräven G1000 fabric is &lt;strong&gt;mosquito proof&lt;/strong&gt;. This is invaluable if your traveling in areas with many mosquitos - because they will sting right through most of the lightweight materials out there.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In my observation the Fjällräven trousers are really &lt;strong&gt;quite sturdy&lt;/strong&gt;. I have worn mine for years over hundreds of kilometers of trecks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In my experience the fabric is also light enough to be &lt;strong&gt;comfortable in warmer climates&lt;/strong&gt; (I wore mine in Indonesia for example).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go to the homepage above you'll see that they come in many different forms. For example there are version that come with additional stretch fabric areas for added flexibility if that is your thing. Or ones with &lt;strong&gt;zip-off legs&lt;/strong&gt; that can be transformed to shorts (I own a pair and these I can heartily recommend).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rather obvious drawback with Fjällräven products is that your paying for the quality with a hefty price tag. In my eyes they're worth it, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T07:20:24.120" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T07:20:24.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21606" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-07T08:39:03.790" Score="5" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/2974/3143&quot;&gt;this excellent answer&lt;/a&gt; to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1942/ideal-and-minimal-rope-diameter-for-lead-climbing&quot;&gt;Ideal and Minimal Rope Diameter for Lead Climbing&lt;/a&gt; it is shown how the falling weight affects the drops a rope is expected to survive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This led me to the following questions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Should I take my weight into account when I buy climbing equipment, especially if I am heavier than 80kg?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Should I retire my equipment at a different point according to my weight?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are these answers different for different part of equipment (e.g. rope, harness, belay device, biners, quickdraws, protection...)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-07T09:51:31.940" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T12:21:52.533" Title="Should I take my weight into account when buying and retiring climbing equipment?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21606" CreationDate="2019-02-07T12:21:52.533" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard fall test for single ropes is performed with 80 kilo and all the other equipment is designed around the loads appearing at the fall test (typically with a 100% reserve). So generally speaking there is no reason to take your body weight into a account when buying climbing equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two exceptions however:&#xA;Trad gear can have quite a big spread (I have seen big stoppers rated as low as 8KN) but even with a lighter body you might want to buy something with a good rating.&#xA;Via Ferrata sets are known for being problematic at very low body weight, especially for small and thin women and children. For these it makes sense to ensure they are suited for one body weight&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T12:21:52.533" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21599" CreationDate="2019-02-07T17:00:32.590" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You will need more than one pair of pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon hiking shorts.  Dry fast.  Cool in hot weather.  I'm uncertain how culturally appropriate shorts are on adult males in SA.  In touristy areas they are used to crazy gringos.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon wind pants. These cover you -- something you will want when there are bugs. I prefer ones with zips at the cuffs so I can either have them cinched down for wading leech infested water, or unzip a few inches to get better ventilation.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;BDU pants.  These are commonly sold as military/paramedic/Police work pants. You can get them in cotton, and various blends.  Often with reinforced knees and seat. Usually with a smoother finish than denim, and much better stain resistance.  When new and clean the non-cargo pants can serve as casual slacks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are going to be high enough to be cold, a lightweight pair of synthetic sweat pants.  These can be used both for sleeping wear to extend your bag's limit, or as long johns under your wind pants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Darkish colours, but short of black seem to be best about not showing dirt.  Very light colours are coolest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For extended canoe trips in Canada I bring a pair of nylon running shorts, nylon wind pants, and polypro long johns.  For tops I have a drywick tee, a middle weight fleece and a waterproof breathable jacket.  I also bring a toque.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-07T17:00:32.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21498" CreationDate="2019-02-09T17:43:04.413" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was doing ski patrol at a local low level hill.  As skiing the hill is not very challenging.  One fellow patroller suggested decreasing the tension in my bindings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By doing this, and popping a binding now and then by accident, you become much more aware of your balance and where your weight is.  This turned a low country boring hill into a medium challenge.  I was eventually skiing with DIN 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can also be a benefit if you are skiing with someone who is new, so that you are challenged by slopes that they are challenged by.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My rules now are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have your bindings at the lightest setting you can consistently get away with.  Too tight, and you risk injury.  Pre-mature release is just a garage sale most of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a stubby screwdriver of the size to adjust my bindings on the fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T17:43:04.413" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21496" CreationDate="2019-02-09T18:15:29.703" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tables above are generalizations.  &quot;Your mileage may vary&quot;  But the numbers to me do not look like extended effort numbers, but huddle and try to remain conscious numbers.  Swimming results is lower numbers due to fresh cold water passing the sides of your torso and groin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest you do a controlled experiment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Experiment 1:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a public pool swim laps equal to the width of the river times some safety factor.  I would suggest 2.  Tow your gear in a dry bag. Record your time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Experiment 2:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do this with a line attached, a friend on shore at the other end of the line, and suitable warm car or fire nearby.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start well upstream of your parking point, unless you are a very strong swimmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swim in the river parallel to the shore for a time equal to experiment 1.&#xA;Get out, open your drybag, dress, and walk two miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suspicion is that you will find that it's not a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At summer camp we had a pair of twins that could do a mile swimming in 22 minutes, which implies 1000 feet in under 5.  They were skinny like rakes. They were also state champions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bronze medallion, a common standard for swimming for supervising water related programs requires 500 yards in 15 minutes.  By extension that is a mile is 50 minutes or just over a mile an hour.  You are going to be in a stream that you say has a significantly faster flow than this.  Which means even given laminar flow, you would go downstream about 2.5 times the width -- half a mile -- while crossing 1000 feet, assuming that you kept at right angles to the shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Me:  I would consider doing this as a bet with a safety boat during the summer when the water temps are above 21 C (70 F) as I know from experience I can spend an hour in such water and only be very cold.  I would not attempt it in winter except to escape a pack of Zombies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Story time:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a group of kids in voyageur canoes on the Athabasca River in September.  The week before had been cool and wet, and the rain on the Athabasca icefield raised the river to flood levels.  The glacier only being about 60 km upstream chilled the river to somewhere between 3 and 5 degrees C.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Partway through the first day my canoe dumped in a class I rapid.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another canoe got a line to us, and attempted to tow us to shore.  Everytime they would get into slower water we would pass them and drag them out.  Finally, with a doubled line and them going the full length downstream before attempting to get to shore we were successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the kids still had enough coordination and strength to hold on to the gunwale throughout this, but we were in the water for about half an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third canoe in the group went to shore and started a fire once it was clear this attempt would work.  We got the kids to walk down to the fire, and got everyone out of cold wet clothes.  This was not trivial.  Fingers were cold enough that we couldn't feel the buttons or zipper tabs. had a hard time gripping fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thin boy was cold enough to be irrational.  we had to sit him on a log and one person stood behind him with hands on his shoulders to keep him from walking into the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point of this story:  These were kids who moved minimally while in cold water, were wearing wool mackinaws or sweaters, were in water several degrees warmer than your winter river will be.  Once on shore they were barely functional. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; have to dress yourself on the far side of the river. Your fingers won't do what you tell them.  Your feet will be numb.  You won't be able to feel what you are walking on, nor feel injury to your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like this take preparation.  If you seriously want to do this, try it in summer first.  The first time you do it, do it with a life jacket on.  My experience with the North Saskatchewan, a river with similar current, but narrower width is there is significant turbulence that will pull you down at unexpected moments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Alternatives.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canoe.  Keep a cheap canoe at work.  For this use a coleman pipe frame canoe is fine.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inflatable boat.  Likely more expensive than the canoe, and you can't count on it being intact after years of storage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either of these cases, practicing is essential.  You need to be reasonably proficient with using them in normal temps to have a prayer of using them under adverse circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bicycle.  A bike can get through when cars are jammed up. A 14 mile detour = 28 miles = 2+ hours.  Even if you have to go 2 bridges down, you will get home in about 1/3 the time it would take to walk, certainly within 24 hours. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Moped.  Bike with a tiny engine to augment your efforts.  Call it 1/2 to 2/3 the time of a bike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Small scooter.  The ones you see all over the orient used as commuter vehicles.  Faster than a moped, and a lot less effort.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again:  Practice.  Commute at least once a month this way so you can find out it's and your limits.  What's it like biking in a cold winter rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A comment points out that earthquakes severe enough to take down bridges may also take out sewer lines.  I've no idea how fast the river would become contaminated.  With a 2.5 mph flow, I would expect it to be fairly dilute, unless you have extensive civilization upstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-02-11T14:08:02.253" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:08:02.253" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21439" CreationDate="2019-02-09T18:29:48.620" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;@ShemSeger has a good answer.  Some additional bits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't try to go straight up.  Doing a traverse is faster in fine scree.  The uphill foot doesn't bury the lower foot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;place your foot as close to flat as you can.  At the least, place the entire uphill edge on the rock at once.  Few of us have the ankle flexibility to place both edges flat on a side hill at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You may find some benefit from retying your boot 2-3 hooks lower, and leaving the top more flexible for foot placement.  Pull your outer sock down over the top to reduce scooping up samples.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A walking stick on the lower side enables more deliberate placement of feet.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Scan the route ahead frequently.  It's easy to get wrapped up in the next 4 feet.  You are looking for goat tracks, bigger scree.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check downslope too.  Some scree slopes end on cliff tops.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you can make better forward progress by accepting some downhill travel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If there are multiple people in your party it may work better for each person to make their own trail, or to follow your trail.  Put an experienced person at the back end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T18:29:48.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-02-09T18:36:04.453" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to snowshoe in winter, and would be out all day.  I would take a 2 liter pop bottle, and put a pair of work socks on it to insulated it.  This went into my daypack next to me.  I always carried a spare fleece anyway.  It went on the back side, forcing the bottle to remain next to my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the morning I would fill the bottle with hot sweet coffee.  Hot juice, tea or hot chocolate would also work.  By the end of the day, the remnants would still be at least luke-cool even at temperatures of -25 to -30C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T18:36:04.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21366" CreationDate="2019-02-09T18:41:06.787" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Science for this is simple:  Hypothermia is not instant, and has a well known progression.  Survival times in fresh ice water are 15 to 45 minutes; depending on your body build, subcutaneous fat, and muscle mass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 70 F (20 C) air temps a lightly dressed person loses heat about as fast as he makes it -- around 75 watts.  If you are naked, you want it somewhat warmer than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swimming pools are generally kept in the high 80s, and on stepping into them feel cool.  Only because we are active can we tolerate the increased cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Increased?&quot;  Water conducts heat several hundred times as fast as air.  So even 87 degree pool water causes you to cool faster than 70 degree air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the water temperature decreases the cooling rate increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your body has several reactions to this to conserve heat:  Surface capillaries contract -- skin goes white.  Blood circulation to the limbs decreases. Body is trying to keep the core warm.  You start to shiver -- initially this is voluntary:  You can stop with an effort.  Shivering basically exercises the muscles generating heat.  As you get colder shivering becomes involuntary.  At this point you still have some function. You can grab things with difficulty.  Fine motor control is gone.  You won't be able to tie a knot, say.   As muscles get cold they become ineffective and stiff.  You can no longer help yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are mental changes too.  Outdoor people refer to the 'stumbles, fumbles and mumbles'  Stumble mark the loss of accurate automatic actions.  Your foot doesn't quite go where you told it.  Fumbles mark the loss of intentional motor control.  This can just be cold fingers having loss of sensation.  It can also be cold muscles in your forearm which control fingers.  Mumbles mark a cool brain that is no longer thinking coherently.  This can also be cold cheeks.  If the words that come make sense, it's cold cheeks.  If they are irrational it's cold head. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the brain stops functioning normally, the deficit follows the same sequence as getting drunk:  Loss of judgement, rationality, increasing loss of motor control, passing out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So going for a polar bear dip has very little risk involved.  In a few minutes exposure to cold water you may end up shivering but it takes a longer soak than that to be in any danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our outdoor program rules required that we do a dumping practice at the start of every canoe trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On several occasions this meant dumping in a bay, with solid ice pack not far from shore, and bergy bits floating in the bay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We built a large fire on shore, and did our dumping practice nearby.  Most of the guys were rescued into a canoe is under two minutes, and on shore within 5.  10 minutes later they were back out playing the role of a rescuer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Rereading question you mention high altitude.  This may affect building fires if this is in a subalpine ecozone.  Firewood is often scarce and takes a very long time to renew.  Under these circumstances having a towel to quickly dry off, and a sleeping bag handy may be the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-02-11T14:25:29.380" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:25:29.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21616" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21617" CreationDate="2019-02-09T22:00:12.200" Score="9" ViewCount="567" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering going on a guided hunt with an outfitter. This is the first time I've done hunts for game that you can stock your freezer with. I keep coming across the statement that the outfitter will do &quot;game prep but not processing&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly does that mean? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-10T02:46:41.860" LastActivityDate="2019-02-15T16:22:56.213" Title="Outfitter does &quot;game prep but not processing&quot;" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21616" CreationDate="2019-02-09T22:26:38.040" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;It means that they will clean and gut/quarter but not turn it into jerky/steak/hamburger for you. In other words they will help you get it out of the field and then it’s up to you to process it from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would need to process it yourself or find a butcher shop that will finish it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-02-09T22:26:38.040" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21619" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-10T11:08:07.027" Score="3" ViewCount="246" Body="&lt;p&gt;For some time, I have been following both European and American long distance hikers and a few things stood out to me, gear wise, and I was curious if someone could shed some light on it. For example, while trail runners seem to have gained popularity in the USA, the sturdy hiking boot seems to be the choice of most European hikers. Is this just a cultural thing, slow adaption, or is there a point to be made for Europeans to stick to hiking boots? Same thing for single walled vs double walled tents and other lightweight options. Thank you in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17389" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-10T12:23:29.357" LastActivityDate="2019-02-10T21:28:17.467" Title="EU vs US hiking gear choices" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;europe&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2019-02-11T15:46:14.800" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19143" CreationDate="2019-02-10T11:36:16.860" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The offer is quite qood these days if anyone is interested&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With MTK based chipset (MTK II - MT 3329 - GPS constellation only). Almost all have bluetooth to communicate position to smartphone (better quality position probably, since smartphone is not optimized for GPS reception)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Qstarz BT-Q1000&lt;/strong&gt; and variants. Has button for POI (to put marks in the log). Has replaceable battery - the common and easy to find Nokia battery BL-5C&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transystem I-Blue 747&lt;/strong&gt; - same as above, one seems to be a clone of the other.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transystem GL-760&lt;/strong&gt; - has button for POI, integrated Li-Ion battery. No bluetooth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Holux RCV-3000&lt;/strong&gt; no button for POI, has replaceable Nokia battery BL-5C. No button for POI unfortunately. Newer variants have chipset Mediatek MT3333 which has Glonass, Galileo also&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With Sirf chipset :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Canmore GT-750F&lt;/strong&gt; - chipset Sirf Star IV (GPS constellation only) . Uses the same Nokia BL-5C battery. No button for POI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Transystem GL-770&lt;/strong&gt; - chipset Sirf Star V - (GPS, Glonass, Galileo etc). Integrated Li-Ion battery. Has button for POI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tested almost all of them except Transystem GL-* and all have battery duration like 24 - 30 hours in logging mode. Precision seems better for Sirf one (Canmore GT-750F)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17332" LastActivityDate="2019-02-10T11:36:16.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21619" CreationDate="2019-02-10T19:19:57.190" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hiked in the UK, and a little in the US and western Europe. I'll concentrate on the UK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My perception is that British hikers keep their gear for longer than Americans, leading to two things: old fashioned kit, and a preference for sturdy kit. I, for example, have a pair of leather hiking boots from over 20 years ago. They're heavy but still the best I have in snow (even with crampons of similar vintage) or fording streams. They've outlived several pairs of soft boots. Our changeable weather and wet summers means you could well end up spending the rest of the day with wet feet in trail running shoes. In general I think we tend to go out more heavily equipped this side of the Atlantic (fell-runners aside). Certainly many people I hike with formed some of their attitudes in the Scouts in the 80s and 90s - and having the kit to deal with emergencies was the idea then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-02-10T21:28:17.467" LastActivityDate="2019-02-10T21:28:17.467" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17405" CreationDate="2019-02-11T14:41:12.847" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;the adapter is heavy as is the entire setup (downhilll skis+bindings+adapter+boots), if you want to take your kids out to backcountry for more than 30-60 minutes, this will be very heavy for them... Instead, take an old pair of downhill skis, rivet the climbing skins to them... attach cross-country binding and put them in cross-country ski boots. Put the downhill skis + boots in your backpack....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/pethorvath/videos/10210430309905757/?l=7123596541458548389&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this is Adam at the age of 5, about 6 miles/4000 ft climb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17394" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T14:41:12.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21627" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17184" CreationDate="2019-02-11T22:49:35.583" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apparently American Robins migrate for the winter (hence the official name) but in reality they often don't and form 'nomadic flocks' that find good berry trees etc to live near in the cold months. But the British/European Robin is not migratory and always solitary (except when mated) and is always highly defensive of its personal territory. American Robins only become aggressive in the summer,during nesting months. This info triggered by my seeing a large flock of robins in my garden in California. I'm British and so it seemed very odd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17397" LastActivityDate="2019-02-11T22:49:35.583" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21628" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-12T10:52:43.307" Score="16" ViewCount="2590" Body="&lt;p&gt;What product or combination of products best protects your hands while kayaking in winter?  I’m interested in a system which provides comfort for extended paddling but also the peripheral activities including possible self or assisted rescues, in water temperatures close to freezing and air temperatures down to perhaps 14F / -10C.  Assume for the sake of this question that appropriate safety precautions are taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T08:57:51.600" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T08:57:51.600" Title="What’s the best thing to wear on your hands when sea kayaking in very cold weather?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21628" CreationDate="2019-02-12T10:52:43.307" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XpfhY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XpfhY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The best answer I’ve come up with so far is to combine neoprene paddling gloves such as those sold by NRS with an additional pair of waterproof or semi-waterproof mitten shells designed to be worn over gloves / mittens.  This has kept my fingers completely comfortable in air temperatures well below freezing while paddling through rivers or bays where ice is forming on the shores.  I was able to grip the paddle well and could briefly remove the mitten shells while leaving the gloves on to adjust helmet strap attach sprayskirt etc.  I found this system better than neoprene mittens which constricted finger spreading and cramped my hands after hours of paddling.  I have not attempted whitewater-style pogies (a sort of palmless neoprene mitten that attaches to the paddle and allow excellent paddle grip) in weather that cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:  Another answer suggests pogies (see below).  I should clarify that I have not experimented much with them because I prefer a Greenland paddle and like to do some strokes where I move my hands around to different parts of the paddle.  Pogies may be a great solution for people with a different paddle and/or technique.  Also the particular paddle I use has a shape, wood grain, and varnish that affords excellent grip so I don’t experience hand fatigue even with overmitts, this may be a very real issue with other paddles, which pogies may help avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T02:48:59.877" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T02:48:59.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19143" CreationDate="2019-02-12T15:50:07.420" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Garmin etrex series have what you need. It has long battery life (24+) active tracking and what's better you get them accepting AA batteries so you can bring spares. If you set down the tracker timer to once every minute and switch it off when you are immobile it 'll last even longer. The screen is not iPhone quality but you don't want to stare at a screen, it eats battery. It provides what you need and is fairly cheap. It helped me navigate some tricky terrain, where the path was gone and difference between wrong and right was less than 10m. I hate getting surprised by fog, but fortunately sturdy and no-frills equipment makes continuing your life more plausible now and then. Edit: you can down and upload maps and tracks with USB. And they are waterproof. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastEditorUserId="13536" LastEditDate="2019-02-12T16:09:25.233" LastActivityDate="2019-02-12T16:09:25.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21628" CreationDate="2019-02-12T17:16:12.473" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't been paddling much for several years, but I used to go all winter with simple fleece gloves inside waterproof dishwashing rubber gloves. I tried a half dozen other alternatives, including wetsuit gloves, other waterproof gloves, pogies, etc. Fleece insulation and waterproof outside worked best, and was also very inexpensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17399" LastActivityDate="2019-02-12T17:16:12.473" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21633" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21640" CreationDate="2019-02-13T09:23:37.167" Score="3" ViewCount="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question is should we prepare to snow hiking in the end of April going to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toubkal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Toubkal&lt;/a&gt;? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can we predict or make educated guess on snow level?&#xA;Is there any resource we can monitor snow level in the Atlassian mountains? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16368" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-14T11:28:50.733" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T11:28:50.733" Title="What is the snow level going to be in the Atlassian mountains(Toubkal) in the end of April?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;morocco&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21633" CreationDate="2019-02-13T12:03:52.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you have any sources for past snow levels? A good educated guess is always to take the average snow level at this time slightly corrected if the current snow level differs strongly from the long term average&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T12:03:52.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19332" CreationDate="2019-02-13T14:22:11.170" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;gas heaters are obviously unwise inside a sleeping space (due to exhaust)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of different types of gas heaters, many of which would be unsafe to use inside a sleeping space. An &lt;a href=&quot;http://campsafe.org/2014/02/07/hello-world-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;indoor rated catalytic propane heater&lt;/a&gt;, however, is one of the types that can be used safely indoors. As the heat is produced through a catalytic process there is no flame so the chance of fire is greatly reduced. My understanding is the chemical reaction does not produce harmful exhaust, but it consumes oxygen. If your space is not well ventilated (which is generally not a problem in a tent) you can run into problems due to low oxygen levels because you need oxygen to live and because the chemical reaction will not work with low oxygen leading to a buildup of harmful gases. Indoor catalytic heaters have sensors that prevent this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T14:22:11.170" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="629" CreationDate="2019-02-13T14:45:52.667" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I found useful when nothing else was on hand: putting a short layer of toothpaste on it. The menthol gives a cool feeling, thus reduces the itching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T14:45:52.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2019-02-13T14:53:20.020" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;With kids or without, I would consider building a shelter. There are a lot of shapes and sizes for it, a quick search for images can give you plenty of inspiration. It needs some preparation (planning and coming to an agreement how it would look like, walking around to find materials, find the right spot where to build it), and building it won't be so easy as it might look in the beginning, so it might take up a bigger part of your day. It is a great way to teach them about bivouac, about using only what they can find in the forest, living in nature (where to put the shelter to have the most protection). And in the end you might as well sleep in it for a night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T14:53:20.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21638" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21639" CreationDate="2019-02-13T17:22:47.813" Score="19" ViewCount="3711" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the hardest routes on El Cap, The Dawn Wall, was done by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in January 2015. What are some of the reasons to choose to climb such a hard route in winter, when the conditions are probably more adversary?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-13T23:08:43.277" LastActivityDate="2019-10-27T01:38:54.743" Title="Why would you climb hard bigwall projects in Yosemite in winter?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21638" CreationDate="2019-02-13T18:00:01.387" Score="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just finished Caldwell's book &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tommycaldwell.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Push&lt;/a&gt;. The big walls in Yosemite are essentially vertical deserts. Even in winter they're in the full sun much of the day. It would drop below freezing at night, but during the day temperatures would regularly get above 50 °F (10° C). In the summer the heat can be overwhelming. Aside from the difficulty of performing extremely gymnastic climbing in high temps, sweaty hands make tenuous holds impossible. Gymnastic chalk can only do so much to counteract that. It also turns out that the spring and fall shoulder seasons are problematic because ice forms on the wall every night and peels off during the day. After several close calls with baseball sized hunks of ice, they found it slightly less hazardous during colder periods. On the other hand when it got too cold, the rubber on climbing shoes wouldn't grip as well, and they would just take a rest day on their porta-ledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2019-10-27T01:38:54.743" LastActivityDate="2019-10-27T01:38:54.743" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21633" CreationDate="2019-02-13T19:22:33.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow levels should be reduced by the end of April, but expect snow at the higher elevations (which continue receiving new snow often through May). If moisture blows in off the Atlantic, conditions can change extremely rapidly, so be sure to check the weather forecast before ascending. When I was there late last March, the weather was lovely in Imlil one afternoon, and we had a foot of snow in just a few hours the next morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the general weather trends for Jebel Toubkal here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.responsiblevacation.com/vacations/mount-toubkal/travel-guide/best-time-to-trek-mount-toubkal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.responsiblevacation.com/vacations/mount-toubkal/travel-guide/best-time-to-trek-mount-toubkal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Detailed forecasts are at: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Toubkal/forecasts/4167&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Toubkal/forecasts/4167&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, once again, beware of the possibility of extremely rapid changes. With a little prudence, you should have a great time. It's a stunningly beautiful place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastActivityDate="2019-02-13T19:22:33.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21641" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-02-14T11:29:59.313" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-02-14T11:29:59.313" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T11:29:59.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21642" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-02-14T11:29:59.313" Score="0" Body="Questions specific to the country of Morocco." OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-14T17:23:51.873" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T17:23:51.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21628" CreationDate="2019-02-14T14:53:16.683" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes known as paddle mitts, pogies are your friends here, you can choose to wear gloves in them as well or not, depending on how cold it's got, but most importantly they allow you full contact with the paddle and hence you don't get the extra fatigue caused by a reduced level of paddle control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pogies range from a simple nylon shell that keeps the wind and water off through chillcheater aquatherm and neoprene all the way to full waterproof fleece lined with cuffs you can tighten (with your teeth) to stop water running in from the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a pogie for every event. They're also available for rowers, windsurfers, cyclists, motorcyclists and even pushchairs!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kayaker wearing pogies:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PLAbS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PLAbS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kayaker wearing pogies&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-02-15T10:06:16.160" LastActivityDate="2019-02-15T10:06:16.160" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21638" CreationDate="2019-02-14T17:57:07.883" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was there in early January.  While the valley was below freezing, upon the first 50 feet climb in elevation after sunrise, the air temperature was very agreeable (50+ &amp;deg;F/10+ &amp;deg;C) with lots of sun.  Rejoice for there was no ice underfoot&amp;mdash;unlike on the valley floor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, everyone who had been there before were beside themselves with how uncrowded it was.  Even with the goverment shutdown, there were almost no visible effects:  the visitor station was closed and there were no park rangers around (not even manning the entrance booth).  Bus shuttles still ran, trash was removed, all the hotels and restaurants were open and well staffed.  (If there were rangers around, would they evict the few dozen tent campers in the closed campgrounds?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife and I hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls.  There were perhaps 25 small groups (2-4) of &quot;climbers&quot; on the trail making it to the top.  3/4 of the trail was clear with the last mile or so having packed snow with trailside snow up to a half foot deep.  Sunny, gorgeous, clean and crisp air all the way.  The overlook at the top was enchanting with a thick carpet of cushy fresh snow and spectacular viewing for about 15 people while I lingered.  (I expect it is harder to see in the summer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6478" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-10-25T07:54:21.260" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T07:54:21.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5758" CreationDate="2019-02-14T18:48:59.330" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some good ideas in the existing answer.  We camp all over the US, and almost never in the same campground twice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We camp because we travel with pets.  Our camp is our mobile homebase. Because the best tent sites are always taken by locals who know the best sites. We have upgraded to a small camp trailer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have pets:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take them for a walk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sit out with your pets, people will stop and visit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pet grooming and snuggling&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If your pets bark never leave them in the camp alone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go exploring:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unless you are really close to home, there are untraveled roads, see where they go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check out the local sights, museums, flea markets, antique shops, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go out for lunch (or dinner) try the local mom and pop, the one with the most cars around it is the best one to try first. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Explore nearby parks that you have not visited before&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Structured activities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Private/Commercial camps usually have a pavilion with scheduled activities, games, potlucks, crafts, movies, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Public/Government campgrounds often have movie nights, and education presentations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rent something for an hour or half a day, horses and boats are popular rentals at or near camping areas. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly Rest: We always build at least one day in the schedule to just sit and watch the grass grow. Read, watch the clouds go by, listen to the wildlife. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-02-14T18:48:59.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21638" CreationDate="2019-02-15T10:47:41.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;No experience of Yosemite weather, and it sounds like you have your answer, and this isn't wrong, but:&#xA;people don't climb hard projects just to get their name on the problem. That it's difficult is a big part of the attraction. So long as it isn't wet... there really isn't 'bad weather' for climbing, you just have to factor it into your expectations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17414" LastEditorUserId="17414" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T08:16:51.987" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T08:16:51.987" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21648" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21401" CreationDate="2019-02-15T15:59:22.543" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's my personal heiarchy;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camelbak-style bladder (I prefer Platypus), tuck the nozzel into my shirt and blow water back into the reservoir between drinks. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Above, but start with warm/hot water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Replace bladder with wide-mouth Nalgene water bottles (narrow ones seem to freeze quicker)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Above, but start with warm/hot water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Above, plus add Outdoor Research &quot;Parka&quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/2TPr9q1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://amzn.to/2TPr9q1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Switch to large REI thermos - only on the coldest days since it's pretty bulky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also purchased one of the Arctic Innovations battery-powered heating elements for a bladder hose (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.arcticinnovations.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.arcticinnovations.com/&lt;/a&gt;) but haven't had a chance to test it out yet. I've been hesitant since I don't want my water supply to be battery-dependent but for a short 2-3 hour trip, it might be a solid option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2019-02-15T15:59:22.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21616" CreationDate="2019-02-15T16:22:56.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Processing would be turning the field dressed animal into freezer size portions (e.g. like what you'd find in the grocery store at the butcher counter). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Field prep (aka field dressed) would be just removing the entrails and, if it's a larger animal, quartering into a size you can carry out of the woods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to post it here in case anyone is squirmish but I'd suggest Googling or YouTube'ing &quot;field dressed elk&quot; so you can get a general sense of what you'd be left working with. You could also ask the outfitter for recommendations on processors as they've likely worked with others to solve the same problem.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4135" LastActivityDate="2019-02-15T16:22:56.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21572" CreationDate="2019-02-16T00:30:32.910" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ordnance Survey Maps can be download to a mobile device for free using Avenza PDF Maps.  The maps can be viewed without an internet or cellular connection after download.  Avenza allows you to store up to 5 maps for free so you can either download them and swap them out or pay for a professional version of the app.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/search.html?query=&amp;amp;location_mode=map_input&amp;amp;location=&amp;amp;sort=relevance&amp;amp;price_max=1&amp;amp;page=0&amp;amp;debug=&amp;amp;current_map_id=&amp;amp;location_box=55.0150538046944%2C-1.5198503796983687%2C54.02605303562811%2C-2.7654253308702437&amp;amp;vendor_ids=&amp;amp;category_ids=&amp;amp;merge_mode=v4&amp;amp;debug_ids=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/search.html?query=&amp;amp;location_mode=map_input&amp;amp;location=&amp;amp;sort=relevance&amp;amp;price_max=1&amp;amp;page=0&amp;amp;debug=&amp;amp;current_map_id=&amp;amp;location_box=55.0150538046944%2C-1.5198503796983687%2C54.02605303562811%2C-2.7654253308702437&amp;amp;vendor_ids=&amp;amp;category_ids=&amp;amp;merge_mode=v4&amp;amp;debug_ids=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastActivityDate="2019-02-16T00:30:32.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21651" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-16T10:18:06.167" Score="3" ViewCount="409" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am thinking of hunting wild boar in Texas, which I've never done before. All info and videos I see mention the calibers they use and I don't really hear about people using 30-06. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that just too high caliber for a boar? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3624" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-02-25T19:42:09.617" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T15:45:52.810" Title="Is 30-06 too high caliber for hunting wild boar?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21651" CreationDate="2019-02-16T19:17:34.357" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not that it would be too big of a cartridge, it's just that it's an old cartridge (introduced in 1906) that's no longer what the &lt;strong&gt;Cool Kids&amp;#8482;&lt;/strong&gt; use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;308, for example, is lighter, cheaper, more accurate and while 308 will drop more that really doesn't matter except for really long range shots and then you would have the 6.5 Creedmore which is more &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21708/what-does-it-mean-for-a-caliber-to-be-flat-shooting&quot;&gt;flat shooting&lt;/a&gt; than both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With better powders and more aerodynamic bullets, it's possible to get the same or better performance from cartridges with less recoil, which is something that almost all shooters prefer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a 30-06 will still work fine, it's just that most people have moved on to better options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T15:45:52.810" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T15:45:52.810" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21653" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-16T21:50:52.427" Score="2" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warning:  Contains details that may be too graphic for some cat lovers.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Today's &lt;em&gt;New York Times&lt;/em&gt; has an article titled &lt;em&gt;Man who Strangled Cougar Cited a Lesson from His Cat&lt;/em&gt;.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/us/mountain-lion-man-attack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;He's no Chuck Norris but he did kill a mountain lion&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this story, given at a news conference on Thursday (02/14), in the presence of Colorado wildlife officials, the cougar was &quot;perhaps 50 pounds&quot;.  Mr. Kauffman, the runner, is 5 foot 10 inches and 150 pounds.  He said he feared all through the encounter that the young cougar's &quot;mother would come along and end the fight&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wildlife officials said &quot;they trapped two other young mountain lions....after Mr. Kauffman was ambushed and both appeared to have been hungry.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mr. Kauffman killed the young cat with two legs, one knee on the cat's rear legs and the other foot on the cat's neck, plus one hand, the wrist of the other hand being firmly gripped in the cat's jaws throughout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question:  At what age do cougars live independently of their mothers, and is a 50 pound young cougar likely to be successful enough as a hunter to survive independently?&lt;/strong&gt;  (A picture of a cougar of this age/weight would be most welcome, but is not necessary to satisfactorily answer this question.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One can't help but speculate that the three juvenile cougars were litter-mates and that their mother might have been dead.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-16T22:49:18.013" LastActivityDate="2019-02-16T22:49:18.013" Title="Was the young cougar who attacked a runner recently in Colorado likely to have been old enough to live independently of its mother?" Tags="&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2019-02-16T21:53:36.953" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to be clear, the 'newer' style clear nalgene bottles are perfectly fine with boiled water from a practical use point of view.  I cannot comment on chemical leaching but I regularly put boiling water in mine.  On a cold night I will boil a litre before bed, fill my bottle, screw the lid on tight and put it into my spare socks.  As a hot water bottle this is superb and is often still warm in the morning.  I don't even have to get out of my sleeping bag to get mater to make my morning coffee in the tent porch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17418" LastActivityDate="2019-02-16T21:53:36.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21653" CreationDate="2019-02-16T22:48:58.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It probably was, as 50 lbs is way beyond the size at which they are weaned. However, mountain lion cubs will stay with the mom for up to 18 months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Female cougars probably begin leading their kittens to kills as early as 7 to 8 weeks. The mother also carries meat to her young from kills &lt;strong&gt;until weaning age (2 to 3 months), at which point the cubs weigh in at between 7 and 9 pounds&lt;/strong&gt;.  As the kittens grow older, the mother will leave them at kills, frequently for days at a time, while she goes in search of the next prey.(6) As the kittens grow and become stronger, the mother will range farther in search of prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As they grow stronger and more skilled at stalking, &lt;strong&gt;kittens will separate from their mother for days at a time and hunt on their own.&lt;/strong&gt; This growing independence is a precursor to young lions leaving their mother and going in search their own home range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kittens can survive on their own as early as 6 months&lt;/strong&gt;, such as when the mother is killed or dies of natural causes, but this appears to be rare. Typically, the young cougars will &lt;strong&gt;remain with their mother for 12 to 18 months.&lt;/strong&gt; This allows them to hone their hunting skills and gives them time to develop their killing bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainlion.org/CAL_ch2.asp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's certainly possible for them to be on their own at the time and still be traveling with the mother mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-16T22:48:58.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21656" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-17T01:42:10.240" Score="2" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a bit curious about this since the day I read an infographic tip from a veterinarian.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason stated by her is that it helps to not enlarge the site of the snake bite. Is this correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because I used to think that it's 100% not recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the infographic in case you want to see it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/phMwI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/phMwI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17249" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-18T15:37:06.697" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T15:37:06.697" Title="Is it advisable to use a tourniquet on a dog for a snake bite?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2019-02-18T23:31:23.637" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21657" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-17T08:38:33.537" Score="1" ViewCount="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought Aku Slope boots with Gore-tex at a good price and as it turned out they have punctures in one place, which are probably minimal when I check them inside the shoe. I do not want to use the needle to see if they are completely pierced, because I can damage them even more. I tried with a toothpick, and it fits in biggest hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second thing, I'm wondering how to check if they are factory impregnated? Maybe I would have been immersed in water for a moment and saw if they were getting wet right away, but I do not want them to get discolored because then I will not return them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to point out that I do not care about ultra water resistance, but I do not want them to get wet right away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LFpvQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LFpvQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo 1&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cQ9aO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cQ9aO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo 2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17420" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T10:28:44.310" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T14:05:43.077" Title="Damaged Gore-tex boots" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21658" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-17T10:41:28.530" Score="11" ViewCount="475" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Dean Potters and Sean Leary's 2010 attempt to take the speed record of The Nose at El Capitan in Yosemite, Dean Potter has something white on his legs (and arms?):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vVgoT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vVgoT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could this be, and which purpose does it serve?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T10:46:44.553" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T01:23:25.057" Title="What is this white substance some climbers smear on their legs?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;speed-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21659" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-02-17T10:43:03.460" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T10:43:03.460" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T10:43:03.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21660" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-02-17T10:43:03.460" Score="0" Body="Climbing (indoor or outdoor) routes as fast as possible. Usually, &quot;anything goes&quot;, i.e. aid climbing techniques such as ascending ropes and pulling on anchors is allowed." OwnerUserId="3143" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T17:16:41.810" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T17:16:41.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21353" CreationDate="2019-02-17T11:45:05.223" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A somewhat provocative answer is that... it all depends on how good you are!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ancestors of modern climbing shoes were born in the 30s, with the PA shoes of Pierre Allain, who observed that sneaker were more efficient than hard hiking boots when performing technical climbing. The original idea was &lt;a href=&quot;http://eb-climbing.com/historical-eb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;improved upon in the successive years&lt;/a&gt; with the introduction of models such as the EB Super Gratton. The first real &quot;modern&quot; climbing shoe is often considered the Boreal Firé, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climbing_shoe#History&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;introduced in 1982&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, already in the 20s and in the 30s people were performing ascents rated VI grade in the Welzenbach scale, which loosely corresponds to 5c in the French scale and 5.9 in the Yosemite scale. Some examples: the Lettembauer-Solleder route on Civetta (1925), the Comici route on the Cima Grande di Lavaredo (1935) and the Cassin-Ratti route on the Cima Ovest (1935). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the PA shoes were introduced in the 30s (see above), I am almost sure that many of these hard ascents were performed using old school hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think pictures like these showcase really well what people were able to achieve with just hiking boots:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PPuNJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PPuNJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gaston Rébuffat on the Aiguille du Midi. Year: ? (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique/4888891273&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/clgi2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/clgi2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Walter Bonatti. Place: ? (source says K2 but I think it's wrong...) Year: ? (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/476044623086675801/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, many modern hiking boots have a smooth area on the sole close to the tip (sometimes called &quot;climbing zone&quot;) in order to improve smearing on rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum up, it is certainly possible to do rock climbing with hiking boots. About how hard, it all depends on your skill!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14224" LastEditorUserId="14224" LastEditDate="2019-02-17T22:23:50.680" LastActivityDate="2019-02-17T22:23:50.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21658" CreationDate="2019-02-17T23:28:06.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tragically those specific climbers are deceased. I read some of Dean Potter's climbing journals and articles, and didn't find a mention of which specific sunscreen or other products he used.  What I'm suggesting is purely from a online research, and reports from athletes who have used it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a thick white lotion used by mountain climbers, other athletes, and people who work outside throughout the year. Dean Potter might have been using it, either to keep him warm or as part of his general skin-care gear ater, sun, wind, and heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In extremely cold conditions cold and windy conditions, it's used as an &quot;added layer&quot; (barrier) to keep skin warm without adding another layer of clothes. It reduces the risk of frostbite, and windburn. It's also used as a cream to protect chapped skin in sun, heat, and wind. It's not a sunscreen, or substitute for one. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.warmskin.net/Our_Products.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This brand&lt;/a&gt; seems to meet the above criteria, but this is not a product recommendation. I have no affiliation, haven't used the product, or know anyone who has. I replaced the brand name in the quotations with &quot;it.&quot;) All quoted text and picture are from either their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.warmskin.net/Our_Products.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Product Website&lt;/a&gt; or references to it by others. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Included on the website description, especially pertinent for climbers like Dean: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is a very effective cream for moisturizing and insulating the skin. Torture-tested in such diverse climates as the North and South Poles, the Grand Canyon, and Mt. Everest.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This thick white cream provides an added barrier and insulating layer for extra warmth in addition to normal attire or prevailing conditions, without the weight of additional clothing. It can be used on the face, torso, legs, hands, arms and feet. It helps protect against frostbite and windburn. It's used as an all-season skin aid, and, even in the summer, guards against the drying effects of water, sun, wind, and heat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's not greasy, and soothes skin that's already cracked or calloused. It's safe and effective for all ages, including children. It's meant to be used in addition to an appropriately high level of sunscreen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It incorporates soothing botanicals, including Aloe, Balm Mint, Matricaria and Mistletoe.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It helps protect all Nordic sport enthusiasts who ski, snowboard, cross country ski or snow mobile. In all seasons, it's used to make white water rafting, kayaking or canoeing more comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Craig Nicholson, known as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://intrepidsnowmobiler.com/intrepid-snowmobiler-craig-nicholson/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Intrepid Snowmobiler&lt;/a&gt; reports his experience with it in his article on gear called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.warmskin.net/vikings/Tested_on_Tour.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tested on Tour&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gotta-Have Skin Protection:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Even the most macho riders can suffer from cracked, dry skin or mild frostbite. That’s why NFL players, mountain climbers, ski patrollers, letter carriers and even polar explorers protect their flesh with it. &lt;strong&gt;It's a heavy-duty, non-greasy barrier cream and moisturizer.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;While on tour last winter, I used it each morning on hands and face as a protective layer. Then I replenished these areas with it again at each day’s end.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The result? While my hide is still the same ugly one I’ve always had, it never chapped, cracked, wind-burned, sunburned or itched despite the constant extremes of long days on the snow. And it even helps keep my skin feel warm–no wonder NFL players apply it to their bare arms and hands before the big game!&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;His reference to the NFL is because it's been used by them since 1990. It was part of the Minnesota Vikings &quot;must have&quot; clothing kit for the absolute frigid conditions for Superbowl 48. Pictures of the kit along with the reason they chose it are in a CNN news video on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.raynauds.org/2015/12/04/nfl-loves-warm-skin-video/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;. That video is also on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&amp;amp;v=aMmg7UXUyLE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt;. It shows the lotion being applied. It's thick and white and the person is rubbing it in circles on the hand of the football player. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are pictures of actual users who are wearing it when the pictures were taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uRnBp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uRnBp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sitting on mountain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FshT1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FshT1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Standing on mountain&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y2pGB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y2pGB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Skiier&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AUKWx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AUKWx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bike rider&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ykyZb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ykyZb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Kayak&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-02-24T01:23:25.057" LastActivityDate="2019-02-24T01:23:25.057" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-18T02:45:27.663" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try adding in a few &lt;strong&gt;bouldering&lt;/strong&gt; sessions if you're mostly doing roped climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that bouldering strengthens the fingers much more than roped climbing, simply because it's higher-intensity movement on (generally) worse holds. It's a good way to condition your fingers &amp;amp; get better at climbing by simply climbing! Find problems that you specifically have trouble with: slopers, small crips, poor feet, underclings, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, do not under-estimate the importance of footwork; what we often believe to be problems due to lack of finger-strength can be traced back to poor use of all available feet. Sometimes, inefficient footwork low on a climb can drain your grip strength, leading to a fall higher up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T02:45:27.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-18T10:46:51.010" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in much the same boat as you, 180cm, 90kg. I started climbing a couple of years ago and again, most of my climbing buddies are a good 20-40kg lighter and a few cm shorter than me. Climbers are lean and small, kayakers... are not. The thing is that the kayaking already gives me really good base grip strength, 50-60kg grip trainers are no problem, it's just not the right grip strength for climbing where fingertips are more important than whole hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What helped most wasn't the fingerboard, I tend to stay away from that, it was the traversing walls. A similar approach to bouldering, but my knees don't like me falling from height so bouldering isn't for me. My local climbing centre has circular traversing walls, some on the outside of large pillars, some round the inside of a dedicated room (with transition round the doors). That gives more of the continuous shift and change of load of actual climbing combined with the ability to keep going for as long as you like to build up stamina as well as strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traversing walls are also quite close to the ground, so you can push into harder moves or holds you'd never normally trust, with the confidence that you're never really going to fall more than 50cm and you can step straight back up and try again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with most activities, the best training for the activity is doing the activity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-02-18T11:43:50.537" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T11:43:50.537" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-18T13:58:11.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I do exercises for finger strength..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, everyone should do some kind of finger/hand strength exercise. Your hands are you interface into the rock. It's probably the most important muscle(s) you've got for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said; it seems (to me) the nub of your problem is that you struggle to do hangboards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;but was not even able to hold the widest part - I ended up hanging&#xA;  from a big section of the top&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems to be the main issue. For a start &lt;code&gt;hanging from a big section of the top&lt;/code&gt; is fine. Everyone start somewhere. &lt;strong&gt;It's much better to build slowly then try too hard an injure yourself&lt;/strong&gt;. Just keep at it and your strength will improve. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also try assisted hangs. So attach an exercise band under your leg/knees and hang with this &quot;assisting&quot; you. As you get stronger lower the assist until your eventually unassisted. Then move to smaller holds etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically keep at it, you strength will improve, being heavy shouldn't be too much of a hindrance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T13:58:11.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21667" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21669" CreationDate="2019-02-18T17:36:31.557" Score="9" ViewCount="406" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spotted something in a rock pool. It was swimming but appeared to surface to breath, or maybe eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location is Madeira, Portugal,  just above sea level. I would expect the water to be saline, possibly not as salty as the ocean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPpcq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPpcq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rUBmq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rUBmq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17425" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-02-19T18:19:36.963" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T18:19:36.963" Title="Can anyone identify this small black swimming creature?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21668" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-18T18:44:07.037" Score="2" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am travelling to Goa in March and I am mostly crazy about water. Elementally, closest to it. Started swimming an year back and still a very naive swimmer but mostly comfortable with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to learn surfing. It's a short trip of 4 days but I am pretty much fine with giving all of the 4 days to Surfing. What's the best way to go about it? Schools/Instructors/suggestions- Anything that I should know about to be closer to being able to learn surfing in that time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Sorry if I am sounding over-optimistic about learning it in that short period of time - Feel free to offer a reality check if you think it's futile to plan it in such short duration.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17428" OwnerDisplayName="Simran kaur" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T06:30:24.613" Title="Learning to Surf in Goa - Your advice" Tags="&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21667" CreationDate="2019-02-18T19:01:15.103" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplysia_fasciata&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;mottled sea hare.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Black_sea_hare_Povoa_de_Varzim.JPG/1280px-Black_sea_hare_Povoa_de_Varzim.JPG&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_sea_hare_Povoa_de_Varzim.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aplysia fasciata, common name the &quot;mottled sea hare&quot;, or the &quot;sooty sea hare&quot;, is an Atlantic species of sea hare or sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aplysia fasciata can grow to sizes up to 40 cm long. Coloring is often black or a very dark brown, sometimes with a thin red border to the parapodia, foot, and tentacles.[3] Many also have mottled spots which span across their body, earning the name &quot;mottled sea hare&quot;. Aplysia fasciata have, like most sea slugs, two oral tentacles and two more smaller rhinopores in front on their neck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplysia_fasciata&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-02-18T19:01:15.103" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21593" CreationDate="2019-02-19T14:46:35.100" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Everyone who has taught climbing for a while has noticed that women are better beginner climbers than men, mostly because they're lighter, have smaller hands (so can grab smaller holds more comfortably) and have less strength, which forces them to use their feet and body positioning properly. This seems to work up to 5.11. When you start thinking about intermediate climbing, from 5.12 to 5.13, women have a harder time because now strength starts to matter. Strength, from my perspective, only matters after 5.12.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, specific finger training is a strengthening training. Campus boarding is extremely aggressive, and hang boarding is also generally quite taxing. I started specific finger training when I began to struggle with 5.12+ climbs, and so did most climbers I know. I've seen beginners campusing really well, still they couldn't climb harder than 5.11 and got injured all the time. Specific finger training if you climb less than 5.12, independently of your weight or climbing experience, is something I would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; advice. Considering your weight, than I would &lt;em&gt;definitely&lt;/em&gt; not even mention it. Even if you do it, it won't help you: climbs up to 5.11 don't usually require a lot of finger strength anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have mentioned that you're not interested in climbing seriously. I must insist that specific finger training is something for people that are already climbing seriously. You should start finger strengthening when you meet with an adversary (a route) that requires your fingers to be stronger, and this is almost never the case with routes that people that are not climbing serious try.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In resume: climb a lot at the gym. Boulders, roped climbing, resistance training. If you feel your fingers are too weak and you really want to get better in climbing, lose weight. Your fingers will thank you. Now, if you feel your fingers are too weak and you're climbing a 5.12c, then they're probably too weak - go train them! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2019-02-19T15:54:04.777" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T15:54:04.777" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21672" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-19T16:13:00.170" Score="4" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chronic wasting disease&lt;/a&gt; is a fatal disease that affects members of the deer family. It has always been something to watch out for when hunting because you don't want to eat meat from animals that have it and will cause higher mortality in herds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been a bunch of news articles on it recently, &lt;strong&gt;has it suddenly gotten worse with more animals being infected or spreading to more areas?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-06T19:12:34.910" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T19:12:34.910" Title="Has Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) suddenly gotten worse in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;deer&gt;&lt;chronic-wasting-disease&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21658" CreationDate="2019-02-19T16:47:03.930" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;All answers will always veer on the side of speculation, but there are a few points which make a likely candidate for this specific case:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The Nose is on south-facing El Cap, directly in the sun;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.supertopo.com/climbingareas/yosemite.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;November air temperatures in Yosemite&lt;/a&gt; are between 57°F(14°C) maximum to 30°F(-1°C) minimum;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This climb was done in 2 hours 36 minutes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most logical conclusion would be a &lt;strong&gt;mineral sunscreen&lt;/strong&gt;. Adressing my 3 above facts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Provided it is not cloudy, the sun beats down brutally on that wall. It's usually a good idea to climb when it's not cloudy as you definitely don't want any unexpected shower to ruin your speed attempt. Some level of sun protection is required. Furthermore, that orientation makes the heated rock warm the air significantly close to the wall in calm conditions, not mentioning how hot the rock itself can be. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since the climb was done in not even half a day, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-climb-yosemites-el-capitan-2016-2#climbing-in-yosemite-has-been-a-dream-for-me-ever-since-ive-started-climbing-verhoeven-told-business-insider-just-the-stunning-view-driving-into-the-park-as-you-see-the-profile-of-the-nose-makes-a-climbers-heart-beat-faster-2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;most probably in the morning&lt;/a&gt;, we can expect air temperature to have been cool, but definitely manageable with bare skin. From the linked article about another November climb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Verhoeven climbed mostly in the early morning to escape the heat, and relaxed at night. [...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At times, the rock can get so hot that it's dangerous to free climb with just your bare hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Considering the pace at which they climbed, the 31 pitches took on average 5 minutes 3 seconds. 5 minutes of belaying is enough to cool down from the massive effort, but nothing serious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I highly doubt a skin conditioning and cold-resistance product was needed. Even in November, climbers need to escape the heat on that wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-02-19T16:57:12.447" LastActivityDate="2019-02-19T16:57:12.447" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21672" CreationDate="2019-02-19T18:42:00.567" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not have a global (US-wide) answer to the question. However, I can point to my state, where CWD is not getting worse, suddenly or not. In fact, it seems to be getting better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In New Mexico, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/invasive-species-and-diseases/chronic-wasting-disease/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;58 deer&lt;/a&gt; have been confirmed to have CWD since 2002 (year of first confirmed case in NM). The last positive case was in 2016. Every year between 2002 and 2016 saw at least two confirmed CWD cases. The last two seasons there have been none. All cases over the 2002-2016 period have been confined to a relatively small area in NM (and remote from Colorado where it was first detected in the 1960's). The NM Game and Fish folks require all hunters in two game management units to submit animals for testing, so this decrease is not because folks aren't testing. This decrease is further interesting because the last few seasons have been in a drought, and such conditions have been thought to be a possible driver for the spread of CWD through the wild populations.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, that does not mean that it has not gotten worse in your particular area lately. Check with your local Fish &amp;amp; Wildlife folks. It may also just be that they have started checking for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, no, CWD has not suddenly gotten worse across the US. Be aware, follow your state's rules, and be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastEditorUserId="3955" LastEditDate="2019-02-20T17:22:45.447" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T17:22:45.447" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21668" CreationDate="2019-02-19T21:31:34.413" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definitely do it, you can make enormous progress in 4 days!  But take safety seriously in the ocean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy your own leash and carefully check that the connection to the rental surfboard is very secure.  If you are anything but a very experienced swimmer then becoming separated from your surfboard in the ocean may be an unpleasant or dangerous experience.  I’ve personally seen enough old failing Velcro on rental leashes that I would not trust my safety to them.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Surf with other people who can paddle over to you if you are separated from your board somehow anyway.  This sounds obvious but early morning/late dusk waves with no one on them can be tempting...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Swim as much as you can before you go to get as fit as possible.  4 days of surfing will be a physically demanding experience, the better shape you’re in when you arrive the more fun you will have.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2019-02-20T06:30:24.613" LastActivityDate="2019-02-20T06:30:24.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21676" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21679" CreationDate="2019-02-20T16:58:33.210" Score="3" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do any mountaineering / Alpine style waterproof trousers come in short legs? I have a 29&quot; inside leg and I've really struggled to find anything to fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17433" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:21:51.073" Title="Mountaineering trousers with short legs" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21676" CreationDate="2019-02-21T13:35:03.970" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look in the women's section of your favorite clothing supplier.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The average woman is shorter than the average man, which means there are often smaller sizes in these selections.  They also have some options that are not available in mens clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately Women's clothes often have small pockets, so when shopping the women's section, besure to test the pockets before purchasing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not ashamed to say, some of my outdoor clothes come from the women's section. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-02-21T13:59:46.420" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T13:59:46.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17335" CreationDate="2019-02-21T20:13:08.767" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors that determine what R value you will need. While the low temperature might be 10°F (-12°C), the ground could be substantially warmer (or potentially colder). The temperature of the surface you are sleeping on is much more important than the air temperature. It also matters how well the surface conducts heat; sleeping in a hammock (or a raised lean-too shelter) is going to be much colder than on snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another big factor is your sleeping position. If sleep on your side, you have a lot less contact with the ground and the sleeping bag is going to matter more. A stomach sleeper will lose much more heat through the pad and the bag will be less important. If you use a quilt instead of a sleeping bag, that will also influence heat lose through the pad. Finally, if you are a warm sleeper, you will need less of a pad than if you sleep cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, most people will be comfortable in most conditions with a low of 10°F (-12°C) with an R value in the 3-4 range. That said, there is no reason you cannot use multiple pads (e.g., an inflatable pad and a closed cell foam pad) to get you the total R-value you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-02-21T20:13:08.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21682" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21684" CreationDate="2019-02-22T13:57:10.643" Score="5" ViewCount="267" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning what will realistically be my first backpacking trip. It'll be in Yosemite this summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've already been going through checklists of things we need, the trails we'll take, what we'll eat and different options if we decide we can't make the full 24 miles in 5 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the one thing I can't figure out how to plan is where we'll stop and call it a night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've already pulled 7.5' quadrangle &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pickatrail.com/topo-map/t/7.5x7.5/ten-lakes-ca.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;maps of our trail&lt;/a&gt;, but even on them, I can't tell where a good place to pitch the tents would be. Ideally--in my mind--I'd have 2 or 3 different stopping places and around noon we could decide on which we think we're going to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I over-planning here? Is it as simple as &quot;we're getting tired, let's head off the trail and find a clearing?&quot; Or are there some better maps to help me plan this kind of thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17441" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-22T15:15:05.830" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:38:47.967" Title="Planning where to stop and camp in advance" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21682" CreationDate="2019-02-22T15:14:50.970" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's going to depend on you, the terrain and how long it takes to set up camp. If you can set up in the dark and don't need a lot of perfectly flat terrain then you can definitely&#xA; keep walking until you get tired and then set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There have been plenty of times where I hiked into the night and then pulled just off the trail to sleep. The only times where I absolutely needed to keep hiking was when the terrain was too steep and full of switchbacks to find something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google Earth may be helpful as well because then you can see what the clearings will look like and where there are trees and so on before you go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the most part Yosemite has enough water for that not to be a problem, there will be some areas that are restricted from camping, there was an area where the bears were grabbing bear cans and chucking them off a cliff to break them open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a bad idea to have a couple of places marked in advance as potential campsites, but I wouldn't stress too much if you end up camping somewhere slightly different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-22T16:39:01.837" LastActivityDate="2019-02-22T16:39:01.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21682" CreationDate="2019-02-22T22:30:15.510" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on decades of camping in the Yosemite backcountry, I can promise you that there is never a real problem finding an acceptable place to camp when backpacking.  Of course, you can't be ultra-picky about what is acceptable.  You may not find an absolutely flat place, but a few degrees tilt is not going to prevent you from sleeping if you are tired enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice, in unpromising territory (e.g., steep) is to start looking for an acceptable place to camp about an hour, or a bit more, before dusk and either take the first OK one you find, or remember where it was, go on or scout around for another 20 minutes, and go back to it if you don't find anything better.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @Charlie Brumbaugh said, contour maps will give you guidance, but even when the contour map says the territory is steep, you will find small flattish spaces.  As for running water, to reinforce what Charlie said, the only time we have had a real problem finding running water was the summer of 2016, when the previous winter's snowpack was 5% of normal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to your question, you are planning to do 24 miles in 5 days -- or did I read that wrong?  At that pace you will have plenty of time to explore.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of yourself as an explorer.  Daniel Boone, John Muir, Lewis and Clark camped where they could.  If the weather is good and the places to camp are small, consider not using the tent and sleep under the stars.      &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-02-23T16:49:12.600" LastActivityDate="2019-02-23T16:49:12.600" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21686" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21766" CreationDate="2019-02-23T02:51:18.307" Score="2" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a backpacking trip to Juneau with some friends next summer and was interested in taking the North Ridge route to Bullard Mountain (see: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/bullard-mountain/930372&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.summitpost.org/bullard-mountain/930372&lt;/a&gt;). The route involves crossing the Mendenhall Glacier though, which I don't have any experience with. Based on the time of year (and the only way I'd consider crossing), the glacier would be dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been interested in learning mountaineering skills, so I've read enough on the subject to know that you shouldn't just go out without any experience or preparation. But, most of what I find is about the dangers of wet glaciers. When I read Glacier Mountaineering by Andy Tyson, he mentions that travel below the firn line is normally done unroped because you can see the dangers and can't do much to arrest a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is it smart to travel cautiously across a dry glacier, with the proper equipment, but without much practical experience? (Assuming one thoroughly studies features and danger signs beforehand) Or is this just as dangerous as crossing a wet glacier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, is the Mendenhall glacier in particular a bad idea for someone like me to even think about approaching? Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17443" LastEditorUserId="17443" LastEditDate="2019-02-23T03:58:37.327" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T20:27:20.467" Title="How much experience is needed for crossing the Mendenhall Glacier?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21688" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-23T20:25:49.700" Score="10" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I develop my kayak “Eskimo roll” from something I can do most of the time in a calm lake or pool to something I can trust to work close to 100% of the time in real sea or river conditions?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T08:57:38.960" Title="How to make my kayak Eskimo roll reliable in rough water?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21688" CreationDate="2019-02-23T20:25:49.700" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary:&#xA;Develop muscle memory for the basic move through instruction and repetition, develop robustness against external water conditions, and address the internal panic response.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Develop muscle memory:  get some instruction and then practice the basic mechanics of a roll until you can do it thoughtlessly.  The investment in the instruction is well justified by the subsequent investment of time (you want the habits you lock in to be good habits).  This becomes the motion you will do almost automatically when you flip.  Learn to do this on both sides (see below).  Learn to do this not from deliberately setting up and flipping, but from leaning further and further into a brace until you lose balance so that transitioning from bracing into rolling is part of the habit.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Develop robustness against external conditions, in the form of “offside” roll, extended paddle roll, and other self-rescue techniques:  there will be wind, wave, and current conditions during which your practiced muscle-memory move on your preferred side will not work.  Specifically when your body is being swept one way under the water or (equivalently) the hull is being pushed hard the other way along the surface by wind, it may be hard or impossible to roll on one side of the kayak.  Fortunately the same conditions make it very easy to roll on the other side.   Additionally, other circumstances conspire to make a boat behave strangely sometimes (partially swamped kayak loaded with camping gear for example, or draped in kelp) and in that case an extended-paddle roll that is slower to set up but always gets you upright is valuable.  You can strengthen the above by flipping with your paddle in odd positions that make you orient and set up underwater.  Finally you want to develop skills with other solo self rescue techniques like cowboy (fast) or paddle float reentry and roll (reliable in all conditions) and assisted rescues such that you can be safe while developing your rolling skills.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Develop robustness against internal conditions (i.e. panic):  it is foreseeable that a land mammal upside down in cold dark water, with their feet stuck in a plastic box that is simultaneously unwieldy and claustrophobic, might lose their composure and forget simple skills.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, lucky you, otherwise I would encourage you that in my experience you just have to train through it.  Two techniques I found helpful:  First, try to schedule training in a warm lit pool, then in calm sea, then in rougher but safe sea (ie wind chop or gentle surf over sandy bottom) then real adrenaline-inducing surf, scheduled in close succession to preserve the good habits through the transition into real conditions.  Second, practice holding your breath as follows—when your heart rate is high (from running up stairs or climbing a hill on a bike) exhale fully then count long enough to perform two leisurely setups and rolls (perhaps a slow ten count).  I am amazed how few seconds it takes before urgent discomfort sets in and it makes me understand why unexpected rolls are so challenging especially if I am held under by the surf or miss the first roll.  If I only experience this sensation on the worst wave of the day and I only surf once or twice a month, I have no chance to develop a better response.  A tiny amount of this training (ten or fifteen seconds a couple times a day until I got more comfortable) went a very long way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-02-23T20:25:49.700" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21691" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21692" CreationDate="2019-02-24T00:37:07.497" Score="4" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;What is a likely value for fuel consumption for a small portable 4-stroke gasoline-powered inverter power generator in, say, litre / ( kilowatt * hour )?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At times I attend music festivals where you camp outside for a few days and go see bands perform in the afternoon and evenings. Some of them permit the use of power generators, and I got myself one as described above rated for max. 1000 watts continuous power draw. My group won't use that much, but that's what I got when I aimed for the smallest 4-stroke inverter model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Among my questions is now how to estimate the amount of fuel to bring with me to a given event, and unfortunately the spec sheet and other resources shipped with the unit do not feature any fuel consumption figures/curves/tables.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have a rough estimate of the power draw and duration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically the power generator will be run from the morning into the afternoon, let's say 08:00..14:00, which is when people hang out at the camp site killing time until the bands start. From afternoon on it's seeing the bands until late into the night, after which people come back exhausted and in various stages of inebriation and usually just drop into their tents – running a generator at that kind of time is a jerk move that is guaranteed to bring the rightful wrath of your camp neighbors upon you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the generator is being used you will run a fridge for the drinks, some music setup for nice tunes, and a bunch of small power supplies charging various devices such as smartphones and power banks. If you're fancy you might have a table fan for when it's really hot. So let's add these up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;80 W - (small) fridge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;50 W - music&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5 * 10 W - smartphones etc. being charged&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;40 W - table fan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's 220 W of continuous power draw (the fridge will be running its compressor continuously because it starts out warm and is made extensive use of). Multiply that with the 6 hours of daily use and we get about 1300 Wh, and if the festival lasts for 4 days we're at about 5300 Wh, or 5.3 kWh, drawn at roughly a quarter of the generator's rated output.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So … how much gas does that &lt;strong&gt;roughly&lt;/strong&gt; equate to?&#xA;I have been searching around for some ballpark figures, but I only seem to find various tables that are too specific and not readily applicable to my problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17447" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T11:33:59.147" Title="Portable power generator ballpark fuel consumption" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21691" CreationDate="2019-02-24T11:35:35.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generator run time per gallon varies greatly by manufacture. Just like gas mileage varies per vehicle.  Not all small 4 seat cars, driving the speed limit get the same gas mileage, even though they are doing the same work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most manufactures include run time per tank or gallon in their literature. Searching online for your make and model of generator should get you answers for your generator.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The are two primary markets for portable generators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Construction workers&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Campers and Survivalists &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both have minimum run time requirements, Construction works want the generator to run while the are working, at a minimum 4 hours.  Campers want their generator to run all day, at a minimum 8 hours. As a result most generators run between 5 and 10 hours on one tank of fuel at 50% of rated output.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I run my generators at home, at least twice a year (Spring and Fall), to ensure they are ready for the coming season. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When test running your generator put about a 1/4 tank of fuel in it.  Plug in some things and and let it run until it runs out of fuel.  This should be between 1 and 3 hours, multiple by 4 and that is how many hours it runs on one tank of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fuel stabilizer is important. I always add fuel stabilizer to the fuel I run in my generators. I never know when I will run it again, but I know it could be 6 months, so stabilizer prevents gas break down.  At the end of the season I put left over generator fuel in my car/truck and get new fuel (adding stabilizer) for the seasonal test run and reserve fuel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No load requires about the same fuel as 50% or less load. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More load requires more fuel, there are multiple ways for manufacturers to balance fuel supply for increased load.  Some of these solutions are less efficient then others.  If it is important that you have good estimates on fuel consumption per hour, testing (per above) is your best choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For really ballpark estimates, figure 4 hours per tank, and in most scenarios you should be fine, with a little extra just in case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info on why inexpensive generators don't scale kWh to fuel consumption see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21707/4079&quot;&gt;This answer at 'What to look for in a portable generator?'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-02-28T11:33:59.147" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T11:33:59.147" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21688" CreationDate="2019-02-24T21:56:59.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important factor is to have some slack in your roll.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're only just coming up in flat water you're not going to be coming up as soon as there's an additional factor against you. Make sure that as you practice your roll you're not at the end of your movement as you come up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The places to find that slack are to: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;improve your hip flick movement, ideally this alone could bring you up (hand roll, body roll) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;improve your paddle movement, adding a bit of scull during the initial movement (C to C) and making sure your paddle is coming out wide enough to get additional leverage.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-02-25T08:57:38.960" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T08:57:38.960" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21694" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-02-25T13:24:08.553" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-02-25T13:24:08.553" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T13:24:08.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21695" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-02-25T13:24:08.553" Score="0" Body="For questions regarding caterpillars.  The larval forms of butterflies and moths." OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2019-02-25T15:06:14.043" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T15:06:14.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21696" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21676" CreationDate="2019-02-25T19:21:51.073" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This assumes they are normal pants, without a zipper on the leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put them on, then roll up the cuffs to the length you want.  Normally pants that are worn with boots are 1-2&quot; longer to keep the bottom over your boot top even with a sharply bent knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety pin them in place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go to your local dry-cleaner and ask if they do alterations.  Usually changing the length of pants is just a few dollars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:21:51.073" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21682" CreationDate="2019-02-25T19:38:47.967" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a while you get a feel for the country that comes through from the map.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g.  In Willmore Wilderness, you will often find hunting camps that are clear and pretty well made, but are only used for a month a year.  They will sit at the base of a pass, or the junction of two creeks (better grazing for horses) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I am blessed to be able to use a fire for cooking (low traffic) I look for places where the timberline comes into the meadow and is close to water.  Failing that, where a ravine large enough to likely have water comes down to where my trail will cross it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a different context, when traveling by canoe in Northern Saskatchewan you learn that the top end of many rapids is a good place to camp.  Some obstacle backed the water up, and so it's likely to at least be out of the bog.  The bottom end of a portage is often boggy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also will look for points of land that catch the wind if the bugs are bad, and otherwise just look for places where the tree cover is less solid. (Upwind end of an island is great.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My usual habit is to start looking in mid afternoon.  If I'm seeing reasonable looking spots fairly frequently  -- several per hour, then I will push on.  However if good sites are scarce (Mirror River, SK, I'm talking to you.) then I may stop early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map will tell you what sort of country you are in. When you are in a new type of country start pretending you're looking for a spot right away.  You'll pick up what features on the map give valid hints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gotchas are when the terrain changes.  E.g. We had been doing puddle jumping and portaging from Cree Lake toward High Rock Lake, on a chain of winter roads.  Would have been easy camping, (but not pretty) at any point where the winter road met a lake. (This is not always true. Winter roads are often frozen bogs, and terrible in summer)   But we had to turn off that route and pick up Browne Creek.  That was a mosquito farm. Browne Creek was 2 feet wide, had a corner every 6 feet.  We portaged over a mattress of wet moss trying to keep from hitting the canoes on the bog spruce and tamarack.  2 km took us 4 hours.  Yuck.  Fortunately we only had lunch in there.  Peanut butter and bugs.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:38:47.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21101" CreationDate="2019-02-25T19:55:23.347" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suggest you confirm by observation:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is sort of what I would expect to see from a squirrel eating.  Take a closer look and see if you can figure out if they are crap, or just cores and peels.   I've seen squirrels create large mounds of conifer scales.  They like to find a spot where they can watch the world while they munch.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might also be a chipmunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The source fruit may also be mountain ash berries (big clusters of pea sized orange/red berries) or hawthorne (similar looking to crabapples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Test:  Put a bunch of crabapples, or whatever other stuff you think might be the starting product on your bird feeder, and see what comes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  Indiana is a long way from Alberta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-02-25T19:55:23.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21700" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-26T09:12:05.747" Score="5" ViewCount="266" Body="&lt;p&gt;Oscillating temperature readings result in inaccurate altitude data. I currently have no solution or explanation. Can anybody help?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case the route is completely flat. As soon as the temperature starts oscillating (exactly where I placed the cursor) the altitude increases. This a new, unexpected, behavior. Something I am seeing only recently...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/obbTK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/obbTK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another more extreme example is here. In particular temperature &lt;strong&gt;spikes&lt;/strong&gt; result in abnormal elevation changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7gTQL.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7gTQL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a normal behavior of the temperature/elevation metric, it taken same time of the year almost one year ago, similar temperature conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y0bnT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y0bnT.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17455" LastEditorUserId="17455" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T13:56:27.240" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T13:56:27.240" Title="Garmin Fenix 3 - Temperature spikes result in abnormal elevation changes" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;biking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21700" CreationDate="2019-02-26T15:55:50.063" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would expect an aneroid or electronic barometer to do exactly that. Without any compensation, anything that affects pressure will yield changing readings. Be it pressure differentials caused by being on the leeward or windward slopes of a ridge in high winds, or temperature changes due to time of day or exposure to sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is a new behavior, maybe another system in your barometer is failing and there is no compensation being applied. Or maybe you simply have changed the operating mode. Many barometers will have the ability to switch between fixed elevation, displaying pressure changes similar to a weather station, and varying elevation, used as an altimeter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering your temperature changes chart, which shows oscillations of 2-3°C, this is very consistent with what I experience in my Garmin cycling GPS unit (Edge 510) that includes a barometer. Depending if I'm in the shadow or in the sun, there will be similar temperature changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-IE/?faq=fFqaolJqep3QqZY5UqOCa6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin&lt;/a&gt; has a page about some of the behaviors described for a specific watch (but this applies to any barometer, really). Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/barometer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic article&lt;/a&gt; on how barometers work, which should be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-02-26T16:07:54.517" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T16:07:54.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21700" CreationDate="2019-02-26T15:59:46.733" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thing is that altimeters are affected by the air temperature because hot air will cause the pressure to rise and cold air to cause the pressure to drop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warm air causes air pressure to rise. When air molecules collide, they exert force on each other. When gas molecules are heated, the molecules move more quickly, and the increased velocity causes more collisions. As a result, more force is exerted on each molecule and air pressure increases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cool temperatures cause air pressure to drop. When gas molecules cool, they move more slowly. Decreased velocity results in fewer collisions between molecules and air pressure decreases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sciencing.com/temperature-affect-barometric-pressure-5013070.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How Does Temperature Affect Barometric Pressure?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as the air temperature fluctuates, the altitude shown on your device will change as well. This can even be used to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14394/how-do-you-predict-weather-with-an-altimeter-while-mountaineering-and-or-backpac&quot;&gt;predict weather with the altimeter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T15:59:46.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21703" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21707" CreationDate="2019-02-26T18:57:56.750" Score="3" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;While shopping for a portable generator I noticed that some very similar seeming generators, have drastically different prices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably there is something besides a brand name that makes a 1000 watt generator twice (or more) expensive then a similar 1000 watt generator.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the difference I should look at to fully understand the differences? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T06:58:04.213" Title="What to look for in a portable generator?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21703" CreationDate="2019-02-26T21:38:20.077" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's start with some basics&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Efficiency&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Noise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you get to the more complex requirements&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stability of power output and response speed to load change&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cleanliness of power wave&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are where the money really starts to count. The former counts most when you have multiple loads that need relatively steady power, alongside something with a rapidly changing load such as power tools. The latter counts when you're using more sensitive equipment such as radios and computers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all you're doing is running some lights and a fridge then you can save the money, if you're running sensitive equipment then it's going to cost you a few quid extra to get a suitable generator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-02-26T21:38:20.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21705" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-27T00:03:11.897" Score="7" ViewCount="1473" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a set of titanium cookware that I use for backpacking.  It's a small set for one to two people and consists of two little pots and one cover/frying pan.  Mostly, this set gets used for boiling water, but I do occasionally actually cook in it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any (good) reason to try to season this set (maybe just the frying pan?) like I do for my cast iron cookware?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would the seasoning take to the surfaces?  Would it have any non-stick properties?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;---Edit---&#xA;Here's a link to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/cookware/titanium/titan-2-pot-set&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar cookware&lt;/a&gt; set by the same company as mine.  This new model (mine is 10+ years old) doesn't show the lid as useable as a frying pan, but mine has a lid that looks very much like the one in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/139455/toaks-titanium-1600ml-pot-with-pan&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this model&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastEditorUserId="17065" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T03:49:45.507" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T00:21:31.893" Title="Can or should you season titanium cookware?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21705" CreationDate="2019-02-27T00:26:06.720" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seasoning&lt;/a&gt; is done for two reasons,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To prevent rust/corrosion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To prevent sticking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While titanium &lt;a href=&quot;https://titaniumprocessingcenter.com/does-titanium-rust/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;can rust&lt;/a&gt;, in the process it creates a layer of titanium oxide which creates a protective layer that protects the inside from further corrosion and the non-sticking versions have a coating but are not seasonsed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that it doesn't need to be seasoned there I don't see why one would and given the description of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;process&lt;/a&gt;, I am not sure it would work either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T04:51:26.127" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T04:51:26.127" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21703" CreationDate="2019-02-27T04:12:47.463" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are basically two major types of generators for this situation: traditional and inverter generators. The expensive ones are the inverter generators, and the difference between the two types is the major price differentiator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The electrical power used in residential applications, and likewise the devices you'd power in a camping situation, is alternating current, at 50hz or 60hz depending on where in the world you are. Many devices, especially motors, are somewhat sensitive to the frequency of the generated power. The frequency of the power is directly related to the speed of the engine. As a result, for a traditional generator, the ability to throttle the engine is very limited, so what ends up happening is the motor runs at full blast pretty much all the time, regardless how much of the rated output you are drawing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an inverter generator however, you have sophisticated electronics between the generator and the output. They are called inverters because they convert the AC of the generator into DC, then invert it back into AC. What this affords is precise control of the frequency of the output, and thus precise control over throttling of the engine. In practice this means that for a typical power rating, an inverter generator will be lighter, smaller, and quieter. Some of the nicer models you can barely tell are running if the load is low. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inverter generators are superior in virtually every respect except price. Apart from price, traditional generators are usually a better choice for industrial or commercial applications where the generator is meant to run full blast all the time, such as construction lighting and pumping applications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you are shopping limited to one style or the other, the differences in price should be sensible to infer from the specs, e.g. higher rating, trusted brand, quieter etc will all fetch higher prices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="68" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T06:58:04.213" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T06:58:04.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21708" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21709" CreationDate="2019-02-27T15:17:14.793" Score="10" ViewCount="3162" Body="&lt;p&gt;Certain calibers such as the 300 Winchester Magnum are often called flat shooting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does that mean and why would a hunter care that the caliber is flat shooting when selecting a rifle to go hunting with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T16:44:33.690" LastActivityDate="2021-01-12T21:11:23.340" Title="What does it mean for a caliber to be flat shooting?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21708" CreationDate="2019-02-27T15:17:14.793" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bullets follow a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_ballistics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;parabolic arc&lt;/a&gt; as seen below,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yhNFl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yhNFl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M855_drop_during_25-meter_zeroing_trajectory_M16A2_M4.jpg#file&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see the yellow line is a bullet fired from a longer barrel which results in a higher velocity and thus less drop over distance. In this case the yellow line is a flatter shooting rifle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cartridges that are regarded as flatter shooting have one or both of two things going for them, they are traveling at a much higher velocity to start with and or have a better ballistic coefficient resulting in less drag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See for example 6.5 Creedmore vs. 308 Winchester.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q4pIJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/q4pIJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gunwerks.com/uploads/images/original/BDC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gunwerks.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lifeundersky.com/6-5-creedmoor-vs-308-winchester/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that this matters is that with a flatter shooting cartridge you don't have to get the range to the animal as accurately because the bullet is dropping less. This leads to the concept of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21713/what-is-a-cartridge-s-point-blank-range/21714#21714&quot;&gt;point-blank-range&lt;/a&gt; as fully explained &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21713/what-is-a-cartridge-s-point-blank-range/21714#21714&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-01-12T21:11:23.340" LastActivityDate="2021-01-12T21:11:23.340" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21710" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-02-27T20:55:29.793" Score="8" ViewCount="689" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have watched many documentaries about accidents on Everest and what I learned is, that it is impossible to rescue anybody from the death zone. It is simply too hard for the sherpas, or anybody else to carry somebody. So, when a climber is unable to stand on his own feet, he is left there, basically to die. If other groups on the way up or down encounter the individual, they leave them there and continue upwards or downwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I realize, that it is hard and dangerous enough to carry your own body weight up and down and attempting to carry someone would result in critical danger for the rescuer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But are there, or have there been discussions of developing a method to somehow rescue people in these situations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have in mind are the following, probably stupid ideas, sorted from least to most preposterous:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Abort ascents, organize a rescue group and bring the person more supplies: oxygen bottles and blankets, maybe even a tent or other way of keeping them warm, until they get better. Maybe even put them in a portable compression chamber. This should be theoretically doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Put the person on a sleigh or ski and let them take their chances riding down some of the way at least or have multiple people pull them, which should be less impossible, than carrying them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Have the person paraglide down in tandem with a sherpa or alone (after a short instruction). Let's assume, the person is well enough to wait for someone to carry the chute up to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4) Put the person on a rebreather with full face mask on. This should be able to eliminate the oxygen starvation or at least give them more time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5) If the groups is 10 people strong, attach the climber to a hammock or some rope contraption and divide the weight among the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6) Have a rope installed on one of the steeper, longer walls or slopes and let the person down, until he reaches a lower point, even if that lower point is not very easily accessible, just to kill some altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What ideas so far have been explored by the community in order to solve this problem? What discussions are there or have there been?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that most of these are probably stupid, but somehow I can't believe, that the only option there can ever be is to leave people for dead there. There have been well-known climbers, who criticize the practice of leaving people for dead. However, as far as I know, those well-known climbers haven't provided practical solutions to the problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="12233" LastEditDate="2019-03-05T21:05:50.110" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T14:13:02.327" Title="Is there really no way to rescue a climber from the death zone?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;mount-everest&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21710" CreationDate="2019-02-27T21:13:23.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can &lt;em&gt;get&lt;/em&gt; to the person, a rescue operation is 90% done. A danger zone is a danger zone because spotting someone is often impossible, let alone getting near them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never heard of anyone passing near someone that was dying and ignoring it, even in the massive scam Everest is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I didn't know about the case of David Sharp, mentioned in the comments. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sharp_(mountaineer)#Details_of_Sharp&amp;#39;s_2006_Everest_incident&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt; about it mentions lots of other attempts to rescue people from above apx 8000m, most of them failing miserably and killing rescuers. In Patagonia it's almost impossible to even recover bodies, let alone rescuing people. I can't imagine how strenuous it must be to carry someone from 8000m down, but I'm absolutely sure the experts have thought of it and it's not due to lack of ideas: it's just not practical. Helicopter rescues depend on extremely good weather, and are most often than not unfeasible, almost always risking the aircraft, the pilot and the crew. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything resumes to: Rescuing people creates a huge margin for more casualties, and experience shows this is pretty much absolutely true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T21:28:17.370" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T21:28:17.370" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21713" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21714" CreationDate="2019-02-27T22:56:52.757" Score="3" ViewCount="504" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to the idea of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21708/what-does-it-mean-for-a-caliber-to-be-flat-shooting&quot;&gt;flatter shooting cartridge&lt;/a&gt;, and the reason why a flatter cartridge makes it easier to hit the animal within the vital area, is the concept of point-blank-range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is point-blank-range when hunting with firearms and why would it matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-02-28T01:28:42.727" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T01:28:42.727" Title="What is a cartridge’s point-blank-range?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21713" CreationDate="2019-02-27T23:10:16.567" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21709/17460&quot;&gt;the answer&lt;/a&gt; to the question about flatter shooting cartridges states: &lt;em&gt;&quot;you don't have to get the range to the animal as accurately because the bullet is dropping less&quot;&lt;/em&gt;. The concept underlying this is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-blank_range&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;point-blank range&lt;/a&gt;, which is the theoretical maximum range at which you can hold directly on target (ie not adjust for range) and still hit it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your line of sight through a scope or iron sights is a straight line but the bullet follows a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projectile_motion&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ballistic trajectory&lt;/a&gt;. This means that the bullet moves above and below your line of sight as it travels downrange:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MnniY.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MnniY.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://mathscinotes.com/2015/05/pejsa-bullet-height-versus-distance-formula-for-a-zeroed-rifle/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to hit a target dead on, you must know both its range and how your bullet travels after it leaves the barrel (its &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_ballistics&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;external ballistics&lt;/a&gt;. This is certainly possible, but takes a non-negligible amount of knowledge and time. For hunters, though, you don't necessarily need to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tack%20driver&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;driving tacks&lt;/a&gt; with every shot. This is because there are many areas on a deer, for example, in which a hit will be lethal:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oQPoq.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oQPoq.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;https://bowhunting360.com/2017/01/12/bowhunting-aim-whitetail-deer/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the vital zone (the heart and lungs) of a deer is an 8&quot; diameter circle, you can aim in the centre of it and, even if your bullet lands 4&quot; above or below your point of aim, you will still have a lethal shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbufH.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dbufH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;https://bowhunting360.com/2017/01/12/bowhunting-aim-whitetail-deer/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in this example, the point blank range will be the range at which the bullet does not travel above or below the line of sight by more than 4 inches. Let's look at two different cartidges: a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/45-70-government-325-gr-ftx-leverevolution#!/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;250 gr. 45-70 Gov't&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/300-win-mag-180-gr-interlock-sp-american-whitetail#!/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;180 gr. 300 Win Mag&lt;/a&gt; (I'm not trying to advertise for Hornady, they just include some ballistic information on their website). &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shooterscalculator.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ShootersCalculator&lt;/a&gt; is a good resource for calculating bullet trajectories and point-blank ranges. Taking a look at the trajectories of the bullets when zeroed at 200 yards, the 300 Win Mag is clearly flatter shooting:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pmGpG.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pmGpG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does this mean for point blank range? The PBR for the 45-70 is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php?df=G1&amp;amp;bc=0.23&amp;amp;vi=2050&amp;amp;sh=1.5&amp;amp;ts=8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;211 yards with a zero at 181 yards&lt;/a&gt; whereas for the 300 Win Mag it is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php?df=G1&amp;amp;bc=0.452&amp;amp;vi=2960&amp;amp;sh=1.5&amp;amp;ts=8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;325 yards with a zero at 277 yards&lt;/a&gt;. This means that you can theoretically lethally hit an 8&quot; target at a much further range with the 300 Win Mag without having to compensate for range to target or the external ballistics of the bullet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of that said, I don't recommend taking shots without some kind of range compensation. If you aim at the centre of a target at point-blank range, the bullet should hit at the bottom of its vital zone, but this would only occur in a perfect world. In reality, many sources of error are introduced, including the intrinsic accuracy of the rifle and ammunition combination, the ability of the shooter, the natural variation in targets, etc. In my opinion, we should all try and have the bullet hit the target where we want it to, and thus knowing the external ballistics of your bullet is more important than knowing the point-blank range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17460" LastEditorUserId="17460" LastEditDate="2019-02-27T23:21:47.793" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T23:21:47.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21710" CreationDate="2019-02-27T23:36:20.563" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with rescuing someone in the &lt;em&gt;death zone&lt;/em&gt; is, well, that it is the death zone. Supplemental oxygen helps, but the decreased pressure is also problematic. If you are injured or sick, you are not going to get better no matter what type of supplies could be hauled up to you. The only way to rescue someone is to get them down, and get them down quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rescuing someone requires a time window of &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; (or at least reasonable) weather. Above 8000m these weather windows are often short and unpredictable. The first rule of search and rescue is not to put yourself at risk. By definition, going above, or staying, 8000m is putting yourself at risk, even in perfect weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you can get rescuers to the scene, you now need to get the injured party down. Littering someone out under ideal conditions is really hard (even with a team of 10). On steep snow and ice in extreme conditions, it is probably just not possible. Giving them a paraglider or sled has essentially zero chance of working and likely will cause more injury. While it is sad, &lt;em&gt;comfortably&lt;/em&gt; freezing to death may be more desirable than a short sled ride resulting in broken bones only to then freeze to death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-02-27T23:36:20.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21657" CreationDate="2019-02-28T11:45:05.677" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like a misplaced stitch line that could well indicate that there are other manufacturing defects as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm posting this about 10 days too late, but this pair of boots should go back to the manufacturer/outlet and returned as defective.  I sure wouldn't fully trust that toe-cap not to detach under load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if this defect was known and the declared reason for the &quot;good price&quot; you got, then you may have to accept whatever the consequences are, even if you waterproof those stitch holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorDisplayName="user12449" LastEditDate="2019-02-28T14:05:43.077" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T14:05:43.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21721" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21725" CreationDate="2019-02-28T15:10:32.097" Score="21" ViewCount="2673" Body="&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_piston&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fire piston&lt;/a&gt; is a very old way of starting fires, predating friction matches and works on the same principle as a diesel engine. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you use it to light a piece of tinder and then start the fire with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Fire_piston.jpg/1920px-Fire_piston.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fire_piston.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's possible to buy modern ones pretty cheaply, would a fire piston have any advantages over the more modern ways of starting a fire such as matches or a lighter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-03-01T11:06:06.220" Title="Are there any modern advantages of a fire piston?" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21721" CreationDate="2019-02-28T16:48:15.527" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll caveat this answer with the fact I've heard of them but never used them. That being said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would a fire piston have any advantages over the more modern ways of starting a fire such as matches or a lighter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not really.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They require you to carry around a suitable tinder and keep that warm and dry, they're bulkier than matches and take longer to use, and simple as they are, they have parts (such as the sealing o ring) that may fail. They're very neat devices and incredibly interesting, but an outdoors / survival situation wouldn't be a good fit IMHO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for alternatives to matches then something like Swedish FireSteel would be a better choice. It lasts for ages, all you need to get a good shower of sparks off it is a knife (which you'd likely have anyway in an outdoors/survival situation), there's no tinder to carry, it's compact, and if it gets soaking wet just give it a quick wipe off and it's ready to use again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="74" LastActivityDate="2019-02-28T16:48:15.527" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21721" CreationDate="2019-03-01T11:06:06.220" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;would a fire piston have any advantages over the more modern ways of starting a fire such as matches or a lighter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are many combinations of factors that affect the answer. In some situations a fire piston has an advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire piston is liable to be superior to matches when each needs to be able to be used for long periods without external support. For periods of more than weeks to a month the number of matches  needed starts to get large compared to what would usually be available. A Fire Piston does not have this limitation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire piston can be completely saturated with water and will function when dried. Drying probably does not need to be &quot;tinder dry&quot; and the piston can provide the energy needed for the final phases of the drying out. If matches are saturated they MAY still function if dried well, but usually won't. &quot;Wax matches&quot; are better in this respect - having a degree of waterproofness and better survival when soaked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fire piston has no fixed life span. While they will in time &quot;wear out&quot;, if used say a few times a day a well built one will last for years. Matches have a finite life - usually at best one fire kindling per match. To kindle eg a few fires a day would require  around 1000 matches per year - and a very good &quot;one match per fire most times&quot; technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Matches and fire pistons both require tinder of some sort. Tinder that is marginal will be dried out by successive strokes of a fire piston. Marginal tinder can also be improved using multiple matches but this (obviously) consumes a precious resource. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it would require considerable skill, and preferably prior experiment, it would be possible to build a fire piston entirely from natural resources in a &quot;bush&quot; environment if typical basic long-term-survival tools were available - especially a survival oriented knife. Ideally a long thin &quot;boring bar&quot; would be available and a knife will not usually have the ideal length to width ratio - but many would suffice. A tube could be &quot;bored&quot; blind from one end or bored from both ends and one end then plugged. Not a trivial task, but also not an impossible one. &#xA;It would be hard to manufacture matches in a similar environment. The excessively  enthused might manage Potassium Nitrate oxidiser from urine with time, but finding a suitable reducing agent would be &quot;problematic&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see I'm going to have to try to make a wooden fire piston using only a knife :-) !!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6686" LastActivityDate="2019-03-01T11:06:06.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21710" CreationDate="2019-03-01T21:20:27.613" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming weather conditions were perfect, and the condition you were treating was mostly oedema, then a hot air balloon with a hyperbaric chamber may be possible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, conditions are rarely perfect, and the risk, and expense would simply be too much to keep such a toy on constant standby near the major climbs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manoeuvrability of such a vehicle in mountains would make it limited in application.  I can't imagine someone outlaying the cost, unless climbers were willing to heavily invest in some kind of rescue.  Human nature is to assume it's someone else who will need to be rescued, so I suspect this kind of solution isn't going to fly (pun intended).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17478" LastActivityDate="2019-03-01T21:20:27.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2019-03-02T02:51:11.050" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly camp in a tent with temps down to about 0 degrees C.  I have a temperature sensor in my tent and one outside.  The tent on average is about 2 degrees C higher.  I hope that helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17479" LastActivityDate="2019-03-02T02:51:11.050" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19961" CreationDate="2019-03-02T03:43:52.223" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Zinc oxide has a very slight antimicrobial effect, whilst having little to no impact on human cells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is more that the material is toxic to microbes than activating a body defence. It's the Zn^{2+} ions that have the property of being toxic to microbes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Small particles are more effective.  Ideally I'd recommend creams to provide an even distribution of zinc oxide to the surface you wish to recover.  The cream itself should help by providing moisture to the site of the wound, or blister.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, you will be consuming amounts of zinc oxide in your food, so it's definitely not harmful to humans.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://aem.asm.org/content/77/7/2325&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://aem.asm.org/content/77/7/2325&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5940970/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5940970/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17478" LastActivityDate="2019-03-02T03:43:52.223" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22322" CreationDate="2019-03-02T20:40:55.607" Score="4" ViewCount="283" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is based on my desire to avoid disturbing, injuring, or scaring away an octopus which is camouflaged to look like a coral reef. Since it's so difficult to see, I'd like to know how to tell where it is! Corals are sensitive animals and easily killed, so purposely touching them is not an option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Octopus behaviors are similar across the species, so the question isn't just about the one I'm describing, and all answers are welcome! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One species of Caribbean reef octopus is mainly bright blue with a bit of brown on the head. (The blue glows in the dark!) Like other octopus they completely camouflage themselves to blend in with the coral in the reef. It's so vital to their survival that if they move to a different colored location, they change their colors to match. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Caribbean reef octopus is an absolute master of disguise and one of the most intelligent known invertebrates. Individuals of this species can completely change their color from one moment to the next using specialized color cells called chromatophores. In doing so, they often perfectly blend with their surroundings, even when settled on a surface with multiple colors. They also have such amazing control of their skin and muscles that they can match the texture of their surroundings as well. &lt;strong&gt;A camouflaged Caribbean reef octopus can be nearly impossible to see.&lt;/strong&gt;  (Emphasis mine.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://oceana.org/marine-life/cephalopods-crustaceans-other-shellfish/caribbean-reef-octopus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The life of a Caribbean reef ends with reproduction. The male dies shortly after mating. The camouflaged female burrows in and incubates up to 1,000 eggs without leaving them or eating. After they hatch and thrive on their own, she dies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm always concerned about protecting the octopus from people, but especially during incubation. Scaring the mom away risks eliminating the next generation. Scientists agree we can cause an octopus (either gender) to leave its burrow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These animals present little danger to humans, and they will generally flee from a location if a human diver gets too close.&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lamar.edu/arts-sciences/biology/marine-critters/marine-critters-1/caribbean-reef-octopus.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were to scuba dive responsibly near a coral reef, as a spectator or scientist, how would I tell if an octopus is in there? As I said, purposely touching the coral isn't an option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do they perhaps emit a smell? Can you tell by which fish are nearby, potentially for food? What about the depth or temperature of the water? Is it something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To illustrate the process of a camouflaged Caribbean reef octopus emerging from its hiding place in the coral, I've taken still pictures from this 25 seconds long &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/l2UeR2pvoMA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt; video. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beginning of video, no obvious evidence of octopus:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iAyms.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iAyms.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Octopus beginning&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;End of .04 seconds, just beginning to see it:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJm75.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hJm75.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;End of .04 just beginning to see it&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;End of .06 seconds, head almost out:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ay3Am.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ay3Am.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;End of .06 head almost out&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;End of .12 seconds, body farther out:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8PzMn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8PzMn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;.12 farther out&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;End of.24 seconds, octopus fully out:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UcKye.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UcKye.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Octopus out .24&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-05T19:56:07.083" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T15:16:32.370" Title="How can I tell if there's a camouflaged octopus in a coral reef, so I can keep from disturbing it?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21732" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-03T01:24:59.533" Score="8" ViewCount="381" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across this knot when it was used to tie a guy wire to a newly purchased light weight tent.  I am reasonably knot savvy but have never come across it.  It forms a non-slip loop when pulled up tight and is easy to tie.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xixRO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xixRO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;P3021237.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17479" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-03T18:37:07.430" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T13:33:00.433" Title="Does anyone recognise this knot?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20620" CreationDate="2019-03-03T12:11:01.983" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few interesting data points from the cross-country skiing world which shows a heat gun (or boiling) and hot glue/a hot glue gun being used to replace the tip on a ski pole: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/3NpCYOW7s-k&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/3NpCYOW7s-k&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/SBNVS29cdUs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/SBNVS29cdUs&lt;/a&gt;  .  Looks like the ideal solution, albeit requiring specialized equipment.  However there's a simpler version at &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/WhGXoKWeYTQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/WhGXoKWeYTQ&lt;/a&gt; which just uses boiling and a lighter instead of a glue gun to melt a &quot;glue stick&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16425" LastEditorUserId="16425" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T14:41:21.187" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T14:41:21.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20620" CreationDate="2019-03-03T12:18:44.037" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outcome:&lt;/strong&gt; In the end I followed the instructions and simply tapped the new pole tip on with a sharp strike of the pole onto hard flagstone pavement.  With hindsight, I wonder if it would have been best to do this immediately after the old tip was removed and while any glue reside was still in its warm and sticky state.  However despite doing it later the new tip does indeed seem to be remarkably well stuck on as a result and completely resistant to any efforts to pull it off by hand.  I will mark this answer as the accepted one if its still there after a year of usage!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16425" LastEditorUserId="16425" LastEditDate="2019-03-03T12:31:21.077" LastActivityDate="2019-03-03T12:31:21.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21732" CreationDate="2019-03-03T15:49:14.743" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I checked the Ashley Book of Knots, and as #1044 I find your knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A very compact loop tied with a bight, for use in the end only.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does not have a name in that book but may have been named by someone since the book was finished in 1939, or published in 1944. Or even before, as even as careful as Clifford W. Ashley was, he did miss some names.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(As I did use a paper book I do not have a link for you.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Added:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It is not, as now again suggested in an other answer, the Alpine butterfly. That knot has some similarity and will do the same kind of jobs, likely better. But it is a different knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2019-03-08T16:18:15.437" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T16:18:15.437" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21739" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21744" CreationDate="2019-03-04T10:53:22.923" Score="27" ViewCount="4487" Body="&lt;p&gt;When travelling the backcountry in high snow, do snow shoes or skis perform better? By &quot;perform better&quot; I mean how tiring and fast travel is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a general answer, or does it depend on the conditions like kind of snow and depth, temperature, slope etc.?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under which conditions would snow shoes perform better, under which skis?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking about multi-day trekking on unprepared ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3143" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T19:21:17.183" Title="Skis versus snow shoes - when to choose which for travelling the backcountry?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21739" CreationDate="2019-03-04T11:43:38.080" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of points jump to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cost&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is probably why most people make this decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cross country skis are a &lt;strong&gt;lot&lt;/strong&gt; more expensive than snow shoes. So if you’re not actually planning on skiing you wouldn’t buy skis! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Skill&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to be able to ski to use CC skis; to use snow shoes you just need to be able to walk! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Terrain&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally (though this depends on the make/model) snow shoes can cope with steeper ground than skis. I’ve certainly seen videos with CC skiers using snow shows (coupled with crampons) to ascend very steep terrain even though they’re carrying skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Speed&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skis are a lot faster than snow shoes. You can ski up a reasonable slope a lot faster than in snow shoes. Snowshoes are bulky and awkward to walk in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Downhills&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In skis you can ski down (!) in snowshoes you have to walk. :( This is obviously disadvantageous to the shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conditions&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is quite variable, but big snow shoes (those with a large profile) can enable you to walk though deep powder where CC skis would struggle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="258" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T14:28:48.000" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T14:28:48.000" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21739" CreationDate="2019-03-04T14:41:59.113" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;First off, I want to make clear that this applies to skiing and snowshoeing as a means of long-distance travel. It doesn't directly apply to skiing in specifically for the descents.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skis are better for:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lake traveling:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The snow on frozen lakes tends to be firmer and this enables the ski's inherent advantage, glide. Even when pulling a sled, skis will be faster as long as the user has enough grip to propel forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deep but light snow on relatively flat and open ground:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is open for debate, as not everyone agrees on which type of ski does better, but for long-distance travel in deeper snow, skis are more performant overall. Wider skis float, and given their length, they almost float as well as snowshoes, but it's not usually required to lift the legs as much as with snowshoes. With thinner skis that sink much deeper, it's possible to simply drag one's feet and 'submarine' the skis. This is much less tiring on the quads.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Downhill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Self-explanatory, but it needs to be said that thinner skis don't do as well on steep descents. They are fast, but they don't give as good control as wider ones do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Snowshoes are better for:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Forest travel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is significant chance of having to cross dense forest (tree spacing is smaller than ski length), then it's extremely slow and cumbersome to do on skis. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Extremely rugged terrain:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If following natural features likes frozen streams and valley bottoms, natural barriers like small cliffs, cascades, waterfalls and other sharp terrain features make skiing hell. Snowshoes are much better at dealing with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Getting around obstacles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I made it a separate section because sometimes one is following perfect skiing terrain and then appears a patch of blowdown (fallen trees), bent over saplings (either conifers covered in snow or deciduous covered in sleet ice), or boulders. If there is enough of it, the skis' advantages can be nullified trying to get through these isolated hurdles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My general rule that I apply on long day-trips (20+km):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the terrain is open and mostly smooth (regardless of slope), I'll choose skis.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the terrain is rugged or I know I will cross enough forest patches, I'll choose snowshoes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I face a very long open approach with a relatively short forested uphill at the end as the goal, I'll bring both.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The critical step is planning. For multi-day trips, it's possible to choose a particular route so avoiding forest is more viable. For day-trips, I often take shortcuts through the woods to reduce distance but it limits which tool to bring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T14:41:59.113" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21743" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-04T17:19:07.237" Score="2" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm exploring primitive shelter building in northern cool temperate climates. I mean primitive as a compliment: the prime, first, original, indigenous, low-tech/base-tech. Things like the Haudenosaunee or Viking &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhouse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Longhouse&lt;/a&gt; seem to be the most 'standard' approach to cold climate primitive shelter building: half-cylindrical structures with steep roofs and gable venting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One (tall!) example:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPC33.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HPC33.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Viking longhouse via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bajuwarenhof_Kirchheim_Langhaus_Querseite_2012-08-05.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to build a small-scale (~12'x10'x10') version of this type of structure using locally available materials that are common to the Adirondack foothills. &lt;strong&gt;What types of woods have been used in northern climates historically? What trees did Haudenosaunee people build their longhouses with?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this region there's an abundance of red spruce, balsam fir, sugar maple, red maple, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagus_grandifolia#Disease&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;diseased&lt;/a&gt; (thus small diameter) American beech; some eastern hemlock, red pine, and white pine; and small patches of northern white cedar. I'm not sure any of these are suitable for &quot;long-term&quot; shelter builds (relative for primitive shelters, not a short-term debris hut). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T17:51:11.410" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T18:08:33.030" Title="What woods have been used to build primitive shelters in northern climates, especially around the Adirondacks Mountains?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21739" CreationDate="2019-03-04T17:24:39.127" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary from a winter spend in Winnipeg long ago compared to Central European conditions: there are probably good reasons why native North American people went with snowshoes while native Europeans invented skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;terrain&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snowshoes have advantages over skis in bushy terrain off trail (where long skis become super cumbersome)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;or rugged terrain. Canadian Shield outside Winnipeg is macroscopically flat, but has rock structure that has you climb up or down a rock every few minutes, and crevices mean that skiing looks somewhat acrobatic meandering between rocks and bushes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;OTOH, skis are much better if the terrain is open or there are trails that admit at least quads/snowmobiles: Central European forest paths are fine by ski, and so are the Canadian lakes (once they have sufficiently thick ice)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For steep climbing, many modern snowshoes already come with either crampons or teeth at their frame.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Of course, there are crampons and skins for ascending for skis as well, but that's mountaineering, not backcountry ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have long up followed by long down, then ski with skin works well. If its just all the time up and down, putting the skin on and off again takes too long. But V-style/skating/herring bone pattern (don't know the proper English term) ascend a) takes a lot of strength and b) needs a wide trail. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;snow conditions and temperature&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the snow is compact so both skis and snowshoes will stay on top, then skis are much better because they glide. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless it's actually ice: snowshoes with crampons or teeth in their frame provide easier going on ice.  Or the occasional rock.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With snowshoes you don't need to worry as much about that occasional rock peeping though the snow. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the snow is deep but not very compact snowshoes require a lot more work because you have to lift them out every step while the ski stays on one level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, when it is very cold the snow can be so fluffy that also skis just go down (we've had a tour in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteshell_Provincial_Park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Whiteshell&lt;/a&gt; where two of us made a trail by snowshoe for the skiers, because they went in to their hip as well)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;when it is very cold the skis don't glide any more. This happens somewhere between -25 and -30 °C IIRC. Snowshoes still work as always.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I remember a ski tour in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krkono%C5%A1e&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Krkonoše&lt;/a&gt; where we had had a lot of fluffy new snow with a layer of harsh ice on top. We were with camping backpacks and were breaking through the harsh with every step. But leaving the skis below the surface didn't work, neither because the breaking the harsh with the shin was too hard (and it actually cut). Snowshoes would have been much better there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(raw hide snowshoes need reliable &amp;lt; 0°C conditions: water softens the raw hide so that it will break)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Your skills &amp;amp; condition&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;snowshoes work quite intuitively. Put them on and get going. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;But you are forced to make long and wide steps. If you are not used to this, it can be very exhausting. I was also told that beginners are at risk of inflammation of the inner tendons in the upper leg (the ones that pull your legs together) if they overdo it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;skiing requires technique to get efficient. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your skiing techique isn't yet there, that can be quite exhausting as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;somewhat depending on the skis, but if you have XC skis that work well for you with a day tour pack only, their glide zone will be flat (i.e. not gliding/not gliding well) if you carry a camping backpack. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there's a similar trade-off for snowshoes: larger ones provide more floatation but require larger steps and are heavier. You have to decide whether you accept sinking more deeply with heavier backpack or working harder than would be needed when with a small backpack only (there's of course also the option to have more than one pair, and there are add-on tails that provide more floatation).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the terrain is sufficiently open, you can put your backpack into a toboggan/pulkka to avoid this. Also helps when snowshoeing to not sink in as deeply. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toboggan + XC ski downhill does require much better technique.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Avoiding decision&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Canadian Shield, we often took both skis and snowshoes and changed every once in a while. As we basically used canoe routes, skis were the major means of going. &#xA;The additional pair of snowshoes didn't matter on the toboggan (and the terrain is macroscopically flat, so it's not that you think very much of how to carry this additional weight the next 1500 m of elevation gain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I was a beginner with both, switching back and forth allowed me to get much further, I'm not sure whether I'd have been able to keep up with the experienced members of the group for 20+ km per day otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Costs and random stuff I'd keep in mind for a buying decision&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my current home (Frankfurt), both make sense only if you go for winter holidays somewhat regularly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also snowshoes are easily in the 150 - 200 € category. And bad snowshoes can be super annoying (just like bad skis). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cheaper: some friends bought XC skis they had rented at end of the season. In Central Europe, your chances with used but good stuff are decidedly better for skis than snowshoes. The same goes for end-of-season sale.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;However, these will typically be cross country skis as opposed to backcountry skis: the narrower variety, typically without steel edge and nowadays also rather short. So they won't provide much floatation in fluffy snow conditions. Chances for backcountry equipment are probably better in regions with more backcountry snowshoeing/skiing (Canada, Scandinavia)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was actually renting the snowshoes, so over the winter I tried out a number of different ones. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There were some hard plastic ones that probably would have allowed a bit of gliding and that where considerably lighter than the alu frame plus neoprene variety. But I decided I'd never take them again because they were making noise (clattered like hitting two wooden sticks together) with every single step.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It's probably possible to make them less noisy, but they were listed at &gt; 200 CAD...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For both skis and snowshoes try out how the binding works with gloves (or even mitts). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Automatic ski bindings have a reputation of freezing, so you have to get out of the shoe outside hut/tent...&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Maybe the additional $€ for the manual ski binding are well invested.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T18:21:58.320" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T18:21:58.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21075" CreationDate="2019-03-04T19:36:12.097" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You would not have been noticeably warmer (assuming temperature was the only challenge).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is the (apparent) lack of insulation under you.  Whatever insulation your bag has is (for the most part) negated when being compressed by your body weight.  You were cold because you were only insulating half of your body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17489" LastEditorUserId="17489" LastEditDate="2019-03-04T19:49:29.403" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T19:49:29.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21746" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-04T21:45:50.287" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are uses for red spruce (picea rubens) by humans in wilderness settings (e.g. in primitive technologies, bushcraft, wilderness survival, low-tech rural livelihoods, frontier homesteading)? While this could fall under other StackExchange categories (e.g. DIY, chemistry), I'm interested in uses that obviously apply to The Great Outdoors. Some examples I'm aware of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thread and rope: &quot;Native Americans in North America use the thin, pliable roots of some species for weaving baskets and for sewing together pieces of birch bark for canoes.&quot; via &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce#Other_uses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce#Other_uses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pitch: useful for sealing/waterproofing surfaces like buckets, barrels, and boats. via &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce#Other_uses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce#Other_uses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_gum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spruce gum&lt;/a&gt;: a natural chewing gum; doesn't seem particularly useful but used to be used!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_beer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Medicinal tea&lt;/a&gt;: young needles nearer to the tip of the branch can be boiled for 3 hours then cooled and served as a vitamin C supplement healing scurvy. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there other uses of red spruce in this context? Have they been used for wilderness construction, either of shelters or palisades? In modern times this wood is used for construction of objects not exposed to weather: crates, instruments, interior construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T23:26:04.213" Title="What are uses of red spruce (picea rubens) by humans in a wilderness, primitive, or frontier setting?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21739" CreationDate="2019-03-04T22:26:34.603" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers: you might take a look at snowblades. These are very short skis, which means that you can both ski and relatively easily cross forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--Edit&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Bear in mind that next to advantages of both, they have disadvantages of both as well. It may be wise not to use them if you don't have experience with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14665" LastEditorUserId="14665" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T19:21:17.183" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T19:21:17.183" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21746" CreationDate="2019-03-04T23:26:04.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mix of spruce resin, lard, and wood ashes was used by both voyageurs and natives for caulking the seams of birch bark canoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spruce logs have smaller branches than pine, and so are easier to make into even surfaces for making cabins.  But give the amount of work to move logs, generally you used what was handy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's harder to split than cedar, but you can split roofing shakes out of spruce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-03-04T23:26:04.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16483" CreationDate="2019-03-05T11:53:13.777" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some places they provide a better scale or more useful map for specific locations. For instance the 8cm (1:12500) map of the little Cuillin Hills mountain ridge on the Isle of Skye in Scotland is slightly better (larger/less cluttered) than the 4cm (1:25000) OS map in my opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T11:53:13.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19254" CreationDate="2019-03-05T12:02:23.487" Score="0" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Italy&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.igmi.org/geoprodotti&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;www.igmi.org/geoprodotti&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope to add more details here and add it to the wiki once I try them out in practice shortly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2025" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T12:02:23.487" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21743" CreationDate="2019-03-05T18:08:33.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's an article about the Iroquois long house:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/longhouse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/longhouse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Woodland Cree made log cabins, generally with shed roofs covered in layers of poles, dirt, and bark. Cherokee also were cabin builders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inuit made skin tents over pits for summer use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The teepee was only used on the plains AFAIK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The building in your picture is a second stage type cabin, made with squared timbers.  Looks like what I would expect from european settlers.  The roof appears to be thatch.  The traditional reeds used for thatch don't grow in Canada, but you may be able to make do using bundles of grass.  Choose a variety such as reed canary grass that gets 4-5 feet tall.  The slope is critical.  A shallow slope leaks.  The roof on your photo seems thin by thatch standards.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A well to do farmer in Europe would build 2 stories high.  The bottom floor was for livestock.  You lived on the top floor.  A cow is a 2500 BTU/hour heater -- a barn full of animals did a lot to make the house more pleasant in winter.  Yeah, you had some smells too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leichtlehm was the typical construction through medieval up through the start of the industrial age.  Buildings were timber frame.  Timbers had less cutting than planks.  The spaces between were temporarily boarded, then packed with straw that was moistened with a mix of clay and water.  About a pound of clay to a gallon of water.  So runny.  You'd dip the straw in a tank of clay and water, let drain for a minute or two, then pack it between the boards.  Do the bottom 2 feet of the wall.  Get back to the start and raise the boards, and do the next layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some grain was left in the straw.  Grain would sprout, and the plant would suck the water out of the wall, and bind the straw with it's roots.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After the wall was dry (about 3 months) walls were plastered with lime and horsehair plaster, or lime and flax plaster.  Sometimes the top coat would have pig or cow blood mixed in.  The protein from the blood would make the surface more resistant to erosion from rain.  It also gave the plaster a pink cast to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make a good floor with cow manure.  Start with a dirt floor Get your floor level.  Make up a slurry of dried cow manure, clay and water.  Apply.  Let dry.  Repeat for several coats.  Finish using fresh manure.  It will develop a hard surface.  You can seal the surface with coats of linseed oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-03-05T18:08:33.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21710" CreationDate="2019-03-05T18:29:44.340" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sort of hard decision happens at lower elevations.  In some ways harder:  The Death Zone scenarios obliges you to abandon the victim to save the rest of the party.  At lower elevations it's often less clearcut. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference usually amounts to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better weather &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shorter distances to more moderate terrain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;easier access to machine assistance (skidoo, helicopter)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shorter travel to good medical facilities.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Usually altitude sickness not an issue.  (All of my outdoor stuff has been below 10,000 feet)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of the mitigating circumstances, it's not usually as cut and dried.  But:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mountain sickness (altitude sickness) you need to descend.  Not now. Right NOW. I think it was in Freedom of the Hills, or Mountaineering Medicine mentioned that sometimes as little as 300 feet can make a difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia once you get cold enough that shivering is starting to taper off, is very hard to deal with in any outdoor situation, let alone above timberline.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a person who is no longer mobile you have a compound problem:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keeping a person who cannot walk warm is difficult.  His heat production is dropping to something like 1/3 of what an active person is using.  He is likely at least damp from sweating. Lying on the ground is a good heat sink.  This becomes more pronounced if he is going into shock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You also have to worry about everyone who is standing around getting cold. People donate their parka as ground insulation under the victim.  In the excitement (panic?) of the moment people aren't monitoring each other for signs of hypothermia.  It is very easy to end up with the smaller, thinner members of the expedition to get shivering cold and no one notices. (This is a particular problem with day trips -- you usually don't have the extra gear you need to make an emergency camp.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I talked to a Search and Rescue organization.  &quot;How many people does it take to rescue someone who can't walk?&quot;  His response was that it took 12.  4 people with the stretcher at any given time.  8 people who carried some of the stretcher bearer's gear and would swap off with them.  In rough terrain it would take 6 or 8 on the stretcher, with lots of scrambling to get to the next position.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stretcher bearers were slow.  Sometimes it made more sense to have some of the party shuttle with packs, making several trips.  (Two pack trips = 3 times the distance -- there, back, there, Three pack trips = 5 times the distance.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've yet to have someone who can't walk, but I had one case where a young man tore ligaments in his ankle. He could put zero weight on his foot. To get him the fairly short distance (somewhere under a km)  to a clearing where a helicopter could land:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two sturdy people to be his human crutches.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;four people moving ahead of the trio trying to reduct the amount of dead fall that interfered with walking.  Two of these stayed behind to help the victim party across non-movable deadfall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Various other people took their own gear to the clearing, then went back for the gear of the victim and his aides.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally you stretcher someone only to a clearing where you can get a helicopter, or a road where you can get a 4WD.  But not many choppers have operational ceilings above 12,000 feet.  And in wilderness settings most of our roads are there for logging or are remnants from previous eras.  There are few above timberline unless it was a pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a reason that first aid manuals say, &quot;transport victim to medical facility&quot;  A big part of wilderness first aid is really 'second aid' -- how to deal with the problem until you can get help.  Most of this simplifies to keep the blood inside, keep warm and quiet -- while his clock runs out.  Meanwhile communicating with someone that you need help, and preparing a place for it to arrive, if by air.  Often even doing this much is difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good leaders know this:  Accidents kill. The same sort of thing that is no big deal when you are a ten minute drive or even an hour drive from the nearest hospital become a big deal indeed when help is a day or two away.  So you take extra care to keep them from happening. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steps you should take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Game out scenarios where you have an non-walking incident, and how you will respond for the current situation.   I did a lot of trips with kids -- mostly 14-18.  Boys who had been on multiple trips had usually taken at least Saint John's Emergency First Aid (4 hr), and many had SJ Standard (16 hour)  Staff were required to take Wilderness FA (40 hour) or Wilderness EMT (80 hour)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, one of the things I would do around the campfire after we'd done a hefty pass, is to set up a scenario of an injury accident at that location. The point here, wasn't to tell them how to do a rescue, but to see how hard a rescue is.  With teens this is the best way I've found to get them to listen when I say, &quot;Be careful&quot;  On senior trips, I would coach a 'victim' ahead of time, and they would have to get the victim to a place to camp.  Since they were also in charge of picking camp spots this put them in a dilemma -- camp soon at an awful spot, or keep going to a better spot.  My favorite spot for this was a skinny ravine on the north side of Mumm pass in Willmore Wilderness.  The trail crosses the creek (or IS the creek) 67 times in 4 km.  Everything that isn't cliff or scree is wet or covered in 10 foot alder and willow.  Two hours of moving someone with a 'broken ankle' is very convincing case for &quot;don't do that!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We often would do a day trip as part of a trek.  Something out of the way of our route.  Usually spectacular scenery, but also a chance for party members with bad feet or stomach issues to heal for a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a good look at required gear for day trips.  In my latter days running trips, I had the boys in effect bring a reduced backpack.  They could leave all their food behind, and depending on weather much of their spare clothing.  I required sleeping bag each, and 1 tarp per two people, a layer of clothing, rain gear, and toque.  This amounted to about 12 pounds.  Since most of them had been carrying 30-40 pounds, this was still light enough to keep spirits high, but eased my mind about having to spend the night away from camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-06-24T14:13:02.327" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T14:13:02.327" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21756" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-06T12:28:10.343" Score="37" ViewCount="5518" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two half ropes from Camp that are basically unused, but are slowly getting old, and I would like to know their age. Is there a way to do that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the name of the model: Camp Plekton 8.2mm. And I also know the batch number.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;These are my own ropes, so I do know how they were used, this is not the problem. The problem is that I am not 100% sure when I bought them. Could be 6 years ago, could be 8 years ago. Still within 10 years limit, but a big difference on how long they still could be fine to use. I also don't know how long they could have been stored in the shop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T21:28:05.770" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T21:28:05.770" Title="Is there a way to find out the age of climbing ropes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21757" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-06T14:09:50.060" Score="13" ViewCount="2358" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several offshore sailors are considering the use of specific Chinese locking carabiners with personal tethers, to keep us attached in violent conditions. Specifically...&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-Rock-Climbing-Auto-Locking-Carabiner-Clip-25KN-Safe-Buckle-Hook-Clip-/253765494839&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-Rock-Climbing-Auto-Locking-Carabiner-Clip-25KN-Safe-Buckle-Hook-Clip-/253765494839&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is anything known about the QA of these items and the reliability of their CE/UIAA labeling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17497" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T16:08:26.427" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T12:48:45.383" Title="Specific Chinese carabiner QA?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21756" CreationDate="2019-03-06T14:57:30.163" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only way I know of would to be to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/cutting-a-rope/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cut a small section off&lt;/a&gt; of one of the ends and then dissect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside of the sheath next to the core strands should be a &lt;strong&gt;tracer thread and identification tape,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;During the braiding process, an &lt;strong&gt;identification tape&#xA;  and tracer thread indicating the year of manufacture&#xA;  are woven into the rope core.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The year of manufacture tracer thread is made from&#xA;  polyamide, and is in a particular colour. Its colour&#xA;  shows the year the rope was manufactured, although the same set of colours is repeated every ten&#xA;  years. The year of manufacture tracer thread means&#xA;  that this information is permanently marked for the&#xA;  lifespan of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The identification tape is a thin strip of polypropylene. In accordance with the EN 1891 standard&#xA;  for static ropes, it has to display the following information: name of manufacturer, standard and rope type, year of manufacture and the type of material&#xA;  the static rope is made from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.honor-safety.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Static-Ropes-Handbook_Kernmantellijn-HONOR-exclusief-distributiepartner.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The identification tape should say the year right on it, and I have seen this before when I was decoring retired climbing rope to make rope bracelets out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would have to contact the manufacturer in order to find out what year that color of tracer thread was used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T15:34:11.927" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T15:34:11.927" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21757" CreationDate="2019-03-06T14:57:45.257" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;These look like the Carabiners frequently used on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_ferrata&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Via Ferrata&lt;/a&gt; climbing kits. See for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?hs=xcv&amp;amp;q=via%20ferrata%20carabiner&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;source=univ&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwiY65Wm4u3gAhWFzqYKHUuyBEoQsAR6BAgEEAE&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=704&amp;amp;dpr=2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these images on google&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am certain that you can find such carabiners from respectable brands with a known history of high quality gear that fulfils all the needed standards. They might be a little bit more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In light of this I would say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have to even ask then it's probably safer to just avoid buying crucial and potentially life-saving equipment from unknown Chinese manufacturers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy a similar product from a known, respectable climbing gear manufacturer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should not bet your life on an unknown piece of life-critical equipment, especially not to save a measly 10 bucks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Found some being sold in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.salewa.com/attac-g3-carabiner-00-0000001645?c=516680&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salewa Shop&lt;/a&gt;, I'm sure there are plenty of others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T12:48:45.383" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T12:48:45.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21760" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21765" CreationDate="2019-03-06T15:13:54.487" Score="3" ViewCount="856" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a gravel parking lot with trees on either side that I pass on my way to work and there are always a couple of cottontail rabbits hanging out under and next to the cars parked there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are they in a gravel parking lot though? There is no grass or water and one would think they would rather be eating than hanging out under someone's car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T19:15:10.577" Title="Why would cottontail rabbits be hanging out in a gravel parking lot?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21757" CreationDate="2019-03-06T15:45:50.853" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main issue is that fraud and misrepresentation is rife in the chinese manufacturing sector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was working in outdoors retail, I saw a couple press releases where Petzl was facing counterfeiting from China. The copies were visually identical, down to the packaging and tags. Of course, when tested, they failed at significantly lower forces than what the specs said. These date back from 2011:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P7osi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P7osi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally wouldn't trust equipment that doesn't have a reputable manufacturer behind it, unless there was a way to verify that independent testing and/or official certification proof is available to the public. Having any certification stamp on the part means nothing if the manufacturer is shady as it's been proven that some certifications have been faked in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did do a quick google search, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://jshrzd.en.alibaba.com/product/60767219643-806987997/Taiwan_Made_25KN_Mountaineering_Safety_Carabiner.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;alibaba listing&lt;/a&gt; for mass-market seems to imply that the manufacturer &lt;strong&gt;is&lt;/strong&gt; somewhat certified. Now it's up to you to check if this is true or not as that particular certification isn't very helpful for consumers trying to detect frauds. Furthermore, as noted by @JonCuster, the CE certificate is for a different item, which makes this pretty much non-applicable anyway and super shady.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e3GnA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e3GnA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T19:09:08.050" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T19:09:08.050" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21756" CreationDate="2019-03-06T16:13:50.753" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the end I have contacted the manufacturer, and received a detailed answer surprisingly quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So turns out, that the last 2 digits of the batch number are the year of manufacture. E.g. ABCD987612 --&gt; Year of manufacture is 2012.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional useful information from the e-mail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The potential lifetime of this product in use is 10 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Attention: This is only a potential lifetime, a rope could be&#xA;  destroyed during its first use. It is the inspections which determine&#xA;  if the product must be scrapped more quickly. Proper storage between&#xA;  uses is essential. The lifetime of the rope in use must never exceed&#xA;  10 years. The total maximum lifetime (storage before use + lifetime in&#xA;  use) is thus limited to 12 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I did not know is that I did not have to worry about the storage time in the shop. The two years are not included in the max 10 years of use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T16:13:50.753" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21757" CreationDate="2019-03-06T16:19:14.527" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;This item might be identical to a certified one, but the seller is clearly not aware of certifications, so you should assume it is not certified - in short:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not use this carabiner for safety-relevant applications.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The description on ebay says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The ultimate tension: 25KN&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;CE Certification&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;ultimate tension&quot; is not a term used to describe carabiners strength by any manufacturer I know. In addition, with carabiners you usually get numbers for major axis, minor axis and open gate strength.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CE certification is not a safety norm like EN/UIAA. The image features an EN cert, the text does not mention an EN cert. Googling the seller &quot;STRADE FAREAST LIMITED&quot; does not bring up anything relevant either. There are way too many red flags here for safety relevant gear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another red flag, as identified by @Pont, is the displayed norm: EN 362:2004. That's the norm for industrial equipment, while the description on ebay is geared towards &quot;Outdoor Rock Climbing&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="13415" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T20:15:10.830" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T20:15:10.830" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21764" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21789" CreationDate="2019-03-06T18:39:02.707" Score="7" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do climbers do when stuck at high camps because of weather? Example Everest C2, C3 etc. when stuck for multiple days. Is this time spent inside the tents exclusively? I assume because of weight restrictions bringing &quot;entertainment&quot; is out of the question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4052" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T22:29:47.787" Title="Stuck at high camps, what do climbers do to deter boredom?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21760" CreationDate="2019-03-06T19:02:48.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have pet house rabbits living in my house and &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/q/11633/13&quot;&gt;getting on my bed&lt;/a&gt; in my experience they prefer harder areas with good traction for resting. Floors are better than beds, carpet is better than hardwood or tile.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would expect that when you see these rabbits, they have all four feet under them.  Ready to bolt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being under or near something, provides cover from birds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being on solid ground with good traction, make a rapid departure easier&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gravel is going to make noise if a predator (or person) is approaching.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this can grant an extra second of escape time, for a dozing rabbit.  The difference can be life or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One Pair of Rabbits can &lt;a href=&quot;https://pets.stackexchange.com/a/6585/13&quot;&gt;become 1300 in a year&lt;/a&gt;, the fact that the world is not covered in rabbits, is testament to how often they are preyed upon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally rabbits are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_animal&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;crepuscular,&lt;/a&gt; being mostly active in the twilight hours of dawn and dusk.  This is when they do most of their eating.  Other times they rest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T19:15:10.577" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T19:15:10.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21686" CreationDate="2019-03-06T20:27:20.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Glaciers pose a risk to travelers because the ice flows like a river. When they flow over features in the landscape the ice buckles and splits creating crevasses. Other than avalanche and rockfall risk on your route, the greatest hazard is falling into a crevasse or moulin or some other trap that you won't escape alive. When the glacier is &quot;dry&quot; (i.e. bare) it is easier to observe where crevasses are, but that doesn't make glacier travel risk-free. I'd say the two things you really have to be careful about in dry conditions are snow bridges (i.e. snow-plugged crevasses) that could give out when you attempt to cross them, and heavily crevassed areas. One misstep in a heavily crevassed area can mean death if you and your team are not prepared with a) the right equipment, and b) the skills to stage a rescue and prevent falls in the first place. Andy Tyson makes a valid point -- it is really challenging to arrest someone else's fall on bare ice -- but it can be done, and my personal preference is to rope up in dry conditions if I'm on a team with at least two other people and there are crevasses. Some people don't. If I'm entering very heavily crevassed terrain I rope up just in case a belay is in order.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the glacier is &quot;wet&quot; (snow-covered) you have the same risks but with snow, meaning more uncertainty about what's beneath your feet and the risk of avalanches, which should affect whether you decide to remain roped together. But that's not going to be a consideration for you. I just thought I'd mention it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't speak about this route from experience. It is hard to judge the topology of a glacier from pictures: the rule of thumb I like to follow in the that it's always bigger than it looks, and it's farther away than it looks, and sometimes it is harder than it looks too. But based on some of the pictures on summit post this looks like a fairly complex glacier with ice flowing over convex landscape features in multiple directions. I'm not sure what your actual route would look like based on what the pictures show, but heavily crevassed areas might be a major concern. Another thing to consider is how you'll get off the glacier. Sometimes there's a big gap between the edge of the glacier and the rock, and you may need some technical skills to navigate that if you can't get around it on foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As some of the comments point out, your comfort level and skill level comes into play here. What is the risk level to you and your team based on your skill and the hazards? Can you cross the glacier on a path that involves no crevasses or technical barriers? If so, then your objective risk level is low and you could traverse safely with the right equipment and minimal technical experience. On the other hand, if there are crevasses that could swallow you up, do you and your team have the technical skills to mitigate the risk (e.g. set up a belay to minimize risk, perform a team arrest in the event of a fall, perform a self rescue, or perform a team rescue)? Are you prepared to deal with unanticipated hazards? Are you and your team able to make sensible, honest decisions about when to turn back when you have a conflicting desire to reach your goal, or are you all so intensely goal-driven that your judgement could be affected? It's all too easy to rationalize continuing when driven by a goal that is something other than returning home safely, and that can lead to bad outcomes. And remember, everybody on the team has to have the right skills for the terrain. It won't do if only one person has the skills and ends up being the one to fall into a crevasse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17499" LastActivityDate="2019-03-06T20:27:20.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21767" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21770" CreationDate="2019-03-06T15:28:15.953" Score="7" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do you recognize these flying insects that seem to enjoy broccoli flowers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have several almond trees around, and bees are busy these days but I'm not sure these particular insects are of any benefit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm in the mediterranean, north of Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xilo3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xilo3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17512" OwnerDisplayName="ammoun" LastEditorUserId="18" LastEditDate="2019-03-06T21:59:21.237" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T12:08:13.653" Title="Flying insects enjoying broccoli flowers" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5575" CreationDate="2019-03-07T02:17:35.020" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in British Columbia and I just purchased some denatured alcohol at Ace Hardware in the Lower Mainland. The brand is Klean strip. Ace Hardware does have locations across Canada, hopefully one near you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17504" LastEditorUserId="3143" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T08:01:55.087" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T08:01:55.087" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21732" CreationDate="2019-03-07T05:06:33.500" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alpine Butterfly Knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a how to tie for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/dY33TPXTZN4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/dY33TPXTZN4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17505" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T05:06:33.500" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21767" CreationDate="2019-03-07T12:08:13.653" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a species of &lt;strong&gt;scarab beetle&lt;/strong&gt;.  It looks very much like &quot;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tropinota hirta&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; (hirta means hairy) which is quite common in the Mediterranean region, but might also be &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tropinota squalida&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. They are fruit crop pests and, as a general group, are also known as &quot;&lt;strong&gt;chafers&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;. Another common name for this pest is &quot;&lt;strong&gt;apple blossom beetle&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;. They are probably most attracted to your Almond trees. Below are a few links that may lead you to further information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tropinota_hirta&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tropinota_hirta&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropinota_squalida&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropinota_squalida&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/V46-3065336&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/V46-3065336&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17507" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T12:08:13.653" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21771" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-07T12:55:53.677" Score="6" ViewCount="473" Body="&lt;p&gt;What exactly is meant by the terms &quot;wet&quot; or &quot;dry&quot; glacier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/geol100/lectures/35.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link here&lt;/a&gt; seems to point to the existence or absence of a film of melt-water below the glacier. This has an impact on how the glacier moves, but it is rarely of direct concern for mountaineers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the question and at least one of the answers &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21686/how-much-experience-is-needed-for-crossing-the-mendenhall-glacier&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; seem to suggest that wet and dry are somehow related to the glacier being snow covered. This would make the terms very directly a concern for mountaineers trying to cross a glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-07T16:25:14.180" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T16:25:14.180" Title="Wet vs dry glacier" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21771" CreationDate="2019-03-07T15:14:30.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The difference is in how the glacier moves,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dry glaciers&lt;/strong&gt;: In colder climates, basal melting is minimal or absent, and flow is entirely through ductile flow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wet glaciers&lt;/strong&gt;: In warmer climates, basal slip can predominate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geol.umd.edu/%7Ejmerck/geol100/lectures/35.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Antarctica, thermal regimes pass through the end members of &lt;strong&gt;cold, polythermal and warm (wet-based).&lt;/strong&gt; This means that under some glaciers in cold environments, such as the Dry Valleys in Antarctica, pressure melting point is not reached and the glacier remains frozen to its bed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is because a frozen glacier bed inhibits the rapid-flow mechanisms of sediment deformation, ice deformation and basal sliding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between these two end members, polythermal glaciers have beds that are frozen and unfrozen. Many small glaciers in Svalbard are polythermal; cold temperatures mean that higher basal pressures must be reached to attain pressure melting point, and thin valley glaciers are typically frozen around their margins but wet-based in their upper reaches[20-22]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/glacier-flow-2/glacial-processes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glacial thermal regime&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The confusion in that question was  because the author of one of the books referred to the &lt;strong&gt;glacier below the firn line,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A line across the glacier, from edge to edge, that marks the transition between exposed glacier ice (below) and the snow-covered surface of a glacier (right).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/f/f.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;as being dry, which does not describe the glacier itself but how the snow would cover it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-07T15:14:30.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9152" CreationDate="2019-03-07T22:55:41.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you heard about Ampersand Bowline (an enhanced-security bowline) ? Seems this knot is secure enough for such purpose (#1). And I think it may be easier to release than bowline on a bight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;#1 Caveat: need careful experiment with backup first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uNx0r.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uNx0r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ampersand Bowline&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I found no practical data/report of this knot in climbing. It is a fairly new invention (2013/2014). Though there are discussions on how well it locks theoretically, and some tests on YouTube. A few references from the International Guild of Knot Tyers Forum:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=6193.msg41594#msg41594&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=6193.msg41594#msg41594&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=6226.msg41866#msg41866&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=6226.msg41866#msg41866&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17515" LastEditorUserId="17515" LastEditDate="2019-03-08T16:36:29.823" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T16:36:29.823" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21774" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21775" CreationDate="2019-03-08T10:08:31.363" Score="2" ViewCount="282" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given comparable contstuction and insulation betwwen a pair of gloves and pair of mittens that are designed for winter / below 0C conditions, at what temperature range would mittens be preferable to gloves for the same level of activity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example both Hestra and FreeThePowder make both gloves and mittens with removable insulated liners, leather forehand and breathable fabric backhands. In other words the same amount of insulation goes into the construction of both the glove and the mitten models.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what approximate temperature would a glove become too cold for standing around in, compelling one to switch to a mitten??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At what approximate temperature would a glove become too cold while doing aerobic excersize such as snow-show walking or cross-country skiing, compelling one to switch to a mitten??&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17520" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T13:23:17.260" Title="At what temperature should one switch from gloves to mittens?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21774" CreationDate="2019-03-08T13:00:22.610" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @Paul Lydon said, it is subjective because some people feel the cold more than others.  Plus some people who are otherwise relatively unaffected by cold may, because of circulation problems, feel the cold in their hands more than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer to the OP's question also depends on the length of time he will be outside, and the wind, and whether his hands are free to put them in his pockets from time to time, and the likelihood that he will get his gloves or mittens wet.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thus, the best solution to the OP's uncertainty is layering.&lt;/strong&gt; When it becomes too cold for warm gloves, put a thin glove under a pair of mittens.  This has the added benefit that if one needs to fiddle with something delicate in the cold, one doesn't have to do it with bare hands.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As for the specific question, when to switch to mittens, I speak only for myself.&lt;/strong&gt;  I will switch to the thin glove plus mitten combo if I am going to be out for a &lt;strong&gt;prolonged period&lt;/strong&gt; well below freezing -- probably in the high teens/low twenties F. (23 degrees F is minus 5 degrees C.)   (If I am going to be out in those temperatures for only a short period, I will go out with bare hands and use my pockets if necessary.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-03-08T13:23:17.260" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T13:23:17.260" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21776" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21777" CreationDate="2019-03-08T15:32:57.657" Score="10" ViewCount="785" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see lots of schools around different states and countries that teach wilderness skills and they seem to vary a lot in their basis (that is, what qualifies them to do what they do). Some are led by an organization with a handful or more paid staff, some are volunteer individuals, and everything in between. Some are qualified based on certifications, some are qualified based on 'I can do this well' and the latter often goes with X amount of time doing it as a qualification. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at certifications, there are dozens of relevant courses that vary in time requirements, intensity, and geography. Some are just courses to certify you've learned certain skills, whereas others are geared toward pedagogy and not just learning skills but also teaching them. There are also separate certifications which make sense but aren't part of other 'wilderness skill instructor certifications', from wilderness first responder to forest therapy guiding. As a customer of a wilderness skills center, it wouldn't hurt for teachers to have those kinds of certifications, but certainly they aren't necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a standard or commonly accepted expectation in the wilderness skills community of what it takes to be an instructor? For example is it taboo to offer guided trips and courses on wilderness skills, having nothing but one's own experience as credentials? Is there a certain amount of years or specific skills that one is expected to have before teaching others in an organized and even for-money capacity? Or is it purely case by case, up to the opinion of customers whether an instructor is qualified enough or not? Mainly asking in the context of USA and Canadian wilderness skills schools and culture, trying to get a sense of how the wilderness skills community views qualification for people trying to lead a new thread in the community.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-12-13T14:45:18.610" LastActivityDate="2020-12-13T14:45:18.610" Title="What does it take to become a wilderness skills guide as a business?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;training&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21776" CreationDate="2019-03-08T15:46:44.520" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, it comes down to 4 things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wilderness First Responder Certification:&lt;/strong&gt; The first course is 80 hours and then you need to recertify after 2 years. There are other certifications such as a Wilderness EMT but this is pretty much the standard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Organization specific instructor course:&lt;/strong&gt; When you become an instructor for an organization you usually have to take their specific instructor course and pass it. I did this at a place called &lt;a href=&quot;https://summitadventure.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Summit Adventure&lt;/a&gt; when I wanted to work for them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Experience:&lt;/strong&gt; This comes in the form of prior trips and rock climbs. I keep mine in a spreadsheet with the number of days, people, miles traveled, mountains climbed etc. Some place have minimum amounts, when I was looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://home.srom.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries&lt;/a&gt; it was at least 6 weeks of backpacking experience in at least one-week increments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being  in shape:&lt;/strong&gt; This sounds obvious but I have seen out of shape people try and fail, you have to be in good physical shape or you may as well stay home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, it will all depend on the specific organization but that is usually what is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-09T00:11:37.237" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T00:11:37.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21778" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-08T15:53:35.363" Score="4" ViewCount="361" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been seeing a bird that looks like a cardinal but has black wings and has an orange-red color. Closest photo I've found is the hooded oriole, but this is Michigan and early March. Any ideas of what this bird could be? I have been trying to get a picture but it is a very shy bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17523" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-15T18:51:08.917" LastActivityDate="2020-05-01T22:53:54.520" Title="What kind of bird in Michigan looks like a cardinal with black wings?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21778" CreationDate="2019-03-08T17:17:03.730" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's most probably a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_tanager&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;scarlet tanager&lt;/a&gt; although he'd be super early, that's for sure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eYCXs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eYCXs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T17:17:03.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21780" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-08T17:17:55.010" Score="5" ViewCount="377" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to Wikipedia, slingshots did not exist prior to the invention of vulcanized rubber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials, typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalent, and thus date no earlier than the invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear in 1839 (patented in 1844).  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot#Use_and_history&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Bow and Arrow &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_and_arrow#History&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;date back 17,000+ years&lt;/a&gt; in simple terms these store energy in the bow (wood) and launch a long straight projectile (Arrow) they are relatively simple to make from &quot;Natural&quot; elements in the wild in a survival situation.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The slingshot has an advantage over the bow, as the projectiles are much easier to acquire.  Finding round rocks in stream bed, is much easier then the time and skill required to make a straight arrow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sling&lt;/a&gt; that uses rotational energy to launch a small round projectile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The slingshot has a couple advantages over the sling: It requires less skill to use effectively, and it can be an effective stealth weapon in heavy foliage (pull and release as opposed to swinging).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can argue that vulcanized rubber is a &quot;Natural&quot; resources, it would be exceedingly difficult to create in survival situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other then vulcanized rubber, what (&lt;em&gt;if any&lt;/em&gt;) natural resources could I use to make a slingshot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the closest you could get to a hand operated, small projectile, stored energy, survival situation built, weapon is a small &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cross bow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T17:17:55.010" Title="Is it possible to make a slingshot from &quot;Natural&quot; resources?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;bows&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;&lt;slingshots&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21776" CreationDate="2019-03-08T22:24:54.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the answer of @Charlie Brumbaugh, and it would be hard to do better as an official answer, but I would like to add the perspective of one category of prospective client:  The older, &lt;strong&gt;highly experienced but still healthy backpacker&lt;/strong&gt;  who now &lt;strong&gt;needs&lt;/strong&gt; help with carrying stuff (Sherpa help -- I hope that does not minimize the important role Sherpas play on expeditions) -- and &lt;strong&gt;wants&lt;/strong&gt;, but does not &lt;strong&gt;need&lt;/strong&gt;, someone to help with the logistics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is based on my own experience of only a year or two and some readers might &#xA;dismiss it as an &quot;opinion-based answer&quot;, but I think it is more pertinent than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Possible Niche Market:&lt;/strong&gt; A lot of backpackers are getting older, some of us a lot older, but are not yet ready to turn in our hiking boots and sit by an indoor fire watching TV.  We can still hike, we still want to sleep under the stars, we still want to feel part of TGO.  But we are sloooow with a pack.  Up to some point, being slow means we can still do, but have to do it slower; after that point, being slow means one can't do, or it is at least not fun any more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For this group, of which I am now, alas, one, a strong, experienced person makes the difference.  She doesn't have to have formal credentials, just a good reputation among people the customer trusts.&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband and I found one such person two years ago through our doctor's daughter.  After an exchange of e-mails and phone calls, we decided he would work out, and he did, extremely well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how well he would have handled a large group, or a group of inexperienced people, or a group into unknown territory, but for a group of two experienced people who knew their own capacity and who were going back to an area they knew well, he was ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This kind of help is one step beyond the packer who only packs stuff into and out of one's base camp, and is worth it only for people who value solitude in TGO, and thus reject a group trip with a lot of strangers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is definitely not for every aging backpacker, and it is also expensive, but there is probably a niche market here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can think of many caveats, but, as I said, this is a good option if people know what they are doing but need help doing it.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-03-08T22:30:26.447" LastActivityDate="2019-03-08T22:30:26.447" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20411" CreationDate="2019-03-08T22:47:30.950" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, what (legal) options are available in Canada for some camping trips that don't involve designated camping spots&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Algonquin Provincial Park (that's about a 3-hour drive from Ottawa) I thought it was called &quot;wilderness camping&quot; but it seems to be called &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/camping/backcountry-interior-camping.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;backcountry camping&lt;/a&gt;. Even then you're only allowed to camp at designated camp sites but the sites are off-road and unserviced -- so they are &quot;designated camping spots&quot; but not &quot;like in a hotel, only in tent&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're not meant to cut trees and so on. You'd bring your own equipment, i.e. tent -- and possibly fuel and so on too -- some people take canoes instead of hiking. You buy firewood pre-cut &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/park_management/firewood-restrictions.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;inside the park&lt;/a&gt; (and maybe aren't allowed to bring wood from outside). Or I guess you can bring your own fuel, charcoal or gas or solid fuel tablets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently when backcountry camping you are allowed to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/camping/backcountry-canoe-trip-on-your-trip.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;collect dead wood to burn&lt;/a&gt; -- so maybe that's all you want. You might not find any (dead wood lying around) at the popular road-accessible campgrounds, but you're not asking about those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You reserve-in-advance any campsite in any Provincial Park -- you probably should or must reserve, because the popular parks get booked up well in advance and so do popular dates i.e. the various &quot;long weekends&quot; (Victoria Day, Canada Day, and so on). There's a web site, you can see what sites are still available on any date, and book online. &lt;a href=&quot;https://reservations.ontarioparks.com/Home.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://reservations.ontarioparks.com/Home.aspx&lt;/a&gt; This web site lets you choose &quot;Backcountry&quot; as a reservation types, it looks like about a dozen of the 6 dozen parks support &quot;back country&quot; camping. I'd guess that the rules (of what you can do) might or might not vary from park to another -- the less popular ones (which are probably the ones further north) might be more permissive, I don't know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in Ottawa you might look into camping in Quebec, too, since you're already at (the Ottawa river is) the provincial border.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Somebody mentioned the &quot;Gatineau&quot; too in a comment, that's really local to &quot;the Ottawa Region&quot;. I've only day-tripped and skied there, so I'd try Google for that, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ca/search?q=gatineau+camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gatineau camping&lt;/a&gt; -- the Quebec web sites might display French-first but (if you don't read French) they most likely have an English version, see e.g. the top-right corner of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingquebec.com/fr/outaouais/camping-parc-de-la-gatineau/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this web page&lt;/a&gt;. I imagine that anything in the Gatineau is likely to be very popular (i.e. need booking in advance), perhaps more than Algonquin, so more regulated. I think it's run by the &quot;National Capital Commission&quot; which is maybe federal rather than provincial. I guess it will be pleasant unless you don't like neighbours or something, but not backcountry, I think you're meant to &lt;a href=&quot;https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-outlaw-trails-of-gatineau-park-the-ncc-may-crackdown-on-use&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stay on the official trails&lt;/a&gt; there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually I haven't seen Canadian forest or woods (or brush) that you could easily walk through except on a designated pre-prepared trail (or in winter on skis if the snow is really deep) -- I don't know what it's like in Russia -- I think that in somewhere like Southern Ontario you're likely to be on a hiking trail or going by canoe (or kayak or whatever) and (if you're paddling) perhaps preferring to avoid paddling upstream by staying on lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The things is, Russia has a lot of rural population that lives like they would before the idea of conservation existed&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No that doesn't sound to me like a &quot;provincial park&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However, I'm not sure that in Canada you can just walk some 20 km to a lake in a forest, cut down some firewood and fish up you dinner without breaking any laws&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes I'd guess you can do that in a park (depending on how good the fishing is) -- except cutting firewood, though you can collect dead wood -- walking on a hiking trail and booking a camp-site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or a lot of backcountry campsites might be intended for access by canoe, not on a hiking trail but e.g. on an island in a lake -- islands are good camping-spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6365" LastEditorUserId="6365" LastEditDate="2019-03-09T09:24:06.590" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T09:24:06.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21783" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-08T23:22:58.367" Score="2" ViewCount="127" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cedar is a great example of a log that makes a good log cabin foundation. Solid and naturally rot resistant. Are there other species' logs suitable as foundations in northeast USA? Rocks can also be stacked though that is a much more permanent build than many primitive structures. What other logs or natural materials work well for primitive log cabin foundations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By foundation I mean whatever connects the main structure with the ground and is contact with the ground surface. There's all kinds of different primitive structures, so maybe a rot resistant log is not always needed. For example, vertical log cabins might not need logs laying flat on the ground if I understand it correctly, and instead are supported with pillars (charred logs) buried in the ground with other logs nailed, lashed, or somehow joined to serve as the horizontal frame above the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7xqy4OXzhc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; shows a structure being build with both horizontal logs on the ground and standing posts to support the rest of the building. In this video it's mostly built with cedar, but could something like that be done with other logs common in areas like the Adirondacks? Red spruce, eastern hemlock, white pine, red pine, balsam fir, birches, maples, and more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T20:57:40.003" Title="What in the forest is suitable as a foundation to primitive structures such as log cabins, in northeast USA?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21785" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-09T07:05:10.297" Score="7" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mt St. Elias is a mountain on the border of Canada and Alaska. I believe it has the fastest relief from sea level of any mountain in the world. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've read somewhere that it has a higher mortality rate than Everest. That makes sense to me since Everest is so well traveled and there is the help of sherpa teams whilst climbing. Elias is very remote and if you fall or run out of food, there aren't people that can find you. I don't have a source for my very specific mortality rate of 'higher than everest' and I was wondering if anyone else did. :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17476" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-03-09T08:50:36.920" LastActivityDate="2019-04-12T11:52:46.640" Title="What is the mortality rate of Mt St. Elias?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21778" CreationDate="2019-03-09T16:53:43.480" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your description could be a scarlet tanager ( breeding time they may have some orange in otherwise a very red color) , but Michigan in march is unreasonable.The location and activities of a bird are very important to bird ID.Try looking at red crossbill, they are in Michigan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T16:53:43.480" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21785" CreationDate="2019-03-09T17:45:40.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mt Elias isn't even in the top ten for number of deaths. It comes in in 24th place according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.shughal.com/25-of-the-deadliest-mountains-in-the-world/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.shughal.com/25-of-the-deadliest-mountains-in-the-world/&lt;/a&gt; with Everest at number 1. This site takes into account the ratio of deaths to number of attempts, as well as total deaths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the top ten we have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;10 - The Eiger&#xA;09 - Annapurna&#xA;08 - Cerro Torre&#xA;07 - Mount Fitz Roy&#xA;06 - Mont Blanc&#xA;05 - Naga Parbat&#xA;04 - The Matterhorn&#xA;03 - Denali&#xA;02 - K2&#xA;01 - Everest&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-04-12T11:52:46.640" LastActivityDate="2019-04-12T11:52:46.640" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21788" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-09T20:37:47.853" Score="5" ViewCount="425" Body="&lt;p&gt;Molded kayaks are usually made of polyethylene, an otherwise extremely durable material which can be damaged by the sun.  The used market is full of kayaks manufactured ten or twenty years ago which spent some part of their life outdoors.  There are many variables in manufacturing (UV stabilizers, pigments, even simple thickness of the plastic), maintenance (application of UV protectants) and storage (occasionally on the roof of a car vs stored outdoors for years on end).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the above, how can one tell if the weakening/embrittlement of the plastic is enough to significantly reduce the durability of the kayak?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not worried about dents or “oil canning” which may be a result of a short time in the sun, as much as structural integrity of the hull (retaining the toughness and reliability that is the great virtue of molded plastic boats).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T11:18:21.107" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:23:51.130" Title="How to detect significant sun damage in a plastic molded kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;sun&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21764" CreationDate="2019-03-09T22:29:47.787" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although the question asks specifically about high altitude camps, my answer is about camps high on a wall, &lt;em&gt;i.e.&lt;/em&gt; on big walls, because that's all I know. I also believe portaledge camps are unbelievably boring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A further disclamer is that this answer is also sort of indirect, since I have never been stuck for longer than a couple days. Some of my climbing partners, however, have been stuck for up to two weeks, on ascents that took them 28 days, and I remember the stories.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping and telling stories is OK if you are not extremely acquainted with your partner, but if you've known each other for some time, silence settles in after a while (you already know all the stories). If silence doens't come, you start being a little pissed off about being forced to talk, and this can mark the end of a belaytionship. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Books are an absolute necessity. A Kindle can go for almost two months with a single charge, and bringing one is an extremely good idea, even though there's the possibility of dropping or breaking it. A friend of mine said that when he got stuck for a week due to a huge storm, he read more than 100 pages a day. Kindles can carry thousands of books and weigh less than a single book, so they're perfect for the job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Always bring cards, and know how to use them. They're light and virtually indestructible, if made of plastic. Playing some cards while betting on cookies and pieces of cheese is a great way of sharing the burden of boredom, instead of swallowing it all on your own. (I don't advise betting on food if you're starving, though. Bet on who's gonna deal with the shit tube, instead.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meditation is great. Learning to meditate in the middle of a storm on the wall will be virtually impossible, so perhaps this is limited to those who already have some experience with it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In cases of extreme boredom, weird measures can and usually will be taken, and it's fundamental to be safe about them. Example: After more than a week stuck during and after a storm, climbing being impossible due to everything being wet, a friend of mine tied 3 ropes together and abseiled more than 150m to a ledge, just to walk for a while, even though he didn't know if he'd be able to get to it. In the end he did, strolled for some hours and then jugged back up, very tired, saying that he would either have walked a little or gotten insane. He did everything safely, even though deep inside he was wondering if he was becoming insane.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sleep. Not sleep: hibernate. Put yourself in a state where you wake up to read, get sleepy from reading, then sleep, and repeat the cycle. This makes you unimaginably hungry, but it's a good idea to remember that you don't need to eat, since you're not really spending any energy. Food rationing during long periods being stuck is fundamental and can be the decisive factor in you climbing that wall or being stuck and going back home empty handed, all that pain being useless.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Organize material, fix haul bags, clean gear, etc. Home keeping is awesome to distract you, but unfortunately it comes a time when everything is already organized and there's nothing left to do. These times you start to see the weird phenomenon of your partner, or yourself, organizing gear by manufacturing year, then by brand, or color, or size, then mixing it all together to start doing it again. Don't fight it, you're just losing your mind. Nothing serious. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Music. I don't like music during any physical activity I do, but when stuck in a portaledge, man... Music is a bliss. I have a dedicated MP3 player that I bought only because its battery lasts for more than 40h. If you have one of those GoalZero solar panel systems to recharge your stuff, even better. In this case I'd even bring a cellphone absolutely infested with movies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All I described weights little, but remember: If you're considering the possibility of remaining stuck for days, you're already bringing stuff for days. If you're carrying a 35kg haul bag, adding 1kg of boredom-antidotes is totally fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2019-03-09T22:29:47.787" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4277" CreationDate="2019-03-10T10:29:05.140" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To walk barefoot on gravel, relax and spread your foot out as wide as it will go for each step, don't tense up and try to walk on the balls of your feet.&#xA;Been barefoot since the last century.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17529" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T10:29:05.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15481" CreationDate="2019-03-10T20:20:50.900" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Asnes makes backcountry skis without metal edges especially for skiing with dogs. The website shows them in various widths and sidecuts. It looks like they are mainly used for hunting (with dogs). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time I'm fine on skate skis, even breaking moderate trails with the dogs pulling. When I go fast enough, even a skate ski floats!  I've done fast BC single track and in very icy conditions with my two German Shorthaired Pointers pulling using my downhill setup, but I worry that the metal edge could cut the dog's leg or paw pretty badly. Although my control is excellent on this equipment and the dogs can really fly pulling me like a sled, poling and skating when necessary, accidents can happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I take off the skis and boot up short steep inclines with the dogs pulling me in the harness. It's super easy even in Alpine boots. Sometimes the descents are too hazardous so I let the dogs run free and ski it solo.&#xA;It's a hoot to carve turns at speed with the dogs speeding so some sidecut is fun. At speed in variable or deep snow, stiff high boots are nice. So I think, for next year I'll expand my quiver and get dog-friendly Asnes edgeless skis with moderate width and sidecut. I'd choose 75mm cable bindings or perhaps minimal tech bindings (Dynafit Radical Speed Turn 2.0 Alpine Touring Ski Bindings) with heel lock. Boots will be T4's or very light AT. But my dogs are fast and I'm pretty light (100lbs of dog, 115lbs person) so that's the extreme control I need in some wildly fun conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just don't use metal edges with any frequency or something bad could happen. A helmet with goggles is good on these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17531" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-10T23:34:48.007" LastActivityDate="2019-03-10T23:34:48.007" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5611" CreationDate="2019-03-11T03:10:38.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://timtinker.com/ultralight-blower-stove-development/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;I make little roll-up titanium stoves myself&lt;/a&gt;, you could try if these DIY designs meet your needs. They burn long sticks so that there is no need to break up small fuel sticks. The power of the stove comes from a removable USB fire blower that let you burn wet wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the blower alone I can run a two pot stove &lt;a href=&quot;https://timtinker.com/rock-n-hole-stoves/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;without using a formal stove body&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, the roll-up titanium stove can be used with a tiny 'whisky bottle lid' &lt;a href=&quot;https://timtinker.com/backup-alcohol-burner-ultralight-blower-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alcohol burner&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17532" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T23:44:29.367" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T23:44:29.367" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21788" CreationDate="2019-03-11T12:23:51.130" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as it still flexes you're good to go. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Part of the strength of polyethylene kayaks is in their flexibility, apart from colour loss, the most significant aspect of sun damage to the plastics is that they become brittle. If pressing on the larger flatter sections causes it to flex elastically then the sun damage is not yet significant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is more of a risk for older boats, the plastics used have changed over the years and modern boats are less susceptible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also check any fittings for sun damage, for example the softer rubber of hatch covers is more vulnerable due to its greater need to flex and stretch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oil canning is usually a result of bad storage or transportation rather than sun damage, the easiest way to get it is overtightening the straps on roofbars. One of the solutions is to leave it out in the sun for a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-03-11T12:23:51.130" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21794" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-11T14:12:55.073" Score="4" ViewCount="126" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knowing how many mountain lions are in an area is important for conservation, as it would be important to know if the population was in decline or to set the number that can be taken by hunters in a given season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is the number of mountain lions in a given area estimated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-11T20:56:15.830" LastActivityDate="2019-03-13T14:18:03.017" Title="How are mountain lion populations estimated?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21795" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-11T21:48:05.137" Score="6" ViewCount="845" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need to bring two branches of a palm tree/bush together. So I need a knot that is secure under tension but can also be progressively tightened.  What knot would you recommend?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17536" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T15:28:45.353" Title="Knot for pulling two branches of a tree together" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21796" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-11T21:48:32.853" Score="2" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XuNUu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XuNUu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone help me find more of these lures? I love them so much but can’t find them anywhere. Does anyone know where to get these or what they are called. It has a paddle tail and a ribbon tail type thing on the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17535" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-14T23:24:55.750" LastActivityDate="2019-03-14T23:24:55.750" Title="What is this type of lure or where can I find more?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21795" CreationDate="2019-03-12T06:34:58.790" Score="10" Body="&lt;h2&gt;I wouldn’t&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I could think of a number of ways to tie a string the way you want, a cam buckle strap would be super simple and (more importantly) damage the bark considerably less.&#xA;Even without a cam buckle, I would still advise tape before string.&#xA;Professionals use strips of loose fabric to spread the load across the bark as much as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-12T06:34:58.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21795" CreationDate="2019-03-12T11:39:24.390" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the prior answer that a rope should not be your permanent solution here, given that it will ultimately damage the tree.  However, I think you can mitigate this for short-term use of rope, until the tree has stabilized itself and no longer needs human help, in one of two ways, possibly both:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Chafing gear.  Use scraps of other material as a pad between the&#xA;rope and tree.  A tarp or other strong fabrics might work, but I think the best thing&#xA;here is to run the rope though sections of old garden hose before&#xA;tying your knots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frequent re-adjusting.  Every couple weeks, remove your rig and&#xA;re-do it in a slightly different place, allowing any friction damage that has occurred to heal.  (It sounds like you already plan to do this.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that, I think the rig you want is some form of trucker's hitch, which is not really a single knot but a combination of multiple knots.  Working together, the different knots form a virtual ratchet strap that holds itself under tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a couple how-to's, here's some links: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Trucker%27s-Hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Trucker%27s-Hitch&lt;/a&gt;.  Normally Animated Knots is quite good, but in this case I think they didn't do well in showing the distinct parts.  Wikihow's drawings can be hard to interpret, but give a decent idea of what is going on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-03-12T11:39:24.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21794" CreationDate="2019-03-13T13:59:26.487" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I honestly do not know for which individual species this method has been used, and in particular whether it has been used for &lt;em&gt;Puma concolor&lt;/em&gt;, but a general method that is frequently used for population estimates is &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_and_recapture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mark and recapture&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this technique, you enter an area, trap as many of the target species as you can, and mark them, such as with a collar or leg band, keeping a careful count of how many have been marked.  Then you come back a while later and repeat the process, counting how many of the newly trapped animals were already marked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, your population estimate is basically a proportions problem from high school math class:   M2/C2 = M1/P where M2 is count of marked animals in the second sample, M1 is count of marked animals in the first sample, C2 is the total count in the second sample, and P is the total population.  You know the first three of those, and just need to solve for the fourth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:  I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2012_russell_r001.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this academic paper&lt;/a&gt; which indicates at least one study in Montana that has used a modified form of mark-and-recapture on &lt;em&gt;Puma concolor&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-03-13T14:18:03.017" LastActivityDate="2019-03-13T14:18:03.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21800" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-13T21:31:20.917" Score="3" ViewCount="506" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was snowshoeing in Quebec and saw these birch trees completely removed. There were fine what appeared to be teeth marks. The was moss that was left trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAGlM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAGlM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Birk trunks with completely stripped bark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17541" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-03-13T21:49:48.060" LastActivityDate="2019-03-14T16:06:41.650" Title="What animal could entirely strip the bark of a birch like this?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;snowshoeing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21802" CreationDate="2019-03-14T14:39:30.920" Score="3" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.com/product/CENTERFIRE-BOLT-RIFLE-TACTICAL-HUNTER/2947831.uts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hunting rifles&lt;/a&gt; come with a 20 MOA rail on top for mounting the scope or you can purchase the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brownells.com/optics-mounting/rings-mounts-amp-bases/rifle-bases/remington-700-long-action-x-treme-duty-1-piece-scope-base-prod114062.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rails&lt;/a&gt; separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the point of a 20 MOA rail?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T19:12:32.130" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T12:31:50.570" Title="Why use a 20 MOA rail on top of a rifle?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21801" CreationDate="2019-03-14T14:39:30.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For long range shooting, you have to aim above the target in order to hit it. For example, a 308 will have dropped 340 inches at 1,000 yards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zozz9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Zozz9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gunwerks.com/uploads/images/original/BDC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gunwerks.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lifeundersky.com/6-5-creedmoor-vs-308-winchester/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of aiming above, it is possible to dial a scope in so that you can hold the crosshairs directly on the target. However, scopes have a limited amount of movement. A 20 MOA (or 30 or 40) rail will point the rifle up &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;20 MOA&lt;/a&gt; so that you need less scope adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 1,000 yards with a 308, you would need to adjust up 34 MOA, while with a 20 MOA scope base, you would just need 14 MOA of upward adjustment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is more common on long-range rifles because with most rifles you don't need to be aiming 20 inches up at 100 yards, and so you would have to aim low at shorter distances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other use case for this is long range shooting with 22lr, the drop is between 18-30 &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19697/in-shooting-what-is-a-moa-minute-of-angle&quot;&gt;MOA&lt;/a&gt; at 200 yards due to the low velocity of the cartridge, especially with subsonic rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-01-17T12:31:50.570" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T12:31:50.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21800" CreationDate="2019-03-14T16:06:41.650" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;With the little information provided the safest educated guess would be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcupine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;porcupine&lt;/a&gt; having a wintertime meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An &lt;a href=&quot;https://articles.extension.org/pages/10776/barkstripping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;extension.org page on barkstripping&lt;/a&gt; discusses the issue and lists likely culprits and telltale signs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Identifying the cause of the bark damage is fairly easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Beavers and rabbits can only strip bark as high as they can stand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Black bear damage typically occurs in the Spring. Stripped bark will&#xA;  lay on the ground. Vertical tooth and claw marks may be noticed.&#xA;  Damage will mostly occur on at the 3-5 foot level of the tree,&#xA;  typically conifers 15-30 years old. Damage may be extensive, up to 70&#xA;  trees in one day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Field mice (including voles and deer mice) tend to strip bark during&#xA;  the harsh winter. Damage often takes place along the vertical portion&#xA;  of the trunk that lies beneath the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mountain beaver damage occurs low on the bole of smaller trees. Tooth&#xA;  marks will be horizontal. Claw marks will be irregular. Twigs often&#xA;  clipped quite high on the tree, leaving 2-inch stubs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Porcupines rely on tree bark as an essential component of their diet.&#xA;  When they are around, trees, especially tender branches in the&#xA;  upper-most parts of the treee, will be substantially and quickly&#xA;  impacted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Squirrels typically strip bark in late winter or during periods with&#xA;  low acorn or seed production by trees (Fig 2). Horizontal branches&#xA;  seem to be preferred, but have been known to strip the bark off of&#xA;  trunks too (Fig.3).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Chunks of the outermost bark will also be found on the ground (Fig 4).&#xA;  Squirrels are also noted for the amount of surface area stripped (Fig&#xA;  5).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those descriptions make porcupine seem like the best match for the extent of bark removed in your photo. Also in the northern Adirondacks, which has a somewhat similar climate to Quebec's boreal forests, I have seen similarly surprising extents of barkstripping on trees which an expert field naturalist was confident was due to a porcupine. Sure enough, nearby we found porcupine tracks and eventually a hiding porcupine itself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To confirm, it would be helpful to have a closer look at any tracks or marks left in the snow near the trees or on the trees themselves. A more precise location in terms of habitat/biome you were in could help too. Some research shows porcupine are present throughout Quebec, but was this finding in an area with porcupine habitat nearby (rocky spots, glacial erratics, etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-03-14T16:06:41.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21776" CreationDate="2019-03-14T20:14:45.507" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A great starting point would be to undergo an intensive program in outdoor skills and leadership.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Canada there is &lt;a href=&quot;https://strathconaparklodge.com/canadian-outdoor-leadership-training/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;COLT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; -- Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training. COLT is 100 days long and covers camping, open canoeing, whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, and wilderness first aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US, and in many other countries, there is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nols.edu/en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOLS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; -- National Outdoor Leadership School. NOLS offers many different courses of different lengths on the same above activities, as well as sailing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are well-respected schools giving you good experiential education and some certifications, possibly to be used as a basis for further specialized training/certification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-03-15T04:38:07.453" LastActivityDate="2019-03-15T04:38:07.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21806" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21818" CreationDate="2019-03-14T22:35:46.740" Score="2" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just purchased some Motion skis from Costco with Tyrolia PowerRail PR 10 bindings. Watching YouTube videos, I adjusted the bindings to the boot length and DIN but there's no screw on the front of the toe to adjust the friction slider? I put a flashlight to the bottom front, but there's no screw there. There's just the one screw in the mid-front that adjusts the DIN. There are two screws on the top left and right, but they seem structural?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I googled but cannot find vids or manuals for this binding. Is there somewhere else I should be looking or maybe it auto adjusts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: attached pics as requested&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TVQhC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TVQhC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7y0r.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7y0r.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S6f7y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S6f7y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17544" LastEditorUserId="17544" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T13:39:26.080" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T21:09:44.743" Title="Can't find friction slider adjustment on Tyrolia PR10 bindings?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21809" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-16T05:14:25.827" Score="31" ViewCount="10785" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some places I travel to have stray dogs in the city. Can a knife be used effectively if attacked by one or more of them? I've had creepy close encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-16T21:14:11.183" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T12:15:29.780" Title="Knife as defense against stray dogs" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;knives&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-16T05:46:47.233" Score="57" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can be used for sure, but there are better options. A knife would require you to be very close to the dog, whilst a stick or pepper spray would provide much greater distance between you and the threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pepper spray is used by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2007/html/pb22205/dogkit.3.21.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Postal Service&lt;/a&gt;, and they have &lt;a href=&quot;https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2007/html/pb22205/dogkit.3.7.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lots of experience with dog bites&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/features/dog-bite-prevention/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;avoid aggressive dogs&lt;/a&gt; in the first place, that's better still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-03-16T19:54:17.807" LastActivityDate="2019-03-16T19:54:17.807" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-16T11:23:37.900" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your primary objective when defending yourself against stray dogs is not to kill the dog, but to&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;avoid getting bitten&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;make the dog leave you alone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you fight a dog with a knife, even if you manage to kill it or make it run away, you will likely get a few bites and scratches. Having a stick or pepper spray is a much better option, as it gives you a range advantage. Please note, that carrying a stick or a pepper spray (and even more often, a knife) inside a city might be illegal, depending on where you are. In the outdoors, a stick and pepper spray are usually more legal, but check the laws in your jurisdiction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is (as far as I know) legal everywhere, is ultrasonic dog deterrents. They will make even the most vicious dog (and often even larger animals, like bears) run away in fear. Their only disadvantage is that they will not work if the dog is deaf. Still, carrying such an ultrasonic deterrent with you might be the best choice if you are afraid of stray dogs. Their advantages, compared with other options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no legal problems (as they are useless against humans, you won't be accused of carrying it with you to attack people)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it makes the dogs run away, so less risk for you getting injured in the fight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;even if deaf dogs are unaffected, if a whole pack attacks you (stray dogs usually either travel in packs, or don't attack when they are alone), making the majority of the pack run away in fear usually scares those away who would have been unaffected by the ultrasounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;knowing that you have it with you will bolster your confidence, which by itself is a good deterrent. Dogs are very good at reading human emotions, and they are more likely to attack those who are afraid.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16268" LastActivityDate="2019-03-16T11:23:37.900" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-16T20:25:57.107" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knife is not a good idea. &lt;strong&gt;It does not give an understandable warning to an animal.&lt;/strong&gt; When it comes to a warning, they more likely understand a stick-shaped thing. So for carrying, light telescopic baton is more suitable (or any other stick you can comfortably carry around). Remember, at the first place, you want to &lt;em&gt;repel&lt;/em&gt; oncoming animal, not to harm it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, besides the limited range of the knife you can be facing legislation problems. In addition to those problems mentioned in other answers, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/9925/miroxlav&quot;&gt;my&lt;/a&gt; country there is a complex legislation &quot;Animal is not a thing&quot; which may lead to a criminal investigation in case when you caused injury to an animal (most prominently to a dog). You may be able to prove that you needed to defend yourself, but you will need to go through the process anyway. I think it is not worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way to go is to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=ultrasonic%20dog%20repeller&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ultrasonic dog repeller&lt;/a&gt; which has immediate effect as seen on many videos including for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/uwFAg6KYAgw?t=24&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I originally proposed bright pocket LED flashlight switched to strobe mode, but experience other than mine &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?252357-How-Effective-Are-Flashlights-In-Keeping-Dogs-At-Bay&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;shows&lt;/a&gt; that flashlights seldom work &lt;em&gt;reliably&lt;/em&gt; for repelling the animals. Maybe it is due to narrower spectrum of their light (partially incompatible with that seen by animals) where incandescent light would do better? (Anyway, incandescent torch light is rare today so it is out of scope.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9925" LastEditorUserId="9925" LastEditDate="2019-03-18T08:22:46.160" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T08:22:46.160" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T00:30:42.953" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A knife is a perfectly effective weapon against stray dogs, provided that you are skilled in its use.  However it's not something that you can just pick up and expect to be proficient with.  You need to know how to keep your footing, how to avoid being bitten, enough dog anatomy to be able to disable one quickly, be in good enough physical condition to use all that knowledge...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A knife is always a useful thing to have with you, but if at all possible you'll find that the various types of mace formulated for discouraging dogs are far easier to use.  Save the knife as a backup for in case your can of mace runs dry and the dogpack is still thinking you look tasty.  A gun would be better in that case, but I rather assume you wouldn't be asking about a knife if that were an option, and even if it is, have the knife for when there are more dogs than you have bullets and start with the mace if you can since it's gentler on everyone and everything involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a knife really is your only option, you'll want a set of heavy leather vambraces to go with it.  These protect your forearms so you're less likely to be injured if you misjudge your attack and the dog clamps its teeth down on your arm.  Armoring the rest of yourself wouldn't hurt either, but forearms, shins, and neck are the most important when dealing with dogs since they don't generally have the ability to puncture your torso.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider finding a dog you can practice with.  Most dogs love to wrestle.  That's how they play with each other.  The hard part is making sure you have a clear set of signals so it doesn't get confused and think it's ok to wrestle with other people who won't appreciate it.  But like with fighting humans, the only way to learn how to effectively fight a dog is to do a bit of fighting with a dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, a knife is not a magic wand that will scare a dog away.  If it's your only option it's better than nothing, but you need to put the time and effort into learning how to use it if you want it to give you anything more than a false sense of security.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4217" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T00:30:42.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T07:25:12.630" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;A knife is perfectly fine to make human attackers understand to better leave one alone, however a dog will not understand what &quot;knife&quot; means, nor what it does. having 1-2 plastic bags with dry dog or cat food in the pocket, which one can distribute when trying to get away, is the best strategy - because a) it does not involve any violence and b) stray dogs are corrupt and if you meet them more than once, they might still remember your mercy (they remember this for several years).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;the only situation where violence against stray dogs is justified, is when they encircle one and prepare the attack. then one has to understand who the leader of the pack is, because when not neutralizing their leader, this will result in hospital - also in this situation dropping food yields higher chances of getting away without a scratch, than trying to kill one of them. unless grown up on a farm and knowing exactly how to do it, it might even be a delusion, that this might be an easy thing to do, because dogs aren't slow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;paying the duty is your best chance to trespass on their territory, when you have to (you're the intruder, not them). this just sometimes might lead to situations, where it can become difficult to get rid of them again, which is still better than violence - which they can only return with violence - and so violence should always be the very last resort, in pure self-defense. running a few times around the block and entering a few houses makes it impossible for them to track you down, even if they already knew where your apartment was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;they can smell your fear; that's exactly why dry food is a good approach. being seen (smelt) as provider for snacks is anytime better than being seen as possible prey. and if it really has to be a weapon, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolas&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bolas&lt;/a&gt; should quite effectively body-stop a single dog... and one should consider &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rabies/symptoms-causes/syc-20351821&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rabies&lt;/a&gt; (that's why close-combat is an unpredictably dangerous situation). Concerning the suggesting to use pepper spray ...this works in both directions, which is merely depending in which direction the wind blows. do not turn your back on them and try to appear as large as possible. better save than sorry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clarification for people comparing stray domesticated dogs with wild bears: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found tons of relevant behavioral studies (in German &amp;amp; English): &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wolfscience.at/en/research-at-wsc/publications/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wolfscience.at/en/research-at-wsc/publications/&lt;/a&gt; and generally, one just cannot claim that a bear would be &quot;highly collaborative with humans&quot;, which wolves and dogs are. and this collaborative behavior is exactly why collaborating with them is a pretty sane approach - and this is not feeding wild animals. read closely, I've wrote &quot;when trying to get away&quot;, which implies that feeding them should not be the default - but it can help to take shortcuts on the way, which one otherwise would rather avoid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean, other answers suggesting smashing the dog's skull receive up-votes... while answers, which can be backed up with a little research, that merely suggest common sense are being down-voted? this tells an awful lot about this community. stray dogs are still domestic animals. that humans do not consider them as pets, only because they don't have a name, does not matter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The comparison to postal services is fitting, because territorial invasion is a huge factor... I'd still punch the postman, if he'd spray my dog, only to deliver an invoice, which by itself barely is sane - and only proofs, that some people refuse to realize, that they are the invaders, because they do not realize the territory claimed, eg. by a pack of stray dogs. if they follow one once, one can see where the borderline is, because this is exactly where they will leave off. I find it interesting, that a &quot;trust in authority&quot; answer is the most popular on &quot;The Great Outdoors&quot;. SO is rather welcoming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="658" LastEditorUserId="658" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T14:43:17.273" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T14:43:17.273" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T07:37:02.250" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my personal experience, &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you see stray dogs then ignore them and don't try to look in their&#xA;eyes, they may follow you otherwise.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If dog(s) are barking at you then don't get nervous, just stay normal&#xA;and don't try to run, if you run then they will run faster and may&#xA;catch you and bite.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Now, if still you are in situation where stray dog are following you,&#xA;running for you, or trying to bite you, then use bricks. Usually&#xA;places having  stray dogs also have bricks/Stones, make sure target the dog&#xA;in the head with as much force you can and then run away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have knife then use it or if pepper spray then better, the&#xA;aim is to knockdown the dog so that you can run away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also if the dog is not seriously injured and still following you then it is better to jump into someone else's home/shop by climbing/jumping doors if need be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In case dog killing is not allowed in your country then as suggested by other, always take High Intensity LED Lights, Pepper spray in your pocket.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17554" LastEditorUserId="17554" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T09:48:12.617" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T09:48:12.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T14:50:59.433" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some places I travel to have stray dogs in the city. Can a knife be used effectively if attacked by one or more of them? I've had creepy close encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably, but it's far from ideal. The reason you explicitly mention a knife is because you're a human who knows about knifes. You know they're sharp and they can hurt you and others. When someone near you takes out a knife, your flee or fight instinct might kick in, a dog that's about to attack you won't be scared off by your knife. The knife is not something they know as a threat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, you have to stoop to their level, use their own weapons against them. You're probably already familiar with one of theirs: &lt;strong&gt;sound&lt;/strong&gt;. This is great, because it doesn't scare other people near you but when used right will scare the dog. As it happens, you probably already carry your delivery system with you: a &lt;strong&gt;mobile phone&lt;/strong&gt;. The great thing about phones is that they can make sounds, many sounds, even sounds us humans can't make (very high or very low-frequency sounds). Another great thing is that this is very cheap, you already own the phone, all you need to do is search for an app aimed at making sounds that deter dogs for you phone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to promote a specific app here, but you should search for something like 'anti dog sound' in the app store for your phone. Then go to a few dogs (start with ones you know) and try it on them. If it works: &lt;strong&gt;great&lt;/strong&gt;, if not: it only set you back a few moments of your time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T14:50:59.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T16:14:26.480" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience with packs of stray dogs, especially coyotes, and also having some strange experience, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;carry a walking cane or staff&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (if you can).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dogs, while attacking as a pack, or thinking about attacking, try to do three things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find easy prey&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Limit prey mobility&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Attack prey blind spots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping this is mind, stay moving to wherever it is you’re going. Use your “command voice,” like “I see you dog.” And be mindful of your blind spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid places, like alleyways or ravines, which limit your ability to choose where to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve found that walking sticks, of any length from cane to staff, are globally acceptable, and allow you to rapidly switch between advancing dogs (or whatever) while keeping you moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also agree that pepper spray, like many other answers state, is very effective. If possible, use pepper spray at range, and switch to the stick if close engagement is unavoidable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14423" LastEditorUserId="14423" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T21:51:38.083" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T21:51:38.083" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21806" CreationDate="2019-03-17T21:09:44.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need to be looking any further - there is no such adjustment screw. Reason being, there's nothing adjustable there. The purpose of this slider is to facilitate your ski boot moving sideways out of the binding, not to regulate the force at which that happens. It eliminates some friction between the boot sole and bindings, which can vary between boots and thus affect the release force setting. The two bracket-like things on the side do regulate that force (if a native English speaker could point me at the right word, that'd be nice). And those are adjusted with the screw in front and the according &quot;DIN-value&quot; is displayed on the scale on the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T21:09:44.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-17T22:50:46.810" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You haven't said what country you are talking about. Don't try this in Britain - you will end up in jail. In fact don't bring a knife to Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Selling, buying and carrying knives The maximum penalty for an adult&#xA;  carrying a knife is &lt;strong&gt;4 years in prison&lt;/strong&gt; and an &lt;strong&gt;unlimited fine.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  You’ll get a prison sentence if you’re convicted of carrying a knife&#xA;  more than once. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most dogs have an owner. They are used to being told what to do by humans. Know the local words for &quot;sit&quot; and &quot;go home&quot;. Say one or other of these firmly (not angrily or shouting). If in doubt say phrases in your own language but with conviction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Running will cause any dog to chase - Even a small dog can run faster than Usain Bolt so don't do it unless there is a gate or similar very nearby that you can get behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shouting and waving your arms or acting in a threatening manner will frighten a timid dog but it may cause an aggressive dog to attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is only one way to deal with a dog and that is to maintain a calm demeanour and upright posture. &lt;strong&gt;Do not&lt;/strong&gt; try to use dog-language (e.g. by growling - this will cause it to become more aggressive) speak to it as a disapproving human and assume that it will obey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a dog actually attacks and is biting you then you have no option - you have to defend yourself. However do so in a calculated way. Control it by grabbing its collar and twisting so as to choke it.  If there is no collar grab by the scruff. Then kick or hit in a soft/vulnerable spot. Poke in the eyes, kick in the windpipe, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get to this last stage then you are already getting hurt so don't sue me if it goes wrong! It was going to anyway!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6594" LastEditorUserId="6594" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T22:56:42.467" LastActivityDate="2019-03-17T22:56:42.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21820" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-17T23:09:57.247" Score="8" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&amp;amp;v=8WBqX7MSqWw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video where a couple of people are walking on extremely clear lake ice.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://external-preview.redd.it/3SLHp1-3CotbwbngEaB3cxxf1hr5dsmjxXaYCBPkcpc.gif?format=png8&amp;amp;s=4efe1d54385fd2bd6c9f4972b7c0177eb74bbbc1&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, lake ice is far less clear, &lt;strong&gt;what conditions&lt;/strong&gt; on this lake would lead to &lt;strong&gt;the unusual clarity?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-17T23:38:02.420" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T18:35:06.873" Title="What conditions would lead to lake ice being extremely clear?" Tags="&lt;ice&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18458" CreationDate="2019-03-18T05:53:20.057" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I  had the same issue with Karhu touring boots, delamination of the rubber sole front in the middle of nowhere, fixed for the return trip with velcro straps. I repaired this boot with barge contact cement, it has been tested on 3 outings. Of course the last trip the other boot started to unglue. Ran out of barge, now I am trying E6000, not tested yet. The E6000 dries with a better finish than the barge. I tested the E6000 on regular shoes, the one that I use in the garage for the dirty jobs and it has been doing well for over 6 weeks, but no cold weather in the garage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17563" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T05:53:20.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21824" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21825" CreationDate="2019-03-18T07:38:48.103" Score="4" ViewCount="334" Body="&lt;p&gt;In answers to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21809/2529&quot;&gt;a recent question&lt;/a&gt;, ultrasonic dog repellers were suggested as a means of self defence against stray dogs rather than weapons. I'm also concerned with loose farm dogs, and live somewhere with very strict weapons laws (so bear spray is out of the question). A trekking pole I or kayak paddle may have some value in fending off a dog but are rather unwieldy if you're on a bike (for example). The omnidirectional sort are what I have in mind, as they could be clipped to gear/taped to handlebars and used immediately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of what I can find online is arguments for and against using them to train or discipline your own dog or a noisy nuisance dog. So do they work for stopping (feral) dogs from approaching? Do they make dogs back off? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T09:17:55.847" Title="Do ultrasonic dog repellers actually work against strays and other loose dogs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21824" CreationDate="2019-03-18T09:12:14.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Steve Gibson's experience seems to be yes, but only at close range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.grc.com/tqc/thequietcanine.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;“The Quiet Canine” Electronic Dog Whistle - Acoustic Management of Unruly Dogs from a Distance&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in no event was this able to function as any sort of barking deterrent. Dogs heard it, and at any distance, they didn't care. We soon came to appreciate that my own original “point blank” blasting of the original “Portable Dog Killer” (as I named my first device when I was in high school) was required for the device's effectiveness. No dog next door, let alone down the block, will care about a high pitched sound. It needs to be blasted directly into the dog's face at a very short distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that while &lt;strong&gt;this device would not be useful for silencing dogs at a distance&lt;/strong&gt;, it would likely be extremely useful and effective as a personal defense device for walkers, postal workers on foot and joggers who are harassed and threatened by overly aggressive canines on the loose. Although we cannot and do not offer any specific guarantees, &lt;strong&gt;it is difficult to see how any attacking dog would not be stopped in its tracks by a close blast of incredibly loud and high pitched sound&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Emphasis mine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/8Glft9CQ-5s?t=57m51s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Background story going back to 1971&lt;/a&gt; (Youtube video)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T09:17:55.847" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-18T10:25:08.133" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had several experiences with aggressive dogs, usually while going for a run.  It is impractical to carry a staff or cane while running and I'm even less interested in carrying a weapon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Types of dogs that I've encountered:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aggressive dogs off of the leash (i.e. careless owner lets dog off of leash because their dog 'never' bites).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stray dogs (i.e. do not have owner).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the aggressive dogs (item 1), I do several things:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stop and turn to face them so they don't get an opportunity to bite me.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yell aggressively at them. Make yourself big and intimidating.  You want them (and their owner) to think that their dog is in danger.  This will get the owner to get their crap together.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slowly back away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Haven't had to do this yet) Kick dog in head.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With stray dogs (item 2), usually encountered in the woods, they generally seem skittish and yelling or throwing something at them keeps them back.  Once again be cautious and don't turn your back to them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think knife would only be practical if the dog is biting you and won't let go. It is far better to avoid getting bit in the first place. I think kicking would keep it further from biting your face and neck then using a knife would.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE&lt;/strong&gt; : Do not do any of this, unless the dog is actually being aggressive to you and you think you may be attacked. E.G. off-of-leash and nipping/barking/growling at you from a few feet away.  When I encounter a dog off of its leash, but &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; behaving aggressively, I just leave it alone.  I keep my eye on it and go my merry way.  There is no need to start trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Note on prevention&lt;/strong&gt;: If you are jogging / running and you are passing someone with a dog, announce yourself!  I do this for everyone (including those without dogs).  I say loudly &quot;Passing left&quot; to give the dog owner a chance to react and pull their dog close.  I've been bit by a dog on a leash when I was passing  because it was startled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17565" LastEditorUserId="17565" LastEditDate="2019-03-18T18:58:13.853" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T18:58:13.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21820" CreationDate="2019-03-18T10:29:12.383" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Conditions that can lead to clear ice such as this are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water with few impurities causing less scattering of light: This lake&#xA;does not have any water flowing into it, therefore rain is the only&#xA;source of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freeze the water slowly so that impurities and air bubbles can rise&#xA;to the surface, and in the case of air, escape.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The area of the lake in the video is shallow, therefore light has&#xA;less distance to travel and be scattered before it is seen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2014/12/walking-on-water-physics-of-clear-ice.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Physics Buzz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T10:29:12.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21828" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-18T13:46:17.700" Score="38" ViewCount="10695" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order for knives to be useful, they need to be sharp. If I am sharpening one myself, how do I know when I am done?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be a simple easy test of whether a knife is sharp enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-18T14:32:15.713" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T15:40:06.210" Title="How to test the sharpness of a knife?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-18T15:17:35.527" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try to slice a piece of paper.  A good sharp knife makes a clean cut.  A dull knife makes either a ragged cut, or worse, just pushes the paper to the side.  I like this article: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2014/08/paper-cut-testing-blade-sharpness#page-4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2014/08/paper-cut-testing-blade-sharpness#page-4&lt;/a&gt; and YouTube is full of videos of people showing off their knives via this test.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T15:17:35.527" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21831" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-18T15:56:53.737" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a knife nut, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that a knife is one of the worst weapons you could have as a first defense against animals with natural weaponry - dogs, bears, lions, etc... - in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest issues with it are reach and presence. A knife just simply doesn't have the length to keep you out of harms way. In order to stab or cut a dog, you have to get close enough for it to bite you. That's not where you want to be. A knife also just isn't scary to an animal because they don't understand what it is at all. I've owned a dog that would literally carry knives around by there handles and chew on them. He was totally unaware of any danger the knife posed at all. You really won't be able to scare an animal off with a knife in anyway that you could have scared them off without one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, as a recap, a knife won't keep you safe from wild animals, and it won't help you scare them away. With that understood, a knife is extremely effective when it comes to actually killing said animals once they've already attacked you. If you're looking for a weapon of last resort against wild animals in general, certain knives aren't a bad choice. Keep in mind that using a knife as a weapon of last resort against animals in this context 100% ensures that you've already been bitten and are suffering pretty bad injuries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A knife should never be your first choice for self defense against animals. It just doesn't do any of the things you want it to do as a first choice weapon. It is technically possible to &quot;poke&quot; at a dog with a knife by throwing out some jabs, but you won't really have the reach to make that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long stick is far superior to a knife for defending yourself against wild dogs. The stick gives you reach. the stick makes you much bigger and therefore scarier. You can bang the stick on random stuff to make yourself much louder without having to worry about damaging yourself or the knife. Most importantly, a stick lets you defend yourself with a much smaller chance of being injured than a knife does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17570" LastEditorDisplayName="user17570" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T14:06:59.977" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T14:06:59.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-03-18T16:43:01.263" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As pointed out by others, YES, a knife CAN be effective. But, in al practicality, the question should be, what is the &lt;code&gt;most effective&lt;/code&gt; way to avoid problems with stray dogs? The answer depends on lots of factors, but you should consider not going by food, but by car. This is the same solution to avoid beggars in an american city...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the problem analysis, the biggest problem is perhaps not being bitten, however &quot;creepy&quot; you might find, but getting infected with &lt;code&gt;rabies&lt;/code&gt;. Bites can be easily stitched, but rabies is a really dangerous disease. In lots of countries, stray dogs are NOT vaccinated. In lots of outdoor places you may, after a bite, not be able to get treatment within 24 hours in a major hospital, where they give you expensive and horrible medicins as a precaution against rabies, without which you may (or may not) die. This is why you should consider getting vaccinated against rabies when going to most countries that are not super rich, where you plan to do a lot of outdoor activities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using a knife might as well be the MOST STUPID way of defending yourself against a dog. Others pointed out that wielding a knife will not impress a dog, as a dog does not have the intelligence to understand that such a little piece of shiny metal could be of any danger to him until you actually stab the dog which will cause lots of blood drops flying around, with a high risk of infection, not to speak of staining and ruining your nice outdoor apparel. Blood stains are difficult to wash. Even when stabbed, an aggressive dog will not give up. You will have to kill it. Stabbing the dog also means going really close, so you will end up being scratched and bitten anyway as the dog tries to attack or defend, whatever you name it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, be aware that you can also contract rabies by petting those cute stray dogs, cats, squirrels, etc. And also by being coughed or spit at, i.e. even without being bitten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good Luck&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17572" LastEditorUserId="17572" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T10:22:21.293" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T10:22:21.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-18T17:04:35.710" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;The back of a fingernail can be a good rough indicator while you're sharpening - see if it &quot;catches&quot; when you apply very gentle pressure at ~45 degree angle.  This can also be a good way to check if the edge still has any dull spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16788" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T17:04:35.710" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21834" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-18T17:18:05.213" Score="15" ViewCount="282" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two &quot;rules&quot; which are commonly stated with how to wear an avalanche beacon which are closely related, but not quite the same:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You should wear it over your bottom layer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The avalanche beacon may never be visible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reasoning for the first is simple: If you wear it further up and need to take that layer off (too warm), you need to take off the avalanche beacon which is a bad idea (potential to forget to take it back on, brief moment where it's no use). The reason for the second is usually given as the risk of the beacon getting &quot;ripped off&quot; and lost when you get into an avalanche. I can simply not imagine there being enough attack surface for a sufficient force to rip off the beacon. My personal hypothesis is, that this is a typical myth that evolved from out of the first rule, as it requires that first rule and is pretty simple and illustrative to remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a significant/practical risk of an avalanche beacon worn on top getting lost when you get into an avalanche?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for any evidence (tests or anecdotal) or clear, fact based arguments (as opposed to opinions). I am not looking for alternative ways to handle avalanche beacons that prevent a potential problem in the first place (reason being, I already know some and wearing them in the &quot;harness&quot; is the common and manufacturer recommended way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-04-26T23:24:02.070" Title="Is there a practical risk when wearing an avalanche beacon on your top layer?" Tags="&lt;alpine-touring&gt;&lt;rescue&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21834" CreationDate="2019-03-18T18:54:25.577" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given that your avalanche beacon has the potential to be your partner's lifeline (or your own), it makes sense to protect it.  Rocks, branches, skis, poles, ice tools, there's a lot that could potentially damage this important piece of equipment before you even enter avalanche terrain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the event of an avalanche, it's not just the pressure of snow on the attack surface of the beacon itself - one unfortunately-located tree branch or rock could very easily separate you from your beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I being paranoid?  Yes, definitely!  These are unlikely scenarios, and beacons are designed to be rugged.  But in the unlikely event that you actually &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; your beacon, you'll want to have have done whatever you could have done leading up to that point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16788" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T18:54:25.577" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10367" CreationDate="2019-03-18T20:54:37.710" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live on Cape Cod and have hand fed Tamias Striatus for over a decade.  I identify individuals and name them and know their lineage and personal habits, where they live, when they create new burrow entrances, etc.  I have kept a fairly detailed log for most of this time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Males in breeding season (and often well beyond that time) are easy to distinguish from females.  Their scrotal sac is enlarged and obvious from behind and below. I’ve had munks who were in breeding condition most of the Summer, although that is not typical. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually this condition only lasts perhaps a month or so.  Females just prior to giving birth until some time after dispersal will have 3 or 4 rows of teats on their underside which are visible when they are sitting up.  Of course when the female is pregnant she is usually pretty chubby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17577" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-18T22:44:42.860" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T22:44:42.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-18T23:17:45.387" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slice a tomato with very little pressure. This is almost always when I notice a knife needs sharpening, and the difference is profound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I should have added &lt;em&gt;ripe&lt;/em&gt; tomato; a sharp knife will slice it, whereas a dull one will smash it or rumple and tear its skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17581" LastEditorUserId="17581" LastEditDate="2019-03-19T17:42:50.093" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T17:42:50.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-18T23:18:43.653" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best method in my opinion is one that must be learned, and involves moving your thumb across the blade, &lt;strong&gt;perpendicular to the blade not down it&lt;/strong&gt;! It's very difficult to describe the feeling but if you do it on enough dull blades and sharp blades you will begin to be able to tell the difference. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other thing I will do if im sharpening a knife for a friend or coworker to display how sharp it is is shave a couple hairs off the back of my hand. Lick your thumb, moisten the patch on the back of your hand and shave as you would with a straight razor. (You may want to wipe the knife clean after this.) Sounds weird but i do it because your average joe will know its extrememly sharp if you can shave with it and be careful with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other test could be to attempt to very thinly slice a tomato, with and exceptionally sharp knife you should be able to get nearly paper thin slices with a light sawing motion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2019-03-18T23:18:43.653" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-19T08:45:47.180" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally I categorize sharpness into 3 levels:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The tomato test - being able to slice through a tomato skin. Not use the pointy end to break the skin and then slice but directly slice the skin all the way through. This is sharp enough for cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The paper test - being able to slice thin phonebook paper or magazine paper or newsprint. For general carving knives I find some tearing after the knife has started a cut to be acceptable. If I really want sharp then it should be able to cut paper with zero tearing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The shaving test - you should be able to shave with it. This is literally razor sharp (otherwise known as &quot;scary sharp&quot;). I've only been able to do this on some knives and I wouldn't want all my knives to be razors anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8914" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T08:45:47.180" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21844" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-19T09:18:54.047" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're sharping the knife outdoors (where a tomato is not available), a good test is to wield it perpendicularly to a grass stalk and see if the knife cuts it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7982" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T09:18:54.047" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15434" CreationDate="2019-03-19T11:13:41.387" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are reports of this happening. A quote from &lt;a href=&quot;http://time.com/2965190/burma-myanmar-thailand-elephants-trafficked-tortured-tourism/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Time&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to wildlife-advocacy group TRAFFIC, poachers in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, corral elephants into jungle pits, after which older animals are slaughtered and the more valuable young ones tortured into submission before being trafficked over the porous border to entertain tourists vacationing in the self-styled Land of Smiles. (Formerly, elephants in Burma might have been put to work in the logging industry, but recent curbs have put this trade under threat.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sangduen Chailert, popularly known as Lek, has worked in elephant conservation in her native northern Thailand for 20 years. “When they catch a wild baby elephant, some [poachers] told me that in the jungle it’s like a killing field,” she tells TIME. “To take one baby they must kill the mother and the aunties, and it is very risky for the baby as it’s difficult for them to survive without their mothers.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article goes on to mention some numbers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The TRAFFIC study says up to 81 live elephants were illegally captured for sale to the Thai tourist industry between 2011 and 2013.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2002, &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20080302132856/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1016_021016_phajaan.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic Today wrote an article&lt;/a&gt; on this in which the breaking process is described:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just before dawn in the remote highlands of northern Thailand, west of the village Mae Jaem, a four-year-old elephant bellows as seven village men stab nails into her ears and feet. She is tied up and immobilized in a small, wooden cage. Her cries are the only sounds to interrupt the otherwise quiet countryside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cage is called a &amp;quot;training crush.&amp;quot; It's the centerpiece of a centuries-old ritual in northern Thailand designed to domesticate young elephants. In addition to beatings, handlers use sleep-deprivation, hunger, and thirst to &amp;quot;break&amp;quot; the elephants' spirit and make them submissive to their owners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get an idea of what this looks like, below is a picture from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/breaking-the-spirit-of-elephants-for-use-in-the-tourism-industry/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;onegreenplanet.org&lt;/a&gt; (picture redacted because it contains a graphic image, hover over the quote below to show):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;spoiler&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HX9uz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HX9uz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a video showing more details, it's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVckvi_gWVo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;on YouTube and it's age-restricted&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for your last question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why do the gameskeepers not react?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is difficult because wild animals live in large areas. In Thailand (I'm not up to date on the situation in Myanmar, but it being a poorer country doesn't indicate to me that the animals would be better protected) the national parks are somewhat guarded, that is, the roads in an out of the parks are but it's not like you couldn't get in and out avoiding the main roads if you wanted. Of course, the illegal stuff (selling those animals, but also illegal logging, etc.) being very lucrative and those countries being rather poor also opens up the issue of corruption, they could try to pay their way in and out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Attribution&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campbell, C. (2014). Elephants Are Tortured and Trafficked to Entertain Tourists in Thailand. Retrieved from &lt;a href=&quot;http://time.com/2965190/burma-myanmar-thailand-elephants-trafficked-tortured-tourism/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://time.com/2965190/burma-myanmar-thailand-elephants-trafficked-tortured-tourism/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Christian, P. (2015). The Barbaric Tradition of ‘Breaking the Spirit’ of Elephants for Their Use in the Tourism Industry. Retrieved from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/breaking-the-spirit-of-elephants-for-use-in-the-tourism-industry/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/breaking-the-spirit-of-elephants-for-use-in-the-tourism-industry/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hile, J. (2002). Activists Denounce Thailand's Elephant &amp;quot;Crushing&amp;quot; Ritual. Retrieved from &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20080302132856/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1016_021016_phajaan.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://web.archive.org/web/20080302132856/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1016_021016_phajaan.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T21:18:50.813" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-19T15:49:00.823" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cheap, disposable sponges. Unlike paper, they can be tested on while wet, which is a big advantage when sharpening with waterstones. Don't use the scrubby side (some people like using it as a deburring aid, though)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something dull will not be able to cut into a sponge. Something sharp will easily slice into it. Something d... sharp can push-cut into the corner of a sponge. Something b...y damn sharp can be laid on a sponge and pushed in (a razorblade easily will!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8657" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T15:49:00.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21783" CreationDate="2019-03-19T20:57:40.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black locust is in some areas of the northeast now, but I don't know about the &#xA;Adirondacks. It is listed as very durable for rot resistance, and is mentioned as being used for fence posts because of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wood-database.com/wood-finder/?fwp_location=north-america&amp;amp;fwp_decay=very-durable&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Other durable species can be found from this link&lt;/a&gt;. There are 31 listed as very durable (greater than 25 years of service life in ground contact, but only for the heartwood) in North America. You can check for each in your area. Black Cherry is one listed that should be in your area. Sassafras is considered very durable, but it's relatively rare to see sizes large enough for a cabin foundation. White Oak and some other oaks, and a few species of cedar are the others I see listed that might be in your area. Black Walnut is listed, but it also mentions that it is susceptible to insect attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17465" LastActivityDate="2019-03-19T20:57:40.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21849" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21856" CreationDate="2019-03-20T11:46:40.623" Score="5" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was taking a hike through &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khao_Yai_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Khao Yai National Park&lt;/a&gt; when I came across the centipede below. Can anyone identify what animal it is more specifically?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dPG0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0dPG0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been a few years and I only took this picture, but my guess is that the centipede walks on a rotten tree which has other plants (at least those two green veins on either side of the centipede) growing on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:40:53.283" Title="What type of centipede is this?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;thailand&gt;&lt;jungle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21850" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-03-20T11:55:27.177" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T11:55:27.177" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T11:55:27.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21851" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-03-20T11:55:27.177" Score="0" Body="Questions related to the Kingdom of Thailand" OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T15:05:03.990" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:05:03.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21852" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-03-20T12:00:35.643" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T12:00:35.643" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T12:00:35.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21853" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-03-20T12:00:35.643" Score="0" Body="Question relating to jungles and their properties. Jungles are tropical forests which are densely packed by trees and other vegetation and they have many animals living in them." OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-03-20T15:05:38.080" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:05:38.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21855" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-20T15:29:48.263" Score="3" ViewCount="332" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long &amp;amp; Gaines &lt;em&gt;Climbing Anchors&lt;/em&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Jim Bridwell, one of the most experienced climbers in the&#xA;  history of the sport, uses only four knots for any and all climbing situations. Better&#xA;  to learn a few knots well, than a multitude of knots poorly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=lQoQAQAAQBAJ&amp;amp;lpg=PA103&amp;amp;dq=Jim%20Bridwell%2C%20one%20of%20the%20most%20experienced%20climbers%20in%20the%20history%20of%20the%20sport%2C%20uses%20only%20four%20knots%20for%20any%20and%20all%20climbing%20situations.%20Better%20to%20learn%20a%20few%20knots%20well%2C%20than%20a%20multitude%20of%20knots%20poorly.&amp;amp;pg=PA103#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=%22Jim%20Bridwell,%20one%20of%20the%20most%20experienced%20climbers%20in%20the%20history%20of%20the%20sport,%20uses%20only%20four%20knots%20for%20any%20and%20all%20climbing%20situations.%20Better%20to%20learn%20a%20few%20knots%20well,%20than%20a%20multitude%20of%20knots%20poorly.%22&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It then goes on to describe 6 different knots.  Which are the 4 that Bridwell used?  Is  there really a set of 4 that work in every situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T16:09:12.840" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T16:30:14.693" Title="What are the four climbing knots used by Jim Bridwell?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21849" CreationDate="2019-03-20T15:40:53.283" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From what i can tell, and the little bit of research i did it appears to be a &quot;Flat backed millipede&quot; or part of the Polydesmida family, of which there are a huge variety and many are hard to tell apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Polydesmida (from the Greek poly &quot;many&quot; and desmos &quot;bond&quot;) is the largest order of millipedes, containing approximately 3,500 species,&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h9olz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Members of the order Polydesmida are also known as &quot;flat-backed millipedes&quot;, because on most species, each body segment has wide lateral keels known as paranota.&lt;a href=&quot;https://rainforests.smugmug.com/Orders/Invertebrates/Orders/Diplopoda/i-tdxBsZW&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt; These keels are produced by the posterior half (metazonite) of each body ring behind the collum.[5] Polydesmids have no eyes, and vary in length from 3 to 130 mm (0.12 to 5.12 in).[6] Including the telson, adults have 19 or 20 rings, while juveniles may have from 7 to 19 rings.[5] Mature males have a single pair of gonopods consisting of the modified forward leg pair of the 7th segment.[7] Many of the larger species show bright coloration patterns which warn predators of their toxic secretions.+&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydesmida&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Text Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydesmus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of Similar Species&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not a direct threat, but don't eat them :P&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This particular one looks a lot like a Polydesmus Angustus, however there are several very similar species that can only be differeniated by close study:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It is not possible to reliably identify Polydesmus millipedes without examination of male gonopods or female epigynal structures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling this may be one of them, Polydesmus Angustus is common in the UK, I am uncertain about how common they are in Thailand. Although where you found him would make sense as they live among and feed off of rotting woods and forest debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And just for the heck of it, here is another image of what appears to be the same species taken by someone else in the same place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rainforests.smugmug.com/Orders/Invertebrates/Orders/Diplopoda/i-tdxBsZW&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt; Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h9olz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h9olz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will attempt to do a little more research when time allows and see if i can find any other information or possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:40:53.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18556" CreationDate="2019-03-20T15:46:43.477" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is already a good answer to this but I'll add a slightly different perspective, especially since you noted in your question you want more general answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For working in the forest - as in forestry, logging, land surveying - the safety guidance about wind I was taught as a professional is as follows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sustained winds over 15 miles per hour present a hazard and you should proceed with an abundance of caution; where normally you would look up and down often for hazards and wear a hard hat, now you need to be extra diligent in those precautions and consider changing your course of work to avoid areas with weak limbs or trees likely to fall. Examples of that kind of area include coniferous forests with dead branches hanging on the tree (as with white pines or red spruces), or areas with lots of standing dead trees yet to fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sustained winds over 30 miles per hour are generally not safe to work in, as it is likely there will be falling debris which could be very dangerous. Course of work should change to avoid forested areas that could drop limbs and trees in high winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see these as rules of thumb and on the extra-cautious end of the safety spectrum. For recreational hiking, you may be inclined to take more risks. For folks working in forests every day, extra caution needs to be practiced because it's easy to get casual and overexpose yourself to life-threatening risks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important not to underestimate the dangers here: 15 mile per hour wind can seem fairly gentle and branches falling may not seem like a big deal, but even with a hard hat on if a falling branch hits you in the head it can easily knock you out and/or greatly hinder your ability to safely get out of the woods and back in contact with civilization, or worst case outright kill you. I've never come across specific numbers on this but I'd point out that a fairly small diameter branch (say, 4 inches) can be very heavy, and if one were to land on your head with no other person or telecommunication contact within hours walk, you could be in a life threatening situation. Is that likely to happen? No, it would be pretty unlucky, but it does happen. Again, for hiking these might be acceptable fringe risks, but for an already-dangerous day job it's worth carrying extra caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T15:46:43.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21858" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21855" CreationDate="2019-03-20T18:42:25.693" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I doubt he only knew 4 knots. Looking at online photos, is difficult, but in this photo&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ob9zV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ob9zV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I can see a double fisherman's on the cord on the back of his harness, a figure eight on a bight on the blue haul line, a girth hitch on the last pin and possibly a water knot. I have also found pictures of him at an anchor with a bunch of clove hitches, but it is unclear who tied them. Maybe he never used them, but I doubt that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also expect him to know the Prussik, or some other friction knot for hauling and a Munter hitch for belaying, but cannot find them in photos. He probably also knew a square knot (and hence a granny knot) as well as a simple overhand knot for backing up his eight on a bight, because most people know these knots. Finally, even if he used a swami belt, I would be surprised if he couldn't tie a bowline on a coil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is still a relatively small number of knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T18:42:25.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21859" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-20T19:03:05.540" Score="1" ViewCount="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doing a Prussik with a small cordellete that is tied together in a O is relatively easy. Now some maneuvers require to do a Prussik/blocking knot with only one side of a long cordelete... how do you do that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two situations where you may need the &lt;em&gt;end/middle of cordelette Prussik&lt;/em&gt; (or any alternative knot with same feature) :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;End of rope: crevasse rescue with double mariner/ Z drag (first pic)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Middle of rope: crevasse rescue with loop haul/one on one/austrian (second pic)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lb1JR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lb1JR.png&quot; alt=&quot;double mariner/ Z drag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mKD9t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mKD9t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17606" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-23T23:14:28.477" LastActivityDate="2019-03-23T23:14:28.477" Title="How to do a prussik with end of cordellete only?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2019-03-20T21:31:29.490" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21860" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-20T19:21:59.737" Score="5" ViewCount="454" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take for example the picture below, taken in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erawan_National_Park#Features_of_Erawan_waterfall&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Erawan National Park&lt;/a&gt;. The surface of the waterfall is a shade of white, maybe from calcium(?) and it actually very coarse. Even though it's somewhat steep, you could (I'm not advising to) walk right up there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen waterfalls that look like stone without anything on them but they were very slippery, possibly because they had some biofilm on them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Short of touching the rocks, are there any tricks to determine if a waterfall's surface is slippery or not? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ccogj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ccogj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastActivityDate="2019-04-09T10:05:15.503" Title="Can you tell if a waterfall is slippery based on how it looks?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;waterfalls&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21862" CreationDate="2019-03-20T20:48:08.577" Score="11" ViewCount="2316" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was lucky enough to spot an unusual animal in my back yard this evening, here's a photo...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ahx21.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ahx21.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;... well I say unusual, but that is because this is the first one I've ever seen in my back garden.  This really made my day :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in the UK (Midlands region) and this evening the temperature was about 12  Celcius, dry weather, very mild breeze.  It was dark when I was walking across my patio with my flashlight and I realised that it was possibly a lizard.  Closer careful inspection paid off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My garden is far from any streams or ponds, and is situated on top of a hill with excellent drainage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He/she sat there entirely immobile as I went inside to grab my phone to get photographic evidence.  I set my flashlight to low power so as not to dazzle the beast and took this picture.  I did not pester it further, I looked out of the window a few minutes later and it had scuttled off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From nose to tail it was 100 to 120 millimetres (about 4.5&quot;) long and seemed to have four digits on each foot.  Its eyes were reflective to the light from my flashlight and phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'd like to know what species this is&lt;/strong&gt; and if possible, whether it's a male or female.  I'd also like to know if there is anything I can do to encourage such animals to make a home in my garden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/djZT7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is the same picture that has been made a little lighter, in case that helps with the identification. No other modifications have been made.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11843" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T00:08:07.480" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T08:29:03.197" Title="Can you identify this lizard-like creature I observed in the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21861" CreationDate="2019-03-20T20:56:56.067" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's not a lizard that's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_newt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;smooth newt&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Lissotriton_vulgaris_%2815182363096%29.jpg/800px-Lissotriton_vulgaris_%2815182363096%29.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lissotriton_vulgaris_(15182363096).jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jasonsteelwildlifephotography.yolasite.com/lizards.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lizards in the UK&lt;/a&gt;  look anything like that, and the tail and lines are what I am basing my identification off of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lilieswatergardens.co.uk/blog/index.php/2017/02/attracting-british-amphibians-to-your-water-garden/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Attracting British Amphibians to your Water Garden&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/2012/06/getting-to-know-your-newts.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Getting to know your newts.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T08:29:03.197" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T08:29:03.197" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21864" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16551" CreationDate="2019-03-20T21:20:45.620" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm quite fond of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gore-Tex&lt;/a&gt; shoes (&lt;a href=&quot;https://runrepeat.com/the-north-face-hedgehog-fastpack-gtx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;), this is a trademarked fabric that is used by a number of brands. Contrary to other answers, Gore-Tex shoes are to be closed, which has some benefits but also some disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll just write a pros and cons list and you can decide if this is something for you or not, maybe in addition to some of the other suggestions. When I'm in South-East Asia and have access to my own vehicle I like to keep two pairs (and lots of clean socks) at hand (in the back of the car): one pair of flip-flops and a pair of Gore-Tex hiking boots. When it's nice dry outside I wear the flip-flops and when it's rainy or I'm going off-road / out of the cities I turn to the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now the pros and cons for the Gore Tex boots (alternatively, any hiking boots that are waterproof and very breathable would do), mostly in comparison to flip-flops (as that is the go-to alternative in my experience).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Pros&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your feet are better &lt;strong&gt;protected&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Better &lt;strong&gt;grip&lt;/strong&gt; when climbing / walking in wet sand&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The fabric is &lt;strong&gt;water-proof&lt;/strong&gt;, so your feet stay dry&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The boots are designed to let the sweat out, so &lt;strong&gt;no sweaty feet&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Cons&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They take more &lt;strong&gt;effort to put on&lt;/strong&gt;, so they are more of a hassle when you go indoors where you're expected to take your shoes off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are &lt;strong&gt;more expensive&lt;/strong&gt;, while they're certainly worth it if they last you years, they may be a &lt;strong&gt;target for thieves&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They are a &lt;strong&gt;bother to carry around&lt;/strong&gt; when you don't wear them. Obviously, this doesn't apply if you can leave them in your car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Final advice&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion, bring the flip-flops for sure, you can't go without them. Wear the flip-flops as much you can but change into the hiking shoes whenever you feel the flips don't suffice (if it gets wet or when you're going on a trail with some steeper parts). Just don't forget to bring enough clean socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-03-20T21:20:45.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21866" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-21T06:32:13.560" Score="6" ViewCount="249" Body="&lt;p&gt;An example of the earthen material I have in mind, this video shows some daub prepared for a wattle-and-daub house at timestamp 7:45: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/wPWLlVVVDN0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/wPWLlVVVDN0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Cob, cobb or clom (in Wales) is a natural building material made from subsoil, water, fibrous organic material (typically straw), and sometimes lime.&lt;a href=&quot;https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; The contents of subsoil naturally vary, and if it does not contain the right mixture it can be modified with sand or clay. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Daub is usually created from a mixture of ingredients from three categories: binders, aggregates and reinforcement. Binders hold the mix together and can include clay, lime, chalk dust and limestone dust. Aggregates give the mix its bulk and dimensional stability through materials such as mud, sand, crushed chalk and crushed stone. Reinforcement is provided by straw, hair, hay or other fibrous materials, and helps to hold the mix together as well as to control shrinkage and provide flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattle_and_daub&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattle_and_daub&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are the materials necessary to make cob or wattle and daub available in the Adirondacks? I think wattle could be made use a variety of trees in the region and I am sure cob can be made nearby too, but what about in the Adirondacks specifically?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What soil or quality does one need to check/test for to know if material is suitable as one of the necessary daub ingredients - binders, aggregates, and reinforcement? Is there a particular soil or property to look for on a service like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USDA Web Soil Survey&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2019-03-23T00:53:37.100" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T17:26:01.560" Title="Is there clay soil in the Adirondacks suitable for earthen primitive building?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;&lt;adirondacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21867" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21868" CreationDate="2019-03-21T09:35:12.943" Score="5" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;The picture below was taken at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flora_Ratchaphruek&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Royal Flora Ratchaphruek&lt;/a&gt;, a park with lots of flowers and vegetatation in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Can anyone identify the bug I found there, shown in the picture below?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Q4xm.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Q4xm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T09:40:19.320" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T13:17:35.643" Title="What type of insect is this orange-camouflaged creature?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;thailand&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21867" CreationDate="2019-03-21T13:17:35.643" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a species of longhorn beetle called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristobia_approximator&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aristobia approximator&lt;/a&gt;. There are two or three different species that live in my region but I wasn't familiar with this particular one which is quite impressive looking. Since it seems to feed on teak, this has to be an Asian species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T13:17:35.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21855" CreationDate="2019-03-21T15:28:44.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But is there really a set of 4 that work in every situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/showlog.php?id=141813&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reasonably experienced climber (I currently lead HVS outdoors, about 6b indoors/sport)&lt;/a&gt;, I can tie 7 knots (counting 3 variations on the figure eight as one) (from memory anyway). This covers pretty much every situation I've ever encountered. The knots I know are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/fig8follow/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Figure eight (various)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/clovehalfhitches/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Clove hitch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/alpinebutterfly/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alpine butterfly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/flatoverhand/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Flat Overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prusik&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermans/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double fishermans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/doubleoverhand/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Double overhand&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With these knots you should be able to cover every situation you need, from hauling to setting up a belay. Here's some of them (clove hitch,figure eight and double overhand(stopper)) in action:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nPktf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nPktf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Can anyone spot the mistake in the above photo?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; I posted this photo on Facebook and a climbing instructor friend pulled me up on it! Said it's safe but could be safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T16:30:14.693" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T16:30:14.693" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21828" CreationDate="2019-03-21T15:40:06.210" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could just cut of some hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No need to cut other resources and its safe because yeah its hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And for any type of baldness you can adapt the amount of hair you would like to test on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17612" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T15:40:06.210" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21866" CreationDate="2019-03-21T17:59:20.840" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read the question more as &quot;Does what I want exist here?&quot; rather than &quot;Is the stuff here going to be good enough quality?&quot; So my answer was initially in that light. OP shows in comment that what was really wanted was the latter, &quot;Is the stuff here going to be good enough quality?&quot; Scroll down below the horizontal line for the original answer, which I left because I think it is still very useful here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a common answer to questions of this type, and that is that you can do almost anything with lots of different materials. The materials might not be perfect for what you want, but that just means you have to try harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your comment you write&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;if I find clay in the Adirondacks (southern central), is it safe to&#xA;  say it's suitable for cob or daub? Same with sand? I can identify what&#xA;  areas have sand and clay in the soils but am not sure if all sands and&#xA;  clays are usable in this way.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would say yes, as you don't technically even need the clay and sand. My daughter once made a wall out of just dirt. She got it very wet, molded it into the shape she wanted, and let it sun dry. She layered it up over time so that she was building on a somewhat hard surface as opposed to having a sloppy muddy mixture from top to bottom all at once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that, I would say that whatever clay and/or sand you find should work since it is not strictly necessary but merely makes the end product better. A simple mud-on-stick structure will require maintenance much more often. A nicer mud + aggregate + binder mixture on a stick base will just be stronger, less susceptible to water damage (though it will probably still happen), last longer, and therefore require less maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question then becomes what kind of trade off do you want between initial complexity and effort to future maintenance requirement. Personally, I would gather the best resources I could for the bottom of the wall so make a better foundation but would then switch to simpler mud above that, and I would put more effort into the roof to guarantee the water sheds well to keep the indoor dry and the higher mud-only portion of the wall dry. If the mud gets wet, it can weaken drastically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, you can include rocks to improve structural integrity even more, either as a foundation, and/or within the wall itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple answer to this is &quot;Yes, it will work since it's not even necessary in the first place.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to go the extra mile and make sure your clay is better quality for holding together better and shedding water better, you can process it. I won't go into deep detail, as that would be a matter for a different question, but you can use water to separate the larger particles from the smaller ones, and keep the smaller particles to make better quality clay. Doing this, you can even create pottery-grade clay out of very clay-poor soil. There are articles and videos online of this if you search for making clay from dirt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Original answer&lt;/em&gt;, to &quot;Does what I want exist here?&quot;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes and no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The area in question is quite extensive and conditions will vary from one area to the next&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soil composition can change a lot between two points in the same area, and the Adirondacks is a huge enough area that you will encounter many different types of ground. In fact, I know of one spot (admittedly, not quite within the borders of the Adirondacks, but still in the same broader region within the nation) where the woods abruptly stop and give way to an area of sand, and further the sand abruptly stops again in another hard line which gives way to a flat field (which I happen to know does have soil with a very high clay content). That is a more drastic example, but still, it makes a point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So that provides the first reason for my &quot;yes and no&quot;: some areas will meet your criteria and some will not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Practically no, because you can't use it how you want&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other reason is probably more important. I am going to assume you are talking about public lands, as if it was your own private land or that of a friend or family member, you could just ask them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if the answer is technically yes, it will still likely be practically no as far as you are concerned, as much of the Adirondacks is a public area with rules and regulations which include adherence to the &quot;Leave no Trace&quot; guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the NY Department of Environmental Conservation page &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7872.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rules and guidelines for the use of public lands managed by DEC are&#xA;  generally as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;- Carry out what you carry in. Practice &quot;leave no trace&quot; camping and hiking.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/leave-no-trace-tips-for-the-adirondack-park-244.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Leave no Trace: Tips for the Adirondack Park&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And there are many other pages about the Adirondacks with rules and guidelines about specific areas within it, and I think I generally see &quot;Practice leave no trace&quot; on all of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you build stuff out of the dirt and/or clay, especially a structure, you will definitely be violating the guidelines. Even if you merely dig the area up and mess up the ground, basically any more than necessary for your waste catholes, you are still violating leave no trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Park stewards do come out and check on things: when I made an unplanned camp one time another hiker alerted the local steward about it (the other hiker was concerned for our safety when they learned we had planned a day-trip, despite my insistence that we were fine), and the steward came in to make sure I was safe and also that I was not violating any rules... I got a 5-10 minute lecture about park guidelines, and I think she mentioned leave no trace as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The simple answer is &quot;Yes&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, when I have engaged in activities similar to what you describe, I had to do it on private land. That is how I know there is very (&lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt;) clay-rich soil &lt;em&gt;to the west&lt;/em&gt; of the Adirondacks, on the private land I was on. In some places, I could go down less than a foot and hit large deposits of clay almost everywhere I dug, high enough quality that it would only need a small amount of processing to be pottery-capable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Directly within the Adirondacks (as opposed to nearby but outside of it, where I have dug), we have from the paper &lt;a href=&quot;https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&amp;amp;context=ajes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Soils and Soil Acidification in the Adirondack Mountains&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The E-horizon is usually sandy, wavy, sometimes discontinuous, and&#xA;  consists mostly of resistant, uncoated quartz grains and little else.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;In the Adirondacks, however, clay minerals are also found here&lt;/strong&gt; as they&#xA;  form from the intense weathering of silicate minerals that were once&#xA;  present in this horizon (April et al. 1986a).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a snippet from the graphic under that paragraph in the paper:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOpfM.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yOpfM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;...but still no.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if there is clay in the area you are in, there is likely no clay &lt;em&gt;for you&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-03-21T19:42:08.077" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T19:42:08.077" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21834" CreationDate="2019-03-21T18:57:42.477" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Beacons are tough. Tougher than you if you get thrown against a rock or a tree or buried under the snow. With that in mind, if things were so bad that there was any concern about my beacon being damaged in an avalanche I would certainly be more worried about whether I could survive the impact. Clothing is not going to provide much shielding against the sort of impact that could damage a beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That brings me to the harness. The biggest risk to the harness is the buckle coming unclipped, breaking, or the straps being severed. Unless the straps were to get caught on something very sharp, high tension alone would not be enough to break the straps. If you wear your harness every day on top of your layers and maybe store it in the sun, then sun bleaching can definitely weaken the harness. I don't know exactly how strong the average harness strap is, but Black Diamond QC labs tested sun-bleached versus shiny new slings and found that while the breaking force was reduced by sun bleaching, the force required to break a sling or cordelette tied into a loop was in excess of 10kN (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-old-vs-new-gear-testing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/experience-story?cid=qc-lab-old-vs-new-gear-testing&lt;/a&gt;). Considering that you'd be hard-pressed to generate loads like that even when rapelling, it is hard to imagine a scenario where snagging a harness would cause the strap itself to break. Granted, avalanche harness straps are't rated for climbing, so the threshold would be lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I postulate that the weak point isn't the strap, it is the buckle. Check out this video in which they test the tensile strength of the sort of strap you'd find on a backpack: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.admet.com/outdoor-gear-buckle-and-webbing-breaking-strength-tensile-test/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.admet.com/outdoor-gear-buckle-and-webbing-breaking-strength-tensile-test/&lt;/a&gt;. Notice that the strap breaks at the buckle where the webbing connects. The graph is tough to see, but it looks like the breaking point was just under 100 lbs of tensile force, compared with ~3000lbs for sun-bleached climbing webbing. With that in mind, I'd be most worried about the ability of the buckle on the beacon harness to withstand a dynamic impact in the event of a snag. Make sure you keep that harness snug!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the data, if you were really paranoid about the strength of the beacon harness, you could fashion your own harness with climbing webbing using only knots to close the loop. As long as it fits snugly I'd have no concerns about the integrity of such a harness in an avalanche, whereas I'd be worrying about the buckles on a commercial harness. Just make sure you use appropriate knots because some will slip or reduce the force required to break the webbing/cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, I like the reasoning you use in your post: if you have to take the beacon off when you delayer, you're putting yourself at risk by being beacon-free for as long as it takes to delayer. For me that's reason enough to keep my beacon under my layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17499" LastActivityDate="2019-03-21T18:57:42.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11665" CreationDate="2019-03-22T07:51:01.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;My question is: short of drilling, how do locals decide the ice on their lakes is safe for winter sports?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What people in North America do (for testing if you can walk on the ice) is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check that the edge is thick enough to hold your weight, if you can't get on the edge you won't get to the middle (without getting soaked, which &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; the #2 thing to avoid).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Slowly walk a little further, if you can feel flexing or hear cracking slowly turn around.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Venture out further and look to see if the ice appears consistent, if it doesn't seem fairly thick and free of cracking and flexing then wait another day or two while temperatures remain a few degrees below freezing. If it gets warmer it's best to forget about going out on the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can find a shallow depressed area and fill it with water, that way if the ice is uncertain you won't fall in past ankle depth. Such an area is much safer for playing sports with many active people than the risk of letting your children play on a frozen lake.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An additional test that I utilized, since I didn't enjoy getting a soaker in freezing cold water, is to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lob&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lob&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; a large rock onto the ice. You can tell from the &lt;em&gt;bonk&lt;/em&gt; (and above listed checks) that the ice looks and sounds correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Internet these seemingly reliable sites offer this advice (not involving drilling):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Outdoor Canada Magazine: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/ice-fishing-friday-how-to-know-when-the-ice-is-safe-for-fishing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to know when the ice is safe for fishing&lt;/a&gt;&quot;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;Freeze Factors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... the first question you should ask yourself at the beginning or the end of the season is this: &lt;strong&gt;Has it been cold enough outside for a long enough period of time to create or maintain safe ice?&lt;/strong&gt; If the answer’s no, it’s not time to go ice fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When you do visit a frozen waterbody, conduct a visual inspection before heading out. Look for cracks on the surface, which can be a sign of instability. ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Colour code&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s also very important to consider the colour of the ice. &lt;strong&gt;Clear blue ice is the strongest and safest. It forms when the temperature has been at least -8ºC for three consecutive weeks. The colder it gets, the faster blue ice will form.&lt;/strong&gt; At a minimum thickness of 12 inches, blue ice will even support a large vehicle such as a mid-size pick-up (see “Support system”).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;White opaque ice is half as strong as blue ice. It’s formed by wet snow freezing on top of already existing ice. Often referred to as snow ice, it’s most dangerous when it forms on top of ice that hasn’t completely frozen. When that happens, the ice below takes longer to freeze and turn into blue ice.&lt;/strong&gt; During early-winter and spring snowstorms, opaque ice is notorious for covering up dangerous thin ice, catching ice anglers off guard. Use extreme caution when heading onto snow-covered ice, and check the thickness every 100 metres with your ice auger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Dull grey ice is the least safe. Why? Because it’s rotting. The grey colouration indicates the presence of water, meaning the ice will not support much weight, if any. Grey ice is most common during the spring melt, although it can be found all winter long near moving water, such as where creeks and rivers enter or leave a waterbody. These same areas also often have underwater currents that can make ice unstable, so avoid them. And remember, no fish is worth the risk of falling through.&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;WikiHow: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Know-When-Ice-is-Safe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Know When Ice is Safe&lt;/a&gt;&quot; (read complete article for details):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recognize that ice will never be completely safe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Create an emergency safety plan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Recognize that determining the safety of ice is dependent on a combination of factors, not on one factor alone.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Ice safety is determined by assessing the following factors together:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Appearance of the ice - its color, texture and features&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thickness of the ice - there are recommended thicknesses for different uses, which are set out below&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;External temperature over a period of time and on the day&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snow coverage&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Depth of water under ice&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Size of water body&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chemical composition of water - whether water is fresh or salt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Local climate fluctuations&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Extent of ice&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prefer ice that is checked by designated authorities on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ask the locals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Observe the ice. Look at the ice to see if you can see any cracks, breaks, weak spots or abnormal surfaces and to identify the color(s) of the ice. You cannot rely on your eyesight alone. This is just an initial look to help you to decide if it is even worth proceeding to the next step of testing the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;    &lt;p&gt;If you see any of these signs, you may wish to abandon any further attempt to go on the ice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flowing water near or at the edges of the ice&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flowing springs under the ice in spring fed ponds and lakes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water flows in and/or out of the iced-over water body&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cracks, breaks or holes&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ice that appears to have thawed and refrozen&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Abnormal surfaces that you have not seen before - e.g., pressure ridges caused by currents or winds&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;    &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;    &#xA;    &lt;p&gt;Remember this ditty: &quot;Thick and blue, tried and true; Thin and crispy, way too risky.&quot;    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;7&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know your ice color meanings. Although a useful indicator, color alone should not be relied upon. For instance, ice of any color subjected to a running water force underneath will be weaker than ice not subject to that pressure. In general, you can surmise the following from ice colors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Light gray to dark black - Melting ice, occurs even if air temperature is below 32°F (0°C). Not safe, its weak density can’t hold a load, stay off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;White to Opaque - Water-saturated snow freezes on top of ice forming another thin ice layer. Most times it’s weak due to being porous from air pockets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Blue to Clear - High density, very strong, safest ice to be on if thick enough, stay off if less than 4 inches (10 cm) thick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mottled and slushy or &quot;rotten&quot; ice - not so much its color but its texture. This ice is thawing and slushy. It is deceptive - it may seem thick at the top but it is rotting away at the center and base. Most prevalent in spring, may be showing signs of browns from plant tannins, dirt and other natural materials that are resurfacing from thawing. Not suitable for even a footstep.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Test the thickness of the ice. If you have already made your observations and you still feel confident, you will need to back this up by checking the thickness of the ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Test with at least one other person (the buddy system). Wear a flotation suit or device and use ropes that your buddy can pull on if something goes wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Only go on the ice if the edge of the water body is firm. If it is slushy or cracking, it is unlikely to be safe to proceed as shoreline ice is the weakest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Etc. ...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Understand that ice strength is not the same everywhere, not even on the same body of water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Find alternatives if in any doubt. Skaters can always find a rink or a supervised lake area; snowmobilers and skiers can always stick to trails on land in place of crossing ice; walkers can keep off the ice and continue with their snowshoes along the trail. All out-goers should carry emergency supplies no matter how long they plan to be out nor where they plan to go.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are lengthy articles that are grossly abbreviated for this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Canadian Red Cross: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.redcross.ca/training-and-certification/swimming-and-water-safety-tips-and-resources/swimming-boating-and-water-safety-tips/ice-safety&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Safety&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boy Scouts of America: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/alerts/120203-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice Safety&lt;/a&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;My answer on Physics.SE to &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/381615/170832&quot;&gt;When can water be supercooled&lt;/a&gt;&quot; which contains charts regarding pressure and freezing temperature along with a link, huge chart of ice types, leading to a website containing more information about ice and water than the average person would want to know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proper drilling would involve drilling and measuring at sufficiently frequent intervals to chart the thickness safely, due to the uncertainty of ice it would provide a time consuming guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A great method not involving drilling is explained in this article: &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.xethru.com/blog/posts/picor-ice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Non-contact ice thickness indicator ‘PicoR ICE’ powered by XeThru radar tech&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://ledomer.ru/en/purpose/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PicoR Ice Device&lt;/a&gt; is one of many such devices for rapidly measuring ice fields.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kN6H2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kN6H2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ice Radar&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that most people, your father included, simply &lt;em&gt;guess&lt;/em&gt; that the ice is safe; with varying results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also Psychology.SE:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/19803/what-research-is-there-on-how-people-go-from-examining-gathering-evidence-to-exe&quot;&gt;What research is there on how people go from examining/gathering evidence to executing on a decision?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/17250/why-do-some-people-refuse-to-wear-their-seat-belt-while-being-aware-of-the-risks&quot;&gt;Why do some people refuse to wear their seat belt while being aware of the risks?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/8114/why-do-children-sometimes-not-do-what-they-are-told-even-though-their-environme&quot;&gt;Why do children sometimes not do what they are told, even though their environment supports them fully to do so?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/3253/why-do-people-feel-the-need-to-make-changes-to-a-solution-presented-by-another-p&quot;&gt;Why do people feel the need to make changes to a solution presented by another person?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/546/is-decision-making-emotionally-based-with-rationalization-as-the-only-conscious&quot;&gt;Is Decision-Making Emotionally Based, with Rationalization as the only Conscious Component?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/332/why-do-some-people-seem-to-disregard-the-choice-of-doing-nothing-the-zero-choic&quot;&gt;Why do some people seem to disregard the choice of doing nothing (The Zero Choice)?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last link explains that paying to go to a skating rink is cheaper than losing your life, but people think waiting until they decide it is safe to skate (or drive a vehicle) on a frozen lake is the lowest cost alternative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17365" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T07:51:01.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21875" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21884" CreationDate="2019-03-22T14:45:15.370" Score="10" ViewCount="2419" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21682/17441&quot;&gt;planning a Yosemite trip for this summer&lt;/a&gt;. In reading up on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/firerestrictions.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the rules on fire restrictions&lt;/a&gt;, I saw this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When and where fire restrictions are not in effect, wood fires are allowed in existing fire rings only and prohibited above 9,600 feet in elevation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'll be backpacking from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/carto/hfc/carto/media/YOSEmap1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ten Lakes to May Lake&lt;/a&gt;, which will only be above 9,600ft at certain points, so I'm excited to have some campfires when we're at the lower altitudes of our trip. However, I'm not entirely clear on what a &quot;fire ring&quot; will look like--google searches show me the kinds of metal things you'd have on a campground or in your backyard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What do these &quot;fire rings&quot; look like and--if anyone has Yosemite knowledge--how often will they be along our trail (or where can I go to find this information)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17441" LastEditorUserId="17441" LastEditDate="2019-03-22T14:49:14.900" LastActivityDate="2019-03-23T05:15:21.750" Title="Yosemite Fire Rings - What to Expect?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;fire&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21875" CreationDate="2019-03-22T14:54:24.480" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They will be a ring of rocks around an area with ashes that has clearly been used for fires before. You can see examples of illegal ones &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/mather-musings-illegal-fire-rings-and-campsites.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Legal ones would look the same, just be already existing and within  the location requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/images/FireRingBefore.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In order to minimize the impact to park ecosystems and to be fair to the experiences of other wilderness users, &lt;strong&gt;backcountry campers are required to camp outside of the no camping zone and more than 100 feet away from trail or water.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since wood is scarce at high elevations and important to the other living things that live there, they also &lt;strong&gt;cannot build fire rings above 9,600 feet in elevatio&lt;/strong&gt;n. When the restoration crew finds sites that violate these requirements, they remove the site so that future campers are not encouraged to use it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for how many and where they are, that depends on the area and I doubt there will be maps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are basically looking for places where people have camped before, so flat areas close the trail and relatively near water are your best bets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-22T19:23:33.430" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T19:23:33.430" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21877" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21939" CreationDate="2019-03-22T15:24:29.100" Score="7" ViewCount="962" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a follow on from my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/21869/2766&quot;&gt;answer here&lt;/a&gt;. I took this photo of my belay and shared it on Facebook, where I friend of mine (A qualified climbing instructor)  pulled me up on it as I'd made one or two &lt;em&gt;minor&lt;/em&gt; mistakes. There is nothing &quot;dangerous&quot; here. It's just not 100% optimal from a safety point of view. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably worth noting this is UK trad ethics, I know other countries will often do this kind of set up differently. Hopefully the &quot;issue&quot; is global but I'm not an expert on non-uk belays so &lt;code&gt;¯\_(ツ)_/¯&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Question&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the question is, can anyone pull me up on this belay stance? What (if anything) is wrong with this set up?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Additional information&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The white arrows indicate the gear placements position (Trad placements in rock). the Black arrow is the load from the climber. The bottom carabiner is passed though both rope loops and attached to the second using a belay plate. I will stand to one side when belaying lining up the load between the gear and the second. Gear is placed above me and there is space to sit away from the rope so I'm not under any loaded ropes should a fall happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21855/what-are-the-four-climbing-knots-used-by-jim-bridwell/21869#comment58013_21869&quot;&gt;The bottom biner is not cross loaded&lt;/a&gt;, it's just not loaded at the moment so when the second starts climbing it will all pull straight. The HMS carbiner can take two knots easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fpjvV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fpjvV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T02:02:42.597" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T02:02:42.597" Title="What is wrong with this belay setup?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21877" CreationDate="2019-03-22T16:12:10.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a lot going on there and I am not really sure what the system is, but at a minimum&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The figure eight on the pink rope is not properly dressed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The locking carabiners are not opposite and opposed&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I understand the anchor system, it is a 3 piece anchor and you made&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. An &lt;em&gt;adjustable&lt;/em&gt; loop with your blue rope on the far left piece with a biner, your tie-in knot and a clove hitch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b. An &lt;em&gt;adjustable&lt;/em&gt; loop with your pink rope on the far right piece with a biner, your tie-in knot and a clove hitch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c. An &lt;em&gt;adjustable&lt;/em&gt; loop with your pink rope on the center piece with a biner, and two clove hitches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is the system, then both strands of the clove hitch on the far right are being loaded which is weird in that it might prevent the knot from cinching down. That said there is probably minimal risk. If a piece fails, the double loading will be resolved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was making this anchor, I would &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a. Attach myself to the far left piece with the blue rope by tying a clove hitch directly to the biner on the piece and not make a loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;b. Attach myself to the far right piece with the pink rope by tying a clove hitch directly to the biner on the piece and not make a loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;c. Attach the extra pink rope to the middle piece with an eight on a bight and attach myself to that with a clove hitch and a biner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T16:12:10.047" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21880" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21875" CreationDate="2019-03-22T18:55:50.910" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You'll find them around May Lake pretty easily, but probably not on the rest of your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17620" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T18:55:50.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21875" CreationDate="2019-03-22T22:34:35.030" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;May Lake is lovely.  Hoffman is a great peak to bag while you're there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I recall, the camping at May Lake is quite well developed and you should find bear boxes and legal metal fire rings there.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you have an expectation that when camping, it's nice to have a camp fire.  I think a lot of people have positive associations with those things.  But the impact of people and fire on the environment has reached the point where I'd encourage you to develop your no-fire ethic.  I generally don't build a fire, and I've gotten to the point where I don't miss it... the soot... the smoky smell in the clothes... the worry about whether it's dead out.  After just a couple no-fire trips, I think you'll find plenty of other beautiful things to enjoy besides the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, notice that May Lake camping is by reservation, so arrange that ahead of time. On the map you link, the &quot;camp&quot; icons show where you can expect to find developed camp grounds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17621" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-03-22T23:12:22.220" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T23:12:22.220" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21875" CreationDate="2019-03-22T22:43:40.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, I don't remember many fire rings &lt;strong&gt;at&lt;/strong&gt; May Lake, but we always camped well above the Lake.  It is the site of a High Sierra Camp, and there is thus an incentive to keep it &quot;clean&quot;.  Camping near lakes and streams is &quot;illegal&quot; and taken seriously at May Lake.  As an aside, I don't remember any fire rings on the approach to May Lake from the May Lake Trailhead; that trail is heavily travelled by day hikers, there is no water and most of it is very exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You, however will not be taking that trail, and &lt;strong&gt;I haven't hiked from Ten Lakes to May Lake.&lt;/strong&gt;  If the trail you will be taking goes along a stream and is in woods, I'd be very surprised, based on lots of experience, if you did not find at least a few fire rings, some of them maybe too close to the stream to be &quot;legal&quot;.  But as long as you follow the rules about peeing and pooping and discarding wash water, and you leave no trace, you will be a good citizen even if you camp closer to the stream than, strictly speaking, you should according to the rules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above paragraph may upset some people, but if you &lt;strong&gt;obey the reasons&lt;/strong&gt; for the rules and leave no trace, that should suffice, in my opinion.  One thing you mustn't do is construct your own fire ring.  Even if you dismantle it and carry out the ashes, you will leave behind stained dirt, possibly killed vegetation, and fire-stained rocks.  That is, you will leave a trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enjoy!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-03-22T22:43:40.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21883" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22012" CreationDate="2019-03-23T00:54:21.480" Score="1" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes natural building techniques just aren't suited for a certain environment. For example, an exposed cob oven in vermont vs. a stone oven would turn out very differently, the cob falling apart in VT's heavy rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, is wattle and daub suited for the Adirondacks? Similar to in this video though I envision it a little thicker in the ADKs: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sah-T9bWStA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sah-T9bWStA&lt;/a&gt; The video shows an Australian bushcrafter building a small shack with small diameter hardwood woven with wattle and then an inch or two of daub.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen European primitive structures crafted with wattle and daub in some cases, but usually only in certain parts or for relatively open structures. Part of it may depend on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21866/is-there-clay-soil-in-the-adirondacks-suitable-for-earthen-primitive-building&quot;&gt;my question about soil suitability&lt;/a&gt;, but other factors could be due to weather, precipitation, temperatures, wind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T17:13:42.370" Title="Are wattle and daub primitive shelters suitable for the Adirondacks?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;primitive-tools&gt;&lt;adirondacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21875" CreationDate="2019-03-23T04:47:15.270" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You know one when you see one&lt;/strong&gt; when it comes to &quot;established fire-rings&quot;, but Generally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Complies with the objective rules. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has been used for multiple seasons, with evidence of a deep bed of soot from many uses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thoroughly built up with heavy rocks tall enough to block sparks and do not move when jostled&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Part of an established, and legal dispersed campsite. Although sometimes lunch spots will have a small ring. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be found throughout the park wherever flat spots for dispersed camping can be found, which often feels like  every mile or two in Yosemite even in more remote parts of the park. However, some of these may be new and not &quot;established&quot;, and in many cases one finds campfire rings in places that are not legal and these should be avoided. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As shown in another answer, the fire rings are typically built up of rocks, but metal rings are placed in very heavily used areas and campgrounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rangers at the ranger station will be &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; explicit about fire regulations and current conditions/restrictions, it will be hard to feign ignorance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Campfire rules in most of the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas and National Parks is exactly as cited. Established fire rings that are further than 100 Yards from Water (much further than you think), and below 9600 ft (elevation varies depending on management area) are Fair Game to use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, during the summer, blanket fire bans can be imposed depending on wildfire conditions there has been a July-&gt;October fire ban in place for the last 10 years it seems. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have on one occasion been approached by a passing wilderness ranger for using a campfire ring that was not &quot;established&quot;, in that case it was a prominent campsite and ring, but much too close to the water. They requested that we put out our fire and move further away, noting that the campsite and fire ring was slated to be dismantled and posted due to its heavy use. We complied and had no issues or fines, as long as you act in good faith I would expect the same. However, campfire during a fire ban period is bad juju and will incur the wrath of rangers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I love campfires, so do not begrudge you wanting to make a fire, but in places heavily impacted like May Lake and other parts of Yosemite, I attempt to abstain because the evidence of human impact is everywhere. I try to save it for the more remote areas, where human impact and human travel is sparse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, Please note. Higher elevation, above the tree line  in areas that are not wildfire ecosystems and with sparse trees, a single largish campfire can burn years of dead-fall that would have served as food for various bugs and critters, sustaining small birds and animals like frogs and lizards and recycling those nutrients into the soil for the delicate plants that are then eaten by other small animals like the cozy Pika. If you find yourself looking at a desolate landscape, even below the legal elevation, try to abstain from picking the few sparse twigs available for you to build a fire. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2019-03-23T05:15:21.750" LastActivityDate="2019-03-23T05:15:21.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21885" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-23T07:09:17.067" Score="3" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;We're an Aussie family heading over to the USA in September. We're hoping to go hiking/camping at Yosemite. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We looking to hire a car from San Fran, drive to Yosemite and then:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike day 1 and camp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Day walk up to Half Dome&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hike back to car.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we're not sure what our options are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do we need a permit(s)? If yes, can we buy them online (we're living in Australia)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there any recommendations on where to camp and hiking out?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more info, we've done some hiking and camping before in Australia. Family is 2x adults, 3x children (11,9,8 at time of USA holiday).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would appreciate thoughts and help, helping us plan this awesome adventure!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17622" LastActivityDate="2019-03-30T00:07:25.113" Title="First timer-family going to Yosemite - do we need permits to camp and hike?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18572" CreationDate="2019-03-24T10:57:53.687" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I fell down a 10m crevasse last weekend on the Argentiere glacier in chamonix.  I was on a snowboard and luckily landed on a snowbridge within the crevasse which stopped my fall without serious injury.  I was then rescued by helicopter.  I was with a guide and roped at the moment I fell, but the rope was slack such that the snowbridge stopped my fall rather than the rope.  The fall was totally unexpected as a snowbridge I was standing on gave way, and I can confirm in 10m I barely had time to realise what was happening before I landed, and no time to react.  I was just lucky the crevasse had a sheer vertical side that flew past my nose, and I landed without any serious impact on the way down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with post above - it is luck and a rope, and just hope you land the right way up &lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7Kkf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17625" LastActivityDate="2019-03-24T10:57:53.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15909" CreationDate="2019-03-24T14:07:41.530" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mine is. If you told someone what kind of gun you were using you would get a better answer. I use an RWS 350 that shoots .22 caliber 18.13 grain pellets 750 fps. I've killed rabbits from over 50 yards. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid back in the 1960's there were a few pump up air rifles that could do the same. Crosman 140 came out in 1954 and it shot .22 caliber 14 grain pellets 700 fps, plenty of energy to kill a rabbit from 50 yards, I've done that too. Benjamin, Sheridan, and Beeman also had .22 caliber pneumatic pump up guns that were in the same league.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17626" LastActivityDate="2019-03-24T14:07:41.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2019-03-24T18:15:55.163" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question seems dead, but I felt I had to chime in here. As a specialist expeditioner of Arctic regions as a photographer, sometimes heating a tent becomes a necessity over time. Damp boot liners and gloves can give you frostbite in a hurry under certain conditions, and I have found it one of the most critical things to get them dry for a few hours in front of a Little buddy heater or over a propane cookstove in my heated Trango. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, there are very different missions in expeditions. Not all of them are designed to get to someplace and back out as quickly as possible-- many are designed to allow one to stay out in a place as long as logistically possible, as in science/research, photography/filmmaking. The ability to make a tent into a livable place under Arctic fall-spring conditions makes the difference between staying in a place for months versus weeks or days. Yes, for a lot of larger productions, we have larger tents and more gear-carrying capacity, but there are most certainly lots of conditions under which it makes sense to get there by snowmachine, or under non-motorized forms of transport, like skis (i.e. snowkiting) dogteams, or even kayaks. Under these types of expeditions, you can carry more stuff because you're dragging a pulk or a sled or qamutik, and you necessarily need all that gear because of the conditions and the length of stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, across the Arctic, indigenous peoples heat their portable shelters, tents etc, for the huge advantages it gives you for drying things, for comfort, and for simply livability, especially for subsistence hunting or herding. The entire notion of treating time in the outdoors in the Arctic and sub-Arctic as an almost-survival situation is a colonial perspective-- it means that this place is not your home and you are foreign to it. This is not a judgement on those who are not indigenous, but meant to help many understand that these things are cultural attitudes and highly variable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat your tent if you find it necessary for livability, but be careful to do it right. Open flames are dangerous, and carbon monoxide poisoning is too. It's a matter of learning to travel with more durable and heavy gear, but less fancy hi-tech gear-- you will pick and choose your specific gear setup, and learn to account for the weight and bulk of fuel. Look to local peoples for how they transport themselves and how they camp-- that's where all the real knowledge is, and with it a deeper understanding and connection to the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17627" LastActivityDate="2019-03-24T18:15:55.163" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21877" CreationDate="2019-03-25T00:54:36.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see what is essentially an direct belay but rigged off the harness serving as a pseudo indirect/body belay, you also have  a direct clip-in to a third piece as a personal backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are on a climbing rope anchor and on a dedicated personal anchor, doubly redundant bomber systems.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have what appears to be a properly rigged two point primary rope anchor, assuming the hardware up top is safe, and you are using some kind of fixed hitch  and not just passing it through loose it is good to go&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are using a rope primary anchor so any slack in the system as you shift stances is OK as the rope is dynamic.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Escaping the belay in case the second is incapacitated would be difficult (major)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The belay hitch is in an orientation suitable for top-rope or leader belay, For a seconding climber with load below you it is on the wrong side of the carabiner.  A bad fall may cause the belay hitch to slide down the carabiner into your harness, this will invert the braking orientation and may cause confusion (moderate/major)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The way you are rigged up, drawing rope would cause a mess (minor)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your backup anchor will need to be adjusted constantly or will be slack as you move to adjust load of second. (minor) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Direct belay off harness means you are always part of the system, This can be convenient on moderate terrain/good stance or poor rock because you have the option of absorbing a fall with your feet/body. But it makes escaping the belay to assist an injured follower a bit more complicated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My approach is generally  to belay directly off the anchor unless there is good reason not to. This essentially is an identical system but the anchor carabiner will be unclipped from your harness. This will allow you to move the hitch to the bottom of the caribiner and ready for a fall  There are also dedicated devices that make this a little easier than a hitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2019-03-25T01:06:48.750" LastActivityDate="2019-03-25T01:06:48.750" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21860" CreationDate="2019-03-26T15:36:02.450" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only judge how likely it is to be slippery. These are my experiences from doing canyoning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before judging the rock I judge my shoes. E.g. almost everything would be slippery in sandals. Hiking boots are better, at least not everything is slippery. Best are my canyoning boots. I usually judge slippery as slippery for these canyoning boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Green surfaces mean there is algae growing. Some algae is brown, but if you are close enough you can detect them as algae nevertheless. This almost always slippery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I judge the type of rock. Examples: Limestone is more often polished smooth than other types. Granite is very often non-slippery. One can ponder this when walking to the waterfalls, not even seeing them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering the weather a few days ago makes sense, too. Heavy rainfall can wash away slippery films. Really dry weather can dry those out, but can also lead to slippery dust on the rocks. Everything between means, there is somewhere something slippery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the waterfall I compare rock that is always dry to rock slightly sprayed by water and to rock directly in the water.&#xA;Usually dry rock is non-slippery. If everything looks the same it is very likely that it's not slippery. Still I am careful; there are exceptions you can not see.&#xA;If there are heavy differences like in your picture, it is very likely that there are slippery surfaces. I would suspect the lighter parts are slippery there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb the rock wetted by the spray is very often slippery. Where there is much water, slippery stuff is often washed away, but so are probably you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, the slope of the stone you tread on makes it more or less likely for you to slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17633" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-09T10:05:15.503" LastActivityDate="2019-04-09T10:05:15.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21895" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-03-26T16:16:47.700" Score="1" ViewCount="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to enjoy autumn in Yugyd Va National Park.  In Northern Scandinavia, I have experienced that the peak autumn colours are approximately 25 August to 15 September in the Swedish and Finnish mountains, but 2–3 weeks later closer to the coast in Norway.  I think the larches in North America peak later yet.  When is the optimal time to enjoy autumn colours in Yugyd Va?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%85%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%82.jpg/1280px-%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%85%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%82.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Autumn in Yugyd Va&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Autumn in Yugyd Va National Park.  &lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%85%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%82.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Options may be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;16 August – 8 September&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;23 August – 15 September&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30 August – 22 September&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6 September – 29 September&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't mind getting some snowfall, as long as it melts again within a couple of days and does not exceed 2 dm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-03-26T16:16:47.700" Title="Peak time for autumn colours in Югыд ва/Yugyd Va (sub-polar Ural, Komi)" Tags="&lt;russia&gt;&lt;autumn&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21885" CreationDate="2019-03-26T17:34:38.990" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;@WeatherVane has already posted the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildpermits.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;permit link&lt;/a&gt; in a comment. Get your permits ASAP since you are at the 24 week window about now. They go fast - looks like Happy Isles TH is full through the current 24-week mark (9 Sep). You can get walk-up permits but lines are usually long and you won't have flexibility in your dates unless you're willing to hang around a day or two. You'll also need permits if you intend to hike to the top of Half Dome, which may be too tough or scary for the kids (need decent upper body/arm strength to pull up the cables). My son (then 14) didn't want to do it but other kids do, of course. If Lower Yosemite Valley isn't available, you can camp anywhere within regs near Sunset Creek, which is PAST (east) the Half Dome turnoff, but that makes for a quite tiring day for kids. I think your only other TH option to reach HD for such a quick trip with kids would be Sunrise Lakes, but it is also pretty much full. I would not recommend doing HD as a day trip (out and back in one day) with younger kids. That would be brutal. Also do not let them play anywhere near the top of the falls. Note that Yosemite requires the use of bear canisters for smellables in the wilderness, which they can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcanrentals.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rent to you&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you elect to just front country camp, which may also be tough to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;get a reservation&lt;/a&gt;, there are plenty of day hiking opportunities and sights to see in 3 days. It appears the window for that will open 0700 Pacific time on 15 April for dates through 14 Sep. They will be full within minutes most likely so be sure to follow their advice on how to increase your chances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck! It is an incredibly beautiful park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastEditorUserId="11281" LastEditDate="2019-03-28T13:40:02.923" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T13:40:02.923" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21877" CreationDate="2019-03-26T18:57:20.897" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your belay is freaking complex. I spent some minutes looking at it and I have a hard time to grasp it in its entirety. A complex belay in itself violates 2 important rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A belay needs to be fast to set up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It needs to be obviously error-free to allow any trust in it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The aspect of not being able to escape the belay in any way was already mentioned by others. But judging by a number of youtube videos, it may be a common practice in the UK to tie oneself completely into the belay. (Something that is discouraged in Germany where is is recommended to always create a proper central point that is not your harness).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue is that you belay your second directly from the harness. This is a practice that I personally would avoid (not only for even harder escaping of the belay but also because of the potential pull) but seems to be quite common in the UK. This is especially true when not using a device with a guide loop (as far as I can see) to belay your second, which makes you lose the auto-blocking functionality. Again, this is something that I cannot understand at all but seems to be quite common in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;Two more issues came to my mind that are problematic with this belay&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I came to this belay as a second I would not know where to clip myself in during the handover of gear. This can be attributed to the lack of a clear central point.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another aspect of making yourself the central point of the belay is that it forces you to alternate leads. There is no way to change the leader if a pitch turns out to be too hard for the designated leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2019-03-27T12:50:54.293" LastActivityDate="2019-03-27T12:50:54.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11665" CreationDate="2019-03-26T20:47:13.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from all the technical thickness and keeping the &quot;no safe ice&quot; in mind, here is a little &quot;traditional method&quot;.&#xA;I grew up in northern China and now live in Canada. When I am in doubt of ice thickness, I would find a rock, 20-30 lb (not so rounded ones), with edge and toss it far and high. This usually punch through 2 inch of clear ice which is the minimal to support an adult. This also reveal potential crack and hole melted by underwater spring. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2019-03-26T20:47:13.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21899" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21900" CreationDate="2019-03-27T22:28:39.807" Score="9" ViewCount="197" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm am amateur orienteer that does a fair chunk of races. I'm reasonably decent at navigating - using &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18519/in-orienteering-navigation-what-is-an-attack-point&quot;&gt;attack points&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5164/taking-and-using-bearings&quot;&gt;bearings&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20200/what-does-contouring-mean-in-the-context-of-navigation-orienteering&quot;&gt;contours&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/17839/what-is-a-catch-feature-in-orienteering&quot;&gt;catching features&lt;/a&gt; etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I cannot follow a bearing accurately and run at the same time. Yet I see lots of people running and navigating. What is the best way to do this? Tips?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17637" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-27T23:06:56.653" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:48:44.643" Title="How to follow bearings while running?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;orienteering&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21900" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21899" CreationDate="2019-03-27T22:49:15.467" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The steps are rather simple for following a bearing without always looking at your compass,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pick a &lt;strong&gt;distant recognizable point&lt;/strong&gt; (stump, rocks, tree) on your bearing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Travel to that point&lt;/strong&gt; (not necessarily in a straight line).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pull out your compass and repeat.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason for picking out the distant point is that you can run to it and not have to look at your compass until you get there. The farther the point is, the fewer times you need to use your compass to calculate the next point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get what is known as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://gearjunkie.com/the-thumb-compass&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;thumb compass&lt;/a&gt; that attaches to your thumb and can be used for very quick bearings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also worth it to practice the skills and with experience, it gets easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-03-28T01:33:07.163" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T01:33:07.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21901" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21902" CreationDate="2019-03-28T11:32:44.910" Score="5" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've asked all of my trail running friends and the general consensus is to simply hose them off in the sink (some even just wear them in the shower...). I'm concerned that leaving soaking wet shoes just near the radiator will impact the longevity of the shoe. It also means I then can't wear them for a couple of days because they are wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is an actual, proper care routine for my trail-running shoes? They are Brooks Cascades if that matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17637" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:47:48.820" Title="How to clean trail running shoes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;running&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21901" CreationDate="2019-03-28T13:19:02.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hose mine or throw them in the washer (front load). Remove inserts first. I don't see why they would take a couple days to dry. They should have a good bit of mesh and dry pretty quick. Even if they are damp they will dry fast once you put them on. I sometimes set mine outside in the sun or flip them upside down on a register. It sounds like you don't have forced air if you have radiators so the latter wouldn't work for you but you could put them on the radiator perhaps. Even though I doubt this would have an impact on longevity unless perhaps they have real leather, which isn't common, the soles of trail runners will wear out long before any such issue occurs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I backpack rather than run and am constantly walking through streams all day long. It's no big deal if your shoes are wet. They may not be fun to put on after below freezing nights but will warm up quickly once you're moving. FWIW, I wear Inov-8 Roclite shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T13:19:02.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21901" CreationDate="2019-03-28T13:22:20.270" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are trail running shoes, not dress shoes that you will wear to the opera or to a job interview with a stuffy firm.  They will get dirty on the next run, or the run after that, so there is little need to get them pristine after every run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, I suggest waiting until the mud has dried, and then brushing the dried mud off.  For seams, and the treads on the soles, use a pair of tweezers, or a small screwdriver, followed by brushing with an old toothbrush.  If they still don't look good enough for your taste, take a damp cloth of some roughish material (i.e., a small old towel as opposed to a piece of an old pillowcase) and swab the shoes.  This will leave them slightly damp, but far from soaking wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no mud, but only dry dirt and other clean organic matter, do the same, but the step of waiting until mud has dried is, of course, not necessary. If you have stepped in feces, then you need to get the worst off with a paper towel, then carefully aim a hose with the &quot;beam&quot; at its narrowest at the spot(s), wipe them as dry as you can, followed by brushing, if necessary.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T13:22:20.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21901" CreationDate="2019-03-28T17:39:12.530" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may want to wash them because they stink too much for where you need to keep them. If it's just about mud, just brush them. Mine tend to get smellier if I've run through puddles or heavy rain, and then they're already wet so a wash is no problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With mine, or my bike shoes, I take the laces out and remove the footbeds, and first rinse/brush off the visible dirt. Then I use sports wash (marginally better than normal detergent for stink removal) in a sink full of warm water. A good rub of all the fabric bits before and after a bit of soaking is all that's needed. Rinsing afterwards involves running water through them, soaking in clean water, then running more water through them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then either put them outside in the sun and wind or stuff with newspaper and put &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; a radiator. Change the newspaper a couple of times, once after not long and once after a few hours. After another few hours remove the newspaper completely. This will take out a lot of water. You can also use absorbent rags or paper towels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drying &lt;em&gt;on&lt;/em&gt; a radiator won't destroy them outright but isn't a good idea as various components will soften. It's only worth doing if you really need them again quickly - and allow to cool before wearing in case any glue is softened. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-03-28T17:39:12.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20751" CreationDate="2019-03-29T13:38:13.010" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not an knot expert. What I do know is floro-carbon lines does not handle excessive heat well. In that sense, if you did not wet/lube your line well during the process, your line may get overheated and damaged/warped when you tightening them fast. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In addition, fluorocarbon lines don’t dissipate heat nearly as well as monofilament, which means you’ll need to take a few extra seconds when tying by wetting/lubricating your knots and make sure to cinch them up slowly. (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley-ae-about-fluorocarbon-lines-and-new-braids.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-03-29T15:25:36.800" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T15:25:36.800" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21885" CreationDate="2019-03-29T22:45:29.103" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can &lt;strong&gt;backpack&lt;/strong&gt; from the valley (up the Mist Trail, or the John Muir Trail) to a Half Dome (HD) &quot;base camp&quot; area called Little Yosemite Valley (LYV), where you would bivouac in a site overnight then hike up to and ascend HD the next day.&#xA;Bear canisters and special toilet arrangements are not required at LYV because there are fixed bear-proof food storage boxes and composting toilet facilities there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you have apparently deduced, attempting to hike from the valley to the top of HD in a single day is a strenuous endeavor (most who try it leave well before sunrise) and would be a very tough slog for young kids, I don't recommend it. I have climbed the cables to the top of HD twice recently, it is dangerous and not for the faint of heart. I would be fearful of children 8 &amp;amp; 9 trying it, but only you can judge their fortitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need separate permits for camping in the backcountry and for ascending HD, and they are very tough to get. In fact, there are so many applicants that the permits are issued by random lottery. If you secure permits, they include a tent camping spot in the valley both the night before and the night after your backcountry permit dates, at the &quot;backpacker's camp&quot;, along with parking for the duration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will say it is a lot of hassle getting it set up, but you will never forget it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2019-03-29T22:45:29.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21885" CreationDate="2019-03-30T00:07:25.113" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers have addressed what you have to do to get permits for the Half Dome hike, and for camping, and the level of difficulty involved in the hike for children of the ages of your children.  So I won't repeat any of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't manage to get a Half Dome permit, do not despair, and please do not pass on Yosemite.  There are many spectacular hikes aside from Half Dome, both starting from the Valley, from Tuolumne Meadows, and from trailheads along Tioga Pass Road.  The big virtue of the Valley hikes is that you don't need to get acclimatized to the altitude. The hikes from the Valley reach the Rim at about 7,000 feet.  Of course, you can continue and go higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starting from the Valley, you can (1) go up to the top of Yosemite Falls and as far beyond as you have the energy for; or (2) hike up to the top of Nevada Falls and  further to Little Yosemite Valley and further to Merced Lake; or (3) hike up the Snow Creek Trail which also has a lot of options at the top of that trail.  Then there is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/fourmiletrail.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Four Mile Trail&lt;/a&gt; (one way is four miles) from the Valley to Glacier Point.  And so on and on and on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yosemite can exhaust you, but you will never exhaust Yosemite.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-03-30T00:07:25.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21909" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21910" CreationDate="2019-03-31T18:19:52.757" Score="3" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RIMO III&lt;/strong&gt; is one the 6 peaks of the Rimo mountain massif, situated in Indian Kashmir.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First ascent&lt;/strong&gt;: 1985, by an Indian/ British expedition led by Harish Kapadia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can't find the exact date of this event (day/month/year).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone out there has this information? Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17650" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:37:22.763" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T03:18:05.857" Title="RIMO III (elevation: 7,233 m, coordinates, 35°22′31″N 77°21′42″E): first ascent date?" Tags="&lt;history&gt;&lt;india&gt;&lt;himalaya&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21909" CreationDate="2019-03-31T19:18:22.593" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the Himalayan Journal, it was July 14th, 1985.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Rimo III&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(7233 m -23,730 ft)    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wilkinson and Fotheringham  14 July&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;NE ridge&#xA;  From east via&#xA;  South Rimo&#xA;  glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/42/13/exploring-that-valley-terong/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EXPLORING 'THAT VALLEY'-TERONG  &lt;/a&gt;&#xA;by HARISH KAPADIA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T03:18:05.857" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T03:18:05.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21911" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-01T10:07:18.240" Score="4" ViewCount="346" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will have a trip by the end of this month to a northern country to &quot;escape the heat&quot; where I live in, and I would definitely want to do some swimming at some best beaches there. The expected water temperature would be around 5°C (41°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as I live in a hot climate, thus &quot;escaping the heat&quot; on the trip), 5°C (41°F) is a big gap from the temperature that I regularly swim in. This year I have swum in water down to 18°C (64°F) well, but the weather in my place hasn't gotten any colder than that this year so I don't know what is my lowest comfortable limit (I am aiming at 15°C (59°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the past I had swum in water down to 13°C (55°F), but at that time I was not serious about cold water swimming. I didn't have any knowledge about hypothermia, and I didn't take my time. I just got out when I felt that my swim form was deteriorating. I think I have encountered the effect of afterdrop once, I no longer know when, how long and what temperature it was at that time as I didn't have knowledge on hypo. At the moment what I knew it was that, I got out when I could no longer hold the form, then ran to the shower room and turned on the hot shower. I still found myself shivering even more vigorously and started fainting, so I turned the shower temperature down to reduce the blood circulation. I only stopped shivering after a relatively long time before I turned the temperature up again. Now I know I was experiencing the effect of afterdrop at that time, and I shouldn't be taking a hot shower at that time, but I don't have the numbers on hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how should I feel when swimming in 5°C (41°F) water, and how should I properly plan my swim and my exit strategy, as the difference to what I am used to is too large for me to imagine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17309" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T03:08:54.057" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:38:33.213" Title="What feeling should I expect when swimming in 5°C (41°F) water?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;cold-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21911" CreationDate="2019-04-01T17:00:35.253" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;5°C (41°F) is very cold water for unacclimatised swimmers, especially if you're used to swimming in 18°C (64°F). You could probably manage a short dip (1 or 2 mins), but I would not plan for longer than than.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of years ago I swam outdoors from May-November in my local lido. The water temperature peaked at ~20°C (~68°F) in August, and by the start of November was 8°C (44°F). In the summer I was swimming up to 5000m, but as the temperature dropped I reduced this down. By the end was I only doing 400m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The exact perception of the cold depends on a lot of things: size, weight, fat, gender, cold water acclimatisation, etc etc. Personally, while swimming below 10°C (50°F) I would feel a burning sensation from the cold, eventually followed by creeping numbness in the hands and feet. I would get out before feeling cold in my core. About 5-10 minutes after getting out I would sometimes shiver for a few minutes due to afterdrop (when your body temperature drops further after getting out of the water). After about an hour I would start to warm up again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few tips if you are still considering it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take a friend&lt;/strong&gt; - they can call for help if you get into difficulty and help you warm up/get dressed etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just plan for a dip the first time you go in, don't expect to spend more than a couple of minutes in the water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get in slowly to manage cold shock. Splash water on your face before putting your head under, and expect the &lt;a href=&quot;https://loneswimmer.com/2014/01/28/cold-shock-response-and-the-mammalian-diving-reflex-in-cold-water-swimming-positive-negative-feedback-systems/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mammalian diving reflex&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear 2x swim hats to provide some extra insulation, and when getting dressed take them off last to keep the heat in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a hot drink ready for when you get out&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pile your clothes in the order you put them on, and make sure everything is the right way round. Trying to turn a jumper inside out with damp numb hands is surprisingly tricky! Take more layers than you think you'll need and a wooly hat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plan your entry and exit to the water. Don't get into the water before you know how you can get out of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://loneswimmer.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LoneSwimmer&lt;/a&gt;, which is a great cold water swimming blog with lots of advice. Cold water swimming is a great sport, and I definitely would encourage you to get into it, but 5°C (41°F) is probably too cold a starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16616" LastEditorUserId="16616" LastEditDate="2019-04-03T12:17:54.900" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T12:17:54.900" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21913" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-01T21:26:46.000" Score="5" ViewCount="450" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to go camping in the wilderness on my own, without anyone else around for miles. Is that even possible? I know a lot of national parks have designated areas, but surely they can't enforce that over 100s of miles of widerness?&#xA;I have done this in the UK, where I could camp deep in the forest for a week with no-one else around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17654" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-01T22:38:52.433" LastActivityDate="2019-04-21T14:32:50.787" Title="Camping alone in the wilderness in the USA" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21913" CreationDate="2019-04-01T22:01:42.683" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Yes, but.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will confine my answer to the California Sierra, because that is the area I know best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can certainly camp for days without seeing anybody, except possibly in the distance, even in Yosemite.  And it is easier to get far away from people in the Eastern Sierra,  starting, for example, from trailheads outside of Bishop, CA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will have to leave the trail and go cross country to find this isolation, and a wilderness permit is required for overnight hikes.  If you are off trail, the wilderness permit does not place restrictions on where you can go, or where you must camp, except for restrictions on how far your camp should be from lakes and streams, the elevation at which wood fires are verboten, and perhaps a few other requirements, but they are mostly environmental requirements, and we have never found them onerous or interfering with the desire for isolation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/mount-humphreys/150440&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Humphreys Basin&lt;/a&gt; will give you great solitude, plus a multitude of lakes, large, medium and small between 10,000 feet(3,048 meters) and over 12,000 feet in elevation. streams everywhere, a 14,000 foot mountain, and few trails.  Few trails mean few people. You may see a pack train going over Paiute Pass to Golden Trout Lake, but you can steer clear of that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may not be literally miles from the nearest person, but the terrain is such that being even one mile from the nearest person gives you the same feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wyoming and Canada should have even more isolation, but there you may have grizzlies to worry about, whereas the Sierra has only black bears.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T19:35:05.317" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T19:35:05.317" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21916" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21917" CreationDate="2019-04-02T19:07:23.267" Score="8" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this question a couple years ago: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/11479/9109&quot;&gt;What do life jacket ratings mean (Type I, Type II, etc)?&lt;/a&gt;, we see the traditional types many of us learned about in Boating Safety courses, or in Scout/ Youth camp, or from the America Canoe Association or American Sailing Association.  A couple answers there (including one of my own) discuss the definitions and features of the old roman-numeral-typed PFD (i.e. Type I through Type V).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, it was hinted there regarding the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard had determined the boating public had a poor understanding of the meaning of these types, and was going to eliminate them.  This became official with a ruling issued September 22, 2014 (it's a little dry legalese, but you can read it &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/09/22/2014-22373/personal-flotation-devices-labeling-and-standards&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Along with this announcement, the Coast Guard also stated they anticipated a several year transition period to allow for, among other things, the states to update their boating laws for the new labeling rules, and for PFD manufactures to begin developing the new label system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, here we are at the start of 2019, and the new labels are beginning to appear on store shelves and in training materials.  What are the new types, how do they compare to the old types, and how have the rules changed for what I need to carry on my boat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-03T08:43:22.410" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T08:43:22.410" Title="Understanding the transition in USCG Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Labeling" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21916" CreationDate="2019-04-02T19:30:19.323" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The new labeling system gives each PFD not one type, but three attributes ranked on a spectrum: buoyancy, turning power, and size.  The label adds a fourth attribute listing suggested activities for which this PFD is best suited.  Let's look at these one at a time:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buoyancy&lt;/strong&gt;:  Will be given by a letter class from A to E. Class A provides the most buoyancy, E the least.  (I believe these are short-hand for increments of Newtons, but I am finding conflicting info on this).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N6Xjv.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N6Xjv.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example Buoyancy Label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Turning Power&lt;/strong&gt;:  Will be either None, Moderate, or Maximum.  Roughly corresponds to the older Types III, II, and I, in that order, but makes it much more explicit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6plG5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6plG5.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example Righting Label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Size&lt;/strong&gt;:  Will be based on weight and chest size of the wearer.  Most adult sizes are 90+ pounds, and child sizes vary.  Among adults, there can be variety in chest sizes, not unlike any other clothing article&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xHlbu.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xHlbu.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example Size Label&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the recommended activities section could list, along with colored icons, things like fishing, sailing, paddling, skiing, PWC, and so on.  This section of the label will also mention whether the PFD is rated for impact, and if so, at what speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, as to how these new labels will be applied in boating laws.  The first thing to note is that the term &quot;wearable&quot; will replace &quot;Type I, II, III, or V&quot; and &quot;throwable&quot; will replace &quot;Type IV&quot; respectively.  So the most common rule will now look like &quot;one &lt;em&gt;wearable&lt;/em&gt; per person on board and have one &lt;em&gt;throwable&lt;/em&gt; on board.&quot; or similar depending on jurisdiction.  Specific rules for certain types of vessels like PWCs, or canoes and kayaks, will have their wording likewise altered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As might be expected, PFDs bearing the old labels will remain legal as long as they remain in good, serviceable condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some further reading, try these articles at &lt;a href=&quot;https://asa.com/news/2015/05/18/coast-guard-new-pfd-labeling/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American Sailing Association&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.passagemaker.com/trawler-news/opting-for-plain-english-uscg-wants-new-pfd-labels&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PassageMaker&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-04-02T19:39:45.823" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T19:39:45.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10331" CreationDate="2019-04-02T23:23:12.293" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A prusik works in either direction, which is sometimes important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if you were traversing using an old, fixed rope rigged horizontally, you could attach a prusik to it from your harness. If the rope were to break (either to the left or the right of you), the prusik would save you. If you were using a klemheist, you would only be safe falling in one direction or the other. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example is bailing off a route where you only want to leave behind one bail biner or piece of trad gear. As shown in the right half of the image, a prusik would save you if the top piece of pro were to blow. A klemheist &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; work too, I'm not sure. If it did work, it would still be easy to accidentally rig it incorrectly since you'd want it to be the opposite way that you'd rig it for ascending or a rappel backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8xLyD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8xLyD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12303" LastActivityDate="2019-04-02T23:23:12.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21913" CreationDate="2019-04-03T01:49:14.793" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes this is possible. I think it is fairly easy in the western US especially during the winter if you're willing to work hard. An obvious, albeit extreme example of this is the state of Alaska. Alaska has a population of roughly 740k people and an area of roughly 670k square miles. Clearly in a state this big with a population this sparse a dedicated person could disappear into the wilderness for a long time without seeing anyone. One book you could read about someone doing this with grave consequences is &lt;em&gt;Into the Wild&lt;/em&gt; by Jon Krakauer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary to accomplish your goal go to large wilderness areas that aren't frequently visited during times of the year when it is the least popular to visit. Alternatively go somewhere like Alaska that's too big and brutal to be overrun by people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T01:49:14.793" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21920" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-03T06:47:55.423" Score="2" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is altitude a problem in this area - Sapa is at 1500m so any thing over that is going to be heading into intermediate altitude territory.  We are trekking with a 13 year old and hope to do 14 Km to a home stay.  Is that realistic?  Thank you Ruth&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17660" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-04-04T09:23:00.230" LastActivityDate="2019-05-04T10:01:40.280" Title="Hiking in the Sapa mountains Vietnam" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15071" CreationDate="2019-04-03T18:06:47.317" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a climbing training technique that's been written about extensively called &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.momentumclimbing.com/what-is-arcing-an-interview-with-brendan-nicholson/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ARC (Aerobic Respiration and Capillarity)&lt;/a&gt;. From the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aerobic Restoration and Capillarity, or ARCing, is a training approach&#xA;  to develop aerobic endurance by encouraging vascular development. In&#xA;  the world of climbing, the goal is to climb for 20 to 40 minutes&#xA;  without surpassing your “anaerobic threshold.” Many articles say this&#xA;  is no more than 30% of your maximum strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Brendan explained, “You can change the physiological make-up of your&#xA;  forearms to better increase endurance. ARCing improves the capillary&#xA;  density of your forearms so you can get more oxygen and take away more&#xA;  waste products from your muscles, increasing your ability to stave off&#xA;  the pump.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As described, the idea is that for ~30 minutes you're climbing continuously. No no-hands breaks, no hopping off the wall. This forces you to work easy-for-you terrain either via a down climb, a quick hop on the autobelay or more normally a long traverse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ARC training can be quite boring, so a good thing to do at the same time is other technique specific activities.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://mojagear.com/learn/2016/08/25/new-climber-tip-silent-feet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silent feet&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://bostonrockgym.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/glue-hands-with-silent-feet/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;glue hands&lt;/a&gt;, etc. You'll get the ARC training done along with technique drills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ARC is a staple of professional climbing training, and forms the bedrock of The &lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/2CO7FMb&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Self Coached Climber&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/2HTNBMF&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rock Climber's Training Manual&lt;/a&gt;. The latter especially dedicates a lot of pages towards understanding forearm physiology, but even just the basic examples provided in the referenced article above can get you started.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T18:06:47.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21913" CreationDate="2019-04-03T20:46:23.867" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the east there is less wild land and more people exploring the natural areas that are available. I'm big on pathless forests, and to find these places I've learned to either seek out privately owned forest properties with welcoming landowners who don't mind my kind of wandering and bushcraft activities, or to go to state forest which is the crux of my answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;State forests in the east are not as intensively managed, advertised, or visited as state parks. State forests are not quite wilderness in that they are usually managed based on human-defined priorities, be it sustainable timber production, wildlife, recreation, unique areas, or some combination. The wildlife and timber production areas are generally the least obviously tread by humans and the most friendly to your own activities (i.e. you can camp there, following certain rules and conditions). There are also areas &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.apa.ny.gov/state_land/Definitions.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;designated as different degrees of wilderness such as in the Adirondack Park&lt;/a&gt;. You can use those designations and maps to seek out the more wild areas. It could also be worth looking up recreational stats for different areas, as some wilderness areas (e.g. Adirondack High Peaks) are far more visited than some state forest recreation areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If in doubt, ask the local environmental agency about location recommendations and what the rules are with camping. In NY, most state forest can be camped on as long as you follow some rules and aren't in specially designated unique areas. In my experience state environmental employees love the outdoors and are happy to help you enjoy nature, so I encourage asking for local tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T20:46:23.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20337" CreationDate="2019-04-03T20:59:46.527" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;@JamesJenkins answer is pretty good. I'll add two points based on my experience as a forester. I think the 2nd point especially will help you find the info you're looking for, which is, &lt;strong&gt;TLDR: Forest stand maps can be very useful for planning woodland activities, serving as a great clue about where you'll find different types of forest structures and dynamics.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) How long it takes for forests to reach a stage in succession that feels like old growth depends on the forest type, and while ~50yrs is a decent estimate, some areas may take much longer or shorter. In some cases, no amount of time will lead the ecosystem into a similar dynamic as it originally had before human disturbance. That could be the case in the USA's west where massive trees were removed on steep slopes prone to erosion, but I'm not so familiar with those western woodlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) If logging is done by an institution that needs good accounting/bookkeeping, e.g. a timber investment management organization (TIMO) or government land owner (e.g. USFS), they should have a pretty good forest management plan going forward and record of the plans and timber sales from the past, at least since they started record keeping. For gov't lands this is probably public info since it's public property. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Info about forest management (including logging) would be organized by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_level_modelling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forest stands&lt;/a&gt;. These are essentially management units, areas mapped out based on similar species, size, age class, or other distributions. Records would show what stands were harvested when and using what &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silviculture&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;silvicultural prescription&lt;/a&gt;, and how many million board feet (MBF) of wood was sold in different grades/quality classes. Ask the local office in charge of the lands you're interested in about forest stand maps and harvest records and see what they say. If you're not sure who manages that land, you can start at your most-local department of environment agency (e.g. NY DEC, NH DES, PA DEC) and if you're clear and polite about what you're looking for I bet they'll point you in the right direction as best they can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastActivityDate="2019-04-03T20:59:46.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21920" CreationDate="2019-04-04T02:54:17.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spend a few weeks in Vietnam a few years back and one fo the first things I did was to climb Fansipan (3,143 metres). The place itself is fine. Altitude shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't have a severe problem with altitude of course which I'd say it's not normal. Various touristic activities include walking around and about the villages. Walks are not strenuous and you can get food and drinks all around the place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a really enjoyable place actually and I've been meaning to bring family over for a few years. We are hoping to make with our current 20 month old daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3710" LastActivityDate="2019-04-04T02:54:17.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11508" CreationDate="2019-04-05T15:49:03.110" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This situation just happened to me in a remote Utah canyon while solo backpacking. It was very scary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lessons learned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not medical advice. I'm not an MD. These are my impressions from researching.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a good supply of 50mg OTC Benadryl tablets on any hike if you have any reason to think you are anaphalaxis susceptible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry an Epi-pen.  Carry two or more on any protracted trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider using the Epi-pen if you have even a hint that your breathing is becoming restricted.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that if you are in a location where extraction is not immediate or perhaps even possible, the Epi-pen only might buy you a short amount of time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Be sensitive to known allergen conditions at a given time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Understand that episodes will likely be recurrent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get medical attention ASAP.  Reality is that if you are in a wilderness situation, this is likely not going to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maybe get a SPOT emergency device, though I'm not sure how effective it would be in these deep narrow canyons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Consider the cost of wilderness emergency extraction. I imagine the cost would be huge and I have no idea how I would pay for such an event.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There comes a point in life when solo hiking may not be the best idea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Know when to call it a day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdote:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About a two months before I had developed an episode of Angioedema, facial, tongue, and throat swelling, presumably an allergic reaction from a medication I was taking. This ended in the ER with intravenous Benadryl and Steroids resolving the episode.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At age 55 I have never before had an allergic reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stopped taking the suspected medication and the problem seemed to resolve. I was given a prescription for an Epi-pen, which I filled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week I took my yearly spring backpacking trip to southern Utah. A four day trip was planned in canyon country. Sometimes I go on these trips accompanied and sometimes alone.  I have backpacked alone on and off for forty years and accept the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The night before the trip I slept poorly and felt I was having some trouble breathing.  A Benadryl resolved the breathing difficulty and I got some sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next day I started hiking thinking maybe I should call the trip off, but went ahead tentatively, with a plan to proceed or not depending on how I felt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About six miles in I started feeling quite poorly. Breathing was labored, throat felt restricted and I increasingly felt like I was blacking out. I stopped, took off my pack and sat down to consider the situation. Despite stopping, I felt like my throat restriction was getting worse, and I think that my judgement was starting to become impaired. Perhaps there was a panic component, and I was hyperventilating. I don't really know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found my Benadryl and Epi Pen (which is not as easy as it sounds when alone in a mentally impaired condition), put them within reach, and took a Benadryl.  Within 15 minutes I started to breath easier and feel better, and I felt like judgement was returning, and that maybe I could hike a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because I was feeling better I had the temptation to continue down the ever more remote canyon. After some consideration of what a wilderness extraction (or worse) would mean, I decided to return up canyon about a mile to a nice campsite and stay there until I felt better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a very rough night, with a feeling of my throat closing any time I lay down, and used two 30mg Benadryl spaced about three hours apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did not use the Epi-pen mainly because I had no idea how I might react to it.  I should have done more research and should have used it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next day I felt somewhat better and was able to very slowly hike out the (what should have been easy) six miles to the trailhead and my car. It was very slow going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I still have no idea what triggered this allergic event despite several subsequent visits to the allergist.  I am suspecting Juniper or Cottonwood pollen which were in April heavy, but the allergist does not think these typically trigger Angioedema.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17667" LastEditorUserId="17667" LastEditDate="2019-04-05T18:22:04.670" LastActivityDate="2019-04-05T18:22:04.670" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4320" CreationDate="2019-04-06T03:28:01.650" Score="-5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes and no depends on how high your tolerance for pain is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's low no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If yes then exposing it to weak acids can toughen it to a point but you will still get hurt. This effect can also be duplicated using intense heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only reason I know this is because some European nations use to do it as a way of toughening their skin so that they could survive moving around. Used mainly by pesents to survive bandit attacks without buying expensive armor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17671" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T03:28:01.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21931" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-06T18:10:08.867" Score="10" ViewCount="861" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the risk from being exposed to chronic wasting disease (CWD) from hunting Elk, Deer or Moose as a hunter in the United States?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17674" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-06T22:24:38.110" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T22:24:38.110" Title="Risk of getting Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the United States?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;chronic-wasting-disease&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21931" CreationDate="2019-04-06T18:49:21.590" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the CDC, the risk is low, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;no cases in humans have been reported&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lack of evidence of a link between CWD transmission and unusual cases of CJD, despite several epidemiologic investigations, and the absence of an increase in CJD incidence in Colorado and Wyoming &lt;strong&gt;suggest that the risk, if any, of transmission of CWD to humans is low.&lt;/strong&gt; Although the in vitro studies indicating inefficient conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions raise the possibility of low-level transmission of CWD to humans, no human cases of prion disease with strong evidence of a link with CWD have been identified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the meantime, to minimize the risk for exposure to the CWD agent, hunters should consult with their state wildlife agencies to identify areas where CWD occurs and continue to follow advice provided by public health and wildlife agencies. &lt;strong&gt;Hunters should avoid eating meat from deer and elk that look sick or test positive for CWD.&lt;/strong&gt; They should &lt;strong&gt;wear gloves&lt;/strong&gt; when field-dressing carcasses, &lt;strong&gt;bone-out the meat&lt;/strong&gt; from the animal, and &lt;strong&gt;minimize handling of brain and spinal cord tissues.&lt;/strong&gt; As a precaution, hunters &lt;strong&gt;should avoid eating deer and elk tissues known to harbor the CWD agent&lt;/strong&gt; (e.g., brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes) from areas where CWD has been identified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/6/03-1082_article&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chronic Wasting Disease and Potential Transmission to Humans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With that said most wildlife departments will &lt;a href=&quot;https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Wildlife-in-Wyoming/More-Wildlife/Wildlife-Disease/CWD-in-Wyoming-Wildlife/CWD-Testing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;test your game for you&lt;/a&gt;, and in some areas &lt;a href=&quot;https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/ResearchCWD-Submission.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;it is mandatory&lt;/a&gt;. You would just leave the meat to hang or be refrigerated until the results come back and only eat the meat if the animal comes back clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T19:11:29.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21933" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-04-06T19:13:19.610" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T21:31:51.470" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T21:31:51.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21934" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-04-06T19:13:19.610" Score="0" Body="Questions about Chronic wasting disease " OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T21:31:51.470" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T21:31:51.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21913" CreationDate="2019-04-06T23:34:51.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The parks are quite regulated, and for many you need a permit for back country (random) camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wilderness areas are more liberal.  They like to know where you intend to go.  Note however that in a lot of them the trails have not been maintained for decades.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The national forests are not as spectacular for scenery, but many of them have extensive trails that aren't used a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Canada I no longer use the National Parks.  The red tape is too extensive, and the fees are expensive.  The trails are well maintained, and too often you will meet someone coming the other way every 15 minutes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead I use Willmore Wilderness Park.  Once you get a day in from the trailhead seeing anyone is rare.  Last summer there were two sections where I found bootprints, and 3 sections where I found horse droppings.  Given the weather either could have been up to a month old. I have never seen a ranger or a conservation officer in Willmore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Willmore has both bears and wolves.  Both are unaccustomed to people and keep their distance.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-06T23:34:51.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21911" CreationDate="2019-04-07T15:38:33.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a dare with a friend I went into the Saskatchewan River while the river was still running with broken ice, and there were bergybits in the main current.  The bet was to stay in 1 minute up to our chins.  We both made it, and were cold for half an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our school program we require that all canoe trips start with a training camp that includes dumping and rescue practice.  On two occasions we have done this on lakes that still had pan ice.  We do NOT attempt to do a floating rescue under these conditions, but instead get people out of the water into another canoe as fast as possible.  Dumping was done dressed for the weather.  Clothing helps you to maintain some function for longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've dumped in the Athabasca River in September.  The Athabasca is sourced from the Columbia Icefield, and was running high.  Temperatures were likely around 5 C.  We were in the water for about 25 minutes.  We were all at the uncontrolable shivering stage of hypthermia by the time we got out, and getting out of our wet clothing was difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key with this sort of swimming is to have an out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay near shore.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not venture into currents&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not swim where you will need to grab something to get out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a buddy ready and able to rescue you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With experience you will learn what your reasonable limits are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that one of the symptoms of hypothermia is loss of judgement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to prolong the time you have in the water, wear a wet suit.  It will not keep you warm, but it will keep you less cold. Wearing polypro longjohns under your wet suit will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:38:33.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21901" CreationDate="2019-04-07T15:44:11.730" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I normally don't wash them.  Let them dry.  Brush hard with a bristle floor scrubbing brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't worry about them being wet either.  They are synthetic generally and won't rot. I backpack in trail shoes.  They are normally wet all day.  At night I change to crocs, but my shoes are still wet the next morning.  Put on wet socks and wet shoes.  I &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; I will be crossing a creek again within 20 minutes walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your shoes have leather in them, you can use saddle soap on the the leather.  This both cleans it, and replaces oils in the leather keeping it flexible.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your shoes tend to get stiff as they dry, put them on when slightly damp, and wear them until dry.  Feet are highly water resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:44:11.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21899" CreationDate="2019-04-07T15:48:44.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another trick you can use if it's sunny and open enough for shadows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a bearing, and note the angle of the shadows to your bearing, or to the sun to your bearing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You still need to check this now and then, but it can help maintain a course when all distant landmarks look alike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't generally use a compass much orienteering.  I use my map more, 'thumbing' That is, I keep the map folded with the middle of my left thumbnail on my current location, and the map oriented to the ground.  As I pass marked features I move my thumb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-07T15:48:44.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21877" CreationDate="2019-04-08T07:34:23.160" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been some interesting answers here but no one has mentioned what had been pointed out to me by my friend. Reading some of these though does make me think that there is a degree of cultural differences here. Just to re-iterate this is UK traditional climbing, this is setting up a belay on a single pitch Very Severe traditionally protected climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one glaring point in this belay (to me at least) is that the &lt;strong&gt;carabiners are both clipped into the central belay loop&lt;/strong&gt;. Ideally these should be clipped off individually onto the loop of each figure of eight. In this photo, the belay loop is a single point of failure, this is unnecessary, using the rope loops allows the addition of extra redundancy into the system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrL3Z.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrL3Z.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the large HMS carabiner should be clipped into the loop behind the figure eight of the red rope:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Z2oI.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Z2oI.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the smaller crab should be clipped into the knot loop of the blue rope:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Vx3R.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Vx3R.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both ropes are then totally independent. Any failure at any point would result in a backup, e.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;red rope fails, blue is totally isolated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;blue fails, red is isolated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;belay loop not used so is no longer a single failure point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any individual (or as this is a 3 point system it'll take 2 failures) anchor failure is backed up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user2766" LastEditorDisplayName="user2766" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T12:55:35.887" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T12:55:35.887" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21940" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-08T08:18:33.190" Score="10" ViewCount="713" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Berlin, Germany and in the last couple of years it's been know as 'wild boar capital' since there are lots of wild boars in the surroundings.&#xA;I wanted to start camping and bushcrafting and there are so many forests around Berlin, but I am not sure that I could be safe spending the night there. I use a one person tent if that matters in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17672" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-08T15:35:35.923" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T23:00:47.037" Title="Is it safe spending night in wild boar territory?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;boars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21941" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-08T13:39:20.310" Score="4" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking to see the Grand Canyon on the North side, I found this grey and orange lizard running through some downed brush and logs (center of picture). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cc7do.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cc7do.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would anyone know what type of lizard this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T17:08:06.080" Title="What type of lizard is this grey and orange one I found near the Grand Canyon?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21942" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21943" CreationDate="2019-04-08T14:34:35.427" Score="9" ViewCount="385" Body="&lt;p&gt;For those of you who haven't noticed, your GPS may have become a time traveler this week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Background&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GPS system was invented in the 1980s and uses an epoch of Jan 1, 1980 as the starting point for calculating dates. Many computers represent dates as a 32-bit count of seconds, which rolls over in 2038, but work is happening to extend the range before that happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GPS system uses a 10-bit field for the week number.  10 bits can express a number from 0 to 1023, which is 19.6 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jan 1 1980 plus 19.6 years = August 1999.   We have had one rollover event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various companies dealt with this in various ways, much like we handled the year 2000 debacle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The usual way to deal with this is to write a kludge into the firmware saying, &quot;add 1024 to the week number received from the satellite&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the problem with this particular trick:  It only works after the rollover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are shipping a unit that is going to span the roll over period, you write a hack like this:  &quot;if week number less than 950, add 1024 to it&quot;  The number 950 would allow you to ship units about 1.5 years before the rollover, and not get caught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what DeLorme did, I think with an 8 month lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what DeLorme models were affected.  My PN-60w &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; one of the affected ones.  It started time traveling last summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Addendum:  After two hours under an open sky it has not been able to get a fix&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Addendum 2:  It was going to sleep before getting a fix.  Told it to not go to sleep while immobile, and it locked in a few minutes.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know how this affects SPOT devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the intervening years, DeLorme was bought by Garmin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another forum, I found someone who contacted Garmin, and basically was told, &quot;Sucks to be you, we're not giving support on a discontinued brand&quot; They phased it more politely than that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To be sure:  This does NOT affect the accuracy of the GPS &lt;em&gt;location&lt;/em&gt;.  But recorded tracks will be transfered to your computer 19.6 years older than reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-09T10:31:16.573" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T16:20:21.987" Title="Any actions to take with GPS rollover?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21942" CreationDate="2019-04-08T14:34:35.427" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Original answer below.  Apparently I'm not the only one incensed by Garmin's behaviour.  Garmin has a firmware update for the PN-60 series version 3.7 that was NOT present on their website last time I looked for it.  Could be I used the wrong search terms.  Anyway the 3.7 update works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this took a week longer, I would say, &quot;squeaky wheels get greased&quot;  As it is, I suspect that this was in the works, and it's release today is coincidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The link to firmware version 3.7 still does not come up in Google.  For others who have a Delorme PN-60 series. The instructions and link to Firmware 3.7 can be found at the link below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=dXCDWk3aIZ3A0Ly9z8uym5&amp;amp;productID=585533&amp;amp;searchQuery=firmware&amp;amp;tab=topics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=dXCDWk3aIZ3A0Ly9z8uym5&amp;amp;productID=585533&amp;amp;searchQuery=firmware&amp;amp;tab=topics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Original Answer: &#xA;At this point there isn't a great answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Convert dates manually.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a simple spreadsheet used to convert GPS dates from before the rollover to current dates.  If you need dates on the trip, print this up small, and tape a copy to the inside of your map case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ubaTr.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ubaTr.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rollover conversion in spreadsheet&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of us don't actually need dates on the trip.  (I did a trip last summer and didn't notice that my GPS was doing this.  But it may affect archival records of tracks and so on.  The same trick can be used there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Import your track.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Convert to a spreadsheet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At 1024 weeks to the date in an extra column&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Copy modified date, paste values only to original date&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Save.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Update your mapping software.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to contact your vendor.  Put in a feature request to add a 'rollover' parameter to imported data.  This should be a per GPS value so that you can set it so that data imported from your Delorme adds 7*1024 to dates, while your Brand New Sparkly Garmin doesn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Hack your GPS.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are a techno wizard, download the firmware from Garmin's site (they still allow Delorme downloads) and reverse engineer it.  Since Delorme's worked after the first rollover, they already are adding 1024 to the week counter.  Just need to find that and change it to 2048.  (&lt;em&gt;Just ...&lt;/em&gt;  Right.  While the change is trivial, finding where to put is not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Put pressure on Garmin.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Complain to Garmin.  Do so by chat, by phone call and by email.  Waste enough of their time that it's cheaper to publish a fix.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go in to where you bought it.  Tell them you want the problem fixed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Contact online vendors that used to sell DeLorme.  Ask them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wallet pressure.  Alas this one won't work at present.  Normally if a company gives bad service, you buy a competitor's product.  As far as I can tell, Garmin owns the hand held GPS market right now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-04-15T16:20:21.987" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T16:20:21.987" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21941" CreationDate="2019-04-08T17:08:06.080" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's definitely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_horned_lizard&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;desert horned lizard&lt;/a&gt; although I'm not expert enough to identify the sub-species. This lizard is commonly called the horny toad, which is a pretty awkward name. Whoever thought this would be a good long-lasting brand name learned their lesson when &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.toadandco.com/blog/team-toad/horny-toad-becomes-toadco&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Horny Toad changed to Toad &amp;amp; Co&lt;/a&gt; back in 2015.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T17:08:06.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21860" CreationDate="2019-04-08T18:07:53.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer:  You can't judge a wet rock's traction by appearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The slipperiness usually depends on a biofilm on the rocks themselves.  That, in turn, will vary depending on flow velocity, turbidity, sand carried by the water, and most importantly, how long the rock has been underwater.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found out the hard way crossing a knee deep stream after a rainfall.  The rocks at the edge had good traction.  As soon as I reached the main channel, the rocks were as slippery as goose grease on a brass doorknob.  I fell, but caught myself in an extended push-up position, and very carefully hand-and-foot crawled to where the rocks were less slimy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different footwear can help.   After all, aluminium canoes seem to stick very well to wet slimy rocks.  I have had better results using a softer rubber sole.  Based on canoes, I suspect that aluminium hobnails would work, but these would wear very fast on normal rocky trails.  I haven't tested them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I make a point to give the upper end of waterfalls a wide berth.  I have however gotten my canoe stuck in interesting places, and a couple of times one of my party has stepped on a slippery rock, sometimes with a slope no greater than the camber of a paved road, and slowly but unstoppably slid out into the river or lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-09T10:03:43.423" LastActivityDate="2019-04-09T10:03:43.423" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21820" CreationDate="2019-04-08T18:35:06.873" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary occluding agent is air bubbles that separate from the water as ice forms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get clear ice cubes for drinks by heating the water first to expel most of the air before you freeze it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water that freezes slowly allows more time for air to move out of the way.  A small current that move air bubbles along will allow small bubbles to be herded along and the area that is left behind will 'catch up'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen clear ice on the Red River north of Winnipeg.  The Red is normally a silty river, but the much slower current in winter, with no wind disturbance once an initial layer of ice formed allowed the silt to settle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Through the thick ice we could see occasional large (several inches across) bubbles where 'riverbed farts' got trapped under the ice.  Twice I saw large carp swimming several feet down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-08T18:35:06.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21947" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21948" CreationDate="2019-04-08T18:44:14.827" Score="5" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there is a way to sight in a rifle scope without firing a shot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some reasons why I think it would useful to be able to do this. One depending on the scope you may have to sight it in often especially if you are carrying it around daily. 2 To conserve ammo and 3 To do it silently&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a scope that has the traditional bullseye crosshair and then has triangle markings for every 100 yards below the crosshair. I have a laser bore sight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my thought was I have a piece of paper with markings on it or some kind of pre marked target and put it a certain reasonable distance away say 10-25 yards.  I'm sure there is some kind of math that would allow you to extrapolate the bullet drop to match the crosshair and the 100 yard triangles and be able to put those marking on the target. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically you use the laser bore sight to sight in the rifle at 25 yards directly on the bullseye and then adjust it to where the 100 yard triangles and match the bullet drop marking on the target. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does something like this exist? I know it wouldn't be perfect but maybe it would be good enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe the above is a stupid question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does sighting it in at 25 yards with a laser bore sight automatically line up the 100 yard triangles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17680" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T14:51:24.540" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T14:51:24.540" Title="Sighting in a Rifle without firing a shot" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21947" CreationDate="2019-04-08T19:40:00.930" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bore sight will get you close, but it's not perfect and you will want to shoot real bullets to test your aim afterwards. If you bore sight it at 25 yards it should be on paper at 100 yards and you can make small adjustments from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for calculating how much it will drop over distance/ be pushed by the wind there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.federalpremium.com/ballistics-calculator&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ballistic calculators&lt;/a&gt; or phone apps that will do all of the math for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you are having to sight in regularly, there is probably something wrong with your scope mount and you should see about getting it tightened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-15T14:00:58.083" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T14:00:58.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21942" CreationDate="2019-04-09T10:23:00.897" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;GPS track logs can be shifted in time using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-development/filter_track.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPSBabel's &lt;code&gt;track&lt;/code&gt; filter&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Example 4.8. Time-shifting a track with the track filter&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following command line will shift all tracks to be one hour later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;gpsbabel -t -i gpx -f in.gpx -x track,move=+1h -o gpx -F out.gpx&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I expect it will work to add 1024 weeks to the timestamps (it may need to be written as &lt;code&gt;move=+7168d&lt;/code&gt; if &amp;quot;weeks&amp;quot; is not an accepted unit)..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-09T10:23:00.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21952" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21953" CreationDate="2019-04-11T18:21:56.323" Score="18" ViewCount="5184" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a knife that near the handle end of the blade has a sharp, curved part:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6091g.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6091g.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don’t think it’s a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/choil&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;choil&lt;/a&gt; because it’s sharp. What is its use? I thought something to do with stripping sinew from bones maybe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a PBK Brute Lock Knife MH-689. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-12T00:43:35.293" LastActivityDate="2019-04-12T00:43:35.293" Title="What is this sharp, curved notch on my knife for?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21952" CreationDate="2019-04-11T18:54:16.417" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a &lt;strong&gt;line cutter&lt;/strong&gt;, the idea is that you use it to cut lines, string etc. &lt;strong&gt;The reason that it's curved is to keep the line from slipping off the blade&lt;/strong&gt;, using the rest of the blade would be quite difficult to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jayfisher.com/Knife_Anatomy_Parts_Names_Definitions.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for more examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You wouldn't want to use it for skinning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-04-11T18:54:16.417" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21954" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-11T19:34:51.023" Score="6" ViewCount="349" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some knives have &lt;a href=&quot;https://knife-depot.com/pages/gut-hook-blades&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gut hooks&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0004/8893/1386/t/4/assets/gut-hook-real.gif&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and some have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-titanium-tek-dive-knife-w-waistbelt-sheath&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;line cutters&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6091gm.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21952/what-is-this-sharp-curved-notch-on-my-knife-for?noredirect=1&amp;amp;lq=1&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It basically the same notch just optimized for different purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How exactly would one sharpen the gut hook/line cutter?&lt;/strong&gt; Its not as easy as sharpening the blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-15T01:36:00.157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T09:22:29.433" Title="How to sharpen the line cutter/gut hook on a knife?" Tags="&lt;knives&gt;&lt;knife-sharpening&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21954" CreationDate="2019-04-12T02:16:55.453" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to use a sharpening rod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.discountcutlery.net/AC134-Smiths-Pocket-Pal-Multi-Function-Sharpener_p_31374.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AC134 Smith's Pocket Pal Multi-Function Knife Sharpener&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rod just slides in the groove and sharpens it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is another sample:&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.discountcutlery.net/AS028C-AccuSharp-4-in-1-Knife-Tool-Sharpener_p_44689.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AS028C AccuSharp 4-in-1 Knife &amp;amp; Tool Sharpener&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And an image from Amazon: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/21oc9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/21oc9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Knife sharpener&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8236" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-04-14T10:29:59.307" LastActivityDate="2019-04-14T10:29:59.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13402" CreationDate="2019-04-13T05:09:05.040" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your dog(s) ever wear any clothing then permethrin may be a good choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from the website: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mosquito.org/page/repellents&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.mosquito.org/page/repellents&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&quot;Permethrin-containing products (Permanone) are recommended for use only on clothing, shoes, bednets and camping gear—never on skin. Permethrin does kill mosquitoes and ticks and is highly effective. Permethrin-treated clothing repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes and other arthropods.  It remains effective even after repeated laundering. Permethrin-treated clothing should be safe when label directions are followed.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am out camping (or hiking), my dogs wear a vest that has been treated with Permethrin. In addition to working well, it is also very inexpensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastActivityDate="2019-04-13T05:09:05.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13402" CreationDate="2019-04-14T11:03:42.290" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your dog sleeps in a bench, you can sew mosquito netting around the outside of the bench and on its door, with an extra strip to cover the opening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dogs who get more space to sleep you may make a cage with netting or you can even keep a part or your house mosquito free with netting. Windows, doors, ventilation shafts and any other openings need to be well covered with netting. And you need to be vigilant in keeping the doors and windows closed and/or covered by netting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how often your dog is outside and how much he is bothered by mosquitos there you may still want to use a chemical to dispel the insects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2019-04-14T11:03:42.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21959" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-14T19:29:41.080" Score="8" ViewCount="247" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a way into alpinism. The most common route I've found is signing up for a multi-day guided group course in a place like Chamonix, culminating in a small summit like Petite Aiguille Verte etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main concern around such courses is the seemingly ubiquitous us of 'short roping' multiple clients to one guide. Being somewhat of a hyper aware chap, the idea of having my fate dependent on the concentration/shore-footedness of a fellow novice whom I've known for 3 days makes me anxious to say the least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whilst I'm aware that mountains entail uncertainty and risk, avoiding short roping seems like an easy win in terms of minimising avoidable risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any examples of ways into alpinism without/with minimal short roping? Am I being completely irrational? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17703" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T19:23:56.603" Title="Alpinism without short roping?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21954" CreationDate="2019-04-15T14:41:35.007" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For odd sharpening tasks like this I have a dremmel tool (handheld rotary tool) and a set of inexpensive diamond hones.  Use it wet to keep from clogging, and use very light pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also use an electric chainsaw sharpener.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T14:41:35.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21959" CreationDate="2019-04-15T16:11:58.853" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short roping is a technique that is mainly used by mountain guides to get people up a mountain without the need for a time consuming proper belay. The whole concept of short roping is not to catch a fall but to avoid a stumble escalating into a fall. As such short roping is a dangerous technique because only &quot;under ideal circumstances it is possible to hold a fall on a 30° slope&quot; (Source, unfortunately only in german: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2008/2/print/54-61%20%28verbunden%20bis%20in%20den%20tod%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2008/2/print/54-61%20%28verbunden%20bis%20in%20den%20tod%29.pdf&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore the use of short roping is heavily disputed due to high risk. The german alpine club completely discourages it while the swiss alpine club encourages the use mainly for psychological factors and being already tied into the rope when you reach a section that requires a proper belay again (instead of heaving the rope in your backpack and continue ropeless).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given this background, your fear is completely rational. There is a substatial amount of guided groups with too many (I have seen up to 4) guests at a short rope which also have a bad technique and are therefore very likely to stumble and fall. I would not join such a group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is a difference between a guided tour (which intends to bring you on the mountain and back down again safely) and a course which is intended to teach you the necessary techniques to go mountaineering yourself. If there is a substantial amount of short roping in a course, it is no longer teaching. Moreover, most of the teaching does not require to go into terrain where short roping makes sense as it would then be too difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this mainly boils down to find a good course. Before booking you can ask about short roping and also about all the other contents of the course. This will also help to align the course with your background. If you already have experience with alpine rock climbing, you will need a different course than not having any related experience at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T16:11:58.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21962" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-15T16:15:52.167" Score="1" ViewCount="74" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently have the Canada NTS 1:50,000 maps, and the 1990 revision of the complete park map.  They don't agree on details, and so far the NTS maps have higher error rates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have a couple of publications of Alberta Parks that contain less info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have inquired with the Willmore Wilderness Foundation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found ray's website which has trails for the Eagle's Nest Pass area including several that are not marked on any of the others.  I've verified several.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am specifically looking to access the Resthaven Icefield from the Willmore side, preferably connected to it from Rock Lake.  I have trails as far as part way up West Sulfur River from two sources, and further up toward a pass that goes over the Jasper park boundary to Azure lake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like it should be possible to go over the saddle to the west of the turn to Azure Lake to get into the next valley onto Rock Slide Creek.  From there, getting to Ptarmigan Lake near the Jackpine River looks, hmm, non-obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone done anything in this corner of Willmore?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T16:15:52.167" Title="Additional map source information for Willmore Wilderness Park in Alberta?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21959" CreationDate="2019-04-15T19:23:56.603" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short roping is dangerous, but a critical part of guiding. See my answer here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18397/is-short-roping-death-roping/18408#1840&quot;&gt;Is &amp;quot;Short roping&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Death Roping&amp;quot;?&lt;/a&gt; That said, the premise of your question is wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Being somewhat of a hyper aware chap, the idea of having my fate dependent on the concentration/shore-footedness of a fellow novice whom I've known for 3 days makes me anxious to say the least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your fate is dependent on your guide. If you do not trust your guide, then get a new guide. If you trust your guide, and in their opinion, short roping is the right technique for the situation (terrain, weather, clients), then you should be fine. The key thing to remember is the guide is in just as much, if not more, risk than you are as a client.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are really against short-roping, you could chose a mountain for which it is unlikely that there would be short roping (e.g., &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rmiguides.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rmiguides.com/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-04-15T19:23:56.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1811" CreationDate="2019-04-16T19:11:35.377" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Technica&#xA;I just read about these, so haven't tried them out yet, but they look amazing.  They're molded around your individual feet, and are thus supposed to be a perfect fit.  They have a boot, and a hiking shoe. I'll be purchasing soon. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tecnicasports.com/cas-concept/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.tecnicasports.com/cas-concept/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17713" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:11:35.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20552" CreationDate="2019-04-16T19:34:20.757" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This looks like American Cornmint to me.  If you still have access to the plant, pinch one of the leaves and you should be able to smell if it is a mint or lemon balm.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17714" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:34:20.757" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8841" CreationDate="2019-04-16T19:50:23.267" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, it looks very much like Poison Oak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in the Ozarks where there is Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac.  All are plenty of fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17714" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T19:50:23.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21969" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21970" CreationDate="2019-04-16T19:48:49.453" Score="8" ViewCount="1710" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been climbing for a short while and loving it. Now that I've gotten a fair bit of practice with indoor climbing I'm thinking about where this new love of mine can take me. The obvious answers are bouldering and leading outdoors but I've also seen some videos on deepwater soloing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I saw these videos I always wondered, what happens to your chalk if you take a chalkbag with you and fall? Do you need to throw whatever chalk remains out after a fall deepwater soloing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" OwnerDisplayName="BKlassen" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T08:20:01.543" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T15:36:21.560" Title="What to do with chalk when deepwater soloing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21969" CreationDate="2019-04-16T20:44:39.260" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you fall into the water with a regular chalk bag, &lt;strong&gt;it will get too wet to be used&lt;/strong&gt;. Some solutions to this include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://upthatrock.com/mallorca-dws-guide-for-newbies/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Using liquid chalk&lt;/a&gt;, it &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-climbing-chalk-755591&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;supposed to stick for longer&lt;/a&gt; and you can spread extra on your forearms/legs to rechalk up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multiple chalkbags/extra chalk so that while one bag dries out you can use a new one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leaving the bags in the boat and using the chalk on your hands before you start.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-04-16T20:44:39.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21971" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21973" CreationDate="2019-04-16T22:58:36.043" Score="4" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;On April 12, 2019, my sister-in-law was hiking on a mountain close to our home in Central Massachusetts, USA. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a pond at the end of an established trail. Near the water's edge were jelly-like clumps of what looked like eggs, with lots of black dots. In the water were twigs and leaves. The egg masses were either on or wrapped around those twigs or both. Some were below the surface of the water, some just above. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nobody in her party saw or heard any aquatic animals on the pond or nearby. They didn't touch the eggs or the water, for fear of upsetting the delicate eco-system.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pond has recently completed a spring thaw. The multi-colored leaves were almost definitely from last fall when they fell into the water before it froze for the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What aquatic animal laid these eggs? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8XoOT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8XoOT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spread out a bit&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i7BjK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/i7BjK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A clump&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T00:10:04.150" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:35:26.630" Title="What aquatic animal laid these eggs?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;massachusetts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21971" CreationDate="2019-04-17T00:09:46.857" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those look like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_frog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wood Frog&lt;/a&gt; eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You would expect to find &lt;strong&gt;Wood Frogs breeding in ponds, vernal pools, and marsh edges in or near forested habitat at a wide range of elevations as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws.&lt;/strong&gt; A typical egg mass can have between 500 and 2000 eggs. The embryos start out black on top and white on the bottom, as do most open-water amphibian eggs, but as the embryo develops into a tadpole the white is lost. A fully-formed mass that has been in the water for a day or so is about the size of a softball and the clear space between the embryos and the margin of each egg is many times greater than the width of the embryo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oriannesociety.org/egg-mass-identification-great-northern-forests/#woodfrog&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Egg Mass Identification in the Great Northern Forests&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unlike salamander eggs, wood frog egg masses do&#xA;  not contain an outer, gelatinous casing. Many wood frogs lay their eggs communally, and you&#xA;  may find large stretches of wood frog eggs containing thousands of embryos. These egg rafts&#xA;  may appear bubble-like at the surface of the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://harriscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/VernalPool_EggMassID_2017_HiRes.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Egg Mass Indentification&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Wood Frog is in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/reptiles-amphibians/frogs/frog-species-in-massachusetts&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Massachusetts&lt;/a&gt; and none of the other pictures of frog eggs matched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:35:26.630" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:35:26.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21974" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21975" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" Score="0" Body="Questions about climbing chalk which is used by climbers/boulders to help keep their hands dry and non-slippery." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:32:29.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14367" CreationDate="2019-04-17T01:35:37.663" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Waterfall-- Water falls vertically and without obstruction from a distinct feature, generally more than 1 m high and often across the full channel width&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cascade-- Fast flow with a smooth boundary and turbulent flow over boulders or bedrock. Flow is in contact with the substrate and exhibits upstream convergence and downstream divergence&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://docsbay.net/fluvial-biotopes-influence-macroinvertebrate-biodiversity-in-south-east-asian-tropical-streams&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ECOSPHERE “Fluvial biotopes influence macroinvertebrate biodiversity&#xA;in South-East Asian tropical streams”December 2016 v Article e01479&#xA;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17717" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-17T01:52:27.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21981" CreationDate="2019-04-17T15:15:18.287" Score="3" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently thinking about switching to three under (3 fingers under the arrow knock when releasing). I ordered a new bow and wanted to take this as a chance to change or try out a few things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I want my new setup to be compliant for the Instinctive Bow Division of World Archery. Am I allowed to shoot three under there? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8060" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-18T20:33:53.343" LastActivityDate="2019-04-18T20:33:53.343" Title="Am I allowed to shoot 3 under in World Archery's Instinctive Bow Division?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;&lt;legality&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21979" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-18T09:26:30.197" Score="11" ViewCount="331" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm crew on a boat (wooden 8.5m from 1973) which has a GPS and a tiller pilot that seem to work fine separately, but don't seem to want to talk to one-another. My captain is adamant this combination &quot;used to work, but is not working now&quot;; I myself have never attempted to use the autopilot, nor seen it in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GPS is a &lt;strong&gt;Garmin GPSMap 182C&lt;/strong&gt; which talks NMEA 0183 v3.0; According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.manualslib.com/manual/56045/Garmin-182-182c.html?page=105#manual&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;its documentation&lt;/a&gt;, it sends &quot;GPRMC, GPGGA, GPGSA, GPGSV, GPGLL, GPBOD, GPRTE, and GPWPL (as well as PGRME, PGRMZ, and PSLIB)&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pilot is a &lt;strong&gt;Tillerpilot TP32&lt;/strong&gt; which also talks NMEA 0183. According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.manualslib.com/manual/735398/Simrad-Tp10.html?page=26#manual&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;its documentation&lt;/a&gt;, it accepts &quot;APA, APB, RMA, RMB, RMC, BWR, BWC, VHW, XTE (as well as VWR and MWV)&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you'll notice, these abbreviations are helpfully incomparable, and I haven't become wiser by studying &lt;a href=&quot;http://freenmea.net/docs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;references&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wiring connections I have all quadruple-checked; the only thing I cannot check is the actual data content of the NMEA signal data. I have also triple-checked that the NMEA settings are sane (GPS Port 1 out: NMEA v3, 4800 baud; GPS Port 2 out: None; and yes it's port 1 that's connected through to the tiller pilot's socket). I have been unable to determine the baud rate of the Tillerpilot, and the parity settings of both devices, but I must assume they are set to a common standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are these two devices, in fact, compatible?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are, what more can I check?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If necessary please advice in comments for the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should I post this else instead, and if so - where?? (There seems to be no good fit for questions of an nautical-electrical nature. I posted to Meta, which suggested either Outdoors or Electrical; the latter just closed my 1st try as off topic so I'm also trying here.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any better tags for this question here?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16457" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-04-18T14:34:17.963" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T20:36:59.357" Title="Help me interface these two nautical devices" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21978" CreationDate="2019-04-18T16:39:16.473" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://worldarchery.org/rulebook/article/3138&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rulebook&lt;/a&gt;, you can either shoot with one finger above or all below but not both.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The bow must be shot &lt;strong&gt;using the &quot;Mediterranean&quot; loose (one finger above the arrow nock) or fingers directly below the arrow nock (index finger no more than 2 mm below nock), with one fixed anchor point.&lt;/strong&gt; The athlete must choose either Mediterranean or fingers under nock, but &lt;strong&gt;may not use both.&lt;/strong&gt; Finger protection when shooting with fingers under the nock must have a continuous surface or connected surface, with no ability to shoot split finger. When using the Mediterranean loose a separator between the fingers to prevent pinching the arrow may be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://worldarchery.org/rulebook/article/3138&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rulebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-04-18T16:39:16.473" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21982" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-18T17:59:05.863" Score="7" ViewCount="221" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Instinctive Bow Division of World Archery, you can either release in the Mediterranean style with one finger above the knock and two fingers below, or you can &lt;strong&gt;shoot 3 under, where all three fingers are under the knock.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have only ever seen people use the Mediterranean style, &lt;strong&gt;what would the advantage of the 3 finger under style be?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-18T22:42:43.510" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T02:04:59.267" Title="What would be the advantage of the 3 fingers under release?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16337" CreationDate="2019-04-19T13:29:45.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chaga is parasitic and grows exclusively on living trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree you have pictured appears to be rotting. Additionally, the mushrooms on that tree have a clear top and bottom. Although the coloration is similar, the picture above does not appear to be Chaga.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will, however, do some research to see if I can find what fungus in fact is growing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17727" LastActivityDate="2019-04-19T13:29:45.830" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21985" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10113" CreationDate="2019-04-19T14:35:56.063" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a photo of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriophyllum_spicatum&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum).&lt;/a&gt; It can grow extremely dense in some locations. People don't usually choose to swim where this and other plants grow very dense, but if they do, they are most at risk from entanglement if they panic. I work professionally on aquatic plant management, and also am an avid lake swimmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17729" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-04-19T15:12:26.613" LastActivityDate="2019-04-19T15:12:26.613" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21986" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-19T15:33:17.077" Score="4" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a propane/120 volt refrigerator/freezer in my camper.  For safety reasons I turn off the propane when moving. I keep the freezer section mostly full of the blue ice containers, which keeps things cool, for short trips (~24hours) between electrical connections. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It becomes ineffective for longer trips, as 24 - 48 hours of electrical supply is required to get things cooled off again.  Generator for a couple of hours, or overnight electrical connection does not get it ready for another day of travel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The freezer is about 16 inches wide, 4 3/8 inches tall, and 7 inches deep.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/construction/tank.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tank Calculator&lt;/a&gt; tells me this is just over 2 gallons or 7.8 liters.  Unlike an ice chest, the refrigerator/freezer does not do well with uncontained loose liquids (&lt;em&gt;i.e. melted ice&lt;/em&gt;). Normally we put a towel on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to absorb any condensation that might otherwise puddle and leak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am thinking that a container that I can fill with ice cubes purchased in bags at a gas/convenience store is the solution.  But I am wondering what attributes to look for in the container.  It needs to be able to stay sealed and not leak with partially melted ice and water sloshing around, while driving at speed on country roads and highways. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What to look for in a leak proof ice container, for RV fridge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-04-21T02:26:26.793" Title="Leak proof ice container, for RV fridge" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21987" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-19T18:50:59.123" Score="6" ViewCount="267" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been hanging these fat balls for a good while and they're intact. Previously I was hanging a feeder filled with seeds (for birds) in front of the window and that was also intact for a while; so I replaced it with these fat balls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my previous places of residence that I hung these (not exactly the same spot, but same country, similar areas), they’d barely survive a week. The ravens would destroy them if no other bird. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, I hear and see the birds of many species around, chirping on the tree or wandering about (and snacking) on the ground or flying but they don’t seem to eat anything from these feeders. I’ve also thrown a few pieces of bread on the ground/bushes, and the same thing happens. It remains intact for days till I remove them. What could be wrong?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Across the fence in the background it's a sports field with natural grass. During spring I'd see herds of wild fowl grazing there, possibly before starting their migration journey. At nights I see foxes marching around and I’ve also spotted a squirrel once if that matters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Irish sea is only a few kilometers away, and that's where the wild fowl would visit from. The area outside the flat is regularly maintained by whomever is in charge, but as far as I am aware there aren't any bird repellants used. There shouldn't be any chemicals either, and even if there is, that should be washed by the frequent rain fall that happens here. The balls are generic bird fat balls but not super new; the mixed seeds were just purchased and were/are very fresh. The feeder is a standard one, made of metal caging and a plastic lid. The metal is obviously painted for rust protection but there's nothing unusual about it, no paint smell or anything like that. Plus the fact that I have used the very same item in other places to feed birds and they've been happily eating from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7hZWI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7hZWI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bird feeders&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P. S. The photo is taken from inside. One ball is hanging on the tree and the other is hanging outside the window, off the above neighbor’s balcony construction. This window is west-facing with little sun or heat other than the afternoons or sunsets, clouds-permitting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3856" LastEditorUserId="3856" LastEditDate="2019-05-09T21:58:04.607" LastActivityDate="2019-05-09T21:58:04.607" Title="Why aren’t birds using these feeders?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21986" CreationDate="2019-04-20T07:27:44.783" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd use food storage boxes - yes, plural, for flexibility in arranging the fridge. The good quality ones with an o-ring in the lid should seal tight (in practice they're not always airtight for long but will still contain all but a few drops of sloshing water). I have a 2l box here, so 4 of those would be the volume you want. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For smaller cool bags I've used wide-necked water bottles (Nalgene style) but the boxes will stack when empty. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another trick I've used is disposable water bottles 3/4 filled with water and frozen - this is good when you have more ready access to a freezer than to ice. You could use the boxes in a similar way starting from home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An unrelated idea is to run the fridge off an inverter when driving (and only when driving - the power consumption will rapidly flatten a battery). Here in the UK caravan fridges are often 230V/gas/12V for driving, achieving this without an inverter (my campervan fridge is different: a 12V compressor yacht fridge which will run on batteries for a few days). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-04-20T17:52:47.057" LastActivityDate="2019-04-20T17:52:47.057" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18169" CreationDate="2019-04-20T17:00:16.703" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had this problem with several packs. One solution that has worked for me is to spray the insides with VALSPAR Premium Finish-Satin (in a very well ventilated area).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17734" LastActivityDate="2019-04-20T17:00:16.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21986" CreationDate="2019-04-21T02:26:26.793" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For traveling we will pre-freeze pop bottles with ice or juice.  When we stop at a motel, we refreeze the bottles.  This works well.  As we drink the juice, we will refill with water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your use, you need something with a wider opening for ice cubes.  Peanut butter jars work well for this, as most of them are plastic.  Some mayo jars too are plastic.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not that the liner seals don't work forever.  Test each year by filling with water an laying on their side for a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-21T02:26:26.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21913" CreationDate="2019-04-21T14:26:44.597" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US, Designated Wilderness Areas are areas relatively untouched by human influence where users are only allowed on foot and with pack animals. Some areas will have other restrictions, like permit requirements for overnight trips or seasonal fire restrictions. Most are tens of thousands of acres, which is plenty big enough to get out of hearing range of other humans for as long as your supplies hold out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To camp in these for weeks, look up the local land management office in charge of them and give them a call to learn about access, current conditions and restrictions. They'll know what access points are accessible, what ones are washed out, and which areas you can visit to have the least chance of being seen. The relevant agency can be the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Forest Service, or the National Park Service. You'll want the local office, not one in DC. There's a list at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Wilderness_Areas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Wilderness_Areas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, in the western US, there are huge tracts of unprotected, undeveloped government owned land managed by the BLM that would fit your needs perfectly, but the best places are harder to find through internet searches. If you get to know local outdoorsmen and women, they can give you better direction for specific places that would suit your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="3261" LastEditDate="2019-04-21T14:32:50.787" LastActivityDate="2019-04-21T14:32:50.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21994" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="21995" CreationDate="2019-04-22T00:02:18.190" Score="6" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow blindness, also known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eyehealthweb.com/snow-blindness/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;photokeratitis&lt;/a&gt;, is predominately caused by the sun's reflection off of snow.  If one is caught out in the wild, ill prepared for snow, &lt;strong&gt;what could one find in a temperate forest to help prevent snow blindness?&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two options I was wondering about are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improvised &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sportstop.com/Mueller-No-Glare-Eye-Black-Stick_2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;No Glare&lt;/a&gt; from charcoal/ashes like what professional&#xA;athletes use.  However, I'd question it's ability to block reflection&#xA;from snow and I'd be worried about getting it in my eyes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An improvised hat, but again I'm not sure that would help much with&#xA;reflection off the snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-22T14:35:16.573" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T15:41:50.817" Title="Can natural material be found in a temperate forest to help protect against snow blindness?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21994" CreationDate="2019-04-22T00:32:09.817" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer will work only if you have a knife, preferably a multi-tool knife, and are adept at using it.  Make a pair of &lt;strong&gt;Inuit goggles&lt;/strong&gt;, as described in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_goggles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snow Goggles, Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The goggles are traditionally made of driftwood (especially spruce),&#xA;  bone, walrus ivory, caribou antler, or in some cases seashore&#xA;  grass. The workpiece is carved to fit the wearer's face, and one or&#xA;  more narrow horizontal slits are carved through the front. The&#xA;  goggles fit tightly against the face so that the only light entering&#xA;  is through the slits, and soot is sometimes applied to the inside to&#xA;  help cut down on glare. The slits are made narrow not only to&#xA;  reduce the amount of light entering but also to improve the visual&#xA;  acuity. The greater the width of the slits the larger the field of&#xA;  view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are right about the limitations of a hat in protecting your eyes from glare from below.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eyesiteonwellness.com/the-sun-and-your-eyes-what-you-need-to-know/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Eye Site on Wellness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;•Fresh snow reflects as much as 80 percent of UV radiation.........&#xA;  Hats with brims offer no protection from UV rays reflected up from&#xA;  surfaces such as pavement, sand and water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-24T15:41:50.817" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T15:41:50.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21996" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22000" CreationDate="2019-04-22T20:08:51.687" Score="26" ViewCount="9376" Body="&lt;p&gt;I drink canned beverages when I'm gardening and camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know several people who have ended up in the hospital due to swallowing bees that were stuck in their beverage (stung in the mouth).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I keep bees out of canned beverages, without sacrificing much convenience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16728" LastEditorUserId="16728" LastEditDate="2019-04-23T15:13:27.363" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T18:37:26.697" Title="How to keep bees out of canned beverages?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="17" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-22T21:30:16.260" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;You &lt;strong&gt;vill&lt;/strong&gt; have to sacrifice some convenience. I suggest inverting a wide-mouthed plastic cup as a barrier over the can.  Remove the cup when you want to drink, drink from the can, and then immediately replace the cup.  Eventually you will drop or knock over the cup.  Wipe with the cleanest thing you have available and replace.  A little dirt won't harm you.  Cheers!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-04-22T21:30:16.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T04:28:52.967" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can think of a few solutions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stretch a square of mosquito netting over the mouth of the can, with a rubber band to secure it in place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy and use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gs4Zd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;soda can lid.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Switch to 2L bottled soda and use auto-sealing bottles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17738" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T04:28:52.967" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="21999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T11:57:05.520" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Presuming that you have a modern can,  the simplest solution I can think of is to rotate the ring-pull 180 degrees around its axis, so that the lever is over the opening (as per the image below, but without the straw).  This may not be an infallible solution, but it should reduce the probability of a bee entering the can, and still allow you to drink in a relatively unhindered manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPb6M.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QPb6M.png&quot; alt=&quot;Soda can with the ring pull rotated 180 degrees to shield the opening&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17741" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T11:57:05.520" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T11:58:03.473" Score="21" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't open the can far enough for a bee to get in&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a freind who drinks from soda cans by only opening them a little bit. I find it quite weird, but having tried it it doesn't really make a lot of difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you &amp;quot;pull the tab&amp;quot; or ringpull, just do it a little so the soda can come out, but the bees cannot get in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can open them to various degrees, here is a picture of a half opened can to show what I mean &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wn1kt.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wn1kt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example of the mechanics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pull the tab gently until the gas escapes, and you have a hairline opening either side of the tab. At that point, you can tilt the can up and suck, and you'll get a reasonable amount out. I've done this frequently when I'm worried about the can falling over and spilling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Quote from user StevenLowes originally in comments below.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17740" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T08:11:27.623" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21987" CreationDate="2019-04-23T13:16:17.277" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a brief exchange of comments, I think I have enough to take a stab at an answer, with the caveat that this will be mostly informed-guessing on my part.  After all, every animal has its persnickety side, and who knows what's going on inside the their heads.  I mostly think that some variant of &quot;new-ness&quot; is behind your observations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chemical Smells&lt;/strong&gt;: The birds can detect residues from paints, glues, and manufacturing oils for much longer than we humans can, and may be deterred by this.  Apparently, this is a bigger factor in nest boxes than in feeders.  The good news is these things quickly weather away with rain, wind, sun, and such.  You mention your feeder is painted metal with a plastic lid, so it could be this simple.  Let a little time go by, the bad smells will fade, and the yummy suet smells will take over.   (Source:  Face-to-Face conversation with a nature center director.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Learned Behaviors&lt;/strong&gt;:  Birds get used to places where food is available, and need to learn when a new source is added.  You need to get that first brave wanderer to come and discover your cache, he'll brag to his friends, and then they'll all come.  (Source:  Experience.  I've had a new feeder up over a month with no hits, then suddenly it was crowded.  Each time I refilled it after that, it emptied in a few days.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timing&lt;/strong&gt;:  It is spring, and the birds' natural food sources are plentiful, and there is less need to seek artificial sources.  Plus, if you've ever watched birds at a feeder, there is always that one that picks out a beak-full, tosses it to the ground, repeats a few times, finds the one seed it wants, eats it, and flies away leaving a mess behind.  Maybe the tree buds, insects, whatever are just more appetizing at this time of year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T13:16:17.277" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T14:35:18.070" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Dad drinks canned beverages regularly while working outside, and his go-to solution for keeping wasps/hornets/etc out of the cans is a small disk or square of 1/2&quot; plywood about 4&quot; square (or diameter) placed on top of the can.  If there is a gap caused by the tab sticking up a bit then he will remove the tab, but usually the weight of the piece of plywood will press it down.  It works, and it is cheap/free if you have some wood scraps laying around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He has been using this solution for the last 20+ years and in fact has been using the same circular piece for as long as I have re-callable memory.  He even uses them when not outside now, for the 'just in case' factor (and probably out of habit). He started doing this because somebody he knew accidentally swallowed a bee, was stung in the throat and unfortunately did not survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17743" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T14:35:18.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T15:05:33.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can certainly sympathise with your situation from experience — wasps especially &lt;em&gt;love&lt;/em&gt; all kinds of sweet drinks, and will home in on them with monomaniacal persistence.  I've even had them try to get in my mouth &lt;em&gt;while&lt;/em&gt; I'm drinking from a cup, which can be a somewhat unpleasant situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(FWIW, the most important thing to do if there's a wasp or a bee buzzing around your face is to &lt;em&gt;not panic&lt;/em&gt; or try to swat it, but just keep as calm as you can and &lt;em&gt;gently&lt;/em&gt; guide the insect away, preferably while slowly moving away from any sweet-smelling things that might be attracting it.  Remember, the wasp is just looking for a sugar fix — it's not (yet) actively trying to sting you, and will only do so if it feels that you're a threat to it or its nest.  Granted, it can sometimes be hard to predict exactly what an insect will perceive as a threat, but flailing your arms around in panic is generally not the best idea.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, the best proactive solution to your problem that I know of is to get a plastic bottle with a &quot;sports cap&quot; like this and pour your drink into it (or just buy a drink that comes in a bottle like this to begin with):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sports_cap_(bottle)_-_open.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vnvl0.jpg&quot; width=&quot;312&quot; alt=&quot;Sports bottle cap&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sports_cap_(bottle)_-_open.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photo&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mikael_H%C3%A4ggstr%C3%B6m&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mikael Häggström&lt;/a&gt; via Wikimedia Commons, released under the &lt;a href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CC0 public domain dedication&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closeable cap prevents insects from getting into the bottle when you're not drinking from it.  It's also designed to fit in your mouth, and even so that you can open and close it using your teeth, making sure that no bugs can sneak in &lt;em&gt;while&lt;/em&gt; you're drinking, either.  And even if a wasp or a bee somehow does make it inside, e.g. while you're pouring the drink in, the passage which the liquid flows through inside the cap is narrow enough that it &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; won't get from the bottle into your mouth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(That said, I'd still rather try to keep them out of the bottle in the first place.  A transparent bottle might be the best choice here, as it'll let you visually double check the contents of the bottle before taking a drink from it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, try not to have anything near you (such as exposed food or drinks) that might attract insects with its smell.  In particular, rinse out any empty cans with water if at all possible, and clean up any spilled drink.  If you &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; have something smelly around, try to keep it somewhere as far as possible from where you are, and hope that it draws the insects there instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="382" LastEditorUserId="382" LastEditDate="2019-04-23T15:18:11.473" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T15:18:11.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22006" CreationDate="2019-04-23T15:20:56.843" Score="2" ViewCount="234" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm relatively new to the world of rock climbing, having been bouldering at a gym for a few months. I'm planning on checking out a natural bouldering area (that is, one made of real naturally occurring stone) nearby. This is my first exposure to climbing outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt; and local printed guides sort problems in a way that I don't understand. They can be 'left-to-right' or 'right-to-left'. What does this mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17744" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-04-23T15:27:51.123" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T15:29:07.893" Title="What does 'right-to-left' mean when describing bouldering problems?" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22006" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22005" CreationDate="2019-04-23T15:29:07.893" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The guidebook that I have for climbing lists different routes left-to-right meaning when you are standing in front of the crag looking at the routes they are described in order of what you see going left-to-right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T15:29:07.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-23T15:29:51.327" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This happened to me, but with a brick of pineapple juice instead of a soda can. Lucky for me, I'm not allergic to anything, but I still had to get a methylprednisolone shot just to deal with the inflammation of my tongue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, wasps &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; bother you if you have sweet drinks anywhere near you, no matter what you do. Even if you keep every bottle and can capped, when you drink or move them around, small micro-drops will fall here and there -- enough to attract all wasps in a mile.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;They will also bother you if you have food, or other drinks (sweet or not). Also if you are drinking water in a hot day.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also if they feel like it, mostly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've sometimes tried to make a small puddle of juice a few steps away from where I was eating. Some call this a distraction so wasps are attracted to the puddle instead of my beverage. Some call this an offer to the Wasp Goddess hoping She will spare me of Her wrath. It doesn't matter what you call it: it doesn't work. The wasps will just call more wasps and make turns so they can drink from the puddle &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; keep bothering you at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My main recommendation is that you restrict yourself to drinking water (soda is bad for you anyways), and to use only capped recipients: bottles, canteens, maybe those cups with a lid and an orifice for a capped straw. If the recipient is made of a clear material that allows you to see if a wasp managed to get in, that's even better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that doesn't work, pack up your stuff and move somewhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; doesn't work, just remember that wasps are attracted to wasps' carcasses. Once you get one, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11349" LastActivityDate="2019-04-23T15:29:51.327" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21994" CreationDate="2019-04-23T17:58:49.547" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good snow goggles as described in &lt;a href=&quot;/a/21995&quot;&gt;ab2's answer&lt;/a&gt; take a while to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick and dirty way for temporary use can be made with bark.  Birch bark is probably easiest to work with, but any smooth bark that you can peel off the tree should work. Try alder and aspen, and willow.  You may need to make a baton and pound on the tree some to loosen the bark.  Don't bother with conifers:  Their sap is sticky.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want a chunk several inches wide by about 15 inches long.  Cut a notch on one long edge to fit around your nose.  Put narrow slits for the eyes.  Initially make them as narrow as possible, then adjust to be in the right place.  If using birch bark you want the full outer bark thickness, not the paper-thin fire starter pieces.  It will be about ⅛&quot; to ¼&quot; thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hole at either end allows you to attach cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will stay in place a lot better if you have some elastic in the system.  A heavy rubber band works well. You may elastic with you in your tent poles or underwear....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In use, the bottom edge is about even with the bottom of your nose, the top is above your eyebrows.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't stay in place as well as the Inuit goggles do, but takes only a few minutes to make.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing you can do is to pull any coarse knit fabric, such as a balaclava or toque, down over your eyes.  If you are using a finer knit, like a tee shirt, you may want to snip small holes in it.  Dark fabric is more effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only have a white tee shirt you are willing to sacrifice, rub charcoal into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want the anti-glare effect that football players use, mix charcoal powder with any fat source you have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-04-24T15:40:40.550" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T15:40:40.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-24T14:38:23.843" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a pen or fork and jam/poke it at the top of the can where the tab is connected to the top of the can. See diagram below:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Fz4G.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8Fz4G.png&quot; alt=&quot;Steps to open a coke can without bees getting in&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done this almost my whole life, it would look like it would be hard to drink from, but it is really easy. It's kind of like drinking from a sports bottle nozzle. Also if you're feeling a bit adventurous, aim it an arms length away from your mouth and start shaking it.(or aim it at someone else) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, in conclusion, your bee problem is solved and you have a funner and cooler way of drinking soda :D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17602" LastEditorUserId="17602" LastEditDate="2019-04-24T15:24:04.303" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T15:24:04.303" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21987" CreationDate="2019-04-24T15:19:18.043" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suggest adding something for the birds to perch on right next to or on top of the feeder. A few sticks or branches tied to the top of the feeder may be enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a birding lecture last night and the lecturer said that bird feeders should be surrounded by places to perch. He stated that this more naturally mimics a birds habitat because they usually fly in, perch, feed, perch, feed, etc, before leaving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am also curious how much sun the feeder is getting as from the picture it appears to be full sun. What happens if you move the feeder to the shade of the tree/bush that you have circled? If that works, maybe you can mimic that environment where you have the feeder now?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T15:19:18.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21996" CreationDate="2019-04-24T15:19:36.747" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid, we had like plastic lids that fit over the top of pop cans, designed to keep out the yellowjackets (wasps that like your sweet beverage). You opened a hinged trap over the can's opening to drink the product. I couldn't find the exact one, but it was &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B002WI8ZWS&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar to this&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;(Can Covers)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AyI5Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AyI5Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Can Covers on pop cans&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17750" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-04-24T19:00:21.193" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T19:00:21.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21883" CreationDate="2019-04-24T17:13:42.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Take a closer look at european construction techniques up to the invention of asphalt and steel roofing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, if you can keep the water off of the building, you can use a water soluble medium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technologies used:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thatched roofs with large eaves.  Thatch has to be quite thick, and quite steep to be effective.  Material is usually heavy reeds.  Typically you will use 3-4 times the thickness that is opaque.  This translates into 1 to 2 feet thick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ceramic tile sections.  Often used in Mediterranean areas.  Red (usually) tile roofs with one layer of tiles open up, and a second set over them opening downward.  This is a very heavy roof.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other technique is to surface the walls with something less ready to try to run away when it gets wet.  Lime plaster works well for this.  To make it more water proof it was mixed with pig blood.  This was often used for chimney caps, but in parts of England you still see pink cottages echoing this tradition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surfaces can be sealed with milk paint or with linseed oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing this:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A building is a lot of work.  When trying a new technique do 4 projects:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doghouse.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Garden shed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Garage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;House.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will make your mistakes a lot cheaper both in time and money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T17:13:42.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22013" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21866" CreationDate="2019-04-24T17:26:01.560" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A somewhat more general answer, not focused on the Adirondacks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most areas have an agriculture or forestry division, or natural resources division that has done extensive soil maps of the state.  Try searching for &quot;soil maps&quot; &lt;em&gt;name of state or county&lt;/em&gt;  Include the quotes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also look for woodlot associations, forestry associations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this fails check to see if the area in question has a county agriculture department.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing what the parent rock is can give you clues as to what to expect in terms of clay.  The geologic history also has an effect.  Locally I can find pockets of very find sand, peat moss or silty clay in locations 20 feet apart.  Last ice age stirred this country like a spoon, and temporary lakes and pools became clay beds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some areas will also have resource maps for borrow pits --places where people can dig for material that's generally cheap, but expensive to haul.  The road department is a good source for this information.  An area that has frequent resources for gravel is going to be tougher for clay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Road cuts are a good place to check by hand. Saves you digging.  No one is going to mind you taking a pail of stuff to experiment with.  Ask before taking a truckload.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T17:26:01.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21834" CreationDate="2019-04-24T17:45:25.017" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can't speak to avalanche beacons.  However, I have lost a GPS hiking in bush. My suspicion is that I broke the cord, but never noticed it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also lost compasses that were strung around my neck.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a friend pulled off a canoe when his compass and whistle cord snagged on a branch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are dealing with low probability events. I can easily see losing a beacon in the swirl and tumble of an avalanche.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-04-24T17:45:25.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22018" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22019" CreationDate="2019-04-25T20:27:41.487" Score="0" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to trek from Obertraun to Lodge am Krippenstein, as indicated in this google map: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Dachstein+Krippenstein+-+Dachstein+Tourismus+AG/Lodge+am+Krippenstein,+Winkl+52,+4831+Obertraun,+Austria/@47.5186929,13.6757139,13.54z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0xc4f0af0d1f6f88e!2m2!1d13.705221!2d47.548288!1m5!1m1!1s0x4771371342af8ae1:0x1daa3fdb9fcb911a!2m2!1d13.6925322!2d47.5217749!3e2!5m1!1e4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Dachstein+Krippenstein+-+Dachstein+Tourismus+AG/Lodge+am+Krippenstein,+Winkl+52,+4831+Obertraun,+Austria/@47.5186929,13.6757139,13.54z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0xc4f0af0d1f6f88e!2m2!1d13.705221!2d47.548288!1m5!1m1!1s0x4771371342af8ae1:0x1daa3fdb9fcb911a!2m2!1d13.6925322!2d47.5217749!3e2!5m1!1e4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a fit person (29 yrs old), I have alpine trekking experience, but I have no experience of ferrata and technical climbing. Is this route good for me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5439" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T20:49:21.763" Title="Hallstatt trek: Obertraun to Lodge am Krippenstein" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;austria&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;&lt;via-ferrata&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22018" CreationDate="2019-04-25T20:49:21.763" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your trail appears to follow a ski slope all the way, so you can pretty much rule out ferratas or technical climbing. Still, the snow may cover some rougher terrain in the winter (like streams that can be difficult to cross), so I'd not rely on this alone. It may not be the nicest kind of terrain to hike on, or their might be fenced-off pastures in the summer. Google Maps really isn't suited for planning an alpine trek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest you either get a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dav-shop.de/productdetails.aspx?id=10000036&amp;amp;itemno=100018&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paper map&lt;/a&gt; or a digital map other than Google Maps.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-trail/inneres-salzkammergut/one-day-round-tour/119800038/#dm=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This online map&lt;/a&gt; on outdooractive suggests that the upper part of the trail on Google Maps actually matches real hiking treks, but it's different at the start. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For such a &quot;simple&quot; hike, you might not need a map at all. I would expect there to be decent signage for the Krippenstein on signposts in Obertraun, but it's still a good idea to plan ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T20:49:21.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22020" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-25T21:21:46.267" Score="0" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;What do the red and blue solid curves in this Google Map indicate?&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;This is around Dachstein, Austria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hah3A.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hah3A.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Link:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Dachstein+Krippenstein+-+Dachstein+Tourismus+AG/Lodge+am+Krippenstein,+Winkl+52,+4831+Obertraun,+Austria/@47.5297578,13.6821623,13.48z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0xc4f0af0d1f6f88e!2m2!1d13.705221!2d47.548288!1m5!1m1!1s0x4771371342af8ae1:0x1daa3fdb9fcb911a!2m2!1d13.6925322!2d47.5217749!3e2!5m1!1e4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Dachstein+Krippenstein+-+Dachstein+Tourismus+AG/Lodge+am+Krippenstein,+Winkl+52,+4831+Obertraun,+Austria/@47.5297578,13.6821623,13.48z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0xc4f0af0d1f6f88e!2m2!1d13.705221!2d47.548288!1m5!1m1!1s0x4771371342af8ae1:0x1daa3fdb9fcb911a!2m2!1d13.6925322!2d47.5217749!3e2!5m1!1e4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5439" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-04-26T13:18:58.033" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T16:17:04.193" Title="Google Map Hiking Trail" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22020" CreationDate="2019-04-25T22:24:49.953" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My color vision isn't perfect so I'm not completely sure what you're talking about on that map.  I see two things on there that you might be talking about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)  I see several paths with names that start with &quot;Variante&quot;.  The similarity with the word &quot;Variant&quot; in English makes me think these are other options for this hike.  While these are in red and blue they don't seem quite like what you're asking about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2)  This is a normal topographic map.  Follow each bold line (I suspect these are your red lines but I'm not completely sure), you will find an elevation listed.  Note a bit to the northeast of the origin point of this trail the line is labeled &quot;600m&quot;.  From this we can conclude that the trailhead is at approximately 600m above sea level.  The last bold line before your destination is labeled &quot;2000m&quot;.  Note that there are four unlabeled and lighter weight lines between each bold line.  (These are probably your blue lines but the lines are fine enough that I am very unsure of their color.)  These divide the 100m spacing between bold lines into 20m increments.  The lodge at your destination is 2 fine lines above the 2000m line, thus we can conclude that it is 2040 meters above sea level.  This seems a much better match for your question but I am not sure the colors are right.  These lines make it clear this trail will climb 1420 meters.  (Note this closely matches what Google says to the left: 595m to 2041m.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, from those lines we can see that the first part of the climb will be reasonably steep, followed by a walk across the slope that is nearly flat, and then another climb at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-04-25T22:24:49.953" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22020" CreationDate="2019-04-26T11:25:12.963" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are looking at a ski resort. The blue and red lines are the slopes. The straight lines are the lifts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://dachstein-salzkammergut.com/de/winter/winterregion/panoramakarte-winter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://dachstein-salzkammergut.com/de/winter/winterregion/panoramakarte-winter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zMqvc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zMqvc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Screenshort of the panorama&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2019-04-27T16:17:04.193" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T16:17:04.193" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22025" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21834" CreationDate="2019-04-26T23:24:02.070" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The biggest reason I've always believed that you wear your beacon next to your base layer is battery life. Cold is well known to reduce battery life. By keeping the beacon close to your body you r beacon will function longer and may even have a stronger signal because the batteries aren't fighting the cold.  I don't know how much of a difference this makes but it makes enough sense to me that I wouldn't wear my beacon outside my jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally wearing the beacon next to your base layer protects it from all manner of hazards. Some common hazards include; spilled drinks, sticks and branches, falling on ski poles, rocks,  shenanigans by your friends, etc. I know my jackets have taken abuse from all of those things and more. By being under a layer or two you can protect and extend the life of your beacon. I don't know about you but I'd rather buy new skis instead of replacing my beacon prematurely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between the boost in battery life and device longevity I would encourage everyone to wear their beacon next to their base layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2019-04-26T23:24:02.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22027" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22028" CreationDate="2019-04-27T15:14:14.963" Score="3" ViewCount="460" Body="&lt;p&gt;What type of fish is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I caught this fish in the Miami River in Southern Florida, USA. This river is brackish I believe, so I am not sure whether it is saltwater or freshwater. It is brown, green, and white. The head is wider than the rest of the tube shaped body and is full of teeth. There is a fin on the top that is just down when I took some of the pictures. It was no more than 10 inches long and probably not much wider than an inch in diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks sort of similar to a snake-head fish, but this fish has a forked caudal fin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kk0dQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kk0dQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t39RN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/t39RN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dYZqo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dYZqo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Ju9j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Ju9j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6384" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T17:03:13.130" Title="Name of this Forked Fin Fish with Teeth Caught in Miami River, Florida, USA" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22027" CreationDate="2019-04-27T17:03:13.130" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That's an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.filmingflorida.com/daily-species/inshore-lizardfish/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inshore Lizardfish&lt;/a&gt;. The coloring and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fishbase.se/summary/2719&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;range&lt;/a&gt; are right and so is the description of the head and the teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like they are edible but not deliberately caught by most people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T17:03:13.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16815" CreationDate="2019-04-27T18:32:25.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interpreting the question broadly as how to kill ticks on hiking and gardening clothes, not just the efficacy of microwaving them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The method I suggest will work fine &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; you have a dedicated dryer in, say, your mudroom or gardening room or your garage.  10 to 20 minutes in a dryer will kill ticks by desiccation.  You will have dead, but not exploded ticks, and you will not be importing ticks into the main portion of your house or contaminating the dryer that you use for clean clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might be able to adapt this to an apartment (e.g., dryer on the balcony or in the entrance hall), but this method is not considerate to others in a motel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/like-to-kill-ticks-put-them-in-dryer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Appalachian Mountain Club&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;... there’s one sure-fire way to kill any ticks that might have&#xA;  hitched a ride on your clothing. Throw any potential tick-bearing&#xA;  clothes in the dryer and run it on high heat for 10 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It’s not the heat that kills them. It’s the dryness. Ticks require&#xA;  moisture to survive and will rapidly desiccate and die in dry&#xA;  conditions—and a quick spin in the dryer is all that’s needed to crisp&#xA;  ’em to death. &lt;strong&gt;(Ticks can actually survive a hot-water run through the&#xA;  washing machine.)&lt;/strong&gt;   (Emphasis added.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Note that this requires you to saunter through your house or apartment naked, which depending on you and the other inhabitants could be a pro or a con.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-04-27T18:32:25.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22031" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22035" CreationDate="2019-04-28T01:40:06.127" Score="7" ViewCount="3091" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16815/does-putting-an-item-in-a-microwave-oven-kill-ticks-and-other-bugs/22029#220290&quot;&gt;This TGO answer&lt;/a&gt; recommends putting possibly tick-infested clothing into a dedicated dryer, where they will be killed by &lt;strong&gt;desiccation&lt;/strong&gt;.  The source used in the answer, the Appalachian Mountain Club, should know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what about finding/removing/killing ticks in one's hair?  Every source says to examine one's body carefully to find and remove ticks.  Easy to say, but I have often wondered how to examine the portion of my head, or someone else's head, covered by hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the best way to search for ticks that may have taken up residence in the forest of one's hair, particularly the ticks that carry Lyme's Disease?&lt;/strong&gt;  This year will probably be a banner year for ticks in the Northeast of the US, so this question is a real concern. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually, the tick will dig in, and then itch, and it will be easier to find, but still not easy to zero in on it and tweeze it out.  The dryer answer suggests that one might be able to eliminate the search and use a hair dryer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any information on the best way to find a tick on one's head, and/or the efficacy of a hair dryer to desiccate the tick to death?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Please, no answers about covering up or using DEET or other repellants or avoiding long grass or foliage :)  &lt;strong&gt;Assume a tick&lt;/strong&gt;.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2019-04-29T17:16:53.710" LastActivityDate="2019-04-29T19:03:13.300" Title="How to find ticks in your hair?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22033" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-28T12:32:04.830" Score="8" ViewCount="432" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a bird with an injured wing among the rocks on a beach in Portugal (Algarve). The bird has been on the beach since Friday evening, and her wing feathers have completely dropped off by now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's quite big (a seagull?) and I'm not at all confident to capture it myself. I also have no idea how to capture it or give it first aid :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried calling GNR, the regular Police, the Maritime Police, and some conservation SOS lines, but they all say they can't pick it up.&#xA;The GNR advised me they don't pick up injured animals any more (the rep said &quot;new rules&quot;) :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel really bad about leaving the bird to die in such a way (not sure if it can even recover at this point). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anybody I can contact? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(There is one more organisation ICNF that works only on workdays that I plan to call tomorrow.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks in advance for any advice or help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update Monday, 3 days later:&lt;/strong&gt; called like 10 more different numbers and they just keep giving me new numbers to call which don't pick up or give me new numbers... :(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The numbers I've called on the slim chance they are helpful for someone else in the future even though &lt;strong&gt;they did not work for me sadly&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1) SOS Environment Line (SEPNA / GNR) 808 200 520 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2) The nearest GNR station to allow referrals to the SEPNA team &#xA;GNR Portimão 282 420 750&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3) Nearest ICNF Headquarters (on weekdays from 9am to 5pm), ICNF Lagos&#xA;282 402 320 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4) RIAS Phone 927 659 313  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5) Rescue centre Olhao 289 700&#xA;210 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6) Maritime police  282 767 983 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;7) regular police  282 780 240 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8) local city hall Environment &amp;amp; urban services&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17777" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T19:42:21.180" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T21:36:53.243" Title="Who to contact for a bird with broken wing in Portugal, Algarve?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;portugal&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22033" CreationDate="2019-04-29T11:28:36.293" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The numbers I've called on the slim chance they are helpful for someone else in the future &lt;strong&gt;even though they did not work for me sadly:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1) SOS Environment Line (SEPNA / GNR) 808 200 520 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2) The nearest GNR&#xA;station to allow referrals to the SEPNA team GNR Portimão 282 420 750&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3) Nearest ICNF Headquarters (on weekdays from 9am to 5pm), ICNF&#xA;Lagos 282 402 320 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4) RIAS Phone 927 659 313 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5) Rescue centre Olhao&#xA;289 700 210 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6) Maritime police 282 767 983 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;7) regular police 282 780&#xA;240 &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;8) local city hall Environment &amp;amp; urban services&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17777" LastActivityDate="2019-04-29T11:28:36.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22031" CreationDate="2019-04-29T14:54:58.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: comb your scalp systematically with your fingers, wash your hair to remove them from hair (be careful with laundry carrying ticks home too), and try to catch/prevent them getting into your hair in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Great question. I worked in the woods with long hair under a hard hat, and wow did I accumulate ticks. I'd reliably find &gt;5 per day. I did end up getting Lyme, thankfully diagnosing and treating it early - I share that caveat to say, take my advice with a grain of salt! Still, I got a lot of experience finding ticks from that. When I was in tick prone areas, it became habitual to do tick checks of two sorts: 1) in-field quick checks to clear off clothing, and 2) end of day thorough checks to clear off body. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) In the field: At any breaks in the day we would do a quick 'pat down' of ourselves, quickly touching and visually inspecting our bodies from head to tow. Hair was mostly neglected in these checks, but getting rid of ticks you spot in these checks reduces the chances they'll be able to settle into your hair. An important note about hair and all body parts is that we kept mostly covered, even despite brutal heat and humidity, to avoid ticks and other bugs. Pants tucked into socks, shirt tucked into pants and outer shirt over that, sometimes gloves and bandana mask when bugs were very bad. I had long hair, and I learned the importance of neatly tying my hair up in a bun resting at the back of my head and tucking it under my hard hat. For one, hair gets messy in the woods in general, and two, the way hair accumulates messiness can also accumulate ticks. Don't give them any easy platforms to catch on to, and keep your head and hair out of the bushes and grass they linger in if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) At home: Pretty soon after returning home, some privacy and a shower is necessary. Put all your clothes in the wash and/or dryer ASAP (or store them separate from 'tick-free' areas at least), clean yourself off, then touch every inch of your body with your finger tips head to toe. Get in the habit of being excessively detailed about it, you want to see and touch every part of you to catch any little bump and inspect it. It's good to get in the habit of inspecting yourself anyway. Showering before thorough inspection is helpful, especially with long hair, as the soapy water can release loose ticks from hair. When you inspect your head, the same principle of detailed inspection applies: touch every part of your scalp, combing it carefully with your finger tips. Do this systematically in rows so you cover every spot of your scalp. If you washed your hair, you've reduced the chance that some ticks are stowing away there. With long hair, doing additional feel-throughs while it's clean between trips to the woods is a good idea to catch stragglers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, keep an eye out for symptoms and bullseye marks when you've worked in a tick prone area. Lyme is unpleasant but what makes it really debilitating is misdiagnosing it for months or years: if you have potential symptoms, insist on tests or preemptive treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8443" LastEditorUserId="8443" LastEditDate="2019-04-29T19:03:13.300" LastActivityDate="2019-04-29T19:03:13.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22033" CreationDate="2019-04-30T12:51:05.393" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The British organisation RSPB is partnering:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SPEA-BirdLife Portugal, Avenida da Liberdade, No 105 - 2oEsq, 1250-140 Lisboa, Portugal &#xA;  Telephone: (+351) 21 322 04 03.         &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As shown &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/portugal-country-programme&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although sadly it is now too late for action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-04-30T12:51:05.393" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22037" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-04-30T14:19:13.593" Score="6" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;On top of one of the peaks in the Uinta mountain range I found this plastic thing with small black flat  glass marbles in it. It was several feet long and there were small holes underneath of the flat marbles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFDvP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bFDvP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKLFk.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TKLFk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plastic holder had holes below and it had a temperature reader attached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qTiju.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qTiju.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly is this thing for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-30T23:33:46.650" LastActivityDate="2019-04-30T23:33:46.650" Title="What is this square plastic thing with small black flat glass marbles in the Uintas?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22038" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22181" CreationDate="2019-04-30T15:06:59.743" Score="6" ViewCount="359" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon, USA. A few days ago I noticed these rodents digging in my compost pile. This was in the early-afternoon. If I got too close (closer than 4 ft) they would retreat to a pile a branches and trimmings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The compost pile is well composted and over a year old. I'm not sure what they were eating, but there wasn't any un-composted kitchen food (unless some seeds remained). Squirrels may have hidden something in the pile. There are plenty of worms in the pile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a white underside, the eyes aren't overly large. The coat is brownish-gray. I couldn't see any color variation on the tail. My pictures are low resolution, but I didn't notice large hairs on the tail. I'm guessing the body is about 3&quot; - 4&quot; long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/rats-and-mice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of rodents&lt;/a&gt; in Oregon. It seems like the ones in that list that look similar live east of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Range&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cascades&lt;/a&gt;. I'm west of the Cascades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U9xRs.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/U9xRs.png&quot; alt=&quot;facing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4CEoO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4CEoO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Q8Zs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2Q8Zs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;profile&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfTxK.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfTxK.gif&quot; alt=&quot;digging&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3g7ny.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3g7ny.gif&quot; alt=&quot;video&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13462" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-04-30T15:09:25.407" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T16:37:02.913" Title="Help identifying mouse-like rodent in Willamette Valley (Oregon)" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22039" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22037" CreationDate="2019-04-30T19:12:05.763" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without having more info on the specific parameters of the study, it's hard to know exactly what they were looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either water or snowpack characterization might be very likely subjects. I'm wondering if they used black pebbles specifically because they are black, which would suggest their ability to gain heat is important. Or maybe it's not relevant at all and only their smooth polished surface was important (which would make sense since high gloss reflects a little more than if it was matte). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onsetcomp.com/products/data-loggers/u22-001&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Onset HOBO unit&lt;/a&gt; is self contained and might be intended to be used where it's located, as an air temp sensor, or it was attached so it doesn't get lost until readings need to be done in the pebbly troughs. The battery life on those things is 6 years, so it might be recording data continuously even when unattended. Air temperatures might be relevant if the study is on air pollutants (traces of which could be detected in rainfall or snowpack).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the study is about analyzing particulates, the pebbles in the troughs might be used to shelter the water from being blown away by the wind or to slow down the evaporation process from sunlight. The pebbles would also prevent sediments from getting mixed again and escaping through the drains at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, if someone more expert in the specific methodology used here can describe precisely what the goal of this study was, I'll be as interested as you are. I have a couple hunches, but it might be related to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kuer.org/post/pollution-spikes-winter-utahs-oil-and-gas-country#stream/0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ozone pollution&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-04-30T19:12:05.763" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22040" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-01T14:13:42.810" Score="5" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;In all of my Wilderness First Responder classes and books, they have said that people who have been &lt;strong&gt;struck by lightning and need CPR have the best chance of it working&lt;/strong&gt; (in general save rates with CPR are extremely low).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there &lt;strong&gt;any official statistics on the number of people who got struck by lighting needed CPR and it worked?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-05-01T14:23:25.963" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T05:57:28.083" Title="Are there statistics on how often CPR on someone who has been struck by lighting works?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22041" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22806" CreationDate="2019-05-01T15:24:23.207" Score="7" ViewCount="1020" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed when climbing and bouldering I have a tendency to get occasional flappers on my palm. A flapper being a callus or blister that has peeled back and hangs on like a flap of skin. I trim the skin away as close to the origin as possible to avoid having it snag on anything, it then tends to take a couple weeks to heal completely, though by the first week it's usually healed enough to climb without major inconvenience.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tricks other people have to healing a flapper quicker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastEditorUserId="17715" LastEditDate="2019-05-08T14:58:19.487" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T01:41:31.683" Title="How to heal a flapper quickly" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22042" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22043" CreationDate="2019-05-01T20:15:23.140" Score="8" ViewCount="483" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a news story out this week, (The end of April, 2019) about a school resource officer's weapon discharging while in his holster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience as a gun owner and hunter, it's hard for me to imagine a situation where a gun spontaneously discharges. I know that slam-fire and drops can cause a discharge, but I'm talking about a holstered firearm or an otherwise resting one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have any information or statistics about how this happens? (In the general sense, not the specific case I mentioned. That's off topic here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12363" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-01T20:48:38.360" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T21:00:20.273" Title="Can a gun spontaneously fire?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22042" CreationDate="2019-05-01T20:48:15.433" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No, a gun will not spontaneously discharge&lt;/strong&gt; It's an object that won't do anything without external input. &lt;strong&gt;A better term for this is negligent discharge because the human was negligent&lt;/strong&gt; and messed up and cause the gun to go off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are all sorts of ways of causing a negligent discharge,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assuming the gun is unloaded and pulling the trigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assuming the safety is on and/or works and pulling the trigger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some guns are not drop safe, dropping them will cause the hammer to hit the primer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dropping the gun, going to catch it and pulling the trigger in the process.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Catching the trigger on your pants when reholstering.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pulling the gun towards you by the barrel and the trigger catches on something.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unholstering a gun and pulling the trigger while doing so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Improper holster that doesn't cover the trigger and then an external object pulling it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping your finger on the trigger when you are not ready to shoot and then tensing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grabbing the gun out of a case and you pull the trigger while doing so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cooking off, if a gun gets hot enough it will cause the ammo to go off, can happen in housefires (which is why you don't want to store ammo and a gun in the same safe).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slamfires where the action loads another round and fires it off, seen most often in old SKS rifles and in the S&amp;amp;W 15-22 before they fixed it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the above are why it's important to observe the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hunter-ed.com/gun-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;gun safety rules&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always treat every firearm as though it is loaded.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Always be sure of your target and what is in front of it and behind it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hunter-ed.com/gun-safety/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am having a hard time finding non biased sources on how many per year, but the one &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700838/figure/F3/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; I did find shows them on the downward trend and a small fraction of gun incidents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T00:13:56.280" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T00:13:56.280" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22044" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-01T23:17:05.380" Score="3" ViewCount="92" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've done a lot of backpacking in my home state of Colorado.  My pack and its contents is pretty light but not &quot;ultralight&quot;, maybe 20 pounds including food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm considering something like these for the Colorado Trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.competitivecyclist.com/weehoo-igo-cargo-bike-trailer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.competitivecyclist.com/weehoo-igo-cargo-bike-trailer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.quietkat.com/product/2019-quietkat-cargo-trailer/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.quietkat.com/product/2019-quietkat-cargo-trailer/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DnoCN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DnoCN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cargo bike trailer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E98H2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E98H2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cargo bike trailer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are designed to be pulled by bikes but I think I could attach to my waist by straps.  I don't have any physical limitations, I'm just intrigued by the possibility of leveraging the mechanical advantage of the wheel.  And I wonder if this would classify as &quot;mechanized&quot; transport and thus not allowed in wilderness areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastEditorUserId="3244" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T00:14:24.273" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T00:14:24.273" Title="Pulling vs. Carrying" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2019-05-03T00:15:43.630" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22042" CreationDate="2019-05-02T08:30:03.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, at least you should consider it to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rules (not exhaustive at all) that I was taught to obey at all times (and afaik that's generally a mantra of the &quot;weapons-community&quot; around here):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Every weapon is to be considered charged at all times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never point your weapon at anything unless you want to shoot at it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these rules to make any sense, shit (e.g. unplanned discharge) must be able to happen, which is also postulated by Murphy. Discharging while resting qualifies as (dangerous) shit, so you should consider it possible to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's also the reason why weapons are always deponated facing in a direction, where shooting would do least damage, why your rifle should always point to the ground while carrying, ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This answer is based on the limited weapons experience of +-21 weeks of obligatory military service and heavily biased towards erring on the safe side, and in addition only targets the title question, not so much the body, but I believe it still has some merit. For a detailed answer, refer e.g. to the one by Charlie. Lets see if it survives the QA process :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T10:44:31.850" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T10:44:31.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22040" CreationDate="2019-05-02T09:09:02.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a partial answer, without the requested statistics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lighting strikes can disrupt the normal electrical signals in the heart. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aerjournal.com/articles/cardiac-effects-lightning-strikes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cardiac Effects Of Lightning Strikes&lt;/a&gt; Assuming that no other life threatening physical trauma has occurred, CPR can maintain oxygen flow until the heart restarts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CPR by it's self is unlike to restart a stopped heart but it people do recover while CPR is being preformed see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-cpr&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart. Its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. The objective is to delay tissue death and to extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage. Administration of an electric shock to the subject's heart, termed defibrillation, is usually needed in order to restore a viable or &quot;perfusing&quot; heart rhythm. Defibrillation is effective only for certain heart rhythms, namely ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, rather than asystole or pulseless electrical activity. Early shock when appropriate is recommended. CPR may succeed in inducing a heart rhythm that may be shockable. In general, CPR is continued until the person has a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) or is declared dead. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nature of the type of cardiac issues that lighting strikes cause, make them the most survivable.  There have been successfully recoveries from CPR last hours (google 'longest successful cpr').  Ultimately survival is dependent on two factors, the exact internal cause of the heart failure and access to machinery to stop the bad rhythm and allow a good rhythm to start. (defibrillator)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-05-02T15:02:35.070" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T15:02:35.070" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22040" CreationDate="2019-05-02T11:21:58.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/403803&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/403803&lt;/a&gt; Access to the full article requires subscription, but an extract is quoted below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In their article entitled &quot;Prehospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Is It Effective?&quot; Cummins and Eisenberg state: &quot;Clinical evidence provides strong support for efforts to increase the percent of persons in cardiac arrests who receive early bystander CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation]. These efforts do no harm and clearly save lives.&quot; We wish to report a subgroup of patients in whom early bystander-initiated CPR may be dramatically successful.&lt;strong&gt;Cardiac arrest induced by lightning or electricity&lt;/strong&gt; is a unique injury because all patients may survive if CPR is promptly instituted. &lt;strong&gt;The potential success rate in this subgroup can be compared with success rates for resuscitation attempts in the hospital and in the community. When CPR is commenced in the hospital, a success rate of 56% has been reported.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T11:21:58.133" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22042" CreationDate="2019-05-02T21:00:20.273" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;About the only way I could imagine a firearm discharging on its own accord would be some kind of failure in the primer/powder that caused a spontaneous combustion. Perhaps some kind of large electric current perhaps or getting too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While Charlie has listed many negligent discharge (ND) causes, I would actually classify this one as an accidental discharge (AD) since from what is known as this point a human was not handling the firearm at the time of discharge, which would point to a mechanical failure. Since it apparently went off when the deputy leaned against a wall (I assume on his strong side), either the holster failed, somehow activating the trigger, or the sear slipped, some internal part broke, etc. allowing the firing pin to hit the primer. I find either one extremely unlikely since there are multiple safety features built in to striker-fired firearms so it will be interesting to see what they determine as the root cause. It would be nice to see video as well to verify he hadn't recently &quot;adjusted&quot; anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an anecdote to add on to imsodin's answer, you never trust the safety and always follow the safety rules. Local gun shop had an AD from a customer bolt-action rifle that was brought in loaded (unknowingly of course :/ ) . It was on safety, but turns out that model was on recall for the safety. When employee disengaged the safety to check the chamber to verify its supposed &quot;unloaded&quot; status, the .270 fired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-05-02T21:00:20.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22051" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22052" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" Score="0" Body="Questions about rifles" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T14:50:35.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22053" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22054" CreationDate="2019-05-03T21:09:12.593" Score="6" ViewCount="190" Body="&lt;p&gt;When buying a sleep system it is important to consider the R-rating, referring to the thermal resistance of the product(s) and how that compares to the conditions that one will use them in. Some people layer two or more sleeping mats/pads in order to use them at lower temperatures than they are rated for individually. Is the cumulative R-rating of a layered sleep system a simple addition of the R-ratings of the respective layers or is the correlation non-linear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example if I have a sleeping mat with an R-rating of 2 and a sleeping pad with an R-rating of 4, if I place the pad on top of the mat do I get an R-rating of 6 (as in 2+4) ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17520" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T21:35:01.770" Title="Are sleeping system R-ratings additive?" Tags="&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2019-05-06T05:56:02.627" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22053" CreationDate="2019-05-03T21:35:01.770" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they should be additive in this situation and its pretty commonly done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As long as the materials involved are dense solids in direct mutual contact,[9] R-values are additive;&lt;/strong&gt; for example, the total R-value of an barrier composed of several layers of material is the sum of the R-values of the individual layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, the R-values of sleeping pads are additive, provided that there is no air gap between them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/new-sleeping-pad-r-value-standard-astm-ff3340/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-03T21:35:01.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22055" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-05T14:02:20.767" Score="4" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seen today (5/5/19) in an area north of Boston.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EmFK8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EmFK8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bark stripped from white pine&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17799" LastActivityDate="2019-05-05T19:11:31.627" Title="Explain this: 40' long strip of bark removed from white pine" Tags="&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22056" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22060" CreationDate="2019-05-05T16:28:48.703" Score="11" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw a bird (the mother) swallow the birdring of another bird it was eating on live camera (while feeding its chicks) &lt;a href=&quot;http://peregrinus.pl/pl/gdynia-pge-podglad&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; (the site is in Polish) and I am wondering whether:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can it actually cause harm or is it designed not to? (Researchers might have taken into account that the smaller birds could get eaten, when designing the tag)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17800" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-06T00:57:23.657" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T00:02:30.450" Title="Can a tag on the prey's leg harm a peregrine falcon if eaten?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22055" CreationDate="2019-05-05T19:11:31.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lightening strike. I have seen the exact same on a Loblolly Pine then lightening lifted a few feet of soil toward the buried sewer line. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2019-05-05T19:11:31.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="261" CreationDate="2019-05-06T06:27:31.983" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you are asking for a stove I'm assuming what you are really interested in is actually cooking/warming up water or food, and not simply the energy density of the fuel. (Btw, for fuel naming, see also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19151/how-are-camping-fuels-named-in-different-languages-and-geographies&quot;&gt;How are camping fuels named in different languages and geographies?&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multiple factors play into this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Energy density of your fuel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Container you (need to) carry your fuel in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heating efficiency of the stove + windshield + pans setup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight of your stove + pans&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the &lt;strong&gt;energy density&lt;/strong&gt;: you can look this up easily on a table such as e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_densities&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here on Wiki&lt;/a&gt;. Propane / Gasoline / Diesel will be about as high as you can get, but the differences are minor. I'd say unless you're going for treks longer than one week fuel weight itself will not be a very major issue, so optimising here will have little effect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some fuels require more elaborate (read: heavy) &lt;strong&gt;containers&lt;/strong&gt;. Propane for example you'll only be able to carry in a pressurised gas container of fixed size. Apart from the containers weight itself this also means that you can't really 'tailor' the amount of Propane you'll bring with you... Compare this to ethanol, for example, which you can fill into a small plastic bottle (of the right type) to exactly the amount you will need for your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably most important is the &lt;strong&gt;efficiency of the stove&lt;/strong&gt; you'll bring. Some stoves have enormous power output, but without properly sized windshields, good pans (and lids!) etc. you'll mostly be heating the environment. Some stoves are simple and of lower power, but come with fully integrated and very efficient windshields and lids (e.g. the ones by &lt;a href=&quot;https://trangia.se/en/camping-stoves-series-25/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trangia&lt;/a&gt;). The efficiency of your setup can also vary greatly with the ambient temperature, your altitude and prevailing winds, so there is no single best answer here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the &lt;strong&gt;weight of stove, pans and fuel&lt;/strong&gt; overall is mostly what you're interested in eventually, as this is what you'll carry on your back. As always there are trade-offs: more efficient stove setup means less fuel needed, but the more efficient stoves tend to be bulkier/heavier. Longer trips will require you to plan for more cooking, i.e. more fuel, which means that fuel weight/efficiency is of higher importance. On very short trips a minimal overall weight might be reached by a simple but inefficient stove - when only cooking once or twice you might not care if you use twice the amount of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-05-06T06:27:31.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22060" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22056" CreationDate="2019-05-07T00:02:30.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My research indicates that the answer is &lt;strong&gt;no&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.exoticpetvet.com/parrot-precautions.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital&lt;/a&gt; says:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;lead, zinc, copper, mercury and iron cause metal toxicosis if ingested&#xA;  by birds.........................CAGES should be made of safe metal&#xA;  with non-toxic paint,...............  Stainless steel is the safest&#xA;  metal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pwrc/science/about-federal-bird-bands&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US Geological Survey&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are three commonly used type of bird bands.  The lock-on type is used for birds with very strong beaks such as hawks and owls and  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The band is made of relatively soft aluminum and can be removed by the&#xA;  bander, but not by the bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;                                 and&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Rivet bands are made of harder metal than the lock-on band (but not&#xA;  stainless steel) and are used on eagles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most commonly used band is the butt-end-band, and the source does not say what metal is used for this band ... but its picture looks like aluminum.  Bird bands come in many sizes, from hummingbird-sized to trumpeter swan sized&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/32914-aluminum-toxic-not.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ParrotForums.com&lt;/a&gt; says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aluminum isn't toxic to birds. The only aluminum product that should&#xA;  be watched for is aluminum foil as it contains tin (toxic to birds).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T00:02:30.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19248" CreationDate="2019-05-07T05:35:03.880" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The little birds may have been exposed to insecticides, like Imidacloprid by eating contaminated insects. It doesn't take much Imidacloprid to kill a bird as small as a hummingbird. Imidacloprid was recently shown to cause birth defects on newborn white-tailed deer and also kill the adult females and their fawns. White-tailed deer are much larger than a hummingbird and it didn't take very much to kill the deer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anyone finds a hummingbird that is unresponsive, but still breathing, hold it in your cupped hands and breath on its chest with your warm breath. If it is not too hypothermic it will warm up and recover in about 15 minutes. It is best to do this outside in case the bird flies out of your hands. If it did that inside of a house, it would likely kill itself trying to fly out of the window and hitting the glass. If you take it in your house, you need to put it in a box (with small holes punched in the sides to provide air) on a soft cloth, close the box so the bird can't escape in your house and set the box under a light to warm the box. Make some sugar water at 1 part sugar to 4 parts water and nothing else in it. Let the sugar water cool to warm enough that you can feel that it is warm but not hot. As soon as the bird begins to flutter around in the box (don't let the box get too hot) it can be fed. Fill a medicine dropper or a small syringe with the warm sugar water. Take the box outside and open it. Hold the end of the medicine dropper or syringe at the end of the bird's bill, so it can slurp out some warm sugar water with its long tongue. Let it eat as much as it wants. Close the box and wait for about 10 minutes. Then open the box (outside of course) and feed it more if it doesn't immediately fly away. After it eats again if it still doesn't fly away after several more minutes and/or more sugar water, close the box and call the nearest rehabber, because there must be something wrong with it besides being cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17806" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-05-08T09:08:53.097" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T09:08:53.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13443" CreationDate="2019-05-07T05:52:56.627" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Surprisingly, the simplest but in my eyes most important feature of fishermen hats was overlooked when it comes to archery:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They have a brim that isn't stiff, and will bend/fold away when you draw the bow string close to your face.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In classic recurve or compound archery the bowman draws the string of the bow towards his face and 'anchors' there, i.e. he touches his face with the string (commonly the tip of the nose) or with the hand holding the string/trigger (or both).&#xA;This helps to keep a consistent, even form between different shots, wich is important as a little difference in draw length and body position will have a huge impact on your accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fishermans hat is used because as you draw the string close, it would interfere with other hats that come with a stiffer brim, such as a baseball cap or a felt hat / stetson.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in my recurve archery days the fisherman hats were commonly used by many archers at the range. What I also saw were some personal mods where people took baseball camps and cut int slots into the brim, such that the bow string would never touch the hat when drawn close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T05:52:56.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22040" CreationDate="2019-05-07T05:57:28.083" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;No actual numbers here, but according to the American Heart Association (AHA), patients who receive immediate aggressive bystander CPR after cardiac arrest due to lightning strike actually have a decent chance &lt;strong&gt;even without external defibrillation&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was a surprise to me, as I was always taught that a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after sudden cardiac arrest was unlikely, and that the whole reason for performing CPR was to keep the brain and heart viable until the defibrillator arrived... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is from the AHA website under &quot;Emergency Cardiovascular Care&quot; (notes in italics and bolded text are mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The National Weather Service estimates that an average of 70 deaths and 630 injuries occur due to lightning strikes in the United States&#xA;  each year. Lightning strike injuries can vary widely, even among&#xA;  groups of people struck at the same time. Symptoms are mild in some&#xA;  victims, whereas fatal injuries occur in others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The primary cause of death in victims of lightning strike is cardiac&#xA;  arrest, which may be associated with primary VF &lt;em&gt;(ventricular fibrillation)&lt;/em&gt; or asystole &lt;em&gt;(absence of detectable electrical activity)&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;  Lightning acts as an instantaneous, massive direct-current shock,&#xA;  simultaneously depolarizing the entire myocardium. &lt;strong&gt;In many&#xA;  cases intrinsic cardiac automaticity may spontaneously restore&#xA;  organized cardiac activity and a perfusing rhythm&lt;/strong&gt;. However,&#xA;  concomitant respiratory arrest due to thoracic muscle spasm and&#xA;  suppression of the respiratory center may continue after ROSC &lt;em&gt;(return of spontaneous circulation)&lt;/em&gt;. Unless&#xA;  ventilation is supported, a secondary hypoxic (asphyxial) cardiac&#xA;  arrest will develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lightning also can have myriad effects on the cardiovascular system,&#xA;  producing extensive catecholamine release or autonomic stimulation.&#xA;  The victim may develop hypertension, tachycardia, nonspecific ECG&#xA;  changes (including prolongation of the QT interval and transient&#xA;  T-wave inversion), and myocardial necrosis with release of creatinine&#xA;  kinase-MB fraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Lightning can produce a wide spectrum of peripheral and central&#xA;  neurological injuries. The current can produce brain hemorrhages,&#xA;  edema, and small-vessel and neuronal injury. Hypoxic encephalopathy&#xA;  can result from cardiac arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Victims are most likely to die of lightning injury if they experience&#xA;  immediate respiratory or cardiac arrest and no treatment is provided.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Patients who do not suffer respiratory or cardiac arrest, and those&#xA;  who respond to immediate treatment, have an excellent chance of&#xA;  recovery. Therefore, when multiple victims are struck simultaneously&#xA;  by lightning, rescuers should give the highest priority to patients in&#xA;  respiratory or cardiac arrest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For victims in cardiac arrest, treatment should be early, aggressive,&#xA;  and persistent.&lt;/strong&gt; Victims with respiratory arrest may require only&#xA;  ventilation and oxygenation to avoid secondary hypoxic cardiac arrest.&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;Resuscitation attempts may have high success rates and efforts may be&#xA;  effective even when the interval before the resuscitation attempt is&#xA;  prolonged&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T05:57:28.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22072" CreationDate="2019-05-07T13:46:08.820" Score="2" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some time ago I bought &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vango.co.uk/gb/tents/1046-f10-xenon-ul-2.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vango F10 Xenon UL 2 tent&lt;/a&gt;. Had no chance to use it yet as I had to cancel the trip I was planning on using it on. Now I'm planning something new, but as it's going to be in some warmer areas with no rain I was thinking about using just the inner tent and pitch it without flysheet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it possible to pitch just the inner part of this tent? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Does it makes sense? I guess it would protect me from insects, etc, but what would be other advantages of using just the inner tent?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T06:21:41.127" Title="Inner tent - Vango F10 Xenon UL 2" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20503" CreationDate="2019-05-07T15:23:54.530" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;For smaller fishes, usually, one can easily remove the hook by hand, but when the fish is bigger, the pliers are a great help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been using pliers for quite some time now and they do the work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of people using disgorgers but I haven't tried them yet, as the only time I bought some, they arrived broken in half.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12892" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2019-05-07T16:01:05.793" LastActivityDate="2019-05-07T16:01:05.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22069" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22116" CreationDate="2019-05-07T15:51:23.200" Score="3" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apparently, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/revisions/22061/1&quot;&gt;theory that says&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Hummingbirds &lt;strong&gt;can become hypothermic if they sit on a feeder perch&lt;/strong&gt; and drink several cropfuls of cold sugar water early in the morning. The birds fall to the ground unresponsive if they become extremely hypothermic. If they are not found before they die and warmed up, they just lay on the ground or in one case on the chair until they die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience says that sometimes they hover and sometimes they sit, it just depends on the hummingbird and how many of them are at the feeder at once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any evidence to back this theory up?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T16:57:34.480" LastActivityDate="2021-04-09T00:05:47.933" Title="Are perches on humming bird feeders bad for the humming birds?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22066" CreationDate="2019-05-08T06:21:41.127" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This tent is a tunnel tent with the poles inserted into sleeves in the exterior flysheet and the inner tent suspended from inside the flysheet. This means that there is no practical way of pitching the inner tent alone without the flysheet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could use the flysheet alone without the inner tent to save weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T06:21:41.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22073" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-08T11:35:20.663" Score="4" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the Audubon book on bird houses, they should not be constructed under a branch or other support that a squirrel could use to jump down to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in that case, how do I make a sheltered bird house? It seems most birds either want to be in a tree or in a thicket (like a robin), so I would need to be near a structure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have several bird houses (erected by a previous house owner) that are sitting out in the open and they are predictably all empty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12563" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T09:43:46.853" Title="How do you situate a protected bird house that is not under a branch?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22073" CreationDate="2019-05-08T12:58:37.213" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/nestboxes/nestboxes-for-small-birds/making-and-placing-a-bird-box#Choosing-the-location&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;advice from the RSPB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Boxes for tits, sparrows or starlings should be fixed two to four metres up a tree or a wall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Unless there are trees or buildings which shade the box during the day, face the box between north and east, thus avoiding strong sunlight and the wettest winds. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Make sure that the birds have a clear flight path to the nest without any clutter directly in front of the entrance. Tilt the box forward slightly so that any driving rain will hit the roof and bounce clear. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;House sparrows and starlings will readily use nestboxes placed high up under the eaves. Since these birds nest in loose colonies, two or three can be sited spaced out on the same side of the house. Keep these away from areas where house martins normally nest. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Two boxes close together may be occupied by the same species if they are at the edge of adjoining territories and there is plenty of natural food. While this readily happens in the countryside, it is rare in gardens, where you normally can only expect one nesting pair of any one species. The exceptions to this are house and tree sparrows and house martins, which are colonial nesters. By putting up different boxes, several species can be attracted.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no mention that branches or squirrels are an issue, but placement is important depending on what species you're looking to attract. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps the existing ones need cleaning out and repositioning so that they're not catching wind and rain and not too close together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However do take note of the last point, birds are territorial, if you have lots of boxes within one territory it's likely that only one will be occupied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T09:43:46.853" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T09:43:46.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22075" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-08T14:05:13.223" Score="3" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this abandoned building with what looked like some sort of radio gear while hiking near Mono Lake  California.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shed on skids&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/10Hpa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/10Hpa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GuCdw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GuCdw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Close up of inside&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8W9U7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8W9U7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what this was originally used for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-10T17:10:51.283" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T17:10:51.283" Title="What is this abandoned equipment and shed on skids near Mono Lake CA?" Tags="&lt;california&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22076" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-08T15:00:46.657" Score="2" ViewCount="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I have been watching these magpie Jays for a while and I was just wondering what if all would be the purpose of the plume on their heads. It's strange in it's a single strand with a few feathers. The blue jay in North America has a plume on its head as well but it's more complete. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure the reason is just for attracting the female but was wondering if there was another reason since it seems so specific instead of just brightly colored feathers like other Male birds have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17680" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T15:00:46.657" Title="White Throated Magpie Jay - Costa Rica" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;jungle&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22041" CreationDate="2019-05-08T16:57:23.100" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Super Glue...&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of cutting the flap of skin off, glue it back down with super glue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a plethora of blog posts about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are specific formulias for medical usage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your first aid kit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2-Octyl-cyanoacrylate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dermabond&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;SurgiSeal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;N-2-butyl-cyanoacrylate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Histoacryl&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Indermil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GluStitch&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GluSeal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;LiquiBand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2-Ethyl-cyanoacrylate&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Epiglu&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/super-glue-on-cuts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T16:57:23.100" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="502" CreationDate="2019-05-08T17:17:33.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming that you are looking for the ideal conditions for a surfable wave to form, I will leave some of the conditions that I take in consideration&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wind&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Direction. The wind direction is essential and ideally look for offshore (wind blowing from the shore). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The speed of the wind is related with the size of the wave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The longer the wind blows the larger the wave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sea / Swell&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Height.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Direction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Period (s). It gives you information on the time that it takes between the waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tides. They can make or break some surf spots as some places work better with high tide, others when the tide is growing, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is recommended to understand the geography of the surf spot as there are different types of breaks (beachbreaks, reefs, pointbreaks) and they affect how the waves are formed, and the spot needs to have exposure to the swell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are different types of forecasting websites. Apart from those, in Portugal we have some beachcams that help us find how are the waves in some of the most popular spots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12892" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2019-05-08T17:23:13.337" LastActivityDate="2019-05-08T17:23:13.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15455" CreationDate="2019-05-09T19:47:32.853" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pro's of DIN are listed in the other answers. Here is a big con that may be a unique contribution, and perhaps only endemic to where I come from:&#xA;At dive resorts, I have witnessed some poorly maintained DIN regulators break their threads and dislodge upon pressurization. It especially happened in one particular dive resort that still uses some really old cylinders with worn threads. The regulator becomes a really dangerous projectile that hurts really bad. A well maintained DIN connected to a well maintained cylinder may be ideal, but in the average dive resort, yokes are safer in this sense. You are purchasing your own equipment, so it ia safe to assume that it will be well maintained, so a DIN regulator is the better choice. However, keep in mind that you will probably still be using the resort's cylinders when you travel, and if they give you one with worn threads, there is a risk that it breaks the threads on your regulator and causes some serious injury if the projectile hits someone (now imagine it is literally aimed at your neck).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17821" LastActivityDate="2019-05-09T19:47:32.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1126" CreationDate="2019-05-10T01:48:29.003" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The F8 is an &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;inherently secure&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; eye knot. Not all knots are inherently secure - but the F8 is, and hence one of the reasons for its enduring popularity for use in life critical applications.&#xA;The &lt;em&gt;simple Bowline&lt;/em&gt; (#1010) has been known and used for hundreds of years by sailors - and it was 'invented' for this purpose (ie in sailing applications). The simple (#1010) Bowline is not inherently secure - but thats no alarming revelation - it was never intended for life critical applications!!&#xA;So climbers realized that #1010 was jam resistant - in fact it has no known jamming threshold - and so they adopted it for climbing applications. Back in the day - they used to use vegetable fibre ropes which were quite 'frictive'. Modern synthetic ropes are quite slick by comparison.&#xA;The Yosemite Bowline was an attempt to address the insecurity of the simple (#1010) Bowline. However, its 'security' is very dependent on the type of climbing rope used. The Yosemite Bowline does not perform so well in stiffer ropes (ie not so secure).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regard to the #1080 Bowline-on-a-bight - this also suffers from certain vulnerabilities.&#xA;These issues can be addressed by adding a 'backup stopper knot' - which is technically a &lt;em&gt;strangle&lt;/em&gt;.&#xA;However, and here is the key message to all... you are far better off using a tie-in knot that is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;inherently secure&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. As stated, the F8 (#1047) is inherently secure.&#xA;A knot which has the property of 'inherently secure' is one that does not require a backup stopper knot (ie strangle) to lock it down.&#xA;As dynamic climbing ropes get thinner and thinner, the propensity for jamming becomes an issue. Enter stage right - 'Bowlines'. Note: The F8 eye knot is vulnerable to jamming (at loads from 4kN).&#xA;Bowlines are also Post Eye Tiable (PET) - the F8 isn't 'PET'.&#xA;If you are going to tie-in with a 'Bowline' - you should select and use a 'Bowline' that is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;inherently secure&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (one that doesn't require any backup stopper knot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples of &lt;em&gt;inherently secure&lt;/em&gt; 'Bowlines' include:&#xA; 1. EBSB Bowline; and&#xA; 2. Harry Butlers Yosemite Bowline; and&#xA; 3. Scott's locked Bowline; and&#xA; 4. Lees link Bowline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each of the above 4 'Bowlines' are inherently secure and stable - and suitable for life critical applications. Obviously, you need to learn how to tie them correctly. Just like you learnt to tie the F8 (#1047) correctly! Training and practice is key to mastering all skills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will also comment on the notional concept of a knots MBS yield (ie strength - the load at which point the knot begins to yield). It is a myth - an urban legend. The MBS yield of a knot is entirely irrelevant in climbing. There is no load that a falling climber can generate that will reach the MBS yield point of a knot. So why is strength always appearing in knot discussions?&#xA;Because information is spread by word-of-mouth and few actually stop to question it.&#xA;When people talk of 'strength' - what they really mean (but don't understand fully) is security and stability.&#xA;What matters most with knots used in life critical applications is security and stability (not MBS yield).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NOTE: The image of the tying sequence shown above is not a #1013 Double Bowline. It is in fact a #1080 Bowline on-a-bight. Its yet another example of misinformation / poor journalism. Furthermore, both the #1013 and #1080 Bowlines are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;inherently secure&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17820" LastEditorUserId="17820" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T05:49:22.880" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T05:49:22.880" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22082" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-10T02:03:40.893" Score="1" ViewCount="219" Body="&lt;p&gt;I thought that, according to what I've read from the web, people alternate between sauna and swimming. I tried to do that but people thought that I was in trouble. I posted the whole experience to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorswimmingsociety/10156534300757830&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Facebook group&lt;/a&gt; and the community was concerned, thinking what I did was outright dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually what is the proper way to use a Finnish sauna? Does it really mix with swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17309" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2019-12-02T19:56:39.160" LastActivityDate="2019-12-02T19:56:39.160" Title="What is the proper way to use a sauna?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2019-05-10T13:07:21.873" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13975" CreationDate="2019-05-10T02:27:23.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer = 'Yes' - it does make a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long answer: If you are going to select and use a particular ti-in knot for life critical applications, you should select a fixed eye knot that is &lt;strong&gt;inherently secure&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;'Bowlines' have 2 distinct advantage over the F8 eye knot (#1047):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are totally jam resistant; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are Post Eye Tiable (PET).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The F8 eye knot fails on these 2 salient features.&#xA;As climbing ropes get thinner and thinner - tie-in knots become increasingly vulnerable to jamming. Enter stage right - 'Bowlines'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inherently secure 'Bowlines' include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The EBSB Bowline; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Harry Butlers Yosemite Bowline; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scott's locked Bowline; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lee's link Bowline.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With regard to the issue of tail inside versus tail outside... in circumferential (hoop stress) loading profiles, tail outside of the 'eye' withstands this type of loading much better than tail inside the 'eye'.&#xA;The Simple Bowline (#1010) has the tail inside of the 'eye' - and it quickly deforms and fails when circumferentially loaded.&#xA;In contrast, the #1034 1/2 Bowline (tail outside of the 'eye') is resistant to this type of loading profile.&#xA;Circumferential loading is also known as 'ring loading'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also comment that the #1080 Bowline-on-a-bight is not suitable for biaxial loading profiles as would occur if it were employed mid-line. It becomes unstable due to collar distortion.&#xA;If you want to tie and use a 'Bowline' as a midline knot where it will be biaxially loaded, you should use #1074 Bowline with-a-bight.&#xA;#1074 is both Tiable In the Bight (TIB) and remains stable in a biaxial loading profile loading.&#xA;#1074 needs to be secured with Scotts locking maneuver or perhaps by a double overhand 'strangle' tied around the Standing Part (SPart).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17820" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-29T15:17:35.890" LastActivityDate="2019-05-29T15:17:35.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3798" CreationDate="2019-05-10T04:26:48.850" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the first instance, the simple #1010 Bowline (as shown by the OP) - is not and never was intended for climbing. Its sort of like asking; &quot;Is a Lamborghini sports car suitable to drive off road in very rough terrain?&quot; Clearly, the answer is &quot;No&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simple #1010 Bowline was 'invented' hundreds of years ago for nautical (sailing) purposes. It was not designed (or intended) for life critical applications such as rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many different types of 'Bowlines'.&#xA;If you are going to select and use a 'Bowline' for life critical applications, you should select a type that is 'inherently secure'. Inherently secure knots do not require any form of 'backup stopper knot' to make them secure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inherently secure 'Bowlines' include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/16402/14346&quot;&gt;The EBSB Bowline&lt;/a&gt;; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/yosemite-bowline&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harry Butlers Yosemite Bowline variant&lt;/a&gt;; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecr3K8-wv1c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scott's locked Bowline&lt;/a&gt;; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ4xXLYiiLg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lee's link Bowline&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All 'Bowlines' have the advantage of being Post Eye Tiable (PET) and totally jam resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17820" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-05-11T01:03:15.603" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T01:03:15.603" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22082" CreationDate="2019-05-10T06:40:15.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just because it's customary to jump in a cold lake straight after getting out of a sauna doesn't make it a good idea if you're not used to it (or even if you are). Wild swimmers are more cautious as they're more likely to be alone and/or far from help in the event of &lt;a href=&quot;http://completeguide.rnli.org/cold-water-shock.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cold water shock becoming serious&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I visited Finland we did go from the sauna to the lake. The done thing was to drop off a low jetty into fairly shallow water (my recollection works out to about a metre, so like getting into the shallow end of a swimming pool) and duck under. Actual swimming (of more than a few strokes) was a separate activity, sometimes before the sauna. As kids we preferred to dive in, turn, and swim back but we were warned against it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T06:40:15.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22086" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22087" CreationDate="2019-05-10T07:59:40.987" Score="6" ViewCount="680" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an answer on a question about bowlines the following statement is made by @MarkG:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All 'Bowlines' have the advantage of being Post Eye Tiable (PET) and totally jam resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22084/3602&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22084/3602&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a &quot;Post Eye Tiable&quot; knot or equivalently, what makes a knot &quot;Post Eye Tiable&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T13:49:50.760" Title="What is a &quot;Post Eye Tiable&quot; (PET) knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22087" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22086" CreationDate="2019-05-10T10:07:12.763" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Post eye tiable means that the rope is passed through the eye or harness before any any part of the knot is tied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in contrast to a rethreaded figure of eight which has to be partially tied, the first figure of eight, before the end is passed through the harness or other eye that the rope is being attached to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-05-10T13:49:50.760" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T13:49:50.760" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22082" CreationDate="2019-05-10T11:06:01.880" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it's worth focusing on the specifics of your actions here, as gleaned from your Facebook post. Apparently you went swimming in cold water, then entered a sauna, and the following happened:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After I entered the sauna room, the people there thought that I was in trouble and called an ambulance. They saw I was shaking and they thought I was talking nonsense, but actually I was only shaking very little (i.e. controllable), basically nothing when compared to what happened to me a few days before, and maybe because I don't speak Finnish so they thought I was talking nonsense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I planned to stay in the sauna until I stop shivering at all. When I was removed from the sauna, I started shivering more vigorously immediately, and you know, the end result of that would be the hospital. ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the moment I was going to be discharged [from hospital] I asked what was my temperature when I was removed from the sauna, and it was 35.1°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, essentially: you made yourself borderline hypothermic (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;35°C is the usual limit&lt;/a&gt; for hypothermia, and you had had some time to warm up by the time the medics took your temperature). You then entered a sauna visibly shivering and unable to communicate. Understandably, someone called an ambulance for you. Note that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/hypothermia-treatment&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;confusion, memory loss, and slurred speech&lt;/a&gt; are well-attested symptoms of hypothermia: even if it seems subjectively to you that you were acting normally when you entered the sauna, others may have noticed unusual aspects of your behaviour that weren't apparent to you at the time, or that you were unable to recall afterwards. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19955&quot;&gt;This outdoors.se answer&lt;/a&gt; from ShemSeger is particularly informative on the topic (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been in the early stages of hypothermia before, and I can tell you from experience that when you're &lt;strong&gt;in the early stages of hypothermia, you're convinced you're okay and that nothing is wrong&lt;/strong&gt;; as in shivering and shaking uncontrollably while trying to convince the people around you, &amp;quot;Oh I'm fine, I don't feel cold at all I don't know why I'm shaking so much...&amp;quot; ... Once you get into the beginning stages of hypothermia, your chances of self-diagnosing its onset are slim, and it would be foolish to be arrogant enough to suppose you could have the capacity to recognize when you were hypothermic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that sound familiar? Do you think that perhaps the paramedics who decided you needed hospital treatment were in a better position to assess your state than you yourself were?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, to your actual question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually what is the proper way to use a Finnish sauna? Does it really mix with swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no single and precise &amp;quot;proper way&amp;quot; to use a Finnish sauna, but it is often combined with swimming or a cold dip or shower. However, in several decades of sauna use in Finland and around the world, I have never seen anyone cool themselves off to the extent where they are starting to display symptoms of hypothermia. Like your own sauna companions and the other cold-water swimmers in your Facebook group, I would become concerned for the health and wellbeing of anyone who did that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T07:33:34.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4746" CreationDate="2019-05-10T18:30:38.293" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who has been stung twice by bark scorpions in Arizona, I also advise taking an antihistamine like Benadryl to keep inflammation down and decrease any minor allergic reaction. (Beer also helped a lot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14885" LastActivityDate="2019-05-10T18:30:38.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22091" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22092" CreationDate="2019-05-10T18:56:34.437" Score="8" ViewCount="248" Body="&lt;p&gt;Back in the old days, it was recommended that for a snake bite &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13295/am-i-able-to-open-up-a-snake-bite-and-suck-the-venom-out-of-it&quot;&gt;you cut an X and suck the venom out&lt;/a&gt;. That is no longer recommended, however, they still sell &lt;strong&gt;suction devices&lt;/strong&gt; such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/407144/sawyer-extractor-pump-kit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sawyer Extractor&lt;/a&gt; that &lt;strong&gt;you are supposed to place over the bit and then suck the venom out&lt;/strong&gt;. (There is at least one &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4747/8794&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; here that recommends them for scorpions as well).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any studies of scientific evidence that these types of devices would be helpful?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-15T17:58:46.003" LastActivityDate="2019-05-15T17:58:46.003" Title="Is there any evidence that suction devices are helpful for snake bites?" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22091" CreationDate="2019-05-10T19:45:43.020" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two studies I could find on this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Conclusion&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Sawyer Extractor pump removed bloody fluid from our simulated snakebite wounds but removed virtually no mock venom, which suggests that suction is unlikely to be an effective treatment for reducing the total body venom burden after a venomous snakebite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(03)00813-8/abstract&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Suction for venomous snakebite A study of “mock venom” extraction in a human model&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Conclusion.-No benefit was demonstrated from Extractor use for artificial rattlesnake envenomation in our animal study. The skin necrosis noted in 2 Extractor-treated extremities suggests that an&#xA;  injury pattern may be associated with the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In our controlled study evaluating the Extractor, there&#xA;  was no difference in swelling, which is the most common outcome following pit viper envenomation, after&#xA;  artificial envenomations in a porcine model. However,&#xA;  our study and others suggest that there may be a specific&#xA;  injury pattern associated with the device. Although most&#xA;  authorities have previously agreed that the Extractor&#xA;  could be beneficial and would probably cause no harm,&#xA;  our study suggests the opposite may be true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(00)70807-6/pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Effects of a negative pressure venom extraction device&#xA;(Extractor) on local tissue injury after artificial&#xA;rattlesnake envenomation in a porcine model&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words, these are not a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-11T00:27:42.533" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T00:27:42.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4746" CreationDate="2019-05-11T01:07:00.493" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do not put ice on scorpion bites! Just cold compress...that is direct from Poison control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fyi I have used the inner fillet of prickly pear cactus pad twice on bark scorpion stings... it works very well to take away alot of the nerve pain symptons..the Native Americans of Sonoran desert used this remedy to great effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16712" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T01:07:00.493" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8382" CreationDate="2019-05-11T16:06:25.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use it to make vegetable lasagna. I'm right now combining the leaves and flowers (from my garden) with sorrel (also from my garden), and spinach, with seasoned ricotta and extra garlic. Wilt and chop all the green stuff first, before mixing with ricotta. Interleave layers of this mix, lasagna sheets, and rich tomato sauce, top it with bechamel and parmesan. Delicious!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17828" LastActivityDate="2019-05-11T16:06:25.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11776" CreationDate="2019-05-12T10:10:55.083" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the UK and the first time I noticed Robin's nesting was in the top of a down pipe. Unfortunately the heavens opened and we had flash floods. The water filled up and the 6 babies died despite taking them to a rescue centre. I put up 2 Robin nest boxes directly underneath and around. Within 3 days they nested again. Each year I'm really lucky to have the Robin's come back. They nest at least 3 times a year. They have just had one brood fledge and I was lucky enough to watch all 4 leave successfully. (As a rule they don't hang around long though, however last year adult and babies fed from.my hand on the ground.)The nest box was emptied 2 days after flight day and 2 and a half weeks later, they have another nest built. I'm so lucky to have them. They are right by my kitchen window, just above head height and with their proximity to us, become very familiar. I'm intrigued to understand how or why it happens every year, as the life span isn't long and they've been coming now for 4 years. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17829" LastActivityDate="2019-05-12T10:10:55.083" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22102" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-12T19:12:21.447" Score="16" ViewCount="7685" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is a coyote or pack of coyotes likely to attack my small dog if she is with me on a trail on a leash?  I heard of someone's dog being eaten while the woman was walking her pet on a leash. She was allegedly walking in an area known to have wildlife but was on the trail frequented by humans.  Is this likely?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trail is fairly busy with people. There is a no dog policy, but I have a service animal and hiking the trail is really good for me.  My dog is small though and a coyote could legitimately see her as a little white rabbit on a leash. I'm not even sure the claim is true but rather safe than sorry with my baby!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17832" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T04:41:30.213" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T06:00:36.790" Title="Will a coyote attack my dog on a leash while I'm on a hiking trail?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;coyotes&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22102" CreationDate="2019-05-12T23:43:51.127" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has this happened sure,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Traps have been set out after an elderly woman was &lt;strong&gt;walking her small, mixed-breed dog on a leash&lt;/strong&gt; around 10 a.m. on Saturday on Avenida Majorca and a coyote began attacking the dog, Falk said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Falk said the woman tried to wrestle the dog away and was bitten in the scuffle – it was unclear if the bite was from the coyote or the dog. The dog was taken to a local veterinarian and later died. The woman had to undergo a series of shots for rabies treatment and is in stable condition, Falk said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ocregister.com/2011/06/03/woman-injured-dog-killed-in-coyote-attack/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Woman injured, dog killed in coyote attack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Attack incidents are typically preceded by a sequence of increasingly bold coyote behaviors,&lt;/strong&gt; including: nighttime coyote&#xA;attacks on pets; sightings of coyotes in neighborhoods at night; sightings of coyotes in morning and evening; attacks on pets during&#xA;daylight hours; &lt;strong&gt;attacks on pets on leashes&lt;/strong&gt; and chasing of joggers and bicyclists; and finally, mid-day sightings of coyotes in and&#xA;around children’s play areas. &lt;strong&gt;In suburban areas, coyotes can lose their fear of humans&lt;/strong&gt; as a result of coming to rely on ample food&#xA;resources including increased numbers of rabbits and rodents, household refuse, pet food, available water from ponds and landscape&#xA;irrigation run-off, and even intentional feeding of coyotes by residents. The safe environment provided by a &lt;strong&gt;wildlife-loving general&#xA;public, who rarely display aggression toward coyotes, is also thought to be a major contributing factor.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.broomfield.org/DocumentCenter/View/3185/Coyote_Attacks_Baker_Timm?bidId=&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban&#xA;Problem&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of this depends on the behavior of the humans in the area, in most areas in Wyoming, for example, a coyote will run at the sight of a human because their expectation is that the human is going to start shooting at them. In other areas where they are not hunted and especially in suburban areas they lose that fear and will become much bolder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-12T23:43:51.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22104" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-12T23:48:55.820" Score="4" ViewCount="166" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was riding my bike today and I saw a number of these brown caterpillars with white strips and black spots near the head crossing the sidewalk. (Penny for scale)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OncPH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OncPH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what kind of caterpillar this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T00:09:53.593" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T12:04:08.177" Title="What is this brown catipillar with white stripes and two black spots near the head in Loveland, Colorado?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;caterpillars&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18453" CreationDate="2019-05-13T03:38:10.190" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I revisited this question while tracking down something else.  (I'm not sure how I got here when I was looking at your recent caterpillar question, but mysterious are the ways of the moving finger on the keyboard.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You ask:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Would the statistics of how frequent crime happens (if comprehensive&#xA;  and accurate) be an indicator of how safe a trail is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you also say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However it doesn't seem to me that one can judge the safety of&#xA;  something by the numbers when the risk is going to vary considerably&#xA;  by the person and by the actions they take.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comprehensive and accurate crime statistics would certainly be an &lt;strong&gt;indicator&lt;/strong&gt; of how safe a trail is, particularly if the statistics were per person-unit-of-time hiked. (If you don't have that denominator to your statistics, you might conclude a trail was very safe because almost no crime occurred on it.  But it could be a trail that has almost no hikers but most of them are killed by the resident serial murderer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have good statistics in terms of crimes per person-hour hiked, then there would probably also be a record of the nature of every crime and every victim.  This would be similar to the actual statistics on motor vehicle fatalities. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now it is not politically correct to blame the victims, but if the crimes on Trail X are predominantly burglaries, then you are dumb if you are not particularly careful with your stuff.  If there are rapes on Trail Y, keep away from Trail Y, or go with a group, if you are not a female Bruce Lee. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just as knowing how and when and why serious traffic accidents occur helps you avoid being killed or injured in or by a car (don't drive when drunk or with a drunk driver, fasten your seat belt, don't drive while exhausted, look both ways before crossing the street) so knowing what crimes are committed on which trails will keep you safer than the average.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can better your chances in many (not all) aspects of life by knowing the statistics, but eventually something will get you no matter how careful and aware you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer to your question is yes and no.  Yes, the statistics are an indicator.  No you can't judge how safe a trail except &quot;on average.&quot;  &lt;strong&gt;So don't be average.&lt;/strong&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T03:43:22.323" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T03:43:22.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22104" CreationDate="2019-05-13T12:04:08.177" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not 100%, but I am going to call that a yellow striped armyworm, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iamgreenwise.com/armyworms-what-are-they-and-should-you-be-worried/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spodoptera ornithogalli&lt;/a&gt;.  These things seem to be widely distributed and very common; I've seen them frequently in my travels but never bothered to look it up until today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some additional, more close-up images for comparison:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSbUm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aSbUm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyaQX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fyaQX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what it becomes as an adult:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/clS23.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/clS23.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T12:04:08.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22108" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-13T13:51:48.903" Score="6" ViewCount="1397" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a spectrum of sole stiffness in boots, from full shank on mountaineering boots to the easily bendable ones on really cheap boots. The way to test is to push in on the shoe lengthwise and see how easily the sole bends. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I am looking for a new pair of &lt;strong&gt;hiking boots, how stiff of a sole&lt;/strong&gt; should I be looking for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T16:39:23.750" LastActivityDate="2019-10-17T15:52:32.217" Title="How stiff of a sole should I look for in hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-13T14:06:25.140" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;That depends on what sort of walking you're doing and what your personal preferences are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The great advantage of a very stiff sole is on very rough ground, jagged rocks etc. Walking on such surfaces in a soft sole for considerable distance will cause significant discomfort and even localised bruising to the sole of your foot. A stiff sole will protect you from this by spreading the load better across your foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However on softer ground many people seek the &quot;barefoot&quot; feel and wear the lightest shoes they can get hold of, preferring to feel the ground under their feet and be more sure of their footing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I keep a pair of heavy boots and a pair of light shoes to wear accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few quick examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dNaCw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dNaCw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rocky ground&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Rough rocky ground, this is hard sole territory, if you're out here in soft boots you're going to be very uncomfortable very quickly. You may also appreciate the support from a high boot on the uneven ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p7O65.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/p7O65.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Smooth ground&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Smooth and easy going, you'll want a soft light shoe which won't tire you out so much. Not a lot of rock to worry about and fairly springy underfoot. Very easy going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xw70L.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xw70L.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;High fells&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;The high fells of England. A medium sole as there's a mix of soft and hard ground, but a high waterproof boot. No, more waterproof than that. This was taken around 500m altitude and that's not fog, it's the cloud that's raining on the valley below. This is a water based landscape and what you're seeing are marsh grasses. Put a foot wrong and you're up to your ankles in a bog, you'll always be wet. Waterproof above all else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All photo credit: me&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High Scafell Pike (Great Gable and Kirk Fell visible)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low Scafell (Wastwater visible to the left, Yewbarrow in front)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yewbarrow (right, Red Pike left)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-10-17T15:52:32.217" LastActivityDate="2019-10-17T15:52:32.217" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22102" CreationDate="2019-05-13T15:26:52.217" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;One factor you might want to consider is how large your dog is. If you have, say, an Alaskan husky, it's unlikely a lone coyote would attack a dog twice his size, especially with a human nearby. Coyotes generally prefer smaller targets, ones they can easily kill and then cart off to eat. &lt;a href=&quot;https://urbancoyoteresearch.com/coyote-info/conflicts-research-perspective&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page from an Illinois institute has a good breakdown by size&lt;/a&gt;, and while they have recorded attacks on dogs as large as a Labrador Retriever, most were on small dogs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Almost 30 different breeds of dog were reported to have been attacked by coyotes. Smaller breed dogs were attacked more often than medium and large sized dogs, with 20 small breeds, 3 medium breeds, and 6 large breeds attacked. Although smaller breeds are more commonly attacked, larger breeds, such as Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, have also been attacked in the Chicago metropolitan area. Larger breeds of dog were usually attacked by two or more coyotes, often alpha pairs, at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13431" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T15:26:52.217" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6305" CreationDate="2019-05-13T16:35:24.460" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Triglav (2,864 m; 9,396 feet) is the highest mountain in &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slovenia_in_Europe_(-rivers_-mini_map).svg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slovenia/Europe&lt;/a&gt; and is a part of &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Alps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Julian Alps&lt;/a&gt;.&quot; The season when there's no snow on it and when the mountain houses are open is only July-August or, maybe, June-September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you come with the plane, you have about 60 kilometers by bus from Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport to the mountain house &quot;Aljažev dom&quot; at the end of the Vrata valley at the bottom of the mountain (at about 1,000 m). You can eat and sleep there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Alja%C5%BEev_dom_v_Vratih.jpg/640px-Alja%C5%BEev_dom_v_Vratih.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aljažev dom&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aljažev dom with Triglav behind it (source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alja%C5%BEev_dom_v_Vratih&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia.org&lt;/a&gt;, Creative Commons licence)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need about 8 hours - by one of the 3 routes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Čez prag&quot; - the easiest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Tominškova pot&quot; - a &quot;normal&quot; via ferrata route (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=tomin%C5%A1kova%20pot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&quot;Bambergova pot&quot; - the hardest route with most climbing (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.viaferraty.cz/ferrata/vystup-na-triglav-pres-bambergova-pot/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.turistika.cz/mista/bambergova-cesta/detail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pictures&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a forest at the bottom and plain rocks higher up. You don't need any ropes or other special equipment, except maybe a helmet. If sunny, a T-shirt may be enough, but it's always good to have a jumper and something against wind in a backpack, because the local weather can change quickly. It's a good idea to start early, let's say about 5 a.m. to avoid walking under a hot sun. Also, avoid Saturdays and Sundays, because it can be really crowdy then. It's usually done as a two-day hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other, more gradual, routes on the other sides of the mountain, for example, via &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;authuser=0&amp;amp;biw=1280&amp;amp;bih=918&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;sa=1&amp;amp;ei=IozZXKu3DpDnsAfk44SoCw&amp;amp;q=dolina%20triglavskih%20jezer&amp;amp;oq=dolina%20triglavskih%20jezer&amp;amp;gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30.616516.622782..623159...0.0..0.65.1413.24......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i5i30j0i30.t4DninKbOiw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Triglav Lakes Valley&lt;/a&gt;, which you can use on the way down. Another route is via Velo Polje.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L521M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Triglav&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Triglav - the access from Velo Polje (Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/triglav-national-park-century-long-project&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Environmentandsociety.org&lt;/a&gt;, Creative Commons)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do not need any official (or other) guide and there are no fees to pay. If you decide to sleep in a mountain house, the cheapest is the one at the bottom (Aljažev dom). Food is much cheaper if you buy it in a store in some town.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T17:36:55.353" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T17:36:55.353" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22102" CreationDate="2019-05-13T17:22:54.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your best overall strategy for trail safety would be to seek &lt;em&gt;human&lt;/em&gt; walking partners, perhaps through a walking group or social or neighborhood organization.  Not only are threats (coyote and otherwise) going to be more hesitant to attack a &lt;em&gt;pack&lt;/em&gt; of humans or even a dog restrained in the midst of one, should there be any sort of mishap, humans are more capable of coming to each other's defense, using mobile phones, blowing whistles, rendering first aid or administering medications, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to bring a service dog into an area where dogs are prohibited, it would be wise to carefully weigh the reasons for that prohibition, and take steps to maximize the degree to which the dog is &lt;em&gt;serving&lt;/em&gt; and not being illicitly &lt;em&gt;taken for a walk&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like a visual assist dog would be in effect physically attached to their human via something that is more an arm-extending &quot;harness&quot; than a &quot;leash&quot; - they are not free to sniff around and start at squirrels.  In contrast, a dog which serves in another capacity, being walked on a leash has a much higher chance of coming into conflict, in both practice and perception, with the &lt;em&gt;reasons&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;regulations&lt;/em&gt; prohibiting dogs - things like harassing wildlife, the hazard a leash presents to cyclists and even other walkers, fecal contamination in sensitive watersheds, etc.   Even if the dog's legal status is sufficient to avoid a &lt;em&gt;citation&lt;/em&gt; many of the practical concerns remain, and need to be given real consideration before deciding to proceed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if the dog is legally brought into the otherwise prohibited area (preferably in addition to human companions), it would be good to keep the dog on a very short leash or harness so that she is constrained in both fact and appearance to remain by your side for the safety and consideration of all, including herself.  If possible a backpack carrier would be even better.  Or if the path is paved and not hilly, a jogging stroller might work especially if enclosed.  Remember also to bring water and provide it at frequent breaks - dogs cannot match the sun and heat tolerance of humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13681" LastEditorUserId="13681" LastEditDate="2019-05-13T17:44:21.053" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T17:44:21.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-13T19:12:29.853" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since you are looking for one shoe to do it all choose harder soles over softer soles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've tried soft to medium soles on medium to very rough trails and my feet took a beating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The harder soles made medium to very rough trails no problem and still worked (a little clunky but no foot pain) on smooth trails and sidewalks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Separatrix said having a pair of heavy boots and a pair of light shoes is best. But if you only want to carry one pair stiff soles on smooth trails works better than soft soles on rough trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17838" LastActivityDate="2019-05-13T19:12:29.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22115" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-13T23:58:17.603" Score="4" ViewCount="420" Body="&lt;p&gt;This past weekend, there was a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/massachusetts-man-held-in-connection-with-brutal-attack-on-appalachian-trail-hikers/2019/05/12/b81c6a24-74ce-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;amp;utm_term=.4ba10ead1f01&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fatal attack on the Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I are planning a section hike of the AT through the White Mountains of NH and partly through the Maine section this summer. We have hiked the AT trail on several occasions before and consider ourselves somewhat experienced. We are local to New England.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For regular experienced hikers, how should a person interpret an attack such as the one reported?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other than standard precautions on the trail, what other safety measures can / should be taken to mitigate the risk of such an incident?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17839" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T13:49:03.453" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T16:17:09.420" Title="How should regular Appalachian Trail hikers interpret this weekend's attack?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22069" CreationDate="2019-05-14T04:18:19.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://fieldguidetohummingbirds.com/hummingbirds/perch-hypothermia-threat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is not supported&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hummingbirds have a very high metabolic rate, the highest rate among all tetrapods (all the land dwelling animals). They do appear to sometimes fall over after drinking the sugar water, but that is likely because it is super cold and remains liquid below freezing and so the poor bird gets a bit of shock when it realizes that the nectar is way colder than they expect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that they are known to go into a torpor on many nights (a very deep sleep where they drop their body temperature to conserve energy), the shock from the cold sugar water likely does not harm it too much, as their bodies can handle dropping considerably in temperature. My guess is that the hummingbirds that have been cited as being influenced by the presence of a perch simply dropped into a torpor suddenly and were fine after they rested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a perch is not going to harm these hummingbirds. They are capable of either hovering or perching, but perching is simply easier for them and is likely helpful in the early morning when they just exited torpor and their energy storage is low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6552" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T04:18:19.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-14T07:32:53.127" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A large part of this is personal preference as other answers have stated, and it really does depend on what you will be doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For non-winter conditions then lighter more flexible shoes are more comfortable and less tiring &lt;em&gt;once you have strong feet and are accustomed to walking in them&lt;/em&gt;, but stiffer boots can have advantages on very rough and rocky terrain.  Personally I have gradually moved from stiff leather boots to trail running shoes having found the stiff boots unnecessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that you do need to consider however is whether you will be doing any walking in winter conditions where you will want crampons.  Even articulated walking crampons need a relatively stiff sole.  Of course people do go running in the alps in trainers with microspikes, so anything's possible.  But if you expect to need an ice axe you probably want crampons and boots.  That said, I would never take out my winter boots on a summer walk: way too heavy and stiff!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no one perfect pair of shoes that will do it all.  If you aren't sure, and you only want one pair, you might be best to go for something in the middle.  You will find out with experience what works and what doesn't for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T07:32:53.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22119" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-14T10:41:21.907" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to what the others already said, I'd like to say that there are some considerations that go beyond saying a sole is stiff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stiff soles under the toes help with climbing. Such sole designs are available both with flexible (see e.g. Vibram Approach soles) and stiff soles (e.g. Mountaineering boots for use with crampons) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The soles that give me most traction in mud and soft snow I have are on forestry work boots. They are also a funny mixture of soft and stiff in different aspects: the rubber is very soft (and with a very big-scale profile, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.engelbert-strauss.de/sicherheitsstiefel-s2/s2-forst-sicherheitsschuhe-harz-1200340-80484-1.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2nd picture here&lt;/a&gt;). The sole is far more flexible than my mountain boots' (if I stand with the toes on something and relax my feet, the sole bends). Still, the boots can be used with (forestry) crampons (never done that, though).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I certainly won't advise lugging around steel toecap boots as the sole pair of hiking boots, but I certainly use them in conditions where I think the traction advantage outweighs their weight (winter day hikes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have not yet seen such soles with hiking boots. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One more point: hard stiff soles are far more tiring when walking on uniformly flat hard terrain such as asphalt/concrete, chipseal or small gravel roads: that combination forces the feet to exactly the same position for each step, while soft soles a) allow some more variety in the foot position, in particular allow more of the rolling motion and b) provide a bit of a &quot;cushion&quot;.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T11:41:27.840" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T11:41:27.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-14T11:54:13.487" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it heavily depends on what kind of hike you are planning on.&#xA;I typically prefer applying the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A trail with a lot of ups and downs and often through ankle-high water and/or rain: Newbies in India have preferred Quechua for early-trekking days. A few people prefer something like Forclaz 500. I hate the kind of soles Quechua shoes have. They are very hard/stiff, do not bend easily. The problem with those shoes is, the hard sole makes them very inefficient on wet rocks. People slip on those every now and then.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A dry trail and a lot of it is through scree-like sections: This is a ideal case for using the paramilitary commando shoes you get. Those have a softer sole and larger surface area. That kind of a sole makes it promising while standing on dry-golden grass for a few seconds on high-gradient slopes. These shoes in fact, in my opinion, works well on almost all the dry condition hikes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;An artificial trail often through metal ladders: Again, I avoid the hard sole shoes. Prefer anything that seems reasonably (not too much) flexible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A trail through very cold regions (I trek in Himalayas) but not through snow for a long time: This is the only place where I prefer Quechua Forclaz 500 because of the kind of isolation the shoe provide. Hard sole makes no difference to step through occasional layer of snow, mud or a patch of small-pointed stones or wet grass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A trail through dry forest with milder ups and downs, no scrambling: Anything that has a moderately flexible, but thick sole so that I don't have to worry when the trail pass by bushes and thickets. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T11:54:13.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22115" CreationDate="2019-05-14T13:25:08.057" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Realistically this is something to be aware of, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18442/frequency-of-crime-assault-on-the-appalachian-trail&quot;&gt;horrible assaults and murders&lt;/a&gt; have happened before on the trail. Beyond that, for me at least this isn't a reason not to hike, it's a reason to be aware and prepared. Tons of people die in car accidents but people are still going to drive to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;These are still very rare compared to the rest of the things in the outdoors that will kill you (falls, getting lost, drowning, suicide, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately it's up to you to protect yourself, law enforcement is not going to get there in time. (This is true even in urban areas).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You have to pay attention to your surroundings, if a car is circling the block and following you before asking if you want a ride the answer is no, but you need to realize that it's been following you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For precautions mostly it's down to being aware of the other travelers and possibly traveling in groups. It sounded like this attacker was known to be dangerous, it probably would have helped to have fled the area as soon as they saw him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T13:25:08.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22122" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-14T13:35:56.033" Score="2" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada, I came around the corner and saw several mountain goats who had made several fairly large scrapes (3-4 ft long and a couple feet wide) in the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1wB5S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1wB5S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DwfLP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DwfLP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would the mountain goats have done this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T15:24:41.920" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T16:53:37.077" Title="Why would a Rocky Mountain Goat be making scrapes in the ground?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;nevada&gt;&lt;rocky-mountain-goats&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-14T16:14:03.657" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently own 7 pairs of footwear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Croc knockoffs.  Used in camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;MEC moc boots.  Much like a diver's boot.  3/16&quot; neoprene with rubber soles, toe and heel caps.  I like these for any trail work below timber line, as my feet are warm even when wet.  Our backpacking country rarely has streams more than 30 minutes apart and often only minutes apart.  I won't wear anything else during the day on a canoe trip. Not recommended unless you have very strong feet.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Merrell Voyageur trail shoes.  This is my go to most of the time.  Depending on expected weather and route I ether take these and crocs or these and mocs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;L.L.Bean 6&quot; boots.  These are mostly synthetic, fairly light weight.  One of the few such that I can find in the 4E width I need.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon moccasins. I like these for snowshoes.  I'm a traditionalist using wood and rawhide snowshoes tied on with lampwick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sorrel or Kodiak winter boots.  These are the ones with heavy felt removable liners.  These are the counterpart to the nylon mocs for use in winter work, or in camp, or dog sled mushing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Caterpillar 10&quot; safety cap boots.  These are the only safety boots I've owned.  They are sized large enough to put 3 pairs of socks on, and are my go-to work all day outside in winter boot.  Aside from the rigid toecap and spike prevention in the sole, the rest is leather.  Difficult to dry once soggy. Normally I would not consider wearing this on an overnight trip of any kind. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T16:14:03.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22124" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22125" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" Score="0" Body="Questions about Rocky Mountain Goats" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T17:31:08.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22122" CreationDate="2019-05-14T17:37:37.377" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because they like it.  It feels good, so they do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many mammals roll in sand or dirt, presumably to keep parasites away or to help dry themselves after exercise or becoming wet. A sand roll, which is a stall or yard covered with deep sand, is traditionally included as part of stable complexes for use by racehorses after exercise.[20]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dust bathing has been suggested to have a communicatory function in several mammals &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_bathing#Mammals&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I raised goats I don't recall ever seeing a goat take a dirt bath.  But Googling around finds several accounts of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-14T17:37:37.377" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22115" CreationDate="2019-05-15T00:05:17.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should probably interpret the incident as a rare fluke and try and forget about it. Murders and crime have happened on the AT before: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18442/frequency-of-crime-assault-on-the-appalachian-trail&quot;&gt;Frequency of crime/assault on the Appalachian Trail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been accused of being overly paranoid &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/18391/is-it-poor-etiquette-to-ask-fellow-backpackers-where-they-have-been-where-they-a/18407#18407&quot;&gt;Is it poor etiquette to ask fellow backpackers where they have been/where they are going?&lt;/a&gt; but I suggest you limit the info you share with strangers. You should also share your info with someone back home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you will be in the Whites on the AT, sign into the trail registers, talk to the hut care takers, and any thru hikers to get info about any problem people on the trail. They will readily share info if you just strike up a conversation. You can also check he thru hiker Facebook pages and the gut hook app for info about problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Details of the attack have now been released by &lt;a href=&quot;https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/slain-hiker-identified-details-emerge-appalachian-trail-attack/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the trek&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jordan [the murderer] approached a group of Appalachian Trail hikers ... acting unstable. ... the group of hikers set up camp further along the trail... where Jordan appeared around 1am. He addressed the hikers through their tents, threatening to pour gasoline on their tents and set them on fire. As the four hikers decided to pack and leave the site, Jordan approached them, wielding a knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two hikers fled the site northbound on the trail, placing a 911 call ... After giving chase, Jordan then returned to the site and confronted the remaining two hikers, Sanchez [the murdered victim] and an as-yet identified female hiker [the surviving victim]. After a verbal confrontation, Jordan began stabbing Sanchez, who fell to the ground. The female hiker fled the scene, pursued by Jordan who caught up to her and began stabbing her. The female hiker fell to the ground and played dead, at which point Jordan left the scene. The female hiker continued down the trail, finding help with a pair of hikers who assisted her six miles to Smyth County. They placed a 911 call ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scribd.com/document/409788321/James-Jordan-federal-affidavit#from_embed?campaign=SkimbitLtd&amp;amp;ad_group=126006X1587340X44caa7269cf5fc9e6a6d81b8f6fe4df7&amp;amp;keyword=660149026&amp;amp;source=hp_affiliate&amp;amp;medium=affiliate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;full affidavit&lt;/a&gt; is also available. It seems like they did everything &lt;em&gt;correct&lt;/em&gt;: camping as a group, moving own, calling 911 as quick as possible. Splitting up and the second group staying in camp, as opposed to leaving in the opposite direction immediately, was obviously the wrong decision in this case. That said, fleeing camp without gear is not the best choice in most circumstances either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T16:17:09.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22122" CreationDate="2019-05-15T03:29:20.883" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have observed these, I have seen dogs, goats, cats, wolves, etc scraping the ground. In some cases they sat onto it. In some cases they didn't.&#xA;Following are cases where it makes sense:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sharpening their hooves - Thats one way they sharpen their hooves periodically. I have seen our dog and cat scraping the ground, possibly with an intention to make the nails blunt (If we don't cut them first!).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Marking - I am not sure about goats, but many mammals use this to mark their presence.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A little scraping of ground allows the animal to sleep/sit on the surface which is comparatively softer, warmer or cooler (depends on season/geography)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A very common but rarely noticed scenario: Talking to villager who had 100s of goats, I asked him why a goat is seen stamping the ground or scraping the ground. Stamping had multiple meanings. He told me that sometimes something gets stuck in their hooves, and scraping a surface helps them get rid of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2019-05-15T03:34:22.740" LastActivityDate="2019-05-15T03:34:22.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22129" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-15T14:29:50.537" Score="2" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;Each year pronghorn shed the outer covering of their horns, and while they don't last as long as deer sheds you can still find them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of the ones I have found have been by accident, if one was to deliberately go looking for them, where would be good places to look?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-19T03:51:27.103" LastActivityDate="2019-05-19T03:51:27.103" Title="Where to find pronghorn sheds?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19248" CreationDate="2019-05-15T15:26:15.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the tongue is protruding it could be a case of fungal infection from unclean feeders. Readers please remember to change the nectar every 3-5 days and clean the feeder weekly to keep enjoying these jewels&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17847" LastActivityDate="2019-05-15T15:26:15.687" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22131" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22135" CreationDate="2019-05-16T01:42:23.743" Score="9" ViewCount="2334" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to buy a new jacket for hiking/traveling during winter in Australia for temps between 8c to 15c and possibly in windy and rainy conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed that snow jackets tend to be cheaper than soft shell jackets and that they are waterproof and wind resistant, so I was wondering what issues I would face if I use a snow jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15198" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-16T02:30:49.993" LastActivityDate="2019-05-19T09:41:13.680" Title="Using a Snow jacket for non snow conditions?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22131" CreationDate="2019-05-16T02:30:39.140" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would probably work and some of it will just depend on your preferences. Possible issues may include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too much insulation causing you to overheat and sweat and become uncomfortable, doubly so if the jacket is not breathable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulkier and heavier than it needs to be.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Several layers instead of one large jacket works better for variable temps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said a lot of that will depend on you and how much of a jacket you need to feel comfortable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-16T02:30:39.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22131" CreationDate="2019-05-16T06:54:29.893" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snow jackets come in a lot of different variations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Insulation - from shell to full down insulation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water Resistance - From light to full&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breath-ability - From light to full&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that waterproofness is not guaranteed in a snow jacket. They are predominantly designed to be worn in snow not rain and despite the fact they are both water, snow penetrates a whole lot less than rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the high chance of rain in Aussie snowfields I always go for outerwear with a high water proof and breath-ability rating, which of course costs more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a North Face snow shell as an everyday (rainy day) jacket. Predominantly because it is my back up snow jacket, which is it's primary use. I also use additional layers as required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted in the other answer, it is bulkier and heavier than a purpose built hiking shell, which could be an issue depending on the hiking you plan on doing. They also tend to not compact well. Day trips around the Blue Mountains, it would be fine. Long multi day treks..... nope I'd be going light and compact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A little supplemental reading&lt;/strong&gt; from a fairly big Aussie outdoor retailer: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paddypallin.com.au/blog/choosing-a-waterproof-jacket/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.paddypallin.com.au/blog/choosing-a-waterproof-jacket/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12248" LastEditorUserId="12248" LastEditDate="2019-05-16T23:33:34.683" LastActivityDate="2019-05-16T23:33:34.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16220" CreationDate="2019-05-16T12:38:17.710" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very small yard and only one spot where I can place a pole feeder out of (or so I thought) squirrel jumping range. Approx 8 or 9 feet.  But I have watched them climb up on the closest high point and seemingly compute the distance vs their ability. You can almost hear them thinking.  Then they paw the ground and adjust their footing,just like a track athlete, crouch into position, and go for it...and sometimes they reach goal. So they must be able to see and judge distance at least that far.  I'm continually having to make sure that chairs and other platforms are moved as far away from the feeder dish as possible.  Half annoying, half entertaining!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17850" LastActivityDate="2019-05-16T12:38:17.710" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22135" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22131" CreationDate="2019-05-16T14:51:47.437" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to challenge a premise of your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I noticed that snow jackets tend to be cheaper than soft shell jackets and that they are waterproof and wind resistant, so I was wondering what issues I would face if I use a snow jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are putting too much emphasis on labels: &quot;Snow jacket&quot; is an arbitrary label that a company (seller or producer) may use, but it is essentially irrelevant to you. On the other hand &quot;soft shell jacket&quot; is a reference to a class of material used to make a jacket, so that's somewhat relevant. It's wrong to believe that's a uniform class of jackets, as in your case an &quot;expensive&quot; one. There's really cheap and crazy expensive soft-shells.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you should put emphasis on is characteristics: Is a jacket water-proof, how breathable is it (this is not a binary condition!), how much (if any) insulation does it have, ... How exactly this influences they choice of jacket depends both on the target conditions and personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your conditions and my preference (items of clothing that can be used as versatile as possible, and are dependable, enduring and reasonably priced), I'd go for a non-insulated, water-proof jacket. That is usually labelled &quot;hard-shell&quot;, but I wouldn't be surprised if you found something with only very light insulation termed a &quot;snow jacket&quot;. This won't be very breathable, but who cares in rain, and outside of rain you can open it or take it off -&gt; very breathable. And for &gt;8degC any kind of insulation below the jacket that you probably already have (pullovers or whatever) is fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ignore labels like &quot;snow-jackets&quot;, look for characteristics.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That said many so-called &quot;snow-jackets&quot; will not be water-proof and have too much insulation for your use-case, but there might just be one that fits it perfectly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-17T06:50:57.773" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T06:50:57.773" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22129" CreationDate="2019-05-16T15:25:51.257" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't know any places around you that usually host pronghorns, I would suggest search for them in grasslands, brushlands or desert areas around you, since that's where they feed and spend most of their time. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17284" LastActivityDate="2019-05-16T15:25:51.257" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14655" CreationDate="2019-05-16T20:10:53.100" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Speaking to one of the Meteorologists at RAF Shawbury, UK, the omission of the lines from current / near future charts is a legacy of when the charts used to be published in UK newspapers. As far as the general public were concerned they were considered unnecessary clutter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17851" LastEditorUserId="17851" LastEditDate="2019-05-17T14:28:28.767" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T14:28:28.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4434" CreationDate="2019-05-16T20:22:59.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Many mountain hikers recommend drinking hot fluids, because they&#xA;  provide a lot of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not really. The ideal core body temperature has traditionally been stated as 37.7°C. We reduce human to jar of 80kg of fluid content. Imagine what happens if you pour 0.2kg of 45°C fluid into the &quot;human jar&quot;. It is pointless. The drank mass and the available temperature difference is futile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as @Chris H mentioned: the fluid goes directly to the core and its temperature could be higher than the 45°C. This makes the energy from hot drinks slightly less insignificant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it does not provide energy because it is hot. The most proper reason why to drink hot drink is &quot;placebo&quot; effect. Because of that and obvious security reasons I would suggest the following rule:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aim for the lowest temperature that makes you feel warm.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is pretty consistent with great answer from Marcus Wigert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To obtain energy from hot drinks, it is suggested (thanks to @Chris H for pointing that out) to put directly a source of energy into the hot drink. In my personal experience, I would recommend combinations of following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;unflavoured whey protein concentrate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cocoa powder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;butter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;coconut oil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;honey (in extreme situations when immediate energy is required)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15566" LastEditorUserId="15566" LastEditDate="2019-05-17T07:45:41.027" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T07:45:41.027" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22139" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22141" CreationDate="2019-05-16T20:41:10.770" Score="7" ViewCount="1568" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is inspired by the question of @Sue on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16220/do-squirrels-have-front-and-full-peripheral-vision&quot;&gt;peripheral vision of squirrels&lt;/a&gt;.  It is a much less appealing question, but I figure if we can ask about animal behavior at feeding stations, my question is OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I too have an on-ground feeding station for chipmunks, squirrels, the larger birds and whoever else comes around.  Lately, a very skittish juvenile fox has been a participant at the feeding station.  He or she shows his appreciation for the food by leaving a calling card on the patio. Terrible table manners!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have seen foxes running through the yard from time to time for decades, but this is the first juvenile, the first to feed from the patio, and the first to leave a calling card.  I see him/her in the morning around 08:30 after I put out the critter food, and (s)he has left sign overnight.  The other critters do not bother him, and if I am motionless, he ignores me, but at my first twitch, he retreats, but sometimes comes back after a few minutes.  He looks healthy.  Foxes have denned in a neighbor's yard for years -- less than 1/4 mile from us.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Why is the juvenile fox defecating on my patio&lt;/em&gt;, and is there any tactic I can employ, short of chasing the fox off whenever I see him (e.g., placement of the food) to avoid having to clean up after him/her?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addition in Response to a Comment:&lt;/strong&gt;  As @Charlie Brumbaugh suggested, I read a related question and its answers on &lt;a href=&quot;https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/20557/how-can-i-stop-an-urban-fox-from-using-my-garden-as-its-toilet&quot;&gt;gardening stack exchange&lt;/a&gt;, but did not find a useful answer there.  The question involved a lawn, mine is about a patio.  The OP said the poop was runny and sticky; my fox's is solid and well formed -- I find it easy (but tiresome) to pick up with a paper towel. The link one of the answers gave to possible answers is broken.  Another answer recommended trapping the fox, which I will not do.  Another recommended a product with a horrible stench.  Another recommended getting big cat poop or urine from a zoo; I know from experience that the National Zoo will not give away big cat poop -- it is Federal Government property!  (Long story.)  As for having a man urinate around my patio (another answer), I'd rather have a neat, localized piece of poop.  Bottom line, the related question did not give me any help.     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-05-18T22:11:00.750" LastActivityDate="2019-05-18T22:11:00.750" Title="Why does a fox defecate on my patio, which I use as a feeding station for critters?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;foxes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22140" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22158" CreationDate="2019-05-17T13:51:47.543" Score="2" ViewCount="542" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was doing some target 22 target practice and had three different brands of ammo, supersonic Thunderbolt 35 grain, Aguila 40 grain subsonic and Aguila 60 grain subsonic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Thunderbolt was the loudest due to the sonic boom, but the 40 grain was noticeably quieter. The exact same setup of rifle and suppressor remained the same for all of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would the 60 grain subsonic be louder than the 40 grain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-17T16:59:23.670" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T17:50:30.147" Title="Why would one type of 22lr ammo be louder than another?" Tags="&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;rifles&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22139" CreationDate="2019-05-17T14:01:05.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stop removing the poop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are tired of removing it think how the fox feels about having to replace it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fox is marking their territory and you keep removing the marks.  Per your updated answer you are fine with sharing the patio with the fox. Let the fox know it as well, leave the poop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In scent marking, the fox patrols the boundary areas of its territory and leaves various markers that serve notice of its presence to other foxes. Feces are usually deposited in highly visible places and urine is then sprayed around the area. &lt;a href=&quot;http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/ev8rscnt.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have pet house rabbits who also mark territory with poop. When first establishing &quot;my space&quot; they leave poops.  Once they feel secure about the space they will stop leaving more.  If you have to remove it during the day, put it back before the animal returns. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only remove it after a couple of days.  The animal &quot;should&quot; learn that you are ok with it being their space, but would prefer they don't leave marks there.  It is complex communication between you and the animal, the two of you have to come to an understanding.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The animal has other places they would like to mark, if they are not feeling like they need to re-assert their ownership of your patio, they will leave their marks other places.  They only have a limited supply, help them not need to use it at your location. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T14:01:05.280" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22140" CreationDate="2019-05-17T14:11:03.147" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming both the 40 and 60 grain are actually subsonic (&lt;em&gt;the projectile does not break the sound barrier&lt;/em&gt;) and both have similar muzzle velocities, you should expect the 60 grain to be louder.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes more energy (gun powder) to get the heavier 60 grain projectile to the same speed as the lighter 40 grain projectile. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T14:11:03.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21979" CreationDate="2019-05-17T14:23:31.600" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Garmin GPSMap &lt;strong&gt;182C&lt;/strong&gt; and Simrad &lt;strong&gt;TP32&lt;/strong&gt; share the same language (NMEA 0183), but they do not have enough in common to talk about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The NMEA sentences that the 182C can transmit are &lt;code&gt;GPRMC, GPGGA, GPGSA, GPGSV, GPGLL, GPBOD, GPRTE,  GPWPL, PGRME, PGRMZ, and PSLIB&lt;/code&gt;. The first two letters of these identifiers are the &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catb.org/gpsd/NMEA.html#_talker_ids&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Talker ID&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;em&gt;GP&lt;/em&gt; stands for GPS receiver. PG and PS belong to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=2&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwj7x7ys06ziAhVH_aQKHZA0ADsQFjABegQIBRAC&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.garmin.com%2Fdownloads%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F08%2F190-00684-00.pdf&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw3jWjY9Zivm0MaQKJrLprRR&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin proprietary sentences&lt;/a&gt;. Let's remove the talker ID, and forget about proprietary sentences, then we are left with:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;BOD, GGA, GLL, GSA, GSV, RMC, RTE, WPL&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The TP32 understands&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;APA, APB, BWR, BWC, MWV, RMA, RMB, RMC, VHW, VWR, XTE&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only sentence they have in common is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catb.org/gpsd/NMEA.html#_rmc_recommended_minimum_navigation_information&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;code&gt;RMC&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (Recommended Minimum Navigation Information). Through this sentence, the TP32 can receive the time, the position, the speed (over ground), and the log (distance sailed, over ground).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The TP32 is an autopilot. It requires some input about where to go. Normally this information is provided as a bearing and/or cross track error:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bearing could be provided through one of the sentences &lt;code&gt;APA, APB, RMB, BWR, or BWC&lt;/code&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The cross track error could be provided through one of &lt;code&gt;APA, APB, RMB, or XTE&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 182C on the other hand side is less flexible. It cannot transmit the cross track error. It can transmit only one sentence that contains the bearing, that is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catb.org/gpsd/NMEA.html#_bod_bearing_waypoint_to_waypoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;code&gt;BOD&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (Bearing - Waypoint to Waypoint), but the TP32 does not listen to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.catb.org/gpsd/NMEA.html#_bod_bearing_waypoint_to_waypoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;code&gt;BOD&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. These two devices are compatible on protocol level, but connecting them is - unfortunately - useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16664" LastEditorUserId="16664" LastEditDate="2019-05-21T20:36:59.357" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T20:36:59.357" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-05-17T15:58:56.267" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long time ago I used walking boots and had to use crampons (lend by the mountain travel organization).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My shoes where not from the highest category, and during one occasion, a clampon slipped off. So when you expect to need clampons use very stiff boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, think about:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A stiff sole makes that you don't feel the ground so well, meaning that bigger/rougher stones are easier to traverse with boots with stiff soles. Also it makes your balance better.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots with stiff soles prevent your feet to 'roll off' less good, this probably costs more energy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boots with stiff soles are mostly more heavier, thus you use more energy for that reason too.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-05-17T15:58:56.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19314" CreationDate="2019-05-18T10:44:41.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had the same issue with my Trango 2. I contacted Mountain Hardware. They suggested using Seam Grip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17853" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-18T19:04:12.507" LastActivityDate="2019-05-18T19:04:12.507" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22146" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-18T19:44:54.380" Score="8" ViewCount="411" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have bird feeders of all shapes, sizes, and types of material. Some we've had for years. We dump out leftover bird seed and shells when we refill them. If there are obvious dangers, like algae, mold, feces or feathers, we scrape those off. We spray them with a hose, but we've never taken them down and given them thorough cleanings with soap or anything else. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We recently met someone who puts her metal, mesh and plastic feeders in the dishwasher with dishwasher detergent. The other types, like wood, she washes with soap and water, sometimes a very small amount of bleach. It's her opinion that this lowers the risk of disease to the backyard birds and the other animals who eat from those feeders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are our birds (examples include blue jays, grackles, starlings, sparrows, swallows, thrushes, woodpeckers, American robins, crows, cardinals, mourning doves, orioles, and others) at risk from eating out of communal feeders which haven't been cleaned? If so, what diseases are most common, so we can watch out for symptoms? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-18T23:19:24.343" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T20:18:22.020" Title="Can dirty bird feeders make birds sick?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22146" CreationDate="2019-05-18T20:16:41.067" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dirty bird feeders are known for causing problems for birds,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CPW said the disease has not yet been confirmed in Colorado, but the agency wants to warn people that &lt;strong&gt;house finch eye disease, along with several others are commonly spread at dirty bird feeders and baths.&lt;/strong&gt; The other diseases include &lt;strong&gt;salmonellosis, trichomoniasis, avian pox, pigeon paramyxovirus, and aspergillosis.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://koaa.com/news/2018/11/24/cpw-warns-dirty-bird-feeders-can-lead-to-disease/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CPW warns dirty bird feeders can lead to disease&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The four diseases that most frequently affect birds that use feeders are: &lt;strong&gt;salmonella, trichomoniasis, aspergillosis, and avian pox.&lt;/strong&gt; All of these diseases are transmitted from one bird to another at feeding stations, especially when overcrowding occurs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/common-bird-parasites-diseases&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Bird Parasites &amp;amp; Diseases&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The study found that while there are multiple benefits of additional food resources for wild birds, particularly during the harsher winter months, garden feeding can also promote the transmission of some diseases – not least by encouraging birds to repeatedly congregate in the same location, often bringing them into regular contact with other species they wouldn’t otherwise interact with so closely in the wider environment. &lt;strong&gt;Risks can be increased if hygiene at feeding stations is poor,&lt;/strong&gt; allowing stale food, food waste and droppings to accumulate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Commenting further, co-author Kate Risely from BTO said: &lt;strong&gt;“We’re calling on everyone who feeds wild birds to be aware of their responsibilities for preventing disease.&lt;/strong&gt; Simple steps we’d recommend include offering a variety of food from accredited sources; feeding in moderation, so that feeders are typically emptied every 1-2 days; the regular cleaning of bird feeders; and rotation of feeding sites to avoid accumulation of waste food or bird droppings.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zsl.org/science/news/feed-the-birds-scientists-highlight-risks-of-disease-at-garden-bird-feeders&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Feed the birds? Scientists highlight risks of disease at garden bird feeders&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like dirty bird feeders are a problem, and overcrowding can be a problem too, but so long as they are cleaned regularly, the positives outweigh the negatives for the birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T20:18:22.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22148" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-18T20:32:24.207" Score="8" ViewCount="1220" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my walk around town today I found this small black bug, (keychain carabiner for scale).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XHqkn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XHqkn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Closeup&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hprvf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hprvf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has two antenna and it seems that there is white on the edge of the segments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what kind of bug this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-19T23:20:22.917" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:05:27.447" Title="What is this dime sized black bug with white on the segments near Loveland Colorodao?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22148" CreationDate="2019-05-18T22:05:51.520" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably a woodlouse which is a type of crustacean in the suborder Oniscidea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZuCgn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZuCgn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://a-z-animals.com/animals/woodlouse/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a-z animals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are globally distributed, except in polar regions and arid deserts, and are also known by the following names:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;armadillo bug&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;boat-builder&quot; (Newfoundland, Canada)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;butcher boy&quot; or &quot;butchy boy&quot; (Australia,mostly around Melbourne)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;carpenter&quot; or &quot;cafner&quot; (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;cheeselog&quot; (Reading, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;cheesy bobs&quot; (Guildford, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;cheesy bug&quot; (North West Kent, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;chiggy pig&quot; (Devon, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;chucky pig&quot; (Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;doodlebug&quot; (also used for the larva of an antlion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;gramersow&quot; (Cornwall, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;granny grey&quot; (South Wales)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;hog-louse&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;monkey-peas&quot; (Kent, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;monk's louse&quot; (transl. &quot;munkelus&quot;, Norway)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;pea bug&quot; or &quot;peasie-bug&quot; (Kent, England)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;pill bug&quot; (usually applied only to the genus Armadillidium)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;potato bug&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;roll up bug&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;roly-poly&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;sow bug&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;slater&quot; (Scotland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and Australia)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;wood bug&quot; (British Columbia, Canada)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-18T22:08:18.943" LastActivityDate="2019-05-18T22:08:18.943" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22131" CreationDate="2019-05-19T02:33:31.870" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually the last thing you want for snow is a waterproof jacket.  Many waterproof breathable layers will ice up inside because at low temperatures water doesn't have a high enough vapour pressure to get through the fabric fast enough.  I have a non-waterproof nylon shell that I use for winter&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general I find that wind is a much bigger determinate of my (dis)comfort than temperature.  A good windparka that comes below my butt, has a hood and this and that to control the access the wind has to me can be worn over a wide range of temperatures.  Adding a fleece layer and a toque under it, drops the range both upper and lower by 10-15 degrees C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I own a fleece lined nylon jacket.  I almost never wear it.  Too warm.  I think I keep it in the pickup for times when I didn't wear a jacket but wished I had.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-05-19T02:33:31.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22151" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22148" CreationDate="2019-05-19T04:09:43.970" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see these everywhere where I live (Central Texas). We usually call them &quot;pill bugs&quot; or &quot;rollie-polies&quot; (usu. young children).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It shouldn't do you or anything you own any harm; they mostly just crawl around on things and roll up into a ball when you touch them. Kids would always run around collecting them when I was in school.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17860" LastActivityDate="2019-05-19T04:09:43.970" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22131" CreationDate="2019-05-19T09:41:13.680" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been using a ski jacket for mild winter weather use this last winter. Our temperatures are not much lower than yours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was comfy when not very active, during cycling (in which most of the build up heat is in my legs, not my upper body) and when out in the wind while moderately active (walking briskly.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when doing very active things I often had to open the zipper a bit as the heat was building up too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While not completely waterproof, it was good enough to keep me dry for at least my usual commute of 30 minutes, likely would have kept me comfy for much longer but I never needed if to hold water out for longer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that I conclude that it depends one what you want the jacket for, if like me for the bright colour on relaxed bike rides, buy it.&#xA;But if you want it for running in day time, it will be too insulating and therefor getting you hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2019-05-19T09:41:13.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22153" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-19T23:04:55.873" Score="7" ViewCount="696" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once a hummingbird feeder is set up and the hummingbirds know about it they will come back over and over again on a regular basis. They even seem to remember after the winter and will come to check to see if the feeders are out yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one is setting up a hummingbird feeder in a new area that hasn't had one before, are there &lt;strong&gt;any tips to help them find it the first time?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T02:31:40.500" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T02:31:40.500" Title="Are there any tips to help hummingbirds find a new feeder?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;hummingbirds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22153" CreationDate="2019-05-20T00:37:47.870" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hummingbirds find the feeders by sight.  Some ways to attract them include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a feeder with bright colors.  Red seems to be a color that they&#xA;are particularly attracted to.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to have colorful, again preferably red, colored native plants&#xA;nearby.  Try to incorporate plants that blossom throughout the year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the feeder in a sunlit area and if possible choose a feeder&#xA;that has facets that can reflect the sunlight to get their attention.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Install a mister or bubbler to a bird bath to give them a place to&#xA;bathe and preen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie colorful ribbons or surveyors tape in nearby trees to get their&#xA;attention while they are flying overhead.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have patience.  It may take some time to be found especially during&#xA;wet years when there is an abundance of natural sources of nectar&#xA;available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To keep the hummingbirds coming back make sure the nectar is regularly replaced and the feeder is clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/learn/hummingbirds/attract.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;birdwatchersdigest&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sweet-seed.com/hummingbirds/how-can-i-attract-hummingbirds-to-my-feeders/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sweetseed.com&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lansingwbu.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-hummingbirds-find-feeders.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wildbirdsunlimited&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T00:37:47.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22155" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-20T13:43:55.010" Score="17" ViewCount="8072" Body="&lt;p&gt;For rain pants, there are both breathable pants that let sweat out and non-breathable ones that do not. The problem with the non-breathable pants is that your sweat can build up inside and then you will get wet underneath the pants anyways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As non-breathable pants are still sold, what is the case when they would be prefferable, or is it simply a matter of cost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-20T16:46:44.220" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T07:52:59.923" Title="What is the use case for non-breathable waterproof pants?" Tags="&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;pants&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-20T16:40:35.797" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several uses, but regular strenuous outdoor leisure activities aren't really among them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breathable gear only goes so far - there comes a point when the best gear you can afford will result in getting very sweaty. This point is a function of temperature, humidity, price and activity level. If you're consistently going to pass that point, non breathable gear is cheaper (much cheaper in the long term as membranes degrade) and still keeps the wind off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're often used by those working outdoors doing fairly light duties, such as directing traffic or otherwise mainly standing. These are often high visibility. More strenuous outdoor workers may well use heavy duty poorly breathable versions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can be kept in a vehicle as emergency wear to keep in case of breaking down or worse. These may never be worn so it's not worth investing in something expensive. They also seem more waterproof than at least cheap breathables if you're actually sitting or kneeling in water fixing something. A similar use is car camping, when you may need to go out in the rain to tighten ropes or pegs, but would avoid going out in the rain otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the UK climate, and many other places, it's often worth carrying rain gear for even fairly gentle walks that take you more than a few minutes from shelter. You'll be a lot drier and warmer in cheap waterproofs than none at all, which is why compact ones are widely sold in national park shops etc. (I keep a pair in the van that were an emergency purchase in such a shop) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T16:40:35.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-20T16:44:57.387" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;The non-breathable pants are usually considerably cheaper than the breathable ones. That can make them a better choice for activities that stand a good chance of ripping holes in the material, glissading down icy slopes for example. Far better to rip your $25 non-breathable pants than your $125 Gore-tex pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T16:44:57.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22140" CreationDate="2019-05-20T17:50:30.147" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've worked extensively with the Aguila subsonic .22LR loads.  Out of a full-length (i.e., 18&quot;) barrel the 40gr runs about 1035fps while the 60gr barely breaks 900fps.  So both are soundly subsonic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 60gr is an unusual load in which the bullet is crimped in a .22 Short case.  It's easy to recognize, in contrast to the 40gr which looks like most other .22LR ammo.  (60gr is on the left in the following photo):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jf5B8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jf5B8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aguila subsonic 60gr and 40gr rounds&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22142/6137&quot;&gt;As James Jenkins guesses&lt;/a&gt;, the 60gr load uses more powder, and holding all else equal more powder produces more gas volume and &quot;uncorking&quot; pressure, and therefore more muzzle blast – i.e., more noise at the muzzle.  For the following photo I pulled four different cartridges and weighed the powder charge.  The Aguila 60gr has 0.9gr of powder, whereas both the Aguila 40gr subsonic and a CCI subsonic load have only 0.6gr of powder.  (For further comparison, the supersonic CCI 40gr &quot;Mini-Mag&quot; has 0.8gr of powder.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u906j.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/u906j.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;.22LR ammo dissections&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T17:50:30.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-20T18:15:41.770" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The non-breathable cheaper wet-weather protection is useful for when you must sometimes go outdoors in heavy rain to do essential jobs, but not for very long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long enough that you would otherwise get soaked, but not long enough for the lack of ventilation to be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T18:15:41.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-20T18:35:00.107" Score="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you are aware waterproof breathable fabrics can &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21197/how-do-breathable-fabrics-like-gore-tex-and-dwr-durable-water-repellent-work&quot;&gt;&quot;wet out&quot;&lt;/a&gt; reducing them to simply waterproof fabrics. That does not make wetted out waterproof breathable the same as waterproof non-breathable fabric. Non-breathable fabrics tend to be cheaper, stronger, lighter, and in some cases more water resistant (i.e., a higher mm H2O rating) than corresponding breathable fabrics. Compare the differences between the high end fabrics used in Z-packs &lt;a href=&quot;https://zpacks.com/products/rain-kilt&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;non-breathable kilt&lt;/a&gt; (1.0 oz/yd2, 20,000 mm H2O, and 15.5 N puncture strength) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://zpacks.com/products/vertice-rain-pants&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;breathable rain pants&lt;/a&gt; (1.92 oz/yd2, 20,000 mm H2O, and don't look at it funny strength).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If weight or durability matters and either sweat is not a factor or wetting out is a given (e.g., sailing or prolonged wet weather), a non-breathable fabric might be desirable. Sweat is heavily activity dependent and good ventilation can often mitigate the need for breath-ability. For really cold weather activities the effect of sweat can be eliminated through the use of a vapor barrier, but you will still want a waterproof shell to keep snow melt from soaking your insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T18:35:00.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-20T19:14:49.117" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;You seem to have a specific outdoor activity in mind, like trekking or climbing. But what about water sports? A sailing ship deck would be the most obvious place. Sometimes you won't move much, but you wish to stay 100% dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience waterproof breathable fabrics are only water resistant. Also notice that fabrics like GoreTex deteriorate with time and lose their water repellent qualities. A simple plastic trousers won't have this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastEditorUserId="3241" LastEditDate="2019-05-22T09:47:34.073" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T09:47:34.073" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8100" CreationDate="2019-05-20T23:30:05.373" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Barefoot climbing is awesome. You learn to to climb more intuitive and natural. To a barefoot climber haveing shoes on is like climbing with no feeling in your legs. You have no idea what is going on with special  awareness with shoes on. To a barefoot climber there is no way to progress with shoes on. You also learn bad technique with shoes. No hand foot matches, always heel hooking(an epidemic lol) and shoe climbers never use high feet with any understanding of how to use them. Falling is scetchier so soft catches are a must but the extra feeling you get makes falling fun so I say the future is bare foot climbing and sometimes shoes for the send on certain climbs but not to much or climbers won’t get better&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17869" LastActivityDate="2019-05-20T23:30:05.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22165" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22169" CreationDate="2019-05-21T09:20:33.137" Score="8" ViewCount="356" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just tried using an automatic belay machine in an indoor climbing gym. I didn't receive any specific safety training, but it seems to be straightforward. So what safety concerns should I pay attention to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do by mistake, which could be dangerous for me or anyone around me?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-21T12:56:47.883" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T18:12:47.153" Title="What safety concerns are there about automatic belay machines?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20771" CreationDate="2019-05-21T09:26:28.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Additionally to the previous answer, gunpowder quality (including pressing quality, corning, the size of the granules, etc.) is one of the factors affects on louderness and power.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17868" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T09:26:28.370" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22168" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24549" CreationDate="2019-05-21T11:36:26.557" Score="2" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reel seems to jam when I reel it around and then if I put pressure on the reel handle, or the line, the bail flips open. I’m sure there’s something I am doing wrong. Video attached for reference. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/cqw7HP5Xk-c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/cqw7HP5Xk-c&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17871" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-21T15:54:11.540" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T00:43:18.007" Title="Reel locks when reeling in then bail flips open. What am I doing wrong?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22165" CreationDate="2019-05-21T11:39:21.160" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding your own safety:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Attachment: Do actually use and clip into the auto-belay system. It sounds ridiculous, but according to @Guran did happen, and it's not that hard to imagine. In many gyms the auto-belay is clipped to some kind of fabric attached to the wall, that will cover a section of the climb. Thus it's almost impossible to start climbing without first undoing this by clipping the auto-belay to ones harness. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Correct attachment carabiner: Mostly specialized types that can't turn or open accidentally. In a well-run gym this is given (probably certifications apply, don't know about any such).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Attachment point: Clip into the belay ring, not just the hip or leg loops or even gear loops (you never know).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Malfunctioning: Test the auto-belay on first use by jumping down at a safe height.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;No helmet: I seem to recall a report about incidences with helmets catching while descending and thus incurring injuries. Climbing helmets are anyway not primarly designed to guard from banging your own head and thus generally not used in gyms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fast climbing: You must not outpace the mechanism that pulls the auto-belay line/rope in. At least all systems I encountered are not designed to catch such a fall dynamically. With the advent of speed climbing there may be such devices, but unless you are sure (got confirmation by maintainer/owner) don't assume that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both yours and others safety:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Landing zone: Make sure there aren't any people at the base of your climb. Usually there's a belayer at the bottom, so many people aren't used to the possibility of having someone climb above them. Again in a well-managed gym these areas should be marked, but there might still be someone there (e.g. kids). Always look down and call out if necessary after falling/sitting into the belay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other climbers (not auto-belay specific): Make sure there are no climbers close to the side where they could be in your fall zone or vice versa.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-22T18:12:47.153" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T18:12:47.153" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22170" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-21T13:40:56.893" Score="21" ViewCount="7135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a backpacking trip once where I was above treeline, there was no running water and I was low on fuel for my stove. While some of the snow was melting it was draining into the ground so fast there was no liquid water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I ended up doing for drinking water was throwing snow on top of a tarp and once it melted gathering the water with a bowl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be a better way of &lt;strong&gt;melting the snow without fire or body heat&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-22T05:46:48.460" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T20:37:05.313" Title="How to melt snow without fire or body heat?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22170" CreationDate="2019-05-21T16:13:05.547" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a clean black garbage bag with you (and if you don't, you really should :)), put the snow into the garbage bag, arrange it in a thin layer inside the bag, and lay the bag in the sun on a flat rock (if available), thin layer parallel to the flat rock.  Weigh it down with a few rocks to help make contact between the black surface and the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is essentially your tarp solution, but (a) speeding things up because of the heat absorbing character of the blackness; and (b) avoiding the messiness of scooping because you need only pour.  This would also work (albeit slowly) slightly below freezing, assuming sun.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-05-21T16:45:15.823" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T16:45:15.823" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22170" CreationDate="2019-05-21T16:29:54.500" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;A dark coloured water bottle strapped on top of your pack would absorb quite a lot of solar heat on a sunny day. Getting the snow in would be easier with a wide neck, like a bike bottle or Nalgene. Around freezing point this can be quite effective. If you have flexible clear plastic with you in any form (a large ziplock bag for example) this can be loosely wrapped round the heat collector to act as a greenhouse. Black plastic bags can be used to wrap a clear or white bottle (tightly in a single layer). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Melting snow while moving means your meal stops are shorter, so this is with doing even if fuel is plentiful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're static, a foil blanket can be used to reflect extra sunlight onto the bottle; a 3x increase in heat delivery compared to just a bottle should be easy. Insulate the bottle from the ground in this case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you've got some liquid water in there it probably makes sense to top it up rather than decanting (unless of course you need it immediately). If you're planning on dissolving anything in the water (drink concentrate, soup powder etc) you may as well do so early - it's likely to increase absorption in a clear bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give an idea of the rate of melting: assume everything stays at 0°C, and you've got a 100% absorbing bike bottle (that's what I've got here to measure). At sea level in full sun that can absorb around 15W. 15W is enough to melt around 2.5&amp;nbsp;ml/min (half a teaspoonful of water). One bottle isn't enough to provide everything you need even exposed all day (and it won't be this efficient in practice), but it's a worthwhile contribution even in this very basic form. Snow is around 1/4 the density of water, so a bottle loosely filled will melt in around an hour, giving you 1/4 of a bottle of water. Pack it in tight and double all these numbers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-05-21T16:43:08.483" LastActivityDate="2019-05-21T16:43:08.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-22T03:05:42.517" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a cyclist, I expect to get wet if I'm riding hard in the rain.  But if I'm wearing something waterproof -- breathable or not -- the (cold) rainwater will be kept separate from the (warm) sweat, and I'll be warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if I'm not riding hard, I'll be dry longer in the non-breathable stuff, because water vapor can pass through the breathable layers in either direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17877" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T03:05:42.517" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22175" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-22T06:08:35.637" Score="11" ViewCount="5446" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes it is necessary to cut a climbing rope, either to shorten it or to trim worn ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If were one to cut a climbing rope, how would one do so? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-22T13:29:39.907" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T19:31:32.727" Title="How to cut a climbing rope?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22175" CreationDate="2019-05-22T06:08:35.637" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to do this is to use an &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B000HRT1TC&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;electric rope cutter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wcd60.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wcd60.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B000HRT1TC&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To use this you wait till the blade is hot then &lt;strong&gt;stretch the rope tight with your hands giving yourself a couple of inches on either side of where you want to cut and bring it down across the blade&lt;/strong&gt;. The blade will go through the rope like a hot knife through butter and seal the ends at the same time. Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/KEnm7jPIiKM?t=189&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video of someone cutting webbing&lt;/a&gt; with one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also works for paracord, accessory cord, and webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then what we would do is write down the date it was cut and the length on a piece of paper and place the paper on the end underneath a piece of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rocknrescue.com/product/id-clear-heat-shrink-tube-per-foot/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;clear shrink tubing&lt;/a&gt; before shrinking the tubing with a heat source to finish it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible to do it with a sharp knife and a lighter to seal the ends, but the rope cutter is the easiest way to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T06:08:35.637" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-22T09:21:55.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Non-breathable waterproof garments are basically polyurethane plastic at the surface. This has one very big benefit in that dirt doesn't stick to it much, and what sticks will usually come off with just water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So they're good for uses such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trekking in muddy conditions. Just hang them overnight to dry and yesterday's muck falls off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Children's use. A high-tech fabric will not stand up to daily washes for very long.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Agricultural and other jobs where you'd get excrement on your clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After all, getting sweaty is a discomfort but it can be tolerated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15369" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T09:21:55.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22175" CreationDate="2019-05-22T10:13:47.597" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have an electric hot-knife, it's possible to heat a (sacrificial) table knife in a flame until it glows, and use that to make the cut against a wooden block.  It doesn't need to be sharp, just hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that I normally need two cuts (with the knife heated until glowing slightly red each time) to chop and seal 11mm static rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep the knife in your gear maintenance set for next time, as the heating will make it unappealing for table use afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-05-22T15:31:04.387" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T15:31:04.387" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22180" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-22T13:47:30.643" Score="3" ViewCount="61" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the times I have seen Rocky Mountain goats it has been by accident, you come around the corner of the trail in the mountains and there they are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one were to go deliberately looking for them to take a picture for example, where would one look and are there any signs of their presence in an area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T17:06:13.110" Title="Where to find Rocky Mountain Goats?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rocky-mountain-goats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22038" CreationDate="2019-05-22T16:37:02.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not 100% certain, but they look like a young &lt;em&gt;Rattus&lt;/em&gt; genus. They could also be &lt;em&gt;Mus&lt;/em&gt; genus (common house mouse) - most of these genera are pretty similar with a pale belly and darker dun dorsum. Young rats superficially look like mice, but have shorter, thicker, and less tapered tails. In both the tail in these is nude (i.e. no long hairs) and is &quot;scaly&quot;. Despite their depiction in most popular culture, they are not nocturnal, but rather more crepuscular and active in shortish periods throughout the day and night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rats in particular are known to burrow extensively for food and living space, whereas mice tend to occupy already created cavities in areas where these are readily available (i.e. anywhere humans occupy), but will burrow in open areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T16:37:02.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22182" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22122" CreationDate="2019-05-22T16:53:37.077" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Goats are mineral deficient and will often scrape and lick areas that contain urine to acquire needed salts.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/olympic/home/?cid=stelprdb5412239&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/olympic/home/?cid=stelprdb5412239&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T16:53:37.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22180" CreationDate="2019-05-22T17:06:13.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: I don't have any experience with mountain goats in particular, but have hunted and tracked wild goats from other species. I am assuming that they are similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like all goats, there will be signs of their presence in their habitat. The trick is to distinguish this from other animals (e.g. deer) that might inhabit the same area. With mountain goats you are most likely to see them in the upper alpine areas, where there won't be too many other species that you could confuse them with. Where you find one goat, you are likely to find others as they generally exist in herds/flocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Signs of goat species include: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close (i.e. down to the ground) cropping of feed species (shrubs, grasses, herbs) in the area. Most deer species don't do this in my experience.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Droppings will be smallish localized piles of rounded pellets, sometimes clumped together to form a more solid mass. Deer feces tend to be a larger oval pellet and more frequently clumped.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fur - white fur stuck to broken off branches and twigs. It will be longish and I doubt easily confused for other animals. Deer are generally brown, but can have pale yellowish belly fur...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hoof prints - on soft ground between rocks (for this species). Goats are cloven hoofed, as are deer etc. The foot prints will be symmetrical and not parallel (for the cloven bits, not a series of prints), and kind of like a curved drop of water (kidneyish?) shape. Google to get an idea, compare with other animals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bleating - goats bleat, but you are most likely to hear this from kids, and only when they are separated from the adults during the birthing season. Deer have a range of sounds from different species.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Smell. Male goats in particular smell quite strongly and use this to scent mark territory.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bedding - they often bed on sheltered sites that are warmed by the morning sun (they aren't stupid).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is lots of good information &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/oram/all.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;at the USDA page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T17:06:13.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13363" CreationDate="2019-05-22T17:54:06.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When you have no water to drink:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can eat foods high in water and low in proteins,&lt;/strong&gt; such as fruits, vegetables and milk, which usually contain more than 90% of water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not eat foods high in proteins,&lt;/strong&gt; such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts and seeds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PROTEIN IS DEHYDRATING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Every gram of protein you eat results in loss of 8 mL of water with urine&lt;/strong&gt; (calculated from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#135&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Urea, a major end product of metabolism of dietary proteins and amino&#xA;  acids, requires water for excretion by the kidneys. Renal excretion of&#xA;  1 g of urea nitrogen (2.2 g of urea) requires 40 to 60 mL of water.&#xA;  Thus, if a person consumes 63 g of protein in a diet that contains 2,100 kcal, the volume of water required increases by 0.4 to 0.6 L/day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;METABOLIC WATER&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Amount of water produced in your body from macronutrients (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/metabolic-water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Encyclopedia.com&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;100 g of proteins = ~40 mL of water &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;100 g of carbohydrates = ~55 mL of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;100 g of fats = ~110 mL of water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should not rely on metabolic water as a source of water, for example, you should not eat 1 kilogram of sugar and hope you'll get 550 mL of water this way. Sugar gets incorporated into glycogen, which binds some water, which does not contribute to the whole body hydration. On the other hand, carbohydrates can improve water retention (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.91275.2008&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Physiology.org&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion, carbohydrates and fats, while not necessary hydrating, are also not dehydrating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WATER LOSS THROUGH FECES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With stool you lose about 100-200 mL of water per day (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#80&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;); this should not discourage you to eat fruits or vegetables, from which you can realistically get, let's say, 2 liters of water per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Water moving to the gut during digestion&quot; should also not be a problem because it is only temporary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-05-23T10:08:50.087" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T10:08:50.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22175" CreationDate="2019-05-22T19:05:41.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you don't have a hot knife or professional rope trimmer/cutter, you can use a very sharp (fresh) single-edge razor blade.  Make the cut and then seal the end of the rope with an open flame or a flame from a butane-fueled &quot;jet lighter.&quot;  If done slowly and patiently you'll be able to gently fuse the kern to the mantle and the end should look nice and fairly transparent until it cools.  Any heat-fused rope-end in regular use will eventually get flexed enough to crack.  Having done this numerous times, I have not had any problems with additional fraying or separating of the kern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17888" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T19:05:41.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11671" CreationDate="2019-05-22T23:20:41.500" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Plastic medical bottles for liquids that have been rinsed well ( the 250 ml size is perfect) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17892" LastActivityDate="2019-05-22T23:20:41.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22175" CreationDate="2019-05-23T06:15:08.303" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just a reasonably sharp knife and a tape are fine. First use a sticky tape (better cotton, rather than electric - the climbing tape for finger taping is fine) around the place of the cut. Then cut through the tape and use heat of a small gas flame or outdoors even just a lighter to connect the threads by melting to prevent fraying. The tape can remain there and can be used for marking. The tape prevents any initial fraying before the melting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3055" LastEditorUserId="3055" LastEditDate="2019-05-23T08:49:59.903" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T08:49:59.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22155" CreationDate="2019-05-23T07:52:59.923" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To ride a motorcycle, for example, you will never chose breathable fabric.&#xA;If you have to wear rain pants, temperature is such that sweat is almost never an issue and you want your garment to be as waterproof as possible.&#xA;Also, you want to be sure not only water but also mud, grease, dust, etc. is kept off your under-layers, hence the use of a fabric as less porous as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17895" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T07:52:59.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22170" CreationDate="2019-05-23T09:04:31.183" Score="4" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Possibly not-crazy idea in certain cases&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is ice available somewhere, perhaps your tarp/bowl resulted in a convex lens-shaped extra bit of water, or you can (somehow) locate a frozen pond or even deep puddle from a previous thaw, you can consider the possibility of making an ice lens and using it to heat up something dark (your tarp or something more convenient), and using it to then melt snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could heat a dark surface then put the snow on it, or put dark object on top of a layer of snow in/on something that can collect meltwater. &lt;em&gt;Don't try to shine the light on the reflective snow!!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to make anything even close to an optical quality lens, you are not trying to set &lt;s&gt;ants&lt;/s&gt; kindling on fire, just warm something at a rate well above the rate than the air is cooling it, so that it can do substantial melting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anything you can do to insulate the warmed material so that it doesn't lose heat to the environment rather than to melting snow is important. Anything you can do to maximize contact area of the warmed object with the snow is important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the sunshine is intermittent, don't add more snow than you can melt quickly. Raising snow from -20°C to zero, then watching it get cold again is a waste of sunshine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rate Estimation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bright sunlight on the ground can be estimated from the 1.5 atmosphere solar standard. From data in &lt;a href=&quot;//space.stackexchange.com/a/35681&quot;&gt;an answer to &lt;em&gt;Does sunlight warm an astronaut's face during a spacewalk?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, we can estimate that there is roughly 400 W/m² in sunshine near the ground, but it varies a lot depending on time of day and other atmospheric factors. Perhaps 50% of that will get through a lens made out of water ice (dirt, bubbles, and further absorption of infrared due to water and organics) so a 30 cm diameter ice lens will deliver maybe 20 Watts. That's 20 Joules per second or 5 Calories per second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat of fusion of water is 80 cal/gram, so that's roughly 4 grams of water every minute, or 240 grams/hour, or maybe 1.5 litres per day &lt;em&gt;on a good day.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That really might help extend life somewhat in a pinch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What it might look like&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.primitiveways.com/fire_from_ice.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.primitiveways.com/fire_from_ice.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6OVQZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6OVQZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/27760/7982&quot;&gt;Has anyone ever tried to make a simple telescope using ice?&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/ist.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/ist.html&lt;/a&gt; also see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.icesculptingtools.com/home/knowledge-center/misc-knowledge/fire-from-ice/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fire from Ice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C1PYc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C1PYc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eK2zm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eK2zm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not so likely what you'll be doing, but included for completeness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/istmake.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/ice/istmake.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UC682.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UC682.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kVpl4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kVpl4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zIEKR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zIEKR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sEpox.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sEpox.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BVB7Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BVB7Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Of88m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Of88m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T19:58:39.090" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22192" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-23T14:43:28.737" Score="2" ViewCount="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Grand Teton National Park they have Rocky Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep and because they are worried that the goats will spread diseases to the sheep, they want to mountain goats gone from the Teton Range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do they capture the goats alive so they can relocate them somewhere else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-23T16:27:43.573" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T16:49:18.540" Title="How do they capture Rocky Mountain Goats in order to relocate them?" Tags="&lt;conservation&gt;&lt;rocky-mountain-goats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22192" CreationDate="2019-05-23T16:49:18.540" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent-ish article in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://projects.seattletimes.com/2018/moving-mountain-goats/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seattle Times&lt;/a&gt; on moving goats out of Olympic National Park covers the situation pretty well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a helicopter, the goat is either (1) darted, or (2) directly caught in a net. The animal is then made safe for transport, and helicoptered out to a staging area. From there, they are trucked to a final destination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T16:49:18.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22194" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-23T18:12:09.447" Score="1" ViewCount="81" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one of the gravel parking lots I pass on my way to work there are a number of cotton tail rabbits that  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/21760/why-would-cottontail-rabbits-be-hanging-out-in-a-gravel-parking-lot&quot;&gt;hang out there&lt;/a&gt;. At one end of parking lot there is piled up gravel from all of the plowing that happened over the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of times when I have passed by there &lt;strong&gt;were rabbits that looked like they were going through the piles with their noses trying to find something.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could the cottontail rabbits be smelling for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T18:12:09.447" Title="Why are cottontail rabbits smelling through gravel piles?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22170" CreationDate="2019-05-23T20:31:30.687" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends how much you want to melt?&#xA;Battery and a heater&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many options, but this is the first one I encountered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-USB-Power-Suply-Office-Tea-Coffee-Cup-Mug-Warmer-Heating-Cup-Mat-Pad-Coaster/32941949922.html?src=google&amp;amp;albslr=234550590&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-USB-Power-Suply-Office-Tea-Coffee-Cup-Mug-Warmer-Heating-Cup-Mat-Pad-Coaster/32941949922.html?src=google&amp;amp;albslr=234550590&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.com/itm/best-DC5V-104-14cm-USB-electric-heater-pad-for-motor-car-pet-warmer-hand-glove-/391193976334?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ebay.com/itm/best-DC5V-104-14cm-USB-electric-heater-pad-for-motor-car-pet-warmer-hand-glove-/391193976334?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Claims it get 104F that should melt snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below does 5v and 12v.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2urmsr6y4gIVhYWzCh2DOwxNEAkYCyABEgKZGvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2urmsr6y4gIVhYWzCh2DOwxNEAkYCyABEgKZGvD_BwE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5v USB battery packs are easy to come by, which is why I picked USB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if you get a 12v battery pack, you can heat faster and melt more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also carry a small solar cell as alternate power source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13700" LastEditorUserId="13700" LastEditDate="2019-05-23T20:37:05.313" LastActivityDate="2019-05-23T20:37:05.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22198" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-23T21:53:12.337" Score="4" ViewCount="561" Body="&lt;p&gt;Help me settle an argument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How big a patch of temperate wilderness terrain would you need to produce enough food to feed a family of four (two adults, two teens) indefinitely in an off the grid or SHTF scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assume:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperate climate similar to central-north California or the Carolinas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Agrarian diet, lots of grains/veggies, meat 2-3 times/week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ground is red clay based but fairly loose / uncompacted.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basic farming skills and equipment but no automation/mechanization (ie, no tractors, mules, etc. Human labor only.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Access to electricity NOT guaranteed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ability to research modern methods and techniques.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plentiful nearby sources of water (but no fish).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frequent rainfall and mild winters.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other humans aren't a threat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Around 100 person-hours of work per week&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you dodged all the other dangers that would be present during such an event, what are the baseline space requirements to be able to grow enough to eat enough, with enough margin for error, to stay healthy? Oh, and we want meat. And pudding. Lots and lots of pudding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17902" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T21:55:58.310" Title="How much land would one family need for sustainable food production?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6219" CreationDate="2019-05-24T00:15:43.490" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was just googling how to fix one of my reels that had this same issue.  Turns out I have the exact same reel.  Thought I'd let you know that it wasn't the &quot;little thumb screw&quot; it was a tiny little metal retention pin that goes into the actual handle to hold the whole handle together and on to the reel.  That's what came out of mine and now I'm searching to replace that pin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17905" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T00:15:43.490" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22201" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13498" CreationDate="2019-05-24T00:27:30.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a Canuck. My father in law is German and lives there. Whenever he speaks to my wife, he has her tell me Petri Heil, knowing we both fish. Neither of us speak the other's language though I have picked-up on a few, ahem, choice words here and there. The common greeting here is &quot;Tight Lines&quot;, the meaning should obvious.  Tight lines meaning &quot;fish on&quot; or, I wish you much luck :) And I do believe the answer to Petri Heil is Petri Danke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17906" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T00:27:30.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22202" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-24T06:09:20.220" Score="8" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes in areas with sandy/muddy ground, multiple parallel trails will start to form.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://charliebrumbaugh.github.io/content/images/size/w2000/2019/01/P8113232.JPG&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the least impactful way to walk a trail like this? Do you stay on whichever trail shows the most recent travel of the deepest or another option?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-24T15:52:37.907" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T15:52:37.907" Title="What is the leave no trace thing to do when parallel trails start to form?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22202" CreationDate="2019-05-24T15:22:42.680" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In this specific instance I would follow the deepest (most damaged) trail because it is unlikely to regrow. That gives the other trails a chance to recover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the choice is between multiple very &lt;em&gt;lightly&lt;/em&gt; traveled trails, I'd advise to take the one showing least damage (or even creating a new one) - again thinking &lt;em&gt;Which one(s) are likely to recover?&lt;/em&gt; -&gt; all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It all depends on the vegetation and environment though, sometimes it's so fragile that not walking there might be best ;-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T15:22:42.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22198" CreationDate="2019-05-24T18:30:23.947" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on a couple factors such as ingenuity and whether or not you are considering the land needed to hunt game to be included in the total land area needed, i think it could easily be done on two acres or less. There are many stories of people growing enormous amounts of food on small suburban plots of land. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Here are three examples of extreme productivity on very little land:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Growing Power – On a 2-acre urban lot in Milwaukee, Will Allen grows over a million &#xA;  pounds of food every year, including thousands of fish, and a livestock inventory of chickens, goats, and bees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The Urban Homestead – A family of four produces most of their own food and $60,000 a year on just a fifth of an acre.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Singing Frogs Farm – Just 3 harvested acres on this farm bring in over $100,000 an acre, using low water methods that sequester carbon and generate topsoil.&#xA;  Using techniques and principles in the resources below, you can potentially grow all your food on as little as a quarter of an acre!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/how-much-land-is-needed-to-be-self-sufficient&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the biggest concerns with growing a lot of food is the necessary water to do, so but in your question you have specified it would be plentiful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following info-graphic also shows that two acres would be plenty for both produce, meat and dairy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VEtio.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VEtio.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/how-much-land-is-needed-to-be-self-sufficient&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Andrew Mateskon, from Polycultures also writes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The earth feeds 7 billion people on 3.8 billion acres of arable and permanent cropland. You can more than triple this figure if you include rangeland for meat. &lt;strong&gt;This is about 0.5 acres of cropland per person&lt;/strong&gt;, or over 1.5 acres per person if we include rangeland. Some systems are vastly more efficient than others. If there were no &quot;externalized&quot; inputs, industrial monocropping would be the most efficient system ever seen. However, some other systems are able to feed many people with much smaller negative impact. Traditional and contemporary Chinese Agroforestry provides some of the best techniques. &lt;strong&gt;China imports an incredibly small amount of food, yet feeds their people to the tune of around 20 per acre.&lt;/strong&gt; They grow carp in the ditches under fruit and nut trees with crops and herbs between trees and chickens running around. An ancient polyculture of carp, rice, and ducks is practiced in some areas. This increases the yield of the rice, plus adds two more yields to the equation, plus reduces inputs of fertilizer and pesticide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this example i would say it is more than reasonably to think that you could grow enough food for a family of 4 to survive on roughly 2 acres if the land was used wisely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="9054" LastEditDate="2019-05-24T21:55:58.310" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T21:55:58.310" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22205" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-24T21:38:15.537" Score="2" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've enjoyed climbing and cutting trees for many years.  I now want to go to higher levels, but safety is a primary concern, because I am afraid of heights. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm about to order gear for recreational climbing. (My long term goal is professional cutting.) Because mechanical ascenders (chest/hand/foot/knee) are not part of my life-support system, will generic ascenders be adequate?  I'm not planning to cruise a canopy or go to heights with such ascenders, but just practice with them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If an ascender fails, will my climbing line/prusik catch me?  I'm unsure if I'd be ascending while on 2 points because I haven't been able to test this yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to be safe but as far as I can tell it looks like you could just foot-lock + prusik-slide your way up a rope w/o any mechanical devices at all, and that you and your rope (&amp;amp; prusik) are all that matters as far as loads and safety. If I were ascending with a foot ascender that snapped on me wouldn't I just kinda spin-out on my rope?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please critique my intended purchases below to see if they are adequate for climbing and for safety.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;o 150' of a 16-strand rope; unsure if it should be double-braided.  I am a very cheap person but for buying rope, I'd only consider name-brand stuff (Yale/etc) and would only buy from a place I knew I could trust which, so far, is only sheffield/bartlett's/wesspur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;o Prusik &amp;amp; carabiner to attach myself to my rope (triple-lock/30-whatever-kN is the ansi for hardware) via my rock climbing saddle. I don't know the brand but it is &quot;diesel&quot; and certainly seems overkill/heavy but redundancy is fine with me here!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;o a simple pulley (not for rigging or life-support), a figure 8 (not for life support), 1-2 extra carabiners (proper kN but not triple-lock.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I right in thinking that, if I've got my rope and (sling/multi-function-lanyard/flipline/etc), and it's OK to un-hook myself from one setup while advancing the other, then I could climb as high as my line safely allowed? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I plan to use some sort of friction-saving device on any redirects but still want my rope to last, which is why I was thinking 16-strand. Are there any other options for my purposes?  I definitely don't want some super stiff or heavy line and I absolutely need to be able to tie knots in it.  I'm placing my first order with a 50/50 expectation something will be wrong and I'll need order #2 before I can even try anything out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17910" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-05-26T05:30:37.097" LastActivityDate="2021-05-20T16:59:35.230" Title="What are the components of a good climbing kit for recreational tree climbing?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1111" CreationDate="2019-05-24T23:24:31.633" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have numbers (yet), only rough guesstimates from observing the appetite of my 3 yo &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Swiss_Mountain_Dog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;swiss mountain dog&lt;/a&gt; He's on the skinny side and the least greedy dog I know, so appetite probably translates quite well to needs (at least for dry feed).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I observe decided variation in appetite depending on &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ambient temperature and &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;activity level. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd say that he probably needs twice as much when I take him for 15 km hiking or by bike at ≈ 0°C and 0°C night temp compared to lying around at 25 °C day temp/15 °C night (at 25 °C he waits till the heat wave is over, not much further activity possible than a short walk to the next creek). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further factors that increase the ration/feed need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The dog house is substantially more shelter than, say, a tarp when camping.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A dog who's not accustomed to camping will not be as relaxed and instead more active also during rest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;An indoor dog who isn't used to outdoor night temperatures and consequently hasn't grown proper winter fur will need to spend more energy on heating during rest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://furryfit.de/kalorienbedarf-hund/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This web page (in German)&lt;/a&gt; gives two rule-of-thumb calculations&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They start with a base need (RER): RER/kcal =  dog weight/kg * 30 + 70  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;RER is then multiplied by a factor depending on activity level, ranging from 1.6 - 1.8 for normal (low) activity up to &lt;strong&gt;8&lt;/strong&gt; for heavily working dogs (I guess that's long distance sled dog race level) and lactating bitches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unfortunately, there's no explanation what light/moderate/heavy work means.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also no indication of ambient temperature influence&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;nice: still, the table is comparably detailed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;approach starts with &#xA;metabolic weight = dog weight^0.75&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;metabolic weight is then again multiplied by activity dependent factor, ranging from 108 kcal/kg for long fur/old dog/low activity to 130 kcal/kg metabolic weight for active young dogs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(they give some sources which may contain further information).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plausibility checks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If heavy work translates to a 5-fold caloric need (1,6 -&gt; 8) with one formula, that should be similar with the other formula as well. (My guess: we're missing the activity-related factors for the 2nd formula and their old/furry/inactive vs. young active dog is probably the spread around the factor 1.6 - 1.8 in the other formula)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;OTOH, ration size very clearly doesn't increase linearly with dog size (weight).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;1st approach for my dog yields way to large feed ration for normal activity. 2nd approach is closer (30 % less than 1st approach).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-05-24T23:24:31.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22208" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-25T14:07:17.217" Score="4" ViewCount="233" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use pierceable butane canisters for cooking outdoors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2MnY7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2MnY7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that butane boiling point is 30 to 34 °F, is it safe to punch a hole in the canister when the outside temperature drops below 30 °F and transfuse the liquid butane to another canister?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17901" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-25T20:10:11.297" LastActivityDate="2019-05-29T13:32:01.063" Title="Can butane be transferred from one pierceable canister to another when its below the boiling point of butane?" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18589" CreationDate="2019-05-25T15:38:52.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For most people &quot;swimming&quot; is just splashing around and having fun in the water.  If this is the case, heavier materials like cotton and denim are no more dangerous than anything else.  Just take a look at a busy Midwestern lake on a summer weekend.  Plenty of people are in the water not wearing &quot;conventional&quot; swimwear just splashing around or playing with tubes or air mattresses.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17914" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T15:38:52.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22211" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22212" CreationDate="2019-05-25T19:44:27.760" Score="5" ViewCount="223" Body="&lt;p&gt;In order to charge my electrical equipment while backpacking (GPS, camera for timelapses, phone, etc) I bring along a large battery. To calculate the size of the battery you can figure out how many recharges each device will need and how big their batteries are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, charging one battery with another is not 100% efficient, a 20,000 mAh battery won't fully charge two 10,000 mAh batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much margin &lt;strong&gt;for the charging inefficiency&lt;/strong&gt; should I add?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T15:57:45.237" LastActivityDate="2020-05-06T12:36:34.600" Title="How much margin due to charging inefficiency should I add when calculating the size of batteries needed for a trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22211" CreationDate="2019-05-25T20:00:20.563" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The overall &lt;strong&gt;efficiency&lt;/strong&gt; from a power bank to a smartphone battery is about &lt;strong&gt;2/3&lt;/strong&gt;, according to this source: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.powerbankguide.com/powerbank-capacity-explained/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.powerbankguide.com/powerbank-capacity-explained/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The amount of energy a battery can provide depends on its voltage (nominal 5V for a USB power bank), the size of the supplied current in Amperes and how long the current can be kept flowing. Since the voltage is fixed (5V), current and time are sufficient to express the capacity of a power bank. The units of current and time are then used together: 10,000 mAh means that a current of 10,000 mA (milli Ampere, so actually 10 A) could be provided for 1 h, or 5 A for 2 h, or, since common charging currents for mobile phones are around 2 A, this current could be provided for 5 h.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get 10,000 mAh on the smartphone side, about 15,000 mAh will be drawn from the power bank. In other words, the &lt;strong&gt;required margin is about 50%&lt;/strong&gt; of the desired capacity. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="16784" LastEditDate="2019-06-05T11:41:50.290" LastActivityDate="2019-06-05T11:41:50.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22213" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22208" CreationDate="2019-05-25T20:07:41.187" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The butane will vaporize below the boiling point, just as water vaporizes below 100°C. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T20:07:41.187" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22214" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-25T20:39:26.230" Score="3" ViewCount="229" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of the butane gas cartridges I have seen have a screwable top for attaching your stove, however, there are apparently also pierceable cartridges without a screwable top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Quite_powerful_petard_for_campfire.JPG/320px-Quite_powerful_petard_for_campfire.JPG&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quite_powerful_petard_for_campfire.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would the advantage of this type of canister be or is this style just not seen in the U.S? (I went looking yesterday and the only ones I could find were screwable tops)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-27T15:55:50.133" LastActivityDate="2019-05-27T15:55:50.133" Title="What would the advantage of a piercable butane canister be?" Tags="&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22214" CreationDate="2019-05-25T20:58:03.580" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The advantage of the &quot;one way&quot;/piercable canisters is that they are way cheaper (up to four times with respect to price per mass of gas according to German Wikipedia). Also they are &quot;good enough&quot; for many purposes, I.e. when you can leave the stove or burner attached for the lifetime of the canister. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T20:58:03.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22214" CreationDate="2019-05-25T22:20:09.660" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In UK I have only ever used the simple type. The female part of the screw thread is on the shroud which clamps around the gas cartridge, and the appliance screws into that, instead of the canister. So there is only one screw thread to manufacture for the re-usable shroud, instead of every cartridge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9h6Zy.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9h6Zy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from the trade-off between the cost of the shroud and the cost of cartridges, an advantage is that appliances that use these cartridges don't need to match any thread size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-05-25T22:53:32.007" LastActivityDate="2019-05-25T22:53:32.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22217" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22218" CreationDate="2019-05-26T03:06:29.543" Score="7" ViewCount="240" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Chicago and would like to get a foldable kayak. As far as I can tell the only thing I need to do to be able to use it in Lake Michigan is get a watercraft registration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once I have that registration, can I launch from one of the public beaches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17916" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-05-28T12:08:53.143" LastActivityDate="2019-05-28T12:08:53.143" Title="Is it legal to launch a kayak from a public beach in Chicago?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22217" CreationDate="2019-05-26T03:33:32.023" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like it will depend on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/beaches&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;beach&lt;/a&gt;, some beaches have &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/osterman-beach&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;restrictions on where you can launch&lt;/a&gt;, some don't and some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/helen-doria-beach&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;do not allow kayaks or paddles sports&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would probably be easiest to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/contact-us&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ask the park department&lt;/a&gt; which beaches allow kayaks or you could go through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/beaches&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;list&lt;/a&gt; and see if a particular beach allows it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-05-26T03:33:32.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22221" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-26T21:01:28.490" Score="1" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hoping to ask a couple basic Q's before my order arrives, I suspect I may've gotten insufficient gear..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 - Is doubling-up ropes, or hardware, ever acceptable in climbing?  IE, my 8mm prusik cord is acceptable despite being below ANSI strength, &lt;em&gt;because&lt;/em&gt; I'm attached to two tails (so it becomes above 24kN), does this same logic apply in ways like me taking (2) lengths of my climb-rope (Blue Moon), knotting each's end to an O-ring, and making my own cambium saver/friction saver?  Or make a basal anchor by doubling-up in such a way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 - Is a figure-8 and your regular eye-in-eye hitch cord enough for a safe rappel?  I ordered a harness/rope/etc but I only got ascenders, for descent all I got was a figure-8....if that &amp;amp; controlling the friction-hitch/eye-in-eye isn't sufficient for safe descent, what do I need?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks a ton, am definitely going to be sure I never use anything not meeting ANSI but am planning on redundancies in some areas so wanna know these things, for instance if I set a canopy-anchor that my rope was running-through, but it wasn't a ring-in-ring but instead simply a carabiner tied to a lanyard, in such cases my instinct would be to just toss a 2nd carabiner there, even though the first one is ANSI-OK it seems to make sense both for peace-of-mind and just for rope-wear, heck I bought a handful of these steel thimbles to use in making loops on my rope, am already planning on using them in any&amp;amp;every instance they're applicable to reduce rope-on-rope friction!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17910" LastEditorUserId="17910" LastEditDate="2019-05-27T00:44:53.717" LastActivityDate="2020-02-16T12:06:30.920" Title="Have a couple basic Q's on climbing-line (1 on safely descending/rappelling, another on using multiple lines and/or hardware to achieve &quot;1+1=2&quot;?)" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22222" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-27T15:14:02.643" Score="9" ViewCount="953" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trying to find the &amp;quot;canonical&amp;quot; post on this topic without success - each post has its own take on the issue. And I understand that opinions and preferences abound - but I'm looking for sensible principles to apply (and resultant recommendations). Perhaps the most reputable discussion I found is on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112392702/vergo-or-cinch-as-tr-solo-device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if I were to summarize what I have learned I'd say that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need two devices for redundancy, separate from each other as in &lt;a href=&quot;https://blissclimbing.com/en/online-courses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsVvJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nsVvJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and the Gri-Gri is &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/dXc-7s6ielo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;not a valid alternative&lt;/a&gt;, despite some &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/8AnpN3gSho8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;online presentations&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112809195/solo-top-rope-petzl-microcender&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Microcender&lt;/a&gt; seems to be a crowd pleaser, among other things, because it is toothless, and doesn't fray or peel on the rope. However, it has been discontinued. Same goes for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112409425/toothless-progress-capture-device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silent Partner&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/107798804/soloist-devices&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Soloist&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IRO8q.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IRO8q.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/100209/petzl-rescucender-rope-grab&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Rescucender&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E65mEQ7KqPw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trango Vergo&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;the&lt;/em&gt; preferred alternatives for the primary device?&lt;/strong&gt; For instance, on the Mountain Project forum, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112429358/no-teeth-top-rope-solo-devices&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112454075/solo-top-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112409425/toothless-progress-capture-device&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rPYOX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rPYOX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the (or some of the) preferred secondary device? On the first image above, the secondary device (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/ASCENSION&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Handled Ascender&lt;/a&gt;) looks quite bulky... &lt;strong&gt;Should a toothed device like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/834987/petzl-micro-traxion-pulley&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl Micro Traxion&lt;/a&gt; be a favorite option?&lt;/strong&gt; By using it as a secondary device, you get all the benefits of a toothed device, but protect the rope since it will only get engaged if the primary device fails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTlba.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KTlba.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of note, I have also come across the recommendation of the Petzl Micro Traxion as the sole device as in this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sleWo.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sleWo.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevicesPage/Misc/RopeGrabPages/RopeGrab0778.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yates Rocker&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/115422/wild-country-ropeman-1-ascender&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Country Ropeman&lt;/a&gt; mentioned by &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/tech-tip-sport-the-quiet-art-of-solo-toproping/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Magazine&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it best to use a static rope (less elastic excursion; less problems with toothed devices) with two strands equalized via, for example, a figure 8 bunny ears knot at the top - one strand for climbing; the second strand as an escape belay or lowering (gri-gri) rope? This is probably shortsighted, giving priority to the rope over avoiding potential spine injuries with falls on static ropes - although &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/106965732/is-static-rope-ok-for-top-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;possibly not all that likely&lt;/a&gt;...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15411" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-21T19:56:24.173" LastActivityDate="2021-05-30T01:20:31.387" Title="Sensible primary and secondary device combination for toprope soloing" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22223" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-27T19:30:09.057" Score="15" ViewCount="1367" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking at a new pair of suede leather walking boots. Price is low due to one boot being in a shop window and so is faded and doesn't match the other boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: would the light damage potentially affect the waterproof(ness) of the goretex?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17925" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-28T18:48:25.223" LastActivityDate="2019-05-28T18:48:25.223" Title="Boots: Does light damage affect waterproofing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22223" CreationDate="2019-05-27T19:57:03.313" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. If the boots have a Gore-Tex membrane, this is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene#Applications_and_uses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;PTFE film&lt;/a&gt; that is sandwiched between the inner lining and the upper. Light going through a glass pane is mostly harmless. For example, most of the UV light (UVB) is blocked by glass. The only issue a pair of boots left in a display might have is color fading, that's usually due to some deterioration from the rest of the UV spectrum. Fortunately, the upper should act as a protective layer, just like your skin does.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes waterproof membranes fail is usually mechanical. Repeated flexing, delamination, and stretching will invariably lead to tearing of the material over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-05-27T19:57:03.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22222" CreationDate="2019-05-27T22:00:04.240" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You seem to have worked out many of the important principles that are needed for a system like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most authoritative source that I know of is Petzl's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/General-principles-for-solo-climbing-with-a-fixed-belay-rope&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;articles&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href=&quot;https://petzlsolutions.com/technicalsolutions/toprope-selfbelaying&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;top-rope&lt;/a&gt; soloing.  The downside is that they naturally only recommend Petzl devices.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Appendix-1--Petzl-d%C5%93s-not-recommend-using-only-one-ascender-for-self-belaying-?ActivityName=Multi-pitch-climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;While some of their ascenders&lt;/a&gt; are recommended for top-rope soloing in the articles, they also mention others that are unsafe to use.  In my opinion, the main takeaways from these articles are the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Top-rope soloing is more dangerous compared to climbing with a belayer.&#xA;Because you are alone, you have only yourself to rely on to catch mistakes so there is less room for error.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not rely on a single ascender.  While it may be unlikely, ascenders can fail (for instance if a foreign object gets inside) and this is likely to result in serious injury or death.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use ascenders of different types.  That way if one fails, the other is more likely to still hold since it is using a different mechanism.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you use a toothed ascender, make sure that there will be as little force on it as possible in the case of a fall by minimizing the fall distance.  Hard falls on toothed ascenders can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Appendix-2--Detail-of-installation-on-two-ropes-with-two-ascenders?ActivityName=Multi-pitch-climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;strip the sheath off the rope&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The safest system for top-rope soloing uses two ropes with one ascender on each one.  While more inconvenient, it allows for the possibility that a rope could be servered when it saws over a sharp edge while under tension.  This is possible as has been shown in tests and is more likely to happen when top rope soloing because the same part of the rope can come in contact with the same area on the rock multiple times (particularly if you are working on a hard move).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Petzl recommends a dynamic or semi-dynamic rope of 10mm or greater diameter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Petzl doesn't recommend against using a toothed ascender for the primary device.  However, I personally have observed minor damage to the sheath of the rope during some test falls that I did, so I would only use a toothed ascender for backup.  The damage wasn't enough to cause safety concerns, but I didn't really want it chewing up my rope over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not recommend using an assisted braking device such as the GriGri or Vergo for top-rope soloing.  Unlike with an ascender, you would have to manually feed rope through it while climbing.  Moreover, assisted breaking devices are not meant for catching a fall without the brake end of the rope being held.  Finally, unlike some of the ascenders in the linked article, the manufacturers do not recommend using them for top-rope soloing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful about information you read online as I have come across a lot of bad information while researching this topic.  It is important to verify anything you read (&lt;em&gt;including&lt;/em&gt; this answer) and make sure that the system is sound by thinking about it carefully and testing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good way to test the system is to attach your rope to a tree and do many test falls a few feet off the ground under the different conditions that you think you might encounter on a climb.  That way you don't have to find out if the system works correctly when you fall halfway up a cliff :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not use the system unless it works perfectly in your tests and there are no potential problems with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2021-05-30T01:20:31.387" LastActivityDate="2021-05-30T01:20:31.387" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22208" CreationDate="2019-05-29T13:15:34.447" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No. There is a safety system in the newer &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingaz.com/uk/p-26865-c206-gls.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;C206 canisters&lt;/a&gt; that should prevent you from emptying a pierced can, unintentionally or not. It remains to be found if this works at low temperature and pressures though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, the C206 GLS cartridge has a new integrated flow reducing system, the Gas Lock System, which is compliant to the new European standard EN 417:2012 legislation. The system prevents the majority of residual gas from escaping the cartridge when accidentally disconnecting it from the appliance, thereby also preventing flare-ups&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind, it is more than likely you'll find some C206 canisters filled with a butane/propane mix (the can pictured in the question shows one of those, note the dutch &lt;em&gt;butaan/propaan mengsel&lt;/em&gt; on the can) and since propane's boiling point is a whopping -43°F (-42°C), you'll certainly trigger the safety system when it starts escaping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-05-29T13:32:01.063" LastActivityDate="2019-05-29T13:32:01.063" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22228" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-29T15:03:36.523" Score="5" ViewCount="600" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which tree native to Florida produces these seeds? The pods are really long and the seeds inside are in the shape of little hearts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zEvky.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zEvky.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UXeSD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UXeSD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6RDvS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6RDvS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17931" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T16:26:37.447" LastActivityDate="2019-11-25T21:28:55.800" Title="Which tree produces heart shaped seeds enveloped in a long pod?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22228" CreationDate="2019-05-29T17:03:01.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;With pictures posted, it looks like it is the African tulip tree (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spathodea&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spathodea campanulata&lt;/a&gt;). The decisive features were the long pod with the pores. Similar (but not as strongly heart-shaped) seeds are seen in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;jacaranda tree&lt;/a&gt;, which has a wider and rounder pod, which usually opens with an outer membrane attached to the edges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T18:01:28.367" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T18:01:28.367" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7894" CreationDate="2019-05-30T02:23:02.800" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used foam mattress toppers before. So they can absolutely work well but there's a few things to keep in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thickness - 4&quot; is OK and would probably be great for a back sleeper on grass. However, on a more rocky/rigid surface that may only be entry-level comfort and you might find that bigger rocks can be felt underneath. Thus, you might need to find a buffer zone for those rigid areas (like an old compressed rollout mat used for backpacking or even a thick old blanket. Increasing the density of material between you and the ground is the key. I'd suggest anything over 4&quot; to find some decent comfort because that foam really compresses under body weight. 6&quot; would probably be the sweet spot, especially if you're more preferable to side sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Material - Memory foam is great, gel-infused memory foam is better. Gel allows for more air flow which means you get ventilated padding that doesn't heat up with your body as much as it could. Most people prefer cooler sleeping surfaces and that's backed by science that says ideally your room temp should be around 68-70 degrees for optimal conditions. Too warm = less sleep. Too cold = shivering/less sleep. Your sleeping bag/blanket set should do just fine as long as it's rated to handle the temperatures you're camping in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Weather - Wet weather is something to keep in mind. If you've got a great tent with a great rainfly then you won't really have an issue here. But if you're rolling with a budget tent and a small rainfly you gotta be very careful not to track water into your tent. A little isn't an issue but a leak will turn your sleeping area into a wet sponge and that sucks. If it's dry, regardless of cooler or warmer temps, then you'll be just fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting an inflating air mattress can set you back $100+, especially for a queen size. My wife and I got a queen size and I think it's OK but it leaks a little air when more than a couple hundred pounds are on it and that sucks for multi night camping and so I'm looking to buy a gel-foam topper and use a giant old foam topper as my base. Should give me roughly 6&quot; of foam to lay on and I may buy a duvet cover or some kind of cheap sheet to wrap it all in which will be great to lay on at night. BTW Walmart has pretty good deals on gel foam toppers. I think you can get a 3&quot; topper Full size for $30 - hard to beat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17932" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T02:23:02.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22231" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22232" CreationDate="2019-05-30T08:34:54.867" Score="7" ViewCount="435" Body="&lt;p&gt;We had birds (blue tits) at who work last year nested in a metal wall mounted cigarette bin, this year we provided a hand-made wooden bird box specifically designed for blue tits and then blocked up the larger holes on the cigarette bin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The young have since fledged, which is great and you can no longer hear anything inside the box. &lt;strong&gt;What time of year should we clean the box out, if at all?&lt;/strong&gt; Reason to ask is one young bird last year did die (the rest fledged) and was left by the parents however the cigarette bin gets cleaned out by maintenance staff, so the point was moot at the time. This box is not maintained by the same staff but by my work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T17:05:30.120" Title="When to clean out old bird boxes?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22231" CreationDate="2019-05-30T13:10:24.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like the answer is to clean them out at least once a year, &lt;strong&gt;once the breeding season is over and before winter&lt;/strong&gt;, which would be around the end of August in the northern hemisphere (or the end of February in the southern hemisphere).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a species has multiple broods, they can be cleaned out between each one, so long as you wait until after the birds have completely left the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The standard recommendation is to remove the materials and then clean the box with boiling water to kill the parasites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.discoverwildlife.com/uncategorized/how-to-clean-your-nestbox/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to clean your nestbox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.nhbs.com/wildlife_equipment/nestboxes-and-habitats/where-to-hang-and-how-to-maintain-your-nest-box/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The NHBS guide: Where to hang and how to maintain your nest box&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/nestboxes/nestboxes-for-small-birds/cleaning-nestboxes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cleaning Nestboxes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/birdhouses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audubon Recommendations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T17:05:30.120" LastActivityDate="2019-05-30T17:05:30.120" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22233" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-30T16:21:16.327" Score="3" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can you please help me identify what is leaving these piles in my detached garage in Northern New Jersey? In case the photo doesn't do it justice, the scat is in piles, against the exterior walls, seems wet, very dark, slightly squiggly, and consistently in the same place despite me removing the piles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We also have some field mice in the garage, but I know this isn't them. There are several other piles like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iJUBb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iJUBb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Dan" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T16:48:40.893" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T20:15:03.743" Title="Scat identification from northern New Jersey" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;scat-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22234" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-30T17:26:08.637" Score="6" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for an overnight backpacking trip to do in the next few weeks somewhere in western Washington. But I am worried about deep snow remaining on the trails.  Based on last winter's snowpack, the rate of melting this spring, and on prior knowledge of the trails in that area, can anyone here suggest a trail or trails, or even a local area, that would have good hiking conditions and possibly, although not necessarily, a few places snow-free places to camp?  For example, should I be looking at places below N feet in altitude?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17937" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-05-31T17:06:33.020" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T03:31:36.060" Title="What overnight backpacking trails are clear of deep snow now (or likely to be in the next two weeks) in northwest Washington?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;spring&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22235" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-05-30T01:14:30.347" Score="5" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pair of cardinals have nested in my yard for years. Yesterday found a young one in the yard, made it comfortable, just didnt want a cat to get it. Still alive, cant fly. What to do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Jody" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-05-30T20:00:03.263" LastActivityDate="2019-05-31T19:07:09.030" Title="What can I do with a lone young cardinal I found in my yard?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22237" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22238" CreationDate="2019-05-31T02:20:21.083" Score="6" ViewCount="1717" Body="&lt;p&gt;This woodchuck has been in and out of our yard in Massachusetts, United States, for a few weeks, since early May. It comes out from under our large rhododendrons which have a small area of woods behind them. We've only ever seen this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very alert; moves quickly around the yard; sits up high on its back feet to reach leaves. It eats a variety of grasses, plants, and all our dandelions! It doesn't seem to act sick, and definitely doesn't foam at the mouth or anything like that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of the fur on the rear half, and some on other areas, looks missing, and there's either a mark or a scrape on its nose. We think it's gorgeous, but we're concerned for its health. We're afraid it may have a disease, skin parasites, or something else which should be treated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't want to trap it and take it to a wildlife re-habilitation center if we can possibly help it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there something common to woodchucks that usually clears up without intervention? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sQYUt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sQYUt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;5646 2 eating dandelion&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vLtp0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vLtp0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;5643 face eating grass&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QNv3h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QNv3h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;5618 3 sniffing in the grass&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-05-31T02:25:21.850" LastActivityDate="2019-05-31T08:31:33.157" Title="Why is this woodchuck losing its fur?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22237" CreationDate="2019-05-31T08:31:33.157" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;So having a quick read this could be a molting process. Many animals have summer / winter coats and Woodchucks / Groundhogs are one of these lucky creatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Woodchucks have two layers of hair, the outer coat is made of course hair with a reddish-brown, gray, or white coloring.  The inner layer is a soft hair of  pale color and is used as insulation by the animal during hibernation.    The legs and tail have a dark brown or black coloration to them, and the hair is very short.  The belly is thinly lined with coarse hair but has no inner layer of insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So Woodchucks have a double layered coat - much like many dog breeds that molt - and in summer a double layer coat can get rather hot so usually it is shed in spring and grows again in autumn (or in some cases actually sheds again in autumn and the new coat comes up underneath). Some animals have a triple layer coat, which sheds in a similar manner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shedding of fur is done annually and has been observed to happen in April, May, and June.  The molting process begins at the tail and head at the same time.  The molt progresses down from the head and up from the tail until it meets in the middle where it is completed.  During this process hair seems blotchy because the new hair is brighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the hair however seems to be down to simply skin, that would be slightly different, and may require treatment, however the pictures match the above quote, with the hair mostly being left in the middle although the new hair looks very fine compared to the thick old hair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://lewand.tripod.com/bucksnorthuntingworld/id34.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Woodchuck facts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://animalsake.com/facts-about-groundhogs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Facts about Groundhogs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2019-05-31T08:31:33.157" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24609" CreationDate="2019-05-31T18:41:48.553" Score="2" ViewCount="151" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have often used the large snow free circles that form in the spring around the trunks of large trees as camping spots.  Even in an area blanketed with deep snow, there will be such bare, dry ground to camp on, although one may have a steep climb into or out of such a spot.  They are like dry wells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;First, what are such bare-ground wells called?&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that the dark tree trunk absorbs heat and then acts as a heater to speed up melting around the trunk.  Moreover, the snow was probably shallower around the trunk because of the tree branches.  We observed these circles under evergreens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Second, does this accelerated melting happen only when daytime temperatures go above freezing, or does it start earlier?&lt;/strong&gt;     &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-01T00:35:01.380" LastActivityDate="2020-01-01T17:28:32.950" Title="Looking for information about the large circles free of snow that form in the spring around the trunks of large trees?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22240" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22268" CreationDate="2019-06-01T13:53:06.517" Score="3" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a trip to Berlin together with my wife for a week. Initially we wanted to do Berlin-Hamburg on the bicycle, but the plane connections are awful and we decided to do a loopback from and to Berlin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have seen there are multiple options and we are looking for recommendations of the most scenic routes. We are in it for the experience, not for bragging about distance or speed, so the surroundings and the villages that we will pass through and where we will sleep over are more important than aerobic performance. We will be doing bed-and-breakfasts for accommodation. No camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please do suggest as many routes or places to see along the way, as we usually start cycling and rethink our master-plan in the evenings when we rest. Also, actual links to maps or other resources are welcome. Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1860" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T16:55:12.910" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T16:55:12.910" Title="One week bicycle tour around Berlin" Tags="&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22241" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-01T15:25:55.907" Score="19" ViewCount="9804" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the cooler is packed full of frozen food, does it need ice to stay frozen for 3 weeks or does ice somehow stay colder longer than frozen steak, sausage, hamburger etc.? I'm going on a 18 day Grand Canyon rafting trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17944" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T13:17:42.277" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T13:17:42.277" Title="Does an ice chest packed full of frozen food need ice?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;whitewater-rafting&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="19" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22242" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-01T18:11:06.283" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you look for the manufacturer's promises for these &quot;passive&quot; boxes (there is absolutely no cooling, just the attempt to keep the cool in - called isolation),  they usually state something around 24h to keep things cool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't even have to start thinking how the manufacturer got to this number. There is no way to use it in the way you proposed because your plans are on another level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastActivityDate="2019-06-01T18:11:06.283" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22243" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-01T23:50:35.880" Score="2" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;My &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8873/where-can-we-go-backpacking-out-west-under-8-500-feet-that-has-much-of-the-feel&quot;&gt;first question&lt;/a&gt; on TGO was about low altitude trips that have the feel of much higher elevations. I asked that question because of the declining physical capacity of my husband.  I received spectacular answers, which we were not able to take advantage of because my husband's health declined further soon after.  Hiking is now out of the question for him, as is camping or even a long plane trip.  So I am now asking a related, but definitely different question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can still hike, although I do not know if I can still easily acclimatize. &lt;strong&gt;But&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;I do not want to carry a pack&lt;/strong&gt; other than a day-pack &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; I don't think it wise to go off on my own on a multi-day trip, &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; I don't like groups. I'm at a loss with what to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, I'd like a private guide(s) who will do the carrying and the cooking and provide most of the gear.  I don't want to schlep more than personal stuff and possibly my own sleeping bag on an airplane.  That is, I am looking for a full-service private guide who works in the California Sierra or a comparable place.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point, someone is saying this is a shopping//price Question!  &lt;strong&gt;It is absolutely not a price question.&lt;/strong&gt;  I have a pretty good idea about the cost.  Nor am I asking for a list of reputable private guides (although I sure would not refuse to look at such a list!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am asking (a) if such a service exists in the Sierra (or in Sierra-like terrain) and (b) if it does, what is an efficient and effective way to find reputable candidates.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I said Sierra-like terrain because I was greatly intrigued by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8873/where-can-we-go-backpacking-out-west-under-8-500-feet-that-has-much-of-the-feel/8888#8888&quot;&gt;answer of @gerrit&lt;/a&gt; to my first question, although it looks wet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-03T12:53:35.493" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T12:53:35.493" Title="What is an efficent and effective way to find a reputable private guide for a backpacking trip?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;rocky-mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-02T04:17:48.450" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: A cooler containing more ice and less frozen food will last longer than a cooler containing all frozen food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With frozen contents of a given mass, the length of time a cooler will stay cold is proportional to the latent heat of fusion of the contents. The latent heat of fusion of water ice is 334 joules per gram. ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) gives the latent heat of fusion of various foods as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lean sirloin 239 J/g &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bacon 105 J/g &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Italian sausage 171 J/g &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Chicken    220 J/g&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional foods can be found in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwj924m68cniAhWKjlkKHQBxAroQFjAAegQIAxAC&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Ffile.PostFileLoader.html%3Fid%3D57dc0df6dc332d6c7a2b0e94%26assetKey%3DAS%253A406964417908742%25401474039286881&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw1HHmI0XznuiO5wHqtXiGbA&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ASHRAE Handbook, Chapter 9&lt;/a&gt;, Table 3. The latent heat of fusion of water at 334 J/g exceeds that of any food, so the more ice and the less frozen food in the cooler, the longer it will last.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17948" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T04:17:48.450" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-02T04:49:40.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will not comment on the general feasibility of your plan.  However, I did a little research about the specific heat of various materials, and the results are actually pretty interesting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are looking at how long a given item will stay cold.  Said another way, we are interested in how much heat energy the food or ice can absorb while remaining cold.  The relevant property is called &lt;a href=&quot;http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/spht.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;specific heat&lt;/a&gt;, or how much energy must be added to a given quantity of material to raise it by a given temperature.  This value changes based on a number of different factors.  One factor is the phase the material is in, such as solid or liquid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a reference, the specific heat of liquid water is 4.187kJ/kgK, while the specific heat of solid water (ice) is 2.108 kJ/kgK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942910600755151&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fascinating study&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id=57dc0df6dc332d6c7a2b0e94&amp;amp;assetKey=AS%3A406964417908742%401474039286881&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pdf excerpt&lt;/a&gt; (warning: does download a file) from a &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books/about/2006_ASHRAE_Handbook.html?id=touHPwAACAAJ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;refrigeration handbook&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will fully admit that the some of the math in the pdf goes over my head, but I understand enough to feel comfortable writing this answer. The authors note that one of the most important factors in determining the behavior of foodstuffs is the fraction of ice present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the more interesting things that I noticed when looking at the tables of specific heat in both sources was that while water has a higher specific heat capacity than essentially any food item, ice does not show the same trend, especially in meats.  Based on that, I would say that frozen meat should take more energy per unit mass to heat up than ice, and meat is also more dense than ice.  Based on that, a solid cube of meat should stay cool longer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are a couple wrinkles in this.  You are not dealing with a solid chunk of meat, but a bunch of smaller chunks which while &quot;packed full&quot;, will probably not be truly packed as a solid piece of ice.  Also, while various meat products are better at staying cold, that's with the caveat that we are talking about the temperature regime in which they are frozen.  Once thawed, they have appreciably lower specific heat capacity than liquid water.  This is relevant, since meat needn't stay 100% frozen to be safe (as long as it is eaten within a day or two), and so liquid water will need more heat than the food will to warm up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22244/9104&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; brings up a good point in discussing the heat of fusion, which takes significant amounts of energy.  Looking at chicken, for example, 1 kg will take in 220 kJ to that, while it takes 3.32 kJ to raise the temperature of that same chicken by 1 Kelvin.  As the other user stated, the heat of fusion of water is 334 kJ/kg, a difference of 114 kJ.  This is equivalent to the energy required to raise the temperature of the chicken by 34.3 K.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;In Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done a little revising of my ideas while writing this answer, after reading one of the other answers which was posted while I was in the middle of mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While fully frozen, meats tend to have a higher specific heat&#xA;capacity than water&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Water still has a higher latent heat of fusion than meat&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While it is harder to heat frozen meat than ice, it is far harder to&#xA;melt ice than thaw meat&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Therefore:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A cooler full of meat will stay cold longer (will take longer to get to the point where it will thaw, but will melt/thaw faster)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A cooler full of ice will stay frozen longer (will heat up to its melting point, but will take longer to fully melt)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Also:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you take out your food to use/eat it, you remove some of the cooling ability of the contents of your cooler. Therefore, the more food you eat, the faster the contents will heat up.  If you add a significant quantity of ice, you mitigate that by having a baseline quantity of cold material that will not be removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use ice.  It stays as a heat sink even when the cooler is almost empty of food.  Also, while it heats faster from -40 °C to 0 °C, it makes up for it in the energy required to actually melt the ice, which will keep your food colder in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm doubtful of things lasting 18 days, but definitely pre-chill the frozen stuff as cold as you can beforehand.  Frozen is frozen, but there's a significant difference between -5 °C and -50 °C in terms of how long stuff will &lt;em&gt;stay&lt;/em&gt; frozen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T04:49:40.120" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-02T15:57:22.083" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming the amount of food you want to take and your coolbox size is fixed, so the question you're asking is really whether you should fill every remaining gap with ice, or whether you should leave it as air. The answer to this is that air inside your coolbox is a big problem, and will majorly contribute to thawing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific heat capacity of air is around 1kJ/kgK, compared to around 2kJ/kgK for ice. This tells us how much energy is needed to heat a kg of ice/water. We can change this to volumes by multiplying by density to get a volumetric heat capacity, giving us about 1kJ/m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;K for air and 2000kJ/m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;K for ice. This shows that ice requires 2000 times as much heat as air for the same temperature change. The benefit of ice is actually more than this, because it also takes in a lot of heat without changing temperature as it melts. Your frozen food, and basically any solid or liquid, is going to be way more similar to the ice than the air, so the big factor determining melting rate is going to be how much empty space there is. Basically, every space in coolbox should be filled with ice so there's as little air as possible, and when you remove food you should replace it with something solid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Yeti website backs this up &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yeti.com/en_US/ice-retention.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;AIR IS THE ENEMY &#xA;  Large areas of air inside your cooler will accelerate&#xA;  ice-melt as the ice is consumed cooling the air. These spaces are best&#xA;  filled with extra ice, towels, or crumpled newspaper if weight is a&#xA;  concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;18 days frozen is a very long time - if you know others who have done this please talk to them to find out exactly how they did it, and definitely test out your box before you go. You're going to need a really large coolbox for that to be feasible. &lt;a href=&quot;https://thecoolerbox.com/yeti-cooler-10-day-ice-test-challenge-tundra-45-model/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; review of the Yeti Tundra 45 has it lasting 10-11 days but always in the shade and at temperatures of only 10-20 Celsius. Summer in the grand canyon you're looking at more like 20-40 Celsius, and you not going to be able to guarantee shade all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17953" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-06-04T01:46:44.683" LastActivityDate="2019-06-04T01:46:44.683" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-02T18:02:48.677" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The water temperature, which used to get as warm as 80 degrees F, is now icy-cold all year and averages around 42 degrees F&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And hey, what do you know, refrigerators are often set at 42F... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So... multiple smaller high quality coolers, with dry ice and your frozen meals.  Do not open them until needed, and try not to need them until the previous cooler is empty or at least mostly empty.  You'll keep stuff frozen for a long time in a sealed cooler with dry ice, and then use a drag bag or two as a refrigerator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that for longest storage, you'll want to vacuum seal and make sure the food is truly completly frozen at well below 32F/0c &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** EDIT as response to comments ** &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperature quote is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/misc/gc_coriv.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/misc/gc_coriv.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar temps or ranges of temps that indicate &quot;refrigerator temp for many folks&quot; are indicated on multiple other sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By &quot;smaller cooler&quot; I mean break things into 3 or 4 &quot;3 day&quot; size coolers instead of 1 &quot;10 day&quot; size cooler. With one larger cooler all the foods are being exposed to the changes in temp caused by opening and closing the cooler to access the food within.  With smaller coolers, only the food you are planning on consuming in the next couple of days is exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14021" LastEditorUserId="14021" LastEditDate="2019-06-02T22:56:38.713" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T22:56:38.713" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5846" CreationDate="2019-06-02T21:05:38.527" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other answers have already explained what SPF is, I will focus on an aspect of high SPF sunscreens that has not been discussed here yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two ways sunscreen can work.  The first is by passively blocking UV light (e.g. titanium dioxide and zinc oxide based sunscreens.  The second type relies on various organic compounds to actively react with UV rays and absorb them.  Very high SPF sunscreens (more than 50 SPF or so) are of the absorbing type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few downsides to actively absorbing sunscreens.  First, some of the organic chemicals used may have health risks and have even been banned in some countries.  A more practical downside is that to achieve a very high SPF, one must use a wider array and higher concentrations of UV absorbing organic chemicals.  A side effect is that high SPF suncreens are more unpleasant if you happen to get them in your eyes (which is easy to do).  I have experimented with very high SPF sunscreens to see if there was any benefit at higher altitudes and getting very high SPF sunscreen in your eyes is quite unpleasant.  By contrast, my eyes do not get irritated when I use 50 SPF titanium and zinc oxide based sunscreens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it won't be an issue for most, due to the longer list of UV absorbing chemicals in higher concentrations, very high SPF sunscreens are also more likely to irritate the skin and some users have reported adverse reactions that they did not experience with lower SPF sunscreens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is that there are disadvantages to very high SPF sunscreens and there is no real benefit.  As mentioned in other answers, SPF 50 already gives you 98% protection.  The highest available SPF I have seen is 110 which provides about 99.1%.  This simply is not enough to make a significant difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastActivityDate="2019-06-02T21:05:38.527" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22256" CreationDate="2019-06-02T23:55:49.573" Score="3" ViewCount="321" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm using a rappel extension similar to what is shown in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/113362076&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; and that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmCNNsjDrVA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one&lt;/a&gt;.  When the rappel start is a straight drop-off from a ledge and the anchor is low to the ground, I find it difficult to start the rappel as shown in FotH 9th ed. p.216 (description below) as my ATC (tube-type breaking device) often gets stuck above while I lower into position below the ledge and weigh the rope.  An obvious solution to this would be to forego the extended rappel and clip the ATC directly to the belay loop and clip the autoblock on the leg loop but I'm not a big fan of the leg-loop approach.  Is there a way to start straight drop-off rappels using an extension without getting my gear stuck above?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to the technique described in FotH:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Essentially the procedure it describes for steep ledges and/or low anchors is to 1- sit down on the ledge as though sitting in a chair; 2- start to rotate to your left until you're facing the rock (assumes right hand is brake hand). This works much better when you can find decent footing. They call the technique is called 'sit-and-spin'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to how the ATC gets stuck:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It means that most of my body is over the ledge and the rope is weighted but my ATC, due to the extension, is still on top of the ledge. Given the rope is weighted, it is difficult to make the ATC pass the over the ledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17956" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-06-04T08:41:33.787" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T07:49:28.167" Title="Rappel: How do I start rappel from a ledge when using rappel extension" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13778" CreationDate="2019-06-03T02:40:40.853" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently ran into a mention of the Coolfire system:  &lt;a href=&quot;https://coolfiretrainer.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://coolfiretrainer.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding of it is that it attaches to a real gun and simulates recoil.  I have no experience with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also cameras that attach to a gun and record what happens when you pull the trigger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T02:40:40.853" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15609" CreationDate="2019-06-03T03:03:55.720" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had multiple encounters with wild horses in an environment where they are used to the presence of hikers.  There was an obvious pattern where approaching within a certain distance (which isn't the same for each horse) would cause the horse to switch from natural behavior to wary behavior.  Any approach beyond that point would result in rapidly increasing alarm on the horses' part and the person doing it would be promptly warned by others to stay back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if one was standing still the horses would approach well within this distance without showing any worry and I have had an incident where a horse wished to go somewhere that due to terrain and a rail forced it to pass only a couple of feet from me.  It was obviously wary but nothing like it would have been had I walked that close to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had a similar experience with some other such animals that I was told were bighorn sheep (but I'm not at all sure of this!) where in their grazing they approached to about 20 feet from me with only a few glances at me (and I wasn't completely still--I had my camera out, taking pictures.)  When I moved away a couple of other people moved to the same spot--and now the animals looked &lt;strong&gt;quite&lt;/strong&gt; worried, enough so that I would have gotten out of there promptly.  (Again, this was an area where hunting was not permitted.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T03:03:55.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22234" CreationDate="2019-06-03T03:31:36.060" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This forum is worldwide, you're not going to get a good localized answer.  I do have two suggestions, though:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)  Look at local hiking groups.  I suspect you have Meetup groups, there might be others, also.  See where they are scheduling hikes, and see what people are saying about past events.  There is no substitute for eyeballs on the trails.  (Just yesterday we got a surprise.  We were on a loop that doesn't have a lot of elevation change.  The first 4 miles have little shade, we saw the occasional mass of snow in shady spots off the trail.  The last two have a lot more shade--and even those of us with poles and microspikes decided it was unsafe to continue.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2)  Ask the rangers in the area(s) you are considering what the conditions are.  It's unlikely they have eyeballed everything but plenty of hikers will let them know about problems they found on the trails so they will have a reasonable picture of the trail conditions in their area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T03:31:36.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22252" CreationDate="2019-06-03T08:31:51.037" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't extend your rappel too far&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your extended brake device gets stuck above the ledge, you probably extended it too far. This might also lead to problems if you have to pass a knot or otherwise need to reach up to your device. Tie up your extension sling to get a length that works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Rappell over the ledge, don't crawl&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that might give you problems is if you try to &quot;crawl over&quot; the ledge instead of fully comitting to a rapell from the start. Stand on the edge. Check everything one last time. Lean back over the edge until your feet are in the same position against the wall/edge as while rapelling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By now your device should surely have cleared the edge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caveat:&lt;/strong&gt; This does not work with a low anchor close to a sharp edge. (The angles involved would create a huge force multiplier) avoid such anchors unless you have no other choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2019-06-24T07:49:28.167" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T07:49:28.167" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-03T09:56:11.460" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have pointed out, you cannot do so with a portable cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is, however, possible to keep ice for months, passively.  You will need to dig an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_house_(building)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ice house&lt;/a&gt;, which should be the size of a typical basement/cellar, and fill it with several tons of ice during the winter.  The Grand Canyon North Rim should have plenty, you can either dig your pit on the rim or dig it further down, and carry your ice.  Pack animals may come in handy here.  Store your food with this ice, and it should remain quite good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're unlikely to get a permit to dig such a construction in the National Park or the neighbouring National Forest.  Perhaps you'll have some luck on neighbouring BLM land (maybe just outside the Kanab Creek Wilderness Area).  Team up with some history enthusiasts for this exercise in enacting pre-modern cooling methods.  Maybe you can contact National Geographic or so for a grant and they can make a documentary of your efforts, such that the process is funded.  Should be fun!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T09:56:11.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22259" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22260" CreationDate="2019-06-03T10:15:28.373" Score="31" ViewCount="7518" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently become aware of the american 'survivalist' or 'prepper' phenomenon. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general idea seems to be that 'something bad' (exactly what seems to vary) is going to happen, civilization will collapse and the survivalists will run to the hills and live off the land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It occurs to me that the hills are likely to get over crowded fairly quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than living off the land, is it possible to live off the sea instead?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't a question about the mechanics of living afloat (repairing your boat, fixing leaks, keeping the reverse osmosis plant working) it's more a question of can someone gather/hunt/farm all of the nutrients required to be healthy whilst never having to land again? Obviously fish would be a prime source of food, but would that provide everything a human body needs? Is plant matter essential for survival and if so are seaweeds adequate and can they be farmed? Or are their some essential nutrients that can only be gathered from the land?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17962" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-06-03T11:03:45.567" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T09:19:19.697" Title="Is it possible to 'live off the sea'" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22260" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22259" CreationDate="2019-06-03T11:13:17.663" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;Theoretically, it might be possible to survive on fish, rainwater and desalinated seawater. In &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.jbc.org/content/87/3/651.full.pdf+html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one 1930 experiment&lt;/a&gt;, two men survived for a year eating exclusively meat without experiencing any health issues. This indirectly suggests that meat (and therefore possibly also fish) contain all the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nutrientsreview.com/glossary/essential-nutrients&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;essential nutrients&lt;/a&gt;, but this was a small and relatively short study from which you cannot conclude this would work for other people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential nutrient deficiencies&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/15082?fgcd=&amp;amp;manu=&amp;amp;format=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;order=asc&amp;amp;qlookup=salmon%20cooked&amp;amp;ds=&amp;amp;qt=&amp;amp;qp=&amp;amp;qa=&amp;amp;qn=&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;ing=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fish&lt;/a&gt; contains &lt;em&gt;proteins&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;fats&lt;/em&gt;, but no &lt;a href=&quot;https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/75/5/951/4689417&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;carbohydrates&lt;/em&gt; - which are not essential nutrients&lt;/a&gt;. There are some carbohydrates in &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/15157?fgcd=&amp;amp;manu=&amp;amp;format=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;order=asc&amp;amp;qlookup=mollusk&amp;amp;ds=&amp;amp;qt=&amp;amp;qp=&amp;amp;qa=&amp;amp;qn=&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;ing=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;clams&lt;/a&gt;, other shellfish and &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11445?fgcd=&amp;amp;manu=&amp;amp;format=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;order=asc&amp;amp;qlookup=seaweed&amp;amp;ds=&amp;amp;qt=&amp;amp;qp=&amp;amp;qa=&amp;amp;qn=&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;ing=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;seaweed&lt;/a&gt;. Without plant food, you do not get any &lt;em&gt;dietary fiber,&lt;/em&gt; which could cause constipation in many people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish, shellfish and seaweed in combination seem to contain all the essential nutrients, but the question is if you would get them in &lt;a href=&quot;http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2019/DRI-Tables-2019/6_DRIValues_Summary.pdf?la=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sufficient amounts&lt;/a&gt; from the food you could gather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The signs of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vitamin C deficiency&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; can appear within 1 month of little or no vitamin C intake (below 10 mg/day). &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/nutrients/report/nutrientsfrm?max=25&amp;amp;offset=0&amp;amp;totCount=0&amp;amp;nutrient1=401&amp;amp;nutrient2=&amp;amp;fg=15&amp;amp;subset=0&amp;amp;sort=c&amp;amp;measureby=g&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seafood high in vitamin C&lt;/a&gt; (&gt;5 mg/100 g) includes certain shellfish, crabs, octopus and roe; &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11445?fgcd=&amp;amp;manu=&amp;amp;format=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;order=asc&amp;amp;qlookup=seaweed&amp;amp;ds=&amp;amp;qt=&amp;amp;qp=&amp;amp;qa=&amp;amp;qn=&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;ing=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;kelp&lt;/a&gt; contains 3 mg and most fish contain less than 1 mg per 100 g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nof.org/patients/treatment/calciumvitamin-d/a-guide-to-calcium-rich-foods/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;calcium&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; from the fish that have soft edible bones (sardines, salmon) and from shrimps. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/seafood-nutrition/patients-and-consumers/seafood-nutrition-overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fish meat&lt;/a&gt; is relatively low in calcium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/nutrients/report/nutrientsfrm?max=25&amp;amp;offset=0&amp;amp;totCount=0&amp;amp;nutrient1=303&amp;amp;fg=15&amp;amp;subset=1&amp;amp;sort=c&amp;amp;measureby=m&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iron&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; can be found in sufficient amounts in certain shellfish and fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Vitamin B12&lt;/em&gt; is abundant in fish. &lt;a href=&quot;https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/15082?fgcd=&amp;amp;manu=&amp;amp;format=&amp;amp;count=&amp;amp;max=25&amp;amp;offset=&amp;amp;sort=default&amp;amp;order=asc&amp;amp;qlookup=salmon%20cooked&amp;amp;ds=&amp;amp;qt=&amp;amp;qp=&amp;amp;qa=&amp;amp;qn=&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;ing=&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salmon&lt;/a&gt; contains 4.5 mcg of vit B12 per 100 g; the daily requirement is only 2 mcg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential nutrient and toxin excess&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most fish species are low in &lt;em&gt;sodium&lt;/em&gt; (&amp;lt;100 mg/100 g), but shellfish can contain up to 500 mg (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/seafood-nutrition/patients-and-consumers/seafood-nutrition-overview&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seafood Health Facts&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certain seaweeds can contain high amounts of &lt;a href=&quot;https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-HealthProfessional/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;iodine&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fda.gov/food/metals/mercury-levels-commercial-fish-and-shellfish-1990-2012&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mercury&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; in high amounts is found in shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish and bigeye tuna. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fda.gov/food/metals/what-you-need-know-about-mercury-fish-and-shellfish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common fish low in mercury&lt;/a&gt; are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you can avoid getting &quot;toxic&quot; amounts of any nutrient by carefully selecting seafood. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In conclusion,&lt;/strong&gt; it may be possible to &lt;em&gt;survive&lt;/em&gt; for a year or more exclusively on seafood, but the question is how &lt;em&gt;healthy&lt;/em&gt; is such high-protein, low-carb and low vitamin C diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T09:19:19.697" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T09:19:19.697" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22261" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-03T13:02:25.327" Score="3" ViewCount="352" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definitely not a duplicated question to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4329/15411&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;... Rather a much more specific question...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The situation arises when there are bolted anchors at foot level on the edge of the cliff:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vo6u2.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vo6u2.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue is that if you have set up the anchor off a cordelette (or a sling) as in...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ozEnL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ozEnL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and you clip a dynamic rope to this anchor, and then set up the rappelling device (extended ATC with Prusik knot)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Ojoh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4Ojoh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;you may very well find yourself hanging from some 4 to 5 feet of slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't set up a static rope in the back of the ledge (say, off a tree or boulder) to lower yourself smoothly until the rappel device comes under tension, I only see two solutions to avoid downclimbing on a slack rappel setup with a possible nasty slip:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Set up a static rope off one of the bolts (using one of the locking biners already in use for the main anchor), and use a grigri to lower yourself until the Prusik engages the ATC and makes the rappel device taut. This would entail connecting a dynamic system and the static rope to a single biner, which is probably not a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Perhaps using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/890387/petzl-connect-adjust-lanyard?CAWELAID=120217890000819158&amp;amp;CAGPSPN=pla&amp;amp;CAAGID=15877509280&amp;amp;CATCI=pla-417281855227&amp;amp;cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C404_153507%7C8903870001%7Cnone%7Ce8ee22e0-2f28-4472-8b5b-82ec4e7cfb21%7Cpla-417281855227&amp;amp;lsft=cm_mmc:PLA_Google_LIA%7C404_153507%7C8903870001%7Cnone%7Ce8ee22e0-2f28-4472-8b5b-82ec4e7cfb21&amp;amp;kclid=e8ee22e0-2f28-4472-8b5b-82ec4e7cfb21&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwitPnBRCQARIsAA5n84mKL4zjZXf2yLyORU18P-4MBjZrNtw858aC3fqakE4hcr98VIlvTEsaAgbAEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;personal anchor system&lt;/a&gt;. And this is the question. Good idea? Can the Petzl device below (with progressive lengthening options) avoid a bad fall with a huge fall factor? How can the PAS be disengaged after placing the rappel system under tension?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like this...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RphbC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RphbC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... using the Petzl personal anchor system:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EswSM.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EswSM.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a way of lowering oneself to make the rappel device taut below the bolted anchors using the Petzl PAS (biner to one of the anchoring biners). In this case, the system is tied to the bolts via a figure 8 bunny-ears knot, leaving two strands of a static rope to rappel down, or lowering oneself using one strand and a GriGri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJUu3.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJUu3.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15411" LastEditorUserId="15411" LastEditDate="2020-12-05T02:15:35.397" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T16:26:43.967" Title="Use of a personal anchor system to rappel (abseil) off a cliff with anchors by the edge and at foot level" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-03T13:03:29.070" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To give two more numbers that can serve as rough guesstimates which make clear that cooling for 18 days on a tour is likely unfeasible. I'm assuming &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; tour as it isn't specified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One rule of thumb for shipping biological (research) material on dry ice in the type of styrofoam containers used for this is to pack 1 kg of dry ice per day.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Which would be 18 kg in your case. In that order of magnitude you probably need a bit less because the surface area : volume ratio gets better (and these shipping rules are meant to ensure the material will stay deep frozen). OTOH, those packages are not opened during shipping.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In any case, say, 15 kg of coolant is not feasible for hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I've had occasion to do some experiments for someone who had to take medication with them on a 2 week hiking tour. I took such a shipping box of styrofoam and added further styrofoam to improve insulation (to about 7 cm wall thickness - the medication didn't take much space, would be different with food). 250 g of (water) ice took ≈ 1 day to melt and heat up to 7 °C in that box with 19 °C outside temp, that's a bit more than 1 W thermal. Again, no opening of the lid in between - my &lt;em&gt;guess&lt;/em&gt; is that opening can easily double those thermal losses.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So depending on how often you open the box and what your outside temperature is, you may do OK with, say, 10 kg of ice for 18 days (more mass =&gt; more surface =&gt; more losses, even if the loss doesn't increase proportionally).  It wouldn't matter whether those are inside your meat or extra as long as you always only eat meat that thawed already in the box.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(For the medication the solution was that it turned out to be OK with up to 3 weeks at up to room temperature, so keeping it insulated and/or slightly cooled during the day was sufficient. A moist towel to use evaporation cooling around the insulation box was sufficient.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;OTOH, if you can have a cache in the river you have a refrigerator at hand according to the temperature @ivanivan cites. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For practical purposes, we can assume that the latent heat in frozen water inside the food is the same as that of the same amount of ice outside the food.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So from that perspective, it doesn't matter whether you pack your latent heat sink inside or outside the meat.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But of course, if you want refrigerate a given amount of food but not more, for a specified duration, you may need additional ice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(In any case, hamburger or other ground meat is the wrong idea as this will spoil easily: go for meat that isn't that sensitive to cooling and storage time, e.g. beef or venison, no ground meat, no pork, no chicken, no fish. Note that spoiled meat is not only spoiled but under outdoor hygiene conditions you should also avoid contaminating your fingers with spoiled meat)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless the conditions of your tour are so that you anyways have to carry all your water for those 18 days (and even then: would you be willing to drink that melt water?), is carrying around 10ish kg of water or other coolant plus the bulk of the insulation for having best case ca. 2 kg of protein really practicable?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you move to dried meat (jerky/biltong/...) or summer sausage, you neither need cooling nor do you need to carry around that much water.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You coudl also think about other sources of macronutrients that don't need cooling and don't have too much water. There's a wide variety ranging from  hard cheese over milk/egg/whey powder to vegetable or whey protein powders for protein. Fat/lipids and carbohydrates are also easily available without much water and without the need for cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2019-06-03T19:01:27.387" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T19:01:27.387" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-03T13:27:24.310" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is that you need to get rid of all the air from inside your ice box. So no, frozen food by themselves won't work. The easiest way to deal with this is to let an outfitter prepare the food. Even for a private unguided trip, you can get outfitters to do all the logistics work from put-in to take-out (that's what we did when I rafted the Grand).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The method all outfitters in the Grand Canyon use is with cavernous ice boxes like this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.yeti.com/en_CA/hard-coolers/tundra-250-cooler/YT250.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yeti&lt;/a&gt; model. The raft rigs are often made so the ice chest is used as the rower's chair in the middle of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, in order to stay frozen for the entire trip, the ice boxes have to be filled with water and deep frozen:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;By choosing [this outfitter], you’ve signed up for the most effective food pack on the river. That’s because of our unique cooler freezing system that makes the best use of your space. We don’t mess around with blocks of ice that don’t last very long on a hot trip. Instead, we freeze ice into a solid block in your cooler that allows you to keep your food fresh to the takeout. It takes a tremendous effort on our end, but this is the extra mile on which [the outfitter] has built our reputation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have experienced it through &lt;a href=&quot;https://moenkopiriverworks.com/food-pack/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the outfitter&lt;/a&gt; we contracted, and it works. It needs decent preparation as you have to lay the food inside in the order you expect to use it and dig it out of the ice as you go. Every day we'd pick at the solid block and get only what we needed. Our meat boxes stayed frozen for 21 days (although it was in November, I know it works just as well in the summer) and could have lasted longer for sure. There was another even larger group that we caught up with as our take-out day was the same. They stayed on the river 28 days with the exact same setup we had (same outfitter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The produce boxes, even without ice, stayed cool as the bottom of the rafts always were cold, the air inside being cooled by the 45°F or so water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ice boxes were way too heavy to move and they stayed rigged in the boats the entire trip. That ensures there's a constant cooling effect from the water as the boats stay at least partly in the water the entire trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proper handling needs to be observed. Don't open the box needlessly and keep it open as briefly as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What you should do:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your particular case, if you wanted to carry extras for yourself, you could get a smaller ice box and use the same technique. All you need is a chest freezer large enough to accomodate your box while it freezes. Then, to make sure it stays frozen as long as possible, keep the box in the water at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll already be using &lt;a href=&quot;http://goodvibesrivergear.com/mesh-drag-bag/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;drag bags&lt;/a&gt; for your beer, and you could do the same for your personal ice box. Just remember to haul it back inside the boat for the bigger rapids and it should be fine. Make sure your icebox is watertight too: getting water in and out of it as it's dragged in the river behind the boat is a sureshot way to melt it all in record time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't expect a smaller ice box will stay frozen as long as the larger ones, but you'll be good for at least a week if you're taking care of it properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main issue is carrying your frozen box to the put-in. That's the only leg where it will be entirely in hot air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-06-03T16:35:44.883" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T16:35:44.883" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22264" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-03T13:49:28.293" Score="3" ViewCount="105" Body="&lt;p&gt;On my hike through the Uinta mountains, I came across this greyish bird and her 3-4 chicks. The timelapse I took of the birds can be seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/HgmPM0vjf2o?t=527&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nTXbc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nTXbc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like some sort of grouse, does anybody know what kind of bird this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T13:49:28.293" Title="What kind of bird is this greyish small chicken sized one I found in the Uintas?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22265" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-03T15:24:56.950" Score="5" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning on hiking the PCT next summer (April 2020-August 2020).  I have nearly eleven months to prepare, physically and mentally, and nearly eleven months to read up on the PCT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a lot of backcountry experience, but no thru-hikes. Furthest I've gone is 20 miles in one day, 20 back out the next.  Thus I have no experience in hiking long distances day after day after day for several months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the next eleven months, I'm planning on doing a lot of conditioning to get my strength and endurance up.  I would appreciate suggestions on what to do to prepare physically and mentally for a long through-hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I also need to read up on the Trail itself and what equipment and foods to pack and how to resupply.  When I have done some research on these topics, I will probably have some further questions for TGO. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17966" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2019-06-07T15:19:57.180" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T14:53:24.763" Title="How can I prepare physically for a long distance thru-hike such as the Pacific Crest Trail?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;pacific-crest-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22261" CreationDate="2019-06-03T16:41:04.143" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you are looking to rappel for fun, you should find a place better suited for it. As you mentioned, the anchors are not well situated for an easy rappel. If you want to rappel off that cliff, just set the anchor off the trees and and use a static line running over the edge so you can use do a straight simple setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If somehow I was forced into this situation and for some reason I did not want to use the trees, I would just use a regular non-extended setup. I would tie the rappel rope off and attempt to down climb. If I fall, no big deal, the rope will catch me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T16:41:04.143" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22240" CreationDate="2019-06-03T22:10:46.377" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As @Pont says, there are lots of train connections to Berlin, so one-way bike tour + return by train or also hopping from one nice region to another by train is definitively an option you should consider. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of maps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.opencyclemap.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.opencyclemap.org/&lt;/a&gt; will show you that the whole place is full of bike routes, from small local ones to long distance trails. Many regions with low bike path density have low population density so local roads should be fine for biking as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdooractive.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.outdooractive.com/&lt;/a&gt; has a quite large data base with tours (incl. photos) and also works well for tour planning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I also like &lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://opentopomap.org&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't really know the region between Berlin and Hamburg.&#xA;- It is mostly flat, a mix of woods and fields and lakes, all in all a calm not super exciting, but probably very relaxing choice. The Mecklenburg lakes are famous, and so is the Baltic Sea coast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know some regions to the south of Berlin better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To the south east you have the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spreewald&lt;/a&gt;, a wet/swamp forest area also famous for using canals instead of roads, canoe/boat tours and growing cucumbers (they even have a &quot;cucumber bike tour&quot;). I've once been biking there and the region has a nice mix of bike paths along the canals and little side roads.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Further south east, around Hoyerswerda are lakes of a totally different kind: these are recently and currently undergoing renaturation after lignite mining.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are super lucky, you may spot a wolf here. There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wolf-sachsen.de/en/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wolf information center&lt;/a&gt; (they even offer bike tours &quot;Radtour&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the Czech border near &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dresden&lt;/a&gt; is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_Switzerland&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sächsische Schweiz&lt;/a&gt;. Highly recommended, though you'll get more out of a visit there if you leave your bikes for a day or two and go hiking. This is one of the most beautiful hill areas in Germany (but can be quite crowded, particularly the more famous places).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To the West, along the Czech border is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Erzgebirge/Ore Mountains&lt;/a&gt;. As the name suggests, this region has a long mining history from tin and silver (towns like Freiburg and Annaberg-Buchholz started due to silver rushes) to more recently uranium.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If it's too hot in the lowlands, the Ore Mountains will give you a fresh beak. If you like seeng industry/handcraft history, this region has some museums for you. The region is also famous for wood carving, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://duckduckgo.com/?q=erzgebirge+weihnachtspyramide&amp;amp;ia=images&amp;amp;iax=images&amp;amp;atb=v149-1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Christmas pyramids&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.spielzeugmuseum-seiffen.de/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;toys&lt;/a&gt;. They also feature some raised bogs, basalt formations, blueberries and mushrooms, bike paths ranging from following dismantled railroad with almost no incline to the 4-hills-tour (Vierhübeltour) which covers 3 basalt hilltops and the Fichtelberg in a 90 km round tour with 2300 m elevation gain (in case you feel athletic). In any case, each of those 4 hills offers a nice view over the surrounding hills. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To the south east of Berlin is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Potsdam&lt;/a&gt;, also, Berlin is connected to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leipzig&lt;/a&gt; by a long-distance &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.radweg-berlin-leipzig.de/Flyer_Radweg_Berlin-Leipzig.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bike trail&lt;/a&gt; via &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittenberg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wittenberg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A bit southeast of Wittenberg is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessau-W%C3%B6rlitz_Garden_Realm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dessau Wörlitz English park/garden landscape&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;West of there are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harz&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harz&lt;/a&gt; hills, still only ≈200 km from Berlin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are also bike tours along rivers, like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdooractive.com/de/route/fernradweg/saaleradweg-d-route-11&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Saale river bike tour&lt;/a&gt;. I'd be inclined to recommend the part south of Weißenfels. Or maybe have a look at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nebra sky disk&lt;/a&gt; already in Halle. Or have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Weimar&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;... or along the ridge, say of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringian_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thüringer Wald&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdooractive.com/de/route/fernradweg/welterberegion-wartburg-hainich/thueringer-fernradwege-09-rennsteig-radweg/22868422/#dm=1&amp;amp;dmdtab=oax-tab3&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rennsteig&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-06-03T22:10:46.377" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22259" CreationDate="2019-06-04T06:05:17.543" Score="14" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... can someone gather/hunt/farm all of the nutrients required to be healthy whilst never having to land again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nutrients yes, healthy not likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A 1000 days is a grueling journey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Stowe#The_1000-day_voyage&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reid Stowe&lt;/a&gt;, whom used to have a website called &lt;a href=&quot;https://web.archive.org/web/20161202045842/http://1000days.net/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(Beyond) 1000 Days at Sea: The Mars Ocean Odyssey&lt;/a&gt;, lived at sea (without contact with land) for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Stowe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1,152 days&lt;/a&gt; (equals 3 Years, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 5 Days, 13 Hours, 26 Minutes and 39 Seconds).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stowe is an experienced mariner and was the principal designer and builder of the Anne, a 70 ft (21.3 m), 60-ton (54,400 kg) gaff-rigged schooner which he sailed on this voyage. The purpose of the enterprise was to remain on the open ocean, without resupply or pulling into any harbor, for a period of one thousand days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He took a lot of supplies with him and grew simple plants (like beanspouts) while at sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The heavily laden schooner passed through New York Harbor and into the open ocean by the evening of April 21 2007. ... On Day 658, Reid Stowe broke the world record for the longest non-stop ocean voyage, previously held by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Sanders&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jon Sanders&lt;/a&gt;, if one disregards Nansen's Fram expedition, during which the schooner Fram lay trapped on ice for nearly three years, and the crew was away from land for at least 1067 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reid Stowe and his support team have since accomplished one of their goals of a person sailing on the open seas without resupply for 1000 days, as well as breaking the 1067-day record set by the Fram in 1896. January 16, 2010 was officially the day of the 1000-day mark, while March 24, 2010 equalled the 1067-day mark. Subsequent to the first 306 days with Soanya Ahmad, Reid Stowe also broke the record for the longest solo sea voyage without resupply, on Day 964 (Dec. 11, 2009). Furthermore, as a two-member male-and-female crew, Stowe and Ahmad could also lay claim to the longest non-stop voyage on the ocean by a man and a woman since Bernard Moitessier and his wife Françoise completed a 126-day voyage in 1966, from Tahiti to Spain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;None of the records claimed by Stowe were ever officially recognized. The World Sailing Speed Record Council explains on their website: &amp;quot;We concentrate on speed record attempts and claims, and no longer recognize &amp;quot;human condition&amp;quot; categories which can expand to such an extent that almost anyone would be able to claim a record of some sort.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Throughout the journey, Stowe maintained contact with the New York City–based support team via an Iridium phone. Stowe employed a VHF marine transceiver for ship-to-ship communications. Volunteers maintained a web site so that the general public could follow the progress of the voyage. The entire route of the schooner Anne was verified daily by GPS tracking, and the manufacturer of the equipment has made the database available online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guinness World Records:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;13 March 1988&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;The longest distance sailed &lt;strong&gt;non-stop&lt;/strong&gt; by any vessel is 71,023 nautical miles (131,535 km; 81,732 miles), a feat achieved by Australian &lt;strong&gt;Jon Sanders&lt;/strong&gt; between 25 May 1986 and 13 March 1988. Starting and finishing in Fremantle, Western Australia, Jon made a record three consecutive non-stop solo circumnavigations of the globe – one west and two east – and was at sea for a total of &lt;strong&gt;657 days&lt;/strong&gt; on his 13.9-m (44-ft) sloop Parry Endeavour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No doubt you could load a cargo vessel with a lifetime worth of supplies but there are practicalities such as maintenance of the vessel and your own health.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism#Health&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pescetarianism&lt;/a&gt; or pescatarianism (/ˌpɛskəˈtɛəriənɪzəm/) is the practice of adhering to a diet that incorporates seafood as the only source of meat in an otherwise vegetarian diet. Most pescetarians are ovo-lacto vegetarians who eat seafood along with dairy products and eggs, often colloquially defined as &amp;quot;fish but no other meat&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, it is considered a healthy diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can make your own repairs at sea, as Stowe did, and never need to visit a doctor (or a hospital) then you can live at sea indefinitely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17365" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-04T06:05:17.543" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22270" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22272" CreationDate="2019-06-04T07:35:25.607" Score="7" ViewCount="503" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do people deal with sweating and 'feeling hot' at high altitude climbs (above 5500m)??&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a background on myself:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done hikes/climbs up to 3000m where temps hit at the lowest of around -1 celcius only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those hikes/climbs are only day trips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those hikes/climbs are considered extremely easy in the whole grand scheme of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last and most importantly: I sweat A LOT and EASILY&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience during my climbs was that I tend to always want to remove a layer of clothing as I actually feel hot and am quite wet with perspiration to the point where I've only got my 'dry-fit' tshirt on at temperatures close to freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, I'm extremely curious as to how people combat this at higher altitudes as I've been reading a lot about some proper expeditions as I'm sure going 'single layer' at those altitudes is just plain stupid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17989" OwnerDisplayName="S. Ong" LastActivityDate="2019-06-04T20:11:35.930" Title="How do people deal with sweating and 'feeling hot' at high altitude climbs (above 5500m)?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22271" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22270" CreationDate="2019-06-04T16:39:48.693" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you feel hot, then &lt;strong&gt;remove some clothes&lt;/strong&gt;.  Going without a tee-shirt in -10C or lower is quite practical if you are working hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are caveats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, be prepared to put the clothes back on &lt;strong&gt;as soon&lt;/strong&gt; as you stop exercising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, different parts of your body have different levels of heat input and heat loss; you may well be down to nothing on your chest - but still need gloves on your hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is really important to avoid sweating too much in cold conditions.  When you stop working you will cool down, the sweat can freeze, and it can ruin the insulation properties of your clothes so you get hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As one of the comments suggests, clothes with good moisture-wicking properties are definitely going to be needed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14865" LastActivityDate="2019-06-04T16:39:48.693" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22270" CreationDate="2019-06-04T17:08:46.200" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Layering and wicking.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back to layering and wicking in a minute, but first note that 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) isn't really all that high compared to what you are aiming for, which is &lt;strong&gt;above&lt;/strong&gt; 5,500 meters (18,045 feet).  That extra 8,000  plus feet means a temperature drop of 16 degrees F (9 degrees C) to 24 degrees F (13 degrees C), more if you go higher.  There may also be stronger winds higher up. This will be at least partially (maybe completely) offset by the lack of shade, higher insolation from above, and greater reflection from below and the sides if there is snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The extreme variation in temperature that you will feel, sometimes in a matter of minutes, from shifting cloud cover and moving cloud patterns and varying wind patterns makes layering absolutely essential.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Chapter Five in &lt;em&gt;Doctor on Everest&lt;/em&gt; by Kenneth Kamler, MD on climbing in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&amp;amp;ei=daL2XMa6GMiOggfa5aQw&amp;amp;q=Western+Cwm&amp;amp;oq=Western+Cwm&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.12..0l4j0i22i30l6.1614.5097..9298...0.0..0.374.2292.0j11j0j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0i131i70i256.y66Yt35i_5I&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Western Cwm&lt;/a&gt; (6,000 meters to 6,800 meters):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The sun came out, and I stopped to remove my jacket and balaclava, but&#xA;  by the time I got them off and into my pack, the sky clouded over and&#xA;  I had to take them out again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Earlier in the chapter, Kamler says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It was getting hot.  I took off a layer of clothes and switched from&#xA;  my wool hat to my wide brimmed sun hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit later, Kamler and his companions faced heat exhaustion:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our last precaution [after we each drank a liter of water] was to&#xA;  strip down to a single layer of polypropylene ...Sustained exertion&#xA;  could cause dangerous heat buildup, so we'd finish the climb in our&#xA;  long underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next day, Kamler was out on an acclimatization hike &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;despite a freezing wind and wondering where the Cwm was that I had&#xA;  climbed yesterday in my underwear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can face the same variations at lesser intensity at much lower elevations, so layering is always a good strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for wicking, it sounds as though you need better wicking technology in your base layer, or wicking in your next layer too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrapping a towel or bandanna soaked in icy water around your neck in sustained hot conditions will help, and I have read an account of a climber who stuffed snow under his cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-04T20:11:35.930" LastActivityDate="2019-06-04T20:11:35.930" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22240" CreationDate="2019-06-05T10:22:59.017" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although @cbeleites' answer is quite exhaustive, I would like to add &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bikemap.net/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bikemap.net&lt;/a&gt;. I use it to plan my bike trips, I can connect dots on the map in any way I want, I can print the map with detailed frames, or send it to devices and use them directly from there. They have a lot of public routes added by other users, and if I see well, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bikemap.net/en/l/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;the most of the routes&lt;/a&gt; are added to Germany. I don't know Germany at all, so I would definitely be inspired by the existing maps here. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-06-05T10:22:59.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22274" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22352" CreationDate="2019-06-05T15:10:51.613" Score="6" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has become a bit of a fad in the last few days at my current workplace to open a browser tab to either &lt;s&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lbwl.com/falcon.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lbwl.com/falcon.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/s&gt; or &lt;s&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lbwl.com/falcon2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.lbwl.com/falcon2.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/s&gt; , take a quick look now and then, say &quot;Awwww,&quot; then get back to work.  After all, to us these are home-town heroes.  (Edit: Falcon-Cams have been moved to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lbwl.com/community/falconcam&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.lbwl.com/community/falconcam&lt;/a&gt; )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But over the last couple days, I've observed something that I'm not sure how to explain.  For those who come along later, things may change on the web-cam, so here is a still I captured this morning (Wednesday 5 Jun, 2019):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R2RNU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R2RNU.png&quot; alt=&quot;three peregrine falcon chicks in their nest box&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Michigan DNR has been by to give these chicks a health check and place the bands, and the local Energy company, upon whose building the falcon chose to nest, place the cams.  But notice how the one on the far left of the picture is still in down, while the two siblings are much further along in the molt and almost have full adolescent plumage.  At the same time, this downy chick appears to be quite a bit larger than the siblings.  This might be just a trick of the eye caused by the down, but as I continue to watch the web-cam I am convinced this one really is 5 to 10% bigger.  I assume in another month or two the chicks will again be indistinguishable, but for now the one clearly stands out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read &lt;a href=&quot;https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/perfal/appearance&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this little resource&lt;/a&gt;, but the language was rather technical and a bit over my head, plus it really didn't explain sibling variation.  Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-09-05T11:36:01.263" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T11:37:59.760" Title="Why might a larger peregrine falcon chick take longer to molt than smaller siblings?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22265" CreationDate="2019-06-05T18:06:08.327" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a general rule, to develop strength and endurance in doing &lt;strong&gt;X&lt;/strong&gt;, you need to do &lt;strong&gt;X&lt;/strong&gt;.  Thus, I suggest that (1) the OP continue to take two day hikes, with a heavier pack than he has in the past; (2) take three or four day hikes on long holiday weekends, of which he has seven between now and April (although he could be snowed out on several of them); and (3) take at least one one-week preparatory trip before next April, and preferably two one week trips or a two week trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Pacific Crest Trail ranges in altitude from sea level to over 13,000 feet, so it would be good if the OP could take one of the preparatory trips at high altitude, to see how he does at high altitude. Depending on where he lives, this could be impractical, however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way to build up endurance is to climb up stairs.  In the Introduction to &lt;em&gt;Doctor on Everest&lt;/em&gt; by Kenneth Kamler, MD, Kamler says of his training for his Everest climb:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;.... every day I climbed up the forty flights to the top [of my&#xA;  building], took the elevator down, and repeated it ten times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kamler also swam and took frequent trips to the White Mountains as part of his training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to make suggestions about what to do in the gym, except to consider taking a few sessions with the best instructor you know of, and ask him/her to develop an exercise program for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A word of caution:  Don't overdo!  You need to take rest days, or easy days.  Alternate  aerobic work days with strength work days.  You can't do the Kamler program for eleven months!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mentioned mental preparation.  Even magnificent scenery becomes boring if you have no other mental stimulation.  You need books, or photography, or music, or a diary, or whatever suits you to keep mentally fresh.  The two week hike, if you can take it, should tell you what you need.  Another plan is to cut out all reading, and other mental recreation for a week -- i.e., your life is your job, chores around your apartment, exercise, and bed -- and find out what you really &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; take with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need mental preparation for being alone, because you will meet other hikers.  If you need mental preparation for the vastness of your surroundings, you will find this out on your preparatory hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-05T18:21:44.553" LastActivityDate="2019-06-05T18:21:44.553" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22241" CreationDate="2019-06-06T01:12:24.507" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another factor to keep in mind:  Heat rises--the warmest part of the ice chest is on top.  Thus you have ice there and food underneath it so it's ice that melts rather than food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, you're asking more of an ice chest than it's capable of.  Even stuff like the Yeti chests can't do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-06-06T01:12:24.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22277" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-06T01:31:25.903" Score="3" ViewCount="418" Body="&lt;p&gt;Related to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22274/why-might-a-larger-peregrine-falcon-chick-take-longer-to-molt-than-smaller-sibli&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; where the difference in size might possibly be due to one of the 3 peregrine falcon chicks being male, how do they tell &lt;strong&gt;whether a peregrine chick is male or female?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eventually, it's possible due to size difference &lt;strong&gt;but at this stage how do they tell?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T23:44:51.077" Title="How do they tell the sex of Peregrine Falcon chicks?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8173" CreationDate="2019-06-06T03:22:11.700" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with sunblock is that it will wash away in the water and has to be reapplied constantly or it won't work. However, the most effective way to avoid sunburn that people don't think about is just to avoid the sun entirely during the hours around Noon. After 3PM or so the UV intensity drops dramatically. This actually works out well for swimmers as the water tends to be warmer later into the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e9UyS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/e9UyS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_index#/media/File:UV_Index_NYC.png&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, today the UV index after 5PM was only 3 (and dropping) despite the fact that it was fully bright outside and the sun was blazing hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't know the current UV, a good rule of thumb is that if your shadow is shorter than you are (the sun is higher than 45 degrees) then you will need protection. If you're shadow is longer (and it's afternoon) then you should be good to go. However, this rule will vary depending on your skin and how easily you burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17985" LastEditorUserId="17985" LastEditDate="2019-06-06T03:53:02.177" LastActivityDate="2019-06-06T03:53:02.177" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22279" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22280" CreationDate="2019-06-06T12:12:06.477" Score="5" ViewCount="1572" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to know the major differences between these two systems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17991" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-06T14:44:45.403" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T15:29:00.030" Title="What's the difference between the Norwegian fjord and the Scottish sea loch?" Tags="&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22279" CreationDate="2019-06-06T12:38:43.810" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short, just the name.  &lt;em&gt;Fjord&lt;/em&gt; is of Norse origin, &lt;em&gt;loch&lt;/em&gt; of Gaelic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are the same feature, formed when glaciers debouch into the sea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both countries, you'll find varying scales, from a few hundred metres in width to several kilometres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-06-06T16:20:36.030" LastActivityDate="2019-06-06T16:20:36.030" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22281" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-06T18:54:08.010" Score="3" ViewCount="154" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to get myself a kayak, but weight limits are an issue for me. I like the ascend kayaks from Cabala's because of the high back seats. I'm undecided if i want to get a 10' hybrid kayak or a 12' angler kayak (to handle my weight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Will I have issues keeping up with people in more traditional non fishing kayaks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other things should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will mostly be cruising down rivers with little to no fishing going on. I had a 10' sun dolphin arua ss but I was about sinking it and the seat back was to low and uncomfortable on a 3 to 5 hour trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17995" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2019-06-06T22:14:33.977" LastActivityDate="2019-06-07T12:43:58.003" Title="Choosing a kayak for a 5'9&quot; 300lb man" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2019-08-01T14:16:15.267" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22281" CreationDate="2019-06-07T11:36:05.357" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Go big or go home&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for boat ranges with an &amp;quot;HV&amp;quot; (high volume) or large option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important factor to you is going to be how well the boat holds your weight and how well it handles under that load. Most boats have a design weight for the paddler usually capping out at around 130kg (285lb) mark for high volume boats. Allowing for a reasonable amount of cargo weight for a touring or sea kayak that should be enough for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Length is speed&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried about keeping up with others, go long. There's a general (to a limit) correlation between boat length and hull speed. The longer your boat the faster you'll be able to go in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Seats can be replaced&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry too much about outfitting in boats, it's reasonable, and entirely normal among some groups, to completely strip out all the fittings and replace them with something more suitable for the paddler. Boats often come with &amp;quot;club&amp;quot; outfitting, which is the most basic and hard wearing version with options to upgrade for more comfort, better fitting, better padding etc. Speak to dealers to find out what the options are for the boats you're considering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-07T12:43:58.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22265" CreationDate="2019-06-07T15:11:24.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GENERAL CONDITIONING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @ap2 has said training is quite task-specific, so the priority for hiking hills with a heavy pack is to get out as much as possible and hike hills with a heavy pack. You want to incrementally increase your speed and the ground you cover - but listen to your body and don't push yourself to the point of injury. Failing that, climb stairs, but this is pretty boring so hit the hills if at all possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to enjoy the maximum training effect from your hiking is wind-sprints. A couple of times during the day, blast up an ascent as hard as you can for 20-30 secs till you reach your maximum safe heart rate. Then walk on slowly till you catch your breath. Repeat 2-6 times, working up gradually, as this is demanding. Only do this a couple of times a week or you'll overtrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A second tactic is bouts of pushing hard with your walking poles to tire your upper body and get some cross-training effect as you would on an elliptical ergo or Nordic ski-trainer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of general conditioning, a good deal depends on whether you are going northbound (NOBO) or southbound (SOBO). Going NOBO, the start is gentle and most hikers work up their mileage gradually as they find their hiking legs. Going SOBO you're in big hills from the start, and speed is vital if you're going to reach the Sierras before the autumn storms. So it's more important to be in hard condition and ideally, to have spent a couple of days acclimatising to altitude before you hit the terminus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;INJURY PREVENTION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other physical priority is injury prevention. The issues that are most likely to knock you off the trail are feet, ankles, knees and hips. I'm not going to go into detail here, but there are a lot of good bodyweight progressions on YouTube that will help you injury-proof your power train. Focus on good form. One thing you might miss though - recent research suggests that the best way to protect your ankles is to work on your balance. Search for &quot;sport balance training&quot;. You could also take up slacklining. For training your feet (much neglected) search for &quot;Toe-ga exercises&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MENTAL PREPARATION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To harden yourself mentally, be sure to go out in bad weather as well as good. Get used to spending multiple days on the trail in cold, rain and snow. If this puts you off, you'll know that thru-hiking is probably not for you...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SKILL TRAINING&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More generally, experienced hikers, Rangers and SAR experts are increasingly concerned about the number of PCT hikers who are woefully underprepared in terms of skills. The trail passes through big, remote mountains. Weather can be savage, and you mustn't underestimate what you're taking on. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You say you have backcountry experience so this may not apply to you. Though if you've mostly been in the woods, you should be aware that life above the treeline involves some additional skills. As this is literally a question of life and death, I'll add a checklist for any hiking newbie who is contemplating any of the big trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's vital that you become competent in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigating in bad conditions with map and compass, as well as GPS.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Judging snow conditions and moving safely over steep, icy snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crossing fast-flowing streams (this is a significant cause of fatalities).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staying warm while walking in wet-cold conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping safely in cold, wet, wind and snow including cooking safely without burning yourself, your shelter or the surrounding forest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Personal hygiene on the trail to avoid gastric infections.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dealing with bears.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And of course, a deep understanding of low-impact, leave-no-trace principles, as there are too many PCT hikers who are damaging the trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You owe it to yourself, your family and to the SAR personnel to be as safe as possible on the trail. If you are a newbie contemplating one of the Triple Crown trails and don't have the commitment to practice these skills before you go, perhaps you should be questioning your motivation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope you find this helpful - and perhaps we'll meet on the trail!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastEditorUserId="5814" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T14:53:24.763" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T14:53:24.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22284" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-07T17:07:22.623" Score="1" ViewCount="428" Body="&lt;p&gt;I got some 1/2&quot; steel-thimbles for my climbing-rope but sadly I'm not sure how to safely use them, I'd thought &quot;I can just tie a knot at &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; the right spot so that the thimble is securely nested in the end-of-line loop&quot; but, having since learned about knots &amp;amp; knot-failures (stuff like capsizing a knot), I'm now unable to use these thimbles because I'm unsure how to safely do so and if one failed it could be disastrous (maybe you're not even supposed to use these as part of any lifeline?  Doubting that but not sure!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a link to the specific product, I got the 1/2&quot; ones to go with my 11.7mm Blue Moon rope, with the intention of using (2) of them on either end of a 6' section I'm going to cut-off of my climbing line (to make into a general-purpose sling/lanyard), and using one knotted to the end of my climbing line so that, when rigging a basal anchor with a running bolan (or whatever knot is best here), the rope-on-rope friction would be eliminated &lt;em&gt;as well as&lt;/em&gt; the start of the standing-leg of rope takes a very sharply-angled bend and this is blunted a bit by the thimble as well :D &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks a ton for any advice on using these, I got them both to keep my rope's integrity up there for longer, as well as to have a stronger climbing-system once I've rigged everything up and my &quot;weak points&quot; have these steel thimbles at the contact points instead of rope-on-rope!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty confident that I need to stay-away from using any cinching-knots here because when under-load they'd want to 'squeeze-off' the thimble, but so far as I can see I should be OK to use them if the knotting is 'fixed' and doesn't cinch-down, just unsure what to do and can't use them til I know for sure of course!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again thank you so much for any advice on this one!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17910" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T09:24:20.077" Title="Climbing-line &quot;rope-thimbles&quot;, unsure how to utilize these (got several 1/2&quot; 'steel rope thimbles' with my climb-rope!)" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8173" CreationDate="2019-06-07T18:31:11.927" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When considering the 'best', at least for sunscreens, it's important to consider where you're buying, and why you're buying in that market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The FDA is far behind other nations in sunscreen ingredient and labeling regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;US market sunscreens lack options for ingredients, which limits the effectiveness of the product, especially for UVA (the cancer causing kind) of radiation absorption. They also are held to looser standards as far as how much UVA is blocked. &quot;Broad Spectrum SPF50&quot; doesn't mean SPF 50 for both UVA and UVB, it means SPF50 for UVB (tans you) and some unknown degree of PA for UVA (cancer causing) rays. Additionally, because of the limited ingredients, sunscreens tend to be greasier and not stay on the skin for as long, increasing the risk of a negligent sunburn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are relying on a sunscreen or sunblock for skin protection, it is a very good idea to look into non-US market sunscreens. Non-US (European and Asian, mostly) market sunscreens tend to be much more effective, longer lasting, more sweat and water resistant, and more pleasant to wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially, look for a high SPF (&gt;50), a high PA factor (PA+++ or PA++++ is the usual goal), and good water and sweat resistance. Read reviews. See what other testers say, and see how the product is labelled. Reapply it frequently. Don't buy US market sunscreens, often brands has a US and non-US market formulation. The US market version is hamstrung in order to pass FDA regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/the-best-sunscreen-isnt-from-america&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Why You Need to Reconsider That Sunscreen You’re Using&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lollipuff.com/blog/545/american-vs-asian-sunscreen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;US vs Asian Sunscreen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allure.com/story/korean-sunscreen-compared-to-western-sunscreen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sorry, But Korean Sunscreens Are Better Than Western Ones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T12:40:32.410" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T12:40:32.410" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22277" CreationDate="2019-06-08T04:06:03.417" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248883587_A_morphological_model_for_sexing_nestling_peregrine_falcons_Falco_peregrinus_macropus_verified_through_genetic_analysis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A morphological model for sexing nestling peregrine falcons ( Falco peregrinus macropus ) verified through genetic analysis&lt;/a&gt; published by ResearchGate, they input various features of the size, color patterns, and shape of the nestling into a model, which then spits out the answer to 96% accuracy or better, as verified by genetic testing.  I have not been able to find out yet which specific features go into the model. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Adult peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus macropus) have monotypic&#xA;  plumage and display strong reversed sexual dimorphism, with females&#xA;  significantly larger than males. Reversed sexual dimorphism is&#xA;  measurable among nestlings in the latter stages of their development&#xA;  and can therefore be used to differentiate between sexes. In the early&#xA;  stages of development, however, nestlings cannot be sexed with any&#xA;  degree of certainty because morphological differentiation between the&#xA;  sexes is not well developed. &lt;strong&gt;During this study we developed a model&#xA;  for sexing younger nestlings based on genetic analysis and&#xA;  morphometric data collected as part of a long-term banding study of&#xA;  this species&lt;/strong&gt;. A discriminant function model based on morphological&#xA;  characteristics was developed for determining the sex of nestlings (n&#xA;  = 150) in the field and was shown to be 96.0% accurate. This predictive model was further tested against an independent&#xA;  morphometric dataset taken from a second group of nestlings (n = 131).&#xA;  The model correctly allocated sex to 96.2% of this second group of&#xA;  nestlings. &lt;strong&gt;Sex can reliably be determined (98.6% accurate) for&#xA;  nestlings that have a wing length of at least 9 cm using this model&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;  Application of this model, therefore, allows the banding of younger&#xA;  nestlings and, as such, significantly increases the period of time&#xA;  over which banding can occur. Another important implication of this&#xA;  model is that by banding nestlings earlier, they are less likely to&#xA;  jump from the nest, therefore reducing the risk of injury to both the&#xA;  brood and the bander&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T04:06:03.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19446" CreationDate="2019-06-08T14:02:38.967" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I seem to have a different answer from others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve worn Asolo or zamberlan full leather boots for 40 years, pretty much every day. I walk a bit over 1000 miles per year in them, 200 on trails and 800 in daily work/home use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The soles last 3 years before they are slick, so 3000 miles. A resole costs a little over $100 and gives a little over 1 year more before something goes wrong, so it’s a toss up compared to buying a new pair of $300 boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not meticulous about care, my shoes are not pretty very often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can’t imagine buying boots every year like everyone seems to suggest, rating the life at 500-1000 miles. Mine are still mostly new at that point. I don’t get it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18002" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-08T17:35:51.547" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T17:35:51.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16937" CreationDate="2019-06-08T18:18:23.930" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Drop the main. We drop the main at dockside and raise it in the boat all the time. We destination sail around Long Beach to other harbors and slips all the time. I've never paddled for a long distance except for a hardware failure , but striking the main would be how I would do it. Getting clunked in the head 20 times a minute and the drag of a luffing sail, are both reasons to strike the main. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18003" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T18:18:23.930" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22289" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-08T20:38:47.047" Score="18" ViewCount="6368" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one makes coffee in the backcountry, there will be used grounds. Coffee grounds are biodegradable, but should one instead pack them out completely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the &lt;strong&gt;Leave No Trace way to deal with used coffee grounds&lt;/strong&gt; in the backcountry?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-09T05:32:32.147" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T08:30:39.710" Title="What is the Leave No Trace way to dispose of coffee grounds?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;coffee&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22290" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22291" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" Score="0" Body="Questions about making/drinking/brewing coffee in the outdoors." OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" LastActivityDate="2019-06-08T20:40:15.583" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22289" CreationDate="2019-06-08T22:25:31.170" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The material in &lt;a href=&quot;https://owlcation.com/stem/Caffeine-Its-effects-on-animals-plants-and-the-environment&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Owlcation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Can Caffeine Kill? How It Impacts Animals, Plants, and the Environment&lt;/em&gt;, updated June 23, 2018, &lt;strong&gt;suggests that the safest thing to do with coffee grounds, relative to the environment, is to pack them out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caffeine has a stimulating and apparently not harmful effect on horses, birds, and bees. Caffeine is banned in horse racing and in competitions involving pigeons. Bees naturally get caffeine from citrus plants.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, it can kill other animals and can kill plants.  In its&#xA;  natural plant-produced form caffeine functions as a pesticide and&#xA;  inhibits enzymes in herbivorous insects’ nervous systems, triggering&#xA;  paralysis and death in the more susceptible bugs. Others show enduring&#xA;  reproductive harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since many bugs are essential parts of many ecosystems, this can be an adverse effect on the environment if you bury coffee grounds.  For example, caffeine kills or harms mosquito larvae (maybe not bad, although fish eat them), spiders, snails and frogs.  Caffeine can kill dogs and cats. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caffeine in the soil destroys organisms that prey on coffee plants, but&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;..... despite its protection against predators, whether insect,&#xA;  fungal, or bacterial, and despite its ability to prevent weeds and&#xA;  competing growth, caffeinated soil eventually destroys the very plants&#xA;  which produce it and at first thrive because of its production.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for use in agriculture&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Hawaiian government wanted to spray caffeine on frogs as a form of&#xA;  pest control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;However, the permit that had legalized caffeine-based pesticide use&#xA;  and development was suspended after the EPA, spurred by an angry&#xA;  public, stated a need for more information on how non-targeted insects&#xA;  and animals would be affected should the plan be carried out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The final point to check is if used coffee grounds contain a significant amount of caffeine.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-grounds&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caffeine Informer&lt;/a&gt;, the answer is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Yes, they do.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  The article states further:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Care should be used when disposing of spent coffee grounds as caffeine&#xA;  has been detected by some municipalities in our waterways and&#xA;  reservoirs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What all this adds up to, even if you are not hiking near a coffee plantation, and even if you applaud killing mosquito larvae, is that the caffeine presents enough dangers to animals and plants that, in the spirit of caution and Leave No Trace, packing coffee grounds out instead of scattering them or burying them is the way to go.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-09T16:15:33.193" LastActivityDate="2019-06-09T16:15:33.193" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22294" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-09T18:58:34.420" Score="6" ViewCount="495" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's possible to buy tea that is loose leaf instead on in the tea bags and use it while in the outdoors such as cold brewing in a Nalgene. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22289/what-is-the-leave-no-trace-way-to-dispose-of-coffee-grounds&quot;&gt;Coffee grounds need to be packed out&lt;/a&gt; but what about tea leaves (which are biodegradable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the &lt;strong&gt;Leave No Trace way to dispose of the used tea leaves?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T19:26:41.737" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T19:26:41.737" Title="What's is the Leave No Trace way to dispose of loose tea leaves?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22296" CreationDate="2019-06-09T22:45:31.917" Score="3" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering a solo three-day trip in the Uinta Mountains in Utah in August. I have lots of experience backpacking but I've never soloed before and so am thinking of ways to shed some weight. My tent especially could be an issue; I have a mountain hardwear &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/810018/mountain-hardwear-light-wedge-3-tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lightwedge&lt;/a&gt; 3-person tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering if I could leave the tent body behind and just plan on the groundcloth / rainfly &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3776/what-is-a-fast-pack-setup-for-a-tent?rq=1&quot;&gt;fast setup&lt;/a&gt;. I realize this will make me marginally more vulnerable to windy rainstorms and critters, but it'll cut out a lot of weight. Is there something else I need to consider? Should I roll the dice with ticks / mosquitoes and the weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18010" LastEditorUserId="18010" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T16:39:14.587" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T16:39:14.587" Title="Ultra-light camping setup for solo-backping in the Uintas" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;solo-backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22295" CreationDate="2019-06-09T23:04:55.870" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;tent is probably not strictly necessary,&lt;/strong&gt; a tarp or just the fast setup should probably work fine unless it seriously rains or you are above treeline while it rains or it gets really windy. At the point in the year, the number of ticks/mosquitos should be greatly reduced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not taking the whole tent will increase your chances of getting soaked and being miserable but that's a risk that's you will have to weigh the options on. Every trip I have ever done has always included that type of balance where one decides is the extra weight worth the extra comfort or not. Sometimes leaving gear behind let me go faster and sometimes I paid the price for leaving gear behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, in the summer of 2017, I solo backpacked the Highline Trail across the Uintas from Hayden Pass to the Leidy Peak trailhead and back over 13 days and all I carried for shelter was a ground tarp and one 4ft-8ft tarp. I had one night where I had to sleep under it due to the rain and there were plenty of times were I slept without it above treeline. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, I was glad that I used the tarp and didn't bring a tent, it would have been hard to do as many miles as I did with the extra weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-09T23:04:55.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22289" CreationDate="2019-06-09T23:51:08.250" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Leave No Trace approach to coffee grounds is to bring them in carefully without spilling them, use them responsibly without making a mess, and take them with you when you leave, together with all your other biodegradable materials. Don't scatter, bury or burn them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In June, 2019, Popular Science magazine published an article based on an interview with Ben Lawhon, the Education Director at &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics&lt;/a&gt;. It's entitled &amp;quot;How to leave the great outdoors exactly how you found it. No, you can't just throw food in the woods.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The summary comes down to one main idea, that if humans bring in anything that would not have been there without us, we must not leave it behind. Used coffee grounds are  not found in nature, so they should be taken out, whether or not they'd biodegrade eventually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To best put the principles into practice, ask yourself, “Would this item be here or would this area look like this if I had never come through?” Answering that will ensure you’re minimizing your effect on nature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used coffee grounds belong in the category of &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/dispose-of-waste-properly/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rule 3, Dispose of Waste Properly&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Pack it in, Pack it out” is a familiar mantra to seasoned wildland visitors. Any user of recreation lands has a responsibility to clean up before he or she leaves. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash and garbage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The United States Government has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev2_038035.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;26-page manual&lt;/a&gt; on how to train leaders in the principles of Leave No Trace before taking groups out. It's mostly focused on Alaska, but the Principles are the same. The part that addresses your question about coffee grounds begins on page 10, and is based on the same Leave No Trace Principle #3 as other sources. It includes coffee grounds in the list of things that should be taken when you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ensure everyone understands what qualifies as trash and how it must be secured. “Pack it in, pack it out” is the simple mantra to follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Biodegradable trash, such as orange peels, apple cores, coffee grounds and onion skins, must be packed out.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trash must be secured with food to prevent conditioning of bears, rodents, birds and other animals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Separating trash into dry and wet containments allows dry trash to be compressed tightly and wet trash to be doubly- or triply-secured.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Orange peels and other biodegradable foods are number one in the Leave No Trace &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/our-5-most-common-litter-sightings/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Five most common litter sightings&lt;/a&gt;. While coffee grounds aren't specifically listed here, the related foods mentioned elsewhere are. From this I infer that coffee grounds should not be left behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Orange Peels&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Orange peels can take as long as two years to decompose. There is a common misconception that “natural trash” such as orange peels, banana peels, apple cores, and shells from nuts and seeds are okay to leave behind on the trail, in campgrounds, or in other outdoor spaces. &lt;strong&gt;While these things are natural, they are not natural to the places they are being left.&lt;/strong&gt; These types of trash attract wildlife to areas with human activity, affecting their health and habits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An author of The Adventure Journal has studied Leave No Trace for years, and has given himself a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adventure-journal.com/2015/09/the-leave-no-trace-black-belt/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leave No Trace Black Belt&lt;/a&gt;. He calls it the &amp;quot;highest order of LNT.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have abided by these guidelines for years, and along the way utilized some ideas that go a little above and beyond Leave No Trace’s basic guidelines, which I have half-jokingly called “The Leave No Trace Black Belt,” as if it is the highest order of LNT, the practices of true masters of the craft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of his litmus tests is to consider animals, and how we attract them to the site. If a bear can smell coffee grounds, we've upset the order of things in the bear's world. (This is true for all animals, and is mentioned in many articles.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He challenges us to examine our dedication to leaving no trace in a simple question: Did we really do everything we could to leave no trace of our passage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When considering the Leave No Trace Black Belt, imagine a fierce, hypersensitive bear who will kill you if it detects the slightest ripple in its environment-minute food scraps scattered into the woods, &lt;strong&gt;coffee grounds buried under a rock&lt;/strong&gt;, wildflowers smashed by a tent. Did you really do everything you could to leave no trace of your passage here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The excellent answer you received about caffeine is very important. I had no idea how much damage caffeine does to our world! Nothing written I found based on, or implied by, Leave No Trace, mentioned caffeine at all. Perhaps it's to make sure people don't feel that it's okay to leave decaffeinated coffee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T00:04:56.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22298" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-10T02:02:11.950" Score="50" ViewCount="13588" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“The larger the foot-holds, the more beginners tend to put as much of their shoes onto them. Instead, also when the foot-hold offers more space, we must still use only the forefoot and avoid using the foot arch and heel.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.guidedolomiti.com/en/climbing-techniques/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don’t understand why one must avoid using the foot arch and heel, when it is available as an option. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5551" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T02:25:55.600" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T14:47:05.780" Title="Why is it bad to use your whole foot in rock climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22299" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-10T02:24:44.493" Score="8" ViewCount="3039" Body="&lt;p&gt;(to be clear, I know I can just check knot-strengths for a &lt;em&gt;general&lt;/em&gt; end-of-line attachment, it's the inclusion of the steel thimble - I'll find a link to add to end of post - it's that inclusion that makes me think that the &lt;em&gt;type&lt;/em&gt; of knot becomes critical, if the knot capsized over the thimble it'd be catastrophic!  Part of me fears that these things are not safe for use AT ALL with rope, only with steel line, in which case they're deskweights for me....but they DO make rope-OK thimbles so I just don't know if these are OK to use and, if so, what knot I should be using)&#xA;And would there be any reason to use a different knot at the end-of-a-line where you're connecting a steel O-Ring?  I'll be cutting pieces of 11.7mm climbing rope to make things and the ends need to be strong so I got 1/2&quot; steel thimbles so I can have steel &quot;eyelets&quot; at the ends of these lines, the problem is that all I know is that I can't use cinch knots, past that I know any fixed-knot will work but what I need to know is which is the strongest, or at least one of the top couple strongest?  (Anchor bend? Clove hitch? Nilsson knot? Figure 8? Figure 8 on a bight maybe, because then you could &quot;count the line twice&quot;?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know there's a specific/exact/objective answer to this and &quot;a fixed knot&quot; isn't useful, these ropes are being made for tree climbing where failure would be disastrous (should go w/o saying but, no, I am not going to be using such knots in a life-critical situation an hour after learning them, I just don't know what knot to make my &quot;go to&quot; when I'm cutting sections of rope to affix carabiners, o-rings etc to for making false-crotches / lanyards / etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got the heavy duty, 1/2&quot; thimbles / the largest ones found on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bartlettman.com/STEEL-THIMBLE_p_1258.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the bartlettman webpage&lt;/a&gt;, they are thick/heavy steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4MMC4.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4MMC4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18012" LastEditorUserId="8865" LastEditDate="2019-06-11T13:12:39.823" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T13:12:39.823" Title="What is the strongest knot using a steel-thimble to make a steel-eyelet at the end of the line?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22300" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-10T02:26:24.983" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not bad; it's just better to practice standing on your toe tips, so you can progress to smaller holds that require them later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T02:26:24.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-10T02:45:42.217" Score="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a matter of practice, but also a matter of feel: When stepping with the front of your foot you have a smaller contact area, so the pressure is higher than using the whole foot. This increases sensitivity to the rock underneath (extremely important with smaller holds), strengthens the muscles you will need for them, and also sort of gives you more friction is some situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, this is mostly bullshit. If you find a foot hold good enough to step with your whole foot, do it. It's not a problem. Also, you will use heels quite often when climbing overhangs, so it's just a matter of avoiding using heels when they are not required - since they are slippery and offer you no feel of the rock. &amp;quot;Rules&amp;quot; like this one are built do deal with the very common situation, mostly at gyms, of people that are beginning to climb and as soon as they find a large foothold, place their feet (sometimes even horizontally) as if this were safer or offered you more control. It doesn't. The point is that, after you know how to climb and to judge what is the best possible strategy, just do it. There's no &amp;quot;right&amp;quot; way. I have seen stuff like resting using the head to balance, using knees to mantle, placing gear in grass, etc. It's ugly, but if it works, who cares? You're the judge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're beginner, it's best to practice stepping with the front of the foot, though... ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; Since my answer is the most visible one, I will reproduce here two comments by @josh and @dwizum to @imsodin's (very good) answer: the foot is a lever, and standing on your tiptoes gives you maximum reach. This is precisely the reason why my answer makes sense, being the mechanism responsible for maximizing applied pressure: By locking your joints to achieve maximum reach, the tiptoes naturally become the most sensitive and precise part of the foot. Since josh and dwizum didn't post answers, I believe their comments should be up-voted by anyone who reads this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2021-01-10T14:47:05.780" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T14:47:05.780" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22289" CreationDate="2019-06-10T03:37:27.813" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Used (spent) coffee grounds contain little to no caffeine (after all, its been extracted into the cup you drank). Depending on the situation, either pack it out, bury, or spread diffusely over a wide area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18013" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T08:05:51.387" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T08:05:51.387" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-10T08:37:51.337" Score="36" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart from the reasons already stated, namely getting used to doing it that way as it will help you on smaller footholds, there's also maneuverability: If you step with the entire foot, it is really hard to turn your foot if you e.g. need to reposition yourself to reach the next hold. You often see beginners especially in gyms doing the &quot;frog move&quot;, where they climb standing fully on the foothold, foot being parallel to the wall with their toes pointing outwards. That seriously restricts your options once you need to do any other, harder movements. Just standing with your forefoot makes it more natural to stand with foots roughly perpendicularly to the wall and you can easily turn it if required. Obviously again if your outside and the foothold is a huge platform that doesn't matter, you wont stand that close to the wall such that you can't rotate the foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T08:37:51.337" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22299" CreationDate="2019-06-10T10:46:19.520" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The absolute strongest? That would be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_splice&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eye splice&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the most effective and strongest form of making an eye in a rope and it's what the thimbles are designed to work with. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's nigh on permanent, but that's the trade for strength. All mere knots are a trade off between strength and &quot;untieability&quot;, if you're never intending to untie the knot you never have to compromise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope thimbles are normally nylon so they don't cause wear in the rope itself, if you've bought the ones for steel cable then they're paperweights. Also they should be correctly sized to the rope, don't just buy the biggest or again you're causing unnecessary movement and wear. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T10:51:45.003" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T10:51:45.003" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-10T15:21:53.717" Score="1" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a magnet and line setup to go magnet fishing and I would like to make some sweeps around one the docks &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatfield_Reservoir&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chatfield Reservoir&lt;/a&gt; on where it's likely that people have dropped gear/cellphones into the water, but so far there have always been people there  putting their boat in and out and I don't want to disturb them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What &lt;strong&gt;time of day/week&lt;/strong&gt; would I have the best chance of finding  the docks completely deserted so I can go magnet fishing without bothering anyone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T13:36:43.823" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T17:23:09.440" Title="When would docks on Chatfield Reservoir be least busy with boaters putting in and taking out?" Tags="&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;magnet-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-10T15:49:38.540" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using your whole foot while rock climbing is a poor practice in most cases as it restricts your footwork and limits your movement options. When stepping with the front of the shoe you are able to effectively pivot and stretch onto your tip-toes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pivoting can be a very important part of increasing your overall climbing efficiency by allowing you to move your hips closer to the wall, moving your weight more inline with the direction you want to go and adding precious inches to your reach you would not have standing square to the wall. Pivoting is also important when using more advanced footwork techniques such as backstepping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't consider stepping with the front of the foot as something you must always do, if a large enough hold exists step however you like, but on smaller holds it's best to keep your movement options open by placing the front of your foot on the hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T15:49:38.540" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22308" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-10T18:20:31.530" Score="3" ViewCount="80" Body="&lt;p&gt;On official USGS topo maps, vegetation is represented by green, and non vegetation by white as you can see below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81I12WKpmgL._SL1500_.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much vegetation does an area need to be colored green?&lt;/strong&gt; Are short bushes enough or does it require trees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T19:16:55.927" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T19:16:55.927" Title="How much vegetation is represented by the green on USGS 7.5 minute topo maps?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22309" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22308" CreationDate="2019-06-10T19:11:50.887" Score="5" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vegetation is recorded&#xA;  when it exceeds 20% cover of the landscape for an area greater than one acre&#xA;  (0.4 ha), and 6 ft (2 m) or more in height - tall enough to conceal troops or&#xA;  fugitives - with the same consideration for clearings within vegetated areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fsl.orst.edu/pnwerc/wrb/Atlas_web_compressed/Appendices/b.USGStopo_web.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USGS Topographic Maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T19:15:51.930" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T19:15:51.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22310" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22308" CreationDate="2019-06-10T19:15:45.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/TopographicMapSymbols/topomapsymbols.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USGS pamphlet&lt;/a&gt; (last page, bottom right), solid green is &quot;Forest&quot;.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www1.usgs.gov/csas/nvcs/nvcsGetUnitDetails?elementGlobalId=860217&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This link&lt;/a&gt; gives us &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The mesomorphic tree canopy is typically &gt;10% cover and often exceeds 5 m in height&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I was not able to find a good reference for a definition to &quot;Shrubland&quot; for the spotted irregular green to get a second notion of how green is used.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the map you have given us, I assume that the vast majority of the ecosystems in the green fall under the forest definition.  Since your map doesn't have a key, I have to assume they are referencing the solid green as a standard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T19:15:45.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22277" CreationDate="2019-06-10T19:32:38.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This answer expands on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22277/how-do-they-tell-the-sex-of-peregrine-falcon-chicks/22286#22286&quot;&gt;answer above&lt;/a&gt; given by ab2, and is in response to her comment that she could not find the factors that are measured for the morphological model.  The five factors are indeed given in the article she linked to.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;The five features measured were; body mass, wing chord length, tip-cere length, tarsus length and head-bill length.&lt;/strong&gt;&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then later...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;These variables were selected because they are &lt;strong&gt;frequently measured by field researchers&lt;/strong&gt; (e.g. Olendorf 1972; Arroyo et al. 2000; Balbontin et al. 2001) and are &lt;strong&gt;likely to differ between sexes&lt;/strong&gt; (Baker-Gabb 1984; Olsen 1995).&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18025" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-10T23:44:51.077" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T23:44:51.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20319" CreationDate="2019-06-10T20:05:01.380" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fly patterns used in modern european nymphing are purposefully simple and effective. The philosophy behind these patterns is to suggest the shape of the insect instead of trying to perfectly match the hatch, and this makes them very versatile as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Patterns like the tungsten torpedo:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyXKOhM9wY0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyXKOhM9wY0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or the tungsten surveyor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQvmSgb4eo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQvmSgb4eo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are extremely easy to tie and very effective. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For dries, the CDC and elk:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siubcX93zjQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siubcX93zjQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the F-fly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zusbn891Gdk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zusbn891Gdk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are very simple and do a great job suggesting caddis and mayflies of various types when tied in different sizes and colours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T20:05:01.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20041" CreationDate="2019-06-10T20:09:44.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest fly fishing technique to swing a wet fly, nymph, or streamer cast downstream. All you need to do is to cast downstream and let the current take your line until the fly sinks and comes up again due to the line tension. Eventually you will need to learn to mend to control speed and depth, but it is nothing compared to the amount of line control and mending that one has to do when fishing with dries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T20:09:44.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-10T23:32:21.140" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I must disagree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a bad idea to put your whole foot into a deep foothold as this shifts your leg too far forward and causes balance issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a wide foothold, it's often a good idea to give the muscles on the ball of the foot a rest by turning the foot sideways so the inside edge of the heel takes some load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Balance is the key issue. Don't compromise it. Other than that, the best choice is the most sure hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've blown out my boot tread on a leader fall and had to relearn how to climb without certain parts of the boot holding. Technique is what it is, and there are other techniques than the ones the books teach. Sometimes the book really is right, sometimes, not so much. Sometimes you gotta invent something wild.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the climb actually is vertical, the book advice will almost always hold. Even at 80 degrees, however, it won't be so cut and dried here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastActivityDate="2019-06-10T23:32:21.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-11T02:44:48.697" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have said, it's bad practice to use the arch and heel because  (a) it restricts motion when you're going for the &lt;em&gt;next&lt;/em&gt; hold, because there's one fewer joint you can bend, and (b) it throws your weight back.  But it's also bad practice to use your knees, your elbows, your butt, or to jam your head into a crack.  But I've done all of these when the route demands it (please don't do the last one!).  Off-widths are renowned for requiring parts of the body that are frowned upon in the gym.  The point here is that, in the gym, beginners tend to over-use their arches and heels, so it's a good rule to start with.  It's one of those rules that you can break later, when you know enough to know when to break it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18031" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T02:44:48.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22284" CreationDate="2019-06-11T07:27:56.647" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;These thimbles are primarily used for fixed point attachment. They're used on yachts and sailing dinghies for stays, halyards and jib mounts. Spliced onto the end of the rope they're for loops and semi-permanent anchors, or where you need to attach two very different materials via a D-shackle or equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbers use rope-carabiner-rope for their equivalent job, you should never be rope on rope. Climbers like everything to be temporary, they like to inspect every knot every time. They like knots &lt;em&gt;because&lt;/em&gt; they can be inspected every time. Sailors like splices because they're permanent and don't need to be inspected much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While splices are stronger and more permanent, knots are &quot;safer&quot; because they can be checked.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing to remember is that if a spliced rope on a thimble and D-shackle fails for a sailor it's mighty inconvenient, but that's about all. If it fails for a climber, it can be fatal. It requires expertise to be able to inspect even a twisted rope splice, with kernmantle rope you're on &quot;if in doubt chuck it out&quot; territory and you'll be throwing out a lot more rope than you would if you stuck to tying knots and using carabiners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;That's not to say you can't do it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are standard commercial products that do exactly what you're asking, though using the nylon thimbles which are more suitable for this rope type. They're designed for people who aren't experts, such as builders and scaffolders where they don't want to be spending half their time checking knots. Like any safety equipment there'll be guidance on how much and how many times they can be loaded before discarding. They don't expect you to be able to inspect the splice (beyond checking the stitching if stitched), you just discard as soon as you see any damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why nylon not steel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope flexes, it twists and shifts, steel doesn't under these loads, nylon can. As the rope moves it will abraid against any edges on the steel. The closer wear characteristics and greater flexibility of the nylon thimble reduces this effect meaning that your rope has a longer working life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-06-11T09:24:20.077" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T09:24:20.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22299" CreationDate="2019-06-11T11:54:37.220" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The idea that knots vary along a continuum of strength is a misconception. There is a class of knots that, in the correct application, simply do not spontaneously come undone. It then doesn't make sense to pick a knot from among that class based on strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, if you tie a clove hitch with 10 mm climbing rope on a standard carabiner, the strength of the knot is infinite, in the sense that no amount of tension will cause the rope to slip. The mode of failure would be something else, such as breaking the rope, breaking the carabiner, or breaking whatever is attaching the carabiner to the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what you basically want to do is adopt something from a known and tested body of techniques, and not modify the parameters too much. What you are doing seems to be combining sailing and climbing techniques, and the problem then is that you may be modifying the parameters in a way that you don't understand and will cause a failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example of how it can be bad to modify the parameters, try tying a clove hitch around a pencil using some thin sewing thread. You'll find that it doesn't hold. This is because there is a critical value of the parameter mu sqrt(r/R), where mu is the coefficient of friction, r is the radius of the cord, and R is the radius of the thing you're hitching to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for your application if what you're trying to accomplish is to put a durable steel eye-like thing on the end of a rock climbing rope, then an example of a safe thing to do would be the following. Buy a steel locking carabiner. (Most climbing carabiners are aluminum, but steel ones exist. I know steel non-lockers exist, not sure about lockers.) Tie the rope to the biner using a figure eight on a bight, with a tail that it twice the diameter of the knot. This is a known-good knot for this application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T11:54:37.220" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21731" CreationDate="2019-06-11T15:16:32.370" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When building their nest, octopus usually place some kind of shiny object at the entrance to find the place back if they leave. They probably don't for their eggs, as they don't leave them, but you never know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, the best way to ensure you won't disturb them is to keep your distance from reefs, so that you don't scare them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing to be carefull for, and most divers completely disregard, is the water flux created by your fins. This flux can be powerfull, removing little organisms (algaes and crustaceans) that were holding onto the rock. I believe it is strong enough to force an octopus to move, even to damage the eggs if applied directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18041" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T15:16:32.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20568" CreationDate="2019-06-11T15:26:00.417" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Port Cors, in the french riviera, is a national conservation park since 1963. The Gabinière is known for beeing one of the best dive site in mediterranea. You will find there groupers, barracudas, common dentexes and Gilt-head breams. If you are super lucky, you can see some seriolas and sunfishes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What makes the sites so good is that the interdiction to feed the fishes leaved them to a savage state, while the almost daily presence of divers made the biggest fishes consider divers as others pacific fishes. They won't swim away seeing you, but they will if you get really too close (50cm to a meter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18041" LastActivityDate="2019-06-11T15:26:00.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22324" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22336" CreationDate="2019-06-11T18:13:11.873" Score="3" ViewCount="268" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently planning a trekking trip in the north of Norway in September/early October.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because most of my current gear is way to heavy or only for hot weather I'm buying a new set of camping equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gear I'm currently planning to buy is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://smile.amazon.de/dp/B07JPJVFL5/?coliid=IHMB9JO7C732O&amp;amp;colid=RB3ZM0X9C0ZS&amp;amp;psc=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Terra Hiker down-feather sleeping bag&lt;/a&gt; rated for an optimal&#xA;temperature of 0°C (32°F)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://smile.amazon.de/dp/B07HT5XD9D/?coliid=I1W9VZNXQ337RI&amp;amp;colid=RB3ZM0X9C0ZS&amp;amp;psc=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Naturhike Cloud-up 2 (upgraded)&lt;/a&gt;, which is a 3-4 season tent (&lt;em&gt;and I assume it would handle cold wind well as there is a version with a snow skirt&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://smile.amazon.de/dp/B07JZCVGNY/?coliid=I6HIUJDP3MJ7U&amp;amp;colid=RB3ZM0X9C0ZS&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some cheap inflatable sleeping pad&lt;/a&gt; with an estimated R-value of about 1,3 (&lt;em&gt;extrapolated from similar products which list the R-value&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question now is if the products listed above will comfortably keep me warm during the autumn weather of northern Norway.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather statistic for Tromsø would indicate that I will encounter temperatures from about 15°C to -5°C (59°F to 23°F).&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YzOFS.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YzOFS.png&quot; alt=&quot;Tromsø weather&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aspects to take into consideration when answering or suggesting other gear:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm limited by my budget (student)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I do not want &quot;throw-away&quot; gear which won't last more than one trip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's an 8-14 day trip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weight is important&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17964" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-11T18:55:12.287" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T19:20:46.927" Title="What temperature rating of sleeping bag, season of tent and R value of a pad are needed for autumn camping in Norway?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22325" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22763" CreationDate="2019-06-12T02:17:04.813" Score="4" ViewCount="608" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once a year I go on a backpacking trip with a friend of mine who lives near Sacramento, California. He likes to bring his dog. The trip lengths typically range from 2-5 days (including car travel), depending on what other aspects of our lives allow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've done the Desolation Wilderness a few times and the Lost Coast trail once, and we're considering doing the Rogue River trail this September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Googling around is a little frustrating because I mostly see regional &quot;dog hikes&quot; or &quot;backpacking&quot; lists, not dog + backpacking + region lists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if this is an acceptable question for this site, but I'm looking for suggested trails, or for broader tips on how to find trails that match my criteria. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18045" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T23:20:52.730" Title="Dog-friendly backpacking trails in Northern California and Southern Oregon" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-12T05:07:50.567" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider is when there is a long, narrow foothold along the wall, e.g. a horizontal crack. Standing on it with your feet parallel to the wall places your center of gravity outside of the foothold (first picture) and you constantly need to pull yourself towards the wall. If you place only your toes on the foothold, your center of gravity is above the foothold, greatly reducing the force you need to hold with your arms (second picture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KIwKj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KIwKj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoorwildling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/climbing_shoe.jpeg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://outdoorwildling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/climbing_shoe.jpeg&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0eSMy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0eSMy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://howtoclimbharder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01)/5041470940_39cb20faf3_o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://howtoclimbharder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01)/5041470940_39cb20faf3_o.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18046" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T12:50:09.347" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T12:50:09.347" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22327" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22328" CreationDate="2019-06-12T08:29:36.390" Score="5" ViewCount="384" Body="&lt;p&gt;Around my work I walk in local parks for a couple of hours a day, and I've noticed we have Green Woodpeckers, and I've seen them quite a few times and can now recognise them rather easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I have seen Spotted Woodpeckers, I assumed it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker, however recently learnt we have Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in the UK as well. It was pouring with rain at the time so I was unable to get a very close look at the pair. How would you tell the difference between Great and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers by their look and behavior?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T09:49:08.877" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T11:28:20.137" Title="How to tell the difference between Lesser and Great spotted Woodpeckers?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22327" CreationDate="2019-06-12T09:40:00.820" Score="5" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Size:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The great spotted is greater in size than the lesser spotted. Perhaps that goes without saying but the difference is quite significant. The great spotted is about the size of a blackbird. The lesser spotted is about the size of a sparrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Red:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Female lessers have a white cap. Male lessers have a red cap, juvenile greats have a red cap but they're bigger than lessers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Greats have a red bum and males have a red patch on the back of the head. They also have larger white patches on the wings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;In summary&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's really hard to tell the difference, be glad we don't also get the middle spotted woodpecker. The chances are you saw a great spotted wookpecker because the lesser spotted is quite rare.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lesser-spotted-woodpecker/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lesser-spotted-woodpecker/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/great-spotted-woodpecker/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/great-spotted-woodpecker/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T11:28:20.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22329" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22294" CreationDate="2019-06-12T11:26:43.760" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If by tea leaves you mean the &lt;em&gt;camellia sinensis&lt;/em&gt; used for green tea, then it is just as foreign to certain areas as banana peels are. I find &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22297&quot;&gt;Sue's answer&lt;/a&gt; from the coffee question quite decisive here. Furthermore you don't know by what was a certain tea treated, that means there is no guarantee that you wouldn't bring in any substance which is not supposed to be there. So according to Sue's answer no leftover tea leaves should be left in nature. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my point of view (maybe I am not strict enough with the Leave No Trace...) picking your own herbs (especially some which could be found in nature/that specific area as well) would exclude a part of these problems. In that case the answer to “Would this item be here or would this area look like this if I had never come through?” might not be a straightforward YES, but still more yes than in the case of green tea leaves. For example some wet thyme under a bush would biodegrade after a while: thyme would be there in nature, but maybe not torn down+wet from boiling. Again, the question arises: should I forage my own herbs from the places where I hike (especially if I am in a protected area, then I definitely should NOT), or is there a better place where I can do that? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T11:26:43.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22330" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-12T12:49:26.883" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you use just the forepart of your foot and your knees are close to the wall, your calves are already naturally at an angle where your feet exert pull.  That makes it easier to bring your body closer to the wall without exhausting your calves.  This in turn allows you to load sloping fingerholds in vertical or overhanging terrain in a much more favorable direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those kinds of body mechanics are a bit unintuitive to explain: try the effect of pulling your body in to the wall with your feet in overhanging terrain just above the ground in a gym.  Once you figure out the difference of pulling with your feet and just letting your body hang from sloping fingerholds, check out how good pulling in with your toes works compared to pulling in with the whole foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18048" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T12:49:26.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6221" CreationDate="2019-06-12T13:13:49.380" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can actually estimated your hiking distance with Tobler’s hiking function with default parameters (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobler%27s_hiking_function&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobler%27s_hiking_function&lt;/a&gt;). This means that speed on flat surfaces is estimated to be 5km/h and maximum speed of 6km/h is achieved when going downhill at 2.86 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The platform FATMAP has a great tool that uses this algorithm and shows you exactly where you can hike in a set amount of time on their 3D map, www.fatmap.com.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/huElo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/huElo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18049" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T13:13:49.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22332" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22333" CreationDate="2019-06-12T14:42:16.900" Score="9" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing off and on for about 3 years now, but only started going regularly in the last 6 months. I've had the same pair of shoes for about 2 years now. My brother recently pointed out that the toes of my shoes are starting to get seriously worn down. The seams haven't popped yet, but there is a noticeable lack of a clean edge to my shoes compared to a new pair. I feel like this may be affecting my climbing ability, but I have no real way to tell without buying another pair of shoes, going through the process of breaking them in, comparing how I climb in each, and that takes a good bit of time and money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to definitively tell when it's time to replace a pair of shoes that aren't obviously completely destroyed already?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18051" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T03:06:07.043" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T03:06:07.043" Title="How do I know when it's time to replace my climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22332" CreationDate="2019-06-12T16:57:42.543" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking, newer shoes are going to be better and more effective and yet as you well know that costs money. So what it really comes down is a cost/benefit analysis that's going to be up to the individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it gets to a point where you are slipping and the shoes are falling apart at the seams then it becomes a safety issue, short of that its just a matter of whether you want to spend the money. There are non-profits I know of that haven't replaced their climbing shoes since the early 90s (while newer shoes would work better, the old ones are still effective).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to look into is just getting the soles redone, this should be cheaper and bring the rubber back to a sticky state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T16:57:42.543" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22298" CreationDate="2019-06-12T19:03:31.640" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this advice is really targeting beginners that use the arch to stand on a big hold.  The arch is the worst part of the shoe to use, because it has very poor usable surface area, it's angled, and it often has less high-friction rubber than the forefoot and heel.  When I say &quot;standing on the arch&quot;, I mean that literally the toes and heel have no contact.  I hope it doesn't take further elaboration to explain that this is a really bad habit to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, heels are very useful in particular situations, but one situation where they are not &quot;useful&quot; is when resting on a ginormous hold that can easily accommodate any part of your foot.  Again, the heel will generally not offer as much total friction, so even if you could safely stand on that big hold with your heel, it's still better to use your forefoot, because it will grip the hold better (and if it doesn't, get better shoes!).  Of course, the cost is that you will be loading the calves, which is why beginners develop these bad habits to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the hold is big enough to fit your heel &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; toes safely, then just use the whole thing!  There's no point in gratuitously wasting energy to follow some textbook advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18053" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T19:03:31.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22335" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22332" CreationDate="2019-06-12T21:11:20.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whether a rounded edge is a problem strongly depends on your climbing level. In my experience, for normal people this is not much of an issue as footholds are big enough to step even with a rounded edge, especially on plastic. Adam Ondra on the other side stated &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5CT8B6eI0A&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;in this weeks video&lt;/a&gt; that he used 7 pairs of shoes on the dawn wall as holds are so small. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally watch my shoes and resole them in case of strong wearout at the tip to the point that the rubber is just down and a (very small) hole starts to appear in your tip (in one of the shoes). As a beginner this was the only sign that a shoe has done its duty. The wearout at the tips is mostly caused by scratching along the wall before hitting the foothold. Thus a good footwork can help to lengthen the life of your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T21:11:20.677" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22324" CreationDate="2019-06-12T22:18:12.963" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only speak from my own experience with equipment that I can only qualitatively compare with yours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the upper end of the range you quote (in the fifties F, 10+ degrees C), you will be warm (unless you are wet).  So obviously, it is the lower end of the range that is of concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We do our backpacking with a three-season tent, with rainfly; your tent sounds as though it is better in the cold than ours, but possibly not.  We camped as low as 4 degrees F, and although it was a horrible night (more later), the tent was &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; the problem.  Assuming your tent is in good condition, it is adequate for your conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On to your sleeping bag.  I can't remember if our bags are rated to zero F or to 10 degrees F.  Ours are definitely are not rated to below zero, F, but they are warmer than your 32 degree bag.  They have always been adequate, although marginal in the 4 degrees F night.  One beautiful, clear night we didn't bother setting up the tent, and camped under the stars beside the Tuolumne River. We woke up to find our bags looked like skating rinks. They were covered with icy snow, moisture condensed and frozen on the bags.  Our thermometer said the temperature had bottomed at 19 degrees F.  We were perfectly warm and comfortable all night.  Your sleeping bag is most likely marginal at the lowest of your range, but adequate because you can wear your parka inside the bag.  What will make you miserable is damp socks on a cold night.  Take one more pair of socks than you think you will need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the pad.  I'm not familiar with the pad you describe, and I don't know the R value of our pads.  They are just ensolite pads, not thick, not special, not expensive.  They have always been enough, except for that 4 degree F night, and their inadequacy was the source of our misery.  However, we were camped on snow -- there was no bare ground anywhere -- and in the early night, heat escaped from our bodies and melted the snow beneath us, which later in the night froze.  We were trying to sleep in a narrow, shallow depression of ice that had frozen into the position we occupied during our first period of sleep.  The pad would probably have been adequate if there had been no snow, and I think a second pad apiece would have made us far more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll guess that your pad is adequate except for sleeping on snow.       &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So your equipment sounds adequate to me, provided you have a parka, dry socks, and warm trousers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T22:55:52.917" LastActivityDate="2019-06-12T22:55:52.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22337" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-12T23:01:50.717" Score="7" ViewCount="1200" Body="&lt;p&gt;For some reason, once in a while I get confused if you add magnetic declination to magnetic bearings to get true bearings, or if you add magnetic declination to true bearings to get magnetic bearings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an easy way to remember the correct way to make this conversion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-14T14:56:07.290" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:49:28.053" Title="Is there an easy way to remember if you add magnetic declination to magnetic bearings or true bearings?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-12T23:12:03.533" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Remember, &lt;strong&gt;your compass points to magnetic north while to finding True North requires calculation.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that the &lt;strong&gt;declination&lt;/strong&gt; needs to be added to/subtracted from the &lt;strong&gt;magnetic bearing&lt;/strong&gt;  i.e. what your compass is showing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a sanity check,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;For locations &lt;strong&gt;east of the agonic line (zero declination)&lt;/strong&gt;, roughly east of the Mississippi: The &lt;strong&gt;magnetic bearing is always bigger.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;For locations &lt;strong&gt;west of the agonic line (zero declination)&lt;/strong&gt;, roughly west of the Mississippi: The &lt;strong&gt;magnetic bearing is always smaller.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the simplest way to put it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T13:53:38.150" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T13:53:38.150" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22339" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22340" CreationDate="2019-06-12T23:18:34.140" Score="8" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m wondering does anyone know what this part of a Click Up is for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PxdK5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m taking about the rounded cutouts on each side of the device on the climber side. In the normal position I can’t see what these are for. The only thing I can think of, is that if you accidentally use the Click Up in the upside down position (in other words you attach the device to the karabiner with the brake side on top - this happened me today), these can act as friction teeth for lowering (like a tube/ATC belay device). I was wondering was this intentional design? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18056" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-12T23:51:12.140" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T00:06:48.063" Title="What is the v-notch on top of the “Clickup” climbing belay device for?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22340" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22339" CreationDate="2019-06-12T23:50:42.900" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbingtechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/instruction-manual-click-up.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;diagram in the instruction manual&lt;/a&gt;, that is called &lt;strong&gt;a braking notch&lt;/strong&gt; and the only mention is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the rope is inserted incorrectly into the Click  Up&lt;/strong&gt; i.e. not following the indications marked on the device (Fig. 3.5) or the Click Up is inserted&#xA;  upside down onto the harness’s belay loop so that the design with the hand and the rope is visible&#xA;  (Fig. 3.6), the device will not work correctly. In both cases you must immediately stop the climb&#xA;  and lower the climber as follows: &lt;strong&gt;whilst holding firmly onto the free end of the rope, position it&#xA;  into the braking notch&lt;/strong&gt; L. Let rope into the device by using both hands on the free end of the rope&#xA;  and moving one hand then the other lower while with the other hand you firmly hold the rope&#xA;  (Fig. 7.1-7.2). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the advertisements is says,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;V-shaped, tapered friction notches&lt;/strong&gt; ensure effective belaying &lt;strong&gt;even if the rope is incorrectly installed in the device&lt;/strong&gt; (i.e. the strands of the rope are inverted)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/145375/climbing-technology-click-up-plus-belay-device-package&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So yes, it's designed to be used if you get the device upside down (which you shouldn't do) and need to lower the climber back to the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T00:06:48.063" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T00:06:48.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-13T02:41:55.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple answer is to first draw the &lt;em&gt;declination diagram&lt;/em&gt; (or at least picture it in your minds eye).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Following is an edit of my answer over at GIS.SE: &lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/61743/applying-proper-conversion-from-true-to-grid-bearing&quot;&gt;https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/61743/applying-proper-conversion-from-true-to-grid-bearing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;            TN&#xA;    GN      |     MN&#xA;      \     |     /&#xA;       \    |    /&#xA;        \ MC|MD /&#xA;         \  |  /&#xA;          \ | /&#xA;           \|/  MB&#xA;            o ----------- OH&#xA;&#xA;GN: grid north -- direction of map's south-to-north grid lines&#xA;TN: true north -- direction of local meridian (aka geographic or geodetic north)&#xA;MN: magnetic north -- direction of local magnetic force field&#xA;&#xA;OH: our heading -- direction we're going or looking (aka bearing, azimuth or course)&#xA;    Note: this could be anywhere, of course (excuse the pun),  it just happens to&#xA;    point east in the diagram&#xA;&#xA;MD: magnetic declination -- angle between true north &amp;amp; magnetic north (aka&#xA;    magnetic variation)&#xA;    Note: MN may be West or East of TN (ie, MD may be -ve or +ve)&#xA;&#xA;MC: meridian convergence (aka grid convergence) -- angle between true north &amp;amp; grid north&#xA;    Note: GN may be East or West of TN (ie, MC may be +ve or -ve)&#xA;&#xA;MB: magnetic bearing -- angle between magnetic north &amp;amp; our heading&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not shown&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;TB: true bearing -- angle between true north &amp;amp; our heading&#xA;GB: grid bearing -- angle between grid north &amp;amp; our heading&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some simple relationships&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;TB = MB + MD&#xA;GB = TB - MC&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that meridian convergence on topographic maps is typically very small and can be ignored in compass navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The moral of the story is: &lt;strong&gt;draw or examine the declination diagram&lt;/strong&gt; (for the situation at hand) and things will be clear. But remember, the relative directions of True, Grid and Magnetic Norths will depend entirely on where on Earth you are and where on the map projection you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iogp.org/bookstore/product/grid-convergence-geomatics-guidance-note-21/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IOGP Geomatics guidance note on Grid convergence&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The definition of grid convergence is ambiguous, because text books on geodesy, cartography, navigation and surveying are not consistent on how this angle is calculated. In a world where navigation and surveying have become global activities, this has led to considerable confusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One convention has grid convergence&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;positive when True North lies &lt;em&gt;west&lt;/em&gt; of Grid North&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(that's the one I'm using above) and another has it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;positive when True North lies &lt;em&gt;east&lt;/em&gt; of Grid North&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T15:32:22.340" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T15:32:22.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22343" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22324" CreationDate="2019-06-13T08:39:54.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on my experience &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Most of the coldness I experienced while camping came from the ground.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My advice is to take an extra ensolite pad with you. Best one of those with those metallic surface on one side. Just place it under your sleeping pad. If size is also a concern, there are some models which can be folded to the size of a DIN A4 sheet.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And maybe just get a thin blanket with you, which you can wrap around your sleeping bag when it feels too cold. (or to place it under the sleeping bag, wherever you need a bit of extra insulation)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The coldest nights I experienced were at the beach of the north sea with temperatures around 0 C. The air was wet and cold. And coldness crept up from the sand. In the morning everything felt wet and cold, was a sleepless cold night.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your tent and sleeping bag looks okay in my opinion. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;But your sleeping pad not. But that depends on your sleeping position and your body shape. If you usually sleep on your back or on your belly, it can be adequate.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But if you sleep on your side and your body shape is more slim, than it can be painful and annoying because your hip bones need some volume to &quot;dig&quot; into so that you can get a comfy position.&lt;br&gt;(this is what makes camping not nice for me because I can only sleep on my side and at least for me it's difficult to get enough &quot;bolster&quot; material. But I'm very slim and maybe it's easier if you are a more solid person)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Anyway, I wish you much fun on your trip, may you make a lot of nice experiences&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;[Edit: Just a sentence regarding the R-Ratings. As far as I know they are not standardized among different manufactures because there are no official test requirements (citation needed)]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16266" LastEditorUserId="16266" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T09:04:43.313" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T09:04:43.313" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22345" CreationDate="2019-06-13T10:22:45.823" Score="15" ViewCount="2661" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anyone experience with attaching a hammock to roof rails of a regular car?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just bought a hammock for my next camping trip. I will be traveling mostly by car and sleep in a tent but wanted something to relax in outside of the tent or car and also might try sleeping in the hammock. &#xA;My question is: &lt;strong&gt;Is it possible (i.e. safe for both, me and the car) to attach one side of the hammock to the roof rails of the car?&lt;/strong&gt; This might make a lot of places hammock-feasible, as I‘d only need one additional tree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am pretty sure that I have already seen auch a set-up with a Jeep-like car somewhere. But the car in question is an Opel Astra with normal roof rails so I fear that the rails might not withstand the sideward pull a hammock would cause on them. Since it is a borrowed car from a family member, I really do not want to damage it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18058" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T16:02:28.240" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T10:50:34.947" Title="Using roof rails to set up hammock" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22344" CreationDate="2019-06-13T10:39:03.230" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The load limit for directly mounted roof bars is around 60kg - 70kg for ordinary (European) cars. Usually the load limit for rail mounted bars is lower, but that's for vertical and dynamic load. This is a static load so you're probably ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically if it was my own car and not in great condition I'd do it, attaching the hammock to the far rail and hanging over the near one. With a borrowed car I wouldn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand if you get a single support for your hammock such as crossed poles, and using a tree at the other end, you can certainly use the tow loop as an anchor as that's more than strong enough to take the load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHDZu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GHDZu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Single tree hammock&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T12:56:55.417" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T12:56:55.417" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-13T11:28:05.303" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Declination is simply the difference between the value you have, and the value you want.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the difference between true and magnetic north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good map will have both marked, it will also have &amp;quot;grid north&amp;quot; marked, which may not match either. In the UK grid north is simply the line parallel to the central meridian (2° W), so the further away from there you go, the further it is from true north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thing to go with that is that &amp;quot;add&amp;quot; isn't really a useful word either, as you can see from the image below which is a global map of magnetic declination, sometimes you add and sometimes you subtract, or possibly add a negative number. It just depends where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SYmIl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SYmIl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Magnetic declination&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://geokov.com/education/magnetic-declination-inclination.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://geokov.com/education/magnetic-declination-inclination.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/resources/maps-and-geographic-resources/finding-north.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/resources/maps-and-geographic-resources/finding-north.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T13:42:15.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-13T13:08:12.873" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you find it hard to remember between adding and subtracting, you might have more success with a visual approach.  This works for me: I have a spatial memory, so it takes effort to remember lists of instructions; perhaps that's the case for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assumptions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I expect you have the usual kind of compass for walkers and mountaineers, with a baseplate and compass capsule that turns within it (&quot;protractor compass&quot; or &quot;orienteering compass&quot;).  You'll need a different strategy if using a bubble compass as used on kayaks and other sea craft.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In my region, magnetic north is currently west of both true north and grid north, so I'll assume the same in the explanation; if your region has magnetic north to the east of grid north, the visualisation will help you get it right where mere instructions would be confusing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose you've just taken a bearing on the map.  The north arrow has been aligned with &lt;em&gt;grid north&lt;/em&gt;, but you want to use the bearing with the magnetic needle, to follow a course.  Visualise yourself looking at grid north and turning a few degrees left to magnetic north.  Now turn the compass capsule (with its north arrow) those same few degrees to the left, relative to the baseplate.  This has added to the number, but the important thing is that &lt;em&gt;we didn't have to think about adding&lt;/em&gt;, just the direction to turn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, to take a ground bearing back to the map, we visualise turning from the &lt;em&gt;magnetic north&lt;/em&gt; to the &lt;em&gt;grid north&lt;/em&gt;, and apply that same turn to the compass's north arrow (keeping the baseplate stationary).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your compass isn't of a protractor design and has no separate baseplate, seriously consider upgrading to one that is; it will make navigation much easier.  Some even have separate grid lines and north arrow to allow pre-setting of the magnetic offset and eliminate the adjustment step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T13:08:12.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22348" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-13T13:29:33.980" Score="1" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, if your knock is too high or too low or your rest is not perfectly in line with the string, your arrows will fly at a &lt;strong&gt;slight angle to the direction of travel instead of perfectly straight&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you test to make sure your arrows are flying straight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T19:23:11.837" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T19:23:11.837" Title="How to make sure that your arrows are flying straight?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22348" CreationDate="2019-06-13T13:29:33.980" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution is called &lt;strong&gt;paper tuning,&lt;/strong&gt; what you do is &lt;strong&gt;shoot your arrow completely through a sheet of paper and examine the hole left behind.&lt;/strong&gt; The easy way to do this is to tack a sheet of paper to a large empty picture frame and stand it up about 1.5 arrow lengths from the target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what it should look like, three equal length slits from the arrow feathers and one nice round hole from the shaft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tvivjm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tvivjm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's flying off center, the feather holes will be shorter and the &lt;strong&gt;hole made by the shaft will be long instead of round.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MUDGFm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MUDGFm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, it's because the arrow is flying nose up instead of straight inline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to fix this, you move the &lt;strong&gt;nocking point/knocking loop up or down&lt;/strong&gt; and the in the &lt;strong&gt;same direction the shaft hole&lt;/strong&gt; is pointing while the &lt;strong&gt;arrow rest moves the opposite way.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the example above, the problem is caused by the tip being higher than the nock when fired, so you need to move the nocking point up. If the shaft hole is pointing left, then the rest needs to be moved to the right in order to bring the arrow into line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible that the yokes on a compound bow are out of tune and need to be adjusted so that the string is in line with the wheels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if the tear is at an angle, its recommended to fix the up and down first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T13:29:33.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-13T14:40:50.380" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a mnemonic: &lt;strong&gt;Can Dead Men Vote Twice At Elections?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first letters in this sentence indicate the meaning: Compass +/- Deviation = Magnetic +/- Variation = True (Adding Easterly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means to get from a compass bearing, I add Easterly deviations or subtract Westerly deviations get the magnetic bearing.  From that, I again add Easterly variations or subtract Westerly variations to get the true bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is for the process known as correcting, going from least &quot;true&quot; to most &quot;true.&quot;  For the other direction, un-correcting, well, there is a slightly less safe-for-work mnemonic for that too:  True Virgins Make Dull Companions, Add Whiskey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit (clarification from comments, adding references):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, compass deviations will be at or near 0&amp;deg;, and for a hand-held compass in the field, can often be ignored. But these mnemonics were invented by mariners, and are useful for navigators of aircraft and sailing vessels, where there is other equipment that generates its own magnetic field and influences the mounted compass in the craft. Any good navigator takes the time to &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.professionalmariner.com/December-January-2014/compass/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;swing the compass&lt;/a&gt;&quot; now and then, and maintains a detailed deviation table for the vessel.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, declination and variation are both terms for the same concept.  At first glance, &quot;variation&quot; seems to be the preferred term in navigation, and &quot;declination&quot; the preferred term in cartography and geography, but this is just my own observation, and I have also seen some references use them almost interchangeably.  Here is another reference: (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/navigation-variation-and-declination/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, here's an article (focused on sailing) that talks about the listed mnemonics and gives examples: (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailnet.com/forums/learning-sail-articles/18827-understanding-using-magnetic-compass.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-06-13T16:50:21.973" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T16:50:21.973" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-13T15:34:38.877" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A mnemonic rhyme I was taught as a teenager (in a region with westerly declination) is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Grid to Mag -&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Add&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Mag to Grid -&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Rid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doesn't help those with easterly declinations, of course (including here, in a few years' time...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T15:34:38.877" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22274" CreationDate="2019-06-13T17:28:55.627" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Between the comments, continued observation of the Falcon-Cams, a little wiki-reading, and information on the site of the sponsor of the cams, I think I can confidently give myself the answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the chicks have different appearances, and particularly different development of adolescent plumage versus hatchling down, simply because they are different ages.  Falcons may lay a clutch of several eggs per breeding season, but they are not all laid at the same time and do not hatch at the same time.  The chick with the most down is probably a full week younger than the others.  Looking at the same web-cams one week later, it is far less downy now, and maybe even less downy than the siblings were one week ago.  Further, the Lansing (Michigan) Board of Water and Light (LBWL), host of the falcon's nestbox and sponsor of the web-cams, &lt;s&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lbwl.com/falcon.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;shows on its site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/s&gt; the dates of laying and hatching of all prior clutches, confirming the normal week-long spans of laying and hatching.  (EDIT:  The Falcon Fact Sheets seem to have been removed from LBWL's community sites.  I will keep looking and correct the link if able.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, the younger chick is probably female, while the older two are probably male.  LBWL along with Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) did a check and banding of the chicks, as mentioned before, but has not yet announced the results.  However, wikipedia's page on &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_falcon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Falco peregrinus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; informs us that &quot;the peregrine falcon displays marked sexual dimorphism in size, with the female measuring up to 30% larger than the male.&quot;  From there the rest is conjecture, but is a safe conclusion nevertheless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a personal note, as of this moment the two older chicks appear on the brink of jumping out any minute and taking flight.  You go, Falcons!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-09-05T11:37:59.760" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T11:37:59.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22233" CreationDate="2019-06-13T20:15:03.743" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/baylisascaris/resources/raccoonlatrines.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;raccoon latrine&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-skunk-and-raccoon-latrines-1.23613055&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;and here&lt;/a&gt;) to me.  We don't have skunks in my area, but perhaps you do. It could be that. In either case I'd be careful around it and try to find a way to discourage the animals from continuing to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T20:15:03.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22344" CreationDate="2019-06-13T21:49:07.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would attach rope to both rails and perhaps even the door pillar on the opposite side. This would help spread the load if you’re worried about weakening the rail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Update:&lt;/em&gt; In fact why not just tie across the roof to the opposite door pillar and simplify the task. One knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18059" LastEditorUserId="18059" LastEditDate="2019-06-14T09:14:17.093" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T09:14:17.093" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22344" CreationDate="2019-06-13T22:30:47.920" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have done this on my 3 series wagon. I had the strap tied around the middle vertical support of one of the side rails. I also have cross bars installed, so I don't know if that helps in anyway to reenforce or distribute some of the load to the other rail, but I didn't have any issues. I just made sure that the strap was situated in a way where it came over the top of the bar so that it wouldn't rub on the paint of the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18060" LastActivityDate="2019-06-13T22:30:47.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22356" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-13T23:16:18.703" Score="1" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at buying additional accessories or making some for my car's roof rack, which uses Whispbar brand crossbars. I'm wondering if other brands use the same size t-track slots and whether they'd be interchangeable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18061" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-06-14T12:51:44.803" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T12:51:44.803" Title="Are T-Tracks the same size on all brands of roof rack crossbars?" Tags="&lt;bikes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22356" CreationDate="2019-06-14T12:39:27.370" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;No&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's a bit short for an SE answer but it pretty much covers the problem, there are various manufacturer specific sizes and no standard. Some parts providers such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://roofracks.co.uk/Thule-Products/Accessories/T-Track-Adapters/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thule&lt;/a&gt; sell accessories and adapters to allow a greater range of compatibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T12:39:27.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22261" CreationDate="2019-06-14T14:55:54.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Break it down into a passing-a-knot problem: Set up and lock off your (extended) rappel system in a safe place, and then use The Rope to do the rappelling job you were going to do with the awkward-to-release PAS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, pre-set and lock off the ATC to a comfortable distance below the foot-anchors, then put the end of The Rope through the higher anchor/strong point/bolt carabiner to make a doubled rope, and rappel down over the edge and onto your locked-off ATC using a munter on the doubled end. When you've transferred yourself to the locked-off ATC, release and disassemble the munter, pull the rope end out of the upper anchor and check your descent, and then un-lock-off the ATC and go as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want to try to control essentially two simultaneous rappels with separate hands as you show in your last pic, you want to transfer safely from one (short) rappel to a second rappel, which is a good-to-know pass-the-knot skill (but it's made a bit easier, since you can pre-setup before you start off.)  With a munter on a doubled rope, you can snug up and limit a fall to inches and rappel farther than any PAS can reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16418" LastActivityDate="2019-06-14T14:55:54.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22362" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22363" CreationDate="2019-06-15T19:07:34.527" Score="2" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you buy a box of ammunition, it usually says the &lt;strong&gt;muzzle velocity on the box&lt;/strong&gt; in addition to the bullet weight (or you can find the information online).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that bullet velocity depends on the length of the barrel, with longer barrels usually having higher velocities, and one's barrel may be longer or shorter than &quot;standard,&quot; what is the &lt;strong&gt;standard barrel length that is used for calculating muzzle velocity?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T00:46:44.937" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T00:46:44.937" Title="What is the standard barrel length used for calculating the velocity of ammunition?" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22363" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22362" CreationDate="2019-06-15T19:07:34.527" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standards are set by &lt;a href=&quot;https://saami.org/technical-information/ansi-saami-standards/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Manufacturers Institute)&lt;/a&gt; and it depends on the type of firearm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rimfire rifles&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SAAMI-Z299.1-Rimfire-Approved-2018-06-13.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;24 inches (page 60)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Centerfire rifles&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ANSI-SAAMI-Z299.4-CFR-Approved-2015-12-14-Posting-Copy.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;24 inches with 5 exceptions (page 231)&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;7.62x39 – 20.00 inches (508.0mm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;30 Carbine – 20.00 inches (508.0mm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;300 AAC Blackout – 16.00 inches (406.4 mm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;350 Remington Magnum – 20.00 inches (508.0mm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;44 Remington Magnum – 20.00 inches (508.0mm)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shotguns&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ANSI-SAAMI-Z299.2-Shotshell-Approved-2019-04-23.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;26-32 inches (page 88-106&lt;/a&gt;s depends on what type of shot/slug is being tested. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pistols&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://saami.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ANSI-SAAMI-Z299.3-CFP-and-R-Approved-2015-12-14-Posting-Copy.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;depends on which cartridge is being tested (pages 141-179)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if &lt;strong&gt;your barrel were to be shorter&lt;/strong&gt; than the standard, one could assume that &lt;strong&gt;velocities would be slower than what is labeled on the box.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, other factors such as temperature and or chamber sizes also apply and if you want to know your specific velocities a chronograph will be the most accurate way of finding out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-15T19:07:34.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-15T21:05:57.890" Score="4" ViewCount="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been walking the Kungsleden in the Sweden Lapland recently and I enjoyed it very much. I'd like to try again a similar trek but this time I'd love to go to either Kamchatka or South Siberia (near Baikal lake).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a trek in one of those places which is similar to the Kungsleden? With similar I mean that the the path is well marked, it's possible to sleep in huts (even tho I'm also considering bring a tent this time) and it can be walked alone, without guides or tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18073" LastActivityDate="2019-06-15T21:05:57.890" Title="Trekking in Russia similar to Kungsleden" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;russia&gt;&lt;solo-trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19966" CreationDate="2019-06-16T03:20:19.657" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do the Everest base camp and Kalapathar trek in Nepal. The maximum elevation you gain on this trek is 5,545m at Kalapathar and maximum elevation for overnight at 5,100m. No previous experience of trekking is required but you should be moderately fit and adaptable to high altitude and continue walking for 13 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18077" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T05:19:06.913" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T05:19:06.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9580" CreationDate="2019-06-16T03:26:49.237" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a preliminary peak for Everest, there are several mountains ranging from 6000-8000m peaks. Climbing 6000m peak (Island Peak or Lobuche East) is basically included these days on the Everest expedition itinerary as a part of acclimatization.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, climbing one 8000m peak such as (Mt. Manaslu or Mt.Chooyu) will be greatly beneficial before attempting the big E. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18077" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-16T05:19:24.507" LastActivityDate="2019-06-16T05:19:24.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22368" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-16T04:42:35.940" Score="4" ViewCount="87" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went on a weeklong backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevadas  and in the third or fourth night while we were camping next to the Kern River we heard this odd noise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At around 5-10 PM we would here an exchange between two birds, one of them made a squawky noise and another would respond with a call that sounds like someone dragging a metal bowl across a rock. We would hear this strange noise throughout the night but it would stop in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We only heard this exchange whenever we were camped out near trees. In fact, I am not even 100% sure that what we heard was a bird call, but someone said it was likely because the noise would dart around the area quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what could’ve made this noise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TLDR; need help identifying an nocturnal animal that lives in the Sierra Nevadas that makes a noise that sounds like a metal bowl being dragged across a rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18079" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T00:06:12.147" Title="Need Help Identifying a Birdcall (Sierra Nevadas)" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22369" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-16T18:15:39.030" Score="8" ViewCount="1047" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a dispute in my climbing group whether a &quot;large&quot; eye of the tie-in knot can be considered dangerous. While I don't see a problem with a loop that is about 10 cm across, others argue that the loop should be as tight as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We're climbing indoors and use figure-of-eight or double bowline as tie-in knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could be more dangerous when using a &quot;large&quot; loop?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T16:35:23.600" Title="&quot;Large&quot; eye of tie-in knot: dangerous?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22369" CreationDate="2019-06-16T18:40:42.733" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In case of the double bowline it gets undone more easily than with a small eye, as it can move more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the figure of eight the only factor I can think of is the same as with a too long loose end: If you clip in a hurry and the express is rather low, it can happen that you clip the wrong strand. That might seem unlikely, but given enough time/repetitions, almost anything can happen. With the loose end it means a long fall, with the eye it's worse, as it will block you, which can easily lead to a fall, which then gets arrested almost statically by the express. That's ~30cm fall, which is already quite bad and potentially leading to injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And outside it also falls on the general rule of keep your gear and setup neat and tidy. Anything loose is anything from an annoyance to a real danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T09:20:54.223" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T09:20:54.223" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22371" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22377" CreationDate="2019-06-16T23:00:16.950" Score="3" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to go backpacking this summer, and my goal is Sweden. Looking around, I have grown to like the landscapes of Abisko in the north of Sweden. But, because it is rather far away from where I live (Germany, that means 35 hours by bus+train) I am asking if there are any landscapes similar to that of Abisko, closer to me, in Sweden. Giant valleys and woods sprinkled inbetween, with many flowing rivers and creeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any info is greatly appreciated! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18082" LastEditorUserId="18082" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T10:21:04.193" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T13:32:55.597" Title="Where can I find nature in Sweden, like that of Abisko?" Tags="&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22373" CreationDate="2019-06-16T23:27:52.767" Score="2" ViewCount="252" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just found this toad on a sidewalk near a lake the elevation was probably somewhere around 4800 ft (1500m).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8DXr6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8DXr6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know what kind it is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2020-01-19T22:12:42.727" LastActivityDate="2020-01-19T22:12:42.727" Title="What kind of toad is this 2.5 inch (6.5cm) one yellow with brown spots and a white back stripe?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22372" CreationDate="2019-06-17T05:38:17.567" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note: This answer has been revised based on a higher quality photo&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not a toad expert, but I think it is likely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://gonefroggin.com/2019/01/15/woodhouses-toad-anaxyrus-woodhousii/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Woodhouse's Toad&lt;/a&gt; based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Education/StudentActivities/COHerpQuickKey.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this handy guide&lt;/a&gt;.  One of the key features is the pale stripe down the back and the cranial crests; the absence of which would make it a &lt;a href=&quot;https://gonefroggin.com/2019/02/26/western-toad-anaxyrus-boreas/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Boreal Toad&lt;/a&gt; or the large symmetrical dark splotches that would make it a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.birdandhike.com/Wildlife/Amphib/Bufo_cog/_Buf_cog.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Great Plains Toad&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a cropped photo from the question showing the cranial crests circled.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFyJ5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFyJ5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo from OP with cranial crests circle (correctly this time, I hope)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One other note is that it is more likely to be found below 7,000 feet of elevation, unlike a Boreal Toad which is usually found above 8,000 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see a picture of a Woodhouse's Toad here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Q2EZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Q2EZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo of a Woodhouse&amp;#39;s Toad&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I originally came to the conclusion that it was a boreal toad based on the original photo using &lt;a href=&quot;https://gonefroggin.com/2016/09/26/frogs-toads-colorado/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt;, but I wanted to use a more step-by-step method, so I followed the guide that I mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Education/StudentActivities/COHerpQuickKey.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;earlier&lt;/a&gt;.  Given the update photo, the aforementioned guide would suggest that it is instead a Woodhouse's Toad. I am including the relevant page of the guide as an image (original is a pdf) to guard against link rot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your toad has warty skin, a light stripe, no large blotches, and large cranial crests, as best as I can tell, which implies that it is a Woodhouse's Toad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HOaS4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HOaS4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Quick guide to frogs and toads of Colorado, pdf link here: https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Education/StudentActivities/COHerpQuickKey.pdf &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastEditorUserId="9104" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T01:40:53.480" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T01:40:53.480" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3535" CreationDate="2019-06-17T09:42:24.497" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday night was my first experience sleeping together in a hammock in a single sleeping bag. While I cannot say that it's as comfy as single sleeping, there are still a lot of other comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It IS really warm. TBH I've never slept with someone together in a tent (only in different sleeping bags, so separated). This time in a hammock we were hugging each other really tight so our front parts were fine (we slept in the same direction, head to head). I'm kinda sure that you really should have to be wishing to hug each other, trying to keep distance is not gonna work here.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The main problem I noticed was in our legs. We didn't really manage to find comfortable position for our legs, so we were ending up with not comfortable positions with a lot of pressure to either of us' legs. But in the same time I think it can be solved with some more experiences and tries, it's just a matter of trying.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also it is true that when one tries to move, partner will instantly feel it and probably wake up. For me I was feeling like I'm not really sleeping either because of my legs or because of my partner's rotation. However in the morning she said that don't remember anything like waking up during the night (just twice for rotating herself).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I had a feeling that we were laying in a hammock not in a proper way (it should be diagonal-like, but we ended up more in &quot;banana-form&quot;). But again, it's just a matter of practice IMO. I often end up in banana-form even when I sleep by myself, because getting into sleeping bag, trying to keep isomatte under it and finally trying to close sleeping bag - all it makes it somehow complicated to keep yourself in diagonal position. For sure this is much better if you have underquilt instead of sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other related comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm a newbie hammock sleeper since last year, so far around 3-4 weeks of hammock sleeping in total.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My hammock is 275 x 140 cm according to the specs, not sure that it's really 2-person one.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Described above was really only actual sleeping, I had nothing more (if you know what I mean). However now I'm really skeptical about the phrase at one of hammock manufacturers website about &quot;yes, you can have sex with your partner in our hammocks&quot;. For sure it's somehow doable, but it should be really inconvenient...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18083" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T09:42:24.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22369" CreationDate="2019-06-17T12:52:14.807" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Indoors, with the loop tied directly into the harness, short of taking the mickey, the worst I can think of is that you might get hit in the face by the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knot itself is just as safe and 10cm is not silly. I'd be perfectly happy from a safety point of view climbing on a 10cm figure-of-8 or double-bowline. Or for that matter a 20cm loop, though I'd prefer not to for non-safety reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's at least possible it leads to another mistake. Generally anything sloppy is less obviously when it's wrong. That could be the setup itself or something looking like: the rope looking like the slack is all gone, but there is still slack in the knot. However, that is a really subjective line of thinking and if you're relying on something like that to be safe, you have other problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also slightly lose the compliance in the rope but the extent is tiny between a 5cm and 10cm eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this is a hang-up from outdoors where things getting snagged/taffled etc is more likely and more dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, why wouldn't you tie a neat loop?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17414" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T12:52:14.807" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22371" CreationDate="2019-06-17T13:27:20.230" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Abisko is kind of unique in Sweden, with it’s accessible alpine setting. (It’s a long journey no doubt, but not complicated thanks to sleeper trains)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The areas of Kebnekaise and Sarek have a similar feeling, but takes even longer to get to, even if slightly more south. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you have the area between Hemavan and Ammarnäs. Still further south but not significantly faster to get to. (Unless flying to Hemavan)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only Swedish area I can think of that has an alpine feeling and is closer to Germany is western Jämtland. Start from the mountain station Storylvån for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then again, for Scandinavian mountains, Norway beats Sweden hands down. Quite a bit more expensive though. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastEditorUserId="9418" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T13:30:54.707" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T13:30:54.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22371" CreationDate="2019-06-17T13:27:31.277" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Mountains&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scandinavian mountains&lt;/a&gt; reach from Stavanger in the south to the North Cape in the north.  You can easily explore where mountainous areas are via the interactive topographic maps of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.norgeskart.no&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norway&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://kso.etjanster.lantmateriet.se/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweden&lt;/a&gt;.  Southern Norway is geographically closest, but is less well connected, with only few trains connecting Malmö with Oslo.  You might find that it's just as fast to take the train to Östersund (central Sweden), from where you can quickly reach the central Swedish mountains.  It probably depends where in Germany you are: from northern Germany you may be able to reach Oslo in a day in time to take the sleeper train north or west into the mountains, from southern Germany you'd need at least an extra day (or an overnight bus, which sucks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been to southern, central, and northern Norway, as well as to central and northern Sweden and northern Finland.  Broadly speaking, the mountains look roughly similar, but with significant differences, so whether the other mountains are &quot;like that of Abisko&quot; is subjective.  I know some valleys that somewhat remind me of the Abisko valley, but they all take longer, not shorter, to reach (and get at least two orders of magnitude less hikers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, I think that if you're traveling overland to the Scandinavian mountains &lt;em&gt;anyway&lt;/em&gt;, then the extra time it takes to travel to northern Sweden is not that huge, considering there are two trains per night going there from Stockholm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T13:32:55.597" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T13:32:55.597" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22378" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-17T13:48:29.707" Score="5" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;Magnet fishing is when you take go fishing with a magnet trying to find metal objects that people have lost into bodies of water such as cellphones, knives, bikes, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would make a location good for this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T12:48:44.900" Title="What makes for good locations to go magnet fishing?" Tags="&lt;magnet-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22378" CreationDate="2019-06-17T13:48:29.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general idea is that you are looking for places with &lt;strong&gt;high human traffic right next to the water.&lt;/strong&gt; Places such as,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Docks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fishing Piers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Footbridges&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Paths next to a canal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boat ramps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Old quarries&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The depth of the water also matters, if its a seasonal canal or a in parts of the lake that are exposed when the levels go down it would be much easier to find them by looking instead of trying to catch them with the magnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T16:10:18.787" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T16:10:18.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22380" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22381" CreationDate="2019-06-17T15:21:05.713" Score="17" ViewCount="2572" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking into making an oilcloth tarp. All the sources I have read so far seem to consider linseed oil the only oil to use, and I'm wondering why that is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what, if anything, is it about linseed oil that makes it a good oil for oilcloth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17466" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T00:05:57.983" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T21:17:56.897" Title="Why is oilcloth made with linseed oil?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22380" CreationDate="2019-06-17T16:01:56.607" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Linseed oil is used because it's &lt;strong&gt;a drying oil,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A drying oil is an oil that hardens to a tough, solid film after a period of exposure to air. The oil hardens through a chemical reaction in which the components crosslink (and hence, polymerize) by the action of oxygen (not through the evaporation of water or other solvents).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also looks like the alternatives are &lt;a href=&quot;https://crafts.stackexchange.com/questions/474/are-there-any-cheap-alternatives-to-linseed-oil&quot;&gt;not considered to work as well as linseed.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T00:22:55.280" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T00:22:55.280" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22382" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-17T17:22:36.230" Score="3" ViewCount="1160" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a sock filled with thistle and a large bag of bulk thistle from the same store. The sock is hung and the bulk thistle is in a feeder, but the birds don't eat from either. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything wrong with this thistle or is there something else going on? How can I tell if thistle has gone bad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if needed, what is the best way to dispose of thistle? I imagine dumping 10 pounds of thistle would start a thistle invasion!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-17T21:41:33.990" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:34:31.850" Title="Birds not eating Nyjer (thistle seed)?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-feeding&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22383" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22382" CreationDate="2019-06-17T18:35:40.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like birds won't eat it once the &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com/the_zen_birdfeeder/2011/01/top-5-things-to-know-about-niger-seed.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;seed dries out&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/birds-that-eat-nyjer-seed-386533&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;not all birds&lt;/a&gt; like it so I would make sure that you have the right types of birds in your area. Sometimes the birds would also rather eat wild seeds instead of from feeders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's not actually thistle seed, it's just called that for marketing purposes and it's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/nyger-seeds-for-finches-386574&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sterilized by heat&lt;/a&gt; so you don't need to worry about thistles coming up from the seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T00:22:03.817" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T00:22:03.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22384" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-17T20:36:24.710" Score="3" ViewCount="212" Body="&lt;p&gt;I need a knot that can be fastened and unfastened as quickly as possible (like a toggle on a jacket; twist and release). I also need to be able to tighten or loosen the rope easily. Basically, I want a rope that works how a seatbelt works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can only envision a loop at one end and a &quot;stopper&quot; at the other end, like one, might find in a bracelet. Here's an example of what I mean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cWWnO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cWWnO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I would need to be able to tighten this loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My goal is to bring two horizontal poles close together by looping a rope around them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems like such a simple concept and yet my searches have proved fruitless, likely because I don't even know where to begin with knot fundamentals (from my Scouts days I have retained nothing more than the reef knot!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18086" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T14:39:55.547" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T15:11:00.337" Title="What's an easy way to fasten/unfasten to bind two horizontal poles?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22384" CreationDate="2019-06-17T23:41:05.450" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If speed is the goal here, then just use a nylon belt with a buckle. To shorten just cut one end and then seal it with a lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4HfBTm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4HfBTm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strapworks.com/default.asp&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easy on and off and if you need more security wrap it twice before buckling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-17T23:41:05.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22384" CreationDate="2019-06-18T07:54:20.270" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's one more old scout knot that applies in this case, the pole hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bit of an obscure one as it's very limited in application, the sole purpose of this hitch is to gather horizontal poles together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a large 'S' in the rope under the poles such that you have an end and a loop on each side, put each end round the poles and through the opposing loop, bring the ends back together over the poles and secure the ends together with your choice of knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-06-18T14:37:10.377" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T14:37:10.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21954" CreationDate="2019-06-18T09:22:29.433" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are also ways to use sharpening stones for this purpose in some cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably not useful for gut hooks, but if the radius of curvature is large enough, you can use form stones, which are available for woodworking tools, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.feinewerkzeuge.de/bildhauereisen-schaerfsteine.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;.  There's a combination of convex and concave form I have (the &quot;Kegelförmiger Bildhauerschleifstein&quot; in the link), which appears to be called a &quot;cone gouge&quot; in English.  With its tip of a little less than 1.5 cm diameter it would probably work for the line cutter in your second picture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing one could try is to modify a normal rectangular stone, and reshape it to have one or several rounded edges.  (This also works well for the concave case, working groves into its surface, but it's probably never needed for sharpening knives.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T09:22:29.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22390" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22391" CreationDate="2019-06-18T20:23:07.813" Score="24" ViewCount="7544" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be going pretty deep into the woods with some buddies and staying in a cabin; I'll have access to a campfire and a wood stove. Can also bring batteries of any kind with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd love to bring my favorite coffee (&lt;em&gt;Death Wish&lt;/em&gt;!) with me but am looking for a lightweight method of brewing it with minimal equipment. Weight is a key factor since its a solid hike in/out and I'll already be schlepping a fair amount of weight with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any recommended methods/approaches here? &lt;strong&gt;Not&lt;/strong&gt; interested in &quot;just add water&quot; or instant coffee, and also not looking to go super crazy primitive. Just hoping there's a decent off-grid coffee solution out there that will allow me to enjoy my caffeine in peace. Thanks in advance!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T01:55:36.417" Title="Hot coffee brewing solutions for deep woods camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;coffee&gt;" AnswerCount="19" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-18T22:53:42.723" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as you are okay with grinding your beans at home, why not just make &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cowboy-Coffee&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cowboy coffee&lt;/a&gt;. Basically you &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put your tin cup on the fire/stove and bring the water to a boil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove the cup from the heat and let the water cool a bit so you don't burn the grounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stir in the grounds and bring the water back to a simmer being careful not to burn the coffee&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove from the heat again and let it steep for a couple of minutes while stirring occasionally&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let the grounds settle (you can add cold water or hit the side of the pot to help them along)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drink carefully&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it takes no equipment, you can practice brewing at home and see if you can manage to get a cup of coffee without any/too many grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-06-18T22:53:42.723" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T00:07:28.127" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kathmandu.co.nz/coffee-plunger-mug.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;travel coffee plunger&lt;/a&gt; with pre-ground coffee. It worked well (I actually prefer plunger coffee to espresso) but after a couple of trips I decided that the extra bulk wasn't worth it for the nice coffee in the morning. Coffee bags are fine for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IOhW8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IOhW8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;I have seen people in huts use travel espresso kits similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://gsioutdoors.com/miniespresso-set-4-cup.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one from GSI&lt;/a&gt;. They all raved about them but I did notice the pots took a while to cool down after use, so you couldn't make coffee and leave the hut straight away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3079" LastEditorUserId="3079" LastEditDate="2019-06-24T01:55:36.417" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T01:55:36.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T00:43:56.857" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just ran the experiment of making hot coffee with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0743HV7DB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cotton coffee sock&lt;/a&gt; instead of doing my usual &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20061/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-cotton-vs-mesh-filters-for-making-cold-brew-coffee&quot;&gt;cold brew&lt;/a&gt; and it works fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's almost the same as cowboy coffee but has the advantage of seperating the grounds from the coffee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the coffee sock with grounds inside in water that was boiling for a couple of minutes to steep.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove sock and drink coffee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible to make cowboy coffee and then use the cotton sock to filter out the grounds, just stretch it over the mouth of a nalgene and pour the coffee in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option would be to use it to make cold brew coffee overnight and then warm it in the morning. Simply put the required amount of grounds into a nalgene of cold water overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T00:43:56.857" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1530" CreationDate="2019-06-19T02:46:19.940" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A vivid description of this is described in &quot;Young Men &amp;amp; Fire&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Men_and_Fire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Men_and_Fire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early 50's Forest service is developing smoke jumpers.  At the time teams didn't train together as a team.  They drop into the Mann Gulch fire, above it.  Their plan was to come down the gulch opposite the fire, cross over and fight it from below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire crowned, and jumped the valley.  Both sides of the Missouri River end of the gulch were burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dodge, the crew chief, order a retreat.  If they could get above timberline the fire would only have grass and small brush to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fire wasn't moving that fast. Maybe 3-4 mph.  But timberline is at 8,000 some feet.  Keeping ahead while climbing, dressed in boots, tin-pants, cotton plaid shirt isn't quite the same as doing a beach jog in Malibu, CA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dodge lit a book of paper matches, and torched a meadow of grass, stepped across the flame, and waited.  Once the fire was a few feet out, he lay down, and waited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire passed him by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A very vivid song that, within the limited scope of a folk song, is pretty accurate, was done by James Keelaghan, &quot;Cold Missouri Waters&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dztj4X3fQps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dztj4X3fQps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want the book:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/Young-Men-Fire-Twenty-fifth-Anniversary/dp/022645035X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=young+men+and+fire&amp;amp;qid=1560912210&amp;amp;s=electronics&amp;amp;sr=8-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.amazon.ca/Young-Men-Fire-Twenty-fifth-Anniversary/dp/022645035X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=young+men+and+fire&amp;amp;qid=1560912210&amp;amp;s=electronics&amp;amp;sr=8-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also available as an Audible book.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audible.ca/pd/Young-Men-and-Fire-Audiobook/B072FDXGHR&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.audible.ca/pd/Young-Men-and-Fire-Audiobook/B072FDXGHR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  The flame front in a grass fire is very narrow, often only being a few feet wide. (Dodges crew were caught above tree line in a dry meadow) While intensely hot, it's not unreasonable to run through it.  I've read about this done by natives and settlers on the great plains.  The key issue is to not inhale when passing through the flame.  You will lose exposed hair, and have burns on any exposed skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;McLean in the book describes the fire as moving at a fast walk on level ground.  3-4 mph.  Flames ranging from 10 to 25 feet high.  If you have been running in terror, however, you are at the ragged edge of what you can breath.  Catching your wind enough to run back is daunting, probably requiring descending while going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A grass fire isn't a forest fire.  But even forest fires come in different grades and speeds.  Ground fires move slowly, and often aren't very hot.  There is more material to burn, so the flame front is deeper, and the ground hotter.  With smoke it's hard to maintain a consistent direction.  Crown fires are roast everything in their path.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wanted to test these ideas:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Start small.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dress well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have someone on the other side with a wet blanket if you emerge with your clothing on fire.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to sing ballads as part of the entertainment on long canoe expeditions with teens.  Keelaghan's song was a hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T12:58:29.237" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T12:58:29.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T07:21:21.087" Score="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J9cAg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/J9cAg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used one of these filter holders on top of a thermos, pouring hot water a little at a time. If you don't want to carry a thermos, use a mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A largish single-walled mug + one of these and a few filters will probably weigh about as much as the coffee grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11864" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T07:21:21.087" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22396" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T07:52:42.117" Score="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest and most reusable method in my opinion is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moka Pot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fjo6A.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fjo6A.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply add water and ground beans to the base and heat over a stove or open fire. You end up with espresso in the top compartment. You can now easily regulate strength and temperature by adding hot or cold water. No filters, no bits in the bottom of your cup. Just try not to burn the coffee at the end!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Michael notes in the comments they are rather lightweight (200g), being made from aluminium and come in a variety of sizes, from 50 ml to 600 ml. A 50 ml can be as small as 10 cm x 6 cm (3&quot; x 2&quot;) so is extremely portable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They can cost as little as £5 online for a small &quot;travel&quot; sized one. For whole beans, buy a hand crank coffee grinder, also cheap at £5! Ahhhh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11883" LastEditorUserId="11883" LastEditDate="2019-06-20T08:56:19.377" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T08:56:19.377" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22397" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T08:22:50.960" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar to @JollyJoker, I tend to make single-cup pour over coffee when backpacking. While I normally buy disposable (read: burnable) &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B01BZX5ELA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;single use packs&lt;/a&gt;, you can also buy camping specific re-usable pour over contraptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B001LF3ICU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ultra-light weight nylon filter which can attach to any cup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B002YT2CII&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Less light weight but more sturdy collapsable filter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any of these options are nice, because they are very light weight, and all they require besides the filter is hot water and any container you already have. With the reusable filters, you'll just have to remember to grind the beans in advanced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6073" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T08:22:50.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T08:25:28.727" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're an espresso purist you could try a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wacaco.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;minipresso&lt;/a&gt;. They're a hand powered esspresso machine. I was introduced to them by a climbing guide who actually climbed with one and brewed up on top of a pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FMDjB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FMDjB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5374" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T08:25:28.727" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T08:33:50.123" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another alternative, similar to cowboy coffee, but a bit more refined is a Turkish style &lt;em&gt;cezve&lt;/em&gt; (AKA &lt;em&gt;ibrik&lt;/em&gt;). These are usually made of super thin copper and are light enough to pack.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/21Pko.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/21Pko.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these you use very finely ground coffee, and boil it very gently until it starts to foam. Then you carefully pour off the coffee from the grounds. Turkish coffee is a great heartstarter of a morning, it's particularly good with a cardamom pod added to the brew and some lokum (turkish delight)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5374" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T08:33:50.123" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22408" CreationDate="2019-06-19T09:18:11.520" Score="15" ViewCount="4837" Body="&lt;p&gt;Edit: Thank you for all the helpful replies. I will have to go through them all now, and I will pick the best fitting one for my question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will go backpacking in the summer of this year, for about 2 weeks. With me I will take a DSLR (Pentax K3) and two batteries (fully charged), as well as my phone (on airplane mode, as my GPS device) and a powerbank (I have not chosen which to buy yet). I will also take a paper map with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering I will use my phone as a GPS while hiking, and I will turn the DSLR on only when taking pictures, what size/capacity of powerbank would you recommend for a period of 2 weeks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18082" LastEditorUserId="18082" LastEditDate="2019-06-20T10:14:59.483" LastActivityDate="2019-10-26T20:57:56.773" Title="Require advice on power conservation for backpacking trip" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;cell-phones&gt;&lt;dslr&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="16" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T10:00:21.717" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22211/how-much-margin-due-to-charging-inefficiency-should-i-add-when-calculating-the-s&quot;&gt;How much margin due to charging inefficiency should I add when calculating the size of batteries needed for a trip?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need approximately 50% more due to inefficiencies while charging from a power bank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How much energy you really need will depend a lot on the actual usage, so you'll have to make some experiments. Put your fully charged phone in airplane mode and use it as you would on your trip (navigation or whatever) and measure how much time the battery lasts until it gets to 90%. Multiply this by 10 to get the maximum battery life. Some phones also calculate this themselves and show &quot;battery time remaining&quot; somewhere in the settings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then look for the design capacity of your phone's battery to see how much energy (expressed in mAh) you need for this time and extrapolate for two weeks. Just to be sure I'd add a considerable overhead (perhaps another +50% or even more, depending on how bad a power outage would be).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major contribution to energy consumption will be the screen, depending on the brightness, so that would be a good first place to look for possible savings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T10:00:21.717" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T10:15:56.380" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It all depends on how (and how much) you use those devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I can say more about DSLRs than phones, and with 2 different DSLRs on 5 tours (of 2-3 weeks) there was never an identical usage so far. The &quot;official&quot; number of photos you can take with one battery can be exceeded by limiting every usage outside of taking the photos - those are included in the estimations. Videos and liveview are extremely draining (continuous image processing) and should be avoided if possible. Turning off the display for longer use, and taking an excessively large SD card help too (you won't waste battery deleting bad pics). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, with more planning and using the analog viewfinder before turning on the camera, you might save battery time while planning a shot and might skip it alltogether if it's not working out. I've noticed the amount of shots I take decreased with every tour, as I knew some shots (if taken) would get deleted anyway, which in turn reduced the number of batteries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always leaving the camera on would be detrimental - that might be useful for phones that need to start up a metric ton of programs each time, but cameras are rather simple in that regard. My cameras have default power saving modes that turn off the camera when not used for a minute, indicating that the manufacturer has done that math. Leaving them on for 8+ hours per day seems excessive, but you can just try that at home if you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, as Jasper's answer explains, charging inefficiency wastes additional battery power. If you think your DSLR batteries are not enough, you should rather add DSLR batteries instead of carrying additional charger devices and powerbanks. Even the cheap chinese ones give you a better mileage per weight. Charging everything from the same source might be more flexible and convenient, but wastes battery (by charging inefficiency) and weight (by additional devices).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15870" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T10:15:56.380" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T10:56:17.123" Score="2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Considering I will always have my phone turned on while hiking&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a lot of variability in this, even given that you've specified airplane mode.  Why is it on?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track logging with the screen off? This won't use much power, but you could still get through a charge in a couple of days on many phones.  If you lose your track logging you're still safe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Navigation with the screen on? This can eat battery especially if the sun is out (the backlight is a significant power drain).  If this is your primary navigation, are you safe if your power lets you down (or, for that matter, if you break your phone).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Navigation with only needing to look at the screen occasionally is somewhere between these two - if your app behaves with the screen off)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comms when you do get a signal? (i.e. take it out of airplane mode at the top of a hill to check in).  You can turn it off for much of the hike, turning it on only as you climb.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turning it right off overnight will save you battery, but not if you're using it for an alarm clock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the DSLR, the number of shots you take makes a big difference, but biggest of all is if you use the flash.  On a trekking trip you shouldn't really need it; even in low light propping the camera on something solid and avoiding the flash is likely to give nicer results much of the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-10-26T20:57:56.773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-26T20:57:56.773" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T11:19:21.097" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;My solution is the same arrangement I use at home. I use a Porlex hand grinder to grind the beans, and an Aeropress to do the extraction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Porlex mini grinder (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.porlexgrinders.com/collections/frontpage/products/porlex-mini-grinder&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.porlexgrinders.com/collections/frontpage/products/porlex-mini-grinder&lt;/a&gt;) is perfect for a single dose of grounds, and is very compact; although it doesn't have a convenient way of containing the handle. The Porlex grinders are high quality - i.e. ceramic conical burr grinder, and with good fresh roasted beans provide a great result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Aeropress (&lt;a href=&quot;https://aeropress.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://aeropress.com/&lt;/a&gt;) is also quite compact, and I can, in fact, fit the mini grinder inside the inner plunger of the Aeropress for transport. The only things I can't fit in this package are the grinding handle for the mini grinder and the paper filters for the Aeropress, but these are both small and can fit wherever you have a slot of space. The Aeropress comes with a scoop, funnel and stirring paddle; none of which are necessary for its use, so these things don't need to take up any of your packing space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am very lazy, but I am also not a savage, and this equipment gives me the ability to produce a wonderful cup of proper coffee with a minimum of fuss or hassle, and it just happens to have the side-effect of being a physically compact kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All you need apart from these items (and your beans) is a cup and hot water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used this paraphernalia when camping myself, and I found it to be a very effective solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18098" LastEditorUserId="18098" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T11:27:33.597" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T11:27:33.597" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T11:21:32.253" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend either making camp coffee (or cowboy coffee I see it referred to) or bringing an aeropress. They are light, probably around 200 grams and easy to clean and operate. Grind the coffee in advance and store in single serve zip lock bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T11:21:32.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T12:18:43.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an &lt;a href=&quot;https://the-oomph.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oomph&lt;/a&gt; coffee press.  It works very well, and produces very good coffee if you only want one cup at a time.  Allegedly it can also be used for drinking out of like a travel mug, but personally I find it leaks a little if I do that, so I just pour it into a regular mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's plastic so I'd be worried about its survivability for serious hiking, but if you're just lugging stuff to a cabin then you should be OK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cafetiere-style single-cup coffee presses do exist.  I've tried a couple (including Bodum), but they all seem to be made cheaply when it comes to the press and the seal round the edge of the mesh, which means you end up with gritty coffee full of grounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Oomph does only make one mug at a time though.  If you're brewing coffee for your whole group, consider just getting a stainless steel cafetiere.  They don't weigh very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T12:18:43.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22408" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T13:17:06.180" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did use my phone as a mapping device a few times when I forgot my dedicated GNSS receiver at home (for peakbagging day-trips where I need to reach a specific point often under forest canopy and without easily identifiable landmarks). The battery doesn't drain exceedingly fast but the more I look at the screen and interact with it, the faster it drains. It can last one maybe two full days, highly variable depending on the use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an Anker PowerCore battery, which has a capacity of 27 Ah. It charges my phone around 6 times. This would barely cut it for 2 weeks, and it's the absolute largest power bank I'd carry while backpacking, at 500g.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My important recommendation:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your plan is teetering on the verge of impractical, so I would highly urge you to consider leaving your phone off most of the time and using paper maps until you really need to check your position. It's highly dependent on the destination of your trip though. Open taiga with no trails or forested and marked trails are wildly different contexts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T13:17:06.180" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T14:11:28.773" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as you can pre-grind the beans, why not make a kind of tea bag with a coffee filter? Measure the appropriate amount of coffee and fold/staple the filter closed around it. Steep for an appropriate amount of time in hot (or cold) water and then burn the waste. It would add negligible weight to your pack and give you pre-measured portions. Cleaner cowboy coffee! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18103" LastEditorUserId="18103" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T14:47:33.373" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T14:47:33.373" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-19T14:30:06.203" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Anger Density recommended I would recommend making a coffee teabag with some coffee filters and floss.  This can be done is a couple easy steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grind beans&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put serving size in coffee filter (enough for a mug or a whole pot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie coffee filter at top with floss, put it in a ziploc bag for safekeeping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Boil water with camp stove and steep teabag for a couple minutes, enjoy!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a bonus you can use the leftover floss after you make your coffee to clean your teeth. Simple and effective!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18105" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T14:30:06.203" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T17:38:25.350" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on how many pictures you want to take and how much weight you want to carry. In your case it looks like two camera batteries is enough for 1600 pictures, that may or may not be enough for your purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as your phone goes keeping it only in airplane mode, using the the low power setting and only turning it on when needed means that usage will be as minimal as possible. If you are going to use it as a GPS then the longer you can go without looking at it or using it for tracking the less battery you will use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you start getting low you can prioritize the phone over the camera.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as what sizes, I would suggest a &lt;strong&gt;20,000 mAh power bank&lt;/strong&gt; to start with, and then go to a &lt;strong&gt;10,000 mAh size if that's too heavy&lt;/strong&gt; and you don't need the extra size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I carried a  20,000 mAh power bank to charge cellphone, GPS and camera for trips lasting up to almost two weeks and that was a larger charger than I needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-19T18:17:38.227" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T18:17:38.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T18:26:34.620" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider buying a power bank with a solar charging panel; that lets you recover from an accident like leaving your phone on overnight with something consuming power. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are two main types on the market:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Big panels you unfold and hang up at your campsite or on the back of your pack while walking. (I've never used these.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Standard batteries with a small charging panel set into the side of your case; you can carry it in a mesh outer pocket or some models have a cutout you can clip a carabiner through. &lt;strong&gt;The technology on these is getting better but isn't quite mature.&lt;/strong&gt; Expect a slow trickle charge and efficiency that starts to degrade after a year or two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had four batteries with built-in solar panels.  They were perhaps an ounce heavier than standard batteries of their generation, and about $5-10 more expensive than regular ones. (One degraded solar capability over time, one was recycled when the battery cell inside started to swell, and I have a pair in current use (no pun intended.)) They aren't great, but they do give me peace of mind as part of my earthquake kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider a crank charged battery -- I don't have direct experience with those, but it's another way to acquire electric power on the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consider taking your cost and weight budget and splitting it in half, and getting two smaller batteries, to eliminate a single point of failure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It hopefully goes without saying that you must also carry good paper maps in case your phone breaks or gets wet; many phones don't handle high temperatures well, either. There is a big difference between not being able to get that perfect photo and not being able to find the trail (or the right trail from several choices) after detouring around an obstacle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12148" LastEditorUserId="12148" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T17:23:53.987" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T17:23:53.987" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-19T21:35:06.327" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of points that I think haven't been addressed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Charging efficiency is greatest when you are charging &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.androidauthority.com/maximize-battery-life-882395/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;between around 20/30% and 80%&lt;/a&gt;.  So try to not let it get below 20% and try to stop when it's at about 80%.  This will help you charge more from the same charger.  You probably can't do this with the camera batteries, but you  can with the phone battery if you're able to charge during the day.  Also, don't leave it plugged in; only plug it in to charge and then unplug, or it may discharge some while plugged in (called 'maintenance charge') even once full.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Battery performance &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/61334-batteries-die-cold-weather.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;is much worse in cold weather&lt;/a&gt;.  So if you're going hiking somewhere quite cold, below 10°C, expect much more difficulty keeping your phone charged than in moderate weather.  Try to not use it during the night, and try to charge during the warmer daytime.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hot weather &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.ravpower.com/2018/06/charger-too-hot-summer-safe/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;can be a problem also&lt;/a&gt;.  If it's going to be over 30°C much of the day, expect that to mean both your phone might run out of charge faster, and that the charger might not work as well. Try to charge at night time in hotter weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall you should definitely test what the discharge rate of your phone is - I wouldn't test 100%-&gt;90%, but 60%-&gt;50% or so; if you're able to keep it in the 30%-80% range that will be more representative of your performance.   I would expect that if you're cautious about what you use you should be able to be okay with around 25000 mAh of battery or so.  But this depends in part on the phone; an iPhone XS Max will take a LOT more battery than a much smaller iPhone 5c, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3883" LastActivityDate="2019-06-19T21:35:06.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11765" CreationDate="2019-06-20T07:59:34.880" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just for reference: in thru-hiking terminology, &lt;em&gt;dry camping&lt;/em&gt; is camping far from any water source. It basically means that you have to carry all the water you'll need for the evening and the next day (until you meet water).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T07:59:34.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-20T10:04:10.883" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Indonesian &quot;mud&quot; coffee works fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If coffee beans are ground sufficiently fine, you can just put some together with near-boiling water, stir a bit, wait 3-5 minutes and all of the grounds will sink to the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They really do, if the coffee is ground sufficiently fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You just need a cup and the hot water to pour into it. I do this every morning, no need for any equipment beyond your coffee cup and whatever you boil water in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There will be &quot;mud&quot; at the bottom; either skip the the last few sips if you are squeamish, or when you are at the last quarter of the cup just be aware when you notice a little graininess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See WikiHow's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Indonesian-Kopi-Tobruk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Make Indonesian Kopi Tobruk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Kopi tobruk is coffee prepared in utter simplicity. Indonesian supermarkets sell a wide selection of pre-ground specialty coffees, but your preferred brand of regular grind will do just as well. Sometimes referred to as “mud coffee,” it is one of the most common forms of coffee available in Indonesia. When in Indonesia, knowing how to make your own coffee kopi tobruk is the better alternative to drinking the local instant 3-1 coffees which are sweet or too sweet, or to buying expensive coffee at the fancy coffee shops. Also, it is not uncommon to find a container of ground coffee at the breakfast table of your Indonesian hostel or resort. That's for making kopi tobruk and not for making instant coffee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where I live I can buy the finely ground Kapal Api at any Indonesian grocery store. If there's not one around you, just experiment with grinding enough beans for your trip finely and bringing in a plastic bag. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How fine?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Very fine&lt;/em&gt;. Google &quot;kopi bubuk&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BdvSh.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://olaholehku.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/cara-membuat-kopi-hitam-bubuk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T10:04:10.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-20T11:28:42.977" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although this has been mentioned in some comments, it needs to be stressed more strongly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not rely exclusively on electronics for navigation, in particular not on a smartphone!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must always bring a paper map¹.  You must always know where you are on that map.  I recommend to hang a good map case around your neck, so you can monitor your progress on the map continuously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For me, a dedicated GNSS receiver serves several purposes, none of which are essential:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Route ideas — get tracks from wikiloc as inspiration on where to go.  This is particularly useful in areas where topographic maps are poor, such as in the United States, Canada, or Spain.  In principle you can use this functionality without any GNSS receiver, by printing the track on a suitable background (national topographic map if available, opentopomap otherwise).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Track logs — upload your tracks to wikiloc or combine them with your photos to find out where you are.  A smartphone will not work for this purpose due to battery life, except perhaps for day hikes.  A good GNSS receiver with good batteries can last for weeks on two AA batteries.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Saving time — if you are hiking on a trail that is on openstreetmap, or following a track or route from wikiloc, you may realise more quickly than otherwise if you have taken a wrong turn.  But since you should always know where you are on the map, you should normally realise your trail isn't doing what you're expecting it to do anyway.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(really 3b): If you really do get lost, it could save you a lot of time, to the degree that it could in some scenarios save your life.  My friend has a GPS receiver for this purpose alone.  He has never used it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A camera is of course a non-essential item, it's up to you how much you are willing to carry.  I've found that bringing one extra battery is enough for a mirrorless camera for 2 weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, to conserve power?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Switch off your smartphone.  You do not need a smartphone in the wilderness.  By switching off your smartphone, you will conserve its battery in case you need it (although I can't think of any scenario in which you will, unless you're hiking in a densely populated area with mobile phone coverage and are therefore not bringing a satellite phone or PLB or similar).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously, only switch on your camera when taking a photo, and switch it off again afterward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use battery save mode in your GNSS receiver, or expedition mode if available.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹Some people insist on navigating terrain without a map.  You can do that if you are sure you know exactly what you are doing, but it takes a lot of confidence and experience, in particular in areas that are unfamiliar, unfrequented, unsignposted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T11:28:42.977" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-20T12:53:07.797" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I like to do is essentially make little tea bags but with coffee filled with coffee grounds. You take the filters you would normally filter your coffee through, put a little coffee in it and tie it off with a rubber band. When the time comes for them to be used, you warm up some water, and throw it in, then take it out whenever you desire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18113" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T12:53:07.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22400" CreationDate="2019-06-20T13:20:25.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I run into similar problems on canoe trips.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;My camera is a through-the-lens viewfinder, not an electric screen.  Doing an entire canoe trip (3 weeks) and taking ~500 frames is easy.  In addition, for the Nikon you can get a cute carrier that allows you to use 3 CR123 lithium batteries instead of the rechargeable one.  A set of the disposable lithium are equivalent to roughly 2 of the rechargeable ones.  I have the screen set to the shortest period available for review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I carry an InReach satellite communicator.  I turn it on for a few minutes in the morning when I get up, and again a few minutes at night.  I exchange a few messages with home to show I'm all right.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a Magellan PN-60 GPS.  This has an LCD screen, not a touch screen.  I turn it on in the morning and off at night, and have it set to go to sleep when stationary.  I can usually get 2-3 days of usage from a single pair of AA batteries.  By default I have WAAS switched off, and backlight for the screen set to off or the minimum value. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I carry a set of paper maps, and a good compass too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a small 3000 mAhr battery that can recharge the InReach device.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some general observations:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phones generally don't have good GPSs.  50 meter errors are routine.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;My iPhone will drain the battery in about 3-4 hours if I'm using an app with GPS.  This, even if I'm only checking the screen for a few seconds every half our or so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Due to the way topo maps were generated, there is frequently a 50 to 100m horizontal error in the placement of contour lines.  The error  is usually N/S and is due to parallax errors from the point of view of the aerial camera.  The errors are locally systematic.  e.g. Within a region of about a km they will all be shifted the same way by the same amount.  This usually affects E/W running contours on a steepish slope.  I have found situations where the GPS location plotted me at the base of a 50 meter hill, while the topo map showed that location as the top of that same slope.  DO NOT DEPEND ON PRECISE LOCATION.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Topo maps are not all inclusive.  They are the Cole's Notes version of the landscape.  On canoe trips I have found deadly rapids (Class VI) that were unmarked. I have found missing islands, and ones that were on the map twice.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The versions that are created to fit on a GPS/phone are even more summarized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:20:25.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22420" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-20T13:29:50.447" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I make camp coffee as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use large tin cans as pots.  They can be gotten at any restaurant, cafeteria and hold about 3 quarts.  It's quick work to add a wire bail to them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Morning coffee for two:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put about 4 mugs of water into the pot.  Sprinkle about 6 tablespoons of coffee grounds on the water. Do NOT stir. Ideally you have a small mountain of grounds floating on the middle of the pot. (I use nabob -- any decent drip grind will work) Put on the fire. Bring to a boil.  Boiling is abrupt.  You will see a corner of bubbles on the edge of the mound.  It can go from bubbling lightly to boiling over in a few seconds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remove from heat immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Set on ground, and dribble about a quarter cup of cold water into the pot.  This will settle most of the grounds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pour into cups and enjoy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't drink the last swallow in the cup.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Park the can near the fire, but not in it.  It's ok if the side toward the fire very gently boils.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages:  No additional gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Downsides:  If you do this on a stove, prepare to clean coffee grounds out of your stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:29:50.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22382" CreationDate="2019-06-20T13:34:31.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have several feeders.  Chickadees will eat nyger until the sunflower feeder is empty.  Gold finch and purple finch seem to prefer the nyger seed.  So far the only bird that eats millet seed (found in cheap mixes) are juncos and then only after it's been on the ground for a week or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far the favourites at our feeders are the black oil sunflower seeds, and the lard-oatmeal bricks I make up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:34:31.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22337" CreationDate="2019-06-20T13:49:28.053" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canadian topo maps have a diagram with grid north, true north and mag north marked on it.  Due to the drifting north pole, I will look up what it is this week online, and pencil it in.  Grid north doesn't change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it out like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose mag north is 10 degrees east of true north.  Counting my degrees clockwise, True North then has a 10 degree head start.  So mag north is always going to be smaller than true north.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm on my map, and I want to go due east, that's 90 degrees true.  But on this map true is bigger than mag.  So I subtract the 10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I site on a peak and it's 85 magnetic, and I want to plot it on my map, but on this map true is bigger than mag, so I add 10 to get 95.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually however I use the grid lines for plotting.  So I repeat this whole thing using grid north instead of true north.  This often means I have to calculate a GN to MN correction.  That also gets penciled in on the diagram on the margin of my map. On Canadian topo maps in sub-artic regions the max GN correction is about 2 degrees.  This is about the error in reading a hand held compass reliably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T13:49:28.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22423" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-20T14:51:59.193" Score="12" ViewCount="3777" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tents with (the outer tent) made of cotton or &quot;technical cotton&quot; (cotton blends) are heavier, more expensive, and take some more time to dry but they also have benefits (see below). Sure the weight is an argument against for backpacking but in other travel scenarios the benefits are more relevant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless my impression is a decline in selection of cotton tents. What's the reason for cotton tents not being more popular? Several people I spoke with mentioned a fear that cotton tends to leak but experiences of people that actually use cotton tents tell the contrary, so may it just be bad marketing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;P.S.:&lt;/em&gt; Asserted benefits of (poly-)cotton tents include&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better climate because the material breathes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better sound insulator, less noise in wind and rain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;better resistance to UV light and heat, resulting in &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;likely easier to repair&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17950" LastEditorUserId="17950" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T06:16:13.167" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T16:30:01.987" Title="Why aren't (poly-)cotton tents more popular?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;cotton&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22423" CreationDate="2019-06-20T15:05:00.110" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think your question spells out pretty well why people prefer other materials (cost,weight) and they really aren't used for backpacking where weight matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The times I have ever seen them in use it was an outfitters camp where the tents are setup for an extended period of time and they had had mules/horses to pack the tent in. The other use case is car camping where the weight is less of an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that there really isn't a use case for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T15:05:00.110" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22425" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22369" CreationDate="2019-06-20T16:35:23.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you fall, and it gets caught on something on the way down, you're gonna have a bad time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's pretty unlikely that it will catch on something (&lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201004802/Fall-on-Rock-Gear-Sling-Caught-on-Cam-During-Fall-Strangulating-Climber-California-Kings-Canyon-National-Park-Obelisk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;though here's a similar (horrible) story&lt;/a&gt;), but the sudden stop would cause a lot of damage.  I think this would be worse than a factor 2 fall, because you've already been accelerating and then are being stopped by a very short piece of rope? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if it's a really huge loop and you're lead climbing, you could clip the loop by accident, which would essentially be a factor 2 fall if you kept climbing above it and then fell when it went taut?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T16:35:23.600" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22423" CreationDate="2019-06-20T17:41:36.637" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up car-camping in a frame tent (slept 4 in about 1/4 of the floor area).  Those things are heavy.  Seriously heavy.  Lifting the fabric onto the central pole with that half-extended was hard work for someone strong.  The poles had to be pretty robust too, as the pitching process involved one or two poles taking most of the weight at various times.  The whole thing took well over an hour to put up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the downsides of such designs could be solved with more modern constructions, but trying to lift that canvas by pushing on dome tent poles would get nowhere and/or snap the poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bulk and weight made storage difficult.  The fabric and pole set each weighed more than an entire similar sized nylon flexible-pole tent. At least here in the UK tents are often stored in lofts (attics) and getting a frame tent up a ladder was hard work if it even fitted through the hatch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even packing a car was harder due to the bulk.  And they're too heavy for roof boxes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you did ever get home with a wet tent, that's a lot of fabric to get dry - and you have to get it dry thoroughly and quickly to avoid mould.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For scouts use, the needs are different.  You need robust and large, but they're normally stored somewhere easily accessible, and you have a team of people to erect them (the ones I used were put up rather like raising a barn, in that several people pulled one end up, rather than ever having to lift the fabric high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T17:41:36.637" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-20T19:27:32.643" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently improvised this pour over solution while traveling and it's so simple, light, delicious, compostable and &lt;em&gt;cheap&lt;/em&gt;, I've been taking it camping. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bring paper filters and ground coffee, and use a fork, spork or cut a forked twig (which works even better) to keep the filter from collapsing into the cup. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here I doubled the paper filter to make it stronger, but I've had success with a single filter too (be gentle). You could string it above the cup somehow so you don't have to hold it up and wait at the end of the pour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H1OQE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/H1OQE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;paper filters + fork&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next level on quality: use a hand grinder to grind whole beans just before brewing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third level: if you'll be out more than a couple weeks, roast green beans in a dry frying pan or pot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9801" LastEditorUserId="9801" LastEditDate="2019-06-20T20:32:49.417" LastActivityDate="2019-06-20T20:32:49.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22428" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22429" CreationDate="2019-06-20T19:49:22.187" Score="3" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my neighbors is terribly concerned that her resident chipmunks will harm her flower beds.  They dig holes, and she finds the holes unsightly.  She wants to trap them and relocate them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trapping a chipmunk is pretty easy -- I have trapped several that got into the house -- but you can do it only one chipmunk at a time.  Moreover, I looked up some chipmunk facts, and I am not sure the young are capable of making it on their own, or whether they need a few more weeks or another month.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in northern Virginia, near DC.  I have several chipmunks scurrying around, and they look adult, but I'm no chipmunk expert.  I just know they are a joy to watch, and I don't want my neighbor's prematurely thrown out to fend for themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When can the chipmunks be safely relocated?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Not a valid part of this question, but does anyone understand why people move to a woodsy region if they see animals as pests to be displaced?)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T00:16:02.263" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T05:03:57.960" Title="When, and how, is it safe to relocate a burrow of chipmunks without harming the young?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22428" CreationDate="2019-06-20T20:11:12.280" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like they leave the burrow fairly quickly after you see them out and about so that shouldn't be a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Eastern chipmunks mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing litters of four or five young twice each year.[11] Western chipmunks breed only once a year. The young &lt;strong&gt;emerge from the burrow after about six weeks and strike out on their own within the next two weeks.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk#cite_note-19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also looks like people often complain about chipmunks eating their flowers and digging holes in flower beds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks like trapping and relocating plus a spray of garlic and hot pepper water is supposed to be effective at keeping them out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/chipmunks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chipmunks in the Garden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.wildlifeanimalcontrol.com/chipmunkrepellent.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chipmunk Repellent Natural Recipes and Analysis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://animals.mom.me/how-to-deter-chipmunks-from-eating-flowers-12309621.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Deter Chipmunks From Eating Flowers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://insteading.com/blog/chipmunk-repellent/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How To Keep Chipmunks Out Of Your Garden Naturally&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T05:03:57.960" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T05:03:57.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22430" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22434" CreationDate="2019-06-20T23:19:12.650" Score="3" ViewCount="346" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B006ERSDS4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GSI Bugaboo 4-person cookset&lt;/a&gt; and the accompanying &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B00BRC71XY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Destination Kitchen&lt;/a&gt; however I have two similar/related concerns about safety and I was hoping someone in this community might have experience with them or similar products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Cookset product description it says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;em&gt;For your safety, we recommend you not use directly over a campfire...&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't tell if this means: don't stick the pots/pans &lt;em&gt;directly into&lt;/em&gt; a fire, or if it means that its not even recommended that you use them &lt;em&gt;over&lt;/em&gt; a fire, on top of a metal grate/grill...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If its the former, then obviously, I'm all set (duh! dont put stuff that has plastic in it directly &lt;em&gt;into&lt;/em&gt; a fire!). But if its the latter then...how the heck are you supposed to cook with them?!? I'll be doing a lot of camping this summer, and at each campsite there will be a fire pit with a metal grate on top of it that can be used as a cooking surface. I need a cook set that &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; be placed on such a grate and used safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, the Destination Kitchen contains a spatula...will this thing &lt;strong&gt;melt&lt;/strong&gt; the moment it comes into contact with a super hot pot/pan (thats cooking over a fire on a metal grate) or is it some kind of super plastic that will withstand that type of heat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T05:01:21.693" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T14:00:03.703" Title="GSI and similar plastic camping cookware: safe to use over fires?" Tags="&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22431" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24334" CreationDate="2019-06-21T00:49:44.067" Score="6" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is related to my earlier question about when it is safe, from the young chipmunks' point of view, to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22428/when-and-how-is-it-safe-to-relocate-a-burrow-of-chipmunks-without-harming-the&quot;&gt;relocate a burrow of chipmunks&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To recap the background of the earlier question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One of my neighbors is terribly concerned that her resident chipmunks&#xA;  will harm her flower beds. They dig holes, and she finds the holes&#xA;  unsightly. She wants to trap them and relocate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond the unsightly holes, she is concerned that the chipmunks will harm her flowers.  I don't know what she is planting, because this comes from a neighborhood on-line site, and I don't know her personally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in northern Virginia, 20 miles or so to the northwest of DC. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/common-eastern-chipmunk/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries&lt;/a&gt; the chipmunks in question are probably the common eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus striatus).  (I say probably, because animals are migrating.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I say, I don't know what style of garden she favors, formal or centered on naturally occurring species, nor whether she is at all inclined to change her plantings, so I will try to be more specific:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are non-lethal, and non-harmful (to the chipmunks) tactics to encourage the chipmunks to move away from her front yard?  For example, are there candidates for a chipmunk very-friendly garden that she could plant out of sight?  Almost everyone here has at least an acre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to suggest an alternative or three to the options she is considering: amateur and perhaps premature trapping, exterminators, stuffing mothballs into the burrow, and (don't know how serious this is) getting a cat to control the chipmunks.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T02:42:32.803" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T12:27:57.177" Title="How can my neighbor encourage chipmunks to move away from her front-yard flower garden?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22432" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-21T04:02:45.677" Score="5" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;I grew up in the 80s and most of what seemed top outdoor/adventure footwear was made of leather. Leather, at least in my surrounding was considered supreme for shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But a lot of enhancement in outdoor technology and materials has happened in the last 30-40 years. None of my shoes are made of leather and they're the most comfortable and durable I've ever had. Has leather largely been superseded as a material for general outdoor/adventure footwear that sustains more exposure to water and other elements of nature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T16:17:34.507" Title="Is leather superseded as footwear material?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22432" CreationDate="2019-06-21T04:46:57.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are thinking of the older styles of hiking boots where they were almost completely leather, yes that style has gone out of fashion with newer materials that are lighter and made out of synthetic materials such as nylon and have Gortex linings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, there are plenty of modern boots that still use leather for part of the boots. Most of the Asolo hiking boots include leather and those are considered some of the better hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience backpackers are trending towards lighter footwear and sometimes approach shoes rather than full-size hiking boots and a move away from leather is part of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T04:46:57.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22434" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22430" CreationDate="2019-06-21T05:01:00.883" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason that pan is not reccomended for campfire cooking is because it has a teflon non-stick coating which won't hand the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Over time exposure to high heat will deteriorate the surface. Also, depending on the type of nonstick coating on your pan, cooking over high heat can lead to the release unhealthy, potentially toxic vapors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thekitchn.com/5-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-using-nonstick-cookware-tips-from-the-kitchn-211177&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Nonstick Cookware&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;There's a whole chemistry set of compounds that will come off when Teflon is heated high enough to decompose,&quot; says Wolke. &quot;Many of these are fluorine-containing compounds, which as a class are generally toxic.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cooking-tools/cookware-reviews/a17426/nonstick-cookware-safety-facts/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently, campfire temperatures are higher than what a camp stove would put out and that's why a camp stove is fine but a campfire is not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest getting an anodized aluminum kit instead of you wanted to cook over a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T05:01:00.883" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22423" CreationDate="2019-06-21T08:28:01.540" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;A good cotton tent is expensive, but can be very good value as they last a lifetime and are childproof.  In The Netherlands, families may camp up to 5–8 weeks per year, car camping on campgrounds in western or southern Europe.  They quite often have cotton tents, I'd say they are the majority of quality family tents on those campgrounds, such as in the pictures below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During my childhood, we always went camping in summer, for up to six weeks in a row, using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.obelink.eu/tents/bungalow-tents.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bungalow tent&lt;/a&gt;, with the kids sleeping in a cotton tent somewhat similar to the pictures below (only a somewhat cheaper model).  Only in adulthood when I started backpacking, did I first learn about the problem of condensation — there is no such thing in a cotton tent.  Synthetic tents are really only needed if you carry a tent on the back or the bike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider a stereotypical image of a French campground in summer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://www.camping-le-clou.com/images/slides/kampeerplaatsen/1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;kamperen&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.camping-le-clou.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping le clou&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or at the coast:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://nos.nl/data/image/2018/08/02/490782/2048x1152.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;kamperen 2&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://nos.nl/artikel/2244282-oernederlandse-tentenmaker-de-waard-failliet.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NOS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the tents you see in these images are cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cotton is a more durable material, it is stronger and thus more weatherproof, it breathes naturally, it doesn't look soggy when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Incidentally, in my family we call the type of erecting the tent seen in the second image — with the opening away from everybody else — &lt;em&gt;De Waard&lt;/em&gt; style, after the brand of tent pictures; a rather introvert way of camping!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are advantages of a synthetic tent:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Much lighter and packs more compactly — essential for backpacking or when flying to holiday destination, highly desirable for bikepacking or taking the train to holiday destination.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's cheaper — when only camping for 2 weeks per year, families might not want to spend €3000 for a tent.  In The Netherlands it is quite common for families to camp for 8 weeks per year.  Spend 8 weeks per year camping for a tent that lasts 20 years, and a €3000 tent is less than €3/night — not bad when it sleeps 6 and is large enough to stand upright (at least for children) and play monopoly on rainy days.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your question, I deduce that in some parts of the world, such tents are not popular even among families car camping.  I would speculate that such families are either in caravans, campers, or &quot;glamping&quot;, or perhaps not willing to spend the money for a cotton tent.  The market probably relies on families having long holidays.  Which is consistent with the other answers referring to scouts: scouts do spend 8 weeks per year plus in their tents (I think), which makes the expense worth it.  Families who can only go for 2 weeks per year (USA?), not so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T11:18:43.893" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T11:18:43.893" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22436" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22430" CreationDate="2019-06-21T12:05:54.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to Charlie's answer (damage to non-stick coating), I believe the more indirect and potentially hotter heat from a fire may damage the coating you can see on some of the handles. A stove of some kind would normally directly heat only to the bottom of a properly sized cookpiece so the handles would not get anywhere near as hot as would be possible in a fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, yes, plastic cookware can melt if placed in/on very hot surfaces. One of our normal kitchen spatulas has a melt mark on it that one of our boys did somehow. It would take significant exposure to heat so I would not expect it to be an issue normally unless the piece you left it in was hotter than it should be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final consideration is most people have no idea how hot a fire is, and it is not easy to regulate whereas most stoves you can control the output pretty quickly and easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T12:05:54.600" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22430" CreationDate="2019-06-21T13:53:02.393" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I worked in outdoors retail, I saw the evolution of GSI's line. The Bugaboo had at some point a very bad but well-known flaw where the plastic lids (polycarbonate then some other molecule when BPA was banned from cooking apparatus) would actually melt. It wasn't a rare occurence, we'd get a few returns each month. This was usually because of partially filled pots (not enough water or food to heat) and happened on wood fires &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; stoves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was much worse over wood fires though as the flame's area is usually wider than the pot, the heat could directly affect the plastic instead of just diffusing though the pot material. When I would see a charred pot bottom in a return, I knew why the lid had melted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GSI started adding disclaimers on their packaging during that time and they eventually upgraded their lids with silicone gaskets so heat wouldn't transfer as directly from the pots. It's still a bad idea to put a pot with plastic lid over a fire, and there are series with metal lids if you really want to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But then the problem of non-stick coatings comes into play, as Charlie already mentioned (although personally I don't have any concern over it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T14:00:03.703" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T14:00:03.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22438" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22440" CreationDate="2019-06-21T14:55:24.827" Score="3" ViewCount="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for places to hike near Indianapolis that will be &quot;exciting&quot; for my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, are there places that you recommend within ~50 miles of Indianapolis that have a lot of uneven or rocky terrain and/or elev&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18126" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T17:10:59.117" Title="Where to hike near Indianapolis? Looking for rocky terrain/elevation changes" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22432" CreationDate="2019-06-21T14:59:18.413" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;By far my most comfortable pair of boots is leather, though they're only leather uppers, not leather soles, and they were approximately 3 times the price of the most expensive other footwear I've ever bought. Leather soles are reserved for a specific class of formal footwear at this point in time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general theme is that leather takes longer to walk in to the point of being comfortable, modern materials are lighter and more comfortable more quickly. As a result of this, and that often modern materials are cheaper, the vast majority of footwear you'll now see include no leather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However if you're willing to make the investment of time, money, early discomfort, and maintenance, a good pair of leather boots lasts much longer than anything artificial and can be just as comfortable. Whether that cost is worth it is up to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T14:59:18.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22438" CreationDate="2019-06-21T17:10:59.117" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the good stuff is in southern IN - look into &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2978.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;McCormicks Creek SP&lt;/a&gt; near Spencer, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/4816.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Morgan Monroe State Forest&lt;/a&gt; N of Bloomington, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/hoosier/recarea/?recid=41554&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deam Wilderness area&lt;/a&gt; on the SE side of Lake Monroe and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2988.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Brown County SP&lt;/a&gt; east of there. To the west of Indy are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2964.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turkey Run&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2970.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shades&lt;/a&gt; State Parks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/4275.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Knobstone Trail&lt;/a&gt; is outside your range further south, but is known for its elevation changes, but I still haven't been able to hike any of it. It is considered the most challenging trail in IN, but as you seem to be more interested in day-hiking you would need to pick a spot to out and back though there are 2 loops at the northern end you could do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing in IN is really rocky per se as you would find in true mountain ranges but you may find smaller sections in some areas that have lots of rocks and roots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW, there is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bloomington-hikers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;group of hikers near Bloomington&lt;/a&gt; that go on different weekly hikes every Saturday morning to areas similar to above though sometimes they are easier ones like rail trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T17:10:59.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22441" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-21T17:23:54.747" Score="13" ViewCount="1064" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Colorado outdoor stores its not uncommon to see these &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/144881/boost-oxygen-canister-10-liters&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;small canisters of 95% percent oxygen&lt;/a&gt; that's sold to help people cope with high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any evidence that these actually help with altitude sickness&lt;/strong&gt;? I mean plenty of places still sell the Sawyer Venom extractor kits and there is no evidence those work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T18:23:37.810" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T12:33:45.767" Title="Is there any evidence that the small canisters (10 liters) of 95% oxygen actually help with altitude sickness?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22442" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22441" CreationDate="2019-06-21T18:35:46.693" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL;DR summary: There is no evidence that these particular products help with acute mountain sickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's difficult to answer the question because the manufacturer for the linked product makes absolutely &lt;em&gt;no claim&lt;/em&gt; to the effect that their product helps with altitude sickness. The only direct praises for alleviating acute mountain sickness is from testimonials. This is far from being hard evidence, and there's a disclaimer at the bottom of every page on their site stating:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Boost Oxygen is 95% pure, Aviator’s Breathing Oxygen.  It is not a substitute for individuals who have been prescribed Medical Oxygen (over 99% concentration) for health reasons. It is solely intended for recreational use.&#xA;  Any statements provided have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and, as such, are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In their FAQ, you cannot find any claim to actual benefits, even towards enhancing performance. In fact, there is this statement:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Boost Oxygen states that it is “NOT for medical or prescription use.” What does this mean?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Oxygen therapies that are prescribed by a medical doctor to treat medical conditions are completely different from Boost Oxygen. Boost Oxygen is recreational Aviator’s Breathing Oxygen (95% pure), not USP medical oxygen (defined as 99.2% or above). Although both are produced in the same manner, recreational oxygen is designed for healthy people looking to experience the benefits of recreational oxygen in the different facets of their life. It is not intended for use by anyone who has asthma, lung ailments or heart problems, or as a substitute for physician-prescribed or life-saving oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2014/05000/The_Effects_of_a_Personal_Oxygen_Supplement_on.11.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this independent study&lt;/a&gt; from 2014 in the &lt;em&gt;Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research&lt;/em&gt;, the conclusion seems to be that it's no better than placebo:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction&lt;/strong&gt; (excerpt)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Oxygen supplementation has often been used as an aid for athletic individuals who ascend to high altitudes before acclimatization or experience symptoms of altitude sickness. The effectiveness of oxygen supplementation in augmenting arterial blood oxygen levels [...] could have contributed to hyperoxia supplements, gaining popularity in the ergogenic aid market. [...] However, the efficacy of such products is in need of evaluation. There is increasing need for additional research to determine the efficacy of such products due to the fact that hyperoxic supplements are being made available to the general public, with promises of enhancing exercise performance and recovery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt; (excerpt)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;As was previously stated, hyperoxia supplements are gaining popularity in the ergogenic aid market with a number of manufacturers supporting the use of personal oxygen cylinders to augment sports performance, and the aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of such products. The present investigation does not support the use of personal OSs for exercise performance, exercise recovery, or postexercise cognitive performance. It is important that strength and conditioning professionals are armed with accurate and relevant data when making decisions regarding the use of supplements. Given the results of this study, personal hyperoxic products do not seem to provide the desired results that would be expected from an effective ergogenic aid. Athletes, coaches, trainers, and recreational exercisers are encouraged to consider the results of this study when considering the use of similar supplements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the reason stores carry these even if there's no proven health benefit is because there is demand, and they are harmless in themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T12:33:45.767" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T12:33:45.767" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22441" CreationDate="2019-06-21T19:50:13.477" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is some evidence that increasing the concentration oxygen in the air breathed can help with &lt;em&gt;mild&lt;/em&gt; symptoms of altitude sickness. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/003456879400094G?via%3Dihub&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; here looks at long-term increases in oxygen concentration at high elevation and finds benefits--whether or not the same happens with short bursts from a canister is unclear. I have heard circumstantial evidence from friends in the skiing world that a hit from the oxygen canister works pretty well for mild exhaustion after a hike at 13,000 ft or so. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since one of the main causes of altitude sickness is the reduced partial pressure of oxygen at elevation, increasing the ratio of oxygen to other gases in the air should help a bit, to an extent. Of course, when the pressure is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; low, no matter how high the concentration or O2, the partial pressure will never be enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd also add that the source in Gabriel's answer is about hyperoxia at sea level, not how to mitigate hypoxyia at elevation. Then again, Gabriel is probably right that stores carry them because they sell, not because they necessarily work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit re: how many breaths is the canister &quot;useful&quot; for:&lt;/strong&gt; At sea level where atmospheric pressure is 760mmHg and O2 concentration is 21% the partial pressure is about 160mmHg. By 10,000 feet, that drops to about 110mmHg. To maintain sea-level partial pressure of O2, you'd need to be breathing about 30% O2 instead of 20%, which means 1.5 times as much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for each 0.5L breath of 21% oxygen air at 10,000ft, you'd need to inhale an additional 0.052L of 95% oxygen to get the same inhaled partial pressures as sea level. The 10L can would give you 192 hits of this volume. This fits nearly with the 200 breaths advertised! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously, at higher elevations, you'd need more oxygen, but since these are mostly sold at ski resorts where 9,000-12,000ft is the norm, the 200 advertised servings per container seems reasonable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-06-21T20:28:43.427" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T20:28:43.427" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-21T20:09:14.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some &lt;a href=&quot;https://kikkerland.com/products/collapsible-coffee-dripper&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;collapsible coffee drippers&lt;/a&gt; you can get. Don't take so much space, and kind of light-weight. Your milleage may vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPK4U.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPK4U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Ready to be used&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RJfTe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RJfTe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Collapsed to be transported&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18129" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T20:09:14.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22445" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22441" CreationDate="2019-06-21T20:10:41.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While not sure about the medical backing, from personal experience I once had HAPE and my oxygen reached 62% SpO2 by the time I was at the ER. I had one of those style canisters and I think it definitely helped during the 45 min between buying it and getting to the ER. I was using it fairly constantly during that time period though not just a single air shot as you see advertised. While I can't say conclusively what my SpO2 level would have been, it possibly would have been lower than 62%.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T20:10:41.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22446" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-21T20:23:37.330" Score="2" ViewCount="66" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started reading about an interesting plant that is common around here called &lt;em&gt;Mimosa Pudica&lt;/em&gt;, known as &quot;touch-me-not&quot; because of its leaves that close upon touching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to be a plant with valuable medicinal uses, amongst them antibacterial properties&lt;sup&gt;[1]&lt;/sup&gt;, anti-anxiety/depression properties&lt;sup&gt;[2]&lt;/sup&gt;, inhibiting effect of Naja snake poison&lt;sup&gt;*[3]&lt;/sup&gt;, anti-arthritic properties&lt;sup&gt;[4]&lt;/sup&gt;, list could go on (i.e.: use as laxative, inhibitor of tumor growth).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s also known that it contains toxic mimosine and parts of the plant contains calcium oxalate, but I haven’t found evidence of acute toxicity of the plant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in the use of the plant as a survival aid, both as a medicine and as an edible if possible, so my questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the &lt;em&gt;Mimosa Pudica&lt;/em&gt; a safe plant to regularly drink teas from, despite the presence of mimosine and calcium oxalate? If not, what preparation steps should be taken to avoid intoxication, or what dosage should not be surpassed?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What about dermal application of ethanol/water extracts of the plant as a antibacterial/pain-relief herb for wounds? In this case, I don't think the calcium oxalate would be an issue, but I'm not sure about the mimosine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does the plant have some nutritional value besides the medicinal uses?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't mean to make the questions too scientific, they are just a guideline, what I'm looking for is information about how to use the plant for survival, so any information regarding this is really appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Obs: If the community believes the question is more appropriate in Biology SE I can write it there. My choice of The Great Outdoors has to do with the survivalism/wild living approach. For example, there are laboratory studies of extracts of the plant, but I’m only interested in the ones that are practical enough for a survival situation.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;* The articles I found used the pre-incubation method, which exposes the venom to the extract before application. Probably it isn't as effective being applied/consumed after the bite, but in an emergency every effort to buy some time prior to medical treatment seems reasonable (as long as it doesn't cause issues with the latter).&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289494930_Antibacterial_activities_of_the_extracts_of_Mimosa_pudica_L_An_in-vitro_study&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289494930_Antibacterial_activities_of_the_extracts_of_Mimosa_pudica_L_An_in-vitro_study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206927/pdf/AJP-6-696.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206927/pdf/AJP-6-696.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[3] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jvatitd/v17n1/06.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jvatitd/v17n1/06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[4] &lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b357/bcfef8efeac5e5fcc7e7df37d9acc17ee01b.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b357/bcfef8efeac5e5fcc7e7df37d9acc17ee01b.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17999" LastActivityDate="2019-06-21T20:23:37.330" Title="Mimosa Pudica (touch-me-not) medicinal uses and edibility" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22447" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-21T23:42:57.443" Score="10" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking near Lake Chelan (Washington, USA), I noticed this item affixed to the tree located at &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/jCUZFEpNvaxHSo5AA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;48.150978, -120.493732&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rusXn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rusXn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Overall&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tree in question is a short hike from a boat landing and right off a trail, but the area overall is fairly remote (designated wilderness).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was unable to find any markings or other identification clues on the object. It appears to have been placed a while ago, as the screws holding it have been pulled almost completely out of the tree. The item primarily comprises a white, ribbed, rounded rectangular prism approximately 7x5x6&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdaeY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UdaeY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Crop&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13512" LastEditorUserId="13512" LastEditDate="2019-06-25T21:57:29.480" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T21:57:29.480" Title="What is this white, ribbed, box shaped object attached to a somewhat-remote tree near Lake Chelan?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22390" CreationDate="2019-06-22T01:00:23.507" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a traditional way of doing it here in the south of Brazil, called &quot;café tropeiro&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You heat the water until it boils, then add coffee powder and mix it. The secret is to put some pieces of the burning coal from the fire in the coffee pot, this makes the powder go to the bottom of the pot faster(don't ask me why, but it works), so you can drink the coffee while it is still hot and without powder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18133" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T01:00:23.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15740" CreationDate="2019-06-22T02:36:36.843" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is not safe for cats&lt;/strong&gt;! I have strays that sleep on my porch and I treated a hammock with diluted aerosole permethrin and caught a cat brushing on it and shood him off. A day later I found him laying dead under the porch, poor lil feller. I wish I had known and I would have at least put him out of his misery considering the nerve pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18135" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T03:30:34.117" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T03:30:34.117" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22450" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-22T13:54:32.103" Score="6" ViewCount="357" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy some sunglasses with a white frame and blue lenses because I like the look of the colors together, something like this (I also like the side protection of this particular model): &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KSUH2m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KSUH2m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;White frame blue lens sunglasses&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When looking for information about the benefits/disadvantages of different lens colors, I found some information about benefits of lenses which block blue light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found this image showing benefits of differently colored lenses: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/227wem.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/227wem.png&quot; alt=&quot;Best uses for different color lenses&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Among the listed benefits of various (non-blue) lenses is that they block blue light. Also, blue lenses are not shown as an option, which is concerning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume blue lenses allow more blue light through than other colored light. Is this correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blue-blocking lenses seem to be commonly used for eye protection, and they are usually orange. Red, yellow, and blue are the 3 primary colors, and orange is made up of red and yellow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there any reason to avoid blue lenses?&lt;/strong&gt; Will I do more long-term damage to my eyes than choosing another option like these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aBBpYm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aBBpYm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;White frame smoke lens sunglasses&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBNX1m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FBNX1m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;White frame orange lens sunglasses&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is it best to wear lenses which are both UV-blocking and blue-light blocking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So are orange lenses the best?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned by 1 of the answers, I now know that lenses can be 1 color and have a different color mirror layer on the surface, as in this example where you can see a neutral gray lens with a blue mirror layer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1Ozwm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I1Ozwm.png&quot; alt=&quot;Neutral gray lens with blue mirror coating&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the lenses from the above range seem to be colored:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NdxkJm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NdxkJm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue colored lens&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user16106" LastEditorDisplayName="user16106" LastEditDate="2019-06-23T17:43:59.323" LastActivityDate="2019-06-23T17:43:59.323" Title="Is there any reason to avoid sunglasses with blue lenses?" Tags="&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22450" CreationDate="2019-06-22T15:54:19.653" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blue may be somewhat more likely to let UV through if they are poor quality.  Most sunglasses now carry some form of label regarding UV blocking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In photography, you often use an orange or red filter to increase the effective contrast between sky and cloud, or rock and vegetation.  These filters also reduce the effect of haze, which is biased toward the blue end of the spectrum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a blue lens set of sunglasses would tend to do the opposite:  Sky and clouds would be closer in tone.  Leaves and dirt/rock would be closer in tone.  They might be effective in increasing contrast in the red-rock country in the American Southwest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary:  Harmful?  No.  Useful? Maybe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that di-chromic lenses work on a different principle.  Instead of a coloured material that absorbs unwanted light, they  have a very thin layer of material that is  a selective mirror.  You can have glasses that from the outside look like a blue tinted mirror, and from the inside are quite yellow to orange.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T15:54:19.653" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22447" CreationDate="2019-06-22T15:59:52.630" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some form of remote sensor,  Perhaps they wanted to monitor microclimate values of temp and humidity on a long term basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bug trap.  The container fastens with wingnuts, while the bracket appears to be screwed or nailed.  By implication the container was intended to be replaced/inspected multiple times.  Bug trap would fit this, as would pollen trap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finding more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you have coordinates, find out what national/state forest/park that your location corresponds to.  Drop by their office and see if they have a record of any research projects in that area.  They are likely to redirect you to one or more scientists connected to a local university.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T15:59:52.630" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22453" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22458" CreationDate="2019-06-22T16:05:28.037" Score="7" ViewCount="490" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider an ascension of a single rope with an ATC guide in locking mode and a foot loop with a friction hitch, as described in this answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11378/quickest-most-efficient-way-to-ascend-a-hanging-rope-with-rock-climbing-gear/11435#11435&quot;&gt;Quickest / most efficient way to ascend a hanging rope with rock climbing gear?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sruP5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sruP5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now assume the ascent has ended mid-rope (i.e. no stable anchor to hook in to) and the climber wants to transition to a rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the safest and most simple method of flipping the ATC guide and the entire system out of auto-locking mode and back into a typical rappel mode?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18136" LastEditorUserId="18136" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T18:25:09.573" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T20:49:18.847" Title="Transition from ascending to descending a rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22454" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22432" CreationDate="2019-06-22T16:17:34.507" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;My work boots are leather with plastic toe protectors (Thank heavens steel is no longer used.  Heavy and cold...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hike in low top Merrells, including boulder fields and scree.  The Merrells are largely synthetic, and weigh a third of what my work boots do.  In a typical work day I cover about 6-10 kilometers and I don't have a pack on. (I took my GPS to work one week.) On a typical back country trek I'm doing 20-30 km a day, and most of that has a 40 pound pack on my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A forester friend swore by &quot;white boots&quot; made by the White Boot Co. in Spokane washington.  At the time they cost about twice what good boots from a work boot company would cost.  But they were hand made to your foot.  (You went to their store for a measures)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Al claimed that a pair of White Boots would last him 5 years of being in the field every day, all day, while off the shelf boots lasted about a year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T16:17:34.507" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22423" CreationDate="2019-06-22T16:30:01.987" Score="3" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Biggest reason is weight.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horse packers still use canvas wall tents.  Almost indestructible if you don't store them wet.  But a 9x12 wall tent can weigh over a hundred pounds, and much more if wet.  These same packers have the weight allowance to pack cast iron cookware and sheet metal stoves with chimneys.  This class of tent is usually packed in to a base camp, set up, and left up for the entire season.  Packers bring clients in, and do day trips either for nature stuff or hunting from that camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Breathability:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mostly nylon tents now have a breathable tent, and a waterproof fly.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of the breathability of cotton comes from little attempt to make the closures tight.  Bug resistance is not a term I associate with cotton tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The theory of cotton is that it breaths until it gets wet.  When the cotton fibers swell, they close the openings in the fabric and keep (most of the ) water out.  In practice every cotton tent I've seen either was waterproofed with some combination of wax, turpentine and zinc stearate, or it leaked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Silk tents&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During the Klondike gold rush, the better mushers used silk tents.  VERY light weight compared to cotton.  (Silk is very strong)  This saved significant time during limited daylight in setting and breaking camp, as well as making for a lighter load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T16:30:01.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22384" CreationDate="2019-06-22T16:35:30.403" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Charles answer is the correct one for speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The traditional answer is a sheer lashing.  3 loose turns around the pair (or trio) of poles, then pass between the poles twice, pull tight and tie off.  I wouldn't want to hold my breath while undoing this on a dark rainy night.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EA8hD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EA8hD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The image above has more turns around the poles than I would normally use.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T16:35:30.403" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22453" CreationDate="2019-06-22T20:09:54.360" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, you will need to take off the load from the tuber in locking mode. So I'd use the same technique as when going over a knot (well there's probably more than one technique for that, but this is the one I know and use (luckily for training only till now)), just adapted to the ascending setup you are in:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a cordelette and make a prusik (or blocking knot of your choice) just above the ATC/tuber leaving one end rather short and secure that end (double fishermen's). Then attach the other end to a biner on your harness with a Munter hitch, which you then secure with a releasable blocking knot. Then use your blue loop to get load off the tuber and pull on the upper shackle of the tuber to let rope go through until your weight rests in the newly added cordelette. Now attache your usual backup prusik for abseiling below, also getting some loose rope up to work with. Then change the tuber to descending mode. Once all is set and double checked, release the blocking knot and lower yourself with the munter, until the load is in the tuber/backup prusik. Then remove the cordelette and start abseiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T20:09:54.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22453" CreationDate="2019-06-22T20:12:53.807" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ascending a fixed rope using an ATC guide in lead mode is totally valid, but it is not the &quot;quickest&quot; method (IMHO). Usually what is taught in basic climbing and self rescue courses is to ascend with two prusik loops: One for you foot, and one for your weight. Ascending with an ATC is ok because it is more &quot;fail proof&quot;, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I mentioned using two prusiks is more basic is because my answer includes transitioning to a prusik loop in order to re-set your ATC in abseil mode. The process is simple and intuitive: Suppose you have the exact situation described in your picture, where you use a loop for your foot placed above the ATC and have your weight placed in the ATC itself. Now you should:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a second prusik loop and use it to grab the rope above your foot loop (with a marchant knot or some variation), clipping your personal anchoring system (PAS) into it, creating a primary;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gJL5Vl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gJL5Vl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do exactly the same procedure you were doing before, but instead of taking slack in through your ATC, move the primary upwards - this means that when you rest, your weight will be placed on the primary above, not on the ATC;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Move your second loop (the one you were using for your foot) upwards until it comes near the primary, clipping a sling to it and using it as a backup; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qEtUWl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qEtUWl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are now attached to two prusik loops above your ATC device, so you have a primary fixed point and a backup. You are ready to disconnect your ATC in lead mode, which is now absolutely unweighted. Do so and reposition it in abseil mode, using a third prusik as a backup under the ATC to catch the rope (this backup prusik can be the loop you're using as a backup, since the rope is already passed through your ATC and you don't need two backups);&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your weight now rests on the primary, and your ATC is ready to be abseiled from. Take a long quickdraw, a loop or anything you can step on, and place it on the primary itself. Step on it grabbing your PAS to balance as you take the rope slack in through your ATC, adjusting the backup below it or simply using your hand in order to pass the weight to the ATC;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/piDfwl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/piDfwl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;6&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your weight is now placed on the ATC and everything else is free to be removed. Take everything out of the rope and abseil.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/knRv4l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/knRv4l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2019-06-22T20:49:18.847" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T20:49:18.847" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22450" CreationDate="2019-06-22T21:00:13.057" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blue light can injure the eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to avoid blue lenses? Will I do more long-term damage to my eyes than choosing another option like these?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;UV light (which is blocked by good sunglasses) can cause photo ceratitis and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the cornea and/or the conjunctiva), but it doesn't penetrate deeply into the human eye as it is absorbed by the cornea. In contrast, blue light penetrates into the eye and can cause discoloration of the lens (cataract) and it can irreversibly damage the retina.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thus, it is preferrable if sunglasses do not only block the UV light but also reduce the blue. Sunglasses that reduce blue more than longer wavelengths have the tranmitted light orange or brownish (white or grey minus blue). Of course, also neutral tint (grey) sunglasses reduce blue: they reduce all colors approximately equally.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now, if you have sunglasses that reduce the blue less than other wavelengths, you may actually damage your eyes. Overall low light with a high fraction of blue light &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; lead to actually more blue light entering your eyes than without the sunglasses.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Note that this is no concern with the blue light in dusk as then also the high fraction of blue is actually low brightness.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As @SherwoodBotsford already pointed out: the blocking of the blue light in the sunglasses can be achieved by a reflective edge filter which will lead to the sunglasses looking blue from the side of the light, but not when seen in transmission (looking through them).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;blue pass glasses are sold for indoor/computer work. The idea here is that the human lens does have chromatic aberration: different wavelengths are refracted somewhat differently. We are more myopic for blue light and more far-sighted for red light (even if we are correctly sighted at green light).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Focusing a blueish image from a closeby monitor may still work for people whose age-related far-sightedness doesn't allow them to focus red monitor images any more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zeiss.com/vision-care/us/better-vision/understanding-vision/blue-light-the-good-and-the-bad.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.zeiss.com/vision-care/us/better-vision/understanding-vision/blue-light-the-good-and-the-bad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-06-22T21:00:13.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19785" CreationDate="2019-06-23T00:15:46.607" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an emergency, I have used a flameless oven, with the hot steam venting out of the tent using a tube. These reactions produce a ludicrous amount of steam, so you need to vent the steam. I rigged a Camelback water sipper silicone tube to vent the steam.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are usually salt and a magnesium compound that react with water to create an exothermic reaction and boil the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is possible to keep topping off the bag with water and use several pouches of materials, it takes about 15 minutes to use up one consumable pouch from the kit. Then, pour the salty hot water into Nalgenes or otherwise to create instant hot water bottles as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18138" LastActivityDate="2019-06-23T00:15:46.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22384" CreationDate="2019-06-23T09:52:43.313" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can live with steps in the adjustments you can make a loop like the bracelet but with a series of balls or loops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you can put a moving knot to tighten the loop. This will not have steps but you may need to adjust before you apply.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see samples of both on &lt;a href=&quot;http://knopen.ismijnhobby.nl.bales.id.au/tables/bracelet_table.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page,&lt;/a&gt; (my own not commercial website.) The series of ball knots and the closure knot which will allow adjustment for the length. &#xA;You will still need to arrange them into the shape that works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2019-06-23T09:52:43.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22462" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22463" CreationDate="2019-06-23T20:11:16.647" Score="3" ViewCount="225" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my &lt;a href=&quot;https://trangia.se/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trangia&lt;/a&gt; stove, I usually use denatured alcohol / ethanol / methyl alcohol.  Bringing methyl alcohol into Russia is &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/140824/2509&quot;&gt;apparently prohibited&lt;/a&gt;, and bringing ethanol is subject to a 22€/litre duty.  I've understood that actually finding &lt;em&gt;спирт&lt;/em&gt;, as it's apparently called in Russian, is potentially very difficult, according to sources &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mark-ju.net/juliette/meths.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(1)&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://pikabu.ru/story/gde_kupit_spirt_4284062&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(2)&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://forum.ykt.ru/viewtopic.jsp?id=4323603&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(3)&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/lada.commerce/wNfr7AzEA30&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(4)&lt;/a&gt;.  One of those sources recommends an industrial site near Moscow and to pay the guard a bit of money for him to get some methyl alcohol...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where &lt;em&gt;specifically&lt;/em&gt; can I find fuel for my Trangia stove in Russia?  I will have almost a day in Moscow before I head north to Inta prior to my hike.  I've heard they might sell it at the &lt;em&gt;аптека&lt;/em&gt;, perhaps in 100 mL bottles.  But I'm also &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/140784/can-i-bring-methylated-spirits-camping-fuel-into-russia/140824#comment349079_140824&quot;&gt;told&lt;/a&gt; it should be sold at camping stores.  Where can I find a fuel that will be suitable for my stove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I will be taking the train, so aviation limitations are not relevant in my case)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T12:53:56.727" Title="Finding fuel for a Trangia stove in Russia" Tags="&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22462" CreationDate="2019-06-24T12:53:56.727" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alternative answer in case you can't reliably come up with a good fuel solution: buy an alternative burner for your Trangia stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If finding ethanol fuel is too much of a hassle it might be worth considering buying a &lt;strong&gt;gas burner&lt;/strong&gt; for the Trangia stove you already have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://trangia.se/en/selecting-the-right-trangia-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here on the Trangia home page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These burners can be used interchangeably with all modern Trangia stoves, so you could leave the ethanol burner at home and only pack the gas one for this trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-06-24T12:53:56.727" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22464" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22465" CreationDate="2019-06-24T21:36:59.087" Score="11" ViewCount="293" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I was on a cycling holiday - on my own - in remote mountainous countryside in the north of Greece. One day, I came across a dog lying by the side of the road. I had passed quite a few dead animals: dogs, a horse, sheep, but this dog was alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was a large dog, probably a sheepdog. It looked to be in reasonable shape but it was motionless. It was a very hot day and there was no shade at all. I guessed it had been hit by a car although there was no sign of blood or wounds, at least on the side I could see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found myself at a complete loss as to what to do for the dog. I've thought about it often since and I can't even think of a way to rationalise the situation satisfactorily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was no help available. No traffic on the road to flag down. Probably an hour's riding since I had seen any habitation or human beings and I had no idea how far ahead I would have to travel to find more (it turned out to be a long way).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rabies was a thing there and I was scared to get too close to the dog. I had no medicines with me. I could possibly have dashed the dog's brains out with rocks but I couldn't bring myself to do that. There was no mobile phone coverage at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end I cycled on, hoping the dog would die quickly without suffering too much. But I've always felt bad about that decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts on what I could have done better, or even how to process a difficult decision such as this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18144" LastEditorUserId="18144" LastEditDate="2019-06-25T10:58:45.883" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T10:58:45.883" Title="What should I do when I find a dying dog?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;injury&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22464" CreationDate="2019-06-24T21:49:35.900" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; I had a 22lr and &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt; it was legal, I would consider putting it out of its misery with that, otherwise you did the correct thing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When there is no practical way to save it, and you only risk injury to yourself then the correct thing is to keep yourself safe and stay beyond where it could hurt you and potentially give you rabies (even non-rabid dogs can cause major injuries).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your situation there was nothing you could do to improve the situation, and therefore there is nothing you failed to do. Nature is cruel and stuff like that happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-06-25T10:15:52.237" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T10:15:52.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22466" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22479" CreationDate="2019-06-25T14:42:39.837" Score="4" ViewCount="832" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this spider yesterday running across a sidewalk next to a canal,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O4lWq.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;it was bigger than a quarter and I think it was carrying an egg sack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know what kind of spider this is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T16:39:12.220" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T16:39:12.220" Title="What kind of spider is this half dollar sized brown one with a darker brown body and a lighter brown strip down its back?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;colorado&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22384" CreationDate="2019-06-25T15:11:00.337" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;How about repurposing an old belt.  Add a few more holes to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T15:11:00.337" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22279" CreationDate="2019-06-25T15:29:00.030" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Geologically significantly different.  Fjords are flooded glacial valleys, and usually have very steep sides. Often the fjord itself is deeper than the ocean beyond it's mouth.  Many have very inaccessible shorelines except at the extreme ends.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loch is used both for lake, and for a confined or protected sea inlet.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firth is another term, tends to refer to a more open body of water.  The use of the terms is not consistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T15:29:00.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22324" CreationDate="2019-06-25T19:20:46.927" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your sleeping bag &amp;amp; tent setup looks ok but I would be a bit worried with the matress. 1.3R value is a bit limited and as the ground in Northern Norway can be pretty wet/cold in Troms, I would suggest you to buy another matress, some cheap Thermarest Z-lite or a Klymit Static V insulated from Massdrop (what I've been using during my whole year in Norway even for snow bivy camping in -10/-15°C)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To optimize the temperature range:&#xA;-some woolen base layers: from any brand really, I like my Helly Hansen lifa merino ones but they are not the cheapest/lightest. &#xA;-A thick pair of socks dedicated for sleeping: if you spend some time in town in Norge, check out XXL for that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember to check the cabins around on Ut.no, you may save a ton of weight in food and gas by sleeping in hyttas with food reserve if you are a dnt member (and if you're young, that's crazy cheap for Norway)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy the trip, wish I could go back to this amazing place soon :'(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18146" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T19:20:46.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22380" CreationDate="2019-06-25T21:17:56.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the answer by Charlie, Linseed oil is probably used in many instructions because it is &lt;strong&gt;what was historically used&lt;/strong&gt; to create oil cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A nice tutorial for creating historical oil cloth is for example the following YouTube video by an American reenactment channel:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqjfwhirsVo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oil Cloth - Waterproof Coverings for Your Campsite&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-06-25T21:17:56.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22471" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22517" CreationDate="2019-06-26T00:00:46.680" Score="8" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;NPS has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;opened&lt;/a&gt; Tioga Pass for through traffic but not for day use recreation. I can't find any historical information about how long after the initial opening it typically opens for day use. Anyone know when I could expect the pass into Yosemite to be open for day-use recreation hiking? Hoping to go the weekend of July 4th roads permitting, but am worried it will still be closed due to the large amount of snowfall they received this year in the sierras.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:56:42.797" Title="Tioga Pass (Yosemite) Day Use Opening Timeline" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22471" CreationDate="2019-06-26T00:20:24.300" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you look at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;historical data&lt;/a&gt; the latest in the year that's its opened is July 1st, and in &lt;strong&gt;2017 which was a very similar year&lt;/strong&gt; for amount of snow it opened June 29th. That year the road was left completely closed after it had been plowed to let things dry out first, it sounds like this year they are letting people drive through but not stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing that would change is that this year they are apparently &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article229953254.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;changing the parking in Toulemme meadows&lt;/a&gt; and that may change how it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing to consider is even if you are able to drive up there the going will be rougher than if it were a drier year. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the summer of 2017 I did one trip south Tioga around &lt;a href=&quot;https://charliebrumbaugh.github.io/tag/north-glacier-pass-trip/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Ritter&lt;/a&gt; June 20-26, one just south of Tioga &lt;a href=&quot;https://charliebrumbaugh.github.io/tag/parker-pass-trip/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;around Mt Parker&lt;/a&gt; June 29th- July 5 and then &lt;a href=&quot;https://charliebrumbaugh.github.io/hiking-clouds-rest/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cloud's Rest&lt;/a&gt; On &lt;strong&gt;July 6th&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There were places on those trips where the snow was still 10 ft deep and almost the whole trail up to Cloud's Rest had snow on the trail, the river was almost up to my waist and in general it was much harder walking then if it had been a dry summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand there are plenty of cool spots on the drive up if you weren't able to get all the way to the pass or if there was too much snow up there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-26T00:59:19.300" LastActivityDate="2019-06-26T00:59:19.300" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22476" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-27T17:02:00.117" Score="2" ViewCount="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will go to rural areas in Madagascar and have an Inmarsat satellite phone. Does anyone know which number I can dial with this phone in an emergency?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already know that 117 is the local emergency number, but it only works with &quot;normal&quot; cell phones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help would be very much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18156" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T17:02:00.117" Title="Emergency Call Madagascar Satellite Phone" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2019-06-28T08:08:27.260" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22477" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-27T21:32:17.810" Score="4" ViewCount="159" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because a number of accidents have occurred when a climber was lowered or rappelled off the end of a rope, it is wise to tie a stopper knot in the end(s) of the rope.  My question is what stopper knot do you prefer and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that the desirable features of a stopper knot are that it should be secure as well as quick and easy to tie.  According to animatedknots.com, a figure eight can work free (though I would have thought that with sufficient tail, this would not be a problem).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though not strictly necessary, if you're aware of any empirical tests comparing the effectiveness of different stopper knots, that would be great.  I would also be interested in hearing about any accidents in which failure of a stopper knot (e.g. rolling off the end of the rope due to poor knot choice) was a factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally always use a barrel knot (triple overhand) with 12-18&quot; of tail but some of my climbing partners have different preferences so I am interested in knowing how much difference the choice of stopper knot makes.  In particular, are some stopper knots dangerous to use?  I would imagine that a single overhand could be a risky choice (particularly with a short tail).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T03:30:45.123" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T03:30:45.123" Title="Tradeoffs between different stopper knots" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22477" CreationDate="2019-06-27T21:45:37.873" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you are looking for is a knot that,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is easy to tie and check that you did it properly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Big enough it won't go through the belay device.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Won't come undone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That gives you a number of options which depending on the person you may remember one knot more than the next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Double overhand (classic stopper knot).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Triple overhand (classic stopper knot).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Figure eight on a bight (easy to remember and tie).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overhand on a bight (easy to remember and tie, harder to untie than a figure eight on a bight).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on the day I may use any of the above, the only thing with the on a bight knots is that because they are bigger it has a batter chance of getting stuck in a crack on the descent and the double and triple overhands are the classic stopper knots and probably the most commonly used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-27T21:45:37.873" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22466" CreationDate="2019-06-28T03:38:33.700" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definitely a wolf spider (i.e., family &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lycosidae&lt;/a&gt;). Possibly &lt;a href=&quot;https://bugguide.net/node/view/1046861&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hogna frondicola&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or some closely related species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYqxs.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYqxs.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://spiderid.com/picture/12910/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spiderid.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The white ball is an egg sac. From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;wolf spiders carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see similar pictures to your of wolf spiders carrying egg sacs &lt;a href=&quot;https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DALqvQJVYAAfhnG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://natureformysoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/puzzle8-005.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/46fwG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/46fwG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DALqvQJVYAAfhnG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://spiderid.com/spider/lycosidae/hogna/frondicola/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spiderid.com&lt;/a&gt; suggests this species has been spotted in Colorado previously:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hogna frondicola&lt;/em&gt; has also been sighted in the following states: Colorado, Maine, Montana.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T03:38:33.700" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13844" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:09:58.577" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13845/6401&quot;&gt;other answer&lt;/a&gt; suggests, this is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sea urchin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Specifically, it appears to be a commonly caught species off Maine called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strongylocentrotus_droebachiensis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Strongylocentrus droebachienisis&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, which is commonly called the &lt;strong&gt;green sea urchin&lt;/strong&gt; (or Atlantic green urchin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ODSzr.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ODSzr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brownetrading.com/wp-content/uploads/urchinssept2012web2_-1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;brownetrading.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The OP's image shows the urchin's mouthparts (the so-called &amp;quot;teeth&amp;quot; of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thelivingcoast.org/sea-urchins-teeth-and-aristotles-lantern/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aristotle's lantern&lt;/a&gt;), which they use for scraping substrates for food. You can see an urchin moving it's mouthparts below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dpe53.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dpe53.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your specific species, &lt;em&gt;S. droebachienisis&lt;/em&gt;. enjoys eating algae, preferring species like &lt;em&gt;Sargassum muticum&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Mazzaella japonica.&lt;/em&gt; [&lt;a href=&quot;https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/7264&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Use&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brownetrading.com/species-spotlight/maine-sea-urchin/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;brownetrading.com&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spiny Sea Urchins (Atlantic Green Urchins) are found along the coast of Maine through the Canadian Maritimes and &lt;strong&gt;yield creamy “Uni” – the corral, or roe, of the urchin. Ours come in ocean fresh and are processed right here in Portland, Maine.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Urchins, and more specifically urchin roe, called Uni, are highly coveted delicacies in Japan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removed from their shell, the bright yellow-to orange lobes are perfect for traditional sushi or sashimi dishes, or just with a little lemon. Uni is also used sauced over pasta or noodles, pureed with butter to finish seafood sauces, as a decorative garnish, and in hors d’oeuvres, stews and soups, omelettes and souflettes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whole, live Maine sea urchins are available by the pound (approximately 4-6 pieces per pound) with a day’s advance notice. Maine Urchin roe comes in 4-ounce bamboo trays (typically 20-30 pieces of uni per tray).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you're wondering, brownetrading.co also suggests that this &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinoderm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;echinoderm&lt;/a&gt; is slightly sweet with a delicate, and buttery texture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T03:33:24.653" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20715" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:15:02.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a tussock moth caterpillar in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymantriinae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lymantriidae&lt;/a&gt; family. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The image is not clear enough for a definitive ID, but it appears you have some species in the genus &lt;a href=&quot;http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/URBAN/MEDICAL/tussock_moths.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Orgyia&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IegCa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IegCa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Orgyia Caterpillar species&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likely, this is a &lt;strong&gt;white-marked tussock moth caterpillar&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://enpp.auburn.edu/outreach/web-publications/whitemarked-tussock-moth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Orgyia leucostigma&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/it6Gj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/it6Gj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/foltz/eny3541/Tussock/Orgyia.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://enpp.auburn.edu/outreach/web-publications/whitemarked-tussock-moth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Auburn University&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The full-grown larva (Photo 2) is around 35 mm long. The head and shield on the segment behind the head are red. There are two long black pencils of hairs on the first segment of the thorax that project forward. A single black hair “pencil” arises from the eighth abdominal segment and projects upward and rearward. The back is mostly black and the sides yellow, cream, or grayish. There is an erect brushlike tuft of white or yellowish hairs on each of the first four abdominal segments, and a conspicuous red dot on segments six and seven.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Range&lt;/strong&gt;: Entire eastern U.S. and west to Minnesota and Texas. [&lt;a href=&quot;http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/URBAN/MEDICAL/tussock_moths.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T20:05:10.090" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:05:10.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21531" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:26:50.820" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure where you are, but Alan Weakley &lt;em&gt;et al.&lt;/em&gt; have developed a downloadable &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_(publication)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flora&lt;/a&gt; app available through the Apple AppStore called &lt;strong&gt;FloraQuest&lt;/strong&gt;, which covers most of the Eastern US at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h82Ra.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h82Ra.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Screenshot from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.floraquest.com/#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;floraquest.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280098353_FloraQuest_an_app_for_the_Southeastern_and_Mid-Atlantic_flora_UNC_Herbarium_University_of_North_Carolina&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ResearchGate&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;FloraQuest connects you with everything you need to know about naturally occurring plants in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic US: - Interactive dichotomous keys use your location to streamline the process of identifying plants - Illustrated glossary terms decipher botanical terms - Full descriptions of species, varieties, subspecies, genera, and plant families, including references, identification notes, images, and distributions - Powerful and quick search to find species (first two letters of genus + first two letters of species, e.g., ACRU finds Acer rubrum). - Record plants you find, with photos, dates, and location. Browse plants others have found and made public. - Show plants by common name or scientific (latin) name. FloraQuest is a product of the University of North Carolina Herbarium (&lt;a href=&quot;http://herbarium.unc.edu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://herbarium.unc.edu&lt;/a&gt;) and was funded by Innovate Carolina&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T20:05:02.117" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:05:02.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22483" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:29:53.957" Score="2" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Raccoons are creating ridiculous problems in our house. They used to eat our garbage and destroyed our vegetable garden. Once we tried to trap them with metal box by placing peanut butter in the middle of the box. But only one of the raccoons was trapped but the rest remained outside. Next day we again placed the metal box to trap them but none of them entered. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please suggest me a better option to relocate raccoons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18157" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:59:24.413" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:07:17.880" Title="How to trap and relocate raccoons?" Tags="&lt;raccoons&gt;&lt;trapping&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22148" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:30:29.530" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a terrestrial &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopoda&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;isopod&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;crustacean&lt;/a&gt; called a woodlouse (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse#Common_names&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;colloquially referred&lt;/a&gt; to as pill bugs, potato bugs, roly-pollies, sow bugs, etc.). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0wSwB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0wSwB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are over 5000 species in the world with at least 64 in Russia (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3335401/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kuznetsova &amp;amp; Gongalsky 2012&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Habitat&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Woodlice are typically found in damp, dark places -- in the soil, under rocks/logs/debris, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Living in a terrestrial environment, woodlice breathe through trachea-like lungs in their paddle-shaped hind legs (pleopods), called pleopodal lungs. Woodlice need moisture because they rapidly lose water by excretion and through their cuticle, and so are usually found in damp, dark places&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Description&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As with all arthropods, the woodlouse is a segmented animal with a rigid exoskeleton and jointed limbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;However, this is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; an insect! Insects have 3 pairs of legs while isopods have 7 pairs of legs. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The extended uropods on your specimen as well as the pereon-pleon junction, number of antenna flagella, etc. all are important for IDing to species. (E.g., see &lt;a href=&quot;http://pick4.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?guide=Oniscidea&amp;amp;flags=col4:gleansubgenus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: although many people associate these arthropods with the ability to roll up into a perfect ball, only woodlice in the genus Armadillidium and in the family Armadillidae can roll up into an almost perfect sphere as a defensive mechanism.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diet&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Woodlice are generally &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritivore&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;detritivores&lt;/a&gt;, meaning they eat decaying organic matter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Citations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;Kuznetsova, Daria M., and Konstantin B. Gongalsky. &quot;Cartographic analysis of woodlice fauna of the former USSR.&quot; ZooKeys 176 (2012): 1.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T20:05:27.447" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:05:27.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22485" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1175" CreationDate="2019-06-28T04:47:09.780" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;All About Birds&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.birds.cornell.edu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cornell Lab of Ornithology&lt;/a&gt; is one of the best on the internet for North American Birds.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can search by key word, taxonomic name, or browse by shape:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PuFwf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PuFwf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And you can try &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search#merlin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Merlin&lt;/a&gt;&quot; out for a streamlined identification process!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The result pages for the 650+ species include species overview, range maps, life histories, ID information, pictures, videos, and -- of course -- many clips of sounds!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, see the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;results page for the Northern Saw-whet Owl&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xDZbN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xDZbN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T20:04:45.327" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:04:45.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22486" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22493" CreationDate="2019-06-28T09:15:36.533" Score="6" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;With sunblock it's relatively easy to know what to look for in terms of SPF, UV types etc, however with eco-friendly ones that aim to not put chemicals back in the ocean (used by surfers, swimmers, divers etc) it seems a bit less clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should you look for when purchasing an eco-friendly sunblock, are there ingredients to aim for or avoid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T16:39:24.263" Title="What to look for in eco-friendly sunblock?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22488" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22490" CreationDate="2019-06-28T13:20:17.037" Score="59" ViewCount="12097" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love the outdoors, but I'm not really an experienced outdoorsman, hiker or camper. I have little to no education in outdoor etiquette, beyond the really obvious stuff (pick up your trash, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week I took my family on a road trip through a mountainous area, and we stopped at several little mountain streams and waterfalls to explore the area and enjoy the view. On many of these trails, my young toddler had a &lt;em&gt;great&lt;/em&gt; time picking up dozens of pebbles and small stones from the path and throwing them into the stream / waterfall / pond / etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Only later I thought to wonder if there's something wrong with doing that. Were we contributing to erosion, disturbing animal habitats, interfering with water courses, or something? Should I stop him from throwing rocks in the future and educate him about why that's not environmentally conscious, or is it not a problem, so I can let him throw pebbles to his heart's content?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(My personal guess is that driving our car through the area [on public roads] probably did more environmental damage overall than throwing a few pebbles, but, well, I really don't have any education to back that up!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18160" LastEditorUserId="18160" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T13:25:50.367" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:36:37.390" Title="Is it OK to throw pebbles and stones in streams, waterfalls, ponds, etc.?" Tags="&lt;conservation&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22486" CreationDate="2019-06-28T14:12:17.427" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sunblock comes in two variants- physical and chemical.  Physical ones work just by being present on your skin, and and usually contain a mineral like zinc or titanium.  Chemical ones are the ones to definitely avoid, as they use oxybenzone, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, the best sun protection is to use long sleeves (à la rashguards or wetsuits) in the water, to reduce the overall amount of sunblock being washed into the ocean.  Even with naturally-occurring minerals in physical sunblock, there can be other trace ingredients that aren't as eco-friendly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9260" LastEditorUserId="9260" LastEditDate="2019-06-28T14:18:45.943" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T14:18:45.943" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-06-28T14:47:06.580" Score="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;Technically, according to Leave No Trace principles you should &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/leave-what-you-find/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;leave everything as you find it&lt;/a&gt;. Two other related principles would be travel on durable surfaces and respect wildlife. As you intimated, fewer rocks on the trail could perhaps make it less durable and more susceptible to erosion. Obviously throwing rocks &lt;strong&gt;directly&lt;/strong&gt; at an animal (unless for protection) would not be respectful, but I don't know if the underwater life gets agitated or negatively affected in some way by rocks hitting the surface and sinking to the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would I stop my child from throwing a few rocks in a lake or stream? Not normally. If I thought it was excessive, I'd get after him and explain why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T14:47:06.580" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-06-28T14:47:10.397" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nature is not static, it is always in motion. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's look at two extremes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A small pothole full of water on the trail can be completely filled with a couple of handfuls of gravel.  Expand this to a small pond at a park and have daily visitors tossing gravel from the path in to the pond, and soon the pond is gone (&lt;em&gt;the path will need fresh gravel as well&lt;/em&gt;).  In any case, a pond exists because moving water encounters a depression, the water slows and deposits sediments, these sediments eventually fill the depression, and in a few tens to thousands of years the pond is gone.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Niagara Falls is a large waterfall, the erosion is significant, and if a few visitors a day toss a pebble from the path into the falls, the impact is negligible. In another 23,000 years the falls will be gone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Niagara Falls has moved back seven miles in 12,500 years and may be the fastest moving waterfalls in the world. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.niagaraparks.com/visit-niagara-parks/plan-your-visit/niagara-falls-geology-facts-figures/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there are no absolutes, in general throwing things in still water like ponds and lakes is going to have a more significant impact than nature might have by herself.  Tossing a round stone from a river bank into quickly moving water is less of an environmental impact: in all likelihood, the river deposited the rock on the bank, and it has been in and out of the river flow several times.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T16:29:42.797" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:29:42.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17074" CreationDate="2019-06-28T16:36:09.693" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A bit more methodical approach to IDing this plant:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllotaxis#Leaf_arrangement&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Opposite&lt;/a&gt; leaves + a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corymb&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;corymb&lt;/a&gt; of multiple dark-colored, round &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;drupes&lt;/a&gt; is very indicative of the genus &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viburnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we check &lt;a href=&quot;http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Viburnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BONAP&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontariotrees.com/main/genus.php?type=Viburnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ontario Trees &amp;amp; shrubs&lt;/a&gt;, we can see that only a handful of &lt;em&gt;Viburnum&lt;/em&gt; species are found in Ontario. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontariotrees.com/main/genus.php?type=Viburnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ontario Trees &amp;amp; shrubs&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum alnifolium&lt;/em&gt; (Hobblebush) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum dentatum&lt;/em&gt; (Smooth Arrowwood) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum lantanoides&lt;/em&gt; (Hobblebush) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum lentago&lt;/em&gt; (Nannyberry) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum nudum&lt;/em&gt; (Wild Raisin) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum rafinesqueanum&lt;/em&gt; (Downy Arrowwood) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum recognitum&lt;/em&gt; (Smooth Arrowwood)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(BONAP additionally shows &lt;em&gt;V. acerifolium&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;V. lantana&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;V. edule&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;V. opulus&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we examine images of each of these (found by following the links at &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontariotrees.com/main/genus.php?type=Viburnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ontario Trees &amp;amp; shrubs&lt;/a&gt;), we can see that the majority have the wrong leaf shape or leaf margin (i.e., toothiness). In fact, of all the &lt;em&gt;viburnum&lt;/em&gt; species listed, &lt;em&gt;Viburnum lentago&lt;/em&gt; (Nannyberry) is the only one that appears morphologically similar to the OP's specimen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as Peter1807's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17098/6401&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt; suggests, this is very likely a native shrub to Ontario called &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontariotrees.com/main/species.php?id=2062&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Viburnum lentago&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (commonly called &lt;strong&gt;Nannyberry&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amDdR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/amDdR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://demeters-dish.blogspot.com/2013/11/wild-trail-edibles-mid-atlantic.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Demeter's Dish&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pfHtum.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pfHtum.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt; Source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Viburnum%20lentago.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BONAP&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are they edible??&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://ontariotrees.com/main/species.php?id=2062&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ontario Trees &amp;amp; shrubs&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;the fruit &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; edible&lt;/strong&gt;. Amy over at &lt;a href=&quot;http://demeters-dish.blogspot.com/2013/11/wild-trail-edibles-mid-atlantic.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Demeter's Dish&lt;/a&gt; provides the following taste profile:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The taste is mildly raisin-like. Slightly sweet and with a not-unpleasant grainy texture, similar to dates. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T20:13:14.137" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:13:14.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22486" CreationDate="2019-06-28T16:39:24.263" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hawaii.com/blog/reef-safe-sunscreen/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; has a list of what chemicals to avoid, why, and some good sunscreen choices.&#xA;The three main points are below. Note that titanium dioxide falls under physical sunscreen but is still harmful! So saying physical is okay but chemical ones are not is FALSE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have used Raw Elements and Stream2Sea before and been pretty happy with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid sunscreens containing &lt;em&gt;petrolatum&lt;/em&gt;, commonly known as &lt;em&gt;mineral oil&lt;/em&gt;, which takes years to biodegrade, and are known to be harmful or fatal to aquatic life and waterfowl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoid sunscreens with high content of &lt;em&gt;Titanium Dioxide&lt;/em&gt;. This mineral does not biodegrade and is found to react in warm seawater to form hydrogen peroxide which is harmful to all sea life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Oxybenzone&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;octinoxate&lt;/em&gt;, the two chemicals recently banned in Hawaii and are believed to cause coral bleaching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-06-28T16:39:24.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22494" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22378" CreationDate="2019-06-29T15:06:46.967" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have not added a location. Not to be a debby downer, but in the interest of other users that come across this post, I will add the advice given by a few Western-European governments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;DON'T DO IT&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I find that a bit strongly worded, many Dutch, German, French, Belgian and Polish waterways do contain old WWII ordnance. That stuff is slowly deteriorating and a strong magnet that moves an element in the trigger mechanism may be just what is required for a little fireworks. A lot of tracer ammunition uses phosphor, which is likely to combust spontaneously if exposed to oxygen. A Dutch 12-year-old had a bit of a scare &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gelderlander.nl/arnhem/oorlogsbuit-magneetvissertjes-in-arnhem-ontbrandt-spontaan~aad76f8d/?referrer=https://www.google.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recently&lt;/a&gt;*. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-26/exploded-world-war-ii-bomb-leaves-crater-in-german-cornfield/11247130&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt;** is an extreme example of what decay may do: A large WWII dud bomb that was decaying in a field and exploded randomly. The same process occurs in smaller ordnance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would recommend that you read into the history of your local waterways - and those upstream - before magnet fishing. And if you find something funny, I would suggest that you call the cops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I could not archive the sources, so I will describe the events below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*On June 10th 2019, in Arnhem (Netherlands) two 12y/o's fished up 20pcs of ammo, dried it in the sun, at least one piece combusted spontaneously, left a hole in a bench. The kids had to be checked over by a medic because they might have inhaled the fumes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;**On June 23rd 2019 a 1.7-Richter tremor was registered near Ahlbach (Germany), was found to be a 500-pound WOII US/UK bomb. Left a 4m deep crater 10m wide in a cornfield. Other sources reported that this is a yearly occurrence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18165" LastEditorUserId="18165" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T12:48:44.900" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T12:48:44.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22499" CreationDate="2019-06-29T20:41:07.213" Score="2" ViewCount="400" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are buying new hiking boots before a trip there is a break in period before the boots get comfortable and you don't want to go on a long backpacking trip with brand new boots. Time will depend on the person and how much time they can spare for breaking in and distance can depend on the terrain but there should be at least an average value for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On average how long/how many miles do you need to put on a pair of hiking boots before they are broken in? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T13:25:17.133" Title="How much time/distance on average does it take take to break in hiking boots?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22483" CreationDate="2019-06-29T22:53:21.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might try different bait, something that's more smelly like wet cat food or supposed to work better like marshmallows. If you can at the same time limit the other things they might want to eat, the better off you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try not to touch the trap with your bare hands, usually, when trapping you don't want your scent on the traps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will also want to check the laws on relocating, some places don't care and others require a permit or have limitations on how far they can be relocated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:53:21.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22497" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22498" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" Score="0" Body="Questions about raccoons" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" LastActivityDate="2019-06-29T22:59:08.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22495" CreationDate="2019-06-30T10:11:37.810" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends. For the boots I had, and military/long walking events experience:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tougher boots take longer to break in, simply because the material is less flexible and takes time to 'form' around your feet (if they do it at all, hence some plastic kind of snow boats).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the person, some people can use new boots right away, although this is kind of rare. Some take much longer, how long depends on person by person, and by how much distance they walked to break in the shoes. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hard there are some tips to lower the break in time (or the consequences):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people fill their shoes with water and leave it for a day; than remove the water, and put (thin news)paper inside to soak up the remaining water (do not dry them in front of a heater).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear good or even two layers of socks.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Special boot/trekking socks, which have extra cushioning around the rub spots (see comment Adonalsium).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tape in your feet or parts of it, in case you expect blisters from not well enough broken in (is that English?) shoes?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T16:49:27.537" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T16:49:27.537" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22501" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-06-30T14:08:44.427" Score="7" ViewCount="2256" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going hiking for 2-3 weeks with no possibility of charging the battery again. Assuming I only turn the InReach on only once a day to send a &quot;I'm ok&quot;-message and then turn it off again, would the battery last? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, if I left it off during the entire trip and used it only as an SOS button, what would the situation be like then?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18170" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T14:47:28.750" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T19:43:53.510" Title="Is the Battery Life of the Garmin InReach Mini enough for a 2 week trip?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22501" CreationDate="2019-06-30T14:47:15.307" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/inreachmini/EN-US/GUID-26D02F01-8090-4D52-B466-D93B670E898F.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;with a 30-minute tracking interval and extended tracking mode, the battery should last for 20 days.&lt;/strong&gt; Turn the screen brightness down and turn it off every single night when you are in camp to further extend the battery life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, the inReach mini battery is &lt;a href=&quot;http://static.garmin.com/pumac/inReach_mini_OM_EN.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1,250 mAh&lt;/a&gt;, one 10,000 mAh battery should provide at least 4 charges and then you could use the device for more than just a single message per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T22:52:34.580" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T22:52:34.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22483" CreationDate="2019-06-30T16:45:59.597" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lessons from literature :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drill a narrow hole in an old log, place a piece of shiny metal at the bottom, and insert a series of nails facing downward. The space between the nails should be just enough that the raccoon can put its arm through, but too small for its clenched first to fit as it tries to pull the metal back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php%3ft=284362&amp;amp;amp=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; describes designing and using a more modern version with pvc pipe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you can buy a cuff trap (e.g, at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.com/product/BRIDGER-DOGPROOF-RACCOON-TRAP/1651218.uts?productVariantId=3517649&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cabellas&lt;/a&gt;): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51l9PqLK2pL._SX425_.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Video &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/k2ba4-TVwf0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6401" LastEditorUserId="6401" LastEditDate="2019-06-30T16:58:05.747" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T16:58:05.747" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2019-06-30T19:25:45.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with Erik that the best approach is to use charcloth. It will light in seconds and allow you to transfer the embers to a birds nest for a quick start to your fire. Otherwise, yes, I've also seen spots after briefly looking at the intense light in the past. Those spots go away after a couple minutes, but I consider them a warning. To minimize the time looking at the spot of light, my approach is to aim the bright dot onto the tinder and then steady the magnifying glass in any way I can on my knees, a rock, tree, nearby wall or whatever. Then I look away or close my eyes and let the magnifying glass do its work. I briefly glance back after 30 seconds or so. My experience, however, is that the best and easiest approach is to use charcloth. Effectively using a magnifying glass is far more tricky otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18171" LastActivityDate="2019-06-30T19:25:45.433" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22505" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22511" CreationDate="2019-06-30T23:13:01.293" Score="4" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trail cameras are motioned achieved cameras that are used to capture pictures of wild animals in the outdoors. The idea is that you can set it up in a place where animals are like to be such as a trail and the camera will take the pictures as they pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What &lt;strong&gt;features in a trail camera should I look for?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T03:09:48.173" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T03:09:48.173" Title="What features should I look for in a trail camera?" Tags="&lt;photography&gt;&lt;trail-cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22506" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22507" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" Score="0" Body="Questions about trail cameras" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T02:18:41.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22483" CreationDate="2019-07-01T02:22:58.087" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why Not Trap?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Raccoons are smart. They know that one of them got caught in the trap and they know that by going in, they risk the same. If you're patient, it's likely you'll catch more within a few weeks or months. But you should really reconsider whether relocation is the humane option you assume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you release wildlife into a new area, it's often leaving them to starve slowly. At your home, they have a territory they know well. They know where the food is, they know where the shelter is, and because it's familiar, they've got a leg up on keeping other raccoons out. If you put them someplace new, they won't have any of these advantages and will likely starve to death or be killed by predators within a few weeks. And then next year, the raccoons you didn't catch will come right on in and take over where last year's raccoons left off, along with all their kids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.torontowildlifecentre.com/wildlife-emergency-rescue-hotline/conflicts-with-wildlife/common-raccoon-problems/trapping-raccoons/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another Look at the “Humane” Alternative&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't give your location, but in many places it's illegal to relocate wildlife for the reasons above and it's preferred that you simply kill them rather than try to make them someone else's problem. Check with the local wildlife authority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Humane alternative to trapping&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to deal with raccoons or other pest wildlife is to eliminate their food source. The absolute biggest thing is to not leave your garbage accessible. With raccoons, that can be as simple as a bungee cord across the bin. If they unlatch or chew though that, then look into chaining it closed, buying a locking bin, or put the bins in a shed or garage when not in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your garden, build a fence or try a product such as predator pee to frighten them off. An electric fence is usually effective, a simple barrier fence can work as well as long as it's well constructed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T12:05:32.527" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:05:32.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22483" CreationDate="2019-07-01T02:41:46.563" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are satisfied with trapping raccoons one at a time, I recommend the cat-sized &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?ei=rm8ZXcu4K--m_QaJ7J-QDg&amp;amp;q=havahart+trap%2C+raccoons&amp;amp;oq=havahart+trap%2C+raccoons&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30l8.13800.18508..20591...0.0..0.99.1055.12......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0j0i22i10i30.-l-QP-CzjEs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Havahart Trap&lt;/a&gt;.  These traps come in many sizes, from mouse to coyote and maybe larger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no affiliation with Havahart. As far as I know, I do not own stock in their parent company, but I can't swear to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used the trap to trap cats for neutering and then releasing, and have trapped an opossum accidentally and a raccoon intentionally.  In all cases, I used a high quality dry cat food, and enough for more than a snack. The W75 model looks the closest to what I used.  As you can see, it is not cheap!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All I have done is reduce your problem to the problem of how to &quot;store&quot; multiple raccoons so you can release more than one at a time, for example releasing a mother and her kits into the same area.  &lt;strong&gt;And&lt;/strong&gt; how to relocate them so they have a chance of thriving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the relocation question, you may have a wildlife rescue group in your area who can advise you on relocation locations.  For example, in my area, we have the Wildlife Rescue League of Northern Virginia, and they would be the first people I would call in your case.  They were very helpful to me when I had to find a place for an orphaned baby raccoon.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The answer of @Karen is the best.&lt;/strong&gt;  She is right on about the dangers to the animals of relocation, and what you can do on your own property to coexist more peacefully with them.  If you are in high density suburban development, you will have to get the cooperation of your neighbors on the tactics she advises.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T19:08:36.797" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T19:08:36.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22505" CreationDate="2019-07-01T07:36:31.950" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;As with anything, features can depend on intended usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond the basics of weatherproofing, battery life, onboard storage capacity, the convenience of battery changing, mounting options, etc. I'd consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Night vision&lt;/strong&gt; - a lot of animal activity happens at night, so a good night vision camera is key  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sensitivity&lt;/strong&gt; - do you only want big animals, or anything that'll trip a basic PIR switch?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timer mode&lt;/strong&gt; - to conserve batteries/storage - do you only want the camera to operate between certain hours (sunrise/sunset periods, for example)?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Video&lt;/strong&gt; - do you want moving as well as static pictures?   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3G/4G connectivity&lt;/strong&gt; - automatically upload content to cloud servers?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Security&lt;/strong&gt; - do you need to protect the camera from passers-by/rockfalls/hangry bears?  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Environmental impact&lt;/strong&gt; - does the design/colouration/placement of the camera adversely affect subjects or the environment in which it's placed?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorDisplayName="user12449" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T18:39:40.647" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T18:39:40.647" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-07-01T15:22:12.603" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some places have rocks on the shore that arrive there naturally.  The effect of a few dozen people per mile people picking up a rock from random locations uniformly distributed along a moving river would be trivial compared with the motion of rocks in and out of the water from natural causes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A point that hasn't been mentioned, thouh, is that other places have rocks manually placed on them to help control erosion.  The more of these rocks get tossed in the river, the more effort someone will have to spend replacing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If people picked up rocks from uniformly-distributed random locations, the overall impact in either case would probably be fairly slight.  Unfortunately, areas that have rocks manually added to control erosion tend to be more attractive to people wishing to skip stones than the areas which don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18180" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T15:22:12.603" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-07-01T16:01:46.430" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers here, I would point out that &lt;em&gt;the trail itself&lt;/em&gt; may be maintained using a light application of gravel to prevent erosion or excessive runoff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Removing pebbles from the trail could, over time, degrade the trail itself.  I doubt it was a very big deal for your toddler to throw a few pebbles, but if everyone who visited the trail threw a few the trail might be damaged quite quickly.  So gently educating your toddler to respect the work of the people who maintain the trail might be the best way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18183" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:01:46.430" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22514" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-01T16:15:51.750" Score="4" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Visitation%20by%20Month&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canyon de Chelly backcountry camping visitation by month&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gbLRv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gbLRv.png&quot; alt=&quot;Visitor stats&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backcountry camping went from usually more than a hundred per month, up to several hundred per month, throughout spring, summer (except for August, which is probably too hot), and fall in the 2000-2017 period, then collapsed to just a handful per month in 2018 (and with August now the most popular month!).  What happened?  Did it become nearly prohibited?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or did they just stop counting or change definitions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-07-01T16:36:36.927" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:36:36.927" Title="Why did backcountry camping at Canyon de Chelly collapse?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-07-01T16:26:41.757" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some places are more sensitive than others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be hard to tell whether some innocuous-looking pebbles are a critical habitat for creatures you don't see, but a good guide is to look at how much natural movement of material there is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The side of a fast-moving stream (even one that's dry right now but frequently floods) or a strongly tidal coast is subject to a lot more movement of rocks than us puny humans can manage unaided.  They are great places to take your youngster for this kind of play¹, and wildlife that's disturbed can be assumed to be robust enough to tolerate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, many still-water environments (even in man-made places such as old quarries) are more vulnerable to this kind of disruption and are probably best left alone unless you specifically know otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹ I'm assuming that you have the safety aspect covered; that's not within the scope of this answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:26:41.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22471" CreationDate="2019-07-01T16:56:42.797" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The NPS &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; that the road will open unrestricted on July 1st (conditions permitting).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T16:56:42.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22501" CreationDate="2019-07-01T17:11:14.083" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used a Garmin InReach Mini for a 19 day trip down the Grand Canyon this past January. I checked in once a day to say &quot;I'm ok&quot; like you had planned to. I recharged mine about 14 days in since the battery was probably around 20%. It probably would have lasted the whole trip, but it was shockingly cutting it close. I didn't use tracking, had low brightness, etc but still found the battery life wasn't even close to the quoted life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found there are a two important factors to consider beyond the Garmin stated battery life:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;. There were nights when it was 5 degrees Fahrenheit with an average of high 20 something on my trip. Even though it was off at night this I think really hurt my battery life.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visibility of Satellites&lt;/strong&gt;. I was at the bottom of the canyon, so I sometimes had some trouble getting a satellite signal. Sometimes over an hour. The longer it spends searching and trying to send a message the more battery you will use each time. If you are going to be above treeline with a clear view of the sky though then it will send in a matter of seconds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you leave it off and only use it for SOS you are set for months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while yes, it should last the full time of your trip, depending on where you will be consider a small (~2000mAh) backup battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T17:11:14.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14602" CreationDate="2019-07-01T18:52:44.040" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like wax paper for repairs on boats over a small area so i can build up a somewhat thick layer of gelcoat that can later be sanded to blend with the rest of the repair.   It takes a lot of patience to make it right.    If I were coating a full boat bottom I would use a good marine paint, with the proper primer, hvlp.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have never used gel coat with wax in it.   Then you can't get further layers to stick.   West Marine Laminating Gel coat is a good product.   Let it gel for a while, then spray a mold release like Rexco partall coverall film over it.   This product is fantastic at creating the barrier, and washes off with water when the gelcoat is fully set.   Even the tiniest amount of water vapor in the air prevents gelcoat from hardening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18187" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T18:52:44.040" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22488" CreationDate="2019-07-01T20:36:37.390" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to tell my children not to throw rocks in the ocean because eventually the ocean would get full and the earth would flood. Fortunately, they soon recognized that I was simply making a joke about logic. A toddler throwing stones in a stream? What is the nature of the setting? Is this an urban park or a wilderness setting? How likely is the behaviour to be repeated by others? If it is an urban park and the stones are on a gravel path then tossing those stones into the pond might best be discouraged. In a wilderness area? Throwing stones for a toddler is natural human-animal behaviour. Not only does it allow the toddler to develop skills in co-ordination, distance, and place which are critical skills and important for brain development especially in this time of google and 24-7 phones, but it also, and this is important, allows the toddler to develop a sense of belonging in the outdoors. A sense that they are good enough to be in nature. That they are equal in importance to the trees. That they exist not outside nature but within nature.  A toddler throwing stones in a stream is completely different than a back hoe ripping into a stream.  The difference is not just an order of magnitude. It is a completely different thing. To me it would make more sense to pick up a few stones and join the toddler in his or her pleasure at being outdoors than scold or lecture him or her about correct behaviour. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18188" LastActivityDate="2019-07-01T20:36:37.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22522" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-01T23:50:50.917" Score="14" ViewCount="1813" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently visited a local outfitter upon whose walls hang various pieces of vintage outdoor equipment. I was unable to identify these, or even guess which outdoor activity they might have been relevant to. None of the store employees knew for sure, either. The diameter is about 18 inches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1ykf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1ykf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Gear&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13512" LastEditorUserId="13512" LastEditDate="2019-07-04T21:19:22.693" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T18:51:37.923" Title="What are these red, air-filled, pod-shaped pieces of vintage outdoor gear?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22522" CreationDate="2019-07-02T00:26:21.627" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I'm not sure, something that popped in my head is that it looks like it could be an early avalanche airbag system. See this &lt;a href=&quot;https://abs-airbag.com/pages/unsere-geschichte&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;history of airbags page&lt;/a&gt; for a picture of (one of) the first system made by Josef Hohenester. The hoops you see in the picture you have could be Bowden Cable post expansion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T18:51:37.923" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T18:51:37.923" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17352" CreationDate="2019-07-02T03:51:07.163" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found an answer that seems counter-intuitive: &lt;strong&gt;add even more light&lt;/strong&gt;. You can make the spot even brighter, larger, and hotter by catching more light with a larger magnifier. This sounds like the opposite of what is asked for at first, but it allows you to start the fire faster so that you don't need to keep the magnifier steady for nearly as long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently started using the 8-inch by 11-inch Fresnel magnifiers, and with that I have gotten fires lit in just a few seconds on clear, bright, summer days at noontime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The total energy that is put toward fire starting is a function of the light collection area. So a magnifier that is twice as big collects twice the light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some surface area calculations to help you get a feel for the difference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3-inch circle magnifying glass: 7 sq.inch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;4-inch circle magnifying glass: 13 sq.inch (nearly 2x)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;5-inch circle magnifying glass: 20 sq.inch (nearly 3x)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;8x11-inch rectangle Fresnel: 88 sq.inch (12x! It's even 4.4x more than&#xA;  the 5-in.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The thin, plastic Fresnel lenses also pack better than magnifying glasses. They are lighter and thinner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, this must be combined with one of the other answers since now I've just multiplied the problem you were trying to avoid. The point here is that this let's you use one of the other techniques for a shorter time, increasing its chance for success.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take notice: The magnification factor listed on magnifying glasses (&quot;2x magnification&quot; or &quot;30x magnification!!&quot;) &lt;em&gt;is not as important as the surface area of the magnifier&lt;/em&gt;. For fire starting, bigger is better, and the magnification amount just changes where the light's focus point is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And thank you all for your kind answers! Since they have helped me to grow my fire-starting skill and I've become good at magnifier-lit fires, I'll add my 2-cents below about all the great answers and how they helped (and they all did help)...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When nothing else is on hand and you don't want to make &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17356/14074&quot;&gt;slit &quot;snow glasses&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (@ShemSeger) then using the simple &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17355/14074&quot;&gt;thumb method&lt;/a&gt; (@Erik) is a crude stand-in and has worked for me several times. If you do have (or make on the spot) snow glasses, you can also use them to allow you to see directly next to the bright spot without looking at it directly, similar to the thumb method. I've been successful with the snow glasses at home, and they can work well, but they just don't seem to add quite enough potential to my gear for me to want to include them permanently, especially when a simple thumb is half as good and adds no additional weight or bulk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sunglasses and welding mask visors&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17354/14074&quot;&gt;@Charlie&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17357/14074&quot;&gt;@James&lt;/a&gt;, and @Pepi comment to James) have proven to be &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; useful. As James notes, you can get non-battery-powered welding mask visors, and you can get them in many shading levels. The biggest drawback is that you either have a large welding mask or just a small visor but then have to hold it with your other hand. As Charlie notes, solar eclipse sunglasses are an option, will hold themselves on your head for hands-free use, and they will be plenty shady even for looking right at the sun - though they are just slightly &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; shady (I didn't try them directly, but I tried welding masks of the same shade level). Pepi notes a great compromise between the two: you can get special &lt;em&gt;welding sunglasses&lt;/em&gt; at reduced shade levels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The technique I fell in with is close to that. I have found that doubling up on sunglasses allows me to glance at the magnified spot temporarily, and that provides enough protection that even just keeping my eyes closed for half the time is often sufficient. This combined with using a larger magnifier has made starting fires by magnifier fairly easy, though it did still take a fair amount of practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To double up on sunglasses easier, I keep with me one of the thin, temporary inserts, the ones that eye doctors often give you after they dilate your eyes for an eye exam. They slide right behind the lenses of a normal pair of seeing glasses, or behind the lenses of a pair of normal sunglasses to double-up on the shade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another technique which I use sometimes can be a way to completely bypass the threat of the Great Bright Spot. It does not answer the question in the way that it was asked, it is still a great way to save the eyes. As mentioned by @Ed you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22504/14074&quot;&gt;prop the magnifier up&lt;/a&gt; so that you don't even need to hold it still in the first place! Then you don't need to look at the bright spot much at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just remember to supervise the magnifier if you leave it propped up to start a fire on its own. You need to be there when it flares up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T04:01:54.937" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T04:01:54.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22525" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-02T12:45:22.940" Score="2" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am beginning to fish. I bought a beginner's tackle kit. After some googling I figured out what most of the stuff is. But I didn't find anything on these three items. What are they and how do I use them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ctHO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18191" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T13:49:48.687" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T14:59:50.227" Title="How do I use these lures from a basic fishing kit?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22526" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-02T13:34:34.300" Score="3" ViewCount="267" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to rope-climbing, I have made some slings to use as false-crotches/cambium-savers/friction-savers that act as my &quot;canopy anchor&quot; when climbing. These were all made with lengths of my 11.7 mm climbing rope (anchor-knotted at the ends to aluminium O-rings)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But then I noticed an auto-lifting sling: 2&quot; flat webbing with 6k break-strength / 2ton working-load; each end of this 7' sling has sewn eye terminations. I am thinking that 'choking' (girth hitching) this sling around a natural crotch in a tree would be significantly superior to comparably-rated rope, due to the shape advantage of being flat instead of round.  I just wanted to verify that I'm on-point before I start messing-around climbing it. lol ;D&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(FWIW I'd treat it like anything when using it, starting very low &amp;amp; slow to feel it out!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18192" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T15:37:25.430" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T13:12:08.260" Title="Can I make a safe climbing-anchor with a 2-ton working-load sling that was meant for lifting vehicles?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22526" CreationDate="2019-07-02T13:47:18.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My only concerns would be around its tear resistance  (in case of rubbing against a sharp bit of the tree) and bend radius. If those are appropriate, then it should work as a sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that it will have no elasticity, so you'll still want to build in whatever &quot;give&quot; you need, but a short sling of any kind won't give much either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T15:39:12.453" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T15:39:12.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22525" CreationDate="2019-07-02T13:49:37.697" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you have is two jigs and a spinner (on the right). The basic idea is that you cast them out and then reel them back in and the fish think they are small fish swimming by and try and eat them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't want to pull them in a straight line, rather pull in a more random fashion with small jerks and tugs in different directions. The spinner is offset for this reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd try the two on the right first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T13:49:37.697" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22495" CreationDate="2019-07-02T16:45:27.997" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;With modern footwear, the only thing you should have to worry about are blisters. If you get a good pair of boots, there shouldn't be a break in period for the shoes, just your feet. As for the blisters, I have tried wearing pantyhose style stockings under my regular socks, but I didn't like them as they were too tight and allowed my feet to slip inside my boots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, when I get new boots, I carry a few different sized bandages (Band-Aids) with me for the first couple trips. As soon as I notice an area rubbing on my foot, I apply a bandage. I also apply the bandages the next time I use them, but everything is usually OK, by the third day. (I have also tried using moleskin for this but I like the regular bandages better.) Also, I find I need to apply the bandages longer for hiking boots with full leather uppers, but the time needed will be determined by how stiff the leather is. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As described above, I have also tried soaking my leather boots, letting them dry for a bit, and then wearing the damp boots for several hours. This does allow the leather to conform to the legs more quickly, but I still usually need to use the bandages to get past those first couple uses. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, I still prefer to start wearing my boots the traditional way, without soaking. If I have the time, I'll apply saddle soap, mink oil (is my preference), or any other leather conditioner very liberally and let them sit for a couple days to a week with a towel or application rag covering them. (Dust will collect on the boots and dry the leather conditioner if they are not covered). I'll wipe them clean and then do it again. I'll do this 2-4 times, until the leather is buttery soft. This will also make them completely waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T16:45:27.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22526" CreationDate="2019-07-02T17:01:44.660" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think this falls into that grey area where you shouldn't do it but it probably won't cause problems if you really want to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally wouldn't use it. There's so much quality climbing gear out there and slings are cheap. We're far beyond the time when Royal Robbins hammered lumber into cracks for fall protection. In my opinion the apparent advantage of saving less than $20 by using likely maltreated car repair equipment isn't worth the risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some cheap alternatives include a 48 inch rabbit runner for $7 or tubular webbing sold for 50¢ or less by the foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="7995" LastEditDate="2019-07-02T17:09:56.623" LastActivityDate="2019-07-02T17:09:56.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1635" CreationDate="2019-07-02T19:39:43.737" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A concise summary of no-nos for nylon rope and webbing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strong acids and alkalis, particularly battery acid and muriatic acids, and chlorine bleach. Black Diamond replicated a harness failure where the critical stitching pulled apart under finger tension after immersion in weak battery acid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prolonged UV exposure (we're looking at practical climbing usage up to hundreds of days, so the worry about drying washed rope outdoors is a bit loony).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Heat above 300°F/150°C. (way above boiling water temp)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contrary to logic:&#xA;NOT so much issues with solvents, even DEET. Xylene however may be bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sterlingrope.com/2000/climbing/prodev/tech.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.sterlingrope.com/2000/climbing/prodev/tech.htm&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;It is okay to use the hot water setting on your clothes washer to wash a rope. During the manufacture of the rope it is exposed to 180 degree steam. Damage to nylon does not occur until it has been exposed to 300 degrees for over 5 hours. Even if your washing machine brings the water to full boil it is not possible to reach 300 degrees. It is okay to use a non-bleach detergent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, LOL, from MSR circa 1969:&#xA;(referencing their sale of perlon ropes, which could be purchased as:) Unprocessed Rope  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can also process your own rope by boiling it for 40 minutes, using&#xA;  Rit dyes in your own color combination. Unprocessed white rope,&#xA;  0.11/ft. Allow for 15% shrinkage. The processing is very simple, and is standard practice in the nylon industry.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Ref: Handbook of Textile Fibers, Part 2, P. 268 and 294, by Cook (Merrow Publishing Co., England).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MSR also gave advice re: reboiling to regain dynamic properties lost in a long fall!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18195" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T12:20:43.717" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:20:43.717" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22483" CreationDate="2019-07-03T11:54:00.497" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to trap and relocate raccoons?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Raccoons are extremely clever and will quite easily try to outsmart you if they can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some years ago I had a huge problem with raccoons at our henhouse. One day, while talking to a state trapper, he suggested that I build my own human trap based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/Professional-Release-Nuisance-Groundhog-Squirrel/dp/B01MQO6CW7/ref=sr_1_11?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8OPH5tOY4wIVUL7ACh2GAAd8EAAYASAAEgJ2g_D_BwE&amp;amp;hvadid=267345796772&amp;amp;hvdev=t&amp;amp;hvlocphy=9001486&amp;amp;hvnetw=g&amp;amp;hvpos=1t1&amp;amp;hvqmt=e&amp;amp;hvrand=7421021734447485038&amp;amp;hvtargid=kwd-302313261563&amp;amp;hydadcr=3755_9995224&amp;amp;keywords=havahart+raccoon+trap&amp;amp;qid=1562153647&amp;amp;s=gateway&amp;amp;sr=8-11&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Havahat Trap&lt;/a&gt; system, except much bigger. The trap I designed was 2’ (feet) by 2’ (feet) square and 3’ (feet) long. He also suggested that I put the bait under the trip pedal and not on top of it, as raccoons will simply take the food and go. The trigger pedal worked if it was raised or stepped on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;End result was that I was able to catch multiple raccoons at a time. I caught 5 at once (mother and 4 little ones). Of course, I relocated them many miles away. Raccoons that are living in the wild, near dwellings can easily relocated since they know how to forage for themselves. I always released them near a water source such as a stream or river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T12:07:17.880" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:07:17.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19248" CreationDate="2019-07-03T12:12:21.567" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pesticides and improper use of chemicals in their environment have also been a huge cause. Perhaps they’ve been poisoned. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18198" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T12:12:21.567" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22526" CreationDate="2019-07-03T13:12:08.260" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; work in the sense that they are unlikely to fail.  But be sure you understand both the original purpose and the history of the sling:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Some emergency stuff -- tow straps come to mind -- aren't designed for long term use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Some gear is not well stabilized for UV resistance.  Their normal cycle may be to be used hard for a month and discarded. (Think sling used in a wrecking yard.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Some gear may have been exposed to chemicals that affect the strength or flexibility of the fibres. (Uncommon)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen some awfully ratty 4&quot; wide tie down straps used on semi-trailers.  They don't lose loads &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; often.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no weight criteria on auto lifting slings.  Your gear is going to weigh more than gear designed for climbing.  Analogy: You'd be using steel carabiners instead of aluminum.  Still work.  But a heavier slog to the mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using the sling as a component to making your own gear, be sure you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; learn how to do the sewing, and are using the right thread.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way to safely use sling webbing would be to either sew it into a tube, or sew straps across the width.  You could then run your rope through the tube/ under the straps to keep the pad between the rope and the rocks/tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T13:12:08.260" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22495" CreationDate="2019-07-03T13:25:17.133" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a boy, I bought Raikle boots from REI.  I wore them daily to school, and on my paper route.  A new pair would take about 3-4 weeks to break in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way I read about in a hiking book was to take a long warm bath with your boots on, then wear them until they dried, walking half the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The break in period is going to be very dependent on the design of the boot.  Mountaineering boots are going to take longer than trail runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The break in period also depends on your feet.  If you have a common foot, the boot is closer to the shape of your foot.  If you are like me, having a thick foot, and one that is wider (EE to EEEE) then your first challenge is finding a boot that fits at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently bought a new pair of work boots.  Wolverine.  Not top of the line.  Not walmart cheapies.  They fit right away.  But I buy work boots a half size big to wear two pairs of heavy socks.  And I wouldn't want to go backpacking in them.  Too heavy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Backpacking I now use low top Merrell's.  They fit me.  They provide just enough support.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy your footwear a month before the trip.  Wear daily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T13:25:17.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22536" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-03T15:01:32.423" Score="1" ViewCount="49" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the thread size on the waste tank drain? I can’t find a female connector to dump at a RV dump (step on 3” cap). Looking to build my own. The research I have done indicates a Buttress thread but not sure on size. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18200" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T18:38:17.270" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T18:38:17.270" Title="Looking for Century Model 6210 Portable Toilet Waste Tank Drain Thread Size" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;human-waste&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22537" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-03T15:11:21.727" Score="10" ViewCount="4048" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/4A1sMZg.gifv&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; going round of two guys flipping a sea turtle that had ended up on its back so it could get back into the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How would a &lt;strong&gt;sea turtle end up on its back in the first place&lt;/strong&gt; (it sure doesn't seem that the turtle would do that on purpose)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T17:31:09.947" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T09:47:48.730" Title="How would a sea turtle end up on its back?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;turtles&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22537" CreationDate="2019-07-03T16:59:02.887" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few possibilities: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other Turtles&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://animals.mom.me/mean-turtle-keeps-flipping-over-11385.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; about pet turtles mentions the possibility that turtles fighting over a mate (or actually mating) may end up on their backs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When breeding season comes around, adult male turtles might start&#xA;  fighting over the females. A stronger male might flip a weaker one&#xA;  over. Male turtles might also harass female turtles, attempting to&#xA;  breed. Females can become flipped over and injured. Male turtles can&#xA;  also fall onto their backs after mating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Illness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Sue says in the comments (and backed up &lt;a href=&quot;https://animals.mom.me/mean-turtle-keeps-flipping-over-11385.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;) fluid in the lungs due to respiratory illness may cause them to tip if they're submerged. A flipped turtle could then be washed ashore and remain upside down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This brings me to another possibility: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waves&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As waves come to shore, the water molecules in those waves are spinning in a circular motion. With large waves, this is often enough to flip things over (surfboards and people on surfboards are the most common examples). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The part of the object closest to the approaching wave gets lifted first and thrown over, if the wave is steep enough. Breaking waves are exactly this phenomenon--the top of the wave is steep enough that the circularly moving water gets &quot;thrown&quot; forward and over itself. Waves usually break near shore--hence the turtle on the beach. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's worth noting that there's no reason the turtle would only flip 180 degrees. In all likelihood, half the turtles landing on the beach are right side up, and they just walk (?) away.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;People&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the interest of being exhaustive about the possibilities, I want to mention that there are people who may think it's funny to flip a turtle on its back. I hope that wasn't the case here, but worth mentioning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-07-03T20:24:49.693" LastActivityDate="2019-07-03T20:24:49.693" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22537" CreationDate="2019-07-04T09:21:33.590" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the reasons given in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22538/16499&quot;&gt;@John Hughes answer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Predators&lt;/strong&gt; may be another cause.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/sea-turtles/longevity/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;SeaWorld Parks &amp;amp; Entertainment page&lt;/a&gt; on the longevity and causes of death of sea turtles lists &lt;em&gt;tiger sharks&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;killer whales&lt;/em&gt; (&lt;em&gt;orcas&lt;/em&gt;) as the main predators of adult turtles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcABumZSDXY&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This YouTube video&lt;/a&gt; (also featured, with additional notes, in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/63622-orca-spins-sea-turtle.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this LiveScience.com article&lt;/a&gt;) shows an orca &quot;playing&quot; with a sea turtle, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USaqTbWbeII&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; shows one being repeatedly tossed into the air. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgq-ffRJFw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This video&lt;/a&gt; shows a tiger shark and a turtle in very shallow water (with the turtle getting it's own back at 01:55).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although none of the videos actually show a turtle being beached (and I haven't found one that does), the tiger shark video is in very shallow water, and killer whales are known to prey right up to (and on to!) beaches (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtF3FPyRVIw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; of one attacking seals that are on the beach), so it certainly seems possible that either predator could – presumably accidentally – flip a turtle from the shallows to the beach and for the turtle to land on its back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4vuOJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4vuOJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sea Turtle tossed by Killer Whale&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: partial screen-grab from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USaqTbWbeII_&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USaqTbWbeII&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xd0io.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xd0io.png&quot; alt=&quot;Killer Whale attacking seals on beach&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: partial screen-grab from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtF3FPyRVIw_&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtF3FPyRVIw&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5IgpZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5IgpZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Turtle attacking tiger shark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: partial screen-grab from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgq-ffRJFw_&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgq-ffRJFw&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16499" LastEditorUserId="16499" LastEditDate="2019-07-04T09:47:48.730" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T09:47:48.730" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16923" CreationDate="2019-07-04T14:54:41.887" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maybe you could have a very thin glass tube attached to a bigger will of water a bit like a watering can but with a thin spout then use a magnifying glass to boil water in the very top of the tube and condense the steam &#xA;The well of water would top the tube up &#xA;So all the time you are boiling a teaspoon ish amount of water I have seen how instantly a magnifying glass can burn my skin &#xA;Just an idea to stop having to heat up all the water in one go&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18206" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T14:54:41.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1635" CreationDate="2019-07-04T20:21:32.883" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @manoftheson answer, I would recommend to have a look at Annex J of IRATA &lt;a href=&quot;https://irata.org/downloads/2055&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Code of Practice (ICOP)&lt;/a&gt; (title: &lt;em&gt;Resistance to chemicals and other properties of some of the man-made fibres used in the manufacture of rope access equipment&lt;/em&gt;). Il lists various chemicals, and gives their effects on various fibre types (Polyamide is the fibre which climbing ropes are made of, HPPE is known as Dyneema…)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12554" LastActivityDate="2019-07-04T20:21:32.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22543" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-06T03:24:15.093" Score="5" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basics of what I'm after is very, very simple:  Push a button, it notes your location.  When you reach that point again it &lt;strong&gt;tells&lt;/strong&gt; you.  I've looked around and I don't find anything that seems to meet this description.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use case:  Yesterday on the way out I noted two pieces of trash.  I generally pick up trash on the trail but not with that far and hard to go (3000' climb, 9 miles, many snow patches.)  Of course I didn't see them on the way back down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-07-06T04:00:53.737" Title="Is there an app: remind me when I get back here" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22544" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22549" CreationDate="2019-07-06T03:26:08.407" Score="1" ViewCount="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Daughter and I are considering hiking through Maryland on the AT in early October.  Most of the trail I have done up to this point was in New England a Pennsylvania.  Trail guides are indicating that Maryland is considerably easier terrain.  Up north, I don't push for much more than 10 miles a day, but we were hoping to push to 13 so we can finish in three days.  What is this terrain like?  Is more than 10 reasonable.  Just for reference, I'm a fairly experienced Hiker.  She is somewhat inexperienced on overnight hiking, but she grew up in Colorado and is no stranger to strenuous hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T07:55:52.917" Title="Daily distance estimation AT Maryland" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22543" CreationDate="2019-07-06T04:00:53.737" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think what you are looking for is called a &lt;strong&gt;GPS/location alarm.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic idea is that you set a point and the alarm goes off when you reach it. People use them on public transport to wake up before their stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this specific case you would probably want to make a note of the coordinates and then set the alarm on the way back down. Of course most GPS already have this functionality using waypoints just without the alarm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-06T04:00:53.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22546" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-06T13:25:26.853" Score="3" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has anybody ever tried to use a cross-load protecting Black Diamond Gridlock carabiner with a Smart Alpine belay device? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do think the Smart Alpine does not go very well with the CRAG Smart HMS carabiner from Mammut. The Smart Alpine belay device sometimes gets caught in a corner since it is pretty broad and rather chunky. In a hectic situation this may cause danger to the climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never had this issue with a regular Smart or Smart 2.0 device, so this question specifically for the Smart Alpine variants. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe someone has a perfect (cross load protecting) carbine match for the Smart Alpine suggestion? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you very much in advance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="18211" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T07:23:01.460" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T07:23:01.460" Title="Does a Mammut Smart Alpine belay device go well with a Black Diamond Gridlock carabiner? Any other recommendations?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21227" CreationDate="2019-07-06T23:29:25.720" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Answer is work in progress!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Still working on the translation.  Help is welcome — my Russian is very limited.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several relevant pages on the park website (all in Russian).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the &lt;a href=&quot;https://yugyd-va.ru/Turizm-i-otdih/Oformlenie-razresheniya/-Instrukcii-po-tehnike-bezopasnosti&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Инструкция по технике безопасности на маршруте&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;instructions for safe techniques on the route&lt;/em&gt;) there is no mention of bears — the instructions are about camping, rafting, weather, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://yugyd-va.ru/Turizm-i-otdih/Oformlenie-razresheniya/Pravila-prebivaniya-na-territorii-parka&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Правила пребывания на территории парка&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;rules for staying in the park&lt;/em&gt;) do not mention bears either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While browsing, I did come across the beautiful piece of &lt;a href=&quot;https://yugyd-va.ru/Turizm-i-otdih/Oformlenie-razresheniya/ETO-DOLJEN-ZNAT-KAJDIY-ili-KAK-NE-STAT-ZALOJNIKOM-LESA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;what to do when lost&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Лучший способ успокоиться — это обнять дерево&lt;/em&gt;: &lt;em&gt;The best method [to calm down] is to hug a tree&lt;/em&gt; (similar advice seen &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.katterat.com/Courses.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is a dedicated page for &lt;a href=&quot;https://yugyd-va.ru/Turizm-i-otdih/Oformlenie-razresheniya/-Rekomendacii-po-predotvrasheniyu-napadeniya-burogo-medvedya&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Рекомендации по предотвращению нападения бурого медведя&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;recommendations for the prevention of aggression by brown bears&lt;/em&gt;).  From this page, the official advice is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Рекомендации по предотвращению нападения бурого медведя&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Памятка для посетителей парка&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice for the prevention of aggression by brown bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Memo for visitors to the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Общеизвестно, что бурый медведь – крупный хищник, сильный и опасный для человека. При встрече человека и медведя велика вероятность возникновения конфликтных ситуаций. На территории Национального парка такая встреча может произойти в любое время и в любом месте.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is well known, that brown bears are large predators, strong and dangerous for people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At a meeting between people and bears there is a large probability of the emergence of conflict situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the territory of the national park a meeting can occur at any time and at any place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Большинство медведей  в обычных условиях стараются избежать встречи с человеком, и, обнаружив его первым, стараются уйти незаметно. Большинство медведей обращаются в бегство. Однако следует всегда помнить и четко знать, что поведение конкретного медведя, встретившегося вам в конкретной ситуации - непредсказуемо!  И только от поведения людей зависит, как будут развиваться в дальнейшем взаимоотношения этого замечательного хищника и человека.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most bears in usual conditions try to avoid meetings with people, and, usually their first attempt is to leave imperceptibly.&#xA;Most bears turn to flight.&#xA;However follow always remember and clearly understand, that the particular behaviour of bears, meeting you in a particular situation, is unpredictable!  And it depends only on the behaviour of people, how the in future relations between this remarkable predator and people shall develop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Вот некоторые способы уменьшить вероятность встречи и нападения медведя: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here certain methods to reduce the likelihood of meetings with and attacks    by bears:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Передвигаясь по маршруту, отдыхая в живописных таежных местах, всегда помните, что встреча с медведем может произойти в любое время, в любом месте, и вы должны быть морально к этому готовы.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving along the route, resting at scenic taiga places,&#xA;always remember, that a meeting with a bear can occur&#xA;at any time, at any place, and that you must be mentally ready for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Чтобы избежать критической дистанции сближения и не столкнуться неожиданно с медведем, необходимо передвигаться по открытым местам, где вы можете увидеть медведя достаточно далеко. Идите шумно, свободно и громко переговариваясь, и желательно группой не менее 3 человек. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to avoid critical distance convergence and not collide suddenly with bears, necessarily move in open places where you can see bears from sufficiently far away.&#xA;Come noisily, freely, and  loudly moving, and preferably in a group of no less than three people&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Располагаясь на отдых, внимательно осмотритесь - нет ли признаков присутствия медведя. На глинистых обнажениях, болотинках, берегах ручейков можно увидеть следы медведя, а в пойменных местах места кормежки (копанки), где он копал болотные растения. Если у вас возникло подозрение, что здесь был медведь, немедленно покиньте это место и поищите другое. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Чтобы избежать появления &quot;синантропных&quot; медведей важно следить за тем, чтобы не создавались условия для их прикорма. Пищевые отходы должны сжигаться или вывозиться. Не храните продукты питания в доступных местах, изолируйте их, чтобы запахи не могли привлечь зверей. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;При передвижениях максимально старайтесь избегать участков высокотравья, зарослей кедрового стланика, зарослей &quot;лопухов&quot; в поймах рек и ручьев, - мест возможного отдыха медведя на дневках. Дети должны быть всегда у вас на виду, не позволяйте им уходить далеко и лазить в зарослях.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Увидев случайно вышедшего на дорогу медведя, ни в коем случае не подкармливайте их, какими бы они не казались безобидными и милыми. В вашей подкормке медведь не нуждается, но начав прикармливать медведя вы воспитываете в нем попрошайку, который очень быстро начнет уже требовать корма, и если не получит его, то становится агрессивным и способен напасть на человека. Помните, что своими действиями вы ставите под угрозу жизнь других людей. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Избегайте ходить по тайге глухими сумерками и ночью. Помните, ночь - время медведя! Ночью нужно передвигаться с включенным электрическим фонарем. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Ни при каких обстоятельствах не приближайтесь в местах возможного нахождения медведя к останкам павших животных, другим возможным привадам. Потревоженный на добыче медведь в большинстве случаев переходит в нападение. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Увидев медведя в отдалении, не приближайтесь к нему, осторожно покиньте это место, обойдите его стороной.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;При неожиданной встрече &quot;накоротке&quot;, нельзя убегать от зверя (это бесполезно и только дополнительно может спровоцировать медведя на преследование). Необходимо, стараясь максимально сохранить спокойствие, оставаться на месте (как бы не было это страшно), громким криком призывая на помощь, или, медленно пятясь, отступать. Медведя в таком случае можно пытаться отпугивать звоном металлических предметов, громким криком, голосом и т.д.). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Категорически запрещается подходить к раненному либо попавшему в самолов медведю. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Ни при каких обстоятельствах не приближайтесь к медвежатам, какими бы они не казались вам милыми и симпатичными. Не пытайтесь их накормить или подманить. Немедленно остановитесь, быстро оглядитесь и как можно быстрее ищите путь к отступлению. Медвежата любопытны и если они направляются к вам, отгоните их громкими криками. Помните - где-то рядом медведица. Если она посчитает, что вы - угроза ее малышу, станет последним, что вы увидите в своей жизни. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Ни при каких обстоятельствах нельзя использовать для охраны от медведя собак без навыков, сноровки и силы для хотя бы краткого задержания медведя на месте. Помните: по Правилам посещения Национального парка, на территории парка собака должна находиться на поводке!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;В целях защиты и обеспечения безопасности следует брать в сопровождение госинспектора,  у которого  есть служебное огнестрельное оружие.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;В крайнем случае можно спастись от медведя на дереве, если успеете на него забраться.  Такие случаи спасения, а точнее отсиживания, на деревьях известны. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Даже если медведь все же пошел на вас, то все еще остается надежда, что он отвернет в сторону. Никогда не поворачивайтесь к атакующему медведю спиной! Побежавший человек почти наверняка обречен. При нападении медведя нельзя проявлять внешних признаков страха. Если поблизости нет надежного укрытия или убежища, необходимо встретить опасность, стоя лицом к лицу. Людей выдержавших таким образом атаку медведя больше, чем тех, кто смог спастись бегством. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;При обнаружении медведя, проявляющего агрессию, нужно немедленно предупредить других людей, находящихся в том же месте или в непосредственной близости от него и сообщить в Национальный парк, ближайшее лесничество, милицию, районные подразделения МЧС, районную или поселковую администрацию. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;И последнее - ВСЕГДА И ВЕЗДЕ встретив медведя, вне зависимости от его размеров, поведения и внешнего вида относитесь к нему как к грозному и мощному хищнику, с непредсказуемым поведением. &#xA;  К сожалению, даже полное соблюдение наших рекомендаций не могут полностью исключить вероятность нападения медведя, уже хотя бы потому, что невозможно предусмотреть обстоятельства каждого конкретного случая встречи с медведем. Поведение медведя непредсказуемо. Но будем искренне рады, если прочитав рекомендации, вы станете более осторожны в лесу&quot;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Памятка разработана заместителем директора по науке Шубнициной Е. И в соответствии с &quot;Рекомендациями по предотвращению нападения бурого медведя&quot; департамента лесов и особо охраняемых природных территорий Сахалинской области (2008 год), а так же книгой  М.А. Кречмара &quot;Мохнатый бог&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Translation follows once I know more Russian.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-07-18T19:57:05.890" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T19:57:05.890" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22544" CreationDate="2019-07-07T07:55:52.917" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be fine, assuming your daughter is reasonably capable (dealing with the weight of a multi-day overnight pack) and/or you are capable to carry enough extra to make up for what she can't. There aren't too many significantly steep sections, so I don't think you'll have too much trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, if you are worried about your or her ability to do this hike, consider a practice hike or two on a weekend to get more comfort with the distance and the weight of an overnight pack.  That way any issues can be ironed out when you're not trying to hike from one side of a state to the other in 3 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I understand, you are trying to do the Appalachian trail in Maryland, from border to border. That would approximately be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/dir/39.7199453,-77.5076025/39.1401171,-77.8402207/@39.4244467,-77.7926141,10.5z/data=!4m49!4m48!1m45!3m4!1m2!1d-77.5228661!2d39.6846233!3s0x89c9be5a7fb3dbbf:0xee80bbebee2afd0f!3m4!1m2!1d-77.5338394!2d39.6621809!3s0x89c9bfbf21a831f7:0xd8618cbe0ca7ad9f!3m4!1m2!1d-77.5918887!2d39.5539011!3s0x89c9e985beeb8331:0x6a8398d603b35097!3m4!1m2!1d-77.6095189!2d39.5321558!3s0x89c9e907c95434fd:0x1a67d0e0ce4a74b3!3m4!1m2!1d-77.61653!2d39.4965664!3s0x89c9e8856fd6d4ad:0x6d7621febcdf8869!3m4!1m2!1d-77.6244986!2d39.4648479!3s0x89c9e638e9d8bce1:0x197933925f0c6021!3m4!1m2!1d-77.6386318!2d39.4252908!3s0x89c9e68c5148a58f:0xfbc88a7016168f36!3m4!1m2!1d-77.6409972!2d39.4016115!3s0x89c9e3d3c3c6efb7:0xb1420cc6f572fa33!3m4!1m2!1d-77.7342719!2d39.3228745!3s0x89b61d51b1993583:0xb799c7a193b6b819!1m0!3e2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this path&lt;/a&gt; according to Google Maps.  While there's a discrepancy on the exact mileage (I'd assume that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/explore-by-state/maryland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AT organization&lt;/a&gt; is correct on that), the elevation max and min are consistent, where the trail ranges from ~230' to ~1880'.  According to the Google Map trail, you can expect about 8,300 feet of elevation change in each direction over the course of the trip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't personally done the entirety of the state, but I've done at least 50% of it, and I don't remember it as particularly difficult hiking (the AT Conservancy rates it from Easy to Moderate).  In my old BSA troop, we used it as a transition from 1 night hikes into multi-night hikes, so for more experienced hikers, I don't think 10-13 miles is unreasonable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would definitely suggest getting the appropriate trail map for the section(s) of the AT that you are planning on hiking, as they are very useful for both navigation and planning.  In some ways, I think it's easier to plan days based on where there's a good place to sleep (such as at one of the AT shelters) rather than evenly dividing the days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What looks to be the largest elevation change is when entering and exiting Harper's Ferry, where the trail drops to its lowest point.  Below is an approximation of the elevation change based on Google Maps.  I would recommend a proper trail map, as it will likely be more accurate and will have much more detail, especially when it comes to showing how steep a trail is relative to other sections of the trail.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WwYai.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WwYai.png&quot; alt=&quot;Google Maps approximation of the elevation change on the Maryland Appalachian Trail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy the full map from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atctrailstore.org/guides-maps/official-a-t-maps/maryland-map/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Appalachian Trail Conservancy&lt;/a&gt; (note, I am not affiliated, I just know they sell very good maps for the AT and have used them many times).&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NzY9t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NzY9t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Example excerpt of Maryland Appalachian Trail map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T07:55:52.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22550" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-07T17:48:02.893" Score="4" ViewCount="585" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some 15ft tall shrubs/trees that have these purple and reddish of berries. The trees seem to be either 15ft tall or 3ft and they are growing next to a trail. The tree wood is a greyish brown and smooth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X3k2n.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what kind of berries these are and if they are edible?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T21:57:55.270" Title="What kind of berries are these purple and reddish with crown looking tops?" Tags="&lt;colorado&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22550" CreationDate="2019-07-07T21:07:28.767" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The leaves and berries look like a blueberry, probably a highbush blueberry from your description. If that's the case, they are edible. I'm not familiar enough with Colorado vegetation to know if there are any poisonous lookalikes in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3261" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T21:07:28.767" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22550" CreationDate="2019-07-07T21:57:55.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are not blueberry - the leaves would be smooth and the fruits would be covered in a pale whiteish wax bloom. Although they do look very similar to blueberry in the washed fruit form as you might buy at the supermarket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, good news - these are most likely &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_alnifolia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Serviceberry&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Amelanchier alnifolia&lt;/em&gt;). Also known as Saskatoon (after which the Canadian state of Saskatchewan is named and the city of Saskatoon too). They are edible and very common in Alaska, Western Canada and the North and West of the USA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-07T21:57:55.270" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22553" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22560" CreationDate="2019-07-08T09:45:41.897" Score="4" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that hundreds of black bears roam around Yosemite, however they are considered harmless and an attack towards humans has not been reported so far. However, are there any other possible dangers from wild animals? I am thinking about Snakes, Mountain Lions, Boars or maybe Wolves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are (allowed) protective measures against wild animal attacks specifically in Yosemite? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="18211" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T13:51:10.470" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T13:51:10.470" Title="Do I need protective measures against wild animals in Yosemite National Park?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22554" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22555" CreationDate="2019-07-08T13:51:51.000" Score="3" ViewCount="257" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the simplest setup for rappelling that is &lt;strong&gt;fully&lt;/strong&gt; redundant?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most common system seems to be rappelling off of both strands of a rope passing through two rappel rings on separate anchors. While providing the option to recover the rope by pulling on one end, that setup still leaves the rope as a single point of failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the highest degree of redundancy is required, would it not be more safe to tie two figure-eight knots on two bights, connecting each to a separate anchor, and then rappelling off of those two strands? Thus if one of the anchors fail, or even if one part of the rope fails, the other strand is still fully intact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any specific reason this setup is not more common?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18136" LastActivityDate="2019-07-08T14:01:34.423" Title="Redundancy in rappel systems" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22554" CreationDate="2019-07-08T14:01:34.423" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Strictly speaking, the system you propose (fix each strand of the rope to one anchor, rappel with the same device) is not fully redundant as you still have the device, carabiner and your harness as single points of failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you disregard that point and simply want redundancy against rope failure, then, yes, fixing the strands to their own anchors is more redundant than the standard way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason that this setup is not more common is really simple: In most cases, the goal of rappelling (at least in sports and alpine climbing) is to arrive at the bottom of the rock/pitch and retrieving the rope. Either to climb another route, or to continue the descent. However, you can't retrieve the rope if it is fixed to the anchor with one or two knots! Also, rope failure during rappels is &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; rare as the load is much smaller than e.g. during lead climbing falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2019-07-08T14:01:34.423" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22546" CreationDate="2019-07-08T15:50:15.837" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used the Mammut Smart Alpine with many biners, including the GridLock. My impression is that, while the Smart does have the tendency to get caught and stuck when the rope runs over the lock when using a common biner, it still gets caught with a cross-load protecting one (although it is less common). In my experience, what really helps avoiding the Smart getting stuck is to use the [cross-load protecting] biner with the lock oriented in the direction of the hand you're belaying with: That is, if I'm right handed and belaying with my right hand, I turn the lock to the right. Some orthodox climbers might say this increases the chance of the biner getting accidentally unlocked by the belaying hand, but I think this is generally a very unlikely situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the biner facing the belaying hand, the little impulses that naturally happen while paying out rope cause the break to hit a section of the biner that has nothing where it could get stuck. This has been working for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2019-07-08T15:50:15.837" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22557" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22553" CreationDate="2019-07-08T17:37:08.880" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcans.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;not allowed bear spray&lt;/a&gt; in Yosemite. It is also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/weapons.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;illegal to discharge a firearm&lt;/a&gt; for any reason, but you are allowed to transport your gun through the park (assuming you legally own it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Within Yosemite National Park, it is prohibited to possess or use pepper spray (including bear spray and other irritant gas devices), pellet guns, BB guns, bows and arrows, crossbows, blowguns, spearguns, hand-thrown spears, slingshots, explosive devices, or any other implements designed to discharge missiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;But what CAN you do?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest thing you can do to protect yourself is to use common sense. Hike on established trails and backpacking routes. This is not only helpful for your safety but protects the national park. Put all your smelly objects in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcans.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;proper bear storage&lt;/a&gt;. Carry with you a rescue whistle (like a Fox40).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have never had any issues with animals in Yosemite. There isn't really anything you need to worry about beyond proper bear storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The NPS has a good acronym  (Hike Safe) to summarize what you should do:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;H&lt;/strong&gt;ave a plan&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I&lt;/strong&gt;nform someone of where you're going and when you plan to return&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;K&lt;/strong&gt;eep a flashlight and whistle with you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;at well, stay hydrated: carry plenty of water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S&lt;/strong&gt;tay on the trail&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;sk for HELP!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;F&lt;/strong&gt;amiliarize yourself with the area, use a map&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E&lt;/strong&gt;xpect changes in the weather&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-08T18:57:08.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22558" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-09T00:16:04.940" Score="2" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;This detailed paper &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aoa.org/Documents/CRG/Blue%20Light%20and%20Eye%20Damage.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aoa.org/Documents/CRG/Blue%20Light%20and%20Eye%20Damage.pdf&lt;/a&gt; from the American Optometric Association details the various types of short term (i.e. snow blindness) and long term eye damage resulting from exposure to sunlight, mentioning specifically various portions of the spectrum (UV-A, UV-B, visible blue light).  “the most offending portions of the EM spectrum are the UV-A (315 nm to 400 nm), UV-B (280 nm to 315 nm), and “blue-light” portion of the visible spectrum (380 nm to 500 nm)”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various websites such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2018/07/sunglasses.protect.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2018/07/sunglasses.protect.php&lt;/a&gt; suggest that quality of UV protection in the marketplace varies widely and is not well connected to perceived darkness or cost.  From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820813/#!po=0.757576&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820813/#!po=0.757576&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;“Shade, sunglasses, and prescription glasses provide some defense against direct solar exposure of the eyes. However, they may not protect the eyes from diffuse, ambient, scattered, and surface-reflected UVR and may cause a decrease in normal defense reactions such as squinting and pupillary constriction in the absence of direct solar light.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because “snow blindness” can occur in a single day (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/photokeratitis-snow-blindness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/photokeratitis-snow-blindness&lt;/a&gt;)&#xA; It is occasionally the case that a pair of questionable (low-cost, borrowed, secondhand) sunglasses are the best available option.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are good ways to tell if a pair of sunglasses are protecting your eyes, either in absolute terms or just in comparison to other available options?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T00:32:24.083" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T00:41:30.920" Title="How to tell whether a particular pair of sunglasses will effectively protect your eyes?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22558" CreationDate="2019-07-09T10:50:22.020" Score="3" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;blinkers&quot;/blinders (usually leather or plasic pieces that close the gaps at the side and top of sunglasses) effectively block diffuse, ambient, scattered and reflected light coming from the side (of all wavelengths). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the UV protection of the lens, check the description of the sunglass. Or measure/have measured the UV transmission spectrum.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There is no way to tell this by the naked eye.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the blue light protection: if looking &lt;em&gt;through&lt;/em&gt; (not at!) the glasses gives everything a yellow/orange (or even red, but not pink) tint, blue transmission is lower than green/red transmission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the questionable sunglasses, I'd keep my fingers away from them: if they do not have the necessary UV protection properties, they can lead to &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; damage to the eyes than not wearing any sunglasses because the reduced visible light will be perceived by the eye as &quot;no danger&quot; - which is totally wrong in that case. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A safer approach would be to provide yourself with a tiny aperture (&quot;pupil&quot; hole or slit) in otherwise light + UV blocking material like cardboard or wood. Look up inuit designs for snow goggles for inspiration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find welding goggles or a welding shield, they will protect against UV - but many are too dark to be useful in sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T10:50:22.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22553" CreationDate="2019-07-09T13:04:29.420" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Source: Decades of backpacking in Yosemite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are no wolves or boars in Yosemite&lt;/strong&gt;, so you can relax on that point.  There are coyotes, but they pose no danger to you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are snakes, including rattlesnakes at the lower elevations.  In decades of hiking in Yosemite, I have seen one snake, a harmless small one, crossing the trail at Tuolumne Meadows (about 8,600 feet).  Once while I was in Yosemite, there was a mountain lion alert for the trail up Yosemite Falls, but the mountain lion did not appear, understandably, for that is a busy trail.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For snakes, keep your eyes open and, as @noah said stay on the trails where they are easy to spot.  For mountain lions, if you are really worried, hike with one, preferably two other adults. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Neither snakes nor mountain lions will be above timberline, which is at about 10,000 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should worry more about homo sapiens, than mountain lions, especially in the Valley or at trailheads, where occasionally they break into cars and steal things. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T13:04:29.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22561" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22562" CreationDate="2019-07-09T13:21:10.723" Score="3" ViewCount="779" Body="&lt;p&gt;This symbol appears on a forest in an OS 1:50,000 Landranger map at SO 24799 27221. It doesn't appear in the map legend. It does not appear at the same point on the equivalent 1:25,000 Explorer map. What does it mean?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KzMqb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KzMqb.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T13:47:17.840" Title="What is this purple box symbol on an Ordance Survey map?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22561" CreationDate="2019-07-09T13:35:43.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The mauve symbol is new, and represents &quot;Natural Resources Wales&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This appears to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://naturalresources.wales/days-out/recreation-and-access-policy-advice-and-guidance/managing-access/open-access-land/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Open Access Land&lt;/a&gt;. It indicates the type of land bounded by a mauve outline (a fragment can be seen in your image).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be found on this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/docs/legends/50k-raster-legend.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey symbols PDF&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/07yIf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/07yIf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-07-09T13:47:17.840" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T13:47:17.840" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22525" CreationDate="2019-07-09T14:59:50.227" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jigs - what you have on the left - can be bounced off the bottom, or suspended beneath a float (typically on a slip line with a stop of some type).  From what I understand about ice fishing, they can even be held relatively steady at a fixed depth/point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Spinners - lots of variations on this theme, what you have in the middle is an in-line spinner.  Cast it out, and immediately start retrieving.  Motion through the water will make the blade spin and flash, try varying your speed, etc. to change behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the right, you have a spinner and arm, but that is all.  By itself, this will do nothing for you - it doesn't even have a hook :)   However, you can combine this with a jig and together they make an off-set spinner.  Much like the in-line spinner, cast and retrieve immediately, vary speed for depth control, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14021" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T14:59:50.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22564" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-09T16:03:02.250" Score="14" ViewCount="3939" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's say your plane crashes and you end up in a forest in a cold Russian winter miles away from civilization. You have lost all your clothing; completely butt naked. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You manage to get fire and make somewhat of a shelter from the elements. You have water because you can melt snow on the fire. But you have no food and you have been starving for 16 days so far, and you know it will be another 20 days until help gets there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you find a rabbit. Just magically there in a cage; alive. Must have been a pet rabbit that fell out of the plane's cargo hold during the crash... &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously you could kill it and eat it. But there is a reason why that might be a bad idea (mal de caribou: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Protein Poisoning&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So what else you could use the rabbit for?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18218" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-07-13T22:40:28.970" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T22:40:28.970" Title="Uses of a rabbit in a survival situation?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2019-07-10T15:25:41.013" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22565" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22564" CreationDate="2019-07-09T16:19:01.727" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can, of course, use the skin for some (minimal) clothing - furs are nice and warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use the animal as bait (living or dead) to attract larger animals (bigger skins) or for fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also boil the meat and skin to extract the fat components, which then could be consumed in a broth/soup. Marrow from the bones is very nutritious, there won't be much of it, but you can still eat it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fresh (uncooked) bone can also be used to make implements such as needles and spear/arrowheads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blood can be used to make sausages (blood pudding/black pudding), or fried/cooked as is - it's not pretty or tasty, but quite nutritious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The logical answer is you eat it - Mal de caribou is only likely if you are subsisting for a long time on a diet low in fat. In a short-term starvation situation with guaranteed recovery such as you describe Mal de caribou is unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T16:19:01.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22566" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-09T18:03:33.067" Score="6" ViewCount="1027" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to make myself a foot-loop that's connected by rope to one's handled-ascender (alongside an opposing-foot's ankle-ascender this allows rapid ascension up a single leg up of rope!) and have hit a wall because I don't know the proper knots for flat-webbing. In addition to this project I am also working on other things requiring knots in flat webbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for knots for the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knots for connecting 2-ends of flat-webbing&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;same type&lt;/em&gt; of webbing, no mix/match connections&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Knots for end-of-rope terminations of flat-webbing&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;i.e. to make a 'bight' that'd have an o-ring or carabiner inside-the-bight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically looking for the flat-webbing equivalents of the double-fisherman's knot and the anchor-knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, any and all guides that go-over relative-strengths of knots would be very, VERY appreciated!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18219" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T01:32:14.123" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T01:32:14.123" Title="What are the strongest knot(s) for using on FLAT webbing slings? (joining and bight termination)" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22566" CreationDate="2019-07-09T18:43:27.753" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's unclear if you're asking about sewn slings or single lengths of webbing--so I'll answer each separately below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most important thing when using webbing (sewn loop slings or single lengths) is that any knots should leave the webbing laying flat. There should be as few twists as possible in your system, and none in the knot itself, as these decrease the effective tensile strength of the webbing and increase the likelihood of knot slippage. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, worth repeating what you say in the question--don't tie together dissimilar webbing, as it often won't hold a knot well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my (somewhat limited) experience, sewn slings are more popular because of the ease of clipping to a carabiner (or girth-hitching to a harness, more on this later). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;End to end, single lengths of webbing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canyoneeringusa.com/techtips/water-knot-webbing-anchor&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This website&lt;/a&gt; suggests using a water knot--essentially an overhand knot in two strips at once. &lt;strong&gt;It's incredibly important&lt;/strong&gt; to a) leave long ends and b) tighten by hand before loading, because it can slip on initial loading. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've used and seen this used for anchors or other permanent ties. It's nearly impossible to untie once used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Loop in end, single length&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canyoneeringusa.com/techtips/webbingknotsparttwo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The same website&lt;/a&gt; suggests an overhand on a bight. This is similar to the previous knot in that it is based on a simple overhand knot. Again, very challenging to untie. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&quot;End to end&quot;, sewn sling&quot;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, sling loops don't actually have ends! And in fact, tying them together is not really a great idea. You can do so with a strop bend, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12gGUrsrD_g&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;explained here&lt;/a&gt;. While it is pretty much impossible for this knot to slip, it can vastly reduce the strength of the slings themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-connecting-two-slings-together.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This article from Black Diamond&lt;/a&gt; has some interesting tests about connecting slings together. Doing so with certain knots may reduce strength by 50%, which is a scary factor when your life is literally hanging on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much simpler in this case is to use a locking carabiner. Lots of sport climbers do this, and while that doesn't &lt;em&gt;mean&lt;/em&gt; it's safe, in my experience it's an accepted practice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Loop in end, sling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slings are loops! For your ascender, you can probably just clip in a long sling loop and call it a day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to loop a sling around a fixed thing, such as a metal pole, you can use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhFmIKxW4lw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;girth hitch.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-07-09T18:43:27.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22564" CreationDate="2019-07-09T19:52:55.290" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary: eat the rabbit. Every single bit of it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With 1 rabbit per day, you are in starvation while probably not exceeding your normal capacity for daily protein digestion, though it may very well exceed the protein digestion capacity if you are in total starvation (also without protein) for a prolonged amount of time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, you should stretch it out over a longer time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rabbit Starvation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To add to @bob1's answer, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaninchenhunger&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;German wiki page on the topic&lt;/a&gt;, there are two known main contributing factors to rabbit starvation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Too much protein together with&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;insufficient total energy intake.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;untrained&quot; (wrt. protein intake) human body can digest up to ≈ 200 - 300 g protein per day, that's about 3500 - 5000 kJ. For comparison, a medium active standard male (1 h/day medium heavy work - which doesn't seem much in a survival in Russian winter scenario) needs 12500 kJ/day corresponding to the meat of about 8 European rabbits. &#xA;In turn, this means that no more than 30 - 40 % of the needed energy can possibly come from protein.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plus (or rather, minus) for long term life as a hunter as opposed to survival for a few weeks some of that protein to be used for protein (muscles, connective tissue, bones etc.): maybe some 80 g (rough guesstimate based on numbers from &lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nbu.12215&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Egan, British Nutrition FoundationNutrition  Bulletin,41, 202–213, 2016.&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That would amount to pure protein diet leading to something in the order of magnitude of 75 - 80 % caloric intake deficit. In other words, severe starvation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition it seems that unlike total starvation, in rabbit starvation the hunger feeling (craving for fat and carbohydrates) never ceases. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that also the English wiki page linked in the question cites a description that the sickness sets in after about a week of eating as much rabbit as possible but basically nothing else. I.e., considerably more than just one rabbit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The survival situation.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Meat&lt;/em&gt; of a wild prey animals is very lean, often around 3,5 % and 20 - 22 % protein. Domestic animals like domestic rabbits or cow have roughly twice as much fat (7ish %) according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bernd-leitenberger.de/wildfleisch-zuchtfleisch.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website comparing venison with the meat of corresponding domestic animals (sorry, in German but the numbers are internationally readable)&lt;/a&gt; (at least when grown up, growing animal meat like veal can be very lean).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your caged rabbit would already be better in that respect than a wild hare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, as @bob1 pointed out, there are more fatty parts of the rabbit body: bone marrow, spinal marrow, brain, inner organs such as liver and kidneys (though the latter may not contain that much fat in lean rabbits - but I didn't find numbers). If the cage rabbit was someone's bunny always living in a cage, chances are that it has some more fat deposits. You'd clearly want to eat them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, let's assume the rabbit weighs 2 kg*. The meaty parts still with bones will be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.landwirtschaft.sachsen.de/download/3399_1.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;50 - 60 %, sorry, German again&lt;/a&gt;, so 1 - 1.2 kg plus maybe 100 -  150 g of internal organs for eating (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130992&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Brown et al, ORGAN WEIGHTS OF NORMAL RABBITS, 1925.&lt;/a&gt;). Assuming 20 % protein i.e.  lean muscle tissue, ignoring bones etc. that's about 220 - 250 g pure protein (3700 - 4250 kJ) and maybe 10 - 20 g of fat (400 - 800 kJ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So eating the whole rabbit in one day would get you just to the upper limit of possible daily protein intake.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For practical reasons you'd probably want to stretch it out a bit, so you still have something substantial to chew for the next days - but the situation will overall be just normal starvation, no or only small protein excess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Longer term, you should limit yourself to not more than 1 rabbit per day to avoid the protein excess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order not to loose anything, salvage or produce a pot from the remainders of the plane and make a stew of the thing.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In addition, as this is about surving, I'd for sure include the rabbit blood  and I'd seriously consider whether the stomach to cecum contents and cecotropes would be considered veggies under these conditions. Droppings and urine not, obviously, and if there's sufficient (liquid) water, the kidney will do with some watering. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* For European wild rabbits 2 kg is quite a big animal. Domestic rabbit breeds that are bred for meat production slaughtered at 2 - 3.5 kg (but can get much bigger when fully grown), pet breeds are usually smaller. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I forgot that the rabbit magically appears after you are already 2 weeks in total starvation in (Russian) winter. In that situation, it's probably a last and pleasant hallucination. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyways, magically, you are capable and the rabbit is real. Then you'll need to start eating slowly to avoid &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refeeding_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;refeeding syndrome&lt;/a&gt;: even if there are almost no carbohydrates in the rabbit stew, and the whole thing in terms of energy intake is not even 2 days of starting recommendation for refeeding, my guess is that your liver has been economizing for a while already, so in that situation the possible daily protein intake is lowered). Also, the electrolytes are not in the required balance, comparably too few K⁺ in relation to the Na⁺ - stomach and gut contents (&quot;veggies&quot;) may help &lt;em&gt;a bit&lt;/em&gt; in that respect. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So maybe only a bit of the broth for the first meal, and from then on in small amounts to strech out that stew over several days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T13:13:19.800" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T13:13:19.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22569" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22570" CreationDate="2019-07-10T02:13:50.670" Score="4" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20062/when-slacklining-between-trees-how-big-should-the-tree-trunks-be&quot;&gt;When slacklining between trees, how big should the tree trunks be?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Followup question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm writing to ask how big the tree trunks should be exactly if I only have a 15meter line and I'm only walking on it or learning how to slack-line and not doing tricks. I weigh around 150ib. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polyester line, 2inches wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18223" LastEditorDisplayName="user18223" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T14:05:49.930" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T14:05:49.930" Title="When slack lining between trees, how big should the tree trunk be if the line is 15 meters, person is ~150 pounds?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;safety-standards&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22569" CreationDate="2019-07-10T05:23:59.487" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My son slack lines (6' &amp;amp; 165lbs) on +15 M of 1&quot;. Using tree savers and each tree is about 6 to 8 in in diameter. He practices on a staked rigging over 6&quot; rounds that lie on their side at each end of the run. Line is permanently mounted and staked into the ground. So when newbies or his mom gets a wild hair and tries it, they don't bust themselves up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18225" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T05:23:59.487" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22108" CreationDate="2019-07-10T06:08:52.210" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Agree with the answers above and yes it definitely depends on the type of activity and terrain. Gone are the days when one boot does it all. Now each activity requires a specific boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18077" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T06:08:52.210" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22564" CreationDate="2019-07-10T09:00:46.240" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One rabbit will not make a meaningful impact to your food situation, nor your clothing situation. Since you have water, you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-a-person-survive-without-food/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;survive for a while yet&lt;/a&gt;, especially if you were carrying some body fat already. Instead your bigger concern is psychological. So I would say, keep the rabbit for company.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had 20 rabbits, sure, make a nice rabbit stew per the other answers, and a rabbit fur cloak and all the rest, but you don’t. But having said that, after two weeks of starvation, eating anything hastily-cooked is likely to make you sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3422" LastEditorUserId="3422" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T19:06:50.110" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T19:06:50.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22573" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-10T09:27:39.953" Score="2" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an issue with excessive sweat in my feet, and separately I have noticed my shoes no matter the quality, function or use-profile do not last more than a year, often less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been suggested to me that it could be that my sweat is accelerating the breakdown of the stitching. I've read this is possible with salt water, but can this happen with sweat as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to figure out whether I need (even) better shoes or if I need to find some (other) way of preventing foot sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="130" LastActivityDate="2020-10-29T10:05:27.810" Title="Can excess sweat dissolve shoe stitching?" Tags="&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22558" CreationDate="2019-07-10T16:05:30.787" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Posting this partial answer in the hope of soliciting comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Electronics suppliers like digikey sell UV LED’s in various wavelengths, and various devices such as photovoltaics or photoresistors which seem like they could be used in conjunction with a good multimeter to measure light intensity.  It seems like you could set up a sort of caliper- or pincer-shaped device in which the led points at the sensor, and get a reading for air and another reading through your sunglasses, and the difference is the UV protection.  You might need to be careful to block ambient light.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would measure one aspect of sunglasses performance (the lens itself)—thoughts?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:  Adafruit sells a UV detector kit for $6 (needs microcontroller to run it) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adafruit.com/product/3964?gclid=CjwKCAjwmZbpBRAGEiwADrmVXgC47BIN2eHyv4C8GpqppYYJRKIfUXPHzD-Wy11WjLkO2rSm43uxNBoCLoQQAvD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.adafruit.com/product/3964?gclid=CjwKCAjwmZbpBRAGEiwADrmVXgC47BIN2eHyv4C8GpqppYYJRKIfUXPHzD-Wy11WjLkO2rSm43uxNBoCLoQQAvD_BwE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m8CdC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m8CdC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-07-11T00:41:30.920" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T00:41:30.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22578" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20933" CreationDate="2019-07-10T17:04:44.143" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tl;dr:&lt;/strong&gt; No.  Any theoretical advantage of one rifling profile over another is lost in execution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this is a question of practice, not theory, I appeal here to the experience of authorities in this space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bartlein Barrels, which for years has been on the forefront of barrel research and manufacturing, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/01/05/best-rifle-barrel-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;whose barrels are the most widely used in competitive precision shooting&lt;/a&gt;, has &lt;a href=&quot;https://bartleinbarrels.com/barrel-faq/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;several comments on 5R rifling versus more conventional rifling&lt;/a&gt; (i.e., even numbers of grooves with square shoulders):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which is better 5R style rifling or conventional rifling?&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  In terms of&#xA;  accuracy and barrel life we don’t see a difference. There are a lot of&#xA;  varying opinions on this. Some say if you want hard core accuracy to&#xA;  go with conventional rifling. We feel in the real world there is no&#xA;  real difference. The more uniform your bore and groove sizes over the&#xA;  entire length of the barrel, the more uniform the twist and the&#xA;  straighter the blank the more forgiving the barrel is going to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some say the 5R style rifled barrels clean easier?&lt;/strong&gt; Maybe from a carbon&#xA;  fouling stand point because your patch isn’t trying to get down into a&#xA;  90 degree corner vs. conventional rifling. The way we clean our&#xA;  barrels we don’t see a difference. From a copper fouling stand point&#xA;  we see no difference here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bartlein does concede the &lt;em&gt;possible theoretical&lt;/em&gt; advantage of 5R rifling in the way it engraves the bullets, but they have not seen evidence of that in practice.  (And if they did, they would be among the first to advertise it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Among the factors that affect accuracy more than rifling profile:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Precision and uniformity of the bore.  This is affected by every step of manufacturing and rifling the barrel blank, from drilling the bore to rifling it to finish lapping and stress relieving.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finish and fit of the barrel.  On the breech end a perfect barrel can be ruined if the chamber and leede are not cut precisely and squarely to the bore.  On the muzzle end minuscule defects in the crown can markedly reduce accuracy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T17:04:44.143" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22579" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-10T20:43:53.367" Score="-7" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don’t know if shooting animals and eating them such as catch and cook in England is specified as poaching these days so anyone who gets what I’m actually trying to say I would appreciate if u do inform me about this stuff  thanks &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18234" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T07:19:28.697" Title="Can you shoot and eat animals such as deer and stuff on England or is that specified as poaching?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2019-07-12T12:20:13.773" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22579" CreationDate="2019-07-10T22:50:51.590" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: I'm not from the UK, but a quick search of the laws relating to poaching is pretty easy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: THERE ARE MANY ANIMALS IT IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN TO HUNT/SHOOT (think large large fines and jail time). Always identify your target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer is: Yes - it's illegal apart from under certain specific circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Longer answer: &#xA;Poaching is illegal. Poaching is defined as the illegal taking of animals and plants from the environment. Many traditional hunting/shooting sites are on private land, and it is considered poaching to hunt/shoot on these lands without express permission of the land-owner. It is also considered poaching to shoot animals owned by anyone (e.g. someone's sheep or cow). It is also considered poaching to harvest (at least some) wild plant species and many marine/aquatic species. Poaching also encompasses not having a hunting/shooting/fishing licence for the species caught/killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are only certain animals that are allowed to be shot/hunted and even for those there are closed seasons where shooting/hunting are not allowed at all, or only in limited numbers (certain number of animals/person per day or [hunting] season etc). Open seasons and bag limits vary according to the species being targeted, and where you are in the country. You are also required to have a licence to hunt/shoot for the game species being targeted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are caught poaching, it means large fines and/or jail time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T22:50:51.590" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22582" CreationDate="2019-07-10T23:18:03.507" Score="5" ViewCount="387" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming that if I bought a 15 meter slackline, I could actually tie it between two trees at any length less than 15 meters apart and use it. Please tell me if that assumption is wrong. So what's the minimum gap (distance between two trees) I need if I just want to learn as a beginner to step on the slackline without falling off and walk a few steps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18236" LastEditorDisplayName="user18236" LastEditDate="2019-07-10T23:25:08.897" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T11:14:48.790" Title="What's the minimum possible gap needed to tie a slack-line between two trees?" Tags="&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22581" CreationDate="2019-07-10T23:38:27.227" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As close together as you want! Most climbing gyms will set up 5m (ish) lines which is a pretty good distance for beginners. In general you probably don't want to go much less than 3m. Keep it nice and taught while you are learning; the less slack in the line the easier it will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of all just get it set up and have fun. It doesn't need to be set up perfectly to enjoy slacklining. The learning curve for slacklining is really quick. Just keep your head up, arms up and out, bend the knees, and breathe. You'll be walking on it in no time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-10T23:38:27.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22579" CreationDate="2019-07-11T07:19:28.697" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gun laws in UK are extremely tight. A firearm at your house must be licensed and kept in a locked cabinet. Even being in possession of a firearm in a public place in the UK without a lawful reason is an offence, never mind what you indend to shoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.brabners.com/blogs/regulatory-health-and-safety/carrying-your-firearm-public-place-what-does-law-say&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carrying your firearm in a public place – what does the law say?&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shooters may not realise that they do not have an automatic right to take a gun into a public place and that their firearm or shotgun certificate does not give them lawful authority to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse (the proof whereof lies on him) he has with him in a public place:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a loaded shot gun;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;an air weapon (whether loaded or not);&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;any other firearm (whether loaded or not) together with ammunition suitable for use in that firearm, or;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;an imitation firearm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maximum sentences for these offences is seven years. Five-year mandatory prison sentences apply for prohibited weapons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The definition of ‘public place’ is wide. You should assume that the default position is that anywhere aside from your home will likely be deemed a public place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T07:19:28.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22581" CreationDate="2019-07-11T09:31:44.177" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slack lining is actually a lot easier in the beginning the &lt;em&gt;shorter&lt;/em&gt; your line is, as there will be less movement of the line (side-to-side wobble or up-and-down bouncing). There isn't really a minimum length for a slack line - personally, when I started out I sometimes set up a line no longer than some 3m...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my suggestion is to find some nice trees not too far apart (maybe start with 4-5m) and once you're comfortable on that distance start increasing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you seem to be new to slack lining and this question might attract other beginners, I'll add the usual &lt;strong&gt;tree protection advice&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Slack lining can damage trees and their bark, especially in public parks, and other areas where people frequently set up lines. There are some things to keep in mind that help minimise any damage:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Please pick trees that are strong enough, as the sidewards force of a taut and loaded slack line can be considerable. A common suggestion ist that the trees should have at least 30cm of diameter of the trunk (ca. 1m of circumference) at the height where you want to setup the line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Between your slack line / loops and the tree bark there should always be some cushioning material, to help protect the bark from the applied forces. What I have seen in use / or used myself: a strap of an old carpet, a folded up bathing towel, an old rubber doormat. Of course there also exist dedicated solutions that you can buy (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.ch/search?client=opera&amp;amp;q=slackline%20tree%20protection&amp;amp;sourceid=opera&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;amp;oe=UTF-8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;check google&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some also suggest using a setup with no contracting loops around the trees as contracting loops can damage the tree bark. (This means you'd need two fixed-length loops to wrap around the trees and would set up your line between those loops.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.swiss-slackline.ch/tree_protection.en.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-07-11T11:14:48.790" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T11:14:48.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22585" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22598" CreationDate="2019-07-11T10:41:32.093" Score="4" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the southern part of Zealand, in Denmark. I assembled a chicken coop yesterday, and found this feather on top of the egg-collection box lid this morning. I have been unable to find out which bird this feather is off of using google. any hints are much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Timeframe is between 22:00 and 09:00. I am thinking that it is not a pheasant, but a raptor. as to which raptor, I am on rock bottom...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2fJ15.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2fJ15.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Feather&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3551" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T15:57:41.600" Title="Feather found on chicken coop" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22586" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22590" CreationDate="2019-07-11T12:59:49.433" Score="1" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm new to slacklining and planning to buy a &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B078BFWD6D&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;slack line kit from Amazon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the rope and ratchet and tree protector which will be used on trees. Is this enough to be able to tie the rope between two trees and actually use the slackline or do I need more equipment like carabiners and slings, linelockers, rigging, rings, and pulleys?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What exactly do I need to slackline if I have two trees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18236" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2019-07-12T16:56:57.710" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T16:56:57.710" Title="Is a slackline, ratchet, and tree protector alone enough equipment to setup the slackline?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22586" CreationDate="2019-07-11T14:18:15.530" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The description is one red flag for me, as it displays no knowledge about the product: It mixes general or over the top advertisement statements (&quot;MAXIMUM SAFETY&quot;) with facts that have nothing to do with the advertised statement (&quot;This is the best slackline for kids and beginners, with the 2-inch wide slackline webbing&quot;). In short: Regardless of what it includes, I highly recommend against buying that set. You can get a beginners set from a well-known brand for ~50$ which isn't that much more than this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting back to your specific question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What exactly do I need to slackline if I have two trees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is the obvious&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;line (webbing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and then two more &quot;groups&quot; of items: One for tensioning the line and the other for securing it at the ends. In a typical beginners set tensioning is done by a single &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ratchet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;which has a webbing loop for attachment. Again typically a beginner line has a sewn loop at one end of the line, this means you can simply wrap that end around the tree and thread the line through the sewn loop to fixate it. Before doing that, put one of the&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2x tree protection&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;on the tree. The other end of the line goes through the ratchet for tensioning. So what's left is to attach the ratchet to the second tree, which might not need any additional material if an attachment strip is already part of the ratchet. Otherwise you will need&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;steel biner or shackle&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;attachment strip&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(come in various forms, often quite heavy slings with a load-bearing inner part with an abrasion shield around)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where you put the strip around the tree over the protection and then connect the ratchet with the strip using the steel biner or shackle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the minimum. If you don't have a loop in the line you need a second attachmnet strip and material for line-lockers and if you don't use a ratchet for tension there's various methods to do pulleys - none of this is beginner stuff though. If you don't use the entire length of the line you will after some time want to use another section of it, for which you do need one line lock. For that you need one steel biner and steel ring - just search for how to do a line lock and the material necessary is going to be evident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-07-12T13:09:00.363" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T13:09:00.363" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22588" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22589" CreationDate="2019-07-11T17:41:01.637" Score="1" ViewCount="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some slackline vendors or brick and mortar stores in the state of Maryland with people who actually know how to slackline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree that some vendors of slacklines from Amazon may be selling me stuff I don't actually understand and as a newbie to slacklining I want to be able to see what I'm buying in person and prevent returning something. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18236" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T17:58:09.940" Title="Slackline vendors/ brick and mortar stores in MD" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22589" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22588" CreationDate="2019-07-11T17:58:09.940" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd try one or both of the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REI&lt;/strong&gt;. At least one employee in the store should have some knowledge. And you can always return within a year if there is a problem with no questions asked. They sell Gibbon slacklines for about $100.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing Gym&lt;/strong&gt;. If your local climbing gym has a slackline setup (which at least one should), then try asking some of the employees. Most gyms with a slackline setup have a few employees who are very into slacklining, and would be happy to answer a question or two. Maybe even consider getting a daypass and climbing/slacklining for the day if you aren't a member to say thanks (and some others in the gym will then probably give you some slacklining pointers as an added bonus).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T17:58:09.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22586" CreationDate="2019-07-11T19:03:34.763" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To the question &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is a slackline, ratchet, and tree protector alone enough equipment to setup the slackline?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer is &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;, provided the kit is built for that purpose. In actuality, you could set it up without bark protectors, but that's frowned upon as it will hurt trees (some more than others).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most kits are made to be setup in a similar way, which is shown below in a graphic from Gibbon Slacklines. Of course, it's possible to build a slackline with tubular webbing, rappel rings, carabiners and pulleys but it's usually something reserved for experienced climbers or rope riggers. It might look something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/3102/how-do-i-tie-a-slackline-with-only-carabiners-and-webbing&quot;&gt;in this post&lt;/a&gt; (there are variations).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YQ76k.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YQ76k.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-07-11T19:03:34.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22591" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22601" CreationDate="2019-07-11T19:31:39.183" Score="3" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know a training line + slackline would cost more than a slack-line itself, but I'm wondering if I didn't buy a slackline+training line I'd have to step on and fall off before I'm able to balance on it without anything to hold onto. But I also doubt the strength of a training line. I wonder whether it would just break if I grabbed onto it while learning how to slackline. Is there anyway the supposed benefits of using a training line don't exist as the marketing people would suggest otherwise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18236" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T16:49:36.250" Title="For beginners, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using a training line along with a slack-line?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22592" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22604" CreationDate="2019-07-12T00:53:15.637" Score="3" ViewCount="301" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you are within the three boat length circle in a race, do other rules of racing apply?  So, if two boats are within the circle, one boat has overlap, is on the inside, and is on starboard tack (boat A), and the other boat is on port tack (boat B), can boat A push boat B off its proper course, taking more room than necessary?  Or does boat B only need to give enough room to round?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Boat A entered the circle with overlap.  This would be the downwind mark.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bxrhsm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bxrhsm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ABLPm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6ABLPm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Under the rules of US Sailing)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18238" LastEditorUserId="18238" LastEditDate="2019-07-12T21:13:00.070" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T22:00:00.170" Title="Sailing rules within three boat length circle" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17835" CreationDate="2019-07-12T01:18:20.973" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Currently, the lightest arrows I can find are 5 grains per inch of arrow, plus a few for the head, knock and feathers.  You are looking at about 150 to 160 grains for the lightest 28 inch draw arrows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want lighter arrows fired from a normal draw bow, the Turkish use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_archery#Siper_and_Majra&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Majra&quot;&lt;/a&gt; to fire short arrows from standard length bows.  With one of those you could shoot an arrow as short as you want, but 14 inches is considered the shortest arrow that is still stable in flight.  With a 14 inch arrow, at 5 grains per inch, a head, knock and fletching you are around 80-90 grains total weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  14 inches is from &quot;Flight Archery&quot; where the minimum arrow length is 14&quot;.  Also, I'm assuming a plastic tip, the fletching is made from the magnetic tape inside a floppy disk, the knock is an &quot;F Nock&quot; at 6 grains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to note that bow manufacturers don't usually like their bows shot with less than 5 grains per lb of drawweight.  So an 80 grain arrow is recommended  to only fire from a bow that is 16 lbs or less.  Arrows too light will damage the bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, in &quot;Flight Archery&quot;, arrows as light as 1.2 grains per pound of drawweight are used, because speed is needed to get maximum distance and bow life is not really a concern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 2: Looking at the F Nock, you could use one as the arrow tip if you remove the part that grips the string and sandpaper the tip into the shape of a field tip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18239" LastEditorUserId="18239" LastEditDate="2019-07-12T17:44:53.140" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T17:44:53.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21982" CreationDate="2019-07-12T09:49:02.950" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm from the recurve world but have heard loads about freestyle shooting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know of two advantages for shooting with 3 under (only one for instinctive)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having a 3-under allows for &lt;strong&gt;string walking&lt;/strong&gt;. What this is, is basically the ability to pull the string at a different position hence changing the distance of your shot. The archer would then be able to maintain his sightpoint (or if instinctive, your feel/instinct) despite the change in distance of the target.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With a 3-under, it allows you to sight down the arrow much more easily as the arrow will be much closer to your eye. (not applicable for instinctive).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will not see string walking in recurve as we have sights wherein we will be able to calibrate our sights to the distance that we're shooting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: &#xA;Adding a better description for string walking as I've noted my description above is abysmally poor :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;String walking is basically changing the distance between your hand and the nocking point of the arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iEGqi.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iEGqi.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17989" LastEditorUserId="17989" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T02:04:59.267" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T02:04:59.267" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21365" CreationDate="2019-07-12T09:59:01.737" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on my recurve experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is often little relevance of the distance. If you're looking for greater helical rotation, you're better off using spinning fletches or even angling your fletches to get it to rotate more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest factor in the distance between the nock and fletching for olympic recurve, is very simply contact. Due to the effect of the Archer's Paradox, the arrow would flex one way, then the other as it leaves the bow due to imperfections of release. It is this effect that MAY cause the fletch to contact with the riser. Contact would cause two problems, a broken/damaged fletch (not something you'd want) and inconsistencies in your resulting shot. To avoid this, the fletching could be placed further up or down the shaft to avoid contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17989" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T09:59:01.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22596" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22597" CreationDate="2019-07-12T10:45:03.500" Score="14" ViewCount="1670" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are heading for a trek in the Fann mountains and I've heard a lot of the water there is cloudy with very fine silt particles in it. I noticed most water filter manuals explicitly tell you not to filter water with silt. Presumably, silt clogs them very quickly. On the other hand those filters are usually designed to filter bacteria and other biological contaminants from water and thus are probably finer than I need, since we plan to use chemicals/boiling for water purification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also understand that filtration doesn't need to be perfect as the silt poses little actual health risk - we just want the water to not taste terribly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, given that I need to filter physical contaminants and not biological contaminants, what is my best option? Obviously I would prefer the gear to be light and cheap :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best current bet is to use aeropress, as the filtration paper for it is light and cheap so we can bring a lot of it and just discard it when it clogs.&#xA;We've also thought about some flocculation/coagulation chemistry, but none of what I've found seems to be safe to use with drinking water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18241" LastEditorUserId="18241" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T08:31:24.640" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T19:24:58.363" Title="Filtering fine silt/mud from water (not necessarily bacteria etc.)" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22596" CreationDate="2019-07-12T13:24:34.607" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Leaving aside your assertion that water in the high mountains is likely to be biologically safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer depends on how big the particulates are. The smaller they are, the harder it is to find an easy way to remove them effectively. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For both of the following you will need to take a funnel to hold the filter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the simple answer is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=coffee%20filter&amp;amp;client=opera&amp;amp;hs=Ald&amp;amp;tbm=isch&amp;amp;source=iu&amp;amp;ictx=1&amp;amp;fir=RHleqbOkXBD0ZM%253A%252CVycKUtDIJu-qUM%252C_&amp;amp;vet=1&amp;amp;usg=AI4_-kS8eN-RFTBf1PIkWpaw_pNlYcyCuA&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwiVkqzQua_jAhVOXM0KHVrCB_8Q9QEwAHoECAcQBA#imgrc=RHleqbOkXBD0ZM:&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;coffee filter&lt;/a&gt; - these are single use paper filters that are designed to take the fine grounds used for filter drip coffee (common in the US and Canada, not so much elsewhere...). In this case the grounds are perhaps the size of a salt grain, which may be a lot bigger than the suspended particulates you are talking about. Coffee filters are made of paper, so are biodegradable and quite light, so good for hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If these are not good enough, you can get &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.com/Qualitative-Lab-Filter-Paper/b?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;node=393368011&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;scientific filter papers&lt;/a&gt; that are designed to remove a range of particulates, down to the micron range (1000ths of a millimeter), depending on the grade you get. These are not pre-shaped like a coffee filter would be, but are easily folded into a suitable shape. They come in a range of diameters - get as big as you can, you don't want to be wasting your time taking hours to filter enough water for drinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my third answer: Investigate &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=1&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwigr4nwvK_jAhXIZc0KHfk1BooQwqsBMAB6BAgJEAQ&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.khanacademy.org%2Fpartner-content%2Fmit-k12%2Fmit-k12-materials%2Fv%2Fflocculation&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw2-G4Iy6T6ElC44z4KlEVUo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;flocculants&lt;/a&gt;, which are used to provide clean/clear water in situations such as droughts in parts of Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T13:24:34.607" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22585" CreationDate="2019-07-12T15:57:41.600" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It took a while to find, partly because I was sure this would turn out to be an owl.  Also, it seems like you already had your own answer before this.  However, to complete the loop here, I do see a match between your photo and the third or fourth feather shown here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=RGPH_tail_female&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=RGPH_tail_female&lt;/a&gt; , from which I conclude you have a female ring-necked pheasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/und5F.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/und5F.png&quot; alt=&quot;photo of a series of pheasant feathers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T15:57:41.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22599" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-12T16:20:50.203" Score="5" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to go on a hike with someone allergic to latex.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually I would pack small plasters and leukotape, but this is not an option in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I replace these items with latex-free equivalents in the UK?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18242" LastEditorUserId="2199" LastEditDate="2019-07-12T16:57:36.283" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T16:57:36.283" Title="Latex-free first aid kit" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;scotland&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22596" CreationDate="2019-07-12T16:24:35.107" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;While coffee filters would work great as suggested in a different answer I would probably just use something I was going to bring anyway like a handkerchief. That should work reasonably well, be reusable, and not require you to bring specialized gear. You might even be able to wrap the bandana around your pump intake (maybe using a rubber band) and be able to pump directly out of the silty water source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option if you have a container to hold contaminated water and extra time is to scoop up water and wait for the silt to settle. Then you can just pump the clear water off the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T16:24:35.107" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22591" CreationDate="2019-07-12T16:49:36.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The idea of the training line is three fold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It puts your arms in the correct position. This helps you use better form.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It gives you the ability to &quot;push off&quot; the line with your arms, allowing you to balance more easily. You are not putting all your body weight onto the training line. @IanC in the comments nailed it!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Faster &quot;results&quot;. You can &quot;slackline&quot; sooner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without the training line you will be stepping on and off a lot more as you learn to get your balance. When learning to slackline you don't immediately start walking. The first step is just getting stationary balance. It takes patience while learning. The training line allows you to get more instant gratification of success. Whether or not it actually speeds up the process of learning to slackline (without a training line) I think is hard to say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally learned without one, as did all my friends. I'm not sure it is super necessary. If you will be setting up the line for a lot of younger kids then it might be nice for younger kids while they are learning to be more successful. At climbing gyms without training lines you will often see parents acting like a training line for younger kids by holding out their hand for the kid to gently push off of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T16:49:36.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17835" CreationDate="2019-07-12T17:52:05.867" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can shoot an arrow from a bow that is so light as to cause damage to the bow!  There needs to be some resistance/weight in the projectile or you will be - in effect - dry firing your bow, which is at least a very bad idea and in most cases very damaging if not catastrophically damaging to your weapon.  Flight bows and arrows are, for the most part, designed to shoot for one given round/tournament, whatever and are most of the time right on the very edge of breaking to begin with, they are designed for extreme performance during one or two matches and then most of the time retired if they survive the match.  Hunting weight bows should be expected to have more durability, but they will be damaged or destroyed by to light of an arrow.  If there isn't enough mass in the arrow to absorbe the energy from the drawn limbs, then that energy is going to go back into the bow, and that could indeed be bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T17:52:05.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22603" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-12T18:20:06.603" Score="2" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;The impeller on my outboard motor (2002 2 stroke 75 HP Yamaha) was replace last year before I used it. It was fully serviced at that the time, but the motor hasn't been run in about 12 months. Does the impeller (&lt;em&gt;for the water pump&lt;/em&gt;) go bad if it isn't exercised regularly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="628" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T16:17:05.467" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T08:11:43.150" Title="Does an outboard motor impeller go bad if it isn't exercised regularly?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22592" CreationDate="2019-07-12T22:00:00.170" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In short, yes.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rules in Section A (right of way) always apply, even when constrained by rules in Section B and C (which include room at marks). Boat A in your scenario is required to gybe at the mark. But let's look a little deeper at the scenario you describe, because it's a good question and it happens all the time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;At the zone, overlapped&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A enters the zone overlapped with B, so Rule 18 (Mark-Room) turns on.&#xA;Rule 18.2 (Giving Mark-Room) says that: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When boats are overlapped the outside boat shall give the inside boat&#xA;  mark-room...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so in this case B must give A mark-room. Since A and B are on opposite tacks, Rule 10 (On Opposite Tacks) still applies and B must keep clear of A (this may seem redundant, but it's not!).   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your first picture, A is sailing her proper course towards the mark. It looks like B is far enough away to be considered keeping clear--it would be easy for B to avoid contact with A at this point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;At the mark, overlapped&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This position isn't drawn above, but it's basically halfway between your two sketches. &#xA;At this point, we have to look at how Rule 18.4 (Gybing) adds limitations on what A may do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When an inside overlapped right-of-way boat must gybe at a mark to&#xA;  sail her proper course, until she gybes she shall sail no farther from&#xA;  the mark than needed to sail that course. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since A would have to gybe to round the mark, Rules 18.4 applies, and A is required to gybe. &lt;strong&gt;This is the significant answer to your question.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Past the mark, overlapped&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By your second sketch, both A and B have sailed past the mark. This is where your last question comes into play: &lt;em&gt;does B only need to give enough room to round the mark?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be a bit surprising, but no! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, A has broken rule 18.4 by not gybing when her proper course to the mark is to gybe. However, B must continue to keep clear of A so long as Rule 10 (On Opposite Tacks) applies. Even though A is breaking rule 18.4 (and B should protest for that breach) the rules of Section A still apply. In your second sketch, B is getting quite close to A, and is possibly not keeping clear as required. If there is contact, &lt;em&gt;B could be penalized,&lt;/em&gt; because B has broken a rule and does not enjoy the protections of Rule 21 (Exoneration).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, its in the best interest of the give-way boat to keep clear at all costs, and then protest for breaches for Sections B or C. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Citations: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/20172020WorldSailingCaseBookv1.1-[22915].pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/20172020WorldSailingCaseBookv1.1-[22915].pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/StudyVersionoftheRacingRulesfor20172020Final-[13380].pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/StudyVersionoftheRacingRulesfor20172020Final-[13380].pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T22:00:00.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14833" CreationDate="2019-07-12T22:21:24.313" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is very hard to tell from the poor photo, but I suspect that it is a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunicate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tunicates&lt;/a&gt;, a class of marine animals that includes things like sea-squirts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically I would guess that it is a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrosome&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pyrosomes&lt;/a&gt;, which are more commonly found in warm waters, such as are found off Goa. Pyrosomes are actually colonial organisms composed of large number of individual pyrosomes living as a free-floating colony. They resemble a tube and can move by jetting water out of the tube through co-ordinated beating of cilia from members of the colony.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It could also be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Salp&lt;/a&gt;, which are similar to pyrosomes, but I think more commonly seen in non-tropical waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-12T22:21:24.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2019-07-13T01:13:52.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went to ACE Hardware and built my own for the Orange 5 Gallon water containers as well. Cost 11.29 for (1) spigot, (1) nipple, (2) gaskets and a (1) stainless washer to compress the washer on the outside. Yes the cost is a bit more than a factory replacement, but now I have a real faucet which doesn't spill, and can be put on the edge of a counter and used without a spill control device (aka an used milk jug) to catch drips and spill during use. Yes it is a bit more obtrusive, but we use in it our cabin, and if necessary, the spigot aparatus can be removed and reinstalled quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18246" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T01:13:52.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22596" CreationDate="2019-07-13T01:57:23.453" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is only a partial answer but if you’re not drinking the water immediately you might benefit from letting it settle, especially if you can find water near where you’re camping.&#xA;From &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/WSH02.07_5.pdf?ua=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/WSH02.07_5.pdf?ua=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“4.2 Plain sedimentation or settling&#xA;The microbial quality of water sometimes can be improved by holding or storing it undisturbed and without mixing long enough for larger particles to settle out or sediment by gravity. The settled water can then be carefully removed and recovered by decanting, ladling or other gentle methods that do not disturb the sedimented particles. Sedimentation has been practiced since ancient times using small water storage vessels or larger settling basins, reservoirs and storage tanks.”&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YvBZM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YvBZM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T01:57:23.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22608" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22610" CreationDate="2019-07-13T04:06:29.567" Score="7" ViewCount="4878" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this bug in my back yard and walls outside of my house. Can you help me identify? I was worried if this is a tick. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/29ilg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/29ilg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tick or spider ? &quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18247" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T12:57:27.647" Title="Is this tick or spider?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;ticks&gt;&lt;spider&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22596" CreationDate="2019-07-13T05:06:13.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The following will filter water quite well, but will not sterilize it, which can be done by boiling. It also will not remove any mineral impurities such as arsenic, which, while uncommon, does pollute some waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take a 2 liter bottle and cut out the bottom, and below the neck if needed to increase throughput&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From your campfire, remove the charcoal and break it into marble sized pieces&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some clean river stones slightly larger than the charcoal&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get some smaller pebbles around the size of peas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get sand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get clean grass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stuff the bottle as follows:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A) Large stones to hold charcoal&lt;br&gt;&#xA;B) Charcoal&lt;br&gt;&#xA;C) small pebbles&lt;br&gt;&#xA;D) Sand&lt;br&gt;&#xA;E) Pebbles&lt;br&gt;&#xA;F) larger stones&lt;br&gt;&#xA;G) Grass&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hang bottle upside down with bottom up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pour in water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get clear water from neck&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can discard the grass on top as stuff gunks it up&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18248" LastEditorUserId="18248" LastEditDate="2019-07-16T19:24:58.363" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T19:24:58.363" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22608" CreationDate="2019-07-13T12:57:27.647" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is definitely a tick. If it were a spider it would appear that the legs all come from a central point, as spider bodies are separated into segments, whereas tick bodies are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ticksafety.com/about-ticks/tick-anatomy/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;There are two main types of ticks&lt;/a&gt; - hard ticks and soft ticks. They look quite different. Hard ticks have what's known as a scutum (translates to shield) that covers the front half of the animal, while soft ticks lack the scutum. This one is a hard tick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically what you have here is, most likely, a male &lt;a href=&quot;https://tickencounter.org/tick_identification/tick_species&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;American dog tick&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Dermacentor variabilis&lt;/em&gt;). I say this because of the pattern on the scutum and the leg color, other similar species have different color legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T12:57:27.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4840" CreationDate="2019-07-13T14:11:33.323" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both are good calibers. The 30-06 is better with 200 plus grain bullets. Although for 200 grain and above I use magnum calibers. That's just me. I like lighter bullets for flatter trajectory, because it can't hurt for placement on longer shots. The 308 is easier on barrels with less recoil. A 30-06 has a bit more energy and speed. Both are very effective large game rifles with proper bullet construction and placement. Very similar in all around performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18255" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-07-13T22:44:21.900" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T22:44:21.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14862" CreationDate="2019-07-13T14:34:42.547" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have slept 4 nights recently (July) in the Czech Republic and Poland with boars nearby. I make it a habit to urinate on the trees around my campsite to let animals, particularly wild dogs, know it is my territory. The first night, a boar came sniffing quite close, about 2 meters away. I shouted. On the third shout, it went away. The next night, I placed a 0.5 meter tall fence of sticks around my site. No boars came close, but I heard at least two galloping at high speed on a trail near my campsite. I didn't realize it was a boar path. Definitely don't camp in the middle of anything that looks like a path. The third night, I built a 1.5 meter tall, heavy fence from branches around my camp. No boars at all that night, but it could have been because a hunter had shot one earlier in the evening about 0.5 kilometers away. The fourth night I was in the outskirts of a city and thought there would be no boars. I was wrong. Paths through high grass are a giveaway. I heard what I thought was a domestic dog barking loudly over and over and another one replying, on two occasions. It was boars. Anyway, they didn't come closer than 75 meters, for which I was grateful. My takeaway from experience and reading is, they're unlikely to charge a tent, they will go away if you yell, but they might accidentally run into you if you set up camp on their trail, and they will make a ton of noise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18256" LastActivityDate="2019-07-13T14:34:42.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21531" CreationDate="2019-07-14T04:47:40.723" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://plantnet.org/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pl@ntNet&lt;/a&gt; is a citizen science project based in France. It's a great way to identify plants. To you use it you take one or more picture of a plant and then Pl@ntNet will upload them to a server and the server will give you a list of its best guesses, along with confidence measures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pl@ntNet does cannot identify plants offline, nor can it identify animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18240" LastActivityDate="2019-07-14T04:47:40.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22603" CreationDate="2019-07-14T16:49:50.137" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Edit your question, then I will edit this answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the symptom of not working?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: The motor won't start.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check fuel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check that the spark plug works.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After this it's pretty much 'my two stroke engine won't run'&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: The motor starts but runs really rough and develops no power.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dirty gas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clogged carburator.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Somebody ran it on unmixed gas and scored the cylinder/piston badly enough you don't get much compression.  This is easily tested.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Motor runs fine, but the prop doesn't spin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;broken drive shaft.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;broken shear pin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:  Read your manual.  Many engines are water cooled, so running without the bottom half in a water tank can result in a very large paperweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-14T16:49:50.137" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22596" CreationDate="2019-07-14T17:05:30.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In mountain terrain, the fine particles are likely rock flour -- and they are &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; small  If the water has a blueish cast, they are on the order of the wavelength of blue light -- about 400 nano meters, or 0.4 microns.  This is on the order of the smaller end of the range for most bacteria. (.5 to 2 microns) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clay has particles below 2 microns, silt 2 to 60 microns, sand 60 to 2,000 microns (1 mm = 1000 microns)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bacteria grade water filter doesn't expect to have a lot of bacteria.  You want to start with clear water.  Rock flour to clay will clog it very quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the taste of the water is from material dissolved in the water.  Filtering it clear won't change the flavour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-14T17:05:30.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22619" CreationDate="2019-07-15T09:12:28.020" Score="6" ViewCount="986" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having just completed my Boulding induction at a local rock climbing gym, what requirements should I look for in a pair of my own climbing shoes? Assume here cost is not a primary factor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-25T16:44:02.147" LastActivityDate="2019-08-25T16:44:02.147" Title="What to look for in climbing shoes?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22618" CreationDate="2019-07-15T10:51:42.767" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even though you say cost is not a primary factor, I still think it's good to be aware of this point when buying your first climbing shoes when mainly used in gyms (I wasn't aware at the time :) ):&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This won't be your last pair of climbing shoes, you'll need new ones quite soon due to the sole wearing through. Therefore you don't need to get the perfect technical climbing shoe on your first purchase.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can resole, but the price differences is not so high to buying a new one, so if the shoes aren't a great fit, you can just switch then (well price-difference depends on location probably, but still).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fitting your feet is key&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Climbing shoes must sit tightly on your foot, but they must not hurt. There's zero advantage in using tiny shoes at beginner level and in my opinion even at expert level it depends a lot on the type of climb and is often hyped up way too much.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Both sizing and fit vary greatly between different brands, and also within brands. Don't be irritated if you need to try models with hugely different sizings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Neutral profile&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Climbing shoes are often pointed toward the front and have a concave form both length-wise and side-ways. You don't need any of these features in the beginning. If you feel comfortable with models that have such features, go with it, but don't limit your options due to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sole thickness&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There's a trend towards thinner soles. The standard was/is I think 5mm, and now they go down to 3mm to give you &quot;a better feel of the footholds&quot;. That means your soles will also wear through faster.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Material&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Models made of leather will adapt to your foot. At the end of their lifetime, they may feel totally comfortable. Synthetic materials may have a little stretch, but they generally don't adapt to your feet over time. So with leather you can expect shoes to get more comfortable after wearing them a few times, with synthetics not so much.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For bouldering prefer soft over hard&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Especially for outdoors climbing soles can be quit rigid. For bouldering being able to move your feet in almost any direction is a good thing. Specialist bouldering models might even have completely separate soles for the front and back of the foot for more flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T11:44:31.200" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T11:44:31.200" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22620" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22630" CreationDate="2019-07-15T12:27:08.387" Score="3" ViewCount="631" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been doing a lot of cave climbing recently. So I am not talking about your average tourist cave, I talk about real miles deep labyrinth like caves, where nature never thought of humans getting in. To rule-out trivial answers I'd like to sketch the current scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You are with an experienced guide in a cave for about 2h, the guide loses consciousness after an accident and needs immediate medical attention. Since you relied on the guide's expertise, you are uncertain about the route back to an exit. You know that help may arrive in the next 48 hours or so since you may not return in time from your expedition. You have a light source, a compass and a map of the cave. Your light source will pose no immediate issue since you have power for at least the next two days. However, because the guide is in serious trouble and would possibly die in the next few hours (after performing first aid) you decide to try the escape anyway.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a good strategy to escape the cave in order to get help for the guide in trouble? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Note:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The question is less about the guide in danger, rather about possible strategies to navigate back. &quot;Stay where you are&quot; is a valid answer if you hope for rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A second similar scenario is: &#xA;&lt;em&gt;You were beamed by an evil villain into a cave unknown to you. You have a light source, a compass and a map of the cave. The cave has an exit. You want to get out.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What else would you need to get out of the cave? How would you plan your escape? How would you try to locate yourself and navigate to an exit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T15:27:40.497" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T15:27:40.497" Title="How to escape a cave in an emergency situation?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;caving&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22620" CreationDate="2019-07-15T14:43:27.897" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Get lucky&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't know where the exit is, getting out of a cave is a matter of luck.  If you have watched T.V. you have seen people using a flame to check for a breeze, but in reality, there is no guarantee that one way or the other will lead to an exit you can use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might follow the water, but again you have no idea if the water coming in or out of the cave will lead to an exit you can use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can try always turning left or right at intersections, but you might start in exactly the wrong direction, or you might miss a hidden side tunnel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is any chance that rescue is coming, then waiting is your best choice.  If no chance of rescue, pick whatever makes you feel most lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T14:43:27.897" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22618" CreationDate="2019-07-15T15:44:24.313" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imsodin's answer provides a great general overview of things to think about when looking for a first climbing shoe. I'd like to expand a bit further with the fit of a shoe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing I would look for in a proper fitting shoe is how much room your toes have, you want them to be right at the end of the shoe with no extra space so that you'll be able to stand on your toes on tiny edges. That said you don't want your toes to be crunched up and so compressed that they're in pain.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next how does it fit your heel? As you get into intermediate boulders you may need to use heel-hooks, a properly fitting shoe will stay on your foot as you put power through your heel, a poorly fitting shoe may try to slip down off your heel and fold over.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly here are some other factors to consider:&lt;br&gt;&#xA; - A bit of rubber above the toes can be handy to help your toes stick when doing toe-hooks&lt;br&gt;&#xA; - You shouldn't feel any irritation around your achille's tendon, consider this a deal breaker when trying on shoes, if it bothers you while trying it on it will certainly bother you a lot more climbing&lt;br&gt;&#xA; - laces can allow you to adjust tightness with more sensitivity than velcro straps but are less convenient to take on and off&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T15:44:24.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21531" CreationDate="2019-07-15T15:49:36.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love &lt;strong&gt;Seek&lt;/strong&gt;, by iNaturalist:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides Flora: Fauna and Fungi are part of the detection possibilities. The answers are very detailed. Although there is room for improvement, the gamified approach is lots of fun while maintaining the scientific correctness.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, the iNaturalist community is a great place to discover other's observations worldwide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing I like is, that you do not need to register, if you want to use the app. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seek is funded by the California Academy of Sciences, National Geographic and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The app is available completely for free for all iOS and Android users. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/observations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.inaturalist.org/observations&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="18211" LastEditDate="2019-07-15T15:55:12.820" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T15:55:12.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22625" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22626" CreationDate="2019-07-15T17:15:28.357" Score="1" ViewCount="268" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a multi-purpose rope for camping with the following specs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Synthetic&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preferably 7/16&quot; dia or less&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;750-1000lb test break strength&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't plan on climbing with this rope but it would be nice to know that every time I jump into my hammock I don't surpass the dynamic load rating. Aside from high quality rope for climbing and towing, the only rope I see with ratings is paracord, and I'm just not buying the 750lb test from a shoe string.  I was hoping a reputable rope manufacturer might have more of an economy model.  Does anyone have any suggestions about where I might look?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T18:04:24.373" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T06:50:36.393" Title="What types of ropes are there for multi-purpose camping that are strong?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22625" CreationDate="2019-07-15T18:38:18.697" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;General Answer&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sterlingrope.com/store/climb/cordage/accessory-cords&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterling Accessory Cord&lt;/a&gt; is probably somewhat ideal for your weight specs while still being a reasonable price. Stronger than what you are looking and from a very reputable brand. I use sterling accessory cord all the time; it is a staple in my whitewater kayaking rescue kit for prussics. They have a bunch of sizes, but here are three in your general strength area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4mm cord is 876lbs break strength&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5mm cord is 1,169lbs break strength&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;6mm cord is 1,978lbs break strength&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Hammocking&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In regards to hammocking, remember that the break strength of the rope and the ability for it to support a hammock are VERY different. When using rope to support a hammock it is at an angle which greatly &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/rope-angle-tension-increase-d_1507.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reduces load capacity&lt;/a&gt; (45 degrees is a 40% increase in load for example). When setting up for a hammock you are also going to have knots. Knots again will greatly reduce your load capacity (50+% easily). You are also moving up and down when you get in which increases the load on the line. I personally wouldn't hammock on anything rated below 1750lbs (so the 6mm would be fine). All the talk about weight aside, &lt;strong&gt;DON'T HAMMOCK ON PLAIN CORD&lt;/strong&gt; because it is bad for the trees. You should be using webbing, or at least put something between the trees and the cord.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T18:28:28.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22628" CreationDate="2019-07-15T21:53:04.257" Score="3" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where to I insert the slackline in this picture? Does the slackline wrap around a cylinder of the ratchet or just hang? I can't get the line to be locked in place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It'd be helpful if someone would paint over this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4dKrQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4dKrQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18223" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-07-16T06:25:35.413" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T06:25:35.413" Title="Where to insert slackline into ratchet?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22627" CreationDate="2019-07-15T22:14:17.633" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The slackline goes through the center drum to hold it in place. Better than editing a picture, you can see how it works from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1bRc4vkiBM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; at 0:49. Basically you have to provide a bit of tension, so that the line wraps around the center drum and then catches and winds on in a &quot;doubled over&quot; form as at 1:20ish in the video.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-15T22:14:17.633" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22603" CreationDate="2019-07-16T08:11:43.150" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Doing a quick google search for &quot;Impeller 2002 2 stroke 75 HP Yamaha&quot; shows that it is a rubber impeller, these WILL age and dry out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check your manual for when and how to replace it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb:&#xA;On inboard engines we replace these yearly, it's a cheap 15 minute job that can save thousands in damage.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;On our outboards I think we should be doing the same but we actually only do it every 5 years.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We've been lucky and my favourite outboard (2stroke 6hp Mercury) sometimes sits for years between usage and always works without a single issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For both inboard and outboard engines: while running the engine regularly check if water is still being pumped out (on engines that support it make sure your engine (and wet exhaust) temperature alarms work and hook up a good buzzer).&#xA;If no water is being pumped out and the engine is hot (sometimes engines have thermostats) get out of the way of any traffic and stop your engine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Call for help and get a tow back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T08:11:43.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22620" CreationDate="2019-07-16T11:31:16.387" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have no way of safely and reliably leaving the cave to get help, your first priority is not to become a casualty yourself as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if the Guide needs urgent medical attention, it would take an appreciable amount of time for the first members of the cave rescue team to arrive on site and then to locate you and the Guide in the cave, so there is no such thing as the &quot;Golden Hour&quot; in cave rescue normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you have the means to navigate (as you have said a map and compass) unless you know precisely where you are to begin with and have a reasonable amount of caving experience, then these would be of little help in a complicated cave system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is remain with the Guide until help arrives and provide as much assistance to the Guide as you can, such as placing him/her in the Recovery Position, keep an eye on their airway and breathing and provide as much insulation as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2019-07-16T11:31:16.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22631" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21940" CreationDate="2019-07-17T10:31:24.177" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As long as you are permitted to do the camping I would not worry too much for the boars. However, make sure that you have a wild animal to worry about more: Homo sapiens. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when selecting your camp site make sure that it is free of boar or other wild animal traces. Avoid places where you recognize:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;dug up soil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;animal tracks and paths&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(boar) hair &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(boar) smell&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;loose fruit on the ground &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(boar) feces&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also avoid places close to marshes/swamps. Do not camp during the boars' rutting season from November to January.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have permission and a suitable safe place, consider making a camp fire. If you camp not close to their shelter and if you are not too stealthy they will rather avoid you.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="18211" LastEditDate="2019-07-17T11:20:36.167" LastActivityDate="2019-07-17T11:20:36.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22633" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-17T14:25:44.347" Score="2" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure it is nice to carry around huge packs of fresh vegetables and some beef in order to prepare a proper dish. However, it takes up space and moreover lots of mass in your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a pound of butter may be highly efficient in terms of energy/mass ratio, however nobody want's to live of that stuff. Consider carbs, proteins and vitamins as well please. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all want to remain healthy, especially if we are on our great outdoor adventure tours. So what is an effective selection of groceries for a prolonged weekend trekking trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastActivityDate="2019-07-17T18:34:50.443" Title="What are effective trekking-groceries in terms of energy/mass ratio while maintaining a healthy balance of carbs, fats, proteins and vitamins?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22634" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22637" CreationDate="2019-07-17T17:20:23.840" Score="5" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are avid inland, freshwater kayakers - both on calm lakes and up/down rivers and streams.  We have only done day trips.  We are also moderately experienced backcountry campers.  Now we have plans to do a two night water trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What things should we bring or not bring when upgrading from day kayak excursions to overnight, aside from very basic backpacking gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have fairly basic beginner kayaks with hardpoints but no actual rigging on the decks, no skirts, no paddle attachment cable, or really any accessories.  We have paddles and PFDs.  I'm open to suggestions of kayak modifications or accessories, but we don't really want completely new boats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;US Ohio region, planning September, rain possible.  The river in question is shallow enough to stand in many places, though no real &quot;rapids&quot; and shore is quite reachable if one had to swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not a duplicate of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/13161/how-much-kayaking-experience-is-needed-for-a-trip-on-the-alabama-scenic-river-tr&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;, as it is asking about experience, not equipment.&#xA;Not a duplicate of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15196/what-safety-equipment-should-i-carry-for-sea-touring-by-kayak&quot;&gt;this one either&lt;/a&gt;, as it pertains to spending multiple days on open ocean, which is way more serious than what we're planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18272" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T07:12:18.220" Title="What equipment do I need for overnight water trail in a kayak?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;backcountry&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22633" CreationDate="2019-07-17T18:03:20.117" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The single most efficient food in terms of calories and protein per gram is peanut butter.  In pure form, fats have 9 cal/g, protein 4 cal/g, and carbs a bit less than protein.  I pack as much of it as I think I'll eat, and then throw in whatever else I think will make the peanut butter go down easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When meal planning, I multiply the number of days by 3000 to get roughly the number of calories I'll need for the trip, and pack food accordingly.  My suggestion is to actively avoid overpacking... there's nothing worse than realizing you've taken 5 pounds of food for a long walk unnecessarily.  Add a bit for emergency if you are going into a remote area.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're taking months to cross the South Pole, you don't need to worry about vitamins.  Your body has plenty to get you back to civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17621" LastActivityDate="2019-07-17T18:03:20.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22633" CreationDate="2019-07-17T18:34:50.443" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Think in terms of the superfoods like beans, rice and nuts. These are fairly lightweight because most of the moisture has been removed. Add some jerky to the list and you can create some wonderful meals. Don't forget whatever spices you like to season the food too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like iced tea, kool-aid and coffee are nice to have and some are fortified with vitamins and minerals too. Along these same lines you can also include meal replacement mixes as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, if you have a sweet tooth, try packing some M&amp;amp;M's or any other heat stable candies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastActivityDate="2019-07-17T18:34:50.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22637" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22634" CreationDate="2019-07-17T21:45:52.687" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In brief:  Drybags or sturdy trash bags (trash compactor bags are good), and a splashproof flashlight you can keep at hand if you want to paddle in low light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are going to have a blast!  Dawn dusk and maybe moonlight are fantastic times for a short paddle close to your campsite.  So bring a light—-most places do not require a small boat to have a light on at all times but DO require a white light kept within reach at all times to alert other boats of your presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need a way to keep your clothes and sleeping bag dry in the event of a capsize.  Depending on weather this is a safety issue you need to be able to get warm and dry after an unintentional swim.  And you need a convenient way to haul gear from the boat to the tent site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel that dry bags such as those made by seal line are a great investment (I specifically prefer Seal Line Baja for performance and durability if it’s not too cold you could probably get away with cheaper).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/frf4I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/frf4I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can make do with trash bags if you are very careful not to abraded or tear (especially in warm weather when it’s a convenience not safety issue).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also recommend a few reusable grocery bags / IKEA bags for hauling gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other than that, enjoy the fact that you don’t need to pack as light as you would backpacking.  Bring comfort items like a pair of camp shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-07-18T07:12:18.220" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T07:12:18.220" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22639" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22645" CreationDate="2019-07-18T10:12:00.820" Score="12" ViewCount="2780" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some of my climber friends are pretty fast climbers with a speed of about 20s for a 10m long route. The really fast ones use auto-belaying-systems seen on speed climbing competitions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those auto-belaying-systems are not available everywhere, so sometimes it can be done manually with a conventional belay device. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The belaying procedure can become pretty hectic and exhaustive to pull in this much rope in such a short time. Are there special techniques or portable belay devices that relieve the belaying person? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T15:22:09.993" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T23:59:15.063" Title="How to belay top-rope climbers who are ascending quickly?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22640" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-07-18T12:42:42.990" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd very much recommend using a GriGri or one of the newer device with the same mechanism. Reason being, the braking mechanism is not dependent on the position of the braking hand. Thus you can pull in rope in whatever way you want, as long as you have the braking strand in any of your hands at any point it's safe. This removes a lot of the stress as compared to e.g. belaying devices of the &quot;tuber style&quot; (ATC, Reverso, ...), where you need to make sure that your braking hand stays below the height of the device at all time. With a fitting rope you can pull in rope really fast with a GriGri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T15:33:56.413" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T15:33:56.413" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22641" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-07-18T13:16:09.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ask them to slow down since their speed is affecting your ability to provide a belay. Don't deviate from your standard belay method &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18276" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T13:16:09.053" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22642" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-18T14:11:50.630" Score="6" ViewCount="246" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sure you have to look out for crevasses which is nicely explained here: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7021/how-to-detect-a-crevasse-on-a-glacier&quot;&gt;How to detect a crevasse on a glacier&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what else does one have to consider when trying to cross a glacier? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some glaciers are recommended to cross depending on &quot;the conditions&quot;. What are safety related glacier conditions to be considered when you have the goal of crossing one?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T12:16:07.263" Title="How do I tell if a glacier is safe for crossing?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-07-18T16:01:40.030" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If they're top-roping (or when you need to pull in a LOT of slack lead belaying) you can take your hand off the load side and put both on the brake side. Then you can pull hard and straight away from your hips while thrusting your hips backwards, which pulls in a solid 4+ ft of rope at once. Then, you reset your hips and slide your top hand back up to the belay device, then follow with the other. A cycle takes about half a second, and is very intuitive once you've done it a couple times. This technique allows you to take in a lot of slack without bringing your brake hand over the belay device. It does look kinda goofy, but it's better to look foolish than drop your partner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should also add, this is a little awkward to do at first, especially on lead. Without your top hand, the belay device will want to drop down and hang at groin level unless the load side is already taut. This makes it kinda weird to pull slack, especially during the reset section. It's not super difficult to do but it's worth yarding out some rope with both climbers on the ground to practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T12:45:13.370" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T12:45:13.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-07-18T16:15:11.403" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone is going quickly I prefer to alternate my brake hand. This way I don't need as much time to &quot;reset&quot;. It also allows me to grab large amounts of slack at once. You just need to be comfortable enough with your non-dominant hand on the brake side, which isn't an issue for most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull slack with left hand and brake with right hand; right hand is&#xA;low on the brake side. (standard motion)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put left hand over right hand on the brake side, high up, just below belay device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put right hand on climber's end of rope high above belay device&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat but opposite. So pull slack with right hand a brake with left hand.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T16:15:11.403" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-07-18T16:17:28.160" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Special devices:&lt;/strong&gt; @imsodin is right in suggesting a GriGri. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For the method:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The common trick is to have two &quot;belayers.&quot; One attaches the GriGri on their harness as usual. The second person stands facing the primary belayer and pulls hand over hand on the rope (essentially pulling away from the primary belayer, through the GriGri). The primary belayer can help by pulling slack down towards the GriGri from above. This should let you belay most climbers quite quickly. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;But, as always, if at some point there is a lot of slack between the belay device and the climber, the climber must slow down to allow the belayer to catch up.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Taking big falls on static rope with slack is dangerous for everyone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some background:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two-belayer-one-GriGri method was pretty common at local and regional speed climbing competitions in the US until 2018. It was even used at IFSC comps until 2016. In fact, USA Climbing Rule 7.2.1 stated that all routes must be&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;belayed from below&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and this was the accepted practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However:&lt;/strong&gt; Following an incident in 2018 in which a speed climber took a bad fall that was attributed to this belaying style, USA Climbing &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.usaclimbing.org/Media/USA_Climbing_News/USA_Climbing_Statement_on_Belay_Practices_for_Speed_Climbing.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;removed this rule&lt;/a&gt;, allowing auto-belays to be used. Similarly, the IFSC and USA Climbing both use special speed auto-belays for speed climbing competition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't definitively speak to which is safer, and I'm not sure anyone can. Hopefully this doesn't need saying, but this should only be done indoors with express permission of the gym staff. Note that some gyms double-wrap their ropes at the top of the climb--don't speed climb with this setup as the friction is both annoying and creates more heat, which is bad for the ropes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T16:17:28.160" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22646" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22642" CreationDate="2019-07-18T16:26:16.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not an alpinist, but I think that the answer relating to &quot;conditions&quot; is entirely dependent on the local conditions for the position on the glacier where you intend to cross.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, crevasses are a big threat and should always be treated with caution. However, there are other also serious considerations, many of which boil down to ice conditions in the long run:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice conditions - is the ice bare, snow covered, etc? How will this affect your rate of travel and mode of travel and how you could avert a disaster (self arrest on hard ice??).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice conditions - where are you crossing? On the middle of a flat section or are you intending to go through an ice-fall (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khumbu_Icefall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Khumbu icefall&lt;/a&gt;, one of the more deadly sites on Everest). Are there &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serac&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;seracs&lt;/a&gt; around? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ice conditions - What time of day are you crossing? Is it sunny, hot, cold etc? How does this affect the ice and the surface? If it is (or has been) sunny and warm, the ice bridges over crevasses are more likely to be soft and collapse. Seracs are more likely to fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Surrounding conditions - what are the hills like on either side? Is this a run-off area for avalanches? Refer to 1 and 3 above...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather - what is the weather like? Glaciers tend to be in exposed areas, and can have things like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katabatic_wind&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;katabatic winds&lt;/a&gt;, which could make travel very difficult, if not impossible. Finding or creating shelter in the middle of a glacier might not be easy. Refer to 1,2,3 above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T20:11:51.590" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T20:11:51.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22647" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21940" CreationDate="2019-07-18T23:00:47.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd be careful of wild pigs (boar or sow doesn't matter &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; much) when moving rather than when camping/sleeping: the danger is if you meet them and they are cornered. But unless you like to enter swamps and very thick brambles, and pick the blackberries only from the outside of the bramble thicket you're unlikely to stumble into their &quot;living room&quot;, and you may never see any of them - though they may see you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From that point of view, I'm not sure that encoutering a wild pig in urban settings (common or &lt;em&gt;garden&lt;/em&gt; wild pig ;-) ) isn't far more dangerous than meeting it in the forests of Brandenburg where pretty much everywhere the remaining almost 360° are open to the pig to get away. And of course injured wild pigs are dangerous - but unless you are the hunter who has to search the boar after the car accident, that is not your problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are in camp, they'll know where you are by smell and sound long before you have any idea they are around. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to consider putting up (tree) anything that can potentially smell edible or otherwise interesting, in particular if you are still close to town so have to expect that the pigs do have experience with humans as not being dangerous bus associated with delicious food (aka vegetable garden, compost heap and possibly rubbish bin). OTOH, that way it is still easily accessible for racoons and mice - who are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; curious about anything that &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; turn out to be food. (I haven't done that so far, though I've put the backpack with its rain cover to a tree in rain when there was no place for it under the tarp. But I have lost food to mice - even in on a official bear safe hanging &quot;rack&quot;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they are content and feeding they munch and dig around and grunt a bit. When you encounter one and it blows, it's time for a retreat, and if it claps its teeth better be up a somewhere (tree) immediately. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for hunting: hunting of wild pigs is permitted during the whole night, and in Brandenburg AFAIK all year round. Still, sufficient light is required. Thus, if you go camping and neither want to get yourself into a hunt nor want to disturb the hunter: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;between last and first quarter, the moon is a) too small and b) mostly shining during the day, so no hunting light during the night. In additon, right now (summer) the moon is rather low, so that even with full moon the light isn't as bright as in winter. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In terms of weather, thick clouds mean too low light even in full moon. Snow OTOH means that both day light and moon light go much further. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course hunting is not a difficulty at all if you do what you are officially supposed to do: get permission by owner (who also knows the hunter/Jagdpächter) to camp and bushcraft on their land/in their hunting lease (Jagdrevier). But it may help if you already ask for times when you won't disturb any hunting - and it may help a lot if they do get the impression beforehand that you won't disturb the game (any time, not only potential hunting occasions).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that being said - keep in mind that there are other animals out there that are all in all far more dangerous. Ticks for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-07-18T23:00:47.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22650" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-19T17:05:26.327" Score="4" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;String walking is,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Having a 3-under allows for string walking. What this is, is basically the ability to &lt;strong&gt;pull the string at a different position hence changing the distance of your shot.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22594/8794&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why would one &lt;strong&gt;use string walking instead of just adjusting your aim?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T23:21:59.093" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T06:24:59.817" Title="Why use string walking in archery to change the distance of your shot?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22650" CreationDate="2019-07-19T17:37:52.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.archery360.com/2018/03/20/aim-a-barebow-with-string-walking/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;site&lt;/a&gt; covers the why (emphasis mine).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barebow archers&lt;/strong&gt; don’t have the luxury of an adjustable sight or multiple sightpins. Instead, they use their &lt;strong&gt;arrow tip to aim&lt;/strong&gt;, turning its point into an adjustable sight by gripping the string at different locations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barebow archery is described &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.archery360.com/2015/11/09/unleash-your-inner-katniss-with-barebow-archery/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“Barebow” is a stripped-down form of modern archery that features no sights, no stabilizer, no clicker and no markings on the bow to help you aim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially in barebow archery string walking is the way to adjust your aim since you have no sights to aim with so you must use the arrow tip. Using the arrow tip as a sight limits your options for adjusting the aim and so string walking becomes the most favorable means of aiming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2019-07-19T17:43:39.713" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T17:43:39.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19908" CreationDate="2019-07-19T18:27:41.650" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In simple terms: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Heat Index&quot; is what it feels like based on temperature + relative humidity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Feels Like&quot;  is temperature + relative humidity + wind speed.  With most any breeze, &quot;Feels Like&quot; is usually a lower number than heat index due to evaporative cooling of your skin by the wind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18284" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T18:27:41.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22620" CreationDate="2019-07-19T19:27:39.907" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If someone is seriously hurt deep in a cave, and only hours away from dying, chances are they are going to die. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have a map, but do you know how to read it? Cave maps don't read like a topo map, because they aren't mapping a planar surface. Caves can be just as much vertical as they are horizontal, with caverns zig-zagging and crossing over and under each other. If you don't know how to read a cave map you could end up leading yourself to a 100m deep pot with no way of getting across it to the caverns on the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caves are the most inaccessible areas on Earth. Depending on the cave, if you get seriously hurt, rescue can be nearly impossible. There are people who have died in caves and had to be extracted in pieces (with family permission) because their bodies couldn't be maneuvered through tight sections of the cave. Other caves have been blasted in order to widen sections and make room for a stretcher (random tip - keep your mouth open and your ears plugged when in a cave during a blast or you'll rupture your ear drums). Cave rescues are LONG, slow and very involved. Your guide's best bet for survival is if someone stays with them and keeps them warm and stable, they could be there for a couple days before rescue arrives, if a rescue is possible. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they do die, and you don't know how to get out, then your best option is to stay put and wait for help to arrive. A good guide would have informed someone about their planned entry and exit times, and will check in when they exit the cave. They will also have a response plan in place in the event they don't exit the cave within a prescribed amount of time, which would initiate a search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you aren't confident you can find your way out of a cave, then there's a good chance you'll manage to get yourself terribly lost in the attempt. The exit to a cave isn't always the most obvious, or easiest route. If you know how to read a map and have a good amount of common sense, then you can probably retrace your steps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you magically land in a cave and have to find your way out, there is no secret to escape, just read your map, be safe, don't take any unnecessary risks, and make sure you can get back to your starting point if you need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2019-07-19T19:27:39.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22654" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-19T22:22:37.420" Score="8" ViewCount="363" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer first: The brake-hand principle (always hold the braking strand of the rope) always applies to assisted braking belay devices, including the Grigri. This question is in no way targeted at putting that in question, follow it at all times!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a recent question about quickly belaying on top rope, some discussion happened in comments about how the braking mechanism of a Grigri can fail. In general, the Grigri is known as a very reliable, while bulky tool for belaying with a brake-assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now excluding user failure (e.g. fully holding the Grigri in one's hand and thus disabling the braking mechanism), &lt;strong&gt;what scenarios are there in which the Grigri will not by itself start braking and finally arresting a fall?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition: &lt;strong&gt;What is/are the countermeasure(s) to let the braking mechanism engage in the respective scenarios?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am only looking for scenarios which can be/have been demonstrated (in practice or in a test setup), not in hypothetical problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-07-20T01:05:05.810" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T17:29:51.840" Title="What are known failure modes of the auto-braking mechanism of Grigris?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22654" CreationDate="2019-07-19T23:21:35.467" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are several scenarios but they all boil down to not using the brake hand but instead hoping the device will catch or improperly sized ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;1) with super-skinny ropes; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;2) an extremely light climber; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;3) routes with bulges or significant rope drag that reduce the forces of a fall; and &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;4) hanging on the rope (versus falling) mid-route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/grigri-basics/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Learn Proper Techniques for Grigri Use&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all of those situations, the solution is to keep a hold on the braking strand and not let go. Once the rope goes tight between the climber and your hand the cam will engage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's worth pointing out that these are assisted and not auto belay devices, you can't just not pay attention and expect them to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-20T03:27:24.033" LastActivityDate="2019-07-20T03:27:24.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22656" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-20T01:18:42.583" Score="7" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve seen small radar reflectors for sale.  Should I carry one when kayaking?  What else can I do such that boats can use their radar to be aware of my location when they can’t see me due to poor visibility? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-07-21T20:38:01.833" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T11:50:16.887" Title="What can I do to be more visible to other ships’ radar when traveling in a sea kayak?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;radios&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22657" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22656" CreationDate="2019-07-20T03:26:49.537" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like radar reflectors will not hurt but they aren't great either. The bigger and higher they are the better, which is easier to do on a sailboat than a sea kayak. According to one &lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;study&lt;/a&gt;, a homemade reflector worn on the paddler's hat provided the best signal reflections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distance they can be seen regardless of a radar reflector is limited,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;At both 1/8 and ¼ nautical mile&#xA;  from the radar platform, kayaks&#xA;  consistently showed up on radar,&#xA;  regardless of whether there was a&#xA;  reflector in use or not. Beginning at ½&#xA;  nautical mile, kayaks produced an&#xA;  obvious radar signal less than 10% of&#xA;  the time&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Radar, Reflectors and Sea Kayaks: A Visibility Study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bigger kayaks such as tandems and padding a  group of kayakers produces a better signal than a reflector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The tandem sea&#xA;  kayak turned up much better than the&#xA;  solo sea kayaks, regardless of radar&#xA;  reflector. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Kayaks paddling closely together in&#xA;  a pod formation produce a much more&#xA;  significant radar return than a kayak&#xA;  paddling singly with a radar reflector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Radar, Reflectors and Sea Kayaks: A Visibility Study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reccomendations were&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Based on our field tests, we found&#xA;  that &lt;strong&gt;some form of radar reflector,&lt;/strong&gt; be it&#xA;  commercially manufactured or homemade, &lt;strong&gt;is better than none&lt;/strong&gt; and bigger&#xA;  radar reflectors produce better returns.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Radar, Reflectors and Sea Kayaks: A Visibility Study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other suggestions for increasing visibility include,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Increase your visibility by wearing bright clothing, using a bright (not dark) colored kayak, paddles&#xA;  with white rather than black blades, and putting reflector tape on your kayak paddles and life jackets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you are traveling in a group &amp;amp; you see a vessel approaching, move into a tight group to increase&#xA;  your visibility. Wave your paddles high above your head to alert the vessel operator of your presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When crossing a passageway or open water, cross in a tight group and consider using a small radar&#xA;  reflector. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while a reflector will not hurt, it's not a magic solution either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-20T03:26:49.537" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22658" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22663" CreationDate="2019-07-20T04:00:06.477" Score="5" ViewCount="348" Body="&lt;p&gt;We recently (July, 2019) went to Bar Harbor, Maine, United States, to visit friends who live on the ocean. My husband took a walk on an established path (he's very serious about Leave No Trace) at the water's edge. The tide was out so he was especially careful of where he stepped. Mostly he stood still on a rock along the coast and took pictures in different directions. Most were zoomed (including the blurry ones!) but some were closer to where he was standing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He was about a mile down the coast from our friends. There was no visible house, or people, and our friends don't know who owns the land, or what the owners use it for. He didn't see specific paths leading into the land from the ocean side, but they could have been his vantage point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some trees he saw strangely shaped net things hanging from branches. They look like drawstring bags with the tops wrapped around the branch. They're wide in the middle so they have a structure, which may be created by the thin black things inside. A few inches up from the bottom they're cinched tight by metal-looking rings. Below that the bottom opens into a shape that looks like an upside down flower. The most blurry picture shows one hanging from a branch over an inlet with a small man-made lighthouse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're obviously some type of plastic. It troubled us because we're very much against plastic anywhere outdoors, and especially near the ocean. We also don't approve of things tied to tree branches.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We don't camp or do much outdoor travel at all, so I'm hoping someone here will know what they're used for and why. Most importantly, would the users take them away when they leave? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they're just for things like food, supplies or trash that people left behind, we'll call the local authorities and report them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update August 1, 2019:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;My friends found out the nets are used to collect mussels, clams and other crustaceans, to eat them. That makes sense considering all the mussels my husband saw! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They could easily have multiple purposes, including holding suet cakes for birds, so I'm going to accept Jasper's answer as correct! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OigzY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OigzY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Net with full string and more trees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m64LL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m64LL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Closer view&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qcDDx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qcDDx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Closer view of how it wraps around the branch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3XvFm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k3XvFm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Net in a tree above lighthouse&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QgSfUm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QgSfUm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The shore line&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n3m62m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n3m62m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Shore line from another direction&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P0QdNm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P0QdNm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mussels&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CzbyDm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CzbyDm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fish in the rocky pong&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-09T00:51:11.597" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T00:51:11.597" Title="What is this plastic net with a wide middle and bottom that looks like an upside-down flower hanging from a tree?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22660" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-20T13:34:38.083" Score="7" ViewCount="553" Body="&lt;p&gt;At significant risk of tin foil hat jokes, I’ve read compelling evidence that a homemade hat incorporating angled and crumpled aluminum foil may slightly increase a kayaker’s visibility on radar — &lt;strong&gt;not enough to provide real safety by itself, but as a small addition to other best practices.&lt;/strong&gt;  Thanks to this &lt;a href=&quot;/a/22657&quot;&gt;answer to &lt;em&gt;What can I do to be more visible to other ships’ radar when traveling in a sea kayak?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; for the link to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://seagrant.umaine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/467/2019/05/2005-springuel-radar-reflectors-sea-kayak-visibility-study.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Radar, Reflectors and Sea Kayaks:&#xA;A Visibility Study&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HuHd9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HuHd9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aXrRg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aXrRg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I replicate or improve the performance of this hat while making it something I’ll actually wear on a long ocean paddle?  Most importantly how do I make sure the design is doing its job as intended especially after use and wear?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T16:03:34.000" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T10:53:14.520" Title="How do I make and test a radar-reflecting hat?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;solo-kayaking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22658" CreationDate="2019-07-21T20:01:59.970" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty sure it's some kind of a suet cake/fat ball, i.e. bird's food, see the first image on the Wikipedia article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet_cake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet_cake&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3qtI7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Blue Tit feeding on a suet cake&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Luc Viatour / &lt;a href=&quot;https://Lucnix.be&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://Lucnix.be&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-07-22T10:44:36.053" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T10:44:36.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22660" CreationDate="2019-07-21T20:27:57.533" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a suggestion, though somewhat wacky is perhaps more realistic than the &quot;hat&quot; idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The page &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.skippertips.com/public/800.cfm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sailing Safety Secrets - Are You 'Radar Visible' to Ships at Sea?&lt;/a&gt; says that the reflector should be as high as possible. For a boat with no masts, that can only be done by towing a kite, or a helium balloon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should the reflector be? A tinfoil hat or other random affair might not reflect radar back in the same direction. This diagram shows that a pair of mirrors with a 90° angle will reflect back in the incoming direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UYGG8.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UYGG8.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, a single pair of mirrors might be tipped at any angle, and not work at all. But this page: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instructables.com/id/Really-Lightweight-Radar-Reflector-built-with-CDs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Really Lightweight Radar Reflector Built With CDs&lt;/a&gt; suggests using a 3D version of the idea, which will reflect back incoming radar from any direction, to where it came. In this case it is made of &lt;strong&gt;three&lt;/strong&gt; orthogonal reflectors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N354M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/N354M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is small, but light, and perhaps several of these can be suspended from a kite or balloon to provide a radar image. It should not matter how they spin or wobble: rays from any direction are always reflected back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-07-21T20:27:57.533" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22665" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22650" CreationDate="2019-07-22T06:24:59.817" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tldr: string walking is used with the goal of not moving your aiming point during a change of target distance.&lt;/strong&gt; It's the equivalent of adjusting your sights in recurve&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll paint a little picture for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine that at 30m you're able to line the tip of the arrow with the target gold and your shots are accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now 50m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Barebow: If you didn't string walk at all, you'll probably aim the tip of the arrow at the top of the target (which definitely isn't ideal) to get more distance. What's going to happen if your poundage isn't high enough such that you need to aim even higher? You'll end up with no reference point since you'll essentially be aiming at the sky. Instead, you'd pull a little lower than usual but keep your arrow tip on the center of the target. Voila.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For comparison (and as a little extra knowledge)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recurve: We've got sights and can adjust the sight pin up, down, left or right. So moving from 30m to 50m, we just need to lower our sights. In recurve, we normally calibrate our sights so that we know exactly where we need our sights (our sights have a numbered scale, check out the picture) to be at when we change distances. Example, at 30m my shots land in the center with my sights adjusted to 31. At 50m, it'll be at 49 and my sights will still be aimed at the center. I'll know these numbers from calibrating from performing sighter rounds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you see now, that &lt;strong&gt;string walking is basically the equivalent of moving the sights in recurve with the goal of not moving your aiming point during a change of target distance&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YxvPN.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YxvPN.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17989" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T06:24:59.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22656" CreationDate="2019-07-22T11:50:16.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Allow me to turn your question on its head a bit.  Making yourself more visible to large vessels is a good idea, &lt;em&gt;not being where they need you to be visible is a great idea&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay away from channels, shipping lanes, and docking areas.  You are small and in a craft that can turn and stop in mere inches- a laden freighter on the other hand, might measure those same parameters in tenths of a mile when in harbor, full miles when in open ocean.  Per &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/navRules/CG_NRHB_20151231.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;navigation rules section 27 and 28&lt;/a&gt;, such a vessel would be considered either Restricted in Ability to Maneuver or Constrained by Draft, and thus have priority over a kayak regardless of meeting, crossing, or overtaking.  The fact that he sees you easily on radar is immaterial.  Given that any collision between him and you will go way worse for you, avoidance is the only smart strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even when dealing with more moderate sized pleasure vessels, keeping yourself aware and leaving them room is still going to more helpful to you in the long run than ensuring they see you earlier.  When in situations with reduced visibility, use &lt;em&gt;your&lt;/em&gt; sense of sight, sound, and possibly even smell (i.e exhaust) to detect the presence of larger vessels, and turn away immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T11:50:16.887" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22668" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-22T12:39:15.343" Score="10" ViewCount="2121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been paddling three times (one week each) in rental (Canadian) canoes. My girlfriend and me brought all gear and food with us and there still was plenty of room for our dog in the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know from internet &quot;research&quot; that kayaks provide less space, but I'd like to try using one in the future due to the benefits of a kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cargo capacities I can find on various websites are somewhat meaningless since I don't know how many kilograms or liters I needed so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, assuming the following requirements:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 persons&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;one week&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;light-ish tent, mattress, sleeping bags&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;food for the whole time, preferably not only fully processed trekking food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no need to carry water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's also assume&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;moderate climate (night temperature not below 10°C, rain not unlikely) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fresh water lakes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweden &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will this be possible without crazy requirements on clothing and other equipment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will two one-man kayaks or one two-man kayak provide more cargo space?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="16784" LastEditDate="2019-07-24T20:04:20.500" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T10:58:14.353" Title="Cargo capacity of a kayak" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22669" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22668" CreationDate="2019-07-22T13:53:54.833" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no specific rule for how much cargo a single kayak can take, but there is a general rule that says a two man kayak of a given model has the same cargo capacity as a one man kayak of the same model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The distribution of cargo for a sea kayak is between two main volumes, the bow hatch and the stern hatch. When you add an extra person you're extending the central section, but not really affecting the cargo areas and not noticeably increasing the width of the boat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As such you'll basically be able to take twice as much if you take two one person kayaks, but if you've got lightweight compact expedition gear you should be able to take it all in a single two man sea kayak type boat (but no dog).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-07-22T13:53:54.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22670" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22668" CreationDate="2019-07-22T15:32:44.103" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been kayaking around Corsica, Denmark etc for longer periods in one man boats. We brought everything with us &lt;em&gt;except food for the entire period&lt;/em&gt;. We had some spare food and a one or two day supply, and that was perfectly doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want take food for an entire week, you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; have to resort to trekking food, or high-density low-volume stuff, and then it's going to be tight&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt;, to the point where I'd advize against it. Are you sure you cannot build in some 'shopping stops'? Fresh bread, vegetables and fruit are always nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Factors that are of further influence:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather. When it's always calm you can pack some stuff on your upper deck, like loaves of bread in a plastic bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Number of people. The larger the group, the less luggage per person you'll have (because: sharing).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest one-person kayaks since:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you then can assist each other in case something goes wrong;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;practically speaking, when fully loaded you need two people to carry one kayak already. A two person boat will be &lt;strong&gt;heavy&lt;/strong&gt; if you have to cross a beach, or walk 500 meters to the camp site.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; try this out before going on your actual trip, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;* Literally too. Make sure to use small packages for everything, and prepare for substantial (un)packaging time at very stop.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15958" LastEditorDisplayName="user15958" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T13:54:29.527" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T13:54:29.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22671" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22672" CreationDate="2019-07-22T17:55:33.173" Score="42" ViewCount="11803" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it okay to throw away the non-edible part of the apple - the apple core / or in general fruit waste? Does it decompose on the rock (maybe with the help of animals) and temperature, or does it interfere negatively with the nature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-07-22T18:27:22.030" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T21:54:12.390" Title="Impact of throwing away fruit waste on a peak &gt; 3200 m above a glacier" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22671" CreationDate="2019-07-22T18:04:32.667" Score="59" Body="&lt;p&gt;The problem with food waste at that elevation is that there is very little soil to bury things and that decomposition happens much slower at those altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes there are still marmots/pikas at that elevation who will eat left over apples and such, the problem with that is then they become dependent on humans and can even become aggressive. Aggressive marmots will chew through your backpack while aggressive pikas will bark at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At that elevation food waste should be packed out, at least to lower elevations where it can be buried.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-07-25T15:50:51.593" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T15:50:51.593" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22660" CreationDate="2019-07-22T20:15:32.673" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a very good question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found an article that has some suggestions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Finally, it is important to consider your visibility on radar and at night. The best way to ensure that you are seen on radar is to use &lt;strong&gt;retro-reflective tape&lt;/strong&gt; on your &lt;strong&gt;kayak, paddle blades, and PFD&lt;/strong&gt;. I recommend putting 6inch long strips of Solas ® retro-reflective tape on both sides of your kayak near the bow and stern and on the back and power faces of your paddle (especially if it is carbon fiber). Many PFDs have retro-reflective tape on the shoulders or back of the vest as do some paddling jackets.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;http://kayakdave.com/2011/12/13/how-to-increase-the-visibility-of-your-kayak/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kayak Dave&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I added the bolding to help focus on the key parts.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;PFD = Personal Floatation Device&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The rest of the article talks about selecting colors for visibility which also might be useful.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;BTW I am not nor do I know Kayak Dave&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroreflector#Ships,_boats,_emergency_gear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ships, boats, emergency gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Retroflective tape is recognized and recommended by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) because of its high reflectivity of both light and radar signals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://weallight.com/portfolio-items/solas-reflective-tape/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Product info&lt;/a&gt; - as an example, not an endorsement&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you develop - part of your question is how to test it.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The best thing would be to find a ship with radar that you could test with.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have no idea how open your local Coast Guard would be to helping you but it seems like a place to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17838" LastEditorUserId="17838" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T00:49:26.713" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T00:49:26.713" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22675" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-22T23:49:37.643" Score="3" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking to get a spinning 22lr target, the fun thing about these is that if you hit them the target spins and then resets so it's very clear that you either hit or missed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are all different types and kinds of these, what features should I look for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T14:06:32.303" Title="What should I look for in a spinning 22lr target?" Tags="&lt;rifles&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22671" CreationDate="2019-07-23T00:00:49.197" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;My viewpoint:  If it is unlikely to be seen before natural processes take care of it then disposal in the wilderness isn't unreasonable.  Thus, below timberline, outside Jasper National Park, walking 10 feet off the trail to bury my orange peel is reasonable.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At high elevation the decomp times are large -- years.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are situations where disposal of anything in unwarranted.  A lake in the Sierra that by reputation gets about 100,000 mountain bikers per year.  Some stay overnight.  Some do it as a day trip.  The crap load alone is enormous, mostly being concentrated at the (unknown) latrines at the lake, and on a narrow trail right of way too and from. (I doubt many people go even 10 meters off the trail to pee, and little more than out of site to crap.   So all the disposal, including my exemplar orange peel happens on a 15 km x 100m strip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ecologists, the old fashioned kind, talk about carrying capacity.  An eco-system can deal with a certain amount of 'stuff' or a certain level of harvest without much change.  There are tipping points, however where the ecology changes radically.  Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A creek tumbling over rocks quickly reaches saturation for dissolved oxygen.  Your left over mac and cheese dumped into the stream adds an oxygen load.  Bacteria or detritivores, or fish eat the food, and take oxygen from the water.  Drop the dissolved O2 by 5-10% not much effect.  Drop it by 50% and the trout may be in trouble.  Drop it by 90% and you will get a huge change in what lives in the creek.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carrying capacity isn't usually a line in the sand.  For orange peels and apple cores I expect that most temperate softwood forests with more than 20&quot; of precipitation per year can tolerate a peel per square meter per year with very little effect.  Indeed, the skyline trail in Jasper could probably still handle people discarding their peels this way -- if they were disposed of in the right section of trail, and done so by people with full understanding of the conditions necessary for it to degrade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I tend to be conservative both of the quanities that can be disposed of this way, and of people's ability to make good choices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like Jasper.  I don't like trails where the number of people I meet is measured on a 'per hour' rate rather than a 'per week' rate.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a need to bury my peel.  I carry it with me to camp.  Since I use wilderness areas, not national parks, I cook on a fire, and burn my peel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Story time:  I was on a canoe trip in the Aylmer lake region of the North west territory.  This area is a hundred miles north of tree line, and has a climate much like the grass/moss to lichen transition.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We stopped at a trappers shack ruin.  In the ruin was a 50 year old copy of Saturday Evening Post.  The magazine was pristine. We went through it, laughing at the WWII era ads, and put it back for the next person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You brought the apple in.  Take the core out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-07-25T03:33:22.820" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T03:33:22.820" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22668" CreationDate="2019-07-23T02:17:05.263" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Roughly speaking, you can carry twice as much in a sea kayak as you can backpacking. There are expedition boats with larger capacity. It takes some doing to get it in the hatches. You waste some space because much of it has to go in dry bags. We did a four day trip in mostly doubles and had plenty of room. A week in singles should not be much problem with planning.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our guides insisted it took four people to move a loaded single.  One on each end and one on each side of the cockpit.  A loaded double took six people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6441" LastEditorUserId="6441" LastEditDate="2019-07-23T14:08:27.207" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T14:08:27.207" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22660" CreationDate="2019-07-23T12:51:11.710" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question implies that having a radar reflecting hat is somehow going to prevent you getting hit by a large ship that is using radar.  This is at best wishful thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most cases human powered boats have the right of way, except in narrow channels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A vessel of less than 20 meters in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A vessel shall not cross a narrow passage or fairway if such crossing impedes the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within such channel or fairway. The latter vessel may use the sound signal prescribed in Rule 34(d) if in doubt as to the intention of the crossing vessel &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=rightOfWay&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the large/fast vehicle is not able to visually see you, the radar hat is not likely to make a difference. While not real, this YouTube video &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajq8eag4Mvc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Navy Ship vs. Lighthouse&lt;/a&gt; provides an insight into the mind of the operators of large vessels. The ships/boats using radar are using it to protect themselves from running into something harmful to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a narrow channel or shipping lane, they have the right of way; you need to keep out of their way.  If in the open ocean, they are not expecting anything tiny that needs to be avoided; you need to practice defensive boating. Kayak like you are invisible, because... well, you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The graph in the question is about being visible to a ship at ⅛ to ½ mile; the person in the kayak can see the ship at 2+ miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sitting in a kayak: The distance to the horizon for someone sitting in a kayak is approximately 2.1 miles. When you’re sitting in a kayak your eyes are about 2.5 feet above the surface of the sea–this is why waves appears so big when you’re in your kayak. 7 x 2.5 = 17.5 and 17.5 / 4 = 4.375 and sqrt of 4.375 = 2.09165. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/tutorial/how-far-away-horizon/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kayak is significantly more maneuverable than a large ship, the kayak can see the ship sooner and get out of its way, and is the only vessel at any risk in a collision. The kayak is not allowed to cross a shipping channel if they are not able get out of the way (&amp;quot;shall not impede the passage&amp;quot;). In the open ocean, a kayak theoretically has the right of way, but realistically there is no point in being &amp;quot;dead right&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T10:53:14.520" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22675" CreationDate="2019-07-23T16:05:46.657" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of these I have experience with the supporting arms are the weak point - hit them and they bend, making it hard to take the target apart for storage, keeping the target from spinning/flipping, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spring loaded &quot;popper&quot; style target may work better/longer without issues.  Alternatively, a hanging target and have it hung from (small) chains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen various retailers with rimfire-appropriate size targets in both popper configuration (IPSC type silhouette, dinosaur shape, squirrel, etc) and hanging circular disks (4&quot; to 8&quot; diameter) for not much in the past few months.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always, keep the target a safe distance away, use eye protection, be aware of where any ricochets or misses may land, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safe shooting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14021" LastActivityDate="2019-07-23T16:05:46.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22680" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-23T16:24:14.987" Score="6" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on comments on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22654/what-are-known-failure-modes-of-the-auto-braking-mechanism-of-grigris&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. If the moving cam on a Gri-Gri is prevented from engaging (perhaps by a belayer firmly holding onto the device), can you still brake effectively? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By &quot;brake effectively&quot;, I mean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;use the traditional brake position with your right hand pulling down on the rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;arrest a lead fall of a few meters by an average sized climber on dynamic rope, with a comfortable margin of safety&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not just by letting the cam re-engage&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T17:42:30.050" Title="Can a Gri-Gri work if the cam is prevented from engaging?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15740" CreationDate="2019-07-23T16:50:19.823" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;DO NOT USE THIS ON OR AROUND YOUR CAT. PLEASE &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read that it was safe when dry or when used in small amounts or all kinds of BS that lead me to believe it was okay to use as long as I was cautious. And as an overly cautious cat dad ... I knew I'd be okay based on what I read.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fast forward three weeks. I noticed that my cat is twitching a lot. I thought from mites or fleas still, hense the need for the Permethrin). Well I also noticed that at night she was very agitated. And seemed to not be able to sit still or stop her tail from swinging. Then came the tremors. So I went to my vet and tell her what's up and whatnot thought the issue was originally (fleas/mites) and how I treated the house. Her face .... Her face told me everything.  I could tell she was about to tell me something that was going to make me feel like a real a horrible pet parent. And she did. My cat will deal with this for life. It's very similar to feline hyperplasia. It's so sad and I will never forgive my stupidity. So please just don't risk it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18302" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T21:19:56.083" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T21:19:56.083" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22683" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-24T11:39:22.970" Score="7" ViewCount="812" Body="&lt;p&gt;Would it be possible to use canoe paddles - and eventually some cords and beach stakes - to hang a bug net such as this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zNje6.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zNje6.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our paddles will be about 2 meters (6.5 feet) long and can be split in half, like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4wOhm.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4wOhm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, we'd like to keep the paddles &lt;em&gt;outside&lt;/em&gt; of the net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T15:11:29.153" Title="Using paddles to support a bug net" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22680" CreationDate="2019-07-24T12:00:28.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From &lt;em&gt;my&lt;/em&gt; experience, &lt;strong&gt;NO&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only experience using a few different Gri-Gri devices was during my beginners course last year.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I have however used &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_8_(belay_device)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;figure 8&lt;/a&gt; belay devices for years at scouting and that's what I thought of when pulling back on the little levers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; want to stop a big fall with that setup (learned from experience with small falls). Just to make it extra clear: I do not recommend using a figure 8 for belaying - do not belay using a figure 8!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belaying with a broken, or fully pulled back Gri-Gri is most comparable to belaying with a single smooth rope going trough a figure 8 in the 'low friction rope position'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gZrBz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gZrBz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;figure 8 in the &amp;#39;low friction rope position&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply said, this is why i'm scared of Gri-Gri's.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In my opinion they take way too much work out of the belayers hands and will put way too much work back into their hands on complete failure or user error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the rope routing trough a Gri-Gri it looks comparable as well.&#xA;(The image of course shows a normally functioning and locked device but we're ignoring that here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NobXX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NobXX.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rope routing trough a Gri-Gri&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T14:27:29.160" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T14:27:29.160" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22683" CreationDate="2019-07-24T12:18:35.017" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using canoe paddles to rig tarp shelters seems to be a common practice (e.g. see &lt;a href=&quot;http://pathofthepaddle.co.uk/tag/tarp-shelter/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://kayakdave.com/2012/09/10/how-to-build-a-tarp-tent-for-kayak-camping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).  I would rig them as in the diagram below - as for an A-frame tarp shelter.  I would expect you would need more than 1m height for the centre of the net so I would use the paddles whole not split. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GxtxD.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GxtxD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two paddles are on end, pointing up, with the top ends connected by a length of cord.  Two further lengths of cord run from the top of each paddle at roughly 120 degrees to the centre cord, down to anchors on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will give you plenty of height, though you will also need lots of space to set it up.  A more compact setup may be possible with the two paddles lashed together at one end forming an inverted V over the bug net, and then a cord running from an anchor on one side to the point of the V and back down to an anchor on the other side (giving you something like a square pyramid).  This provides much less height however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I am not a canoeist (I camp under a tarp on walking/running trips) so I don't know how well your paddles will stand up to this kind of abuse.  A lightweight porous insect net shouldn't need a lot of tension on the cords however, so I would not expect any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T12:18:35.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22675" CreationDate="2019-07-24T14:06:32.303" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Aside from the durability issue @ivanivan mentioned, if you hit the &quot;stem&quot; that is common to nearly all spinners, you might take that as a hit when in fact it was a miss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also look at Champion Target's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.championtarget.com/targets/interactive/duraseal.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Duraseal&lt;/a&gt; series, which are a bit more environmentally friendly as there is no lead splatter/dust. Of course, they will eventually need replacing so that is the main con. They have several styles. You should try some of the ground-based or hanging targets, too. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/EpU3l_3DiTA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Shooting at a moving target takes more skill anyway&lt;/a&gt; than a stationary spinner and works on your target transitions and acquisition regardless of whether you are using a .22 rifle or a handgun. &lt;strong&gt;You do need to be very aware of your backstop though as well as potentially skipping bullets off the ground over it so don't chase the target out of the zone you know will be safe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T14:06:32.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6440" CreationDate="2019-07-24T22:58:04.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Shoe glue to fill the hole&quot;let it dry&quot;. Then JB weld spread over a area 20 times the size of the hole. Or shoe glue then aluminum sheet, 4 bolts and cover with jb weld on both sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18310" LastActivityDate="2019-07-24T22:58:04.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22688" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-25T03:17:45.620" Score="3" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;They are said to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://MoskiPatch.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;little patches&lt;/a&gt; that simply stick onto clothing, lasting for 12 hours. They are made from &quot;natural ingredients&quot; and DEET-free so I have my doubts. How well do they work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-25T03:40:51.487" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T18:03:46.440" Title="How well do mosquito clothing patches work?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;prevention&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="571" CreationDate="2019-07-25T03:51:19.587" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some times local disposal isn't unreasonable.  Here's my thinking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Animals crap in the woods.  Assuming wilderness use, the crap load from people is small compared to that of animals.  (Animals use trails too.  Good chance that your trail is used by more animals than people in winter.)  This situation clearly doesn't apply in Jasper National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the problem isn't really an ecological problem but an aesthetics problem.  Let's assume that it takes a full year for a turd to decompose on the surface.  The problem usually isn't the turd.  It's the paper.  Dispose of the paper, and very few people will be able to identify a human turd after a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Crap so that no one sees the turd for a year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Three scenarios:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are at a trail head with no latrines.  Aw, come on, just pack it out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are at a labeled camp on a labeled trail, but one that doesn't have latrines: Walk thrice as far as it takes to collect wood. Be sure you aren't near a creek. (If you are on a trail that doesn't allow fires, this discussion does not apply)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are on a labeled trail.  Move off the trail three times the line of sight or 50 meters whichever is larger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are on an unlabeled trail.  Be discrete.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases, either pack out or burn your paper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A method advocated for desert travel as well as alpine travel is to smear the crap in a thin layer on a rock.  Here the sunlight quickly dries it, and UV sterilizes the remaining dust.  Dust is scattered by the wind so is not a concentrated source of nutrients.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This same method could be used in forests in winter, but instead of smearing a rock, smear a tree trunk.  I leave the mechanics of this as an exercise for the student.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T03:51:19.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22690" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22683" CreationDate="2019-07-25T15:11:29.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My buddy just sent me this picture.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RVSq7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RVSq7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But he didn't want to send me more detailed pics or a drawing.&#xA;I'll keep this answer up to date whenever I'll have more details. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2301" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T15:11:29.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22692" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22700" CreationDate="2019-07-25T16:06:21.917" Score="5" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knee is basically one of the main joints that provides you the ability to walk. There are several ways to prevent or ease the knee pain (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6610/knee-pain-when-descending-a-mountain&quot;&gt;Knee pain when descending a mountain&lt;/a&gt;), but I would like to dive deeper into one of the preventive measures, by using &lt;em&gt;knee protectors&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that there are different types of knee protectors out there: knee braces, knee sleeves, knee support, etc. Assuming that one does &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; have any knee problems, which of the knee protectors are best to prevent knee pain in a &lt;em&gt;long distance hike&lt;/em&gt; with frequent ascent and descent trails? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in order to maximize the effectiveness of knee protectors, should the user be wearing it in all situation while hiking (uphill, walking, descending, etc.)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18296" LastEditorUserId="18296" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T07:58:30.347" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T12:05:58.820" Title="Knee injuries prevention using knee protectors" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22692" CreationDate="2019-07-25T16:37:41.213" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, I would use knee protectors only when needed. It could be used to prevent it, but mainly if you suspect you might get an injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead I would focus on preventing by using a better technique for going up or down a slope, like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making small steps&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not going straight up and down, but zig-zag, so the angle of your feet is low. Of course the distance is higher.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zig-zag with small distances (like 5-20 meters, or less if there is less space).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use walking sticks, very handy for uneven terrain, but also for going up/down, especially when having a heavy backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure you don't jump, or make harsh movements like hard heel landings, the force of your feet will be going upwards, directly towards your knee.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T08:49:03.760" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T08:49:03.760" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22688" CreationDate="2019-07-25T17:14:58.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Science says they don't work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/30/623865454/a-guide-to-mosquito-repellents-from-deet-to-gin-and-tonic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Citation&lt;/a&gt; from Charlie and another about &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/want-repel-mosquitoes-don-t-use-citronella-candles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;citronella in general.&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(It's possible all these studies are funded by the DEET companies, but I don't wanna get into mosquito-industrial complex conspiracies.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, there &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; people who swear they keep mosquitoes away, so if you like anecdotal evidence, maybe the patch &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; for you! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T17:14:58.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22688" CreationDate="2019-07-25T18:03:46.440" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a look through the information provided by the page you linked, they state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our patches are made out of citronella, lavender, and lemon &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These three plants all exude chemicals (citronella, geraniol and linalool respectively) that are known to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20836800&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;inhibit the ability of mosquitos to find people&lt;/a&gt; in certain concentrations, however in general these are thought to have more or less the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3059459/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;same efficacy as DEET and similar compounds&lt;/a&gt;, but are more volatile and thus are effective for a shorter time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general advice for mosquito repellents is to apply &lt;a href=&quot;https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2020/noninfectious-health-risks/mosquitoes-ticks-and-other-arthropods&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;thoroughly to all exposed skin&lt;/a&gt;. Tests done with patches and other devices that do not cover the whole skin indicate that these are usually &lt;a href=&quot;https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/17/1/24/2996380&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;less effective than contact repellents&lt;/a&gt; (see table 1 and text for description of devices). The only substantially effective personal wearable in the above study was one that fogged the spray in an area around the wearer. Patches and similar devices were about 25% effective (i.e. not very).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion: These patches will work to some extent, but likely to be very limited, possibly only to the area where they are applied. Although &quot;natural&quot; ingredients do work, they need to be applied to the exposed skin regularly for them to be effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T18:03:46.440" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22696" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-25T19:43:21.443" Score="2" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;p&gt;My optometrist assures me that all polarized prescription lens will now also assure 100% UV protection.  Is this true and if not how can I insure that I’m getting optimum UV protection from new prescription lens?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18316" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-25T20:08:32.380" LastActivityDate="2019-07-25T20:08:32.380" Title="Do polarized prescription lens also protect against UV?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2019-07-31T14:08:47.243" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22697" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22701" CreationDate="2019-07-25T20:45:22.620" Score="6" ViewCount="305" Body="&lt;p&gt;If animals eat each other daily and defecate, why don't rainforests and the natural world smell like rotten corpses and feces? Wild animals don't have recycling people. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18223" LastActivityDate="2019-07-27T11:50:46.247" Title="Why don't rainforests and jungles smell like rotten corpses?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;jungle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22692" CreationDate="2019-07-26T01:22:39.113" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past when my knees seemed more susceptible to irritation of the cartilage, I carried two elastic sleeves for them (cheap drug store items). Mostly they just were loose around my socks. On downhill sections I would slide them up over my knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I did not count on these to of themselves protect my knees. Instead, I used them to remind me not to over bend my knees, and generally just be careful. After several trips that had left my knees achy and swollen, using the sleeves as a reminder worked. Again, the ‘prevention’ of injury was from the feeling of the sleeve tempering my actions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does that count?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T01:22:39.113" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22668" CreationDate="2019-07-26T02:56:14.523" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Kayaks vary, and while you will be able to do the trip you describe in anything described as a “touring kayak”, the convenience and time required to pack will vary a lot depending on the exact model.  In any case, packing each morning will be significantly more of a chore than in a canoe.  With a larger volume kayak it’s a matter of stowing a few dry bags, maybe not always in the same order. With a smaller volume kayak there may only be one particular arrangement that fits it all in, and you may need to optimize (cut your foam sleeping pad in half so it fits on either side of skeg, tie a string to your fuel bottle and push all the way to end of bow).  You can tie a drybag to deck if it is not too windy / wind chop is not washing over deck too hard, and you can keep a bag between your legs IF you are ABSOLUTELY sure it will not impede your exit in an emergency when you are upside down under water, if in any doubt at all that objects in cockpit could tangle or wedge and pin your leg do not use the cockpit for storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-07-26T10:58:14.353" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T10:58:14.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22692" CreationDate="2019-07-26T12:05:58.820" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll go for a frame challenge in my answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't have any condition (that's being treated by a professional) that requires you to wear any kind of knee protection, the &lt;strong&gt;best protection for your knees is using no knee-protectors&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your knee hurts during/after hiking, this a pointer that you either use some kind of bad technique or simply over-exertion. Adding technical items to reduce this negative outcome will just reinforce the behaviour, i.e. making it worse. The proper counter measure is training - to learn better technique or just to get your (stabilisation) muscles into better shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you do follow (and ideally check it by someone else) good hiking practices and do properly train/avoid over-exertion, and still have pain in your knees - do get it checked out. It might be that a/the solution will be some kind of knee-protection, but the crucial difference is that it will be targeted to your specific need by someone that knows what they are doing (hopefully, if not consult someone else - totally serious here, it happens).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-07-26T12:05:58.820" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22697" CreationDate="2019-07-26T14:44:59.303" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Herbivore faeces doesn't smell as much as human faeces (or dog/cat/other carnivore). The vast majority of mammals, by number or mass, are herbivores. Population densities of large herbivores (overall - we often go to see them where they gather in large numbers, but they don't spend long in one place then, or they'll run out of food) are much lower in the wild than in even free range farming, so there just isn't that much to smell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can smell rotting meat in the wild, on rare occasions. Usually it's scavenged before you get the chance (again, given the numbers, deaths are fairly far apart). I've only smelt it very close to a kill or where the wildebeest migration crosses the Mara river in Kenya. So many are killed in the crossing that the scavengers can't keep up, and decay happens fast in the heat.  The bits that get eaten don't smell until they come back out again, much reduced in volume. Some carnivores bury their faeces, but others mark territory with it or use latrines (you'll smell those if you're close). To a decent approximation all carnivores will scavenge given the chance - it's free food - so corpses don't hang around for long. Even with few or no large carnivorous mammals  flesh from an accidental death is dealt with pretty quickly by birds (corvids in many places, vultures or kites where they're found) or insects. Roadkill is reduced pretty quickly even with steel predators thundering past. Bones themselves don't smell. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-07-27T11:50:46.247" LastActivityDate="2019-07-27T11:50:46.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22703" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-27T08:11:48.743" Score="9" ViewCount="360" Body="&lt;p&gt;For example, which recommendations should backpackers follow while carrying heavy weights, and should backpack straps be tightened or loosened?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18336" OwnerDisplayName="Seeker001" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2019-10-30T13:12:51.977" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T21:12:03.437" Title="How should a backpack be carried to keep from injuring the spine?" Tags="&lt;health&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22703" CreationDate="2019-07-27T16:36:05.387" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some things I learnt from books, occasionally an instructor and from others:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack heavy things close to your body. So do not put heavy things in the outside pocket at the back of your main backpack space. There you can pack your lightest items (walking sticks, for example).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack heavy things on the top of your backpack. This is why you often see people carrying a heavy tent or shoes on the top. If you have light sleeping gear, you can put it on the bottom. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have a lot of heavy things, consider putting some on the sides of the backpack (thus still close to your body).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack your backpack so the weight is balanced left and right; otherwise your spine will be forced to turn to compensate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walk slightly bent over (do not exaggerate), keeping the middle point of force over your feet. This makes your walk more stable, and prevents you being pulled backwards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carry the backpack quite high on your back; this makes the force pulling backwards less high if you bend slightly over.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider splitting your load on your front: carry the most heavy things on your back, but if you have another small backpack, put it on your front. This way there is more balance forward and backward, so you do not have to walk bent over, which is better for your spine, and it prevents:&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do not carry heavy things in your hand (unless you need them for or during the walk almost continuously).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Credits for the remark of Weather Vane, see remark below): When carrying a lot of weight, choose a pack with a broad hip belt that will transfer weight directly to your hips, instead of via the spine. The shoulder straps will then carry less weight, and serve mostly to hold the pack close to your back. (My own addition: afaik the weight ratio is about 2/3 to the hips, 1/3 to the shoulder straps).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I always tighten my backpack straps quite tight. If the load is moving around, you get every step (small) bumps (thus force) on your back; besides it uses energy (even if it slides left/right and doesn't bump). Especially if you go steep (either up up down), put the shoulder straps slightly tighter; the hip straps should always be kept tight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T07:32:01.537" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T07:32:01.537" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22707" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-27T16:46:56.900" Score="6" ViewCount="13183" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone tell me what type of bug this is? I found two of them in my bed in Tennessee, United States. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not a tick. The shell is hard. It was alive and you could see it moving. It's  .016&quot;, very small, about the size of a pencil tip. I had to see it through a magnifier to see it moving. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't feel the bite but it leaves a red spot and is very itchy and when you scratch it it turns to a sore like a busted pimple. It itches for days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't see the pointer or legs that were under the body; was very hard to see as it was so tiny. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eLYDj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tiny bug:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eLYDj.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18321" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T15:58:21.420" LastActivityDate="2020-09-12T18:47:47.720" Title="What is this tiny round shiny black bug that bites?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22707" CreationDate="2019-07-28T03:05:40.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks like a fully engorged deer (black-legged) tick.  Can't tell from your picture whether it's larva or nymph.  Here's a size comparison photo:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DSVBj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DSVBj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.psu.edu/sites/default/files/styles/threshold-768/public/CM%20ADD-TICKS221.jpg?itok=Z2ArX1YF&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://news.psu.edu/sites/default/files/styles/threshold-768/public/CM%20ADD-TICKS221.jpg?itok=Z2ArX1YF&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Top left is larva with nymph at its right.  Call your doctor about possible exposure to Lyme or other tick-borne disease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18323" LastEditorUserId="11951" LastEditDate="2020-06-05T09:01:53.353" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T09:01:53.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17215" CreationDate="2019-07-28T21:12:11.217" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Type Cascade (D) 1 from the second half of the 70ies. I bought mine (complete khaki) in 1980. The cascade (D) 2 had larger side pockets and a large square sized leather &quot;badge&quot; with the JS logo sewed on the lower bag. In 1980 I spent approx. 300, - Deutsche Mark in Germany for the Cascade 1 which was quite a lot at that time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B.t.w. I found the same one as yours in much better shape today on a local &quot;flea market&quot; or 5 EUR. Any idea how to get spare parts? Especially the shoulder straps easily tore out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18328" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-07-28T21:59:56.353" LastActivityDate="2019-07-28T21:59:56.353" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22712" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-29T07:46:16.277" Score="3" ViewCount="499" Body="&lt;p&gt;Long story short, I got a huge oily stain on my raincoat. More precisely butter, on the shoulders part. It looks bad, it smells like butter, and I am really not comfortable having it on my clothes + under my nose. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I've tried so far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;removing the butter mechanically as much as I could (wiping with toilet paper)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;washing it with soap, by hand&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;washing it in the washing machine, with plenty of dishwasher liquid, as I thought this might remove the stain (as it helped before with other clothes, but not this time)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stain is still there, and I don't want to wear it like this. It is not a high-tech gear (just a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.decathlon.co.uk/glenarm-hiking-poncho-green-id_8010059.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Decathlon poncho&lt;/a&gt;), but I would rather not throw it out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other ways are worth a try? I haven't found any useful information on the label, just wash on 30 degrees, no chemical cleaning etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, does it (the butter AND the washing) affect the waterproofness of the material?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-29T15:47:28.653" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T09:21:40.147" Title="How to remove butter stain from raincoat?" Tags="&lt;rain-gear&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22707" CreationDate="2019-07-29T12:57:58.357" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If not a tick (photo is way too fuzzy) then I would say &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/bedbugs-infestation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bedbug nymphs&lt;/a&gt; since you indicate they are tiny.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-07-29T12:57:58.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22712" CreationDate="2019-07-29T16:55:12.110" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You already washed it, so it is probably not as waterproof as it was new.  If the pores/fabric are open enough to trap butter and keep it through a wash with dish soap. you have two options. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buy a new one, this one is unlikely to be an effective rain barrier.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rub cinnamon into the area with the butter, this should cover the butter smell or at least make it smell like cinnamon toast. Followed by a spray on water treatment appropriate for the fabric. With luck the combination of the cinnamon and waterproofing should conceal the butter smell. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T08:10:40.577" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T08:10:40.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22703" CreationDate="2019-07-30T01:15:41.410" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tips in the Keijzers'  answer are valid.  Some additional comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall the purpose of loading  your pack with weight high/close is to reduce the lean you need to compensate for the change in your centre of mass.  In the bad old days you could get packs with a frame that you could extend upward past the top of your head to put the weight higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While having weight higher helps you walk straighter, it also makes you top heavy.  This can be tricky on rough trails, especially steep descents. I saw a young man stumble a bit, and do a 3/4 forward somersault, landing on his back going down rough screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Avoid back problems.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Train.  Go for walks with your pack but with a light load.  Wear the shoes you will wear.  Try for trails that resemble your trip.  Increase the weight and distance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Core strength is key to reducing back pain.  Part of the problem is that walking uses your glutes and lower back.  These muscles get stronger, but your abs remain the same.  Net effect is that the back muscles contract and try to arch your back backward.  This hurts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Abs try to balance this, but weak abs can't balance stronger back.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get this whenever I restart running.  First 6 weeks goes well, then I get back aches.  My answer has been to do sit ups and planks.  Doesn't take a lot.  Getting back to doing a few sets of 20 situps, or a few 30 second planks makes the problem go away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-11-11T21:12:03.437" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T21:12:03.437" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22718" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-30T01:55:52.260" Score="18" ViewCount="8674" Body="&lt;p&gt;We just bought a tandem kayak, we took it to the water and we can’t make it go straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My husband is bigger than me so he sits on the back. We rented kayaks before, so we are wondering if it could be the kayak or our lack of experience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18333" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T02:15:53.757" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T15:26:22.170" Title="Why are we moving in circles with a tandem kayak?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-30T02:14:43.587" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going in circles while in a paddled craft such as a kayak/canoe/raft means that there is more force being applied on one side than the other (this is also how you turn the craft). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you notice that you are going to one side, paddle more on that side and less on the other until the craft straightens out. All of this just takes practice and it gets easier with time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option to look into would be getting a rudder for the kayak, as that will help but whether it would be possible depends on your exact model of kayak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T02:14:43.587" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-30T02:58:06.503" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If your kayak has a skeg, make sure it is down (in the water). This will help you to steer straighter by reducing the turning effect of paddling more on one side. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned, you will have to adjust your padding technique to distribute the force evenly on both sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T02:58:06.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22721" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-30T07:05:34.547" Score="27" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Common paddling problems&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most people are strongly right handed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll get more power on your stronger side&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's really common for the weaker hand to slip closer to the blade as a result of wanting to feel the same level of effort on each side. This results in a less efficient weak side stroke that's closer to the boat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It takes a while to get used to the feather on the paddles (angles between the blades) and that can lead to a weaker stroke on the left side.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The outcome of all this is circles to the left. Then overcompensation and swinging to the right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tandem kayaks are less sensitive to all this, but it'll still work out the same, just more slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Other problems&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight to one side of the boat will cause it to turn that way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavier weight in the front of the boat will make it more sensitive to imbalance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind and waves, these aren't your fault but you will have to learn how to compensate for the fact that kayaks normally turn nose to the wind and waves.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Things to work on:&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Balancing your stroke&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is fundamental to paddling in a straight line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You'll have to regularly check your paddles to ensure that you're holding equidistant from the blades.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ensure that you're rotating the paddle correctly and that it's going in nice and flat both sides, leaving it slightly angled on the weak side is very common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ensure that the paddle is going in the same distance from the boat on both sides. Closer to the boat will drive you straighter, further from the boat has more of a turning effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Balancing yourselves&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure everyone sits in the middle of their seat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Working together&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The person at the front sets the stroke rate, the person at the back matches the stroke for basic paddling and does much of the routine course correction.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T15:26:22.170" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22722" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-30T11:23:35.423" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might seem obvious to more experienced paddlers here, but it drove my wife and myself crazy while trying to paddle on a 3-seater kayak. We were sitting on the two front seats, without noticing the rear paddler should sit on the rear seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kayak would turn around every 10 seconds. Could that be your problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13002" LastEditorUserId="13002" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T12:37:22.623" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T12:37:22.623" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-30T14:26:45.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Briefly:&lt;/strong&gt; make sure the boat sits as flat and level in the water as possible.  As others have indicated in their answers above, it’s not good if there is too much weight in the front (which can happen even if you are very light if the seat is very far forward—-think of a small kid at the very end of a see-saw balancing their parent close to the middle).  But it’s also bad if too much weight is in the rear and not enough in the front.  Because you say your husband is heavier, it’s possible you don’t have enough weight forward.  A boat that is not flat is very sensitive to wind and paddle strokes. If you can, move your or your husband’s seats until the boat is as level as you can make it.  Ideally, have someone look at the boat with you both in it, it should lie flat on the water—adjust the seats until it does.  Definitely also practice the good paddling techniques mentioned in the other answers.  Also, many tandem kayakers appreciate the convenience and control of a rudder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General notes on making a kayak easier or harder to turn:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going straight in a kayak is a competition between the forces acting to turn the kayak and the kayak’s “tracking”, or resistance to turning, from the shape that is under the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main forces acting to turn the kayak are what you do with the paddles, the rudder if any, and the wind.  In addition there may be a contribution from waves or currents, and any assymetry of the part of the hull which is under water, which may happen if the kayak is leaning to one side of the other (from putting much more of the heavy cargo on one side, or if you are leaning or sitting slightly closer to one side than the other).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shape under the water that resists turning and promotes straight tracking is the combination of the shape of the submerged part of the hull, plus the rudder or the skeg if there is one (a skeg is basically a small rudder which always points straight and which can be raised or lowered a variable amount).  The paddle can also be used to help the kayak track straight when it’s not busy paddling or steering (for example when on the face of a wave).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The important thing to understand is that all of these factors add up to influence how the boat behaves.  Some of these tracking factors are inherent to the boat, and some may be changed.  Specifically, how a boat is “trimmed” (where weight is placed) may strongly affect how strongly the kayak turns toward the wind, or how easily it turns in response to uneven paddling.  Adjusting seat position (slightly because people are heavy) or cargo storage (needs to be significant) may very noticeably change this tracking performance.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that a steerable rudder is a very easy way to make a boat go straight and is a very welcome feature especially for new paddlers or paddlers in double kayaks.  However, relying on the rudder to counteract asymmetrical paddling will cause excess drag and slow forward progress.  For ease of travel it is preferable to learn to trim your boat flat and paddle symmetrically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a related side note: a typical sea kayak has a very different submerged shape depending if it is upright or leaned on its side aka “edged”.  When upright, more of the kayak’s bow and stern, and the full length of its keel, are in the water, which promotes staight tracking.  When edged, more of the kayaks wide hips are submerged, the bow and stern are lifted slightly, and the resulting shape is significantly less resistant to turning.  As a result most sea kayaks can be turned more quickly when edged which is important for fast maneuvering.  Additionally some kayaks are shaped such that they naturally turn in a particular direction when edged and can be actively steered by edging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="15978" LastEditDate="2019-08-01T01:44:40.787" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T01:44:40.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13876" CreationDate="2019-07-30T15:56:25.710" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To adress both ways to cross waves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When going offshore: just dive under the wave, when it breaks (white foam on top), if not you'll be knock out&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When returning on the beach: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlAbHuLE3jE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bodysurf the wave&lt;/a&gt;(video in french, only the position matter). When the wave is upon you, take hydrodynamic position, kick as hard as you can, and glide as long as you can. When you need to breath, just take your head out of the water. With enough training, you will stop by scratching your knees on the sand, propelled by the wave&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional advice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the surf, better go with powerful yet agile fins (understand, hard and short). Your legs will pay the price so better train in the pool first&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To be more confident, train your breath hold capacity (in pool first, too)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Never go head first, keep your arms first while dealing with waves, because you can't know what is coming behind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ask local lifeguards (if there are), about local hazards (rocks, riptide, vortex...) and particularities. On some beach, current that take you directly behind the surf exists&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18267" LastEditorUserId="18267" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T13:24:01.783" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T13:24:01.783" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22725" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-29T20:47:23.350" Score="8" ViewCount="155" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering stand up paddling as a sport for rest periods for my legs (running, hiking, cycling) and a way to train upper body muscles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've checked the prices, of course the cheapest are the ones from local Walmart-equivalents (300-400$). Those from local reputable sport market costs about 700-800$. The ones from local stand up paddle trainer/reseller starts from 1500$. Of course they are much better quality (more layers etc) but... as a beginner, would I notice a difference?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would paddle on calm waters (a lake) without rocks or other obstacles that could damage the board. Under that circumstances, could I reasonable profit from better, but more expensive boards? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" OwnerDisplayName="Danubian Sailor" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-30T19:54:45.913" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T12:41:07.187" Title="Will beginner notice a difference between lower and higher middle-end stand up paddle boards?" Tags="&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22726" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-07-30T22:13:04.260" Score="10" ViewCount="1886" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that I can significantly improve my hiking efficiency by reducing the weight of my footwear. However, I have historically had trouble with blisters while hiking. I also often do long distance hikes that require heavy packs, and I am an overweight (but fit) hiker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I want to know, is the extra weight on your feet that comes with wearing boots worth it for the risk of more blisters with trail runners?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18339" LastEditorUserId="18339" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T01:15:02.427" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T13:04:38.290" Title="Boots or trail runners with reference to blisters?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22727" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-07-30T22:23:33.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most common cause for a blister to appear on your foot is due to the friction of your foot moving and rubbing inside of your shoe. The best way to avoid this happening is to ensure that you thoroughly take your time getting the right size of shoe. Whether you go with a hiking boot or trail runner is personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T22:23:33.313" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-07-30T22:58:15.570" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blisters are more a function of improperly fitting/not broken in footwear than the specific type, although some kinds can be worse than others. Heavier and stiffer boots take longer to break in than light running shoes for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would get the type of footwear that works best for the terrain and size and break them in properly before going on your hikes. I have seen some pretty horrible blisters from very light footwear and been fine doing miles of hiking in heavy mountaineering boots so the type of boot isn't really the common denominator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T22:58:15.570" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-07-30T22:58:40.413" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of factors that determine when you will get blisters that it is hard to say if one is better than the other. For example, brand new hiking boots vs. brand new trail runners is a totally different question than 1 year old worn in boots vs. runners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also need to consider (not exhaustive):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoe fit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Socks worn (socks compatible with hiking boots and runners greatly differ)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Quality of shoe materials&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Terrain hiking on&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backpack load&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weather (precipitation, temp, humidity)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Presence of water (stream crossing, walking through mud, etc)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it is hard to control for all the different factors that can lead to shoes giving you blisters I think it is hard to really answer which is better for blisters. I think that it is hard to give a blanket answer. &lt;strong&gt;What it ultimately comes down to in my opinion is which shoe do you prefer for the task at hand?&lt;/strong&gt; Usually the footwear that makes the most sense for the situation will be more important to prevent blisters than the type of footwear you are wearing. For an answer to this check out the dedicated question on this site for &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/105/hiking-boots-vs-trail-shoes?rq=1&quot;&gt;Hiking boots vs. Trail Shoes&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-07-30T22:58:40.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-07-30T23:03:35.523" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also have feet which are blister sensitive, but I'm not overweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In principle, everything that 'dampens' your steps, avoids blisters, but cost energy. So it's a tradeoff. This includes for example thick/extra socks, soles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experiences with hiking and walking events:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About shoes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not too long, this causes your feet to move inside your shoes back and forward every step, moving your ankles against the back, and your toes against the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not too short, this causes your toes to touch the front which is an absolutely no-go.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not too wide; in the beginning I did hiking events on Meindl's and (at least at that time), I didn't realize they were too wide which causes movement sideways. Not as bad as movement back/forth but still too much after walking 50 kilometers (30 miles) per day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use (soft) soles in your shoes, or even two pairs if you want.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like to tie my shoelaces very tight, it prevents blisters since your shoes are fit more around your feet but don't overdo it otherwise your upper feet will hurt from the force.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You probably want high shoes for stability and prevent injuring your ankles, but high shoes cost energy as you have to lift them up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About socks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some people like wearing two socks, one tight, one lose. The benefit is that the tight socks around your feet prevent sliding in the shoe. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I mostly preferred socks with some padding at the heel and around the bottom part near the toes (so called walking/hiking socks). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About prevention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;During the walking events where I knew I would get blisters, I taped my ankles, feet and toes in with sport tape. It takes some time to do it good, but it really helps. Of course, every day redo it, otherwise it's not so hygienic.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Train ... walk a lot, this will make your feet harder or getting used to walking without getting blisters too fast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your feet do not get wet; and if they are, dry them, take some extra pairs of dry socks (when it's sunny, hang the used socks behind your backpack and they will dry, assuming it's sunny).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it is too late:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I always opened blisters, sometimes along the trip, sometimes at the end of the day. Learn how to do it good (use a sharp needle, on both sides not in the middle, desinfect afterwards, tape it). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you could try walking sticks, the benefits: it takes some load of your feet, so you get less (fast) blisters and it helps your stability too. The heavier the backpack and the more steep the slope, the more walking sticks are efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T07:59:41.297" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T07:59:41.297" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22731" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22712" CreationDate="2019-07-31T01:49:04.630" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok.  If you aren't going to wear it dirty, then risking its waterproofing doesn't matter.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First one sounds crazy:  You have a stain.  Stain the rest of the poncho to match.  You can be fully authentic and use butter, or you can use something with less smell to it, like vaseline.  Rewash as you did the first time.  See if the stains merger&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TSP -- tri-sodium phosphate.  This is serious degreaser.  Try an initial soak then a vigorous brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camp stove fuel.  This is remarkably good solvent for anything greasy.  Might work just as well on the waterproofing.  Very flammable.  Do not do this inside.  Leave out to dry then wash again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If either of these reduce the waterproofing substantially you can either recoat it with something like scotch guard to give it some waterproofing; or look up the recipes for making 'tin pants' (usually a mix of linseed oil and waxes.) or get a re-waterproofer compound from any good outdoor shop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T01:49:04.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-31T04:47:52.817" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tandems I have seen have rudders, not skegs, because people find them hard to turn without one.  Depending on the type of rudder, it can be easy to set it so it is turned when your feet are in normal position.  That will lead to the boat turning as you report.  Make sure the rudder is centered when you are not trying to steer with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6441" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T04:47:52.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22733" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22740" CreationDate="2019-07-31T05:13:45.863" Score="5" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was given a St. Croix Avid AS60MLF, and I have no idea why this top guide is on the opposite side.  The rest of the guides are on the same side as the lower one in the picture.  Only the top one is on the &quot;top&quot; side of the rod with the rest on the &quot;bottom&quot;.  What is this for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LzxAT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LzxAT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Fishing Rod Top&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18341" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T07:07:35.657" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T14:56:45.337" Title="What is this top guide hole on my fishing rod?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22725" CreationDate="2019-07-31T07:12:44.273" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Out on a calm lake with minimal adverse conditions, you're not going to notice any real difference as long as you're above the absolute baseline in equipment. As with most sports equipment the difference in quality only shows when things start to become challenging and you're describing the baseline situation for a paddleboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you'll notice more is design, primarily length and width. A wider board is more stable, a longer board is faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also notice the weight, but lower end boards are usually inflatable and hence lighter. Hard boards aren't relevant until you're starting to push your limits or going surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T07:35:21.390" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T07:35:21.390" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13829" CreationDate="2019-07-31T08:01:20.637" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like you buy bodysurf/bodyboard fins as @Brent point it out. Lifeguard (like me) enjoy it too, as it allow you to do medium length sprint (50 to 100 meters, like 100 to 300 feet) at record speed, while being easy to carry in your hand all day long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are great for strong acceleration, sharp turn, quick dive under waves and take waves to surf it. However, even for a skilled swimmer, it's not ideal for long swim, as it will put severe pressure on your ankles/knees, as they are really not flexible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To deal with the technique itself, you may use freestyle stroke for surface swimming. If you want to do long swim, rely on your arm to rest your legs, while making long and slow yet poweful kick with your fins, keeping your legs straight (don't use your knees, you will lose power). For underwater swimming, I think you may look at @wallyk answer's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, always test your material in a swimming pool, or worst case, in controlled sea/lake environnement with lifeguard, green flag lift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18267" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T08:01:20.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22725" CreationDate="2019-07-31T12:41:07.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you goal is muscle exercise, a stand up paddle board may not be the best choice. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stand up and paddle all the time in my 17 foot coleman canoe.  I use the same 5 foot paddle sitting or standing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When standing the physics of applying pressure to the water with the paddle means you can not apply as much force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When sitting you have a much lower center of gravity, and options to use leg pressure against the side of the boat to drastically increase your stroke power. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most kayaks and canoes you have the option to sit and paddle or stand and paddle. You also have the option of sitting and exercising much harder in either of these.  A sit on top kayak is about as easy to transport as a stand up paddle board.  A canoe is a bit more challenging to transport, but offers more options for water adventures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T12:41:07.187" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-07-31T13:12:55.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm likely out of the norm, but I believe properly fitting (and thickness) socks may be even more important than the shoes with regard to blisters. I personally use Darn Tough because they are knit so that there aren't any seams per se that could cause any issues. I size them so they are somewhat snug so there can be no bunching. I prefer them lighter weight so they hold less moisture and dry faster as I walk (lots of stream crossings). The only time I've gotten hot spots since doing this are when I get some kind of debris in my shoe that I don't notice at first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Non-Goretex trail runners will dry faster than any boot I'm aware of since those seem impossible to get without Goretex today since it will not keep your feet dry. Assuming your feet and ankles are in decent shape already trail runners will provide better stability in general because they are a bit more flexible and provide better feel of the surface so your body's balancing ability has better feedback to adjust quicker (trekking poles also help here!). Full disclosure, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/13918/11281&quot;&gt;I feel ankle support is a myth&lt;/a&gt;. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, regarding higher pack weight, unless you are doing unsupported long-distance treks where you must carry more than a week of food at a time, there's not much reason to be over 14 kg (30+ lbs). I am under 13 kg (28 lbs) for week-long trips in the Rockies. If possible look into ways to &lt;a href=&quot;http://topshotsystems.com/Lightweight_Scouting_Dissertation.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lighten your load&lt;/a&gt;. Have fun and be safe out there!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T13:12:55.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22739" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-31T13:39:46.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your explanations could be correct. But from having paddled a flat bottom inflatable kayak I noticed that the &quot;swirl&quot; from the paddle would go under the hull and cause a turn. The solution is opposite that of a canoe. The person in front steers and the person in the back paddles. Thus the swirl goes away from the kayak and not under. Make sense?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18345" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T13:39:46.030" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22740" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22733" CreationDate="2019-07-31T14:56:45.337" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was talking to the original owner, he thinks the guide hole must have spun.  I used a lighter to heat up the glue and removed it.  I will be gluing it back on later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18341" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T14:56:45.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22741" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22766" CreationDate="2019-07-31T17:17:29.153" Score="7" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;Stand Up Paddleboards (SUP) come in both inflatable and rigid. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I consider when choosing between the two styles? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-07-31T18:41:25.973" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T09:41:15.510" Title="What to consider when choosing between rigid and inflatable stand up paddle boards?" Tags="&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22741" CreationDate="2019-07-31T18:32:30.323" Score="8" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you surfing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you competing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do you have a car with roofracks or a van&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key to the development of the inflatable boards was to make the experience more accessible. Red Paddle Co who (as far as I'm aware) developed the first of the modern inflatable boards have a simple principle of expanding the market as much as possible and making the sport as accessible as possible to the largest number of people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However inflatable boards are fundamentally softer in control and handling, so they're not good for competition. They can be &lt;em&gt;too&lt;/em&gt; buoyant making it difficult to get out through surf. A certain amount of power is lost in the flex in the board, so power is lost as you paddle. Energy of movement is also lost into flex rather than cutting cleanly through waves, meaning they don't carry momentum so well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a casual paddler the inflatables are really quite good, but once you're surfing, running rivers, racing, or long distance touring, anything where sharpness of response or efficiency of movement is an issue, you're going to be wanting to look at a hard board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you just need a vehicle able to transport it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-08-01T10:32:53.520" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T10:32:53.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22718" CreationDate="2019-07-31T22:45:36.333" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The stronger person (if there is one) should sit in the rear. The rear paddler is also responsible for steering, even backpaddling for tighter turns. Bigger person, bigger blade, smaller person, smaller blade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The person up front should simply paddle, and set the pace, but not too quickly (or strongly) for the rear paddler. When both paddle on the same side the person in back should dip just before the lead to prevent strikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Switch &lt;em&gt;sides&lt;/em&gt; every few strokes. Sometimes there are rocks and you'll have to stick on one side or the other; otherwise it's better to be on alternate sides to loosen the timing requirements. To &lt;em&gt;switch&lt;/em&gt; with a double ended paddle the lead simply pauses for a moment and then switches with the rear following (catching up on the next stroke).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This balances your efforts and distributes your exertion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That should result in an almost perfectly straight course, unless you are deliberately turning. Try practicing paddling from buoy to buoy, figure-8 will provide slightly better tight turning practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like anything with two people it takes practice and cooperation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17365" LastActivityDate="2019-07-31T22:45:36.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22744" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22974" CreationDate="2019-08-01T04:03:30.110" Score="12" ViewCount="2443" Body="&lt;p&gt;If a climber completes a route without using their protection that is called sending.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the term if one completes the route but had to depend on the rope either for a rest or for a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say using the rope lowers the climber enough that they still have to complete all moves. In other words all moves have been done properly, but the ascent wasn't clean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18347" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T09:03:41.887" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T18:47:34.550" Title="What is the term for completing a climbing route uncleanly?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;free-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22745" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-01T08:44:58.193" Score="2" ViewCount="149" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a subscription service from komoot for maps. Is there any GPS device that supports offline maps and GPX, preferably with android OS integration. Example scenario would be: Use an android based GPS apps in that Navigation device. Basically, I would like to avoid using my android phone for navigation, while hiking big trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18348" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T22:14:26.803" Title="Navigation device with offline maps and GPX support" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22746" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-01T14:29:27.147" Score="5" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to choosing a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8504/how-does-one-choose-the-right-standup-paddle-board-size&quot;&gt;correctly sized paddle board&lt;/a&gt;, one also needs a correctly sized paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How does one &lt;strong&gt;determine the correct size of paddle for stand up paddle boarding?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T09:33:14.407" Title="How tall of a paddle is needed for standup paddle boarding?" Tags="&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-01T14:42:00.273" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aid_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aid climbing&lt;/a&gt; this is still sending since hanging on protection is part of the game (as @StrongBad points out, hanging on the rope is a little different than hanging on protection.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sport climbing&lt;/a&gt;, however, &lt;em&gt;there is no specific word or phrase&lt;/em&gt;. I think the most common ways to describe it are: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Projecting&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in &quot;I'm projecting Era Vella 9a.&quot; This doesn't capture the fact that you've done all the moves, but most sport climbers are focused on the clean send, and so a large part of projecting involves doing all the moves in sequence with the occasional hang. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worked through all the moves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in &quot;I worked through all the moves on Predator 5.13b.&quot; This could mean that you rappelled in to try each move, but in some groups this will be understood as ground-up climbing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;...but not clean.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in &quot;I climbed my first 5.8 today, but not clean. I had to take once after the crux.&quot; This will usually be followed by rude people reminding you that you didn't &quot;actually send&quot;, and nice people reminding you that you should climb however you want as long as its safe and fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I changed the example here from &quot;sent&quot; to &quot;climbed&quot; because after thinking more about Adam's comment, I think there is a whole connotation involved with &quot;sending&quot; that some climbers may not like appropriated. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it's important to realize, though, that not officially &quot;sending&quot; is no less impressive or cool than sending. My experience in sport climbing circles is that no matter how hard you send or how many times you hang, other climbers will be stoked for you if you're trying hard and enjoying yourself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-08-01T18:26:10.947" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T18:26:10.947" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22748" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-01T15:46:36.687" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without falling, wouldn’t it be hangdog, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climbing_terms#hangdog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climbing_terms#hangdog&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With falling, I also would go for projecting. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Speaking of Sports climbing!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11707" LastActivityDate="2019-08-01T15:46:36.687" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-01T17:13:29.947" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is a &lt;em&gt;free climb&lt;/em&gt; (the outcome). The term you may use is All Free (AF). It is much more established &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Klettern/_Begehungsstile&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in German&lt;/a&gt;  (Alles Frei, remember, that RP »Rot Punkt« also comes from German). It (AF) makes more sense in traditional sandstone climbing in Elbsandstein, in multipitch (big wall) climbing and in alpine climbing though. Check, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.cz/books?id=Z2zCAwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA32&amp;amp;lpg=PA32&amp;amp;dq=all+free+%22af%22+climb&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=drnOBM6r4o&amp;amp;sig=ACfU3U30bz7meWiiXyo-6alBSDAo-gHEeg&amp;amp;hl=cs&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwi_1ouklOLjAhU76KYKHX64B4EQ6AEwBnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=all%20free%20%22af%22%20climb&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this book&lt;/a&gt;, I quote &quot;The AF (All Free) style was developed in the Alps as the first recognized sport style of free climbing , where the climber uses only natural for advancement and and overcomes the route with his/her own strength.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3055" LastEditorUserId="3055" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T08:36:21.530" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T08:36:21.530" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22746" CreationDate="2019-08-01T18:47:23.717" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paddle size is unsurprisingly related to rider height. While different people will vary by a little in their recommendation there are three general categories of usage that will determine the amount to add to your height: General flatwater, surfing, and racing. I've included advice from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.towerpaddleboards.com/v/sup-paddle-length.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tower&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://aquabound.com/sup-paddle-sizing-guide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aquabound&lt;/a&gt; (two respected paddle makers) for each category. You'll notice their advice is very similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General flatwater:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aquabound: Rider height +8-10 inches (20-25cm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tower: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The general convention for determining the correct paddle size is to take the rider’s height and add 9-10 inches... Make sure you’re measuring the total length of the paddle from the tip of the paddle to the very outer edge of the grip/handle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Surfing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aquabound: Rider height  + 6-8 inches (15-20cm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tower:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you’re going to use your stand up paddle board primarily for surfing, you should go a little shorter than this 9-10 inch add-on to your height. Something closer to 6-7 inches taller than your height would be ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Racing:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aquabound: Rider height +10-12 inches (25-30cm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tower:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In this case, it’s best to go a little longer than the 9-10 inch add-on to your height. The best recommendation for racers is to get a paddle that’s about 12 inches taller than the rider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A brief tangent on the other factors in picking a paddle:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it is worth noting that in addition to picking the length of the paddle one must also decide blade size, paddle material, and adjustable vs. fixed length shaft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T16:45:10.060" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T16:45:10.060" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22746" CreationDate="2019-08-01T20:04:17.557" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The advice I normally give is that you should stand with your hand up in a relatively relaxed manner (not reaching as high as you can), and the paddle should come up to your wrist on the raised arm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since most paddles you'll encounter are adjustable for length you can tweak it for comfort but it gives a good starting value, and nobody is going to be breaking out the tape measure when pulling adjustable paddles off the rack in a club or rental situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-09-03T09:33:14.407" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T09:33:14.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22754" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-02T01:54:47.370" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think the general progression I use is climbed, led, freed, flashed, and on sighted. I might break freed into red point and pink point if the route or area makes if ambiguous. I generally break led into a lot of terms like groveled, hang dogged, whimpered, depending on how ugly I was. Terms like projecting to me mean you are working towards freeing the route, but if I led a route with a single fall and have no plans to go back, I would describe that as projecting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T10:50:45.440" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T10:50:45.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22755" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-02T03:06:25.690" Score="23" ViewCount="2989" Body="&lt;p&gt;Suggestions on how to backpack with urinary incontinence? Not a fun topic, but I’m headed out on a 5-day backpacking trip and am concerned how to pack out any used products without attracting bears. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18353" LastEditorUserId="18353" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T03:51:55.337" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T01:17:01.617" Title="Backpacking with incontinence" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22755" CreationDate="2019-08-02T12:25:29.150" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;There probably isn't a big concern about bears being attracted to your stash since they would much rather have your food, but you could either:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hang it just like you would your food.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place it within an &lt;a href=&quot;https://loksak.myshopify.com/collections/opsak&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;OPSAK&lt;/a&gt; if hanging isn't practical where you will be. You should place the OPSAK inside some kind of bag to protect against abrasion or puncture. I use the 12x20 size inside my food bag, which is the bear-proof &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ursack.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ursack&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kudos to you for wanting to pack out your stuff!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T12:25:29.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22755" CreationDate="2019-08-02T12:37:13.820" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do not mention your gender, but if you are male and incontinence is urinary only:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider a &quot;Male External Condom Catheter&quot; or 'Texas Catheter', the volume of required supplies is much lower than diaper type incontinence products, it will also last much longer before needing to be addressed.  With a leg bag, you could empty it as needed, and only require a change once a day or so.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you have used a days supply, they are easy to rinse and pack out for disposal, As they don't absorb the fluid they will be much lighter to pack as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are female, you could conceivably use an internal cath, but the I would not recommend it, there are hygiene and abrasion considerations, as well as increased risk of UTI.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T12:37:13.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22760" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22761" CreationDate="2019-08-02T21:26:52.660" Score="42" ViewCount="16903" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently, I heard of three tourists from Germany drowning in a lake in Alaska. Their boat overturned and they ended up in the water. All three of them were wearing life jackets. This is what I don't understand, how can people still drown if they are wearing a life jacket?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18360" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2019-08-03T00:01:43.140" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T14:17:27.193" Title="How do people drown while wearing a life jacket?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-02T21:37:34.067" Score="44" Body="&lt;p&gt;Life jackets do not make one drownproof, just increase your odds significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Our data also show that &lt;strong&gt;over 80% of drowning victims were NOT wearing life jackets when&#xA;  found.&lt;/strong&gt; We know from other data that most of those victims could have been saved had&#xA;  they been wearing a life jacket before the mishap occurred.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;But, you ask, &lt;strong&gt;what happened to the other 20%, the ones who were wearing life jackets,&#xA;  but drowned anyway?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Those are the primary reasons boaters wearing life jackets sometimes drown. Either the&#xA;  boater is unable to free him- or herself from &lt;strong&gt;some type of entrapment&lt;/strong&gt;, is &lt;strong&gt;unconscious or&#xA;  otherwise unable to keep his/her face out of the water&lt;/strong&gt;, or eventually drowns from&#xA;  &lt;strong&gt;numerous mouth immersions over a prolonged period of time&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usps.org/eddept/files/other_20_handout.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Other 20% --&#xA;When Wearing a Life Jacket&#xA;Is Not Enough&#xA;By CDR Kim Pickens, U. S. Coast Guard Reserve&#xA;Operation BoatSmart Project Officer&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course you are way better off wearing a life jacket but it won't prevent you from drowning in all cases. The other killer if you fall off a boat in the ocean is hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T21:37:34.067" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-02T21:53:11.080" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the specific case you mention, both the &lt;a href=&quot;https://nypost.com/2019/07/31/3-tourist-kayakers-found-dead-in-glacial-lake-in-alaska-officials/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NY Post&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dw.com/en/german-tourists-perish-in-alaskan-glacier-lake/a-49838528&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deutsche Welle&lt;/a&gt; say that the cause of death is still being investigated, and both of them point out the low water temperature (the victims were kayaking in a glacier lake). DW mentions that they were not wearing any protection against cold water. At the time of writing, hypothermia seems more likely than drowning -- especially in the case of the victim who was found on top of an ice floe rather than in the water. The NY Post article mentions a water temperature of 9°C, corresponding to an expected survival time of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1-3 hours&lt;/a&gt; for the two victims found in the water. Considering that the deceased were all in their sixties, the lower end of this range seems more probable in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible that hypothermia first led to exhaustion and/or loss of consciousness (probably within &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;30-60 minutes&lt;/a&gt; in those temperatures), which could well put the victims in one of the categories mentioned in Charlie Brumbaugh's answer: ‘unconscious or otherwise unable to keep his/her face out of the water’. Kayakers commonly use type III PFDs, which are often &lt;a href=&quot;http://boatersafety.org/type-3-life-jacket-specifications-design-and-uses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;not designed to keep an unconscious person face-up&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2019-08-03T14:49:21.180" LastActivityDate="2019-08-03T14:49:21.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22325" CreationDate="2019-08-02T22:50:52.953" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, you will have an easier time finding places to backpack with dogs in Oregon than California.  Most parks in Oregon allow dogs unless specifically stating otherwise.  As such, I am not going to make specific recommendations as 1) most general backpacking recommendations will also be available to your dog and 2) I have less experience finding trails in that region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In California you cannot bring dogs backpacking in any state park and many county and regional ones prohibit it as well.  However most lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management that allow backpacking also allow dogs (this does not include the National Parks run by NPS).  This means most National Wildernesses, National Forests, and National Beaches will be available to you (though do check the websites for each location).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More specifically in your area, I have taken my dogs to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sierrawild.gov/wilderness/ansel-adams/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ansel Adams Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/inyo/home&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inyo National Forest&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/lpnf/recarea/?recid=10973&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silver Peak Wilderness&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ventanawild.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ventana Wilderness&lt;/a&gt; and had a great time (though Ventana is very &quot;rustic&quot; even for a backpacking region).  I have also investigated taking my dogs to Stanislaus National Forest and Trinity National Forest which both allow dogs.  This summer I also plan to do the Tahoe Rim Trail with one of my dogs which goes through Desolation Wilderness as well as a number of other regions and allows dogs on the whole loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18361" LastEditorUserId="18361" LastEditDate="2019-08-02T23:20:52.730" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T23:20:52.730" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-02T22:53:21.073" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say &quot;I've made all the moves, but not put them together yet&quot;. Usually, when I'm projecting a route, and got into that situation, I think of it as &quot;I've made the moves, but used 120% of my energy. My challenge then is to make the moves more efficient; saving 2% here, 3% there, until I get it down to 99 or 100%: then all I have to do is make it perfectly :) No slips, no moves out of place. It works for me &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18362" LastActivityDate="2019-08-02T22:53:21.073" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-03T01:02:06.483" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;PFDs come in various flavours:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best ones have sufficient floatation around the neck, and enough more flotation on the front compared to the back, than an unconscious victim is naturally rotated onto his back with is face out of the water.  The classic design is the &quot;Key hole&quot; design.  This is what you find in the lockers on ferries and passsenger ships. I used these for years on canoe trips.  The shoulder yoke interferes with a proper paddling stroke.  OTOH they are very nice between you and a gunwale when portaging a heavy freighter canoe.  You get an interesting tan pattern from them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 2nd tier are essentially a vest with foam strips instead of dacron quilting. Cheap ones are a simple zip up and a waist strap.  Better ones have straps on the sides to resize the vest to fit snugly, making it more difficult to lose, as well as warmer in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will float you upright, but if you are unconscious, your face may fall into the water.  Does make body recovery easier however.  If worn properly (snug) they tend to be about as warm as quilted flannel shirt -- not a win on a hot day. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We required our students to wear a life jacket at all times in the canoes, with the zipper engaged.  We were lenient about the waist straps, and having it zipped all way up.  However we tried to find a good jumping rock and have them jump into the water with the PFD done up in various bad ways.  Some were surprised at how easily it could come off, and how hard it was to put one on in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reasons of fashion, at one point you could get these in forest green, and a medium blue, instead of the usual international orange, neon yellow, fire engine red.  I  My current one of these is orange with blue trip, with pockets.  I love the pockets on a canoe trip.  Snacks, GPS, compass, current map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third tier are flotation belts which may or may not keep you upright but reduce vulnerability to undertows.  Water skiers seem to like these. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the first type of life jacket you have to work at drowning in it.  It happens.  An unconscious victim in choppy water can drown from repeated splashes in the face. This was the cause of death at the Temiskaming incident. (Hypothermia induced drowning)   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We used to be able to get the heavy duty foam core ones when they were replaced.  (Regulations called for periodic replacements, but most had never been used.)  They went to a much cheaper one that didn't withstand the type of abuse they get on canoe trips.  (Boat fenders, seats, sleeping pads, portage shoulder cushions) We had to go to the vest type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most boaters are using 2nd type.  They are  more comfortable to wear casually. If not worn properly, or if too large, it is easy to fall through them. Regulators figured that a great lifejacket that isn't worn is not a win.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are specialist life jackets that amount to a mix of a wet suit top with added flotation along with a 'diaper flap' that can be fastened between the legs.  Since these block water circulation beside the chest and in the groin area, the survival time in cold water is greatly increased.  They are hot to wear, but generally if you are working with water temps where need this, air temps aren't cooking.  Because they have sleeves, even partially unzipped they are unlikely to come off in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Alaska, I'm betting that hypothermia is part of the picture too.  In cold water it quickly becomes impossible to take effective action to save yourself, and soon after mental ability deteriorates.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-08-03T18:33:01.587" LastActivityDate="2019-08-03T18:33:01.587" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22741" CreationDate="2019-08-03T03:14:51.177" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Great question I would think through in your specific case the following steps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;store it (at home or at a public boat ramp if available)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;transport it (if it’s not already at the launch point)—-to the car, into/onto the car, to the launch point&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;prepare it for use &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;paddle it &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;transport it again &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;prepare it for storage &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;occasional repair and maintenance &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live on the water or have an affordable convenient means of storing your board near the water you probably have no need of an inflatable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in a small urban apartment or lack access to a vehicle with a roof rack and don’t have a good storage by point of use option you probably have no possibility of a rigid board.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inflating an SUP is a bit of a hassle and cleaning and drying it before it can go back in its bag is a chore.  This is somewhat offset by not needing to take time to secure an object which would do incalculable damage if it came loose on a freeway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inflatable SUP’s are incredibly resistant to damage during handling (windy parking lots, submerged stones, rocky shores). Fiberglass SUP’s need to be treated with more care.  Patching pinhole leaks require much less skill than repairing fiberglass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual paddling performance of a rigid is categorically better, like an adult’s bicycle compared to a child’s.  I owned a fairly high performance (for 2013) inflatable for the explicit purpose of surfing and while yes I could go catch waves and yes it was enormously better than not surfing and yes I’d rather be hit in the head with an inflatable, it was a bit like doing telemark turns in leather boots, fun for the fact that you’re out there and the challenge of doing it at all.  The lack of stiffness (not just the rail—-the whole thing would fold up a bit on a steep wave) was significant.  Meanwhile the adventure I imagined (mountain biking to remote beach breaks etc) fell apart in the face of the other gear (paddle, wetsuit, pump, drinking water, food and so on).  Also if you are space constrained, none of these items are small in your closet either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-04T22:45:30.743" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T22:45:30.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22726" CreationDate="2019-08-03T18:46:41.790" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prevention is important:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wear the shoes with trip socks for a few weeks before the trip.  The shorter distances involved in day to day living will get your feet accustomed to your shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are compounds sold that will toughen skin.  Rubbing alcohol is one.  Salt water is one.  Running shoe stores carry others.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I find that if my feet have been wet enough of the day to get prunefoot, that I'm more likely to get blisters.  I have found that slathering my feet with vaseline in the morning reduces prunefoot.  I think basically this is slowing the rate that my skin gets soggy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stop when you feel a 'hot spot'  Deal with it promptly.  Some people like moleskin for this.  I prefer PVC tape (electrical tape, but in a 1.25&quot; wide roll)  The smooth finish slides easily agains my sock, so the friction on my skin is reduced.  Note that this isn't fully compatible with vaseline.  A greasy foot doesn't accept sticky tape.  Usually by the time your foot hurts, most of the vaseline has been absorbed by either your foot or your sock, but you may have to use soap and water first.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;During your foot training period before the trip, pay attention to what your feet are telling you.  Take the time to get the shoe the right tightness -- tight enough to not allow rubbing, but no more.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I was running trips we would always stop about 15 minutes into the day for 'adjustments'  This was the time to put that cold morning fleece back in the pack, but also time to get that wrinkle out of your sock, and retie your shoes so that they didn't slip.  Working with kids we had a 'shoes and socks off' foot inspection one hour into the first day, and again at lunch. This is time consuming and a bother, but with a large group (typically 20 kids and 4 adults) pays off with more consistent trail speed. By day 2, we'd call out 'med call' before packing up in the morning, at lunch, and after camp was set.  Anyone with bad feet would come to med call to get it inspected.  The adult acting as medic kept of list of people he wanted to check up on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the day, you may need to adjust how you tie your shoes.  When walking on near flat (heel first foot strike) you don't need your foot as snug.  Climbing steep hills you don't want your heel sliding inside  your shoe.  Your foot already slides back, so heel rubbing exerts serious pressure on your skin.  When you are going down long grades, your feet tend to slide forward hammering your toes into the ends of your shoe.  So:  Uphill tighen the top of the laces enough to hold your foot down.  Downhill, tighten the bottom of the laces enough to keep your foot from sliding forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I size all my outdoor shoes to be able to wear two pairs of medium weight wool blend socks.  By medium weight:  A stack of 3 pairs of socks folded in half is about 5&quot; thick.  Some would call this heavy weight.  These are about twice the thickness of the typical grey with white and red stripe pattern work stocks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Change footwear at camp.  Allowing your feet to breath, expand, and live free after being in their footbox all day helps.  I use cheap crocs for this.  If cold, I'll wear a pair of socks in them. I strongly advise against going barefoot in camp unless your feet are very tough.  A cut on the bottom of your foot is difficult to heal in a hiking situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do NOT go to bed with wet or even damp socks on.  Not only will your feet be cold all night, but they won't dry out as well.  If you have chronic cold feet keep a pair of 'bed socks' just for sleeping in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are in hot weather, you can reduce your foot sweating by applying an anti-perspirant to your feet.  Takes about 3-4 days to clog all the sweat glands.  For some people this makes a difference. This can also keep your feet and hands drier and warmer in winter, as your socks and mitt liners don't get as sweat damp.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Addressing your original question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I go with trail shoes.  Currently using Merrell Voyageurs.  As a data point, I'm 190 pounds, 5'8, so somewhat overweight.  I usually backpack with a 45 pound pack including cameras.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have strong feet, as I make my living as a tree farmer, and so am standing or walking much of the day.  I have done entire trips in water boots. (MEC water moccasins) as I'm fairly tolerant of wet feet, but hate cold feet.  This does require a different walking style. I use these as my work shoes on wet days.  Again:  Wear what you are going to wear for a couple weeks before the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T13:04:38.290" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T13:04:38.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-04T11:14:02.843" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a multitude of ways to die in open water while wearing a life vest.  It is contingent upon a variety of scenarios whether you survive and the best scenario assumes that the person overboard is in reasonably good health, not intoxicated and doesn't panic.  As well, it also assumes that the water is as close to 98.7 degrees as possible, as this is the temp of the average human body, which means you can float longer without dying of hypothermia.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People die in water while wearing a life vest if they are knocked unconscious during the fall and cannot right themselves in the water and thus lose their airway and die.  They also die if they are so intoxicated that they simply cannot think straight and end up over exerting themselves or panicking and drowning.  The latter is also seen in people with anxiety, who panic upon hitting the water and subsequently become so exhausted that they pass out and die.  People also experience shock upon entering a cold body of water and suffer cardiac arrest.  That basically it for fairly sudden death in water with a life vest.  of course, protracted exposure to the elements, dehydration, hypothermia, starvation and illness are all others if left in long enough.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18369" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T11:14:02.843" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-04T14:02:25.417" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without witnessing or knowing anything about what really happened, it is a 100% safe bet to claim that these three people &lt;em&gt;didn't&lt;/em&gt; drown. They certainly, without any doubt, died from hypothermia (in particular the one whose body was not found in the water but on an ice floe).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, a life vest makes it easier to keep your head above the surface, but it is by no means a guarantee. Also, note that you can drown with out being submerged, and with &lt;em&gt;very little&lt;/em&gt; water being involved at all. This is known as dry drowning. Recently, some smart alecs have coined new fancy terms for the same thing, but it's what it has been called since pretty much forever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, there exists a multitude of ways you can &quot;drown&quot;. One of them is your lungs filling with water, which is surprisingly hard to achieve! That almost never happens (when it does, or appears so, chances are it happened &lt;em&gt;after&lt;/em&gt; death).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One way of drowning is just not getting enough air/oxygen into your body despite there actually being rather small amounts of water in your lungs. Another one is not drowning at all, but succumbing to the effect of water, which just happens not to have the right osmolarity, interfering with your blood. Living organisms don't react very positively towards their body fluids being substantially changed within short time. Your heart in particular doesn't like surprise changes in electrolyte concentrations at all. Lung surface is huge, so there's a lot of potential for things going a bad route when you inhale &quot;not just right&quot; fluids. Funnily, it can even happen that people drop dead even hours after being rescued and &quot;safe&quot;, for a variety of reasons, not all of which are understood.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Another way of &quot;drowning&quot; is laryngospasm (&quot;dry drowning&quot;) which prevents you from breating and which may require only &lt;em&gt;a few drops&lt;/em&gt; of water in the extreme case. Or, simply, vagus stimulation which can cause a cardiac arrest in the most extreme case (even if technically, your heart is still doing some escape beating, this is enough to disable you so much that you can no longer withstand the surrounding conditions anyway, which makes it a &quot;permanent condition&quot; very quickly). On particularly sensible individuals, water doesn't even need to go down the throat, the external ear canal will be enough to trigger it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8804" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T14:02:25.417" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22770" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22772" CreationDate="2019-08-04T16:38:14.253" Score="19" ViewCount="8868" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m adapting to long-term lifestyle of outdoor living, and getting constantly assaulted by this or that type of bug has been a major issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping in a tent has thwarted most my opposition at this point in my transition, such as mosquitoes, gnats, and horse-flies. Yet one pest still gains access, and I find this one the most invasive! My current enemy is the red-ant, and they invade my tent by any means necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are my options to completely eradicate ants in the immediate environment around my tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18375" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2019-08-05T12:44:43.757" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T10:53:04.160" Title="How to win against ants" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;ants&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-04T19:08:20.890" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Something not widely understood yet of critical importance is the &lt;strong&gt;cold water shock&lt;/strong&gt; phenomenon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cold-water shock is the first stage of the sudden and unexpected immersion in water which temperature is of 15 °C or lower and occurs during the first minute of exposure. Cold-water shock likely causes more deaths than hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reactions of the body may be muscle spasms and hyperventilation. Other symptoms may be an increase of the pulse and blood pressure. Sudden immersion into cold water may cause cardiac arrest, even for a healthy person. The shock of the cold water can also cause an involuntary gasp reflex that can cause victims to swallow water and drown, even for a good swimmer. Cold water can paralyze the muscles instantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://aceboater.com/en/cold-water-shock-symptoms-treatment&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aceboater: cold-water-shock-symptoms-treatment&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/e-newsletters/up-to-speed/Pages/the-cold-shocking-truthabout-cold-water-shock-.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rya: the-cold-shocking-truth about-cold-water-shock&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com/pages/1_10_60v2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;coldwaterbootcamp&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A key to survival is to understand this phenomenon, and force yourself to remain calm upon immersion for the first minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T19:08:20.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-04T19:47:16.827" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best way is to reduce (actually to remove) any kind of attractions they like: food and water. If they cannot find anything useful, than they will stop releasing scents that attracted other ants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means, you have to make sure there is no (open) water or drinks nearby, no sugar in any way, and no food in general. Keep everything enclosed, in such a way it doesn't smell, there is no opening and clean up everything fast after use (better, eat and use food/drink away from your tent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can take a few days before the scents the ants are releasing will go, but the above will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T10:53:04.160" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T10:53:04.160" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22774" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-04T20:37:20.733" Score="3" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many, many articles and web sites that will tell you what to do if you develop a hot spot or blister while on the trail, and need to perform some field treatment to allow you to get back in your boots and finish your excursion.  There are many more that will help you prepare for your hike and take steps to prevent these from happening in the first place.  This includes handfuls of questions and answers here at TGO.SE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what I have not been able to find is anything that discusses the long-term and after-care.  For that time when you've been back to home and work for a day or two, yet there remains this patch of red, angry skin on your heel or toe.  How can you help it heal?  How can you reduce the pain while it heals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I would prefer a generalized answer that helps the entire community, I will describe my own case. I've just finished a week-long vacation with some light hiking at several stops going there and back.  Further, my hiking shoes were not 100% broken in yet.  The good news is that I never blistered, just formed hot spots on the bottom of both big toes.  The bad news is that those spots are still rather painful- as I unpack and clean up, I really notice it.  I've tried a moisturizing foot lotion, but it's been no help.  I'm not sure whether to try a warm water and epsom salt bath or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T01:52:18.690" Title="Post-hike Care and Pain Relief for Blisters and Hot Spots" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;blisters&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-04T21:27:33.900" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of articles on the web telling you how to kill ants that invade your campsite with common household products.  See, for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.terminix.com/blog/diy/tips-to-stop-ants-invading-your-camp/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tips And Tricks To Stop Ants From Invading Your Camp&lt;/a&gt;. Also, as @Michel Keijzers said in his excellent answer, be fanatical about removing ant attractants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I suggest considering a different strategy.  Remove yourself from ant-infested regions.   They perform useful functions in the ecosystem, and don't deserve genocide. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is easy for me to say, because almost all of my camping is done above timberline in the Sierra or the Rockies.  Ants are no more than a minor nuisance, if that, there.  I fully realize that this may not be practical for the OP and other sufferers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This Question reminded me of the old movie, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&amp;amp;ei=V0lHXZDXBufm5gK96riYAQ&amp;amp;q=elephant+walk+movie&amp;amp;oq=Elephant+Walk&amp;amp;gs_l=psy-ab.1.4.0l10.1330.5136..7815...0.0..0.217.1906.3j9j2......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0i3.gmDYFRLrYiM&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Elephant Walk&lt;/a&gt; starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch.  A macho manly man (Finch's late father) built his house on an elephant migration trail that led to their watering place, and Finch spent most of the movie trying to deflect elephants from his house.  Eventually, the elephants lost patience and smashed the house.  Taylor (of course) and Finch survived.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All I am saying is that you try to avoid Ant Walk and consider ensuring that you are not on an ant trail or an ant's nest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-08-04T21:27:33.900" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22774" CreationDate="2019-08-05T01:52:18.690" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who thru-hiked the AT, and has had many a blister, I can safely say that you really need do nothing for them other than to remove the dead skin once the blister pops, off load any pressure being placed upon them if possible and keep it as clean and dry as possible. Unless you are diabetic, immunocompromised or a heavy smoker, they will heal in about 9 to 14 days.  When I developed blisters on my hike in the early days of my adventure, I slapped some mole skin on it and kept on hiking.  They eventually heal over time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18369" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T01:52:18.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22778" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-05T04:14:32.017" Score="3" ViewCount="150" Body="&lt;p&gt;Location: UK East Midlands, suburban garden. Bird: possible marsh tits, something in that size range with a black cap. Time: late July.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two similar-looking birds were observed making high-pitched, very loud calls while &quot;dancing&quot; (wobbling from side to side) perched on a telephone/telegraph wire. If disturbed they would move to another wire and carry on as before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a few related questions. First off, is this courting behaviour? And if so, why are these birds courting when small British bird species do not nest after July?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, is this kind of shaking &quot;dance&quot; and call combo diagnostic for a particular species?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18378" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-05T17:29:21.560" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T17:29:21.560" Title="Birds singing and dancing on telephone wire" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-05T09:14:16.213" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Salt is the answer. A continuous line of fine salt around your tent and campsite. Ants don't like crossing it. You have now angered the ant God so you have to do an appeasement offering. Smear the base of a tree outside your perimeter with strawberry jam or any other sweet and delicious gel. Put a healthy dose of it up the trunk and in crevices. Don't be grinchy. They'll start going there and not into your tent. I have used this double strategy and it works quite well. But hey, you are always going to find one or two where they shouldn't be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T09:14:16.213" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22712" CreationDate="2019-08-05T09:21:40.147" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Clothes washing detergents are not good for greasy stains. This also applies to regular clothes : Smear the area with copious amounts of dishwasher detergent then wash normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is going to remove any solvent based hydrophobe so you'll have to reapply as if it has none. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T09:21:40.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22781" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-05T10:18:28.987" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are outnumbered. You will never be able to &quot;completely eradicate&quot; ants. Outsmart them instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Build a moat.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A trick for keeping ants off a table is to put each table leg in a small container of water. If your tent is sufficiently water proof then pitching the tent inside a large kiddie pool with a bit of water &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; help. Smaller tents might even be able to be pitched atop an air matress which itself is in the kiddie pool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that I've never tried this and I can think of a host of problems that it might cause. But you will have to decide if those trade offs are worth it. &lt;strong&gt;Desperate times call for desperate measures.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3414" LastEditorUserId="3414" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T07:04:15.253" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T07:04:15.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-05T11:22:31.437" Score="1" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Pour boiling water into the anthill&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a bit of animal cruelty isn't beneath you, pouring boiling water into an ant nest gets the job done. Scientists sometimes use this method for precision killing (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYc7icTWUOk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18383" LastEditorUserId="18383" LastEditDate="2019-08-05T11:49:58.033" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T11:49:58.033" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15311" CreationDate="2019-08-05T15:41:28.573" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;TLDR: Use an electric blanket instead.  Make sure it is on an AFCI &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; GFCI breaker or outlet.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I take it you don't pay the electric bill&lt;/em&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents just can't hold heat, and so you'll be wasting heat energy at an unbelievable rate.  A 1500W heater costs about 20 cents an hour to run.  And it isn't that much heat, especially if it's cold enough to be snowy.  You will be disappointed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire in a tent is suicide.  At least it's &lt;em&gt;possible&lt;/em&gt; to choose an electric heater which is safe, though the one you pictured isn't it.   Inevitably in the confined space of a tent, a heater will get kicked, covered with fabric. etc.  &lt;strong&gt;Those cheapie heater-fans are death traps in that situation&lt;/strong&gt;, because they run very hot internal temperatures - if cloth is draped over them and their flow blocked, they can raise to fire-starting temperatures.  They supposedly have safety systems, but these things are notoriously cheap, and &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; fail when that safety system fails &quot;safe&quot;... so you're betting your life that it won't fail in the other direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make heaters with a great deal of surface area that run at a much lower temperature.  &lt;strong&gt;Electric blankets&lt;/strong&gt; are the first thing that comes to mind.  Don't heat the room, heat you.  However an electric blanket needs AFCI protection, which is a type of circuit breaker or sometimes receptacle (not to be confused with GFCI/RCD).  AFCIs are designed to catch short circuits in electric blankets that start fires.  If you want a heater, safer heater choices are oil-filled &quot;radiator&quot; heaters, or chicken coop heaters as observed in another answer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AFCI is also really good at protecting wiring in the walls (e.g. an unreliable American wiring style called the &quot;backstab&quot;), so most AFCI implementations are at the circuit breaker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any &lt;em&gt;mains&lt;/em&gt; electric (100-240V) going to a tent needs to be GFCI-protected  (Europe: RCD) since you will be mixing electricity and water in close quarters.  The European &quot;whole house&quot; 30 milliamp RCDs are inadequate for life safety, and you want another RCD that has a 6-8 milliamp trip.   GFCI/RCD can either be at the breaker, at the receptacle, or anywhere in between, including other receptacles. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T15:41:28.573" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22784" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-05T17:00:35.160" Score="4" ViewCount="840" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent answer said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Any mains electric (100-240V) going to a tent needs to be GFCI-protected (Europe: RCD) since you will be mixing electricity and water in close quarters. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22783/4079&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I have been camping since before GFCI/RCD have been required in houses.  I got wondering what percentage of camp sites actually have these. I have &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/19387/4079&quot;&gt;previous experience with campground electrical issues&lt;/a&gt; Personally I don't have a lot of confidence campground power supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any countries or regions where GFCI/RCD are required to be installed on new AND existing power supplies? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T18:15:40.277" Title="What percentage of campground outlets are GFCI or RCD protected?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22785" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22784" CreationDate="2019-08-05T17:21:46.257" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK this has been required for some years. I'm not saying you'll never find an old installation that isn't, but I haven't seen one since converting my campervan nearly 10 years ago. Usually when electrical regulations change here, an immediate refit isn't required, but systems have to be brought up to standard when significant work is being done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My understanding is that the requirement actually comes from adopting European regulations into UK law. Most campsites in France now have RCDs on the sockets, but not all. In fact some still use Schuko sockets instead of CEE-form, and many of these aren't very waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nuisance tripping is an issue when RCDs have been retrofitted to old installations that are prone to getting damp, or if another customer on the same RCD (they're often shared between pitches/sockets) has a fault. Sometimes it's easy to reset them, sometimes they're locked away. Our electrical hardware is generally quite robust, so other faults are rare and tend to result in complete loss of power, but I use a socket tester to check the earth connection and polarity when I arrive on site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cables sold for running to a tent (and converting to a household 13A socket) have an RCD built in, as do caravan connection panels. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T17:21:46.257" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22784" CreationDate="2019-08-05T18:15:40.277" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Presumably you won't be plugging &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;your tent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; into any of these common North American RV dock connectors: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;240V/50A on a NEMA 14-50&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;240V/30A on a NEMA 14-30  or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;120V/30A on a &quot;TT30&quot; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In those cases, they provide a ground wire, and that is tied to the vehicle frame. AFCI/GFCI is provided via branch circuit breakers inside the RV's own distribution panel, at the discretion of the RVer.   If the RV campsite didn't have ground, they wouldn't be allowed to install the above outlets, and RVs couldn't plug into them.  Ground is not hard to get at a campsite, in fact if the electrical connections are made via underground metal conduit, practical grounding is a done deal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a tent, presumably you will be using the common electrical outlet that is universal in North America, our old friend NEMA 5-15.  &lt;strong&gt;Any outdoor NEMA 5-15 (or compatible NEMA 5-20) must be GFCI protected&lt;/strong&gt;.  NEC 210.18 in the US. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In residential, there is a long tradition of &lt;strong&gt;grandfathering&lt;/strong&gt; previous work that was done to code &lt;em&gt;at the time it was installed&lt;/em&gt;.  This is merely to prevent every homeowner from having to hire an electrician every 3 years, and the concomitant &quot;boom and bust&quot; cycle which would be very bad for the profession.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, enforcement is up to local authorities, and they apply a sensible view on grandfathering.  Grandfathering is less allowed for a commercial operation -- more for sites with internal electricians like auto assembly plants, and less for public-facing operations.  And &lt;strong&gt;far less&lt;/strong&gt; where the urgency:cost ratio is fairly high.  Slapping a $20 GFCI receptacle at a campsite stand &lt;em&gt;isn't a big ask&lt;/em&gt;.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would certainly expect any campsite that is inspected to have them 100%.  When is the last time you've seen a public bathroom without GFCI on the receptacles? (test/reset buttons, or sticker). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T18:15:40.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22745" CreationDate="2019-08-05T21:46:40.683" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a look at an application called Avenza PDF Maps.  Avenza allows you to download a host of free (can not free) maps onto your tablet or smart phone.  Since Avenza is displaying the map background and your location on the map only using the device and the devices GNSS you do not need cellular coverage to see your location.  If you are in the USA you can download any USGS topographic map for free.  GPX support?  This is planed for a future Avanza release.  You could bring your GPX data into something like QGIS and create your own geo-spatial PDFs.  If that is the case have a look at GIS Stackexchange for help there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need more GPX support consider BackcountryNavigator which allows you to download data for off-grid use and import GPX files.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastActivityDate="2019-08-05T21:46:40.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22770" CreationDate="2019-08-06T00:13:25.680" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have a large enough car, depending on your environment it can be a better solution - for example, in a prius if you fold down the back seats there's easily enough space to sleep with a decent mattress as well. Keep a window open a tad to allow fresh air in, but put a car cover over to block sunlight and unwelcome eavesdroppers, and you're good to go - I'm quite tall, and I sleep in one fine, given the right kind of weather. Certainly a lot warmer than a tent, that's for sure. And keeps the bugs out&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18391" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T00:13:25.680" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22755" CreationDate="2019-08-06T01:17:01.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Visit your local medical durable goods store and purchase several ABD pads, which are super absorbent and can hold a considerable amount of urine and, being cotton, are biodegradable and can be burned or buried.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18369" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T01:17:01.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6753" CreationDate="2019-08-06T04:03:10.300" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent is not an insulated structure. It protects from the wind and the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside your tent, you need insulation, such as a sleeping bag or warm clothes. That's what you warm up. A good trick to warm your sleeping bag is to fill a nalgene with boiling water, put it in a sock, and put that in your sleeping bag. It'll be toasty for hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spent 7 field seasons camping for 5 weeks each on Mt Erebus, Antarctica. Inside the tent it's usually well below freezing, and that's fine. For warmth, you are either wearing clothes (down booties for the win!), or in a sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also have done some high-altitude mountaineering in the Cascades and the Andes, and the same rules hold. A warm tent is generally an annoyance that happens due to the greenhouse effect in the morning if you're not climbing for whatever reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit: Ok so... I remembered that there is at least one couple that likes to warm up their tent on Erebus, for reasons. They use a stove, but these are Scott tents that we cook in all the time. The thing is, there is extreme danger of carbon monoxide poisioning and we've had some close calls so you're actually supposed to have the tent door open whenever the stove is on, which means it's cold. This couple breaks that rule. Never ever light a stove in a tent and then lie down for a rest... if you fall asleep, there is a very good chance you won't be waking up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9213" LastEditorUserId="9213" LastEditDate="2019-08-06T04:10:11.613" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T04:10:11.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22760" CreationDate="2019-08-06T14:17:27.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've fallen into the water where these people unfortunately died.  In almost 40 years I have never been in as much pain as when that happened.    The water is sub 45F (~7C) or even colder.   Exposure will kill you in minutes from hypothermia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These people didn't drown, they froze to death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two of the tourists’ bodies were found floating in the water, while the third was discovered atop an ice floe, Pierce said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was in the water for only 2 minutes and was already in early stage hypothermia when I was pulled out.  If not for the quick actions of the people around me, I would have died.   That was only 2 minutes, I weigh ~166 pounds (~75 kilograms) and exercise daily so I have a good metabolism and normally can handle wind chills down to 45F but water is a much better conductor of heat than air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18394" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T14:17:27.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22798" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-06T14:24:38.013" Score="4" ViewCount="532" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm starting to get my first surfboard lessons and wanted to get my own. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I start off with a soft board or a hardboard?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18397" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T11:17:12.593" Title="Is a soft board or a hard board better for a beginner surfer?" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22798" CreationDate="2019-08-06T14:54:07.787" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally it's recommended to get a &quot;foamie&quot; as your first board, mostly because they're relatively cheap so if you don't commit to the sport you're not so much out of pocket on the attempt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the time you're looking at upgrading you should know a lot more about the type of surfing you want to do and what kit you're going to need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T14:54:07.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22800" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-06T16:14:00.673" Score="10" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have purchased some outdoor clothing made of 83% merino wool. The manufacturer states in their care instructions to &quot;use regular detergents, not wool detergents&quot;. What is the reason for them recommending this? I thought wool was supposed to be washed using wool detergent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2894" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T17:24:24.343" Title="Why does a manufacturer recommend normal detergent instead of wool detergent?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;wool&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22798" CreationDate="2019-08-06T16:40:38.077" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently went through this decision myself. Something I was told is you should be able to consistently stand up/catch waves on your current board before you move to a &quot;harder&quot; board. So by this advice you start on a foamie. I went for a cheap ($50) slightly used foamie. Of my 5 friends who also just started we split 2/3 foamie/fiber. I think the 3 that went for a fiberglass board (used ~$100-250) are happier. I'll be buying a fiber board soon. Now that that anecdote is out of the way onto advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things I was told to consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you sure you will continue with surfing? If the lessons are enjoyable and you are fairly sure then just make the investment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foam boards are easier to take care of. If you bang it in your garage, while walking, etc then you aren't going to have an issue. The same can't be said for a fiberglass board&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foam boards hurt less if you fall on them. While you are learning this can be nice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Foam boards hurt others less if you hit them. If you are having trouble controlling yourself while surfing it might be good to buy a foam board for the sake of surfers around you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fiberglass boards are going to be faster. This means easier to paddle onto a wave.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fiberglass board is what you will eventually buy, so buying one at the start allows for longer progression on the same board&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Regardless of board type, pick a longish board (7-8ft) with a more rounded nose (won't nosedive into waves as often while learning)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Volume matters. The more volume the more stable it will be (in general). Most boards have a number of Liters of volume&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of places(/friends) let you demo used fiber boards for cheap. Some will even put the rental cost to buying a board. If possible, try demoing one and if you are able to get up consistently then just buy a fiberglass board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-08-19T11:17:12.593" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T11:17:12.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22802" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-06T17:36:42.457" Score="8" ViewCount="3126" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my flashlights that has a black anodized aluminum housing has a couple of scratches on it, all of the way through the anodized coating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I cover up the scratches so that its completely black again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T02:55:45.033" Title="How to touch up scratches on a black anodized aluminum flashlight?" Tags="&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22802" CreationDate="2019-08-06T18:25:06.907" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;How can I [make] it completely black?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cover it with something black.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drawing on it with a black marker will work, but that might rub off after serious use. You could use black spray paint, but that requires etching into the rest of the anodized part. Black electrical tape would be great, and makes it a little more grippy when wet, but gets gross after a while. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T18:25:06.907" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22802" CreationDate="2019-08-06T21:20:22.267" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to touch up scratches on a black anodized aluminum flashlight?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try using black nail polish on your flashlight . But make sure it is a good quality nail polish and not something from the Dollar Store. People have used nail polish to remove scratches on cars for many years now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Some people may only know nail polish as something women put on their nails as a form of an accessory. However, nail polish has a lot of uses, and one of these uses includes being a great scratch remover. As you can tell with the other DIY fixes, you will need to buff and sand. However, with nail polish, you will just need to clean the area before applying it. Nail polish helps cover up the scratches instead of doing a lot of legwork to “remove” the scratch. Furthermore, nail polish comes in a variety of colors, so it’ll be easier to match a color with your paint. This makes it a really effective way to remove scratches on your car paint. So, you should look for the closest color to your car paint that you can find. Apply the polish as evenly as possible so the scratch will no longer be seen. If you still see the scratch afterward, you can just apply another coat of nail polish after it has dried. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://theautowarehouse.com/remove-light-scratches/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nail Polish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2019-08-06T21:20:22.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22802" CreationDate="2019-08-06T21:37:16.930" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a small can of Bar-B-Q-Black, a Rustoleum product that we have used on scratches or dings on black metal objects, such as a wood-burning stove or a iron garden bench. This particular can says it resists heat up to 1,000 degrees F, which performance limit you are unlikely to need. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you Google Bar-B-Q-Black, Rustoleum you will find an array of products at an array of prices at many places. It may be more expensive than nail polish (see answer of &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22804/8732&quot;&gt;Ken Graham&lt;/a&gt;) but not necessarily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-08-07T02:55:45.033" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T02:55:45.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22041" CreationDate="2019-08-07T01:24:59.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides super glue, as some do not want to go that route, here is another option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also mentioned that you cut it off. This can actually slow the healing process as it will dry out the skin underneath the flapper. The best solution I found and experienced was to clean up the wound, which will hurt at first but is necessary, and then leave the skin overtop the open underlayer of skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea to promote healing is to keep the moisture in and protect it from infection and further damage. If the flapper is damaged and should not be placed back, then carefully cut it off and use a moisture pad like 2nd Skin or even a bandaid that seals the tear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Links that support leaving the flap on and moisture to help with healing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://advancedtissue.com/2015/11/skin-tears-common-treatment-approaches-and-protocols/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skin tear treatment 1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/skin-tear#care-and-treatment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skin tear treatment 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you feel like you are getting to the point of a flapper, a preventative measure is to file it (or, what I do, sand it with a Dremmel) down and stop climbing. Let the skin heal stronger and use a skin strengthening balm like Climb-on or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastEditorUserId="13732" LastEditDate="2019-08-07T01:41:31.683" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T01:41:31.683" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9803" CreationDate="2019-08-07T11:36:02.723" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It actually depends where you hike,  the type and size of your backpack,  the type of sleeping pad and how much you carry in your pack.  I use a Mountain Smith Mayhem 45lt which is a top loading and also can be accessed from the back. It has an internal frame.  Putting the sleeping pad inside lined around the pack will not enable me to access quickly to the things inside.  My sleeping pad is Thermarest Solo Z lite which is foldable and does not take to being rolled up kindly. With my tent,  ground sheet,  tarp, sleeping bag, cook system, a pair of cloths,  towel,  food,  survival kit,  first aid kit,  water bladder,  knife,  laplander saw,  cordage, and lamps,  I think that's about it.  I hike on trails and my pad/mat has never once been caught in branches or threw me off balance.  The thermarest Solo z lite is really lite and waterproof.. even if it gets wet,  a simple wipe will ensure its dry. So far so good. I would hate to have to buy a bigger pack as it would mean bringing more stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18409" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T11:36:02.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20616" CreationDate="2019-08-07T15:16:43.227" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on your lure/bait, if you have.  Fishing is also a lot about luck.  Right fish,  right lure/bait,  you could get one.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18410" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T15:16:43.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21280" CreationDate="2019-08-07T15:21:26.770" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I teach survival. I live in Malaysia and our jungle is the Equatorial Rain Forest,  which is usually damp.  Hand road flares is something I would put in my pack in case I need to make fire or signal immediately.  It really helps to make a fire after or during rain.  It also helps to ward off wild animals. &#xA;The road flare that comes from Japanese Imported Cars usually lasts about 15 minutes.  All you have to do is split the wood into smaller pieces,  placing skinned kindlings between them and just place the road flare there.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The heat generatef helps to dry the damp wood (wood underneath the bark are usually dry or damp) and catches fire after about 3 to 5 minutes. &#xA;I have never failed to get a fire starting and I only do this on an emergency.  Road flares are expensive here.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18410" LastEditorUserId="18410" LastEditDate="2019-08-10T02:20:35.460" LastActivityDate="2019-08-10T02:20:35.460" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21280" CreationDate="2019-08-07T16:39:27.947" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Flares appear to weigh up to around 200g each, and to be fairly bulky. As each one can only be used once, that's a lot to carry per fire - a similar amount of liquid fuel and tinder could be expected to light several fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're carrying them as survival signal flares anyway, using one to get a fire going in difficult circumstances might be very effective, but then you don't have it for signalling. This would seem rather limiting, so you might want to do this only if you're going to stay in one place and keep the fire burning. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T16:39:27.947" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22654" CreationDate="2019-08-07T17:29:51.840" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to Charlie's answer, a big mistake would be to hold it improperly. Specifically, if you hold the bottom of the Gri Gri you can actually prevent the auto-braking to engage. And especially when a climber falls and the belayer panics!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xLfHB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xLfHB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T17:29:51.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22812" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22814" CreationDate="2019-08-07T19:00:02.037" Score="14" ViewCount="3585" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently looking at using colored see-through water bottles. Mold is green because it reflects green light, so I have a theory that a green bottle would grow the least amount of mold because it only allows green light through which the mold can't absorb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So does bottle color make any difference on mold growth? If so, is it worth it to look specifically for green bottles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18413" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T21:06:12.513" Title="Does bottle color affect mold growth?" Tags="&lt;water-bottles&gt;&lt;mold&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22812" CreationDate="2019-08-07T19:48:47.243" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mould &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hunker.com/13420833/does-mold-grow-faster-in-the-light-or-dark&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;does not need light&lt;/a&gt; to grow, and the proposed green colour will prevent you seeing mould growth, and being darker inside, will &lt;em&gt;encourage&lt;/em&gt; mould growth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is important for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_mold&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mould growth&lt;/a&gt; is damp conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solutions to the mould problem are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/mold-in-water-bottle/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sterilize&lt;/a&gt; the bottle regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drain the bottle upside down after emptying or cleaning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Store the empty bottle dry inside.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leave the cap off the bottle when in storage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-08-07T20:09:01.300" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T20:09:01.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22812" CreationDate="2019-08-07T19:50:18.993" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mold doesn't need light to grow, in fact it thrives in darker environments. It needs warm temperatures, water, and food (sugars/salt from backwash). So those three things are independent of water bottle color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, in terms of light filtration, a green water bottle isn't a perfect green light filter. So while it will have some effect on the color spectra of light passing through, it won't be the same as say a green filter for imaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, the color of your bottle won't affect mold growth. Just make sure to clean it well (scrub with a toothbrush or similar) and sterilize (boiling water) every once in a while (Ideally ~1/week).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can also unfortunately say from experience that green water bottles can indeed have mold grow inside them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-08-07T19:50:18.993" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22816" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22817" CreationDate="2019-08-08T14:11:20.923" Score="2" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've only just started bouldering, and we have been using the easiest to grades VB-V1. I find V1 are moderately challenging but the next step up, V2, I just entirely struggle with. What can I do to improve to move up a grade when I always find it vastly different in difficulty, when there is limited access to my local bouldering gym? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11379/bouldering-improving-and-getting-up-grades&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; question has a lot of great info, however I am limited to a gym only (no outdoor locally), so everything is predefined, and we can only get there a twice a month maximum as it's quite far away. I visit my regular gym twice a week, however, so what can I do here, or at home, as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T08:12:33.910" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T08:12:33.910" Title="How to progress to harder graded problems?" Tags="&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2019-08-10T15:34:52.690" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22816" CreationDate="2019-08-08T15:13:59.193" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The specifics of this are unique to the person, but in general: &lt;strong&gt;Just keep going climbing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are (very broadly speaking) two factors which determine how hard you can climb. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Technique, or how you &lt;em&gt;move and position&lt;/em&gt; your body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strength, or how &lt;em&gt;strong&lt;/em&gt; your body is&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going climbing will improve both of these things. You'll get comfortable in the strange positions climbing sometimes puts you in and your muscles will get used to gripping holds of a variety of shapes. Essentially, practice makes perfect, or at least better.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, there are ways to improve each of these things on their own (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/training-7-simple-drills-to-improve-footwork-and-technique/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;footwork drills&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/copy-of-tech-tips-contact-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hangboarding&lt;/a&gt;, etc.) but these are a shockingly &lt;strong&gt;bad idea&lt;/strong&gt; for the V0-V2 climber. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is unlikely, as a new climber, that your muscles and tendons will respond well to targeted workouts; it is likely, as a new climber, that hangboarding will injure you. And while technique exercises won't hurt you... they're kinda boring! I suggest enjoying regular routes, and asking fellow climbers for technique advice when interested. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advice above is pretty general, but I'm guessing you're also feeling a bit of...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Plateau/The Jump&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is when you feel that your rate of improvement has decreased (plateau) or the change in difficulty from one level to the next is insurmountable (jump). Perhaps when you started climbing, a V0 was doable and a V1 was very hard, but you could at least attempt it. Now you feel that V1s are doable but a V2 is impossible. &lt;em&gt;This is very common, and V2 won't be the first time you experience this.&lt;/em&gt; Here are a few tips for getting past it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climb more. Go twice a week instead of once. Stay at the gym for 3hrs instead of 2. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work on the parts of harder climbs that you &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; do. There is often a big difference in style of climb between V0-V2, and getting used to the new type of movement will help you improve. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Work on individual moves at your limit. Find a few moves that look cool to you and work on them. Try them every different way you can think of. The feeling of sticking a move after trying it over and over for a week is incomparable. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(optional) Ask for advice. When you're working on your one hard move, talk to the local crushers and see if they have a suggestion--it's amazing how much a well placed backstep or dropknee can change how you feel on the wall, and sometimes new climbers won't recognize (or even know) how to identify the opportunities. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all, go out and have fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit after edit to question:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of my answer involves climbing more, and you say you can't get to the climbing gym more than twice a month. I hate to say it, but you're going to have a hard time improving significantly. As with most technical sports, you can't improve without actually doing it. Sure, you can do grip workouts and yoga and situps and more, but in all likelihood you'll get on your next V2 and it will feel just as hard as before. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An analogy, in reverse: I recently started going to a regular gym. I can climb pretty hard routes on tiny crimps with huge jumps. But when I go to the gym I can only do 5 or 10 pull ups--and what gets tired first? My grip.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T15:24:40.637" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T15:24:40.637" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21280" CreationDate="2019-08-08T16:28:35.177" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A flare is designed around producing light or smoke for a long period (often 30 seconds or more), rather than heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a flare is all you have, then it may serve as a fire-making tool, but I wouldn't carry them with that purpose in mind - better to use that weight allocation for waterproof matches and good tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd advise against trying to use parachute flares for this purpose - you're likely to lose control of it as it tries to launch into the air, and that may well spoil your day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-08T17:05:38.230" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T17:05:38.230" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22816" CreationDate="2019-08-08T16:50:36.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you just get started climbing there is a lot of things you can learn to improve your technique, and not all of it needs to come from climbing.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Things you can do outside of the gym:&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try watching bouldering competitions and watch how the climbers move, pay close attention to how and where they place their feet and how they shift their body weight. A great place to watch these is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2MGuhIaOP6YLpUx106kTQw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) youtube channel&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learn about specific climbing moves such as flagging and drop knees, there are many more advanced techniques but these two can be very useful and can be applied in many bouldering problems.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get a grip training device from your local climbing store, for V0 - V2 I suspect that its more likely your body position and movement is the primary impediment to advancing grade but strengthening your grip certainly won't do any harm  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Things you can do at the gym&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try doing footwork drills, you can find all sorts of drills online,  some I've done:   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Standing next to the wall pick a bolt hole and in one movement lift your foot and tap your toe to the bolt hole, this will train foot placement accuracy so that you have less need to re-adjust after stepping.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pick an easier section of wall and traverse along the bottom of it focusing on stepping with the front of foot rather than the side, see this &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22298/why-is-it-bad-to-use-your-whole-foot-in-rock-climbing/22307#22307&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; for an explanation why this is preferred foot placement. Try to also focus on making all of your movements controlled such that when you step there is no sound and once you have placed your foot you do not need to adjust it. Try different types of movements in your traverse, stepping across your body in front of the other foot, stepping across your body behind your other foot, etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Try to practice twisting and rotating your body as you climb so that you are not square to the wall the entire time, instead you want to be able to turn your hip towards the wall so that you face more to the side, this brings your shoulder closer to the wall giving you further reach and can help keep pressure on your feet rather than your fingers. For example, when reaching to a hold to your left, you would want to turn your left hip towards the wall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-08-08T16:50:36.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22812" CreationDate="2019-08-08T19:32:57.003" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;@noah is correct but I want to add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;UV in sunlight can actually kill the top layer of mold and mold spores. But it won't do much to established mold. Having a dark colored bottle will actually increase the chances of mold developing because you're blocking UV.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bottles are darker colored in industries like pharmaceutical and cosmetics to block UV rays which will break down vitamins and cause or speed up other unintended chemical reactions. In these industries various things are done to reduce the amount of mold like using very clean water and manufacturing processes and introducing additives. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;[C]ontainers in amber, cobalt blue and vintage green offer UV protection for beauty, food and beverage products with sensitivity to light. Each of these colors provides differing levels of UV protection: Amber, high; Cobalt, medium; and, Green, minimal.&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.glassnow.com/blog/2016/08/31/color-bottles-jars-use-light-sensitive-products/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;glass now&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;The range of 200 to 280 nm UV light spectrum (UV-C) has a germicidal effect on microorganisms, including bacteria, yeasts, molds, and viruses. Microbial inactivation in liquid foods by UV-C depends on optical and flow properties of the product...&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030212007424&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;science direct&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;UV light killed microbes growing in the cooling systems, causing a 99 percent reduction in the concentrations of bacteria, fungi and endotoxins, which are irritants produced by mold&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/28/study-finds-uv-works-to-treat-sick-buildings/e2a4443d-f08f-49aa-90e7-0e645246b4a4/?noredirect=on&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sick Building Syndrome fixed with UV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Mold is caused by lingering moisture in dark place... check areas that are hidden, damp and dark because sunlight is the best anti-mold too.&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://moldremediation.pro/sunshine-anti-mold-tool/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mold remediation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18419" LastEditorUserId="18419" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T00:48:41.180" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T00:48:41.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22822" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22825" CreationDate="2019-08-09T09:26:04.250" Score="10" ViewCount="2485" Body="&lt;p&gt;The general internet knowledge says. If there is two puncture wounds it means you got bitten by the fangs of a venomous snake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16942" LastEditorUserId="16942" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T12:04:17.277" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T22:17:24.207" Title="Does two puncture wounds mean venomous snake?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;&lt;medical-emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22822" CreationDate="2019-08-09T10:22:29.197" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to this article: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324007.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to identify and treat snake bites&lt;/a&gt; - yes this does seem to be something which some people state as accurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Venomous snakes have two fangs that deliver venom when they bite. A venomous snake bite will usually leave two clear puncture marks. In contrast, a nonvenomous bite tends to leave two rows of teeth marks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are more symptoms to bear in mind as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It can be difficult to tell the difference between puncture wounds from venomous and nonvenomous snakes. People should seek medical attention for all snake bites.&#xA;  The typical symptoms of a venomous snake bite include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;two puncture wounds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;swelling and pain around the bite area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;redness and bruising around the bite area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;numbness of the face, especially in the mouth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;elevated heart rate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;difficulty breathing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;dizziness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;weakness&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;headaches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;blurred vision&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;excessive sweating&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;fever&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;thirst&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;nausea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;vomiting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;diarrhea&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;fainting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;convulsions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore whilst this may well be a fact, it may not be reliable when diagnosing a bite. You're going to be better off getting some idea of what the snake is. This would be dependant on the area you're in, so make sure to get a good idea of the species in an area you plan to travel where it is likely you may risk a bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my React Right first aid course material (sorry can't actually link to this) one of the restirctions on treating a snake bite state:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If possible, identify but do not attempt to capture or kill the snake.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As medical providers will need to know what the snake is, and it could be hard to tell from your swollen, red, painful bite wound.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T13:19:49.460" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T13:19:49.460" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22824" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-09T15:46:30.233" Score="1" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am making up emergency kits.  What is the min I can survive on if the only source of water is what I am carrying?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18425" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T15:46:30.233" Title="Minimum amount for Survival water" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2019-08-09T16:38:42.540" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22825" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22822" CreationDate="2019-08-09T18:40:49.550" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest being very careful with information about venomous snakes on the internet. The reason is the USA's traditional preponderance on that medium (particularly the English-speaking portion of it). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The USA is somewhat unusual in that almost all venomous snakes one is likely to encounter are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_viper&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pit Vipers&lt;/a&gt;. These snakes have a special muscle for pumping venom through special extra-long fangs, so all they really have to do is poke you good with the fangs. That muscle also gives them a very recognizable triangular-shaped head. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only real exception in the continental USA is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_snake&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Coral Snake&lt;/a&gt;, which does happen to be super deadly, but is also very rare, shy, and geographically confined to the Gulf region. So in the USA traditionally &lt;strong&gt;a lot of helpful information created and published about dealing with &quot;poisonous (venomous) snakes&quot; is really just information about &lt;em&gt;Pit Vipers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In most of the rest of the world, the dangerous venomous snakes you are likely to run into are much more likely to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elapidae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;elapids&lt;/a&gt; (like the Coral Snake). As one of the comments mentioned, these snakes have very small fangs, and generally have to chew a bit on the victim to get a good injection. So with a bite from one of them, most likely you'll see more than just two small punctures.&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, if you happen to be US-based as well, this is probably pretty good advice. Just don't go around thinking its applicable worldwide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;* - I think the victim is &lt;em&gt;also&lt;/em&gt; unlikely to live from a good elapid bite, so perhaps practically the advice still holds in this case.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18426" LastEditorUserId="18426" LastEditDate="2019-08-09T22:17:24.207" LastActivityDate="2019-08-09T22:17:24.207" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22798" CreationDate="2019-08-11T03:34:22.000" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Should I start off with a soft board or a hardboard?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Foam board for sure. Primarily because an early bad experience (e.g. injury) could deter a learner from continuing to try, and if you get hit by a traditional board you will feel it. They are also really fun to ride, they float well, they paddle nicely, and they don't get dinged. Spend a summer on a foam board until your soul has changed permanently, then invest in a used traditional glassed board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2019-08-11T03:34:22.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22831" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-11T04:23:14.430" Score="5" ViewCount="5931" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to carry the 20 lbs propane gas cylinder in the minivan?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have carried the small Coleman's gas cylinder for camping in car trunk but now with family, I am not sure if what's the right way with the larger 20 lbs cylinder. I guess I am asking, is that the standard way people carry it when going camping with a gas stove? or perhaps they carry it in open truck?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14561" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T20:41:34.530" Title="Is it safe to carry propane gas cylinder in minivan?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22832" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22831" CreationDate="2019-08-11T08:39:29.427" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Store-a-Propane-Tank-Outside&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Storage methods&lt;/a&gt; for propane tanks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensure the area is well-ventilated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure that the tank is &lt;em&gt;upright&lt;/em&gt; at all times&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep the surrounding temperatures low by avoiding direct sunlight during summer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid ignition source (lighters, matches, tinder, electric sparks, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you're transporting the tank:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leave the window or trunk slightly open to prevent accumulation of leaked gas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a milk crate or special platforms to keep it upright&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn on air-conditioners (if the trunk is connected with the car internal)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ensure the valve is &lt;em&gt;closed&lt;/em&gt; before transporting the tank&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Immediately remove the tank after reaching your destination&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your trunk is not connected with the inside of the car or the tank will be exposed to the sun, I suppose it will not be a problem because there are built-in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.elgas.com.au/blog/479-gas-bottles-in-the-sun&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;safety features&lt;/a&gt; to the tank:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reflective/white in color: Reflects most of the sunlight to slow down the heating process &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pressure relief valve: When heat builds up in the tank, the pressure of the gas will increase. The tank will relief the pressure by venting out some gas&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above are some general information about storing and transporting normal propane tanks. It is advised to contact the manufacturer for detailed tips and tricks while transporting the tanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18296" LastActivityDate="2019-08-11T08:39:29.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1847" CreationDate="2019-08-11T08:50:43.367" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest is to just tie a knot in it and use it as is but treading it in the shoe so the knot is not going to interfere with the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest knot to use is &lt;a href=&quot;http://knopen.ismijnhobby.nl.bales.id.au/tables/thumb_knot_table.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;an overhand knot,&lt;/a&gt; (also known by many other names and I have never met anybody who was not able to tie it.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Tie it in both ends at the same time, having the broken ends sticking out together and as short as you can and still get the knot to tighten properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now the tricky bit, feed the shoelace in so that the knot does not restrict the tightening of the lace.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If the break is somewhere in the middle of the lace you can just use it as usual, at the lower end of the shoe, lacing up with each half of the lace alternate, (as most people seem to lace up their shoes.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But if the knot is near the top of the shoe, but not all the way out, you may need to use an alternate lacing way which has knot out of the way. Bring the long end of the lace out of one of the bottom loops, the knot at the inside, and the keep the short end of the lace out of the way below the lacing while you use the long end to connect all there is to be connected, till both ends are the same size. Then use both ends alternatively for the top of the shoe.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In some cases the knot is in such a position that you have to keep it nearer the top of the shoe when starting out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to learn about lacing up shoes before you set out, I can recommend &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ian's shoelace site.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do carry a spare lace or a useful bit of string you can use it instead. But the knot in the existing string has rescued many a person on everyday trips where shoe laces where not in their gear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T15:07:07.700" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T15:07:07.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22831" CreationDate="2019-08-11T10:00:54.260" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A 20lb Propane tank &lt;strong&gt;can be safely&lt;/strong&gt; transported in your mini van.  It can also be transported &lt;strong&gt;unsafely&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safely:&lt;/strong&gt; up right, secured, ventilated, kept cool&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unsafely:&lt;/strong&gt; on its side, not tied down, un-ventilated, allowed to get warm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key is to keep it secured, upright, cool and ventilated. The problem becomes on a trip camping are you going to stop for potty breaks? if so how do you keep it cool? Those are questions you will need to consider and answer for your personal situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety is a mater of degrees, nothing is absolutely safe or unsafe. You asses the risks and mitigate those that you can, with specific attention to the most likely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You travel wearing your seat belt, what happens if that propane bottle is in the van when you have an accident?  If you get rear ended is it going to rupture? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ace.amerigas.com/customer-information/the-tank/transportation-and-storage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TANK TRANSPORTATION SAFETY TIPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.uhaul.com/Propane/Safety/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Propane safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-08-11T10:00:54.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-11T10:15:34.820" Score="8" ViewCount="1227" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have started looking at sit on top kayaks. Several have looked promising. Though I just realized, in most of them the lowest point in the boat is where your butt goes. I normally travel in a canoe and any extra water can mostly be bailed out and the remaining is just at your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if I have a sit on top kayak, how do I prevent sitting in a puddle of water most of the time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2020-02-12T02:06:46.133" Title="Keeping your butt dry in a kayak" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22831" CreationDate="2019-08-11T17:09:25.030" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There may be restrictions in tunnels or ferries. For example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bcferries.com/travel_planning/dangerous_cargo.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BC Ferries&lt;/a&gt; states&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Remember, all dangerous goods must be declared at the terminal ticket booth or to a vessel officer. Failure to declare dangerous goods is an offence under Canadian law.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There follows a list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dangerous Goods Commonly Encountered by BC Ferries&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. . .&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Propane&lt;/strong&gt;: Propane valves must be closed and sealed with the tags issued at the ticket booth, and the cylinders must be upright and firmly secured, to prevent tipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;RVs are permitted a maximum of two cylinders of not more than 25 kg each (50L water capacity each), provided they are connected to a regulator, and secured in or on the vehicle. Recreational vehicles may carry a third cylinder no larger than Bar-B-Q size (commonly called a 20-pound cylinder).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Passenger vehicles are permitted to carry one cylinder not to exceed Bar-B-Q size (commonly called a 20-pound cylinder).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. . .&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One very important thing is to always keep the cylinder upright and secured. If you brake sharply, the last thing you want is a 20 lb lump crashing around the van.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T20:41:34.530" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T20:41:34.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22838" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22846" CreationDate="2019-08-12T01:26:30.180" Score="3" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been fishing in a small lake in Southern Indiana. We’ve caught many Bluegill in the same place and caught this small, I’m assuming young Sunfish today. Is this just a Bluegill that happens to be more colorful because it’s young or is it another type of Sunfish? The closest I can find by researching is maybe a Pumpkinseed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lq2Of.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18440" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T19:30:58.417" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T19:30:58.417" Title="What type of Sunfish is this?" Tags="&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22839" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24351" CreationDate="2019-08-12T09:52:02.200" Score="9" ViewCount="288" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering a late October trek through the boundary area between Ticino (Switzerland) and Verbano Cusio Ossola (Italy), including the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_Cravariola&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Valle Cravariola&lt;/a&gt;.  This takes be along several bivouacs and rifugi on both sides of the border.  Because camping may be difficult and of unclear legality (although I suspect bans would not be enforced much in this time and place), I am considering to sleep in mountain huts, passing along such huts or bivouacs as Campolatte, Sironi, Bonasson in Italy (operated by the Clup Alpino Italiano (CAI)) and Grossalp in Switzerland (operated by the Unione Ticinese Operai Escursionisti (UTOE)).  The Grossalp hut is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.capannagrossalp.ch/informazioni/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;open year-round&lt;/a&gt;, but how is it for the Italian huts?  I do not expect any huts to be staffed in late October, but is there still an open part where I can sleep?  If yes, do I need a key (Wikipedia mentions the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpenvereinsh%C3%BCtte&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alpenvereinsschlüssel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T11:48:05.300" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T22:58:05.243" Title="Are Italian mountain huts accessible when unstaffed? Do I need a key?" Tags="&lt;huts&gt;&lt;italy&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8065" CreationDate="2019-08-12T10:15:14.633" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;An effective technique that I have used in the past for removing mould growth is to clean it using &lt;strong&gt;ice&lt;/strong&gt;.  Ice expands inside the tube, giving it very effective scouring force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Start by threading some wire through it, and use that to draw some cotton and then rough string (e.g. a bootlace) that's longer than the tube.  It may be a good idea to tie a loop in the end to make pulling it out easier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now fill the tube with water, and put it in a  freezer for half an hour or so (I use a plastic jug to keep the tube from falling over and spilling the water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once it's frozen, pull the string, which will drag the ice and with it all the contamination.  Now you have a beautiful clean tube!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also written as a &lt;a href=&quot;http://photos.coilleais.com/2005/2005-01-17-platypus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photo tutorial&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T10:15:14.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22841" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22843" CreationDate="2019-08-12T12:01:29.340" Score="4" ViewCount="404" Body="&lt;p&gt;After reviewing many backpacks, both online and in person, Iv'e decided that I want the Osprey exos 48. Unfortunately, the only Osprey dealer in my area carries only the exos 58, and they had it only in the medium size, which I tried and felt great on my back, although the hip belt felt was a bit large (I'm slim fit). Since the 58 is too big for me, I'll be ordering the 48 online. My torso is of size 18&quot;, which by the Osprey sizing chart (attached) means small or medium. I'm reasonably sure that the small would be an even better fit for me, but is it worth taking the chance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's worse, a slightly too big or slightly too small backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wphaK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wphaK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18442" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2019-08-13T00:13:55.343" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T00:13:55.343" Title="Choosing a backpack size between small and medium, which is preferable?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22839" CreationDate="2019-08-12T13:42:46.293" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;All over the Alps the huts and bivouacs can be divided into:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;available to anyone when unstaffed (some require key and registration, some not)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;available only in emergency when unstaffed&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;open all year round&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have to check each one individually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For huts on the Swiss side, Swiss Alpine Club website provides all the information:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/huts-and-tours/sac-route-portal/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/huts-and-tours/sac-route-portal/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16429" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T13:42:46.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22843" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22841" CreationDate="2019-08-12T14:01:03.757" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;A too short pack is worse because you will end up carrying some weight on the shoulders instead of the hips. I would normally lean toward the larger size but that is because I only use &quot;frameless&quot; packs where the torso length will compress a little bit once loaded. Since the Exos has a somewhat rigid internal frame, I wouldn't expect that to be an issue as long as you are carrying &amp;lt; 35 lbs (16 kg). Andrew Skurka has &lt;a href=&quot;https://andrewskurka.com/review-osprey-exos-eja-backpack-2018/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a good review of the Exos line&lt;/a&gt;, which shows how flexible the frame is under heavy load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would cost slightly more, but you could order both sizes (from REI for example) and return the one that doesn't fit you as well and you'd only be out the return shipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11281" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T14:01:03.757" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22844" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-12T16:53:29.793" Score="1" ViewCount="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;Twice now I have been summitting peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park while getting really early starts to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However in both cases I could still see lighting in the distance several hours before sunrise (think 3:30 to 6:00 am).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What type of weather conditions would lead to lightning strikes before sunrise?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-12T17:33:28.280" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T17:40:40.627" Title="What weather conditions would lead to lightning strikes before sunrise?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22844" CreationDate="2019-08-12T17:40:40.627" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thunderstorms due to diurnal variations from the previous day that still last as well as incoming cold fronts could be the cause. The former wouldn't be a big threat, as they would abate, the latter would likely thwart any attempt at the peak (however generally you would be aware of it due to forecasting).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T17:40:40.627" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22838" CreationDate="2019-08-12T18:45:45.093" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most Likely, you are correct and it is a Pumpkinseed Sunfish.  Though, pan fish interbreed and it could be mixed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fish identification page (PDF:20/ Printed:37) in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2019MIFishingGuide-Feb26_647890_7.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2019 Michigan Fishing Guide&lt;/a&gt; has the Pumpkinseed Sunfish looking the closest to your fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Warning, the link opens a PDF.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2019-08-12T18:45:45.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="536" CreationDate="2019-08-13T04:04:02.150" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're almost certainly going at this the wrong way.  For something like this you want a Garmin inReach unit--the costs are a &lt;strong&gt;lot&lt;/strong&gt; lower.  They only give you text messaging, no voice communications.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also the SPOT units, I'm not sure about their messaging capability.  There are also some smaller players now entering the game, I don't know the details.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, purely for emergency use there are personal locator beacons.  They have no messaging capability, when triggered they send out a generic HELP!  The advantage is there is no monthly cost.  (Although you do need to replace or refurbish your beacon every 5 years.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T04:04:02.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22835" CreationDate="2019-08-13T04:05:52.943" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In answer to your title question (and for the purpose of future readers): Use a spray skirt for &lt;strong&gt;SIT IN kayaks&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KMUPO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KMUPO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/spray-skirt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/spray-skirt&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your purpose of sit on top kayaks:&#xA;@Aravona's comment is the way to go. Get a seat so that you sit above the water. Of course, the seat itself will be a lot more comfortable as well&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading: &lt;a href=&quot;https://kayakguru.com/best-sit-on-top-kayak-seat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://kayakguru.com/best-sit-on-top-kayak-seat/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17989" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T04:05:52.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22835" CreationDate="2019-08-13T07:19:06.697" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're going to be sitting in a certain amount of puddle regardless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spray skirt/deck on a sit in kayak will reduce the effect but even that has its limits. Only wearing a full dry suit or dry trousers and cag will fully mitigate this. The sacrifice you make in exchange is that if it's too warm for full drys you're going to be sitting in a puddle of your own sweat instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day you need to accept that kayaking is a wet sport, you can never come out completely dry, but wearing some proper waterproof gear will help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your purposes you're probably better off either changing your shorts as you swap from bike to kayak and back or getting tri-shorts that are suitable for all activities even when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T07:19:06.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22680" CreationDate="2019-08-13T17:42:30.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Technically speaking, no. For a Grigri to work, the cam must engage, so asking if it works when the cam does not, the answer is: no. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can it be used to belay? Yes, but it will be more difficult on falls than an ATC. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The sharp angles of the rope going through an ATC provide the friction to ease controlling the rope. The strength required to stop a fall can be managed by the angle of the rope from the feeding side. The sharper the angle, the less strength is required to keep the rope from moving. The Grigri is smoothed around the edges. The rope cannot generate friction as easily and the smoothed 'corners' make it difficult to create a sharper angle that the carabiner normally would with an ATC setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The pulley system would still be in place so it would be easier than simply holding the free hanging rope, but it would not be as effective as an ATC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T17:42:30.050" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22851" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-13T18:24:38.657" Score="1" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a Keb 52 backpack but can only find the women's model where I am (and I'm a 190cm-tall man). Here are the specs for the men's and women's models on Fjällräven's website:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Men model: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.com/fjallraven-mens-keb-52-black-black-f27342/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fjallraven.com/fjallraven-mens-keb-52-black-black-f27342/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Women model: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.com/fjallraven-womens-keb-52-w-lava-dark-lava-f27344/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fjallraven.com/fjallraven-womens-keb-52-w-lava-dark-lava-f27344/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the actual difference between the two models? Could the difference be so minimal that such a backpack, once the straps are adjusted, would fit nicely anyway?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18447" LastActivityDate="2019-08-13T18:24:38.657" Title="Differences between Fjällräven's men and women backpacks" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2019-08-14T08:10:29.773" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22852" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22854" CreationDate="2019-08-13T18:44:43.097" Score="3" ViewCount="347" Body="&lt;p&gt;Me and a group of about twenty of my friends were passing through the ranch of my neighbor. There is a large prairie with his horses. Suddenly, a group of about 10 horses charged us. All of a sudden they ran, at about twice the speed of a human gait, at us. Me and 17 others panicked, shouted, and tried to retreat while getting no response from the horses at all. Two of my friends stood their ground, while one of them placed a hand in front of himself and the horses stopped! The rest of the group just continued and we were not harassed anymore. The two guys, who stood their ground, petted the horses and were comfortable enough even to take photos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I almost never see any humans interacting with these horses. They just seem to be semi-wild animals. Maybe that had something to do with the entire incident, but honestly, I do not know. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone provide an interpretation on what happened, whether my friends were in danger, and what to do in such a situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18448" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T05:23:49.003" Title="How to protect yourself from horses?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;horses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22853" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-14T03:07:35.903" Score="9" ViewCount="2563" Body="&lt;p&gt;The textbook &quot;Fundamentals of Search and Rescue&quot; in Chapter 6 describes the priorities of needs in survival situations. The priorities listed are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Air&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Signals/Communication&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Placing food last the justifaction is a common one that is given.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[Countless people around the world] have only one meal a day and some not even that.  Records from survival experiences show numerous accounts of 40 to 70 day periods with no caloric intake. This fact, coupled with current records showing that most survival situations last a few days at the most, emphasizes that procurement of food in a survival situation should be last on the list of priorities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal anecdotal experience has shown that transitioning from one metabolic regime to another results in a period of days where you are not near 100% functionality as your body adapts and acclimates to the new situation. In long terms situations, more than 5 days or so I have experienced that the body does adapt and performance returns to normal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a survival situation, that is expected to last less than 5 days, is there research to suggest that finding high caloric food be prioritized in order to maintain lucidity and physical performance to facilitate rescue, is there any evidence to suggest that de-prioritizing food increases survival, and is there any literature to describe the metabolic transition that I have anecdotally experienced? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T13:40:00.420" Title="Transition to &quot;Starvation Mode&quot; in Survival Situations" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22852" CreationDate="2019-08-14T04:15:49.027" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;placed a hand in front of himself and the horses stopped!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brave and perhaps foolish. Horses (especially dominant males) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.discoverwildhorses.com/behaviors.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;will charge a perceived threat&lt;/a&gt;, and they are big. They know how to protect themselves and their band.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that these were domesticated and chose to submit to a commanding human gesture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what to do in such a situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horses are &lt;em&gt;prey&lt;/em&gt; animals; they don't go looking for fights with other species. I am not an expert but I love horses; I think if you ran like hell they would peel off and return to their business when you were far enough away as to not be perceived as threatening. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastEditorUserId="11951" LastEditDate="2019-08-18T05:23:49.003" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T05:23:49.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22855" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22865" CreationDate="2019-08-14T06:15:18.027" Score="4" ViewCount="194" Body="&lt;p&gt;Went on a snow trip this weekend at Fall Creeks(VIC), it was my first time in snow and first time skiing (&lt;em&gt;cross-country&lt;/em&gt;) , the only problem I had was my feet started getting cold occasionally and felt like they were freezing, wondering what I did wrong ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temp at Falls creek was around -4°C to 0°C &lt;em&gt;(occasional light snow and occasional sun)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wore Ski socks which I bought from a good shop (Macpac) and ski boots which we hired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This happened on both days Saturday and Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Saturday: I wore ski socks and ski boots. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunday: I wore a normal cotton socks and then ski socks over that and then the boots. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In response to @cobaltduck question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;    Top: Jacket (Hired) , thermals, tshirt, sweater (*I felt is was a bit too much, was sweating a bit inside*)&#xA;    Down: Pant (Hired), thermals&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15198" LastEditorUserId="15198" LastEditDate="2019-08-16T01:08:23.090" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T01:08:23.090" Title="First Time Skiing - Only my feet were freezing" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22856" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22855" CreationDate="2019-08-14T13:17:03.703" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try thinner socks. If you're too tight in the boots, you'll be cold. It seems counter intuitive but blood circulation is what keeps you warm, just like what @Fenophter wrote in the comments. An aerobic activity like cross-country skiing gets your blood circulating pretty wildly and you'll be surprised how little insulation you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, in my plastic mountaineering boots, I only wear thin poly liners (maybe 0.5mm thick). As long as I'm moving, it's plenty enough even when it's -40°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T13:17:03.703" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22857" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22853" CreationDate="2019-08-14T13:23:42.277" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that list is talking about &lt;em&gt;immediate&lt;/em&gt; priorities, that is, what you must focus on first to &lt;em&gt;stay alive&lt;/em&gt; in a survival situation, not whether food is necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;em&gt;Backcountry Chronicles&lt;/em&gt;, the article &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountrychronicles.com/wilderness-survival-rules-of-3/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Survival Rules of 3 – Air, Shelter, Water and Food&lt;/a&gt; lists four of the rules like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Survival Rule of 3 and Survival Priorities&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For real survival situations it is better to remember and prioritize by the four levels of the Survival Rules of 3:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can survive for &lt;strong&gt;3 Minutes without air&lt;/strong&gt; (oxygen) or in icy water  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can survive for &lt;strong&gt;3 Hours without shelter&lt;/strong&gt; in a harsh environment (unless in icy water)  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can survive for &lt;strong&gt;3 Days without water&lt;/strong&gt; (if sheltered from a harsh environment)  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can survive for &lt;strong&gt;3 Weeks without food&lt;/strong&gt; (if you have water and shelter)  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The main point of the Rules of 3 that we have to concentrate on the most immediate problem first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, for example, you should not risk exposure by leaving shelter to look for food (when the need for food is not urgent).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or in your six points, not to risk exposure or exhaustion by trying to make a signal (when a search party might find you anyway). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to be rescued, but alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T13:23:42.277" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22858" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-14T17:41:28.637" Score="6" ViewCount="644" Body="&lt;p&gt;When climbing multipitch, what is the cycle of things you do when climbing each pitch, and what are the associated voice signals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T17:05:33.043" Title="Cycle of actions and voice signals on a multipitch climb" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22858" CreationDate="2019-08-14T17:41:28.637" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alice and Betty are climbing in a team of two. Let's start the cycle with both climbers together at a belay, both tied in to the anchor with clove hitches. Betty is going to lead the next pitch. The standard set of voice signals in America, which I'll use below, are the ones introduced by Paul Petzoldt. When the climbers address each other by name, it's so that there won't be confusion between different teams that are near each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty gets together all the gear for her lead. If Alice and Betty are alternating leads, then  Betty's end of the rope is already on top, and if they're using two cordelettes to construct their anchors, then Betty already has the cordelette that she cleaned from the previous anchor. If they're not swapping leads, and this will be the second pitch in a row that Betty is leading, then the rope needs to be flipped over, and Betty needs to get the other cordelette from Alice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty: &quot;On belay?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alice puts Betty on belay. &quot;Belay on.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty unties her clove. As a courtesy or in case it isn't clear, she can say &quot;Climbing,&quot; to which Alice would answer &quot;Climb.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty does her lead, gets to the next belay station, builds an anchor, and ties in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty: &quot;Alice, off belay!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alice takes the rope out of her belay device. &quot;Betty, belay off!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty pulls up the rest of the rope. When it's taut and pulling up on Alice's harness, Alice yells, &quot;Betty, that's me!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty puts Alice on belay. &quot;Alice, belay on!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alice takes the anchor apart. When she's ready to climb, she yells &quot;Betty, climbing!&quot; so that Betty has a heads-up to expect that she needs to start pulling up rope. Betty responds, &quot;Alice, climb!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alice climbs the pitch, cleaning the gear. When she gets to the new anchor, she ties in. &quot;Off belay.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Betty takes her off belay. &quot;Belay off.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For situations where voice communication may be impossible, and the climbers may not even be able to see each other, they should discuss in advance how to handle that. Some people use systems of rope tugs, but in my experience those don't work very well. If the leader yells down &quot;off belay&quot; but there is no communication, then they can just pull up the rope slowly while the follower continues to feed it out through the belay device. If this type of situation is anticipated, then sometimes they will discuss this in advance, and the leader will just promise to put the follower on belay within a few minutes once the rope feels taut. If the rope may not be long enough to finish the pitch, sometimes people will agree in advance to simulclimb a short portion at the end so that the leader can reach the belay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T18:00:52.130" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T18:00:52.130" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22860" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-14T17:55:20.020" Score="1" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for solutions on how to effectively repel black flies while hiking or picnicking. In my experience, repellents that are effective against mosquitoes do not work at all with these ankle-biting pests as they seem to outright ignore the repellent while they feast upon my flesh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Responses based on firsthand experience are preferred. I just got done scouring the first page of Google and found little more than articles stating &quot;doing this may help&quot; or &quot;applying this could help&quot; (ie, a lot of could/can/might/may/probably). I am most interested in the holy grail of repellents that will, in fact, keep black flies at bay without doubt, question, or speculation. Of course, if that holy grail doesn't exist, I'll have to end up settling for the next best thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18452" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T22:42:38.483" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T22:42:38.483" Title="Effective black fly repellent" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;repellent&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22858" CreationDate="2019-08-14T18:17:52.760" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The German mountaineer and safety expert Pit Schubert advocates to reduce the signals down to two:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm reusing @Ben Crowell's terms since I know only the German words)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leader to belay: &quot;Alice, off belay&quot; (German: &quot;Stand!&quot;) when the leader has built their own anchor point. If there is a line of sight to the belayer, the leader may also show both hands as a clear signal that they don't need them to climb anymore.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leader to belay: &quot;Alice, belay on&quot; (German: &quot;Nachkommen!&quot;) when the leader is ready to belay the second climber.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All other commands are redundant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="16784" LastEditDate="2019-08-14T18:51:49.983" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T18:51:49.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22858" CreationDate="2019-08-14T18:42:38.487" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/a/22859/3602&quot;&gt;@BenCrowell describes the sequence nicely&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;/a/22861/3602&quot;&gt;@Jasper brings up reducing commands&lt;/a&gt;. Due to circumstances (no visual contact and out of earshot) and simply to reduce the yelling on the mountain (both for the pleasure of silence and security, as there is less that could be misunderstood, especially on crowded sections) it is beneficial to do so. I'll give an explanation why you &lt;strong&gt;need no signals in the cycle to stay safe&lt;/strong&gt; (and also which signals I consider still beneficial and why).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's two safety-critical moments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leader reaches next belay, sets it up and secures themselves ⟶ can be taken off belay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leader takes second on belay after pulling up rope, such that they can clean the previous belay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now lets assume you can't give a signal as you can't see or hear each other. Rope tugging signals aren't reliable either due to rope drag. How can you ensure swift continuation of the climb while staying safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Second just keeps belaying until the rope is up. Tedious, but safe. This reduces calling &quot;off belay&quot; to an efficiency measure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The leader sets up everything for the belay before pulling the rope up. Then once they feel the end of the rope, they purposely leave some slack. Then finish setting up the belay with the rope and pull in the remaining slack, tightening the rope strongly. Thus the second knows they are on belay once the rope is constantly taught. This is good practice even if you use a command, as it reduces the time the second could make a mistake without being on belay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Essentially if I can give a signal, I always give the &quot;off-belay&quot; command, as it speeds up pulling up the rope. I don't give &quot;on-belay&quot; commands (except of course my rope partner explicitly requests it, in which they'll have to listen to a sermon about the virtues of not doing so after the climb :) ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T12:40:37.527" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T12:40:37.527" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22853" CreationDate="2019-08-14T19:29:21.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;is there any evidence to suggest that de-prioritizing food increases&#xA;  survival&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone who has ever prioritized food and died of any of the other issues would be evidence that de-prioritizing food would have increased survival. If someone spends a couple days setting traps, snares, and fishing lines only to realize they still don't know how to get fresh water and dies on the third day would regret not prioritizing water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You note in your quote the emphasis is the typical scenario of being rescued in a few days. Food is barely an issue then, but all those other factors could kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't forget to &lt;strong&gt;use your brain&lt;/strong&gt; though! It is your most important tool for survival. If lost in a forest at 40 degrees latitude late spring or early autumn and the weather forecast was no rain for a few days, then tending to a shelter early on is foolish. If I expect a search dispatched within a couple days, I'm also going to ignore the &quot;rest&quot; criteria and spend lots of energy preparing a massive smoke signal that cannot be missed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't throw your logic out the window. Just use the priority list as a reminder of what could kill you first, and remedy that if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A specific use case...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, if you believe that there is a very real possibility that you might be stuck long term, then you need to tend to every one of the needs on that list, and you only concentrate on the higher priority ones to the extent that you need to mitigate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, if I was extremely lost very deep in the wilderness, neglected to leave any travel plans with trusted people back home, and it's early spring at about 50 to 60 degrees latitude so I do need to worry about severe environmental conditions but the weather is good at the moment, my first two actions would be to set up a covering to protect against rain/snow and to find a water source. The water search would actually come first, not because it's more important than the shelter and rest, but because I want to set up the shelter near enough to the water to assist my long term goals, so I combine shelter and water in my first action. It beats rest temporarily because I'll need to find water anyway, and &quot;search -&gt; water -&gt; rest&quot; is better than &quot;rest -&gt; search -&gt; water (when already dehydrated)&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as I can after shelter + water, I'm going to try to do something for food. Food beats out signals/communication right now because I don't expect anyone to be searching for me, so I expect the signals to be in vain, but I know that I need to avoid starving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This scenario was forced on us by negligently not informing anyone of our travel plans. Remember to provide that information to at least 1 trusted individual before your travel! If I had not been so foolish in this use case, I could have prioritized signals and drastically improved my survival odds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But since it is what it is, working on development of food sources comes before signals. But as soon as you can either break from food or multitask, then I'd work on signals. Eventually the situation might come that I can signal for help, so I do want to have that option available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air was never at risk in this use case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in this specific use case, the situation-specific order of events that I would have thought about ended up being 1) water 2) shelter 3) rest 4) food 5) signals/communication, and air is not even on the list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That does not mean that air is not the highest priority - it is. Or that sheltering from rain and snow in that environment is not more important than water - it is more important than water. But I would have used the combination of the survival priority list with my knowledge of my unique circumstances to juggle priorities and maximize long term survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, if you want to follow your priority list strictly, one could even put it this way: &lt;em&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;Air&lt;/strong&gt;? Satisfied. &lt;strong&gt;Shelter&lt;/strong&gt;? I have a tent (tarp, bivy bag, whatever) so I can shield from the rain or snow quickly if needed, and weather's ok for now so satisfied. &lt;strong&gt;Rest&lt;/strong&gt;? Not satisfied, so I should get a rest as soon as is reasonable. &lt;strong&gt;Signals&lt;/strong&gt;? Not satisfied at all, and I was dumb so nothing I can do about that for now. &lt;strong&gt;Water&lt;/strong&gt;? Almost out, not satisfied, get more as soon as possible. &lt;strong&gt;Food&lt;/strong&gt;? Almost out, but it can wait since I have more pressing needs.&quot;&lt;/em&gt; Running through the checklist just like that and following it to a tee would get you results similar to what I said above, with the only difference being water wasn't queued up as efficiently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T19:29:21.983" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22855" CreationDate="2019-08-14T23:40:40.153" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's most likely too much insulation on your feet, which can be best addressed by changing socks. People unused to cold and/or snow will often put on &quot;warm socks&quot; without realizing that they'll steadily lose insulating value as your feet sweat. The more active you are, the worse it is. If &quot;ski socks&quot; are meant for alpine skiing they're probably way too heavy for cross country, which features more movement and less time riding a chairlift.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can tolerate wool you should try a pair of wool socks. Cotton retains about 10% of its insulating value when damp, wool is closer to 90ish. If you can't stand wool you'll want some sort of synthetic wicking fabric. Even better would be to carry a dry pair of socks and change them after a couple of hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally, if you really need to double up socks, Gore-Tex socks are a real luxury item. They're designed to be worn over socks, but are breathable and waterproof. They're quite a bit easier to stuff in a pocket than a second set of heavier boots. I can't imagine you'd need them while skiing, but it's good to know that they exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2019-08-14T23:40:40.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22855" CreationDate="2019-08-15T10:30:59.493" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP should definitely try the other suggestions first, but if you have &lt;em&gt;serious&lt;/em&gt; problems with cold feet, it is possible to buy &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.raynaudsdisease.com/heated-socks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;battery heated socks&lt;/a&gt;.  These are particularly likely to be useful if you suffer from Raynaud's syndrome (a tendency for surface blood vessels to spasm shut as soon as the skin gets cool).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14865" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T10:30:59.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22867" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-15T12:15:28.380" Score="7" ViewCount="1408" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inspired by several &lt;a href=&quot;/q/9638/9109&quot;&gt;questions&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;/a/7146/9109&quot;&gt;answers&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;/q/22855/9109&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and also one at &lt;a href=&quot;//biology.stackexchange.com/q/21033&quot;&gt;Biology SE&lt;/a&gt;, I have been looking around to try to find out whether this idea I heard constantly as a youth has any merit, or it just folk-wisdom gone bonkers.  Usually expressed in the slogan given in the title- if you want to keep your feet warm (at night), wear a hat (to bed)- this counter-intuitive notion was repeated to me often by many I respected.  My relatives, Scout Leaders, and others all believed this notion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The explanation falls into one of a handful of broad categories, but the most common is that things like hearts, brains, and guts are very important, while things like fingers and toes, not so much.  So when the body is in a situation where it needs to ration resources it might steal resources from the extremities in order to give a greater share to the vital organs.  It does this by constricting the blood vessels in the extremities, reducing blood flow to those areas, and keeping more of the warm, oxygenated, nutrient rich blood nearer the core.  This explanation seems to be confirmed in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320327.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Causes and remedies for cold feet&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another explanation I heard was that the majority of heat loss in the body is via the head.  Some would continue by saying that heat rises, and the head in on top.  I recall one grizzled old outdoorsman I encountered in college making all of us put our hands just over our heads and &quot;feel the heat.&quot;  But it seems this claim may not be due to physics, but that people tend to cover the body rather thoroughly when outside in the cold, except the head.  So the heat simply has no where else to go.  In reality, given uniform insulation, the body loses heat proportional to surface area.  See, for example: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.clickondetroit.com/health/fact-or-fiction-does-wearing-a-hat-keep-you-warmer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fact or fiction: Does wearing a hat keep you warmer?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and the linked Biology question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, this may be exactly the source of my title's slogan in the case of sleeping - you are everywhere wrapped in an insulated sleeping bag, except your head.  So when you add socks and blankets around your feet while leaving your head exposed, you aren't really helping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting it all together, it is difficult to separate cause and effect, science and myth, and determine what exactly goes on in a body out in the cold.  What, if anything, can one reliably conclude? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T17:09:52.630" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T18:02:36.517" Title="Fact or Fiction: &quot;If you want to keep your feet warm, wear a hat.&quot; (and the various explanations for it)" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22858" CreationDate="2019-08-15T12:56:10.783" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;For Great Britain, with both climbers beginning at the foot of the next pitch, with leader &lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt; and second &lt;code&gt;S&lt;/code&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On belay&lt;/strong&gt;: I'm tied to the rope and prepared to climb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;S&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climb when ready&lt;/strong&gt;: I am now belaying you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing&lt;/strong&gt;: I know you're belaying me; expect to pay out now&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Slack&lt;/strong&gt; (or rope colour), &lt;strong&gt;Take in&lt;/strong&gt;, or &lt;strong&gt;Tight&lt;/strong&gt; as needed during the climb; also &lt;strong&gt;Below!&lt;/strong&gt; when required&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safe&lt;/strong&gt;: I'm attached to something solid, you can stop belaying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;S&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Off belay&lt;/strong&gt;: Rope is now out of the belay system&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Taking in&lt;/strong&gt;: I'm pulling up the slack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;S&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;That's me&lt;/strong&gt;: You've finished taking in&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;L&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climb when ready&lt;/strong&gt;: I am now belaying you&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;S&lt;/code&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climbing&lt;/strong&gt;: I've cleaned the stance, and am starting to climb&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's the full set, but there's no need to be so chatty all the time, especially when we can see each other; conversely, when the conditions are difficult, the situation often has to be inferred (see &lt;a href=&quot;/a/22862/11623&quot;&gt;imsodin's answer&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a couple of extras I use as a second, especially on winter routes: &lt;strong&gt;ten metres!&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;five metres!!&lt;/strong&gt; when I'm concerned the leader hasn't yet found a belay stance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T17:05:33.043" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T17:05:33.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22867" CreationDate="2019-08-15T13:19:46.120" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rough measurement shows that the surface area of one arm is about 1.7 times that of my head. So the rate of heat loss from my head will be around 1/3 that from both arms - quite significant.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;But when it is cold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;My arms will be covered with good insulating material.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There will be a big wind chill on my head because it is exposed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;My body will give priority to essential organs, which includes the brain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To do that it can &lt;strong&gt;reduce&lt;/strong&gt; the blood supply to my limbs, making my extremities feel cold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;But it must &lt;strong&gt;increase&lt;/strong&gt; the blood supply to my head to maintain its temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By insulating my head as well as the rest of my body, more blood may flow to my extremities.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Ergo, by wearing a hat my feet will be warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in cold weather I wear a hat when outdoors, and if I get too warm the first thing I do is remove the hat. No science is needed - only common sense. It is &lt;em&gt;obvious&lt;/em&gt; that to maintain your body temperature, all exposed skin should be covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-08-15T14:27:33.050" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T14:27:33.050" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22855" CreationDate="2019-08-15T16:27:45.727" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another option for keeping feet warm(er) is neoprene ski boot covers, also known as boot gloves. My ski teacher often used them on cold days. If you have an old wetsuit then it should be easy and cheap to make you own boot covers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11099" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T16:27:45.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22867" CreationDate="2019-08-15T18:02:36.517" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to answer in a more empirical way than through scholarly articles but I think it's a good method to prove it to yourselves that wearing a hat does affect other body parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there is a common agreement that your head isn't particularly special in terms of its ability to lose heat compared to other body parts, there is one practical experiment that anybody can do themselves to feel how a very small part of your body exposed to an extreme temperature can affect you whole body:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On a very hot day, during an activity that brings your body heat way&#xA;  up, go to a cold water body when you feel like you're overheating.&#xA;  Simply remove your footwear, keeping the rest of your clothing on, and&#xA;  dip your feet in the water. It should take barely a moment before you&#xA;  feel your entire body, including your head, cooling down.&#xA;  The blood flow getting chilled in your feet is recirculated, pulling heat away from the rest of the body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The logical conclusion is that if your blood loses heat on an exposed body part, it will go back to other body parts cooler, thus cooling those body parts, or hampering your body's own heat generation in cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T18:02:36.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22872" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22873" CreationDate="2019-08-15T18:41:56.400" Score="3" ViewCount="198" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently was bitten several times by a spider or spiders during an outing in southern Virginia, USA.  The bites looked really nasty for a couple of days, but are now subsiding and have stopped itching, so I am not worried.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend told me that a spider laid her eggs in the arm of one of his friends, and that eventually tiny spiders emerged from the swelling, and a doctor had to cut the wound open, deliver the rest of the spiders, and clean it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This person is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; prone to exaggeration, &lt;strong&gt;but I am asking if this is characteristic of one or several species, or not uncommon among all spiders.&lt;/strong&gt;   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T19:20:27.990" Title="What species of spider lays their eggs in the flesh of the person they bite?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;spider&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22872" CreationDate="2019-08-15T19:20:27.990" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I understand that to be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-baby-spiders-bite&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Myth: Spiders can lay their eggs under human skin in wounds created by their bites.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It always happens to &quot;a friend&quot; not to the person relating the story.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are several bugs that do: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ranker.com/list/insects-that-lay-their-eggs-inside-human-beings/laura-allan&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;11 Bugs That Will Lay Their Eggs Inside You&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maggot from the botfly in the first picture looks particularly hideous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T19:20:27.990" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10598" CreationDate="2019-08-15T22:31:15.460" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sleep with someone. I like winter camping and hammock camping. The one time I did cold + hammock together I was toasty warm, even my feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My son and I shared a hammock, sleeping at opposite ends with our legs in the same space. Well, we moved around a few times, and sometimes we invaded each others space even more than that such as his feet being on my stomach and mine in his armpits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We shared the same sleeping bag too. It was a cold weather bag which could open at both ends, so that helped. The bag was not quite long enough for us sleeping this way, but we wore our coats and stuck out of each end and we were ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having a human for a warmer is great, because it generally maintains a near perfect temperature in the 90's F (30's C). This also allowed us to bring less gear. We did this originally in a 1-person hammock and were cramped. We have since bought a 2-person hammock which is a bit better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2019-08-15T22:31:15.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22860" CreationDate="2019-08-16T00:32:14.137" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never succeeded in keeping black flies away with a chemical approach. A hat is important to keep them out of your hairline. Long sleeves, long pants, tuck your pants into your socks. Yes, Ontario June can be too hot to dress like that. So you might want to go with something like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jzabb.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jzabb.png&quot; alt=&quot;bug jacket and pants&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bug jacket (and pants are also available) made of lightweight mesh with elastic at the wrists and ankles. The jacket has a hood, and mine has a faceplate like a fencer's that attaches to the hood with velcro. I've worn the jacket (usually without the faceplate) for gardening at the height of black fly season and it works and is cooler than full-on clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T00:32:14.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22853" CreationDate="2019-08-16T02:43:05.743" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another factor here:  Depending on where you are you very well might find that attempting to obtain food costs you more energy than whatever you find provides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of my usual hiking territories.  At lower elevations I have seen the occasional lizard at a range where it wouldn't be a hail Mary to try to nail it with a rock.  Also at lower elevations I have seen rabbits--but the terrain has never been conductive to setting snares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At higher elevations I have seen birds--never at a range I could hope to bag one, though.  There are also occasional horses, they are reasonably tolerant of humans but I would seriously doubt my ability to bring one down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm in a survival situation out there I'm going to be looking for shelter to reduce heat loss, not looking for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T02:43:05.743" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22853" CreationDate="2019-08-16T02:53:37.053" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know. I think it really depends on the situation but some of them are critical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;1 Air and other environmental elements like extreme heat, cold, ice water, blizzard ice storm, avalanche...etc should be 1st priority because they would kill you in minutes.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;2 Once you pass that immediate fatal condition then I personally think it's exposure to both environment and wild life. This depends on where you are though. Sandy vacation beach in the Bahamas is completely different than top of an ice cap.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;3 A plan. I think that once you are out of dying in hours then you can sit down and have a plan. Maybe to find water or seek for a way to signal for rescue. Just sit down and see what you have with you, what you have around you and what you need.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;4 Water &amp;gt; Shelter &amp;gt; Signal. Imo is most common where you need a shelter to prevent exposure but not immediate enough so you can actually move around looking for water.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;5 Food is last because you don't really need it until the 6th-8th day without food. Maybe you will feel rough for day 2 and 3 but day 4+ should make you feel better. You will need some sort of starch or sugar for day 8+ to prevent you from feeling weak but it's pretty much your brain is hoping for some sugar.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18463" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T02:53:37.053" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22853" CreationDate="2019-08-16T13:40:00.420" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;While it looks like it has changed, Outward Bound used to routinely include a 3 day solo without food. If I recall correctly, a poncho tarp shelter was provided and you were located near clean water. You were expected not to make a fire or hike out. After the 3 days, you had to hike a few miles to the common gathering spot and were given a moderate meal. Then the trip continued. Apart from the stress, I think this is a reasonable approximation of a survival situation in which you believe there is a good chance you will be found.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went to a rad high school that included a 10 day winter backing trip in the white mountains of NH. It was Outward Bound inspired and included a 3 day solo. We were given a poncho tarp, sleeping bag, and allowed fires. We were also given a small ratio of food. My guess is something like 1500 calories for the 3 days. Like Outward Bound, you were hungry when it started and were expected to hike after it ended. There was never a case where a student was injured or unable to continue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For at least periods of 3 days, food really is not an issue and young and relatively inexperienced people can survive with minimal supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-08-16T13:40:00.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5652" CreationDate="2019-08-17T11:55:26.067" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had trouble finding kayaking gloves with adequate grip on my paddle (unless they grip too much to rotate the shaft in my left hand). So you may have trouble. However I'm looking for warmth and it doesn't sound like you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheap cycling gloves with suede-like palms have good grip in the wet. Unfortunately they usually have padding - either foam, which will absorb water, or gel. I suspect either will get quite uncomfortable as the grip on a paddle shaft isn't quite the same as on handlebars, so minimal or no padding would be a good idea. Cycling gloves often have the thinnest backs they can, so you don't get too hot; you may want the opposite. A few mountain bike gloves have protection for the backs of the fingers; these tend to have more palm padding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall I'd be tempted to try something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CLCARNOFFG/on-one-defender-full-finger-gloves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these from PlanetX&lt;/a&gt; (despite the padding),  but for me they wouldn't be wasted if they weren't useful on the water as I could use them for winter cycling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-08-17T11:55:26.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22883" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22886" CreationDate="2019-08-17T16:53:34.563" Score="3" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have full stuffed bag full of laundry with two handles, how would you tie the handles?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9SE7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9SE7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T22:33:28.250" Title="Knot to tie handle of a bag" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22884" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22887" CreationDate="2019-08-17T17:49:07.117" Score="1" ViewCount="68" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a comfy pair of runners that I primarily use for walking.  I've put them through the wash a few times and they come out spotless.  The only ware is on sole, which appears to be 1/2 cm thick or so rubber grip, glued onto the bottom of the shoe.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to find somewhere that sells this kind of thing but only find inner sole replacements.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suggestions please?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18468" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T08:17:01.743" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T08:17:01.743" Title="Where to buy running shoe sole replacements?" Tags="&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22885" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22890" CreationDate="2019-08-17T18:46:19.857" Score="7" ViewCount="225" Body="&lt;p&gt;When preparing for a trad climb, I usually divide my rack into separate groups where each group is connected to a single carabiner. So for example all the small nuts go into carabiner 1, middle range cams go to carabiner 2, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that when I need a specific piece, I need to be able to separate the desired piece from the carabiner. This is often pretty hard to do with one hand. The other pieces can be pretty heavy too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking that maybe there is a solution that allows me to detach a single piece and put it back (if it does not fit) easily using one hand.&#xA;Maybe a magnet of some kind or a detachable ring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone here found a nice elegant solution for this problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18469" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-08-17T19:02:01.893" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T20:21:02.793" Title="Is there a utility / method to organize trad gear so that each piece is immediately accessible?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22883" CreationDate="2019-08-17T21:28:48.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fold each handle into itself and treat each as a single strand.  Then just tie those two strands together in an ordinary square knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an example showing a similar bag, although much smaller and with shorter handles.  The photos show things step by step: 1) pull the handles out into two doubled-over strands 2) right over left and under 3) left over right and under.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fu6FF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fu6FF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ujByl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ujByl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xSU7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xSU7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-08-18T22:33:28.250" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T22:33:28.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22884" CreationDate="2019-08-17T23:24:28.157" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's generally quite hard to replace the actual soles for trainers. You could have a look online or just buy a new pair of trainers. If you go to a tailors or shoe makers they may be able to do it also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18470" LastActivityDate="2019-08-17T23:24:28.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22885" CreationDate="2019-08-18T09:04:22.253" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;When racking up, you have a spectrum of possibilities between two extremes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At one end, you could put every single piece of gear on the same carabiner. While the weight savings would be incredible, it would be an absolute pain to place a piece. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the opposite end, you could rack every single piece of pro on its own carabiner. You pay a penalty in weight (and room on your harness/gear sling), but every piece is immediately accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you fall on the spectrum basically boils down to personal preference and some foreknowledge of the route. My personal system that works well &lt;em&gt;for me&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A full set of stoppers goes on a single carabiner, or perhaps split onto two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I have time at a stance to futz around with a stopper, then I'm usually okay to deal with reclipping the remaining pieces and carabiner back on my rack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stoppers are pretty small and light, so it isn't too cumbersome to hold the entire collection in one hand. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stoppers are prone to needing to check the adjacent sizes when sussing out a placement---why not already have them in hand?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm almost always going to clip a stopper with a quickdraw or sling. As such, having a spare carabiner clipped to the place stopper is useless.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on the brand, a full set of stoppers is around ten pieces. Only a few of them will generally get used in a single pitch---why waste the harness space with having each on a single carabiner?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I'm carrying a double or even triple rack of stoppers, each set gets its own carabiner. I don't want to completely destroy my options if I happen to drop it. Plus a carabiner starts to get really crammed at that point. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Each cam is racked on its own carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the route runs reasonably straight and I'm not worried about a placement walking, I usually just clip the rope directly to the carabiner the cam was racked on. No need for a separate sling or quickdraw. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The benefit of cams is that they're quick and easy to place. Why compromise that with needing to deal with re-racking pieces every placement?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Modern carabiners are pretty light, so the difference in weight of having each cam on its own carabiner is somewhat negligible in comparison to bringing along that cam to begin with. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A set of cams in a reasonable range is around six pieces, so even a double rack doesn't create too much clutter on the harness. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I'm carrying a giant rack (e.g., aid climbing) and gear loop space is at a premium, I will still put each cam on its own carabiner, but clip duplicates off of a carabiner holding the same size piece, rather than having three or four of the same piece taking up room on the gear loop. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many manufacturers make carabiners that are anodized in colors that match their cams. This can be a nice way to easily pick out the appropriate piece from the rack when you're pumped silly. For example, yellow carabiner = #2 Camalot. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I generally try to organize my rack to have smaller pieces towards the front and larger pieces towards the back where they can stay out of the way. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If I know that there is going to be a hard/pumpy placement, I will try to anticipate this and have that piece front and center. For example, having a specific nut racked on its own quickdraw, or a certain cam located on the front of the gear loop that is easiest to reach with the hand with which I'll need to place it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This video of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4q5f6SPXGc&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beth Rodden&lt;/a&gt; goes over basically the same system I use. However, it truly just comes down to finding an organization system that is functional, efficient, and logical to you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2019-08-18T20:21:02.793" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T20:21:02.793" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22891" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-18T12:18:17.063" Score="7" ViewCount="478" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why do climbing professional use less than 5 fingers on some holds?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ca1sV.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ca1sV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lagrimpe.com/abc/le-mono-ou-bi-doigt/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.lagrimpe.com/abc/le-mono-ou-bi-doigt/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean, why don't they put the other fingers, even if they don't quite fit, to reduce by a few grams the corresponding tension on the other fingers. Adding more fingers would reduce the global tension in the other fingers that are hardly used: why not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18473" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2019-08-18T21:24:07.880" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T18:00:11.183" Title="Why don't climbing professional use all their fingers on small holds?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22892" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-18T22:38:49.500" Score="1" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of Ray-Ban polarized sunglasses (so not some cheap drugstore sunglasses, and they are made in Italy not China) that I got two years ago.  I just got back from a vacation, and I noticed that one of the lenses has some sort of damage along the bottom:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUx9i.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vUx9i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the inside of the lens, you can see some of the coating has started to come off:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7QDyZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7QDyZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happened?  I never dropped them.  When they're not on my face or hanging from my shirt collar, I always put them inside a hard case.  I never leave them sitting unprotected in a car.  If I ever leave them in a car, it will be for less than an hour, and they will be inside of the case inside of my backpack.  Sometimes I will clean them using &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0030E4UIQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zeiss lens wipes&lt;/a&gt;.  Also, I don't wear them every day - I only wear them on trips, so they have not been subject to excessive wear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have heard of something called &quot;crazing&quot; that can affect lenses that are subject to excessive heat - could that be what happened here?  The only other thing I can think of is sweat, but I don't know if perspiration can damage lenses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastEditorUserId="13081" LastEditDate="2019-08-18T22:50:14.417" LastActivityDate="2019-08-18T22:50:14.417" Title="What happened to my sunglasses?" Tags="&lt;sunglasses&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22893" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-18T22:47:05.043" Score="5" ViewCount="690" Body="&lt;p&gt;A barometric altimeter is supposed to be more accurate than a GPS altimeter in the relative sense (total ascent, total descent, during stable weather), but may have considerable error in the absolute sense (more than 100 metre error if pressure has changed a lot since last calibration).  The GPS altimeter may have an error of perhaps 3–4 times the horizontal error, which for positioning may be much better than the barometric altimeter; however, the GPS altimeter is noisy such that tracks are noisy and &quot;total ascent&quot; is a fiction.  See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/333252/4904&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Random and systematic error of GPS or barometer based altitude measurements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've personally found that for accurate &lt;em&gt;positioning&lt;/em&gt;, the GPS altitude (on my GPSmap62 which has no barometric altimeter, or on the GPSMAP66c which does have one) is often more accurate than the barometric altimeter.  Is there a combination of settings that will improve the accuracy of the barometric altimeter?  Alternately, can I disable it in favour of GPS-measured altitude?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some online sources about GPS altitude error agree with me:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://geoawesomeness.com/accurate-altimeter-gps-watch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;geoawesomeness&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The general rule of the thumb is that vertical error is three times the horizontal error. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.borgeltinstruments.com/GPSvsPressurealtitude.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;borgelt instruments&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the GPS altitude is the GEOMETRIC altitude above  Mean Sea Level accurate to 10 to 20 meters* and explains from theory and practice that GPS altitude at 10 to 20 meters (35 to 70 feet) error  is superior to Pressure Altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/05/understanding-sport-device-gps.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dcrainmaker.com&lt;/a&gt; states (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barometric altimeters&lt;/strong&gt; from a sports standpoint &lt;strong&gt;tend to give you graphs that are ‘shaped’ correctly&lt;/strong&gt; – meaning when you go up the graphs show an incline, and when you go down they show a decline.  The challenge though with barometric based devices is that* &lt;strong&gt;*the baseline altitude can sometimes be incorrect&lt;/strong&gt;.  This is because normally barometric altimeters are calibrated off of a known barometric pressure reading.  In airplanes for example, this ‘calibration factor’ is constantly being tweaked as the pilot flies the plane.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pressure changes can easily lead to barometric altitude error in excess of 100 meter.  My horizontal accuracy is usually around 5 metre, which is consistent with an elevation accuracy in the order of 15-20 metre.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I can access the GPS altitude via the satellite screen or frequently calibrate the barometric altitude by the GPS altitude, an automated low-battery solution would be preferable.  I've noticed there is an &quot;auto calibration&quot; option, but I don't understand what it really does.  What combination of settings can I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T08:15:17.260" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T13:49:11.950" Title="Systematic and random error of GPS or barometric altimeter. How to optimally use GPSMAP 66s?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22894" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23051" CreationDate="2019-08-19T00:28:00.217" Score="3" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I forage for food as a hobby, and noticed that the attaching parts of sumac stays with the berries sometimes, so it got me to wondering if the wood of edible sumac is poisonous for human consumption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a side note I live in MN, USA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6373" OwnerDisplayName="a coder" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T22:45:00.293" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T05:56:01.660" Title="Is the wood of edible sumac poisonous?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22896" CreationDate="2019-08-19T05:52:31.720" Score="17" ViewCount="4874" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR: How can I pack my food so that it isn't an odor nuisance in my backpack, in a lightweight manner if animals are no issue.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a month I will be going on a 14-day trekking trip, completely self-sustaining. That of course implies carrying a lot of food, which smells.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not plan to carry any strong smelling cheese but nevertheless I'm already annoyed by the smell of my backpack (and everything in it) after a day-hike if I carried any food which does have even the slightest odor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The food in question now is stuff like salami, milk powder, beef jerky, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to avoid such food because they're a great source of calories but if literally everything I will wear, use and sleep in smells like salami I surely will go crazy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already tried zip-lock freezer bags and vacuum bags for clothes but they both let the odor spread through the backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any recommendations are welcome but please be sure that they are available internationally, as I'm located in Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17964" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T22:27:02.263" Title="How can I pack my food so it doesn't smell?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-08-19T08:06:56.743" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could consider a &lt;a href=&quot;https://smellyproof.com/bear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;smell proof bear bag&lt;/a&gt;.  Although bears are not a danger near Tromsø, the bag is generally useful as a stuff sack for food.  My friend keeps all his food in such a bag, even when he's not hiking in bear territory.  It helps to keep other animals out as well¹.     You probably need only one because not all your food is smelly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't personally attest the linked product (which was just the first google hit for &quot;smell proof bear bag&quot;) and I don't know if they ship outside the USA, but I have used the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/624081/garcia-bear-resistant-container&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garcia container&lt;/a&gt; (which I bought when I lived in Canada) which should work (it has a smell-proof liner inside too), but is quite an overkill for hiking in Scandinavia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;¹&#xA;&lt;sup&gt;&#xA;The only animal who ever stole food from him is a homo sapiens who stole chocolate while he was sleeping, and almost certainly did not use smell to identify the bag as containing food.  This is his version of the events, but personally I believe it's more likely that my friend has been sleepwalking.&#xA;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&#xA;Enjoy your hike!  You can't go wrong hiking for 2 weeks anywhere near Tromsø (I've been there many times hiking on Hinnøya, Senja, Årnøya, Sørøya, Dividalen, Nordkalottruta, and elsewhere.  The area around Suttesgåldojohka and Gámajávri south of Dividalen in autumn is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T12:14:13.713" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T12:14:13.713" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22898" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-08-19T08:10:12.090" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;My standard food canister I use for work everyday doesn't seem to let any odor through. It has rubber sealing. These things come in all possible sizes and shapes and materials and are available worldwide. In your case I'd go to a nearby store which sells outdoor equipemnt and check what they have. Main disadvantage: rigid shape i.e. won't compress to save backpack space when empty, and weight depending on the material used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just one example: main material is metal which won't let through any odor - and shouldn't retain odor which is also an advantage (IIRC this is physically not possible due to the size of odor molecules wrt space in between metal atoms) and it has rubber sealing which should do pretty much the same:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JJUKt.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JJUKt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T08:10:12.090" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22891" CreationDate="2019-08-19T12:13:01.500" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every time a climber finds a way to place more fingers on a hold, he/she will. If he/she is not using all fingers, it's because: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're training their fingers to get stronger,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's impossible to place more fingers on the hold,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have injured fingers they do not want to use and worsen,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're careless because the route is too easy for them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T12:13:01.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22891" CreationDate="2019-08-19T14:30:18.027" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is easiest to understand if you think about a small pocket where you can fit a single finger in deeply and securely or jam two fingers in poorly. While it is always nice to distribute the weight between two fingers instead of one finger, sometimes the grip you get on a hold is much better with one finger than with two fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the hold shown in the question, the two fingers both likely have access to a little incut in the back of the hold. Adding a third finger would result in the two outside fingers not having as good a grip, and the grip of the middle finger might even be reduced if there is a ridge in the middle of the pocket. Climbers tend to grab a hold, especially if they are familiar with it and in control when they are grabbing it, in the most efficient manner possible (unless training or injury dictates otherwise). More fingers is not always more efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T14:30:18.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22903" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22891" CreationDate="2019-08-19T15:11:08.953" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few things not otherwise mentioned in other answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Grip depends on how much pressure you can exert via your fingers. Often times it is not advantageous to just get as much skin on there as you can. A good example is the occasional sloper - if you try to smear your whole hand on it it's much harder to not slip off versus just driving your tips down like a crimp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On single/double finger pockets (aka mono doigt or bi doigt), you can often get really good pad pressure from just a finger or two versus trying to cram all 5 fingers in there. The pictured hold, in particular, often has a jug-like shape inside the hold, so you can really get two fingers deep in there and really hook in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hand anatomy matters as well... you can pull really hard on fingers that are crimped properly. If you scrunch up your fingers in a weird way that the hold doesn't accommodate, you can put your hands in weirder, more injury prone positions that don't afford as firm of a grip, or increase hand fatigue as you hold on and pull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastEditorUserId="14346" LastEditDate="2019-08-19T17:01:53.380" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T17:01:53.380" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22904" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22905" CreationDate="2019-08-19T16:35:53.047" Score="75" ViewCount="11485" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm buying a double sleeping bag for travels with my girlfriend.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Parameters &lt;em&gt;(of the bag, not the girlfriend)&lt;/em&gt;: 1500g of goose down, 680 in³/oz (393 cm³/g), 90/10% down/feather, rated to -9...-15°C T-comf when two people are inside.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Question one: Would I be comfortable sleeping in it alone or would the extra inner space sap my warmth? What if I hogtie the bag with a bungee/paracord?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Question two: what would be the &lt;em&gt;(approximate)&lt;/em&gt; T-comf for such solo sleeping?..&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE RE: ZIPPABLE BAGS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Yes, I had had thought about them. However, there are a few cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They have to be Left/Right, i.e. matching. The company that I'm buying my bag from doesn't produce matching sleeping bags.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I've owned zippable bags and checked out some. All of them had one problem: the zip would stop at the shin level, basically creating two separate spaces for feet. That could be uncomfortable to sleep in (a double mummy-type bag would have a tapered but single feet space).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two bags are more expensive than a single double bag, and we're talking down which already has a hefty price tag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Two bags (usually) weigh more than a single bag from the same model range&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T15:22:36.587" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T15:22:36.587" Title="Sleeping solo in a double sleeping bag" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22905" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-19T16:54:00.530" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;The parameters of your girlfriend would matter depending on the ratio of 'space'  occupying, but let's ignore that for now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would put a cord or something around it to minimize the space; air needs to be warmed up too. You should try to tie it in such a way, that you have on one side a 'triple' layer (half of the bag bent, so something like this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;/--------------\    Top&#xA;|     You      |&#xA;| /------------/&#xA;| \------------\ &#xA;\--------------/   Bottom&#xA;&#xA;&amp;lt;-----Width----&amp;gt;&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;instead of the normal situation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;/----------------------------\  Top&#xA;-       You           GF     |  GF = Girlfriend&#xA;\----------------------------/  Bottom&#xA;&#xA;&amp;lt;------------Width-----------&amp;gt;&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a thick (air) layer under you, you can keep the three layers of the sleeping bag on top of you, if you have a thin layer under you, since most cold is going through the ground, put the three layers of the sleeping bag underneath you (like in the picture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you can fill the sleeping bag with clothes (they will be warm in the morning), water or other drink, and even your shoes (put them in a plastic bag).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T08:16:09.997" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T08:16:09.997" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22906" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-19T17:02:50.447" Score="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience, most standard single sleeping bags, are built so you can zipper them together to make a double.  They are designed to zipper to an identical/matched bag, so don't count on buying to different bags and have them work together. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead of buying a dedicated double bag, buy a matched pair that can be joined.  Google &lt;code&gt;sleeping bags that can be joined together&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;sleeping bags that can be zipped together&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are sleeping alone, no problem.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are sleeping together no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you are in trouble and she makes you sleep alone, no problem. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T12:33:02.833" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T12:33:02.833" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-19T17:31:33.260" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the bag is laid flat like it would be for two people, it will not be nearly as warm. Basically you are doubling the effective surface area in which to lose heat relative to a single person sleeping bag. If you fold the bag on top of you, you will be keeping the surface area about the same as a single person bag and effectively doubling the insulation. This will be very warm if the extra material stays on top of you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keeping the extra insulation on top of you is going to be difficult. Trying to tie yourself in the bag so that the multiple layers do not flop around seems like a bad idea. Putting the extra layers below you leads to them being compressed and losing most of their insulating properties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to probably buy two bags with mate-able zippers. I tend to suggest that when men and women are buying a pair of sleeping bags to buy the woman a warmer (lower temperature rating) bag than the man. This tends to make the couple sleep more comfortably and gives a greater range of comfort when the bags are detached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T17:31:33.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-08-19T19:24:43.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In areas where bears were not present I used a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boat-Dry-Bags/b?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;node=469924031&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;waterproof dry bag&lt;/a&gt;, such as one might use in boating, to store food. These kept all smells sealed away, and were proof against small animals such as mice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2643" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T19:24:43.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22909" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20812" CreationDate="2019-08-19T22:10:06.790" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Average monthly on-trail cost: $1,000&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up-front gear costs: A complete PCT setup can be purchased for anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on quality level, pre-owned vs new, durability, and weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long form answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &quot;average&quot; figure usually provided by experienced thruhikers as a guideline for on-trail PCT expenses by is approx. $1,000 per month, and most hikers need about 5 months to get from Mexico to Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather window for southbounders (Canada to Mexico) is shorter, and most sobo's try to finish in less than 5 months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many hikers find that it's not particularly difficult to hike the PCT on less than $1,000 / month, and (obviously) it's quite easy to spend significantly more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This figure is for on-trail expenses only -- food resupply, town expenses such as restaurants, lodging, and laundry, and perhaps occasional gear repairs -- and does not factor in up-front costs for purchasing gear (tent, pack, sleeping bag/quilt, etc). A complete, very high quality ultralight setup for the PCT can be purchased, new, for less than $2,500.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user15115" LastActivityDate="2019-08-19T22:10:06.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-08-20T01:41:18.530" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sous-vide bags&lt;/strong&gt;. These are available globally but do require a sealing machine. Sealing machines come in different types but ones that take the open end of the bag, suck the air out and then apply a heat-based seal will work. To get an idea, the machine and bag look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2TUPmm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2TUPmm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide#/media/File:Sous-vide_equipment_closed.jpeg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Compact vacuum packing / sealing device&lt;/a&gt; by BBCLCD / CC BY &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get an appropriate (airtight) seal, the area around the seal has to be dry. When placing wet foods in the bag, try folding the edge around, place the food in, then seal it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This option has some advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pack per consumption, so everything you still have to eat stays nicely packed. Nothing will go in, nothing will go out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Easy to prepare at home, even days before the trip as you can keep bagged food in the fridge until you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's quite cheap after you have the machine (which you might already have for sous-vide cooking).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can heat bagged stuff if you're heating water on your trip. Maybe some salted meats with a sauce that keeps in your bag? Always nice to have a hot meal. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You do have quite a bit of waste. The bags aren't biodegradable so you will have to carry them with you if there are no bins.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bags are one-time use plastics, so not very environmentally friendly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can't reseal them without a sealing machine. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8227" LastEditorUserId="8227" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T16:21:48.873" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T16:21:48.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22911" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22914" CreationDate="2019-08-20T06:12:16.670" Score="28" ViewCount="4757" Body="&lt;p&gt;Say, I want to tie a rope between two trees, and I want it to have as little sag as possible. I have attached the rope to one tree and I'm trying to tie it to the other tree &lt;strong&gt;while pulling it to create tension and remove sag&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the hitch knots that I know are difficult to do while applying tension and, when tightened, create some sag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which ones are easy to do under tension and avoid sag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VTxhZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VTxhZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18485" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T05:33:45.843" Title="Most practical knots for hitching a line to an object while keeping the bitter end as tight as possible, without sag?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-20T08:46:31.723" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Zip-together bags would be the best solution but if you already have a double then just fold the sleeping bag in half and sleep in the top half with the other half underneath you. You get extra cushioning and extra insulation between you and the ground and your weight will keep the sleeping bag (mostly) folded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T08:46:31.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22913" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T09:31:34.460" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You probably need a self-blocking knot here i.e. one that tightens on itself. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrictor_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Constrictor/Miller's knot&lt;/a&gt; (single or double) comes to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kl2E.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0kl2E.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Constrictor knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the linked Wikipedia page for detailed instructions on how to tie it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4137" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T09:31:34.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T10:59:18.180" Score="32" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker%27s_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;truckers hitch&lt;/a&gt; it is easy to make and create and pull tight. It is not difficult to untie but does stay in place well.  It is a great knot when you need to cinch something down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j0YE3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/j0YE3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image source &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TruckersHitchUsingAlpineButterfly2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TruckersHitchUsingAlpineButterfly2.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T11:43:56.700" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T11:43:56.700" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-08-20T11:25:51.360" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience, tinned meat/fish is perfectly ok in such long trips. Combined with pasta and one-two types of porridge (rice, buckwheat, etc), it's good enough for two-meals-per-day style trekking. The only question is do you plan to use campfires (that way you can burn a used tin to not affect the nature) or not?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:&#xA;Tin cans (especially slim-size factor) are very often thin enough and your campfire will burn it to ashes, literally. I did so very many times with my own tins as well as with ones being left by previous not-so-nice hikers. And even if it doesn't dispose totally, outer coating alloy is gone by fire so the tin could rust to dust very quickly. Just flatten it with a stone, and next rain will do the rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16889" LastEditorUserId="16889" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T16:42:22.933" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T16:42:22.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T12:39:13.553" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're after getting tension into the line, I'd normally use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers-hitch-knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Truckers Hitch&lt;/a&gt;.  This uses a loop to create a pulley - and there are various ways to make the loop.  I tend to prefer either an Alpine Butterfly (as it doesn't get hard to undo after tensioning) or the loop of a slippery overhand knot (as it can be undone easily).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have issues losing tension when tying off the truckers hitch, you can opt to use a &quot;wrap and re-wrap&quot; method.  Not sure that's the right name.  Basically you pull the rope round the tree, round the taut line and back round the tree (back the way it came).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You can repeat this, going back and forth round the tree, any number of times.  Then you tie off the loose end to the taut line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This wrap and re-wrap method can be seen demonstrated about 90 seconds into this video: &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/zdn1MlOUFuA?t=90&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/zdn1MlOUFuA?t=90&lt;/a&gt; - albeit without doing a truckers hitch first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18063" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T12:39:13.553" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22918" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22920" CreationDate="2019-08-20T13:31:34.577" Score="5" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been thinking for some time to buy a multifuel stove for use in cold and high-altitude camping as compressed gas might be unreliable, and, most importantly, difficult to obtain in remote location.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;However, I have some doubts from previous experience with petrol / gas stations: they are not happy or outright refuse to fill small containers! I would certainly not want to lug a one-gallon canister of gas for a three-day trip (or even a week-long one, for that matter)!  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tricks / best practices / simple solutions to overcome this potential obstacle?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The main reason I'm ready to cough up $170 on a Primus is the ability to obtain fuel literally everywhere in the world, but if the stations would not want to do it, then there's no point!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T11:20:43.857" Title="Could I have problems / obstacles with obtaining petrol / gasoline for a stove" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21732" CreationDate="2019-08-20T13:33:00.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looking at the link provided by ShemSeger, I disagree that the knot in picture is actually the ABoK #1044.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not particularly knot-savvy, but basically, following the one in picture here, it starts (say from the left), makes the small loop on the right, builds the larger loop in the middle and then turns around the standing end on the left before plunging on the right loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ABoK #1044 would start from the left, go to back to the right and then build the larger loop from the left (and not from the right as in the picture), and then follows symmetrically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me, that looks more like a variant of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_loop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Artillery loop&lt;/a&gt; (ABoK #1050):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dzlUt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dzlUt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;CC-BY-SA 3.0 Gareelsteek&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6272" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T13:33:00.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22920" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22918" CreationDate="2019-08-20T13:36:48.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the UK many petrol stations (which, BTW have some of the longest opening hours of any retailers, especially on Sundays) say minimum 2 litres, some minimum 5. There are rules about the type of container you can fill; the one your bottle might not meet is simply labeling. Years ago it wasn't unknown to fill a 1 litre bottle and pay for 2 litres, but on short trips its easier to start with a full bottle of fuel and rely on using that. Of course if you fly then hike, you have to buy fuel when you arrive.   Much of western Europe is similar to this.  They also tend to sell small bottles of expensive liquid lighter fuel, which works in petrol stoves if you can't use a pump. You do actually need permission of sorts at staffed petrol stations - pumps are turned on by the shop staff. Pay at pump stations turn on when a credit card is inserted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'd need a funnel to fill most fuel bottles as the nozzle is bigger than the cap. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-08-22T18:48:31.107" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T18:48:31.107" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T13:38:48.997" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have commented, Trucker's Hitch (with an Alpine butterfly) would be the best. Note that it would be enough to do it on one side only; I usually tie an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.animatedknots.com/anchor/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anchor Hitch&lt;/a&gt; at the other side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option, when you won't be loading the rope too much, would be to use an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Adjustable Midshipman's Hitch&lt;/a&gt;. As a bonus, you could easily re-tighten the rope by pulling the adjustable knot. I tried this last time to dry the clothes between the trees (just like in your picture) and it worked very nicely: the rope was taut but when the wet clothes were put on it it sagged a little. Then I just pulled the knot - &lt;em&gt;et voilà&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T13:38:48.997" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22922" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22931" CreationDate="2019-08-20T16:27:28.680" Score="6" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a bug house and it looks as if several insects have laid in the house over the spring/summer.&#xA;All of the bamboo seems to be clogged up and has been for a couple of months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there still insects in there to hatch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would insects dig this out next year to lay again?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EJlpI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EJlpI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Insect House&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2020-04-30T00:35:05.760" Title="When do insects normally hatch from insect houses?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T16:45:33.170" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree that the trucker's hitch will certainly do the job.  That said, if your special situation requires retightening if things start to sag, you might consider the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tautline-hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tautline hitch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a great knot for situations where you might need to take up slack due to stuff like rope stretch in the dark and rain (like, say, if you're using your line to make an A-frame shelter with a tarp), so you can get back under cover quick.  I wouldn't recommend this knot for situations where a knot slip might cause injury. As always, right knot for the right job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18497" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T05:33:45.843" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T05:33:45.843" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22924" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-20T17:02:28.380" Score="1" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking at getting into sea fishing, I used to do coarse fishing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like an all rounder rod to try pier fishing and maybe some beach casting or fishing from a sea wall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I look for most, rod length? Casting weight? Etc. Seen one which is 9ft with casting weight of 200g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what weights I need either, or how rod length and weight affect each-other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18499" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2019-08-20T22:48:28.673" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T14:01:12.200" Title="Sea fishing rod all rounder" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22891" CreationDate="2019-08-20T18:00:11.183" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another thing to consider with professional climbers is that they constantly train finger strength, meaning, doing a two finger pull-up is very common and much easier for them than the average climbers. Its kind of like holding a really good hold. A 'good' hold is relative to the climber, and a crimp or a pocket that may be 'bad' for us may be really good for someone who climbs grades they do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another consideration would be to match, or plan to match. Some moves require you to match on a small hold, so using only part of you hand would leave room to match with your other hands' fingers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13732" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T18:00:11.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22926" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22893" CreationDate="2019-08-20T18:55:39.327" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A short answer to the question &lt;code&gt;What combination of settings can I use?&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;None&lt;/strong&gt;. If you unit is not faulty, you are stuck with your problem. The long answer follows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, it would be important to note the difference between what the terms &lt;strong&gt;accuracy&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;precision&lt;/strong&gt; mean in the context of measurements. &lt;a href=&quot;https://labwrite.ncsu.edu/Experimental%20Design/accuracyprecision.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;These paragraphs&lt;/a&gt; explain it quite succintly, and the following graphic is the usual target analogy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vENGz.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vENGz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our particular case, you can see both instruments as having complementary characteristics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GNSS chip&lt;/strong&gt;: Has good accuracy when the different solution quality factors are acceptable (number of visible satellites, position of said satellites, atmospheric and ionospheric interference, etc.) but its absolute precision is mediocre, 10-20 meters. That is in good conditions and can degrade quickly if in narrow valleys or under dense foliage. In the graphic above, it would correspond to the &lt;strong&gt;Accurate but not precise&lt;/strong&gt; target with the capacity to slide to the inaccurate side when in poor conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barometric altimeter&lt;/strong&gt;: Has a good accuracy when calibrated that can dramatically degrade if air pressure changes occur, which is very common. Its precision, on the other hand, is always very good, regardless of the conditions. It will register elevation changes under 1 meter. In the graphic above, it would fall in the &lt;strong&gt;Precise and accurate&lt;/strong&gt; section, inevitably drifting to the inaccurate side when ambient pressure changes occur.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garmin has found a way to combine the strengths of both systems by having a setting where the barometer can automatically calibrate itself on the GNSS solution from time to time. Of course, this relies on the GNSS solution quality and if it is poor when the calibration occurs, that calibration will also be poor. A manual calibration can also be poor if the known elevation is inaccurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In Garmin units:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I know, there is no way to disable the barometer or ignore its readings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/gpsmap66s_st/EN-US/GUID-3A78E778-DC5F-4F9F-BDD0-DF4C5F86B81C.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Altimeter settings&lt;/a&gt; might give you an idea on what to try and test. I don't know if &lt;em&gt;auto calibration&lt;/em&gt; can be disabled but it might be worth a try and see if only manually calibrating it on a known point yields better results:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Auto Calibration&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Automatically calibrates the altimeter each time the device is turned on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barometer Mode&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Variable Elevation&lt;/em&gt; allows the barometer to measure changes in elevation while you are moving. Fixed Elevation assumes the device is stationary at a fixed elevation, so the barometric pressure should only change due to weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pressure Trending&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sets how the device records pressure data. Save Always records all pressure data, which can be helpful when you are watching for pressure fronts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Plot Type&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Records elevation changes over a period of time or distance, records barometric pressure over a period of time, or records ambient pressure changes over a period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Calibrate Altimeter&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allows you to manually calibrate the barometric altimeter (Calibrating the Barometric Altimeter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/ms-MY/?faq=rAGSzl0QKg9E6kxLbjVQG9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; has an interesting disclaimer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While calibrating to a known elevation can be accurate to +/-50 feet, calibration by GPS is accurate to +/-400 feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;400 feet is huge, so I'd try to never do GPS calibration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As noted above, weather changes also affect barometer/altimeter readings. It happens very often that, when I'm doing an out-and-back hike, my tracklogs differ in elevation between the ingress and egress. It can be severe sometimes, in the order of 20-30 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wind can also affect the altimeter. Being on the leeward or windward side of a very windy ridge, the barometer reads wildly from the pressure changes between them. As indicated &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/ms-MY/?faq=WlvNrOungC28xGtwB7hLY5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Calibrated altitude maintains its accuracy as long as there are no significant changes in air pressure. Changes in weather are the most significant cause of changes in air pressure, but change in location can also affect the accuracy of the sensor, as air pressure can vary from location to location. Air pressure can also change when moving from indoors to outdoor, or outdoors to indoors or when a button is pressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bear in mind that it is most likely that Garmin doesn't compensate barometer readings for temperature changes in any of its devices (it's explicitly stated &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/ms-MY/?faq=sFMkjQFdnZ99DcunfAue66&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for Edge cycling computers). This will also affect readings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you combine the worst case of every influencing factor, it's not hard to imagine the inaccuracies you report. I don't think there is a solution to your problem. I personally have just learned to live with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T13:49:11.950" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22927" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-20T20:16:36.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It might be a little colder but I don't think it would be so much colder as people are thinking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a bag, not a box or a balloon. The unused area should fall flat leaving little extra air-space inside for you to have to warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will feel cool material if you turn in your sleep though. Depending on the weather that might even be a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18501" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T20:16:36.920" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20807" CreationDate="2019-08-20T22:18:18.730" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't overthink this problem!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have decades of experience being in calorie debt every year, for two or so weeks at a time, at least twice a year, on backpacking trips (when younger), and I advise recovering from calorie debt by eating whatever you want, plus, at dinner, a glass or two of wine. But, even if you are ravenous when you get out, don't stuff yourself; you want your digestive system well rested and ready for a good next meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are healthy, and if you feel well after being in calorie deficit for 2 weeks or so, &lt;strong&gt;your body will tell you what it needs, through what it craves&lt;/strong&gt;.  And if that is an enormous salad, that is what you should eat, even if it doesn't have many calories. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what to suggest if you are not feeling well (that is, more than just feeling hungry), or if you are not in good health.  Maybe chicken soup?  In any case, the objective is to feel well, unless you feel bad enough to see a doctor, and forget about calories, regaining weight, and getting to your pre-trek belt hole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The human body has millennia of experience of being hungry for some time, and then gorging on a mammoth, so it can certainly deal with 3 weeks of calorie deficit followed by a large meal. Although, with refrigeration, we do not need to gorge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T22:18:18.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22911" CreationDate="2019-08-20T23:29:41.263" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need a knot, just add a few rounds of rope around the tree and the friction will make it more or less impossible to &quot;pull&quot; the rope and create sag (besides, a few extra rounds prevents the rope from sliding downwards). Basically any knot will work after this although two half-hitches is a good option. An alternative to the extra rounds is to simply make a clove hitch around the tree. That can be done even under stress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15680" LastActivityDate="2019-08-20T23:29:41.263" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22931" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22922" CreationDate="2019-08-21T08:50:29.123" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Likely these are solitary bees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might notice bees buzzing around your house and on wet days during the flying season check inside the holes and might see them sheltering from the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only certain sign of nesting is seeing the ends of the tubes capped with either mud, leaves or fine hairs. The type of capping indicates the type of bee and it’s possible you might have more than more one type at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They will stay in the tubes for a few months, and come out in the spring. From the look of your photo there's a lot of mud on the end of the tubes and one clearly stands out in green for leaves. So this could then be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Red mason bee, Osmia bicornis (Osmia rufa) – red/gingery hair, females have small horns on their heads = use mud to cap tubes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leaf cutter bee, Megachile willughbiella – broad head, large mandibles for cutting leaves and an upturned abdomen = use leaves (May–September)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tubes should clear out in the spring and the new bees will go off to find new mates/homes. The tubes should be replaced, or cleaned, once the bees have gone, to prevent spread of disease.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.growwilduk.com/wildflowers/bees-pollinators/take-crash-course-solitary-bees&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Take a crash course in solitary bees&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T09:21:36.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22932" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-21T10:39:46.763" Score="1" ViewCount="303" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I started hiking this season (we have been cycling for 10 years before that). We have pretty light and compact gear, except for the backpack. We carried Osprey Atmos 50 and Osprey Talon 22 on a week trip. Everything including food and water fit in nicely. Base weight of the 50 liter pack was around 7,5 kilograms and it was about 15 at the most with the food and 5 liters of water. Now I am considering to switch to Osprey Exos for the next season to save additional 500 grams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My concern is the suspension system on the Exos which seems to be less comfortable than that on the Atmos. I already had some discomfort when carrying 15 kilograms in the Atmos. I am concerned the weight saving might not be worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is 500 gram weight saving significant? How noticeable is the difference in comfort from 500 gram weight saving?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have another crazy idea - bring the Atmos to the local workshop which mades my bike bags and let them replace the heavy fabric on the Atmos by a lighter fabric. But I would prefer not to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:&#xA;We hike in northern Europe, temperatures 10-20 degrees Celsius, 5 days without a resupply (at most), water has to be carried for at most one overnight stay. Winds up to 35 m/s, but rarely. No snow. We hike in trail runners and most of the gear is already reasonably light. Our combined base weight is about 14 kilograms (for two persons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18515" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T23:18:04.570" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T23:18:04.570" Title="Is it worth it to switch from Osprey Atmos to Exos to save weight?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="10" ClosedDate="2019-08-21T15:47:49.347" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22924" CreationDate="2019-08-21T12:53:54.833" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For extremely similar purposes here in Florida I use a 7 ft. medium heavy rod with a spinning reel that can handle 12-30lb test line and lure weights in the 1/2 to 2oz range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the same rods/reels when I go for catfish in my local rivers as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14021" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T12:53:54.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10846" CreationDate="2019-08-21T12:58:58.887" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No,&lt;/strong&gt; this has not been shown in realistic mountain hiking settings.  It has only been shown for fast hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10894/566&quot;&gt;answer by Tullochgorum&lt;/a&gt; links a 1984 US army study.  It is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fjaderlatt.se/2009/11/weight-on-your-feet.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;quoted here&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The men walked &lt;strong&gt;on a treadmill&lt;/strong&gt; with three different speeds; 4, 5.6 and 7.3 kilometers/hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The energy cost of wearing boots was significantly higher at all speeds &lt;strong&gt;except the lowest (4 km/h)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think hiking at 6–7 km/h on a treadmill is a good model for how I hike.&#xA;Most people hike at closer to 4 km/h than to 6 km/h, in particular if they are on long treks with heavy backpacks in mountains or where trails are unmaintained or absent.  At such a speeds,  there is no evidence that &quot;one pound on your foot equals 5 pounds on your back&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other discussions, people mention hikers who have hiked tens of thousands of km.  I'm not convinced that what applies for ultra-long-distance hikers is necessarily good for those of us who have at most 4 weeks per year for hiking.  I suspect the ultra-long-distance hikers hike faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But regardless of whether you believe it's heavier, hike with whatever you consider safe and comfortable.  If trail shoes work for you, wear trail shoes.  If you find that you prefer strong ankle support (perhaps for those steep descends) and high height for swamp and stream crossings, wear &quot;traditional&quot; higher hiking boots.  My impression is that the lightweight shoes are more popular in N-America whereas larger hiking boots are more popular in The Alps or Scandinavia (incidentally, I've found trails steeper in the latter case as well; perhaps there is a link?).  In any case, both are available at good outdoor stores so having a &quot;war&quot; between the two camps is useless — nobody is forcing their preference upon others.  Or you can even decide to bring both :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T13:14:03.063" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T13:14:03.063" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20807" CreationDate="2019-08-21T14:20:49.277" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you are on a hypocaloric diet for several days/weeks and you lose some weight, you do not need to call this calorie debt, especially if your new weight is closer to your normal weight than before. If you want to regain weight, you just need to eat some normal caloric foods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no need to avoid &quot;diluted&quot; foods, like soups or vegetables, which are a source of water and fiber, both of which can help prevent constipation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no need to stuff yourself with calorie dense foods, such as cheese, cakes, sugary drinks and meat - this will only make you feel bad. If you became underweight after a hypocaloric diet, hunger itself will make you eat more of - normal food. There is usually no hurry to regain weight because &quot;caloric debt&quot; after hiking is (usually) not a medical condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To prevent glycogen depletion (an immediate source of glucose in your liver and muscles) during a hike, you may need to consume quite some carbohydrates (maybe  ~300 g/day), otherwise you may feel weak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For optimal training performance, muscle glycogen stores must be&#xA;  replenished on a daily basis. For the average &lt;em&gt;endurance athlete,&lt;/em&gt; a&#xA;  daily carbohydrate consumption of &lt;em&gt;500 to 600g&lt;/em&gt; is required (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2011684/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sports&#xA;  Medicine&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When your glycogen stores are depleted, you will be in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ketosis&lt;/a&gt; (increased levels of ketone bodies in your blood), which will give your breath and urine acetone or fruit odor. Your glycogen stores should be replenished in a couple of days by eating usual food; you can speed up this process by consuming more carbohydrates (~300 g/day).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T15:41:05.230" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T15:41:05.230" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22936" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22959" CreationDate="2019-08-21T15:33:15.423" Score="12" ViewCount="620" Body="&lt;p&gt;Garmin says about inReach that to have a two-way satellite communication &lt;em&gt;&quot;you need to have a clear view of the sky&quot;.&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And what about cloud cover?.. Say it's winter and 100% overcast with angry cumulus clouds 100% of the time. How much interference / hindrance would that give?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NOTE&lt;/strong&gt; Maybe not everyone knows what's an &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/561286&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;inReach&lt;/a&gt; is. It is &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; a GPS navigational device per se, it is a two-way satellite communicator that uses the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iridium network&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T17:19:43.540" LastActivityDate="2021-03-20T16:01:02.780" Title="Garmin inReach vs. overcast sky" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;communication&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22937" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22940" CreationDate="2019-08-21T17:25:49.413" Score="1" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have this tent: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fjord-Nansen-TROMVIK-II-tent/dp/B01M5IKC46&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fjord Nansen Tromvik II&lt;/a&gt;. It's very well built and thought-out, lightweight (around 2kg / 4.5 lbs) and is a pleasure to sleep in during summer / early autumn.  However, since it's so lightweight and very well ventilated (with outer fly not even touching the ground), in windy conditions it feels almost like sleeping without a tent :)  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't want to buy a second tent at the moment. Is there a simple / inexpensive way to wind-proof this tent? Shall I buy some cloth and sew it to the external tarp to create a skirt?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T21:41:46.470" Title="How to wind-proof an existing tent" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;wind&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22938" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-21T20:41:46.023" Score="2" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume a team of 2-3 people intend to traverse a very exposed ridge at altitude. What are the main hazards and how can they be mitigated?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The type of ridge in question is covered in snow (various types of, maybe even some ice) and falls off steeply to both sides. The mountaineers follow the ridge to ascend/descend from a peak, generally following the highest point or close to the highest point of the ridge. The inclination of the ridge itself can vary from up- to downhill and various steepnesses (an answer may need to specify applicable steepness for different techniques). Examples of such ridges are the Piz Palü traverse or Bianco ridge to Bernina.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T11:28:11.440" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T13:18:43.480" Title="How can a team of 2 or 3 safely traverse a narrow, exposed snow ridge?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22939" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13084" CreationDate="2019-08-21T21:13:53.790" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a GoPro wrist band but I don't like the fact that I need to turn my arm 90 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer? Turn a wrist band 90 degrees instead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I stumbled on this YouTube video that demos the whole process. I haven't tried it but the idea of mounting my GoPro on the top of my hand was, I think, a great use of ergonomic space, as it were.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the URL, pointing to the part of the video of import.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/g75ZgLHWBdw?t=238&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to use a wrist mount as a hand mount&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18535" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-08-21T23:04:56.780" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T23:04:56.780" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22940" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22937" CreationDate="2019-08-21T21:41:46.470" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing you can do is close up the gap under the fly sheet on the upwind side using something you already have. That's easy for me - I go bike camping and my panniers are heavy duty dry bags that do the job very well (though its only needed on uneven ground with my tent) A rucksack can also be used, especially if you put something in it to give it shape (e.g. boots), but it can end up rather damp from dew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you feel the need to use an extra piece of cloth, a bit of tent fabric or plastic sheet could probably close the gap (again on the upwind side) just held in place with your boots; it's worth a try at least.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not already paying attention to the wind direction, you may get enough help by pitching downwind of a bush or wall. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-08-21T21:41:46.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22941" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-22T03:53:33.123" Score="5" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;It looks like a typical hat but also has fabric hanging down around the sides/back of your head for sun protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw one on the trail that was labeled North Face but I can't find anything like it on their website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not knowing what to call it I'm having no luck finding what the choices are for buying one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="381" LastEditDate="2019-08-24T01:26:13.473" LastActivityDate="2019-08-24T01:26:13.473" Title="What do I call this hat(?) with sun protection on the sides?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;gear-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22943" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-22T07:01:24.607" Score="0" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;Googling &lt;code&gt;brightest flashlight 2019&lt;/code&gt; doesn't help, as third-party websites and manufacturers' websites don't exhibit the  maximum regulated output for the longest duration. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wellrigged.com/worlds-brightest-flashlights/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This website&lt;/a&gt; does for some flashlights, but it overlooks the &lt;a href=&quot;https://redd.it/ci10kl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Imalent MS12&lt;/a&gt;. My family'll be spending at least £200, so we mustn't overlook other headlights or be hoodwinked!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T15:49:05.690" Title="How can I determine which flashlights have the maximum regulated output for the longest duration?" Tags="&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2019-09-01T21:12:48.170" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22941" CreationDate="2019-08-22T10:29:48.267" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One name for it is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=legionnaires+cap&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Legionnaires Cap&lt;/a&gt; or hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vfq1Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vfq1Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T10:29:48.267" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22947" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17337" CreationDate="2019-08-22T10:53:02.710" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a shelter like this, it's mainly the ridge pole that tensions the fly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't give details, but usually the length of the ridge pole will be adjustable. If the fly is sagging, try using a longer length to add more tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the ridge pole isn't adjustable, you may have to modify it or source a longer pole. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, when pitching be sure the ends of the hoops are as far from each other as possible both lengthwise and side to side, so the groundsheet is fully stretched.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T10:53:02.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22949" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22943" CreationDate="2019-08-22T15:49:05.690" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you are looking for a range of different purposes. There is no one-size-fits-all here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a basic (headlamp) one from Black Diamond that will illuminate up to 80 meters (260 feet) with a max of 300 lumen output. This is plenty to see trails for hiking, running, climbing, camping etc. There are many options to choose from in this range. Your local outdoors shop likely stocks around 20 different ones. Even a 100 lm one is adequate for basic needs. These are usually very light and easily transportable, and have great running time - about 25 h range on high setting and up to about 200 h on low (11 m/35', plenty for around a campsite). These usually run on AAA batteries or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bike lights go up to about 5000 lm, which is incredibly bright (about 4x brighter than halogens on car headlights). If you are say, a down-hill mountain biker in competition, you might want one of these, but otherwise you can go for much dimmer ones without compromise. These come with the trade-off in that they are large, heavy and consequently not so transportable. They are not designed to be carried by hand, but clamped to the bike. They also only tend to have about 2-3 h run time and then require recharging (2-13 h according to article I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a25222841/best-mountain-bike-lights/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vehicles should have their own lights, and there are very few situations where you couldn't mount lights on a vehicle to run off the internal power supply that would be more than adequate for off-roading, even on the darkest of trails on a rainy night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T15:49:05.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22950" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22904" CreationDate="2019-08-22T17:02:29.500" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll second the recommendations to buy bags that can zip together. We have the older North Face Cat's Meow, and they work well for my ultralight distance hikes, and for family camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While you can zip things down, remember that compressing loft is your enemy. Use a light touch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18545" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T17:02:29.500" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="766" CreationDate="2019-08-22T20:16:36.937" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;British Army only has one type of water bottle (1958 Pattern). Used in all climates, from the equator to the poles. Cold weather instructions ; &quot;INVERT THE BOTTLE&quot; ! If in prolonged/extreme cold weather 'invert the bottle after filling to a 85/90 % capacity. Works in Norway, Canada and Afghanistan winters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18548" LastActivityDate="2019-08-22T20:16:36.937" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22953" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-22T21:27:12.123" Score="1" ViewCount="101" Body="&lt;p&gt;With modern high strength, small diameter lines, spinning and bait casting reels can hold a tremendous amount of line. I usually spool up about half capacity with an inexpensive monofilament then fill up with the better line. That gives me much more good line than my longest cast, plus plenty for retying, etc. And then there's all that line I'll never use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In freshwater fishing, why do these reels still have so much excess capacity?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are any manufacturers now making lower capacity reels that are not ultralights or similar?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18546" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T20:44:15.190" Title="Fishing reel line capacity" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22936" CreationDate="2019-08-23T03:51:21.237" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an inReach and have used it in all sorts of conditions and terrain. Overcast weather is not a problem but a reflective tarp or deep canyons can be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a message fails to get through the device will flash red and that means you need a better position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally it’s not a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T03:51:21.237" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22956" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-08-23T08:29:21.057" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T08:29:21.057" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T08:29:21.057" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22957" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-08-23T08:29:21.057" Score="0" Body="Footwear for swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, bodyboarding, etc. Does not apply to surfboard fins." OwnerUserId="9684" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T11:35:02.867" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T11:35:02.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22918" CreationDate="2019-08-23T11:20:43.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is also worth knowing the pros and cons of using automotive Gasoline / Petrol in stoves:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From MSR's website &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/liquid-fuel-stoves-101-choosing-the-right-fuel-for-your-liquid-fuel-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR's website &quot;Liquid Fuel Stoves 101 Choosing the right fuel for your stove&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;White Gas (Naphtha)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;White gas (aka “naphtha,” “100% light hydro treated distillate,” or&#xA;  “Coleman Fuel”) is the first choice for most people in North America&#xA;  whether they’re headed out for a summer weekend or for a month-long&#xA;  winter expedition in the Alaska Range. Almost any pressurized-type&#xA;  liquid fuel stove will run well on white gas. Because this fuel burns&#xA;  cleaner than most others and because it evaporates (vaporizes) at a&#xA;  lower temperature, it makes starting your stove an easier, cleaner,&#xA;  and overall more pleasant experience. It also won’t leave as much of a&#xA;  nasty residue or odor if you have a spill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You might hear white gas referred to generically as “Coleman Fuel”.&#xA;  Not all brands are identical, but any stove that runs on white gas&#xA;  should burn Coleman fuel without issue. MSR offers a unique blend of&#xA;  white gas called SuperFuel. It is more refined and burns cleaner than&#xA;  almost any other white gas on the market. It is free of additives and&#xA;  so reduces fuel line clogs and other stove maintenance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Unless you’re going through gallons of fuel, it is best to buy white&#xA;  gas in smaller containers, like MSR SuperFuel. Once you open the&#xA;  container and expose it to air, the fuel starts to degrade. If you&#xA;  don’t get out that often, a gallon container of Coleman fuel will&#xA;  degrade and possibly build up shellac that will clog your stove or&#xA;  stove pump filters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Although white gas is similar to automotive gasoline, these two fuels&#xA;  are quite different and are not necessarily interchangeable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Automotive Gasoline (petrol)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Consider this a fuel of last resort. As stated above, most stoves&#xA;  capable of burning white gas can also burn gasoline, but this fuel has&#xA;  some downsides of which you’ll want to beware. Gasoline contains&#xA;  additives designed to make car engines run smoother, but these&#xA;  additives can harm the seals in your stove’s pump and fuel line,&#xA;  making them harder and more prone to leaking. Gasoline will also&#xA;  produce more smoke and fumes than white gas. Further, what you buy at&#xA;  the pump might have upwards of 25% ethanol mixed in. Ethanol is an&#xA;  alcohol; in low percentage mixtures it may not make a big difference&#xA;  in how your stove burns, but it can cause pitting corrosion in&#xA;  aluminum fuel bottles. If you do use gasoline with ethanol, don’t&#xA;  leave it in your fuel bottle for long-term storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T11:20:43.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22936" CreationDate="2019-08-23T12:55:14.060" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Iridium uses radio frequencies &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_band#Telecommunications_use&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;around 1.6 GHz&lt;/a&gt; or 18.75cm wavelength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/atm-absorption.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Atmospheric absorption&lt;/a&gt; at these frequencies is very low:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1Vup.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c1Vup.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clouds contain water droplets, though. So, let's have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;http://wtlab.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/wataru/lecture/rsgis/rsnote/cp3/cp3-2.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rain attenuation&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GzemQ.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GzemQ.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...no problem either at 1.6GHz. So your answer is: &lt;strong&gt;overcast weather should be absolutely fine&lt;/strong&gt;. The designers wouldn't have picked a frequency that would be heavily absorbed by clouds... that would be bad for business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, what happens at the bottom of a narrow canyon (or in a street with tall buildings)?...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ywfbi.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ywfbi.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Radio waves bend around corners due to diffraction. However... unlike a car, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Physical-Science-For-Middle-School/section/19.3/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;diffraction&lt;/a&gt; works best on sharp corners, or obstacles which have at least one dimension that is close to, or smaller than the wavelength (here, 16cm). So, if there is a telephone pole between you and the satellite, waves will go around it. But if it is a building, they won't. You'll get rather low diffraction around large natural obstacles, which in practice means if you're at the bottom of a narrow canyon or street and the satellite is hidden behind the canyon walls, or behind a building, without direct sight, then reception won't work. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Likewise, Charlie mentions a reflective tarp, if that's conductive it will reflect the signal, so if you stand below it, it won't work. Roughly speaking, anything conductive either solid or with holes smaller than the wavelength will block/reflect the signal (for example, wire fence, rebar, steel roof, metal window blinds, etc). If it is between you and the satellite, expect problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14004" LastEditorUserId="14004" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T17:51:02.577" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T17:51:02.577" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22960" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22961" CreationDate="2019-08-23T14:57:10.973" Score="5" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm starting to do some solo hiking here in Italy, and I'm going to buy a PLB soon. I was wondering if I went to Germany or Australia for example, if I activate the beacon will the beacon still get me the emergency services I would need? Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18554" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T15:10:00.840" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T16:40:37.760" Title="Will a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) work overseas?" Tags="&lt;europe&gt;&lt;personal-locator-beacons&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22960" CreationDate="2019-08-23T15:23:04.043" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The call would be routed to the international &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cospas-Sarsat_Programme&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;COSPAS-SARSAT&lt;/a&gt; network.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the Beacon Regulations Handbooks for each country: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/documents-pro/beacon-regulations-handbook&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/documents-pro/beacon-regulations-handbook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have an &lt;strong&gt;INCOMPLETE&lt;/strong&gt; and somewhat contradictory summary of countries: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/beacon-ownership/national-beacon-regulations-for-serial-coded-plbs&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/beacon-ownership/national-beacon-regulations-for-serial-coded-plbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2019-08-23T16:40:37.760" LastActivityDate="2019-08-23T16:40:37.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22962" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-23T19:00:15.960" Score="11" ViewCount="329" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started to track my finished routes and I cannot find anywhere a definiton of an attempt. Of course if I try to send the route, give up in falf, go down, have a snack and then go again and finish it then it's two attempts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However what if I fall in middle, and after descending a bit I solve the part and send a route? Is it two attempts, too, or should I complete it again in one go? If so, is it then two or three attempts (does the first climb with fall count as one or two attempts)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18556" LastActivityDate="2019-10-08T16:05:13.347" Title="How is an attempt defined in sport climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22962" CreationDate="2019-08-24T12:14:54.923" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you start a route, fall, lower down a bit, and then climb to the top, most people would not say that you have sent the route. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22744/what-is-the-term-for-completing-a-climbing-route-uncleanly/22754#22754&quot;&gt;What is the term for completing a climbing route uncleanly?&lt;/a&gt;. Most people think of sending a route as climbing it cleanly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you start a route, fall, lower to the ground, and then climb the route cleanly, that is clearly 2 attempts. If you start a route, fall/hang and try the crux a 5 times, lower to the ground and then climb the route cleanly, that is not 2 attempts. At that point, it probably makes sense to just stop counting attempts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-08-24T12:14:54.923" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22965" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23028" CreationDate="2019-08-25T08:49:57.280" Score="8" ViewCount="1305" Body="&lt;p&gt;My personal favorite for tying two ends of a rope together is the Flemish Bend. It's simple, strong, does not slide, does not require stopper knots (unless used for life-critical applications), allows mixing rope thicknesses and types, relatively easy to undo even after heavy load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But there are situations when &lt;strong&gt;I need to pull on the rope ends in order to get them together&lt;/strong&gt;. Flemish Bend and all other knots that I know are very unhandy to tie under tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which knots would be best in this case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe some of the knots I know are suitable for this, but I don't know a technique for tying them conveniently when under tension. E. g. I've read that the sheet bend was used by weavers to quickly fix a snapped string without halting the loom. I've tried tying a sheet bend under pressure and it was difficult -- likely because I don't know the technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So when you recommend a knot, please also &lt;strong&gt;describe a technique for tying it while pulling loaded ends to bring them together&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UPD1 &lt;strong&gt;Examples of typical real-life scenarios&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tying a rope around a bag to compress it,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tying a cardboard box to prevent it from opening/misaligning,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;holding a piece of furniture from falling apart as you work on fixing it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See madskillz illustrations below!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess, the trucker's hitch is appropriate for those cases, but you have to measure it correctly: if you make it a bit too long or too shirt, you'll have to undo it and retry. Also, oftentimes you don't have enough rope length to make a trucker's hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I would like to learn a simple knot that would let me tie the rope tight without a need for a second person pinching the initial half-knot to prevent it from loosening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONoJy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ONoJy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1I5wl.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1I5wl.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18485" LastEditorUserId="18485" LastEditDate="2019-08-26T05:53:36.157" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T21:47:39.990" Title="Most practical knots for a bend (tying two ropes together) while pulling to create tension?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22967" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-25T18:18:36.690" Score="5" ViewCount="942" Body="&lt;p&gt;Spotting scopes are used for all sorts of things in the outdoors, from watching climbers on big walls to observing wildlife. Usually, the reason for using one instead of a pair of binoculars is the higher magnification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What features&lt;/strong&gt; should I look for in a &lt;strong&gt;good spotting scope?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-25T20:11:59.660" Title="What to look for in a spotting scope?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22967" CreationDate="2019-08-25T20:11:59.660" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The first thing to consider is where you're going to be carrying it, and under what circumstances. The (optically) best scopes are heavy and bulky and need a solid tripod; they're not ideal if you're hiking up a mountain with camera and day hiking gear as well. Travel scopes (I've got a mighty midget) have good optical quality and are smaller and lighter, and work well on a basic carbon fibre tripod. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The size of the front element is mainly important if you want to use it at dawn/dusk, or if you want to take photos through it. Bigger means more light gathering power, at the expense of weight again. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The magnification is set by the eyepiece. A zoom eyepiece is very useful, especially on a tripod, when you can zoom out to find your subject, then zoom in to see it clearly. You can usually change your eyepiece for different situations. Cheap scopes and their eyepieces often suffer from chromatic aberration (coloured edges) and general loss of sharpness when zoomed in. A light scope at up to about 15x magnification can just about be hand held, but any more than that and you'll need a tripod, bean bag or similar. I like a tripod with a simple ball head that steadies the scope while allowing me to scan freely before locking off. This is for wildlife and occasionally stargazing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Angled scopes are common, so that if the scope is looking horizontally, you look down at 45&amp;deg; into the eyepieces. This is useful if you want to look up, and in hides if you're tall, but isn't necessary if you're looking for wildlife on the ground using a tall tripod in the open or seawatching from the top of a cliff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-08-25T20:11:59.660" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22969" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-25T20:33:25.277" Score="9" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are new to foraging.  We recently found a large number of what we believe to be puffballs in a field.  They look like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZdIXt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZdIXt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Puffball torn in half&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the information on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildfooduk.com/articles/the-puffballs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild Food UK&lt;/a&gt; site it sounds like even if this is a genuine puffball, as it's gone yellow inside it's no longer edible.  However, there were a number of these in field, so potentially some of the younger ones may still be edible, or should we revisit earlier in the season next year, we may catch the next generation at the right time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;These were found growing in Norfolk, UK.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They were in the short grass of a well drained field.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The mushrooms were in clusters of 2 to 3.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There were several clusters near one another (e.g. each cluster was within 20 cms of another); though not in a ring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're softer than marshmallows.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The white pulpy exterior was solid, though soft.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The yellow interior had a paste-like texture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There was no discernible smell (though this is my worst sense, so if there's a subtle smell I'm likely to have missed it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking through the various fungi on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/lycoperdon-pratense.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;First Nature&lt;/a&gt; I believe this may be a &lt;code&gt;Lycoperdon pratense&lt;/code&gt;; though the images on the site show them as having a more standard mushroom shape, whilst those we found had more of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear_drop&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;pear drop&lt;/a&gt; shape&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Question&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify the type of puffball this is, and whether it's edible (or would be edible if found before it had started turning yellow)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18563" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-25T22:01:17.773" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T07:28:16.650" Title="UK Puffball Identification" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;edible&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;&lt;fungi-identification&gt;&lt;fungi&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22965" CreationDate="2019-08-26T02:26:13.650" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Maybe not a great answer, but too long for a comment.)  I guess this would all depend on how much tension we're talking and how much extra line you'll have (and whether you have another set of hands).  When I'm trussing a roast, I use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon%27s_knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;surgeon's knot&lt;/a&gt; to help maintain a small amount of tension while I finish the knot.  You use the multiple wraps to build in a short-term tension on the lines; this lasts just long enough to finish the knot.  (The extra wrapping while you make the first half of the knot is just enough to avoid having to have someone put their finger on the knot to keep it from slipping.)  OTOH, I don't know how well it would work in your scenarios (or, in fact, anything larger than a roast or suture).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were in either of the situations you've drawn, I would look to find a way to change the situation.  I.e. how could I remove / reduce tension, then make the knot or hitch.  I'm sure most of us have done something like this: hold tension in one line by pinching the line under your armpit.  When I've wanted to add tension to a system, I use something like the trucker's hitch solution.  (My favorite method is: Bowline on one line; figure eight on a bight or alpine butterfly on the second; use the end of the second to wrap through the two loops and apply increasing tension; finish with a knot one one of the loops.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm having a tough time thinking of a single knot that doesn't use much rope and can be built while keeping a lot of pressure on both lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17065" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T02:26:13.650" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22962" CreationDate="2019-08-26T09:59:23.757" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some cases where the finer details of what constitutes an &quot;attempt&quot; matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, completing a climb as an &lt;code&gt;on-sight&lt;/code&gt; (on first attempt, without any prior knowledge) or a &lt;code&gt;flash&lt;/code&gt; (on first attempt, but with some degree of prior knowledge ot &quot;beta&quot;) is considered better than completing it after several tries. This gives the climber more &quot;bragging rights&quot; and a higher ranking in any (more or less formal) ranking lists.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While most would treat any clean ascent (&lt;code&gt;redpoint&lt;/code&gt;) not on-sight or flash as equal, some like to point out that they &quot;sent&quot; the route on the second or third try. (As opposed to spending weeks or more working on it) Also, in bouldering competetitions, a climber usually has three attempts on each route (or &quot;problem&quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How strict the rules for when an attempt starts and ends depends on the context. In competitive sports climbing rulesa are naturally more strict. (There is usually a time limit as well as no weighting the rope). Outside competitions there is more of a gentlemans agreement, where an attempt starts as soon as you touch the rock (or an artificial hold) and ends when the rope is weighted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that downclimbing to a good rest position or even to the ground might be allowed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T09:59:23.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22973" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-26T16:14:39.330" Score="2" ViewCount="1469" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I go fishing in the UK (West Yorkshire), am I allowed to eat the fish I catch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was told that you’re not allowed to eat/kill the fish and must return it to the water after the catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help would be greatly appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18566" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-26T16:40:46.937" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T08:00:21.530" Title="Catch and eat the Fish UK" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;uk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22744" CreationDate="2019-08-26T18:47:34.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;h3&gt;It depends on the number of rests taken&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In sport climbing, when you climb a route but hang on the rope to take a rest at one point during the ascent, it is called a &lt;strong&gt;one-hang&lt;/strong&gt;. If you rested twice during the ascent, it could likewise be called a &lt;strong&gt;two-hang&lt;/strong&gt;. If you rest on every bolt of the entire route, it is called climbing &lt;strong&gt;bolt-to-bolt&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18567" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T18:47:34.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22975" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="22976" CreationDate="2019-08-26T22:37:09.690" Score="15" ViewCount="4707" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been writing my initials onto the dogbones (webbing connecting biners) of my quickdraws with a sharpie (permanent marker) so I can tell them apart from everyone else's. Recently, one of my climbing partners suggested that I should switch to marking the carabiners with tape or nail-polish instead, since (he claims) sharpie damages &amp;quot;soft&amp;quot; gear. &lt;strong&gt;What evidence is there to suggest sharpie or other markers can damage soft gear such as dogbones?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My quickdraws are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-carabiners-quickdraws/freewire-quickdraw-BD381075_cfg.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond FreeWires&lt;/a&gt;. The manual can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bdel/default/dw82b65ea3/files/M13290_B_REGULATION_Carabiner-QD%20Hang%20Card%20IS-WEB.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;online here&lt;/a&gt;. As far as I have seen, black diamond does not recommend against marking soft gear with markers. The closest statement I can find in the manual is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Care and Maintenance&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing gear must not come into contact with corrosive materials such as battery acid, battery fumes, solvents, chlorine bleach, antifreeze, isopropyl alcohol or gasoline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After contact with saltwater or salt air, always rinse and dry textile products, and rinse, dry and lubricate metal products.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, Petzl's manual suggests against marking slings in this infographic taken from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0681r00000DTrXMAA1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;technical notice&lt;/a&gt; for one of their quickdraws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O4rJh.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/O4rJh.png&quot; alt=&quot;Petzl Supplementary Information&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18567" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T22:42:39.653" Title="Do sharpies or markers damage soft rock climbing gear?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22975" CreationDate="2019-08-26T22:58:34.730" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's possible that it could damage the soft gear,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Tests done by the UIAA Safety Commission and some rope manufacturers have shown that marking&#xA;  ropes with liquids such as those provided by felt-tipped pens can damage them; even with those&#xA;  markers, sold specifically for marking ropes. The test results &lt;strong&gt;have shown a decrease of up to 50% of the&#xA;  rope strength, more correctly: of the energy absorption capacity of the rope&lt;/strong&gt; (expressed by the number of&#xA;  falls in the standard test method in accordance with the UIAA Standard101).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Therefore the UIAA Safety Commission &lt;strong&gt;warns against marking a rope with any substance that has not&#xA;  been specifically approved by the rope manufacturer of that rope.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theuiaa.org/documents/safety/Notification_about_the_marking_of_ropes_by_climbers.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Notification about the marking of ropes by end-users (2002)&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and besides a colored pack of electical tape costs less than $10 so why chance it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-26T22:58:34.730" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22975" CreationDate="2019-08-26T23:34:29.673" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some manufacturers state that soft goods such as ropes and dogbones can be damaged by markers so it is best practice not to mark them with sharpies or other generic markers.  If you do wish to mark them, there are special markers designed for the purpose.  For example, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://sport.beal-planet.com/index.php?id_product=1559&amp;amp;controller=product&amp;amp;id_lang=1&amp;amp;search_query=Marker&amp;amp;results=1&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; by Beal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11459" LastEditorUserId="11459" LastEditDate="2019-08-27T00:14:57.930" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T00:14:57.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22973" CreationDate="2019-08-27T08:00:21.530" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Yes it's possible&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you follow all the rules. Below I've included the national rules. On that page you'll find links for local byelaws that apply in each region of the country, in your case that's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/guidance/regional-rod-fishing-byelaws-north-east-region&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yorkshire and North East&lt;/a&gt; and it is significantly more restrictive than the national regulations. You must also follow any local regulations that apply to the specific waters you're fishing in, in some cases that will mean catch and release only, but either signs by the water or the landowner will inform you of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-rod-fishing-byelaws-for-england-freshwater-fishing-with-a-rod-and-line&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-rod-fishing-byelaws-for-england-freshwater-fishing-with-a-rod-and-line&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Catch limits, size limits and catch returns&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are legal limits on the number, size and type of fish you can&#xA;catch and keep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You must return fish you cannot keep to the water unharmed. Daily&#xA;catch limit for coarse fish&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The daily catch limit applies to all rivers, streams and drains. These&#xA;limits also apply to canals, and the following stillwaters:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;All waters within the Norfolk Broads&#xA;Lake Windemere&#xA;Coniston Water&#xA;Ullswater&#xA;Derwentwater&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can take:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a total of 15 coarse fish (barbel, chub, common bream, common carp, crucian carp, dace, perch, pike, roach, rudd, silver bream, smelt or tench, including any hybrids of these species) of not more than 20cm per day (excluding grayling)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1 pike of not more than 65cm per day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 grayling sized between 30cm and 38cm per day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also take any other coarse fish, including non-native species&#xA;and ornamental varieties.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need permission from the owner to remove fish from still waters&#xA;and canal fisheries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eels or shad must be returned to the same water unharmed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fish that are not legal to keep must be returned immediately to the&#xA;same water with as little injury as possible or retained in a keepnet&#xA;or keepsack, and must be returned alive to the same water on or before&#xA;completion of fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T08:00:21.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19873" CreationDate="2019-08-27T12:16:41.363" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I also ty to avoid chemical mosquito repellents, but I am quite successful with appropriate clothing to repel mosquitos. It really helps a lot and you do not have to apply it again and again throughout the day. Mosquito nets for the head for example may look a bit silly and impair vision a little bit. But they are very effective to keep insects away from your head. Similar things are true for trousers, shirts etc. If you keep this in mind when selecting clothes you can reduce chemical repellants a lot (I hardly use them at all). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-08-27T22:51:01.027" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T22:51:01.027" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22980" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-27T15:47:15.343" Score="2" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of passive, enduring ways to deter Black Bears from entering an area?&#xA;Hopefully an ecologically friendly way.  The area is a homestead in forest with livestock and an extensive garden area and berry patches&#xA;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18574" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T22:39:46.457" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T22:39:46.457" Title="Black Bear Deterrents" Tags="&lt;bears&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22980" CreationDate="2019-08-27T19:32:53.493" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Two parts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: Block the bears so that they do no wander into the area, and don't leave anything in the area that smells good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Block the area, essentially like a funnel&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Funnels are used in hunting. Even if you're not hunting, the idea of directing animals where you want (and away from what you don't want) is still useful to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://wiredtohunt.com/2009/11/03/deer-hunting-funnels-the-ultimate-rut-tactic/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What is a funnel?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A funnel is any natural or man-made object, change in terrain or&#xA;  obstacle that “funnels” deer through a specific location. Here are a&#xA;  few of the most common “funnels” that you might find…&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Narrow stream crossings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fence rows&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Saddles or benches on a ridge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Fence crossings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Valleys&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Thin strips of heavy cover that cross relatively open land&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The linked article is about dear, and when I Google the topic all the results seem to be about dear, but the concept is used elsewhere too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea is not to create a barrier which is impassable by the animal. That is unlikely. The idea is merely to create an obstacle that the animal will avoid because defeating the obstacle is not worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case, put up a fence, some bushes or trees, or anything else that blocks animals' entry and does not arouse their curiosity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Do not give the animal a reason to enter&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not keep anything in or around the area that would make the animal curious or interested in entering. A predator that hears sounds which could be prey may enter to verify the sound they hear. Anything that smells something good or which it associates with food is likely to do everything it can to defeat all obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the bear thinks there is food in an area, then it will go to great lengths to acquire it, even at the risk of getting stuck in a closed dumpster. I've heard stories of it happening, and here is a video of it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/animals/video-deputies-rescue-bear-cub-that-got-trapped-inside-dumpster/vi-AAGvDAs?ocid=spartanntp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bear stuck in dumpster, later let out by sheriff deputies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not eat in the area. Do not leave food in the area. Do not leave trash in the area. Do not cut aromatic types of wood in the area. Do nothing to cause animals to think that anything interesting could possibly be beyond your barrier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If you must have something the bear wants, include something to scare it&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is no way around it and the area definitely will include things that attract bears, then you need to scare them away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are always personally available and are willing to slightly forego the &quot;passive&quot; requirement, you could install some security cameras to alert you to trespassers, then you can go out and scare the bear away yourself. Be careful not to put yourself in a compromising situation where the bear can get at you. This has the added benefit that it will help with all types of trespassers, even humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are not available to scare the bear personally, &lt;a href=&quot;https://bear.org/what-about-bears-and-dogs/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;try dogs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Black bears usually run away when dogs chase them. Even the smallest&#xA;  breeds of dogs have scared black bears away. However, bears learn to&#xA;  ignore dogs that are tied up or in pens. Ely researchers watched a&#xA;  yearling black bear forage and rest 100 yards from a dozen barking,&#xA;  tethered huskies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(from bear.org)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a small group of dogs would seem to be useful for this. Just be careful they don't run from the bear straight back to you and leave you face to face with the bear. Read the rest of the linked page for more info.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So keeping several dogs in the area and keeping the dogs contained by perimeter fences seems like the best way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Don't&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you do, do &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; spray the area with bear spray to use as a deterrent. That is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; how it works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T21:38:55.103" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T21:38:55.103" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11293" CreationDate="2019-08-27T19:39:02.843" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Define affordable? With a mirrorless full frame camera and a f/1.8 or better lens you can literally see at night (f/1.4 or better on a crop sensor): &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1W-bPyYR0k&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=76&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1W-bPyYR0k&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=76&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hold your eye up to the electronic view finder and walk around with it. This works because the human pupil diameter is only as big as 3 to 8mm, but your camera lens can be as big as you need it to be. The best lens for this will be a 35mm prime to match the natural focal length of the eye. Use a longer lens, if you want to scan the horizon for animals in the distance instead of walking around with it like night vision googles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17985" LastActivityDate="2019-08-27T19:39:02.843" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22893" CreationDate="2019-08-28T07:17:11.753" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My background: I am a mountain biker since 1986, and I have extensively used a dozen of different GPS devices on my mountain bikes since about 2003. From that perspective:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to each expert I have been talking to, and according to all literature I am aware of, &lt;strong&gt;the barometric measurement of the elevation is by far more accurate than the GPS-based measurement&lt;/strong&gt;. The only disadvantage with the barometric measurement is that changes in air pressure can happen due to weather conditions, which may seriously disturb that kind of measurement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always apply this method: When planning a trip with my MTB, I use a good map or other reliable source to get the precise elevation at the starting point. When actually starting the trip, &lt;strong&gt;I calibrate the altimeter to the correct elevation&lt;/strong&gt;. I always have auto-calibration turned off completely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has given me the best results in terms of the &lt;strong&gt;total ascent&lt;/strong&gt;, which is the most important figure for me as a mountain biker (I know the total ascent of the whole trip; if I know the total ascent I have done so far, I can easily compute the total ascent to be done yet, and this finally is the figure which decides what to do in case of problems).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GPS-based auto-calibration is mainly for cases where the elevation drift due to weather changes and other phenomena which may affect the ambient pressure is not acceptable. As an example, elevation measurement on most of my devices is accurate to 2 m (reproducibility / absolute value); that is, when weather does not change, and I take the device on a round trip with several hundred meters of total ascent, it will show the same elevation when arriving at the starting point as it showed when departing from the starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the other hand, when the weather changes, elevation readings before and after the change can differ by 100 meters and more.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where auto-calibration comes into play. While GPS-based elevation measurement is very imprecise, it will still greatly improve things if you have no better idea about the correct elevation (or air pressure) (and hence can't calibrate the altimeter). You may have no such idea due to weather changes or because there are no maps or reliable elevation data available for the place in question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, the auto-calibration is often misunderstood. For example, people expect that it works immediately after having turned on the device. But this is not true. Due to the problems of GPS-based elevation measurement, the device must wait a long time and must do excessive averaging and filtering before even thinking about calibrating the barometer. Furthermore, the device can only do that when reception conditions are good. The device reporting a GPS accuracy of 3 m does actually does not mean that a reasonable GPS-based elevation measurement is possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, I have read at several places (which I can't remember currently) that 20 minutes from turning on the device until the first GPS-based barometer correction is not unusual, even when the reception is good and the device has locked on to a lot of satellites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said this, and answering your actual question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On all Garmin devices I know (e.g. GPSmap 60xxx, 62xx, 64xx, 66xx, Oregon 6xx, 7xx, Montana 600xx, 610xx, Monterra, GPSmap 276cx) it is not possible to turn off the barometer&lt;/strong&gt;. That wouldn't be wise anyway &lt;strong&gt;because it just is not possible to measure small elevation changes based on GPS&lt;/strong&gt;, so the total ascent would be totally wrong on routes with many small descents / ascents. For a theoretical example, think of a route consisting of 20 descents of 10 m, each followed by an ascent of 10 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my first advice would be to calibrate the altimeter &lt;strong&gt;each time&lt;/strong&gt; before beginning a trip. If you expect the weather to change, you can turn on the auto-calibration to let it compensate the drift which is solely due to changing air pressure and not due to elevation change; I don't know of any cases where auto-calibration seriously screwed up things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, taking feelings into account instead of facts, I do not trust the auto-calibration. I haven't seen any documentation of about how it works, and I have seen too much silly software bugs in Garmin devices to consider their (probably outsourced) software development being capable of implementing such a complex feature without screwing it up. Therefore, I always turn it off and accept the error in my total ascent and absolute elevation reading which is due to the weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, there is nothing which could keep you from calibrating your device more than once during a trip. In my case, I almost always pass multiple alpine huts or landmarks where the elevation is precisely known, and if the elevation reading differs from the correct value, I re-calibrate the barometer manually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, you can easily test the precision of your barometer by going a round trip under stable weather conditions, and I bet that your device still reports the correct elevation when arriving at your starting point. But if it deviates by more than 10 meters, it is probably defective (provided that the weather &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; was stable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18578" LastEditorUserId="18578" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T08:02:09.220" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T08:02:09.220" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22965" CreationDate="2019-08-28T13:24:10.227" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;All of these require slack. If you need to tension the system to bring the ends together, find a longer piece of rope, the one you're using is too short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Reef (Square) knot&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Easily tied, everyone knows it, the only problem is that tying it under tension requires 3 hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Sheet bend (because you've mentioned it)&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not really designed for tying under tension, it's more of a standing end/free end knot, though it can be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Any knot that makes a fixed loop that you can then use as a pulley after wrapping round your object&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhand_loop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Overhand loop&lt;/a&gt; is my go to knot for this sort of work. You tie it in one end of your rope, wrap around and back through the loop you've created. You now have a fully tensionable system that can be tied off with a couple of half hitches without losing tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However:&lt;/strong&gt; this is more suitable for the cabinet option due its rather heavy handed nature. For other purposes it's remarkably easy to overtension this system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tying a bag:&lt;/strong&gt; Initially a clove hitch. Wrap the free ends round the &amp;quot;neck&amp;quot; a couple of times and tie off with a reef knot. The wrappings will take care of any tensioning issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tying a box:&lt;/strong&gt; box tying is a work of art in itself, over the top, cross underneath to 90 degrees, come up the sides. The nature of cardboard boxes being that they're not overly strong, so you don't need to tie too tight because&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There can't be that much load in them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll damage the box&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So again a reef knot will do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T13:41:37.850" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22965" CreationDate="2019-08-28T17:45:26.597" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My favourite knot would be the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;taut-line hitch&lt;/a&gt;. While it is usually tied to form an adjustable loop, it can be used to connect two different ropes. It has the benefit that it can be tied rather easily with some slack and then adjusted for the required tension with both hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the pictures below it is used to tie a loop, but it works the same way to connect two distinct ropes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xl3Q8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xl3Q8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Tie the knot, the tension can be maintained by a firm grip around both ropes to the right of the green annotation.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fYSbh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fYSbh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;Once the knot is tied, it can be moved along the other rope with both hands to adjust the tension. If the rope is too slippy, additional turns might help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16784" LastEditorUserId="16784" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T15:37:08.910" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T15:37:08.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22988" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-28T18:48:50.050" Score="6" ViewCount="515" Body="&lt;p&gt;When learning to sport climb, I was taught not to pass any of my fingers through the gate of the carabiner when clipping into a quickdraw. Lest any of my fingers get stuck and degloved in the case of a fall while clipping. &lt;strong&gt;Has this ever happened? Is this a realistic concern?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In an effort to lead climb more efficiently, I was researching different methods of clipping quickdraws. During my search, I found that one often recommendation when clipping with (eg) one's right hand into a quickdraw whose gate is facing right is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Pinch Clip Technique&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Starting from your tie-in knot at your harness, slide your hand down the rope to grab a length of rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you bring the rope up to the quickdraw, let it run over your pointer finger.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use your thumb on the spine of the rope-end carabiner to stabilize the carabiner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Push the rope and your pointer finger into and through the gate of the carabiner to clip the rope.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/clip-quickdraws.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: REI&lt;/a&gt;, emphasis: mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some sources warn against putting fingers through the gate while using the pinch clip technique:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Quick safety tips when clipping quickdraws&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Keep your fingers out of the carabiner&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Push the rope into the carabiner gate, rather than your fingers. You don’t want to lose them if the event of a fall!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mojagear.com/learn/2016/03/10/sport-climbing-tips-clipping/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Moja Gear&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18567" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T16:19:31.257" Title="When clipping into quickdraws, is it dangerous to pass a finger through the gate?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22988" CreationDate="2019-08-28T19:16:06.300" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In short: &#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Yes this has happened, and so it is a realistic concern.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not common, but I have heard of it happening (usually resulting in a small finger scrape, not degloving). People in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/2tnx4b/is_there_a_consensus_on_passing_fingers_through/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this reddit thread&lt;/a&gt; say they've seen it happen. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To illustrate the danger, try it. Put your pointer finger in between the gate and edge of a carabiner at home and pull it out very slowly. Now imagine doing it &lt;em&gt;very fast&lt;/em&gt;. Not so fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there's a bit more to this--yes, many climbers &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; pinch clip with no problem. This is partly because with lots of practice, the clip happens quick enough that the finger barely goes through the gate, relying on the stiffness of the rope to push through. Does that mean it's safe? No, but people do it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You were probably told not to put your finger through the gate as a well-intended effort to make you nervous around carabiners. You were also probably told not to grab onto quick-draws (or carabiners) with your whole hand, because instead of scraping off a finger, you could get a biner through your palm--much worse. This is probably a good attitude to have, as climbing is of course dangerous. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Citation for impaling yourself on draws: &lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/impaled-by-a-quickdraw/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/impaled-by-a-quickdraw/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T21:23:41.597" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T21:23:41.597" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22639" CreationDate="2019-08-28T19:23:28.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to reiterate and expand on a previous &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22791/5836&quot;&gt;deleted answer&lt;/a&gt; from a different user.  A &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/how-to-hip-belay/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hip belay&lt;/a&gt; can be incredibly fast and is a common technique in situations where falls are unlikely. Many/most gyms do not allow you to hip belay, but many of those gyms also do not allow you to speed climb. Outdoors you can obviously do whatever you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is to progressively walk/run further away from the wall/cliff. For lead climbing this is dangerous because the fall will pull you back towards the cliff face and there is a high likelihood of you losing control of the rope. For top roping the angle of pull is different and the forces are reduced. For climbs where there is no risk of hitting an obstacle/ledge on the way down (i.e., a climb that is well suited for speed climbing) this can be a reasonably option. Again, most gyms will frown upon this (but not necessarily more so than speed climbing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5547" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T23:59:15.063" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T23:59:15.063" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22992" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-28T21:04:47.723" Score="12" ViewCount="1864" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has been suggested to me in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22639/how-to-belay-top-rope-climbers-who-are-ascending-quickly/22990?noredirect=1#comment60861_22990&quot;&gt;comment&lt;/a&gt;, about an answer of mine that suggests using a hip belay, that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;There's a reason ATCs, plates, GriGris, etc got popular: they're safer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I stopped using hip belays when I got a proper harness and realized how much more comfortable belaying with a Munter hitch was. I didn't even consider that it might be safer. While I agree that GriGris and other devices with &lt;em&gt;assisted braking&lt;/em&gt; capabilities are nominally safer than a hip belay, has there been a climbing accident attributed to the use of a hip belay that would have likely been prevented by using for a belay device &lt;strong&gt;without&lt;/strong&gt; assisted braking capabilities?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="5836" LastEditDate="2019-08-28T22:30:23.077" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T13:29:07.317" Title="Is belaying with a hip belay unsafe?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22992" CreationDate="2019-08-28T21:46:31.260" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It not necessarily unsafe, it's just fallen out of use with better gear and techniques. It still has a couple of use cases and it's something I think people should know, but I would never use it for rock climbing unless I had no other choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The use cases where it still makes sense is when belaying another climber from above in terrain that could lead to a slip but is not steep enough for actual rock climbing. In that case, a hip belay is faster to set up and use and there shouldn't be a risk of a whipper. Two clear examples might be going up a snowfield while roped and secondly belaying up Class 3 or Class 4 terrain where full-on rock climbing with dedicated anchors is not warranted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used it before in both those cases and caught a slip but wouldn't suggest doing it  for any Class 5 rock climbing (especially from below such as at a climbing gym. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-28T21:46:31.260" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22994" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-29T00:01:56.753" Score="2" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am relatively new to climbing, and so far I have only done bouldering climbing. The hardest route I have climbed is a V5, and I am a solid V4 climber. My question was, to anyone who has climbed East Bustress, how hard is it? From the ratings I saw, It converts to a V0 in bouldering scale, with the hardest parts being a V1. Is this accurate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18587" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T12:25:48.453" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T13:14:57.093" Title="How hard is the East Buttress route on El Capitan" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22992" CreationDate="2019-08-29T02:39:01.383" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/unbelayvable-unnecessary-hip-belays/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a tidbit&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;em&gt;Climbing&lt;/em&gt; Magazine:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hey, 35 isn’t old! It’s definitely not old enough to use hip belays by default, since the first belay devices came out in 1970. The hip belay is a good technique to know for rolling but still “no-fall zone” alpine terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This states that hip belays haven't been an accepted default practice since 1970. Next the article clarifies that hip belays are a good technique for low angled alpine terrain. That doesn't describe modern rock climbing in the context you're advocating for using hip belays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the book &lt;em&gt;Accidents in North American Climbing 2016&lt;/em&gt; they have a section about belaying technique and the history of advances in belaying technique. They start by explaining that the earliest belaying is simply a person hanging onto a taut rope for dear life. Then people started to realize that's a terrible plan so they leveraged friction Here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.com/books?id=iBQrDQAAQBAJ&amp;amp;pg=PT20&amp;amp;lpg=PT20&amp;amp;dq=climbing%20accidents%20hip%20belay&amp;amp;source=bl&amp;amp;ots=g87ZTZ6apQ&amp;amp;sig=ACfU3U16LQzn5qd-PtIeMjp0AnQQMc7y1A&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwi19a_PkKfkAhUDDq0KHcZGDR04FBDoATAHegQICBAB#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=climbing%20accidents%20hip%20belay&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some snippets from that book&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine, also please pardon the liberal use of ellipses I retyped the text from a scanned image of the book. If you follow the link you should see the full text.):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The addition of friction to the belay system allowed smaller belayers to secure bigger climbers. Wrapping the rope around features in mountain terrain or the belayer's body provided enough friction to hold larger loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the addition of friction to the system, &lt;strong&gt;every major evolution in belaying has involved some sort of technology&lt;/strong&gt;. First came the carabiner, which not only &lt;strong&gt;allowed belayers to augment their friction belays&lt;/strong&gt; but also invited the use of hitches, tied to carabiners, as belay tools. The most effective of these was the Munter hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Munter hitch offered a breaking position that was the same as the pulling position, so the belay cycle was easy to teach and learn. It soon became the predominant belay technique in all disciplines. (Before the advent of reliable protection, dynamic belays, and nylon ropes, &lt;strong&gt;belaying was primarily the duty of the leader&lt;/strong&gt;. A second might belay the leader, but the leader was not expected to fall, &lt;strong&gt;nor was it widely expected that a leader fall could be caught&lt;/strong&gt;.) ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;THE MODERN ERA&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... However, by the Second World War, climbers began to use nylon ropes and other equipment that could handle the forces of leader falls. ... Pushing the limits of difficulty also became more common-leading to more falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Belayers around the world also began to experiment with new belay tools that redirected the braking position 180 degrees-the most common early example was the Sticht plate, but the same principle applies to today's tube-style devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see people started moving away from body/hip belays almost immediately. They first used technology like carabiners and Munter hitches to increase the friction and decrease the strength required by the belayer. Then after WW2 when they finally had gear that was reasonably capable of handling falls they ended up creating belay devices that use many of the same principles of modern belay devices. The reason why people moved towards the belay device and away from body/hip belays is the whole paradigm changed in climbing. Initially like the book said:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;belaying was primarily the duty of the leader. A second might belay the leader, but the leader was not expected to fall, nor was it widely expected that a leader fall could be caught.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This morphed into people pushing the limits with leaders falling and expecting to get caught by their belayers. In order for this to reliably happen the belayers needed belay devices. I don't think you're going to find modern accident reports pointing to hip belaying a lead fall as the cause of the accident because &lt;strong&gt;climbers have recognized since WW2 that belay devices are a force multiplier&lt;/strong&gt;. As such people don't use body/hip belays on modern technical rock climbs so there aren't accidents to record.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion I think you need to justify why a technique that was completely abandoned in the context you were using (modern technical rock climbing) is safe. The climbing community is primarily focused on two things, safety and praticality. They still embrace the hip/body belay in low angle alpine environments when a leader is belaying a follower in a no fall zone where falls are unlikely. If the technique was as safe as a belay device then you'd see it recommended for modern technical rock climbing. &lt;strong&gt;Indeed the first improvement on the body/hip belay, the Munter hitch, is still taught as a viable modern technical rock climbing belay technique.&lt;/strong&gt;  Climbers are endlessly practical as long as the result is safe. Body/hip belays simply aren't safe for modern technical rock climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Original Answer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hip belay will never be able to have as much security and holding power as a belay from a device or munter hitch. With a hip belay you can never get as much friction on the rope because the minimum radius is the size of your body. A munter hitch or proper belay device can practically fold a rope 180 degrees. Another strike against a hip belay is you need to use more strength to maintain the friction. I can comfortably hold a 200 lb weight using a belay device like an ATC attached to my harness with one hand. I wouldn't be happy doing the same using a hip belay. Furthermore I the unfortunate circumstance where the belayer gets lifted up then a hip belay is deadly because if the belayer rolls the wrong way the hip belay turns into a person holding a rope behind their back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally there's no escaping a hip belay. With any kind of belay device you can rig a reasonable escape. For example from an ATC you can free your break hand by wrapping the rope around your leg. That allows you some freedom of movement and frees both hands to build an anchor. When you're holding a hip belay one hand must be firmly committed to maintaining the belay and your body must remain relatively immobile because any motion will increase the load on your break hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hip belaying a leader while rock climbing is dangerous. Just like pounding a 2x4 into a crack. Either one might hold a fall and both have been used successfully but neither one should be considered safe. Today we have much safer options. Carabineers and belay devices are cheap insurance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hip belays can be appropriate for low angle falls especially when belaying a follower. This is because the forces are low and recovery after a fall is quick. Furthermore the chances of a bad fall in these situations is so low that the additional risk caused by a hip belay is more than offset by the increased speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7995" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T13:29:07.317" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22997" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-29T07:15:03.057" Score="12" ViewCount="1303" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of &quot;survival&quot; products on the market that integrate &quot;extra&quot; strands into the standard paracord (US MIL spec, ~4mm accessory cord, usually 7 strand nylon or cotton) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of them feature a tinder strand, at first glance this is a useful gimmick, if one is using the cord for something else (wrapping, lanyard, bracelet) you can have it around in case you need it, on the other hand it seems that any accidental heat exposure could lead to a major accident or injury.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these products the death traps I imagine them to be? How likely is the fire starter to ignite and how prone is it to extinguishing itself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastActivityDate="2019-09-02T01:57:05.187" Title="Is &quot;survival&quot; paracord with fire starter strand dangerous" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22988" CreationDate="2019-08-29T09:54:05.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As there's ample anecdotal evidence, bad things can happen when doing this. There's also ample anecdotal evidence, that bad things will likely not happen. When bad things happen, scratches and even more rarely degloving is mentioned. I can reproduce scratches with placing my finger really badly below the opened gate. And sure, if I can avoid scratches, I'd rather do. Then again, scratches are a permanent companion of mine when climbing. So to put i perspective: It happens rarely and the outcome isn't particularly dramatic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition I consider this a non-issue, due to: &lt;strong&gt;Rule 1: You don't fall while clipping&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;While clipping you are at the highest possible point above the last protection. You may also be exhausted and need a rest. So before you decide to clip, you must judge the situation whether you have a position you can maintain during clipping. If not, adjust it, or if you are too exhausted, descend or make a controlled fall into the lower protection. Anything is better than an uncontrolled fall while clipping. And you don't want to fumble that draw, maybe even get panicky and then fall while clipping. So train clipping until it's second nature and really fast.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(As pointed out in comments: As every good rule this isn't absolute and has exceptions, e.g. when trying to send a hard project on your limit (in which case you anticipate the fall and know the rock and falling/&quot;impact&quot; zone and the associated risk.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About some scary evidence of impaling your hand with a quickdraw: The case documented in  &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22989/3602&quot;&gt;John Hughes answer&lt;/a&gt; was from grabbing a quickdraw in a fall. Now if no-one ever told you that, let me do it for you: &lt;strong&gt;Rule 2: Do not grab anything to try and stop your fall&lt;/strong&gt;. You are on belay (hopefully), so there's no reason to do so. Even if you don't injure yourself (remember, impaled quickdraw *urgh*), you will likely make the fall worse (instead of just falling, you might turn and twist and hit the wall side-ways or whatever). Do fall training, so it's in muscle memory how to behave when falling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3602" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T16:19:31.257" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T16:19:31.257" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="22999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22997" CreationDate="2019-08-29T12:26:25.180" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even the “regular” paracord would be set ablaze if you put it close to a fire / heat source :)&#xA;It’s a nylon / polyester after all… In my opinion, such gimmick paracords are not more dangerous than a normal one.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Unless that tinder is a strand of black powder fuse :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt; I reckon that extra strand is some kind of waxed cotton or something. If that is the case, then it would be &lt;em&gt;harder&lt;/em&gt; to lit it up then pure paracord :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE 2&lt;/strong&gt; Loduwijk’s answer is much better than mine and should be accepted :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2019-08-31T22:40:05.237" LastActivityDate="2019-08-31T22:40:05.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22994" CreationDate="2019-08-29T17:16:49.853" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, the difficulty of a V1 is not consistent everywhere, especially for climbers with limited experience. A V1 crack is a very different animal from a V1 slab. Yosemite climbs and boulder problems, especially in the V1 and 5.10 range are typically very stiff for the rating. These do not compare to gym routes or ratings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The East Buttress starts with a chimney. If you have never climbed a Yosemite chimney, or any chimney, your day is over at this point even if you boulder V10. It doesn't matter if you lead or second this, making upward progress in the chimney is difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next pitch has crux which is a couple of moves on a thin granite face. A solid V4 climber who is not freaked out will dance this. The crack after the crux is not a cake walk if you don't know how to climb cracks. If you are leading, finding good pro is non trivial. If you make it to the second belay and are not leading, you should be fine unless the exposure gets to you. If you are leading, the next 200 ft (60m) or so has some run out sections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I don't generally think equating multipitch trad routes with bouldering is a good idea, the crux of the East Buttress on El Cap is a lot like a boulder problem. If it was on the ground, I think a V1 grade would be reasonable. The crack climbing is generally easy with an occasionally harder (i.e., 5.9) move. There of course is the additional difficulty of being a traditional climb that is long and exposed and sometimes run out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T20:27:58.793" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T20:27:58.793" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22997" CreationDate="2019-08-29T18:38:05.427" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR&lt;/strong&gt;: Death trap? No. Should you be cautious? At least as cautious as you would be with normal tinder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think of it this way:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pile of loose jute twine, seem dangerous? No. People who use it for arts &amp;amp; crafts probably don't even realize its fire potential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pile of loose paracord. Dangerous? No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tinder can sit out without worry. Paracord can sit out without worry. What about a pile of loose jute twine and paracord mixed together? Still, nobody's worrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now combine them. A strand of twine does not seem any more likely to catch a spark inside the paracord than it would sitting out on its own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caveat&lt;/strong&gt;: There is now the interesting dynamic that the two play together. If they did catch fire, they are likely to be able to flare up easier together than they would individually. Putting a lighter to the end of your special paracord when it's in a haphazard heap inside your home might be more dangerous than putting a lighter to either twine or paracord on its own since the tinder could catch easily and help ignite the paracord (paracord burns too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caveat 2&lt;/strong&gt;: I have used paracord as a friction saw before to cut things. I once sawed through some rolls of carpet that way. The paracord gets very hot, and it melts and snaps; I had to go through 2 or 3 pieces of paracord per carpet roll that I cut up. I've never seen paracord flame up when used this way, and I'm not sure if this kind of friction could ignite twine. I assume not, but I'll try it out and see and let you know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just treat it the same as any other tinder. A pile of charcloth or jute twine is not a death trap unless you store or handle it negligently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're wearing it as a bracelet, however, and the twine is poking out of the end, then be careful around anything hot enough to start a fire. If the twine is loose or very frayed or dry, then a stray spark could light it, or passing your wrist through a flame while fire-tending could light it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-09-02T01:57:05.187" LastActivityDate="2019-09-02T01:57:05.187" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23002" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23005" CreationDate="2019-08-29T20:08:23.973" Score="19" ViewCount="4836" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the process of setting up my overland vehicle so that it has &quot;essentials&quot; in it at all times. I've got a kettle and ways to boil the kettle etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in having the basics in my vehicle such as water, tea, coffee as well as military-style dehydrated food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there is an option for keeping milk on a long term basis? I understand that I would need to keep it cool but even then surely it would only have a short shelf life. What other options are there in regards to milk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that the obvious option would be to just buy milk when I need it but I want to be able to stop somewhere and have a cup of tea or coffee and not have to think about supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18594" LastEditorUserId="3082" LastEditDate="2019-08-31T10:46:06.680" LastActivityDate="2019-09-01T11:01:27.733" Title="How can I store milk for long periods of time?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23002" CreationDate="2019-08-29T20:19:39.173" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;Couple of ways to do this,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Powdered milk, has a shelf life of over a year and just needs water added to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Evaporated milk, milk with over 60% of the water removed before being canned.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sweetened condensed milk, basically the same as the above just with lots of sugar added.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Powdered milk is the lightest and can be made in small batches while the others would start to spoil as soon as the can is opened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T20:19:39.173" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23002" CreationDate="2019-08-29T22:30:04.353" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Condensed milk tastes better with coffee than with tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Powdered milk, although it keeps once opened, isn't as easy to use as it should be. It goes lumpy very easily when you put it in a hot drink. One way to help is to let the drink cool a little, or add a little cold water (as milk might be) and sprinkle the powder into the surface, letting it dissolve before stirring. The trouble is though, steam from the drink can condense onto the spoon, so that the powder sticks to it. Another way is to mix it up first in a little cold water and then add the coffee or the teabag and hot water, but it can still go lumpy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way is to use UHT milk in one-shot 10ml catering portions, buying a pack of say 120. They don't need refrigerating. But you have to dispose of the pot somehow, which might not be a problem if you have other waste to dispose of regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1XPAK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1XPAK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T22:30:04.353" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23002" CreationDate="2019-08-29T22:31:04.660" Score="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;One solution to your problem is UHT (ultra-high-temperature) milk. UHT milk has been treated at a high temperature to kill all bacteria, making it shelf-stable for at least 6 months. Once opened, however, UHT milk needs to be refrigerated just like normal milk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're used to the taste of pasteurized/homogenized milk, UHT milk tastes a little different -- the heat treatment leaves it with a slightly sweet, almost caramel-like flavor. If you're mixing the milk with something else, like coffee or cereal, though, you're unlikely to notice the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UHT milk is readily available at supermarkets in much of Europe -- one common brand is Parmalat -- but is less common in the US. One brand which might fit your needs nicely is Horizon Organic, which is distributed in 8 oz &quot;juice boxes&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18597" LastActivityDate="2019-08-29T22:31:04.660" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23006" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-29T22:51:44.307" Score="3" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Charleston, SC, and found this very large spider chilling in a very large intricate web in our gazebo this evening. Below are all the pictures (apologize for the quality...it's the best I could do with my phone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We live in the United States&amp;mdash;Charleston, SC. The spider itself is brown with some lighter-brown markings. Its legs are light brown, with some brown/black bulges. It seems like there might be a baby spider in the corner. And this spider is quite large, and its web has pretty much taken over our gazebo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hGxM8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hGxM8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ryPI1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ryPI1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sVx5h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sVx5h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18598" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-08-29T22:55:44.007" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T00:46:32.147" Title="Can you identify this large brown spider with particular markings in Charleston, SC?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;spider&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10920" CreationDate="2019-08-29T23:52:06.103" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Elk is a little bit nicer to work with.&#xA;It lays flatter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think sika is the best.  Sika is a small deer; lovely to work with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18599" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T12:28:34.067" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T12:28:34.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23006" CreationDate="2019-08-30T00:46:32.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I also posted this question on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/cx8d8d/huge_spider_in_our_gazebo/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reddit&lt;/a&gt;, and got back a response, which seems correct, so I figured I'd go ahead and post an answer (although my stepdad gets credit for guessing correctly before reddit).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This spider is most likely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_clavipes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nephila clavipes&lt;/a&gt; (colloquially known as a banana spider):&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/14bpK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/14bpK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per &lt;a href=&quot;https://bugguide.net/node/view/2023&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bugguide.net&lt;/a&gt;, females can grow up to 50 mm; males can grow up to 8 mm. The smaller spider is most likely a male (as noted by @GregHewgill), as they apparently like to chill out on the females' webs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're not dangerous to humans, as long as you don't &amp;ldquo;handle them roughly&amp;rdquo;. For now, we'll cede our gazebo to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18598" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T00:46:32.147" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23009" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-30T06:41:37.697" Score="2" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a good longer rope (e.g. 70m or so) to use for rappeling during canyoneering trips. Most of the ropes on Amazon or REI are dynamic, and my understanding is that static ropes are generally preferred for canyoneering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the lighter ropes I see (7.9mm or 8.5mm) are only rated twin or half. Presumably these would be usable when rappelling double-rope, but wouldn't be advisable for single-rope rappels due to low friction?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short, for the described purposes, what kind of specs should I look for in a rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18601" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T08:51:38.180" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T13:03:25.543" Title="What to look for when purchasing a ~70m rope for canyoneering?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;canyoning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23002" CreationDate="2019-08-30T11:16:52.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dry/powdered milk used to be much cheaper than liquid whole milk,  since our family of 7 (5 kids, me in the middle) grew up on it, mixing it with liquid milk. I have used it sometimes since, and it is not hard to use, though in taste it is not as good as whole milk. But if you want to use it in hot drinks you need to reconstitute it first, though I find powered coffee creamer (mainly corn syrup solids) better for taste. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used to work in a dairy and even though we had about 350 Holstein cows (which produce about 8 gals at day), we used lowheat dry milk, along with sugar and corn syrup solids to make delicious (fattening) 16% butterfat, 42% solids ice cream mix. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some explanation of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.adpi.org/DairyProducts/DryMilks/NonfatDryMilk/tabid/100/Default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;types and uses of dry milk&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B000J41TB6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;best price online I have seen&lt;/a&gt; ($0.30/Ounce), but at about a buck a quart it it should be cheaper at brick and mortar stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18602" LastEditorUserId="18602" LastEditDate="2019-09-01T11:01:27.733" LastActivityDate="2019-09-01T11:01:27.733" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23009" CreationDate="2019-08-30T12:24:58.247" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to be looking for &lt;strong&gt;semi-static&lt;/strong&gt; rope, as used by cavers for SRT, usually of thickness between 8.5 and 11.0 mm.  It's normally sold in 200-metre reels, though most retailers will cut to a specific length for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only difference to caving rope is that some specialist canyon ropes are designed to be less dense than water, so they float rather than sinking.  That's a feature you may or may not want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-08-30T12:24:58.247" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23012" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-30T13:03:19.970" Score="10" ViewCount="495" Body="&lt;p&gt;In recent years, my wife and I completed a few long distances hikes together, for instance:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kungsleden from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, 105 km (Sweden)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Landmannalaugar to Skogar via Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls, 78 km (Iceland)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Svartárkot-farm to Herðubreiðarlindir, „Askja Trail“, 93 km (Iceland)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ammoudari to  Agia Roumeli through the White Mountains, 48 km (Crete, Greece)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We carried everything we needed for the entire trip (food, tent etc.) on our backs and refilled our water supplies where possible. We slept in our tent and used other shelters only in case of emergency. Thus, we were as self-contained as possible and had no problems with the more remote parts of the trips. Also, we carried no unnecessary bits and pieces. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two years ago our daughter was born. In the first year, we though that it would not be a good idea to take her on a prolonged trip like those above. However, in the meantime she enjoys being outdoors a lot and also likes to be carried around in one of those kid carrier backpacks. Therefore, we thought that generally it could be possible to take her with us on a muti-day hike. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the child on one back leaves only one back free for all the rest of the stuff we need. And obviously, the equipment now also includes some diapers, a selection of toys and books, more clothes than before, an extra sleeping bag etc. Summarizing, it seems impossible to carry everything with two adults only. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We did some research and then started out this year in June to complete the West Highland Way (WHW) in Scotland (154 km from Milngavie to Fort William) together with our daughter. We chose the WHW for these reasons: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are near civilization on the entire trip, so if you need help, it is easy to find. Also if you want to abort the trip, buses and trains are within reach. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The total distance can easily be divided into stages which are not too long so that daily walking times and child-in-kid-carrier times are not too long. We had 9 days of walking and two rest days. We also took more breaks than we would have done walking without our daughter. We slept in the tent every night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The path is well maintained and easy to walk without any major difficulties. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can have your baggage transported along the whole way. We definitely made use of this option. This way, I carried our daughter (18 kg including herself, the carrier, clothes and shoes) and my wife carried water and food for the day. The rest was transported in two 80 L drybags by one of the baggage transfer companies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everything worked out surprisingly well and we finished the WHW exactly as planned. Also we have the impression that our daughter also liked the experience. That was really great!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, now I am looking for other options for the future which might be feasible with a small child that cannot walk the distance itself (so it is carried at least for parts of the way). What I wonder is particularly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Has anybody here made experiences with long distance hikes with a small child?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which long distance hikes can you recommend with a small child?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are you aware of other routes which offer baggage transfer services similar to the WHW?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there any other realistic options apart from baggage transfer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Which things did you consider to make the trip enjoyable for the child?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there anything else to consider from your point of view?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What could you do with two or more children?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-08-30T13:08:46.117" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T11:06:32.397" Title="Long distance hikes with small children" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;children&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23013" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-30T14:12:32.180" Score="3" ViewCount="76" Body="&lt;p&gt;Strike indicators are basically the fly fishing version of bobbers and they come in different colors white, yellow, orange, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When fishing streams that have a big of disturbance and the sun is reflecting just right it is hard to watch the indicator even with polarized sunglasses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be an &lt;strong&gt;optimal color to best see the strike indicator?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T03:17:05.660" Title="Is there an optimal strike indicator color for fly fishing reflective, tumbling streams?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23014" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-30T14:13:39.843" Score="3" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many, many companies offer 3 liter bladders.  Only the dromedary units go above that and the reviews say they're hard to clean and in general are negative about using them as hydration bladders rather than just water carriers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's about 3L that they figure nobody wants more?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-09-04T20:22:20.803" Title="Why do hydration bladders top out at 3 liters?" Tags="&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23014" CreationDate="2019-08-30T17:52:06.140" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's all about weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water has a density of 1kg/L.  Thus 3L is 3kg or about 6.6 pounds.  That's equivalent to a brick on each shoulder when placed inside your pack.  That's really not that much, but as you add more and more water it adds more and more fatigue on you during your hike.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For myself, 2L has always been plenty for a day of hiking or a day in my kayak, both places where I use hydration bladders.  If I expect to be out longer, I would also expect to plan where I can refill once or twice per day.  At that point, having room for an additional liter of water might mean less room for clothes, food, safety equipment, etc. and just doesn't make sense anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems that 3L is the balance point between enough water to get you to the next refill opportunity, and not having so much water that it wears you down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:  The OP mentions situations apparently involving more than a single day hike, and away from any source of water.  I assume the hikers must bring all needed water with them and have accounted for this in their weight calculations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this case, having multiple moderate sized water containers is far better than a single large one.   A bladder is for the water that I am actively drinking via the hose- I can always take a trail-side break and refill the bladder from my own other sources.   Having water in multiple containers allows me to balance the weight around within my pack, and not all in one place.  Finally- with appreciation to both dualed and  Matthew Gauthier in their respective comments- redundant containers prevent you from losing all your precious water to a single leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-09-03T12:01:45.940" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T12:01:45.940" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23016" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23020" CreationDate="2019-08-31T02:17:43.617" Score="3" ViewCount="779" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2017/03/27/stop-feeding-ducks-bread/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Geographic article&lt;/a&gt; describes how feeding bread to ducks is harmful.  Among the items listed as safe to feed to ducks it lists corn.  Does this mean that cornbread is an acceptable alternative to regular bread?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18609" LastEditorUserId="18609" LastEditDate="2021-03-12T00:39:16.637" LastActivityDate="2021-03-12T20:42:47.107" Title="Can cornbread be fed to ducks?" Tags="&lt;bird-feeding&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22994" CreationDate="2019-08-31T04:29:47.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing technique wise, I am certain you are fine or need minor brushing up ,  most folks who get to a certain level of climbing and can boulder honest V5 would have enough in their tool belt and muscle control to tackle any given pitch or problem on a classic moderate trad route like east buttress. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, Endurance and trade skills are something else. As a commenter says, it's apples and oranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much energy is wasted by spending an extra 30/60 minutes per belay hanging around and being drained of energy in the sun, slow transitions, uncomfortable stances, slow and unsure leader, unfamiliar placements, slow rigging all combine for epic days where you spend 10+ climbing hours getting whomped  on routes other mortals cruise in 2/3. As your energy gets drained you slow down even more, less efficient movements, just more plain suffering . &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my opinion , You would be best off cutting out any hard bouldering , which is counter productive for this endeavor, and switching to low intensity endurance training:  traverses, doing laps of 5.8/5.9/5.10a and cracks , or alternatively 4 by 4s of V0/V1 in the gym or local crag  until you puke &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind it's really easy to &quot;french free&quot; and pass a hard part by using gear as a hold, so being bad at any given style is less of an issue, but the sustained vertical endurance can't be cheated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Success in most &quot;moderate &quot; multi trad is about efficient movement and transitions, high yield simple moves and techniques (stems, jams) , not really about that much advanced technique or fancy moves. Remember the OGs climbed this stuff with hemp ropes and hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet is to go with someone very experienced so you can focus just on the climbing, in that scenario I have seen folks in your exact situation be succesfull. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2019-08-31T04:38:18.983" LastActivityDate="2019-08-31T04:38:18.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10565" CreationDate="2019-08-31T14:29:04.290" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Traditional bows can be long....ever considered a pool stick bag? Depending on personal height and whether your quiver is on the hip or back- mod straps added to hold the bow should be quick and easy&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18610" LastActivityDate="2019-08-31T14:29:04.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23019" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-08-31T18:29:01.050" Score="1" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;Smaller streams are easy to tell where to cast when fly fishing given fish's tendency to hang out in pools or hole or undercut banks. It easy to decide where you need to cast and approximately where the fish are going to strike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However on bigger rivers, it's not anywhere nearly so obvious where to cast, are there tricks to guessing where the fish will be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T12:47:06.340" Title="How do you determine where to cast when fly fishing bigger, mostly featureless rivers?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23016" CreationDate="2019-08-31T19:28:51.163" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Cornbread may contain wheat flour as well as corn meal. Both are processed cereals and so should not be given to wild creatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition cornbread probably contains some of these ingredients:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Butter&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sugar&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Honey&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Molasses&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Salt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baking powder&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Preservatives&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Colouring&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Egg &lt;strong&gt;OMG!!!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tempting as it might be to feed wild creatures, they should only be fed food they would normally eat. In addition, once you start feeding them the habitat will be able to host more creatures than it would support naturally. So if you stop feeding them, many will die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a park there may be many random people feeding the ducks, who come and go, and so the duck population may stabilise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But when feeding wild birds in your garden &lt;strong&gt;in winter&lt;/strong&gt; you must continue as they will be relying on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-08-31T19:28:51.163" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23002" CreationDate="2019-09-01T09:05:23.873" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there is an option for keeping milk on a long term basis? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good: UHT milk  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Better: &#xA;UHT milk &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;PLUS&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; special handling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UHT milk has been mentioned in a number of answers. &#xA;It is an excellent solution but some extra precautions will produce even better results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When sealed UHT milk has a very long 'shelf life'.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Once opened, if access to bacteria and other contaminants occurs, as will usually be the case, you have something close to 'ordinary milk and 'the clock starts to tick'.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If you are opening either small one-use sachets or using up a larger container in a day or two at most in unrefrigerated conditions, or can refigerate the opened product, then no special handling may be needed.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to extend the life of a say 1 litre container of UHT milk then keeping the interior sterile is essential. If environmental contaminants get into the container then lifetime will not be vastly better than for &quot;ordinary&quot; milk.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can obtain UHT packages with a well defined spigot/tap assembly this may be an adequate starting point.  If not then it will be &quot;relatively easy&quot; to provide a tap system that you can attach to your UHT containers of choice. This may require piercing a box or bag or similar. Worst case you may need a custom tap assembly with box-piercer and a surface adhesion system plus sterile insertion procedure (see below). That may sound &quot;a bit OTT&quot;* - and whether it is depends on your circumstances.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;That's the first step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a resealable hard barrier from inside to 'world' you need a procedure that ensures that product flow is always outwards and that contaminated material cannot enter at the moment a tap is opened.  A tap with a short exit tube is probably as good as you can achieve without substantial effort. Before opening, clean the exit tube interior (water good, &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; dilute sodium hypochlorite solution (bleach) better). A relatively diluet Sodium Hypochlorite solution (N drops of bleach per known volume of water) can be weak enough to not upset the taste  but do a good job of discouraging contaminants.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once cleaned,  point the tube downwards, and dispense enough UHT milk for say the next day or so of use.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Then turn off the tap, wash and/or sterlise the exit tube, perhaps place a cap on the end and return to storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How effective this is depends very much on how one-way your tap barrier is and what greeblies are waiting at the tap to go against the flow when you open the tap. Whether the effort is worthwhile depends greatly on journey duration, access to new supplies&lt;br&gt;&#xA;and, OF COURSE,  how much you like to have milk in your tea :-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6686" LastActivityDate="2019-09-01T09:05:23.873" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23023" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23024" CreationDate="2019-09-02T12:08:09.653" Score="19" ViewCount="5846" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've just recently moved to Europe (southern Germany), so this might be a common sight to someone who has been living here for longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I noticed dozens of these insects walking on the sidewalk and grass. Then I looked at the trunk of some trees and, lo and behold, saw HUNDREDS of them, just chilling there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently they don't bite, don't fly, don't do anything except cuddle up to each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first saw them early in the morning (around 9am), but again late in the evening (11pm).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what are those? Is it common to have so many of these or should I be worried?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/27aCv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/27aCv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B5NWO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B5NWO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18620" LastActivityDate="2019-09-02T13:34:26.603" Title="What is this red bug infesting some trees in southern Germany?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23023" CreationDate="2019-09-02T13:34:26.603" Score="24" Body="&lt;p&gt;As per Aravona's comment, this is a firebug (&lt;em&gt;Pyrrhocoris apterus&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeine_Feuerwanze&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, they are not dangerous and nothing to worry about. German version has way more info about this than the English one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, they seem to be &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhocoris_apterus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;very common&lt;/a&gt; in Europe and parts of Africa and Asia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18620" LastActivityDate="2019-09-02T13:34:26.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23025" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23043" CreationDate="2019-09-03T01:45:12.343" Score="1" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most fly fishing with wet flies is done with just single wet fly and a strike indicator but it's also possible to do it with a dry fly instead of a strike indicator (this lets you do both at the same time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes fish will try to eat the strike indicator, and this would let you catch them instead of missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you &lt;strong&gt;tie the dry fly onto the line in place of a strike indicator&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-05T17:43:33.180" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T11:20:57.830" Title="How to tie a dry fly above a wet fly when fly fishing?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23027" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-03T08:58:13.437" Score="1" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to buy myself a Shakespeare Oracle 11' #7/8 EXP switch rod to get started in two-handed casting for large-sized local rainbow trout at a wide water body where back room for casting is scarce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What reel would you recommend? Is any reel made for #7 lines fine? Or do I have to take anything special into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18623" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-05T19:00:10.807" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T19:00:10.807" Title="What should I look for in a reel for a two handed fly fishing rod?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22965" CreationDate="2019-09-03T10:41:35.660" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wasn't satisfied with existing answers, so I had to do some research of my own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know a good knot and technique for this case, please post an answer and earn your upvotes!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do not use these for critical loads! Do not put your life on knots without securing the ends from slipping!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;If you can overtighten: the sheet bend (aka weaver's bend)&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I came up with a technique to tie a sheet bend under tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you tighten it, it will release some tension, so &lt;strong&gt;in order to avoid sag you need to overtighten a bit in the beginning, so that it returns to desired tension in the end&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The technique is based on holding two ends of the rope independently with one hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/ac0AWux.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;hold two ends with one hand&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; You hold one end with your index finger and thumb, you hold the other end between the palm and the remaining fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make a bight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/dyfS0kX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hold the bight with the palm of your left hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/q8n6C0d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use your right hand to feed the other end into the bight from below. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/CNuuIXh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pass the end behind the bight and hold it firmly with the index finger and thumb of your left hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/eISP9b4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With your right hand, loop the end under the bight and feed in into the opening created with your index finger. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/sOm9WsD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Release the index finger and thumb of your left hand while simultaneously pulling the end with your right hand. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/oem1SzE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Release the left palm and you're done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/ZN8CfmQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should research the sheet bend and the double sheet bend. There are various ways to tie it, some are less secure than others. The one shown may not be the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;If you cannot overtighten and want it quick: the surgeon's knot&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes you can't overtighten the rope to compensate for the sag:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're trying to fasten a rigid object.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You're trying to fasten a soft object that would be damaged by overtightening.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I suggest two options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you need to quickly tie the ends together and don't care for a little sag, use the surgeon's knot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If sag is not an option and you're not in a hurry, use the trucker's hitch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Proposed by @Van in another answer (go upvote!), the surgeon's knot does not prevent sag entirely. But it's very quick and it helps avoid some sag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make several half-knots. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/lu2JHH4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; Doing more than two increases friction and prevents ends from slipping and creating sag. And when you tighten the knot in the end, multiple half-knots will make it pull bitter end a bit, compensating for sag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Continue with a half knot in the opposite direction, like you would for a square knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/DZkx3zX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; Pulling firmly will cause the knot to compact, removing a small amount of sag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Optionally, finish by securing the ends with an additional half knot, or any other way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/MYNaNGW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;If you cannot overtighten but need to avoid all sag with the right amount of tension: the trucker's hitch&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trucker's hitch is the best option to remove sag and maintain the right amount of tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was out of scope of the question above because it takes more time and attention to make. But oftentimes it's worth it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make a loop on one end. There are various options. Here I've tied a figure eight, which is a fixed loop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/gk4BwMY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feed the other end into the loop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/b02e5HG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tighten to a desired level of tension, then secure the end. Here I'm using a simple half-hitch, but you can use something more elaborate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/Tu2HMce.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18485" LastEditorUserId="18485" LastEditDate="2019-09-06T21:47:39.990" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T21:47:39.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22994" CreationDate="2019-09-03T13:05:44.360" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The off width pitch would mean that a bouldering grade is just not applicable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty of a multipitch free climb should  not be assessed in just the difficulty of the climbing but also in the difficulty to place protection, the length and the level of sustained difficulty.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No you cannot climb this in any case as you as a boulder you do not know how to belay a leader, rappel, route find, lead climb, clean gear, palce gear, ascend a line, escape the belay.... the list goes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have climbed &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=32821&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;east butress&lt;/a&gt; free.  I have no idea why you are using bouldering grades as they do not apply to a multi pitch climb. The climb is rated 5.10b and includes a 5.9 off width pitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its 11 quite long pitches and must be descended by rappelling the east ledges. A novice climber would be lacking so many required skills that the outing would be extremely dangerous and would probably end in rescue or worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, its actually quite an easy 5.10 by Yosemite standards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2019-09-03T13:14:57.093" LastActivityDate="2019-09-03T13:14:57.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23030" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23012" CreationDate="2019-09-03T18:29:26.243" Score="4" Body="&lt;h2&gt;My Experience With Children on a Hike&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With 1 other adult and 4 children, I have done a 2-day hike. The youngest child was 3, but he complained of being tired often and was slow enough that I carried him much of the way anyway, so that aspect was similar to your infant-carrying situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carried my normal pack on my back and the child on my front until I needed the child off that spot, then I wore the backpack backwards (on my front) and the child hung onto my back. I went back and forth like this several times each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will admit this made the trip even more intense for me. I don't think I would want to do it for more than 2 or 3 days with a child that large. With an infant, I might push it another day or 2 further. As difficult as it was though, it made the trip rewarding in other ways, such as knowing it was a great workout.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That specific hike was the trail in the Adirondacks that goes to Cascade and Porter mountains. Unfortunately we did not summit Porter, but we did Cascade. The kids loved it so much they would randomly tell people about it even months later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make the porting easier, everyone who could carry something did. Even the younger children carried some, though only a few pounds. The oldest child was 10 and carried closer to 15 or 20 pounds. Between all the children, this was like having a third adult carrying a load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kids loved it! They have been wanting to do it again and to go farther, but we just haven't gotten around to it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are able, I highly recommend getting lighter, smaller gear to use the weight more efficiently. This is nice to do under normal circumstances, but it is even more important when you are pushing the boundaries of what you can do. If you cook with gas, get one of the tiny camp stoves that weighs less than a pound. Get ultralight versions of items. We have no ultralight tent, so we shaved off a lot of weight when we ditched the tent and switched to using a couple of tarps, and we've tried sleeping in hammocks too which was great and also a lot lighter than the tent. Basically anything you can do to make it so that your weight is almost all food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And make sure that most of your food is high energy. We do flatbread with peanut butter, and powdered mixes to add to our water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For your specific situation, since you mentioned books and toys, you could try getting some ebooks on a phone to save space and weight. And for toys, I've noticed that very young children are often happy with cheap, tiny, lightweight trinkets that weigh an ounce or two. Obviously, for babies just be careful it's not a choking hazard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;An Alternative&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something we are looking into now is biking. With a bicycle you can cover more ground, with more people, more gear, with less energy input.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We put pegs on the back wheels of 2 of our bicycles, and the youngest 2 children love getting rides on them. Standing on pegs won't work for the baby, but there are other options such as attachable infant seats and bicycle cargo trailers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some hiking trails also allow biking. You could check the trails you want to use for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't want to ride a bicycle, then the bike could still be used purely for carrying the load and you could walk next to it wheeling it along with you. I have done this to carry larger loads than I could carry normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The dynamics of bike riding, or even just walking a cargo-laden bike next to you, are different than walking because of the wheels. This is especially the case with hills. So you need to get used to it before going on the long trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-11-08T22:39:44.947" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T22:39:44.947" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23031" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23033" CreationDate="2019-09-03T23:01:37.950" Score="5" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to spend about a week in Italian/Swiss border Alps in late October. The base plan is to hire a 4WD and drive along the border slowly, stopping a lot for less-than-a-day hikes (staying overnight at backpackers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still I am curious about doing overnight hiking there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are there huts to stay overnight (like in New Zealand) or would I have to carry a tent?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In late October, how much would that likely be winter hiking with winter gear needed?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18628" LastEditorUserId="18628" LastEditDate="2019-09-04T01:50:33.233" LastActivityDate="2019-09-04T07:53:00.940" Title="Overnight hiking in Italian Alps in late autumn?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;italy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23033" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23031" CreationDate="2019-09-04T07:53:00.940" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Alps there is a dense network of huts mostly maintained by the local alpine clubs. There are also some private huts mostly owned by mountain guide associations.&#xA;Most of the huts are closing down towards the end of September but many have winter rooms or small bivy huts that are accessible for the whole year. Especially Italy has a lot of bivy huts that are not managed at all.&#xA;Check maps of the region or websites of the alpine clubs for huts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the car... You likely won't need a 4WD. Valleys in the Alps have quite good infrastructure and the gravel roads after the last village are usually closed for public traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gear required strongly depends on the weather, the altitude and the exposition. A North facing hiking trail in 2500 to 3000 meters may already be snowy or icy in late October. But this really depends on the weather and is really hard to predict. South facing routes should not be problematic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-09-04T07:53:00.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23014" CreationDate="2019-09-04T15:11:54.547" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hydration bladders and dromedaries serve two slightly different purposes,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hydration bladders are for each individual to carry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dromedaries are for carrying water for more than one person.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A single individual probably won't need more than 4 liters and two people aren't going to share one hose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the trips I have been on with a dozen people or so, each person has their own 1-2 liters or water bottles/bladders and then we bring three 10 liter droms to bring water from the creek up to camp with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-09-04T20:22:20.803" LastActivityDate="2019-09-04T20:22:20.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23012" CreationDate="2019-09-05T07:41:12.837" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is not suitable for the wildest of outdoors, but an other option would be carrying some sort of trailer (I am not sure of the English word for it) which makes the luggage carrying easier. The picture below is for bikes (thus matching with @Loduwijk's answer). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oMiNM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oMiNM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here you can see the trolleys they use in arctic races. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cJy64.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cJy64.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I admit that this solution works only on flat terrain with relatively wide paths. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2019-11-11T11:23:29.517" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T11:23:29.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23041" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23046" CreationDate="2019-09-05T15:20:41.053" Score="4" ViewCount="81" Body="&lt;p&gt;U.S. here (and specifically New York state but that's probably irrelevant). Is anyone aware of any websites, apps or DEC resources that allow you to look up what fish species live in any given lake/pond/body of water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally there would be a &quot;two-way mapping&quot;, meaning:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I could start with a specific body of water and get a list of all the fish species known to be living there; and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I could start with a given fish species and see all the applicable bodies of water where they are known to dwell (within some reasonable radius of course)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was hoping &lt;strong&gt;on X maps&lt;/strong&gt; would have a layer/filter for something like this but it doesn't appear that they do. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T16:02:43.473" Title="Looking up fish species by body of water and vice versa" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23041" CreationDate="2019-09-05T15:47:56.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't speak for NY, but in TN we have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/documents/anglersguide.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;government produced document&lt;/a&gt; (PDF) that lists which species are present in the state and where they might be found as a generality. I don't know if there is any publicly available mappable data, but I would be willing to bet that the local wild-life resources agency will have fairly detailed data for fish stock management, which they may or may not be willing to share.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T15:47:56.473" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23025" CreationDate="2019-09-05T16:33:24.137" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's actually quite simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the dry fly on the end like normal.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take the wet fly and tie it onto an appropriately sized length of tippet (between 13-24 inches)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie the end of tippet with the dry fly to either the bend of the hook on the dry fly or to the eye of the dry fly (if you can get the line through the eye) with the same type of knot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T16:33:24.137" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23044" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23047" CreationDate="2019-09-05T20:37:39.103" Score="6" ViewCount="276" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to some peculiar health issues, for the time being I cannot study around people. I've found a secluded place in my college, it's outdoors, no one goes there and still catches wi-fi. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, bees/wasps keep flying by me. I've read somewhere that when a bee flies by, or around you, it is a sign of aggression. And they've been doing it rather frequently. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is worrisome, because I am likely allergic to bee stings, since my mother, unfortunately, recently found that she is allergic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, I cannot control my jerky movements when I hear them because of a phobia, which as far as I understand, only angers them further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like I'm eventually going to get hurt, but I am stuck with this solution of studying outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tips on how to coexist with them? Perhaps there is some way to encourage them to have some sense of personal space?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My current measures to avoid disturbing them are: wearing solid white shirt and keeping myself in high ground using the nearby emergency stairs. I still have to cross a field to get there, so I am careful as to not step on one of the little guys. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the coming days I will look towards meeting my doctor about the mentioned epi-pen. Unfortunately I don't have much time, since the exams are in a few days, but after that I'll be sure to consult a medical professional about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you for your responses, they are helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18636" LastEditorUserId="18636" LastEditDate="2019-09-06T08:31:10.063" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T12:59:58.643" Title="How to coexist with bees/wasps?" Tags="&lt;bees&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23044" CreationDate="2019-09-05T21:07:45.620" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a definitive answer, but it may be helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, if you think you may be allergic to bee or wasp stings, see your doctor, or a doctor and explain your family history and this exposure that you cannot avoid.  Ask the doc if you should get an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;epi-pen&lt;/a&gt;, which is an easy, quick  way to inject yourself with epinephrine.  (It is expensive, but cheaper than dealing with a full blown reaction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, if what you are calling bees and wasps are actually yellow-jackets, the problem you face is more severe, because yellow jackets are much more aggressive.  They are like little yellow-striped fighter jets, and they get angry very easily.  I don't think you have a yellow jacket problem, because if you did, I think you would know it by now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bees and wasps are actually pretty laid back.  Try just ignoring them, but do check out the epi-pen with your (or your mother's) doc or the medical center on campus.  Ignoring them is easy to say, but if you have a phobia, hard to do.  Long sleeves, long trousers and a brimmed hat and a mosquito veil may help you feel more comfortable.   As for encouraging them to develop a sense of personal space, they are not going to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moreover, according to @bob1, insect repellent does not work, and its sweet smell may even attract them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="13431" LastEditDate="2019-09-09T12:59:58.643" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T12:59:58.643" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23041" CreationDate="2019-09-05T21:30:41.627" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few sources I found, in order from most user-friendly to most technical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://inaturalist.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;iNaturalist&lt;/a&gt; has data about where fish were actually observed. Anyone can post geo-located pictures of organisms they've observed and get help identifying them. They currently have 2,475 observations of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=48&amp;amp;iconic_taxa=Actinopterygii&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fish in New York state&lt;/a&gt;, which unfortunately is a little sparse. You can see those observations distributed on a map, and filter them by species or date. It's a good way to see what people people near you have caught recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An old-fashioned field guide can be a great resource. &lt;a href=&quot;http://nysm.nysed.gov/staff-publications/atlas-inland-fishes-new-york&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Atlas of Inland Fishes of New York&lt;/a&gt; is available as a pdf file for free from the New York State Museum. It has 179 species distribution maps. You can also view the maps on the DEC website, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/84622.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fish Atlas Maps of New York&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IsQ2Q.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IsQ2Q.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This resource doesn't have the &quot;two-way mapping&quot; feature you wanted, but if you can find the source data that was used to make the species maps you could use it that way. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has information about where to fish for a few major species:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/116746.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Musky, Pike, Tiger Musky and Pickerel fishing opportunities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/64710.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Statewide Walleye Fishing Opportunities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/63598.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2019 Coldwater Fishing Forecast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/97039.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fly Fishing in New York&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7910.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New York State's Top Fishing Waters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7914.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Warmwater Fishing in New York&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7914.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carp Fishing in New York&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/95106.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Statewide Ice Fishing Opportunities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also conduct surveys of where fish are being caught. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/112889.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Summaries of those reports are here.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Various datasets are available through data.ny.gov, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Recreation/Recommended-Fishing-Rivers-And-Streams/jcxg-7gnm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Recommended Fishing Rivers And Streams&lt;/a&gt; - a spreadsheet of waterbodies in NY, with data including &quot;Fish Species Present at Waterbody,&quot; although apparently this field is stocked species, and doesn't appear to include naturally-occurring species&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The same dataset is available &lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Recreation/Recommended-Fishing-Rivers-And-Streams-API/tjny-fki3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;as an API&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Recreation/Recommended-Fishing-Rivers-Streams-Lakes-and-Ponds/f4vj-p8y5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;as a map&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a similar dataset is available &lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Recreation/Recommended-Fishing-Lakes-and-Ponds/mw8j-wduf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;for lakes and ponds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Energy-Environment/Biodiversity-by-County-Distribution-of-Animals-Pla/tk82-7km5/data&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Biodiversity by County - Distribution of Animals, Plants and Natural Communities&lt;/a&gt; - an enormous spreadsheet of biological organisms present &lt;em&gt;in each county&lt;/em&gt;. Add a filter &lt;code&gt;&quot;Taxonomic Group&quot; is &quot;Fish&quot;&lt;/code&gt; to see fish data.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Division of Water conducts aquatic biological monitoring at specific locations throughout the state for &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;benthic macroinvertebrates, field chemistry, and &lt;strong&gt;at some locations&lt;/strong&gt;, sediment, &lt;strong&gt;fish&lt;/strong&gt; or diatoms&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was able to find the &lt;a href=&quot;https://data.ny.gov/Energy-Environment/Aquatic-Biological-Monitoring-Sampling-Locations-B/absp-7rbm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sampling locations&lt;/a&gt; on data.ny.gov, but not the actual fish sampling data. However, if you request it they will probably provide that data to you. There's a link to contact the dataset owner on the dataset page, or you can contact the Bureau of Fisheries from the contact info on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30467.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt;. (I have made similar requests for fish sampling data from the Ohio EPA. They were happy to email me the data I requested.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aquatic biological monitoring is part of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/30951.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rotating Integrated Basin Studies (RIBS)&lt;/a&gt; program, so you may want to contact the head of that program directly &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a link on the sidebar of the Fish Atlas Maps of New York to a website called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fishbase.se/search.php?region=americas&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;FishBase&lt;/a&gt;. It's basically a crude interface for a worldwide database of fish data, including &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aquamaps.org/OtherSpeciesList.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;distribution maps&lt;/a&gt; for hundreds of freshwater species. I haven't fully looked into it, but there might be an enormous amount of useful information there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T21:30:41.627" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23044" CreationDate="2019-09-05T21:38:00.697" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few things that could be contributing to the presence of bees and/or wasps and things that mimic them as they all have different behaviours and different means to get rid of/deter. Note that if you are allergic to bees, you probably aren't allergic to wasps as they are completely unrelated. The answer also depends on where in the world you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off - are you able to tell which is which? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bees are fuzzy and typically yellow/black in less obvious stripes  with not so brilliant colors, and a not-so-obvious waist. There are only a couple of types of bee (honey and bumble) in most Western urban areas. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bumblebees&lt;/a&gt; are large and quite obvious, slow flying, very hairy and (mostly) harmless. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Honey bees&lt;/a&gt; fly faster and are the typical bee shape and appearance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wasps tend to have very defined stripes, bright colors a very narrow waist (like an ant, which they are related to) and are largely hairless. Wasps come in a range of different species, with different &quot;risk&quot; profiles. The classic yellow and black wasp is could be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hornet&lt;/a&gt; or a Vespula species, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespula_germanica&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;German&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespula_vulgaris&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;common wasp&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;yellow jacket&lt;/a&gt;. Other colored wasps could be p&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistinae&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aper wasps&lt;/a&gt; (tend to have long hanging legs when flying), and a bunch of other species, which are less common or wide-spread.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are also mimics - these are completely harmless and just look like bees/wasps to scare off predators. They are actually a type of hoverfly and will not harm you. They are easiest to tell when not flying - their wings will stick out to the side and the head is a fly head, quite different to a bee.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/gallery/aQt17lj&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;comparison table here&lt;/a&gt;, with good images of each and some basic information&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For all 3 types of insect, it is best just to let them do their thing, if you can not avoid them. Waving arms around does not scare them off, and may provoke defensive behaviour in wasps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bees and bumblebees are typically harmless unless provoked (i.e. crushed) or you are near their hive. If you are near the hive (less than say 30 m/100 ft) then occasionally you might get chased by a guard bee, but this is relatively rare. A bee might fly by close to you if you are wearing bright colors, particularly shades of blue, or have a sweet scented perfume. They will not typically hang around and search you intensively as they are primarily looking for nectar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bee hives can be difficult to locate - they are often in hollow trunks of trees or inside walls, rarely outside, if you are seeing a lot of bees, you are probably near the hive or a reliable food source (flowers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wasps on the other hand are searching for prey and nectar. They have issues with personal space though and will fly around you at close range, even crawling into openings in clothing. Most wasps are carnivorous and will take any insects they can find. They will hover around and search quite extensively from a fairly short range, and occasionally land on you. Do not swat at a wasp - they will sting. They are also attracted to bright colors and sweet scents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wasp nests are varied according to the type of wasp - they can be underground, in hollow trees, in walls or roof-spaces, under the eaves of buildings, hanging from branches and can be easy to identify if you can see it. I've seen them as small as a golf-ball (paper wasp nest starting out) and heard of them &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&amp;amp;objectid=11611876&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;as big as a car&lt;/a&gt; (german wasp). If you can identify the nest, this will tell you about the type of wasp and your relative risk. German wasps and hornets tend to be very aggressive, especially in defense of the nest, while paper wasps are less so and will only sting if feeling trapped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no one-stop-shop for avoiding all of these different species. The general advice is to stay away from hives/nests, stay away from food sources (and water too - they have to drink also), avoid wearing bright colors, avoid sweet scents and having potential food sources around, avoid sudden movements when they fly by (hard with anxiety, I know). One solution might be to get a small portable tent with a sealable door. Another might be to wear long-sleeved clothing and a hat with a veil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned about allergic consequences - consult your doctor or allergist and get tested and carry the appropriate medication for your condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-09-05T21:38:00.697" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23048" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23050" CreationDate="2019-09-06T00:34:51.813" Score="3" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes on a hot, humid day, we see lightning off in the distance. If we're out on a trail or camping in the evening, it's even brighter. It seems to be traveling in almost a sideways motion. We don't see it hit the ground. We don't hear thunder, and it doesn't rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been told this lightning is just happening because of the temperature and humidity, and possibly a cold front coming through, but there's no storm attached. They call it “heat lightning.” Is that a real thing? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T04:44:32.877" Title="Is there such a thing as &quot;heat lightning&quot; without a storm?" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23048" CreationDate="2019-09-06T04:44:32.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heat lightning is a myth.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's normal lighting from a far-away thunderstorm. Lightning is visible 30–50 miles (48–80 km), or up to 100 miles (160 km) over perfectly flat terrain. Thunder is only audible from about 10-15 miles away. So when a storm is more than 15 miles away, but less than 50-100 miles away, you get silent lightning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The term &quot;heat lightning&quot; comes from the incorrect idea that summer heat somehow causes silent lightning. You're not alone - I picked up this idea when I was a child, and never learned any different until today. I had also heard of &quot;heat thunder,&quot; which is supposedly thunder caused by heat, without any lightning or rain. (It's actually just thunder from a storm that hasn't hit yet, but as a child this made a good excuse to stay outside and keep playing until the last possible minute.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_lightning&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_lightning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/heat-lightning-explainer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/heat-lightning-explainer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T04:44:32.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22894" CreationDate="2019-09-06T05:56:01.660" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simple, common-sense answer is no, a small amount of sumac wood (such as could be accidentally consumed with sumac tea) is not poisonous for human consumption. We can conclude this from the fact that A) normal sumac tea preparation methods can include some of the wood, and B) people don't get sick from sumac tea prepared by these methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have been consuming sumac tea (or sumac &quot;lemonade&quot;) for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. As you described, it's normal that when you break the cluster of berries off the plant, you get some of the woody stem with it. It's also normal to include the entire berry cluster (stem and all) when you steep the tea. If the wood was poisonous, people would certainly have realized that it was making them sick, and they would have stopped making sumac tea, or at least started removing the stem from the berries before steeping them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are numerous descriptions of how to harvest sumac berries and make them into tea. Here's one from &lt;em&gt;Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America&lt;/em&gt; by Lee Allen Peterson (copyright 1977):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Use: Cold drink. When ripe, the hard berries are covered with acidic red hairs. Collect the entire fruit cluster, rub gently to bruise the berries, and soak for 10-15 min in &lt;em&gt;cold&lt;/em&gt; water. Remove the cluster, and pour the pink juice through cheesecloth to strain out the hairs and any loose berries. Sweeten to taste and chill; tastes like pink lemonade. Gather the clusters before heavy rains wash out most of the acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you can see, Peterson makes no mention of removing the woody stem before steeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;em&gt;The Forager's Harvest&lt;/em&gt; by Samuel Thayer, Thayer goes spends several pages describing how to harvest and prepare good sumac tea. The description is clearly based on extensive personal experience. He makes no mention of any need to avoid the woody stem. In fact, he actually says that the raw shoots of sumac are edible and delicious. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;em&gt;Incredible Wild Edibles: 36 Plants that can Change your Life&lt;/em&gt; by Samuel Thayer, Thayer mentions using sumac wood to make taps for collecting maple sap:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can also make your own wooden spigots... Sumac, elderberry and highbush cranberry are traditionally used for this; they have pithy centers and are commonly found at about the right diameter. (Some people warn against using elderberry because of a toxin in the bark, but I don't think this has any merit. Just don't eat your spigots.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's notable that he mentions the possible toxicity of elderberry wood, but makes no mention of any similar concerns for sumac wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have personally prepared and consumed sumac tea without getting sick. I didn't have any cheesecloth to strain it through, so the final product was rather fuzzy, but definitely not poisonous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: The edible sumac I'm referring to here is any of several red-berried species of sumac (&lt;em&gt;Rhus spp.&lt;/em&gt;) common throughout North America, including smooth sumac (&lt;em&gt;R. glabra&lt;/em&gt;), staghorn sumac (&lt;em&gt;R. typhina&lt;/em&gt;) and fragrant sumac (&lt;em&gt;R. aromatica&lt;/em&gt;). It does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; include poison sumac (&lt;em&gt;Toxicodendron vernix&lt;/em&gt;), which has white berries. Poison sumac is closely related to poison ivy, and gives a similar (although much more severe) skin rash if you touch it. Poison sumac is not edible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T05:56:01.660" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23041" CreationDate="2019-09-06T16:02:43.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the US, get a fishing license, it should come with a book that describes the kind of fish you are allowed to catch and the ones that must be released.  It will have fairly comprehensive listing of which fish are in which bodies of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should include good quality illustrations of the fish you might encounter and how to tell them apart from similar fish in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately in many/most/some? States you can go to anyplace that sells fishing licenses and get a copy of the book without getting the license.  But if you care enough to be concerned buy, the license, all the money goes towards conservation and restoration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing funds conservation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018 alone, fishing license sales generated more than $700 million across the country. One hundred percent of license fees go directly toward conservation and restoration &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/fishing/FishingLicense.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Having a license does not mean you need to fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-06T16:02:43.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23054" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23055" CreationDate="2019-09-06T17:29:17.967" Score="8" ViewCount="630" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do you deal with handling hot pots / cups without using a pot grip (see the picture for an example)?&lt;br&gt;&#xA;It's inexpensive and rather light-weight, but why add gear if you can use what you already have? :)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've been usually using a small Leatherman and a stick to stabilise the pot, but it's not particularly convenient and I've had a few mishaps (a whole cup of hot water ending on the ground...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9CN5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/b9CN5.png&quot; alt=&quot;example of pot grip&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T23:38:33.393" Title="How to improvise or make pot grip / pot handle" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23055" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23054" CreationDate="2019-09-06T19:17:00.910" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a small cotton towel, such as a tea towel, folded a few times in to a long strip. If the pan is small and light you can wrap the towel round and hold the ends tightly together to form a handle. Otherwise use 2 hands. You do need 2 layers, and synthetic fibres can melt or ignite (if they brush against part of the stove, for example - at least some can handle boiling water). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyIfI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kyIfI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Me holding a saucepan one-handed using a tea towel&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When travelling light it can be worth carrying something like this. It's obviously good for drying things (you might not need to dry dishes but you can dry yourself with it, perhaps starting with a small synthetic towel) but it's grey useful for handling hot things if everything else you've got would melt or conduct heat fast enough to burn you. I carry one when bike camping, for example. A muslin (as used for babies) would be a little lighter. My (as yet untested) very light cooking system relies on cooking everything in a mug with a handle. That doesn't get as hot, so if it's a little uncomfortable to hold, any glove would be OK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-09-07T07:08:59.093" LastActivityDate="2019-09-07T07:08:59.093" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23054" CreationDate="2019-09-06T20:27:46.370" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A common way in the past was to have a handle similar to a bucket's attached to the pot, often made from a thickish wire (e.g. baling wire). Classically this was called a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billycan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;billycan&lt;/a&gt;, and meant that you could suspend the billy over the fire by the handle using just a stick, either cantilevered over the fire, or suspended like you might find in a spit-roast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can then pick up the billy by the handle, either using a stick or a bit of handy cloth and tip with another stick pushing the bottom of the billy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2019-09-11T18:46:35.027" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T18:46:35.027" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23057" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-07T10:57:04.047" Score="4" ViewCount="163" Body="&lt;p&gt;the &quot;politicised&quot; debate of female clothing not having pockets (it is especially about skirts and dresses) left aside, I wonder if there are any cotton climbing pants left on the market that have a zipper pocket. I like to use it for my phone or the topo (a map showing the climbing route) in shorter multi-pitch routes. My old ones are only made of wholes, but new ones are either of synthetic materials or do not have pockets. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I alone seeing this bad trend? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11707" LastActivityDate="2020-01-08T02:20:36.360" Title="Cotton climbing pants with a zipper pocket (outdoor rock climbing use for small female climbers)" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2020-10-20T11:38:58.200" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23054" CreationDate="2019-09-07T14:06:48.247" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use tin cans as pots.  I put a nail hole in opposite sizes just under the rim and string a chunk of bailing wire about 1.5 can diameters.  Twist at each end. Most cans now have a thin liner of plastic -- essentially a layer of varnish.  While nominally food grade, when it burns it becomes uncertain.  Burn the can in a campfire or your wood stove before making a pot out of it.  The inside of the lip can have a sharp bit where the can opener finished.Burnish the inside of the cut with the shaft of a screwdriver to press any jaggies flush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway: In camp, I can use a leather mitten, or a stick to move a pot on/off the fire.  When I have to actually hold something hot, I get out my leatherman -- which is part of my repair kit.  A small pair of channel lock pliers works better, but, hey, the ounces add up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice the leatherman in plier configuration is mostly used to pour coffee or hot water from pot to cup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T23:38:33.393" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T23:38:33.393" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23054" CreationDate="2019-09-07T23:07:17.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Small pair or two of channellock pliers or locking vise grips.  The locking vise grips are a little more multi purpose but either or both are handy to have (grab, grip, clamp in the case of the vise grips, tighten bolts, etc)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14021" LastActivityDate="2019-09-07T23:07:17.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23062" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23069" CreationDate="2019-09-08T02:15:48.043" Score="3" ViewCount="243" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hiked Mount Hoffman in Yosemite today and at the top there was this metal plate bolted to the rock with 4 metal rods welded to it. On the side you can also see some rivets so possibly there was something attached to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What could it be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JE3mi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JE3mi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Metal plate&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-08T02:55:59.240" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T19:58:16.720" Title="What is this metal plate at the top of Mount Hoffman?" Tags="&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23063" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-08T06:56:14.733" Score="5" ViewCount="665" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can a cormorant really manage to digest a huge, living eel, bones and all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does the poor eel (it was quite a bright/pretty green color) stand any slim chance of escaping (that thrashing, biting, etc.) the hungry birds stomach or is it destined to become food at that point?! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would think the eel’s slime acts as a protective coating and help it turn around in such stretchy/elastic surroundings too? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backstory about how the question(s) came up:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recently saw a cormorant at our local park. It dove pretty quickly, soon after it came up struggling with a large green eel. The thick 2' eel seemed quite determined to escape by thrashing and even wrapping around the birds neck! Still, after about 2 minutes the bird somehow opened it’s throat real wide and swallowed it down entirely... BUT the battle for life and dinner wasn't over yet! The desperate eel still was resisting and seemed to rise partly (I could see it come back out!) escaping the bird’s neck/stomach many times, only to be gulped back in. Watching the Cormorant contend with this monster was some sight! Eventually the uncomfortable cormorant swam away with what appeared to be the unfortunate prey frantically wriggling in its stomach! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18646" LastEditorUserId="3602" LastEditDate="2019-09-19T09:45:43.897" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T09:45:43.897" Title="Can Cormorants swallow and digest large prey like eels whole?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23064" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23068" CreationDate="2019-09-08T10:04:48.070" Score="7" ViewCount="932" Body="&lt;p&gt;I plan to visit a summit which involves a few hours of easy scrambling, with a slightly more technical part at the end, which is very short (2-3 m) but exposed. I expect no problems on the way up but it will be scary and/or dangerous on the way down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to use minimal equipment to save weight (because there is only one place where I would need any equipment). My idea is using 10 meters of 5 mm wide cord to belay myself (I'll most likely be alone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the minimal (by weight) amount of additional equipment I can use to increase my safety? How to use it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T23:06:02.907" Title="How to descend a few exposed scrambling moves with minimal equipment?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;technique&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23065" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="23072" CreationDate="2019-09-08T12:32:32.143" Score="19" ViewCount="10989" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read about the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Louisa_Vesterager_Jespersen_and_Maren_Ueland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What safety mistakes these girls did during their camping trip?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What could have been done to avoid this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;How can I protect myself in case of an attack like this? Pepper spray? Taser gun? Guns?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Assume that I am foreign to that region. And hiking with a friend or camping alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attackers admitted they choose these girls because other potential victims were with tourist guides. They attacked Ueland, a Norwegian, and her Danish friend, Jespersen, in their sleeping bags, and beheaded them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48132880&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; title=&quot;BBC: Scandinavian hikers murder trial begins in Morocco&quot;&gt;This BBC article contains background into the attack and the trial.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18648" LastEditorUserId="18648" LastEditDate="2019-09-14T16:27:53.567" LastActivityDate="2019-09-14T16:27:53.567" Title="How can I protect myself in case of a human attack like the murders of the hikers Jespersen and Ueland in Morocco?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-08T14:53:43.037" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;The way to protect yourself against attacks like this is to greatly reduce the probability of being attacked. Granted, you can be attacked anywhere (Yosemite, the Appalachian Trail) for any reason or for seemingly no reason -- but choose a place for vacation where such attacks are very low probability -- Yosemite and the Appalachian Trail, despite one case each (as far as I remember), qualify.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try Travel SE, but recast the question, such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am a citizen of X country, and a woman.  (You should specify your&#xA;  sex.)   I enjoy spectacular, remote places to travel alone or with one&#xA;  other person [specify sex], including hiking and camping.  This&#xA;  article [the one you linked in the question you just posted] makes me&#xA;  concerned about safety. I can't afford private tourist guides, and I&#xA;  dislike travelling in a group.  How do I find out what areas to avoid&#xA;  to minimize an attack like the one in the above link?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might want to add that TGO didn't much to say about what to do to protect yourself in the course of an attack. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-09-10T23:47:52.870" LastActivityDate="2019-09-10T23:47:52.870" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23064" CreationDate="2019-09-08T15:00:01.087" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Basically all answers boil down to the availability of anchors. If there is any fixed anchors like bolts, rapelling would be your best choice. You would have the weight of a harness and a carabiner for a munter hitch (probably 200-250 grams plus the rope). It is possible to rappel from accessory cord but this is likely out of specification.&#xA;If there is no fixed gear to rappel from it may be possible to thread an hourglass with a sling or accessory cord. This may be easy on some types of rock and basically impossible on others such as downward oriented compact limestone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a basic guideline you should always adhere to the good old Paul Preuss&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Das Maß der Schwierigkeiten, die ein Kletterer im Abstieg mit Sicherheit zu überwinden im Stande ist und sich auch mit ruhigem Gewissen zutraut, muss die oberste Grenze dessen darstellen, was er im Aufstieg begeht.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The difficulty a climber can comfortably overcome on the descent must be the limit of what he is climbing on the ascent)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the way up assess the difficulties and turn around if you think it is too dangerous. Especially when you are alone. While scambling alone is a great joy as the flow is never interrupted, one has always to keep in mind that being alone greatly limits the possibility to belay if it should become necessary. (And adding the requirement of being lightweight just complicates this further more.) And always keep in mind that nobody might be noticing a fall and call the rescue if you are alone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T15:00:01.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23062" CreationDate="2019-09-08T15:13:43.843" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is half of an old summit registry box. That one is missing the top and might not be the exact style but the full ones look like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://summitregister.org/SRCboxes/registerbox005.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://summitregister.org/SRCboxes/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see more pictures of them &lt;a href=&quot;http://summitregister.org/SRCboxes/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and a history of the summit registers in the Sierra's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.robiningraham.com/Mountaineering/HistoryOfRegisters.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its obvious that its aluminum because it hasn't corroded and the point of the &quot;rollers&quot; is to keep the record book above moisture because the containers aren't waterproof. Unfortionaly, people steal and vandalize these boxes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-08T19:58:16.720" LastActivityDate="2019-09-08T19:58:16.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23064" CreationDate="2019-09-09T00:13:36.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;2-3 m is a nice short distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A technique I've used only once is having two cams on two doubles (a double is a double-length runner that would normally go from the protection to the rope). Put first cam it at the top. Climb down until you can barely reach it, put second cam in, take first cam out, climb down some more. About three leapfrogs and you're past the dangerous part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When carrying cams while not protected, clip them to the rear harness clips to avoid dangerous snagging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has been brought up in comments: this advice is only any good because the description suggests the technical part isn't actually vertical and I am rather old school and still use nylon runners. Modern Spectra or Kevlar runners should not be used in this way, because they are less stretchy, and falling on them will generate a greater shock load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6661" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2019-09-09T23:06:02.907" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T23:06:02.907" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23071" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-09T00:55:30.120" Score="3" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when fly fishing in canyons the wind will start coming down the canyon and it makes it that much harder to cast. It doesn't take a whole lot of wind to completely stop one from further fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tricks or techniques when casting into the wind?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T03:01:26.177" Title="Technique for fly fishing into the wind?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-09T01:46:18.753" Score="24" Body="&lt;h1&gt;What mistakes did these girls make during their camping trip?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know that they made any glaring mistakes. The only caution I would note (and you'll see that it's of limited value in this particular case) is that they were two women camping alone in a very remote area of North Africa (although Morocco was not considered a threat to tourists at the time). Camping anywhere outside leaves you inherently vulnerable. Camping in a foreign country moreso. I would get a group together if you're going to a remote area, especially if that area is in another country you might not be all that familiar with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beyond that, stay vigilant. I don't know if they would have noticed the men or not, but according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/06/21/murder-two-scandinavian-women-morocco-was-meant-impress-islamic-state-far-right-seized-it-attack-islam/?arc404=true&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plotters took note of where the women placed their tent and continued 150 yards downhill to erect their own shelter within sight of the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to notice stuff like a group of men who seem to be following you is important. But, perhaps the most tragic part is this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They were only a 45-minute walk from the village but decided to use the level surface along the north-facing wall of al-Kadi’s shop as their tent site for the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can avoid being alone camping in remote and unfamiliar territory, I would do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;How can I protect myself in case of an attack like this?&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this specific case, you're going to be hard pressed to do much of anything. It was four men against two women on a remote mountain trail. Limited places to run and not much in the way of cover. And these men wanted to murder the women to prove their allegiance to ISIS, not rob or rape them. In cases like the latter, they tend to want you alive, which can play in your favor for time or openings. None of that applies if you're facing a group who wants you dead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to tools to help you out here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tazers work well facing one opponent, but not so much against multiple assailants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Disabling sprays like mace or pepper spray can be more effective, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/pepper-spray&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;are also harder to travel with&lt;/a&gt; (TSA allows 4oz only) and might not be readily available abroad. And you tend to need &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sabrered.com/pepper-spray-frequently-asked-questions-0&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;one can per attacker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is recommended that the canister be fired until the attacker is incapacitated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The only real weapon of value here would have been a firearm, which typically means permits (&lt;a href=&quot;https://wikiprocedure.com/index.php/Morocco_-_Obtain_a_Gun_license&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;which are not easy to get in Morocco&lt;/a&gt;, let alone elsewhere) and traveling with a gun (which &lt;a href=&quot;https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/53139/carrying-a-handgun-in-other-countries-with-a-us-concealed-carry-permit&quot;&gt;can be problematic&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;In hindsight...&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best option these women had was to carry a knife, then, when the men told them to come out the front of their tent, cut open the back and run out to try and escape. The attackers would probably not have anticipated it and they might have been able to flee into the darkness or feel their way down the trail. Instead, they stayed put, or came out the front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13431" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T01:46:18.753" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23073" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-09T15:29:53.827" Score="3" ViewCount="419" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll be driving to Norway in November and intend to sleep in my car on a few nights. For myself I have a sleeping bag and a few blankets, so the temperature should be no problem for me, but I will have some electronic devices (Notebook, Smartphone and camera) with me and the cold temperatures are not good for the battery. How can I keep them warm over night?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18656" OwnerDisplayName="andii1997" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-09T16:06:54.107" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T07:40:01.023" Title="How to properly insulate electronic devices in a car" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23073" CreationDate="2019-09-09T16:00:27.137" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just did a quick search online for the recommended temperatures for electronics and phone one for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpriority.com/faqs/caution-smartphone-operating-temperatures/%22Alpriotity.com%22&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;i-phones&lt;/a&gt; (as we all know, they are probably the most delicate so I'm going to assume this works, there is actually an article inside that to that effect):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keeping your smartphone within its operating temperature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All smartphone manufacturers recommend certain acceptable operating and ambient temperatures for use of their devices. These vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some recommendations by Apple for iOS devices:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use between 0°C and 35°C (32°F to 95°F). Lower or higher temperature may change the behaviour of the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Store between -20°C and 45°C (-4°F to 113°F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I very much doubt your car will get below -20 degrees so as long as you let your devices warm up again before using, sounds like you'll be safe!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day, as @David mentioned, if it's just a few objects, keep them under the covers with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18654" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T07:40:01.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23076" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23073" CreationDate="2019-09-09T17:31:41.047" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are three primary things to think about when keeping your personal electronic devices in a cold car (with you) overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Operating Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to be able to &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; your phone and camera immediately in the morning (or at night), then they need to be relatively warm. As @Bee notes in her answer, for an iPhone this means above freezing. I personally run into this problem when using my phone as an alarm clock in the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Storage Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you won't need your devices on short notice and can easily re-warm them (by putting them next to your body or turning on your car heater), its perfectly OK to let them get cold. In fact, since most consumer electronic batteries these days are lithium-ion, it may &lt;em&gt;very slightly&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.howtogeek.com/179486/ask-htg-should-i-store-my-batteries-in-the-fridge/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reduce the self-discharge rate&lt;/a&gt; to keep them somewhere quite cool. That being said, the primary concern is....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Condensation&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you sleep in your car in cold weather, the moisture from your breath will condense on any cold surface, including your electronics. It goes without saying that electronics &lt;em&gt;do not like moisture,&lt;/em&gt; and you should do your best to prevent this. One person breathes out a shocking amount of water vapor throughout one night, and I have personally damaged my phone by letting it sit out unprotected from the moisture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prevention:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before going to sleep, put your electronics in a Ziplock (or other resealable plastic bag). Do this outdoors in the cold air, so that you don't trap warm moist air from your (presumably initially heated) car. Empty as much air as possible from the bag before sealing so that you can't accidentally &quot;pop&quot; it open. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need to keep your phone warm, put it &lt;strong&gt;flat against your chest&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;at your feet&lt;/strong&gt;. I usually car camp with bib/overall-type snow-pants with a chest pocket, which makes it hard to damage a flat phone when sleeping. Chests tend to be soft, and there's no elbows or hips nearby to crush a screen. At your feet means you might kick it, but won't be able to put your full body weight on the screen. If you're worried about damage, wrap it in an extra blanket/shirt/jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the (electronic?) notebook and other large items, I wouldn't worry about putting keeping them warm during the night--if you will need them accessible and working in the morning, just wake up a few minutes early and put them in your sleeping bag while you're awake.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T17:31:41.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23073" CreationDate="2019-09-09T18:42:44.487" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the devices are fully turned off, sensible amounts of insulation won't keep them warm overnight as they won't give off any heat. If they're turned on and giving off heat, too much insulation can lead them to overheat. The power consumption can be rather unpredictable, for example a mobile phone that just about gets a weak signal will use more power running its radio than one with a strong signal or one with none at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not usually clear from specifications whether the &quot;storage&quot; temperature requires unusual forms of powering down, but lithium batteries are reasonably tolerant of the cold if they're not delivering much current. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to ensure that devices are comfortable is to keep them at the same temperature as yourself, and keep yourself comfortable. But most electronics don't like having a human on top and they don't make good mattresses. Some form of window insulation is probably a good idea; it can make a huge difference to your comfort in the morning, and combined with your body heat will keep the car a little warmer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-09-25T07:32:46.800" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T07:32:46.800" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-09T20:18:54.080" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to the other answers, in order to stand even a minor chance of such an attack with such odds, it is imperative to be alert, expect the worst and, no matter how provocative, you most likely have to be preemptive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of defense, it is largely a matter of luck and if the attackers have &lt;strong&gt;any&lt;/strong&gt; means of attacking you from a range (e.g. firearm), you are completely out of luck. However, there are very unconventional things you can do to have slight chances of protecting your life, depending on the circumstances. &lt;strong&gt;Note that these are NOT things you should do unless you really understand your life is immediately threatened&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-You could set a medium-to-large sheet (or two) on fire and throw it out close. If done properly (whatever that means), the fire will certainly grow for a while and the scary effect might give you some time to escape, while the attackers might be disoriented for a little while. You must understand, of course, that this can have &lt;strong&gt;terrible&lt;/strong&gt; side effects if the fire spreads, so after your life is safe, you &lt;strong&gt;would need&lt;/strong&gt; to do something about it. Obviously, this is not the best of suggestions but one must know what humans are capable of doing when their life is at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-A couple of medium-sized &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane_torch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;butane torches&lt;/a&gt; can prove to be a &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; efficient, unexpected, intimidating (and dangerous) counter-arm for many attackers, and one you can justify carrying around much easier than a gun. I would suggest a couple, depending on how much you worry about your life and how much of a threat this really might be for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-The least suspicious means of protection that comes to mind is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_stove&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;portable stoves&lt;/a&gt;. Beyond the fact that you could use them as mini flame throwers (some strong ones produce quite a flame at their maximum output), my suggestion would be to use one or two to keep a significant quantity of water boiling, plus a couple of thermos to maintain a sizable quantity of water as hot as possible. There are few things an attacker would expect less than a sudden splash of &lt;strong&gt;boiling hot&lt;/strong&gt; water on their faces. Despite this sounding like a science fiction scenario, two women with four sizable cups of hot water &lt;strong&gt;might&lt;/strong&gt; stand some chance of preempting four attackers. This can also work with coffee, of course, and if you are walking alone in a deserted &quot;forsaken&quot; place, nobody would ever arrest you for holding two cups/thermos with hot coffee or tea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could not state more clearly, of course, that these are &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; things you should do, unless your life is immediately threatened and, since this is very subjective, I would simply wish anyone reading this to never find themselves in a situation necessitating such actions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18658" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T20:18:54.080" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23080" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-09T23:16:57.973" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to first say that I'm not sure that these suggestions would have helped the hikers described in the post. Here are some suggestions which may help to avoid human threats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camp relatively &lt;strong&gt;near many other groups of campers or, preferably, near authorities&lt;/strong&gt;, such as near a park ranger station&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As #1 isn't always possible, it can be possible to camp in a place that is &lt;strong&gt;difficult-to-access, obscure, or relatively defensible.&lt;/strong&gt; It should be noted that this can increase your risks from other threats (getting lost, falls, weather, bears, health emergencies, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If some people nearby where you are camping or hiking seem suspicious, &lt;strong&gt;try to reach a safe place&lt;/strong&gt; (campsite with many people or ranger station) or try to lose the suspicious people (&lt;strong&gt;by hiking in a different direction&lt;/strong&gt;, stopping or hiding to wait for the suspicious people to pass by, or &lt;strong&gt;joining another group of hikers that seems more trustworthy&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure that the murderers acted in any way that could have given the victims a clue that they might take aggressive actions. However, if you find yourself near people who make you nervous for any reason, maybe it's best to trust your gut and to get away from them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been in a situation where I was hiking alone and found that some of the people around the campsite where I had planned to stay seemed untrustworthy (drinking heavily and making conversation with me that made me uncomfortable). There were no other campsites nearby, so I trail-ran another 1.5 miles, making sure I was not followed. I walked off the trail about a quarter of a mile and found a location that could not be seen from the trail to set up my tent and sleep. The place that I put my tent also seemed somewhat &quot;defensible&quot;, in that it was difficult to access without making a lot of noise. Of course, this put me at greater risk of getting lost, but I was careful to note the direction to the trail and distance using my GPS and compass. I was somewhat relying on &quot;security by obscurity.&quot; Camping outside of a campsite was also against the rules at the park I was at, but I figured that in the unlikely situation that I was caught by a park ranger, I would explain the situation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often when I camp on my own, I find a place to set up my tent that is hidden and difficult to access, just because it feels safer to me. If you have skills and gear that other people don't have, you might be able to camp (or otherwise escape) to a place inaccessible to them. I've camped on top of a rock formation that is only accessible by technical climbing (using a rope, belayer, and other climbing gear to be safely reached). Despite its inaccessibility, the top was spacious and had a secure flat place to put up a tent. It was also a very beautiful place to see the sun rise. Of course, camping in such a place could increase risk of falls and could be risky in other types of emergencies. As &lt;strong&gt;climbing gear&lt;/strong&gt; gives access to otherwise inaccessible places, so do &lt;strong&gt;boats&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a different situation than that experienced by the victims (taken hostage), &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.si.com/edge/2017/05/19/rock-climber-tommy-caldwell-hostage-survival&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tommy Caldwell and his partner took advantage of their better climbing skills than their lone captor&lt;/a&gt;. I'm not sure how likely such a situation is, but we are talking about unlikely situations to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15863" LastActivityDate="2019-09-09T23:16:57.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23071" CreationDate="2019-09-10T06:24:05.853" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;From&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.troutfisherman.co.uk/fishing-tips/casting/articles/cast-better-how-to-cast-a-fly-in-a-strong-wind&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to cast a fly in a strong wind&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FLYLINES:&lt;/strong&gt; Dealing with the wind is about technique; but the effort required to improve casting skills is wasted unless matched with well-balanced tackle. Fly lines should be of the correct weight to deal with the conditions. Casting in a strong wind with light 5wt and 6wt lines can be difficult but can easily be rectified by scaling up to a 7 or 8wt. Weight forwards perform well in many situations, but double tapers, displaying a wide profile throughout most of their length, can penetrate the air, especially in a head-on wind – the extra stiffness of the line helping to turn over the leader (tapered leaders will also help with presentation).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ROD:&lt;/strong&gt; A rod with a fast action aids presentation, but it’s casting technique that determines the outcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a short length of line when casting into the wind for the first time. A high back cast will be needed to angle the fly correctly on the forward presentation and this can be easily achieved by leaning forwards as the cast is made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tilted angle of the body will allow the rod to stop high and the line will follow. As with all casting, be smooth and do not try to overpower the back cast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allow the line to straighten as usual and load the rod. It is also worth learning to haul, as this will provide extra line speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make a forward stroke that will be angled downwards due to the stance, creating a loop that slices through the air with ease. In calm conditions this would create a splash but during windy sessions the impact of the line will not be noticed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don’t shoot any line into the forward cast; instead hold it back with the line control hand, a technique that works particularly well on the final presentation. Checking the line in this way stops the bottom leg of the loop from moving, causing the top leg to turn over efficiently. Much the same effect is produced when the line extends fully against the reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all, don’t overstretch and reach out for distance in windy conditions. Seldom will the fish be at range.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is other advice on the same web page that deals with back and side winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user12449" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-10T06:24:05.853" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-10T16:32:12.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;More about weapons. I already commented&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you think you need weapons to protect yourself, and you don't already habitually carry such weapons and are accustomed to using them, then the choice of location is wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/23072/17547&quot;&gt;answer from @Machavity&lt;/a&gt; also pointed out that sprays and tazers will be ineffective against a group, and carrying firearms may be problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another problem with using weapons. Suppose you make the first strike, or a panic attack, against a perceived enemy, and injure or possibly kill them. You are now in deep trouble, and although you might be able to get off any charges you will have a difficult ordeal ahead, perhaps in custody, especially as a foreigner in another country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What then if you wait to be attacked first, so you have a legitimate claim of self-defense? You may not even get a chance to deploy your weapon. You can assume that any attacker will know what they are doing, and be better at it than you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, the main purpose of carrying a weapon would be to demonstrate to others that you will not be an easy target. If you must carry a weapon it should be visible, a deterrent, not some vague plan that you might be able to somehow beat off an attacker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is asking how to deal with a situation that is already &lt;strong&gt;too late&lt;/strong&gt; for a good outcome, for anyone except a movie hero. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer is that it must never come to that. It is true that this was an extreme and rare situation, but the fact that there was no warning for Morocco does not make it a safe place, especially in remote areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A school friend of mine, &lt;strong&gt;John Charles Elcoate&lt;/strong&gt; and his girlfriend &lt;strong&gt;Wendy Margaret Mills&lt;/strong&gt;, were &lt;a href=&quot;https://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/visiting-grave-sites-imagining-worlds/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;murdered on the road to India&lt;/a&gt; in 1971. They were backpacking and sleeping rough, and were killed for their possessions, as I heard it at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is hardly a place in the world where there isn't a ne'er-do-well looking for an opportunity. The same principles apply as always. Do not make yourself an easy target for sneak thieves, con artists, muggers, rapists or even murderers. All of them want to pick the weakest victim they can find, to minimise the risk to themselves, and maximise their chance of success. This was apparently confirmed by the Morocco attackers: they picked the easiest target.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I recommend that if you can afford to take accommodation, do so. In a remote area, travel in a party. Save the solo camping adventures for places that are not so wild and lawless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in any case, what mindset do you want during the trip? To be constantly on your guard against (possibly imagined) threats, or to have a relaxed and carefree trip – apart from any personal challenges you may have set yourself? There is an obvious answer to that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-09-10T16:32:12.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23054" CreationDate="2019-09-10T19:21:25.760" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I canoe camp, and I bring lightweight canvas or cotton gloves (leather dries too slowly) to prevent paddling blisters. (There's a picture in my answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6996/163&quot;&gt;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/6996/163&lt;/a&gt; ) They are also fantastic as &quot;work gloves&quot; eg carrying logs and when you need to handle something hot, like a pot. They're small enough to fit in a pocket and to be nearby whenever you need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried and failed to buy these online; your best bet is a store for farmers (eg The Co op, a hardware store in a farming area, etc) and a little patience. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2019-09-17T16:50:53.483" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T16:50:53.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="23085" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-11T00:15:26.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;After an introductory reading into the matter (Wikipedia and news), I would say there are no definite safety mistakes that I can see. If the attackers were noticed and seemed suspicious, maybe they could have done more, maybe not. Even if they were aware, perhaps the attackers were not acting suspicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general though there are some things you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: I am not suggesting that you always do all of these actions whenever you camp. They are merely extra measures to take if you feel appropriate.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) If you think someone may have, for nefarious purposes, taken note of where you started setting up camp: only unpack enough that it looks like you're setting up camp. Half set up your tent, make sure nobody is currently watching, then take the tent down and move even further into the brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Do not sleep in your tent. The purpose for this one would be to use the tent as a decoy. In the Moroccan situation, if the women had been sleeping hidden in the brush away from their tent, they could have kept silent and ignored the attackers' demands. When the attackers entered the tent and found nobody there they may be angry but at least the women would be hidden and relatively safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3) Use camouflage netting which you can toss over your stuff to make it harder to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, all of these things are not necessary 99% of the time. So although you ask what could you do to mitigate such risks, your suggested use case was likely an unexpected attack, so you also need to ask yourself if you are willing to do these things as habit every single time you camp. If you don't commit to making this your normal, then it cannot help you against unexpected attacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be prepared for others to think you're weird, or even that you are suspicious for doing these things. I don't say that to deter you, merely to make you think about how others will react to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T00:15:26.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22895" CreationDate="2019-09-11T07:13:27.437" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are you overthinking this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was on many 1-3 week treks in northern Scandinavia and would personally not be looking forward to a solution that adds an other couple of 100 grams to my pack weight (such as waterproof dry bags, bear bags or hard-plastic containers...&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are very sensitive to smell I'd simply go with the easiest low-tech option: wrap your food in 1-2 layers of &lt;strong&gt;simple plastic bags&lt;/strong&gt; (the kind you get in grocery stores) or &lt;strong&gt;trash bags&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benefits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weighs essentially nothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Basically for free&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterproof (to some degree obviously - but plenty enough if your backpack gets wet/moist for some reason)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Disposable, can thus easily serve as trash bags once the food was eaten and you're only carrying the waste/packaging.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Re-sealable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For smellier foods or foods more sensitive to spilling/spoiling we used little freezer zipper bags (also disposable), like this one:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9BQR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9BQR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Little addendum with a neat trick for packing 'powdery' foods, especially ones sensitive to moisture:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We put them in used clean &lt;strong&gt;PET bottles&lt;/strong&gt; (get ones that have the largest lid you can find). This can serve you well to carry salt, sugar, powdered milk or the like and will guarantee that the contents remain dry even if the whole pack gets soaked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; Note, OP mentions a trek of 2 Weeks. That means a lot of food needs to be packed (easily 14kg per person).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-09-11T13:59:28.403" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T13:59:28.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24087" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-11T10:49:15.340" Score="18" ViewCount="12674" Body="&lt;p&gt;The sole of my trekking boots get separated from the boot body. Since the boots would be otherwise usable - they are more than ten years old but without much use - repairing them would be an option. In fact, the sole just needs to be glued again to the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is whether such a reparation would be reasonably reliable, or if gluing soles to shoes (at a shoe repairer) is only worth for light use urban shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/opTDL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/opTDL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11125" LastEditorUserId="13431" LastEditDate="2019-09-12T16:34:37.847" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T11:32:25.433" Title="Can I fix my boots by gluing the soles back on?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-11T13:26:43.823" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;They were glued when they were originally made, there's no particular reason they shouldn't be reglued now. It's better than having no shoes or the heel flapping about as you walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Though the glue that was used the first time obviously has a limited lifespan, perhaps look for a better one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether it's reliable or not is really down to the quality of the job done, surface preparation, type of glue, proper pressure on bonding surfaces etc etc. but there's no real reason that doing a proper job shouldn't be as reliable as original construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T13:26:43.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-11T16:13:53.410" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;My experience with gluing boots and shoes is that it never does the job for long. Whilst this may to some extent be down to the glue I've used, I think it is also due to the surfaces having been glued in the past.&#xA;The surfaces will have the old glue that has failed still present. This means you'll have to thorough remove the old glue. If you don't, then any fresh glue applied will be on top of the old glue, which means it will soon fail as the old glue further gives up.&#xA;If you do decide to glue these boots, be prepared for them to fail again, especially if you've not completely removed the old glue, so take care. Long hikes may not be a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18680" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T16:13:53.410" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-11T19:30:58.577" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I glued a layer of the sole of my Danner boots' to a second layer, using 100% silicone . It worked great. But neither layer was leather. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18681" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T19:30:58.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23065" CreationDate="2019-09-11T19:39:46.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary: all in all, In my humble opinion the two had the super bad luck to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may still have been things that they could reasonably be expected to have done (in the sense of things they may have normally done without being particularly suspicious about the group of attackers) which may have lead to a different outcome: just like the other 3+ people/groups who were &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; attacked by the same terrorists before these two &lt;em&gt;were&lt;/em&gt; murdered probably did &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt; that convinced the terrorists that they were not the victims they were looking for. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What safety mistakes these girls did during their camping trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My most prominent source is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/06/21/murder-two-scandinavian-women-morocco-was-meant-impress-islamic-state-far-right-seized-it-attack-islam/?arc404=true&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington Post article&lt;/a&gt; linked in @Machavity's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Mistakes&quot; is a big word - I don't see any clear cut mistakes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the possible exception that the women &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; have been surprised by sunset - we'll never know if that was the case or whether they planned to stay where they did: according to WP, the women camped at a shop site, and they arrived after the shop owner closed in time to go to Imlil for the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From looking at google maps, opentopomap and some of the news photos of the location I think &lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#marker=17/31.08652/-7.91730&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; or the other hut some 600 m up the valley/to the west may be the site. It's very roughly halfway between the French Alpine Club + 2nd hut (including a campground) and the houses at Sidi Chamarough which according to google maps feature an auberge.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being caught by sunset in the mountains is what I'd generally consider a mistake in the context of an outdoors forum. Still, one wouldn't expect to be &lt;em&gt;murdered&lt;/em&gt; as a consequence. The women may have made the mountain safety decision to not try and hike on for Sidi Chamarough or Imlil in the dark and instead stay at that site overnight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The campground at the Alpine Club hut btw. has descriptions of being very littered and possibly unhygienic. Who knows whether this triggered the decision to go on? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, I'd consider it quite suspicious if when wild camping another group pitches their tent within just 150 m of where my tent is when there are km and km of wilderness available. Unless there's a good reason for this, of course. But, &lt;em&gt;if&lt;/em&gt; I consider sunset a valid reason to put up my tent where I am, and another group arrives around the same time - that would be a valid, unsuspicious reason for them as well, wouldn't it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sattelite images and photos of the site show that their campsite is in a very open landscape - definitively not as easy to silently vanish there when someone suspicious approaches the tent as in a Telemark forest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;What could have been done to avoid this situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless, here are some thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In general, a knife is not going to help against a group of terrorists determined to harm &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt;. However, what none of the other posts mentions so far: we have 3 attackers against 2 victims - that's not an overwhelming majority. These attackers (who btw. initially were a group of 4, one of them left the group the day before the attack) who did indeed come into that region with the purpose of becoming terrorists in the preceding days had made 4 or 5 attempts to murder people but in the end decided that those weren't the victims they were looking for.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We will of course never know whether the two women doing guard shifts and visibly whittling their &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderstock#Der_Bergstock&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2m Bergstock&lt;/a&gt; and eating their dinner with their suitably large Scandinavian work knives* may have looked sufficiently more difficult victims to make &lt;em&gt;these&lt;/em&gt; attackers cancel that attempt as well (though in all probability, murder someone else). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* If you read German, have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zeit.de/2014/11/reisen-gepaeck-praktisch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;Knife for gender equality&quot; by Andrea Jeska&lt;/a&gt; - a journalist doing lots of solo travel in male-dominated cultures. She describes that her 18 cm blade Georgian knife produces gender equality e.g. when she uses this knife just the same as her male travel acquaintances use their similar sized knives to cut their food etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One may also argue that having a local guide would have lead to there being a 3 : 3 situation - and a situation of which we know that the terrorists backed off an attack the day before.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Also, another friend planned to come with them but spontaneously went with other friends to the coast. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;How can I protect myself in case of an attack like this? Pepper spray? Taser gun? Guns?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I agree with the others who say that once the attack is on, it's in all probability too late. Which doesn't say you shouldn't fight (there wasn't anything further they could have lost), but the odds are then overwhelmingly against you. One of the odds against you is that we'd probably not realize how bad the situation is until it's too late: after all, such attacks happen * rarely*. Also, from the WP description, it looks as if Ueland was too shocked to do anything. Jespersen tried to flee but was stabbed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="18648" LastEditDate="2019-09-12T05:28:29.183" LastActivityDate="2019-09-12T05:28:29.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24092" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24099" CreationDate="2019-09-11T19:53:17.960" Score="4" ViewCount="414" Body="&lt;p&gt;United States (and more, specifically, NY state -- though that &lt;em&gt;shouldn't&lt;/em&gt; matter at all) here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am brand new to hunting, and in a few weeks I will be going out into the woods and hunting public land for the first time. Just to be clear, I have taken the NYS Hunter's Safety course and have purchased my hunting license and I have my tags. &lt;strong&gt;I am doing everything by the book.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read from several credible source now that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deer are very keen to the smells of different areas of the forest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hence, unless you attempt to manage your scent (minding the wind direction as you stalk, experimenting with various scent blockers, etc.) once they smell you, they will realize that &quot;&lt;em&gt;something is wrong&lt;/em&gt;&quot;, meaning, they have detected a smell in that area of the woods that ordinarily is not there -- and they &quot;bump&quot; or run away&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So this gave me an idea, and I wanted to share it here in the form of a question to see if any experienced/skilled hunters think its a viable idea or sheer rubbish!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should also say that this idea would also be used in &lt;em&gt;addition&lt;/em&gt; to the common, popular forms of scent management (making sure I am downwind of them, using scent blocker, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;The idea&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What if I went into the woods to my &quot;spots&quot; (the general areas where I plan to hunt) and carefully placed a few old, dirty shirts with my scent on them down on the ground and left them there for the next 3 - 4 weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer:&lt;/strong&gt; DEC states in their manual that it is unlawful to use public land as &quot;storage&quot; and that any hunting accessories such as stands, mineral blocks, trail cams or other hunting equipment must be removed within a certain number of days of the close of the season. I would absolutely remember where I put these shirts and remove them in keeping with state law at the end of the season. I am one of the &lt;em&gt;biggest&lt;/em&gt; critics of litterbugs and would never be one myself!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the thinking here is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deer get used to my smell radiating through sections of the forest where I intend to hunt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If, while on a hunt, my scent management fails and my scent &quot;leaks&quot; into the air, I would think they might not spook as easily as if they would if they were totally foreign to that smell being there&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this a crazy idea or valid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking it's either a great idea and will work wonders, or, its the polar opposite and will instead drive all the deer out of my &quot;spots&quot; for the entirety of the season :-/&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts/comments/concerns/input here?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T11:22:45.900" Title="Can you train wild deer to get &quot;used to&quot; your scent before the hunting season" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;deer&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24093" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3592" CreationDate="2019-09-11T19:56:44.907" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Small sketchbook, and colored pencils. You can sharpen them with a knife, or whatever sharp thing you have, and it is unlikely that you will entirely use up a pencil on one trip. Lots of color, versatility, and portability. You can even get water-color pencils. I also like chalk pastels, but you have to be more careful not to crush those, and the dust tends to spread. Fun on short trips or day hikes though. I also always carry some kind of fine-point sharpie, because I really like defined lines, but that's just me. Also, something to be for plain old ball-point pen sketches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18682" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T19:56:44.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-11T20:19:42.177" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;My Merrell boots came apart like yours after a few years. I glued the soles back on with Gorilla Glue (original version, amber polyurethane) and they're still holding strong after several more years. If you use this glue, be sure to follow the directions and moisten one of the surfaces with water before gluing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17948" LastActivityDate="2019-09-11T20:19:42.177" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-12T06:54:21.157" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I live, we just take such shoes to a Cobbler and he stitches the sole with the shoe all the way around within 30 minutes for negligible amount of money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And the shoes get a new life. Your boots are good candidates for that treatment and will give you a few more years after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cobbler is more suited to tell you whether that treatment will help your shoe or not and may well offer a hybrid solution better than a try at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq14ymSMBU8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;random video&lt;/a&gt; of someone doing exactly what this answer suggests (I have no association with this video, i just searched for the concept on YouTube).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3545" LastEditorUserId="3545" LastEditDate="2019-09-12T15:24:44.837" LastActivityDate="2019-09-12T15:24:44.837" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-12T09:51:49.360" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've had nice boots glued properly - the local shoe-mender took a look and said &quot;this needs three-day glue, come back on Friday&quot;  Wasn't particularly expensive either.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those boots lasted years more, so it was definitely worth doing.   I don't think that any glue you can buy in a hardware store will do the job well-enough though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also should add that the boots stank on pickup, but that did fade off after a week or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also they never quite took &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(shoe_polish)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nugget/polish&lt;/a&gt; around the bottom the same again.  I suspect the glue somehow chemically altered the leather nearest the joint, or there may have been some wiped off.  Didn't bother me because they weren't dress boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd give a photo, but this was a long time ago and they're gone now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastEditorUserId="11223" LastEditDate="2019-09-15T19:22:36.637" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T19:22:36.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24092" CreationDate="2019-09-12T12:38:26.690" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not going to be effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You and your 3 week old shirt are going to smell different. The shirt smells like you, but it ages, when the deer smell the live you, they will know that that person who left his shirt is back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you may be surprised on opening day, how many other hunters think your spot is their spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wait until after opening day, the deer will all be alerted to hunters in the woods, and be wary of any people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, deer know the day before hunting season starts and change their behavior&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;deer respond to hunting pressure the day before the season opens (and not before). &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.deer.psu.edu/this-doe-knows/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T11:22:45.900" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T11:22:45.900" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-12T17:46:38.167" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would go buy an outdoor construction adhesive (one that is designed for all materials, lest it eat your soles up from the top). Skip the super glues. Not only will you have enough glue, but it should hold relatively well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13431" LastActivityDate="2019-09-12T17:46:38.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-12T18:45:43.647" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can get a fair job yourself with &quot;Shoe Goo&quot; , a product in the US that sells for less than $ 5 /tube ( enough for several shoes). I used it on a pair of sport shoes about 2 months ago and they are still good. Once I used a laboratory grade of urethane ( not available to the public) ; it was better than the original rubber(?) and I made two heels with it , lasted 2 years + with little or no wear ( threw the shoes away when the soles wore out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2019-09-12T18:45:43.647" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24102" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24104" CreationDate="2019-09-12T19:37:48.137" Score="2" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a stand up paddle board (14'0&quot;) and I am looking for an easier way to pump it up. I found some cordless handheld inflators for tyres, which are rated at 120W and maximum pressure is 150psi. It can do just 25L/min. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would this type of inflator be able to fill an SUP in under 8 minutes? (Since that is how long the battery lasts) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, are there other &lt;em&gt;cordless, electric pumps&lt;/em&gt; used to inflate SUPs?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18688" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-12T21:12:33.900" LastActivityDate="2019-09-13T13:49:12.317" Title="What to look for in a electronic inflator for an inflatable stand up paddleboard?" Tags="&lt;electronic-gear&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-12T20:07:23.813" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is very common with expensive hiking boots, which use a soft, but less stable type of rubber. The process is called &lt;strong&gt;hydrolysis&lt;/strong&gt; and is due to the ageing of this soft rubber. The rubber loses strength itself and becomes crumbly; it is not a glue issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, glue does not work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a very high quality boot with the Vibram soles in near pristine condition. Soles fell off. Took the shoes to a cobbler, who glued on the soles using rubber cement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shoes looked like new, but completely fell apart on my next trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took them back to the cobbler, who specifically ordered the glue recommended by the manufacturer of the shoes. (It was either a neoprene or polyurethane glue, I don't remember).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, the repair looked perfect, and again the shoes fell apart on a trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is very dangerous, because the process starts in the middle of the shoe, until the sole is only held at the edges. Suddenly, the whole sole will come off in one piece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fixed the shoe with Gorilla glue, which worked long enough to get back home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manufacturer claimed that they could replace all of the aged rubber (cost ~$100), it looks good, but I haven't tried it yet. They did not simply glue on a new sole, but they ripped off all of the rubber parts down to the leather and replaced those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things that I learned:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glues do not work, even when done professionally. In my case, the sole looked like new. There was no glue residue left on the underside of the shoe. The surface of the shoe looked perfectly clean, and I thought it would be simple to just glue the sole back on.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is a &lt;strong&gt;major safety issue&lt;/strong&gt;. Imagine your shoes suddenly falling apart in the middle of nowhere. In the best case, it will be a long drive to buy a new pair of shoes, ruining the vacation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Of all emergency glues, Gorilla glue worked best.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Gluing the sole on on the trail is not easy. It needs a lot of pressure to keep the sole in contact with the rest of the shoe. The glue needs to harden for at least a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is a good idea to have an awl and some dental floss to sew the sole to the shoe before gluing. Especially the rounded needles came in very handy. (search on ebay for &quot;canvas repair stitcher&quot;).&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TzKVD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TzKVD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Awl&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18689" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-09-17T11:32:25.433" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T11:32:25.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24102" CreationDate="2019-09-12T20:23:10.723" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Inflatable SUPs of similar lengths to yours seem to have around 250-600L of volume, mostly on the lower end of that scale. @Separatix points out that 600L is &quot;a real anomaly&quot; in volume.&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.towerpaddleboards.com/Inflatable-Touring-Paddle-Board-Package-p/bd-twr-exp-pkg.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/152844/nrs-thrive-inflatable-stand-up-paddle-board-bundle-108&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/153693/starboard-touring-deluxe-dc-inflatable-stand-up-paddle-board-126&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; suggest using a tire inflator, as these are meant for &lt;strong&gt;low volume, high pressure&lt;/strong&gt; applications. You want to inflate your SUP to something like 20psi, not 150psi (a pressure which would almost certainly damage your SUP). In a pinch you could use one of these, as long as you check the pressure frequently to ensure you're not over-inflating, but it'll be slow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, consider something intended for SUPs (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.standuppaddleboardsreview.com/best-sup-pumps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.isupworld.com/top-3-electric-pumps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; are the first Google results). These will inflate much quicker than a tire pump, but won't inflate to much more than the required pressure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18067" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-09-13T13:49:12.317" LastActivityDate="2019-09-13T13:49:12.317" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24087" CreationDate="2019-09-13T14:04:09.300" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had this issue with running shoes in the past. I had one pair in particular that I loved, but was discontinued. I tried a few different things, and found Barge Cement to be the best product for gluing the sole back on.  You can get another 200 miles or so until they need to be glued again. While it works, it is a pretty strong and flexible bond. But as other have said they are likely to fail again in the same spot, and it usually happens suddenly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18695" LastActivityDate="2019-09-13T14:04:09.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24108" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24113" CreationDate="2019-09-14T17:23:55.173" Score="38" ViewCount="6699" Body="&lt;p&gt;My knees aren’t in the best shape, one in particular. I had a rather devastating 13 hour up-and-down hike on day two of a three day hike, and the last day my knees were hurting every step. What are some ways to take some load off the knees, or other ways to prevent this? Not including ‘taking more time for the hike’. Assume already decent footwear and some kind of stick to balance and spread weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: Some good advice is given here, I accepted the answer with less obvious tips but be sure to read all the other answers too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastEditorUserId="5816" LastEditDate="2019-09-19T06:36:33.197" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T14:25:46.020" Title="Other than good shoes and a stick, what are some ways to preserve your knees on long hikes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="16" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-14T18:20:06.910" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are not opposed to it, preemptively taking an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen before your knees start hurting and then re-dosing later if it is a long hike can help to keep swelling / inflammation down. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Edit regarding anti-inflammatories: By all means consult your doctor about safe dosing &amp;amp; frequency before beginning use in your activities. Depending on a number of factors, including drug interactions, some or no use of different medications may be safe for you. Also be aware that unless prescribed by your doctor medications are not intended for long term, frequent use. Be responsible &amp;amp; informed in your use of all medications. No sense damaging your body long term for short term gains. Know what medications are safe &amp;amp; appropriate for you.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another thing that can help when going down a particularly steep downhill; if the trail is wide enough try zigzagging your path. This will slow you down some, although probably less than if you were trying to descend while in pain. Zigzagging essentially decreases the slope that you are descending, thereby decreasing the impact on your joints with each step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, make sure that your hiking poles, or stick, are the correct height for you. If you have to reach your arm downward significantly to bear weight or stabilizing force on the pole it will not do very much to help.&#xA;ETA: two proper hiking poles of correct length will serve you much better than just one stick or pole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="6032" LastEditDate="2019-09-17T02:37:20.727" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T02:37:20.727" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-14T18:25:29.790" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, I would say taking more time is a very valid option. Also if you know you have knee trouble you could reduce distances to an extent where you do not have to walk for hours with exhausted muscles. From my experience, pushing yourself over the point where the joints lose sufficient muscle support is when you start to have fun the next days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, preparation and training well in advance of the trip is very important, and you should not go on a long trip if you are out of shape. I did ignore this a few times in the past, and it was not a big issue, but I had to take the consequences during the first, let's say 3 or 4 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Honestly speaking, I would also say that after a 13 h walk almost everybody will feel the strain in one way or another, especially if you carry extra weight as usually on a multi-day trip, and knee pain is extremely common. So you might also have to face the fact that there is no reasonably healthy way to avoid it, unless you have a lot of time for getting used to the strain by training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to analyze if there are any aspects in your walking technique which cause your knee problems. I have no idea how that is exactly done, maybe other people can comment on that. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-09-14T19:20:34.663" LastActivityDate="2019-09-14T19:20:34.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24111" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-14T18:58:08.583" Score="0" ViewCount="40" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is possible to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/23025/how-to-tie-a-dry-fly-above-a-wet-fly-when-fly-fishing/23043#23043&quot;&gt;a dry fly as a strike indicator&lt;/a&gt; for your wet fly while also catching the fish that would go for a surface bug at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is the casting technique any different&lt;/strong&gt; as it seems like it would be easier to get the line tangled?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-16T13:46:45.740" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T13:46:45.740" Title="Is the casting technique any different when using a dry and a wet fly at the same time?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-14T19:36:57.613" Score="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carrying less weight makes a big difference. My packing follows the &quot;be prepared&quot; style more than the ultralight one, but even I admit it's easy to carry too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stepping cautiously especially on descents and trying to avoid dropping too much on one step are both important. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pair of trekking poles is very helpful, and you might need to lengthen them for descents/shorten them for ascents. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-09-14T19:36:57.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24113" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T04:32:15.090" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;As excellent as the previous responses have been (and they all have great advice), I'd add that you want to be FLEXIBLE. Stretching is crucial, and not just for your knees. Hip flexors are a very important part of the equation too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stretch all the muscle groups in your lower body. Your knees will be affected primarily by your quad (thigh) muscles, but all your lower-body muscle groups will affect your knees to some degree. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And don't just stretch immediately before your hike; do it for a good couple of weeks beforehand to get your body accustomed to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18706" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T04:32:15.090" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T06:29:56.340" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make sure you are using your knees correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Body mechanics is a big deal.  My doctor was on the road to a knee replacement 25 years ago, and decided he really did not want that. So he learned Tai Chi from an real expert. Tai Chi, as designed, is to train proper body mechanics (in a martial arts context). This made him rethink how he used his knees, and that was the end of the problem!  I think martial arts experts &lt;em&gt;that competent&lt;/em&gt; are hard to find, so I would talk to a sports medicine doctor.  I would be cautious about talking to knee doctors, because they are not in the prevention business, they are in the replacement business.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find when my knees hurt, I remember my martial arts training and shift my body mechanics, and it helps a lot.  Of course it's nearly too late at that point; better to use good body mechanics all the  time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The following is not well-rounded and is far too incomplete to be a lesson on the subject, in a topic that  doesn't even lend itself to stating in words.  But people asked, so let me try a few things&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your knee with your toe... without actually showing you, what that means is keep 3 lines all in the same plane: hip-knee, knee-heel, and heel-toe.   It helps to stretch and open up your hips.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Interesting fact: people have &lt;em&gt;two&lt;/em&gt; hips.  People often carry them rigidly and locked; it helps to unlock them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't lock your knees, i.e. Don't put them at limits of travel, and especially don't ask them to carry weight.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine a vector line showing how your weight is being carried from your knee to your foot.  You want that vector going more-or-less straight down your leg (e.g. Tibia bone), not going through empty space to your midfoot or toe (requiring you to use power to avoid falling forward; the issue isn't the use of power, it's what the stance does to your knee).  Since the tibia enters the foot somewhat forward of the heel, that means most of your weight will be on the heel with some on the toe.  (If you think about it, that makes sense, right?  Less weight on the toes, which allows them to function as trim stabilizers and sensors.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since your foot is in a rather heavy hiking boot, it's easy to lose track of these subtleties and just think of the &lt;em&gt;entire&lt;/em&gt; foot as a single immobile hammerhead-like object at the end of your tibia.  &lt;em&gt;That is how you forget good body mechanics&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That leads to thinking it's a hammer you stomp down, either before &lt;em&gt;or as&lt;/em&gt; you put weight on it.  Especially if the military has trained you to do that for the cool sound it makes.  Impact loads are much worse than static loads (ask a &lt;em&gt;bridge&lt;/em&gt; engineer). (And the military tells you to &lt;em&gt;stop&lt;/em&gt; stomping on &lt;em&gt;bridges&lt;/em&gt;.  It's no better for your knees than the bridge).   So stop stomping, absolutely, 100%. Consciously &lt;strong&gt;place&lt;/strong&gt; (soft-land) your foot on the surface, then transfer weight to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your footfalls are making more noise than a carefully placed foot, that probably indicates poor placement.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no speed limit; you can consciously place as fast as you are able.  The point is to rely on placement skills you are learning dynamically &lt;em&gt;for this here surface&lt;/em&gt;, not robotically repeating skills you learned 30 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;None of this advice is any substitute for a sports medicine doctor and/or highly competent martial arts training.  Tai Chi is a top choice, being an &lt;em&gt;internal&lt;/em&gt; martial art (about you and your body rather than external actions), and also providing a context for daily practice.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastEditorUserId="14830" LastEditDate="2019-09-16T19:57:25.787" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T19:57:25.787" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T06:53:57.717" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A friend of mine with knee problems uses some kind of &lt;a href=&quot;https://duckduckgo.com/?q=knee+support+bandage&amp;amp;t=canonical&amp;amp;ia=images&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;knee support bandages&quot;&lt;/a&gt; for all of his hiking, claiming that they help him a lot.  I'm unsure about the right term for that purpose (there are certainly many variants), but you get the idea from the pictures, and probably they can tell you more at a local pharmacy or medical store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T06:53:57.717" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T10:38:20.750" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Apart of what has already been said, I have some additions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Walking backwards on the descent&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Obviously, this only works if the terrain allows it (e.g. paved streets or at least some kind of &lt;em&gt;easy&lt;/em&gt; path - be careful and safe!). It takes away a lot of strain on your knees and you can use that as a break for your knees while still continuing to walk. Besides, you will use your muscles in a different way when doing so, so you can also relax the muscles (more or less) that you would use when &lt;em&gt;normally&lt;/em&gt; descending. Don't do that while ascending though, you would even put more strain on your knees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using suitable sticks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;There are myriads of different sticks out there. However, in my opinion, not all of them are suitable to help you on the descent. In order to make &lt;em&gt;use&lt;/em&gt; of the sticks properly, you must be able to put your weight into them. For sticks to help you on the descent, you have to place the sticks &lt;em&gt;in front of you&lt;/em&gt;, which means you have to curl up your wrists. With all the &lt;em&gt;normal&lt;/em&gt; sticks out there, that means putting your weight onto your curled up wrists, which creates pain or at least discomfort on long hikes, which in turn makes you not want to additionally put pressure on your wrists. I found sticks that make it possible to have a different grip (perpendicular to the stick!) on them a lot more helpful. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.leki.com/us/trekking/poles/?f=%7C%7C22&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leki Aergon Grips&lt;/a&gt; partly fulfill that purpose. I myself use the Aergomed grips, which is basically &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.leki.com/scandinavia/product-area/trekking/poles/?f=%7C%7C24&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Leki's Wanderfreund Series&lt;/a&gt;, because that was the only stick I could find that I can almost use like crutches and that I can put my whole weight into. I look really stupid using these and I feel like a grandpa, but they actually do their job.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/em&gt;: I'm not affiliated with Leki in any kind. This is just my personal experience. Please inform yourself and also consider other companies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using sticks properly&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24109/18552&quot;&gt;renesis&lt;/a&gt; already mentioned, you should definitely use &lt;strong&gt;two&lt;/strong&gt; poles. Not only for better effectiveness, but also for body symmetry. When using two sticks, there are different ways to use them on the descent. (&lt;strong&gt;Note&lt;/strong&gt;: these patterns are &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; for ascending!&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;) Experiment with it and use the pattern that you feel the most effective to relieve your pain.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The pattern I use is putting down: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;right stick, right foot (next to the stick), left stick, left foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;left stick, right foot (same height as the left stick), right stick, left foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I felt my hips twisting a lot using the latter pattern and it's sort of not my thing, but every once in a while, I switch to it just to have some variety. Anyway, as I mentioned before, it's important that you use the sticks by putting at least some of your weight into them. If you just carry them around and poke the ground with them (as I see many people doing so in the mountains), they won't help you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foot/Knee placement&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;You might have heard that from other sports as well already and it's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://trustmephysiotherapy.com/myth-knees-never-past-your-toes/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rather common concept&lt;/a&gt; not to let your knee exceed your toes. This is not a black and white principle and there are some details to it. I'm mentioning it because this is what happens when descending. Especially, you won't be able to keep your whole foot on the ground while the knee exceeds the toes (at least for the rear leg). I think it's unavoidable that this happens when descending. On the other hand, you usually don't lift heavy weights while doing so. However, this is done for a rather long time (e.g. around 5 hours roughly in your case?). The point is: Even though you probably cannot avoid it, if you know which motions the pain is coming from, you may be able to avoid exaggerated movements that involve your knee exceeding the toes. Stuff mentioned by others here like &lt;em&gt;slowing down&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;taking smaller steps&lt;/em&gt; are also a consequence of this principle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; The pattern for ascending that I use is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;(simultaneously: left foot, right stick), (simultaneously: right foot, left stick)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also the only pattern I have seen other people using on the ascent (apart from random placement, which I don't consider a proper pattern, which also seems inefficient).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18552" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T10:38:20.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T11:27:33.110" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;3 things have helped me and my knees alot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preparation. Don't go from doing nothing and then 3 days in the mountains. Take smaller trips, maybe biking a bit or go &quot;rucking&quot; (twice regular backpack load, but go slow and on steady ground) and combine with...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;...Physical balance exercises with weights. Preferrably according to recommendations from a physio. PTs can work, YMMV, but in my experience they are usually uneducated blowhards - physios are prime.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't forget hip muscles. Backpacks are best when you can use your hips/glutes to carry and balance it - if and when your hips are getting tired this task falls to the knees - and they are not fit for that purpose, especially if they are already a concern.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, as you say - good shoes, a stick and keeping the load light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A caveat lector. Don't get used to walking with sticks, it is harmful for the overall balance. You are supposed to walk without sticks - don't teach your body otherwise (untill it is absolutely necessary). You have to keep those small muscles in knees, hips and back active. But a single or set of good walking stick(s) can help a lot some &lt;strong&gt;parts&lt;/strong&gt; of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13536" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T11:27:33.110" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T14:50:36.480" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Simple knee support bandages as suggested &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24115/13747&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; are not going to help. Good knee braces will. &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0053VDZFI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; is the one I use. I have knee problems and had difficulty hiking, skiing and running. With a couple of those things I can hike and ski without a problem and even run if I'm careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13747" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T14:50:36.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24119" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-15T16:00:46.823" Score="-1" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;Which would be the main advantages and drawbacks of trying to sail a cruising trimaran in summer from the Azores to the Arctic, well past Svalbard but not quite to the pole?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the experienced sailor's perspective, would a monohull offer more stability with problems like frozen sea spray (since it adds weight to the ship) and floating ice (hull resistance)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14118" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T20:06:09.243" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T20:06:09.243" Title="Drawbacks and advantages of using a trimaran instead of a monohull for sailing in the arctic?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-15T17:13:57.700" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;(None of the other answer combines all of the points which I think are critical)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Train. Joints (like tendons) need slower and steadier training than muscles, i.e. they react slower to training impulses. You should not be doing 12 hour plus hikes unless you have been training for at least several hours per week for years. This also applies to carrying weight. If you need to carry a lot of weight for the trip you are training for, carry a similar amount during training even if you don't need it then, preferably using the same backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strength. Strength training for all the muscles around the joint. Those muscles can help stabilize the joint.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stretch. I don't know the theoretical background here. Stretching is good for your joints, believe me. Also it just feels good after a hard work out once you get used to it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Technique. It's very difficult to put your foot down with the heel first so that there is no shock, especially when walking down. Focus on that. You could also just put the front of your foot down first, then use your muscles to slow down so that your heel just kisses the ground instead of hitting it. That will use a huge amount of strength-endurance in your lower legs if you are not used to it (it's the way most fast marathon runners run - not particularly efficient at low speeds I think, but very good on the joints). The Achilles tendon also needs to strengthen to support this and tendons also strengthen more slowly than muscle, just like joints. That's why someone suggested walking backwards, if you walk down backwards the front of your feet automatically touch the ground first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9941" LastEditorUserId="9941" LastEditDate="2019-09-15T19:58:39.280" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T19:58:39.280" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22839" CreationDate="2019-09-15T18:58:14.023" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I seem to remember being told that Italian huts will have an emergency shelter room as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any case, this emergency shelter may not be meant for people who stay there over night during a planned trip: it is meant for proper emergencies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen signs saying &quot;to stay while not staffed, please contact &lt;em&gt;(phone number of someone from the local CAI section)&lt;/em&gt;&quot;. &#xA;So for planning a tour, I'd email or call the respective section of the CAI about the possibility to stay in/at/near the hut for one night. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One slightly off-topic info: I had the impression that in the Italian alps huts that do not belong to the Alpine Club and in consequence are not bound by the Alpine Club prices (= also: need to operate economically on their own) are more frequent than in other parts of the Alps (Austria, Germany, Slovenia).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T18:58:14.023" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24119" CreationDate="2019-09-15T22:12:11.083" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without specifics of when and exactly where in the Arctic your character plans to visit, this is a difficult question to answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see no risks (beyond the usual storms etc.) of sailing a boat of pretty much any description in the tropics and higher latitude ice-free waters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Arctic covers a lot of territory on water and on land, some of which is ice free for much of the year and other places are completely ice-bound all year around (the geographic pole generally is, no matter the time of year). There are also historical and present-day fluctuations in ice cover area and accessibility for much of the Arctic, which have allowed navigation of things like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;North-West Passage&lt;/a&gt; in recent times, which were historically difficult, if not impossible. Significant cities of Northern Europe are within the Arctic circle and certainly have shipping year-round.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, ships of all sizes and shapes have been sailed in the Arctic before, ranging from seal-skin covered kayaks by the Inuit and related peoples, to large modern metal container and tanker ships in recent years. The Vikings in their colonization and settlement of places like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iceland&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Greenland&lt;/a&gt; certainly navigated Arctic territory in open wooden monohulls. There are many well known exploration expeditions that took place in the late 1800's and early 1900's that used wooden sailing ships (monohulls as far as I know), some of which were iron-reinforced to allow greater strength against the ice. Modern &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebreaker&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ice-breaker ships&lt;/a&gt;, which are also monohulls are capable of handling ice that is several meters in thickness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to whether a catamaran or trimaran would be better for these regions, that is a question which a more knowledgeable sailor might be able to answer. However, I would guess that these are more at risk of structural failure or being caught in the ice - navigating open passages with ice in them is hard, even with a monohull, where you don't have to worry about hitting ice with more than one hull.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Catamarans are used in the Arctic for some purposes according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.redbull.com/nz-en/9-boats-built-to-survive-the-arctic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;, but these seem to be largely lightweight ones used for exploration rather than transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-09-15T22:12:11.083" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24125" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-16T10:05:31.270" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;What helped me, may well be available in your area&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feldenkreis classes (a very gentle stretching modality) gave me a flexibility and lightness that I found surprising.  I’m over 60. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a few classes I was walking up escalators and felt I was using half the normal energy. It sounds strange but I felt I was a cat!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also suggest improving your core strength, because once the knee is aggravated, the rest of the body, back hips etc try to compensate. If you’re carrying a pack it does not take long, for me at least, for back pain to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18059" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T10:05:31.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-16T10:45:55.270" Score="6" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Insoles&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's lots of good answers here, but one I haven't seen mentioned is insoles. You've asked for advice other than good boots but it's possible that the importance of insoles is something that you may have overlooked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Expensive boots tend to have cheap insoles. In fact, almost all shoes have cheap insoles. Good insoles are often customer specific: everyone's foot is different, and high quality insoles with excellent arch support and an ankle cup will cost around £30 - therefore it's not in a shoe manufacturer's interest to provide expensive insoles to customers who will likely replace them with their own favoured brand or fit anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;So what has this got to do with knees?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When the arch of your foot is not supported correctly, your foot flattens when you walk. This pushes your toes forward, slightly twists your ankle and puts strain on your knee, and ultimately on your hips and back. Misaligning your foot misaligns your entire body - it's amazing the number of people whose seemingly chronic joint issues (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders) can be fixed by insoles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a tiny misalignment but when you're making literally tens of thousands of steps a day, multiple days in a row, those tiny increments add up. It's much less important if you aren't very active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not to mention that as you become more fatigued, you struggle to step correctly with the correct form, which further exacerbates the issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knee pain can be caused by a huge number of reasons. But it doesn't hurt to spend £30 and get fitted with a good pair of insoles - you can switch them out between different shoes as well, so you only need one pair. It might just fix your problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sources:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Me; a chronic knee pain sufferer after long hikes who has been much more comfortable with insoles following lots of failed physiotherapy.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16218" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T13:16:23.647" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24111" CreationDate="2019-09-16T13:28:59.827" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not only is it possible, but it is a great tactic when prospecting a new stream to figure out what's working.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You definitely have to modify your cast to keep the loops larger and more open, similar to the way you would with a sinking line. I find it helps to slow everything down to make this work well, for example focus on making sure your line is extended fully at the end of each cast before executing the next one. Adding a slight downward movement of the elbow on the forward cast (and upward lift on the back cast) can help open up the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I imagine it in my head, I think that when you cast just a dry fly you keep the loop tight and straight, the line extends fully and then falls onto the water. In the case of a dry/dropper rig, I imagine the line rolling out onto the water because of the bigger loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T13:28:59.827" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24128" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-16T13:46:10.300" Score="1" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;If one were to get started fly fishing what gear would one need just to start with?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, there is all sorts of gear and better gear, but what would the minimum gear to start with be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-22T20:16:52.703" Title="What would the basic gear for fly fishing be?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24128" CreationDate="2019-09-16T13:46:10.300" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The minimum gear would be,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fishing license.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly fishing rod.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Preloaded reel with both backing and leader.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A small assortment of flies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Strike indicators for the wet flies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dry fly floatant for the dry flies.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20504/8794&quot;&gt;Hemostat&lt;/a&gt; for tieing the flies to the line and releasing the fish.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fingernail clippers for trimming excess line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Polarized sunglasses to help with the glare.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shoes for walking in the stream (sandals, Crocs, waders etc).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Something to carry your gear in such as a vest of backpack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you do more fly fishing or your gear wears out you may find other gear that you need or that makes certain things easier but the above is really the minimum amount of gear needed to start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T13:46:10.300" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-16T16:36:14.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is some advice for someone who has had three knee replacements.  Be sure that when you hike you are using proper walking form by rolling from heel to toe. Also balancing your self by pairing your stick hand with the opposite foot. Prior to having no choice but surgery (RA), I found this method most helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18719" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T16:36:14.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2019-09-16T17:48:34.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answering my own question based on recent experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went and bought an inexpensive Sit On Top kayak, and took it to the lake with my shortest canoe paddle.  Lessons learned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yes you can, it is slower then you might expect though&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kayaks are much more responsive than canoes, If you give a big strong paddle in a kayak like you are used to in the canoe, you will turn several degrees.  Maybe 90+ degrees, 3 or 4 strong strokes will turn you all the way around&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using canoe paddle with a J Stroke, you definitely want the canoe style handle.  Subtle twists with the top hand are critical to stay the course.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As with a canoe, keeping the paddle on one side and using a J stroke for long distances, is not a problem.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On my first day out, I found I was going much slower then I expected.  To keep the straight course and keep quiet, I found I was moving at half walking speed or slower (walking trail near the lakeshore, I got passed by foot traffic), probably about the same speed as quiet J stroke in a canoe.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T17:48:34.260" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24132" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22835" CreationDate="2019-09-16T18:03:12.540" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Answering my own question based on recent experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22835/keeping-your-butt-dry-in-a-kayak#comment60394_22835&quot;&gt;Aravona says in their comment&lt;/a&gt; many have drain holes in the seat area.  I bought a sit on top, kayak with drain holes in the seat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took it to the lake and, put it in the water at the dock.  I weigh about 180 pounds, and the kayak is rated at 350 pounds.  I carefully got myself in the kayak and kept my feet completely dry. But when my butt hit the seat, water shot up through the drain holes and soaked my back side. Also When I paddled harder, it seemed like more water came in. I didn't really dwell on it, but I think the bottom of the seat and the drain holes in the seat are at or near water level when I am in the kayak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if it was my entry style (sat down to hard?) or if it is a design issue with this particular style kayak. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wearing dry on the fly, long pants.  Even gettting out of the kayak at the dock, I kept my feet dry until I stood up and the water from my soaked butt, ran down and soaked my water shoes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T18:03:12.540" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-16T23:18:21.530" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you said in your comment: you had three surgeries and there’s only so much training you can do. Well, this might not be the advice you want to hear, but if your knee is too bad to take training then it might be too bad to hike distances like that. I know we all want to stay young and do the same things we did when we have been doing all our lives, but there are times when you just have to accept that... well... you got old. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like I said: probably not what you want to hear. If you’re convinced long hikes are not causing more damage: Kill the pain or learn to accept it (hard, I realize that, but not impossible) or go on shorter hikes...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18724" LastActivityDate="2019-09-16T23:18:21.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21472" CreationDate="2019-09-16T23:34:10.057" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The danger is not only suffocation due to lack of oxygen, but also poisoning due to too much carbon dioxide in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normal air has 21% oxygen; humans will safely survive down to ~15%. Maybe 10% oxygen is barely survivable for a few hours. Mountaineers might have an advantage here, they regularly survive Everest, which has ⅓ of the oxygen at sea level available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, CO₂ is normally only present at very low concentration (0.04%).&#xA;Even 1% CO₂ in the air may lead to headaches and other health issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Occupational CO₂ exposure limits have been set in the United States at&#xA;0.5% (5000 ppm) for an eight-hour period.[126] At this CO₂ concentration, International Space Station crew experienced headaches,&#xA;lethargy, mental slowness, emotional irritation, and sleep&#xA;disruption.[127] Studies in animals at 0.5% CO₂ have demonstrated&#xA;kidney calcification and bone loss after eight weeks of exposure.[128]&#xA;A study of humans exposed in 2.5 hour sessions demonstrated&#xA;significant effects on cognitive abilities at concentrations as low as&#xA;0.1% (1000ppm) CO₂ likely due to CO₂ induced increases in cerebral blood flow.[124] Another study observed a decline in basic activity&#xA;level and information usage at 1000 ppm, when compared to 500&#xA;ppm.[125]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am no expert on physiology, and I would not bet my life on the following calculation, but as a start:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we assume that roughly one molecule of O₂ is turned into one molecule of CO₂, then each percent of O₂ gets turned into one percent of CO₂.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we use 10% of the available oxygen, we will have reduced the oxygen concentration to 19% (which is no problem at all), but have 2% CO₂ (which is survivable for a few hours, but will already cause increased breathing and headaches).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means that we can only use a small fraction of the available oxygen. If we ignored CO₂, we would think that we could survive down to maximally 10% O₂ (i.e.) use half of the available oxygen. While 10% O₂ mixed with 90% N₂ might be (barely) survivable, adding 11% CO₂ would lead to massive CO₂ poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20040012725.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Astronauts&lt;/a&gt; are budgeted 840g of O₂ per day. This corresponds to a volume of 1.1 m³.&#xA;From the calculation above, we can use only 10% of the available oxygen due to CO₂ poisoning, so we need ~10m³ oxygen or 50m³ air per day. This is on the safe side; probably astronauts are working hard most of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A snow cave might be 2m×2m×2m = 8m³, which would give us a relatively safe (but uncomfortable) time between venting of about 4 hours.&#xA;Depending on the CO₂ tolerance, the person might get a bad headache after 1-2 hours, so this kind of room is too small to get a good night's sleep, especially for multiple people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if we melt part of the snow and liberate the air trapped there, it can't be enough to sustain breathing; we would have to melt tens of cubic meters of snow per person per day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This calculation assumes sea level pressures. At 5000m altitude, only about half of the oxygen is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The good news is that CO₂ will increase breathing and thus may warn us to get some fresh air. I am not sure that this is always reliable, though. Especially in a survival situation if already very tired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From this calculation, it looks as if &lt;strong&gt;a snow cave needs a ventilation opening&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Addendum: Diffusion + Candles&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Will CO₂ diffuse into the ice at such a rate that the occupation time of the shelter is extended?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO₂ is the limiting factor, so no need to look at O₂ diffusion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is very difficult to calculate diffusion rates, especially into a heterogeneous system with a very irregular surface like ice.&#xA;Instead, I am looking at two related issues:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How much water is needed to dissolve the CO₂?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How fast can CO₂ permeate ice?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First I am looking a the equilibrium state, where as much CO₂ as possible has dissolved in the water / ice. I did not find any explicit values for solubility in ice, so I took the value for water at 0°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CO₂ dissolves very slowly in water (think of a soda maker), and probably even more slowly in ice, so the following calculation will&#xA;massively overestimate the amount of CO₂ that can realistically be absorbed. In &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, most of the experiments use bubbling and stirring for multiple&#xA;hours to equilibrate gas and liquid phases, while in our case the CO₂ would need to diffuse through at least a meter of ice. As we'll see in part 2, this will take forever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gas solubility follows Henry's law. The mole fraction of the gas in the liquid phase is proportional to the partial pressure in the gas phase.&#xA;The atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa. 2% CO₂ has a partial pressure of 2 kPa.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will calculate how much water at 0°C we need to dissolve 1kg of CO₂ (amount exhaled per person per day) at a partial pressure of 2kPa.&#xA;Henry's constant varies a lot, but I have found values around 3e-2 mol/L/atm at room temperature. AT 0°C, CO₂  might be twice as soluble,&#xA;so I assume 6e-2. At 2% gas concentration, we can dissolve just 50mg in a liter of water.&#xA;To dissolve 1kg (output of one person / day), we need would 15 cubic meters of water. This is a lot. Even if we sat in a deep ice cave with a thick layer of ice around us, the CO₂ would need to diffuse through a meter of ice, which is not realistic:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not know the diffusion coefficient of CO₂ in snow, but it is very low in ice, according to this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Reference_Docs/CO2_diffusion_in_polar_ice_2008.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reference&lt;/a&gt;:&#xA;&amp;quot;the extremely small CO₂ diffusion coefficient in ice has not been accurately determined in the laboratory&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another &lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1959.tb00041.x&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;reference&lt;/a&gt; confirms this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At -9.5°C the carbon dioxide permeation constant was found to be ...&#xA;about two million times less than in water. ... No permeation of&#xA;oxygen through the ice could be detected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first paper gives the permeation coefficient of CO₂ through ice as 1e-21 mol/(m s Pa).&#xA;If we assume that the walls of our cave are 1cm ice, with fresh air on the outside, then each square meter will let only a minuscule amount of CO₂ through:&#xA;1e-21 mol/(m s Pa) * 2 kPa * 1 m^2 / 0.01m * 3600s * 44g/mol = 3e-11 g/h&#xA;The paper mentions that CO₂ transport is not directly through the ice but along lattice defects with surface water, but I can't calculate that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leads some credibility to the argument that if an igloo glazes over on the inside the air will go bad. On the other hand, even if we replaced the igloo with a diving bell, the water wouldn't be able to absorb the CO₂ quickly enough. So I doubt that ice would be able to absorb any appreciable amount of CO₂.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can also look at the issue from an anatomical side: The human lung has a surface area of around 50 square meters. On the body side the blood is circulated through the capillaries, on the air side the air is actively circulated as well.&#xA;If we put a 2nd barrier in series with the lung (our shelter), and require all of the CO₂ that passes through the lung to also pass through the shelter, then the shelter surface would have to be many times larger in surface area if we want to rely on natural convection and diffusion. As the shelter is much thicker than the capillary walls in the lung, the shelter surface would need to be astronomical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So neither the solubility of CO₂, nor its diffusion coefficient in ice are large enough to remove much CO₂ from the air. We need to rely on ventilation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;L. W. Diamond and N. N. Akinfiev, “Solubility of CO2 in water from −1.5 to 100 °C and from 0.1 to 100 MPa: evaluation of literature data and thermodynamic modelling,” Fluid Phase Equilibria, vol. 208, no. 1, pp. 265–290, Jun. 2003.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Candles as an oxygen detector:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A candle is a good test for enough oxygen (even though I would not bet my life on a candle):&#xA;15% oxygen will not support combustion of most flammable materials, but will still sustain life.&#xA;This was used in the Davy safety lamp for miners. It would not only detect methane, but also lack of oxygen.&#xA;These lamps were used for a long time and seemed to have been safe enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The effect of oxygen removal on a fire is shown in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F7qyY15_14&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video of fire and inert gas&lt;/a&gt;. A room full of people is flooded with an inert gas, the fire goes out, people stay alive. The gas is called Inergen, it is a mixture of nitrogen and argon and carbon dioxide; the latter increases the breathing rate and&#xA;makes it safe for humans. At least for a short time.&#xA;Without the carbon dioxide the human body would have no warning of a lack of oxygen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if the candle would still be reliable at altitude.&#xA;I suspect that a fire depends mainly on the relative percentage of oxygen, not so much on the total pressure (as long as nothing dilutes the oxygen, it will burn even at reduced pressures).&#xA;On the other hand, humans need an absolute (partial) pressure of O₂.&#xA;While a candle might (probably? I have no evidence for this.) burn on the top of Mt. Everest, a human will slowly die from lack of oxygen. If that is true, a candle would not be a reliable indicator for enough oxygen on Mt. Everest.&#xA;More realistically, what will happen in an ice cave at 5000m altitude? In this case, we start with half of the oxygen at sea level.&#xA;This is already getting into dangerous territory for a non acclimated person. The candle flame won't mind, though.&#xA;If we consume 30% of the available oxygen, the candle might still be burning (at sea level, a candle will go out around 15% oxygen).&#xA;Now we have a situation of 15% oxygen at a low air pressure. I am not sure whether this would be a problem or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A candle will not detect toxic levels of carbon dioxide: as long as enough oxygen is present it will burn.&#xA;If there is a source of CO₂ (e.g. volcanic sources in Mt. Rainier ice caves),&#xA;a dangerous concentration of CO₂ might be present, with enough oxygen to support a candle.&#xA;If we replace 30% of the air with CO₂, we will have 15% oxygen and 30% carbon dioxide.&#xA;7-10% of carbon dioxide can be fatal. So &lt;strong&gt;a candle does not tell us the air is safe to breathe&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;Normally people react strongly to CO₂ and will seek fresh air on their own, but I don't know whether this is still the case at altitude in a survival situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The candle will also use up some oxygen and produce more CO₂.&#xA;100g of candle will contain 85g of carbon. On burning, this candle will produce 311g of CO₂.&#xA;So a single candle produces CO₂ at a similar rate as a human and will increase the ventilation requirements accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18689" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T08:16:58.007" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-09-17T13:53:32.170" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I have not had knee problems myself on long hikes, others in my traveling group use KT elastic athletic tape around the knee joints for long bike rides.  The tape stretches on the move of the strong muscles and then its natural contraction force aids the other part of the motion cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may or may not help, but did not seem to be in any other answers, so I add it here for whatever it's worth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6212" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T13:53:32.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2019-09-17T18:22:14.937" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I take a metal keychain ring and run it through the loose end of the strap and around the main strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As so: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GsNbI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GsNbI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18730" LastEditorUserId="18730" LastEditDate="2019-09-24T19:52:46.040" LastActivityDate="2019-09-24T19:52:46.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24128" CreationDate="2019-09-17T20:03:54.447" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As I'm going through a minimalist phase of fishing right now, I suggest this as a functional minimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;License; Your location determines if this is actually needed. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rod&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reel; Not absolutely necessary, but it helps manage the line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fly Line &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tippet/Leader; One length of mono is what I'm using now.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flies; I'm now using only muddler minnows and a grub pattern.  I usually bring 1 tied to the line and 1 each in my pocket.  Your choice will differ.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Forceps; I may eliminate these if I can get a productive fly tied on a circle hook.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A body of water with fish in it;  If there are no fish, then you are only casting, not fishing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I take to fish small lakes and ponds targeting pan fish and bass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2019-09-17T20:03:54.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24140" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-18T13:33:45.597" Score="17" ViewCount="4903" Body="&lt;p&gt;For an older guy (say 65+) who likes to hike alone - are a mule or two a help or a hindrance? Maybe a mule for the pack, and a second mule to ride when I get really old?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Historically people preferred to ride a mule - I am not sure it is still practical nowadays :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-18T15:26:52.267" LastActivityDate="2019-09-24T08:47:49.747" Title="Hiking with a mule or two?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-18T14:57:12.033" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is called horse packing. It is a totally different outdoor activity to hiking. There are places you cannot go with horses/mules and caring for an animal is a lot of work. Some people love it and horse pack even though they could hike on their own. Other people hate it. Getting into horse packing is a big investment (the animals are not cheap and there is a lot of gear) and it requires a lot of skills. In the western US, you can take guided horse packing trips and see if you like it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T14:57:12.033" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-18T17:33:21.637" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are too old and out of shape to hike alone, you are too old and out of shape to take care of a mule or two alone. Animal care is a 24/7/365 job, hiking is a hobby that occurs when you are in the mood and the weather meets your fancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you are already hiking on trails, that allow equines (It should be obvious see: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/20115/4079&quot;&gt;Why aren&amp;#39;t the mule trains outfitters required to clean up after their animals?&lt;/a&gt; ) than the trails you use now, probably do not allow them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even where equines are allowed, many areas require special diets prior to bringing the horse to the park.  Which either drastically increase the care and handling overhead, or it derails any impulsive outings &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very first thing about mules, is that they eat baled hay for a good part of the year, the lightest bales are around 40 pounds (18KG).  Second is that they can be stubborn, the phrase &quot;stubborn as a mule&quot; exists for a reason.  If you are to frail to walk with a day pack, you are to frail to manage a mule. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really want to consider a pack animal, see the list at &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21211/4079&quot;&gt;What is the feed/day limit for various pack animals?&lt;/a&gt; there are several smaller animals that are easier to care for. But this is still a 24/7/365 commitment, if you don't currently have pets, you probably want to consider this deeply before moving forward.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T17:33:21.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24143" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-18T18:22:03.360" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;I endorse what @James Jenkins and @StongBad said about being unable to manage and take care of a mule if you are too out of shape to hike alone. I upvoted their answers and your question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many trails are serviced by a packer, and you can hire the packer to haul in your stuff on a mule and also haul you in on mule or horse, and then haul your stuff and you out at a predetermined time.  This is much, much, much less effort than handling the mules yourself, and probably less expensive than owning your own mules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As we got older, my husband and I resorted to packers more (although not exclusively).  The packer would haul our stuff to our chosen &quot;base camp&quot;, we would hike in, and then we would go on from there (without equines). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this strategy, we avoided carrying the packs on the steepest, longest day of the trip, gained some acclimatization without the burden of packs, and could get to a point where there was ample running water.  (Sierras, Rockies.)  We did not regress to the point where we had to be hauled in ourselves; at that point, I know that we would have been utterly incapable of managing all the tasks attendant on two mules.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caveat:  If you are experienced with horses and mules, the answer could be different, but it doesn't sound as though you are.  And if you are taking a  long trip (say, as an estimate, 50 miles or more), the answer could be different.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So my advice is:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) See your doc for a complete physical and get advice on how to get in much better shape, and &lt;strong&gt;stay&lt;/strong&gt; in shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) Get a highly recommended personal trainer and religiously do the exercises your doc and PT recommend.  The upkeep of a personal trainer (PT) until you learn how to do the exercises properly is less than the indefinite upkeep of a mule.  Return to the PT at intervals to make sure your form is remaining correct. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(3) Go on several mule packing trips with a packer -- a packer who will teach you the essentials of mule packing.  You may change your mind after wrangling a mule yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(4) Consider a llama.  See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8964/how-much-experience-is-needed-with-llamas-to-hike-with-a-llama-on-ones-own&quot;&gt;this question and answer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, 65 or 70 is not really old, if you are in good health. You can, with religious effort, take years off your effective &quot;hiking age&quot;, provided you do not have underlying health issues.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2019-09-19T12:58:35.187" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T12:58:35.187" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16923" CreationDate="2019-09-18T19:33:39.640" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The discussion is indeed theoretical because it seems impractical - however possible - to me. First of all, there is a big difference between paper (solid) and water (liquid). In the liquid, the absorbed light energy is distributed by molecular movement rather quickly and you will not necessarily get such a hot spot as on a piece of paper. The fraction of absorbed light will of course anyway heat the water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, there is a difference if you use a magnifying glass or a mirror. A magnifying glass works in transmission without changing the mean direction of the light much. Therefore, it will only shine significantly more light onto the water - and with this cause an additional overall heating effect - if its surface is bigger than the projection of the container surface into the direction of the incoming light. A mirror is different indepentent of its size because it works in reflectance an can redirect a lot of light onto the water which would not have hit the water otherwise. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as paparazzo already indicated in a comment, water is transparent in the UV and most of the visible spectrum, so a big part of the solar energy is not absorbed by water at all. &lt;a href=&quot;https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/ocean-depths/light-ocean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This source&lt;/a&gt; claims that 50% of the solar light energy is infrared light which is readily absorbed by water. They say that almost all infrared light is absorbed within the first 10 cm, so your container would have to be that deep for maximum energy absorption, and with this maximum heating rate, caused by light absorption of water. As we can safely assume that we are in the domain of linear optics, absorption follows &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer%E2%80%93Lambert_law&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Beer´s Law&lt;/a&gt; which states that light intensity drops exponentially with penetration depth, so having a little less than 10 cm container depth is probably not a big deal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is equally important like light absorption by water is light absorption by the container. If you have a black pot it will additionally absorb most of the visible (and probably UV) solar light and this will then heat up your water much quicker. This is also how solar showers (note that they do not use any focussing optics), cookers etc. work. Appropriate estimations of heating rates under such full absorption scenarios are already given in the answer by Greg Hewgill and corresponding comments. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-09-18T19:40:28.830" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T19:40:28.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24145" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20115" CreationDate="2019-09-18T22:10:51.327" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good answers here already.  I would add that based on my conversations with rangers, one of the main reasons waste from humans and from animals like dogs needs to be buried/removed is due to the impact of the scent on the wildlife.  Humans and dogs both have a &quot;predator&quot; scent which can cause wildlife to avoid an area with feces from these species.  As a &quot;prey&quot; animal, horse and mule manure will not have this same impact on the native animals in the ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20137/18361&quot;&gt;logistical reasons listed in other answers&lt;/a&gt; and the reduced impact &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20121/18361&quot;&gt;due to diet&lt;/a&gt; and the non-predatory nature of the animals, manure from stock can generally be left behind with minor impact on the environment.  In other words, the unpleasantness for you as a hiker is probably significantly greater than the impact on the ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18361" LastActivityDate="2019-09-18T22:10:51.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20860" CreationDate="2019-09-19T02:34:43.213" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;They're almost certainly building a nest inside. The condenser provides them an enclosed space for their nest, as well as an ample water source from the condensate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to get rid of them, buy a wasp spray. They shoot a powerful stream so you can shoot from a distance and typically stun them. The ones inside the unit should evacuate quickly and some may even escape. I've never had them return after spraying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would be worth fixing the holes so they cannot return either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13431" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T02:34:43.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-19T02:42:48.477" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is perfectly possible to ride mules.  They're much the same size as horses, and there are people who do ride them.  (A search for &quot;riding mules&quot; returns ~31 million hits.) Some even prefer them to horses.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a pack animal, you're perhaps confusing them with burros, the iconic pack animal of the Old West prospector.  They're a much smaller animal than a mule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problems with any pack animal, be it horse, mule, burro, or llama (which seem to be rather popular) start with maintaining the animal(s) when you're not using them to hike (or ride).  They need a place to live, so either you pay to board them, or you buy a place with several acres of land and build stalls &amp;amp; barns to store feed &amp;amp; tack.  Then they need to be fed every day (usually twice a day), and - if you'll excuse the pun - they tend to eat like horses.  They'll need hoof care (trimming &amp;amp; shoeing) and good farriers don't work cheap, and vet visits for shots &amp;amp;c even if they're healthy.  And if they're not, well, an emergency vet bill can easily run to 5 figures.  (Believe me, I know :-()&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then to get to trails, you'll need transportation.  For horses &amp;amp; mules, that means a &quot;full sized&quot; pickup or SUV and horse trailer, neither of which come all that cheap.  Then the truck &amp;amp; trailer combo seriously limits the number of places you can go. You just can't get in (and out) of a lot of places, or park at many of the ones you could get to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you do get somewhere, you have the work of tacking up the animals, and leading them with you on foot.  Because you really do need to keep them on a lead rope. While I don't have personal experience of mules, horses can (depending on their personality) easily spook at unexpected things like dirt bikes and charging bears (again, personal experience).  If you're not carefull how you hold the lead rope, this will at best give you nasty rope burns.  If you're lucky, the horse will eventually return (more likely if you have more than one, as they're herd animals and like each other's company).  If you're not, you're standing there with all your supplies on the runaway critter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Riding &amp;amp; camping with horses (and I expect with mules) can be a lot of fun, but it can be expensive, a lot of work, and mose importantly, it's something that I would advise anyone but an expert not to do alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5454" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T02:42:48.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24148" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23063" CreationDate="2019-09-19T06:46:07.967" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, many birds that eat fish will also eat eels e.g. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;large raptors like osprey or sea eagles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;herons &amp;amp; egrets&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;cormorants &amp;amp; darters&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds that eat fish don't filet them first, they eat them bones and all. In fact, most every bird that preys on live species will eat it completely. Honestly, I'm pretty sure humans are one of the only animals that don't eat bones in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Birds&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; have a particular part of their digestive system that secretes hydrochloric acid (and other things) to break down bones and other material before it enters the gizzard - the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proventriculus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Proventriculus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as the fish (or eel) is eaten in a way that it can't fan out and become caught in the throat, it will enter that part of the digestive system and either already be suffocated or will shortly no longer be living because of the digestive process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a Pelagic cormorant (&lt;em&gt;Phalacrocorax pelagicus&lt;/em&gt;) eating an eel off the coast of Honshu, Japan -&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cmK46.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cmK46.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's one of the smaller members of the cormorant family coming in with a wingspan of maybe a meter. That eel was about the size of its head and it still had no trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3267" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T06:46:07.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2019-09-19T13:16:36.247" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What I've done before is to place an elastic hair tie on the end of the strap, then just roll the strap up with the hair tie in the center, making a spool around the hairtie. Then you just double up the hairtie repeatedly around the entire spool so that it holds the spool rolled up. The nice thing about this is that it allows you to adjust the length of the loose portion without completely undoing the tie. You can just roll out half a rotation of the spool and then adjust the elastic tie accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T13:16:36.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2019-09-19T13:36:38.277" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just tie them together.  It may not look as pretty as other options but it's free, quick and can be done on the fly. I often travel with my pack on planes and generally check my bag, tying the straps works here too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T13:36:38.277" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24151" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-19T13:44:08.713" Score="1" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;My daughter and I were going to hike the AT through Maryland.  She goes to school there and really wanted to do a muli-day hike.  We recently gave up on the idea b/c the logistics of the end to end travel are both costly and time consuming.  We decided to keep it simple this time and just find a loop or out and back that we can knock out in two long days, maybe three, however I'm having difficulty finding any lengthy trails of the sort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-09-20T08:27:33.730" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T08:27:33.730" Title="Looking for a 20 to 40mi out and back or loop trail in Maryland" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24151" CreationDate="2019-09-19T16:58:05.147" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;What about &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.traillink.com/trail/chesapeake--ohio-canal-national-historical-park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chesapeake Ohio Canal Trail&lt;/a&gt; near of Washington DC?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18727" LastEditorUserId="18727" LastEditDate="2019-09-19T17:56:23.110" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T17:56:23.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24154" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-19T19:00:03.523" Score="6" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked around (including on this site: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24140/hiking-with-a-mule-or-two&quot;&gt;Hiking with a mule or two?&lt;/a&gt;) about hiking with a mule or a horse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people on other sites actually suggested hiking with pack goats. (for weights on the order of 5-10-20kg/10-20-50lbs, depending on hike)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this something people actually do? Does it work out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T12:46:35.910" Title="Hiking with goats?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-19T19:12:41.173" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Horses, mules, donkeys (burros), llamas and alpacas are widely used as pack animals. They would definitely be a help for an extended trek in the wilderness, provided you are capable of managing the animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any animal can be temperamental, but the larger the animal, the greater the risk, both to you and the animal. I've watched a horse buck up on it's hind legs, throw an inexperienced rider and fall back on it's own tail, breaking it's own back - absolutely devastating. I've also seen a rider's face fractured by a horse that decided to jump a stream when the rider was leaning forward. For those reasons, at the risk of upsetting the horse-loving community, I'm personally not too fond of horses as pack animals, especially for inexperienced riders. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Donkeys (and to some extent mules) don't tend to gallop, so they are a smoother ride and donkeys can carry the the heaviest load for the size of the animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alpacas and llamas are generally too small to ride, but can be great hiking companions. They can usually carry anywhere from 30-100 pounds, maybe more, depending on the animal and are generally the most docile (until one decides to spit at you!) They are also known to let out an alarm, sort of an odd shriek. I knew one guy who kept several llamas to protect his goats from bears. The bears don't like the sound and it generally runs them off, so that would also be a benefit for a hiker. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are unfamiliar with large domesticated pack animals, I would suggest you start by hiring a guide, or use a guided service. It would be a great way to try it out, and have someone there that is skilled in handling the animal(s). You could even go from a guided trek to a drop trek as you become more familiar before deciding whether you want to invest in your own animal(s). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cost of purchasing and maintaining a pack animal can vary widely, but if you are using them at least a few times per year, they are more cost effective than ATVs and can go many places motorized vehicles are prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13418" LastEditorUserId="13418" LastEditDate="2019-09-22T00:02:28.297" LastActivityDate="2019-09-22T00:02:28.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24156" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24157" CreationDate="2019-09-19T20:33:11.910" Score="1" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;Garmin inReach devices and its subscription plans seems to offer (optional?) rescue/evacuation insurance already:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vqp9r.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vqp9r.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does mountaineering organization membership such as Sierra Club from California, and Mazamas from Portland, Oregon include such coverage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3857" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T08:28:44.973" Title="Does mountaineering organization membership provide wilderness rescue/evacuation expense insurance?" Tags="&lt;rescue&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2019-09-20T08:56:57.547" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24156" CreationDate="2019-09-19T22:40:39.423" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not all search and rescue organizations charge for their services, even for air evacuation. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/1986496/search-and-rescue-public-service-not-exactly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;It varies from state to state and even county by county&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the US clubs like the Sierra Club, the Mazamas, do not offer insurance, and in fact require that you sign waivers holding them not responsible if you are injured on an outing they sponsor. &lt;a href=&quot;https://americanalpineclub.org/rescue&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The American Alpine Club does offer some rescue insurance as a membership benefit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2019-09-19T22:40:39.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24156" CreationDate="2019-09-19T22:46:35.917" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The American Alpine Club does provide some &lt;a href=&quot;https://americanalpineclub.org/benefits&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rescue insurance&lt;/a&gt; as part of its membership. It's the only group that I know of that does. As I recall it's fairly limited. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the United States, rescue is still mostly free. Any costs are generally covered by the local government and if you are rescued your county will likely be billed for your rescue costs. So far, most counties aren't passing those costs onto people, but there's a lot of discussion around the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Evacuation via helicopter is generally paid for by your health insurance. The situation in other countries can be quite different. My understanding is that in most of Europe you will be billed for any rescue efforts done by the local rescue organization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-09-20T08:28:44.973" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T08:28:44.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24154" CreationDate="2019-09-20T12:40:32.970" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few decades ago, I raised Saanens goats as part of a small farm.  I also liked to hike.  I did some research and found that 'pack goats' where in use in some places.  The have a number of positive attributes that make them a good choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have actually had them on the trail a few times&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They eat brush so can browse for food along the trail (this may be prohibited in some areas)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pound of animal to pound of weight bearing they do well, being able to carry about 25% of their body weight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can carry a herd of them in the back of a covered pickup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are herd animals, and if they identify you as pack leader, they will follow you along the trail. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You can buy goat packs online.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For smaller loads you can use a dog pack on a goat, they are less expensive and at the time were easier to get. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages; they are goats, if you have raised goats, you have probably come out one morning to find one on the roof of your car, with goat prints all over, and the goat got very grumpy when you explained this was not appropriate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary; if you now or previously had goats, they can be a good choice for pack animals.  If you don't have goat raising history, you will want to do some goat research and visit a goat farm.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_goat&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pack goat - Wikipedia&#xA;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://northwestpackgoats.com/what-is-a-pack-goat/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;What Is a Pack Goat?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://packgoats.com/faq/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pack Goats FAQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-09-20T12:46:35.910" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T12:46:35.910" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20288" CreationDate="2019-09-20T14:32:10.370" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had the same question earlier this year and found similar resources as already mentioned by others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The table on the UIAA site seems quite complete, however I personally found two issues with the table:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is limited to climbing only while most people who climb are interested in a broader range of safety relevant products (climbing, summer/winter mountaineering, ski touring, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It mainly lists recalls officially announced by manufacturers and lacks safety issues/warnings detected by the community&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my research I found the safety blog site from DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein = German alpine club) which is much broader and extensive, but the site is available in German language only:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.de/Bergsport/Sicherheit/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.alpenverein.de/Bergsport/Sicherheit/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason I started my own site earlier this year on &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoorsafety.rocks/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://outdoorsafety.rocks/&lt;/a&gt;. I believe us of today it is the most complete source on safety warnings for climbing &amp;amp; alpinism in the English speaking community.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The site is quite new and I am still in the learning phase. I am also new to Stackexchange but I guess it would be against it's policy and purpose to ask for feedback in this question. Still eager to learn what you think about it, so feel free to reach out to me by any practical means (directly on my site, social media, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17700" LastActivityDate="2019-09-20T14:32:10.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24162" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24164" CreationDate="2019-09-21T03:07:18.803" Score="10" ViewCount="4246" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was recently backpacking in Olympic National Park. I didn't have a tarp with me (was being cheap. Bought one shortly after the trip) but had a $5 umbrella. It rained a bit during one the mornings and I was cooking under my umbrella (the main reason I brought it) to protect the stove from getting wet. One thing that occurred to me as I was cooking is the umbrella was probably collecting some of the gases from the stove. Once in a while I kinda tilted the umbrella a bit to &quot;let the gas out&quot; from underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question: Do I risk suffocation while cooking under an umbrella?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've thought about it more since my trip and am inclined to think no. I feel as though there is enough airflow under the umbrella and so as long as I am not sticking my head up to the very tippy top of the umbrella to breath I am fine. But curious to hear the thoughts of others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T16:13:25.907" Title="Suffocation while cooking under an umbrella?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;rain&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24163" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24162" CreationDate="2019-09-21T07:20:50.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume by &quot;gas&quot; you mean the exhaust from your stove? Carbon monoxide? If you're using isobutane (typical US backpacking stove fuel) CO is not normally a significant emission. Even if it were, you'd have to be cooking in &lt;s&gt; a pit or&lt;/s&gt; an enclosed space for it to accumulate &lt;s&gt;as CO is heavier than air&lt;/s&gt;. &lt;em&gt;(It has been pointed out to me the CO is in fact lighter than air, so text relating to that has been struck out, thank you for &lt;strong&gt;enlightening&lt;/strong&gt; me, SE.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are not in danger of suffocation from this, now fire on the other hand... just don't get your plastic umbrella too close to the flame!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastEditorUserId="6032" LastEditDate="2019-09-23T16:13:25.907" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T16:13:25.907" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24164" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24162" CreationDate="2019-09-21T08:39:02.690" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this is a resounding: No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main problem with suffocation and cookers is in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confined_space#Atmospheric_hazards&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;enclosed spaces&lt;/a&gt; where there is no airflow. Suffocation when using a cooker can happen when either the O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concentration drops below the minimum needed, or when the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbon dioxide&lt;/a&gt;) or CO (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;carbon monoxide&lt;/a&gt;) concentration rises to a toxic point. In the case of cookers both scenarios can happen if the air-flow is low enough. CO and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; are both undetectable without specialist equipment at levels which are toxic to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under normal conditions and assuming your cooker is working properly, the cooker will be producing mostly carbon dioxide. This alone is not toxic enough to be deadly as our bodies have very efficient mechanisms for removing CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;  from our systems. If the cooker is not working properly or is without an adequate oxygen supply (as you might find in an enclosed space), then you will be generating carbon monoxide. This gas bind irreversibly to our hemoglobin and accumulates in the system, and is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;much more commonly responsible for deaths&lt;/a&gt; from enclosed spaces than CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of camping all it takes when you have a tent or similar space is to leave the door open. This will provide enough air exchange to maintain both proper burning of the cooker (and less CO produced).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With your umbrella, even at the peak of the umbrella, there is unlikely to be a toxic environment as the cooker is creating a constant up-rising of hot gasses, including those drawn in along with the gasses that have been burnt. These gasses mix enough that you would be unlikely to suffer any serious side effects from breathing this mix.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-09-21T08:39:02.690" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24162" CreationDate="2019-09-23T00:05:52.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;CO2 is not a problem in cooking combustion quantities AND is significantly denser (so &quot;heavier&quot;) than air. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As fyrepenguin said   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;At STP, air is 1.29 g/L, while CO is 1.25 g/L.&quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Molecular weights per gram mol are &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;CO 28 grams&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;O2 32 grams&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;N2 28 grams&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;O2:N2 at 1:4  ratio 29.2 g. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd expect CO to JUST rise - but with open sides and even a modest thermal stream it should be absolutely fine (for most values of absolute :-) ). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you didn't subsequently get a headache you got no significant CO input.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;A headache is an indicator that you received a survivable dose that was higher than you should have allowed yourself to receive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6686" LastActivityDate="2019-09-23T00:05:52.240" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24172" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24140" CreationDate="2019-09-24T08:42:11.683" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your question I cannot figure out on what terrain, what climate, what continent you wish to hike on :) but this read might be an interesting one for you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a guy from Hungary who travels with his donkey, mainly on the El Camino route, but also all around Europe. Here is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/rolandyrocinante/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;his facebook page&lt;/a&gt; (also with English stuff, but pictures can be useful too) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://rolandante.blog.hu/tags/english&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;his blog&lt;/a&gt; (with some English stuff as well). I've been following him for a while, he is not hiking on rough terrain. But from what I've seen the hardest part is not dealing with the animal but with humans: he talks about encountering people on the road who take the animal welfare question too seriously, report him to the police because he makes the donkey carry bags etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During my hikes in the Făgăraș mountains in Romania I met a cabin keeper who carried up food to the refuge house with eight donkeys. They were all well packed with all sort of food, mainly cans. The donkeys handled the load and the terrain very well, it was steep, part of it in forest, the rest on rocks, but sometimes they wanted to wander away, and the guy had to be really assertive to keep them on track. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your idea is great, and you should carry on with it. If I were you, I would consider these things: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What would I do if the animal becomes ill? Breaks a leg, gets some illness which cannot go away with time? do I have enough savings to treat him, potentially far from my home? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Am I willing to alter my route, slow my pace down, change my plans if something happens to the animal?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do I have the time, patience and willingness to become familiar with the animal before and during my trip? Donkeys tend do be really stubborn, but otherwise they are not too picky on their food and surroundings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I take care of the animal during the time I am not hiking? Can I give it to a farm? Can I keep it at home?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some answers suggest picking a llama instead. I am not familiar with llamas, but I would by all means choose the animal which is local to my area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastEditorUserId="3440" LastEditDate="2019-09-24T08:47:49.747" LastActivityDate="2019-09-24T08:47:49.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24173" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-24T18:32:49.640" Score="10" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Poland &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTTK&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society&lt;/a&gt; (PTTK), has created set of badges that can be awarded to tourists for various achievements in different activities (hiking, skiing, kayaking, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are physical badges (pins) that are awarded to person only after submitting logbook proving that they met the conditions. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=odznaki%20pttk&amp;amp;tbm=isch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Photos&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was wondering if there are any other organizations worldwide having similar system of badges/pins/patches awarded to tourists for some achievements/quests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17794" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T15:21:19.487" Title="Badges for tourists achievements/quests" Tags="&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24173" CreationDate="2019-09-24T18:32:49.640" Score="7" Body="&lt;h1&gt;North America&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;USA&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Eastern USA&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amc4000footer.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Four Thousand Footer Club&lt;/a&gt; has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amc4000footer.org/the-lists-we-recognize.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;set of challenges&lt;/a&gt; where after climbing top peaks of NH/NE you can receive a patch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nh.gov/nhdfl/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NH Division of Forests &amp;amp; Lands&lt;/a&gt; - after visiting some of their fire lookout towers you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nh.gov/nhdfl/natural-heritage/fire-towers/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;receive a patch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://48x12.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The White Mountains 4000 Footer Grid&lt;/a&gt; is a set of challenges to hike top peaks of NH in each month of the year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.adk46er.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ADK 46ers&lt;/a&gt; are the hikers who complete the 46 4000' summits in the Adirondack mountains of northern New-York. There is also a separate badge for those who complete the list only during official winter (solstice to solstice).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Canada&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Québec&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.randoquebec.ca/certificat-du-randonneur-emerite/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rando Québec - certificat du randonneur émérite&lt;/a&gt; - This is a list of 75 hiking trails, not necessarily reaching summits, that grants 3 badges, one for every 25 trail a hiker finishes: bronze, silver, and gold.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Europe&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Poland&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amc4000footer.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society&lt;/a&gt; (PTTK) has massive set of pins (possibly hundreds) for various achievements. For example:&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amc4000footer.org/the-lists-we-recognize.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Górska Odznaka Turystyczna (Mountain Tourist Badge) (pl)&lt;/a&gt; - with few different levels awarded for hiking X numbers of kilometers in Polish mountains&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nh.gov/nhdfl/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Szlak Wisły (pl)&lt;/a&gt; (Vistula Trail) - for kayaking (or sailing) whole length of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nh.gov/nhdfl/natural-heritage/fire-towers/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vistula&lt;/a&gt; river&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bunch of local badges for summiting top X peaks in different mountains in the country&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;many more - there are multiple branches of PTTK each creating their own badges for their local area. List (not extensive) can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msw-pttk.org.pl/odznaki/o_odznakach/ok.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here (pl)&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msw-pttk.org.pl/odznaki/o_odznakach/otk.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here (pl)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polskie_Towarzystwo_Tatrza%C5%84skie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Polskie Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie (pl)&lt;/a&gt; (Polish Tatra Mountains Society) has a similar system, but focusing on mountain hiking achievements. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ptt.org.pl/odznaki-turystyczne/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some of the badges (pl)&lt;/a&gt; include badges for finishing various Polish long distance trails (100-500 km).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;UK&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk/?page_id=19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dartmoor Letterboxing&lt;/a&gt; is mainly restricted to Dartmoor,  Devon.  It's something of a precursor to geocaching: boxes with stamps and visitor books are hidden - or kept behind the bar in pubs etc.  The 100 club issues patches for finding 100 (and multiples).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Long-distance cyclists can join &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audax.uk/shop/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Audax UK&lt;/a&gt; and then buy patches for various achievements starting from 50 km rides, seeing the country as they do so.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Austria&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This concept is known in German as &amp;quot;Wandernadel&amp;quot; and implemented by a lot of local tourist assiciations, usually in the form of a &amp;quot;book&amp;quot; you can stamp at designated stamp stations on interesting locations.  Examples are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/wald/freizeit/wandern/nadel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vienna&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.schladming-dachstein.at/de/schladming/wanderabenteuer/wanderpass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schladming&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gasteiner-wanderbuch.at/wandernadel.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gastein&lt;/a&gt;, but there are many more if you google the term.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The same seems to be true in parts of Germany, there's at least a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harzer-wandernadel.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Harzer Wandernadel&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T15:21:19.487" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2019-09-24T18:55:06.503" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24175" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24176" CreationDate="2019-09-24T19:12:39.830" Score="27" ViewCount="6755" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of interesting things in nature, but of all land vertebrates, birding has highly disproportionate attention. People (perhaps including birding enthusiasts) may note and appreciate mammals they see, and reptiles, but birding stands on its own as a hobby. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why, about birds and about us, are we so interested in birding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can imagine a partial answer in that birds are more interestingly likely to fly in and out of an area one is observing, and that birds are often brightly colored, but this is a guess on my part, and I would give them only a guess's degree of probability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why emphasize birding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2019-09-26T11:06:59.773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T03:08:39.390" Title="Why is there such a singular place for bird watching?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24176" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-24T19:31:00.393" Score="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is rather speculative, but draws on a few birding/wildlife books I've read and it's too much for a comment. It also has a little UK bias, but I've visited 4 continents on wildlife trips, and much of this seems universal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, to get them out of the way: invertebrates may be interesting but in the general population there's a bit of a &quot;yuck factor&quot;. Only butterflies (and maybe bees) really have much general appeal. I do know a couple of people who are as keen on their lepidoptera as birders are on their aves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mammals are broadly interesting. They're what people with only a passing interest in wildlife go on safari, or to the zoo, to see (along with the largest reptiles). But for many people, especially city dwellers, sightings of wild mammals are rare. The creatures themselves are, and they're often nocturnal. I'm in a village and cycle at dawn and dusk, so see more than most, but still only see (introduced) grey squirrels and rabbits regularly, with deer and foxes occasionally, and badgers/weasels almost never. Rats have the yuck factor again for many people, and are to be avoided, while most people will only see smaller rodents if they've got a cat to bring them in. So to see interesting mammals takes effort. Much of this applies to reptiles/amphibians too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds on the other hand are visible, audible, and common. Having a few different attractive species visible from your own home is normal. Some (e.g. European Robins in the UK) approach close enough that you can really appreciate them, while others draw attention to themselves at a distance by singing - and birdsong is generally pleasant. If you have the beginnings of an interest in wildlife, it's most likely to be revealed by garden or local birds. Then we have a self fulfilling effect - people are interested in birds, so they go to bird reserves, which means there are facilities for people to go to. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-09-24T19:31:00.393" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-25T00:43:46.430" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's also a case of &lt;strong&gt;accessibility&lt;/strong&gt;, birding really doesn't take any special equipment beyond say a pair of binoculars and birds will visit peoples backyards and bird feeders. While mammals can be shy or limited in area requiring trips to see them. Fish take special equipment to catch and mammals especially the biggers ones can often be dangerous to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next thing is there are tons of diversity among the birds you can see while there is a much smaller number of mammals compared to birds, compare this list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Colorado&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;birds&lt;/a&gt; to this list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Colorado&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mammals&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This also may depend on where you are, it is faily common in national parks in the U.S. to have massive elk/moose/buffalo/bear traffic jams and I doubt that you would ever see that for a bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T00:43:46.430" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-25T11:34:07.303" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This might have to do with migrating behaviour. Different seasons will see different birds, hence more variety, and their arrival has more of an event character.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18764" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T11:34:07.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24179" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-25T15:51:26.863" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Darwin's finches might have something to do with it. Birdwatching does seem to be more popular in the UK than US and probably first became popular during the Victorian era or shortly after. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/darwins-finches&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/darwins-finches&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18768" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T15:51:26.863" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24180" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-25T16:20:10.737" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a bird-watcher myself, but I have bird-watchers in my family, so I had rich opportunity to observe their conversations on their hobby. Here's a collection of points that I think contribute to the appeal of bird-watching. Note that for reasons of homogenuity, I'll use websites and quotes mostly from the UK as an example in the following, but the arguments should hold for most other temperate climates just as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(1) Changing availability encourages emotional investment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One aspect that sets birds clearly apart from other types of animals is their strongly seasonal pattern. True, in temperate climates, there are hardly any insects during winter, but the mammals that you can observe in the UK are observable throughout the whole year. With the migratory behavior of birds, you have immense fluctuations across the seasons: for many species, you'll be able to observe them only at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.radnorforest.co.uk/birdyear.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;specific times of the year&lt;/a&gt;. This seems to lead to emotional investment: You can look forward to the time when species A should be observable for the first time, and cherish if it eventually has returned from its winter quarters. Also, bird-watchers seem to develop forms of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/news/how-deal-birding-fomo&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;FOMO&lt;/a&gt; if a rare species B has migrated to an area where you'd not expect it normally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(2) There are so many to collect&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds claims that there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/ask-an-expert/previous/ukbirds.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;574 bird species&lt;/a&gt; that can be observed in the UK. In comparison, the Mammal Society lists only &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammal.org.uk/species-hub/uk-mammal-list/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;101 mammal species&lt;/a&gt; in the British Isles, and there are apparently only &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.acerecology.co.uk/reptiles-britain/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;6 reptile species&lt;/a&gt; in Britain. This means that while you may quickly have observed all reptile species that exist in your area, you will never run out of targets if you are a bird watcher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(3) It's very accessible&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some birds are so common that you will recognize them without much training. The entries in the list of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lovethegarden.com/uk-en/article/19-common-british-birds-you-can-find-your-garden&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;19 common British birds&lt;/a&gt; are distinct enough that anybody should be able to identify at least a few entries already. This means that you can start bird-watching right away just by going to the local park, even with young children.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(4) There is room for personal development&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may start watching birds straight away, and even children should be able to reliably recognize Great tits and Blue tits. Yet, you need to invest some time, and you will require some experience, in order to be able to recognize &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/types-of-tit/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a Marsh tit&lt;/a&gt; if you see one. I've been told that keeping waders apart, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.discoverwildlife.com/how-to/identify-wildlife/how-to-identify-uk-waders/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a knot from a redshank&lt;/a&gt; is not trivial, and that it can be a satisfactory experience to realize how many different species you can already spot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(5) It's a social activity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an outsider, I was surprised to learn how much of a social activity bird-watching actually is. If you're at a observation post, it's not rare that you'll be addressed by complete strangers who want to show you that rare species that they've just discovered. Bird-watchers are also well-organized, be it in traditional societies (such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB&lt;/a&gt;) or on social media, including dedicated networks like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/birdtrack&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BirdTrack&lt;/a&gt; where you can record and share your bird observations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Granted, some of these points might in principle apply to the observation of other vertebrates as well, especially the last one: I'm sure that there are societies dedicated to the observation of reptiles or of mammals – but there are just not as many. Other points are fairly unique to observing birds, I think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18765" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T16:20:10.737" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24181" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9410" CreationDate="2019-09-25T21:14:28.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes and no; As a breeding/home territory robins do not like thick woods. They prefer an open woodland typical of single home suburbs ( in US). They want some open ground for foraging. Goldfinches like similar open woodlands. However , I see the large migrating flocks of robins in the thick forest ( E TX, piney woods).These loose flocks contain many thousands of birds in a square mile or more of thick woods and suburbs - (The subdivision borders the National Forest). We are right on the southern border of the breeding range of the robins. In breeding season there are about 3 pairs in a radius of a few blocks but none nest on our street because it is the National Forrest boundary. They do come to my backyard for water. Not to ramble but: as a kid in Chicago,&quot; bird&quot; meant robins or house sparrows to me , so I notice them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2019-09-25T21:14:28.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24182" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24183" CreationDate="2019-09-26T00:11:25.460" Score="9" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the morning of September 11, 2001, two airplanes flew into the &amp;quot;Twin Towers,&amp;quot; part of the hub of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_(1973%E2%80%932001)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;World Trade Center&lt;/a&gt; in New York City, United States. The towers, which at one time had been the tallest in the world, were brought to the ground, together with some other buildings. The incident is generally referred to as 9/11, with the year omitted (at least in the United States).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The land where the buildings were is now being used for a variety of things, many of them related to the incident.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One attraction is the large &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.911memorial.org/about-museum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;9/11 Memorial Museum&lt;/a&gt;.  My son and daughter-in-law take my two granddaughters to it during their summer vacation. (He was on his way into the second building when the first was hit, so it's especially meaningful for him.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another attraction is an event that takes place each year on September 11. It's called &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.911memorial.org/tribute-light&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tribute in Light&lt;/a&gt;. It's a memorial to those whose lives were affected, the people who helped rebuild the area, and the resilience of New Yorkers. Many thousands of people come to see this once-yearly powerful tribute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lights mimic the shape and size of the Twin Towers.  They shine high into the sky from dusk on the 11th through dawn on the 12th. They can be seen from a 60 mile radius around Manhattan.&#xA;(Memorial Park is open for visitors from 3pm until midnight.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assembled on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage south of the 9/11 Memorial, the twin beams reach up to four miles into the sky and are comprised of 88 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares, echoing the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the anniversary of 9/11, the Memorial Plaza is open to the public from 3 p.m. to midnight for the viewing of Tribute in Light. The installation can also be viewed from a 60-mile radius around lower Manhattan.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having never seen them, this year on September 11, 2019, my son and his family went specifically to see the lights in the evening. Throughout the hours, there were a few times when the lights went off for some minutes and back on. People in the crowd were saying it was at the request of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Audubon Society&lt;/a&gt;, to protect birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'd like to know if it's true that the National Audubon Society has enough influence to cause the hosts to periodically shut off the lights off. If so, what's the reason?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5547" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T20:01:21.620" Title="Why do they turn the 9/11 Memorial Lights off for birds?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24182" CreationDate="2019-09-26T00:29:35.423" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic idea of turning them off temporarily is to let the birds readjust to their surroundings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reasons still unknown to science, &lt;strong&gt;artificial light attracts birds,&lt;/strong&gt; from fledgling seabirds to migrating songbirds (it does the same to moths). Once captivated, &lt;strong&gt;disoriented birds may crash into windows, or spend hours circling.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 9/11 tribute is particularly problematic: dozens of 7,000-watt bulbs allow it to reach four miles into the sky—it’s visible from 60 miles away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.audubon.org/news/making-911-memorial-lights-bird-safe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Making the 9/11 Memorial Lights Bird-Safe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shutting the lights off temporarily appears to allow the birds to find their bearings and continue southward&lt;/strong&gt;. And Horton said it's encouraging that the people of New York City are willing to temporarily douse the lights for the birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/tribute-in-light-911-bird-migration-1.4817321&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Light beams from 9/11 memorial pull in huge flocks of migrating birds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Between 2008 and 2016, the light show distracted 1.1 million birds, according to Kyle Horton at the Cornell Ornithology Lab. &amp;quot;The worst-case scenario is that there are birds that collide with buildings,&amp;quot; Horton told the CBC, &amp;quot;or the light directly results in the mortality of birds.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Per a 2009 agreement between the New York Audubon Society and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, &lt;strong&gt;the lights are dimmed for 20 minutes every time volunteers count more than 1,000 birds trapped in the beams.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to radar studies conducted by the Audubon Society**, the breaks are long enough for birds to resume their migration.** Still, Horton says, the distraction is tiring for the birds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newsweek.com/9-11-tribute-bird-migration-light-1458553&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NEW YORK'S 9/11 LIGHT TRIBUTE THREATENS 160,000 BIRDS EVERY YEAR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T00:29:35.423" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24185" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24186" CreationDate="2019-09-26T16:34:01.810" Score="8" ViewCount="378" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rather than shining in all directions, lighthouses usually produce a directed beam of light that continuously sweeps in a circle.&#xA;This allows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the light to be more concentrated and so appear brighter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the flashing to be more obvious than a continuous light in bad viewing conditions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the sweep frequency to be distinctive, eliminating possible confusion by identifying itself (e.g. one lighthouse flashes every 3 seconds, while another one a few miles away flashes every 5 seconds).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In poor visibility, such as at night, navigators can tell which direction the lighthouse is from the ship, but it doesn't help them know which direction the ship is relative to the lighthouse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Were any lighthouses designed to also provide directional information (similar to aircraft VOR navigation)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, a second light, say a different colour light located at the top of the lighthouse, briefly flashes every time the main beam faces north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigators could then measure the delay between the two flashes to determine their line of direction from the lighthouse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For instance, assuming a standard clockwise rotation as seen from above, if the sweep frequency is every 4 seconds and the main beam appears 1.5 seconds after the north flash, the navigator will know that their ship is currently positioned at &lt;code&gt;(360° × 4s) ÷ 1.5s = 135°&lt;/code&gt;, or directly south-east of the lighthouse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being able to do this calculation with two lighthouses would allow the ship's position to be accurately determined.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems like a useful and obviously better system, but I've never heard of its actually being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-26T16:39:25.253" LastActivityDate="2020-02-02T19:58:01.290" Title="Did any lighthouses provide directional navigation signals?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24186" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24185" CreationDate="2019-09-26T16:52:44.320" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, firstly, there's generally no need, given that any reasonable navigator carries a compass, thereby allowing the direction to be determined.  With two or more known lights in sight, a simple resection gives the vessel's position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, some lights are set up to give rapid indication of whether the vessel is on the right heading in one of two ways:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leading lights&lt;/strong&gt; which are in the same direction when approaching from the correct direction (e.g. into a harbour), and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sector lights&lt;/strong&gt; which show different colours according to direction, allowing vessels to correct a course which would intercept an obstacle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No timing is required for either of these to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The presupposition to the question is probably that VOR solves a problem for aircraft navigation, so there ought to be a solution to the same problem in marine navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flaw in that reasoning is that there is no marine equivalent problem:  radio receivers are almost omnidirectional (by design), but light receivers (our eyes) are very directional. So, the problem that VOR solves is one that simply doesn't exist for lighthouses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-09-27T13:33:29.417" LastActivityDate="2019-09-27T13:33:29.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1042" CreationDate="2019-09-26T17:35:41.267" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently been stung by spider wasps ; ID is not easy as all I have seen is a small black wasp flying away. I had single stings on 4 days of a 5 day period so I could try different treatments. Very painful stings ( more than the common red wasps we have). I was surprised to find that immediate washing with soap and water was a big help , and if followed by cold compresses ,the pain was reduced and all redness and swelling were eliminated. This treatment was so successful that I did not use antihistamine at the last sting. By comparison ; for the first sting I used cold compresses, topical and internal antihistamine but had discomfort , redness and swelling of an arm for 2 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T17:35:41.267" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24188" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24185" CreationDate="2019-09-26T21:13:29.133" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;As already pointed out in a comment, your question is based on a misconception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In poor visibility, such as at night, navigators can tell which direction the lighthouse is from the ship, but it doesn't help them know which direction the ship is relative to the lighthouse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you know one of these bearings, you automatically know the other: it's just the same bearing line, looked from the other end. So take a bearing from the vessel to the lighthouse (using a compass), flip it 180°, and now you have the bearing from the lighthouse to the vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8887" LastActivityDate="2019-09-26T21:13:29.133" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24189" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24212" CreationDate="2019-09-27T14:05:08.907" Score="1" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been trying to find a list of water sources that should be avoided. I have checked online and looked at several water companies, e.g. Scottish Water. I haven't found any information on which rivers, lochs (lakes) or streams that should be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these can have raw sewage, factory or farmland pollutants further upstream. I know one river in particular that all the locals advise not to drink from, regardless of how much purification is done on the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a water filter and/or boiling and if required carry iodine in my survival pouch.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time I rough camp in the hills and mountains so I know from a geographical point that the water I use doesn't have any &quot;external&quot; pollutants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18778" LastEditorUserId="8887" LastEditDate="2019-09-29T11:34:58.800" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T17:38:42.777" Title="Water sources: which are safe and which should be avoided? (UK)" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24185" CreationDate="2019-09-27T16:31:27.020" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a of type navigational aid that partially provides some bearing information, and that is a range marker.  Such markers occur in pairs, positioned close enough together to both be seen at the same time, yet far enough apart to be visually distinct from each other.  Further, the two markers are placed at different heights, so that one always appears above the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zjOPU.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zjOPU.png&quot; alt=&quot;photograph of a pair of range markers in a harbor&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;source: BoatUS&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By day, range markers appear as signs having three vertical stripes of two contrasting colors, and most are lit at night.  These markers are placed such as to be aligned along the center of a preferred channel.  If you are in the channel, the higher, farther away marker should appear to be directly above the lower, closer marker.  If the markers are not aligned, you have strayed off-center.  In the photo above, the vessel is to the port side of the channel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jglpv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jglpv.png&quot; alt=&quot;example nautical chart having range markers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;source: 13th Coast Guard District&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When range markers are displayed on a nautical chart, such as the pair on the island in this fictitious example, there is also a dotted line drawn between them.  Often this line is labeled with the true (as opposed to magnetic) bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I didn't know this before, but thanks to @Gabriel C., I learned that much of the above information is only applicable to the United States, where our Coast Guard maintains a standardized system of navigation aids.  Apparently, in Canada, range markers look like this (trapezoid shapes):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CJqCS.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CJqCS.png&quot; alt=&quot;range markers as they appear in Canada&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;source: safeboat.ca&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other nations, range markers may follow other standards or no standards at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might also be worth mentioning that some objects can form a range without being marked as such officially, for example two unique buildings, one near shore and another on a hill just inland.  Or a water tower and a bridge support.  Many such things are shown on charts and serve as unofficial landmarks even though not meant for precise navigation.  Draw a line between them on your chart, slide over to the compass rose to get the bearing between them, and when you see those objects lined up, you have your bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastEditorUserId="9109" LastEditDate="2019-09-30T18:32:09.467" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T18:32:09.467" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24192" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-27T17:10:29.377" Score="7" ViewCount="4943" Body="&lt;p&gt;I often need to tension a rope between two trees, usually 20-30 ft apart. I am not skilled with knots so it is often sloppy and the tension doesn't hold even very modest weight (such as clothes or something like a target hanging).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some compromises between reliability and portability/simplicity when tensioning a rope between two trees, meaning using only rope (and not hardware like beeners or ratchets)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T20:17:21.727" Title="How to tension rope between two trees?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="3" ClosedDate="2019-09-29T05:45:33.730" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24192" CreationDate="2019-09-27T20:16:48.903" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;At one end, I tie the rope any old how. It can be loose even. Then I go to the other tree and pull as hard as I can on the rope until it's really tight. Then, holding tight, I walk around the tree several times until the turns of the rope round the trunk are doing most of the work of holding it tight. Then I can tie it off. If things slipped a little while I was doing that, I can throw the free end over the rope and pull down so that it's tight again, though somewhat lower, and tie it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used this to hang wet laundry with minimal drooping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2019-09-27T20:16:48.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24194" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-28T00:49:44.320" Score="1" ViewCount="141" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a survival story and want to make it authentic. If you were stranded on a mountain trying to get down as fast as possible, what would you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&#xA;What if this was after a plane crash on a desolate snowy mountain? Would it be possible to fashion some kind of combination from debris and nature to propel down the mountain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18783" LastEditorUserId="18783" LastEditDate="2019-09-30T19:19:13.240" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T19:19:13.240" Title="What materials from nature can you use to build a pair of skis on a mountain?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24194" CreationDate="2019-09-28T01:31:43.713" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;From your heading I gather the mountain in your story is covered in snow. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the slope allows it, then I'd skid down on my behind. Grab something like a suitably formed stone to be able to perform a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-arrest&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;self-arrest&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;Any kind of skis you could expect to build up there would perform far worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3478" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T01:31:43.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24196" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24192" CreationDate="2019-09-28T01:48:50.780" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can tie the rope to one tree using a knot of your choosing, depending on the application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other end you fit using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20271/how-to-tie-a-purcell-prusik-from-a-single-end?noredirect=1&amp;amp;lq=1&quot;&gt;prusik knot&lt;/a&gt;, which is easy to tie. You can tie this knot while the rope is loose, then slide it along to make it as tight as you need it to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use this for my hammock Ridgeline and with a bit of practice, it's extremely easy and you can make it very tight with no effort whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1963" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-28T20:17:21.727" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T20:17:21.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-09-28T01:54:21.487" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's nothing more complicated than this: &lt;strong&gt;The hobby is accessible. Birds come to us&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The suburbs are a very, very, very hostile place for land animals - vast and sterile by their standards, with pavement, lawns (no cover), structures, fences to impede mobility, and thick with predators (dogs and cats).  So prairie dogs, salamanders, wolves, emus, giant turtles, rattlesnakes just can't get to us to be seen.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birds, however, &lt;em&gt;glide over all&lt;/em&gt;.  The predators are no threat to them. The urban environment has enough trees, power lines, or other roosts; there's food and water to be had from squirrel feeders and bird baths.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all you need is an easy chair, and you can see a huge selection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T01:54:21.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24192" CreationDate="2019-09-28T03:01:35.460" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although you asked an outdoors question, I'm going to give you a physics answer that might shed some light (with an outdoors note at the end.) When you string an ideal rope (with zero stretch) horizontally between two ideal vertical trees (with zero give), and then hang an object from the center, the horizontal force pulling on the two trees is... infinitely large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, in reality it drops off immediately, as the rope stretches and the trees bend. At a sag of 1 degree from horizontal, the force on each tree will be 57 times the mass of the hanging weight. At 5 degrees of sag, it's about 11 times. (And even if your knots are perfect, it takes less than half a percent of rope stretch to get you 5 degrees of sag.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why the physics lesson? Just to point out that knots in this setup are taking a LOT more force than most people expect. It's unrealistic to want the rope to hang flat and level. The more sag you're prepared to allow, the easier this problem is. Tying the ends up higher might be easier than tying them tightly enough for your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about an actual answer to your question? The most basic knot for tensioning a rope in a setup like this is the tautline hitch: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taut-line_hitch&lt;/a&gt; . When tied properly, you can slide it along the rope AFTER tying it to increase the tension, and then it will stay in place. That won't get you the incredible amounts of tension you'll need to hang heavy objects with minimal sagging, but it will probably work for something like a clothesline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you need more tension than that, there's a cute trick called a &quot;trucker's hitch&quot;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker%27s_hitch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker%27s_hitch&lt;/a&gt; . There are a number of variants, but the basic idea is to tie a loop in the rope, then run the end around the tree and through the loop. This acts like a pulley system, to give you mechanical advantage in pulling the rope tight before tying it off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A final note of caution: Be careful of the health of the tree when doing this, especially the trucker's hitch or other approaches that create a huge amount of tension. Make sure the trees are solid enough to hold the amounts of force you're applying to them. And while this is ok for temporary usage, don't leave permanent supports tied directly around a tree for a long period of time (like years) -- as the tree grows this can damage or even kill the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18784" LastActivityDate="2019-09-28T03:01:35.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24199" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-29T17:27:39.943" Score="5" ViewCount="143" Body="&lt;p&gt;On the river I have been fishing, there is a section where the road was rerouted, and another where a dam was torn out. In both cases, those sections of river have fewer bushes and trees and the grass is only slowly growing back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It makes it easier for flyfishing because my chances of getting caught up on vegetation is way less, &lt;strong&gt;but would the lack of shore vegetation mean there are fewer fish in those sections of river?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-09-29T18:59:36.577" LastActivityDate="2019-10-11T20:11:00.200" Title="Does less riverside vegetation lead to fewer fish?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24200" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24211" CreationDate="2019-09-30T11:38:00.453" Score="3" ViewCount="1269" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I work, there is a rather large population of Spotted Lanternflies around our office building.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L90vSm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/L90vSm.png&quot; alt=&quot;Lanternfly&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I've read, they are considered invasive species and quite a problem this year in Pennsylvania.  However, I've only really noticed them outside the office building where I work.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What attracts Spotted Lanternflies? I thought maybe it was the large concrete and glass building that I work in - maybe some sort of chemical in the concrete structure that they can sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T17:56:55.837" Title="What attracts Spotted Lanternflies?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;pennsylvania&gt;&lt;invasive-species&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24201" PostTypeId="5" CreationDate="2019-09-30T11:42:43.923" Score="0" Body="" OwnerUserId="-1" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-09-30T11:42:43.923" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T11:42:43.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24202" PostTypeId="4" CreationDate="2019-09-30T11:42:43.923" Score="0" Body="Types of species that are not native to an area.  Invasive species can be introduced to an environment either artificially or naturally, and can disrupt ecosystems that cannot sustain them naturally.  Use this tag when asking about these kinds of species. " OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2019-09-30T17:56:35.593" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T17:56:35.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24203" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24199" CreationDate="2019-09-30T13:04:52.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lack of vegetation along the banks will have a number of effects, each of which can affect fish populations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vegetation will shade the water. This will reduce water temperatures which is typically good for fish. The shade can also provide cover for fish in the stream and give them a greater sense of security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vegetation along the banks will affect what kinds of terrestrial insects wind up in the water. Terrestrial insect fly patterns can be very productive for larger fish in areas where they have grown used to grasshoppers falling in the water, for instance. Their willingness to go after such patterns will be greater in areas where they see them often (vegetated banks) and less so in areas where there is no such vegetation and the fish rarely see such food. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vegetation can provide some protection from the wind, which could affect your presentation. More importantly, though, is that it can provide something to hide behind as you make your approach to the stream. So even if there isn't much difference in the number of fish between vegetated and non-vegetated sections, your approach will more likely go unnoticed if you are sneaking up behind vegetation. Presenting to naive fish is always preferable to presenting to wary fish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T13:04:52.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24204" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24220" CreationDate="2019-09-30T13:08:33.283" Score="3" ViewCount="166" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have Osprey Atmos AG 50 and I am trying to buy a rain cover for it. There are two sizes in Ultralight rain cover model.One is 'M' size (upto 50 L) and another is 'L' size (50-75 L). Have anyone bought 'L' size cover? I am bit concerned with 'M' size because when the bag is fully loaded will it cover well? Is it better to go for 'L'?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18794" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T14:19:31.503" Title="Osprey Atmos AG 50 raincover" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24207" CreationDate="2019-09-30T17:11:18.747" Score="29" ViewCount="12557" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend and I had an argument about this topic. He says that the cold air in the mattress will stay at the ambient temperature, so if it's -20 outside the air in the mattress will stay at -20 so I'll keep freezing as opposed to sleeping on the ground (both with a sleeping bag). I think that this is false since the air is trapped in the mattress and that air is an insulator. The ground will keep on being cold though. I'm not sure which one is right here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18795" LastEditorUserId="18803" LastEditDate="2019-10-01T13:38:08.707" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T21:22:47.160" Title="Is sleeping on the ground in cold weather better than on an air mattress?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24205" CreationDate="2019-09-30T17:46:02.363" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an old adage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;One blanket underneath is worth two on top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;but I can find little support for this idea except a mention on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/camping/736356-How-do-we-stay-warm-at-night-when-camping&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mumsnet&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reasoning is, that the floor or the ground underneath is solid, and has a much higher thermal capacity than the air above, and so will draw a lot of heat away from your body. It's not just the temperature of the surroundings which matters, but its ability to draw heat from you too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have ever worn boots or shoes with air-cushion soles, you'll know that your feet stay warmer than in those with solid soles, which conduct heat better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So any kind of insulation between you and the ground is worth having.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of great benefit too, is to sleep on a waterproof ground sheet, which prevents moisture travelling up to your bedding and body from the ground. Dry bedding is a better thermal insulator than damp bedding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Air circulation in the mattress causes some heat loss by convection, but will be much less than by direct conduction to the ground. If taking an air mattress with you is an option, then you will be more comfortable, but warmer than sleeping on the ground. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-09-30T19:30:59.017" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T19:30:59.017" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24207" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24205" CreationDate="2019-09-30T17:46:12.250" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;Effectively, it isn't much better to sleep on an air mattress that isn't specifically made to insulate from the ground than on the ground itself although it does make a slight difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main takeaway is that you should always avoid sleeping directly on the ground so even a poorly insulated air mattress will be better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your friend isn't right in assuming the air in the mattress will stay at ambient temperature as you are constantly heating it and it doesn't mix with the rest of the air outside of the mattress. It should remain a bit warmer than the air around although it would lose heat both to the air &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the ground and as such won't be very effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Mechanisms of heat loss&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.e-education.psu.edu/egee102/node/2053&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;three mechanisms involved&lt;/a&gt; in losing heat to the ground when camping (provided the tent is setup on the ground).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radiation&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your body is the heat source and will shed heat away in the form of electromagnetic radiation (between 8 and 15 µm wavelength on the spectrum). That's why emergency blankets work by reflecting these radiations, and why a fire feels hot on your skin even from a distance.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Conduction&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When a hot body is in contact with a cold body, heat will be transferred to equilibrium. Between solids, conduction is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conduction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;most significant method&lt;/a&gt; of transfer as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;conduction is greater in solids because the network of relatively close fixed spatial relationships between atoms helps to transfer energy between them by vibration. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the case of sleeping on the ground, since you keep producing heat to maintain temperature, this is a constant process. Considering the ground is essentially infinitely large, your body will never be able to heat it up enough so that the system reaches equilibrium and heat loss will remain constant.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Convection&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;This is the process where parts of a fluid (like air) of different temperatures will mix and transfer heat to each other. It is a very efficient transfer method.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your air mattress doesn't include a mechanical barrier to convection, any air that you heat up will eventually mix with colder air. You will still feel cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a very rough sketch of the process. Your body (red) heats the air at the top of the mattress. This air mixes with the colder air from the bottom and any heat that gets to the ground gets transferred to it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHNWj.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHNWj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Insulation methods&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few ways to combat the heat exchange in an air mattress:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Baffles&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The idea is to restrict air movement with physical barriers. The longer it takes for the air to reach the bottom, the slower it will cool.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insulating fibers&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Similarly to baffles, adding an insulating material like down, synthetic or not, will restrict air movement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thermal reflector&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is possible to add a reflector, like aluminium foil, somewhere in the mattress. Just as with an emergency blanket, heat will be reflected.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A foam structure&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self-inflating mattresses like Therm-a-Rest are composed of a loose open cell foam that gets filled with air. This is a relatively effective insulating material as it greatly restricts convection currents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some brands combine those solutions (mainly baffles and reflectors) to reduce bulk and weight although you then have the issue of mattress integrity. If not airtight, an air mattress is useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;How to use R-ratings&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The higher the R-rating, the better your mattress will be at keeping you warm. As noted on the MEC website in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/about-sleeping-pads&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to choose a sleeping pad&lt;/a&gt; article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sleeping pads with an R-value of less than 3 are best for really warm weather. R-values of 3–4 are best for 3-season use. For winter camping, choose a sleeping pad with an R-value of 4.5 or higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a reference, the 12cm thick &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5050-920/Reactor-Air-Double-Mattress&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Reactor Air Double Mattress&lt;/a&gt; from MEC has an R-rating of 1.5. This is even though there are basic structural baffles inside. This is a laboratory measured rating, which is accurate. As you see, the effective insulation is marginal and won't even work in the interseasons, nevermind in the winter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;First hand knowledge/anecdotal evidence&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many field experiments that have been conducted (intentionally or not) where the end result is that a plain air ballon mattress isn't insulating at all. In my 8 years of outdoors retail, I had plenty of angry customers coming back to the store with a summer mattress saying they hadn't been able to sleep all night when in the intermediate seasons when the ground freezes or sometimes winter when camped on snow, even if they had a sufficient sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The blue foam sleeping pads will maybe fare better than an air mattress but I can't confirm first hand. On frozen ground, open cell foam like the blue stuff is usually not considered enough and closed cell EVA is preferred (like Evazote yellow pads from Zote Foams).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding foam pads, I had the ability to do a field test with a friend. We both had -20°C sleeping bags, a 1&quot; self-inflating Therm-a-Rest, and EVA foams. Mine was 15mm, his was 10mm. The first night's air temps was around -15°C but the next morning, he complained of having chills in his back all night. Since we had a few other pads with us, I proposed he use a 15mm that night and even though the air temp went as low as -25°C, the additional 5mm was enough to cut the cold from his back. There was no other changed variable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-10-10T21:22:47.160" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T21:22:47.160" CommentCount="17" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24194" CreationDate="2019-09-30T19:07:57.407" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The technique @helm recommends is (at least in this neck of the woods) called a &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glissade_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glissade&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. It is essentially &quot;&lt;em&gt;a method of descending a steep snow-covered slope via a controlled slide on one's feet or buttocks&lt;/em&gt;&quot;. I have heard of people using other items to assist in a glissade by using them as a sort of sled, a backpack or as in Ed Abbey's Desert Solitaire; a large flat rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were you I would spend some time googling this term as it is a more realistic way to quickly improvise ones way off a mountain, rather than taking the time to attempt to fashion proper skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, depending on the type of story you're writing, you could have your character just strap a couple felled logs to their feet at let fly! &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/how-paul-bunyan-invented-skiing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AKA Paul Bunyan&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T19:07:57.407" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24209" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24199" CreationDate="2019-09-30T20:05:11.507" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the direct benefits to fish listed by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/3995/that-idiot&quot;&gt;That Idiot&lt;/a&gt;, streamside vegetation provides some crucial indirect benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One indirect benefit is falling leaves. The leaves of streamside vegetation fall into the water and decay. Decaying leaves feed benthic macroinvertebrates. These include aquatic worms, snails, clams, crayfish, and the aquatic lifestages (larvae and nymphs) of insects like dragonflies, craneflies, midges, etc. If the names of any of those organisms sounds familiar, it's probably because you have a fishing lure that imitates one or more of them. &lt;strong&gt;Fish eat benthic macroinvertebrates. Without benthic macroinvertebrates, you don't have fish.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Streamside vegetation also prevents erosion. If the streambanks now have bare, exposed dirt, that dirt is eroding into the stream. Dirt in the water increases turbidity and decreases water quality, both of which are bad for fish as well as benthic  macroinvertebrates. When dirt falls on the bottom of the stream, it fills in the spaces between rocks where many benthic macroinvertebrates live, displacing or smothering them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Streamside vegetation slows overland flow of rainwater after a storm. It helps the rainwater to seep into the ground instead of going directly into the stream. With the lack of streamside vegetation along this section of the stream, any chemicals carried by that water (eg, oil or salt from the nearby road) go directly into the stream. This decreases water quality, harming both the fish and their food supply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For more information about the benefits of streamside vegetation, look for information about &lt;em&gt;Riparian Buffer Zones&lt;/em&gt;. This document has some good information: &lt;a href=&quot;http://eightmileriver.org/resources/digital_library/appendicies/09c3_Riparian%20Buffer%20Science_YALE.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Riparian Buffer Zones: Functions and Recommended Widths&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T20:05:11.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24210" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-30T20:44:57.067" Score="10" ViewCount="538" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a follow up on question that my friend asked earlier, but I can't comment on. My friend and I have an ongoing argument about a question :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During cold winter camping (-20C air temperature, ground has more than 20cm of snow thickness, in a regular summer tent that has a thin soft floor) my friend slept on a regular uninsulated airbed and I slept on a yoga mat. We both had similar sleeping bags. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a relatively comfortable night of sleep, my friend got very cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that his choice of sleeping on a thick airbed filled with cold air was the main reason why he felt more cold than I did, since his mattress is so big that his body could never heat up the air inside. He disagrees and believes the air in the mattress acted as insulator that protected him from the ground cold. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Who is right, and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18796" LastActivityDate="2019-11-10T18:54:07.790" Title="Is sleeping on a yoga mat better than on an airbed during winter camping?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;temperature&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24200" CreationDate="2019-09-30T20:50:41.793" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The favorite host tree of the Spotted Lanternfly is Tree of Heaven (&lt;em&gt;Ailanthus altissima&lt;/em&gt;). There may be trees of heaven around your office building. However, spotted lanterflies aren't picky. They also like Almond trees, Grape vines, ​​​Peach trees, Apple trees​, Hickory trees, Pine trees, Apricot trees, ​Hops vines, Plum trees, Basil, Horseradish, Sycamore trees, Blueberry bushes, Maple trees, Walnut trees, Cherry trees, Nectarine trees, Willow trees, ​Cucumber plants ​and Oak trees. So it's probably not because they're attracted to any particular plant species. Spotted lanternflys reproduce prolifically wherever they are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The reason you're noticing spotted lanternflies near your office, and not other places, is because they got to your office first.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the other places you go don't have spotted lanternflies, you could be at risk of spreading them to those other places. Lanternflies will lay eggs on a car or other vehicle. Please take precautions. The PA Dept of Agriculture has some great resources on the topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The spotted lanterfly invasion is relatively new, and it's a big threat to agriculture. They were first found in the US in 2014, near Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is working hard to stop it from spreading. They're now also in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, and possibly other states that I'm not aware of. The respective state departments of agriculture are all working on containing and eradicating them. &lt;em&gt;(If anyone knows of other states I should add to the list, please comment below.)&lt;/em&gt; &#xA;You can help by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Report this infestation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Pennsylvania, report it through &lt;a href=&quot;https://extension.psu.edu/have-you-seen-a-spotted-lanternfly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this form&lt;/a&gt; on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture website. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Maryland, inform the Maryland Department of Agriculture at (410) 841-5920 or DontBug.MD@maryland.gov. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Delaware, take a geotagged photograph and upload your photograph to Facebook or Instagram, using the hashtag #HitchHikerBug, or send an email to HitchHikerBug@delaware.gov, or call (302) 698-4632.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Massachusetts, report through &lt;a href=&quot;https://massnrc.org/pests/slfreport.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this online form&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you see spotted lanternflies outside the current quarantine zone, it's a big deal. Report them to your state department of agriculture immediately.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look at this &lt;a href=&quot;https://padeptag.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=928407c545634e9784dcc6e56961114c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;quarantine zone map&lt;/a&gt; to figure out if your daily commute takes you from inside the quarantine zone to outside the quarantine zone. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inspect your vehicle for spotted lanternfly eggmasses before leaving the quarantine zone. Destroy any eggmasses before leaving. If that seems like too much effort (and it is a lot of work; I understand that) consider all the crops that could be destroyed by spotted lanternflies. How much more expensive will foods like blueberries, apples, cherries and grapes (and wine) be if those crops are wiped out in Pennsylvania? What if those crops were wiped out throughout the northeast and midwest?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Monitor your own property for spotted lanternflies. If you find them, report them and eradicate them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional resources:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/spotted-lantern-fly.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/spotted-lantern-fly.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/the-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/the-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://agriculture.delaware.gov/plant-industries/spotted-lanternfly/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://agriculture.delaware.gov/plant-industries/spotted-lanternfly/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/quarantine/Pages/default.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/quarantine/Pages/default.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2019-10-01T17:56:55.837" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T17:56:55.837" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24212" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24189" CreationDate="2019-09-30T21:14:18.520" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one is going to guarantee that a water source is safe to drink from. The best you can do is look for reasons that a given water source might be expected to be unsafe. Then, after you rule out as many sources of risk as you can, you make your own determination whether that water source seems safe enough to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I like to use a topographic map to figure out where the headwaters of a given stream is. I try to get water from as close to the headwaters as possible. And I look at the land use of all of the stream upstream from where I'm taking water. Ideally, you would want to know about the historical land use, in case of any sources of groundwater contamination (old underground gas tanks, dump sites of mystery chemicals, mining, etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that filters remove microorganisms and undissolved particles. They don't do anything about dissolved chemical contaminants and heavy metals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a source of water quality testing testing in the UK:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://environment.data.gov.uk/water-quality/view/download/new&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UK Environment Agency Water Quality Archive&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Water Quality Archive provides data on water quality measurements. Samples are taken at sampling points around England and can be from coastal or estuarine waters, rivers, lakes, ponds, canals or groundwaters. They are taken for a number of purposes including compliance assessment against discharge permits, investigation of pollution incidents or environmental monitoring. The archive provides data on measurements and samples dating from 2000.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2019-10-01T17:38:42.777" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T17:38:42.777" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24213" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-09-30T23:29:03.340" Score="10" ViewCount="5292" Body="&lt;p&gt;A strap running through a buckle is typically easy to loosen and tighten as desired. Usually, it stays in place. Sometimes, however, it slowly (or quickly) works its way loose, as though the thickness or smoothness of the webbing doesn't quite match the size or shape of the buckle. What can I do to make the strap more grippy?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The specific problem I have is with a new backpack (no wear and tear), and it happens in dry conditions (not wet and slippery). There are two places where it happens:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On the hip belt, where the straps even have cloth-elastic bands wrapped around, right next to the buckles, but only function to keep things tidy, not grippy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JKnHL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JKnHL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where the stop of the shoulder straps are tightened/loosened against the top of the pack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fivgg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fivgg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One method could be to add a separate clasp, as per &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1448/how-can-i-improve-on-the-straps-on-my-travel-pack&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;. Also, I imagine I could intentionally soak it in sea water and then not rinse it, leaving the salt crystals to gum up the works (I know this happens to kayak gear and it's usually a nuisance). Other techniques? I consider replacing either the strap or the buckle to be too drastic a solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-12-22T22:06:09.023" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T22:06:09.023" Title="How to prevent strap slippage through buckle?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2019-09-30T23:41:44.550" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The solution on my backpack/bike helmet is a rubber band/hair tie like cord around the straps just below the buckle. In order to readjust the buckle you have to loosen the elastic cord around the straps and pull it away from the buckle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure exactly why this works, but I haven't had any problems with my helmet coming loose or backpack straps loosening either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-09-30T23:41:44.550" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24215" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24204" CreationDate="2019-10-01T02:04:50.137" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Either should be fine, the M size may not fully cover it if you have the backpack stuffed to the max.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, as of right now &lt;strong&gt;it's a difference of 0.2 oz + $3 between the two&lt;/strong&gt;, so if you are worried that much about it, then just get the bigger one. The other advantage of the bigger cover is if you ever need a bigger pack for longer trips you already have one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottom line is that the difference between the two is pretty negligible so I would just get the bigger one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T02:04:50.137" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24205" CreationDate="2019-10-01T04:35:53.590" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some more factors here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1)  Even if the air in the air mattress was the same temperature as the outside air it has much less thermal capacity and thus will take your heat away slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2)  An air mattress will spread the pressure more evenly--your sleeping bag won't be as compressed at pressure points and thus heat will escape from them slower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T04:35:53.590" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2019-10-01T06:14:08.593" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you've got the strap to the perfect length and want to maintain that length, you can sew a small fold in the strap, similar to what's used at the end to stop the whole strap running through. Slitting the stitches means you can change your mind later. Realistically this won't help for a waist belt that needs to adjust to different clothing, except as a backstop to limit the slippage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These buckles work by friction between the two layers of webbing that want to move in opposite directions, so you need to increase the friction, probably by increasing the pressure. One way to do this is to sew another layer of webbing on the outside, but this could be a fairly tedious task if the region that needs building up is long. You'd probably need to find lighter webbing of the same width as the existing strap. You may be able to test this by just threading a length of webbing through the buckle with the strap, and pinning it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way (that I haven't tried) should be to build up the buckle itself. Depending on the shape, a couple of cable ties around the past that presses together the two straps should be enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-10-02T14:18:23.553" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T14:18:23.553" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24218" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22741" CreationDate="2019-10-01T09:41:15.510" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What will you be using your paddle board for? That's the number 1 factor in choosing a paddle board. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, do you have the storage at home and in your car for a hard board? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, I would say inflatable boards are best for more people unless you're looking for extreme performance (paddle board racing, long-distance paddling, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, many people think inflatable paddle boards cannot perform well and aren't durable. This just isn't true. Check this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gilisports.com/blogs/news/8-myths-about-inflatable-stand-up-paddle-boards&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;guide&lt;/a&gt; - it should help you with your decision. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18800" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T09:41:15.510" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="865" CreationDate="2019-10-01T10:07:53.290" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have already mentioned, a menstrual cup is perfect for traveling, and in your case, trekking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less to carry around - you only need ONE menstrual cup&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you don't have access to water there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lunette.com/products/lunette-cupwipes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;specially designed menstrual cup wipes&lt;/a&gt; that you can bring along&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some menstrual cups can even be folded down to just a couple of millimeters and stored in a thin case so that it takes up even less space&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your cervix might change position during your period which means that it might be a good idea to have one menstrual cup for different parts of your period, e.g. if your cervix sits lower some days, then you could use a low cervix menstrual cup, and a taller cup when it's not sitting as low.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Also, I would highly suggest that you give your menstrual cups a few cycles before going on adventures. Try them out at home first for a couple of cycles and see what works and get comfortable wearing them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And finally, don't buy just ANY cup, do your research, because not all menstrual cups fit all anatomies. If you want to maximize your chances of finding the right menstrual cup as much as possible then check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.menstrualcup.eco&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PUSSYFIGURATOR Menstrual Cup Finder&lt;/a&gt;. It's an interactive (and fun!) quiz, with 10 questions about your menstruation and lifestyle, you answer the questions, submit the form, and you get your results. You can then compare and read more about individual menstrual cup. It's definitely worth trying out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18801" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T10:07:53.290" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24204" CreationDate="2019-10-01T14:19:31.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; I just received reply from Osprey saying that 'L' would be too big for the Atmos AG 50.According to them 'M' size would be appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18794" LastActivityDate="2019-10-01T14:19:31.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24221" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24223" CreationDate="2019-10-01T22:08:57.017" Score="5" ViewCount="172" Body="&lt;p&gt;What equipment is necessary for driving on 4x4 trails and rougher forest roads in the Northeast United States?  This would include safety equipment, recovery equipment and any other equipment needed.  The area of interest would be primarily the White Mountain National Forest, and my vehicle is a Subaru Forester, but answers for other areas and vehicles would be useful as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18807" LastEditorUserId="18807" LastEditDate="2019-10-02T13:26:12.853" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T13:26:12.853" Title="Equipment for driving off road in the Northeast United States" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;&lt;off-road-driving&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24221" CreationDate="2019-10-02T10:19:47.313" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I talk a little about the different kinds of 4x4 vehicles in my answer to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20833/4079&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; you don't say what type of vehicle you have, make sure the terrain you want to cross and your vehicle are comptable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get in trouble you may be a long way from anyone, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/20936/4079&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; for some considerations on forest service roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Safety:&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;This should be in your vehicle always&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Assume that if/when you get in trouble there will not be cell service.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Map and compass (cell phone with downloaded maps is good also) and some knowledge on how to use them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;First aid kit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rain gear or tarp&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food and water for a couple of days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change of clothes and good walking boots&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire extinguisher &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tools for repairs, know if you vehicle is SAE or Metric (or both) and have the correct sockets and wrenches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Recovery:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A friend with a vehicle similar to yours, to help in the recovery. While not always practical, it is the number one most helpful item. Between the two of you should have at least one of the following.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shovel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tow strap rated for more than either vehicle weighs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tow hooks mounted to the frame of your vehicle, if you have an AWD car or small SUV, this could be a problem&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Winch, truck mounted electric or hand operated portable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tree strap (protects trees if you need to winch to one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extra cable or chain for longer reaches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If no trees in the area, you will need a ground anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;High lift jack (also called a farmers jack) 36 to 48 inches high &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Axe with one sharp and one hammer side &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Saw for cutting branches&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spare fluids for your vehicle, oil, transmission fluid, water.  If you get stuck it is easy to overheat and boil off some fluids. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Full size spare tire. Some spares are smaller than the other 4, if you drove a long ways on big tires, driving out on a small spare may not be possible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above is general and not exhaustive, there are a lot of variables you will want at least the above items and know how and when to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-10-02T10:57:49.050" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T10:57:49.050" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24224" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3397" CreationDate="2019-10-02T14:22:04.393" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the Manfrotto Offroad 30L pack. This does have a very good adjustable &amp;amp; comfortable fit and works well when you have a loaded harness. It is not too bulky and I rarely need all the space even with overnight bivy and all inside.&#xA;The camera gear stays at the bottom in it's own are, (only room for camear plus 2 lenses so Canon 80D 12-28 f4 &amp;amp; 70-200 f 2.8), I tend to carry a little more gear than I should but it's no difference in reality &amp;amp; the bulk is tideied away.&#xA;An APS-C DSLR is the right size for me, cold wet hands and a micro 4/3 doesn't work.&#xA;I have the PD Capture Clip V3 also but haven't yet found where to put it when Scrambling / Climbing, but for Multi-pitch the DSLR with 12-28 f4 is within reach to get out but not so easy to put back in, but when the photo is worth it I can do it.&#xA;Actually for climbing this works very well, it is the tricky scrambling which I have to plan better for with this setup.t is a little larger than the Mantona Elements and the same as one of the LowePro's. I'm so happy with mine I have two! When I need more camera gear I have an additional insert in the top and still enough space for overnighting up top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18809" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T14:22:04.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24225" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-02T16:39:19.487" Score="3" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live near Pittsburgh PA, and I just saw a stink bug, possibly the first one I have seen all year. In the last couple of years they have been a major pest.  Now they seem to be mostly gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where did all the stink bugs go?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-10-09T20:50:34.547" Title="Where did all the stink bugs go?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24226" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24227" CreationDate="2019-10-02T17:19:13.120" Score="3" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;Target shooting is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/shooting&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;expressly permitted on National Forest Lands&lt;/a&gt;. However, finding a good place to do it is not necessarily straightforward.  What would be good strategies to find a place to target shoot that has a good berm, is far enough from populated areas so as to not bother other people, and is still relatively close to a road to make carrying firearms, targets, and ammunition less of an ordeal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18807" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-10-02T17:34:14.183" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T17:34:14.183" Title="How to find good places for target shooting on National Forest Lands" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24227" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24226" CreationDate="2019-10-02T17:19:13.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As most of my experience is in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, this answer may be biased towards that location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I typically try to find promising places within the national forest with satellite and topographic maps, then drive to the place to actually scout it out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A promising place would be a clearing or a sandpit, at least a mile from any building.  Swamps may appear to be clearings, but will be less than ideal for shooting due to the difficulty of setting up targets and the potential for ricochets off the water.  Under powerlines can be a good place too, though more care must be taken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once at the location, find a good dirt or sand berm that will stop bullets.  If there is not one, the site is not suitable.  Pay attention to how recently people appear to have been there, and if there are empty casings or target fragments on the ground.  These will be a good sign to see whether other people have shot there.  There are many unofficial established shooting spots in national forests that are used by many people and not publicized.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a good place, it is best not to spread the word, as too much exposure leads to places like these being overused, damaged, and shut down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18807" LastActivityDate="2019-10-02T17:19:13.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24228" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-03T02:34:07.767" Score="8" ViewCount="397" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will go for two day hiking on a mountain (intermediate level). The weather will be chilling (3 °C to 5 °C, no snowing,but it may rain). I would like to know what kind of clothing would be better? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know I should not wear cotton. Can I wear Nylon? Also, can I wear thermals inside? (I am worried if it brush against skin and become uncomfortable). On the top I am planning to wear a down jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18794" LastEditorUserId="18794" LastEditDate="2019-10-03T03:36:17.317" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T22:48:53.353" Title="Clothing for cold weather hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24175" CreationDate="2019-10-03T03:08:39.390" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Accessibility, and the sore thumbs of wearing funny hats and a pair of binoculars. This question is predicated on an observational bias.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking out your front door wearing binoculars immediately identifies you as a bird watcher, as opposed to me: a cat watcher. And if you can walk ten feet &lt;em&gt;without&lt;/em&gt; seeing a bird, you're just not looking hard enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I walk down the sidewalk, I look down everyone's gangway; not to steal crap... I'm looking for my cats, and anyone else's. How would you ever know that, if I wasn't wearing my cat-watching hat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But &lt;strong&gt;if you want to observe any other non-domesticated animal&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;specifically&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;intentionally&lt;/em&gt;, as hunters and nature photographers both know, you'll have to walk a lot more than ten feet, and still &lt;strong&gt;you can go WEEKS without seeing your game&lt;/strong&gt;. That sounds like  a lot of fun... you might as well 'shoot' it with &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt; while you're at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3347" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T03:08:39.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-10-03T10:21:38.537" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The key for cold weather clothing is layers ...some tips (some from experience, some from reading/hearing from others):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use layers, especially on your top body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear something on your head (you lose a lot of warmth through your head) (moved up by comment of bob)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your body (chest/back) is most important to keep warm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use not thick clothes, but more thin clothes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use thermal underwear (I'm sure it's comfortable enough)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you expect rain, wear on the top something that either repels rain (if the rain is very little or less chance), or better:  a jacket that is both breathable and is rain resistant (see also comment of aucuparia  below)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use gloves, but preferably not thick ones if you need to use your hands (climbing/rope/whatever)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear shoes that are water resistant&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear thicker socks (which you can change if needed, if they either get wet or sweaty).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I like fleece a lot, it's warm, light and slightly repels water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cotton tends to dry very slowly, and holds sweat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nylon can get sweaty as it does not breath always (although there is sports/outdoor cloth that might be useful)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use top clothes which stop the wind; wind makes you feel really chilly and draws your body warmth faster than when there is no wind (these clothes are called wind blockers or wind stoppers, mostly on your upper body)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comment of Aravona: wear two pairs of socks (optionally one with wool)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comment of Aravona: wool is pretty good for an underlayer as well, or for hats too&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comment of JIMMYPlay: wear two pairs of gloves when hiking, one thinner one to act as a wicking layer, another as an insulating/waterproof layer. This allows you to take off the larger pair for short amounts of time when you need to use your hands&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Comment of Guran: Unless the forecast is for constant rain, fast drying is more important than rainproof&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastEditorUserId="705" LastEditDate="2019-10-19T21:11:12.333" LastActivityDate="2019-10-19T21:11:12.333" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24205" CreationDate="2019-10-03T15:56:14.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Happened to see this and had to register just to reply because I have first hand info.  I was fixing up an old mobile home and had removed the skirting and slept on a air mattress in a room with a wood stove.  I thought it would be ok but since the floor was the outside temp the air mattress became ice cold.  The air in the air mattress just gets colder and colder since the ground sucks any warmth and it never diffuses or has anywhere to go.  It was better after I put a piece of carpet between as someone else has mentioned.&#xA;Unfortunately your friend is right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18816" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T15:56:14.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24233" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24205" CreationDate="2019-10-03T19:18:44.823" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your friend isn't thinking clearly. Imagine they had asked the question: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;On a cold night, is sleeping naked and unprotected better than sleeping in a sleeping bag?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Everyone intuitively knows that you will be far warmer inside a nice, lofted sleeping bag. The insulation retains your body-heat and prevents the cold air outside from reaching your skin to cool it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exactly the same argument applies to sleeping mats - the more insulated the mat the better it keeps your body heat in and the cold of the ground out by reducing radiation, conduction and convection. Your friend is right in the limited sense that an uninsulated mat won't provide significant protection, but a well insulated mat will make a dramatic difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone who spends a night or two in cold conditions will discover from direct and potentially harrowing experience that an insulated pad is vital for comfort and safety. Your sleeping bag alone is little help, because the insulation will be crushed under your body and provide little protection from the ground. The best bag won't help if your pad is under-specified for the conditions, so all experienced winter campers give high priority to a well insulated mat. (In a survival situation, you should improvise ground insulation from something you are carrying, like a rope, or from a natural resource like heather or forest duff). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In response to customer demand the industry is at last rolling out proper standard (ASTM FF3340) for measuring the insulating value of mats in a rigorous and consistent way. So from 2020 it will be possible to purchase mats with a known insulation value that you can confidently match to the conditions and your personal physiology (because some people sleep much colder than others).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL/DNR: a well insulated sleeping mat is vital for comfort and safety when camping in cold weather. This is beyond any reasonable dispute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T19:18:44.823" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24210" CreationDate="2019-10-03T23:31:21.710" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;200 liters of air weighs about 240 grams and heats up about as fast as 240 grams of sleeping bag, or 240 grams of yoga mat, I mean in a short time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was reported that the air never heated up much though. Well that was because the air was moving around and dumping heat into the ground, as still air is one of the best insulators.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a bony person lays on a hard mat, the thermal contact to the mat may be poor, which would be a good thing. Like when a processor cooler is installed incorrectly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18819" LastActivityDate="2019-10-03T23:31:21.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24235" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19282" CreationDate="2019-10-04T01:54:17.100" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the time geese will make only token gestures of aggression.  Don't make sudden movements, just walk past them, and they'll begrudgingly move out of the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for a month or two every spring, geese have a nesting season.  During this time they lose their flight feathers and are totally unable to fly.  Their only mission in life is to protect their nests, mates, and young goslings. Being earthbound, their only option is to attack if they think something bad is about to happen.  And they are quite willing to sacrifice their lives while attacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During mating season, geese are effectively insane and paranoid.  Keep a wide berth, move slowly, don't go into undergrowth where their eggs might be, don't wave your arms, and whatever you do, don't open an umbrella.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastEditorUserId="18773" LastEditDate="2019-10-04T17:45:44.623" LastActivityDate="2019-10-04T17:45:44.623" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24236" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24240" CreationDate="2019-10-04T11:04:11.560" Score="3" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this actually stems from the fact my last two pairs of wellington boots have split - as have my husbands, and his were a different brand - my boots were both Joules (~£45 so low-mid range boots) and the second pair were a free replacement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to use my wellies to walk the dog in the morning, go on beaches, etc, or anywhere my walking boots will get flooded so I can't use them (mid calf water etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They seem to get little splits around the front of the boot on the seam / on the side of the front of the foot, or up the back of the leg. I believe it may be due to the material of the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What qualities to look for in a pair of wellington boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: They're stored in our hallway, or by the backdoor in the kitchen, both rooms have a radiator in, but the wellies are only near it in the hallway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3313" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-10-15T14:02:42.297" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T16:35:45.723" Title="What to look for in wellington boots" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24237" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-10-04T11:57:15.227" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;My configuration in cold weather is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Head: Wool hat when dry, additionally hood from rain jacket when wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Upper body: Merino wool base layer (not too thick for me because I tend to be warm), maybe another layer of merino wool if it is very cold, down jacket (mostly worn during breaks, otherwise too warm for me), and a proper water and windproof hard shell worn on top of the down layer. The waterproof jacket has a membrane which is breathable but will also be waterproof with the pressure caused by a backpack. Your local outdoor shop can help.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lower body: Normal outdoor pair of trousers, usually some synthetic fabric. Merino wool underpants. Also here a water and windproof pair of hard shell trousers (with a membrane) on top help me in nastier weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feet: One pair of socks and normal leather hiking boots, well impregnated with wax to keep the feet dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hands: I do have a pair of water and windproof gloves, but so far I have never used them, my hands usually are warm. My wife however does not want to go without them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is good for me, but as mentioned, I tend to be warm. You can of course add extra layers if necessary, and I would strictly adhere to the concept of wearing several layers rather than one or two thick layers. A flexible clothing concept will keep you comfotable in most conditions. And yes, if you have to keep changing clothes to adapt to different situations, it might feel like a hassle, but it is nothing compared to not adapting to the situation. Both being too warm (sweating and wet) and being too cold are an absolute nuisance. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is most important that you have an idea of your resistance to cold, and this is a matter of experience. You will learn fast what you need when you are outdoors, but I would recommend to rather take some extra warm clothes than to be cold if you can take the extra weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you probably see from the list, I am very fond of merino wool for the first one or two layers in the skin. I like that is does not start to get smelly too soon and that it keeps me warm, also because it transports moisture away from the skin. However, it definitely is expensive and not always from good origin. Synthetic materials definitely are an alternative (my wife likes them, for instance), but I lack of experience there. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned by others you should be careful with down when wet. If you are not sure that you can guarantee that the down stays dry you can also use synthetics. However, they tend to be heavier than down with comparable insulation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One general remark about wetness: If you cannot guarantee that you and your clothes under the outer, waterproof shell remain mostly dry, cold weather is not fun. Therefore, I think it is worth to invest in 'proper' gear which both gives you moisture transport through all layers from the inside to the outside and no moisture transport vice versa. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-10-04T12:59:45.840" LastActivityDate="2019-10-04T12:59:45.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22962" CreationDate="2019-10-04T16:02:17.860" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;An attempt begins when you leave the ground or unweight the rope and ends when you fall, reweight the rope, or clip the anchors. Thus, if you fall in middle and after descending a bit you make it to the top, you have taken two attempts. If you complete the route in one go on your next try, you will have sent the route using 3 attempts. That being said, &lt;strong&gt;a single number cannot fully describe the work put into redpointing a route.&lt;/strong&gt; You can classify each attempt based on which section of the route you climbed during the attempt. For example, here is a nonexhaustive list of ways to classify your attempts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Highpoint attempts: The number of attempts that began at the ground with the intent of climbing as high as possible before falling. &lt;em&gt;NB: your highpoint is the highest point you have made it on any attempt which began on the ground.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lowpoint attempts: The number of attempts beginning mid-route with the intent of climbing to the anchor. &lt;em&gt;NB: your lowpoint is the lowest point you have started in a route and successfully made it to the anchor.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crux attempts: For each crux sequence or move of a route, count attempts on the crux in the same way you would count attempts on a boulder problem. If a route has multiple crux sections, you can count attempts on each section separately.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to counting attempts while projecting a route, your highpoint and lowpoint are useful metrics that show how close you are to sending the route. Once your lowpoint is lower than your highpoint, you should be able to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22974/18567&quot;&gt;one-hang&lt;/a&gt; the route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18567" LastActivityDate="2019-10-04T16:02:17.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24239" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2019-10-04T17:54:12.070" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find that simply tying a half knot below the buckle keeps it from slipping:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3stUT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3stUT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;half knot below buckle&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-04T17:54:12.070" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24236" CreationDate="2019-10-05T17:42:54.353" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had several pairs of wellies, but none ever split, not even in freezing weather – only the soles wore out, or I punctured one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However I did have a pair a sandals that mysteriously disintegrated on the way home from a (chlorinated) swimming pool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that multiple pairs of different makes have split, suggests it might be to do with where they are kept, for example in a cupboard with cleaning solvents etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that is the case, it might be worth storing the boots somewhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2019-10-05T17:42:54.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24236" CreationDate="2019-10-07T10:00:40.913" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd consider following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Should be made of sustainable material. May be latex rubber instead of petroleum-based rubber?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grip: From my experience hard rubber provides poor grip on wet surfaces. A sole with Semi-hard rubber material with more block-like pattern than line-patterns should offer better grip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leg room (pun intended!): Heavily depends on usage. As you stated, mid-calf water levels, you don't want to by a pair bigger than what your usual shoe size. For someone who is intending to wear socks and going to use gumboots over a longer period of time, a larger pair is recommended.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side-note: I started seeing cracks on my gumboots around the toe and bottom of heel specifically when I started to keep them in broad daylight for drying immediately after usage. May be the rubber quality was not that great.&#xA;Also, I used to leave the small stones trapped in the grip unattended. Later, the grip would start cracking around the same spot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastActivityDate="2019-10-07T10:00:40.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24248" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24249" CreationDate="2019-10-09T17:14:14.313" Score="6" ViewCount="936" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Background&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking at compasses for backpacking and camping, and have come across more compass varieties than I had ever thought possible. Three terms that often come up together are &quot;prismatic&quot;, &quot;lensatic&quot;, &quot;mirrored&quot;, and &quot;optical&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do understand these types of compasses are for sighting, and are not just the typical protractor-style compass for placing on a map. What I don't understand is what the different technologies are useful for, and when one would choose one over the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Question&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do the terms &quot;lensatic&quot;, &quot;prismatic&quot;, &quot;mirrored&quot;, and &quot;optical&quot; mean in this context? When would one choose one style over the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2019-10-10T14:24:49.957" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T14:24:49.957" Title="What are the differences between prismatic, lensatic, mirrored, and optical sighting compasses?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24249" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24248" CreationDate="2019-10-09T17:57:46.237" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The typical protractor-style compass is an optical compass. To shoot an azimuth with it you align marks on the compass and read the bearing off the dial. The other varieties have a sighting wire which is placed over the target and a separate mechanism to help reading the bearing. The primary advantage is accuracy because the bearing can be read while observing the target; the primary drawback is that they require a separate protractor to take bearings off of a map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lensatic compass has a lens and wire which can be unfolded. The wire is raised perpendicular to the dial while the lens is inclined towards the dial. With the compass held to your eye you align a notch on the lens holder, wire, and target much like iron sights on a rifle. Then by looking through the lens you can read the bearing off the dial. Because you don't need to move the compass to see the object and dial it's much more accurate than optical types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The prismatic compass is similarly constructed, with a prism rather than a lens. It functions much the same as a viewfinder in an SLR camera. You look through a hole at the target object and the prism reflects the dial into the bottom of your field of view. This eliminates the need for careful alignment of the lensatic style; you don't even need to move an eye to glance at the lens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For hiking and camping the type is completely irrelevant because the margin of error in dead reckoning grossly exceeds the error of any sighting compass. For precision work from a fixed position such as a surveyor's tripod or fire tower a prismatic compass is the natural choice because it's a few minutes more accurate than the lensatic. The military tends towards lensatic models because they're accurate enough to direct fire, cheap, and durable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't overlook the durability angle if you've already decided to forgo the integrated protractor/measurement of a baseplate compass. The military ones are housed in a steel clamshell which takes beatings much better than plastic models. There is something to be said for knowing you won't bust your compass should you happen to fall on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2019-10-09T17:57:46.237" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24225" CreationDate="2019-10-09T20:50:34.547" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The stink bugs have been heading south and west, first detected in your state, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, back in 1998.  They started showing up 2010 here in Indiana and are still very thick.  They've hit &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug#In_North_America&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;34 states so far&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a map showing current &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.stopbmsb.org/where-is-bmsb/state-by-state/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;detection areas&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12607" LastActivityDate="2019-10-09T20:50:34.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24251" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8895" CreationDate="2019-10-09T22:08:37.787" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Acetone or nail varnish remover dissolves the tars. It's possible that kerosine or gasoline could work but acetone worked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18841" LastActivityDate="2019-10-09T22:08:37.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24252" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24253" CreationDate="2019-10-10T02:22:38.267" Score="5" ViewCount="388" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been having a problem where my hand skin starts to crack and peel on extended climbing trips and I can't get it heal, even by taking several rest days in a row. Instead, it just gets worse and worse until my fingers are constantly raw and cracked, and my skin is peeling off. Also, sometimes my palms turn red and develop tiny bumps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example picture fairly early on the process:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gp1Zy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gp1Zy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The missing skin on my finger tips is &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; due to flappers. Rather, the skin just starts cracking and peels off. Also, once the peeling starts, it spreads until I lose most of the skin on my fingers, and multiple layers come off in some places. You can also see some red spots on my palm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3057" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T02:22:38.267" Title="Why does my hand skin continue to crack and peel for days after rock climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;allergies&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24252" CreationDate="2019-10-10T02:22:38.267" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The problem could be caused by an allergy to drying additives in climbing chalk&lt;/strong&gt;; that's what caused my problem. I had been using a prefilled chalk ball in my outdoor climbing chalk bag, and when I switched to pure chalk (pure magnesium carbonate) the problem went away. It was hard to discover that my chalk was the culprit, because I don't have this problem when gym climbing, where I also use chalk. However, I use a different chalk bag when I gym climb, and it had pure chalk in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know what brand my suspect chalk ball is -- it's not refillable and I don't remember where I got it. However, &lt;strong&gt;Metolius sells a &quot;Super Chalk&quot; refillable chalk ball which contains chalk with added drying agents&lt;/strong&gt;. The package warns that &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Super Chalk is a powerful drying agent. Moisturize your hands frequently. If excessively dry or cracked skin persists, stop using Super Chalk&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iorfh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iorfh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that Metolius also sells chalk blocks made of pure chalk with no additives; these don't cause me any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3057" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T02:22:38.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24254" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10716" CreationDate="2019-10-10T02:47:14.373" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Crag Survival Handbook&lt;/em&gt; by Matt Samet describes the &amp;quot;Freeze-Thaw&amp;quot; technique, and attributes it to pro climbers Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden. Ironically, the Freeze-Thaw technique is similar to what you describe in your question: your hands and feet got too cold the first time around, but after rewarming them you were fine! In the Freeze-Thaw technique, you freeze your hands on purpose, thaw them out again, and then start climbing. I have not actually tried it yet myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is what the book has to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Start the session by &lt;em&gt;deliberately&lt;/em&gt; freezing your hands, rewarming them, and then jumping on the rock&lt;/strong&gt;. This conditioning helps your hands maintain a consistent threshold that should keep them from becoming numb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freeze your hands:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Plunge them into snow, grab and icicle or a cold rock, or stick them in cold water.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climb a warm-up or the bottom of your project until your hands (and feet) go numb, and then have your partners lower you. Alternatively, hang on the rope to warm yourself back up, and then continue climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grab the starting holds and hold on, rocking back and forth until your fingers become numb (this can take five minutes or more).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rewarm your hands:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stick them in your pockets or inside your jacket, skin-to-skin against your stomach or in your armpits.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hold chemical hand warmers, or put the warmers into your pockets with your hands.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm your hands with a propane heater.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a stove to heat pebbles to hold onto (be careful not to burn yourself) or to drop into your chalk bag or pockets.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Warm your hands until you feel the &amp;quot;screaming barfies&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; (that cringe-inducing threshold at which the blood rushes back in, creating an electrical, nauseating tingling), and sensation has returned to your fingers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Get going:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spend a couple more minutes prepping; windmill your arms around a final few times, and clap your hands together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Then pull on and start climbing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3057" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T02:47:14.373" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9999" CreationDate="2019-10-10T10:58:49.217" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m all for carrying a 357 magnum orca marlin 444 loaded with hollow points and pop a cap into them aggressive or not. Here in Florida you can’t even hike anymore with the things getting weird.By hike  I mean HIKE, not little park walks ( but lately they are there as well) but long walks into the jungle. You see one kill it, you see many kill them all. They consistently ruin my lawn. Those die as well. Those with a cross bow because it’s in a neighborhood.Bottom line is just kill them if you can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18843" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2019-10-10T12:40:52.803" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T12:40:52.803" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1611" CreationDate="2019-10-10T15:48:27.547" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Case study:  Persimmon Pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were running a group with 20 kids and 4 adults in Willmore Wilderness in September.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nature of the trails in Willmore:  At low elevations they are the remains of what used to be logging roads.  Up to timberline, trails are traveled mostly by horse outfitters, and are well worn.  In meadows they may scatter in multiple paths. Above timberline trails are vague. There is no signage.  No bridges on creeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ascent of Persimmon pass took longer than expected.  This is not a regularly used pass, so the trail above tree line was non-existent.  It is not difficult terrain, but is largely scree stabilized with various alpine plants.  We topped the pass at about 5 p.m.  Sunset is at 7:30&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather had been sun and cloud mixed.  At the top of the pass we could see a small storm coming down the Rock Creek valley.(major creek defining the SW side of the Persimmon Range)  I guessed 30 to 45 minutes to it's arrival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the staff with seniority over me wanted to cut straight down the other side, to get down.  I persuaded him that if it's sliding scree at this slope, then further down where the gradient was steeper would mean that there were intermittent cliffs even if they didn't show on the map.  (A 50 meter contour interval hides a lot...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I knew from a previous similar trip that angling SE while descending would get us to a packed grass slope down to tree line. Of the group, I was the only one who had done this route segment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also knew that the senior staff would override my decision if he was worried about being caught above tree line in a storm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My strategy was to keep the line of people as long as possible to have plausible deniability if he tried to stop us then go straight down.  Above tree line, visibility was good.  Keeping several hundred meters between front and back was easy to do and verify that we hadn't lost anyone.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Senior guy was staying with 2nd staff member that was having a tough day.  That staff member was not nimble, and was having serious difficulty with the scree.  And I lost them when they were in a dip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We reached the top of the grass slope as the snow hit. Visibility dropped to 100 meters. I sent the remaining staff member down with a group of larger junior boys to find a spot to camp.  I divided up boys as they came in into groups and sent each with a senior boy to reach the camp below.  The two staff never showed up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As expected the storm was small.  Snow lasted about 15 minutes, then we could see again.  Wasn't enough even to stick except in a few places of thick dry moss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had a whistle protocol:  Two short blasts:  &quot;Where are you&quot;  One short blast &quot;Here&quot;  Two long blasts &quot;Come to me&quot;  Two short blasts in return, &quot;Coming&quot;  Three long blasts, &quot;I need help&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I sent a senior boy to go away from the camp where camp noise wouldn't distract, and once a minute blow two long blasts, then spend the rest of the minute listening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They came in about half an hour later.  In the snow they hadn't descended fast enough, and had overshot our location, coming down the next water course.  That had gotten them perched above a 12 foot cliff, which they had backtrack up and around.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We reexamined our mountain protocols from this incident:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Arriving at the top of the pass that late forced a bunch of later decisions.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Making decisions at 8,000 feet is much like making decisions after two beer.  No longer at your best.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rule:  Establish a turn around time that allows for a return to a viable campsite at least an hour before sunset.  If the go/nogo time arrives, and you aren't at the pass, you turn around and go back to a usable camp. If the other side of the pass appears on the map to be no more difficult, then you must get to the pass before go/nogo time.  If the far side looks more difficult then the go/nogo time needs to be adjusted.  But this time MUST be set at the start of the day when judgement is at it's peak.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rule:  Establish rendezvous points at various locations.  These should be spots that are easy to spot, and as unambiguoius as possible.  Examples:  Intersection of trail and timberline, shoulder of ridge, major stream crossing, trail junction.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rule: In case of separation, main group builds a visible fire at first opportunity. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rule: Ensure that all your leaders know the overall plan for the day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Training recommendation:  When training new staff use the existing situation, run a couple of changes (different weather, different time, different ability) and game out the scenario, getting them to think and speak about it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Training recommendation:  Involve all staff and interested senior boys in the discussion setting up the go/nogo times.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previous existing protocols:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;whistle protocol above. (Everyone has a whistle)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buddy system.  No one travels alone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Staff sweep.  Last person is a staff member. By preference the tail end group has 3 people in it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Multiple copies of the map.  Our rules say 2 copies by 2 people, with one copy with the sweep.  In practice we usually ran with 3 copies, and if senior boys were interested, they also had copies.  Usually this boiled down to the trip leader, the navigator, and a newish staff member learning to navigate.  Anyone who had a map, also had a compass.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-10-10T16:04:29.080" LastActivityDate="2019-10-10T16:04:29.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24257" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24258" CreationDate="2019-10-11T15:47:41.707" Score="7" ViewCount="1213" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to be doing some winter hiking in parks where there are going to be a lot of hunters. Probably only during bow hunting season for deer in NJ. I'll be getting some blaze hats but for the vest can I use ansii orange safety vests which I already own? Is it the wrong type of orange? Will the reflective take be an issue?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edited to add&lt;/strong&gt; picture and link of my vest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kmYUd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kmYUd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Milwaukee   Premium Large/X-Large Orange Class 2-High Visibility Safety Vest&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Premium-Large-X-Large-Orange-Class-2-High-Visibility-Safety-Vest-48-73-5052/311157430&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Premium-Large-X-Large-Orange-Class-2-High-Visibility-Safety-Vest-48-73-5052/311157430&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15797" LastEditorUserId="15797" LastEditDate="2019-10-11T18:33:56.807" LastActivityDate="2021-02-10T05:31:55.067" Title="Can orange safety vest be used when hiking during hunting season?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24257" CreationDate="2019-10-11T18:08:27.227" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This answer is based on research and my experience hiking in the United States, specifically the Midwest and Northeastern US. I mostly focus on deer season, because that's the big one in this area. Be sure to find out which hunting seasons are most popular in your area, and look up the specific dates.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blaze orange and ANSI orange are very similar. In fact, the range of variation for products sold as &amp;quot;blaze orange&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;hunting safety&amp;quot; is pretty much identical to the range of variation of what's sold as ANSI orange. See the comparison below. Although the hunting vest in my example looks lighter in color than the ANSI vest, I've seen examples where the reverse is true.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Blaze orange hunting vest (&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B071X67D56&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Amazon.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uFOyE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uFOyE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;ANSI orange safety vest (&lt;a href=&quot;http://rainwear.us/product/sv-orange-economy-safety-vest-non-ansi/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Rainwear.us&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZONLf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZONLf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, blaze orange is not actually required for &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; during hunting seasons. &lt;em&gt;Hunters&lt;/em&gt; may be required to wear fluorescent orange during certain seasons. For example, deer hunters in Pennsylvania are required to wear&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;a minimum of 250 square inches [of fluorescent orange] on head, chest and back combined, visible 360 degrees&amp;quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://read.nxtbook.com/pgc/huntingtrapping/20192020/fluorescent_orange_requiremen.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5330495.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The US Forest Service has this tip&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety Tips for Non-hunters visiting the National Forests&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;• Wear bright clothing. Make yourself more visible. Choose colors that stand out, like red, orange or green, and avoid white, blacks, browns, earth-toned greens and animal-colored clothing. Orange vests and hats are advisable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reflective patches shouldn't be a problem, because they're really only visible when you shine a light on them. They won't make the orange any less visible. They will make you more visible if someone shines a light on you, which could happen if someone is hunting at night or in the daytime with a spotlight. Night hunting and/or using a spotlight to stun deer is illegal everywhere I've looked into hunting regulations, which is probably why hunting orange gear tends not to have reflective patches. If anyone is hunting at night, you &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; want them to be able to see you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other safety recommendations (from multiple sources) include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you bring a dog, the dog should have an orange vest, coat or bandanna.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make noise while you hike. Talk, sing, whistle or clap, much as you would to alert bears of your presence. In fact, bear bells would work well for this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal recommendations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stay on designated trails as much as possible. Don't go walking through dense brush or tall vegetation, or following game trails. If you must do this, be sure to make plenty of &lt;em&gt;unmistakably human&lt;/em&gt; noise. Deer like &lt;em&gt;edge&lt;/em&gt; habitat, like areas where forest meets field. Be especially careful (and noisy) when emerging from forest into a clearing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your orange vest is visible from all directions - if your backpack covers it, get another vest to put on your pack. Make sure your rain gear doesn't hide your orange vest. Or consider getting an orange poncho. Orange bandannas are a cheap and easy way to add a patch of orange to anywhere you need it. They're readily available at stores like dollar general and walmart, especially during hunting season in areas where hunting is popular.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Consider &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; hiking in public hunting areas during the most popular hunting season, the standard firearm deer season. (Some states have special seasons for muzzleloaders and flintlocks - these may be less popular, and thus less crowded and dangerous.) It's just a couple of weeks, so find somewhere that doesn't allow hunting during that time. On the one hand, even aside from the safety concerns, you won't enjoy the hike as much because of constant sound of shooting, and the woods will be crowded. On the other hand, gun hunters only get a limited window, so it's considerate to leave the forest entirely to them during that window. Plus, some people drink while they hunt (not everyone, but it really only takes a few drunks with guns to be both obnoxious and dangerous).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiking during bow hunting season is fine if you take precautions. For whatever reason, it seems like bow hunting tends not to attract the sort of casual hunters who get drunk while hunting. Maybe that's just because it's less popular than gun hunting, which also means the woods will be less crowded during bow season. Plus bows are silent, so you won't be annoyed by gunshots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To summarize: Wear bright clothing, ideally orange. Make noise that only a human would make. Avoid looking, sounding and behaving like a deer. Avoid hiking in popular hunting locations during the most popular hunting seasons.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-10-11T18:08:27.227" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24199" CreationDate="2019-10-11T20:11:00.200" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the other guys on the importance of aquatic plants and fish life. However, I would like to present another point: too much weed does not increase fish number/quality in the sense that over flowing weed will take away fish's space, oxygen and vision to lure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Got the first point from a local tackle shop owner. His argument is that in the early summer month, weeds will grow fast and thick, make it impossible for even panfish to move around. He would wait until lily pads to grow and kill under water weeds by blocking the sun and then he would targeting bass that hides under the newly available space.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Abnormal weed and algae growth caused by global warming and over nutrition can lead to fish kill as documented in many places. Also, fish cannot see your lure when they are behind carpets of water plant. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These corresponds to  the find weedline in boat fishing. I do hope the road construction did not destroy a potential spawning ground for fish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2019-10-11T20:11:00.200" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24260" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-12T03:36:31.470" Score="1" ViewCount="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I have wanted to catch sharks like 7 gill in california and I have some questions about reels and rods. &#xA;So I want to be able to cast my bait out to where the sharks are but most people seem to use a drone or keyak, but somebody on a fishing forum said they they casted from shore with a 9 foot pole. So I was wondering if I could actually cast from shore like that. I was looking at a rod blank called jawbone 2 xtreme sledgehammer that's 10 ft and 50-130 pound line. wandering if that or anything else like it? Also would a spinner or bait caster be better?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-12T03:36:31.470" Title="Shore based shark fishing" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24261" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24262" CreationDate="2019-10-13T22:21:28.077" Score="5" ViewCount="1489" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed one of the eyelets on one of my hiking boots is very worn. The lace was fraying at the point of the worn eyelet, so I have put new laces in. However it does not look like the eyelet will last much longer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything I can do to protect/fix/replace this eyelet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case it matters: these were cheap boots (£30-40), but have been perfect for what I do: dog walks, standing on the football sidelines, some country walks, general winter footwear, etc. Apart from this worn eyelet they are in perfect condition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LVB9F.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LVB9F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Update&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the advice of the answer below, I took the shoe to a local shoe repair shop (in England) and they did this for £7. If it does not end up lasting, I'll try some of the other suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bkzzc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bkzzc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18849" LastEditorUserId="18849" LastEditDate="2019-10-24T20:56:38.463" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T20:08:02.353" Title="How to repair worn hiking boot eyelets" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24261" CreationDate="2019-10-14T07:24:59.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Without seeing the rest of the shoe, it looks like it is just a matter of un-stitching the loop and attaching a new one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your best bet is to take them to a cobbler, probably one of those ones you can find in most malls like Cobbler Plus (assuming your user name is an indication you are Australian) will be able to do it fairly quickly and cheaply. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-10-14T07:24:59.523" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24261" CreationDate="2019-10-14T09:54:22.940" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would take a piece of yarn (something thicker, for example the one used for embroidery) and try to cover the whole eyelet with it - not just wrapping it around, but also securing it with little hooks, like the ones in the image. If you pull it tight enough, the eyelet will remain big enough to put the shoelace through it, and it would allow it to slide and move. This is not a very long-term solution though, I can see the yarn getting worn out after a while, but it can be a temporary fix until you decide to take it to a repairer to have the whole eyelet replaced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BSUBX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BSUBX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-10-14T09:54:22.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21178" CreationDate="2019-10-14T20:29:35.383" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;road flares.  You can use them to start a fire and signal distress, and a few of them will start a LOT of fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2019-10-14T20:29:35.383" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24265" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24261" CreationDate="2019-10-15T09:38:09.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If appearance isn't important, you may be able to get away with stitching a new loop to the remains of the old.  It will be fiddly, and not amenable to machine stitching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility, if it's not already too late: clear flexible hose, such as &quot;platypus&quot; style drinking tubes can be threaded into the loop and glued in place.  The internal diameter is just big enough to take a boot lace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a pair I made using zip ties and clear hose, when the replacement lace (accessory cord) was too fat for the provided rings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/38DxI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/38DxI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-11-27T20:08:02.353" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T20:08:02.353" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24261" CreationDate="2019-10-15T11:56:16.990" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not much use with a needle and thread, and would be worried about piercing a breathable membrane, so what I'd do is get some light webbing of the same width (this might be tricky to find) and use solvent-based fabric glue to glue it over the top of the worn loop,. A couple of stitches at each end would be a good reinforcement. These don't have to go right into the shoe, but can be blind. Try not to get glue on the inside where it would touch the lace as it can be a little tacky even when dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative that would work better as a field fix is to get a small ring, like the miniature split rings often found on penknives, and sew that to a sound bit of the webbing tape from which the eyelet is made. A single link of a small chain (maybe a key chain) would work nicely, if you cut the adjacent links to obtain it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In all cases, melting the frayed edge would be a good idea; this should stop it unravelling back to where your repair is attached, and might be enough on its own to get you home&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-10-15T11:56:16.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24268" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24292" CreationDate="2019-10-15T15:21:29.670" Score="4" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last September my wife and I went surfing in Peniche (Portugal). We took a beginners course there. We had a lot of fun but I found the greenwaves and their strength when they come crashing down on you a little bit intimidating. I am therefore looking for a spot where you can surf in equally safe circumstances but where the waves are a bit smaller. Can anyone advise such a spot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We took our first surfing course in August in the South of the Netherlands. I recall that the waves were maybe a little bit too small there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I already asked on reddit but got no reply. Now I try my favourite community :p&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18856" LastActivityDate="2019-10-28T14:47:14.427" Title="What are surfing spots that are equally safe as Peniche (Portugal) but with somewhat smaller waves?" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24269" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24261" CreationDate="2019-10-15T16:47:53.250" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had one of this type of loop break in the middle of a backpacking trip. I un-threaded the other lace from the matching loop, and instead wrapped the bootlaces around the boot ankle. I hiked the rest of the day like that. It was a bit loose, but okay. At the end of the day, I fixed the broken eyelet using a piece of paracord (parachute cord) and needle and thread. The actual sewing took about 10 minutes. It was a one-time repair that outlasted the boots themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Materials: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 inches (5 cm) of narrow (~1/2 inch/13mm wide) &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosgrain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;grosgrain tape&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nylon webbing&lt;/a&gt; (other materials such as polypropylene would also be fine). A store that sells sewing supplies should have something suitable, but if you want to match the colors on your boot you may need to shop online. Here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B07WS8SWK2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one example&lt;/a&gt; on Amazon. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;-OR- 2 inches (5 cm) of a sturdy cord like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paracord&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Needle and thread&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is an emergency field repair and you don't carry extra cordage, look at the rest of your gear and see if there's any extra you could cut off. A drawstring can work; if it's very narrow you may want to use a double strand of it (so you would need 4 inches instead of 2). Or you can use a piece of duct tape folded several times for a temporary fix. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instructions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut a piece of tape or cord about 2&quot; long.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If using paracord, remove the core so you can smooth it flat. (If you're not sure what the core looks like, here's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_cord#/media/File:Paracord-Commercial-Type-III-Inch-Scale.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a link to an image&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a lighter to fuse the raw ends of the cord so they don't fray.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fold the piece of paracord in half and stitch it down directly on top of the existing loop. Don't try to stitch to the leather; just stitch it to the loop itself. Place as many stitches as you can find space for. You're done sewing when you can tug on the loop and it seems secure. While sewing, be sure to leave enough space in the end of the loop for the bootlace.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thread the bootlace through the new loop.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-10-15T16:47:53.250" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24268" CreationDate="2019-10-15T21:38:03.803" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't specify beaches because I'm not in Europe, and I guess you don't want to be travelling all around the world looking for surf waves. It looks like you are after a shore break, but there are other possibilities like reef breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there are some generalities that can be made about waves and beaches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get waves that are suitable for surfing you ideally want nice directional breaks that are at an angle to the beach and a consistent beach slope with not much interference from headlands and the like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The size of waves depends on the wind, tide/water flow and beach slope (i.e. depth of water and rate of depth change). There are no guarantees that any particular beach will have waves of the right size at any given time because of the above factors, all have to come into play together to provide decent surf. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general if you want big waves, you need to have what is known as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetch_(geography)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fetch&lt;/a&gt;, the longer the fetch, the bigger the waves will be at the end as there is more distance for the water to be pushed by the wind. If you are planning a surfing trip, look at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://about.metservice.com/our-company/learning-centre/how-to-read-weather-maps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;isobaric map&lt;/a&gt; for the region you intend to visit and look for long straight lines parallel to each-other for long fetch (big waves - you want the opposite). The closer the lines are to each-other indicates how strong the wind will be along the fetch, so look for ones that are well spaced. In addition, you can look at the direction of the wind flow along the isobars - you need it pointing at an angle to the direction of the beach you will be surfing at, this will give you nice angled waves, that break along the beach, allowing you to follow one wave for some time rather than have all or most of the wave break at one time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tidal and water flows can cause the waves to change - if you surf on an out-going tide or near a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_current&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rip-current&lt;/a&gt;/river mouth/anywhere the water flows away from the beach, then the waves will be steeper as the incoming wave pushes against the out-flowing water. This makes the waves higher and steeper, but also means they collapse more easily and with greater force, resulting in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/understanding-waves/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;dumping&quot;&lt;/a&gt;, particularly on steep beaches, where similar forces come into play, as I explain below...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steep beaches create taller waves as the rate of change from deep water to shallow forces the wave to pile up (the water has to go somewhere, and it can't go into the ground, so it goes up!). These sorts of beaches are more likely to create tubes and other wave forms that surfers like, particularly tall glassy breakers, which can be surfed easily (you go faster when surfing, which makes it easier to surf), but it also means the waves are more powerful and break more abruptly if breaking directly towards the beach. Shallow beach slopes mean that the waves don't build up so high, and may never break (depending on wave size), just surge up on the slope and dissipate energy that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the beach has an inconsistent slope the wave may break and then wash out or suddenly change behaviour as the slope changes. If there is a sand-bar (shallow patch, with a deeper area closer to shore), then the wave may break and then subside and re-break as it hits the true shore. Generally some of the energy of the wave will be lost on the first break and the in-shore bit will be gentler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Headlands, reefs, islands and rocks all affect the wave shape too. These can create &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_interference&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;interference patterns in the waves&lt;/a&gt;, breaking them down in semi-predictable manners and creating dead spots (and high spots too) that will be un-surfable and interfere with your enjoyment if you get caught in one of these areas. You can surf the waves generated by reefs (e.g. Jaws in Hawaii - not one for beginners!) and islands with a bit of know-how, just as you might for a shore-break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, you are best to have a look online and scout out an area before going there - the locals know where the best waves are, so head to the beach and see where all the surfers are in the water. As you are after beginner waves, look for beaches that offer surfing courses, they will often have consistent waves of a smallish size, but there are no guarantees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2019-10-16T19:17:12.357" LastActivityDate="2019-10-16T19:17:12.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24272" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24276" CreationDate="2019-10-17T15:28:27.973" Score="2" ViewCount="550" Body="&lt;p&gt;This isn't a question for a real life situation I am in, but more for a simulation that I want to be as accurate as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My setting is pre-refrigeration and someone has just successfully hunted and killed a deer. Assume a spear or arrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I now understand that 'field dressing' a carcass is the best course of action, and the 'hunters' will know this, so assuming that is done successfully, my question is how long will the meat last if nothing else is done to it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The setting is Scotland, summer, and about 12 degrees (Celsius) with a bit of rain, if that matters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18864" LastEditorUserId="18864" LastEditDate="2019-10-17T20:08:51.347" LastActivityDate="2019-11-17T07:42:28.437" Title="If I kill a deer how long can the body last before preserving?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="20" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24273" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24280" CreationDate="2019-10-17T17:54:46.137" Score="1" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have seen two articles about bloodsucking lampreys in UK rivers, which warn swimmers about the risks of lamprey attacks when swimming in rivers and lakes. Our river lamprey spend their adult lives in the sea and only return to the rivers to breed. Is it possible to be attacked by a lamprey when swimming in the sea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/15/specieswatch-lamprey-ancient-fish-vertebrate-spawn-british-rivers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/15/specieswatch-lamprey-ancient-fish-vertebrate-spawn-british-rivers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/672972/Blood-sucking-vampire-fish-on-rise-UK-waters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/672972/Blood-sucking-vampire-fish-on-rise-UK-waters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18866" LastActivityDate="2019-10-22T13:11:42.740" Title="Could a lamprey attack a swimmer in coastal waters around the UK?" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24274" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-17T19:41:47.967" Score="1" ViewCount="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking at jawbone 2 xtreme blanks, the sledgehammer model is 10' with 100-250 pound line rating. It's E glass with 28-36 ounce lure rating. I've been looking all over the Internet for something like this but cannot find anything other than mud hole's gator glass witch is still to small. So does anyone know of a surf rod or blank in the 10 foot and up range that can handle big sharks like tiger, mako, and bull with very large lure weight rating? Also it has to be something I can get in california because the jawbone is store only pickup in texas&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17773" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-10-18T08:14:53.473" LastActivityDate="2019-10-18T08:14:53.473" Title="Rods for shark fishing" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3171" CreationDate="2019-10-18T11:43:23.443" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Best. Thing. Ever. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This emollient is moisturizing without being greasy, has a clean, fresh, smell and lasts for a long time between applications. The small, thin tin fits easily in a pocket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JRuxK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JRuxK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Burtsbees&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2019-10-18T11:43:23.443" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24272" CreationDate="2019-10-18T13:29:59.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is not a single &quot;right&quot; answer to this question.  The body can last for much longer then you are willing to eat from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a rule of thumb, maggots can start to appear within about 24 hours of the first fly landing on the body.  If this causes you to stop eating, is a matter of how hungry you are. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optimally you will start preserving (smoking) the meat as soon as practical, in most cases within 2 to 6 hours, which is about how long it should take you to get the animal back to camp/home.  If you can't get back home the same day with time to start preserving, you probably want to start preserving it at the kill site. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-10-18T13:29:59.200" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24278" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-18T18:58:14.610" Score="4" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dqC7u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Found in the woods next to my home in central Connecticut, USA &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to identify, i am putting it on a shelf in my room and would like to know what it is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18870" LastActivityDate="2019-11-22T20:54:06.110" Title="Can anyone help identify this skull fragment" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24279" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-18T22:24:55.270" Score="2" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it gets colder while walking, I'd add an extra fleece as a mid layer and when we stop to eat, I would put it on too, or I'd wear a down jacket if it's dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However when it's wet, it seems like taking off outer shell to add mid layer is troublesome. Isn't it better to get a synthetic down jacket that can be worn on top of my shell, even if it's a bit wet? This way I can just throw it on top. I've heard this can be referred to as belay jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the pros and cons? What have been your experiences in, e.g. Scottish weather? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS. My shell is actually Paramo, which in my experience will be more breathable than a membrane, so I don't believe I'd be getting wet from the inside. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18863" LastEditorUserId="18863" LastEditDate="2019-10-21T10:38:58.140" LastActivityDate="2019-10-31T02:24:05.247" Title="Synthetic insulated belay jacket vs thicker mid layers or down" Tags="&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;wet-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24280" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24273" CreationDate="2019-10-19T08:22:35.403" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no certainty on this answer as there are a few species of lamprey, only one of which spends all its life in fresh water. The sea lamprey is probably the most likely to attach to a swimmer - so the answer would be yes. However, the risk is relatively small as sea lamprey are not commonly found in British waters as a general population - it seems mostly Northern areas such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://britishseafishing.co.uk/sea-lamprey/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norway, North Sea and the Baltic&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same source above has this to say about human attacks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Lampreys do not attack humans as they are adapted to attach themselves to cold- &#xA;blooded fish and not warm-blooded mammals. Occasionally lamprey will attempt &#xA;to attach themselves to a swimmer but they can be fairly easily removed, and &#xA;would probably detach themselves anyway when the realise that they are not &#xA;feeding on a fish. Swimmers in America’s Great Lakes appear to be the most &#xA;commonly ‘attacked’ by lampreys. The famous Canadian long distance swimmer &#xA;Marilyn Bell successfully swam the thirty-two mile width of Lake Ontario in &#xA;1954 when she was just sixteen years old. Along with strong winds, high waves &#xA;and bad weather she listed attacks from lamprey which constantly attached &#xA;themselves to her swimming suit and attempted to feed on her as one of the &#xA;biggest challenges of the swim.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I can not find any record of statistics on lamprey attacks other than mention that they are very rare - so probably not a thing to be concerned about in either fresh or salt water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-10-22T13:11:42.740" LastActivityDate="2019-10-22T13:11:42.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24272" CreationDate="2019-10-19T16:40:07.613" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @JamesJenkins' answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Blood and innards of a deer are removed asap*, and AFAIK the same was done in pre-fridge days: they'd probably cook + eat the organs (possibly incl. the blood) and possibly wash the gut so it can later be used to make sausages. If they have hunting dogs with them, they'd get something as well (lung, bronchi).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The abdominal cavity is preferrably left open in a way that allows it to dry - somewhat difficult in your rainy scenario (and for traditional transport which would tie the legs over a spear so two people can carry the deer).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;* Nowadays, you may get it home first where the whole procedure can be done more conveniently and under more hygienic conditions unless the drive is too long. 1 h is the official limit here in Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For transport, the skin is left on - while this keeps the meat from cooling fast, it also guards the meat against contamination, including flies &amp;amp; Co.: this way, you'll only have to &quot;guard&quot; the abdominal cavity.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In the described scenario of a couple of days' transport, the latter consideration would probably also win - unless the carcass with skin is too heavy for transport. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nowadays, a deer is supposed to be kept in a fridge (possibly still in skin) not more than +7°C, and the appropriate aging to tenderize the meet then takes about one week (you can cut it up before that, and then either freeze the pieces or hang them again to finish the aging).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;12 °C in you scenario is above that but I'd think it is quite inside the temperature range that people did consider appropriate for aging venison in pre-fridge days (and actually much later, when farm fridges did not yet have the size to keep whole cows or sheep or deer...). They'd make sure the carcass is kept dry, though - otherwise you may get mold. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Flies were kept away (also later on when drying the ham or sausages) in homes in the pre-fridge day by what is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fliegenschrank&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fliegenschrank&lt;/a&gt; in German (I've seen some in Canada, too, but don't remember the English expression: it's a food storage cupboard that instead of glass panes has fly screen.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Maggots are not nice, but AFAIK aren't poisonous after cooking. But flies tend not to wash their feet before landing on meat, and thus spread mold and bacteria which would be of far more concern in terms of spoiling the meat - maggots are just an indicator that flies have been there.  Still, few people could afford to waste food, so it would probably have gotten a thorough boil and one would have hoped that that got it back into an OKish state for eating (risk of food poisoning and the increased risk of liver cancer some decades later are traded off against starving). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guesstimate would be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 days rain at +10 °C are probably OK, as that would also keep the flies away ;-)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;4 days rain at +20 °C would probably mean trouble (guesstimate based on how fast flies arrive when I get cow stomach/spleen/lung/... for the dog), but &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;for 4 days at 12 °C, some tissue used as fly screen and/or a tarp that keeps the rain out, or maybe giving the abdominal carcass an initial bit of smoking could make just the needed difference  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Summary: assuming your hunters don't have too much trouble with the rain and flies&lt;br&gt;&#xA;that the deer in your scenario may be arriving in town just perfectly aged for eating. &lt;strong&gt;Bon appetit.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2019-10-19T22:01:52.507" LastActivityDate="2019-10-19T22:01:52.507" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-10-19T18:20:32.953" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to MichelKejzers' and Alexander's answers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At 3 - 5 °C while &lt;em&gt;hiking&lt;/em&gt; I often wear only a long-sleeve shirt or T-Shirt + thin fleece pollover, if the sun is shining or there isn't much wind or a bit later in winter you may even find me in T-Shirt only.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A lot here depends on acclimatization: now being fall, I'm not yet as acclimatized to cool weather as I'll be in spring, but I've started to make a point of often dressing a bit chilly when outside to help acclimatization.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;With rain, probably T-Shirt + somewhat warmer rain jacket. Plus hat.&#xA;-That are conditions where frequently adjusting layers may be needed and is totally sensible. In particular, I'd either start a bit chilly so that I get warm after say 15 min, or adjust layers then. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I expect the whole 2 days to be rain on end, I'd consider oilskin. It's heavy, but really water proof and the one I have is sufficiently large to give me better air exchange than my warmer rain jacket. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In these conditions, you may be surprised how much food you want. Being able to eat that much goes a long way against being cold.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Being slightly cold, and in consequence skipping the small break needed to eat and drink is a prime receipe to maneuvre yourself into hypothermia!&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'd take a lot more with me: at least pullover, long sleeve shirt, heavy rain pants, 1 set of complete change for indoors for a 2 day hike staying in a hut over night and possibly in addition for the big break.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Depending on how far away from &quot;civilization&quot; the hike is:&#xA;if it's possible to hike out on short notice, above list is fine. &#xA;Otherwise you may find me with also a set of thermals, gloves, wooly cap (my head features lots of natural &quot;wool&quot;, so I rarely use a woolen cap), rescue foil up to basically camping gear (biwak bag or small tarp, no tent) in order to be able to deal with situations where the hut cannot be reached, or someone has an accident and must be kept out of hypothermia until rescue arrives.   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If camping, I think rain/sleet just above 0°C is about the most difficult weather (with the exception of an additional storm): it's extremely hard to stay dry or get dry again, and getting wet at close to 0 °C comes with a huge risk of hypothermia.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In that case, I'd bring in addition to my thermo long johns also a thick fleece that is not used during the day (so stays dry) + gore tex pant. Thermo long john + fleece pant + rain pant would be a viable alternative. Upper body similar: thermo shirt + fleece + jacket if that isn't enough, I may add another T-Shirt in between. For only 2 but rainy days, I may consider the luxury of carrying a cotton towel, so I can dry myself thoroughly when camp is set up. If not, I will go through the far less comfortable procedure to dry myself as well as possible with a small microfiber &quot;towel&quot; and then an additional time to dry at the air. brrr. But better than getting into the dry change and immediately making it moist. I also keep a &quot;holy&quot; pair of dry thick woolen socks in my sleeping bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-10-19T18:20:32.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24279" CreationDate="2019-10-20T01:53:10.170" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I stop to take a break in cold dry windy weather, I am perfectly happy tossing a big puffy belay jacket on top of my shell if I can get out of the wind. If I cannot get out of the wind, I will usually take the shell off and put it on top of the puffy. Often the puffy is warm enough that it doesn't really matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is wet out, my puffy is probably not coming out of my bag. My puffy, even my synthetic puffy, does not get wet. It doesn't go on top of sweat or rain soaked mid layers and I don't exert myself in it. I tend to not take breaks in cold wet weather. Under no circumstances would I wear my puffy on top of my shell in wet weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it is raining so hard and you cannot find shelter that will allow you to quickly remove your shell, add a layer, and get your shell back on, just grab some snacks and keep going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-10-20T01:53:10.170" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-10-20T06:23:58.670" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For my few forays into such weather I have worn:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heavy merino wool socks over silk liner socks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Merino wool under my pants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my upper body I go with layers on the outside rather than anything under my top.  I will either wear my puffy vest under a light jacket, or a puffy jacket with a hood.  If things get too wet the light jacket gets replaced by my rain jacket.  (While in theory I might end up with the rain jacket over the puffy jacket I have yet to want this.  The puffy has a DWR finish and I live in a dry climate.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-10-20T06:23:58.670" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24285" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-10-20T08:10:19.830" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lots of good info and advice on this thread. I will simply add that regardless of ambient temperature, get yourself a pair of &lt;a href=&quot;https://darntough.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DARN TOUGH SOCKS.&lt;/a&gt; I LOVE these socks and they come with a  warranty that will knock your socks off. If there is ANY issue with the socks, send them back and they will send a brand new pair, no questions asked. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9he7b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9he7b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;DTS&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2019-10-20T08:10:19.830" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24286" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24279" CreationDate="2019-10-21T11:25:21.813" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In winter I will often wear a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paramo-clothing.com/en-gb/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paramo&lt;/a&gt; waterproof jacket (I live in the UK). If it is near to freezing or colder, then I also wear a light fleece top or jacket underneath. When stopped for any reason, I put on a Paramo Torres jacket over the top of the waterproof jacket. The Torres is a warm jacket marketed by Paramo just for this purpose (i.e. putting on straight on top of your waterproof jacket without having to remove it and lose any heat or get the clothing underneath wet). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Torres is a synthetic-filled warm jacket treated with NikWax (like the waterproof jackets, etc.) and seems to work very well, even when it is raining  . It is cut a bit bigger to allow for wearing a bit more clothing underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could probably use any synthetic-filled jacket for this purpose as the synthetic insulation still maintains some insulating properties when wet unlike down (even hydrophobic-treated down). The Paramo Torres has been designed for this function and seems to work well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2019-10-21T12:01:01.403" LastActivityDate="2019-10-21T12:01:01.403" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24287" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24288" CreationDate="2019-10-22T14:43:07.633" Score="10" ViewCount="319" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that if you drink a lot of water as a habit, the body doesn't do much retention. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore, if you are preparing for a hiking in the desert where not much water will be available, is lowering the water intake a few days before the hike a better approach to deal with the situation by adapting gradually to the extreme conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Thanks for the great points and ideas.It would be nice to see some scientific research to learn about the optimal approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18874" LastEditorUserId="18874" LastEditDate="2019-10-24T08:12:18.090" LastActivityDate="2019-10-29T16:46:27.603" Title="Water preparation on desert hiking" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;acclimatization&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24287" CreationDate="2019-10-22T15:46:25.653" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sounds to me like a bad idea because you don't want to go into the hike already a little dehydrated. My recommendation would be to go into the hike very well hydrated, and to drink a lot of fluids during the hike, and don't forget about electrolytes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18875" LastActivityDate="2019-10-22T15:46:25.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24289" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-22T21:21:57.777" Score="3" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a story where a character gets trapped in a cave but use his knowledge as a weatherman to navigate and escape! Are the any weather-related clues you could use to escape a cave specifically? The more unusual the better! Would love to hear your ideas!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18783" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T01:38:07.383" Title="What signs can I use to navigate a cave if lost?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;weather&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13111" CreationDate="2019-10-23T05:35:18.753" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is nothing to stop you carrying the tools of your trade in a public place (provided you aren’t arsing around). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18878" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T05:35:18.753" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24289" CreationDate="2019-10-23T06:10:55.517" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;When you say &quot;trapped&quot; I presume you mean he cannot find his way out, as opposed to being trapped by rock fall or something blocking his exit such as flooding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only weather-related clues could be when reaching to very near an entrance where the temperature can change. Caves tend to be at a fairly constant temperature (around the average for the location) and it is possible to feel a rise or fall in temperature as an entrance is approached.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain or melting snow can affect the level underground water courses but this would not help in navigating to the entrance as the water may have reached the current location via a large waterfall or other impassable obstacle and a change in level would not give any additional clues to help find a way out. The direction of flow would not be useful unless you knew that the water was flowing into or out of the cave anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also possible that a change in atmospheric pressure could change the direction of any detectable air currents underground. Possibly if the pressure was known to have changed causing the air in the cave to change direction and either flow into the cave when the pressure rises or out of the cave when it falls, this may help if finding a direction towards an entrance. Again, there may be obstacles in the way as the air can flow through spaces a lot smaller than a person can get through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="3061" LastEditDate="2019-10-23T18:54:04.350" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T18:54:04.350" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24268" CreationDate="2019-10-23T15:43:21.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you like Portugal go to the west coast of the Algarve in early Autumn. &lt;a href=&quot;https://magicseaweed.com/Arrifana-Surf-Report/836/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Arrifana&lt;/a&gt; is not that powerful unless the surf is big. There are a number of other spots around there e.g. Carrapeteira, Amoreira that work at any size. If the surf is too big on the west then you can head around to the south coast where there are plenty of spots too. I haven't been there for quite a few years but the people in &lt;a href=&quot;http://jahshakasurf.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jah Shaka surf shop&lt;/a&gt; were very helpful and will be able to advise on spots that are suitable for your level (I'm sure any of the other surf shops around will be able to do this too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're travelling you want to be able to predict fairly accurately that you will get good swell at your destination. But closer to home surf anything you can. If you can learn to generate speed on smaller and worse quality waves (onshore local wind swell) then that will serve you very well on better quality waves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="757" LastEditorUserId="757" LastEditDate="2019-10-28T14:47:14.427" LastActivityDate="2019-10-28T14:47:14.427" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24294" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24287" CreationDate="2019-10-23T16:04:03.597" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have served in an Army that tried that, “water discipline” was used to try and make soldiers get used to using less water. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It failed miserably, people have died or got seriously hurt and there was no visible benefit and the habit was abounded &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12165" LastActivityDate="2019-10-23T16:04:03.597" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24295" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24296" CreationDate="2019-10-24T03:09:14.733" Score="16" ViewCount="2583" Body="&lt;p&gt;In mountaineering one often encounters snow fields with about knee deep snow that basically needs to be trudged through. This is extremely tiresome, especially at high altitudes. Typically the team members take turns in laying the track (going first so others can follow in their footsteps). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am only a novice mountaineer, but to me it seems that snowshoes (plus ice axe just in case one needs to self-arrest) can make things an order of magnitude easier in this regard. Since it is deep snow, there is no real need for mountaineering crampons anyway. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the fact remains that I have never ever seen snowshoes in a mountaineering context. They are not heavy, and to the extent they are, I think they might make traversing wide/deep snow fields easier. Of course they will need to be swapped for crampons in anything other than a deep snow field. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas on why is this and if snowshoes are a viable idea to try out? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For context, my only mountaineering experience is in the mid-Himalayas, but this question is not specific to that region, but more in preparation for higher altitudes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2019-10-24T08:49:13.573" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:17:15.477" Title="Are snow shoes useful in mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24295" CreationDate="2019-10-24T05:40:42.200" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, snowshoes can be very useful when mountaineering. The ideal conditions for their use are lots of snow and fairly gentle slopes. The deeper the snow, the greater the advantage snowshoes have over just boots. The steeper the slopes, however, the more difficult and dangerous it becomes using snowshoes -- ascending or descending. Be prepared to take them off and use boots and ice axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/snowshoeing-in-steep-terrain&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountaineers.org/blog/snowshoeing-in-steep-terrain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://easternslopes.com/2009/02/22/snowshoe-how-to-advanced-lessons/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;easternslopes.com/2009/02/22/snowshoe-how-to-advanced-lessons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.oplopanax.ca/2010/10/how-to-kill-yourself-snowshoeing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;oplopanax.ca/2010/10/how-to-kill-yourself-snowshoeing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-10-24T05:48:34.690" LastActivityDate="2019-10-24T05:48:34.690" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24287" CreationDate="2019-10-24T13:47:01.010" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have heard that if you drink a lot of water as a habit, the body&#xA;  doesn't do much retention.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That just means that your body will not retain &lt;em&gt;excessive&lt;/em&gt; water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Therefore, if you are preparing for a hiking in the desert where not&#xA;  much water will be available, is lowering the water intake a few days&#xA;  before the hike a better approach to deal with the situation by&#xA;  adapting gradually to the extreme conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No. When you drink too little and become dehydrated, your body will start to inhibit sweating and urination, but you don't want to make yourself intentionally dehydrated before going to desert.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can you improve water retention by diet?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, to improve water retention, &lt;em&gt;avoid high amounts of protein,&lt;/em&gt; which, when metabolized, produces urea, which drags water with it when excreted into urine. For example, eating 100 g of protein (100 g of cheese + a 120 g can of fish + a 150 g can of soybean + 500 mL of milk) can result in loss of &lt;em&gt;~800 mL of urine&lt;/em&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#135&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NAP.edu&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can you improve water retention by certain supplements?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably not in a hiking-through-desert scenario. Glycerol and hypertonic beverages high in sodium temporary (for few hours) increase water retention but do not decrease your water needs (&lt;a href=&quot;https://ksi.uconn.edu/prevention/heat-acclimatization/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-10-25T15:46:48.953" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T15:46:48.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24295" CreationDate="2019-10-24T17:31:15.173" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/skills/tech-tip-alpine-snowshoeing-for-climbers-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Snowshoes are certainly useful in mountaineering and are widely used, at least in North America&lt;/a&gt;. Typically they are used on the approach and not so much on technical terrain. Many of the climbers I know own multiple pairs of snowshoes of varying sizes, to handle varying snow conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, many climbers &lt;em&gt;far&lt;/em&gt; prefer skis to snowshoes because of the speed and fun they add to the descent. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSki.php?name=Rainier&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ski descents of the large glaciated peaks around the Pacific Northwest&lt;/a&gt; are quite popular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastActivityDate="2019-10-24T17:31:15.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24295" CreationDate="2019-10-24T17:35:16.113" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are certainly use cases for snow shoes. However, I believe this is rather a niche when talking about proper alpinism and not just snow shoe hiking as it is always an addition to the normal equipment, never a replacement for crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there is a lot of snow (to expect) and the terrain is suitable, most people will skip snow shoes and go directly for skis. They offer a better weight distribution, meaning you will not sink in as deep as with snow shoes. The better weight distribution helps with traversal of snow bridges over crevasses. I personally feel much safer traversing a steeper slope on skis (during the ascent) than on snow shoes. Not to forget that the downhill is much more comfortable on skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good use for snow shoes in the alps are north faces (for example Fletschhorn, Lenzspitze). The typical season for those routes is late May and early to mid June. During this time, there is still a lot of snow on the approach. Snow shoes can be quite handy especially on the approach to the hut which is often done in the afternoon. They can then be left at the hut as the snow will freeze over during the night and crampons will be better suited. Alternatively you can attach them to the backpack (mine weigh about 800g each and fit quite well to the ski mount) and I carry them throughout the route. In this case snow shoes are a lot lighter and less bulky than skis. (While these two north faces are regularly descended on skis, I consider this too dangerous for my level of skiing ;))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2019-10-25T11:58:37.613" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T11:58:37.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18469" CreationDate="2019-10-24T21:53:55.653" Score="-2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Radiator Water&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you live in a hot climate, as many (but not all) deserts are, then you might not have any antifreeze in the radiator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in an area where it gets well below freezing in the winter, so antifreeze is used then obviously. However, I have used straight water in the warmer months and I have heard of people in warmer areas using straight water all the time. I have also put water in the windshield wiper reservoir before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are going specifically to a hot desert and you are already survival-prep minded in advance, then drain your radiator before the trip and replace it with water. Then again, if you are so minded then please bring 5 or 10 extra gallons of water just for drinking as well. This is one of those situations where those who aren't prepared aren't going to be ready to use their vehicle as a drinking source, but if you are prepared to do so then you probably won't need to because of the fact that you were better prepared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks to @bob for the comment linking to mechanics SE. Even though some people do run their vehicles with straight water in the radiator, apparently manufacturers discourage that even during warm weather since the antifreeze has other benefits than just lowering the freezing point: it also raises the boiling point and helps the parts to last longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that concerns you, then don't run with straight water all the time. But if you are so concerned about emergency water rations and want every option possible available to you, then you should be able to do your desert trip on water then switch back after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@bob also mentions antifreeze residue and suggests flushing that out after draining the radiator if you do this. I doubt the residue would kill you, but I'm not certain and it can't hurt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Moisture Evaporation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can find anything with moisture in it - animals, bugs, plants, whatever - and if you have a plastic bag then place your moisture-laden objects into the bag and place the bag in the sunlight in the vehicle with the doors and windows shut. This is to help evaporate the moisture out of the object and condense on the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done this with plants before, and got a small bug usable amount of water from them, an amount better than nothing. It was not in the desert, but if you can find anything in the desert then try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is not exactly what you asked for, but it is still using the vehicle to help keep you hydrated so I think it's in the spirit of the question. Of course, you could try it without the vehicle, but I think using the vehicle as a greenhouse is going to help speed up the water extraction process to make it a more viable option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Frame Challenge&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hinted at this above, but it deserves its own section.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid this the vehicle fluids route altogether, even the radiator part I mention above. If you do not remember enough details and you only remember &quot;Oh yeah, this one liquid in the vehicle was supposed to be drinkable if I get the contaminants out. Maybe I'll be ok if I distill it&quot; then you could get yourself into trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since the vehicle fluids are only guaranteed safe if you remember all the details and prepare ahead of time, we can safely assume you are putting survival-prep effort into the trip. If you are putting the effort in, then you might as well apply that effort where it will have the greatest effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an analogy: if a car is coming your way, driving on the sidewalk, and you take the time to put on a helmet thinking it will help your chances of survival and you ask someone to toss you their elbow and knee pads, then someone should rightly yell &quot;Jump out of the way!&quot; instead as that action accomplishes the goal of surviving much better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, you need to prepare anyway to be able to make use of the vehicle fluids in the manner you have suggested. If you are preparing anyway, a much better prep is to simply &lt;strong&gt;bring drinking water&lt;/strong&gt; with you. If I were driving across desert wilderness, I would bring at least 2 containers that held 5 or more gallons of water. I bring a lot of water on multi-day drives even when not driving through desert or wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to do something to help you beyond just bringing water, rather than thinking ahead of time about the vehicle fluids I would bring multiple plastic bags or tarps and a shovel to use the &lt;strong&gt;desert solar still&lt;/strong&gt; method of capturing drinking water. You could bring an entire roll of trash bags which could be light weight and take up little space, and a bunch of solar stills would probably provide more drinkable water than processing vehicle fluids, and the water would be more trustworthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The knowledge and effort you would need to put into benefitting from vehicle fluids is so great, and the benefits so small compared to any other method, that I would not consider vehicle fluids a reasonable survival strategy. Even if possible, I would consider it such an unreasonable strategy (and dangerous) that I would not bother to prepare for it even if I expected my car to die in the middle of a car graveyard with lots of vehicle fluids. Even then, I think you'd be better off with other preparations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-10-25T16:22:10.243" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T16:22:10.243" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24302" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24287" CreationDate="2019-10-24T23:19:35.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water preparation on desert hiking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is almost impossible to training the body for hacking or trekking in the desert, especially if one is not use to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Heat acclimatization&lt;/strong&gt; seems to be a much more beneficial way to prepare for the desert than what you are speculating would a good way to prepare: &lt;strong&gt;”Lowering the water intake a few days before the hike a better approach to deal with the situation by adapting gradually to the extreme conditions?”&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/sse-153-heat-acclimatization-to-improve-athletic-performance-in-warm-hot-environments&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Heat acclimatization&lt;/a&gt; for at least 10 days seems to be a better and less stressful way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if one drinks lots of water, the desert can make you a victim of heat exhaustion in no time flat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always take more water with you than you think you may need. Avoid bringing alcoholic drinks with you as the tend to make one more thirsty and less hydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The larger one one’s bodily frame and general weight are the more water one will require.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I remember reading the book, &lt;em&gt;The Long Walk&lt;/em&gt; involving a trek through the Mongolian Desert and the group soon realized the need of having water in a desert that had little water in it. One of their greatest needs was also to keep as cool as possible and for this they regretted that no one could read the stares in the night sky in order to do the trekking more easily in the cool of the night rather than hike in the middle of the day when the temperature is at its’ highest. Foresight count for something in the desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The desert can be a brutal on the body and one’s system. It pays to know which plants in a desert retain some amount of water in case of an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some tips for those interested in hiking in the desert .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid Going Hiking at Peak Heat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Avoid the Desert in Summer – Try for Fall, Winter or Spring&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hike or Backpack in the Desert at Night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Find Shade During Peak Sun Hours&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wear the Correct Clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wear Light, Breathable Clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hat, Sunglasses, Sunscreen Are Necessary for Hiking in the Desert&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Wet a Bandana or a Kool Tie&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Stay Hydrated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Bring Enough Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drink Water Before Your Hike&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drink Gatorade or Electrolyte Water&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  &lt;a href=&quot;https://happiestoutdoors.ca/hiking-in-the-desert/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TIPS AND TRICKS FOR HIKING IN THE DESERT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2019-10-24T23:19:35.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24295" CreationDate="2019-10-25T00:37:21.523" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depending on the route, you'll likely need a way to not sink into snow and give you more grip than boots alone. With ice or hardpack snow boots and crampons are great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most folks with the experience would prefer at skis, Telemark skis, or a splitboard: they're substantially more efficient for longer snow travel than snowshoes (nicknamed &quot;slowshoes&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you don't know how to ski or split, and/or you don't have a lot of snow to deal with, snowshoes are great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walk down the street, ride a bike a few blocks, and drive a car to the next state over. They all work but some are better than others depending on the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5813" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T00:37:21.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24304" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24289" CreationDate="2019-10-25T01:38:07.383" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caves breathe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As the outside pressure increases or decreases the air inside a cave has to equalize.  The most common cause is a pressure change is when the the outside temp changes due to the sun rising or setting. A front will also affect this.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The larger the cave, the more air will go in &amp;amp; out. The air will feel like a wind. This is more noticeable near the entrance as that's where the most volume of air is passing. But can also be felt far inside, especially in narrow passages.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The direction of the wind will depend on if the cave is breathing in or out. The cave breathes in when the pressure outside increases.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other weather indication in a cave is the water level may rise when it's raining outside. But this would not be helpful in finding an exit. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: I have spent many, many years caving as a hobby.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2019-10-25T01:38:07.383" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24305" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-25T08:06:18.810" Score="2" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;What features should I look for in lightweight, non-solar, camping lanterns? What are the best brands available?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18889" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-10-29T03:20:16.933" LastActivityDate="2019-10-29T03:20:16.933" Title="Which are the best lightweight, non-solar, camping lanterns available?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ClosedDate="2019-10-25T16:29:13.817" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24287" CreationDate="2019-10-26T22:09:39.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt; Heat adaptation (i.e. being able to do physical excercise in the heat) has a number of mechanisms, but among them the &quot;water-related&quot; mechanisms rely on having and needing, i.e. using &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Heat adaptation increases the body's total water volume, so in that sense it improves water retention. Still, this can only be achieved by drinking &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; water rather than less.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starting (slightly) dehydrated is not a good idea as it basically cancels these improvements.  &lt;strong&gt;The only way to adapt to low availability of water is to reduce the need for sweating&lt;/strong&gt; - which basically translates to avoiding physical exertion and staying in cool shaded places. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For a given amount of physical excercise in the heat, there is no healthy way around supplying sufficient water&lt;/strong&gt; to allow heat dissipation by sweating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are 3 major ways how water leaves our bodies:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;sweating: main purpose here is to use evaporation heat to get rid of excess heat, and under physical exertion in the heat this is by far the major excretion of water for humans.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspiration&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;We can sweat several l/h or 10 - 14 l/day&lt;/a&gt;. Heat of evaporation is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthalpy_of_vaporization#Other_common_substances&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2257 kJ/kg for water&lt;/a&gt;, so sweating 2 l/h means up to 1.25 kW cooling power (minus losses due to dripping) - which corresponds quite well with &lt;a href=&quot;https://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-971967&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;more than 1 kW heat power output during strenuous excercise&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make clear how important this is, here's a back-of-the-envelope calculation. &lt;em&gt;For a 70 kg human with &lt;a href=&quot;https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/a/97738/160&quot;&gt;specific heat capacity of 3.5 kJ/(kg K)&lt;/a&gt;, 735 kJ are needed to increase body temperature from normal 37 °C to 40 °C (heat stroke, &lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1499/d43c8941f05d594185d96a594896ca8296e3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;which is life threatening also for athletes, soldiers, etc.&lt;/a&gt; [the scenario of the question also precludes adequate treatment] and has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0601/p2133.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;high risk of permanent damage for survivors&lt;/a&gt;). The same amount of heat can be dissipated by evaporating 325 ml of water, an amount of sweat an adult can produce (if the necessary water is available) in a few minutes. It is also an amount of heat that can be produced by strenuous excercise within 10 - 15 min.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are AFAIK only 2 healthy options to reduce body water loss here: use non-drinkable water for evaporation (soak shirt in puddle or sea, probably not an option in the desert) or produce less excess heat. Possibilities are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;do physical exertion when it is cool, so larger parts of the produced heat are needed/used to keep up body temperature&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;stay in the shade/take your shade (clothing, umbrella) with you&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;training does not only increase strength/endurance but also leads to better technique thus spending less physical power to achieve the same result. This means also less excess heat and thus less water loss via sweat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;We can also train our sweating as part of heat adaptation. However, this does not preserve water but rather allow us to sweat &lt;em&gt;more&lt;/em&gt; (see below)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;evaporation in lung, ..., and nose: our lung works best with warm and moist air, so the nose (and further airways) moisten (and warm up) dry air we breathe. If it's cold, the nose can get back some of that water when cooling the outgoing air. If it's warm outside, the added moisture will stay in the air and be lost, and I don't think much can be done about this (other than breathing less = less physical exertion).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;excretion as urine via the kidneys: there are 2 aspects to this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kidneys need to excrete a certain amount of water in order to get rid of the waste material that needs to be excreted. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24297/8732&quot;&gt;Jan’s response&lt;/a&gt; already explained that for example excretion of urea needs a lot of water - so yes, while in the desert you'll want to get your energy from carbohydrates (that prodce some water when metabolized) rather than protein. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kidneys also regulate total volume, i.e. if there's excess water, they'll happily excrete that as well. This is the background for your if you drink &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of water, it's not retained. However, I wrote &quot;happily&quot; on purpose: the kidneys need to work harder to excrete highly concentrated waste (or fail) compared to lower concentrations.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus, if you don't get sufficient water, the kidneys will excrete less urine. However, the amount of water that can be saved this way is limited: normal excretion is roughly 1.5 l urine/day (varies about ± 0.5 l from person to person, &amp;lt; 400 ml and &gt; 2.5 l get &quot;medical names&quot;). So the total normal daily urine production is only a fraction of the normal sweat production under physical exertion in the heat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Heat adaptation&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the review &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sms.12408&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Périard, S. Racinais and Sawka: Adaptations and mechanisms of human heat acclimation: Applications for competitive athletes and sports, Scand J Med Sci Sports 2015: 25 (Suppl. 1): 20–38&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;heat adaptation leads to a number of changes which are relevant for this question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;rest body core and skin temperatures are decreased (it seems to be an open question whether higher core temperature is tolerated during excercise)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The lower resting temperature would give a bit more &quot;buffer&quot; agaist the heat produced during excercise - but this is quite limited, see calculation above.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sweating: starts earlier at lower onset temperature and is increased in its rate. The sweat has lower salt concentration.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;skin blood flow increases at lower onset temperature and is increased in its rate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thirst is improved: without heat acclimation, they report that thirst does not fully replace the water losses. With heat adaptation, one does drink adequately more water.  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Increase in total body water (2 - 3 l) and plasma volume (usually 4 - 15 %, range 3 - 27 %), though that varies a lot person to person. The review hypothesizes that the lower end of observations may be for athletes who were already in a status of body water/plasma expansion at the onset of the respective study.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The review argues that this increased water volume and plasma expansion helps in several ways: it is very important for the increased cardiovascular stability (which improves a lot during heat adapatation) and it may serve as additional buffer against dehydration. Also, &lt;a href=&quot;https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1499/d43c8941f05d594185d96a594896ca8296e3.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;low body water/plasma volume when dehydrated during excercise worsen the increase in core body temperature&lt;/a&gt; (possibly lack in volume doesn't allow vasodilation and thus heat transport to the skin where it is dissipated by evaporating sweat as well as the rate of sweating is restricted)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The proposed prepare-by-thirst-regime would directly counteract this adaptation effect, and you really want to fully profit from this increase in body water as this one effect alone results in 1.5 - 2 x as much added &quot;capacity&quot; to deal with heat strain than the hypothetical (or dangerous) effect of your kidney shutting down completely plus raising body temp about 3 °C combined.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The review mentions that it has been hypothesized that permissible dehydration during a heat acclimation regime (which I read as: going into mild and temporary dehydration during excercise in the heat, but not over prolonged time such as days) may speed up the acclimation process, but they don't have studies observing this (publication bias makes it unclear to me whether this hasn't been studied or not finding the effect has not been reported). The above mentioned plasma expansion and total body water starts from day 1 and occurs over less than a week, anyways.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In contrast, it is well established by studies that excercise in the heat triggers acclimation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After short-term heat acclimation, the body core temperature at heat exhaustion remained the same as before (39.8 °C), and also the heart rate did not increase much, but endurance improved.  There is some indication that trained athletes with heat acclimation over many weeks can tolerate higher core temperature (up to 41.1 °C reported). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2019-10-29T16:46:27.603" LastActivityDate="2019-10-29T16:46:27.603" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19713" CreationDate="2019-10-28T17:43:46.503" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mallard - Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So they will be about 8 weeks old when their flight feathers are fully developed.&#xA;However it will be another month or two before they are strong enough to actually fly:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended, and the duckling is now a juvenile. Between three and four months of age, the juvenile can finally begin flying, as its wings are fully developed for flight (which can be confirmed by the sight of purple speculum feathers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By that time they are more or less their full adult size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-28T17:43:46.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13262" CreationDate="2019-10-29T17:06:59.060" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;No one has mentioned Singapore yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is some camping allowed: &lt;a href=&quot;https://thesmartlocal.com/read/camping-spots/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Guide To Camping In Singapore - 5 Places To Pitch A Tent For A Non-Clichéd Night Out&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the whole country is mostly a large city with a lot of parkland.&#xA;Most people that camp elsewhere wouldn't consider this real camping.&#xA;The one possible exception is the last one listed in the above article, Pulao Ubin, a small off-shore island with about 100 villagers, which acts as a nature preserve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vOt6d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vOt6d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Pulau Ubin&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But to answer the original question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The closest thing to a mountain in Singapore is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Timah_Hill&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bukit Timah Hill&lt;/a&gt;, which has an elevation of 182 m (597 ft).&#xA;There are currently 43 buildings in Singapore that are taller than this &quot;mountain&quot;.&#xA;The hill and the area around it, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Timah_Nature_Reserve&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bukit Timah Nature Reserve&lt;/a&gt;, is an extremely beautiful place for day-trip hiking though.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As for physical safety, I've been to Singapore many times and can't imagine being anywhere safer.&#xA;Non-domestic violent crime is almost non-existent throughout the entire country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2019-10-29T17:06:59.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24313" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24314" CreationDate="2019-10-30T00:37:32.223" Score="4" ViewCount="95" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently I was part of a wilderness SAR training event where there were drone-based FirstNet cell tower deployed to provide emergency personnel with cellular communications in remote areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps I am the lost hiker that is being search for in this scenario,  would I be able to place an emergency call through this network? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would emergency services be able to detect my &quot;ping&quot; (assuming I had a GSM phone) without a FirstNet SIM?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FirstNet is a federally supported USA based national emergency cellular network (segregated network) provided by AT&amp;amp;T and is GSM based, the drone deployment was being tested for SAR use in remote areas. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question comes from me noticing that my personal phone did not have any indication of service, although I did not explicitly place a 911 call to test an emergency, but the FirstNet device had full bars and had all your usual 4G services available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[This is explicitly about the USA, but answers related to other areas with similar emergency cell network arrangements are ok too] &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2019-10-30T00:44:18.097" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T01:03:15.877" Title="Can I place emergency calls on a FirstNet cell with a standard cell phone?" Tags="&lt;emergencies&gt;&lt;cell-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24313" CreationDate="2019-10-30T01:03:15.877" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have no certainty in this answer, so it may be inaccurate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The idea behind FirstNet is that it allows priority for emergency services in times of emergency. In several (relatively) recent disasters such as the attacks on 911 and during hurricane Katrina, regular phone services were overwhelmed by emergency and non-emergency calls, so a dedicated priority network was decided upon to overcome this problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that with a regular phone you would be unable to place an emergency call over this network, as it needs an activated phone with the right capabilities. Some of the latest phones are &lt;a href=&quot;https://insights.samsung.com/2019/09/09/getting-a-firstnet-phone-what-you-need-to-know/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deemed FirstNet capable&lt;/a&gt; (Samsung link about FirstNet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.govtech.com/network/FirstNet-for-Emergency-Communications-6-Questions-Answered.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; indicates that the money it costs the utility providers is, at least in part, defrayed by allowing the bandwith to be used by regular users outside of a local emergency, so there is the potential that the network is available to regular users at certain times, just not when an emergency is happening.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also seems that under certain circumstances, such as a failure of the primary emergency network, 911 calls will be routed through FirstNet - note that you don't get to decide this, and nor does your phone, it is a decision made via the computers that run the networks. Here's what &lt;a href=&quot;https://about.att.com/story/2019/fn_fastest_network.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AT&amp;amp;T have to say about it&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If AT&amp;amp;T ESInet detects a failure in the primary connection to the PSAP, emergency calls will be automatically routed over FirstNet. (from the link above)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My interpretation of this is that the ESInet receives the call, but can't place it, and so routes it through FirstNet - so it's not your phone connecting to FirstNet, hence my thoughts that you can not make an emergency call through this network.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T01:03:15.877" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24315" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24318" CreationDate="2019-10-30T14:24:17.973" Score="29" ViewCount="6506" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of my regular trail running routes goes past a pheasant shoot. The route is on a public footpath and the shooting is usually from the woods nearby towards the direction of the path (ascertained by the fact the path is lined with people and dogs waiting to pick up the kills).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When they are shooting I get quite nervous of being hit by falling shot so I pick up my pace through that section (one silver lining I suppose). How likely am I go get hit, and what could be the consequences? That is, would it be as bad as being shot directly? I think terminal velocity should come into play. Obviously, the people standing by to collect kills aren't bothered by it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in the UK, and I imagine the guns are all shotguns rather than rifles. To be clear, I'm not so worried about people accidentally shooting me directly, by mistaking me for prey, as I am with shot taking a curved trajectory up in the air, and coming back down on me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only related news stories I could find talk about hunters blindly firing into crowds.&#xA;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="15616" LastEditDate="2019-11-01T02:37:04.743" LastActivityDate="2019-11-03T12:26:20.307" Title="How likely are you to be injured by falling shot from a game shoot?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;shooting&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24316" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-10-30T15:02:58.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The likelihood of you getting hit is difficult to estimate, but it's very, very improbable that you'd be struck randomly by falling shot. It'd be hard to make that arcing shot of hundreds of yards even if the hunters were &lt;em&gt;trying&lt;/em&gt; to hit you, so the odds of a random shot hitting you are even lower. There are likely more birds than hunters in your area, so I'd have to guess it's more likely that one of the birds will poop on you than it is for falling lead to strike you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the danger, I expect that the hunters are using relatively small birdshot. Birdshot is often not deadly to humans even at muzzle velocity, and drag will slow the projectiles significantly over a long, arcing flight. It might sting a bit to get hit by falling birdshot, but the likelihood of serious injury is very low, and the probability that you'd be killed by it is practically non-existent. Larger projectiles will be slowed less by drag, but I don't expect that would be used to hunt pheasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11403" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T15:02:58.887" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24236" CreationDate="2019-10-30T16:35:45.723" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As one of the comments above said, buy them from a store that sells to farmers (or builders/workmen etc) - they will be the ones that are designed to last rather than to look fashionable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've got a cheap pair of Dunlops (around £10) that I've had for years, and they show no signs of wear at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3645" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T16:35:45.723" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-10-30T18:09:22.370" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pheasant shooters will almost certainly be using shotguns, not rifles. A shotgun cartridge contains many small pellets, and they lose their velocity much more rapidly than bullets do. In fact, their range is comparatively short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The typical shot size used for pheasant shooting is #4 to #6, as revealed in &lt;a href=&quot;https://projectupland.com/bird-hunting-articles/pheasant-hunting-ammo-2/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Guide to Pheasant Hunting Ammo and Chokes, for a wide spread of situations&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, turning to a table of properties of different shot, in the National Rifle Association's &lt;a href=&quot;https://nra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/TS-CoC-Manual-v1-1-July-2014.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Target Shotgun Training and Reference Manual&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, the safety distance shown in Table 2 is 275 or 300 metres for those sizes of shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if there are participants lining the path, they know what is safe, so there should be no problem. You can always ask one to confirm that shotguns, not rifles, are being used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2019-10-30T18:15:33.960" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T18:15:33.960" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-10-30T19:33:45.187" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;@WeatherVane is spot on, there is a specified safe distance for all kinds of projectiles, depending on what is being shot they simply cannot fly farther no matter how it was aimed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are shooting &lt;strong&gt;at&lt;/strong&gt; their own people out in the field, standard safety procedures would imply that they are beyond the range of any projectiles and you would be too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt;, Regardless of injury risk or probability of getting hit, there should never be a situation where anyone (member of public or hunter) is in the range of any projectiles, certainly not at an organized, regular range (as opposed to a backcountry hunting trip)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an issue that rightly concerns you. Obviously you are uncertain if the situatiion is safe, you are likely not the only one that feels so!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since there are multiple users for an area that have conflicting requirements, I believe the hunting club may not be effectively communicating with other users and are not behaving in the most neighborly way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I would approach the hunting club to open a dialog about signage and cordons to be installed at the far end of the field to prevent wanderers and to assure the other users of their safety.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cordons can be simple, bright flags in the ground or marking tape on tree limbs every 10-20M and some laminated signs near the trail. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are uncomfortable doing this on your own, engage public lands management or a local hiking interest group for help&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is in your interest and in theirs, maintaing good relationships with other users is likely critical to their continued use of the field. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As someone who has organized archery ranges in shared environments where there are similar concerns (and we had to calculate and prove our safe distances) , I would want to hear all concerns from any member of the public on how we could improve our safety and communications and to assure that they are safe when we are sharing the space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise they would be liable to complain and risk us losing access to the space in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T19:33:45.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-10-30T22:41:19.097" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I performed a calculation using the Chairgun app, which includes ballistic data for a .177 round lead ball. Birdshot is even smaller than this, so it would lose energy even faster than the calculation suggests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If fired from a shotgun at 1,200 feet per second, a .177 lead ball would have a muzzle energy of 25.58 foot pounds. At 90 yards, it would be traveling 526 feet per second with 4.91 foot pounds of energy. This amount of energy would be considered marginal for humanely killing a rabbit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The maximum range would be 343 yards if fired at a 17 degree angle. Terminal velocity would be 91 ft/sec and it would impact with 0.15 foot pounds of energy. That's approximately as hard as the average high school baseball pitcher could throw it at you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15537" LastActivityDate="2019-10-30T22:41:19.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-10-31T09:55:52.897" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Falling birdshot stings a little, but I've never known it break the skin.  It's no worse than having a 5p piece dropped on you from a couple of feet up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're on a public footpath, guns may not legally be discharged within (IIRC) 50 yards, so shot shouldn't reach you - and the shoot organisers would be in serious trouble if they failed to prevent harm to people on a right-of-way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastActivityDate="2019-10-31T09:55:52.897" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24323" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22431" CreationDate="2019-10-31T23:28:14.053" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was advised by my father, a lifelong farmer, to use those little fans that are on a wire that you stick into the ground. My Dad said that the vibration would run them away. It worked for me. He actually said to tie something light onto a coathanger, but that was before they started selling those little fans. His main idea was that causing vibration would scare the little ground runners away. I put out two little fans on a 1/3 yard. It did the trick for my yard. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here's one from Walmart:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ufDEL.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ufDEL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The're called &quot;wind spinners&quot; if you want to search for them. Most stores that sell gardening supplies, lawn ornaments or lawn furniture will have them, but they are usually a seasonal item available in spring and summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18916" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-01-20T12:27:57.177" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T12:27:57.177" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24324" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-10-31T23:43:34.490" Score="1" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;My sunfish got to be over two hundred lbs.I opened up the forward deck to find only expanding foam. No Styrofoam. I see pics of the Styrofoam but need the specs/dimensions of the Styrofoam. I have been drying the foam (slow process) but Styrofoam would provide better balance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18917" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2019-11-01T10:37:45.060" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T12:28:36.563" Title="replace Sunfish flotation blocks" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24325" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2019-11-01T08:16:32.000" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are all good suggestions. Here in Florida many time there are no sticks. Palmettos palm trees etc etc. Many times there are numerous intersecting trails in a very over grown jungle.Sometimes the  GPS doesn’t pick them all up and in 95 degree more weather it’s not always advantageous to wander around til you figure it out. We always do but many others do not. It’s not like you can cut across a waist deep swamp to get bk to the car. Well you can but there us all kinds of shit with all kinds of teeth and or fangs to hinder your trail. So I am in favor of chalk or biodegradable tape .Around it would disappear real quick. Plus with the thousands of  tourists that watch way too much Tv think they are all that not realizing the hiking here is or can be much more intense that some other areas ( not a lot of defining structures to triangulate on) I think temp  marking is the way to go. I get it with and am down with the vandalization thing but better that than spending a night or more in the jungle. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18920" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T08:16:32.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24324" CreationDate="2019-11-01T12:28:36.563" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best bet on a job like this is to stick a tape measure across it and see what you've got. While technically a &quot;one design&quot; hull a modern sunfish is a long way from a classic one and a wooden hull may have changed shape over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Styrofoam and the like comes in standard sizes so if you're doing the job yourself you'll be buying blocks and carving them down. You should also do a full check of the hull integrity while you've got the top off as it sounds like you have a persistent leak to get into this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T12:28:36.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24327" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15348" CreationDate="2019-11-01T14:22:09.750" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;One thing no one has mentioned, is, if one &lt;em&gt;must&lt;/em&gt; mark the trail (e.g. if lost and not expecting rescue in the near future), &lt;em&gt;how&lt;/em&gt; to mark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one thing that you must always do when leaving a mark is to stand close to it and make sure you can clearly see the previous mark.&#xA;If you don't, you won't be able to follow the marks to find your way back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And if the marks you leave aren't directional (pointing to the next mark), also make sure that each new mark can be seen from the previous one.&#xA;If you don't, searchers won't be able to follow your marks to find you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T14:22:09.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-11-01T15:41:52.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to add to previous answers. Mythbusters worked on this problem. They fired 9mm bullets in the air (which would be anywhere from 90-125 grains) and found that it would hurt but not injure you, and certainly not kill you, if it fell on you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now heavier bullets such .45 caliber pistol rounds (230 grains) and rifle rounds  may kill you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's the mass and the velocity which injures/kills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mass of birdshot ranges from 1 grain to about 18 grain. You will not be injured by a falling buckshot, you may not even feel it, unless it hits your eye. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13219" LastActivityDate="2019-11-01T15:41:52.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24329" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24338" CreationDate="2019-11-02T01:44:12.107" Score="4" ViewCount="212" Body="&lt;p&gt;A recent &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24287/water-preparation-on-desert-hiking&quot;&gt;question&lt;/a&gt; discussed how to maximize water retention on a desert hike.&#xA;One answer suggested that 100g of protein lead to 800ml loss through urination, so protein intake has to be minimized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are low protein hiking friendly foods that minimize water loss?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Special non-thirst provoking foods have been developed for lifeboats,&#xA;these look like ordinary &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sosproducts.com/SOS-food-bar-p/350237.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cookies&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ingredients: Sugar, Enriched Wheat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated&#xA;  Vegetable Shortening (Soybean &amp;amp; Cottonseed Oils), Corn Starch, Wheat&#xA;  Gluten, Dextrose, Desiccated Coconut Preserved with Sodium&#xA;  Metabisulfite, Corn Syrup, Contains less than 2% of the following: Soy&#xA;  Lecithin, Guar Gum, Calcium Propionate Preservative, Citric Acid,&#xA;  Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Niacin, Vitamin A, Palmitate,&#xA;  Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://survitecgroup.com/media/343769/s_sofoodrations_datasheet.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;datasheet&lt;/a&gt; for a similar product, the bar contains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;18g fat, 36g carbs, 5g protein Wheat flour, vegetable fat (palm),&#xA;  sugar vitamins C, B1, B6&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Protein:carbs is about the ratio found in wheat flour with some extra sugar. Nothing extraordinary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not very appetizing and also for sedentiary people sitting in a lifeboat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That brings up the question: What are more realistic food options? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about salt? Salt increases water retention and is needed to replenish losses through sweating.&#xA;What is the best way to take in salt? &#xA;A salty meal (e.g. fatty fried bannock) + water, or a survival cookie + electrolyte drink (oral rehydration solution / gatorate).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18924" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T08:15:09.797" Title="Food for desert hiking" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24332" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24315" CreationDate="2019-11-03T12:26:20.307" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The chance of you getting hit depends on a lot of factors; without knowing where the guns are, which direction they are firing, which way the pheasants are being driven from, how far they are from the footpath they are, what angle they are shooting at, etc it is impossible to say how likely you are to get hit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, when beating or shooting birds/ clay pigeons directly overhead, it is not uncommon to get hit by falling shot. If you are in/near a wooded area, you will be able to hear the shot falling, it sounds a bit like a localised rain shower. It doesn't hurt, and feels a bit like a hail storm. I imagine if this hit your eye, it would be quite unpleasant but have no idea how much damage it would do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not asked, but steps I would recommend:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wear a cap - this will help protect your eyes. You probably have noticed most of the people out shooting wear flat caps, falling shot is one reason.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Speak to the shoot directly - If you are nervous go and talk to them, they will be able to give you more information. As noted in the link to the BASC website, they do not have a right to obstruct your right of way (at the same time, you have no right to obstruct them shooting if they are not putting you in danger).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/01/rights_of_way_access_england_wales_2012.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/01/rights_of_way_access_england_wales_2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 Don't run when they are shooting - Normally a shoot is once a week, try to avoid that path on the day of the week if you are nervous about falling shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18932" LastActivityDate="2019-11-03T12:26:20.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22431" CreationDate="2019-11-03T16:22:56.973" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Had the same problem.  Sprayed some &quot;pepper wax&quot; around the area.  Problem disappeared. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many brands available, as a web search for &quot;pepper wax spray&quot; will reveal.  I've used whatever brand was in the store on the day I went to get it, and they all work.  The product is a liquid wax mixed with the oils of hot peppers.  After spraying, the wax dries, leaving behind a thin film holding the pepper oils.  The smell is noticeable, but not bothersome, to a human.  But apparently it is totally intolerable to deer, rabbits, small rodents, and some even say it repels aphids and mites.  For me, two doses a year- one just as the shoots were coming up in the spring, and a refresh around mid-summer, was plenty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-11-03T16:22:56.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24337" CreationDate="2019-11-04T03:40:45.577" Score="5" ViewCount="159" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm relatively new to outdoors wear and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a lightweight outer layer/weatherproof jacket for my specific needs. I'd be layering it over a base layer, mid layer, and down jacket in order to stay comfortable/dry/wind free in chilly climates down to, at the very coldest, 20 degrees Fahrenheit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would mostly be used for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking around cities for long periods in varied weather&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Occasional hikes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Frequent travel in unpredictable climates (mostly urban, but occasional trail use)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be my primary outerwear piece and would be wearing it daily, so if it's necessary, I'd be willing to consider paying more for a quality piece, but am not sure if it's worth the investment given my relatively mild requirements. The idea would be to enable me to be be outside as much as possible, regardless of weather conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What sorts of features do you think would be essential for a jacket like this? For example, would it be best to spring for a 3 layer jacket? Or is a 2 layer budget option enough?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18935" LastEditorUserId="18067" LastEditDate="2019-11-04T20:12:52.097" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T03:21:34.080" Title="Outer Layer Recommendation Question" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24336" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16162" CreationDate="2019-11-04T05:44:54.670" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking in December in the Himalayan Region of Nepal is quite difficult as compared to another month. The end of December is even more difficult. for &lt;a href=&quot;https://whitehilladventure.com/trip/manaslu-circuit-with-tsum-valley-trek/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Manaslu Circuit Trek&lt;/a&gt; you need to pass Larkya La Pass at the height of 5106m from the Sea Level. Whereas ABC is situated at just 4130m high. The temperature in Larkya LA pass may exceed below -16 Celcius, in ABC temperature will be just 5-10 Celcius in the daytime and go up to -5 Celcius in the night   This stat easily shows that ABC Trek is easier than Manaslu Circuit Trek for December.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18936" LastActivityDate="2019-11-04T05:44:54.670" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24335" CreationDate="2019-11-04T07:39:34.947" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definitely make certain it’s lightweight and waterproof. Protecting your down jacket from wet weather is essential. Wet down will not keep you warm. Armpit vents make it breathable and are helpful keeping you cool when active. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the Northface rain jacket I’ve had for 12 years. They still make it and it’s still available. This jacket is still in great shape, still waterproof, light enough to go over layers and heavy enough to wear by itself. Read the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/1990-mountain-jacket-gore-tex-nf0a3xej&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;specs&lt;/a&gt; and whatever you choose, try to match the features of this great outer garment. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NADSF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NADSF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Northface&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastEditorUserId="12241" LastEditDate="2019-11-07T03:21:34.080" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T03:21:34.080" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24329" CreationDate="2019-11-04T15:21:06.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe, the concern about foods that do not provoke thirst is relevant only in situations where you need to use water sparingly, such as in &quot;survival&quot; situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The effect of macronutrients on water balance&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24297/2686&quot;&gt;another answer&lt;/a&gt; I said that &lt;strong&gt;protein&lt;/strong&gt; stimulates urine production and thus water loss (100 g protein &gt; 800 mL urine). During the metabolism of 100 grams of protein, 42 grams of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_water&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;metabolic water&lt;/a&gt; is produced, but in summary (800 - 42 = 758), this is still 758 grams of &lt;strong&gt;net water loss.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The metabolism of carbohydrates and fats does not result in wastes that would need to be excreted through the urine, so they do not cause any water loss through urine. Also, &lt;strong&gt;100 grams of fat produces 110 grams of metabolic water and 100 grams of carbohydrates 60 grams of water, so they both provide net water gain.&lt;/strong&gt; Anyway, these are small amounts and I personally wouldn't eat 100 grams of additional fat just to get 110 grams of additional water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Examples of low-protein foods (per 100 g):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/339608/nutrients&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zwieback toast&lt;/a&gt; (rusk): 430 Calories, 74 g carbs, 10 g fat, &lt;em&gt;10 g protein&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/baked-products/4858/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bread, raisin, toasted&lt;/a&gt;: 300 Calories, 57 g carbs, &lt;em&gt;9 g protein,&lt;/em&gt; 5 g fat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/snacks/7433/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Potato chips, without salt, reduced fat&lt;/a&gt;: 490 Calories, 68 g carbs, 21 g fat, &lt;em&gt;7 g protein&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/breakfast-cereals/7705/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cereal ready-to-eat, crispy brown rice&lt;/a&gt;: 390 Calories, 86 g carbs, 3.5 g fat, &lt;em&gt;7 g protein&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4277/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Baked beans, canned&lt;/a&gt;: 95 Calories, 21 g carbs, &lt;em&gt;5 g protein,&lt;/em&gt; 0.5 g fat &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/baked-products/4985/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crackers, cheese&lt;/a&gt;: 500 Calories, 60 g fat, 25 g fat, &lt;em&gt;10 g protein&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5429/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Milk chocolate&lt;/a&gt;: 535 Calories, 60 g carbs, 30 g fat, &lt;em&gt;8 g protein&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2050/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Raisins&lt;/a&gt;: 300 Calories, 80 g carbs, &lt;em&gt;3 g protein,&lt;/em&gt; 0.5 g fat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3103/2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chestnuts&lt;/a&gt;: 375 Calories, 77 g carbs, &lt;em&gt;6 g protein,&lt;/em&gt; 4.5 g fat &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, nutritious foods relatively low in protein are cereal and potato products, chocolate and dried fruits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;The effect of salt on water balance&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The association between salt intake and water balance in the body is quite complex, but according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/463831&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Karger&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;strong&gt;the urine volume (and thus the fluid&#xA;  intake) remains unchanged over a large range of sodium intakes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the study &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267797/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sweat rate and sodium loss during work in the heat (Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 2008&lt;/a&gt;, the sodium needs increase during physical work in a hot environment:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Sweat rates were higher and sodium concentrations were lower in the&#xA;  summer (acclimatised) than the winter (unacclimatised) trials. &lt;strong&gt;Sweat&#xA;  sodium concentration was reduced on the second day in summer&lt;/strong&gt; but not&#xA;  winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;People working in moderately hot conditions for 10 hrs on average will lose between 4.8 and 6 g of sodium (Na) equivalent to 12–15 g of&#xA;  salt (NaCl)&lt;/strong&gt; depending on acclimatisation. However due to the&#xA;  substantial interindividual variation in sweat rate and sodium&#xA;  concentration &lt;strong&gt;individual losses may be much higher.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rehydrate.org/ors/expert-consultation.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oral rehydration solution&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; in powdered form could be appropriate for someone who loses a lot of sodium with sweat. One packet of the powder for the standard WHO-ORS solution contains about 2 grams of sodium. In context of desert hiking, sports drinks and regular foods are relatively low in sodium.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2686" LastEditorUserId="2686" LastEditDate="2019-11-06T08:15:09.797" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T08:15:09.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24342" CreationDate="2019-11-05T06:03:01.780" Score="19" ViewCount="6791" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a scary scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you were in a ship or submarine that sunk to the bottom of the ocean. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No scuba gear, no oxygen tank, nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The depth of the ocean is such that nitrogen levels will affect you significantly if you rapidly rise up to the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you're 100 feet+ below the surface, no Mariana Trench type deal, but shallow enough to know that you can make it to the top in one breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're able to find an area in the ship that has a pocket of air but know that it won't last long, you take your chances, explore, and find a way out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have no other choice but to escape and swim to the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;QUESTION&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to swim as fast as you can to the surface, but know that if you go up too fast, you might pass out or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are your options here for best chance of survival?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18941" LastEditorUserId="18941" LastEditDate="2019-11-06T08:06:35.343" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T18:46:55.937" Title="Surfacing out of a sunken ship/submarine - Survival Tips" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24335" CreationDate="2019-11-05T06:45:48.093" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you certainly need:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water proof&lt;/strong&gt; - well that's a must as your top outer layer. Make sure to not simply get something &lt;em&gt;water resistant&lt;/em&gt; (like some soft shells), but pick a jacket that offers some proper protection against rain.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breathable&lt;/strong&gt; - for hikes or even only when walking/biking your your home town breathability is key. Otherwise you'll simply get wet from the inside.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No thick lining&lt;/strong&gt; - this will allow you to easily combine different layers to adapt to the temperature and weather.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Optional:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Light weight, small packing volume&lt;/strong&gt; - these will generally decrease durability, so you'll have to find a compromise. Also light-weight often means more expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shoulder protection&lt;/strong&gt; - some jackets are made with additional layers of fabric on the shoulders where backpack straps will lead to additional wear. If wearing backpacks is something you plan to do then this could be a feature to look out for.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Accessible pockets&lt;/strong&gt; - these come in about as many varieties as there are jackets out there. My suggestion: if you already know which backpack you'll be wearing bring it to try out the jacket so you can make sure the pockets and zippers are all still accessible when wearing any hip or breast straps.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think both a 2-layer or 3-layer outer shell will serve your purpose well. The 3-layer would probably win out in terms of durability, but given your description I don't think it matters a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://coolhikinggear.com/what-does-2-2-5-and-3-layer-construction-in-a-rain-jacket-mean&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page explaining the difference in detail&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That should give you a first overview over the needed features. I'd still recommend that you head to a decent outdoor store and let the pros there give you some advice - if you describe to them what you did to us they should be able to give you some decent options within a range of prices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I'd go for a GoreTex jacket, but they come at a price. I my opinion they are worth it though, especially if, as you say, you'll be wearing it daily. I personally own a GoreTex 3-layer shell which I use for all my outdoors activities, but also for commuting by bike, or simply when I'm out in town when it's raining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-11-06T07:54:34.580" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T07:54:34.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24340" CreationDate="2019-11-05T07:09:57.023" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even though the question describes a hypothetical and unlikely situation I think it has some merits as it is somewhat relevant for SCUBA diving also: it describes an &lt;strong&gt;emergency uncontrolled SCUBA ascent&lt;/strong&gt; (swimming or buoyant).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that the answer below assumes an &lt;strong&gt;absolute emergency only&lt;/strong&gt; that requires an immediate no-air ascent. As in, you either reach the surface &lt;em&gt;now&lt;/em&gt; or you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; drown, so all the entailed risks are still a better alternative. Don't try this while SCUBA diving - follow your guide / dive plan!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also check this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alertdiver.com/226&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;guide about managing risks in emergency SCUBA ascents&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nitrogen levels&lt;/strong&gt; will only be a problem if there is actually a some amount of nitrogen dissolved in your blood. This will happen over time - and faster the higher the pressure -  so your best bet is certainly to not stay in the pressurised zone (i.e. the sunken ship / air pocket / deep water) at the bottom, but &lt;strong&gt;escape immediately&lt;/strong&gt; and ascend at a rate of about &lt;strong&gt;20m/60ft per minute&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you, for example, end up at 30m depth due to some freak accident  and &lt;em&gt;immediately&lt;/em&gt; surface again it should &lt;em&gt;theoretically&lt;/em&gt; be somewhat ok to resurface without any stops, as you didn't spend a long enough time at depth for significant build-up of nitrogen in the blood. This means that the risk of decompression sickness is not big, but you should not rely on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second important thing: when diving up you'll have to constantly breathe out a (small) amount of air. If you're not doing that the air in your lungs will expand and the resulting pressure will rupture lung cells - this can be deadly! So even if you only have one precious breath of air, &lt;strong&gt;breathe out constantly when surfacing&lt;/strong&gt;. Due to the pressure reducing during the ascent the air in your lungs will actually expand and it will thus not feel like you're &quot;running out of air&quot;.&#xA;&lt;em&gt;(I can't stress the importance of this enough. During SCUBA diving certifications you learn that even an ascent of a couple of meters while holding your breath can damage your lungs seriously.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously in such an emergency it is also important to make sure that the dive up will go as easy and unhindered: leave everything behind that will hinder you, &lt;strong&gt;drop any diving weights&lt;/strong&gt;, clothes, ... etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once on the surface &lt;strong&gt;seek medical attention immediately&lt;/strong&gt;. You are at high risk of decompression sickness and will likely need treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Also get out of the water immediately if you can, as you are at risk of becoming unconscious if deco sickness hits you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2019-11-08T18:34:12.643" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T18:34:12.643" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24344" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24345" CreationDate="2019-11-05T15:52:38.503" Score="4" ViewCount="559" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you had no sunburn cream, would it work to cover your exposed skin in mud and gunk as a crude way to prevent sunburn? I have never tried it. I have tried using paper tissues on my face as a sun blocker; that didn't work well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18943" LastActivityDate="2019-11-05T15:59:42.743" Title="Would Mud Prevent Sunburn?" Tags="&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2019-11-06T00:06:23.617" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24344" CreationDate="2019-11-05T15:59:06.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, mud would work to give some protection from the sun, this is in fact exactly what rhinos and hippos do to protect their sensitive skin in the African safari. If I recall correctly mud protects from the sun best while it is still wet, once it has dried it loses much of its protective quality&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-11-05T15:59:06.057" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24346" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24344" CreationDate="2019-11-05T15:59:42.743" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This could be effective. Anything opaque that blocks the sun's rays from reaching your skin will be effective at preventing sunburn, whether that's a hat, the shade of a tree, or a layer of mud smeared on your skin. Some animals, like pigs or elephants, will cover themselves in dirt or mud as a means of protecting themselves from the sun. I can't say how effective it is compared to proper sunscreen, but it's certainly better than nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11403" LastActivityDate="2019-11-05T15:59:42.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24340" CreationDate="2019-11-05T20:43:31.550" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;First and foremost: &lt;strong&gt;Don't Panic&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At 30m, you'll be fine if you can free yourself within about 20 minutes and know what you're doing. That being said, there is a good chance you won't know your exact depth, so the sooner the better is going to be your guiding principle. (At 40m, your time drops to 8 minutes. At 20m, you have 45 minutes.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PADI and NAUI both publish dive tables and at 30m, they give you &lt;a href=&quot;https://elearning.padi.com/company0/tools/RDP_Table%20Met.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;20 minutes&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.naui.org/resources/dive-tables-review/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;22 minutes&lt;/a&gt;, respectively, before you hit the no-decompression limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: these are not hard do or die limits and likely include some safety margin. Risk will increase as time increases.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you'd want to do is a CESA, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_ascent#Controlled_emergency_swimming_ascent_(CESA)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent&lt;/a&gt; where you try to rise at around 60ft/min (1ft/sec) while &lt;em&gt;constantly exhaling&lt;/em&gt;. Note from 30m this should take about 100 seconds. &lt;strong&gt;Do not ascend &amp;quot;as rapidly as possible&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Constantly exhaling may seem counter-intuitive but is &lt;strong&gt;absolutely necessary to avoid injury&lt;/strong&gt;. At 30m, the air in your lungs is at 4 atmospheres, which means it'll expand to 4 times the volume if you try and hold your breath and it will rupture your lungs. From first hand experience practicing CESAs, the feeling is strange but it's necessary and you won't run out of air. You will be blowing bubbles the entire way. The normal advice for divers is to say &amp;quot;ahh&amp;quot; the entire way up, because that's how you ensure you didn't accidentally start holding your breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Contrary to other answers, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1114047/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;do not hyperventilate, as it will only increase your chances of drowning:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As the diver ascends [from 30m] hydrostatic pressure is reduced fourfold with a fourfold reduction in oxygen tensions in alveolar gas, arterial blood, and tissues. The rapidly falling cerebral oxygen pressure may be inadequate for consciousness to be maintained and the diver could drown during ascent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The danger of hyperventilation applies to all breath hold divers, including snorkel divers and people swimming lengths underwater in pools. The reduction in oxygen pressure when coming to the surface from the bottom of a 2 m deep pool can be enough to cause unconsciousness, and some children have died this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You won't feel the need to breathe while ascending, because you will have essentially full lungs the entire trip to the surface. Again, you'll be letting excess air out the whole way to the surface. Yes, it will seem like it is taking a long time and it should.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17308" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-11-05T20:43:31.550" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24348" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24340" CreationDate="2019-11-06T08:03:15.193" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Escaping a sunken ship or submarine has some similarities to an emergency ascent in the course of SCUBA diving, but it's not identical to it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First the differences:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You don't have fins&lt;/strong&gt;. Without fins, you cannot swim as fast and as efficiently. Fins allow you to limit oxygen consumption by using efficiency-optimized leg muscles. Swimming with arms and feet takes far more energy for less speed. A 100 ft swim is still manageable, but now it depends a lot on your physical (and mental) condition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You've only been under pressure for a short time.&lt;/strong&gt; Otherwise, it's almost certain that you would have already drowned. Surface ships can trap pockets of air, but generally they fill up with water quite thoroughly when they sink. Nitrogen loading is determined by time*pressure, not just pressure, and won't generally be a concern. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Submarines are equipped with emergency escape gear.&lt;/strong&gt; The gear comprises &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_Escape_Immersion_Equipment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a basic airtight suit with a compressed gas bottle&lt;/a&gt; (and a pressure relief valve) to fill it up and produce an extremely rapid buoyant ascent. This allows for ascents from 500+ feet.   &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that submarines also sink differently from surface ships. A ship will equalize to ambient pressure once underwater, as nothing inside it can resist the pressure difference. A submarine will maintain some compartments at near-atmospheric pressure. This delays any nitrogen loading before you actually exit the sub.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since submarine escape gear supplies one with compressed air, allowing plenty of time for the ascent, DCS is again a concern. In that case, DCS is avoided by ascending &lt;em&gt;as fast as possible&lt;/em&gt; - about 80 m/min, 4-8 times faster than when diving - to minimize the amount of time spent of high pressure. The same feat, going fast (in both directions), is what allows freedivers to dive as deep as 100-200 m and come back up without need for spending time in deco. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that's more similar to escaping a sunken submarine than any kind of diving is escaping a sunken submarine. All boat crews and even contractors that go out to sea trials generally receive submarine escape training specific to the boat they're on and the gear it's got, so you'd follow that training.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The similarities include: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lung overexpansion injuries are possible with even small amounts of compressed air. You need to &lt;strong&gt;keep your airway open (exhale)&lt;/strong&gt;. As the water is filling up your vessel, it's equalizing its internal pressure up to the higher ambient pressure. So, if you've taken any breaths on the bottom, you've breathed in compressed air.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Passing out is caused by hypoxia, not by ascent speed. &lt;strong&gt;Hyperventilation is useless&lt;/strong&gt; in a survival situation, as it simply tricks your body into delaying the urge to breathe. That's not needed, as exhaling during the ascent will already do the job of controlling your breathing. Additionally, a dangerously high blood level of CO2 (hypercapnia) takes much longer to reach than a dangerously low blood level of oxygen (hypoxia). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a scenario less likely IRL (but more likely in a movie), with a large vessel where you have managed to survive on large pockets of air, that air has been compressed to ambient pressure. That turns it into a SCUBA-like scenario where eventual DCS is possible. However, you cannot deco without breathing gas, so there's no choice about it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion, your top priority is to &lt;strong&gt;reach the surface on your remaining blood oxygen&lt;/strong&gt;. Hypoxia leads to loss of consciousness, which leads to drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your second priority, if you're starting the escape on a full breath, is avoiding lung overexpansion injuries by keeping your airway open. Lung overexpansion injuries have a lower fatality rate than drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avoiding DCS is not a priority at all, because you don't have a compressed air source to buy a meaningful amount of time for deco. Slowing down your ascent so little that you can still do it on one breath will do nothing for you, except increase the risk of failure and drowning. Fortunately, over 90% of DCS cases are survivable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, you want to get &lt;strong&gt;the best ratio of ascent rate to oxygen use rate&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, &lt;strong&gt;grab any available buoyant object&lt;/strong&gt;, because that allows you to ascent with minimal effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Absent that, get out and swim up. If you don't get up to speed with buoyancy and light kicks, active swimming will have you use up your blood oxygen at maximum possible rate. In that event, you might as well use your muscles' anaerobic energy stores. Practically, at that stage, you won't be thinking about it anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18233" LastEditorUserId="18233" LastEditDate="2019-11-07T04:43:10.000" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T04:43:10.000" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24349" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-06T12:33:19.063" Score="5" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;On longer climbing sessions I like to keep my cell phone close by, but most of the time I have no backpack with me. So I would like to pack the cell phone in a little case that I can put on my climbing harness via a carabiner. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know some case manufactures that do provide durable small cases, but none with a loop to put your carabiner through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As it can get pretty rough in the wall, I like this box being &lt;strong&gt;durable&lt;/strong&gt; since it needs to protect my stuff. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What box does work well and has proven to withstand harsh conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider that I do not want to wear clothes with pockets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18211" LastEditorUserId="18211" LastEditDate="2019-11-06T14:07:17.347" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T13:58:12.387" Title="Where can I get little durable cases you can hang on your climbing harness?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24350" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24349" CreationDate="2019-11-06T16:52:27.313" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;One possibility:  Check out the home improvement store.  Check the tool section.  You can get all sorts of attachments for tool belts, including ones to carry things like a cell phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They aren't rigid.  If rock climbing I'd use this and something like an Otter Case to protect the phone itself.  They don't have a ring for a 'biner, but they do have a loop for belt or web sling.  You may need to comb out the velcro now and then to get it to secure the flap properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's 3 from Lowes.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QhAGn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QhAGn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also:  the phone itself should have a case or skin that is a bright colour.  I read a post on a hiking forum of someone having dropped their phone on some loop trail and were asking for people to keep an eye out for it.  Finding a black rectangle on a trail with lots of basalt (dark grey) rocks. I have a hot pink skin on my iPhone that has helped me find it several times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you don't have pockets or a backpack, how do you carry lunch, snacks, a windbreaker for when you're on belay...?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-11-14T13:58:12.387" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T13:58:12.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24351" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22839" CreationDate="2019-11-06T22:58:05.243" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the region managed by CAI Vigezzo, there are actually many &lt;em&gt;bivacco&lt;/em&gt;s (unstaffed shelters) that are open year round.  As most of those were not on either the Swiss topographic map, or Openstreetmap, or online sources I consulted prior to departure, I will list them here.  During my hike 2019-10-25/28, I passed by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Alpe Croso Fuori, OPEN, basic&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basic shelter.  I didn't sleep here, it has a platform where one can put mattresses and sleeping bags, and a stove, but not much fuel.  Open 2019-10-25.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2083°N, 8.49247°E&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeatY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jeatY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Croso Fuori, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTfqz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xTfqz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Croso Fuori, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bivacco Campolatte, OPEN, primitive&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very primitive.  Sleeps four.  Visitor needs to bring everything but a tent.  Rarely visited; guest book lists about four entries per year.  Also known as Baitin dul Peurat.  As of 2019-11-06, wrongly mapped on Openstreetmap, but I will fix this.  I slept here 2019-10-25/26.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2174°N, 8.44887°E.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kurac.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kurac.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bivacco Campolatte, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B0QqC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B0QqC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bivacco Campolatte, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rifugio Bonasson, main hut &lt;strong&gt;CLOSED&lt;/strong&gt;, winter room &lt;strong&gt;OPEN&lt;/strong&gt; and primitive&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Main hut was closed 2019-10-16.  Access requires a key, which is not available late October (I asked).  Winter room is available but primitive.  I did not sleep here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2336°N, 8.45341°E&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eEHfm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eEHfm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rifugio Bonasson, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Main hut and winter room.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/seZiV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/seZiV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Rifugio Bonasson, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bivacco Alpe Cavegna, &lt;strong&gt;OPEN&lt;/strong&gt;, partially equipped&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very close to Rifugio Bonasson (15 minute walk).  I did not sleep here.  Appears to have gas, gas stove, and mattresses.  Open on 2019-10-26.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2375°N, 8.45047°E&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OrnaW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OrnaW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Cavegna, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0CYgK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0CYgK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Cavegna, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Alpe Bosa, OPEN, well equipped&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well equipped self-service hut with beds, mattresses, cutlery, gas stove, gas, etc.  Open 2019-10-26.  I did not sleep here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2583°N, 8.41836°E&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xUb3Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xUb3Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Bosa, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VdI0Y.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VdI0Y.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Bosa, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Alpe Corto Rossa, OPEN, well equipped&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Impressively well-equipped hut: beds, mattresses, gas stove with gas, firewood oven with firewood, candles, pots, pans.  I slept here 2019-10-26/27.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Location: 46.2682°N, 8.41413°E&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/neFKi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/neFKi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Corte Rossa, outside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GPA0n.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GPA0n.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Alpe Corte Rossa, inside&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Others&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a pinch, one can also spend the night in one of the other (semi-)abandoned alps, but some are very dirty.  There is a &lt;em&gt;Massenlager&lt;/em&gt; at the campsite in Cané, Cimalmotto, Valle di Campo.  The Capanna Grossalp SAC above Bosco/Gurin was still staffed 2019-10-27/28, although I was the only guest to have spent the night there for over two weeks.  It didn't seem to have a winter room, but from this hut it's only a 30 minute walk down to Bosco/Gurin which has hostels and hotels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also seen hiking signs pointing to other shelters that I didn't pass by and therefore couldn't inspect.  Those are: Bivacco Ragozzo, Capanna Alpe Arena (Switzerland), Bivacco Alpe Cortevecchio.  I would expect those to be comparable to the other bivaccos that I did pass by.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T22:58:05.243" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24352" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24349" CreationDate="2019-11-06T23:11:21.193" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pelican makes small cases for electronics.  There is likely something of a size to do what you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-11-06T23:11:21.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24353" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24354" CreationDate="2019-11-07T15:22:30.987" Score="10" ViewCount="1406" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used these many times before, always followed the instructions (3 tablets/Liter, shake, wait 30 minutes minimum) and never had (or noticed) any issues.  I've always been under the impression, that second to boiling it was the most effective method of purification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, A few weeks ago I hiked a few days on the AT using iodine tablets as my primary method of purification. When I got home, I forgot about the water in my camel pack for a couple weeks.  When I finally went to clean my camel pack looked like I was raising sea monkey's in there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone had the same experience?  Could it be the quality of the tablet?  I'm well aware that even the best polymers aren't impermeable on an extended timeline, but this was only a few weeks, and whatever it was, there was a lot of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12973" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T16:26:39.310" Title="Iodine tablet correct use and efficiency" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24353" CreationDate="2019-11-07T16:26:39.310" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome back to good old chemistry class!  Apologies if this gives you nightmares.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the tablets used for water purification are not elemental iodine, but a crystal form called Tetraglycine Hydroperiodide.  So there are things besides simple iodine getting into your water.  More importantly however, is that many of these things, including the iodine itself, are not soluable in water, or only partially so.  (See the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia article on iodine&lt;/a&gt;) Instead, the iodine mixes with the water giving it time to permeate the cellular membranes of the organisms also floating around, thus killing them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your water has sat warm and stagnant for a time, allowing the iodine and other impurities to form precipitates.  The things you referred to as Sea Monkeys, I assume are little dark orange to black colored blobs.  These are nothing but clumps of precipitated iodine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9109" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T16:26:39.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24355" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22800" CreationDate="2019-11-07T17:24:24.343" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The folks at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smartwool.com/discover/how-to-wash-wool-socks.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smartwool&lt;/a&gt; explain why you should not use fabric softener on Merino wool: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Machine-wash on gentle cycle in warm or cool water (avoid hot water as heat may shrink wool). Use mild soap, no bleach or fabric softener (bleach destroys the Merino wool fibers, and fabric softener coats those fibers—reducing their ability to naturally manage moisture and regulate body temperature).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.icebreaker.com/en-nz/caring-for-your-icebreaker.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Icebreaker&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Use a normal warm or cool machine wash cycle with regular powder or liquid detergent. Separate light and darks as usual. Don’t use softeners or bleach. ... Using softeners will coat the merino fibers and reduce their natural ability to breathe and regulate moisture and temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/base-camp/care-instructions-for-merino/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;AlpineTrek&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Wash the garment in a normal wash cycle between 30°C and 40°C using regular powder or liquid detergent. For merino wool, you don’t need wool detergent. This is intended for conventional wool and can thus damage you merino wool! Don’t use bleach or fabric softener, either!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.minus33.com/wool-properties/wool-care/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Minus33&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We recommend using gentle or wool-specific detergents. Be sure to check that your detergent is free of any bleaches or fabric softeners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Presumably, there are some regular wool detergents that contain softeners, and are to be avoided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2019-11-07T17:24:24.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24340" CreationDate="2019-11-08T18:46:55.937" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The other answers compare the situation to those where a SCUBA diver has to ascend immediately due to gear malfunction. Since you specifically ask about escaping from a sunken ship/submarine, I wanted to point to references explicitly stating that the same techniques are (or were) used for submarine escape. &lt;a href=&quot;https://jmvh.org/article/submarine-escape-and-rescue-a-brief-history-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;An article in the Journal of Military and Veterans Health discusses the history of submarine escape&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;[Breathing apparatus] escape systems remained prevalent until 1946 when the Royal Navy held an inquiry into escape from sunken submarines. The inquiry found no difference in survival rate between those who used a DSEA [Davis Submarine Escape Apparatus, a breathing apparatus]to escape and those that did so unaided.2 As a result the DSEA was replaced with the ‘free ascent’ or ‘blow and go’ technique. Free ascent involved the crew member beginning the ascent with compressed air in their lungs. During the ascent the submariner breathed out at a controlled rate, allowing air to escape. This was a continual process, as the air expanded in the lungs due the decreasing pressure experienced en route to the surface. To limit the chance of being affected by decompression sickness, the escapee would use the bubbles of expelled air to judge the ascent by staying behind the smaller bubbles. To aid in the escape, a crew member might also use a life jacket or buoyant ring. In this case the rate of ascent was more rapid, which required the submariner to blow more rapidly throughout the journey to the surface. Buoyancy assisted free ascent continues to be practiced by Royal Australian Navy (RAN) submariners at the Submarine Escape and Rescue Centre at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the advice and techniques talked about for SCUBA emergencies were widely practiced for submarine escape, and are almost certainly the best bet in the absence of the one-person escape suits that became available later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T18:46:55.937" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24357" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24228" CreationDate="2019-11-08T22:48:53.353" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A related point that I have not noticed come up yet has less to do with the clothes you take (anything not cotton will do you fine) and more to do with what you do with them.  No matter what the material, even synthetics that claim to insulate when wet, will make you cold if you are wearing them wet.  The synthetic manufacturers are proud to note that their products still have insulating air pockets even when damp.  This may be true, however the water in the fabric will still take energy from whatever is close by (you) in order to evaporate.  Evaporative cooling is a very powerful force and you need to guard against its effects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you hike and work, you will create heat and moisture.  As long as you are creating heat, and are comfortable, this is fine.  But you have to anticipate the periods of low activity.  When stopping for lunch, or camp, you MUST make sure your base layers are dry.  No matter how warm you may be, if you know you will be idle soon, take off the bottom layer or two and replace them with dry layers.  Then take pains to dry the layers you removed so they will be ready to be used later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make it a habit when stopping to pull out dry socks and undershirts, and no matter how cold it seems, strip down and put them next to your skin.  You'll be amazed at how fast you warm back up with good dry layers on (and how impossible it is to stay warm with even barely damp layers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17621" LastActivityDate="2019-11-08T22:48:53.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3341" CreationDate="2019-11-09T05:25:45.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Alpine Skiing, also known by it&quot;s more common misnomer as &quot;downhill skiing&quot; is performed with the heels affixed to the skis via a alpine binding, while Nordic Skiing is performed via a toe binding.  However, at one time, all skiing was done on free heeled bindings.  The separation only came about in late 1930s after the development of the ski lift.  Prior to this invention, all skiers had to climb the mountain in order to ski back down, hence the need for free heels.  Alpine skiing, with heels locked down was developed during the post lift era.&#xA;The Telemark technique was first developed during pre-lift era by champion modern ski pioneer, Sondre Norheim of Norway, and named after his hometown of Morgedal,Telemark, Norway.  He is known as the father of modern skiing and the Telemark Turn, He also  created the slalom and christie turns.  The Telemark was predominately created in 1868 as a deep powder turn where-by the skier separated his skis to make them into more of a mono-ski to more easily turn in deep powder.  With the rise of Alpine Skiing facilitated by the further development of ski lifts and alpine bindings, the Telemark was all but forgotten except to cross-country and back-country skiers.  But in the 1970s and 80s a Telemark revival occurred via skiers in the western Rockies who became disillusioned with the huge crowds and expensive ski resorts and wanted to escape the crowds and explore the challenging vast uncluttered solitude offered in the pristine mountain terrain. From this attitudinal change, came the re-discovery of the Telemark, which ultimately spread across the nation. As for the original question, &quot;why do we do it?&quot;  The answer is best said with the answer Mallory gave as to why he wanted to climb Everest.&quot;Because it's there&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ezra Burgess&#xA;Former Nordic Advisor to the Eastern Div. National Ski Patrol&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18964" LastActivityDate="2019-11-09T05:25:45.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24359" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24210" CreationDate="2019-11-10T18:54:07.790" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both of those sleeping situations are not ideal. A yoga mat is very thin and not good for keeping you warm. Some air mattresses are good for warmth but others aren't. The best option is to get an actual camping sleeping pad and use that. You can get them at REI and online and they work very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18967" LastActivityDate="2019-11-10T18:54:07.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8687" CreationDate="2019-11-11T11:32:31.400" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a reamer, I used it to make wooden woggles for scout scarves. Also, if a can is too hard to open with the opener, I punch a few holes with this tool just to start the cutting with the can opener knife later. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3440" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T11:32:31.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24361" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-11T12:23:42.227" Score="0" ViewCount="56" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I first saw a man get kicked by a kangaroo, I said &quot;nope to Australia&quot; because that is mainly where kangaroos are. Then, I looked on google and it said kangaroos are not dangerous. So now I'm not so worried about kangaroos. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18970" LastActivityDate="2019-11-11T12:23:42.227" Title="Are kangaroos dangerous?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2019-11-11T15:44:07.053" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24295" CreationDate="2019-11-11T21:09:31.867" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In alpine conditions generally skis will work better.  Below timberline skis work on broad trails.  Narrow twisty trail and bushwhacking is easier with snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoes on a steep crusted side hill are double plus ungood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that snow conditions have a strong effect on both.  In Eastern Canada snow is often wet and heavy.  I have snowshoed there when I would sink only 2-3 inches, and going without snowshoes was mid thigh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In western Canada's front ranges (eastern ranges of the rockies) snow tends to be very light and fluffy, and the first person on snowshoes would still go in knee deep even on 60 x 13&amp;quot; snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the prairies in Manitoba, snow often comes sideways, and is packed hard by the wind.  Snowshoes then become traction devices on a crust strong enough to bear your weight, and smooth enough to land you on your butt several times an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I was talking with a Cree trapper once.  He was all modern with a polaris dual track snowmobile, but he said that his grandfather had a collection of snowshoes for different conditions and jobs.  The ones for ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg had no lacing on toe and tail, and only very coarse lacing -- about 5/8&amp;quot; wide on 2.5&amp;quot; spacing on the centres.  This was enough to keep traction on the crusts, and on the ice that was swept bare, and also to bridge cracks in the ice.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are using traditional wax skis temperature has a huge effect, particularly temps within a degree or two of freezing.  This can get really annoying if the trail is alternately in sun and shade, as finding a wax combination that works acceptably for both conditions may be difficult to impossible.  This isn't as big a deal if you are going mainly uphill with skins, then mainly downhill without.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoeing solo is a lot of work breaking trail.  The second person is spending less than half the energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snowshoes leave a trail about 18&amp;quot; wide:  perfect for a pulk or other sled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both can be worth wearing even in a few inches of snow, just for their terrain averaging.  8&amp;quot; of snow hides a lot of small logs, rocks, gopher mounds, and trail ruts.  A snowshoe or ski bridges enough of these, that your foot strike is more uniform, and you aren't as sore at the end of the day.  even those short 24&amp;quot; aluminum and neoprene are effective for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a lot of variation in both kinds of equipment.  Snowshoes range from cheap plastic, metal tube and synthetic lacing, traditional wood frame and rawhide lacing.  Sizes range from 18&amp;quot; to 6 feet, with widths from 10 inches to 14 inches. Snowshoes can either have tails (track better, tips don't get caught under the crust as often) or round ends (easier in bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skis can be very narrow (~50 mm -- fast on broken trail) or wider (~100 mm -- more common on back country) There are skis that attempt the compromise between snowshoe and skii being about 8&amp;quot; wide by 5 feet long.  The width makes them hard to edge, but combined with short length makes them more usable in heavy brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall:  Conditions favouring skis:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Open terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Steep slopes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Side hills greater than 10%&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Windpacked or crusted snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No brush.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Experienced personnel.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conditions favouring snowshoes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Deep soft snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Irregular terrain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of brush or trees.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Newbies.  (It takes about 10 minutes to learn how to use snowshoes)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-12-28T13:17:15.477" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:17:15.477" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24364" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-12T13:00:02.977" Score="1" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not sure if this question fits here but since I like to travel and often face difficulties because of different weather conditions in different cities/countries so, I am hoping that somebody could tell the things to consider to find a suitable ULTRA LIGHT jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OtyMPm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OtyMPm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have already read a lot about down vs synthetic jackets, their compact size, and the warmth &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;but nobody tells the performance of the jacket in terms of temperature, wind speed, and humidity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MY JACKET REQUIREMENT:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ultra Light (Max. 500 grams)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With/without hood&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Suitable for winter strolling in cities &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;minus temperatures&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (upto -15 deg. celsius)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Performs well in (humid + Cold) conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warm enough that not more than 2 layers (of something light) are needed underneath&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have found several reviews, which say that the following jackets perform really well but nobody says under which conditions they perform well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some Popular Jackets I found:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07TLQ86FT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=AYNKXH11CUD5O&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07X561DJF/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&amp;amp;keywords=patagonia%2Bmicro%2Bpuff&amp;amp;qid=1573560329&amp;amp;s=digital-text&amp;amp;sr=8-5&amp;amp;th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Patagonia Micro Puff Jacket&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B077QCSWB6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AYNKXH11CUD5O&amp;amp;psc=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Acteryx Cerium LT Men's Jacket&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://euro.montbell.com/products/disp.php?p_id=2301350&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Montbell Mirage Parka&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;links are just the examples&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; of the categories of jackets that I have found so far. But I do not see any information about the temperature range for which they can work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;QUESTION&lt;/strong&gt; Is the category of jackets I have posted as examples above suitable for Winter strolling (with temp. up to &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;minus&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; 10-15 deg. Celsius)? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PS:&lt;/strong&gt; I hope this is not considered as a shopping question as neither am I asking for reviews of a particular product not am I asking for product comparison. I am only looking for the criteria that I should look for to find a suitable jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16163" LastEditorUserId="16163" LastEditDate="2019-11-15T08:00:05.570" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T14:20:06.713" Title="Which Ultralight &amp; Compact Jackets are suitable for Winters (minus 10-15 deg. Celsius)?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;jackets&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23012" CreationDate="2019-11-12T16:09:23.983" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer: this doesn't really answer any of the specific questions other than the &quot;anything else&quot; one - which is why it was originally a comment. However, as @fygsin asked me to put it into an answer, here go my 2 ct:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How far do kids walk?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I was in kindergarden (so age 3 - 6), sometimes dad would collect me to walk home ≈ 2-2.5 km after a full morning's play and before lunch and nap, or we'd collect mum at her work (≈ 5 - 6 km one way, afternoon/evening, so after nap + food). I don't recall this as special in terms of distance. Dad used to say it's less a matter of legs than of motivation at that age.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At elementary school (age 6 - 10) we had a field day hike of about 12 km mostly through open fields in the summer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nowadays, the local forest kindergarden (Waldkindergarten) hikes probably ≈ 3 km, has a break, then the kids roam our little wood and finally walk the 3 km back for lunch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion would be that if motivation is fine (of course, small kids can't walk that far, that's something only &lt;em&gt;big&lt;/em&gt; kids can...) and the kid is used to hiking throughout the year, by next year the kid is probably able to walk what you'll consider OK daily distance with 2 backpacks carrying stuff for 3. It's probably going to be much slower (and the kid probably runs twice as far for the same overall distance; &quot;spazierenstehen&quot;) which will be more strenuous for you as well. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Toys, playing and seeing animals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The forest kindergarden btw. doesn't carry toys, the kids play with stuff they find in the woods. And you may not need to carry books if you are able to invent stories to tell (or play along the way =&gt; motivation), otherwise, an e-book reader may be a lighter (but also more sensitive) alternative. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also: who needs a book if there's a map to read? ;-)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The advantage of maps is IMHO that one can get a whole lot out of a map without the need to know a single letter (I know some kids who were fluent with maps in kindergarden age). This also offers more possibilities, e.g. having the kid the grow into the role of &quot;navigation officer&quot;.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that there live deer, fox, badger etc. the forest/thickets leads to the exciting possibility of seeing some of them. Unfortunately, hiking with a kid the chances to actually watch one are very slim. Insects, amphibians and birds are easier to spot, but mammals are usually so much more interesting.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I've heard motivation attempts like &quot;we may see a roe deer&quot; lots of times, but personally I cannot recommend this unless you know what you're doing and you are dedicating the trip to this goal (proper time &amp;amp; places, patience - which is not well compatible with camping with the kid).  Otherwise, this is likely to backfire: After hearing this a couple of times without any sightings to speak of the kid may consider it a rather empty lure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, looking for traces or stopping when you see traces will probably work better. And depending on where you are, you may put in a zoo day at a &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildpark&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wildpark&lt;/a&gt; (game park?) where the enclosures are sufficiently spacious that it is still an adventure to spot certain animals, but you will see some:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IkOz3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IkOz3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;deer in Wildpark&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%BClmen,_Wildpark_--_2014_--_3823.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Link to high res version on Wikimedia commons for easier spotting of the deer&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where to go&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Using examples/suggestiong from Germany as OP's profile indicates Germany)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd start with weekends before going for a big trip and focus on mixed woodland* (woods with rocks, creeks and possibly even animals on a meadow in between (see below) are so much more interesting than attempting to cross the Magdeburger Börde in July). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In terms of long-distance hiking trail with luggage transport being offered (according to a quick google search), the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennsteig&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rennsteig&lt;/a&gt; comes to my mind. Luggage transport seems to be aimed at people staying in hotels rather than camping, though. OTOH, such famous (= mostly wide) trails that used to be the highway of former times may be a bit on the boring side. Plus (or rather, minus) no creeks on top of the ridge. On the good side, they have resting areas/shelters with BBQ grill there. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sächsische Schweiz may be better: sleep in a cave &quot;Boofe&quot;, lots of interesting rocks and climbers to watch, little creeks to fall in... And a bit of landscape viewing for the parents (though they may not have any eye for that with an enterprising toddler in the rocks/cliffs).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A kid may not appreciate that a forest of size &lt;em&gt;x&lt;/em&gt; is something special. Less famous landscapes with mixed forest and agricultural use (= pretty much the whole of the hilly regions of Germany outside the natural reserves) may offer more variety and much better chances of seeing animals (if only domesticated ones on meadows).  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you plan the campgrounds quite close to each other as the crow flies, you are flexibe to decide which way to take over the day - this may be a good option for the first times until you have a better feeling of what works.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This includes the possibility of letting the kid play at a nice spot for a long break. Or splitting up for part of the day: if one parent feels the need for more workout, maybe take an additional solo hike to get fresh food.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take this even a step further, this would allow for another way of growing into full backpacking again: hike throughout the day with part of the gear (e.g. tent, &quot;kitchen&quot;, kid's sleeping gear, &quot;evening stuff&quot; for 1 adult) and food for this day. When arriving at the campground, one parent with the kid prepares food and tent and the other gets the remaining stuff (transfers car).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* I may be prejudiced here as I grew up with a little wood starting few m behind the house - I feel at home in woodland, but open grassland/agricultural plains are plain boring to me and after a while get on my nerves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-11-12T16:09:23.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24364" CreationDate="2019-11-12T19:52:30.273" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question as you asked it is unanswerable - you supplied cold and (potentially) humid - no mention of wind or duration for outside; 10 min is very different to 1 hour, which is very very different to 1 day!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't comment specifically on any of those jackets you linked. They are all from reputable companies that produce serious mountaineering gear and will be reliable and warm. How warm - that's not something that can be measured easily and the reason is this: what works for me, might not work for you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key with going out in the cold is not one single item of clothing, it's about layers of clothing that can be used to adjust to your body and temperature tolerance and the conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally mountaineers and others who spend a lot of time in cold conditions wear a few key items - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A hat - tight fitting is best, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;beanie/knit cap&lt;/a&gt; style or &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;balaclava&lt;/a&gt; depending on conditions. For low temperatures, something that covers the ears is important.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tight fitting &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_underwear&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;thermal underwear&lt;/a&gt; - wool is best, but artificial fibers such as polypropylene work well too&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Warmth layer - this could be warm jacket - down filling is lightest and warmest, but should be protected from water. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wind-proof layer - the wind is the killer. I have been outside on still dry days at -10 Celsius and been fine in jeans and t-shirt with a light jacket, but as soon as there's a wind or wet I need all of the list above to keep warm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were you, I would look for a down jacket in the 600-800 fill range (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kathmandu.co.nz/summit-journal/expert-advice/what-is-down-fill-power-and-why-does-it-matter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;higher is warmer for same weight/mass&lt;/a&gt;), with a wind- and water-proof layer. I would also head down to my local outdoors shop and test a few out and get advice from the sales people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-11-12T19:52:30.273" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24364" CreationDate="2019-11-12T20:55:48.333" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Question was edited to add the criteria of maximum 2 layers of something light. This invalidates the initial answers, but I am leaving this because I still think it is the proper solution to outdoor warmth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real trick to staying warm is dressing in layers. If you put on enough layers, then you don't even need a jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The weather in my area is currently almost that cold, and I have been dealing with it recently by wearing 2 t-shirts, 2 long-sleeved shirts, and a wind breaker. In my case, the wind breaker is functioning as my jacket, but it provides very little thermal insulation and is used more to protect me against the wind and light rain and snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My son has been going out without any jacket at all. Instead, he piles on many t-shirts, sometimes 5 or more of them, and he puts on 1 long-sleeved shirt over the t-shirts. I think that is silly, but he says it works fine for him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure how much my wind breaker weighs, but it is certainly less than your weight limit. It might be even less than 100 grams. Even better, one of my wind breakers even folds up into its own pocket and closes on itself that way for easy packing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-11-15T21:51:07.097" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T21:51:07.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24369" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21581" CreationDate="2019-11-13T03:41:33.127" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is late - however, potentially useful for others in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long story short - you can't delete files that have been added to the memory via computer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the information, including that found on the official &lt;a href=&quot;https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/eTrex_10_20x_30x/EN-US/GUID-BBF41890-FB0B-4B45-AE18-E83442B68BA8.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin instructions online&lt;/a&gt; indicate that this must be done through a computer connection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However (I can't test this as I don't have a device) it seems that all user data can be deleted by doing a factory reset, which should take the device back to the settings as it was when it came out of the box when you first bought it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gpsnation.com/support/gps-factory-reset/garmin-etrex-20-factory-reset.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;To do a factory reset&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;strong&gt;Performed at users own risk!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;press and hold the &quot;enter&quot; button&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;press the &quot;power/light&quot; button&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wait for the &quot;Do you want to delete all user data&quot; message&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;select &quot;Yes&quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this will delete all waypoints, etc - anything that you have added to the device since getting it. I think internally stored maps (i.e. OEM supplied) will still be there, but perform at your own risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-11-13T03:41:33.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24370" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-13T15:54:26.693" Score="5" ViewCount="129" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of nubuck leather mittens that are nice and warm but do not last very long when cycling in the rain in autumn/winter or when building snowmen and throwing snowballs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now i'm looking for a waterproof replacement. &#xA;The mittens should be able to withstand rain for about 45 minutes while cycling. In addition, for a short time a year i would use them daily in the snow while throwing snow balls and building a snowman. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this reason i think expensive gore-tex (like) fabric is less suited, because gore-tex stops being waterproof when dirty. Also i think the water-resistant layer would not last very long. Is this correct? And is leather a better solution? Is it feasible to clean/dry leather mittens in the evening, apply cream/grease and use them again the following day?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5642" LastActivityDate="2019-11-18T18:53:20.020" Title="Waterproof mittens for cycling and snow-fun: leather or synthetic?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;snow&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24370" CreationDate="2019-11-13T20:14:53.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't answer the specifics of mittens, but I can answer in terms of leather and cleaning/drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Artificial fibers materials can be very hard wearing, if you get the right ones - gloves designed for mountaineering will be tough and designed for snow/ice use. However, I have found that leather ones for biking are great - provided they are looked after properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leather is a very hard-wearing material if looked after properly. This means regular cleaning and treatments. You should never dry leather with a high heat, such as in front of a fire or in a clothes drier; it should always be dried with low temperatures (i.e room temp) and out of direct sunlight. You should also avoid wax and oil based products like dubbin as these tend to clog the natural pores in the leather that allow it to breathe and act as a barrier to water (i.e. sweat) escaping the glove. They do completely water-proof the leather though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For drying you can get boot dryers that come with attachments for gloves, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.peetdryer.com/products/105850118&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these ones&lt;/a&gt; (I have no affiliation with this company or any others in this post), which basically blow cool or slightly warm air through the boots/gloves and should be easily capable of drying a pair of gloves in an hour or so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For leather the best advice I have come across is to use a water-based conditioner such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nikwax.com/en-us/productselector/conditioning.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nikwax&lt;/a&gt; or the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lowaboots.com/accessories/leather-care/lowa-waterstop-pro-pfc-free&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lowa&lt;/a&gt; brand stuff. These should be applied when the leather is damp and allowed to absorb. They will add water repellent properties, keep the leather supple and prolong the life of your gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-11-13T20:14:53.700" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24372" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-14T11:01:01.990" Score="0" ViewCount="721" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have leather gloves and mittens and I want to waterproof them.  I usually use mink oil on my leather boots to condition and seal them, Can I do the same for gloves and mittens or should I use something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T04:24:18.697" Title="How to waterproof leather gloves &amp; mittens?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4006" CreationDate="2019-11-14T14:25:01.343" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much depends on the region you are going to.  Check with the local wildlife conservation authorities, park personnel.  Jasper Park provides bear proof storage at all their sites, I think.  Willmore wilderness provides nothing.  Outfitter camps may or may not have a high bar for hanging food(or game)  OTOH Willmore is entirely random camping, and has very low use rates. (I've done several trips without seeing a footprint once off the main access trail.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been backpacking and canoeing for 35 years, averaging about 3-4 weeks a year in the bush.  I've never bothered to even hang my food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But:  I don't use the national parks.  I don't use campgrounds.  My usual backpacking haunts are Willmore Wilderness, north of Jasper Park, and the Rocky Clearwater Recreational Area, east of Jasper Park.  Both are hunted.  Bears have enough respect for people that they keep out of our way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On canoe trips I have had bear issues twice.  Once on the Churchill we had one that wasn't afraid of people in the slightest.  After trying to chase him off several times in the first half hour after landing, we packed up our camp and moved to the other side of the lake.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Mujatik, we had a bear saunter into camp after supper.  That night we kept the fire going and someone up. That trip was the opposite.  The bears are unaccustomed to seeing people at all, and are just curious, but haven't learned about the possibility of treats, or of rifles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Churchill, as canoe routes go is fairly popular.  There are fire rings at most portage landings, and on many windswept points.  (If you have experience the bugs there, you will know why windswept points are popular.)  The Mujatik and most of the other trips I've done were much less traveled, frequently requiring as long to clear the moose trail as to portage the obstacle. (Once we found camp litter:  A tobacco tin with a 1922 revenue stamp.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had mice nibble the corner of a package of granola or oatmeal.  Just rebag it as it happens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For contrast:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I spent a summer on staff at Philmont Scout Ranch.  At that time they had 12,000 scouts a summer.  A group was 10 scouts.  They would be there for 12 days total, but first day was orientation at base camp, and last day was turn in rental gear, and get cleaned up.  So 10 days in country.  So at any given time there were about 1500 campers spread out over the 25 x 50 mile ranch.  Bear country was about 2/3 of that.  The remainder open desert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears were a constant problem.  And the bears got clever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was one bear, the Pop Tart bear that would take carelessly hung bear bags, and rummage through them for the blueberry pop tarts that were part of one of the breakfasts. Everything else would be left alone, only incidentally damaged.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There was a young bear, the Kamikaze bear, that would climb one of the trees until he was well above the bag, leap out from the tree, grab the bag, and ride it down.  The cord had enough stretch that he was only a few feet off the ground moving slowly when it broke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another bear was brazen enough to watch the campers hang their bag, and in the evening would come over, look at the bag, follow the cord to where it was tied off on a tree, and break the cord with his claw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ranch had two live traps, and working with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would relocate the chronic offenders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Curiously, the bears left our cabin alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-11-14T19:52:22.017" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T19:52:22.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24372" CreationDate="2019-11-14T15:21:07.953" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had the best results &quot;waterproofing&quot; gloves using Snow Seal which is a wax like product. Putting the gloves in the dryer for a few minutes before you apply the wax seems to help in getting good absorption and the gloves need to be as clean as possible. This only works for smooth leather gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think there is any magic product though, if you've got something that works well for leather boots, and you know how to use it effectively then using that for gloves makes sense to me. Leather is leather after all. The one advantage Snow Seal or similar wax based products might have is improving the grip of the gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T15:21:07.953" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24375" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24370" CreationDate="2019-11-14T16:17:59.833" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I spend a lot of time in the snowy wet Sierra's and the only way I know to have a dry pair of mittens at the end of the day is to have two pairs of mittens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goretex et al can help, but only if the mitten is constructed such that the WB layer is one piece insert between the outer and inner layers of the mitten. Even then you can wear gaps in the WB layer. The other problem is that water is always going to get in by running down your arm into the mitten. So waterproof tends to mean that the water that gets in never gets out. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of skiers like the low budget insulated work mitten solution( google wells lamont insulated work mitten). They have fabric backs and leather palms and waterproof treatments like NixWax work well on them. They are cheap enough that you can always have a spare dry pair. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think it's much more important to finding something that will be warm after it gets wet than to chase the impossible dream of dry hands. Waterproof stuff helps in that it tends to keep the same water near your hands so you can warm it up. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cycling in the rain and messing around in the snow are so different, that you should focus on finding solutions that work for each rather than one for all. You don't need to spend a lot of money, simple latex gloves under cycling gloves can help a lot biking in the rain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastEditorUserId="5348" LastEditDate="2019-11-15T15:14:58.107" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T15:14:58.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24376" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24372" CreationDate="2019-11-14T19:57:44.140" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a tradeoff:  Sealed leather doesn't let water in, but doesn't let water vapour out either.  This results in liners getting soaked sooner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can reduce this somewhat: Apply your choice of goop to the inside face only, but include the web between thumb and palm.  If you do gloves, do about halfway around each finger, leaving the backside ungooped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way to keep your hands less damp is to apply antipersperant to your hands.  (This also works for feet.)  It takes about 3 days of use to reach it's max effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In sloppy wet conditions I prefer coarse knit wool liners.  Wool retains a certain amount of warmth wet, and coarse knit doesn't mash down as much.  For colder conditions, fleece is warmer as it doesn't hold much water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In either case, one useful trick:  Carry multiple sets of liners.  Yes, the outers will get the fresh liner damp, but you will have some time before it gets soggy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note too, that with time, your blood circulation in your hands will adapt.  I've seen winter fishermen on Lake Winnipeg working bare handed in below 0 (C) temperatures, and put their hands into the lake (at 0) to warm them up.  This adaptation doesn't happen quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2019-11-27T04:24:18.697" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T04:24:18.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24377" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24272" CreationDate="2019-11-14T20:03:58.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can't speak to deer.  I've kept fish on canoe trips from noon one day to breakfast the next morning without a problem.  I've also steamed fish, and carried the cooked fish for 36 hours without a problem.  These were on trips with temperures in the mid teens (C) overnight to low 20's during the day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-11-14T20:03:58.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24364" CreationDate="2019-11-15T16:29:37.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wind blocking is important in cold weather. A very small breeze on skin whisks away your warm air. On the flip side, keeping a thin layer of air stationary next to you works very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have an old sierra designs 3 layer gore-tex wind parka that over the years has lost its water repellancy. I still use it in winter, over a long sleeve polypro top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your garment MUST have a hood. This gives you an additional adjustable vent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You want to completely separate wind blocking from warmth. They are entirely different functions. So your jacket should have no insulation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The lightest form of construction would be two layer one with a waterproof breathable layer. The outer layer can be ripstop nylon -- same stuff as sleeping bag shells. Note that light weight jackets aren't robust against damage. There is a reason expedition parkas are substantially heavier than the lightest ones.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Features I'd look for:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Velcro closures at wrist that can accommodate bare wrists or mittens with good fit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drawstring at waist.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Drawstring on hood.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extended collar that zips up to chin.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Double ended zipper. (Allows unzipping lower end for freedom of movement -- usually used by me when sitting.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snap closed storm flap. (Handy to for quick 'close it a bit' days.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Underarm vent zips.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Features to avoid:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zip in liner. This complicates construction, takes time to insert and remove, and leaves a cold strip along the jacket zipper.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="3076" LastEditDate="2019-11-19T14:20:06.713" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T14:20:06.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24379" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24380" CreationDate="2019-11-15T18:09:44.753" Score="2" ViewCount="211" Body="&lt;p&gt;So just questioning some advice I received once:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When in guide mode when belaying a second from above, is it ok to take the locking carabineer and attach it to your belay loop? The primary benefit is that you can then release the break with your body weight. The downside is you potentially release the break with your body weight. To be clear, the device is still vertical, as it should be in guide mode, the locking carabiner is just through your belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18980" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T19:32:03.640" Title="Guide mode ATC with locker to belay loop" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24379" CreationDate="2019-11-15T18:25:18.297" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would definitely discourage this. Accidentially releasing the device is dangerous and can lead to fatal incidents. Moreover, releasing the device is rarely needed to my experience. Therefore this does not make the risk any more acceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An engaged ATC in guidemode can easily be released by hooking a carabiner into the little hole at the front and pulling back and up. Note that any kind of releasing should be done with extreme care and - when belaying 2 seconding climbers - only when the other climber has secured themselves&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note:&#xA;There are multiple ways to release the device. The way I described is a fast version. Many instructional videos recommend to pull this up by a sling with redirection and the official manual even suggests to backup the release with a munter hitch as shown in the attached picture&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bdel/default/dwc035a6a1/instructions/S16_Instructions/M10798_B_ATCGuide_IS-WEB.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-bdel/default/dwc035a6a1/instructions/S16_Instructions/M10798_B_ATCGuide_IS-WEB.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MPEQH.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MPEQH.png&quot; alt=&quot;Releasing according to BD manual&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2019-11-15T18:32:10.033" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T18:32:10.033" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24379" CreationDate="2019-11-15T19:07:50.147" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is very dangerous, the plastic retaining loop is not load bearing and it can be absent or broken, even if it holds your weight you can cause an uncontrollable fall in your second by simply tripping and tension on this carbiner can prevent the autoblocking function from operating at all&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider also that auto-blocking devices are usually most critical in situations where the belayer is injured, possibly unconscious or deceased. For example due to rock-fall or a medical incident. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically, during a lowering activity it is OK and sometimes recommended or necessary to leverage your body weight. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As @Manziel shows the proper way to rig the lowering system of a direct-belay device using the carabiner to redirect the force , in certain situations, it may be very hard to release the device by pulling on release sling without major leverage, in which case you can consider clipping the lowering loop to your harness to provide body leverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can certainly do a redirected belay, imagine very uneven top-rope&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JIEUCm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JIEUCm.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://mojagear.com/learn/2015/08/04/multi-pitch-rock-climbing-tips-the-best-way-to-belay-from-above/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mojagear.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some situations, a direct belay may be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVOep.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AVOep.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.neilhopkins.us/guide/evaluation-bfz.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;neilhopkins.us&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But your combined solution is a death trap since the guide is hard clipped to the anchor  through the forged loop, an overconstrained system. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2019-11-15T19:32:03.640" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T19:32:03.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24364" CreationDate="2019-11-15T21:48:12.353" Score="0" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Battery Powered, Heated Jacket&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the newly added criteria of &quot;not more than 2 layers of something light&quot; I began to fear there is no answer. However, your mention of strolling specifically &lt;strong&gt;in cities&lt;/strong&gt; may have saved you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the only thing that might fit all your criteria, or at least come the closest to it, is a heated jacket. There are jackets which provide heat electrically which are powered by battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get one of the wind/water resistant heated jackets that is advertised as light-weight, and you put on the warmest 2 layers that you are willing to tolerate under it, then you might be fine in the conditions you mention, though I make no guarantee. Make sure you also keep a good set of mittens and hat on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Notice&lt;/strong&gt; I might not have provided this answer if the question covered general outdoor activities, including hiking and camping. Trusting your life to a battery powered, heated jacket while out in the wilderness sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. But you specifically said city strolling, so if the battery or the jacket fail you can stop sooner or get help more easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2019-11-15T21:48:12.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24383" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24384" CreationDate="2019-11-16T07:55:04.213" Score="3" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been climbing for more than 10 months now. I had been climbing regularly for 6 months before, unfortunately, I had a 2-3 months break from climbing. When I have gotten back to it now, I find developing jelly knees on my 3rd or 4th climb itself (lead). Because of this, not only am I not able to climb for as long as I used to, I am also not able to try harder routes because I am not able to trust my knees. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) Any ideas how and why I might have developed these weak knees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) Can anyone recommend of any exercises that might be useful to strengthen the knees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18982" LastActivityDate="2019-11-16T15:54:50.550" Title="Jelly Knees while climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24384" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24383" CreationDate="2019-11-16T14:38:43.437" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most likely this is not a problem of physical power or endurance. A moderately active person should have sufficiently trained legs for climbing. This is especially true for the beginner end of the difficulty range where footholds can be stood on passively (as opposed to actively pulling oneself towards the wall with the feet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disco legs are typically a mental problem. If you do not feel comfortable on lead, climbing at your limit, people start to tremble as this will feel like weak knees. The solution for this is to take a step back to get comfortable with leading. Having a longer break can lead to being uncomfortable with leading climbs near your limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are multiple aspects in training to get comfortable with leading&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fall practice&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;finding efficient clipping positions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;finding rest positions to ensure you have sufficient power left at the harder sections&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;building trust to your belayer (often overlooked but maybe the most important aspect. Changing belayers can be a huge holdback for recreational climbers)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-11-16T14:38:43.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24385" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24383" CreationDate="2019-11-16T15:54:50.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a climber so this is a non-expert thought that was nearly just a comment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could something have changed affecting your ability to hold awkward positions, perhaps a loss of suppleness if your break was caused by injury or being too busy? I say this because when I get those legs it's often that I'm holding a tricky position for some reason, like protecting a rapid from the best position on the bank when kayaking, or working from a step that's a touch too far from the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Height-related nerves (that's why I'm not a climber), being stiff (from cramming myself into a kayak) or even being cold (but not shivery) all make it worse, but aren't enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-11-16T15:54:50.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24272" CreationDate="2019-11-17T07:30:41.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could consider &lt;strong&gt;salt curing&lt;/strong&gt; your meat; e.g.&#xA;corning, brining, jerking, pickling, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of unwanted bacteria.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Salted meat and fish are a staple of the diet in North Africa, Southern China, Scandinavia, coastal Russia, and in the Arctic. Salted meat was a staple of the mariner's diet in the Age of Sail. It was stored in barrels, and often had to last for months spent out of sight of land.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt-cured_meat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source: Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9447" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-11-17T07:42:28.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24370" CreationDate="2019-11-18T18:53:20.020" Score="4" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For extended outing using an antipersperant on your hands helps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Overmitts plus fleece liners is my goto.  I have a pair of leather cowhide overmits that I use when working -- leather takes the abuse of moving firewood.  I ahve a nylon pair with duraflex (breathable coating applied directly to fabric.) for use in bitter cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;On extended trips (multi-day winter trips) I carry both.  Leather ones around the fire, nylon ones on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having separate liners makes them &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; easier to dry.  Since the outers don't actually hold much water, cold hands are  a matter of changing liners.  And liners are light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-11-18T18:53:20.020" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24390" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24391" CreationDate="2019-11-19T14:27:32.400" Score="6" ViewCount="315" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to understand if skills/experience gained in rock climbing are going to be useful in climbing steep ice/hard-snow. Of course the gear as well as techniques involved in either are different, but is being a good rock climber helpful/useful in  climbing ice and hard-snow on mountains? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2019-11-20T08:04:40.040" Title="Transferable skills between rock and ice climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24390" CreationDate="2019-11-19T15:17:41.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some helpful basics like tieing into a rope and belaying that directly transfer from rock to ice climbing as they are the same regardless of the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further transferable skills mainly depend on what kind of rock climbing you do. Sports climbing is a lot less helpful than trad climbing. Trusting your own protection is an essential skill in ice climbing and leading with double ropes can be very useful. A good head on run out climbs is useful as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To my experience, the physical side is only transferable to a small part as rock climbing is a lot about holding small holds while ice climbing is about holding your tools. &#xA;These may seem like a jug but as you are holding them in the same position for long time you get pumped surprisingly fast. If course, good endurance is always helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are asking about ice and hard snow but these are actually quite different. On ice climbing (as in waterfall ice, typically steeper than 60 degrees) it is a lot about pulling and locking off. On steep snow (up to 55 to 60 degrees) it's more like walking as your power comes from the legs. Another difference is that snow can be hard to impossible to protect efficiently as opposed to ice which can be protected quite well with ice screws. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2019-11-19T21:12:27.830" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T21:12:27.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2019-11-19T16:01:31.690" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is better to have an idea what to do with the fish rather than spoil a life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The kill method you mentioned is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikejime&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ikejime&lt;/a&gt; method (). Ikejime is just a fancy Japanese word for sticking a sharp screwdriver to a fish's brain (where it is widely practiced). &#xA;This method kills the fish humanely, with immediate brain dead. This also improve the flavor. Highly recommended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To do this :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It involves the insertion of a spike quickly and directly into the hindbrain, usually located slightly behind and above the eye, thereby causing immediate brain death. When spiked correctly, the fish fins flare and the fish relaxes, immediately ceasing all motion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Immediately after killing the fish, make a direct cut on the gill on each side and the fish would be bled out from the gill arteries. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want skin on fillet, scale the fish before take out the gut, otherwise you squash the flesh and make it mushy. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would also gut the fish before throw it on the ice as the bacteria in the guts usually start the spoil process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a clean whole fish and you can do some delicate filleting at home. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T16:01:31.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24393" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17040" CreationDate="2019-11-19T16:56:29.703" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;White tiger you see is not the white tiger subspecies.&lt;/strong&gt;  White tiger are albino Bengal tigers or Siberian tiger just like human have albinism in all races. So of course they are very rare in natural state. The unusual pigmentation and albinism caused disease will make it a lot harder for white tiger to survive. It is a good thing that they don't show it on TV, which I will explain. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The most import reason I am writing this answer is to raise awareness: NOT to love white tiger.&lt;/strong&gt; Yes, they look magnificent and beautiful. But it is not natural, another example is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Liger&lt;/a&gt;, just a special breed to satisfy consumers. And to increase the chance of albino occurrence, breeders do inbreeding. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From Wiki:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because of the inbreeding and resulting genetic defects the Association of Zoos and Aquariums barred member zoos from breeding white tigers, white lions and king cheetahs in a white paper adopted by the board of directors in July 2011. It is noteworthy that the first person to speak out against the displaying of white tigers was William G. Conway, General Director of the New York Zoological Society, which later became known as the Wildlife Conservation Society when he said, &quot;White tigers are freaks. It's not the role of a zoo to show two headed calves and white tigers.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From bigcatrescue.org:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The same gene that causes the white coat causes the optic nerve to be wired to the wrong side of the brain, thus all white tigers are cross eyed, even if their eyes look normal.  They also often suffer from club feet, cleft palates, spinal deformities and defective organs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The white coat is a double recessive gene so most of the cubs born through this inbreeding have normal coloring but they too suffer the same defects and are referred to in the trade as “throw away tigers.”  As such, they are often killed at birth because only the white tigers are the big money makers.  And because none of these cats are purebred (they are all crosses between Bengal tigers and Siberian tigers), they serve no conservation purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastEditorUserId="16405" LastEditDate="2019-11-19T17:05:41.003" LastActivityDate="2019-11-19T17:05:41.003" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2019-11-20T03:18:00.813" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would be reluctant to use a live basket, stringer, or  a keep net from a kayak or canoe in any southern water that may harbor an alligator. Securing that basket to a thwart and tempting an animal with large teeth to latch onto it just sounds like a bad idea to me.. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18995" LastActivityDate="2019-11-20T03:18:00.813" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24390" CreationDate="2019-11-20T08:04:40.040" Score="6" Body="&lt;h1&gt;The Basics&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tying in, ropework, belaying, commands and common sense transfer quite well from rock climbing. At least from trad. Someone with rock climbing experience could certainly top rope on ice or follow an experienced leader with only some brief instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;The climbing&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice climbing technique is quite different from (most) rock climbing. A rock climber is used to crimp small holds, palm slopers, handjam, and smear feet on slabs. All this is (virtually) absent on ice, where focus is on getting solid placements with your tools, locking off and stay balanced on your feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen good rock climbers getting completely pumped om basic ice climbs and mediocre rock climbers cruising WI4-WI5 (granted not leading) on their first day on ice. So don't expect climbing skills to transfer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Safety and the mental part&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is where it gets really different. Ice climbing is far more dangerous. Some handle this well, some freak out, others don't realize what risks they actually are taking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start with, while every experienced rock climber is aware of the risk of rock fall, that is not too common. On an ice climb there will be chunks of ice raining down constantly. Dont stand in the fall line while belaying! a big block of ice from 30m above is bad news.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there is the fact that ice occurs in winter. Ropes will freeze as will biners. And you. You will be wearing gloves. All in all, you will be clumsier. Tying knots and clipping ropes will take more time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice screws are good protection if they are placed in solid ice. Problem is, solid ice is not always to be found when you need pro. Be prepared to deal with this before committing to a lead. When I lead on ice, I'm mentally soloing. My pro is a back up, there to keep me alive, not unharmed. &#xA;Also, placing an ice screw is far more work than clipping a bolt or placing a cam. Placing an ice screw on steep ice, while hanging on to one tool is taxing. So much so that it might often be safer not to place pro and simply run it out until next good rest position. Therefore protection on ice is generally more sparse than on rock. On tho of this, falls are more dangerous, since you have sharp points everywhere that might hurt you in a fall, or your crampons might catch the ice giving you an instant broken ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and beware of avalanche danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: while top roping on ice is not much more dangerous than on rock, things change dramatically once you lead. Some handle this well. Some like it (I do). But it's certainly different than rock climbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2019-11-20T08:04:40.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24396" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-21T02:59:56.307" Score="0" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm building a layering system for cold Colorado winters where I will be going from strenuous hiking to standing still in below freezing weather to take photographs.  In full my layering system would consist of: mid-weight base-layer, adjustable mid layer, down jacket, waterproof shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any recommendations on how warm of a down jacket I would need for below freezing to -10 F (-23.3 C) weather with that layering system?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19001" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2019-11-23T22:18:03.783" LastActivityDate="2019-11-23T22:18:03.783" Title="How warm should a down jacket be in a layering system?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24398" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24402" CreationDate="2019-11-21T05:44:57.153" Score="1" ViewCount="236" Body="&lt;p&gt;My friend and I are planning to go camping for three days next week. Since it's winter here in the US, we're targeting the south east side (FL, SC, etc.) I am looking for suggestions on camping sites that are walking distance to the beach (for fishing) and can easily obtain dead branches (for fire). Most of the camping I did in the past was in Australia so this is my first time in the US. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19002" LastActivityDate="2020-02-07T18:18:36.893" Title="Camping site suggestions" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24396" CreationDate="2019-11-21T14:17:59.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer really depends on how long you plan to be standing still. If you plan to be standing still for extended periods of time, say 10 or more minutes, I would suggest a warmer coat. If you're only going to be standing still for shorter periods I would suggest a lighter down jacket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is important to note that a higher fill does not necessarily mean a warmer jacket. As for exactly how warm you want it to be depends on what you prefer, some people wear really warm coats in weather that others go with just a sweatshirt in, so an exact number is very hard to give due to the differences between people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastActivityDate="2019-11-21T14:17:59.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24400" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24396" CreationDate="2019-11-21T16:34:36.870" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, you shouldn't consider wearing a down jacket under a mostly non-breathable shell. Down loses most of its insulating properties when damp or wet and, assuming &lt;em&gt;strenuous hiking&lt;/em&gt;, having it inside your perspiration saturated outer shell will only degrade its performance over the course of your sortie, to the point of becoming almost useless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If anything, you need to put the down jacket over your shell. As an alternative, if you really want to put it under and don't own the jacket yet, get a synthetic fill jacket instead. Synthetic fibers retain their insulation much better when wet as they don't collapse like the down plumules do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, your description of &lt;em&gt;strenuous hiking&lt;/em&gt; is incompatible with a layering system where you're wearing a down jacket permanently. The key to being able to stop for exented periods of time is to stay as dry as possible. Over-insulation will promote excessive perspiration and even though this isn't a problem while moving, the moment you stop and cool off, moisture-logged insulation will make you miserable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're doing some really leasurely hiking, operate at extremely high elevation where one step takes 5 seconds to recover, or are doing technical mountaineering with less aerobic performance, a down parka should be carried in your pack until you stop moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main thing is, if you're going at close to 100% effort, you don't need much insulation and you should keep it for when you go 0% effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, and I don't pretend to represent the norm, my usual setup doesn't change whether it's 32°F (0°C) or -4°F (-20°C) &lt;strong&gt;while moving&lt;/strong&gt;. I wear a heavy base layer and a heavy WB400 softshell (closer to a true hardshell, it's a winter fabric). My hardshell and down parka are in my pack and only come out if I'm facing extreme wind or taking an extended break. Some days, I won't even use them and they effectively are just part of my emergency kit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2019-11-21T16:47:29.013" LastActivityDate="2019-11-21T16:47:29.013" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24398" CreationDate="2019-11-21T19:07:01.387" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no places in the US that meet your two criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gathering firewood is banded in most campgrounds. As seen in the related post, you can gather firewood in some very secluded locations, which will mostly exclude beach access. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/11742/4079&quot;&gt;Dispersed camping allowing gathered wood fires within 5 hours of San Francisco?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also you will need a fishing license to fish, these vary by state, and both your national and state citizenship will impact your ability to get a license.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe start with finding which state you want to fish in, and can get a license in, then look for camping, and plan on paying a few dollars for campfire wood.  Most campgrounds have firewood for sale for about $5 per bundle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-11-21T19:07:01.387" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24398" CreationDate="2019-11-21T19:28:00.007" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the kind of camping you want to do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest type of camping to find is camping at a campground. Usually this involves paying a nightly fee (often around $20-30 per night) for a numbered, designated campsite. Usually the campsite comes with a fire pit and/or grill, a picnic table, a parking spot, and space to pitch a tent. Most campgrounds also have shared bathroom facilities including flush toilets and showers. Campgrounds can be found at many National Forests, National Parks, State Parks, and State Forests. They are easy to find through the website for that park. Commercial campgrounds are also common in some areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other type of camping is primitive, backwoods, backcountry and/or dispersed camping. &lt;em&gt;You may need a permit; be sure to review the specific rules and restrictions for the area.&lt;/em&gt; This type of camping is most common in national forests. It's available in some national parks as well, but with much tighter restrictions. The terms are used somewhat interchangeably, but here's a general breakdown:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Primitive or backwoods camping means there are no amenities. Dig your own pit toilet and fire pit (and fill it in afterwards). Fires may or may not be allowed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dispersed backwoods camping means you can camp anywhere in the designated area. There are always some site-specific exceptions, like a setback distance from streams.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Backwoods camping at designated sites means there are specific camp spots (usually each spot is named or numbered). If fires are allowed in that area, there will often be a metal fire ring or stone-lined fire pit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a list of national parks, national forests, and state parks in the southeast US that have beaches and camping. I didn't actually look into the fishing options, but many of these will have fishing. I assumed you wanted an ocean beach with saltwater fishing. If you're interested in inland fishing on a river or lake, your options are even more numerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National Forests - Visit their &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/destinations&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/ivm/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;interactive forest locator map&lt;/a&gt;.  Camping information is available on the page for each specific forest. The website makes it difficult to figure out where dispersed camping is actually allowed, so I recommend calling the local ranger station for information (email if you must, but they're usually extremely helpful over the phone). Finding information about national forests is usually more difficult than for national parks, but if you're looking for a remote, isolated wilderness experience, dispersed camping in a national forest is the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/nfsnc/recreation/camping-cabins&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Croaton National Forest in North Carolina&lt;/a&gt; - This forest has several campgrounds, and some dispersed camping. Local ranger office: Croatan Ranger District - District Ranger Rondall Hudson - 141 E. Fisher Avenue, New Bern, NC 28560 - phone: (252) 638-5628 - sm.fs.croatan@usda.gov - Business Hours: (Mon - Fri) 8-4:30 (closed from 12pm - 1pm).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/scnfs/recreation/camping-cabins&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Francis Marion and Sumter National Forest in South Carolina&lt;/a&gt; - Developed and primitive campsites are available, as well as dispersed camping with a permit. Local ranger office: Francis Marion Ranger District Office - 2967 Steed Creek Road, Huger, SC 29450 - Phone: (843) 336-2200 - rswhalen@fs.fed.us&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;National Parks - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;find a park here&lt;/a&gt;. The National Park system exists to protect the most exceptionally beautiful landscapes in the US. If you're looking for natural beauty, you can't beat a National Park. These parks typically have more visitors and tighter restrictions than National Forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks in Florida that allow camping and have a beach:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gulf Islands National Seashore&lt;/a&gt; - this park has campgrounds as well as dispersed backcountry camping in designated areas. Boat-in camping is allowed in many parts of this park.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Everglades National Park&lt;/a&gt; - this park has two campgrounds and some designated backcountry campsites (no dispersed camping)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/drto/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dry Tortugas National Park&lt;/a&gt; - primitive camping only; this park is accessible only by a daily ferry, or by hiring a boat or seaplane&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Cypress National Preserve&lt;/a&gt; - this park has 8 campgrounds as well as a huge expanse of backcountry where you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/backcountry-camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;backcountry camp&lt;/a&gt; with a permit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks in Georgia that allow camping and have a beach:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/bicy/planyourvisit/backcountry-camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cumberland Island National Seashore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks in South Carolina that allow camping and have a beach:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/cong/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Congaree National Park&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;National Parks in North Carolina that allow camping and have a beach:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Hattaras National Seashore&lt;/a&gt; - four campgrounds, no dispersed or backcountry camping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/calo/planyourvisit/camping.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Lookout&lt;/a&gt; - Primitive camping on the beach. Fires are allowed on the beach below the high tide line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;State Parks are managed by the individual state goverment and can be extremely variable in quality and type. The worst state parks can be a boring mowed field with a few unshaded campsites and a manmade fishing pond. The best state parks have extraordinarily beautiful natural landscapes comparable to National Parks, but are less crowded. As long as you do your research, you can have a great experience with a state park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails?parks%5B0%5D=experiences%3A242&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in Florida State Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gastateparks.org/Camping&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in Georgia State Parks&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://southcarolinaparks.com/camping-and-lodging/camping&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in South Carolina State Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncparks.gov/find-an-activity/camping&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in North Carolina State Parks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You need a state-issued fishing license to fish in the United States.&lt;/strong&gt; (Even if you're just dangling your line in the water and not planning on catching anything.) Fishing licenses are issued by the department of natural resources in each state. Each state has its own separate government, so the regulations are different in each state. If you want to go fishing in multiple states, you'll need a fishing license for each state. Here are the &lt;em&gt;current&lt;/em&gt; prices (as of November 21, 2019) and links to purchase fishing licenses in some of the southeastern states. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dnr.sc.gov/licenses/pricingnonresident.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;South Carolina Fishing License&lt;/a&gt; - A 14-day non-resident &lt;em&gt;freshwater&lt;/em&gt; fishing license is $11; a 14-day non-resident &lt;em&gt;saltwater&lt;/em&gt; license is separate (also $11).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://myfwc.com/license/recreational/visitors/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Florida Fishing License&lt;/a&gt; - A non-resident 3-day freshwater fishing license costs $17. A saltwater license is separate, and the same price.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://georgiawildlife.com/licenses-permits-passes/choose#nonresident-fishing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Georgia Fishing License&lt;/a&gt; - A non-resident one-day freshwater fishing license is $10, plus $3.50 for each additional day. Saltwater fishing requires a Saltwater Fishing Information Permit, which is free (presumably they just want to make sure you understand the regulations).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncwildlife.org/Licensing/Hunting-Fishing-Trapping-Licenses/NonResident-Licenses&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Carolina Fishing License&lt;/a&gt; - A 10-day permit for a non-resident is $18 for inland fishing and $10 for coastal fishing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-11-21T19:28:00.007" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24403" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-21T21:01:53.100" Score="3" ViewCount="199" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sit-on-top kayaks are a popular alternative to traditional sit-inside kayaks.&#xA;One advantage is that they sometimes come with a &lt;em&gt;foot pedals&lt;/em&gt; for propulsion.&#xA;The foot pedals are linked, via gears, either to a propeller or to flippers.&#xA;This leaves the hands free for activities like fishing or photography.&#xA;Of course, such kayaks can also be &quot;arm powered&quot; via &lt;em&gt;paddles&lt;/em&gt; in the conventional sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the same boat (for a fair comparison), how does &lt;strong&gt;pedal&lt;/strong&gt;-power compare with &lt;strong&gt;paddle&lt;/strong&gt;-power, for speed and endurance? Also, how feasible is it to &lt;em&gt;combine&lt;/em&gt; both means of propulsion, simultaneously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many videos out there comparing pedal kayak and paddle kayak regarding price, weight, maneuverability and draft (and this is not about those aspects), but those comparing speed and endurance are few and contradictory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-11-23T23:41:10.013" LastActivityDate="2019-12-06T20:43:51.633" Title="Comparing and combining paddles and pedals for sit-on-top kayak speed and endurance" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24404" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24396" CreationDate="2019-11-21T22:06:38.317" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The warmth of clothing is often defined in units of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_insulation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CLO&lt;/a&gt;. A 1 CLO ensemble of clothing is suitable for sitting in an office (or more specifically having a metabolic rate of 60 W/m2) at 22C or slow walking (or more specifically having a metabolic rate of 60 W/m2) at 12C for an average adult male. To be comfortable at -23C (i.e., -10F) at rest you need 6 CLO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It turns out that high quality down provides about 1.7 CLOs per oz/yd2. Since your body has more than a sq yard of surface area, the number of CLOs you will get from an ounce  of down is much less. In fact, the average male body has a surface area of 2.44 yd2 and this means an ounce of high quality down gives you about 0.75 CLOs regardless of if you  spread it out all over your body like a sleeping bag or on half your body like a jacket. To get 6 CLOs, you need approximately 8 ounces of down. This is ignoring your base ensemble and assumes you are at rest when taking the pictures. It also assumes you are a perfectly average male.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you need the layering system to handle -10F to +32F, you may be better off with either two jackets, a jacket and vest, or even better, in my opinion a jacket and pants. As long as the total fill weight is around 8 ounces the average male will be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-11-21T22:06:38.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24407" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1117" CreationDate="2019-11-22T09:44:07.097" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The adequate minimum is 1-2 minutes&lt;/strong&gt; (100C water at the sea level). Mind the altitude. To kill bacteria you need a combination of temperature and time. At some altitudes (miles), without a pressurizer, you just can't kill some resilient strains in a reasonable time (low boiling temperature). Use other disinfection methods in addition. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Why no less?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For this method, you just need to know the local boiling temperature. Any pre-boiling temperature demands a thermometer to be sure that you're heating the water as intended. And the 1-2 minutes are enough to assure that it was boiling, not -5 -7C from the boiling point near the surface or so while you're thinking there was a full volume already boiled. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Why 1-2 min. is safe enough at most elevations?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the tables about temperatures for pathogen killing and boiling temperature at different altitudes.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/Boiling_water_01_15.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/Boiling_water_01_15.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cooking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_cooking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The maximum is 30 min.&lt;/strong&gt; It's for Anthrax as an edge case, again 100C at the sea level. The most important thing - it's a misconception that 70C for 30 minutes; 85° C for 2 minutes, or alike low energy procedures are ultimate protection. It's a somewhat recommendation for your protection on average, not a guarantee. It isn't killing everything, just lowering the most common harmful pathogens (including parasites, viruses, etc., excluding spores and toxins) to safe for a healthy individual levels. Alas, 30 min 100C boiling either won't kill everything, but it's already a paranoid level of heating. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can meet something like this bacterium in the wilderness; however, most of the time you will not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Decide yourself.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9403" LastEditorUserId="9403" LastEditDate="2019-11-23T06:59:27.787" LastActivityDate="2019-11-23T06:59:27.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24403" CreationDate="2019-11-22T15:01:48.807" Score="2" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Apples and Oranges&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer, I'm a kayaker, I've never used a pedal powered sit on top&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paddling requires skill, technique, practice and endurance. If you have these things, along with the right paddle, then it would probably be better than an average pedal setup. On the other hand a cyclist with a top spec pedal setup would be far better off than with a cheap paddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you come under neither classification then you'll end up with contradictory information about which is better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would anticipate that an average person with no particular skill in either field but otherwise physically active would have better endurance with a pedal setup. Larger leg muscles which generally get used more, along with less wasted energy correcting inefficient or incorrect paddle technique, would easily swing the balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using both at the same time would be interesting. When kayaking the power transfer from paddle to boat passes through your feet, so they're not theoretically exclusive. But (there's always a but) pedal strokes are normally shorter than paddlestrokes, the timing would be far enough out that you'd either suffer more for the drag of the pedal system in the water than you'd gain from having it as a reasonable paddler, or wouldn't really gain from having the paddle as an effective pedaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-11-22T17:39:35.417" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24278" CreationDate="2019-11-22T20:54:06.110" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am fairly confident that it is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://percyulsamer.tumblr.com/post/169972461269/i-found-this-beautiful-sea-robin-skull-plate-today&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;skull plate of a Sea Robin&lt;/a&gt;. This link is to fossilized collection pieces, but modern ones would be the same. Not sure how it wound up in the woods of central Connecticut, but I suppose a bird could have carried it there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't have a photo of my own, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://imgur.com/gallery/oHNkf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here's another reference.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2019-11-22T20:54:06.110" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24413" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24403" CreationDate="2019-11-25T20:31:00.847" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are some articles that claim that &lt;strong&gt;pedal beats paddle&lt;/strong&gt;, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paddlecraft.com.au/News/What-Everybody-should-know-about-Pedal-Powered-Kayaks&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paddlecraft.com.au: What-Everybody-should-know-about-Pedal-Powered-Kayaks&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://yakgear.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-paddling-and-pedaling-a-kayak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;yakgear.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-paddling-and-pedaling-a-kayak&lt;/a&gt;    &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.yakangler.com/how-to-paddling/item/3952-pedal-vs-paddle-kayaks-for-angling&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;yakangler.com/pedal-vs-paddle-kayaks-for-angling&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.austinkayak.com/blog/2016/09/kayak-fishing-pedal-vs-paddle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;austinkayak.com/kayak-fishing-pedal-vs-paddle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://paddlecamp.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-kayak-a-mile&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;paddlecamp.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-kayak-a-mile&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://trykayak.com/best-pedal-kayak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;trykayak.com/best-pedal-kayak&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And some videos supporting the same claim:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAqMIeXnvZk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube.com/watch?v=VAqMIeXnvZk&lt;/a&gt; Harry's Yaks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxW9Ph27EJs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube.com/watch?v=jxW9Ph27EJs&lt;/a&gt; Canoe Shops Group&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0rvFdLdplA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube.com/watch?v=D0rvFdLdplA&lt;/a&gt; Hobie &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found only one video, very subjective, claiming &lt;strong&gt;paddle beats pedal&lt;/strong&gt;, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coNPOFYxCqc&amp;amp;t=330s&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;youtube.com/watch?v=coNPOFYxCqc&amp;amp;t=330s&lt;/a&gt; River Rat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There’s very little to find on &lt;strong&gt;combining pedal and paddle power&lt;/strong&gt;.&#xA;In two hobie.com discussions, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2941&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topic2941&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2879&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topic2879&lt;/a&gt;, there’s some agreement that while it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; possible to go faster/further by combining pedaling and paddling concurrently, there are two difficulties to overcome:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As pedaling has a much higher cadence than paddling, how to synchronize to optimize the two?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As pedaling brings knees up higher compared to when paddling, how to synchronize to avoid bumping paddle on knee?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2019-11-26T01:55:33.497" LastActivityDate="2019-11-26T01:55:33.497" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22707" CreationDate="2019-11-25T21:13:13.757" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An additional suspect besides the tick family is another member of the Acari - mites. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mites_associated_with_cutaneous_reactions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mite species that affect humans&lt;/a&gt;, the most common and well known of which is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoptes_scabiei&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Scabies Mite (&lt;em&gt;Sarcoptes scabiei&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt;. Adult females are in the range of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoptes_scabiei#Morphology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;0.3-0.45 mm/0.012-0.018&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. They are spherical and you usually can't see the legs. Like all the Acari, there is little separation of the head and body, and they do not have a thorax like the Insecta. The shell of a mite is in a single piece, which will distinguish it from all the beetles, which have split wing-cases over their back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mite bites typically result in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scabies#Rash&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;red, blistering/pimple-like rash&lt;/a&gt; (scabies shown) that is very itchy. Scabies in particular, burrow in the skin and you can see the burrows and bites in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scabies-burrow.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tracks on the skin&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some other common types of mites that you have probably heard of if you are from Tennessee, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombicula&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chiggers&lt;/a&gt; (several species), which you (and any animals you have) can easily pick up from areas where ticks are found too. Their bite is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chigger_bite&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;itchy and pimple-like&lt;/a&gt;. Chiggers are about 0.01&quot;/0.4 mm in size and are an orange colour. They are more oval than round, but this depends on species and life-cycle stage as well as engorgement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2019-11-25T21:13:13.757" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22228" CreationDate="2019-11-25T21:28:55.800" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1skvw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description (https://i.stack.imgur.com/59vE9.jpg)![enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is from the Mugumo tree. I took this pic in Nairobi Kenya. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19020" LastActivityDate="2019-11-25T21:28:55.800" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10627" CreationDate="2019-11-26T20:14:08.063" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you need a water supply that will not freeze without additives, dig a hole in the ground. In the hole place a hard sided cooler . The top of the cooler should be no less than 1 foot below ground level. Drape a small tarp or other heavy material that will not degrade. The tarp will rest over the cooler and overlap the sides of the hole. Fill over the top with clean backfill. Place a wooden rod on 2 opposing sides of the tarp that come out of the hole and staple the tarp around the rod on each end to be used as handles. Whenever you need access place your foot on one handled side and pull the other side up, dirt and all. Get your drink, and put the tarp and dirt back in place. This works and is a common sense approach to having good old drinking water that will not freeze and has worked for me in winter camps where temps dove to 15 F at night. Hope you find this fairly simple approach useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19023" LastActivityDate="2019-11-26T20:14:08.063" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24417" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24419" CreationDate="2019-11-26T20:20:30.977" Score="6" ViewCount="450" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where I live, we are about to get a bunch of snow (5”-8”). This has brought about the question of which is more dangerous an icy road or an icy road with snow? Does the snow help traction on the ice, or does it make it worse?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15957" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2019-11-26T22:33:51.307" LastActivityDate="2019-11-28T15:35:42.430" Title="Which is more dangerous, icy roads or icy roads with snow on top?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24417" CreationDate="2019-11-27T14:45:32.120" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The roads are not the danger, the drivers on the road are the danger!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think about your question inversely (antonym); &quot;Which is &lt;strong&gt;safer&lt;/strong&gt;, icy roads or icy roads with snow on top?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not the presence or lack of ice/snow that creates the danger/safety, it is how the driver responds to the presence of the snow/ice.  For example, drivers with 4x4 trucks occasionally believe the four wheel drive makes driving on snow and ice safer, and it does... Except when the 4x4 driver starts driving too fast for conditions, and crashes.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest danger is not adjusting your driving for conditions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which leads us to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_ice&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;black ice&lt;/a&gt; this ice can develop on roads and be difficult or impossible to see.  Any road condition that is not apparent to the driver is going to be the most dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So given your question, (black) ice is more dangerous than (white) snow.  But even this can be anticipated and adjusted for.  If there is moisture and road temperatures below freezing adjust your driving for slippery roads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaplaning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aquaplaning or hydroplaning&lt;/a&gt; is just as dangerous in warm weather as ice and snow in cold weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T14:45:32.120" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24417" CreationDate="2019-11-27T16:44:36.360" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both are dangerous, and as James says both require drivers to be extra cautious and adjust their driving. However from my experience living in Alberta, Canada where we spend ~5 months of the year in the snow with temperatures as low as -25C ice with snow on top is more dangerous.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ice with snow on top once your vehicle begins to slide your tires are not in direct contact with the ice and you have only the friction between the snow and the ice to rely on rather than the friction from your tires and the ice. Additionally snow on top of the ice can hide ruts in the ice that you may otherwise have a better chance of seeing and anticipating, if your tires hit these ruts at higher speed or in a lighter vehicle you may find your vehicle being thrown the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastActivityDate="2019-11-27T16:44:36.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24421" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24417" CreationDate="2019-11-28T15:35:42.430" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Getting rid of the subjectivity of danger, I am going to answer this for two different basic scenarios. There are so many variables that are possible within scope of the question, but I am going to leave it to 2 scenarios. Plain ice, and snow over plain ice and the. apply studded winter tires or plain all season or 3 season tires to those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under normal circumstances ice is more slippery than ice with snow on top. Snow being crushed under the tires creates a friction element that is not present with bare tires on ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, studded winter tires flips this over. The metal studs directly pressed hard on the ice grips the ice better than it would with a layer of snow between the tire and ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5565" LastActivityDate="2019-11-28T15:35:42.430" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16604" CreationDate="2019-11-30T13:45:08.753" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;the ecological footprint of growing and transporting bird feed is massive&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we want to feed birds then convert lawn to nature habitat - shrubs, trees, wild flowers plants   habitat piles, leaf piles ertc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19033" LastActivityDate="2019-11-30T13:45:08.753" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24424" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-11-30T23:04:13.930" Score="9" ViewCount="179" Body="&lt;p&gt;So there's this limestone quarry that looks like a beautiful place to rock climb.  It's about 40 feet high, and the top is easily accessible and has many trees that look like they'd make fine top-rope anchors.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I haven't yet taken the class I intend to take to learn how to build top-rope anchors outdoors, so I won't be climbing here anyway until I do that, but I was just wondering if this looks like it is an acceptable  place to climb.  I've attached some photos of the rock.  They may not show enough detail.  My main concerns are that some of the rock may be loose, and edges are sharp. Any thoughts? &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/42TSR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/42TSR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;quarry&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19035" LastActivityDate="2019-12-01T22:38:32.350" Title="Would top-roping in this limestone quarry be reasonable?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24425" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-01T05:50:55.623" Score="9" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a few sport climbs this week, and on two, it seemed that the area between bolts was just blank, and if I went to the side it was easier. I could still reach the bolts, but I was afraid I was &quot;cheating&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also in the past I've done a top-rope route with a horizontal traverse line on the topo, and wondered if the line was for hands, feet, or something else.  It would make a big difference in difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do I know what's part of the route and what's not? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2019-12-31T06:07:01.817" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T06:07:01.817" Title="What counts as on- or off-route while outdoor climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24426" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24425" CreationDate="2019-12-01T11:47:49.233" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a well-known problem, escpecially on sport routes that have been bolted on rappel and have a bolt placed every like 2m in a straight line. The only real solution is to ask someone involved in bolting the route or doing the first ascent. Even then, as sports climbing involves free choice of holds, there might be something they have overlooked initially that makes the climb easier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As general rule of thumb, if the bolts are still reachable and if the moves feel about right for the grading, you are on the route. If your route starts to feel way too easy or you cross over another line of bolts, you are likely off-route.&#xA; Another hint can be chalked holds. As long as you are following those, it is likely that you are on the route (assuming routes are not too dense and you already use the neighboring route's holds.&#xA;Sometimes guide books give a hint on defined routes, e. g. &quot;climb the crux without the flake on the right hand side&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2019-12-01T12:07:00.130" LastActivityDate="2019-12-01T12:07:00.130" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24427" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-01T16:05:56.033" Score="8" ViewCount="282" Body="&lt;p&gt;One should never let middle age men sit around drinking and reliving the glory days of their youth on a holiday weekend. I think I may have agreed to a mid January Presidential traverse in the White Mountains of NH. Expected weather will range from 0°C and raining down to -40°C at night. The terrain will require both crampons and snowshoes. There will be potentially 8 old dudes all with lots of experience from decades ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the early '90s, I was all about mickey mouse boots and bunny boots and they worked well enough with the flexible crampons and snowshoes of the day and their leather strap bindings. They were easy to dry at night since the inside and outside were rubber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the early 2000s, double plastic boots were the rage. They were great for ice climbing and one day trips, but were not as easy to dry at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need to buy a bunch of gear including boots, crampons, and snowshoes. Can I get away with mouse boots, or are newer boots better. What features should I be looking for in winter boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2019-12-20T12:37:02.013" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T03:34:32.620" Title="Winter boots for -40°C that are snowshoe and crampon compatible?" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;new-england&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24424" CreationDate="2019-12-01T21:51:07.040" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the technical side I do not see any major issues. Assuming you made a proper, redundant top-rope anchor, your main concern should be a possible sharp edge at the top which can be countered with a rope protector if necessary. If there are more sharp edges and you are worried, using double ropes is always a good option, albeit often unnecessary. (I am deliberately not going into too much detail of a top rope anchor here.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Loose rock is always something to expect while rock climbing. This is especially true for newly or undeveloped crags but even in long term used crags I have seen enough rockfall to use a helmet every time I go climbing. I only have one head ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from the climbing specific part you should check your local rules. For example, here in southern Germany all crags are specially protected and climbing is prohibited unless explicitly allowed by local government. You should check this before climbing to avoid causing any issues for other climbing crags nearby (like &quot;since climbers don't obey the rules, the whole area has to be completely forbidden&quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also check who owns the land of the crag and the approach to avoid issues. This again greatly varies depending on where you live&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2019-12-01T22:38:32.350" LastActivityDate="2019-12-01T22:38:32.350" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24427" CreationDate="2019-12-02T20:18:42.337" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend two Canadian brand: Kamik (very low price) and Baffin(low price). Their boots target everyday outdoor worker/farmer/hunter so they know what they are doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They make solid snow boots. I use them with crampon for ice fishing trips. &#xA;They feature complete water proof, good insulation, removable pelt liner. This setup is closer to a winter expedition tour, Lureofthenorth's setup: soft moc with waterproof outer. I would recommend add wicking sock (humidity is bad) and toe warmers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The drawbacks are: ankle support is limited. Target toward loose deep snow but not alpine hard ice surface. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16405" LastActivityDate="2019-12-02T20:18:42.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24432" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24427" CreationDate="2019-12-03T12:58:44.587" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;For temperatures down to -40°C you need solid insulated mountaineering boots; buy them together with crampons so they fit well.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;All modern snowshoes will be compatible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many such boots on the market; it should be easy to find those that fit you the best. Some classics are: La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX, Scarpa Mont Blanc Pro GTX.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally use Scarpa Triolet GTX with hybrid binding crampons (strap in the front, heel lever - Petzl Vasak) and MSR Lighting Ascent snowshoes.&#xA;It is good enough for mild winter days in Swiss Alps below 3000 m; the boots are not warm enough for anything lower than sustained -10°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16429" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2019-12-05T16:18:14.303" LastActivityDate="2019-12-05T16:18:14.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24433" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-03T16:03:49.580" Score="2" ViewCount="1014" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Marmot Limelight tent that the see-through window needs reglued around the edge onto the tent. Is there a common household glue that can be used for this? And what is the best glue and/ or procedure for repairing this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19042" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T13:40:10.400" Title="Rainfly window repair" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24435" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24447" CreationDate="2019-12-04T21:28:37.503" Score="3" ViewCount="96" Body="&lt;p&gt;Any recommendations for good hiking books describing trails, camp sites (back- and front-country), etc. along with their topology, difficulty levels for Switzerland, especially around Geneva? Something in English would be really great.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18982" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T04:21:06.340" LastActivityDate="2020-02-25T05:50:28.360" Title="Guidebook for Hiking activities around Geneva" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;europe&gt;&lt;books&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24427" CreationDate="2019-12-06T03:24:44.757" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many good suggestions here; regardless of your choice of boot, MAKE CERTAIN THEY FIT WELL while wearing two pairs of socks. Too tight boots will cut off circulation and be wickedly uncomfortable. Great boots without great socks, won’t keep your feet warm. My go-to socks are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.injinji.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;injini&lt;/a&gt; inner sock with the appropriate weight &lt;a href=&quot;https://darntough.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Darn Tough&lt;/a&gt; outer sock. You can find both of these brands online, many sources. Darn Tough also has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://darntough.com/pages/our-guarantee&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;LIFETIME WARRANTY&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, I have always used &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.atsko.com/sno-seal-wax-8-oz-jar/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SnoSeal&lt;/a&gt; on my boots. I don’t know if there are “newer” products out there because I’ve used this stuff for 50 years with great results and warm, dry feet to prove it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12241" LastActivityDate="2019-12-06T03:24:44.757" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24438" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-06T09:59:32.343" Score="7" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been hiking the the Alps for 20years and normally I go skiing every winter. But I see more and more pictures of people hiking in the snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to go hiking in February in the alps? If so, what information would I need? I always go to Zillertal in Austria, and on the website are &quot;Winter hikes&quot; but they are mostly just from town to town.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my eyes it would be perfect to hike in Zillertal as it is very popular for skiing so I can stop in one of the restaurants and refill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would there be a risk with avalanches?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19049" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2019-12-10T21:13:44.203" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T11:46:07.867" Title="Hiking during winter in Alps" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;austria&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24438" CreationDate="2019-12-06T12:14:09.887" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are multiple types of winter hiking that you may refer to.&#xA;First there is the winter hiking trails. These are often found in or near ski resorts. They are often groomed and can therefore be used with normal boots, no snow shoes required. There trails are typically leading from one cable car station to another or from town to town. Lower in the valley there are often winter hiking trails that are not groomed as there is less snow. Groomed trails are usually closed when there is a high risk of avalanches (comparable to ski slopes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second there is marked snow shoe trails. Some of these may be prepared but a lot of them are not. These can typically be found higher up in the mountains and they are often exposed to the risk of avalanches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third there is unmarked snow shoe trails. These can be found in a guide book or in a special snow shoe hiking maps. As these routes are not maintained, you are required to check the avalanche risk by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-12-06T12:14:09.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18825" CreationDate="2019-12-06T18:30:50.440" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0811728714&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Knots and Ropes for Climbers by Duane Raleigh&lt;/a&gt; is a fantastic illustrated resource tailored specifically to climbers. The ABoK is great, but a but beyond the pale of what the average rock climber needs to know. The linked book is a fabulous climber's only reference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14346" LastActivityDate="2019-12-06T18:30:50.440" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2019-12-06T18:30:50.440" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24403" CreationDate="2019-12-06T20:43:51.633" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another difficulty (or at least downside) of a combined system is that while combining pedalling and paddling uses more muscles, they're still only supplied by one heart and pair of lungs. Either method of propulsion alone can use your aerobic ability, so the combination won't be able to sustain a higher power output. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternating drive methods could help against muscle fatigue, but in endurance sports (cycling and running, presumably others) even that's only part of the tiredness. Push it for days and you reach a metabolic limit to total power output. So the niche in which this combination would help is a very small one - fit but untrained individuals perhaps, while you add weight, drag, and complexity to your craft. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2019-12-06T20:43:51.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24442" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-06T23:04:52.803" Score="3" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lYRv6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ABeBc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;My grandpa found this deer skull way out in the back of a golf course (he works there) and brought it home for me. I don't mind leaving the color the way it is, I just wonder, what is the best way to clean/disinfect the skull? I want it to be nice and clean (worried about bugs eating away at the bone) before I coat it with polyurethane. Does soaking it in a hydrogen peroxide &amp;amp; water mixture for a few hours clean up any bugs, without altering the color too much? Thank you for your input.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19051" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-01-26T22:32:13.160" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T13:48:30.967" Title="What's the best way to preserve a skull, without bleaching?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bones&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24443" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-08T11:04:13.277" Score="0" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently heard from a guy who decided to cut a cedar tree from a ditch line for a Christmas tree instead of buying one.  He said that after getting it home and decorating it that it started to have a very strong smell of urine.  By the end of the day they were taking it down and hauling it to the curb.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What seems odd to me is how he would not of smelled anything while cutting it down or putting it up.  It seems that an odor from an animal marking the tree would have been immediately noticed.  &lt;strong&gt;Are there chemicals that can be applied to trees that would not smell until some time after warming up?&lt;/strong&gt;  And if so, how would any nearby neighbors not be affected on warmer days?  Personally, if this is the case, I find it a sweet case of justice and applaud the use of it assuming there is no ecological harm done. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T00:33:50.117" Title="Can trees be treated to deter poachers?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24443" CreationDate="2019-12-10T00:33:50.117" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It has been done:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Skunk spray, fox urine, &lt;strong&gt;heat activated&lt;/strong&gt; sulfur smell, common ammonia, and even essence of bone tar oil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/54148/10-attempts-thwart-christmas-tree-thieves&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mental Floss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/24/nyregion/the-great-outdoors-a-dose-of-smelly-chemicals-keeps-tree-poachers-away.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;New York Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15664" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T00:33:50.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24445" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-10T02:38:29.113" Score="18" ViewCount="6411" Body="&lt;p&gt;I nested my 110g gas canister inside my stainless steel mug for a hike. I used it about halfway through for lunch, and when I was done put it back in the way I had packed it (upside down). Now it is stuck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that the canister was at the cooler outside temperature, but the mug had expanded during the cooking. After I put the canister back inside the mug, the mug shrank around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The threaded connection for the gas canister is facing top-down in the mug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I safely get the stuck gas canister out of the steel mug? Any ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19055" LastEditorUserId="14074" LastEditDate="2019-12-11T20:45:24.767" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T19:27:17.420" Title="How do I get a stuck gas canister (for hiking/camping) out of a stainless steel mug?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-10T04:00:17.170" Score="31" Body="&lt;p&gt;Soak the mug in a sink of hot water to warm it up quickly. Be prepared to pry the gas cartridge out quickly, perhaps using small screwdrivers or needle nose pliers. The thermal mass of the gas in the cartridge will help slow it heating. Some shaking may help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, don’t do that again;)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T04:00:17.170" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24447" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24435" CreationDate="2019-12-10T10:42:54.340" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Swiss Alpine Club (SAC-CAS) has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sac-cas.ch/de/shop/buecher/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a colletion of guide books&lt;/a&gt; however only few are available in English.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;SAC also has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/huts-and-tours/sac-route-portal/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tour Portal&lt;/a&gt; available in English with almost 1800 tours categorized by type (hiking, climbing, ski touring, via ferrata) and difficulty.&#xA;I personally find it to be the best resource about trails and tours in Switzerland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16429" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T10:42:54.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="45" CreationDate="2019-12-10T11:23:28.943" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a runner, it is very common to eat 'heavy' food the days before doing a marathon for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically is pasta food but I'm sure rice will do too (it has been mentioned also above). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefits of pasta are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cheap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reasonably compact (if you take spaghetti there are less empty spaces, although in principle you can compress any pasta)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lots of calories&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:23:28.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2019-12-10T11:29:49.393" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did several (short) winter hikes below zero degrees Celcius (freezing point) while having only a plastic cover and sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I always took of my clothes, especially jacket (since it was slightly wet due to snow), and put ALL clothes inside the sleeping bag but not wearing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of your body heat the sleeping bag will get warmer and it will dry and keep the clothes warm (relative) so in the morning you don't have cold clothes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is important, to keep as much air inside the sleeping bag. I don't mind to sleep with just an inch of gap opening of the sleeping bag, but some feel suffocating. Of course you need a so called 'mummy' type sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing I keep on is (preferably clean) socks; somehow my feet don't get warm otherwise when they are cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also it is important to put a layer under you (like an isolation mat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:29:49.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24450" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2019-12-10T11:39:58.013" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most things already have been said above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I can add is that if you find a tree, a dog can stay there for very long time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A (domestic) dog we had once sat an entire day under a tree because of a cat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure in a real situation you're not going to search for a 'comfortable' tree, but the most nearest tree, but it might be useful if possible to go to a tree where you can cut off a branch to use as weapon. So having a knife in your pockets is always a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:39:58.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24451" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16598" CreationDate="2019-12-10T11:52:38.403" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another reason which I think is not mentioned before is something runners or other long duration sports people experience which is called the 'man with the hammer'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you would swim for multiple hours (even with some short rests), the body is using its energy reserve. When that is finished, the fat reserve is used. However, the conversion from fat to energy is very inefficient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When this happens a runner cannot 'run' but only walk. Now if you are swimming, you cannot use your full energy but only a small portion of your energy. This is in principle not a problem, but if you than get into other dangers (like current, a boat coming towards you etc), you CANNOT swim fast(er) anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:52:38.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24452" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14640" CreationDate="2019-12-10T11:56:58.240" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Also as someone said above, when going down the vision is better than for people goin down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, if a bigger group has to pass another bigger group, the group going down can much more easy anticipate on having to pass the other group and find a suitable spot to stop. This is much harder to see for a group going up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And while the group going down will stop at an appropriate spot or area, they will wait for the group going up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T11:56:58.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20940" CreationDate="2019-12-10T12:15:37.270" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When usin pen and paper, you have to move/bend your fingers; only thick isolation helps, but makes writing difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with a phone is that the touch screen only works with fingers or some specific (mostly thin) gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you tried, audio recordings doesn't work neither.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in the past there were PDA (personal digital assistants) where you had to use a small pencil (called stylus) to 'tap' on the device. This means you only have to press your finger back and forth and is much easier than writing, although it can take slightly longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sure there are still devices (maybe even some older (?) phones) that can use this approach and you could try to see if it helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T12:15:37.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18330" CreationDate="2019-12-10T12:20:07.933" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the times the hikers might be more afraid of the owners having big dogs than the dogs themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So (if you at least want this), make yourself and/or the dogs as least aggressive looking as possible. Maybe by putting some funny accessory on the dogs, or the leash, or on yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look like a macho guy with some macho dogs, than less macho people might feel uncomfortable. Of course this works best if you use the tips from others here (keep your dogs near you/leashed/smile/talk to them etc).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T12:20:07.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24457" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18391" CreationDate="2019-12-10T13:15:35.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you pass someone that is going in the direction where you are going, and you want to know some information about the area you are going to, than you also include it in your question, something like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Excuse me, my plan is going to go to place X, do you know if it is flooded?&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Than the other knows immediately you are not 'nosy' about his activities, but you want to know something... and if he gives more information than only if the area is flooded, probably you could have asked 'where did you come from?', but the above question is more 'neutral'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T13:15:35.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24433" CreationDate="2019-12-10T13:40:10.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As the comments could be removed at some point I'll transform @Bob1's comment into an answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This page here essentially explains step-by-step how to solve your problem - they also talk about a Marmot Limelight tent, and also have the issue that one of the transparent 'windows' came loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://craftandroam.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/marmot-tent-repairing-polyurethane-windows/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MARMOT TENT – REPAIRING POLYURETHANE WINDOWS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize (in case the link gets broken in the future):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peel the window off completely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peel off any glue remainders.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean area of old glue residue with some cleaning alcohol (only the seam part, try not to get it on other areas of the tent).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Apply new proper glue in the place where you cleaned off the old glue . The linked page recommends &quot;Seam Grip&quot; - maybe just ask your local outdoor store, they should be able to help you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glue in the window and put some weights on it so it doesn't move during curing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enjoy newly sealed window!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T13:40:10.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-10T14:53:23.330" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put a few drops of oil into the mug where it meets the canister. If the oil can seep past there, into the mug, add as much oil as possible. See whether you can twist the canister out. &#xA;If not: Chill the whole assembly. Get tools to handle the mug and canister. Heat the mug in very hot water, and pry it out. Twist as you pry.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18681" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T14:53:23.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24460" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-10T15:13:56.260" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Duct tape a loop of twine or a shoe lace to the visible face of the canister. Then pull the canister out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17948" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T15:13:56.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24461" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24503" CreationDate="2019-12-10T20:14:34.827" Score="0" ViewCount="508" Body="&lt;p&gt;After reading &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/32/what-are-essential-items-in-an-emergency-kit&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; about emergency kits, I noticed that no one mentioned nails.  Why shouldn't we include 10 or 12, common 6d (2&quot;, 6 penny) nails in the kit?  Ten 6d nails weigh about an ounce (28g) and could be useful in many situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11800" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T16:47:49.307" Title="Nails in an emergency/survival kit" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;emergencies&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24462" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3272" CreationDate="2019-12-10T21:26:35.357" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Except for the type of shoes, I wouldn't use shoes with a thin sole, because when the road is covered with snow it's very easy to miss some dirt or other small objects where you place your shoes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I even would say, it is better to run slightly more on your mid-foot and not heel, to prevent  twisting your ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:26:35.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15635" CreationDate="2019-12-10T21:30:15.637" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Besides the good answers above, think about your breathing technique and step length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, adjust your breathing, when running uphill short distances you can increase your breathing speed (e.g. once per 2 steps instead of 3 or 4). Don't do this for too much distance. If the distance going uphill is too far:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, adjust your step length... you still can use the same pace, but make shorter steps, so short, you run uphill with the same amount of energy as you would go on a normal slope. In this case, don't change your breathing speed. When you are adjusted to this, you can increase your step length slightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:30:15.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21901" CreationDate="2019-12-10T21:47:48.820" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most things have been said. Anyway, after cleaning, it's not a good idea to put them under or near the central heating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although it's not bad for a shoe to wear them while wet, it can cause blisters. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means I only clean them when it's really needed and the easiest is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take out the soles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they are really dirty and/or if they are already wet, you can just wash them under a tap (not too hot water), possibly using a brush or even old tooth brush.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let the shoes and soles dry (preferably in the sun, otherwise outside if it's dry, otherwise somewhere inside preferably ventilated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When the mud is dry, you can much easier clean them&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To dry you can use the same as above (outside when sunny, etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:47:48.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24465" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11120" CreationDate="2019-12-10T21:53:05.327" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most things have already said, the only item I couldn't find is that if there is a multi-color pattern on it, it might be slightly easier to set up the tent (especially when each side has its own color); this mainly applies when the tent is big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, a lighter tent is easier to setup in the dark if you don't want to use light, because a light surface reflects light better (e.g. due to mosquitoes or other reasons).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-10T21:53:05.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-11T09:54:29.090" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The coefficient of expansion of mild steel is about 12. The coefficient of expansion of 304 stainless steel is about 17. This means the cup expands more with heat than the cannister, so warming the whole assembly should loosen it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it was a porcelain, glass, stoneware or other pottery cup, the advice would be the other way around. Coefficient for porcelain is about 4 and of regular pottery is about 5.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use of lubricant such as vegetable oil is also a great idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19058" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T09:54:29.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24467" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6736" CreationDate="2019-12-11T12:09:17.317" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;About water, I cannot say that much. As long as the water is flowing, mostly it is good, however if there are agriculture lands around the river (which is very often the case), it might be filled with pesticides or other chemicals making you sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except for bars etc, I'm sure most people want to give some water as water from the taps is really cheap. So far, only in the Biesbos (an area called this way), which is quite a remote area people didn't want to give water since they did not have connection to the water system (which is very rare in the Netherlands).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About camping in the wild, yes it is prohibited, so don't get caught. In a forest this should not be a problem. I used to camp every year a few days in the winter time, and we got caught once. Luckily not by police. As far as I know, you have to hand over your camping gear and can expect a fine. But we had a forest watcher who caught us. He was in a good mood because he saw we did not make a mess. He said we had to leave within 20 minutes and leaving no traces behind, so that was ok. Probably because he liked there were still people enjoying the nature (which is rare these days).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T12:09:17.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24468" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21809" CreationDate="2019-12-11T12:15:29.780" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A knife is probably better than nothing, as most have said, a stick might work better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case you don't have anything (I can imagine you don't want to walk continuously with a stick and you could unexpectedly face a dog).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever you get caught by a dog and he is near, two good things to do are: poke in their eyes, or hit as hard as you can on their nose (it is very sensitive). Of course both are near their teeth so watch out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T12:15:29.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24108" CreationDate="2019-12-11T14:25:46.020" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For running, I had knee problems when I 'landed' on my heel after every step. This forces the shock going directly into your knee.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I 'fixed' this force by landing every step on my mid foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can imagine for walking when you want to roll your foot as much as possible it is hard, but you can try to reduce the force by:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;insoles (but note that this costs more energy, but your knee is more important)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;shoes with a slightly large sole or at least larger heel (not too big)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also prevent shocks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avoid jumping (especially down) by walking around downhills&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you have to jump, do with both feet (but watch out to stay balanced)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove your gear/backpack before jumping a bigger distance downwards&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put tape or a specific 'medical' band around your knees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other tips:&#xA;- It helps to prevent inclines or declines at all, or to minimize them by instead of walking in a straight line up or down, to zig-zag with a lower grade.&#xA;- Lower the weight in your back pack&#xA;- Train your leg muscles to make them stronger&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T14:25:46.020" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18483" CreationDate="2019-12-11T22:47:17.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just use the rule that you're not allowed to touch a hold with a hand until you've first touched it with a foot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastActivityDate="2019-12-11T22:47:17.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-12T02:14:26.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can use hot glue sticks to pull it out. Warm a couple of glue sticks from one end and stick to the visible area of the canister. Let it cool down. Now the glue sticks will act as a handle to the can. You can pull the can out slowly. If glue gets removed, try again a couple of times. You can also use this method along with putting the mug in hot water for a few moments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Search for &quot;hot glue dent puller&quot; videos on youtube for more information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19067" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T02:14:26.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24445" CreationDate="2019-12-12T03:04:02.333" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;How did this happen?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, the mug was warm. But also, the gas canister &lt;em&gt;got colder&lt;/em&gt;.  It is stored in liquid form, but you use it in gaseous form. That means as you use it, the liquid gas must boil. To transition from liquid to gaseous state, the liquid gas must absorb heat energy equal to its &lt;em&gt;latent heat of vaporization&lt;/em&gt;.   It steals that energy by chilling (taking heat from) the remaining liquid and container.  Quite colder; you can often see a &quot;frost line&quot; at the liquid level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If you're wondering, yes, this tech can be used to make air conditioners.  That’s how they work.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, once nestled into the mug, the gas canister warmed up to ambient. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Getting it loose&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Start with the whole assembly in the freezer.  Give it 6 hours for the liquid gas to get quite cold.  Then, pop the mug quickly into the warmest water you can bear.  The mug will heat up quickly and expand. The liquid gas is a substantial thermal mass that will make the canister take longer to warm up.  You should have a short window of opportunity to separate it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, try again. Just don't handle it in a way that would make it worse! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T03:04:02.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1260" CreationDate="2019-12-12T10:28:05.207" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most items have been mentioned (and I will not repeat them), but some obvious I didn't see are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn off Bluetooth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Turn off WIFI&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Already mentioned was making the screen brightness lower. A screen is using up a lot of power. Related are:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't look more than needed on the display.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I assume you can define the time before the screen blank timeout (after you looked at the screen, it will turn off after some time). Minimize this time, or better, switch the screen off manually.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T10:28:05.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24480" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1677" CreationDate="2019-12-12T10:38:06.017" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are camera bags looking like the picture below. This one is quite big, there are also smaller ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The benefits are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has lots of small compartments, so you can put your lenses and accessories sorted&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Or you can add non camera related items within the same bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It has multiple openings, so you can access it easily&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Most you can drag in two ways by easily 'swing' the backpack over:&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On your back (normal), when you don't use the camera for some time. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aside of you, in this case you can take the camera easy out of the backpack (and put it back) … you can even put the camera back without closing the bag without risk of falling out of the bag).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iTnsX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iTnsX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T10:38:06.017" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24482" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23012" CreationDate="2019-12-12T11:06:32.397" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I see a lot of ideas already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever a kid gets bored (or better: before that time), make sure it gets distracted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For kids a long walk without much 'change' is maybe boring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you can try:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Singing songs together (don't make other hikers annoyed)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find games to do … this can be simple or more difficult, depending on the age, e.g.&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Count animals (of a certain type)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Count any particular thing along the road&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Search for specific things&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maybe you can even find a geocache if you have the time to spend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do games which you can do while walking (words starting ending with some character)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even more useful: give the kid a compass to play with, and/or a map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You also might want to start doing the above only when you see the kid is starting to get bored, not to run out of options when really needing too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T11:06:32.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1677" CreationDate="2019-12-12T22:12:58.707" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never taken mine into the temperatures you are talking about but for hiking in general I clip it to my shoulder strap with a Peak Design Capture Clip.  This is the best solution I have yet to see for having it ready without being an inconvenience.  Some extra padding on the strap would be nice, I have not yet figured out how to do this.  (Note that their &quot;pad&quot; is about spreading the load, it is not actually padded.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While obviously you can bang it into something it doesn't flop around and it's securely held in place.  The plate on the camera is Arca-compatible, you can put it on your tripod as easily as on your shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe something that attaches like their capture clip but is in the center of the chest would work better but I have yet to find such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-12-12T22:12:58.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24487" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-14T08:26:10.287" Score="3" ViewCount="672" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a long time gym climber, and I climbed outdoors for a couple of times. I fail to understand why climbing outdoors is more appealing than climbing indoors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the goal is to climb harder, while outdoor climbers are wasting time driving and hiking to the climb, I have already did a few climbs and a hangboard training session in the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a full time job and family obligations but still want to project a climb, it is way more possible to do so efficiently in a gym because of the accessibility and immunity to bad weather and no sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Risk of injury and overall safety is also a lot better in the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I can infer from talking to other climbers, the only appeal of climbing outdoors seems to be it’s somehow perceived as “cooler” than climbing indoors, and I have no idea why. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, on multiple forums I can see outdoor climbers constantly taunting on gym climbers with stuff like “if you don’t send outdoors you are not a real climber” or “indoor climbing is just a form of training for climbing outdoors”. These people also look down on IFSC comps as well. Constantly complaining Ondra should focus on outdoor ascents instead of the olympics. Why? What’s so appealing and holy about climbing outdoors? I really want to know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14028" LastActivityDate="2020-03-16T13:30:09.710" Title="What’s the main appeal for climbing outdoors?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24488" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-14T13:19:39.813" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;This touches quite a lot of different dimensions so it will be hard to answer everything in a single post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the appeals of climbing outdoors is that it is outdoors. Consider a nice sunny day in spring. Would you rather climb in a crowded, loud and dusty gym without much daylight or outside in the warm sun? For me, the choice is quite clear. (This is slightly idealizing outdoor climbing as it an be crowded as well and the weather is not always that nice ;))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important aspect is diversity. Going to the climbing gym 2-3 times a week turns the gym routes stale after like 3 weeks as you will have done all routes that are doable in few tries and only few routes remain that are doable but not yet done. Therefore a lot of the gym climbing consists of repeating routes I already have done. Outdoors there is a lot more routes to be climbed. In the nearby Donautal crag there is still quite a number of sectors I have not even tried to climb after years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Diversity does not only affect the number of routes but also the style of climbing. Gym climbing is mostly about face climbing on vertical and overhanging walls on holds sticking out of the wall. This means that you can almost always step a handhold (although these modern dual texture holds change this a bit). Outdoors you often have negative holds (holes in the wall) that you cannot step well. Outdoors there is not only face climbing but also styles like crack and slab climbing which are rarely available in climbing gyms. (I am aware that there are slabs in almost any gym and some gyms have cracks but they are still only a very poor approximation of outdoor slabs or cracks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another aspect of climbing outside is adventure. This is not so present in sport climbing but in alpine climbing. Finding your route through a wall hundreds of meters high is quite exiting for me. I definitely prefer climbing a lower grade on poorer protection over climbing at the very limit in well protected climbs. This is just about knowing with 100% certainty that you can do the moves, that you can reverse them if needed and you can do them even in poor conditions (especially relevant for alpinism).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you don't like it dangerous, climbing outside can be an adventure by doing a sport climbing trip to southern France, going camping, etc. Discovering new beautiful regions is one aspect of going climbing outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the matter of time invested, of course a climbing gym wins mostly, as long as you live close to one. However, if you are living at a good place, you can reach a lot of outdoor crags within 1h of driving and less than 30 minutes of walking. Considering that going to the gym is about 25 minutes for me, this is not so much worse and definitely something suitable for the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, the question of indoor and outdoor climbing is not about what is better. Each has their advantages and disadvantages and they are a great complement to each other. I can only recommend a pure gym climber to try climbing outdoors. If you don't like it, no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T13:19:39.813" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-14T14:03:59.080" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mainly a gym climber here as well, no lengths just bouldering. Some reasons why outdoor climbing is appealing to me and others I climb with; most of these are obviously about personal preferences of course, so YMMV:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's outdoors, some people like spending time outdoors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More often than not boulders are located in nice scenery, really 'in nature'. Most gyms don't have birds flying around and not a lot of plants.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Things like sending a route at the end of the day when it's getting dark and people support you with flashlights give a different kick (for me at least) than routes in the gym.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No matter how hard gym route builders try, rocks are just different so you learn different techniques. Both for climbing and for how you look at problems. When I come back from an outdoors session, things in the gym seem easier and more straightforward.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In places for which there are no written down routes, you have to find your own route which is challenging and fun at the same time. E.g. once I saw a picture of an amateur photographer I follow online and there was a lone boulder in it which seemed interesting enough to drive there. So we tried to find out where it was, drove there, strolled around for an hour or so and located the boulder. Then spent several hours trying all kinds of different routes. Can be more interesting than pre-made gym routes, and again teaches you to look differently at things.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Just for completeness: outdoors (also indoors, but less) there can also be a variety of man-made structures one can climb. There's something appealing in using things in a way for which they weren't meant (similar to skateboarding/bmx/...). It's not something most climbers typically do, but once you get the hang of spotting possible ways to climb things you start seeing things everywhere :)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I can see outdoor climbers constantly taunting on gym climbers&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yeah there's people like that in all disciplines/hobbies/sports. Ignore them. That is a crippled, narrow, almost religous, view on reality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T14:03:59.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6814" CreationDate="2019-12-14T14:41:44.997" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used some quick drying glue (a glue gun will work if you have one handy) to hold the seams together then after letting the glue dry overnight I picked up some rubber cement (the same stuff we used to patch bicycle tires as a kid) and spread the rubber cement along the both sides of the seam and between the two pieces of leather where the stitching came apart.  Let the rubber cement dry for another 24 hours.  The rubber cement is holding up very well and it's flexible as well so no cracking of the rubber cement.  It's -20 degrees Celsius outside and snowing and my boots are still warm and comfortable and waterproof as well. For a $3.00 fix it's working out pretty good and the boots should last 1 or 2 more winters.  If you are the person who care about what your boots look like this fix isn't for you.  However, if you just want to repair a pair of expensive leather work boots this fix works excellent for boots that you want to use for another 2 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19079" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T14:41:44.997" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19936" CreationDate="2019-12-14T16:38:30.903" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming too late for OP, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00241#homepage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nerstrand Big Woods State Park&lt;/a&gt;, about an hour south of Minneapolis near Northfield. You can likely make six hours of hiking from it with a lunch stop (there are 11 miles of slightly hilly trail).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the last remaining old-growth forest in southern Minnesota and it's just gorgeous, especially in the spring (wildflowers, including the endangered Minnesota trout lily) and fall (colors everywhere). It's also remarkably quiet for a park in a relatively populated area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19080" LastActivityDate="2019-12-14T16:38:30.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-15T12:55:29.207" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me, and I'm no climber, this is about outdoor activities in general. You could equally ask why people kayak in the wilds rather than going to the artificial whitewater centre that's always reliable, or why I spent all of yesterday cycling through headwinds and a hailstorm rather than sitting on a spin bike in the gym for 12 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For many of us there are a few overlapping reasons. Modern life is mostly controlled, sanitised, and predicable. The natural world often isn't like that, and properly managed risk is part of the fun. If something goes wrong you deal with it. Of course there's also the nature aspect - yesterday's ride gave me some good wildlife sightings; birdsong makes a good change from canned music. But it's not for everyone all the time. Those same unpredictable experiences can be unpleasant even if not dangerous, and some people don't appreciate type 2 fun. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-12-17T09:47:06.147" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T09:47:06.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24494" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24537" CreationDate="2019-12-15T13:50:43.363" Score="3" ViewCount="514" Body="&lt;p&gt;Twice now I have been out winter hiking with a guide and another person and I'm trying to work out what knot they used to tie the middle person onto the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say the guide is in front, my companion is at the back tied in with standard double figure 8, and I'm in the middle, tied in with a bight. I'll list the things I know and hopefully someone can work out what the knot was:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot started with an double overhand knot on a large bight, so that if the end climber fell I would have 2-3 feet of my own slack. Basically an EDK between end climber and the guide.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I was then tied in the the bight coming from the EDK, directly through my harness (no biners)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The knot seemed very bulky and complicated to me&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it definitely wasn't a figure 8 or any variation of&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it wasn't any kind of loop knot like alpine butterfly: as I said there was no biner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;after the knot was tied, the loop/excess formed by the end of the original bight was clipped to my harness. Not sure if this was for security or just to tidy away the end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The guide said it was kind of an unusual knot and told me not to worry about it too much. I assumed I could just google it later but in hindsight I should have asked him about it!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case it helps the first guide was Italian from the Dolomites/Alps, the second was Scottish. Pretty sure it was the same knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Final question would be why not just a re-threaded figure 8 on the bight as you would use at the end of a rope, except it would have 4 strands instead of 2?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: trawled through some old photos and found a picture! &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PgAL3.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PgAL3.png&quot; alt=&quot;knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19082" LastEditorUserId="19082" LastEditDate="2019-12-17T12:29:27.557" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T02:47:13.933" Title="What knot was used by my mountain guide to tie me in to the middle of a rope?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24495" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-15T15:53:37.443" Score="1" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that goose down is warmer than &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/cattail-plants-zmaz80jazraw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cattail down&lt;/a&gt;. But what are the R-values of each? How much warmer is the same weight/volume of goose down compared to cattail down? Is cattail down better than low-quality goose down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19083" LastActivityDate="2020-05-17T09:57:55.233" Title="How does the R-value of goose down compare to cattail down?" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;insulation&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24496" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-15T18:22:17.690" Score="2" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going skiing for one to three days next week. I have some category three sunglasses I am planning to use instead of goggles. Long term I would definitely use goggles but for just a few days am I putting myself at risk of retina damage?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4dEre.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4dEre.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjPeX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qjPeX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8VkBL.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8VkBL.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19084" LastEditorUserId="19084" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T17:49:44.087" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T17:49:44.087" Title="Risk of category three sunglasses when skiing" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;high-altitude&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24497" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24496" CreationDate="2019-12-15T20:46:12.603" Score="-1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Am I putting myself at risk of retina damage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;NO&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The category rating on sunglasses has to do with how transparent the tint is or is not. UV protection on sunglasses is clear. To prevent retinal damage you should buy high quality glasses with UV-400 rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Category 3 would be perfect for skiing in strong sunlight, but if you anticipate intense bright sunlight for the whole trip you may want category 4. This is for your comfort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2019-12-15T20:46:12.603" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24498" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24514" CreationDate="2019-12-16T01:14:20.793" Score="25" ViewCount="15934" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been looking into learning how to mountaineer and noticed that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountaineers.org/courses/course-overviews/navigation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;local mountaineering society&lt;/a&gt; still requires a training in navigation as part of the prerequisites for most of their basic courses. As part of this training, people are supposed to learn how to use paper maps and a compass, only then moving on to using various electronic apps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as of 2019, what's the point of ever touching a paper map and a compass? Aren't there now amazingly reliable devices that have capabilities far exceeding anything you can do with a paper map? Given the low price and weight of electronics, you could even bring multiple backup devices on the hike if required. Are there some considerations that I'm not taking into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="12593" LastEditDate="2019-12-17T15:05:20.080" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T16:58:48.850" Title="As of 2019, why do mountaineering courses still teach how to use a paper map?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="21" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T06:39:34.637" Score="47" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maps and compasses are independent of any power source, so it is usually recommended to take them with you. GPS devices can fail, also because the GPS signal can be switched off or blocked. Alternatives like Galileo work similar to GPS and could face similar issues. So backup devices will not help much. And in an emergency situation, this could end your life. I am not talking against GPS devices in general: For safety, I would say it makes sense to have two totally independent ways of navigation. So carry both: Map/compass and GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, navigating by map and compass can be fun because it is a little more challenging than to follow an arrow on the GPS device. Being able to find the way is part of the experience. And going outdoors often is connected to reducing what you use. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending in the GPS device, maps/compasses are also more light-weight, especially if you have to carry one or more power banks on prolonged trips to keep your GPS working.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And maps are big, bigger than the screen of any mobile GPS device. You get a better impression of your surroundings at a glance. Often enough, you will spot interesting things this way you might have missed on your rather small GPS screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you are happy with what modern devices can do (as described in your comment) you can have it your way. And if that is without map and compass - you can decide for yourself. I am quite sure that you are far from being the only person thinking like that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="3020" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T14:46:53.567" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:46:53.567" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T08:07:45.667" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;The default expedition map in the UK is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey&lt;/a&gt;. The apparent most popular GPS map app for walking in the mountains is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/os-maps-online.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ordnance Survey app&lt;/a&gt;*. That's all very well and plausible, but the app really just presents you with the OS map and a dot. You still have to learn to read the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't learn the basics of map reading then what you're presented with is a complicated set of weird dots and lines with a dot in the middle that shows where you are. Once you can read the map that's all you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So while in the field you might never touch a paper map or a magnetic compass, as a training aid it's invaluable to help you understand what the app is telling you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Paper maps are also better for route planning (if you're not just following a major trail) due to the larger overview without losing resolution to a small screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;*Source: me asking people what apps they're using while walking in the mountains.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T12:16:10.397" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T12:16:10.397" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24501" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T08:32:36.033" Score="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;A massive advantage of paper maps over electronic is the combination of area and resolution. You can take a bearing to a mast on top of a hill several km away, when zooming out that far on a GPS screen wouldn't even show the hill. If plans change and you have to reroute, rather than following a pre-planned route on a screen, this is really useful, even more so if navigating open country rather than following established paths. In hilly country the ability to tell at a glance whether a potential route involves significant climbing is very useful, otherwise you'd have to put a route then go into another screen to see the elevation (typically). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should always be prepared to modify the route in case things go wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map and compass also have infinite battery life, and don't break easily if dropped or soaked. So if you're stuck out overnight in horrible conditions, one thing you don't have to worry about is navigating in the morning; you can also split a big group if you've got multiple means of navigation. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those are sufficient reasons to carry a map and compass, and to know how to use them. But an important further reason is that the wide area detailed coverage encourages awareness of the conditions - you can often get a good idea of what weather to expect from which upwind hills are hidden in cloud if you know their heights, and if exploring you can think &quot;that valley looks nice, does it go the right way,... no but we can turn off here..., oh but there's a cliff&quot; without endless scrolling and zooming, in fact at a glance if practiced. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course they have their own failure modes - maps can blow away, compasses can be lost, and if you're confused by anything from fog to hypothermia to putting your compass on something magnetic user error can be significant. I'm not denying GPS is useful. But while I plan GPS routes in advance, I've also just obtained the maps for my next walking and cycling trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From a training point of view, learning to read a map helps you learn to read terrain, and that's a useful skill whenever you're planning a route. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T09:21:05.127" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T09:21:05.127" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T08:50:21.127" Score="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;The reason is that it is irrelevant if the map is on an electronic device or on paper - if you misinterpret the information, it won't help you in any way, you will only be lost/stuck more accurately. Similarly, in engineering you first learn technical drawing, even though everything on the job will be with 3D CAD - understanding the content is the goal, not the method to draw/display it. The apps I've seen so far had mostly the same or less information than the paper maps, so there was no advantage to use electronics besides having that dot with your position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in practice you will come into contact with paper maps anyway. Trail huts often have paper maps with markings - anything from water sources to blocked/alternate routes, daytrips or even active fires in that area. (Re-)Planning multi-day trips as a group is also massively easier with a big map than with a small screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And last but not least - the point is to create a baseline of preparedness. You will probably bring enough devices/powerbanks for an intended long trip, but if a short one goes unexpectedly wrong, chances are you didn't bring powerbanks and backup devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15870" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T08:50:21.127" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24461" CreationDate="2019-12-16T09:42:55.413" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think there are simply not that many uses for nails in emergency situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using nails &lt;strong&gt;as intended&lt;/strong&gt;:  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you want to build shelter or other wooden constructions you would need a lot of nails - which are heavy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hammering in nails with a rock is rather annoying - and you're not planning to bring a 500g hammer, are you?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In any case, for shelter and tool use you can just as well rely on cordage (which &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be in your emergency kit) - it is arguably more flexible in its use and can serve many different purposes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nails are not easily re-usable, while cordage is. This is relevant, as re-usable means that you need to bring less of &lt;em&gt;the thing&lt;/em&gt; which means a smaller and lighter survival kit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using nails in &lt;strong&gt;improvised ways&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Yes, there are probably a hand full of uses for nails other than for nailing things down. Maybe improvise a fish hook or something... But frankly, nothing comes to mind that would be really useful and which cannot be done in a different, easier way with the other things your standard survival kit will already contain (such as cordage, tape, wire, ...).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To work nails into shape you'd likely need pliers - and you probably don't want to carry those just for this, as they are heavy and don't serve too many purposes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Nails are primarily to nail things down, it's what they are good at. The kit you bring with you is not made from wood generally, and nailing mostly isn't really part of its construction or fixing any part of it. And while some of the resources you can likely rely on in a survival situation involve wood, nailing wood pieces together is simply not something that is needed too often.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the answer really is: people don't put nails into survival kits because they don't solve any problem that can't be solved by other, easier/better/quicker/more flexible ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are better &lt;strong&gt;alternatives&lt;/strong&gt; to nails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For &lt;em&gt;fastening&lt;/em&gt;: use cordage or create wooden fasteners/dowels using your knife.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For &lt;em&gt;fish hooks&lt;/em&gt;: bring some &lt;em&gt;actual&lt;/em&gt; fish hooks, they weigh essentially nothing.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2019-12-18T16:47:49.307" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T16:47:49.307" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T10:17:41.217" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you ever heard of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Uyuni salt flat&lt;/a&gt;?  10,000 km2 of almost perfectly flat surface, 3 km above sea level.  0 GPS signal.  (Some of the time)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is because of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_Anomaly&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;South Atlantic Anomaly&lt;/a&gt;, which creates high levels of radiation for satellites in the area - the Hubble Space Telescope does not take observations in this area, the International Space Station has extra shielding specifically for this portion of its orbit, the first-gen &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalstar#First-Generation_satellite_problems&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Globalstar satellites&lt;/a&gt; failed because of it, the Japanese &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitomi_(satellite)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hitomi satellite&lt;/a&gt; tore itself after passing through it, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAMELA_detector&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PAMELA detector&lt;/a&gt; detected high levels of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiproton&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;antiprotons&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More importantly for this question, it &lt;em&gt;also&lt;/em&gt; frequently creates pockets of ionised atmosphere, which jam the electromagnetic signals from orbiting satellites - such as GPS.  Fortunately, these usually last for minutes, rather than hours.  But, depending on when it happens, you could still get &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; lost.  And, this impacts almost the whole of South America, not just Bolivia.  See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/152349/47510&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; answer on &lt;a href=&quot;https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/&quot;&gt;Worldbuilding&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a less localised example, you also get similar disruption &lt;a href=&quot;https://phys.org/news/2016-10-swarm-reveals-gps-satellites-track.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;caused by Ionospheric thunderstorms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18099" LastEditorUserId="18099" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T11:17:15.243" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T11:17:15.243" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T11:22:13.193" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't believe the convoluted answers.&#xA;The answer is simple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Map and compass WILL always work. The electronic device will NOT always work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck finding your way without basic map reading skills when you have sat on your I-phone screen or run out of battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17653" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T11:22:13.193" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24506" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25167" CreationDate="2019-12-16T12:02:53.547" Score="4" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;An answer to a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/22654/what-are-known-failure-modes-of-the-auto-braking-mechanism-of-grigris&quot;&gt;related post&lt;/a&gt; mentions that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It's worth pointing out that &lt;strong&gt;these are assisted and not auto belay devices&lt;/strong&gt;, you can't just not pay attention and expect them to work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does this mean that there are &quot;auto&quot; belay devices one can use instead of GriGri to increase the level of safety? Obviously I know there are huge auto-belay machines in rock climbing gyms, but is there a portable device one can use outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T14:52:23.550" Title="Are there GriGri-like devices that support auto belay rather than assisted belay?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T12:28:45.043" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have already been quite some answers but I have the feeling that these answers are a bit one-sided towards paper maps and definitely do not reflect the reality outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, navigation on paper gives you the basic skills. Basic skills start with reading land formation from contour lines, taking a bearing with a compass and using cross bearings to determine your own position. Summarized, this is more of a theoretical aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, paper is independent of any technology. As long as you can see something, a paper map can be useful, it will never run out of battery. It will not have a screen freezing in -20 °C or short-cicuit because your device was not as water-restistant as advertised. You won't have the problem that your device needs internet connection to function properly. A good hiking map is also not printed on paper but on some kind of plastic to avoid issues with wetness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, maps are often easy to get locally. In touristic areas you should not have any issues to find a shop that has a high-quality hiking map. For smartphone apps this can be a bit more tricky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue of GPS reliability has already been raised. However, in my experience you almost always get a GPS signal that is sufficiently good to localize yourself on the map within 20m. Moreover, as said in the comment to another answer, smartphones do not only support GPS but also other systems, creating a redundancy that is definitely good enough. When talking about reliability of the GPS we should also not forget that navigation without electronic devices is prone to fail in bad visibility. It is impossible to take cross bearing if you do not see any landmarks. Even if you happen to be at a known position, it is extremely difficult to follow a compass bearing if the terrain is not suited for it. If you have ever tried to nagivate through a crevasse zone in a snow storm, you will know what I mean. Relying on paper &quot;because it can never fail&quot; will put you in a dangerous position.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another issue with paper maps is actuality. Check you map for its actuality and you may well find out that it is based on 10 year old data. Upgrades to a paper map require you to buy a completely new map. As each map may only cover a small area you end up spending a lot of money for updates. In contrast, a subscription for mapping may be quite cheap (for example, I frequently use the white risk app that contains the official swiss maps for 29 CHF per year, including offline maps).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the often mentioned planning aspect...This should happen before the tour not during it. There are good maps available for use on a computer that allow planning on a big screen with various useful overlays such as ski routes, steepness, hiking trails, wildlife protection areas, etc (&lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=schneesport&amp;amp;lang=de&amp;amp;bgLayer=voidLayer&amp;amp;layers=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe-winter,ch.swisstopo.hangneigung-ueber_30,ch.swisstopo-karto.hangneigung,ch.bafu.wrz-jagdbanngebiete_select,ch.bafu.wrz-wildruhezonen_portal,ch.swisstopo.schneeschuhwandern,ch.swisstopo-karto.schneeschuhrouten,ch.swisstopo-karto.skitouren,ch.swisstopo.skitourenkarte-50.metadata,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev&amp;amp;layers_visibility=true,false,true,true,true,true,true,true,false,false&amp;amp;E=2728945.03&amp;amp;N=1176680.91&amp;amp;zoom=3&amp;amp;layers_opacity=0.85,0.5,0.2,0.6,0.6,0.7,0.8,0.8,1,1&amp;amp;catalogNodes=2352&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;e.g. swiss topo&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, I personally do not use paper maps at all. I try to make sure I have a basic sense of orientation before starting a tour. My girlfriend is still a bit old-fashioned and carries around a paper map, therefore we complement each other quite well ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T12:28:45.043" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24509" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24506" CreationDate="2019-12-16T13:55:05.220" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general: &lt;strong&gt;No.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While some devices  use mechanisms that can be different from the Grigri (in some cases radically different, such as the Wild Country Revo), all current sports climbing devices require the user to keep a hand on the braking strand of the rope. Some provide more room for user error than others, but the basic principle stays the same. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, &quot;real&quot; auto-belays in gyms are only for top-roping. To my knowledge, no fully automatic belay device for lead climbing exists.  (Apart from special devices designed for solo lead climbing, such as the discontinued Silent Partner.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="5657" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T14:52:32.300" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:52:32.300" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24461" CreationDate="2019-12-16T13:57:45.357" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was considering nails for my survival kit, I think I would probably upgrade to a hand drill instead. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Metal nails are use once and gone, a drill and a knife will make an unlimited supply of holes and wood fasteners.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind survival is either short term stationary or it is mobile. Anything you have to leave at the last campsite, does not provide lasting value.  Buildings that require nails (&lt;em&gt;or wood pegs&lt;/em&gt;) fall in to the same scenarios as planting crops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/13385/4079&quot;&gt;When to know it&amp;#39;s worth to start with agriculture?&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T13:57:45.357" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24511" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T13:59:35.647" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most important reasons have already been given in other highly upvoted answers.  Planning, coverage, resolution, etc.  I want to address the cost aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Given the low price and weight of electronics&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/de-DE/DE/p/598455&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Garmin GPSmap&lt;/a&gt; costs €400.  There are cheaper models, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/de-DE/DE/p/669244&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;eTrex&lt;/a&gt; which starts at €200.  The Garmin Swiss topo maps &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/de-DE/DE/p/573310&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cost €359&lt;/a&gt;.  US Garmin 24k topo maps around €120 per region.  Great Britain is &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/de-DE/DE/p/562503&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;€450&lt;/a&gt;.  I don't consider that cheap.  Sure, you'll pay more if you buy the entire territory covered on paper, but you don't need the entire territory.    You could get Openstreetmap for free, but it's not a replacement for a topographic map, nor is Opentopomap.  Not only is it incomplete, but you also never know who added a trail or through what terrain it is going (I've seen trails crossing glaciers or going up 4000+ metre mountains in Switzerand).  It's useful as a complementary to a topo map (in particular in areas where topographic maps are poor or old) but does not replace it.  And forget about Google Maps, this is even less suitable than Openstreetmap/Opentopomap for hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people use smartphones with apps, but smartphones are not designed for outdoor use.  They will aggressively try to minimise battery life at expense of all else (so no track to backtrack where you've come from if you're lost), they have limited shock-proofness and water-proofness, they almost universally use touchscreens that are hard to operate when there is weather, their screens are hard to read in bright sunshine (unless made very bright, eating into battery life), their batteries are usually not replaceable, and worst of all, their batteries run out within days if heavily used, so they are really only an option for day hikes on well established trails where you might as well just follow trails, hiking signs, and crowds.  I never use a smartphone for anything important when in the wilderness, I need stuff I can trust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And although paper maps get out of date, at least you can be sure a 20 year old paper map can still be used, and for most of the world this is entirely fine (and in most of the world, it is questionable whether newer digital information is even available; Openstreetmap is very incomplete).  Your digital map bought 10 years ago might not even work on todays devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2019-12-16T14:12:58.537" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:12:58.537" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24512" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19936" CreationDate="2019-12-16T14:15:45.973" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming a little late to the party, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Afton State Park or William O'Brien State Park. Afton should be much closer to you than William O'Brien, and has a longer trail system. Afton is a great walk with sections along the river, buttes, prairie, hardwoods, and more. William O'Brien is about 15-30 minutes away from Stillwater, and might be closer to a 2hr drive, depending on where exactly you are, but also has a lot of variety. On the other hand, if you are on the western side of the cities, you could look at Lake Maria SP. I've not been there yet, but I'm looking at going there soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user18163" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:15:45.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T14:51:44.790" Score="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Map is not the Terrain&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doubtless you've heard this aphorism, and perhaps it seems out of place for your question but I think it's actually the key point. The aim of the navigation course is to teach you to understand the &lt;em&gt;terrain&lt;/em&gt; you are going to be walking over and begin to predict how you will experience the terrain based on the map you are viewing. Paper maps are unambiguously better for this, because you are asked to do more to understand them and place yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the most basic skills needed to use a paper map is to be able to locate yourself on it. In order to do this you must translate what is on the map into what you are seeing and &lt;em&gt;vice versa&lt;/em&gt;, which forces you to be to able to transition between map and terrain. A GPS on the other hand skips this step by doing it for you, and in doing so robs this simple step of all teaching and learning value.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also agree with the other answers regarding the benefits of paper and compass over electronics but I think in terms of the teaching context that your question is directed at these answers are missing a key point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3892" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:51:44.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24515" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T14:56:09.217" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll answer both as a geomatician who makes maps (both paper and digital) and deals with GIS data for a living. I'm also a mountaineer, trail runner, backcountry skiier, and outdoorsman with extensive experience both of GNSS receivers and paper maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reading skills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, reading maps is a skill that needs to be practiced and as for many other fields, like architecture and graphic design (both fields in which I studied in school), the basics are still learned manually, sketching on paper to remove the clutter of learning a UI at the same time as you learn theory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is difficult to read properly if you don't have a decent overview. Try reading the fine print on a contract, well if you want to read a large area on a digital handheld mapping device, you'll have a similar experience and I wouldn't trust the results unless you spent enough time to zoom in and out a few times. It's actually way faster with a paper map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The data (quality over quantity)&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as geomatics go, you quickly learn that you are limited to the quality of your data. Many digital products are not very good in that department, with several extremely dangerous situations that lead to deaths. The most recent being a &lt;a href=&quot;https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/missing-brossard-man-found-dead-in-northwestern-quebec-forest-sq-1.4701932&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Montreal man who died&lt;/a&gt; when his car GPS led him on a private unmaintained road instead of the main road. Don't assume it was entirely his fault. If the attributes in the data don't differentiate between road classes or incorporate recent changes to the physical reality, the fault is entirely on the data provider.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He got stuck on a broken bridge, walked 20km and died of exposure. People rely blindly on services like Google Maps, that have a massive database, but the scope of their data prevents them from addressing the details that can mean life or death. That's why a paper map crafted individually will always beat a global coverage digital product. The designer will know much more about the content of the map whereas if you ask Google to correct the data, as in the George He story, they simply don't even respond. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scary thing is that a professional trucker ended up in the same situation only a week after George He, on the same road, but he was saved only because his employer was tracking his schedule.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Situational awareness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another aspect that is often overlooked is that if you rely on an electronic device with GNSS positioning, you never really need to look up from the screen to know where you are. This leads to the dangerous idea that you can move inland without even looking at the terrain. One of the best ways not to get lost is to always take a look at the scenery behind you when on your ingress. Having snapshots of the scenery in your mind for your way back will help tremendously if you lose both your GNSS receiver &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; your map and compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This reflex is much more natural if you are forced to look around in the process of reading your map and placing yourself on it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Situational awareness is probably the most important point I'm making&#xA;  here&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Discounting this only shows your ill-preparation for the backcountry and lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, without a good mountaineering course, this knowledge has to be learned the hard way, which is through your mistakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some mistakes can be fatal and if the overwhelming majority of outdoors professionals tell you that you need to know how to read a map, there's a good reason for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When a GNSS receiver is logical&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do a lot of bushwhacking in dense boreal forest. Then, using map and compass is not very efficient. GNSS is the best way to reach specific spots. A good technique is to get a bearing with the device, set it on the compass, then plow through the forest, adjusting from time to time. Maps are not very useful when you don't have landmarks to identify and this is one of the only times where they fail compared to a GNSS receiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Extras&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the sake of completeness, I'll add other details that have already been mentioned in other answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Screen devices are too small to see the big picture.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Devices do break. You need a backup and you need to know how to use it. Then, why bring the device in the first place?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Energy is not unlimited because it weighs a lot. Instead of wasting that weight on batteries, you can bring other comfort items (nothing like a gin flask) if you don't rely on electronics.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T14:56:09.217" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T16:20:34.927" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Aren't there now amazingly reliable devices that have capabilities far exceeding anything you can do with a paper map?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nope.  Amazing, yes.  Reliable - well, that depends on batteries and impact protection.  And when you mention the &quot;low weight&quot; of electronics, try comparing that to the weight of a paper map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for capabilities, I would challenge anyone to show me a portable electronic device with a 30&quot; screen.  Even the best desktop PC monitor is worse than a paper map for route planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T16:20:34.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24517" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T17:06:33.483" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ultimately a map is a map is a map.  Regardless of the media it's presented on, whether that be digital or paper.  You still need to be able to orient yourself on it, understand the symbology, and interpret what all that means to you and what you're trying to do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;GPS signals can stop, be deliberately degraded (selective availability), or be affected by the environment.  Even if it's just printing out the area I'm interested in and sticking that in a big ziplock bag, for reasons all already mentioned it's handy to have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If nothing else because I can easily see a letter size area without having to carry a display that big.  Perspective can be very useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you should always be trying to match what you see around you if possible with what's on the map rather than blindly following a bearing presented to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19097" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T17:06:33.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24496" CreationDate="2019-12-16T17:13:38.593" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, you are putting yourself at danger if you use such glasses, but there's a caveat. It's highly depends on location (basically the amount of atmosphere the light has to cross):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;closer to the equator, the light is stronger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;higher in altitude, the light is stronger&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Julbo, the lens manufacturer, has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.julbo.com/en_us/choosing-your-mountaineering-sunglasses/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;decent article&lt;/a&gt; covering this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Exposure to solar radiation increases on average by 10% (between 4 and 16%) with every 1,000 m of altitude, and the UVB light it contains is particularly dangerous. In addition, the snow reflects between 80 and 90% of solar radiation compared with 20% on non-snowy ground. The intensity of solar radiation is therefore 1.5 times greater at 2,000 m and 2.5 times greater at 4,000 m than at sea level. Exposure will vary depending on the thickness of the ozone layer in the atmosphere (which acts as a natural filter), the different regions of the world, the season and the angle of incidence of the sun's rays. It should be noted that solar radiation is 25% greater at the autumn equinox than the spring equinox when the ozone layer is thicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The most common problems&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Photokeratisis or snow blindness, which is due to erosion of the cells covering the cornea caused by prolonged exposure to UVB.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Erytropsia: exhaustion of the retina resulting from prolonged exposure to intense light stimulation.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&quot;White out&quot; syndrome is the name for freezing of the eyelids in extreme cold: tearing, loss of perception of terrain and photophobia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Freezing of the cornea can cause irreversible necroses if it is not treated rapidly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;These disorders reveal two major functions essential for mountain sunglasses:  stopping UVB rays and wrapping around the face. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To maximize protection, you need to cover the eyes properly, which includes protection from every direction when you're on snow. Goggles are gap-less, but glasses require blinders on the sides and very tight fitting nosepieces so light can't get under the frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While I wouldn't whip out CAT4 lenses immediately, the tags in the question, Skiing and High-altitude, clearly point to that amount of filtering but there is a secondary but serious issue with the glasses shown, which is that they don't cover well enough. Comments already pointed this out, you will have no protection from the wind and reflection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a personal anecdote, I once was in a white-out on a bare frozen mountain plateau and got sunburn in unanticipated places on my face, like &lt;strong&gt;inside my nostrils&lt;/strong&gt;. We could only see a faint halo of the sun through the clouds but they are no protection. In fact, the fog was like having a mirror reflecting the sun inside my nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T17:13:38.593" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24519" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24601" CreationDate="2019-12-16T18:50:25.620" Score="-1" ViewCount="389" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every year we read stories about people getting lost in a forest or in the mountains, with no way of calling for help. Sometimes this is due to a lack of experience, sometimes due to accidents, sometimes due to unexpected bad weather, etc. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So why isn't it considered best practice (by the mountaineering/outdoors community) to carry a satellite phone any time one travels to a region where it's possible to get lost? I understand that satellite phones used to be too bulky to lug around, but nowadays one can get the equivalent of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.g-comm.us/iridium-9555-satellite-phone.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iridium 9555&lt;/a&gt; which weighs less than 300 grams. I also understand that it's expensive (especially since you have to pay for a subscription), but shouldn't safety trump any financial aspects?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="12593" LastEditDate="2020-01-01T18:16:19.687" LastActivityDate="2020-04-04T09:09:37.893" Title="Why isn't carrying a satellite phone considered best practice for hiking/mountaineering in remote regions?" Tags="&lt;search-and-rescue&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="20" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T19:00:08.123" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jonathan.  I think the other answers miss the fundamental point.  The GPS course just tells about GPS devices and how to use them, plus an hour outdoors.  It doesn't go in depth on what all those icons mean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are all those squiggly lines?  I suppose they could tell you in the GPS course by making it longer, or you could take the prerequisite course, just above, called, &quot;Introduction to Map and Compass,&quot; the description of which says, &quot;reading of topographic maps,&quot; which already tells you what those squiggly lines are and how to read them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How about the other course, further above?  Basic (Wilderness) Navigation?  Well, looking at the picture of the GPS for the GPS course, I notice some terrain features.  How do you interpret that?  In the Basic Wilderness Navigation description, it says, &quot;learn to relate features on a topographic map to your surroundings.&quot;  Hey, that sounds like just the thing!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure, they could make the GPS class really long to include those topics.  The drawback is that they would then have to cover those topics in multiple classes, GPS and physical map, which requires extra work maintaining a larger corpus of class materials.  In fact, they'd then have to have two GPS classes, one to cover the prerequisites &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; GPS and one to cover &lt;em&gt;just&lt;/em&gt; GPS for people who already know how to read a map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum up, the prerequisite system has been in use for quite a long time in the colleges and universities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19100" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T19:00:08.123" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24521" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24519" CreationDate="2019-12-16T19:28:43.053" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can take a satellite phone if you want. But you can also decide to take the risk to go without one. Satellite phones cannot prevent all kinds of accidents, just like any technical equipment cannot achieve that either. If you want to make sure that nobody gets hurt or even takes the risk of being hurt you would have to prohibit life in general. People have the freedom to take risks. The fact that the proposed rule does not exist indicates that there is a social consensus about this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as mentioned in a comment by @bob1, a rule needs to be enforced, and that seems to be impossible in remote regions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-12-17T07:45:40.950" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T07:45:40.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-16T21:44:21.003" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paper maps do not run out of power. In an emergency situation you may only have that as an option &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19104" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T21:44:21.003" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24494" CreationDate="2019-12-16T22:39:03.793" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Final question would be why not just a re-threaded figure 8 as you would use at the end of a rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lets start with this. This would be a nightmare to tie as you would have to pull a lot of rope through the knot to tie it. this extra work would have limited advantages. As for the photo, the knot looks like a re-threaded overhand on a bight. The running end (bight) is then clipped into the biner to prevent the knot from coming untied. This seems like the perfect knot for this situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a non-guiding situation, you typically tie into the middle of the rope with an alpine butterfly. The advantages of the alpine butterfly is it can be loaded from either direction, is a clean knot that unties pretty easily, and because you are attached with a biner can be escaped from quickly. In a guiding situation, none of this matters. The knot is only going to be loaded from one direction since guides cannot fall. There is little chance you will accidentally untie the knot compared to a biner opening (accidental or intentional). Finally, your description makes it sound like you were doing low angle snow/ice with no crevasses so the chance of loading the rope in a forceful manner where the strength of the knot matters is essentially zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T22:39:03.793" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24519" CreationDate="2019-12-16T23:24:24.137" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is one thing to bear in mind about making safety equipment mandatory and that is the effect of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;risk compensation&lt;/a&gt;. Basically it means whenever you make something safer, a certain group of people tends to use the perceived gain in safety to take additional risk.  Often the additional risk may be bigger than the safety gain introduced by the equipment and yield a negative effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a satellite telephone there are some ingredients that make this likely. A phone in itself is not going to rescue anybody, you need a proper rescue infrastructure for this. Even if you have both, bad weather can still make it impossible to fly a helicopter for days or carry out a rescue on ground. Therefore the premise that a satellite telephone will certainly prevent incidents is severely faulted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional difficulty would be to enforce the rule. It is not only about what constitutes a remote region but also what a &quot;satellite telephone&quot; is. There are at the moment 4 popular systems that differ by covered region and type of satellite orbit which will affect whether and how you will get connection at a certain place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-12-16T23:24:24.137" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24525" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24585" CreationDate="2019-12-17T02:35:16.370" Score="4" ViewCount="884" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you tie a figure-8 knot while rock climbing and fall a few times (especially if they're dynamic lead falls), the knots will become so difficult to untie that you sometimes have to use a carabiner to help you untangle it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any techniques one can use to make this easier?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-28T19:05:50.117" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T11:21:18.910" Title="How to make it easier to untie a figure-8 knot after finishing a climb?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-17T14:22:05.207" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a simple explanation that transcends the idea of rock climbing for the sake of it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people have other motivations that require rock climbing as a skill, for example peakbaggers. If you need a certain level of proficiency to reach the top of a mountain - let's say climb a 5.8 crux in the middle of 3rd and 4th class terrain - you'll want to have some solid experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gym climbing is good for the physical conditioning, but climbing rock is so different from climbing artificial walls that you need to practice on the real thing. Especially if you consider the gear management and safety and rescue aspects, climbing outside is required and indoors doesn't do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's why I know of a couple people who don't particularly enjoy rock climbing but will train intensively in the months leading to an ascent, then completely stop when it's over.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T14:22:05.207" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24527" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17338" CreationDate="2019-12-17T22:49:04.463" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pencil eraser works well if you can fit one in there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19126" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T22:49:04.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24528" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24530" CreationDate="2019-12-17T23:02:50.683" Score="3" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the main risks of a glacier in winter compared to the risks in summer? How can you deal with these additional risks? Which additional materials or thoughts do you need to have?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to exclude all types of avalanches as an answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T22:45:42.413" Title="Comparison of dangers on the glacier in summer and winter" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="645" CreationDate="2019-12-17T23:11:33.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Honest&lt;/strong&gt; answer: depends on too many things, different situations will be different. &lt;strong&gt;Best&lt;/strong&gt; answer: do what you feel like, whatever makes you feel comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot sleep naked in your bag comfortably, you should consider getting a better bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cannot sleep fully clothed comfortably, you should consider getting better clothes. Note you can get clothes cheaper than sleeping bags.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What you want is insulation to trap warm air.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The more insulation you use the more heat you keep.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If insulations are used the same way all that matters is how insulating it is. For practical purposes, nothing else matters, not even what you call it (bag or clothes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;… but clothes aren't used the same way. They are less efficient.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worn clothes insulate body parts from other body parts.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This stops them from sharing heat efficiently. For this reason a sleeping bag insulates you more efficiently. This is where the &quot;naked sleeping is warmer&quot; idea comes from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;More insulation or efficient insulation, which do I want?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If your bag barely keeps you warm so the sleeping method matters, then your problem is you need a better bag.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the end, there's a catch-22 here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your bag can't keep you warm, you need to wear clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it can keep you warm, you don't need clothes so do whatever because it doesn't matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your clothes can keep you warm enough by themselves, then you don't even need a bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&quot;&lt;em&gt;Ok fine&lt;/em&gt;&quot; you say, &quot;&lt;em&gt;But I still want the answer to which is warmer.&lt;/em&gt;&quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where is the line? It depends on too many variables&lt;/strong&gt;, including your own metabolism and recent activity level and comfort preferences. Only you can know this, and only by trying it out. There will be configurations where one is warmer and some where the other is warmer. That's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the truth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is warmer? Option 3!: take your clothes off, wrap them around you like a blanket so they add insulation but not between body parts. This is both warmer and more annoying to do than either option we discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;So what should I do!?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are like most people and camp above freezing temperatures and without a cold weather bag then &lt;strong&gt;you probably want to wear your clothes&lt;/strong&gt;. If you wear enough clothes to keep yourself warm anyway or have a good enough bag, both of which you should have, then &lt;strong&gt;it doesn't really matter&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;What do &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; do?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I've done both under tarps and in hammocks down to about -10F/-25C. My findings are that you do whatever you feel like doing as long as you have good clothes and a good bag. Again: it really doesn't matter.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get in your sleeping bag to sleep, but other than that the same rules apply as during the day: wear whatever makes you feel warm enough, your body will help you decide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But why get naked and then redressed in the morning when you don't have to? It's such a hassle. I prefer to sleep in what I will wear the next day, even the jacket. In the morning I just step out and start my day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also camped at about 40F/5C with no bag. I gave my bag to someone else who joined last-minute and I wore everything I brought plus their jacket. It was very windy (there was even a high wind weather warning), yet I was still quite comfortable sleeping under the stars, on top of a tarp, in slightly-above-freezing weather with no bag. As I said: with enough insulation, just do whatever you feel like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Extreme Situation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never been to the arctic but been considering it for a couple years. I hope to get some -40 degree nights at least, if not colder. In this situation I would want to use my insulation as efficient as possible, so I plan to use arctic bag inside a good bivy bag, and possibly a very warm blanket inside the arctic bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With all that insulation, &lt;strong&gt;I plan to strip down to bottom 1 or 2 clothing layers&lt;/strong&gt; but not naked, and the rest of the clothing layers I would wrap around me to keep them warm for morning. That way my body parts can share some heat hopefully keeping my legs and feet warmer, and there's plenty of insulation around to keep the body as a whole warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep clothing in your bag with you and try it out and see how you feel. Listen to your body and adjust as you feel you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2019-12-17T23:11:33.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24530" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24528" CreationDate="2019-12-17T23:34:51.300" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you just excluded the main difference which are avalanches (on steeper sections). Another difference is the higher risk of freezing to death in winter but this is not glacier specific and even in the mid of summer extreme cold can happen at high altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a glacier there are three risks summer and winter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Crevasses&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Slipping and falling over some rocky ledge (on steep terrain)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Serac* fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk of slipping is more or less the same year round, especially when the glacier is frozen in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk of seracs is very hard to qualify. Generally seracs are moving a bit faster in summer but get brittle in the cold of winter. Best to stay out of a serac zone all year if possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk of falling into a crevasse depends a bit. In winter** many crevasses, especially smaller ones are filled with snow. Snow bridges are thicker as well. These factors reduce the risk of falling into a crevasse. However, snow may also conceal crevasses with a non load-bearing layer which increases the risk of falling into a crevasse. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the risk of crevasse fall is considered lower in winter and skiing unroped is the norm while roped glacier crosses are the norm in summer. However, this is also factoring in the use of skis which distribute weight a lot better than snow shoes or just boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;*Serac:  a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers, since they may topple with little warning. (Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serac&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;**Winter conditions are not necessarily tied to the calendar months. In early winter there may be only little snow and it may be still unconsolidated. On the other hand, glacier winter can range well into May and early June.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2019-12-18T22:45:42.413" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T22:45:42.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24531" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-18T03:55:19.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a very practical example of the value of paper maps:  I found a waterproof, tear resistant map of my usual mountain hiking grounds that lives in my pack.  When I put it there I figured it would probably never come out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet the very first day it did--I met up with some people on the trail that didn't know much about the terrain.  While I have a more detailed topo of the area in my phone's memory you can't see very much at once--it's very useful for figuring out where the trail is but useless for seeing the lay of the land.  The paper map let me show them where the trail went.  (For what they had in mind it was actually safe enough to be out there with no map--it was a canyon, no novice would be able to get out of it other than at the ends.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T03:55:19.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24534" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22969" CreationDate="2019-12-18T07:28:16.650" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To be honest, I'm not sure we have enough information here to help you in this case. There are many different kinds of puffballs, some are edible, some are not. Depending on the age they will also vary wildly in their look and consistency, so this makes it even harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can really only recommend two ways to identify mushroom:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Get a decent book&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buy a decent mushroom identification book. These will come with plenty of pictures, and will list identifying features such as colour, texture, surface, form, stems, smell, etc, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, these books generally focus on mushrooms which are not easy to mistake for the (seriously) poisonous ones - and/or they will actually list &quot;similar looking&quot; mushrooms, which can help you avoid misidentification.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ask an expert&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places (e.g. in Switzerland) there are official mushroom identification offices where you can bring your mushrooms and have them identified by an expert. This is by far the safest method, and should be your method of choice if you cannot positively, 100% identify the mushroom using a book. However, I don't know if such a service is available in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T07:28:16.650" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-18T08:20:07.237" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Among the great answers above, some touched on the price of electronic maps and their inadequacy for hiking (e.g. lack of topographical data). To this point, I'd like to highlight the Mapy.cz project (mobile app at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?mobilepromo=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?mobilepromo=1&lt;/a&gt; link) which may have started as a regional Czech app, but now covers most of the world with freely downloadable maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While it lacks somewhat in features like car navigation, it is indispensible for walks and hikes, knowing the majority of official trails and many smaller forest roads, as well as heights, so you can for example profile the planned route in terms of ups and downs you are going to take. From version to version it is less reliant on the internet availability to find things and plan the routes, though I don't think it is fully autonomous yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, I wouldn't trust my phones of the past decade to navigate me for more than a daytime's walk: their batteries only last as you commute from home to work or back; much less so in cold weather (like under +15 deg C, 100% to 0% in 40 minutes if the phone is not touching my stomach) or in hot summers (+35 degC outside, under sunlight, it wants to shut everything off because the CPU is at 50 degC).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you still need to take a look at the map (digital or not) before the trip and expect that this memory of your main route, and nearby alternatives, and notable points to orienteer by (mountains, valleys, towers, bridges, etc.) would save your hide if you don't take a paper map (or lose it, or it is too dark/rainy/... to read it when you need it). You don't have to be in the mountains or wild outback to get lost, can do so in a city too ;p Do assume the worst, to be ready for it. And hope it does not happen too often :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19130" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T08:20:07.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24536" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-18T08:53:28.150" Score="3" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Digital content is no substitute for skill&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here. Describe to me how to &lt;em&gt;fly the go-around&lt;/em&gt; on a Runway 13L approach to Midway. &lt;a href=&quot;https://flightaware.com/resources/airport/MDW/IAP/RNAV+(GPS)+RWY+13L/pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's the approach plate&lt;/a&gt;. Before you object, &lt;strong&gt;remember. You are looking at this on a digital device.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;But but but&quot; -- yeah. Exactly. Having the data in digital form does not educate you in the use of this data! You still need to know how to fly or mountaineer.  You are either disregarding the value of these skills, or being presumptive about skills you do already have. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The skills are about being able to look at a map and the terrain you are seeing with your eye, and figuring out where you are on  the map from the terrian.  About being able to look at a map and see which routes are navigable, so you don't plot a route over a cliff or across a river you can't ford.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Digital devices have a big scope problem&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't see the big picture and the detail at the same time.  That's a big problem.  Here, try to plot a route from Pittsburgh to Baltimore on this map. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nuo6Z.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nuo6Z.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can't. There's not enough detail there.  And if you zoom in to get the detail, then you lose the big picture.  And so  you have to blind guess: Is the due east one the one to follow? The one at 3:30? The one at 4:00? Should you be dropping down to pick up 68?  Then you have to keep scrubbing east and west to see how the roads relate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas any competent paper map of Pennsylvania will have have at least 12&quot; of paper on that segment, with 600 dpi resolution, so a 7200 pixel detail map of the area, all at your direct gaze and fingertips. &#xA;&lt;em&gt;Like this, but all the way across...&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8RRGC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8RRGC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But you'll retort &quot;But this is silly, any nav app will give an optimized route for me!&quot;  True, I'm using a bad example, merely to ease illustration.   &lt;strong&gt;Let's see your nav-app plot you a route from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/@45.15539,-70.31013,1535m/data=!3m1!1e3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;45°09'19&quot;N 70°18'36&quot;W&lt;/a&gt; back to the trailhead!&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is especially important when orienteering, when you need to be able to see both the near landmarks and the far ones &lt;em&gt;at the same time&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mind you, they're &lt;em&gt;teaching these things&lt;/em&gt;, so placing you on a platform that is incapable of doing this would defeat the purpose. And speaking of that, what about when 8 students have 5 different platforms all working differently and showing different things, while 3 students have none at all?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;em&gt;splash&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smart device is vulnerable to being fallen on, being dropped and smashed, being dropped in water, simply running out of battery, or losing signal because of terrain or because cell phone companies don't bother covering wilderness.  The governments who run GPS, GLONASS and Galileo all feel the same about things like terror.  If actionable intelligence says they can save lives by turning them off, they're gone.  The governments have already had this conversation.  All your braggadocio about how digital devices have gotten better, does nothing to fix any of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further, smart devices make you overtrust them.  A person geared up with cell phones, tablets and navs thinks &quot;Oh! I don't need a 406 MHz ELT!&quot;  &lt;em&gt;yeah, you still do&lt;/em&gt;.  They also disconnect you from the physical world: How many people do you know &lt;em&gt;who have no earthly idea where they are&lt;/em&gt;, but simply follow the voice prompts of their nav app?  Is Mountain View south of San Jose? They don't know, don't care, and don't need to know (by their reckoning, or to be more precise, &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;complete lack&lt;/a&gt; of reckoning&lt;/em&gt;). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't emphasize that point enough.  Before digital assistants, people relied on their intuition, experience, skill and street smarts.  Now, people absolutely choose suicide routes &lt;em&gt;because their digital device tells them to&lt;/em&gt;, and fail to cultivate their own skills. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Map+compass works in dire straits&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smart devices are all fun and games until you're in a real survival crisis. Now, the above attrition factors have taken out your tech. You thought you were over-teched, so you don't own a 406 ELT, so no popping it and waiting for the sound of rotor blades.  &lt;strong&gt;You're done at that point.&lt;/strong&gt;  You can blunder around hopelessly and risk further injury, but realistically it boils down to  doing your best to draw attention while waiting for the elements to perish you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But as long as you have your wits, skills, maps and a compass, you have the right stuff for self-rescue. You can keep working the problem. &lt;strong&gt;That gives you self-determination&lt;/strong&gt; and avoids victimhood. And that's what living is all about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;A perishable skill&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the sense that you can't pull this skill out of thin air the day you need it.  You can't sit there in the rain and cold trying to remember what you learned in map-and-compass class 7 years ago.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the brains of London taxi drivers, whose licensing requires that they demonstrate recall of 25,000 city streets, contain more grey matter in the region of the hippocampus than the brains of London bus drivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/25/gps-horror-stories-driving-satnav-greg-milner&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flex the skill&lt;/a&gt; if you want it to work for you.  You need to know how to turn the information on the map into locating where you are and navigating successfully from A to B, without pathing up (or down) cliffs, routing across rivers you can't cross, etc.  You get that knowledge by &lt;em&gt;doing it&lt;/em&gt;.  Often enough for the skills to stick.  Which means you need to put away the nav and find the skill of orienteering, and ideally, find the love of it.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastEditorUserId="14830" LastEditDate="2019-12-18T09:10:22.167" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T09:10:22.167" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24494" CreationDate="2019-12-18T09:42:13.943" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The knot looks like a rethreaded overhand tied on a bight. Call it a rethreaded EDK if you like. So the response of &quot;it's an unusual knot&quot; is entirely reasonable, it's not on the list. The end loop has been clipped into the carabiner, that will act in the place of a stopper knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you're hiking/scrambling on dangerous ground rather than climbing, so the reason for using this knot is it's quick, simple, and good enough for purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A figure 8 tied the same way would be a remarkably bulky knot and not really gain you anything. A figure 8 is easier to untie after loading, but in this case you've got 4 strands at every point and less load so you don't need to worry about that aspect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T09:42:13.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-18T20:48:41.340" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the simplest answer to my mind is that if you're going to have redundant methods for just about anything, they should be as resistant to single points of failure as possible. It's a good general principle, and it certainly applies in this specific case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two electronic devices will provide redundancy in case of loss of battery life, but not in case of interference. An electronic device and a paper map are different enough in characteristics that they provide a broader base of redundancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the potential consequences of failure, I think it would be wise to have the relevant knowledge of, and make a habit of carrying, both tools rather than two copies of one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13539" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T20:48:41.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24539" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24519" CreationDate="2019-12-18T21:19:50.510" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;That would be a &lt;em&gt;mandate&lt;/em&gt;. We don't like those.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Telling people they must expend resources to exercise a right they do possess is generally not permitted, and certainly not politically acceptable. Saying they must have a smartphone to &lt;em&gt;vote&lt;/em&gt; would be a poll tax. The healthcare mandate was tossed out last year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So telling people they need a sat phone to use public lands would be a nonstarter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;On the other hand, there's the mandate of &lt;em&gt;basic intelligence&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you really want to be caught dead being unnecessarily stupid?  Look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mercurynews.com/2006/12/13/chung-good-willill-will-followkim-tragedy/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;what happened to James Kim&lt;/a&gt;.   People cut Kim for ribbons for being careless, exhibiting bad navigation and bad outdoorsmanship.  Everyone else can do it better, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sat phones suck. You want the thing jetliners have.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a Sat Phone, first, you probably ran the battery down posting questions on outdoors.se and other &lt;em&gt;useless non-rescue uses&lt;/em&gt;.  But if you still have battery...  Then you hope you can hit satellites long enough to hold a signal, and you call people.  If you're fortunate, you reach 9-1-1 and if you're very, very lucky, coarse GPS is picked up by 9-1-1.  But prepare for them not receiving the GPS signal for a variety of reasons. Now you're down to describing what you know about your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Jetliners, on the other hand, have a system that is highly bulletproof. It hits a satellite network &lt;em&gt;that is specifically made for SAR&lt;/em&gt;. The system sends transmitter serial number and GPS location if available; transmitters are registered which gives them your name/address/cellphone.  The system also warbles on the 121.5 civil emergency frequency, which is monitored by many aircraft, and Civil Air Patrol regularly trains on triangulating locations on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Commercial ships also have this system, as do many pleasure craft, as do many small planes, and it can be acquired as a handheld/portable device for about $400.  &amp;quot;Monthly fees&amp;quot; don't exist, but you do need to register the unit for best effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A typical scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The battery is not dead, because this device is not used for anything else. It's a primary &amp;quot;one-shot&amp;quot; battery with a long shelf life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The satellites pick up the 406 MHz emergency beacon.  It is transmitting GPS coords, but the canyon walls enshadow too many GPS satellites for a precise fix.  The registered owner's phone is called, because usually, this reveals an &amp;quot;all's well / accidental trip&amp;quot; answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The daughter says &amp;quot;My parents went out hiking in Yosemite&amp;quot; (the beacon is in Yosemite).  Local authorities are notified, including Civil Air Patrol.  Redundantly, airliners are hearing the 121.5 MHz signal and report it with very coarse location, jibing with earlier data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CAP heads to the coarse location and does their thing, triangulating on the 121.5 MHz signal. They've got it down to within about a 200' area in a canyon.  Rescue successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 406 MHz + 121.5 backup &lt;em&gt;pretty much leaves nothing to chance&lt;/em&gt;. If the GPS fails utterly, the SARSAT satellites have a coarse sense of where the signal is coming from; enough to get aircraft in the right zones to hunt down the 121.5 signal.  This is state-actor geolocation.  And it's accessible to citizens. &lt;em&gt;Why not use it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14830" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T21:33:35.687" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-18T23:27:46.697" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many excellent answers have detailed how you need to learn reading paper maps for various practical reasons involving your safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to add that you want to be able to read paper maps for two additional reasons involving your pursuit of happiness:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;finding the unexpected,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;daydreaming.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19134" LastActivityDate="2019-12-18T23:27:46.697" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24541" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-19T01:25:37.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The variety of climbing in the gym is limited by the creativity of the setters and the availability of mass production plastic holds from commercial manufacturers. It is an activity bound by humans and their ability to create challenges for each other.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The variety of climbing outdoors is only limited by the random processes of mother nature and your ability to access the area. The vast majority of an outdoor climbing wall is not sendable, and only a relatively few, delicate lines have been taken down for the ages as climbing routes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For many, it is finding and climbing these improbable lines in places that no human has any business being that gives a personal reward. Additionally, for those on the cutting edge, establishing new routes, nature provides a challenge that is different than one limited by human imagination in the gym.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The views also can't be beat. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastActivityDate="2019-12-19T01:25:37.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24542" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-19T03:58:11.203" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Paper map screens are more flexible and they handle drops better. A paper map keeps power for longer, stays on for longer when you are walking, is cheap, is easier to draw a path on, easier to annotate, faster to switch on and access. The usb port of the paper map doesnt go rusty if you walk with it raining, and you don't pull a paper map out of your pocket and think &quot;dam I left the paper switched on&quot; and paper has a safe storage time of about 150 years while you are out and about. Phones are very cool but paper maps still have some value. Paper also has good reception. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16794" LastActivityDate="2019-12-19T03:58:11.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24543" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24494" CreationDate="2019-12-20T01:47:13.423" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your guide probably tied you in with stacked OverHand Knots with the bight. Instead of re-threading the OH, the bight is pushed completely through the middle of the OH. Another OH is then tied around both standing parts, followed by clipping the bight to your harness as a security backup. It's a cleaner and less bulky affair than the re-threaded version and also easier to manage the tying process. But, you said it was a very bulky knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19140" LastEditorUserId="19141" LastEditDate="2019-12-20T12:36:43.883" LastActivityDate="2019-12-20T12:36:43.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24545" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-22T06:52:10.697" Score="1" ViewCount="251" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know that NC permits open carry but I'm actually interested in cultural implications of running into people in the woods who may be weirded out by it. I've hiked a lot in places where it's legal but seen only a few guys do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, if I'm hiking around Ashville area and carrying openly, will I be getting undue attention on myself or it's cool like in some western states? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1923" OwnerDisplayName="amphibient" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2019-12-23T16:28:28.687" LastActivityDate="2019-12-26T16:01:34.107" Title="Carrying a gun openly while hiking in western North Carolina" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24546" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24545" CreationDate="2019-12-23T11:13:33.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rather than ask a bunch of questions, I'm going to answer this from a general sense about the pros and cons.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which park are you going to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-NC Law allows open carry in a motor vehicle, and allows open carry in areas outside of public-owned buildings, on the grounds or parking areas of those buildings, and public parks and recreation areas where further regulations MAY restrict those rights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://opencarry.org/state-info-n-s/north-carolina/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://opencarry.org/state-info-n-s/north-carolina/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How populous is the area you're going to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;-If you're concerned about how other people are going to react, then it really matters how many people you're likely to interact with (for multiple reasons).  If you're through hiking and don't expect to see many people, you are ALSO more likely to encounter wildlife.  If you're doing a day hike out and back and will likely run across 20+ other groups then you're almost guaranteed not to run into any sort of predatory wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you're worried about cultural implications and perception, this will play into it a lot more in people's minds as well.  If the farthest you're going is 2 hours away from the car park, you're more likely to be perceived as carrying it 'just because' in my opinion.  If you're on a multi-day hike and in an area that's known to have more frequent bear activity (I say more frequent because bear encounters in western NC are still pretty rare), you're more likely to get a pass.  Even the most anti-gun people I know are a little more understanding in situations like that, but understand that many people will forego stopping for a bit to chat with someone who is openly carrying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, consider a flare gun, if this really bothers you.  There are better ways to scare off a bear than with a gun.  Both for you AND the bear.  I can't conceive of a single scenario where a gun is going to keep you from getting bit from a snake, but a flare gun might get you found.  A flare gun is more likely to be useful if you break your leg than a regular gun. For most other animals, a flare gun is going to be sufficient to drive them off if you do find yourself in the astronomically low odds of an actual attack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15099" LastActivityDate="2019-12-23T11:13:33.710" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24547" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-23T11:37:16.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been climbing off an on now for over 25 years, although I've never been particularly great.  I climb mostly in the gym but have been on a few outdoor trips here and there.  I am frequently outdoors, but can scramble most of the things I want to do without equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While there's some great answers here, there's one point that none of them touch on that I feel is important.  For my answer, you have to think about Rock Climbing before it was a popular sport.  The first rock climbers took ladders with them, drove spikes into the wall, hung the ladder from it, climbed it, and repeated.  Over and over until they were at the top.  Their motivation was different, for them it was about being able to say, I've done something no one else has.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That evolved into free climbing.  Ok, so the rope is just here so I don't die, but can I climb this piece of rock on my own?  Because people had &quot;done&quot; that particular piece of rock before, now people could say they'd done something different, even more spectacular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Gyms are a relatively recent invention as climbing has become more and more popular as an actual sport.  They were &quot;fairly&quot; rare even just 25 years ago when I started, and you're right.  For climbing as a sport, they offer a lot of advantages that you mentioned, and outdoor climbing has some advantages that other answers have mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of that is irrelevant though when you think of climbing outside of the scope of the sport.  If your goal is to &quot;walk&quot; up a mountain and not be deterred that the final 25 feet to reach the actual summit is a fairly smooth piece of granite, then the gym is a means to an end.  If you want to be the best sport climber out there and nothing else matters, than the gym might very well be all you ever need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15099" LastActivityDate="2019-12-23T11:37:16.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24548" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-24T00:34:05.960" Score="2" ViewCount="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard on this forum and others the difficulty of finding a suitable fuel since meths is illegal or hard to find, so im trying to think of alternatives, i know Americans use HEET and i have used home brewed vodka before here in NZ ( Moonshine home distilled which it is LEGAL here in NZ to make your own spirits) Just wondering is it possible to find a high enough proof of Vodka in a Hypermarket such as Auchan or Avoska or HEET alternative on the shelf in Russia hypermarkets and the such that could be used as a fuel. Im travelling to Russia ( across it actually ) in 2023 and trying everything i can think of to source on the regular vodka or alternatives to use as fuel for my Trangia BEFORE i invest in a multi fuel stove. Im open to new set up of burner/stove, i just want to try BEFORE i have to invest in new style of cook setup. Does anyone know what Russian Trekkers use. I have seen Decathalon Russia and Sportmaster sell gels, gas and solid fuels burners and fuel which is good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also where can you find butane canisters in Russia, i know Decathalon, Sportmaster and Alpinista i think it is called sell them, just wondering if Avoska or Auchan sell them too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas anyone? Love to hear them !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Current prices for 24 cubes of solid fuel in Russia are about NZD $2 that is 6 times cheaper then NZ so might look in to it as a cooking fuel option. Used solid fuel before too simmer cook ( Have to use a few thou ) so yeah  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19151" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T00:34:05.960" Title="Fuel for a meths/alcohol stove (trangia) in Russia" Tags="&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;russia&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2019-12-30T15:48:41.197" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24549" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22168" CreationDate="2019-12-24T00:43:18.007" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although the video provided to illustrate your issue was short, it appeared to me that spinning reel in question is a Pflueger President? But I could be wrong. I understand wanting the bail to close easily with a turn of the handle following a cast with your spinning rod/reel setup. Also I’m going to assume the same desired action is/was possible with less effort for other spinning reels you may either own or have used. However, please refer to the owner’s/user’s manual provided by the manufacturer of your spinning reel (or any spinning reel for on the matter). Within the manual under the topic of (and I’m generalizing here) “How To Cast/Use Your New Spinning Reel” there will be a disclaimer/notice advising the spinning reel‘s bail to be closed manually by hand after casting and NOT closed by turning the handle. Closing the bail by turning the handle increases wear and tear on internal gears of the reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19150" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T00:43:18.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24550" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-24T09:01:10.247" Score="7" ViewCount="416" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a camping trip in Yosemite with a group of friends for some time around mid-March. I know it can get cold at that time of year, but that's the only time we could all arrange the time off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, has anyone camped there around that time of year? Is it still pleasant despite the cold weather? And where is the best spot to camp?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, I'm about to start buying the camping equipment we'll need. I've already looked into tents and have been doing some research on &lt;a href=&quot;https://extremepedia.com/best-winter-sleeping-bags/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cold weather sleeping bags&lt;/a&gt;. Other than these two things, and a good sleeping mat, what would you recommend we take?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We'll be there for 4 - 5 days and hope to do plenty of hikes / exploring. Any and all advice would be much appreciated! Thanks :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Ty Taylor" LastActivityDate="2020-12-20T15:43:15.913" Title="Camping in Yosemite in March" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24550" CreationDate="2019-12-24T14:30:01.387" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have never been to yosemite so I cannot answer about this part based on experience. There is however a question about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1344/how-are-backpacking-conditions-at-yosemite-in-april?rq=1&quot;&gt;backpacking in april&lt;/a&gt; which suggests that there will be still a lot of snow in March. If you consider this enjoyable is a matter of personal opinion. I personally probably would only enjoy this with a warm and cozy camper van, but others like camping in the cold. However, I would not really recommend a beginner camper to start camping in the snow&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the camping equipment, the basics are a tent, sleeping bag and insulation pad. Per group you also need a camping stove and a pot. Everything else is bonus and for comfort. What you take will strongly depend on the type of camping you do. If you are camping out of the car, weight and space are less of an issue and the trade-off will go towards comfort. Examples of my camping gear are a big and roomy tent (standing height rocks, although not necessary for beginners), a camping chair and a table, the 20cm air mattress (great for leveling uneven ground). In colder conditions putting a hot water bottle to warm up your sleeping bag is absolutely great. Maybe you could add a solar shower and a cooler box.&#xA;If you are on a multi-day hike and have to carry all the equipment, you would most likely not carry any of these things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T14:30:01.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24498" CreationDate="2019-12-24T16:58:48.850" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A GPS can tell you with reasonable precision where you are. So far as I am aware, they don't tell you if you are about to walk off a cliff. The normal tourist path on Ben Nevis goes close enough to a very steep gully that you need to count paces and use a compass if walking down in whiteout conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9639" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T16:58:48.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24550" CreationDate="2019-12-24T18:17:05.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/winter.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;March in Yosemite is considered winter&lt;/a&gt;, so you need to be prepared for cold temperatures and for snow. A sunny but cold day in the snow can be gorgeous and fun, but you have to also be prepared, so if the weather turns, you won't find your self in a situation where you are struggling for survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trails on the valley floor may be open, but the high trails and roads will almost certainly be buried in several feet of snow. Taking snowshoes might give you more options, but if you are new to backcountry snowshoeing, you should look into a guided trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Check out this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=AD5EC2F3-04CF-A952-B0C201681DFCD324&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NP video for an overview of visiting Yosemite in winter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4030" LastEditorUserId="4030" LastEditDate="2019-12-24T18:26:56.750" LastActivityDate="2019-12-24T18:26:56.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24555" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-25T02:02:07.330" Score="2" ViewCount="285" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Use case:  A hike to heated waters--hiking with only swimwear for lower attire is not an option.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find most swimwear is not exactly suitable for wearing under clothing, speedos would work but I'm hoping for some middle ground--snug fitting but not quite so skimpy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T14:37:09.480" Title="Male swimming attire that can be worn under clothing" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24556" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7442" CreationDate="2019-12-25T02:07:43.643" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much of the damage could be averted by placing the stuff in airtight containers with a desiccant of sufficient size in there.  Silica gel in suitable containers can be regenerated, there are other options that are cheaper but they are single use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will avoid humidity damage but will not protect your stuff from temperature extremes.  High heat (the sun baking your shed) is not good for most fabrics and like materials (ropes etc.)  It's also quite difficult for big things like skis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2019-12-25T02:07:43.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7442" CreationDate="2019-12-25T13:11:10.387" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do as suggested in the accepted answer, check the manuals. But also use your common sense, the manuals will suggest conditions which definitely work, but other conditions might be okay, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I store my stuff in my cellar, and that is not airproof or moisture-repellant or anything in that line, and a good storing place does not have to be. However, it features a rather constant temperature over the year which is warmer than outside in winter and cooler than outside in summer. This is very good especially for everything that suffers from extreme temperatures like all synthetic materials in prolonged hot conditions. But temperature is only one thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moisture is more of a killer in my experience. And this is something that can be more easily controlled than temperature outside, too. If you put your stuff as dry as it gets into an airtight container or bag, no additional moisture can enter. If you reduce the residual air in the container to a minimum also in cold conditions hardly any condensation will occur. Add some desiccant if you like to be on the safe side. And in hot conditions, relative humidity inside the containers will drop and condensation will be no problem at all. So either you have cold and humid (dry with a desiccant) or hot and dry conditions in your container. So for moisture related damage, airtight containers will be one of the better solutions, provided you put your stuff in there dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use more or less airtight bags for delicate stuff in my cellar, too. There condensation is a bit of a problem when it is hot outside. The hot air brings in rather big amounts of water which condensates on the rather cool cellar walls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your suggested solution with the outdoor closet works similarly, with the limitation that it is not airtight. But it definitely reduces air exchange. During the night when it gets colder and condensation occurs, mostly the water present in the air inside the closet will condensate on the inside. However, because it is not really airtight a small amount of air with some additional water enters from the outside, causing some additional condensation. So the closet will help for humidity, but not to the same extent as airtight containers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way: The closet does not have to turn into an oven when it is hot. Either you can generate some shadow or you just keep the doors open. Choosing a light color will help as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2019-12-25T13:27:31.810" LastActivityDate="2019-12-25T13:27:31.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24555" CreationDate="2019-12-25T16:43:32.603" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mesh lined running shorts.  Roughly equivalent to boxers in coverage.  I routinely use these on canoe trips and hiking trips under my wind pants.  Morning starts with longs, and as the day warms up, they come off as the day warms up.  I often put longs back on immediately on hitting camp for bug protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  From years of outdoor activities, I'm used to being wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get ones that are 100% nylon/polyester they dry very fast. Blotting as much water as possible with a towel then 10-15 minutes of lounging about nearby will leave you dry enough to put your over clothes on.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty is the differential temperature.  If you have been in hot water, you are likely flushed, certainly damp, and acclimated in part to the heat.  Coming out into cold will result in lots of heat loss initially.  You may not want even damp shorts on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Changing in the wild&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comment on the question said that changing in unknown mixed company isn't viable.  Consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put on a wind parka, or any other garment that comes down to mid thigh.  Fasten the bottom two snaps, withdraw your arms, and drop your underwear and put on your swimwear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Any place this popular likely has some form of bathroom facility.  Change in the outhouse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walk a hundred meters into the bush, put a large tree between you and the group and change there.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-01T17:14:04.580" LastActivityDate="2020-01-01T17:14:04.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24560" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-26T01:45:28.620" Score="3" ViewCount="122" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always had a problem getting out of thicker wetsuits (4/3 mm and above, chestzip with/without hoodies). I would like advice from anyone who has tips getting out of these types of thick wetsuits (neoprene, Yulex, etc.), whether in dry or wet conditions (pre- or post- immersion into water). I tried to get out of one, and especially gripping and tugging the extremities firsthand, I still spent a lot of energy trying to just pull everything away from the torso. However, this was still when I was inside the house and not surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been able to get out of this wetsuit wet, but it has always been a long, arduous process and quite a struggle. Recently, it's much more difficult due to a shoulder injury and less grip strength due to carpal tunnel/impinged nerves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any good way to effectively get out of these thicker wetsuits under wet or dry conditions, without feeling like Venom trying to rip out of the symbiote from the cartoons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19155" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2019-12-26T15:32:09.767" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T00:02:10.233" Title="How to get out of thicker wetsuits efficiently and quickly?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24561" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-26T03:08:54.340" Score="6" ViewCount="335" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several times I have been in locations where tsunami risks are either actively signaled or self-evident.  Lima where I am right now has long beaches dominated by cliffs with exit routes about every km.  Hiking the West Coast Trail in BC, Canada I have also been in situations where an extremely smooth cliff overlooks a low tide only trail.  Leading to Tofino, Canada, you have a 40 km stretch of low lying lands before you see any higher ground.  Depending on your location and how much advance warning you receive, you may not have the opportunity to reach higher ground in case of a tsunami warning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have experience with big waves, near beaches, or especially near cliffs, you know that they are especially dangerous when they contact the shore.  Both because that's when they break and because they can throw you against solid objects.  In fact one of the best ways to safeguard yourself from a breaking wave is to dive under it, heading offshore (not something I suggest here, just an example of something very counterintuitive that works).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the videos shot of either the 2004 tsunami @ Phuket tsunami or the 2011 Tohuku, Japan earthquake the waves don't even look very big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know considerable effort since 2004 has been made to monitor for, and mitigate, tsunami risks. Has anyone looked into whether swimming a few hundred meters offshore and waiting out the main water disturbance would be a valid risk minimization strategy, &lt;strong&gt;if no timely route to safety was available&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2019-12-26T14:20:25.837" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T16:56:09.203" Title="In case of a tsunami, would swimming out to sea be an escape strategy?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;risk-managment&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24561" CreationDate="2019-12-26T06:12:25.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Imagine two strings of different densities, which are tied together at a point. Suppose you hit the string with the largest density several times with your hand, generating a sequence of traveling pulses. Due to conservation of momentum, when the pulses reach the lower density string, two things will happen: The wavelength will get shorter and the amplitude will get larger. This is the mechanism that forms a tsunami.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In extending the analogy above to a three dimensional continuous classical field, which in this case we usually address by the name of &quot;water&quot;, the density remains the same, and the amplitude increase/wavelength decrease is caused by the shallow-ing of the sea floor: A set of traveling waves with &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; wavelengths and &lt;em&gt;tiny&lt;/em&gt; amplitudes is suddenly packed into a dense sequence of huge waves, because the momentum that was distributed along an immense mass of water has to be conserved when transitioning to a relatively smaller mass of water (which is all that's available in the coastal region).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I now address your question: As you swim deeper and deeper, you start to reach safer regions. The problem is that these regions form only when the seafloor is considerably deeper than at the coast. There are places on earth where the transition from shallow to deep water takes less than 1 or 2km, but in the general case you will be faced with having to swim several kilometers before the tsunami reaches you. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdhfV-8dbCE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;As can be seen in several YouTube videos&lt;/a&gt;, ships that are far from the coast only notice a relatively abnormal amplitude in a forming tsunami, which is quite harmless. That's where you need to swim to. If the waves catch you midway, attempting to dive under them is a very efficient way of killing yourself faster, since their propagating speed is relatively homogeneous with respect to water depth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2019-12-26T06:12:25.107" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24545" CreationDate="2019-12-26T16:01:34.107" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Basically, if I'm hiking around Ashville area and carrying openly, will I be getting undue attention on myself or it's cool like in some western states? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ashville is a pretty liberal town, and not just by NC standards. Further, while it is rural and in the mountains and hunting is common, open carry around town is rare. On trails, and particularly the Appalachian Trail, open carry guns are very rare since you do not need them to protect yourself from animals (or fellow hikers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I'm actually interested in cultural implications of running into people in the woods who may be weirded out by it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt hikers in NC will be too weirded out by someone who is openly carrying. Unless you are a local, they probably will dismiss you as someone who doesn't know anything useful as you are, after all, carrying a heavy and useless gun. They may choose to move on from rest stops and camping places, but they likely wouldn't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are legally allowed to carry a gun and you want to, you should not have any problems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2019-12-26T16:01:34.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2019-12-26T20:33:22.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gym climbing will never be more than just exercise.  Outdoor climbing can be a religious experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2019-12-26T20:33:22.870" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24565" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-26T20:34:27.950" Score="2" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of crows that come around regularly, they come as a pair. One is larger than the other. Perhaps a couple? or parent and youth? or adult and older parent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When providing nuts/seeds to them the larger one will eagerly eat it all without leaving any for the smaller one, who hangs back a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel sad that the smaller one isn't getting any of the food. However, I have no idea what the relationship is or behavioral norms. Would the larger crow be regurgitating the food for the smaller one later? or the small one is just hoping for scraps? or something else?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19157" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-27T22:10:48.727" LastActivityDate="2020-01-26T23:00:35.733" Title="Behavior of crow pair, larger crow eats the food, not leaving any for smaller buddy" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;crows&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24568" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24555" CreationDate="2019-12-27T10:25:36.707" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I regularly cycle to the pool with limited time, and have found that the best option is trunks, but they don't have to be as skimpy as we tend to think of as speedos. Mine (similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wiggle.co.uk/speedo-classic-aquashort-1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; but a little longer) are like close fitting short shorts, and feel much less exposed than some styles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unpadded&lt;/em&gt; cycling shorts would also be good. Unpadded because cheap foam padding holds water and good padding is the wrong shape for walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've found the proper term for what I had in mind; they're fairly popular at my pool: &lt;a href=&quot;https://completetri.com/triathlon-shorts/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Triathlon shorts&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (or &lt;em&gt;tri shorts&lt;/em&gt;).  The linked article says they're not for chlorinated pools, but many brands claim at least some chlorine resistance.  Triathlon kit can be expensive, but for mainly swimming a cheap brand would do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-02-19T14:37:09.480" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T14:37:09.480" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24570" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24555" CreationDate="2019-12-27T19:22:39.033" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even the fastest-drying shorts will not get completely dry in a reasonable amount of time. If the weather is cold enough, wearing damp shorts for the return hike might be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If that's the case, I suggest using a rain kilt for coverage while changing out of the wet swim trunks. Rain kilts are lightweight (2-3 oz), inexpensive ($10-20), small enough to fit in a cargo pocket, and provide more complete coverage than a towel. Be sure to get a colored kilt, as the uncolored ones can be see-through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AffzR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AffzR.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can hedge your bets by wearing swim shorts to the pool, and carrying a rain kilt and change of underwear just in case (or plan on going commando for the hike home).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T19:22:39.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24572" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24565" CreationDate="2019-12-27T21:29:31.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can only guess at an answer to your question.  I think you may be strewing the food over too small an area, so that the smaller crow has to come too close to the larger crow to feed.  I suggest you try strewing the food over a wider area, so that it is not possible for one bird to monopolize the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I often see cooperation among crows.  One crow will watch the patio, and when I put food out, he/she caws the rest of the flock in to share the bounty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T21:29:31.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24573" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22033" CreationDate="2019-12-27T21:36:53.243" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If anyone has a similar question in the future, RIAS Wildlife Rescue Center seems to be the place to contact in the Algarve - instructions in English here: &lt;a href=&quot;http://rias-aldeia.blogspot.com/p/en.html?m=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://rias-aldeia.blogspot.com/p/en.html?m=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19162" LastActivityDate="2019-12-27T21:36:53.243" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24577" CreationDate="2019-12-28T07:02:38.677" Score="3" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a very subjective question but the goal is to make a somewhat comprehensive Wiki-style list of, let's call it &quot;mission abandon criteria&quot;, that should prompt a team to turn back. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a siege style expedition, most of these conditions can be withstood given the luxuries of a larger team and longer time at hand. However these things cannot be handled by a group doing an Alpine style climb, with a single rope team (2-4 members). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good examples that should definitely cause a team to abandon the mission - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One team member falling ill - hypothermia, altitude sickness, edema, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More than one member developing an injury - sprain, etc. (?)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The team has had to emergency bivouac for X hours already in bad weather and there's no sign of the weather letting up &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Critical equipment failure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;... &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T16:53:38.603" Title="What conditions should lead an alpine team to abandon a mountain climb/expedition?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24576" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2019-12-28T07:15:07.237" Score="5" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the case of a roped up team marching along a glacier with some hidden crevasses, the greatest risk is of a team member falling in and then dragging everyone else along before they can self-arrest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In such a scenario would it help to use either an elastic lanyard or a &quot;energy absorber&quot;? My guess is that 1) the fall is somewhat slowed down, and 2) the expansion of the elastic sling/absorber both makes it easier for the others to notice as well as gives them more time to react. But I have not seen this in practice, hence the question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-08-30T16:58:11.973" Title="Can an energy absorber or elastic lanyard be used in glacier travel to give greater time to react in case of a fall?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24575" CreationDate="2019-12-28T20:36:14.363" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;IMHO your &lt;strong&gt;turn around point &quot;developing hypothermia&quot; is too late&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AFAIK, hypothermia usually doesn't happen out of the blue: there's a typical mix of exhaustion and not enough food, usually also accompanied by dehydration. There are also vicious cycles involved (being at one's limit and already slightly cold, possibly behind schedule, and therefore not making a break and in consequence skipping rest, food + drink =&gt; accelerating exhaustion). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;turn around point should be well before that&lt;/strong&gt;: when group/buddy check reveals that someone &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is too tired/slow already considering the way still to go (and the way to go back!), or &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;that their clothing is not sufficient and they cannot borrow from someone else (e.g. they already wear everything they have while going =&gt; no safety margin in case more clothing is needed e.g. because of prolonged waiting* periods due to an accident/rescue/whatever.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;* waiting isn't quite the right word, I mean anything that leads to less overall physical activity because circumstances necessitate slow, deliberate moving and thinking in between.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;doesn't (the group as a whole doesn't) have sufficient food or water&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: my knowledge/experience is less from moving in Alpine environments than from camping/wilderness tours, multi-day tours and more remote than many parts of, say, the Alps are. Which both means that the tour is &quot;operated&quot; further from the personal limits/with more safety margin than many Alpine day tours do. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, there is the famous tradeoff whether you want to become a famous mountaineer or an old mountaineer - remember there are very, very few famous old mountaineers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T20:36:14.363" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24560" CreationDate="2019-12-28T23:07:49.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Falklands, because the water is so cold as it comes up off the Antarctic peninsula, I always wore 6mm wetsuits even for kayaking. The two solutions we used were:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;talc. Yes, it gets wet, but really helps with seals round wrists and ankles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a friend and solidly rooted poles or bars. Much easier to peel someone else out of a thick wetsuit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2019-12-28T23:07:49.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24582" CreationDate="2019-12-29T19:58:34.057" Score="17" ViewCount="6250" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past, I have always slept with my backpack wedged uncomfortably beside me due to limited room in a fully manned tent, since I'm concerned about bag theft when miles away from civilization.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I've heard from people recently who stash their backpack and boots in the tent's porch section as they sleep. While I don't know of anyone on earth that would want to be within 10 meters of my stinky boots after walking, I am a bit more apprehensive about leaving the rest of my gear in the porch outside of the main compartment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for advice and reassurance. Where do you folks store your bags while sleeping, and how has it worked for you? I understand that you should not pack anything you can't afford to lose, but arguably most contents of a pack are essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19167" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2019-12-30T06:44:28.370" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T20:50:28.387" Title="Keeping a backpack from being stolen whilst sleeping in a tent" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;theft&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-29T20:52:39.587" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Storing the backpack inside instead of next to you won't provide a whole lot more security, in some crowded places where theft is more common it might be justified.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally, if I am worried about people my common practice is to keep a low profile and try to camp out of sight. If on the other hand, I know that there aren't any humans for several miles then I really don't worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I leave my big backpack behind and take a daypack to climb a mountain for example, then what I do is shove everything (possible exception of food) inside my camo bivy sack. It doesn't make it invisible, but another human would have to be a lot closer to see it especially compared to a big tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I have to leave my backpack in a spot where there are other people and there is no way of hiding it, then I make sure my valuables such as wallet and camera are on me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2019-12-30T20:10:08.893" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T20:10:08.893" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24583" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20227" CreationDate="2019-12-30T01:46:45.017" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;These piping clips for sliding removable sternum straps are one of the most allusive products I've seen in USA. Mine fell off of my Ogio dirtbike backpack. After a deep internet search I finally found a low cost source in North America at Ripstopbytheroll.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This option has the clip for $1.00&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/sternum-magic-buckle?variant=29516792461&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/sternum-magic-buckle?variant=29516792461&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just the piping clip for $.35&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/misc-plastic-components/products/piping-clip&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/misc-plastic-components/products/piping-clip&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shipping was only $3.50.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also a few Rapid Prototype files out there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:241903&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:241903&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://grabcad.com/library/slider-clip-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://grabcad.com/library/slider-clip-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you to Rip Stop By The Roll!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheers&#xA;Markcm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19169" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T01:46:45.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T02:26:48.267" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;We hardly ever stay in a campground.  We usually camp far from a trailhead, and far from the trail, in places where there are no official campsites. We have done this for decades, and nothing has ever been stolen by two-legged critters.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we are leaving our remote camps to take a hike, we put the packs inside the tent and zip up the tent.  We always carry valuables (e.g., money, driver's licenses) in our day hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only time people have stolen anything was from our car, parked at a trailhead in Yosemite.  The further you are from the trailhead and the further you are off-trail, the safer you and your possessions are from theft or interference from people.  I infer that criminals are lazy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've stayed in campgrounds a few times, and may have been just lucky.  In those cases, we put our packs in the trunk of our car and cover them up, but given time and determination anyone can break into your car.  Your best defense is to be near people who just sit around and don't hike, but whose presence will deter theft.        &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T02:26:48.267" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24525" CreationDate="2019-12-30T03:57:17.977" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The figure-8 knot is characteristically hard to untie after falls. What many climbers do is, once the knot is done, to come back with the end of the rope inside the last bight - this is a sort of Yosemite finish. It makes the knot easier to untie, since after removing the extra strand, a lot of room is left for the rope to be untied (picture &lt;a href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ejAk42p7jdY/SQngRwwdjlI/AAAAAAAAByg/OlnxdNtHSwU/s1600/Yosemite+Finish+2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;). Andy Kirkpatrick, in his book &quot;1001 Climbing Tips&quot;, says that using a rock or an aid-climbing hammer to smash the knot can make it easier to untie, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal opinion is: a knot that is so hard to be untied is a bad knot. The figure-8 was OK when climbers very rarely fell, and ropes where made out of hemp and whatnot. Nowadays, with sport climbing and falls becoming so normal, the age of such antique knots has come to an end. The double bowline or, better yet, the end-bound single bowline (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16347/how-to-tie-an-ebsb-bowline&quot;&gt;EBSB&lt;/a&gt;), are easy to tie and inspect and can be untied with minimum effort. I have used the EBSB for the past 3 years both in multipitch and sport climbing (convincing a dozen other climbers to use it in the meantime), and I'm extremely happy with it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T03:57:17.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24586" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24591" CreationDate="2019-12-30T04:05:25.097" Score="4" ViewCount="197" Body="&lt;p&gt;My 6 year old daughter was playing with ropes today and tied a knot of her own creation. I tried to demonstrate to her the importance of learning to tie good knots that don't slip, but when I went to yank on her knot, it didn't slip at all. Upon further inspection I concluded that it appears to be a rather sound friction knot. The more force you put on the rope, the tighter the choke on the tail end. After looking at it long enough I started to wonder if I've perhaps seen this knot before in ABOK. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone recognize this as an established knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3shl6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3shl6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Knot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T13:24:54.253" Title="What is this knot?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24587" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24612" CreationDate="2019-12-30T10:15:52.510" Score="5" ViewCount="245" Body="&lt;p&gt;In principle, it is known that full body harnesses are useful for situations where the center of gravity is higher - e.g. for children, or for Alpine situations involving carrying heavy loads. A full body harness reduces the risk of flipping upside down in case of a fall in such situations in particular. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nonetheless, I have not seen people wearing a full body harness on the mountains. More pertinently, when I wanted to buy myself a full body harness (for adults), I checked two of the better known manufacturers - Black Diamond and Petzl - the former doesn't even make it, and the latter sells only a single model (and dozens of sit harness models). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are full body harnesses uncommon in practical mountaineering?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T09:07:48.337" Title="Why are full body harnesses uncommon in mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24590" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T13:15:15.173" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;A thin (2 or 3mm) steel wire, plastic coated, with a loop at each end works well. Anything between one and two metres will do, depending on tent situation. One end looped round the straps of the bag - or locked with a small padlock to the zip ends, and the other end wherever you prefer. That could be attached to the tent, a tentpole, your sleeping bag zipper, or yourself. Movement would be felt, and the bag itself would remain secure. Wet boots similarly would be attached through the loop that they often have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18519" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T13:15:15.173" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24591" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24586" CreationDate="2019-12-30T13:19:49.637" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It appears to be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_bend&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anchor Bend&lt;/a&gt;, which Wikipedia lists as being #1723, #1841 in ABoK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UrpB6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&#xA;(Anchor Bend knot, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_bend#/media/File:Roringstek.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Public Domain from Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found it by initially thinking the knot in your picture looked a little like a round turn with two half hitches, but with only one half hitch, and it being through the wrong place.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_turn_and_two_half-hitches&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;That page&lt;/a&gt; on Wikipedia though led me to the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hitch_knots&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;List of hitch knots&lt;/a&gt;, and happily one matching your daughter's knot was very close to the top!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It even goes on to say:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The knot is very similar to a round turn and two half hitches except that the first half hitch is passed under the turn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;thus validating my initial hunch!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5413" LastEditorUserId="5413" LastEditDate="2019-12-30T13:24:54.253" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T13:24:54.253" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24592" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T13:37:52.740" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can buy a folding/camping bed:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mWwfT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mWwfT.png&quot; alt=&quot;image of a folding bed&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then stash the backpack below the bed. Since the bed is low, and assuming the backpack is full and rather big, any attempt to take it out will result in the whole bed moving, waking you up to catch the thief before they have a chance to run away with your backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9264" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T13:37:52.740" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T15:18:50.750" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many variables, with weight and budget.  But given this sentence in your question&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;slept with my backpack wedged uncomfortably beside me due to limited room in a fully manned tent&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume you are in either a one or two person tent, with the rated number of users. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider upgrading to a tent with extra space.  2 people in a 3 person tent, or 1 in a 2 person tent, leaves lots of extra room for packs and getting dressed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have a really strong budget you can choose from several &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.switchbacktravel.com/backpacking-tent-weight-comparison-chart&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2 person tents with poles for under 2 pounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are probably spending 8 out of 24 hours in the tent, and if the weather is ugly, even longer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T15:18:50.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24594" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24638" CreationDate="2019-12-30T16:11:14.523" Score="2" ViewCount="466" Body="&lt;p&gt;My surfboard leash broke at one end and I'd rather repair it than buy a new one. How can I repair it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/meDQf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/meDQf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Surfboard leash broken at the end&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastActivityDate="2020-01-07T19:42:25.317" Title="How to repair a surfboard leash?" Tags="&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24595" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24594" CreationDate="2019-12-30T16:11:14.523" Score="5" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Temporary solutions until you can get a new leash&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below is a list of solutions I tried. With any solution, use the repaired leash on small surf days and when the break has no beach-goers in case it fails again. As &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=17519.0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; mentions, a new leash is a small price to avoid the risk of injuring another person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If the leash is broken in the middle&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with heat-welding&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.swaylocks.com/forums/leash-repair?page=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; suggests reproducing heat-welding at home with an iron:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Leash ends are heat welded on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You can  reproduce the heat welding at home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Get an electric iron and some greaseproof baking paper/parchment.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Set the iron on its end on full power with the handle against a wall, or put in a vice if you are allowed (so you can apply some pressure without it falling over).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Cut the ends to be joined nice and square using a craft knife&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Heat the ends at the same time on the base of the iron, use a piece of the baking parchment to prevent the leash sticking to the iron and making a horrible mess&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Heat them until the ends start to bubble&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Push the ends together nice and square with a good steady force for at least a minute or two, the ends will weld together. Blow on them to cool while you are forcing them together.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;The join will form a mushroomy fat spot, do not cut the flashing off, it makes a stronger join (at the end it won't matter anyway)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Just don't use a naked flame, the charring will make a weak joint.&#xA;  Use it as a small day leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with a mechanical connector&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-quick-and-easy-repair-solution-for-broken-surfboard-leashes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; suggests a device, ResQ, that connects the edges:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All you have to do is insert both ends of the broken rope through Surf&#xA;  ResQ. When you hear a slight click, it's done, and you're ready to get&#xA;  back to the lineup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The developers of the Surf ResQ say that the device passed all stretch&#xA;  tests - cars and dog weren't able to defeat the strength of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The Surf Resq can be used (only once) in all leashes with a diameter&#xA;  up to a maximum of 7mm, and you may see it as a piece of insurance&#xA;  against lost or damaged surfboards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;If the leash is broken at the end&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with heat-welding&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=17519.0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This page&lt;/a&gt; suggests that heat-welding fails for a repair at the end of a leash:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Melting the end and jamming it in the swivel termination did not work. I think it cooled too quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with a sealant&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also suggests 3M 5200 sealant, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,17519.15.html?PHPSESSID=093aa7e29552cf1847c09f2fc39ddbcf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; suggests that it sets quickly, and the price of a tube is similar to that a new leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with knots&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You an try a rolling hitch, as in the photo &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,17519.15.html?PHPSESSID=093aa7e29552cf1847c09f2fc39ddbcf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Here's a photo of one of my multiply repaired leashes finally ready for retirement.  Eventually the cord perishes and it is time for the bin. That is why this one is shown broken after the home weld.  Otherwise get creative with some plastic welding 101 and some improvised knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried twice on my leash, which was old and broke each time at the bend of the hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;with a mechanical fastener&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid the cord breaking, I left it two days on a thimble to work the bend into the cord:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzY7C.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzY7C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;bending the cord with a thimble and a rolling hitch&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I added a keyring to attach the thimble to the strap and a Zamak halyard clip to fasten it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qbu7a.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qbu7a.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;pieces for mechanical fastening&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4oCut.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4oCut.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;assembled mechanical fastening&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cost is about a fifth to a third of a new leash. Remember to get stainless steel pieces to avoid corrosion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For old leashes, the cord may break at the bend. In this case, you can use a small keyring and no thimble:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VnyDL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VnyDL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;assembled mechanical fastening without bend&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One disadvantage is that if the leash breaks again, the clip will sink to the bottom of the sea. I'm sure a better device exists for this purpose and I didn't know how to search for it, if you know about it please edit this answer or add a comment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastEditorUserId="19173" LastEditDate="2020-01-07T08:22:38.960" LastActivityDate="2020-01-07T08:22:38.960" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T16:35:30.183" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m having trouble finding a link, but I’ve read several praises for a net bag made out of cable.  Put the bag in it and lock it closed.  When ready to hit the trail again, it collapses into a little ball and goes into the pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hard part for OP’s situation is finding something to secure it to.  The testimonials I read were from people staying in hostels, who had bunk frames they could loop around.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12511" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T16:35:30.183" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T18:10:54.920" Score="5" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Two ground anchors&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The ones which look like large corkscrews, frequently used for securing dogs. If you screw two in next to each other and then attach a padlock between them, neither can be turned to extract them. Removing the ground anchors requires about a foot of soil to be removed. Lock the rucksack to them, and job done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course that doesn't prevent people cutting straps. That can be solved with something like a Pac-safe, which is a strong metal mesh cover that locks over your rucksack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And of course all this isn't perfect against a determined thief. It should deter casual thieves though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T18:10:54.920" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-30T22:55:09.943" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;I assume based on the [backpacking] tag and the phrases &quot;miles away from civilization&quot; and &quot;most contents of a pack are essential&quot; that you are specifically talking about back country camping and not car camping.  The reason I am clarifying is my opinions on security are very different for the two and many of the answers presented here are only practical for car camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I am in the back country I am generally not too concerned about having my gear stolen.  Most people who 1) have hiked out that far and 2) would be willing to haul my stolen gear back are probably reasonably familiar with backpacking.  They know the hardship and possible danger that stealing your gear would put you through and very few people in this world are mean enough to do that to someone just for some stolen gear.  Even in relatively highly trafficked parks, I am generally more concerned about four legged critters going through my stuff than two legged ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are still worried about what might happen if your stuff gets stolen think of this; there are way more people in the backcountry who will share/lend you gear if you are in a pinch than will steal your gear from you.    If you are around enough people that you found one of the bad ones, there are probably at least a dozen good Samaritans around that would help you out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for what I do: I keep my pack and gear under my vestibule (I believe what you refer to as a porch?) at night, but that is mostly to make sure it stays dry from any mist/rain.  As an added benefit it does mean I'd be pretty likely to wake up and hear if someone was going through my packs (I caught a raccoon doing it once).  I don't do a ton of day hikes while on trail, but if I take a spur trail to checkout an overlook or something, I will frequently drop my pack at the trail head and just take valuables, water, and a first aid kit.  I've never had anyone mess with my stuff either at camp or at a trailhead.  Maybe I'm just lucky, but I think it is more likely that backpackers and hikers are just good to eachother.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18361" LastActivityDate="2019-12-30T22:55:09.943" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24599" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24561" CreationDate="2019-12-31T02:59:12.643" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some good videos of the tsunami that hit Thailand some years ago.  Thing to remember is that the waves are MILES long.  The water rises and keeps rising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I read recently of a similar question regarding boats.  I think the recommended distance to get off shore was 15 miles.  And from the time the water starts to retreat from shore you don't have a lot of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water advances inland faster than you can swim, faster than you can walk, but if I remember correctly, it's a speed that is reasonable to bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have little time and no bike, look for a several floor high concrete building.  Several people survived Thailand's wave by climbing big trees.  They can be toppled.    Or look for something that floats really well.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the vids the biggest danger was getting hit by other floating debris.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T02:59:12.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24600" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24525" CreationDate="2019-12-31T03:09:08.453" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what a marlin spike is for.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlinspike&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlinspike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not special purpose just for figure 8 knots, but is a general tool for tight knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dates back to the age of sail, when natural cordage would get pulled tight then got wet and would swell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T03:09:08.453" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24519" CreationDate="2019-12-31T03:21:24.093" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;OP has qualified his question to be specific for mountaineering, and has clarified to mean 'best practice' instead of 'required by law or guild'&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In mountains many mishaps are close to instant, or are weather related.  A communication device may just mean that people get the unpleasant news sooner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If something happens, being able to call for help is not as useful as you might think.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The flight ceiling for most helicopters is about 12,000 feet.  Many pilots are not comfortable at landing  with low power reserves except in perfect weather.  They also need a reasonably flat spot to land.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A surface based rescue party has to deal with the conditions that the original party did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's really hard to get lost on a mountain.  Oh, you might not know for sure which ridge you are on in a white out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mountaineering folks may make mistakes, but generally they will have had enough experience from other outdoor activities that getting lost is not one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the first part of this answer is, &quot;It doesn't help much&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, while getting lost may not be likely, mishaps happen.  So some form of emergency communication is prudent, and for anything more rigorous that a walk up, recommended.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And while a mishap at 14,000 feet may require being dealt with using only your own resources, you very likely have spend considerable time on the approach, where rescue is actually possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my original answer, below, I mentioned costs.  I'm not up to date on these, but I suspect that they are still in line with current high end cell phone costs, with significant plan costs. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the second part of this answer is, &quot;They are expensive&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third part:  What are other alternatives?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  PLB  This a location beacon that has a test button, and an auto/on/off button.  The test button verifies it's working.  In Auto it turns on automatically if it's hit hard enough.  You crashed your plane.  In On, it beeps.  Off, I leave as an exercise for the student.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  SPOT  This device allows a &quot;I'm ok, checking in, and perhaps with the latest version, one of a small number of pre-canned messages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  InReach.  This device allows what amounts to text messages.  The device has built in GPS, and includes coordinates with each message.  You can also set it up to send an &quot;I'm at x,y&quot; breadcrumb at intervals.  The low end service is about 30 bucks a month, and you can put your plan on standby for $3/month.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I went with this option as being the best tradeoff between expense and flexibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Original answer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I worked for a school that did lots of outdoor stuff, we did carry sat phones.  At the time, they cost several thousand dollars, rented for $200/month (and a month was the minimum period even if you only needed it for a weekend.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to be familiar with their limitations we phoned home daily.  Air time was $2.50 per minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general we found that we were successful about 85% of the time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You needed a clear view of a reasonable amount of sky.  Vegetation didn't seem to matter much.  Mountains, especailly ones to the south did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dense fog seemed to interfere with the signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The early ones were very fragile.  The wrong knock would turn them into a paperweight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now suppose you have one, and you have gotten lost.  That you are lost means that you probably don't have a map, or don't know how to read it.  And you don't have a working GPS.  So with your phone, what do you say to the person at the other end?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been years since I worked at that school.  Doubtless by now they have a GPS built in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the reasons I go into the wilderness is to get away from the Nanny State.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The last thing I want is a bunch of regulations saying what I have to take into the wilderness.  I already have given up on Canada's beautiful national parks because they are so over regulated.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do carry an InReach communicator.  Essentially I can send text messages from the wilderness to tell my spouse that the dog and I are still alive.  But I do that by choice, not because some bureaucrat tells me to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-01T17:06:44.557" LastActivityDate="2020-01-01T17:06:44.557" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24602" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24427" CreationDate="2019-12-31T03:34:32.620" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The advice on Kamik etc is good. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  I buy them 2 sizes larger than my normal size.  This allows me to wear 2 thick pairs of socks inside the already thick felt liners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Verify that you can remove/insert the liners.  Some are really hard to get in and out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Untie the laces, and tie a single overhand knot around one of the D-rings.  This keeps you from losing your laces when they aren't tied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Wear with pants that you can pull down OVER the boots.  This keeps snow out of the top of the boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The felt liners can be dried, but it is very time consuming to do this in the bush around the fire.  They are very easy to burn.  The black nylon is even easier to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found that mixing this style of winter boot with the traditional wood and babiche snowshoe was difficult.  Harnesses aren't made for this large a boot.  So test your combination of boot and your proposed snowshoe ahead of time.  I don't do winter mountaineering, so I can't speak to the steep slope magnesium and neoprene snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general:  If you haven't been doing this sort of thing for some time, do a set of training exercises.  I would suggest a day trip, a longer trip with 2 nights and 2 days activity.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T03:34:32.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2019-12-31T13:30:23.403" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd consider two theft risks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whole bag being stolen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bag contents being stolen.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Solutions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To avoid the bag being stolen, I'd anchor it somewhere, prefferably close to you. Easiest (and IMO safest) thing to do would be to wrap the bag straps around your body (arms, legs, etc) so that to take it they have to lift a part of your body.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's trickier to avoid the contents being stolen. You could maybe put locks for the bag's zips, but you don't want them cutting your bag with a knife to get the contents. I think the best thing you can do to avoid this is adding a noise trap, so that an alarm sounds if they tinker with your bag. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B06VW4778M&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnetic switch&lt;/a&gt;: sew this on the inside of the pocket so that if the two parts are separated the alarm sounds.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B07H81BWXT&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Personal alarm/sound grenade&lt;/a&gt;: you can tie this to the bag itself and put the bag so that they can't access its pockets (ie: pockets touching the ground) so that if they flip the bag over to reach the pockets they pull the alarm string and the alarm will sound.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19176" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T13:30:23.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24606" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16541" CreationDate="2019-12-31T20:42:07.173" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well maybe that ...... but due to the placemen is used to attach your backpack to the carry on ( the one with weels ) you attach it to the long metal pice that is retractil  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19177" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T20:42:07.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24607" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16541" CreationDate="2019-12-31T21:27:24.917" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mesh pockets are often used for water bottles, the mesh is to allow the condensation on the outside of the bottle to evaporate and not collect inside a regular pocket. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the proximity to the mesh pocket, the strap may be intended for lashing the top of the bottle to the pack. Lashing the top of the water bottle helps keep it from moving around or from falling out altogether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on your activities, this may or may not be necessary. So to paraphrase @Erik, use it for whatever you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17698" LastActivityDate="2019-12-31T21:27:24.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13601" CreationDate="2020-01-01T15:54:50.883" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the &quot;quick overview&quot; it looks like the charcoal is started in the closed vertical position, which should get all the coals hot fairly quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And indeed, the process can be seen on YouTube:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/cXOxQME5w4c&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/cXOxQME5w4c&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2020-01-01T15:54:50.883" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22239" CreationDate="2020-01-01T17:28:32.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much of it is due to conifers -- especially spruce and fir shedding snow away from the trunk.  I routinely see trees with 1/3 of the snow under their branches as in the open.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spruce in winter appears nearly black.  Sunlight enters, and bounces around a lot before escaping.  Most is absorbed during a bounce.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the crown of the tree is warmer than the surrounding air.  There is some warm radiation between the lower branches and the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The space under the tree cannot radiate readily on a clear night into space.  So the temps at night aren't as cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experience is that wells down to bare earth  don't start to form until late winter or early spring. I don't think that temps have to be above freezing for them to form, but likely start when temps are near freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The wiki article &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_well&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_well&lt;/a&gt; describes the formation of much larger ones than I've seen.  (We rarely get snow deeper than 2-3 feet here)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here, in spring, the effect of a row of spruce is strong enough that a band of bare ground 20-30 feet wide forms on the south side of the trees, while snow is still a foot or more deep in the general open area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've not noticed tree wells around any type of tree besides spruce or fir.  Pines generally don't shed snow outward.  Cedar and hemlock may support tree wells.  I don't have them here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-01T17:28:32.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24610" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24611" CreationDate="2020-01-02T03:41:17.590" Score="1" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a SOTO Triple Mix canister (Power Gas 250, SOD-725T) which is a mixture of Butane, Isobutane and Propane gas. I use it with my SOTO WindMaster but I have not used it in over 10 months. It has been stored with the cap-on inside my closet which has air circulation and is a dark, cool environment. When I went to pick up the canister this morning, it sounded like liquid was slushing around inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this normal? I don't remember how it felt before and just want to make sure the gas didn't &quot;go bad&quot; or if there are any safety precautions I should be taking. There is no rust on the canister top since I had the plastic cap on when not in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19180" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T06:46:04.797" Title="SOTO Triple Mix Expiration" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24611" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24610" CreationDate="2020-01-02T06:46:04.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The gas is compressed in the cylinder so will largely be a liquid. This is normal and expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T06:46:04.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24612" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24587" CreationDate="2020-01-02T09:07:48.337" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Full body harnesses are not used because of:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight (for obvious reasons) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bulk (Getting all gear to your climbing&#xA;desintation can be a chore. Everything else being equal, a more&#xA;packable harness is preferred) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Freedom of movement (a full body&#xA;harness hinders arm movements) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clothing (Taking a jacket on and off&#xA;with a body harness is a mess)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, climbers add an (ready made or improvised) chest harness if circumstances require it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9418" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T09:07:48.337" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24613" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14862" CreationDate="2020-01-02T16:10:23.520" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I camp very often in a country park campground where boars come almost everyday, starting from sunset. I've also seen boars bite tents many times, if there are no people inside. However, I've never seen a boar charge a tent if there are people inside. I think the food inside the tents is the main reason. I personally saw a case that supports this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was when a school set up about 35 6-person tents a day before the students arrived. Some food was also sent to the camp site and stored in one of the tents. When sunset came, I saw a boar check out all tents carefully by smelling near every  tent, locating accurately the tent with the food. Then, the boar smashed the tent and took away the food. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never been bothered by boars during camping. I always leave a light and the radio on when I leave the tent, and I put all food inside a big plastic box or bag.&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;{Question for OP from editor:  where do you put the box or bag?}&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Above all, I think boars are timid even though they are strong and are dangerous if they attack.  With proper precautions, campers and boars can co-exist in a campground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19183" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-01-03T12:54:36.360" LastActivityDate="2020-01-03T12:54:36.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24550" CreationDate="2020-01-02T16:46:01.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I camped at Hodgdon Meadow last year in May, we had very colder weather and snow. During the day the temperature at the upper elevations went as low as -10 Celcius with a cold wind and light snow. Overnight it probably went down to -20 with freezing rain. However Hodgdon Meadow is at ~7000 feet elevation, down in Yosemite valley proper it was a warm 10-15 degrees and clear skies.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given that this was several months after the proposed camping date of March, Definitely be prepared with winter tires and chains for driving into the valley, the roads into Yosemite are narrow and very winding, you would not want to have your vehicle sliding about. Also, as the elevation changes make drastic changes in the weather you should know the elevation of your campground. If you're higher in the mountains around Yosemite you will surely experience colder temperature and more snow than if your campground is in the valley. In either case though be prepared for very cold weather camping in March.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of gear aside from the winter tires and chains, keep in mind that Yosemite campgrounds warn of hantavirus, to avoid it its recommended that you keep some space between yourself and the ground. You will certainly want to make sure your sleeping mat has a high R value, likely at least 4 if not 5+, to insulate you from the frozen ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17715" LastEditorUserId="17715" LastEditDate="2020-01-02T16:57:37.250" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T16:57:37.250" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24561" CreationDate="2020-01-02T16:56:09.203" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even if you had time to swim a few hundred meters from shore, that would do you no good. The tsunami would just carry you right back to shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go inland as quickly as possible. If that is not possible (or the wave is already  nearly upon you), go up as high as possible. If you are already in the water, grab onto something that floats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See the Homeland Security tsunami safety guidelines at: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ready.gov/tsunamis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ready.gov/tsunamis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T16:56:09.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24581" CreationDate="2020-01-02T20:50:28.387" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to use my backpack as a pillow, which is the safest place, next to all my senses and reach of my hands. :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19185" LastActivityDate="2020-01-02T20:50:28.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24617" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-02T20:54:47.043" Score="4" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there a well-known free webpage in Europe where you can find hiking partners to go on &gt; 4000 m mountains?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For bouldering and climbing it is usually not a problem to find &quot;new friends&quot;, since I always go at certain times to certain places. But this does not apply to mountaineering... Typically the people I go climbing with do not go on difficult mountain tours...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me it is way more safer to go with other people hiking than alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T10:03:25.547" Title="Where do I find hiking partners to go on glaciers/mountains?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24618" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24619" CreationDate="2020-01-02T23:38:45.420" Score="3" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;The campground I'm thinking of staying at has tenting spots, but they don't have power. I need to be able to charge my laptop, phone, and possibly a portable electric heater. They also offer RV spots with electric hookups in 30A or 15A. I'm not familiar with RV power, but from what I've read about RV hookups it would be a 3 prong (slanted style) outlet which means I'll need an adapter to convert it to a regular household outlet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-55233-Power-Grip-Adapter/dp/B00192QB3I/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19186" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T14:33:18.063" Title="Tenting, and want to hookup my laptop to RV power hookup" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;rv&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24618" CreationDate="2020-01-03T01:21:22.907" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Notice that the ad says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For use when RV has 15 AMP power and needs to plug into 30 AMP power source&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now notice the 15 Amp receptacle side of the adaptor:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UQcoD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UQcoD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a standard household outlet, which I suspect matches your charger's plug.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I.e. if you rent the 15A hookup, you shouldn't need an adaptor.&#xA;(But it's good to confirm this when making the reservation.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2020-01-03T01:21:22.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24618" CreationDate="2020-01-03T10:17:02.437" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd advise against plugging in a 30 to 15 amp converter and using it directly.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If something short circuits in your 15 amp cabling it might not be enough to trip the 30 amp breaker (if there even is one) on the electricity pole.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;As noted in the description it's made for RV's and in my experience those always have a breaker panel inside to provide the required protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here in Europe we use the blue 220v 16A connectors at most camp sites.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I use a 10m extension cord with integrated MCCB (protects agains over current) and RCD (protects agains electric shocks) circuit breakers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Besides being fairly waterproof and outdoor rated it also has sturdy attachment points so you can keep it off the ground in case of rain/flooding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was unable to find an American equivalent of this product but did come across a few in line protectors for camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example picture below:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T3UHj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/T3UHj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;European 10 meter extension cord with MCCB &amp;amp; RCD breakers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2820" LastActivityDate="2020-01-03T10:17:02.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24621" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24617" CreationDate="2020-01-03T15:55:42.313" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find mountaineering partners on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;summitpost forums&lt;/a&gt;. For Europe, try this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/europe-f56.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;forum topic&lt;/a&gt; from that website. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-03T15:55:42.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24622" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24624" CreationDate="2020-01-03T18:10:18.847" Score="4" ViewCount="187" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in northern British Columbia where the relevant declination values are currently&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Magnetic declination: 17° 45.30' East&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grid declination (for Natural Resource Canada's NTS maps): 16° 17.04' East&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am fairly comfortable using my compass to both 1) acquire a bearing on the ground to plot on a paper map and 2) read a bearing from a paper map to follow on the ground. I understand the importance of having the (roughly) correct declination when transferring a bearing between a map and the real world in either direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I believe that grid declination is specific to the mapping product, and a non-NTS map for the same location could use a different Grid North. As a result using my compass with a different map, without changing its declination, could result in navigational error.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question is for help explaining the following scenario&lt;/strong&gt;: a colleague had an iPad showing a polygon overlaid on an app using the Web Mercator CRS (900913 / 3857 / 3785). We were starting at one corner of the polygon and our goal was to track along the edge of it. My colleague placed the compass on the iPad screen (held parallel to the ground), aligned the compass's grid lines with the orientation of the map (grid north on the map was parallel to the screen's side bezels) and read the bearing. We followed the bearing and - to my surprise - closely tracked to the desired edge of the polygon. I would expect some risk of magnetic interference from the iPad, with the compass directly on the screen, but this did not appear to be an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given my belief that grid declination is specific to the mapping product's Grid North I do not understand how this approach was successful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;was it purely a coincidence?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;does the Web Mercator CRS happen to use the same Grid North in my area (NTS maps use NAD83 UTM)?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is it possible that error introduced by reading the bearing from the iPad and navigational errors in following the bearing were simply too small to matter, or potentially cancelled each other out?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6606" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T04:31:56.820" Title="How to explain unexpected success following a bearing taken from an iPad" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24617" CreationDate="2020-01-03T22:39:01.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For France and Switzerland, you can try category &quot;Partenaires : Alpinisme, cascade de glace&quot; (mountaineering &amp;amp; icefall) on &lt;a href=&quot;https://forum.camptocamp.org/c/partenaires/partenaires-alpinisme-cascade-de-glace&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;camptocamp.org&lt;/a&gt; forums.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's mainly a french-speaking forum, so you should get better results if you post in this category. There is also an &lt;a href=&quot;https://forum.camptocamp.org/c/english/mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;english&lt;/a&gt; section for mountaineering, but it's less active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12554" LastActivityDate="2020-01-03T22:39:01.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24622" CreationDate="2020-01-04T05:27:44.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's address what you refer to as &quot;Grid declination&quot;. Unfortunately, there are two competing definitions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, the definition you are conforming to, is that it is the angle from grid north to magnetic north (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geomag.nrcan.gc.ca/mag_fld/magdec-en.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NR Can&lt;/a&gt;) -- another name for which is &lt;em&gt;grid-magnetic angle&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A different definition is that it is the (generally very small) angle between true north and grid north (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thefreedictionary.com/grid+declination&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;free dictionary&lt;/a&gt;) -- more commonly called &lt;em&gt;grid convergence&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;meridian convergence&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are correct that a true bearing equals a magnetic bearing plus the magnetic declination -- assuming the declination is reckoned positive when magnetic north is east of true (and negative when west).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are also correct that different mapping systems, and different locations within those systems, will vary in where grid north is with respect to true (and hence magnetic) north.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;does the Web Mercator CRS happen to use the same Grid North ... NTS maps ...?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No. NTS (Canada's topographic system) maps use the UTM -- a Transverse Mercator -- projection. This means that, depending on your latitude and how far from the central meridian you're at, you will have a grid convergence. In your location it is 17° 45.30' - 16° 17.04' =  1° 28.26' (using your numbers). On the other hand, the Web Mercator is a rectangular projection and all meridians are parallel and aligned with the grid, so there is zero grid convergence everywhere. You still need to correct for magnetic declination, however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not yet clear whether you attempted to correct your survey bearings for the 18° magnetic declination. If you &lt;em&gt;did&lt;/em&gt; correct your bearings for declination then you should expect the good results you got. If you did &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; correct for declination then there is something I cannot yet explain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To determine if there was magnetic interference from the iPad -- the result of which is known as &lt;em&gt;magnetic deviation&lt;/em&gt; (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailingissues.com/navcourse3.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sailing issues&lt;/a&gt;) -- why not try this: Using compass alone, and free from any possible magnetic interference, find the point on the horizon representing its magnetic north. Carefully rotate the compass around and notice does the needle point consistently to that horizon point? Repeat the process with the compass lying on the powered-on iPad. You should notice whether there is any iPod-induced deviation or not. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-01-04T05:27:44.453" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24625" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-04T22:03:52.483" Score="3" ViewCount="301" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently loaded a bullet --which didn't fire twice when I pulled the trigger of a bolt action western field m820a  22lr rifle.  I have pulled the bolt all the way back but the bullet is stuck on the bolt even with the bolt all the way as far back as it goes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sWz3vl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sWz3vl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a safe way of getting the bullet out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19190" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-12T00:33:08.063" LastActivityDate="2020-01-12T00:38:26.063" Title="How do I remove 22lr bullet that's stuck to the bolt from the rifle?" Tags="&lt;rifles&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24625" CreationDate="2020-01-04T22:28:10.517" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;22 Long Rifle bolt actions usually hold the bullet to the bolt with a spring. See the red arrow below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfWuJl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/cfWuJl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That spring is pushing against the cartridge to hold it in place. If you pull on the spring out away from the action it should come loose. Be careful not to bend the spring too much because then it won't be able to pull the cartridge case out of the chamber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other option would be to just reach into the action with your fingers and wiggle the cartridge loose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-12T00:38:26.063" LastActivityDate="2020-01-12T00:38:26.063" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24627" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24628" CreationDate="2020-01-05T09:25:20.537" Score="7" ViewCount="685" Body="&lt;p&gt;A taut-line hitch is used to tying tent ropes to a stake. It can be manually slid up/down the standing part of the rope, so as to adjust the tightness in the line, but it holds well under tension. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the ideal choice of rope for this hitch is hemp rope, as modern ropes &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/midshipmans-hitch-knot&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;are known to&lt;/a&gt; slide under this hitch. I have tried doing this myself, with a 6mm rope sling around a table leg, and that too slides under load. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what kind of hitch is a good substitute for achieving the same goal with modern ropes? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T11:00:29.760" Title="Alternative to midshipman's / taut-line hitch for modern ropes" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24627" CreationDate="2020-01-05T11:14:32.643" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, try with more 'coils', when you tie the taut-line hitch; every coil adds some friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative, that I, myself, like a lot, since I find it easier to tie, is the Farrimond Friction Hitch. And again here, if your rope is slippery, wet or stiff, add some more loops/coils, and make sure you 'dress' the hitch so it's good and tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A major advantage of the Farrimond Friction Hitch (over the midshipman's/taut-line hitch) is that it can be done on a bight, whereas the midshipman's/taut-line can only be done when the rope end is available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/farrimond-friction-hitch-knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.animatedknots.com/farrimond-friction-hitch-knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A Farrimond Friction Hitch, by default, is also a slipknot, so it's easier to untie than the taut-line hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An addition to my answer:&#xA;Also note, that both of the above hitches 'only' work when there is no or little friction between the rope and the pole you are tying around. The loop around the pole must be  able to slide, since the hitch really only bites down on the standing end, when there is a pull on the part of the loop that is opposite to the standing end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HEqdj.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HEqdj.png&quot; alt=&quot;Hard to explain with words, so here&amp;#39;s a picture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hard to explain with words, so here's a picture&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15546" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-01-11T11:00:29.760" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T11:00:29.760" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24629" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2020-01-06T05:37:12.943" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The views&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm predominantly a gym climber who dabbles with some outdoor sport climbing occasionally&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More often than not climbing crags are in wilderness areas, be they remote or little pockets nestled into urban setting. These area in themselves are often quite tranquil and pretty. Get to the top of a climb, clip in and lookout, the views are often spectacular, even on the little 10 - 20m routes I climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Length of route&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This doesn't apply as much to bouldering. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbingbusinessjournal.com/its-official-tallest-climbing-wall/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The highest artificial climbing wall is ~40m&lt;/a&gt;, with the average gym probably in the 15m - 20m range. Outside, the sky is almost literally the limit. Single pitch climbs of 50m are not unheard of with 20 - 30m quite common. This introduces a new level of endurance, and the mental aspect of overcoming the height, particularly on exposed routes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;String a few of these together as a multi-pitch route and you'll find yourself climbing literally hundreds of meters on single route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Making a day of it&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sure sometimes you need a quick climbing fix, and gyms fit this need perfectly. Sometimes you want a whole day adventure. My regular outdoor spot is about 2hrs drive away. We generally get on the road around 7am stop for breakfast around 8am and hit the crag around 9:30. We spend the drive variously catching up on life and talking about the day ahead, potential routes etc so the drive isn't wasted and builds the hype. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We climb till about 3-4 with a lunch break some time in there. We'll then have a beer (hopefully still cold) before walking back to the car. We generally stop again at a look out after an hour to test the temperature of the  remaining beers :) (only 1 for the driver, don't panic). Get home about 7:30 - 8pm, completely exhausted but immensely satisfied.  You just don't get that from a couple of hours in the gym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12248" LastActivityDate="2020-01-06T05:37:12.943" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24617" CreationDate="2020-01-06T09:07:40.190" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;Switzerland&lt;/strong&gt; I suggest contacting your local section of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Swiss Alpine Club&lt;/a&gt; (or you might directly sign up for it).&#xA;They have sections all over Switzerland in all major cities (and many many smaller towns and regions also) and have been one of the cornerstones of Swiss mountaineering for more than a century.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll find like-minded people to join you on tours.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll find guided tours, trainings and courses.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The SAC also runs more than 150 mountain huts in the Swiss Alps, which you can use as bases (or destinations) for tours. Staying in the huts is cheaper for SAC members, but generally open to the public.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-01-06T09:07:40.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24631" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24635" CreationDate="2020-01-06T09:50:26.943" Score="6" ViewCount="379" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm starting to go through the book &quot;freedom of the hills&quot;. Somewhere in the initial pages, it states that a climbing party must consist of a minimum of three members. A bit later it states that during glacier travel, there should be a minimum of two rope teams. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Near the end of the first chapter, in the subsection &quot;Gaining the freedom of the hills&quot;, there is a sub-subsection titled &quot;Climbing code&quot; with an itemized list. One of the list items states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“A climbing party of three is the minimum, unless adequate prearranged support is available. On glaciers, a minimum of two rope teams is recommended.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excerpt From: Mountaineers. “Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills.” iBooks. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does it make sense to split up into two rope teams in case of a 3-4 member climbing party? I hardly think it makes sense to have a rope team of one member. But what about two? Were one member to slip into a crevasse would it not be easier to arrest their fall if the rope had more members? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To rephrase the question, how should a 3-5 member climbing party split up into rope teams for glacier travel? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-01-08T07:56:33.567" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T13:53:29.180" Title="How to split 3-5 people into rope teams for glacier travel?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24632" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24631" CreationDate="2020-01-06T15:52:07.023" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are not going to like the answer, but a 5 member team should recruit a 6th person. I think 3 people per rope is ideal. 4 people always seems like too many and 2 people makes stopping a fall really hard. A one person rope team is not a rope team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way I would break things down:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1 person - Find more people to climb with&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 people - If you are both experienced and the risk of falls is relatively low and the route well traveled (e.g., the standard route on Mt Rainer), this is ok. If the route is not well traveled, the risk of a fall is high, or you are not experienced, find more people to climb with&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;3 people - This is perfect for all but the most remote and infrequently traveled routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;4 people - Kick someone off the team, find more people to climb with, or be prepared for logistical difficulties&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;5 people - See 2 people (but with the added benefit of a second team) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6 people - You are golden&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2020-01-06T15:52:07.023" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24550" CreationDate="2020-01-06T19:25:33.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my experience and opinion, sleeping outdoors in below-freezing weather can be pretty miserable. Certainly there are people who enjoy it, but if you've never tried it you don't know if you're one of those people. Don't bet your entire vacation on an unknown like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Find a way to spend at least one night sleeping in similar camping gear in similar weather, prior to your vacation. This should tell you whether camping is the best idea for you for this trip. Make sure you do this within walking distance of your car, so you can bug out early if your feet start to freeze in the middle of the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good-quality winter camping gear can be a considerable investment, so it may be more economical to rent gear instead of buying. Even if you plan to do more camping in the future, you may not want heavy winter gear for that. Invest in the gear that you will use most often, and rent the expensive specialty gear only needed for a single trip. You can rent camping gear from REI, and possibly other retailers. And you may have a local outdoor or hiking club that will help you find equipment to rent or borrow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-01-06T19:25:33.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24575" CreationDate="2020-01-06T19:41:30.667" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Abandon the trip if...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;someone in the group demonstrates behavior that threatens the group,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;someone in the group is found to be lying about their status.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First involved dangerous brandishing of a gun - I like guns but he was being irresponsible. Second involved people saying they were warm and dry when they weren't, up until they were dangerously wet and cold - we cancelled but not soon enough, someone took a nasty tumble which could have been avoided if we monitored them better and cancelled when it was obvious they were lying; fortunately the injury was minor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2020-01-06T19:41:30.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24631" CreationDate="2020-01-07T08:30:08.057" Score="3" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A bit later it states that during glacier travel, there should be a minimum of two rope teams. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any explanation why there should be 2 teams? The only case where this makes really sense is that a whole team falls into a crevasse. This must not happen under any circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the idea is that a second team can start the rescue immediately, this is a dangerous approach. After a crevasse fall has been stopped, it is paramount to build a reliable anchor (T-anchor or ice screw, depending on conditions) before anybody moves on untested terrain. A second team rushing to the rescue can easily cause a second fall into another crevasse nearby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the perfect size for glacier travel is 3 persons. The chances of holding a fall in a 3 person team are sufficiently good and recovery of the fallen person is relatively easy with 2 persons at the top. On the other hand, the smaller the team the more agile. Every irregularity in your pace (either by terrain or irregular pace of the leader) will add with every person on the rope. This turns the last position of a team into a kind of stop and go (or rather stop and run) pace. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/backcountry-basics-recognizing-assessing-avalanche-terrain/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering this, for a 3 and 4 person team there is only one option which is going as a single team. For 5 persons there is the option of a single team as well, which is still ok as long as the terrain is rather regular [2]. If this is not the case or if the teams are preferring smaller teams and sufficient experience for the smaller teams, you can split this into a 3 person team on the front and a 2 person team behind. This combines the advantages of small teams with the benefit of a second team in case something goes horribly wrong. Note that in this case the second team has a tested trail and therefore the disadvantage of having only a second person for holding a fall is greatly diminished although not completely removed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/backcountry-basics-recognizing-assessing-avalanche-terrain/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; For this reason it is often recommended to have the fittest members of your team towards the back and the weakest at the second or third positon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[2] A typical example of an irregular terrain is a crevasse zone where you have to change direction all the time. Keeping the rope taut all the time is more difficult with a bigger team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the concept of avalanche terrain and a second team digging the first team out. This is extremely wrong. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanche terrain is not the norm on a glacier. Most glaciers are quite flat most of the time and there is no risk of avalanches. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is a realistic danger of avalanches and you cannot turn around or do not want to, the sensible thing is to keep a bigger distance between members (~50m). This has two positive effects. First, the snow is loaded less at a single point and the risk of triggering an avalanche is smaller (minimizing the risk). Second, in case of an avalanche only one person is affected (minimizing the damage). Roping up makes it impossible to keep a good distance and is a guarantee that the whole team is affected by an avalanche. (It has to be noted that in this situation you are likely in a spring ski tour where the glacier is snowed up properly and the risk of a crevasse fall is very small anyways)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Avalanches can only be triggered in steeper terrain (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/backcountry-basics-recognizing-assessing-avalanche-terrain/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dry snow avalanches are most common on slopes between 30° and 45°&lt;/a&gt;). In steep terrain a single member stumbling can pull the whole team with them if the snow is sufficiently hard. This is definitely a situation where you do not want to go roped (even though a lot of mountain guides have no issues short-roping 4 clients on an icy 35° slope...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-01-08T07:32:15.383" LastActivityDate="2020-01-08T07:32:15.383" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2020-01-07T13:14:25.727" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;One key aspect that has not been mentioned: &lt;strong&gt;routefinding&lt;/strong&gt; indors is almost trivial, outdoors it becomes a real challenge and makes climbing a much more creative experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the gym, hold color (or tape) tells you exactly what features &quot;exist&quot; that you could use to proceed, and the number you can reach at a given point is usually small, half a dozen at most. And that in turn makes the number of moves you can choose from relatively small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A real rock wall does not have that small number of marked holds for you to choose from. It (sometimes) looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/prbO2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Tape this![1]&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At any given point you have literally &lt;em&gt;hundreds&lt;/em&gt; of rock features to choose from! Even just identifying those that provide the best grip is far from trivial, even before you consider that your exact position (and thus the angle you reach them from) changes this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outdoors, you really have to work hard not just to execute the moves, but also to identify which moves they should be!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course on popular walls this factor can be mitigated by chalk residue that tell you what holds the climbers who came before you used. But who says they actually found the best moves? At higher skill levels, it's actually fairly common for people to find an easier beta on an established route and even downgrade the difficulty as a result.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2020-01-07T13:14:25.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24594" CreationDate="2020-01-07T19:42:25.317" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Miguelmorin's answer is very comprehensive, and if you do want to make a repair, I would definitely recommend following his guidance, however:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your leash can be the difference between life and death&lt;/strong&gt; or at the very least saves loss of your possibly expensive surfboard so it is not worth the risk of having it go when you need it the most, for example when you really want it to pull you up out of nasty undertow on rocks...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The strength of your leash will drop over time, as the materials degrade under UV from the sun; cycles of saltwater and sitting in a humid van or worse, being on the roof in exhaust fumes from traffic; being scraped and scuffed against rocks, coral, other boards etc so if it has snapped once, unless it was from an obvious damaged point, you should consider it likely to snap again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I personally recommend replacing your leash every couple of years anyway. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.singlequiver.com/enelpico/en/6-things-you-should-know-surfboard-leash/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Singlequiver.com suggests every season if you are a big wave surfer, or 3-4 years if you surf beach waves.&lt;/a&gt; They also point out that even if it doesn't snap, as the elasticity goes, it could really yank your ankle painfully.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm seeing well respected brand leashes at prices around £20 in the UK and similar in the US. That's a small cost for peace of mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-01-07T19:42:25.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4466" CreationDate="2020-01-07T21:03:27.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main concern about iodine tablets is exceeding the recommended daily dose of iodine your body can handle safely. In addition to that, iodine can not kill many of the protozoan cysts. The main concern about chlorine tablets is that they can not kill many of the protozoa. The main concern about the filters is the real size. Most of the viruses are smaller than to be filtered out. But almost all of the cysts and a great deal of bacteria can be filtered out. Boiling water is a good option, but many spores and cysts (like anthrax or Entamoeba hystolitica) can tolerate boiling water. Beside, heavy metals and many other chemical contaminants can not be removed by boiling water or using iodine or chlorine treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19196" LastActivityDate="2020-01-07T21:03:27.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24642" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24687" CreationDate="2020-01-08T16:06:58.653" Score="9" ViewCount="192" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to go deep water soloing in Majorca as soon as weather conditions will allow it, I don't mind cold water as long as it's reasonably warm outside (~20°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I'll probably be travelling alone I'd like to find someone else there, so what's the earliest I can go :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without freezing too much, and&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without being the only one there?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallorca#Climate&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;article on wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, but would love first hand experiences, especially because the rocks have to have enough time to dry up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19205" LastEditorUserId="19205" LastEditDate="2020-01-08T16:16:47.540" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T11:58:03.343" Title="Earliest in the year one could deep water solo in Majorca?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24643" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24487" CreationDate="2020-01-09T07:26:34.253" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To me it's not a question of climbing outdoors is &quot;cooler&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a reason that there is such a rich collection of books, magazines and other literature on the subject of mountaineering and rock climbing outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can look back on many experiences I have of climbing on local crags and in the Alps over many years. I can almost relive those experiences in my memory and also of the people I shared the experiences with, both when everything went to plan and especially when things didn't and we survived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I must say I don't have any amazing memories of many trips to the local climbing gym over the years...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T07:26:34.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24644" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24525" CreationDate="2020-01-09T11:21:18.910" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve experimented with this a bit. We tried pulling the knot really tight or leaving it really loose. It turned out that pulling it relatively tight (but not too tight) works best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also makes a huge difference how you start untying. Start with wiggling/folding the parallel loops where the end of the rope comes out. Once you get a tiny bit of room you can undo the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s still hard and finicky, which is why I’m mostly using the bowline on a bight knot (it’s the alternative common knot aside from the figure eight, here in the German speaking area) now. It’s a bit harder to tie at first but always easy to untie after a fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8328" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T11:21:18.910" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24645" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24627" CreationDate="2020-01-09T11:47:20.580" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try a sheep shank to create a loop, then run round the peg and tie off. This gives you an easily tensioned and tied off pulley system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could also use a truckers hitch in much the same way, but my scout leader was a fan of the sheep shank and it's rubbed off on me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's slightly slower to adjust than a midshipman's hitch but it also holds better under load.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T11:47:20.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24647" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24653" CreationDate="2020-01-09T13:23:30.343" Score="0" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;As some of you who are also active on bicycles.se may know, I broke my collarbone in a bike crash last year, and it's now got a titanium plate in there.  I'm not sure whether it's the plate or not, but some backpack straps now seem to press rather too much in the wrong place.  My commuting backpack is worse than my good 40l daysack, for example, and I don't think it's just the weight-bearing hip belt on the latter.  Adjusting the shoulder and chest straps makes little difference; the discomfort comes back soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A little testing with fingers or rolled up gloves suggests that pads above and below the collarbone would help a lot, but I'm not sure how to keep them in place.  I don't want to simply glue bits of foam to the straps as they might need some adjusting, but simply wedging them in when I put the pack on doesn't work as they creep out.  I'm also not certain that foam pads like this are the best idea, so am open to suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are two example packs: The blue one (right) is a hydration pack I use for running and mountain biking and the dark one (left) is the one I mention above for commuting etc.  In the bottom left picture you can see that the strap that holds the chest strap stops too low; in the bottom right I'm pointing to where I believe the pressure point to be, but it would be hard enough to tell precisely even without minor nerve damage.  As I'm tall and rather broad-shouldered, small one-size-fits-all packs like these are a less than perfect fit anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03SuOm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/03SuOm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uixppm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Uixppm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AsP86m.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AsP86m.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0bccSm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0bccSm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-01-10T08:58:56.453" LastActivityDate="2020-01-12T21:24:52.647" Title="How can I reduce the pressure of backpack straps on my collarbone, perhaps by fixing padding to the strap?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24648" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-09T14:59:37.990" Score="5" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;A comment on  recent answer suggests that kernmantle ropes are more easily damaged than a conventional twisted rope.  This is contrary to what I learned very long ago.  So far I've been unable to find a general reference on how different ropes need to be handled, and what tools can be used with each.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please do NOT answer with generalities like 'keep it clean, don't step on it, check after each use'  I'm looking for usage differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:  One rope company said that double braid rope shouldn't be used where you have a running bend over a short radius, such as a pulley or carabiner, as the inner rope is 'milked' with the slack running to one end, and most of the load then falling on the inner rope.  (I've had this slip happen with shoe laces...)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T17:31:05.497" Title="Are kernmantle ropes more susceptible to damage than 3 ply twist or solid braid?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16445" CreationDate="2020-01-09T15:30:24.310" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have tarped for most of my outdoor experience.  One year on a bet (be careful what you say at the pub...) I spend a full year under a tarp in the bush near my home. Right now I have a silicone coated 9x12 ripstop nylon tarp.  Marketed as 'aquatarp' on Amazon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But for a small weight penalty, the coated woven poly tarps you can get at Big Box Stores work.  They don't last as long, but if you are just starting out it's the way to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A long narrow rectangle is less useful.  I prefer a rectangle with proportions of about 1.33 to 1 (12 x 9) 1.2:1 (8x10) is about the shortest I've seen.    Had a 9x14 one once.  (1.55:1) That was several feet of wasted space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't go too small.  You need a reasonable overhang of tarp.  8x10 is the smallest I would use for solo.  If my bag is roughly 2x6 feet this gives me 2 foot overhang at each end, and 3 feet on either side.  In actual use, I'm likely to be off center to have ready access to my pack. 10 x 12 is good for 2 people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I helped run an outdoor program, we would use the cheap Canadian Tire tarps, and try to buy blue one year, then green or orange one year.  After a backpack trip, they came back with spark holes, tears, and usually a few missing grommets.  For the winter program they would still do.  And accumulated a lot more damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next fall they would be cut in half, and each pair of people would get one new tarp and half an old tarp.  The latter they used as a ground sheet.  The prevented two events:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If they had two new tarps, both would have holes in them by the end of the week, as they wouldn't consistently use one for the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having a small tarp kept the whole tarp under the roof.  More than one pair of kids has come to grief with all the water that landed on the roof, sliding down onto an exposed edge of ground tarp, and soaking them from underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Site selection is different:  For a tent, you need a certain sized spot, fairly flat, generally about half again larger than the actual footprint of the tent to allow for guy lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a tarp you don't have a bathtub floor, so you look for a spot that either has a very absorbent but is currently fairly dry -- big mossy patch, duff under a spruce tree, or you look for a spot that is clearly higher than the surroundings, or you look for material that has good drainage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because it has so many ways to pitch, you can fit into camp spots that are impossible for a tent. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of my preferred pitches:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clear weather, rain unlikely.  Support all 4 corners 4 feet or so off the ground, with enough general slope that if you are wrong you don't have an overhead swimming pool.  Having a tarp overhead means less dew on your sleeping bag.  Variation:  Kite form:  2 kitty corners high, two low.  This sheds water better, but isn't as breezy on a hot night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Typical pitch.  Mid point of a short side is tied to a tree about 5 feet up.  Opposite two corners are staked down.  This provides head room at one end.  Put the bags at the bottom end to hold tarp away from your bags.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tree wrap.  I've used this one when caught by a snow storm in winter.  Take off the bottom few feet of dead branches off a spruce or fir.  Tie the middle of the long edge to the trunk about 5 feet up, ABOVE the bottom tier of branches.  Tie the opposite edge to either branches, or to shrubs away from the tree.  The branches support your tarp.  Do NOT break twigs off the top of the branches, as these leave sharp bits that poke your tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T15:30:24.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24650" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16445" CreationDate="2020-01-09T18:41:24.393" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it comes to flat tarp shape, there is no right or wrong answer. Both shapes can be used to make simple roof, lean-to-type or a fully enclosed tent-like structures. There is a ton of information about different pitches at: &lt;a href=&quot;http://equipped.com/tarp-shelters.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://equipped.com/tarp-shelters.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also this question about tarps and wind: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8550/what-is-a-good-tarp-setup-for-very-high-winds-above-the-tree-line/20140#20140&quot;&gt;What is a good tarp setup for very high winds above the tree line?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5836" LastActivityDate="2020-01-09T18:41:24.393" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24651" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-10T03:51:55.647" Score="3" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an American Giant sweatshirt that is fantastic.  Superb quality and fit.  Heavy 10oz cotton.    What would be the best way to add water resistance to a garment/fabric normally water resistant?  Is it even possible?&#xA;Could I use a DWR spray?  If so, what brand or type?  Has anyone had any success doing so themselves?&#xA;I also researched DIY waxing.  However I was unable to find anything other than waxing linen, denim, or rewaxing cotton canvas (jackets and bags).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I’m thinking that waxing would be a bit much for an already heavy cotton sweatshirt?   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19213" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-01-17T23:39:24.143" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T05:53:25.987" Title="Is it possible to apply DWR to heavy cotton fleece hooded sweatshirt for water resistance?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24652" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24648" CreationDate="2020-01-10T10:27:52.420" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, the answer is most likely no. With regard to (at least) one specific scenario, however, kernmantle ropes are thought to be less resilient than twisted rope. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the case when one rope (rope1) is used to tie a load into the middle of another rope (rope2). Rope1 is first turned in a few coils around rope2, and then somehow fastened. Rope2 bears  the load with the support of rope1, because of the friction of the numerous coils of rope2 around rope1, which effectively fasten rope2 onto rope1. Some examples of this scenario are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://knots-guide.blogspot.com/2008/04/t.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tarbuck knot&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neclimbs.com/SMF_2/index.php?topic=10087.0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prussik knot&lt;/a&gt; (with load), etc. This is more likely to happen under heavy load, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/107081319/sheath-slippage-near-one-end-after-haul-retire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rescue situations&lt;/a&gt;, falls, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The coiled rope (rope1) directly grips onto the outer sheath of the other rope (rope2), in the process pulling on it, and trying to strip it (the sheath) from anything it might be holding on to (the core). This pulls at the bonding between the sheath and core, and can in the long run damage it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This phenomenon is known as &lt;strong&gt;sheath slippage&lt;/strong&gt;. Do look it up, there are lots of posts about it in various forums. &lt;a href=&quot;http://libertymountainclimbing.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-real-truth-about-unicore.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This is supposedly one of the reasons behind the development of &lt;em&gt;unicore&lt;/em&gt; ropes, which are marketed as being immune to this problem.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T10:27:52.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24653" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24647" CreationDate="2020-01-10T10:50:49.267" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would consider two solutions: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get a piece of foam or sponge. You can get in a vehicle repair/mod place, or in a place which makes/fixes sofa cushions. Attach it to the bag strap with velcro wrapped around the strap+foam combo. This goes over the collar bone region and spreads the load over a much larger area, so as to relieve pressure on the healed fracture. You might need to experiment with a couple of different types of foam/sponge of varying hardness/softness to find out what works best. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get two pieces of hard foam and attach them (with velcro) to the bag strap above and below the healed fracture region. As a result, the strap does not touch/go over that region or pressure it in any way, because it is held up from both above and below, by the foam pieces. As opposed to the previous paragraph, harder foam/sponge is better than soft, in this case, because the strap needs to be held up and prevented from touching the collar bone. Once again, it will take a bit of experimentation to get it right. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note on how to attach using velcro: get about 15cm of velcro, and lay out the opposing sides parallel to each other but shifted by about 5 cm, something like shown in the crude sketch below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;+++++++++++++++&#xA;          ---------------&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turn one of the strips around and attach it to the opposite strip. You now effectively have a single strip with opposing surfaces on either end. You can wrap this around the strap+foam and attach the opposite surfaces tightly enough. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just quickly tried the first method, and it works well enough. I've attached a couple of pics to give a general idea. The velcro strip I have is longer than I'd like for this purpose, so I wrapped it an extra turn. You will probably need to try out a couple of times till you get it right..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1dBcH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1dBcH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;make single velcro strip by joining the opposite sides shifted by a few cm&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4tW2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4tW2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wrap it tightly around the strap+foam and join the opposite ends&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-01-11T06:22:18.330" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T06:22:18.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24648" CreationDate="2020-01-10T11:49:30.037" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Since I'm guilty of the comment in question and referring to climbing ropes in particular. The key to the comment is that they're more sensitive to damage, not that they're more vulnerable to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What they're specifically vulnerable to is hidden damage. If the core is damaged, the rope is significantly weakened but it's really hard to tell from a surface inspection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Twisted rope on the other hand can be inspected much more easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for example, if you accidentally penetrate a kernmantle rope with a marlinspike while trying to undo an overtightened knot, you don't actually know what damage you may have done. With a twisted rope you have both the gaps created by the twist to work the spike into and the ability to fully inspect the rope for damage afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a mainsheet or other lines on a dinghy that's not really a problem, but for a climbing rope unknown suspected damage is a reason to get a new rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2020-01-10T17:31:05.497" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T17:31:05.497" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24655" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24647" CreationDate="2020-01-10T14:42:50.063" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To accomodate the shoulder straps sliding over the collar bone without displacing the padding, I'd build a sleeve of some kind. Especially biking, the straps will want to move around if you go in and out of the saddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just to try it out, you could make it entirely of Duct Tape which would make for an easy and inexpensive way to test the concept.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two small tape-width rolls at either ends of a two-layer tape tube that's inserted over the shoulder strap, like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dCiCB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dCiCB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main advantage is that if this works, it would be possible to have one sleeve made that could be used on any pack. For example, the sleeve could be made to be undone by snap buttons or a zipper to remove it from the straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T14:42:50.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24656" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-10T21:49:26.230" Score="5" ViewCount="341" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just tried on some modern snowshoes for the first time in some fresh powder and I'm confused by why there's a big hole in the decking in front of where the toe of the boot sits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/siIEV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/siIEV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;30&amp;quot; Snowshoes&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With my boots strapped as far forward as they can go there's still a sizable gap, and every step pushes snow up through it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Ckk3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7Ckk3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Snowshoeing&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's not catastrophic to have the boot toes and deck constantly taking on snow, but I can't see how this is in any way beneficial.  So is there a reason for that hole?  Or am I doing something wrong?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I understand that the snowshoe is supposed to pivot away from the boot when taking a step, and if the deck were flat there it would prevent or reduce that pivoting range.  But the boot sits on a sort of sole plate that pivots away from the snowshoe, and I don't understand why that plate doesn't extend to cover the deck hole.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T06:28:27.710" Title="Why do snowshoes have a hole in the front deck?" Tags="&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24657" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-10T22:34:46.020" Score="4" ViewCount="106" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am always interested in the history of rock climbing. Lately, I tried to collect data about male and female first ascents to visualize progression in rock climbing over time (I have a small blog &lt;a href=&quot;http://climbstat.blogspot.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbstat&lt;/a&gt; writing about climbing data and statistics). See below for some visualizations of the data I could collect so far. However, it turned out difficult to find a lot of data especially for female climbers. An exception to the rule is this nice &lt;a href=&quot;http://stara.emontana.cz/climbing-milestones-from-6a-to-9c/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; from which I borrowed a lot of information.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any idea where I can find additional data about first ascents? I would be especially interested in first onsights / flashes, information about first bouldering ascents as well as information about early first female ascents (such as first female 7a, 7a+, ...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PFl6C.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PFl6C.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B2JzZ.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B2JzZ.gif&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14150" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T22:34:46.020" Title="Historical data about rock climbing / bouldering ascents" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;history&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24658" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24656" CreationDate="2020-01-10T23:33:07.950" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because your foot doesn't pivot at the toe, but under the ball of the foot. Since the pivot is at that point, the front of the foot goes thorough the hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This helps to anchor the snowshoe going forward, and also allows you to use your toes when climbing a slope too steep for the snowshoes to grip.  You will notice that on most synthetic snowshoes, there is an ice claw on the bottom of the harness to get some grip on ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For long distance work on mountain valley trails I prefer a larger, but traditional snowshoe, made from ash wood and babiche, and worn with high top moccasins with a lampwick harness.  I have both 54x11 and 60x12 inch pairs.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2020-01-10T23:49:41.850" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T23:49:41.850" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24659" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24651" CreationDate="2020-01-10T23:39:11.937" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect that sweatshirt fabric has too open a mesh for any waterproofing agent to be effective.  Rather than risk a garment you love, buy as close to a similar weight sweatshirt at a thift store, and do your initial experiments with that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used linseed oil to add water resistance to canvas goods.  Look up &quot;DIY Tin pants&quot; on youtube for other recipes.  Mixes of linseed oil, turpentine, and beeswax dominate.  The 'tin' in waterproofing comes from the former practice of using zinc sterate as an agent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In passing:  I prefer to use a separate wind layer.  In winter this is a non-water repellent heavyweight nylon shell with hood.  In summer it's a goretex nylon shell.  This allow me better control of overheating.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rain gear is always a tradeoff between getting wet from rain or getting wet from sweat.  I am never truly comfortable in rain gear, and will usually only wear it when the alternative is hypothermia. Goretex and their ilk are good in light rains, where the surface of your jacket doesn't film with water.  Once you have a continuous film of water, condensation will occur on the inside of that layer.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've wondered at times of making a jacket out of waterproof fabric in narrow bands overlapped like shingles on a house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-15T23:40:41.777" LastActivityDate="2020-01-15T23:40:41.777" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24660" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24656" CreationDate="2020-01-10T23:39:15.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some explanations come to my mind&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freedom of movement&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially if you use the climbing aid, your toes will go through the plane of the snow shoe. The hole allows your toe box to get &quot;through&quot; the snow shoe. This can be seen quite nicely in this picture &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tsloutdoor.de/schneeschuhe/symbioz-naturlich-gehen.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xi7YF.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xi7YF.png&quot; alt=&quot;Toe box going through snow shoe&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect one reason for the hole being big is that it should also fit bigger shoe sizes as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The spike&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The picture shows the spike (for icy conditions) quite well. With the hole in the snow shoe this allows the binding to attach the spike more or less directly to your shoe. If there was a layer of webbing in between your shoe and the spike, you would not have so much control on icy snow&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Weight distribution&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taking a bit of material from the front keeps the back down. This allows you to pull the snow shoe with your feet when lifted. When you place your feet there is less danger of the front piercing into the snow because your shoe is already touching the snow in the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-01-10T23:39:15.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24622" CreationDate="2020-01-11T04:31:56.820" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the Canadian NTS series of maps at latitudes below about 60 the maximum difference between grid north and true north is just over 2 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The grid is a 100,000 meter grid:  blocks 100 km x 100 km.  The grids are square, but the earth isn't.  Square grids simplify the calculations for artillery fire.  The calc between grid coordinates and lat/long coordinates is awful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 degrees is about as closely as you can read a pocket compass.  Ones with sighting mirrors are easier to use to take an actual bearing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to why the ipad didn't disrupt your compass:  Currents in an ipad are mostly constant DC, and have short paths.  While there will be a magnetic field around each segment of circuit board carrying current, most of those have another close by segment carrying current the other way.  It takes a loop of current around the device to create a net magnetic field.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The iPad has a built in mag compass chip.  To use that I'm sure they went to reasonable lengths to see that the currents in the device didn't affect the chip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or maybe you were lucky.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Go out and test it on your local road grid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T04:31:56.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24631" CreationDate="2020-01-11T15:33:17.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went ahead and fished out my copy of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountaineers.org/books/books/mountaineering-the-freedom-of-the-hills-9th-edition-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills&lt;/a&gt;, which happens to be the 50th anniversary 8th edition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason there isn't much detail in the list you quote is that it's in the primer chapter. In &lt;strong&gt;chapter 17&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Glacier travel and crevasse rescue&lt;/strong&gt; (p.375), you have to go to the &lt;strong&gt;Fundamentals of glacier travel&lt;/strong&gt; (pp.381-382) in the &lt;strong&gt;Rope Teams&lt;/strong&gt; paragraph. There, you find a good explanation of the line you quote:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope teams of three climbers each are ideal for travel on glacier where no technical climbing will be encountered. With a rope team of three, two people are available to arrest a rope mate's fall into a crevasse. A minimum party size of two rope teams is recommended so that a team involved in an accident will have backup help. In some instances, a party of four may climb on a single rope; for example, if one of the climbers may not be able to arrest a crevasse fall, or if just one of the party is experienced in crevasse rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[...]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On technical glacier terrain - with slopes steeper than 40 degrees or with severe crevassing - belaying may be necessary, making it more efficient to travel in two-person rope teams. In this situation, having a second rope team as rescue backup becomes even more important. While the person who is on the same rope as the fallen climber holds the rope fast, the second team can setup a snow anchor and initiate the rescue (see &amp;quot;Crevasse Rescue Response&amp;quot; later in this chapter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As mentioned in other answers, if you can't meet the safe minimums for rope teams for glacier travel, it is probably the best idea to change plans. 4 climbers could potentially rope up into two teams or as one team, but in the second case it requires a full-length rope (or double ropes):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glacier travelers usually put 3 people on a 37-meter (120-foot) rope, and three or four people on a 50- or 60-meter (165- to 200-foot) rope. These configurations space the climbers far enough apart so that as the rope team crosses a typical crevasse, only one person at a time is at risk. Where there are truly humongous crevasses - in the himalaya or the Alaska Range, for example - greater spacing may be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A team of more than 5 becomes more risky as the distance between members isn't large enough for safe travel. There is also an efficiency component as the larger the rope-team, the worse the rubber-banding will affects travel speed as each member tries to keep the rope taut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T15:33:17.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8038" CreationDate="2020-01-11T19:19:50.673" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using hard boiled eggs np, but there heavy, real heavy, just got ahold of some Ova easy egg chrystals, they taste as good as out of shell eggs, one pack contains 12 eggs equivalent, weighs 0.12 kg and lasts 2.5 years...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19217" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T19:19:50.673" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24656" CreationDate="2020-01-11T22:25:39.797" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary reason is to allow the tail of the shoe to drag, which is what keeps long shoes tracking straight. Replacing them with ski-style bindings which pivot at the toe accomplishes that too, but adds all of the drawbacks of skis. For example lifting your knee in snowshoes will always lift the front of the shoe, where as ski bindings require you to also lift your toes. It's much easier to walk up slopes in snowshoes than on skis. The majority of people will also find it more natural to walk with a gait that doesn't require poles with snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some manufacturers have experimented with a patch of fabric under the toe that allows the shoe to pivot under the ball of your feet while limiting how far it can. Because of tracking problems it really only works for small shoes for casual or athletic use. I suspect the big reason that the hole persists is that it's just so damn useful sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For starters, a lot of modern shoes add a toe crampon there which allows you to easily traverse ice. The ability to kick and step on things without removing the shoe is nothing to be scoffed at either. Snowshoe bindings are very intuitive for scrambling over or bridging obstacles because you can step with the ball of your foot and push off with your toes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2020-01-11T22:25:39.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24665" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-12T04:26:32.627" Score="1" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for a decent source to know winter road conditions for various Adirondacks access roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First level of interest would be just what is or isn't being maintained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A better yet answer would be something that gives me info about current state.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any good source? I'm not looking for a particular road at this point, looking at a lot of things to potentially explore this winter, and road access or not may influence what I end up doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11830" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2020-01-13T15:41:44.007" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T14:54:46.470" Title="Adirondacks winter road open/closed status" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;off-road-driving&gt;&lt;adirondacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24666" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24647" CreationDate="2020-01-12T21:24:52.647" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you need to find out why the plate hurts.  If putting a load on the bone is putting tension/torque on the screws that attach the plate, then any form of loading on the bone may be a problem.  You may want to talk to your doctor about ways to increase the bone density at the anchor points, or encourage more bone callus over the plate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile:  I would do initial experiments with cut up ensolite (blue foam sleeping pads) and duct tape.  This makes for a quick experimental process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mention that your commuter pack is different from your day pack.  In addition to the difference in packs, you have a difference is posture.  When biking, generally you are leaning more, so a component of the load is trying to bend your collarbone sideways.  When hiking you are more upright.  You can test this by going for a walk  in the park with your commuter pack, and taking a bike ride with your day pack.  Load them both to about the same weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kind of an off the wall answer:  Talk to a sports doctor and a plastic surgeon, and see if putting a pad of silicone over the plate would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-12T21:24:52.647" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23071" CreationDate="2020-01-12T21:49:56.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are a few technique and gear modifications that can help in windy conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shorter leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tapered leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sinking line - These lines have higher density than floating lines which helps them to cut through the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Change to fishing streamers or wet fly in a downstream wind. This avoids needing to cast directly into the wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tighter loops &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pulling on with either the rod or line hand as the flies are turning over at the end of the cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use more streamlined flies&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T03:01:26.177" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T03:01:26.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9736" CreationDate="2020-01-12T22:22:16.563" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't found a difference between landing percentage between barbed and barbless hooked. I kept logs of percentage of hooked fish that I landed in 2019 and  changed to barbless for the last 4 months of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On barbed hooks I landed 66% of the 500 that hooked. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On barbless I landed 67% of the 363 that I hooked.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anecdotally I've heard and noticed myself that with barbless more fish stay on at the beginning of the fight but more are lost later on. I guess the theory is the barbed hook goes in easily (my fingers can confirm this!) but then also comes out easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I try to use moderate pressure and keep the line tight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T01:47:30.000" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T01:47:30.000" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24669" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-12T23:07:16.527" Score="3" ViewCount="292" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in Colorado and love hiking alone, it's quiet and peaceful.  I want to be more 'free' to hike in early morning or late evening when it's dark or backpack in remote places, but at this point I still get a bit nervous about dangerous wildlife (bears and mountain lions).  I don't want to lose a healthy fear of these animals but I also want to find that 'freedom' to hike in remote areas and in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I gain a confidence to hike in these ways with a healthy, and not preventative, fear of dangerous wildlife?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19001" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T10:07:51.803" Title="How do you overcome a preventative fear of dangerous wildlife" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24671" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-13T01:26:00.997" Score="3" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;We always hear about the importance of drag free drifts so I thought it would be great to create a resource listing techniques for achieving a drag free drift. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've setup a community wiki for this as I already have some techniques for doing this it would be great if others could add to the wiki answer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T00:29:50.213" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T04:19:57.410" Title="How do I get a drag free drift when fly Fishing" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;trout-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24672" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24671" CreationDate="2020-01-13T01:26:00.997" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mending&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Upstream mend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Downstream mend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Stack mend&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Presentation Casts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Reach cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't turn the leader over fully&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tuck cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Puddle cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Snake cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Curve cast&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thinner leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Longer leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://troutbitten.com/2019/07/21/dry-fly-fishing-the-george-harvey-leader-design/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;George Harvey leader formulation&lt;/a&gt; to introduce slack into the leader&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tight line nymphing can also be a great technique for reducing drag when casting across different current speeds&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-11-10T04:19:57.410" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T04:19:57.410" CommentCount="1" CommunityOwnedDate="2020-01-13T01:26:00.997" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20031" CreationDate="2020-01-13T01:39:56.410" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dry fly&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Designed to imitate aquatic or terrestrial insects floating on the surface of the river. Generally dry flies are cast upstream and allowed to drift back with the current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cool thing with dry fly fishing is that you usually see the trout eat your fly off the surface&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nymph&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Generally designed to imitate the small insect larvae that live on the bottom of the river. Nymphs are generally cast upstream and allowed to drift back with the current.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nymphs often have weight built into them with lead or beads to help them sink to the bottom of the river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Streamer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally imitating baitfish. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can be cast out and retrieved or cast across the river and allowed to swing downstream. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Streamers can be either weighted or unweighted. A floating or sinking line can be used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-01-14T00:42:10.953" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T00:42:10.953" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2020-01-13T01:39:56.410" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23013" CreationDate="2020-01-14T00:50:47.123" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Darker colours of indicator like black or dark red work well and white is probably the worst colour high glare situations. An indicator made of light and dark colours can help with visibility in a variety of conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hot pink seems to be a great colour for standing out in a variety of conditions but it might not be the most subtle colour ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T03:17:05.660" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T03:17:05.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11829" CreationDate="2020-01-14T00:56:20.517" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;When indicator nymphing or euro nymphing it helps to have non tapered leader under the water to reduce the drag of the faster surface currents on the leader.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;e.g. When indicator nymphing in 6 foot deep water we usually want about 9 feet between the indicator and the fly. It's best if this 9 foot section is all the same diameter to reduce drag allowing the fly to sink faster and drift more naturally.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T00:56:20.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24678" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24679" CreationDate="2020-01-14T12:54:25.027" Score="29" ViewCount="6567" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently came across the &lt;a href=&quot;https://what3words.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;what3words&lt;/a&gt; coordinate system in an outdoor magazine. The system divides the world into squares of 3 m x 3 m. Each square is then named with a combination of three (as far as I understand) arbitrary words, but each three word combination denotes a specific square. Buckingham Palace entrance in London for example is fence.gross.bats. The magazine described the idea as revolutionary and that it will probably make a big impact. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trouble is: I do not get the point. For what purpose is this system really useful? Are there specific cases in which it is superior to, let´s say the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;geographic coordinate system&lt;/a&gt;? If you use a (latitude,longitude) combination of decimal degrees with six decimal places like (51.501381,-0.141830) and enter them into one of the known map services, you will have an accuracy of approx. 1 m on the latitude (distance of 111km between two lines of latitude divided by 10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt;) and an even better accuracy on the longitude. So accuracy cannot be the point. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only advantage I can think of is that three words are a bit easier to memorize than a combination of numbers. Do I miss a point? Has anybody used the what3words system seriously, &lt;em&gt;i.e.&lt;/em&gt; not only played around with it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2020-01-14T22:35:49.023" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T23:29:27.467" Title="What advantage does the what3words coordinate system have over other, traditional systems?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24679" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24678" CreationDate="2020-01-14T15:37:36.040" Score="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;They don't really pitch it as a replacement for lat/long, but more postcodes and street addresses. A building number and postcode can (and has, IME) have an entrance on a different street, under a flyover, or any number of ways that make it difficult to actually find the entrance to a building. W3W can target a building entrance or location that doesn't have a street address fairly accurately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I think you are right to be sceptical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ease of remembering certain locations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shorter values (three words to mark a 3mx3m square, which for most applications is more than adequate), as opposed to lengthy lat and long numbers. Particularly as longer words are reserved for squares that will be used less, such as over the ocean.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Makes sharing locations over, for example, poor quality phone lines more reliable (possibly).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Useful where street names aren’t really used or in areas where a single postcode can cover a large area. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The algorithm is closed source and whilst the developers promise not to game the system (such as sponsorship deals to change the words used to identify a corporate HQ to something relevant to that company - e.g. Ford's HQ being identified by &lt;code&gt;cool.motor.cars&lt;/code&gt;) a promise really isn't worth anything IMO.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Licensing costs for car manufacturers etc to put the technology in their products.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't work with altitude, although to be fair, neither does lat and long without adding a height vector.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Current systems (GPS, lat/long, zip &amp;amp; post codes) are so ubiquitous that I can't see this system becoming universally adopted.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is non-hierarchical. That is; there is no connection between the words used in adjacent squares. Neither will only knowing two words of a square allow you to get a rough idea of its location such as knowing a town name, but not a street would. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can only be used electronically. You can't get your W3W location from a paper map, which should be an important backup option for anyone interested in the outdoors. Offline use is possible but needs to be planned for and downloaded in advance if in a poor signal area. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No correspondence between different language versions. That is; my location in English wouldn't make sense to someone using the system in a different language.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2020-01-17T05:44:37.617" LastActivityDate="2020-01-17T05:44:37.617" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24680" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24669" CreationDate="2020-01-14T20:00:02.590" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of it is just by doing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both species are quite low density, and the number of wild animal deaths/injuries are very small.  Regions that are dangerous for bears are those where they are very familiar with human presence and associate it with snacks, and very remote areas where they haven't seen humans at all, and have no fear of them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wolves are very shy of people.  I've seen one once at a distance in the arctic tundra, and tracks are fairly common in Willmore Wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sstsa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sstsa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Wolf track willmore wilderness&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear tracks too:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0r9nD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0r9nD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;front foot bear track, grizzly, I think&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the coast here, almost all of the animal injuries are racoons.  I think second place goes to rats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ran into a trapper.  We got to talking.  The boys with me asked if he'd ever been attacked.  &quot;No, neve... Wait:  Once I had a muskrat come up to me and try to bite my ankle.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only attack has been a muskrat.  I've almost stepped on a beaver once.  They are FAST.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't hike at twilight in the wild.  My eyes are night eyes, so I'm running a sense short. Too easy to startle someone.  And usually I've had a long day.  I generally stop about 2 hours before dark, set up camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't regard predators nearly as serious a threat as large herbavores.  Male moose aren't sane when in rut.  Mule deer aren't much better, but they aren't as big. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have dogsledded into the night on several occasions.  Mushing under moonlight is magic, but requires a good trail (snowmobile trails are ideal)  But winter the bears are asleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-14T20:00:02.590" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24678" CreationDate="2020-01-15T04:02:17.703" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You use What3words when you are looking for convenience rather than accuracy. Let's say if you are in an emergency situation and you need police assistance. It is much faster to let the police know your current location by saying fence.gross.bats rather than a bunch of numbers, (51.501381,-0.141830), for example. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19225" LastActivityDate="2020-01-15T04:02:17.703" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24683" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24678" CreationDate="2020-01-15T10:39:22.370" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another use of What3words are outdoor scavenger hunts or geocaching riddles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is much easier to make riddles that have certain words as a solution rather than numbers. &#xA;You can use it for a children/teenager birthday partys, where they need to solve riddles and the 3 words are pointing to the place where the next riddle is hidden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19230" LastActivityDate="2020-01-15T10:39:22.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24678" CreationDate="2020-01-15T12:00:39.923" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is used a lot by emergency services, in fact I've recently seen emergency services advice recommending people install it on their phones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are outside, in the wind and the rain, and someone's had an accident and you're by the side of a road or half way up a mountain or anywhere else where you can be unsure of your location or how to share it then what3words gives you a clear and accurate way to share your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's much simpler for someone not used to co-ordinates to read off three words than it is to find and then read out their latitude and longitude. It also doesn't rely on having a data service once the app is installed, so you can write down the 3 words, move to a place where you have signal then request help directly to where it is needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also much more reliable. A long string of numbers is easy to get one wrong, or mishear one, or have to repeat several times. 3 words are 3 words.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49319760&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49319760&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;South Yorkshire Police used it to find a 65-year-old man who became trapped after falling down a railway embankment in Sheffield.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service found a woman who had crashed her car but was unsure where she was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And Humberside Police were able to quickly resolve a hostage situation after the victim was able to tell officers exactly where she was being held.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;That was a time critical situation and being able to use a three word address meant officers could get there much quicker, rescue the hostage and arrest a man,&amp;quot; Mr Sheldrick said.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;That made us understand how the work we are doing is so important.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3548" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-01-15T12:00:39.923" CommentCount="17" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24685" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24688" CreationDate="2020-01-15T14:47:00.593" Score="3" ViewCount="145" Body="&lt;p&gt;Next summer I am planning to ride a bike from Belarus to the north of Norway through Finland. What measures should I take to be protected against wild animals (bears and wolves)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16368" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-01-16T00:36:22.740" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T07:24:29.517" Title="Wild animals in Finland and Norway" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bikes&gt;&lt;norway&gt;&lt;finland&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24669" CreationDate="2020-01-15T20:59:27.143" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're already hiking, I am not sure you'd gain by losing a certain degree of caution.  I am not super comfortable hiking by myself around twilight in BC, due to cougars.  &lt;em&gt;I do it, if I have to, but am a bit anxious while doing it&lt;/em&gt;.  People who have lived here all their life here worry, even though actual deaths or even attacks (we get 1-2 a year) with 4M people are rare.  A certain amount of fear is healthy, as long as you a) keep it in perspective, which includes a certain detached appreciation/enjoyment for being in a context of risk from wildlife and b) use that edgy feeling to remain safe and aware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take bears.  You worry about them.  Great, now you probably know that approaching a mountain stream from downwind puts you at risk because they can't hear or smell you.  So, use your fear to remind you to be cautious when put in that context.  That's better than someone obliviously coming into the same situation, even though the statistics say an attack is extremely unlikely.  Ditto for keeping you on your toes wrt food-vs-bear habits while camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You already carry good equipment and you've probably researched cougar and bear habits.  That's a good start.  Personally, wrt cougars, I'd upgrade from a pocket knife to something more substantial, a good quality narrow-bladed knife, something that will slip through the ribs (ask a specialty store).  In several of the past attacks here from cougars, people have driven them off or killed them using knives.  Cougars are at great risk of dying from starvation if they get injured so will often not press an attack if you fight back, unlike bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general though, mountain hikers are a lot more likely to get hurt from environmental problems - getting lost, falls, rockfalls, exposure - so don't let your concerns about wildlife crowd out awareness of more realistic risks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And, as Sherwood eloquently puts it, &lt;em&gt;just do it&lt;/em&gt; and it will get better from familiarity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-01-15T21:22:56.343" LastActivityDate="2020-01-15T21:22:56.343" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24642" CreationDate="2020-01-15T23:30:12.667" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Earliest in the year one could deep water solo in Majorca?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well it is safe to say that the month of March is somewhat too cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People in Mallorca go swimming in October. But then the water temperature has been rising all summer long and it is warmer than March, which has been getting colder all winter long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g187462-i124-k270485-Sea_swimming_in_october-Majorca_Balearic_Islands.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sea swimming in October.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;It should stil be warm enough and the sea should be warmer than March as it's been heating up all summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coldwatersafety.org/WhatIsCold.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;National Center for Cold Water Safety&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; as a guide, I would venture to say that June is the earliest you would find people swimming around &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallorca#Climate&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mallorca&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;When they hear or think about 50F (10C) water, it doesn't sound particularly cold - or dangerous - because they're mentally comparing it to 50F (10C) air. It's a big mistake that gets a lot of people killed each year.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;You should treat any water temperature below 70F with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Water Temperature Safety Guide:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Below 77F (25C) &#xA;  Breathing begins to be affected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This is why the official water temperature required for Olympic swimming competition is 77-82F (25-28C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;70-60F (21-15C)&lt;/strong&gt; Dangerous: &#xA;  Controlling your breathing and holding your breath becomes progressively more difficult as water temperature falls as water temperature falls from 70°F to 60°F (21°C to 15°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;True or False: You don't need thermal protection when the water temperature is above 60F (15C). &#xA;  False. You should certainly be wearing a wetsuit or drysuit below 60F, however, 60F (15C) is not the temperature at which most people should start wearing thermal protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;60-50F (15-10C)&lt;/strong&gt; Very Dangerous/Immediately Life-threatening: &#xA;  Total loss of breathing control. Maximum intensity cold shock. Unable to control gasping and hyperventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Fact: Cold shock is as extreme between 50-60F (10-15C) as it is at 35F (2C). &#xA;  Most people who are unaccustomed to cold water will experience a maximum cold shock response somewhere between 50-60F (10-15C). For some individuals, this happens at 57F (14C), for others, the peak occurs at 52F (11C) and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;This means that an unprotected immersion in this temperature range will cause most people to completely lose control of their breathing – they will be gasping and hyperventilating as hard and fast as they can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since cold shock reaches its maximum intensity between 50-60F (10-15C), it can’t get any more intense at lower water temperatures. In other words, breathing control, once completely lost, cannot be lost to a greater degree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Below 40F (5C)&lt;/strong&gt; Very Dangerous/Immediately Life-threatening:&#xA;  Total loss of breathing control. Unable to control gasping and hyperventilation. Water feels painfully cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Below 40F (4.5C)&lt;/strong&gt;, water is so painfully cold that it often feels like it’s burning your skin. For many people, the notorious “ice cream headache” can be triggered simply by water touching your face. Even though cold shock is no more intense than it was between 50-60F (10-15C), the severe pain makes a desperate situation even worse because it greatly increases your psychological stress. Clear thinking becomes almost impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Interesting Temperatures&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;98.6F(37C) Normal body temperature measured with an oral thermometer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;99.6F(37.5C) Deep body or core temperature measured with a rectal thermometer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;95F(35C) For medical purposes, this is the clinical point at which hypothermia begins.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;91F(32.7C) The temperature of your skin.&#xA;  85F(29.4C) Water feels pleasantly cool rather than warm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;77-82F(25-28C) Swimming pool temperature range for Olympic competition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;70F(21C) Water feels quite cold to most people. Treat any water temperature below 70F (21C) with caution.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;40F(4.4C) or lower Water is painfully cold.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.coldwatersafety.org/WhatIsCold.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The National Center for Cold Water Safety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now let us take this information and compare it to the water temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea and see what it reveals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Mediterranean Sea is a geographical landform. The water temperature around Mediterranean Sea varies extremely year round. The temperature ranges from 15.4°C (59.7°F) in March up to 26.3°C (79.4°F) in the month of August, as shown in the interactive table below. The average water temperature throughout the year is 20°C (68°F) and the best time for water activities is late summer, since Mediterranean Sea is located in the northern hemisphere. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.watertemperature.org/Mediterranean-Sea--Geo.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sea temperatures, water sports and vacation activities near Mediterranean Sea&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Taken from the above link, the average water temperature in May is 18°C and about 24°C in June. Since the temperature in May is well below 21°C, it would be same to assume that people could be swimming around Mallorca sometime in early June, but not earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep an eye on water temperatures as temperatures may vary year to year. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.watertemperature.org/Mediterranean-Sea--Geo.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Water Temperature&lt;/a&gt; site also gives you the present water temperature of the Mediterranean Sea in real time. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-01-16T11:58:03.343" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T11:58:03.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24685" CreationDate="2020-01-16T07:17:27.710" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;None&lt;/strong&gt;. Bears and wolves are no safety concern in Norway and Finland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both are shy and, since they are not used to human contact (opposite to say, some places in the US where bears &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; used to people) will try to avoid all human interaction. This will mean that they'll go out of their way to avoid you and very likely you won't see any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever do catch a glimpse of a &lt;strong&gt;bear&lt;/strong&gt; you can congratulate yourself on your luck, take a photograph and follow the common bear safety advice (see for example &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/677/if-i-cross-paths-with-a-bear-what-should-i-do&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;).&#xA;Apart from that no additional measures (such as bear sprays/bear hangs/bear canisters/...) are necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wolf&lt;/strong&gt; safety measures aren't even a thing, as attacks of wolves on people are exceedingly &lt;a href=&quot;https://wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Are-Wolves-Dangerous-to-Humans.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;rare&lt;/a&gt; and happen only under very special circumstances. You riding a bicycle on a road is quite surely not one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that as @Tomas By has correctly pointed out there are other animals which might pose a bigger danger (or certainly a bigger annoyance): mosquitoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-01-16T07:24:29.517" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T07:24:29.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24669" CreationDate="2020-01-16T10:07:51.803" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to go out on a limb and give a sort of non-TGO answer because it seems like you already know the answer and this is more psychological.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, my attempt is humor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we look at the data (unfortunately death statistics in the US is now considered private, so I'm using pretty old data, which can be found here.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(97)70944-X/pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(97)70944-X/pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, my methodology here is going to be terrible, because I'm focusing on humor over actual context (but all claims are technically valid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First and foremost, buy a lottery ticket right before you go hiking and carry it with you.  Your odds of dying to an animal attack are roughly 0.65 in 1 million.  Your odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are roughly 0.33 in 1 million. If you combine the two the odds are so low that this is &lt;em&gt;literally never happened&lt;/em&gt; so you're probably perfectly safe.  Alanis Morissette posits that it's at least possible to win the lottery and then die the next day, so if you're really worried about it and decide to use this technique you might want to limit your hiking trips to single day excursions.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, you might want to see a doctor and find out if you have an allergy to bee stings.  About 28% of the already exceptionally rare deaths from animal attacks are bees/wasps, making them the most deadly killer of humans we know.  They have a great PR firm though after that whole honey incident back in 2007 (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389790/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389790/&lt;/a&gt;) so people don't really know and aren't crippled by fear of these deadly predators.  Bees man, they're EVERYWHERE!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another 24% of animal related attacks from above are marine animals, and while I don't have a breakdown of the statistics for that, unless you're killed like this man (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/04/c_138199406.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/04/c_138199406.htm&lt;/a&gt;) who swallowed a live tilapia and choked on it, I think we can safely exclude this category from your hiking-related statistics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention to take the ACTUAL advice on dealing with bears, cougars, and snakes, in particular (but don't forget centipedes and scorpions if you want to be extra cautious) because that's really your best bet if you DO happen across wildlife. I recommend this option over my next one because it's also better for the wildlife, which, if I'm being perfectly honest, I care about as much as I do you (no offense).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, if you don't want to learn anything about how to be safe while hiking, keep a journal.  Now, I only have one data point to extrapolate from, but if you go blindly wandering around &lt;em&gt;into the wild&lt;/em&gt; with no preparation, knowledge, or experience but you keep a journal and die, a movie is made about it and at least your legacy will be overly romanticized and win tons of awards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15099" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T10:07:51.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24690" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24694" CreationDate="2020-01-16T12:41:46.070" Score="4" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;The majority of avalanche airbag makers seem to package their system in backpacks of varying sizes. If one doesn't wish to get locked-in to a specific backpack, or have multiple backpacks each with its own airbag system, the alternative seems to be an airbag vest. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This may be fine for skiing, or snow-mobiling. But for alpinism, going around with just a vest is rare, in practice one needs to be carrying backpacks of different sizes. Will the airbag vest still deploy if it is worn under a backpack? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T21:43:40.967" Title="Can a regular backpack be worn on top of an avalanche airbag vest?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;alpine&gt;&lt;avalanche&gt;&lt;avalanche-airbags&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24691" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24692" CreationDate="2020-01-16T13:36:17.327" Score="5" ViewCount="1784" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been using various map apps with offline storage on my smartphone(s) for several years now. The main problem with them is the battery drain. I've searched for e-ink devices with GPS but only found a bunch of DIY instructions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since Android-based ebook readers and e-ink phones seem to exist, I can only assume that the physical device I need already exists and installing a map app is all I need. Is that true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11864" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T14:17:02.433" Title="E-ink device with GPS for maps?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24692" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24691" CreationDate="2020-01-16T14:17:02.433" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mobile mapping is optimised for colour, which isn't available on any of the e-ink devices I can find, despite talk of colour e-paper since about 2013.  Having played with black and white prints of OpenStreetMap via InkAtlas (and having reproductions of old B&amp;amp;W Ordnance Survey map) I can say that stripping out the colour information is hard, and really degrades the map; the old maps had less information than equivalents at similar scale, but were also less clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason you can't find a device with a GPS chip is that most e-ink Android devices are designed as e-book readers with some tablet functionality, and not as full-featured tablets or phones.  The only device I've seen that definitely has a GPS and E-ink is the HiSense A5, which is apparently very hard to get hold of outside China.  HiSense announced a colour version at CES, but it remains to be seen whether you'll be able to get your hands on one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trying to add GPS to an existing device is likely to be problematic, as most phones and many tablets already have a chip on board.  This means that there's not much of a market for add-on devices, and they're unlikely to be fully supported&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T14:17:02.433" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24690" CreationDate="2020-01-16T21:25:16.967" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The correct answer for sure is &quot;it depends on the exact model&quot; but that is quite useless ;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as I can see all the airbag vests deploy over your whole shoulder area. This is definitely not suited for backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TCi2H.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TCi2H.png&quot; alt=&quot;Sample image of an avalanche airbag vest in use&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For some avalanche backpacks it is possible to have one airbag unit and multiple matching packs, e.g. Ortovox. I have not done this myself as I do own any airbag system but that is at least what they claim. This would still be a vendor lock-in but at least the backpacks without the airbag unit are quite cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A note of caution on using a vest instead of a backpack. An airbag is considered just the last line of defense. It does not guarantee that one stays on top and you should never go into avalanche terrain without the standard avalanche set of beacon, probe and shovel. The vests do not really look like they are suited to carry a probe and shovel. Therefore I would discard them for the idea of &quot;just skiing&quot;. They might be OK if you have a snowmobile with saddle-bags however.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-01-16T21:43:40.967" LastActivityDate="2020-01-16T21:43:40.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24696" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-17T23:30:26.023" Score="6" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's winter.  I daydream of trips in various areas.  Using Google/Apple/Bing maps is frustrating.  Openstreet has trails if you are near civilization, but names are weak.  None of them have coordinate overlays (Lat/Long, UTM)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oS8oM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oS8oM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;OpenStreetMap Screen shot.&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;The above is a screenshot of Open street map showing the SW corner of Cree Lake, SK, with the Brustad River running down from the north.  This is about a 10-15 km view.  Not a useful level of information.  No names. No portage trails.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any public server that basically serves up tiled topo maps for the Canadian NTS series.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternately is there a desktop application that you can point to a folder of downloaded topo maps and does the Right Thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Added:  One responder suggested Google Earth:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used google earth on the desktop. No water names to speak of. Few feature names.  No boundaries. No real contour lines. No trails. Roads are a matter of being long skinny clearings, and vanish in heavy vegetation. Watersheds once you get below about 25 feet wide aren't conclusive. Since it's aerial photos you get situations where it is very difficult to visualize what you are looking at. This is especially true for steep terrain, where the shadows can lie part way up the next mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-19T18:43:31.250" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T15:40:19.890" Title="Topo map server out there somewhere?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24651" CreationDate="2020-01-18T05:53:25.987" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are at least two companies that make cleaning and proofing products specially for outdoor gear of various materials: Nikwax and Grangers.&#xA;They both recommend first pre-washing the item in their special cleaner -- &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php?productid=268&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nikwax Tech Wash&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://grangers.co.uk/products/active-wash&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grangers Active Wash&lt;/a&gt; -- then treating/proofing them (by washing) with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php?productid=766&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nikwax Cotton Proof&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://grangers.co.uk/products/clothing-repel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grangers Clothing Repel&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;I have not tried either of these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T05:53:25.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24656" CreationDate="2020-01-18T06:28:27.710" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe key parts of your question concern &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; the size of the toe hole &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the length of the pivoting, clawed sole plate.&#xA;I suspect that an &lt;em&gt;ideal&lt;/em&gt; adult snowshoe would come in different sizes, large, medium and small, say, and that the length of the sole plate and size of hole would be a closer match to each other for each size. However, to keep manufacturing and marketing costs down, snowshoe makers provide just a single one-size-fits-all model. This model must have a hole large enough for the largest boot but must have a sole plate small enough not to be too cumbersome for the smallest boot. I suspect that having a sole plate too large for a small boot would reduce the ability to do steep climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T06:28:27.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24699" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-18T14:59:50.307" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't say what area of the world you are looking for maps of, but I see your profile locates you in Alberta.&#xA;If you were looking for locations in the USA, mapper.acme.com tiles USGS topo maps across the whole country like this: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7uO9V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7uO9V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;USA Topo&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xjqJM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xjqJM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;USA topo tiled mapper.acme.com&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several options for units etc, which are displayed as you navigate around the map, distances are provided relative to the cross hair location:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8EvWs.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8EvWs.png&quot; alt=&quot;mapper.acme.com options&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MqPnT.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MqPnT.png&quot; alt=&quot;mapper.acme.com options2&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maps for the rest of the world (including Canada) are less detailed, using  the World Topo option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7HN0W.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7HN0W.png&quot; alt=&quot;World Topo, Canada&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lJpa5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lJpa5.png&quot; alt=&quot;Monaco mapper.acme.com&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T14:59:50.307" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24700" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-18T16:24:07.053" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For USA:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery/topographic-maps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/tnm-delivery/topographic-maps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incredibly complete, and free.  Maps are big PDFs (40mb or so).  Not quicky navigated but well organized.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15978" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T16:24:07.053" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24701" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18871" CreationDate="2020-01-18T19:39:46.170" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While water works and is precise, I strong suggest doing this outside or in the bathtub.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A much easier way is to get a bag of packing peanuts, either by scrounging from your local receiving department, or buy a bag at a shipping supply company.  You may even be able to borrow some from your shipping department.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This won't be as precise.  The peanuts don't fill all the voids as well as water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Measure using a white 5 gallon pail.  Calibrate the pail with 1 liter container, putting the marks on the outside.  A strong light on the inside will show you the level inside the pail.  After you have done the calibration, you can transfer the marks to the inside.  Nominal 5 gallon pails will usually have between 19.6 and 21 liters volume. (Gotta love standards -- so many to choose from)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fill the pail with peanuts. Dump into the pack.  Repeat until full.  Note the amount left in the pail.  If you have a 20 liter pail, and you did 3 pails and have 8 left over in the pail, you have a 3 * 20 + (20 - 8) = 72 liters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in an outdoor club you can do this as an evening activity, and see how companies lie.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may want to track exterior pockets separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare to doing your best estimate using L x W x H with it hold a sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-18T19:39:46.170" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24702" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2020-01-18T20:33:15.317" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For climbers it may be of use.  Igneous or strongly metamorphic rocks are much preferred for climbing to sedimentary rocks.  Knowing the rock outcroppings may make a difference in new country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you combine your back country hobby with rock collecting, prospecting etc it would be quite useful.  Some minerals/gems/ores are associated very strongly with rock types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certain plants are associated with certain soil types, which in turn are associated with certain rock types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  Asked for source of above opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going only on the talk of my climber friends.  Point still remains:  Once you found shattered ryolite on one exposure, you could make a good guess that it would be similar on other exposures.  Similarly if you like climbing limestone then knowing where there are other exposures is a win.  A good geology map will tell not only 'limestone' but often which formation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subterranean water flow is very rock dependent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in caving/spelunking/bat research knowing where limestone is would be helpful. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-01-20T15:38:23.357" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T15:38:23.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-18T23:46:58.210" Score="1" Body="&lt;h3&gt;iOS - PocketEarth.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;About 8-10$, IIRC.  It uses OpenStreetMap, and downloads, no charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Relevant to your question is that you can pay another 8-10$ and unlock the download topo maps for areas that have them.  More exactly, I think it downloads contours, and some things, like say trails, might still be coming from OpenStreetMap, &lt;em&gt;rather than a full-on hiking-type, high-detail, topo map.&lt;/em&gt;  It's vector based, so it zooms in and out very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Used on an iPad, it's quite good.  Even a small phone is quite acceptable (I have an SE).  Note that iPads come in wifi-only and cellular flavors.  Only the cellular (about $150 more) has on-board GPS, which works even if you don't put in a SIM for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also downloads landmark descriptions off Wikipedia and you can put annotated markers on the maps.  One drawback is its zoom in/out hiding of features - if you're talking about a really small trail or road, Pocket will hide it until you zoom in enough, even if the general area is featureless and has no other roads.  That does make it hard to plan a big picture trip (you can add your own markers to let you where to zoom, but...).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrsKs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IrsKs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and a zoom on the lake in the lower left&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wNdrh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wNdrh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no affiliation with them, but I love this app, for camping and for traveling as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  for some reason, their contours only download for the lower half of SK, your lake is in the twilight zone, apparently.  This is odd, I have seen contour data for everywhere else, including in Peru.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a point about 300km due south of your lake, which is in the topo coverage area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rUJ8D.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rUJ8D.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;iOS - &quot;Topo&quot; app&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Topo, free IIRC, is in many ways much more rudimentary than PocketEarth, but it does acquire general topo maps for Canada (3 different types).  It does not show grid lines, and worse, does not display your GPS location, but it does stitch topo tiles (of the same type) together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a location near your lake, with 2-3 tiles stitched together.  I've added the lines and flag, which provide &lt;strong&gt;very basic&lt;/strong&gt; annotation capability.  You can apparently also add GPX maps.  It has gotten better since I first used it, and stopped doing so, now it looks more optimized in terms of zoom and lag time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;note:  zooming in does not show all that much more (this is a raster, not vector, map), except that labels for place names, like the Brustadt river here, become apparent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h3g7d.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/h3g7d.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Government Canada&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, Government Canada provides freely downloadable topo maps (not always recent), once you figure out their very confusing website.  I've done it before, and gotten my maps, but it's &lt;strong&gt;painful&lt;/strong&gt;.  Here's an &lt;a href=&quot;https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/d248b5be-5887-4cfb-942f-d425d82e6ea9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;entry point&lt;/a&gt; for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-01-22T19:33:31.643" LastActivityDate="2020-01-22T19:33:31.643" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24705" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24706" CreationDate="2020-01-19T16:09:05.970" Score="4" ViewCount="336" Body="&lt;p&gt;I came across an interesting looking device on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Professional/Mobile-fall-arresters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl website&lt;/a&gt;. As per the description,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;the mobile fall arresters follow the user automatically as he moves,&#xA;  whether on an inclined or vertical surface. In case of a shock load or&#xA;  sudden acceleration, they lock onto the rope and stop the fall&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me this sort of device might be potentially useful to arrest a fall into a crevasse, or even while climbing on fixed rope (smoother than using a jumar or prussik which needs to be manually pulled up continually). Has anyone heard of this being done in practice? If not, does it seem viable to be tried out for such applications? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T22:03:40.927" Title="Are &quot;fall-arrester&quot; devices used in climbing/mountaineering?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;glaciers&gt;&lt;crevasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24705" CreationDate="2020-01-20T07:29:41.680" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Professional use&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These devices are intended for professional rope work. When doing rope access work, there are typically two ropes involved. One is the working line which is loaded with the worker's weight. The second rope is a backup line which is only loaded in case the working line fails. An arrester device is running along on the backup rope and moving up and down the backup line with you. If you fall because your main rope fails, it will lock and catch you. As this may easily result in a factor 2 fall on a static rope, a shock absorber is used with such devices. I have used such a setup when doing route-setting and it is really working fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mountaineering&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in mountaineering, the situation is a bit different. For weight reasons, there is typically only a single rope fixed[2]. While mountaineering, one is always moving. When following a fixed rope, there are 3 possibilities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going up: A simple ascender is sufficient, if the fixed rope section is short enough a prusik knot will do just fine as well. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Traversing: No need for an arrester at all. A locking carabiner clipped into the fixed rope is enough to prevent a bad fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Going down: Rappel the fixed rope. As there is no backup rope, an arrester would not be helpful.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For mountaineering, I cannot really see a use for this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rock climbing&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;The only potential use I can see is solo top-rope climbing, for example practicing the crux of your project. In this case, one is typically self belayed by an ascender. If there is the possibility that the rope is running over edges [3] and might break, a backup line can make sense. The fall-arrester would allow to climb up and down without any hassle and still provide more security. However, the safety standards are a bit different in climbing, mountaineering, and professional rope work. Therefore I have never seen anybody actually use a backup line in this case. Doing a rebelay [4] is typically sufficient for this case as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[2] Meaning a single rope that one can trust. Old ropes from last year's expedition do neither count as a primary line nor as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[3] In case of sharp edges, a rope protector should be used&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[4] This means fixing the rope to an intermediate piece of gear or bolt after the potential sharp edge with minimal slack. The weight is now on this piece and the rope will no longer rub along the edge. This is nicely explained in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd13IaWS8gQ&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dave McLeods video on self belay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2020-01-20T22:03:40.927" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T22:03:40.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24707" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24705" CreationDate="2020-01-20T07:58:50.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This kind of device is rarely used in sports as it is only useful when used with fixed ropes. You mentioned crevasses: The rope is not fixed here and you are tied in, so it is hard to image how such a fall arrestor would help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;However&lt;/strong&gt;, one kind of climbing frequently uses vertical fixed (steel) lines: Via Ferratas! In typical Via Ferrata kits, shock absorbers are used since falls will generate big shock loads. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.skylotec.com/eu_en/sport/products/via-ferrata-sets/rider-3-0-l-0672.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Skylotec makes a kit&lt;/a&gt; that basically has a fall arrestor on one arm of a standard Via Ferrata kit. This device seems inspired by the professional devices you mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Note: I have never used this device, so I can't comment on how well it handles etc.)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T07:58:50.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15861" CreationDate="2020-01-20T15:48:30.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Fossil hunting&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends what you want out of your expedition, and if hunting fossils in far flung places is your thing then a geological map will take you a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bgs.ac.uk/igeology/onTheRocks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bgs.ac.uk/igeology/onTheRocks.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T15:48:30.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-20T19:10:34.473" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I personally use several WMS layers (Web Map Service) in GIS software. Many are free to use, some are licenced. Here's a short list that might interest you:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://caltopo.com/about&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;CalTopo&lt;/a&gt;: has USGS and NRCan scanned topo maps, tiled into one layer&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://vgo.portailcartographique.gouv.qc.ca/mobile.aspx?gpz_point=-7409952.391302186,%206215035.784324403&amp;amp;echelle=8735660&amp;amp;epsg=3857&amp;amp;gpz_nomMap=-%20Carte%20topographique%2020k&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quebec 20K topo maps&lt;/a&gt;: 20K topographic cover of the Quebec data. Very precise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all agencies have gone through the process of scanning paper maps and producing public web services, but if you want good access to CalTopo, I usually access the layer through &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.peakbagger.com&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;peakbagger.com&lt;/a&gt; (the author has a licence), which I use regularly anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using Caltopo on their own website or through an intemediary like peakbagger.com doesn't require you to have GIS software and is probably the best course of action for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, here's what the NRCan maps on CalTopo look like for the area you showed in the question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M5JYB.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M5JYB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2020-01-21T16:06:25.983" LastActivityDate="2020-01-21T16:06:25.983" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4801" CreationDate="2020-01-20T19:33:15.647" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some articles about microfractures:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;We dropped 30 carabiners from heights of 21, 40, and 109 feet onto concrete, filmed the impact on high-speed video, and tested their ultimate strength.  ... There was no difference in breaking strength between brand new carabiners and ones that had been dropped, even from 110 feet. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.outdoorsafetyinstitute.com/index.php/news/single/should_you_retire_a_dropped_carabiner/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.outdoorsafetyinstitute.com/index.php/news/single/should_you_retire_a_dropped_carabiner/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Omega Pacific also tested carabiners that had been dropped from unknown heights off El Cap. If anything, O.P.’s report shows that a piece of gear gets stronger while flying through the atmosphere then impacting rock—those dropped carabiners broke at loads higher than their rated strengths.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/is-dropped-gear-still-safe/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/is-dropped-gear-still-safe/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Q. Is it okay to use carabiners that have been dropped? ... It's best to inspect dropped gear for dings and significant trauma. If only light scratching is visible and gate action is still good, there is a good chance it is fit for usage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/faqs.html#CLIMB&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/faqs.html#CLIMB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;If you've ever seen a pull test, you know that carabiners actually stretch quite a bit before they ever break. Aluminum's inherent ductile nature prevents the danger of microfractures. ... REI employees have done controlled pull tests of carabiners dropped from 30+ feet onto a concrete floor and found no strength difference when comparing the &quot;microfractured&quot; carabiners to a control group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://web.archive.org/web/20180612184520/https://www.roadtoelcap.com/blog/the-5-biggest-safety-related-myths-in-rock-climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://web.archive.org/web/20180612184520/https://www.roadtoelcap.com/blog/the-5-biggest-safety-related-myths-in-rock-climbing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Micro fractures did appear in what are now decades-old Chouinard carabiners. They radiated from the holes drilled to accept the gate pins, and you could clearly see the cracks. This was a manufacturing flaw and was corrected ... aluminum, the stuff climbing gear is made of, is soft. Take a hammer, beat on a carabiner and see if you can crack it. This is where we are today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/are-micro-fractures-real/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/are-micro-fractures-real/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2020-01-20T19:54:22.327" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T19:54:22.327" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24678" CreationDate="2020-01-20T23:29:27.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a stupid system, even without looking at it.  I don't see it as having any advantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't take my phone with me in the back country.  There's no reception.  How do I find out the code I'm in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like the phone system, it tries to avoid having neighbouring zones having similar coordinates (area code/words)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The conventional coordinate systems  at least are tolerant of certain errors.  Degrees to 4 or 5 decimal places locate you close enough to hit with a pine cone, and if you are going on a conventional outing, your base people know where you are to some fairly close degree.  The whole idea of UTM is that 6 digits gets you to within a football field -- if the person at the other end knows where you are to within 100 km first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many of the rescue agencies use it now?  So you have a delay while they turn Electric.Ambling.Hippos into a lat/long set of coordinates on some web page.  This can be a serious delay, as the helicopter base station doesn't have cell reception either. And just hope that someone writing this down didn't put down Erection.Rambling.zippos which is over in East Horsebiscuit, South Dakota.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I used UTM grid once to report an accident.  My GPS was set to that to work with the topo maps I was carrying.  Turns out the chopper pilot only could knew lat/long. That's what his device read.  Cost me an extra 20 minutes wait, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD THE EXACT SAME PAPER MAP I DID. Didn't cause extra grief.  Boy had a torn knee ligament.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do have an InReach.  Push the &quot;HELP&quot; button, and my coordinates are on their way to my designated contact.  If you have a SPOT it works the same way.  If you have a PLB, turn it on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I'm the back country, I set up a list of checkpoints.  I leave a copy of my maps with the checkpoints.  Daily I send back both the lat/long but also my text location relative to the nearest check point.  (2 Km East checkpoint 6A) to give some degree of error checking if someone doesn't transcribe the coordinates correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a nav aid in what passes for civilization, I can use my phone to send a pin.  If I phone 911, my location goes with that call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a game aid, make up your own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ran a ROGAINE style program for 6 years.  I had 1300 controls scattered out over 200 km2 of territory, each with an alpha numberic ID and a code word.  Clues had the ID, the ID showed you found the right one.  Returning the code word showed you'd actually been there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-20T23:29:27.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24712" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-21T15:38:26.157" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if it covers Canada or not but have you checked out the GaiaGPS app?  It's phone rather than desktop but it can serve up topos at a variable scale, I just don't know how much of the world is covered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you pay the subscription fee you can actually download the maps onto your phone to carry into the backcountry.  Without payment it will only work where it has internet service.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-01-21T15:38:26.157" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24713" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-21T22:32:11.457" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canadian topographic maps are available here for viewing: &lt;a href=&quot;https://atlas.gc.ca/toporama/en/index.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://atlas.gc.ca/toporama/en/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;QGIS- a free and open source GIS software package is available for windows, Apple, and Linux.  You may find yourself spending some of your winter hours over at GIS Stack Exchange learning to use QGIS.&#xA;In QGIS you could add a new layer as a WMS layer and post this into the URL to get a seamless topo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://maps.geogratis.gc.ca/wms/canvec_en?request=getcapabilities&amp;amp;service=wms&amp;amp;version=1.3.0&amp;amp;layers=canvec&amp;amp;legend_format=image/png&amp;amp;feature_info_type=text/html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://maps.geogratis.gc.ca/wms/canvec_en?request=getcapabilities&amp;amp;service=wms&amp;amp;version=1.3.0&amp;amp;layers=canvec&amp;amp;legend_format=image/png&amp;amp;feature_info_type=text/html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user17013" LastEditorDisplayName="user17013" LastEditDate="2020-01-21T23:04:58.707" LastActivityDate="2020-01-21T23:04:58.707" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24715" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-22T04:18:35.763" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Semi-selfcontained desktop solution:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ozi-Explorer.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oziexplorer4.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.oziexplorer4.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This program allows you to have a folder of maps images.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You then can download a program called 'map merge' (same outfit) which can use the calibration to create a merged map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a bit kludgy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This program also allows you to import and export waypoints and routes to your GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-01-22T04:18:35.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24696" CreationDate="2020-01-22T16:50:43.857" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Norway&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://norgeskart.no&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norgeskart&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TwWqn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TwWqn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Screenshot Norgeskart&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://norgeskart.no/#!?project=norgeskart&amp;amp;layers=1004&amp;amp;zoom=11&amp;amp;lat=7525204.08&amp;amp;lon=561814.80&amp;amp;markerLat=7525362.749999999&amp;amp;markerLon=573694.0312499999&amp;amp;panel=searchOptionsPanel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;location&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Sweden&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://kso.etjanster.lantmateriet.se/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kartsök och Ortsnamn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;NB: does not provide same view as paper maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Finland&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://asiointi.maanmittauslaitos.fi/karttapaikka/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Karttapaikka&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Switzerland&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://map.geo.admin.ch/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/azLuf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/azLuf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;screenshot swisstopo&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://s.geo.admin.ch/86f98987b3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;location&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;France&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/donnees/carte-topographique-ign&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Carte topographique IGN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Spain&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ign.es/iberpix2/visor/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Visor Iberpix&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QarPw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QarPw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;screenshot Visor Iberpix&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Russia&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many options (see [this question on GIS.SE](&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/21534/4904&quot;&gt;https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/21534/4904&lt;/a&gt;)), I like to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://nakarte.me/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://nakarte.me/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fqbab.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fqbab.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;screenshot nakarte&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://nakarte.me/#m=13/65.02832/59.79773&amp;amp;l=O/B&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;location&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally, those are the only maps I've ever seen to indicate the width, depth, and bottom condition of rivers (see also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/21483/566&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-01-22T17:10:33.260" LastActivityDate="2020-01-22T17:10:33.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24717" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-23T04:10:38.273" Score="6" ViewCount="245" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know of an area in california where I could hunt nutria? I've looked on the CDFW articles but there is not much. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17773" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T17:05:08.980" Title="California nutria hunting" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;invasive-species&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24717" CreationDate="2020-01-23T16:47:48.367" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read the same articles, and it sounds like the invasive species management professionals expect to be able to completely eradicate the nutria without needing assistance from the public at hunting them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're actively soliciting help from members of the public to report any new sightings of nutria. When they get a new report, they respond by &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Monitoring the area for nutria, using intensive monitoring methods and equipment (trained nutria-detecting dogs, trail cameras, traps, etc).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If they confirm nutria in that area, hunting down and eradicating those nutria.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continuing to monitor the area for as long as necessary to confirm the nutria are completely eradicated. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That intensive of a detection, eradication and monitoring program doesn't usually leave much room for members of the public to help with hunting and eradication. Where they would need that kind of help is if the nutria do get out of hand, and nutria populations increase to the point where they don't have the resources to control them. At that point they might want help from hunters and trappers to keep the populations under control.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you could do is contact the CDFW and ask if you can volunteer to help with the program. My guess is they have plenty of funding for step 2, so they don't need any help with eradication. But they may welcome help with steps 1 or 3.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-01-23T16:47:48.367" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24721" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-25T18:50:42.033" Score="4" ViewCount="170" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sun_protective_clothing&amp;amp;oldid=930941768&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sun_protective_clothing&amp;amp;oldid=930941768&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A relatively new rating designation for sun protective textiles and clothing is UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor), which represents the ratio of sunburn-causing UV measured without and with the protection of the fabric. For example, a fabric rated UPF 30 means that, if 30 units of UV fall on the fabric, only 1 unit will pass through to the skin. A UPF 30 fabric that blocks 29 out of 30 units of UV is therefore blocking 96.7%. Unlike SPF (Sun Protection Factor) measurements that traditionally use human sunburn testing, UPF is measured using a laboratory instrument (spectrophotometer or spectroradiometer) and an artificial light source, and then &lt;strong&gt;applying a sunburn weighting curve (&lt;a href=&quot;http://cie.co.at/publications/erythema-reference-action-spectrum-and-standard-erythema-dose-0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;erythemal action spectrum&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/strong&gt; across the relevant UV wavelengths. Theoretically, human SPF testing and instrument UPF testing both generate comparable measurements of a product's ability to protect against sunburn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From my understanding, this means that SPF should always be equal to UPF, i.e. that they measure the exact same thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, both &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blockislandorganics.com/Blog/post/2018/07/11/Is-There-A-Difference-Between-SPF-UPF.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.blockislandorganics.com/Blog/post/2018/07/11/Is-There-A-Difference-Between-SPF-UPF.aspx&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://archive.is/wip/s7lIQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mirror&lt;/a&gt;) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.coolibar.com/whats-the-difference-between-spf-and-upf/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://blog.coolibar.com/whats-the-difference-between-spf-and-upf/&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://archive.is/7xW1J&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mirror&lt;/a&gt;) claim that UPF measures UVB and UVA protection whereas SPF only measures UVB (which contradicts Wikipedia, since the latter claims that both SPF and UPF are erythemally weighted). Also, if SPF is equal to UPF, then why having two metrics?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This confuses me. What is the difference between SPF (Sun Protection Factor) and UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor), if any?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2667" LastEditorUserId="2667" LastEditDate="2020-01-26T01:18:14.140" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T12:30:00.930" Title="What is the difference between SPF and UPF, if any?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;health&gt;&lt;uv-protection&gt;&lt;sun&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24722" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-25T22:32:03.223" Score="3" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do I get rid of bad smell of mountaineering boots / skiing boots which comes from sweaty feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know the best way is preventing that smell by putting them in a ventilated area, but sometimes it is not possible or too late, e.g., you are on a glacier trip which takes more than 12 hours. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If possible, I would like to avoid chemicals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2020-01-26T07:59:57.933" Title="Post-hike shoe care" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24723" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24722" CreationDate="2020-01-25T23:31:15.010" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use lysol disinfectant spray on my climbing shoes every once in a while. It works quite well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, since you say you want to avoid chemicals, you may want to try cedar shoe / boot trees. The 'natural' chemicals in cedar wood are antifungal / antibacterial and it emits it's own aroma to help cut through the smell. I wouldn't say this is the 'best way', but it's a way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be a cloth sack (a sock) filled with baking soda stuffed into the boot. Baking soda is of course, a chemical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2020-01-25T23:31:15.010" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24721" CreationDate="2020-01-26T07:42:33.833" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;SPF and UPF both have very similar purposes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the are metrics for different things - the first is for rating sunscreen creams, they latter is for apparel. The measurement method is different in both (one measures how much gets through, the other measures how much is filtered out). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunrays have two types of UV rays (UV-A and UV-B, the former causes aging, the latter causes skin burn, and they both increase the risk of skin cancer). UPF measurement considers both UVA and UVB, whereas SPF considers only UVB. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first mirror link in the answer already has sufficient information to answer the question, as I understand it. So I am just going to copy the relevant section below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;SPF&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Only measures UVB protection (make sure the sunscreen is labeled    “broad spectrum” to also get UVA protection) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Is the percentage of UVB rays filtered out  &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Applies to sunscreens&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;UPF&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Measures UVB and UVA protection &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Is the fraction of the sun’s UV rays that reach the skin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Applies to clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-01-27T12:30:00.930" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T12:30:00.930" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24722" CreationDate="2020-01-26T07:59:57.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are right that leaving the boots to air out periodically is the best solution, but not always doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Changing sweaty socks is a good way to get boots to smell less. Socks are easier to carry multiple pairs of, and to clean and dry out. Since socks are the first layer in contact with sweaty feet, clean socks usually imply less-smelly boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On longer trips in bad winter conditions, however, most measures are insufficient, and one gets used to it (not by choice, but by compulsion). But taking these measures is still a whole lot better than doing nothing at all. Using a small amount some form of anti-fungal powder on the feet is a good step too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Post-trip: most good hiking boots are fine with water and can be cleaned with a small amount of very gentle detergent (it is important to use a gentle detergent, so that the leather doesn't get ruined, and more importantly so that the glue doesn't come off). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I first wash all the dirt/mud/etc. off the boots, and then leave them dunked in a bucket of water (with a small amount of gentle detergent) for a couple hours or so, rinse thoroughly repeatedly and leave it to dry out in the shade for a couple days, and leave it to air out for a few more days, and then store it back with something lodged inside to preserve the shape. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also bear in mind that leaving boots idle in storage for long durations is not the best (especially for the PU in the midsole, which can start to rot). It is best to wear them from time to time, even when not actually hiking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-01-26T07:59:57.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24726" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-26T13:12:29.533" Score="3" ViewCount="270" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I found a really old deer skull in a forest and I took it home in the hope to get it cleaned up. So I searched it up but I only saw how to clean up dead deer heads with skin on and those who are already white almost. But I could not do the same because the one I found was old....Really old...It did not have any skin whatsoever and its antlers where gone. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It misses half its teeth. And it's super green...So can I use hydrogen peroxide like usual or something else to whiten it up or at least something that takes away the germs? Or should I throw it back into the forest?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19270" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T01:46:07.643" LastActivityDate="2020-01-29T18:42:08.887" Title="How do I whiten an old deer skull?" Tags="&lt;deer&gt;&lt;bones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24727" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-01-26T21:09:22.660" Score="6" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;For trip planning and navigation during my outdoors trip, I would like to load a track into my GPS (or GNSS) receiver.  Where can I find websites that gather user-contributed GPS tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T11:44:57.240" Title="Where can I find resources to find user-contributed GPS tracks?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24727" CreationDate="2020-01-26T21:09:22.660" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Different sites are strong in different parts of the world or for different activities, even if most aim to cover all activities.  This is a list of such websites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a community wiki effort.  Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/posts/24728/edit&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;edit this answer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to add other sites you are aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Global, all activities&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Alltrails&lt;/a&gt; (formerly also Everytrail, GPSies, and possibly other sites).  American company based in San Francisco.  Popular in North America.   Freemium model.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.openstreetmap.org/traces&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Openstreetmap traces&lt;/a&gt; (I don't know if there is any easy way to browse them).  Completely free (both gratis and libre).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trailforks.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trailforks&lt;/a&gt;.  Focus on mountain biking, but also includes other activities (albeit only 20k hiking trails worldwide).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://my.viewranger.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Viewranger&lt;/a&gt; (free account required)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikiloc.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikiloc&lt;/a&gt;.  Spanish/Catalonian company, popular in Europe, very popular in Spain.  Freemium model.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alltrails vs. Wikiloc?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears that in North America, Alltrails is more popular than Wikiloc, in southern Europe, Wikiloc is more popular than Alltrails, and elsewhere they might be similar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada): Alltrails has 131 hiking trails &#xA;including &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/explore?cc=true&amp;amp;b_tl_lat=49.0581762474862&amp;amp;b_tl_lng=-113.93296480178832&amp;amp;b_br_lat=49.04276294851421&amp;amp;b_br_lng=-113.88633728027344&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;56 from Waterton Park&lt;/a&gt;,  Wikiloc has &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do?lt=49.0499&amp;amp;ln=-113.9088&amp;amp;z=16&amp;amp;k=1&amp;amp;event=map&amp;amp;act=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;18 from Waterton Park&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Theodore Roosevelt National Park (USA, North Unit), Alltrails has 17, Wikiloc has 1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (Spain), Wikiloc contains ~25k hiking tracks, including &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/map.do?lt=42.6491&amp;amp;ln=-0.0582&amp;amp;z=18&amp;amp;k=1&amp;amp;event=map&amp;amp;act=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5,280 from one popular trailhead&lt;/a&gt;.  AllTrails contains ~250 in the park and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/explore?cc=true&amp;amp;b_tl_lat=42.65174341546969&amp;amp;b_tl_lng=-0.06541907787322998&amp;amp;b_br_lat=42.647419050080316&amp;amp;b_br_lng=-0.053762197494506836&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;74 from the same trailhead&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From Kvikkjokk, Sweden, AllTrails has 29, Wikiloc has 24.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I checked some parks in Namibia and South Korea where they were also in balance in popularity.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Regional or special purpose&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycling, worldwide: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bikemap.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bikemap.net&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Walking, Scotland: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/find-a-walk.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Walkhighlands&lt;/a&gt; (Scottish walks, not just Highlands but all over Scotland)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-05T11:44:57.240" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T11:44:57.240" CommentCount="2" CommunityOwnedDate="2020-01-26T21:09:22.660" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24442" CreationDate="2020-01-27T07:53:08.683" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a fair little collection of bones and skulls at home, which I have gathered since I was a kid on countless hikes and vacations in the great outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I normally do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the skull &lt;strong&gt;doesn't stink&lt;/strong&gt; that generally means there is no longer any decomposing flesh on it - and the odours would also the main problem for me when taking it indoors. From the looks of your photo this might be the case here, as the shown discolourations generally take a while to form during witch all the organic parts will be eaten away by your helpful woodland friends such as ants, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what I do is generally just cleaning the skulls with some &lt;strong&gt;warm water and little dish soap&lt;/strong&gt;. If there is some dirt I might use some mechanical way of cleaning, i.e. an old toothbrush / hand brush. The soap should get rid of most bacteria on the surface, and,  at least in my experience, was completely sufficient if your just planning to place the skull on the mantlepiece or some shelf. (I'm guessing you're not planning to create a skull chalice to drink wine from, are you? ;))&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now, if the skull still has a &lt;strong&gt;strong odour&lt;/strong&gt; and/or you still see bits of flesh/skin/... then you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; have to find a stronger/more agressive way of cleaning it - otherwise the stench will certainly prevent you from keeping it as a souvenir. There are multiple ways to go about this (aggressive chemicals, ants, ...), I suggest having a look at some Youtube videos.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T07:53:08.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24730" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24442" CreationDate="2020-01-27T13:48:30.967" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like the answer by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24729/4079&quot;&gt;@fgysin&lt;/a&gt; and agree that is the current condition, soap and water is all you need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there there was still meat on the bone &lt;strong&gt;AND&lt;/strong&gt; if you live out in country, take the skull to an ant nest and let them clean the meat off.  Leave the skull next to the nest for a few weeks until it is all clean.  When it is clean move it a few feet away for a day or so, this will give any ants on it a chance to get back to their home.  Then take it to your home for a cleaning with soap and water.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T13:48:30.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24731" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24738" CreationDate="2020-01-27T14:59:15.450" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've noticed that the vegetation in the subalpine forest is very different between the Alps, the Urals, Scandinavia, or the Canadian Rockies.  In the latter, I didn't find any at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Alps, the subalpine forest immediately below the tree line is dominated by spruce and larch.  The tree line for broad-leafed trees is lower down, but all layers of the forest see autumn colours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rNOEw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rNOEw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo above Alpe Mattignale&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/151583840@N02/49042483077/in/album-72157711719565113/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Above Alpe Mattignale, Piemonte, Italy, 2019-10-17&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Norway, Sweden, and Finland, it is dominated by birch forests; the tree line for pine and spruce is further down.  The beautiful autumn colours are in the birch forests.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cMBh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cMBh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;photo in Børgefjell&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/151583840@N02/30068994027/in/album-72157701892273625/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Børgefjell Nasjonalpark, Trøndelag, Norway, 2018-09-13&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the Canadian Rockies, it was dominated by spruce, pine, and fir.  I saw little to no birch or larch and was missing fall colors.  For this reason (among others), I enjoyed my hike there less compared to the ones in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;(will upload photo soon)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the sub-polar Ural, I saw a mixture of all of the above, leading to the most spectacular mixture of autumn colours I had yet seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rmEtM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rmEtM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo in Ural&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/151583840@N02/48988442817/in/album-72157711557943983/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;In the Косью river valley, Yugyd-Va National Park, Russia, 2019-09-08&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a hike near the tree line, I can find autumn colours in the Alps, Scandinavia, and the Ural, but I failed when I was in the Canadian Rockies.  Can I find fall colours in Northwestern North American mountains?  I might have the opportunity to fulfill my long dream of a hike in Kluane National Park this year in September.  Since this is as far from the Canadian Rockies as the Scandinavian mountains from the Alps, there is no strong reason to expect similar vegetation.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/kluane/nature/flore-flora&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kluane National Park website&lt;/a&gt; does mention dwarf birches, but not how common they are.  It does not mention larches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How common are fall colours in the tundra and the taiga near the treeline in Alaska and Yukon?  I'm a bit skeptical of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alaska/fall-foliage-ak-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;x best places lists&lt;/a&gt; (in particular if they declare &lt;em&gt;the most spectacular fall season in the entire world&lt;/em&gt;, some of their photos only show evergreen trees, and their ranking methodology is undisclosed).  I was disappointed in Jasper National Park.  Will I have better luck to find fall colours in the Kluane / Wrangell–St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-01-27T15:08:16.073" LastActivityDate="2020-01-30T05:25:28.710" Title="Fall/autumn colours in northwest North American mountains" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;autumn&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24733" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24734" CreationDate="2020-01-27T21:50:51.637" Score="4" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been watching &quot;A Line Across the Sky&quot; which is a short-ish movie about Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold doing the Fitz Roy traverse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;During which Tommy Caldwell mentions Alex doing a 1000 and 2000 foot pitch up the North wall. I can't understand how this is possible? I assume he's not climbing without a rope but how does this work, like logistically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19278" LastEditorUserId="19278" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T16:25:34.470" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T16:25:34.470" Title="Question about climbing in &quot;A Line Across the Sky&quot;" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24734" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24733" CreationDate="2020-01-27T22:39:51.657" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;In his book &quot;The Push&quot; he describes this a bit. Most of the time they were using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simul_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;running belay&lt;/a&gt; which means they were climbing at the same time with some pieces of protection in between them to avoid a deadly fall. This technique allows to climb very long &quot;pitches&quot; with a normal length rope. Once the leader runs out of gear, he makes a belay and belays the second up. Then they hand over the gear or switch leads. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A note of caution:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Running belays are an advanced technique that should not be used if there is any realistic possibility of a fall. This is a safer alternative to going ropeless not an alternative to a proper belay pitch by pitch&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-01-27T22:39:51.657" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24665" CreationDate="2020-01-28T13:10:19.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Outside of identifying the organization / group that maintains the access roads you're interested in and seeing if they have a web presence, I think a good starting place would be to check out some crowd-sourced info. People who are invested in those areas, or who just like helping out tend to leave comments about a place they just visited. I will say I've only used these resources for hiking purposes, but maybe it could be helpful for you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hikingproject.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Hiking Project&lt;/a&gt; is by REI, and is my default go to app, but they have other similar &quot;Project&quot; sites that could be useful in gathering info:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mountain&lt;/a&gt; (climbing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mtbproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MTB&lt;/a&gt; (mountain biking)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.powderproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Powder&lt;/a&gt; (backcountry boarding)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trailrunproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trail Run&lt;/a&gt; (obviously...trail running)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specific/Other Links:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8009525/adirondack-region&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Hiking Project - Adirondack Region&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/explore/parks/us/new-york/high-peaks-wilderness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;AllTrails - High Peaks Wilderness&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NYDEC Adirondack Backcountry Information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently I need 10 or more reputation points to post more than 8 links, so if you are still looking for info, I'm happy to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19264" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-01-28T14:54:46.470" LastActivityDate="2020-01-28T14:54:46.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24737" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24726" CreationDate="2020-01-29T18:42:08.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hydrogen peroxide or a light bleach solution will work. Another good way is leaving it outside in direct sunlight for a month or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5921" LastActivityDate="2020-01-29T18:42:08.887" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24731" CreationDate="2020-01-30T05:25:28.710" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's what I could glean from the websites of the parks you mentioned. The key thing to know here is that when describing the common type of forest in an area, tree species are listed starting with the most common species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/kluane/nature/flore-flora&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kluane National Park and Reserve&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A montane forest of white spruce, trembling aspen and balsam poplar covers much of the lower valleys and slopes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This sounds like white spruce is the most common, but I would expect a good amount of aspen and poplar mixed in. Both should give some good yellow fall color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Since the spruce bark beetle outbreak, the relative dominance of deciduous trees in the overstory has significantly increased in the southern but not the northern area of the Park. There is significantly more willow than tall regenerating spruce which could inhibit tree regeneration in the understory. As of 2015, the forest remained spruce dominated with a deciduous component within the range of natural variability. &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/kluane/nature/recherche-research&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; (scroll down to section, &quot;Forest composition and structure&quot;)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, most of the mature spruce were killed by the spruce bark beetle. Deciduous trees (IE the ones that make good fall color) are now more common in the southern area of the park than they used to be. All the dead spruce trees look pretty bleak in &lt;a href=&quot;https://pcacdn.azureedge.net/-/media/pn-np/yt/kluane/WET4/decouvrir-discover/Nature/Conservation/Forest/Beetle-kill-KaskawulshValley-banner.jpg?la=en&amp;amp;modified=20180807223929&amp;amp;hash=7815D68CDC65C07A7C8AE69842C36833B02A4872&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this photo&lt;/a&gt;. So, consider whether you'll still enjoy fall colors when they're intermixed with the skeletons of a forest destroyed by an invasive species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Low-growing or stunted shrubs in the transition zone include: willow, dwarf birch, and alder, which provide protection for the smaller plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Willows turn yellow, but the foliage can be rather thin so they don't always provide a great pop of color. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa) looks like a winner - expect low-growing patches of reddish-orange. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alders (in this region, at least) don't provide fall color - they stay green long after other trees lose their leaves. (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/alders-go-their-own-way-autumn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/nature/common-trees.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wrangell-St. Elias National Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Of the hardwood trees in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park the most prominent is the &lt;strong&gt;Quaking Aspen&lt;/strong&gt; (Populus tremuloides).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Paper Birch&lt;/strong&gt; (Betula papyrifera) is not as widespread as the aspen. However, it is evident in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The Paper Birch species are very quick to colonize areas that have been affected by wildfire. Generally the areas following the fire will have a mixed stand of Paper Birch and Quaking Aspen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Black Spruce&lt;/strong&gt; (Picea mariana) trees are one of the two main evergreen tree species in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. These trees occur in the more mature stages of the Boreal forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;White Spruce&lt;/strong&gt; (Picea glauca) trees are found throughout roadsides in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize: expect excellent fall colors in areas that had wildfires between 10 and 75 years ago. Areas that haven't burned in the past century will be dominated by spruce. I didn't find any maps of fires, but that information probably exists somewhere. Call and ask the visitor's center for advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/images/Caribou-crop.jpg?maxwidth=1200&amp;amp;autorotate=false&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this photo&lt;/a&gt; of a caribou resting in fall-colored shrubs, you can expect excellent fall color in the unforested areas as well. I can't tell what species are in the photo, but interspersed through the grass are two kinds of shrubs, one a bright greenish-yellow and the other a muted red.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/plants.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glacier Bay National Park &amp;amp; Preserve&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Pioneer communities can develop into dense thickets of nitrogen-fixing alder and cottonwood that enrich the soil and provide shelter for other colonizing species such as willow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Farthest away from the glaciers in time and space, the lowlands near the mouth of Glacier Bay have become cloaked in a spruce/hemlock rainforest and lush, spongy tracts of muskeg. In the surrounding mountains, thick mats of flowers and heath carpet the alpine hills and meadows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That breaks down into four vegetative communities:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Pioneer communities&quot; - these have alder and cottonwood. Alder will not have good fall color, but cottonwood will. It's not clear where to find these communities - I guess in areas that were recently covered by glacier.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spruce/hemlock rainforest. Both are conifers, these areas won't have good fall color. These are in the lowlands near the mouth of Glacier Bay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Muskeg, or peatlands, sounds promising. Expect low-growing vegetation with good fall color (more red than yellow) interspersed with clumps of dark green conifer trees. These are also in the lowlands near the mouth of Glacier Bay. Of course peatlands are usually quite wet, so you probably want view them from a distance rather than hiking through them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Vegetation on muskegs is variable but is characterized by dense stands of sphagnum moss, herbaceous plants such as sedges, rushes, forbs, and low growing shrubs. In exposed locations and in drier areas, tall shrubs and scattered shrublike trees may be relatively abundant. &lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/journals/pnw_1985_robuck001.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Common Plants of the Muskegs of Southeast Alaska&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mosses, sedges and rushes don't make good fall color. Bog shrubs tend to turn some nice reds, oranges and yellows, and they hold onto their leaves longer than many deciduous trees. The plant list includes leatherleaf, blueberries, and rubus (blackberry/raspberry/dewberry), which all have good fall color. The trees are all conifers, so they will stay green.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alpine hills and meadows, which are carpeted with wildflowers heath. It also sounds like the alpine meadows have a lot of bearberry, which turns a beautiful vibrant red in the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tatshens/nat_cul.html#conservation&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The valley of the upper Tatshenshini is characterized by open sub-alpine forests, often with extensive poplar stands and alpine tundra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extensive poplar stands means there will be good yellow fall color. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Below the mouth of the O’Connor River, the Tatshenshini is dramatically different. ... the mixed &lt;strong&gt;spruce-willow-birch forest&lt;/strong&gt; found along this stretch of the river is unique in BC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mixture of conifer and deciduous trees means there will be some fall color mixed with darker green of the conifers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In BC, the Alsek Valley is very different from the Tatshenshini. ... The broad, braided, silt-grey flows past dense groves of &lt;strong&gt;paper birch, willow and aspen&lt;/strong&gt;. Higher slopes are covered with &lt;strong&gt;shrubby willows and slide alder&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Birch and aspen have good yellow fall color. Willows are usually less spectacular in the fall; as noted elsewhere some species of aspen stay green well into the winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Unless otherwise noted, the source of each quote is the official page for that park, at the link provided in the park name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-01-30T05:25:28.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24739" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25853" CreationDate="2020-01-31T00:11:24.517" Score="4" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;I frequently encounter trout sitting in the tail of a pool just above the start of the next rapid. So the trout is in slow water with much faster water downstream of it. So typically the fly is swept downstream too fast by the line and leader in the faster current. How does one avoid drag in such a situation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An across or downstream presentation works sometimes but frequently vegetation prevents this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastActivityDate="2021-01-18T09:27:07.200" Title="How should I cast to a trout lying in the tail of the pool?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24741" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24742" CreationDate="2020-01-31T22:40:17.857" Score="3" ViewCount="304" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am considering getting a Garmin InReach device (a device allowing two-way satellite communication via text messages) and I am trying to decipher the hidden costs of the subscription that comes along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I understand correctly how it works, the communication is possible by sending a message to a regular phone number, to an email, to another InReach device. In the case where I send an email to some friends or family members, I assume they can reply for free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://explore.garmin.com/en-CA/inreach/#subscriptions&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;subscription page&lt;/a&gt; lists the pricing for sending a different kinds of messages and receiving the weather forecast, but it never mentions a price for receiving messages, nor does the help section of the website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I use an InReach device, is there any cost when I receive a message, either for me or for the sender?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="731" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-01T06:40:56.423" LastActivityDate="2020-02-01T06:40:56.423" Title="Do Garmin InReach plans include unlimited incoming messages?" Tags="&lt;communication&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24741" CreationDate="2020-02-01T06:40:35.760" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Incoming messages count against the limit of text messages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;strong&gt;any message sent back to your inReach device&lt;/strong&gt;, including replies to preset messages, &lt;strong&gt;count against your monthly message allotment.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=Dlq83lU2Ru5SHas9vohbbA#7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it will not cost the person sending you a message.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-02-01T06:40:35.760" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2020-02-02T01:00:15.523" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Maloo is correct.&#xA;I am Australian too.&#xA;The only precaution we have in rural Victoria is stay away from:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A lone kangaroo that does not move away, or approaches.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;if you find one, watch constantly and move away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I never heard of anyone in our community getting attacked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Extra rules apply if you have a dog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19299" LastActivityDate="2020-02-02T01:00:15.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24185" CreationDate="2020-02-02T01:34:37.127" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, this system is in use, on the coast of Victoria at least.&#xA;I cannot get the maritime website to work on this device,&#xA;there was a sweep (rotating light) and a flash. Both lights coincide when you are in a perticular place. Not sure if it is for a channel, or general direction (same as VOR). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19299" LastEditorUserId="19299" LastEditDate="2020-02-02T04:18:54.567" LastActivityDate="2020-02-02T04:18:54.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19567" CreationDate="2020-02-02T17:36:19.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Although existing answers are not bad, I think they fail to stress the most important reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;North Cascades National Park is not easily accessible by car.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only roads in the park are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/bicycle-stehekin-valley-road.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stehekin Valley Road&lt;/a&gt;, which is only accessible by ferry + foot/bicycle, and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4091-cascade-river-road.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cascade River Road&lt;/a&gt;, a rough, remote, unpaved mountain road that is closed most of the year and that is far out of the way&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When we look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Visitor use statistics&lt;/a&gt; for backcountry camping use only, the differences with other parks are much smaller.  Although it's still 5 times less than Olympic National Park and 3 times less than Mount Rainier Rational Park, that's a much smaller difference than for the total visitor numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's have a look at the figures for 5 NW parks, and then one SW park that also lacks vehicle access:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;North Cascades National Park overnight use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bGgyZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bGgyZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use North Cascades&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=NOCA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=NOCA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;26,703 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.  All other categories: 0 (I don't know what happened in 1991, perhaps they closed some vehicle-accessible campground or changed the park boundaries).  Some of them are hikers on the long-distance Pacific Crest Trail, which passes through the southern unit of the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Olympic National Park overnight use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FN9Qh.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FN9Qh.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use in Olympic National Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=OLYM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=OLYM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;128,134 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Mount Rainier National Park overnight use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sn9od.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sn9od.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use in Mount Rainier National Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=MORA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=MORA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;64,294 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ross Lake National Recreation Area overnight use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kaymg.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kaymg.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use in Ross Lake National Recreation Area&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=ROLA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=ROLA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;26,816 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Glacier National Park overnight use&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DQWw0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DQWw0.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use in Glacier National Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=GLAC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=GLAC&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;32,349 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Channel Islands National Park&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d6FjK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d6FjK.png&quot; alt=&quot;graph of overnight use in Channel Islands National Park&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=CHIS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 2018, &lt;a href=&quot;https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Overnight%20Stays%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29?Park=CHIS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;21,463 backcountry campers&lt;/a&gt;.  That's even less than North Cascades national park, for a park from where you can literally see the Los Angeles area.  And you don't even need to hike to get there — you can get right there by ferry.  But what does it have in common with North Cascades: &lt;strong&gt;Not accessible by car.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The United States has a very strong car culture.  When a place is not accessible by car, many people will decide to not go there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-04T22:24:47.890" LastActivityDate="2020-02-04T22:24:47.890" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24746" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24185" CreationDate="2020-02-02T19:58:01.290" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Were any lighthouses designed to also provide directional information?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yes&lt;/strong&gt;.  All of Norway has that.  Maps indicate what colour is shown in what direction:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QClHm.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QClHm.png&quot; alt=&quot;excerpt Norwegian map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://norgeskart.no/#!?project=norgeskart&amp;amp;layers=1008&amp;amp;zoom=12&amp;amp;lat=7624321.08&amp;amp;lon=572621.09&amp;amp;markerLat=7883708.194010417&amp;amp;markerLon=803293.9973958334&amp;amp;panel=searchOptionsPanel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Norgeskart&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-02-02T19:58:01.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4460" CreationDate="2020-02-03T03:08:28.840" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/orvis-tippet-knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;orvis tippet knot&lt;/a&gt; for joining two sections of leader together is very strong, reliable and quick to tie after a bit of practice. The only downside is that you ending wasting more tippet on the tag ends than you would with a double blood knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-02-03T04:01:48.733" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T04:01:48.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24748" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-03T04:13:03.673" Score="10" ViewCount="1805" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.com/ip/Isdin-UV-Care-FotoUltra-Active-Unify-Fusion-Fluid-Color-SPF-50-50ml/304385886&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.walmart.com/ip/Isdin-UV-Care-FotoUltra-Active-Unify-Fusion-Fluid-Color-SPF-50-50ml/304385886&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Isdin UV Care FotoUltra Active Unify Fusion Fluid Color SPF 50+ 50ml is a tinted sun fluid with depigmenting action with &lt;em&gt;SPF 106 and UVA in-vitro 49&lt;/em&gt;, that clarifies and evens the complexion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does &quot;UVA in-vitro 49&quot; mean in a sunscreen's description? I'm guessing it's talking about the reduction of UVA radiation on the skin but I don't get the unit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2667" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T10:14:37.983" Title="What does &quot;UVA in-vitro 49&quot; mean in a sunscreen's description?" Tags="&lt;uv-protection&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24749" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25221" CreationDate="2020-02-03T04:30:48.740" Score="1" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been experimenting with tight line nymphing and have had good success in murky/choppy water that allows me to get close to the trout without spooking them. However I'm reluctant to use these techniques when the water clear as when casting further I feel like I get a lot of sag/drag. How far away can one realistically fish when tight light nymphing?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastEditorUserId="9646" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T22:22:02.697" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T08:13:15.847" Title="How far away can one be when tight line nymphing?" Tags="&lt;fly-fishing&gt;&lt;trout-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24750" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24748" CreationDate="2020-02-03T07:03:19.523" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;In vitro&lt;/a&gt; refers to tests being done &quot;in the glass&quot;, i.e. in petri dishes or test tubes under laboratory conditions. After some googling I come to the conclusion that it very likely refers to the way the specific protection of this sunscreen, i.e. the spectral absorbance curve, is evaluated in laboratory conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is apparently an ISO standard which, well, standarises this process: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iso.org/standard/46522.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.iso.org/standard/46522.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would thus mean that in laboratory conditions the sun screen you linked had a UVA &lt;em&gt;Sun Protection Factor&lt;/em&gt; of 49.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T07:03:19.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20292" CreationDate="2020-02-03T08:10:32.120" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a virologist (mostly flu), so I can answer for that and other viruses, but birds also host a range of bacterial and fungal and protozoan pathogens which can make you sick or even kill. These include things like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonellosis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;salmonella&lt;/a&gt; (bacterial), &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/avian-chlamydiosis.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;chlamydia&lt;/a&gt; (bacterial), &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cryptosporidium/symptoms-causes/syc-20351870&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cryptosporidium&lt;/a&gt; (protozoan), &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/aspergillosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20369619&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aspergillus&lt;/a&gt; (fungal), and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidiasis&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;candida&lt;/a&gt; (yeast fungus) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, birds often have things like lice and/or ticks that can host other infectious agents such as rickettsia, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=3&amp;amp;cad=rja&amp;amp;uact=8&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwiWhc-7sbTnAhXz7HMBHaRaAsYQFjACegQIDRAG&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fbooks%2FNBK7624%2F&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw1GUeiMYjWgdb5ehOW8_xU8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tularemia&lt;/a&gt; and a whole host of insect borne viruses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risk of getting ill depends on the type of bird, how abundant they are around you and how close the contact you are having is, and the type of disease - if you are handling dead or sick animals with bare hands and without washing your hands afterward, you are at great risk! Some infections will present with very obviously sick animals (e.g. highly pathogenic influenza), others are a part of the natural microflora of the species you are interacting with (e.g. salmonella), and as such the animals will often not show signs of infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Infections that have a zoonotic (come from animals) cause are &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;relatively common&lt;/a&gt;, not least because many people have interactions with animals on a daily basis. A large portion of these zoonoses are a result of contamination of food stuffs with feces or from eating undercooked meat from an animal. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that - what are the risks of feeding wild birds? Well, the answer is that we don't really know. Sometimes the risk will be higher than others, due to a wave of infection passing through the local population.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what do we know about infections in people who work closely with birds? Quite a lot for some diseases like salmonella and influenza, but not a lot for many other, less dramatic, diseases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Immune surveys that investigate people who work with ducks and chickens in the wet markets of Asia show that they have somewhere between 0&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24034480&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;% and 10% prevalence for H5N1&lt;/a&gt; (&quot;bird flu&quot;, highly pathogenic often, summary in the paper linked) based on sero-conversion (this is the immune system recognizing the virus and protecting you against it), but this is only one strain of the range of influenza viruses and comprehensive studies are rare and difficult to conduct due to the ubiquity of influenza in the human population, so the actual number may be much higher once you take the other strains of influenza into account. The reason we can study H5 influenza is because it is not naturally found in humans - so we can look at the presence of antibodies and know that they came from a zoonotic event.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, this doesn't tell us much about the risk of getting sick - most of these people who have the antibodies against H5 didn't get sick and certainly weren't among the 1500 or so people who died from the virus. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, back to the point: If you see a sick animal, and particularly if you see a cluster of sick animals, it is best to avoid the birds for a while, and for the sake of your health - wash your hands!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T08:10:32.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24748" CreationDate="2020-02-03T10:09:29.683" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;@fygsin has this more or less correct, but to expand on the answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is long so TL:DR - &lt;em&gt;In vitro&lt;/em&gt; = in glass - lab based measurements, not performed using real sunlight. Higher number = better protection. Tests measure absorbance of UV by the chemicals, not reflection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;UV is classified into &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet#Subtypes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;3 types of rays based on wavelength&lt;/a&gt;. Each subtype has, in general different characteristics on how it behaves, with UV-A (longest wavelengths) being considered the less damaging of the 3 and UV-C being the most damaging (shortest wavelengths). If you have ever seen a movie where they show a lab with blue lights glowing - those are the UV-C lamps used as sterilizing/germicidal lights in bio-containment.  Basically you can think of it this way - shorter wavelength, more damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, despite the damaging nature of UV-C, very little of it reaches us on the surface, almost all of it is absorbed by the atmosphere. On the other hand, almost all of UV-A reaches the surface, very little is absorbed by the atmosphere, but largely doesn't contribute to the reddening and burn of sunburn (it does to aging and invisible damage though) . UV-B is absorbed partially and primarily causes the reddening and pain you associate with sunburn. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunburn is actually really cool (figuratively) - it's your bodies response to radiation burns - actual physical damage to the DNA causes the living layer of skin cells to spontaneously kill themselves through a process known as &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/12949-cell-suicide-apoptosis-nih.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Apoptosis&lt;/a&gt;&quot;. As a result of this your body activates the immune system to clean up the debris from all those dead cells - this results in the swelling, redness and pain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sunscreens are chemical compounds that are applied to the dead keratinized layer of skin on the outside. There the chemicals absorb into the dead layer and absorb the energy of the sun's rays.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen#Sun_protection_factor_and_labeling&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sunscreens&lt;/a&gt; typically target UV-B and generally do a pretty good job of blocking most UV-B wavelengths. If you have a sunscreen that states &quot;Broad Spectrum&quot; or something similar, it blocks both UV-B (decent blocking) and UV-A (generally partial block). The higher the number the greater the blocking ability. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, you should note that numbers higher than about 50-70 are more or less meaningless as there's little evidence that higher amounts provide more meaningful protection. You should also note that a number like &quot;106&quot; is meaningless - the measurements are not precise enough to measure in units less than about 10. Yes, you can get measurements that will give you an average value of 106 (or any other number), but the precision is lacking to make it meaningful. I would be wary of any product that uses such numbers in advertising - it shows a fundamental lack of knowledge (at least by the marketing division) of how these things work and possibly a lack of actual science to back up their sun protection claims!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To further complicate things the tests for UV-A are not well defined and there isn't a general consensus on how to measure the protection/absorbance associated with UV-A, so different companies come up with different tests to measure the protection. Whether or not they are using the ISO standard linked in @fygsin's answer is another question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often these tests are &lt;em&gt;in vitro&lt;/em&gt; (translates to &quot;in glass&quot;) and means that they are performing experiments in the lab using a laboratory measure based on some absorbance factor. This might be a transmission/absorbance measurement (i.e. seeing how much comes through a defined thickness (pathlength) at a certain concentration, or it might be performed on cells grown in the laboratory - though this is sometimes is referred to as &lt;em&gt;ex vivo&lt;/em&gt; (from life), and may be measured by activation of certain cellular pathways or any number of potential read-outs. Experiments performed on animals or human subjects are known as &lt;em&gt;in vivo&lt;/em&gt; (in life).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-02-03T10:14:37.983" LastActivityDate="2020-02-03T10:14:37.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24753" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21213" CreationDate="2020-02-04T23:39:30.743" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a direct answer to your question: Yes, there are better ways of protecting your gear from damage caused by a magnet. However, they might not be worth the effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My suggestions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Go magnet fishing &lt;em&gt;with&lt;/em&gt; someone else. That way, one of you can carry your valuables and the other can carry kit you need for magnet fishing (rope and the like). This not only helps protect your belongings but helps you stay safe when on adventures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avoid taking valuables with you. Any card with a magnetic strip can easily be damaged by even a small magnet. As for technology, certain electrics can very easily be damaged (such as hard drives) but most modern smartphones won't be greatly affected. (We use magnetic phone holders all the time nowadays and LCD screens aren't really affected by magnets anyway). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is correct that increasing distance from the magnet dramatically decreases its power, so wrapping it in socks or tying it to the outside of your bag may help. Putting it in an iron container would definitely help (as others have stated) but probably isn't worth the extra weight. If your bag has a 'top' pocket could you put your phone and wallet in that and put your magnet in the bottom of your bag? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, you can happily take your phone along without much worry, but be careful with credit/ debit cards or anything that uses magnetic storage/ with delicate moving parts. Maybe leave them in your car/ at home - you are cutting down on weight after all (which is always helpful when hiking/ walking). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I am not accountable for any damage that occurs to your belongings. I can only provide advice according to my experience. You should always check product manuals/ manufacturer info first. Why not google which things damage specific items in your kit how to avoid such damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18470" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-02-15T14:32:41.530" LastActivityDate="2020-02-15T14:32:41.530" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24754" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-05T06:17:46.167" Score="12" ViewCount="5065" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering how long before one needs to clean their personal water bladder/reservoir while on a thru-hike, extended backpacking trip, or survival scenario.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know it's advised to clean after every use but sounds excessive while in the wilderness for that amount of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps some hard data on how long it would take for mold, algae, and/or bacteria to grow in such a scenario might be helpful (given that the water wouldn't be stagnant for that long during the day-to-day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19305" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-05T06:37:26.800" LastActivityDate="2020-02-06T18:10:56.097" Title="How often should I clean my water bladder/reservoir while on a thru-hike, extended backpacking trip, or survival scenario?" Tags="&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24755" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24754" CreationDate="2020-02-05T06:37:16.403" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;On a trip where you are constantly using a bladder or water bottle where it's not sitting around, I would limit the cleaning to filling it up and then dumping it once before refilling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mould takes time to grow, and on most trips, you are refilling at least once a day if not more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're in a part of a trip where you aren't going to use a bladder for a couple of days, make sure it dries out before it gets packed away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the problem with these comes from being in storage, not out on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-02-06T02:08:58.057" LastActivityDate="2020-02-06T02:08:58.057" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24756" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-05T17:51:40.247" Score="12" ViewCount="338" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking in a rarely frequented area, trails may be very faint to the level of being essentially invisible.  In such situations, it has happened more than once that I accidentally followed an animal trail (either from wild or farmed animals).  There are various ways to tell the difference.  For example, animals don't build cairns, and they're closer to the ground than humans so branches at human height won't be broken.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hiking book &quot;Hiking the North Cascades&quot; by Erik Molvar claims that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Switchbacks are also a sure sign of an official trail; wild animals travel in straight lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never seen this claim before.  I know wild animals are well adapted to the mountains, but there always comes a point at which a trail is too steep even for animals, and there are also domesticated animals in mountains (such as sheep or reindeer) — I'm interested in both wild and domesticated animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it true that animal trails don't use switchbacks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I mean animal-created switchbacks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-07T09:51:04.483" LastActivityDate="2020-02-07T16:03:39.387" Title="Do animal trails have switchbacks?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24757" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24758" CreationDate="2020-02-05T20:57:36.443" Score="3" ViewCount="141" Body="&lt;p&gt;A U.S. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Wilderness_Preservation_System&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wilderness area&lt;/a&gt; prohibits &lt;em&gt;road-building and other forms of development&lt;/em&gt;.  Are bridges on hiking trail permitted, or are all river crossings in wilderness areas necessarily unbridged?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T21:18:15.210" Title="Do U.S. Wilderness areas allow bridges?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24757" CreationDate="2020-02-05T21:18:15.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are bridges in wilderness areas, this one was in the Wind River Range for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZlLDI.jpg&quot;/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On there other hand, there are restrictions on the tools used in a wilderness area such as not allowing power tools such as chainsaws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T21:18:15.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24754" CreationDate="2020-02-05T23:37:59.213" Score="8" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Ideal Conditions&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you &lt;em&gt;try&lt;/em&gt; to grow mold or fungus (think: mushrooms), you will find that it generally takes at least 7 days under near-ideal conditions for a spore to reproduce to the point where it's visible.  This is why most food will be edible in a refrigerator for at least a week (not necessarily &lt;em&gt;fresh&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;tasty&lt;/em&gt;, but at least visibly mold-free).  It's also why most food with at least some moisture &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; show mold after 14 days or so (mold spores are pretty much always in the air, so the moment you expose food to it, the countdown begins).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Non-Ideal Conditions&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideal conditions for sporulating microbes include a stable temperature range, aqueous environment with a particular pH, consistent food source, and for some microbes, &lt;em&gt;oxygen&lt;/em&gt;.  Thus, non-ideal conditions include desiccation, food scarcity, and movement.  The parts of your hydration system that get regularly cycled with water and have little exposure to air (like the bladder) will be relatively inhospitable to microbes, due to the poor food supply (assuming you get mostly clean water) and low oxygen.  I've never seen biofilm on the inside of my water bladders.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, the parts which are exposed to oxygen and get a regular &quot;food supply&quot; (like the mouthpiece) are much more likely to accumulate biofilm.  Fortunately, people drink out of water bottles with visible biofilm every day, with little to no ill effects.  But in my experience, it noticeably changes the taste of water.  So if you can taste the biofilm in your system, it's a good time to clean it out (which means, not a bad idea to clean it out before you go on your trip, if you haven't for a while).  If you can't taste the biofilm, then you're gonna live.  Your Stone Age ancestors were exposed to much more mycotoxin than that, and yet, here you are!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're really paranoid, just wiping off your mouthpiece in clean water periodically will keep the biofilm to below-detectable levels.  But you'd need to be pretty paranoid to do this more than once a week.  The tiny internal bits in the hoses are more difficult to clean, but unless you're backwashing bits of food into your water system, it shouldn't build up much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18053" LastActivityDate="2020-02-05T23:37:59.213" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24760" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24756" CreationDate="2020-02-06T13:48:19.457" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do animal trails use switchbacks? = No&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do you prove a negative?  You can't, but consider the alternate question; &amp;quot;Why would an animal trail use a switch back?&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goat climbing cliffs maybe, but that is not so much of a trail as a search for good ledges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All other trails are made by herbivores traveling between locations.  These trails change with washouts, and fallen trees. There is no good reason for an herbivore to make a switch back.  A long gentle climb around the side of a mountain or hill, has more advantages in energy savings, more options for browsing, and less worries about predators overhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Carnivores don't make trails, they follow herbivores, or hangout along the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Omnivores (bears, pigs) Much like herbivores, don't have a good reason to make a switch back either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trail builders have four foot drive, and are never hauling heavy loads.  They have no concerns for trail maintenance, or proactive erosion control.  Much like people on a trail, they will tend to Short-cut any bend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/switchbacks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Navigating Switchbacks to Prevent Trail Damage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A switchback is a trail up a steep hill or mountain that is like a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight trail. The zig-zag pattern protects the hill and the trail from excessive erosion. Trails that go straight up and down steep hills don't stay nice trails for long. Erosion turns those trails into gullies because water moves faster down steep straight-aways and it hollows out the trail and washes all the soil and vegetation down hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Switchbacks help prevent erosion because they help keep the trail at a consistent gradient. Trail planners build other erosion control devices like rolling grade dips into switchbacks also. Switchbacks are also good because they make it easier to climb steep hills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Short-cutting&amp;quot; a switchback is bad trail etiquette because it kills vegetation and loosens soil creating a new trail straight up and down the hill, which will in time get large and hollowed out from erosion. Do your part to keep our trails beautiful and control erosion. Walk softly, Leave No Trace, and stay on the designated trail!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summery switch-backs are tools for long term maintenance of a dedicated and maintained route between two specific points. Trail making animals don't have any motivation to create them, and every motivation to exclude them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-06T13:53:59.227" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24761" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24756" CreationDate="2020-02-06T15:38:06.110" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Update: I have found some photos of sheep tracks which clearly show that they do not travel directly up a hill. The first first one of switchbacks comes from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.chriscollison.com/blog/2012/10/03/the-ultimate-knowledge-management-recipe&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this website by Chris Collison&lt;/a&gt;, where it is claimed the sheep eroded the path over many generations, in other words, it is not man-made. The second shows that they prefer to follow a contour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8F8vF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8F8vF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a picture from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pinterest.com/pin/144607838013386118/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pinterest&lt;/a&gt; which may be copyright. It clearly shows that the penguins are not taking the shortest route, and the winding trail would appear to be made by them.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cQWA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cQWA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the other picture cattle are being guided by drovers, but presumably take a route that they find easy instead of climbing a hill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can imagine that if a migration route follows a winding river in hilly country, that the animals will follow the water course and not take straight lines although I can't find a picture. But that leads to another: migrating fish will naturally follow a switchback water course, although in these two cases, the switchback route was not made by the animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-02-07T16:03:39.387" LastActivityDate="2020-02-07T16:03:39.387" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24762" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24754" CreationDate="2020-02-06T17:23:41.827" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, I don't think a one-size-fits-all number can be given. Some influencing factors I'd consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature? What works fine in April in Canada with the water still freezing every night may land you in disaster in summer in Italy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What water do you put in there? Molten snow? Untreated stream/source? Tap water including proper levels of anti-microbial treatment? Micro-filtrated puddle?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find no problem quickly rinsing and refilling a water bottle over and over again even in summer with tap water in Germany. But I've had a bottle of &quot;nice water from our* own well&quot; visibly and smellibly going wrong within less than a day (Poland, so pretty much the same temperatures). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While I think &quot;your stone age ancestors&quot; arguments should be taken with care, one thing that I adhere with is that if my pre-stone-age chemosensors (smell, taste) tell me the stuff is not good, I trust them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that we still have about 1.1 mio. deaths annually (world wide) due to dysentery - that's the same order of magnitude as malaria.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And the recommended most important measures for avoiding it are food hygiene, personal hygiene (both somewhat more difficult in outdoor conditions than at home) and water hygiene which we're trying to push towards its limit in this thread. So that's against us. On our side is that we're usually going on tours with in good health and that there are few people around (e.g Shigella are contracted from humans/primates; E. coli in general may be more often encountered). Also keep in mind that quite a lot of what we're calling &quot;tropical&quot; diseases aren't really bound to the tropics and are not of a concern in the &quot;western&quot; world just because our style of living mostly allows us very good hygiene (which we leave at home in good parts for outdoor tours) and medical treatment (which may not be at hand).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you want your water bag to last as long as possible without cleaning, then maybe choose your storage device to be easily rinsed and dried out and operate it in old fashioned non-contact mode: no mouthpiece, no tiny hoses/tubes. Big clear bottle (allows visual inspection as well) and either learn to drink without sucking or bing a mug and use that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There's also the intermediate possibility to use water from a bladder that gets slightly suspicious only for cooking. (We call it minestrone...)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You may not need to keep all your bottles and water bladders moist all the time. If e.g. you need the big bladder only for fetching water in the evening/morning, consider whether it could be carried openly so that it is dry inside most of the time in between.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your bladder stands boiling water, you may consider giving it a fill of boiling water if needed (possibly drying it before).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Metal containers are often far more hostile to microbes than, say, rubber bladders. Plus, you can use them for boiling. I have used my alu pot to fetch stream/lake water that was anyways to be boiled in order to not contaminate my plastic bottle or bladder with unfiltered and otherwise untreated water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I may bring some chlorine or iodine tablets so that they are at hand if needed, but I may not be using them all the time. I've also successfully been distinguishing between &quot;clean&quot; and &quot;not-so-clean&quot; bottles (the latter e.g. for cooking water). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, remember that &lt;em&gt;hands&lt;/em&gt; are often the problem, not the content of the water bottle (at least not until those hands are in contact with vital parts of said bottle).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I may say that so far I've only once had trouble that I consider related to drinking suspicious water (from a tap at the end of the line, summer in Italy - being used to that region having reliable water treatment, I had put my mouth under the tap before opening it. Spitting out apparently wasn't sufficient - and of course there was no clean water around to wash out my mouth. Lesson learned.) I haven't been around in tropic regions, though. And I've been on tour with friends who did have trouble that may have had to do with water. I've also been doing plain dumb things in terms of food hygiene - which fortunately didn't have bad consequences (realized in time that there was a mistake and spent some thought on the situation and also some hand disinfectant).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*not ours, but the place's where we asked for water &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-02-06T18:10:56.097" LastActivityDate="2020-02-06T18:10:56.097" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24763" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24631" CreationDate="2020-02-07T12:35:55.073" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would not agree that 4 members is a bad number. Having 4 roped together during glacier travel with the risk of creavasses is still quite good and not much worse than 3 but if things become more technical (with the need for belaying) they can split into two parties of two which is the ideal number for climbing with belays. &#xA;I myself did all my climbs as a party of two which is not ideal for glacier travel but that's how we ended up always. I did many climbs in the Alps, South- and North America, Central Asia and only once fell into a crevasse completely but as you can tell from this post the fall was arrested by my partner. &#xA;If you are a party of two it's a good practice to have the lighter person below (i.e. behind on the way up and in front on the way down) This way the lighter person has to be pulled upwards in case of a fall of the heavier, so it should be easier for her/him to stop the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19317" LastEditorUserId="19317" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T13:53:29.180" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T13:53:29.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24575" CreationDate="2020-02-07T12:46:44.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I believe it's close to impossible to draft a checklist that would work in every situation. The best recommendation I have (after 40 years of experience in mountaineering on 4 continents) is that you should slowly increase the difficulties and dangers of the trip and go with a partner you know well and that knows you well and then use common sense and experience and turn around rather once too often than too late. You can always give it a second try but only if you survive. We turned around more than once and afterwards you could always have continued but would it be worth the risk?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it does not feel right for you or (not '&lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt;'!) your partner, it's time to turn around. That's why I only go to big mountains with a partner I know well and I trust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general bad things happen if at least two things go wrong. Here is a list of things to watch out for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;weather and terrain conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;loss of orientation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;mental condition of each team member&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;physical condition of each team member&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put mental in front of physical condition. If you get into a unplanned condition it's most important not to panic. Think before you act! Think through potential dangerous situations before they happen so that you already &quot;know&quot; what to do. Prepare for each trip: Get as much information as you can (maps, GPS track, recent conditions, weather forecast, backup plan). Be prepared for bad weather: extra layers of clothing, headlamp in case you get into the dark, be prepared for an unplanned night outdoors (often times waiting out the night and trying the next day is better than getting in danger when trying to find the way in the dark).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19317" LastEditorUserId="19317" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T10:05:38.350" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T10:05:38.350" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24766" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-08T18:14:58.293" Score="8" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;When hiking in Israel I've seen some trails that had information on them to contact &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;IDF&lt;/a&gt; first for permission before going on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How I'm supposed to get the permission? How much in advance you have to apply? Are there any specific reasons you might be denied the permission?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VAw2O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VAw2O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Trail sign with IDF approval info&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17794" LastEditorUserId="17794" LastEditDate="2020-02-09T05:48:05.963" LastActivityDate="2020-02-12T02:50:20.347" Title="Permission from military when hiking in Israel" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24767" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-08T20:35:35.597" Score="6" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;Once, I had the opportunity to walk on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_mat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;floating mat&lt;/a&gt; on a guided tour with a nature organisation in &lt;a href=&quot;https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Wieden&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;De Wieden&lt;/a&gt; (Dutch: &lt;em&gt;trilveen&lt;/em&gt;).  On the surface, it looked (to my amateur eye) exactly like other peat, but walking on it felt like walking on a huge trampoline.  Where I stood, I sank about half a metre down along with the moss, and the whole land in a radius of around 1–2 metre around me sank with me.  When poking a long stick into the soil, we noticed that after a metre or so, resistance become zero: evidently, these mosses were floating on water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although rare, such floating mats exist throughout different regions in Northern Europe.  I believe I have passed over one in Sarek National Park in Sweden, with no surface water in sight nearby but the entire pond covered I only realised it once I was in the middle of it (or at least I think it was a floating mat; I have no independent confirmation).  I imagine falling through is an effective way to vanish without a trace, swallowed by the Earth with the land closing above me.  I don't know if this is possible.  The popular image of someone vanishing completely in quicksand is mostly wrong, as one doesn't normally sink beyond ones centre of mass.  How are the real dangers for floating mats?  Can one fall through?  Can one get stuck?  Can I pull myself out if I do?  Can I pull out my partner safely?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some parts of the world floating mats are only known to exist in access-controlled nature reserves, so anyone respecting the rules is very unlikely to accidentally walk on any; but that may not be the case everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The English language Wikipedia article states it is possible to &quot;drown&quot; in floating mats, but is unspecific on what this means: vanishing &lt;em&gt;underneath&lt;/em&gt; the floating mat, or getting stuck in the floating mat.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T08:55:41.713" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T08:55:41.713" Title="What can I do when I or someone in my party falls through a floating mat?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;risk-managment&gt;&lt;swamps&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24766" CreationDate="2020-02-09T08:24:33.343" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/israeltrail/viewtopic.php?f=40&amp;amp;t=687&amp;amp;p=2244&amp;amp;hilit=havushit#p2244&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this thread&lt;/a&gt; on Tapatalk, the Mt Havushit trail is the starting point for the Golan trail. It seems from the map in the thread that if you start or want to climb Mt Havushit, that this is on the border with Israel and Syria and Lebanon (not Palestine, as anatolyg pointed out) and as such is likely to cross the &quot;ceasefire line&quot; (see picture below) The thread indicated that the trail normally starts by the gates and Hermon site parking lots (see pic) on Route 98 rather than at the top of Mt Havushit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cxan.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3cxan.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mt Havushit area&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following details were provided:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Only if you plan to start at 2,000 meters and hike a beautiful 4 km additional section, from &#xA;  Mt. Havushit, you  must contact the IDF, at least two days in advance, and let them know about &#xA;  your plan. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Contact tel.: 04-6966207. The IDF declines your request, start the hike at the beginning &#xA;  of the GT, Day 1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-02-12T02:50:20.347" LastActivityDate="2020-02-12T02:50:20.347" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19599" CreationDate="2020-02-09T16:17:17.230" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;GREAT ARTICLE! However, it doesn't plainly answer the question, &quot;Can elk distinguish hunter orange clothing, Yes or No?&quot; In my career as a Park Ranger working hand-in-hand in support of the Game and Fish Department, I've noticed a learned behavior escalating among deer and elk. Camouflage clothing is associated with the loud scary sound of a rifle going off and danger from predators. This creates the flight instinct. I've seen local ranchers, who are feeding cattle, go unnoticed by deer and elk. In the same landscape, I've seen deer and elk escape for their life at the first sight of someone dressed in camouflage clothing. My advice is to avoid colors that stand out in their vision range, and wear color patterned clothing that blends in with your surroundings. Broken patterned hunter orange is a good choice. Let's face it, the reason for the orange is for the sake of the other hunters in your area. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19322" LastActivityDate="2020-02-09T16:17:17.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24770" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-09T21:41:48.340" Score="6" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some skis nowadays have a different sidecut radius at the front, center and back of the ski. With the different radius they claim to be suitable for both long and short turns. (So far the theory)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SFqaU.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SFqaU.png&quot; alt=&quot;Multi Radius illustration for single ski&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;But how does a skier control which radius is actually used? Is this dependent on the edge angle or the load on the center (which would relate it to speed)?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P5bnz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P5bnz.png&quot; alt=&quot;Multi radius illustration&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.voelkl.com/en/3-radius-sidecut/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Sources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-02-10T06:42:23.663" LastActivityDate="2020-03-17T20:03:10.510" Title="How do multi radius skis work in practice" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24771" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24822" CreationDate="2020-02-10T09:41:03.357" Score="4" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;I really need to wax my G-1000 trousers - but I do not own a clothes iron and only a flimsy travel hairdryer. The instructions for the trousers/wax say, I should use either to melt the wax after applying it, so it seeps into the fabric. A third option is to hold the trouser close to an evenly burning fire (camping cooker/stove), but please not too close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, lacking most options mentioned above, I got a &quot;great&quot; idea: Why not set my oven to 50-60°C, apply the wax and heat the trouser in the oven?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, how bad is this idea? Did anyone try this? How did it turn out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16150" LastActivityDate="2020-02-27T11:01:45.710" Title="Waxing G-1000 trousers - melting options" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24773" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1559" CreationDate="2020-02-10T18:43:25.903" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a similar issue: I was tripping over a fire ring that was present at one campsite we used last year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I left one of our flashlights on, shining inside the fire ring until we packed up the next day. I fiddled with the flashlight setting and orientation until I had it mildly illuminating the ring enough to be obviously visible but not enough to be obnoxious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could do something similar, leaving the flashlight at one end of the line or the other, or perhaps hanging from the middle of the line pointing down. Even if the line itself is not visible, as with the hanging light pointing down, make sure everyone knows what the purpose of the light is so they avoid it. Also remember that if you put the light at the far end of the line and face it toward the tent that may cause problems for the tent occupants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Obviously plainly visible at night&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Provides extra light to the area&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May be too visible inside the tent&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May attract unwanted attention&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leaves a flashlight unusable for other tasks unless you bring an extra&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you bring an extra, requires more tools&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can run out of energy (though good flashlights and batteries should handle short trips fine)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get cheap and mid-priced flashlights. Even the cheap ones can generally last all night. The mid-price ones with multiple power settings generally last all night even on the brightest setting, and on dimmer settings could last for days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second idea:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of our hammocks has a line around its rim which is laced with dim lights and it has a battery pack at one end. Its purpose is for helping see the location and orientation of the hammock at night. If you can get a similar line, maybe you can use it as a guy line. Ours might not be able to bear any significant load, but you might be able to find some that can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2020-02-10T18:43:25.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24774" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-10T19:25:39.163" Score="1" ViewCount="228" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a 1988 Malibu Skier, and one of the things I've been thinking about upgrading on it is the fuel gauge. Specifically, I want to be able to have some kind of digital reading of how much fuel I have exactly left in the tank. Rather than having the needle gauge that moves as the boat rocks, is there a way to get a more accurate reading? One of my ideas was to have the sensor hooked up to a raspberry pi with the pi attached to a display on the dash showing the fuel level. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19325" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-02-11T16:21:47.630" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T16:21:47.630" Title="Is there a more accurate way to gauge the fuel level on my ski boat?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;boats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24775" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24838" CreationDate="2020-02-10T20:49:09.317" Score="2" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought new mittens for my kid for the coming winter holiday. They should be waterproof or at least water-resistant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally when i buy clothing, i wash it before wearing. The fabric may not have been washed at all between dying and sewing, meaning it could leach dye. Or the clothes could have been treated with chemicals to keep out mold and moths during storage and transport.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Especially for child-mittens, the leaching of chemicals is a problem: they are worn on sweating naked skin and once they are off i'm certain my kid will have his fingers in his mouth. Be it while eating a snack or just to pick his nose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, water-repellent or water proof clothing will become less waterproof when washed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, should i wash these mittens? What to experienced outdoor people do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5642" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T14:19:38.060" Title="Should I wash new child snow mittens before wearing?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;children&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6704" CreationDate="2020-02-11T02:49:52.433" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bow and arrow cast is also effective, you can't cast very far but that's generally ok when there is a lot of vegetation to hide behind&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T02:49:52.433" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24774" CreationDate="2020-02-11T12:56:08.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not familiar with your specific boat.  In most cases the reason the needle is moving is because the float in the fuel tank is moving as the fuel sloshes back and forth in the tank.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Changing to a digital readout is not going to give you more specific information.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See this related article. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/test-replace-fuel-gauge-sending-unit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Test and Replace your Fuel Gauge and Sending Unit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T12:56:08.320" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24778" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24779" CreationDate="2020-02-11T18:33:09.963" Score="5" ViewCount="209" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to make a bosun's chair to lift me 40 ft in the air to a tree platform (with at least a 6' clearance, so closer to 50'). Of course I would like the right type of rope with the right tensile strength. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It might be useful to have a second line in case of the first one snapping, but the primary one would be for lifting and not falling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there will be pulleys involved so the rope needs to be able to make bends without degrading. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And it will remain outside most of, or almost most of the year in a climate with snow and ice and temperatures down to -20F once in a while; usually in the 10s and 20s in the winter. There will be sunshine typical of the temperate zone though the rope should be undercover in the growing season. The working load will probably be about 200 lbs., not counting the weight of the rope itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19329" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T19:30:45.743" Title="What kind of Rope for a Bosun's Chair" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24779" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24778" CreationDate="2020-02-11T19:30:45.743" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look for any type of line that is meant for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-Line-for-Running-Rigging&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;running rigging&lt;/a&gt; on a sailboat. These lines are made to work with pulleys or block and tackle systems, they have very good strength with more than adequate working load limits, and they can withstand the weather for quite a while. The main idea is to have a polyester sheath for UV protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a backup, I would go for a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ropes.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;climbing rope&lt;/a&gt; as you need a dynamic rope than can absorb some of the shock from a fall. A simple Single rope would do fine. I wouldn't leave that backup outside, exposed to the elements though so make that removable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2020-02-11T19:30:45.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24780" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22835" CreationDate="2020-02-12T02:06:46.133" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm surprised no one has mentioned a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.levelsix.com/products/farmer-john-sleeveless-neoprene-wetsuit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Farmer John&lt;/a&gt;.  They're like overalls made out of wetsuit material.  The reason I sometimes wear one is for safety in BC's frigid waters - if you fall in, you want to have something that keeps your core warm.  That's also their weakness in summer - they get hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, they go all the way up to your chest and they should keep water away from your butt - it can only get there through your ankles or from the top.  Don't get something that goes too far up to your neck, covers your arms or is really thick - you are going to get too hot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you get a skirt, make sure you familiarize yourself somewhat with exit procedures to follow when you flip over.  And don't practice that by yourself.  Friend of mine won't go near a kayak since he took a course which had you flip over and in which he was mistakenly issued an advanced, tight-fitting, skirt which he had great difficulty getting to disengage from the kayak.  All the other beginners got more forgiving models.  It sounded like he didn't get out until the instructor realized he hadn't flipped back up and helped him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2020-02-12T02:06:46.133" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24784" CreationDate="2020-02-12T08:24:30.980" Score="7" ViewCount="394" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking Ryan Mountain (elevation 5457 feet) in Joshua Tree National Park last month, I saw several of these grayish plants near the top of the mountain. I did not see any at lower elevations. They were anywhere from 5 inches to 1.5 feet tall and had little white &quot;hair&quot; all over them. What are they?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0vURH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0vURH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I had not noticed this before, but here is one lying on the ground partially covered with some sort of substance that is cracked and has small pebble-like features.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/edWs1.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/edWs1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastEditorUserId="13081" LastEditDate="2020-02-15T10:32:31.953" LastActivityDate="2020-02-15T10:32:31.953" Title="What are these grayish plants with little white &quot;hair&quot; in Joshua Tree National Park?" Tags="&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24782" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24781" CreationDate="2020-02-12T17:30:35.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your description of white hair suggests something like dead &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalocereus_senilis&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Old Man Cactus&lt;/a&gt; (Cephalocereus senilis) individuals, or something of the same genus, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalocereus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cephalocereus&lt;/a&gt;. I don't know how abnormal this location would be in southern California. It is said to thrive in &lt;a href=&quot;https://homeguides.sfgate.com/cactus-looks-like-its-covered-hair-83343.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hardiness zones 9b to 11&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Images/72DPI/ca_s.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;the US&lt;/a&gt; so it might be possible that it actually grows there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more realistic option from the list of cacti on the National Park website could be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/echinocereus_engelmannii.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hedgehog cactus&lt;/a&gt; (Echinocereus engelmannii) but the level of destruction really makes it difficult to answer with certainty. It's not supposed to grow as tall as a 16 inches too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yVLeT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yVLeT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2020-02-12T20:38:51.920" LastActivityDate="2020-02-12T20:38:51.920" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24783" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24575" CreationDate="2020-02-14T15:39:16.713" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Short answer&lt;/strong&gt;: As soon as it's determined that continuing could run the risk of someone getting into trouble or sustaining an injury. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We had to abandon a cave-surveying expedition this past summer because of heavy snow. The expedition spanned two weekends, on the first weekend I was worried I was going to get sun burned on the approach to the high-altitude cave. Exactly 7 days later we started the approach again in the rain, by the time we got above treeline it started to turn into snow, by the time we got within a 1/2 hour of the cave entrance we were pushing snow halfway up to our knees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wasn't the trip leader on this expedition, but when the mountains had suddenly disappeared into a whiteout of heavy snow fall I told the trip leader, &quot;I think someone needs to make a call here...&quot; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These were the concerns I brought up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Several people in the group we not dressed for the weather. Several&#xA;were not wearing waterproof footwear or clothing and were already&#xA;soaked and cold. Not exactly how you want to start the day inside a&#xA;cold damp cave. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The snow had already accumulated to mid-knee. There was no telling&#xA;how deep was it going to be when we resurfaced after spending the&#xA;better part of the day underground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The terrain was treacherous enough when dry, but the wet snow cover&#xA;presented an increased danger of slipping, and a level of difficulty&#xA;for planning foot falls on the loose talus underneath, especially&#xA;while carrying a heavy bag. It also made it more difficult to&#xA;navigate the terrain, and presented a greater risk of someone taking a tumble down the &#xA;mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All things considered, it was determined that continuing ran a potential risk of hypothermia or injury to one or more members in the group. We turned around at that point and began a slow, wet and slippery descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The circumstances are not going to be the same for every situation. You need to consider size, strength, and ability of your group, as well as your level of preparedness. There were a number of people well prepared for the weather on my trip who could have continued, in fact there were three who did continue, set up camp and waited out the storm inside the cave, but they were the only ones who packed in sleeping bags and extra gear.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ultimately, the decision should rest with the group leader, who has hopefully studied the conditions, is aware of the abilities of the group, and is prepared and trained to respond to any number of emergency scenarios. Sometimes it's wise to make the call even if there's a level of uncertainty that it's necessary to do so. You'll rarely regret playing it safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2020-02-19T16:53:38.603" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T16:53:38.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24781" CreationDate="2020-02-15T05:02:17.620" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've hesitated to post this answer because of some inconsistencies with my interpretation of your photo, mainly the absence of leaves. But the more times I have revisited this question, the more convinced I am that these are &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt;, dead Mojave Yucca plants (yucca schidigera). What happened to the leaves? Who knows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These have possibly been dead for more than a decade, and may have been through a fire. Time &amp;amp; inferno dispensing with the remnants of the leaves and ash / burn marks, although in your photo significant degredation is visible at the bases of the plants which could be either rot or fire damage. See this photo, taken in Red Rock Canyon NV (circa 2014). &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lRuAF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lRuAF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mojave Yucca - dead&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://phanahoedosch.weebly.com/more-photos/red-rock-canyon-nv&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://phanahoedosch.weebly.com/more-photos/red-rock-canyon-nv&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot be certain, but I believe the yuccas in my included photo may be in the area burned in the 1992 Red Rock Proscribed burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, fire would not be requisite for this type of preservation, the desert is hot and dry, organic material can persist for a very long time...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the one in your photo that is awkwardly curled over? Just the result of rot &amp;amp; time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6032" LastActivityDate="2020-02-15T05:02:17.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24786" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24788" CreationDate="2020-02-15T17:23:23.090" Score="9" ViewCount="3107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I received an old climbing rope, whose history is unknown. I know this rope should not be used for any situations where a fall is possible since it may have already sustained one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, can it be used for rappelling (from a tree) as this will not allow the chance of a fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any way to evaluate the condition of the rope by examining it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19329" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-16T03:03:09.067" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T13:02:40.037" Title="Can you Rappel with an Old Climbing Rope?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24787" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24786" CreationDate="2020-02-15T19:39:12.327" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, it’s not worth the risk. Ropes aren’t that expensive and if it breaks you could hurt yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-16T03:47:48.237" LastActivityDate="2020-02-16T03:47:48.237" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24786" CreationDate="2020-02-15T22:23:34.080" Score="26" Body="&lt;p&gt;You probably should not use it any more. Old ropes seem to be surprisingly strong. A German mountaineering magazine made &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpin.de/foto-video/galerien/2272/galerie_alpin_basic__alte_seile_im_reisstest.html?artikel=7124&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;tests with old ropes&lt;/a&gt;. Of 14 tested ropes, 10 would still have been strong enough to lead on them without risk. However, these were unused or only little used ropes. The results may differ for ropes that have been used very often or have prior damage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your biggest problem is not the age of the rope. Pure ageing is unlikely to degrade a rope to break at 2-3 kN while rappelling. Your problem is that it is not possible to determine the safety of a rope with unknown origin by simple inspection. The only way to reliably test a rope is a destructive test fall until it breaks. See also &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5245/can-you-use-a-rope-that-has-been-in-storage-for-a-few-years&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/592/how-should-i-check-climbing-equipment-to-tell-whether-it-is-still-safe-to-use&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; SE questions&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-02-17T13:02:40.037" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T13:02:40.037" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22221" CreationDate="2020-02-16T12:06:30.920" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even though I am late on this, I'd like to try to give you some answers on your questions. I am volunteering in the german mountain rescue service, but I am in no way an expert in climbing security - so please take everything below with a grain of salt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1.1 We use redundancies for virtually every type of rescue but there is usually a lot more weight involved (1-4 rescue personell + 1 patient + up to 100kg of equipment). However &quot;redundancy&quot; means &lt;strong&gt;two completly seperate systems&lt;/strong&gt;: Two Ropes, two breaking mechanisms, two (or more) attachement points, etc. Using just a second carabiner would not qualify here, as you still have a single point of failure (e.g. the rope). Using only two ropes is even worse, as rope-on-rope is actively dangerous!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;However&lt;/em&gt;: In four years of climbing, I have not seen a single person climbing recreationally with that kind of redundancy. Your hardware and rope usually have 22+ kN of strength (which is 2.2 metric TONS of static weight entry) - I am pretty sure that every bone in your body would shatter before your carabine does...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1.2 Is 1+1=2 applicable here? &lt;strong&gt;The easy answer is no.&lt;/strong&gt; While it may depend on the specific case, you usually cannot ensure that both systems (ropes, hardware, etc.) have the weight (or impact) distributed equally between them. And if one of them snaps to beeing overburdend - the other one is sure to follow...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2 Yes, using a figure 8 carbine is a way to rappel (and was used here for many years!). We removed them in favor of the ATC-Guide (a tuber) onto which you can easily add a dead-man switch with a prusik. Just be sure to know how to properly use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TL;DR: I see no reason to use redundant systems in personal/recreational climbing. Get certified gear &lt;strong&gt;and learn how to use it properly&lt;/strong&gt;. Take care of yourself. Be safe. Your life is not worth the savings on a cheap rope. And when in doubt, don't be afraid to ask the professionals (DAV in germany, UIAA internationally for example).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Lastly I think it is taking a look at the accident statistic of your local climbing association. There is rarely/never a case a rope just snaps - there usually is some kind of mishandling (or shard cliffedge!) involved. Reading through that shows you the common pitfalls - and hopefully makes you remember them! :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19343" LastActivityDate="2020-02-16T12:06:30.920" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24770" CreationDate="2020-02-16T19:49:26.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just stumbled over an explanation of this in a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1q4QbztsQ&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=175&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ski review&lt;/a&gt;. According to this, the radius in use depends on where you put your pressure. If there is more pressure to the front it will use the longer tip radius. If the pressure is applied more central, the shorter center radius is used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-02-16T19:49:26.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24791" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6974" CreationDate="2020-02-17T06:12:05.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are no statistics because no-one really keeps statistics about anchor types in accidents. Possibly also because anchor failures are extremely rare. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, individual case studies on specific anchor failures do exist. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201215224/Rappel-Anchor-Failure-inadequate-Anchor-and-Backup&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201215224/Rappel-Anchor-Failure-inadequate-Anchor-and-Backup&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also largely impossible to examine, objectively, the &quot;bombproofness&quot; of an anchor which is highly subjective. The best we can do (objectively)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Examine placements&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sanity Check rigging (no force multipliers) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Check for objective hazards (loose rock, avalanche, etc) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rest is a matter of personal preference/belief and to a large degree - luck. We limit our exposure and rarely do we maximally load our anchors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We have good objective knowledge on which anchors do not work, but there is much less clear information on how generally applicable anchors can survive extremes, and much debate can be had about the best anchor to use and which specific corner case allows it to shine, but in the end the only answer is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It Depends, but KISS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rarely do we build &quot;universal anchors&quot; and as an example most climbers will rappel off of something much less &quot;bombproof&quot; than they would belay from (application specific subjectivitiy). If you anticipate side-loads then you must build to withstand side-loads, but agonizing over side-loads in every situation is somewhat counterproductive. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However,  Statistics do dictate that minimizing exposure increases your odds of survival the most and simplicity reduces chance of error so most effective use of your time is to develop reliable systems that you can build fast and in the most situations and can do fatigued and on 72 hours with no sleep&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best we can get are accident publications. In the US and Canada this is &quot;Accidents in North American Mountaineering/Climbing&quot; published by the American Alpine Club.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best conclusion to draw from the published statistics here is that the vast majority of accidents involve a leader fall with inadequate protection and generally as often as not involve no belay at all. Rappel errors account for some amount of accidents, but this category includes rappel errors of all kinds. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we can say is that pulled gear, or gear failure (the rarest of events) is only a contributory cause in approximately 400 out of 8000 accidents in North America between 1951 and 2017&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="412" LastEditorUserId="412" LastEditDate="2020-02-17T06:18:14.690" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T06:18:14.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21328" CreationDate="2020-02-17T10:21:20.977" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As for the other brands, I cannot say but Fjällräven has a history of being commited to reducing its impact on the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They claim full traceability, no live plucking and reduced waste. You can find more information about their down in particular on their website: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fjallraven.eu/about-fjallraven/sustainability/promises/down/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Our Down Promise&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Patagonia, for example, make similar claims about their down but their sleeping bags may not be as expensive as Fjällräven's: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.patagonia.com/traceable-down.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Traceable Down Insulation - Patagonia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other factors might be the build quality or labor cost, things that might not show in a simple rating and that you'll only be able to judge in person. That is not to say that a cheaper alternative won't cover your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19353" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T10:21:20.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3885" CreationDate="2020-02-17T15:31:39.180" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need to go thin to get a good strength to weight ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;100 feet of paracord weighs only 7 ounces. In this case, it's only amazing how much cordage weighs because it's so light!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm traveling ultralight, I bring 1-3 ounces of paracord. That is sufficient for tarps, small tents, and many other uses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I'm traveling with a heavy pack I might bring 1 pound of paracord, that's nearly 200 feet and more than we would ever need for any style camping setup for a weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, at merely a few ounces you can have plenty of strength, enough cord as long as it's not a big tent, and it's not thin enough for your fabric-slicing worries. You can, however, use paracord to cut through fabric by using it as a friction saw if you pull hard and pull back and forth rapidly on one end then the other. I've cut through carpets using paracord with this method. But it won't just slice through because of thinness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastActivityDate="2020-02-17T15:31:39.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24797" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24804" CreationDate="2020-02-18T01:53:12.343" Score="38" ViewCount="11881" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another scary scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say you're in a situation where you have to jump off of a cliff into the water to survive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cliff is at least 100 feet high.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the best way to survive the fall and ensure that you don't break a thousand bones when landing in the water?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dive head first and break water with hands? Cannonball? Or do a pencil drop and break water with feet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seems like any one of these would end up hurting quite a bit and might compromise being able to swim away afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18941" LastEditorUserId="18941" LastEditDate="2020-02-24T02:58:35.300" LastActivityDate="2020-02-24T02:58:35.300" Title="Jumping off of a cliff into water - survival tips" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="15" FavoriteCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-18T07:19:38.880" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feet first is always best - you might break your legs if you hit the bottom, but at least you won't break your back, neck, or be knocked unconscious - all of which can kill you, either through the damage to the spine or through drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would aim to jump in angled away from the cliff (i.e. body not totally vertical), arms across chest or covering mouth/nose (not holding nose - you'll break your nose when the water shoves your arm), and aim to use the momentum of the jump to cause me to swing rapidly under the water dissipating the momentum, so as to not go too deep. See rather crude drawing I just whipped up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g6V9B.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g6V9B.png&quot; alt=&quot;Exaggerated jumping image&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically the jump should look like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiXO0N3onU8&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;out-of-helicopter jumps that you might see the Coast-guard do&lt;/a&gt;, such as the one in the linked Youtube video.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add: there's some physics on the jump &lt;a href=&quot;https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/9059/jumping-into-water&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, and within that the top answer indicates that they were trained to survive a fall from 100 ft (30 metre; aircraft carrier height), not that they had to do it. Other answers indicate that the max survivable seems to be about 250 feet (75 metre) into water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also edited to add: It's not as easy as you might think - in my experience, if you do it right, making yourself as hydrodynamic as possible, a simple jump off the side of a pool (~ 1 ft / 30 cm) into the water can get you to the bottom of a dive pool (~20 ft / 6 metre) pretty handily, so there's a real risk of breaking bones jumping from any substantial height into water, even if it is quite deep. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-18T09:57:02.653" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T09:57:02.653" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24799" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-18T07:32:38.657" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, first thing first, 100' (30 metre) is likely not to end well for you.  So really the question stops being valid way before that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, if you've ever spent anytime diving and had the pleasure of a bellyflop, you know you don't want to put yourself into any kind of uncontrolled tumble, and that means minimizing your rotation from your starting position.  Feet first on land, feet first in the water, would be my thinking.  Of course, if you know what you are doing diving then you can certainly aim for a cleaner jump and go in head first.  That's what the Acapulco cliff divers do.  But they wouldn't be asking this question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, even if you know how to dive in cleanly, you don't necessarily know how deep the water is at the bottom of the cliff.  That means that diving head first puts you at extra risk - better to hit the bottom with your feet than your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, don't do this.  Don't jump off cliffs without knowing exactly what's underneath.  Ever.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally know one guy who is paralyzed for life because he forgot how much of a tidal difference there is where I live.  And just saw a plaque &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siwash_Rock&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;commemorating someone who died&lt;/a&gt; for the same reason yesterday (there are 2 plaques there, Wiki's is about the legend).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I had to jump, I know I would jump feet first however.  I am not that comfortable doing head first, even though I have done it up to about 20-25' (6-8 metre) high.  If you're a beginner at high jumps, head first is just that much trickier to get right and in any case it leaves you more at risk from hitting your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_diving&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia, High Diving&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Health implications&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;  Some research suggests that the impact associated with high diving could have negative effects on the joints and muscles of athletes. To avoid injury to their arms upon impact with the water, divers from significant heights may enter the water feet first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-02-18T16:14:43.280" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T16:14:43.280" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24800" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-18T12:50:47.183" Score="3" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;Interesting &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVSjsYHX6eM&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; I ran across. The high point are quotes from sugarbush's president. All the rest information is less important, except for statistics.&#xA;I'm not sure where they got their stats. NSAA stats show skier days per skier are stable as are skier days per year. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nsaa.org/media/378733/participants2019.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.nsaa.org/media/378733/participants2019.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My take is that skiing isn't growing very slowly with more skiers going to the big ski areas and less to the small ones. We'll likely lose more of the small ski areas but I don't foresee any major changes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17029" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-21T15:18:44.227" LastActivityDate="2020-02-21T15:18:44.227" Title="Are ski areas in the United States shutting down?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24801" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18942" CreationDate="2020-02-18T13:05:17.930" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocamp.ge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; of some private travel agency. I would try to message them in IG. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/geocamp_ge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.instagram.com/geocamp_ge/&lt;/a&gt; &#xA;FYI, they offer camping trips at The Black Sea, not sure about mountain camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17029" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T13:05:17.930" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24802" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-18T18:25:02.457" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Jump feet first and rotate like a drill. This will slow you down upon entering the water so you dont hit bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19366" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T18:25:02.457" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-18T21:43:06.100" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Feet first. This has been well covered in other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep your body nice and straight, use your abs to support yourself, point your toes. All the things that competitive divers do to make less splash will also make your entry into the water easier. Take a deep breath, you will need it (about 2.5 seconds of fall time, plus however long it takes you to get back to the surface!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, once you enter the water you should do a modified &quot;save&quot;. Basically the opposite of above, after you enter the water you make your surface area larger so that you stop going down as quickly as possible. There are complicated techniques for doing this in competitive diving to create the appearance of a perfectly straight dive, but you don't care about that so yours can be much simpler. 1) Wait until you are fully in the water. 2) Go limp. Let your legs bend up a little, almost like you're sitting in a chair. 3) When you feel comfortable with your speed relative to the strength of your arms, use your arms to do a flip under water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then kick kick kick back to the surface, you will be low on air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I used to do not-very-competitive diving, and the same dive with and without a save was the difference between landing hard enough to stub a toe on the bottom of 13 feet, vs barely going below the surface.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T21:43:06.100" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-18T22:07:15.477" Score="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's an abandoned quarry near me where local kids used to jump off the topmost cliff edge, 100 feet up, every summer.  When done properly it is survivable without injury.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You have to break the surface tension with a part of your body that can take the blow, and you have to keep all your muscles clenched and your body absolutely rigid, and you have to hit absolutely perpendicular to the surface.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If you do it wrong, you are likely to be knocked unconscious and drowned.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do it head first, which means keeping the hands locked together in a double fist, elbows and shoulders locked and rigid, hands directly between the top of head and the water, spine absolutely straight.  Do not bend your neck to try to look at the water!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your arms are not locked and rigid your fists will hit your head and knock you unconscious or your arms will be ripped back and dislocated and the water will knock you unconscious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can also be done feet first, which means keeping the knees locked, all muscles in legs, thighs and butt absolutely clenched rigid, heels sharply pointed down, looking straight ahead and hitting the water again perpendicular to the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your feet spread you will crush your genitalia, and if you're male will require medical treatment.  If you do not clench your butt you may intake water with damaging force. If you look down you will get smacked in the face hard enough to break your nose and possibly knock you out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did it wrong once, and hit at an angle instead of perpendicular. Striking the water felt like hitting concrete.  My left arm was ripped backwards, completely dislocating the shoulder.  I was knocked unconscious and concussed.  The rapid compression of my chest ruptured my left lung and my legs were temporarily paralyzed, perhaps by the impact to my spine or skull. Although I survived, my body was permanently damaged by the injury - my left shoulder dislocates more easily than my right, and I have a scar tissue mass in my lung from the haemothorax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17857" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T22:07:15.477" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21213" CreationDate="2020-02-18T22:19:19.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is a mu-metal box outside your price range?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu-metal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu-metal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can't afford mu-metal, the answer will vary depending on how strong your magnets are.  Generally speaking you want a plastic box just large enough to fit your magnet, set inside a larger plastic or wood box with spacers to maintain a consistent air gap between the two boxes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If steel nuts and bolts stick to the outer box, it isn't big enough, keep trying bigger ones until you find the right size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17857" LastActivityDate="2020-02-18T22:19:19.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24800" CreationDate="2020-02-19T00:06:38.653" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been digging a bit for numbers and it turned out to be surprisingly hard. Although I have been hearing every now and then about a ski resort that has been closing, I have not found much of data to put this into context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What I found&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2USv.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C2USv.png&quot; alt=&quot;graphics number of skiers&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;In the late 70’s there were roughly 735 resorts in the US. By last season [13/14], that number was down to 470 &lt;a href=&quot;http://unofficialalpine.com/?p=6177&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, this fails to give any scale on the number of skiers. The graph is a bit unfortunate as it puts millions of skiers into a stack chart with hundreds of resorts. I also looks like the number of resorts is supposed to increase from 2005 to 2020&lt;br&gt;&#xA;This statistics do not go into any detail what they counted as a ski resort (minimum size?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Jensen divided the nation’s ski areas into segments that included a mere 45 “uber” and “alpha” resorts with climbing revenues, 150 “status quo” resorts with flat revenues and a dire prediction that some 150 ski areas in the U.S. are barely surviving and another 150 are dying with declining revenues, minimal investment and no destination traffic. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.denverpost.com/2015/01/28/dip-in-visits-mars-snow-show-view-through-rose-colored-goggles/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This again sounds pretty alarming with 150 resorts dying. This is unfortunately not going much more into the detail how the number came up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Highlight - Skiing is not dead! For the second year in a row, the winter season 2017/18 shows again a global trend upwards. Even if, as usually, some countries or regions performed better than others, this gives a positive sign after 3 years of decline. Although the worldwide ski industry faces challenges and the numbers of skiers in western countries tend to be more or less stagnant when not decreasing, the global performance remains at a high level. The 2017/18 winter globally ranks as the 4th best ski season of the new millennium. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vanat.ch/ski-resorts-english&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is taken from what appears to be a consultants page. He has a very detailed &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vanat.ch/RM-world-report-2019.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; published that lists the skiers by country. On page 15 of this report we find the following figure:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hVWKz.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hVWKz.png&quot; alt=&quot;skiers per region and year&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Again stack charts are not really making life easier and seasonal influence does makes it difficult to spot trends for a region. In the Europe it seems that there is a small long term growth. The US seems to be about stagnant&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What does this mean?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The number of resorts is probably a very unreliable measure. If neighbouring ski resorts merge, the number of ski resorts decreases but nothing is closing down. Prominent examples in the Alps are Aletsch Arena (former 3 resorts) or Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang-Fieberbrunn (yes, that is 4 names).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the number of skiers things do not look as bad. However, this can be deceiving if different age groups have different activity and different spending habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at a selected region can be problematic if skiers from one region do not stop the sport but go to another region instead. For example, the resorts in Switzerland had a rather rough decade mostly due to the exchange rate of the Swiss Franc which made it rather expensive for foreigners. For example &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nzz.ch/panorama/skifahren-ist-wieder-in-1.18458022&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; claims that the number of Swiss skiers increased while at the same time the number of school ski camps decreased strongly and the resorts had a bad time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some things are very region specific. While researching, I was shocked by the average day pass in the US being above 100$ and top resorts charging 200$. A top area in Austria is costing 5x€ and even in pricey Switzerland a top resort like Zermatt costs &quot;only&quot; 100 CHF with most ski resorts being in 55-65 CHF range.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Another factor specific to the US is the huge distance to travel to the mountains and the small number of vacation days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For sure the next decades will see a number of small, low altitude resorts being wiped out. Here in southern Germany we have quite a lot of them, ranging from a single T-bar lift to small resorts with a handful of lifts. Those are threatened by unreliable snow but too small to invest in artificial snow. Even if they do, there is still the risk that a warm and rainy day melts all the expensive snow (as happened in this winter already at least 2 times).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I think this quote sums it up quite nicely&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;On the western markets, the high competition to ski activities combined with  the  demographics  and  the  stagnation  of  the  middle  class  do  not provide  for  substantial  development  perspectives.  In  addition,  with  the exception of a few resorts in Canada, no new resorts have been created in the traditional markets. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vanat.ch/RM-world-report-2019.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some resorts will go out of business. There is little chance that any new resorts are created. In most parts of the Alps it would even be illegal to create a new resort. Even if it was legal, founding a resort would need a better perspective than a stagnant market and possible issues with climate change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Searching for the history of the closed ski area Ernergalen (which is now a great place for ski touring), I found a good statistic on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fk14.tu-dortmund.de/cms/de/Medienpool/skigebiete.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ski areas in the upper Wallis&lt;/a&gt; (Switzerland). Of 25 ski areas and 21 valley lifts, 17 have been closing down from 1985 to 2016 with the bulk of it being 13 valley lifts. However, one needs to be aware that many of the closed areas seem to be founded in the early 80s. Also the total transport capacity of ski areas in the upper Wallis has increased considerably during that time due to modernization of lifts&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-02-19T07:31:12.170" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T07:31:12.170" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24807" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-19T20:16:28.963" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;XY-question frame challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The only way to win the game is to not play.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If&lt;/strong&gt; you were to be jumping in, then the other answers give insightful food for thought. But that's a huge, colossal &lt;strong&gt;if&lt;/strong&gt;, especially given your use case. So here comes the party-pooper...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as you are even moderately well prepared I would be willing to bet a lot of money that the odds of &amp;quot;I'm in a The Great Outdoors survival situation where I need to jump 100 feet off a cliff into water&amp;quot; are very slim. I think you're more likely to get struck by lightning on a clear day where no signs of lightning were present (supposedly, that happens).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Originally I was much stronger in my wording. But thanks to @BlackThorn for pointing out there are use cases similar enough to what the question asks for that they should also be seriously considered. BlackThorn wrote:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fire on a cruise ship, fire on an aircraft carrier, friend falls off&#xA;of cliff and you want to rescue him before he drowns (and you jump&#xA;because you are confident you can survive the fall to rescue him). The&#xA;last example literally happened to a friend of mine with an 80 foot&#xA;cliff and he saved his life, holding his friends face above the water&#xA;until paramedics arrived.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Ship Fire&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if there is a fire on a ship, that doesn't mean you're likely to be forced to jump from the top, but that could be a possibility. If you are on a tall ship and concerned about fire safety, a safer strategy would be to review the ship's fire evacuation routes and procedures. In case of fire, a smart evacuation is better than a frantic high jump.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Cliff Rescue&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the case of a friend falling from a cliff, again, that does not automatically mean someone should immediately jump in after them, especially if you don't know the safety situation at the bottom. In all emergency rescue situations, you need to ensure your own safety as well otherwise you endanger both yourself and the other person.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a friend falls from a cliff, &lt;strong&gt;do not&lt;/strong&gt; immediately jump over after them. As quickly as you can, scan the bottom for safety hazards. Wait a second to see what is happening to the person who fell as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am happy for BlackThorn's friend that the outcome was favorable. However, this anecdotal evidence does not mean you should throw logic to the wind, and hopefully the heroic friend performed the rescue safely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An 80 to 100 foot fall takes between 2-3 seconds according to a quick Google query. Human reaction time means that a rescuer is likely to be at least a second or two behind to begin with. At that point you might as well wait the 1 second to see how the victim lands since they might not even need rescuing. And if you are wearing any very cumbersome clothing you should remove it first: I know some of my boots would make it impossible to perform a water rescue in, so taking even 10 seconds to remove them would be better than jumping in with them on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So work quickly to save the person, but don't rush to the point of making the situation worse. The old &amp;quot;hurry up and wait.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has also happened that people jumping from heights into water have landed on a person at the bottom and killed them. It would be a tragic accident if a heroic effort to save someone who would not have died anyway led to both the victim and the hero dying together in vain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are absolutely sure that this is actually necessary, then jump in like a rigid vertical pencil.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Realistic possibility of survival jump&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;jump off a cliff to survive&amp;quot; trope is exciting but not realistic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe this question was inspired by a scene I've heard about where Bear Grylls supposedly did something similar and made some people thing it was a reasonable survival tactic. I haven't seen the scene myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This use case is simply not realistic and is a dangerous view of wilderness survival. Even if you create a highly contrived scenario where you make it seem like this is the best option, I would still take my chances sitting tight and doing my best on the high ground. Your survival odds are likely higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you are severely dehydrated and need the water at the bottom of the cliff, in that case I still might stay up top. To be so dehydrated that you would risk the jump means you're probably also so dehydrated that you 1) aren't thinking as clearly and are more likely to make bad choices, and 2) lack the coordination and strength to perform the jump technique well and will have even higher odds of severe injury or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;&amp;quot;I still want to prepare for this rare situation anyway!&amp;quot;&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok, then here's what you can do that will benefit you way more. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Predators:&lt;/strong&gt; To deal with predators bring defenses and learn to use them. Bear spray, knowledge of local predators and how to remain safe around them, defensible positions (ie: don't put yourself between a cliff and predator to begin with).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forest fire:&lt;/strong&gt; You might still be at risk at the bottom of the cliff. You might also make it harder for rescuers to find or reach you by making such a change to your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wilderness Survival:&lt;/strong&gt; Everyone needs to get the idea out of their head that such risky actions are a part of real wilderness survival training. If you're in a wilderness survival situation, you need to avoid such risks at all costs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out of all the rare cases where you might otherwise be tempted to jump, in most of them you would probably be better served by bringing bear spray and bringing an emergency locator beacon to signal for help and let rescuers know your location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbed up a rock face and dropped your gear? Activate your beacon. Realize a forest fire is nearby? Activate your beacon. Being hunted or attacked? Active your bear spray. Any other situation where you don't have to jump &lt;em&gt;right this second&lt;/em&gt;? Active your beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;But what if the beacon fails?&amp;quot; That's possible, sure, but what are the odds that will happen coinciding with an animal attack coinciding with a cliff-you-animal sandwich, coinciding with survivable water at the bottom of it? Not convinced? Get a second beacon as a back up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think ahead for situation-specific emergency backups, like an emergency waist pack with an extra rope and/or beacon. Similarly, if this is a concern plan for it before a trip where you're around cliffs: What could go wrong, and how could I mitigate that so I wouldn't have to jump?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don't jump!&lt;/strong&gt; Just bring defenses and a beacon and plan ahead, as mitigating the situation beforehand has much higher chance of success than dealing with it after.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do somehow manage to have no choice at all but to jump, and you decide to jump despite your terrible luck at this point, then look to the other answers and pencil drop in straight and rigid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T19:03:41.223" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-19T21:18:52.617" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The New Yorker has an interesting and sad &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/10/13/jumpers&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article on people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge&lt;/a&gt;.  According to the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The rare survivors always hit feet first, and at a slight angle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19385" LastActivityDate="2020-02-19T21:18:52.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24809" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24812" CreationDate="2020-02-20T04:58:41.387" Score="12" ViewCount="3853" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm currently trying to remark a trail that seems to be forgotten or had very little use in the past few years. The markers that remain (different types of ribbon) are fraying or crumbling depending what material they are made out of. They are mostly tied to trees. I've started by tying up some &amp;quot;flagging tape&amp;quot; to trees in a similar manner, but I wonder how well the flagging tape I've chosen will hold up. I don't want to have to do this again next year and I'd like someone who comes upon the trail in a few years to be able to enjoy it as I have.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I wonder if anyone has suggestions for ribbons or other materials that will be resistant to sun and weather and keep their color.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stuff I'm using is quite thin and about 3.50 USD for 300 feet (90 metre), which seems to be enough for a maybe a mile (1.6 km) of trail. I'd be willing to pay a bit more for something that would last. $35 would be okay, but $350 is too much. It also needs to be pretty quick to apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Additional information&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are already colored plastic fragments of old trail markers strewn around the area of the trail. Another reason that I'd like the markers to last is that I'd like not to add more fragments like this every year. Markers that fade without a trace (like paint) might avoid this also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few of the comments and answers mentioned terrain and temperature. The trail is mostly wooded and in a temperate climate. It's a bit rocky in places. The coldest days in the winter get down to 0°F (–18°C) and the hottest days in the summer are around 105°F (41°C). Parts of trail typically may flood in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15863" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T20:26:22.583" Title="Trail marking material that will last a few years" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24809" CreationDate="2020-02-20T07:13:09.473" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Permanent trails in NZ were marked with cut up bits of Venetian blinds - the aluminium ones and preferably white, nailed to trees with stainless steel (IIRC) nails. You can (could) often get these free from people renovating their homes.&#xA;Now people seem to use &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.traps.co.nz/track-marker-orange&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;triangular orange trail markers&lt;/a&gt;, as a more modern system - they go for about NZ$ 0.45 per marker here, so about US$ 0.30ish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You need two nails for both of these, one at the top and one at the bottom inserted at about 80 degrees off vertical. This stops the marker spinning on the nail in the wind and eventually falling off because it has worn the nail through or enlarged the hole. Having said that, one nail will work in a pinch, so long as it is not horizontal, so that it can rest against the tree and not spin so easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The nails also need to not be inserted fully so that the tree has room to grow; pushing the marker out as it does. We used 50 mm (2 in) or 75 mm (3 in) nails, and markings in this way can last many many years (25+) with occasional maintenance to re-nail markers before the trees consume them or as small trees die off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add the third option - As you already have flagging tape mentioned, this is also for less permanent marking. Marking spray paint, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://soppec.com/gb/construction-marking-spray-paints/11-s-mark-fluorescent.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; one - it's the fluorescent stuff you see marking construction sites. It lasts a surprising amount of time on the ground (~6 months) and even longer on trees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also edited to add - I agree with the other posters about contacting the local authority and making sure that you are allowed to mark trails yourself. In my experience, trails that have been removed are often removed for safety issues or to protect fragile ecosystems&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T19:47:05.817" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T19:47:05.817" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24811" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24809" CreationDate="2020-02-20T08:24:43.523" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d4MQT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d4MQT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo of cairn in Austria&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steinmandl_am_Treffauer.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the easiest and most durable version is the use of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cairns&lt;/a&gt;. Provided there is enough rocks around, they are easy to build, unaffected by bleaching of the sun and weather. If they are built big enough, they can even be seen at a certain level of snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T09:20:03.920" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T09:20:03.920" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24809" CreationDate="2020-02-20T13:37:41.660" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want the quickest way to mark a trail, you could go for forestry marking paint. Some &lt;a href=&quot;https://nelsonpaint.com/nelson-aero-spot-marking-paint-12-oz-can/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;brands&lt;/a&gt; will advertize around 5 years of permanence. It requires careful placement of your marks so they are visible along the trail but this is true for any type of marker anyway. The advantages are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No need to carry physical marks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No need to carry ancillaries like nails or hammers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No need to poke holes in trees&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very fast to mark&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not the most environment-friendly contents&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doesn't work well in freezing temperatures (unless you're using non-aerosol liquid applications)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Requires touch-ups every few years.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a good reason why paint is the method of choice for most East-American trail systems like the Appalachian Trail or Long Trail. It gives the best permanence to ease of application ratio.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, the problem with markers that are too permanent is that if the trail's course has to change, for example to combat erosion, it is much more work to disassemble them than to just let them fade off over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In trying to stick the closest to leave-no-trace principles, paint is also easier to deal with. You don't need to go back and remove the marks if the trail is decommissioned, and there will be no physical remains if it is abandoned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T14:04:33.770" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T14:04:33.770" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24797" CreationDate="2020-02-20T15:37:11.787" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just want to add one thing the other answers didn't emphasize enough : keep your arms along your body !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't put them above your head, don't spread them like if you were a bird ; keep them close !&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't... well, you're just &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strappado&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Strappado&lt;/a&gt;'ing yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19397" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T15:37:11.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24814" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-20T17:11:43.620" Score="6" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;I asked a question about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24809/trail-marking-material-that-will-last-a-few-years&quot;&gt;marking trails&lt;/a&gt; and one of the answers suggested nailing markers to the trees. Does this damage the trees? I'm mostly concerned about long-term infection or rot that will eventually kill the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15863" LastEditorUserId="8794" LastEditDate="2020-02-20T17:29:40.300" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T18:25:22.007" Title="Can putting nails in trees cause longterm health problems for the tree?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24815" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24814" CreationDate="2020-02-20T17:29:17.333" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It can hurt the tree, and allow disease to enter through the hole. The other reason not to use nails in trees is for humans, cutting into a nail with a chainsaw can be dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It probably won't kill the tree right away, there are living trees in Yosemite that were marked with large blazes by the Calvary in the early part of the 1900s and that didn't kill them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also see,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trees.org.uk/Help-Advice/Public/Will-hammering-a-nail-into-a-tree-kill-or-harm-the&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Will hammering a nail into a tree kill or harm the tree?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://orchardparktreeservice.com/will-nails-damage-my-tree/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Will Nails Damage My Tree?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8794" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T17:29:17.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24816" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24814" CreationDate="2020-02-20T18:25:22.007" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Trees can be remarkably resilient. As explained by &lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.davey.com/2019/05/do-nails-screws-or-staples-hurt-trees/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Davey&lt;/a&gt;, a tree care company:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Healthy trees are tough, and when they’re drilled with a nail or screw, they’ll start a process called compartmentalization, which means they naturally heal the area around the wound and protect the rest of the tree from potential infection. So, for the best stability, choose a healthy, strong tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is why tapping maple trees for syrup each year leaves virtually all of them completely healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a more practical reason why putting nails in trees is frowned upon, and that's because of dangers that can arise when felling or milling them after the tree has grown around the metal fixture.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15955" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T18:25:22.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24817" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24809" CreationDate="2020-02-20T18:44:53.587" Score="20" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Before marking any trails, please speak to the forest service or whatever local authority is in charge of the land.&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They likely have established methods for trail marking that should be followed, and using other means may even counteract their conservation efforts. &lt;strong&gt;In many areas, marking trails is illegal.&lt;/strong&gt; See &lt;a href=&quot;https://durangoherald.com/articles/214352&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt; for an example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Marking a trail may confuse people more than it helps.&lt;/strong&gt; You probably do not know who uses the area and what alternative paths and destinations exist. People who set out on one of these alternate routes may come across your markers and be led astray. For example, there is a trail I hiked a few years back that many well-intentioned hikers had placed cairns on. Unfortunately, so many people had done it on so many parallel and perpendicular paths that it had obliterated the trail and made navigation without a map nearly impossible. Anyone who hikes there now bushwhacks through a cairn infested land because they can't find the trail at all. Re-establishing the trail would require a titanic effort for whoever undertakes it due to the misguided actions of the cairn-placers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a personal note, ribbons, paint, and bits of plastic are garish and make me cranky when I see them in the wilderness. I don't believe I am alone. If I want to explore a poorly marked trail, I bring a map and revel in the lack of trash (or as some might call them, &lt;em&gt;trail markers&lt;/em&gt;) littered around the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please leave the trail marking to the experts.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14963" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-02-20T20:19:43.193" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24818" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-20T19:02:36.790" Score="10" ViewCount="337" Body="&lt;p&gt;While doing some research for my answer in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24800/are-ski-areas-shutting-down&quot;&gt;are ski areas shutting down?&lt;/a&gt; I was a bit shocked by the American prices for lift tickets. Vail is at $220 and while this may be an exceptionally expensive resort, the average price in season 16/17 was at almost a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.snow-online.com/skimag/lift-ticket-prices-united-states-canada-europe.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hundred dollars&lt;/a&gt; and for sure has not decreased since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared to Europe, this is outrageous. Ski Arlberg, probably the biggest resort in Austria is at 56€ this season with other top resorts in Austria being close to this. Even if we take expensive Switzerland, most resorts are in the 55 to 65 CHF with top resorts like Zermatt International being at 90-100 CHF (they have dynamic pricing). This is basically a factor of 2 and more to American resorts. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anybody tell me reasons for this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(At the time of writing, $1 = 0.98 CHF = 0.93 €, therefore about the same magnitude)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-02-26T01:18:44.660" LastActivityDate="2020-02-27T07:52:36.913" Title="Why are American ski resorts so expensive?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" ClosedDate="2020-02-28T07:25:47.913" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24819" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24820" CreationDate="2020-02-20T21:41:08.507" Score="2" ViewCount="394" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of ski models out there, ranging from $60 to $2000. But what difference does price actually have on the performance you get out of the skis? How does one know that it makes sense to invest into more expensive skis - or possibly when it makes sense to sell your skis for a cheaper model?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="12593" LastEditDate="2020-02-21T00:29:52.580" LastActivityDate="2020-02-23T19:05:20.603" Title="What are the differences between expensive, mid-priced and cheap skis?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24819" CreationDate="2020-02-20T22:16:28.410" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, the more expensive a ski is, the more expensive material and manufacturing processes can be used. For example, cheap ski typically has a foam core which is quite soft and is equally soft everywhere. This has the advantage that the ski is more forgiving than a harder ski. However, when you start to ski faster this turns into a disadvantage as general softness makes the ski unstable and imprecise to control. This is where higher priced skis come into play. Using a wooden core and materials like titanal they should be more stiff and precise and due to a more complex construction the stiffness and softness of the ski are at the right place. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another important aspect is the base of the ski. An expensive base should be sintered and therefore be more durable. It also should take on wax better and therefore go faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As always with equipment, there is a diminishing return. I definitely would not go for something that costs 60$ when new as it is impossible to produce a quality ski and still earn money for everyone along the manufacturing chain. On the other hand, the 2000$ ski will definitely not be twice as good as a 1000$ ski. The sweet spot probably is right in the middle. I am currently looking for a new all-mountain ski and there are a lot of interesting and good performance skis in the range of 500 to 700€ real price including factory mounted bindings (recommended selling price can be about 200 higher). A touring setup is a bit more expensive, mainly due to the fact that bindings are more complex and sold separately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Selling your skis for a cheaper model probably is never worth the effort as all equipment loses a lot of value the moment you walk out of the store and it will be hard to get something as good for a lot less money. The other way round it depends on what you need. After some time, you will outgrow your beginner ski and may need something that is more suitable for higher speeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that better or worse is not a single dimension. As soon as you leave the range of the cheapest skis you first need to find out what you want to do with them. Race and slalom carvers are for fast and aggressive skiing with the main difference being the turn radius. Those need to be very stiff and need to be stiff at the right place. Freeride skis are made for powder and tend to be a lot softer which is fine off-piste. But a wide ski will perform abysmal on an icy piste. And there are all-mountain skis which are allrounders but will never match the performance of a pure specialist in their area.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Another important point to note is that the boot is as important to your skiing as the ski itself. It should match the type (and therefore stiffness) of the ski. Changing to a new type or quality level of a ski often involves changing the boot as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-02-23T19:05:20.603" LastActivityDate="2020-02-23T19:05:20.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24800" CreationDate="2020-02-21T10:00:12.503" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climate change means ski resorts at mid-latitude lower elevations are doomed.  Winters used to be colder and snowier than today, and lower mountain ranges such as the Ardennes or German &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelgebirge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mittelgebirge&lt;/a&gt; are no longer sure to get snow in winter.  If they haven't shut down yet, it's a matter of time until they will.  There's only so much you can do with artificial snow when it's +10°C outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-02-21T10:00:12.503" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24822" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24771" CreationDate="2020-02-21T11:13:40.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would try the &quot;flimsy travel hairdryer&quot;. It does not take that much heat to melt the wax, just keep it close to the trousers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I got a G1000 hat and once successfully used a burning candle to get the wax in. Just rubbed it on got my hand in the hat and moved it close to the flame. If the wax melts you are good, your hand on the other side of the garment is an excellent heat indicator&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4209" LastActivityDate="2020-02-21T11:13:40.320" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24824" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-22T17:44:06.333" Score="5" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Glacier National Park (USA), there are 63 backcountry campgrounds.  I looked at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/backcountry.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;backcountry campground website&lt;/a&gt; including the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/upload/2020-map-for-web.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;map and campsite information&lt;/a&gt;.  Are there bear poles/boxes at backcountry sites?  &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.glacier.nationalparkschat.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=21938&amp;amp;sid=0e85ecd53c6ea0f0ce25ed277c87feff#p21938&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;This forum post from 2008&lt;/a&gt; states that &lt;em&gt;All of the designated backcountry sites have bear poles or bear boxes. So its not necessary to bring a canister.&lt;/em&gt;, but the park website states in its gear list to bring &lt;em&gt;25 feet of rope for hanging food and garbage&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That would seem to be in contradiction, because if the bear poles are anyway like the ones I saw in the semi-developed campgrounds at Jasper National Park (Canada) in 2014, then it means hikers would not need to bring rope for hanging food and garbage, as this is would be the bear poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do some or all of the backcountry campgrounds in Glacier National Park (USA) have bear poles, bear boxes, or some other way with which hikers can store food safe from bears and other animals?  Or must hikers still bring gear to hang food or bear canisters themselves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T13:35:34.813" Title="Do Glacier National Park (USA) backcountry camps have bear poles / bear canisters?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24825" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-23T19:58:34.667" Score="0" ViewCount="149" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a near miss yesterday as I tried a strategy of a fellow surfer: I buried my mechanical car key in the sand, put my bag on top of it, and went surfing. A few dogs on the beach must have shifted the position of the bag and I could not immediately find it; a shopkeeper lent me a rake and I was able to thoroughly sieve the sand and to find the key 10 cm away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen surfers with key boxes on door handles, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theinertia.com/surf/7-hide-a-key-options-for-every-surfers-car/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt;, and I fear that it simply says &quot;here's the car, here's the key, I'm away for a bit.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option is to take it with me in the wetsuit (which I seldom use) or in the leash; most wetsuits and leashes have a key pouch. I could put the key in a waterproof bag first to avoid corrosion. I could also use such a bag with a belt and without a wetsuit, as mentioned &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/271440-where-put-car-key-when-surfing.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, although a friend and I have lost a car key in the ocean with a similar strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yet another one is the &quot;fake-a-rock&quot; that I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theinertia.com/surf/7-hide-a-key-options-for-every-surfers-car/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;: a fake rock with the car key inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What seems safest so far is what I saw from a surfer who placed a combination key box in an inaccessible part of the car, such as the wheel's drive shaft or the lower control arm after parking with the driving wheel completely turned one way. He said it's hard to break the lock hook and remove the box without the combination.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16770/how-can-i-take-keys-with-me-while-swimming&quot;&gt;This similar thread&lt;/a&gt; mentions some strategies of securing keys while swimming and with a bike. My questions seems different in that it mentions a car and uses specific gear, such as leashes, which could provide a different solution. It could also apply to windsurfing and kitesurfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What other strategies do people use to secure the car key when they go surfing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-02-24T13:22:10.830" LastActivityDate="2020-02-24T15:20:56.500" Title="How can I secure the car key while surfing?" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;&lt;windsurfing&gt;&lt;kitesurfing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ClosedDate="2020-02-24T15:23:37.543" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24827" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24825" CreationDate="2020-02-24T15:20:56.500" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Slightly diferent problem:  Oh hiking trips I figure that the chance of losing the key in the back country is probably more serious than a key being found at/near the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Placed the key on top of the tire in a wheel well.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Up the exhaust far enough to require a stick to reach it out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inside the the curve of the bumper.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also used a little magnet box and put a key on the backside of a wheel, inside a fendor, back side of a license plate, bumper etc.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A friend would make sure that he parked where it was level, dig a hollow with his foot, put the key there, and push the car on top of it.  Then he would set the parking brake and leave the car itself unlocked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  Trail heads seem to be less attractive to thieves.  My practice now is to just leave the car unlocked, and put the key under the driver's seat.  But my back country car is a 10 year old subaru.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-02-24T15:20:56.500" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24828" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24842" CreationDate="2020-02-24T16:23:08.393" Score="4" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=49.07132&amp;amp;lon=-106.60131&amp;amp;datum=nad83&amp;amp;zoom=8&amp;amp;map=50k&amp;amp;coord=d&amp;amp;mode=zoomin&amp;amp;size=xl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;topographic map&lt;/a&gt; is to be believed, there are  plenty of streams in Grasslands National Park, but apparently they are saline.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-1-10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Last and Ginn&lt;/a&gt; report that &lt;em&gt;there is no other area in the world that can match the concentration and diversity of saline lake environments exhibited in the prairie region of Canada and northern United States&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;saline springs are common in the Pasquia Hills region of east-central Saskatchewan, in southern and southeastern Alberta, in the Turtle Mountain area of southern Manitoba, and in the Lake Winnipegosis area of west-central Manitoba&lt;/em&gt;.  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/sk/grasslands/activ/activ4/activ4b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Grasslands National Park&lt;/a&gt; websites notes that, in both East and West block:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;All surface water in the area is unfit for human consumption. Treating water by boiling, filtering or adding iodine may remove some bacteria, but will not help with the salinity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any practical way to treat this water still?&#xA;We already have a Ultra-Violet (UV)-based water filter and a particle pre-filter, but that will indeed not help with salinity.  Realistically, can I treat surface water in the Northern Great Plains in a way to make it fit for human consumption?  The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.famous-water-shop.com/Katadyn-Survivor-06-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Katadyn Survivor&lt;/a&gt; claims to be &lt;em&gt;the smallest hand-operated emergency desalinator in the world&lt;/em&gt;.  It sells for €995 and masses 1.13 kg.  €995 is out of budget for our water treatment, and I'm not sure if a device intended for emergency use at sea is suitable for operational use on land.  Short of carrying all water for the entire hike, are there any other approaches that we can use to make surface water in Grasslands National Park drinkable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-1-10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Last, WM., Ginn, F.M.&lt;/a&gt;, Saline systems of the Great Plains of western Canada: an overview of the limnogeology and paleolimnology. Aquat. Biosyst. 1, 10 (2005). &lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-1-10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1448-1-10&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-03-10T19:39:14.927" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T19:39:14.927" Title="How can I obtain drinking water in a saline area such as the Northern Great Plains?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;water-purification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24829" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24828" CreationDate="2020-02-24T22:13:11.123" Score="7" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Distill by fuel (doesn't work well on the go)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically you could distill the water, but this takes a long time and uses a lot of fuel. I'm not sure how many ounces of water you can distil with an ounce of some fuel, but I am willing to bet the conversion rate would be too terrible to be practical. And even if you used scavenged wood, you would have to clear enough wood from the area that your impact on the location would be very noticeable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Adapt emergency survival ideas&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you could do is look at emergency survival information for procuring drinking water at ocean, and similar information for getting water in a desert, and see if you are willing to do anything similar to those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of &amp;quot;water in desert&amp;quot; guides talk about solar stills where you set something up to collect water condensing on a tarp or plastic sheet. This does not work well for a hike, but you have several thing in your favor: you have a lot of water unlike the desert solar still, and you are planning ahead on carrying gear for this so you can use better resources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Solar distilling portable devices&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a solar oven that weighs 2 pounds, as much as 1 liter of water. I haven't tested to see how fast it can evaporate water (I really should), but as long as it can provide more than a liter over your trip it's worth carrying 1 liter less and taking this instead. And as an added bonus it cooks food too!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you don't care about using it for cooking, you can buy or make a device specifically just for solar-distilling water. The first device I looked into on amazon is no longer available (it had bad reviews about how fragile it was), but it said it was 2 pounds and could distill between a ping to a half gallon per day. One review reported a pint per day, another reported getting a liter per day, so they back up the item's claim. Since the 2 pound item was still too fragile for repeated use, a good reliable one might be prohibitively heavy if you are hiking solo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Rain&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people plan ahead to &lt;em&gt;avoid&lt;/em&gt; the rain when they go for a hike. However, if you are properly prepared the rain is usually not so bad. If you planned ahead specifically to go when you expect rain, you could bring resources for catching the rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I just worked the math out right in my head, I think a tarp that is at least 10ft by 10ft should be able to collect a gallon of water with less than a millimeter of rain. You should both double-check my math and practice this if you wanted to attempt it on a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Take time out for supply runs (they can still be naturally sourced)&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@cbeleites comments:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrt safe distance to water, at least in the Northwestern section of&#xA;the NP, I don't think any point is further than maybe 8 km from the&#xA;Frenchman river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an excellent point. Since you're hiking you have access to more options than to simply heading back to the trailhead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could chart the distance to all the nearest sources of freshwater and make periodic side-trips to them as needed. It shouldn't take too long to make an 8km detour every 2-4 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could even plan your hiking path to intersect these water sources every few days. You would just need to plan a hike ahead of time that snakes around a bit more, but that might be fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is another good &amp;quot;take lots vs get out&amp;quot; compromise. You still need to plan ahead and gather extra water, but not for the entire trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safety&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose to rely partially on water acquired on the hike, just remember to always make sure you have enough water to last long enough that you can get to a safe location. If you don't have enough water to return to a safe place, don't go any further.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means you might have to change your plans if you can't acquire enough water while out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful of considering natural freshwater sources as one of these safe places to return to: some water sources aren't available year-round, and you wouldn't want to retreat to one to find it dried up and die of dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Reverse Osmosis&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think there are reverse osmosis devices that are portable. I looked into it a long time ago. I think I came to the conclusion that it was not worth it, similar to your $1000 find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to see if that answer has changed in recent years you can try to do a search for something like &amp;quot;portable reverse osmosis&amp;quot;. I won't bother to do that search and produce the result here, as specific price fluctuations and their current values are off topic in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Summary&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suppose what I'm getting at is that you should not look at trying to acquire all your water out, and you don't have to haul it all either. For an extended duration you can bring some and try to acquire some. And have a plan B short trip in case acquiring doesn't work as well as you'd hoped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever you use, you would likely need to practice it some before heading deep into a hike relying on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just remember that for acquiring water out to work well, the methods of procuring water that you carry have to be lighter than the total amount of water they can provide over the entire duration of the trip, otherwise you might as well have just carried it all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14074" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-03-06T03:15:58.703" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24435" CreationDate="2020-02-25T05:50:28.360" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently found this post on glocals.com where someone shared their travel guide through Google maps (&lt;a href=&quot;https://drive.google.com/open?id=17gleDabcsxBwTrxR2wxUwc17f8QAj8GH&amp;amp;usp=sharing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://drive.google.com/open?id=17gleDabcsxBwTrxR2wxUwc17f8QAj8GH&amp;amp;usp=sharing&lt;/a&gt;). It has some suggestions for hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18982" LastActivityDate="2020-02-25T05:50:28.360" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24831" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24833" CreationDate="2020-02-25T14:59:34.413" Score="3" ViewCount="255" Body="&lt;p&gt;This just crawled out of a houseplant I purchased last weekend. Can anyone help me identify it? I also need to know what to feed it because it probably hasn't eaten in a long time. It's about 4 inches long. The vendor's store is in Ottawa, Ontario, but they say their tropical plants are grown in greenhouses in Canada and the US.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YrQIU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YrQIU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vx0dL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vx0dL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19426" LastEditorUserId="19426" LastEditDate="2020-02-25T15:54:13.383" LastActivityDate="2020-02-25T17:47:19.207" Title="What is this lizard-like thing?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24832" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-02-25T15:16:40.223" Score="0" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;Thinking hypothetically, person A is taking a paragliding course over the course of a year in three stages. The first two are about mastering ground handling, taking off, basic landing, different approaches, and landing near a target. The last stage requires 10 hours of flight in total, staying in the air with wind bouncing up from a cliff, big ears, and top landing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Person B is an accredited instructor giving classes to person A. Person B proposed that person A acquire material for the third stage. Person B also suggested that it would be harder to teach person A with a glider unknown to person B. Person B suggested one specific glider that he knows very well and considers the best for beginners (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gingliders.com/en/paragliders/atlas-2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gin Atlas 2&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I see the advantage that person A would both learn the skills and to handle the glider; I see the disadvantage if person A mishandles the material and wrecks a new glider instead of a used one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a good time for person A to acquire material? And what trade-offs should they consider when deciding on which glider to acquire from the many available?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I forgot to mention that the course includes supply of glider and harness (helmet too, but I already bought mine). During the second stage of training, which focused on landing on a predetermined spot, I used an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.independence.aero/en/products/paragliders/zippy-pt-LTF-EN_A.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Independence Zippy EN-A glider&lt;/a&gt;. Now in the third stage I am using &lt;a href=&quot;https://skywalk.info/project/tequila/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a Skywalk Tequila 2, EN-B low&lt;/a&gt;. Both belonged to the school. Yesterday I did two hour-long flights, big ears, top landing, and full accelerator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Person B said that the difference between the wings he uses for classes (Skywalk) and those he recommends for novice pilots (Gin) is a coincidence: two former students who had bought Skywalk Tequila were moving to more advanced gliders, he knew the students and the gliders well and bought them second-hand for instruction, and no Gin Atlas are now on the second-hand market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastEditorUserId="19173" LastEditDate="2020-02-29T10:54:06.620" LastActivityDate="2020-02-29T10:54:06.620" Title="When to acquire a glider over the course of paragliding lessons?" Tags="&lt;paragliding&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24833" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24831" CreationDate="2020-02-25T17:05:57.877" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The OP supposed the species to be &lt;strong&gt;brown anole&lt;/strong&gt;, which I followed up with a visit to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_anole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; and found a very similar image, with the caption&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Florida female&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JGm1V.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JGm1V.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;image from Wikipedia&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article also identifies their diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-02-25T17:47:19.207" LastActivityDate="2020-02-25T17:47:19.207" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24832" CreationDate="2020-02-26T07:32:36.363" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;All modern EN-A gliders are quite forgiving and do not behave drastically different. In my opionion your instructor should have no problem teaching you with any of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Getting your own equipment as soon as possible makes a lot of sense, but it should be sufficient to get it after you completed your license. Buying used is also very common and since you have to get your gear checked usually every two years totally safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Staying with an EN-A for quite some time is very advicable. Many pilots move up to higher classes way to fast, in my opinion at least. I myself bought a used Advance PI2 23 wing. It is very lightweight, very easy to launch and works fine for thermaling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In your case I recommend looking at used gear not older than 2-4 years. Or any new EN-A glider that feels good to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some EN-A gliders to choose from:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skywalk Mescal 5&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Airdesign Eazy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Advance Alpha 6&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Phi Symphonia&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take my advice with a grain of salt since I am also quite a novice pilot, but I have learned a lot from very experienced pilots/teachers and I am basically forwarding their opinions to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19427" LastActivityDate="2020-02-26T07:32:36.363" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24835" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24818" CreationDate="2020-02-26T13:54:36.200" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because enough people pay this price for the resort to stay in business.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sister site &lt;a href=&quot;https://economics.stackexchange.com/q/19305&quot;&gt;What Creates the Price in the First Place&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;supply and demand depend on a whole range of (hypothetical) prices. However, the equilibrium price (which is a certain price and different from the range of potential prices) is that price where both supply and demand meet. &lt;a href=&quot;https://economics.stackexchange.com/a/19310&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2020-02-26T17:41:56.533" LastActivityDate="2020-02-26T17:41:56.533" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24818" CreationDate="2020-02-27T07:52:36.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've wondered that too. I think the answer is limited supply combined with substantial barriers to opening new resorts. In the US, most mountainous areas in the West are owned by the federal government and administered by the US Forest Service. &lt;strong&gt;The permitting process for new resorts on USFS land is ludicrously expensive, slow and complicated&lt;/strong&gt; (and expansion of existing resorts, though this isn't &lt;em&gt;quite&lt;/em&gt; as difficult). You can get into the double digits of millions of dollars before even breaking ground. Then factor in the numerous protests, lawsuits, etc. ANY change in use of federal land goes through and opening a new resort is nearly impossible. Side note: some tracts of private land large enough to develop into a ski resort do exist. However they're rarely offered for sale and needless to say are extremely expensive &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most ski resorts in the West were opened when permitting was much easier. Now you have many more skiers (because of US population growth) and about the same number of large resorts as there were in the 70s (and many less small ones, but that's a different topic). So ski resorts are basically this fossil resource that we can't make any more of as demand increases&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also consolidation in the ski industry (lookin at you, Veil Resorts) probably contributes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15690" LastActivityDate="2020-02-27T07:52:36.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24771" CreationDate="2020-02-27T11:01:45.710" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;That should work great. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you probably know The G-1000 fabric is a specific cotton-polyester blend. Cotton and polyester will not be damaged by those temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Greenland wax is made from beeswax and parrafine. Neither will evaporate at those temperatures so your oven won't end up covered in waxy residue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can think of only two possible problems: &#xA;1. The wax drips off and the bottom of your oven gets waxed. This is easily caught with oven paper.&#xA;2. The wax is not spread out evenly. This is easily fixed by washing your trousers up to three times at 40 degrees Celcius, that should completely remove all wax.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19438" LastActivityDate="2020-02-27T11:01:45.710" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24775" CreationDate="2020-02-27T21:16:16.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Following @csk advice, I washed the mittens in luke-warm water with a little bit of soap and then dried on a rack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was worried that washing might remove the waterproofing but that was silly: the mittens were soaked through on the first day of actual use and on all the days after that. So even if i had not washed them prior to use, they would have become soaked on the first day anyway (this winter was very warm, with snow thawing daily).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But they did keep dry for a while each day, and performed better that older gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5642" LastEditorUserId="5642" LastEditDate="2020-03-10T14:19:38.060" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T14:19:38.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24839" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25022" CreationDate="2020-02-28T09:45:43.523" Score="4" ViewCount="529" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for easily obtained fuels for an open-cup stove, such as a Trangia, in case I need to top up while travelling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a small simple DIY open cup spirit stove, for boiling water when bike touring and I don't want to carry my MSR. I may make a slightly more sophisticated one.  I'd normally run it on meths (denatured alcohol), ideally with a little extra isopropanol added so the flame is more visible (isopropanol burns rather dirtily, unlike ethanol or methanol).  Surgical spirit (rubbing alcohol) is based on ethanol and/or isopropanol, but the additives and isopropanol mean it doesn't burn cleanly and leaves an oily mess in the burner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meths is available (in the UK) from hardware shops and camping stores, but not reliably from supermarkets or petrol stations, which are more common and open longer.  So are there alternatives? As an example, acetone and even ethyl acetate (in the form of nail polish removers) are easy to buy in supermarkets, and if I did have the MSR I could top it up with lighter (Zippo) fuel which can be bought anywhere that sells cigarettes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High-strength drinking/flambe alcohol is very rare in the UK, not sold in supermarkets.  It's not banned and imported types do &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/spirytus-alcohol-95-per-cent-18281150&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;turn up occasionally&lt;/a&gt;, but buying it for stove use isn't a reliable option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For an international glossary of fuel names, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19152/2529&quot;&gt;How are camping fuels named in different languages and geographies?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-05-20T13:33:47.603" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T15:09:34.617" Title="What can I burn in an open cup burner stove?" Tags="&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24824" CreationDate="2020-02-28T14:21:25.880" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was there last summer.  All the back country campgrounds that I stayed at had bear &quot;poles&quot;.  They were usually 2 poles in the ground about 10 feet apart, with another pole connecting the two across the top.  The string is used to tie your gear together, throw over the pole across the top, then hoist and tie off.  I'll see if I can find a picture later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An example of what they look like can be seen below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zsmJz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zsmJz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mk0backpackinglqilgm.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/bpfed/glacier_national_park_many_glacier_loop_1613.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Glacier National park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&#xA;As a clarification, the reason the website for Glacier national park tells you to pack rope is because only the poles are provided.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19444" LastEditorUserId="19444" LastEditDate="2020-03-10T13:35:34.813" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T13:35:34.813" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19599" CreationDate="2020-02-29T16:29:44.330" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.qdma.com/can-deer-see-blaze-orange/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Can deer see blaze orange?&lt;/a&gt;. They have a picture of a hunter rendered how we think it looks to deer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The orange vest (without camo pattern) becomes indistinguishable from a yellow-green-brownish color, sticking less out in terms of color but very much due to its uniformity.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The blueish-with camo trousers stick very much out as blue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Similar &quot;blue enhanced&quot; colors will result with optical brighteners for textiles. These do not just brighten all colors, they primarily counteract &lt;em&gt;yellowing&lt;/em&gt; of the textile. Yellowing means that in the reflected light, blue is diminished in comparison to longer wavelengths (green - yellow - red). These substances convert (invisible or maybe low visible to deer) UV to blue. Due to the enhanced importance of blue in deer vision, they may stick out for the deer.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I may add: remember that they also stick out for us: a really white textile or one washed with optical brightener is worse camouflage than a yellowed one (unless there's snow) also to the human eye.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(I didn't find deer blue cone absorption spectra, but I expect that also deer eyes are far more sensitive to the emitted wavelengths around 420-470 nm compared to the the absorbed UV wavelengths  (340 - 370 nm) of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_brightener&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;optical brighteners&lt;/a&gt;.) &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-02-29T16:29:44.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24828" CreationDate="2020-02-29T18:29:35.797" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been to the Northwestern part near Val Marie in April 2004.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Carry a Supply of Water&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... probably the only realistic option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Val Marie drinks reverse osmosis water and I took the advice of the rangers and &lt;strong&gt;took a supply of such reverse-osmosis water&lt;/strong&gt; with me.  I took a large supply in the car, making sure to start well hydrated in general: a generous drink right before leaving the car plus a realistically large supply on my hike - April isn't that hot out there, but the generally dry air together with the wind means that one does need more drinking water than, say, hiking Vancouver Island in the fog.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The water in Val Marie that is not intended for drinking is not de-salted. It doesn't taste good (I tried), but it can be used directly e.g. for showering and it will not leave you with a salt crust like say, swimming in the Mediterranean and then letting yourself dry. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Rain water&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a strong suspicion that the topographic map should show most of the little creeks (probably pretty much everything but Frenchman river) as seasonal creeks. At least, I didn't even find puddles in the side coulees where I was (but then that region doesn't get that much snow - I know the preceding winter had uncommonly large amounts of snow in Winnipeg, but I don't know whether that snow extended so far west).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The soil is basically gravel with hardly any topsoil: coulees form easily due to water/wind (and nowadays foot) erosion, but water will drain practically immediately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/hourly_data_e.html?hlyRange=1994-02-01%7C2020-02-28&amp;amp;dlyRange=1992-12-01%7C2020-02-28&amp;amp;mlyRange=1996-01-01%7C2007-11-01&amp;amp;StationID=10821&amp;amp;Prov=SK&amp;amp;urlExtension=_e.html&amp;amp;searchType=stnProx&amp;amp;optLimit=yearRange&amp;amp;Month=2&amp;amp;Day=28&amp;amp;StartYear=1840&amp;amp;EndYear=2020&amp;amp;Year=2020&amp;amp;selRowPerPage=25&amp;amp;Line=0&amp;amp;txtRadius=25&amp;amp;optProxType=park&amp;amp;selCity=&amp;amp;selPark=49%7C7%7C107%7C26%7CGrasslands+National+Park&amp;amp;txtCentralLatDeg=&amp;amp;txtCentralLatMin=0&amp;amp;txtCentralLatSec=0&amp;amp;txtCentralLongDeg=&amp;amp;txtCentralLongMin=0&amp;amp;txtCentralLongSec=0&amp;amp;txtLatDecDeg=&amp;amp;txtLongDecDeg=&amp;amp;timeframe=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Environment Canada has historical weather data for Val Marie&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Over the last 22 years, the chance to hit a day with &gt; 3mm precipitation was &gt;10% for end of April - August/September, with the maximum approaching 20 % in early June (7 day x 22 year averages). But that's still only 1 out of 5 - 6 days in June and you'd probably need to keep in mind that thunderstorms are not necessarily very good for collecting water via tarp. And it is also hard to &lt;em&gt;plan&lt;/em&gt; collecting thunderstorm water, because the precipitation tends to be local.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly with the exception of right after a thunderstorm, even if there's water in the small creeks, it will have gone through the salty soil. &#xA;IIRC I was told that Frenchman river isn't that salty (because it carries water from the Rockies), and that freshwater crabs live there though they have a muddy taste. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when I was there, there were still some of the &lt;strong&gt;dams&lt;/strong&gt; of the former farms intact. These dams were built to collect rain water for the farm use (human + cattle) and contain fresh water. Whether they are still functional 15 years later, and how they look after the reintroduction of bison I have no idea. But back then they were marked in the map (like each single tree) that was available at the ranger station in Val Marie. Some had a tree and were thus easy to find, and at least towards the end of April they were looking fine in terms of water supply (I didn't try though, because I brought sufficient water and did not bring a water filter).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Further considerations:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I was there, the park was just under construction  (if you want to call it construction) and it was anyways out of season, so everything was very relaxed (I don't know whether there was any other visitor while I was there). I can well imagine that even if the dams are still functional, park regulations may ask you to not touch that water unless in an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Idea: if you plan to cook pasta, boiling in the salty water may be OK (or not - depending on what salts there are; in particular Mg²⁺ and SO4²⁻ both bind large amounts of water and cause diarrhea if not vomiting - so taste a drop first).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-03-02T15:35:50.707" LastActivityDate="2020-03-02T15:35:50.707" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24843" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24894" CreationDate="2020-02-29T21:25:15.513" Score="3" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am new to this particular StackExchange site, so if this question is off-topic please let me know. The question involves weather conditions along the A.T. through the White Mountains NH in May, as well as a general question about hiking logistics. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a hike of the ~160 miles of the New Hampshire A.T. during the middle of May of 2020. We would like to start in Hanover, NH and finish in Grafton Notch State Park, ME. A sizable chunk of this trail would go through the White Mountains, which I understand are very exposed and weather conditions can be erratic. I want to be sure that we are properly outfitted for completing this hike during the middle of May. I've been poking around online to find any resources regarding this section of the A.T. (so far, the best resources seem to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/explore-by-state/New-Hampshire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/category/trip-report/appalachian-trail-2/new-hampshire-at-section-hikes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), however, I am not really finding anything specific to the weather conditions along the A.T. in the White Mountains during May.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/new-hampshire-appalachian-trail-section-hike-hanover-to-wentworth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;post&lt;/a&gt; does mention:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;... I picked this route because it was snow free.  Backpacking in May, east of Glencliff, NH (the west side of Mt Moosilauke) can be a real challenge, because lingering snow makes many of the higher elevation trails impassable until Memorial Day, and some stay that way into July. Your best bet is to stick to trails under 3000′ in elevation, at least if you want to avoid carrying snowshoes and microspikes.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We plan on hiking May 9th-23rd (roughly), which puts us a couple days short of Memorial Day. We don't mind packing microspikes/crampons/snowshoes/etc., but I don't want to expose us to any &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; dangerous mid-spring winter storms. I am also interested in other information regarding trail conditions such as severity of bugs this time of year (I understand that the bugs are particularly &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/thru-hiking/southbound&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bad in Maine&lt;/a&gt; in May/June).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Questions:&lt;/strong&gt; Does anyone here have any first or second-hand knowledge of hiking this section of the A.T. during the early to mid-spring? Can anyone point me to any resources where I may find such information? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Additional Question:&lt;/strong&gt;  Does anyone have any advice regarding the logistics and planning for this particular hike? For example, good resupply locations, shuttle services, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For context, my wife and I are very physically fit and fairly experienced backpackers. We have several long trips under our belts including the rim-to-rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike, the High Sierra Trail (including a climb of Mt. Whitney), and the A.T. through Georgia. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13209" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T23:20:46.613" Title="New Hampshire A.T. Section Hike in May? Logistics and Trail Conditions" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;weather&gt;&lt;appalachian-trail&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24844" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24845" CreationDate="2020-03-02T21:20:14.867" Score="0" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a school project where I'm trying to analyze rock climbing videos. Does anyone know where I can find a good source of rock climbing videos?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally, I'm looking for videos with as little camera movement as possible with as few camera angle changes as possible. I've been looking at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/user/USAClimbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;USA Climbing's YouTube Channel&lt;/a&gt; but was wondering if there are any better sources available – like unedited versions of the same competitions or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19453" LastEditorUserId="15955" LastEditDate="2020-03-03T13:43:26.283" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T05:17:11.597" Title="Where can I find videos of rock climbing competitions?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;&lt;videography&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24845" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24844" CreationDate="2020-03-03T09:13:44.613" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find the official Youtube channel of the IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) here. They cover all the official events.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2MGuhIaOP6YLpUx106kTQw&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2MGuhIaOP6YLpUx106kTQw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19427" LastActivityDate="2020-03-03T09:13:44.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24844" CreationDate="2020-03-03T09:37:15.507" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The British Mountaineering Council has a website and YouTube channel called &quot;BMC TV&quot;. There are numerous instruction videos, interviews and clips of competitions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/articles/tag/bmc%20tv&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/articles/tag/bmc%20tv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/teamBMCTV&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/teamBMCTV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastActivityDate="2020-03-03T09:37:15.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24848" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24839" CreationDate="2020-03-06T10:00:39.117" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you have just a basic spirit burner, not a multi-fuel stove, then the only fuels that work efficiently are spirit ones - methanol or ethanol, even things like isopropanol and butanol (the next ones in the series chemically) get hard to burn, and as you noted burn much less cleanly than meths/ethanol.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the safety warning at the end of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3x37abnp46minw/Names_of_fuel_130128.pdf?dl=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;official Trangia list of international fuel names&lt;/a&gt; (yes, it's a Dropbox file - see the link to it from Trangia &lt;a href=&quot;https://trangia.se/en/technical-data/directions-for-use/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; you should never use gasoline/petrol or petroleum based fuels (diesel, kerosine)  as these run a significant risk of harm - they either have a very low flash-point or a low auto-ignition temperature or both, making them a risk for creating your own personal bomb and/or flame-thrower out of your Trangia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canadianoutdoorequipment.com/expert-advice/gear-equipment/fuels-for-trangia-alcohol-stoves.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Canadian Outdoor Equipment&lt;/a&gt; (eh) in stock Trangia you can burn isopropanol - even a brand of antifreeze known as HEET which &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.com/ask/questions/Tx21335XLTK8CC2/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;contains either methanol or isopropanol&lt;/a&gt;, depending on the variety you get. This indicates that you can probably use diluted solutions of ethanol/methanol (I know from experience in the lab that 70% burns very nicely) and isopropanol, so it doesn't need to be very pure. The same site indicates you can also burn hand sanitizer gel forms at a pinch, but it generally needs a wick to extract the liquid ethanol component, and a Trangia doesn't have this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So - what fuels can you use that are similar to ethanol and methanol in terms of flash-point and auto-ignition temperature? Well, the folks over at engineeringtoolbox.com have lists of these: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/flash-point-fuels-d_937.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;flash-point&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-ignition-temperatures-d_171.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;auto-ignition&lt;/a&gt;, which from my quick perusal showed nothing promising, and those that were remotely close were typically pretty nasty chemicals that you wouldn't find in many places outside of chemistry labs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-03-06T19:34:04.033" LastActivityDate="2020-03-06T19:34:04.033" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24849" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24850" CreationDate="2020-03-07T00:44:20.477" Score="9" ViewCount="226" Body="&lt;p&gt;How do lead climbing falls add up over time based on their fall ratings?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the rope I have is rated to 8 UIAA falls. A UIAA fall is a fall factor of 1.77. Lets say over the course of a year I take 28 falls of a factor or 0.5, that adds up to about 8 UIAA falls. Does this mean the rope is close to breaking? &#xA;(28Falls * 0.5Factor = 8Falls * 1.77Factor)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically is this a linear relationship. Will the ropes always break around the same number of accumulated fall factors? &#xA;(Num_Falls&lt;em&gt;Fall_Factor = Num_Falls&lt;/em&gt;Fall_Factor)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My gut says that it probably isn't linear, but I would also be interested to know if any research has been done on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19463" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2020-03-07T21:15:51.030" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T05:56:50.310" Title="How do UIAA falls add up over time?/When to replace a rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24850" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24849" CreationDate="2020-03-07T10:13:12.343" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am sure there is no simple formula to add everything up as the load of a high factor fall is not increasing linearly. There have been experiments conducted by Pit Schubert in which he tested a rope with repeated falls on factor 0.35-0.45 on a rope rated to 5 falls with an 80 kilo mass. (Basically the norm just with a low fall factor)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He reports that the rope lasted for more than 2 days of fall testing and broke after 220 falls. However, it was already stiff to unusability after 80 falls.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Source: Pit Schubert, &lt;em&gt;Sicherheit und Risiko&lt;/em&gt; in Fels und Eis, page 64)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What does this mean?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The fall factor is relatively high for sports climbing falls. A factor of 0.4 would be a 4m fall from 10m height into a quick-draw at 8m. Your typical fall (especially at the gym) will likely be much smaller.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope was fixed which means the fall was held completely static. In practice (belaying off the harness) there is always a dynamic catch, even with static devices like the GriGri. Loads in practice will be even lower.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;With the rope being fixed, there is always the same part of the rope in the carabiner that holds the fall. In practice, this would be distributed over a bigger part of the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As in all testing, this was performed using a metal weight to simulate the climber. A human climber's body will absorb some of the impact, therefore lowering the impact on the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In practice, you will get a lot more than the 220 falls measured. Therefore, it should be impossible to break a rope simply by falling onto it, no matter how often you do. Check your equipment before climbing on it and if in doubt retire.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Retire the rope when it gets too stiff for comfortable handling, or if it reaches the maximum life span given by the manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2020-03-09T15:27:53.343" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T15:27:53.343" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24775" CreationDate="2020-03-07T22:34:00.903" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Commonly cited reasons for washing new clothes, especially those worn next to the skin, are&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;to remove some of the chemicals added (for whatever reason) to the material by the manufacturer -- chemicals that your skin may have an adverse reaction to&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;to remove some of the pathogens that have been deposited on the garment by sick folk trying on the item in the store&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wash.com/washresources/wash-before-you-wear/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wash.com: wash-before-you-wear&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thespruce.com/wash-new-clothes-before-wearing-2146345&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;TheSpruce.com: wash-new-clothes-before-wearing&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://time.com/5631818/wash-new-clothes/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Time.com: wash-new-clothes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, how many of us actually wash new clothes before wearing them? How many of us, or our children, are actually sensitive enough for this to be a concern? If we're the worrying type, should we even venture into the great outdoors?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-03-07T22:34:00.903" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24849" CreationDate="2020-03-08T06:00:10.093" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Manziel's answer is very good. A detail that was left out, however, is that ropes are just very big elastic bands. Instead of relying on polymer chains expanding, they work by deforming twisted nylon strands. These strands, after a fall, are elongated according to fall factor: the higher the factor, the more they lose their twist. This twist is partially or completely recovered after rest time, meaning that your rope is usually shorter the day after you used it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A large set of falls is not an indicative of real life. No one falls 220 times in a day. I've seen people falling 15 times very near a quickdraw, a factor of maybe 0.1. I've never seen anyone taking a 0.5 factor fall and coming back 15 times. This doesn't happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In resume, add another item to the list why you shouldn't worry: ropes rest when you're not climbing and recover a large fraction of their elasticity. This renders them basically infinite. A UIAA fall is so dangerous just because it breaks this rule: even after rest, we expect some &quot;scars&quot; in the rope after such high-impact falls - which can accumulate and render the rope more static and very weak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-03-09T13:41:49.820" LastActivityDate="2020-03-09T13:41:49.820" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24861" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10538" CreationDate="2020-03-10T19:23:20.463" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have found that using a mixture of a cap full of bleach with the detergent and adding a cup of pine sol helps. As well as turning your water heater up a small amount. I would also highly recommend using anti fungal powder in between your toes after showering and throughout the day as needed, as a preventative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19474" LastActivityDate="2020-03-10T19:23:20.463" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24862" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15265" CreationDate="2020-03-12T04:17:27.577" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ski crampons are used on frozen crust, most often in springtime when the crust will melt into corn snow before the descent. They cannot be used on extremely steep terrain (over 25-30 degrees) because getting purchase requires rolling the boots out so the skis are perpendicular to the snow, and beyond a certain steepness this is not comfortable or doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boot crampons can be used on frozen crust, but also work well on hard snow, ice, and even rock. They are used once the slope is too steep for skinning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, ski crampons are used in spring where morning crust is an issue. I almost never bring them in winter conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boot crampons are used when you expect steep terrain where kicking steps with a boot would be difficult. I will almost always bring boot crampons when I bring ski crampons, but I often bring boot crampons without ski crampons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;@paparazzo Skiing down after climbing with ski crampons can be very easy if the crust melts into corn. It is not at all a Doug Coomb type adventure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19478" LastEditorUserId="19478" LastEditDate="2020-03-12T04:27:46.680" LastActivityDate="2020-03-12T04:27:46.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16937" CreationDate="2020-03-12T22:11:14.437" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had the same dilemma.&#xA;I finally solved it, and it's awesome.&#xA;I added an extra line to the cockpit which goes up the mast and connects to the two spars. When I haul that line, it raises the two spars to be parallel with the mast. The sail is completely out of the way, allowing you to anchor, fish, paddle...etc. The gooseneck ring needs a little help going up the mast when raising the spars, but it's not difficult to raise. When lowering it, the outhaul line will assist in lowering them back down. You will actually be using two lines to lower the sail. It's pretty easy to do from the cockpit when leaning forward towards the mast.&#xA;Here are the alterations I made:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;At the top of the mast, drill a hole through and add another block on the opposite side of the main sheet block.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place your sale on the ground.&#xA;Close the spars together and drill a hole through the upper spar, close to where the main sheet line is tied around it. Add a block on the inside part of the spar. Then, drill a hole through the lower spar directly across from where you drilled through the upper spar. Add a block on the inside part of the spar.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add another block and cleat to the deck near the mast.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a line to the lower spar close to the block. Run the line to the block on the upper spar. Run the line to the block on the lower spar. Run the line to the new block at the top of the mast. Run the line to the new block on the deck.&#xA;Pull that line and it will raise your spars and sail out of the way. Be sure to help the gooseneck ring up the mast. The tension on the main sheet line will be too much. I actually broke the block off of my main sheet the first time I tried doing it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope this helped you.&#xA;I'm going to make a YouTube video of it soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19479" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-03-16T06:57:31.870" LastActivityDate="2020-03-16T06:57:31.870" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24868" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24869" CreationDate="2020-03-17T21:05:35.260" Score="2" ViewCount="108" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the video&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0GGsBgPic4&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0GGsBgPic4&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;they say at 10:49 that you should forget dynamic belaying in trad climbing, because falling more causes more stress on the gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this correct? In my understand dynamic belaying should reduce stress on bolts, pitons, cams,...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2020-03-18T14:03:14.320" Title="Dynamic belaying in trad climbing" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24868" CreationDate="2020-03-18T11:12:52.153" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not what they said. They say &quot;falling more causes more stress on the gear&quot; which is correct. The caveat here is that falling is meaning free falling due to additional slack in the system. This is wholly different from a soft catch which does not add slack but distributes the force of the catch over a longer period of time, therefore breaking while &quot;falling more&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please note one thing on the video:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Unnecessary slack in general is not regarded as something that is helpful for lowering the impact. More slack creates more conversion of potential energy before the rope catches which you then have to shed again through friction. Therefore it is always better to avoid adding energy to the system.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Why do people then think a catch gets softer with more slack? Because the higher impact at the begin helps to overcome the inertia of the belayer. This is especially important when you belay with a locking device and can only give a soft catch by moving with your whole body. With a dynamic device this is different as feeding more rope through the device will give a dynamic catch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-03-18T14:03:14.320" LastActivityDate="2020-03-18T14:03:14.320" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24870" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-19T21:02:39.190" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am looking for places in the Indianapolis area where I can run on hills or stairs. I love doing this but I don't want to risk spreading any asymptomatic viral infection I may have. Any advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems to me that such a place should&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Be open to the public&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightly trafficked during at least some parts of the day&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not have a lot of other surfaces around that I might accidentally contaminate&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Have a long, tall hill or at least 5 stories of stairs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feel free to let me know if this is a terrible idea. Trying to stay active in a way that works for me, but maybe I haven't thought it all the way through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18126" LastActivityDate="2020-03-19T22:21:58.477" Title="Indianapolis: Places to run up/downhill or up/downstairs outside?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24871" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24870" CreationDate="2020-03-19T22:21:58.477" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could try the football stadium/bleachers at a public school. Indiana schools are closed at the moment, so there will probably not be many people around. Stadiums usually have several stories of continuous steps, and running up and down those steps is a common workout for sports teams.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course whether you can actually get access to the stadium steps will depend on the school, some stadiums may be surrounded by a fence with a locked gate. My high school stadium was usually open to the public except during football games, and members of the public often used the track.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could just go there and see if it seems reasonable to get access. If there are no signs saying not to, and you can get to the bleachers without going through any locked gates, then it's probably alright. You could check out the &lt;a href=&quot;https://myips.org/about-us/schools/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;various schools&lt;/a&gt; on Google street view to see which ones have stadiums and whether they seem accessible. If you want to ask permission, there's contact information on &lt;a href=&quot;https://myips.org/about-us/covid-19-ips-response-plan/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this page&lt;/a&gt; for the Indianapolis school district's COVID-19 response. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another suggestion: Sledding hills in public parks. &lt;a href=&quot;https://indywithkids.com/snow-sledding-hills-in-indianapolis/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This website&lt;/a&gt; has a list of &quot;best snow sledding hills in Indianapolis.&quot; It also has all the hills on a map so you can easily see which is closest to you. A sledding hill will probably be pretty muddy at this time of year, but also should be pretty much deserted. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=974917&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this discussion&lt;/a&gt; about hilly places to run in Indianapolis, there is a hill you can run in Crown Hill Cemetery. They recommended entering at 34th and Boulevard Place, but I can't tell from the map exactly where the hill is, or how long it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-03-19T22:21:58.477" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24872" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-19T23:12:03.733" Score="1" ViewCount="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding the type of kayak cart with pins that protrude through the kayak hull -- do you have to match the exact cart to model of kayak? (and, perhaps, brand).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or is there a standard set of dimensions (pin diameter, length, and spacing)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the answer may be &quot;no&quot; based on the expense of carts of this type. Product info I've looked at doesn't seem to include these measurements either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastActivityDate="2020-03-19T23:12:03.733" Title="Are there standard dimensions for kayak holes used for wheeled carts?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24873" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-20T01:01:02.900" Score="2" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking into kayak carts and noticed there are two basic types - ones which have pins that protrude through the hull using the scupper holes, and others which provide more of a base that the kayak sits on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At first glance the pin type seems like it would be a better choice because of the positive connection to the hull, and maybe without requiring straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I've never used either type of cart and wonder if there are other pros/cons of each design that should be considered?  For instance, the pin type might require elevating the hull a lot more than the other type.. etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sit-on-top type:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1BS4V.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1BS4V.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pin type:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uKHPn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uKHPn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Assume for the sake of argument that your kayak has scupper holes so that either type of cart is an option).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastEditorUserId="16825" LastEditDate="2020-12-12T14:10:48.373" LastActivityDate="2020-12-12T14:10:48.373" Title="What are the pros/cons of different types of kayak carts?" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24874" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24893" CreationDate="2020-03-20T21:58:38.277" Score="2" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to change within one pitch the climbing style from twin to half rope mode or vice versa? The assumption is that the ropes are certified as twin and half ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-03-24T11:56:43.910" LastActivityDate="2020-04-03T21:03:13.117" Title="Alternating between twin and half rope technique" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24875" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24874" CreationDate="2020-03-20T22:49:14.170" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aZXSw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aZXSw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/knowledge/rope-types.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;If a rope is certified both as twin and half rope, it is allowed to clip either a single strand or two strands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you alternate your clipping style within one pitch, you might be facing more rope drag than necessary and not used often. However, there is one notable exception. Most belay devices (tube!) are very sensitive to having your brake hand in the correct place. If the rope is running upwards, it needs to be below your device. If the rope is running downwards, it needs to be above the device to break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you were to clip only one rope onto the first quickdraw and fell on it and your rope gets cut, the belayer would be required to yank their hand upwards to stop your fall past the belay. Even with an experienced belayer, this is rather unlikely to happen as it is a &quot;once in a lifetime&quot; situation. Therefore I prefer to clip the first bolt with both strands if it does not add too much friction. The pull of a fall will now always be upwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-03-24T14:49:20.023" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T14:49:20.023" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24876" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24878" CreationDate="2020-03-22T20:40:37.830" Score="1" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;What kind of mushroom is this? There's a lot of similarity to a morel, but the body shape is not what I'm familiar with. If it's not a morel, is it edible, or what are the consequences if eaten?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture is Missouri, USA in March. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jU3sE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jU3sE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1942" LastActivityDate="2020-03-23T00:41:00.953" Title="What kind of mushroom is this?" Tags="&lt;edible&gt;&lt;mushrooms&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24877" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24876" CreationDate="2020-03-22T20:48:45.440" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Looks a lot like a morel, but there are a few kinds including &quot;false morel&quot; (I forget if it has any toxicity). However you need a much more reliable place than this to be sure. Study this year and remember where it was, good chance they will come back next year. One line I remember is that morels come up when &quot;the new oak tress leaves are the size of fuzzy mouse ears.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-03-23T00:41:00.953" LastActivityDate="2020-03-23T00:41:00.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24878" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24876" CreationDate="2020-03-22T22:28:17.677" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What kind of mushroom is this?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not sure from the photo or it’s description, but without a positive identification available, I would not eat it at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact it looks like a &lt;em&gt;false morel&lt;/em&gt; and they are poisonous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2001/03/wild-morels&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;False Morel (Gyromitra species)&lt;/a&gt; (Poisonous)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;ul&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not a true morel, but often called morels by mushroom hunters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Illness and deaths have resulted from eating this fungus, although some people can tolerate them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Found very early in the season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Can become very large.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes known as red morels, red mushrooms, elephant ears or brain mushrooms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Often found around rotted oak tree stumps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MWIc5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MWIc5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/may2002.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gyromitra esculenta&lt;/a&gt; is one of several common species of &lt;strong&gt;false morels found in the spring about the same time as the true morels&lt;/strong&gt;. It is also sometimes known as the beefsteak morel, or the lorchel. The Gyromitra species are Ascomycota that superficially resemble the Morels (Morchella esculenta, M. elata and related species). They can be found in roughly the same areas as the true morels and the two genera often grow in close proximity to one another. In our area we usually find false morels rather close to fallen logs, where a microniche of moisture, humidity, and shade is likely to be found, but there is quite a bit of variability in their habitat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;True morels are considered to be delicious and one of the most sought after of the edible fungi. False morels should be considered to be poisonous and should probably not be eaten in most parts of the world. I'll tell you more about this below. Fortunately true morels and false morels are relatively easy to distinguish from one another. The easiest way to distinguish them is by making a longitudinal section of the fruiting bodies. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-03-22T22:59:01.210" LastActivityDate="2020-03-22T22:59:01.210" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24880" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24938" CreationDate="2020-03-23T20:00:09.860" Score="0" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;I watched a couple survival shows and started reading a bit about how jerky is made. A big point they get across no matter how they make it is to trim the fat. Fat doesn't dehydrate well enough to keep bacteria from growing, they say. Fat can go rancid, and nobody wants that, they say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't doubt that trimming fat is a good idea, but I still have a few questions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why exactly doesn't fat dehydrate as well as muscle? Is it simply because its hydrophobic fats and oils block water from reach the surface, like how we use vaseline to keep our skin from drying?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What exactly are the negative effects of eating rancid fat? Obviously nausea-inducing food is a bad way to stay fed, but when I try to look up the toxicity of rancid fat, the most I get is the broader meaning of &quot;rancid&quot; for all spoiled food or unconvincing naturopathic blogs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a situation where your only option of preserving meat is jerkying, where can you find a reliable source of fats to avoid rabbit starvation?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19506" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T15:58:00.240" Title="Questions about trimming fat for jerky" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24881" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24873" CreationDate="2020-03-24T10:19:00.923" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a fairly short answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The first type is suitable for all craft, including open canoes, sea kayaks and other general touring boats, playboats, in fact just about anything with a relatively wide flat hull.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The second type is suitable for a fairly narrow range of &quot;sit on top&quot; craft that have suitable drain holes in the hull, though for those craft it will give a more positive engagement.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The latter may be the better purchase if you both have a suitable craft and you're intending to tow behind a bicycle. Though the former is more versatile if you're planning to upgrade in the future or try other types of paddlesports. If the trolley is just for hauling the boat from the car to the water, and you have a suitable craft for either, then it probably makes very little difference which you choose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-03-24T10:19:00.923" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22936" CreationDate="2020-03-25T18:23:04.273" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just purchased an inReach mini. In doing testing, the log tracking is not good. I just walked 1.4 miles according to map my walk on my phone which accurately tracked the route. It was cloudy and the inReach would not send a message and tracked only .4 miles of the walk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure I can trust this device to save me with its SOS feature if it will only work in clear skys.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19511" LastEditorUserId="381" LastEditDate="2021-03-19T01:04:57.000" LastActivityDate="2021-03-19T01:04:57.000" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24883" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-25T20:04:27.997" Score="1" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have snow boots that I just pulled out of my garage. I live in Los Angeles, so it's rare when I go to the snow. I'm not sure what caused it, but my boot hooks rusted and looked bad. I used a toothbrush and steel wool and got as much rust as I could off. They look &lt;em&gt;so&lt;/em&gt; much better, however, they're not perfect. It's good enough for me but how do I protect them from getting worse again? Especially if they only see the light of day for maybe a few weeks every other year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TN0Sn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TN0Sn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19512" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-03-25T21:53:44.047" LastActivityDate="2020-03-26T08:17:23.057" Title="Rusty Boot Hooks -- How to protect compromised metal?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24884" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24883" CreationDate="2020-03-26T08:17:23.057" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rust is iron oxide (Fe&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) so it is produced by exposure to oxygen in air. To protect, you need to prevent air from getting to the hooks/loops. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest way to do this will be to oil them - spray some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_oil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;light lubricating oil&lt;/a&gt; onto a cloth/paper towel, rub over all surfaces of the hooks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-03-26T08:17:23.057" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24885" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-26T12:19:48.160" Score="38" ViewCount="9556" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning a backpacking camping trip when the quarantine is over. And looking for some cool gear while indoors, that is to say a 30-40F sleeping bag is also needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There a lots of sleeping bags with 32F temperature rating, quite similar features and absolutely different price tag. &#xA;I mean Oaskys sleeping bag that costs $25 and expensive Western Summerlite for $400.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only significant difference between them is that Oaskys is made in China and Summerlite is the US-made sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do we really pay extra fees for only a gear to be made somewhere else except China?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19514" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T07:28:38.750" Title="What are the differences between a $25 sleeping bag and a $440 sleeping bag if they have the same temp rating?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24886" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-26T13:12:30.147" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was looking at sleeping bags in a real shop only a couple of weeks ago.  My budget would rule out the $400 bag, which I assume is down-filled, but even at the lower end there's a big difference.  I was comparing 2 synthetic bags, both mummy-shaped for a tall person, rated to a very similar temperature,and from the same manufacturer.  One weighed about 50% more than the other, and was nearly twice the volume when packed (not compressed).  It cost half as much. The difference in bulk would be very significant in my case as I'd be using it for bikepacking; the cheaper one wouldn't fit in my saddlebag.  On your back, the cheaper one would eat into your weight budget a lot more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your specific example of an expensive bag is a down one.  They're meant to be much more comfortable, as well as very lightweight for the insulation.  While I can't identify the exact Oaksys, it looks like it would be 3-4&amp;times; heavier than the expensive bag (up to about 1.5 kg/3-4 lb extra).  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-03-26T15:11:34.230" LastActivityDate="2020-03-26T15:11:34.230" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24887" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-26T14:50:30.633" Score="56" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is various features that can cause a huge difference in price for seemingly similar pieces of equipment. The place of manufacturing can play a role but rarely to such a huge extend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Material used&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The first difference between cheap and expensive equipment is almost always the material used. Cheap synthetic fill or even cotton will keep you warm as well but it is a lot &lt;strong&gt;heavier&lt;/strong&gt; and a lot &lt;strong&gt;more bulky&lt;/strong&gt; than down or high quality synthetic such as primaloft. If you have to carry your sleeping bag around, this makes a huge difference.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;In a higher quality sleeping bag you can also expect that the shell and sometimes even the filling are at least a bit water repellent. Therefore your sleeping bag will hold its temperature even when slightly moist.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;And as &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24885/what-are-the-differences-between-a-25-sleeping-bag-and-a-440-sleeping-bag-if-t#comment64295_24886&quot;&gt;gerrit pointed out&lt;/a&gt;, a bag with a wider range of temperatures due to higher quality down filling is a lot more comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Temperature rating&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Not all bags with the same rating are necessary equal. Interpretation of standards can be conservative or rather &quot;liberal&quot;. See the question &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/1284/how-are-sleeping-bag-temperature-ratings-determined?rq=1&quot;&gt;How are sleeping bag temperature ratings determined&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Even with a similar rating, the design of a sleeping bag can make a huge difference. The following two pictures are from a test for two sleeping bags that look very similar on paper but the thermal image is very different:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffGhz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ffGhz.png&quot; alt=&quot;bad sleeping bag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6e0H.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C6e0H.png&quot; alt=&quot;better sleeping bag&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpin.de/tests-produkte/ausruestung/14868/artikel_daunenschlafsaecke_10_modelle_im_test.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; ( models 1 and 2)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;While the second bag is not an example for a perfect construction, it does have a lot less leakage (identifiable by red spots) than the first one. Each leak means a potential cold spot. A better constructed sleeping bag will therefore feel a lot more comfortable. One particularly problematic area (at least by my own experience) is the feet which is leaking a lot more in the first sleeping bag than with the second.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;On a 25$ sleeping bag a complex constuction is unlikely to be found. See also the amazing link on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trailspace.com/articles/sleeping-bag-construction-baffles-shingles.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sleeping bag construction&lt;/a&gt; provided by &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/users/17547/weather-vane&quot;&gt;Weather Vane&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-03-27T12:51:20.960" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T12:51:20.960" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-26T20:57:26.983" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I still use the very expensive down sleeping bag I bought in 1972.  I've used it an average of at least 30 days a year for nearly 50 years.  Of course, I treated it very well between uses: It reposed in a fluffy pile in a cool, dry dark place with nothing weighing it down or crowding it.  It was dry cleaned maybe every 5 years or so. I can't remember how much it cost, but it was expensive for that time; easily the 1972 equivalent of $400. It was rated to zero degrees F.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never had an inexpensive sleeping bag: this was my first and only.  But it is not farfetched to say that the difference between a $25 bag and a $400 bag is like the difference between $25 shoes and $400 shoes -- not fashion so much as &lt;strong&gt;durability.&lt;/strong&gt;   Whether the durability difference is worth the price difference depends on your plans, priorities and current pocketbook.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-03-26T20:57:26.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-26T23:34:04.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;When shopping for sleeping bags you take into consideration 3 things; weight, warmth, and cost.  Pick the two that matter to you - you can't have all three.  For me, ultralight backpacking is my thing, so I choose lightweight and warm, which means down, which means more expensive.  Car camping on the other hand, I have a huge, heavy, cheaper synthetic bag that's plenty warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19517" LastActivityDate="2020-03-26T23:34:04.253" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-27T00:16:24.723" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the particular case of the bags in this question, the main differences between these bags are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Properties of a $25 china made &quot;32 degree&quot; bag&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low quality synthetic insulation (ie. less warmth for the same weight and bulk)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy / thick face fabrics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heavy zippers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Single sheet construction (insulation is a single layer sandwiched between the face fabric, not made with overlapping layers of insulation)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You mention manufactured in China where labor costs are very low, so a simple design requiring little labor will be very inexpensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Temperature rating likely exaggerated (no standard used, ie.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_13537&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;EN 13575&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The result of these design features is a &quot;very&quot; bulky (ie. the size of a 20lb propane bottle which will not fit in a 30-40 liter backpack), &quot;very&quot; heavy (can't find the specific model you mention but I would guess 4+ lbs).  For someone who is looking to use a bag for a trip where they are not going to have to pack the bag into a backpack, or carry it very far, or endure any extreme weather this may be a great option.  This category of bag is what is sometimes called a &quot;car camping bag&quot; used for camping at campgrounds where you drive your car next to the tent site, usually in good weather.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Properties of a $400 Western Mountaineering bag:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Down with a high  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fill_power&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;fill power&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extremely lightweight face fabric&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight zippers&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Complex design features (baffles, complex shaping of the head/neck area, anti-snag features for the zipper, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Overlapping layers of down (this construction requires considerably more labor no matter where the bag is made)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Made in California, where labor is very expensive and these bags have a lot of labor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ironically Western Mountaineering doesn't use a sleeping bag warmth standard either but their ratings are consistent with the expectations of most backpackers in my experience&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The result of these features is a bag that packs down extremely small (ie, the size of a water bottle), is extremely light (1lb 3oz which is &quot;crazy light&quot;) and extremely comfortable.  For certain people who carry a backpack every weekend, or up mountains these features are well worth $400.  This category of bag is sometimes called a &quot;mountaineering bag&quot; and is used for lightweight backpacking and mountaineering.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17384" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T00:16:24.723" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24739" CreationDate="2020-03-27T07:56:03.240" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Fish that hunt moving targets respond to abnormal movement, try to think of it as a kind of color blindness, they can't see your lure/fly well at all if it is moving with the current, its like it is invisible.  So my advice, if possible is to jerk the line as the fly floats towards the trout so the lure arrives at its nose a second quicker than it would if it was just floating, don't jerk it so it moves away faster, ambush hunters will ignore that and wait longer, they instinctively strike at movement that is disadvantageous to its prey &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T07:56:03.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-27T09:28:06.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not about the origin of a product, it's about features you need for your backpacking trip, that is to say: weight, comfort, breathability, reliable zippers and so on.&#xA;And if you go on your feet you need your backpack packed as lighttweight as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case of WM Summerlite you pay for 19 oz weight while Oaskys weighs &lt;strong&gt;3lbs&lt;/strong&gt;!&#xA;Goose and duck down bags are always more expensive since it harder-to-get material than synthetic, but these bags are much warmer and comfortable.&#xA;There are also dri-down bags (kinda synthetic down or smth) but I haven't tested any yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Retailers often mention temperature rating in Celcius on purpose for a person from the US to think it's Fahrenheits. Oaskys' back label says it's comfort temperature rating is 10-20 degrees C which is 50-70F actually. &#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oRQHX.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oRQHX.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And looks like everyone is complaining about its zippers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;The zipper doesn’t seem very strong because I often found it unzipped to my hips throughout the night. Will definitely invest in a bigger higher quality sleeping bag but will keep for the dogs during summer camping season&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;The tab on the zipper came off on its first....and last use.&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;ETA: First time using it and the zipper is broken. It’s 49 degrees and I’m freezing&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&quot;Zipper failed and is not a &quot;do it yourself fix&quot; at home&quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you could do a bit more of research to find cheaper yet US made and comfortable sleeping bags. &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildproofgear.com/best-ultralight-sleeping-bag/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://wildproofgear.com/best-ultralight-sleeping-bag/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of, course they weight more than WM summerlite (the WM Summerlite is actually the most lightweight bag I managed to find at the market).&#xA;But you can also try Marmot or Black Orca. You don't need a down fill sleeping bag for your backpacking trip, but weight is really matters here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17029" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T09:28:06.110" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24893" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24874" CreationDate="2020-03-27T15:33:43.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When leading a pitch I will sometimes &lt;strong&gt;switch from twin to half, but never back&lt;/strong&gt;. Here's why.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, some definitions, assuming you're climbing with two ropes that are certified as both twin and half:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Twin ropes: clip &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; ropes through each piece of protection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Half ropes: clip a &lt;em&gt;single&lt;/em&gt; rope through a piece of protection.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally when climbing using a half rope technique, the leader will alternate clipping pieces or try to keep one rope to the left side of the climb and the other rope to the right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason why you shouldn't switch from climbing using two ropes as half ropes to using them as twin ropes is that in the event of a fall, the two ropes will have different lengths paid out, and will travel at different speeds through the &quot;twin&quot; pieces of protection (those where both ropes are clipped). That causes increased friction between the two ropes, which could cause anything from &lt;strong&gt;increased wear&lt;/strong&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;rope damage&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Switching from twin to half is fine though, in the event of a fall the twin ropes will travel together, then separate and each rope will rub against its own pieces.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, it's very important that once you start leading with half ropes (where only one piece is clipped to the rope), you continue leading with half ropes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more note: If you find yourself leading in half-rope mode but only have a single piece that you want to clip both ropes to, you can still do it but you should use &lt;strong&gt;two draws&lt;/strong&gt; so that each rope can travel freely independently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="671" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T15:33:43.003" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24843" CreationDate="2020-03-27T23:20:46.613" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well, the good news is you'll either have to deal with black flies or the last of the snowpack, but you won't have to deal with them both at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;May is peak black fly season : &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wmur.com/article/black-flies-hatching-across-new-hampshire/5190280#&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;N.H. Black Fly season&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are above 4K feet and there is a storm, significant snow is a possibility. As far as the old snow pack goes, it should be pretty well set up corn and snow shoes won't be needed. If you plan on early morning starts, some kind of traction aids and ski poles should cover whatever you run into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Mt. Washington summit weather observatory is definitely where the worst weather occurs. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/mount-washington-weather-archives/normals-means-and-extremes.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mt. Washington Weather Archives&lt;/a&gt; That link gives historical data that should give you some idea of what the worst possible conditions might be. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the one real drawback that I would think twice about at that time of year is mud season. While mud season is mostly over at lower elevations by May, it's in full swing on the trails up high and much of the AT through the Whites is on trails that are wet even in August. Trying to stay warm and happy when you've been slogging through 3-4 inches of mud all day is not everybody's cup of tea. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has been many years since I've hiked the AT in N.H., the longest I've done that early in the season would be 2 - 3 days. The good thing about the AT in that section is that bail-out options are generally pretty close. It can be gorgeous and beautiful that time of year and generally there will be far fewer people than later in the season. It can also be some of the most miserable days you'll spend on the trail. Having an accurate source of weather forecasting will be essential. Most of the trail just goes above 4k briefly, but do not start the stretch through the Presidentials if you have any doubts about the weather at all. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5348" LastActivityDate="2020-03-27T23:20:46.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24895" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24896" CreationDate="2020-03-28T19:29:45.727" Score="-2" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many old (and maybe more recent) watches that use GPS to track speed, distance, etc. but do not charge any sort of periodic fee for this. Is there any way to locate these using GPS if they are lost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not, is there any way to &quot;hack&quot; such a device so that it can be located using GPS if it is lost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example of such a watch: &lt;a href=&quot;https://assets.timex.com/user_guides/W281_M434/W281_GPS_Marathon_QSG_NAEU_hires.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://assets.timex.com/user_guides/W281_M434/W281_GPS_Marathon_QSG_NAEU_hires.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18126" LastActivityDate="2020-03-28T20:04:06.730" Title="Locate old GPS watches via GPS?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24895" CreationDate="2020-03-28T19:58:58.503" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Global Positioning System&lt;/a&gt; is a passive system which calculates the position by comparing tiny differences in the time, which is encoded into the signals, received from different satellites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nothing is transmitted to any satellite&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A GPS device is not in itself &quot;tracked&quot; by any external device&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only way the position can be known externally is if there a network connection, and the Timex watch linked does not have one. It is possible that a 'smart' watch can be tracked, but &lt;strong&gt;not this one&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a &lt;em&gt;possibility&lt;/em&gt; that the location history can be obtained from the USB port, but of course you would need to be with the watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, the manual says about the battery life&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A full charge will give 8 hours of GPS use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;so there will be a limited window of opportunity to locate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-03-28T20:04:06.730" LastActivityDate="2020-03-28T20:04:06.730" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24897" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-28T23:10:12.413" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to try to give a slightly different perspective than the other answers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To start with, I am going to make a few assumptions, based on what you said in your question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are not (yet) an experienced camper, else you would have decided on your own.  Furthermore, I am going to assume that means you are likely not (yet) considering highly technically-demanding camping expeditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You may need to get other camping gear as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You don't have an unlimited budget, but since you are looking at high end gear, you can spend some money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Shop by needs/budget, then features&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People have been giving you all sorts of reason why a $440 sleeping bag is a worthwhile investment.  But, at this point in time, do you need it?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How likely are you to actually need a 32F rating?  Are you doing winter camping?  That's a whole different kettle of fish and I would get experience with warmer weather trips first.  I camped for years before I went winter camping and even then I spent quite a lot of time researching before actually setting out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you need that ultra-lightness?  I've done multi-day hiking trips, up to 5-7 days, some with a lot of elevation gain.  While 1-2 pounds less is always welcome in a 50-60 pound load, I wouldn't spend a ton on it.  Better to be disciplined in what you bring rather than spending tons on extra-light equipment*. Weight saving, in camping gear as in cycling, is where the prices really start to bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if you are a mountain climber or are doing long trips in really cold weather, then that becomes a totally different calculation and you can disregard this answer in its entirety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Get less features, but better quality.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manufacturer and retailer won't be selling at a loss, distress sales excepted.  So, if you see an average price of $150 for a sleeping bag with your general list of features and another bag at $25, you have to wonder what shortcuts were made to get to that price.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get to $25 vs $150, the vendor has to cut corners somewhere.  They may be citing inflated features.  The materials may not be high quality, or there may not be enough of it (lightweight and fragile parts) , the assembly might be cutting corners in methods used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quite often, really cheap gear gives out after only a few trips.  Friend's mountainbike that broke derailer hold on first trail run.  Friend's backpack whose strap broke on first weekend out.  My own experiences with the store-brand equipment I got from a reputed coop camping chain here.  Except for 1 tent that lasted me 10 years, all their stuff fell apart within 2-3 years max.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, a well-made $100 bag that is a pound heavier than the $150 version, by the same credible manufacturer might be a better bet to save money.  Or go up to a 40F rating and get a good sleeping bag mat.  A well-made cotton sleeping bag, with its known shortcomings vs down &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; be better than a same-price, cheaply-made, down equivalent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The China manufacture?  Eh, not as meaningful as one might think.  Arcteryx, an extremely pricey, but high quality clothing brand used to make everything in Canada.  Now, mostly the design is done here but the manufacture is mostly in Asia.  Has the quality gone down?  Well, they still offer a lifetime warranty and I don't really think so.  Certainly, can't say the price has gone down much either.  You may have other reasons for not buying foreign-made, and that's fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Really high end gear?  Probably not worth it starting out.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, people will tell you about that $600 tent they got 20 yrs ago and are still using.  Or their ultralight all-titanium cutlery.  Like clothing or bicycles, there's quite a lot of bling, tech snobbery and brand mania in camping gear (to be fair, extremely pricey is, occasionally, justified by either the gear or what you use it for).  Thing is, a 20 yr old tent is probably way behind the times on materials and design used so it wouldn't sell for anywhere near that price now.  Even branded gear isn't always the best, especially when the manufacturer is expanding into new equipment lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Right now, if you are purchasing a lot of equipment, it's all going to compete in your budget.  Get something that covers your needs and that can reasonably be expected to last 5-10 years.  Don't be too cheap, don't be too ambitious in the features you shop for, unless you have an identified reason to splurge for that feature.  If you want to save, try doing so at sale events, like Black Friday, rather than getting really low end gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be careful shopping branded gear at big discount retailers.  Sometimes a manufacturer has no choice but lower their standards to sell to a big volume chain.  One example I saw quoted in a DYI home reno book was &lt;em&gt;American Standard&lt;/em&gt;, the bathroom manufacturer, having special lines at &lt;em&gt;Home Depot&lt;/em&gt;.  Their toilets there are just not as good as elsewhere, though cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Bottom line:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd stay away from a $25 sleeping bag like the plague.  It's a disposable, few-use, item and will result in you having to buy a replacement in short order, thus resulting in a $25 &lt;em&gt;loss&lt;/em&gt;, rather than any savings.  Quite likely it will also make whatever trip during which it fails a rather unpleasant experience.  I would also stay away from a $440 luxury/super-technical bag because you likely don't need it yet (I know I still don't) and will not see a return on your investment.  When you have more experience, by all mean, shop for high end gear when you know what makes sense for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;*&lt;/code&gt; when I first started camping, I made spreadsheets of what to bring, as a reminder.  Over time, I started debriefing after the trips, marking what I had actually used.  Excellent way to save weight, just don't ditch safety gear on that basis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-03-29T07:28:38.750" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T07:28:38.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24885" CreationDate="2020-03-29T05:28:49.113" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this isn't all thorough like the top answer. I just wanted to add that a difference in price does not necessarily indicate that one is better than the other- at all - for any reason other than consumer choice. As an example look at Gucci sunglasses, belts, handbags....in many cases they kinda suck as every-day handbags, they are however far more expensive than my big ol' purse that cost $5 at Goodwill. Were I stranded and needed a purse that actually held things, I would certainly not have a designer bag with me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several factors come into play when pricing a product above and beyond it's functionality and materials used to design it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Brand Name (if established and well-known as a 'leader' or 'trend-setter')&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Demand (obviously)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Supply (if you got a lot of sleeping bags and no demand, goodbye company)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Esthetics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Jones effect (OOOOO I want what Mr. Jones has!)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19534" LastActivityDate="2020-03-29T05:28:49.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24901" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-03-31T03:50:00.060" Score="3" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;I attempted to patch a leak on my air mattress using pieces of an old mattress and super glue. It didn't hold still leaking air but in my effort to fix leak I probably got 3 separate patches and an entire tube of super glue on there. How do I get the non working patch off so it can be fixed I can't just keep trying to add another patch or can i&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Stacy Persky" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-04-01T05:21:55.153" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T07:02:17.047" Title="How to remove leaking patch" Tags="&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24901" CreationDate="2020-04-01T07:02:17.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Superglue is depolymerised by &lt;em&gt;acetone&lt;/em&gt;. That means (most) nail polish remover will take it off. Whether you air mattress can handle acetone is another matter. Some plastics can, others can't. I suggest you find an area where damage won't be too much of a problem and experiment (perhaps there's a flap over the valve, or an edge of a seam). The cotton flocked materials will need longer testing as it's the underlying airtight fabric that you need to test. A few minutes soaking should do the trick, but for a big patch you may need to gently peel the patch every few minutes to let the acetone get underneath. As the acetone evaporates it will give you something close to superglue again, so dispose promptly and carefully, and avoiding breathing the fumes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, superglue doesn't stand up well to &lt;em&gt;very hot water&lt;/em&gt;. If you can arrange things so that you can get it immersed in gently simmering water, the patch should come off in a few minutes. Again, this may not be suitable for the fabric, and testing may be harder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that testing on a spare patch isn't completely without risk: they're not necessarily the same material. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T07:02:17.047" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24903" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25564" CreationDate="2020-03-31T19:59:19.477" Score="6" ViewCount="63" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m researching river travel for a novel and need to figure out about how long it would take a canoe to go from San Ignacio to Melchor de Mencos via the Mopan River. This would be upstream travel, so I imagine some portage would be required. I expected to find at least some adventure travel stories of people doing this trip, but I can’t find anything. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19548" OwnerDisplayName="Ryan Williamson" LastActivityDate="2020-10-17T00:18:26.017" Title="How long to travel the Mopan River by canoe between San Ignacio and Melchor de Mencos?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14462" CreationDate="2020-04-01T13:16:13.857" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the spring, several Canada Geese and/or Trumpeter Swans stand on frozen ponds as a way to stake out their nesting and feeding turf for the following spring, summer and early fall until they raise their new family(s) and teach them how to fly and then join a larger flock to learn V formation and fly south again. Usually these turf-staking on ice geese either raised a family on this frozen pond the summer before and/or were raised on that pond the year before. Kindo' like coming home for the summer and letting other couples know this is our pond. Canada Geese and Trumpeter Swans in the wild (not as much in parks) are very territorial from the early mating season until they join V-formed flocks in the fall&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19544" LastEditorUserId="19544" LastEditDate="2020-04-01T13:25:26.437" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T13:25:26.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24905" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-01T14:57:21.047" Score="2" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;Location: Florida&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may be hard to say what actually happened. Please give me some expert theories of what may have happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a mallard sitting on her 10+ eggs in my yard. I have been watching her carefully from my window for past 3-4 weeks since I first noticed her (she may have been there longer). There was a bad storm and tornado warning last night pre-dusk. I did see mommy carefully returning from the lake to her nest moments before the storm. This morning I saw mommy was gone, and eggs were all open, one actually smashed and many with patches of blood inside them. What may have happened? Could the hatchlings may have left on foot or someone ate them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the photos&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eggs 5 days ago&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v5TzQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/v5TzQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Eggs  5 days ago&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the two pictures of them this morning&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KGPj6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KGPj6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Picture taken with nothing touched&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/isfN6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/isfN6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Reorganized shells to get a better shot&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19545" LastEditorUserId="19545" LastEditDate="2020-04-01T21:10:41.557" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T21:10:41.557" Title="What may have happened to this duck family?" Tags="&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24906" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-01T19:43:28.800" Score="2" ViewCount="104" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hopefully someone has made this trip so I can craft a realistic scenario for a novel I’m writing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you had a crew of one experienced paddler and two inexperienced paddlers, about how long would it take to traverse the entire length of the Belize River upstream in July/August from Belize City to Branch Mouth Park (where the river starts)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there places requiring portaging? Apparently there are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;78 runs or rapids&lt;/a&gt;,  but I believe they are only Class I and II. Possible some are Class III.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How many hours a day could they paddle, assuming all are reasonable fit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Approximately how many miles a day would they progress?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT:&#xA;This would be in the mid-19th century, so the canoes would be birch-on-frame or wood-and-canvas construction. Maybe 17’ long?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It appears during the wet season the flow rate is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oas.org/cdmp/document/blzriver/belize.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;15 cubic meters per second&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19548" LastEditorUserId="19548" LastEditDate="2020-04-01T21:42:05.813" LastActivityDate="2020-04-03T11:08:10.293" Title="How long would it take to canoe the entire length of the Belize River upstream in July?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24907" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24905" CreationDate="2020-04-01T20:00:06.910" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not knowing exactly in the world where you are makes it a little difficult to give an exact answer. I'm guessing North America based on the presence of the seedling &lt;em&gt;Acer&lt;/em&gt; growing next to the nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bloody bits are the remains of fertilized eggs - the blood supply for the growing embryo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the damage the most likely scenario is that something ate them. What exactly ate them is difficult to say. There are a few animals that will happily eat eggs - rats, cats, hedgehogs, dogs, and a range of others too&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Based on the damage and completeness of destruction I think the most likely is a family of predators that will happily eat eggs (and ducklings and mature ducks too if they can get them) and that is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustelidae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mustelid&lt;/a&gt; family. The Mustelids include things like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ferrets&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mink&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mink&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badger&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;badgers&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;otters&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoat&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stoats&lt;/a&gt;. All of these are known to prey on eggs, particularly the smaller members of the family like mink, ferrets, and stoats. They are also known for wanton violence - killing all the hens inside a chicken coop for example, even if that is much more than they can eat or carry away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry to say there's not much you can do to keep these out unless you have a strong fence with only small gaps in between the boards - the Mustelids can dig and climb fairly well and are very intelligent, so keeping them out is difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-04-01T20:13:42.487" LastActivityDate="2020-04-01T20:13:42.487" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24906" CreationDate="2020-04-02T17:39:21.963" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I canoe a bit, almost &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/7239/4079&quot;&gt;exclusively down stream&lt;/a&gt; I tend to paddle at a steady speed, with almost no drifting.  I average about 2 miles per hour (3KPH).  As the river is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;290 kilometres (180 mi) long&lt;/a&gt; that gives a down stream time of about 90 river hours.  If you did 10 hours a day on the river, you could do the whole thing in 9 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUT going up river, and with no knowledge about water speed, portages, etc It would be really difficult to estimate.  There are a lot of variables.  Some portages can take a day or more.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More people do not make the canoe significantly faster over the course of a long journey.  A canoe can only go so fast, plus the more you put in it, the harder it will be to paddle.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lewis and Clark have a well documented journey that made good use of canoes.  Some of their work is available on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6210&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Project Gutenberg&lt;/a&gt; it might provide background. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4079" LastEditorUserId="4079" LastEditDate="2020-04-03T11:08:10.293" LastActivityDate="2020-04-03T11:08:10.293" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24909" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-03T19:15:51.657" Score="6" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found him late at night in my backyard. I live in Arkansas, USA. He was fairly large (probably the size of my fist). I know absolutely nothing about amphibians, but I am thinking maybe an American toad or a Fowler's toad? Any help would be appreciated.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UtEya.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UtEya.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Mr. Toad&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19553" LastActivityDate="2020-09-29T03:19:23.520" Title="What kind of toad is this?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;frogs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24874" CreationDate="2020-04-03T20:46:48.247" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Is it possible?&lt;/em&gt; Anything is possible, and sometimes emergencies require creativity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Should you do it?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;strong&gt;No&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;but&lt;/em&gt; it does depend on your rope rating, here's why:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twin ropes&lt;/strong&gt; are rated to be used as a pair, they aren't UIAA rated to to take the requisite number of falls individually. When climbing with twin ropes you climb as though you only have one rope and always clip them both together. If you're following a wandering line, you need to extend your protection as you would when climbing with a single rope. If you were to switch from twin to half-rope technique on twin ropes, then take a fall, you're going to fall twice as far because all the force is going into one rope which will over stress it, over stretch it, and present an increased likelihood of failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Half ropes,&lt;/strong&gt; are always clipped individually, there is never a need to twin-clip them, and doing so actually will double the impact force on your protection and onto your body when you do take a fall. The ropes are individually rated to catch you, so if you double up then you're more likely to cause your protection to fail, as well as sustain injury. Only clip one of your ropes at a time when you're half roping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here's the catch:&lt;/strong&gt; some ropes are rated for single, twin &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; half rope technique. These ropes could accommodate you in whatever unique situation you find yourself in. There is one school of thought that is concerned about rope rub when alternating techniques, but there is another that says the amount of potential friction generated is negligible. One rope rubbing over another might cause some damage, but two rope slipping past each other is less concerning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastEditorUserId="4148" LastEditDate="2020-04-03T21:03:13.117" LastActivityDate="2020-04-03T21:03:13.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24519" CreationDate="2020-04-04T09:09:37.893" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Electronic beacons, EPIRBS are mandatory in Australia for offshore boats more than a few kms offshore and fishermen in general consider them essential safety gear.  I used to belong to a bush walking club and they are a different species of human, no Trumpsters amongst that lot LOL.   I once put the same question forward when one of the older members of the group looked like they were in the middle of a heart attack and we had to stop for about an hour.  An EPIRB would have been ideal in this situation as we were currently on an open flat plain where a helicopter could have landed if we deployed the beacon.  Nobody really gave me what I thought was a satisfactory answer as I have no memory of what was said to me, the answer though I think is rooted in the psychological make up of the people who do these things as a hobby, I think there is generally speaking some sort of intellectual, we know best kind of stubbornness involved in their thinking, just look at the other answers here to see what I mean.  If EPIRBS were under a hundred bucks, fishermen would probably buy an extra just as a backup, for contrast&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-04-04T09:09:37.893" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24912" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24914" CreationDate="2020-04-04T14:47:02.580" Score="2" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm gearing up to do my first solo backpacking trip and am looking to get a new water filter.  From my research it sounds like most folks say that it is a good idea to filter bacteria and protozoa but it seems most say that if you are backpacking in the US and from the US then you don't need to worry about viruses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it true that if you're backpacking in the US and you're from the US you don't need to worry about filtering viruses?  What about heavy metals, is it generally safe to not filter out heavy metals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19001" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-04-05T00:05:03.717" LastActivityDate="2020-04-05T00:05:03.717" Title="How much water filtering is necessary in the USA?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24913" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-04T16:31:07.767" Score="27" ViewCount="8808" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m3dKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m3dKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there is this rabbit that lives under my shed, and I've been watching it through my window for the past few days. It comes out in the mornings, and sits next to its hole crouched in a tight ball, and stays there until you approach. It lets you get within like 4 feet before it moves.  I have never seen it eat or move more than about 2 feet from the shed. I've left carrots, spinach, apple slices and such out next to its entrance, and those are untouched. Is it ill?  should I try to catch it to take it to a rehab? Should I euthanize it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19559" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-04T22:19:49.410" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T22:31:27.747" Title="What is wrong with the rabbit living under my shed?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;rabbits&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24914" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24912" CreationDate="2020-04-04T17:59:30.977" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, it is true that filtering viruses is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/water-treatment-101-viruses&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;less of a concern in the US than globally&lt;/a&gt;, especially in the back country as opposed to more populated areas.  That isn't to say that there isn't the possibility of catching a virus in the US, but it is less of a concern than in areas with less sanitation.  If you are particularly concerned about viruses, you can &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/drinking/Backcountry_Water_Treatment.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;filter then disinfect&lt;/a&gt;, or use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/water-know-how/types-of-filters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;water purifier rather than a water filter&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, heavy metals are not a concern in the US, but it is possible for areas nearby an old mine to have higher levels, for example.  You aren't likely to have an easy way to filter those out in the back county, anyways, so checking the history of your destination would probably be more effective.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't be too concerned about filtering viruses unless you are going to be in a lower-lying area that is more heavily populated, and wouldn't worry about heavy metals unless you are going to be in an area nearby an old mine. If you are particularly concerned about the former, consider a water &lt;em&gt;purifier&lt;/em&gt; or a two-step filter-disinfect process, by filtering then adding tablets or filtering then boiling, but it's not usually necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2020-04-04T17:59:30.977" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24913" CreationDate="2020-04-04T18:54:22.613" Score="50" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fact that you've never seen it eat doesn't mean it's not eating. That just means it doesn't eat while you're watching. Don't feed it. It's not a pet. It's a wild animal and will take care of itself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stop approaching it. When it knows you're watching it, and especially when you get close to it, you're causing it a lot of stress, because it thinks you're going to try to kill it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Normally rabbits will graze near the entrance to their burrow so they can escape to safety if danger threatens. As they feel safer, they will venture further from the burrow entrance. If you are constantly watching it, you may be preventing it from feeding because it doesn't feel safe. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you back off and leave the rabbit to its own devices, it may start grazing in your yard, which will allow you to enjoy watching it from a distance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="13431" LastEditDate="2020-04-07T15:25:18.907" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T15:25:18.907" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24916" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24913" CreationDate="2020-04-04T20:51:29.247" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Rabbits are social creatures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Wild rabbits live in colonies/warrens, not alone.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where is the rest of the family? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So is this a pet that has escaped from a neighbour? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I have been watching it for a few days.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;  Should I euthanize it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;How?&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Why?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Just imagine, some kid gets to hear you used their pet for target practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ask around:&lt;/strong&gt; has anyone has lost a rabbit?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-04-04T20:59:41.543" LastActivityDate="2020-04-04T20:59:41.543" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24917" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24913" CreationDate="2020-04-05T03:00:10.913" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The rabbit doesn't look like it's going hungry, so it's probably just not interested in what you're giving it.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit#Digestion&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabbits favor grasses and leafy plants&lt;/a&gt;, so if you insist on feeding it, try something leafy like cabbage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3112" LastEditorUserId="3112" LastEditDate="2020-04-05T21:24:01.327" LastActivityDate="2020-04-05T21:24:01.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24918" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20069" CreationDate="2020-04-05T10:24:33.567" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a kayak with a rudder &amp;amp; it’s easy to paddle with a canoe paddle. (My kayak is narrow)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the double ended paddle is faster,&#xA;but more effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that I get less dripping water on&#xA;my lap, it’s less tiring to hold a canoe &#xA;paddle, &amp;amp; I feel like there is less wind&#xA;resistance in a headwind. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I share another poster’s concern noted &#xA;above: if you start to tip having a long &#xA;paddle allows instant &amp;amp; instinctive&#xA;Corrections to your stability.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because of stability concerns I only &#xA;use the canoe paddle in ideal calm &#xA;conditions. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19561" LastActivityDate="2020-04-05T10:24:33.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24913" CreationDate="2020-04-05T14:01:06.597" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabbits&lt;/a&gt; are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular_animal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;crepuscular&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprophagia#By_vertebrates&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;coprophages&lt;/a&gt;. That means they're most active at dawn and dusk so they're most likely to be eating their fresh greens when you're probably not looking because it's dark and when you do see them during the day, they'll probably be relaxing and chewing pellets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one in the picture looks like it's chewing pellets.  They don't need to move much because they, uh, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit#Digestion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&quot;produce&quot; the pellets&lt;/a&gt; themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd guess everything is normal here.  If you're really interested, set up a wildlife cam to try to catch its movements when you're not actively watching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11460" LastEditorUserId="3640" LastEditDate="2020-04-07T19:56:37.420" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T19:56:37.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24920" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-05T17:56:29.630" Score="0" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an approximately 90’ long, two masted topsail schooner how long would it take to sail from the Yucatán Channel to Belize City in July/August?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best guesstimate, assuming an average cruising speed of 6 knots, would be about 48 hours, but I’d love anecdotes from anyone who has &lt;em&gt;actually&lt;/em&gt; made the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also helpful would be any dangers to watch out for (reefs, etc.).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m not actually planning on doing this trip, this is just research for a creative writing project. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19548" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T12:49:45.443" Title="How long to sail from the Yucatán Channel to Belize City?" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24921" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-06T17:32:57.773" Score="3" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday (April 5th) hiking I came across this scene just off a hiking trail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4akm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/F4akm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a pile of what appears to be white hair (*). There were no other visible animal remnants around (unless we missed some minor detail). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a guess, this could have been the spot where some prey was consumed? Or killed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location was pretty deep within a fairly dense forest in central New York State in the USA, at approx 1800 ft. elevation. It is early spring (no snow on the ground for 1-2 weeks and temps now generally above freezing at the coldest).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone identify what animal this is from, and maybe take a guess at the cirucmstances?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a bit of searching to see what I could find - but interestingly there don't seem to be many white-haired mammals normally present in this area (or my search was lousy). Minks have small white patches. There are oddball albino individuals, but that seems unlikely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) These really didn't look like feathers to us, but I guess that is a possibility... There are white birds around such as egrets or certain ducks, but I don't think this is the correct habitat for either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: In case it is any help I've uploaded the original full res images here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ibb.co/DzN4XLw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ibb.co/DzN4XLw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ibb.co/Y3bxfjh&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ibb.co/Y3bxfjh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastEditorUserId="16825" LastEditDate="2020-04-10T15:29:51.943" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T21:24:51.303" Title="What animal was killed here?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24922" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-06T18:16:26.213" Score="4" ViewCount="192" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any distinct term or phrase (biological or otherwise) for this pattern of mossy growth within a stream-bed? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The photo shows little moss islands on individual rocks, within a very sodden &amp;amp; muddy stream, which had a fairly low flow. I think the photo gives an accurate impression of the gradient of the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I took this photo yesterday (April 5th) at a time of year when the greenery of the moss is particularly obvious, but I've seen this pattern of growth before in other places as well; I think it is actually quite common at large &amp;amp; small scales. Similar moss enclaves can be found on vertical banks of rock where water weeps out, etc. But I don't have any idea what this might be called (if anything).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I'm not particularly a plant person, so perhaps an answer will be more obvious to someone else than it was to me! Googling around &quot;moss&quot; and &quot;streams&quot; or rivers seems to be too broad to be useful; probably I don't know the ideal keywords which seem likely to be taxonomic, geological, or otherwise technical.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hBbdj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/hBbdj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T03:09:29.640" Title="A river of moss - what to call it?" Tags="&lt;water&gt;&lt;plants&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24922" CreationDate="2020-04-06T21:13:52.853" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/bog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bog&lt;/a&gt; might be suitable. It is also possible that it could be an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ephemeral%20stream&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ephemeral stream&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/seepage&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Seepage&lt;/a&gt; is the term for very slow flowing water coming out of the ground, so this might be a seep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add: The above answer doesn't directly address the name of the mossy bits - the moss is a result of the dampness, not the cause (though some species can create bogs themselves, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphagnum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sphagnum moss&lt;/a&gt;). Those islands are quite possibly areas where the moss has built up over the years, probably with some substrate such as a branch or stone to start them off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-04-07T02:45:08.763" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T02:45:08.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6704" CreationDate="2020-04-06T21:19:23.083" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Flipping&quot; is another option. It is for close range fishing with the maximum distance you can &quot;flip&quot; around a rod length. So it works well with long rods. You definitely need some weight in the rig as you're essentially dropping the fly and swinging it into place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Explaining it in words is too hard for me. See this video from Tom Jarman for a great demonstration &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTf1WZ1AefQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Casting Nymphs Into Tight Pockets&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9646" LastActivityDate="2020-04-06T21:19:23.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24922" CreationDate="2020-04-07T03:09:29.640" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is simply called a &lt;strong&gt;mossy patch that extends the length of a creek bed&lt;/strong&gt;, perhaps an &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ephemeral%20stream&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ephemeral stream&lt;/a&gt; or an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream#Ephemeral_stream&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;intermittent stream&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ephemeral stream:&lt;/strong&gt; A stream that flows only briefly during and following a period of rainfall in the immediate locality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is definitely not a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses, and in a majority of cases, sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, quagmire, and muskeg; alkaline mires are called fens. They are frequently covered in ericaceous shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. In some cases, the water is derived entirely from precipitation, in which case they are termed ombrotrophic (cloud-fed). Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins. In general, the low fertility and cool climate result in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower owing to the saturated soil. Hence, peat accumulates. Large areas of the landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is impossible to say what species of moss it is from the photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2020-04-07T03:09:29.640" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24926" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-07T20:40:59.293" Score="3" ViewCount="529" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm considering building something akin to a bamboo pergola and tying it together with a rope. What would be the best method for tying its 'corners' where three poles meet?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashing_(ropework)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia article on lashing&lt;/a&gt; and browsing other sources it appears that the likely choices for tying such 'corners' together are either to use square lashing twice or tripod lashing, but probably the first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I came across images of bamboo scaffolds that to my untrained in lashing patterns eye seem to show a single binding at the 'corners'. Could that be the case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cugci.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cugci.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;First&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aaTmM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/aaTmM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Second&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sources of images:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://industrialhistoryhk.org/bamboo-scaffolding/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://industrialhistoryhk.org/bamboo-scaffolding/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelyntam/6822942011&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelyntam/6822942011&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19574" LastActivityDate="2020-04-09T05:28:40.897" Title="How to lash a corner of a bamboo pergola?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24928" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24926" CreationDate="2020-04-08T05:46:20.187" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;To connect &lt;strong&gt;two poles&lt;/strong&gt; (of roughly equivalent size) in a square angle you should be using the &lt;strong&gt;square lashing&lt;/strong&gt;, as you already suggested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a good animated tutorial showing how to tie it:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.animatedknots.com/square-lashing-knot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.animatedknots.com/square-lashing-knot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note the steps no. 13-16 from the above tutorial, where you basically &quot;circle&quot; your lashing &lt;em&gt;between the two poles&lt;/em&gt; on the plane of the two poles. This is the crucial step that makes the square lashing tight and will fix to the poles tightly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To &lt;strong&gt;fix three poles together&lt;/strong&gt; in right angles I suggest first fixing two of them using a square lashing, and then fixing the third one using another square lashing. This will also be a lot easier than trying something fancy while having to hold in place 3 separate poles to work the rope on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Source: I learned this in the boy scouts, we have used this to build multi-story towers out of pine poles able to easily carry multiple people per story. When done correctly it is rock-solid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that when used to bind bamboo poles or other poles with a low-friction surface I suggest you add a couple of extra windings to each step to make sure there is enough grip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-04-09T05:28:40.897" LastActivityDate="2020-04-09T05:28:40.897" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24921" CreationDate="2020-04-09T13:51:15.817" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What animal was killed here?&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It is a bird of some unknown species.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Identification is impossible to make on such little biological evidence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are without doubt are the remains of a bird’s down. Hairs are not ripped out as shown in the above image. The bird was simply killed there and carried off to be eaten elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Out in the woods I see this type of thing very often and most often than not in the early mornings. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-09T14:02:35.453" LastActivityDate="2020-04-09T14:02:35.453" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24921" CreationDate="2020-04-10T14:59:09.767" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an alternate theory that the white hairs in the picture are the remnants of thistle flowers. Flowers that never quite matured in the fall and were recently found and the seeds eaten by a small mammal such as a squirrel. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen fibers like the above when I harvested my artichokes a little late. From the outside they looked ready to eat but on opening the normally yummy heart had divided into zillions of white hairs. The hairs are attached to seeds. Eventually the hairs spread out, dry, and carry the seeds away on the wind. But there is a period of time where the hairs are clumped together and attached to a seed. Artichokes are in the thistle family of which there are a number of varieties in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see several flowers in various states of maturity in the below image. I would speculate that the hairs the OP saw were from flowers like the closed one in the lower center of this image and that some animal liberated them when they took the flower apart to eat the seeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bPZtv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bPZtv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By Jakub Fryš - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77636955&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77636955&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19583" LastActivityDate="2020-04-10T14:59:09.767" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24932" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24946" CreationDate="2020-04-12T11:36:39.667" Score="3" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've decided I want to at least have a go and hopefully take up archery with a compound bow on the other side of the lockdown. I've been able to find out lots of what I'd need to know (e.g. am right eye dominant and have a 27&amp;quot; draw length) but one thing I have a query about is effective range of a compound bow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Articles &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/bowhunting/maximum-range-how-far-is-too-far-with-a-bow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;like this&lt;/a&gt; made me think as I appreciate in the Olympics that they go 70m but what are the ballistics at that distance? Sure it would put a hole in something but at what force?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also appreciate this is all going to be on the bows specifications so assume 310fps, 28&amp;quot; draw length, 55lbs draw weight (am assuming on arrows the 5x per lbs of draw weight ratio for grains).&#xA;Is there an effective way for calculating the ballistics of this and the stopping power that this would have? (E.g. assuming a stationary and fixed target)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19592" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-01-18T15:00:58.397" LastActivityDate="2021-01-18T15:00:58.397" Title="Is there a way of calculating effective range with a compound bow?" Tags="&lt;archery&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24933" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24934" CreationDate="2020-04-12T12:28:28.963" Score="0" ViewCount="320" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a question regarding a theoretical technique, and not a tutorial, advice or recommendation.&#xA;This technique has not been tested, and might potentially be completely unsafe.&#xA;Climbing is dangerous, and doing it without a partner might be even more dangerous.&#xA;In short: Don't try this at home (nor at the rocks)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are people who rope-solo-lead-climb using various techniques and devices.&#xA;Modified 'Grigris', 'Silent Partners', 'Soloists', knots or no knots, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started looking into this topic, considering the different techniques, and possible alternatives.&#xA;I came up with a technique that would need very little gear, and wanted to hear people's opinions about it. Especially i want to hear if there are obvious flaws with the technique that i might be unaware of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A short description of the idea (a little visualization follows):&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One end of the rope gets fixed to a suitable anchor at the bottom of the route&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rope is 'connected' to the climber via a munter hitch through a carabiner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The rest of the rope is either placed loosely on the bottom, or carried in the climber's bag.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A prusik between the climbers harness and the free side of the rope is attached to stop the rope in the case of a fall.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When the climber climbs up, the fixed side of the rope is put under tension, which pulls rope from the free side through the munter hitch, hopefully without tightening the prusik.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The climbing itself is pretty much the usual lead-ascent. Quick draws are attached to the side of the rope that is fixed to the bottom (of course).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;some backup-knots in the loose, excess rope might be added&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;visualization:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/toJGs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/toJGs.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Visualization of lead-solo-climbing-technique&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;caveats:&lt;/strong&gt; (few possible issues i can think of)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Might the prusik be loaded too much when falling?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Might the prusik be tightened during ascent?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19591" LastActivityDate="2020-10-10T14:25:33.233" Title="Munter hitch + prusik for rope solo lead climbing" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;technique&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24933" CreationDate="2020-04-13T00:00:57.570" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your first concern is OK: tightened prussik loops do not cut ropes even after hard falls [1]. There are, however, several other problems with your set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The munter hitch is not dynamic enough to allow the rope to run - even without the prussik loop.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The prussik loop will &lt;em&gt;definitely&lt;/em&gt; get tightened during ascent. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The loop of rope that will form between the prussik and the munter will get caught in everything in its way, including the prussik loop itself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is impossible to set the loop far away from the munter hitch enough so that everything doesn't get tangled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are more points that wouldn't work. Having quite some experience rope soloing, I can promise you something: &lt;em&gt;anything&lt;/em&gt; that could go wrong &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; go wrong. You will be caught short of live rope when reaching anchors due to backup knots; you will misjudge the necessary amount of rope to let loose before your next protection; your live rope loops will get caught between your legs, and around holds, and around bolts; you will misplace backup prussiks to unweight the rope poorly and will have a great time wondering if you'll die in case of a fall... etc. The list goes on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rope soloing is much safer than free soloing, but it is the most technically complex type of climbing there is - especially if we're talking about big walls. If should be left to very experienced climbers only, and it takes a long time to learn. I advise you to try your set up at home (literally): anchor yourself to a chair or something and see if the rope runs through the munter hitch. I guarantee you it won't.    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1]. I would like to post a reference about the subject here, but this is rather unofficial info from many aid climbers I know and some sources inside brands conducting non-standard testing. You don't need to believe me.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T00:00:57.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24933" CreationDate="2020-04-13T05:58:48.310" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried many different methods of rope soloing, mostly because I was trying to find the best method. I've owned a soloist for years, and solo'd with grigris, as well as experimented with a few other terrifying techniques. I can tell you from experience they are &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; terrible. Rope soloing is cumbersome, tedious, and to second @QuantunBrick's notion, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. It's a struggle all the way to the top. The only time I really have fun rope soloing is on toprope with a grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The biggest flaw I see in your setup is &lt;em&gt;using a munter hitch&lt;/em&gt;. The braking action on a munter is when the free end is parallel to the anchored end. This is the position your munter is going to be in the whole time you're climbing. Even with the soloist you start feeling a tonne of drag after you clip the second draw or place your second piece of pro. with a munter you're going to be fighting the friction in the knot constantly. On top of that your rope is going to get twisted like crazy, and adding a prusik into the mix means you simply are not going to get very far up the pitch before you're fighting with everything. No matter how you flake out your rope it's going to end up a nasty knot before you finish one pitch. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not saying you shouldn't try your idea out. I've had all sorts of &quot;great&quot; ideas that proved really fast they were garbage after trying to implement them the first time. If you want to try it out, the best thing to do is go to a climbing wall and play with it while on top rope, that's what I did the first time I climbed with my soloist. Just solo your way up the wall with a belayer there to catch you in case your system doesn't. Then you can take a few intentional falls to test everything out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4148" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T05:58:48.310" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24880" CreationDate="2020-04-13T06:21:41.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hydration is to add water, dehydrate the opposite, when you cook a lump of bacon fat do you notice much water bubbling in the pan like you do with a lump of rump beef?&#xA;Meat has a higher water content &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you cook down rancid fat you most likely cook out the nasties that are in the little amount of water that fat has, I think if it is heated for long enough it could actually purify it somewhat, or neutralise the nasties&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question 3 I don't understand&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T06:21:41.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24880" CreationDate="2020-04-13T15:58:00.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different ways of preserving meat and some are low fat while others are high fat. Charcuterie typically has large white blobs of fat in it. So if you're trying to live in a cabin with no outside sources of food for months or a year, learn how to make sausages and bacon in a way that the fat does not go rancid. Heck, pemmican is pounded up jerky mixed with a lot of fat so do that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're making jerky because you like to eat it while you're camping, trim off all the fat and make proper jerky. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rabbit starvation&lt;/a&gt; is not going to be an issue over a long weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eating rancid fat is &lt;a href=&quot;http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2016/1/29/aged-butter-part-2-the-science-of-rancidity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;probably not bad for you&lt;/a&gt;, and if you're genuinely facing an issue where eating no fat for a long time is going to cause damage but you have some rancid fat, then I guess you could go for it. But it seems smarter to set things up so that you don't face that choice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2020-04-13T15:58:00.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24940" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24941" CreationDate="2020-04-13T23:23:50.240" Score="2" ViewCount="120" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to put some trail cameras in a remote location in an area far from reliable cell phone coverage, and leave them there for several weeks to capture videos of wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wonder how I will be able to return back and pick up my camera if I forget how to return to the same place?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What devices are used to accomplish this? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19597" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T21:51:27.180" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T02:06:09.037" Title="Find a trail camera I put in a backcountry area far from reliable cell phone coverage" Tags="&lt;satellite-phones&gt;&lt;trail-cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24940" CreationDate="2020-04-14T02:54:21.000" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few methods possible:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Old school - &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Find where you are on the map &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mark this location on the map&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Another option - mark to your camera using temporary trail markers (day-glo paint, flagging tape, even bent over ferns etc.) Just make sure you remove these marks once you are done.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newer school -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;GPS tag using dedicated GPS, your GPS watch or Phone (some phones rely on cell-towers for GPS, but not all, check your model)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Radio tag - like they do for animals. You need the kit to do this though.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-04-14T02:54:21.000" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17215" CreationDate="2020-04-14T04:37:29.600" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a  photo readily available but it looks like my wifes Cascade in design.  They made a smaller frame size for women but unlike my D3 hers is like  your pictured without any lashes straps on the bottom of the bag.  I was always a challenge to secure you sleeping bag on there because of it. The only thing that makes me think it might be the McKinley is those 4 separate pouches on the side.  Maybe because my wifes is smaller it only has 2 on one side and one on the other or just two total.  I'll have to go check it up in the attic of my garage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19599" LastActivityDate="2020-04-14T04:37:29.600" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24943" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24944" CreationDate="2020-04-14T20:05:29.423" Score="1" ViewCount="62" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an ATK Crest 10 binding. What should be the position of the pin binding over summer when the binding is not used for a long time (a few months)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should the binding be fully opened or in the skiing position? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which position is better for the springs in the binding?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T02:14:15.087" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T10:14:21.330" Title="Rest position of pin binding over summer?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24943" CreationDate="2020-04-15T07:52:26.807" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The user manual (page 41) says that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;When not used, set the binding as per the downhill mode in order to preserve the elasticity of the springs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manual is downloadable &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.atkbindings.com/fr/downloads-fr/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on the manufacturer site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12554" LastEditorUserId="12554" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T10:14:21.330" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T10:14:21.330" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24945" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24921" CreationDate="2020-04-15T13:26:29.703" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is hair from a dead White-tailed Deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you look around the area, you might be able to find the bones from the remains.  These hairs in particular are likely from the tail.  The only animal in your area that has hair of this color that is likely to be found in your area is the White-tailed Deer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I commonly come across areas like this in the spring time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a similar photo that I took with a cool beetle.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4kOm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4kOm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastEditorUserId="19605" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T21:24:51.303" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T21:24:51.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24932" CreationDate="2020-04-15T14:05:06.063" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need approximately 25 ft-lbs of energy to kill a deer. You need to be able to pierce the hide and cause damage to the vital organs.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://biggamelogic.com/arrow-kinetic-energy/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://biggamelogic.com/arrow-kinetic-energy/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on what you are hunting here is the chart from the above link with the recommend energy of your arrow for different game species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7oFv8.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7oFv8.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using these values, you can calculate the &quot;effective&quot; range of your arrow.  However this is only part of the answer!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need to place your shot accurately! For example, on a deer, the area that you are trying to hit is roughly the size of a paper plate (8&quot;).  If your shot is not within this area, you risk wounding the animal and not recovering it.  For this reason, the &quot;effective&quot; range is more a function of your accuracy.  Are you able to hit this target?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunters have talked about taking shots at 60yds and maybe further. Many discussions go into the ethics of trying to make this shot.  You need to be confident in being able to make this shot.  And being able to hit this at a target is not necessarily the only thing.  You will need to account for the wind.  Is the animal going to move while your arrow is on its way?  How are your nerves?  Are there any sticks in your shooting lane?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For these reasons, it is generally recommended that archers stick to shots no longer than 40yds for hunting.  The closer the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T14:05:06.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24947" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-15T15:17:18.067" Score="0" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;Am wondering about this episode, from Timothy Bax, &lt;em&gt;Three Sips of Gin&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The three of us had just moved from the bar to an outside courtyard to&#xA;  take advantage of a cool breeze when between us walked a large hunting&#xA;  spider. It was some five inches in diameter with a bulbous yellow&#xA;  backside the size of a squash ball. The [South African] Brigadier took a nimble step&#xA;  backwards warning us to be careful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;“You ‘Rhodesias’ must watch out&#xA;  for those things, they are extremely venomous,” he cautioned keeping a&#xA;  wary eye on the hairy creature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Ian looked down at the spider as if it&#xA;  were nothing more dangerous than a dung beetle. Bending down he&#xA;  scooped it up in his right hand and popped it into his mouth,&#xA;  swallowing it like a hungry hound might swallow a piece of meat. Then&#xA;  pulling a filthy handkerchief from his pocket, he gave his nose a loud&#xA;  honk that sounded like the blast of a ship’s horn on a foggy night off&#xA;  the Goodwin Sands. “They’re only dangerous if you let them bite you,&#xA;  Brigadier. Eaten, they are a great delicacy,” said Ian nonchalantly,&#xA;  swigging back his beer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this realistic? Surely you would need to at least kill it before swallowing it? Is the venom not dangerous if swallowed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume this was a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Huntsman spider&lt;/a&gt;, and from limited personal experience from long ago, I believe spiders tend to curl up into a ball when/just before dying, so technically I guess it is possible to swallow it whole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14753" LastActivityDate="2020-04-25T10:01:31.347" Title="Eating huntsman spider" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;spider&gt;&lt;africa&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24947" CreationDate="2020-04-15T21:36:38.283" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you will find that Timothy Bax is given to a bit of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/hyperbole&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;hyperbole&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did a quick search for spiders in South Africa - and it seems that there are a number of spiders that could potentially fit the description of being ground-dwelling, hunting, large and hairy. There are members of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tarantula&lt;/a&gt; family, which have bulbous abdomens, and generally fit the description quoted above. However, none of the ones I could find for this family are yellow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what is the spider in question, and how venomous is it likely to be? Well, there is one common potential species in South Africa that is yellow-ish brown, hunting, and large with a bulbous abdomen. That spider is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palystes_superciliosus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rain spider (&lt;em&gt;Palystes superciliosus&lt;/em&gt;)&lt;/a&gt; a member of, as you guessed, the Huntsman family. They get up to 110 mm/4&quot; leg-span. They are venomous and have a myth of having quite powerful venom due to a study that used anesthetized guinea pigs - who died of shock from the anesthetic, not the bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you follow the link you will see that they have very long legs relative to the body, so I would suspect that most people would be capable of fitting one in their mouth relatively easily, especially if it were in the legs-drawn-in posture that spiders often assume when frightened. I can't find any record of people eating these as a part of their diet, but I think it is safe to assume that it is possible to do so with no side-effects, as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_spider&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;some spider species are eaten in other parts of the world&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="14753" LastEditDate="2020-04-15T21:51:14.963" LastActivityDate="2020-04-15T21:51:14.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24949" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-15T22:46:39.613" Score="5" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I understand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you're climbing, you tie your rope through your harness' 2 tie-in points, using a figure 8 knot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you're belaying, you tie your GriGri or ATC to a carabiner that goes through the belay loop, which in turn goes through the tie-in points.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have two questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why do these attach to different places? I.e. Why doesn't the rope go on the belay line, or the GriGri/ATC on the tie-in loops?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It looks like the belay loop is a single point of failure. While I'm sure it's a strong single point failure, it's still... just that. How come they aren't redundant like the tie-in points?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19606" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T13:56:54.397" Title="Why do the GriGri and rope tie into different points on a rock climbing harness?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;harness&gt;&lt;gri-gri&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24950" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24953" CreationDate="2020-04-16T01:40:05.403" Score="2" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know similar questions have been asked before, however, it is not really getting me the results I want. So I have been trying to learn about how binoculars work, which by my understanding, the first number is power with second being magnification. Anyways, I basically want to be able to see a dime in fine detail from lets say 100 yards, to the point where I can see the head on the front of the dime. My old binoculars was 8x25 specs and was just horrible as I couldn't even see a dime from that far. So I went to Walmart and the guy there recommended a $100 binocular for this, and it did not get in close enough, it looked clear but seems like it is not close enough. It was however, miles better than my old binoculars. The $100 binoculars that I got was the Nikon Aculon A211 10x42. So I was wondering if maybe 16x50 would be able to do it as amazon list that as $120? I also heard that some binoculars lie about there specs, so what binoculars exist that would be reasonable like $100-$200 that I can see a dime like I was standing a foot away from it even though I am 100 yards out and are not fake specs? Would the same brand binoculars except a spec rating of 16x50 do it? Thanks in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19607" LastEditorUserId="19607" LastEditDate="2020-04-16T02:01:17.240" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T03:56:50.863" Title="Binoculars-Seeing Fine Details at 100 Yards" Tags="&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24951" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24940" CreationDate="2020-04-16T02:06:09.037" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I was going to leave an object in the backcountry I would use a GPS to record the location of the object and add a Tile tracker (I haven't checked if there are other similar devices) to what I was leaving.  GPS will get me within range of the tracker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They have a waterproof version of the tracker that you can stick to the outside of your camera.  If you can ensure the tracker is shielded from the weather you can use the non-shielded version, but I would not be inclined to use that in most weatherproof enclosures as the enclosure would muffle the sound if you activate it's noisemaker.  (The downside to the weatherproof version is that it's sealed--when the battery dies you throw it away.)  Unlike the radio tags bob1 is talking about this is mass produced consumer electronics and thus cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T02:06:09.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24950" CreationDate="2020-04-16T03:12:48.520" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to see something from 100 yards away as if it were 1 foot away, you can work out what magnification you need. 100 yards is 300 feet. To make 300 feet seem like 1 foot, you need 300x magnification. That's the first number. (The second number is the objective lens diameter in mm.) 300x magnification basically does not exist in handheld binoculars, so you will have to compromise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find a bunch of good information at a page such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/binoculars.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Choose Binoculars&lt;/a&gt; (REI web site):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What do the numbers (specs) on binoculars mean?&lt;/strong&gt; Model numbers on binoculars essentially tell you their strength (magnification power) and size (objective lens diameter). In 8x42 binoculars, for example, “8” is the magnification power and “42” is the diameter (in millimeters) of the objective lenses (the lenses closest to the object you’re viewing). &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T03:12:48.520" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24950" CreationDate="2020-04-16T03:56:50.863" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found a quite nice explanation of all the considerations for binocular choice &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/index.pl?linkid=60;class=gen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. It gets a little technical near the end though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a bit to unpack here - you are a little off about the second number of the binoculars - the first number is the magnification. This number tells you how many times closer an object will appear if you look at it from any given distance. The higher this number is, the harder it will be to focus on objects that are closer to you, and the more light you will need to see objects that are further away... which is where the second number comes into play.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second number is the objective diameter in millimeters. The bigger this number, the wider the lens and the more light it will let in (generally, there are other considerations too), giving you a clearer view of a small object at a greater distance. The other factors are the type of lens you have - how good they are and what they are made out play a big role in colour and how well the light gets transmitted, as well as how much distortion you will see in any image. Generally a cheap lens means it won't work as well as a more expensive one of the same size - but not always&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For magnifying things - what you are looking at is the radian - this is the ratio of how big it is across, to how far away it is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dime is &lt;code&gt;17.91&lt;/code&gt; mm across - lets say &lt;code&gt;20 mm&lt;/code&gt; for convenience. &lt;code&gt;100&lt;/code&gt; yards is about &lt;code&gt;90 m&lt;/code&gt; or &lt;code&gt;90000 mm 20/90000 = 0.00022&lt;/code&gt; radians. At &lt;code&gt;1 foot (300 mm)&lt;/code&gt; a dime is &lt;code&gt;20/300 = 0.0667&lt;/code&gt; radians &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how much magnification would you need to get a dime to appear the same as one at a foot away with the naked eye?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;0.0667/0.00022 = 300&lt;/code&gt; (as also noted by Greg Hewgill). So to see a dime at 100 yards as if it were 1 foot away from you, you would need to magnify it by 300x.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will not find a 300x pair of binoculars anywhere - this is because to have that high a magnification, the lens would need to be massive in both senses of the word - big in diameter to pick up enough light, and heavy as a consequence. Lenses of this size require supports like tripods and will be in the zoom-telephoto lens size that you see sports photographers with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to get good reliable lenses - make sure you do your research; cheap is not usually an option. If you are interested in things other than binoculars, check out &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/hunting.html#spottingscopes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;spotting scopes&lt;/a&gt; (these ones are the Zeiss ones - excellent optics)  Spotting scopes come with higher mag than binoculars and can be mounted with a phone or camera (model dependent) for photos, but you do need a tripod or something to rest them on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T03:56:50.863" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24949" CreationDate="2020-04-16T06:56:09.927" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does depend on the type of harness. Some don’t have separate tie-in points, particularly entry level harnesses used by indoor walls. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Harnesses are built to be bomb-proof where it matters and a well looked after harness with no signs of damage or wear will never, ever, break at the belay loop or tie-in points. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main points of the two tie-in points apart from the redundancy, is that (I believe) in the event of a big lead fall they will spread the impact of the fall across your body rather than in one spot. If you miss tying into both and only tie into one, or tie into the belay loop instead, you will not be at significantly more risk of the harness breaking. There is some discussion (and mention of the infamous Todd Skinner case) in this &lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-gear-tips/belay-loop-myth/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The point of the belay loop is to allow a carabiner to be orientated correctly when belaying. Redundancy in the loop isn’t necessary if you are belaying. If your climber falls there is less impact on your belay loop as you are static and a lot of the force of the fall is taken by the rope, other gear in the system, and also lessened by good, dynamic belaying techniques.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2020-04-16T08:06:47.803" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T08:06:47.803" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24956" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24949" CreationDate="2020-04-16T09:56:42.410" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most harnesses allow you to either tie into your belay loop or through the two loops the belay loop goes through. This does not really matter. The belay loop is tested with 15kN in the norm:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7hZO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r7hZO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;UIAA harness norm&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;(Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theuiaa.org/safety-standards/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A load of 15kN is by far exceeding any load that could ever be applied. While the norm specifies a maximum of impact force of 12kN for single ropes, this is with a high fall factor, static belay and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Fall-comparison-with-rigid-human-mass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;metal mass instead of a human body&lt;/a&gt;. A more realistic maximum value for climbing is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Forces-at-work-in-a-real-fall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;considerably lower&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Petzl experiment also shows that the forces for the belayer do not increase when increasing the fall factor from 0.7 to 1, they are limited to about 2kN. At some point the belayer (if not anchored) is lifted off the ground and won't be able to apply more force on the belay end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at the numbers, we see that while the belay loop is a single piece failure, it is also considerably over-engineered in terms of load it can take. For belaying we are talking about a factor of 7-8&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The real reason not to tie into the belay loop with the rope is that its more convenient when using double (half) ropes. If your climb is zig-zagging along a bit and you use one rope for the left side and one for the right side, it is very convenient to have these ropes left and right of your belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-04-16T11:24:04.840" LastActivityDate="2020-04-16T11:24:04.840" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24957" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24947" CreationDate="2020-04-17T21:28:32.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Similar &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1547928/Lost-trekkers-survive-on-spider-diet.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;things have happened before, in South America&lt;/a&gt;, but if the spider is poisonous, it may have some effect even when eaten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;He was infested with worm parasites that had burrowed into his flesh &lt;strong&gt;and had trouble speaking and moving after swallowing venom from a poorly cooked giant spider&lt;/strong&gt;. He was covered with bites from &quot;poux d'agoutis&quot; - a particularly itchy tropical flea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2020-04-17T21:28:32.437" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24958" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24959" CreationDate="2020-04-18T08:52:22.583" Score="21" ViewCount="3859" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hope this is the right community.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;I was walking through the woods and found this weird thing, it was in front of a hunting tower, and a wildlife cam was pointed at it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There where traces of deer(?) around it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's basically a big metal crank that is mounted to a metal stick and something seems to drag it in circles.&#xA;Does anybody know what this might be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0PlWs.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0PlWsl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(click to enlarge image)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This picture was taken close to Vienna Austria in the Danube meadows/wetlands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19614" LastEditorUserId="4248" LastEditDate="2020-04-19T20:37:51.483" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T20:37:51.483" Title="What is this weird mechanical thing I found in the woods?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24958" CreationDate="2020-04-18T10:07:14.837" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fact that's it's staked out near a hunting tower suggests it's bait to attract animals.  A couple of factors suggest it's meant for wild boar (which are found in Austria), or at least to withstand them:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's clearly tough, and so are boar. A heavy (recycled machinery?) bait holder will keep them still or slowly moving for a good shot.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hunting towers are used for boar, not far away in Germany (they give a good view, and the shot is downwards meaning that a miss hits the ground).  Bait is sometimes used with them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Omnivorous, curious boar are more likely to be attracted to bait in a device like that than other species that are legally hunted (deer), and will spend time trying to get the bait out, or drag the whole thing away.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You mention deer-like tracks.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mammal.org.uk/species-hub/full-species-hub/discover-mammals/species-wild-boar/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wild boar tracks&lt;/a&gt; are similar to large deer tracks, but the dew claws are particularly obvious and widely spaced &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mdwfp.com/media/4463/wild-hog-tracks_openroadoutdoors.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;as seen in this image&lt;/a&gt; (not embedded due to unclear licensing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-04-18T10:07:14.837" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24960" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2020-04-18T15:05:17.307" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are used to swimming in public swimming pools, the water temperature is often controlled and always within a safe area (or the pool will have warnings or is closed.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Natural water will come with whatever temperature nature provides, which is often colder than what man made pools are kept at.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Seeing others taking a dip is not a reliable guide, as people who swim regularly in the cold water can take a lot more than people who have never been in water that cold. And some of those people may wear swimming gear to handle the cold, which you may not have noticed.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Getting too cold is a very likely risk, and taking too many risks (other) risks because of that not uncommon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An other problem with water temperature, more in ponds and lakes as far as I know, is the growth of dangerous algae, and the spread of dangerous bacteria when animals have died (in greater numbers) when the water gets hot. If the water you are hoping to swim is an often used one, you might find information, in local news sources or even on boards near the usual swimming beaches, but not every country does and not every swimming beach is likely to have one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2020-04-18T15:05:17.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24961" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2020-04-18T15:37:28.280" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not sure this was mentioned , in tropical waters, parasites. In the Amazon basin , piranha , electric catfish, etc. May be covered by &quot;wildlife&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-04-18T15:37:28.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24949" CreationDate="2020-04-19T05:04:06.633" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Other answers are good and one thing I would like to mention is ergonomics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thing about which way the grigri would face if was also clipped into the tie-in-points.  The grigri would be sideways (that is to saw the rope would feed out horizontally).  This yields different body mechanics.  Back in the day when we would hip belay that motion made sense since when you would arrest a fall your hand can drop to the opposite hip.  Using an ATC in this way is actually still somewhat common. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not rig the grigri this way because if it is horizontal I would have to crank my wrist in a weird angle to keep the cam down as the rope feeds in.  If you are having trouble visualizing I would try it out.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19621" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T05:04:06.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24963" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24844" CreationDate="2020-04-19T05:17:11.597" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is a bit of a contrast to show you what comps looked like a few years back:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV7E64KGguY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV7E64KGguY&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A big contrast to contemporary comps here:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26SOYIKPyOM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26SOYIKPyOM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a follow-up not to be super nit-picky but you mention 'I'm trying to analyze rock climbing videos'   yet you say you are looking for competition videos.  Usually comp videos are indoors and not on rock.  There are a few rock comps out there like hueco rock rodeo (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QATvLHwwJE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QATvLHwwJE&lt;/a&gt;) and horseshoe hell.  I'm just curious if you are looking for both or strictly plastic. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19621" LastActivityDate="2020-04-19T05:17:11.597" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21545" CreationDate="2020-04-20T04:46:04.950" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend going with the 30lb thrust motor. Most jon boat trolling motors come in 5 speeds and if you load 800 pounds into your boat you'll be unable to use the first three speeds. The minimum I would recommend for even slow moving rivers (like the Danube) is 40-45lbs of thrust so you can actually make use of the lower speeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do opt for 30lb thrust then expect to move very slowly even at the fastest thrust possible. You can always &lt;a href=&quot;https://consumerprodigy.com/best-trolling-motors-for-jon-boats&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;compare trolling motors&lt;/a&gt; and opt for the faster one and then stick to the lower speeds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19627" LastActivityDate="2020-04-20T04:46:04.950" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24968" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-21T01:29:08.040" Score="6" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's another early springtime find in some woods of Central NY State (April 19th, snow mostly gone but only the earliest plants flowering or leafing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A pretty large pile of what could be animal droppings? Looks like balled up hair. Right on the trail. Approx 12&quot; / 30cm across.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think this is much too large for owl pellets... and seemed pretty uniform in composition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it droppings? If so, what predator / prey? If not, what is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DTi4c.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DTi4c.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastEditorUserId="16825" LastEditDate="2020-04-21T11:27:43.927" LastActivityDate="2020-08-22T02:14:27.513" Title="Are these animal droppings?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24972" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1287" CreationDate="2020-04-23T00:22:31.577" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The body responds to the cold by first contracting the vessels of arms and legs to preserve organs and the brain, which are vital. So you wanna make sure your extremities are extra insulated, warmers are a fantastic option for hand and feet, plus layers of merino or alpaca. Then make sure your head and face are well covered, remember that the body will preserve the brain last and it’s also the part that uses most of your energy. Keep your skull warm. For the rest of the body the typical by-layers clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19639" LastActivityDate="2020-04-23T00:22:31.577" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24974" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24977" CreationDate="2020-04-24T08:26:46.503" Score="4" ViewCount="256" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was reading this article on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.toolazine.com/axe-hatchet-camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;axe or hatchet for camping&lt;/a&gt; and I am thinking on bringing a hatchet in my next trip. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14743" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-24T12:15:37.883" LastActivityDate="2020-07-15T12:45:53.253" Title="I am torn between axe or hatchet, what would you recommend?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24975" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5667" CreationDate="2020-04-24T15:51:06.607" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;if you are open to a 5.5-6 hour drive there is the Shawnee National forest down in Southern Illinois. Currently due to the COvid19 situation all of the public recreational areas are closed/parking....but you can find the backpackers parking lot at garden of the gods and other side parking spots (check river to river trail group on facebook)and do backcountry camping anywhere outside of those state park areas...there is about 120 miles of trail. Make sure that you bring everything you need with you as stopping anywhere in the small towns would be breaking the CDC suggestions at this time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19646" LastActivityDate="2020-04-24T15:51:06.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24974" CreationDate="2020-04-25T13:35:35.633" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Personally, I usually take &lt;em&gt;neither&lt;/em&gt;. Instead, I bring a sturdy knife and a saw. The knife wouldn't be replaced by hatchet or axe: it is anyways needed for cooking and it is at least as good as a hatchet/axe to make kindling (if I cannot collect that directly, anyways). The saw weighs less than a hatchet and sawing is more efficient than cutting by axe for all but the comparably narrow range of diameters that is too thick to break but can be chopped off by a very few blows. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hatchets and short handled axes such as in the linked post are rather accident prone as tools go: hatchets for the other hand (when splitting wood) and the legs, short axes such as discussed in the link more for the legs and possibly feet. These kinds of accidents are no good at any time, but they are among the really bad category in the outdoors.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Axes with a handle length above 90 cm (maybe already 80 cm?) or so are much less dangerous since you'll reliably hit the soil in front of your feet. They are also more efficient in what you can cut and split with them. But they are not the size one carries around on a camping tour unless the plan is to make a long-term camp in one spot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For making shorter pieces of wood (which is the main &quot;mode&quot; of cutting wood I encounter during camping), the diameters suitable for efficient cutting by hatchet can usually also be broken. This requires finding/building a suitable leverage counterpoints whereas working with the hatchet or a short axe needs a suitable chopping block. Where I have been so far, the former is usually quite easy, the latter is doable as well if one considers working with the hatchet while sitting on your haunches. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For car camping, I've been using the bumper (used to have a light truck that had a square pipe of several mm wall thickness as rear bumper) and trailer hitches as leverage points.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-04-27T09:51:23.170" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T09:51:23.170" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24978" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19260" CreationDate="2020-04-25T14:03:13.533" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, they most definitely can but there isn't much information on it. I've raised three &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conure&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Conures&lt;/a&gt; (small to medium sized parrots) from hatchlings and treated them all the same: Equal attention, no different from each other, and two of them are the tamest birds you could ever know; if it's jumping in your cereal bowl, sticking their heads in your mouth or even rolling around all over you and going limp if you try to put them on a perch so your're forced to hold them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The third one, a Cinnamon Pineapple Conure has terrible separation anxiety from the other two. I get her out of the cage and she is panics and has trouble being put back into the cage. She is also dramatically terrified of new objects. All my birds are sceptical and get scared of things being moved, even if it's a brightly coloured cereal bar, but she is a lot more skittish towards it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes she will use a warning screech and scare the others by saying &quot;DANGER!!&quot; and they will all fly and hit something. I've been cuddling them and she's done it randomly twice from something banging ever so slightly and completely pulled out her tail feathers twice from me holding her as she unexpectedly flew away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm certain she has a mental disability of some sort because this is definitely unnatural behaviour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19651" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-04-26T12:15:48.090" LastActivityDate="2020-04-26T12:15:48.090" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24974" CreationDate="2020-04-25T17:22:54.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The choice between ax and hatchet is a trade-off between weight and utility. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Axes are heavier to carry, but easier, safer and more efficient to use. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hatchets are lighter-weight, but more dangerous and more tiring to use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My advice is to make the decision based on how far you will have to carry the tool.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are car camping (IE camping within a short walking distance of your car so you can make multiple trips to bring in all your gear), either tool is reasonable. The ax is more functional, so choose the ax if you won't mind carrying it the distance from your car to your camp. When making the decision, keep in mind the amount of other gear you have to carry, and how many trips it will take. Also keep in mind your personal safety when carrying a sharp tool; make sure you can carry the tool in such a way that if you slip and fall you won't cut yourself. A sturdy blade cover/sheath is a good idea for longer hikes. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are backpacking, no amount of increased utility can justify the added weight of the ax. It's also quite difficult to strap such a long tool to a pack, so you might have to carry it in your hand the entire time. By the end of the day, you might not have the hand strength to wield the ax safely. If your ax doesn't have a sturdy blade cover, there's the added danger of carrying an exposed blade all day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hatchet can be a reasonable tool to bring on a backpacking trip if you plan to do a lot of wood chopping. If you're hiking in a group, it can be worthwhile for one person to carry a heavier tool for the benefit of the whole group. A blade cover is an extremely good idea, so you don't accidentally cut yourself or your gear. My partner used to carry a hatchet on our two-person backpacking trips. Eventually he decided that even though a hatchet is nice to have, it isn't worth the weight (about 2 pounds). Now he carries a substantial knife that can be used for splitting wood by the batoning method, while I carry a saw. He still says, &quot;I wish I had my hatchet,&quot; at least once per trip. But he hasn't gone back to carrying it because it's not worth the weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-04-25T17:22:54.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2020-04-26T15:00:02.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my experience with both crafted and bought I recommend the sling shot. You can get a modern one. A &quot;wrist rocket&quot;  will perform consistent, but ammunition is a different story. If you use pebbles the flat oval river stone or lead shot you would use with a &quot;David vs. Goliath&quot; sling isn't accurate. Steel round ball barring are the way to go; accurate, high velocity, clean kill. Just practice and know your surroundings, they ricochet. But with good shot placement you're good to go and the shot is reusable (if you want to look for it). But for something bigger like hare, or if you got dogs, raccoon I'd use some shot from a buck round, and dogs something with impact behind it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19658" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2020-04-27T15:48:39.967" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T15:48:39.967" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1348" CreationDate="2020-04-26T21:18:33.533" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've recently discovered the &quot;bleeding&quot; or &quot;crying&quot; grapevine as some call it.  It is a Fox Grapevine and we were cutting out a trail in the woods near our home in Parkersburg, WV. &#xA;After cutting it, we noticed it dripping and looked into it and couldn't see anywhere that it was harmful to one's health. &#xA;It tastes like water but is better for you from what I'm reading with its minerals and other natural ingredients.&#xA;I drank some the other night (about 12oz) before going to bed and had no ill-effects and slept well.&#xA;What's interesting as well is that it can be a more pure and safe drinking water supply than other nearby sources when camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19659" LastActivityDate="2020-04-26T21:18:33.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4444" CreationDate="2020-04-27T00:50:33.783" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Non-gun hunting tools for small game?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While watching The Nature of Things on YouTube, I came across a particular episode entitled the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Chz5bKbKw&amp;amp;app=desktop&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Secrets From the Ice: As the Yukon melts, ancient mysteries are thawing out&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to recommend using the now known atlatl and atlatl darts. Although already mentioned, I wish to expand on this option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are similar to spears and arrows, but predate bows and arrows in hunting usage by centuries. The darts may be anywhere from 4” to 7” long. The longer ones seem to be more accurate. They may be thrown by hand as a spear or with the usage of an atlatl. When used in conjunction with an atlatl, the dart can travel up to 100 miles an hour. These techniques were lost to history until recently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ilovehistory.utah.gov/fun_stuff/how_to_make_an_atlatl.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make Your Own Atlatl and Darts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;For thousands of years before the bow and arrow was invented, people all over the world used a spear-thrower called an atlatl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Archaeological evidence shows that people in the Great Basin may have been using atlatls as early as 8,000 years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The atlatl uses leverage to let the user to throw a spear (also called a dart) faster and farther.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;The atlatl is a shaft of wood that is basically acts like an extension of the arm. The end of the dart rests against a hook on the end of the atlatl. To throw it, you fling the atlatl with your forearm and wrist, thrusting the dart forward. A well-made atlatl, used with skill, can throw a dart 100 yards at speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sSzUn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sSzUn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Atlatl in use!&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Atlatl in use!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-27T01:06:16.803" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T01:06:16.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24985" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24988" CreationDate="2020-04-27T19:01:57.137" Score="2" ViewCount="2913" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a long term dream of visiting the Amazon rainforest. I have been trying to determine how dangerous it is to swim in the Amazon river. I realise it is a large river, with various side channels - but broadly speaking, how dangerous is it to swim in it? My preliminary research suggests that I do not need to be overly concerned by caimans (there are apparently almost(?) no confirmed human fatalities) or piranhas (despite the perception to the contrary created by various media), and that the possibility of some parasitic fish swimming up, ahem, an uncomfortable area is largely an urban legend. I have not however been able to find good statistics, and I cannot exclude other possible dangers. e.g. how about large pythons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, apart from the danger of drowning due to currents, how dangerous is swimming in the Amazon? I understand the greatest danger, aside from drowning, to be various infectious bacteria, protists, etc. Can anyone quantify this danger in a meaningful way?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14676" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2020-05-09T21:54:14.717" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T13:31:57.570" Title="How dangerous is it to swim in the Amazon river?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24986" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="24987" CreationDate="2020-04-27T20:12:51.080" Score="4" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is my understanding that mosquitoes larvae hatch in the smallest quantities of stagnant water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that one has a small-sized backyard, would it be a good idea to use, for instance, one or more strategically-placed small buckets of water laced with B.T.I. (the ingredient of the mosquito dunks), or do you think that they would still deposit their eggs in the natural water pools that form after some rain?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19663" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T23:45:03.693" Title="Attract the mosquitoes to a specific pool of stagnant water" Tags="&lt;mosquitoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24986" CreationDate="2020-04-27T23:45:03.693" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;They will still deposit eggs wherever they can find water. If you can attract them to those areas you will get a greater proportion infected with the BTI and help lower numbers in the immediate vicinity. However, the next breeze will blow fresh ones into your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can attract them to areas using CO2 to help concentrate them in that specific area, but it won't stop them laying wherever they can find water - they just aim for the nearest source. There are devices on the market such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://spartanmosquito.com/mosquito-control/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spartan Mosquito eradicators&lt;/a&gt; that work exactly on this principle - they contain a small amount of yeast, salt and sugar to which you add water to initiate fermentation and produce the CO2, then the mosquitoes find the water inside the device and lay in it, but the salt inhibits hatching. These are marketed as single-use but I have found you can reuse them - the proportions of ingredients are on the packet...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be able to replicate this effect with a bottle to which you add yeast, water, sugar, placing this near or inside your BTI laced buckets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-04-27T23:45:03.693" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24985" CreationDate="2020-04-28T08:53:43.163" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no way to answer this question without asking another - where on the Amazon do you intend to swim?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the largest  river system in the world, with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_discharge&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;greatest outflow&lt;/a&gt; of any river - so big that it's bigger than the next 6 largest combined! It is generally accepted that it is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;second longest&lt;/a&gt;. It starts somewhere deep in the Andes in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantaro_River&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mantaro River&lt;/a&gt;, which has a very steep gradient - 5 m/km, meaning that it will have rapids/white water, it then descends through a range of river systems into lowland forest and finally out into the Atlantic Ocean. It has a wide range of biomes from untouched forest, to alpine zones, to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;big cities&lt;/a&gt; to a delta.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This means there are a huge range of places that you could potentially swim - how safe each of those is, is very very dependent on where it is. Generally lowland rivers will be relatively safe to swim in (assuming no flooding and a competent swimmer), so long as the swimmer stays aware of hazards in the water - tangling vines/roots, floating or submerged branches/trees, rocks, eddies etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Swimming downstream of industrialized cities and high intensity agriculture is relatively risky in terms of infection from bacteria and other pathogens, as well as pollution, but the risks are fairly low still, unless you ingest the water or have open wounds that could get infected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are guided tours on the Amazon to see things like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_river_dolphin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon River Dolphin&lt;/a&gt;, some of which &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2015/12/amazon-swimming-river-dolphins&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;apparently will let people swim with them&lt;/a&gt;. Based on this, it's probably safe to swim in those areas, but like any river with wild-life there are no guarantees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-05-02T08:30:32.273" LastActivityDate="2020-05-02T08:30:32.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2020-04-28T16:31:25.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's no need to bleed your trout mate. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you're planning on freezing it and eating it at a later date, or curing it in the off season to eat at a later date. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you plan to eat your trout fresh and tasty that evening, you won't need to bleed it mate. Fish are bleeded out almost 100 % of the time in the commercial industry as blood can promote bacteria and eventually may have a negative affect on the quality of the meat - often commercially caught fish won't get onto a dinner plate for up to a week. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No need to bleed in your situation mate. You're welcome to bleed one and not the other, eat at them both, and see for yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19666" LastActivityDate="2020-04-28T16:31:25.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24990" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-28T22:53:23.997" Score="1" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found this Mepps jig/spinner in my Dad's tackle box and don't know its age:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LW2bW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LW2bW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has a metal jig body, flat bottom, black with white eyes, single hook with a week guard. Trailing is a spinner blade with &quot;MEPPS&quot; stamped on one side and &quot;AGLIA LONG Made in France&quot; on the other.  Weight without the added Mister Twister grub is 3/8 oz. I would like to know what the lure is called and how common it is.  I haven't been able to find anything similar on the internet, even on several Mepps sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19668" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-04-30T00:24:10.197" LastActivityDate="2020-04-30T00:24:10.197" Title="What is the name and availability of this lure?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24991" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24990" CreationDate="2020-04-29T04:10:28.660" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just googled &lt;code&gt;Mepps&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;aglia long&lt;/code&gt; - and got &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mepps.com/information/aglia-long-2/135#AL2%20HFT&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt;, it's not identical in colour but is in shape and manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mepps is a fairly well known brand of fishing lures. This seems to be one of their more popular products. It is a willow leaf shape for spinning in fast flowing water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number &lt;code&gt;2&lt;/code&gt; indicates the weight of the lure - 1/4 oz according to the website linked. They come in a range of different hook combinations, including ones with additional minnow-like lures attached to the hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-04-29T04:10:28.660" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4850" CreationDate="2020-04-29T11:10:49.750" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you do really depends on your location and type of fishing.  When fishing in the cold mountains for trout where it is below freezing is a very different situation being out in the middle of summer in the tropics fishing for tuna. Find out from your local enthusiasts what is legal and best for the type of fishing you do&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-04-29T11:10:49.750" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24993" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-29T12:47:53.577" Score="2" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;I left my garage door open for about an hour last night on a windy day, and I later heard incessant chirping inside Apparently, this fledgling somehow go into, and was trapped, in an old bag over 18 inches high. I wrapped him in a hand-towel put him in a small dish inside a shoebox for the night, &amp;amp; he fell asleep. I plan on releasing him this morning, but I'm concerned that this may be a house sparrow? There are mourning doves that have nested right above my garage for about 4 years now. I caught house sparrows about 2 years ago on video destroying their nest and dropping eggs. Would you please help me identify this fledgling? Is it a house sparrow, a mourning dove, or something else? And what is the best course of action for releasing him in the yard? (This is in South Carolina)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GqjAB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GqjAB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q5RTJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q5RTJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19670" LastActivityDate="2020-04-29T12:47:53.577" Title="Is this a house sparrow fledgling? (Found a bird in my garage)" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24994" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-04-29T22:37:10.853" Score="5" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where might I look for places on which to go for a medium length (3-5 miles) or longer walk -- and where I'd minimize my chances of encountering other people?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Covid-19 pandemic is ongoing, and I've been trying to observe &quot;social distancing&quot; as strictly as possible. But it's become apparent that for my health I should really try to get outside more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in a mid-sized American city (Columbia, SC) and have access to a car. Thus far I've just been going for short walks in my neighborhood. This has been okay, but there are a fair number people around and I feel somewhat uncomfortable being outside for longer than necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a state forest and a national park nearby, both with hiking trails -- but the national park is closed and I'm informed the state forest is crowded. Are there other options I might not have considered? I'm happy to walk in wilderness, the city, or the countryside as long as I can easily avoid other people and cars. And I'm happy to do my own internet research on what's nearby, but I'm not exactly sure what to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19543" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2020-04-30T13:26:21.217" LastActivityDate="2020-05-02T15:11:41.280" Title="Places for a &quot;socially distant&quot; walk" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="11" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22922" CreationDate="2020-04-30T00:35:05.760" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Bug House in the question stayed as it was until March and then a couple of holes started to appear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first image is from the 16th March. One or two holes starting to appear.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ox6Dk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;16March&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Very little happened for a few weeks. Then over the Easter weekend we had the first warm weather. Then a lot more holes started to appear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second image is from 13th April. The Monday after the warm Easter weekend. This shows a lot more holes.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I56E3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;13April&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since more holes started to appear bees have been flying around by the bug house and I think some appear to be filled in again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2020-04-30T00:35:05.760" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24994" CreationDate="2020-05-01T17:32:49.753" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Weekend Section of the Washington Post today has an entry about the Garden of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, which, despite living here since 1965 I had never heard of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has extensive gardens, woods and paths and you can bring your dog. It's free. Clearly this is out of geographical range for you, but Columbia must have &lt;strong&gt;hidden gems&lt;/strong&gt; like this. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Maybe you should buy a guide book to Columbia?&lt;/strong&gt; Of course, now that it has been in the WP, it probably will be crowded this weekend. But you have to look beyond federal, state and the popular local parks to find the hidden gems. Happy Hunting!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Take a look at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/14-epic-hiking-spots-in-sc/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Only in Your State&lt;/a&gt; for 14 epic hiking trails in SC. I hope some of them are close enough to you to be practical.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-05-01T17:46:11.973" LastActivityDate="2020-05-01T17:46:11.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24997" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2020-05-01T20:45:04.653" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;While berry120's answer is spot on, I would like to add the following:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Overestimating yourself&lt;/strong&gt;. A lot of times I see people swimming as fast as possible and as far as possible, either to show off of your swimming skills or just feeling invincible.&#xA;Before entering any type of water consider your fitness level, e.g., maybe you're intoxicated.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Getting lost&lt;/strong&gt;. A great example would be is swimming at night and forgetting where the shore is. Imagine that. I would be terrified.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Fellow humans&lt;/strong&gt;. You really want to watch out for other people in the vicinity. You really don't want to disturb, get into way of, swim into someone. He or she might be angry, start a fight with you (yes, an extreme example, but this can happen, especially when we're talking about resort type of beach areas).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Weather conditions&lt;/strong&gt;. Weather at the see can change rapidly, so one should check before hand, e.g., thunderstorms, high winds, storms.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Heat and Sunburn&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Because the sun radiates off the water, a swimmer&#xA;  gets an increased amount of sunlight. The swimmer isn't always aware&#xA;  of this effect because the ocean depth keeps the water cool. Heat&#xA;  stroke, exhaustion, cramps, and burns can occur from excessive time in&#xA;  the sun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reference: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sportsrec.com/471820-ocean-swimming-dangers.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Country borders&lt;/strong&gt;. I remember one time reading of a fisherman(while fishing on ice) stumbling into another country's territory, so one should not swim close enough these type of borders.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Reference (in Lithuanian): &lt;a href=&quot;https://m.kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/klaipeda/nusikaltimai-ir-nelaimes/zvejys-kursiu-mariomis-nuejo-i-rusija-797055&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18822" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-05-01T20:59:19.803" LastActivityDate="2020-05-01T20:59:19.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="24999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24985" CreationDate="2020-05-02T01:53:40.010" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wear an armor suit. Look up Sobral Santos, 1981. It capsized while docking at Obidos, 2000 miles up river. No good records ; about 500 passengers , about 300 died ( the boat was docking - does not sound like a long swim). Almost no bodies were recovered ,Those that were had been partly eaten so no definitive information regarding how many drowned and how many were killed by water creatures. A small fish ,candiru . about 1&quot; diameter and 5&quot; is suspected of doing the most damage. BUT, on the other hand author Heiko Bleher ( the man that wrote the book on Discus fish) has searched the Amazon basin for aquarium fishes since he was 7 years old ( now an old guy). So if you know what you are doing and what fish may be present, it is possible to go into the water - generally he was snorkeling. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastEditorUserId="13680" LastEditDate="2020-05-02T02:26:13.087" LastActivityDate="2020-05-02T02:26:13.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24994" CreationDate="2020-05-02T15:11:41.280" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hiking trails are not the place to go. I've seen large numbers of cars parked where they cross the road: In fact more than on a normal day. The paths are narrow and you won't be able to keep a Social Distance away from others - joggers also run up from behind, breathing down your neck, and overtake very closely.  The safest place is where you can avoid anyone you see walking towards you such as the beach or a large open park with vast expanses of grass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2082" LastActivityDate="2020-05-02T15:11:41.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25001" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-03T16:11:06.800" Score="1" ViewCount="72" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in a 2nd floor apartment and I let my cat lounge on the balcony. I have had an insect infestation on the balcony that I treated with a permethrin spray.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been 8 hrs since I sprayed the balcony and now I'm concerned whether to let my cat out. Is it safe, or if not, how can I clean my balcony so it is safe for the cat and so that washing it does not endanger other animals.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19685" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-05-04T12:53:29.993" LastActivityDate="2020-05-04T12:53:29.993" Title="Chemicals sprayed on balcony concerned its harmful to my cat" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ClosedDate="2020-05-04T20:09:09.057" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25002" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25001" CreationDate="2020-05-03T17:39:07.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Permethrin in high concentrations is harmful to cats. In low concentrations it's used as a flea treatment, including for cats.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you've used was probably a relatively high concentration since it wasn't used for flea treatment on an animal. You might want to wash the balcony down or wait until it's rained before letting the cat out. It's reasonable to be concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-05-03T17:39:07.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25001" CreationDate="2020-05-03T20:29:21.137" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://icatcare.org/advice/permethrin-poisoning/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;International Cat Care&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;strong&gt;I agree with Separatrix that the balcony probably needs to be scrbbed down before you let your cat on it.&lt;/strong&gt; If it were my cat, I'd consult my vet, bringing the bottle with me, and describing how much I used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I doubt that rain will do a good enough job.&lt;/strong&gt; Permethrin is oil based, and according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/search?q=regal+dulles&amp;amp;oq=Regal+Dulles&amp;amp;aqs=chrome.0.0l8.4202j0j8&amp;amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this reference&lt;/a&gt; can persist outdoors for days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/PermGen.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Pesticide Information Center&lt;/a&gt; discusses how to clean a permethrin sprayed surface, &lt;strong&gt;but you need to call their number (given at the bottom of the article) or visit your vet.&lt;/strong&gt;    &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-05-03T20:54:58.440" LastActivityDate="2020-05-03T20:54:58.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25004" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1425" CreationDate="2020-05-04T06:30:17.437" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recommend you bring your shoes to a professional shoemaker / cobbler. The issue you are describing in where your seams crack sounds what I have had multiple times in the past, and my shoes were easily fixed by a professional back then. Personally I would recommend against trying to fix this yourself, unless you have the experience and tools to do so the right way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What a professional shoemaker / cobbler can do:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;re-sew seams&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;re-apply glue to fix loose glue-seams or soles&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;re-sole your shoe, giving you a new sole with a fresh, intact profile to improve grip&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What you can do yourself: tend to the surface of the shoe, i.e. clean and impregnate the leather. There is an entire question on this already:   &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8733/impregnation-and-waxing-full-leather-shoes&quot;&gt;Impregnation and waxing full leather shoes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-05-04T06:30:17.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25005" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25008" CreationDate="2020-05-04T07:03:07.380" Score="6" ViewCount="177" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those who are well-versed with rock-climbing (and other variants of climbing) are aware of the dangers posed by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Suspension Trauma&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here at The Great Outdoors there had been a healthy discussion on rare usages of Full body harnesses.  Please see: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24587/why-are-full-body-harnesses-uncommon-in-mountaineering&quot;&gt;Why are full body harnesses uncommon in mountaineering?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prima facie, with the full body harness, the load gets distributed as compared to just the waist harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can a full body harness reduce chances of suspension trauma? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2020-05-04T13:55:46.317" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T05:54:13.193" Title="Can a full body harness help reduce the chances of suspension trauma?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25006" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-04T13:41:59.590" Score="1" ViewCount="241" Body="&lt;p&gt;Right outside of my backdoor to my house, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_robin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;robin&lt;/a&gt; has decided to build a nest on top of my homes electrical meter:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0cqXxm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0cqXxm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;nest&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;s&gt;So far, I do not see any eggs in the nest&lt;/s&gt; There is now &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qrvo2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one egg present&lt;/a&gt;.  How can I relocate it (or should I)? My main concern is the fact that my backdoor is right here. I don't want to open it one day to find a robin starring at me.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12173" LastEditorUserId="12173" LastEditDate="2020-05-05T16:26:19.880" LastActivityDate="2020-06-04T17:00:25.150" Title="How to Safely Relocate a Robins nest?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25007" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-05T06:02:55.770" Score="3" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in beekeeping for a number of reasons, but my useful knowledge about beekeeping is close to nonexistent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm a mostly retired teacher. I have a pretty decent amount of time on my hands, a small amount of money I can spend, a house with a back yard that's fenced in, and a lot of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know if it's possible for me to start keeping bees in my backyard? I live in a small town in Kentucky between Cincinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. It feels absurd to think of keeping bees but I would love to? Does anyone know if there's a way to keep bees in backyards Kentucky?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19690" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-05-07T19:28:39.063" LastActivityDate="2020-05-07T19:28:39.063" Title="Can I keep bees in my backyard in Kentucky?" Tags="&lt;legality&gt;&lt;bees&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25008" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25005" CreationDate="2020-05-05T06:47:13.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The cause of suspension trauma isn't fully known but is thought to be due to a lack of returning blood from the lower limbs. It is known that hanging immobile in a vertical position can lead to Suspension Trauma and this can happen surprisingly quickly as has happened when investigating the problem in France: &lt;a href=&quot;https://trauma-acute-care.imedpub.com/proposal-of-an-effective-algorithm-to-manage-suspension-trauma-in-the-field.php?aid=9385&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Proposal of an Effective Algorithm to Manage Suspension Trauma in the Field&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 1973, Amphoux performed a short series of suspension tests, which ended rapidly due to all subjects almost reaching the point of unconsciousness with disturbing hemodynamic data. In 1979, the medical commission of the French Federation of Speleology studied reports of 15 unexplained deaths among trained cavers during rope ascents. They first thought that the cause of the death was hypothermia, yet as they examined each case, they realized that the delay before loss of consciousness was too short to be compatible with hypothermia. These data where mentioned in 1992 in an article of Bariod who performed tests on healthy volunteers wearing a caving harness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This study conducted under medical supervision and monitoring, was quickly stopped due to the occurrence of phases of severe bradycardia with loss of consciousness in two subjects after &lt;strong&gt;7 minutes&lt;/strong&gt; of suspension for the first and &lt;strong&gt;30 minutes&lt;/strong&gt; for the second.&lt;/em&gt; The experiment was repeated two years later in three healthy volunteers but was ended equally abruptly following the occurrence of severe malaises including a loss of consciousness. These two studies, although aborted, ruled out the possibility of hypothermia as the key role in the deaths, as had originally been thought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As stated in the Wikipedia article referenced in the question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Suspension Trauma&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suspension trauma (Syn. &amp;quot;orthostatic shock while suspended&amp;quot;), also known as harness hang syndrome (HHS), suspension syndrome, or orthostatic intolerance, is an effect which occurs when the human body is held upright without any movement for a period of time. If the person is strapped into a harness or tied to an upright object they will eventually suffer the central ischaemic response (commonly known as fainting). Fainting while remaining vertical increases the risk of death from cerebral hypoxia. Since there is no evidence that these effects are specifically due to trauma, or caused by the harness itself, climbing medicine authorities have argued against the terminology of suspension trauma or harness hang syndrome and instead termed this simply &amp;quot;suspension syndrome&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;People at risk of suspension trauma include people using industrial harnesses (fall arrest systems, abseiling systems, confined space systems), people using harnesses for sporting purposes (caving, climbing, parachuting, etc.), stunt performers, circus performers, and occupations that require the use of harnesses and suspension systems in general. Suspension shock can also occur in medical environments, for similar reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a full body harness would not make any difference as this is what is used anyway in industrial applications and Suspension Syndrome is known to have occurred in such situations as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3061" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-05-05T06:54:32.403" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25007" CreationDate="2020-05-05T06:54:09.417" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to challenge this question somewhat. As I cannot judge from your question how new you are to the beekeeping topic, this might not 100% apply, but I think it is important nonetheless:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; I think the most relevant question to ask is not &lt;em&gt;Am I allowed to keep bees&lt;/em&gt; (regardless of jurisdiction), but &lt;em&gt;Am I prepared to really get into beekeeping&lt;/em&gt;.  I know several beekeepers and have heard a fair number of stories from them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to my beekeeper friends there seems to be a quite common misconception among new beekeepers, that beekeeping is essentially no work and just collecting free honey once in a while. It is very important to realise, that &lt;em&gt;this is not the case&lt;/em&gt;, and that there is a fair amount of work needed in caring for the bees, the equipment, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is also important to know, that if you do beekeeping wrongly, e.g. by not taking the needed care in preventing the spread of bee diseases and parasites, the actions of a careless beekeeper can actually be &lt;em&gt;detrimental to the local bee population&lt;/em&gt;. The reason is because diseases and parasites can quickly spread to healthy bees in your surroundings, which will hurt these otherwise stable populations. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, I know of multiple people who have picked up beekeeping as a hobby, and easily manage to do it along side their full time jobs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; The important thing is to go slowly, educate yourself, take informed decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm sorry if that doesn't answer your question regarding legality - I think the question &lt;em&gt;what am I getting into here&lt;/em&gt; is just as, if not more important, and you should be making an informed decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-05-07T07:45:31.523" LastActivityDate="2020-05-07T07:45:31.523" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25010" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-05T08:56:56.433" Score="1" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;There seems to be a &lt;strong&gt;legend that in a stressful situation&lt;/strong&gt; (such as, trying to escape a bear, a boar or other large animals), &lt;strong&gt;people can climb trees that they normally could not.&lt;/strong&gt; Not &lt;em&gt;would&lt;/em&gt; not, but literally &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; not. &lt;strong&gt;Is this true&lt;/strong&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the presumed rarity of these situations, and their circumstances, I do not expect an available dataset of such incidents, with reliable conclusions properly mined out of them. I am interested in any informed opinion on this matter. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;FWIW tigers are reportedly rather clumsy climbers (except for cubs) but it seems to be the case that a tiger will climb a tree when being chased, or when after prey. The site also gives this interesting bit: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Despite their incredible muscle power tigers need to enter a tree at a&#xA;  run, being unable to simply pull themselves up in the manner used by&#xA;  leopards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/tree.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;-- &quot;Lairweb&quot; --&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the ability to climb trees in humans is enhanced by stress, what are some major contributing factors? (E.g., a better ability to muster energy, willingness to take risks, readines to ignore minor injuries -- scratches etc.) &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am also curious about the kind of trees that can be climbed in this way -- e.g., can humans be driven to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mast climbing&lt;/a&gt; on a tree when in distress, although they ``normally'' cannot climb a mast?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11752" LastActivityDate="2020-05-05T08:56:56.433" Title="Tree climbing in distress" Tags="&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25006" CreationDate="2020-05-05T14:40:33.430" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there are no eggs just take it down and discard. Some birds ( eg. Carolina wrens) build a couple nests and then pick the best one for eggs ( don't know about robins). Also , I have seen a Carolina wren build the bulk of a nest in a few hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-05-05T14:40:33.430" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25012" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25015" CreationDate="2020-05-05T20:16:14.823" Score="9" ViewCount="1572" Body="&lt;p&gt;By watching a Belgian television serie called &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.een.be/gr5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GR5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; on Één I got inspired to start with hiking. But as an inexperienced hiker I don't know what I could expect from it. I've flowing questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's an acceptable average that anyone can walk on a single day, weak or month? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Taking the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GR_5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GR5&lt;/a&gt; &lt;em&gt;(2290 km or 1423 mi)&lt;/em&gt; route, how must you spread the walking days? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's the best way to start with it? How could you prepare/train on it? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From where could you get the detailed maps? &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19697" LastEditorUserId="19697" LastEditDate="2020-05-08T04:49:53.207" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T07:58:41.820" Title="How to prepare on hiking routes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;training&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25013" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25014" CreationDate="2020-05-05T21:39:59.070" Score="3" ViewCount="259" Body="&lt;p&gt;I heard about a nasty stinging invasive insect. I originally searched for &quot;murder wasp&quot; and found an exotic insect that was frightening but mostly harmless &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html?smid=fb-nytimes&amp;amp;smtyp=cur&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;and then started reading up on &quot;murder hornets&quot;&lt;/a&gt;. A nearby acquaintance to where I live said she had seen two murder hornets so far.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Among other things (e.g. a sting that can easily pass through a beekeeping suit), I've heard stings described in language I had only previously heard mentioned with respect to vipers. One person who was stung said it was the most painful insect sting he'd ever experienced and felt like a red-hot tack pushed into his skin. It compared to a snakebite described as being two white-hot needles stabbing the victim's skin. If several murder hornets gang up on someone, the projection is that the venom injected could be comparable to snakebite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the best advice to slowly back away? I have heard, but not tested, that hairspray will lock a bee's wings. Will hairspray have desirable effects, or am I asking for trouble by doing anything but get away?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2142" LastEditorUserId="11800" LastEditDate="2020-05-11T16:44:02.973" LastActivityDate="2020-05-11T16:44:02.973" Title="What do I do if I see a murder hornet outside?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;dangerous-insects&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25014" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25013" CreationDate="2020-05-06T00:27:59.843" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming for this answer that you are based in the USA, and have read the recent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/asian-giant-hornet-washington.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;NY times article on &amp;quot;Murder Hornets&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like most wasp species, you are at little risk unless you are disturbing its nest or happen to accidentally cause it to think it is being attacked (e.g. it lands on your side without you knowing and you lower your arm onto it).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best thing to do is treat them as you would any other wasp - move slowly away, let it fly around you if it wants to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that your chances of being attacked in the USA or Canada are very very very low - there is no evidence (yet) that they have become established in the Pacific North West.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note (as &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet#Sting&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; says):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since 2001, the yearly human death toll caused by stings of bees, wasps and hornets in Japan has been ranging between 12 and 26. Since this number also includes deaths caused by wasps, bees and other hornet species, the number of deaths caused by Asian giant hornets is likely significantly lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advice in China is that people stung more than 10 times need medical help, and need emergency treatment for more than 30 stings. The stings can cause kidney failure. In 2013, stings by Asian giant hornets killed 41 people and injured more than 1,600 people in Shaanxi, China.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Japan has a population of around 126 million - with around 26 dying of stings each year - around 1 in 20 million chance. Note that &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6829a5.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar rates are found for bee/wasp/hornet stings in the USA&lt;/a&gt;. For comparison, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.asirt.org/safe-travel/road-safety-facts/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;car crash fatality rate&lt;/a&gt; in the USA is 12.4/100,000, so your risk of death/injury from these insects in particular is very very low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add - If you sight one, &lt;a href=&quot;https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;you should report it to your state's Department of Agriculture&lt;/a&gt;, especially if you are not from Washington State.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also a common species of solitary wasp, known by the common name &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cicada Killer&lt;/a&gt;, which are large (up to 2&amp;quot;/5 cm) and often &amp;quot;buzzes&amp;quot; people - but rarely stings. You might mistake one of these for an Asian Giant Hornet, but in reality these are fairly harmless and are mainly looking for cicadas to lay their eggs on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-05-06T01:37:11.517" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-06T01:11:22.660" Score="15" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answers you seek are not easily quantifiable - for instance, a very fit experienced hiker might walk 50+ km a day on flat, open (i.e. not brush covered) terrain, but might only do 5-10 (or less) on steep, thickly forested hills. &lt;a href=&quot;https://us.srichinmoyraces.org/breaking-12-hour-walking-record&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Some people can walk more than 100 km in a day&lt;/a&gt; - on urban streets/race tracks, but would be unlikely to sustain this day-after-day as you might on a long hike like the GR-5. I would guess that for an average hiker (assuming some fitness and a little experience) around 20-30 km per day would be reasonable with a weekend pack (food for 2-4 days, sleeping bag, tent, clothes, water, cooker). I've personally done easily double that on marked trails in New Zealand with experience and good fitness, but also had days off-trail where I've moved less than 1 km/hr.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add: A long long time ago (over 25 years) I was taught that with a weekend pack most people would walk about 4 km/h (2.5 mi/h) on flat terrain and about 300 m (1000') vertical/hour (i.e. to climb from sea-level to 1000 m (3300') altitude on an average hill would take a little over 3 hours). These numbers imply for 8 hours walking about 30 km (18 mi) on the flat or about 8 km (5 mi) climbing (that's a lot - Everest is 8848 m/5.5 mi high)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.grfive.com/general/Gr5_description.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GRfive.com&lt;/a&gt;, the trail is 2500 km long and takes the average walker about 3.5 months to complete. It covers a lot of different climates, from lowland plains in the Netherlands to alpine passes in the French Alps. I don't know how you would spread out the days, but I suspect that you will have to stop a few times for the weather to be right - don't attempt a high alpine pass in a snow-storm! Being Europe, you most likely will never be particularly far from a village of some sort where you can take shelter if need be. There will be on-line resources and most likely blogs/vlogs which will tell you how people did their attempts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maps as mentioned in the comment by @TomasBy can be obtained from sporting stores, book shops, online, with GPS subscriptions, libraries etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no experience on the GR5 or anywhere in Europe, but I would expect that starting in the Netherlands (northern part) and working your way south would be easiest. This is so because the Netherlands is flat -gives you time to build fitness, and because it's in the North - colder, wetter, shorter summer. Conversely, the southern part in France is alpine - you don't want snow on the ground as an inexperienced hiker, or any risk of avalanche. You also want a longer window of time for conditions to be right to cross alpine areas - longer summer gives you this. In addition, jumping straight into the alpine parts with no fitness will be very challenging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For training, I would start by walking. Go out 2-3 evenings a week for a walk. Build up to 1-2 hours if you can. On weekends, go for a longer walk. Build this walk up to several hours (take appropriate food, water, clothing). Now start doing it with a pack and some gear (you can substitute anything for weight if you don't want to get gear just yet). Once you can walk comfortably for a few (4-8) hours with weight over any terrain you can access easily; plan an over-night trip - carrying your gear!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the gear you think you need - ask a specialist hiking/outdoors store, not a generic footballs and basketballs store. At a minimum you will need a hiking boots/shoes, pack, hiking clothes (raincoat, warm clothes, socks etc.), food, water container, compass, maps (and knowledge of how to use!). In addition, as per @Jason comment - you should always have a fairly comprehensive first aid kit and the knowledge on how to use. What else you need depends on where you will stay and how - if camping you need tent, sleeping bag (down is best, warmest, lightest, most compact), sleeping mat, cooker.  You should also consider a GPS and emergency beacon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most hiking gear of any decent quality is incredibly expensive, but buying quality is quite important if you are using it day-after-day - you really don't want to buy a cheap pack because it was half the price of a more expensive one, and then have it fall apart after a month of daily use, or not fit you well because the harness is poorly designed. Or for that matter, buy a cheap sleeping bag and be cold every night!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-05-09T02:08:10.290" LastActivityDate="2020-05-09T02:08:10.290" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25016" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-06T01:43:27.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pretty much as per @Bob1.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would not start out on this GR without having experience (and good equipment) of camping 2-3 nights in a row minimum, several times.  You should also be able to do a 15-20km walk with about a 25-30kg backpack and after having slowly built up the equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't need to be a super-hiker starting out, but you do have to have built up sufficient fitness to carry the gear reasonable distances and you need to be experienced with what you need/want to carry with you.  That takes a little bit of time, esp. sorting out needed gear.  Why 2-3 nights days in a row?  Because there are tons of things you can do without for one night out that you need longer time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, you can stay out overnight with say 2-3 liters of water.  But you can't carry water for a week, you need a filter/purification tablets for that.  And I know I'd rather not drink purification tablet water for more than 2-3 days, so I would get a filter.  You may think the opposite.  Same thing with food.  I find camping food extremely unhealthy due to the amount of salt in it, so I try to do without when I can.  That takes a bit of experience and you'll rarely be too far from some form of small supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You get a very different perspective for what you &quot;need&quot; when you are carrying it day in, day out and when you have no easy way to make up for stuff you are missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On that note, sure, the GR isn't in the outer wilderness, but if you need something near a small town, you may not find a good camping gear store nearby.  Take the time to get to know your equipment and since camping gear is very expensive, buy it slowly.  Don't be too cheap on the equipment, buy less of it or buy good quality, but less fancy, gear.  Bit heavier?  Probably OK within reason.  You could even buy used cooking utensils or anything not likely to wear out.  On a long trip, bad quality gear &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; break down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can rent or borrow a friend's tent for the first few outings, before you know enough to buy yourself, do so.  Ditto for backpack.  Sleeping bags and boots are not hygienic to borrow, so plan on buying that very early on.  Plan for a mat under the sleeping bag, you lose a lot of heat without it.  Keep a log/spreadsheet of what you carried and what you used.  Figure out what you think necessary for 1st aid.  That's one item you don't want to cross out because you haven't needed it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider a solar battery charger, and if you like to read, an ebook.  For maps, I would give serious consideration to a tablet/phone with a decent offline map app.  Be careful with GPS: iPads for example only have a real one when it is SIM-equipped version.  The cheaper models use &quot;assisted GPS&quot;, i.e. looking at the local wifi networks.  The GR is, probably (check out for yourself), reasonably well indicated on the ground.  So a high-res topographic map @ 1/25000 or the like would probably rarely be needed, but it will take up space.  Back the phone/tablet map up with a good paper guidebook for that GR with maps in it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, before really setting out, I'd get a satellite rescue beacon, best a 406MHz one without fancy subscription/messaging but with built-in GPS.  (the fancy messaging ones use a different, less reliable, wavelength).  They're not cheap, about $200-300, but last for years and can save your life.  No, a cell phone is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; a rescue beacon in rugged terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tent?  I always size it at +1 the number of occupants.  2 person tent for a solo.  That's probably an extra 2-300 grams, but well worth the space.  Tent setup time is a major consideration for me, esp when you have bad weather.  Reason?  Say you're hiking and you see a rainstorm coming.  With a 5min tent pitch you can wait till the last moment to stop and take cover.  Maybe it doesn't rain after all, so you keep going.  With a 20 min setup you need to actively stop and start pitching your tent, just in case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-05-06T20:11:43.713" LastActivityDate="2020-05-06T20:11:43.713" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-06T03:22:11.860" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;We already have two good answers pointing out that you should start small.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I would like to add another point--you also need to do shakedown hikes with the gear you actually will be carrying--including the max weight of consumables you will need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I get the impression you have it much easier in the consumable department than we (I'm in the United States) do, but you need to check this &lt;strong&gt;in detail&lt;/strong&gt;.  I'm thinking of our Appalachian Trail, rarely will you have to go more than 50 miles before you can get food, but there is one section of one hundred miles where the only civilization you will see is logging roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  A really extreme case: I just ran into a trail description here in the US that says for parts of it you might need 15L of water in your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="381" LastEditDate="2020-05-11T03:34:06.503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-11T03:34:06.503" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25019" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-07T11:17:23.923" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of people tackle long distance walks like this in segments, at least until they're used to multi-day hiking. The opposite is through-hiking, but not many people can take several months off work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The GR5 looks doable in segments ranging from a long weekend to a couple of weeks.  Thus after a couple of local trips to test your gear and yourself, you can get a train to Hoek van Holland for a few days' flat walking with plenty of resupply/accommodation options.  Alternatively, take a week or two of holiday and hike home from the start; this would be a solid introduction to long distance hiking, and an achievement in its own right.  I assume you'll do it N-S.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Early sections could be done staying in hotels, meaning you could build fitness without having to carry full camping gear (or indeed as much water) as later in the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi-day hiking in alpine regions requires more preparation, more water, and more kit. You can go from hot to cold several times in a day and have rather limited options for stocking up or sleeping in a bed.  A full tent, cooking gear etc. is one option.  Some sort of bivouac (possibly combined with hotels) is a lighter option, and you may decide to live on cold food away from villages to need little or no cooking equipment. Either way you need to test your gear first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done a couple of weeks at a time of this sort of hiking years ago and it was great (Swiss Alps, some of the GR25).  More recently, to give you a hint, I've &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.strava.com/activities/1672382419&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cycled&lt;/a&gt; near the Briançon-Larche leg in June, starting cold at sunrise, drinking something like 8l of water and ending dehydrated in the evening.  So detailed planning is necessary, and you won't know everything you need to plan until you've had a few mishaps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of discussions here about maps, (maybe start &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/24498/2529&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), but paper maps in reasonable detail are fairly easily available for most of the EU.  You wouldn't want to carry much of the route at a time.  I normally prefer hiking with 1:50&amp;nbsp;000 or even 1:25&amp;nbsp;000 maps, but the IGN 1:100&amp;nbsp;000 maps are adequate for GRs, which are marked fairly well, so long as you do you homework regarding detours to villages etc.  I'd obtain the maps for the northernmost few days assuming you start at that end and don't plan on through-hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest that as a first step, you do some long day hikes from home in various weather conditions, solo.  The solitude is not to be underestimated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-05-07T11:17:23.923" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25020" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-07T14:57:03.243" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will give here some general guidelines for hiking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The best training for hiking is... hiking. But for a very long hike, training is somewhat secondary as you'll gain fitness on trail.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If training is not mandatory, I think experience almost is: you should definitely go sleep in the wilds prior to your departure. You have to know your needs and start deciding which gear you'll carry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight is key. You should aim for a baseweight (everything on your back without food or water) of 6kg or less. It might seems low, but as you don't have yet the gear it should be doable. You should check ultralight backpacking forums and see their gear lists.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Following the previous point: the lightweight gear is the one you don't carry. No need to carry 4 shirts or 3 pants. You'll stink, but every hiker stink and that's about it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Specifically for the GR5:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;North to south is the easiest and logical way to do it (easy start and amazing finish), but then you need to start between May and July in order to be finished before first snow.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It is logistically easy, at least before the Alps. You can often resupply or buy stuff.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As you can easilly complete your gear, if you wonder if you should take something with you: don't, and buy it or make someone send it to you along the way. It is easier to assess what you really need this way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The GR5 is mostly easy and you don't need to worry too much about logistics. No need to purchase expensive guides or maps: a GPX track on your phone and a spreadsheet with all the resupply points with distance and elevation and you're good to go.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, how long does it take? It is really hard to answer that question as it will depend on how you want to tackle the route. It you follow the official stages, it might be 3.5 mounths. If you decide that you want a challenge, you can try to go faster. As it is a long way, it is quite easy to go faster as you progress; you should plan for shorter days at the beginning (20ish km) and then try to cover more. If you read about thru-hiking in the US, you'll see that they often average more than 35km/day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I did the GR5 in the Alps and I was averaging 30km and 2000m of elevation per day. Then I discovered the thru-hiker mindset (basically: hike all day long), and now I average 40+km/day. Hiking is great because it's not technical: going faster or further is mostly a matter of motivation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12266" LastActivityDate="2020-05-07T14:57:03.243" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25022" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24839" CreationDate="2020-05-09T13:36:07.467" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It took a while but I finally did the experiment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that my burner is quite a bit smaller and simpler than a Trangia, and I don't suggest applying my results blindly to a stove with any form of jets or a bigger cup.  Testing a different stove under controlled conditions would be a good idea before relying on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flashpoint and autoignition temperature of the various fuels didn't seem to be a good predictor of how useful they'd be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stove was built for meths (UK composition denatured alcohol*), and this was indeed the best fuel.  Various others will work to some extent, though I wouldn't plan for them.  If I did, I'd restrict the burner diameter (in fact I've now made a simmer ring/choke for this stove anyway).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spreadsheet with the results is &lt;a href=&quot;https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QKPDz34lLmqEKmTe-t77KaZVGtqA48Yn6Bs1HICF1KU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;on Google docs&lt;/a&gt;, but they're summarised below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Acetone worked quite well. &amp;quot;Pure&amp;quot; acetone is available with the nail polish removers in some shops (or my regular supermarket stocks 98% as extra strong nail polish remover).  This is probably the best fallback but the flames did escape a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Isopropanol and methanol are probably harder to get hold of than meths, at least in the UK.  Of these, methanol is cleaner-burning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that an acetone-free remover with fewer ingredients would work quite nicely.  The one I used was a fancy brand touting the benefits of vitamins and chamomile extract.  These are based on ethyl acetate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The cheap acetone-based nail polish remover I used had too much water to be very useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My experiment used a home-made open-cup burner.  The burner, made from a mixer-size aluminium can, is about 50 mm across.  The top of the burner is around  40 mm below the bottom of the steel mug, but the fuel was about 20 mm lower (I can easily cook noodles or porridge with meths to 10 mm below the top).  The ambient temperature was 18°C.  The final water temperatures may be a little high as I used an IR thermometer (I don't have a normal thermometer covering that range).  I used 10 ml of each fuel, and 200 ml of fresh cold water each time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For anyone considering replicating this: I had long matches for lighting, was on concrete well away from anything flammable, and had the means to smother any excessive flames.  When refilling the burner, I lifted it out of the windshield by hand, which ensured it was cool (so no risk of flash ignition).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;|                                     |    Temperatures / °C    |                  |                                                                                                                                                      |                                                                                                                                                                                                             |&#xA;| Fuel                                | Start             | End | Burn time (mins) |                                 Burn notes                                                                                                           |                                     Composition notes                                                                                                                                                       |&#xA;|-------------------------------------|-------------------|-----|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|&#xA;| Methanol                            | 16                | 75  | 5                | Only about 9.5ml. Invisible flame.  Hissing                                                                                                          | Lab grade                                                                                                                                                                                                   |&#xA;| Isopropanol                         | 16                | 73  | 4                | Yellow flames escaping. Smelly (like some BBQ lighter fuels), smoky, and sooty                                                                       | Lab grade                                                                                                                                                                                                   |&#xA;| Acetone                             | 15                | 73  | 3                | Yellow flames escaping, smoky. Not as bad as IPA                                                                                                     | Lab grade                                                                                                                                                                                                   |&#xA;| Methylated spirits (meths)          | 15                | 81  | 6                | A hint of yellow in the flames. Fully contained.                                                                                                     | &amp;gt;90% Ethanol, &amp;lt;10% Isopropanol, &amp;lt;10% Methyl-ethyl ketone                                                                                                                                                    |&#xA;| Nail polish remover (Acetone-based) | 15                | 60  | 3                | Loud hissing. Poorly contained. 1-2ml of almost odourless watery residue when burning stopped                                                        | Acetone, Aqua, Glycerine                                                                                                                                                                                    |&#xA;| Nail polish remover (Acetone free)  | 16                | 74  | 8                | Yellow flame but well contained, fairly clean until the end. Very slow at end, left a smouldering residue that smelt a little like burning plastic.  | Ethyl Acetate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Aqua, Dimethyl Succinate, Dimethyl Glutarate, Dimethyl Adipate,  Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Propylene Glycol, Benzophenone-3, Parfum |&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a selection of photos.  They're presented in the order I did the experiments, and I didn't clean the soot off in between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Isopropanol (note flames escaping.  It's not a good idea to put the handle near the lighting aperture in the windbreak/stand):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SAFQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9SAFQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acetone (most of the soot on the mug was from the previous burn, isopropanol):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zbd0u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zbd0u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meths, or how the flames should look:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z77Mn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z77Mn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acetone-based nail polish remover (too much water):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hw7Rt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hw7Rt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Acetone-free nail polish remover (mainly ethyl acetate):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zS3bg.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zS3bg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;* Modern UK meths generally includes isopropanol, not methanol, along with the ethanol.  This means it burns a bit more visibly than older formulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-05-24T15:09:34.617" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T15:09:34.617" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25012" CreationDate="2020-05-09T13:46:40.013" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you can read French the &lt;a href=&quot;https://boutique.ffrandonnee.fr/topoguides?gr=gr-5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;topoguide&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; from the FFR (fédération française de randonnée, French trekking association) is a good option both for planning and during walk (I don't think they cover the part of the GR5 outside of France and you need several to cover all the itinerary). They have information on accommodation, food supply and transport around the itinerary, the itinerary is often described in time rather than distance, thus taking account for elevation change and ease of walk (the timing is for average walker, so a beginner will take more time) and the itinerary is described on a 1/25000 scale topomap extract so you don't need to buy an extra map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I give this specific example because the question reference the GR5 but you will be able to find similar guides proposing maps, suggested itineraries and information on amenity along the way for most if not all of the &amp;quot;famous&amp;quot; trekking routes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The hardest past of planning with this kind of book is knowing where you stand relatively to the information given (i.e. how long will it take &lt;em&gt;you&lt;/em&gt; to walk this described 5 hours part? Are you able to walk 8 hour a day for several day while carrying a pack?) And as said in another answer, the only way to know that is to start walking...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19715" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2020-10-04T07:58:41.820" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T07:58:41.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25024" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25026" CreationDate="2020-05-09T16:16:52.100" Score="7" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;Current travel possibilities are limited, so I am more or less stuck in Germany at the moment. For recreation, I usually go to areas with landscapes similar to the Highlands in Scotland or Scandinavian fjell and hike there for some days to weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are you aware of any regions with comparable landscapes in Germany? Of course differences between the regions in questions are big, so also regions with a similar general impression (broad valleys, few trees, few people...) are welcome, just like suggestions about regions with only remote similarities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume that there are no effective travel restrictions inside Germany anymore. Regions with hiking possibilities are preffered. Multi-day-hikes with a tent are also interesting for me, so if camping possibilites are present, it would even be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastActivityDate="2020-05-10T21:23:34.797" Title="Open, fjell-like landscapes in Germany" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25025" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-10T02:49:32.357" Score="2" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;One way to categorise common knots to join two ropes together (i.e. &lt;em&gt;bends&lt;/em&gt;) is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bends tied as if there were only one rope: by holding the two ropes together (side by side, parallel, both ending in the same place and direction) and then tying a knot (e.g. a stopper knot) in the pair as if it were just a single rope. (These tend to produce a knot which lies to one side, helping the joined line run over ledges without snagging.) Some examples are the &lt;em&gt;overhand bend&lt;/em&gt; (a.k.a. EDT) and the &lt;em&gt;double-overhand bend&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bends tied by first tying a knot in one rope, then threading the second rope alongside it in the opposite direction. Some examples are the &lt;em&gt;water knot&lt;/em&gt; and the &lt;em&gt;rethreaded figure-eight bend&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Other bends where the ropes do not trace side-by-side. Some of these are still symmetrical (e.g. &lt;em&gt;double fisherman's bend&lt;/em&gt;) and some are not (e.g. &lt;em&gt;sheet bend&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any accepted names for these categories? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, the figure-eight has been used to derive knots in both the first and second categories, but one sometimes rolls apart while the other is strong. Is there a way to unambiguously label these apart? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another example is that the double-overhand is used to derive knots in both the first and third categories (mentioned above), but in the first category it is sometimes confused with a different (and perhaps slightly weaker) knot: the one created by stacking two consecutive (single) overhand bends. How can this ambiguity be avoided?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14188" LastActivityDate="2020-05-10T19:10:57.557" Title="Terminology for different ways of tying bends?" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25024" CreationDate="2020-05-10T08:48:49.843" Score="9" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;similar to the Highlands in Scotland or Scandinavian fjell&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not in Germany.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although they share some similarities at a first glance, Scotland and Scandinavia have become two quite different landscapes due to a different history of human impact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Scotland (and other hilly areas in the British-Irish isles), well over 99% of the original forest was removed by humans (historically the British Empire needed wood and today recovery is inhibited by a powerful sheep-and-nostalgia lobby, not only in Scotland but also in England and Wales, to the degree that the barren Lake District was declared a — cultural, &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; natural! — World Heritage Site), and extremely little of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Forest&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Caledonian Forest&lt;/a&gt; remains.  German (and more broadly Central European) culture has historically and presently have a much higher valuation of ecology.  Many areas that were cleared have been reforested.  I don't think any of the German &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelgebirge&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mittelgebirge&lt;/a&gt; have large deforested areas of land left (with droughts, storms, and plagues, there appears to be a large risk that clear-cut areas will return in coming years, though, but the ground is different and it will not look like the uplands of the British-Irish isles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Scandinavian mountains is very different because much it is naturally above the tree line (almost none of Scotland is above the tree line), and many areas below the tree line have either restored or recovered their mixed forests due to a (much) lower density of sheep (compared to Scotland).  In Germany, you will only find tundra landscapes in the higher regions of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Alps&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bavarian Alps&lt;/a&gt;, but it's not like Scandinavia.  The mountains are steeper and busier, the valleys are deeper and narrower, opportunities for hiking off-trail are limited or absent, and you can only sleep in official accommodation, which may not be open this summer (classical mountain hut accommodation may involve many people sleeping side by side in a single huge bed, not a good situation for slowing down the spread of a contagious disease).  The vegetation in the Alps is also quite different from Scandinavia.  Small pockets with moors or berries do exist in the Alps, so you may find spots that remind of Scandinavia, but I don't know the Bavarian Alps well enough to recommend any in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can tolerate forests, there are many opportunities in German &lt;em&gt;Mittelgebirge&lt;/em&gt; such as &lt;em&gt;Erzgebirge&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Spessart&lt;/em&gt;, or &lt;em&gt;Schwarzwald&lt;/em&gt;.  They are much more densely populated than the Scandinavian mountains, and if all Germans can vacation only domestically they may get even busier than usual, as they're not famous enough to draw a large crowd of international tourists as far as I'm aware.  Fortunately, the density of trails is very high so it's quite possible to hike all day without meeting people (it helps if you go mid-week, off-season, in poor weather) but you will still be close to civilisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(If someone is in the reverse situation, located in Great Britain and seeking naturally forested hills: the only ones I've found during my time there was northern Exmoor, which I found very beautiful and reminded be of hills in Germany.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-05-10T20:45:50.817" LastActivityDate="2020-05-10T20:45:50.817" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25025" CreationDate="2020-05-10T19:10:57.557" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the samples you give I assume you are a climber or use the knots in a related field.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Keep to the names accepted in the climber community, as that is how the knots (bends or whatever) are known.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The only working way to tell one knot apart from the others is to include a good picture of the knot, although in some cases a video may also work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knot names is a difficult subject as most are traditional and people resist renaming knots (bends and hitches are included in knots in these.)&lt;br&gt;&#xA;When people tried in the past the new names got accepted by some people but the old names are still used, have been in print for a long time.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Include all the different languages and naming traditions and you will understand that getting 'logical naming' across the world is impossible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best is to learn the knots and their names, get a good knowledge on which is reliable in which situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, and have been since 1994, and on the forum (and meetings) there I have seen several discussions and all came to the conclusion that renaming knots is not going to happen.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The best alternative is a database (Wikipedia like) where each knot is listed under all its known names and with a good picture, and if available its number in each of a few books, the Ashley Book Of Knots being the best known one of them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A start was made but I think people ran out of steam and it is now one of the many partly made projects on internet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to discuss this with people who look at knots for them being knots, &lt;a href=&quot;https://igkt.net/sm/index.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this forum&lt;/a&gt; has many of them and many of the older discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2020-05-10T19:10:57.557" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25024" CreationDate="2020-05-10T21:08:25.257" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @gerrit's answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you can dispense with elevation (and in consequence also with valleys) but look for open landscapes, there are some moors, e.g. the &lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohes_Venn&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hohe Venn&lt;/a&gt; at the Belgian border or also heaths, e.g. Lüneburger Heide or Colbitzer Heide.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Disclaimer: I don't know them since I'm more a hills and forest person.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Up in the Mittelgebirge are a number of tiny moors - but they may be too small to suit you, e.g. Breungeshainer Moor aka Breungeshainer Heide (Vogelsberg), Rotes Moor (Rhön), Kühnhaide (Erzgebirge) (though there I'd say that maybe more moors are just across the border on the Czech side). (Never heard of them? That's how tiny they are...)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for wide valleys with mostly open landscape then the farmlands in the lower regions of the Mittelgebirge may be suitable. They'll usually also not be that famous, so fewer people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few people: if you avoid the famous regions (Sächsische Schweiz), hiking trails (like Rennsteig) and hills that should be quite doable. Right now however, I meet more people also in my not-so-famous region than usual because of Corona Kurzarbeit and school closures. And in particular when I was biking in the nearby Ried on a nice weekday afternoon last week, I had to &quot;slalom&quot; around bird watchers and walkers/hikers/bikers. In other words, right now you also may want to avoid the only locally famous places.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-05-10T21:23:34.797" LastActivityDate="2020-05-10T21:23:34.797" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25031" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-12T01:09:45.177" Score="1" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking for survival information similar to what happened to the rugby team in Miracle in the Andes. If a plane crashed on a similar rural mountain range during the winter, what are the important skills to learn to enhance survivability and descend the mountain? Some questions I'm looking at specifically...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How to reduce hypothermia -- Is it possible to build a fire in this type of climate? Anything differently you would do?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are injured, is there anything medically you should do differently in this type of environment? I have a special interest in penetrating injuries and dislocations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food/Water -- If its a desolate location, let's say you limited food but you do have hunting gear (maybe a rifle, maybe fishing net). Any way to track prey? Is there any type of edible plant in this environment?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know its a broad net, so I'm open to looking at recommended resources or courses! Thanks in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18783" LastActivityDate="2020-05-13T01:42:50.427" Title="How to Maximize Survival Stranded on a Snowy Mountain" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;hypothermia&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25031" CreationDate="2020-05-12T02:45:20.140" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Note: This is an incomplete answer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To reduce hypothermia: carry spare dry thermal inner wear (merino or technical fabrics). Also consider a bivouac blanket / space blanket. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To build a fire: you should have something you can start a fire with. You can always carry weatherproof matches and (hexamine) fuel tablets (but they stink and have many other problems). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Injuries: the priority in emergency medicine is to ensure the victim survives till they can receive proper medical care. NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) organizes courses on wilderness medicine, they have partners in different countries. There are also courses/certifications for wilderness first aid responders (WAFA), etc. You can learn to fix dislocations in a short course, penetrating injuries are hard, and the goal is to minimize blood loss, till a professional can look at it. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To learn to track prey: do a hunting course. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To learn about edible plants - do a survival course. The material you will be taught will usually be specific to the geographic region you learn it in. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the things you are asking about are highly specialized skills and typically take many years of committed effort and practice to acquire, if you want to attain a level of self-sufficiency. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastActivityDate="2020-05-12T02:45:20.140" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9012" CreationDate="2020-05-12T17:10:39.513" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Now, a few years after asking the question, I have gathered some data over the course of 4 trips between 2015 and 2019, all of them in October:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 3 of these years, it was 27°C to 28°C at around 30 m (± 5 m). All of these trips were before October 20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In one year (2017), it was only 25°C at that depth (after October 20).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5601" LastActivityDate="2020-05-12T17:10:39.513" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25035" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7480" CreationDate="2020-05-12T17:22:56.240" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The lift you generate by inhaling is a force (physically), which results in acceleration of your body. In order to result in a vertical movement, it needs to be applied for some time. The vertical movement is larger if &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the time is longer or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the force is larger (you inhale more).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can improve your buoyancy by &lt;strong&gt;breathing more calmly&lt;/strong&gt;. If the applied force is lower (you inhale less), you can even breath more slowly. However, don't try to just inhale less! It will make you feel out of breath very soon and only increase the problem. The key is to &lt;em&gt;become&lt;/em&gt; calmer and thus breath more calmly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This takes some practice, but it is worth it. It also means that your air consumption will decrease, and your tank will last longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5601" LastActivityDate="2020-05-12T17:22:56.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25036" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-12T17:56:54.617" Score="3" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Context&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Newbie fishing person here. Trying to catch some trout in Steel Lake (Federal Way, WA). Since I am unaware of the right technique, I observed how the other people are fishing in that area, assuming they know what they are doing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many anglers are fishing from the same spot — a floating dock pier, marked orange on the map below. They cast their spinning reels in the direction of the gray arrow which brings the bait/lure into waters that are 15-20 deep, marked green on the map. I also suspect there's a submerged tree in that area. The lake bottom has some (not too rich) vegetation and is a bit silted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The anglers use a similar tackle setup: ~1 oz swivel bell sinker with a leader. Now, the leader length varies from person to person; the shortest one I saw was about 1.5' (45cm), while the longest was closer to 5' (150cm) which is seems to be a huge variance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Question&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I noticed that after casting the anglers have their rods resting almost vertically, leaning onto the pier handrail. The important part here is that the line is straight, and the tip of the rod is slightly bent. These two things point to obvious presence of tension in the line. I understand that it allows the angler register the vibration as soon as the fish bites the bait.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I cast my rod, the line just rests on the water surface, preventing me from knowing what's going on with the bait. If I try to get rid of the slack, I just move my weight (and the leader) closer to where I am.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What am I doing wrong and how to achieve the tension? Should I use a heavier sinker (1 oz instead of 1/4 oz)? Should I fix the drag on my reel?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it matters, my rod's length is 6.9' (2.1m). It's medium power and light action. The line I use is 7.9kg test (came in the same kit with the rod).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Support images&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Lake map&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c8rru.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/c8rru.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lake map&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Issue illustration&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tu3gT.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tu3gT.png&quot; alt=&quot;Issue illustration&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19722" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-05-15T20:23:19.430" LastActivityDate="2020-05-19T01:04:25.920" Title="How to achieve tension in fishing line?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;&lt;trout-fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25031" CreationDate="2020-05-13T01:42:50.427" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As it is the questions you have are unanswerable - Is it on a permanent snow covered mountain, or seasonal? how deep snow? how high mountain (tree-line)? How isolated? Do you know where you are or not? Daylight hour length? What supplies/gear do you have? How bad are the injuries? Do you have a first aid kit (comprehensive or not)? Where in the world are you? - this very very significantly affects food possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said all that there are some general principles that you can adhere to for survival&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your first priority will be treating your injuries. You have a first-aid kit, you should have taken instruction courses and know how to use it! There aren't any special considerations for a the cold apart from limiting exposure of the main part of the body to reduce heat loss.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Puncture wounds are a problem because they introduce bacteria deep into tissues. Cleaning them out with boiled and cooled water might work. If you do have bacterial infection, you could get really sick - you will certainly have a fever and significant pain. Most first-aid kits don't contain antibiotics necessary for treating this sort of wound. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dislocations - treatment usually consists of getting the joint back into place. After that, it depends on which joint dislocated. Shoulders, ankles and fingers/toes are pretty easy to treat with supportive bandages etc. Knees or elbows, you likely tore some ligaments at the same time and are not easy to treat in isolation (as well as incredibly painful)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After that it's the regular survival stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Survival without water is almost impossible. The rule you normally hear for survival is  the rule of 3's: 3 min without oxygen, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. Of course this varies a lot (besides the oxygen one) depending on the conditions, cold means you need more food to keep warm, activity increases water demand etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are surrounded by water in the frozen form. You can't easily get enough water from snow by melting it in your mouth - it saps a lot of heat and takes a long time. It is generally considered that the ratio between snow and rain is 13 - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gismeteo.com/news/climate/31549-what-do-millimeters-of-precipitation-mean-in-weather-forecast-20mm-is-it-a-lot-or-a-little/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1 unit of rain depth = 13 units of snow (on average)&lt;/a&gt;. This means that for a mouthful of water you would need to melt 13 mouthfuls of snow. It's hard to do! For this you need a heat source - fire, sun (black bag in the sun?). How you will capture liquid water is dependent on what you have - a dark bag lined with plastic might melt snow in the sun. A pot over a fire of some sort will work, so long as you can suspend it over the fire and it won't melt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the cold you need a form of shelter or you will freeze to death unless you have many many layers of clothing. Wind is a huge loss of heat, it blows the heat away from, so you need to be able to get away from it. You don't have this - you need shelter and a way to keep yourself off the snow. With luck you can find a snow-bank and dig yourself in to make a temporary &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cave&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;snow cave&lt;/a&gt; while you make a more permanent one from parts of the plane and the snow. Snow caves can get surprisingly warm - but not above freezing! You can probably use the seats to make yourself some sort of pad to keep you off the snow, but with limited clothing you will be very cold and likely to enter hypothermia pretty quickly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fire&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are above the tree-line you are out of luck with just having some wood to burn - you can only use the flammable parts of the plane, which won't last long. You need to isolate your fire from the snow - use rocks or parts of the plane if you can. Remember that metals conduct heat, so those will melt into the snow if you start a fire on them. You will need this fire to boil water to sterilize implements to treat your wounds and for drinking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Below the tree-line you can use dry wood and twigs to start fires - assuming you have a method of lighting one in the first place. There's a whole &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Build_a_Fire&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jack London story&lt;/a&gt; about this and the cold. Things worth considering!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Food&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a permanent snow field there isn't much food at all (if any). Between permanent snow and the tree-line? Depending on where you are in the world there are a few animals that live here and quite a few plants. What is edible and what isn't is dependent on where you are in the world. Animals are not always edible, don't eat the guts unless cooked thoroughly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;5&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Getting out - assuming you know no-one is looking for you.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone is looking for you, stay by the obvious land-mark - your crashed plane, find as many ways to make it as obvious as possible - fire might work if you can light one and see a plane looking for you. Generally it is best to stay where you are when lost - move close to water if you have to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How you get out depends on where you are - How steep is the terrain? How deep the snow? how well can you climb? Do you know where you are or not?  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Survival in these cases usually means following the water-course down hill (not literally walking in the water). Trickles become streams, become rivers, then the sea. People live along river flats, and you can always follow the coast, and will eventually reach a settlement of some sort. There are times when following the water-course won't work such as swamps, but these generally don't occur high in the mountains. You might have to deviate for things like waterfalls, gorges, cliffs etc., but you can usually keep nearby or follow the valley system in general. Navigation from the sun rising and setting will help with general direction you are travelling too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-05-13T01:42:50.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25038" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25036" CreationDate="2020-05-13T07:16:13.293" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try a little more weight. Get a Leatherman pliers/knife combination and some weights to test some things. You can obtain pinch-on lead weights that can be quickly attached to your line with your pliers. With some effort, a pocket knife can usually remove said weights by prying them open. If you get the weight right, then you can buy swiveling weights of the exact size you determine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The line-slack problem is one of weight or timing. So if adding more weight does not do the trick, try allowing a little more time before you attempt to reel in the slack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take your rig to a bait shop and show them your rig. Ask them what you can do to your rig, keep your ears open, but then keep an eye on your wallet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use new line. Old line stays coiled, so a lot of anglers change out their line every year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use better quality line that is sold on a larger roll. The economy line tends to stay coiled. A bait shop will even install it while you watch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try a bottom weight on the end of your line, then put the business end of the fishing apparatus (the baited hook or lure) on a swiveling branch a few feet up. The weight should be the lowest thing on the rig when casting. If that's what you mean by a leader, then disregard.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12369" LastActivityDate="2020-05-13T07:16:13.293" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25039" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25040" CreationDate="2020-05-13T08:54:13.680" Score="3" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just got a pair of Scarpa Terra GTX's which I really like. However the only option the store had are ones that have clearly been worn a few times around the store leading to some creasing and fading. The soles look pretty new, certainly they don't look like anyone has taken a rock to the arch of the foot, and the inside looks pretty pristine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: does this level (see pictures) of creasing and 'wear' constitute any degradation in longevity or is it purely cosmetic? They were on sale and their last pair in this size so room for haggling was pretty slim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the same price I can get these boots, hopefully brand new, from interstate. This is a bit of a pain in case i want to return for whatever reason, but relatively easy so I am considering taking a punt on some brand new ones and returning these, but if wiser folk than I think i'm making a mountain out of molehills I won't bother. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've already applied a bit of wax and that fixed the fading and some scuffs but the creases remain. I know leather is pretty robust but i also know that Gore-Tex doesn't last forever and naively i feel like eventually enough bending and creasing will reduce the life of that waterproof lining.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FXKVD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FXKVD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bxZvn.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bxZvn.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19726" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-05-16T19:13:48.160" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T19:13:48.160" Title="Creasing in new Gore-Tex boots: reduced longevity?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gore-tex&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25039" CreationDate="2020-05-13T12:14:57.460" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;The primary difference this will make is that they'll be just a little easier to &quot;walk in&quot; as some of the work has been done for you already. At the point where they're truly comfortable they'll be a lot more creased than that, and it's only after that point that you'll really be able to put the miles on them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's cosmetic, don't worry about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-05-13T12:14:57.460" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25041" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-14T13:21:36.550" Score="0" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a question.. What will be the best option to smoke meat outdoor? I'm worried about maintaining temperature, to not burn it. I tried to that on my backyard before I can march to the woods. But I didn't want to burn steak, so to my opinion, it is undercooked. Picture will be attached. So, I'll appreciate any advice on how can I cook it effectively.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FWE1i.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FWE1i.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19728" LastActivityDate="2020-05-15T22:19:01.920" Title="Grilling in the wilderness" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25042" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25041" CreationDate="2020-05-14T23:19:41.603" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer to this is: Practise - try out different things to see what gives you the result you want. A good practise option is a charcoal grill with a lid and a smoke box, try out some different fire types (wood types, charcoal types) and see what works for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said that, there are a wide range of ways you can cook food on a fire, either suspended over the flames, over the coals, on the coals, buried in the coals. Smoking is separate because there are a couple of different ways to do it - cold or hot, and they require different things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Steak is slightly unusual to smoke, it's more of a grilling meat generally, as it doesn't contain a lot of the collagens and things that make smoked meats so tasty, but require a lot of tenderizing. For hot smoking you need a container that will hold both the meat and your source of smoke - this can be a foil packet with your soaked wood chips inside and some holes punched in it and placed into a bigger box, or it can be a box with the wood chips at one end and meat at the other, a bit like a covered/closed grill.  Temperature control for a long, slow smoke is difficult over just a plain fire, but not impossible. Generally the smoking portion of a cook is fairly short - 30 min to 1 h is usually enough, the rest is all about tenderizing the meat. Cold smoking needs a separate box with a chimney to the fire that collects the smoke and wafts it around the food. You would only generally use this for preserved meats such as jerky. For both of these you do not want a pine tree type wood, these result in resinous flavours that are quite unpleasant (generally, cedar can be nice though). I recommend something like apple or hickory to start with. Cherry and other fruit trees (not citrus though) are nice too. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are &quot;grilling&quot; you are suspending the meat over the fire in some fashion. Usually this is done over the coals, not the flames. Flames will scorch your meat and result in a smoky flavour, but generally not a nice smoked flavour unless the wood is a smoking type wood such as fruit tree or nut tree. The coals provide a more even radiant heat than flames and give you greater control over the cooking. Spreading the coals out and packing them together can give you good control over the heat with a bit of practice.  I usually create a gradient of heat by having coals packed at one end and spreading them out across the cooking area. It is generally advised to have one area of the grilling plate which is away from the fire so that you can move the meat away from the coals in the event of fat dripping and burning - tastes horrible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A rule of thumb is that if you can hold your hand at the height of where you are going to cook for about 10 s you are ready to grill most things. For this you need to have a hot grill. Place your grill over the coals and allow to heat up for about 10-20 min. Season and oil the meat, then place on the grill and cook to your taste (in my opinion your meat picture looks almost perfect). If the fat drips and flames up, move the meat away from the flames until they die down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suspending over the flames is usually only used for boiling water, unless you have a solid hot-plate like surface, in which case it can be used to cook pretty much anything you could grill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the coals is possible - you can use this to cook things off initially if you are making something like a stew, which will then be buried in the warm coals and left for an extended period, but heat control is difficult. I don't recommend tis for grilling as it is generally too hot unless the fire has died down a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Buried in the coals is only used for long-slow dishes and breads etc and is equivalent to baking in an oven - you might be able to finish off cooking a smoked dish in this manner to give it time to break down into the tender meats associated with long-slow BBQ. This requires a bit of experimentation to get right too - too much heat will burn, too little and it won't cook. You can control the heat by moving coals on and off the lid of the pot you are cooking in. Thick walled pots with a tight fitting lid, such as Dutch-ovens are the best for this sort of cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-05-14T23:34:49.637" LastActivityDate="2020-05-14T23:34:49.637" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25043" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25036" CreationDate="2020-05-15T01:58:39.013" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may just need to set the drag properly. Once you have increased the weight on the line, see if you need to flip a switch or dial a knob on your reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many reels can be setup to be reversible. You do not want that selection for the type of fishing you are doing. If you pull on the line manually and the handle starts reversing, then you need to look for a switch or lever that enables one-way reeling. With that selected, the reel will hold tension and the handle no longer back-pedals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the correct setting on that, you can still have the drag adjustment set wrong. The drag adjustment is to permit tension on the line to force more line into the water. When reeling in a fish, you would set it low during the beginning of a catch and high for when you want to reel in a tired fish with no fight left. There is a small but real possibility that the drag is set very light, and thus any tug on the line causes more line to be pulled out with little resistance. You need to set the drag to medium-light while casting and reeling in an empty hook. Most reels have a low profile knurled knob drag adjuster that is rolled left or right with a (-) and (+). Dial it (-) and then try to pull the line. It should squeal and be easy to pull. Dial it (+) until it takes some effort. You should not be hearing the squeal unless you snag or get a fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12369" LastActivityDate="2020-05-15T01:58:39.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25044" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25041" CreationDate="2020-05-15T22:19:01.920" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One way that is some what popular is what is referred to as dirty steaks or caveman steaks. This is usually done with a thicker cut steak, 1.5&amp;quot; - 2&amp;quot; thick. Lump charcoal works best as it has less additive than briquettes. Once your lump charcoal is mostly grey you lay the steaks directly on the coals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's great about this method is all you need lump charcoal and a pair of tongs or other metal flipping instrument.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first thing everyone asks about cooking meat directly on the coals is, “What about all the ash?” And the honest answer is, “It’s really not a problem.” Before you throw your steaks on the fire—literally—fan off any excess ash from the surface of the coals with a newspaper, palm leaf, or any piece of cardboard you have lying around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you put the wet, oxygen-impermeable steak on the coals, the part that is touching the meat gets, in essence, extinguished, and can’t reignite. It produces no ash during the cooking. All the heat in the coals will be generated within the coal itself, not on the exterior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, many people like to keep a natural-bristle pastry brush on hand to brush any ash off that may find its way to the meat. However, Alton Brown says he doesn’t brush it off, that the little extra char flavor is welcome to him. I agree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...when the exterior of your steak is sitting in a bed of 1200°F (649°C) coals, there is a lot of thermal energy being pumped into that exterior. The internal temperature gradients can be steep in steak cooked this way, so you’ll need to plan for a lot more carryover than you would with a steak cooked in an oven or on a grill. Plan for up to 15°F (8°C) of carryover at the thermal center, rather than the standard 5°F (3°C). This means for medium rare, you’ll want to pull your steak at a temperature as low as 115°F (46°C) to finish at 130°F  (54°C )—or pull at 120°F (49°C) to finish at 135°F (57°C) for medium doneness. And pay attention. This cooking method is fast. It will only take 3-5 minutes per side on a thick steak&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/caveman-steak-cooking-right-on-the-coals/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Suv0O.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Suv0O.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastEditorUserId="-1" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T08:23:47.677" LastActivityDate="2020-05-15T22:19:01.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1425" CreationDate="2020-05-16T05:52:32.483" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had an old pair of work boots do this, I used shoe goo [what I happened to have] and they lasted months longer, I am less sure if I would trust it for a hiking boot. It will depend on what kind of terrain weather and distance you normally go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you mostly hike in good weather, easy trails and less than a few hours long, sure go for it, worst comes to worse you get an embarrassing walk back to your car, if you are mountaineering, multi day backpacking, or even on a rough trail with sharp rocks, I would be much less trusting of these repairs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good cobbler, IF you can find one, would be a good option if there nice boots, with cheaper I would self repair or just replace them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as leather treatments, I have used snow-seal, but apparently it can cause your boot to dry wrong? I have since switched to mink oil, have not had any problems with it yet, I apply a coating between once and three times a year depending on how hard I have been using my foot were. make sure you follow the directions [clean/dry boot, good ventilation etc.]. I am told if you use to much treatment, or treat them to often in can soften the leather causing its own issues, this has not yet happened to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T05:52:32.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25046" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4134" CreationDate="2020-05-16T06:29:00.397" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Focusing on the dangers of&#xA;&lt;strong&gt;Swift water&lt;/strong&gt; [Rivers and even small streams]: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many rivers and streams may look calm and inviting, especially in the hot summer, but can have hidden dangers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foot Entrapment&lt;/strong&gt; Any time you are in water moving at over 2 kts [about 3.7km/h] if you get a foot trapped [in a rock, branch or what ever] and the water is deeper that your finger tips to your nose [think push-up position] you will &lt;strong&gt;drown&lt;/strong&gt; unless you can get your foot free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hydraulics&lt;/strong&gt; Faster flowing water has additional hazards. submerged rocks, and out cropping of shore may cause &quot;Hydraulics&quot;, &quot;Eddy Currents&quot; and other invisible currents, if you do not have a good understanding of what to look for you may be unable to get to the shore, even in a small creek, or you may get sucked into a &quot;hole&quot; a churning current which can trap you in a vertical loop, letting you surface for just a second before dragging you along the bottom of the river, and repeating this until you get free or drown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sweepers&lt;/strong&gt; When a tree has fallen into, or over a stream or river bank in such a manner its in somewhat perpendicular with the water, this is called a sweeper. If a swimmer gets entangled with a sweeper it can &quot;sweep&quot; you down and the water pins you to the tree or its branches, the most dangerous sweepers are fallen trees with many limbs, which can make it harder to self rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many more hazards to moving water, I am by no means an expert, but even when the water is moving more slowly [in a pool, under a waterfall etc] many people die due to bad judgment. these pools look quite deep in relation to the rapids, but may be much shallower than they look. A swan dive into a rock, usually results in a broken neck, quickly followed by drowning. [near Vancouver Canada, I would estimate we lose upwards of 10 people every year, just on about 5 waterfalls]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay safe, and don't swim in rivers alone, or with out some understanding of the risks you may be taking. talking to locals helps, but its often the locals who drown, so treat there advice with caution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T06:29:00.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25047" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16189" CreationDate="2020-05-16T07:29:07.480" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a Thermarest Neo Air X-therm, it is a true air mattress in that there is no insulation in the traditional sense [foam/down etc]. Mine came with a pump sack, which when expanded, is probably about 6 liters. My stuff sack looks like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M506q.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/M506q.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ease of use: This system can be fully inflated with the stuff sack, although I find it much easier to adjust the final firmness with my breath. Due to the fact there are baffles of reflective plastic inside, not moisture absorbing foam or down like most insulated air mattresses, the moisture will not degrade the effectiveness of the insulation, or damage it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The newer upmarket Thermarests come with a much larger stuff pump, that resembles a 20+ liter dry bag, they can fully inflate it from empty in only a few pumps, they work MUCH faster. If your really lazy they sell a tiny battery powered pump that fully inflates it in no time, with no effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Comfort: This is subjective, and will depend on how large, and how much you weigh, and the temperature your camping in. My X-therm has an R-value [measure of insulating property] of &#xA;6.9. this is vary warm, and is comfortable on snow down to -20 or 30 with proper tent/sleeping bag. anything passed 4 would be sufficient for cool weather, and on hot nights, no insulation is really required. this mattress is 6.4 cm thick,fully inflated. when it is fully inflated it can feel kind of like sleeping on vary hard ground, luckily, unless you need the full benefit of the installation, you can sleep with it partially deflated, and it still keeps you well off the rocks. My model is tapered at the head and feet to reduce weight, and is quite narrow in the middle, this is to save weight, and there are much wider versions available. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ease of carrying: this model packs down to  23 cm x 10 cm, to visualize, its smaller than my 1 ltr nalgene bottle when its rolled up, and only weighs 0.43 kg   [just under a pound], for its size and weight, its easily my favorite piece of gear I own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Durability/issues: This mattress is remarkably durable despite the flimsy feeling fabric, but I have read accounts of people poping them on sharp rocks. Keep in mind most other similar mattresses on the market have thinner [and presumably less durable] fabric. If this mattress gets a hole you cannot repair in the field [it came with a patch kit], you will be stuck laying on what are effectively 3 sheets of plastic, there is NO fill to provide any insulation or comfort. for this reason, if you are winter camping you MUST bring something for an emergency, you may be able to use your empty pack for this use, but I always carry a closed cell torso pad [just cut one from your head to bottom of your buttox]  if I am camping in cold weather were a failed mat could cause serious harm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[This is intended to give you a general answer to question re pump sack air-mattresses. For reference this pad is probably 2-3x more expensive than the one shown in the video, but most of the considerations are similar. For backpacking I will never go back to the self inflating style]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T07:29:07.480" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25048" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22745" CreationDate="2020-05-16T07:44:27.260" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Gaia GPS and Trailforks both have gpx support and free offline maps. [trailforkes is great if your hiking areas are near biking trails].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Avenza is great as well, but takes more setting up. If you want to make custom maps and layers this is your app.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T07:44:27.260" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24495" CreationDate="2020-05-16T07:58:17.703" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had never heard of &quot;cattail Down&quot; but after a quick google, it sound like it is significantly heaver than duck or goose down.&lt;br&gt;&#xA;The R-value dose not measure a substances insulation value, rather the finished product [Ie. pink fiberglass insulation may be R12/R20 or R40 depending on the thickness and how it is manufactured].&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Vary generally, you can think of downs insulating property's as being proportional to the weight/volume ratio, 1 cubic foot of 700fill down will give the same amount of thermal protection than 1 cubic foot of 800fill, but the 800 will weigh less.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefor if cattail is denser [heaver proportional to volume] than goose, it will give a lower R-value if you filled two of same jackets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2020-05-17T09:57:55.233" LastActivityDate="2020-05-17T09:57:55.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25050" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16987" CreationDate="2020-05-16T08:46:38.023" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using less statistics, and more of personal experience, in my region, pacific southwest [northwest for all you Americans], generally if you are physically and mentally healthy, in good weather and STOP when you realize you are lost, you will usually be found within a few hours of searching [plan on minimum 5 hours to account for travel time/planning and searching for you]. If we do not know were you went, ie. no trip plan, or if you were not following trails, unless you are lucky enough to be spotted from the air [unlikely in our terrain unless your really trying], or managed to wonder near a trail we are searching, your chances of ever being found are very low.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The manpower needed to look for a non-responsive subject in spring/summer foliage is incredible, we are talking 8 manhours to search 5 acres. if you can hike at 4km/h and you have been gone 8 hours, the area is vast and unsearchable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;luckily it is rare for us to not find someone we know for sure is lost, probably average about 1 per year in our region [probably 400+ searches per year]. Note that due to the urban wilderness interface of the area means we often don't know if our guy is lost, or on a buss to another province, if theirs no compelling evidence someone is &quot;lost&quot; in a particular area the ground search is called off much sooner [think 8 hours if we don't know were you were last seen, to 8 days+ with 300+ searchers if we know for sure you are in the area.] Most of these people resurface at a friends house, some vanish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Leave a Detailed trip plan, with a responsible adult, its the difference of a few hours of embarrassment and never being seen again. Bring signaling devices [day-mirror, night-flashlight, audio-LOUD whistle, electronic-Plb/spot/inreach. even a cellphone] on every hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T08:46:38.023" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15918" CreationDate="2020-05-16T09:25:12.897" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your rescue team of &quot;2 guys and a pickup&quot; is insufficient, the minimum trained people we would attempt this rescue with [we have done more then one of these] would be 8, 12+ would be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, like someone suggested, a reasonably safe stretcher carry is preferred over high angle. Presuming our fishermen are built like most fishermen, carrying one for more than 10 minutes is going to be a chore. generally 6 people required to carry a stretcher, unless terrain forces less, and those 6, unless there big guys in tip top shape [think on the better side of young firefighters], will need to switch off the stretcher every 6 minuets or so. 2.5 miles is going to take forever on a rough trail, think 4-10 hours. additionally if there is no trail along the one side of the river, you now half-to consider taking someone who is totally immobilized, over water, were worse came to worse you could drown them. this may not be your best option.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for going strait over the cliff, what you describe is High angle rescue. Our protocols require a 2 rope system [&lt;strong&gt;NEVER WINCH PEOPLE!!!!!&lt;/strong&gt; if they get caught on a snag you could pull the rope, harness or the person apart before you noticed.] A well practiced rope team can do a top down rescue like this in less than 25 minutes, If you barely remember your knots, and don't know what a rope system means, I wouldn't even try. Seriously if you drop someone 40 feet down a scree slope they will be in much worse shape than a night with a broken ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advice of carrying a satellite beacon is a good one, get one with 2 way communication [inreach/spot connect], Carry a suitable first aid kit, flashlights [rescue may take a few hours], insulation/dry clothing [in a waterproof container ie. drybag], if an ankle injury is what your expecting carry an ankle splint, [sam splint, a self inflating mattress like a thermarest is both thermal protection, and a great improvised splint. Take a wilderness First Aid course, make sure your friends take one [keep in mind, there the ones who will be treating you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your dead set on the rescue side, the most technical thing I would consider, would be a simple repel off the road, as suggested by strong bad, but even then, you should understand what your doing, be well practiced, and carry self rescue equipment [rope asenders etc.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit, it may be relevant that most jurisdictions will &lt;em&gt;NEVER charge for rescue&lt;/em&gt;, it is always easier to do a quick call that may not have been totally necessary, than arrive in the middle of the night when it has devolved into an emergency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastEditorUserId="17503" LastEditDate="2020-05-16T09:35:42.863" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T09:35:42.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21243" CreationDate="2020-05-16T14:34:47.930" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most caves and mines in Germany require a cave certification, and I assume they are all privately owned and locked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://tauchschule-sauerland.de/bergwerk_tauchvorraussetzungen_hoehlentaucher/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Nuttlar&lt;/a&gt;: prerequisite Full Cave or other cave certificate plus check dive (&lt;a href=&quot;https://tauchschule-sauerland.de/bergwerk_tauchvorraussetzungen_sporttaucher/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;try dive possible&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergwerktauchen-felicitas.de/info-s/tauchvoraussetzungen.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Felicitas&lt;/a&gt;: prerequisite Full Cave or other cave certificate plus check dive (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergwerktauchen-felicitas.de/info-s/gef%C3%BChrte-tauchg%C3%A4nge.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;try dive possible&lt;/a&gt;), and a dry suit is required&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5601" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T14:34:47.930" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25053" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-16T15:58:25.017" Score="4" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a metal planter on my patio. Why do squirrels come up and chew on the sides of it? Are they sharpening their teeth?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19734" LastActivityDate="2020-05-17T09:38:53.253" Title="Why do squirrels chew on metal planter?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25054" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22745" CreationDate="2020-05-16T22:14:26.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am  using &lt;a href=&quot;https://oruxmaps.com/cs/en/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oruxmaps&lt;/a&gt;. Great program, open source. Can load USGS geo pdfs, Garmin maps, KML, CSV and also gpx.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19736" LastActivityDate="2020-05-16T22:14:26.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25053" CreationDate="2020-05-17T09:38:53.253" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is most likely that instead of sharpening their teeth, they are actually shortening them. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like all &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;rodents&lt;/a&gt;, squirrels' &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incisor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;incisor teeth&lt;/a&gt; grow continuously, and need to be worn away, which is achieved by gnawing on things like wood, or in your case metal. Soft metals like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tin&lt;/a&gt; are suitable for this purpose because they are hard enough to wear away the teeth, but not so hard as to cause damage to the teeth. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest that you get a sacrificial block of wood such as hickory, oak or ash and place it in your garden. The squirrels are likely to transfer their chewing habits to the more suitable wood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-05-17T09:38:53.253" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25057" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-17T14:24:37.590" Score="16" ViewCount="3611" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read this tragic story today, &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/world/europe/surfers-netherlands-dead.html?action=click&amp;amp;algo=top_conversion&amp;amp;block=trending_recirc&amp;amp;fellback=false&amp;amp;imp_id=866002353&amp;amp;impression_id=198236197&amp;amp;index=8&amp;amp;pgtype=Article&amp;amp;region=footer&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Several Surfers Are Found Dead in the Netherlands&lt;/a&gt;&quot; which raised some questions about surfing and personal flotation devices (PFDs).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some relevant quotes from the article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Five surfers drowned off the coast of the Dutch beach resort of&#xA;  Scheveningen after they were caught in strong winds and foamy&#xA;  waters...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...the thick foam made it especially difficult for those who had&#xA;  fallen from their boards to return to shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;  &#xA;  &lt;p&gt;...three [of the victims] are believed to be seasoned surfers who were&#xA;  professional trainers in open water swimming...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am not extremely knowledgeable in surfing. I had the (perhaps incorrect) impression that the surfboard was itself the main PFD that a surfer would have, and that normally no other life-jacket would be worn. Partly I had this idea because I thought the surfer would be tethered to the board and I imagined that in cases of rough water or falls the tether would essentially keep your PFD within reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article however makes it seem like some victims might have gotten detached from their boards, or perhaps I misunderstand how that works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is a surfboard considered a lifesaving device? Do surfers normally wear or carry some other type of PFD, or is that recommended?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inferring from the article it seems like the conditions may have been extremely unusual and difficult - maybe unpredictably. It also says nothing about whether PFDs were used, or failed, or anything about that at all. Especially it does not suggest (and nor do I) that any of the victims were at fault. But nonetheless such a tragedy might at least be an opportunity to learn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T07:55:44.233" Title="What kind of personal flotation devices should surfers use? Or does the surfboard provide that function?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25057" CreationDate="2020-05-17T15:30:47.777" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally, the board is your flotation device. Because you need to be able to dive, any additional flotation is likely to impede your ability to surf well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And you are absolutely right, that the tether means you usually have that flotation available to you. It does have some problems in certain scenarios, though, and the most common one we come up against in Europe (as we don't have coral reefs which can be a snag risk) is surfing in offshore winds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Offshore winds can make the wave face steeper and higher, so this can be fun, but a board acts a little like a sail and in high winds can make it incredibly difficult to swim back to shore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another challenge can be losing a board through a snapped or disconnected tether.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In this specific case, however, it sounds like the foam caused either breathing, swimming or navigation problems - none of which would be a flotation issue as such.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-05-17T15:30:47.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25059" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25065" CreationDate="2020-05-17T21:21:51.700" Score="6" ViewCount="166" Body="&lt;p&gt;Usually I rappel using a tubular belay device such as an ATC and tie a stopper knot at the end of each strand of the rope such as a fisherman’s knot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a safety knot which you can tie before rappelling using the Munter hitch (instead of an ATC) on a double-stranded rope which does not pass through your carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-05-18T14:26:27.030" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T03:05:10.857" Title="Rappelling using the Munter hitch - stopper knot at the end of the rope?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25061" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25057" CreationDate="2020-05-18T01:40:20.310" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding that tragedy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In that specific instance the victims were most likely not killed by water filling their lungs, but the dense foam. I don't think there is any current flotation device what would have saved them; as they needed to get above the foam itself.  An alternative source of air (scuba tank or re-breathing device) or a very long snorkel, was called for. If it were indeed physically possible to save themselves, a navigation aid, anything which helped find an exit from the foam, could have done the trick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surfboards:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, the surfboard does very significantly ease issues related to buoyancy (air, fatigue, exposure).  The thing with surfing is buoyancy is wholly undesirable in broken surf (we want to go under it), so there is a delicate too-much/too-little juggling act going on there; every surfer has their own preference.  To illustrate better, take a look at the extreme...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inflatable vests:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Big wave&quot; surfers, which I'll define as waves too big to 'paddle in' to, often wear (commercially available) Inflatable Vests; a vest containing a CO2 capsule and airtight pockets which are deflated.  When they get into serious trouble underwater they can release the CO2 into the vest pockets and, hopefully, pop to the surface like a cork. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But, bobbing around on the surface like a cork in a maelstrom of surf is also a potentially lethal, altogether different, problem. Which is why they don't wear boating type buoyancy vests or have an always-inflated vest.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To solve this problem, a feature of such vests, enable the wearer to immediately deflate the vest. For example, grab a breath and deflate before the next wave hits.  The most recent models attach multiple CO2 canisters so the vest can be inflated/deflated a limited number of times.  Hopefully, the wearer will be pushed out of the &quot;impact zone&quot;, or their jet-ski buddy will pick them up before (or after) unconsciousness wins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rebreathers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In normal conditions a large proportion of the air we breathe &lt;em&gt;out&lt;/em&gt; has lots of oxygen still in it.  So there has also been some experimentation with &quot;rebreathers&quot; which recycle the air in your lungs, mostly to alleviate the reflex to &quot;breathe&quot; where there is only water to suck in.  They haven't really taken off.  I guess because most guys in this category are sufficiently well-trained to be able to suppress the reflex and panic that would overwhelm mere mortals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nav-Aids:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've never seen any device specifically suited to navigating this kind of thing. I can say from personal experience that, when you are deep enough for it to get dark, the leg-rope to the board, which is above you, can be a lifesaver for indicating the direction to go.  I have 'climbed' the leg rope hand-over-hand on occasions. Trying to blow bubbles and follow them is a fools errand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15162" LastEditorUserId="15162" LastEditDate="2020-05-18T02:32:34.310" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T02:32:34.310" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25057" CreationDate="2020-05-18T07:51:05.640" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;the board is attached via a leash, which is usually tightly wrapped around the ankle. the board can also save you in shallow waters when waves push you against rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;point being it is essentially a dangerous sport for anyone, which is what makes part of the thrill of it&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user19742" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T07:51:05.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25057" CreationDate="2020-05-18T07:55:44.233" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is not a practical solution, but lifejackets come in different levels, from simple flotation aids up to offshore versions. The latter have a lot of buoyancy and often come with a spray hood that might have helped in the situation. Due to the buoyancy they lift people higher out of the water, turn an unconscious person on the back, an keep them from inhaling water.&#xA;These lifejackets are too bulky to be worn for sports, they are mostly used in the maritime industry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTx30.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zTx30.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Spray hood&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19736" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T07:55:44.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25064" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25059" CreationDate="2020-05-18T14:47:19.080" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's good that you're in the habit of putting knots in the end of your rope before you rappel. Failing to do that is an extremely common cause of accidents and deaths, because without the knots, you can pop off the end of the rope unexpectedly (or pop off of one strand, if they're uneven).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing this with a Munter is not 100% guaranteed to work, because it is physically possible to pass a knot through a Munter, if the Munter is loose. This is different from an ATC, where it's simply not possible for the knot to pass through the device. However, the reality is that a stopper knot is very likely to jam and not pass through the Munter, if the rope under tension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you reach the knotted end of the rope, you will feel the knot come up against your braking hand, so you have some warning. For this reason, it should never even be an issue whether the knot could somehow slip through the Munter. Even in a normal rappel with an ATC, we'd prefer not to let the stopper knot reach the ATC. If that happens, it can get jammed, and you can have problems with escaping from the situation by ascending. The reason people learn techniques like the Munter mule overhand is that you want to be able to stop securely without letting a knot jam into your belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some of the other answers and comments, it seems like people are misreading the question or not understanding the distinction between two different types of safety backups for rappelling. You want to guard against two types of errors: (1) losing control of the rappel and hitting the ground or a ledge; (2) rappelling off the end of the rope. The question is clearly about #2. Safety measures like a Prusik or fireman's belay are to guard against #1. These are totally separate issues. Protecting against one doesn't help to protect against the other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usurer says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;I am curious if attaching the end of the rope to yourself will be useful and safe way to prevent it from passing through the carabiner. I don't know of any such recommendations but can't think of any bad thing coming from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This could work if you coil the rope inside your pack so that it can be neatly paid out. It would have the disadvantage that you would have no chance of doing the thing you normally try to do where you throw the rope down and look to see whether it reached the safe terrain at the bottom of the rappel. I think people sometimes do use this technique in situations where throwing the rope down would be impractical or unworkable, e.g., if it's too windy or the rope would get snagged in brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-05-18T14:54:27.327" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T14:54:27.327" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25059" CreationDate="2020-05-18T18:00:36.500" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;TLDR; &lt;strong&gt;Join yourself to the ends of the rope&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My preference if the rope isn't on the ground is towards tieing an overhand on a bight on each side and clipping them both my belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This strategy has two benefits major benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;1) The obvious is that when rappelling, you can't go past the end of the rope. This is true regardless of which type of friction device you are using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;2) The second is less obvious, but self-rescue becomes a lot easier if you can easily remove the device and still be attached to the system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Self: You could simply use the ends as an anchor and keep rappelling&#xA;with another rope, or extend one side a short distance if you have the means.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Partner: Your partner can transition to a lowering you on&#xA;a single strand, giving you double the distance to the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Noteworthy&lt;/em&gt;: I have seen people tie a giant knot (BHK/BFK), but I think you lose versatility when doing so. That said, it's not likely to pass through your munter hitch (depending on the diameter of rope).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Prusik&lt;/em&gt;: The prusik hitch doesn't prevent you from falling off the end, and in some cases is dangerous (see: Canyoning; rappelling down waterfalls specifically). If you use one though, any stopper/catastrophe knot will prevent the prusik from sliding past it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3301" LastActivityDate="2020-05-18T18:00:36.500" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25066" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25168" CreationDate="2020-05-18T21:08:14.940" Score="1" ViewCount="74" Body="&lt;p&gt;I get so much grit in my spinning reels. I try not to drop them in the mud/dirt/gravel that dominates the creeks and rivers where I fish, but it's often unavoidable in the rush to unhook and release a fish, or when I slip in the snot-slick Maryland mud. As a result, there's grit in the bail and gears of both my favorite reels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You always hear that saltwater reels are built to keep water out of their innards, but I have zero experience with them because I stick to freshwater. If I were to switch to a saltwater-rated reel such as the Kastking Kodiak, would it at least help keep the gear mechanisms grit-free? Is there a better solution, other than just &quot;don't be so bad at fishing, you dingus&quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19716" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T07:59:55.813" Title="Are saltwater-rated reels more dirtproof?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25036" CreationDate="2020-05-19T01:04:25.920" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If they're using 1oz sinkers and you're using a quarter ounce, doesn't that explain everything? Also take note of their line weights -- it sure seems like it's easier to maintain tension on a lighter line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19716" LastActivityDate="2020-05-19T01:04:25.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25068" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-19T04:03:05.213" Score="4" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Sierra Nevada rise gently above the foothills that mark the end of the central valley. It would make for an interesting trek to start from the lower hills at &amp;lt;500 meters of elevation and work your way up to the high sierra at ~4000m. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, most the routes I found involve walking on highways until about ~1000m before the trails start. Are there any trekking routes that start at low elevations that avoid heavily trafficked highways (or have wide shoulders) and don't trespass into private property illegally? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Off-trail hiking is OK so long as it isn't difficult scrambling as are lightly trafficked roads.&#xA;The best example I found is S. Fork road starting from three rivers at 300m en route to the South Fork Campground, after which the hiking trails start. What else is out there? How hard is it to get an overnight permit once COVID-19 passes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18621" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-05-19T07:24:27.647" LastActivityDate="2020-05-29T22:23:39.650" Title="California central valley to sierra treks" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25069" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-19T10:12:24.533" Score="4" ViewCount="217" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been toying with the idea of a split hammock.  My idea is a wider than usual gathered end hammock, about 11' by 8', with an adjustable line running under to separate our individual sag points.  If the dividing line is run diagonally, perhaps through loops stitched into the hammock to hold it in place, I'm thinking it would give each of us our own pocket right next to each other without crushing us together. The line could be loosened for a traditional single hang. Has anyone seen this solution tried? What tips do you have to make it work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19746" LastEditorUserId="17115" LastEditDate="2020-05-24T16:00:43.907" LastActivityDate="2020-06-25T17:03:30.350" Title="How to make a segmented double hammock?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25070" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25072" CreationDate="2020-05-19T16:13:24.650" Score="3" ViewCount="570" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a tall tree in the backyard that we use to practice belaying / abseiling (rappelling).&#xA;However, the lowest part of the trunk does not have any branches until up to 20' / 6m, so we use a lean-on ladder. Which is a shame because I'd rather climb those feet and not &quot;waste&quot; them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would be the best way to attach wall climbing hand holds or any other things that could give us a challenge but without harming the tree (I don't want to put thick and long anchors inside a living trunk)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#xA;So here's what I'll do.&#xA;As advised by @Jory Geerts, I'll build a round-the-trunk planked miniwall.&#xA;Meanwhile I've anchor-hitched 30 feet of 10mm static rope to the lowest branch and we Texas prusik it! Great practice and workout (the transfer from the rope to the tree branches is the hardest part)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2020-06-05T10:49:12.367" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T10:49:12.367" Title="How to attach climbing holds / rungs to a tree trunk without harming the tree" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25070" CreationDate="2020-05-19T16:23:58.890" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whatever you use could have some impact on the tree, but your best bet is likely to be a combination of slings, either tightly round the trunk to hang handholds from, or alternatively, ropes from your lowest branches to take the weight, with slings round the trunk solely for locating the handholds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a slight tack, you could use a cargo net or knotted rope - they'd still give you something to climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-05-19T16:23:58.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25072" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25070" CreationDate="2020-05-20T06:46:19.720" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can bolt the holds onto a (strong) wooden plank and use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/9Mx25mm-Ratchet-Tie-Down-Strap-Cargo-Lashing-Straps-250Kg-Work-Load-Blue-2Pcs/PRD1DRDU99WCIBK&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ratchet lashing strap&lt;/a&gt; to attach the plank to the tree. Better yet: use two. One at the top of the plank and one at the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will probably want to add some padding to protect the tree. You can place a rubbery &quot;block&quot; on the plank at the places where you put the strap. This way the thing getting pushed into the tree is something (relatively) soft. Padding between the rest of the strap and the tree isn't needed for the (fairly small) force this will put on the trunk of the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend removing the plank or at least loosening the strap if you're not going to use it for a while to ensure the tree can grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17878" LastActivityDate="2020-05-20T06:46:19.720" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25073" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25079" CreationDate="2020-05-20T13:16:52.053" Score="4" ViewCount="187" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this is a weird and sort of crazy question, but can you safely tame wasps as pets? Here's what I'm thinking: I have non-filtered all-natural 100% honey. I know that adult wasps eat very sweet foods, so I'm wondering if I could use that to attract them and gain their trust? I'm pretty sure that I'll be dealing with Eastern Yellowjackets, but I think it might be a different species (its legs hang down, it has a long abdomen). Anyway, is there a specific way to do this or am I just supposed to slowly approach it with some honey on my finger and let it come to me when it smells it? Thanks in advance!&lt;br&gt;&#xA;P.S. I'm new to this community so forgive me if this isn't such a great question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19750" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T06:11:35.473" Title="Can you safely tame an Eastern Yellowjacket?" Tags="&lt;wasps&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25068" CreationDate="2020-05-20T17:11:21.347" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's one I explored some years ago, seeking an experience similar to what you describe.  I had got tired of driving 9/10 of the way to the mountains, walking the remaining 1/10, and thinking I had &quot;scaled the Sierras.&quot;  This does not seem like the way John Muir would have done it, although he did lament the long and gradual slope of the west side.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Patterson Mountain, CA, quadrangle (1:24,000), find Balch Camp.  Less than 1 mile south, on the Balch Camp Rd, at about 1200 ft, you'll see a trail marked Rodgers Ridge.  It ascends to the ridge line and continues East.  At about 6000 ft, you join Forest Service roads, and with some cross-country work, you can find your way to Spanish Mountain (10,000 ft, Rough Spur quadrangle), a worthy destination on its own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From there, you can stay high and head toward Randle Corral and Blue Canyon, or you could descend into the amazing and secluded Tehipite Valley and the Middle Fork Kings River.  Either will lead you further East into the High Sierra.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now for the bad news.  I explored this at least 15 years ago, and never did find any trace of the Rodgers Ridge trail.  It may have been established decades ago and only persists on paper.  From a route finding perspective, this is not all that terrible, as the topography clearly directs you (&quot;Just Go Up&quot;).  I found the steep hillsides to be very difficult passage, however, being covered in a thick grass over a loose soil.  A trail would have been helpful.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, it's a southern exposure with no water until you get high up.  Consider the weather and carry plenty of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best of luck.  And thanks for helping me relive some memories!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17621" LastActivityDate="2020-05-20T17:11:21.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25075" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25091" CreationDate="2020-05-20T19:25:43.537" Score="1" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately, I've been sticking crappie nibbles on the hook of almost anything I toss into the water, from trout magnets to marabou jigs to swim shads to inline spinners. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Am I losing anything by doing so? &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, I sometimes worry that the pink or chartreuse nibbles interfere with the action of the crankbaits and soft plastics, or that they make more subtle lures too visible. But that hasn't stopped me yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19716" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T01:15:40.887" Title="What do I lose by putting crappie nibbles on everything?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25073" CreationDate="2020-05-20T20:41:53.273" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an answer from a non-expert, and is based on my experience alone.  Location: Northern Virginia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, where are the yellow-jackets/wasps nesting?  If they are nesting in the ground, based on personal experience over quite a few years, I would sooner try to tame an adult tiger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they have a nest hanging aboveground, say under the eaves of your house, they are a variety or sub-species (species??) that is more laid back.  I used to share my outdoor breakfasts with them in the fall.  A little bit of egg, some jam, on a separate plate, they were polite and it was very companionable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope someone will give you a more technical answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PS&lt;/strong&gt; If you are in a mood for adult tigers, two things to consider:  (1) Are you allergic?  People can get very, very bad reactions.  (2) Do you have a short escape route planned out?  They will chase you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-05-20T20:47:14.397" LastActivityDate="2020-05-20T20:47:14.397" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25068" CreationDate="2020-05-20T22:03:42.963" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is may be too short and too easy for a hard-core masochist, but all I can think of is to start at Lone Pine CA (1,136 meters) and go to Horseshoe Meadows CA (3,070 meters).  This is about 20 miles of steep road.  I am not familiar with these roads, so I can't say how difficult it would be to parallel them on foot. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Horseshoe Meadows leads you to Golden Trout Lake and then to the many rock-girt lakes under and around Mt. Humphreys.  There are many lakes around 3,720 meters near the base of Mt. Humphreys.  Mt. Humphreys itself is about 4,200 meters and requires some experience.  You can then continue gently downhill cross-country on friendly granite ledges to Paiute Pass (about 3,400 meters) shortly before which you hit a trail over the Pass and down to North Lake and the road to Bishop. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, start at Reno and slog along Rte 395 for several hundred miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-05-20T22:03:42.963" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25073" CreationDate="2020-05-21T06:11:35.473" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure about taming an individual, or even how you'd tell your pet one from another, but wasps really aren't that aggressive if you move slowly. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had them (European ones) crawling over my hand without issues before. I didn't have much choice - I was holding a beer in each hand, in a queue with nowhere to put them down, and the wasps came to lick the spilt beer off my hand. When I stated holding them closer to my face for a better look, and encouraging my daughter to look at their tiny tongues, people started to back away. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T06:11:35.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25080" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25090" CreationDate="2020-05-21T12:19:22.353" Score="8" ViewCount="415" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been shopping for a tri-state self-locking carabiner for clipping into personal anchors but made a mistake and ordered a twist-lock 'biner instead :)&#xA;Since product return is a hassle during those zombie outbreak times, I decided to keep it. It's a lighthweight offset-D UIAA certified 23kN load-bearing carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, what would be the best use for it? :) I won't be clipping into anchors with it, I prefer a proper tri-state carabiner. Using this twist-locking for auxiliary work such as haul bags or tools seems to be a waste, on the other hand!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2020-05-22T12:32:00.560" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T09:03:36.587" Title="Best uses for a twist-lock carabiner" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25081" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25080" CreationDate="2020-05-21T16:00:09.333" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've used a twist lock carabiner to secure a water bottle holder or glasses case to a bag. When travelling in a city, this prevents opportunist thieves from easily unhooking the item from my bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18680" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T16:00:09.333" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25082" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25086" CreationDate="2020-05-21T19:45:27.460" Score="-2" ViewCount="181" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would like to switch to the Yosemite bowline knot. I don't want to compare the pros and cons of figure 8, double bowline and Yosemite bowline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am interested in single-pitch climbs and gained some experience with the figure 8 and the bowline on a bight knot as tie-in knots. With both knots I am comfortable with omitting the stopper knot - because after several month of usage I never experienced the knots to get loose or untied.&#xA; I don't want to discuss if adding a stopper knot adds more safety to your tie-in system - that seems clear to me. However, omitting the stopper knot also has some advantages I don't want to go into.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the Yosemite bowline is properly executed, is it likely to get loose or is it likely that the two loops that you should not mix up (not properly tied Yosemite bowline) do mix up themselves? How susceptible is the properly tied Yosemite bowline to shaking/movement for a short period of time (20 minutes)? Can someone share his experience?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there famous climbers who do the Yosemite bowline without a stopper knot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: I confused the double bowline with a bowline on a bight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="18292" LastEditDate="2020-05-23T07:34:10.967" LastActivityDate="2020-05-23T07:34:10.967" Title="Yosemite bowline - stopper knot?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25083" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6034" CreationDate="2020-05-21T21:14:15.917" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&quot;Make a Dog Lead&quot;  has already been said, but I use an ancient carabiner at the other end of the lead to clip it to my belt.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This enables &lt;strong&gt;hands-free dog walking&lt;/strong&gt;, which permits me to put my hands in my pockets while out with the dog,  Especially good in sub-zero winter conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you haven't got enough dogs, then your local dog pound might appreciate the donation of clips and rope that is no longer suitable for climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T21:14:15.917" CommentCount="0" CommunityOwnedDate="2020-05-21T21:14:15.917" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25084" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16317" CreationDate="2020-05-21T21:45:36.080" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the other answers, kayaks' cargo is very different from canoes' cargo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My sea kayak has about 170L of cargo space in 2 hatches.  Compared to my 65L backpack or multi-day cycle trips with 20kg of gear in panniers, that's very generous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;gear needs to fit through the hatches.  I could barely fit a 15&quot; laptop for example.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you can't access the hatches while on the water.  In BC, where I live, steep cliffs mean that often you can't land for 2-3 kms, at least.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you are discouraged from putting much stuff into the kayak in the passenger hold, for safety reasons (you really don't want to be snagged to a rope when your kayak overturns).  I only have a 10L clear bag with water, phone, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;a kayak's deck space is taken up by mandatory safety gear (extra paddle, recovery floatation device, rope, pump...).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, when considering cargo space, take into consideration that the cargo a kayak carries is nowhere as accessible as one might think by only looking at the volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found managing what to take with me in the kayak much more challenging than when packing on a bicycle for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I anticipate that, whatever else applies to canoes (and I much prefer kayaks myself), their cargo situation is much to their advantage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;p.s.  if you are going on solo kayak trips, take a course on how to self-rescue.&lt;/strong&gt;  That was a 2-day/$200 course for me and taught me tons of tips, including how to massively improve paddling efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-05-21T21:56:13.573" LastActivityDate="2020-05-21T21:56:13.573" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25082" CreationDate="2020-05-22T12:09:55.663" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Yosemite bowline is just a simple bowline with a Yosemite finish. This finish can also be used with other knots, such as the figure 8. It is fail-proof for the figure 8 case, meaning that if you make it wrong the knot will compensate your mistake by tightening the rope on the correct spots. It is not fail-proof when used together with the bowline, as can be clear seen &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dj5Y3h1AEI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (I don't agree with the title of this video, btw).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, one must keep in mind that you are a beginner. This is clear in the sentence &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;With both knots I am comfortable with omitting the stopper knot - because after several month of usage I never experienced the knots to get loose or untied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Several months of usage is nothing in climbing. I have been climbing for many years and I have seen weird stuff happening that I would never, ever in my life considered possible. I have unclimped the top biner from a bolt while clipping the rope to the bottom one; I have tied in with a wrong knot, even though I have done it thousands of times before; I have seen a friend almost die because his jumar didn't bite the rope, and the list goes on. You have absolutely no idea of what awaits you with regards to fail-proof procedures simply failing! Your months of experience are not a parameter, and even if they were years or decades, you could still be wrong. Do not rely on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;anedoctal evidence&lt;/a&gt;, or you &lt;strong&gt;will&lt;/strong&gt; eventually hurt yourself doing something completely avoidable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When choosing a knot, I have always been in favor of choosing the best knot. For many years this was the figure 8 or a double bowline with a stopper knot. Nowadays, I don't believe this anymore. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/16347/how-to-tie-an-ebsb-bowline&quot;&gt;EBSB knot&lt;/a&gt; is, according to my own personal view developed after several tests (some can be found &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.paci.com.au/knots.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), the safest knot there is. However, if you are a beginner I would definitely recommend you sticking with the figure 8 for a while. The EBSB does not require a stopper knot, but I still almost always do one. However, I know that if I forget it, this is a knot with an extremely small probability of untying, as has been demonstrated several times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not, ever, use a Yosemite finish without a stopper knot. You will probably die if the knot fails. Regarding the simple bowline, if gets loose quite easily without a stopper knot. Sometimes even a double bowline can get loose. If you do not like stopper knots, use a double bowline with an in-loop stopper knot, which you tie in the loop itself and doesn't bother you when pulling the rope to clip (if that's a problem for you). If you insist on not using a stopper knot, then use the EBSB bowline or a figure 8.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-05-22T19:02:08.933" LastActivityDate="2020-05-22T19:02:08.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25087" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25089" CreationDate="2020-05-22T16:29:54.613" Score="4" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently read the following: &quot;It's very important to remove the hook before cooking and eating the fish.... If you cook the hook, the layer of lead that coats the hook will melt into the fish...&quot;  (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Unhook-a-Fish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wikihow.com/Unhook-a-Fish&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm familiar with lead in weights and solder joints, but do hooks often contain a lead &lt;em&gt;coating&lt;/em&gt; as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;edit: I ask this because, for ecological and child-safety reasons, I avoid tackle containing lead.  I'd like to know if I should investigate my plain old j-hooks more closely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no intention to cook a fish with the hook in :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19757" LastEditorUserId="19757" LastEditDate="2020-05-22T19:30:38.483" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T04:06:02.867" Title="Do fish hooks have a lead coating?" Tags="&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25087" CreationDate="2020-05-22T19:10:04.570" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some hooks have a lead weight moulded into the shank. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You would not eat that easily but why do you care when the other danger is putting the hook through your own lip while eating the fish?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is also the fact that hooks are usually re-usable. Another day, another fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar – but more serious – danger is when eating &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/lead-shot-game&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;game&lt;/strong&gt; killed with a shotgun&lt;/a&gt;. It's not so obvious, because you don't want the lead shot back for re-use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2020-05-22T19:10:04.570" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25087" CreationDate="2020-05-24T00:57:27.850" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; common for hooks to have a lead coating, at least in my locale (US southwest). They are most often brass, steel with a brass plating, plain steel, or stainless steel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Brass may have varying percentage of lead content... but that is a small percentage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T00:57:27.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25090" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25080" CreationDate="2020-05-24T01:03:56.240" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nobody ever complained of having too many carabiners; you did not waste your money no matter what you do with it right now. Clip it to a stopper knot on the end of your reserve/back-up rope, or use it to keep a rope bag closed, or clip it to a tie-down or tow rope in the back of your truck. One day it will be exactly the piece you need at exactly the right time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T01:03:56.240" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25075" CreationDate="2020-05-24T01:15:40.887" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you haven't realized it yet, there is no such thing as &quot;the right bait/lure&quot; until you have a fish bite it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have used what was supposedly &quot;the right bait&quot; for a certain spot and got skunked until I stuck something completely different on my line. I have had fish chase and eat my &lt;strong&gt;bare hook&lt;/strong&gt;. I have had fish attack the most ungodly contraptions that have ever been cast, and ignore the most expensive lure in my tackle box.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only thing that matters is if fish bite what you offer, and the only way to make that happen is to experiment. If you stick crappie nibbles on everything and you don't catch any fish, that is the fish telling you they don't like it. If you keep doing that and keep getting skunked, you are less smart than you could be. If you stick crappie nibbles on lures and catch fish, you are a badass fish-catching genius.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T01:15:40.887" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25092" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7514" CreationDate="2020-05-24T11:00:47.120" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are smaller hills around dedham vale area but with some great views.Polstead to Stoke Nayland is a great walk with a steep hill as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19760" LastActivityDate="2020-05-24T11:00:47.120" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25093" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-25T15:17:49.673" Score="6" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;While camping a little while back, my GF dropped an open jar of pickles inside the tent. Brine was all over the tent's floor, and after we cleaned what we can and it completely dried out, some odor left. It's not that strong, but you feel it while you are inside, and even your hair and some clothes start smelling like pickles after you spend a night inside. When we went back home, I tried to clean it with water, soap, vinegar, different home cleaners... No luck. Any suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19728" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2020-05-29T14:33:11.027" LastActivityDate="2020-05-29T14:33:11.027" Title="Removing pickle smell from a tent" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25099" CreationDate="2020-05-25T19:17:54.340" Score="7" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;A partner and I are hoping to hike over a 4 - 5 day trip in Glacier National Park in August (hot days and cool nights).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are trying to decide on backpacking packs size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We can share a tent and cooking supplies (and other small things).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We currently have this tent &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/128692/rei-co-op-half-dome-2-plus-tent&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(REI half dome)&lt;/a&gt;. (My estimates are this is about 19 L)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We will each have one sleeping bag like this &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/157770/rei-co-op-trailbreak-30-sleeping-bag-mens?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-40661-_-55097-_-NA&amp;amp;avad=55097_c1afeb2d5&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;(REI trailbreak 30)&lt;/a&gt; (About 6 L each).&lt;br&gt;&#xA;We feel we can each go without a sleep pad if we do not have the space for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then maybe something like a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/127968/jetboil-flash-cooking-system?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-184309-_-234225-_-NA&amp;amp;avad=234225_d1afc1e79&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jetboil&lt;/a&gt; and a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/139666/katadyn-gravity-befree-water-filtration-system-3-liters?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-184309-_-234225-_-NA&amp;amp;avad=234225_d1afc2079&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;water filter&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course there is clothes (rain stuff too), food, and other small items to pack along.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, normally &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/backpack.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;people seem to recommend&lt;/a&gt; about 60L for a pack for 3-5 days. However, I don't know if these take into account the items that can be shared among a pair.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, I was imaging a womans 45L pack for my partner and a mens 55L for myself. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is, what packs should one get if they are backpacking with a partner on a 5ish day trip?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19764" LastEditorUserId="19764" LastEditDate="2020-05-25T20:39:14.513" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T09:02:59.633" Title="Pack volume that can be shared with a partner" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25096" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10089" CreationDate="2020-05-25T19:20:09.037" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;°C thermometers are calibrated relative to water temperature. &lt;br&gt;&#xA;Hold some ice in hand, as soon as it starts melting, the temperature of the liquid water in the palm is just above 0°C&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Let it stay in palm for a bit, until there's no temperature difference felt with other fingers; this would be around 37°C&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boil some (rain) water, stop heating when you see some bubbles &amp;amp; vapor. The temperature of the water is just below 100°C (at sea level)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The above facts will provide approximate calibration to your DIY thermometer. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One possible construction of a thermometer would rely on refraction of light in different media: &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;When light enters a more dense substance (higher refractive index), it 'bends' more towards the normal line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;Hot water is less dense than cold water. Calibrate the thermometer based on the angles of refraction of a straight object with different&#xA;  (known) temperatures of water eg. boiling point, freezing point, human&#xA;  body temperature.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other constructions would rely on expansion of some fluid:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;ol&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;For closed housings, the expansion would indicate temperature eg. mercury in a glass tube, air in a balloon, juice in a drinking straw,&#xA;  etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;In case of a gas in an open tube, the escaping gas with higher temperature would deflect an obstruction (eg. a leaf or paper) more.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;li&gt;If the obstruction at the opening is attached to a fixed joint allowing centrifugal movement, then the rate of spin would indicate&#xA;  temperature, like car engines, or paddle wheel boats, speedometers.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;  &lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others would rely on density of a fluid eg. the height of some solid object floating in a container of the measuring fluid eg. water&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some objects bend more easily at higher temperatures, and this deflection would provide a measure of the temperature eg. bimetallic thermostat, or braided composites like fiber or resin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19763" LastActivityDate="2020-05-25T19:20:09.037" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25097" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25098" CreationDate="2020-05-25T21:10:39.630" Score="7" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;We should always do the partner check and tie a stopper knot, but...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lead climbing:&#xA;If you are half-way up a climbing wall and see that your knot, which attaches you to the harness is loose/untied/not safe, under the assumption that you have one hand free for a short amount of time and you can still grab the rope?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A) Should you try climbing down the wall and thus minimizing the impact of a possible fall? Usually if you climb a decent grade, there are often easier routes next to the routes you climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B) Should you try tying-in with another knot to the harness one-handed? What would be the fastest knot to tie in one-handed which is just safe enough to let you down to the ground assuming that you have a quite good selection of knots available that you know?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While somebody might argue that this situation does not happen in reality - this situation exists. According to Magnus Midtbo, it happened twice to him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="3301" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T02:01:40.437" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T03:01:47.487" Title="Climbing indoors: emergency situations" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25098" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25097" CreationDate="2020-05-26T00:50:49.247" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.:&lt;/strong&gt; I just noticed the question explicitly said &lt;strong&gt;indoors&lt;/strong&gt;! My answer ended up being considerably more general than required... But well, the logic is the same as in case (a): Indoors the bolts are really close, so you should climb (or downclimb) to the nearest one and attach yourself to the fixed quickdraw using the harness belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both options you suggest are bad, since they have a long time gap in order to be implemented: Trying a knot with a single hand takes a lot of time, and downclimbing (due to &quot;height&quot; reasons) is either slow or useless if you're, say, on pitch 5. The solution to the problem you pose depends on whether you are: (a) climbing a bolted route; (b) climbing on gear, that is, using cams, nuts and etc to protect yourself. The best solution has nothing to do with height, unless you are still near the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Case (a): Check how far you are from the next or last bolt. Consider if what is ahead of you looks easier than what you have already climbed since the last bolt. If you sense you can down-climb just enough to reach the bolt below you, do so; if you feel climbing up is &lt;strong&gt;clearly&lt;/strong&gt; easier, climb up to the next bolt. When you get to the chosen bolt, secure yourself to it using a personal anchoring system or a quickdraw. Then, and only then, redo your knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Case (b): Check if you can place gear. If this is the case, place a piece and attach yourself to it with a quickdraw. Do not weight the piece! Using the first piece as a backup, place a second one. If it is clear both of them are bomber, you can weight them and redo your knot. You can keep adding pieces until you feel safe. Now, if you find yourself far from a place where protection is possible, it is almost always better to downclimb: one cannot know when a good spot for placing gear will appear (perhaps never). Try to downclimb back to your last piece, and then place a second one near it to redo your knot, as described earlier. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider that this is a situation where one is expected to be hurt in the end. This is not an acceptable error, like forgetting to open your chalk bag when you start climbing or not wearing a helmet. If you tied yourself wrong and survived without a scratch, this is shear luck: the odds were against you here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11187" LastEditorUserId="11187" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T01:14:07.447" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T01:14:07.447" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25099" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25095" CreationDate="2020-05-26T07:11:58.657" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;That 60&amp;nbsp;l figure is a middle ground.  There are ultralight backpackers who could use a lot less, but that means spending huge amounts on minimalist kit, and refining your setup over time.  I come more from the &quot;be prepared&quot; end of the scale, partly because I  live somewhere with very changeable weather, and have a very old but very nice 60-75&amp;nbsp;l pack.  That means it expands upwards, making it rather tall at the biggest size. I used it a lot trekking in groups of 2-3, with an appropriate size of tent, and one stove per group. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With up to about 3 days between resupply stops, this was plenty, even when we had to re-share the load within a group of 3 to help someone who was struggling. Sleeping bags are smaller now (when compressed), and tents can be.  Sleeping mats have become much smaller (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seatosummit.co.uk/products/sleeping-mats/ultralight-mat/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;mine&lt;/a&gt; is 0.8&amp;nbsp;l) or foam ones can be strapped on the outside.  Some form of sleeping pad is essential in most conditions; a sleeping bag is very poor insulation underneath, even if the ground is comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you may be resupplying a small group in the field, you can't always optimise item sizes,  and if you can only get huge bags of pasta and large loaves of bread, you'll struggle if you were totally full when you left home.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest that your thought of 45+55&amp;nbsp;l between the 2 of you is a little small.  Food, water (even if only for the day), and clothing make up a significant amount of the bulk, and the amount you need is per person; you'll also use a bit more fuel with 2. Another 5&amp;nbsp;l each would go a long way.  It's impossible to completely avoid all gaps in packing so if you measure every item and add up the volumes, you'll underestimate your requirement; with practice you can get the gaps pretty minimal and still have the items you most need accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T07:11:58.657" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21449" CreationDate="2020-05-26T12:33:52.573" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's a gust of death, dump sails a bit, don't fully release them, and point up. If you have the hands and time jib first. Short handed and too late, you can hopefully reach main and helm almost simultaneously.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's good to practice this so it's committed to reflexive memory, and doesn't need you to think too much when it's a surprise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You really want to avoid being caught rotten so although it's not directly answering the question I'll share a bit on avoidance and consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience these kind of shock blasts that are way over the nominal wind speed often occur in the lee of land with high mountains. You can reduce the chances of this nasty surprise by keeping more offshore where there are high peaks. If you need to sail through this kind of area, you should try and make sure it's daylight, and keep your eyes on the water in the direction of the wind so you can spot them coming. If that is also not possible, it would be prudent to reef down a lot more than you might think needed. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A monohull keelboat &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; as previous answer be able to absorb the impact and recover. It may also &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broach_(sailing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;broach&lt;/a&gt;, reducing the rudder's grip, and thus allowing to boat to naturally point up. In a proper knock down things indoors will be very messy and people not tethered on deck can easily be lost overboard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are on a catamaran, things are very different. It doesn't have the natural circuit breaking tendency and will try to convert all energy into speed until it suddenly can't, something either breaks or it capsizes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3630" LastEditorUserId="3630" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T12:40:42.280" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T12:40:42.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24920" CreationDate="2020-05-26T12:49:45.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a many variables in any sailing passage estimation, such as wind direction strength which will vary over the course of the passage, tidal currents, and of course the chosen path through all that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some great tools that can help a lot with passage estimation. One free one is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://opencpn.org/OpenCPN/plugins/weatherroute.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OpenCPN weather routing plugin&lt;/a&gt; and there are other commercial options. My favourite is the openCPN one because it's possible to base the predictions on your own boat's (and crew's) previous performance based on a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nauticed.org/sailing-blog/how-do-polar-plots-work-on-a-sailboat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;polar chart&lt;/a&gt;. This can also be created with another free &lt;a href=&quot;https://opencpn.org/OpenCPN/plugins/polar.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OpenCPN plugin for recording polar charts&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3630" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T12:49:45.443" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25103" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-26T15:28:44.597" Score="5" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the best practice when spearfishing/freediving/snorkeling: Retaining the snorkel in the mouth in the diving cycle or remove it before the duck dive and put it back once in the surface?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I always remove the snorkel. If I am close to my limits, that way I do not have have to purge the snorkel upon surfacing. But am wondering if there is any data on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/kJ0RXh0-51Q&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this video&lt;/a&gt; with spearfishing champions and the majority (if not all) wears the snorkel when surfacing. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12892" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2020-05-26T16:08:25.020" LastActivityDate="2020-06-10T10:52:45.963" Title="Snorkel in the mouth during the diving cycle or not?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;snorkeling&gt;&lt;spearfishing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25069" CreationDate="2020-05-26T16:46:07.220" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to sleep in a hammock, go for a South American one, which is bigger than you describe and asks for a different position in it, (in my view a much better position to sleep in.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those hammocks come in double, and owing one of those I can say that two people who do not want to cuddle can roll away from each other and will have a bit of space between them.&#xA;The most I have seen in my hammock was four teens (which were pretty much fully grown,) but they did fill all the space.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to use the European (and North American) kind of hammock, with a spreader bar, with two, you need more than twice the width of a single one. Your idea of using it with a diagonal line makes me think that you and your partner will be toe at nose and nose at toe, and that is asking for accidents.  &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do want to divide a netted hammock, I would go for weaving a line through the material of the hammock. With a solid fabric one, I think, sewing the string to the fabric will keep it where you want it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2020-05-26T16:46:07.220" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25103" CreationDate="2020-05-27T06:34:23.157" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I keep the snorkel in my mouth during 'duck dives'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When nearing the surface, I look upwards - that makes the snorkel point downwards, and just a small trickle of air can purge it, since the air is 'trapped' inside the downwards-pointing snorkel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just when surfacing, tip the head, so you are looking downwards again (the timing may take a little practise) - now with a clear snorkle for breathing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get a snorkle with a valve, that makes purging the snorkle much easier, without using the above-mentioned technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15546" LastEditorUserId="15546" LastEditDate="2020-05-27T06:58:52.093" LastActivityDate="2020-05-27T06:58:52.093" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25107" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16897" CreationDate="2020-05-27T09:48:37.310" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thinkadventure.co.uk/national-three-peaks-challenge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Three Peaks&lt;/a&gt; gives you a break between each peak. It's tough because it's in a 24-hour window and the only sleep you'll get is whatever you can steal in the car between mountains. Ensure your driver isn't completing the challenge with you. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also agree with user2766. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thinkadventure.co.uk/yorkshire-three-peaks-challenge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Yorkshire Three Peaks&lt;/a&gt; is an alternative challenge without the added impact of driving between three countries. I have complete the National Three Peaks and Yorkshire Three Peaks - they're both good challenges. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To answer your main question: go for a long walk. I'm talking 12 hours+. Even if it's not on inclines, it will still give you a good feel for prolonged walking. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19769" LastActivityDate="2020-05-27T09:48:37.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25093" CreationDate="2020-05-27T21:54:20.663" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;One important detail that should not be overlooked is how cleaning will affect waterproofing, particularly if cleaning would affect the fly or walls. Different materials with different water-repellent treatments may have different requirements. You might also want to re-treat with whatever your tent manufacturer recommends for restoring/maintaining water repellency. A non-detergent soap should be used. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This other question about &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14914/deodorising-rain-jacket-without-ruining-waterproofing&quot;&gt;deodorizing a rain jacket&lt;/a&gt; brings up an interesting idea. That is to use an enzyme-based cleaner. Given the fact that you've tried most everything else, the enzyme-based cleaners might be a good next option. Several are mentioned in the accepted answer. I haven't tried any personally. Dishwashers use enzymes to digest food on dishes. This is similar without the harsh temperatures. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;REI offers some advice on clearing tents that might be helpful. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/caring-tent.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tent Care Basics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good luck. I'm interested in how things work out and if you attempt to use an enzyme cleaner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18927" LastActivityDate="2020-05-27T21:54:20.663" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25110" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25068" CreationDate="2020-05-29T22:23:39.650" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’m sure there are many routes possible but one great established route I know of is the Coast Connect segment of the Hot Springs Trail &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wholefoodhiker.com/guidebooks-hot-springs-trail&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wholefoodhiker.com/guidebooks-hot-springs-trail&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/CJJAXWPTAbE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://youtu.be/CJJAXWPTAbE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12699" LastActivityDate="2020-05-29T22:23:39.650" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25111" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-05-31T20:45:36.687" Score="0" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am currently looking where to primitive camp close to San Francisco. I have looked at a lot of places that appear to be closed at this time but I am unsure if that applies to all sites. Are any sites nearby open?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19779" LastEditorUserId="19259" LastEditDate="2020-06-05T02:05:34.337" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T02:05:34.337" Title="Primitive camping in the San Francisco bay area during COVID-19 situation?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;california&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25112" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25095" CreationDate="2020-06-01T01:42:14.390" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;When it comes to selecting your packs, just forget about gear sharing aspects. Size your packs to be capable of supporting each of you as though you are going individually.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two major reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is this going to be the only trip you use these packs for? Probably not. Size them so you can go on other trips, as a couple or individually. A 45L is going to be roomy for day trips or pushing the limits for ultralight extended trips. A 55 is also going to be tight for extended trips but barely manageable in places with favorable weather.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The volume savings from sharing gear really aren't all that substantial. I've backpacked with friends and my wife, sharing gear, and you really don't save a lot of volume. You can share your tent, cooking gear, and emergency gear. Pretty much everything else each of you needs to have. Cooking gear and emergency supplies don't take up much room to begin with. I store my tent on the outside of my pack, so a reduction in its size doesn't make any difference anyway. If you do store your tent in your pack, you generally can only split fabric and poles, and the poles don't take up much space, so you aren't saving a whole lot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Splitting tent, cooking gear can have significant benefits with regards to weight, but volume it really isn't a big difference, in my opinion. Certainly not enough to go with a 45+55.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would get at least a 60L pack for each of you, minimum. The weight difference between a 45 and 65 is not going to be significant in the pack weight, it's better to have a little extra margin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, owning a larger pack does have the risk of &quot;I've got the space, might as well bring this one thing&quot; and before you know it you're packed full anyway. But, you can avoid that with some self-restraint. But, if you can't fit all your necessary gear in too-small a pack, there is very little you can do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="68" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-06-02T16:56:28.680" LastActivityDate="2020-06-02T16:56:28.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25114" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25117" CreationDate="2020-06-02T12:19:08.330" Score="1" ViewCount="98" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hope  I am not too far off from the sense of this forum. But I am desperately looking for some information about the trail that leads from Keyakidaira to Kurobe Dam. Because of Google Images and sparse information online I can tell that there is a trail, which I absolutely want to walk in 2021. Unfortunately, English information about this trail is very limited. The best name I could find is &quot;Kurobe Shimano horizontal Sidewalk&quot; but I am not sure how official this name is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please help me find the name of this trail and some specific information about it. Normally there are websites that show info like how long it takes to walk it, when it is allowed, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can find a Japanese site with this info I can probably translate it with google chrome. The more info the better, and the more recent the better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe somebody has even walked the trail before or can share other useful info.&#xA;Thanks :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8UIKw.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8UIKw.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19787" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-06-02T16:53:43.963" LastActivityDate="2020-06-02T16:53:43.963" Title="Information about an Japanese Trail (Keyakidaira to Kurobe dam)" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25114" CreationDate="2020-06-02T15:12:21.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on &lt;a href=&quot;http://travel-around-japan.com/k46-03-kurobe-gorge.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; webpage, it seems like the trail, or at least the area it runs through is called &quot;Shimo-no-Rouka&quot;. This returns several likely looking hits on google, including:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://yamap.com/activities/1260999&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Trip report&lt;/a&gt; with several interesting photographs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://azohara.niikawa.com/news/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A mountain hut in the area&lt;/a&gt;, with updates on what parts of the area are accessible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19790" LastActivityDate="2020-06-02T15:12:21.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25114" CreationDate="2020-06-02T16:16:55.267" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First of all, I have to admit I have not walked it myself, even though I would absolutely love to. But I managed to find a bit more info on the internet that might be useful to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think the official name of that part of the gorge is Shimo-no-rouka. It is a part of Korube gorge. So you might try searching for more info with those keywords. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.travel-around-japan.com/k46-03-kurobe-gorge.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This&lt;/a&gt; website has some info. E.g.:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Shimo-no-rouka areaIt is the deep and narrow gorge of Kurobe River from Keyakidaira to Kurobe Dam, and the length is about 20 km.&#xA;  The river have a rapid current, and the both riversides have very steep rocky cliffs. Of course, there is no house along this gorge.&#xA;  There is &quot;S-jikyo&quot; gorge at about 10 km from Keyakidaira. The river makes S-shaped curve.&#xA;  There is &quot;Jujikyo&quot; gorge at about 12 km from Keyakidaira. &quot;Juji&quot; means &quot;cross&quot;, and two rivers flows into Kurobe River from right and left like a crossroad.&#xA;  &quot;Hakuryukyo&quot; is about 14 km from Keyakidaira. White steep cliffs stand verticality, and the area is most dangerous to walk. Some sections have no road, and the hikers sometimes must pass through ladders and simple suspension bridges, or with chains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoorjapan.com/regions-in-japan/chubu-region/deep-into-the-kurobe-gorge/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;these&lt;/a&gt; people seem to have been in the area. Not sure if they have walked the exact path you want to, but there is lots of info complete with pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14989" LastActivityDate="2020-06-02T16:16:55.267" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25095" CreationDate="2020-06-03T08:51:52.917" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to the good answer by @ChrisH. I'd like to add:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't &lt;em&gt;loose&lt;/em&gt; much by bringing backpacks that are a bit to roomy. They might weigh a little bit more, but the difference between a 45l and a 60l pack is probably not very significant compared to your total weight, especially if you are new and and your gear is not heavily optimised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, what you &lt;em&gt;gain&lt;/em&gt; by having a roomy backpack is &lt;strong&gt;comfort&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Packing your backpacks in an optimal way on your kitchen table before you start out for the trip is great fun. Having to play optimisation Tetris for an hour every time you break camp can cost a lot of nerve, especially considering rain, cold, mosquitoes, etc..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore my suggestion would be: when in doubt I would go for the bigger pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-06-03T08:51:52.917" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25119" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-03T12:12:39.693" Score="0" ViewCount="38" Body="&lt;p&gt;I m new in feeder fishing and i m wondering if any of the below fishing reels can be used as a feeder reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ryobi Zauber CF 1000&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shimano Sienna 4000 FB&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice are more than welcome!! &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks in advance!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17112" LastActivityDate="2020-06-03T12:12:39.693" Title="Feeder reel combatibility" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25121" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25122" CreationDate="2020-06-04T13:15:22.283" Score="17" ViewCount="3846" Body="&lt;p&gt;Average hiking speed over level ground is often reckoned around twenty miles per day, assuming hikers in good shape who know what they are doing and where they're going. (As a rough approximation, which is fine, I'm just looking for rough approximations here.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I think that assumes either fairly open ground, or a trail through forest. What would a corresponding figure be in the absence of a trail? To be specific, say primeval deciduous forest, as would've been found in northern Europe or parts of North America before the arrival of humans? Assuming the hikers know what they are doing, how to handle the terrain, it will still be at least somewhat slower, right?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19794" LastActivityDate="2020-06-08T12:55:06.373" Title="How fast can you typically hike through untracked forest?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25121" CreationDate="2020-06-04T15:02:46.903" Score="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a CDT through hiker, off-trail ultramarathon runner, and general fan of cross-country travel, I feel somewhat qualified to speak to this question. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moving off trail tends to be slower than moving on trail. Exactly how much slower depends on many factors. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I generally walk 3 mph (~5 km/h) on a well maintained trail with reasonable (less than 1000 ft/mile or 200 m/km) elevation change &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I generally walk 2-3 mph (~3-5 km/h) off trail in the absence of thick brush, with reasonable elevation change, and easy navigation (obvious landmarks to follow). &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I generally walk 1 mph (~1.6 km/h) or slower off trail in moderate brush, with extreme elevation change, and difficult navigation. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I have moved as slowly as 0.2 mph (~0.3 km/h) in extreme conditions. &lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your mileage may vary!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12699" LastEditorUserId="12699" LastEditDate="2020-06-05T21:03:17.407" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T21:03:17.407" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25124" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25126" CreationDate="2020-06-05T03:43:43.670" Score="5" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been observing this bird in my surrounding since month. It makes a loud melodious sound. Does someone know which bird species is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The location is western India&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1T0tV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1T0tV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8sqmh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8sqmh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19799" LastEditorUserId="19799" LastEditDate="2020-06-06T12:20:43.823" LastActivityDate="2020-06-06T12:20:43.823" Title="What species of bird is this?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25125" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-05T04:10:28.290" Score="0" ViewCount="152" Body="&lt;p&gt;Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador. I found this spider under a pile of toys in my home - my son's room. Seems to be a regular spider - found two or three of them in my office.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Its span is like 3 to 5 cm. I don't exactly remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What's this spider's specie? How worried should I be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TGt3p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TGt3p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19800" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T04:10:28.290" Title="Is this spider dangerous to humans?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25126" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25124" CreationDate="2020-06-05T11:58:53.383" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_koel&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Asian Koel (wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;, specifically a female.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3yYrY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3yYrY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Asian Koel photo (female)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;CC-BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia user &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dougjj&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dougjj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a member of the cuckoo family, and like other cuckoos it's a brood parasite.  This species is found across much of southern and eastern Asia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The background of the pictures suggested India to me, confirmed by the OP's profile.  I've only visited India once but I still have my &lt;a href=&quot;https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Birds_of_Northern_India.html?id=bRttDwAAQBAJ&amp;amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;amp;source=kp_read_button&amp;amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;amp;q&amp;amp;f=false&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;field guide&lt;/a&gt;.  The bill shape and long tail suggested I should look around the cuckoos, and there it was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-06-05T11:58:53.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18288" CreationDate="2020-06-07T02:03:46.420" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was in a similar circumstance with one summer job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breakfast:  I kept a box of granola in my desk.  Could by 1 cup milk cartons from a vending machine.  That and a bowl and spoon was breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lunch was bread and some combination of margarine, peanut butter, jam, cheese, raisins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Supper was one of: Heating a can of stew (sans can) in the coffee room microwave, kraft dinner in the microwave, or dumpster diving behind McDonalds for discarded hamburger patties.  (Ok, I was poor.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another more lenient workplace allowed me to use a crockpot in the coffee room.  I'd start a batch of chili at night, and put it in old margarine tubs and into the fridge first thing in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-06-07T02:03:46.420" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25121" CreationDate="2020-06-08T07:54:20.357" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While I love @Lucas Wojciechowski's answer, I'd also like to answer this from a different direction, as OP is asking about the &lt;em&gt;distance covered in a single day&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think here the estimate of roughly 20-30 km per day (13-20 miles) is a reasonable base-line assumption given:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you know you'll be on decent trails without excessive elevation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you won't waste time on navigation (because of obvious landmarks or good trail signage)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your goal is to cover ground (i.e. no hours spent fishing, landscape painting, sightseeing, etc...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will be &lt;em&gt;sustainable&lt;/em&gt; for longer multi-day treks even with reasonable pack weight (15-25kg) and with mediocre stamina &amp;amp; training. Also this assumes that you need to spend time to break camp in the morning, setup camp at night, spend time cooking, collecting/purifying water, getting stuff out of and into your backpacks - in short on an 8-10 hour day you'll hardly do 8-10 hours of &lt;em&gt;actual walking&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&gt; But, all of this considered, in my experience (of many months and hundreds of kilometers of treks) the 20-30 km/day can be a &lt;strong&gt;reasonable assumption to base any route planning on&lt;/strong&gt; if you want to plan a trek on a well-mainained long-distance hiking trail (e.g. Kungsleden, Appalachian, CDT, Camino de Santiago, ...).&lt;sup&gt;[1]&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you ever go &lt;strong&gt;off-trail&lt;/strong&gt;, then all bets are off: as Lucas outlined in his answer, depending on various factors your speed can slow to a &lt;em&gt;crawl&lt;/em&gt;. In such situations you either need good beta on the planned route (e.g. from locals, a good guide book, etc.) or you need to plan with very conservative speeds, to ensure they will be sustainable for you and your group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;hr&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;[1]&lt;/sup&gt; This is especially true because over multi-day hikes any daily deviations tend to even out over multiple days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-06-08T12:55:06.373" LastActivityDate="2020-06-08T12:55:06.373" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25129" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-09T22:03:28.433" Score="-1" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the source, see this article in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-no-slip-sole-takes-inspiration-from-japanese-art-kirigami-180975025/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Smithsonian&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A material based on a technique, called &lt;strong&gt;kirigami&lt;/strong&gt; (a relative of the folding technique, origami) of &lt;strong&gt;cutting a flexible three dimensional pattern into a surface&lt;/strong&gt; has demonstrated increased friction between a slippery surface, such as, but not necessarily confined to, ice, and the sole of a shoe.  In the case of the shoe-sole, the pattern is cut into a thin sheet of steel. The increase in friction is estimated as 20% to 35%, at the current state of development.  The information I have seen concentrates on reducing falls among the elderly, and says nothing about its potential use in sports, such as climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming a comfortable, light weight, and durable climbing shoe can be made with a kirigami sole, is this innovation (not yet on the market) substantial enough to be likely to change climbing grades and/or the rules for climbing competition?  Please base your answers on the results of other effective innovations in sports gear on the rules and practices of the sports to which they are applicable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The flexible kirigami sole mimics the motion of a snake's skin as she slithers, or the action of a cheetah's semi-retractable claws in a high speed chase.   &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-06-09T22:59:11.820" LastActivityDate="2020-06-10T09:44:10.450" Title="is the shoe sole based on kirigami likely to change climb ratings and rules for climbing competition?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25103" CreationDate="2020-06-10T09:42:02.700" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short Shallow dives maybe its OK to have the snorkel in your mouth, but deeper dives its important to take it out before diving. This is because losing consciousness becomes an increasing risk and having the snorkel in your mouth will exacerbate this situation. Removing the snorkel is common practice among experienced breath hold divers. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://scubadiverlife.com/tips-lowly-snorkel/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://scubadiverlife.com/tips-lowly-snorkel/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How you define short and shallow is up to you and your perception of risk. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP_9aWr4pJU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This film&lt;/a&gt; may highlight the point. Viewers may find this upsetting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All this aside. SE is not the platform for seeking reliable information on this subject.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2241" LastEditorUserId="2241" LastEditDate="2020-06-10T10:52:45.963" LastActivityDate="2020-06-10T10:52:45.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25131" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25129" CreationDate="2020-06-10T09:44:10.450" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably yes and no. &#xA;A high friction sole may be very useful on slabs (and in modern bouldering competitions even overhangs are made slabby by adding an outrageous amount of big volumes) but they are pretty much useless in steep terrain with small edges as footholds. So the effect is very different depending on the terrain. Competitions surely would be affected by this as the goal of competition route setting is to create problems that are on the limit of &quot;state of the art&quot; climbing. However, competition climbing is changing styles all the time. Just look at pictures or videos of a competition 10 or 15 years ago when bouldering was basically just very small holds connected by static moves. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing is grading. Difficulty grading itself should not be subject to equipment. This means that innovations in protection (cams, bolts), climbing shoes, chalk or the widespread availability of training facilities (climbing gyms) should not change the rating. To my knowledge, all these innovations have made climbing safer and the higher grades more accessible. There was a time when UIAA 6 was considered the very limit as it was a closed scale. Nowadays most people will soon climb UIAA 7 after they started and progression into UIAA 8 (french 7a) or higher is probably possible for almost everyone willing to dedicate enough time and effort. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So all in all, a high friction shoe might make some friction based climbs more accessible to everybody but it won't be a help for many climbs of today with &quot;proper footholds&quot;, especially in lower and medium grades&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-06-10T09:44:10.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25132" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-10T11:40:10.477" Score="4" ViewCount="107" Body="&lt;p&gt;I shaped a 9&quot;2 polyester longboard from scratch 14 years ago. I was in a hurry and did not sand the bottom deck. I used it on small surf for many years with only minor problems that I repaired with ding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I decided to finish the job and gave it to a shaper to make it more hydrodynamic. The shaper said that he blew the air bubbles, sanded excess resin, and gave it a new &quot;resin bath&quot;. I used it a few times and indeed it had better performance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last week, on small surf of 1m and normal waves in the Atlantic, I felt a protuberance in the board and came out of the water. I was surprised to see the bottom deck bent with a large part of the cover ripped and the stringer bent. The top deck is intact. The board stands in one piece and I was unable to easily bend the board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a view of bottom deck of surfboard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nuf9b.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nuf9b.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;view of bottom deck of surfboard&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a view of ripped cover and bent stringer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RtPjN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RtPjN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View of ripped cover and bent stringer&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a view of the right rail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rXqPe.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rXqPe.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View of right rail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a view of the left rail:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vm46C.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vm46C.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;View of left rail&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few months earlier, another problem had appeared with a broken surface with no clear cause, which I covered with a sticker:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KeRrK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KeRrK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The shaper said that, because I had used too much resin, the fiber had surfaced and the sanding had removed part of the fiber, making the board weaker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I had used the board for 13 years without a problem and now it has two problems, I suspect that the shaper made the board permanently weaker. Or it could be simply bad luck, or that a longboard this big has a pronounced lever effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the board worth repairing? If not, I now prefer availability to performance, so what type of board would avoid such problems in the future?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastActivityDate="2020-06-13T17:54:03.917" Title="Could surfboard sanding have made it permanently weaker?" Tags="&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25133" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25134" CreationDate="2020-06-10T13:29:16.737" Score="9" ViewCount="491" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few years ago I had a 2-3 person dome tent which allowed to first install the outer tent, and then clip the inner one to it from inside. It was also possible to disassemble and pack everything without going from under the outer tent including poles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the context I'm planning to use it in a region with a cold weather and long (like a few days in a row) rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I'm looking:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is there any specific term for such tents?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What features should I look for?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19811" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-06-15T14:30:21.903" LastActivityDate="2020-09-11T06:36:37.627" Title="Camping tent with outer tent installed first" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25133" CreationDate="2020-06-10T15:10:11.557" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Certainly from UK suppliers and reviewers (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wiredforadventure.com/best-two-person-tents/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;example reviews&lt;/a&gt;) &quot;outer first&quot; is the term most commonly used.  I've also seen (probably) US sources using this term.  Terminology does vary, as in the UK the outer is also called the &quot;fly sheet&quot; while in some other countries &quot;rain fly&quot; is used.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might also consider &quot;all-in-one&quot; designs, where the inner and outer are clipped together (almost) all the time and go up together.  That's how mine (a 20-year-old version of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/vaude-terra-hogan-2p-tent-D1314008.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;) works; combined with shock-corded external poles it's up and solid in 5 minutes with one person.  The downside is you can't split the weight so evenly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-06-10T15:10:11.557" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25132" CreationDate="2020-06-12T08:40:00.367" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The disclaimer: I'm not a surfer but I've spent a lot of time working with composite kayaks, and I've done some rapid research into surfboard construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The structure:&lt;br&gt;&#xA;Foam, stringer, fibreglass shell, gelcoat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The polyester foam has minimal strutural use, it's primary function is to be a mould around which to wrap the fibreglass though it does have some purpose in preventing the shell from collapsing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The stringer's purpose is almost entirely to stop the shell from collapsing as the foam is too soft and flexible to do it alone. It adds some stiffness and you'll see a change in the flexibility of the board if you make it thicker or use two placed differently but its strength is not significant under load. Basically if the shell fails under stress, it's almost certain that the stringer fails too. (Kayak shells are stronger and deeper, we use foam blocks for much the same task, though some people put composite struts in.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The gelcoat (resin bath) is a surface finish, it affects water flow and protects the glass cloth underneath but has no structural purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The strength of your board is effectively down to the quality and strength of the fibreglass shell. The top surface is compressed, the underside is in tension, the foam and stringer prevent the two from meeting in the middle and between them all generate the structure. The cracking on the edge implies that there was already flex in your board greater than the elastic flexibility of the materials used, meaning the normal load was significant to the structural strength. If, as mentioned by the shaper, the sanding damaged the threads under the board, that will significantly compromise the structure. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However the cracking on the edge makes me suspect you weren't that far from failure anyway. The failure itself looks to be top surface compressive failure, not bottom surface tensile failure. If only the bottom surface was sanded this was probably not the cause of the failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastEditorUserId="12242" LastEditDate="2020-06-12T09:03:04.077" LastActivityDate="2020-06-12T09:03:04.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3789" CreationDate="2020-06-12T08:50:12.663" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are looking for binoculars suitable for hiking, you should look in the category of 'compact binoculars'. So, what are some of the characteristics of these binoculars?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They should be &lt;strong&gt;small&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;lightweight&lt;/strong&gt;. Hikers usually carry a lot of weight in their backpack, especially when setting out on a long trek. Heavy binoculars are difficult to store in a backpack since they take up plenty of space. Furthermore, it is not comfortable to carry them strapped around the neck for too long. Compact binoculars boast an ideal weight and size for such occasions (the objective lens measures somewhere between 28 and 36 mm in diameter). They can be easily stored in a backpack and even fit in some bigger pockets. You will not experience any neck tension when wearing them strapped around the neck, even for longer periods of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I advise you to get either &lt;strong&gt;8x&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;10x magnification&lt;/strong&gt; binoculars as they are the most popular. Get 10x if you wish to observe more details; get 8x if you wish to have a wider field of view. Keep in mind that the shaking of hands is more noticeable when using 10x magnification binoculars. Binoculars with magnification bigger than 10x should be mounted on a tripod when observing to maintain a steady image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roof prisms&lt;/strong&gt; are more popular than Porro prisms when it comes to binoculars suitable for hiking as roof prism binoculars are not as bulky as the Porro ones. Porro binoculars are known to provide a better light transmission rate than the roof prism ones, but compact binoculars are not designed to be used in the dusk, which is why this feature is irrelevant for such use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compact binoculars are not only great for hiking, but also &lt;strong&gt;travelling&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;camping&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;birdwatching&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;many other activities&lt;/strong&gt;. They can also be used by children because of their small size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy this type of binoculars for as low as 50 or as high as 2000 EUR. The differences are mostly in the build quality, optical quality, number &amp;amp; quality of accessories provided, country of manufacturing, and the length of the warranty period. We would advise you to &lt;strong&gt;spend at least 100 EUR&lt;/strong&gt; for the binoculars to avoid disappointment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you wish to read more about the topic, learn about the features of binoculars in each price class and find out which are the best-performing binoculars in each price class, check out the compact binoculars buying guide on this link: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.optics-trade.eu/blog/compact-binoculars-buying-guide/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.optics-trade.eu/blog/compact-binoculars-buying-guide/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: I have experience in this field as I work at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.optics-trade.eu/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Optics-Trade&lt;/a&gt; webstore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19818" LastActivityDate="2020-06-12T08:50:12.663" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25138" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-13T02:36:12.897" Score="3" ViewCount="173" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was walking in a cornfield this afternoon.  It is located in the Midwestern United States.  I found this particularly interesting piece of flint.  It has a sharp edge all the way around. I don't think it is an arrow or spear head.  However, I find it hard to believe that this piece of flint would be sharp all the way around. Perhaps it was a small axe head?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Question : &#xA;What is this piece of flint? Am I being too creative or is it a Native American artifact?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LIZ8M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LIZ8M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17565" LastActivityDate="2020-06-13T09:01:25.750" Title="Is this piece of flint a Native American tool?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;history&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25139" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25138" CreationDate="2020-06-13T05:13:05.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It does not appear to me to be naturally shaped; it looks like human hands fashioned it. I don't see any sign of notches for affixing to a staff so I agree not a spearhead, but it does look like what I've heard were used as skinning knives, to help separate skin from game. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-06-13T05:13:05.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25138" CreationDate="2020-06-13T09:01:25.750" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with @Jimmy Fix-it, it doesn't appear to be naturally shaped. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am certainly no expert on stone tools and it is a little hard to see from your images, but it looks a little like it has been &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knapping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;knapped&lt;/a&gt; for shape and and looks like it has been pecked along the edges at least partially. It may be that it is an unfinished tool as it appears only partially worked, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theclassroom.com/how-to-identify-the-stone-tools-of-native-americans-12084193.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;but scrapers and hand choppers often appear unfinished&lt;/a&gt;. As you know where it was found, some things to consider about the object - are there other stones around that are similar? Is the type of stone one that is commonly/naturally found in your area?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet for identification is to take it along to your local museum and ask them about it. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-06-13T09:01:25.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25132" CreationDate="2020-06-13T17:54:03.917" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had boards that develop a crack like that, right through the foam core. I still use a board with a similar stress crack and it is stable and rides well. However, with the stringer broken like that it is just a matter of time until your board flexes too much and becomes unusable. &lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Could surfboard sanding have made it permanently weaker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps, if he truly sanded through all the glass and did not layer some additional glass on when he applied more resin. Does it really matter though, it's basically broken now...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;Is the board worth repairing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It depends on : how attached you are to the board and how easy it would be for you to get a new (or used) board to replace it. You could likely slap more glass-reinforced resin on there to strengthen it and get some more ride time before it breaks in half (or maybe not, one unfortunate wave could mean the end immediately).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;  &lt;p&gt;what type of board would avoid such problems in the future?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no boards that cannot be damaged or broken, but epoxy boards are stronger, lighter, and less easy to ding (they are also very expensive). You say that you originally shaped and glassed the board, and a professional told you that it was not done correctly from the outset. Because of this, I would venture to propose that a professionally manufactured board might be a way to &quot;avoid such problems in the future&quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-06-13T17:54:03.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25142" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25133" CreationDate="2020-06-14T18:47:07.520" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are quite a few possibilities to pitch the fly sheet without the inner tent. Easiest are of course those tents which are specifically designed for this purpose, and this is what in my experience works flawlessly to keep your stuff dry over weeks in bad weather.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as far as I can see the reason that you have to pitch the inner tent first with so many tents is that the poles are attached, &lt;em&gt;e.g.&lt;/em&gt;, to the corners of the inner tent. So the inner tent can be replaced with a ground sheet, as demonstrated in this video:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjFvXHWg9M8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjFvXHWg9M8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then you can keep the inner tent in a separate drybag until you need it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another possibility can be seen in this video (no idea what the man in the video says, my point is only about the attached strings):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TF5zz5tBlY!&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TF5zz5tBlY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The groundsheet is replaced by a set of strings, seems custom-made to me. I have no experience with this possibility, but it seems reasonable to me. [&lt;strong&gt;Update:&lt;/strong&gt; I have realized that using strings to hold the outer in place is a solution used by Hilleberg at least for their Anjan 3 GT tent, so it can be assumed to work well under most circumstances. I hope you can see it in &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qhSey.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this photo&lt;/a&gt;.]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my take-home message is: Even for tents which are not designed specifically to be pitched without the inner tent, you might be able to make up a simple, but working solution. A recommendation for a certain brand or tent is therefore not strictly necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2020-08-17T12:34:25.737" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T12:34:25.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25143" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25144" CreationDate="2020-06-15T03:15:31.983" Score="2" ViewCount="260" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live in the central Ohio area. There is a human-made lake surrounded by grasses around my home, and the size of the lake is about 2 tennis courts. Many Canada Geese together with their chicks gather around this area in the morning and hang out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Around sunset (around 8:50 pm currently), they walk together to a direction away from the lake and disappear. By counting the number of chicks, I can determine some Canada geese come around every day. So come and go are their daily routines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I don't know where are they heading to or where do they live in the evening. The direction they go to has several small buildings and sideways surrounded by grasses, and will be segregated by traffics farther away, so there does not seem to exist a better environment than the lake area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know where geese live during the night? Why don't they stay around the lake?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19825" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-06-18T20:51:26.037" LastActivityDate="2020-06-18T20:51:26.037" Title="Where do Canada geese live at night?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;geese&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25143" CreationDate="2020-06-15T07:04:26.153" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ducks and geese mostly sleep on the water, though occasionally you'll see some sleeping on the shore. Being on the water keeps them safe from landbound predators while they sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they're not staying on your local pond, perhaps there's a larger lake nearby that they're heading to overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-06-15T07:04:26.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25146" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-16T16:59:57.240" Score="0" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;My dad likes to use dip nets to catch escaped crabs when we drop one, but likes the ones with a solid metal mesh or bowl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know such a thing exists because we have an old rusty one full of holes and our neighbor also has one. The type of net I'm looking for does not have the mesh/bowl collapse and is pretty much non flexible. Every time I search for such a net on the internet though, I cannot find anything close to what I'm looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case I'm using the wrong terminology, here is a picture of the kind of net I'm looking for.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJNfK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MJNfK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bowl of the net here keeps its shape and doesn't droop or anything when turned sideways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What do I need to google to find nets similar to this? All searches by me, my mom, and my sister have all failed so far. Any time we search for anything metal we only find metal poles and not metal bowls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19830" LastActivityDate="2020-06-17T07:20:00.083" Title="What is the name of a dip net with solid metal mesh/bowl?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25146" CreationDate="2020-06-17T07:20:00.083" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems that sometimes they're called &quot;wire crab net&quot; and sometimes just &quot;crab net&quot;. The problem is possibly that you're looking for dip nets which are soft, the specific crab nets are often wire mesh.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm also getting a few sets of instructions to build your own in the results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-06-17T07:20:00.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25148" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25149" CreationDate="2020-06-18T07:42:28.077" Score="4" ViewCount="185" Body="&lt;p&gt;When cycling, and increasingly when hiking, I use a bike computer GPS app on my phone, but my phone is no longer waterproof, so I'm thinking of a dedicated GPS device.  However I'm picky, and having borrowed a couple of devices haven't found one I like.  I find that I have a much better sense of direction if I follow a breadcrumb trail with the map set to north at the top, rather than turning with the road.  Combined with good mapping on a good screen (easily identified) this makes things like rerouting and working out what I can see in the distance much easier.  This is probably a legacy of learning to navigate on paper, which in many ways I still prefer for hiking - but I want to navigate, not be navigated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But this feature either doesn't exist on any unit, or is never listed in the specs - so how can I identify a device that supports it, before ordering (and I would have to order online)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-07-15T13:11:51.613" Title="How can I find a GPS unit that can display north at the top at all times?" Tags="&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25148" CreationDate="2020-06-18T19:43:38.577" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many even most current models do in fact support this.  It's presumably common enough that the manufacturers don't feel the need to specify.  Manuals and menus aren't always clear, and experienced owners have told me that it's not an option on their device when it actually is buried somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Garmin use the term &amp;quot;north up&amp;quot; (as opposed to &amp;quot;track up&amp;quot;) and their manuals are searchable online.  For some models the setting is a feature of an activity profile rather than global.  While my original Etrex lacks this option, most more recent models do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Wahoo, disabling &amp;quot;always rotate map&amp;quot; via the android app is the way to configure it, but this only applies if you're not following a route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases it's a configuration option rather than something easy to toggle from the navigation display. The few modern devices that really don't seem to offer this option are those that that provide only minimal mapping features on the device itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-06-19T18:48:34.163" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T18:48:34.163" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25150" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8511" CreationDate="2020-06-19T12:39:47.860" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of options - the most popular seem to be rotting fish and chicken parts. In a pinch, dog or cat food seems to also work though it's not quite as effective as the alternatives. The general rule is the smellier the better. You can also try a variety of crab attractants which are made from concentrated fish parts and are &lt;em&gt;extremely&lt;/em&gt; smelly. They can drastically increase the amount of crabs your trap/pot/snare can attract by spreading a pungent scent far and wide. Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://crabsman.com/best-bait-for-crabbing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crabsman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19627" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T12:39:47.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25151" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25157" CreationDate="2020-06-19T16:22:54.437" Score="1" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard a very interesting tree fact about Redwoods. These trees grow in a family unit. In doing some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westminsterwoods.org/blog/redwood-facts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;research&lt;/a&gt; I came upon the the term: &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;Fairy Rings&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt;  or family circles, are likely all clones of the exact same tree, some additional questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How many trees make up a family circle?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do all Redwoods begin in &amp;quot;fairy rings&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do other species of trees grow in &amp;quot;fairy rings&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19837" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T20:56:56.063" Title="Do Redwood Trees grow in families?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25152" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25154" CreationDate="2020-06-19T18:09:44.713" Score="0" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lately I've taken up a new hobby: taking pictures of train trestle bridges. There's one that goes over the San Gabriel river in Texas that I can get within half a mile of but any further than that would require I wade through a good length of knee deep water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't approach this particular trestle bridge from land because the land is all gated off private property. But, in Texas, &lt;a href=&quot;https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/nonpwdpubs/water_issues/rivers/navigation/riddell/navigability.phtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;navigable waterways are public property&lt;/a&gt; so I can approach the train trestle bridge that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem with wading in the water is that there could be water moccasins and I doubt I could out wade a water moccasin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seem rain boots that go about up to my knee. Would those be sufficient?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean, maybe I could do a kayak or standup paddle board, too, but I'd have to lug those around for a decent distance before I'd be able to use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T18:51:29.563" Title="tips for wading in knee deep water where water moccasins could roam" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;rivers&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25153" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-19T18:25:46.837" Score="2" ViewCount="188" Body="&lt;p&gt;As mentioned above, would it be safe to drive with a 14.6 foot long (90 lbs) canoe on top of my Toyota Corolla? The Canoe is just about as long as the car. I have a roof rack with crossbars, as well as all of the necessary tie down straps, but my concern is potential lift being caused while I am driving...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it safe to drive on the highway with this sort of setup?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19841" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T20:45:45.523" Title="Is it safe to transport a 14.6 Feet canoe on top of my 2017 Toyota Corolla" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;canada&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25154" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25152" CreationDate="2020-06-19T18:51:29.563" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walked and floated miles on the San Gabriel, several times ; never seen a cotton mouth there.  Two grandsons were with me who would have likely flushed them out. I have seen them in E TX a few times , they have not been aggressive as their reputation claims. More like copperheads which are common here ; That is , confident because they are not afraid of humans like most snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T18:51:29.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25153" CreationDate="2020-06-19T18:54:02.007" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it is the length of your car, and you have tie down straps you should be able to do this perfectly safely. Ideally, get yourself canoe brackets to attach to your roof bars - these are curved to match your canoe and allow you to put more tension in the straps without damaging the canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is recommended (especially when you have one longer than your vehicle) that you also attach a strap at bow and stern if possible, as well as a warning flag or banner at each end. These straps will avoid excessive movement up and down, and the flag will help make others aware of the potential risk at head height (eg cyclists)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some countries mandate flags at specific length of cargo overhang, others don't, so you should check your local regulations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T18:54:02.007" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25156" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25153" CreationDate="2020-06-19T20:45:45.523" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to @RoryAlsop's answer I would add that you need to both tie it down to the roof rack and to the car at front and rear. The attachment to the car will help prevent wobble of the bow and stern of the canoe and help prevent it blowing the roof-rack off the car in (very) strong cross-winds - I have friends this has happened to, as unlikely as it seems.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition (as Rory alluded to) the bow/stern tie-downs help prevent wobble of the bow and stern while going over bumps in the road and the resultant stresses, which (I have heard - no proof) can result in micro-fractures in canoes made of fiberglass or similar materials - these materials are not common these days though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T20:45:45.523" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25157" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25151" CreationDate="2020-06-19T20:56:56.063" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Former botanist here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not uncommon for this sort of behaviour to happen in the botanical world. There are many forms of this sort of thing, the most commonly seen one is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;coppicing&lt;/a&gt;. Coppicing is often done by people, but it also occurs naturally. In the natural case, an old tree (or a young one) falls over and each branch starts to grow upwards, putting down roots at the node with the parent trunk. Eventually the parent trunk dies and rots away, leaving an stand of trees that are all genetically identical, usually in an elongated ring around the shape of the trunk. Some of this form of growth is a result of the shape of the original tree and the rest is a result of competition for things like light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also some species of tree like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_tremuloides&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Quaking Aspen&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Populus tremuloides&lt;/em&gt;) which grows in vast genetically identical groves. In this case the species propagates through its roots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To exactly answer your questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It varies, I don't know if there is an upper limit, but the lower would be 1.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No, you can grow them perfectly happily as individuals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;See above answer.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-06-19T20:56:56.063" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10809" CreationDate="2020-06-20T18:33:52.053" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bit late to the party, but:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Germany, it's prohibited to sleep in the great outdoors with a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Germany, that is not true in the generality the claim has.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wild zelten&lt;/em&gt; is not allowed - but the &lt;em&gt;wild&lt;/em&gt; means: without permission. As long as you have the permission, camping/putting up a tent is totally fine. What is true is that one would often consider obtaining the required permission as too much hassle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In many (most?) areas, you need the permission of the land owner. The textbook example would be a meadow or field. A farmer will obviously not give you permission to put up a tent on a meadow before haymaking or a field before harvesting, your chances are much better once the tent would not destroy any crops any more. And of course, after they had a look at you and decided you can be trusted to not litter or set the fruit trees on fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For forests, the forest law of the Land comes into play. E.g. in my Land, Hesse, the forest law says (§15 (5) HWaldG) that the owner must agree if you want to put up a tent. For public forest, this means: nicely ask the forester for permission.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Here, the same judgment comes in: do they trust you to LNT, not light a fire and not disturb the animals?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The hunting law is sometimes cited to prohibit even leaving the paths during night, §23 (11) HJagdG, but that actually says only that it is forbidden to disturb wild animals by illegaly leaving the paths during the night)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In some areas, namely natural reserves, camping is explicitly forbidden, so you cannot put up a tent even if the land owner would allow you to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few places where you don't need to obtain a permit in person, since it is automatically granted:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A special case is &lt;em&gt;boofen&lt;/em&gt; in the sächsische Schweiz: you stay in a cave or below an large overhanging rock. In few such places (even inside the national park area) you are allowed to sleep LNT fashion (and again, no fire).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Since no tent is involved, it is not &amp;quot;zelten&amp;quot;, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some Länder, namely &lt;a href=&quot;https://bravors.brandenburg.de/gesetze/bbgnatschag_2016&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Brandenburg&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.lexsoft.de/cgi-bin/lexsoft/justizportal_nrw.cgi?xid=3939049,29&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mecklenburg-Vorpommern&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gesetze-rechtsprechung.sh.juris.de/jportal/?quelle=jlink&amp;amp;query=NatSchG+SH+%C2%A7+37&amp;amp;psml=bsshoprod.psml&amp;amp;max=true&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Schleswig-Holstein&lt;/a&gt; allow non-motorized &amp;quot;hikers&amp;quot; (this includes e.g. bikers, canoers/kayakers, riders) to put up a tent for one night outside settlements (under some further conditions - e.g. in the latter two Länder you still need to ask permission on private ground, in Brandenburg no permission is needed on agricultural areas between harvest and sowing)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-06-20T18:33:52.053" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25159" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25160" CreationDate="2020-06-20T21:19:09.153" Score="0" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am not a camper, so please excuse my ignorance here. We have purchased a 2 person tent. The normal width is 140cm, which means that sleeping mats can go down fine (many seem to be 70cm wide, or slightly narrower). But you can see that the tent tapers at the feet. I have measured it at about 97cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X3MTK.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/X3MTK.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How do you fit sleeping mats inside a tent like this?&lt;/strong&gt; It seems the only way is for one to overlap the other, which is not ideal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My only idea is to get two &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yellowstone-Eva-Camping-Mat-Foil/dp/B0037CF68E&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;foam mats like this&lt;/a&gt; and trim each one to fit. I'm sure there is a better solution. (This tent is &amp;quot;Recommended by The Scout Association&amp;quot;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18849" LastActivityDate="2020-06-21T09:17:46.110" Title="Camping: how to put sleeping mats in a tent that tapers at the feet end?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25159" CreationDate="2020-06-20T21:34:35.887" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It certainly seems a little tight.  The wide end of the inner, at 140cm, is only just wide enough for 2 mats, and the measured 97cm (which roughly agrees with scaling the drawing) at the foot end is narrower than a pair of any rectangular mats I've seen. As the total length of the inner is 215cm, there isn't enough length to simply avoid putting full-length mats into the foot end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's the drawing with a few more dimensions from your measurements and scaling off the picture.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tPCAH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/tPCAH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;marked-up drawing&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have a few options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're using foam mats, you can cut them, for example tapered as you say.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;For backpacking in mild conditions you can cut foam mats short, to run down to your hips. You can also buy them like this, and save a lot of packing bulk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many air-filled mats are themselves tapered, whether self-inflating or blow-up.  As an example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seatosummit.co.uk/products/sleeping-mats/ultralight-mat/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;'s the one I have.  Note that the description says &amp;quot;shape: mummy&amp;quot;, which matches the description used for sleeping bags that taper at the feet, and indeed those pictured.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thin mats of any type can be overlapped a little, or some may bend.  This is useful if you're caught out, but not something I'd plan on except with the very thinnest foam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;As the sleeping compartment is longer than most people, sleep with your head right against the inner door, and use the narrowest space for stuff.  That's worked for me in a rather small tent even with 2 tall people, combined with overlapped or cut-down foam.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you'll really struggle is using one of these tents with big thick rectangular air-filled sleeping mats (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vango.co.uk/gb/sleeping/1205-comfort-75-single.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt; very similar to one I've had), which are often long as well. Many of those are too bulky and heavy for anything but car-camping. Unfortunately plenty of camping shops sells lots of tents and sleeping bags this shape, but only a few truly compatible (as sold) sleeping mats.  I suspect this is because people often buy a bigger tent than the number of people would suggest (e.g. a &amp;quot;3-person&amp;quot; tent for a couple).  Many, but by no means all, tents are rather cramped when fully occupied.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Always test this sort of thing before you leave - you've spotted this, but there may be other things to catch you out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-06-21T09:17:46.110" LastActivityDate="2020-06-21T09:17:46.110" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24494" CreationDate="2020-06-22T02:47:13.933" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is called a cows tail tie in, it's a standard guide technique, and is merely a retraced overhand on a bight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19849" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T02:47:13.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24506" CreationDate="2020-06-22T06:00:36.873" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just to go into the most commonly used device for this, Rock Exotica silent partner- the rope is secured to the ground (and the top), and clove hitched to a spinning drum on the device. The drum allows the rope to pass through the device as the climber ascends, but under rapid speeds, the drum will lock and the clove hitch will tighten and stop the climber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19849" LastEditorUserId="19849" LastEditDate="2020-06-22T14:52:23.550" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T14:52:23.550" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25066" CreationDate="2020-06-22T13:48:13.087" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;After fishing I always wash my reels down with fresh water to get rid of grit. Also have you tried lubricating your reels more often, this could help too. I love using Shimano spinners and have had no problem with grit, that could be an option too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19851" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T13:48:13.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25169" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22924" CreationDate="2020-06-22T14:01:12.200" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;For anything surf or pier fishing I would recommend at least a 9 ft pole for casting far. I'm a big fan of Shimano Terez rods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19851" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T14:01:12.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25170" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25171" CreationDate="2020-06-22T20:13:31.580" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went to a nursery over the weekend and purchased a golden colored pine tree. The nursery was calling them  &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fluffy Trees&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; (picture below). This tree name really makes me laugh and smile but I am having a hard time believing that is what it is actually called. In fact I went online and found that the name could be &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/632/wates-golden-pine/#:%7E:text=Pinus%20virginiana%20%27Wate%27s%20Golden%27&amp;amp;text=Glows%20in%20the%20winter%20landscape,a%20focal%20point%20in%20winter.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wate's Golden Pine&lt;/a&gt;. Would someone be able to identify this tree and confirm if the word &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fluffy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is appropriately associated with this specie of tree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R28Ns.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R28Ns.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19837" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T22:18:43.550" Title="Do golden color pine trees associate with the name of Fluffy?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25171" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25170" CreationDate="2020-06-22T22:18:43.550" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you have there is almost certainly a variety of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaecyparis_lawsoniana&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chameacyparis lawsoniana&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. These trees are characterized by the flattened scale-like leaves in a fairly dense branching cluster. Wate's golden pine is a &lt;em&gt;Pinus&lt;/em&gt; species, all of which have needles for leaves, like you might see on a classic christmas tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As to which variety it is - there are lots of them, some of them are yellow (it'll turn green in the middle, retaining yellow on the new foliage), so I can't tell from a photo, and for some it takes some aging to see the true colours and size come through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have never heard of them called &amp;quot;Fluffy&amp;quot; trees before, though the foliage is described as fluffy by a few places, based on a quick google search.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-06-22T22:18:43.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25173" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25174" CreationDate="2020-06-26T01:52:15.557" Score="4" ViewCount="314" Body="&lt;p&gt;Do gaiters (that are &lt;strong&gt;NOT&lt;/strong&gt; soaked or factory applied permethrin) worn around the ankles while hiking prevent ticks from getting into your pants and onto your skin?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19865" LastActivityDate="2020-06-27T02:52:10.660" Title="Do gaiters prevent ticks?" Tags="&lt;ticks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25174" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25173" CreationDate="2020-06-26T09:28:00.983" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;To an extent, yes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the simplest ways to prevent ticks (and other biting insects) is a physical barrier, and gaiters will act as a physical barrier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-06-26T09:28:00.983" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25175" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-26T19:23:23.983" Score="8" ViewCount="306" Body="&lt;p&gt;My mother-in-law needs a wheelchair when she's out and about, and my father-in-law pushes her. She also has chronic back pain, so while she's okay in the chair on pavement, etc., it's painful for her to go off into forests, parks, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We've been trying to find a way to make this work for her, so we as a family can enjoy walks on rougher terrain. We've seen that you can get shock-absorbing wheels and a fifth wheel to go on the front, but we're looking for any advice on reducing back pain when in a wheelchair on rough terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="Luke" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-06-30T02:30:44.890" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T20:28:17.227" Title="Finding a way for my mother-in-law to use her wheelchair on rough terrain?" Tags="&lt;disability-options&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25176" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-26T23:10:51.073" Score="1" ViewCount="205" Body="&lt;p&gt;We keep seeing this bug in our house. Finally put a dead one in a bottle and took a closeup picture. The actual size is about 0.25 inch (6mm) long. Does anyone know what it might be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you so much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJNbB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJNbB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19869" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2020-07-03T21:58:52.950" LastActivityDate="2020-07-03T21:58:52.950" Title="Keep seeing this bug in our house" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25177" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25173" CreationDate="2020-06-27T02:44:19.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do gaiters that are not soaked or factory applied&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;permethrin&lt;/a&gt; prevent ticks?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To a degree yes, but it is not perfect.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To increase the ability of repelling ticks, I would spray on Deet, unless one is known to be allergic to one of the ingredients of this repellent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to using &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/tick-off-most-effective-tick-repellents&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Deet&lt;/a&gt;, there are a few others things one can do to increase one’s chances of avoiding been bitten by ticks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/preventing-mosquito-and-tick-bites&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Physical Barriers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If biting insects and/or ticks are present, dress your child in long, loose-fitting clothes that cover the arms and legs, a hat and closed shoes (not sandals). Tucking shirts into pants and pants into socks are extra precautions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Light-coloured clothes make it easier to see and remove ticks before they bite, and do not attract mosquitoes as much as dark clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When residing in or visiting a tick habitat, inspect yourself and your children thoroughly at least daily: include the head, neck and behind the ears. If a tick is found, remove it as soon as possible. Ticks can stay attached to skin, feeding on blood and growing larger, for five or more days. However, removing a tick within 24 h to 48 h of starting to feed is likely to prevent Lyme disease because the bacteria will not yet have been transmitted from the tick to the individual.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something else I would like to add here, from personal experience: one should avoid walking through piles of leaves. For some reasons, these little creatures love hiding out in piles of dry leaves, especially when colder weather is upon us. After all piled up leaves will keep the cold out and they seem to sense that. They may only be ticks, but they are not all that stupid, so always be alert.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-06-27T02:52:10.660" LastActivityDate="2020-06-27T02:52:10.660" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25178" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25148" CreationDate="2020-06-27T12:45:33.640" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The point of having a GPS displaying a map is to know where you are instantly by looking at it, which can't be done if the map rotates. So most GPS'es will have the feature you want, and since it's quite an obvious feature, it won't be listed in the specs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply google &amp;quot;name of your GPS&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;north up&amp;quot;, for example &amp;quot;garmin north up&amp;quot;. You'll get the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/edge520/EN-US/GUID-31DFA9B0-ED18-4F14-86C6-9060F24B198A.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;manual page&lt;/a&gt; explaining how to set it up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want a cycling GPS then the other features you might consider interesting are compass, altitude sensor, and other bicycle interfaces like heart rate monitor or cadence sensor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without an onboard magnetic sensor (compass) the GPS has to guess your heading from the direction of your movement on the map, which requires a good enough GPS signal, and it only works when you are moving. In other words, if you're moving slowly or are stopped deep in the woods with bad signal, a real compass works a lot better whether it is inside the GPS or just a good old compass on your handlebar. Also the latter doesn't require batteries and will get you home even if the GPS dies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The altitude sensor measures elevation more accurately than the GPS does. GPS is pretty accurate for positioning but it requires more visible satellites and good signal for accurate altitude.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And make sure the screen is readable in full sunlight, and the touchscreen still works in rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14004" LastActivityDate="2020-06-27T12:45:33.640" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25179" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-27T14:06:37.377" Score="5" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I'm planning this circular walk around London using the M25 orbital as a guidance and starting at Heathrow Airport. However, there's an issue towards the start of the walk where there's a footpath up to where the A40/Oxford Road up to where it meets Tatling End, and then it just disappears as you get to the A413/Amersham Road. Would it be safe to walk along the edge of this road, or would it be safer to find an alternative route?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19873" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-06-27T14:48:43.163" LastActivityDate="2020-07-06T12:10:41.337" Title="Would it be possible to walk along the A413/Amersham Road, even though there's no clear footpath?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25180" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-27T18:54:08.547" Score="0" ViewCount="133" Body="&lt;p&gt;Due to putting everything on hold this year I am planning a trip to Sarek in June 2021.  We will be driving from the UK and have been lookinf at starting at Kvikkjokk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far we are thinking of using helicopter to fly in either on a scheduled flight our personal flight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we schedule fly from Kvikkjokk to Akse any ideas on routes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we pay for personal flight I believe there is a fly ban inside Sarek where would be best to charter to?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We will have about 10 days to hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Initially I was thinking of flying to Aktse and hiking to Skierefe and then down the napadalen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help much appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Martin&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19876" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-06-27T20:56:18.243" LastActivityDate="2020-06-30T05:27:39.047" Title="Any help planning a route in Sarek" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25182" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-06-29T08:57:18.130" Score="3" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Winter is coming soon (in ~3 months) here in North Dakota and I'd like to be better prepared than last winter. I have hit a weird personal threshold [mere 5 degrees] that I cannot seem to comprehend: I can walk outside comfortably even at -42°F (-41 C) blizzard but when it was -47°F (-44 C), it was brutal and my hands were getting frostnip just after 20 minutes, despite having thick, heavy, large mittens.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I was wading through almost knee-deep snow, which at -25°F (-32 C) means I would be unzipping layers, as it's simply too hot. But not at -47°F (-44 C). Now, the air itself was quite warm - around -35 (-37 C), which without wind is [obviously] perfectly fine and comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the snow particles were like thousand needles biting into my face (I only had a regular hat with ear flaps that can be closed via clips, no facemask or anything). Even my Siberian Husky seems to have hit her limit - every single blizzard (including the -42°F (-41 C) a week ago), she waltzes happily against the wind. This time, after 5 tries, she turned her back and just let the wind push her.It was too much for a Husky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a possibility that the interpolated data at the weather app were incorrect, as I talked next week to a friend who lived 30 miles NW and they got around -65°F (-54 C) windchill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given the fact that we have sometimes 3 storms in a week and I need to walk my Husky 4-5 times a day, I cannot avoid the exposure and simply must go out even when infrastructure everywhere around shuts down for a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example - there was one week last winter, where every single time I went out (4-5x a day), there was a storm (I managed to sleep through the quiet times and &amp;quot;save&amp;quot; my walks for blizzards/storms).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what can I do to make the half-hour trip outside less miserable and more safe? Also, I'm pretty sure I am not equipped for -65°F (-54 C)...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14695" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-06-30T04:46:04.930" LastActivityDate="2020-06-30T04:46:04.930" Title="In a -50°F blizzard, how to generate enough body heat to avoid frostbite?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;frostbite&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25183" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25175" CreationDate="2020-06-29T11:31:13.520" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You've already mentioned the fifth wheel and shock absorbing wheels so I won't go there again. I'm also assuming you've done the basics, like upgrading the cushions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having done my fair share of pushing manual wheelchairs, even pushing them on uneven paved surfaces is hard enough, never mind going offroad. If buying an all-terrain electric wheelchair is not viable (and it's not viable for most people), then I'd suggest starting by thinking like a cyclist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The baseline wheelchair wheels are very much like road bicycle wheels, narrow, high pressure and hard, with minimal tread, that's if they're pneumatic at all, many are just solid rubber. The chairs are effectively designed for hospital corridors, not the real world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can start by looking at wider softer tyres to keep the chair from sinking in and softening up the harsher bumps. Google tells me these are easily available with suitable wheels (at least locally here) for a moderate price.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-06-29T11:31:13.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25184" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25180" CreationDate="2020-06-29T11:34:49.443" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll gladly answer, as I have trekked Sarek before in 2010, and also have months of experience on Kungsleden/Nordkalottleden/Padjelantaleden and various other trails in the region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;On helicopter flights&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I cannot personally condone helicopter flights for anything where they are not absolutely needed. They are loud and ecologically wasteful and they seem to be a nuisance for most trekkers and also many of the professional staff at the occupied huts / Fjällstations that I have talked to. I realise that some flights are required due to logistics and SAR, but I honestly think that the late increase in personal convencience or recreational flights is awful and to the detriment of the environment and the enjoyment of the outdoors by many people in the Fjäll.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So having said this, I would love to encourage you to think about other ways for travel to and from The Great Outdoors: Swedens public transport network is fantastic, and you can easily reach many entry and exit points to Sarek via train and bus connections.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;On the route&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10 days is probably on the shorter end for a full Sarek crossing, at least if you want to go right through the middle. Note that it is certainly &lt;em&gt;doable&lt;/em&gt;, but I would suggest against it because:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sarek doesn't have established trails. You will find some tails to follow, but sometimes you will have to trek off-trail, making progress a lot slower.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Essentially every single river and stream has to be forded, this will cost considerable time.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I would suggest planning at least 2-3 reserve days in case you need to change your route. This can happen due to weather (e.g. swelling rivers, making fording impossible), injury/sickness, navigational mistakes or other reasons.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You'll have to carry a fairly heavy load for a crossing, due to needed gear and food supplies. This puts a further limit on your speed. IMHO Sarek is not the place for ultralight camping.&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: feel free to ignore some or all of my advice - if you are considering a Sarek crossing I assume that you are an experienced outdoorsman, and your mileage and your willingness to take risks might well vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Accessing Sarek&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From the North&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Bus from &lt;em&gt;Gällivare&lt;/em&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;Ritsem&lt;/strong&gt;, there is a boat to &lt;em&gt;Akkastugorna&lt;/em&gt;, where you can follow the first kilometers of &lt;em&gt;Pajelantaleden&lt;/em&gt; to access Sarek from the north&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From North-East&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Bus from &lt;em&gt;Gällivare&lt;/em&gt; to &lt;em&gt;Ritsem&lt;/em&gt;, but exit at &lt;strong&gt;Suorva&lt;/strong&gt; (probably have to ask the Bus driver for it) or &lt;strong&gt;Vietas&lt;/strong&gt;. At &lt;em&gt;Suorva&lt;/em&gt; you can cross the &lt;em&gt;Suorvajaure&lt;/em&gt; on the artificial dam, at &lt;em&gt;Vietas&lt;/em&gt; there is a boat. Once across the lake you can walk into Sarek from the North-East.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From the East&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Bus from Gällivare to Ritsem, get out at &lt;strong&gt;Kebnats&lt;/strong&gt; and take the boat over to &lt;em&gt;Saltoluokta Fjällstation&lt;/em&gt;. There you'll find the Kungsleden and access to Sarek from the East. You can also continue Kunsleden to the south until you reach &lt;em&gt;Akse&lt;/em&gt;, and then turn West into Sarek.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From the South&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Bus from Murjek/Jokkmokk to &lt;strong&gt;Kvikkjokk&lt;/strong&gt;, where you can follow the &lt;em&gt;Kungsleden&lt;/em&gt; to the north, you can split of at many points towards Sarek (e.g. &lt;em&gt;Partestugan&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Partekietle&lt;/em&gt;) lying to the West of Kungsleden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both &lt;em&gt;Gällivare&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Murjek&lt;/em&gt; are reachable by train.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have personally done:&#xA;We took the route in via Ritsem and the boat to Akkastugorna. We then travelled far into Sarek over several days, until a thunderstorm let the rivers swell to sizes where crossing the bigger ones would have been purely suicidal. Eventually we took a roundabout way back towards the north and an exited through the same boat we came near Ritsem. (We decided for this this mainly because we knew that there were further big river crossings planned for later in our route, and we did not want to get stranded 8+ days into a 12 day route, with un-fordable rivers between us and the extraction point.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; Scandinavian weather can be rough as hell, even in mid summer, and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/15100/what-could-possibly-go-wrong-in-sarek&quot;&gt;consequences of anything happening in Sarek&lt;/a&gt; are real, with help being days or weeks away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-06-30T05:27:39.047" LastActivityDate="2020-06-30T05:27:39.047" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25185" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25175" CreationDate="2020-06-30T02:06:13.533" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Finding a way for my mother-in-law to use her wheelchair on rough terrain?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have you thought about &lt;strong&gt;trying some sort of seating arrangement with springs build in to absorb shocks and/or additional cushions&lt;/strong&gt; to offset her discomfort when in the forest trails?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wheelchairs equipped with oversized balloon-type wheels help provide stability and maneuverability, all terrain wheelchairs can easily travel over a multitude of surfaces. Possibly absorbing shocks as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6QB08.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6QB08.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;oversized balloon-type wheels&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rehabmart.com/category/all_terrain_wheelchairs.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Example of an oversized balloon-type wheel.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other options could be available if desired also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next best thing I could think of is to try out something like a &lt;a href=&quot;http://advancedmobility.ca/products/power-wheelchairs/all-terrain/x8-extreme-4x4/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;X8-Extreme All-Terrain Power Wheelchair&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HHkKN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HHkKN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;X8-Extreme&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Extreme X8 is the ultimate 4 wheel drive power chair. Primarily an outdoor chair, the X8 will take you through the softest sand beach to the rugged woods, dry creek beds and snow. The patented passive steering system and 4-1,000 watt allow you to go where other wheelchair users have never gone before.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With some luck and a some research you may be able to find a company that would let your mother-in-law road test it for a day on some possible envisioned terrain she would like to explore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tires look more absorbent to shock due to rough terrain. It is obvious that some land formations will not be suitable with this device. One could add additional cushions to ease the back pain of those with chronic back sufferings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would actually get the person interested in using such a wheelchair to get the appropriate approval of health care professionals first. They may also be in a position to let people know of where they can get grants to offset the cost. They may also be in a position to let you know where you can rent such equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-06-30T02:58:24.897" LastActivityDate="2020-06-30T02:58:24.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25187" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15627" CreationDate="2020-07-01T00:52:35.077" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I stumbled across this post after the plastic bin situation just occurred in my one of my camping bins. Apparently one of my daughters took the safety clip off and it deployed all on its own onto hammocks, sleep pads, tarps, cookware and other wonderful things. Was trying to figure out how to save my stuff, though in all likelihood they will just get thrown away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately I can speak to the 2 other cases mentioned above a well, in that I went through the OC training in the military, and once had my wife drop a canister with safety removed right on the trigger at face level as we down-climbed a scramble near our cabin (which was loaded with aggressive bears at the time). With regard to getting it off your skin, Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo was the military choice. We would literally shampoo our eyes. It might take a 2-3 showers to reach the point where the oils are completely off you so that you will not have recurring pains in different locations (like rinsing it out of your hair to have the oils settle on your groin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh well, perhaps this will be my last interaction with high concentrations of this stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19888" LastActivityDate="2020-07-01T00:52:35.077" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25188" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-02T06:44:26.140" Score="20" ViewCount="2819" Body="&lt;p&gt;June 29 around 8 PM EST (within 40 minutes after downpour) the depicted trace was found in swash zone at Jacob Riis Park in NY. For reference the boot size is 12.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jZmTx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/jZmTx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOSC5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bOSC5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19891" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-07-02T07:54:26.277" LastActivityDate="2020-07-03T08:10:02.303" Title="What coastal creature leaves braid-like trace that has clear landing and take off points?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;&lt;beach&gt;&lt;coast&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25189" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25188" CreationDate="2020-07-02T09:03:33.930" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is almost exactly the opposite of what you think it is - it is actually from a burrowing animal, so instead of flying, it is actually burrowing into the sub-surface liquifaction layer of the sand and leaving behind this imprint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think (correct me if I am wrong), but it is likely that the start of the burrow is the depression above your toe and the mound is above where it is hiding. If you look closely at the mound you will see a flat surface that is probably an egress point and possibly breathing hole too.  If you come across a similar structure in the future, you can dig down below the mound rapidly and come across the animal that built it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know exactly which animal made this burrow, but I would guess from the form that it is a crab, certainly some form of invertebrate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a fairly extensive search, but couldn't find any sea-shore guides for NY state that cover animal tracks unfortunately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-07-02T22:20:18.477" LastActivityDate="2020-07-02T22:20:18.477" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25190" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25188" CreationDate="2020-07-02T15:24:31.190" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;I too think it's from a burrowing animal. Instead of crab I would say it is some kind of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugworm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;lugworm/sandworm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found this similar image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D8udA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/D8udA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.plainpicture.com/de/images/1443397&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.plainpicture.com/de/images/1443397&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The keywords for this image contain &amp;quot;Wattwurm&amp;quot; = lugworm, though the image might be mislabeled.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19893" LastEditorUserId="19893" LastEditDate="2020-07-03T08:10:02.303" LastActivityDate="2020-07-03T08:10:02.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25191" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25175" CreationDate="2020-07-03T04:50:46.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition to padding and softer wheels, you should look into getting her a chair with suspension.  My current chair has suspension and I'd never want to go without it now.  I've heard they can be harder to push however, I don't have that problem as my chair is electric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If all else fails, she could preemptively take Tylenol or some other mild painkiller.  They work better if used preemptively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16779" LastActivityDate="2020-07-03T04:50:46.863" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25192" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25179" CreationDate="2020-07-06T10:25:26.303" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question asked &amp;quot;would it be safe&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My answer is that yes, it would be (reasonably) safe. There are several roads like that near me where even school kids have to walk on the grass to get to their house from the bus stop as there is no footpath. The A413 has similar bus stops. One danger I find is twisting your ankle in the drainage dips that will be every hundred yards or so but hidden in the grass. That and the bottles, cans and other rubbish that has been thrown out of car windows. Of course that also might make you fall into the road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep as far from the roadway as possible as the Bernoulli effect will cause the air to push you towards fast moving traffic that passes you, also the drivers are likely to not be paying too much attention when they see no footpath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But essentially, if you keep as far away from the traffic as you would had been had there been a footpath, the only physical difference is the terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19903" LastActivityDate="2020-07-06T10:25:26.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25193" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25179" CreationDate="2020-07-06T12:10:41.337" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I cannot say with any certainty whether it is safe. As safe as can be walking along the side of a busy road.&#xA;However, you might take a look at Iain Sinclair's long and history packed walk around London in his &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Orbital-Iain-Sinclair/dp/0141014741/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;amp;hvadid=80127009529529&amp;amp;hvbmt=be&amp;amp;hvdev=c&amp;amp;hvqmt=e&amp;amp;keywords=london%20orbital%20iain%20sinclair&amp;amp;qid=1594036879&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;sr=1-2&amp;amp;tag=mh0a9-21&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;London Orbital&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;Iain Sinclair didn't get knocked down walking around the orbit of London.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18680" LastActivityDate="2020-07-06T12:10:41.337" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25194" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-06T23:32:37.693" Score="1" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have been hearing these birds from around the start of July in Australia from my backyard (mid-winter) at 7am, 8am and 9am depending on the day and they go on for at least 1-2hours. What bird(s) is/are these, is this seasonal and will they stop chirping?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cloud.poodll.com/local/cpapi/downloader.php?p=https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/poodll-audioprocessing-out/CP/30/localhostuser/recordmp3online.com/poodll/poodllfile5f03b163b326a1.mp3&amp;amp;n=poodllfile5f03b163b326a1.mp3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recording 1:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cloud.poodll.com/local/cpapi/downloader.php?p=https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/poodll-audioprocessing-out/CP/30/localhostuser/recordmp3online.com/poodll/poodllfile5f03b2f13a3281.mp3&amp;amp;n=poodllfile5f03b2f13a3281.mp3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;recording 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19904" LastActivityDate="2020-07-08T20:03:09.130" Title="What bird(s) is this in this recording?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25195" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14593" CreationDate="2020-07-07T17:22:39.510" Score="4" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is this likely to be a health issue?&lt;/strong&gt; No, it is very unlikely to cause ant health issues. This isn't mold, it's mildew. Mold should not be able to grow on silicone (the material of the outer sheath of the valve). Mold is a penetrating fungus, and needs a porous substrate to grow, this is why you've never seen mold on a window before. Mildew grows on surfaces that are damp and warm (like the inside of your valve). Mildew in these amounts is extremely unlikely to do anything to you at all. (Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does anybody have a good way to remove this?&lt;/strong&gt; It should be quite easy to disassemble, and frankly I'm not sure why absolutely nobody answered this part. You want to pop the valve off of the connector like so...&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B2Ge9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next, you want to hold the silicone piece with one hand and push the little &amp;quot;button&amp;quot; on the end of the valve.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BYaLW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your goal is to get the wide ring out of the little groove it sits in. Once you do, the plastic part will easily pop out.&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AzgPN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At this point, you can just pinch the silicone bit and roll it between your fingers to loosen the mildew, then use a small brush and a bit of dish soap to clean it out. Reassemble, and Bob's your uncle.jm&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Prevention. Fungi are very particular about the pH of their environment. Back in the day we used to carry little vials of bleach in case we lost our filters or something like that, and of course bleach will kill anything, but it's not ideal since humans are included in &amp;quot;anything&amp;quot;. Iodine tablets were also used for this purpose. Obviously neither of those are great options now, so you probably don't pack bleach but vinegar is quite useful to have, and if you just squeeze your valve and put a drop of vinegar in the valve it sho3uld prevent this happening (also potentially a fun gag to mess with fellow hikers if they didn't bring enough water).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This assumes you need to use the HydraPak continuously, if not just make sure to pop the mouthpiece apart when you're back from a hike and let it dry (but it sounds like this has been pretty well covered). You can also buy long thin brushes to clean your tubing, which will help prevent buildup in it, which will also help mitigate buildup in the mouthpiece.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Good backpacking gear should be easy to service and repair without any tools and—ideally—should be nearly indestructible. These are good gear (and they are priced accordingly ).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19910" LastEditorUserId="3313" LastEditDate="2020-08-10T15:48:27.933" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T15:48:27.933" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25197" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25194" CreationDate="2020-07-08T20:03:09.130" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not Australian, but, after a bit of research, it sounds like common blackbirds to me &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPB4u-BfYFA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPB4u-BfYFA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19919" LastActivityDate="2020-07-08T20:03:09.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25198" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9674" CreationDate="2020-07-09T18:58:17.927" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very good advice!&#xA;I have had good experience targeting the second in a pack - feral human or dog. Alpha is Alpha for a reason. If you kill or severely injure the second (which may be easier) packs react to this and will retreat. Remember an injured animal is soon a dead animal so they try to avoid this.&#xA;Your mileage will differ.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19923" LastActivityDate="2020-07-09T18:58:17.927" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25199" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-10T11:34:07.837" Score="0" ViewCount="201" Body="&lt;p&gt;These are photos of some of the things I have found in the forests of Idaho....Oregon....California....Utah....and Washington over the past few years and I have no idea who made them or even HOW THEY WERE MADE. Some of these structures are made with giant tree trunks that are probably over 1000 pounds each and they are in parts of the forest miles away from roads where there’s no way any machinery could’ve been used. I can’t even see how 20 people using ropes and pulleys could have even made these things.! I’ve also found impressions in these areas that look like giant bare human feet. Are they just some animal tracks that look like human feet because of the way the tracks are left or because of rain or wind or something like that? I am at a loss.&#xA;[Giant Tree Structures][Human Shaped Track][Huge Trees Stuffed][Oddly PLACED 60ft Trees][Track][1]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[1]: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OjCGe.jpg!%5Benter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OjCGe.jpg![enter&lt;/a&gt; image description here](&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/07fD5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://i.stack.imgur.com/07fD5.jpg&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4x0kp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/m4ERg.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;![enter image description here]&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BwTVf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fyghb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/5AnCG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;![enter image description here]&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WErzH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PsT6N.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19924" LastEditorUserId="19924" LastEditDate="2020-07-10T12:59:30.373" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T21:47:27.217" Title="What makes tree structures with 1000 pound tree trunks and leaves what looks like huge human-like tracks in the forest?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25200" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18164" CreationDate="2020-07-10T15:11:54.693" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Because of flats and peaks. It would would be a stiffer barrel. Back in the day the barrel needed to be longer hense needed to be stiffer so to vibrate less. No most gun maker could make round barrels in the mid 1800s look at all the civil war rifles. And it was cheaper then to make a round barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19925" LastActivityDate="2020-07-10T15:11:54.693" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25201" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25298" CreationDate="2020-07-11T19:24:02.517" Score="4" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday I've lost my diving mask when I jumped into a gravel pond. The diving mask is yellow and easy to see, but I immediately lost sight of it because the water is / was very cloudy and it sunk very quickly. The pond is about 5 meters deep at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would I increase my view further under water when diving with a (waterproof) flashlight for the mask, or would I just light up the floating particles and thus see less far?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19930" OwnerDisplayName="BogisW" LastEditorUserId="19930" LastEditDate="2020-07-12T00:58:38.000" LastActivityDate="2020-10-19T18:24:14.880" Title="Can you see further when diving with a flashlight in cloudy water?" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25202" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9362" CreationDate="2020-07-11T21:08:52.833" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have that kit,  working on how far forward on bow spirit to put mast from Lee boards to work upwind.   Got new Lee boards coming and extra pontoons too!!!&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n6UpU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/r2gDA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UpGcy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19931" LastActivityDate="2020-07-11T21:08:52.833" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25204" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25199" CreationDate="2020-07-12T09:13:44.527" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The structures you are seeing are not structures at all - they are the result of either &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadfall&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;deadfall&lt;/a&gt; (see last definition) or blow-down/&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windthrow&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;windthrow&lt;/a&gt;, where trees (or large branches) that have died have then fallen over, either due to wind events or snow fall. These trees topple onto other trees, stripping them of bark and pushing them down and out of the canopy so that they struggle to compete for light, and thereby increasing the risk of those trees dying too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The footprints in the snow are the result of melting - this makes the prints much larger than you might otherwise expect (check out where birds have been hopping in your yard next time you have a snowfall). The last two photos of footprints in sand are (the same photo twice) but also definitely man-made. Based on the size of the pine-needles next to them (assuming &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_ponderosa#Description&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pinus ponderosa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; (most common species in the USA), the needles are 4.7–8.1 in (120–205 mm)) - which makes the foot print somewhere between ~7&amp;quot; (180 mm) and 16&amp;quot; (410 mm) - the average male US foot print (bare foot) is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6914786/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;270 mm/10.6&amp;quot; in length&lt;/a&gt; (female 245 mm/9.6&amp;quot;). I haven't found any official dimensions for average shoe size in the US, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/average-shoe-size-for-men&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;it is estimated&lt;/a&gt; to be &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sizecharter.com/clothing-fit-and-measurement/understanding-shoe-sizing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;10.5 (10.75&amp;quot;/273 mm)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;*&lt;/sup&gt;, so the prints in the photo are a fairly good estimate in size for an approximately average foot wearing a shoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, if you look at the print, you can also see the impression of the sole of the shoe, with a line extending from the mid-foot up to between the little-toe and the the 4th one, and some arch and heel lines that are comparable to these found &lt;a href=&quot;https://birthdayshoes.com/the-performa-jane-a-better-look-at-the-euro-only-fivefingers-speed-and-the-fivefingers-bikila-soles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, making it likely that these are from a Vibram five-fingers shoe or some very similar brand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;* For what it's worth - my size 10.5 Nike Air Pegasus are ~300 mm/11.8&amp;quot; &lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-07-16T21:47:27.217" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T21:47:27.217" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25205" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25208" CreationDate="2020-07-12T17:16:48.450" Score="7" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've followed every YouTube video and illustrated guide I can find but I can't seem to consistently tie bowline knots that don't turn themselves into a larks head causing the bight I'm trying to make to cinch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to tie them to the end of a length of paracord for a ridgeline, so I start by holding the leading end of the rope. Then:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I make a bight a few inches beneath the leading end so that it overlaps the standing end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I bring the leading end behind the top of the bight and through it towards myself&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I push the leading end over the bottom of the bight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I push the leading end behind the standing end of the cord&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I bring the leading end around the standing end and back through the first bight, beneath the length of my initial passing (the smaller loop)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I try to tighten the knot by pulling on the standing end, which then cinches around the column I'm pulling against (my finger).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is the knot not getting set properly, or rolling over itself, when I'm putting tension on the cord? I can't tell which step I'm doing incorrectly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apologies if I'm using any terminology incorrectly, I'm still getting into knots if my predicament wasn't a clear indicator of that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19934" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-07-12T20:54:22.177" LastActivityDate="2020-07-14T14:57:53.723" Title="Help troubleshooting bowline knots" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;paracord&gt;&lt;bowline-knots&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25206" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25205" CreationDate="2020-07-13T03:23:32.817" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here are &lt;em&gt;four&lt;/em&gt; variations on the bowline, in words and graphics.&#xA;Note that all four of them are here left not fully dressed (not tightened).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In each case, &lt;em&gt;the standing part should be pulled&lt;/em&gt;, or at least held firm, to tighten the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, instead, you pull on the working end without holding the standing part -- and this seems to be your problem -- the knot can capsize into a noose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that, in each case, the initial loop and the desired bowline loop must both go in the same direction. The four knots all have loops going counter-clockwise from the standing part. (If you prefer the initial loop to go clockwise, also make the desired bowline loop go clockwise.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;first two&lt;/strong&gt; both start with a loop with the working part &lt;em&gt;over&lt;/em&gt; the standing part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdXJy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdXJy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The working end must come &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; through the loop,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ctim8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ctim8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;go &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; (or behind) the standing part, then back &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt; through the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qupty.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qupty.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I call this a &amp;quot;British&amp;quot; bowline, where the tail ends &amp;quot;inside&amp;quot; the resulting loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A variation, from the same beginning loop, has the working end come up through the loop and around the standing part &lt;em&gt;on the opposite&lt;/em&gt; side before going back down through the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wrhWW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/wrhWW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s5EYQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s5EYQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dgpf5.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dgpf5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I call this a &amp;quot;Dutch&amp;quot; bowline, where the tail ends &amp;quot;outside&amp;quot; the resulting loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;second two&lt;/strong&gt; bowlines both start with a loop with the working part &lt;em&gt;under&lt;/em&gt; the standing part and simply result in &amp;quot;upside-down&amp;quot; bowlines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiOag.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WiOag.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The working end must go &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt; through the loop,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sfaKJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sfaKJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;go &lt;em&gt;over&lt;/em&gt; (or in front of) the standing part, then back &lt;em&gt;up&lt;/em&gt; through the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z67V9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z67V9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again this &amp;quot;British&amp;quot; bowline has its tail &amp;quot;inside&amp;quot; the resulting loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;Dutch&amp;quot; variation, from the same beginning loop, has the working end go down  through the loop and behind the standing part on the opposite side, come across the front of the standing part, before coming back up through the loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B3avJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/B3avJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lEFR6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lEFR6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/as2Oq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/as2Oq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again the tail ends &amp;quot;outside&amp;quot; the resulting loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;&#xA;If your initial loop is clockwise, so too should be the main loop.&#xA;&lt;/sub&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nLNz3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nLNz3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1nG92.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1nG92.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;sub&gt;&#xA;If your initial and main loops go in different directions, you still get a bowline if you're careful, but the result will be rather twisted. The final images show a &quot;twisted bowline&quot;: a clockwise initial loop with a counter-clockwise main loop that has to twist back on itself!&#xA;&lt;/sub&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09BS0.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09BS0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2BGbw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2BGbw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-07-13T21:28:34.253" LastActivityDate="2020-07-13T21:28:34.253" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25207" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-13T10:02:22.893" Score="0" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have just read &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorswimmingsociety/permalink/10157756959577830/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a story from Facebook&lt;/a&gt; from someone who has just swum across the Saltstraumen. How good swimmer does one need to be in order to make it across in time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17309" LastActivityDate="2020-07-13T10:02:22.893" Title="How good swimmer does one need to swim across the Saltstraumen?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ClosedDate="2020-07-14T12:08:19.903" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25208" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25205" CreationDate="2020-07-13T10:42:02.310" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The bowline is an interesting example of a knot which fails if dressed wrongly - even if it has been tied correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you tighten a bowline by pulling on the working end, or by pulling the loop apart, it can invert to a running noose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tighten it by pulling the standing end to avoid this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is a loose bowline:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y9A0t.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y9A0t.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;loosely tied bowline knot&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pulling the working end (and the right-hand side of the loop) starts to invert the knot:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfRhM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/lfRhM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Continuing to pull brings a bight of the standing end through the knot, forming a noose:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dowDH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dowDH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tightening by pulling on the standing end (and either/both sides of the loop) gives a properly dressed bowline:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C30Av.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/C30Av.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastEditorUserId="3327" LastEditDate="2020-07-14T14:57:53.723" LastActivityDate="2020-07-14T14:57:53.723" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25209" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25268" CreationDate="2020-07-13T22:31:34.133" Score="4" ViewCount="148" Body="&lt;p&gt;There have been a family of hedgehogs in my garden over the winter and the mother has recently disappeared.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a hedgehog house in my garden and there was a mother hedgehog that was there over the winter and had two hoglets in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had seen the two hoglets about the garden but not the mother for about a month so I did check the house about 2 weeks ago and all 3 were there. I then checked it a week later and the mother wasn't there in the day and I haven't seen it in the garden for a while.&#xA;The 2 hoglets I have seen in the garden tonight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I realise that a likely scenario is that the mother has died, but is there any other possible scenario?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing that the hoglets would move away to find a new shelter rather than the mother doing so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only other thing is there is only really one way into the garden under a wooden gate which the hedgehogs have to squeeze to get under, although I have seen quite a few come in and out that way it could be a problem if one gets too big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2020-07-25T18:17:17.473" Title="There have been a family of hedgehogs in my garden over the winter and the mother has recently disappeared" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;garden&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25210" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-14T15:15:58.187" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I haven't bought walking boots for years and recently wore out my old pair. I'm looking for a replacement and realised that the thing I hated most about all the old boots I've had  was the cleaning. I really want boots I can wash under a tap or with a hose in about one minute.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at manufacturer websites, (EG: Berghaus) I find lots of desirable features such as Goretex, grippy soles (EG: Vibram) and cushioning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, they all seem to be made of leather of some sort and presumably a quick swish under the tap will not cut it? Is there no synthetic washable material these days that beats leather hands down?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19939" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T09:59:18.940" Title="Great easy-clean walking boots?" Tags="&lt;boots&gt;&lt;walking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25211" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10913" CreationDate="2020-07-14T15:35:23.463" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I go hiking, I keep a mug of evidence, as there are 2 reasons for this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to get a mug&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The mug is always there, regardless of the situation, rest or walking.&#xA;Therefore, I always use it.&#xA;Many of my friends put the mug in the same side or top pocket. But this is everyone’s business.&#xA;I used this mug TOAKS Titanium 450ml Double Wall Cup:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://toptravelpoint.com/best-camping-hiking-mug/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://toptravelpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/toaks-titanium-450-5.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19940" LastActivityDate="2020-07-14T15:35:23.463" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25212" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25217" CreationDate="2020-07-14T16:34:49.717" Score="7" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;This winter (not sure about the possibility) I'm planning a solo trek across a mountain pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's 3000 m (9800 ft) high and I'm pretty used to high altitudes. I've heard that about 30 ft of snow accumulates there during the whole winter and spring season. Also the pass's top is known for it to have very high wind speeds and dangerous blizzards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to camp (overnight) on such passes?  Or it is too risky?  Should I not camp on the pass and instead camp on the lower slopes  Also there are no glaciers nearby.  Temperatures in winter hover around 14 °F to -10 °F (-10 °C to -23 °C). Can someone suggest what camping gear should I use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19941" LastEditorUserId="6478" LastEditDate="2020-08-05T08:03:46.537" LastActivityDate="2020-08-05T08:03:46.537" Title="How to prepare for a blizzard while trekking on a mountain pass?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25213" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25225" CreationDate="2020-07-14T18:19:09.117" Score="4" ViewCount="298" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have first looked at other questions/answers here on stopper knots here and tried all of the ones suggested but I am seeking something better. My application is a single line through a hole. I want to be able to tension the line, so the act of tightening the knot does not create slack through the hole. I don't have slack through the hole before tying the knot. It is really not needing to hold any more tension that just pulling the rope taunt. I would also like easy untying. It seems a single overhand is maybe the best I can do thus far. Probably with a loop back (like how you tie your shoes) for even easier untying. This is a photo of it:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZuXMJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZuXMJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19942" LastEditorUserId="19942" LastEditDate="2020-07-16T00:34:17.753" LastActivityDate="2020-07-24T22:02:33.337" Title="seeking stopper knot that is easy to tension and easy to untie" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25214" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25212" CreationDate="2020-07-14T19:41:43.517" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should camp lower down, if you are taking risk into account, as your answer implies you are.  In the Sierra and Rockies, which is where I have experience, camping even a few hundred feet from the top will be very noticeably less windy, and you may even find a stone wind-break constructed by previous hikers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go below timber line, you will find the ground level wind astonishingly reduced, and in the Sierra and Rockies, at least, timber line may not be all that far below 3,000 meters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of the camping gear you need is obvious for cold, snow and wind and 3,000 meters (e.g., goggles, sun cream, spare socks and mitts, gaiters for your legs and also a neck gaiter, a strong tent, double sleeping pads (to avoid melting a shallow grave of ice in the snow from your body heat)), but I am not going to list everything.  There is a good comment above on snowshoes. Finally...this is a solo trip, so be sure to take a PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the question sounds as though you do not have much experience in winter conditions.  Whether this is true or not, I can't tell..  If this is true, at least get some experience in camping in winter conditions before you go on this ambitious solo trip.   Camping in winter is not merely colder, with longer nights, it is qualitatively different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-07-14T19:41:43.517" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25216" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25148" CreationDate="2020-07-15T13:11:51.613" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In most GPS navigator is such a function. But if you are not sure about it, you can look to characteristics or ask some people that have already bought it. I have this function in my omTom Go Comfort 6 and switches on in settings and names &amp;quot;show the north&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19945" LastActivityDate="2020-07-15T13:11:51.613" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25217" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25212" CreationDate="2020-07-15T17:42:04.260" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Temperatures in winter hover around 14F to -10F. [...] Also the pass's top is known for it very high wind speeds and dangerous blizzards .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the temperatures are at the low end of this range and there are high winds, then you're in an extremely challenging environment, and maintaining an appropriate level of safety while traveling alone will require deep experience. Plan your trip so that you can get a forecast close to the day you will be crossing this pass, and if the forecast is for low temps and high winds, be flexible about changing your plans, e.g., delaying crossing the pass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard that about 30 ft snow accumulates there during the whole winter and spring season.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the area gets that much snow, and blizzards are frequent, then it raises serious danger from avalanche, especially if you cross this pass during the next few days after a big storm. Talk to locals who have experience with avalanche danger in this area. Don't travel on steep slopes (above about 30 degrees) soon after a storm, and plan how to avoid terrain traps. There are books and classes on avalanche safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to camp(overnight) on such passes, or it is too risky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sounds like a bad idea, and why would you want to? A more normal plan for this sort of thing would be to position yourself close to the pass when you camp the night before, then get an early start and get up the pass in the early morning, while snow conditions are still firm. Then you come down the other side later in the day, and if conditions have softened up, it's OK on a descent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that there are blizzards means that you're in danger of getting disoriented. This is another reason to try to get a recent weather forecast before making the decision to cross on a particular day. Don't depend only on a phone's GPS. Bring a paper map, a compass, and a GPS unit that will work if your phone doesn't work, and make sure you know how to get coordinates off the GPS and find them on the paper map. Make sure you have lots of previous experience navigating with a paper topo map. There are classes that teach this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question doesn't mention anything about crampons/microspikes and an ice ax. If conditions could turn icy, you'll need those, as well as the skills to use them correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snow camping isn't incredibly difficult, but it does require a certain set of skills. Listing gear won't prepare you if you don't have the skills. Mountaineering clubs and organizations such as the Sierra Club provide special classes on snow travel and snow camping. There are all kinds of detailed things to get experienced with, like how to deal with your water bottle freezing, and how to make sure your tent is anchored in the snow well enough to keep it from blowing away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you don't say in your question is how remote this area is. If there is a town or a ski resort 10 km from this pass, then that's one thing. If you're out in some remote region of British Columbia, 150 km from the nearest town, then safely traveling solo in winter is going to be a much bigger challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-07-15T17:48:55.007" LastActivityDate="2020-07-15T17:48:55.007" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25219" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25210" CreationDate="2020-07-16T08:36:01.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most of the walking boots are difficult to clean. It associated with the fact that they have to have some quantity of recesses in the sole and along the boots for better clinginess. To be more easy-cleaning they could be leather but without suede. Or you can try paratrooper shoes they will be easy-cleaning but I suppose they won't live for so long as a leather one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19945" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T08:36:01.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25220" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25210" CreationDate="2020-07-16T09:59:18.940" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The only boots that I can think off, which are really easy to clean beneath a tap are &lt;strong&gt;rubber boots&lt;/strong&gt;. These, however, are mostly not very suited for hiking: most of the available ones are made rather cheaply, provide neither good soles, nor good comfort or stability. And of course their breathability is essentially zero.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless you buys some very specifically made hiking rubber boots (they exist) I would not advise to go down this route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO caring for your hiking boots is just part of the deal... But then, I also don't invest a lot of time here. I maybe roughly clean my boots 1-2 times a year and give them some new coat of wax (I have leather boots), but that is it... Saving those couple of minutes per year wouldn't be worth it to me to forgo all the additional benefits of decent hiking boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;But as a kind of frame challenge...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How dirty are your boots getting, or what kind of dirt are you trying to wash off? If my hiking boots get really muddy then I just rinse them off using a hose while wearing them - this mostly prevents water from entering through the top, and if I do it quickly the also don't get soaked (actually, if you have good properly-looked-after boots they can take quite a lot of rinsing without any water entering).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T09:59:18.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25221" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24749" CreationDate="2020-07-16T10:02:11.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Really you are only limited by rod length. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tcoflyfishing.com/blogs/connect/euro-nymphing-rods-explained&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This piece covers it a bit&lt;/a&gt;. One alternative for fishing those conditions would be to use a striker indicator which might not exactly be tight line nymphing, but can be effective nonetheless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T10:02:11.400" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25222" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-16T10:38:45.813" Score="2" ViewCount="136" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently moved to a previously inhabited house. I have a window in the first floor. Sometimes, when I open it and lean outside on it, a pack of 4 swifts come and start to fly &amp;quot;aggresively&amp;quot;, passing rapidly around my window, doing their characteristic high-pitch sound. It's a bit scary. They pass very close by, less than two meters away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hampshireswifts.co.uk/the-science&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;read&lt;/a&gt; that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On fine summer evenings Swifts gather in “low flying screaming parties” as birds chase each other excitedly around the buildings where there are nests in high speed, aerobatic  groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, there is probably a nest around (something I haven't really explored). But the question is, are they traying to &amp;quot;scare me&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;warn me&amp;quot; about it? Is there scientific theories trying to explain this behaviour?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19950" LastActivityDate="2020-07-25T00:16:28.150" Title="Are swifts flying around my window trying to &quot;scare me&quot;?" Tags="&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25223" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24438" CreationDate="2020-07-16T11:46:07.867" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the comment above. In the winter Alps, avalanches are always likely to converge.&#xA;It is not enough to know the trail, you need to know the situation on this trail and it is best to take information from rescuers. As a rule, rescuers have information on routes and they monitor it, since in the Alps there are a large number of tourists and lovers of winter hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19940" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T11:46:07.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25224" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25234" CreationDate="2020-07-16T11:58:58.753" Score="0" ViewCount="94" Body="&lt;p&gt;(I previously submitted this question in its full form to Literature SE but later realized it most likely was not appropriate for this question)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Joseph Conrad's short story &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Youth_(Conrad)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Youth: A Narrative&lt;/a&gt;, Conrad writes&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“The night was fine. In the morning a homeward-bound ship passed us hull down,—the first we had seen for months; but we were nearing the land at last, Java Head being about 190 miles off, and nearly due north. &amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Researching the term &amp;quot;hull-down&amp;quot; I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull-down&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; describing it as a phenomenon &amp;quot;in which the curvature of the earth causes an approaching vessel to be first visible &amp;quot;sails-up&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus would this mean that as the protagonist's ship approached Java Head, that the home-bound ship would have appeared momentarily or continually on the periphery of the former's &amp;quot;ocean event horizon&amp;quot;(radius of maximum distance perceivable by sailors from their ship)  as it travelled toward the bottom of Africa assumedly?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Some additional context, England is referred to here as home, and so I'm assuming that that ship would be intending to travel the shortest distance home, and thus travelling to the bottom of Africa, despite this intent not being presented in the text. )&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19951" LastActivityDate="2020-07-18T10:57:32.777" Title="Passing Hull-down" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25225" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25213" CreationDate="2020-07-16T13:26:07.677" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd suggest a &amp;quot;slippery figure of eight&amp;quot; - although i'm not sure if that's the right canonical name for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6wFJV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6wFJV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's my go to knot I use when trying to shorten guy lines on a tent or tarp - i.e. when I have a runner with a hole and can pull some of the line through, tie a stopper knot and then use the shortened guy line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When taking the tent down, a brief pull of the loose end and the knot is undone despite the tension it was under in use.  And as a bonus, this knot can be tied in the middle of a line without needing access to the end of the rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18063" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T13:26:07.677" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25226" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25222" CreationDate="2020-07-16T15:16:47.057" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Swifts are notable for their use of chimneys to nest. Is there a chimney top anywhere near your window? When I see swifts, they fly relatively high; even when they nest in my own chimney. Swallows behave more as you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-07-25T00:16:28.150" LastActivityDate="2020-07-25T00:16:28.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25227" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-16T17:30:21.890" Score="2" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can I disassemble my Chinook Anti shock hiking pole. so it will fit in my suitcase for traveling?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19953" LastActivityDate="2020-12-14T09:06:40.627" Title="Can I disassemble my Chinook Anti shock hiking pole" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25228" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25229" CreationDate="2020-07-16T19:05:10.727" Score="0" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;I saw this game on youtube where you need to make a ball travel a certain amount of space using some half tubes. I was wondering where you could buy these kind of tubes or how are they called in english since I am not a native speaker &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4Yut.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/a4Yut.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19954" LastEditorUserId="14753" LastEditDate="2020-07-17T21:00:52.987" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T00:36:05.093" Title="Where to buy half tubes for outdoor games" Tags="&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2020-07-22T11:23:53.470" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25229" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25228" CreationDate="2020-07-16T19:52:12.067" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The brightly coloured stuff pictured was probably sold for the purpose, unless it was painted for the players to use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The most readily available material in the UK (and other bits of Europe I know, but the only time I've been to Sweden was 30 years ago) is guttering, as used to collect rainwater falling off roofs. This should be available from most places selling building or DIY materials. A good size for this would be the smaller type often used on garden sheds and similar small outbuildings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-07-16T19:52:12.067" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25230" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25213" CreationDate="2020-07-17T03:47:02.110" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A cow hitch, when pulled tight, can both grip quite well and be slid along to take up the slack. (This one's not pulled tight.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SC2tn.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SC2tn.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For quick release, make it slipped.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4M70E.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4M70E.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it needs to grip more tightly, use a Prusik (ie, a cow hitch with extra turns).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EDHLI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EDHLI.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-07-17T03:47:02.110" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25231" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25227" CreationDate="2020-07-17T07:28:39.623" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost certainly not. None of the hiking poles listed on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.chinooktec.com/index.php/hiking/hiking-poles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Chinook's official website&lt;/a&gt; list &amp;quot;disassemble-able&amp;quot; as a feature (nor any variation thereon).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a similar pole of a different brand. Like the Chinook poles, mine has three collapsible/expandable sections, with an internal spring for shock absorption. It does not disassemble, in fact it has warnings on the sections at the point where you should not pull them out any further. I suspect that due to the internal spring, disassembling would result in parts flying everywhere, and the entire thing would not be re-assemble-able.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I have traveled with this hiking pole, including bringing it on an airplane. I packed it at the bottom of a duffel bag, and there were no issues.  I did factor in the possibility of having my hiking pole confiscated by TSA when I packed it. At a ~$20 pricepoint, potentially losing it to airport security seemed like a reasonable risk to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If not having your hiking pole would completely ruin your vacation, I suggest investing in a &lt;em&gt;collapsible&lt;/em&gt; hiking pole. There are many options available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-07-17T07:28:39.623" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25232" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25212" CreationDate="2020-07-17T15:38:16.353" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think that you yourself answered your question.&#xA;If you know that there are often strong winds and blizzards on the pass, then it is better to set up your camp before or after the pass, it will be safer.&#xA;Not only is there a strong wind and blizzards on the pass, but also the weather can change very quickly in the mountains. And if the weather changes quickly, then it is not always possible to be proactive. There can also be rockfalls, and this can quickly be more dangerous than even a strong wind. Therefore, I do not recommend putting up a tent on the pass.&#xA;The task of the camp in the mountains is so high that it would be comfortable and safe to spend the night.&#xA;But maybe you have a task or goal to spend the night on the pass itself?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We once in the Caucasus mountains and the Pamirs took several passes categorical. Therefore, what is strong wind, ice, rain and rockfalls in the mountains I know well)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19940" LastActivityDate="2020-07-17T15:38:16.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25234" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25224" CreationDate="2020-07-18T10:57:32.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are correct in the meaning of the term &amp;quot;Hull down&amp;quot; - meaning the hull was not visible from the perspective of the observer, but the sails or superstructure would have been.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The home-bound ship would have appeared for some time, how long depends on how far away it was and its trajectory respective to the viewer. Given that the two boats appear to be traveling in opposite directions (i.e. Narrator's/Marlow's boat heading to Java from the UK and the other in the opposite direction, towards the UK), and are hence traveling more or less parallel to each-other, they would have been visible to each-other for some time. The Judea is averaging &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(Conrad_short_story)#Plot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;3 mi/h according to Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, so a similar speed can probably be assumed for another ship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the absence of a physicist or someone better acquainted with the math than me, I would hazard a guess that the time of possible viewing would be in the matter of minutes to an hour or so based on my occasional observations of large ships from beaches near ports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-18T10:57:32.777" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25236" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25238" CreationDate="2020-07-19T13:11:25.863" Score="9" ViewCount="489" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday we were outside obliterating some grass when my wife suddenly noticed something small and black in front of her mower. It was a tiny little bat!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, the day was quite hot and sunny and the little fella had landed straight on a freshly mowed lawn. I don't have a measure but air was probably over 27°C/80°F and there was no shade nearby. He probably fell from the rafters of the house next to him and we're certain that he couldn't have been there for more than a minute before we noticed him (or her - didn't check).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He didn't seem to be injured but instead of taking flight he was trying to crawl somewhere. &lt;s&gt;I suspect that's because the sudden light and heat had scared the hell out of him.&lt;/s&gt; Just read that most bats can't take off from the ground. Oops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We wanted to help him but also didn't want to touch him with bare hands. So I got an empty plastic bowl and he crawled in there. We brought him to a shady place behind a bush and then I took some pictures (below). After that I carried him around the house and released him in some dense fern that was growing there. The house and ferns were throwing shade, and he might even be able to crawl beneath the house too (not sure). I hope it was cool and moist enough there, but I couldn't think of any other place to put him. We also left a shallow dish with some water nearby, but I think he crawled in the other direction and didn't drink from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this a baby bat or an adult? It was really tiny - could have fitted on my palm - but then mice and other such critters are tiny in general, so I don't know. As for the location - we're from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Latvija/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Latvia&lt;/a&gt; and it was a rural area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Did I do the right thing to save him? If not, what should I have done? Will he be OK?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ye6L7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ye6L7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oGefh.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oGefh.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19967" LastEditorUserId="19967" LastEditDate="2020-07-19T13:27:03.753" LastActivityDate="2020-07-19T20:40:31.347" Title="Is this a baby bat and what should I have done?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25237" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-19T16:50:14.240" Score="6" ViewCount="295" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve browsed through just about all the snake related questions on this sub and haven’t seen this one yet. So here goes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yesterday, I found a black rat snake (almost certain, but given one of the answers on here, I am probably misidentifying the snake) about 4 feet long in my backyard. I’m in Charlotte, NC, where black rat snakes are very common. I saw this snake casually slither across my yard, crawl all the way to the other side, and casually enter a teeny hole in the underside of my outdoor generator unit. The confidence and familiarity with which this lil guy crawled in there makes it seem like there’s a nest down there. I’ve already seen a lil baby snake a few weeks back, so I’m confident on the nest part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is a two part question:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I understand that black rat snakes, if it is indeed one, are non-venomous. But a 4 foot long snake surely gives me the creeps. Also, I’ve been thinking about selling my generator (recently bought the house and it came with it, but I have no use for it since we hardly lose power and it runs on gas and that gives me anxiety). If I were to call someone (there are several online folks that just come pick up your generator and pay you for it), they’d absolutely refuse to take the generator if there’s a snake nest on under it. I don’t want to trick them into doing it anyway, that’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen. I highly doubt that a pest control company would have the skills required to be able to remove the generator to clear out the snakes. So my question is, how do I get this snake, and any possible babies out of this lil hole? The best answer would be I can do this without pulling the generator out to reveal a hundred snakes waiting to strike.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I had the chance yesterday and I might have it again, but if I do, what do I do if I were  to try to catch it? I can take all proper precautions and capture it. Then what? I live in the city. The road outside my front door has a speed limit of 35 but an average vehicle speed of 50 MPH and is a Heavy traffic area. I cannot release it in the front. The back is another house and not the woods. There aren’t any proper fences that can keep the snake away and I am positive it is bound to come back to its nest if I tried. So If and when I catch this snake, where do I put it after?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don’t care if this snake helps with the rodents and is non-venomous, I don’t want a 4-foot snake in my yard. I’d like to not kill it, but I definitely need to do something with it that makes me feel like it does not exist in my life anymore. I hope I’m not coming off as hateful, I just really don’t like snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19968" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T05:42:06.443" Title="How to remove a snake from a tiny hole in the generator?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25238" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25236" CreationDate="2020-07-19T20:40:31.347" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is indeed a bat - most of the microchiroptera (small bats - the fruit bats are the megachiroptera) are tiny - the smallest species are about 1.25 inch (35 mm) long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are several species of bats common in Europe, perhaps the most common is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_pipistrelle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Pipistrelle&lt;/a&gt;, which is quite small; to quote Wikipedia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is 3.5–5.2 cm (1.4–2.0 in) long along the head-and-body, with the tail adding 2.3–3.6 cm (0.91–1.42 in). The body mass can range from 3.5 to 8.5 g (0.12 to 0.30 oz)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't get much sense of the size of your bat from the photo, other than that appears to be a &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunella_vulgaris&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Prunella vulgaris&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; flower to the right middle of the photos, which are generally ~2 cm long (0.79&amp;quot;), so your bat could be about 3-4 cm long. This might mean an adult Pipistrelle or perhaps a juvenile of another common species such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_noctule&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Common Noctule&lt;/a&gt;, which are much larger than pipistrelles in general.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you did the right thing by transferring it to a sheltered spot, and I (not a bat expert at all) think it is about all you can do. I know some places around the world have bat rescue services, but these are usually urban rather than rural.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-19T20:40:31.347" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25239" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25240" CreationDate="2020-07-19T20:49:34.073" Score="19" ViewCount="4359" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 6 months ago I noticed a new friend in my apartment. It lived in my bathroom and only came out during the night (not sure how it knows when it is nighttime if there are no windows in the bathroom). I called him Jimmy. Seems harmless. About 8mm in length. Moves fast but is not running away scared. It has now moved to the kitchen. I think it has 6 legs, antennae and a weird double tail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are pictures, low quality because it is tiny and my phone camera is not so good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vKaEH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vKaEH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DGFbm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DGFbm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live in Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19969" LastEditorUserId="1934" LastEditDate="2020-07-21T01:24:48.657" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T15:07:10.307" Title="Identify this insect found indoors in Ireland with a double tail and antennae" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="13" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25240" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25239" CreationDate="2020-07-19T21:23:29.333" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is, I believe, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;a silverfish&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the picture from the Wikipedia article;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZlJVw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZlJVw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is a small, primitive, wingless&#xA;insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). Its common name&#xA;derives from the animal's silvery light grey colour, combined with the&#xA;fish-like appearance of its movements. The scientific name (L.&#xA;saccharina) indicates that the silverfish's diet consists of&#xA;carbohydrates such as sugar or starches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They’ve always appeared for me in warm and damp places like the bathroom and indeed, this is confirmed in the Wikipedia article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75%&#xA;and 95%. In urban areas, they can be found in attics, basements,&#xA;bathtubs, sinks, kitchens, old books, classrooms, and showers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2020-07-19T21:45:58.147" LastActivityDate="2020-07-19T21:45:58.147" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25241" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25228" CreationDate="2020-07-20T11:05:41.100" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't know where to buy these things buy I saw the video too and was impressed. So my friends and I made them from the usual plastic bottles. We cut it this way and it works. We used a table tennis ball too. It was interesting, but not for long. Can't recommend you buy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19945" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T11:05:41.100" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25244" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18942" CreationDate="2020-07-20T14:36:21.307" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wikipedia has a list of the national parks of Georgia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_parks_of_Georgia_(country)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_parks_of_Georgia_(country)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is the link to the ecotourism section of the Georgian Agency of Protected Areas.  This has information about the areas, trails and camping in the various areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://apa.gov.ge/en/eco-tourism&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://apa.gov.ge/en/eco-tourism&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T14:36:21.307" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25245" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25239" CreationDate="2020-07-20T15:28:32.307" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just wanted to say that they are &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; considered a pest as some comments are telling you, they are considered beneficial. From the German Wikipedia article roughly translated: &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silberfischchen&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Silverfish&lt;/a&gt; in low numbers are harmless. In fact they are beneficial because they eat mold. High numbers of them is usually a sign of a big mold infestation.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I myself sometimes see one or two silverfishes in my bathroom and I've seen silverfishes there (mostly at night or early morning) for at least 5 years and haven't had any problems. So I wouldn't bother throwing them out if there are only a couple.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19975" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2020-07-21T15:07:10.307" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T15:07:10.307" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25246" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-20T19:43:39.283" Score="1" ViewCount="51" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.klingenfuss.org/gta.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;klingenfuss.org&lt;/a&gt;, the northern end of the Grande Traversata della Alpi (GTA) is near Valsesia (Monte Rosa) or at the Val Formazza.  Wikipedia has it start &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Traversata_delle_Alpi&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;west of Domodossola&lt;/a&gt; (consistent with Klingenfuss), according to &lt;a href=&quot;https://gta-trek.eu/index.php/stages?start=40&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gta-trek.eu&lt;/a&gt; the northernmost point is Alpe Devero, north of Domodossola and west of Val Formazza.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nhbs.com/cicerone-guides-through-the-italian-alps-book&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cicerone Guide&lt;/a&gt; describes a conclusion &lt;em&gt;near Monte Rosa&lt;/em&gt; (consistent with Klingenfuss) and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rother.de/rother%20wanderf%FChrer-gta%20-%20grande%20traversata%20delle%20alpi-4402.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rother Wanderführer&lt;/a&gt; appears to place the northernmost end at the Passo San Giacomo between Val Formazza and Val Bedretto, a bit further north than the rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zla0B.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zla0B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sign near Rifugio Bonasson, indicating GTA in two directions&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I took this photo &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en&amp;amp;topic=ech&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;layers=ch.swisstopo.zeitreihen,ch.bfs.gebaeude_wohnungs_register,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege&amp;amp;layers_opacity=1,1,1,0.8&amp;amp;layers_visibility=false,false,false,false&amp;amp;layers_timestamp=18641231,,,&amp;amp;E=2678392&amp;amp;N=1120540&amp;amp;zoom=9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;near the Rifugio Bonasson&lt;/a&gt;, well east of Val Formazza, high above the Agrasino, further east than any of the aforementioned sources mention the end of the GTA.  The photo indicates the GTA in the direction of Forcola di Larecchio, Bocchetta di Muino, or Alpe Lago.  Apparently, neither Valsesia, nor Val Formazza, nor Passo San Giacomo is actually the most northern/eastern end of the route (meaning furthest along from the Mediterranean).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where is the furthest north/east on the GTA, really?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2020-07-20T20:11:09.827" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T20:25:22.900" Title="Where is the true northern/eastern end of the Grande Traversata della Alpi?" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;thru-hike&gt;&lt;alps&gt;&lt;italy&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25247" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25087" CreationDate="2020-07-20T20:24:56.130" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;No.Probably many decades ago before chrome plating and stainless steel , hard steel hooks may have been tin plated . Because tin melts at low temperature some one mistook it for lead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T20:24:56.130" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25248" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25246" CreationDate="2020-07-20T20:25:22.900" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.libridimontagna.net/epages/990840766.sf/it_IT/?ObjectPath=/Shops/990840766/Products/-01081603-%5B1%5D&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Italian language Grande Traversate delle Alpi, Vol. 2&lt;/a&gt;, the GTA continues to the &lt;em&gt;Lago Maggiore&lt;/em&gt;, which (unlike any other description I've seen) would be consistent with the photo I took above the Val Agrasino.  According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.klingenfuss.org/drim_lit.htm#bucher&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a review of this book&lt;/a&gt;, the northern/eastern end would be &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en&amp;amp;topic=ech&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;layers=ch.swisstopo.zeitreihen,ch.bfs.gebaeude_wohnungs_register,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege&amp;amp;layers_opacity=1,1,1,0.8&amp;amp;layers_visibility=false,false,false,false&amp;amp;layers_timestamp=18641231,,,&amp;amp;E=2697082.17&amp;amp;N=1102006.94&amp;amp;zoom=8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cannobio&lt;/a&gt; at the Lago Maggiore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2020-07-20T20:25:22.900" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25250" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25095" CreationDate="2020-07-21T09:02:59.633" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you need to take 60 liters. It won't be much costly for you but you will have enough place for everything you need while camping. Modern backpacks are really lightweight and it won't be more difficult to wear 60litres than 55. And you can need it later when you will go camping alone. It's a really bad idea not to take a sleeping pad because there is a big risk to get cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19945" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T09:02:59.633" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25251" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25253" CreationDate="2020-07-21T09:28:38.983" Score="13" ViewCount="1769" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got a Primus OmniLite Ti stove and am testing it with different fuels.&#xA;Apart from having fun and experimenting, I'd like to understand how the stove behaves on such non-standard fuels. I'm not talking about emergencies &lt;em&gt;(you'd burn anything for survival)&lt;/em&gt;; but even hikes in &amp;quot;civilised&amp;quot; places such as European woodlands might require buying fuel locally. If I have a limited choice of either automotive gas/petrol or a paint thinner from a village hardware shop, I'd rather bet on the thinner :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A couple of questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Why this stove (and other similar ones) won't burn alcohol / spirit?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When I have a choice, should I buy &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;light&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; (C5-C7) or &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;heavy&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; (C10-C15) hydrocarbon fuels? This isn't a theoretical question; right now I have two bottles of unknown paint thinners... but they have information about hydrocarbon contents in them!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What's so special about kerosene? I've read several times that &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;if your stove can burn kerosene, it will burn anything!&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/31/whats-the-difference-between-white-gas-propane-kerosene-and-gasoline/15894#15894&quot;&gt;This answer&lt;/a&gt; says that dense fuels require smaller jets while lighter fuels use wider jets. What if I use a wrong jet? Would it simply cause imperfect combustion and loss of power OR pose a fire/explosion risk?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can I use acetone, toluene, xylene or turpentine? If no, why?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toxicity: the solvents have a lot of warnings about toxicity from acute and prolonged exposure. However, this applies to inhaling/ingesting the solvent, not burning it. From what I gleaned online, only automotive gas/petrol emits noxious fumes during burning, and only because of the car additives; solvents burn cleanly in a pressure-stove such as Primus. Am I correct?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2020-07-23T06:13:55.160" LastActivityDate="2020-08-11T08:54:06.527" Title="Using &quot;unusual&quot; liquid fuels in a multi-fuel stove" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25252" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25251" CreationDate="2020-07-21T10:29:56.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No alcohol - because these use a vapour phase to burn, this is best achieved by evaporation from the surface of the fuel under the heat generated by burning. Pressurizing alcohol based fuels results in a flame-thrower is my understanding.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It depends on the jet you have - larger jets for fuels with low vapour pressure generally.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Kerosene is heavy-chain hydrocarbon, it takes a lot of heat and priming to get it going. If you can burn kerosene you should be able to burn most other common fuels because kerosene is harder to get going.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm not sure on this one - I think incomplete combustion. Smaller jets allow higher velocity for the same pressure of the fuel coming out, which will allow better air/fuel mixing and hence more efficient combustion.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Maybe. Acteone is unlikely - it evaporates and burns very rapidly so won't be a great fuel. The others are much heavier and much more toxic to handle. I would avoid all of these as fuels!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Every liquid is a solvent - water and petrol/gas included. I've burnt 91 octane petrol in my Coleman stove before with no problems other than a bit of soot, but it's not something I do regularly. If you need to use petrol, using caution is advised, but no more than you should be doing with a cooker anyway to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning- use in a well ventilated area away from flammable areas.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that petrol and other heavy fuels like kerosene and diesel deposit gunk in your cooker lines and soot on the jets which must be cleaned away for optimum performance. Using fuels outside of the specified ones increases the risk of deposits and a subsequent decrease in performance and potentially permanent damage to the cooker as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-07-21T11:05:19.837" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T11:05:19.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25253" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25251" CreationDate="2020-07-21T10:31:04.950" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of reasons why you can't use alcohol or acetone:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A petrol/gasoline/kerosene/diesel etc. stove needs the fuel to be vapourised, under pressure and mixed with air for it to burn (cleanly/efficiently). Alcohol doesn't. You can burn it cleanly in an open cup, though designs with a ring of jets work well; these are different to the jet plus mixing chamber design of a petrol stove.  As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25022/2529&quot;&gt;I've found&lt;/a&gt;, you can also burn acetone this way.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alcohols can attack the seals on stoves not designed for use with them.  MSR specifically warn against using them for this reason.  Acetone will be worse, as it attacks more plastics (including synthetic rubbers) than  alcohols.  Alcohols can also attack unlined aluminium fuel bottles, so MSR warn against long-term storage of alcohol-containing petrol in their bottles.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If your stove can burn kerosene, it will burn anything!&lt;/em&gt; isn't quite true (obviously it's not logically true; it won't burn water).  What this means is that it will burn a wide range of hydrocarbon fuels, because kerosene is an intermediate mix of fractions between petrol and diesel, and there's some tolerance for burning similar (but lighter or heavier) fuels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gcsescience.com/o5.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a list of various fuels and solvents&#xA;distilled from crude oil.  Note that it uses UK terminology (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19152/2529&quot;&gt;see this answer for various international names&lt;/a&gt;).  The ones to note are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;petrol (AKA gasoline: C7-9).  I used to use this in my stove, but my van runs on diesel (and my stove doesn't) so I don't have petrol around.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;naphtha (used as a solvent and as liquid lighter fuel such as for Zippos: C6-11).  This burns well in my MSR, with the petrol jet, and isn't too expensive.  I've seen sources that say white gas is the same as this, but those sources don't quote the number of carbon atoms.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;kerosene/paraffin (C11-18)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;diesel (C11-18)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These last 2 are listed as the same weights, but that's a little misleading for us as the proportions of the various fractions can vary, however they normally share a jet.  Diesel is also likely to contain additives, which may or may not burn cleanly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So going by carbon content alone, you'd use your petrol jet for the lighter solvent/fuels, and the kerosene jet for the heavier one.  However you do need to be careful with things sold as solvents - they may contain other components in sufficient quantities to cause problems.  You need to be able to read the label in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.msrgear.com/blog/liquid-fuel-stoves-101-choosing-the-right-fuel-for-your-liquid-fuel-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Further reading: MSR have some notes&lt;/a&gt; including names of fuels in various languages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really need to be able to burn alcohol/acetone as a backup to a petrol stove, I suggest you make or buy a simple open cup or jetted burner, and find a way to use it with the pot stand and windshield of your petrol stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-08-11T08:54:06.527" LastActivityDate="2020-08-11T08:54:06.527" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25254" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25256" CreationDate="2020-07-21T12:24:49.650" Score="4" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen &lt;em&gt;bird &amp;amp; animal watching and behaviour&lt;/em&gt; is listed among the accepted topics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question is maybe borderline, but I haven't found another stackexchange site for it. Please, feel free to move it if you know of one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What type of insect is this?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is it dangerous to bees? I've seen them feeding on flowers, but I've also noticed that, on the same plant, when they're there the bees are not, and viceversa.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The photo is taken in southern Italy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It looks a lot like wasp to me, and in any case the colouring seems very peculiar, so I guess someone will know the ansewer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SfjXp.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SfjXp.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19981" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T21:32:12.617" Title="What type of wasp or bee is this?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;&lt;wasps&gt;&lt;dangerous-insects&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25255" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25175" CreationDate="2020-07-21T20:28:17.227" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're talking about a wheelchair vs a separate device, the only one I know of is &lt;a href=&quot;https://netcapital.com/companies/ramp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ramp&lt;/a&gt;. I used to talk with the CEO, Mel Du, and his partner, Amro, last year when I was in Denver, CO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was impressed because Mel is paralyzed and so this isn't theoretical for him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you'd like to see the product, person and company, &lt;a href=&quot;https://netcapital.com/companies/ramp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here is a link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18903" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T20:28:17.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25256" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25254" CreationDate="2020-07-21T20:59:51.937" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthidium_florentinum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anthidium florentinum&lt;/a&gt; is a solitary bee with the right markings on the abdomen.  It seems to be holding the abdomen tucked under itself, but the shape of the first two yellow  markings is distinctive among bees,  wasps, and hoverflies in my book.  The male has hairs on the abdomen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A browse through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Anthidium_florentinum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;photos of this species on Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt; shows some variability, and the difference between males and females.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's certainly &lt;a href=&quot;http://idtools.org/id/bees/exotic/factsheet.php?name=17379&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;found in Italy&lt;/a&gt; as it's native to the Mediterranean basin.  This link also has some features to look for so you can check, including distinguishing it from &lt;a href=&quot;http://idtools.org/id/bees/exotic/factsheet.php?name=16911&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Anthidium manicatum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-07-21T21:32:12.617" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T21:32:12.617" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25257" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25251" CreationDate="2020-07-21T21:18:35.740" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself in a remote area without a supply of &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; stove fuels, you might try lamp oil, tiki torch fuel, citronella oil, charcoal lighter fluid, cigarette lighter fluid, graffiti remover solvent, WD-40 (non-aerosol), lemon oil, Marvel Mystery Oil, etc. They are all light hydrocarbons and they all burn more or less like kerosene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My multi-fuel lantern instructions mention Stoddard Solvent as a usable fuel, but I've never seen Stoddard Solvent for sale in a retail store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17948" LastActivityDate="2020-07-21T21:18:35.740" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25258" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25228" CreationDate="2020-07-22T00:36:05.093" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought pvc pipe from a hardware store and cut it in half lengthwise with a hand saw to play this game. The game works best with one ball for every three pipe segments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4100" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T00:36:05.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25259" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19049" CreationDate="2020-07-22T01:33:53.083" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve just for the last 10 min observed a female satin bowerbird eating chillies truly amazing. Also observed a stand off between the the same bowerbird and a wattlebird eye to eye no fight, wattlebird like a statue, bowerbird moving her head looking at the wattlebird up and down&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19984" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T01:33:53.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25260" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-22T07:21:00.330" Score="11" ViewCount="2352" Body="&lt;p&gt;In an attempt to fasten the chest strap, the plastic clip that keeps it joined to the shoulder strap came out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas, on how I can fix this mess?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think I should force the clip opening to open a bit wider, as much as needed to insert the cord back in it. However, I'm afraid the plastic could break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UU2rq.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UU2rq.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This is the broken side&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kY2NR.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kY2NR.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;This the non-broken side&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19981" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-07-22T14:53:57.363" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T18:04:42.030" Title="How can I fix joint between shoulder strap and chest strap?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25261" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-07-22T12:13:08.437" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those clips do come off, and in many designs you'd be able to thread them  back on from the end.  It is possible to clip them back on though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The way I've found works is to gently prise open &lt;em&gt;one end&lt;/em&gt; of the slot by twisting a screwdriver in it.  Then slide that end over the piping, so that the piping replaces the screwdriver in the slot.  The rest of the slot will go fairly easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try to avoid doing this too often - if it keeps going you might be over-tightenting the chest strap, or snagging it on things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible to replace the strap with one that wraps round the shoulder straps, though on that pack it wouldn't stay in place without further fastening&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T12:13:08.437" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25262" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-07-22T19:37:22.670" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;One solution, if you don't need the strap to be adjustable along the piping (vertically), is to remove the plastic clip and sew the chest strap to the shoulder strap, in the right place for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any sewing machine can do that, or you can do it by hand if you don't have a machine accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2020-07-22T19:37:22.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25263" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-07-23T09:19:32.720" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best option is to change the clips. You can buy a new one starting at 1$, that's not expensive. You can try to repair it using a strap, but if you have an opportunity and you are not camping with it now, that's a bad idea. If you repair it, it will break another time, and we don't know when. If you don't want to have it broken while camping it's better to change it now. You can do that in atelier or manual by yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19945" LastActivityDate="2020-07-23T09:19:32.720" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25264" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-07-23T14:20:50.560" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Press one corner of the clip against the bead (tube, piping, whatever it's called). Slide the clip smoothly down the bead while pressing firmly inward. The jaws of the clip should &amp;quot;ride up&amp;quot; the bead, spreading them apart and around. Once one corner is in place, keep sliding it smoothly down while pressing, like pulling a zipper, and the rest should follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This will do less damage to the clip than prying it apart, and you should be able to do it repeatedly without damage. If it came off this easily once, you'll probably need to do it repeatedly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19989" LastActivityDate="2020-07-23T14:20:50.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25265" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-23T19:58:19.817" Score="5" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/99YJb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/99YJb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;14.5cm&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hi everyone,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found this feather in a field in Malmo, Sweden a few days ago. The only birds of prey I've seen around here are kestrels, but I'm sure there could be more. I'm desperate to know what bird this came from as I can't seem to identify it myself with other images!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's about 14.5cm long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help at all would be fantastic!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19992" LastActivityDate="2021-04-12T06:29:42.093" Title="Feather Identification Help" Tags="&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25266" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-07-24T12:58:08.770" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Don't mess with the clip (unless to replace it entirely). Compress the piping (cord) so that is narrow enough to slide the clip on. Usually you only need to get one end/corner of the clip on and then the clip will keep the piping compressed while you slide the rest on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing it towards one end (away from wherever you normally put the strap) is best since the piping may stay a little squished and you don't want to make it easier for the clip to come off. Also, the piping is usually a little tapered/compressed by sewing towards one end, so the clip may slide on there naturally anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually you can just use your fingers to squeeze the piping, but if it's difficult try using pliers--the part right next to the edge of the pliers will also be compressed, and you can put the corner of the clip on there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastActivityDate="2020-07-24T12:58:08.770" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25267" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25213" CreationDate="2020-07-24T22:02:33.337" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are looking for the barrel knot: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRfjF5TcQbw&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRfjF5TcQbw&lt;/a&gt;.&#xA;This is used by climbers to make sure the rope can't pass through the hole in a belay device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19995" LastActivityDate="2020-07-24T22:02:33.337" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25268" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25209" CreationDate="2020-07-25T18:17:17.473" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;After posting the question a couple of weeks ago I found that a few days later the younger hedgehogs had moved in to the garden behind mine but regularly come back in to my garden just after dark. It looks as if they are fending for themselves fine so I guess if they are self sufficient it was a good time for the mother to move on.&#xA;After leaving the hedgehog house for a week to make sure it wasnt being used I decided to clear it out. It smelled really bad, I think this could have been a good enough reason to move from it.&#xA;I have also seen an adult hedgehog coming back into the garden just after dark too. Whether this is the mother or not I don't know but it must be living quite close as sometimes it has literally just got dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also read that hedgehogs sometimes even move during hibernation so more likely that they would move during the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2020-07-25T18:17:17.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25269" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-25T21:48:20.387" Score="5" ViewCount="242" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's assume you're on a multi-pitch sport climb with a pitch length of 40m and you know how to rappel using an ATC. The single rope you are climbing on is 50m. After 35m you are not able to continue. Let's assume the bolts are spaced 2.5 m apart.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you install a rappelling anchor if a) you or b) your belaying partner carries a second rope of 50m?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can you then manage to rappel on the double-stranded ropes by connecting both ropes together down to your partner? You never want to hang on a single bolt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastEditorUserId="19849" LastEditDate="2020-08-31T18:32:33.703" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T18:32:33.703" Title="Multi-pitch sport climb: Rope too short for rappelling, but having a backup rope" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;multi-pitch&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25270" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25269" CreationDate="2020-07-26T02:34:59.540" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;By far your simplest and safest option is just to downclimb, cleaning your own pro as you go. Obviously you wouldn't &lt;em&gt;enjoy&lt;/em&gt; doing this, but it would be very safe, and I'm not clear on why you wouldn't do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you really don't want to downclimb the whole pitch, you have the option of downclimbing to within 25 m of the belay and then being lowered. You would need to leave two of your draws in place so that you were being lowered off of something redundant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your other options are going to depend on what gear you have with you. If you have even a few pieces of trad gear, you could see if you could get a piece in to allow you to aid climb past the crux and then continue the climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But let's say for the sake of argument that there is really some reason you have to rap off. Maybe your leg is broken. The self-rescue options are then going to depend a lot on what you have with you, and they will involve leaving behind at least some amount of gear. If you have a cordelette that's long enough, you may be able to build a redundant anchor using two of the bolts. If you have some trad gear, you can use that. If you're really desperate and have no cordage, I suppose you could temporarily tie in to two bolts, pull up the rope, cut off a piece, and use that to rig an anchor that you could leave behind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One moral here is that you shouldn't start up a multipitch sport climb without a basic self-rescue toolkit on your rack, including stuff like a cordelette, a knife, some extra lockers, prusiks, some webbing inside your pack, and  a few pieces of trad gear. A full trad rack is expensive, and not something you want to spend a lot of money on if you're a sport climber, but you can pick up a few nuts and maybe a couple of cams or tricams pretty cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also a really bad idea to start up a multipitch route unless you're pretty certain that it's within your abilities. Multipitch is committing. Bailing off of a multipitch route can be difficult, impossible, expensive, and/or dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-07-27T15:19:53.010" LastActivityDate="2020-07-27T15:19:53.010" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25271" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25272" CreationDate="2020-07-26T12:05:50.700" Score="2" ViewCount="239" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am fascinated with trail running. However, I am reluctant to start doing that regularly because of the descents: from what I heard (and from limited personal experience), you need walking poles for steep descents with many rocks and/or roots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But why do experienced trail runners never use these poles? Is it because of the additional weight, or maybe they want to keep hands free to stop a possible fall?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do they compensate for the increased stress on the knees during descents?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2020-07-26T21:50:10.493" Title="Why don't trail runners use walking poles?" Tags="&lt;technique&gt;&lt;trekking-poles&gt;&lt;trail-running&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25272" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25271" CreationDate="2020-07-26T19:20:58.403" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are plenty of trail runners who do use poles. They do give you an advantage so some races ban them. If they are banned in a race, training with poles could well be a disadvantage, at least if you always train with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some examples showing the practice:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inov-8.com/blog/jasmin-paris-recordbreaking-spine-race-win/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.inov-8.com/blog/jasmin-paris-recordbreaking-spine-race-win/&lt;/a&gt;, although that is an ultra race which may change people's choice.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trailandkale.com/tips/trail-running-poles/#:%7E:text=Hiking%20poles%20are%20not%20permitted,in%20the%20minority%20without%20them&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.trailandkale.com/tips/trail-running-poles/#:~:text=Hiking%20poles%20are%20not%20permitted,in%20the%20minority%20without%20them&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://trainright.com/poles-trail-ultrarunning-running/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://trainright.com/poles-trail-ultrarunning-running/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Personal Experience&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have run with poles occasionally, and find that it changes how the run feels. It can feel physically easier, but occasionally mentally harder. It can take a lot of co-ordination when you're trying to make sure you place your feet and the tips of your poles in the optimal position when crossing rougher terrain. I'm sure that gets easier with practice and when you're fresh can be part of the fun. Having an extra push on the uphills can also be a benefit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Erosion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also remember that poles can cause more erosion then shoes, and the tiny hole they create can expand and cause the surface to start running off if there is lots of water around. There was an article about this in one of the 2011 issues of &lt;em&gt;The Scottish Mountaineer&lt;/em&gt; but I can't find a link the article. Here is a link to a discussion &lt;em&gt;about&lt;/em&gt; the article: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mountainactive.co.uk/blog/2011/05/25/walking-pole-use/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.mountainactive.co.uk/blog/2011/05/25/walking-pole-use/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stress on knees&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding your point about extra stress on the knees, based on my experience poles make a difference in this regard when walking but not when running. When running poles tend to be longer and mostly behind you (like in cross-country skiing) which won't help so much on the decent. I personally find that moving fluidly over terrain helps mitigate against the extra stress. In fact, I find walking down a hill much more stressful on my knees than running (or what feels like floating) down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the extra stress on your knees is a problem, strengthening the muscles around the knees may well be helpful. Bulgarian Squats, also known as split squats, are particularly helpful in this regard: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-do-a-bulgarian-split-squat-4589307&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-do-a-bulgarian-split-squat-4589307&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="17008" LastEditDate="2020-07-26T19:27:31.227" LastActivityDate="2020-07-26T19:27:31.227" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25273" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25271" CreationDate="2020-07-26T21:50:10.493" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do a fair amount of mountain trail running in Southern California, and I don't use poles. This whole idea of stress on your knees is something that I think just exists in people's heads, or maybe there are some people who have vulnerable knees. I've had my share of running injuries, but never the slightest twinge in my knees. I do worry about taking a spill on the downhills, but I doubt that poles would help in that situation. Besides the fact that I see poles as adding no value whatsoever, they also turn the activity into something else. I want to go for a run, not a hike. The allure of the activity, for me, is  its simplicity. Just me in shorts and a T-shirt and a fanny pack, nothing else. Poles also decrease efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having said all that, I think there definitely are some trail runners who use poles. This seems to mostly be a thing among mountain ultramarathoners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-07-26T21:50:10.493" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25274" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-07-27T01:12:52.983" Score="3" ViewCount="321" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty confident I have a serviceberry (saskatoon berry) in my front yard. It looks like all the pictures I've seen, I live in its habitat, and it tastes as described. Before I eat too many, I want to be absolutely certain. Really the only thing left to ease my mind is to eliminate poisonous berries that might be confused with the serviceberry.&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's some pictures of it, just for fun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0CsqN.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0CsqN.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EeIE7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EeIE7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dGh9l.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dGh9l.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OGSu9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OGSu9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1: Actually, if what I have is edible, I am a bit concerned that bugs and birds don't care for it, apparently, but animals &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; eating it doesn't mean it's unsafe.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17482" LastActivityDate="2020-07-28T18:15:04.950" Title="Are there any toxic berries that can be easily confused with the Serviceberry (saskatoon berry)?" Tags="&lt;plants&gt;&lt;edible&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25275" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25274" CreationDate="2020-07-27T04:49:05.740" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yesterday we just discovered we have a large Utah Serviceberry in our backyard.  We used the app Plant Net to identify it (looks just like yours, the berries resemble blueberries but taste a bit more like rose hips, same round leaf with serrated edges). Check out the app, it has been a game changer for us! Anyway, we proceeded to eat handfuls of berries without ill effects. And we did see one (handsome orange headed) bird eating them, but not the flock you would expect in the dry, high desert! Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20003" LastActivityDate="2020-07-27T04:49:05.740" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25276" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25269" CreationDate="2020-07-27T06:55:00.683" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You basically have 4 options&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aid climb your way up to the next belay&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Pull on quick draws, step into a sling, etc. If you chose a route matching your skill level roughly, only a short section should pose a problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Down climb to the last belay&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Most people consider downclimbing a lot harder than up, but it is still possible. If you cannot downclimb a section, it may be necessary to unclip and jump off (watch the terrain).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create some redundancy and rappel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;by adding a cheap piece, e.g. a stopper. Only possible if you can place protection (and carry trad gear in the first place)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rappel off a single bolt&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;While this is discouraged in text books due to the lack of redundancy it is not as uncommon as a beginner might think. In fact, in alpine routes the safety standards are not the same as in sport climbing and many routes here in the Alps involve rapelling off a single bolt. There are also valley crags where this is still common practice. In an emergency situation, I definitely would rappel on a single bolt as well.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Your problem will be to get the second rope up. To do this, tether yourself into the bolt and let the partner knot the second rope into a loop of your rope. Now pull it until you have two ropes and rappel.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(Note that I consider this scenario kind of artificial. One rarely carries two single ropes and uses only one of them. If two ropes are used, these are half or twin ropes and one would start leading with both of them)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-07-27T06:55:00.683" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25277" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8376" CreationDate="2020-07-27T22:36:36.020" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The basic sheep shank is pretty useless - but if you add a second half hitch to each end and have a decent sized loop out of each end it works great. This is not far off a redirect used by tree climbers... so is head and shoulderr s above the basic sheep shank.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20006" LastActivityDate="2020-07-27T22:36:36.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25278" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25274" CreationDate="2020-07-28T02:43:57.763" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a quick skim through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=745575&amp;amp;p=6243513&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;plants of North America that are dangerous to livestock&lt;/a&gt;, but have been unable to find any freely available guides that list the ones dangerous to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any event, none of the species in the livestock guide resemble &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_alnifolia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;saskatoon berries&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Amelanchier alnifolia&lt;/em&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest toxic species I could see is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pokeberry&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Phytolacca americana&lt;/em&gt;), which has very distinctive pink stems leading to the fruit and the berries grow in a cluster from a main stalk, very unlike the saskatoon berry. The pokeberry also has much softer stems and leaves that are very different to those of the saskatoon. I doubt that you would easily get the two confused.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another similar toxic berry are members of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;nightshade family&lt;/a&gt; (Solanaceae), which are a very diverse group of plants with prolific berries that are usually dark purple or red. However, in this case none of the species bear any close resemblance to the saskatoon, nor do the berries resemble those of the saskatoon, being (usually) much smaller and shiny, as well as lacking the apical crown that distinguishes the blueberry and saskatoon from most other berries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-28T02:43:57.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25279" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25282" CreationDate="2020-07-28T13:17:09.740" Score="2" ViewCount="153" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a possibility to buy a box of 50 Bic lighters on a discount and with free shipping.&#xA;Since I don't smoke, I'd use them only for building fires in travels.&#xA;For how long could those lighters lie on a shelf before the gas evaporates (if it does)?..&#xA;Of course I might wrap them tightly in plastic foil, but I'm guessing it won't help much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T20:29:14.810" Title="Shelf life of disposable gas lighters" Tags="&lt;fire-starting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25280" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25281" CreationDate="2020-07-28T15:51:37.400" Score="29" ViewCount="11634" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to go on a trail (Cleveland Way trail in the UK, moderate level, if this helps). The official guide recommends spending 9 days on this trail, but I only have 7 days. Is it reasonable to walk ~30-35 km/day for the first two days and then ~20km for the rest of the 5 days for a normal, healthy person?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I searched Google and found many people also finished their first two-day trip like this. Usually, without heavy bags I can walk ~20km a day in multi-day trails (no longer than one week) with no problem at all, but I am unsure whether I can make 30+ km per day, particularly considering there will be another 5-day trip afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have places to stay each day, so my backpack is not too heavy, just like a daypack and a few clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20010" LastEditorUserId="18480" LastEditDate="2020-08-10T11:15:13.393" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T06:29:14.480" Title="Is it possible to hike over 30km per day?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25281" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-28T16:26:10.943" Score="60" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your planned hike sounds like it's within your physical capabilities. It will really come down to mental, rather than physical constraints. Do you enjoy challenging yourself, pushing through an unpleasant physical experience for the triumph of coming out the other side victorious? Or do you prefer taking a leisurely pace so you can enjoy the countryside, to &amp;quot;stop and smell the roses,&amp;quot; as it were?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can do 20km every day for a multi-day trip, you can definitely push yourself to do 30-35km for a single day. The real challenge is whether you can do that two days in a row, followed by another 5 days of normal pace, without any rest days. It might be possible, but will you still have an enjoyable holiday?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I recommend doing a test. On your next day off, hike for 35km with the same pack you plan to bring on your holiday. See how you feel the next day. Are you exhausted? How do your feet and walking muscles feel? Consider whether you could do the same hike again. Let the answers to those questions guide your decisions about your holiday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-07-28T16:26:10.943" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25282" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25279" CreationDate="2020-07-28T16:41:14.120" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assume that the gas won't evaporate in your lifetime. Those things are tightly sealed and last essentially forever. I've found half-used BIC lighters washed up on riverbanks that still worked. Of course you may find that some in the pack are defective, not full sealed, or with crooked nozzles so the flame burns your fingers every time, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Single-use lighters have a much longer shelf life than the fluid in a pre-filled refillable lighter. Exactly because they aren't refillable, they don't have openings for the lighter fluid to evaporate. I have a lovely refillable engraved Zippo, but every time I go to use it the fluid has evaporated, so I end up using a cheap disposable lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, while I hear everyone who commented that disposable lighters are wasteful, what about all the lighter fluid that evaporates from an infrequently used refillable lighter, if you're refilling it every time you use it? IMO, for infrequent use, a disposable lighter is the best balance of price and reliability, and not substantially worse for the environment. That said, you don't need a 50 pack unless you're prepping for the apocalypse. I've been using the same three disposable lighters I bought 5+ years ago. I keep two or three in my camping gear, and they work every time. They are cheap and ubiquitous; you can buy multiple for a few dollars at the checkout counter of any gas station, grocery store, convenience store, drug store, what have you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: Chris H's comment reminded me that I actually have a different refillable lighter that holds its fuel reliably well. So I guess the real moral of the story is if you get a refillable lighter, get a brand that's not known for leaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-07-29T20:29:14.810" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T20:29:14.810" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25283" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25274" CreationDate="2020-07-28T18:15:04.950" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Regarding your plant, yes, it's a serviceberry. The dark blue berries are perfectly ripe, and you should harvest them immediately if you want to eat them. The pink ones aren't quite ripe yet. The berries on a single serviceberry bush tend to ripen almost all at once, rather than a few at time, so the birds don't always notice right away. Once they do, they will descend &lt;em&gt;en mass&lt;/em&gt; and clean the bush completely, leaving you sad and berry-less. For several years now I have missed picking the serviceberries in the landscaping around my building, by waiting for it to get just a bit more ripe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The question of &amp;quot;which plants can be confused with this plant&amp;quot; always comes down to which identifying characteristics you rely on most heavily. The way to safely identify an edible plant is to use multiple ID characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're just looking for plants with dark blue to black berries, then you could confuse it with the poisonous pokeweed (&lt;em&gt;Phytolacca americana&lt;/em&gt;, also called pokeberry, as mentioned by bob1) and some nightshades. Also every vine that people sometimes confuse with grapes, such as moonseed (&lt;em&gt;Menispermum canadense&lt;/em&gt;), Virginia creeper (&lt;em&gt;Parthenocissus quinquifolia&lt;/em&gt;), vining nightshades, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you remember that serviceberry is a woody plant, then you won't be confused by pokeberry or nightshade. If you remember that it's not a vine, you won't be confused by any of the grape look-alikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're looking at landscaping plants, you should be aware that guides to &amp;quot;plants of North America&amp;quot; tend to focus on wild-growing plants. A completely different set of plants are used in landscaping, and the ones that don't grow in the the wild are usually ignored by such guidebooks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In landscaping, you could confuse serviceberries with ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Aronia (chokeberry, notice it's not the same plant as chokecherry). Both are edible, and also easy to distinguish if you learn what each fruit looks like. The blossom ends of these fruits have very different shapes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Viburnum - there are lots of different kinds of viburnum used in landscaping. There are some wild viburnums with edible fruits. Viburnum trilobum (found in the wild but usually not in landscaping) has edible fruits Viburnum opulum (used in landscaping and sometimes escaped into the wild) has bitter, unpleasant-tasting fruits. Bitter usually means it's not good for you, but you would probably have to force yourself to eat many more fruits than your tastebuds want in order to make yourself sick.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Silky dogwood (&lt;em&gt;Cornus amomum&lt;/em&gt;), is a thicket-forming multi-stemmed shrub with blue berries. It's native to North America, and is common in native plant landscaping, but not otherwise widely used. I would have assumed the berries were not edible, but I've found several sources saying they are (&lt;a href=&quot;https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cornus%20amomum&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;for example&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;And more. The landscaping industry is constantly introducing new plants, so it's impossible to make a comprehensive list.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a very similar look-alike that I haven't seen mentioned in any edible plant book or reference. &lt;strong&gt;Glossy buckthorn&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Rhamnus frangula&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;Frangula alnus&lt;/em&gt;). Like serviceberry, buckthorn can grow either as a multi-stemmed shrub or as a small tree. It has light-gray bark of a similar shade. It grows in a wide range of habitats, from wet to try, full shade to sun. It's an invasive species, so it tends to insert itself uninvited into landscaping and natural areas. And it has black berries, of a similar size and shape to serviceberries. If you eat buckthorn berries, they have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathartic&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;cathartic effect&lt;/a&gt; (in the medical sense). In layperson's terms, they give you the runs, the trots, the &amp;quot;sprint-for-the-bathrooms&amp;quot;. It could be a day-ruiner, but it's unlikely to kill you. (As &lt;a href=&quot;https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/frangula-alnus/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;North Carolina Plant Toolbox&lt;/a&gt; puts it, &amp;quot;This plant has low severity poison characteristics.&amp;quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comparing Glossy buckthorn vs Serviceberry&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bark color and pattern&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glossy buckthorn bark has pairs of horizontal white lines (the technical term is &amp;quot;lenticel&amp;quot;), about 1-3mm long, that look like equals signs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nzGmD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/nzGmD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(image source: minnesotawildflowers.info)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Serviceberry bark does not have noticeable lenticels. Some varieties have subtle, dark gray vertical lines, but these are not a reliable ID characteristic. The general appearance of the bark is a very smooth, matte gray.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8yPqJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8yPqJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(image source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://treebrowser.org/?filterByType=isTree&amp;amp;sortby=commonName&amp;amp;action=profile&amp;amp;id=551&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;USU tree browser&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Color of unripe and ripe berries&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glossy buckthorn berries start green, then turn yellow, then develop a red blush on the yellow base color, until finally turning &lt;em&gt;black&lt;/em&gt; (not blue). It's very common to see yellow, red and black berries in the same fruit cluster.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7BNa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7BNa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(image source: &lt;a href=&quot;http://minnesotaseasons.com/Plants/glossy_buckthorn.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;minnesotaseasons.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Serviceberries also start green, but then develop straight to red, before becoming a dark blue (not black). As mentioned above, when ripe, almost all the berries on the same bush will be dark blue. A sparse few will be red.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsZKf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsZKf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(image source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backyardforager.com/amelanchier-serviceberry-juneberry/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;backyardforager.com&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In the above berry images, notice that the blossom ends are different. Serviceberries retain some spiky bits that look like remaining flower petals (actually they are the remains of sepals). Next time you eat a blueberry or apple, notice that they have similar spikes. Buckthorn berries lack these spikes; they have a smooth blossom end, with a tiny dot that you have to look very closely to see (it's too small to see in the photo).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Offline References:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Peterson, Lee Allen, 1977. &lt;em&gt;Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America,&lt;/em&gt; Peterson Field Guides Series.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Thayer, Samuel, 2006. &lt;em&gt;The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Braun, E. Lucy, 1989. &lt;em&gt;The Woody Plants of Ohio&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many years of personal experience in North America, identifying wild plants and plants used in landscaping, harvesting and eating edible plants (without dying), and controlling invasive plants (without being fired for killing plants I wasn't supposed to kill).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-07-28T18:15:04.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25284" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21705" CreationDate="2020-07-28T22:53:43.187" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can absolutely season titanium or aluminum cookware, but the process and purpose differ somewhat from those of seasoning cast iron.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seasoning cast iron is often done as a time consuming multi-step process, but is rather durable and generally intended to last, and protects the cookware from corrosion. On the other hand, titanium and aluminum seasoning is best done quickly, and principally for a non-stick surface and not for protection of the cookware material. For those reasons, it is optimal to quickly season titanium or aluminum right before cooking whenever a non-stick surface is desired.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That process is very simple: just heat titanium or aluminum cookware that has been freshly and amply oiled on its cooking surface until it begins to smoke, then wipe away the excess. The cookware will not be blackened by this seasoning, and it won't be very noticeable at all besides maybe some darkening around the edges of the cooking surface, but the cooking surface will have bonded to some of the oil, and the piece is now ready for quite stick-free cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Seasoning should always be repeated between any washings when a non-stick surface is needed, since it will not adhere very strongly to titanium or aluminum, and comes off easily when scrubbed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20013" LastActivityDate="2020-07-28T22:53:43.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25286" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25370" CreationDate="2020-07-29T08:27:57.697" Score="0" ViewCount="78" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This is a verbatim copy of the email I've sent to Primus support (haven't heard from them yet), maybe someone here would be able to help?..&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’ve just bought an Omnilite TI but can’t understand how to prime it with 0.25 jets (for heavier fuels). It works perfectly with other jets.&#xA;The fuel just won’t flow, even though the bottle is pressurised and the system is clean (it’s a new stove). If I put the stove to its side, I can have a few drops of kerosene, but not enough for priming.&#xA;As soon as I replace the jet to 0.32, kerosene starts flowing profusely. Or, if I unscrew the 0.25 jet, the fuel is flowing through it, but not if it’s screwed down.&#xA;If I pour fuel manually from a bottle, burn it and prime the stove, then 0.25 jet works perfectly with kerosene. The problem is with getting the fuel flow BEFORE the system is hot.&#xA;I have even tried replacing that 0.25 jet with a new one from the service kit but it still won’t work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To sum it up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.36 jet with gas - OK&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.32 jet with any kind of fuel - OK&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;0.25 jet with any kind of fuel (kerosene, white gas) - fuel won’t flow for priming (20-30 pump strokes, almost full bottle). When the system is hot, fuel will vaporise and burn, but not before.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m testing it in perfect conditions, with no wind and on a warm sunny day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any ideas or advices? Am I doing something wrong?..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2020-08-18T11:33:14.340" Title="Primus Omnilite liquid fuel stove: can't prime with 0.25 jet" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;liquid-fuel-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25287" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-29T10:35:52.747" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;On short (5-6 day) walks I can do about 26 miles a day as an average.  For longer walks (months) I divide this by two, as a shorter daily distance is easier to sustain over a long period, mentally and physically.  You need to find out your personal statistics for this.  40k in a day is certainly doable, but few walkers could do that day-on-day for a long time.  Even with cautious planning you can make mistakes on a long walk (getting lost, reading the map wrongly) and end up walking 30-40k in a day. As these accidents will happen to the best of us, it's comforting to know that 30k+ on occasional days is not a problem.&#xA;My pack weighs 10 kilos, including tent, mattress, sleeping bag and stove, but excluding water.  It's another skill to get your pack down to that.  By 'long walks' I mean multi-week walks like the Camino de Santiago or Appalachian Trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should say when I did my longest walks I was 60 and had COPD.  So no great athlete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20016" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T10:35:52.747" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25288" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-29T10:39:45.127" Score="18" Body="&lt;p&gt;To add to @csk's answer. It looks from the elevation profile that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/cleveland-way/trail-information/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cleveland Way trail&lt;/a&gt; is fairly flat at one end. If possible I would aim to do the flatter end as the longer walking days rather than doing this over the hilly end, especially if you are not certain of your ability to walk such distances. From the linked page it looks like the hilly end is the Helmsley end. However the guides recommend starting at this end and walking clock-wise so as to be walking with the prevailing winds rather than against. Also for consideration the page has this to say under the &lt;code&gt;&amp;quot;How hard is it?&amp;quot;&lt;/code&gt; tab:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The route is challenging in places, especially the coastal sections, which adds to the overall experience&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know if this refers to the difficulty of navigation or difficulty of actual walking - walking along a sandy or shingle beach is much more difficult than walking on a firm grass or gravel trail, and more energy sapping than walking up-hill in my experience. Any good trail description should give you some idea of the challenges of each section, and I believe these will be available from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://shop.walk.co.uk&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Trust Walks shop&lt;/a&gt; page&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T10:39:45.127" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25290" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-29T14:39:41.307" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;You may be overthinking this. You are not going to carry much luggage (I suppose). You are hiking in England, so the next village is not going to be far away. You will have cell phone coverage along the way. You will probably always have the option of just taking a taxi if you do not feel like hiking one morning. You are a normal and healthy person and you are used to hiking 20 kilometers several days in a row.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;30km+ can be quite unpleasant if the weather is not nice, but otherwise it is just a matter of time. Get up early.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17074" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T14:39:41.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25291" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-29T18:04:33.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gear!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Footwear&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I walked Offa's Dyke from the South to North coasts of Wales (with no advance training - I was younger then), I started with walking boots. By day 3 or four I was getting blisters. After that I changed to trainers (not sure what they're called in other countries - sneakers?) and completed the whole thing with no further problems. This included wading through mud 6&amp;quot; thick and climbing over the Black Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Emergency equipment&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't know your trail but we got caught in thick, freezing cold mist on top of the mountains even though it was sunny in the valleys. We got lost and didn't use a compass for fear of falling off a cliff. Luckily we had good waterproofs and those silvery thermal blankets to wrap up in - they are very light. We just waited it out even though we were probably only 5 miles from a village.  Yorkshire moors? Definitely have the right equipment. It can be very changeable there. Don't rely 100% on mobile phones as there may be radio 'shadows' from the hills. Check your signal.  A good electronic satellite-based location finder is handy although keep switched off most of the time as they are battery hungry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the rain the moors can get boggy and the going can be &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; slower then than when dry. Allow for this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts but didn't decide ahead how long a given day should be. We walked until tired and then phoned ahead to the next B&amp;amp;B - never had a problem. At the start, 15 miles was good going. By the end we were doing up to 30 miles because of increased fitness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different trail but weather makes a lot of difference  over the wilder bits. For the rocky parts, best to go back to boots for ankle support, but then have soft boot soles to prevent sliding when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;P.S. Sorry - forgot to convert to kilometers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6594" LastActivityDate="2020-07-29T18:04:33.153" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25292" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-30T03:40:25.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with another poster in that it sounds like it is within your capability.  I used to do steep mountainous terrain with a heavy backpack 25ks per day and have to sleep in a tent.  What you have to keep in mind is things could go downhill really fast, like blisters and chafing ruining your day.  Chafing was a real problem for me so I used to take a bucket of vasoline with me to deal with it. I suggest you do to, along with other useful medical supplies like eye drops, pain meds, bandages, antiseptic etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T03:40:25.913" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25293" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25087" CreationDate="2020-07-30T04:06:02.867" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Generally speaking that is an idiotic statement in that wiki.  Having said that, coatings theses days can be made out of all sorts of exotic materials, but even if the coating did contain lead its unlikely to have enough of it for it to be dangerous&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T04:06:02.867" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25294" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25297" CreationDate="2020-07-30T14:23:42.427" Score="4" ViewCount="310" Body="&lt;p&gt;I basically like to bomb into forest and set up the tent. While doing this last time I ended in the forest with clay as ground, it had a lot smaller and bigger puddles and I was main meal at mosquito buffet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to avoid this next time, so my question is: if I have maps (Google and OSM) in front of me, is there a way to interpret a map to figure out what conditions are?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I live in Poland and I ask in Polish context, but I would like to know more in general.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19044" LastEditorUserId="19044" LastEditDate="2020-08-02T20:12:18.773" LastActivityDate="2020-08-02T20:12:18.773" Title="How to interpret forest from the map?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25295" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25294" CreationDate="2020-07-30T18:18:44.890" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mosquitoes require water, so look for proximity to swamps, lakes or slow rivers.  Elevation contours would also help, you are less likely to end up in a boggy area if it's on a slope.  I am not sure what else you can deduce from a map here, mostly I'd look for trail reviews/ask on forums for a particular location during a specific season.  Good idea to review contour and riverbeds in any case while camping - you don't want to camp in a flash flood area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T18:18:44.890" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25296" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-30T21:29:31.410" Score="3" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Definitely not - and you shouldn't be considering a solo walk either&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That distance is achievable, on the flat or very easy terrain, at a decent level of fitness and body conditioning. Typically you'd hit an appropriate level of fitness and conditioning to do this around day 4 of a trip. The first two days are always hard though, as your body acclimates. No competent walker would consider starting on two long days, unless they were already well in shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those first two days are not on the flat though. They're going over the North York Moors, with plenty of height gain and rough ground. Some people could manage it still - but if you have to ask the question, you certainly aren't one of those people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as far as your ideas for route planning go, you have a definite no there, for starters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then we hit your plans for solo walking. To summarise the situation for you, we have&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;a solo walker&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without having previously done any long-distance walking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without the map reading skills to spot height gain&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without knowledge of how height gain affects route planning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not especially fit&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;attempting a distance beyond fitness level&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In unfamiliar country&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without essential survival equipment&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;without appropriate food and clothing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I may have missed some points on the list,  but I hope I've got the message across. You are quite literally an accidental statistic waiting to happen, a living (for now!) checklist of all the ways anyone can screw up on the hills. You would not only be risking your own life, but the lives of the mountain rescue team if any of these numerous risks turn into an incident, which is &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; more likely with all these factors in play.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By all means do go walking. But if you're going to go walking solo, with your level of experience, go somewhere safe where you can guarantee plenty of other people around you. The Lakes or the Peak District are great choices for this. Get your experience somewhere where you can make mistakes and still be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's no reason you couldn't think about this plan in a couple of years time. You might even be able to train to prepare yourself for a hard first couple of days. Right now though, please don't do this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T21:29:31.410" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25297" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25294" CreationDate="2020-07-30T22:40:05.497" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As far as I know there is no way on google maps or open street maps to determine what the soil type is in any particular area, you would need a geologic map (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr03301&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;)for that, and even then it is only going to give you a suggestion as to what it is as geologic maps are usually concerned with rock types, though they can also cover sedimentary deposits such as clays and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alluvium&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alluvial deposits&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clay in particular is a problem for pooling water as they are very fine sediment which is fairly water-impermeable, making it hard for water to drain away. Clays are often, but definitely not always found in river valleys and similar situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can however interpret some things from google maps if you turn on the contours and/or satellite images. With the contours - the closer they are together, the steeper the terrain, and the less likely it will be that you have water depositing on the surface. However, this can also mean that an flattish area (such as you might want to camp on) in the middle of a steep one might pool water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The satellite images can tell you what sort of cover to expect - trees, bushes, grass. Sometimes vegetation can give you an indication of what is lying below the surface - for instance &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxodium_distichum&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;swamp cypress&lt;/a&gt; almost always grow near water in flat lands - so you would want to avoid those, whereas pines tend to prefer steeper terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-30T22:40:05.497" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25298" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25201" CreationDate="2020-07-31T02:19:21.880" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a diver of 30 years now I doubt you will derive much benefit from using a run of the mill torch in cloudy water.  Using a torch means giving up one of your hands so when it comes time to feel around on the bottom you will be very restricted and clumsy doing it with one hand and you will get unbalanced.  You won't forget where the surface is, as you will naturally float upwards, but you may find yourself under an obstruction that may very well cause you to panic and drown&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-07-31T02:19:21.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25299" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25294" CreationDate="2020-07-31T02:23:40.660" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your best bet is to find a local topographic map.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google maps cannot even provide the right house numbers in my area, let alone topographic feature reliability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending upon where you live, there should be a govt agency that will publish topographic maps that should show in more detail what the local landscape is.&#xA;More information on topographic maps here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_map&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20034" LastActivityDate="2020-07-31T02:23:40.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25301" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25280" CreationDate="2020-07-31T15:09:56.303" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;In my late 40s (5 years ago) I trained myself up from daily dog-walking (approx 5km per day) to walking The Ridgeway (140km) with my dog in 4 days.  I did this by extending my walks to about 8km, while building up the weight I was carrying.  I also wore all the kit that I would be wearing for the event itself.  I did longer walks at the weekend, but nothing more than about 16km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So after 2 months, I was ready and was carrying 19kg on my daily walks, made up of 2-litre bottles of tap water wrapped in towels to stop them squeaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For relative comparison, I'm 6'2&amp;quot;, 14-15 stone (90-95kg ish), and relatively healthy. I was doing the walk for charity, which gave me an extra drive and motivation that may have pushed me a bit beyond what I should have done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My daily splits were approximately 36km, 28km, 48km, 30km (due to a bit of bad planning regarding the 3rd day). Fortunately, I only camped out on the first night, as halfway was my home and the 3rd night it was raining so heavily that a delightful pub landlady let us sleep on the floor of the bar, rather than camp in the garden as planned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried to start my days around 8am, walk till about 11, then eat and rest for 30-40 minutes. Then walk again till 2pm, a shorter rest and snack, then finish it off.  On day 3 of the above it all went wrong because I overslept and mis-measured the distance, doing the last 2 hours in the dark and the last hour of that in lashing rain.  Thank goodness for a border collie's nose leading the way on at least one occasion in the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ended up carrying about 15kg, which included things I didn't use, and more water than I needed.  I also had food, drink and bedding for my dog too.  So, I reckon that with some preparation and common sense you should be able to meet your challenge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Ridgeway is a pretty tame walk, and well signposted, so very little in the way of hiking knowledge was needed. It stays close to civilisation, and even passes through a few towns where water bottles can be topped up etc.  So bear in mind that The Cleveland Way is a bit more challenging, and make sure you are logistically prepared with GPS, first aid etc as others have advised.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Incidentally, I did The Ridgeway again the following year in two days for a different charity.  I was a wreck at the end of that, and don't recommend it to anyone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8569" LastActivityDate="2020-07-31T15:09:56.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25302" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25303" CreationDate="2020-07-31T16:56:25.667" Score="3" ViewCount="358" Body="&lt;p&gt;Freeze-drying seems to be the perfect method for food preservation to take on trips to the outdoors:  is the most lightweight food can be, can be shipped around the world easily, the majority of nutritional value is retained, no preservatives are needed and most important, no energy, no electricity is required to keep it good, and it can last years. Just add water and mix to get kind of a smoothie. Seemingly it should be vastly superior to any other method of food preservation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why are other methods still much more popular, and easier to buy such preserved foods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;canning&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;soaking in solutions of large amounts of sugar or salt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high-heat drying&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;freezing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fermentation&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All these above methods seem not as good as freeze-drying, yet they are all much more popular on the market, and freeze-dried food seems to be quite a rare and obscure thing to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some freeze-dried powdered fruits and vegetables on the market, but few and far in between, there is infinitely more vendors selling canned fruits and vegetables, which are heavy, don't last as long, and are often loaded with added sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's even more rare to find freeze-dried meat or fish for sale, but you can buy canned sardine almost everywhere. Canned food seems to be the most popular preserved food to take on hiking trips without cooking facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Freeze-dried milk is kinda available, but also mostly for speciality milk like camel milk, normal cow milk is mostly heat spray dried, which not only doesn't have as much water removed so it doesn't last as long, but also the heat used damages some vitamins, so freeze-dried would be more nutritious and healthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can buy an expensive freeze-drier and do it yourself at home, but given all the amazing benefits of freeze-dried foods, and almost no difference compared to fresh when making a smoothie, I find it strange commercial-made freeze-dried food is relatively rare to find for sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One might say that the canned version more resembles the original fruit or vegetable, but blenders and smoothies are very popular, so why not freeze-dried food?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The high cost of freeze-drying and thus the final price of the food being too high could be the reason, but there a lot of food intended as pet food sold freeze-dried. One usually have a higher acceptable price for food for their pets then themselves, so if the economy works for pet food, it should work for human food too. Actually the majority of freeze-dried food for sale online is pet food (although some of it could be fine to eat as humans too).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is wrong with freeze-dried food, what is the reason it is not much more popular then it is, resulting in poor choice and very small amount of vendors selling it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9884" LastActivityDate="2020-09-17T12:49:35.440" Title="Why is freeze-dried food not much more popular?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25303" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25302" CreationDate="2020-07-31T21:02:27.183" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is that it is very expensive to make compared to other forms of preservation, especially in the home. Canning can be done at home with nothing more than jars, lids, water and an oven. Smoking you need a fire and something to hold the meat. Freezing, you need a source of cold (which we &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigeration#Home_and_consumer_use&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;usually didn't have until very recently in human history&lt;/a&gt;). Drying can be done at low or high heat, so you can use a fire, or even lay it out in the sun if your climate is warm and dry enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To freeze-dry you need both a vacuum unit and a heavy-duty refrigeration unit in done device. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze-drying#Stages_of_freeze_drying&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freeze-drying&lt;/a&gt; is usually done by lowering the temperature below the triple-point and then lowering the pressure so that the ice formed sublimates. This is a very slow process for solid materials such as meats and vegetables, because removing enough of the water out of a lump of meat is difficult, relying on diffusion (in the order of micrometers/hour). For liquid formulations such as used in vaccines and similar materials it is much faster because the liquid can be spread out over the surface into a thin layer allowing the ice to sublimate rapidly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additional issues involve rehydration - this is slow for most meats and often results in unpalatable food that is difficult to eat (chewy) and is not particularly tasty. Vegetables and fruit that have been freeze-dried are much better (in my opinion) and can often be eaten in the freeze-dried state or rehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my country (NZ) the majority of freeze-dried food is sold as food for hikers and hunters, it is relatively expensive per meal (~$8-12 per person/meal). It is generally sold as a pre-packaged meal designed to look like your average meal - some visible carbohydrates, some vegetables and often some strips of meat. It is not usually sold as a powder suitable for turning into a smoothie. In my understanding most vegetables might be suitable for this form of preparation, but most meats are not because of the structure of the myosin fibers in the muscle tissue and the connective tissues will not form powders, no matter how much they are dried (this is why they used to be used for things like bow-strings). Liver and sweet-breads might be some exceptions to this as they are much more homogenous in structure and don't contain much if any connective tissue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pet-food on the other hand can be lower quality and the pets tend to not care (as far as we can tell) about taste and texture so much as people do. Pet foods can also be manufactured to lower safety standards than foods for human consumption, these combined make it more affordable for the companies to freeze-dry pet foods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dairy products need to be heat-treated before or during the drying process to kill any contaminating micro-organisms. This is a process called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Pasteurization&lt;/a&gt;, and is performed because milk can carry things like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycobacteria&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Mycobacteria&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listeria&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Listeria&lt;/a&gt;. It is cheaper and easier to spray-pasterize into a powder than it is to freeze-dry. In fact I think in most of the western world at least, that most milk is sray-pasteurized and then re-consitituted to make the 2% (skim), 4% (regular) etc. milk that is bought in many shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-07-31T21:02:27.183" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25304" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-01T01:05:26.627" Score="0" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a perforation in my left ear. Is it okay to do scuba diving?&#xA;If possible will there be any limitations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a perforation in left outer ear. Small in size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If scuba diving is not possible with perforated eardrum, what other ways can one go under water that does not let water go inside perforated eardrum ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20041" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-08-10T11:15:23.073" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T11:15:23.073" Title="Is it possible to dive having perforation in ears" Tags="&lt;health&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25306" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7169" CreationDate="2020-08-01T05:34:04.270" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen and used that. The holes were about 200 uses each. Sawdust was provided to drop down. It worked wonders against smell, no idea how suitable would soil or leaves be. Also there was a wooden platform with a hole over each hole. Luxurious!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T05:34:04.270" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25307" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25304" CreationDate="2020-08-01T12:37:25.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If the perforation is in your eardrum then the recommendation is not to dive, as you could end up with water in your inner ear that can then easily lead to infection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would suggest visiting your local GP.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-08-01T19:29:36.410" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T19:29:36.410" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25308" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25304" CreationDate="2020-08-01T13:05:06.070" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ultimately it is up to you what you want to do.  Whilst it may not be recommended it may be possible and testing your equalisation in a public pool that has a 10m dive platform will be the best way for you to figure this out.  I wouldn't just try once either, I would try many times especially when you have congestion or a cold to see how pressure affects your inner ear.  BTW ear plugs are not recommended for diving, there is no such thing as ear plugs for scuba diving&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T13:05:06.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25309" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-01T18:35:10.617" Score="7" ViewCount="327" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does anyone know what this line of circles on a map represents? (the ones that start to the east of where it says Hangman's Hill) It is near Malvern. We passed some rocks but they were probably 300 meters away from the map feature, and the circles look too 'perfect' to represent rocks? It is an OS 1:25000. &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20044" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-08-01T21:44:38.110" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T12:46:48.157" Title="Unknown map symbol" Tags="&lt;uk&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;ordnance-survey&gt;" AnswerCount="6" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25311" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-08-01T21:47:19.610" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nothing appears there on the satellite view, although the tree cover could well be concealing whatever it is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My best guess at the moment is that this is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fictitious entry&lt;/a&gt; that is added by cartographers to catch out copyright violators who blatantly rip off their work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These fake entries also go by the names “Mountweazel”, “&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Trap Street&lt;/a&gt;”, and others depending on the type of work they appear in, named after famous examples.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T21:47:19.610" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25312" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-08-01T23:16:25.357" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had a look through the symbols/legend for the ordnance survey maps &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/assets/doc/Explorer-25k-Legend-en.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (PDF), and could find nothing that matches exactly the type of symbol you have shown.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest were &lt;code&gt;boulders&lt;/code&gt; (under &lt;code&gt;Heights and Other Natural Features&lt;/code&gt;), but these would be normally oval/irregular shapes rather than circles, and with a heavier weighting on the line. The other possible match is &lt;code&gt;&amp;quot;other pit or quarry&amp;quot;&lt;/code&gt; under &lt;code&gt;General Features&lt;/code&gt;, but this would be associated with a dashed line that outlines the general boundary of the pit or quarry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ordnance survey has, as of 2010 imposed more strict copyright claims on its maps (see information &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/mapping_resources&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; under Ordnance Survey), so it is entirely possible that these are either printer's marks or as @Darren suggested placed there to catch copyright infringement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-01T23:16:25.357" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25313" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25237" CreationDate="2020-08-02T05:12:34.457" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could do what I did for a friendly family of skunks under my front porch.  Set up a one-way trapdoor that lets it go out but doesn't let it back in.  That's what the exterminator was going to do for $500, did it myself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Might be a simple as glueing/taping a clear piece of plastic that it can easily push out from the inside, but can't push aside from the outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2020-08-02T05:12:34.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25314" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-08-02T18:09:23.670" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The closest match with the &lt;a href=&quot;https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56cc47ca86db43e25e2f409b/t/57923ec5bebafb95b9916cd5/1469202125494/25k-map-symbol-flashcards.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1:25000 OS map symbols&lt;/a&gt; that I can see is &lt;strong&gt;#16 scree&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btl3F.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/btl3F.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The circles are not shown on the 1:50000 map and there is no &lt;strong&gt;scree&lt;/strong&gt; symbol &lt;a href=&quot;https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56cc47ca86db43e25e2f409b/t/57923e93ff7c50b3c7d634b9/1469202072856/50k-map-symbol-flashcards.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;for that map range&lt;/a&gt; either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The circles are all the same size: perhaps there are just a few small distinct patches of scree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2020-08-02T18:09:23.670" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25316" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-02T23:03:32.967" Score="0" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wondering if you know what type of tree are those two?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NBD9M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/NBD9M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OX0SV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OX0SV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20049" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T14:20:05.100" Title="What is this type of tree?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;tree-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25317" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25316" CreationDate="2020-08-03T14:20:05.100" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Hard to identify from the pictures, but I am pretty sure it is a birch tree.&#xA;The white spots on the bark and the structure of the leafs are a good indicators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19427" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T14:20:05.100" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25318" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19982" CreationDate="2020-08-03T16:47:53.463" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Us too! Ramatuelle, southern France. 4 years at the same site an no problems but this year they’ve crawled along the guys and nibbled through the fly sheet. Funny enough they’ve only touch the grey material. Now I’ve got a shed load of holes to patch as the tent tent is a little too young to ‘up grade’. Standard mozi spray seems a good deterrent as to whether this destroys the proofing who knows but compared to a hundred holes in the roof who cares?! Thankfully it’s 37c and zero rain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20051" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T16:47:53.463" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25319" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14862" CreationDate="2020-08-03T20:51:05.963" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wild boars are lovely animals and generally speaking if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. I have camped in France where boar brushed against my small tent every night looking for food. I was careful and put all food in the car at night- no problem. Another camper was not so wise and kept food overnight in his large tent. The result was that a large male ripped a hole in the tent and made off with some food! They usually sniff around and if they find nothing move on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20053" LastActivityDate="2020-08-03T20:51:05.963" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25320" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8285" CreationDate="2020-08-03T21:45:27.320" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are many references available on the internet regarding consumption of ash from untreated wood. The practice apparently dates into prehistory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, as a few people have pointed out, the intent was not to use the ash as a food but as a food modifier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My own research shows four main uses:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;as a leavening agent, both in Europe and in North America prior to the European invasion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;as a detoxifier. Some Native Americans used ash to remove tannins from acorns. The potassium binds with the tannins, resulting in fewer washings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;As a pickling adjunct in Europe. The lye formed by mixing ash and water helps break down the organic tissue, promoting better absorption of pickling agents. The same mechanism was adopted to increase the efficiency of the hide-tanning process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;To increase the bio-availability of B-vitamins in Native American mais.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conclusion: yes, humans have been using wood ashes as a food additive for thousands of years throughout the world but, no, they have never eaten the ash as a food in itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, an invitation to reason. As Karen points out, ash is the product of burning wood at temperatures high enough to break most organic chemical bonds. Scientists have analysed all kinds of wood ashes - the stuff used to have significant commercial value, after all. There is nothing in wood ash that can serve as a source of human calories. We may not &lt;em&gt;like&lt;/em&gt; that conclusion, but our likes and dislikes do not alter the facts. Thanks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20055" LastEditorUserId="2410" LastEditDate="2020-08-06T20:38:51.410" LastActivityDate="2020-08-06T20:38:51.410" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25321" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25322" CreationDate="2020-08-04T06:27:23.183" Score="2" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have Tyvek 1443R and I realized I don't know which side should I put it down -- I would like that any vapor goes from above to the ground, but not from the ground up (so it will breathe out, not in).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One side of Tyvek 1443R is smooth/slippery, and the other is rather rough (compared to the first one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in which direction vapor goes -- from smooth to rough, or vice versa?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19044" LastActivityDate="2020-08-04T08:26:44.550" Title="How to lie down Tyvek as a ground sheet?" Tags="&lt;tyvek&gt;&lt;tent-footprints&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25322" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25321" CreationDate="2020-08-04T08:26:44.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both is the answer to this. Tyvek 1443r is bonded oleofin, so it is all one material, just one side has been pressed to bond it all together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-04T08:26:44.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25324" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-04T19:06:01.157" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to manually create a topographical heightmap of a hillside property with the highest possible accuracy for the altitude. This will later serve as the basis for planning terraces and building placement. The only piece of equipment that is available to me is my old Garmin Oregon 750t. The property is roughly 2400 m² and has a lot of landmarks (small paths, brushes, some rocks) and border stones which I can recognize in aerial photos, so longitudal and latitudal accuracy are not the issue here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My concern is that the accuracy of the Garmin's built-in altimeter says ±15 meter (or ±50 feet) &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-IN/?faq=WlvNrOungC28xGtwB7hLY5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For my purpose the accuracy of the &lt;strong&gt;absolute&lt;/strong&gt; altitude would not matter, but the &lt;strong&gt;relative&lt;/strong&gt; altitude  on the property should be correct with roughly ±1 m deviation (regarding to an arbitrary chosen reference point, e.g. the south-eastern border stone).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So assuming the following for the measurement of multiple location on the property:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Correctly calibrated altimeter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mostly constant local temperature&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mostly constant local air pressure&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I guess it will take me about an hour to walk over all points and write down the data, so the above assumption ought to be correct (hopefully).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is the (estimated) local accuracy of these altitude measurements?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QICTR.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QICTR.png&quot; alt=&quot;Example of height samples spread over the property&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20058" LastActivityDate="2020-08-06T05:09:04.470" Title="What is the local accuracy of the Garmin Oregon 750 barometric altimeter?" Tags="&lt;diy&gt;&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25325" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-04T23:01:17.800" Score="1" ViewCount="124" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of years ago I went to an owl cafe in Tokyo. I held three owls there, but unfortunately I can only remember the species of two of them. I would really appreciate some help identifying what owl this small guy is. I have a feeling he's a scops owl, but I don't know which kind? Maybe the information is written right there in Japanese, but I have no idea. The feather belongs to him too and I can add more photos of it out of the plastic if that would help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I apologise for the selfie and the terrible quality of the photos!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/gxKkzWz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/aiGAQbk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;2&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/jYjJymT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;3&quot; /&gt;&#xA;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.imgur.com/9YOG3gS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;4&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19992" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2020-08-05T07:20:01.277" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T08:04:10.480" Title="What kind of owl is this?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25326" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25325" CreationDate="2020-08-05T00:10:53.780" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I had a google search for owl cafes in Japan - and most of them are in Tokyo (as you might expect). I looked at the websites for 3 of them and found &lt;a href=&quot;http://mohumohu99.jp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cafe MohuMohu&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Passing this website through google translate (&lt;a href=&quot;https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fmohumohu99.jp%2F&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;translated&lt;/a&gt;) gave me an indication that the big green button on the front page was for their owl &amp;quot;Friends&amp;quot; page. Clicking on this (in the untranslated page) leads to pictures of their owls. The closest of which is the one called &amp;quot;Tobio&amp;quot;, not &amp;quot;Koromo&amp;quot; as your first picture indicates. If you translate the &amp;quot;Friends&amp;quot; page it tells you that Tobio is a spic scoon owl - which is not a real species of owl as far as I can tell, and is very likely a translation failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that the owl you are holding there is indeed a Scops Owl - they are a very diverse group of owls. So, which one of the many is it? Well, it just so happens that there is one species of Scops Owl, called the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=770&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Japanese Scops Owl&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Otus semitorques&lt;/em&gt;), which is about the right size and coloration, and has very prominent ear-tufts and a pale facial disc, similar to the owl that you are holding (more photos &lt;a href=&quot;https://ebird.org/species/jasowl1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-05T00:10:53.780" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25327" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-05T06:27:45.053" Score="4" ViewCount="304" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming one is well hydrated, wears light clothes and hikes in the shade, why exactly does hiking in hot, humid weather seem so much more exhausting than the same hike in cooler weather?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background and motivation for posting this, though all I need the answer to the main question above:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a hill I frequently walk up on a combination of stone steps and incline, and in the last decade my time has gotten shorter (now about 15 minutes) it feels easier because I've been more active.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However during the summer here the same hike also seems to have gotten more exhausting here, but only during hot and humid days, say above 33 C and 80% humidity.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12619" LastEditorUserId="12619" LastEditDate="2020-08-08T11:04:25.853" LastActivityDate="2020-08-11T14:11:53.503" Title="Why exactly does hiking in hot, humid weather seem so much more exhausting?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;hydration&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25328" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25324" CreationDate="2020-08-05T07:42:05.027" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Averaging would help a lot. I assume the &lt;em&gt;precision&lt;/em&gt; is smaller than the &lt;em&gt;accuracy&lt;/em&gt;, as it is on my old etrex and all phones, with or without barometers (it probably reads to the nearest metre, maybe even the nearest foot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ideally you'd survey exactly the same spots multiple times, and for each spot work out an average height. I would offset (subtract a constant value from) each set of heights so the your datum (SE border stone) is at zero, then average, then add back the best value you can get for this point at the very end. Offsetting like this avoids issues from calibration differences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difficulty is that you need about a factor of 10 improvement. Assuming random error, this would mean 100 surveys. However I suspect that the stated accuracy is worse than a best case, so by surveying on days when the weather is constant and holding the device consistently you'll already do better than 15m, and could reduce the number of surveys.  You can test by leaving it logging in one place for the length of a typical survey (your datum stone, then you could use this data) and looking at the standard deviation of the resulting log. Logging to a GPX file would allow easy extraction of the heights, perhaps using GPSbabel to convert to a CSV file.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-08-05T07:42:05.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25329" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-05T15:05:53.703" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;This bug appeared on the underside of a pepper plant and has spread through out my vegetables. It is about the size of a pin head. it is black with a hard shell. It leaves a trail behind it but i never see it moving. it does not look segmented but then it is so small and I don't have a magnifying glass. This is in the Orlando Florida area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have my thumb in the picture so you can see the size comparison.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3G4U9.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3G4U9.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20061" LastEditorUserId="20061" LastEditDate="2020-08-06T12:18:29.300" LastActivityDate="2020-08-06T12:18:29.300" Title="Unknown Bug - Pin Head Size Round Black Hard Shell found in Vegi Garden" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25330" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-05T21:59:05.913" Score="0" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;As Camels are strong and can go days if not not longer without food or water, would that make them the best pack animal in most if not all situations? As you do not have to feed or give them water  every day They can be cheaper then other animals&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For farmers or anyone else who uses animals I do not know how money they spend on feed for any given time period. As Camels eat less then other animals and can get the job done would that make them the best as they in the long run cost less?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20064" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T20:45:16.833" Title="Are Camels the best overall pack animals?" Tags="&lt;pack-animals&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25331" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25324" CreationDate="2020-08-06T05:09:04.470" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use a marked stick or pole and a sighting level. I got the level at a building supply or do it yourself store. You mark the stick in say 0.1m increments. One person stays in a same spot and another goes to different  locations. You look through the sighting level and with its bubble you level the sight and read the mark on the stick and record them on your map. With a reasonable sized you'll have to move down the slope several times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20065" LastActivityDate="2020-08-06T05:09:04.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25332" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-06T08:33:00.143" Score="2" ViewCount="208" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm working on a personal statement that turns on a challenging climbing trip in the Sierras and I'm having trouble conveying the story without relying on lingo, like &amp;quot;leading a pitch.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the particular context in which it will be read, people are very unlikely to know what leading is—perhaps even to know what climbing consists in—so I need a good, short phrase to convey what's involved in leading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20067" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T08:51:06.507" Title="How would you describe &quot;leading a pitch&quot; to lay people?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25333" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25332" CreationDate="2020-08-06T09:38:16.890" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don’t think you need to distinguish between leading, seconding, top roping or whatever. As you state, the terminology is meaningless to most non-climbers. Even top-roping a low grade pitch can look or sound impressive to most lay-people if it’s exposed or high up a peak so just go with “I climbed a mountain” or whatever. Maybe embellish it a bit with &amp;quot;only 20 people a year manage to complete this route&amp;quot; or whatever the number is, or another interesting fact, but know your audience and keep the technical lingo out unless it's a job application for an outdoor centre or similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do mention leading, it will be taken in the context of “being in charge” and if that is true and you did lead a group then include that fact, as it shows you have taken responsibility for others, are trusted by them, and (presumably) got everyone down safely. If you were solo or in a pair, then mention that too as it shows independence and strength of character.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2020-08-07T06:36:52.073" LastActivityDate="2020-08-07T06:36:52.073" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25334" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25330" CreationDate="2020-08-06T20:05:28.410" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are Camels the best overall pack animals?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The answer will depend on several factors, but in general, camels may well be the best overall domesticated pack animal on the planet! It all depends on one’s perspective and geographical location, since camels are definitely not found all over the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;6“A multitude of camels will cover you,&#xA;The young camels of Midian and Ephah;&#xA;All those from Sheba will come;&#xA;They will bring gold and frankincense,&#xA;And will bear good news of the praises of the LORD. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://biblehub.com/context/isaiah/60-6.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Isaiah 60:6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/strong&gt; has the following to say about camels and camel products:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Domesticated Bactrian camels have served as pack animals in inner Asia since ancient times. With its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitudes, it enabled the travel of caravans on the Silk Road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bactrian camels were imported to the US several times in the mid- to late 1800s, both by the US military and by merchants and miners, looking for pack animals sturdier and hardier than horses and mules. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactrian_camel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bactrian camels&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camels are able to carry truly heavy loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Humans have used camels as a means of transport for thousands of years. They can carry about 375 to 600 lbs. (170 to 270 kilograms) on their backs, according to National Geographic. This earned these beasts of burden a nickname, &amp;quot;ships of the desert.&amp;quot; Domestic camels are often the main source of meat, milk and even leather or wool products. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/27503-camels.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camels: Facts, Types &amp;amp; Pictures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fact that they can carry such weight is impressive. The weight that a camel can carry is only rivalled by the yak as a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_animal&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;pack animal&lt;/a&gt;, which can carry equally heavy loads for short durations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These amazing creatures will eat almost anything except meat. They herbivores after all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diet&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camels aren't picky about what they eat. Their thick lips allow them to eat things that most other animals couldn't, such as thorny plants. Camels are herbivores, though, so you won't find them eating meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Filling up on water, when it's available, is very important for camels. They can drink 30 gallons (113 liters) of water in just 13 minutes. Their bodies rehydrate faster than any other mammal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When there is little food and water, the camel's hump fat releases water; 9.3 grams of fat releases 1.13 grams of water, according to research by the &lt;a href=&quot;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0307-4412%2881%2990212-0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of Singapore&lt;/a&gt;. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.livescience.com/27503-camels.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camels: Facts, Types &amp;amp; Pictures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camels do have a low feed requirements. However, when packing supplies their water intact at times could be impressive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The grazing camel has low feed requirements (Gauthier-Pilters, 1979). They eat 8–12 kg of dry matter a day, about 30–40 kg of fresh pasture with 80 percent water content. But normal daily feed intake averages 10–20 kg fresh feed, i.e. 5–10 kg dry matter a day. The amount most frequently eaten was 6–7 kg of dry matter a day. This is a most important observation when discussing other methods of housing and feeding. In addition, the feed intake observation applies to an animal understanding standard work consisting of carrying 120 kg for 6 hours a day at 5 kg per hour. Camels can thrive for months by eating only 5 kg of dry fodder a day. The minimum ration is about 2 kg a day, recorded in the drought of 1973.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although water is an essential part of an animal's diet, the camel can survive long periods without drinking, and then replenish the loss in a very short time (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1964; Yagil, et al., 1974). Nevertheless, water needs are dictated nor only by the climate, but also by feed (GautierPilters, 1979). (In autumn, when grazing on Acacia, the camels requires 4 ½ liters of water per day.) This increases to 13 liters in the spring and reaches 30 liters a day when grazing on salty pastures. In sourthern Algeria, during the summer season, eating evergreen bushes supplies the equivalent of 15–20 liters of water a day. Even on dry food, straw and concentrated feed, the camel is unaffected by a lack of water for up to ten days or more (Yagil, et al., 1974). From October to May there is so much fluid in the vegetation that the camel does not require drinking water (Gauthier-Pilters, 1979; Macfarlane, 1977; Schmidt-Nielsen, 1956).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The mechanisms that enable the camel to go long periods without water are those which allow for a low rate of water loss and a high tolerance to dehydration (Gauthier-Pilters, 1979). Even though body weight losses of 40 percent can be found, camels only stop eating after more than a third of the body weight is lost. The rapid replenishment of losses (Yagil, et al., 1974) and the fact that the camels do not muddy water supplies mean a far more efficient utilization of water (Dahl and Hjort, 1979). The same mechanisms allow the dehydrated, lactating camel to produce diluted milk (Yagil and Etzion, 1980). However, water supplies must be readily available as a herd of camels will drink large amounts in a very short time, so that slowly drawing buckets of water from a well will not suffice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water is an essential element for lactating animals, both for drinking and for the growth of vegetation. Both sheep (Stephenson, et al., 1980) and cattle (Bianca, 1965) need free access to water for adequate lactation. Lactating sheep and cattle have a much higher obligatory water turnover. Water is also essential to the camel, even though the milk production is unaffected by seven days of dehydration (Yagil and Etzion, 1980). When introducing plants into the camel's grazing areas, vegetation which is drought resistant and requires minimal water must be chosen. When referring to the radius of grazing for various animals (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1965, it appears that the camels has, by far, the greatest grazing radius. This can also be used in planning a better exploitation of the water resources and introduction of plants. - &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.fao.org/3/x6528e/X6528E08.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;VIII. MANAGEMENT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Trekking through the desert with camels has the benefit of being able a little camel milk if you have a lactating female in the group with you. Camel milk has been a part of traditional diets for certain nomadic populations throughout history. It has recently gained attention as a health food in more developed countries.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camels have long been a valued part of Middle Eastern culture thanks to their hardiness and, in particular, their ability to remain active even when little water is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In conditions that would defeat creatures such as horses, tough-as-old-boots camels can just keep on going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the value they have brought to humankind has, for a long time, extended beyond lugging around loads and carrying people from place to place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Their milk has been drunk by people since as far back as 5,000 years ago and, thanks to its ready availability in supermarkets here, many UAE residents enjoy a glass or two with their meals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those who drank camel milk in past millennia were onto a good thing, because modern-day science has shed light on a host of health benefits associated with its consumption. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thenational.ae/uae/how-camel-milk-could-be-better-for-you-than-anyone-imagined-1.141543&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How camel milk could be better for you than anyone imagined&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once again &lt;strong&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/strong&gt; has the following to say about camel’s milk:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal itself; &lt;strong&gt;a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camel milk can readily be made into yogurt, but can only be made into butter if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet in the 1990s. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Camel milk can also be made into ice cream. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following articles may be of interest:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/camel-milk-benefits#section2&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6 Surprising Benefits of Camel Milk (And 3 Downsides)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/07/is-camel-milk-the-new-super-food-or-food-safety-roulette/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Is camel milk the new super food or food safety roulette?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_cavalry&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camel cavalry (camelry)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-08-10T20:45:16.833" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T20:45:16.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25335" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25337" CreationDate="2020-08-07T14:21:19.253" Score="5" ViewCount="545" Body="&lt;p&gt;I just bought a kitchen sink from STS (it is &amp;quot;just&amp;quot; a bag) which says to use it at least 100 meters from water. Since one can use the sink to do anything the distance seems valid, but I wonder -- if one has only a shirt with dirt/sweat to wash, and the soap is biodegradable (Dr.Bronner's) is it still 100 meters or the safe distance is smaller in such case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19044" LastEditorUserId="19044" LastEditDate="2020-08-09T05:15:02.093" LastActivityDate="2020-08-09T06:28:20.863" Title="What is the safe distance of washing with biodegradable soap?" Tags="&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25336" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-07T17:18:00.687" Score="4" ViewCount="91" Body="&lt;p&gt;I try to look forward and flip to my back to look backward every five or so strokes, but my goggles eventually fog up. It's hard to see boats unless I'm constantly stopping to clean out my goggles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Would it be a good idea to tie a helium mylar balloon around my waist? I think this would be a good way for boats to notice me more easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I swim for about 1-2 hours. Usually I see at least two boats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9b6x7.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/9b6x7.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19172" LastEditorUserId="19172" LastEditDate="2020-08-07T17:38:09.673" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T08:24:00.020" Title="In a river with light traffic, while swimming its length, how to be better seen by boats?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;boats&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25337" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25335" CreationDate="2020-08-07T18:19:38.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is the &lt;strong&gt;soap&lt;/strong&gt; that is the problem, not the the dirt washed out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This site &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.backcountryattitude.com/biodegradable_soap.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Even Biodegradable Soap Can Pollute Water Sources&lt;/a&gt; says&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We really need to clear up some misconceptions about biodegradable soap. There are many people out there with good intentions who are using biodegradable camp soap or shampoo when camping or backpacking thinking that it is good for the environment. Biodegradable soaps are preferred over other soaps but should still be used at least 200 feet from any water sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and on to this (my bolding)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Biodegradable soap is NOT biodegradable when it ends up in a river or lake because &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;it requires soil&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; for it to breakdown properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Biodegradable soap is NOT NATURAL.... it is a &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;chemical&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you wouldn't want to &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;drink it&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; then keep it out of water sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The site has other advice about alternatives to so-called &lt;strong&gt;safe&lt;/strong&gt; soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;HR&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The website of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.99boulders.com/best-biodegradable-soaps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;99Boulders&lt;/a&gt; talks about biodegradable soaps:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do not dispose of any soapy water in backcountry water sources — even water with biodegradable soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead, to dispose of soapy water, most biodegradable soap brands and Leave No Trace principles recommend you pour it into a cathole that is 6 to 8 inches deep and 200 feet away from water sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doing so has a couple benefits:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It lessens the attraction of wildlife as compared to the “broadcast method” which also broadcasts the smell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It allows bacteria in the soil to biodegrade the soap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;HR&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Exploring what it means for something to be &lt;strong&gt;biodegradable&lt;/strong&gt;, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-does-biodegradable-mean-2538213&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Balance Small Business&lt;/a&gt; website about environmentally sustainable businesses, says:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If something is biodegradable, then, given the right conditions and presence of microorganisms, fungi, or bacteria, it will eventually break down to its basic components and blend back in with the earth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So being &lt;strong&gt;biodegradable&lt;/strong&gt;, does not mean the product is harmless, or can be disposed of anywhere. It means that, in time, in the right conditions, the substance will decay in a way that is not harmful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastEditorUserId="17547" LastEditDate="2020-08-09T06:28:20.863" LastActivityDate="2020-08-09T06:28:20.863" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25338" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25335" CreationDate="2020-08-08T01:05:42.357" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;First, I agree with @Weather Vane that &amp;quot;it is the soap that is the problem not the dirt washed out.&amp;quot;  Carrying that further, unless you are going directly to a formal or business function from the trailhead (unlikely!!) you can get a shirt clean enough so that it feels crisp and smells clean and looks pretty good &lt;strong&gt;without using soap at all.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This works best if you are near a small waterfall.  Just dip the shirt in the bubbly, highly oxygenated part of the stream and rub the dirtiest parts.  After a short time, the shirt will be clean enough to feel clean.  Sorry, I have never measured the time, because I get mesmerized by the flowing stream.  10 min should be more than enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T01:05:42.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25339" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25336" CreationDate="2020-08-08T07:04:45.657" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Tow floats in bright colours are meant for this and most also carry a small amount of stuff (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lomo-Hydration-Swimming-Tow-Float-Orange-Open-Water-Swim-Buoy/254652218485&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;example that holds a water bottle&lt;/a&gt;; others have a dry compartment for your keys/phone/money) . Swimming with them takes a bit of getting used to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hi-vis or very bright swimming caps also exist and cost very little. I recently &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Central-100-Silicone-Adult-Swim-Swimming-Cap-Orange-New/174225019344&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bought one in bright orange&lt;/a&gt; for much shorter swims in navigable rivers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In a very busy waterway, a safety boat will probably be needed. This could often be a kayak, but obviously needs someone willing and able.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-08-08T08:24:00.020" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T08:24:00.020" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25340" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25342" CreationDate="2020-08-08T10:33:24.483" Score="1" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;I currently own a PETZL TACTIKKA + RGB 2019 which offers the possibility of making red, green and blue (and of course white) light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a good lamp but the white light is the first light to turn on when the lamp is turned on and I don't find it very practical when I want to turn it on in an environment where I have to be discreet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would like to know if there is the same type of lamp but which offers, when switching on, the colors and lastly the color white.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20072" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-08-08T21:20:22.427" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T22:49:24.060" Title="Turning on a rgb headlamp with red first" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;headlamps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25341" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25327" CreationDate="2020-08-08T15:03:15.387" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The effect of temperature on exercise performance has been &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10066703/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;studied in some detail&lt;/a&gt;. This paper nicely reviews a range of hypotheses as well as including experimental data. They seem to conclude that metabolic effects dominate, with the availability of glycogen being a key factor. Effectively your body is less efficient running hotter (and the internal temperature does rise).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High humidity reduces the body's ability to cool by sweating, so acts like higher temperature. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X13000087&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This paper&lt;/a&gt; has more on humidity specifically, but may not be accessible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The temperature of the head (specifically the brain) is &lt;a href=&quot;https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/expphysiol.2011.062273&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;crucial too&lt;/a&gt;, and if you're wearing a hat to keep the sun off, your head will get hotter - so maybe take it off in the shade.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also applies to running and other activities (my fastest runs have all been in conditions where I'd have got cold if I'd slowed to a walk for more than a couple of minutes).  There is a difference though - in some activities, such as cycling and to a lesser extent running, you generate your own cooling headwind.   Walking you don't really, though walking into a light breeze is cooler than walking with it at your back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-08-11T14:11:53.503" LastActivityDate="2020-08-11T14:11:53.503" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25342" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25340" CreationDate="2020-08-08T22:49:24.060" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/headlamps-and-lanterns/spot-325-headlamp-BD620641_cfg.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Black Diamond Spot 325&lt;/a&gt; - it doesn't have RGB capacity, but it does have red/white and the switch between them is a simple button push that cycles between 2 white modes (spot and spread) and 1 red. The headlamp &amp;quot;remembers&amp;quot; which of the settings you last used and re-starts in that setting. I don't know if it will remember this setting after taking out the batteries, but I suspect not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-08T22:49:24.060" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25345" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25265" CreationDate="2020-08-09T13:55:25.667" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think it is a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_feather#Secondaries&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;secondary feather&lt;/a&gt; of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_owl&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Long-eared Owl&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Long-eared Owl caught my eye when I was looking through the book &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2008040.Tracks_Signs_of_the_Birds_of_Britain_Europe&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tracks &amp;amp; Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe&lt;/a&gt;. A quick internet search found this photo, which I think looks very similar and the length also matches:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BdgOV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BdgOV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Phooto of Long-eared Owl feathers, Public Domain&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=LEOW_secondary_male&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=LEOW_secondary_male&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You appear to get Long-eared Owls in Sweden. This distribution map shows the breeding range in yellow and the resident range in green.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/St0bj.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/St0bj.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_owl#/media/File:Asio_otus_distribution_map.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_owl#/media/File:Asio_otus_distribution_map.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="17008" LastEditDate="2020-08-10T07:34:36.940" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T07:34:36.940" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25346" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25362" CreationDate="2020-08-09T17:13:49.360" Score="0" ViewCount="137" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've found this snake in a cave named &lt;em&gt;Grotta delle fate&lt;/em&gt; (cave of the fairies) close to &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/PmMhEJQk5x4fReTS8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Forre di Lavello&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href=&quot;http://matese.guideslow.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/02/BN_023_cusano_mutri.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cusano Mutri&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As soon as it saw me, it seem to be not aggressive at all, but rather scared, and apparently it was just trying to find a place to hide, so I guess it is maybe not dangerous at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What snake you think it is the one in the photo below?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More info:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I think it is long as much as 60-80 cm;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't it'll help, but &lt;a href=&quot;https://photos.app.goo.gl/4XuNjpB5WbYScrNDA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; is the video which I extracted the screenshot from.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SR27U.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SR27U.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19981" LastEditorUserId="19981" LastEditDate="2020-08-09T20:37:59.780" LastActivityDate="2020-08-14T16:55:03.637" Title="What snake is this, in a cave in southern Italy?" Tags="&lt;trekking&gt;&lt;snakes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25347" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25346" CreationDate="2020-08-09T23:08:32.957" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What snake is this, in a cave in southern Italy?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Upon close examination of the above I photo in the question, I would conclude that the snake in question is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Vipera&amp;amp;species=walser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vipera walser&lt;/a&gt; If one looks closely one can see both the side and back marking match the photo below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both side and back markings are visual in the posted photo, even though somewhat blurry :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LRBrC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/LRBrC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Viper walser&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_walser&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vipera walser&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More information may be gleaned from the following articles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Vipera&amp;amp;species=walse&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vipera walser GHIELMI, MENEGON, MARSDEN, LADDAGA &amp;amp; URSENBACHER, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.herpfolio.net/vipera-walser/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Visper walser&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2020-08-09T23:08:32.957" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25348" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25349" CreationDate="2020-08-10T03:20:41.190" Score="3" ViewCount="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live on the east coast of Australia, and we've had frequent flooding this year. We have a creek on our property and after our most recent flooding event we found this in our creek:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WZmKO.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WZmKO.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;What Am I?&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's obviously a sailcraft of some kind, with an aluminium socket for a mast, slot for a keel and attachment point for a rudder but has no branding or identification. The hull is some kind of plastic - and it seems mass produced.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I haven't been able to run a tape measure over it, but my estimates would be that it's about 3 metres (10 feet) long and 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide. It's maybe 30cm (1 foot) deep at it's deepest (near the bow) and 15cm (6 inches) at the stern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm hoping to reunite it with its owner via community Facebook groups, but want to know as much as I can and withhold some details in the hope of verifying the authenticity of anyone coming forward to claim it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help with identification would be much appreciated!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20079" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T10:17:21.950" Title="Please help identify this sailcraft" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;manmade-object-identification&gt;&lt;australia&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25349" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25348" CreationDate="2020-08-10T10:17:21.950" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Almost certainly an Australian Scow &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth_(dinghy)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Moth&lt;/a&gt; (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrlfXIclueU&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;video stills here&lt;/a&gt; (youtube)). It was a pretty common boat in the 1980's or thereabouts, and I think (Wikipedia &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth_(dinghy)#Beginnings&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;confirms&lt;/a&gt;) that the design was developed in Australia, but they were also common elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moth class boats (now the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth_(dinghy)#/media/File:Moth_Kiel2008.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;common foiling dinghy&lt;/a&gt;) were and perhaps still are one of the boat classes with a lot of diversity in design because of fairly loose rules about the how they could be made.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've personally sailed a moth similar to the pictured one over 30 years ago - they are great fun, but IIRC the one I sailed lacked the fittings for wings - which you can see as the 3 square holes between the center and stern in your photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-10T10:17:21.950" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25351" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-11T07:09:08.483" Score="5" ViewCount="313" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've countless times heard things like this when they give tips for how to act when encountering a bear in the wild:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Play dead! Lie down and don't move an inch!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And (for all animals):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't run! It will just activate their hunting instinct!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Never show your teeth! This makes them consider you to have challenged them!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But&lt;/strong&gt; then I have also heard:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Make yourself appear big by standing high on your toes and holding out your arms wide! This will make the animal think that you are bigger and more powerful than it and not attack you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Show your teeth while doing the above! It will make it scared of you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These conflicting &amp;quot;hints&amp;quot; have utterly confused me to the point where I no longer have any clue what I should (or would) do if I ever encounter a bear or wolf or puma or wild cat of some sort or whatever animal might be found in the woods or wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe I'd make myself appear big and the animal attacks me. Maybe I'd lie down and play dead and feel how it scratches up my back and bites my neck and eats me alive. I truly would have no idea how I should be acting, and if it varies depending on the animal, that's even worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20085" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T21:58:04.197" Title="How am I supposed to remember if I'm supposed to &quot;play dead&quot; or &quot;make myself appear big&quot; for various dangerous wild animals?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25352" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-11T12:03:36.060" Score="3" ViewCount="113" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/us8YD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/us8YD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hi, just found this bug and was curious if it was a tick or a beetle? Found on a bedroom pillow, Quebec, Canada, about 1cm long&#xA;Thank you!!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20086" LastEditorUserId="20086" LastEditDate="2020-08-12T01:01:55.840" LastActivityDate="2020-08-12T01:26:42.790" Title="What is this bug please? species-identification" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25353" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25351" CreationDate="2020-08-11T15:55:48.360" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before trying to memorize advice like this, it's probably better to ask yourself some realistic questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Was any of this advice ever based on reliable evidence? (I suspect the answer is no.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is the risk significant for any of these animals, in any area you're actually visiting? For example, WP says that there have been only 3 fatal wolf attacks in North America in the last 50 years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would it be more appropriate to change your mind-set to one of being concerned for the well-being of the animal? Objectively, wild animals tend to be a negligible threat to modern humans, whereas human activity is a massive threat to many wild animal species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does it make more sense to worry about about domesticated animals such as dogs than wild animals? Is your risk actually greater when you're in the city, because there are so many dogs there, and you spend so much more of your time there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would it make more sense to focus on other ways of avoiding problems with animals, such as good food storage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the wildlife I encounter here in California, such as coyotes, bears, rattlesnakes, and bighorn sheep, are extremely shy and not at all aggressive. The last bear I saw took one look at me as I came around a corner and turned and ran in obvious terror up a steep hillside to get away from me. The last rattlesnake I saw was last week when I was hiking with my dog. The dog nearly stepped on its tail, but the snake simply continued slithering away into the bushes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than worrying about memorizing the kinds of fear-based advice you're talking about, I would suggest approaching this more in terms of leaning about wildlife, animal behavior, and natural history as a way of increasing your enjoyment of your outdoor activities. Seeing a wild animal is a special, rare treat. As you learn more about the animals that actually exist in the places you go, you'll get better at figuring out ways of making your interactions with them safe for them and for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an example, there's a large, deserted open-space area near where I live that is a habitat for coyotes. I take my dogs walking there, often off the leash. As time went on, I learned more about coyote behavior. They tend to be active at dawn and dusk, so those are great times if you want to intentionally observe the animals, but I avoid walking through this area with my dogs off the leash at those times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also observed some behavior by the coyotes that scared me at first, until I understood what it was. They were sometimes following us for a long time, and I thought this meant they were stalking us or wanted to kill and eat my dogs. I later learned that this is a specific behavior they do during denning season, which is spring/summer. They have pups in their den, and they don't want anyone harming their pups. For this reason, they will follow an intruder to make sure he goes away, sort of like the mall cop escorting a troublemaker out of the mall. Although I think this behavior is actually nonthreatening, it's influenced me not to take my dogs there during denning season, because I don't want them having any kind of interaction at all with coyotes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-08-11T16:04:00.737" LastActivityDate="2020-08-11T16:04:00.737" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25354" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25352" CreationDate="2020-08-12T01:26:42.790" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is most definitely a beetle. All &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick#Anatomy_and_physiology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;adult and nymph stage ticks have 8 legs&lt;/a&gt;, although larval stages have 6 legs. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Larval stages are tiny&lt;/a&gt; (~2 mm), so this is not a larval tick, despite the 6 legs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, what is it? Well, out of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle#Distribution_and_diversity&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;many many species of beetle&lt;/a&gt; (~400,000 species), there is one very large group, of which this is almost certainly a member - and that is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weevil&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;weevil superfamily&lt;/a&gt; (still 97,000 species). The distinguishing feature from other groups of beetles is the elongated rostrum or snout, which can't be seen in your photo, but creates a distinctive head shape.. Closer than that I can not work out which one it is - would need a picture of the colours and many other identifying features to work that out. There are however some common species, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitona_lepidus&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;clover root weevil&lt;/a&gt; that are fairly widespread. Some other common ones in Canada can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.orkincanada.ca/pests/other/weevils/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-08-12T01:26:42.790" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25356" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24985" CreationDate="2020-08-12T21:22:09.420" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The danger specifically of piranhas depends on the time of year. Around Manaus the water is high during the rainy season (October to March) and it may be ok to swim (bearing in mind bob1's answer). But during the dry season piranha's, especially in left over pools, may be hungry and dangerous.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://piranhaguide.com/a-documented-list-of-all-known-piranha-attacks-piranha-victims/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://piranhaguide.com/a-documented-list-of-all-known-piranha-attacks-piranha-victims/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Caiman will mostly try to avoid encounters with humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I swam in the Amazon river once, if i ever get another opportunity i will bring a mask.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5642" LastActivityDate="2020-08-12T21:22:09.420" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25357" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-12T21:41:59.677" Score="3" ViewCount="317" Body="&lt;p&gt;When going swimming in a lake, is there any danger in not showering after?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally I would shower if there were a lot of other people swimming and the lake was small. And if there was run-off from farms I would not go swimming in that water at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit&lt;/strong&gt;: This question is about water that is safe for swimming, does not have cyanobacteria or any other obvious problems with it.&#xA;It does of course have some poo from water fowl in it and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lake in question is in the Netherlands and is the result of peat-excavation a long time ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5642" LastEditorUserId="5642" LastEditDate="2020-08-13T09:30:35.100" LastActivityDate="2020-08-13T09:30:35.100" Title="Must people shower after swimming in a lake?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;hygiene&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25358" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25357" CreationDate="2020-08-12T23:30:16.070" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;That is really going to depend on the lake in question. Generally, the smaller and more urban the lake, the more polluted it might be. There's a wide variety of lakes where I live (in BC, Canada). Most are fine for swimming. Some have official advisories to shower after swimming, to prevent &amp;quot;swimmer's itch&amp;quot;. Some are mostly closed for swimming. Sometimes the advice is seasonal. You should ask around for advice regarding your lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-08-12T23:30:16.070" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25359" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-14T00:53:37.547" Score="3" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wanted a 38 special with a 4.75 inch barrel. Due to the rush on firearms and lack of mid-priced options, I purchased a 357 magnum/38 special with a 5.5 inch barrel. I have shot a 38 special with a 4.75 inch barrel before and the recoil is very manageable. Will I have that same manageability using the 357 magnum and a 38 special cartridge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20094" LastActivityDate="2020-08-14T15:40:33.317" Title="Amount of recoil in a 357 magnum with a 5.5 inch barrel if using a 38 special cartridge" Tags="&lt;target-shooting&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25360" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25359" CreationDate="2020-08-14T15:40:33.317" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the mass/weight of the gun. A 357 is likely to have thicker sections = more weight, so less recoil. But the longer barrel will increase recoil. It seems like it would not be much different.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-08-14T15:40:33.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25361" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-14T16:19:46.707" Score="3" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;Mountain Hardwear presently lists two major lines of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainhardwear.com/expedition-tents/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mountaineering tents&lt;/a&gt;: the Trango series and the AC series.  The primary difference seems to be that the Trangos feature a double-wall, are cheaper, and heavier, while the ACs feature a single-wall construction, are more expensive, and are lighter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there more to it than this?  What are the target consumers for each line, and what is the best use for each product?  Does it really just boil down to a trade-off between price and weight?  Are there significant performance differences aside from weight?  For example, is one or the other thought to be considerably stronger in high wind, or more waterproof in very damp conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3329" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T00:26:16.643" Title="What's the difference between Mountain Hardwear's Trango and AC lines of tents?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25362" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25346" CreationDate="2020-08-14T16:55:03.637" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Searching a bit on the web, I found that snake is most likely a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_snake&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Natrix natrix&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://matese.guideslow.it/anfibi-rettili-amori-difficoltosi/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; is a reference, but in italian).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19981" LastActivityDate="2020-08-14T16:55:03.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25364" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24985" CreationDate="2020-08-16T00:06:42.133" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are worried about wildlife, not very dangerous. Swim with other people and from a boat rather than from shore. Biggest threat is probably drowning. The major threats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sting Rays – Purported by Smithsonian Zoo to inflict most injuries to people in Amazonian rivers. Considered docile, but will sting if stepped on as they bury themselves in the sand to hunt for prey. Bacterial infection of wound may led to death. The number of injuries per year is unknown because often unreported or medical attention is sought out well after the fact. This study in the Brazilian Amazon used 84 injuries over a 3 year period. Can be avoided by swimming from a boat, rather than entering water from shore.&#xA;Haddad Jr, V., Neto, D. G., de Paula Neto, J. B., de Luna Marques, F. P., &amp;amp; Barbaro, K. C. (2004). Freshwater stingrays: study of epidemiologic, clinic and therapeutic aspects based on 84 envenomings in humans and some enzymatic activities of the venom. Toxicon, 43(3), 287-294.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Electric Eels – These snake-like fish stun prey and scare off predators with about 600v shock, which is enough to knock a person unconscious. Again, very few reported interactions with people, as above, they tend to avoid them. They hunt in shallow water, so again, swimming off a boat will reduce your risk of interaction. &lt;a href=&quot;https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/its-electric-fishes&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/its-electric-fishes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Caiman – There are several species of this relative to the alligator in the Amazon. They can range in size from about 1-6m, making most too small to be a real threat to people. The largest species, the black caiman, has been known to (rarely) prey upon humans. People (and this is well-documented) hunt caiman for skins and meat, so they tend to avoid people.&#xA;Sideleau, B., &amp;amp; Britton, A. R. C. (2012, May). A preliminary analysis of worldwide crocodilian attacks. In Crocodiles: Proceedings of the 21st Working Meeting of the IUCN–SSC Crocodile Specialist Group (pp. 22-25).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Piranha – Most reports of piranha attacks on people are single bites as part of defending young or territories. But they tend to hunt near shore, so again swim from a boat.&#xA;Haddad Jr, V., &amp;amp; Sazima, I. (2003). Piranha attacks on humans in southeast Brazil: epidemiology, natural history, and clinical treatment, with description of a bite outbreak. Wilderness &amp;amp; Environmental Medicine, 14(4), 249-254.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Candiru- This is a parasitic catfish that attaches to the gills of larger fish with spines and feeds on their blood. Although there is no actual evidence of them ever bothering people, urban legends suggest that they are attracted to human urine and will swim up the urethra and use their spines to attach to the bladder.&#xA;Bauer, I. L. (2013). Candiru—a little fish with bad habits: need travel health professionals worry? A review. Journal of travel medicine, 20(2), 119-124.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anaconda- There are 4 species of these tropical swimming snakes in the Boa genus. They are mostly active in the evenings and can move quickly in the water, but are slow on land. They also tend to hang out in shallow water to hunt, so again, swimming off a boat is good practice. They are non-venomous and kill their prey by wrapping around them and squeezing, cutting off circulation to the brain, then swallowing prey whole. They are probably physically able to kill humans, but attacks on humans are rare, and there are no substantiated reports of an anaconda killing a person.&#xA;Rivas, J. A. (1998). Predatory attacks of green anacondas. Eunectes murinus, 157-159.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14013" LastEditorUserId="14013" LastEditDate="2020-08-16T17:49:53.377" LastActivityDate="2020-08-16T17:49:53.377" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25365" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25351" CreationDate="2020-08-16T04:13:27.263" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Like most survival advice, you look at a lot of sources and determine what the experts say that you should do.  Also look at what animals could be in the area.  In many areas, the likeliest predator to encounter is a coyote and they are not known to attack people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only advice in your question that was different than the rest was playing dead.  All the other pieces of advice were how to not look like prey.  Most predators want to have an easy meal and don't want to chance getting hurt.  Standing your ground, making yourself look big tells the animal that you are a bad-ass and not to be messed with.  These pieces of advice usually come with remain calm and talk to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There aren't really that many animals that you need to think about this situation with.  And you can sort them into the camps: play dead, and intimidate.  So it isn't all that difficult to remember.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These situations are fairly rare and you should be taking other precautions to prevent them from happening.  (Talking, wearing bells, walking with the wind at your back)  Most animals know that people are bad news and not to be messed with.  They will try to avoid encountering you anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2020-08-16T04:13:27.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25366" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25351" CreationDate="2020-08-16T21:13:10.047" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Figure out which animals apply to your area and move on from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For each animal&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;how do you avoid it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;how do you avoid surprising it or giving it reasons to attack you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;a big part of this is surprisingly simple. don't attract bears with food odor, don't carry speared fish when in shark country.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The overall risk is very, very low however, keep that in mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those should be the first big things to look into and they are specific to each animal type, so that's why you want to concentrate on the animals in your area rather than trying to figure out a rule for all animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Third, if they do go into threat mode or attack, what do you do?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally, in BC, Canada, the rule for bears is to avoid confrontation, back out slowly and roll up if they actually attack, covering your neck.  A bear is hard to hurt, but is not a carnivore and not really interested in you, except for a mom defending her cubs. (That's not entirely complete, so I've added a bit at the end)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cougars, it's the opposite.  Appear big, wave a stick, possibly throw rocks.  If it attacks, fight back.  A cougar is a solitary carnivore, if it gets hurt it might starve if it can't hunt, so they will often back down.  If it's attacking you, chances are it sees you as prey and your chance to be in that situation because you &amp;quot;surprised it&amp;quot; are low - they're very hard to spot and quite likely well aware of your presence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update:  having just come back from Cape Scott, with lots of &amp;quot;You're in wolf country&amp;quot; warnings, posted by the park rangers, I can add that wolves here get the same recommendation as cougars:  act big, frighten them away, fight back if attacked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, each animal has a particular set of best defense advice, but I am 100% in agreement with Ben Crowell that you're best off avoiding an attack situation rather than knowing the defense strategy, which has uncertain outcomes.  Still, some quick research about the animals in your location should give some advice, specific to each animal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you are still anxious, but want to enjoy the outdoors, you could, after first making sure you first know how to avoid conflicts, purchase a defensive device for the animal.  Bear spray, maybe a hunting knife for cougars and a bangstick for sharks.  If all fails, you can try your luck with it and it will make you feel safer and more in control the rest of the time.  The key thing is that such a device is not an excuse from doing your very best to avoid conflict in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, some animals are just generally best avoided by not getting into their territory at all, for example crocodiles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(bears)  There's a bit of debate about what to do with them.  Mostly people agree not to antagonize them, but... Grizzlies are apparently pretty much never into eating you but can easily kill you without really aiming to.  So, play dead.  Black bears?  Mostly same situation, but &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; possibly be a predatory bear, which is a very rare occurrence.  So an option is to fight back if it keeps on attacking you.  Honestly?  Seems like if you'd ask 2 experts here you'd probably get 3 opinions about fighting back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That really goes back to you figuring out the animals you are worried about.  Grizzlies have a more limited range than black bears so may not be applicable to your area at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-09-16T21:58:04.197" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T21:58:04.197" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25367" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24985" CreationDate="2020-08-17T13:31:57.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would just like to point out the &lt;em&gt;one&lt;/em&gt; modern report of an attack on a human male by the candiru fish is highly likely to be spurious for a multitude of reasons, not least of which is the impossibility of such an attack from the perspective of simple fluid physics. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From the Wikipedia article on the candiru fish&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Modern cases&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To date, there is only one documented case of a candiru entering a human urethra, which took place in Itacoatiara, Brazil, in 1997. In this incident, the victim (a 23-year-old man known only as &amp;quot;F.B.C.&amp;quot;) claimed a candiru &amp;quot;jumped&amp;quot; from the water into his urethra as he urinated while thigh-deep in a river. After traveling to Manaus on October 28, 1997, the victim underwent a two-hour urological surgery by Dr. Anoar Samad to remove the fish from his body.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In 1999, American marine biologist Stephen Spotte traveled to Brazil to investigate this particular incident in detail. He recounts the events of his investigation in his book Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes. Spotte met Dr. Samad in person and interviewed him at his practice and home. Samad gave him photos, the original VHS tape of the cystoscopy procedure, and the actual fish's body preserved in formalin as his donation to the INPA. Spotte and his colleague Paulo Petry took these materials and examined them at the INPA, comparing them with Samad's formal paper. While Spotte did not overtly express any conclusions as to the veracity of the incident, he did remark on several observations that were suspicious about the claims of the patient and/or Samad himself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to Samad, the patient claimed &amp;quot;the fish had darted out of the water, up the urine stream, and into his urethra.&amp;quot; While this is the most popularly known legendary trait of the candiru, according to Spotte it has been known conclusively to be a myth for more than a century, as it is impossible because of simple fluid physics.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The documentation and specimen provided indicate a fish that was 133.5 mm in length and had a head with a diameter of 11.5 mm. This would have required significant force to pry the urethra open to this extent. The candiru has no appendages or other apparatus that would have been necessary to accomplish this, and if it were leaping out of the water as the patient claimed, it would not have had sufficient leverage to force its way inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samad's paper claims the fish must have been attracted by the urine. This belief about the fish has been held for centuries, but was discredited in 2001. While this was merely speculation on Samad's part based on the prevailing scientific knowledge at the time, it somewhat erodes the patient's story by eliminating the motivation for the fish to have attacked him in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samad claimed the fish had &amp;quot;chewed&amp;quot; its way through the ventral wall of the urethra into the patient's scrotum. Spotte notes that the candiru does not possess the right teeth or strong enough dentition to have been capable of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Samad claimed he had to snip the candiru's grasping spikes off in order to extract it, yet the specimen provided had all its spikes intact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cystoscopy video depicts traveling into a tubular space (presumed to be the patient's urethra) containing the fish's carcass and then pulling it out backwards through the urethral opening, something that would have been almost impossible with the fish's spikes intact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When subsequently interviewed, Spotte stated that even if a person were to urinate while &amp;quot;submerged in a stream where candiru live&amp;quot;, the odds of that person being attacked by candiru are &amp;quot;(a)bout the same as being struck by lightning while simultaneously being eaten by a shark.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2020-08-17T13:31:57.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25370" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25286" CreationDate="2020-08-18T11:33:14.340" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've written to the Primus support and received this answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The 25 jet for Kerosine is more of a in emergency use part. The&#xA;kerosine is harder to get to light and will be problematic and will&#xA;sot a lot. it needs to be primed for a long time and it might eaven be&#xA;that you need to pour some on the stove and light it to let it burn&#xA;for a while to prime it.  it needs to be hot and will take time, its&#xA;normal for that kind of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you are doing it right and when the stove gets going as you say it&#xA;gets vaporized and burns ok.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HOWEVER, I think I've found a cause and a solution: if kerosene or other heavy fuel refuses to flow before being heated, you shall poke the jet with the nozzle-cleaning needle. Even though the jet was not dirty, maybe some scum from the fuel entered the nozzle and clogged it. It's a very thin one so it doesn't take too much to block it!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2020-08-18T11:33:14.340" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25371" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20338" CreationDate="2020-08-18T15:51:51.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Seems to me there is a trade-off between ease of paddling and ease of landing.  If the nearest land is downwind and you head that way, you may have severe difficulties in landing among the breaking waves on the lee shore, especially if it is rocky.  So I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the use of a drogue, which used to be standard advice for landing small boats in a surf.  Ideally a drogue is purpose-made and can be tripped (emptied) by a second line attached to its base, but in an emergency it could be as simple as an empty bag or even a pack dropped over the stern on the end of a line.  What it does is to retard the boat relative to the waves, lessening the risk of broaching or of being turned end-over-end, and giving you a slower, softer landing.  What a drogue doesn't do is to guarantee your safety - as Sherwood Botsford comments, waves really build up on a windy reach - but it can reduce the risk.  I'm afraid I can't advise on what size of drogue is too small or too big for a small canoe, or how long a line to use.  I keep meaning to experiment at the beach in summer (also to try different attachment points), but somehow never have!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20116" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-08-19T18:01:54.013" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T18:01:54.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25372" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25373" CreationDate="2020-08-18T22:03:15.530" Score="6" ViewCount="142" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm in the middle of the country, in Kansas. Not a lot of trees. Most of the tarp camping setups always show camping in the woods. Wanting to try tarp camping, but I'll be mostly in areas without a lot of trees and those around would be smallish, mostly. At this time of year, we're very likely to have winds from the south. My initial thought was to do a plough point setup with the open side facing due north. But, would there be any better setups instead and why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2566" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T04:07:52.580" Title="Best tarp setup for camping on the plains?" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25373" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25372" CreationDate="2020-08-19T04:07:52.580" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's easy to set up a tarp with either one or two walking sticks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nice weather tarp:&lt;/strong&gt;  Peg one side to the ground.  Put the tip of the walking stick through a grommet on side adjacent to the pegged side.  Peg the next corner.  Run a guy line from the top of the stick to front.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Repeat for back end.  Adjust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bad weather coming from known direction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peg down corner in the direction of the coming storm.  This is the Windward corner W.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peg down one adjacent corner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peg down other adjacent corner, but pivot using W toward the kitty corner so that  the tarp isn't flat.  Raise the leeward corner and stake with your walking stick.  Adjust the kittycorner pegs if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seriously bad weather.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Peg down two corners toward the storm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking stick at the midpoint corner at the other side.  Guy out the walking stick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adjust the height of the walking stick so the remaining two corners just touch the ground.  Peg them there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is the best setup for snow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using two walking sticks as a bi-pod is more stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some of these are really low.  Use your pack to support the low end so that the tarp doesn't touch your sleeping bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A walking stick run to it's short length, with point in the ground, and spare pair of socks or a cup over the end to protect the tarp will also work, but is less stable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cheats:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In campgrounds, throw your tarp over a picnic table.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or tie one corner to the roof rail of your car, and another to the front bumper.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T04:07:52.580" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25374" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25351" CreationDate="2020-08-19T04:23:41.917" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;While not directly answering your question, most actual contact between humans and wild animals are with smaller animals.  In BC the problem animal is the racoon, followed by skunk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had a bear nuzzled my tent.  I yelled, and hit the nose bump with a cast iron skillet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have once encountered a bear that wouldn't back down.  This was on the Churchill, on the  approach to Otter Lake near Little Devil rapids on the   He wasn't attacking us, but clearing wanted our food, and was flipping our canoes over. We eventually packed up and moved to an island. Bear bangers were ineffective.   Found out later he was a problem bear, and later that summer was shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have been 'attacked' once.  Musk rat.  I watched him come over the snow and he tried to climb my leg.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T04:23:41.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25375" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-19T13:49:28.720" Score="1" ViewCount="261" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am about to purchase my first pickup truck (Chevy Colorado Zr2 Bison) and want to use it for camping and overlanding. I am looking for a truck cap or camper shell but with a lower profile height. Most truck bed caps are sold with a top that matches with the height of the main truck cab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I want something that only goes as high as 1/2 the height between the top end of the bed and the drivers cabin. My intend is to put a roof top tent on top of the cab so that the cab plus roof top tent matches in height with the height of the drivers cabin. The reason is that I sometimes want to transport a kayak that is placed upside down on top of the roof top tent and the drivers cab.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So my question is: do low profile or half height to 2/3 height truck bed caps exist or would this have to be 100% custom? Ideally the low profile cap would have some smaller windows or air ducts because sometimes I would just like to crash in the truck bed for a night enroute the final destination in locations where it is not feasible to pop open the roof top tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9554" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2020-08-19T19:06:35.047" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T14:36:36.337" Title="Do Half height (low profile) truck bed cap/camper shells exist?" Tags="&lt;car-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25376" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25389" CreationDate="2020-08-19T14:20:41.397" Score="4" ViewCount="184" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k2Tqw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k2Tqw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;compass Silva Polaris with two bezels&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for the use of the second (outer) dial numbered from 0 to 7 on the Silva Polaris compass.&#xA;This second dial rotates independently of the inner dial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20120" LastEditorUserId="20120" LastEditDate="2020-08-19T17:06:10.110" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T19:32:36.200" Title="Silva Polaris compass, use of the second dial numbered from 0 to 7" Tags="&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25377" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25380" CreationDate="2020-08-19T19:36:48.740" Score="1" ViewCount="3298" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's a waste of money to buy a camping lantern, especially in COVID19 when I have to save money, if I improvise my flashlight as a camping lantern. My flashlight comes with a shoulder strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I booked the campsite, but the park can't guarantee which exact campsite I'll get. So even if my camp site has a tree, it may not have accessible branches for me to hang my flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of mounting my flashlight on my sedan's roof, but how? My sedan has no roof racks, and again it's a waste of money to buy those too just for camping. Any other ideas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To avoid accusations of marketing, I deliberately don't exhibit the manufacturer or model of my flashlight and sedan, but I can type them out them upon request. Doubtless I must turn off my sedan, and can't use its headlights to illumine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VbFeY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VbFeY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6rfIT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6rfIT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9750" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-08-29T00:06:08.457" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T00:06:08.457" Title="How can I improvise a camping lantern from my flashlight?" Tags="&lt;car-camping&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="8" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25378" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-19T20:53:18.280" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How can I improvise my flashlight for camping?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try using a &lt;a href=&quot;https://pbcmagnets.com/products/pbc-magnetics?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgPD9lJGo6wIVPiCtBh3U5gtfEAAYASAAEgKWPPD_BwE&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnetic&lt;/a&gt; similar to the one in this image:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eJ2Tv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eJ2Tv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;magnet for magnet fishing&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simply lay down a thick piece of felt between the magnet and your car to avoid scratching the paint. Once the magnet is in place, you can tie your flashlight to the magnet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Magnets are commonly used to hold beacon lights on the roof of cars and trucks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2020-08-19T20:53:18.280" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25379" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-20T00:07:32.533" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a problem we have never thought of!  Even on the rare occasions when we split up  so there was only one person at the camp, that person managed OK, albeit it awkwardly, by using a (drumroll !)  hand.  Occasionally, that person might have to prop the flashlight up on the ground or a flat rock or on the pack with small rocks or clothes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With two people, a hand works without any problem, with three left over.  Also, a hand is easy to pack in, involves no extra weight, and cannot be forgotten or mislaid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I admire your decision to use minimum equipment; it is much more satisfying, and if extended to other backpacking items, will save time, hassle, money and weight dealing with objects that are not really essential for safety or comfort.  I apologize if my answer seems flip or sarcastic -- I didn't mean it to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T00:07:32.533" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25380" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-20T02:41:37.343" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have you thought about making a simple Milk Jug Lantern or similar? Find a clear or slightly opaque bottle of the light colour you want (a milk jug works perfectly for white light, but maybe a clear nalgene bottle with the wider mouth might fit your flashlight better). Fill the bottle with water and strap the flashlight to the side (or balance it on top in the case of the Nalgene). The light fills the bottle and refracts outwards in all directions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;examples found online: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GICZa.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GICZa.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Milk Jug Lantern&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the Nalgene I was thinking of something like this, you could just balance your flashlight on top instead of the purchased lantern&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6BfhW.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6BfhW.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Nalgene Lantern&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17707" LastEditorUserId="17707" LastEditDate="2020-08-20T02:49:38.223" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T02:49:38.223" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25381" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16232" CreationDate="2020-08-20T03:21:10.830" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer of @Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL is very comprehensive and is a must to read. The vehicle may be capable but the user isn't and that's the biggest problem with touring remotely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;AWD vehicles can be mainly divided into 2, active and reactive. Active ones are AWD all the time (For example: Subaru AWD systems and Audi's). Reactive ones are everything else. I prefer active AWD when touring. Newer reactive ones like the ones in the RAV4, Murano, CX-5, Santa Fe, etc. can lock the torque distribution to 50/50 but will immediately become front wheel drive at around 50 to 60kph. They are also slip-and-grip meaning there should be some slip in the front before the TCU adds torque to the rear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a Subaru as the torque distribution in a torque converter Subaru is varying all the time depending on speed, gear, RPM, steering angle. This is very important on- and off-road. Some models lock the torque distribution to 50/50 instantly when in first and second gear. That is very useful when tackling some obstacles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am a member of a Subaru club which has members that have been touring Australia for more than 20 years now. Many of them have 50mm lifts but most members have done the half-laps and the Simpson Desert in their stock Foresters, even CVT ones. They are very well-versed in touring, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For reference, the first vehicles that crossed the great Simpson Desert were 3 Subarus. Cheers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20122" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T03:21:10.830" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25382" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-20T06:54:26.113" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;If that car is actually yours, it's nicely reflective. My van is also silver. Prop the flashlight on a chair, bag, fence or stone pointing at the car from a few feet away and you'll get a decent area lit up quite well - the reflection is bright but diffuse.  You can arrange your own seat(s) such the light reflecting off the car falls on whatever you're doing/reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've also done this with a tarp that's silvered on the inside and a bike light pointing up at the roof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-08-20T16:58:44.983" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T16:58:44.983" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25384" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25390" CreationDate="2020-08-20T14:08:14.433" Score="4" ViewCount="488" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these holes in my yard yesterday, in an area roughly two meters wide. This is in the southern part of the United States. No other yards in the area seem to have them, and they appeared overnight. The holes stop after about 15 cm in depth, with the largest one being roughly 10 cm across and 25 cm deep, so I don't think it's moles since they tend to make tunnels. There seems to be a significant amount of dirt upheaval around the holes, as well. In the last image, the floor of the hole almost resembles a deer track, but I don't know if deer make holes such as these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnmYU.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pnmYU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JgHvl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/JgHvl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xdtGw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xdtGw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09MD4.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/09MD4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3076" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T00:35:23.850" Title="What caused these ~5 cm holes in my front yard?" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25385" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-20T14:41:44.913" Score="2" ViewCount="104" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a flashlight, it has a very high lumen output. When it is on high it does not last long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does have a &amp;quot;dim&amp;quot; setting. This setting just strobes the led, enough where it does cause headache.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What am I to search for to have a flashlight that does not strobe the led? Maybe one with multiple leds that shut off? Is this a specific type of flashlight?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19423" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T14:41:44.913" Title="Low settings on flashlights" Tags="&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25386" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25384" CreationDate="2020-08-20T14:46:40.567" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What caused these ~5 cm holes in my front yard?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that it due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;voles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3UW2p.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3UW2p.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Field Mouse&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a shorter, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller ears and eyes; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of low-crowned with rounded cusps). They are sometimes known as &lt;strong&gt;meadow mice&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;strong&gt;field mice&lt;/strong&gt; in North America and Australia. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Voles (Wikipedia)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not a mole!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First off, voles are not moles! People confuse the two animals because they both tunnel through your yard. You might not have seen either critter since they’re usually underground, but they look very different. Voles (Myodes) are small, stocky rodents similar to field mice. In fact, a vole might look like a mouse at first glance. In contrast, moles are NOT rodents. Moles are all nose and mouth. And they have big feet used in digging!  See our Mole page.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Voles have small rounded ears that are often hidden by their fur, small eyes, and short tails. Their fur is generally thick and light brown to gray. Two common species of voles in North America are the prairie vole and the meadow vole. Meadow voles are more widely distributed, but prairie voles are more common in prairie areas. They are very similar, and methods for controlling them are mostly the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Voles, similar to other rodents, have a mainly vegetarian diet. Voles mainly eat stems and blades of lawn grass—so it’s usually vole tunnels that you’ll see near the surface of the yard. Moles have a mainly carnivorous diet. (Moles are beneficial in many ways. They help plow the soil and eat grubs and insects!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It’s helpful to know this difference not only because it will help you identify the damage but also because a vole bait would use peanut butter whereas moles would be more interested in an insect or earthworm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it helps, remember that their frenzied activity does subside. Vole populations cycle, and about every 3 to 5 years there will be a population boom. Mild winters with good snowfall can help to increase vole populations. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.almanac.com/pest/voles&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Voles (The Old Farmer’s Almanac)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to the National Pest Management Association, the vole is compact and stocky with fur that is usually brown or grey and is typically between 4 and 8 inches long. This furry little pest has a short tail, small eyes and tiny ears that are partially hidden by its fur. The underfur of the vole is typically quite thick and covered with longer guard hairs. The 23 different species of voles can be found across all regions. The animals do not hibernate and are active year-round, day and night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While the vole doesn't pose any serious threat to humans, it can cause extensive damage to your fields, crops, gardens and plantings. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, voles prefer fields and lawns that have lots of vegetation and coverage. Mulch and weeds provide them with both food and hiding spots. When it comes to your crops, backyard and garden, voles are capable of causing extensive damage. These pests will eat away at bulbs and root vegetables, as well as shrubs and trees. They also pose a serious threat to golf courses, lawns and ground covers. Their complex burrow systems, which can house several adults and young voles, are also known to damage crops from the bottom up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T14:46:40.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25387" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-20T17:05:42.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are camping near your car and your budget will allow an expenditure of about $20, here is a different idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Purchase a very small AC inverter that plugs into the car's cigarette lighter or power port. I have see cheap-o units that power devices up to 100 watts or more for less than $10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Obtain a &amp;quot;clamp light&amp;quot; that would normally plug into AC house current, and equip it with a low-wattage LED or CFL bulb -- say 6 watts, which gives about the same light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb. A clamp light and bulb together cost about $10.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is nice, clamp the light to any convenient object. If it's rainy, put the light in the car behind the windshield, clamped to the steering wheel. This will make plenty of light for a campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A quick estimate: if the inverter is only 60% efficient and you run the light for 8 hours, it will discharge an 80 amp-hour car battery by just 10% (90% charge remaining). If you are worried about using too much power, you can do a test run at home before your camping trip. Just leave the light running in the car overnight and see that the car starts fine in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17948" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T17:05:42.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25388" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-20T19:54:04.813" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What about a &lt;a href=&quot;http://useknots.com/lashings/tripod-lashing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tripod lashing&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d45GE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d45GE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All it requires is a length of cord or rope and three poles to build something to hold your flashlight by it's shoulder strap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20127" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T19:54:04.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25389" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25376" CreationDate="2020-08-20T20:05:02.067" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is used to measure distance. You turn it on its side and roll it along a path on the map.  This means it has to correspond to a particular map scale (my first guess is 1:50,000, but that looks a bit off).  For a different scale you could do a simple conversion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can you tell me what the arc length of one major division is?  From the picture, it kinda looks like a little more than one inch (maybe 1.25&amp;quot; ?? ).  I can get the associated scale from that (i.e. what is the arc length between 6 and 7)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T20:05:02.067" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25390" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25384" CreationDate="2020-08-20T23:09:48.333" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A skunk. Skunks work over night, digging little, round holes to get to grubs, and they work systematically digging up all the grubs in one area before moving on. Sometimes they even come back and do another section of the yard the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whygoodnature.com/blog/how-to-stop-animals-from-digging-up-the-lawn&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This site&lt;/a&gt; has a picture of skunk holes that's very similar to yours (I don't have a good picture of my own).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They are relatively benign, even though they do kind of toss the dirt around they usually don't dig any more than absolutely necessary to get tasty grubs out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastActivityDate="2020-08-20T23:09:48.333" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25391" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25384" CreationDate="2020-08-21T00:35:23.850" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The fact that it happened in a concentrated area in a single night makes me strongly suspect either &lt;strong&gt;raccoons&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;opossums&lt;/strong&gt;, or maybe &lt;strong&gt;armadillos&lt;/strong&gt;. Chances are they are digging for insects (grubs). I am from the northern US, so not much experience with armadillos, but I know for sure that those other 2 critters tend to get pretty fanatical and can make a big mess in a very short amount of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other 2 answers are good guesses, &lt;strong&gt;but&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I'm a little hesitant about voles, since they are usually not quite this voracious. They will dig a bit here and a bit there, so you hardly notice the damage at first.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Skunks are a possibility, however they (sometimes, not always) have a weird habit of peeling or rolling whole sections of turf, in a way that makes it look like someone was trying to harvest sod, but doing a really bad job of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's a good chance that they will not return, but if they do you could try rigging up a sprinkler with a solenoid valve connected to a motion detector, so they get hosed down if they try again. Long term, you might need to apply a pesticide to remove the food source. Look for a product labeled for grubs (Sevin might be a good bet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20129" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T00:35:23.850" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25392" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-21T17:04:50.683" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Damn cheap option:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;1 meter (3') of 12v flexible LED stripe. ($1 or $3)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A bottle, a tube, whatever cylindric 5-10cm(2&amp;quot;-4&amp;quot;) in diameter. (from the trash bin, optional)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A power cable from whatever thrown-away electrical appliance. (from the trash bin, longer is better)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glue the stripe to the bottle as a spiral or just put it inside. Or just use it as-is.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use the cable to connect the stripe to the car battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hang it wherever you want (tree, tent roof, whatever).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will use ~10% (or less) of the car battery capacity for every full night of light. If you use it for a whole week all-night, you may want to run the car for an hour or two in order to top up the battery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's how most people around do camping lights when a car is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20132" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T17:04:50.683" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25394" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25376" CreationDate="2020-08-21T19:32:36.200" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple of additional items:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angular units&lt;/strong&gt; - Note that, for the full circle, it actually goes &lt;em&gt;from 0 to 8&lt;/em&gt;. Each division is 1/8 of a circle. Each division is further divided into quarters, so the total number of subdivisions is 32, which is exactly how many points are in a compass. See &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_the_compass&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&#xA;Points_of_the_compass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distance measurement&lt;/strong&gt; - It doesn't really matter what the circumference or arc length is! If you know how many turns and fractions of a turn your measured map distance is, just reproduce the same distance down the side of the map's grid, or along its bar scale, and you have the scaled distance!&#xA;You can also measure a map distance using a piece of string. You don't need to know the length of the string other than to lay it down along the map grid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-08-21T19:32:36.200" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25395" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24968" CreationDate="2020-08-22T02:14:27.513" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, Most likely from a coyote.  They eat everything but cant digest the hair. I've seen some mountain lion poop look like that also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2020-08-22T02:14:27.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25397" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-22T13:51:34.353" Score="0" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a surfboard that has the following dimensions written on it:&#xA;6'8&amp;quot; 18 3/4&amp;quot; 25699&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DKAqE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DKAqE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What does the number 25699 mean? I've always seen the third number either be the thickness in inches, or the volume in litres.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15335" LastActivityDate="2020-08-22T13:51:34.353" Title="What does the number 25699 mean on my surfboard dimensions?" Tags="&lt;surfing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25398" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25377" CreationDate="2020-08-22T21:24:38.797" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bean bag, can of dirt.  Set flashlight pointing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut the top off a milk jug, put over flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cut milkjug so that it can clip onto front of flashlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tie cord onto end of flashlight.  Pin cord in window, or hang from garment hook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use one of those command release hooks that 3M makes, put a hook on your car at a convenient point to hang it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;use a blob of poster putty to fasten flashlight to side of car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use sandbag/rice bag on roof car.  Tie flashlight's leash to bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use 3 branches and hang from tripod.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-08-22T21:24:38.797" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25399" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25332" CreationDate="2020-08-23T08:13:00.957" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why does the person reading the personal statement have to understand what leading is? What message are you trying to get across by saying you've lead the pitch?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that you want them to understand the qualities and transferrable skills that leading a pitch shows you have. If this is the case, perhaps emphasise these qualities instead of discussing the concept of leading? If you then get to chat in person you could explain where this experience comes from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are responsible for the very-real safety of the team.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You make dynamic risk assessments in a time-pressured setting.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You select appropriate techniques and equipment for a given situation where you may have incomplete information.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You are trying to continually gather information to help you make the best decisions.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downside of this approach could be that to the lay-person it may conjure the image of a Himalayan expedition with a large team instead of, potentially, a single-pitch of climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In more general terms, I usually describe leading in the following way to non-climbers when I'm having a conversation with them. This is wordy so probably not suitable for your needs:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Leading a pitch&lt;/em&gt; is climbing up a section of rock face with the rope below you instead of coming down from above. As you climb you are responsible for attaching the rope to the rock when you can. If you fall then you will free-fall at least twice the distance to your last attachment point before the rope starts holding you, for example if it's last attached half a metre below you then you will free-fall at least one metre. This is in contrast to when you are &lt;em&gt;seconding&lt;/em&gt; or &lt;em&gt;top roping&lt;/em&gt; a climb where the rope will hold you where you are the moment you fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To combine these ideas you could try something like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climber &lt;em&gt;leading a pitch&lt;/em&gt; is the first person in the team to go up a section of rockface, taking responsibility for the safety of the entire team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because the rope is attached below the leader the consequences of falling are greater than the person climbing behind you, who will have the rope above them. The leader has to use their skill, experience and equipment to conduct and implement dynamic risk assessments on unknown ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may find the first sentence is sufficient if you are short of space.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an aside, I don't like referring to crags as a &lt;em&gt;rockface&lt;/em&gt;, but in my experience, this term conjures the closest image to what we mean in the minds of non-climbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="17008" LastEditDate="2021-03-08T08:51:06.507" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T08:51:06.507" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25400" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25402" CreationDate="2020-08-23T09:21:36.923" Score="7" ViewCount="250" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on this question: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/25372/best-tarp-setup-for-camping-on-the-plains&quot;&gt;Best tarp setup for camping on the plains?&lt;/a&gt; I wonder how big a tarp I need to carry for one person, for emergency use only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am hoping to do a multi day hike where I will usually sleep under roofs, like hotels, hostels or even in private homes. For that I expect to carry a good sleeping bag and a light duty mat, just enough to keep me isolated from the ground.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;But as I will cross a huge distance solo (I hope from within the Netherlands to Santiago de Compostella, on the west coast of Spain,) I will not be sure to find a roof to sleep under every day and may find myself in bad weather without a lot of advance warning. I would like to know that I can spend the night safe from the weather at need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will carry (and likely use) a walking stick, most likely one of the ones you can adjust the length, but want to avoid bringing other supports if I can get away with not having one. If there are usable trees or other supports I will use them, but I might end up in the middle of a campsite without usable supports. I will also have string, more than needed for this, as I am a knot tyer and will always have something to tie with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand the instructions in the linked question, but what I do not understand is how big is the smallest tarp I can get away with for one, not too tall person. (I am 1.65 meter, 5'5&amp;quot;, and a little overweight but not in a way that I expect to be of influence in this.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other reason to carry a tarp is that I might get into really bad weather and need more protection than my rain gear will provide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will appreciate if you can link to examples of tarps for sale as well as or instead of actual size suggestions. And as I am mostly gathering information well in advance of travel, it does not matter to me whether they are in Europe or elsewhere in the world. (Target departure is at least 2 years from now, can be a few years after that.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2020-08-25T20:02:45.423" Title="How big a tarp for one person?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25401" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25400" CreationDate="2020-08-23T19:32:36.017" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;My tarp is 150 cm x 240 cm, and it's worked well for me when a sudden storm came up. In a storm that lasted for more than half a day, it would be cramped and uncomfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-08-23T19:32:36.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25402" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25400" CreationDate="2020-08-23T20:21:00.930" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your bare minimum option (in terms of weight, size and cost) would be plastic sheeting, eg a heavy-duty garbage bag or emergency survival blanket (the kind that's a plastic sheet with a shiny metallic side). To use plastic sheeting a tarp, wrap the corner of the sheet around a smooth pebble, and tie your cord around the pebble. You can see this method demonstrated in several episodes of the show Survivor Man, where he uses garbage bags for emergency shelter. &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/V0FwJ7cYg7s?t=280&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; another example on Youtube. At a bare minimum, you need a plastic sheet as large as a heavy-duty garbage bag (cut along three edges and opened up to make a single layer): 45 x 76 inches; 114 x 193 cm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you go the plastic sheet route, expect it to be a single-use shelter. In practice, you may be able to get multiple uses out of a plastic sheet, but don't count on it. You should absolutely practice setting this up beforehand. Bring some tape to patch holes in your tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros of a plastic sheet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very inexpensive&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;lightweight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons of a plastic sheet:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;single-use&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not very sturdy; may not survive strong winds&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;takes longer to set up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of actual tarps intended for this purpose, I got some excellent results by searching for &amp;quot;miniature survival tarp.&amp;quot; Note the word survival - a survival tarp supposed to keep you alive, but not necessarily comfortable. Here's a list of links. I'll summarize my findings below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://effortlessoutdoors.com/best-camping-tarps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://effortlessoutdoors.com/best-camping-tarps/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/tarps/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/tarps/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://survivalcache.com/easy-survival-tarp-shelter/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://survivalcache.com/easy-survival-tarp-shelter/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;smallest tarp size&lt;/strong&gt; any source recommended was &lt;strong&gt;5 x 7 feet (152 x 213 cm)&lt;/strong&gt;. The actual product they linked to was a basic emergency survival blanket with grommets in it. One source said &lt;strong&gt;8 x 8 feet (244 x 244 cm)&lt;/strong&gt; is the bare minimum. A few brands are available in &lt;strong&gt;10 x 7 foot (305 x 213 cm)&lt;/strong&gt; size, but the most commonly available size is &lt;strong&gt;10 x 10 ft (305 x 305 cm)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prices in this category range from (roughly) $30-$100. At the upper end, you can get lighter-weight and/or sturdier construction. At the lower end, expect to carry more weight and/or have a flimsier product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros of a purpose-made survival tarp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tradeoff between weight and price: can be lightweight but expensive, or heavy but cheap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sturdier than a plastic bag&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;faster to set up&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons of a purpose-made survival tarp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;price and/or weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whatever option you go with, be sure to practice setting it up in a non-emergency situation. Get under the tarp with your backpack and have someone spray the tarp with a garden hose. If you get wet, adjust your setup accordingly. Figure out how much cord it takes, and make sure you have that much with you. Decide whether to purchase and carry tarp stakes, or plan to improvise them by whittling or tying to rocks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-08-24T17:27:07.663" LastActivityDate="2020-08-24T17:27:07.663" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25403" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25400" CreationDate="2020-08-24T00:18:16.750" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How big a tarp for one person?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That will depend on several conditions, such as the height of the individual doing the camping and the possibility of bad weather to be possibly encountered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A smaller framed person and the expectation of bad weather for a short duration could get by on a smaller tarp, say 10’ x10’, about 3 x 3 meter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, I would feel more comfortable with a 10’ x 12’ (3 x 3.5 meter) tarp. This gives one a little more movement under the tarp in bad weather as well as keeping your gear dry, next to you!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could go the 12’ x 16’ (3.5 x 5 meter) route, but that is simply too much weight and space you have to carry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Spain, during the summer months, I would go with the 10’x 10’ route as towns villages and hostels are generally not too far apart and the Spanish are very accommodating. This is especially true along the Way of St. James.&#xA;(Metric sizes rounded to the nearest likely tarp sizes.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2020-08-25T18:13:42.150" LastActivityDate="2020-08-25T18:13:42.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25404" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-24T16:18:39.877" Score="7" ViewCount="237" Body="&lt;p&gt;What has less impact from an ecological point of view — camping below or above the tree line?  US and Swiss organisations appear to contradict each other:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the American &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/take-these-tips-to-the-alpine/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lnt.org&lt;/a&gt; comes the advise (or rather order) to not camp above tree line:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces: While visiting these areas stick to the trail or bare rock to help protect this beautiful environment. Camping is not permitted above tree line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sac-cas.ch/de/umwelt/bergsport-und-umwelt/campieren-und-biwakieren/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;swiss alpine club&lt;/a&gt; comes the advice it is better to camp above tree line:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aus ökologischer Sicht sind Standorte oberhalb der Waldgrenze meist unbedenklich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meaning &lt;em&gt;from an ecological point of view, locations above the tree line are usually unproblematic&lt;/em&gt;.  They advise to particularly avoid the forest near the tree line, as animals seek shelter there, but otherwise their reasoning appears to be: the higher up, the less life, the less humans are disturbing (plus the lowest elevations in the Alps are more often in use by humans).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem that in alpine territory, durable unvegetated surfaces are more common the higher one goes, until reaching the territory of only snow and ice, where all surfaces are durable (ecologically speaking).  On the other hand, a lush warm rainforest may recover much more quickly if I do camp on vegetated surfaces.  From an ecological point of view, aiming to leave no trace, should I rather camp above or below the tree line?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other advice from the Swiss organisation (bury human waste, carry out toilet paper, camp on durable surfaces, etc.) agrees with what I have read from American organisations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-08-31T09:44:52.543" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T09:44:52.543" Title="Less impact to camp above or below the tree line?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;leave-no-trace&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25405" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25404" CreationDate="2020-08-25T06:00:09.583" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are ignoring the context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The full paragraph is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Überlege dir vorab gut, wo du übernachten willst und nimm dabei Rücksicht auf die Natur. Suche dazu auf der Landeskarte möglichst unproblematische Lebensräume. Meide Auen- und Feuchtgebiete, da sie oft seltene Pflanzen beheimaten. Aus ökologischer Sicht sind Standorte oberhalb der Waldgrenze meist unbedenklich.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which translates to:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Think carefully in advance where you want to stay overnight and be considerate of nature. To do this, look for habitats that are as unproblematic as possible on the national map. Avoid floodplain and wetland areas as they are often home to rare plants. From an ecological point of view, locations above the tree line are usually harmless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The swiss are not recommending that it's better to camp above the treeline, they are noting that you should avoid extremely problematic areas and are listing the areas above a treeline as less problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11021" LastActivityDate="2020-08-25T06:00:09.583" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25409" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25404" CreationDate="2020-08-25T10:47:45.773" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary: I suspect that this is a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;quot;you can camp unless [list of factors that prohibit camping]&amp;quot; vs.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;quot;you cannot camp unless [list of conditions that need to be fulfilled to allow camping]&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;order&lt;/em&gt; to not camp above the tree line in the LNT post is a legal regulation for the White Mountains. Thus corresponding to the Swiss &amp;quot;no camping in [pick any of the Swiss protected areas]&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The LNT website has the general rule to  &lt;a href=&quot;https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/travel-camp-on-durable-surfaces/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camp on Durable Surfaces&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;and besides saying that judgment about the local conditions is required explains:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; The most appropriate campsites in arid lands are on durable surfaces, such as rock and gravel&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which is a criterion that would be met in alpine regions sufficiently high above the tree line so that there is no vegetation. Note that rock or gravel also means &amp;quot;no soil to disturb&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though I find it somewhat ambiguous, my impression of the LNT post is that it applies the LNT rules to a particular region (Franconia Notch, NH).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;High altitude wild camping in the US:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management allow dispersed camping, or camping outside developed campgrounds, on public lands except where specifically prohibited. [...] Alpine soil above the treeline is very fragile; it can take years to repair damage from footsteps or driving in tent stakes. For this reason, alpine terrain is &lt;em&gt;often&lt;/em&gt; off limits to campers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://traveltips.usatoday.com/camp-glenwood-springs-colorado-2269.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis mine)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the White Mountains National Forest in New Hampshire/USA which surrounds Franconia Notch, camping is prohibited in the alpine zone where trees are &amp;lt; 8 ft (except with &amp;gt; 2 feet snow) (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5363715.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;official backcountry camping leaflet with more details&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nhstateparks.org/activities/hiking/trail-maps-and-information&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camping in N.H. State Parks [such as Franconia Notch] is only permitted in organized campgrounds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I conclude that the order to not camp above tree line is a legal requirement in that specific region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are lots of regions in the Swiss Alps that are above the tree line and are &amp;quot;no camping&amp;quot;: The &lt;a href=&quot;https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=de&amp;amp;layers=ch.bafu.wrz-wildruhezonen_portal,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-auen,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-hochmoore,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-flachmoore_regional,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-flachmoore,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-jagdbanngebiete,ch.bafu.schutzgebiete-schweizerischer_nationalpark,ch.bafu.bundesinventare-trockenwiesen_trockenweiden&amp;amp;layers_opacity=0.9,0.75,0.75,0.75,0.75,0.75,0.75,0.75&amp;amp;bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&amp;amp;zoom=2&amp;amp;topic=ech&amp;amp;E=2676662.50&amp;amp;N=1188162.50&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;offical map linked in the Alpine Club post&lt;/a&gt; shows plenty of the protected areas to be well above the tree line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Swiss are very clear that the ecosystem &lt;em&gt;at&lt;/em&gt; the tree line is rather fragile, and one should not camp there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One specialty of the Alps is that due to &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_transhumance&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Almwirtschaft&lt;/a&gt; at the high pastures, there is often no clear forest &lt;em&gt;line&lt;/em&gt; but rather zone with a transition from alpine forest to meadow to no vegetation, or the forest line is artificially low due to pasture use. It may be difficult to judge where the forest line would be without grazing. Pasture land that does not have further factors that make it particularly vulnerable (e.g. mountain bogs) above the factual/current forest line can be well able to cope with a low density of LNT campers.  And camping there may be less disturbing to wildlife than camping at the fringe of the forest or the transition zone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are probably further considerations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;E.g Switzerland has a general right for everyone to access forests and pastures (including e.g. the right to collect mushrooms or berries for private use; camping needs permission of the owner, though), regardless of whether they are privately owned or not.  AFAIK, this is not the case in the US.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;This also means that in Switzerland &amp;quot;hiking land&amp;quot; includes lots of not particularly vulnerable land that would not be &amp;quot;hiking land&amp;quot; in the US and that does not require paricular restrictions on LNT/low impact (single person, single night) camping from an ecological point of view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In general, however, it is up to the Kanton (and the community) to decide camping/bivouac rules. And there seems to be a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergzeit.de/magazin/wildcampen-schweiz-wo-erlaubt/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;whole lot of regional variety&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not &lt;em&gt;sure&lt;/em&gt; about Switzerland, but Geman Länder distinguish bivouak (no tent) from camping (with tent). In Switzerland, &lt;a href=&quot;http://gdb.ow.ch/frontend/versions/910&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Obwalden&lt;/a&gt; distinguishes between &amp;quot;camping&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;staying one night&amp;quot; (including in a tent). The list above suggests that some Kantone distinguish single person from groups.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Also, if you look at the Obwanlden example above, it specifies that you are not allowed to disturb any private or public interests. Thus, you cannot stay where you'd disturb any fragile ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-08-25T12:24:05.233" LastActivityDate="2020-08-25T12:24:05.233" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25410" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25400" CreationDate="2020-08-25T19:57:38.210" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few more thoughts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The necessary size of tarp for rain + wind depends a lot on how much water you'd be willing to get onto/into your sleeping bag. E.g. I tend to be more picky when I'm out with my good down bag than when I'm out with my old synthetic fiber bag. In the end, that only trades weight/volume in sleeping bag &amp;lt;-&amp;gt; weight/volume of tarp...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;For bad weather (rain + wind/storm), there's also the question of dealing with the water on the soil. When I expect rain, I take a larger tarp that I wrap to form a ground sheet + roof.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;IIRC the smallest tarp I've used is 3 x 3 m.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you can rely on using trees: tarp + hammock can be done with a smaller tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;IMHO tarps are comparably inefficient for single persons, but very good for groups: 3x3 is a tight and not very rain-proof squeeze for 1 person, 4 x 6 m easily houses 4 - 6 people (both ground sheet + roof &amp;quot;wrap&amp;quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-08-25T20:02:45.423" LastActivityDate="2020-08-25T20:02:45.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25411" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2020-08-26T02:14:56.820" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've tried hiking with a flashlight, no thanks, it's always my headlamp.  The headlamp leaves my hands free for my poles.  It's nowhere near as bright as a flashlight but it's bright enough to hike with.  My flashlight normally stays in my pack--it's come out once when we weren't sure of the path (we knew where we were going but the trail disappeared on rocks), but for examining the terrain while standing still but that was it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for some of the negatives mentioned in other answers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Glare--if there were a lot of stuff in the air that could be an issue.  However, that's a very rare occurrence here and I've never had a problem at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hot and sweaty--I can definitely see that as an issue, but I generally avoid hiking in those conditions anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-08-26T02:14:56.820" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25412" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5059" CreationDate="2020-08-26T19:39:20.023" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Whichever you prefer: &lt;strong&gt;you need a backup in case it breaks!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So you might as well take 1 each and have both available in any situation where one of them is clearly superior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="369" LastActivityDate="2020-08-26T19:39:20.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25413" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25415" CreationDate="2020-08-28T06:24:15.620" Score="11" ViewCount="2344" Body="&lt;p&gt;If i were to leave a watermelon in my backyard for say, 9 hours overnight in western Canada during autumn, would it attract rats or lead to other negative effects? I'm just thinking because it has the rind I don't know that wildlife would be able to smell it. If it would lead to a negative experience in anyway, is there some kind of spray I can smear it with to detract critters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a watermelon wouldn't work out my plan would also work with a cantaloupe or really any other melon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20153" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T18:19:18.957" Title="Can a watermelon be left outside overnight?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25414" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="10773" CreationDate="2020-08-28T06:44:16.777" Score="-4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dehydrated foods require cooking, even seasoning sometimes. So one needs to boil the food and let it cook for some time. This usually takes at least 15 minutes to four hours.  One most beneficial aspect of freeze dried foods is that they can be easily prepared. So you just need to add hot or cold water to the freeze dried food and you’re good to go. In other words, they make for a quick meal option, wherever you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So be it a hotel room or a primitive area with the least available facilities, you can prepare a meal for yourself easily. Like if you have freeze dried sweet potatoes with you, all you need to do is rehydrate them by adding water and let them soak the heat and you’re good to go. Freeze dried fruits on the contrary can also be consumed directly from the pack as they do not require rehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20152" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-08-31T12:22:51.330" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T12:22:51.330" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25415" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25413" CreationDate="2020-08-28T07:11:08.340" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's intact and undamaged it should be fine. After all they're grown outdoors (in your climate and mine related species like pumpkins may do better).  Growers do suffer some losses but that's over the whole growing season. If you do attract rodents or similar creatures, they're not coming from far away, so it's not like you'd be bringing them into the neighbourhood with a one-off treat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's cut, it's better to put it in a sealed plastic box. Birds, slugs, and snails are likely to go for cut fruit. If a frost is likely, better leave it indoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would avoid spraying it with anything unpleasant - even if you wash it afterwards there's a chance of being able to taste it, either from transferring it, or a little getting in through the skin&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-08-28T07:11:08.340" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25416" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25404" CreationDate="2020-08-28T15:25:25.597" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would say less impact to camp below the tree line. One reason alpine camping is discouraged in the US is to protect the cryptogamic/cryptobiotic crust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Crusts are easily disturbed and extremely slow to recover. Considering the growing number of backcountry users, it is imperative to improve alpine resource managers understanding of the ecology of these fragile organisms.&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https://reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/0205597-the-ecological-function-of-cryptobiotic-crusts-in-alpine-and-subalpine-plant-communities-of-north-cascades-and-mt-rainier-national-parks.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;From UW report to USDA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also known as biological soil crusts, they are communities of lichens, mosses, algae, and cyanobacteria that cover the surface  where vascular plant growth is restricted due to harsh environmental conditions (desert, alpine, arctic etc.).&#xA;Alpine systems are slow to recover from damage due to the short growing season, harsh climate, and nutrient-poor soils. The living crusts are the basis of the alpine food web and provide important ecological functions of nitrogen fixation, soil insulation, and increased nutrient and moisture retention.(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1657/1938-4246-44.3.277&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Crisfield et al. 2018&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14013" LastActivityDate="2020-08-28T15:25:25.597" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25417" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25269" CreationDate="2020-08-28T23:55:48.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We hate to use the term &amp;quot;safer&amp;quot; in climbing, but here's a method to manage risk a little more appropriately.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Using this method, we'll never be off belay, and we'll never be trusting our life to a single piece&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Evaluate your last point of attachment.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;We're looking for the best anchor that we can make. Realistically, that's likely to be the newest, shiniest looking bolt, because we're unlikely to have much else in this situation. In a perfect world, we find a tree or horn or thread to sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, let's assume we're the simplest, most common, likely situation, we're just on a bolt, not incredibly trustworthy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Call down to you partner to lower&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;We're 35m in, and we've got a 50m rope. That's 50 feet of rope that we've got to work with. In this situation, lowering is going to be safer than rappelling, because we-&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;aren't trusting our life to a single piece. If the top bolt blows, we take a fall which isn't fun, but is to a piece which is ≈ only 8 feet lower, which is a 16 foot + rope-stretch fall, at most.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;are still attached to our partner. That's going to be most ideal, because it's a useful method of redundancy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As we lower, we're trying to find a better spot to anchor&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Your belayer has 15m of rope left with which they can lower you. Once we've been lowered 10m, we'll be only half the rope length above the last anchor. As we lower, evaluate bolts. In a &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; world, you'd be able to replace the second highest quickdraw with a bail biner, then clean the rest of the draws on you way down to your destination. &lt;strong&gt;They key here is to have clear communication with your belayer regarding your intentions, so they can let you know how much rope is left.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As you approach the end of the rope, transition back to the end of the rope&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Once your belayer runs out of rope, pull on their strand to haul yourself back to the closest bolt&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Swap the quickdraw at your &amp;quot;new&amp;quot; anchor for a larger basket biner if possible, if not, we'll assume the bolt-side carabiner of the quickdraw is what we're going to refer to as the bail biner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clip yourself to the bail biner with your tether, or another quickdraw (to your belay loop)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Ask for slack, weight the attachment to the bolt.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull a loop of the belayer's side of the rope through the bail biner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a figure eight on a bight (or any other mid rope loop knot), clip it to your belay loop. (You are now on belay via this strand)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Untie your rope-end tie-in knot&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull rope end through and down, pass it through the bail biner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie in at the end of the rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;CHECK YOUR SYSTEM&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unclip and untie your mid rope loop knot, ask your belayer to take up all slack.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull up on the anchor so that your tether/quickdraw attachment to the bail biner isn't tensioned, and your tie-in is.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unclip, lower.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using this system, we can stay safely redundant with our attachment, and end up leaving (probably) 4 carabiners behind. You can get more carabiners. Depending on your level of comfort, you can leave more or fewer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once down to our partner, we can rig our system to rap the rest of the cliff&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either you or your partner has the other rope. Let's assume it is merely a tag-line. If it's a rated rope, this would still work, but you'll have more options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rated rope goes through rings&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Join the two strands with an EDK (with several feet of tail/backed up, no need to be stingy)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Tie a mid rope loop knot between the EDK and the rings in the rated rope (Clove is fine), clip a carabiner to it and then also clip it around the rated rope (A &amp;quot;carabiner block&amp;quot;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rap&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pull tag line&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Rinse and repeat&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19849" LastEditorUserId="19849" LastEditDate="2020-08-29T03:29:25.320" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T03:29:25.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25418" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22368" CreationDate="2020-08-29T00:06:12.147" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am guessing a pair of barn owls? They make a lot of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wild noises&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, perhaps a nighthawk? They &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/sounds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;squawk and use their wings&lt;/a&gt; to make a booming sound, which is can be very startling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14013" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T00:06:12.147" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25419" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25361" CreationDate="2020-08-29T00:26:16.643" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Trango is a basecamping tent- large, heavy (twice the weight of the AC), it focuses on having lots of space inside to hang out in, to cook in. It's got lots of tie outs, you spend a bunch of time setting it up nicely. You'll want the Trango if you're getting to altitude then peakbagging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The AC is the light, summit push tent. It isn't as warm, but it's quicker to set up. You want to make sure you're setting it up in line with the likely direction of the wind. You'll want the AC for more general use, fair-weather mountaineering, it's going to suffice if you need to hunker down for a few days, but not as comfortably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19849" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T00:26:16.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25422" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24576" CreationDate="2020-08-29T21:25:37.453" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;No.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Energy absorbers are used when attached to a fixed point, which you won't have access to on a rope team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, the weight added to your base weight would further make this a bad pick to bring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20160" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T21:25:37.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25423" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24576" CreationDate="2020-08-29T22:02:48.580" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're using a climbing rope, which is a dynamic rope, intentionally designed to be stretchy. (It's different from a static line.) So these properties are built into the rope already.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As in any climbing belay, the amount of stretch in the rope is a compromise. Too much stretch increases the chances that the person falling will fall too far and hit something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-08-29T22:02:48.580" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25424" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24576" CreationDate="2020-08-30T16:58:11.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When roping up for the glacier there are two options available:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The standard dynamic mountaineering rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Static auxiliary ropes, e.g. rad line (which are sold for glacier use as well)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is an &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bergundsteigen.at/file.php/archiv/2014/3/60-65%28statisches%20dyneema%20vs%20dynamisches%20seil%29.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; in the German magazine bergundsteigen that compares both types of ropes. That concludes having a static element is not necessarily a problem as dynamic ropes have a spring or jojo effect:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bei maximaler Seildehnung hat der Sichernde, das Gefühl den Sturz gehalten zuhaben - nur um plötzlich wie von einer Feder erneut Richtung Spalte gezogen zu werden&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(At maximum rope stretch the belayer has the feeling that he was holding the fall just to get pulled towards the crevasse like pulled by a spring)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Being pulled towards the crevasse a bit however is not necessarily a bad thing. The rope will cut into the lip of the crevasse and make it easier to hold the fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shock absorbers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;A shock absorber as used in an absorber quick draw (e.g. ice climbing, trad climbing) will typically activate at ~2 kN and has a peak load of 3-4 kN. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any numbers for the forces involved in a crevasse fall but we can try to estimate it. Assuming a person falls with little slack on a relatively flat glacier, this is probably in the 3-4 kN range. A shock absorber probably is not reducing the load in a relevant manner. Even if it was slightly reducing the peak force...3 kN pulling at your hip unexpectedly will surely send you to hit the floor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What can be done to protect the team?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;To protect the whole team from falling into a crevasse we have some options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Get a big enough team. In a 2 person team the risk of the second being pulled into a crevasse is far higher than in a 4 person team.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep slack to a minimum. To my observations most teams have more slack in the system than necessary.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use brake knots.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rope cutting through the lip of the crevasse is a significant factor in braking a fall. [...] On a snow lip, the presence of knots in the rope is a valuable braking aid. (source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Approaching-a-glacier-as-a-roped-team-of-two?ActivityName=Mountaineering&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use an ice axe when walking. Using poles may be nicer to walk but only an ice axe will allow you to self-arrest&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let the heavy guys walk at the top end. It is much easier to stop an upward pull than a downward pull.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use running belays if the terrain gets steeper. Basically all accidents where a whole bigger team falls into a crevasse happen on steep terrain. It is much harder to arrest a fall on steep snow than on flat snow. If the risk of pulling the whole team off the face (not only by a crevasse fall but also by a stumble) exceeds the risk of a crevasse fall, a running belay on ice screws should be used. If this is not possible, the climb should either be abandoned or everybody should go ropeless to minimize the possible damage (very frightening experience!).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-08-30T16:58:11.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25425" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-08-30T19:14:15.500" Score="12" ViewCount="2803" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have minimal experience but i am considering getting certified by the ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) in the far future. It says i need hikes with a minimum of 700 m elevation gain/loss.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should i buy a GPS? or are there cheaper alternatives to calculate my elevation that is reliable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If GPS is the way to go, any recommendations?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20164" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-09-03T21:11:06.387" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T21:11:06.387" Title="Should I buy a GPS to calculate elevation gain/loss?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25427" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25425" CreationDate="2020-08-31T08:20:43.780" Score="20" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vertical difference to summit:&lt;/strong&gt; If you are just interested in reaching a minimum, it is often sufficient to compute the difference between the start and the summit, e.g. start at 1000m summit at 1800m means at least 800m elevation gain. Given the fitness level that is expected of a guide, this should already be enough in most places&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vertical difference along waypoints:&lt;/strong&gt; A more fine grained version of the difference to summit. Can be made arbitrarily accurate by choosing more waypoints and summing the vertical differences. There are lots of maps available on the internet for free in sufficient quality&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Phone app:&lt;/strong&gt; There is plenty of apps that track sports activities with the phone GPS. Most of them have a free version. Battery of the phone should be more than sufficient for a half-day hike&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mountaineering watch:&lt;/strong&gt; Many mountaineering watches have an integrated altimeter and a GPS that can be used to track your activitites. While this is not the cheapest option, it is something that one would probably buy anyways as a guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T08:20:43.780" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25428" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25425" CreationDate="2020-08-31T09:25:41.037" Score="11" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I buy a GPS?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe (or rather probably yes), but you don't need one to estimate elevation gain or loss, and they may not be very accurate for this purpose.  There are good reasons to buy a GPS; I use one mostly for fun (geolocating photos with a track), but a track can also be a life safer to retrace your steps if you get lost, and a dedicated GPS may produce a longer and more accurate track considering battery life.  If you do estimate elevation gain or loss with a GPS, make sure to download the track into a computer and remove measurement errors first, as a couple of bad points can easily inflate the integrated climb estimate significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or are there cheaper alternatives to calculate my elevation that is reliable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Canadian topographic maps are available free of charge through the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/national-topographic-system-maps/9767&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;National Topographic System&lt;/a&gt;.  They cover the entire country (!) at a scale of 1:50k, but may not include all hiking trails in remote areas.  They may also be decades old and in black and white.  In popular areas such as Jasper or Banff National Park, commercial alternatives exist such as by National Geographic or (in slightly less popular areas) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/national-topographic-system-maps/9767&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Go Trekkers&lt;/a&gt; (they reportedly also sell enhanced versions of official topographic maps, adding shaded relief and colour where applicable, I have no experience with those).  Their scale may be less good, but they may be more complete for currently maintained hiking trails (they may or may not include decommissioned or unofficial trails).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is easy to tell elevation gain or loss from a topographic map if you are competent in reading them.  Competence in reading a topographic map is certainly a prerequisite to become a mountain guide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-09-01T19:04:57.480" LastActivityDate="2020-09-01T19:04:57.480" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25429" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25413" CreationDate="2020-08-31T18:19:18.957" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can answer only for northern Virginia, which I sppose is warmer than western Canada.  If I left an intact ripe fruit on my patio overnght, it would not be intact by morning.  A watermelon might be intacter than a cantaloupe, which, when ripe,  has an aroma that says &amp;quot;Eat Me&amp;quot; even to creatures with a poor sense of smell, such as humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But I have raccooons, foxes, and the occasional coyote in addition to many small nibblers.  No rats.  And no  bears, which would make quick work of fruit left outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Point of curiosity -- why do you want to leave the fruit in your backyard?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-08-31T18:19:18.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25430" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25425" CreationDate="2020-09-01T17:16:29.727" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who wants to guide through the mountains, I would think you should have a GPS regardless. Just like you should have a radio, maps, food, water, a first aid kit, knife, etc. It's a necessary tool of the trade. If you need to call for a rescue, the precise coordinates from your GPS will make you very easy to find.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6528" LastActivityDate="2020-09-01T17:16:29.727" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25431" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25425" CreationDate="2020-09-01T23:57:28.607" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You don't need on-site GPS to know the elevation profile of your hiking trip. You can* plan the trip at home. Any modern map application will be able to show you the elevation profile of your trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That being said, you should have GPS with you for other reasons as well as a map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* Actually, I highly recommend this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9005" LastActivityDate="2020-09-01T23:57:28.607" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25432" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25433" CreationDate="2020-09-02T20:33:59.137" Score="5" ViewCount="333" Body="&lt;p&gt;As a person who is completely new to the outdoors (e.g. has never been camping), but is fascinated by the arctic and would love to try (at least once) to go on an expedition, what would be advice for how to start this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any groups of people who go (so as not to go alone)? What things should one search about? What month is the best to go? Moreover, how many days would a typical expedition last? What would be a typical cost?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you very much!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20172" LastActivityDate="2020-12-25T14:09:21.780" Title="How can I organise an expedition to the arctic?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;&lt;arctic&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25433" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25432" CreationDate="2020-09-03T00:14:39.857" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is - you can't do an expedition. It takes lots of time, money and effort to organize an expedition and requires experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet for visiting the Arctic (anywhere above the Arctic circle) would be to either fly or drive. You can fly to Barrow, Alaska, or you can fly into Norway, Sweden, Denmark or Russia and then drive to Arctic communities with no problems at all. There are cruise ships that visit the Arctic too (though maybe not at the moment with Covid-19). You could also fly to somewhere like Greenland potentially, but I think it would be boats from the towns to the Arctic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are serious about an expedition - this is something that takes a lot of time, planning and last but definitely not least, money. We are talking cost per person in the $50,000-100,000 or more sort of range. It involves transport, food, shelter, clothing, equipment, where exactly, when exactly, how many people, weather, etc. It also generally requires experience - this is not something you can just do without any out-door experience at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So - with no experience how would you go about this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, the answer is to start - go camping first off (maybe you'll hate it) - try your local forest park. From there, go hiking on trails. Then with time and experience, go hiking off trail and at different altitudes for longer and longer times (days/weeks).  Then, with more experience, try camping and hiking in the winter with snow and ice. Learn to navigate by map and compass in the hills, learn snow/ice techniques, first aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have a start on those, you might be able to consider planning your own expedition - but to get the money you generally need sponsors (like your favourite sports star has) - which means you need a goal - so what are you going to do, that will impress people enough that they will fund you?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T00:14:39.857" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25434" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25435" CreationDate="2020-09-03T20:54:41.293" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;So we were climbing today with some friends and an accidental liquid chalk explosion occurred in one of the backpacks. Contents of said backpack include: carabiners, a nylon sling and the nylon climbing rope. I am wondering if someone can share experience on the relative safety of continual use with said items. Obviously a wash before use, but that aside, is it possible that i may have retire the gear?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20175" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T22:05:38.203" Title="Liquid chalk spill on climbing gear" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-chalk&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25435" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25434" CreationDate="2020-09-03T22:05:38.203" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Climbing chalk is almost always &lt;a href=&quot;https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Magnesium-carbonate&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;magnesium carbonate&lt;/a&gt; (MgCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;; source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbernews.com/best-liquid-chalk-for-climbing/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;ClimberNews&lt;/a&gt;). Liquid chalk is just a suspension of magnesium carbonate in a low vapour pressure liquid, something like acetone or ethanol, which will evaporate quickly and leave you with dry chalk on the hands (and significantly cooler hands too, much like hand sanitizers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Magnesium carbonate is pretty much insoluble in water (~0.01g MgCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;/100 ml water), so rinsing in water will only wash away the particulates that are loosely attached and not sheltered from the flow of water. This would be a good first step to remove bulk contamination, but it certainly won't get rid of it all. About the only easily obtained method of dissolving MgCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; is in weak acidic solutions - dilute vinegar will work. Most of your plastic-based gear (e.g. nylon) should be resistant to a dilute solution of vinegar, although metals (particularly aluminium) might be attacked to some extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesite&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Magnesium carbonate has a hardness of 3.5-4.5&lt;/a&gt; on the Mohs hardness scale, which is harder than that of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;aluminium&lt;/a&gt; (2.75), so small particles of magnesium carbonate could wear away at your aluminium gear, but won't affect titanium (Mohs 6.0). However you can wash metal gear fairly aggressively with water and a brush to remove almost all the particulates, and any remaining contamination is likely to be less than you might naturally acquire during climbing with chalk anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With respect to the rope, I would be a little concerned about particles inside the fibers of the rope causing some sort of wear, but I don't know how this would affect the safety of said rope. Perhaps your local climbing store would have a better idea?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-09-03T22:05:38.203" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25436" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-04T01:41:11.843" Score="0" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k7L1o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k7L1o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Stove connected to 5 gallon propane tank&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.coleman.com/all-camp-kitchen/camp-kitchen-parts/5-ft.-high-pressure-propane-hose-and-adaptor/col_2000014877_pr/COL_2000014877&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.coleman.com/all-camp-kitchen/camp-kitchen-parts/5-ft.-high-pressure-propane-hose-and-adaptor/col_2000014877_pr/COL_2000014877&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bought the item above to connect:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Classic (x2) burner camp stove&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;5 gallon propane tank&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It works very intermittently.  As I understand, there are safety devices on the tank and the stove that prevent accidents with propane.  These are essentially valves that get opened when you connect the tank / hose / regulator properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that something is &amp;quot;sticky&amp;quot; or the tolerances in machining aren't tight enough so the &lt;em&gt;valve&lt;/em&gt; does not always engage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When it works...well, it works.  So, when it fails, typically:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No gas flows at all, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The hose fills with gas (you can hear it) and you can burn all the gas out of the hose&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a moving part at the end that connects to the propane tank.  I suspect that this part is &lt;em&gt;sticking&lt;/em&gt;.  I gently pressed it in (towards the stove), reconnected the hose and now it all works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this a faulty hose that needs to be replaced?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this a common problem with dirty connections? (by the way, mine parts are not dusty / dirty)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this poorly manufactured and I should buy the same part from another manufacturer?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is this something I can fix myself?  (cleaning, lubrication, ...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20176" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T01:41:11.843" Title="Coleman Stove / 5 gallon tank adapter / Doesn't work consistently" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25437" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4448" CreationDate="2020-09-04T14:57:10.083" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Of course only you know the answer to this question based on your own experience and needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A large knife can chop and split wood just fine and has many other uses. Here are the disadvantages I can think of, the advantages are obvious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A knife and an axe's blade are sharpened in a different way. A knife should be sharp, while an axe should have a somewhat rounded blade in order to stand up to the abuse of chopping trees. Thus a knife will dull quicker than an axe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A knife's tip is vulnerable to breaking off if mistreated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A large knife can scare other hikers. Just see how my &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4616/537&quot;&gt;post&lt;/a&gt; accumulated 5 downvotes and several close votes within a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To conclude, I am all for carrying a large knife instead of an axe. But I recommend a kukri instead of a bowie knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-04T14:57:10.083" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25438" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-05T02:02:21.633" Score="3" ViewCount="67" Body="&lt;p&gt;Several times in the past month, I have heard at dusk what I think is an unfamiliar owl species. Tonight it was a pair performing a duet. I'm well acquainted with barred, eastern screech, and great horned, which all are common in my fairly rural area, but are very different from what I'm hearing. When researching alternatives, it sounds very much like the boreal, but resources like cornell ornithology indicate their presence in Northern VA would be quite unusual. Any thoughts out there? Perhaps not an owl?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20180" LastActivityDate="2020-10-09T21:02:40.347" Title="Boreal owls in Virginia?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;owls&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25439" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19341" CreationDate="2020-09-05T02:07:28.990" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sounds like the flicker or pileated per user14513. If not, have you considered the yellow billed cuckoo?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20180" LastActivityDate="2020-09-05T02:07:28.990" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25440" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4167" CreationDate="2020-09-05T04:58:00.920" Score="0" Body="&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;even though my bag is rated well below the outside temperature&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I soon become dowsed in sweat&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I concur with the accepted answer that a cotton liner would be nice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most sleeping bags feature double zipper operation. Do unzip the bottom part a bit. This not only aerates your feet but also provides a way for air to circulate through the bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-05T04:58:00.920" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25441" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2020-09-06T07:25:47.353" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You ought to bring an &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;emergency blanket&lt;/a&gt; with you, they’re tiny and very lightweight and will increase your temperature significantly. You do get wet with them though, and they are an emergency solution. For me it was a lifesaver when I was unprepared in the Simien mountains where it freezes as night and the other gear was absolutely not sufficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5816" LastActivityDate="2020-09-06T07:25:47.353" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25442" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-07T09:01:13.557" Score="4" ViewCount="61" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to swim and surf in the Pacific, but the water a bit too cold for me to be comfortable. I used to rent wetsuits but due to Covid and in order to save money I am thinking of purchasing my own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The problem is that I am apparently chunkier around the waistline than the average wetsuit model. When I look at size charts, my chest will typically be M or L, while my waist will fall into 1-2 sizes larger (L or XL). It seems like my options here are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy one that matches my waist and accept that the chest will be a bit loose (if it lets a small amount of cold water I can accept that)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy based on my chest and accept that squeezing my belly into it will take some effort (and optimistically hope that the problem will take care of itself)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try to get something in the middle, so that BOTH the chest AND the waist measurements are off, but either one is less off than if I had tried to match one measurement exactly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which one of these is the more logical option for a 3/2 or 4/3 mm wetsuit? Does it matter (as far as fit) if I wear a vest under the wetsuit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recent experience with rentals has been pretty good. My belly would fit fine and my chest would have a small amount of slack, but the water in that chest slack would stay warm and I wouldn't have cold water getting in. Getting in and out of the suit was not unusually difficult. Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to the measurements of my rental suits -- I just let the rental shop look me over and guess my size, and they've tended to be right.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I understand that the ultimate way of resolving this is to simply try some suits on and see what fits best. Unfortunately, due to Covid I am not willing/able to do this. I am willing to simulate the process by simply ordering a few sizes online and returning what doesn't fit, but of course I cannot try dozens of suits in this way. So I want to narrow things down a bit. If I end up picking one company I could of course get the 2-3 sizes that match me, but approach might not work if I want to compare the fits of different manufacturers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18380" LastActivityDate="2020-09-07T15:23:14.560" Title="Where to compromise on wetsuit measurements?" Tags="&lt;wetsuits&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25443" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2020-09-07T11:21:57.367" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You say you had sufficient insulation underneath, but more will always help.  I used to spread my towels under my foam sleeping mat when winter car-camping for kayaking (sub-zero overnight).  It didn't matter that they were damp, under a closed-cell mat (though that discouraged me from using them as blankets), and they certainly added to the insulation. Admittedly I was lucky to have 2 full-size towels with me (one for river/sea water and one for after a shower).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's important to keep draughts away - so consider your tent's ventilation.  Normally I have a little at the top and bottom, but if it's really cold I close the bottom ventilation.  If you're under a tarp, you'll need a good windbreak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On top of you, as you found, kitbags of any kind are good for tucking your feet in.  For your upper half, you can drape an (ideally breathable) waterproof jacket over the outside of your bag, and tie the sleeves together underneath at shoulder height.  The insulation value is low, but it's extra draught-proofing.  A fleece can be used similarly, though I preferred to use mine to form a hooded micro-climate around my head, aided by whatever I had to hand, perhaps fastening the sleeves to hanging lops in my tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hat of course helps, as does plenty of clothing around your shoulders and neck.  I'm at the maximum height for my sleeping bag and move a lot in my sleep, so tend to open up draughts around the sleeping bag hood - any hooded top  would be good.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you can prepare even a little in advance&lt;/em&gt;, any liner adds a useful bit of warmth.  Mine is polycotton, like a bedsheet, and indeed you could improvise one at home from a sheet with safety pins. I almost always have a liner with me, as it's good in warmer weather too (combined with unzipping the sleeping bag) and good for keeping the sleeping bag clean.  If I had to make my sleeping bag warmer at a few hours' notice, I'd grab a fleece blanket and the sewing machine to make a warm liner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-09-07T11:21:57.367" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25444" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25442" CreationDate="2020-09-07T15:23:14.560" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;This sort of thing is a common problem with wetsuits. Different brands fit very differently. Fit is fairly important for swimming as a gap at the upper chest can end up like a scoop, adding drag and failing to keep you warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Squeezing in too much in any dimension will shorten the life of the wetsuit, and may restrict movement; in marginal cases it might feel acceptable on dry land briefly, but not in the water for long periods (or especially seated, as I found when I bought a tall extra large for kayaking, when an extra tall large would have been better).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your best bet for narrowing down the selection is to ask for advice from people of similar proportions in a group sufficiently local that you can buy the same brands (same country if you're buying online). You'll still need to order a selection but you'll avoid ordering lots that don't even come close.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-09-07T15:23:14.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25445" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25448" CreationDate="2020-09-07T20:22:03.077" Score="5" ViewCount="497" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does there exist a book, website, or article that codifies the rules/ cultural norms/ ethics/ etiquette of outdoor climbing. Things like the first party to the base has dibs (as opposed to the first party that is ready to climb), stuck gear on a route is usually considered abandoned gear, yield to up hill traffic, refrain from providing unsolicited beta, yell rock if you drop something, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19849" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T06:49:32.167" Title="Is there a resource for learning ethics/etiquette of outdoor climbing?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25446" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25445" CreationDate="2020-09-07T23:08:23.050" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are also different styles of climbing, and the expectations are different for the different styles, for practical reasons. In trad climbing, which wasn't originally distinguished from mountaineering, it was traditionally considered bad style for the leader to fall, basically because with hemp ropes it was dangerous as hell. Sport climbing upended this expectation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather than expecting an authoritative, monolithic guide to manners and ethics, I'd suggest that you read entertaining books like Royal Robbins' autobiography and The trad climber's bible by John Long. The sport ultimately derives from mountaineering, and there's a lot of classic mountaineering literature that's fun to read and will bring up a lot of the ethical stuff in a very dramatic way, e.g., the expectation that you will be self-reliant but at the same time willing to give up on your own climbing goals in order to help a party that's in trouble.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;yield to up hill traffic&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be more like hiking or mountaineering ethics. Are you talking about people rapping down a multipitch route and running into others who are climbing it? On routes where this happens (as opposed to a separate walk-off or rap route), I would just say hi and discuss how to solve the problem. (On a single-pitch route, this shouldn't come up, because party B wouldn't start while they can see that party A is rapping down.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things like the first party to the base has dibs (as opposed to the first party that is ready to climb)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not so sure this is a thing. I would just approach this by saying hi and discussing it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;stuck gear on a route is usually considered abandoned gear&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not so sure this is a thing either. It's more just that you would have no way to find the person who left it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-09-09T06:49:32.167" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T06:49:32.167" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25448" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25445" CreationDate="2020-09-08T11:34:20.607" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL/DR:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;There are no real codified rules in climbing itself. There is common sense and some mostly environmental regulations. Other than that you are free to do what you want. If you want a starting point take the articles on etiquette in climbing magazines or by alpine clubs&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long version&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;As Ben Crowell points out in his &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25446/17053&quot;&gt;answer&lt;/a&gt;, rock climbing used to be a sport for a lot of misfits. This has changed quite a bit but rock climbing still is only loosely organized (compared to other sports like football). In essence there are no rules.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Of course common sense should apply. This is the basis for all the etiquette articles published in climbing magazines or the etiquette published by alpine clubs. Things like, &amp;quot;park only were it is allowed&amp;quot;, were to leave feces, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to those basic rules that everyone should apply everywhere, local rules have developed, mostly as a consequence of environmental regulations. These are mostly access restrictions but also rules such as the use of metal protection (elbe river valley sandstone) or chalk. You will find informations on this in the guidebook but should also check websites of the organizations developing local crags. These rules are binding and disregard of them may cause the crag to be closed by authorities.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;There are some more ethics that are not legally binding but will get you into trouble with the local community. These mainly affect the style of bolting a route (and are thus irrelevant for the average climber).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-09-08T11:34:20.607" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25449" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4219" CreationDate="2020-09-08T13:23:06.190" Score="-2" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many rivers are glacier-fed and some are quite wide, so the risk for hypothermia is real.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I doubt that. A river is at most a couple of degrees below 0°C. Suppose it takes 10 minutes to cross and it's knee-high. That will &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; lower your core temperature significantly. The biggest danger is feet becoming numb and you falling into the water, which can be mitigated by some diver's gear (neoprene socks).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But crossing icy waters barefoot is safe for &amp;lt;10min for a healthy adult. Source: I (and many Finns - I actually live in a warm climate) take icy showers and enjoy it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-08T13:23:06.190" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25450" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-08T16:41:12.403" Score="4" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found these bugs in the morning, my dogs bed is on our bed and he has a lot more in his bed than ours. He does not have any on his body so I decided to exclude fleas. They look like pieces of lint but they move slowly and can not really see the legs. What could these be?&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/URRl2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/URRl2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20190" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T00:18:51.087" Title="Found these bugs in bed, not sure what they are?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25453" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25450" CreationDate="2020-09-09T00:18:51.087" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is almost certainly a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tick&lt;/a&gt; of some sort. Which tick it is, is hard to say without a close (macro) photo and knowing where in the world you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have found a number of them on bedding, it is highly likely that they have been on him for a while and finished their blood meal and are now looking for a place to either progress to a new stage in their life-cycle or to lay eggs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ticks are also really really good at hiding and often seek out crevices on the body (e.g. armpits, groin) and sometimes even inside noses or ears. These are pretty hard places to search and the early life-cycle stages of ticks are tiny and pale (&amp;lt;2 mm and skin coloured), so they can be really hard to detect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get over-the-counter tick treatments from most veterinary stores.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T00:18:51.087" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25455" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4219" CreationDate="2020-09-09T07:29:56.210" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here is the setup I have used in my long (1-3 week) treks in northern Scandinavia:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;shorter&lt;/strong&gt; crossings&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(or if the water is warmer)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Good, sturdy sandals (e.g. Teva)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Zip off legs of your pants, or remove them completely to keep them dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keeping socks on can help &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; (but not a lot)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Fording stick and/or trekking poles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMHO the risk from sandals is not actually directly hypothermia. The risk is standing in the middle of a stream, up to your waist, with 25kg on your back, and your feed just &lt;strong&gt;completely, utterly numb&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had that happen to me, and it's very scary... (Not to mention that you'll be in a lot of pain before your feet actually &lt;em&gt;get&lt;/em&gt; numb.) Since you will might not see the bottom of the river due to the current you're mostly &lt;strong&gt;reliant on the feeling in your feet&lt;/strong&gt; to accurately place your steps. Loosing this feeling makes it very easy to loose your footing / slip and fall / twist or break your ankle, etc. All of which can be very dangerous in the wrong place.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hypothermia might then be a factor after the fact, i.e. once you've fallen in and you and your entire pack are completely soaked...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;For &lt;strong&gt;longer and deeper&lt;/strong&gt; crossings:&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep on hiking boots, including socks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Take of trousers to keep dry&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put on rain pants and tie them to the top of your boots (with some cord/extra shoelace/...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure the rain pants are a &lt;strong&gt;tight fit&lt;/strong&gt; - if they are normally very &amp;quot;roomy&amp;quot; you can make them tighter artificially, by tying some strings/cords around your leg to keep them tight and snug.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;(Fording stick and/or trekking poles)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried the rain-pants-tied-to-shoes trick on multiple occasions - the biggest drawback is obviously that you will have to get your boots dry again over the next 1-2 days, but with good hiking boots and modern socks this worked out OK for us.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once in the Rocky Mountains we walked in a more-than-knee-deep river for over an hour, since it was the only way forward with the valley sides being steep labyrinths of bramble and deadfall. The mentioned method (shoes + socks + rain pants) kept us reasonably warm while walking, as we made sure to keep us warm above the water level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course it does not keep your legs dry, but this setup will work a bit like an &lt;strong&gt;improvised wet suit&lt;/strong&gt;. The rain pants will trap a layer of water against your skin that will be quickly warmed up by your body heat. This water will then mostly stay there, since there is no easy inflow/outflow and will isolate you to the water outside the pants, which might be 4°C...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Alternatives&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have actually looked into this topic a fair bit in preparation of a Sarek national park crossing where we (correctly) predicted many difficult fordings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possible options basically include bringing various forms of actual &lt;strong&gt;wetsuit clothing&lt;/strong&gt; pieces, such as socks/over-socks from neoprene, actual wetsuit pants, or the rubberised fishing pants.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;--&amp;gt; These options are expensive and more importantly (with the exception of the neoprene socks) rather &lt;em&gt;heavy&lt;/em&gt;. At the time we deemed the additional benefits not worth the drawbacks, but your mileage might vary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also played around with &lt;strong&gt;trash bags&lt;/strong&gt;, but to limited success: if you place them over your shoes they will rip at the bottom and water will come it quickly (unless you bring some crazily sturdy ones, which I wouldn't know where to get). And if you use them inside your shoes (i.e. protecting only socks/legs) then your shoes will get wet again, thus removing a bigger part of their potential upside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-09-09T08:53:55.190" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T08:53:55.190" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25456" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3851" CreationDate="2020-09-09T08:12:59.450" Score="2" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Keep &lt;strong&gt;means of putting the fire out&lt;/strong&gt; if it starts spreading - water, a blanket, sturdy boots, whatever.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If the fires is to be left unattended (e.g. everyone is sleeping around it) remove any fuel in a large radius from it. What follows is extremely controversial(!!) but I'll share it nevertheless. One way of doing that is &lt;strong&gt;to let the fire spread!&lt;/strong&gt; This requires correct assessment of the conditions. Low dry grass with some twigs - sure. High dry grass or pine trees/bushes - no, you won't be able to stop the spread, don't even think about a fire pit!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When departing from the campsite, make sure any partially burnt fuel is at most slightly warm. Even soaked in water logs can dry up and ignite in warm weather. If some embers need to remain behind, &lt;strong&gt;bury them under lots of soil&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Overall, before even thinking about starting a fire, assess&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;fuel availability (around &lt;strong&gt;and&lt;/strong&gt; above)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;wind&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;emergency measures available (it's quite safe to burn thick logs next to a river).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Position fuel deposits and camping equipment at twice the distance any sparks could get blown, don't get drunk and attend the fire constantly. Respect it as much as a potential murder weapon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T08:12:59.450" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25458" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25438" CreationDate="2020-09-09T20:42:25.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Having had a listen to the recording of boreal owls &lt;a href=&quot;https://ebird.org/species/borowl&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had a google for calls that are similar to owls and came across the &lt;a href=&quot;https://ebird.org/species/wilsni1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilson's snipe&lt;/a&gt;, which doesn't make a call like the owl, but rather uses air rushing through its feathers to make the sound. They are very common all across North America (the continent) and central America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-09-09T20:42:25.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25459" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25432" CreationDate="2020-09-09T21:38:36.460" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Buy a ticket to Grise Fjord.  That's pretty arcticy.  (No plants bigger than mosses, lots of rock.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vpt4f.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Vpt4f.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Aerial View o Grise Fjord&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ok more seriously, if you want to go on your own, you need to acquire some skills first.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Backpacking&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Get good at backpacking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: Now start camping above timberline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Now start camping above timberline in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Skiing&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Learn to cross country ski.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Learn backcountry skiing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Learn about avalanches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Learn to do extended trip at/above tree line in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Strictly speaking steep slope skiing and avalanche safety aren't necessary, but high elevation travel is the most practical way to practice winter travel techniques if you can't afford frequent travel to northern timberline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Canoeing&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of the arctic is soggy wet in summer.  Summer travel is very slow cross country due to swamp, muskeg, rocks, rivers and lakes.  It's also unpleasant due to bugs.  To a slightly lesser degree this is true of the boreal forest too.  There is good reason that essentially all northern settlements are on rivers or lakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A: Get a canoe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B: Learn to paddle it in rough water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C: Learn how much gear it can handle.  Two months food = 60 days food = 120 pounds per person if carrying fully dried food.  This has no allowance for ruined meals, the odd tin of jam or sardines, food ruined by water, rodents, and bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D: Get good at portaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;First &amp;amp; Second Aid&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You are your own doctor.  You need to deal with everything from upset stomach, mosquito bite overdose, minor burns, scrapes  to dealing with serious cuts, sprains, and potentially broken bones.  Second aid is the skill to keep the victim alive, and comfortable until help arrives, or recovery has happened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Firearms&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The arctic has polar bears as well as grizzly bears.  Both consider you as lunch, particularly in areas that are not hunted by the locals.  Hunting also allows you to augment your food supply.  See vilhjalmur Stefansson&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A:  Learn to shoot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;B:  Get your hunter-safety course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;C:  Go hunting each fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;D:  Learn how to shoot bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few hundred days and nights of outdoor travel split fairly between these topics will put you in the position of not being a serious danger to yourself and others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general you will find that high elevations are very similar to arctic conditions, and a lot easier to get to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, read up on the history and geography of high latitude lands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-12-23T12:06:37.660" LastActivityDate="2020-12-23T12:06:37.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25461" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3730" CreationDate="2020-09-10T13:49:16.013" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Objectively: no idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Subjectively:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Waste zero seconds&lt;/strong&gt;. Make sure I have boots on. Run to the edge of the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Simultaneously &lt;strong&gt;shout some orders&lt;/strong&gt; at some of the campers (if they allowed this, they are obviously incompetent, probably also frozen in panic).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Furiously use mu hands to &lt;strong&gt;rip fuel&lt;/strong&gt; (dry branches, pine branches, high grass, dry brush) and throwing it either in the fire or away from it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;At the same time&lt;/strong&gt; use my boots to stomp out the largest fire centers or kick them towards the fire center.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After 20 minutes return to the camp center, collapse in a chair, drink water, make sure the &lt;strong&gt;firefighters have been called&lt;/strong&gt;, plan how to survive the forest fire we have created.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-10T13:49:16.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25462" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-10T15:52:23.303" Score="8" ViewCount="886" Body="&lt;p&gt;Could you please help what I should do with previous day fire logs which are not fully burned yet? I believe they can be used again but where you would put them at top, bottom? Can they be use as fire starter? Please let me know how to deal with partially burned logs from previous day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20202" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-09-10T19:40:06.443" LastActivityDate="2020-09-13T14:39:17.237" Title="What to do with partially burned fire logs" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25463" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25462" CreationDate="2020-09-10T17:00:24.547" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on the resources available. Wood may be thick or thin, wet (green) or dry. You start the fire with the most combustible material, i.e. thin/dry, and then make a judgement about what to place on the fire from the available material.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My techniques when camping at a fixed place are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;thin: make sure there is some kindling dried out ready to start the next day's fire, by placing it near the fire but not so close as to burn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;thick: no need to cut long branches, just feed them into the fire from different directions. Then the next day when the fire has caught, resume with what was left of those branches, which will catch more quickly than the first time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2020-09-10T17:00:24.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25464" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19341" CreationDate="2020-09-10T17:58:09.613" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would vote woodpecker, specifically the big red headed ones that we call &amp;quot;wood hens&amp;quot; here in alabama.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVGPmo1xuA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVGPmo1xuA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11316" LastActivityDate="2020-09-10T17:58:09.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25466" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3548" CreationDate="2020-09-12T04:28:29.110" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I don't climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pharmacies sell fabric kneepads for ~5EUR, those would protect from scratches while bouldering:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MXHB3.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MXHB3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For actual climbing, bicycle kneepads can protect you from swinging into the wall but approach 60EUR. These are hardening upon impact gel + kevlar:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CIGor.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CIGor.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and these are hardshell, so they won't rip after being scratched every day for an year, but do limit movement:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ENJJQ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ENJJQ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sub&gt;Images shamelessly stolen from first search results. I do not endorse any brand.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-12T04:28:29.110" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25467" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25470" CreationDate="2020-09-12T17:55:52.567" Score="24" ViewCount="3374" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently developed an interest in bird watching as a hobby. This would be more than just watching the feeders in my yard; I’d like to record my sightings and try to spot as many of the birds in my region (and during travel) as I can, including trips to spot specific species still on my list.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have excellent distance vision, but I am red-green colorblind. Is that going to be a problem in identifying certain kinds of birds?  I live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20207" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:29:58.547" Title="Is color blindness a significant obstacle to bird watching?" Tags="&lt;bird-watching&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25469" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25467" CreationDate="2020-09-12T19:05:13.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;An obstacle, but not large. The size,location,actions, calls/song, are more important than the specific colors. For example , a wood pecker is pretty easy to recognize by their vertical perching on a tree trunk (typically) and if the red markings that nearly all of them have appeared green ,I doubt that would be a problem. Warblers come in a variety of colors but the patterns , which will have some black and some white ,and the geographical location and local locations ( swamp or field, etc.) will help identify them. I think, just like any other bird-watcher , identification ability will come with experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-09-12T19:05:13.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25470" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25467" CreationDate="2020-09-12T20:38:00.467" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;Colour is only one of several visual clues for identification. It's useful to a novice who gets a good look (I regard myself as a perpetual novice when it comes to birds), but shape (bill and whole bird) and behaviour are crucial too. Very few species are distinguished by colour features alone. Many species have a habit of perching where the light does funny things to the colours anyway, like among sunlit leaves.&#xA;The learning curve may be a bit steeper for you, but by concentrating on other aspects you'll come to understand the birds more, and in a group of birders a different approach is useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from these visual clues, habitat and especially sound are very useful. You may want to emphasise the latter more than many beginners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-09-12T20:38:00.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25471" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25467" CreationDate="2020-09-13T12:42:09.653" Score="25" Body="&lt;p&gt;My son is red-green colour blind, and he has the superpower that goes with colour blindness: his eyes are much less easily fooled by camouflage. My lay understanding is that colour blind people are much more sensitive to hues than to colour patterns, and camouflage is based on colour patterns. When we go to the zoo, he's our &amp;quot;camo critter spotter&amp;quot;. He often gives us pointers that go something like &amp;quot;So, look at the back of the pen near the tree on the left. Look for the grass that &lt;em&gt;isn't&lt;/em&gt; waving in the breeze. That's not grass, that's a tiger.&amp;quot; Where I take a minute or two to spot something, he'll have it mapped out in seconds. The difference is astonishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think you might have a few advantages for bird spotting, particularly the birds that sit quiet and still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fun 3-minute video on the subject:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NrmH039ffI&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NrmH039ffI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13400" LastEditorUserId="13400" LastEditDate="2020-09-14T09:45:27.033" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T09:45:27.033" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25472" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25462" CreationDate="2020-09-13T14:39:17.237" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Partially burned logs in my experience do not work well for restarting a fire but once you have a fire going, they burn just fine.  Depending on the size of the sticks, I might use it as part of the structure in building my new fire.  In general, when building the next fire, the partially burned stuff is on the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2020-09-13T14:39:17.237" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25473" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25475" CreationDate="2020-09-13T20:08:18.173" Score="4" ViewCount="109" Body="&lt;p&gt;Every evening for the past week, I've witnessed flocks of swallows meeting in a high crane close to my house. They arrive by waves of ~20-30 individuals around 8pm, until the crane is full of these birds (hundreds), singing. Then they leave in a similar waves around 9pm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering what use they have to meet at that high point around that time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks for your helpful answers :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20215" LastEditorUserId="20215" LastEditDate="2020-09-14T10:45:55.463" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T14:08:38.040" Title="Hundreds of swallows meeting for an hour every evening" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25474" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-14T08:25:46.913" Score="1" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;Prepare for camping this winter. It is said that a folding tent stove is best when camping in winter, which can increase heat and hot food. But I heard that the folding tent stove will leak smoke, which is not safe. Is this true?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The tent and stove in question are Pomoly HEX Hot Tent and Pomoly T1 STOVE PERSPECTIVE Tent Stove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20197" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-09-15T16:51:18.947" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:45:51.790" Title="Will the foldable tent stove leak smoke during use?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25475" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25473" CreationDate="2020-09-14T14:08:38.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible they are gathering together in preparation for migrating for the winter? It reminds me of a quote from Watership Down;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;“Before such people can act together, a kind of telepathic feeling has to flow through them and ripen to the point when they all know that they are ready to begin. Anyone who has seen the martins and swallows in September, assembling on the telephone wires, twittering, making short flights singly and in groups over the open, stubbly fields, returning to form longer and even longer lines above the yellowing verges of the lanes-the hundreds of individual birds merging and blending, in a mounting excitement, into swarms, and these swarms coming loosely and untidily together to create a great, unorganized flock, thick at the centre and ragged at the edges, which breaks and re-forms continually like clouds or waves-until that moment when the greater part (but not all) of them know that the time has come: they are off, and have begun once more that great southward flight which many will not survive; anyone seeing this has seen at the work the current that flows (among creatures who think of themselves primarily as part of a group and only secondarily, if at all, as individuals) to fuse them together and impel them into action without conscious thought or will: has seen at work the angel which drove the First Crusade into Antioch and drives the lemmings into the sea.”&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or for a more factual account, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/natures-home-magazine/birds-and-wildlife-articles/migration/migratory-bird-stories/swallow-migration/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;RSPB page here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20158" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T14:08:38.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25476" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25432" CreationDate="2020-09-14T14:57:56.790" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you wish to visit the Arctic but not organize and expedition yourself, you could consider a visit to &lt;a href=&quot;https://inukpakoutfitting.ca/en/discovery/arctic-discovery-winter&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Iqualuit, Nunavut&lt;/a&gt;. Iqualuit is usually described as being &amp;quot;in the Arctic&amp;quot; though it is not technically inside the Arctic Circle. Lots of Arctic winter activities are available, including snowmobiling, dogsledding, viewing the unique wildlife of the region, igloo building.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can find similar activities in northern Canadian towns like Dawson, Yellowknife or Inuvik (which is technically inside the Arctic circle).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Not affiliated with the linked company nor do I reccomend them - they are simply an example)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="443" LastEditDate="2020-09-14T15:23:21.637" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T15:23:21.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25477" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4235" CreationDate="2020-09-14T15:12:22.677" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bit late to the party, but here goes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; my 1-season sleeping bag turns out insufficient for the spring snow that surprised me at nightfall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, that one season the sleeping bag refers to is not spring...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should be done in such conditions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;In any case: Eat, preferrably hot food: you need your body to have sufficient fuel to produce heat to keep you warm. Sugar (sweets) before you start cooking give you energy that is avalable almost instantaneously, until the longer lasting nutrients from a full meal kick in. I've also found protein-rich stuff to really help in miserable conditions (e.g. a mug of thick, sweet cocoa with extra milk powder or protein powder can to miracles).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Exhaustion including being hungry are major contributing factors to hypothermia (and while we're at it, the conditions that got you exhausted &amp;amp; hungry often also favor dehydration).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;What should have been done before: the day's tour should have been kept sufficiently easy/short so you are not exhausted. I.e. you have physical and mental reserves to take &lt;em&gt;action&lt;/em&gt; during the night as required, once you're &amp;quot;refueled&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Break camp and hike out/to the next hut or at least in that direction.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Unless the conditions do not allow safe hiking out (e.g. ongoing snow storm, whiteout, you being night-blind) this is often the safest action you can take when you really do not have sufficient equipment for the conditions you find yourself in. Even in not light-polluted areas snow on the ground gives me sufficient light to hike. You want to hike slowly, so as to avoid exhaustion and accidents. Put on sufficient clothing to keep warm at a slow speed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you decide the situation is not &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; bad, so you can stay in camp:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Close your shelter as well as possible. With a tarp, go for a low setup with steep roof (because of snow), e.g. a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ddhammocks.com/explore/modifications/tarp_tutorial&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bivy or forrester setup&lt;/a&gt; or a variation of the body bag with closed foot end or both ends closed.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;The smaller the tarp space is, the warmer you'll be. If you close the head end, you'll have moisture, though (from breathing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If &amp;quot;good insulation below&amp;quot; refers to twigs &amp;amp; leaves, you can add branches and leaves onto your tarp. (I assume surprise spring snow to be wet and thus not very suitable for insulation)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put on all your dry clothes. I'd leave moist raingear outside as additional blanket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the sleeping bag is too small &amp;amp; tight for that, put them outside as blankets&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;After eating and before crawling into your sleeping bag, make sure your're warm - including toes, finger tips, ears and nose. If necessary, some excercise can help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When waking up cold:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;if you need to go to the loo or are hungry or thirsty, take care of that, then do excercises until warm again.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there is no other need to leave your sleeping bag, static excercises are good for generating heat as well. Know a variety that warms you up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is no whatsoever point in &lt;em&gt;waiting&lt;/em&gt; to get warm in the circumstances you describe, so take appropriate action.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Keep in mind that you need to act appropriately with &lt;em&gt;mild&lt;/em&gt; hypothermia: it is the last (only) stage of hypothermia where you can rely on your brain functioning sufficiently well to take &lt;em&gt;good&lt;/em&gt; decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The backpack can help in two positions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;as you describe as additional blanket/toe box, or&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;to close your shelter.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your sleeping bag is sufficiently large to let your curl up, do that - I'd keep my nose outside because of the moisture problem you describe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you curl up in your sleeping bag, the lower part is unoccupied. Turn that either below for additional insulation from the ground or up as additional blanket, whereever it helps most.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you really have to spend the night completely inside the sleeping bag, as you describe it &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; get moist, and this impairs the insulation. This means that you &lt;strong&gt;must&lt;/strong&gt; hike out the next day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Space blankets have been mentioned. A bivy sack comes in the same category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enabling alarm every 30min or one hour in order to prevent white death&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That is not necessary or even counterproductive since it may disturb the little sleep you are able to get whenever you are sufficiently warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are generally healthy, &lt;strong&gt;well fed and not under the influence of drugs&lt;/strong&gt; (meaning not only alcohol/recreational drugs but also medication), there is no danger of getting into hypothermia and dying during your sleep. You'll wake up reliably when getting cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, even quite exhausted muscles will produce substantial amounts of heat when they repair themselves during rest. The repair processes need protein and general excess energy (= well fed, otherwise the protein will be used as energy source).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is sometimes popularly described as &amp;quot;falling asleep and freezing to death&amp;quot; is IMHO a misconception. People with severe hypothermia do not fall into anything like normal sleep, they fall into &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupor&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;stupor&lt;/a&gt;, become unconscious and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;comatose&lt;/a&gt;. AFAIK, also terminal burrowing (aka hide-and-die) is not a conscious action like trying to get warm and cosy in order to sleep.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; how do people in quality sleeping bags sleep in the winter with all that sub-zero air that they have to breath?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Speaking for myself, cold acclimatization does play a major role: my nose (ears and fingers) take a few cold days to remember that they need to heat more when it gets cold. If you always spend substantial time outdoors, your nose will be used to work with those temperatures. Apparently, exposing face, neck and breast to cold air stimulates thyroid cold acclimatization (that's more general, though, we're talking weeks, not a single night).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I've slept in dry -2X °C on top of my tarp (so not to get soaked by snow I accidentally melt) without problems breathing the air in February in Winnipeg - those -2X °C were after all &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; warmer than the -35 - -40 °C in January... I did use a scarf, creamed my cheeks and nose well with vaseline/petroleum jelly and used the sleeping bag's hood. (Covering my nose makes me miserable because of the freezing moisture).  That occasion was a test of my sleeping bag I did in the garden before I went for a proper tour, btw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The human nose has no general problem with staying warm in calm cold air - as long as sufficient energy is available to generate the required heat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At temperatures substantially below 0 °C, the air is always very dry unless there is fog. This helps a lot with staying dry which is in turn important for staying warm. I find camping at +2 °C rain/sleet much more difficult than at -20°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few more points to consider&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;A one-season sleeping bag can make a very nice (though bulky and heavy) &amp;quot;upgrade&amp;quot; to another sleeping bag if it is sufficiently large.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I typically bring gear that is good for about 10 °C colder than I expect (unless I'm only a few steps from house or car). I'll thus usually sleep with a large tarp e.g. in a C-setup, the tent door completely open and often also the sleeping bag used as a blanket with the zipper open. This gives a safety margin where I can put on more clothes, close the sleeping bag, close the tent or tarp.  There's also nothing wrong with taking an extra blanket along (other than bulk/weight).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find it much easier to bring some more gear than to be miserable during the night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;While @gerrit is right that being tired but warm  is better than being tired and cold (since you anyways won't sleep when cold), being tired &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a safety concern as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Proper winter camping (on snow) has the advantage that a pulkka/toboggan mean that volume and weight of the gear is not very problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The more extreme the conditions, the more safety margin should be kept. Not only in terms of gear, but also in terms of food and fuel and in terms of keeping sufficient personal reserve (physical and mental).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many sleeping bags IMHO are badly designed in a peculiar way: their back has much less insulation. The &amp;quot;reasoning&amp;quot; behind this is that this part is anyways compressed and won't isolate. However, that works only for those very orderly people who lie down like a mummy and stay in that position on their back without moving much for the whole night. If you sleep on your belly or on your side - &lt;em&gt;including curling up egg-fashion because you're cold&lt;/em&gt;, you need good insulation at your back.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;My warmest sleeping bag has this issue, and in consequence I've been known to sleeping quite twisted: my back in the sleeping bag's belly side, the cap turned around as far as it goes or folded as head rest and scarf + woolen cap instead of the sleeping bag's cap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Test your personal comfort temperature range for your sleeping bag by spending calm dry nights outdoors close to your home (with at most a tarp put as a roof to keep rain/dew away).  Forget the manufactuer's claims until you know how to translate them to your camping habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-09-14T15:12:22.677" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25478" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19368" CreationDate="2020-09-15T23:24:37.520" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;TL/DR; Always safe because the bottle is not going to melt or poison you, but may be unwise because, depending on the type of plastic used, it could cause some warpage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nalgene is a brand name/trademark not a material. All of these bottles are branded Nalgene &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thermofisher.com/search/browse/category/us/en/602194/General+Purpose+Bottles&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ThermoFisher Scientific&lt;/a&gt; but you can see that they are made from a variety of plastics. Each of these is going to have a different profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HDPE is a common food safe plastic and its melting point is 120 °C so boiling water is not going to cause a catastrophic failure; however, it is a thermoplastic and the operating temperature is considered &lt;a href=&quot;https://omnexus.specialchem.com/selection-guide/polyethylene-plastic&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;-50°C to +60°C&lt;/a&gt; Note that the ThermoFisher site rates their HDPE bottles to -100°C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HDPE starts to soften around 64°C &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet_print.aspx?matguid=fce23f90005d4fbe8e12a1bce53ebdc8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vicat softening point&lt;/a&gt;, but 82°C is the limit that people have established before you risk warping ('boiling' water in coolers to cook corn)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some have mentioned Tritan as a material.  That is an Eastman trademark and it appears to be a co-polyester. There are several co-polyesters under that brand, but the melt temperature is much higher. The deflection temperature at 66 psi is generally above boiling so that is going to be able to maintain stability even with a sharp blow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, to maintain a seal, the container and the cap have to be different materials of different hardnesses. If this is not possible, they could use a gasket of pliable thermoplastic elastomer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the rigid tritan bottles should be good for holding boiling water as it cools, but you are going to have to take into account the lid material as well so caveat emptor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HDPE or LDPE I wouldn't do straight boiling water because they are more liable to deform, especially if you squeeze or otherwise apply a force. Let it cool down to 82°C and you should be fine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of note, dishwasher safe has no bearing on the ability to hold boiling water (other than if it is not dishwasher safe, it is definitely not safe for boiling water). The water in dishwashers should max at 65°C (150°F)--which is a notable point for HDPE btw--but well below boiling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20227" LastActivityDate="2020-09-15T23:24:37.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25479" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25467" CreationDate="2020-09-16T01:29:58.547" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're color blind red and green look about the same to people. However shape, and physical features are more determined factors for bird identification. Color is a huge asset in easily identifying birds., There' are 19 species of Macaw's...color is their typical factor that sets them apart.&#xA;Example pic&#xA;Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) and Military Macaw (Ara militaris)&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SDAR6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SDAR6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20228" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:29:58.547" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25481" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25474" CreationDate="2020-09-16T01:45:51.790" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If there's a hole in the flue anywhere but the exhaust the potential exists. Indoor cooking should avoided unless done in a safe or ventilated area. But tents with flue exhaust holes are ubiquitous. PROPERLY seal your exhaust pipe....&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20228" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:45:51.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25483" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3548" CreationDate="2020-09-16T01:58:04.187" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A cheap pair of bicycle knee pads is sufficient protection. If you want more comfort, stuff with cotton which doubles as a great fire starter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20228" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T01:58:04.187" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25484" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="3851" CreationDate="2020-09-16T02:10:41.837" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Most basic rules (but not all) for starting an outdoor fire.&#xA;1: clear all flammable debris such as dry grass, bark, conifer needles, wood, twigs from your fire area&#xA;2: keep flammable liquids you may use as accelerant away from the fire.&#xA;3: Keep lose clothing, blankets, paper, fabrics,etc away from he flame.&#xA;4: line stones, rocks or pebbles in a fire break perimeter around the fire&#xA;5: Keep a bucket of water and shovel nearby for immediate extinguishing in case of necessity or emergency.&#xA;6: Inundate the fire the water after extinguishing. Make sure the temperature of the ground is near ambient if it's still warm its potential for reigniting continues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20228" LastActivityDate="2020-09-16T02:10:41.837" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25487" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27018" CreationDate="2020-09-16T18:06:06.683" Score="1" ViewCount="125" Body="&lt;p&gt;In search for the most humane ways to kill a fish, I have came across the technique Ikejei. This is said to be one of the best methods to preserve the quality and flavour of a fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what I got, the technique consists of more than killing the fish fast. After killing the fish, there's a not so simple procedure for bleeding it by cutting the fish in the gills and in the tail and then, another procedure, of cleaning the blood inside the spine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the cuts, I know that in the gills one should cut completely the area that connects the gills and the branchi operculum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, one question remains, how to effectively hit the entire central nerve of the fish's spine with a &amp;quot;streak&amp;quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12892" LastActivityDate="2021-04-05T12:17:20.593" Title="Ikejime: Effectively hit the entire central nerve of the fish's spine" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;fish&gt;&lt;fish-cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25489" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25302" CreationDate="2020-09-17T12:49:35.440" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is an addition to @bob1's answer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; no energy, no electricity is required to keep it good,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's only part of the energy balance: the drying process takes &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; of energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Vaporization enthalpy of free water is 2.257 kJ/g. (Condensation of the water vapor may recover some of this.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, heating water 0 °C -&amp;gt; 100 °C (or 20 °C -&amp;gt; 120 °C in a pressure cooker) takes 418.55 J/g, so a bit less than 1/5 of the energy needed to dry out that same amount of water. (The other ingredients have lower specific heat capacity) (The analogy to recovering vaporizaton latent heat here would be to use the heat released when the canned goods cool to pre-heat the next batch.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.drytec-lohntrocknung.de/kosten-gefriertrocknung/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; a business that does freeze-drying as a service lists a rough guesstimate for freeze-drying a 100 kg load of strawberries, evaporating 88 kg of water with an energy consumption of 330 kWh if we disregard short-time storage which would be needed for other preservation processes as well. 330 kWh / 88 kg = 13.5 J/g water. (This is not only &amp;quot;free&amp;quot;, unbound water but includes also a secondary drying stage that removes e.g. desorbed water which needs additional energy.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if we say that canning has an energy efficiency of only 50 % (that should be reachable at home), that's still an order of magnitude less than the professional freeze drying at 100 kg scale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; and it can last years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you have already discovered, that is not true for all dried products. Lipids are difficult to preserve.&#xA;(freeze dried vs. e.g. vacuum dried does not matter). E.g. in whole milk powder the residual water is sufficient to allow the lipids go rancid within a few months. In contrast, skimmed milk powder lasts many months.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt; Seemingly it should be vastly superior to any other method of food preservation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No, see above. All these preservation techniques (including freeze drying) serve better or worse for different purposes. The idea is to apply each technique where it is most suitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;canning&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;see above. &amp;quot;natural&amp;quot; advantage for food that is anyways cooked.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;soaking in solutions of large amounts of sugar or salt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;even less energy needed - but suitable only for specific foods. With sugar, in particular food that will be eaten with the added sugar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;high-heat drying&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whenever the food will anyways be heat-treated, this is an obvious option that avoids all inefficiencies of the cooling part of freeze drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;freezing&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Allows to preserve raw food. Energy needed depends on storage time: the longer the more. (Initial energy spent on freezing can be partly recoverd e.g. by thawing in the fridge)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;fermentation&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Often done to obtain particular, different food. I.e., sauerkraut to me is a different food from white cabbage. I also distinguish between wine and grape juice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The same for curing, btw.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-09-17T12:49:35.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25490" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="18169" CreationDate="2020-09-17T14:04:35.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Solution: Use Ethyl / Denatured Alcohol to dissolve it off. I've used this solution on two bags now and it had worked amazingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bag 1 - Thermarest stuff sack: It was so sticky I had to peel it apart. I turned the bag inside out and put it in a jar with rubbing alcohol 91%, let it soak for about 24hrs then pulled it out of the jar &amp;amp; used a scrub brush on the sticky part. The old coating either went into solution or balled up and came off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After a second soak/scrub, I threw it in the wash on hot/quick with laundry powder to help wash away the rest of the solution. After it air died, it was completely tack &amp;amp; odor-free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bag 2 - older Dana Design pack: A larger (60L) pack with many facets, with the same issue. First, I took off as many of the straps, foam &amp;amp; stiffeners as I could. I put it in a trash bag, then put that in a bin of water. This way, when I poured Denatured Alcohol into the trash bag with my pack inside, the pack would get soaked/saturated without needing 3 gallons of alcohol. The snap lid of the bin also helped hold the pack down, preventing it from floating on the surface of the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After it'd soaked for 24hrs, I put on rubber gloves &amp;amp; pulled the bag out for agitation. I used the lid of my bin as a tray outside, to capture as much of the alcohol as possible, so I could pour it back in the trash bag for round 2. I scrubbed the pieces of fabric against each other or used a stiff brush. When I was satisfied, I hosed it off, threw it in the wash &amp;amp; air died. It's completely tack free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I opted for the denatured over rubbing alcohol because it's mostly ethanol (renewable). As a solvent they worked about the same. I didn't try diluting them. Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20235" LastEditorUserId="20235" LastEditDate="2020-09-20T07:25:58.153" LastActivityDate="2020-09-20T07:25:58.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25491" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-09-18T12:29:10.153" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to the OS themselves, and as previosuly suggested, it is a civil parish boundary: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/documents/resources/25k-raster-legend.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/documents/resources/25k-raster-legend.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20239" LastActivityDate="2020-09-18T12:29:10.153" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25492" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14655" CreationDate="2020-09-18T15:02:41.043" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The thickness lines On the FSXX charts show average temperature between the layers - 1000hPa and 500hPa (~18000ft/5500m). That's a deep chunk of the atmosphere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Not all slabs are the same.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;It's possible to have an &lt;strong&gt;identical&lt;/strong&gt; thickness value by having&#xA;a) 1 slab with smoothly-changing temperature characteristics, or&#xA;b) another with 2 very different layers in the slab - 1 cold air and 1 warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the depth of the layers would need to be such that the mean temperature value is the same in both layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. The depth of the slabs is important.&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;(Using random figures just for ease of illustration - don't quote these!)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you had a 60% deep slab of cold air (at say -10C), on top of a 40% deep slab of   warm air (say 06C), then the thickness &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; come out to be 528hPa. Snow however would probably be confined to higher ground, because the snow would melt passing through the warm air, and you might expect rain at sea level.&#xA;If you had a 80% slab of warm air (say 06C) and a 20% slab of air beneath it (at -8C), then that too &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; give a 528 thickness, but snow or freezing rain might fall to sea level in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to get around this, forecasters don't just use the 1000-500hPa for snow forecasting - it's too coarse. They also use the 1000-850hPa thickness (calculated separately and so isn't on the FSXX charts). 850hPa (~5000ft/1500m) is a shallower depth of atmosphere and is closer to sea level, so is better for distinguishing between rain and snow low down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, the 1000-500hPa thickness is a &lt;strong&gt;coarse&lt;/strong&gt; measure of &lt;strong&gt;mean&lt;/strong&gt; temperature. For the first 24-48 hours, we expect forecasters to know what's going on, &lt;em&gt;to a considerable degree of accuracy&lt;/em&gt;. The 1000-500hPa is not accurate enough to use in anger for the next 2 days, &lt;strong&gt;so forecast centres don't bother putting thickness lines on the early charts.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What it does well, is it can be used as a  good marker for a cold airmass versus a warm airmass - so you can easily watch an Arctic plunge sweep southwards - and the 528hPa line gives you a 50% chance of snow at sea level (so higher than 50% for hills/mountains) - or a tropical heatwave extend northwards.And that's often all you need to know 3,4,5, days ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20240" LastActivityDate="2020-09-18T15:02:41.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25493" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-09-18T15:20:09.470" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure what app you're using, but they're from the app, and not part of the base map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can view the OS map in Bing (yes, it is useful for something!) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=9bf0271d-f338-4487-813b-07b963b2adf4&amp;amp;cp=52.050373%7E-2.346482&amp;amp;lvl=16&amp;amp;style=s&amp;amp;v=2&amp;amp;sV=2&amp;amp;form=S00027&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; and the circles (octagons?) don't appear.  What made me think they're not on the base map though is the line weight.  The screenshot embedded kin the question has been through a bit of rescaling, but if we force the &amp;quot;large&amp;quot; option at &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXIl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXIl.jpg&lt;/a&gt; (which has a good chance of being the original size):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXIl.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/67NXIl.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;those lines are 1 pixel with a bit of antialiasing; even the green lines for the trees are a bit heavier, as are the minor contours, which are normally the lightest features on the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what are they? They're not a common shape for waypoints, but it's possible; if they were part of your track, I'd expect a continuous line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-09-18T15:20:09.470" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25494" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-19T12:50:28.823" Score="0" ViewCount="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Waterproof-Clothes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tutorial&lt;/a&gt; explains how to waterproof fabric using powder laundry detergent and alum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how long does a fabric that is waterproofed using this method remain waterproof? also, can you waterproof the same fabric more than one time (i.e. waterproof it again after it loses its waterproof)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20243" LastActivityDate="2020-09-19T12:50:28.823" Title="How long does a fabric remain waterproof after waterproofing it using powder laundry detergent and alum?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25495" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25496" CreationDate="2020-09-19T13:31:48.107" Score="5" ViewCount="157" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refeeding_syndrome&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Refeeding syndrome&lt;/a&gt; is a potentially fatal condition caused by eating too much or too fast after a period of starvation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, how long of a period are we talking about?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17466" LastActivityDate="2020-09-19T13:31:48.107" Title="How long can one starve before refeeding syndrome becomes an issue?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25496" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25495" CreationDate="2020-09-19T13:31:48.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The linked Wikipedia article's &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg32/resources/nutrition-support-for-adults-oral-nutrition-support-enteral-tube-feeding-and-parenteral-nutrition-pdf-975383198917&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first reference (pdf)&lt;/a&gt; recommends to start precautions at the 5 day mark when tube-feeding. These precautions are to feed only 50% of calorie needs for the first two days and continue as normal if no problems arise. Further, a patient at high-risk of refeeding syndrome would need to be cared for by an expert. They should start feeding further below the metabolic rate, ramp up during the next 4-7 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article gives these criteria for a high risk for refeeding syndrome:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At least one of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;BMI less than 16 kg/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unintentional weight loss greater than 15% during the last 3-6 months&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Little to no nutritional intake for more than 10 days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OR&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;At least two of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;BMI less than 18.5 kg/m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Unintentional weight loss greater than 10%&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Little to no nutritional intake for more than 5 days&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A history of alcohol abuse or drugs including insulin, chemotherapy, antacids or diuretics&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, start taking precautions if starvation has lasted 4-5 days and seek professional help if you match the above criteria.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17466" LastActivityDate="2020-09-19T13:31:48.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25497" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-19T14:35:31.673" Score="4" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;When on holiday in a region I like to do day hikes to enjoy the outdoors and the scenery.&#xA;Sometimes the local tourist office has some information but when that's not the case I try to use on-line resources to identify interesting hikes. My question is about the latter case and I will use a recent example to illustrate the question below. However, it's just an example and I would like to learn more general techniques to tackle the problem of identifying if a trail will have good views.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Recently I went to the Vosges region in France. Once there, I used &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikiloc.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikiloc&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alltrails.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;alltrails&lt;/a&gt; to find hiking trails that matched some criteria (i.e. loop trails, suitable for a day, a duration matching my available time, etc...).&#xA;Often I felt overwhelmed with the number of possible trails and just picked one, more or less at random. The hikes were nice, but I sometimes wondered if I could have made a choice where the hike would be even more beautiful*.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I identify from a map how visually appealing the views from the trail will be?&#xA;I hope to do this in a similar fashion as I can use contour lines to gauge how steep a path will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*&lt;sub&gt;I realise that &lt;em&gt;beautiful&lt;/em&gt; means different things to different people, I consider hiking with a view of the surroundings beautiful and find hikes where you walk through e.g. pinewoods less interesting.&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2106" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T10:34:52.630" Title="How can I identify hiking trails with views of the surrounding areas from online resources?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;trails&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25498" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-19T19:08:43.627" Score="2" ViewCount="189" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I encounter animals which are obvisouly wounded or sick (either visible open wounds, broken bones or else because they miss the typical flee reaction for the species or hardly move at all). Let's take a concrete example: in grass when toads feel threatened they tend to crawl as deep as possible into the grass making it hard to spot them. So when I'm mowing it has happened I accidentally cut off part of the skin of their back, or part of a leg etc. I only have some basic medical knowledge, so in case of more severe wounds usually I can only guess what would cause the least suffering: killing the toad immediately or let it be. Assuming it's not practical/possible to take the animal to a veterinarian, and a proper way of killing the animal immediately is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there some general guidelines which can be used to decide what to do? I realize this might be a pretty general question and hard to answer, but I'm also interested in particular cases/examples, no matter what species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11817" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T20:46:34.297" Title="Simple general rules to decide if an animal is wounded badly enough that killing it is the right thing to do?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25499" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25497" CreationDate="2020-09-19T19:54:27.440" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're right to expect that a good map will help. Familiarity with the region will also help you know what to expect; photos or even Street View along roads running through comparable nearby terrain can be compared with the map. Also if there are roads nearby, look for map symbols indicating viewpoints and try to find a parallel, probably higher, trail (viewpoint symbols, which are often a partial circle of wedges spreading from a point, may be shown on trails too, but IME are more common on or very near roads).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using the contours again you can get an idea of how expansive the views are, at least. It helps if the map indicates whether you're in forest or open country, but if the land drops steeply you should get views between the trees in places, so if there's a screen of trees between you and the view, look out for openings where the trees nicely frame what you can see.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's assume a candidate trail runs along a hillside, fairly high up - that's a good starting position. Follow the contours down the hill, and back up again. Over a wide arc, you want some distance, probably several km, before the land rises to about the altitude of the trail, and it should probably keep rising. You can use trigonometry to work out if you'll see further hills behind the closest ones - this simplifies though - a hill twice as far away needs to be twice as far up from you to be at the same inclination angle. To get the effect of stacked ridges, you want hills that get higher faster than they get further away - or to be at a similar height yourself to the hills you're looking at.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Time of day is worth considering alongside the openness of the views. If you start before dawn, you may want to be in place for these open views to face east to the sunrise, and if you're out at dusk (perhaps planning a camping spot), west towards the sunset. But if you're not out quite that early/late, walking towards a low sun doesn't give the best views; instead look for the dramatic shadows as the sun side-lights the high bits while leaving the valleys in darkness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The map will also show you water. You may want to pass low next to a lake if the weather forecast suggests it will be still, to get reflecting views (but if this is important, look for indications of boating activity to avoid).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T09:05:18.460" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T09:05:18.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25500" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25497" CreationDate="2020-09-19T20:00:52.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest idea I use is: choose a trail which follows a ridge. These should be beautiful regardless of which specific sites they pass by. As an added bonus, if you are in a new area, such trails can help you get a general idea of the surroundings, and give you inspiration on which additional sites you want to visit next.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maps usually show where trees are; you probably want to avoid these.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2020-09-19T20:00:52.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25501" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-20T20:18:44.467" Score="5" ViewCount="224" Body="&lt;p&gt;In one section of a trail I was on yesterday a large number of trees had markings like the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8JQ5I.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8JQ5I.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are certainly not trail markings - the trail markers were entirely different (round plastic badges with writing).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paint marks were varied (as shown) and were on trees somewhat deep into the woods from the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly unrelated, but I had read the area we were in is due to get some maintenance in the form of trail bridges / boardwalks being constructed. But I don't know if these tree markings specifically corresponded to that work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was located somewhat far off any road, within a NY State Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16825" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T16:57:02.647" Title="What are these painted markings on trees for? (not trail markers)" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;trees&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25502" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25501" CreationDate="2020-09-20T22:41:17.780" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;These markings are for logging operations.  The marks indicate that the trees should be removed.  Note that there are also marks at the base, this is to help verify that the proper trees are removed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following are some work items and the primary and/or secondary colors used to mark each: Cut tree (blue/yellow), leave trees (orange/pink), wildlife reservation (white), cutting boundary (orange), cancel prior work (black), and property lines (red).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wmicentral.com/news/latest_news/tree-marking-why-is-there-paint-on-the-trees/article_48b84c11-5db2-5b8e-8120-16f8f6d4d74b.html#:%7E:text=The%20following%20are%20some%20work,and%20property%20lines%20(red)&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.wmicentral.com/news/latest_news/tree-marking-why-is-there-paint-on-the-trees/article_48b84c11-5db2-5b8e-8120-16f8f6d4d74b.html#:~:text=The%20following%20are%20some%20work,and%20property%20lines%20(red)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2020-09-20T22:41:17.780" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25503" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="2999" CreationDate="2020-09-21T05:47:39.333" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no such thing as &amp;quot;tight&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;loose&amp;quot; in hiking boots. The pair of hooks serves to &lt;strong&gt;isolate&lt;/strong&gt; the tension on the foot section of the boot from the tension on the ankle part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thus try leaving the bottom part loose while tightening the ankle part. Try the reverse. Try both tight or both loose. All those have advantages and disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-21T05:47:39.333" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25504" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25498" CreationDate="2020-09-21T07:05:57.777" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;All animals have different needs in order to survive so it's almost impossible to give general guidelines. Nobody would put down a human for having a broken leg, but for animals that always have to walk to survive a broken leg is a death sentence, even stud horses that no longer race, you would think they would have come up with a way for a horse to recover in that situation, but I don't believe they have&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19523" LastActivityDate="2020-09-21T07:05:57.777" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25505" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25498" CreationDate="2020-09-21T12:10:44.070" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are not trained in animal care, there are not going to be any useful guidelines. The only thing to advise would be to take the injured animal to an animal protection centre (if you can do that safely) where they will have qualified specialists who will be able to make that call.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-09-21T12:10:44.070" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25506" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6118" CreationDate="2020-09-21T18:02:28.320" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iYpsz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/o56SU.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Made this tarp shelter using duct tape and clear shower curtains it should hold up to anything but hurricane strength winds&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20246" LastActivityDate="2020-09-21T18:02:28.320" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25507" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25237" CreationDate="2020-09-22T06:24:28.277" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The safest thing to do is assume that the snake you saw is dangerous one. Based on that, if I were you, I would have called in the snake rescue experts. These guys are the best bet you have for your and the snake's safety into consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are correct about Black Rat snake, these are non-venomous, oviparous meaning the ones that lay egg for reproduction and have a typical breeding season from May to June. The eggs would hatch in about 30 to 50 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't gamble with the snake nest part because most of the species of snakes don't stay back for a long time. For most of the species the new-born snakes usually slither away quickly for an independent life. However, the Black Rat Snakes have tendency to stay around the hatching area for an year or so, specifically through the winter hibernation with other snakes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2303" LastEditorUserId="2303" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T05:42:06.443" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T05:42:06.443" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25508" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6118" CreationDate="2020-09-22T09:35:55.850" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a bunch of questions you need to think of, and the final answer will depend on all these various factors...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long do you want your tarp to hold up?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Is it simply for a single-use construction to keep some folks dry during an outdoor party? Is it a permanent cover that will stay (and have to hold up) for months or even years?&#xA;--&amp;gt; Cheap plastic might work in the short term but will deteriorate quickly, especially if you don't invest in UV-resistant product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What winds are you building this for?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;How sheltered is the tarped location? Does it have to hold up during high winds?&#xA;--&amp;gt; The more wind forces you expect the higher your need for a proper sturdy tarp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once-off or repeated setup?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Do you set this up once and then leave it in place, or do you plan do use this as an easy shelter to take with you on camping trips?&#xA;--&amp;gt; If you want to re-use your tarp you'll be happy to have a good sturdy tarp with nice grommets/loops to help you set up. If it's just a once-off thing you can work around the lack of grommets with various tricks (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.physicaleducationupdate.com/public/Outdoor_Education_Use_a_Stone_to_Tie_Down_Your_Tarp.cfm#:%7E:text=Simply%20place%20a%20rock%20about,of%20dirt%20for%20a%20rock.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;using a stone to tie your rope around&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Will there be snow loaded on the tarp?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;If you expect snow loads you'll need a sturdier overall construction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do you want shade or simply rain-protection&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;--&amp;gt; Obviously if you want shade then don't pick a transparent tarp/plastic, but a darker colour. Take care that if there is not good ventilation beneath then a dark tarp / tent will heat up the air below it quite considerably...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2020-09-22T09:35:55.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25509" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25510" CreationDate="2020-09-23T19:11:10.583" Score="1" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;We found bones near a lake in Western Poland. There is a lot of forest nearby as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since there are fox farms in the area, this is the first thing that came to mind.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the photos, with a foot for scale :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iKWRi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/iKWRi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7j9lt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7j9lt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xULV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4xULV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4MqU8.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4MqU8.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ju7vw.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ju7vw.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20250" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T06:45:54.337" Title="Identification of bones, looking like a fox / dog, from Poland in a lake / forest area" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25510" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25509" CreationDate="2020-09-23T21:17:10.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Definitely not boar, they have much higher numbers of teeth in the jaw and have flat chewing molars. These teeth suggest a carnivore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the foot scale I would say small carnivore. This narrows it down to small dog, fox, cat and badger or mustelid (polecat, stoat, weasel etc) in Northern Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The easiest bones to identify are the jaws/teeth and skull for a novice. Luckily Google is an OK search tool for identifying objects such as this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Mustelids (which includes badgers) all have pretty similar skulls and teeth - so have a close look at the ones at &lt;a href=&quot;https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mam1ic/x-55183/55183e&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;University of Michigan&lt;/a&gt;. You will notice that they have 4 teeth in the jaw besides the canine, and the teeth consist of 3 pre-molars and 1 molar. The premolars are pretty smooth in profile.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I also found a comparison of dog, fox, badger and cat jaws at &lt;a href=&quot;https://ifeelitinmybones.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/a-skeletal-comparison-of-dog-fox-badger-and-cat.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ifeelitinmybones.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt; (pdf), written by an actual zooarchaeologist in the UK. If you have a look at the jaws presented in figure 1, they show that dog and fox have a lot more teeth in the jaw and different placements than the above specimen. While the teeth look pretty similar to the ones presented above, they are not quite the same, being smooth on the leading edge and having an accessory ridge (I hope that's the right term) on the trailing. The teeth above have accessory ridges on both sides. This leads me to badger vs cat. In the pdf above, the badger is missing two of the pre-molar, so it should have 4 teeth, but the remaining pre-molar looks smooth, just like the other mustelids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This leaves cat - now compare the cat teeth in the pdf to the ones above, they are very similar in form, each having 3 points, and having only 3 teeth in the jaw (besides canine) - two pre-molar and one molar. in addition, if you look at the angle of the mandibular hinge, you can see that it is reclined (~50 degrees) characteristic of a cat, whereas the other animals have a much steeper angle (closer to 90 degrees)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in conclusion or TL,DR: This is a cat skeleton.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-09-24T00:47:28.063" LastActivityDate="2020-09-24T00:47:28.063" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25512" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25513" CreationDate="2020-09-24T13:57:09.693" Score="7" ViewCount="1926" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found some old Zippo Lighter Fluid at home but I could not find any best before date. I think it is somewhere between 15-20 years old (new box to the right). Safe to use or should I buy new fluid?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know that normal gasoline lasts about six months and fuel-stabilized gasoline keeps for one to three years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-long-does-gasoline-last/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-long-does-gasoline-last/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;According to this thread however there's nothing in lighter fluid (naphtha) that can go bad.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/shelf-life-of-lighter-fluid-discovery.118616/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/shelf-life-of-lighter-fluid-discovery.118616/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n4QYP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/n4QYP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4iwL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/E4iwL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20253" LastEditorUserId="20253" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T07:13:37.007" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T16:50:06.810" Title="Use 15 year old Zippo Lighter Fluid (naphtha)" Tags="&lt;fire&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25513" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25512" CreationDate="2020-09-24T15:04:33.697" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Vehicle fuels have to do more than just burn.  They have to ignite as expected, not clog fuel filters and not bring too much water with them; they may also have to lubricate.  This means old vehicle fuels might run rough or have trouble starting.  Old vehicle fuel can still be brunt in unfussy engines, at least if mixed with fresh in small quantities.  New car engines can be very fussy though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't say what you're using the Zippo fuel for, but for the vast majority of cases it shouldn't matter - Zippos and even stoves that run on this sort of fuel are much simpler than engines.  The worst that's likely to happen is a slightly smaller flame, if lighter fractions have evaporated more than heavier ones, and that's unlikely if the container was tightly closed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-09-24T15:04:33.697" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25514" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25509" CreationDate="2020-09-24T15:27:03.803" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with bob1.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a domestic cat lower mandible image with size indicated from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boneid.net/product/lateral-view-domestic-cat-mandible/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.boneid.net/product/lateral-view-domestic-cat-mandible/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rAG9h.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rAG9h.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;domestic cat lower mandible&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We wont't be able to distinguish domestic cat from wildcat here, they are too similar. However, Poland is not listed as currently having wildcats. And even in areas with wildcats, domestic cats by far outnumbers wildcats, so the odds are very much in favor of domestic cat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Dental formula&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The lower mandible in OP's image is easier, with ?(&amp;gt;=1)I 1C 2P 1M, the upper is ?I 1C 3P 1M missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cats have dental formula upper 3I 1C 3P 1M and lower 3I 1C 2P 1M, so that matches. Compared to cats, &amp;quot;everyone else&amp;quot; (carnivores in Europe) has more teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mustelids all have at least one tooth more in the upper and lower jaw.  Mustelids in general are bit difficult since different species there have different dental fomulae including varying numbers of premolars and molars. Smaller than polecat would be too small for this skeleton, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Polecats have the next lowest number of teeth after cats. IIRC also 3I 1C 3P 1M upper, but 3I 1C 3P 2M lower teeth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Otters have 5 premolars + molars both upper and lower, but I don't know how many premolars vs. molars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;badgers have 3I 1C 4P 1M upper/3I 1C 4P 2M lower:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/segsx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/segsx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;badger skull&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meles_meles_03_MWNH_458.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;A badger is anyways substantially larger than OP's skeleton, see below&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Martens have IIRC the same formula like badgers (and are smaller), but again I'm not sure about premolar vs. molar numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;racoons (not sure how far they've advanced into Poland by now) 3I 1C 4P 2M both upper and lower.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;canids (dog, fox) have even more teeth: 3I 1C 4P 2M* upper and 3I 1C 4P 3M lower, but already fox would be too large.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4o3Oj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4o3Oj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yawning_red_and_corsac_fox.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;(source)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;since wild boar was mentioned in a comment (which would be totally off in size, anyways), they have 3I 1C 4P 3M both upper and lower&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Size&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition to the teeth formula, also consider size. My guesstimate from OP's image is very much like the domestic cat mandible from boneid.net.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next larger feline species after domestic cat and wildcat in Europe are lynx. &lt;a href=&quot;https://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20170501.13&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20170501.13&lt;/a&gt; reports mandible lengths ranging 9.1 -- 9.7 cm for male lynx from Turkey, so clearly too big.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A badger has ≈9 cm mandible length (&lt;a href=&quot;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2004.12.002&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2004.12.002&lt;/a&gt;), the minimum reported there is 8.5 cm. From the comparison with the toe, I'd put the mandible in the image at maybe 6 cm, so clearly shorter and very much in line with the cat mandible image above. Fox mandible is similar to maybe a bit longer than badger. A wolf's mandible would be maybe 20 cm in length. A wild pig skull is &amp;gt;≈ 30 cm before they're even finished growing all their teeth, so mandible length starting probably around 25 cm.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* I = incisor, C = canid, P = premolar, M = molar&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T06:45:54.337" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T06:45:54.337" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25515" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-25T07:22:42.850" Score="6" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I wear ice skates I have a supination problem issue.&#xA;This means that my feet are slightly bent outside while I skate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This causes imbalances, problems of stability, pain on longer rides.&#xA;Then to compensate it I have to bend my knees quite inward, and this it's not so healthy for my joints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I solved my problem in inline skating buying a pair of skates that allow lateral adjustment and adding also shims/wedges between the boot and the frame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching between the ice skating available on the market seems to me that there are no ice skates that allow lateral adjustment and the blade it's always fixed with the boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do you have any advice about how can I solve my problem?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20254" LastActivityDate="2020-10-02T17:18:36.757" Title="Overcoming supination/pronation issues with ice skates" Tags="&lt;iceskating&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25516" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25497" CreationDate="2020-09-25T08:42:16.947" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some maps have markers for particularly nice viewpoints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general*, they consist of &amp;quot;rays&amp;quot; (narrow triangles, circle sections or the like) going from the viewpoint into the directions of the view. Color is not standardized, I've seen them e.g. in blue, red, brown or black - with red often preferred on tourist maps, black on topographic maps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the &lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:tourism%3Dviewpoint&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;viewpoint symbol used by openstreetmap&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SWbVI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/SWbVI.png&quot; alt=&quot;viewpoint&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (carto renderer), opentopomap &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZYy5.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZYy5.png&quot; alt=&quot;viewpoint opentopomap&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  and&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompass_Karten&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kompass**&lt;/a&gt; map &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k38kh.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k38kh.png&quot; alt=&quot;viewpoint symbol red&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There may be variants with the &amp;quot;rays&amp;quot; going only into certain directions which will then indicate the direction of the view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example from opentopomap, view towards western directions:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rbzut.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rbzut.png&quot; alt=&quot;viewpoint towards west&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Kompass map: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MFW0X.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MFW0X.png&quot; alt=&quot;view towards western directions&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are further relevant symbols, e.g. opentopomap uses &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qHaHt.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qHaHt.png&quot; alt=&quot;lookout tower symbol&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; for lookout towers, Kompass &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vKrje.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/vKrje.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More &amp;quot;touristy&amp;quot; maps often have more viewpoints marked, whereas the reader of a topographic map may be expected to be sufficiently proficient in map reading to identify obvious view points by themselves. As an example in the Vosges, if the map indicates a ballon with grasland on top, you may be expected to conclude on your own that you'll have a nice view (as outlined in @ChrisH's answer). On a generally wooded hill or from a trail that is winding along in between rocks, it may be impractical to try finding the nice views from topography only (you'd need both large scale map to determine whether there is nothing to block your view immediately, plus large area overview to determine what you'll see further away. Plus you'd need to know whether the indicated type of local vegetation is likely to block your view).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#map=15/50.51163/9.22088&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hoherodskopf&lt;/a&gt; (the directed viewpoint example from above). Here, general topography allows to spot this as a good viewpoint: the top of a meadow, just below the forest that covers the highest elevation in the region. The western direction is towards a longish valley that opens into a flat before the next hill range starts some 40 km away.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;The viewpoint symbol confirms that - it is actually a regionally famous viewpoint.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#map=16/50.50793/13.01964&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bärenstein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GAfeI.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GAfeI.png&quot; alt=&quot;Bärenstein&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A hill sticking moderately out of its surroundings. However, it is completely covered by wood, so less chance of a view. OTOH, it is pretty steep, which increases chances for a view within a wooded area. In fact, there are several view points - but we could not have concluded further than the &lt;em&gt;chance&lt;/em&gt; to encounter viewpoints from the topographic map alone here. (There also used to be an observation tower which is not indicated in the map)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ridge from &lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/50.32738/8.65834&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kuhkopf to Dachskopf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1duoB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1duoB.png&quot; alt=&quot;Winterstein - Kuhkopf&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;... currently offers some nice views towards south east. However, there is no whatsover indication in the map. The views exist only because of recent storm and draught damage which has been cleared away. Already in a few years, the viewpoints will be much less because of tall grass, bushes and brambles. That would be too short a timeframe for marking viewpoints on a map.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;You may be able identify such areas from satelitte imagery together with the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I extended the map section to the north east  to include an observation tower which is more permanent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* I can really speak only for the map symbols as used commonly in Central Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;** Kompass is an Austrian map publisher who have lots of touristic hiking maps in their program. Personally, I don't like them much. I've found them not as reliable as I'd have wished (and as I'm used to from the official topo maps or the Alpine club map series).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I go for the official topographic maps or the Alpine club maps which give me better topographic detail (e.g. finer elevation lines). However, the Kompass maps focus much more on touristic symbols, including viewpoints. In my opinion, it also has low information density, i.e. the amount of information (elevation lines, symbols, ...) are often what I'd find appropriate for a smaller scale map.&#xA;So they may meet OP's requirements to help finding viewpoints.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-09-25T10:34:52.630" LastActivityDate="2020-09-25T10:34:52.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25518" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25515" CreationDate="2020-09-26T01:42:14.953" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;High quality ice skates are usually bought in two parts:  the boots and the blades.  The blades are put on the boots by either the seller of the skates or by a technician at a rink which has a substantial figure skating clientele.  Such an ensemble cost me several hundred dollars when I bought my last pair of ice skates 25 to 30 years ago.  (I think about $300.)  You try on the combination, and if it doesn't feel right, the technician will adjust the blade/boot interface until it does.  Source:  Myself, who has bought several pairs of skates this way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whether the seller or the technician can address your problem in this way, I do&#xA;not know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Addendum in response to comment by the OP:&lt;/strong&gt;  The skates I mentioned in my answer are expensive, and it makes sense that you are reluctant to gamble.  I agree that my answer is incomplete, with reference to your question.  About all I can say is that buying boots and blades separately from a pro shop where you can discuss your requirements with an actual person is the place to start, not end.  The pro-shop fitter may be able to suggest a solution than does not involve buying expensive skates. The ones I have known took pride in solving problems and making their skaters happy.  (But that was a long time ago.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-10-02T17:18:36.757" LastActivityDate="2020-10-02T17:18:36.757" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25519" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-09-27T21:36:04.773" Score="5" ViewCount="195" Body="&lt;p&gt;I like to go on multi day hikes, however I need to be able to access the internet on my phone for work related emergencies. Recently I had a very annoying situation. I needed to send a single e-mail and it was very bothersome and ruined half my day staring at my phone, checking if the mail was send etc.&#xA;What are some solutions to this? In my country there is mobile internet practically everywhere, but when you are between hills in remote areas sometimes you hardly have phone reception and very bad internet if at all.&#xA;I was thinking of getting satellite internet, but the equipment needed seems to be heavy and bulky. Another potential solution would be some kind of plug in antenna, I can plug into my phone in order to increase my connection. Not sure if such a thing exists and if it would work.&#xA;What is the best solution for this problem? Or maybe I need to get a phone with external antenna? It would need to be a smart phone so I can access apps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastActivityDate="2020-09-28T10:30:53.167" Title="Staying online while hiking" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25520" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25519" CreationDate="2020-09-28T10:30:53.167" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have a couple of options:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Buy a satellite internet terminal (Inmarsat's BGAN system is probably the market leader but there are alternatives e.g. ThurayaIP).  These tend to be expensive (e.g. $1500 plus $150/month for 50MB data) and heavy (around 1kg though more expensive models are somewhat lighter).  However they will work anywhere with a view of the sky.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Try an external antenna (e.g. see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alternativewireless.com/cellular-antennas/vehicle-antennas.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for some examples).  These are much cheaper and work with your existing phone and data plan.  However not all phones can be connected to these (if yours has a hands-free in-car mounting option it should be possible); also they are generally designed for vehicles so may not be particularly practical for hiking.  And they will only improve connection in marginal signal areas, not in areas with no signal - so in mountainous terrain you may well still need to hike up the nearest ridge.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Could you change your workflow so that text-only communication is an option in work emergencies?  This would open up more options (satellite trackers/messagers - which also have a useful safety function if hiking alone in the wilderness)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2020-09-28T10:30:53.167" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25521" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25523" CreationDate="2020-09-28T19:34:30.587" Score="3" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have an MSR &amp;quot;trailshot&amp;quot; hand-pump water filter which works well for me on trips where I've felt the need for such a thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, after some usage in what turned out to be a rather slimy lake, the intake filter (which I think is sometimes called the &amp;quot;macroscopic&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;mechanical&amp;quot; filter) is in a bit of a sorry state and all gunked up and the device doesn't work as well as it used to.  Here's a couple of photos from each side of it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74xEy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/74xEy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Intake filter front&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6tHaf.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6tHaf.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Intake filter back&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the clogging seems to result in the water filter's chamber being slow to refill in the expansion phase (compared with how it used to work when the intake filter was clean).  The compression phase which drives water through the main filter cartridge works fine, and if I remove the intake filter it seems to function as freely as I remember it doing before it got gunked up (which is all very well pumping tap water as a test, but obviously that'd be highly undesirable to use it like that &amp;quot;in the field&amp;quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;MSR do sell replacements but so far as I can find only accompanying a full main filter cartridge (which I don't think I need yet), and at ~2/3 the price of a new device (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/water-treatment-c24/water-treatment-accessories-c167/msr-trailshot-microfilter-replacement-cartridge-p6478&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt; vs. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/water-treatment-c24/water-filters-c165/trailshot-microfilter-p6473&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;example&lt;/a&gt;) it seems overkill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions how to best clean this filter up?  Washing it or lightly rubbing it with a finger or a cloth does nothing.  Poking at it with a pin (as yet untried) might work better... but would take forever.  Something a bit more mechanically and/or chemically powerful maybe?  I think the fact the gunk is organic (algae?) is part of the problem; the filter has been degraded by silt/sand before but that always washed out relatively easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16425" LastEditorUserId="16425" LastEditDate="2020-09-28T19:40:19.380" LastActivityDate="2020-09-29T20:26:52.257" Title="How can I clean water filter's intake filter?" Tags="&lt;water-purification&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25522" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1745" CreationDate="2020-09-28T22:26:45.423" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Another method I've grown accustomed to over countless sleepless nights is the &amp;quot;amount of light&amp;quot; metric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you spend a long enough time at the same latitude and environment, you will get an idea of how bright the sky is at any given time of day and year. Angle of attack of sunlight? Intensity? White, yellow, red, blue or white? Experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's easiest to spot when half-dead awaiting the morn but still works for normal situations. Colour of the sun and clouds, height, angle, nearby obstructing peaks - pull all those in the organic neural network and hope for the best. If you survive - readjust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: I use &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/1746/537&quot;&gt;@berry120's&lt;/a&gt; algorithm daily when hiking!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-09-28T22:26:45.423" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25523" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25521" CreationDate="2020-09-29T02:29:35.287" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try scrubbing with a toothbrush. In addition to scrubbing, push the toothbrush bristles through the mesh. Wipe the bristles off when they poke out the other side, otherwise you pull the same gunk right back into the mesh when you remove the brush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the toothbrush seems helpful but not quite the right type of brush (bristles too soft, not long enough, etc) look for similar types of brushes. Eg, hoof picks (intended for cleaning horse feet) also have a brush that's like a larger, sturdier version of a toothbrush. Or try a fingernail brush. Or just a different brand of toothbrush, or one with stiffer bristles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-09-29T02:29:35.287" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25524" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24909" CreationDate="2020-09-29T03:19:23.520" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Woodhouse's Toad is the best call from the photographic evidence and your testimony.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The American Toad, Fowler's Toad, and Woodhouse's Toad are all very easily mistaken for one another. They all have that white dorsal stripe down the center of their back and the light brown mottled appearance of this animal is within the color range for all three species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;We can eliminate the American toad, based on your photograph.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The postorbital ridges on this animal come right up against the parotoid glands. This feature is characteristic of both the Fowler's and Woodhouse's Toads, but not the American Toad. Check out the diagrams in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/identification-keys/id-keys-frogs/anaxyrus-bufo.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; link to see what I am talking about. The American toad's ridges are more subtle and do not abut the parotoid glands like we see in your photo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Where you live in Arkansas matters.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Fowler's Toad is found all over the state, but the Woodhouse's Toad is generally limited to the southwest part of the state, as seen on the range map on its &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhouse%27s_toad&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia page&lt;/a&gt;. Yes, animals can be found outside their range and you might live in southwest Arkansas, but in general, Fowler's Toads are more plentiful in Arkansas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your description of its size favor's Woodhouse's Toad&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You claim that the animal was large--about the size of your fist. Without knowing your age and size, that's a vague description; however, Woodhouse's Toads can grow to be 5 inches long, which is a large for a toad. Fowler's Toads are typically 2-3 inches long and would not be comparable in size to your fist. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/buffow.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;record length for a Fowler's toad&lt;/a&gt; is 3.75 inches. You might think a 3.75 inch toad was the size of an adult fist, but a 5 inch toad could easily be compared to a fist. In addition, I assume that since you identified it as a toad that you have seen toads before and know a big one when you see one. So your testimony about its size favors Woodhouse's Toad. If it struck you as big for a toad, that might be because you live outside the Woodhouse's Toad's normal range and they are unfamiliar to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20207" LastActivityDate="2020-09-29T03:19:23.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25525" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25521" CreationDate="2020-09-29T13:17:59.750" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Outcome&lt;/strong&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I soaked this intake filter piece in bleach for a few hours (not sure how much difference that made; it looked less grungy but still partially blocked), rinsed it well, then gently scrubbed it with a nail brush under gently flowing water.  The brush bristles were too big to poke through the very fine filter mesh, but that didn't seem to matter and it still cleaned it up very nicely, and once reassembled the expansion cycles to refill the pump chamber are much faster... the gadget now feels like it's working just as I remember it used to work before it got clogged up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How it looks now, against a black background this time (any apparently remaining blockages in the mesh are just water droplets I think; it's not completely dried out yet).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4TUZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4TUZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Front&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/83ZKm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/83ZKm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Back&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16425" LastEditorUserId="16425" LastEditDate="2020-09-29T20:26:52.257" LastActivityDate="2020-09-29T20:26:52.257" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25526" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1745" CreationDate="2020-09-30T18:46:12.400" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of influencing factors, and the further you are from the equator, the more important they get:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;season/time of the year. The further you are from the equator, the more prominent is this effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;longitude and local time zone: very much as a rule of thumb, your position within the current time zone makes a difference of ±30 min.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Some places of course use time zones other than the &amp;quot;naturally closest one&amp;quot; and/or daylight saving time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;latitude has a &lt;em&gt;huge&lt;/em&gt; influence on how long the sun takes to travel a given vertical angle (declination):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at the equator, 12 h day/night is a decent approximation all year round. At the polar circles, that's true only at equinox - at solstice you have 24 h of day or night.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;useful twilight at the equator is maybe 20 min, but more than an hour at 50° and all night long in summer in Scandinavia.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;weather obviously plays a role, too. Dark rain clouds can cost you several hours here (50 °N), snow or bright moonshine can make the whole night useful twilight. Again, I'd expect the effect to be the stronger, the further you are from the equator.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;topography: e.g. horizon in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/46.38303/13.75342&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Soča valley&lt;/a&gt; can be +20° - +25° up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Local rules of thumb&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I live at about 50°N (quite central in Germany). Here,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the sun takes about 4 min from first hitting the horizon till being completely down.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In addition, we get a more than an hour of decently useful twilight* (until the sun is ≈10° below the horizon) all year round (± weather, vegetation, light pollution, obviously).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;(At 40° N (north side of the mediterranean) twilight is only about half as long. This caught me many times, even when I was living in Northern Italy! Lighting conditions were reminding me rather too late to look for a place to stay for the night.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The daily shift in sunrise/sunset is about 3 min around equinox (and approximately 0 at solstice)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Tools&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have been at roughly this location for a while, knowing yesterday's sunset, maybe an approximate adjustment (like the 50° numbers I gave above) and the approximate duration of twilight shoud give you a decent idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you go somewhere far from your usual home, consider looking up sunrise/sunset and twilight (and maybe know the current moon phase and what that means in terms of moonrise and moonset) as part of planning your tour.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Since daily changes are not that huge (not even far from the equator) and you anyways cannot plan day tours to the minute, noting maybe one day per week should be sufficient - that's a piece of paper that shoud fit into any outfit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Being in a deep valley&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;End/beginning of civil twilight is defined as the sun being 6° below the horizon. You can use this together with twilight duration (from tables) to approximately adjust sunset for being in a deep valley (this approximatin becomes worse at high latitudes in summer - but then you have anyways very long days).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Actual twilight will be somewhere between the sun 6° below your apparent horizon (mountain range) and 6° below azimuth (astronomic horizon).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;More precise numbers can be read from a sun path diagram: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S7AGO.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S7AGO.png&quot; alt=&quot;sun path diagram&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;where you can see when (time &amp;amp; date) the sun is at what elevation (angle).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Some calculators calculate sunrise and sunset based on a so-called shadow file that gives the apparent horizon. There are tons of such diagram generators available nowadays (they are used e.g. to evaluate locations for solar power)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once printed out, this may be sufficiently low tech to fulfil your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;* Decently useful for outdoor purposes for me is somewhere in between civil and nautical twilight, I's say until -10° elevation. Adjust according to your night vision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastEditorUserId="2404" LastEditDate="2020-09-30T18:57:44.230" LastActivityDate="2020-09-30T18:57:44.230" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25528" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6782" CreationDate="2020-10-01T15:14:19.897" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;/questions/tagged/germany&quot; class=&quot;post-tag&quot; title=&quot;show questions tagged &amp;#39;germany&amp;#39;&quot; rel=&quot;tag&quot;&gt;germany&lt;/a&gt;, putting up a tent for the night is OK in many places (except e.g. natural reserves) with permission of the land owner/leaseholder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The procedure then is to ask locally whether they have a meadow/field/wood where you can camp for the night and LNT when you see someone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at a farm&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at the sports ground (they may even have showers)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at the church&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at the town hall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;at the forestry office&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also associations like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://dachgeber.de/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ADFC Dachgeber&lt;/a&gt; (&amp;quot;roof givers&amp;quot;, they are an association of people who mutually allow staying one night on bike tours. However, I'd expect them to be OK with other non-motorized travel modes such as long distance hiking as well.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some places &amp;amp; conditions, camping is permitted without asking, see e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25158/2404&quot;&gt;my other answer on wild camping in Germany&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-10-01T15:14:19.897" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25529" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25512" CreationDate="2020-10-03T16:50:06.810" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are worried about putting it in a lighter or something, spurt a bit out in a safe container and light it up, see if it burns to your satisfaction, if it doesn’t, pitch it. It costs $4.50/12 oz on amazon, so if you are worried about it fouling up anything you value, again, pitch it or put 50 cents on each and have a yard sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20278" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T16:50:06.810" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25532" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25260" CreationDate="2020-10-03T18:04:42.030" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I tend to repair all straps using metal rivets, a rivet gun and washers. Better than sewing. You can prepare a hole in the nylon strap by carefully heating a small nail in a flame from your camping stove, held in pliers, and pushing it gently through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20280" LastActivityDate="2020-10-03T18:04:42.030" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25533" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25309" CreationDate="2020-10-04T12:46:48.157" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ordnance survey were asked on &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/OrdnanceSurvey/status/1312015143480459265&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;twitter&lt;/a&gt;, and replied that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Hi thankyou for bringing this to our attention. The circles are actually blemishes on the data which are being removed and will no longer show in future updates. Sorry if this has caused any inconvenience.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course they might say that if it were a fictitious entry as suggested by Darren's answer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19790" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T12:46:48.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25534" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25535" CreationDate="2020-10-04T18:32:05.927" Score="4" ViewCount="377" Body="&lt;p&gt;We are in Poland right now and found this tiny bug that seems to have come from a day in the garden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I couldn't put anything for size reference, but it looks like 0.1mm long, it's extremely small and seems to move quite slowly for its size. It doesn't seem to jump.&#xA;While it's not really visible on the photo, it has quite a reddish tint&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/etQgv.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/etQgv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wpf2v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wpf2v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TivwJ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/TivwJ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20250" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T19:42:16.877" Title="Identification of tiny bug, from Poland" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25535" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25534" CreationDate="2020-10-04T19:42:16.877" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The lack of body segments and the elongated proboscus indicates that it is most likely a tick. Ticks are all blood-sucking and can carry a range of diseases, some of which are quite dangerous, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.iamat.org/country/poland/risk/lyme-disease&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lyme disease&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It would seem that there is no &lt;a href=&quot;https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-017-2391-2&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;difference in abundance between rural and urban (parkland) areas&lt;/a&gt; (possibly paywalled article) in Poland for tick abundance, so keep an eye out for them when you are next working in the garden, and particularly if you have pets such as a dog or cat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-10-04T19:42:16.877" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25536" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25537" CreationDate="2020-10-05T04:39:12.497" Score="8" ViewCount="647" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normally you would just look it up for your location--but I'm thinking of a peak where the horizon will be at least a mile lower and I would think that would have some effect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-10-05T19:42:43.617" Title="When is first light when you are far above the terrain?" Tags="&lt;high-altitude&gt;&lt;sunrise&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25537" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25536" CreationDate="2020-10-05T15:46:06.060" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;With some trig and simple approximations, for the case where the sun is rising directly to the east, and is rising in the direction perpendicular to the horizon, the result is&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;T = (24 hours)(1/2π)√(2h/R),&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;where h is your height above the spherical surface of the earth, R is the earth's radius, and T is the amount of time, in units of hours, by which sunrise comes early. This might be a reasonable model for cases like the eastern Sierra or Kilimanjaro, where you have a mountain range that is fairly prominent relative to low-lying terrain to the east. It might not make sense, e.g., for ranges that run east-west, such as the San Bernardinos or the Himalayas. Then there would be more chance of having other heights to your east that are not much lower than you, or maybe even higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting in numbers for Kilimanjaro, I get 10 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a one-mile tower, the result is 5 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not normally true that the sun rises straight up and to the east, so the result will really only give a rough idea of how big the effect is. At extreme latitudes, the effect could be much bigger. If you're above the arctic circle, the sun could come up in the spring a week earlier because you're on the top of a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The experience I have had much more often is that the day before summit day, I'm camping in some valley near the peak, with tall mountains on all sides. Then it gets dark fairly early as the shadows sweep across my position, but I can still see the bright sky and the sun lighting up the peaks to the west.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-10-05T19:42:43.617" LastActivityDate="2020-10-05T19:42:43.617" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25538" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25536" CreationDate="2020-10-05T18:08:59.437" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The question asks for &lt;strong&gt;first light&lt;/strong&gt; but let's assume the time difference  will be the same as for &lt;strong&gt;dawn&lt;/strong&gt;. And also that the terrain is flat, apart from an observer in a tower 1 mile high, and the radius of the Earth is 3959 miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here is an exaggerated geometry sketch showing a horizontal line in the direction of the sun for an observer at ground level, and a diagonal line showing where the sun will rise for an observer on the tower, which is tangential to the Earth's surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KUeq2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KUeq2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The difference is the angle A which is the same angle as subtended by two radii from the tangent points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So we have cosine(A) = (3959 / 3960), giving A = 1.28 degrees.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It takes the sun 24 hours to move through an angle of 360 degrees, from this can be calculated that the sun will rise 5.12 minutes earlier (or set 5.12 minutes later) than for an observer on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So &lt;strong&gt;about 5 minutes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17547" LastActivityDate="2020-10-05T18:08:59.437" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25539" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25540" CreationDate="2020-10-06T02:11:33.443" Score="6" ViewCount="1998" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bowhunting turkey for the first time this year. I hunt about 45 minutes into the woods, and about a 30-minute drive from our home. So if I do shoot a turkey, its roughly 75 to 90 minutes before I get home if I want to start field dressing and butchering it at my house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Will the bird go bad in that time? Is it &lt;strong&gt;critical&lt;/strong&gt; that I dress + butcher it as soon as I shoot it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I ask because I've never processed a bird before (plucked the feathers, butcher it, etc.) and it would make me feel better if I could watch a YouTube video &lt;em&gt;as&lt;/em&gt; I do it (so I can follow along), but if its critical to process it in the field I can try to memorize everything ahead of time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again I am bowhunting, if that makes a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastEditorUserId="6549" LastEditDate="2020-10-06T18:41:47.443" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T18:41:47.443" Title="How soon do you need to process a turkey after shooting it (hunting)?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;turkeys&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25540" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25539" CreationDate="2020-10-06T04:34:58.057" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How long do you have to process a turkey after shooting it (hunting)?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you killed a turkey, it should be field dressed as soon as possible. The rest could be done when you get home (plucking the feathers in hot water or even dry plucking).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let’s say your hunt was a success. Your turkey is down. Congratulations! Now, once the excitement dies down and your heart stops pounding, it’s time to take care of that bird.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Turkeys should be field dressed as soon as possible to allow the carcass to cool faster and help prevent the meat from spoiling. It doesn’t take long and all you need is a small sharp knife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the weather is cool, spoilage is not an immediate concern but don’t leave a turkey, gutted or not, in the sun—either outside or in a vehicle—because dark feathers will soak up heat. Hang it in the shade if you can’t process it right away. Filling the body cavity with ice will also help cool the meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;HERE ARE THE STEPS TO FIELD DRESSING A TURKEY:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lay the bird on its back with its feet toward you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feel for the tip of the breastbone where it comes to a V pointing at the anus. Pull up on the tip and make a shallow cut in the skin. Then cut carefully through the skin—only the skin, don’t puncture the intestines—down to the anus.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carefully cut a circle around the anus, again making sure not to puncture the intestines. You can reach in and follow the intestines to the anus, then carefully cut completely around the exterior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reach into the body cavity and pull out the entrails. You should be able to feel the gizzard, grab it and pull it out with the entrails. You will probably need to reach back in to remove the heart, lungs and other tissue. Make sure nothing remains in the body cavity. Some keep the gizzard, heart and liver, known as giblets, for gravy or stuffing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you have clean water, rinse the body cavity and drain. Or pat the cavity dry with paper towels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.huntershandbook.com/articles-1/2018/7/23/how-to-field-dress-a-turkey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hunter's Handbook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Field dress the bird as soon as possible and for the rest you should be okay to get it ready for the freezer or the table when you get home. Fortunately, 90 minutes is generally not an issue. Once home, you can pluck the feathers and clean the turkey in cold water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, Bonne Appetite!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="20290" LastEditDate="2020-10-06T14:41:49.790" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T14:41:49.790" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25543" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-06T19:01:41.177" Score="3" ViewCount="58" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am purchasing a recreation property north of Huntsville in Ontario (Canada).  There are a number of OFSC (Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs) trails very close to the property.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any solid rules on usage of these trails in the off season, particularly for non-motorized uses such as walking and biking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any general knowledge / guidelines from sledders or other users would be great, links to specific information or policies would be great also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background for those who aren't familiar:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;OFSC trails are highly maintained and essentially look like very narrow gravel roads when you see them on the ground in the summer. There is a huge network covering thousands of kilometers, and they have signage (names/directions, stop signs, yields, etc.) much like a regular public road, all maintained by teams of volunteers and funding from memberships, sledders who use these trails in the winter must purchase a permit.  This question is specific to non-motorised, off-season (summer) use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2020-10-06T19:01:41.177" Title="OFSC (snowmobile) trails in summer, are there restrictions/rules regarding non-motorized summer access?" Tags="&lt;trails&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;access-rights&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25544" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25545" CreationDate="2020-10-07T13:24:13.593" Score="1" ViewCount="279" Body="&lt;p&gt;This question is about firewood options on private land, in the Parry Sound region in Ontario, Canada&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've had loads of camping experience but always bought my firewood, now I have some land and am looking forward to having a nice seasoned woodpile at my disposal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Knowing that rotted wood doesn't make for good burning, I'm wondering about deadfall as a source of firewood.  Is it worth cutting, splitting, and seasoning deadfall for firewood, or should I plan to bring down some living trees?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If deadfall has been laying around for a few months, does that give us a headstart on the seasoning process?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming some deadfall is suitable, what should I be looking for to identify good trees for burning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastEditorUserId="15629" LastEditDate="2020-10-07T14:19:54.773" LastActivityDate="2020-10-08T12:41:11.180" Title="Can deadfall make for good firewood?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;firewood&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25545" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25544" CreationDate="2020-10-07T16:23:16.153" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Dead, fallen wood &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; be good firewood. It depends on whether it's wet or dry. Wet or dry depends, not on rainfall, but on contact with the ground. It also depends on how long the log has been lying on the ground. The longer a log has lain on the wet ground, the more waterlogged and rotten it will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A log lying on the ground will likely be too wet for good firewood. If it has fallen recently enough that the bark is still well-attached, it may be be possible to dry it out and use it. The easiest way to dry out a log is to prop up one or both ends off the ground, in situ. If you prop up one end, of course the end still on the ground will stay wet, and not make good firewood. Use a convenient rock, or another log (keeping in mind that if the other log is rotting, the newer log will likely not dry very well at the point where it makes contact with the rotting log), or the crotch of a nearby tree (&lt;em&gt;only&lt;/em&gt; if the tree is large and sturdy enough to support the weight of the log without damage).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A log with one end propped up will be relatively dry at that end, and relatively wet at the end on the ground. Logs often end up partially propped off the ground, either because one end is still attached at the stump, or they fall across other trees or logs, or because some of the attached branches support the log off the ground. Any branches on the ground will be not good for firewood, but branches still in the air can be good for firewood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you get more practice at collecting wood for fires, you will get a better sense of how dry wood needs to be to make good firewood. As you develop this sense, I recommend having your fires in an outdoor firepit, rather than an indoor fireplace. You could do an outdoor test burn of each &amp;quot;batch&amp;quot; of firewood to make sure it's suitable for indoor use. Mediocre firewood is more prone to smoking (which may cause chimney build-up, which eventually causes chimney fires), and popping (which can send sparks out of the fireplace). Keep in mind that conifer trees have pitch in them, which makes them burn easily, but causes lots of popping and flying sparks. If you have conifer wood, save it for outdoor fires.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-10-07T16:23:16.153" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25546" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-08T10:07:58.050" Score="3" ViewCount="272" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any larger &amp;quot;wild&amp;quot; forested areas left in continental Europe, where a group of people could (in theory) sustainably live as hunter-gatherers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking at maps of forested areas, I struggled to find a larger area with enough supposed wildlife where I could imagine a group of (say) 100 people could sustainably survive just hunting wild animals and picking berries. Perhaps the Carpathian mountains in Romania and Ukraine? What about Western Europe (France, Germany...): anything there that could in theory work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ps:&lt;/strong&gt; by &amp;quot;large enough&amp;quot;, I also mean large enough not to run into &amp;quot;regular people&amp;quot;. I.e. is there any &lt;strong&gt;wilderness&lt;/strong&gt; left in continental Europe, where a group of (say) 100 people could live in at least (say) 20km by 20km area of nature, without regularly being disturbed by tourists and hikers?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20300" LastEditorUserId="20300" LastEditDate="2020-10-08T11:27:22.827" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T20:34:46.023" Title="Any forests in Europe where a group of people could survive as hunter-gatherers?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25548" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25544" CreationDate="2020-10-08T12:41:11.180" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We have a small patch of land (about 2 hours from Parry Sound) that is full of trees, a mix of deciduous and conifers. We regularly have campfires in a stone circle on the lawn, and we have indoor fireplaces also.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside, you can burn pretty much anything, including live trees you just cut down, should you want to get rid of them. We have brush piles and log piles, so if we cut a tree the trunk of it will spend a year in the log pile and then we'll burn it - less smoke and less popping that way. The branches might spend a year in a brush pile to rot the leaves off, or we might cut them up small and add them to a hot fire that is burning well. We can also burn pine cones, pine needles, dead leaves and other junk raked off the lawn, but be warned it's a very smoky thing to do. That's not about providing a nice fire, it's about cleaning up. For sitting around a campfire in the evening, pine or similar softwoods that have been in the pile for a year burn fine. The easiest way to manage this is start a new pile each year when you're clearing up fallen trees and whatnot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inside, it's a whole other story. Hardwood only. If we take down a maple or an oak or whatever, we'll stack that wood separately so we remember what it is and can use it inside after a year of seasoning. We also buy wood to burn inside (a cord at a time) if we don't have any home grown hardwood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2020-10-08T12:41:11.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25549" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-08T13:26:26.647" Score="0" ViewCount="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where is a pied wagtails natural habitat?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I only ever seem to see them in carparks, do they naturally live near towns or is there any other reason they are seen there?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2020-10-08T13:26:26.647" Title="Where is a pied wagtails natural habitat?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25550" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25563" CreationDate="2020-10-09T11:25:53.527" Score="3" ViewCount="300" Body="&lt;p&gt;What would be the most suitable places in Europe where I could venture with some friends on a backpacking trip where we could sleep in tents for about a week and practice camping skills, without much distraction from tourism?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking because most forests in Europe that I know of are either state-owned or privately owned, where camping is illegal (even cooking on open fire is illegal in most forests and nature reserves that I know of).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would just like to go somewhere for 7 days where I could set up a small camping site with maybe two other friends and experience wilderness without much chance of many other tourists walking past our camping site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20300" LastEditorUserId="20300" LastEditDate="2020-10-15T09:59:13.640" LastActivityDate="2020-10-19T08:03:21.340" Title="Best places in Europe to practice wilderness camping skills without much tourism?" Tags="&lt;survival&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;forests&gt;&lt;winter-camping&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="14" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25551" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24933" CreationDate="2020-10-10T14:25:33.233" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do see a need for a munter hitch.&#xA;I make an anchor at the bottom like usual.&#xA;I usually make also an anchor prusik at first bolt, because I think knots as the weakest point of the system, or place it otherwise you will keep rope longer if not fall on knots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then I tight a prusik on my harness, and climb giving slack through moving the prusik with one hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prusik needs pretension to operate. It looks quite easy knot, it will pull on any direction you fall. I recently added a bull hitch to the side of the maillon to avoid cross loading.&#xA;Prusik is also quite easy to slip, if not pretighten enough, or because it was cloudy, it had full moon, I did not feed my pet before go climbing etc. So have some patience using it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do also backup knots, which will probably hold, but it is hard to calculate how many meters will the fall be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Munter is useful for rapelling.&#xA;If there are hard moves on lead solo rope climbing and I want to try them, I protect the system with knots, or do them aid climbing, and repeat them solo top rope. Solo rope climbing is not sport climbing but it is ok for training, I rely more on common sense and instict.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20312" LastActivityDate="2020-10-10T14:25:33.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25552" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="96" CreationDate="2020-10-10T19:28:40.953" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some countries, they do not allow tents, but camping is technically legal if you do not use a tent, except national parks and other protected areas where you can not enter during the night. In summer months rules are more strict, for fire protection reasons,so they can stop you, just for being outdoors, anytime, even during the day. Of course if you camp somewhere, even with no tent, if it is private land, they may charge you with trespassing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In some European countries, things are more easy, like there is more public land, benches, wooden tables etc. Other places you see everywhere fences and signs and it is quite sad.&#xA;I do not use tent, and use a tarp only when it is raining. On raining use of tent applies to act of extreme weather,or unpredictable events so no problem on tents, there.&#xA;Camping on mountains, tent law is of little concern, you concern more about wild animals, hunters is some places, food resources etc.&#xA;Camping law apply to protect the environment and improper use of public resources, and it can be fair sometimes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tents offer no protection, except maybe for the wind, but there is almost always a wind protected spot. Tents also do not offer good view and sense of surrounding, and in low temperatures get full of mist. Tents are heavy, bulky. Even if I carry one, I rarely use, so I have to retire mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20312" LastActivityDate="2020-10-10T19:28:40.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25554" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25546" CreationDate="2020-10-12T20:34:46.023" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If this question is academic, Lapland or parts of Spain have very low density of people.  Cannot say about gathering, but hunting and fishing are subject to legal regulation, so if we keep these in mind the answer is nowhere in the world where the rule of law applies.  Indigenous communities can have special hunting rights (depending on country and legal system), but this is a different kettle of fish.  Obviously there are places where the rule of law does not apply, but said places are normally in a state of war, so I'd avoid them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2902" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T20:34:46.023" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25555" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25498" CreationDate="2020-10-12T20:46:34.297" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The simplest general rule is, get yourself acquainted with the laws and regulations concerning killing wildlife where you live and &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;follow them&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.  The fact an animal seems mortally injured (it might or not be so) does not automatically give anyone the legal right to 'end its suffering'.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2902" LastActivityDate="2020-10-12T20:46:34.297" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25556" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25882" CreationDate="2020-10-13T07:21:24.497" Score="0" ViewCount="220" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I got a new hemp rope, about 1.3 inch in diameter. The intended use is for &amp;quot;rope climbing&amp;quot; - hang the rope indoors from a ceiling and climb up along it using only the hands.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have read that a hemp rope shrinks when first washed, and that it loses a bit of the original stretchability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anyone experienced with hemp ropes know if a new rope needs to be washed and dried before first use? Or can I just tie it up? It will be tied directly to (sturdy) metal rings in the ceiling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17115" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2021-02-01T00:37:53.340" LastActivityDate="2021-02-01T00:37:53.340" Title="Hemp rope - wash before first use?" Tags="&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;hemp&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25557" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-13T23:15:18.467" Score="7" ViewCount="302" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have recently developed an interest in birding and received a 12x42 binoculars as a gift. A lot of articles online mention that 8x42 binoculars are the best for birding. How useful is 12x magnification for birding while hiking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20320" LastActivityDate="2020-10-21T10:28:36.427" Title="How useful are 12x42 binoculars for birding?" Tags="&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;binoculars&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25558" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25557" CreationDate="2020-10-14T12:13:22.060" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;What binoculars you choose depends what you're doing with them as much as what you're looking at (birds).  If you're hiking a long way, lightweight is good, meaning less glass; you might carry 8x25s.  If you're out at dusk, you need all the light you can get, and 8x42 or 10x42 would be good.  If you're looking at things a long way away, often the case with birds on or near water, higher magnification is good, i.e. 12x (anything more isn't usually good handheld, and a scope is preferable).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have or have had in the past 8x20, 8x25, 10x25, 10x30 and 12x50.  The last pair is closest to what you've got, and was bought for dawn and dusk game birding and safaris.  They're very useful at longer ranges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things to watch out for (assuming you basically get on with them for things like ergonomics and eye relief) include:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Close focus.  12x binoculars often don't focus close enough for backyard birding and some hides that the birds approach very closely.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Finding the bird can be hard if there's too much magnification - lots of scanning and by the time you've found where it was, it's gone.  My 12x50s are basically useless for birds in flight unless soaring.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Optical quality. You don't give any idea of whether they're entry level or the very best. Even cheap binoculars are much better than they used to be, but higher magnifications are more prone to imaging flaws (especially &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;chromatic aberration&lt;/a&gt;, but also a softening of the focus at the edges).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you say you're fairly new, there's another benefit to 12x - you'll probably rely more on visual identification than on behaviour or calls (like me, though I'm getting better at the latter).  12x allows for a better study of the bird's appearance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-10-21T10:28:36.427" LastActivityDate="2020-10-21T10:28:36.427" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25559" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25557" CreationDate="2020-10-14T14:00:01.450" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;They would be good on a tripod at an open shore line looking at shore birds but professional tend to use higher power for those circumstances . Most people would need to brace against something like a tree to steady 12 X. The 42 mm objective has low light gathering for such high mag ,so they will only be useful on bright days, not dawn or dusk. I would suggest the typical binoculars for beginners 7 X 35 , although I used 7 X 50. Although big and heavy the 7 X 50 are good in a dark woods and dusk and dawn.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2020-10-14T14:00:01.450" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25560" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14433" CreationDate="2020-10-15T08:09:33.263" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is only my current understanding, I’ve never practiced this :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fur and pelt are controlled due to poaching and traffic, therefore a method to differentiate legally hunted pelt of certain animals (bear, ...) from illegal poaching originating ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The process is to present your pelt after the hunt and there a state agent is going to apply a tag (the seal) that certifies that the pelt was legally obtained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tag will be required when doing specific actions such as: export, selling, further processing of pelt, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20327" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T08:09:33.263" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25562" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24717" CreationDate="2020-10-15T17:05:08.980" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/I7Omv.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fellas.. I also read DFW’s article and figured out where to go by looking at this map. All that’s needed is to get the proper permissions if land is private&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20331" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T17:05:08.980" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25563" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25550" CreationDate="2020-10-15T22:19:42.167" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;A camping experience in the effectively tourist-free areas. This is what I was doing in my student times with a mountaineering club in Carpathia Mountains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Carpathia in their Ukrainian and Romanian part are quite wild. Romania can be quite survival experience, thought the most danger comes from shepherd dogs. In the Ukraine, the Gorgany are one of the most civilization-free areas in the Europe. Because of their geology, they are very dry and hardly available even for shepherd activities. Add the lack of regular tourist infrastructure, and the only people you met there are those who look for the same wild camping experience as you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2020-10-15T22:19:42.167" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25564" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24903" CreationDate="2020-10-17T00:18:26.017" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If highly motivated with lightweight gear, and strong paddlers; I estimate a team could complete this journey in one tough day, roughly starting at sunrise and finishing before sunset. I'm estimating this is a 30k voyage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It has a total elevation gain of approximately 120 meters. A major factor for this upstream paddle is the consideration of the water flow level. The differences in flow create major contrasts in the amount of effort to paddle upstream. At low water levels, much of this trip is easily done against a mild current. However, this river drains a substantial watershed of Guatemala, where rains in Guatemala regularly bring this stretch of river to flood levels with corresponding extreme currents. Moderate rainfall brings particular areas to greater current intensity. From wikipedia: &amp;quot;The Mopan River's rate of discharge has been measured regularly since 1981 at the river gauge station in Benque Viejo, Belize.[3] According to these measurements, the river's annual mean discharge varies between 20 and 40 m3/s.[1] The highest rate ever recorded was 404 m3/s in November 1990.[3]&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a rapid at the village of Bullet Tree Falls that requires a portage. There is another area near the village of San Jose Succotz with several drops that could require portaging. Although I haven't explored this entire stretch. The drops that may require portage are infrequent as reflected by the total elevation gain of this route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I lived briefly along the river near Bullet Tree where I explored by foot and boat so my answer is informed by these personal explorations. I Would be happy to provide more info as I'm able!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20336" LastActivityDate="2020-10-17T00:18:26.017" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25566" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25550" CreationDate="2020-10-19T07:57:04.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Wilderness Camping&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you are talking about &lt;em&gt;wilderness camping&lt;/em&gt;, and presupposing that everyone &lt;em&gt;should&lt;/em&gt; be following &lt;em&gt;Leave No Trace&lt;/em&gt;, camping skills can be practiced in many places - even on public camping grounds to some extent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you take Leave No Trace seriously, and actually try to minimise your footprint on the area you visit this will mean...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;that you cook on &lt;strong&gt;portable stoves&lt;/strong&gt; using fuel which you brought along,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;bring with you all the &lt;strong&gt;food&lt;/strong&gt; you plan to eat, i.e. no foraging/hunting/fishing,&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;you'll &lt;strong&gt;carry out all of your waste&lt;/strong&gt;, including excrement (or at least the harder-to-decompose parts, such as toilet paper),&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If this is what you are looking for then I suggest doing some test runs on public camping grounds. &lt;strong&gt;Since your impact on the environment should be minimal and you are in essence almost completely self-sufficient there is no real need for any &lt;em&gt;wilderness&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you're comfortable with your gear and your setup you could go for longer overnight treks. There are plenty of areas where you can enjoy remote outdoor experiences - Scotland, Norway, Finnland, Sweden come to mind where you will find wilderness areas that are accessible for camping and trekking (as a starting point google Kungsleden for example - or ask a new question focusing on this specific requirement).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Bushcraft&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From your questions it could also be that what you might be after instead is a place where you can go and try out all the cool &lt;strong&gt;bushcraft and survival techniques&lt;/strong&gt; that many YouTube channels so generously supply us with... If that is the case I'd like to state: many of the shown techniques don't generally go too well with Leave No Trace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;--&amp;gt; Building tools and improvised shelters from trees and deadwood, cooking on open fires and generally &lt;em&gt;camping in the same spot for a longer time&lt;/em&gt; (say, multiple days) will leave a significantly larger footprint on the area you are visiting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This isn't to say that there aren't some rare and valid applications for these techniques - &lt;strong&gt;but if you are looking for official regulation condoning such techniques you will be hard-pressed, since the prevailing trend is going towards Leave No Trace (and for good reason, I might add), and all the bushcraft/survival hullabaloo is in conflict with this to at least some degree&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastEditorUserId="6266" LastEditDate="2020-10-19T08:03:21.340" LastActivityDate="2020-10-19T08:03:21.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25567" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25201" CreationDate="2020-10-19T18:24:14.880" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Depends on how dark it is down there and how cloudy the water is.  Sediment in the water column attenuates the light,  so you need to bring your own lighting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously if the sediment is soup like,  such as if someone's fin has kicked up the bottom sediment,  there's not much that a torch can help with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's just a bit mucky,  e.g. following a storm or an algal bloom,  then a torch will help cut through the sediment.  You will find that a bright and tightly focussed torch beam (say 6 degrees) will be much better than a wide beam which creates a lot of back-scatter.  Also a bit of an angle between you and the beam can help too,  holding the torch out to the side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the sediment's been kicked up you may find some better visibility if you gently ascend a little.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &amp;quot;Goodman Handle&amp;quot; on the torch helps to hold it whilst leaving your fingers free to grip things,  such as a reel which you may use to 'line off' off the shot line/anchor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastActivityDate="2020-10-19T18:24:14.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25568" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-19T20:34:12.047" Score="8" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;When an animal such as a squirrel or chipmunk is holding objects in its cheek pouches, does it effect the animal's ability to vocalize normally? Do such obstructions prevent vocalization entirely? Do they change the sounds the animal normally makes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20207" LastActivityDate="2020-11-04T23:58:18.120" Title="Can an animal with cheek pouches vocalize normally when those pouches are full?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;squirrels&gt;&lt;chipmunks&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25569" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8258" CreationDate="2020-10-20T22:11:12.587" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not necessarily agree with some previous comments.&#xA;One one side, ambers will typically only burn a hole into your clothes, particularly any synthetic like polyester or nylon. It does not matter what you are wearing, you may get burn holes. I found cotton or wool the best and hole resistant. Any polyester will get burn holes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, the question was related to SAFETY, not being holeproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of safety, any puffer jacket from either Pertex, Nylon or Polyester will burn like a torch if the outer fabric may catch fire for whatever reason. Polyester will rather melt while Nylon will rather burn. I have tested those two fabrics and compared them. Also both fillings down or polyester will burn like a torch, after all its combustible material with LOTS of air around it - that's for the insulation after all. Some may remember the fire triangle fuel/heat/oxygen.&#xA;I have tested both polyester filling and down and both burn dramatically. Some down is also impregnated against moisture which may or may not contribute to the fire load depending on product or manufacturer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why have I done those tests? I will never, ever forget my friend lighting up like a torch when we were kids. He was wearing a puffer jacket and was playing with sticks and fire and some cloth at the end of the stick. He waved it a bit too much and next moment he was in flames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In short: Puffer jackets are safe it you and the people around you know what they are doing, but a high additional risk if that's not the case and someone does silly things. I hate them for kids around the fire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20342" LastActivityDate="2020-10-20T22:11:12.587" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25570" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-22T18:24:57.890" Score="4" ViewCount="206" Body="&lt;p&gt;For a long time, I've been wondering for myself: if I know for sure that a certain house has this wall facing West, and I'm standing facing the wall in front of me, and I have nothing else to go by, does that automatically mean that North must be to my left, and thus South to my right, with the East compass direction on the other side (in front)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do I only need to know one direction to determine all the others, or does it require knowing at least two ones which aren't opposites of each other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And does this differ depending on which direction I know? For example, if I know for a fact which direction is South, does that mean that I know which side is West and East?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope that I've made myself clear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20343" LastActivityDate="2020-10-25T18:36:11.823" Title="If you have figured out one compass direction, is that always/sometimes/never enough to tell all the other three as well?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;compasses&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25571" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25570" CreationDate="2020-10-22T19:12:41.633" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Compass directions are, generally, always equally spaced around the circle.&#xA;The cardinal directions -- North, East, South, West -- are always 90 degrees apart.&#xA;If you know any one direction you should always be able to determine any other direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, there are some caveats.&#xA;Magnetic compass directions are actually under the influence of the local magnetic force field and magnetic N-S lines can be very different from geographic (or true) N-S lines, so be careful regarding which (magnetic or true) directions you are using.&#xA;Also, the closer you are to the poles, the less meaning compass directions have.&#xA;(Imagine standing at the North pole, everywhere you face will be South! and where is East or West?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2020-10-22T19:12:41.633" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25575" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25580" CreationDate="2020-10-23T16:42:15.663" Score="9" ViewCount="341" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a hiking and photography trip to the Rockies in January as a follow up to a similar trip last year. The major difference in this case is the length of some hikes, with a handful of out-and-backs scraping 25km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Under normal circumstances, in the summer, I'm able to do 25km with my photo gear (about 20lb), some snacks (usually 2-4lb), and a 2L Platypus/Camelbak bag of water in my backpack without any issues, but I have some concerns following last year's trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My major concern is that I won't be able to get to my water easily; though I put the water tube from the Platypus bag into a thermal sleeve, after about an hour the water there would freeze regardless of how often I'd take sips. This wasn't a major obstacle on shorter 10km hikes, but at 20-25k this isn't something I want to run the risk of having to deal with. I also know that winter conditions mean more effort, and that makes water even more crucial.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are some good ways to retain access to water on longer hikes in cold weather? Does having a life straw in winter conditions make much sense if I'm not expecting much access to water besides snow? Alternatively, are there any good snacks which can fill that role without running the risk of freezing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To give an idea of size constraints: my current planned backpack for this trip has about 10L of non-camera space &lt;em&gt;plus&lt;/em&gt; a 2L pouch for water bags, plus a bunch of generously-sized pockets all around.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15390" LastActivityDate="2020-10-31T00:09:34.597" Title="What are some good hydration solutions for long winter hikes?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;winter-walking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25576" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-23T17:19:23.953" Score="3" ViewCount="182" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to paddleboard a bit during the winter.  Living in Vancouver, BC, our seawater temperature goes down to about 7C (45F) in January.  It's at 12C (60F) right now.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I am concerned with are the best arrangements of clothing to paddleboard.  This is a similar question to people asking the how to plan for winter hiking.  In that case, the general recommendation, which I have followed in the past, is to dress in layers and avoid sweating which would sap heat as soon as you stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a paddleboard things will be a little different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I am going out for 60-90 minutes and will be going at a fairly brisk pace during that time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I won't go out when it rains.  Probably only when sunny and &amp;gt; 5-10 C.  (40-50F)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I can't really take clothes on and off and put them somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;One goal is to avoid hypothermia if I fall in (I rarely do, but it can happen).  If so, I accept I'll just be miserable on the way back to my starting point.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rather not expose goretex to salt water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Currently I have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://levelsix.ca/products/farmer-john-sleeveless-neoprene-wetsuit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Farmer John&lt;/a&gt; (link isn't my specific model, just illustrative), which is good for in case I fall in as it will protect my core from heat loss.  I wear it with the top down, so it really only comes up to my waist and have a belt CO2 expandable floatation device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This question is mostly about my upper body.  I suspect I can wear a jacket and then open it up as needed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit:  I am mostly concerned with managing heat buildup the 95% of the time I don't fall in at all, while wearing clothes to protect from hypothermia if I do fall in.  I have experience with cold water, having gone swimming in mountain lakes and 2-3 Polar Bear swims as well and I will never be more than 200-300m from shore, in a harbor area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit 2:  As I am going at a brisk speed (5-5.5 km/h) close to shore, my &lt;strong&gt;main&lt;/strong&gt; concern here is to keep from overheating, just as you would if you were slow-jogging in sub-zero weather.  The advice there is - start out a chilly level, because heat build up will result in sweating through your clothing, which is neither comfortable nor safe.  High speed paddleboarding requires a fair amount of up-down motion from your trunk above your hips, way more upper body movement than most casual kayakers.  Your legs are mostly immobile and exposed to the elements however.  I'm close to shore, good weather, leashed to the board which I can easily climb back on.  The water temp is not something I'm very worried about for short immersions.  The particular risk-comfort tradeoffs I am making are my own and may not apply to you, but I am not asking for kayaking gear recommendations here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyone gone through this and have some advice?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-01-29T18:29:00.857" LastActivityDate="2021-01-29T18:29:00.857" Title="Recommendations for cold-weather clothing on paddleboards" Tags="&lt;cold-weather&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25577" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25576" CreationDate="2020-10-23T20:34:48.793" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;7C grad water is quite cold. You can make an experiment and jump in the jacket into water and check how it feel afterwards. Most likely you'll find out it's very miserable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you assume falling into water is something that could happen to you (I assume you do) you have basically 2 options. A wet suit, in cold conditions with addition of the ice vest, and a dry suit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best in the wet suit is that if you're overheating, you can always cool down in the water. Sweating is not a problem, because you assume you'll be wet anyway. The problem is if it's too cold to keep your wet body warm. An ice vest helps to some extent. In a sunny day you can take heat from the sun - a dark suit absorbs sun energy quite heavily. The problem is when it's cloudy and windy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A dry suit keeps you dry and warm. The problem is that anything you put under it will be something you'll have on you the whole time. Taking something off is really not an option on the paddleboard. The risk of falling into water is too high, and the dry suit gives you really little warmth. All the warmth comes from the layers under it, which is granted only because they are dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although good quality dry suits breathe to some extent, sweating is a problem, so it's a tradeoff. You must try what fits you the best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-10-23T21:58:36.800" LastActivityDate="2020-10-23T21:58:36.800" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25579" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25575" CreationDate="2020-10-23T21:46:51.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Water stored in your pack shouldn't freeze during the day. At night, keep your water inside your tent (along with any other gear that doesn't work well when cold, like batteries and stove fuel canisters). So the Platypus pouch in your pack is fine for carrying your water supply. The challenge is how to get that water to your mouth while you hike. Here are a few options.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry the Platypus water pouch in a bag on your front. You can wear the bag outside your coat or inside it, depending on temperatures. Keep the tube in its insulation sleeve, but tuck it inside the bag when not in use. This way you can still get to it while hiking, without needing to stop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hydration front packs don't seem to actually be available off the shelf, so you will need to improvise something. A cheap, off-brand hydration pack might be a good option (for example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.moosejaw.com/product/teton-sports-trailrunner-2-0-hydration-pack_10406703&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; is $25). The one shown below is just an example; you would want to find one with a pocket, or that unzips at the top so you can put the hose inside. You could cut off the straps, and modify it to clip to your backpack straps. If you sew, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to make something from scratch. The key is to find a system that you can easily open, pull out the hose to drink, then put the hose back and close the bag, all one-handed while walking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Carrying some weight on your chest balances the load more evenly than carrying it all on your back. So it actually improves the ergonomics and reduces fatigue while backpacking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy access to your water while hiking. You don't need to stop to drink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The front pack will insulate you and reduce the ability for sweat to evaporate, so there's a risk that your clothing in front gets wet (which will lead to heat loss when you take off the front pack).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not available as an off-the-shelf option; you have to make it yourself.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Might not be lightweight (depends on how much you can cut down the bag).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3T1wa.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3T1wa.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a 1L canteen, bota bag or water bottle on a shoulder strap / sling. Keep your 2L water pouch in your backpack, and use it to refill the canteen when you stop. You can get an insulated bottle like a Thermos, or put a bottle or canteen in an insulated pouch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Inexpensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Available off-the-shelf.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Holds enough water for half a day, so you don't have to refill very often.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bottle will flop around and bang into your tummy or leg as you walk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have to stop (or at least slow down) to drink from a bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many canteens are not very lightweight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Hl3O.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Hl3O.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yIyt1.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yIyt1.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VTBNB.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VTBNB.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a small (~0.5L) bottle in an insulated pouch with a clip. Clip it to your waiststrap or shoulder strap. Carry the rest of your water in the Platypus inside your backpack and use it to refill the small bottle. Or carry several small bottles inside your pack, and swap them out. The bottles can by very lightweight, just buy the kind of bottled water that comes in really thin plastic bottles with minimal caps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The bottles that the Smart Water brand comes in are a good balance of sturdiness and weight, and you can reuse them. And the spouts are very easy to drink from. Don't carry a Smart Water bottle with a spout in your pack, though; eventually the fliptop gets bent and doesn't close securely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very inexpensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Available off-the-shelf.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not as floppy as a canteen on a strap.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Still somewhat floppy. The bottle will still bang into your chest and arm as you walk.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have to stop (or at least slow down) to drink from a bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1OXH.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/y1OXH.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a flask in a pocket. Refill it as needed from your water pouch. Cut down on the time it takes to refill the flask by carrying two flasks, one in your pocket and one in your pack. Swap the flasks on short breaks, refill them on long breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pros:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Very inexpensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Available off-the-shelf.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Not at all floppy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Low water capacity. Frequent refills.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You have to stop (or at least slow down) to drink from a bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/exgiy.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/exgiy.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-10-23T21:53:43.563" LastActivityDate="2020-10-23T21:53:43.563" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25580" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25575" CreationDate="2020-10-24T14:45:14.483" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;Carry your water in wide-mouth bottles rather than using a camelbak. Pack the bottles close to your body, so that your body heat will help to keep them from freezing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-10-24T14:45:14.483" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25581" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25582" CreationDate="2020-10-24T18:14:38.163" Score="20" ViewCount="7930" Body="&lt;p&gt;Recently some brown bears appeared in my region.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should we encounter one, is it a good idea if we opened a jar of honey for the bear so we would have time to leave?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20351" LastActivityDate="2020-10-29T00:48:08.420" Title="Giving honey to a bear?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;brown-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="14" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25582" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25581" CreationDate="2020-10-24T18:29:48.067" Score="89" Body="&lt;p&gt;No, not a good idea &lt;strong&gt;at all&lt;/strong&gt;.  The bear is now used to people and food together and will seek people.  This will not end well for the bear and may very not end well for the next people it encounters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;when your life is in danger&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Respectfully, your life is not in danger and feeding bears can put other people's lives in danger later.  If your life really was in danger because you are an active target of attack - say you were too near to some bear cubs - the bear would most likely not pay any attention to the honey and would attack you.  Consider also that carrying food around in bear country is likely to attract them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The general idea with a bear is to back away slowly, possibly speaking to it, and not look it in the eyes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&amp;amp;v=kWJ9kbaLT5Q&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; is for North American bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From looking this up a bit, &lt;a href=&quot;https://transylvanianow.com/another-day-another-person-slayed-by-a-bear-but-eu-prevents-solution/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://transylvanianow.com/bear-with-cubs-kills-fisherman-in-transylvania/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50473443&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;3&lt;/a&gt; seems like you are indeed dealing with &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_brown_bear&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;brown bears&lt;/a&gt;, i.e. pretty much a what we would call a grizzly, not black bears (a relatively easy way to tell is that big hump on the back, right behind the neck).  If it was an actual North American grizzly this would mean:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they don't &lt;em&gt;want&lt;/em&gt; to hurt you and will only attack if they feel threatened or are surprised.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;they &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; however kill you just by hitting you to warn you off&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't fight back, play dead, they are not predatory and will probably lose interest.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;don't run, it triggers predation.  They look slow but can easily outrun you.  One was pacing me, for whatever reason, running on the other side of a ditch while I was doing 30-35k cycling down a road - they're &lt;em&gt;fast&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;your best bet for safety is to make sure you &lt;em&gt;don't&lt;/em&gt; surprise a bear.  They will get out of your way.  An example of a good way to surprise a bear is to arrive downwind of a fast river on a bear fishing or eating berries.  They can't smell you because of the wind direction, the river covers up your noise of approach and they are busy eating.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;so, walk in a group if possible, make noise.  Good moment for a boombox (not headphones), enjoy some music!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are however not sharks and certainly not crocodiles.  They are smart enough to avoid humans under nearly all conditions (unless they associate people with food, which is why the honey idea is bad in practice) and have very limited interest in you as something to eat.  Be cautious but appreciate the possibility of their presence:  they're a bit of wild nature that &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; hurt you but you are much more likely to be be hit by a car while walking.  An encounter is a good story to have folk buy you a beer once COVID is gone ;-)  I've seen 4 or 5 myself on foot/bicycle, not counting ones I've seen from a car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are truly concerned, and if you have access to it, buy some &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_spray&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;bear spray&lt;/a&gt;.  It's about $20-30 where I live (Canada) and lasts 3-4 years.  Note that, at least in Canada, there are tons of regulations about transporting it (don't bring it in a plane).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;p.s. One last thing, which is counter-intuitive.  &lt;strong&gt;Leave the dog at home&lt;/strong&gt;, or leash it, unless it's trained for bears.  A not uncommon occurrence goes like this:  dog finds bear, barks at it, bear charges, dog runs back to master with bear in pursuit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some extra &lt;a href=&quot;https://wildsafebc.com/species/grizzly-bear/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;reading&lt;/a&gt;.  Good, but they tend to mix blacks and grizzlies together in the grizzly coverage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="11008" LastEditDate="2020-10-29T00:48:08.420" LastActivityDate="2020-10-29T00:48:08.420" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25584" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25570" CreationDate="2020-10-25T18:36:11.823" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree with the other answer that one direction is enough to determine the others. As for actually doing it, it's very easy but can be confusing if your mind is overwhelmed by other things (e.g. if you are about to win or lose a race, or are very drunk).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use the following rules:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are facing north, east is to your right, and west to your left&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you are facing in another direction, physically turning to face north is silly but may help if you feel really drunk&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you have good visual memory, recall a map of the area you are in - this should make you instantly &amp;quot;feel&amp;quot; which direction is which&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2020-10-25T18:36:11.823" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25585" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25581" CreationDate="2020-10-26T00:15:02.100" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;When the bear is actually dangerous is when it is angry or frightened, and if it is angry or frightened it won't care about your silly jar of honey. Dare I say you're thinking too much like a city person? Your mindset is completely wrong. This is not like a clingy housepet that you're trying to distract for just long enough so you can leave the house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Imagine if the roles were reversed. If you a bear suddenly startled you and it dropped a bag of money in front of you so it could get away, would you care about the bag of money at all?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20359" LastActivityDate="2020-10-26T00:15:02.100" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25586" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-26T04:17:37.823" Score="5" ViewCount="186" Body="&lt;p&gt;This mock exam question &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mardep.gov.hk/en/pub_services/pdf/samplepaper_pv2a.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;from the hong kong marine department&lt;/a&gt; marksheet says option A is correct, however i think option A would cause a collision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RQfwV.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RQfwV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Refering to all of the materials i have, I feel this scenario is as follows:&#xA;A vessel directly ahead is underway and making way but its getting closer. The stern of the appraching vessel would be on my starboard bow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the boat has approached from the starboard side then it is a crossing situation and i would be the give-way vessel, making one short blast and turning to starboard. Option B&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/glbMo.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/glbMo.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, as the vessel is &amp;quot;right ahead&amp;quot; and underway, I could also pass on the stern of the vessel if i were to slow down and let her pass, option D.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;why would A be the correct answer given this scenario?&#xA;and assuming the marksheet is incorrect, could both Option B AND D both be correct?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20361" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T10:52:27.173" Title="When driving a power driven vessel heading towards the port beam of another vessel underway what is the correct proceedure to pass on the stern?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25587" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16462" CreationDate="2020-10-26T14:38:18.737" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could get a tick remover like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPzuH.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPzuH.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;lee valley tick remover&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one happens to be from Lee Valley, but I am sure others make them. It's designed to remove the tick without ripping it apart or squeezing its stomach contents into you. I am sure it would also simplify the whole process of trying to access something on your lower back while one hand is busy holding a mirror or a phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2020-10-26T14:38:18.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25591" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25598" CreationDate="2020-10-27T18:52:34.340" Score="0" ViewCount="53" Body="&lt;p&gt;To be clear, I know nothing about fishing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On another project, someone told me he used 50lb fishing line, and when I looked it up to buy some, I found it said this: &amp;quot;Premium Mono Line 1/4Lb Spool, Clear, 50Lb, 250Yds&amp;quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ande--premium-mono-line-clear--P0368045?recordNum=1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ande--premium-mono-line-clear--P0368045?recordNum=1&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: what is that &amp;quot;1/4Lb&amp;quot; mean?&#xA;And how do I find the diameter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20374" LastEditorUserId="20374" LastEditDate="2020-10-27T19:13:58.097" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T12:20:27.280" Title="Fishing Line Terminology" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25593" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25581" CreationDate="2020-10-27T20:13:24.797" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are some other good posts, but one thing I haven't seen brought up is that bears are thought to have &lt;strong&gt;the best&lt;/strong&gt; sense of smell in the animal kingdom, possibly 7 times as good as a blood hound, 2100 times as good as a human.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So carrying that jar of honey around with you might just entice a bear to follow your trail and get at the honey.  Just sayin'...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/bear-series-part-one-a-bears-sense-of-smell.htm&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/bear-series-part-one-a-bears-sense-of-smell.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20375" LastActivityDate="2020-10-27T20:13:24.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25594" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25575" CreationDate="2020-10-27T20:19:47.213" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the few day-hikes I did at around the freezing point of water, I still used a Camelbak-like thing (actually from Deuter).  There was never a danger of freezing inside my backpack, but I kept it close to my back and more or less tightly wrapped in other gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But most importantly, after the first hike where I experienced the tube freezing, I made sure to blow back any water left in it after each sip.  This always worked really well.  Sometimes, depending on the mechanism, the internals of the mouth piece froze together a bit, but that could always be resolved by sucking a bit on it.  Or, depending on my clothing, I kept it within my outer layer to keep it somewhat warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you stay overnight, make sure to put the Camelbak in your sleeping bag. Just like other things you don't want to freeze overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="15579" LastEditDate="2020-10-30T08:41:53.413" LastActivityDate="2020-10-30T08:41:53.413" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25596" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11318" CreationDate="2020-10-28T01:50:49.260" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;When acid washing a steel gas tank, the tank becomes completely bare metal. It will look great! Nice and clean metal surface. If you do not neutralize the sulfuric acid left on the metal, it will &amp;quot;flash&amp;quot; rust and within a few hours the surfaces of the gas tank will become completely and thoroughly rusted again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The salt in an oxygen absorber is a catalyst that acts the same way that the un-neutralized acid would when cleaning a gas tank. In an oxygen absorber the iron is probably cheap iron shavings and they are small making them much easier to rust. I would think that 1 to 4 hours is probably correct because of the salt and ambient moisture in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Moisture is also required for the oxygen absorber to work. The solution to this problem is to put your oxygen absorbers in a vacuum bag and only open it to get the number of packets you need out of the bag. Then immediately vacuum seal the remaining absorbers. This should pull a vacuum on the bag removing most of the oxygen. Then get your food storage fixed up and sealed as soon as possible. Also some moisture is required for the reaction to occur. So put an uncharged moisture absorber in the vacuum bag with your unused oxygen absorbers.  Periodically, as you are using them, take an extra one out and dissect it to determine the current condition of your remaining unused absorbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Because moisture is required for the reaction of the absorber to remove oxygen it is common practice to put the moisture absorber in the bottom of your storage container with food and put the oxygen absorber at the top of the container, on top of the food. This will allow the oxygen absorber to react with the moisture, oxygen, and salt longer. If you put them together the moisture absorber can inhibit the effectiveness of the oxygen absorber.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20379" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-10-28T20:06:48.347" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T20:06:48.347" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25597" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25591" CreationDate="2020-10-28T07:44:30.043" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did a quick google search and listings for the &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B000B6510W&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;same brand and test-weight&lt;/a&gt; on Amazon are listed with a title saying something along the lines of&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;ANDE Premium Monofilament - 1 lb. Spool - 50lb. Test - Clear&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;or&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;ANDE Premium Monofilament - 2 lb. Spool - 50lb. Test - Clear &lt;/code&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Which shows that the 1/4 lb is a quarter-pound (weight/mass) spool for bulk fishing lines (note the subcategory for the listing in the OP's link is: &lt;em&gt;Fishing /Fishing Line &amp;amp; Leaders /Fishing Line / &lt;strong&gt;Bulk Fishing Line&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;), which presumably translates to a certain distance for that particular diameter line. Presumably a lighter test-weight line with the same weight spool would have a longer amount of line on it due to diameter being smaller.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T07:44:30.043" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25598" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25591" CreationDate="2020-10-28T12:20:27.280" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;One quarter pound is the weight of the spool. Using the option to change products on the website you'll see that the line comes in a 30# weight (400 yards per spool) and a 50# weight (250 yards per spool). Notice how both spools are the same size and weight, with different lengths of filament.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things probably seem less odd when you consider that a fishing reel is constrained to a certain volume of line; the heavier the line the less you can wind on the spool. Given that it's unreasonable to assume anyone will know how much line of any given diameter will fit on their reel it's simpler to sell bulk line by weight. There's probably some attendant cost savings with having all of your bulk rolls be the same size too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fishing line is marketed by breaking strength, not diameter. 50# line made from different materials will have different diameters. You should, however, be safe substituting one 50# monofilament for another. Any size differences are going to be very minor. Think aluminum foil, which may vary in thickness by brand without affecting its use in craft projects.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastActivityDate="2020-10-28T12:20:27.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25600" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25601" CreationDate="2020-10-28T18:36:57.230" Score="2" ViewCount="322" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer appears to be that a coyote (and probably most any animal) can eat a rattlesnake without being poisoned because the venom must enter the bloodstream to be effective. So the animal could be poisoned if it has any internal cuts but otherwise the venom will breakdown in the digestive system. Also, it may be unlikely that a coyote would eat the venom glands of the snake to begin with, even if it managed to kill a rattlesnake. Coyote instincts will most likely tell them that it's not edible. For the same reason they don't eat poisonous toads, natural selection has removed the animals that do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming all this is true. Can anyone point me to sources verifying (or contradicting) this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20383" LastEditorUserId="20383" LastEditDate="2020-10-28T19:08:29.337" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T01:19:00.013" Title="Can a coyote eat a rattlesnake without getting poisoned?" Tags="&lt;snakes&gt;&lt;rattlesnakes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25601" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25600" CreationDate="2020-10-28T20:00:45.960" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you have here is a language problem - a poison is a toxin which you ingest/breath in/absorb through skin, a venom is a toxin that is injected (e.g. bee sting) or added through wounding (many snakes have channels in the fangs, not a hole, the venom is not actively injected, but rather just runs down the channel into the wound).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Snakes, scorpions, spiders, wasps, bees, stingrays, jellyfish etc all are venomous NOT poisonous. Rarely some animals are venomous and poisonous, such as the &lt;a href=&quot;https://onekindplanet.org/top-10/top-10-most-poisonous-animals/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Asian Tiger Snake&lt;/a&gt; (see entry 10 in link), but the venom and poison are usually from different sources - in the case of the linked Asian Tiger Snake, the poison comes from its diet of poisonous toad species, but the venom is produced by the snake itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most snake venoms are enzymes (proteins that facilitate a chemical reaction). &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake#Venom&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rattlesnakes (as per OP's question) have an enzymatic venom&lt;/a&gt;. One thing that our (and coyote) digestive systems are good at is digesting protein - breaking it down into its component amino-acids for us to use as building blocks for our bodies to use. This means that you can actually drink rattlesnake venom with no side-effects so long as you don't have something like an ulcer or other wound in your mouth, esophagus or stomach, which could result in accidental envenomation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2020-11-02T01:19:00.013" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T01:19:00.013" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25603" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-29T08:40:48.847" Score="0" ViewCount="156" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.plansoutdoor.com/best-air-rifle/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;22 caliber 5.5mm (pellet) airgun&lt;/a&gt; kill a pigeon with one shot?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12566" LastEditorUserId="12566" LastEditDate="2020-11-03T07:39:59.690" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T07:39:59.690" Title="Can a 22 caliber air gun kill a pigeon with one shot?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;hunting-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25604" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25603" CreationDate="2020-10-29T09:55:00.267" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Absolutely. If the shot is well placed (especially in the head) and not made from an inappropriately long distance it will easily kill a pigeon with one shot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am familiar with examples of people taking down white tailed deer with a single shot from a .22 air rifle, though these were undoubtedly illegal (due to local laws) and inhumane (due to the high likelihood of NOT killing the deer with one shot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But a .22 air rifle is more than adequate for taking all sorts of small game like squirrels, some birds, raccoons, etc. Your local laws may allow for hunting with air rifles and may also list which prey are allowed to be taken with which caliber of pellet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2020-10-29T09:55:00.267" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25605" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22573" CreationDate="2020-10-29T10:05:27.810" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not sure if your excess sweat would specifically dissolve the stitching, but it could definitely compromise leather shoes in general and promote conditions that degrade stitching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Back in the 80's Sperry Docksiders (think leather moccasin-like laced boat shoes typically worn without socks) came with a suggestion to have two pairs and alternate them daily. Of course this could have just been marketing, but the reason given was that alternating two pairs would give each the chance to dry between wearings. This would allow those two pairs to last considerably longer than two pairs purchased and worn one after the other until they wore out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Damp shoes will allow dust and dirt to stick and make their way into stitching. These act as micro abrasives and will definitely accelerate degradation of the stitching.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3995" LastActivityDate="2020-10-29T10:05:27.810" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25606" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-10-29T19:58:30.623" Score="2" ViewCount="411" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was not sure where to ask this question. The 1965 version with Jimmy Stewart is the one to watch. Everyone from the flick is gone now with the exception of Barry Chase and Hardy Kruger. Warning: Do not watch the piece of crap remake, best advice I have given in recent memory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The author I think had an aviation background and spent a lot of time on the technical aspects of what they were doing. But what I am wondering about is whether the possibility of marching out of the desert having about a zero percent chance of success. This is a 200 mile trek across the desert with magnetic mountain ranges affecting the compass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water and exposure are big problems but they also point out that navigation would make it possible to &amp;quot;walk past the Eiffel Tower&amp;quot; and never see it. The unequal strides between left and right legs is mentioned.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;200 miles indeed seems like a long journey but the character proposing the idea was a military man.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: Plot summary, major spoilers:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An old oil-company plane crashes in the Sahara desert. The passengers are mainly oil field workers plus a couple of military men and a couple other men. The plane is completely unflyable and their radio is broken also. It was meant to be a short flight -- they have for the 7 or 8 survivors 10 days worth of water and some pressed dates as cargo to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They realize that no one is coming for them because it is unlikely they survived plus searching would be very hard. So they are on their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only things being considered are hoping a plane will seeing smoke pots they are burning and marching 200 miles across the desert for help -- nobody thinks either of these will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;big idea&amp;quot; of the film is that one of the passengers is an engineer who in fact designs airplanes and he quietly has been considering whether it is possible not to repair the plane, which can't be done but to take the broken pieces and create a new plane from the remaining salvageable engine and wings -- the original plane of course had a passenger cabin, etc. with twin engines; the new design will be a single engine and the passengers will be strapped onto the wing for what is anticipated to be a short flight. The design requires all sorts of improvisation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No one thinks this will work either and the engineer proposing this is German which in 1965 was significant -- he is too young to have fought in ww2 and his youth is also a factor which makes the captain, played by Stewart who was in his late 50s at the time, both be skeptical and resent the challenge to his authority.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Despite the fact that no one thinks it will work, they have no alternatives and they begin. The engineer proves himself to be just incredibly, Mr. Spock-level competent -- he is able to solve all sorts of technical problems and eventually the new plane begins to take shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some twists that I won't spoil and some conflicts. It is very much worth seeing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The military officer nonetheless decides to march for help -- iirc, he embarks early in the film, maybe before the construction is underway and returns barely alive. I don't think they give him beyond his normal water ration which maybe doomed the attempt to failure since he will have no shade. But also, others point out that he will almost certainly not be able to find his destination due to navigation issues.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20386" LastEditorUserId="20386" LastEditDate="2020-10-30T11:19:37.650" LastActivityDate="2021-03-29T20:00:11.043" Title="Flight of the Phoenix (1965) -- how realistic would walking out be?" Tags="&lt;walking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;deserts&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25608" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25606" CreationDate="2020-10-30T13:03:19.410" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Normal people wouldn't make it, but I present to you the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_des_Sables&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marathon des Sables&lt;/a&gt;, 156 miles in 6 days across the Sahara. Now you've given them 10 days of water, presumably that allows for desert conditions. I'd suggest it's entirely possible for someone who has trained for the scenario to walk out of there if the navigation issues can be overcome.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Navigating by sun and stars, with the assistance of a good clock and all you need to do is maintain a vaguely straight line, it's possible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the Sahara isn't your desert of choice, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.runultra.co.uk/Articles/March-2016/Top-Ten-Desert-Ultras&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;there are plenty more options&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-10-30T13:03:19.410" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25609" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25606" CreationDate="2020-10-30T18:39:38.000" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;For thousands of years, people navigated by the stars and other natural features (e.g., close observation of ocean features for the Polynesians) with no, zero, zilch modern equipment.  Thus, I conclude that IF the people on the FOTP had a very savvy celestial navigator and some knowledge of the terrain between where they crashed and where they wanted to go, they could have found their way out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other question, as @Chris H pointed out in his comment, above, is survival -- water, food. The limiting factor is water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At night, even in a desert, one can build a simple &lt;strong&gt;condensation trap&lt;/strong&gt; and get some water.  Whether one could collect enough during part of the night to sustain one in walking out during the rest of the night, I have no idea.  It is pretty clear to me that one has to travel at night for navigation and for conserving energy and water.  One can go a long time without food, and even in the desert, there is food (e.g., lizards, snakes, some vegetative matter).  (See The &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%82awomir_Rawicz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long Walk&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, about a band of prisoners who purportedly escaped a Siberian gulag to British India, across the  Gobi.  This account gave rise to dispute.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't remember whether any of the people on the FOTP had survival skills. Some of them had very few social skills, which are also important in a desperate bid for survival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;IMO, your question boils down to: Assuming at least one person could navigate well by the stars, and that at least one person had survival skills, and everyone behaved well and was in good physical shape, could the group have walked out 200 miles on the water from condensation traps and the meager food they could scrounge?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-10-30T18:49:05.927" LastActivityDate="2020-10-30T18:49:05.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25610" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25575" CreationDate="2020-10-31T00:09:34.597" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many jackets for cold temperature have inside &amp;quot;drop pockets&amp;quot;, large enough to carry a water bottle. (Also convenient to warm-up a gas canister before using it)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have the extra carrying capacity, a thermos bottle with hot tea is also really nice when it's cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're camping out, hot water in the bottle at night, keep it in the sleeping bag. It provides extra warmth, and the water won't be frozen in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2020-10-31T00:09:34.597" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25611" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-01T15:17:29.323" Score="2" ViewCount="162" Body="&lt;p&gt;What's the warmest underquilt I can buy for an asymmetric 1 man camping hammock? My hammock is the Hennessy expedition. I'm thinking of the warbonnet wookie (Scandinavian) but that is custom built for the warbonnet blackbird hammock. Has anyone tried attaching it to other hammocks? Does it have lateral straps that can be clipped?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8668" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T19:23:10.213" Title="winter hammock camping" Tags="&lt;winter-camping&gt;&lt;hammock&gt;&lt;down&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25612" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-01T20:21:28.033" Score="4" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;My swimming season ended for me when it's dark before I manage to get out of work, eat something and get to the beach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd like to continue swimming, but I want to see where I swim and be seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the flashlight solutions for the open water swimming? I've checked in a local scuba dive shop, but scuba dive lights seem totally unfit for swimming - they need hands to operate, which is not a problem for scuba diver who doesn't use hands to propel, but I can't imagine crawling with them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2021-03-01T01:32:17.567" Title="Flashlight for night open water swimming" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;flashlights&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25613" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25618" CreationDate="2020-11-01T20:43:33.683" Score="13" ViewCount="4328" Body="&lt;p&gt;The map simply shows it's not paved. But does that mean it's a decent dirt road that an ordinary car can handle, or is high clearance and/or 4x4 need?  How would I go about finding out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Yes, this about the outdoors--I'm interested in the trailhead down the road.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2020-11-06T20:01:52.870" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T05:57:21.417" Title="How can I know what a road will be like?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;" AnswerCount="9" CommentCount="12" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25614" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-01T21:22:03.750" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Has the road been mapped by Street-view? If not does Street-view  go along an intersecting road? If so you might be able to get some pictures of the start or all of the road respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also look for commentary about the trail online or find local (to the area of the trail) hiking groups and/or 4WD groups that might have better knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience there are no guarantees that any given road will be maintained to a standard that any car can pass, unless that road is a sealed and/or moderately trafficked road - ones with houses along them tend to be better maintained than ones in forested/wilderness areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-11-01T21:22:03.750" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25615" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T06:02:41.513" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;The easiest way is to just drive it.  You need a &amp;quot;certain tolerance&amp;quot; for minor wear and tear and bumps to your car and some cars are better suited than others, but with a bit of patience and by taking your time you can pass by a lot of roads with a 2WD.  For example I have a stick shift Civic, I'm quite happy going on lots of really bad roads here in BC.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then again, if I had a brand new Tesla, I wouldn't be doing this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most of the time, our unpaved forestry service roads are somewhat OK to drive on with 2WD.  Because we have a lot of recreational hikers, fishermen and hunters, we also have a local publisher that sells &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backroadmapbooks.com/brmb-products/backroad-mapbooks/bc-backroad-maps/vancouver-coast-mountains-bc-backroad-mapbook/vancouver-bc-backcountry-maps-5th-edition.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;printed maps&lt;/a&gt; covering the whole province with a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; more info about road conditions than you would ever find in a normal road map.  Could be you have something similar in your area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically what will happen is that a road starts out OK and then gets worse as you go on.  If it starts out bad, then it will almost never get better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hills or mountains are also an indication of possibly bad conditions.  If your road crosses a lot of contour lines, not a good sign.  With hindsight too:  I've gone up roads where the Civic, being a 2WD, literally was sliding backwards from it being too steep.  Obviously, that can be dangerous on icy terrain or near ditches.  But another risk is if you do manage to go &lt;em&gt;down&lt;/em&gt;, going forward, but that extreme slope traps when you try to make it back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Err on the side of caution.&lt;/strong&gt;  And that, includes, as Chris has said, paying close attention to how difficult turning around would be.  If you had to reverse, how long would that be?  If it looks like it would be difficult to abandon and head back, head back sooner rather than later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When you find that you are consistently going over your tolerance, punishing your suspension, finding unavoidable pot holes or snagging on stuff underneath, best to back off.  Also, don't do this at night, you can't see potholes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still &amp;quot;4WD-needed&amp;quot; is a relative term, esp in individuals' feedback.  Most of our $$$ 4WD hereabouts have seen much less unpaved road than my Civic and I've had people warn me off driving an unchallenging 30m to a camping spot because I wasn't in a 4x4.  Someone who does a lot of backcountry told me modern SUVs can be crap too:  often meant for trips to the mall, too many have insufficient ground clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you could drive up a while and then proceed on a bicycle.  Road bikes are totally out but a solid hybrid or mountainbike can easily handle much rougher roads than a car can.  That might require you to split up your hike into 2 trips:  1 road recon, 1 actual hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But often trail reviews will include everyone's complaints about the access road.  Trail reviews without them hint at a tolerable road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, but not least.  Depending on your location, winter may not be the best of time to navigate too much in the backcountry.  Consider taking along a 406MHz band sat rescue beacon and stocking your car with some emergency supplies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In fact, since you've mentioned Covid already:  our local Search and Rescue group strongly recommends people not venture in difficult terrain right now.  Rescue ops necessarily involve bringing a lot of people together.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-11-02T22:36:04.273" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T22:36:04.273" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25616" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T06:08:33.297" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Just by looking at your average map there's really no way to know for sure.  For a particular example you can look on google maps at Sedona, Arizona.  If you zoom to the 1 mi scale you'll see Schnebly Hill Road going east, which looks like a reasonable way to get to the highway. In reality, even in good conditions you would want a 4x4 designed for trails to drive it. It's quite possible to slide off the road into a ditch in many areas.  On the other hand, there's many dirt roads in Arizona which look identical to that road on the map and can be handled by basically any car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be able to come to a determination based on satellite images of the road.  In the case of schnebly hill road, it's popular enough that there are many videos on youtube of people driving it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19520" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T06:08:33.297" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25617" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T09:24:02.393" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;In &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OpenStreetMap&lt;/a&gt; many roads have the key &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;surface&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;. Its value should give a good idea of the road conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5709" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2020-11-06T20:01:44.990" LastActivityDate="2020-11-06T20:01:44.990" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25618" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T09:52:19.113" Score="22" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But does that mean it's a decent dirt road that an ordinary car can handle, or is high clearance and/or 4x4 need? How would I go about finding out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You ask locals.  It's the only way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No map will tell you how frequently a road is maintained.  Even maps that tell you whether you need 4WD or 2WD, as some road maps do, can at best tell you to what level it is maintained, but depending on conditions a rarely maintained road may still be 2WD-accessible.  A road in RU-KO on which I took a mountain taxi to Europe's largest national park (Yugyd Va) is accessible by ultra-high-clearance 6WD only (averaging less than 20 km/h), but Google Maps and Openstreetmap will happily navigate people into getting stuck there (4 hours into our way back my driver tried to convince the driver of a SUV we met to turn around, as he wouldn't stand a chance).  In US-AZ, after research online and emails to park rangers, we rented a high-clearance 4WD to get to the Whitmore Overlook but I still walked the last 10 km (we did make it to the Tuweap Overlook by car).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you find a forum post describing the conditions 5 years ago, that's great, if you had been going there 5 years ago.  Any weather event can change a 2WD-accessible road to a 4WD-only road or block the road completely.  On rarely used roads, you may not find frequently updated information online.  So you ask a local.  In the United States you are lucky, as public areas are very well managed and there are always park rangers you can call or email (but even there I expect that for some roads the answer may be &amp;quot;we haven't been there since 3 years ago, so we're not sure&amp;quot;), and you'll have an adventure (take wilderness precautions).  In Russia it may be harder.  I didn't even consider doing my own driving to Yugyd Va, I booked transportation, and it was the right decision.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-11-02T20:25:26.547" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T20:25:26.547" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25619" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T18:12:12.797" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;With a combination of Google earth satellite views, calTopo, and local govt aerial surveillance, I can get to a very high degree of certainty of the road condition.  If you want to post the location, I can take a look at it and let you know what to expect.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2020-11-02T18:12:12.797" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25620" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-11-02T22:25:56.243" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_bicycle_route_planning_websites&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Komoot&lt;/a&gt; may have the answer, if they know about that area and it's been classified well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's an example (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.komoot.com/plan/tour/d09_WbV2ApJ0d8=FwgABLDx09EA/@-43.6021797,172.6347828,14z&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.komoot.com/plan/tour/d09_WbV2ApJ0d8=FwgABLDx09EA/@-43.6021797,172.6347828,14z&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Road/paved is drivable by any car.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Road/gravel is probably drivable.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cycleway paved or gravel is probably not for driving, because of the &lt;strong&gt;width&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Doubletrack might be drivable, but it depends a lot on the condition.  This is essentially two wheel tracks, so one rock in the middle can ruin your underpinnings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Singletrack is absolutely not wide enough for a vehicle larger than a motorcycle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xffXP.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xffXP.png&quot; alt=&quot;Enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should also take the posted gradient into account.  10% feels steep in a car, 30% is about as much as any average car can take on dry paved surface, and decreases when wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have driven the route noted above years ago, and it absolutely required a 4WD in the upper sections.  But the first section was just a hillside road, which deteriorated as you got higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11223" LastEditorUserId="3914" LastEditDate="2020-11-05T08:28:13.210" LastActivityDate="2020-11-05T08:28:13.210" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25621" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-03T15:14:14.480" Score="1" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there any scientific study in climbing which investigates the length of the little finger compared to the middle finger in terms of climbing performance on a professional level (grade &amp;gt; 5.12)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naively, I would assume the longer the little finger is, the more it can support the other fingers on certain holds like crimps and therefore the max. performance should be higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2020-11-09T06:28:56.543" Title="Influence of little finger length on climbing performance" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25622" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="13618" CreationDate="2020-11-03T17:29:12.370" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The free Android app inaturalist is pretty legit for plant and animal identification using pictures.&#xA;It pointed me to the #1 option being American Pokeweed using your 3 pictures, the location, and date.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48599-Phytolacca-americana?locale=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48599-Phytolacca-americana?locale=en&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20398" LastEditorUserId="20398" LastEditDate="2020-11-03T17:46:23.970" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T17:46:23.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25623" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9066" CreationDate="2020-11-03T17:59:30.117" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I had good success with self-made hiking food based on couscous and soy &amp;quot;ground beef&amp;quot; - &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sobo-naturkost.de/soja-granulat.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this type of thing&lt;/a&gt; (no recommendation for this particular brand, just an example). Each meal gets packaged into two separate vacuum bags: one for the soy (and dried mushrooms, if part of the meal) and one for the couscous and other stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prepare by putting the soy kibbles into your pot, fill up with water until just not covered (but everything gets a chance to get wet), let sit and rehydrate for about 40 minutes. Add some oil (carried separately in an appropriately-sized Nalgene bottle), more water and the couscous bag contents, heat until boiling, simmer for 3 more minutes on lowest-possible heat, let sit covered for 7 minutes more. Enjoy your meal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stuff to add to the couscous: spices and dehydrated herbs, dehydrated onions, garlic, soup vegetables, dried mushrooms, Knorr Fix-type &amp;quot;just add water&amp;quot; tomato sauce, powdered mushroom cream soup, pre-cut dried fruits (sealed in an extra baggy, because of the residual moisture) for some amazing tajine-style flavor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, you can vary the portion sizes as desired. In my experience, 1 part soy stuff for 2 parts couscous by weight was ok. Different brands of soy stuff are different - I had some that was basically flavorless, but a different kind that smelled like dry cat food on its own, and kept some of that aftertaste even after cooking and copious spices. I'd recommend testing that out at home beforehand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This combination needs very little fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're happy with using pasta, have a look at the marketed-as-healthy legume pastas (from chickpeas, red lentils etc). Not only do they carry the protein typical for their ingredients, they also tend to have short cooking times (6-8 minutes). They are a bit high volume though, due to their shape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20399" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T17:59:30.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25624" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25611" CreationDate="2020-11-03T19:23:10.213" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Well after more research I think the warmest hammock underquilt available is the Revolt v2 from enlightened equipment. The rating goes down to -10F...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hope that helps someone!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8668" LastActivityDate="2020-11-03T19:23:10.213" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25626" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25576" CreationDate="2020-11-04T07:48:11.623" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;For now, what I am doing is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Farmer John wetsuit.  Neoprene booties.  Neoprene 2mm gloves.  I can zip up the Farmer John or belt it up to my waist if it's not very cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a std boating oilskin top and a super warm synthetic fleece in a 2nd waterproof bag.  This is my change-of-clothing for if I fall in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Summer sun-blocking nylon longsleeves.  The key is that they dry very easily and don't absorb much water.  The Farmer John is fairly open on top, so if it's chilly I don't overheat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;cotton T-shirt over.  Synthetic would be better, cold wet cotton is deadly, but cotton is fine dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;CO2 inflatable life vest is in a belt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Fall in?&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;deploy or do not deploy inflatable life vest.  There's a std surfboard line to SUP, not huge risk past thermal shock first 10+ seconds.  Blowing up CO2 vest is not ideal. $40 too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;get back on board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Back on board, strip wet std outdoors top.  Put on fleece top, then oilskin.  Heat however would be little problem with full neoprene up to arms.  Head home :-(&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Possible improvements:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lightweight ski/snowboard combo lock which I also have.  Loop it to top of board and I can walk/taxi back on land in my wet stuff and leave board behind.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BTW, not in the least bit &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/survivor-recounts-how-two-died-in-b-c-kayaking-accident-1.668359&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;relaxed about sea safety.&lt;/a&gt;  Been living near the water too long.  Love it, respect it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Update - falling in.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I finally ended up falling in while not paying attention to side waves.  Water was probably around 8-10C, air temp around 7C.  The farmer john let in some water, but I was quickly back on the board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Put on the oilskin, but not the fleece, and went back home, which took about an hour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was perfectly fine, the oilskin cut off the wind and the exertion warmed the wet longsleeves over my arms while the farmer john's wetsuit kept my core warm.  Switched to the fleece while deflating and putting away the board (10 minutes) and I wasn't really cold for any of this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-01-29T18:13:27.440" LastActivityDate="2021-01-29T18:13:27.440" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25628" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25576" CreationDate="2020-11-06T16:04:25.307" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a kayaker rather than a paddleboarder so I'm a little less exposed, but also 7C seems toasty warm compared to the temperatures we're sometimes out in. Breaking the ice in winter is reasonably common.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The fundamental difference with gearing up for hiking is that you're not as likely to fall in the water while hiking, so gear adds up differently.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thermal rashie, sometimes two if it's really cold&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Long John wetsuit&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Shorty cag&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;You'll probably want to pair some waterproof trousers with the cag, it's mostly to keep the wind out rather than the water.&#xA;Neoprene gloves if you need, these are the easiest layer to remove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The trouble with watersports is that you're basically wearing what you're wearing, so err towards keeping warm at your slowest pace rather than fastest, you'll find that you tune your exuberance to the gear you're wearing. You will get hot, but exposure to wind and falling in the water are too high risk for going under-dressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-11-06T16:04:25.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25630" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25621" CreationDate="2020-11-09T06:28:56.543" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did not look whether such a study exist, but I want to reason why it's futile to conduct such a study.&#xA;Rock climbing performance depends way less on finger strength than most people assume (especially the pinky). To quote the teaching material of the german alpine club, a climbers' performance depends not only on physical precondition, but to a large degree on technique, tactics and psyche. Add to that the physical training which is no doubt necessary for top performances. Of course finger strength is crucial to climbing, but laymen often overerstimate its importance. Go to any gym and you will see people hangboarding everytime that they are in the gym, but never doing technique drills or discuss their pacing.&#xA;The gist of this answer is, that the strength of the pinky will likely not be relevant to climbing performance at large, even among professional climbers, because before that becomes relevant, a whole lot of other factors are. Therefore it is unlikely that one could conduct a study which can link pinky length to climbing performance&#xA;I know that Adam Ondra is somewhat obsessed with his pinky and asked about how he could use his pinky when getting info on some routes, but the very best rock climber today thinking about his pinky a lot,  does not make it relevant for performance, especially in the 5.12 range.&#xA;Add to that, that climbing is not as professionalized as say football and it is very unlikely that such a study was ever conducted, or that it ever will produce sensible knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18035" LastActivityDate="2020-11-09T06:28:56.543" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25631" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-10T10:11:32.377" Score="6" ViewCount="160" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's suppose we have two bolts which are connected with a chain and a ring for rappelling at the top of a climbing route and we would like to install a top rope setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hear on a monthly basis that two quickdraws facing opposite sides are unsafe and I should use instead one locking carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the preferred way to do it? Putting the rope through two quickdraws or one locking carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ps. For reasons of wear I would like not to use the ring directly and use instead quickdraws or a locking carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2020-11-11T12:40:43.287" Title="Top rope installation on an anchor" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25633" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25586" CreationDate="2020-11-10T10:52:27.173" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;From the Marine Department: please note the question is describing a power-driven heading towards a vessel at anchor but not a vessel under way and showing a port side light. In the picture, the upper white light is the forward anchor light whilst the lower white light is the anchor light at the stern of the vessel. The red light at the middle is an all round light which indicates the vessel is carrying dangerous goods on board. The power-driven vessel has to alter course to port in order to pass on the stern of the anchored vessel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;i have illustrated the vessel below&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YCUIL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YCUIL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20361" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T10:52:27.173" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25634" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25631" CreationDate="2020-11-10T12:27:45.470" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a good practice to backup a tope rope system, especially considering that&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There is only one anchor at the tope and no intermediate quickdraws&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Climbing far below, a visual check can be difficult&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Any sling rubbing on rock may be damaged pretty fast (mainly a problem on high-friction rock and around edges)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Top rope climbing is often done by beginners which may not be able to check the anchor when reaching the top.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Beginners might climb above the anchor (c.f. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;q=&amp;amp;esrc=s&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;cd=&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwimi-P_-ffsAhW4QkEAHWiOAjgQFjAXegQIChAC&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alpenverein.de%2Fchameleon%2Fpublic%2F10740%2Fpanorama_0101_sic_10740.pdf&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw0Jga0g-OWxnygO2Huh2RST&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;issues with special top rope bolts&lt;/a&gt; (German))&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Curls in the rope might unclip it from a single unlocked carabiner&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said, the recommendation should not be to use a single carabiner, even if it is locking. Screw gates my come undone or people might simply forget to close them. Auto-locking carabiners such as tri-lock or ball-lock my be affected by dirty that prevents the correct closing and someone who climbs above the anchor might accidentially unclip. The recommendation by the German alpine club (DAV) to use two quickdraws/carabiners:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eprio.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eprio.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/a33a6061-9b22-50f8-d67f-2550500f205b/Die-10-Hallen-Kletterregeln_26174.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, there is nothing wrong with combining a locking carabiner and a quickdraw as a backup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="17053" LastEditDate="2020-11-10T12:44:20.157" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T12:44:20.157" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25635" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25631" CreationDate="2020-11-10T15:03:05.257" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can do a variety of techniques. There are trade-offs between speed and safety. The following is what I would do to make a very safe anchor that a bunch of people are going to climb on. It requires four carabiners, at least two of which should be locking, plus a cordelette or static rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ignore the chains and the rap ring -- especially the rap ring, which can be worn and which you don't want as a single point of failure. Put a locking carabiner directly through the hanger on each bolt. (If you don't have four lockers, it's OK to use non-lockers here, since they're going to be redundant.) Using a static rope or a cordelette, put a loop of cord through both locking carabiners so that when you pull the two strands down in a V shape, it extends the desired distance. (E.g., if the bolts are above a lip, you want to extend far enough so that the climbing rope won't rub on the lip.) The V should be long enough so that it doesn't amplify the forces on the bolts. (If the angle between the strands is greater than about 90 degrees, you'll be amplifying the force a lot.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If people are only climbing a single route from this anchor, so that there is only a single well-defined direction of pull, then tie the two strands into a big knot such as a double-strand figure-eight on a bight. Put two locking carabiners through this knot, opposite and opposed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If people will be climbing multiple routes on this anchor, with different directions of pull, then tie two limiting knots in the anchor, and put one locking biner through each strand. This setup is called an &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/9005/what-is-an-equalette-anchor&quot;&gt;equalette&lt;/a&gt;. It allows the anchor to self-equalize for different directions of pull, while limiting extension if one side fails. Some people I know here in Southern California who do a lot of sport climbing will just pre-tie an equalette and use it all day on a series of sport climbs that have similar two-bolt anchors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before climbing on the anchor, evaluate its safety the same way you would with any anchor, using a checklist such as SRENE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A good book on this topic is Climbing Anchors, by Long and Gaines. The techniques I described above are shown in ch. 10, with lots of photos. These techniques are similar to, but not identical to, the ones taught in the AMGA single-pitch instructor course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is the preferred way to do it? Putting the rope through two quickdraws or one locking carabiner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can evaluate these setups using the SRENE acronym.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two-quickdraw setup is  solid and redundant, and if one side fails it's likely to have little or no extension. However, it's not equalized at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re a single locking biner, it depends on how you are thinking of attaching it to the bolts. But in any case, if it's a single biner, it's not redundant. For example, if someone forgets to lock it or if the rope rubs on it and causes it to unscrew, you have a single point of failure. The risk is low, but I don't see the point of not using two lockers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A general rule of thumb in climbing is that one locking biner is the moral equivalent of two non-locking carabiners, opposite and opposed. So that isn't the issue here, per se.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-11-10T15:39:39.820" LastActivityDate="2020-11-10T15:39:39.820" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25636" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25631" CreationDate="2020-11-10T23:49:09.183" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;One locking carabiner might avoid some failure modes which apply to two quickdraws, but, as others have noted, it sacrifices redundancy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are concerned that two quickdraws might fail, you may make a couple &amp;quot;locking draws&amp;quot; specifically for anchors. Just attach small locking carabiners to a dogbone. That's what I have made for myself, mostly for peace of mind because I have never heard of any accidents caused by opposite and opposed quickdraws. Anyway, this seems like the best of two worlds: redundancy of two attachment points and safety of locking carabiners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WTn2o.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WTn2o.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Image taken from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/locking-carabiners-for-sport-anchor-quickdraws&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8765" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-11-11T12:40:43.287" LastActivityDate="2020-11-11T12:40:43.287" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25637" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-11T16:11:53.143" Score="8" ViewCount="232" Body="&lt;p&gt;I slept out in my bivvy bag (UK army surplus goretex bag with a synthetic sleeping bag inside) in the woods recently, and woke twice to find a big fat slug on my face.  It's never happened before.  I do like getting close to the rest of nature, but there are limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any simple (ideally not involving chemical repellents or biocides) ways to discourage slugs from venturing inside my sleeping bag?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3327" LastActivityDate="2020-11-13T17:20:26.483" Title="How to avoid slugs on the face in a bivvy bag" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;uk&gt;&lt;sleeping&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25638" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14180" CreationDate="2020-11-12T07:57:14.700" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this thread is old, but American Sail in Charleston, SC has them. I just bought one for my sunfish and it looks exactly the same and fits perfectly. They have either the screw in option or the pop-up option. My bailer had threads all the way down, so I got the screw-in one. I think it was $8. I picked up locally, but I believe the owner said that it is $4 to ship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20419" LastActivityDate="2020-11-12T07:57:14.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25639" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25637" CreationDate="2020-11-12T11:14:04.097" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately they like the damp (as we typically have in the UK at this time of year) and will find warmth.  So there will be lots about and may seek you out.  You either need to repel them from your face, or attract them to something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the garden I use beer traps to draw them away from my plants.  They're dishes with a lid like an umbrella, that you put on or slightly in the ground, and add beer. The slugs then drown in the beer.  Supposedly it's the yeast that attracts them rather than the alcohol, so carrying a dry mix of yeast and sugar, and adding water at your bivvy site would be worth a try, with a non-food container to hold it.  Place it near your head, on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you'd consider cosmetic and related products, some may attract them, but others may repel them.  In particular various plants, many of them herbs are reputed to repel slugs. Rubbing your face with garlic may not be an option (though I wonder about eating very garlicky dinner). Lavender is one that stands out from &lt;a href=&quot;http://stonecrossgardencentre.co.uk/perfect-plants-beating-slugs/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this list&lt;/a&gt; (at the bottom of the page) as it's used both as a scent, and in natural insect repellents.  If you've got any of the latter (I used to have one called &amp;quot;bugs away&amp;quot; that was citronella, lavender, etc.)  it might be worth trying some of that.  Note that some essential oils aren't great for waterproof fabrics, so don't go splashing it around too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm glad I bought a sleeping bag with built-in mosquito net. The slugs would be too close for comfort but not as bad as on bare skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-11-12T11:14:04.097" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25649" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25637" CreationDate="2020-11-13T17:20:26.483" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could sprinkle a ring of crushed diatomaceous earth around your bag. I have heard that slugs and snails can't cross over it, it is like cut glass to their soft bodies. It is a very lightweight material that should not be hard to carry a small supply of.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-11-13T17:20:26.483" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25650" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25651" CreationDate="2020-11-14T12:00:24.487" Score="8" ViewCount="478" Body="&lt;p&gt;On several holidays (in southern Europe) I have noticed a bird handler exercising a bird of prey in hotel grounds. The handlers often wear clothing advertising shows.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why is this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't see lion tamers or any other acts bringing their work on holiday. Is it a policy of the hotels to discourage gulls and pigeons?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EFppG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EFppG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bird leaving hotel balcony&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17425" LastActivityDate="2020-11-14T16:23:03.957" Title="Birds of prey in holiday hotels" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25651" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25650" CreationDate="2020-11-14T16:23:03.957" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;Typically this is for two reasons (and you have hit on them both in your question)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advertising for their shows is essential - they need to drum up interest so people will go, pay their money and watch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But they also perform a service for hotels and urban areas by discouraging pigeons, gulls and other scavengers that can make a mess, cause damage, and generally make a horel or resort look worse.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd really like to see lions used to discourage scavengers, though :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-11-14T16:23:03.957" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25652" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25654" CreationDate="2020-11-16T10:06:13.940" Score="3" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.seeker.com/why-trees-dont-grow-on-mountaintops-1792565118.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.seeker.com/why-trees-dont-grow-on-mountaintops-1792565118.html&lt;/a&gt; suggests that the treeline for Humphrey's Peak, in Arizona / Coconino County is at 11,400 feet (3470 metre), but is there a more authoritative source for that? Like is the treeline something that USGS tracks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similarly, &lt;a href=&quot;https://ak.audubon.org/southeast-alaska-birding-trail-town/mount-roberts-alpine&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://ak.audubon.org/southeast-alaska-birding-trail-town/mount-roberts-alpine&lt;/a&gt; suggests the treeline for Robert's Peak and the surrounding mountain range is 1,760 feet (540 metre), but again, a more authoritative source would be good. Not to mention that it'd be cool to have a more consistent resource that doesn't require blind Google searches each time!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-11-17T09:58:45.780" LastActivityDate="2020-11-17T09:59:51.890" Title="identifying the treeline for arbitrary mountain ranges in the united states?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25653" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-16T10:23:12.157" Score="3" ViewCount="45" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I recently hiked Humphrey's Peak in Arizona and was curious if I passed through multiple different Köppen climate types.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Quoting &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Arizona#Humphreys_Peak&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Arizona#Humphreys_Peak&lt;/a&gt; , &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;Towards the top of the trail Humphreys Peak contains the only area of subarctic tundra south of the Rocky Mountains&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot;. I'm assuming subarctic tundra is a reference to the Köppen climate type, which makes me wonder what other Köppen climate type I hiked through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For Arizona there's a map at &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Arizona#/media/File:Arizona_K%C3%B6ppen.svg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Arizona#/media/File:Arizona_K%C3%B6ppen.svg&lt;/a&gt; but it's of limited resolution and you can't really search by latitude / longitude on that map. And, more generally, it'd be cool to have a map of the entire US (or entire world lol) vs a map of a single state!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastActivityDate="2020-11-16T10:23:12.157" Title="zoomable Köppen climate maps" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;mountains&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25654" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25652" CreationDate="2020-11-16T14:47:17.197" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The tree line is not a sharply defined line. It's actually more of a gradual, irregular fade out as you go up in elevation. Here is an example from an area I visit a lot: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_San_Antonio#/media/File:Mt.Baldy_Looking_NorthWestAtSummit.JPG&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_San_Antonio#/media/File:Mt.Baldy_Looking_NorthWestAtSummit.JPG&lt;/a&gt; The person in the yellow shirt is standing on a trail that is very close to tree line at about 9500' (2900 m). There are trees on the downhill side of the trail, but not many on the uphill side. But there are &lt;em&gt;some&lt;/em&gt; trees on the uphill side. And if you look at the summit in the distance, which is at 10,060' (3070 m), you can see that there are trees very nearly up to the summit, i.e., about 500' (170 m) higher.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What happens as you get close to tree line is that the trees get stunted and krummholtzed, and they get more sparse. However, some will survive higher up, for instance if they're in some little drainage that gets more water, or have better shelter from the prevailing winds. In the photo, the saddle in the middle distance is a wind tunnel, so almost no trees are able to survive there. But the southern (left) shoulder of the summit usually doesn't have much wind, so you have trees there, even though it's higher than the saddle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;USGS maps do not show the tree line as a line. They do show forested versus non-forested areas, so you can usually get a pretty good idea of where the tree line is. But the threshold for marking something as forested is some kind of subjective judgment about the density of trees, not a complete absence of trees. (Legend has it that this was originally defined as trees dense enough to provide cover for a squad of infantry.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2020-11-17T09:59:51.890" LastActivityDate="2020-11-17T09:59:51.890" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25655" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25662" CreationDate="2020-11-16T15:47:31.837" Score="7" ViewCount="204" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are these footprints of a bobcat or cougar ? I apologize that there is no reference scale in the image, but the footprints measured about 3.5 or 4 inches in both dimensions. I found these while hiking in a less trafficked trail near Mariposa Grove in Yosemite on 11/15/20.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WR2dA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/WR2dA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Footprints in snow found on 11/15/20 near Mariposa Grove&#xA;in Yosemite&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20429" LastEditorUserId="20429" LastEditDate="2020-11-16T17:47:53.783" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T16:34:56.150" Title="Are these prints in snow of a bobcat or cougar?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;cougars&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;&lt;animal-tracks&gt;&lt;bobcats&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25656" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25664" CreationDate="2020-11-16T18:32:16.357" Score="3" ViewCount="121" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am trying to learn about basic ice fishing and literally every article I read and every YouTube video I have seen so far, seems to use the following concepts interchangeably, even though I &lt;em&gt;know&lt;/em&gt; they are different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;ice rod &amp;amp; reel&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;jig; or &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;jigging&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tip ups&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I ask: &lt;strong&gt;what is the difference between these three devices, and why/when do you use each?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18092" LastActivityDate="2020-11-19T20:35:43.563" Title="Ice fishing: ice rods, jigs and tipups explained" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;ice&gt;&lt;fishing-rods&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25658" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-17T14:46:38.340" Score="1" ViewCount="140" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a workmate and I've known her for about 7 months already. She is very touchy with me recently and I'm really confused with her because we are both girls and she presently have a boyfriend. It all started when she invited me for a dinner at restaurant and had some talks. We both enjoyed it and she again invited me during the next week until we've been doing this during our day offs. We've been hanging outside together, eating at restaurants, and we usually pull over the car and had simple conversations about everything. When we got home she calls me until we fell asleep. She consistently sends me message every day about work and random stuffs. I am just very very confuse until recently why is she so touchy with me. Once, when we were both at work, she grabbed my hand and seems she wanted to hold my hands secretly while our coworkers aren't aware. Also, while I am driving she usually touches (rubs) my arms while we are talking. Sometimes, she would hold my hand while it was on the gearshift. Most of the time, she puts her arms behind my head while I am driving. But we are talking so I just don't mind it. Another thing, when our hands get closer, she would anchor it with her pinky finger. And just recently, we ordered food and had to wait outside. We just talked inside the car random topics while she was rubbing (playing) her hands with mine and she just grabbed it like a real holding hands. She also laid her head on my shoulder and hugged me.At first I didn't mind this thinking she is just really touchy with everyone. By the way, she is a very nice and funny person. I just want to know what's going on. She rarely talks about her boyfriend. But knowing their relationship, I know they are having a rough time because she had some issues with her boyfriend. But I also know that she really loves her boyfriend. It's just her boyfriend doesn't want to go out with her on public places because he's &amp;quot;uncomfortable&amp;quot; with crowd as she told me. During our hangouts, she never told her boyfriend that we were eating outside or we were somewhere together. Anybody here tried this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20433" LastActivityDate="2020-11-17T14:46:38.340" Title="Anybody ever had a clingy friend?" Tags="&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2020-11-17T19:41:59.467" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25660" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25661" CreationDate="2020-11-18T10:24:12.460" Score="5" ViewCount="527" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've got an 11mm static rope. Can I use it safely for top-rope belay/rappel with a belay device that is designed for &amp;quot;9.5 - 10.5 mm rope&amp;quot;?..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I actually rappelled three times with no issues but the rope felt very thick and stubborn. Can it be seriously damaged by the belay device or are those extra 0.5mm nothing to worry about?..&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT (after helpful comments) for someone finding this question later&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DON'T&lt;/strong&gt; use static rope for real climbing in the mountains! Even a short fall with a small amount of slack can generate astonishing force acting on your body (you won't fall down but you won't survive the shock!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I said I use this rope for top-roping, I meant some special situations (e.g. top-roping a tall tree for practice with no slack in the system - I don't want to have a dynamic fall with rope stretching and throwing me on some branch!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2020-11-30T17:22:47.547" LastActivityDate="2020-11-30T17:22:47.547" Title="Belaying/rappelling with a rope thicker than allowed by belay device" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25661" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25660" CreationDate="2020-11-18T12:06:46.847" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two factors to care about here: a static rope and a rope that is slightly too thick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Static ropes&lt;/strong&gt; are usually less flexible than dynamic rope, which would explain the stubborn feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;0.5mm of thickness&lt;/strong&gt; is generally nothing to worry about. The main concerns with the manufacturer-approved ranges of rope thickness are safety and &amp;quot;user experience&amp;quot;. When using a rope that is too thin for a given belay device, there is a possible safety risk because the device might provide less friction or not fully stop the rope (in the case of assisted belay devices). Too thick ropes generally only affect the &amp;quot;user experience&amp;quot; part: As you experienced, handling will become more difficult as the device will possibly provide much more grip than needed.  Regarding the safety, I would not worry about such a small difference. For example, a 10.5mm rope might become slightly &amp;quot;fluffy&amp;quot; with age and, thus, even thicker than a new 11mm rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5657" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-11-19T14:35:36.153" LastActivityDate="2020-11-19T14:35:36.153" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25662" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25655" CreationDate="2020-11-18T23:03:13.843" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Based on your estimation of size, they're definitely cougar. Bobcat tracks should be half (or less) that size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has a nice track comparison page 9with dimensions): &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79135_79218_79619_84911-146656--,00.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Distinguishing Cougar, Coyote, and Bobcat Tracks&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those tracks are pretty fresh, too. That's a nice find and well photographed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9910" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-12-05T16:34:56.150" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T16:34:56.150" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25663" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25656" CreationDate="2020-11-18T23:42:38.417" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;An ice rod and reel are the basic components you need for fishing (well, you could use a hand line...) This consists of a fishing rod and a reel usually with line and hooks and sinkers attached. An example picture of one set-up of a rod and reel combination can be found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.takemefishing.org/blog/january-2016/best-ice-fishing-rod-and-reel-combos/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. There are many rods and reels that will work in this situation, but you want something short (i.e. not a surf rod) and fairly stiff so that it doesn't  have a lot of play. The short, stiff rod is an advantage because you don't want it interacting with the hole in the ice too much when winding in a fish - it could snap the rod or cut the line. Short also helps if you are in an ice-fishing hut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip-up_(ice_fishing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;tip-up&lt;/a&gt; is a device to tell when you have a fish on the line - basically you run your line through a device that holds it in place and indicates by position of a flag or something similar that there is a fish on the line. This saves you from having to hold the line constantly to tell. A tip-up is the equivalent of a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_float&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;float&lt;/a&gt; or bobber used on open water. With ice-fishing you may not be able to see the water surface (you are fishing down a hole of indeterminate depth, but usually &amp;gt;10 cm (4 in)), so a float/bobber might not be visible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigging&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;jig is a type of lure&lt;/a&gt;, specifically one that has a weight/sinker moulded into the lure and is used in a vertical position by jerking up and down (as opposed to hauled horizontally along the water like a spinner). The jerking up and down action is called jigging and is designed to cause the lure to mimic an injured fish - prime food for eating by your target fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A jig should not be confused with the term &amp;quot;rig&amp;quot; which would be the overall set-up including rod, reel, lure, sinker, line, tip-up and anything else directly involved in the fishing. A basic rig will be the rod, reel, line, hook, and sinker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2020-11-18T23:42:38.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25664" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25656" CreationDate="2020-11-19T17:37:40.447" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ice fishing: ice rods, jigs and tipups explained&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a few basic tips about ice fishing up here in Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The line going into the water does not have to be long because generally fish will swim just below the level of the ice, which in some cases can be quite thick!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.johntyman.com/arctic/inuit102.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;INUIT ~ People of the Arctic&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Large numbers of fish can sometimes be caught in this way, as they congregate beneath the ice&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;in readiness for their spring migration downstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many more people, though, are involved in fishing with lines. The fish have little interest in feeding then but they are drawn to the hole by the agitation of lures. The fishermen wait and watch (carefully!) and …&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When a fish appears below them they strike downwards (allowing for refraction!) with a fishing spear (or kokiwog) which grasps hold of the fish. The kokiwog has flexible arms made from the horns of a musk ox so the fish, once speared and retrieved, can easily be released.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XBGEi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XBGEi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nowadays the use of fishing spears is less necessary as colourful lures with barbed hooks attached can be purchased cheaply from the store.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hoq3Z.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hoq3Z.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A stick with a hook and line attached is simply jigged up and down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/sports-rec/fishing/ice-fishing/ice-fishing-rod-reels-combos.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ice fishing rods&lt;/a&gt; are very short in comparison to normal angling rods. There is no need to cast your line far out into the water. You more or less simply drop your line into the ice hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use a fishing reel you feel comfortable with the style in ice fishing is not of great importance. But I would recommend a spinning reel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A fishing reel is a cylindrical device attached to a fishing rod used in winding and stowing line.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4AGFd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4AGFd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A spinning reel&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A spinning reel&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is jigging?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;[Jigging is the practice of fishing with a jig, a type of fishing lure. A jig consists of a lead sinker with a hook molded into it and usually covered by a soft body to attract fish. Jigs are intended to create a jerky, vertical motion, as opposed to spinnerbaits which move through the water horizontally. The jig is very versatile and can be used in both salt and fresh water. Many species are attracted to the lure which has made it popular among anglers for years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For successful jigging, the jigger needs to use a rod which is good for feeling a strike, and needs to stay in contact with the lure and get it to where the fish are. Most fish caught by jigs are on or near the bottom.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This last statement is not true when ice fishing as the scenario is in fact the opposite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the gigs themselves the following may be helpful:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The head of a jig can consist of many different shapes and colors along with different features.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XBGEi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt; The most common is the round head, but others include fish head shaped, coned-shaped, or any number of varieties. The three most popular jighead shapes in bass fishing are the flipping jighead, the football jighead, and the grass jighead. These heads come in many different weights usually ranging from 1/80 of an ounce to nearly a pound for large saltwater bottomfish. They can also be found in a wide array of colors and patterns. The hooks also vary. These variances can be on the hook type, color, angle of the hook or the material of the hook. Some jig heads even offer a weed guard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a wide array of bodies for jigs. The most common is made out of rubber or silicone. These come in many shapes and can resemble a grub, frog, fish, paddle tail, lizard, or different insects. The colors of these can range from bright yellow to a transparent brown with silver and red flakes. Also, during summer months look at colors for the heat such as browns, or blue with black hair. Many others catch fish like smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Bait such as minnows, leeches or night crawlers can also be used as jig bodies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other, more traditional types use dyed or natural whitetail deer tail hair on the outside. Called a bucktail jig, they are widely used in the northern and midwestern United States, where many are still hand tied by anglers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other types of materials are also used in constructing jig bodies, such as a Chenille wrap on the hook shaft, various feather hackle, hairs or other fur, marabou, Flashabou, and other materials. Construction is often similar to the process of Fly tying. Some jigs are constructed identically to their artificial fly counterparts, one example a &amp;quot;Wooly Bugger&amp;quot; fly but tied on a jig head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bodies can be either brightly colored or subdued. They are often designed to mimic local prey fish or large local insects. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigging&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Jigging&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;tip ups&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, the following explains the basics:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fishingduo.com/the-ultimate-beginners-guide-to-tip-up-ice-fishing/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Tip-up Ice Fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is tip-up ice fishing and how does it work.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basics of using a tip-up are easy enough for anglers of all skill levels to master.  They are far from being a lazy way to fish.  Using tip-ups requires attentiveness and plenty of exercise as you run from hole to hole.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tip-up ice fishing is a method of fishing that allows anglers to set multiple baited lines below the ice.  Strikes are detected without the need to be in the immediate area of the equipment.  A trigger mechanism flips up a flag, indicating a fish has taken the bait.  Fish are pulled up by hand through the hole in the ice.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That’s tip-up fishing in a nut shell.  Keep reading if you’re ready to become an expert at all things tip-up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Updkm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Updkm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following may be helpful also:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Do-Jig-Fishing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Do Jig Fishing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/sports-rec/fishing/ice-fishing/ice-fishing-lures-terminal-tackle.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ICE FISHING LURES, JIGS &amp;amp; TACKLE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fieldandstream.com/20-best-ice-fishing-lures-ever/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The 20 Best Ice-Fishing Lures Ever (Field and Stream)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Set-Up-an-Ice-Fishing-Tip-Up&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;How to Set Up an Ice Fishing Tip Up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2020-11-19T20:35:43.563" LastActivityDate="2020-11-19T20:35:43.563" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25665" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-19T20:56:31.933" Score="0" ViewCount="48" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 8 years ago I ran a marathon and I used an online running schedule generator from Asics.&#xA;To help a friend, I tried to search for it, but I cannot find it anymore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know if there is a similar or equal generator?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was capable of creating a schedule based on the time until a running event, the amount of days per week to train, the requested time and the distance (among some other variables).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="705" LastActivityDate="2020-11-19T20:56:31.933" Title="A flexible running schedule generator (Asics)" Tags="&lt;preparation&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25666" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25667" CreationDate="2020-11-20T13:34:17.720" Score="0" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is there some kind of wall AI identification system in google maps or some google earth software to find a wall nearest my location to play squash during quarantine?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Excluding hitting garage&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20440" LastEditorUserId="20440" LastEditDate="2020-11-20T14:32:22.570" LastActivityDate="2020-11-20T17:16:13.947" Title="How to find a wall to play squash or racket ball during quarantine?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;outdoor-games&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25667" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25666" CreationDate="2020-11-20T17:16:13.947" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Such a program certainly could be designed, but there would be liability problems for whoever produced and distributed such a program. It would give users the impression that they have permission to use properties to play squash, while the property owners had not granted that permission.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Probably the best way is to use google or bing maps to find likely properties, then use street view to confirm that they have a suitable wall. Bing Maps has a feature called &amp;quot;birds eye view&amp;quot; which can be useful for seeing things from different angles. And no, it's not AI or automated in any way, unless you program it yourself. I would approach it as though you were going to program such an AI, but then just do the search manually. Start with a list of clearly defined search parameters, such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;publicly accessible properties&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buildings that will be unoccupied during quarantine&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;not next to a residential building (far enough away that residents will not complain about the noise)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;buildings with a high enough wall to play squash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no windows in that section of wall or anywhere close enough to be broken by a stray ball&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;no nearby anything that could be broken or damaged by playing squash&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;free-standing walls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;next to a parking lot or open field rather than a sidewalk or street&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;etc&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once you have your list of parameters, think of what sort of locations might meet those parameters. Look up nearby ones on google maps, then scout out the property from street view. Some possible building types that come to mind:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the back side of a strip mall (the front will have plate glass windows but the back usually has very small windows if any)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;school gymnasium (a private or parochial school is likely to be easier to seek permission from than a public school in a large district)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;commercial gym (again, the back side of the building where there aren't any windows)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;free-standing wall around a parking lot (this is difficult to search for; it will rely on your local knowledge to know what type of property in your area might to have one)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;public park (this is a good option because you may not need to ask permission, unless you're playing against the side of a building in the park)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Decide whether to ask permission in advance, or ask forgiveness afterwards. If you're playing against a free-standing wall, you &lt;em&gt;may&lt;/em&gt; get away without asking permission (although asking permission would still be the safest course). If you're playing against the wall of a building you almost certainly need permission. Many buildings nowadays have security cameras, some of which can be monitored remotely even if the building is unoccupied. And playing squash will make some noise and be rather attention-catching if you are visible from the street or nearby windows. So the odds of &amp;quot;getting away with it&amp;quot; without permission are low. Getting caught could mean just being asked to leave, or it could have more serious consequences such as an encounter with the police, a fine, criminal charges, etc. If you're looking at a commercial property like a strip mall, contact the building manager rather than one of the retailers. For a school try the principal or superintendent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-11-20T17:16:13.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25668" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8235" CreationDate="2020-11-22T06:32:02.560" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;We just took chops on an overnight trip with day time highs of 30 degrees Celcius. The meat was partially frozen for 2 hours before the trip. This was held against a small container of solid ice inside a plastic bag. Both were wrapped in a travel towel for insulation. It worked, the meat was cold on arrival.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20445" LastActivityDate="2020-11-22T06:32:02.560" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25670" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-24T18:29:24.033" Score="3" ViewCount="308" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where is this rock formation? This image is in macOS Big Sur and iOS 14.2 although by the looks of it I don't think it is from Big Sur since it is a coastal region. It is probably from somewhere else maybe Utah or Arizona?&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EA8YV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EA8YV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20455" LastEditorUserId="20455" LastEditDate="2020-11-24T19:17:23.313" LastActivityDate="2020-11-25T19:26:01.657" Title="Where are these rock formations from macOS Big Sur and iOS 14.2?" Tags="&lt;mountain-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25671" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25670" CreationDate="2020-11-24T19:08:14.433" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.imore.com/every-macos-wallpaper-revisited-real-life-and-captured-video&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;imore&lt;/a&gt;, the background images are all related to the name of the OS. So, in your case this image will be somewhere in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Sur&lt;/a&gt;, which is a region in California. To quote &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Big Sur is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As this is quite a big area of land, where exactly in Big Sur it is taken is probably not easy to find, however it isn't impossible, as the people in the imore link above have managed to do it for a number of the OS's.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apparently metadata is sometimes associated with the images, though most likely it has been scrubbed because of the sensitive nature of the environment, so they don't want hordes of people visiting each location with the concomitant problems. You may be able to access the metadata through preview, following the instructions  below from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.macobserver.com/tips/how-to/macos-use-preview-inspector-look-photo-metadata/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;macobserver&lt;/a&gt;, or using a photo editing program such as lightroom or GIMP:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;1. Start by navigating to the image you want in Finder. Right click and select Open With Preview.&#xA;2. Next, click on Tools &amp;gt; Show Inspector in the menubar. You can also press ⌘ + I on your keyboard.&#xA;3. In the next window that pops up, click on the Exif tab. You’ll then see all of the pertinent information about your image.&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edited to add: The images you see for the OS have been heavily edited in professional-grade image processing software, so it is likely that the colours have been enhanced, shadows darkened or brightened, objects removed etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-11-25T19:26:01.657" LastActivityDate="2020-11-25T19:26:01.657" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25672" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-25T20:33:21.720" Score="1" ViewCount="1199" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm wondering how common it is to &lt;strong&gt;see or encounter&lt;/strong&gt; large carnivores like bears and mountain lions &lt;strong&gt;in the lower 48 when hiking in the United States&lt;/strong&gt; (okay, bears are tehnically omnivores, but you get the idea).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's well known that deaths and serious injuries from wild animal attacks in the lower 48 of the U.S. are &lt;em&gt;extremely, extremely&lt;/em&gt; rare.  Fear of animal attacks is probably one of the more irrational phobias that a lot of people have, but it's such an instinctual fear that's hard to shake off just by learning about the statistics. Such fear may be in the genes of homo sapiens. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://slate.com/technology/2012/10/evolution-of-anxiety-humans-were-prey-for-predators-such-as-hyenas-snakes-sharks-kangaroos.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Slate, Technology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes I think that what I am really afraid of is simply the chance of having a nerve wracking encounter with a bear or mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So a question for the highly experienced hikers and outdoorspeople out there: how often do you see or encounter large carnivores out in the wild?  For the sake of discussion let's define &lt;strong&gt;sighting&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;encounter&lt;/strong&gt; as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sighting: saw the animal , but a long distance and/or it ran away quickly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;encounter: animal was clearly aware of your presence and stayed for several seconds or longer, followed you, or displayed apparently aggressive behavior, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course this depends on context, but in the absence of hard data (I doubt there are scientific papers that estimate the probability of encountering a particular animal while going on a hike of length X in a particular place), it's useful to gather a range of anecdotes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To make this question more precise: &lt;strong&gt;please think of this as asking for an &amp;quot;upper bound&amp;quot; on the probability of seeing a bear (etc)&lt;/strong&gt;.  We know that the chance of seeing a bear anywhere outside a zoo is &amp;quot;low&amp;quot;, but how low is low?  How high can &amp;quot;low&amp;quot; be, in &lt;strong&gt;typical&lt;/strong&gt; wilderness areas in the United States?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20457" LastEditorUserId="19115" LastEditDate="2020-12-06T06:31:12.527" LastActivityDate="2020-12-06T06:31:12.527" Title="How frequent are encounters with bears/mountain lions/etc?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;animals&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="18" FavoriteCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25673" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25672" CreationDate="2020-11-25T21:45:45.357" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is highly dependent on a few different factors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where you are hiking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How you behave while you are hiking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you are hiking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done some hiking in the Eastern and Western US, and while I can't recall seeing a bear on the East Coast (although there's the general rule to hang bear bags with smellable items), I've got some anecdotes from a 2 week trip to Wyoming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Factors&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Location&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where you are hiking will definitely affect the frequency of sighting bears and other animals like that.  Some areas have more, some have fewer, and depending on how frequently the animals are exposed to people, they will also act differently and be more or less bold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Your behavior&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my trip to the Tetons, we were generally trying &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; to see bears, so we spent much of that week singing while hiking.  Generally bears (especially when not used to humans) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm#Avoiding&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;will avoid people making noise&lt;/a&gt;, so being louder will tend to make encounters less frequent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Time of year&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bears are most active in September and October, when they're looking to bulk up for the winter, while over the winter you are very unlikely to find one out and about.  If it's during the time of year when salmon go upriver, you're more likely to find a bear at a river.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Anecdotes&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This was a trip with a large-ish group broken into a couple smaller groups.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In a week-long hike in the Grand Tetons, my 6-person group had an &lt;em&gt;encounter&lt;/em&gt; with a juvenile bear (which we later learned was no longer with its mother).  We came around a bend and the bear was a hundred feet down the trail and stared at us, running off after a little.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;We also had a sighting of a &lt;strong&gt;big&lt;/strong&gt; bear in Yellowstone, off in the distance in a field.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One of the other smaller groups had a definite encounter the previous night at the same location in Yellowstone with what we think was a different bear, which had wandered into their campsite and they actually scared it into a tree, before it eventually ran off.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, in that 2-week period, 2 groups of 6 people had at least 2 encounters and 1 sighting between the lot of them.  On the other hand, I've done a lot of hiking elsewhere, and had basically no encounters or sightings at all.  In fact, I've heard more news stories of bears coming at dumpsters in my town than I've seen bears while hiking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still, taking precautions is always good, and avoiding encounters in the first place is the easiest way to stay safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2020-11-25T21:45:45.357" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25674" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25672" CreationDate="2020-11-25T22:24:00.680" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In more than forty years of hiking several times a year in the Sierra in Yosemite and in the vicinity of Yosemite, we have encountered black bears ten or fifteen times.  None of them displayed agressive behavior, even the two times when we encountered a mother with cubs although both those times she unmistakeably warned us.  We froze and the bear and cubs retreated.  The mothers were at least as worried about us as we were about them.  One mother-cub encounter was outside a lodge in the outskirts of Mammoth.  The other was in deep snow near Cathedral Lake after we mistakenly decided that &amp;quot;no bear in his right mind&amp;quot; would be abroad. Hah!  &lt;strong&gt;She&lt;/strong&gt; was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cubless encounters included (a) our overtaking a bear on a narrow trail; we stopped, the bear tried to hide from us, could not hide, so he found a way off the trail and (b) a bear sniffing the length of my sleeping bag when I was in it to see if there was anything edible in it.  The bear certified me as inedible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although we have never come close to a tooth or a claw, we have always behaved with the utmost respect when encountering a bear.  In the early years, we always bear-bagged, but this doesn't always work with a bear of vast experience.  When bear canisters came into use, we used them, and several times were wakened by a bear trying to open them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I can't say anything about mountain lions or much about Colorado bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-11-25T22:24:00.680" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25675" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25672" CreationDate="2020-11-26T05:22:08.380" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I live on an inholding in the Santa Fe National Forest, eight miles by road to the boundary (and nearest neighbor), 4-5 miles as the crow flies to the closest boundary point. Most of the area is above 7000' elevation and is steeply sloped ponderosa forest. In 15 years we have &lt;em&gt;never&lt;/em&gt; seen a mountain lion. We've seen some tracks in the snow, but never the cat itself. We've encountered bears four or five times, seen tracks more often than that. There is plenty of game for predators to eat - this is prime elk and deer territory and we routinely see mature (12 point or larger) elk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the locals who works for the oil company drives the forest roads all day, every day for work. He grew up here and has hiked and hunted this area for close to 40 years. He's never seen a mountain lion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are mountain lions here - they are hunted with dogs. We've seen the occasional kill in the back of a pickup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20461" LastActivityDate="2020-11-26T05:22:08.380" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25676" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25672" CreationDate="2020-11-26T15:18:26.750" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Eastern US, Virginia: We have small black bears. The bears are there and they aren't very stealthy, but they also prefer to keep their distance from people. On the trail they will definitely walk away before you spot them if they hear you coming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only exception is: Bears and pets don't get along. Usually the only time the bear doesn't just walk away from humans is when there's a dog involved and the dog is threatening the bear. I've heard about off-leash dogs who ran off the trail after a bear that they smelled, when probably the humans wouldn't have even seen the bear otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bear sightings are also usually reported a couple of times a year in suburban areas here. The bears don't really like the crowded areas and are just passing through trying to get elsewhere but either a) the person who spots them is in a house and the bear doesn't realize that the person is there, b) the bear is trying to cross a highway, or c) there are just so many people that even when the bear runs away, there are just more people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In contrast, we have lots of coyotes who even live full time in the suburbs but coyotes are very stealthy--relative to the number we have, coyotes are almost never seen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastActivityDate="2020-11-26T15:18:26.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25677" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25672" CreationDate="2020-11-26T16:39:51.837" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Black bears are widely present in many suburban areas of the Northeast US.   Not just out in the few areas with no human presence, but in neighborhoods, people's yards, crossing main streets, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's not to say that a given person will see one often unless they happen to live in a specific spot a bear prefers, but out of six days riding rail trails into wooded parts of Connecticut that are heavily populated and crisscrossed by busy roads, I've seen two.  One juvenile quickly hid in the jumbled rocks and brambles of a hillside.  Another much larger was unconcernedly wandering down the trail for a substantial period of time until vanishing into a wooded area alongside a river, perhaps encouraged by a combination of noise from people and a small leaf-blowing maintenance tractor.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smaller wildcats such as the Bobcat (Lynx rufus) are well documented in the same area from trail cameras, videos, etc.  Occasionally there are claims of sightings of a larger, longer tail &amp;quot;Mountain Lion&amp;quot; / &amp;quot;Cougar&amp;quot; (Puma concolor) however these are mostly dismissed by authorities and biologists as mistaken.  A key confirmed exception was a mountain lion killed by a car in CT in 2011, which was believed to have uniquely wandered from the area of South Dakota over several years.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although I've never personally seen one, a form of large coyote thought to include some wolf heritage is now omnipresent in the Northeast US, largely filling an ecological niche left by the longstanding lack of full-size wolves and cats hunted to extinction in historical times.  As an area historically clearcut for farming grows back many small pockets of woods in and around a human presence characterized by homes often with some trees in between, it has developed an excessive population of white tailed deer, giving a role for some predator to fill - and the coyote is the one most comfortable living in proximity to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13681" LastEditorUserId="13681" LastEditDate="2020-11-26T16:49:37.357" LastActivityDate="2020-11-26T16:49:37.357" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25678" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1618" CreationDate="2020-11-27T10:28:25.747" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclosure&lt;/strong&gt;: I founded Big Blue Adventures&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's some epic canyoning activities or day tours / weekends for groups based around &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.explorebigblue.com/canyoning-wales/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;canyoning in Wales&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.explorebigblue.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Big Blue Adventures&lt;/a&gt;. Gorge walking is the technical canyoning in south Wales with the Afon Mellte being the best option. North Wales in Snowdonia uses rope work for more traditional canyoning. New course being added for 2021 in the north!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20466" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-12-04T09:24:41.497" LastActivityDate="2020-12-04T09:24:41.497" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25679" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25717" CreationDate="2020-11-28T14:52:48.017" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm a new deer hunter in NY who's getting started with crossbow hunting. A neighbor voluntarily left his ladder tree stand on our property for me to use, and I'm wondering what the best safety harness system to use with the tree stand is. I plan to use a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/hunter-safety-system-treestand-lifeline?ds_e=MICROSOFT&amp;amp;ds_c=Shop%7CBr%7CHunting%7CMed%7CGeneral&amp;amp;msclkid=4a7ffbb33ec71b7ef9cba471614cf814&amp;amp;gclid=4a7ffbb33ec71b7ef9cba471614cf814&amp;amp;gclsrc=3p.ds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lifeline&lt;/a&gt; paired with either a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/hunter-safety-systems-shadow-safety-harness&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;full body harness&lt;/a&gt; or a &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B074FYG7RM&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;climber's harness&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was about to buy the full body harness for treestand safety but I heard that a climbing harness may be better for a few reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Less risk of suspension trauma (supposedly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;More upper body flexibility if you fall from a tree stand, making it easier to climb back up and regain your position&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Generally cheaper&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easier to get into and out of&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Safety is my main concern. Affordability is my second, since who knows whether I'll really enjoy the experience of hunting in the long run. Any suggestions appreciated, and recommendations for a particular brand or model of harness to buy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: The type of tree stand I'm referring to looks like this.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XMeuD.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XMeuD.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19808" LastEditorUserId="19808" LastEditDate="2020-11-29T16:41:23.340" LastActivityDate="2020-12-11T13:21:09.553" Title="For ladder stand safety, which is better: a hunter safety harness or a climber's harness?" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;bow-hunting&gt;&lt;harness&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25680" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25682" CreationDate="2020-11-28T17:23:06.043" Score="16" ViewCount="4534" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you pull up a river on Google maps it's not clear what's downstream from what.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like the Colorado River...  Hoover Dam is downstream of the Grand Canyon, which is downstream of Lee's Ferry, which is downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. I know this about the Colorado River not from Google Maps but from wikipedia articles talking about it. But not all rivers or streams or whatever have the number of landmarks with wikipedia articles that the Colorado River does. And even if they did, having to do bespoke research on each river is kinda a PITA.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a way to easily know which direction is downstream or upstream for a given river or stream or whatever?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-12-02T17:42:58.110" LastActivityDate="2020-12-02T17:42:58.110" Title="Figuring out from a map which direction is downstream for a river?" Tags="&lt;rivers&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25681" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25680" CreationDate="2020-11-28T18:00:41.693" Score="13" Body="&lt;p&gt;Look up a topographic map (&amp;quot;topo&amp;quot;), such as the USGS maps, which are free online. These maps show elevations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a quick and dirty expedient, you can also just try zooming out and seeing which end of the river drains to the ocean, or which end is up high in mountains or hills. I can imagine that this might not always work, e.g., if the river flows underground in some places, or dies out, or has loops and branches that connect in complicated ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-11-28T18:06:13.363" LastActivityDate="2020-11-28T18:06:13.363" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25682" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25680" CreationDate="2020-11-28T18:41:04.027" Score="42" Body="&lt;p&gt;USGS has a web map called &lt;a href=&quot;https://txpub.usgs.gov/DSS/streamer/web/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Streamer&lt;/a&gt; that will let you trace a stream or river in the US. If you click on a point on a river, it will highlight every part of the river that's downstream of that point. Or you can choose the &amp;quot;trace upstream&amp;quot; option and it will highlight everything upstream of that point. For example, here's everything upstream of Hoover Dam:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZyUvJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZyUvJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Aside from a map such as that one, there are some visual clues you can look for on a normal map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dams and Reservoirs&lt;/strong&gt; - if there's a dam, there's usually a reservoir upstream of the dam. So if your map shows a dam and reservoir, you immediately know which way is upstream on that river. Even if the dams aren't marked on the map, sometimes you can tell where they are by the shape of the reservoir edge. In a graphic map, a dam creates an unnaturally straight line with a wide stretch water along one side of it and a narrow strip of water plus bare land on the other side. Of course in satellite view you can see the physical structure of the dam itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7RMQP.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7RMQP.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately you may not be able to tell from the shape of the reservoir which end is the outlet and which end(s) is/are the inlet(s). For example, Lake Mead, the reservoir above the Hoover dam, looks like it has a dam on each of its three corners. You would have to zoom in on each corner to see if there's a dam there or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/InGiz.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/InGiz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Confluences&lt;/strong&gt; - a confluence is the point where two or more streams flow together. Streams &lt;em&gt;usually&lt;/em&gt; flow together at an acute angle. If you draw the acute angle on the map, it makes an arrow that points downstream. This is not 100% reliable, but it's helpful nonetheless.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pwRQG.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pwRQG.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The &amp;quot;Rule of Vs&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; - on a contour map, contour lines that cross a river will bend into a V shape, with the V pointing upstream (the opposite of confluence angles).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7NeFt.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7NeFt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/linksa/v_rule2.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Image Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Find one end of the river&lt;/strong&gt; - trace the river until it either flows into a lake or sea, or until it peters out. When it gets too narrow to see on the map, that's (approximately) where the headwaters are. In the case of major rivers like the Colorado, you have to trace the river for quite a long way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-11-28T18:41:04.027" CommentCount="13" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25683" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25685" CreationDate="2020-11-29T09:27:52.683" Score="17" ViewCount="6325" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am a 38-year old that loves hiking as a hobby. I usually do 10-20km hikes with up to 2km altitude change. This year I started tours with a new crew and two people talked to me independently that my walking regime is unusual if not straightforward harmful. Basically, I feel the best if I'm warm and sweating. That means, I'll be more clothed and will drink more water than the most; but I'm not extreme - maybe one layer of clothes more than the next hiker. If anyone has its jacket zipped, it will be me. And a hat or hoodie - always. On a last hike (18km, 1km+,18°) hike, I drank cca 4.5 liters of water, with my urination somewhat less than usual. But these guys warned me about potential, but unspecified kidney (water) and heart (heat) problems. The probable reason for my routine is that I hate being cold or even cooled. The whole water thing is kinda necessary consequence of being warm.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, do these guys have a point and should I push to adapt to lower temperature?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20467" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-12-01T19:48:02.047" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T19:48:02.047" Title="When hiking, is it harmful that I wear more layers of clothes and drink more water?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25684" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25680" CreationDate="2020-11-29T10:59:04.777" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is often to not use Google maps, and this is no exception.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want an online source, Openstreetmap.org can help - the cycling layer shows contours so you can use the methods in another answer, but if you're at a PC and select &amp;quot;Edit&amp;quot; the default editor shows arrows pointing downstream.  As &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25686/2529&quot;&gt;cbeleites unhappy with SX&lt;/a&gt; says in another answer, there are better ways to see this data.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This information is available to apps that use OSM data, but the only such app I've got doesn't show the direction of flow (unnecessary on a bike computer, and I could always refer to contours)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-11-29T18:27:57.077" LastActivityDate="2020-11-29T18:27:57.077" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25685" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25683" CreationDate="2020-11-29T13:39:46.763" Score="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of concerns to worry about, though neither is quite what your friends are saying:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First is electrolytes - depending on how much/what you eat you might end up short.  Electrolyte tablets to add to some of your water might be a good idea.  I'm the opposite to you and don't like to be too hot, but I use them in the summer; I've been known to drink (and mostly sweat out) 9 litres in a day cycling in the mountains.  This is more likely to be an issue if you're going hiking on consecutive days, but one tablet in every other bottle will provide a bit of a top-up. The most important here is sodium (Na), i.e. common salt.  If you like salty foods while hiking, they'll go a long way to meeting your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second - cooling off.  If you feel the cold that much, you probably carry an extra layer, and that's a good idea.  If you have an unplanned or longer-than-planned stop, sweaty clothes cool you down quickly (even with a windproof outer layer, though that helps).  If an accident, navigational mishap, or other delay keeps you out as the temperature drops at the end of the day, that can get serious - so carry a bit of spare clothing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most people would try to minimise the amount of sweat in their clothes by adjusting their layers.  You have more reason than some of us to choose good base and mid layers that have decent insulation while damp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To try to get to the bottom of where your friends are coming from, I assumed they were worried about you getting seriously dehydrated.  It doesn't sound like you are - you're just doing extra work carrying more water.  I might carry a similar weight in camera gear on a wildlife hike - the extra weight is your choice, no big deal.  Dehydration does increase blood viscosity, and thicker blood is a risk for heart attacks.  A lot has been written, not all trustworthy, so &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723555/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;'s a link to a scientific paper on the subject. Similarly the kidneys are affected by dehydration, particularly chronic dehydration - &lt;a href=&quot;https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/73/suppl_2/110/1931154&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;another paper&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again though, unless your risk is already elevated, and you're getting dehydrated, these aren't significant - I don't know (or want to know) if you're at high risk, and it doesn't sound like you're getting badly dehydrated.  If this was a significant risk in general, people would be dropping like flies on every mountain in the summer, and we'd hear about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-11-30T12:37:46.573" LastActivityDate="2020-11-30T12:37:46.573" CommentCount="16" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25686" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25680" CreationDate="2020-11-29T16:46:31.290" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;In addition mostly to @csk's answer, there are maps that give the direction of rivers, e.g. OpenTopomap&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rCotK.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rCotK.png&quot; alt=&quot;Colorado with direction arrow&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For most parts of the world, this information is redundant at the first glance since you can see the overall (larger) shape of the valleys in the map and follow the valley until it is clear whether you go upriver or downriver, but there are some interesting exceptions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eMZUM.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/eMZUM.png&quot; alt=&quot;Rak/Slovenija&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;(&lt;a href=&quot;https://opentopomap.org/#map=16/45.79082/14.29744&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://opentopomap.org/#map=16/45.79082/14.29744&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, the side creeks point into the correct direction (but not very distinctly). But the elevation lines are ambiguous (I guess the elevation model used to calculate elevation lines is not sufficiently detailed here): elevation close to the caves suggestes that the river flows out of the caves at &lt;em&gt;both&lt;/em&gt; ends. I've been there and can confirm that as the arrows say, it flows east to west, though. From one cave into the next (sinkhole).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-11-29T16:46:31.290" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25687" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25680" CreationDate="2020-11-29T21:21:18.713" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As other answers have said, you need a map which shows contour lines. From seeing which end of the river is higher, you can work out which way it's flowing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google Maps does do this, but it's not very user friendly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, turn on &amp;quot;Terrain&amp;quot; from the &amp;quot;layers&amp;quot;. This will show you a shaded map giving a rough clue to the shape of the landscape. This may be good enough, but it's not quite what you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zoom in gradually. At some level of zoom, the map changes from just showing shading to also showing contour lines. Zoom in slowly, and the numbers showing height in metres will become visible. You can now work out your river direction as normal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Zoom in a little too far though, and the contour lines are removed. Like I said, not very user friendly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2020-11-29T21:21:18.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25688" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25683" CreationDate="2020-11-29T23:44:13.100" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your co-hikers probably read or heard something somewhere about hyponatremia, without remembering the term or the concept.  Four and a half liters is a lot so it might be a valid concern.  Hydration is NOT a contest.  Thirsty trumps dead every trip of the train.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20468" LastActivityDate="2020-11-29T23:44:13.100" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25689" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25683" CreationDate="2020-11-30T05:19:48.783" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The drinking isn't at a level I would regard as dangerous, but the overdressing is another matter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Suppose you were injured--it need not be serious, just something that stops or greatly slows you.  You're going to get quite cold, depending on the weather you could be in hypothermia territory.  Sweating is ok if you can keep it up, it can go very badly if you can't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2020-11-30T05:19:48.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25690" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-11-30T07:30:05.060" Score="0" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;Reading &amp;quot;Outdoors: the Scandinavian way, winter edition&amp;quot; by Lars Falt, he mentions that ideally one should wear an expedition bib that can be removed without having to take off one's skis. The activity I have in mind is hut-to-hut cross country skiing with a minimal pack on my back and no pulk in Scandinavia. On the one hand I feel I should abide by the advise of the experts on the other hand I can see plenty of examples of people who use regular ski pants, such as Erik Normark, in northern Sweden: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2tzyWvHMI&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2tzyWvHMI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What are the trade-offs and why should one get a salopette/bib that can be removed without removing one's skis. Is it about ventilation, or getting changed with ease in deep snow?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17520" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T21:22:41.817" Title="Is it necessary to wear a bib/salopette and/or ski pants that can be removed without removing the skis when Nordic skiing" Tags="&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;sweden&gt;&lt;norway&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25692" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25694" CreationDate="2020-11-30T19:25:45.537" Score="3" ViewCount="135" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently unpacked a tent and discovered a dead scorpion.  It apparently was folded into the tent on the previous hiking trip in Arizona.  I always shake the tent to rid it of dirt prior to folding it &amp;amp; putting it in the sack.  Apparently that does not always rid the tent of bugs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am thinking that from now on to put my tent through the dryer after returning from a hike to kill off any unknown stowaways of the insect variety.   I am wondering though, would the average home dryer get hot enough to kill bugs without ruining the tent?  Or is there a better method to rid your tent of insects?  I would prefer not to spray it with Raid, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20475" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T08:23:11.553" Title="Rid your tent of insect stowaways" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25693" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25683" CreationDate="2020-11-30T23:26:54.817" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're doing extremely physically challenging hikes, and whatever you're doing seems to be working for you. Ignore your friends and do what you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The only problem with bringing 4.5 liters of water is that it's a huge amount of weight. But if you feel thirsty for that much water, and it makes you happy, then presumably you've just consciously chosen to carry all that weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Drinking too much or too little water is not normally a big problem. There is a very wide range that's OK. There is a myth that &amp;quot;thirst is too late,&amp;quot; or that you have to drink some huge amount of water every day in order to avoid becoming &amp;quot;dehydrated.&amp;quot; This is nonsense. You will feel extremely thirsty long before you get anywhere near medical dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You're posting this on Nov. 30, which is northern hemisphere winter, and you describe wearing lots of layers because you don't want to get too cold. Furthermore, you're going up to high elevations in the mountains. So evidently you're in cold conditions, and this further reduces the danger of dehydration. I'll often do a long day hike in winter and only drink 500 ml of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's true that drinking very large amounts of water in a short time can cause hyponatremia, which can be deadly and comes on without any sensation to give your brain a recognizable danger sign. The amount you're drinking, spread out over a long and strenuous day of hiking, is nowhere near that level.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-11-30T23:26:54.817" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25694" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25692" CreationDate="2020-12-01T04:02:07.030" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would be worried that high enough heat to kill an insect might damage the tent too - not to mention that with the bulk of material and the impermeable nature of it, you are likely making it a fire risk with heat build-up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would instead do the opposite - put your tent in the freezer! &lt;a href=&quot;https://museumpests.net/solutions-low-temperature-treatment/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Freezing is quite effective at killing many insect pests&lt;/a&gt;. Ideally you need a freezer between -30 C (-22 F) and -40 C (-40 F), which most household chest freezers are capable of doing if you turn them right down, but -20 C (-4 F), the most common household freezer temperature is also effective. At -20 C (-4 F) you would to leave the tent in the freezer for at least 1 week (see page 2 &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cci-icc/documents/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/3-3-eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.10&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; (warning PDF), and fig 1 in same source).  Longer times will be more effective, but the 1 week at -20 C (-4 F) seems to be a good compromise between time and temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-12-01T08:23:11.553" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T08:23:11.553" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25695" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25690" CreationDate="2020-12-01T15:05:31.947" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a skier, but it could have something to do with being able to go to the toilet with your skis (or at least your boots) on. This is more likely in the wilderness than in well-travelled areas. Strictly speaking that would only require some degree of opening, rather than removal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T15:05:31.947" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25696" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-01T20:27:43.100" Score="4" ViewCount="112" Body="&lt;p&gt;People on this site frequently ask about how much water they should drink while doing strenuous outdoor activities such as hiking and running. How broad is the safety range for water consumption in order to avoid both dehydration and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;hyponatremia&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:59:50.400" Title="How broad is the safety range for water consumption in order to avoid both dehydration and hyponatremia?" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25697" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25696" CreationDate="2020-12-01T20:27:43.100" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The range of safety is extremely wide. It's not dangerous to get thirsty, nor do you increase your risk of heat stroke by drinking less water. Drinking very large amounts of water causes a danger of hyponatremia, but only if you distrust your body's sensations and force yourself to drink vast amounts of water because someone told you that was a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A lot of the science on this topic was done by a South African researcher and runner named Tim Noakes. In the 1970's, he pushed to convince long-distance runners to stop ignoring signs of thirst and to drink during races when they felt thirsty (which had been against the rules in marathons). As an overreaction set in, he then tried to convince people not to overdo it, which can lead to hyponatremia.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The evidence from marathon races is that drinking less water does not increase post-race body temperatures, so it probably doesn't increase your risk of heat stroke (Noakes et al., &amp;quot;The danger of an inadequate water intake during prolonged exercise,&amp;quot; European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology 57 (1988) 210). It is not true, as often claimed in folk wisdom, that &amp;quot;thirst is too late,&amp;quot; so that by the time you feel thirsty you're already &amp;quot;dehydrated.&amp;quot; Actually, you will feel extremely thirsty long before you become dehydrated according to any medical definition. It's true that heat stroke is insidious and potentially fatal, but drinking more water doesn't prevent it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the other end of the spectrum, there is a great deal of evidence that drinking too much water can lead to hyponatremia, which is potentially fatal. However, the amount of water you have to drink to kill yourself this way is an incredible amount. In one of the best documented cases, a military recruit was told by his drill instructors to drink a huge amount of water because of very hot temperatures (Garigan, T. P., &amp;amp; Ristedt, D. E. (1999). Death from Hyponatremia as a Result of Acute Water Intoxication in an Army Basic Trainee. Military Medicine, 164(3), 234–238. doi:10.1093/milmed/164.3.234  ). But this unfortunate person drank something like 20 liters of water over the course of one morning. Although people do not have a built-in mental ability to recognize hyponatremia, as they do with dehydration, he had severe symptoms indicating a medical problem: &amp;quot;He appeared pale, complained of severe thirst[!], and drank three more quarts. Then&#xA;he vomited for the first time. [Later,] the soldier complained of dizziness, &amp;quot;throbbing&amp;quot; headache, and nausea.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary, the medical evidence seems to be that it's virtually impossible to kill yourself by drinking too little or too much water during a day of physical activity. However, low-level hyponatremia, which is not life-threatening, is quite common among endurance athletes (Almond et al., Hyponatremia among Runners in the Boston Marathon, 2005, NEJM, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa043901 ). Among marathon runners, the condition was found to be especially common among less experienced runners who drank more than 3 liters of water and tried to load themselves up with fluids.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-12-01T20:56:28.800" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T20:56:28.800" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25698" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25690" CreationDate="2020-12-01T21:22:41.817" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I do not have any experience cross country skiing but ski touring should be sufficiently similar, at least the uphill part.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is always this conflict in clothing that one wants something warm while standing still or not moving much while at the same time this is way too warm and sweaty as soon as one starts moving, especially uphill. Taking off a layer before starting is a usual measure against this problem, however with pants this can be difficult as regular pants require to take off your boots before removing the pants. This is unacceptable if there is only snow around. I once carried a long underpant up the mountain and down again because I did not find a way to put it on without getting wet feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Therefore many ski touring pants have ventilation zippers or even full zippers at the sides that allow to change pants without removing skis. Biggest drawbacks of these zippers are probably that they do not insulate as well against the cold when closed. Keeping zippers waterproof can also be a problem&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-12-01T21:22:41.817" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25702" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25705" CreationDate="2020-12-05T14:23:51.403" Score="11" ViewCount="3652" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I hang my water bag to heat water in the sun for family bathing, I do so by tying a weight to the end of the rope and throwing it over a tree limb.  Then I lower the weight, tie the water bag to the rope, then pull the bag up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This potentially scars the tree limb due to rope friction, even if you use a soft rope.   I have been trying to figure out a way to do this so that I do not cause rope friction on the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I have tried is tossing the weight a 2nd time, then trying to create a pulley-like set-up so that the rope takes the friction.  What happens is that I just end up strangling the tree limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can someone suggest a knot that would work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I should note that I need the bag over my head, so I have to select tree limbs taller than me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20475" LastEditorUserId="14897" LastEditDate="2020-12-06T21:58:01.513" LastActivityDate="2020-12-08T07:05:14.033" Title="Hanging water bags for bathing without tree damage" Tags="&lt;knots&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="7" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25703" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22261" CreationDate="2020-12-05T16:19:06.140" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two issues here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(1) You're extending your belay device more than necessary. It's hard to tell because of the perspective of the photo, but it looks like you're extending it by about 40 cm. The only reason for extending it is that you want to make sure that your autoblock can't get jammed into your belay device. That doesn't required that much extension.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(2) You're rappelling off of an anchor set up using a long cordelette. The only reason we normally put a long extension on this type of anchor is if the anchor is above the lip, and we want to toprope on it. The setup you would use for toproping is then not the same as the one you should use for rappelling. The toproping setup includes a lot of gear that you don't want to leave behind, and has to be extended over the edge so the rope can travel freely. The rappelling setup, in a real situation where you need to rappel, doesn't include any gear that would be left behind, and is much shorter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The anchor in your photo doesn't have any chains or rap rings, so it's not intended for this purpose. Don't use it for rappel practice. If you had an anchor positioned like this, below the edge of a cliff, and it did have chains and rap rings, normally you'd lead the route, and when you got to the top, you'd hang yourself off of the chains, then convert to a rappel setup. You would not get up above the anchor and then set up for the rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's very common that starting a rappel from above the lip of a cliff is awkward. Normally there is not four feet of slack, so the issue is just how to stay stable while getting your weight onto the rope. I usually sit on the edge and then scoot my butt off. Putting your left hand on the rope above the belay device can help to keep you more stable while you do this awkward maneuver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2020-12-05T16:26:43.967" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T16:26:43.967" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25704" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-05T16:44:37.570" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Instead of using the branch as a pulley, lift the bag into position with one hand while  pulling the slack out of the rope with the other. If the bag is too heavy to lift over your head with one hand, have a second person pull the rope while you lift the bag with both hands. This will greatly reduce the friction on the tree limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T16:44:37.570" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25705" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-05T18:10:35.617" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Make a figure-8-on-a-bight knot on the center of your rope; clip a carabiner into the knot. Clip the center of a second rope into the carabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Toss your first rope over the tree branch using the original method. Use the second rope to raise the bag, using the carabiner as a pulley.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To reduce friction, you can add a real pulley to the carabiner if you have one. Or, if you don't have a carabiner and don't mind extra work, you can use the rope as a pulley (but the friction might wear the rope out pretty quickly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A disadvantage of this system is that it's complicated — it requires two ropes (or one sufficiently long rope). Also, you must anchor 3 ends, instead of just one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T18:10:35.617" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25706" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-05T19:14:02.300" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;Using anatolyg's idea of the carabiner, I think this will work.   Thank you Anatolyg!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/970Xk.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/970Xk.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20475" LastActivityDate="2020-12-05T19:14:02.300" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25708" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-06T17:28:29.143" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have enough rope and sufficient weight, after getting the rope over the limb you should be able to give the rope a series of small &amp;quot;flips&amp;quot;, each of which will momentarily lift it off the limb and allow the weight to pull more rope over the limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This does require you to carry a bit more rope than might be absolutely necessary, but should minimize damage to the bark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20491" LastActivityDate="2020-12-06T17:28:29.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25709" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-07T13:56:28.363" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you're overthinking this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This potentially scars the tree limb due to rope friction&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Except that it doesn't, at least not easily.  It can certainly scrape away surface moss and lichen, but this does no damage to the tree limb.  And on a tree where there is substantial rot or insect damage under the bark, there is a chance that this could take off a section of already-dead bark - but again, this is already gone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're staying in one place for the entire summer, you might want to arrange something more sturdy.  In this case though your reasons will likely be more to do with damage to the rope, not the tree.  For a shorter camping holiday, you would literally have to be using a rope saw to hang up your water bag in order to do any noticeable damage to the tree limb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2020-12-07T13:56:28.363" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25710" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15998" CreationDate="2020-12-07T14:45:08.313" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A few points&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some signal mirrors have a hole in the middle without the retroreflective grid, you want the one with the retroreflective grid for the best accuracy.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Your best bet when signaling to airplanes is to signal at &amp;quot;search &amp;amp; rescue&amp;quot; aircraft as they are looking for you, it is possible (not probable) to get the attention of a light aircraft, signaling to commercial aircraft is useless for the most part.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To signal at more extreme angles with the sun behind you...lay on the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20499" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2020-12-07T14:56:55.620" LastActivityDate="2020-12-07T14:56:55.620" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25711" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-07T22:23:51.257" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Arborists have this problem. The solution is a &amp;quot;friction saver&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;cambium saver&amp;quot;. It consists of two rings, one large and one small, at the end of a length of webbing or rope. Here are some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wesspur.com/friction-savers/friction-saver.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;examples from wesspur.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3HRPt.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3HRPt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For light duty you could easily make a similar device yourself with two differently sized rings and a piece of rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Installed, it &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;amp;v=5wxPI4Okqk4&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;looks like this&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AylNZ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AylNZ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But how do you get the thing up there without climbing the tree first? Less obvious is that the rings are of two sizes to allow this device to be installed and retrieved from the ground with a throwline. I won't try to describe it all with words, since there are many &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/sKEfLm066-4?t=42&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;videos describing the process&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Advantages of this approach:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;only one point to anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;very little wear to the tree or the rope, since only the throwline needs to be pulled over&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the hauling rope slides only through the rings, which reduces friction and extends the life of the rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;as the tree sways in the wind, the anchored rope slides through the rings rather than sawing through the branch and your rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9097" LastEditorUserId="9097" LastEditDate="2020-12-07T23:37:51.067" LastActivityDate="2020-12-07T23:37:51.067" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25712" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-08T02:04:25.083" Score="5" ViewCount="355" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bwk4M.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bwk4M.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;REI pouch with carrying handles&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know what this is? Somebody gave me this with their old pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20501" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-02-07T10:59:40.567" LastActivityDate="2021-02-10T16:30:23.457" Title="What is this closed bag with a valve for?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25714" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25702" CreationDate="2020-12-08T07:05:14.033" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;A variation on others' answers (which I have not tried, but speculate should work) - if you don't have a carabiner or arborist's tools or whatever, you could make do with just the rope itself.  Tie the end of the rope around the tree limb - use a square knot or other non-slipping knot to leave slack in the resulting loop.  Pull the long end through the loop, so the rope itself can act as a pulley.  If you want to be able to throw the rope over the branch because it's too high to reach, you could make the loop in the middle of the rope, set up the pulley configuration beforehand, then throw the other end over the branch and pull it down until it's in the spot you want it, anchor it, then use the pulley configuration to lift the water bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: the friction may damage your rope, in this configuration.  I don't know how quickly.  Going slowly and taking breaks for the rope to cool would would likely reduce damage, but I still don't know how many cycles the rope will last.  (I'd hope more than one, at least, haha.)  Still, if you find yourself in the woods with no other option, might be a trick to have up your sleeve.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20503" LastActivityDate="2020-12-08T07:05:14.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25716" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2020-12-10T20:06:12.563" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I added a bit of velcro to my shoulder straps with hot glue and it's worked perfectly.  Get velcro at any fabric or craft store.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are for my shoulder straps, which often slipped when I took big steps down on a descent.  I added a small (1.5&amp;quot;) piece of the &amp;quot;hooks&amp;quot; velcro to the end of the strap and then several inches of &amp;quot;loops&amp;quot; velcro to the same strap back near where it connects to the pack.  Then I can get my straps adjusted, and secure the end so it won't slip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I bought black velcro so it would blend into the straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yo1sm.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yo1sm.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Straps with velcro added&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20514" LastEditorUserId="20514" LastEditDate="2020-12-12T16:48:06.193" LastActivityDate="2020-12-12T16:48:06.193" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25717" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25679" CreationDate="2020-12-10T21:35:21.813" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;most (full body) safety harnesses provide attachments (loops if you will) that if you were to fall you would be able to take the weight off your legs by stepping into them. I typically attach them and wrap them in a rubber band so they're not dragging behind when walking to stand.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;There are several companies who build these harnesses. I prefer Hunter Safety Systems as they are very easy to put on and take off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for climber harnesses, I don't think they will work for what you're looking for.  Those systems are really only used for hanging a stand vs. sitting in them.  It allows you to stay away from the tree but the way they are used, you'd actually be facing the tree.  In the case of hunting, you'd be sitting down and facing away from the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hope this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20515" LastActivityDate="2020-12-10T21:35:21.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25718" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25679" CreationDate="2020-12-11T13:21:09.553" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a reason that workplace safety regulations forbid use of a body-belt or climbing harness for arresting a fall. If safety is &lt;strong&gt;truly&lt;/strong&gt; your main concern, you would use neither of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Instead you would use a certified &lt;em&gt;fall arrest system&lt;/em&gt; comprised of a full body harness and shock-absorbing lanyard (along with an appropriate anchor point, of course). These are designed to minimize shock-load on the body and prevent you from falling out if it flips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing harnesses are for &lt;em&gt;positioning systems&lt;/em&gt; where you can work from a rope but there is no potential to free-fall.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, hunting on your own time is not subject to workplace safety regulations and a reasonable compromise between safety, complexity, and cost is understandable. If it were me I would use the full-body option and buy suspension-trauma prevention straps. And pay lot's of attention to your anchor point, a falling human body can develop a lot of force.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2020-12-11T13:21:09.553" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25719" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2020-12-11T15:34:58.823" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Double-back your buckles as on a climbing harness?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can weave the strap around the bars in the buckle differently, you can change the level of friction at the expense of convenience. Here's a common 4-bar buckle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z26hE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/z26hE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can add some friction by tucking the loose end upwards under the top bar (double-back):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qz3v.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6qz3v.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or you could rethread it a couple ways (These are also good if a bar breaks):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0WzsT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0WzsT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FJEEL.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/FJEEL.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also add friction on a simpler buckle strap by adding hardware to make it work like a double D-ring strap:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AFcm7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/AFcm7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's a tradeoff between reduced friction for easy adjustability, and increased friction for security at the expense of adjustability.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16418" LastActivityDate="2020-12-11T15:34:58.823" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25720" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="21776" CreationDate="2020-12-13T08:43:23.697" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Canadian Specific answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in Canada, certain &amp;quot;guides&amp;quot; are governed by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.acmg.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ACMG&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&amp;quot;. In Canada anyone being payed to guide high risk activities including Rock climbing, skiing and alpine and mounting climbing are expected to be accredited  by the ACMG. The courses are incredibly competitive and require years of intensive training [think same amount of time, work and training as becoming a Doctor for a full mountain guide].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally any moving water guiding/instructing will requre have a mid level Swiftwater rescue cert. Any outdoor professional should have an appropriate First Aid Corse, Ie. if you are instructing at a picnic shelter Standard first aid will do fine, doing a multy day mountain traverse? 80 hour wilderness course or better. For paddling look up &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.paddlecanada.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paddle Canada&lt;/a&gt;. Winter travel anywhere there's mountains or hills you will require &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.avalancheassociation.ca/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;avalanche training&lt;/a&gt; [AST 1 equivalent or better depending on what you are doing].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First Aid instructing must be based on a Doctors approved training plan, big organizations like the Canadian Red Cross have boards of instructors Lawyer's and doctors who build the courses based on nationally recognized standards [ie, standard/basic wilderness/first responder. etc..] , smaller ones like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wildmed.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wilderness Medical Associates&lt;/a&gt; build there own standards based on there own instructors experiences, backed by a doctors approval [and there license].&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hunting Corse instructors, and Payed Hunting guides are governed by your Provencal organization that handles hunting licenses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may be, with sufficient personal experience, do guide &amp;quot;something&amp;quot; with no formal training, but if you or your client/student screws up bad enough you may face civil and possibly criminals charges&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In Canada the test of whether you are qualified to guide and instruct these things comes when, after having a client die, you can get real professionals to stand up in court and say you did what they would have done. If they say you screwed it up badly enough you will go to jail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17503" LastActivityDate="2020-12-13T08:43:23.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25721" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-13T20:08:11.477" Score="8" ViewCount="139" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am planning to make a winter ascent of a mountain with a height of 4850 meters (15,900 ft). Its summit's lowest and wind-chill temperatures are around -30 C (-22 F) and -40 C (-40 F), respectively. It takes at least 3 days to reach the summit whilst the grade is D and in some parts TD based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)#International_French_adjectival_system_(IFAS)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;IFAS system&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Right now, I have a pair of winter mountaineering boots which do not have any removable thermal booties. I was wondering how can I use them in this expedition. I have heard from some classic climbers that they used fake wrestling shoes (because the fake ones are cheap) along with wool socks as a removable thermal boot in their boots, in the past. Do you have any better idea(s), that I can apply to my boots regarding this journey?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, I am quite delighted to find this stack exchange website, specifically for outdoor activities with many experts on it :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Updates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is worth mentioning, my current boots are 2 sizes bigger than my actual shoe size, for example my normal shoe size is 45 based on &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_size#Size_conversion&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;EUR&lt;/a&gt; but my boots are 47. Thus they have extra space for the thickness of additional layer of insulation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding the usage of wrestling shoes, I have not done it by myself. As they said, they used wrestling shoes covered by wool socks inside their main boots. Therefore, the feet are neither in direct touch with socks, nor the boots. Keep in mind those wrestling shoes which they have used are made of cotton, at least the upper part. But I guess it has some more details which I am not aware of them, plus I do not count it as a rational approach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Frankly due to uncontrollable variables in the end user, it's quite hard to temperature rate boots and in most cases they are altitude dependent. But based on my boot's brand rating, their extreme temperature are around -25 C(-13 F) to -30 C(-22 F).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18510" LastEditorUserId="18510" LastEditDate="2020-12-18T10:00:03.947" LastActivityDate="2020-12-19T19:59:36.500" Title="How can I make a winter mountaineering boot into an extreme winter boot?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;&lt;winter&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;cold-weather&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25722" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25725" CreationDate="2020-12-13T20:38:47.410" Score="3" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently got a pair of downhill skis from a friend. The skis were only used a few times, so the base was in pretty good shape. The only issue was the edges were fairly rusty. I used a Swix pocket edger to remove all of the rust, on both the base and side edges. After some further reading on the internet, it seems that base sharpening is best left to professionals/ski shops. Was sharpening the base a mistake, and if so, will it cause issues down the road?&#xA;Thanks for your help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20518" LastActivityDate="2020-12-14T08:50:31.233" Title="Sharpening Base Edge on Skis" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;ski-repair&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25724" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24213" CreationDate="2020-12-14T05:27:30.483" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I learned this tip from a former Navy Seal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dip your finger in rubber cement and rub it on the full length and width of web straps.  Both sides.  Let it dry, then rub off whatever comes off.  It adds a tremendous amount of &amp;quot;stay power&amp;quot; to your straps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20475" LastActivityDate="2020-12-14T05:27:30.483" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25725" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25722" CreationDate="2020-12-14T08:50:31.233" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A lot of people are doing the ski service themselves, there is no witchery about this. However, there is some things that can be done wrong as a beginner.&#xA;Manufacturers grind edges in a certain angle, depending on the ski. If you do the edges you should make sure that you do not change this angle accidentally as this will change how skis behave. There can also be the issue that your sharpening is not as regular as done by a maschine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you messed up anything, it can be fixed by regrinding the edges properly. This will cost you some material and in the long run may reduce the lifetime of the ski a bit. However, often a ski might simply fall out of favor and be replaced by a more modern model before wear on the edges becomes a real issue, so I would not care too much about this&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-12-14T08:50:31.233" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25726" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25732" CreationDate="2020-12-15T03:37:55.647" Score="10" ViewCount="230" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are some of the longest &amp;quot;single mountain&amp;quot; hikes in the world?  That is, hikes which more or less go up one mountain. Specifically, let's say we're looking at the following criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;One continuous climb with no long flat or downhill sections.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On established trails (though they don't have to be official or maintained trails)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Trailhead is near or easily accesible from a town/city.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No technical climbing (at most some class 2 scrambling)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Entirely on trails (as opposed to paved roads)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;plus the following optional criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;6&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Can be hiked without a guide or expensive permits&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Is an &amp;quot;established&amp;quot; hike, i.e. route has a name and people regularly hike the whole length of it.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Enjoyable: scenery, views from the summit, historical sites, wildlife, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Two candidates I can think of are (1) Mt Fuji from the bottom (&amp;quot;1st station&amp;quot;), with ~3000m of elevation gain, and (2) the &amp;quot;Cactus to Clouds&amp;quot; hike in Palm Springs, CA, with 10400ft/3200m of elevation gain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/494/is-there-a-definitive-list-of-the-tallest-mountains-in-the-world-that-require-li&quot;&gt;this question&lt;/a&gt; but this is about the longest &lt;em&gt;hikes&lt;/em&gt; as opposed to the tallest mountains&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20457" LastEditorUserId="20457" LastEditDate="2020-12-15T04:06:02.013" LastActivityDate="2020-12-17T22:31:40.177" Title="Longest &quot;1-mountain&quot; hikes in the world" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25727" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25729" CreationDate="2020-12-15T03:46:51.403" Score="1" ViewCount="99" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to install a GoPro camera on my helmet, but I would like to screw in the mount rather than using adhesives as I don't trust them to be reliable enough. But when I search for helmet mounts on Amazon, they all seemingly use adhesives rather than being designed for screws.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can I find the mount that I'm looking for? Presumably there's a keyword that I'm missing or I should be searching for something other than &amp;quot;helmet mount&amp;quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-12-16T15:58:29.037" LastActivityDate="2020-12-16T15:58:29.037" Title="What kind of a GoPro/tripod mount can attach the camera to a helmet with screws?" Tags="&lt;helmets&gt;&lt;cameras&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25728" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25726" CreationDate="2020-12-15T03:58:29.647" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Aconcagua&lt;/a&gt;, which apparently is non-technical if ascended from the Northern route and does not require axes or ropes. Aconcagua is 6,961 m high. The hike in starts from a village (Puente del Inca) at 2740 m, making the climb 4,221 m in altitude. It seems that it normally takes between 12 and 20 days to climb, mostly because of the need to acclimatize to the altitude, and the need to hike an extended route to approach the Northern side from Puente del Inca - this is probably fairly flat along a river valley, but will show some continuous climb because of this. Because of the altitude, you will need to have at least ascended some ~5,000 m mountains before attempting Aconcagua.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The climb proper starts at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Plaza+de+Mulas/@-32.6464434,-70.04031,4490m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x9687925500c38047:0x5234c15eaaa14869!2sAconcagua!3b1!8m2!3d-32.653179!4d-70.0108675!3m4!1s0x9687ecd172fbe1e5:0x3c61af626e1cf8fa!8m2!3d-32.6493146!4d-70.0575936&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plaza de Mulas&lt;/a&gt; (i.e. basecamp) at 4,370 m and there are 3-5 camps (i.e. nights) between there and the summit for ascent. I would assume that you could descend faster than ascend and probably make it back to Plaza de Mulas (feel free to chime in if you have been to Aconcagua) with maybe one night somewhere in between. It looks like, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Aconcagua#Q39739&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikivoyager&lt;/a&gt; that you need a permit to hike in the park, but do not need a guide. There are rangers who will assess your fitness at Plaza de Mulas before you ascend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another close contender &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kilimanjaro&lt;/a&gt; - the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It is ~4,900 m above the plateau on which it stands, and takes about 3 days to hike to the peak, much of which is required for acclimatization to the altitude (thanks to @BenCrowall for pointing this out). People are required to have a guide and permit for the mountain, but it is fairly well established as a hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2020-12-16T00:35:55.980" LastActivityDate="2020-12-16T00:35:55.980" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25729" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25727" CreationDate="2020-12-15T09:22:54.653" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;It wouldn't surprise me if no-one made such a mount.  They wouldn't want to be liable for the damage it could cause to your head in an impact, either directly or by weakening the helmet.  It would also be more work to fit and far less universal, limiting sales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The least bad way of doing this would be to drill the helmet, and screw outwards into the mount, choosing screws with the flattest heads possible.  Then at least you wouldn't have spikes on the inside.  But drilling the helmet would only be strong enough for the camera  with a hard shell, like a whitewater helmet or a minority of bike helmets.  You'd end up cutting away at the foam for the screws to have somewhere to go.  So by this point you'd have weakened the shell and the energy-absorbing foam - not a good start.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A design using clamp screws through existing vents would be no good either - unless designed for a very limited range of helmets it wouldn't fit, and would likely put hard bits where you don't want them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a helmet camera for kayaking (cylindrical and side mounted rather than on top like a GoPro).  That's held on with a strap, stabilised by thin thread.  If I hit my head it will come off without much force, rather than yanking my head round.  But there's also a light lanyard attaching it to the helmet strap using a plastic link that I can spring open with 2 fingers (it's carabiner-style keyring , so I wouldn't lose it, unless it snagged and I floated away - better that than it holding me in a strainer. I've used similar breakaway approaches for head-mounted lights on the bike - the thinnest cable ties, which snap if I don't duck enough for a low doorway.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even the glued mounts carry some risk - they're actually really strong, and a knock in the wrong direction can drive the edge of the mount through a helmet shell.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2020-12-15T21:11:22.507" LastActivityDate="2020-12-15T21:11:22.507" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25732" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25726" CreationDate="2020-12-17T19:24:24.303" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;bob1 gave an excellent answer for the case where we relax the criteria that the hike be accessible without a guide or expensive permit.  If we keep that criteria, possibly the longest uphill hike in the world is &lt;strong&gt;Mt Fuji from near Fujinomiya city&lt;/strong&gt;, via an extension to the standard Fujinomiya trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?planovani-trasy&amp;amp;x=138.7258049&amp;amp;y=35.3712338&amp;amp;z=15&amp;amp;rc=z4XAVwGUHiz4eaEwH4Yu&amp;amp;rs=coor&amp;amp;rs=osm&amp;amp;ri=&amp;amp;ri=93196115&amp;amp;mrp=%7B%22c%22%3A132%7D&amp;amp;xc=%5B%5D&amp;amp;rwp=1%3Bz4YghwGaX.iMkkrC5l0kjA5Idie351Al17g.Rmn0em9mu7&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is the route, 20km long with nearly 3500m of elevation gain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is not an established hike as probably almost no one hikes this route, though it does follow most of the &amp;quot;Mt Fuji from the sea&amp;quot; route (which itself is longer, but involves a lot of walking along paved roads).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mauna Kea&lt;/strong&gt; in Hawaii is higher at 4200m, but there is no trail directly from the ocean to the summit (though in theory it seems possible to build such a trail).  The hiking trail to the summit starts from the visitor center and has around 1500m of elevation gain; there's no way to extend it to the sea without a LOT of walking on roads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Potentially even longer climbs might exist in the Andes (and which don't require expensive permits like Aconcagua).  I don't think there are any other places in the world which may have candidates.  Nearly all trails in the Himalayas/central Asian mountains start at a high elevation.  New Guinea has mountains even higher than Hawaii, but most of them require technical mountaineering to climb (and all are quite remote).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20457" LastEditorUserId="20457" LastEditDate="2020-12-17T22:31:40.177" LastActivityDate="2020-12-17T22:31:40.177" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25733" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25726" CreationDate="2020-12-17T19:30:16.470" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qqkpI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qqkpI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E3 is a long mountain &amp;quot;trail&amp;quot; spanning multiple mountains. It takes about an year for an experienced hiker to complete.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It does not adhere to point 1 in your question, so that`s probably a dealbraker, but it does adhere to all the later points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="537" LastActivityDate="2020-12-17T19:30:16.470" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25734" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-18T03:47:21.973" Score="-1" ViewCount="175" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've always been scared of sharks. It seems like the most natural thing in the world to be afraid of. I instinctively haven't forgotten what it was like for my ancestors to swim around in that big, scary ocean, before they ever went up on land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Either way, tons of people dive, not just in local lakes, but frequently out in the sea or even near land at a beach attached to the &amp;quot;open sea&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How do they dare to do this? Do they simply go by statistics, saying that there are few or no known shark attacks in this area for the last X years? Of course, this says nothing about those who dive without telling anyone beforehand, or don't even dive, but simply just were in the water, swimming, when a shark got them and pulled them far away, never to be seen or heard from again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe sharks &amp;quot;normally&amp;quot; don't hang around the beaches, although I would if I were a shark, since a bunch of juicy humans hang around there. Nevertheless, the fact remains that nothing physically stops the sharks from simply going to that area, or ending up there by random chance. And then it's game over if they see me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Few deaths probably are as frightening as trying to scream for help under water as you see these unsympathetic, remorseless predators of the sea coming for you, opening their jaws to let you see the razor-sharp teeth a split second before you are bitten, bleeding as it shakes your helpless body around and pulls it away. &lt;em&gt;Shudder&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To tell you the truth, I would never even dive or swim in a lake surrounded by land, far away from the shore. Who knows what's down there in the dark, unknown water? I'm not even sure I &lt;em&gt;want&lt;/em&gt; to know...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do people simply have no concern for their own safety? Do they consider it &amp;quot;worth it&amp;quot; to risk getting eaten by a fierce watery beast just to get to experience being under water like their ancestors millions of years ago? I will admit that it probably would be fun, if sharklessness could be guaranteed, but I'd just be worrying and fearing for my life every second of the experience and it would ruin any enjoyment down there. No &amp;quot;promises&amp;quot; by &amp;quot;experts&amp;quot; or statistics would convince me otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20545" LastActivityDate="2020-12-19T01:01:37.787" Title="How can divers be sure that there are no sharks or other lethal water animals where they dive?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water&gt;&lt;scuba-diving&gt;&lt;sharks&gt;&lt;dive-sites&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25735" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25734" CreationDate="2020-12-18T06:29:09.800" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;People have varying levels of shark awareness, anxiety and tolerance.  To start with, you're really quite unlikely to get eaten by a shark.  Much more likely to drown for some reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A big part of things is location.  I live in Vancouver and grew up in the Caribbean.  In both places, I don't worry about sharks when swimming.  The types of shark that are around are mostly not human-attackers and attacks are extremely rare.  St. Maarten for example... the only documented, non-lethal, attack in the whole Dutch West Indies for a while was a bull shark in Curacao in the 60s, 1000km away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Species is a huge part of this:  great whites, tigers, but bull sharks most of all.  If dangerous species aren't found in your neighborhood, little to worry about.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can get in trouble even there.  People will do dumb things like spearfish and tie a bleeding fish to their belt.  But that is really going out of your way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, I didn't swim around much when in Hawaii.  Maui especially has infrequent but not totally unknown shark attacks.  California also has infrequent attacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On top of that you need to layer the context of what you are doing.  Great whites eat seals and surfers seem to look like seals.  Shark attacks often happen in low visibility conditions:  murky waters, low light.  That's especially when our friends the bull sharks can be problematic, as they like the shoreline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many shark attacks are in less than 5'/1.5m of water.  That's not a diver, that's a wader.  There is, to be sure, an aspect of numbers of waders vs volume of divers, but the point is that diving and snorkeling is not an especially dangerous activity for sharks.  Scuba diving is a dangerous activity in its own right, especially when practiced by careless divers who are indifferent swimmers to start with, but that has nothing to do with sharks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all, unless you are in a high-frequency shark attack area (Australia, California, Hawaii, Florida, South Africa...), without the &lt;em&gt;wrong type of sharks&lt;/em&gt;, you pretty much have nothing to worry about in practice.  Especially if you avoid low visibility conditions, or shark triggering behavior.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And even in those supposedly dangerous spots your risk is vanishingly small, much smaller than drowning.  My point is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; to tell you are being irrational, I myself am guilty of that around Hawaii and I know it.  It is to say that, in most areas, sharks are really a non-problem.  You don't have to convince yourself that sharks are safe &lt;em&gt;everywhere&lt;/em&gt;, only be aware if your location has reasons for any worries.  Many places don't and in that case there's really no objective risk, minimal as it might be, holding you back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Last, but not least.  A big part of this is not about &lt;em&gt;being&lt;/em&gt; safe, it's about &lt;em&gt;feeling&lt;/em&gt; safe and in control.  I couldn't care less about a diving knife, but if I really wanted to feel better, I'd get a &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerhead_(firearm)#United_States&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;bang stick&lt;/a&gt;.  Just make sure it doesn't put you at more risk than the sharks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h3&gt;Edit:&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re-reading of your post and your entry about not swimming in lakes makes me add this.  Respectfully, if you are asking because you would like to swim yourself (rather than curiosity about other people's risk tolerance), then you will need to approach this as a phobia, not a risk management or outdoors dangers issue.  It seems to me nothing is going to change your mind in terms of risk information, but the same methods that can help with arachnophobia or fear of heights might.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I confess to a fear of heights myself, but I fully get that is mental conditioning on my part, &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; calculated risk aversion.  I could no more walk on a 2 foot ledge 300 feet up than you could swim under certain conditions.  More information about mountaineering practices would not help me overcome this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2020-12-19T01:01:37.787" LastActivityDate="2020-12-19T01:01:37.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25736" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25734" CreationDate="2020-12-18T10:57:09.200" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I hope you are aware that this is not anything to be worried about when in the sea, but almost entirely an irrational fear. It's not just you - it's a very common fear; either of sharks themselves (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/sharks-attack-fear-science-psychology-spd/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Galeophobia&lt;/a&gt;), or fear of the deep (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.verywellmind.com/thalassophobia-fear-of-the-ocean-4692301&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Thalassophobia)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Almost every other risk is far more likely to kill you. Sharks don't like the taste of humans, generally, and almost all shark bites are &amp;quot;tasting&amp;quot; bites. It's not game over if they see you - you are not a food item for sharks, although blacktip and spinner sharks sometimes mistake humans for prey they rapidly learn their mistake on first bite and leave. You can further minimize the tiny risk of this by avoiding swimming when bleeding, and avoiding lying on a surfboard with limbs out (as you may look like a seal)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are no high frequency shark attack areas. In all parts of the world sharks are really a &amp;quot;non-problem.&amp;quot; So don't worry about it. Those of us who open water swim, surf and dive never worry about it - we are more likely to die from accidentally slipping and hitting our head when getting back in the car after a swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-12-18T10:57:09.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25737" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25800" CreationDate="2020-12-18T18:39:15.897" Score="2" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a pair of 1979 Asnes cross-country skis with Rottefella 75mm NN three-pin bindings that I plan to upgrade to NNN. The toe piece of the binding is held on with three screws that are easy to remove. However, I can’t see how to remove the heel plate. It only appears to be a short steel post through orange plastic with no visible screws.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8IoOS.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/8IoOS.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Full binding&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DluD2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/DluD2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Heel plate, plan view&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IOtJc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/IOtJc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Heel plate, oblique view&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The plastic appears to be held on by the post alone (like a rivet) –I can rotate the plastic around the post with my fingers. Do you just pry off the post with a screw driver? Or drill it out? Or what?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20550" LastEditorUserId="20550" LastEditDate="2021-01-05T03:34:26.793" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T03:34:26.793" Title="Remove heel plate of vintage xc ski binding" Tags="&lt;maintenance&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25738" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25721" CreationDate="2020-12-18T23:34:24.483" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Consider using a thin poly inner sock followed by a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountrygear.com/vb-socks-rab5v12445.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-ARIsALQE_2NyNYu53Mk4VkgtkQvbehRUQPDcmKg7x74Sd7AaepLVnDMyRSPsIrMaAoAKEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;vapor barrier liner sock&lt;/a&gt;, followed by a thick wool or synthetic wool outer sock.  Then put a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.backcountry.com/outdoor-research-x-gaiter?CMP_SKU=ODR00UU&amp;amp;MER=0406&amp;amp;skid=ODR00UU-BLA-L&amp;amp;mr:trackingCode=08DC499B-A258-EA11-8111-005056944E17&amp;amp;mr:referralID=NA&amp;amp;mr:device=c&amp;amp;mr:adType=plaonline&amp;amp;iv_=__iv_p_1_g_38384553987_c_154680274276_w_pla-571552802299_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r__x_pla_y_7811_f_online_o_ODR00UU-BLA-L_z_US_i_en_j_571552802299_s__e__h_9033357_ii__vi__&amp;amp;CMP_ID=PLA_GOc001&amp;amp;utm_source=Google&amp;amp;utm_medium=PLA&amp;amp;k_clickid=_k_Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-ARIsALQE_2PqpGYlLEzwO96vj7-1tut9lO0i3_JqxKeciyo4Pp_KZw9t4nS18qcaApCKEALw_wcB_k_&amp;amp;utm_id=go_cmp-690293682_adg-38384553987_ad-154680274276_pla-571552802299_dev-c_ext-_prd-ODR00UU-BLA-L&amp;amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-ARIsALQE_2PqpGYlLEzwO96vj7-1tut9lO0i3_JqxKeciyo4Pp_KZw9t4nS18qcaApCKEALw_wcB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;super-gaiter&lt;/a&gt; over your boot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The VBL sock will prevent sweat from degrading the insulating capability of the outer wool sock.  The super gaiter will provide water and wind protection, and add another insulating layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user20551" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-12-19T19:59:36.500" LastActivityDate="2020-12-19T19:59:36.500" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25739" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-19T01:19:01.713" Score="5" ViewCount="111" Body="&lt;p&gt;I bought a cheap ($600 CAD) inflatable paddleboard at a big box, non-specialized store.  I like paddle-boarding and am thinking of getting another one.  A local outdoor store has $1500 one discounted to $1100 for sale.  It's not substantially different in features, but I expect it to be better quality in some ways.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, if this was a road bike, I know what doubling the price would mean:  less weight, most likely.  If it was a mountain bike, I'd expect more durability, i.e. going from a budget mountain bike that will fall apart on tough trails to one that can take the punishment.  A higher end backpack would be more durable, better layout, more waterproof, etc...  If a kayak, I know that plastic is heavier, scratches more easily and will drag more than fiberglass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what should I expect from a paddleboard?  Faster, stabler, more durable?  What are the likely advantages of getting a better board rather than just buying another discount one? I am not unhappy with my budget one as such but it &lt;em&gt;was&lt;/em&gt; a bit of an entry-level model.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(I do know one likely advantage already, the cheap one's paddle broke and I had to replace it with a new one).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2020-12-21T10:32:45.040" Title="What can I expect from upgrading to high-end paddleboard?" Tags="&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25742" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24550" CreationDate="2020-12-20T15:43:15.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are just planning to visit the valley and are not an experienced cold weather camper, I would recommend looking at staying at Curry Village (temporarily renamed Half Dome Village) instead. They have both heated and unheated tent cabins, which are wooden platforms with insulated canvas sides and beds inside. They come with sheets and piles of wool blankets. All in all it is pretty similar to the valley camping experience and will actually probably be cheaper for you if you are looking at buying winter gear for this trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The reason I don't recommend camping for you if you don't know what you are doing, you probably won't have a great time. You'll lose a shocking amount of heat to the ground if you don't have a very good sleeping pad and bag. It can be nearly impossible to get dry if you aren't very careful about how you use your outside vs sleeping clothes. Granted, Yosemite is a relatively safe place to get in trouble as there are people who can help you everywhere, but needing to get help is undesirable for a vacation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All that said, winter is my favorite time to visit Yosemite. Everything looks spectacular covered in snow. The crowds are gone so you can actually quietly reflect while admiring Yosemite's wonders. Glacier Pass in particular is worth a visit for some downhill or cross country skiing which you can't do at all in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18361" LastActivityDate="2020-12-20T15:43:15.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25743" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2020-12-21T00:11:51.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disclosure: I'm the producer of this product&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have struggled with this problem many years when biking to work in New York City, arriving with a sweat drenched shirt at the office.  Check out a new invention VENTAPAK that was designed to solve the sweaty back problem when biking with a backpack. It attaches to and lifts your favorite backpack off your back for major airflow and cooling. It doesn’t stop you from sweating but it does make you sweat much less and stay cooler (versus back suffocation and heat) as you cycle, so you enjoy the ride more and aren’t a sweaty mess when you get to the office.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ventapak.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ventapak.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20560" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-12-21T22:20:16.183" LastActivityDate="2020-12-21T22:20:16.183" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25744" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25739" CreationDate="2020-12-21T10:32:45.040" Score="5" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Things you should get&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thinner&lt;/strong&gt;: This is a big one with the better iSUPs, the cheaper boards can be nearly twice the thickness and more. Being closer to the water will improve your stability and control and generally improve the experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Better edges&lt;/strong&gt;: This is a side effect of being thinner, and will give you better control. Hard boards of course have the best edges, but I'm assuming we're still talking inflatable here as most people will never encounter hard SUPs until they go surfing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More resilience&lt;/strong&gt;: I hear stories of the cheaper boards losing the internal structures that give the board its shape, the welded structure of the best iSUPs will last a lot better than the glued structure of the cheaper ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Things that are design dependent and you won't necessarily get&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Speed&lt;/strong&gt;: This is primarily a matter of length, not build quality. Longer boards will usually be faster.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Higher weight limit&lt;/strong&gt;: In fact for a board of the same area it might have a lower weight limit due to being thinner and lacking the displacement volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lighter&lt;/strong&gt;: It may be lighter, it may be heavier. If it's made out of thicker material and has stringers it could well be heavier than the cheaper board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-12-21T10:32:45.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25745" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25737" CreationDate="2020-12-21T15:38:23.927" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;That looks like a rivet.  Pulling up on the rivet might damage the top sheet of the ski but if you are going to cover it with a new plate that might not matter to you.  Still, if it were me I would gently remove the plastic by breaking it away.  Then see if pulling up on the rivet with pliers is damaging to the ski.  If it is set in there tight, get a dremel tool with a cutting wheel and slice the rivet off with the surface of the ski.  Epoxy the hole to keep water out of the ski core.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user20551" LastActivityDate="2020-12-21T15:38:23.927" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25746" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-21T22:58:53.273" Score="3" ViewCount="82" Body="&lt;p&gt;About 25 years ago I rented &amp;quot;adaptor bindings&amp;quot; from a shop (since gone out of business) specializing in cross-country skiing.&#xA;The adaptors would clip onto my ordinary downhill ski bindings,&#xA;and my ordinary downhill boots would clip onto them.&#xA;That is, they would go between existing DH binding and existing DH boot.&#xA;They would have three settings:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hinged toe and free heel, for XC-style ski walking.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hinged toe and free, raised heel, for touring-style ski climbing.&#xA;&lt;br&gt;(I also rented climbing skins as a separate pair of items.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clamped toe and heel, for descents.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is in parts:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;What is the correct name for such bindings?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Do they still exist?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Where can I get them?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have asked a few folks but the usual response is along the lines of &amp;quot;that's not the best solution&amp;quot;.&#xA;Of course, I know it's not an optimal means for Alpine touring or ski mountaineering, but given that I'm unlikely to do anything but occasional, beginner-style, Alpine touring, I think it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a very economical solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm assuming that getting ordinary AT bindings and swapping them in and out with my ordinary DH bindings is not practical or advisable. (Too  much unscrewing and re-screwing weakening the skis.) Maybe I'm wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2020-12-22T00:46:58.750" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T20:13:02.907" Title="Are adaptor ski bindings still a thing?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;ski-bindings&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25747" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25746" CreationDate="2020-12-21T23:15:47.600" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;They do exist. Whether they are the right solution is a different discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.daymakertouring.com/products/alpine-touring-adapters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Daymakers AT Adapter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a review about them &lt;a href=&quot;https://blisterreview.com/gear-reviews/daymakers-alpine-touring-adapters&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I personally have never used them myself so I can't speak to their quality/use. I just know they exist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Manziel makes an important point though about the cost/benefit of the adapter vs a used setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastEditorUserId="18120" LastEditDate="2020-12-22T20:13:02.907" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T20:13:02.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25748" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-22T02:11:57.630" Score="-1" ViewCount="103" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like this gesture is well understood by a dog or cat and perhaps the combination of distracting the bear plus the indication that you mean no harm would work? Maybe a bear would even reason that the human would be good for future snacks?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20386" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T02:34:36.550" Title="If you were confronted a by a bear and had no defense would offering it food perhaps work?" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2020-12-22T19:50:35.213" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25749" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25748" CreationDate="2020-12-22T02:34:36.550" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You're starting from a false premise, which is that the bear has some reason to hurt you and therefore you need protection. An American black bear doesn't see a human as prey. Even a grizzly will normally only attack a human if it's surprised, threatened, or protecting its young. I assume you don't have polar bears in mind, although it is true that a polar bear may attack a human simply because it sees a human as prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're talking about black bears, then you might also want to keep in mind that they're often not even that big. A small one can be about the size of a German shepherd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears differ in how much they're habituated to humans. In a small number of very specific areas, such as Yosemite Valley, you get a large number of bears that are used to people and frequently get human food. These bears may be less afraid of humans. If they want your food, they may simply mug you for it, although it's much more frequent that they will raid an unattended backpack or find an improperly secured garbage can. Giving these animals food is a bad thing to do, because it contributes to their dysfunctional and unnaturally distorted habits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside of these very specific areas, black bears are typically not habituated to humans, so they're afraid of you. You don't need to offer them food in order to escape from an encounter, because as soon as the bear sees you, it's going to run away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you see a black bear from a distance, just enjoy the special experience as you would with any other unusual opportunity to see cool wildlife.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T02:34:36.550" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25750" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-22T08:45:57.463" Score="3" ViewCount="147" Body="&lt;p&gt;I wondered if anybody could help me identify the animal producing the sound that I just about managed to &lt;a href=&quot;https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4k_1SfAuxX3IhtvcT1846r_YGlBMZCn/view?usp=sharing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;record&lt;/a&gt; with my phone (it was extremely quiet, so I apologize for the low quality of the recording). Said animal (presumably a bird, but maybe a feline?) appeared to be communicating with an owl which can also be heard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We heard this sound in Cleveland National Forest on top of mt Laguna near San Diego, California. The time was around 23:00 in mid-December.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20565" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T08:45:57.463" Title="Need help identifying a sound" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;california&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="5" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25751" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25746" CreationDate="2020-12-22T09:06:08.817" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While adapters exist, I have not seen any in use for obvious reasons:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Alpine skis and boots are heavy and there is not much fun in carrying those up the mountain. I already have a rather heavy touring setup (for todays standards ;) ) but my alpine setup is way heavier&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Touring boots give you a lot of flexibility in walk mode (typically around 60 degrees). Alpine boots with walk mode go nowhere as near and walking will be uncomfortable&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A safe release is quite questionable to say the least. The force required for a safe release is depending on the specific combination of boot and binding. If you swap out your boot for an adapter you should readjust your release&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scratching your base is more or less inevitable when you ski off-piste. Having two pairs of skis is actually saving a lot on repairs for your DH ski.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All in all there are a lot of disadvantages which are justified by &amp;quot;not needing to buy a new setup&amp;quot; in case you rarely go touring. But considering these adapters are not cheap and you need to buy/rent skins and avalanche equipment as well, it is probably cheaper to rent proper alpine touring equipment for the 2 days a year you go touring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An alternative to renting can be getting something used. There is plenty of people that start ski touring and then notice that powder days are rare and the ascent is quite sweaty ;)&#xA;I got my touring setup (skis, binding, skins, ski crampons) for a little over 300€. This is about the same price as the adapter costs and it was as good as new&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T09:06:08.817" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25752" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="677" CreationDate="2020-12-22T20:22:22.603" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends quite a bit on the type of bear. An American black bear doesn't see a human as prey. Even a grizzly will normally only attack a human if it's surprised, threatened, or protecting its young. A polar bear may see a human as prey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the initial, very general meta-answer to your question is that if you're going to observe or interact with wildlife, you should learn all about that wildlife. Different species are different. Their behaviors can be totally different, and you can misinterpret their behaviors if you don't know enough. Observing wildlife in the wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world, but it's sort of similar to looking through a telescope -- you'll get the most out of the experience if you understand what you're looking at and what to look for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Since you don't say what species you're talking about, I'll assume for the remainder of this question that you're talking about a black bear.&lt;/strong&gt; This is a species that people in the most populated areas of North America have a considerable chance of coming into contact with. Re black bears,  you might  want to keep in mind that they're often not even that big. A small one can be about the size of a German shepherd.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black bears differ in how much they're habituated to humans. In a small number of very specific areas, such as Yosemite Valley, you get a large number of bears that are used to people and frequently get human food. These bears may be relatively unafraid of humans. They may raid an unattended backpack or an improperly secured garbage can. These animals have been harmed by humans, because they have acquired dysfunctional and unnaturally distorted habits. If you see one of these animals, your goal should be to avoid further harming it. Hopefully you haven't already contributed to its harm by leaving your food unattended.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Outside of these very specific areas, black bears are typically not habituated to humans, so they're afraid of you. As soon as the bear sees you, it's going to run away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-12-22T23:18:54.680" LastActivityDate="2020-12-22T23:18:54.680" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25753" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25758" CreationDate="2020-12-23T10:35:38.713" Score="2" ViewCount="358" Body="&lt;p&gt;I started climbing a year ago, at the age of 36. I really enjoy the sport and try to climb a lot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, lately I've been thinking if it is possible to achieve anything (worthy of mention) for someone who started at such an age.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Obviously I won't be able to beat Adam Ondra or be the first in the world to free a 30-pitch wall... but still, are there any frontiers left for a climber who physically can't compete with the younger generation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;EDIT&lt;/strong&gt; Of course, &amp;quot;climbing just for fun&amp;quot; is fine. However, I'm a high achiever, I love setting challenging goals, pushing myself hard, winning and becoming one of the best (if not the best) in all of my endeavours.&#xA;Moreover, having an inspirational goal is nice even for hobbies. I've seen too many times when people buy a ton of equipment, pay for the expensive courses and then do the activity for two days once per year - exactly because they don't have a goal!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-12-30T18:44:14.663" LastActivityDate="2021-03-29T00:33:33.467" Title="Has any late-starting climber (36 years old) ever accomplished anything noteworthy?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;trad-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="9" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25754" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25759" CreationDate="2020-12-23T15:19:00.447" Score="6" ViewCount="130" Body="&lt;p&gt;I realize that it's &amp;quot;only a game&amp;quot;, and it doesn't have rigid rules, but there must be some standards that I could follow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A year and a half ago I noticed a strange object in a tree, but didn't know what it was.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Recently, I heard of geocaching, looked at a map, and realized that the object was a cache.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Later I opened it, but my fingers were too frozen to fill in the log.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Next spring I might return and complete the log.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously the last date would be acceptable, but would any of the other dates be appropriate for the &amp;quot;official&amp;quot; log date?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T18:39:10.033" Title="Etiquette/protocols/conventions for geocache logs" Tags="&lt;geocaching&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25756" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25753" CreationDate="2020-12-24T18:21:42.310" Score="7" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've been thinking if it is possible to achieve anything (worthy of mention) for someone who started at [36]&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/lee-sheftel-climbs-5-13b-at-68-years-old/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Lee Sheftel&lt;/a&gt; started climbing at 33, climbed 5.14a at 59 and 5.13b at 68&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.trainingbeta.com/media/margarita-martinez/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Margarita Martinez&lt;/a&gt; started at 34, climbed 5.13d at 58&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/48-year-old-akira-waku-of-japan-sends-v15-16-with-video/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Akira Waku&lt;/a&gt; started at 35, climbed V15/16 at 48&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQbPiRMdV8&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Juichi Ogawa&lt;/a&gt; started at ~47, climbs 5.12d at 72, was better at 69&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these &amp;quot;worthy of mention&amp;quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a &lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/inside-beta/over-the-hill-or-still-ascending-an-analysis-of-climbing-performance-and-age/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;summary of records from 8a.nu&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCUam.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KCUam.png&quot; alt=&quot;Hardest U.S. Sport Climbs, by Age&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will never be as good as &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; of these people, even the 50 year olds, so I guess there's no point in me climbing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;are there any frontiers left for a climber who physically can't compete with the younger generation?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is a &amp;quot;frontier&amp;quot;?  Does &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.climbing.com/news/margo-hayes-climbs-la-rambla-becomes-first-woman-to-send-515a/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Margo Hayes' first female 5.15a&lt;/a&gt; count, or is it irrelevant because men have done better?  Does an off-width &lt;a href=&quot;https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/wide-boyz-charm-the-black-mamba-5-14b-possibly-their-hardest-roof-crack-yet/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;first ascent of 5.14b&lt;/a&gt; not count, because someone else has &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_(climb)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;done a 5.15d&lt;/a&gt;?  Does the 5.13d at age 50 in the chart above not count, because younger people have done higher grades?  Would doing a 5.14b at age 50 not count as a &amp;quot;frontier&amp;quot;?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most climbers are motivated by the enjoyment of climbing itself and by beating their own grades and self-improvement, not &amp;quot;pushing frontiers&amp;quot;.  If neither of those motivates you, then maybe it's just not the sport for you?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As Ogawa says in the above video:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The number one thing that will help improve and level up your climbing is if you love climbing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6596" LastEditorUserId="6596" LastEditDate="2020-12-28T16:55:17.470" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T16:55:17.470" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25757" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25432" CreationDate="2020-12-25T14:09:21.780" Score="1" Body="&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go camping&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go hiking&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go hiking on multi-day trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go hiking on longer multi-day trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go hiking in cold conditions (snow on the ground. Using snowshoes or crampons)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go camping in cold conditions (in snow, with temperatures below freezing)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go hiking on multi-day trips in cold conditions&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go ski-touring (have a guide with you)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go ski-touring on multi-day trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Go ski-touring on longer trips&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At each step, you'll understand a little better what you need for the next step. You'll learn to use the gear your bringing with you, and you'll know which you need and which you don't.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay safe, avoid going alone on any first attempt, if you can, bring someone with more experience. In some cases (ski touring) make sure you have a guide with you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As your end-goal is a bit far, try to find intermediary targets. For example, a high summit you can reach in a day trip, a week-long through hike, a mountain were you can spend a couple of nights, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2020-12-25T14:09:21.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25758" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25753" CreationDate="2020-12-25T22:01:41.947" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I agree 100% with the answer of @endolith, but will add one point.  If doing something &amp;quot;worthy of mention&amp;quot; is of great importance to you, try for an age record or a disability record.  People take great pride in being the first &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;X&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; climber to climb Everest, where &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;X&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; ranges from blind to amputee to over N years old to whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Maybe you can pick a goal from endolith's chart.  For example, be the first climber over 40 to do 5.14d. First you need to find out why the age records are where they are -- that is, is there a true physiological reason why no one over 40 has yet done 5.14d?  Most likely there is not.  For example, until very recently, a top tennis player over 30 was &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;old&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt;. Tell that now to Djovik, Federer and Williams!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Starting&lt;/strong&gt; at 36 adds a handicap, possiblly insurmountable, but you can still achieve &amp;quot;grand old man&amp;quot; status and be an inspiration to people who give up as old before they need to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The line of &amp;quot;too old&amp;quot; is moving upwards in many endeavors (Fauci just turned 80; is he too old for his job?) and also that many sports and other activities have age-related sections. There is no reason to suppose that you cannot become an inspiration as a climber starting at 36 or that doing so is not accomplishing something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2020-12-26T03:53:39.750" LastActivityDate="2020-12-26T03:53:39.750" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25759" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25754" CreationDate="2020-12-27T18:28:53.700" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;About the closest thing to an official answer to your question that I know of is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2019/06/geocaching-etiquette-201-finding-and-logging/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this geocaching.com blog post&lt;/a&gt;, which says (&lt;strong&gt;boldface&lt;/strong&gt; original):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Caches can be logged online as “Found” after the geocacher has visited the coordinates and signed the logbook.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, technically, this doesn't necessarily mean that, once you've completed both requirements, you couldn't backdate your find to an earlier date.  But the blog post does go on to say that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When logging a cache online, use the date you attempted the cache. This helps to provide a more accurate view of the cache’s current condition.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(The reason for using the word &amp;quot;attempted&amp;quot; instead of &amp;quot;found&amp;quot; here is presumably because this guideline is meant to apply to all types of online log entries, including &amp;quot;Did Not Find&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Needs Maintenance&amp;quot; logs.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, following the guidelines set out in this blog post:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You should not log the cache as found online before you actually sign the physical logbook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(You could, however, post a &amp;quot;Note&amp;quot; or a &amp;quot;Did Not Find&amp;quot; log describing your earlier visit if you want.  Many cache owners like to hear about people visiting their cache even if they fail to find and/or sign it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Once you do revisit the cache and sign the logbook, you may log it as found online.  When doing so, you should &lt;em&gt;probably&lt;/em&gt; use the date on which you sign the physical logbook.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's also possible that, if you do post a note saying that you found the cache but couldn't sign the logbook, the cache owner &lt;em&gt;might&lt;/em&gt; contact you and suggest that you just log the cache as found, even though it's technically against the rules.  In that case, it's up to you whether you want to do that or not.  Some cache owners are quite lenient about such &amp;quot;found but couldn't sign&amp;quot; logs, some are not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(Personally, I neither encourage nor discourage them on my own caches, but I do try to be strict about my own finds, and will post a note instead if I e.g. forget to bring my pen.  But I feel that, if a cacher personally considers something a find, that's generally fine with me.  I might be stricter about it if I had any caches where getting access to the logbook was particularly difficult by design.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In practice, the date of the online log only matters for two purposes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;It tells the cache owner (and anyone else browsing the online logs) about the status of the cache: if you log the cache as found on a particular date, you're communicating that the cache was in place, intact and able to be successfully logged on that date.  This could be useful information for the cache owner and/or for other potential seekers, e.g. if someone had earlier reported the cache as potentially missing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&amp;amp;id=127&amp;amp;pgid=206&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;challenge caches&lt;/a&gt; may have additional logging requirements that require you to find other caches on specific dates (or e.g. to maintain a streak with at least one cache found per day for a certain number of days).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The challenge part is what sometimes gets people worked up over things like log dates,* since some of those challenges can be genuinely hard, and there can be a certain temptation to &amp;quot;cheat&amp;quot; (e.g. fudging the log date on a cache found just after midnight to avoid breaking a six-month streak) even though, ultimately, it's just a voluntary challenge in a non-competitive game.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're not planning on doing any hard challenge caches, there's not much point in being strict about log dates.  Just use whichever date seems the most appropriate.  But I'd generally still suggest using the date when you actually signed the physical log (and which you presumably also wrote in the physical logbook) unless you have some particularly good reason to do otherwise.**  It gives more accurate information to the cache owner, and if you do decide to start doing challenges later, you won't have to worry about whether your old logs &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; qualify or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;*) What &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; tends to get people worked up is when an inactive cache owner suddenly decides to go through their old logs and delete any that they deem invalid, e.g. because the visitor didn't sign the right logbook, retroactively breaking old streaks etc.  Don't be that person.  While as a cache owner you do have the right to delete invalid logs, please don't do it without warning unless the log is obviously completely bogus.  At least message the person who left the log and give them a chance to fix their mistake.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;sup&gt;**) As a personal anecdote, I've &amp;quot;misdated&amp;quot; a find log once (that I know of): one of the first caches I found was logged as a group, but the person signing the log forgot to include my nickname.  The cache owner contacted me about this later, after not finding my name in the physical log, so I went back and added my name to the logbook but didn't change the original log date, even though technically I'd only completed the logging requirements once my name was actually in the book.  I think I did post a note about the revisit, though.&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="382" LastEditorUserId="382" LastEditDate="2020-12-27T18:39:10.033" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T18:39:10.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25760" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-27T20:56:00.463" Score="15" ViewCount="1622" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is a good point to put on your snow shoes?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the snow is up to my ankles, I feel almost no extra resistance when hiking. If it's about 20 cm, walking is more exhausting, however, snow shoes also cause some extra strain. If I sink up to my knees, it's quite obvious, snow shoes are a great help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From which point is it more effective to go with snow shoes than without them? Is there a rule of the thumb, or is it fully individual?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="18300" LastEditDate="2020-12-28T21:37:08.990" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T16:57:51.513" Title="When is it effective to put on your snow shoes?" Tags="&lt;snowshoeing&gt;&lt;snowshoes&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25761" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-27T21:02:07.857" Score="3" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;After Using my Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) for 3 hours in 6,5mm neoprene shoes with temperatures about 0, my feet felt almost numb, although they were dry. I've got problems putting my trousers, I needed to roll them over my feet by hand. After they get warm, they were perfectly OK, but it was not a nice feeling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've heard about people walking barefoot on snow, which is definitely much worse. Is it possible to make my feet more cold-resistant? Is this a matter of practice? Or maybe it's because when on SUP, my feet stay in the same position for the long time?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2020-12-27T22:58:54.120" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:21:04.420" Title="Adapting feet to the cold?" Tags="&lt;cold&gt;&lt;feet&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25762" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2020-12-27T21:14:11.350" Score="3" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is the thickest available neoprene suit appropriate for swimming?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a swim suit marked 2/3/4 mm. I don't know which is where, but it was OK as long as the water was about 15 grad, and below was too cold. I know there are apnea suits, which are also good for swimming, up to 5mm. Everything above is scuba dive, and they are definitely not good for swimming.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there anything designed for swimming in cold waters?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2021-01-03T23:53:15.513" Title="The thickest neoprene suit for swimming?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25763" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25768" CreationDate="2020-12-27T21:40:13.320" Score="3" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I fell into water in my SUP dry suit and I need to catch my board, or swim to the coast, which technique is the most effective? I've found it very hard to crawl because of the buoyancy of the suit. Is the frog kick the most effective, or there are better techniques?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T16:54:24.700" Title="The most effective swimming technique in SUP dry suit?" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25764" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25762" CreationDate="2020-12-27T22:57:04.003" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;5mm wetsuits are fine for swimming in water temperatures down to around 3 or 4 Celsius. For water around freezing, you will want a dry suit if you plan to spend much time immersed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be aware that there are no suits suitable for those temperatures that are easy to swim in - the shoulder joints are stiffer than you would want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of greatest criticality in cold water for me are my neoprene boots (and my inflatable flamingo ring :-) :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCRnF.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gCRnF.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-01-03T23:53:15.513" LastActivityDate="2021-01-03T23:53:15.513" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25765" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25761" CreationDate="2020-12-27T23:00:07.343" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can definitely train cold resistance, yes. It’s mostly a case of continuous practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But in your case you might find it much simpler to just move your feet more. It’s very easy to shuffle about a bit on a board.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T23:00:07.343" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25766" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25763" CreationDate="2020-12-27T23:02:54.970" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;This will depend a lot on the fit and type of dry suit, and how much air it holds. Ideally there should not be much air inside. Too much will make it difficult to do any stroke.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should be able to perform a basic crawl, albeit with low arms, even with some air in the suit, but if there is a lot of air, you are better off rolling onto your back and using frog kick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T23:02:54.970" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25767" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25760" CreationDate="2020-12-27T23:58:48.537" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It depends on a lot of factors, and I don't think there are any general rules. As you've noted, snowshoes are mainly for deep, soft snow that you'd otherwise posthole in. If the conditions are icy, you want crampons. If it's 50% dirt and 50% snow, you want boots or microspikes. Some snowshoes have heel lifts and built-in crampons, which makes them more usable on steep terrain or somewhat icy conditions. If your snowshoes don't have those features, then you may find they're useless on steep terrain. If you're on a trail that's too narrow, with steep slopes on either side, you may find that you can't manage it with snowshoes because there's not enough room. If there's a nice boot track up a hill, you may want to walk in that and not use the snowshoes. For cruising down a steep snow field, you might find it just as easy to plunge step in boots as to use snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-12-27T23:58:48.537" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25768" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25763" CreationDate="2020-12-28T09:20:36.503" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Pull the leash to get the board back to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is one of the safety fundamentals for paddleboards, have a leash, use the leash. When you fall off the board you pull the leash to bring the board back to you and climb on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Actually swimming is made even more awkward by having to hold on to the paddle while doing it. Use the leash.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T09:20:36.503" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25769" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25761" CreationDate="2020-12-28T13:21:04.420" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Try wearing a pair of wool socks inside your footwear.  I used to hike and canoe in MEC reef boots -- basically a neoprene boot with a rubber sole.  I would wear a thin pair of polypro socks and a pair o wool hiking socks in them.  While my feet were wet all the time, the extra insulaiton from the socks made all the difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Depending on how snug your boots are right now, you may have to go up a size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:21:04.420" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25770" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25760" CreationDate="2020-12-28T13:34:04.030" Score="19" Body="&lt;p&gt;I used to run outdoor orienteering constests in winter at a boarding school.  The kids had to bring snowshoes, but whether they wore them was a team decision.  At 2-3 inches no one wore snowshoes.  At 8 inches almost everyone did.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The big difference for me was the ability of snowshoes to bridge things you couldn't see under the snow.  Rocks and pocket gopher mounds in pasture and small logs in bush; hummock bogs, were the main things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If on established trail, the boundary happened when you had to consciously lift your foot up to place it, rather than the 'just enough to clear the dirt' that is a normal walking pace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another determinate is the size of your group.   Snowshoes are a win at shallower depths with a larger group.  The first two people create a trail.  Everyone behind them just walks on snowshoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On crusted snow, and frozen creeks, snowshoes give traction.  And they help on elevator snow.  (The snow that has a crust &lt;em&gt;almost&lt;/em&gt; strong enough to hold your weight)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also get a situation where the crust will 'almost' support you on snowshoes.  This often results in your tips getting caught under the crust.  Sharply upturned wooden snowshoes made from separate side rails (Ojibway style) have less problem this way,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that on broken trail, snowshoes can be faster than walking.  In our winter program the winning time on the 47 mile senior race was 12 hours and change, with most teams coming in in under 15 hours. (Boys, grades 10-12, teams of 5-7 that had to move as a unit, 1 hour stop for lunch, 30 minute stop for supper.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2020-12-29T16:57:51.513" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T16:57:51.513" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25771" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25696" CreationDate="2020-12-28T13:59:50.400" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Practical checks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Watch your pee, both frequency and colour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your pee is clear, and you are peeing often, you are at no risk of dehydration. May be drinking a bit too much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your pee is clear to pale yellow, and you peeing at reasonable interval, this is optimum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you pee is dark yellow, strong smell, then you should be drinking more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Background:  High elevation requires more breaths to get enough oxygen.  Your mouth, sinuses and upper respiratory tract have to bring cold dry air up to 90+% relative humidity at body temperature.  This takes a fair amount of water.  (About 1/4 of your total metabolic expenditure in cold weather is used to evaporate water from your lungs.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On winter dog sled treks we found that people routinely weren't drinking enough because we just didn't make it available.  We would make up the deficit in the evening around the fire with many cups of tea and hot chocolate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water in camp was made from melting snow in the same buckets we used for cooking.  This resulted in water that at best tasted like bucket, and at worst tasted burnt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution was to bring 1 gallon thermoses.  We would fill these with boiling snowmelt water and juice crystals (ok, flavoured sugar) breaking camp in the morning.  Each sled carried one of these (1 sled per 2-3 people) At breaks you would fill your cup with tightly packed snow and add enough of the hot faux juice to melt it all.  By the end of the day the juice was cool enough to drink directly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T13:59:50.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25772" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-12-28T14:37:45.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Comparing satelite google view with a road you know and the road in question is the only way other than talking to someone who has been there, or going yourself.  In the two roads you gave in a comment above, both to me look fine for a vehicle with reasonable clearance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Signs that a road is out of use:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;grass growing on centre strip.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;grassed shoulders, showing that it hasn't been graded recently.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;quot;Parallel sheep trail&amp;quot; when you have 2 two foot wide trails with about 3-4 feet of green between them shows a road that gets very infrequent use.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Windfall right on edge of road. (Casual use will only move it enough to get by)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shadows of erosion gulches, particularly on steep sections and on/near hairpin turns.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Shadows of rock fall where the road passes talus slopes.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The resolution of these pix looks good enough that anything larger than 6&amp;quot; vertically should cast some kind of shadow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Where there is a pic of a vehicle (at trail head) it's clear that the road is wide enough for two way traffic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider this: 53.459683, -118.292208  This is the Rock Lake trail head at Willmore wilderness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At one point there was coal mining in the park.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the old road.  It has numerous sections that are muddy for weeks after a hard rain.  It crosses the creek about here: 53.471791, -118.342911.  At that point you need a vehicle that can handle 12-18&amp;quot; of water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the trailhead road is easily handled by most cars.  I've parked there several times in my Subaru.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The road beyond may get used once or twice a year by rangers, probably either coming with a 4WD pickup or a quad, or possibly pack horses.  (It's nominally a horse park.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But different terrain will make for different patterns.  The Basin &amp;amp; Range country in the American southwest holds vehicle tracks for decades.  Your best bet is to look at places on google satellite view and compare roads that you know are passible and roads you know aren't.  You will occasionally get into a situation where you have to back up or 5 miles, but it will be an adventure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2020-12-28T14:37:45.803" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25773" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25774" CreationDate="2020-12-29T00:22:31.100" Score="3" ViewCount="161" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is a bear canister or other anti-animal food protection method needed for (long) &lt;strong&gt;day&lt;/strong&gt; hikes in bear country?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, is it unsafe to go on a 20-mile hike/trail run in Yosemite with a sandwich in one's backpack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought the conventional wisdom is that animals will not be bothered to directly steal food from a human, but some of the answers &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4005/should-food-be-in-a-bear-bag-canister-even-when-im-hiking&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; suggest otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20457" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T14:22:23.603" Title="Is a bear canister needed for day hikes?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25774" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25773" CreationDate="2020-12-29T03:50:16.643" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm answering from personal experience, which although extensive, is of course limited: limited to black bears, limited to the Sierra and to the Rockies and to a lesser degree, Shenandoah, and limited to several long trips per year for 40 years, plus short trips, warm-up day trips and day hikes from our base camps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We never carried a bear canister for day trips or even considered it.  On day hikes, we carry trail mix, bread, cheese, chocolate -- the usual tasty assortment, mostly in a day hiker with, say, a box of raisins in our pockets.   On the long trips, we have packs stuffed with food, tasty and freeze dried.  No bear has ever approached us when we had our packs on, looking for food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In our early days, before bear canisters were ubiqutous and in the era when hanging food was the norm, bears got into our food several times when we were camped. A bear can be very clever and determined in getting food down when it is hanging from a tree.  And several times we were awakened by a bear trying to open a bear canister; they never succeeded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We were never panhandled when hiking while eating, although I would draw the line at hiking with a dead rabbit or a large paper bag of blueberries dangling from my waist.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is Ursus americanus only.  We have no experience with grizzlies.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T03:50:16.643" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25775" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25613" CreationDate="2020-12-29T05:57:21.417" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Remember, any vehicle is an off-road vehicle if you don't care about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All kidding aside, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad-app&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;OnX Offroad&lt;/a&gt; is a great app you can download that usually has trail conditions, accessibility, and closure info for a surprising number of trails and roads. Ranger stations are also a great resource, just pop in and ask, they're usually very friendly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20577" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T05:57:21.417" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25776" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4625" CreationDate="2020-12-29T14:00:30.880" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I find I still get a very wet back with the packs that have a large mesh area touching my back. For my larger backpacks, two approaches that work well are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;an external frame pack with strips of mesh (ca. 10 cm wide) at hip and shoulders.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;an internal frame pack where only the hip belt and the shoulder straps touch my back.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In both cases, the hip belts work very well, and that is really the secret here: as long as the terrain is not too difficult, the hip belt will carry almost all weight, and I leave the shoulder straps quite loose. I tighten only when I need more control, and release as soon as possible. The external frame pack is IMHO actually better for the same weight since it is wider and flatter, so less leverage to the back. The downside is that due to the width, it is/used to be cumbersome for railway travel (always hitting the inner doors, but the old carriages with narrow inner doors are rare now).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since this is overkill for a day pack, my smaller pack is a compromise with mesh area shaped roughly like the Deuter airstripes (but a bit smaller). I prefer to carry that 45 l pack with good ventilation system over a potentially lighter, say, 30 l pack with less ventilation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T14:00:30.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25777" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25773" CreationDate="2020-12-29T14:22:23.603" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Does Yosemite mean the valley, or the park? Bear behavior is very different in specific areas like Yosemite Valley where there are a lot of bears who are habituated to humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question seems to refer to my own anecdote about having a bear stealing my food while I was sitting down and eating. This was in an area with bears habituated to humans. It was after dark in an area with lots of humans camping close together. A place like that is a bear supermarket.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But if you go out for a long trail run, stop in the middle of the day in remote backcountry, pull a sandwich out of your fanny pack, and eat -- well, let's be realistic about the risk. You're far away from areas where bears are habituated from humans. The chances are extremely small that you will encounter a bear at all during the time it takes you to eat. If you do, the bear will be afraid of you and run away. The risk you're experiencing is &lt;em&gt;smaller&lt;/em&gt; than the risk experienced by someone in Yosemite Valley who is walking through a parking lot with a sandwich in their hand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2020-12-29T14:22:23.603" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25781" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25784" CreationDate="2020-12-31T22:50:57.837" Score="5" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've been big clusters (low hundreds)  of these birds floating close offshore in Vancouver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My daughter thinks they are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_loon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;loons&lt;/a&gt;, but I doubt it.  I'm thinking murrelets, from &lt;a href=&quot;https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/264/behavior/Scrippss_Murrelet.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;whatbird&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripps%27s_murrelet&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wiki&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some observations:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;they're not big, pretty small.  About the size of a pigeon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They clump together in large floating rafts which is why a &amp;quot;solitary loon&amp;quot; pattern does not fit.  The clusters stay put for a long time, with little arrivals or departures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They dive often, but don't stay down long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Top is black, breast is white.  The neck &lt;em&gt;seems&lt;/em&gt; black, which looks slight different from the white extending the bottom half of the murrelets' heads.  Coloring is uniform, no patterns, no differences between individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't look very endangered to me, there's a lot of them&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;They fly extremely quickly in groups, very close together and very, very, low on the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;think&lt;/em&gt; I mostly see these groups during winter, which would fit murrelets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for the picture, if I walk by with a proper camera, I'll repost, but this was using cellphone under low light, zoomed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gEhEi.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gEhEi.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dfPLr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dfPLr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBxF2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sBxF2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With the updated images, I am not totally sure all of them are of the same species.  The ones with yellow bills seem different, even if they are together.  Interested in the black-billed ones with white-on-black chevrons near their shoulder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-01-02T05:48:11.643" LastActivityDate="2021-01-02T05:48:11.643" Title="Are these seabirds near Vancouver Scripp's murrelets?" Tags="&lt;canada&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25784" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25781" CreationDate="2021-01-01T23:34:46.830" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;These look like Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) ducks. Definitely not Murres, and the beaks aren’t long enough relative to head size to be a loon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20590" LastActivityDate="2021-01-01T23:34:46.830" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25786" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="767" CreationDate="2021-01-02T18:56:21.080" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;One advice I have not seen in all the answers here, walk more often in the same boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do regular day hikes in the same boots and go for the same kind of terrain (or a smaller version with at least some up and down on the same angle as your longer hikes) and keep your feet used to your boots rather than just adjusting your feet to the boots when you expect a long hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It may not work for everybody but it works for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2021-01-02T18:56:21.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25787" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-03T15:43:35.920" Score="7" ViewCount="1475" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any tricks to estimate the amount of remaining water in a hydration bladder without pulling it out of the rucksack? Pulling it out is hard and cumbersome with all my rucksacks. In addition, my Deuter Streamer 3.0 bladder doesn’t even have markings (I could add those with permanent marker).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The uncertainty about remaining water makes me reluctant to drink. Often I try to consciously preserve water, only to have a whole liter remaining when I get down from a mountain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I thought about weighing the whole rucksack with a fishing scale, but then you still have to take the rucksack off and carry a scale with you. You’d also have to account for all items you’ve taken out of the rucksack (e.g. snacks, jacket).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8328" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T17:46:22.843" Title="How to estimate remaining water in a hydration bladder?" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25788" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25787" CreationDate="2021-01-03T19:14:31.273" Score="14" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a known downside with water bladders. In my opinion it's the largest downside of a water bladder compared to a water bottle. You don't know you're running low on water until you're completely out, and even then it's hard to tell if you're actually out of water or if you just got a kink in the hose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main benefit of a water bladder is that the easy, hands-free drinking makes it easier to stay well hydrated. If uncertainty over how much water you have left is stopping you from staying well hydrated, you're missing out on the main benefit of using a water bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The solution is having more than one water container. That way when you run out of water in your water bladder, you have more water. There are two basic ways to do this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry a full water bladder as your main water supply, and have a small &amp;quot;backup&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;reserve&amp;quot; of water in a bottle. Drink freely from your bladder without fear of running completely out of water, because you know there's always a little bit left after you do. If you do run out of water from the bladder and you're not almost done with your hike, that's the time to start drinking conservatively. But you don't need to conserve too much, because having to stop and drink from a water bottle will naturally reduce how much you drink.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carry two water bladders, with half your supply in each bladder. Both bladders can go in the same water bladder pouch. You can run one drinking tube out of either side of your pack to start with, or you can keep the top of one tube inside your pack and swap them when the first bladder runs dry. If you're trying to keep pack weight minimal and don't mind a bit of inconvenient fiddling around, use one drinking tube and switch it between bladders. When you run out of water in the first one, you know you're halfway through your supply. If you're not at least halfway through your hike at that point, drink a bit less frequently. If you get to the halfway point in your hike without finishing your first water bladder, you can drink more frequently than you have been.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few useful tips that came up in the comments section:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A water bottle can be more convenient to drink from during rest breaks, when you're not wearing your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you drink your bottle dry during a break, you can refill it from the hose of the water bladder. It helps if the pack is higher than the bottle (eg, if you're wearing the pack, hold the bottle down near your waist).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can get an inexpensive, lightweight bottle in just about any size by reusing a drink bottle. For a 1L of 750mL size, I like sport drink bottles (eg, Gatorade or Powerade) or Smart Water bottles. Sport drink bottles are relatively sturdy because the bottles have ridges for reinforcement. Smart Water bottles are an unusual shape, tall and skinny, which may be useful for fitting them into a small water bottle pouch; I also find the drinking tops very easy to drink from, but the flip tops do tend to break after a while. Single-serve soda bottles are not as durable, but they're widely available and easily replaced when they get damaged. For a mini bottle (~250mL), look for children's drinks or juice, or small soda bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2021-01-04T19:06:56.030" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T19:06:56.030" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25789" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25787" CreationDate="2021-01-03T20:45:57.070" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;The few times I have cared how much I have left I could get a decent feel for it by running my hand between the bladder and the partition that separates the bladder from the rest of the pack.  It's not real accurate but it's always been enough to answer the question of whether it's safe to give away my backup bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-01-03T20:45:57.070" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25790" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25787" CreationDate="2021-01-03T23:06:12.633" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;First I want to mention that I have no experience with the proposed solutions below, so they might as well be unsuitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should generally by possible to attach a flow meter to the hose of the bladder. There are rather small versions out there used for example for gardening or laboratory purposes. I am not sure about the minimum flow requirements and the accuracy of those things, but there might be a variant usable for low flow/volume purposes. Camelbak seems to have made such a flow meter a while ago, but I am not sure if it has been discontinued. The available online reviews are mixed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative relies on pressure measurements inside the bladder. The principle has been commercialised and is available &lt;em&gt;e.g.&lt;/em&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hydratemate.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.hydratemate.com/&lt;/a&gt;.  There are some requirements on the bladder construction, so check that before testing. Also, the measurment unit has to be attached to the bladder directly. So you either have to pull out the bladder to get a reading or you have something like an app installed on your phone that shows the reading.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2021-01-03T23:57:14.807" LastActivityDate="2021-01-03T23:57:14.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25791" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-04T14:17:36.173" Score="24" ViewCount="5899" Body="&lt;p&gt;What are the advantages and disadvantages of water bottles versus bladders? Is there any reason to prefer one over the other, in terms of health, safety, cost, convenience, or maintenance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-01-08T04:33:05.617" Title="What are the advantages and disadvantages of water bottles versus bladders?" Tags="&lt;hydration&gt;&lt;hydration-bladders&gt;" AnswerCount="13" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25792" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-04T14:17:36.173" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my highly opinionated self-answer. I would be happy to see other people's answers if they disagree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The advent of bladders such as camelbaks is a response to a pop-culture myth that dehydration is always sneaking up on us -- that &amp;quot;thirst is too late,&amp;quot; so we have to constantly drink water even when we're not thirsty. Actually, the first and most reliable symptom of dehydration is intense thirst. Depending on the conditions, you can typically go many hours without drinking fluids, and nothing bad will happen. (It used to be against the rules for marathon runners to drink fluids during a race.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Disadvantages of bladders relative to bottles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're more expensive.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They're &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/24754/how-often-should-i-clean-my-water-bladder-reservoir-while-on-a-thru-hike-extend&quot;&gt;hard to clean&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/14593/how-can-i-effectively-clean-the-bite-valve-for-my-water-bladder?rq=1&quot;&gt;including the bite valve&lt;/a&gt;), and &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/19270/can-a-person-picky-about-water-taste-use-a-hydration-bladder&quot;&gt;people complain about the taste&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Some types of bladders are especially &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8309/how-to-efficiently-fill-a-bladder-with-water?rq=1&quot;&gt;hard to fill from natural sources&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/25787/how-to-estimate-remaining-water-in-a-hydration-bladder&quot;&gt;hard to tell how much water you have left&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you need more capacity than one bladder, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/20001/fittings-to-connect-together-two-hydration-bladders&quot;&gt;transferring water from one bladder to another is a hassle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In cold conditions, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/25575/what-are-some-good-hydration-solutions-for-long-winter-hikes&quot;&gt;it's difficult to keep the hose from freezing up&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T14:17:36.173" CommentCount="15" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25793" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25787" CreationDate="2021-01-04T16:29:37.917" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use a bladder when mountain biking because it keeps the weight on me rather than on the bike, and has no risk of bouncing out of a bottle cage - plus bottles get covered in mud and/or get very cold.  I tend to under-hydrate because I drink when it fits the riding conditions or when I stop, and the slow flow compared to a bottle means I don't drink much each time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I've learnt to get a feel for the weight of the pack - when I stop, I reach behind me and weigh the pack in my hand.  I'm not trying to get a number just a feeling - has enough gone?  As well as weight, which can change due to other items, the sloshiness (it's a word now) of the contents is a useful sign. That loose feeling of the water moving around is  more easily assessed by taking the pack off and tilting it in 2 hands, or by opening it and reaching into the compartment with the bladder, but you can get a rough feel with a hand behind your back.  If you're stopping to get a snack/tools/jacket out, feel the bladder and/or whole pack then.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest you try it out yourself with the use of a luggage scale for calibration: Use you pockets for snacks etc. to avoid confounding factors, feel the weight,  then take the pack off and weigh it.  I don't suggest habitually carrying scales.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other thing you can try, at home, is filling the bladder to 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and brim full, then putting it in the pack with your other stuff and feeling the weight/balance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T16:29:37.917" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25794" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-04T16:49:16.313" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not a big fan of bladders myself but use them at times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main reason is that I find it hard to drink enough - although they're hands free, the flow is too low to get enough if a rare quick drink is all you have time for, unlike a bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use them on the mountain bike for reasons of balance and cleanliness (bottles get covered in mud), then on stretches of fireroad you can take quite a bit on board, slowly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other time is kayaking, when drinking from a bottle means popping my spraydeck, and I might not get the chance.  However I'd rather not have the extra drag if I take a swim - another downside, even with a hydration pack designed for my bouyancy aid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Road/gravel riding I stick to bottles, but I do long days and don't want weight on my back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking again I use bottles. If it's hot I'll use a belt-mounted bottle holder with a bigger bottle in my bag as well as I get through more water than some people (and snacks) and we may not always stop often enough for my liking if in a group where each stop is slow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the taste/cleanliness, after a good rinse, store them in the freezer.  On long trips you're filling and emptying so often it's not an issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T16:49:16.313" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25795" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25763" CreationDate="2021-01-04T16:54:24.700" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You should be &amp;quot;burping&amp;quot; your drysuit to remove excess air. From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrs.com/learn/how-to-put-on-drysuit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;NRS&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You want to evacuate, or “burp,” excess air from the suit. A puffy suit is cumbersome when paddling and can be dangerous if you were to get caught in a hole during a swim. One way to do this is to hold the neck gasket open with your fingers, then squat and scrunch your body, pushing air out. Release the gasket before standing up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another method is to get into the water and let the water pressure force out the air. This is really a good idea; it not only most effectively removes all the air, it’s also a safety check to ensure your suit is fully ready to protect you in an emergency swim.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This way there will be less air in the drysuit and it will be easier to swim. Leave a little bit of air for comfort and warmth though. Aside from the swimming benefit it is also important from a safety perspective in that having a lot of air in the drysuit can have it rush to the legs, flipping you upside down and drowning you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18120" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T16:54:24.700" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25796" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-04T20:02:21.663" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;The main advantage of a water bladder is that it's easy to drink from. You can take frequent small sips without interrupting your activity. If tend to forget to drink enough water while exercising, this is a huge advantage. If you don't have that problem, then you get little to no advantage from a water bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A side effect is if you are biking/climbing/hiking/etc with a group. If the rest of the group members have water bladders and can drink on the go, but you are the only one who has to stop to drink from a bottle, you have a conflict with the group. Maybe you need to stop more frequently to stay hydrated, which they find annoying, or you get left behind and have to hustle to catch up. Or you conform the group's rest schedule and end up not drinking water for long periods, then try to gulp down huge amounts of water in the infrequent rest breaks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As others have explained, water bladders do have a number of disadvantages. Personally I find that the main advantage outweighs all the disadvantages, but it's certainly a matter of personal preference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose a water bladder, you can mitigate some of the disadvantages by carrying an empty bottle as a backup. That way you still have a way to carry some water if your bladder springs a leak. A bottle is also easier to fill from a water source than a bladder; you can use your back up bottle to refill the water bladder. And if you're treating your water with tablets, you can treat water in the bottle, so you don't have to wait until your water bladder is completely empty before you refill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you choose water bottles, you can mitigate some of the disadvantages by carrying one where you have convenient access. Eg, carry one bottle on a sling, or in a holder on your belt. You also want your primary drinking bottle to have an easy-drink nozzle or nipple, rather than an open top. That way you can take a quick sip while moving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Water bladders do have a few other advantages. These advantages are pretty minor, but may be relevant for some very specific situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Weight distribution. A water bladder pouch (whether part of a backpack or a standalone pack) holds the water close to your back, which keeps your pack weight balanced, and keeps the center of gravity close to your body. As you drink from the bladder, the weight stays centered.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No sloshing. A half-full water bottle sloshes, which causes a slight weight shift. Constantly shifting weight will slightly increase fatigue.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sloshing makes noise. If you're trying to be stealthy (eg, in a military, hunting, or zombie apocalypse context), you want a water bladder. Before the US military started using water bladders, groups of soldiers would only carry canteens that were completely full or completely empty. When they stopped, they would open a canteen, pass it around and drink it dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note: Water bladders are quite sturdy; they don't just spontaneously rupture all the time. When a bladder finally does break, it typically has a slow leak that can be temporarily patched with tape to get you through until you can replace it. Catastrophic failure is extremely unlikely. It's good to have an emergency plan for what you would do if your water bladder does fail, but you can reasonably expect that it won't happen on most trips. I've been using the same water bladder for years without it leaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T20:02:21.663" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25797" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-04T20:52:56.440" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;After a small intermezzo using hydration bladders, I have been using bottles exclusively for the last few years. There is two events that caused me to abandon hydration bladders:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Water leaking into the backpack. This happened with a cheap bladder and a smaller backpack stuffed full with climbing equipment. The bladder simply did not hold tight under pressure and I had water all over in my backpack and stuff was wet.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Actually running out of water. I was climbing an alpine (rock) route and when we started to rappel from the summit (still a long way to go) I ran out of water. I had 3 liters with me which should have been more than enough, but I simply drank too much during the ascent. This is not a funny feeling.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is some more issues that prevent me from using bladders again:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are heavy. Well not the bladder but with a bladder I tended to drink a lot and carry 3 liters all the time. Nowadays I am often only venturing out for a day with 1.5 liters and on hot days a 0.5l backup (PET bottles just have the right size). That is at least 1 kilo saved easily&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Fear of getting it punctured by cramp-ons, ice screws, etc&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;On higher altitude or colder weather (especially in winter) anything uninsulated simply does not keep the warmth&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They require to carry a back-pack. For something like 6 pitches of climbing and rappeling to the start, I often do not want to climb with a backpack. Or only one for the team. A water bottle at the harness is enough for those.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Many activities allow to stop and take a sip from a bottle. In hiking it does not hurt to stop every now and then, take a sip and continue. I often clip the bottle to the outside of the backpack to have easy access to drink.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T20:52:56.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25798" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-04T21:01:09.753" Score="37" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some advice given to me in an outdoor leadership course:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a leader, use water bottles rather than bladders.&#xA;Make an obvious show of the pausing and drinking: stopping, taking off the pack, getting out the water bottle, and drinking plenty.&#xA;This is a clear signal to the clients that it's OK, advisable even, to stop and drink and do other things like rest, adjust buckles and change layers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If, as a leader, I keep sneaking frequent sips from my bladder as I go along, I may be pushing my group unnecessarily hard.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2021-01-04T21:01:09.753" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25799" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25819" CreationDate="2021-01-05T00:08:05.390" Score="2" ViewCount="149" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bears are back in the Question Queue,  which reminds me of the claim going around Lawrence Berkeley Lab several decades ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The claim was that some mother bears in the Sierra would send their cubs up a tree and onto a smallish branch (a branch too small to carry the weight of an adult bear) to knock down a food bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My question is:  Is there any evidence that this actually happened, or is this apocrophal?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Devising this strategy seems within the scope of the intelligent and experienced bears in Yosemite, but, as far as I know, no one ever claimed to have actually seen mother and cubs implementing it.  The closest we came was seeing an adult climb up to a branch, and, holding on to the trunk, reach out and repeatedly whack the branch until it broke, depositing the food bag (ours!) on the ground.  No amount of noise deterred it for a second.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-01-08T21:22:41.610" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T00:46:33.690" Title="Is there any evidence that bears use (or used) cub labor to get food from backpackers?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25800" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25737" CreationDate="2021-01-05T03:31:45.690" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;OP here. The post was held in a 3.6mm hole by friction and white wood glue, enhanced by circumferential barbs on the post.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yio91.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yio91.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Post necks does to a narrower barbed shaft to insert in a hole&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I removed the post without apparent damage by rotating it with needle-nose vice grips (see the teeth marks in the post edges) to break the hold of the glue, then the carefully prying it out from multiple sides using a flat-head screwdriver with the orange plastic as the fulcrum.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20550" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T03:31:45.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25801" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25806" CreationDate="2021-01-05T07:50:40.270" Score="4" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;May I know if someone know about this tiny plankton shrimp like creature in spring mountain water? I know ( traditional ) if there is leech in spring water it means it is very good to drink but it is not like leech but it is like shrimp&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sCYDV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sCYDV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;spring Water creature like tiny shrimp&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20603" OwnerDisplayName="davis I" LastEditorUserId="20603" LastEditDate="2021-01-05T11:34:31.667" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T14:31:59.303" Title="Shrimp like creature in spring mountain water" Tags="&lt;drinking-water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25803" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T13:18:02.317" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;As someone who used to do a &lt;em&gt;lot&lt;/em&gt; of serious walking with a serious pack, I started before water bladders existed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly taking a pack off is awkward, especially if it's a large pack.  But there are many other things apart from water which you also want accessible without taking your pack off - compass, money, cards, phone, perhaps a knife, perhaps a guide book.  My solution was a small waist pack - what Brits call a &amp;quot;bum bag&amp;quot; and Americans call a &amp;quot;fanny pack&amp;quot;.  I kept this front-mounted so that it didn't foul on my pack.  If you visit military-surplus stores then there are usually extra pouches available which can be attached to your pack's shoulder straps instead, if you prefer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this, I could easily carry a litre of water plus all the other little bits and pieces I needed. In temperate climates, a litre of water will generally last you a morning; but anyway if you've used up a litre of water sweating then it's probably time for a break.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For cycling, almost every bike frame has bottle mounts, and weight on your back is generally considered bad news ergonomically.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The one good use case for water bladders is long-distance running, where the weight of water is in a good position on your body and you can take occasional sips without needing to stop.  For pretty much everyone else though, they're a solution which doesn't help the initial problem and which creates more problems of their own.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6481" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T13:18:02.317" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25804" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T13:31:27.047" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A bladder:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be accessed without having to take off a rucksack and put it back on again (sounds trivial, but if you're carrying 25kg or more, and there's no rock to balance it on...)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be accessed without opening waterproof containers (e.g. kayak hatch or spraydeck)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;can be sipped from in small quantities (due to the convenience shown above), avoiding the cooling effect of larger, less frequent drinks&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;takes almost no more space than the water, and can pack into odd shapes&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bottle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is less exposed to the cold, and has no pipe to freeze (if packed lid-down, then the neck stays clear until the whole bottle is solid)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is easier to clean&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;is more evident when nearing empty&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like others, I normally choose a largeish bladder (2-3 litre) to drink from and a smaller (1 or even ½ litre) reserve bottle to top it up when empty.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I like the &amp;quot;Big Zipper&amp;quot; design where one end of the bladder is a huge fill neck.  This is by far the easiest to fill from natural sources or via a filter (also handy for removing ice without having to thaw the whole lot).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-01-06T10:54:55.773" LastActivityDate="2021-01-06T10:54:55.773" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25805" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T14:18:05.150" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;One advantage to bladders that hasn't been mentioned yet: the less water they contain, the less space they take up in your pack. A 1L bottle takes up 1L of space whether it's full, half full, or empty. If you have a 3L bladder but don't need to carry 3L of water, you can fill it with as much water as you need and have more space available for other things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20606" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T14:18:05.150" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25806" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25801" CreationDate="2021-01-05T14:31:59.303" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is most likely Gammarus Pulex or &amp;quot;Freshwater Shrimp&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.lifeinfreshwater.org.uk/Species%20Pages/Gammarus.jpg.html&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.lifeinfreshwater.org.uk/Species%20Pages/Gammarus.jpg.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't believe they are anything special in terms of working out whether water is potable or not.  They tend to prefer slow-moving, highly oxygenated water, but that's about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20505" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T14:31:59.303" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25808" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T17:57:55.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;h2&gt;Multi-pitch rock climbing&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use a bladder when running (which others have discussed), but I also prefer one for multi-pitch rock climbing, for a few reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bladder advantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Less chance of dropping something.&lt;/strong&gt; The water is inside the pack which is attached to you, so it's harder to drop. You could sling a water bottle to yourself also, but this adds some weight, occupies some gear, and increases the chances of stuff getting tangled.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can be used (nearly) hands free.&lt;/strong&gt; Whether belaying or climbing, both of your hands will generally be occupied. With a bladder you can quickly place the straw in your mouth (after communicating with your partner, of course), then take as long as you need to drink with your hands back on the rock or rope.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Harder to spill.&lt;/strong&gt; Water sources tend to be less prevalent when traveling in a vertical direction, so this is important.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bottle advantages&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Easier to keep track of your intake.&lt;/strong&gt; You can see and/or hear when the bottle is getting empty. while you shouldn't &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/6875/15659&quot;&gt;ration your water&lt;/a&gt;, knowing how much you have left can help in planning.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Easier to share.&lt;/strong&gt; If somebody's bladder is empty, sharing means transferring water to another bladder (which is complicated), or else that person is using someone else's straw, which is not hygienic and requires those two people to be next to each other. But if their bottle is empty, you can hand them yours to quickly/easily refill. I actually carry a collapsible water bottle for this reason -- it fits well in my pack, and I can use a bladder straw to fill it if necessary (just hold it over the opening and pinch the bite valve).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15659" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T17:57:55.153" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25809" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T19:28:42.120" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is an 'inbetween' option.&#xA;A tube with the bladder like stopper which is used with a bottle, any pet bottle with a common top can be used, two different tops included in the set I bought.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I used this set, usually several spare bottle and one with the tube in, while I used a recumbent bike with a seat that came up to almost mouth level, just pull the tube end to you to drink and when you let it go it will stay near enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has most of the advantages of a bottle, hard sides, easy seeing the contents, option to add pills or whatever you want to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It shares some disadvantages with bladders, the tube is much harder to keep clean than the normal water bottle tops and when the bottle comes under pressure with the tube in place it is more likely to leak.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I abandoned the tube system after enjoying its use when I changed bikes and the new did not have a good option to hold the bottles and the tube close to my head. I did not properly store them as the tube was getting grubby and should be replaced.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;As at the time I could not get hold of the brand version (and I forgot the brand in those years) I had a brand-less replacement. I can still give a good review for the kind of solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15142" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T19:28:42.120" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25810" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-05T19:35:54.417" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;It really depends on your use cases. I love a bladder when mountain biking, as it allows easy drinking with only a couple seconds of having my hand off the bar to put the hose in my mouth, good when climbing hard or going through rough terrain, etc. I don't like them when running or road cycling, running feels like it throws off my form and road cycling it's hot and I don't like the feeling. For both I use bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20615" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T19:35:54.417" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25811" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25814" CreationDate="2021-01-05T20:25:42.867" Score="0" ViewCount="216" Body="&lt;p&gt;So I have recently developed an appetite for camping and thinking about buying some gear. Since I'm not sure how committed I'll be, I want to keep my purchases on the lower side. So I have chosen&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tent: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.decathlon.in/p/8513471/tents/camping-tent-mh100-2-person-grey&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.decathlon.in/p/8513471/tents/camping-tent-mh100-2-person-grey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sleeping bag: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.decathlon.in/p/8556634/sleeping-bag-and-mattress/trekking-mummy-pairable-sleeping-bag-trek-500-5c-wadding-burgundy&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.decathlon.in/p/8556634/sleeping-bag-and-mattress/trekking-mummy-pairable-sleeping-bag-trek-500-5c-wadding-burgundy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll be getting an inflatable sleeping pad too. The Sleeping bag is rated at 5 C comfort and 0 C Limit. Most of my camping will be above 5 C but I was wondering if I ever chance upon camping in north India with temperatures of -3 to -5 C (not going anywhere colder than that), can I supplement this bag with woolen socks/gloves, beanie, thermal clothing, thick jeans and a bomber jacket plus a quilt? Or do I have to rent a better rated one. Would rather not go for their 0 C sleeping bag which is 20% costlier and I'm already stretching my budget. Any other suggestions welcome. :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20616" LastActivityDate="2021-01-14T13:04:14.907" Title="Help with choosing camping gear" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;camping&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25812" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25811" CreationDate="2021-01-05T22:49:38.327" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assuming you are always going to carry extra warm, dry clothing to use around camp, when temperatures will usually be cooler and you'll not be generating any of your own heat, then yes, you can use those same warm, dry clothes to keep you warmer in the sleeping bag.&#xA;If you take off that warm, dry clothing and then get into a thin or light-weight sleeping bag, you will need an extra quilt or another thin bag to keep warm -- extra weight you may not have otherwise needed to carry. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/645/is-it-warmer-to-sleep-naked-in-a-sleeping-bag&quot;&gt;is-it-warmer-to-sleep-naked-in-a-sleeping-bag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By the way, you mention thick jeans, which are made of cotton.&#xA;If there is any chance at all of getting cold and wet then cotton, or any other plant-based fibers clothing, is not a good idea.&#xA;Wool or synthetics are better. See &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8945/what-clothing-would-be-suitable-for-hiking-and-camping-in-0c&quot;&gt;what-clothing-would-be-suitable-for-hiking-and-camping-in-0c&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/11512/why-not-use-a-cotton-base-layer&quot;&gt;why-not-use-a-cotton-base-layer&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/7571/does-cotton-really-kill&quot;&gt;does-cotton-really-kill&lt;/a&gt; for longer discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2021-01-05T22:49:38.327" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25813" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-06T08:15:16.270" Score="4" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Bring both&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why the bladder?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I &lt;em&gt;seriously&lt;/em&gt; forget to drink if I don't bring a water bladder on my hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Before I used hydration systems, I regularly felt fatigue, got headaches, and at times altitude sickness.  When I stop for a break on a cold, humid day (and I usually hike in moderately cold climates) I fail to catch up drinking the half litre I should have drunk in the past 2-3 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my experience, short stops are disruptive.  In particular on an uphill, I choose a pace I can keep, then continue non-stop for two hours.  During those two hours, I often overtake people who sped past me at the beginning of the slope, and although it's not a race, it suggests the strategy I learned as a kid does help for progress.  Any interruption for drinking from a bottle is disruptive to this hiking rhythm.  This is less of an issue on flat or downhill, but in those I probably need less water too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I've started using hydration bladders, I've not suffered from dehydration once.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In my total outdoor budget the cost of the bladder is well below 1%, so that is not really an issue to me.  For the price of travel and accommodation for a single trip alone I can buy several lifetime supplies of bladders.  This may be different for people lucky enough to live in cycling distance of their outdoor destination, but most of us aren't as lucky.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the bladder has serious downsides, which have been mentioned in other answers: they may leak and you may be unsure how much water you have left if you don't stop and check.  Therefore I will bring a bottle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Why the bottle?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I do stop for a break, I drink from the bottle, for the advantages that people have mentioned.  The big downside of the bottle is that I have to stop to drink from it, taking off my backpack.  Any stop is an interruption to exercise, and when I'm hiking up a slope, I tend to choose a pace I can keep up for two hours non-stop.  I really want to avoid unnecessary stops that bring my out of my rhythm.  Therefore I will bring a bladder.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Advantages of bringing both&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's easier to fill a bottle from a water source (and filter if needed), and we can then use the bottle to refill the bladder (using a funnel if needed);&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The bottle is a backup if we inadvertently finish the bladder early or the bladder leaks;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I know I have /at least/ the amount of water left I can see in the bottle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastEditorUserId="566" LastEditDate="2021-01-06T08:36:52.490" LastActivityDate="2021-01-06T08:36:52.490" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25814" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25811" CreationDate="2021-01-06T22:07:00.680" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;A very useful (and not expensive) way to adjust a sleeping bag's insulation is a liner.  This also reduces the need to wash the sleeping bag, prolonging its life.  With access to even a basic sewing machine, liners are easy enough to make, if it's easier to get the fabric than a ready-made liner. There are several types:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The cheapest liners are thin polycotton; even they add a little warmth (perhaps a couple of degrees) - or allow you to open the foot vent without feeling a full draught, if you're a little warm.  Pure cotton liners are comfortable, a little warmer when dry, no good if they get damp.  They're more meant for hostel use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Silk liners are supposed to be excellent for warmth and weight, but I've never used one.  They're expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are some synthetic liners that claim to be (almost) as good as silk, and I'm likely to get something when I can go camping again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If your sleeping bag is really underrated for the conditions, polyester fleece liners are an option, but they add a fair bit of weight and bulk to your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want to travel light, I'd get the sleeping bag that meets your best guess for immediate need, and a thin liner, with the minimum clothing underneath for decency when you get out of the bag.  If you need more insulation, a thicker liner and/or proper base layers will make the difference.  You can also upgrade your sleeping mat for more warmth, at the expensive of more weight, even to the extent of a foam mat under an inflated one.  A lot of heat is lost to the ground&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-01-06T22:07:00.680" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25816" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-07T20:50:57.813" Score="1" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have a single shot short barrel weapon of unknown caliber.&#xA;Was told it was handmade for either 38 Special +P or 357 Magnum.&#xA;How safe is it to shoot 357 Magnum if made for 38 Special+P ?&#xA;Maybe handload progressive 357 Magnum loads for test fire ?&#xA;Or just shoot light loads ?&#xA;I am setup to hand load 357 Magnum, but not 38 Special.&#xA;Any thoughts ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20629" LastActivityDate="2021-01-13T21:55:45.880" Title="357 Magnum vs 38 Special +P single shot weapon" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ammunition&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25817" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25826" CreationDate="2021-01-07T22:41:07.090" Score="0" ViewCount="119" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have SUP neoprene gloves, which are quite tight and curved, which makes them dry even longer than the scuba dive gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've washed them recently because of unpleasant smell from inside, and it took about 4 days before they were dry inside. I'm a bit worried that those are the perfect condition for fungi to grow.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How to correctly take care about such gloves to prevent fungi and other beast to feast on them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-01-07T23:40:08.580" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T20:30:11.020" Title="Drying neoprene gloves to prevent growth of fungi" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;gloves&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;&lt;neoprene&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25818" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25817" CreationDate="2021-01-08T04:09:28.500" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wet suits from the kayak club were actively sloshed in warm water with some bleach in it, then thoroughly rinsed.  The bleach will attack the neoprene.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use the neoprene water boots for backpacking and by the end of the trip, they are pretty ripe.  I run them through the washing machine normal cycle (warm wash, cool rise) but hit the 'extra rinse' button then tumble dry on low heat with my sleeping bag, or a load of towels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would expect that electric boot driers would work with them if you need to dry often.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I find that if I prop them toes highest they wont dry overnight on a trip, but they will be as dry as the socks I wear inside them.  At home they dry within 24 hours -- about as fast as leather boots or leather gloves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think that fungus can actually eat the neoprene.  Fungus are growing on the embedded bits of dried skin that we humans constantly slough off.  Periodic washing helps, as does wearing a thin polypro liner to catch much of the skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had about 8 pairs of the boots.  I wear them out -- put holes in the soles -- long before they decompose from fungi.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="2157" LastEditDate="2021-01-09T16:48:33.187" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T16:48:33.187" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25819" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25799" CreationDate="2021-01-08T04:21:55.610" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Philmont Scout Ranch&lt;/a&gt; in northern New Mexico with 11,000 visitors (10 days each) had a significant bear problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One of the stories, not of cubs, but of yearings, was of the Kamikaze bear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Standard doctrine was to hang your bear &lt;s&gt;bait&lt;/s&gt; bag 12 feet above the ground, 6 feet from the nearest tree.  Camps had permanent setups with  lines to pulleys hung 25 feet up.  Since the group size was 10 people the bags could be quite heavy, even with groups usually only carrying 3-4 days food at any one time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Kamikaze bear was a two year old, first summer on his own.  The suspicion was that he learned to do this when younger and smaller, and refined the technique as he grew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, he would climb the tree until he was well above the cache.  Then he would leap out and grab the bag.  Nylon cord would stretch like a bungie cord, slowing K.B. down. Once on the ground he would finish ripping the bag open, the empty bag would spring back into the air, and he would snack on the freeze dried whatever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-01-10T00:46:33.690" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T00:46:33.690" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25820" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25791" CreationDate="2021-01-08T04:33:05.617" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Too many stories of bladders breaking.  To many actual occurrences of people on my trips who had the hose freeze.  And I'm cheap.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My non-system.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a 12 oz pull valve water bottle.  It's easy to clean. It fits in a side pocket of my backpack.  I tend to be someone who doesn't drink at all for an hour or so, then will drink most of my bottle, then refill it at the next creek crossing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I carry a 2 liter pop bottle.  Most of the time it just takes up space, but if I know I'm doing a ridge trail I will fill it up at the highest known water supply.  If I think I might be camping above water, I'll bring two bottles.  Pop bottles are much studier than the thin plastic water bottles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On winter day trips, I bring a 2 liter bottle filled with hot sweet milky coffee.  This is packed surrounded by sleeping bag (yes, I carry a sleeping bag on winter day trips.  If I break an ankle I might not be back that day.)  This will still be at least luke warm 8 hours later.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I was into endurance racing of some sort, I think I'd get a bladder. I can see the virtue of being able to drink on the run.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2021-01-08T04:33:05.617" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25821" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25817" CreationDate="2021-01-08T14:19:40.660" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have HVAC vents in your floor, you might try propping your gloves open on top of a vent. Use a wire hangar (cut/bend) to build a rack as necessary. This will help to circulate air through the glove (or boot, water bladder, etc) and works very well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Otherwise, you can find small DC powered fans which are meant for cooling PCs. They typically run on a 5V supply.  I have attached these to power supplies (&amp;quot;wall warts&amp;quot;) and used them to dry equipment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I will try to update this post with pics later today.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5341" LastActivityDate="2021-01-08T14:19:40.660" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25823" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25753" CreationDate="2021-01-09T03:51:06.323" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The more important question, regardless of age, is how much are you willing to sacrifice.  The people that push the boundaries are the ones that devote their lives to it.  Going to the the gym after work aint good enough, and unless you are a trustafarian, RedBull doesn't sponsor weekend warriors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the low hanging fruit has been eaten, and you are never going to get into the finals of an IFSC world cup, but this world still has many virgin routes and unclimbed peaks.  Even in the United States, I have run across some beautiful looking, untouched lines, way out in the wilderness, and wished I had the weeks to try a first ascent, but...baby needs new shoes, so back to work I go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So if you really want a golden piton award, the first step is to say goodbye to your family and quit your day job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15412" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T03:51:06.323" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25825" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-09T17:52:09.827" Score="1" ViewCount="110" Body="&lt;p&gt;The documentary Free Solo begins with footage of Honnold climbing and a voice over and cut to this interview, with the interviewer saying:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our next guest is a free soloing phenomenon, please welcome Alex Honnold...Here is what I don't understand. One little mistake, one little slip, and you fall and die.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d97fu.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/d97fu.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The credits don't list this clip and I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know who this is or how I could go about finding out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20633" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T17:52:09.827" Title="How can I identify the woman interviewing Alex Honnold at the beginning of Free Solo?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;free-solo-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25826" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25817" CreationDate="2021-01-09T20:30:11.020" Score="1" Body="&lt;h2&gt;How to dry a waterproof glove&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The basic strategy is to start the drying by manually remove as much water as possible, then finish by air drying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Grab the glove by the tips of the fingers, with the palm and cuff hanging down from your hand. Use your other hand to grab the glove just below your first hand, squeeze and draw your hand all the way down to the cuff. Your goal is to &amp;quot;milk&amp;quot; any trapped water out of the interior and fabric of the glove, so it drains out of the cuff. Do the same to the thumb. Repeat as many times as it seems like your effort is rewarded by removing a substantial amount of water from the fingers, but don't wear yourself out working on the palm and cuff. We'll get those in the next step.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Insert a rolled towel into the cuff and palm of the glove. A wash cloth, hand towel, or the corner or a larger towel works well. Wrap the outside of the glove in another dry towel. Try to get a fold of towel in between the fingers, and between the thumb and the palm. Roll up the towel. Stand on the rolled towel and rock back and forth, so that any water trapped in the glove fabric is squeezed out by the pressure, and absorbed by the towels. Remove the towels. If they are quite wet, repeat the process with dry towels.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use clothespins to hang the glove from a clothesline with the fingers and thumb pointing up.  Depending on the stiffness of the glove you may need one clothespin per finger, or you may be able to just pin it by the middle finger.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's important not to let any finger flop over and hang tip down, because you can get a pool of water trapped in the tip of that finger, which will never dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Place the clothespins so they only pinch closed the tip of each finger - you don't want to pinch a finger closed in the middle, because that will make it hard for the inside of the finger tip to dry out.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Put a fan on the gloves if you're drying them indoors. If the weather is dry and breezy (but not so windy your gloves will blow away), skip the fan and hang them outdoors.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other methods:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can get glove attachments for an electric boot dryer. The glove attachment holds the gloves in a good position for drying - fingers pointed up and propped open. The boot dryer has a fan that blows air into the glove.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Insert crumpled newspaper into the glove. I know people who swear by this method for drying out hiking boots. The idea is that the newspaper speeds drying by absorbing water and wicking it out to the opening where it can evaporate. I don't know how well it will work on a glove, but it's cheaper than a boot dryer, so it might be worth trying. You'll still want to remove as much water as possible before putting the newspaper in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Use a glove form to hold the glove open. This will make it easier to prop or hang the glove to dry. To buy one, search for &amp;quot;knitting&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;glove blocker&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;glove form&amp;quot; (they are used by knitters for &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_(textile_arts)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;blocking&lt;/a&gt; gloves). Or make one yourself; search &amp;quot;DIY glove blocker&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;DIY sock blocker&amp;quot; (sock blockers are much more common than glove blockers so there are more tutorials). Here's a pair made from wire coat hangers (but note that you don't want yours to hang upside-down the way these are designed to do):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RODeK.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/RODeK.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2010/12/three-irish-girls-mitts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-01-09T20:30:11.020" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25827" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-10T11:43:11.233" Score="5" ViewCount="197" Body="&lt;p&gt;Context: I'm a heavy guy - at my widest point, about 58 inches (147 cm) around, and one of the ways I exercise is to incorporate it into some other activity (walking or cycling to the shops, commuting by bike to work, walking where practical while on holiday). I live in the east of England, so recent experience of hill country is limited, but I have done some hiking as a child/teenager in the Lake District and on Dartmoor/Exmoor while at University.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I enjoy camping and have successfully done some bikepacking between commercial campsites, so am interested in backpacking/camping. Based on my experience bikepacking and various instructional videos, I expect to need about a backpack of about 60 litres capacity for a multi-day hike of 10-15 miles per day in moderate country (liable to increase as my confidence grows or if weight starts coming off).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the backpacks I've tried in the past tend to be optimized for someone much slimmer than me, which becomes noticeable in inadequate length of the chest strap and (particularly) the waist belt. In some cases, when carrying a loaded day bag, the length of the shoulder straps has also been a problem, as they can cut off circulation to the arms over time. A less important but still 'nice to have' thing is good airflow - unsurprisingly, I sweat more heavily than most, so I have been impressed with some suspension-style backpacks.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone recommend backpacks or manufacturers that cater for the fatter hiker? Spending is not a particular issue, but availability in the UK may be (I can import, but it would impact the ability to try before buying).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20635" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T12:27:26.423" Title="What backpacks for a fat hiker/camper?" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25828" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25827" CreationDate="2021-01-10T12:27:26.423" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Chest and waist or hip belts can often be extended or replaced with longer ones. While it's possible to lengthen them, modifying the shoulder straps in any more significant way is much harder. If you do need to modify straps, the more standard the fittings, the easier it will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's more important to get a pack that fits, and that puts the lower belt in the right place, than to find belts that work as standard. The lower belt on a pack that size should sit in a way that it can take some weight without having to be so tight it squeezes you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My mountaineering pack, long out of production (a Karrimor Alpiniste), has a more generous hip belt than my more ordinary packs - that might be a direction to look in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-01-10T12:27:26.423" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25829" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25830" CreationDate="2021-01-10T18:48:51.933" Score="1" ViewCount="168" Body="&lt;p&gt;I love hiking in the winter, especially through the snow. I would like to hike in normal shoes and be able to quickly change into some type of ski when going downhill. I know there are cross country skis, but with those its a different thing. I would like to have something small, light which I can wear on normal shoes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I have found the following types of short skis, which might fit the bill:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3NJB5.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3NJB5.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then there are the &amp;quot;bigfoot&amp;quot; type skis, but afaik those require real ski boots, which makes the whole thing bothersome again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a solution to my problem? Are ski skates as pictured above what I should focus on or is there something better? I would also like to be able to slide down in deep snow, outside hiking paths. Would this work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastActivityDate="2021-01-11T08:33:38.190" Title="Ski for hikers?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;cross-country-skiing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="12" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25830" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25829" CreationDate="2021-01-11T08:33:38.190" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are &amp;quot;short skis&amp;quot; that can be used with regular hiking boots. I researched those as an alternative for approaching ice climbs. However, there is some major issues with these&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;They are not really suited for soft winter snow as they are simply too small and will sink in deep. They are more suited for compact (early) summer snow&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Hiking boots are very soft compared to ski boots. It will be hard to control the skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Bindings that go on hiking boots will not release in case of a fall&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These short skis will always be a major compromise. If you focus on hiking, stick with snow shoes. If you focus on the descent, take touring skis and get a proper downhill experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2021-01-11T08:33:38.190" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25831" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-11T16:22:57.987" Score="2" ViewCount="97" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to find a rail mount for a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Please notice it isn't a dovetail rail, it has parallel sides. I've tried already a dovetail mount, but it gets loose when shooting.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3f5eZ.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3f5eZ.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could someone help to identify? Or to find an adapter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20639" LastActivityDate="2021-01-11T16:22:57.987" Title="Rail mount for shotgun" Tags="&lt;shotguns&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25834" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25816" CreationDate="2021-01-12T04:08:50.433" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Both .38 Special and .357 Magnum are calibers specified by &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporting_Arms_and_Ammunition_Manufacturers%27_Institute&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;SAAMI&lt;/a&gt;.  If you have a gun with no indication of its caliber and no means of verifying its compliance with SAAMI specifications then don't expect it to safely fire SAAMI-spec cartridges.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If a SAAMI cartridge appears to fit it and you want to work up a load then realize that you are engaging in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_test&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;proof testing&lt;/a&gt; of the gun, and you should learn and follow best practices for that to avoid unintended destruction of life, limb, or property.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are saying that &lt;em&gt;you are sure&lt;/em&gt; it is designed for at least .38 Special +P then, &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11836/6137&quot;&gt;as explained here&lt;/a&gt;, it can fire those.  (If you aren't comfortable adjusting your loading dies and press from .357 Magnum to .38 Special length then it may not be prudent to play with down-loading .357 Magnum cartridges to try to match .38 Special pressures.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastEditorUserId="6137" LastEditDate="2021-01-13T21:55:45.880" LastActivityDate="2021-01-13T21:55:45.880" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25835" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-12T10:23:45.997" Score="12" ViewCount="3191" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use the Jack Wolfskin ExoLight I tent, which is (by its official specs) only 60 cm wide inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm looking to buy a colder-weather self-inflating sleeping pad to extend the season in the spring and autumn. I would really like to buy a slightly wider sleeping pad, since I sleep on my back and elbow room has been a problem. Regular pads, which I find a bit too narrow, are usually around 50–52 cm wide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, all &amp;quot;wide&amp;quot; models (for example from Exped or Therm-a-rest) seem to be around 65 cm wide. I expect the tub of the tent will stretch a little to the sides, but would that 5 cm excess be an actual problem? It's only 2.5 cm on each side, after all. And are there other problems you might see with the pad being too wide for the tent?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20611" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-01-12T21:12:42.253" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T10:43:56.150" Title="Sleeping pad slightly wider than tent?" Tags="&lt;tents&gt;&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25836" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25835" CreationDate="2021-01-12T13:10:33.243" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best approach would be to measure it - pitch the tent at home and see how bit it is at ground level, with and without trying to stretch it.  A mock sleeping mat made from cardboard packaging would allow you to consider the length as well, and whether you've got room for everything you want in the inner tent.  But also try to measure the pad inflated before you buy it.  It may come up narrow, or it may bulge in a way that causes a problem and isn't considered in the dimensions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jack-wolfskin.co.uk/exolight-i/3004911.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;dimensions&lt;/a&gt;, you've got a total of 10cm between the flysheet and inner tent at nominal.  You're expecting to use up half of that, which would seem to increase the chances of the layers touching.  You've got the tent so you can consider how stable it would be in the circumstances you plan to use it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Consider the pad you have at the moment. How wide is that? Do you put things beside it? If the current one is perfect except the insulation, one solution would be  to cut a foam mat to the exact same width for use underneath. That may be heavier than a new pad, though not by much if you can get away with the extra foam only under your torso, or down to your knees. If you reckon it's time for an upgrade anyway, it's less of a good idea.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I wouldn't want the entire width of my tent taken up with my sleeping mat.  I'm tall so there's not much room at the ends and need to put things beside me - but on the mat they tend to move around and end up underneath me&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-01-12T22:16:14.610" LastActivityDate="2021-01-12T22:16:14.610" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25837" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25835" CreationDate="2021-01-12T16:46:13.750" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you only need the extra width for your elbows, try a sleeping pad with wings. This is a common practice in hammock camping, because the elbows tend to get chilly when pressed up against the hammock fabric. There are lots of hammock pads with built-in wings, but if you buy one of these be sure it's also good for sleeping on the ground. They often come with a second set of wings for your knees. If you don't need the knee wings, you can always remove them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also supplement your current pad with a fabric sleeve that slips on over your sleeping pad, with pockets on the side for wings made of foam. This is very easy to DIY, but you can also purchase them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of examples, both homemade and commercially made:&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EJcjx.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EJcjx.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4jlwV.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4jlwV.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Both examples above are from &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingWarm.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Just Jeff's Hammock Camping&lt;/a&gt;. That page also has a comparison of different options for weight, insulation, cost, etc. It might be helpful even though his focus is on hammock camping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just a note, if your elbows are actually pressing against the tent fabric while you sleep, you will most likely wake up with wet elbows. Possibly also a wet sleeping bag, depending on how dry the climate is, how humid your breath is, and how well ventilated your tent is. Tents work best when you don't actually touch the ceiling fabric.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="15142" LastEditDate="2021-01-16T10:43:56.150" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T10:43:56.150" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25838" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25816" CreationDate="2021-01-12T21:18:50.040" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm no gunsmith, but personally I wouldn't trust an handmade firearm built by an unknown person at all.  How do you know that the maker was competent in firearm design, metallurgy, machining, and all the other things that must be well-understood in order to make a safe firearm?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try proofing the gun by shooting .357 Magnum ammunition in it from behind a barrier, pulling a string tied to the trigger with the gun in a fixture.  But even if you were able to do so without the gun exploding, that would be no guarantee that it's safe; there could be invisible microscopic cracks propagating through the metal.  It still might blow up the next time you shoot it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should probably consult a local gunsmith with a good reputation rather than taking the advice of strangers, but I'd be amazed if the gunsmith said it was safe to use for anything but very light loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19259" LastActivityDate="2021-01-12T21:18:50.040" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25839" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25835" CreationDate="2021-01-13T14:17:12.183" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes, there are definite problems when your sleeping gear is slightly too wide for the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I speak of personal experience here. I have a single-person throw tent from Decathlone, which is rather small, and I once used it with a noname inflatable mattress (which is also higher than a light pad of the type you have, I must add). I don't know the exact measurements, but when placed in the tent, the mattress stretched it slightly - I don't remember if it was also on the long sides, or only on the short sides. It looked good, and was comfortable enough. At first, the only problem I had was that I obviously had no space to store luggage (which was not a big deal for me, since we had traveled with a car to the campsite).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And then it rained. The rain pearled off the tent dome as usual, but in the place where it was stretched by the mattress, it seeped in. It soaked the mattress and the sleeping bag on top of it, making for a very miserable experience sleeping. These weren't a few drops, it was really a lot of cold water being wicked exactly where I didn't want it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So as a conclusion, make sure that, whatever you buy, you have enough space to clear the tent wall comfortably. If there are no inflatable pads available in the size you need, consider using a different technology, maybe something you can cut up to size. I personally dislike the type of pad you describe, and have discovered that there are a lot of alternatives if you look for them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastActivityDate="2021-01-13T14:17:12.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25840" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25811" CreationDate="2021-01-13T14:45:34.543" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to do some camping with a limited budget, you can start by looking at what gear you can avoid buying.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Options includes:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Renting&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Borrowing (from friends, family, or a local hiking club)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using whatever you already have.&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In nicer weather, a fleece or a wool blanket is enough to sleep under&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;In non-mosquito times, any sort of tarp can make a suitable shelter&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you acquire gear, a few things you can consider:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;second hand makes sense for some items (not for a sleeping bag, though):&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;backpack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sleeping pad (foam, not inflatable)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tent, if you can inspect it properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I don't know about India, but in other countries Decathlon hosts second-hand trading days every year&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;tents are expensive, sometimes a tarp is enough (possibly complemented with a mosquito net)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't recommend on counting on your beanie, gloves, ... to get through a cold night. You won't sleep too well, and if it gets colder than planed, you won't have a plan B.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One nice way to get a bit warmer at night is to use a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag. Make sure it won't leak, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, if you know it won't rain, maybe you don't need a tent? (Depending on other factors, like windchill, privacy, and others, a tent may not be entirely necessary)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastEditorUserId="4154" LastEditDate="2021-01-13T21:24:45.553" LastActivityDate="2021-01-13T21:24:45.553" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25841" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25835" CreationDate="2021-01-13T22:53:38.927" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Asking a question like that provokes different views, so here is mine.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I see it, it is a little hard to predict what is going to happen. You might get wet. But then again: It might work. The tent construction is not bad for your idea. You have one very small vestibule and one bigger vestibule, both along the sides of the tent. This might give you the extra centimeters of space on the sides between fly sheet and inner tent that you need to prevent pressing the inner onto the fly sheet as you sleep. It probably also very much depends on how much you move around while sleeping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done what you think about with a little different gear. I was camping in Scotland with a Hilleberg Allak with an inner width of 120 to 130 cm, also with one vestibule on each side. I squeezed an Exped SynMat HL Duo Winter LW with a maximum width of 130 cm into the tent. Before I thought it should fit, but the sleeping mat indeed pushed the inner quite a bit towards the fly sheet. We slept with three people (one was a very small person) in the tent and I was definitely sleeping in permanent contact with the inner tent wall. But 10 days of Scottish weather tested this sleeping concept and we had no problem whatsoever with humidity inside the tent because of the vestibules along the tent sides.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it is not impossible. But it remains an experiment.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18530" LastEditorUserId="18530" LastEditDate="2021-01-14T00:06:49.453" LastActivityDate="2021-01-14T00:06:49.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25842" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25811" CreationDate="2021-01-14T13:04:14.907" Score="0" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Sleeping bag is rated at 5 C comfort and 0 C Limit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suggest that you find out how that rating was arrived at.&#xA;The temperature limits may assume that the sleeper already wears some (even thermal) underwear/sleeping clothes, and is inside a tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others have already suggested that a liner is a good idea anyways which also adds some insulation. On the other end, you can also add another sleeping bag outside. You only need to make sure it is sufficiently large, so the inner one isn't compressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I prefer to bring a bigger sleeping bag that I expect to be OK temperature-wise with only a tarp/open tent. This gives me some safety margin (closing the tent) in case the weather is worse than expected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2021-01-14T13:04:14.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25843" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-15T22:21:38.793" Score="1" ViewCount="70" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have heard that there are sport hunters that practice taking game with primitive projectile weapons including long bows, slingshots, aumentum, atlatls, spears, and even throwing sticks.  I'm curious to compare the performance of each style of weapon that is being achieved by modern hunters.  Are there data on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Optimal projectile weight?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Projectile momentum at the moment of release?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&amp;quot;Effective range,&amp;quot; and its corollaries: &lt;em&gt;maximum range&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;accuracy&lt;/em&gt;?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6137" LastActivityDate="2021-01-15T22:21:38.793" Title="Comparison of primitive projectile weapons" Tags="&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;archery&gt;&lt;slingshots&gt;&lt;weapons&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="9" ClosedDate="2021-01-18T16:29:36.387" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25846" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="17215" CreationDate="2021-01-16T15:05:01.180" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I know this is a late post but i just ran across it as I want to depart from my pack. This sure likes like my Cascade from late 1970's, so I side with Jansport support. I still have mine. My wife has a smaller version, which I believe was called the Scout. Purchased from REI.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20665" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T15:05:01.180" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25847" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="9171" CreationDate="2021-01-16T15:28:57.317" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I chopped the nettle plants in a Vitamix, adapted a &amp;quot;pesto genovese&amp;quot; recipe, and it was delicious.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I put the plants in a Vitamix with 2 liters of water, left it running on low for several minutes, discarded the water, and repeated once. I suspect that crushing the leaves this way got rid of the formic acid.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The original recipe is now missing from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/recipes/pesto-sauce&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Vitamix website&lt;/a&gt; and used to be:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;80 g greens (basil, spinach, anything)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;120 mL olive oil&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;50 g parmesan cheese (or any hard cheese, even vegan cheese)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;25 g pine nuts (or almonds, or walnuts)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;3 garlic cloves (11 g)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;4 g salt&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and I found &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_US/recipes/basil-pesto&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this similar recipe&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19173" LastActivityDate="2021-01-16T15:28:57.317" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25848" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25855" CreationDate="2021-01-16T22:02:48.220" Score="4" ViewCount="180" Body="&lt;p&gt;The commercially available solar cookers seem to use a variety of different technologies. I have seen ones that use mirrors, ones that use evacuate tubes, and other things, in different configurations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I am wondering what combination of solar cooker features would be best at reliably boiling water in dim daylight conditions.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18126" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-01-18T16:25:54.227" LastActivityDate="2021-01-22T08:49:18.807" Title="What features should I look for in a solar cooker for dim daylight conditions?" Tags="&lt;cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25849" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16149" CreationDate="2021-01-17T00:02:38.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down slippers weigh very little and store very small. Always pack them and use them along side high altitude down overmitts. Dont find out the hard way.I used them on the Cairngorms overnight minus 22 with the wind, in a bivvy shelter partially covered in snow. Of course the best way to retain heat is out of the wind and off the ground so always have a 3/4 lightweight thermo matt.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20668" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T00:02:38.730" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25850" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-01-17T15:52:54.063" Score="-1" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are there any safety concerns connecting two ropes (40 and 50 m) with 2 double fisherman knots and then installing an anchor with 2 carabiners connecting the anchor to the rope for top-roping?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Let's say the ropes have more or less the same diameter (8.9 and 9.2 mm)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18292" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T18:01:20.207" Title="Ice climbing top rope with joined roped" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;&lt;top-roping&gt;&lt;ice-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ClosedDate="2021-01-18T16:30:32.267" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25851" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25850" CreationDate="2021-01-17T17:40:15.440" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Strength wise I think this would be fine.  However, be sure the belayer (and the knot) is on longer strand so the knot doesn’t hit the belay device before the climber gets to the top of the pitch.  Be very careful if you decide to rap down from the anchor.  Much easier to misjudge and rap off the end with two unequal length strands. Probably not an issue since you’re top roping but be aware.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20590" LastActivityDate="2021-01-17T17:40:15.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25853" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24739" CreationDate="2021-01-18T09:27:07.200" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Use the fast moving water as cover, approach from downstream and present your fly holding the rod high and keeping as much line away from the water as possible. Remember that in most cases the fish is facing upstream when feeding, so you can get close enough to drop the fly a few feet ahead of it if you keep a low profile yourself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This situation is where a longer rod with a longer leader or very light fly line helps you. Think Tenkara or European style nymphing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3660" LastActivityDate="2021-01-18T09:27:07.200" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25854" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16425" CreationDate="2021-01-18T21:06:41.013" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What is hull speed?&#xA;Hull speed is the maximum practical speed of a displacement (non-planing) hull. Since a wave's length is proportional to the square of its speed, the wave created by a moving hull will at some speed become longer than the hull's waterline. At this speed the stern of the craft will no longer be supported by any of the following wave crests. You will feel the stern squat into the trough following the bow wave. You will also notice that far greater paddling effort yields little increase in speed because to go faster you must now, in addition to the other forms of resistance, also work against gravity to climb out of the trough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How is hull speed calculated? (or is it measured?)&#xA;The formula for the speed of a water wave, 1.34 times the square root of the wavelength (in feet) equals the speed (in knots), is often used, by substituting the crafts waterline length for wave length, to calculate theoretical &amp;quot;hull speed&amp;quot;. In reality many other factors including weight, slenderness, and the fullness of the bow and stern are also involved.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since longer kayaks are potentially faster should I buy a longer kayak so I can paddle faster?&#xA;The concept of hull speed often leads to the oversimplification &amp;quot;longer is faster&amp;quot;. This has caused many paddlers and several designers to buy or build kayaks that are extremely long in order to be faster. However, because longer, like wider, also means more wetted surface, there will be a length where all the available power will be absorbed by the increased friction, before hull speed can be reached. Longer then becomes slower. Unfortunately, the longer kayak will also require more effort at all lower speeds because friction is present at all speeds. The speed advantage of a long waterline is only apparent at top speed. Extremes of length (and then only up to a point) benefit a racing kayaker and few others. If you can't reach hull speed (squat the stern) when paddling hard that kayak is probably too long and/or too wide for you.&#xA;The above discussion only points out one of the disadvantages of buying a longer kayak, more work. There are several other disadvantages (other things being equal). It will weigh more and be more awkward to carry. It will require more storage room. But most importantly, in strong winds a longer kayak will be more difficult to handle (especially when not gear laden). This is due to the increased windage, the longer lever-arm offered the wind, and generally the slower turning speed of a longer kayak. Not being able to control your kayak in a strong wind could have disastrous consequences.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20670" LastActivityDate="2021-01-18T21:06:41.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25855" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25848" CreationDate="2021-01-19T11:38:33.087" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Even evacuated tube designs use focussing mirrors.  The mirrors just don't have to be as big or as good. The main benefit of the evacuated tube is in reducing heat loss (just like a vacuum flask) which is very helpful, but only if you have enough of a heat source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In dim sunlight - (you cast a weak shadow) an evacuated tube would beat a simpler design, but you should increase the size of the mirrors.  It would be very slow though.  In full sun there's several hundred watts per square metre arriving at the surface (depending on latitude), overcast is more like 100W/m^2 max, dim sunlight somewhere in between.  You can't use all of that even if you could focus it.  For comparison a domestic electric kettle uses 2000W or more.  Immersion heaters designed to run off a car lighter socket and make hot drinks are 120-150W.  To get to something close to this power in dim sunlight I'd estimate (perhaps pessimistically) you'd need 2-3 square metres of reflector.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it's overcast (e.g. you can't see your shadow), you can't focus the light/heat.  That's not to say you can't use it at all, but that you can't get a single item particularly hot - forget boiling water.  A large array of solar panels would be your best bet there, but they'd need to be massively over-specified as the rated power is in full sunlight.  This could power an in-cup water heater or a slow cooker.  Of course this would be very expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So for a fixed camp setup, it's not completely impossible if the sun in weak, just very difficult.  It is impossible with complete cloud cover.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-01-22T08:49:18.807" LastActivityDate="2021-01-22T08:49:18.807" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25859" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4776" CreationDate="2021-01-23T14:18:47.993" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;go to home depot and get a 4x8 foam insulation board you can cut it to fit the bed of your truck and can remove it and store it until you need it again i think they start at around $20.00 to high end $35.00 also a little buddy heater will warm the rest of your sleeping area most people that's into rv camping use the same thing i will be setting my truck camper on a insulation board to help keep the floor a little warmer and or you can get a army air mattress they work very good&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20682" LastActivityDate="2021-01-23T14:18:47.993" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25860" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4893" CreationDate="2021-01-23T15:05:32.770" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Walk the way you want. You could hurt yourself at any walking speed. Speed walking  is better to build endurance. I am like you; I have always been a fast walker and it hurts to walk slow. I am 63 years old and still walk fast -- just not as much now. My doctor said I looked like I was in good shape; she said it must have been from all the walking. So walk the way you want but don't overdo it as with any exercise.  A lot of long distance runners develop heart trouble and some have died.  Consult your doctor.  I can't jump off the roof any more or even half that high, but I know my body and if you don't know yours you will very soon as time goes by. Live free and do good. Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20682" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-01-24T01:52:10.903" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T01:52:10.903" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25861" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25868" CreationDate="2021-01-23T18:48:35.677" Score="3" ViewCount="116" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to make a custom sleeping pad to fit a non-rectangular footprint. I have 3.5” - 4” of thickness to work with. Are there any guidelines/suggestions on what foam or combination of foams and their respective thicknesses should be used to achieve a certain feel? The sleeping pad will be on a very firm surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried a few combinations so far. I will describe them from the bottom layer of foam to the top layer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;3/8” cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) 2lb, 2” polyurethane&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could feel ground on hip and shoulder, otherwise comfortable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1/2” XLPE 3lb, 2” polyurethane&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Too firm. I don’t think I could feel the ground, but the 3lb foam is not much better than the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol start=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1/2” XLPE 3lb, 1/2” minicel t200 (cross linked EVA), 2” polyurethane&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Best so far, but can still feel very firm 3lb XLPE.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One idea is to use 2lb XLPE under minicel t200. Also, maybe I could benefit from replacing the polyurethane with something else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am asking because iterating is time consuming and expensive. Thank you for your input.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15712" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-01-23T19:31:36.640" LastActivityDate="2021-01-28T08:39:15.570" Title="Design of a customized sleeping pad" Tags="&lt;sleeping-pads&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25863" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8198" CreationDate="2021-01-24T17:24:39.987" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;if i recall right i think dehydrated food you eat as is and freeze dried food you need hot water to make it edible that would be like cup of soup or cup of noodles and is high in sodium but it will help keep you hydrated but if your backpacking and can't have a open flame on the trail then dehydrated food like fruits will will give you some energy until you get to where you can have a hot meal and both these foods are lightweight for hiking and camping and you would have water with you anyways&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20682" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T17:24:39.987" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25864" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25867" CreationDate="2021-01-24T17:32:44.813" Score="6" ViewCount="278" Body="&lt;p&gt;Are the mini scuba sets (e.g like the ones by Smaco, with tanks of a few liters that are filled using a hand pump) safe for open water diving up to a depth of around 10m?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no experience in diving but my Dad was both a navy and commercial diver. He misses it and it's his birthday soon so I thought about getting him one of the kits to take with him on holiday.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He's too old to be carting  around a full set of equipment so thought this would be a good alternative, but have seen mixed reviews online.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20686" LastActivityDate="2021-04-10T17:21:30.520" Title="Using mini scuba sets: 1L-3L tanks" Tags="&lt;scuba-diving&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25865" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24257" CreationDate="2021-01-24T17:36:42.483" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;yes wear it in some states the hunters are required to wear a orange vest too. deer and most animals are color blind so they can't see it but like you say you need to be seen by the hunters&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20682" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T17:36:42.483" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25866" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25787" CreationDate="2021-01-24T17:46:22.843" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;you can keep the lid at the top of your pack and get a long small diameter pole and from the hardware store and use it as a dipstick&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20682" LastActivityDate="2021-01-24T17:46:22.843" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25867" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25864" CreationDate="2021-01-25T12:01:40.260" Score="8" Body="&lt;h2&gt;TL;DR, short answer: NO, THEY ARE TOTALLY NOT SAFE TO DIVE WITH! YOU WILL DIE.&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Longer answer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you check out the description of such gimmicky gadgets, you will notice that they're billed as &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;pony bottles / last resort air source&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;, to be used by trained, fully equipped divers as a backup only &lt;em&gt;(side note: those &amp;quot;pony bottles&amp;quot; are generally frowned upon and their use is discouraged by instructors / experienced divers, as they actually add more risks and danger... but that's out of the scope of this question)&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Why those bottles cannot be used as a standalone diving air source? Because they miss one critical component - a buoyancy compensation device (a wing/jacket worn by divers). Without it a diver would not be able to control depth and either fall down quickly, run out of gas and die, or would descend normally, then ascend too quickly, suffer lung barotrauma from the expanding gas and die. Contrary to the common belief, dives to shallow depths up to 10m/33' are the most dangerous from the barotrauma point of view — during an ascent from 10m to the surface the gas inside your lungs/inner ear would expand its volume TWICE. Guess what happens next! Yes, you'll die :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, there is a specific concern related to those pony bottles. They're very small in volume, meaning low amount of breathable gas.&#xA;Here's a quick calculation: my SAC (breathing rate on the surface) is around 20L/min. Those Smaco 1 litre bottle can be pumped up to 200 bars, which would give us 200 litres of air. That's &lt;em&gt;theoretically&lt;/em&gt; good enough for ten minutes of breathing (that's on the surface! if you'd dive to 10m, you'd halve the time due to higher ambient pressure).&#xA;However, you'd not just sit underwater, you'd swim and would want to look around, which, with added excitement, significantly increases gas consumption. When I measured my consumption during strenuous swimming, it went over 80L/min, meaning &lt;strong&gt;a little over one minute of breathing at 10 metres&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, to address your specific situation (an ex-navy diver dad): wearing a jacket with a proper bottle is not actually very strenuous, I've seen people in advanced age go diving... and there're smaller bottles if you're concerned about bulk/weight (I think 5L or so is the smallest tank used for breathing gas).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, there's another style of diving called &amp;quot;sidemount&amp;quot;, where you wear only a lightweight wing/harness, go into the water then clip the tanks with gas to yourself (you basically don't feel the weight of the tanks when underwater). When you go out, you unclip the tanks and some strong  young lad takes them from you :)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I would actually recommend, if your dad really wants to go back into diving but is concerned about weight/his knees/back. Note that YOU CANNOT teach yourself how to dive from Internet forums, one needs to learn from a certified instructor (otherwise, you will die).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Coming back to the pony bottles. The only way they could be used safely for diving is when &amp;quot;diving&amp;quot; in a backyard pool of less than 2m/6' depth, where you could simply stand up in case of any problems / running out of gas. If the pool is deeper - you will die!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2021-01-26T11:02:24.293" LastActivityDate="2021-01-26T11:02:24.293" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25868" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25861" CreationDate="2021-01-25T14:58:28.467" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you need more EVA (than option 3), or very slightly firmer PU and omit the other layers unless they're needed to protect the mat from the ground.  There are different grades.  Alternatively just use the whole space with PU&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've got 6&amp;quot; of firm PU in my van  for summer camping.  You don't have that much space, but I also have a 2nd set of cushions consisting of 4&amp;quot; slightly softer (much cheaper, wouldn't last as long) PU.  These were made as a backup set to save the good ones when I use the van for kayaking in the winter, but they're also fine for sleeping on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The base of mine is 2&amp;quot; wide pine slats with about a 2.5&amp;quot; gap between them (and 1&amp;quot; thick), so not rock hard but with very little give.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-01-28T08:39:15.570" LastActivityDate="2021-01-28T08:39:15.570" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25869" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6119" CreationDate="2021-01-25T20:49:21.460" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have burned E-85 fuel in a Whisperlite stove in a pinch, but you have to use a different lighting technique. You start with zero pressure in the fuel bottle, pre-heat the stove, give the pump one or two strokes, open the valve, and light the burner. Give the pump one or two more strokes to adjust the flame if necessary. Too much pressure will extinguish the flame.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20689" LastActivityDate="2021-01-25T20:49:21.460" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25870" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="6119" CreationDate="2021-01-26T10:18:55.247" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The best burning, and also healthiest fuel I am aware of is alkylate based petrol, which is sold for (4 stroke) lawnmowers and similar.&#xA;From personal experience alcohol may dissolve o-rings, allthough it was no MSR burner.&#xA;Apart from the inconvenience and need for spare parts, this may create leakage and therefore a serious health and also environmental risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20691" LastActivityDate="2021-01-26T10:18:55.247" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25871" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25872" CreationDate="2021-01-26T19:11:47.070" Score="5" ViewCount="287" Body="&lt;p&gt;This weekend I got myself into (for me) a hairy situation while rappelling. I got to a set of rap anchors that I needed to transfer to in order to get down to the next ledge, so I transferred myself to a quad  anchor, took myself completely off rappel, and ran the rope through the rap rings at this anchor (retying my disaster knots of course).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These anchors sit at the top of a massive roof, so at this point the quad was completely loaded, and I was unable to effectively support my weight on the rock and clean at the same time. I set my rappel back up (guide ATC on a chain reactor, maybe 1 or 2 loops away from my harness), tied my prusik (below the ATC), and tested that the prusik would hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd never been in a situation where it's not possible to completely unweigh your anchor, so I made a rash decision to girth hitch a double length sling on my prusik, and tie a simple ladder into it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My thought process was this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I need to move my weight from the quad onto the rope in order to clean the quad&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The prusik is a friction hitch that &lt;em&gt;by design&lt;/em&gt; is meant to hold your entire body weight&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;By girth hitching directly to the prusik, I'm loading it and forcing it to grab the rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I can then support my weight entirely on the rope and clean the anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It was only after I got back on the ground and my adrenaline was settling down that I realized I could have committed a grave error and unnecessarily loaded my one backup, which, if it had failed while I cleaned, would have led to my death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I then came to the conclusion it would have been much smarter to simply tie the sling directly to the rope in a friction hitch, which may have failed but would not have affected my actual lifeline, the prusik.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Was I in any danger here? Or was I using the prusik as designed?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20695" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-01-28T14:48:49.323" LastActivityDate="2021-02-05T19:33:30.183" Title="Is it safe to depend only on a prusik?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;&lt;prusik&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25872" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25871" CreationDate="2021-01-27T04:02:23.297" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm not 100% sure I'm understanding all the details, but here's my take on this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This seems like a really dangerous thing to do. A prusik is never guaranteed to hold. Sometimes a prusik needs to be tinkered with, dressed, etc., to make it hold. It should never be the only thing standing between you and the long ride.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your method of unweighting the anchor seems sensible, but it shouldn't have been your only support. A simple way to back this up would have been simply to tie an overhand on a bight in both strands of the rope, down near your feet, and clip this to your harness with a locking biner. Then if all else fails, you just fall a few feet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-01-27T04:16:30.380" LastActivityDate="2021-01-27T04:16:30.380" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25873" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25864" CreationDate="2021-01-27T18:22:02.737" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why not get him some gift cards at a &lt;strong&gt;reputable&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;code&gt;*&lt;/code&gt; local dive shop, to be used on group outings?  Equipment issues are gone, he can be helped into the gear once in the water and he has certified diving instructors around to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I suspect that if you gifted this to your father, he would be put in a rather bad spot.  The reviews cited go on quite a bit about the physics of diving and basically shoot this turkey straight out the air.  For two reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, because the whole thing aims to short-circuit the training you need to undergo to get scuba-certified.  That training is about keeping you alive and they go into details about not surfacing while holding your breaths, air consumption, how long you can stay down with given tank capacities, etc...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, the gear itself looks very unsafe, &lt;em&gt;especially&lt;/em&gt; to an experienced diver.  &lt;strong&gt;It basically seems designed to let you go down just deep enough to put you in grave danger once the very limited air supply runs out.&lt;/strong&gt;  If you were free-diving you wouldn't go that deep &lt;strong&gt;and the air in your lungs could only re-expand to sea-level volume&lt;/strong&gt; (note that free-diving can be a bit scary once you go down past 5-7m/15-20ft - you lose buoyancy from your lungs compressing so going back up can be harder than expected).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's what your dad will be looking at:  &lt;em&gt;I just got this really, really, dangerous gift.  What should I do with it?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So reason #1 does not really apply to him, but reason #2 applies doubly so.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And in any case, no one should be diving alone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;*&lt;/code&gt;  I gave up scuba diving after being taken down under really unsafe conditions, past my cert limits, with insufficient equipment, on a commercially-run group dive.  So it pays to make sure you are dealing with responsible people.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-01-28T02:25:24.313" LastActivityDate="2021-01-28T02:25:24.313" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25874" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25576" CreationDate="2021-01-29T11:33:58.807" Score="1" Body="&lt;h1&gt;Don't forget a hat!&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key item that I see missing from other answers is a neoprene hat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Much of your heat loss will be through the top of your head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A neoprene hat will significantly reduce that heat loss.  It also will not get damaged if you wind up in the water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The great thing about a hat is that you can easily take it off if you are too warm.  Neoprene hats are quite lightweight, and so aren't a burden to carry when on or off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some neoprene hats have a fuzzy polyester lining that can make them even more comfortable and even warmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many styles of neoprene hats: some feature a neoprene bill, while others use a polyester bill (I don't recommend getting one with a cotton bill).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your are alive, your head will most likely be the most elevated part of your body.  As such, you can affix SOLAS reflective patches or tape to the front, back, and sides of your hat to greatly increase your visibility if it gets dark outside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you buy a hat, don't forget to buy some paracord.  Attach alligator clips at each end of a small piece of paracord.  Then attach one of the clips to the back of your hat, and another to your shirt/jacket/wetsuit.  That way, you won't lose your new hat if the wind blows or you accidentally knock it off while paddling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8028" LastActivityDate="2021-01-29T11:33:58.807" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25875" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25876" CreationDate="2021-01-29T17:26:29.647" Score="9" ViewCount="1317" Body="&lt;p&gt;Can anyone help ID this bird? It was surprisingly large (bigger than a mallard) and seen in a park in south-east London. Initially thought wigeon or pochard but the breast colour doesn't seem to be right for either of those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dQpMt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dQpMt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;blurry duck&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20706" LastActivityDate="2021-01-30T12:44:07.157" Title="What type of duck is this? Seen in south-east London park" Tags="&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;ducks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25876" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25875" CreationDate="2021-01-29T18:55:58.253" Score="16" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a duck but a small species of goose, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_goose&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Egyptian goose&lt;/a&gt;. They're not native to the UK, but have been introduced and feral birds are not uncommon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The head can appear darker in contrast to the breast in sub-adult birds; see the gallery at the Wikipedia link above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They're not always in books as (apart from very rare vagrants) they're feral descendents of introduced birds&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-01-30T12:44:07.157" LastActivityDate="2021-01-30T12:44:07.157" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25877" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25879" CreationDate="2021-01-30T04:02:22.663" Score="3" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this bug months ago (August, in southern Maine): I found it crawling on my wall, (second floor), only time I've ever seen one of these particular bugs in my house.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Edit:&lt;/strong&gt; I managed to get a rough measurement based on another photo I had, and it seems to have been about 0.7 inches long (from top of head to bottom end of body) and 0.2 inches wide at widest part (&amp;quot;shoulders&amp;quot;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdX3B.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rdX3B.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20707" LastEditorUserId="20707" LastEditDate="2021-01-31T02:34:57.093" LastActivityDate="2021-01-31T08:13:32.490" Title="What is this long brownish bug (found in Maine home in early August)?" Tags="&lt;bug-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25879" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25877" CreationDate="2021-01-31T08:13:32.490" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Found it - almost certainly the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Poplar-Borer-Beetle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Poplar-borer beetle&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;em&gt;Saperda calcarata&lt;/em&gt;). Distinguishing characteristics are the golden/yellow spots under the black speckles. Borers all have that shape to the head and thorax. Longhorn indicates the long antennae.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are quite a destructive pest of poplar and a few other species in much of North America.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note I'm not an entomologist of any sort, or even from North America - just good at googling things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-01-31T08:13:32.490" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25882" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25556" CreationDate="2021-01-31T22:59:02.777" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have used natural fiber rupees, hemp and jute, for a number of years for yoga type activities where repeated handling of the rope is common. What I have always understood is that &amp;quot;industrial&amp;quot; rope, such as that you would get from hardware stores and the like, is manufactured using some chemicals that are not healthy over time.  Of course, buying the rope from other &amp;quot;organic&amp;quot; sources negates the issue. Even with organic rope, I wash it: mild detergent, loosely coiled in a tied pillowcase on a gentle cycle. After I will hang it loosely over a a clothesline as to avoid kinks in the rope and give it a few days to fully dry. I typically finish by running it through my hands with a few drops of baby oil. The first time I do this, there are often rope &amp;quot;splinters&amp;quot; bits. I will usually quick run my propane torch over the length to reduce those bits. Hope this helps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20717" LastActivityDate="2021-01-31T22:59:02.777" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25883" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1042" CreationDate="2021-01-31T23:12:59.803" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wild Plantain!&lt;/strong&gt; I have very strong reactions to stings, but this &amp;quot;weed&amp;quot; has provided the most and swiftest pain and swelling reduction for bee/wasp stings that I have found in around 40 years of traipsing around the woods. I've been able to find it 3 seasons of the year in cities and in the country. I typically make a simple spit poultice, just chew it a bit and also that on the sting. It posseses drawing capabilities and always works for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Plantain leaves were used commonly in folk medicine for skin poultices on wounds, sores, or insect stings. The root was used for fever and respiratory infections. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Plantago major&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/PWZRE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20717" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2021-02-01T18:04:48.417" LastActivityDate="2021-02-01T18:04:48.417" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25885" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1042" CreationDate="2021-02-01T20:47:42.630" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This may be a southern US thing, but tobacco either from a cigarette or the chewing type can be used to reduce pain in a bee/wasp sting.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It can be done by getting the tip of a cigarette wet then squeezing liquid out onto the sting or by mixing the dry tobacco with water to make a paste, chewing tobacco can be used in the same way by getting it wet then applying it over the top of the sting. I have done it before when out camping and it works surprisingly well. Within a minute or two nearly all discomfort had been mitigated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have also heard of meat tenderizer powder, which is made from papayas, working quite well but have not tried it first hand. It could however be carried in a small container quite easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9054" LastActivityDate="2021-02-01T20:47:42.630" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25886" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-01T20:24:41.673" Score="12" ViewCount="280" Body="&lt;p&gt;What stroke should I use and what adjustments would I make to most efficiently swim through rough ocean and breaking waves?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user20838" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T15:04:55.953" Title="Swimming - best way to swim through ocean surf" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25887" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25889" CreationDate="2021-02-03T11:38:48.247" Score="6" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have had blue tits coming to my garden for a few years and have had a couple of bird nesting boxes up for about 2 years, but these have never been nested in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have seen blue tits occasionally land on the opening to the box, look around and then stick their head in quickly but then leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When sticking their head in are they looking for somewhere to nest or just searching the garden?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If they are looking to nest what would make the boxes more attractive to them, would adding bedding material help or would the bare box be fine anyway. Would putting tiny bits of food in encourage them in or would they then only see it as somewhere with food and not a nesting site?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastActivityDate="2021-02-04T13:50:36.940" Title="Blue tits looking in nesting boxes" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25888" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25886" CreationDate="2021-02-03T17:23:25.427" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;From personal experience, I tend to favor the breaststroke, over the freestyle/front crawl I would use almost everywhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In choppy water, when doing freestyle, you can't really know if your rotation to draw air with your face low in the water isn't going to happen at the exact time a wave breaks over you.  That would have you breathe in water or at least would interfere with your breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;While less efficient, a breaststroke makes it easier to keep your head out of the water and be well aware of when you can time drawing in a breath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in breaking surf, the best way to avoid getting caught is to dive under the wave, which is easier to do starting from a breaststroke than a freestyle stance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long distance open water swimming, in calmer waters, has me back to freestyle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2021-02-03T17:23:25.427" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25889" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25887" CreationDate="2021-02-04T11:16:09.983" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Blue Tits will often come to a nest box simply to pick small insects off it.  A box that they feel unsuitable for nesting will often be investigated in this way as many of the small insects they feed upon will be found on the wood of the box - sometimes inside it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A successful nest box needs to meet a few criteria:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It should be out of direct sunlight.  A box fully south facing will not be used.  You will see guides suggesting having your box face north or east but the most successful nest box in my garden faces west and is shaded on its southern side.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There should be a landing perch nearby.  Blue Tits returning to the clutch with food will not fly directly into the box.  They perch briefly on a nearby fence or branch, typically 2m - 5m away.  They look around for potential predators before entering the box.  So, place your box near bushes or your garden fence.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The entrance should be clear and open.  Despite the previous point, don't put the box amongst foliage.  Place it at a height of 2m - 2.5m from the ground.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The location should be quiet.  Don't put the nesting box too close to a feeding station.  Again, my most successful box is about 10m from my feeding station.  The birds seem happy at that distance - I've seen them go from box to feeder and return to the box with food.  I've given up with boxes within 5m, they've never been used.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I wouldn't put food or bedding into the box.  In fact the opposite, after a successful fledge, clean the box, removing the old nest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are good hints around the web for Blue Tit nesting, e.g. from the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/blue_tit_nest_box_plan.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;BTO&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have had a few successful fledges from my garden.  Some boxes have been up for two or three years before they were used, others are used every year.  Be patient, and good luck.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13144" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2021-02-04T13:50:36.940" LastActivityDate="2021-02-04T13:50:36.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25890" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16604" CreationDate="2021-02-04T17:21:41.257" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;According to an article in &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newscientist.com/article/2203844-putting-a-bird-feeder-in-your-garden-really-does-help-wildlife/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Newscientist&lt;/a&gt;  there have been surveys of what birds visit bird feeders in the UK since the 1970s and over that time birds that use bird feeders have increased more than birds that do not visit feeders (in urban areas), this shows that bird feeders do have a positive impact on birds that use them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article also states that the greater diversity of food that you put out the greater diversity of birds it attracts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The article is behind a pay wall although you can start reading it. The main relevant points I have listed above.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have have found that if I change the food I put out for the birds or where I put it then you attract different birds.&#xA;If I just put out food in feeders then I attract birds like blue tits, great tits&#xA;and long tail tits but if I also put feed on the garden then I also see robins, dunnocks and black birds where I am in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18480" LastEditorUserId="18480" LastEditDate="2021-02-04T17:40:48.653" LastActivityDate="2021-02-04T17:40:48.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25891" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25871" CreationDate="2021-02-05T19:33:30.183" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Much depends on how frequently you use prusiks.  Back in college when i was caving a lot, we used prusiks tied in 1/4&amp;quot; Plymouth Goldline using a 9/16&amp;quot; chunk of goldline as our ascent/descent line.  I never had an issue, nor did anyone in our group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For those of you unfamiliar, Goldline was a very hard lay stranded rope.  As stranded rope, it was more obvious when it was damaged, easier to clean.  Since caving ropes take a beating with dirt, they were cheaper to replace.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That said:  We always used 3 loops:  one for each foot and a chest loop, and a new loop took some training of it to cinch reliably.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, in my daily life, I've used either a pipe hitch or a prusic to pull well pumps.  I would expect that having a knot fail on 1&amp;quot; poly pipe covered in iron bacteria slime would be more prone to slip than on a rope.  But I've not had one of those fail yet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's the issue, &amp;quot;Yet&amp;quot;  You get few do-overs for a safety mistake in mountaineering.  In general, you should never be in a situation of dying from a single failure mode.  Two prusiks, and a knot below them?  Sure.  Single prusik?  Ungood.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You probably could get away with it many times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like to use the word 'accidents' for times when things go pear shaped.  I call them 'incidents'.  Accidents implies &amp;quot;It just happened.  Nothin' anyone could do&amp;quot; when in fact incidents fall into two categories:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simple Incidents&lt;/strong&gt; The group did not have a real plan or safety doctrine, and a single mistake led to injury or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Compound Incidents&lt;/strong&gt; The group does have a safety doctrine.  Several different events and circumstances combined to make a situation where someone was injured or killed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You have done a clever thing:  You analyzed a situation where no harm was done, but harm could have happened, and concluded that you could have done better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All safety protocols are inadequate in that they cannot prevent all harm.  &amp;quot;A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for.&amp;quot;  We can mitigate risk.  But the only way to mitigate it completely is to stay home.  So we compromise so that the chance of harm is reduced to very small levels, and accept the remaining risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2021-02-05T19:33:30.183" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25892" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14533" CreationDate="2021-02-06T05:17:32.280" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;These other posts warning humans about kangaroos are absolutely correct. I would say a similar risky animal would be people might be familiar with is bears, most of the time they probably keep to themselves but when threatened they will fight and they will win probably fatally injuring you.&#xA;But another danger that has not been mentioned is coming across a kangaroo in the water. Do not approach or swim with it. Do not let your pets chase after them in water. They will use their tail to balance then use their legs to keep you under the water, drowning you. Granted this is mostly with other animals not humans but there is a risk.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you have to absolutely get up and close to a kangaroo go to a animal park/zoo where the animals are bred to be calmer around humans or look for wallaroos or wallabies. These are basically mini kangaroos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The farmer in that video seems extreme but it was reasonable. He shocked it to stop it from killing his dog, got the dog and left before the kangaroo could kill him or his dog. Not the best strategy but better a surprised kangaroo rather then a dead dog or farmer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20743" LastActivityDate="2021-02-06T05:17:32.280" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25893" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-06T07:10:12.030" Score="5" ViewCount="494" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was trying to tie a largish stopper knot using a guide on my phone. Somehow I ended up with this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It works for what I wanted but I’d like to know its name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hwuq6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hwuq6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Knot&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20745" LastEditorUserId="13144" LastEditDate="2021-02-07T10:57:51.907" LastActivityDate="2021-02-07T21:39:53.093" Title="Can anyone identify this stopper knot?" Tags="&lt;knot-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25894" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25893" CreationDate="2021-02-06T14:40:36.443" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is what people in my area refer to as the &amp;quot;stopper knot,&amp;quot; i.e., the most common knot used around here for that purpose: a double overhand. It just isn't dressed in the standard way. Knots are often hard to identify when they're not dressed the way we're used to seeing them dressed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7mzrI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/7mzrI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;dressing a stopper knot&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-02-07T21:39:53.093" LastActivityDate="2021-02-07T21:39:53.093" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25895" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25712" CreationDate="2021-02-07T15:13:43.383" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;After you pack clothing into it , it can be evacuated through the valve to compress the clothing to the smallest volume.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13680" LastActivityDate="2021-02-07T15:13:43.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25896" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25886" CreationDate="2021-02-08T09:31:19.190" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is important to be confortable with front crawl and to perfect one's dolphin skills (over and under waves).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I know people that walk or side-swim through the swells or whites. Assuming that the waves are big and near shore, swimming under them will help one save energy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Apart from that, I would advise one to do a proper warm up and train regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one haven't swim in that sea before, consider trying to understand the currents and the way waves are breaking. One may be able to take advantage of the rip currents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12892" LastEditorUserId="12892" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T15:04:55.953" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T15:04:55.953" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25898" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25899" CreationDate="2021-02-09T11:30:09.767" Score="2" ViewCount="165" Body="&lt;p&gt;All the hiking gear is getting more and more lightweight and hi-tech... but vacuum flasks haven't changed much for the last fifty years, they're still extremely heavy pieces of steel! One litre bottle weighs 600-700 grams...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally I try to avoid using vacuum flasks, but there're some conditions when they're indispensable (winter hiking in restricted NP where you can't use any kind of stove, for example).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Using an insulated bottle (not a vacuum flask) is not enough; in fact, sometimes even the vacuum flasks get cold(-ish) by the end of a long winter day in the mountains!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tried using flameless heaters but their temperature drops down significantly in winter (on one trip in balmy 32F/0C a heater made my tea just barely lukewarm!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any better/lighter way to carry hot liquids on such trips?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastActivityDate="2021-02-09T20:25:24.307" Title="Lightweight vacuum flasks / ways to carry hot liquids" Tags="&lt;winter&gt;&lt;drinking-water&gt;&lt;cold&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25899" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25898" CreationDate="2021-02-09T15:19:12.043" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A smaller flask is of course lighter, but loses heat faster and holds less. Your whole drink strategy needs to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A litre is a lot though, unless sharing - there's plenty of choice of 500-600ml flasks; one I found easily &lt;a href=&quot;https://thermos.co.uk/ultimate-flask-500ml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;weighs 300g&lt;/a&gt; (compared to 530g for their &lt;a href=&quot;https://thermos.co.uk/ultimate-flask-500ml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;lightweight 1l model&lt;/a&gt;.  Thermos, the brand I've linked, has been in the business a long time (since the vacuum part was always  silvered glass, visible on the inside) and is synonymous with vacuum flasks in the UK.  I wouldn't go smaller than about 500ml as the hold time tends to be too short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main loss is at the lid, which is merely insulated. A better quality flask will hold heat better (and may weigh a little less overall).  The best lids I've found are those that allow you to unscrew slightly to pour, using all their volume for insulation. I would avoid those with a clever mechanism that traps the dregs of your drink in an inaccessible volume.  This means less insulation and also, having opened one up destructively, I never want to drink from anything so filthy again.  Regardless of the lid design, supplementing the insulation in this area (wrap it in spare clothing, use an insulated pouch, etc.) will help a bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The smaller the flask, the more important it is to preheat it well when you fill it (the surface area to volume ratio is worse, and the steel is the same thickness, so each drop of your drink is heating more steel).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The other important heat loss is opening the flask, letting out hot drink/air/steam and replacing it with cold air.  Waiting as long as possible for the first drink helps here. If you're in a group, share out one flask at each stop, keeping the others closed. I'll sometimes save mine until we're nearly done, a habit from winter kayaking when a hot drink borders on being emergency kit if someone gets wet and cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hiking I might be tempted to carry a tiny stove (you could do better than &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25022/2529&quot;&gt;this 60g one I made&lt;/a&gt;) for actual emergencies, combined with a smaller flask (and a water bottle, possibly insulated), or, if you drive to your hike, leave a big flask in the car for the end - something else I've done when kayaking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-02-09T20:25:24.307" LastActivityDate="2021-02-09T20:25:24.307" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25901" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24257" CreationDate="2021-02-10T05:31:55.067" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The effective range of a bow-shot at a deer is only about 40 yards; any longer and the deer  has enough time to jump and won't be at the aiming point when the arrow arrives.  Because of this, hunters very rarely take such long shots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most NJ hunters hunt from tree stands. They can see you from much further than 40 yards, and you don't sound or look anything like a deer.  They are also shooting down at the ground, so if they miss, the arrow does not fly very far away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of which is to say that wearing a bright orange vest is not going to improve your safety very much, if at all, because the number of humans hit by errant arrows from hunters is minuscule.  Worse yet, virtually the only times when people have been accidentally hit by bowhunters, it was a skyline / over the ridge shot.  An orange vest isn't going to help you if the hunter never saw you to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I'd suggest wearing a bright colored top or hat, and not worrying about this -- the bowhunter is more likely to be killed by the deer he hunted than you are to be killed by him.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2725" LastActivityDate="2021-02-10T05:31:55.067" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25902" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25712" CreationDate="2021-02-10T16:30:23.457" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;I expect it's a camp tap. You fill it with water, hang it somewhere by the handle, and can get a little water from the wine-box like valve on it. It doesn't take up space when it's empty, unlike a bottle, and you don't need two hands to operate it, are less likely to overpour or spill, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's one of the water storage bags REI sells these days:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uNa1F.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/uNa1F.png&quot; alt=&quot;rei water storage bag&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2021-02-10T16:30:23.457" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25904" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16888" CreationDate="2021-02-12T02:07:46.080" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want to find &lt;em&gt;everything&lt;/em&gt;, you'll probably need a good GPS.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But it's entirely possible to work &lt;em&gt;without any device at all&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I started geocaching only this year, and have found almost every cache that I've looked for.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;I decided that snow, a very cold winter, and COVID-19 lockdowns aren't enough, so I gave myself the additional handicaps of walking, not driving, and not using &lt;em&gt;any&lt;/em&gt; kind of electronic device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I pick a site, read the clues in the item's page, and spend time with Google Maps, using satellite, 3D, and street view.&#xA;Then, when I'm fairly sure of the general area, I walk there and so far have been able to make the find within a fairly short time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm of course avoiding ground level caches that are buried in snow.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Items in wooded areas aren't easy either, and have required a second visit so that I can compare what I saw on the first trip with what Google Maps shows, looking for obvious landmarks and triangulation sight-lines.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The interesting point is that the pin-drop on Google Maps is often located more precisely than many electronic devices will show when on-site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'll of course soon run out of walking-distance destinations (maybe a dozen or two more to go), but there's always summer and a bicycle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastActivityDate="2021-02-12T02:07:46.080" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25905" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-13T20:21:55.930" Score="4" ViewCount="131" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a slight infestation of a type of mites (I'm not sure whether they are Varroa Mites). I would like to seek some expert opinion regarding this kind of mites that take over in the bee colony. They seem harmless but some of the weak bees are dying due to their effects. If anybody is aware of these kinds of pests/mites, a comment would be highly valuable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have posted the YouTube- video in the following link.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/hoTI1RZ8-jg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Macro Footage of Bee Mites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Still photo&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ltxyM.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ltxyM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20776" LastEditorUserId="19299" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T12:18:41.513" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T12:18:41.513" Title="My bees have a mite infestation but not sure whether they are Varroa Mites" Tags="&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;bees&gt;&lt;garden&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25906" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-14T08:12:49.823" Score="1" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ok so I have attached a 2 sided massive tarp to my house and then added tarps around the sides to create walls. It's built over my back porch and a concrete patio with some ground showing and some ground covered with pallets. Needed a workshop so this is my alternative. Did this at my other house and didn't have this problem as much but also had I think 2 for sure but maybe 3 tarps as the ceiling. I have a propane heater, an electric heater, a regular household standing fan and a big stand up shop fan. And a hole for ventilation but maybe it's not big enough or something.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This tarp is like raining on the inside is the best way to describe it. Right directly above the heater is ok but the rest of it is a downpour. I have the tarp sloping downward from the house but I'm at a loss on how to stop all of this condensation. Anyone with more knowledge about this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have tried not using the propane heater but that made things worse. Like when it's raining. Electric heaters may answer the question just hate what it will do to the power bill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20779" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T08:53:27.123" LastActivityDate="2021-02-16T09:14:51.037" Title="Having a condensation problem under a tarp that's enclosed outside with 2 heaters. Help!" Tags="&lt;weather&gt;&lt;rain&gt;&lt;shelter&gt;&lt;tarp-tents&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25907" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25912" CreationDate="2021-02-14T23:44:46.557" Score="21" ViewCount="5447" Body="&lt;p&gt;How efficient is travel in a canoe, in terms of effort/time required to cover distance?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or kayak, pirogue, any kind of small boat that is moved by paddling instead of sail or motor - is there a significant difference between the different kinds of such small boats in this context?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming the current is neither with nor against you, say on a lake, swamp, the sea (staying near the coast, going parallel to the coast, on a calm day, with intent to land if the weather turns rough, of course such craft are not suitable for going out to sea), or crossing a wide river?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Say as a baseline, a person in good shape can walk something like twenty miles a day. Now paddling a small boat, you are using your arms instead of your legs for propulsion, but on the other hand the water is supporting your weight; do these factors cancel each other out? Which factor wins? What other factors are there that I'm not taking into account?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In terms of miles per day that can be covered, how does it compare to walking?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19794" LastActivityDate="2021-02-17T18:43:24.917" Title="How efficient is travel by canoe?" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sea&gt;&lt;canoes&gt;&lt;lakes&gt;&lt;river-navigation&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="7" FavoriteCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25908" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25907" CreationDate="2021-02-15T01:12:37.320" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;The typical speed of a canoe on calm water is at least the same as a person walking along a smooth path, about 3 mph.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are walking along a road, then a bicycle or a car would be the most efficient means.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A more meaningful comparison would be between a canoe on a river and hiking through the bush.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/voyageur&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Voyageurs&lt;/a&gt;, the canoe was by far the best choice.&#xA;Without an established path to follow, walking in thick woods could achieve as little as one or two miles a day, and they would be very exhausting and potentially injurious miles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When there's a choice, comparing a canoe to walking isn't a reasonable comparison.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are comparing a canoe to a row-boat though, the canoe is far more streamlined and efficient, better able to handle shallow water and rapids, and much easier to portage around falls.&#xA;You can also see where you're going.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bvVoG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/bvVoG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;A dozen or more voyageurs in a large canoe.&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18773" LastEditorUserId="18773" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T14:31:32.843" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T14:31:32.843" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25910" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8509" CreationDate="2021-02-15T14:22:29.550" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The pair of robins interested in the nest box outside my kitchen window are definitely tilting their head to check out the nest box with one eye from a perch at 90degrees to the nest box! From this, I came to the conclusion they used monocular vision and that this would make sense given the spacing of their eyes on either side of their head which most prey have to enable them to spot predators over the majority of 360 degree field of vision.&#xA;I'm glad to see my O-grade biology of 50 years ago coming into its own!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20781" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T14:22:29.550" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25911" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25907" CreationDate="2021-02-15T14:22:45.977" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;The most efficient boat design is fairly straightforward. Rowing is more efficient than paddling, because anchoring the oar to the hull allows oars to be longer than paddles and longer levers are more efficient. Facing backwards allows you to use the muscles in your legs, which is also more efficient. None of the gains are likely to convince white water rafters to give up their forward vision and the ability to quickly remove paddles from danger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As far as the hull goes speed is proportional to the length of the waterline; a displacement hull generally has a top speed of 1.34 times the square root of its waterline. So the narrow, long boat wins! It's also pretty unsuitable for standing on because it's less stable. You won't see life canoes replacing life boats any time soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All of this should bear out what you'll see in racing events, long thin hulls rowed with moving seats and long oars. But how much more efficient is it than walking? That's a trick question.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If we compared the classic walking and paddling speed estimates of 3 and 3.5 mph it looks like a close call. But that's hugely misleading because the person paddling is also moving a boat! Unless you're willing to entertain the idea that most people wouldn't walk any slower while carrying or dragging a canoe or kayak then it should be clear that boating is way more efficient since it moves more mass faster at the same level of effort.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's even more lopsided if you have multiple people because the boat allows you to pool power. Maybe five marathoners can travel further in day than five guys in canoes. They almost certainly can't beat five guys in a single hull. (Guys who can switch off and rest if they've got a lead.) Rowing/paddling is ludicrously more efficient if you have multiple people or cargo.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if you have a single person consider the case of Frank Rothwell, the oldest man to row solo across the Atlantic. He covered 3,000 miles in just under 57 days, or roughly 52 miles per day. He was 70 years old at the time. Obviously that's quite a bit better than 20 miles per day, and it's in the open ocean.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13653" LastEditorUserId="13653" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T15:07:33.860" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T15:07:33.860" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25912" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25907" CreationDate="2021-02-15T16:11:10.070" Score="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;The canoe has three huge advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it works in the absence of paths or trails&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it can carry enormous loads&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;adding paddlers to it makes it go faster&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first is probably the most important. I've paddled a distance while someone else walks (for various reasons) and if the person is walking across lawn, it's about the same, and if I'm into the wind I'm probably slower. But if the person is trying to get through a forest with no trail, or is going up a ridge and back down it even on a trail, I am faster. Most of the places I take canoes to are not reachable any other way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I canoe camp, we double-trip our portages, meaning each person does the portage twice. One of these four person-trips is for the boat (and accessories like lifejackets, paddles, bailer etc) but the other three are for stuff. And a portage pack can be HEAVY - 90 pounds isn't unusual - since you only need to stagger 500m with it. One person walking alone might need to take 5 or 10 trips to carry that amount of stuff.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking, since it's a parallel activity, is as slow as the slowest person. But a canoe can accommodate someone who isn't even paddling, and even a weak paddler will help the canoe go faster than if they weren't there. (They don't need to be particularly skilled on non-moving water, as long as they don't actively paddle backwards as some small children like to do.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, if you're all alone, and considering strolling down a grassy UK riverbank with no load vs taking a boat for that trip, it is possibly the same &amp;quot;efficiency&amp;quot;. But if you have any cargo or passengers, or even other participants, and especially if the walking path has elevation changes or there is no path: the boat wins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some numbers: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.boundarywatersblog.com/how-far-can-you-paddle-in-a-day/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;in Quetico and the BWCA folks average 3 miles an hour&lt;/a&gt;, keeping in mind that time is lost to portaging, checking out a cool waterfall, stopping to take pictures, eating lunch etc, suggesting that the times when the canoe moves forward it is more than 3 mph. &lt;a href=&quot;https://kayakingventure.com/how-to-plan-a-long-distance-kayaking-trip/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Another article about kayaking&lt;/a&gt; says 3-4 miles per hour and compares it to hiking in both speed and how much of it you can do in a day. Just remember that you can't walk 3 mph carrying 90 pounds through trackless bush :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastEditorUserId="163" LastEditDate="2021-02-15T21:02:29.877" LastActivityDate="2021-02-15T21:02:29.877" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25913" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-15T20:05:43.507" Score="5" ViewCount="227" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a local quarry that is no longer in use (for many decades), and has 30-40ft walls. Much of the material on the wall is very crumbly, especially near the blast holes: &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6cpc.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6cpc.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;blast hole&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's still a large amount of fairly hard rock, including quartz and gneiss, though the crag does get very wet when it rains.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Given how labor and time intensive crag development is, not to mention safety and access issues, what's the general sentiment about the safety of old quarries? Is it possible to break off the rotten rock to expose stronger rock underneath? Or is it not worth the effort?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also side note, we need a &lt;code&gt;geology&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;crag-development&lt;/code&gt; tag!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20695" LastActivityDate="2021-02-22T12:57:53.797" Title="How feasible is it to develop a crag that was blasted for material/was a quarry?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25915" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25907" CreationDate="2021-02-17T18:29:26.863" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Your question mixes two things together which are actually very different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How efficient ... in terms of effort/time required to cover distance&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Boats of all kinds are really efficient in terms of what you call &amp;quot;effort&amp;quot;. You can move a lot of weight with them, while expending little energy. Speed actually reduces that efficiency, that's why the big transport ships are so slow. Human-powered boats are also slow, but they are still very efficient.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Others already gave a baseline speed for a kayak or one-seater canoe, which is around 5-7 km/h under perfect conditions (but no flow). The problem: this gives you very little information on the actual time and effort you need to get somewhere under realistic circumstances. So here a few scenarios:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comfortable body of water&lt;/strong&gt;. A good example for a long tour would be the TID. This is the yearly kayak tour on the Danube, from Ingolstadt and ends at the Black sea. This is 2516 km, and the time schedule for 2021 foresees 74 days for it. That's around 40 km per day, 6 days a week. This is considered a leisurely pace for a large group - a determined experienced paddler does the Rhine (Iffezheim-Rotterdam, 698 km) in 4 days of 16 to 18 hours of steady paddling, and the Unkel marathon (111 km) gets done in 8-10 hours (note that people who go on that marathon can sustain high speeds for a long time).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These times are specific to rivers similar to the Danube and Rhine - huge rivers flowing through a plain, some flow speed helping you, the beds straightened for commercial boat transports, with few sluices to carry your boat around. They are also specific to 1-seater touring kayaks. Competition kayaks, multi-seater canoes and regatta rowboats can go at higher speeds, but can only negotiate large calm rivers, small lakes and artificial channels (small ones, not the Suez!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are trying to cross this type of river, you will still end up downstream from where you started, because stretches without noticeable flow are not so common. It is up to you to decide whether the effort to run back to the place where your hypothetical hiker ends up (let's say they are using a bridge) counts towards your efficiency calculation or not.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mountains&lt;/strong&gt; If you change the conditions, the speed will change, both in absolute terms and relative to somebody trying to cover the same ground on foot. You have a steep river like the Glenner? If you have whitewater experience and know the river, you will go down pretty quickly, and without even trying to paddle forward a lot - but you will suddenly lose a lot of time if somebody in your group swims, and you will still be beat from all the maneuvering in the whitewater. If you are doing expedition paddling though, you will spend more time scouting if the next rapid is navigable, than actually paddling. If there are places where you have to take out the boat to go around deadly rapids, you will be much slower than a hiker on a path - but if the hiker has to go around a mountain peak while you drive a shortcut through a gorge, you will still be much quicker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in a heavily populated mountain, chances are the stream won't be whitewater, but engineered to death. This will make you slower than you think, not only because of having to get out, inspect and possibly carry around at a large number of weirs, but also because of the slow backed-up water before these weirs. And hopefully, you will have bought a river guide to know the sections in which the river is guided in underwater tunnels.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wilderness&lt;/strong&gt; If you are on a large river system in plains outside of civilization, think something like the Okawango delta or the Amazonas, you will try to get your 4-5 km/h - but you will constantly have trouble running into thick vegetation, and if you can't go around it, you may need to backtrack a lot. Also there is unfriendly wildlife - the native people know where the hippo pools are, you might not. The hiker will be in a much worse situation than you, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sea&lt;/strong&gt; When hugging a coastline, or making small to mid-sized crossings on some archipelago, your speed will be affected by currents, tides, winds, and wave size. Unlike on a stream, you can have all of it go your way one moment and impeding you the next. I know you tried to restrict the conditions to being as benign as possible, but even on inner seas, the water is never completely calm and current-free, and tons of water, even when moving slowly, have much more strength than a tiny human in a tiny boat on top of them. You will get a bit of the same problems, especially wind, on any lake large enough to use the word &amp;quot;travel&amp;quot; with a straight face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that small rowing craft is not all that unsuitable for large crossings. There are modern one-person ocean crossings (e.g. Sarah Outen), and the Vikings reached America in their ships that are about 15-30 meters long. While they did have a sail, the technology was so primitive that they had to be rowed unless the wind was coming from the perfect direction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="506" LastEditorUserId="506" LastEditDate="2021-02-17T18:43:24.917" LastActivityDate="2021-02-17T18:43:24.917" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25916" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-20T20:16:30.923" Score="6" ViewCount="104" Body="&lt;p&gt;I’ve never been on a SUP before. Many people have them in my area. I’ve seen people on them&#xA;at the beach and in the river, always dreamed of having one but they've been too expensive for&#xA;a new one. So I couldn’t resist buying this at my local thrift shop. They had it marked $250 then&#xA;after a month to $100 then I talked them down to $25 seeing as it had sat unsold for 2.5 months.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UUBNb.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/UUBNb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sitting in thrift shop&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After researching various sites and youtube I started work on overhauling this board today. I&#xA;have finished step 3 in this pic&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdgqT.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kdgqT.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Sanding bottom&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’d like to outline the steps I plan to take to get this board out on the water with the hopes that&#xA;more experienced folks will chime in and make remarks on any errant steps or process I have&#xA;outlined below:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use a utility knife to remove loose mat and cut out mat where there are dings, bashed&#xA;sections and the soft bubbly areas on the top and bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Remove a small amount of eps foam along the inside edge of where the mat was&#xA;trimmed for dings and bashed sections. (This is to allow the epoxy to grab along the&#xA;inside of the repair)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sand the entire board with 50-80grit to remove all neoprene traction grip pad and most&#xA;of the existing finish.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix a small amount of epoxy (cup to start with) and add the fumed silica (cabosil) until I&#xA;get a peanut butter consistency.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use large popsicle stick and epoxy scrapers to reform the nose with this small mix&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat step 4-5 for the other bashed sections and fill in the dings and around the&#xA;handle.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After dry sand and repeat steps 4-5-6 to build up these sections nose, bashed edges &amp;amp;&#xA;rails.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sand with 120 grit and clean the surface with denatured alcohol.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Using #6 fiberglass mat cut a triangle/circular section to cover the top of the nose,&#xA;draping the fabric to cover about an inch under the board.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix about ½ cup of epoxy and wet the top of the nose and drape the mat over and&#xA;thoroughly wet the surface of the mat using a chip brush.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat steps 9-10 on the underside of the nose.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat steps 9-10 for each of the bashed sections, the bubbled areas, &amp;amp; dings.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;After dry sand with 200 grit till smooth.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Mix 2 cups epoxy and wet the top of the board smoothing out with a chip brush.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Repeat step 14 for the bottom side of the board.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Use the painters touch white primer and prime the board, top and bottom.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Add my artwork which will consist of printed out paper clip art signage and airbrushed&#xA;lines.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spray 3 coats gloss clear (painters touch ultra cover gloss clear)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After step 9-10 should I add more layers of #6 cloth to build up the nose? If so, how many layers? Since I have heavily sanded the whole board does it make sense to add the #6 mat across the whole board, Top &amp;amp; Bottom? Ok to add paper printouts of clipart and text signage before the gloss spray?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20808" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-02-20T22:09:43.670" LastActivityDate="2021-02-23T11:02:03.383" Title="Repairs for severely damaged EPS/epoxy stand-up paddle board" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;water-sports&gt;&lt;paddling&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25917" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-21T13:46:58.780" Score="-1" ViewCount="138" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are stranded in Alaska and you have plenty of fresh water in the form of snow&#xA;Can you get the potassium you need by adding a small amount of sea water to your melted snow?  At what ratio?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And to get magnesium can you add some ash from your fire to the snow that you have melted? How much ash is safe?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20809" LastActivityDate="2021-02-21T20:01:38.097" Title="Sea water as mineral supplement" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;water&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25918" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25921" CreationDate="2021-02-21T19:45:12.323" Score="5" ViewCount="238" Body="&lt;p&gt;I did ski-touring in the past with a small backpack (10 kg); it was fun. I have recently done a short ski tour with a heavy backpack (20 kg, including camping gear); it was pretty much pure suffering on the way down. I was falling all the time - I couldn't do turns on any significant downhill slope, so had to look for alternative paths, where you don't need to turn so much. I would rather walk downhill, but I was hoping that somehow I'd finally &amp;quot;figure it out&amp;quot;; it didn't happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any specific technique I should employ for such downhill skiing? Or maybe specific equipment?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3020" LastActivityDate="2021-03-17T16:21:23.990" Title="Is there a technique for downhill skiing with heavy backpack?" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25919" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25917" CreationDate="2021-02-21T20:01:38.097" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I totally agree with both @Ben Crowell and @Jon Custer in their comments to your question. The answers to this a easily searchable and require some very simple maths to work out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a quick google search will tell you, sea water contains about 380 mg of potassium per litre of water. A typical daily requirement for a typical sedentary person (i.e. not active in a survival situation) of potassium is 3500-4000 mg per day meaning you would have to drink roughly 10 litres of sea water per day to meet the requirement. This is a massive volume of water to drink and the other salts in the sea water would make you quite sick.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Don't drink the sea water - evaporating the water to get salt and then adding this to your water is a possibility, but again, you will be adding the other salts too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for ash, the magnesium content of the ash entirely depends on the type of tree you are burning. It seems that &lt;a href=&quot;https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1142&amp;amp;title=Best%20Management%20Practices%20for%20Wood%20Ash%20as%20Agricultural%20Soil%20Amendment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;potassium is abut 2.6% of ash&lt;/a&gt;, so by simple math you would need to add about 154 g of ash to your drink to get the amount of potassium you need daily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-02-21T20:01:38.097" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25920" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-21T21:05:47.970" Score="4" ViewCount="210" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently (February 2021) began feeding a flock of 35 ravens in my backyard. In the spring and summer months I have 3 to 4 families of mallards and woodies raising their families in my pond and swamp. Am I setting myself up for a problem by continuing to attract ravens to my yard? Will they terrorize my ducks and steal their eggs? I guess I prefer seeing the ducks but enjoy the ravens also. Looking for advice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20812" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2021-02-21T21:57:35.737" LastActivityDate="2021-02-24T10:46:16.620" Title="Are Ravens &amp; Ducks compatible?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25921" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25918" CreationDate="2021-02-22T09:14:05.437" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no special technique, there is only practice. Make sure you have a good technique without and with a small backpack. Slowly increase the size and weight of your backpack to get adapted to the additional load. The basic technique of skiing stays the same.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is however some measures to help with the backpack:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack it properly. Heavy stuff should be at middle height and close to your back to help with your balance&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure there is no ropes, etc dangling around at the outside. Fix such things properly or pack them inside if possible&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Make sure your backpack is fixed tight. The more it moves, the more it moves different to your body&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2021-02-22T09:14:05.437" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25923" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25913" CreationDate="2021-02-22T12:57:53.797" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You might as well ask &amp;quot;How long is a piece of string?&amp;quot; - everything depends on the local geology.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are thousands of quarries that have been developed for cragging. But there must be a great many more that will never be suitable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Initial research&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rock in your picture doesn't look very promising, to be frank, so you might want to do some initial research before committing to the project.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You should discover whether the rock being quarried for building stone or for aggregate. If it was an aggregate quarry you are almost certainly wasting your time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any similar rock in the vicinity that is climbable and gives you cause for optimism?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you can find a local geologist, they might be able to advise on the suitability of the rock type.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Arranging legal access&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If things still look promising the next step, obviously, is to get permission from the land-owner. Depending on your local laws, this might not be straightforward if there are any issues with liability. Many climbing clubs have access officers who might be able to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Suck it and see&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do get permission you will realistically just have to suck it and see. But the dangers of loose rock are very real so take every precaution. Don't be going there after frost or heavy rain. Do abseil inspections if there are safe belays at the top (and if there are no safe belays, is this really an area where you want to be climbing?). Even after initial cleaning you might want to top-rope the first few routes until you gain full confidence in the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Putting up new routes is fun, but please do be prudent and don't take excessive risks. It's possible that you've stumbled on a hidden gem. But it's much more likely that there are good reasons why this quarry has never been developed!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="5814" LastActivityDate="2021-02-22T12:57:53.797" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25924" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25916" CreationDate="2021-02-23T11:02:03.383" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Broadly speaking, your steps seem perfectly reasonable. Completing them will leave you with a board with protection and strength.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your question at the bottom is entirely up to you - if you are likely to bash the nose into rocks or while transporting, then adding more layers will add protection, but personally I wouldn't worry too much. They are pretty robust.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And as for artwork, you can add it as final layer, or under final layer of fibreglass if you want to really protect it. Again, totally up to you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="66" LastActivityDate="2021-02-23T11:02:03.383" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25925" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25920" CreationDate="2021-02-24T10:46:16.620" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you have common ravens (&lt;em&gt;Corvus corax&lt;/em&gt;) then you may have a problem there&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ravens are regular predators at bird nests, brazenly picking off eggs, nestlings and sometimes adult birds when they spot an opportunity. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ravens are omnivores in the true sense, they will eat just about anything that's too small to fight back and too slow to get away.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-02-24T10:46:16.620" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25926" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-24T18:57:09.443" Score="1" ViewCount="83" Body="&lt;p&gt;Have bear spray stains on clothing, is there a way to get it out ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20828" LastActivityDate="2021-02-24T18:57:09.443" Title="How can you get bear spray stains off clothing?" Tags="&lt;clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ClosedDate="2021-03-05T15:46:22.290" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25927" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-02-24T19:48:38.843" Score="4" ViewCount="214" Body="&lt;p&gt;While hiking the beach at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/@50.733333,-128.333333,19347m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Cape Scott in British Columbia&lt;/a&gt; last summer, I kept on seeing these weird pieces of organic flotsam.  I'm familiar with kelp, dead jellyfish, sea urchin shells, etc... but these seemed really different.  And I've never seen them before anywhere else in BC or elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First, from a distance when wet, they look more like dead organs of some fish or sea mammal, because of the red and white coloring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second, if you touch them they actually are dry and have the feel and consistency of rubbery silicone kitchen utensils.&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/puB6S.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/puB6S.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, I can see how something like a plant or jellyfish may dry out to that texture.  But I'd expect that to slime up/lose consistency as soon as it got wet again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTcfP.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/GTcfP.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-02-24T20:08:57.930" LastActivityDate="2021-02-24T20:08:57.930" Title="What kind of sea creature leaves this skin/shell?" Tags="&lt;sea&gt;&lt;canada&gt;&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;plant-identification&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25928" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25933" CreationDate="2021-02-24T22:41:05.777" Score="11" ViewCount="4335" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a 5 day hike in a national park in Chile. I was wondering if it's safe for me to cook/grill chicken breast or a steak before entering the park, put it in a Ziploc bag and consume it the day after or maybe the next after that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't like the idea of doing that with uncooked meat, but somehow, the idea of pre-cooking the meat before the hike does not seem dangerous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any advice in the matter?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20830" LastActivityDate="2021-02-28T11:14:45.710" Title="Cooked meat/chicken when hiking" Tags="&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;food&gt;" AnswerCount="10" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25929" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-24T23:10:41.617" Score="-3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before there were refrigerators, people would routinely continue to eat from a piece of meat until it started to smell bad. This was pretty much all you could do with a big carcass like a cow, which couldn't be finished off at one sitting. Salting and brine were used only when you wanted the meat to keep for much longer periods, like weeks or months on a ship. Even today, government inspections of meat in the US consist of nothing more than examining it to see if it's discolored or smells rotten.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would cook it beforehand, keep it out of direct sun, and eat it for dinner the first night rather than waiting longer. Sniff it to make sure it smells OK before you use it. If you have a convenient opportunity to freeze it, then the first day of hiking would probably be just enough to thaw it back out.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're worried, dump it in some boiling water and wait long enough for the heat to penetrate fairly well. Pathogens die very quickly at temperatures far below boiling. Cutting it up into small pieces will make this more effective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would be more worried about the weight of this type of food and about the mess and difficulty of getting rid of the blood and smell, which may attract nuisance animals like raccoons or bears.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-02-24T23:25:29.890" LastActivityDate="2021-02-24T23:25:29.890" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25930" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-24T23:17:34.873" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is unsafe unless you can keep the food at or below 4°C (39°F) until it is consumed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are many questions about this on the cooking SE, where they have &lt;a href=&quot;https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/17528/how-long-can-cooked-food-be-safely-stored-at-room-warm-temperature&quot;&gt;a thread devoted to proper storage of food&lt;/a&gt;. To quote the highest upvoted answer by Aaronut:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The USDA has this to say on it:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Storing Leftovers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;One of the most common causes of foodborne illness is improper cooling of cooked foods. Because bacteria are everywhere, even after food is cooked to a safe internal temperature, they can be reintroduced to the food and then reproduce. For this reason leftovers must be put in shallow containers for quick cooling and refrigerated within 2 hours.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You'll find similar statements from government agencies around the&#xA;world. The safe limit for raw or cooked food is 2 hours in the danger&#xA;zone (40-140°F or 4.4-60°C).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2021-02-28T07:08:10.560" LastActivityDate="2021-02-28T07:08:10.560" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25931" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25934" CreationDate="2021-02-25T01:53:38.387" Score="0" ViewCount="196" Body="&lt;p&gt;It seems like all of the futuristic projects (V15+) we see are on overhung, cave-like features. This makes sense because being overhung automatically adds difficulty since you are working against gravity, but it seems like there should be boulders out there which are not overhung, but still sufficiently technical to achieve a high rating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not a boulder, but I'm thinking specifically of the &amp;quot;Changing Corners&amp;quot; pitch on The Nose, which is a featureless inward dihedral whose sheer difficulty comes from having nothing at all to work with -- quite the challenge for not being overhung!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are these boulders simply overlooked by people looking to send something futuristic? Is there a cap at which you must go overhung to progress the grade? Why?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20695" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T09:11:26.260" Title="Why are there so few face climbs above V12 on boulders?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;bouldering&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25932" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T03:47:41.027" Score="12" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not safe.  Meat spoils quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, here in the US there is a safe way to hike with chicken:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://starkist.com/products/premium-white-chicken-pouch&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://starkist.com/products/premium-white-chicken-pouch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's prepared like canning but it's in a foil pouch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They also sell such packs of tuna fish.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I feel like I've seen other meats this way but a quick search isn't turning them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T03:47:41.027" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25933" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T06:13:07.440" Score="28" Body="&lt;p&gt;I strongly recommend you don't follow the plan you outlined, bringing cold cooked meat along on your hike to eat after a day or two. You almost certainly can not achieve this while following food safety guidelines. Sometimes you get away with taking risks with food safety. Other times you will make yourself extremely ill. In the case of a multi-day wilderness hike, the worst possible consequences of severe illness are &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; worse than in the safety of civilization. In a worst case scenario, you could have severe diarrhea and vomiting, which causes dehydration, which makes you weak, shaky and dizzy. Now imagine trying to hike all the way back to the trailhead in this weakened state, while also having to stop frequently to again vomit and/or defecate. Or trying to call for emergency evacuation, which may or may not be possible due to limited phone service, and then wait how ever many hours for emergency assistance to reach you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few things you could do to improve your plan and make it &lt;em&gt;less&lt;/em&gt; risky. Whether you can actually stay within food safety guidelines is impossible to determine without knowing all the details and doing some tests (more on that below). But you will certainly be safer if you take some of the precautions below, than if you follow your original plan of eating unrefrigerated meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look up the predicted temperature range for the time and place of your hike. This will have a huge effect on how long it takes meat to spoil. If it's going to be hot summer weather, I wouldn't try it. If it will be cool spring / fall temperatures, I suggest doing a test run, as described below. In cold winter weather, you have a pretty decent chance of keeping your food safe, although I might still do a test run for safety. If the temperature won't get above 40° F / 4.4° C, frozen meat should stay safe as long as you don't store your food bag in the sun, next to the fire, or in your tent with you overnight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless it's below freezing all day, forget about the &amp;quot;or two&amp;quot; part of &amp;quot;a day or two.&amp;quot; One day is possible. Two days is asking for food poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fully cook the meat ahead of time. That means no rare steaks (it wouldn't be rare anymore by the time you reheated it, so not too much of a loss there).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freeze the cooked meat&lt;/strong&gt;. Frozen meat will take longer to warm up to &amp;quot;danger zone&amp;quot; temperatures than unfrozen meat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With frozen meat, you need a plan for how you will safely thaw the frozen meat if it's still frozen at the time you plan to reheat it. Use thinner cuts, but package them together in a stack. Stacking them keeps the surface area low, which will slow the thawing process during travel. When you want to reheat them, separate the stack and thaw them together. Start with several thin cuts, wrap them individually in plastic wrap, stack them while they're still unfrozen so they can kind of squish together a bit, to avoid air pockets, place the stack in a good quality freezer bag and freeze it. That way the whole block has the least surface area, so it stays frozen longest, but you can separate the individual pieces when it's time to cook them. (If you have a vacuum sealer, use that instead of plastic wrap and bags.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keep it frozen while you travel from your home to the trailhead. If you have an actual freezer in your vehicle, use that. If not, use a good cooler and lots of ice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Insulate the frozen meat&lt;/strong&gt;. You can get various lightweight insulated envelopes that are intended for mailing food and medicine. I found a lot of inexpensive options by searching &amp;quot;lightweight insulated envelope.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0E2tJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0E2tJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;https://plasticbagpartners.com/products/insulated-thermal-bubble-mailers-9-in-br-12-in&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't eat the meat cold. Re-heat it to the safe reheating temperature for leftovers, 165° F or 73.4° C.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind it will probably be partially frozen. One way is to simmer it in a sauce. To keep your pack weight down, I recommend bringing your sauce ingredients in a dry form. Or, you could pack the meat in &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous_vide&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;sous vide&lt;/a&gt; bags, and reheat it in simmering water.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do a test run at as close to real-world conditions as you can manage, then measure the temperature of your meat. If it stayed below 40° F / 4.4° C, you have a reasonable chance of not poisoning yourself on your hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look up the expected day and night temperatures for the first day of your hike. Find a location in or near your home that has similar temperatures. Eg, if the expected weather for your hike is hotter than the outdoor temperatures now where you live, maybe you have an unheated garage, or a poorly insulated mudroom that achieves a similar range. Or maybe you have a bored friend who lives at a different altitude and/or latitude who could run the test for you. Or maybe you can put the meat in a cooler with a little bit of ice and a digital thermometer that you can monitor from outside the cooler.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cook your meat, package it, freeze it, and wrap it in insulation, exactly as you plan to do on your hike.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Leave it in your simulated hike environment for as long as you plan on waiting before you eat it. Don't forget to simulate the travel time from your home to the trailhead, in whatever cooler you plan to use. (As I mentioned above, two days is probably not going to work, but feel free to test it, and please do let me know if I'm wrong about that.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Open the package and take its temperature at multiple points. If all the meat is below 40° F / 4.4° C, congrats, it's safe to eat.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're not going to bring a meat thermometer on your trip, familiarize yourself with what the meat looks and feels like while still safe. Poke it, and notice how hard or soft it is. Feel the outside of the package - is it still icy cold, or merely chilly? Leave some of the meat out at room temperature until it's not safe anymore. Compare how it looks and feels once unsafe. Consider whether you will be able to tell the difference out on the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;(Optional) Practice cooking some of the safe meat (not the stuff you left out until it wasn't safe anymore in step 5) in the same way you plan to cook it on the trail. Eat it. Is it good? Was it worth all the effort you put into it, and the extra weight compared to a dehydrated meal?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your wrapping and insulation technique works well in the expected temperatures, you could actually bring raw meat and cook it on the trail. I would only try this if your test run stayed &lt;em&gt;well&lt;/em&gt; within the safe temperature range; I wouldn't try this if it got close to the upper end of the range. The obvious advantage is that it would taste a lot better than re-heated pre-cooked meat. The disadvantage is that you handle raw meat on the trail, and safe food handling and cleanup is much more difficult without hot running water to wash your hands and cutting board. Plus you have the risk of raw meat juice leaking onto your other stuff. It's doable, but you need to plan ahead. Making a beef stew can work pretty well - bring a single, sealed package of pre-cut chunks of beef, cut it open and squeeze the still partially frozen lump and any meat juices into a simmering stewpot. Put the packaging in your trash bag without touching any of your other stuff, then rinse and sanitize your hands and the knife you used to cut open the package.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Prepare for the possibility that despite all your precautions, your meat simply gets warmer than you expected, and it just doesn't seem safe to eat. If that happens:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Don't talk yourself into eating it if you think it's unsafe. Better to go hungry than get sick (you'd lose all the calories anyway).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Figure out how you will re-distribute your remaining food after discarding this meal. It's probably better to run a bit low at the end of the trip than skip an entire meal right at the beginning, but you also don't want to completely run out of food before the end.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How will you dispose of the unsafe meat? You probably want to unwrap the meat and bury it far away from your camp site. Make sure you know whether you're allowed to do that in this area. If you have to pack it out, it will be very stinky by the end of your 5-day trip. Pack the wrappings out in your trash bag. Be sure to wash and sanitize your hands immediately afterwards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal opinion is, in most circumstances, it won't be worth the hassle that comes with doing it safely, and it's certainly not worth the risk of doing it un-safely. But, I do see the appeal. If you can pull it off safely, real meat can be a huge treat. You can find some middle ground by using smoked or otherwise partially preserved meats, such as bacon, hot dogs, or ham. You should still keep them cold as you would for fresh meat, but the nitrates in them will at least slow bacterial growth, so you have some margin for error. Summer sausage is also a nice option; it's shelf stable but not as dry as beef jerky, which makes it heavier but it seems more like &amp;quot;real&amp;quot; food, so it's a nice treat. And of course you can find a variety of canned meats, as well as chicken, tuna and salmon in foil packets. Those are still a treat compared to dried foods; they taste better, but they weigh a lot more.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T06:13:07.440" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25934" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25931" CreationDate="2021-02-25T09:11:26.260" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a combination of factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;holds get extremely small on a vertical face or slab with higher grades. Holds on overhanging boulders are already quite small in those grades, so they are pretty much nonexistent for vertical climbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;as the holds are basically nonexistent, these climbs start to get very friction dependent. This is a problem if you do not live near the project as trips are hard to plan&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;falling is much better on overhanging climbs&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the climbs would probably need to be much longer than the average boulder. The changing corner boulders are already veritable high-balls. Not for everyone&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;it does not look very spectacular. Professionals need sponsors to finance their lifestyle. The more spectacular something looks the easier it is to keep your sponsors happy&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;high-end technical climbs are difficult, even for pros. It takes many many years to get good at slabs and basically-no-holds climbing. It is much easier to throw in fingerboard sessions with xx kg bonus weight for an overhanging boulder&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T09:11:26.260" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25935" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T10:40:01.760" Score="14" Body="&lt;h3&gt;Take shelf-stable canned meat instead.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's entirely possible to buy shelf-stable cans of meat that will last for months or years, because the canning process kills all the bacteria that might grow on the meat and make it inedible, while also sealing the meat away to that it won't be recontaminated by the environment. It should be entirely safe to take such a can of meat along with you on a camping trip, as long as you consume the entirety of such a can once it's been opened.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not just talking about canned fish or Spam, either; there's a number of companies that sell canned corned/ground beef or chunks of chicken breast. It's probable that such a can might serve for whatever culinary purposes your pre-cooked meat would have served, though you'll probably want some sort of spoon or fork if you just want to eat it straight out of the can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14597" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T10:40:01.760" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25936" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T15:22:18.960" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a number of ways you can prepare certain types of meat to enable you to store it in room temperature conditions. You could make buy or make beef jerky, for instance. The key in that is that the meat has been cured by dehydration.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If making beef jerky (I personally don't enjoy store-bought jerky), make sure to follow a good recipe with an eye for food safety. Also, I would recommend making small vacuum packages if possible, after cooling the pieces completely. Sealed, it will be safe to eat for a number of days up to 2 weeks, depending on circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Just cooking it to a food-safe temperature is not the same as curing, so a grilled piece of chicken breast will be safe to eat for at most 2 hours, if unrefrigerated. I have brought cooked chicken on a picnic, wrapped in foil and packed with a few ice-packs in a cooling bag, but bringing cooling equipment on a hike will not be convenient, so it's most likely not a path I would recommend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Enjoy your hike!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20835" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T15:22:18.960" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25937" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T18:59:37.273" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can dehydrate cooked chicken in a home dehydrator. Bake a chicken breast (you want almost no fat in it), cut it into cubes, and dehydrate it. To use it, boil it in some water a few hours before you want to eat. Let it sit with a lid (and perhaps also a towel around it) while you set up camp and whatever, then bring it back to the boil and add other stuff to it, cook some rice, whatever. You can make nice chicken stew or curry in the wilderness this way. You can do the same with beef (choose a very lean cut.) Cooked ground beef also works and rehydrates faster than the cubes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When canoe camping, where weight is not an issue, I rehydrate meat cubes by putting them in a Nalgene bottle in the morning, adding boiling water, and carrying them around all day, then cooking them when we get to camp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="163" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T18:59:37.273" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25938" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-25T20:47:39.157" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;A couple options I have not seen on here:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Pack your meat in dry ice with insulating container.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Opt for freeze-dried meat.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My father used to tell me of when he and a friend packed steaks in dry ice and ate them at the end of a multi-day hike.  So, &lt;em&gt;can&lt;/em&gt; it be done?  Yes.  &lt;em&gt;Should&lt;/em&gt; it be done?  It's up to you; the risk is yours to take.  There is always a risk of spoilage when storing meat in uncontrolled conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20837" LastActivityDate="2021-02-25T20:47:39.157" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25939" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25942" CreationDate="2021-02-26T02:02:49.020" Score="1" ViewCount="178" Body="&lt;p&gt;I recently had two pairs of climbing shoes die in a very similar fashion: the right toe blows out, leaving a flapping piece of rubber near the bottom tip of the shoe (see photos). This is very different than my previous shoe deaths, where a deep-and-widening “V” develops in the rubber around the toe, until you’re climbing on/through the rand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I presume this has something to do with my footwork, and I would like to know what it may be so I can work on improving it/preventing these blowouts in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Possibly relevant is the fact that both pairs of shoes had been previously resoled. That included new toe caps though, so I don’t think this should be a problem where the rand is giving out under the sole. (Not sure how far under the shoe the new toe caps go, but maybe the connection between the toe cap and the original rand is weak and that’s causing the problem?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most recent blowout on La Sportiva Katanas; shoe seemed relatively fine with only a small dip in the sole rubber prior to blowout:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Jerp.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1Jerp.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;blown toe on La Sportiva Katanas&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Previous blowout on La Sportiva Finales; obviously had been climbed on a bit too long, but no sole issues in the area of the blowout prior to it appearing:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/viEKV.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/viEKV.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;blown toe on La Sportiva Finales&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17752" LastActivityDate="2021-02-26T11:21:53.913" Title="What is causing climbing shoe toe blowouts?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-shoes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25940" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25948" CreationDate="2021-02-26T06:43:47.067" Score="3" ViewCount="176" Body="&lt;p&gt;How are these &amp;quot;slideable&amp;quot; backpack buckles called? I am asking because I want to get a replacement. The backpack is a &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.homeofmillican.com/collections/fraser-the-rucksack-32l&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Millican Fraser 32L&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot; but the type of buckle should not be exclusive to this specific backpack.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/afzYt.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/afzYt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;*** Updated pictures ***&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not identified:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MDKcB.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MDKcB.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Buckle hook&amp;quot;:&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x65PG.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/x65PG.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20796" LastEditorUserId="20796" LastEditDate="2021-02-27T20:24:12.833" LastActivityDate="2021-03-03T20:44:21.413" Title="&quot;Slideable&quot; backpack buckles" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25941" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-26T07:45:09.687" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are ways to make meat safe for multiple day excursions, but it's not something I would recommend for a do-it-yourself project.  When I used to take trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, we would take summer sausages.  Those are cured in a way that makes them reasonably stable at normal temperatures for a week.  For the first day meal, we might use meat that was deep frozen when we started the trip - half a day was about the right amount of time for it to thaw but still be cold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20842" LastActivityDate="2021-02-26T07:45:09.687" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25942" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25939" CreationDate="2021-02-26T11:21:53.913" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Those look like tears to me. Something is causing a weak spot, perhaps a sharp point you stand on on of your regular climbs, then failure along stress lines to the toe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's possible that the resole is not as strong as the original sole. If the damage correlates to the edges of a pattern in the resole then stress lines would appear. Though both pairs seem reasonably well worn at the point of failure (edges well rounded), so perhaps the primary cause is that you've worn through the new sole and it's time to send them back again.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-02-26T11:21:53.913" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25943" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25928" CreationDate="2021-02-26T18:15:02.510" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Packing any food (except fully pulverized one) in zip bags is the worst idea ever! It creates perfect conditions for bacteria: a micro-atmosphere full of moisture!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you want your food to last longer, you need to remove as much moisture as possible. Frying is much better than boiling or roasting, because it removes a lot of water. The best thing is smoking - this is what the people all over the world were doing before refrigeration and canning was invented.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless there's a reason you want a DIY variant, the best option is to buy canned or vacuum packed food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-02-28T11:14:45.710" LastActivityDate="2021-02-28T11:14:45.710" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25944" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25612" CreationDate="2021-03-01T01:32:17.567" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Google &amp;quot;Adventure lights for swimming&amp;quot;. These can be used for your purpose. They are used in channel swimming as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17309" LastActivityDate="2021-03-01T01:32:17.567" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25945" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-01T12:16:25.893" Score="1" ViewCount="207" Body="&lt;p&gt;So this is building up to taking my girls (7 &amp;amp; 9) on to joining a climbing club and to get more in to climbing in general on rock faces/quarries, at the moment we use a 15m tree to practice climbing in our garden, all equipment is permanently placed, so subject to weathering. Set up is as follows -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2x 120cm, 16mm sling around thick V in trunk approx 10m up, using 2 locking carabiners opposite and opposed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;1x 10mm thick 30m dynamic rope is fed through these carabiners and at the bottom I use a simple belay device.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;There are 2 set ups as above, duplicated so both my daughters can play on the ropes separately.&#xA;2 types of climb are currently experienced.&#xA;The first is - a. Dbl figure-8 daughter tied in to harness, I take up slack from the bottom with rope through a belay device as they climb up using prusik's; 1 prusik is attached to the harness, the second is a foot loop and they climb up as high as they're happy to, they then unclip prusiks and I rappel them down using belay device. (Now I have a double set up I can now allow my daughter to climb up using one rope set up, prusiks wrapped around the 2 strands of rope, and I can figure-8 them in from the other rope as a safety and I take up slack from the bottom)&#xA;The second type is b. they prusik themselves up using both strands of rope, and I'm just teaching them how to use a belay device and they use the belay to descend themselves down. (After detaching themselves from the prusik)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Questions -&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Are the double sling / carabiners strong enough for this type of climbing? (Slings are nylon not Dyneema)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;I am also getting them to keep a prusik not above the belay device so as they rappel down there is the secondary safety there in case something happens to their brake hand, if this makes sense.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Am I able to allow both of them to climb simultaneously with a belay device secured to me? Or should you only look after one climber at a time, as I've heard/seen multi-climbers be led by one belayer ?&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If there's any other set up that may appear safer please let me know, just not 100% sure this is okay and if the double slings/carabiner is sufficient.&#xA;Any advice greatly appreciated and if any clarification is required please let me know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFiva.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XFiva.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20854" LastEditorUserId="20854" LastEditDate="2021-03-01T16:35:14.710" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T13:26:40.893" Title="Practice for roped climbing using a tree, is this setup safe?" Tags="&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;tree-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25946" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25945" CreationDate="2021-03-01T22:03:20.857" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Ages 7 and 9 are very, very young for this type of activity, and therefore I would think that any climbing club would have extremely limited expectations as to what they can/should do. Personally, for kids this small, I would be happy if they could climb on top-rope, not freak out when they're too high off the ground, and, when it's time for them to be lowered, they should have the psychological willingness to lean back and weight the rope. If a kid age 7 can tie in with her own rewoven figure eight, properly dressed and with an appropriate tail, then that's awesome, but she should be checked every time by someone who is competent. It's fine if a kid that small needs someone else to tie them in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They should know the standard voice commands used in your country, and they should be used to wearing a helmet, including at times when they're not actually climbing but could be hit by rockfall, a dropping phone, etc. They should understand some basic climbing etiquette, such as not to step on ropes and not to walk under a top-rope setup.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For their own protection, I would teach them that when they're toproping, they should do two things before climbing: (1) check that there is a knot in the other end of the rope (so that they can't get dropped if the rope is too short), and (2) make sure their belayer understands that they expect to be lowered off (that they will not be rapping off). They should also be used to checking your knots and harness buckles, and having you check theirs, before every climb. They should understand how to check whether there is slack in the rope, and what voice command to use to alert the belayer when there is too much slack (&amp;quot;up rope&amp;quot; in the US).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Teaching them to rappel is IMO a bad idea at this stage. Rappelling is inherently dangerous. If you read Accidents in North American Climbing, every year a huge percentage of the accidents are rappelling accidents. There is no need for them to know how to rappel when they have such a small amount of experience. Rappelling would be something they would need to do much later, in a situation where they're leading and need to clean. The second-hand backup you're teaching them sounds pretty standard, but I think it's just extremely premature to be teaching it to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Habits, once ingrained, become hard to break. Therefore I would not teach them to do something weird and idiosyncratic when they get to the top of a climb. Whatever procedure you're having them follow to set up to rap off, it doesn't sound like any procedure that I would want to have them do in any real climbing situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I assume that teaching them to ascend the rope on a Prusik is simply an expedient you're using because there is nothing for them to actually climb. This is actually a good skill to have for the future, but it's very unusual for kids this small to learn it. Consider attaching some kind of holds to the tree so that they can actually climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nothing you say about your anchors immediately raises red flags for me, but it's hard to tell over the internet. You don't say whether the slings are cord or webbing, or what kind of knots you're using. I don't know how many times you're going to climb on this setup, but if the number of climbs gets very large, you want to make sure the permanent carabiners are not wearing out from rope friction. You want to inspect them frequently to make sure the screws are still locked and the biners are not cross-loaded. I would avoid leaving the climbing ropes continuously outside and exposed to ultraviolet. Replace the slings frequently, especially if they start to look stiff or faded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal rule of thumb for using a tree as an anchor is &amp;quot;five and alive,&amp;quot; i.e., the trunk (or branch in your case) should be at least 5 inches in diameter, and it should be healthy, with green leaves growing from it. The attachment should be as close to the roots as possible, or in your case as close to the trunk as possible, which does seem to be the case. If it meets these criteria, I'm OK with using it as an anchor without any redundancy. However, if it was a setup like this that I was using with small kids, over and over, I would try to set up some better redundancy, so that even if the branch breaks, there is something else that your anchor is attached to.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In general, it sounds like you've gotten your knowledge from reading rather than from people who actually climb. Lots of people have had to learn to climb this way. However, you would do really well to seek out more experienced people to mentor you and your daughters.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guides often belay two clients at once, but it's less common to see other people doing this. It's more complicated to keep track of everything properly, and when you're just toproping on single-pitch climbs, there's normally no need to do it, because everybody just takes turns.  Since you're not very experienced, I would just avoid doing it. Make sure you have the basics of belaying one person figured out correctly, so that when you do it, what's getting programmed into your muscle memory is correct.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-01T22:27:21.013" LastActivityDate="2021-03-01T22:27:21.013" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25948" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25940" CreationDate="2021-03-03T04:05:21.283" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;Knowing the model and seller for this backpack was the key. From their website, I found this info about the buckles:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;BUCKLES (COMPONENTS)&#xA;We use aluminium buckles on all our Maverick bags. These are tough enough to withstand an average force of around 122 kgf (kilogram force). The aluminium is anodized, which provides a weather resistant surface without tarnishing, and the anodized trims we use are non-toxic and contain no nickel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So now we know the buckles are anodized aluminum (or aluminium). By adding that to my search term, I finally started getting some similar hits. Once I found a similar-looking buckle, I was able to find out the term for that shape of buckle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The second one is a &amp;quot;G hook buckle.&amp;quot; Some G hook buckles are flat, and therefore reversible. Others are slightly curved or otherwise shaped, which means they can only be used in one orientation. That type usually has two versions, one where the hook will point to the right, and one where the hook will point to the left. Yours looks like it's probably the flat kind, but I would need to handle it to be sure. You can probably substitute any version that fits the same size of webbing. Here are a few different product listings, purely as examples. It's quite easy to find other product listings for G hook buckles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3UyLz.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3UyLz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.globalsources.com/Bag-buckle/metal-alloy-G-hook-buckle-1154641681p.htm#1154641681&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fRJQt.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fRJQt.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B088P8PH7V&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S0H5k.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/S0H5k.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://milspecmonkey.com/store/hardware-diy/369-itw-g-hook-flat.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The first buckle is not a common style, and there's no consistent naming convention for it, which makes it difficult to find for sale.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A similar buckle is used on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vikingtactics.com/product-p/50000.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;VTAC Scuffle belt&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EMK3w.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EMK3w.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.vikingtactics.com/product-p/50000.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;They don't sell the buckle separately, so you'd have to buy a whole belt. The produce description calls it a &amp;quot;smooth front buckle&amp;quot; with an &amp;quot;ingenious interlocking buckle design.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Interlocking belt buckle&amp;quot; as a search term doesn't narrow it down very much.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The British military uses an interlocking quick release belt buckle:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f7ETa.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/f7ETa.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.military.direct/products/olive-green-quick-release-buckle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other interlocking belt buckles, for example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k9c4x.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/k9c4x.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.oyo-7.top/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=59731438&amp;amp;pr=29.99&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As DaveX pointed out, similar types of buckles are used on safety harnesses. In that context, they're called either &amp;quot;mating buckles&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;pass through buckles.&amp;quot; Those buckles are difficult to find separately from their harnesses.&#xA;You can find some of them in bulk quantities on Alibaba, in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://jsstamping.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-804155972/Buckles_Adjusters.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Buckles &amp;amp; Adjusters section&lt;/a&gt;. Many of the items on this page require a minimum purchase of 100 or even 1000, but there are a few with a minimum of 10, which which makes them somewhat reasonable for repairing a single backpack (usually 10 will cost less than $10, not including shipping). I'm including the product names and links to the listings below; even if the links go dead, the product names may be useful for finding similar items. As you can see, they don't have a consistent naming convention for these buckles.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-product-safety-adjustable-metal-side_60631182364.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;New product safety adjustable metal side release buckle&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://jsstamping.en.alibaba.com/product/1600113987771-804155972/Climbing_Carabiner_Tool_Customized_Black_Camping_Steel_Buckle.html?spm=a2700.shop_pl.41413.32.6e8433138mr6V6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Climbing Carabiner Tool Customized Black Camping Steel Buckle&lt;/a&gt; (this product is only half the entire buckle assembly)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qCcJC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/qCcJC.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://jsstamping.en.alibaba.com/product/1600116947934-804155972/Hot_sale_quick_release_buckle_for_fall_protection_as_well_as_bags_and_luggages.html?spm=a2700.shop_pl.41413.40.6e8433138mr6V6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hot sale quick release buckle for fall protection as well as bags and luggages&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BKNlr.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BKNlr.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two parts of this buckle can be named and purchased individually, but it would be tricky to find ones that are compatible with each other in this combination. The piece on the right is a tri-glide&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6cab.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6cab.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The piece on the left is a webbing reducer&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3vJ7X.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3vJ7X.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can easily find the two separate parts using the terms &amp;quot;tri-glide&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;webbing reducer.&amp;quot; These types of parts are sized by their interior dimensions (IE, what size of webbing fits into them), not by their exterior dimensions. You would need to know the exterior dimensions of the tri-glide to know if it would fit easily through the larger hole in the webbing reducer. Realistically, you'd need to actually assemble and test multiple combinations to find one that functions well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2021-03-03T20:44:21.413" LastActivityDate="2021-03-03T20:44:21.413" CommentCount="8" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25950" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-04T23:48:58.607" Score="1" ViewCount="93" Body="&lt;p&gt;In the past I've used microspikes mainly with my big, bulky mountaineering boots. The size I was using was slightly on the small size for these boots, according to the sizing chart, and the microspikes were not lasting very long. I think the short lifetime was because of this, although it could also be from using microspikes to kick steps in hard snow, which is really more what crampons or bare boots are for. So I moved up to the size that is actually supposed to be used with these boots, and they seem to work fine so far with these boots.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I more recently went for a trail run/hike in lightweight running shoes. The microspikes over the nylon mesh running shoes actually worked really well for me that day. My socks eventually got wet, but I brought spares, and it was nice not to have the big waffle-stompers on my feet. The only real problem I had was that because the prow of the shoe was small and flexible, it kept poking through the gap at the front of the microspikes, between the chains and the rubber. It wasn't too horrible, but it was somewhat annoying when going down steep downhills.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P92mC.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/P92mC.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The image shows what I'm thinking of trying this weekend in order to prevent that. I took about one meter of nylon webbing and tied it through the front of the microspikes, with an offset overhand knot. (I think a waterknot would be more secure in webbing, but I wasn't able to get a waterknot snug enough.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Has anyone experienced this problem or found any solution? Is the solution just to buy another pair of microspikes in a smaller size?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T22:39:30.357" Title="Accommodating the same microspikes to both bulky boots and smaller running shoes?" Tags="&lt;snow&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25951" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-05T03:16:52.237" Score="-1" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;I read about those gold rushes in 1849 and 1896 etc., and I keep asking myself: Why would anyone who finds gold announce it to the world? If they had any sense, they would keep it extremely secret and absolutely not attract a ton of people coming from all over the world to harass and steal from you. Possibly even &lt;em&gt;murder&lt;/em&gt; you to get to the gold. It makes no sense to me that one would run around and shout about having found gold in such a situation. So why do they (apparently) do so?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or maybe gold was/is found all the time, but we never hear about it so there is no gold rush there? And in these few known cases when there &lt;em&gt;was&lt;/em&gt; a gold rush, it's only because they forgot to be careful or made a mistake or something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20865" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T06:10:45.933" Title="Why do people who find gold somewhere announce it to the public, causing a gold rush?" Tags="&lt;gold-panning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ClosedDate="2021-03-05T16:23:02.797" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25952" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25951" CreationDate="2021-03-05T06:10:45.933" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Probably the first people who found gold &lt;em&gt;wouldn't&lt;/em&gt; announce it. They'd keep quiet about it as long as they could, while mining as much as possible in secret. But when a person who didn't have a lot of money suddenly starts spending lots of money, people notice. Shopkeepers and bankers would also notice their money was in the form of raw nuggets or flakes instead of coins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Once people noticed that this person had an unusual amount of money in an unusual form, they'd start watching that person. It wouldn't take long to figure out that they were finding gold. And once more than one person knows a secret, it doesn't stay secret for long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also, the real money in the goldrush was in selling supplies and services. So it would definitely be in the interest of merchants and people who provide services to publicize the find to increase business.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T06:10:45.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25953" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25945" CreationDate="2021-03-05T11:19:12.417" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'll start off answering your three questions then provide some extra thoughts at the end of my answer. Before that though, be aware that the risks are real: &lt;em&gt;if something goes wrong, perhaps because of a lack of knowledge, the outcome could be life-changing or terminal. Make sure you have the skills and experience you need and not just theoretical knowledge.&lt;/em&gt; User error is much more likely to result in an accident than equipment failure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. Are the double sling / carabiners strong enough for this type of climbing? (Slings are nylon not Dyneema)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As long as the slings are designed for climbing then they are more than strong enough. Make sure you have a reputable brand and not just a cheap sling off the internet. Be aware that there is an increasing problem with &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/buying-climbing-equipment-gear-online&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;counterfeit climbing gear sold online&lt;/a&gt;. The sling will need to meet the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theuiaa.org/safety/safety-standards/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UIAA standards for slings&lt;/a&gt;. If you are in Europe then the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.en-standard.eu/csn-en-566-mountaineering-equipment-slings-safety-requirements-and-test-methods/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;European standard EN 566&lt;/a&gt; aligns with this and should be written on the sling. This states that the sling should be able hold 22kN of force, both nylon and dyneema are up to this. The same sort of considerations apply for any karabiners, harnesses and belay devices you are using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. I am also getting them to keep a prusik not above the belay device so as they rappel down there is the secondary safety there in case something happens to their brake hand, if this makes sense.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This probably isn't appropriate given their age and your skill if you are asking these questions (which is a great thing do to!). The first consideration is if the Prusik jams or there is some other problem, such as them panicking or their hair getting stuck in the belay device, then &lt;em&gt;how will you rescue them&lt;/em&gt;? If you really want them to learn to abseil/rappel, then having a releasable abseil rope with the abseiler backed up by a separate belay rope would be more appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One related note, if you are using a backup Prusik then it normally goes below the abseil device not above it as it is much less likely to jam/cause problems. There are some exceptions to this but they don't seem likely in your situation. It's much better to provide a backup in other ways such as using the belay rope you already have set up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Am I able to allow both of them to climb simultaneously with a belay device secured to me? Or should you only look after one climber at a time, as I've heard/seen multi-climbers be led by one belayer?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is no need to have them climb at the same time. One at a time is standard practice for top roping. Being on the ground also provides time for for rest and recovery. You could also use this as an opportunity to teach them to belay, if you are happy that you know what you are doing well enough that you won't be introducing bad habits. If you do this, make sure you know how to tail the rope to back them up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As your children get older, it could also be used to let them think about what they might do differently on their next go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Some extra thoughts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It sounds like your set up is to get them Prusiking up ropes more than climbing. This is quite an advanced skill and one they are not likely to come across in their climbing club for quite some time. That doesn't mean you can't do it but just be aware it's not a perfect fit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Things that would be more useful to them are:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Associating climbing with fun. Prusiking up a rope may or may not achieve this.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learning to move and working on the FUNdamentals of climbing&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Learning to look after and trust each other (safety checks etc.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are in the UK I would highly recommend doing a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thebmc.co.uk/fundamentals-of-climbing-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BMC/Mountaineering Scotland FUNdamentals of Climbing course&lt;/a&gt;, once they are running again. The FUNdamentals of climbing focus on Agility, Balance and Coordination (the ABCs). Working on this will benefit your children more than anything else in their sporting lives, whether this is in climbing or not. There is evidence to suggest the people who master these skills before the age of 12 ingrain the skills better than those who learn it at a later date.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When I worked in a climbing wall I often ran introductory courses for adults. You could always tell those who had gymnastics or dance in their backgrounds as their movement on the wall was above what would normally be expected of a beginner. This is was due to their mastery of the ABCs of movement through other sports.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ways to work on the ABCs could include obstacle courses, unstable surfaces, climbing, slack lining etc. Basically anything that requires balance in a dynamic environment would be good. If you can find a tree with plenty of low branches, then climbing up this will be excellent too, but you may not have a suitable tree in your garden. &lt;em&gt;You can do plenty of fun activities that will prepare them for climbing which don't go high off the ground.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Climbing is about partnerships and the team working together to stay safe in a dangerous environment. It's never to early too start teaching children to check each other's knots and to check the belay device. Other &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/trust-exercises-for-kids#buddy-walk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;activities that build trust&lt;/a&gt; in each other would also help achieve your aims.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Meeting up with a climbing coach or a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor might be the best way to go over suitable systems and to perhaps discover local venues that are more suited for the type of activity you are looking for. Remember that this is risky business and if something goes wrong, perhaps because of a lack of knowledge, the outcome could be life-changing or terminal. If you are in the UK I would recommend finding a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountain-training.org/membership/ami&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Association of Mountaineering Instructors&lt;/a&gt;, who are all highly qualified, and would be able to offer you bespoke training suitable for your needs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="17008" LastEditDate="2021-03-05T13:26:40.893" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T13:26:40.893" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25954" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7080" CreationDate="2021-03-05T15:41:54.153" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Nordic skis and alpine skis have very similar bases, and kick wax doesn't do any damage to the P-Tex bases of classic nordic skis. It's just wax. If anything, one might argue it's somewhat good for your bases, in that it keeps them covered, but I don't want to get dragged into debating to what extent ski bases actually oxidize or age in the air.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The guide may have been saying that built-up layers of kick wax are not exactly ideal for alpine skis, because by its nature, kickwax creates drag. As you know, it's meant to stick to the snow. And as you ski on it, it spreads somewhat to the tails. But once you scrape it off the bases (even if you use solvent), your bases are the same. The chemicals used in waxing will not harm them or deteriorate them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think your idea is good, and based in tried and true nordic ski practices -- use kick wax to move cross country. I've done it with backcountry and telemark skis, and it works. When the climbing gets really steep, put on skins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20868" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T15:41:54.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25955" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1791" CreationDate="2021-03-05T17:02:01.160" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Here's my quickie hack for temporary replacement.&#xA;Found similar size water bottle pop top and screwed it on.&#xA;Slight slow leak so stand upright when not in use.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/VlemM.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20869" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2021-03-05T20:39:02.610" LastActivityDate="2021-03-05T20:39:02.610" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25956" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25958" CreationDate="2021-03-05T23:12:04.347" Score="3" ViewCount="146" Body="&lt;p&gt;Is it possible to find a closed form formula to calculate the TWA (true wind angle), in the range [-180, 180), from the TWD (true wind direction) and the heading angle, both relative to north and in the range [0, 360)?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20870" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-06T01:24:35.113" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T03:28:38.740" Title="True wind angle from true wind direction and heading" Tags="&lt;sailing&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25958" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25956" CreationDate="2021-03-06T22:43:26.650" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If &lt;br&gt;&#xA;H is heading angle&lt;br&gt;&#xA;D is true wind direction &lt;br&gt;&#xA;A is true wind angle &lt;br&gt;&#xA;then &lt;br&gt;&#xA;A = D - H &lt;br&gt;&#xA;and if A &amp;gt; 180 then A = A - 360&lt;br&gt;&#xA;or if A &amp;lt; -180 then A = A + 360&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&#xA;Example 1&#xA;           H&#xA;          /   H =  020&#xA;         /    D =  090&#xA;        /     A =   70 &#xA;       / A      &#xA;      /_ _ _ _ _ _ D&#xA;&#xA;Example 2&#xA;           D&#xA;          /   H =  090&#xA;         /    D =  020&#xA;        /     A =  -70 &#xA;       / A      &#xA;      /_ _ _ _ _ _ H&#xA;&#xA;&#xA;Example 3&#xA;H          D&#xA; \        /   H =  340&#xA;  \      /    D =  020&#xA;   \ A  /     A = -320 + 360&#xA;    \  /        =   40&#xA;     \/&#xA;&#xA;Example 4&#xA;D          H&#xA; \        /   H =  020&#xA;  \      /    D =  340&#xA;   \ A  /     A =  320 - 360&#xA;    \  /        =  -40&#xA;     \/&#xA;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2021-03-11T03:28:38.740" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T03:28:38.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25959" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25956" CreationDate="2021-03-07T16:00:14.473" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;By definition&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TWD = True Wind Direction (relative to true north)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;TWA = True Wind Angle (relative to the bow)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then,&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;TWD = Angle between wind and North&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Heading = Angle between heading and North&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;TWA = Angle between wind and heading&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;=&amp;gt; TWA = TWD - Heading&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then, as all angles are expressed module 360 (in degrees), then any angle in degrees can be expressed as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;Angle ≡ Angle + k * 360&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(where k can be any integer, including 0 and negative numbers)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="4154" LastActivityDate="2021-03-07T16:00:14.473" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25960" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25966" CreationDate="2021-03-07T18:08:27.950" Score="5" ViewCount="114" Body="&lt;p&gt;I found this bird near home in Kerala, India. Don't know the call. I sort of think this is a Fork tailed drongo. but not sure. Thank you...&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QFYYY.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/QFYYY.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20874" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2021-03-08T13:21:12.300" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T22:41:15.287" Title="What type of cuckoo bird is this? From South India, Asia" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;&lt;bird-watching&gt;&lt;bird-identification&gt;&lt;india&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25961" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-07T23:00:09.113" Score="0" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;I never leave the apartment anymore, because the outdoors have become a frightening dystopia. My childhood quarters have been utterly ruined with tasteless buildings and soulless (and dangerous) people. It just so happens to be a location where the houses cost a lot of money (in spite of all the destruction), and so I'm seriously considering moving somewhere far away where there's few or no people, where the houses are &lt;em&gt;much&lt;/em&gt; cheaper to buy. Why pay a massive premium just to keep living where I feel horribly depressed every time I look outside? (Not to mention I'm not rich by any means.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But the problem is that not only do I not have a car or a driver's license, but I'm never going to be able to get either. While not diagnosed, I just &lt;em&gt;feel&lt;/em&gt; that I'm not fit to drive a big motor vehicle on the roads myself. Especially not as I self-medicate daily, which is necessary due to horrible physical pain. I did some practice-driving many years ago on a parking lot, but just the thought of going out into traffic frightens me. I know myself and I'm sure that I would &amp;quot;black out&amp;quot; or forget some traffic rule or something like that. I realize that a lot of very &amp;quot;stupid&amp;quot; people &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt; manage to get a driver's license, but I also know that a lot of people end up in accidents. I'd preferably not even &lt;em&gt;ride&lt;/em&gt; a car if I can help it, especially with all the camera and mics and stuff they pack them full of these days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I doubt that any food/grocery delivery service delivers outside of major cities, this poses a massive problem for me. Of course, it would be technically possible to pay for a taxi to drive to my place, pick me up, drive to some store, wait for me as I shop, and then drive me home, but that would likely cost a fortune in the long run. Possibly even so much as to offset the &amp;quot;gains&amp;quot; of living so remotely and thus cheaply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming that there's no breakthrough with an actual self-driving, affordable car being announced tomorrow which doesn't even have a wheel and doesn't require any human to do anything but input the destination on a big interactive map in the front, and that no food delivery service starts offering remote drone deliveries or packages dropped from a fly-by airplane with little parachutes attached to them, how would somebody solve this?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no friends or family members who could help me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fear that the answer will be: &amp;quot;You're out of luck. All the people in your situation drive a car.&amp;quot; I'm always like that; falling between two &amp;quot;categories&amp;quot; of people, not fitting into either one. But maybe there's something I haven't thought of?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I want to stress that I'm not the &amp;quot;Rambo&amp;quot; type who runs around in the woods with a knife and stabs bears for dinner. Not only do I not own any weapon, but I could never shoot &amp;quot;Bambi&amp;quot; even if I did have one, and a license, and bullets, and training, and... everything is just such a bureaucratic mess. I would likely not &lt;em&gt;survive at all&lt;/em&gt; if forced to &amp;quot;become a hunter&amp;quot;. Perhaps I could grow some tomatoes and whatnot, but I strongly doubt that I could produce enough to actually survive from that alone. I frankly also have so little energy left that the thought of &amp;quot;farming&amp;quot; just makes me exhausted. (But I also recognize that it's probably very rewarding and &amp;quot;recreative&amp;quot;.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I hate loud neighbours and people shouting and screaming outside my window, but &lt;em&gt;total&lt;/em&gt; silence in a remote wooden cabin also seems likely to drive me insane eventually. All of this would've been so much easier if I had a partner with whom to &amp;quot;escape from society&amp;quot;; now that I'm on my own, I can't take advantage of a theoretical partner's ability to drive a car, combined money, varied interests complementing each other, etc. (I wasted a huge amount of my life trying to find a girl, and at this point, it's a closed chapter.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What to do in this kind of situation? I've spent so many sleepless nights going over this in my head, again and again, but I just can't see any kind of solution which doesn't just consist of me stuffed into some other corner nearby from here, with loud people all around and no ability to take walks and spend time outdoors on my own plot away from cameras and thieves. I fully recognize that there probably &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; no solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20876" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T02:46:35.667" Title="How do people who don't have a driver's license yet live remotely solve their food/survival needs?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;survival&gt;&lt;food&gt;&lt;hunting&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ClosedDate="2021-03-08T13:12:28.470" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25962" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25961" CreationDate="2021-03-08T02:46:35.667" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;While your question is possibly considered off-topic for this site, you raise some interesting points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all: &lt;strong&gt;Please seek professional medical help&lt;/strong&gt;. A lack of energy and not leaving your apartment indicate that you might have depression. While I am neither a qualified medical professional nor a qualified mental health professional, I strongly suggest that you talk to either or both about your issues, including drug use. It may be that you have an underlying health condition (constant pain is certainly something...) that is affecting your quality of life and can be easily treated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, on the topic of how people survive with no frequent access to food re-supply?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Well, there are a few answers, most of them involve physical work. Throughout history people have needed to work to get their food, generally through either growing it themselves and/or through co-operating with someone to get the items they want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As you indicate that you would be unable to kill and butcher an animal, you would need to become proficient in growing vegetables, fruit and possibly nuts and/or grains, depending on how independent/isolated you want to be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are may ways to become skilled at such things, including in an apartment environment. All it takes are some pots, some potting mix/seed mix, seeds and/or seedlings, water, and a window. Even better is to have a balcony or access to a safe outdoor area. For a complete novice, I suggest growing something tasty and edible like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_cress&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;mustard cress&lt;/a&gt;, which you can literally sprinkle over the surface of some potting mix or seed mix (or even a paper towel) and gently water once a day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Beans, peas and radishes are also easily grown in pots, as are &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;squash/zucchini/pumpkin&lt;/a&gt; (though these take up lots of space). Lots of garden herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano are also fairly easy to grow in a pot and can make your room smell wonderful. A bit of practice with these and you will be capable of growing them outside in the soil too and of moving on to more difficult and larger plants.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another, perhaps less useful, option are flowers, cacti and succulents, which essentially take the same steps, just cacti and succulents need much less frequent watering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the co-operation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If someone has something that you need or want, you can arrange to get it from them - you do this now with your shopping - you hand over money, they give you goods. However, you can do this with anything - say your neighbour has a car, you could ask if you can tag along on their shopping trips, perhaps paying for some gas/petrol or giving them something in return - food from your garden, or a hand with weeding their garden, washing their car, looking after a pet while they are away. You can also apply this to items from their garden/farm - you want some of their beef, give them some of your tomatoes, or bake them a cake, even just straight-up paying for what you get.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The really cool thing about co-operation is that it involves interaction, so it's not just about handing over money, it is about creating a relationship with other people, so that you can come to a mutual agreement about what you trade, be it your time/help, food, money. Sometimes all it takes is a one-off surprise help - you see that their dog has run over to your yard, and you can catch and return it. This creates goodwill from the neighbour, which is one part of a relationship.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We all have skills that can be traded for one thing or another, be it help with setting up a wifi router, or digging a hole, or changing a tyre, and you never know, that person you help, might just end up being your best friend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T02:46:35.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25963" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25964" CreationDate="2021-03-08T03:28:29.607" Score="18" ViewCount="6441" Body="&lt;p&gt;Portions of a hike I did recently involved me going through tunnels that had some twists and turns. How would these work with an app like &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllTrails&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;AllTrails&lt;/a&gt; or another GPS tracker?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As I understand it, assisted GPS is able to keep track of where you're at, even when satellites aren't available, by using an internal gyroscope. I feel like this means that most GPS trackers that record routes should be able to work, similarly, even when being unable to connect to satellites?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="9684" LastEditDate="2021-03-13T03:27:52.093" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T20:47:42.870" Title="Can I record my route electronically when underground?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;caving&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="8" FavoriteCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25964" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25963" CreationDate="2021-03-08T07:35:08.283" Score="21" Body="&lt;p&gt;How would GPS trackers work when underground?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Poorly&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have no personal experience with Alltrails, but the GPS apps which I have used in the past mostly did not cope well with GPS reception being spotty. Generally this resulted in strange erroneous routes being tracked, with large jumps in between points where the device had a GPS signal.&#xA;How bad this is for you depends on a lot of factors:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How clever your device/software is in interpolating the route between known GPS locations.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How obstructed the path actually is, i.e. how often the device might still get a somewhat accurate GPS fix.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;How important it is for you to accurately track the underground parts of your hikes. E.g. does your underground route-finding, i.e. safety, depend on it?!&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The actual solution to your underground navigation problem is called &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Inertial Navigation&lt;/a&gt;, and is able to function completely without contact to any satellites. I am, however, not aware of any consumer-level products in this regard. Caving itself is a rather specialised undertaking, and navigation in/mapping of caves remains, as far as I know, rather involved and technical.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6266" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T07:35:08.283" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25965" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25963" CreationDate="2021-03-08T08:47:04.467" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;GPS and similar technologies do not work at all underground, they can be blocked fairly effectively by dense tree-cover or being deep in a valley, even with clear views of the sky. Any thickness of rock will be impenetrable by the radio waves used to communicate with the GPS satellites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Inertial guidance technology is improving, particularly with the advent of sports watches, but these generally need at least occasional reception from the GPS and/or regular stride patterns (e.g such as when walking, not something you often come across underground) for them to estimate the route with any degree of accuracy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The simplest solution, and one that has been known and used for thousands of years is... a string/rope. This sort of thing is what cave surveyors actually use. Needs to be long enough for your purpose and strong enough that it doesn't snap easily. There's things like distance thread measures (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/products.php?mi=57041&amp;amp;itemnum=39058&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;) used in forestry that pull out a cotton thread up to 2.5 km (~1.5 mi), which would work pretty well for short non-critical distance - the devices aren't cheap, but I am fairly sure you could hold the thread spool in your hand or dangle it from a pack and have it unspool. The real risk here is that the thread breaks and you wander off without noticing that you are dragging a broken string, thereby separating the ends and leaving you none the wiser as to where you are.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T08:47:04.467" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25966" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25960" CreationDate="2021-03-08T10:29:14.480" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;You need to be careful here: there are several similarly named species in English, so it's probably better to use the scientific name.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis, e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://ebird.org/species/fotdro5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this shot on ebird&lt;/a&gt;) is an African species that looks very much like your photo.  India's &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drongo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;black drongo&lt;/a&gt; (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a closely related species, formerly regarded as a subspecies of fork-tailed drongo (so if you've got an old book it might be listed under that name).  The hint of brown on the wings is good, as is the red/brown in the eye.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Fork-tailed drongo-&lt;em&gt;cuckoo&lt;/em&gt; (Surniculus dicruroides) is another Indian species, recently split from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-tailed_drongo-cuckoo&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;square-tailed drongo-cuckoo&lt;/a&gt;. It closely resembles the black drongo. While the iridescence is striking in the photo I've linked, &lt;a href=&quot;https://ebird.org/species/asidrc2?siteLanguage=en_GB&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ebird&lt;/a&gt; has a photo in a similar pose to yours (you'll have to go through the images; they don't make it easy to link directly) that isn't catching the light.  Black drongo can also show iridescence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sound will be the best way to tell &lt;a href=&quot;https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/248542011&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;black drongo&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href=&quot;https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/282484781&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo&lt;/a&gt;.  These links are to recordings of both from Kerala (as some species have regional accents).  Ebird has plenty of recordings of both.  Ebird also states that the adult fork-tailed drongo-cuckoos &amp;quot;may be confused with drongos, but are lighter-billed and smaller, with distinctly white-barred undertail&amp;quot;.  The latter is pictured, but you'd need a good view to see it; as for the overall size and subtleties of the bill shape, familiarity with one species might indicate something off about a sighting, but in isolation they're not diagnostic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the photos I've seen, there's much more noticeable white on the lores (near the base of the bill) in the black drongo.  Your photo shows a small patch.  Combined with the eye colour I'm leaning towards black drongo. The bill shape is also good for black drongo, less curved than in the drongo-cuckoo (thanks to Tom Gaskill for pointing that out).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-03-10T22:41:15.287" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T22:41:15.287" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25967" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25963" CreationDate="2021-03-08T12:18:02.283" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Assisted GPS is different from inertial navigation.  It uses ground stations to transmit GPS almanacs and ephemeris for faster GPS start-up.  There are also wide-area augmentation services such as EGNOS which work in a manner similar to differential GPS to improve accuracy by transmitting positioning signals from ground stations.  Needless to say, both of these require reception of radio signals, which won't happen underground.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;No handheld GPS receivers that I know of include an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), probably due to expense and conflict with the desire for long battery run-times.  Usually an IMU has a tendency to long-term drift (they work by integrating accelerations) and benefit from at least periodic correction from GPS fixes.  Without correction, you'll become increasingly inaccurate over time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best way to track your location underground is the traditional way, by plotting timestamps in pencil on your survey.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For making cave surveys, we also use traditional techniques - trigonometric survey created by measuring bearing, inclination and distance from station to station.  There are electronic devices for the actual measurement, though ordinary compass, clino and tape are often preferred for their robustness.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some people are experimenting with drone-based mapping, combining a drone's IMU and laser-scanning to generate point clouds which then subsequently become the &amp;quot;anchor&amp;quot; for the next bit of survey and so on.  That's not in regular use for cave survey (and it does require enough room for a drone to manoeuvre, so only suited to large chambers) but is an interesting technology to watch.  At present, it requires a lot of number-crunching back home to post-process the data, but it's conceivable that one day, real-time cloud-point surveying will become feasible.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-13T20:47:42.870" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T20:47:42.870" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25968" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25963" CreationDate="2021-03-08T13:01:49.557" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;To supplement @fgysin answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Modern smartphones contain enough sensors (acceleration, gyro, compass) to do inertial navigation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These sensors are not of a great precision, so I think the integration errors will accumulate quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Searching for &amp;quot;inertial navigation app&amp;quot; gives some results that pretend to do the thing.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am really curious and will try some time soon.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20132" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T13:01:49.557" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25969" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="7683" CreationDate="2021-03-08T13:25:09.853" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;What you're looking at is a &lt;strong&gt;carbide lamp&lt;/strong&gt;, and it looks to be a Petzl Aceto.  What you can't see in this photo is the &lt;em&gt;generator&lt;/em&gt;, which is a round canister with two parts.  The upper part contains water, which drips into the lower part containing small lumps of calcium carbide.  The reaction releases acetylene gas, which travels via a tube to the actual lamp.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compared with electric lamps they have a few advantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Much more robust and resistant to water ingress (water is no harm at all)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No need to recharge batteries every day (it's easy to carry enough carbide for a week-long trip if necessary)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Continuously-variable brightness (and peak brightness greater than halogen bulbs)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Performs better in the cold&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Actually generates warmth (both the generator and the flame) - useful in emergency situations&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And a few disadvantages:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A tendency to extinguish in waterfalls&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Leaves soot marks when waiting around&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Spent carbide needs disposing of properly&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Over the last couple of decades, electric lamps have improved greatly with new technologies (Li-ion batteries and LEDs) and better build quality that the advantages aren't as great as they used to be.  And some cave systems have restrictions prohibiting the use of carbide (generally for conservation reasons, due to a history of indiscriminate dumping of spent rocks).  But carbide still comes into its own on long expeditions, and as the photo shows, it's common to have both carbide and electric on the helmet so that each can be used where it's the best tool for the conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11623" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-10T07:42:19.080" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T07:42:19.080" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25970" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25950" CreationDate="2021-03-08T22:39:30.357" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have several ideas, but be warned that I haven't tried any of them. If you try them, please let me know which ones work or not, and I will edit (or delete) my answer accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All the ideas are based on threading a cord (such as a shoelace) through the chain links and tying it off in a loop (that knot is not depicted). Blue lines represent cords. Green circles represent knots. Here's the baseline image of microspikes on a boot (Kahtoola brand, original image from &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.jackrabbit.com/kahtoola-microspikes-footwear-traction/Microspike-Blk.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ypnf.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/1ypnf.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One horizontal connector, pulled tight to bring the two chains closer together:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xn7RX.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xn7RX.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Add one horizontal tie, looped through the chain on both sides of the toe, and tie it tightly enough that the two chains can't slide apart wide enough for your toe to slip through.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Two ties in an X shape, with or without a knot:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CbXql.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/CbXql.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gOvBA.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/gOvBA.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Similar to the horizontal connector, these ties should prevent the chains from spreading too wide and letting your toe through. If you add a knot to the middle of the ties, they also divide the one large gap into four smaller gaps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Four ties, tied together with 4 knots to make a square toe pocket:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6J06w.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6J06w.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's a mockup I made using some scraps I had lying around, so you can see how the cords would be arranged:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kTPa4.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/kTPa4.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here's what it looks like on the toe of a shoe (I leave the microspikes up to your imagination):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Er2IE.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Er2IE.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If one of these arrangements works well enough, you may find that the cords wear out after a while and need to be replaced. At that point, you should know whether the solution works well enough to invest in some sturdier cord or even small chains and metal clips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-03-08T22:39:30.357" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25972" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-09T13:18:07.200" Score="3" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two dogs (Border Collie, working line German Shepherd) and I am heading out for a long hike (about a week) early April. Typical high in April is +7 Celsius/45 Fahrenheit, typical low -1 Celsius/30 Fahrenheit. Both inside dogs, but I am also an inside human :-)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Practical questions:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I need to tether the dogs at night. How would you do it? (odds are the Shepherd will get territorial/potentially dangerous unless tethered).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Should I get a tent or sleep outside? I usually sleep in a sleeping bag under a tarp (to keep rain away). Unsure about the pups. I am not sure a tent is practical because odds are it will get chewed/scratched in the first night. An extra pad for the dogs is required - not sure how to convince them to sleep on the pad :-).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What would you feed them extra? I will give them their usual portions, unsure about how to give them some extra energy. Grocery food preferred (bacon?)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13312" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T18:13:47.840" Title="Practical advice request - camping with dogs" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;dogs&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25973" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25972" CreationDate="2021-03-09T14:35:40.107" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have two small dogs (each about 25 pounds), and have taken them camping with me a few times. I ended up deciding that it was not really successful, that they weren't enjoying it and that I wasn't either, but YMMV.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Try setting up the tent in the back yard and getting the dogs used to it. That way they understand what it is, and you can see what issues there might be with pads, chewing, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re tying the German shepherd up, it seems straightforward to tie him to a tree. However, that's going to get awkward if you want to keep him tied and at the same time inside the tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't think a huge amount of extra food is necessary. Dogs are much more efficient walkers than humans, and in any case, exercise doesn't really consume as many calories as people imagine. In humans, hiking is about 0.4 kcal per mile per pound of body weight. Dogs are probably half that.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-03-09T14:35:40.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25974" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25963" CreationDate="2021-03-09T18:13:28.910" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;As others have stated, the way to keep track of your position when you can't use GPS is &lt;strong&gt;inertial navigation&lt;/strong&gt;, also known as &lt;strong&gt;dead reckoning&lt;/strong&gt;. This uses various sensors, such as accelerometers, magnetometers and gyroscopes, which form an &lt;strong&gt;IMU (inertial measurement unit)&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The issue is that it is by definition subject to &lt;strong&gt;drift&lt;/strong&gt; (so with time the estimated position can get further and further away from the actual position), and that it's even more complex on a hand-held device such as a mobile phone as opposed to a car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a car, you can get (if the GPS is properly wired into the car system) two bits of information that are quite handy:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;orientation&lt;/strong&gt; of a car (from a &lt;strong&gt;magnetometer&lt;/strong&gt; which is basically an &lt;strong&gt;electronic compass&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;distance traveled&lt;/strong&gt; (by counting wheel turns and knowing the wheel size -- this is how your mileage counter works).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each wheel turn, you add the size of perimeter of the wheel to your previous position in the direction of the orientation of the car.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This can give you a pretty accurate result. You will get slightly off if you turn a lot (or if the tire size doesn't match!), but the error should remain quite manageable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your GPS cannot get the wheel turns information (i.e. it's an add-on device, not wired into the car), then it get slightly more tricky, as you can't directly get a distance traveled. Instead, you rely on &lt;strong&gt;accelerometers&lt;/strong&gt;, which will give you... acceleration (it's the only thing you can measure directly).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From acceleration, by integration, you can get speed&lt;/strong&gt;: if you start at 0 m/s and measure a constant 1 m/s^2 acceleration, after one second your speed is 1 m/s, after 2 seconds it's 2 m/s, and so on. If acceleration drops to 0, then the speed remains constant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;From speed, you can get distance traveled&lt;/strong&gt; via the same mechanism. Double integration means that your &lt;strong&gt;position is based on the square of elapsed time&lt;/strong&gt; (x = x0 + 0.5.a.t^2 if acceleration was constant). This means that &lt;strong&gt;even a slight error in measurement of acceleration will quickly grow to become a quite large error in the measurement of distance travelled&lt;/strong&gt;. To minimise error, you need to have the lowest possible error in measurement (better sensors), and perform measurements as frequently as possible (we're talking fractions of a second).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With this, it's still possible to get a decent estimate, especially as a car doesn't (usually) swerve around a lot, or have lots of variation in acceleration. The magnetometer being fixed in the car means that it can tell you quite precisely where the car is headed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However &lt;strong&gt;this all goes awry when you consider a mobile phone&lt;/strong&gt;. You have it in your hand. Try as you may, you will at the very least bounce it slightly left and right and up and down as you walk. You probably don't have a constant speed either, so you'll also impart a slight acceleration front and back. This means acceleration changes a lot in all 3 axes. Orientation as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This results in a lot more difficult measurement, will lots of errors, especially if you don't sample acceleration and orientation and rotation often enough. Modern IMUs will do that all inside the chip to try to get the best estimate possible, but that's a pretty difficult task.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_measurement_unit&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; reminds us that maths dictates that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To get a rough idea, this means that, for a single, uncorrected accelerometer, the cheapest (at 100 mg) loses its ability to give 50-meter accuracy after around 10 seconds, while the best accelerometer (at 10 µg) loses its 50-meter accuracy after around 17 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And that's just based on pure acceleration, not even taking into account rotation of the phone.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Not all phones are created equal in that respect, and some will have better performance than others (because they have more recent, more expensive IMUs with less errors, higher frequency), but in any case, it won't (and can't) give you a precise position for a very long time: they need to be frequently re-synchronised to their actual position through other means (GPS or Wi-Fi/cellular trilateration).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8424" LastActivityDate="2021-03-09T18:13:28.910" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25975" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25976" CreationDate="2021-03-10T13:35:04.677" Score="3" ViewCount="167" Body="&lt;p&gt;I will be hiking 4 days in early August between the High Sierra camps in Yosemite:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Toulumne Meadows Lodge → Glen Aulin&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Glen Aulin → May Lake&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;May Lake → Sunrise&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Sunrise → Toulumne Meadows Lodge&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I do not need to carry food for breakfast and dinner because it will be provided.&#xA;I need a sleep sack but not a sleeping bag because the camp beds have blankets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any suggestions for the appropriate size pack?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it helps, I tend toward the 'wear the same stuff except for socks and underwear' method of dressing each day when out and about like this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20884" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-11T18:27:52.477" LastActivityDate="2021-03-12T04:14:29.833" Title="What volume pack for 3 day Yosemite High Sierra camp-to-camp hike" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;&lt;yosemite&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25976" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25975" CreationDate="2021-03-10T13:44:50.140" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I would go for about 30 liters. Your bulkiest single item will be your bear canister for your lunch food. A small one will be plenty big enough for your needs, maybe 300-400 cubic inches. It's possible that you could use a pack with a volume as low as 20 liters, but you would need to make sure you can fit the bear canister.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's been a while since I've been in Yosemite Valley, but at that time they had bear canisters for rent at the office where you picked up your permit. You should probably check out your options for bear canisters before deciding on a pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-10T16:30:07.517" LastActivityDate="2021-03-10T16:30:07.517" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25977" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="14086" CreationDate="2021-03-11T03:49:25.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I own the Cypress. I purchased it overfilled through Hermit's Hut.&#xA;My son owns the Bison. Also purchased overfilled through Hermit's Hut.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What has been said is spot on. &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;The Bison is designed the keep you warm at -40 by using extensive amounts of design with minimal amounts of down&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Whereas, &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;The Cypress is designed to keep you warm at -30 by using a minimal amount of design with massive amounts of down&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are both roughly 6', 160lbs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I fill my Cypress with Nalgenes, electronics and down blankets which improves its efficiency.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;These are the 2 biggest, baddest bags on the planet, but when it's -30, having one is just part of the equation of a successful night's rest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20888" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-11T18:22:20.787" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T18:22:20.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25978" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="25980" CreationDate="2021-03-11T04:11:54.250" Score="3" ViewCount="312" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to walk along some bluffs, but there's a bunch of gravel at a 45° angle along the bluffs that's kinda slippery and treacherous.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is: what kind of gear would assist me with this? I'm thinking walking sticks but maybe cleats as well?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The following two pictures show the terrain I'm describing:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4psJz.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/4psJz.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7WNt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/W7WNt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-14T08:08:22.063" LastActivityDate="2021-03-14T08:08:22.063" Title="How can I safely walk along the top of a steep scree slope?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;gear&gt;&lt;footwear&gt;&lt;solo-hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25979" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25978" CreationDate="2021-03-11T09:18:51.753" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A pair of medium to tall height hiking/hunting boots, with gaiters or long trousers over the top to keep out stones. Ideally these will be something with a stiff upper and a full shank (inside the sole), so that you can place your foot perpendicular to the slope and not roll at the ankle.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Walking sticks, use appropriately should help with stability, but will not help you if you start to slide, or fall over and slide.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Assuming by cleats you mean like on the bottom of football/soccer boots or perhaps on sprinter's track spikes, rather than the tread pattern of the same name. If the football boot style, then these will not help you at all, unless they can make purchase on the soil underneath the loose rock. Football style cleats are designed for purchase on soft ground such as grass or dirt, rocks will lower their traction. Your best bet will be a pair of boots with a mud/dirt-shedding pattern so that they don't pick up mud or clay and provide less traction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On a side note - as these cliffs appear to be overhanging in some respects, and the slope below consists of loose rocks - these have all shed from the cliff and can do so at any time. Wearing a climber's helmet may just save your life.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T09:18:51.753" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25980" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25978" CreationDate="2021-03-11T14:18:15.990" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;This just doesn't look like it can be done safely. It looks like it's about 15 meters tall (diagonally), and the brush is thick enough to prevent you from just staying low down near the water. A fall from this height could easily result in serious injury or death.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Soccer cleats or trekking poles will not help here. They will be no more stable than the underlying dirt, which looks like loose, chossy gravel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could try to do it using mountaineering techniques, roping up and placing protection. However, the rock quality looks bad, and I don't see any cracks or other features that you could place protection in. You could try slinging trees and bushes, but from the photo that doesn't look like it will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the rock quality of the cliffs is better than it looks, then conceivably you could drill and put in bolts, then do this traverse with a hand line or a belay. This would be a time-consuming and expensive project, would require permission from whoever controls the land, and would not be practical if you're talking about doing kilometers worth of traversing along this slope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you do decide to attempt it, wear helmets.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-11T14:28:41.077" LastActivityDate="2021-03-11T14:28:41.077" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25981" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25975" CreationDate="2021-03-12T00:33:28.617" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't write a definitive answer because (a) requirements change and (b) I have never stayed at a High Sierra Camp, although I have freequently hiked past the May Lake Camp and am pretty sure they had a bear box.  (It would be strange if they do not.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't recommend that you plan on carrying a bear canister for the trip you propose.  Even a small bear canister is bulky and clumsy and means that you will be stuck with a considerably larger pack than you need for the trip you describe.  Worst case scenario: you miss a few lunches.  Not a tragedy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From what you describe, you may not even need a real pack, just a day hiker, although one of the larger sort, not the smaller sort -- the sort of thing you might reasonably carry around town or campus.  A day hiker is a useful item to have even for long trips that require a large pack.  For example, you might want to take a day hike during a day of rest on a long trip.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-03-12T04:14:29.833" LastActivityDate="2021-03-12T04:14:29.833" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25982" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="23016" CreationDate="2021-03-12T20:42:47.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is generally considered a bad idea to feed wild animals, both for the animals themselves and for humans.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Animals can become dependent on the handout,and unable to fend for themselves, or take natural paths to food sources at certain times of year.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Humans generally don't have food that wildlife would eat, and human food may not be healthy for them.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;feeding them can cause them to bunch up in ways that are not normal, spreading disease, and/or polluting water or landscape with an overabundance of feces.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Animals expecting to be fed may cause damage to habitat that would not otherwise occur.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;habitualizing animals to human presence, like houses, vehicles or roads can cause them to come in conflict with those things (i.e. get run over on the road), and cause injury to the animal as well as damage to property.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Feeding one kind of animal will often attract another type (e.g. feeding the squirrel might attract a bear)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;animals that you are ok with with not be ok with other humans they come across, resulting on conflict.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Threat responses can be triggered around food, and cause conflicts with humans or other animals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cause the animals normal behavior to be altered, making it appear diseased, and ultimately destroyed.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are some references:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.ontario.ca/page/feeding-wildlife-dos-and-donts&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.ontario.ca/page/feeding-wildlife-dos-and-donts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/resources/dont_feed_the_wildlife_april_2017.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/resources/dont_feed_the_wildlife_april_2017.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/SA_Program_Overview/CT_Dontfeedwildlife&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/SA_Program_Overview/CT_Dontfeedwildlife&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://spca.bc.ca/news/dont-feed-wildlife/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://spca.bc.ca/news/dont-feed-wildlife/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14956" LastActivityDate="2021-03-12T20:42:47.107" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25983" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="11028" CreationDate="2021-03-13T03:14:45.750" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you want a purpose-built solution, check out the Skigee (as in ski squeegee). Light, cheap, stores easily in a pocket. If your issue is simply wet snow clumping on the outside of the lense, these work great. Similarly, the Smith snow eraser (a small sponge and chamois combination) or a dry lens cloth will work well for drying off the outside of the lens. Note that these are all less effective if your issue is the inside lens fogging up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I favor having several pairs of goggles in my pack for storm days. Being able to swap in a fresh pair and instantly restore visibility is invaluable. Goggles that have interchangeable lenses also work well (and keep the bulk down), but this approach can suffer from the foam itself getting soggy and immediately fogging up a replacement lens.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T03:14:45.750" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25984" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25972" CreationDate="2021-03-13T18:13:47.840" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a greater swiss mountain dog. I started by getting him used to camping with tarp in the backyard and sleeping in the van, we've also been doing a bit of winter camping in a friend's garden.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;He doesn't like sleeping away from home, but then he also doesn't likes being away from me. He anyways spends his nights outdoors, so temperature/fur is no problem. (His breed is typically farmyard guard dog or livestock guard dog, so he's a barker. So rather no stealth camping. He'll growl or bark when animals move around closely - which is fine if it tells the wild boars to make a detour, but rather annoying when I wake up because some racoons came along in the tree)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tarp + tethering from a tree works well. I haven't tried a tent. Put some thought in where to tie him to minimize the chances of getting entangled with the lines of tarp or tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Pad: a dog quickly recognizes that a pad is softer and warmer than the soil. If they need that, they'll use it (unless they decide it's in the category of things they're not supposed to be on). I'd put it to their use at home for a while.&#xA;My dog will scratch a pad like he does when making a cozy sleeping place with his mat or some leaves and soil outdoors. Foam pads will quickly be in shreds, I'm thinking to experiment with the cloth of an old dog mat as hull. At around 0°C, he uses a pad if available. If they don't use it, they don't need it (they may prefer to make their own camp from leaves)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Feeding: my dog needs substantially more feed when hiking the whole day, and also in cold weather (probably also because he's able to run more in cold/cool weather). I observe roughly a factor 2 between full hiking day in winter compared to hot weather in summer. (But then the mountain dogs really don't much when lazy.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd do a bunch of single-night out test hikes before starting on a whole week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2404" LastActivityDate="2021-03-13T18:13:47.840" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25986" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16888" CreationDate="2021-03-15T01:40:26.113" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;One of the challanges of accuracy with Geocaching is - &lt;strong&gt;it is entirely dependent upon the accuracy of the person placing and recording the location of the cache.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You might have the best GPS in the world, accurate to 0.1m after only 10 seconds. But if the person placing the cache was using mobile-assisted GPS and google satellite background to help place their cache, you still might be 15m out.&#xA;There is the ability for end users to improve the location (almost like crowd sourcing an updated location) but even still.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This has happened a lot with me. You can tell that the user has used assisted GPS and an inaccurate satellite background on the map to locate their cache, but low and behold, you find it 10m away in a totally different bit of bush. The comments in the cache log often lend themselves to saying it was in a different spot. Very common issue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in answer to your question, take into account the above info. If you are going to be looking for your average run of the mill cache's, probably no GPS needed. However if you are going to be looking for caches that are placed by well regarded geocache-hiders (?) and high difficulty, then maybe GPS would be useful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20034" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T01:40:26.113" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25987" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25918" CreationDate="2021-03-15T07:06:08.533" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is no special technique for skiing with a heavy pack, just suffering. Consider how much more difficult it is to simply walk downhill with a heavy pack---and that's for something as biomechanically simple and practiced as walking. In addition to the points that @Manziel makes, here are several that I have found helpful.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't. As much as possible, reduce the weight of your load and try to plan routes that avoid more difficult terrain. If you are faced with a difficult descent, consider caching gear and doing several laps to ferry your entire load down. Regardless, severely dial back your terrain and aggressiveness---think &amp;quot;backpacking with skis&amp;quot; and not &amp;quot;skiing with a heavy pack.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Strength. If you can't comfortably crank out squats with the weight of a pack, skiing will be even more problematic. Having a pre-season weightlifting / dryland training regime will make skiing with a heavy pack much more feasible (in addition to improving your normal skiing). Additionally, you &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; fatigue faster with a heavy pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ski equipment. Consider how you would have originally selected and set up your skis/boots/bindings if you weighed 20 kilos more. Having more supportive boots along with wider and stiffer skis can help counteract the additional mass. A superlight skimo racing setup might be great for tagging spring corn objectives, but will be miserable with a heavy pack. You might also consider the DIN setting for your bindings: upwards to account for the additional weight or downwards to account for the slower speeds and the higher likelihood of knee-wrenching falls.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;@Manziel makes some excellent points about thoughtfully loading your pack. I will, however, quibble with the idea of cinching the pack straps tight. In the extreme, this ends up feeling like trying to ski while lashed to a backboard. Try to find a balance wherein the pack isn't wildly swinging around but isn't so tight as to impede hip and pelvic mobility. For short difficult sections, I will sometimes even completely loosen the waist strap and carry the entire load through my chest and shoulders with a strongly braced core (you did include core work in your off-season training, right?...). While inefficient from a long-distance load-carrying perspective, I find that it helps free up my body to ski and to help me feel how the load is reacting. YMMV.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Technique. Good ski technique is still good ski technique. All of the fundamentals about fore-aft and lateral balance, edge angles, counter-rotation, weighting and unweighting, and so forth still apply. In addition to simply being heavier, note that your center of mass will generally move upwards and backwards. Correspondingly, think about getting your stance slightly more forwards---getting backseat with a heavy pack is disastrous. I also focus on trying to make smooth, large radius turns (effectively balancing on an edge, &amp;quot;park-and-ride&amp;quot; style), rather than short hop turns. Similarly, over-exaggerate your normal ski movements: jump &lt;em&gt;hard&lt;/em&gt; to unweight, get higher edge angles, keep your upper-body extra calm, etc. Think back to the skills &amp;amp; drills you practiced when you were first learning to ski; if possible, try to run through some of these with a heavy pack to get a sense of how everything reacts with the extra mass.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;The next level of technique would be learning how to use the additional mass to your benefit for certain movements. For example, subtle fore-aft and lateral shifts can suddenly make large differences in how your skis are pressured. With the additional mass, we can bend our skis deeply and crank some very tight turns (provided we manage to control the resulting forces!). Toy with dynamically unweighting the pack and turning underneath it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spy on your local ski patrollers the next time you see them with a large pack, carrying a bundle of bamboo, or even maneuvering a rescue sled. Observe what they do differently (and the same!) with heavy, awkward loads.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ski dirty---with such a heavy pack, style points go out the window. Rediscover your stem-christie, side-step, sideslip, and even resort to long downhill traverses with kick-turns at each end. Again, change your focus from &amp;quot;shredding the gnar&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;getting from point A to B with skis on.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T07:06:08.533" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25988" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="24949" CreationDate="2021-03-15T13:56:54.397" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is a question of design, rather than safety: You could make a safe harness with some other combination of loops for tying in and belaying, but the current combination is familiar and has some benefits over e.g. harnesses without a dedicated belay loop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tie-in points&lt;/strong&gt; in modern harnesses are reinforced against abrasion. Some harnesses use brightly colored material under the abrasion-resistant layer to show if you have worn through it. There are two tie in points not for redundancy, but for comfort and better weight distribution: Often, harnesses meant for top-rope-only climbing feature a single loop for tying in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Belay loop&lt;/strong&gt; distributes the weight from belay device, or clipping in to an anchor etc., to both tie-in points similar to what tying in with the rope does. In addition, it provides a way to avoid triaxial (or otherwise weird) loading of the carabiner, while moving the belay device to a more comfortable position and orientation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some organizations, in particular &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/dSwb9RBG5TY?t=84&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;German Alpine (DAV) teach that tying in through the belay loop is an option&lt;/a&gt; (for compatible harnesses). For example, Edelrid &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/knowledge/pics/2018/Gurtfibel_EN_ANSICHT.pdf?m=1536741909&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;shows it as an option&lt;/a&gt; that applies to some of their harnesses.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lp3u0m.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lp3u0m.png&quot; alt=&quot;From Edelrid Harness Handbook&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="7922" LastActivityDate="2021-03-15T13:56:54.397" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25989" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25918" CreationDate="2021-03-15T23:54:43.503" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is at least one significant difference in skiing &amp;quot;heavy&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a number of turn techniques that get used in different circumstances. Many consist of (in simple terms)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;unweight your skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;turn your skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;reweight your skis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was taught that there are two ways to unweight you skis. One is to push down with your feet, effectively jumping slightly, making the turn before you come down from the jump. The other is to lift your feet, effectively just bring your feet up and letting your body &amp;quot;free fall&amp;quot; slightly, making the turn before your feet come back down to the ground. See erfink's comments for more details and videos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have always used the &amp;quot;jump&amp;quot; approach, and so do most people I know. But that becomes harder when you are carrying more weight. I expect that is why you are more tired. Hikers don't need to jump  every ten seconds or so when doing a hike in their pack. Theoretically the &amp;quot;lift your feet&amp;quot; approach doesn't become harder. If you can make use of that I would try it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can also use carving turns where terrain permits. I fall naturally into carving turns on shallower slopes, and I expect that is why your tiredness is more pronounced on steeper slopes - you do carve turns on shallow slopes (which don't take much more energy in a pack) and switch to jump turns on more significant slopes. If you can carve more, that will reduce your fatigue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In agreement with erfink who says &amp;quot;ski dirty&amp;quot;, you might consider a more skiddy turn when terrain doesn't permit carving - maybe, as erfink suggests, a Stem-Christie. Consider using the pole more to do a controlled unweighting without the jump. Slower speeds will also mean you don't have to execute the turn as fast, which means the jump doesn't have to be as hard. It's the jump that will get you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="443" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-03-17T16:21:23.990" LastActivityDate="2021-03-17T16:21:23.990" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25990" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22936" CreationDate="2021-03-18T23:13:44.697" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am an inReach user. I've run into problems getting a signal on cloudy days in the mountains of Colorado. Granted I was in forested mountains and it was cloudy. But I did nonetheless run into situations where I wasn't able to communicate. I do like the little thing but I don't think its 100% foolproof in all situations.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20923" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2021-03-20T16:01:02.780" LastActivityDate="2021-03-20T16:01:02.780" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25991" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-19T21:34:23.410" Score="4" ViewCount="200" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning to buy my first sleeping bag. I'm a newbie who's never had a sleeping bag before. I'd like to know about your experience with using synthetic vs down bags for outdoor use (under the sky). I've read you have to be careful using down bags outdoors and watch out for moisture (by using a bivvy sack) and that it's more difficult to take care of it as opposed to a synthetic one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Budget is not a problem, I am willing to invest in a down bag, but I'm wondering whether it's a good choice for me as a newbie backpacker who is planning to go on weekend (or longer) trips outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I would prefer a down bag, so I would prefer to hear if someone is experienced in using down bag outdoors (sleeping under the sky).&lt;/strong&gt; I heard that moisture can make the sleeping bag less effective, and I am worried if permanent loss of insulation properties can happen if it is exposed to morning dew.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20928" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-19T22:48:29.460" LastActivityDate="2021-03-20T19:22:28.997" Title="Sleeping bag: any experience with down filling for outdoor use?" Tags="&lt;sleeping-bags&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25992" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25991" CreationDate="2021-03-19T22:57:17.973" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If it's going to rain on you, then you want some way of keeping the rain off, or you're going to be miserable. The method of keeping the rain off can be a tarp, a tent, or a bivvy sack. If I'm going backpacking in Southern California, and the weather forecast is for clear skies, then I wouldn't bring any of these things.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I expect mosquitoes to be very thick where I'm camping, then I want a tent. In cold and windy conditions, a tent keeps off the wind. If the ground is muddy and wet, a tent will keep you dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A tarp is an excellent ultralight option, especially if you don't expect large amounts of bad weather, but it requires quite a bit of practice to learn to set it up, and every location is different. When it's windy, tarps tend to flap all night and make noise. If the ground is wet, you'll also want a ground tarp, although this can be a very lightweight piece of plastic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bivvy sack is a good option if you're mountaineering and you want a life-saving way of keeping rain and snow off in case of an emergency bivouac, but you don't want to carry a tent. People I know who have slept in bivvy sacks have generally never said anything good about the experience. Moisture tends to condense inside the bivvy sack from your own breath and perspiration, so you end up wet. If it's raining, then rain tends to get on your head no matter what you do.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the relatively dry conditions here in California, I generally use a down bag and bring a tarp along in case of rain. Once in a while, when I've camped near a creek or in foggy weather, I've woken up in the morning to find the bag damp on the outside from condensation. This is not a huge problem. The bag will still retain its insulating ability when the only moisture on it is this type of condensation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Down sleeping bags are much lighter and smaller than synthetic ones for the same amount of insulation. The main reason for using a synthetic bag is if you can't afford a down one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-03-19T23:03:02.703" LastActivityDate="2021-03-19T23:03:02.703" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25993" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25991" CreationDate="2021-03-20T08:12:57.580" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Down bags are an excellent choice for backpacking/hiking because of the volume and weight considerations. For two comparable temperature range bags, down will be at least 50% smaller when packed and a similar amount lighter than the artificial fill fiber. These two considerations are often significant when out in the woods -- the less weight and volume you have to carry on your back, the better your day will be.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The downsides to down are that a wet down bag will not keep you warm and they provide no or very minimal insulation/padding on the underside so you have to do 2 things -- carry a sleeping mat for insulation/protection from wet ground and keep your bag dry. Modern high quality down bags (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://rab.equipment/eu/sleeping-bags/sleeping-bags&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rab&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.patagonia.com/shop/luggage-sleeping-bags&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Patagonia&lt;/a&gt;) are usually made with a water resistant/repellent and breathable fabric to help keep the bag dry. These fabrics have a dual role in protecting the bag from dirt and from dampness, making the bag easier to clean externally and keeping it dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breathable and waterproof/resistant fabric alone is not enough to keep you dry if sleeping on damp ground or in the rain/snow, but it is enough to deal with a light dew and perspiration from your body. For protection from damp ground, your sleeping mat will take care of this. For rain or other precipitation you need to have some protection from the elements, be it a tent, tarp, or bivvy bag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Generally the moisture from your body and the dampness from a light dew etc is not enough to cause permanent loss of insulation in the bag, unless the down becomes saturated and clumps together when drying. A light dampness can be easily dried over a handy branch and will not affect the performance of your bag. If your bag does get wet (more than damp) and do need to dry your bag, it is best to be able to do this in a dryer at home with a couple of clean tennis balls thrown in to help break up any down clumps. At the end of each trip you should make sure that you properly air out your bag by turning it inside out and hanging it up to dry for a day or two, preferably in a sunny spot. It should also be stored in as open a state as possible to prevent the down being compressed and losing insulation thereby.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another reason to carry a second protective layer is that a sealed shelter like a bivvy bag or tent is that this adds to the insulation level of your bag, generally adding about 3-5 degrees Celsius (~6-10 F) to your temperature range, though your mileage may vary depending on the type of tent and conditions where you are camping. A tent will also help keep your bag and mat clean, which help with making your bag last longer.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One addition to your sleeping bag that I have found very useful is a liner that goes inside your bag when sleeping. This gathers the sweat/dirt off your body rather than it all ending up in the bag itself. They also add a small bit of extra insulation, though this depends on the material they are made from. Liners can be very compact and light if made of silk, so only add a minimal volume and weight to your pack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-20T08:12:57.580" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25994" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25991" CreationDate="2021-03-20T14:36:28.167" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I can't compare down with synthetic, because we have used only down in all our 40+ years of backpacking -- and never had to replace the bags.  That is, our down bags are more than 40 years old.  They are from North Face.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Although we always carried a tent, we slept outside the tent whenever the weather permitted.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps our best test of the bags was when we were camped (no tent) beside the Tuolumne River and we woke up to find our bags covered with thick frost. Total Surprise!  (This was at 18 degrees F.  We always carry a thermometer.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is another &lt;strong&gt;caveat:  Most of our backpackpacking has been high in the Sierra, where the air is usually dry.&lt;/strong&gt;   The moisture condensed on our bags was usually from our bodies, and whatever moisture there was dried very quickly in the morning.  That is, we never had to crawl into anything but a completely dry bag at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To summarize:  If it is snowing or raining or drizzling or damp and raw, you will probably elect to use the tent; if it is not, atmospheric moisture (in the Sierras and Rockies) will not be a problem sleeping under the stars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course, if your tent leaks or condensation inside the tent rains on you, a synthetic bag may be better.  We have experienced both with the down bags, and always cobbled together a solution with tape and/or the spare ground cloth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;As for care:&lt;/strong&gt;  Even I am surprised that we have usuable 40 year old bags.  We took good care of them, but did not obsess over care.  We never stuffed them damp, if only because we are slow getting started in the morning.  We shake them out daily, and air them several times in the course of a two week trip.  We always stored them between trips loose in a large closet.  We dry clean them perhaps every 3 or 4 years at a reputable dry-cleaner. We repaired tiny rips quickly with tape.  (And we kept the cats away from them.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-03-20T19:22:28.997" LastActivityDate="2021-03-20T19:22:28.997" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25995" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15101" CreationDate="2021-03-22T10:54:20.450" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: Each 100m of elevation gain is as much effort as 0.8km of running (in terms of calories). Depending on speed, terrain, inclination, climbing efficacy etc. it may go down to an equivalency running/hiking 0.4km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Long answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Each 100m of elevation gain equals adding 0.4km to your hike, according to several hiking calculators:&#xA;Example:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;10km + 250m elevation gain: 10km + 2,5 (100m) * 0.4km = 11km&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In other words: the additional 250m of elevation gain equal the calories of extra 1km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With running, adding elevation seems to add more effort. Highly trained mountain-running athletes claim that on an average mountain half marathon, each 1000m of elevation will add 30 to 50 minutes of time (let´s say 40 min on average). This &amp;quot;penalty&amp;quot; calculates to an equivalent of adding 0,8km per 100hm elevation gain to your run as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Activitiy with endurance-VO2max          Dist./ Elev. / Time / Speed&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Half marathon (rounded) no elevation:  20km / 0hm   / 90min   /  13 km/h&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Half marathon with 1000m elevation:   20km / 1000hm / 130min / 9,2 km/h&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Extended run at half-marathon speed:  28,2km / 0hm / 130 min / 13 km/h&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;==&amp;gt; Claim is that the athlete can keep runnint at his best half-marathon speed of 13km/h for 90minutes but also for 130min, as long as it is flat (and burn the same amount of calories per km as long as it is flat).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Example:&#xA;10km + 250m elevation gain: 10km + 2,5 (100m) * 0.8km = 12km&#xA;In other words: the additional 250m of elevation gain equal the calories of extra 2km.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further reading:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.streakrunner.de/threads/zeit-furs-bergauflaufen-gehen.11648/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Zeit fürs Bergauflaufen/gehen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nwhiker.com/calorieburn.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CALORIE BURN CALCULATOR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.outsideonline.com/2394938/how-many-calories-burned-hiking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This Is How Many Calories You Burn on a Hilly Hike&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.omnicalculator.com/sports/hiking&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hiking Calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20934" LastEditorUserId="8732" LastEditDate="2021-04-05T03:26:44.233" LastActivityDate="2021-04-05T03:26:44.233" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25996" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="15101" CreationDate="2021-03-22T15:46:40.583" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Let's take a different approach and look at the physics number of moving the mass of a 66 kg person 1000 m up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The equation for energy expenditure is &lt;a href=&quot;https://ccrma.stanford.edu/%7Ejos/pasp05/Work_Force_times.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;force x distance&lt;/a&gt; or, in this case, mass x acceleration x distance.  Plugging in the numbers at 66 x 9.8 x 1000, you &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/physics/gravitational-potential.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;get&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/physics/gravitational-potential.php&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;646800 Joules&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wow!  That's a lot.  However, that is not calories which are the energy costs of heating &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calorie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1 g of water 1 degree&lt;/a&gt;.  And in fact, a food calorie is a kilocalorie&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For historical reasons, two main definitions of calorie are in wide use. The small calorie or gram calorie (usually denoted cal) is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius (or one kelvin).&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calorie&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt; The large calorie, food calorie, or kilocalorie (Cal, calorie or kcal), most widely used in nutrition,&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt; is the amount of heat needed to cause the same increase in one kilogram of water.&lt;a href=&quot;https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Conceptual_Physics/Book:_Body_Physics_-_Motion_to_Metabolism_(Davis)/10:_Powering_the_Body/10.09:_Efficiency_of_the_Human_Body&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;5&lt;/a&gt; Thus, 1 kilocalorie (kcal) = 1000 calories (cal). By convention in food science, the large calorie is commonly called Calorie (with a capital C by some authors to distinguish from the smaller unit).&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;6&lt;/a&gt; In most countries, labels of industrialized food products are required to indicate the nutritional energy value in (kilo or large) calories per serving or per weight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Calorie relates directly to the metric system, and therefore to the SI system. It is regarded as obsolete within the scientific community, since the adoption of the SI system, but is still in some use.&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;4&lt;/a&gt; The SI unit of energy is the joule. One calorie is defined as exactly 4.184 J, and one Calorie (kilocalorie) is 4184 J.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, 646800J / 4184 =&amp;gt; 154 calories, &lt;em&gt;assuming 100% thermodynamic efficiency&lt;/em&gt;, are necessary to raise 66 kg of mass up 1000 m.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;That's regardless of the horizontal distance so its relevance to walking vs running vs bouldering up &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;El Capitan&lt;/a&gt; is &lt;em&gt;unclear&lt;/em&gt;.  But it does give a &lt;em&gt;baseline on the order of magnitude effort involved&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What about that 100% efficiency?  Well, turns out &lt;a href=&quot;https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Conceptual_Physics/Book:_Body_Physics_-_Motion_to_Metabolism_(Davis)/10:_Powering_the_Body/10.09:_Efficiency_of_the_Human_Body&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;human muscle efficiency is mostly about 20%&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Efficiency&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;The efficiency of human muscle has been measured (in the context of rowing and cycling) at 18% to 26%. The efficiency is defined as the ratio of mechanical work output to the total metabolic cost, as can be calculated from oxygen consumption. This low efficiency is the result of about 40% efficiency of generating ATP from food energy, losses in converting energy from ATP into mechanical work inside the muscle, and mechanical losses inside the body. The latter two losses are dependent on the type of exercise and the type of muscle fibers being used (fast-twitch or slow-twitch). For an overall efficiency of 20 percent, one watt of mechanical power is equivalent to 4.3 kcal per hour. For example, one manufacturer of rowing equipment calibrates its rowing ergometer to count burned calories as equal to four times the actual mechanical work, plus 300 kcal per hour,[18] this amounts to about 20 percent efficiency at 250 watts of mechanical output. The mechanical energy output of a cyclic contraction can depend upon many factors, including activation timing, muscle strain trajectory, and rates of force rise &amp;amp; decay. These can be synthesized experimentally using work loop analysis.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, you could roughly estimate that 150 (K)cal of useful work requires 750 K (cal) of energy input.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Or, going back to the original question, if you weighed 66kg you might be expected to burn on the order of 75 extra calories per 100 m elevation change going up.  With, and I admit this is speculation, a relatively limited effect from going back down rather than stopping at the top.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare this now to the A vs D answer by Ben.  1130 for 20k no elevation, 1876 for 20k with a 1000m elevation gain.  1876 - 1130 =&amp;gt; 746 k cal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Considering how proportionally significant the sheer physics component of moving mass up in these calculations are, I rather doubt any findings reporting near 0 effect in calorie expenditure from 0 net elevation gain circuits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That would require using exclusively stored energy to go back down and that makes intuitively very little sense in the context of muscle-driven effort.  Unlike say pumping water up into a dam like is sometimes considered for renewables energy storage.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-03-22T16:05:31.893" LastActivityDate="2021-03-22T16:05:31.893" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25997" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-03-23T21:22:23.383" Score="3" ViewCount="115" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkQKD.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/dkQKD.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have a large piece of rock in my yard. Well it's massive. Over 14 feet long and 7 feet tall. I am guessing it is limestone. Maybe granite. Either way I only have one spot for a slackline and I would like it to mount to the rock safely. The rock is backfilled on one side so I cannot place anything around it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So far I have found rawl bolts and stainless steel bolt hangers and a properly rated carabiner. Are those suitable to be outside in weather 24/7? I want this to last for years and years. (Just the anchors, slackline will be removed) Rawl bolts are also typically used in climbing where they see force going perpendicular to the bolt, whereas a slackline would be all pull force parallel to it. Are rawl bolts good for that?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Looking for alternative suggestions as well. Ideally it would have a fail safe mechanism so if the bolt ripped out you wouldn't have a piece of metal launching at you very fast. Like a separate anchor point in the ground next to the rock attached to a chain where if the anchor failed the chain would catch it. For rawl bolts it would be able to catch the bolt hanged and carabiner, but if the bolt itself was pulled out there would be now way to stop it from flying across the slackline.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20954" OwnerDisplayName="ACD" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-03-29T20:41:26.337" LastActivityDate="2021-03-30T03:18:15.240" Title="Best way to secure hook to rock for slack lining?" Tags="&lt;slacklining&gt;" AnswerCount="5" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25998" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25997" CreationDate="2021-03-23T22:12:36.043" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Girdle.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g6IHx.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/g6IHx.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;girdled rock&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wrap your rock with a sturdy rope.  Attach slackline to rope with carabiner.  Or tie it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Benefit: you don't need to mess with the rock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20618" OwnerDisplayName="Willk" LastActivityDate="2021-03-23T22:12:36.043" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="25999" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25997" CreationDate="2021-03-24T00:31:47.240" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;No imaging skills here, but easy to envision. Run the securing line over the boulder and attach it to a suitably long ground spike pounded into the earth. Cover the boulder where the line makes contact, to remove abrasion concern. Add a guide spike hammered into the boulder, one on each side of the line to prevent it from slipping off.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="fred_dot_u" LastActivityDate="2021-03-24T00:31:47.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26000" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25997" CreationDate="2021-03-25T00:33:09.653" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Put any bolts as far apart as you can. I would put 4, one at each of the cardinal points for example, or perhaps in pairs of two to the left and right, one on each side higher up, one lower down, then connect lines from each to the one diagonally opposite to form an X shape. Run your slackline from the centre of the X. I would possibly use wires rather than rope for this bit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This configuration will allow tension on the lines approximately perpendicular to the bolt, and if one breaks, should not cause the bolt to go flying at you. It will also allow a sort of constrained centering of the slackline, so that it can't drift too much in any direction, as a single line between 2 bolts would allow. You will need to protect the ropes/wires forming the X from the rock to prevent rubbing and failure of the rope/wire.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also make sure you protect the tree - use strapping appropriate for the tree so that you don't damage the bark and accidentally kill it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T00:33:09.653" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26001" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25066" CreationDate="2021-03-25T07:59:55.813" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It would also depend on the IPX rating that some reels have, however this is usually just for the bearings and some of the internal gears that can rust on salt water reels-ideally you’d want to keep dust/dirt off of a reel, and then lightly mist or hose off then spray with Inox or something similar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20948" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T07:59:55.813" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26003" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25997" CreationDate="2021-03-25T09:26:27.877" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Bolts for climbing use can accept forces in any direction. Otherwise bolting in steep overhanging roofs would not work. So simply drill some holes and place your bolts.&#xA;When connecting bolts make sure that the angle between strands from the center point to the bolts is small, at maximum 60 degrees, better smaller. Otherwise the force per bolt will increase a lot. This also limits how far apart you can place your bolts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One more notice on the equipment. For the carabiners use steel carabiners not the alu carabiners common in climbing. &lt;a href=&quot;https://raed-slacklines.com/blog/why-slackline-gear-should-never-be-made-of-aluminium&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fatigue resistance&lt;/a&gt; of alu is far worse than for steel. Also avoid to reuse your alu carabiners for climbing once they have been used in slacklines for the same reason.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T09:26:27.877" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26005" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5432" CreationDate="2021-03-25T10:05:42.637" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Scott has a good point. Nikwax will &amp;quot;Plug Up&amp;quot; Gor-tex and leave you in a sauna (first hand experience). To be fair, The tumble dry works well for a time but there are better options.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://hawktoolsusa.com/store/leather_fabric_care/fabric-wax/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Hawk Tools&lt;/a&gt; states on their site that their bar wax contains &amp;quot;Tylol&amp;quot; and binds to synthetic fibers. The above discussion Spray on vs Wash-in is so binary. Also, make sure to consider the difference between &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.sailrite.com/Waterproof-vs-Water-Resistant-Fabrics&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;waterproof vs water resistant&lt;/a&gt; here as well. &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B08NHD75FP&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Amazon&lt;/a&gt; seems to have some in stock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20951" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T10:05:42.637" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26006" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="26007" CreationDate="2021-03-25T21:56:33.113" Score="2" ViewCount="262" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to prepare for an oncoming emergence of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.newsweek.com/trillions-brood-10-cicadas-emerge-us-17-years-underground-1562608&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;cicadas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I saw &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/lawn-garden/how-to/a8979/8-tips-to-survive-cicada-season-15502820/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;one article&lt;/a&gt; say the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Cicadas sometimes confuse the vibrations of power tools with the vibrations of the males. As a result, males and female cicadas may swarm to you if you're using power tools, lawn trimmers, leaf blowers, or mowers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/do-cicadas-bite-or-sting/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; says the following:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Technically cicadas don’t bite or sting; they do however pierce and suck. They might try to pierce and suck you, but don’t worry, they aren’t Vampires nor are they malicious or angry — they’re just ignorant and think you’re a tree. Just remove the cicada from your person, and go about your business. Cicadas also have pointy feet, egg-laying parts (ovipositors) and other sharp parts that might feel like a bite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there any type of insect repellent (such as permethrin, picaridin, or something else) that would prevent cicadas from coming near me if I'm outside using noisy equipment or if I'm just standing around outside and they confuse me for a tree?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="13081" LastActivityDate="2021-04-03T21:11:38.523" Title="Is there any repellent against cicadas?" Tags="&lt;bugs&gt;&lt;repellent&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26007" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="26006" CreationDate="2021-03-25T22:43:04.153" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The long and the short of it is no.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Most insect repellents against biting insects (e.g. mosquitoes) work either by confusing the insect by blocking the scent receptors (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Picaridin&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DEET&lt;/a&gt;), or by killing the insect before it can bite (e.g. &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Permethrin&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As cicadas are incidentally identifying you as a tree (i.e. something upright), they are not attracted to you by scent, like a mosquito is, so a scent blocker won't work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A toxin like permethrin works by killing, but it can only do this quickly for very small insects that will take up a lethal dose in a short period of time. Cicadas tend to be large, so they won't take up enough of the toxin to kill/harm them in the few seconds it will take you to remove the insect. If you are applying a toxin at a high enough dose to kill cicadas (not recommended) it still won't repel them, just cause them to die, which will still take at least a minute or two.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also note that permethrins and similar chemicals can be very toxic for pets, particularly cats, rabbits and guinea pigs (though not dogs so much), so be very careful in application if you have pets. Don't leave clothing with the toxin on it lying around, and wash hands/skin before petting animals.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The attractant in your case is the buzzing noise, which may be similar to the mating call of the cicada.  The way to prevent the attraction is to not use the noise-making object. However, if you must use it, then use it early in the morning or late evening, when the air temperature cools and makes cicadas less active. You can also wear long sleeved clothing such as pants and a shirt to prevent them crawling on your skin.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-03-25T22:43:04.153" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="26009" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="26006" CreationDate="2021-03-27T00:49:32.837" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The short answer is &lt;strong&gt;No.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A slightly longer answer is, &lt;strong&gt;no need to worry.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have lived through two 17-year cicada swarms, and while many people made enormous fusses about how loud their noise was, how many there were, how horrible they looked, how disgustingly they crunched underfoot on their front sidewalks (if so, get a broom and sweep before you), I just thought they were interesting, the noise musical, the numbers copable-with and the appearance actually attractive in an ET-ish sort of way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Media loves to exaggerate; no one is going to tune in to a story that says, ho-hum, nothing here to get your knickers in a twist, folks.  The worst case scenario may be that you find one on your shoulders or in your hair or that the soles of your shoes get icky.  Gently remove a live cicada (or wipe your shoes) and put it outdoors.  It is their planet, too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for the rantish nature of this answer, but sometimes I wonder how we can be descended from people who had to cope with saber-toothed tigers, smelly furs, and no hair salons.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An attempt to be more constructive&lt;/strong&gt;  I don't remember any problems with the cicadas and a power lawn mower, but I was not the one cutting the grass.  Our yard guys did not complain.  I remember nothing about power tools outside.  As for just standing outside, if you find them more than mildly annoying, try a mosquito net draped over your hat  and tied around your neck.  I've used that in heavy swarms of mosquitos or gnats:  the net only minially obscures your vision -- reading, for example, is no problem.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-03-27T02:39:52.400" LastActivityDate="2021-03-27T02:39:52.400" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27010" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25753" CreationDate="2021-03-29T00:33:33.467" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you're looking for goals then look to the best purpose for climbing &amp;quot;To continually climb better than yourself&amp;quot;, obviously while having fun along the way. While others here have mentioned many of the reasons others have become well known for their climbing (while older) one that has been missed is route development.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can scout out, set and create rock climbing routes once you become experienced enough. It is something I never thought I would do as a young climber (I started climbing at 11), but after a long hiatus with kids I came back to climbing at 39. Since then I have set multiple routes, and even now help manage a crag. So yes, there is plenty that you can do to climb well, contribute, and be recognised over the age of 30.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20961" LastActivityDate="2021-03-29T00:33:33.467" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27011" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25997" CreationDate="2021-03-30T03:18:15.240" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Coming at it from a construction perspective I would put in epoxy set lag bolts, on on the back side on on the front. Both have an eye.  Both have a biner.  Rope ties to front biner, is clipped through rear biner, then is clipped through front biner thence to tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The rear biner keeps the loop from falling to the base of the rock.  The front biner is being pulled sideways by the wrap around end, and being pulled sideways and forward by the rope passing through.  If the front anchor fails, you have a few inches extra slack, which drops you down a bit.  If the back anchor fails the back rope moves around some.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another way is to wrap a rope around the base and secure with a bowline.  Put a biner at the chosen distance from the knot.  Run a rope over the rock and fasten to your anchor on the back.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This one has no forces trying to pull the anchor out.  You do have wear on the lasso rope on the rock.  Pad?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A third way is to go to your local landscape rock store and ask what they use for anchors in rocks.  I suspect it's a big eyebolt and either epoxy or concrete mortar.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2157" LastActivityDate="2021-03-30T03:18:15.240" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27012" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="26006" CreationDate="2021-04-02T16:16:17.157" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Why do people think they must kill insects when they are a part of the natural world?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When there is an over abundance, as this 17 year cycle promises, use the bounty to supplement your diet. Shrimp, lobster, and crab are related to insects such as cicadas in taste and cooking methods.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://lancasteronline.com/news/17-year-cicadas-are-edible-taste-a-lot-like-shrimp/article_fc7849ba-7950-5759-92ce-ad744f852799.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://lancasteronline.com/news/17-year-cicadas-are-edible-taste-a-lot-like-shrimp/article_fc7849ba-7950-5759-92ce-ad744f852799.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20991" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2021-04-03T21:11:38.523" LastActivityDate="2021-04-03T21:11:38.523" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27013" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-03T02:19:31.830" Score="0" ViewCount="35" Body="&lt;p&gt;In ski construction, the wood core dictates much of how a ski flexes, rebounds, and absorbs vibrations. Ignoring other construction details (e.g., fiberglass/carbon fiber layup, base material, edge sizing and hardness, cap vs sidewall construction, ...), what are the pros and cons of various wood species inside our skis? From familiar core materials such as Poplar, Ash, and Maple, to exotics such as Balsa, Paulownia, and even Bamboo, why would we want a ski built with a particular wood? Further confusing matters, many ski cores are built by laminating together several species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;All else being equal, how would I choose between a Maple &amp;amp; Ash ski versus a Paulownia &amp;amp; Flax ski?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastActivityDate="2021-04-03T02:19:31.830" Title="Effects of different wood in ski core construction" Tags="&lt;skiing&gt;&lt;alpine-touring&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27014" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-03T02:26:35.857" Score="4" ViewCount="144" Body="&lt;p&gt;For the purpose of this question I am interested in black bears in an area with relatively low human pressure, plenty of natural habitat and presumably natural food sources.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The scenario I'm considering is eating a meal at a picnic table in a dining tent / screen tent. After eating, all trash is removed and the table is wiped&#xA;clean. Any significant spills or fallen food are cleaned up, trash and food is then stored elsewhere in a bear safe location.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, trace amounts of food and the related aromas are bound to remain on the table and surrounding dining area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are the traces of food left behind in a well cleaned wilderness eating area expected to attract bears?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15629" LastActivityDate="2021-04-10T00:05:49.733" Title="Are black bears attracted to trace amounts of food?" Tags="&lt;food&gt;&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;black-bears&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27015" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27014" CreationDate="2021-04-03T15:40:16.983" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Are black bears attracted to trace amounts of food?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The short answer seems to be &lt;strong&gt;yes&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If any animal could smell trace amounts of food, then bears definitively qualify.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Smelling is a bear’s go-to sense, on par with us humans and our eyesight. Bears are known to be able to smell 100 times better than your dog, while your dog is able to sniff out snacks and seemingly the most disgusting thing around 300 times better than we can.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6TJ4K.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6TJ4K.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bear’s Sense of Smell Vs. Humans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A bear’s sense of smell about 2,100-3,000 times better than a human’s. - &lt;a href=&quot;https://hikingandfishing.com/bears-sense-of-smell/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Bear’s Sense of Smell – How Good Is It?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Further information may be gleaned from the following article:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sectionhiker.com/bears_sense_of_smell/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;A Bear's Sense of Smell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8732" LastActivityDate="2021-04-03T15:40:16.983" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27016" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-03T19:05:54.853" Score="0" ViewCount="43" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking I lost the bottoms to 16 bird houses (8 of each) and am needing to cut them again. How much room will the birds need to perch on if I make new ones that fold down this time rather than the plug ones?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6373" LastActivityDate="2021-04-03T19:05:54.853" Title="How much room do blue birds and wrens need to perch on?" Tags="&lt;birds&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27017" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27014" CreationDate="2021-04-03T22:12:57.390" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;My answer, based on personal experience &lt;strong&gt;in the Sierra and Rockies&lt;/strong&gt; over 40 years, is &lt;strong&gt;no, not at the level you describe&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;strong&gt;Caveat&lt;/strong&gt; -- I don't have experience eating in a dining tent, or on a picnic table, or anyplace where many other people regularly eat. You may scrupulously clean up as you have described, but many others may not have and spills and food droppings add up.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our experience is with back-country camping, at a campsite with no other people present, and  completely undeveloped campsites, nothing anyone looking for a place to camp would zero in on.     We cook near our tent and in bad enough weather right outside our tent door. We eat near our tent, and in bad weather, inside the tent.  After a few days, our clothes and hair undoubtedly smell of food.  I'd usually have a snack of gorp and M&amp;amp;Ms in my sleeping bag before going to sleep.  Before bear canisters became de rigeur, we hung our food and our garbage, our soap and our toothpaste.  Although several times in the early days, a bear came to our campsite, it was always because we had not properly stowed our food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With bear canisters, best to place them away from your sleeping place.  Bears know what they are and will make a stab at opening them, disturbing your sleep.  Bears also know what is in that bag hanging from a limb of a tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You specified black bears. I have no experience with brown bears.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6411" LastEditorUserId="6411" LastEditDate="2021-04-10T00:05:49.733" LastActivityDate="2021-04-10T00:05:49.733" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27018" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25487" CreationDate="2021-04-05T06:13:34.247" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;The goal of this technique is to avoid a bad flavor of the meat that comes from certain chemicals released into muscles. Bleeding the fish out is just an additional step.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The key of the technique you described is to destroy the brain and central nerve system down the entire spine, which basically completely stops any &amp;quot;signals&amp;quot; from the brain and exposed nerves to the muscles to contract. This stops the twitching you can sometimes observe after killing a fish. The fish is dead, but the nerves still fire random signals. These muscle contractions use energy, which is created by chemical reactions in muscle fibers, which can turn the meat sour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To destroy the nerves in the spine, you usually bore a hole into the head of the fish (the tool depends on the size of the fish and the thickness of the &amp;quot;skull&amp;quot;, sometimes poking it with the wire is fine) then you use a stiff wire and try to follow the nerve channel into the spine of the fish. Once in there, it is usually easy to push through, as the spine works like a pipe. You can move the wire forwards and backwards to &amp;quot;clean&amp;quot; the spine of any nerves. You goal is to have the muscles stop twitching entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9303" LastEditorUserId="9303" LastEditDate="2021-04-05T12:17:20.593" LastActivityDate="2021-04-05T12:17:20.593" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27021" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="217" CreationDate="2021-04-07T22:28:39.323" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you are backpacking, then you might be carrying an alum crystal, which makes a good fragrance-free deodorant as well as a styptic. I also tried a slice of turmeric (the powder might have been better?). These didn't work immediately for me, and I was advised at the herb store to make tea from yarrow flower. The yarrow goes in a small cloth bag. I heated it in water, squeezed out the excess water, and applied the wet bag to the bite. It might have been just a matter of time but the yarrow seemed more effective. The people at the store also suggested cinnamon powder and cayenne powder as spices that can be used to stop bleeding.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12972" LastEditorUserId="12972" LastEditDate="2021-04-08T17:36:37.390" LastActivityDate="2021-04-08T17:36:37.390" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27022" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-08T09:37:09.007" Score="3" ViewCount="65" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a &lt;a href=&quot;https://bluegaz.se/produkt/bluegaz-mobile-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Bluegaz Mobile Stove&lt;/a&gt; (product ID 470001) which I purchased in Sweden. The &lt;a href=&quot;https://bluegaz.se/produkt/bluegaz-mobile-stove/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;manufacturer's website&lt;/a&gt; doesn't list the right type of gas cartridge, however some &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.gardenstore.se/gasolkok-bluegaz&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;other website&lt;/a&gt; seems to suggest it is a &amp;quot;Bluegaz BG250&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I can't find any online shop that sells &amp;quot;Bluegaz BG250&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know of a place where I could purchase &amp;quot;Bluegaz BG250&amp;quot; or an alternative gas cartridges that would work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it matters, I'm based in London, UK.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12154" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-04-15T14:00:58.747" LastActivityDate="2021-04-15T14:00:58.747" Title="Which gas cartridges (fuel) can I use for Bluegaz Mobile Stove?" Tags="&lt;stoves&gt;&lt;fuel&gt;&lt;canister-stoves&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27023" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27022" CreationDate="2021-04-08T09:37:09.007" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;I noticed that the Bluegaz Mobile Stove looks almost exactly like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingaz.com/uk/p-27302-campbistro-2-stove.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Campingaz Camp'Bistro 2&lt;/a&gt; which takes &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.campingaz.com/uk/p-27007-cp250.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Campingaz CP250&lt;/a&gt; gas cartridges. So I took the punt and bought some CP250s. I'm pleased to say that they work and fit perfectly, so I believe that the Campingaz CP250 is exactly the same as the Bluegaz BG250.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In case it helps, please fine some pictures below&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The Bluegaz Mobile Stove&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MifUj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MifUj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Bluegaz Mobile Stove&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and a picture that is (probably) the BG250:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/meGo0.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/meGo0.png&quot; alt=&quot;possibly Bluegaz BG250&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Compare that to the Campingaz Camp'Bistro 2&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OULX7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/OULX7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Campingaz Camp'Bistro 2&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;with its Campingaz CP250:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rat3P.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rat3P.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Campingaz CP250&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12154" LastActivityDate="2021-04-08T09:37:09.007" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27024" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22069" CreationDate="2021-04-08T20:38:12.937" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Published research shows that hypothermia is not at all the same as torpor in hummingbirds. Sleeping is an entirely different condition than either. If the hummingbirds sit on feeder perches to ingest cold sugar water and then fall or try to fly and in either case end up on the ground, they are in grave danger from predators.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, female birds can't return to their nests to keep eggs and hatchling warm, so the entire family is lost if the mother bird becomes hypothermic from feeding while motionless on a feeder perch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Even if they sit unresponsive on or hang from feeder perches, they are in danger of dying because the condition is hypothermia and the birds that are completely unresponsive because of hypothermia are said by researchers who are experts in hummingbird thermodynamics to be close to death. If the temperatures are cold in the morning or any time during the day, only feeders without perches should be used to keep from killing the birds you are trying to help.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you for taking off the perches or only using perchless feeders if temperatures are below 60 degrees where you live.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21010" LastEditorUserId="17886" LastEditDate="2021-04-09T00:05:47.933" LastActivityDate="2021-04-09T00:05:47.933" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27025" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-08T03:25:42.597" Score="7" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;Where can I find a collaborative wiki-style map of dive sites focused on comprehensiveness, not on &amp;quot;top destinations&amp;quot;? Google searching yielded surprisingly poor results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best I've found so far is Dive Buddy, but I can't figure out for example where they place &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.divebuddy.com/divesite/1829/turtle-canyon-oahu-hi/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Turtle Canyon&lt;/a&gt;. If I expand the map section, none of the pins reads &amp;quot;Turtle Canyon&amp;quot; when I click on it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8910" OwnerDisplayName="Dan Dascalescu" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2021-04-09T21:40:25.697" LastActivityDate="2021-05-10T07:06:15.540" Title="Collaborative map of dive sites" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;dive-sites&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27026" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27025" CreationDate="2021-04-09T21:39:22.273" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are two collaborative mapping web sites/apps for locations and trips for &lt;strong&gt;paddle sports&lt;/strong&gt; – canoe, kayak, SUP, etc – that appear to be close to, but not explicitly for, diving.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://paddling.com/paddle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GoPaddling&lt;/a&gt;, by paddling.com&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://paddlingmaps.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;PaddlingMaps&lt;/a&gt;, by paddlingmaps.com&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Perhaps with enough agitation and cooperation from the diving community, they may be open to either expanding their &amp;quot;trip types&amp;quot; to include Diving or to somehow offering a sister tool for listing diving sites.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2021-04-09T21:39:22.273" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27027" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27025" CreationDate="2021-04-10T06:28:41.940" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;PADI maintains a map of diving sites, but it doesn't seem very collaborative (except that you can leave reviews, yet there aren't any for &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.padi.com/dive-sites/oahu&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Oahu&lt;/a&gt;), and it has far fewer sites &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.divebuddy.com/divesite/1829/turtle-canyon-oahu-hi/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;than Dive Buddy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zYcXV.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/zYcXV.png&quot; alt=&quot;PADI dive sites vs. Dive Buddy&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8910" LastActivityDate="2021-04-10T06:28:41.940" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27028" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25864" CreationDate="2021-04-10T17:12:30.683" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;hand pump&amp;quot; scuba cylinders sold on e-bay, etc. are down right dangerous.  There's loads of reasons,  not least they're very small so you can't dive for long.  The biggest concern is that they would take ages to fully fill -- 200 bar is 200kg per cm2 (or 3000psi) which is an enormous pressure to hand pump!  An exhausting 30 mins to pump up for 5 mins underwater!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ignoring buoyancy issues underwater,  the biggest safety issue is an inexperienced diver not monitoring how much air is in the cylinder,  emptying it, unable to breathe then panicking and drowning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other concerns are that these cylinders and the regulators are just cheap and nasty. Diving cylinders need to be periodically tested (every year or three depending on country).  Breathing regulators need servicing and keeping clean and dry.  These are just horrible and an accident waiting to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As an experienced diver,  I wouldn't even think about diving with one,  even if it were to free off an anchor or clear a propeller on a boat -- I'd sooner freedive and be safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If I were buying an &amp;quot;emergency dive kit&amp;quot; for a boat,  I'd probably buy a 3 litre steel cylinder and a simple regulator kit (such as for a decompression stage:  1st stage, 1m/40&amp;quot; hose, second stage and a gauge on a 15cm/6&amp;quot; hose.  Some form of harness would help,  depending how warm the water is (if cold,  then would need weight;  if warm then maybe attach it to a weightbelt.  All of this should be kept stored in a drybag.  Also get it tested every year.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12122" LastEditorUserId="12122" LastEditDate="2021-04-10T17:21:30.520" LastActivityDate="2021-04-10T17:21:30.520" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27029" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25265" CreationDate="2021-04-12T06:29:42.093" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is a tail feather. The asymmetry suggests that it was an outer tail feather vs. an inner tail feather--this distinction exists in most species of bird and a species argument based on this alone would be tenuous at best.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This would be a tail feather and not a secondary wing feather because the bend in the shaft is localized at one location towards the bottom of the feather. Secondaries are typically curved throughout the shaft.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is an owl feather based on the fuzzy surface of the feather and the fact that this pale orange color is very common in typical owl (Strigidae) species.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally, the best species match for location and pattern would be Long-eared Owl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XUgt5.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XUgt5.png&quot; alt=&quot;Long-eared Owl feathers&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tail feathers are at the bottom left of the photo.&#xA;This and additional scans available at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.featherbase.info/en/exhibit/2981&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.featherbase.info/en/exhibit/2981&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So in conclusion this is a tail feather from a Long-eared Owl.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19890" LastActivityDate="2021-04-12T06:29:42.093" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27030" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27031" CreationDate="2021-04-12T21:08:38.663" Score="0" ViewCount="193" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are lots of &amp;quot;survival videos&amp;quot; on Youtube, showing &amp;quot;primitive&amp;quot; people making swimming pools in the middle of the forest. They always smear some sort of greyish material over the walls. Sometimes it's used as cement, like &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/n6Lsef6pdu0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, at 1:32. Other times, it seems to be used solely to seal the pool and prevent leakage, such as &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/pWxnVOB0Y98&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; at 11:36. It look like they are making some sort of cement.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;How can an average person make this sort of cement? Is it mainly a certain soil, i.e. perhaps all these videos (from S.E. Asia) all have clay soil? Is it crushed-up rocks into dust, mixed with water? If so, would any sort of crumbly rock work or is it a specific rock? Do they add another ingredient (someone suggested they add ash, but I haven't found any video showing that). Is this cement able to used anywhere, or is it only effective on the sort of soil that they have in the videos?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;More simply put: If people are camping out (in a forest environment), and they want to make a leak-proof ditch to store water (like a swimming pool), how could they make cement to seal the ditch using the resources found around them?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It should be noted that this is not discussing the legalities involved. Before actually doing this it is important to check with the relevant authorities and receive authorization, especially regarding public land.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19683" LastEditorUserId="19683" LastEditDate="2021-04-13T13:17:07.763" LastActivityDate="2021-05-11T05:42:42.170" Title="How to seal a swimming pool/water hole while camping" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;&lt;diy&gt;&lt;waterproofing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27031" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27030" CreationDate="2021-04-12T21:41:02.317" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;It is simply just clay. &lt;a href=&quot;https://deq.louisiana.gov/assets/docs/Water/DWPP_forkidsandeducators/PorosityandPermeability.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Clay is very water-impermeable&lt;/a&gt; in general. This is the reason unfired and unglazed pots can be used to hold water. Some of the water will be absorbed by the clay, but this is a slow process, and will generally only affect a shallow layer on the surface for the short times shown in the videos.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-04-12T21:41:02.317" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27032" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="25080" CreationDate="2021-04-16T07:43:49.623" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could consider using a twist lock where you would normally use a non-locking snap-gate or wire-gate karabiner but want &lt;em&gt;just a little&lt;/em&gt; more security. An example could be on a quickdraw to use on a key runner where you would have used a normal quickdraw in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I would consider this an &lt;em&gt;advanced technique&lt;/em&gt;; the downside of this suggestion is that your climbing partner might not understand the role of the twist lock and use it in a crucial situation without realising. With an experienced partner that you trust this might not be a problem but would it come off your rack when you met a new partner?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Related: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/27033/why-are-twist-lock-karabiners-considered-dangerous/27034&quot;&gt;Why are twist-lock karabiners considered dangerous?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="17008" LastEditDate="2021-04-16T09:03:36.587" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T09:03:36.587" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27033" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-16T08:59:19.530" Score="6" ViewCount="187" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are different types of locking carabiners. A screw-gate carabiner requires multiple rotations of the screw in order to lock it. A twist-lock carabiner locks automatically whenever you close it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are twist-lock carabiners dangerous for some applications?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-04-18T14:18:19.603" LastActivityDate="2021-04-18T14:18:19.603" Title="Why are twist-lock carabiners considered dangerous for some applications?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;carabiners&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27034" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27033" CreationDate="2021-04-16T08:59:19.530" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;A rope running across the rotating sleeve of a twist-lock gate can open the karabiner.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYwNR.gif&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYwNR.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Animated GIF showing rope opening twist-lock gate.&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;There are different types of locking gates on karabiners:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Screw gates&lt;/em&gt;: These have a threaded sleeve which is screwed manually to lock the gate.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Twist-lock gates&lt;/em&gt;: These lock automatically when closed, and need a quarter-twist to unlock&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Triple-lock gates&lt;/em&gt;: These have an an extra action to perform before twisting, often sliding the gate upwards.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This list is not exhaustive and other types of gates exist.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Twist Locks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;These karabiners can provide a &lt;em&gt;sense&lt;/em&gt; of security but the user might not be aware of the risk of the rope opening the gate. In certain circumstances, they provide enough security for their intended use but this should always be a conscious decision after the risk is evaluated by a competent person. &lt;em&gt;In most cases, either a screw gate or a triple-action gate will be more suitable.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Comparison to Screw Gates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;So why does the same not happen with screw-gate karabiners? Theoretically, it could but a screw-gate needs multiple rotations before it unlocks. The rotating sleeve also tends to be shorter, making it harder for the rope to run over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Here are the statistics of three karabiners I had to hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Twist lock: 0.25 full rotations to open, 4.5 cm rotating sleeve&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Screw gate 1: 2.25 full rotations to open, 2.2 cm rotating sleeve&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Screw gate 2: 2.5 full rotations to open, 2.3 cm rotating sleeve&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Single-action gates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Twist-lock karabiners generally fall under the broader category of &lt;em&gt;single-action karabiners&lt;/em&gt;. Other karabiners in this category can also suffer from the rope opening the gate. For example, there is a &lt;em&gt;push-lock&lt;/em&gt; gate which requires the user to simple push/pull the sleeve to release the gate. If the rope catches on the sleeve, it can open the gate in a way similar to the twist-lock.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For completeness, the &lt;em&gt;triple-lock gate&lt;/em&gt; mentioned above would come under the broader &lt;em&gt;multi-action gate&lt;/em&gt; category.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17008" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T08:59:19.530" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27035" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-16T12:18:03.697" Score="1" ViewCount="183" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in solo hiking the &lt;a href=&quot;https://foothillstrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/index-map.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Foothills Trail&lt;/a&gt; in South Carolina, US this summer -- maybe not all of it, but ideally multiple days worth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I'm not really experienced enough to camp out every night; although I've been long distance walking before, the trail alternated between wilderness and towns and I was never truly roughing it. Also, after gaining weight and getting too little exercise during the pandemic lockdown, carrying a heavy pack all day feels unwise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, I'd like to stay in inns or lodges or AirBNBs each night and shuttle as needed. From what I can tell.... this isn't really possible and my plans are unreasonable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is this assessment correct, or is there some creative way to do what I'm trying to do? Alternatively, is there some alternative in the Southeastern US where a version of my plan is workable?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19543" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T18:01:22.970" Title="Multi-day hike without camping?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27036" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27035" CreationDate="2021-04-16T18:01:22.970" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It'd be easier if you had included a scale in your map.  Depending on what the distances are you might be able to walk and sleep at a different location each day.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rosman,+NC,+USA/@35.111419,-82.9341445,13.15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8859a8d2b8ac0163:0xc0f480356f0102b8!8m2!3d35.143721!4d-82.8212432&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rosman,+NC,+USA/@35.111419,-82.9341445,13.15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8859a8d2b8ac0163:0xc0f480356f0102b8!8m2!3d35.143721!4d-82.8212432&lt;/a&gt; shows relatively small distances between cities (and some motels!).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Check the trail's suggested hiking durations, by segment&lt;/strong&gt;.  6 hrs/day, depending on your fitness, is doable.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've done this before, &lt;strong&gt;cycling&lt;/strong&gt;, where I plan on stopping at a given town each evening.  In your case, you could also taxi/Uber to a closer &lt;em&gt;starting&lt;/em&gt; point on longer segments.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you only need to pack clothing and toiletries you can probably hike with a 10kg/20# backpack (check your scale) and if the segments are 20km/12mi (or less, depending on terrain), you might be able to do it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You could always start at a point where the segments are the shortest and easiest and get a feel for it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do check what the motels are up to, they might be closed in our 2021 context.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Oh, and since solo, consider carrying a 406 MHz PLB.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2021-04-16T18:01:22.970" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27037" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27033" CreationDate="2021-04-18T14:14:27.973" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's nothing inherently dangerous about different types of carabiners, but each type has a specific application.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A twist-lock carabiner is not normally used on a climber's rack. Climbers normally carry mostly non-locking carabiners plus a smaller number of screw-gate lockers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The main application I've seen for twist-lock carabiners is in climbing gyms, where they're the biners that are permanently attached to a GriGri in a toprope setup. In this application, the biner is being clicked through the belay loops of the belayer's harness, rather than having a moving climbing rope clipped through it. This means that the rope can't open the gate by being dragged over it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-04-18T14:14:27.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27038" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-18T17:26:15.683" Score="3" ViewCount="127" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm planning a trip through &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruger_National_Park&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kruger National Park&lt;/a&gt; with a group of friends sometime around the end of July or early August time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Firstly, how many days are needed to get a great safari experience in the park? We're looking at exploring the park for around 2 - 3 days. And secondly, does anyone have suggestions on some great lodges in the park?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, what are some great hiking trails or tours to do in the park? Are there any places we should keep our eyes peeled for?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21053" LastEditorUserId="20679" LastEditDate="2021-04-20T14:55:29.133" LastActivityDate="2021-04-28T07:00:04.690" Title="Travelling to the Kruger National Park" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;national-parks&gt;&lt;travelling&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27040" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27038" CreationDate="2021-04-19T10:00:41.313" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;Firstly, August is a good time to go to the Kruger park as it is winter and the day time temperature a bit more bearable than in mid summer (December). Also, winter is the dry season, so the vegetation is a bit reduced, making it easier to see into the bush; in summer the grass at the side of the road grows quite tall and can restrict visibility.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As for the amount of time you need to get around the park. It is big and the speed limit is very low - 40km/h (25mph) (see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.kruger-national-park.de/pages/english/travel-guide/wildlife/tips/regulations.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.kruger-national-park.de/pages/english/travel-guide/wildlife/tips/regulations.php&lt;/a&gt;),  so it takes a long time to get from place to place, so you'd need almost an entire day to cross the park. There are other restrictions, example driving past 5pm is not allowed etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thinking about the time you need in the park. The best time to view game is early in the morning and towards the evening. In my experience you can have days where you see very little after driving for 8 hours and other times you see a lot in a short 1 hour drive, so spending a week or more would be better.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding hiking trails. Hiking is prohibited. You are also not allowed to exit your car unless in a marked area and it isn't recommended putting your windows down either (see the link above). However one of my best experiences has been on a guided game walk - this can be arranged wherever you stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Finally accommodation, this is very subjective, but a lot of it is self-catering (fully kitted out kitchen, but you provide/bring your own food) and needs some good organisation. Each camp site also restaurants and small shops.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21055" LastActivityDate="2021-04-19T10:00:41.313" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27041" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-21T03:03:26.417" Score="0" ViewCount="30" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am interested in emergency ascending/descending a climbing rope, where there is no other gear and time is of the essence.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically, I wonder if anyone has had success with a swiss seat from a bight or at the end of a rope, then a Blake Hitch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21072" LastActivityDate="2021-04-21T03:03:26.417" Title="Ascending/descending single climbing rope without any other gear" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="0" ClosedDate="2021-04-21T17:47:39.953" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27042" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-21T14:11:47.550" Score="2" ViewCount="79" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a fixed vertical line that can be ascended/descended. I need a bag (a bucket with tools, actually) when I'm hanging mid-air, and need to move it up/down. The bag is over 20 lbs / 10 kg so I definitely don't want to attach it to me!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is what I invented, using a separate haul line. It works but it's not very comfortable to use and maybe there's a better (and safer) way to do it?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Principle of operation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The load is locked in place with a prusik. When I want to move the bag, I pull on the secondary prusik loop, release tension from the main prusik and slide it up or down, then tend to the &amp;quot;pulling prusik&amp;quot;. Repeat as required.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0snDI.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/0snDI.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;My rig&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pros&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Simple&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Easy to rig&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;No special equipment required (a pulley can be replaced by a&#xA;screw-gate)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;You need to pull the whole weight of the bag each time you want to&#xA;move&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;When you're tending the main prusik, the bag's weight is held by a&#xA;hand/foot in the pulling loop; if you let it slip, it would be ugly (fingers jammed / the bucket shoots up and probably spills over its content)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lowering the bag is not very gradual (sometimes it's shock-loaded if&#xA;I release the pulling loop too quickly)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Disassembling the rig is tedious (you need to pull the bag all the&#xA;way to the top, dock it, untie prusik, clip it out from the biner,&#xA;then belay the bag down). A simpler option is to lower the bag with prusiks to the ground and then untie the prusik, but that's not always feasible.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="14952" LastEditorUserId="14952" LastEditDate="2021-04-21T15:35:45.300" LastActivityDate="2021-04-22T12:10:52.447" Title="How to rig a haul bag so I can move it up/down while midair?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;climbing-anchors&gt;&lt;rope-management&gt;&lt;big-wall-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27044" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-22T07:44:21.557" Score="3" ViewCount="98" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm just getting into climbing, and I have to say I still find it hard to trust the equipment, bolts etc sometimes (even though I know accidents with that are really rare.). Anyway, I try to understand as much of what is going on, to be able to better judge situations, and wether I feel comfortable about them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So I went climbing with a friend of mine the other day. And To be able to toprope two different routes that where next to each other he set the diversion up like in the scenario B I sketched in the attached image.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now, I somehow feel like that will put hella stress on the rope, and possible on the anchors, because the rope is running (almost) horizontally for a few meters. I'm not sure if that's right, though.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a similar scenario force-wise as in the 3rd pictures on Ben's answer on this post: &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/5425/why-should-the-angle-in-a-rope-attached-to-two-anchors-be-60-degrees-or-less&quot;&gt;Why should the angle in a rope attached to two anchors be 60 degrees or less?&lt;/a&gt; ?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can anyone tell me what the forces are on the rope and the anchors in the 3 different scenarios I sketched?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thanks!&#xA;Diclofenac&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nrflw.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nrflw.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XEAMj.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/XEAMj.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;What is wrong with my line of thinking here?&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21080" LastEditorUserId="21080" LastEditDate="2021-04-27T10:36:36.287" LastActivityDate="2021-04-27T10:36:36.287" Title="Climbing rope diversion, different scenarios" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;ropes&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27045" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27042" CreationDate="2021-04-22T12:10:52.447" Score="1" Body="&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I don't own a grigri (my instructor taught us that They are the Work of the Devil, are Considered Harmful and should be shunned :))&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Your problem seems to be that the method of progress capture you're using, with a Prusik, is awkward and inconvenient. A GriGri is a standard tool for this purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And I'm far away from the anchor, I won't be able to reach the grigri...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If your goal is to get the haul bag up to the anchor, then climb to the top, tie in to the anchor, and then raise the bag from there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-04-22T12:10:52.447" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27046" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27065" CreationDate="2021-04-22T12:28:32.107" Score="3" ViewCount="84" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before Christmas I upgraded my basic SOT kayak to an RTM Disco, again a plastic SOT. What with life stuff and the winter weather, I have not used it; it has been on its side on a rack in the garden. A while ago, while the weather was still cold, I went past it and noticed the plastic was deformed (see attached).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is a hatchless design so I wondered if the cold air reduced pressure and sucked it in? However we're now in warmer weather and it was still like it. I removed the drain plug as the instructions say to use that to manage pressure; again it hasn't fixed it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Have I ruined it by not releasing the drain plug before the winter? Is it fixable? If you think it won't affect the handling that'd be a good outcome too.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ERfsr.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/ERfsr.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xg2Qy.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xg2Qy.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9895" LastActivityDate="2021-04-26T09:29:33.043" Title="Plastic kayak distorted" Tags="&lt;kayaks&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;&lt;plastic-kayaks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27048" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27059" CreationDate="2021-04-22T15:17:40.740" Score="-1" ViewCount="88" Body="&lt;p&gt;Last week I found the rear half of a rabbit in my yard. It was probably eaten by a large bird of prey. The hind legs were untouched so I hung them to desiccate. One week later, they have not visibly rotted or attracted flies so I think the desiccation is going well. I will let them hang for another week to be sure they are completely dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The next step is to sanitize them so that they can be safely handled. I understand rabbits can have rabies, ticks, and other nasty pathogens. Most methods I know of, heating or soaking in bleach or hydrogen peroxide, would damage the specimens and liquid might not penetrate the flesh enough to be completely effective. An alternate approach is time: I could let the legs sit for perhaps six months. But I would rather not wait that long.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So how do I sanitize these legs in a reasonable amount of time (say, at most a couple weeks) while keeping them intact?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21083" LastActivityDate="2021-04-24T03:21:13.173" Title="How to sanitize rabbit legs found outdoors in a way that keeps them intact?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;cleaning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27049" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="16347" CreationDate="2021-04-22T15:30:35.850" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I made a video about it like 2 years ago:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeU8x7OmxoQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeU8x7OmxoQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a FPV of tying the knot.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Also be noted that the bowline paper has been updated and there's one more variation in there that is safe for climbing called &amp;quot;Harry Butlers Yosemite Bowline&amp;quot; which has been my default go-to lead climbing knot for the past 2 years, i recommend it over the ESBS since its a bit simpler to tie and inspect. Plus you end with no tail on the working end of the rope which helps when clipping.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2qnH06SVfs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2qnH06SVfs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Video of said knot but in spanish although you can follow up as well&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21084" LastActivityDate="2021-04-22T15:30:35.850" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27050" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-22T23:22:19.543" Score="3" ViewCount="123" Body="&lt;p&gt;I don't have a smartphone, or any phone, and specifically don't want to have one for many important reasons. However, I do wish that I had some sort of map where I get to see where I am currently, from a bird perspective, and where the map isn't just a flat-colored classic map, which I find very difficult to understand for some reason. I always opt for the satellite view when looking around for houses or areas on my computer, and want that for my little handheld device as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, when doing research, all I find are these map-based devices. Is there really no rugged device which I can take with me and pull up any time to see where I am from a bird perspective, with updated satellite imagery of excellent quality?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And do these things require some kind of subscription and continuous Internet access? I hope not. I wish to just transfer over data with an USB cable or something and then the only communication taking place to/from that device from that point on is the GPS signals coming from space into the device. Do I have to pay some company for that data update?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21086" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-04-24T10:05:13.460" LastActivityDate="2021-04-25T01:02:01.860" Title="Are there any affordable, dedicated (one-purpose) handheld GPS receivers with nice satellite maps?" Tags="&lt;navigation&gt;&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27051" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27050" CreationDate="2021-04-23T01:05:38.203" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Garmin offers a &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/70144&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;BirdsEye&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; product which is satellite image files that can be loaded directly onto a handheld GPS receiver.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use your BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription with BaseCamp™ to quickly transfer an unlimited amount of satellite images to your device, with frequent updates, and seamlessly integrate those images into your handheld’s maps whenever you need them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A variety of their products appear to support it (with varying capacity), here's one of them: &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/623975&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPSMAP 66i&lt;/a&gt;. The 66i seems to be a satellite communicator as well, so it might be more than what you're looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/669244&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;eTrex 22x&lt;/a&gt; is a lower end device that supports up to 250 BirdsEye image files (no idea how much land area one image file covers).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3516" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T01:05:38.203" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27052" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27050" CreationDate="2021-04-23T01:07:31.127" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is: Garmin has it on a subscription based service called &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?productID=70144&amp;amp;tab=topics&amp;amp;topicTag=region_gettingstarted&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BirdsEye&lt;/a&gt;. It's not free, but is apparently unlimited on compatible devices. I am sure there are other ones out there too. All it took to find was a very quick google for &amp;quot;GPS with satellite view&amp;quot;, and it was right at the top of my links.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that for most people interpreting a topographic map, while it is less intuitive than a picture, gives you more information about the terrain including steepness (forests can conceal this), locations of items (riverbeds, swamps etc that forests/vegetation can conceal), also property boundaries etc. They also give you a reliable source of location information. Powered devices can and do break, or run out of power. Paper maps can be torn, but will never run out of power. If you are using a powered device always carry a back-up paper version.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Google maps has off-line maps with satellite view. These are updateable. However, you don't have a smartphone (though you can get one and not get a sim-card, so it only works via an internet connection, not for calling, doesn't need a plan to run it etc). Storage is not a problem - you can get up to 2 terabyte USB flash drives these days and similar capacity in terms of SD cards.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are a few considerations with this sort of thing and these considerations are somewhat inter-connected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, resolution - for high quality views you need a high resolution screen. Currently these are a) relatively heavy and b) fragile (glass). Lightweight screens tend to be low resolution LCD, higher resolution generally needs glass. Plastic is light, glass is relatively heavy and fragile. If you want a touch screen navigation, this will most likely be a capacitance based thing with extra glass added so that it works properly, adding weight and complexity to the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Second - weight. As I mentioned, glass is relatively heavy, but the main consideration here is not the glass, but the battery required to run a high resolution service. Batteries are the heaviest component in cell phones. Admittedly, a large part of the battery usage for a cell phone is the connections to mobile services and things like bluetooth, but screens also consume a lot of power. If you were to use your screen continuously on most mobile phones you will get less than a day's worth of screen time. Batteries have improved drastically over the past 10-15 years, so this is less of a concern than it once was, but is still a consideration. Always carry a back-up set of batteries/power source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T01:07:31.127" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27053" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27044" CreationDate="2021-04-23T01:34:48.143" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Going around a 90-degree corner will produce a force on the bolt 40% greater than the tension in the rope. (I.e., greater by a factor of the square root of 2.) The force on the anchor will be about the same as if there had not been a 90-degree bend, but it will be slightly less because of friction.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is nothing to worry about. The forces generated by toproping are much less than the forces generated in a lead fall, which is what these bolts are intended to withstand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T01:34:48.143" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27054" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-23T10:19:00.893" Score="6" ViewCount="277" Body="&lt;p&gt;I go hiking alone quite often, and I don't have many people other than myself in my entire life to whom I can say &amp;quot;I'm going here alone. Call the police if you can't reach me&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there an online app/website where I can put all the information related to my journey and put an alarm such that the relevant authorities will be informed if I don't do anything afterwards (i.e something happens to me during the journey)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17316" LastEditorUserId="17316" LastEditDate="2021-04-23T12:09:37.680" LastActivityDate="2021-04-29T14:18:24.697" Title="Hiking alone: a website that alarms the police if something happens" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;safety&gt;&lt;germany&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27055" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27056" CreationDate="2021-04-23T13:09:58.237" Score="11" ViewCount="3143" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wolves have better night vision than we do, enough that they can quite happily hunt on moonlit nights.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But what about when there is no moonlight? Intuitively it seems to me that with no moon or nearby city skyglow, it's pitch dark; even wolves cannot see when there is effectively no light, and while they can follow a scent trail, they need to see what they are aiming at to actually make a kill, so they would have to wait for either the moon or the sun to rise.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is that an accurate assessment, or am I missing something?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19794" LastActivityDate="2021-04-24T19:52:14.253" Title="Do wolves hunt on moonless nights?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;night&gt;&lt;wolves&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27056" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27055" CreationDate="2021-04-23T13:33:24.760" Score="22" Body="&lt;p&gt;Wolves and coyotes are crepuscular, not nocturnal. That is, they hunt in the early morning and in the evening, not at night.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-04-23T13:33:24.760" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27057" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27055" CreationDate="2021-04-24T01:57:33.630" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are usually &lt;a href=&quot;https://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/10/05/q-a-where-does-light-come-from&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;some light sources&lt;/a&gt;, even on a moonless night there are stars. Even with thin cloud cover it is not that bad, it blocks some light but also reflects some. Only a really overcast night is going to be &amp;quot;completely dark&amp;quot;, and that's not that common. Animals that are active at dawn/dusk/night have generally adapted to make do with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141128-these-animals-see-colour-at-night&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;really, really low levels of light&lt;/a&gt;. (Think about cats, insects, and owls. They definitely hunt even on moonless nights!)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Additionally, wolves may be able to sense heat (infrared) &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60439-y&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;with their noses&lt;/a&gt;. Variations on infrared are how a lot of animals which have otherwise poor eyesight or live in really dark conditions (caves or burrows) are able to hunt (e.g. snakes).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wolves may be most active at dawn and dusk, but that doesn't mean they turn into rocks at night (or during the day).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastEditorUserId="12833" LastEditDate="2021-04-24T02:06:14.857" LastActivityDate="2021-04-24T02:06:14.857" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27058" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27054" CreationDate="2021-04-24T02:19:43.733" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Not a complete solution, but how about AllTrails lifeline feature:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://support.alltrails.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019246351-What-is-Lifeline-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://support.alltrails.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019246351-What-is-Lifeline-&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you're overdue messages go out.  Unfortunately, I don't believe it can be set to only send an emergency message, nor am I aware of any other such solution that only sends the overdue message.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-04-24T02:19:43.733" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27059" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27048" CreationDate="2021-04-24T03:21:13.173" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summary of answer on &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wikihow.com/Cure-a-Rabbit%27s-Foot&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikihow&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Clean the rabbit leg by washing it in soap and let it dry.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soak the leg in 70% isopropyl alcohol for two full days and rinse thoroughly.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soak the leg in 1 part borax to 15 parts water for one full day and rinse thoroughly. This will dehydrate the leg.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Allow the foot to dry for about a day.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21083" LastActivityDate="2021-04-24T03:21:13.173" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27061" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27068" CreationDate="2021-04-25T00:39:26.463" Score="2" ViewCount="191" Body="&lt;p&gt;I was doing some hiking today and climbed into a gully of sorts. It seemed pretty deep and I'm curious how deep relative to the surrounding land. It'd be cool if I could just plug in arbitrary GPS coordinates into a website and have it spit the elevation back out to me. But alas I know of no such website.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I think in theory GPS is able to figure out the elevation that the sensor is at but the &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.google.com/maps/answer/18539?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&amp;amp;hl=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;program I was using to get the coordinates was Google Maps&lt;/a&gt;, which doesn't let you get the elevation, in-so-far as I know.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I could install another app and go back and I might eventually do that but it'd still be cool to know before hand. And plus, sometimes knowing could be good &lt;em&gt;before&lt;/em&gt; going there for planning purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15713" LastEditorUserId="8028" LastEditDate="2021-05-03T19:39:29.497" LastActivityDate="2021-05-04T07:38:34.740" Title="Given a GPS coordinate, can you get the elevation?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;topographical-maps&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27062" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27050" CreationDate="2021-04-25T01:02:01.860" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;OnX maps is a service that will allow you to add maps to a GPS either via a sd card or usb adapter.  You are able to customize the layers that are displayed in the map.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The service does have a pricing depending on the number of states that you want.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;wwww.onxmaps.com&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19605" LastActivityDate="2021-04-25T01:02:01.860" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27063" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5184" CreationDate="2021-04-25T19:17:54.310" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm pretty late, but the southern part of the california northern coast and the california central coast will work.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;San Francisco is your best bet as a big city since temperatures barely exceed 75°F in summer and go below 40°F in winter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another city is Monterey, CA which might be better because it rains a little bit less there, but still has those similar temperatures. Also, housing is half the price (still expensive) and houses are much bigger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21094" LastActivityDate="2021-04-25T19:17:54.310" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27065" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27046" CreationDate="2021-04-26T09:29:33.043" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;Known as &amp;quot;oil canning&amp;quot; this is a common problem with plastic kayaks caused by long term storage or tight loading straps on roof bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Luckily you have a minor case and since this isn't a performance boat, the effect is entirely cosmetic. However it can be restored with the application of heat and pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The best heat source is a hot sunny day. It's possibly to use a hair dryer or heat gun, but that brings the risk of overheating the plastic and further damaging the boat. With luck the heat alone will be enough to allow the hull to restore itself, but you may need to add some pressure from the inside.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since you say this is a SOT without a hatch, keeping the bung in place while it's out in the sun will increase the internal pressure likely to a sufficient extent to do the job.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With larger traditional kayaks often weights or a Heath Robinson-esque construction may be required to apply the pressure while keeping the affected area in direct sunlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Storing and loading the kayak on edge is advised to prevent the problem recurring.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-04-26T09:29:33.043" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27066" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-26T13:50:21.583" Score="3" ViewCount="64" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a small (21') sailboat with a bilge pump hose that outputs to a through-hull that, depending on the weight distribution in the boat, is sometimes slightly below the waterline (not a great design IMO, but I definitely am not able to change the fitting location right now). It has a plastic through-hull fitting &lt;a href=&quot;https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B07GJ93741&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;similar to this one&lt;/a&gt;, and it is just barely leaking. There's no noticeable droplets, but I can see a wet sheen below the fitting and a small amount of water pools in that cabinet over the span of a couple of days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The cabinet that the bilge pump hose runs through is also where the electrical fuse panel and switches are, so I'd really like to get this fixed to avoid creating extra opportunity for corrosion there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My question is, how can I fix this leak without hauling the boat out? I am tempted to just try tightening the plastic nut from the inside, but I'm afraid of cracking it and turning a minor problem into a major one. I considered applying some silicone to the inside and I think this might work short term, but it feels like a very temporary solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2537" LastActivityDate="2021-04-26T14:27:40.157" Title="Fix/patch a leaky through-hull fitting below the waterline" Tags="&lt;boats&gt;&lt;sailing&gt;&lt;repairs&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27067" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27066" CreationDate="2021-04-26T14:27:40.157" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Correctly applied silicone of the right grade is a (semi) permanent solution.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Like any other submerged seal it requires regular maintenance and inspection, but if you get a silicone that's designed for continuous submersion in water then it will hold.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-04-26T14:27:40.157" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27068" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27061" CreationDate="2021-04-27T16:41:20.083" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=49,-122&amp;amp;z=14&amp;amp;b=mbt&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;CalTopo will give you an elevation&lt;/a&gt; when you mouse over or enter coordinates in the search box at the top of the website. This feature seems to be location dependent and works well in the USA and is spotty internationally. This solution requires a cellular connection.  Consider a GNSS application that will show elevation on your phone or better still - download a free topographic map using an application like AvenzaPDF maps.  Learn to read contour lines and figure out the gully depths that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Be warned.  These CalTopo elevation values (and your GNSS elevations) are based on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://vdatum.noaa.gov/docs/datums.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;WGS84 ellipsoid&lt;/a&gt;.  These elevation values will differ from USGS topographic maps. Historical USGS topo maps will reference the NGVD29 vertical datum.  Newer USGS topographic maps will reference the NAVD88 vertical datum. Depending on your location there may be considerable differences in the elevation values for your location.  Elevation data and topographic maps from other countries may use other vertical datums to express elevation values.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;10 meter spatial resolution USGS surface models have been freely available for decades.  Outside of the USA the 30 m SRTM is freely available.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Modern surface model generation techniques rely on LiDAR data.  Many USA Federal, State, Local, and Tribal governments freely distribute 3 ft spatial resolution surface models with z value errors in the centimeters.  Here is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://lidarportal.dnr.wa.gov/#47.96177:-121.79993:11&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washington State DNR LiDAR&lt;/a&gt; portal for your viewing pleasure.  Check out the difference between the base map (SRTM) data and the LiDAR surfaces!  Outside of the USA finding free surface model data is much more difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerDisplayName="user20551" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-05-04T07:38:34.740" LastActivityDate="2021-05-04T07:38:34.740" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27069" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27054" CreationDate="2021-04-27T18:23:04.487" Score="8" Body="&lt;p&gt;If you genuinely have no one who you can use as an SAR contact you could purchase a either a GPS SPOT device or a PLB which can be used to emit an SOS signal that will be detected in an emergency even outside cellphone coverage areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Remember your SAR contact doesn’t need to be a friend. They can be a work colleague or a neighbour. You don’t even need to talk with them. They just need to be a person who will contact the emergency services in the event that you don’t signal your return. The main criteria is that they are reliable, don’t panic and don’t get trigger happy.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can send them a text with rough details and a time limit. “I’m hiking in the X forest on the Y trail. I should be back Sunday around 5pm. Please contact the emergency services if I haven’t contacted you by Monday morning”. When you return, send them another text saying you’re back safe.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3774" LastActivityDate="2021-04-27T18:23:04.487" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27070" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27054" CreationDate="2021-04-28T06:32:50.233" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;A simple, free solution here that should cover the bases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Create a WhatsApp group with some people that you'd trust enough to keep track of it.  Post in there when you're planning/leaving for a trip, your expected return date, and how often you'll &amp;quot;check-in&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Install the &lt;a href=&quot;https://what3words.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;What Three Words&lt;/a&gt; app onto your phone and periodically share your location (and any updated plans, or anything else you'd like to share) to the group.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What this does is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let group members know you're ok on a regular basis&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Let them know where you are&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If the group doesn't hear from you past your usual &amp;quot;check-in&amp;quot; time, they'll know exactly where you were at your last check-in and pass this location to the SAR services.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20505" LastActivityDate="2021-04-28T06:32:50.233" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27071" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27038" CreationDate="2021-04-28T07:00:04.690" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;mogoman's answer is excellent, but I'll add some thoughts of my own after a visit to the park a few years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I'd recommend a week in the park.  Given that your chances of having good encounters every morning/evening isn't guaranteed unless you take one of the buses driven by guides (in which case, you're on a bus with lots of other people and lose that sense of solitude and discovery).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There's various camps around the park, some are more larger and have more amenities than others, but all (at least the ones I visited) are clean, comfortable, and well maintained.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Our party generally woke before dawn and left the camp as soon as the gates opened in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;When driving in the park, you'll quickly realise that getting from one place to another isn't a quick trip.  Many of the roads and tracks suffer from &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washboarding&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Washboarding&lt;/a&gt; so any driving above 15-20mph quickly becomes a very unpleasant experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We stayed primarily in &amp;quot;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.krugerpark.travel/accommodation/national-park/rest-camps&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Rest Camps&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;, which offer a variety of accommodation, depending on budget and numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20505" LastActivityDate="2021-04-28T07:00:04.690" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27072" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-04-28T11:09:44.663" Score="3" ViewCount="90" Body="&lt;p&gt;I may buy a Garmin satellite map thing at some point. But if I do, it's an absolute requirement for me that it will allow me to feed it some sort of list of GPS coordinates with labels, such as putting a &lt;code&gt;custom.csv&lt;/code&gt; file onto its flash card containing something like:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt;12.45677,12.45677,&amp;quot;My old house&amp;quot;&#xA;12.35677,13.45677,&amp;quot;The park where I met that pretty girl&amp;quot;&#xA;15.35677,11.45677,&amp;quot;My best friend's house back in the day&amp;quot;&#xA;...&#xA;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have such data in my own map system on my computer. I can make it output a reasonable file format.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Surely those devices support this? But I'm still asking because you never know... Companies like to do stupid things and cripple you with vendor lock-in and weird, proprietary binary formats and whatnot. I hope such isn't the case for these, because I would basically have no use for it if I cannot feed it my existing data points.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If it also supports dumping any points I add on the device itself onto another .csv (or similar) file, such that I can import it into my computer and thus keep the two maps' &amp;quot;points of interest&amp;quot; synced, that would be great as well. I wonder about that as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21109" LastActivityDate="2021-05-02T03:01:31.563" Title="Do Garmin satellite map devices allow me to feed them coordinates from a CSV or JSON file or similar?" Tags="&lt;maps&gt;&lt;gps&gt;&lt;satellite-phones&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27073" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27072" CreationDate="2021-04-28T12:34:59.250" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You are supposed to be able to load custom points of interest onto Garmins from a PC.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/custompois.shtml&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here&lt;/a&gt; is a full set of instructions, though they may be rather dated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rather simpler is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/gpsmap66s_st/EN-US/GUID-5BE4FB29-AB8E-404A-BE3C-9D8D8307CEFA.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;loading waypoints&lt;/a&gt;.  On my old Extrex the name was limited to very few characters, but that was partly because of the very simple screen.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Many applications of GPS technology are now better supported via smartphone apps, and a dedicated waterproof phone (used without a SIM card) can be cheaper than a GPS receiver. While I don't currently use either of them, I'm fairly confident that what you want can be done using Navit or OSMAnd if you have and Android phone&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-04-28T19:56:41.393" LastActivityDate="2021-04-28T19:56:41.393" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27074" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27054" CreationDate="2021-04-29T14:18:24.697" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;In some wilderness areas you can, or even are encouraged to check in at a trailhead, either with a human or by signing in to a book. This is old-fashioned but reliable if used properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Wilderness accommodation may also be used to helping out here; even a fellow visitor in a hostel/mountain hut could be a suitable contact.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Certainly when I stay in a big group and we split up to do  various activities, we keep track of where the other groups are and when they're expected back, even if individuals go off solo. For example I wasn't feeling up to kayaking on one trip, so let the others go without me.  When I recovered enough for a short walk I left a note with key details despite choosing a well-travelled and easy route.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You do need to remember to check out again though.  This can be a pain if you're not planning on returning to the start&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-04-29T14:18:24.697" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27075" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27072" CreationDate="2021-05-01T00:01:50.427" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: yes, and I do this with my Inreach Explorer+. Garmin supports &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;GPX files&lt;/a&gt;, among other file types. I have a monthly charge because I wanted the messaging/SOS functionality.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It seems you can do similar with a &lt;a href=&quot;https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/715072/pn/010-02451-10&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;65S&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=crMECthXVT5MrRD4cLY4k9&amp;amp;identifier=010-02451-10&amp;amp;tab=topics&amp;amp;topicTag=region_basecamp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Base Camp&lt;/a&gt; and no montly charge.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And yes Garmin software is clunky. I have learned to mutter and shake my head.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3244" LastActivityDate="2021-05-01T00:01:50.427" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27076" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27077" CreationDate="2021-05-01T01:49:12.553" Score="0" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;California suffered several huge fires in recent years. I wonder what kind of restrictions were enacted, if any, regarding fires on campsites? Which of them are legal/safe:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Starting an old-fashion fire on the ground, just a few dry branches arranged together?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ditto in a shallow pit?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A portable stove?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A grill?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;We are going for a few days to a large forest park in CA with road access up to about 100 yards off the campsite.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: per your advice, I checked with the park website, and indeed they have the answer:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Fires are permitted in designated fire rings only. Do not gather wood. Extinguish fires when unattended. When posted &amp;quot;NO FIRES&amp;quot;, only camp stoves or gas grills are permitted.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So it's not just fixed rules but also depends on whether they'll post &amp;quot;NO FIRES&amp;quot; signs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21116" LastEditorUserId="21116" LastEditDate="2021-05-03T16:09:50.490" LastActivityDate="2021-05-03T16:09:50.490" Title="What kinds of fires for cooking one can start when camping in a public park / forest in CA?" Tags="&lt;united-states&gt;&lt;camp-fire-cooking&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27077" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27076" CreationDate="2021-05-01T13:34:42.783" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;This depends completely on the specific park. You could try the web site for the city's parks and recreation department, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-01T13:34:42.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27078" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27076" CreationDate="2021-05-02T00:06:58.453" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You have to check about where you are going.  The legality of fire depends on the type of fire, the park, the season and the weather.  I'm having some trouble confirming exactly what the rules are about fire permits--it appears that you need them on all federal land in California.  The permit is free.  (It's about passing a quiz, not about money.  They want to make sure you know the rules.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-05-02T00:06:58.453" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27079" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27072" CreationDate="2021-05-02T03:01:31.563" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a Garmin Oregon, and while it is possible to load gpx files with custom points of interest using the Garmin Basecamp software (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/basecamp/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/basecamp/&lt;/a&gt;), there are a couple of restrictions that make it less than optimal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the software seems a bit outdated&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;sometimes it just doesn't work, but you don't get any good error messages&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;once my device was bricked and I needed to do a firmware update&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;in general, Garmin software is known to be very flaky&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;synchronization and versioning doesn't exist. I've collected large amounts of gpx files over the years, and I never know which files are on which gps. My understanding is that basecamp just copies the files to the right folder on the device, and in principle one could use a file synchronization utility, but I am not 100% sure.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;the amount of storage is limited, see here for a list: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.navigation-professionell.de/en/how-many-data-garmin-handhelds-wearables/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://www.navigation-professionell.de/en/how-many-data-garmin-handhelds-wearables/&lt;/a&gt; Initially I thought it would not matter, but once I got into geodata I quickly reached the limit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;handling of points (adding POIs in different coordinate systems, enabling and disabling groups etc.) is not that great.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My recommendation would be to just get a dedicated smartphone (maybe one with a replaceable battery and a plastic screen), and use an app. Gaia and Avenza maps are highly regarded, but many of the maps cost money.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally, I use oruxmaps, which is not as convenient, but can import a large range of formats. oruxmaps also can load geocoded pdf files directly, so you can just download maps from the USGS site and put them on the device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21121" LastActivityDate="2021-05-02T03:01:31.563" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27081" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27082" CreationDate="2021-05-02T18:41:25.820" Score="3" ViewCount="164" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm thinking of watching a thunderstorm from within a wooden structure that has installed a lightning rod. Here's how it looks:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rR7hA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rR7hA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The structure in question.&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can see the grounding wire on the right side.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On the Internet, I found conflicting recommendations regarding lightning hazards – they recommend to stay away from open windows, garage doors etc., and ideally, recommend to stay inside grounded buildings. This structure meets both criteria. So my question is, how safe it is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21123" LastActivityDate="2021-05-03T00:06:06.370" Title="Is an open tower with a lightning rod safe?" Tags="&lt;safety&gt;&lt;lightning&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27082" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27081" CreationDate="2021-05-03T00:06:06.370" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;You could ask the owners of the building. They would be the ones who would be able to say, &amp;quot;The tower has been standing for X years, and although lightning has often hit the lightning rod, the structure has never been damaged or caught on fire.&amp;quot; Or, &amp;quot;No, we don't allow people up there in an electrical storm.&amp;quot; Or, &amp;quot;The insurer that wrote our liability and fire policies says, ...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If lightning hit the rod, you might still get your hearing damaged if you were standing right underneath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-03T00:06:06.370" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27086" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2021-05-05T12:41:19.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The answer is to not think too hard. First think about all of the things you would take anyway and then supplement for emergencies; the unexpected.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Rescue&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Goal is to get home and rescue, by self or otherwise, is the mechanism by which that goal is achieved. You will need your position and you will need to communicate it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Communication&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Phone, charger pack, waterproof and shockproof cases for both, wind up charger if you like.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you are serious about being super remote where nobody knows where you are, then you want thinks like locator beacon, strobe, sat phone, radio, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without such items, you will need to create signals, which is a right pain. Saying that. a whistle is a simple, battery free, signal.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Familiarise yourself with all equipment before the world goes wrong. Check it before you leave.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Navigation&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In order to get rescued, you (or someone else) needs to be able to communicate your position. You will therefore need, route map, area map, compass, and if you like, GPS. Get a waterproof case, because the water resistant maps are dross. Know where you are at all times. Actually put it on the maps and double check. Position and navigation is a skill. Learn the skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Safeguarding&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Really though, the way to get rescued is to have someone to check in with who will actually tell the rescue services you are missing if you don't check in. You tell them your intended route at the beginning, and check in with your position and intended next leg or any plans that change.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Medical&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now we want to stay alive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The overriding medical principle is that you want the body to stay the same. Don't get to hot, don't get too cold, don't dehydrate, get sleep, don't suffer from lack of energy or malnutrition.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You will need equipment and/or expertise to facilitate this.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First aid kit. Trauma kit if you can use one. First aid is a skill. Learn the and practice skill.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You don't get a fire in a first aid kit (though you do get tinder), so you will need to address the other issues. You can do this with clothing, snack bars, water treatment systems, or such as fires, BUT ONLY OF APPROPTIATE. Don't get hung up on fires if you're not going to get cold or treat water, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hygiene is super important.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Action&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Energy, time, and resources are the currency of action. You are either spending them or earning them. That is except time. You can spend less time, but you can never earn it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Light&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Light is a massive factor in survivability. The dark makes everything a right pain. There is no guarantee that things will go wrong mid morning. The torch is your weapon against the darkness. Big torch, more power needed. You get the picture. I have a head torch and a really really bright torch. Extra batteries. One might consider a wind up. This can be combined with a phone charger.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Energy&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High calorie, high density snacks. Probably based on nuts.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Guide to local plants might not go a miss. Ones that give carbs though; man cannot live on salad alone.  Learn your wild foods in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h2&gt;Resources&lt;/h2&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;High quality, well maintained, multi-purpose, high function to size/weight ratio. Do you really need that axe, or would a saw and some food be better? They need to work in the rain, wind, and the dark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;h1&gt;Summary&lt;/h1&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Doctrine has us believe that a survival kit is associated with potential months out with nothing but the kit. When hiking, we carry all sorts of things. We don't need to worry too much about natural shelter building if we have a tent, for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What we need to consider the emergencies and subsequent rescue and medical issues. Everything else facilitates those.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2611" LastEditorUserId="2611" LastEditDate="2021-05-05T13:36:24.760" LastActivityDate="2021-05-05T13:36:24.760" CommentCount="5" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27087" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-05T23:52:40.833" Score="1" ViewCount="86" Body="&lt;p&gt;Lions have truly remarkable night vision, to the extent that they not only hunt at night, but actually prefer to do so when there is no moon in the sky, because the lack of moonlight makes them nearly invisible to their prey, but they can still see by air glow and starlight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But even lions cannot see in total darkness. What happens on a moonless night when the sky is covered in cloud? Can lions still hunt, or does that make it too dark for even them to see?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="19794" LastActivityDate="2021-05-05T23:52:40.833" Title="Can lions hunt on cloudy moonless nights?" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;&lt;wilderness&gt;&lt;night&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27088" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="4512" CreationDate="2021-05-06T08:20:28.587" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;This is my Solution to a Gas conversion,&#xA;I bought.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;MSR WhisperLite Universal C Jet (07381) &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3xfRd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3xfRd.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; £4 + p&amp;amp;p&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Short piece of gas hose £1.71&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Canister adapter/Valve   £5.88&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 x Hose clamps (butterfly)  £2.06&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Then a picture paints a thousand words&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3xfRd.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;enter image description here&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/msQy6.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/msQy6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21154" LastEditorUserId="21154" LastEditDate="2021-05-06T08:26:53.037" LastActivityDate="2021-05-06T08:26:53.037" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27089" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="8285" CreationDate="2021-05-06T22:11:54.667" Score="-2" Body="&lt;p&gt;When cooking meat you dont need to stick it over the fire on a stick. It goes in the hot coals and always has white ash or charcoal attached; the charcoal is pulled off before eating.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black char coal absorbs poison in the case of food poisoning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Tumbs active component is calcium which nutralizes acid. Ash has an abundance of calcium&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21161" LastActivityDate="2021-05-06T22:11:54.667" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27090" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-08T02:31:54.180" Score="1" ViewCount="46" Body="&lt;p&gt;We live in a heavily wooded area with a heavily wooded bluff off our back yard. Wildlife is abundant here, including groundhogs. Until we installed cams to watch wildlife I’d never witnessed the shedding process of groundhogs (or any wildlife).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I’m wondering if the shedding process causes itching, as I’ve seen one scratch on occasion?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20858" LastActivityDate="2021-05-08T03:16:59.570" Title="Does groundhog seasonal shedding cause itching" Tags="&lt;animals&gt;&lt;animal-behaviour&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27091" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27090" CreationDate="2021-05-08T03:16:59.570" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;Short answer: Yes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Longer answer: Yes, but that's not the only likely cause of itching in animals. There are parasites like lice, chiggers, fleas, mosquitoes, mites  (mange) etc. that can all cause itching too. In addition, fungal skin infections tend to be itchy. In general you should avoid the areas where you see itching animals as they may be shedding parasites like mites and fleas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are also spontaneous itches (as you will likely have experienced yourself - a random itch on your arm for instance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-05-08T03:16:59.570" CommentCount="7" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27092" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27106" CreationDate="2021-05-09T13:14:42.800" Score="4" ViewCount="69" Body="&lt;p&gt;My son (almost 2) loves picking up garbage, so I decided to give him garbage collection equipment as a birthday present.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For that, I'd like to get a thing which serves as a bag holder with wide opening, so that the bag stays open by itself. Like the thing the man holds with his left hand:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xR5iC.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/xR5iC.png&quot; alt=&quot;garbage equipment: bag holder (with bag attached)&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for such a thing. It should be possible to remove/attach a bag easily (I would use disposable garbage bags). Optionally, the thing is foldable/resizable so that it can be transported in a pocket. It does not need to be a circle, anything convex is alright. The handle should be close to the opening (should not have a shaft).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Any ideas what such a thing is called?&lt;/strong&gt; Maybe there is some fishing equipment like this, or equipment for professional garbage collectors, or just something diverted from intended use?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest thing I found are butterfly nets where the net is removed. But those usually have quite long handles, even if telescopic and retracted. Probably not easy to hold by a 2-year old after some garbage has accumulated in the bag...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PS: If you think this question does not fit into outdoors stackexchange, which one would you put it into?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;PPS: Please feel free to add more tags, I did not find any other (existing) ones that fit the topic.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21168" LastEditorUserId="21168" LastEditDate="2021-05-14T10:51:49.277" LastActivityDate="2021-05-14T10:51:49.277" Title="garbage collection equipment: frame with handle as garbage bag holder" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;terminology&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="4" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27093" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-09T20:11:10.507" Score="0" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;When I went off the trail on my last hike, I noticed that grass got into my boots very easily because the toe is not gussetted like in other boots. And gaiters don't cover low enough on the boot to keep debris out. The boots are really comfortable and supportive and I don't want to get new ones. Anyone have any tips to add a gusset?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21169" LastEditorUserId="21169" LastEditDate="2021-05-17T04:10:26.790" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T04:10:26.790" Title="Debris in boots" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27094" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27093" CreationDate="2021-05-09T20:40:23.303" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Welcome to the site.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Without knowing which sort of boots you have it is a little hard to provide specific advice. Hiking boots in general are made with materials that are designed to be impermeable to debris. Regular &amp;quot;sports&amp;quot; boots like basketball boots are designed more to be light and breathable (to prevent sweat build-up, modern hiking boots do this through breathable layers like goretex), and are not generally suitable for hiking - for one thing they will break down much sooner than a pair of hiking boots due to rough terrain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are some design features that you should look for in your boots that might help:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Unless the tongue of your boots is &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusset&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;gussetted&lt;/a&gt; to the upper, you won't be able to prevent grass and debris from entering your boots. If yours don't have a gussett, take them to a reputable shoe repair shop and see if it is something that can be added.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look at your lacing pattern, make sure that it closes firmly over the front/top of your foot, so that there is a smaller gap for debris to enter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Look for gaiters that hook onto the lowest set of laces. These aren't just for protection of socks, but will cover the boot leaving just the toe and a small proportion of the side exposed. Generally this is a feature you find on knee-length gaiters, but not shorter ones.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-05-09T20:40:23.303" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27095" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27152" CreationDate="2021-05-10T13:07:43.067" Score="2" ViewCount="77" Body="&lt;p&gt;Snagged this guy in the Port Royal Sound off the coast of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina last week. At first I thought it might be a bull shark but the dorsal profile doesn't really seem to match. The captain on the boat estimated it to be about 6 feet in length and weight 250 pounds. It broke off the leader just as we got it to side so I do not have any better pictures than this one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To me the key characteristics are the large round dorsal fin, the broad round pectoral fins, light gray/sandy color.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any thoughts on what species this may be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fQs4Q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/fQs4Q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;shark to be identified at surface of water&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11790" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-10T20:08:14.673" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T08:58:21.577" Title="Identifying a coastal shark with a broad dorsal fin" Tags="&lt;animal-identification&gt;&lt;sharks&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27097" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27095" CreationDate="2021-05-11T00:12:16.537" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm going to go with Blacktip shark (&lt;em&gt;Carcharhinus limbatus&lt;/em&gt;). I see that there are no black tips on this one, but they can fade as adults.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Black tipped sharks have long fins with a more triangular shape to them than other sharks, they also have small second dorsal fins, and the first dorsal fin starts just over or behind the pectoral fins.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;See &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/carcharhinus-limbatus/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for more information and descriptive pictures.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-05-11T00:12:16.537" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27099" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-12T06:34:04.763" Score="0" ViewCount="85" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm writing a detective-fiction novel and I need your help in the following scenario:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone was shot in the &lt;strong&gt;leg&lt;/strong&gt; during a festival. The bullet didn't pierce any artery. How is he or she treated a second after the incident in this case?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21177" LastEditorUserId="21177" LastEditDate="2021-05-12T08:02:18.763" LastActivityDate="2021-05-12T23:35:46.730" Title="A question about gunshots and wounds" Tags="&lt;guns&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="6" ClosedDate="2021-05-13T10:56:07.440" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27100" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27099" CreationDate="2021-05-12T23:35:46.730" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;An untrained bystander would probably cover the wound with something just so they would not have to continue looking at it, comfort the victim, and call for help. Ironically, this is the right move for an untrained bystander.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone with first aid training would basically do the same as above, but might think to put pressure on the wound covering and treat for shock by having the victim lie down and keep still, with feet/legs elevated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Someone with basic trauma medicine training (EMT) would do all of the above but also look for (and treat) exit wound(s), check for distal circulation (capillary refill/distal pulse), check neuro signs (&amp;quot;what day is it today, who is the Prime Minister&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;can you feel it when I touch your foot&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;can you wriggle your toes&amp;quot;), take and record vital signs (blood pressure/pulse, breath rate and quality, skin tone and appearance).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11951" LastActivityDate="2021-05-12T23:35:46.730" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27101" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="32" CreationDate="2021-05-13T15:21:05.033" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;All Emergency Kits need to be tailored to the area and situation you're in, Death Valley you will need more water/hydration, colder climates more thermal protection.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've seen many &amp;quot;10 Essentials&amp;quot; lists around, the items you should have with you whenever hiking or in the outdoors, with varying contents. Usually these are unordered lists, as the most important items are those that you need and don't have and the importance varies by your location and circumstance. Water is of less importance to you if you have a constant clean source available. I live in Southern California, currently in its fifth year of drought. There are still streams flowing but it's always a desert.&#xA;10 Essentials doesn’t always mean 10 items. A Multiuse item can cover multiple areas, for instance an oversized durable poncho can act as rain gear and a shelter, covering two items.  Sun Protection can mean clothing and or sunscreen.&#xA;The first on my list then is :&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1.    Water.&lt;/strong&gt; After a day of heat and slight dehydration, your mental capacity will be limited, so that’s why it is first on my list. Dehydration may develop into heat exhaustion and heatstroke. The human body may only survive for a few days without water. Portable water purifiers and water stills may be used to obtain potable water from virtually any source.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.    Proper Layered Clothing.&lt;/strong&gt; Hot days and cold nights are a recipe for disaster if you’re not prepared. Multiple layers are superior to a single massive jacket, because layered clothing is adaptable to a wide range of temperatures. This could include sunglasses, hat, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.    First Aid Kit.&lt;/strong&gt; I'm not worried about bandages for small cuts. I want to be prepared to keep my feet walkable, have medications, and use meditape and wraps.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.    Multitool.&lt;/strong&gt; I say multitool rather than knife because why carry a knife when a multitool has a knife and other useful items like a saw, pliers, etc. It is useful for tasks as large as building an emergency shelter or lighting a campfire with poor fuel, or as small as repairing a damaged backpack.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5.    Headlamp.&lt;/strong&gt; Again, rather than a flashlight which needs to be held. Hands free navigating in the dark, and also provides a sense of comfort and safety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6.    Fire starter.&lt;/strong&gt; Use whatever works best for you, be it matches, lighter, or strikers. Light fires for heat, cooking, or for signaling purposes. I prefer having a lighter and a striker.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7.    Trail Food.&lt;/strong&gt; Lower on the list because you can survive a lot longer than you think without food, but you should have something. I carry protein energy bars.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8.    Poncho/Tarp/Emergency Blanket.&lt;/strong&gt; A multi-use shelter, waterproofing, heat saving, raingear. Being wet from rain may result in hypothermia, a potentially fatal condition. This is separate from clothing, because who hikes around in a waterproof rain suit? I currently carry a tarp, in a pinch will act as rain gear, but good shelter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;9.    Protection.&lt;/strong&gt; Partially  included in Clothing (hat, etc.) Includes Sunscreen, Lip Balm and Insect Repellant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10.   Map &amp;amp; Compass &amp;amp; Whistle.&lt;/strong&gt; On the bottom of the list not because of least importance, but most people wouldn't know how to use them to get orientated, let alone have an actual map of the area they are in. If you know how to use a map and compass, then it will be higher on your list, because if you can navigate yourself to safety quickly -  you won’t need half of the other things on this list. Last on my list is a whistle. Some people show them on the list with the compass, a combination whistle, compass, light, fire starter, signaling mirror, etc. I don’t use those. The combination compass/”anything” is a waste. The compass is only useful if you can read it, and those “combos” are crap. Get a good compass that you can actually use to navigate. A good whistle noise will travel for miles, alerting searchers  or other members of your party where you are. Three blasts of a whistle is internationally known for distress.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So there’s my list, I could make it 9 by combining food and water, but adapt yours to suit your needs and the areas that you’re hiking in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A compact 10 Essentials list to choose from:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Hydration and Food&#xA;Clothing, Shelter, Sun protection, &amp;amp; Raingear&#xA;First Aid &amp;amp; Medications&#xA;Tools &amp;amp; Firestarter&#xA;Map/Compass, Flashlight, &amp;amp; Signaling&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A full 10 Essentials list to choose from:&lt;/strong&gt;&#xA;Hydration&#xA;Food&#xA;Clothing&#xA;Shelter&#xA;Rain Gear&#xA;Sun Protection&#xA;First Aid Kit&#xA;Multitool&#xA;Firestarter&#xA;Flashlight&#xA;Map &amp;amp; Compass&#xA;Whistle&#xA;GPS&#xA;Radio/Communications&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21187" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:21:05.033" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27102" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27092" CreationDate="2021-05-13T15:28:58.117" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;You can find this at your local craft store, use a cross-stitch hoop. You can either feed the bag into the hoop and secure it, or just leave the hoop assembled and use it like in the photo with the bag loosely draped over the hoop.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pu8hJ.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/pu8hJ.png&quot; alt=&quot;Cross Stitch Hoop&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21187" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:28:58.117" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27103" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20928" CreationDate="2021-05-13T15:54:00.713" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;The questions is very general, so the answer is as well.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There is a river/stream next to the trail, in general, you would follow the trail downstream. Civilization is nearby since there is a bridge, and best bet would be downstream.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21187" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T15:54:00.713" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27104" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="1447" CreationDate="2021-05-13T20:29:15.467" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;There's a product called X-14 that is the best mold remover I've ever used. Much, much better than bleach.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;Make sure you try it on a small area as a test first. I have used it on many materials, but not nylon (assuming that's your tent type).&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;However, as of this writing, all smaller bottles have been recalled in the US. You can only buy it in the gallon size.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="1915" LastActivityDate="2021-05-13T20:29:15.467" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27105" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27092" CreationDate="2021-05-14T04:08:05.477" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I think you need to back up a bit--I doubt this is going to work.  I have never seen a trash grabber that a 2 year old could use, they're sized for adults.  Before you worry about a trash bag (which certainly could be DIYed) you need to find a grabber your son can operate.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-05-14T04:08:05.477" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27106" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27092" CreationDate="2021-05-14T10:42:50.283" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;Litter picking hoop or litter picking bag hoop&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are branded and generic versions available with reasonable variety.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YHD03.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/YHD03.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-05-14T10:42:50.283" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27107" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-14T13:40:48.103" Score="8" ViewCount="134" Body="&lt;p&gt;In Germany, wild camping is prohibited in most places, including all forests.  The situation is less clear for sleeping in the wild without a tent, which is usually not explicitly prohibited on public land outside of protected areas.  For a German language article discussing the topic in some detail, see &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergfreunde.de/basislager/schlafplatz-gesucht-was-ist-wo-erlaubt-beim-wildcampen-in-deutschland/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;bergfreunde.de: Schlafplatz gesucht&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A situation not covered in that article is sleeping in a basic shelter / lean-to such as:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Schutzh%C3%BCtte_im_Wald_am_Siegerlandh%C3%B6henring%2C_Hainchen%2C_2010-06-25.jpg/1280px-Schutzh%C3%BCtte_im_Wald_am_Siegerlandh%C3%B6henring%2C_Hainchen%2C_2010-06-25.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Photo of lean-to&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&quot;https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schutzh%C3%BCtte_im_Wald_am_Siegerlandh%C3%B6henring,_Hainchen,_2010-06-25.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Those who have hiked in the forest in Germany will probably have passed such shelters frequently.  They're intended as a semi-weatherproof shelter for resting during the day, but if I just so happen to fall asleep and don't wake up until the following morning — is this forbidden like wild camping, or is it rather undefined like bivouac appears to be?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm interested in the situation anywhere in Germany, but primarily in Hessen, Baden-Württemberg, and Bayern.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="566" LastActivityDate="2021-05-15T03:46:21.297" Title="Can I sleep overnight in a lean-to in Germany?" Tags="&lt;wild-camping&gt;&lt;germany&gt;&lt;bivouac&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27108" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27107" CreationDate="2021-05-15T03:46:21.297" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;At least along some of the popular long-distance trails like the &lt;em&gt;Rennsteig&lt;/em&gt; it is  explicitly allowed and common practice to use these as overnight shelters. Not sure if there are any strict rules around overnight use in other parts of Germany, but it's not likely you'd get in trouble if you tried ...&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="6208" LastActivityDate="2021-05-15T03:46:21.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27109" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="261" CreationDate="2021-05-15T19:49:38.323" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have compared directly Trangias, Jetboils, MSR micro propane burners with windshield, and paraffin stoves.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;By far the most practical is the Jetboil.  Its biggest weakness is if there are more than one of you, its container is not big enough; so if there are say 3 of you hiking together sharing meals etc, the Trangia is the best, but solo the Jetboil wins hands down IMHO.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It boils water the fastest.  It's big enough (just) to put a pouch meal in water leaving enough water for a brew afterwards. The gas canisters are lighter than a Sigg bottle for a roughly equivalent amount of cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The little micro burners are excellent if you are in a shelter, so if you're mountaineering and staying in bothies or similar, they are the lightest set up but the windshield is cumbersome; they are next to useless in strong wind conditions (the Trangia ain't great in strong wind but the shape of the base makes it much easier to shield it).  I've used the Jetboil in winds strong enough to blow out a match for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The paraffin pressure stove was a remnant of my youth scouting and was added in jest really.  Do not consider these stoves at all, ever.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Afterthought: the micro propane burners are comparable in ability to the hexamine stoves (army issued square things with 8 tablets in a packet inside); they are rubbish in wind but are very light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;That's my twopenn'orth.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21194" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-16T14:14:01.457" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T14:14:01.457" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27110" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-16T07:35:03.907" Score="1" ViewCount="75" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've searched whatever I can on the Web, including doing reverse image searches, but unable to identify this... thing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's like a screw-together weight, with two plastic washers forming almost a yo-yo like contraption. For the size, it feels quite heavy and it was found while beach detecting in some seaweed washed ashore.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R6NKt.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/R6NKt.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;disassembled&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Size wise, it is just short of 7cm long and roughly 2.5cm diameter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any help is hugely appreciated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Edit: working out its density, it comes in at ~6.14g/cm3 which makes me sure this is vanadium. If that helps?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21196" LastEditorUserId="21196" LastEditDate="2021-05-16T07:55:51.467" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T07:55:51.467" Title="Can anyone identify this fishing-related tackle/object?" Tags="&lt;fishing&gt;&lt;fishing-tackle&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27111" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-16T17:17:13.327" Score="3" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a webbing spool (some meters long) and would like to create climbing ladders out of it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Could I attach some single bar buckles+tie knots on the extremes to make loops?&#xA;Is that a bad idea? The safety of the climber would not depend on it, that is, she would still be attached to a rope.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What kind of buckle would be most appropriate?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3241" LastActivityDate="2021-05-16T17:17:13.327" Title="Creating climbing ladders with webbing strap" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27112" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27115" CreationDate="2021-05-16T20:44:29.643" Score="10" ViewCount="248" Body="&lt;p&gt;I went into German woods near Berlin and I saw hundreds of trees that look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2vBts.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2vBts.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;tree with 'V' chevron patterns&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What is this? Why are people doing that? I tried to google for wood patterns, but these keywords don't show any meaningful results.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21201" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T16:09:08.107" LastActivityDate="2021-05-20T15:14:13.737" Title="How do tree trunks get chevron patterns in the bark?" Tags="&lt;trees&gt;&lt;forests&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="1" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27113" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-16T22:31:39.797" Score="14" ViewCount="3726" Body="&lt;p&gt;I want to climb Austria's highest peak, Großglockner via the &amp;quot;normal route&amp;quot; (the easiest route).&#xA;However, I am unsure what I really need for that.&#xA;Most information advices to use ropes with multiple people, but as far as I can see on photos, there are fixed ropes there:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HhDp7.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/HhDp7.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However other pics look like this:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Kv6q.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Kv6q.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Basically just poles, presumably with no fixed rope connecting them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Can I get away with only having via ferrata, ice axe and crampons for this trip? If I need a rope, is there a suitable technique for solo-roping? I don't have any friends who would be up to this and I don't want to book a tour.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12233" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T12:23:13.410" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T12:23:13.410" Title="Do I need a rope on the Großglockner?" Tags="&lt;mountaineering&gt;" AnswerCount="4" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27114" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27113" CreationDate="2021-05-17T00:31:53.957" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Summitpost has a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.summitpost.org/grossglockner/150224#chapter_19&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;page that describes the normal route&lt;/a&gt;. It says it's &amp;quot;PD, glacier 35°, UIAA II.&amp;quot; PD is a French grade, peu difficile. UIAA II is a different grading system used mainly in Germany. Wikipedia has an article that discusses the various national climbing grade systems: &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing)&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since I'm American, I have to convert to the system I know, which is the YDS. In that system, this is probably 5.1-5.2, with glacier travel, a need for belaying, and possibly a need for rappelling. So no, the rock climbing isn't something you can do alone. Rope-soloing is not practical for this type of thing. I don't know anything about these glaciers, but if they have deep crevasses, then you may also need to rope up for glacier travel and have other people on your rope team who are competent in crevasse self-rescue.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T00:31:53.957" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27115" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27112" CreationDate="2021-05-17T08:24:52.363" Score="11" Body="&lt;p&gt;Very cool picture! That pattern must be quite old, I guess.  I'm quite sure this tree is some kind of pine, judging by the bark, so this seems to be a remainder of &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_worker&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;resin harvesting&lt;/a&gt;, which was a common thing a hundred years ago because pine resin was an important resource for certain products (e.g., for pitch tar, turpentine, rosin).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The techniques vary; the patterns I know from Austria &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Resin_Extraction&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;look a bit different&lt;/a&gt;, since there small wooden &amp;quot;blades&amp;quot; are inserted into the tree.  The north German/Polish variant seems not to do that.  The diagonal grooves would be for &amp;quot;funnelling&amp;quot; the resin into the middle channel; and probably the small horizontal slots are where the collection bucket would have been placed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that, if done professionally, the harvesting does not kill the tree.  One tree can be harvested for many years and will heal afterwards (as I have been told by &lt;a href=&quot;https://pecherei-rendl.at/pecherei/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;a guy still doing this the traditional way&lt;/a&gt;) — healing wounds is the natural purpose of the resin, after all.  (The timber from such trees severely decreases in quality, though.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="11623" LastEditDate="2021-05-20T15:14:13.737" LastActivityDate="2021-05-20T15:14:13.737" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27116" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27113" CreationDate="2021-05-17T08:40:54.287" Score="9" Body="&lt;p&gt;You do need a rope party or guide.  The climbing is not major, but it is &lt;strong&gt;not a via ferrata&lt;/strong&gt;.  From &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bergfex.at/sommer/tirol/touren/hochtour/138406,grossglockner-normalweg-1-tages-tour--top-of-austria-3798m/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Von der Adlersruh dann weiter Richtung Gipfel geht es über das&#xA;&amp;quot;Eisleitl&amp;quot;, zuerst eben, dann leicht ansteigend bis hin zum Ende des&#xA;Eisleitls sehr steil hinauf. Dann werden die Steigeisen abgezogen und&#xA;deponiert (ab Mitte Juli kein Schnee mehr im Normalfall, daher keine&#xA;Steigeisen). Weiter über leichte Kletterei, &lt;strong&gt;Sicherung mittels Seil bei&#xA;den Standen (einmal umschlagen)&lt;/strong&gt;, bis hin zum Gipfel Kleinglockner. Vom&#xA;Kleinglockner geht es dann auf das wahrscheinlich anspruchsvollste&#xA;Stück bezüglich Schwindelfreiheit, die Glocknerscharte. Hier &lt;strong&gt;nur&#xA;gesichert durch das Seil des Kollgen&lt;/strong&gt;, überschreitet man eine ca. 5m&#xA;Lange Passage, bei welcher es an beiden Seiten in den Tod geht, sofern&#xA;man aber trittsicher ist, kein Problem. Anschließend wieder leichte&#xA;Kletterei auf den Gipfel des höchsten und wohl schönsten Berg&#xA;Österreichs.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My translation:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From &lt;em&gt;Adlersruh&lt;/em&gt; you go further in the direction of the summit via the &lt;em&gt;Eisleitl&lt;/em&gt; [&amp;quot;ice slope&amp;quot;!], flat at first, then slightly going upwards until very steep.  Then you remove and deposit your crampons (normally there is no snow from the mid of July, therefore no crampons).  Forward with easy climbing, &lt;strong&gt;belaying with rope at the fixed anchors (one turn)&lt;/strong&gt; [these are the metal rods], until the &lt;em&gt;Kleinglockner&lt;/em&gt; summit.  From &lt;em&gt;Kleinglockner&lt;/em&gt; it continues to the part perhaps most challenging for those who have no head for heights: the &lt;em&gt;Glocknerscharte&lt;/em&gt;. Here, &lt;strong&gt;only secured by the rope of your colleague&lt;/strong&gt;, you trespass a passage of five meters, on both sides of which death is waiting; which is no problem, though, if your are sure-footed.  Consequently, again easy climbing to the summit of Austria's highest and probably most beatiful mountatain.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I mean, you're at your own risk and all, but this is a really typical place for stereotypically ignorant tourists needing to be rescued because of, let's say &amp;quot;suboptimal&amp;quot;, preparation.  Also, expect the place to be crowded.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15579" LastEditorUserId="15579" LastEditDate="2021-05-17T11:37:08.087" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T11:37:08.087" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27117" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27113" CreationDate="2021-05-17T08:53:35.653" Score="23" Body="&lt;p&gt;The Großglockner is one of the most popular high peaks in the Alps. This means that in the summit area, especially between the Kleinglockner and the Großglockner there is a lot of traffic in both directions with little room to pass. To allow for a belay, the belay bars (in the second picture) have been placed. One would just wrap the rope around those bars to prevent a fall of the whole team. As an alternative, a sling could be girth hitched to those bars to create safe points.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;The ferrata in the first picture is leading to the Adlersruhe hut (official name Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte). This is not a typical ferrata, it should rather be regarded as a trail secured with ropes at the critical sections. None of those lend themselves to a rope solo technique.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So, can you summit it solo? Textbook style no, as it involves a glacier crossing. However, being such a popular summit, (in reasonable conditions) there will always be a good trail on the glacier, so the risk of a crevasse fall is rather small. The climbing difficulties are rather small but – as always in mountaineering – strongly depend on the conditions. UIAA 2 in good conditions is nothing but if it is iced up, this is a whole different story. And not to forget the traffic you will encounter.&lt;br /&gt;&#xA;So yes, it is possible to do it solo but &lt;strong&gt;if you have to ask for it, you are probably not ready&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17053" LastEditorUserId="6144" LastEditDate="2021-05-17T10:52:57.907" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T10:52:57.907" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27118" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22953" CreationDate="2021-05-17T12:50:36.107" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;It's not something I've ever considered before, but it's a good question. A few possible answers I guess.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If there's a decent amount of depth from the lip of the spool to the line, there's less risk of bird-nesting. If you spool to the lip of the rim, it's easy for line to spool off when you don't want it to, and get caught up.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;It's also convenient. If you had a spool that only held 100m of line, and you lost your rig 20m out (lets assume your tip had a damaged eye, or you got stuck in a tree and had to cut the whole rig), you're left with ~80m. Do that 2 or 3 times, and you severely reduce your casting distance on further trips. You'll find yourself re-spooling more often than you might like.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;The manufacturer doesn't know what line you're going to use, if you put some 40lb line on there's it's going to be quite thick compared to 10lb line.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;If you're using the reel for carp fishing, you can easily cast 150-200yds with a heavy ledger rig attached.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note - I don't know if it's still the case, but Diawa reels used to come with a shallow and a deep spool, so you could use the shallow spool for float fishing on a lighter mono.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="20834" LastEditorUserId="20834" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T20:44:15.190" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T20:44:15.190" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27119" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27120" CreationDate="2021-05-17T12:56:45.867" Score="5" ViewCount="158" Body="&lt;p&gt;I've seen the hiking loop around Mont Blanc in France (&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_du_Mont_Blanc&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Tour de Mont Blanc&lt;/a&gt;), and was wondering if there is anything similar in the United States? Preferably in the West. The things I'm looking for:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Lodges at the end of each day of hiking with food (I'd be hiking with children)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Transfer service between lodge for extra gear that you wouldn't bring in a day pack&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thank you&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21203" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T08:12:42.083" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T08:12:42.083" Title="Similar hikes to Mont Blanc 100 mile loop in the United States?" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;united-states&gt;" AnswerCount="2" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27120" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27119" CreationDate="2021-05-17T14:33:49.560" Score="6" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd be happy to see someone else contradict me, but I think the answer is basically no. The scenic, high-elevation mountain areas of the western US are uninhabited wilderness lands that are protected as national parks. The landscape is nothing like the Alps, where you have shepherds, huts, trams, cows, villages, farms, big towns like Chamonix, and so on.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;An area that I'm specifically familiar with is the Sierra. The entire high-elevation portion of this range is national parks, extending a couple of hundred miles from north to south. There is only one road across from east to west, and it's at the north end of the range. There are a few developed areas such as Red's Meadows and Vermillion Valley Resort, but these are few and far between.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The closest thing I can think of to what you're talking about would be hiking the northern half of the John Muir Trail, starting from Yosemite Valley and exiting at someplace like Vermillion Valley Resort. The distance is roughly 100 miles. However, there is no way to do this and have lodging every night. Most people would do it as a backpacking trip and take about a week. You would need to carry your food, sleeping bags, etc. You would have a couple of opportunities to resupply along the way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's possible that there is something like this in the Rockies. I'm not familiar with that area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-17T15:21:09.787" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T15:21:09.787" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27121" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27113" CreationDate="2021-05-17T15:54:28.103" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;It sounds like you don't have a lot of glacier expertise yet. If that is the case, I would recommend doing a &lt;strong&gt;glacier safety course&lt;/strong&gt; at an alpine club. That will give you the &lt;strong&gt;knowledge&lt;/strong&gt; you need, and &lt;strong&gt;get you in touch with like-minded people&lt;/strong&gt; (those mountaineering-crazy friends you currently lack).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;A few years back I did one of &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.at/gebirgsverein/alpinschule/gletschergrundkurse.php&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;these glacier courses&lt;/a&gt; by Alpenverein / Sektion Gebirgsverein and was very happy with it. You can surely find similar courses from other alpine clubs (e.g. Naturfreunde or ÖTK in Austria, DAV in Germany, SAC in Switzerland).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Attempting Großglockner on your own without A TON of experience is a bad idea. People get injured or &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.alpenverein.at/bergundsteigen_wAssets/archiv/2011/3/62-69%20(vermisst%20am%20grossglockner).pdf&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;die&lt;/a&gt; on that mountain regularly, by slipping on ice or rock, or just by getting lost.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21205" LastEditorUserId="21205" LastEditDate="2021-05-17T15:59:48.570" LastActivityDate="2021-05-17T15:59:48.570" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27122" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27119" CreationDate="2021-05-17T22:48:33.533" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;I must agree with Ben Crowell--I am not aware of anything of the sort in the US.  The closest I can think of is the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/the-wonderland-trail.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Wonderland trail&lt;/a&gt;--it circles a mountain, there are designated places to spend the night but it's backcountry camping, you're packing in and out everything.  There four points on the trail you can cache supplies (but you can only use three as one will be your trailhead), two of which sell some supplies.  There's a lot of natural water, but you'll have to filter it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The total loop is 150km with 6,700m of total climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T03:10:36.783" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T03:10:36.783" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27123" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="20938" CreationDate="2021-05-18T04:53:22.403" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;While the exact definition of a &amp;quot;dead-end road&amp;quot; is rather vague, here are a few contenders for the continental US. Based off my poking around, saying that a dirt road could dead end hundreds of miles into the woods is hyperbole---even tens of miles is a stretch for a pure dead end road. That being said, the western US has many areas that are mazes of dead end logging roads. While this gives roads that are far from civilization, each of the individual spurs is often quite short (several miles). Similarly, there are more desolate roads than some of my suggestions, but they connect through to civilization at both ends. I have excluded both of these cases, as they seem closer in scope to a question such as &amp;quot;what is the furthest one can be on a dirt road from the nearest paved road?&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/3kahtrPbxXb3Kcys9&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kelly Point Overlook&lt;/a&gt; on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, extending 28.0 miles from the nearest fork in the road. Even at that point, it is simply a maze of dirt roads in the desert, with another ~85mi to go to the nearest services in St. George, UT.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/fDVgH2iiYXJk9Qg1A&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Paradise Campground&lt;/a&gt; in Idaho's Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, 11.7 miles from the nearest fork in the road and another 33.7 miles to civilization. Choosing poorly at the fork (Macgruder Crossing Campground) would instead involve 72 miles of dirt roads with perfect navigation. While there is a ranger station at Paradise Campground, it is only seasonally staffed. This is an interesting example as it defies the oft-repeated advice that &amp;quot;civilization is downstream,&amp;quot; when it is in fact &lt;em&gt;upstream&lt;/em&gt; (and over several passes). Going downstream from Paradise campground is ~60mi of mule trail to the next dirt road. &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/eurSm6336VGmucCfA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Corn Creek Campground&lt;/a&gt; is similarly isolated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Then end of FS 1013I at &lt;a href=&quot;https://goo.gl/maps/ULLpWLRC6tY33sJZA&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;44.627828, -109.785756&lt;/a&gt;, to the east of Yellowstone NP near Stinkingwater and Sunlight Peaks. Excluding a handful of exceedingly short spurs (mostly &amp;lt;.1mi, FS1013K the longest at 1.5mi), it is 23.7mi from the nearest fork and another 5.9mi to WY-296, a well-traveled paved road.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11487" LastEditorUserId="11487" LastEditDate="2021-05-18T17:05:19.297" LastActivityDate="2021-05-18T17:05:19.297" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27127" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22205" CreationDate="2021-05-20T16:59:35.230" Score="-1" Body="&lt;p&gt;To answer the question of &lt;em&gt;what is good climbing kit for recreational tree climbing?&lt;/em&gt;, you leave the definition of &amp;quot;recreational tree climbing&amp;quot; open for interpretation. I would say basically use a trad climbing method but adjust your rack by leaving all the nuts and cams at home and taking extra slings for the branches.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Obviously this depends on you and a buddy being competent trad climbers, but you state that safety is a primary concern and I'd argue that simply having another human present mitigates a lot of the risk of serious injury. Investing effort to learn the necessary skills and meet new friends is fun and heightens the experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the body of your question you talk about a rope ascending method which is certainly a common technique for quickly getting to the top of a tree but are you really &lt;em&gt;climbing&lt;/em&gt; the tree? It's used by commercial arborists who often work alone and for whom time is money. But using a throw line to pull your rope up and over does cause a thin concentrated point of abrasion to the branch which I would say is not OK for a recreational activity when another option is available.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Hence, my answer is that a good climbing kit is one that does the very least damage to the tree.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm not going to describe all the details of how to trad climb but just the key differences required to account for the tree:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whereas with rock climbing you place bits of gear into cracks in the rock, on a tree you put a sling over branches and clip your rope to it using a carabiner.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Whereas with some climbing (particularly sport) falling is normalised, with a tree there are often branches below so you want to keep less slack in the system, similar to if you were belaying someone climbing above a ledge).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;To get down, always abseil using both strands of the rope so as not to cause any rubbing/sawing action on the branch.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I had great fun using this technique to climb a huge redwood last year and we were very respectful of the tree. The only abrasion to the branches is from your gentle footwork and you can wear soft trainers to minimise that. And then at the end when you are back on the ground and the rope is no longer loaded with your weight, you will need to pull it back down which if done slowly the thick sheath of a climbing rope has a larger surface area so will create less friction than the throw-line described earlier.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So the kit is as follows:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;2 climbers competent in trad climbing techniques&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A harness each&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A 2-sided ATC and locking carabiner each &lt;em&gt;(for belaying + abseiling)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A prusik loop and locking carabiner each for back-up on abseil&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A helmet each&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;30 metre dynamic rope&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;12+ pieces of gear &lt;em&gt;(slings with a wire-gate carabiner or long alpine draws)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Additional slings and locking carabiner for anchor&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Soft trainers for your respectful feet&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21224" LastActivityDate="2021-05-20T16:59:35.230" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27128" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="5474" CreationDate="2021-05-21T09:50:21.103" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;I use g hooks on my osprey straps  theyre tidy and dont pick up crud like velcro does , a set of 4 ally g hooks are about £6 . Look clean and tidy and come in lots of colours&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21228" LastActivityDate="2021-05-21T09:50:21.103" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27129" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22222" CreationDate="2021-05-21T10:49:24.523" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Good question and good answer by @Qudit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'd just like to add my thoughts on this based on own experience.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;First of all, for info, I do TR solo for several years, using a Microcender as main device and Microtraxion as backup. Mostly with 2 ropes, but sometimes one rope only.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Different story, but for self belay while leading, I use similar setup as rappel in single rope: Grigri + prussik on the slack side of the rope. The prussik is to make sure the rope is caught in case the Grigri does not engage. But it is another hassle to feed rope through while leading. You do need a free hand for a longer time, so to reduce that hassle, I usually don't feed the prussik as often as the Grigri.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Into your points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Definitely 2 devices. Many things happen around your harness strong point, rubbing, jamming, entangling with rope, cross loading. In my opinion you're not really concerned about rope, carabiners or devices breaking, but rather slipping or not engaging. The 2-ropes setup is an added safety for (a) less interaction between the 2 devices and (b) rope protection due to sharp edges in the rock. So with some tidy setup of the devices (chest harness/sling, etc) and no issues with sharp edges, a single rope setup is good enough for me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Too bad Microcender has been discontinued =( But good thing is that I have one =) and it is awesome and reliable. Altough I've read reports of it slipping a little when wet, which never happened to me. Rescucender seems like a good alternative, due to the compact and design and its purpose. It is really an update of the Microcender in terms of handling,  but I've never used it. I would not consider a Vergo, for the same reasons I would not consider a Grigri to TR solo - too easy for it not to engage (although I do use a Grigri for lead self belay, but that's mainly due to lack of alternatives, as mentioned above).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Microtraxion is definitely a good device in my opinion. Since it is toothed it is a lot safer in not slipping and biting into the rope. I think worries with the rope sheath are overrated and over discussed - it is a backup system, in case it does take a hard fall, it means that something else already went wrong, hence the least of my concerns is damaging the rope sheath.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Static ropes are fine, and by fine I mean there's no show stoppers in the literature and experiences screaming for &amp;quot;don't use static topes for top rope!&amp;quot;. However my personal preference is dynamic ropes due to less loads involved in the entire system. The additional stretch and yoyo-like feeling is more of an annoyance rather than a safety hazard. And hey, you need to do something with your good old dynamic ropes after retiring them for leading =) As for the one vs two strands, as discussed above in point 1, if you do go through the hassle of installing a double strand at the anchors, do use them both for your safety while climbing, ie, main device in one rope and backup device in secondary rope. Unless of course you're really willing to repeat the same move on a route multiple times, them in this case it would be much easier to do as you say and have a Grigri, or Vergo, in the second rope, or something promissing but as far as I know little tested in this scenarios, a &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/NfH5tYlmfJo?t=268&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Camp Goblin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another point I'd like to add is to protect the rope well and pay attention to where it is contacting the rock. In a solo TR, the rope is &amp;quot;static&amp;quot; in the rock, and the same part of the rope will repeatedly rub and wear against any sharp edge or crystals. So there's where 2 strands are awesome, but also consider that your anchor really have the 2 strands independent from each other. Do make sure you use a knot strong enough to hold the tension in one strand with the second strand completely slack. It may sound silly but I've seen people (it may well have been myself many many years ago as a beginner =P) TR soloing with the rope rigged for rappel, ie, you actually double your problems, if one of the two rope breaks, your next stop is the ground. But with 100's thing in my head when I setup the system, that little detail didn't get into my attention. All that to reinforce the idea that when you're soloing in any way, you do need to think consequences, holistically and triple check everything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stay safe and have fun =)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21229" LastEditorUserId="21229" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T11:52:15.983" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T11:52:15.983" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27130" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="22222" CreationDate="2021-05-21T17:16:08.987" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Before sharing what I have been doing in many outings, I will remind anyone reading that the most widely accepted set up follows the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Setting-up-a-self-belay-system-on-two-ropes-with-two-ascenders?ActivityName=Multi-pitch-climbing&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Petzl recommendations&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BK85g.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/BK85g.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and I certainly would suggest anyone to pay attention to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am getting more and more comfortable using two strands of a static rope, tied at the anchor via two independent locking biners and a double figure-8-bunny-ears knot - one biner for each &amp;quot;earlobe&amp;quot; tied to a different bolted anchor, or sling around a tree, as the situation presents itself.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I use both strands tied to my harness loop via a locking biner and two side-to-side Micro Traxion devices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yg1Zz.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/yg1Zz.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the bottom of the crag, I tie the ends of the rope to my backpack to passively help with the sliding up of the Micro Traxion devices as I climb.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The two-strand set up offers redundancy, but also allows the Micro Traxion devices to stay parallel to each other, as opposed to in line as &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/8HOfrql6uV8?t=410&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;in here&lt;/a&gt;. I find that having the Micro Traxions one after the other on a single rope wedges them together splaying the orange casing of the top one.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, and very importantly, we will likely need to lower ourselves at the end, or half-way up the climb. At that point one of the strands will come really handy in releasing the tension in the system to allow disengaging the Micro Traxion devices (impossible when loaded). This can be simply done with a Jumar, but I like to do things with as few devices as possible, so instead of using the Jumar (*), I tie an alpine butterfly knot on the strand that will not be used to descend to provide me with a way of placing a foot through it and stepping up on it to release all tension on the harness loop at which point I simply open the biner, leaving the MicroTraxion devices on the rope until I have all my weight on the descending device (GriGri or Munter knot). This is the picture alpine hitch on the non-descending strand ready to step on:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2QH1w.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/2QH1w.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, before I disengage the MicroTraxion's I already have a GriGri or a Munter knot set up on the descending strand. The GriGri is most efficient, and easy on the climber and the rope, but I want to illustrate the Munter since it is the back-up system when the GriGri is dropped by mistake during the setup process. This is the picture of the Munter before backing it up:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mEGDO.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mEGDO.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Typically, the Munter is &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/FbVfjtvMHpY&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;backed-up with a mule hitch and an overhand knot&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sqNaA.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/sqNaA.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;After I release the Microtraxion's, I hold on tight to the loop in the mule hitch and compress from top to bottom the Munter to keep it from sliding down. It is important to watch for cross-loading on the biner, and try to get the loops of the Munter along the basket of the biner parallel to each other.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In addition, I do tie a second clove hitch lower down from the Munter on the descending strand of the rope also to the loop of my harness (tied below the HMS biner for the Munter with a self locking biner), which I disengage only when the Munter is already in rappel mode (i.e. after untying the overhand and the mule hitch). Before unfastening the overhand knot and the mule hitch from the Munter, I make sure to adjust this back-up clove hitch so that it is at some distance from the Munter in case this slides down a bit while disengaging.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;(*) Carrying a Jumar is always a good idea, because the way out of a situation may be climbing up, rather than lowering oneself. In the absence of a Jumar, this can be done with &lt;a href=&quot;https://youtu.be/bscpdQ6fcPQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;two Prusik knots&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15411" LastEditorUserId="15411" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T12:53:59.323" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T12:53:59.323" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27131" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27133" CreationDate="2021-05-23T06:24:27.770" Score="1" ViewCount="171" Body="&lt;p&gt;This summer I want to camp in the same place for seven weeks. Wherever I do it must be fairly isolated and near a water source. I would be living in a tent. All US lands seem to prohibit staying in the same place for more than 30 days. The only option I've found so far is to rent a campsite on airbnb, but the choices are limited and most of them lack the sort of privacy I'm looking for. I would also be willing to camp in Canada if it's easier to satisfy the above requirements there for some reason. I just want to find a place where I can be in nature and undisturbed for a long period of time. Does anyone have suggestions?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21238" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-23T13:45:17.413" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T23:47:42.303" Title="Looking for a place in the United States to camp for seven weeks" Tags="&lt;camping&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27132" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27134" CreationDate="2021-05-23T12:23:39.670" Score="2" ViewCount="34" Body="&lt;p&gt;I purchased a Wild Country Variable Controller a while ago but have only used it a couple of times. It has an asymmetrical profile meaning one side provides more friction (for belaying) and the other less so (for abseiling). The problem is, it’s not clear to me from either experimentation, the instructions, or any online reviews (very few) which way round is supposed to be which. Which orientation provides more friction than the other?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l6d9y.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/l6d9y.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-23T13:55:33.610" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T06:32:35.120" Title="Which way is which on the Wild Country variable controller belay device?" Tags="&lt;gear&gt;&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27133" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27131" CreationDate="2021-05-23T16:46:41.077" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;I suspect you'll need to compromise a bit on one or more of your ideal campsite features, so it might be worth thinking about which things are flexible and which are essential.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You can probably find an established multi-site campground (the kind with a bathroom and multiple tent sites) that will let you stay for an extended period of time. There are RV campgrounds that explicitly allow and even encourage long-term stays. Some of them have tent sites, or you could probably rent an RV site for tent use, although that will be more expensive. The downside is that many campgrounds might not be as private and secluded as you want. I recommend looking at the campground on the aerial/satellite view (eg on Google Maps) to see what the tree cover looks like and how far apart the campsites are. Campsites with a good amount of distance between them, with dense tree cover, and set far back from the main road/driveway, can have a decently secluded feel to them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I found a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.whenwerv.com/campgrounds_destination/north_america/1/long_term_rv_parks.jsp&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;list of long-term RV campgrounds in North America&lt;/a&gt; (it's a pretty short list so it can't possibly be comprehensive). They do have a link to one campground that has tent sites as well, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.beckslakefishcamp.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Becks Fish Camp and Wildlife Refuge&lt;/a&gt; near Pensacola, Florida. Based on their hand drawn trail map and looking at satellite view, it appears that one of their primitive camp sites is quite secluded, at the very end of a dead-end hiking trail. &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.google.com/maps/place/30%C2%B037%2729.4%22N+87%C2%B016%2739.7%22W/@30.6248276,-87.2798777,972m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d30.6248227!4d-87.2776888&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Here's a link&lt;/a&gt; to my best guess of the location of the camp bluff site on google maps satellite view.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;To hit that sweet spot of overlap between &amp;quot;campgrounds that will let you stay for a long time&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;campsites that are genuinely secluded&amp;quot; you'll need to do a lot of sleuthing. Typically the more actually secluded a campsite is, the less of an online presence it has. You'll notice that the websites I linked to look like they were designed back in the 90s. That's a good sign. It's also a good sign if the campground doesn't have a way to make reservations online. A business with a sleek, well-designed website is probably one that has a lot of traffic, and won't be as interested in making special accommodations for a long-term stay, or they would charge you an arm and a leg for a long-term stay.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastActivityDate="2021-05-23T16:46:41.077" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27134" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27132" CreationDate="2021-05-24T06:32:35.120" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Actually, having looked at the manual online it makes more sense than I remembered.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rWL8u.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/rWL8u.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Having the active rope pass through the broad end provides more friction than if it is inserted through the thin end.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T06:32:35.120" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27135" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27136" CreationDate="2021-05-24T08:29:40.443" Score="5" ViewCount="365" Body="&lt;p&gt;When building a belay with a sling, and tying an overhand knot to create a master point, I’ve seen it stated that you must always have something in all the master point loops. I assume this is to stop the knot coming undone. However, when shortening a sling with an overhand knot to, for example, use on an abseil, it seems to be perfectly acceptable to have your abseil device behind the knot and nothing in the end loop. Why the discrepancy? Is it just because in an abseil situation the loop is longer, thus reducing the chance the knot works undone?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2021-05-26T22:12:43.430" LastActivityDate="2021-05-26T22:12:43.430" Title="Must you always have something in the master point of a belay?" Tags="&lt;climbing&gt;&lt;knots&gt;&lt;belaying&gt;&lt;rappelling&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27136" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27135" CreationDate="2021-05-24T11:14:34.673" Score="4" Body="&lt;p&gt;The two situations you compare are not really alike. When you shorten a sling by tying a knot in it, suppose the knot fails -- then the carabiner is still caught in the sling.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Clipping in to the shelf of an anchor is different. In an anchor built out of three pieces, we have 6 strands coming down to the knot. You clip in to the shelf by clipping through one strand from each piece. However, it's effectively random which of the two strands you pick from each piece, because you can't see how they're all threaded through the knot. Depending on which ones you clip in to, you can get different things happening in the case where the knot comes undone. Your biner can either be caught or fall out. (I had to try this with my fingers and a rubber band to make sure I was visualizing it correctly.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Personally I've never heard this rule stated. It does make at least some sense, but I think the risk is small. When you use an overhand knot in this way, it's a type of offset overhand knot, similar to the offset overhand we use as a bend when joining two ropes together for a long rappel. That is a knot that is secure for safety-critical applications, provided that it's properly dressed and pre-tensioned, and has long tails. The belay anchor is different because it has six strands rather than two, so it's not possible to dress it as neatly. Also, it's pretty common that the loops forming the master point are quite short.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;And people may use a figure-eight rather than an overhand, which makes the knot easier to untie after it's been loaded. If you do this, then weighting the shelf without anything in the master point is equivalent to a type of offset figure-eight bend, which is not a safe bend like the offset overhand.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T11:14:34.673" CommentCount="9" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27137" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="19784" CreationDate="2021-05-24T15:06:45.403" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;As can be seen in the pictures in &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/25022/2529&quot;&gt;my answer to my own question &lt;em&gt;What can I burn in an open cup burner stove?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, isopropanol is a good option.  In some countries it has replaced methanol in denatured alcohol formulations at a few percent, so the flames are already less invisible than they were when I learnt to use Trangia stoves.  Adding another 10% or so makes for still more obvious flames.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Going to 100% isopropanol is less than ideal: the flames get bigger and sootier, which also means inefficient combustion.  Isopropanol has a similar energy density to the more typical burning alcohols, so unlike adding something purely for colour doesn't waste weight/fuel bottle capacity.  I would also consider &amp;quot;pure&amp;quot; acetone (not pure like I have in work, but the 100% stuff sold with nail polish removers).  The combustion products are pretty much the same as for the alcohols, it's commonly used in contact with skin, and the fuel shouldn't come into contact with your food&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T15:06:45.403" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27138" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27131" CreationDate="2021-05-24T19:10:43.340" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Sticking to public (federal) land in the US, I don't think it is allowed.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Usually, the land with the least restrictions is Bureau of Land Management. General guidance is found at &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;BLM.gov&lt;/a&gt; (note that specific BLM areas may have more stringent restrictions). On that page it states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Dispersed camping is allowed on public land for a period not to exceed 14 days within a 28 consecutive day period. The 28 day period begins when a camper initially occupies a specific location on public lands. The 14 day limit may be reached either through a number of separate visits or through 14 days of continuous overnight occupation during the 28 day period. After the 14th day of occupation, the camper must move outside of a 25 mile radius of the previous location until the 29th day since the initial occupation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Again, be careful, do not assume this covers all areas - some have limited to no camping allowed. Check locally at the BLM office.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Next up is National Forests. These have diverse regulations on both campgrounds and dispersed camping, and neighboring National Forest units can have different regulations. I have never been in one that allowed 7 weeks of static camping, although that is not definitive.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For example, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/fishlake/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5121831#:%7E:text=Rules%20for%20Dispersed%20Camping&amp;amp;text=You%20need%20to%20be%20self,camping%20in%20another%20dispersed%20area.&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Fishlake National Forest&lt;/a&gt; states:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;You may camp in a dispersed area for up to 16 days. After 16 days, you must move at least 5 road miles for camping in another dispersed area. Campers may not spend more than 16 days of any 30 day period at the same dispersed area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5313083.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Kaibab National Forest&lt;/a&gt; is similar yet slightly different:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Visitors may camp for a maximum of 14 days in any 30-day period on the&#xA;Kaibab National Forest.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In any event, you need to check the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for the particular Forest  or Ranger District of Forest you are interested in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Official Forest Service campgrounds usually have a 14-day limit, but some are shorter.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Bottom line - I don't see any legal way to camp 7 straight weeks on federal land in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3955" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T19:10:43.340" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27139" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-24T22:10:10.453" Score="4" ViewCount="127" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some backpacks have shoulder straps that are connected near the top with a bridge as shown in the pictures below.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I tend to find backpacks with this strap configuration to be the least comfortable and was curious as to why they exist. Maybe I'm not wearing them properly.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Do straps like these have any advantages compared to straps that aren't bridged together?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MtD8h.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MtD8h.png&quot; alt=&quot;backpack bridge strap example 1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EwumN.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/EwumN.png&quot; alt=&quot;backpack bridge strap example 2&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6dAvW.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/6dAvW.png&quot; alt=&quot;backpack bridge strap example 3&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21245" LastActivityDate="2021-05-25T00:50:14.803" Title="What is the purpose for having a bridge connecting the shoulder straps on a backpack?" Tags="&lt;backpacks&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27140" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27131" CreationDate="2021-05-24T23:47:42.303" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;State forests have different regulations than Federal land. A campground I am familiar with that meets your requirement to not be disturbed is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/34382.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Stillwater Reservoir&lt;/a&gt; in the New York Adirondacks. All camp sites are hike-in (a half mile or more) or paddle in.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Regarding duration of stays that are allowed, here's what it says on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7817.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Dept of Environmental Conservation camping page&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis added):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Camping permits will not be issued for more than 14 nights &lt;strong&gt;but may be renewed depending upon availability of sites&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;From July 1 through Labor Day only 14 cumulative nights of camping can be obtained at any campground. This is to ensure that new campers can enjoy their right to camp.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Stillwater is essentially primitive camping in designated sites, so the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7872.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;primitive camping rules&lt;/a&gt; apply:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Groups of 10 or more persons OR stays of more than three days in one place require a permit from the New York State Forest Ranger responsible for the area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since it's a bit confusing and you'd need to contact the ranger anyway, I'd start with that. Stillwater is in Region 6 -- &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.dec.ny.gov/about/667.html#Region_6&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this link&lt;/a&gt; has the ranger information where you can call about a permit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is just one example, of course. If you know of an area you'd like to camp, look up information about state parks in that area, and the particular restrictions that may apply.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="15659" LastActivityDate="2021-05-24T23:47:42.303" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27141" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27139" CreationDate="2021-05-25T00:50:14.803" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;(Comment because I'm just hypothesizing, but it's way too long for a comment.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I strongly suspect this is a matter of trying to build it cheap.  I just went through the house examining all the packs I own and I find I have exactly one bridged pack here.  (One pack is in another city, I can't examine it.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some notable differences between it and the various other packs I own:  It is the cheapest pack.  It is the only pack with no internal structure to it.  It is a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag--it is not the sort of thing you're likely to lug around for an extended period.  Everything else I have here is meant for being carried for hours at a time.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note how the straps in all your pictures are diverging as they leave the pack.  Pretend there's no bridge--note that in the simple case this produces a force at an angle to the attachment point and thus will apply a shear force to the connection point.  Note that the bridges in all your pictures will transfer this shear force across to the other strap where it will be countered by the load from that side--the force connecting the straps to the pack itself will be straight.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;There are other ways of accomplishing this but the bridge is the simplest, cheapest, and lightest approach.  Also, with a pack with an internal structure the straps start from higher up but when there is no internal structure there is nothing to enforce a separation between the attachment points and thus they inherently will be lower on your body--making a bridge less of a detriment.  (I have also observed an awful lot of people who carry such packs leave the straps too loose, causing it to ride lower and the make the bridge less of an issue.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="381" LastActivityDate="2021-05-25T00:50:14.803" CommentCount="6" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27142" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-25T14:11:31.923" Score="3" ViewCount="39" Body="&lt;p&gt;I have a few older (5+ years) but not excessively used &amp;quot;waterproof&amp;quot; breathable clothing items (pants, jackets), that are not waterproof in high-abrasion areas such as knees, shoulders, crotch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is there a good way of waterproofing these areas?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Since these areas will quickly wet out regardless of DWR status, I'm ok with losing breathability in these areas.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking of maybe applying diluted silicone locally - either as spray or caulking+mineral spirits. Would that work?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Other solutions are welcome too of course.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21249" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T05:10:54.973" Title="How to waterproof leaking 3-layer shell fabric" Tags="&lt;waterproofing&gt;&lt;waterproof-clothing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27143" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-25T20:25:13.447" Score="11" ViewCount="3516" Body="&lt;p&gt;If I'm out of adhesive bandage, and have a wound to treat, how can I improvise, using duct tape?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Adhesive bandage is actually a sticky tape with a piece of fabric inside, so I could slice a piece of clothing (I assume, cotton would be preferable?), cover the wound with it, and wrap with a duct tape so that it holds.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What should I take into account when doing such improvised bandage? Are there any dangers of using duct tape, for example, ischemia because it's less flexible than real bandage?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-05-26T19:41:07.693" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T15:15:50.097" Title="Duct tape as adhesive bandage" Tags="&lt;first-aid&gt;&lt;improvised-gear&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="11" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27144" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27143" CreationDate="2021-05-25T21:04:26.957" Score="17" Body="&lt;p&gt;Yes you can. Just be aware that Duct tape is very sticky in comparison to regular medical tape, so when you go to peel it off, it puts a lot more stress on the healing wound and is likely to re-open it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Ischemia isn't particularly likely unless you are putting pressure on the wound or tightly wrapping all the way around a limb or digit.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing that might be of concern is that Duct tape is made in a commercial factory out of substances that haven't been tested for compatibility with human health, whereas medical tape will be made using substances that have been tested for such compatibility. So, you might be more likely to get an allergic reaction to the Duct tape than medical tape, or the Duct tape contains a chemical that inhibits wound healing. Personally I carry a roll of strapping tape (like you use on your ankle when sprained) when hiking for this purpose - it is strong, super sticky, doesn't come off when wet, and works as well as Duct tape for temporary repairs to things like tents.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;However, in an emergency, use what you need to and then get professional help!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="17886" LastActivityDate="2021-05-25T21:04:26.957" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27145" PostTypeId="1" AcceptedAnswerId="27146" CreationDate="2021-05-25T23:42:52.660" Score="3" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;There was recently a horrific accident at a &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57216601&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;ultramarathon event in China&lt;/a&gt;.  People were running in ultra-light running gear and there was sudden rainstorm and massive drop in temperature.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The deaths have sparked public outrage on Chinese social media, with anger mainly directed at the Baiyin government and unhappiness over the lack of contingency planning.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;With a normal event, even a marathon, this is near cities so it would be fairly easy to get everyone under shelter.  However, ultramarathons are often in remote locations and I would expect them not to involve as many competitors, spectators or the same density of support staff. i.e. people may be hard to reach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Helicopters are not very reliable under severe weather in mountains either.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My guess is that mountaineering and sailing events have had more expectation of the risks of adverse weather.  And I am assuming that in the future, this tragedy will be kept in mind.  But, until now, how did organizers of this type of event prepare for the unexpected?  Asides from cancelling if they have a clear weather warning?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T08:09:43.613" Title="what type of safety precautions are usually taken for ultramarathon events?" Tags="&lt;safety-standards&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27146" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27145" CreationDate="2021-05-26T10:21:11.310" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;Many ultra running events do meet roads where checkpoints/aid stations can be placed (or tracks that can be accessed with permission). In long unsupported stretches competitors might be a little better equipped than in the recent case (for example consider the amount of water runners carry on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_des_Sables&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Marathon des Sables&lt;/a&gt;) .&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course if the bad weather brings poor visibility, runners can lose the route (even if well marked), and checkpoints are of limited help then. Note that the &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gansu_ultramarathon_disaster&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Gansu incident&lt;/a&gt; happened between two checkpoints that weren't far apart in distance, but on a section involving a climb out of a river valley, so slow and increasing in exposure.  While poor visibility isn't mentioned in the reports I've read, rain and strong winds are likely to make navigation harder even below the cloud base.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The risks are arguably more about the terrain and remoteness than the length of race, though clearly a short race starting in a town can't get far from the town.  Taking that into account, we might consider the fell-running (essentially hilly cross-country) community's approach, as they run in all sorts of weather conditions and usually without easy rescue/escape routes.  &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cfra.co.uk/safetyfellraces.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;This document from 1981 (UK)&lt;/a&gt; shows that the risks have been known for some time, and mentions several mitigations, requiring a certain minimal level of kit/supplies to be carried for protection from the elements and energy, and emphasising that the required minimum may not be sufficient in all cases.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It also discusses the need to respond to severe weather; responses may include cancellation, route changes (shorter and/or less exposed), or merely advising the runners.  Clearly this is an old document, and written in a slightly different context, but the approaches are very similar to those used in other remote events: Require some level of self-sufficiency for emergencies from the competitors and keep track of where they are.  The last point is where the biggest changes have happened.  Trackers like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Spot&lt;/a&gt; are often required  and to avoid cheating, in running and cycling events. While they don't update all that frequently on long events a location is a great aid to rescuers and many devices have a panic button. More modern &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.runultra.co.uk/Articles/May-2016/Hypothermia-and-Hyperthermia-Part-1&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;discussions of the risk (RunUltra), aimed at the runners rather than the organisers,&lt;/a&gt; recommend trackers for extreme events.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Update: Around the time I wrote this answer, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/survivors-and-bereaved-seek-answers-after-21-deaths-in-china-ultramarathon&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Guardian published an article including some interviews&lt;/a&gt;.  Key points:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some observers have questioned the lack of mandatory cold-weather gear other than an emergency blanket in the race’s equipment list, particularly for such a remote, high-altitude event. China News Weekly also quoted local rescue personnel saying they had struggled to locate people in the inaccessible terrain&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;On social media, Luo Jing, a well-known Chinese athlete and mountaineer, warned others to take their own safety seriously, suggesting the high death count was at least partly attributed to inadequate preparation for the surprise extreme weather...She said her life was saved by having warm clothing with her, and having enough time to descend.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;and that the only mandatory kit in case of extreme weather - foil blankets - didn't hold up to the string winds&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In summary: As in so many outdoor activities a big risk comes from worse-than-expected conditions; in that case improved modern forecasts help but the old rules of calling off/postponing the event, or having a more suitable route are just as applicable as ever. It's essential to carry some safety gear, but this has to be mandatory.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2529" LastEditorUserId="2529" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T08:09:43.613" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T08:09:43.613" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27147" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27143" CreationDate="2021-05-26T13:06:24.617" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;FWIW,  I have found blue Painter's Tape to be preferable to DuctTape for just about any application imaginable.  It's strong,lasts, removes easily, etc.  Maybe keep a roll of Painter's Tape in your emergency pack instead of DuctTape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="3687" LastActivityDate="2021-05-26T13:06:24.617" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27148" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-26T16:24:12.890" Score="2" ViewCount="27" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am hiking in Meindl's double stitched, Nubuk leather hiking shoes, called Badile (&lt;a href=&quot;https://meindl.de/product/badile-en/?lang=en&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https://meindl.de/product/badile-en/?lang=en&lt;/a&gt;) I have them for quite some years now and was very happy with them all four seasons, as long as it was not too wet. However, in very wet terrain they don't seem to hold what they promise. With other words they get wet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I have done some research online and found that I should treat them with wax and maybe also with an impregnation spray and that I should especially treat the double stitching. In the shop I bought them, however, they told me not to do anything but put wax on twice a year and when I do so I should not touch the stitching at all. These instructions are clearly contradictory. Using wax I did not manage to get my shoes waterproof.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Does anybody know the best approach and/ or online resources for care of double stitched, nubuk leather boots?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21261" LastActivityDate="2021-05-26T16:24:12.890" Title="Double stitched leather shoe care" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;boots&gt;&lt;gear-care&gt;" AnswerCount="0" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27149" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27143" CreationDate="2021-05-26T16:47:42.713" Score="7" Body="&lt;p&gt;Given your comment that you want to replace an adhesive bandage, rather than medical tape:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Yes, you can use duct tape + CLEAN cloth for this, but you can do a few things to make it more pleasant.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Cut your fabric large enough so that the edges are far from the actual wound, this will reduce pulling on the wound when you remove the tape.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Only tape around the edges of the fabric. This lets the fabric stretch even if the tape doesn't (if your fabric isn't stretchy, cut it on the bias so that you get some stretch out of it).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Minimize the amount of tape that actually contacts skin. You only need enough to keep the bandage in place.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Even better, don't tape on skin at all if you don't have to. If you are bandaging a finger, wrist, or other similar area, you may be able to keep the bandage in place perfectly well by wrapping cloth entirely around and taping the bandage only to itself (still leave untaped fabric to provide stretch).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Test the stickiness of your tape on some non-injured section of skin. If it seems to be too sticky (painful to remove) then you can repeatedly stick/remove it from non-injured skin to reduce the stickiness before you put it anywhere near the injured area.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Flex your muscles while taping, this will make the tape wrinkly/slack when your muscles are relaxed. (The wrinkles are a bit annoying, but much more comfortable than the bandage being too tight.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Note that this is probably not the most efficient improvised bandage that you can make. I would rather improvise with women's sanitary pads than cloth (these make really good improvised bandages and are usually individually wrapped) or glue (you should only use approved non-toxic glue on your skin, but really glue bandages are fantastic).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Re: What type of fabric/material to use... It's less dependent on the fiber content (cotton vs any other type) and more dependent on other properties of the material: clean (very important), not fuzzy/sticking to scabs too much but still being absorbent, being comfortable to the touch, moisture wicking/breathable, and being thin/light enough to tape down.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Natural fibers (cotton, linen, bamboo, wool, silk, etc.) probably get a slight edge up on moisture wicking/breathable, but how the material is created has more impact across the board. Something like a lightweight poly tee shirt would be better than a heavy cotton canvas. (Actually there are studies showing that spider silk is one of the best materials for bandages because it also has some antibacterial properties, but probably most people don't keep large quantities of clean spider silk laying around.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;If you dissect a commercial adhesive bandage you'll notice that they achieve all of this with multiple layers, one layer that prevents it from sticking to scabs and then an inside layer that does all the absorbing, and you can use that technique, too. Also note that I keep saying material instead of fabric. You could make a pretty good bandage with one layer of gauze backed up by a couple of layers of paper towel for absorption.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12833" LastEditorUserId="12833" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T15:15:50.097" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T15:15:50.097" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27150" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-26T17:11:52.637" Score="5" ViewCount="118" Body="&lt;p&gt;Some context: I am a &lt;em&gt;very&lt;/em&gt; small female (&amp;lt; 5 ft., &amp;lt; 100 lbs.) and I am thus very limited by gear weight. A lot of information is written for large/tall guys, so I'm having trouble researching tents for my specific situation.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I am looking for a two person backpacking tent that I could carry myself if needed in the Pacific Northwest region. So ideally I'm looking for something under two lbs. fully packed weight, less than $500 or so, and double walled or with a good system for dealing with condensation. I would prefer a tent rather than a tarp or hammock setup. I have looked into the Tarptent Double Rainbow or Stratosphere, the Zpacks Duplex, and the REI Flash Air 2. I do not use trekking poles but could start or am willing to bring tent poles if they are light.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Any tent suggestions would be much appreciated (especially from other very small backpackers)!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21262" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T20:52:40.327" Title="Looking for lightweight backpacking tent suggestions" Tags="&lt;hiking&gt;&lt;backpacking&gt;&lt;tents&gt;&lt;ultralight&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="10" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27152" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27095" CreationDate="2021-05-26T18:14:48.080" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;Its not the right color for a Oceanic white tip they have a barownish color to them and they are open water guys they stay way out there in the ocean and their fins are rounded with distinct white tips.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Reminds me of a sandbar shark... The Black tip is a reef shark and the white tip looks much different if I had to guess I would say sandbar shark.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/19T4g.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/19T4g.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;This is a picture of a sandbar shark or you can look it up on google its for sure a sandbar shark&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="21264" LastEditorUserId="66" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T08:58:21.577" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T08:58:21.577" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27155" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27150" CreationDate="2021-05-27T17:29:51.723" Score="10" Body="&lt;p&gt;Okay, I've made enough suggestions in the comments I figured I'd better summarize them in an &amp;quot;answer.&amp;quot; It's not fully what you asked for; this is more of a summary of all the &amp;quot;almost what you want&amp;quot; options I and others have come up with. Maybe one of these suggestions will give you a new idea that you can improve on, of maybe one will turn out to be good enough.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ol&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get two tents.&lt;/strong&gt; Each tent will be less expensive than one tent that combines all the features you wanted. The cost of gear goes up &lt;em&gt;a lot&lt;/em&gt; for a small decrease in weight, so you can save a lot of money by simply not trying to squeeze the two person tent into your solo two pound limit. Use the savings to buy a second, single-person tent.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A two-person tent, optimized for quality but heavier than you can carry by yourself. You'll save a lot of money by not requiring the two-person tent to be under two pounds. When hiking with a partner, divide the weight between you, eg one person carries the rainfly and poles, the other person carries the interior tent body and tent stakes. An option from REI is the MSR Zoic 2 Tent ($262, 4 lbs. 6 oz.).&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;A one-person tent, optimized for lightweight. Being for only one person, you can get a lightweight option under 2 pounds for much less while still having decent quality. Options from REI are the Exped Mira I HL Tent ($244, 2 lbs. 3 oz) and NEMO Hornet Elite 1 Tent ($338, 1 lb. 8 oz.)&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Eg, if you got the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/147300/msr-zoic-2-tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;MSR Zoic 2 person tent&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.rei.com/product/164643/exped-mira-i-hl-tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Exped Mira I HL one-person tent&lt;/a&gt; from REI, your total cost would be $506, and your personal carry weight would be about 2 lbs. 3 oz with either option. (Note that those are sale prices; the sale ends on May 31.)&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Optimize for solo camping and compromise on two-person camping, or vice versa&lt;/strong&gt;. Decide which scenario (solo camping vs camping with another person) is the one you will do most frequently. (If you do both with about equal frequency, this is probably not the best option.) Examples:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scenario One: you usually camp with a partner and only occasionally solo camp. Buy the best tent you can afford that works for both of you. When you camp solo, carry only the tent poles, the rainfly, and a lightweight ground tarp. Or get a single-person tarp to hang from trees, which will be substantially lighter than your two pound limit.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;Scenario Two: you usually camp solo, and only occasionally with a partner. Spend most of your budget on a good-quality, lightweight solo tent. For camping with a partner get a cheaper option: buy a tarp (if you prioritize lightweight and inexpensive) or a heavier tent and make your partner carry more than half of the tent.&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ul&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buy a secondhand tent that meets all your requirements.&lt;/strong&gt; Assume it may have some leaks, missing pieces or rips. Test it thoroughly before taking it camping and make repairs as necessary. You can get tent seam sealant and inexpensive, lightweight fabric remnants for patching from a DIY outdoor gear supplier like &lt;a href=&quot;https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/outlet-remnants&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Ripstop by the Roll&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://diygearsupply.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;DIY Gear Supply&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.therainshed.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Rainshed&lt;/a&gt;, etc. If you post a few want ads on backpacking-specific forums and social media groups, you'll get access to gear that wouldn't have otherwise have been on the market.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get a rainfly-only tent with a separate ground tarp.&lt;/strong&gt; If the tarp is the right size and stays well inside the edges of the tent, you do stay dry, because any rain or condensation drips on the ground instead of on your tarp. If you can, shop for a tent with side panel pulls; pulling out the side panels will prevent the panels from sagging in the middle and occasionally dripping from the low point of the sag.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KpH24.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/KpH24.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Something like the &lt;a href=&quot;https://diygearsupply.com/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;UltaMid 2 with mesh insert&lt;/a&gt; from Hyperlight Mountain Gear might be a good compromise, although I can't tell from the photos if it has side panel pulls. It has bug netting, and if you put your tarp inside the bug netting your tarp should stay centered under the roof even if you move around a lot at night. Note that the ground tarp is sold separately, and costs almost as much as the tent. But you can DIY a much cheaper ground tarp from a plastic sheet (eg a plastic painter's dropcloth or one of those shiny silver-colored emergency survival blankets), with a hole cut a hole in the middle for the tent pole and reinforced with tape.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make your own tent.&lt;/strong&gt; While this can seem crazy if you've never DIY'd any camping gear, it is possible, and extremely satisfying. You'll cut your costs by half or more, since you're only buying materials rather than a finished product. And you can make gear exactly to your specifications, in exactly the right size, at the exact balance of weight:durability that you want, as well as having all the features you want, but no extra features that would add weight and/or cost. I would suggest an A-frame tent as the easiest to construct. An advantage of the A-frame is that if you have trees, you don't need any tent poles. Something like &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-eclipse-hiker-biker-1-person-backpacking-tent&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;this tent&lt;/a&gt; from Bass Pro Shops, but made of lighter weight materials, with the floor attached to an inner layer of noseeum mesh and the roof as a separate piece, suspended an inch or so above the mesh and staked out separately at the bottom corners.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oup9E.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/oup9E.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Sorry for the lack of better examples, but all the best info is on the &lt;a href=&quot;https://backpackinglight.com/forums/forum/gear/make-your-own-gear/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;Backpacking Light forums&lt;/a&gt;, which are down for maintenance today. Even if you decide not to fully DIY a tent, you'll find lots of useful discussions there. You may even find a way to solve the problem with one of the tent styles you previously ruled out (eg, managing condensation in different styles of tent, or whatever it was you didn't like about tarps).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/li&gt;&#xA;&lt;/ol&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="18576" LastEditorUserId="18576" LastEditDate="2021-05-27T20:52:40.327" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T20:52:40.327" CommentCount="3" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27156" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-27T20:36:37.597" Score="2" ViewCount="41" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'd like to swim a bit to cool down when SUPing, but I've been already in an awkward situation when I've underestimated wind - the board was quite away from me after a while and I've got to swim fast to get to it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I was thinking about somehow prolonging the leash to be able to swim a bit around the boat (20-30 meters) but honestly I'm not sure what the options could be. I was thinking about using 'cowtail rope': &lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qk9k2.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/Qk9k2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;cowtail rope&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough (as the name says, it's designed to hold cow's tail while milking, however it's quite strong and robust and is used often by scuba divers to hold their stuff).&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another option would be the freediving leash, but it would be quite awkward since it's designed to be attached to the 'anchor' and go vertically under water and not to be used to swim on the surface.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Are there any tested options?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastEditorUserId="557" LastEditDate="2021-05-28T14:34:51.917" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T14:34:51.917" Title="Extending SUP leash for swimming" Tags="&lt;swimming&gt;&lt;paddle-boards&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27157" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-27T20:50:46.970" Score="3" ViewCount="54" Body="&lt;p&gt;How to find out that my running shoes need to be replaced?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I've switched recently from hiking to the trail running. I've hiked with the membrane shoes, which was quite an obvious indicator - if the shoes are no longer waterproof, they need replacing. Of course broken or worn down sole was also an indicator, but the waterproofness was normally first to go.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Now I'm mostly running with non-waterproof shoes. Garmin connects suggests saying goodbye after 600 km, which seemed to be exaggerated for me. My shoes have already 1000 km on the counter, the soles are OK, the only thing that changed is that the inside feels not so comfortable as at the beginning, but it's a problem only with thin socks. In the thick socks I feel no difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Is it a good idea to wear the shoes until they really break, or there are some aspects affecting safeness  / stability that I'm overseeing?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="557" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T22:11:23.743" Title="When to say my running shoes goodbye?" Tags="&lt;shoes&gt;&lt;running&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" FavoriteCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27158" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27157" CreationDate="2021-05-27T22:11:23.743" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;There is a common belied that (1) running injuries are caused by running too many miles or by having the wrong shoes. If you believe this, then it might be logical to speculate that (2) wearing the same shoes for too long will make you get injured, since the shoes might lose their cushioning ability, and that might then cause injury. But actually when people have looked for evidence of 1, they've mostly found that it doesn't seem to be true, and if 1 is not supported by evidence, then 2 doesn't make a lot of sense.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Of course the companies that sell running shoes would like you to believe 2.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I just buy new shoes when my old ones start to get holes in the toes or fall apart. My records are a little fuzzy, but from the rate at which I buy shoes and the number of miles I usually run, I don't think I'm getting more than 300-500 km from a pair of shoes. 1000 km sounds like a lot. I'm talking about nylon mesh running shoes. I wear my running shoes to work, for hiking, when walking the dogs, etc., so a lot of the wear would not have been from running. My actual mileage per week is usually about 10 to 30 km, unless I'm sick, injured, busy, etc.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;References&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Thiesen, Influence of midsole hardness of standard cushioned shoes on running-related injury risk, &lt;a href=&quot;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/09/16/bjsports-2013-092613.abstract&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/09/16/bjsports-2013-092613.abstract&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Shorten, &amp;quot;The heel impact force peak during running is neither 'heel' nor &amp;quot;impact&amp;quot; and does not quantify shoe cushioning effects&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Saugy et al., &amp;quot;Alterations of Neuromuscular Function after the World's Most Challenging Mountain Ultra-Marathon&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0065596&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0065596&lt;/a&gt; -- described in &amp;quot;Running 100 miles? It may be easier on your body to go 200,&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/27/news/la-sn-ultra-marathon-20130627&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/27/news/la-sn-ultra-marathon-20130627&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Nielsen, &amp;quot;Classifying running‐related injuries based upon etiology, with emphasis on volume and pace&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625796/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625796/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Rasmussen, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625790/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625790/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-27T22:11:23.743" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27159" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27156" CreationDate="2021-05-28T04:48:02.870" Score="2" Body="&lt;p&gt;You seem to need what is fairly standard in kayaking and canoeing: a &amp;quot;buoyant heaving line&amp;quot;. That's the official term (in Canada) for what is commonly called a &amp;quot;throw rope&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It is almost always made of polypropylene, because that floats well; is 15m to 20m long; is 6mm to 9mm in diameter; is brightly colored; and usually comes loosely bundled inside a little bag, to allow it to play out easily.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhE3Y.png&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhE3Y.png&quot; alt=&quot;enter image description here&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;It's called a throw rope because it is designed as a safety line that you can hold onto one end and throw the bag -- with the rope playing out -- to someone else, for a rescue. The bag usually has a buckle, to clip it to your boat or board -- and sometimes the buckle also has a built-in whistle, as an additional safety device.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a sea kayaker, I rarely use it as a throw rope, but I do often use it as a tow rope, to tow slow paddlers. It can also be used at camp, as a tarp ridge line or a clothes line. And you can use it to extend your SUP leash!&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastEditorUserId="11563" LastEditDate="2021-05-28T04:58:23.547" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T04:58:23.547" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27160" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27142" CreationDate="2021-05-28T05:10:54.973" Score="1" Body="&lt;p&gt;There are a few manufacturers of soaps and products specially designed for cleaning and treating waterproof and waterproof-breathable gear, to extend their usefulness. Two that come to mind are Nikwax and Granger's. First you wash the item, to remove dirt and other soaps (that are said to be incompatible with the waterproof gear), then you spray on or wash in the re-waterproofing product.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="11563" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T05:10:54.973" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27161" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27156" CreationDate="2021-05-28T05:47:55.833" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;I am going to put a different spin on Martin's answer, but I would advise being careful with following my - &lt;strong&gt;untested&lt;/strong&gt; - advice until you've seen it in practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;What I would do is not extending the leash.  Instead I would throw the throw rope out, with the rope &lt;strong&gt;uncoiled&lt;/strong&gt; and one end tied to the board, before swimming.  At least a 20m rope.  If the wind starts picking up the board, the rope should drag in the water, as it is not carried by the wind, and gradually stretch out, before the board will put it straight and tow it at its full speed.  Then you can swim to the rope before it is stretched to its full length.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Use at your own risk.  I would still &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; do this in a context where you are at serious risk if you somehow missed it (i.e 500m from shore and up, less if you are not a strong swimmer).  And I would also &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; do this seriously until having tried it several times with a strong offshore wind blowing the board in and gauging how it works in practice.  Does the rope stay behind?  How long of a respite do you get from it?  How frequently do you need to watch the board?  Risky?  Safe?  &lt;strong&gt;In doubt, consider it risky and extend the leash instead.&lt;/strong&gt;  If you are not a strong swimmer?  &lt;strong&gt;Risky&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But compared to the warning to never loose a foothold/handhold on a turned over kayak in strong sea conditions, lest your kayak leaves you behind and the admonition never to leash yourself to a kayak, lest it you get tangled somehow?  Seems a lot less worrying, to me.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="8044" LastEditorUserId="8044" LastEditDate="2021-05-28T05:53:40.480" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T05:53:40.480" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27162" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27156" CreationDate="2021-05-28T11:06:12.763" Score="0" Body="&lt;p&gt;From my point of view, the whole point of a paddle board is to go out in hot weather and swim, so I understand exactly where you're coming from.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;I'm guessing you're using a standard ankle or knee attached leash which is really irritating for swimming. Open water swimmers use a tow float on a waist attachment, I suggest changing to a waist leash, that way it'll be less annoying to swim with and you can just tow the board around behind you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The waist leash is largely aimed at moving water paddleboarding where quick release is important, so they're a standard product and you don't have to worry about improvising.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12242" LastActivityDate="2021-05-28T11:06:12.763" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27163" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-29T02:50:35.060" Score="5" ViewCount="309" Body="&lt;p&gt;From reading up on the rappel vs. lower dilemma, I often see references to &amp;quot;local etiquette&amp;quot;. For example a &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/6483/lowering-off-from-anchors-vs-rappelling-after-a-climb&quot;&gt;related question&lt;/a&gt; mentions that:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Some exceptions to the &amp;quot;climber's choice&amp;quot; rule would be if the area's guidebook says otherwise, &lt;strong&gt;or if the local climbers all rappel&lt;/strong&gt; (&amp;quot;do as the locals do&amp;quot; is always a good rule of thumb). In seldom-visited areas, I generally rappel.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But who is the &amp;quot;authority&amp;quot; on what the local standard is? I imagine that if I go up to climb outside of the most popular hours, there will only be 2-3 climbing groups nearby and there's no way to know if the people I'll see are a good representative of local rules or not. So what is the best place to figure this out, ideally before driving out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;E.g. if climbing in Exit 32/38 (Little Si) in Seattle, do you have to rappel or can you lower?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-29T12:23:46.277" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T19:25:00.557" Title="How do I know the local ettiquete on lowering vs. rappeling?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="3" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27164" PostTypeId="1" CreationDate="2021-05-29T02:55:08.813" Score="1" ViewCount="29" Body="&lt;p&gt;I'm watching videos on how to lower while outdoor climbing (&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWraUlYcB0k&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;sample video&lt;/a&gt;) and it seems that the accepted practice is to always be attached to the wall with &lt;strong&gt;both&lt;/strong&gt; a rope and the PAS. But what is the rationale for this? Is it expected that the PAS is less reliable than the rope? Is it because the rope might slip out of your hand as you're untying it from your harness? Obviously the holds themselves could fail but that's an equal risk regardless of your method.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="12593" LastEditorUserId="2169" LastEditDate="2021-05-29T12:24:10.120" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T12:24:10.120" Title="Why is it considered good practice to not remain attached to just a Personal Anchor System?" Tags="&lt;rock-climbing&gt;&lt;sport-climbing&gt;" AnswerCount="1" CommentCount="0" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27165" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27164" CreationDate="2021-05-29T10:19:45.033" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;In general, redundancy is &lt;strong&gt;key&lt;/strong&gt;.  Second, it is critical to retain the rope at the top of the climb.  If the rope falls with the climber anchored to the top, you're going to be in for one heck of a time.  If you only have the two of you, you're likely to require outside assistance/rescue.  Therefore, the rope should stay physically attached to the climber in some way at all times.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;One thing you might not know, depending on how much climbing you've done, is that rope is &lt;strong&gt;heavy&lt;/strong&gt;.  I've been at the top of a 100-foot pitch, and let me tell you: you can &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; feel the weight of the rope.  The weight alone can be 4-5 pounds, and that's not counting any friction. Trust me, you will really notice 4-5 pounds pulling on a rope if you're trying to manipulate it.  It's far too easy for it to slip out of your hand as you're threading the end through the rings.  When it's secured to you, that's not even a worry at all.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;As a side note, when &amp;quot;cleaning&amp;quot; a route, you're not really holding onto any holds.  Both hands are active, and you basically are suspended via the anchors, with your feet just providing some stability.  If by &amp;quot;Obviously the holds themselves could fail but that's an equal risk regardless of your method.&amp;quot; you mean the anchors themselves, then yes.  Otherwise, there aren't really any holds that you're actively using.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Breaking down the video a bit further:&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the first method shown, the climber attaches themselves directly to the anchor, pulls up slack through the rappel rings, then ties themselves in before untying their original double figure eight knot.  Realistically, they are only properly protected by the anchor as they manipulate the rope, especially as some methods I've seen have the climber &amp;quot;off belay&amp;quot; as they work at the top.  Even if the belayer is prepared to catch you, you're going to have a bad time if the anchor drops you while you're fiddling around up there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;In the second method, the climber follows a similar method, only they tie a figure eight on a bight and attach it to themselves, before threading the end of the rope through the anchors (not the best plan, &lt;strong&gt;especially&lt;/strong&gt; if they aren't exactly the right type of bolt).  Honestly, I personally wouldn't trust a single non-locking carabiner with my life when it's not already loaded, but some people do, it seems.&#xA;&lt;a href=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MjT78.png&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://i.stack.imgur.com/MjT78.png&quot; alt=&quot;screen capture from the video, showing the rope through the single non-locking carabiner&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;My personal preference includes using 2 quickdraws at the top (opposite and opposed) before messing around with attaching myself to the anchors.  That way, you are much less likely for a slip while messing around to unclip your rope from the carabiner there.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;hr /&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TL;DR:&lt;/strong&gt;  Never have the rope in a position where it would slide out and fall to the ground without your active intervention.  It must either have a stopper knot (when preparing to rappel down) or be tied to your harness in some way.  In some systems, you don't even properly &amp;quot;tie in&amp;quot;, but simply attach the rope to your harness (via an overhand on a bight, say) as you untie your main knot.  Your sling/anchor system can be fully trusted to hold you (though I like attaching to both anchors if possible) but you &lt;strong&gt;can not&lt;/strong&gt; let the rope fall down.  Without it, you may be stuck, hooked into the anchors, for a while as your friends/the authorities try to rescue you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T10:19:45.033" CommentCount="2" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27166" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27163" CreationDate="2021-05-29T10:37:02.407" Score="5" Body="&lt;p&gt;As you should have seen in the answer there, you can first check the guidebook(s) to see if they mention anything.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Another resource is &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.mountainproject.com/&quot; rel=&quot;noreferrer&quot;&gt;The Mountain Project&lt;/a&gt; where you may get an answer, either by reading the description or the comments and asking a question there if you don't see the answer. That isn't a guaranteed timely answer, but is a potential way to get in touch with local climbers on a particular area.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Lastly, while you're averse to using a small sample size of people at the location to figure out the rule of thumb, you can lead with a question like &amp;quot;So do you all climb here often?&amp;quot;.  If they're local, you can ask them about the etiquette, and if not, they may &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; know more about the local etiquette than you, as they may have talked to someone about it.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;At the end of the day, if you've done your due diligence and haven't found anything, while I'd personally suggest the advice in the &lt;a href=&quot;https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/7332/9104&quot;&gt;second answer&lt;/a&gt; as a rule of thumb as it is generally better for longevity of gear, a single non-local person lowering off of the route isn't the end of the world.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="9104" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T10:37:02.407" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27167" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27163" CreationDate="2021-05-29T12:36:26.383" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;The standard practice at the top of a single-pitch sport climb is for everybody to be lowered off except for the last person in the group who climbs the route. That person rappels in order to avoid wearing out the rings.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;But who is the &amp;quot;authority&amp;quot; on what the local standard is?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;The authority is whoever has to replace the hardware when it wears out.  The only valid reason to deviate from the standard practice is if this person has set a differing local standard. The reason they would do this is if they think there are safety benefits that are worth it, and they're committed to replacing the hardware as often as necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;So what is the best place to figure this out, ideally before driving out?&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;From whatever place you got the information telling you that this route existed and was a bolted sport route. The same source of information that told you the bolts were placed by someone competent and were safe to climb on. Whoever supplied that information needs to be in touch with whoever maintains the hardware, and if the maintainer wanted people to lower off of their rings, they would tell you. Otherwise just follow the standard default practices.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="2169" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T12:36:26.383" CommentCount="1" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
  <row Id="27168" PostTypeId="2" ParentId="27163" CreationDate="2021-05-29T16:52:49.327" Score="3" Body="&lt;p&gt;UK/Europe answer (I know the question was US-centric, as are the answers, but other countries are available):&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;For a single pitch sport climb I have never seen or heard of it being etiquette to abseil off a route and lowering off is perfectly acceptable. Abseiling is a choice you can make, however. It &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; considered bad practice to use in-situ gear to run a top-rope and you should always do that through your own gear.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;&lt;p&gt;Multi-pitch sport and (both single and multi-pitch) trad routes usually have a walk off or sometimes there is a dedicated abseil route for all climbs on the crag. Guide books or online resources (such as ukclimbing.com) are your reference here.&lt;/p&gt;&#xA;" OwnerUserId="16500" LastEditorUserId="16500" LastEditDate="2021-05-29T19:25:00.557" LastActivityDate="2021-05-29T19:25:00.557" CommentCount="4" ContentLicense="CC BY-SA 4.0" />
</posts>